1. Since the Lord warns us, saying, “Ye are the salt of the earth,” and since He bids us to be simple to harmlessness, and yet with our simplicity to

 2. From which an example is given us to avoid the way of the old man, to stand in the footsteps of a conquering Christ, that we may not again be incau

 3. But, beloved brethren, not only must we beware of what is open and manifest, but also of what deceives by the craft of subtle fraud. And what can b

 4. If any one consider and examine these things, there is no need for lengthened discussion and arguments.  There is easy proof for faith in a short s

 5. And this unity we ought firmly to hold and assert, especially those of us that are bishops who preside in the Church, that we may also prove the ep

 6. The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous she is uncorrupted and pure. She knows one home she guards with chaste modesty the sanctity of one couc

 7. This sacrament of unity, this bond of a concord inseparably cohering, is set forth where in the Gospel the coat of the Lord Jesus Christ is not at

 8. Who, then, is so wicked and faithless, who is so insane with the madness of discord, that either he should believe that the unity of God can be div

 9. Therefore also the Holy Spirit came as a dove, a simple and joyous creature, not bitter with gall, not cruel in its bite, not violent with the rend

 10. Hence heresies not only have frequently been originated, but continue to be so while the perverted mind has no peace—while a discordant faithless

 11. Against people of this kind the Lord cries from these He restrains and recalls His erring people, saying, “Hearken not unto the words of the fals

 12. Nor let any deceive themselves by a futile interpretation, in respect of the Lord having said, “Wheresoever two or three are gathered together in

 13. Thus, also, when He gave the law of prayer, He added, saying, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any that your Father

 14. Even if such men were slain in confession of the Name, that stain is not even washed away by blood: the inexpiable and grave fault of discord is n

 15. For both to prophesy and to cast out devils, and to do great acts upon the earth is certainly a sublime and an admirable thing but one does not a

 16. This evil, most faithful brethren, had long ago begun, but now the mischievous destruction of the same evil has increased, and the envenomed plagu

 17. Yet let not the excessive and headlong faithlessness of many move or disturb us, but rather strengthen our faith in the truthfulness which has for

 18. Thus Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who endeavoured to claim to themselves the power of sacrificing in opposition to Moses and Aaron the priest, under

 19. These, doubtless, they imitate and follow, who, despising God’s tradition, seek after strange doctrines, and bring in teachings of human appointme

 20. Nor let any one marvel, beloved brethren, that even some of the confessors advance to these lengths, and thence also that some others sin thus wic

 21. Confession is the beginning of glory, not the full desert of the crown nor does it perfect our praise, but it initiates our dignity and since it

 22. For the Lord chose Judas also among the apostles, and yet afterwards Judas betrayed the Lord. Yet not on that account did the faith and firmness o

 23. I indeed desire, beloved brethren, and I equally endeavour and exhort, that if it be possible, none of the brethren should perish, and that our re

 24. The Holy Spirit warns us, and says, “What man is he that desireth to live, and would fain see good days? Refrain thy tongue from evil, and thy lip

 25. This unanimity formerly prevailed among the apostles and thus the new assembly of believers, keeping the Lord’s commandments, maintained its char

 26. But in us unanimity is diminished in proportion as liberality of working is decayed. Then they used to give for sale houses and estates and that

8. Who, then, is so wicked and faithless, who is so insane with the madness of discord, that either he should believe that the unity of God can be divided, or should dare to rend it—the garment of the Lord—the Church of Christ? He Himself in His Gospel warns us, and teaches, saying, “And there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”26    John x. 16. And does any one believe that in one place there can be either many shepherds or many flocks? The Apostle Paul, moreover, urging upon us this same unity, beseeches and exhorts, saying, “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that ye be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”27    1 Cor. i. 10. And again, he says, “Forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”28    Eph. iv. 3. Do you think that you can stand and live if you withdraw from the Church, building for yourself other homes and a different dwelling, when it is said to Rahab, in whom was prefigured the Church, “Thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all the house of thy father, thou shalt gather unto thee into thine house; and it shall come to pass, whosoever shall go abroad beyond the door of thine house, his blood shall be upon his own head?”29    Josh. ii. 19. Also, the sacrament of the passover contains nothing else in the law of the Exodus than that the lamb which is slain in the figure of Christ should be eaten in one house. God speaks, saying, “In one house shall ye eat it; ye shall not send its flesh abroad from the house.”30    Ex. xii. 46. The flesh of Christ, and the holy of the Lord, cannot be sent abroad, nor is there any other home to believers but the one Church. This home, this household31    “Hospitium.” of unanimity, the Holy Spirit designates and points out in the Psalms, saying, “God, who maketh men to dwell with one mind in a house.”32    Ps. lxviii. 6.  In the house of God, in the Church of Christ, men dwell with one mind, and continue in concord and simplicity.

VIII. Quis ergo sic est sceleratus et perfidus, quis sic discordiae furore vesanus, ut aut credat scindi posse aut audeat scindere unitatem Dei, vestem Domini, Ecclesiam Christi? Monet ipse in Evangelio 0505C suo et docet dicens: Et erit unus grex et unus pastor (Joan. X, 16). Et esse posse uno in loco aliquis existimat aut multos pastores aut plures greges? Apostolus item Paulus, hanc eamdem nobis insinuans unitatem, obsecrat et hortatur dicens: Obsecro, inquit, vos, fratres, per nomen Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ut id ipsum dicatis omnes, et non sint in vobis schismata. 0506ASitis autem compositi in eodem sensu et in eadem sententia (I Cor. I, 10). Et iterum dicit: Sustinentes invicem in dilectione, satis agentes servare unitatem spiritus in conjunctione pacis (Ephes. IV, 2, 3). Stare tu et vivere putas posse de Ecclesia recedentem, sedes sibi alias et diversa domicilia condentem, cum dictum sit ad Rahab, in qua praeformabatur Ecclesia: Patrem tuum et matrem tuam et fratres tuos et totam domum patris tui colliges ad te ipsam in domum tuam, et omnis qui exierit ostium domus tuae foras, reus sibi erit (Josue II, 18, 19). Item sacramentum Paschae nihil aliud in Exodi lege contineat quam ut agnus, qui in figura Christi occiditur, in domo una edatur. Loquitur Deus dicens: In domo una comedetur, non ejicietis de domo carnem foras (Exod. XII, 46). Caro 0506B Christi et sanctum Domini ejici foras non potest, nec alia ulla credentibus praeter unam Ecclesiam domus est. Hanc domum, hoc unanimitatis hospitium designat et denuntiat Spiritus sanctus in Psalmis dicens: Deus qui inhabitare facit unanimes in domo (Psal. LXVII, 7). In domo Dei, in Ecclesia Christi, unanimes habitant, concordes et simplices perseverant.