Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures

The Great, the strong God, Lord of great Counsel, and mighty in His works, the Great God, the Lord Almighty and of great name 1 The text is translated from the Septuagint, in which S. Cyril found the title Almighty (Παντοκράτωρ), one of the usual equivalents in the Septuagint for Lord of Hosts (Sabaoth). In the English A.V. and R.V. the passage stands thus: Jer. xxxii. 18, 19: The Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of Hosts, is His name, Great in counsel, and mighty in work. .

1. By believing In One God we cut off all misbelief in many gods, using this as a shield against Greeks; and every opposing power of heretics; and by adding, In One God the Father, we contend against those of the circumcision, who deny the Only-begotten Son of God. For, as was said yesterday, even before explaining the truths concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, we made it manifest at once, by saying “The Father,” that He is the Father of a Son: that as we understand that God is, so we may understand that He has a Son. But to those titles we add that He is also “Almighty;” and this we affirm because of Greeks and Jews 2 “For even the Jewish nation had wicked heresies: for of them were…the Pharisees, who ascribe the practice of sinners to fortune and fate; and the Basmotheans, who deny providence and say that the world is made by spontaneous motion” (Apost. Const. VI. 6). Compare Euseb. (E.H. IV. 22.) together, and all heretics.

2. For of the Greeks some have said that God is the soul of the world 3 Cicero, De Natura Deorum, Lib. I. 27: “Pythagoras thought that God was the soul pervading all nature.” The doctrine was accepted both by Stoics and Platonists, and became very general. Cf. Virg. Georg. iv. 221: Deum namque ire per omnis Terrasque, tractusque maris, cælumque profundum. and Æn. vi. 726: Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus Meus agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet. : and others that His power reaches only to heaven, and not to earth as well. Some also sharing their error and misusing the text which says, “ And Thy truth unto the clouds 4 Ps. xxxvi. 5. Cyril appears to have borrowed this statement from Clement of Alexandria, who states (Stromat. V. xiv. § 91) that from this Psalm the thought occurred to Aristotle to let Providence come down as far as to the Moon. ,” have dared to circumscribe God’s providence by the clouds and the heaven, and to alienate from God the things on earth; having forgotten the Psalm which says, If I go up into heaven, Thou art there, if I go down into hell, Thou art present 5 Ps. cxxxix. 8. . For if there is nothing higher than heaven, and if hell is deeper than the earth, He who rules the lower regions reaches the earth also.

3. But heretics again, as I have said before, know not One Almighty God. For He is Almighty who rules all things, who has power over all things. But they who say that one God is Lord of the soul, and some other of the body, make neither of them perfect, because either is wanting to the other 6 See note on Lect. IV. 4. . For how is he almighty, who has power over the soul, but not over the body? And how is he almighty who has dominion over bodies, but no power over spirits? But these men the Lord confutes, saying on the contrary, Rather fear ye Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell 7 Matt. x. 28. . For unless the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has the power over both, how does He subject both to punishment? For how shall He be able to take the body which is another’s and cast it into hell, except He first bind the strong man, and spoil his goods 8 Ib. xii. 29. ?

4. But the Divine Scripture and the doctrines of the truth know but One God, who rules all things by His power, but endures many things of His will. For He rules even over the idolaters, but endures them of His forbearance: He rules also over the heretics who set Him at nought, but bears with them because of His long-suffering: He rules even over the devil, but bears with him of His long-suffering, not from want of power; as if defeated. For he is the beginning of the Lord’s creation, made to be mocked 9 Job xl. 14, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ἀρχὴ πλάσματος Κυρίου, πεποιῃμένον ἐγκαταπαίζεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ. In this description of Behemoth the Septuagint differs much from the Hebrew, which is thus rendered in our English Versions, xl. 19: He is the chief of the ways of God: he (only, R.V.) that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Compare Job xli. 5: Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? and Ps. civ. 26: There is that Leviathan whom thou hast formed to play therein (Sept. to take thy pastime with him). See Baruch iii. 17, with the note in the Speaker’s Commentary. , not by Himself, for that were unworthy of Him, but by the Angels whom He hath made. But He suffered him to live, for two purposes, that he might disgrace himself the more in his defeat, and that mankind might be crowned with victory. O all wise providence of God! which takes the wicked purpose for a groundwork of salvation for the faithful. For as He took the unbrotherly purpose of Joseph’s brethren for a groundwork of His own dispensation, and, by permitting them to sell their brother from hatred, took occasion to make him king whom He would; so he permitted the devil to wrestle, that the victors might be crowned; and that when victory was gained, he might be the more disgraced as being conquered by the weaker, and men be greatly honoured as having conquered him who was once an Archangel.

5. Nothing then is withdrawn from the power of God; for the Scripture says of Him, for all things are Thy servants 10 Ps. cxix. 91. . All things alike are His servants, but from all these One, His only Son, and One, His Holy Spirit, are excepted; and all the things which are His servants serve the Lord through the One Son and in the Holy Spirit. God then rules all, and of His long-suffering endures even murderers and robbers and fornicators, having appointed a set time for recompensing every one, that if they who have had long warning are still impenitent in heart, they may receive the greater condemnation. They are kings of men, who reign upon earth, but not without the power from above: and this Nebuchadnezzar once learned by experience, when he said; For His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His power from generation to generation 11 Dan. iv. 34. .

6. Riches, and gold, and silver are not, as some think, the devil’s 12 On this doctrine of the Manicheans see Archelaus (Disputatio, cap. 42), Epiphanius (Hæres. lxvi. § 81). Compare Clement. Hom. xv. cap. 9: “To all of us possessions are sins.” Plato (Laws, V. 743): “I can never agree with them that the rich man will be really happy, unless he is also good: but for one who is eminently good to be also extremely rich is impossible.” : for the whole world of riches is for the faithful man, but for the faithless not even a penny 13 Prov. xvii. 6, according to the Septuagint. See note on Cat. V. 2, where the same passage is quoted. Clement of Alexandria (Stromat. II. 5) refers to it in connexion with the passage of Plato quoted in the preceding note. S. Augustine also quotes and explains it in Epist. 153, § 26. . Now nothing is more faithless than the devil; and God says plainly by the Prophet, The gold is Mine, and the silver is Mine, and to whomsoever I will I give it 14 The former clause is from Haggai ii. 8; the latter, taken from the words of the Tempter in Luke iv. 6, is quoted both by Cyril and by other Fathers as if from Haggai. Chrysostom (Hom. xxxiv. § 5, in 1 Cor. xiii.) treats the use which some made of the misquotation as ridiculous. . Do thou but use it well, and there is no fault to be found with money: but whenever thou hast made a bad use of that which is good, then being unwilling to blame thine own management, thou impiously throwest back the blame upon the Creator. A man may even be justified by money: I was hungry, and ye gave Me meat 15 Matt. xxv. 35, 36. : that certainly was from money. I was naked, and ye clothed Me : that certainly was by money. And wouldest thou learn that money may become a door of the kingdom of heaven? Sell , saith He, that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven 16 Ib. xix. 21. .

7. Now I have made these remarks because of those heretics who count possessions, and money, and men’s bodies accursed 17 The connexion of σώματα with money and possessions suggests the not uncommon meaning “slaves.” See Polyb. xviii. 18 § 6: καὶ τὴν ἐνδουχίαν ἀπέδοντο καὶ τὰ σώματα, καὶ σὺν τουτοις ἔτι τινὰς τῶν κτήσεων, “household furniture, and slaves, and besides these some also of their lands.” See Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, “Slavery,” where it is shewn that Christians generally and even Bishops still possessed slaves throughout the 4th Century. But here it is perhaps more probable that Cyril refers, as before, Cat. iv. § 23, to the Manichean doctrine of the body as the root of sin. . For I neither wish thee to be a slave of money, nor to treat as enemies the things which God has given thee for use. Never say then that riches are the devil’s: for though he say, All these will I give thee, for they are delivered unto me 18 Matt. iv. 9; Luke iv. 6. , one may indeed even reject his assertion; for we need not believe the liar: and yet perhaps he spake the truth, being compelled by the power of His presence: for he said not, All these will I give thee , for they are mine, but, for they are delivered unto me . He grasped not the dominion of them, but confessed that he had been entrusted 19 For ἐγκεχειρῆσθαι, the reading of all the printed Editions, which hardly yields a suitable sense, we should probably substitute ἐγκεχειρίσθαι. A similar confusion of the two verbs occurs in Polybius (Hist. VIII. xviii. 6); the proper use of the latter is seen in Joh. Damasc. (De Fide Orthod. II. 4, quoted by Cleopas), who speaks of Satan as being “of these Angelic powers the chief of the earthly order, and entrusted by God with the guardianship of the earth” (τῆς γῆς τὴν φυλακὴν ἐγχειρισθεὶς παρὰ Θεοῦ). with them, and was for a time dispensing them. But at a proper time interpreters should inquire whether his statement is false or true 20 On this point compare Irenæus (Hær. V. xxi.–xxiv.), and Gregory of Nyssa (Orat. Catech. § 5). .

8. God then is One, the Father, the Almighty, whom the brood of heretics have dared to blaspheme. Yea, they have dared to blaspheme the Lord of Sabaoth 21 The reference is to Manes, of whom his disciple Turbo says (Archelai Disput. § 10), “the name Sabaoth, which is honourable and mighty with you, he declares to be the nature of man, and the parent of lust: for which reason the simple, he says, worship lust, and think it to be a god.” , who sitteth above the Cherubim 22 Ps. lxxx. 1. : they have dared to blaspheme the Lord Adonai 23 ᾽Αδωναΐ, Heb. ינָדֹאַ, “the Lord,” an old form of the Plural of majesty, used of God only. : they have dared to blaspheme Him who is in the Prophets the Almighty God 24 παντοκράτορα, Heb. ידַּשׁ לא”, El-Shaddai, “God Almighty.” . But worship thou One God the Almighty, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Flee from the error of many gods, flee also from every heresy, and say like Job, But I will call upon the Almighty Lord, which doeth great things and unsearchable, glorious things and marvellous without number 25 Job v. 8, 9. Cyril’s quotation agrees with the Codex Alexandrinus of the Septuagint, which has παντοκράτορα , “Almighty,” while the Vatican and other mss. read τὸν πάντων δεσπότην. , and, For all these things there is honour from the Almighty 26 Job xxxvii. 23: God hath upon Him terrible majesty (R.V.). The Vatican and Alexandrine mss. of the Septuagint read ἐπὶ τούτοις μεγάλη ἡ δόξα καὶ τιμὴ παντοκράτορος. (For these things great is the glory and honour of the Almighty.) But Cyril’s text is the same as the Aldine and Complutensian. : to Whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

1 The text is translated from the Septuagint, in which S. Cyril found the title Almighty (Παντοκράτωρ), one of the usual equivalents in the Septuagint for Lord of Hosts (Sabaoth). In the English A.V. and R.V. the passage stands thus: Jer. xxxii. 18, 19: The Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of Hosts, is His name, Great in counsel, and mighty in work.

2 “For even the Jewish nation had wicked heresies: for of them were…the Pharisees, who ascribe the practice of sinners to fortune and fate; and the Basmotheans, who deny providence and say that the world is made by spontaneous motion” (Apost. Const. VI. 6). Compare Euseb. (E.H. IV. 22.)

3 Cicero, De Natura Deorum, Lib. I. 27: “Pythagoras thought that God was the soul pervading all nature.” The doctrine was accepted both by Stoics and Platonists, and became very general. Cf. Virg. Georg. iv. 221: Deum namque ire per omnis Terrasque, tractusque maris, cælumque profundum. and Æn. vi. 726: Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus Meus agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet.

4 Ps. xxxvi. 5. Cyril appears to have borrowed this statement from Clement of Alexandria, who states (Stromat. V. xiv. § 91) that from this Psalm the thought occurred to Aristotle to let Providence come down as far as to the Moon.

5 Ps. cxxxix. 8.

6 See note on Lect. IV. 4.

7 Matt. x. 28.

8 Ib. xii. 29.

9 Job xl. 14, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ἀρχὴ πλάσματος Κυρίου, πεποιῃμένον ἐγκαταπαίζεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ. In this description of Behemoth the Septuagint differs much from the Hebrew, which is thus rendered in our English Versions, xl. 19: He is the chief of the ways of God: he (only, R.V.) that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Compare Job xli. 5: Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? and Ps. civ. 26: There is that Leviathan whom thou hast formed to play therein (Sept. to take thy pastime with him). See Baruch iii. 17, with the note in the Speaker’s Commentary.

10 Ps. cxix. 91.

11 Dan. iv. 34.

12 On this doctrine of the Manicheans see Archelaus (Disputatio, cap. 42), Epiphanius (Hæres. lxvi. § 81). Compare Clement. Hom. xv. cap. 9: “To all of us possessions are sins.” Plato (Laws, V. 743): “I can never agree with them that the rich man will be really happy, unless he is also good: but for one who is eminently good to be also extremely rich is impossible.”

13 Prov. xvii. 6, according to the Septuagint. See note on Cat. V. 2, where the same passage is quoted. Clement of Alexandria (Stromat. II. 5) refers to it in connexion with the passage of Plato quoted in the preceding note. S. Augustine also quotes and explains it in Epist. 153, § 26.

14 The former clause is from Haggai ii. 8; the latter, taken from the words of the Tempter in Luke iv. 6, is quoted both by Cyril and by other Fathers as if from Haggai. Chrysostom (Hom. xxxiv. § 5, in 1 Cor. xiii.) treats the use which some made of the misquotation as ridiculous.

15 Matt. xxv. 35, 36.

16 Ib. xix. 21.

17 The connexion of σώματα with money and possessions suggests the not uncommon meaning “slaves.” See Polyb. xviii. 18 § 6: καὶ τὴν ἐνδουχίαν ἀπέδοντο καὶ τὰ σώματα, καὶ σὺν τουτοις ἔτι τινὰς τῶν κτήσεων, “household furniture, and slaves, and besides these some also of their lands.” See Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, “Slavery,” where it is shewn that Christians generally and even Bishops still possessed slaves throughout the 4th Century. But here it is perhaps more probable that Cyril refers, as before, Cat. iv. § 23, to the Manichean doctrine of the body as the root of sin.

18 Matt. iv. 9; Luke iv. 6.

19 For ἐγκεχειρῆσθαι, the reading of all the printed Editions, which hardly yields a suitable sense, we should probably substitute ἐγκεχειρίσθαι. A similar confusion of the two verbs occurs in Polybius (Hist. VIII. xviii. 6); the proper use of the latter is seen in Joh. Damasc. (De Fide Orthod. II. 4, quoted by Cleopas), who speaks of Satan as being “of these Angelic powers the chief of the earthly order, and entrusted by God with the guardianship of the earth” (τῆς γῆς τὴν φυλακὴν ἐγχειρισθεὶς παρὰ Θεοῦ).

20 On this point compare Irenæus (Hær. V. xxi.–xxiv.), and Gregory of Nyssa (Orat. Catech. § 5).

21 The reference is to Manes, of whom his disciple Turbo says (Archelai Disput. § 10), “the name Sabaoth, which is honourable and mighty with you, he declares to be the nature of man, and the parent of lust: for which reason the simple, he says, worship lust, and think it to be a god.”

22 Ps. lxxx. 1.

23 ᾽Αδωναΐ, Heb. ינָדֹאַ, “the Lord,” an old form of the Plural of majesty, used of God only.

24 παντοκράτορα, Heb. ידַּשׁ לא”, El-Shaddai, “God Almighty.”

25 Job v. 8, 9. Cyril’s quotation agrees with the Codex Alexandrinus of the Septuagint, which has παντοκράτορα , “Almighty,” while the Vatican and other mss. read τὸν πάντων δεσπότην.

26 Job xxxvii. 23: God hath upon Him terrible majesty (R.V.). The Vatican and Alexandrine mss. of the Septuagint read ἐπὶ τούτοις μεγάλη ἡ δόξα καὶ τιμὴ παντοκράτορος. (For these things great is the glory and honour of the Almighty.) But Cyril’s text is the same as the Aldine and Complutensian.

[8] ΚΑΤΗΧΗΣΙΣ Η ΦΩΤΙΖΟΜΕΝΩΝ, Ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις σχεδιασθεῖσα, εἰς τὸ, ΠΑΝΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΑ. Καὶ ἀνάγνωσις ἐκ τοῦ Ἱερεμίου: Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ μέγας, καὶ ὁ ἰσχυρὸς Κύριος: ὁ μέγας τῇ βουλῇ, καὶ δυνατὸς τοῖς ἔργοις, ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ μεγαλώνυμος Κύριος, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.

Διὰ μὲν τοῦ πιστεύειν ΕΙΣ ἙΝΑ ΘΕΟΝ, πᾶσαν πολύθεον ἐκκόπτομεν πλάνην, ὅπλῳ κεχρημένοι τούτῳ πρὸς Ἕλληνας καὶ πᾶσαν ἐναντίαν αἱρετικῶν δύναμιν. Διὰ δὲ τοῦ προστιθέναι, ΕΙΣ ἙΝΑ ΘΕΟΝ ΠΑΤΕΡΑ, πρὸς τοὺς ἐκ περιτομῆς μαχόμεθα, τοὺς ἀρνουμένους τὸν μονογενῆ Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καθὼς γὰρ εἴρηται τῇ χθὲς ἡμέρᾳ, καὶ πρὶν τρανῶσαι τὰ περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τῷ εἰπεῖν ὅτι ΠΑΤΗΡ, ἤδη ἐδηλώσαμεν, ὅτι υἱοῦ ἐστι πατήρ: ἵνα ὥσπερ νοοῦμεν, ὅτι Θεός ἐστιν, οὕτω νοήσωμεν, ὅτι καὶ υἱὸν ἔχει. Προστίθεμεν δὲ πρὸς ἐκείνοις, ὅτι καὶ ΠΑΝΤΟΚΡΑΤΩΡ ἐστίν. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ διὰ Ἕλληνας καὶ Ἰουδαίους [ὁμοῦ] καὶ πάντας αἱρετικούς φαμεν.

Ἑλλήνων μὲν γάρ τινες, ψυχὴν τοῦ κόσμου τὸν Θεὸν εἶπον: καὶ ἕτεροι, τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτοῦ φθάνειν εἰς οὐρανὸν μόνον, μηκέτι δὲ καὶ εἰς γῆν. Καί τινες πλανηθέντες μετ' ἐκείνων, κακῶς τῷ ῥητῷ συγχρησάμενοι τῷ λέγοντι, Καὶ ἡ ἀλήθειά σου ἕως τῶν νεφελῶν, ἐτόλμησαν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν ἕως νεφελῶν περιγράψαι καὶ οὐρανοῦ, ἀπαλλοτριῶσαι δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς: ἐπιλαθόμενοι τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τοῦ λέγοντος, Ἐὰν ἀναβῶ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, σὺ ἐκεῖ εἶ: ἐὰν καταβῶ εἰς τὸν ᾅδην, πάρει. Εἰ γὰρ ὑψηλότερον μὲν οὐρανοῦ οὐδέν ἐστι, βαθύτερον δὲ τῆς γῆς ὁ ᾅδης: ὁ τὰ κατώτερα κρατῶν, ἅπτεται καὶ τῆς γῆς.

Αἱρετικοὶ δὲ πάλιν, καθὼς εἴρηται καὶ πρότερον, οὐκ οἴδασιν ἕνα παντοκράτορα Θεόν. Παντοκράτωρ γάρ ἐστιν, ὁ πάντων κρατῶν, ὁ πάντων ἐξουσιάζων. Οἱ δὲ λέγοντες, τὸν μὲν εἶναι τῆς ψυχῆς δεσπότην, τὸν δέ τινα τοῦ σώματος, οὐδέτερον αὐτῶν τέλειον λέγουσι, τῷ λείπειν ἑκάτερον θατέρῳ. Ὁ γὰρ ψυχῆς ἐξουσίαν ἔχων, σώματος δὲ ἐξουσίαν μὴ ἔχων, πῶς παντοκράτωρ; Καὶ ὁ δεσπόζων σωμάτων, μὴ ἐξουσιάζων δὲ πνευμάτων, πῶς παντοκράτωρ; Ἀλλ' ἀπελέγχει τούτους ὁ Κύριος, ἀπεναντίας λέγων: Φοβήθητε μᾶλλον τὸν δυνάμενον καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα ἀπολέσαι ἐν γεέννῃ. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἔχει ἑκατέρων τὴν ἐξουσίαν, πῶς ἀμφότερα ὑποβάλλει τῇ τιμωρίᾳ ὁ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ Πατήρ; Πῶς γὰρ δυνήσεται τὸ ἀλλότριον σῶμα λαβὼν, βαλεῖν εἰς γέενναν: ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον δήσῃ τὸν ἰσχυρὸν, καὶ τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ διαρπάσῃ;

Ἀλλ' ἡ θεία γραφὴ καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀληθείας δόγματα, ἕνα Θεὸν οἶδε, πάντων μὲν κρατοῦντα τῇ δυνάμει, πολλῶν δὲ ἀνεχόμενον διὰ τὸ θέλειν. Κρατεῖ γὰρ καὶ τῶν εἰδωλολατρῶν, ἀλλ' ἀνέχεται δι' ἀνεξικακίαν. Κρατεῖ καὶ τῶν ἀθετούντων αὐτὸν αἱρετικῶν, ἀλλ' ἀνέχεται διὰ μακροθυμίαν. Κρατεῖ καὶ τοῦ διαβόλου, ἀλλ' ἀνέχεται διὰ μακροθυμίαν: οὐ γὰρ ἀδυνατῶν ἀνέχεται, ὡς νικώμενος. Ἀρχὴ γάρ ἐστι πλάσματος Κυρίου, πεποιημένον ἐγκαταπαίζεσθαι, οὐχ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ (ἀνάξιος γάρ ἐστιν), ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πεποιημένων. Συνεχώρησε δὲ αὐτῷ [καὶ] τὸ ζῇν, ἵνα δύο γένηται πράγματα: αὐτός τε μειζόνως ἀσχημονῇ νικώμενος, καὶ [οἱ] ἄνθρωποι στεφανωθῶσιν. Ὦ πανσόφου θείας προνοίας, ἥτις τὴν πονηρὰν προαίρεσιν εἰς ὑπόθεσιν σωτηρίας λαμβάνει τῶν πιστῶν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὴν μισάδελφον τῶν ἀδελφῶν τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ προαίρεσιν, ἔλαβεν εἰς ὑπόθεσιν τῆς ἰδίας οἰκονομίας, καὶ συγχωρήσας αὐτοῖς κατὰ μῖσος πωλῆσαι τὸν ἀδελφὸν, ὑπόθεσιν ἔλαβε τοῦ βασιλεῦσαι τοῦτον ὃν ἤθελεν: οὕτω συνεχώρησε παλαίειν τῷ διαβόλῳ, ἵνα οἱ νικῶντες στεφανωθῶσι, καὶ ἵνα νίκης γενομένης, ὁ μὲν μεῖζον ἀσχημονῆται, ὑπὸ τῶν ἡττόνων νικώμενος, ἄνθρωποι δὲ μεγάλως εὐδοκιμῶσι, τόν ποτε ἀρχάγγελον νικήσαντες.

Οὐδὲν οὖν ὑπεξῄρηται τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως. Περὶ αὐτοῦ γὰρ λέγει ἡ γραφή, Ὅτι τὰ σύμπαντα δοῦλα σά. Τὰ σύμπαντα μὲν, δοῦλα αὐτοῦ: εἷς δὲ αὐτοῦ μόνος Υἱὸς, καὶ ἓν τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ Πνεῦμα, ἐκτὸς τούτων πάντων: καὶ τὰ σύμπαντα δοῦλα, διὰ τοῦ ἑνὸς Υἱοῦ ἐν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι δουλεύει τῷ δεσπότῃ. Κρατεῖ τοίνυν τῶν πάντων ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἀνέχεται καὶ φονέων καὶ λῃστῶν, καὶ πόρνων διὰ μακροθυμίαν: ὁρίσας καιρὸν τῆς προθεσμίας, καθ' ὃν ἀποδίδωσιν ἑκάστῳ: ἵνα οἱ πολυχρόνιον λαβόντες τὴν προθεσμίαν, ἀμετανόητον δὲ ἔχοντες τὴν καρδίαν, μειζόνως καταδικασθῶσι. Βασιλεῖς εἰσιν ἀνθρώπων οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς βασιλεύοντες, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἄνευ τῆς ἄνωθεν ἐξουσίας. Καὶ ἔγνω ποτὲ τοῦτο τῇ πείρᾳ ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, εἰπών: Ὅτι ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ, βασιλεία αἰώνιος, καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεάν.

Οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ πλοῦτος, καὶ τὸ χρυσίον καὶ τὸ ἀργύριον τοῦ διαβόλου, καθὼς νομίζουσί τινες. Τοῦ γὰρ πιστοῦ ὅλος ὁ κόσμος τῶν χρημάτων, τοῦ δὲ ἀπίστου οὐδὲ ὀβολός: διαβόλου δὲ οὐδὲν ἀπιστότερον. Καὶ φανερῶς διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγει ὁ Θεός: Ἐμὸν τὸ χρυσίον καὶ ἐμὸν τὸ ἀργύριον, [καὶ ᾧ τινι θέλω δίδωμι αὐτό]. Σὺ μόνον χρῆσαι καλῶς, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι μεμπτὸν τὸ ἀργύριον. Ὅταν δὲ σὺ τῷ καλῷ χρήσῃ κακῶς, τότε, μὴ θέλων μέμψασθαι τὴν σὴν διοίκησιν, ἀνάγεις τὴν μέμψιν ἐπὶ τὸν δημιουργὸν ἀσεβῶς. Δύναταί τις καὶ διὰ χρημάτων δικαιωθῆναι. Ἐπείνασα, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν: πάντως ὅτι ἀπὸ χρημάτων. Γυμνὸς ἤμην, καὶ περιεβάλετέ με: πάντως ὅτι διὰ χρημάτων. Καὶ θέλεις γνῶναι, ὅτι δύναται θύρα γενέσθαι βασιλείας οὐρανῶν τὰ χρήματα; Πώλησόν σού, φησι, τὰ ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανοῖς.

Ταῦτα δέ μοι λέλεκται διὰ τοὺς αἱρετικοὺς, τοὺς ἀναθεματίζοντας τὰ κτήματα καὶ τὰ χρήματα καὶ τὰ σώματα. Οὔτε γὰρ δοῦλον βούλομαί σε χρημάτων εἶναι, οὔτε ὡς ἐχθροῖς προσέχειν τοῖς εἰς ὑπηρεσίαν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοι δοθεῖσι. Μὴ τοίνυν ποτὲ εἴπῃς τοῦ διαβόλου εἶναι τὰ χρήματα. Κἂν γὰρ λέγῃ, Ταῦτα πάντα σοι δώσω, ὅτι ἐμοὶ παραδέδοται, δύναται μέν τις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀθετῆσαι τὸ ῥῆμα: τῷ ψεύστῃ γὰρ οὐ δεῖ πιστεύειν. Τάχα δὲ καὶ ἀναγκασθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ παρόντος δυνάμεως, εἶπε τὴν ἀλήθειαν: οὐ γὰρ εἶπε, ταῦτα πάντα σοι δώσω, ὅτι ἐμά ἐστιν: ἀλλ', ὅτι ἐμοὶ παραδέδοται. Οὐ γὰρ τὴν δεσποτείαν ἥρπασεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐγκεχειρῆσθαι καὶ οἰκονομεῖν τέως ὡμολόγησε. Ζητείσθω δὲ κατὰ καιρὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐξηγουμένων, πότερον ψεύδεται ἢ ἀληθεύει.

Εἷς τοίνυν ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ Πατὴρ, ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὃν ἐτόλμησαν αἱρετικῶν παῖδες δυσφημεῖν. Ἐτόλμησαν γὰρ δυσφημῆσαι τὸν Κύριον Σαβαὼθ, τὸν καθήμενον ἐπάνω τῶν Χερουβίμ. Ἐτόλμησαν δυσφημῆσαι τὸν Ἀδωναῒ Κύριον, ἐτόλμησαν βλασφημῆσαι τὸν ἐν προφήταις παντοκράτορα Θεόν. Σὺ δὲ ἕνα προσκύνει τὸν παντοκράτορα Θεὸν, τὸν Πατέρα τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ: φυγὼν τὴν πολυθεΐαν καὶ φυγὼν πᾶσαν αἵρεσιν, καὶ λέγων κατὰ τὸν Ἰώβ: Κύριον δὲ τὸν παντοκράτορα ἐπικαλέσομαι, τὸν ποιοῦντα μεγάλα καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστα, ἔνδοξά τε καὶ ἐξαίσια, ὧν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀριθμός. Καὶ τό: Ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν, τιμὴ παρὰ παντοκράτορος: ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.