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of the wounds. Not only that, but also after He had shown Himself to them, that He was truly, and not in appearance, raised, He also ate with them and drank with them for a full forty days; and thus with the flesh, while they were watching, He was taken up to the One who sent Him, coming again with it in glory and power. For the scriptures say: This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. But if they say He is coming without a body at the consummation of the age, how will those who pierced Him also see Him and, recognizing Him, mourn for themselves? For of incorporeal beings there is neither form nor character nor any likeness of a creature having a shape, on account of the simplicity of their nature. And I exhort you in these things, beloved, knowing that you also hold them so. And I warn you against the beasts in human form, whom you must not only turn away from, but also flee, and only pray for them, if somehow they might repent. For if the Lord was in the body in appearance and was crucified in appearance, then I too am bound in appearance. And why have I given myself over to death, to fire, to the sword, to the beasts? But not in appearance, but in reality I endure all things for Christ, so as to suffer with Him, as He empowers me; for I do not have so much strength. Whom some, being ignorant, have denied, and advocate for the lie rather than for the truth; whom neither the prophecies nor the law of Moses persuaded, nor even to this day the gospel, nor our own individual sufferings. For they also think the same thing about us. For what does it profit, if someone praises me, but blasphemes my Lord, not confessing Him as God bearing flesh? He who does not say this has completely denied Him, being a bearer of a corpse. And their names, being unbelieving, it has not seemed good to me to write down now; and may it not be for me to make mention of them, until they repent.

Let no one be deceived; if anyone does not believe that Christ Jesus lived in the flesh, and does not confess His cross and suffering and the blood which He shed for the salvation of the world, this one will not obtain eternal life, whether he be king or priest, whether ruler or private citizen, whether master or slave, whether man or woman. Let him who has capacity for it receive it, let him who has ears hear. Let place and rank and wealth puff no one up, let dishonor and poverty humble no one; for the whole matter is faith in God and hope in Christ, the enjoyment of the good things for which we hope, and love for God and for our fellow man. For you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself, and the Lord says: This is eternal life, to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, and: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Take note, therefore, of those who hold other doctrines, how they legislate that the Father of Christ is unknown, how they have an untrustworthy enmity with one another; they do not care for love, they disregard the things hoped for, they reckon the present things as enduring, they overlook the commandments, they neglect the widow and the orphan, they spit upon the afflicted, they laugh at the one in bonds. They are ashamed of the cross, they mock the passion, they make a comedy of the resurrection. They are the offspring of the arch-evil spirit, who through the woman cast Adam out from the commandment, who killed Abel through Cain, who made war against Job, who accused Joshua the son of Josedech, who asked to sift the faith of the apostles, who incited the Jewish multitude against the Lord, who is also now at work in the sons of disobedience, from whom the Lord Jesus Christ will deliver us, who prayed that the faith of the apostles might not fail, not as though He were not sufficient to guard it, but as rejoicing in the pre-eminence of the Father. It is therefore fitting to keep away from such people, and to speak of them neither in private nor in public, but to pay attention to the law and

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πληγῶν. οὐ μὴν δέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἐπιδεῖξαι ἑαυτὸν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι ἀληθῶς, ἀλλ' οὐ τὸ δοκεῖν ἐγήγερται, καὶ συνέφαγεν αὐτοῖς καὶ συνέπιεν ἄχρις ἡμερῶν ὅλων τεσσαράκοντα· καὶ οὕτω σὺν τῇ σαρκὶ βλεπόντων αὐτῶν ἀνελήφθη πρὸς τὸν ἀποστείλαντα αὐτόν, σὺν αὐτῇ πάλιν ἐρχόμενος μετὰ δόξης καὶ δυνάμεως. φασὶν γὰρ τὰ λόγια· Oὗτος ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὁ ἀναληφθεὶς ἀφ' ὑμῶν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν οὕτως ἐλεύσεται, ὃν τρόπον ἐθεάσασθε αὐτὸν πορευόμενον εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. εἰ δὲ ἄνευ σώματός φασιν ἔρχεσθαι ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος, πῶς αὐτὸν καὶ ὄψονται οἱ ἐκκεντήσαντες καὶ ἐπιγνόντες κόψονται ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς; ἀσωμάτων γὰρ οὔτε εἶδος οὔτε χαρακτήρ ἐστιν ἤ τι μίμημα ζώου μορφὴν ἔχοντος, διὰ τὸ ἁπλοῦν τῆς φύσεως. Tαῦτα δὲ παραινῶ ὑμῖν, ἀγαπητοί, εἰδώς, ὅτι καὶ ὑμεῖς οὕτως ἔχετε. Προφυλάσσω δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἀνθρωπομόρφων, οὓς οὐ μόνον ἀποστρέφεσθαι χρή, ἀλλὰ καὶ φεύγειν, μόνον δὲ προσεύχεσθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, ἐάν πως μετανοήσωσιν. εἰ γὰρ τὸ δοκεῖν ἐν σώματι γέγονεν ὁ κύριος καὶ τὸ δοκεῖν ἐσταυρώθη, κἀγὼ τὸ δοκεῖν δέδεμαι. τί δὲ καὶ ἐμαυτὸν ἔκδοτον δέδωκα τῷ θανάτῳ πρὸς πῦρ, πρὸς μάχαιραν, πρὸς θηρία; ἀλλ' οὐ τὸ δοκεῖν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὄντι πάντα ὑπομένω διὰ Χριστὸν εἰς τὸ συμπαθεῖν αὐτῷ, αὐτοῦ με ἐνδυναμοῦντος· οὐ γάρ μοι τοσοῦτον σθένος. Ὅν τινες ἀγνοοῦντες ἠρνήσαντο καὶ συνηγοροῦσι τῷ ψεύδει μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· οὓς οὐκ ἔπεισαν αἱ προφητεῖαι οὐδ' ὁ νόμος ὁ Mωσέως, ἀλλ'οὐδὲ μέχρι νῦν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὰ ἡμέτερα τῶν κατ' ἄνδρα παθήματα. καὶ γὰρ περὶ ἡμῶν τὸ αὐτὸ φρονοῦσι. τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖ, εἰ ἐμὲ ἐπαινεῖ τις, τὸν δὲ κύριόν μου βλασφημεῖ, μὴ ὁμολογῶν αὐτὸν σαρκοφόρον θεόν; ὁ δὲ τοῦτο μὴ λέγων τελείως αὐτὸν ἀπήρνηται, ὢν νεκροφόρος. τὰ δὲ ὀνόματα αὐτῶν, ὄντα ἄπιστα, νῦν οὐκ ἔδοξέ μοι ἐγγράψαι· μηδὲ γένοιτό μοι αὐτῶν μνημονεύειν, μέχρις οὗ μετανοήσωσιν.

Mηδεὶς πλανάσθω· ἐὰν μή τις πιστεύσῃ, Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐν σαρκὶ πεπολιτεῦσθαι, καὶ ὁμολογήσῃ τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ πάθος καὶ τὸ αἷμα, ὃ ἐξέχεεν ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου σωτηρίας, οὗτος ζωῆς αἰωνίου οὐ τεύξεται, κἂν βασιλεὺς ᾖ κἂν ἱερεύς, κἂν ἄρχων κἂν ἰδιώτης, κἂν δεσπότης ἢ δοῦλος, κἂν ἀνὴρ ἢ γυνή. ὁ χωρῶν χωρείτω, ὁ ἀκούων ἀκουέτω. τόπος καὶ ἀξίωμα καὶ πλοῦτος μηδένα φυσιούτω, ἀδοξία καὶ πενία μηδένα ταπεινούτω· τὸ γὰρ ὅλον ἐστὶν πίστις ἡ εἰς θεὸν καὶ ἡ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐλπίς, ἡ τῶν προσδοκωμένων ἀγαθῶν ἀπόλαυσις, ἀγάπη τε περὶ τὸν θεὸν καὶ τὸ ὁμόφυλον. ἀγαπήσεις γὰρ κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν, καὶ ὁ κύριός φησιν· Aὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή, τὸ γινώσκειν τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλεν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καί· Ἐντολὴν καινὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους· ἐν ταύταις ταῖς δυσὶν ἐντολαῖς ὅλος ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κρέμανται. καταμάθετε οὖν τοὺς ἑτεροδοξοῦντας, πῶς νομοθετοῦσιν ἄγνωστον εἶναι τὸν πατέρα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, πῶς ἄπιστον ἔχθραν μετ' ἀλλήλων ἔχουσιν· ἀγάπης αὐτοῖς οὐ μέλει, τῶν προσδοκωμένων ἀλογοῦσι, τὰ παρόντα ὡς ἑστῶτα λογίζονται, τὰς ἐντολὰς παρορῶσιν, χήραν καὶ ὀρφανὸν περιορῶσιν, θλιβόμενον διαπτύουσιν, δεδεμένον γελῶσιν. Tὸν σταυρὸν ἐπαισχύνονται, τὸ πάθος χλευάζουσι, τὴν ἀνάστασιν κωμῳδοῦσιν. ἔγγονοί εἰσι τοῦ ἀρχεκάκου πνεύματος, τοῦ τὸν Ἀδὰμ διὰ τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς ἐντολῆς ἐξώσαντος, τοῦ τὸν Ἄβελ διὰ τοῦ Kάϊν ἀποκτείναντος, τοῦ τῷ Ἰὼβ ἐπιστρατεύσαντος, τοῦ κατηγοροῦντος Ἰησοῦ τοῦ τοῦ Ἰωσεδέκ, τοῦ ἐξαιτησαμένου σινιασθῆναι τῶν ἀποστόλων τὴν πίστιν, τοῦ τὸ ἰουδαϊκὸν πλῆθος ἐπεγείραντος τῷ κυρίῳ, τοῦ καὶ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας, ὧν ῥύσεται ἡμᾶς ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ὁ δεηθεὶς μὴ ἐκλείπειν τὴν πίστιν τῶν ἀποστόλων, οὐχ ὡς μὴ αὐταρκῶν φυλάξαι αὐτήν, ἀλλ' ὡς χαίρων τῇ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑπεροχῇ. πρέπον οὖν ἐστιν ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν τοιούτων, καὶ μήτε κατ' ἰδίαν περὶ αὐτῶν λαλεῖν μήτε κοινῇ, προσέχειν δὲ νόμῳ καὶ