22

reasoning, and faith is like a safe ship. 2. Therefore, those who have turned aside from there must be shipwrecked, and he shows this by an example. Of whom are Hymenaeus, he says, and Alexander. And by these he chastens us. Do you see how from those times there were those who taught strange doctrines, who were meddlesome, who kept away from the faith, who sought with their own reasonings? The one who is shipwrecked is naked and destitute of all things; so also he who has fallen from the faith has nothing left, nowhere to stand, nowhere to hold on; he has no life, through which he might gain anything from there; for with the head having been corrupted, what is the benefit of the rest of the body? For if faith without a life is nothing, much more the opposite. If God despises his own things for our sake, much more ought we to despise our own things for his sake. For so it is, when someone falls from the faith; he stands nowhere, but swims this way and that, until he is drowned again. Whom I have delivered, he says, to Satan, that they may be taught not to blaspheme. Do you see that it is blasphemy to seek after divine things with reasonings? Rightly so; for what would human reasoning have in common with those things? But how does Satan teach them not to blaspheme? for if he teaches others not to blaspheme, much more ought he himself; but if until now he is not able to teach himself, neither can he teach others. He did not say, 'that he might teach them not to blaspheme,' but, 'that they may be taught not to blaspheme.' He does not work this, but this is the result; just as he says elsewhere concerning the fornicator: 'Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh'; not that he might save the body, but that the spirit may be saved; but this is impersonal. How then does this happen? Therefore, just as executioners, though full of countless evils, chasten others, so it is also here in the case of the evil demon. And why did you not punish them yourself, like that Bar-Jesus, as Cephas did Ananias, but delivered them to Satan? Not that they might be punished, but that they might be taught. And yet he also has power, as when he says: 'What do you wish, shall I come to you with a rod?' and again: 'Not that we should be approved, but that you should do what is right'; and again, 'Not for tearing down, but for building up.' Why then does he call Satan for the punishment? So that with the vehemence and the punishment, the insult might also be greater; or rather, they themselves taught the unbelievers, but those who had turned aside they delivered to Satan. Why then did Peter [punish] Ananias? For Ananias was still an unbeliever in his tempting. Therefore, that the unbelievers might learn that they cannot escape notice, for this reason they punished them themselves; but those who had learned this, and then turned aside, they delivered to Satan, showing that they were not restrained by their own power, but by their protection, and that those were delivered up who were lifted up into recklessness. Therefore, just as in the case of kings, they slay their enemies with their own hands, but deliver their subjects to the executioners, so also here. And from this it is shown that this happened because of the protection of the apostles; for otherwise it was no small thing to be able to command the devil; for this showed that the devil serves and yields and is unwillingly subject to the apostles. So that this was no less a matter of grace. But how he delivered him, listen. 'When you are assembled,' he says, 'and my Spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan.' Therefore, he was immediately cast out 62.529 of the common assembly, was cut off from the flock, became desolate and naked, was delivered to the wolf. For just as the cloud marked the camp of the Hebrews, so the Spirit marked the Church. Therefore if anyone was outside, he was consumed by fire; and he was made to be outside by the judgment of the apostles. So also the Lord delivered Judas to Satan; for immediately after the morsel, Satan entered into him. And it is also possible to say this, that those whom they wished to correct, they did not punish themselves;

22

λογισμὸς, καὶ ὥσπερ πλοῖον ἀσφαλές ἐστιν ἡ πίστις. βʹ. Τοὺς ἐκτραπέντας τοίνυν ἐκεῖθεν ἀνάγκη ναυαγεῖν, καὶ δείκνυσι τοῦτο ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑποδείγματος. Ὧν ἐστιν Ὑμέναιος, φησὶ, καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος. Καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων ἡμᾶς σωφρονίζει. Ὁρᾶτε πῶς ἐξ ἐκείνων τῶν χρόνων ἦσαν οἱ παραδιδάσκοντες, οἱ πολυπραγμονοῦντες, οἱ τῆς πίστεως ἀπεχόμενοι, οἱ ζητοῦντες λογισμοῖς οἰκείοις; Ὁ ναυαγῶν γυμνὸς καὶ πάντων ἐστὶν ἔρημος· οὕτω καὶ ὁ τῆς πίστεως ἐκπεσὼν οὐδὲν ἔχει λοιπὸν, οὐχ ὅπου στῇ, οὐχ ὅπου κατάσχῃ· οὐ βίον ἔχει, δι' οὗ κερδαίνῃ τι ἐκεῖθεν· τῆς γὰρ κεφαλῆς διεφθαρμένης, τί τοῦ λοιποῦ σώματος ὄφελος; Εἰ γὰρ ἡ πίστις βίου χωρὶς οὐδέν ἐστι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοὐναντίον. Εἰ τῶν αὑτοῦ καταφρονεῖ ὁ Θεὸς δι' ἡμᾶς, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμᾶς τῶν ἡμετέρων δι' αὐτὸν χρὴ καταφρονεῖν. Οὕτω γάρ ἐστιν, ὅταν τις ἐκπέσῃ τῆς πίστεως· οὐδαμοῦ ἵσταται, ἀλλὰ ἄλλην ἄλλως νήχεται, ἕως ἂν καταποντισθῇ πάλιν. Οὓς παρέδωκα, φησὶ, τῷ Σατανᾷ, ἵνα παιδευθῶσι μὴ βλασφημεῖν. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι βλασφημία ἐστὶ τὸ λογισμοῖς ζητεῖν τὰ θεῖα; Εἰκότως· τί γὰρ ἂν ἔχοι κοινὸν λογισμὸς ἀνθρώπινος πρὸς ἐκεῖνα; Πῶς δὲ ὁ Σατανᾶς αὐτοὺς παιδεύει μὴ βλασφημεῖν; εἰ γὰρ τοὺς ἄλλους παιδεύει μὴ βλασφημεῖν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἑαυτὸν ἐχρῆν· εἰ δὲ ἑαυτὸν μέχρι τοῦ νῦν οὐ δύναται παιδεῦσαι, οὐδὲ τοὺς ἄλλους. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἵνα παιδεύσῃ αὐτοὺς μὴ βλασφημεῖν, ἀλλ', Ἵνα παιδευθῶσι μὴ βλασφημεῖν. Οὐκ ἐκεῖνος τοῦτο ἐργάζεται, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἐκβαίνει· ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν ἐπὶ τοῦ πεπορνευκότος· Παράδοτε τὸν τοιοῦτον τῷ Σατανᾷ εἰς ὄλεθρον τῆς σαρκός· οὐχ ἵνα σώσῃ τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ' ἵνα σωθῇ τὸ πνεῦμα· τοῦτο δὲ ἀπρόσωπόν ἐστι. Πῶς οὖν τοῦτο γίνεται; Ὥσπερ οὖν οἱ δήμιοι μυρίων γέμοντες κακῶν τοὺς ἄλλους σωφρονίζουσιν, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐπὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος. Καὶ διὰ τί μὴ σὺ αὐτοὺς ἐκόλασας, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνον τὸν Βαριησοῦν, ὥσπερ Κηφᾶς Ἀνανίαν, ἀλλὰ τῷ Σατανᾷ παρέδωκας; Οὐχ ἵνα κολασθῶσιν, ἀλλ' ἵνα παιδευθῶσι. Καίτοι καὶ οὗτος ἔχει ἰσχὺν, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Τί θέλετε, ἐν ῥάβδῳ ἔλθω πρὸς ὑμᾶς; καὶ πάλιν· Οὐχ ἵνα ἡμεῖς δόκιμοι ὦμεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα ὑμεῖς τὸ καλὸν ποιῆτε· καὶ πάλιν, Οὐκ εἰς καθαίρεσιν, ἀλλ' εἰς οἰκοδομήν. Τί οὖν τὸν Σατανᾶν καλεῖ πρὸς τὴν τιμωρίαν; Ἵνα μετὰ τῆς σφοδρότητος καὶ τῆς κολάσεως καὶ ἡ ὕβρις ᾖ μείζων· μᾶλλον δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἀπίστους αὐτοὶ ἐπαίδευον, τοὺς δὲ ἐκτραπέντας τῷ Σατανᾷ παρεδίδουν. Τί δήποτε δὲ Πέτρος τὸν Ἀνανίαν; καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ἀνανίας ἄπιστος ἦν ἔτι πειράζων. Ἵνα μάθωσι τοίνυν οἱ ἄπιστοι, ὅτι οὐ δύνανται λαθεῖν, διὰ τοῦτο δι' ἑαυτῶν αὐτοὺς ἐτιμωροῦντο· τοὺς δὲ τοῦτο μαθόντας λοιπὸν, εἶτα ἐκτραπέντας, τῷ Σατανᾷ παρεδίδουν, δεικνύντες ὅτι οὐκ οἰκείᾳ δυνάμει, ἀλλὰ τῇ αὐτῶν φυλακῇ συνείχοντο, καὶ παρεδίδοντο ὅσοι εἰς ἀπόνοιαν ἤρθησαν. Καθάπερ οὖν ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων, τοὺς μὲν πολεμίους καὶ οἰκείαις σφάττουσι χερσὶ, τοὺς δὲ ὑφ' ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς δημίοις παραδιδόασιν, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα. ∆είκνυται δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου, ὅτι διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀποστόλων φυλακὴν τοῦτο ἐγίνετο· ἄλλως δὲ οὐδὲ μικρὸν ἦν τὸ δύνασθαι ἐπιτάττειν τῷ διαβόλῳ· τοῦτο γὰρ δεικνύντος ἦν, ὅτι δουλεύει καὶ εἴκει καὶ ἄκων τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ὁ διάβολος. Ὥστε οὐκ ἔλαττον εἰς χάριν τοῦτο ἦν. Πῶς δὲ παρέδωκεν, ἄκουσον. Συναχθέντων ὑμῶν, φησὶ, καὶ τοῦ ἐμοῦ Πνεύματος σὺν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, παράδοτε τὸν τοιοῦτον τῷ Σατανᾷ. Ἐξεβάλλετο οὖν 62.529 εὐθέως τοῦ κοινοῦ συνεδρίου, ἀπεσχίζετο τῆς ἀγέλης, ἐγίνετο ἔρημος καὶ γυμνὸς, παρεδίδοτο τῷ λύκῳ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ νεφέλη τὸ στρατόπεδον τῶν Ἑβραίων, οὕτω τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐγνώριζεν. Εἴ τις τοίνυν ἐκτὸς ἐγίνετο, κατεκαίετο· ἐγίνετο δὲ ἐκτὸς τῇ κρίσει τῶν ἀποστόλων. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Κύριος παρέδωκε τὸν Ἰούδαν τῷ Σατανᾷ· εὐθέως γὰρ μετὰ τὸ ψωμίον εἰσῆλθεν εἰς ἐκεῖνον ὁ Σατανᾶς. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, ὅτι οὓς μὲν διορθώσασθαι ἐβούλοντο, οὐκ ἐκόλαζον αὐτοί·