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the sins of Jerusalem, the sins also of Sodom, but by comparison with the worse sins of Jerusalem, the sins of Sodom are righteousness; for it says, “Sodom was justified by you.” Just as, therefore, the sins of Sodom are not righteousness but injustice, yet in relation to the greater <but> injustice it is righteousness, so on the contrary is knowledge; the knowledge that Paul possessed, in relation to that knowledge which is in the heavens, in relation to perfect knowledge, is folly; for this reason “every man became foolish from knowledge.” Understanding something of this sort, I think, Ecclesiastes said: “I said: I will be wise; and it was far from me, farther than it was, and a deep depth, who will find it?” 8.8 The Word is about to dare something and say that the one who came into this life “emptied himself,” so that by his emptying the world might be filled; and if that one who came into this life emptied <himself>, that very emptying was wisdom, “because the foolishness of God is wiser than men.” If I had said “the foolishness of God,” how the faultfinders would have accused me! how they would have blamed me! how, though a thousand things considered good even by them had been said, would I have been accused for this one thing, which they think was not well said, because I said “the foolishness of God”? But now Paul, as one wise and having apostolic authority, dared to say that all wisdom on earth, both that in himself and that in Peter and the apostles, all that has come to the world, is “the foolishness of God”; for in relation to that wisdom for which there is no room on earth, in relation to that super-celestial, super-cosmic wisdom, this which has come is the foolishness of God. But this “foolishness of God is wiser than men”; what men? I do not mean the foolish, but it is wiser even than wise men; and whether you speak of the wise of this age, either “rulers” or prophets of the “rulers of this age,” “the foolishness of God,” of which I have spoken, “is wiser than men.” 8.9 The Word is about to say something paradoxical, that “the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God,” and “God has made foolish the wisdom of the world.” Did he in wisdom make foolish the wisdom of the world? And is the wisdom of the world able to contain wisdom, so as to be convicted of being foolish? For does the wisdom of God strive against the wisdom of the world, in order to be convicted by it? But there is need of some small thing, which is the small foolishness of God, so that by this slight foolishness of God the wisdom of the world may be made foolish and convicted; for the wisdom of this world could not bear the wisdom of God. For example, so that you may understand that “the foolishness of God” “made foolish the wisdom of the world,” let it be granted that I, seeming to know many and more things, am contending with someone foolish and uneducated and understanding nothing and not striving for noble words of any kind; do I have need of dialectic with him or of deeper theories, if his thoughts are foolish? Do I not have need of a single small word a little sharper than his own expression, in order that I might be able to refute his folly? Thus, in order that the wisdom of this world might be made foolish, there is no need for the wisdom of God to contend against it—for it is below—but the foolishness of God is sufficient, because “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” And my Savior and Lord has taken up all opposites, in order that by opposites he might undo opposites, and we might be strengthened by the weakness of Jesus and be made wise by the foolishness of God and, being introduced in these things, we might be able to ascend to the wisdom, to the strength of God, Christ Jesus, to whom is the glory and the power for ever. Amen. 9.t On “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Hear the words of this covenant” up to “they turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers.” Homily 9. 9.1 According to the recorded presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, his visitation occurred bodily

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ἁμαρτήματα τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἁμαρτήματα καὶ Σοδόμων, ἀλλὰ συγκρίσει τῶν χειρόνων ἁμαρτη μάτων τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ δικαιοσύνη ἐστὶν τὰ Σοδόμων ἁμαρτήματα· «ἐδικαιώθη» γάρ φησι «Σόδομα ἐκ σοῦ». Ὥσπερ οὖν οὐχὶ δικαιοσύνη τὰ Σοδόμων ἁμαρτήματα ἀλλὰ ἀδικία, ὡς πρὸς τὴν πλείονα <δὲ> ἀδικίαν δικαιοσύνη ἐστίν, οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου γνῶσις· ἡ οὖσα Παύλῳ γνῶσις ὡς πρὸς τὴν γνῶσιν ἐκείνην τὴν οὖσαν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ὡς πρὸς τὴν τελείαν γνῶσιν μωρία ἐστίν· διὰ τοῦτο «ἐμωράνθη πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἀπὸ γνώσεως». Τοιοῦ τόν τι οἶμαι καταλαμβάνων ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς ἔλεγεν· «Εἶπα· σοφισθήσομαι· καὶ αὐτὴ ἐμακρύνθη ἀπ' ἐμοῦ μακρὰν ὑπὲρ ὃ ἦν, καὶ βαθὺ βάθος, τίς εὑρήσει αὐτό;» 8.8 Μέλλει τι ἐπιτολμᾶν ὁ λόγος καὶ λέγειν, ὅτι τὸ ἐπιδη μῆσαν τῷ βίῳ «ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτό», ἵνα τῷ κενώματι αὐτοῦ πληρωθῇ ὁ κόσμος· εἰ δὲ ἐκένωσεν <ἑαυτὸ> ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἐπιδημῆσαν τῷ βίῳ, αὐτὸ ἐκεῖνο τὸ κένωμα σοφία ἦν, «ὅτι τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ σοφώτερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν». Εἰ ἐγὼ εἰρήκειν «τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ», πῶς ἂν οἱ φιλαίτιοι ἐνεκάλεσάν μοι; πῶς ἂν ἐμέμψαντό μοι; πῶς ἂν χιλίων μὲν εἰρημένων τῶν νομιζομένων καὶ αὐτοῖς καλῶν, τούτου δὲ ὡς οἴονται οὐ καλῶς εἰρημένου κατηγορήθην, διότι εἶπον «τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ»; Νυνὶ δὲ Παῦλος ὡς σοφὸς καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχων ἀποστολικὴν ἐτόλμησεν εἰπεῖν πᾶσαν τὴν ἐπὶ γῆς σοφίαν, καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἐν Πέτρῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, πᾶσαν τὴν ἐπιδημήσασαν τῷ κόσμῳ εἶναι «τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ»· ὡς γὰρ πρὸς ἐκείνην τὴν σοφίαν, ἣν οὐ χωρεῖ ἐπὶ γῆς τόπος, ὡς πρὸς ἐκείνην τὴν σοφίαν τὴν ὑπερουράνιον, τὴν ὑπερκόσμιον, τοῦτο τὸ ἐπιδημῆσαν μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο «τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ σοφώ τερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν»· ποίων ἀνθρώπων; Οὐ τῶν μωρῶν λέγω, ἀλλὰ σοφώτερόν ἐστι καὶ τῶν σοφῶν ἀνθρώ πων· κἂν τοὺς σοφοὺς εἴπῃς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου εἴτε «ἄρχοντας» εἴτε προφήτας τῶν «ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου», «τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ», ὃ διηγησάμην, «σοφώ τερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν». 8.9 Παράδοξόν τι μέλλει λέγειν ὁ λόγος, ὅτι «ἡ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου μωρία παρὰ τῷ θεῷ ἐστιν», καὶ «ἐμώρανεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου». Ἆρα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐμώρανεν τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου; καὶ δύναται χωρῆσαι τὴν σοφίαν, ἵν' ἐλεγχθῇ μωρὰ εἶναι, ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σοφία; ἀγωνίζεται γὰρ ἡ σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου, ἵνα ἐλεγχθῇ πρὸς αὐτήν; Ἀλλ' ὀλίγου τινὸς χρεία ἐστίν, ὅπερ ὀλίγον μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν, ἵνα τούτῳ τῷ βραχεῖ μωρῷ τοῦ θεοῦ μωρανθῇ ἡ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ἐλεγχθῇ· οὐ γὰρ ἔφερεν ἡ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου τούτου τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ θεοῦ. Οἷον ἐπὶ παραδείγματος, ἵνα νοήσῃς ὅτι «τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ» «ἐμώρανεν τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου», δεδόσθω με ἀγωνίζεσθαι, δοκοῦντά με εἰδέναι πολλὰ καὶ πλείονα, πρός τινα ἀνόητον καὶ ἀπαίδευτον καὶ μηδὲν συνιέντα καὶ μὴ ἀγωνιζόμενον ὑπὲρ λόγων γενναίων ὁποιωνδήποτε· ἆρα χρείαν ἔχω διαλεκτικῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἢ θεωρημάτων βαθυτέρων, ἐὰν ᾖ μωρὰ αὐτοῦ τὰ νοήματα; Οὐχ ἑνός μοι λεξιδίου χρεία ἐστὶν ὀλίγῳ δριμυτέρου παρὰ τὴν ἐκείνου λέξιν, ἵνα ἐλέγξαι δυνηθῶ τὴν ἐκείνου μωρίαν; Οὕτως ἵνα μωρανθῇ ἡ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, οὐ χρεία τῆς σοφίας τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγωνιζομένης πρὸς αὐτήν, -αὐτὴ γὰρ κάτω ἐστίν, - ἀλλὰ ἀρκεῖ τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅτι «τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ σοφώτερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν, καὶ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τοῦ θεοῦ ἰσχυρότερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν». Καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐναντία ὁ σωτήρ μου καὶ κύριος ἀνείληφεν, ἵνα τοῖς ἐναντίοις λύσῃ τὰ ἐναντία, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἰσχυροποιη θῶμεν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσθενείας Ἰησοῦ καὶ σοφισθῶμεν ἀπὸ τοῦ μωροῦ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ εἰσαχθέντες ἐν τούτοις δυνηθῶμεν ἀναβῆναι ἐπὶ τὴν σοφίαν, ἐπὶ τὴν ἰσχὺν τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, ᾧ ἐστιν ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν. 9.t Εἰς τὸ «ὁ λόγος ὁ γενόμενος πρὸς τὸν Ἱερεμίαν παρὰ κυρίου λέγων· ἀκούσατε τοὺς λόγους τῆς διαθήκης ταύτης» μέχρι τοῦ «ἐπεστράφησαν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀδικίας τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν τῶν πρότερον». Ὁμιλία θʹ. 9.1 Κατὰ μὲν τὴν ἱστορουμένην παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ γέγονεν αὐτοῦ ἡ ἐπιδημία σωματικῶς