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them to walk in newness of life, he crushes their old man. For this reason, A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit. For the spirit of the world, which brought about sin, is crushed, so that a right spirit may be renewed in their inward parts. And the arm of the sinner is crushed, that is, the practical power of sin, so that his sin may be sought, and not be found. Such is also that which says, I will kill and I will make to live; I will smite, and I will heal. For he will kill the one living badly, so that after the cleansing of the worse life, he may grant him the new one. 1.60 For this reason, The lawless and the sinners shall be crushed together, so that they may cease to be insubordinate and disobedient. And those who have forsaken the Lord shall be consumed, as if the sin of forsaking the Lord will no longer be active. Such is also that in the Psalm: Let the wickedness of sinners be consumed. As if someone were to beseech a physician for the disease of the sick to be brought to an end, or for the spread of the decay to be hindered by his skill. But the 'consumption' is not in every case indicative of a complete annihilation, but prohibitive of the present activity of those who are active. For Paul also, prophesying to the Thessalonians about the son of perdition, said: Whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the spirit of his mouth and will bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence. For if the 'consumption' is a complete annihilation, how is he who no longer exists 'brought to nothing'? But clearly the falsehood in the lawless one is destroyed by the spirit of the mouth of truth, and so he will be brought to nothing by the manifestation of the presence of Christ. And we have observed in many places that vices are destroyed, not the substances themselves to which they belong, as in And he will destroy the way of sinners; and The way of the ungodly shall perish. 1.61 For they shall be ashamed of their idols, which they themselves desired. A great benefaction, even to be ashamed of a thing in which one previously rejoiced, being unable, through insensibility, to perceive the shame in it, but having his glory in his shame. Therefore, to be ashamed of idols works for the good of those who are ashamed. Which does not happen otherwise than when those who were formerly idolaters come to a conception of the true God. For then he is covered in shame, coming to an awareness of the absurdity, he who prays to lifeless things as if they have power to save. And every lover of pleasure, to whatever forbidden thing he is enslaved, having deified this, has as it were a kind of idol established in a profane temple, his own heart, being always with it through imagination and carrying about the images of the desirable thing within himself. For example, the lover of wealth, having his heart where his treasure is, worships the idol of covetousness. The glutton, enslaved to the desires for foods, has his own belly as a god. Cursed is the man who shall make a carved or molten thing, an abomination to the Lord. But blessed are those who according to the counsel of Jacob put away from themselves the foreign gods, and change their garments, going up to Bethel, that is, to the house of God, to make there an altar to God. Let us therefore put away the idols foreign to God and change our garments, having put off the old man; and even before that, let us put away the earrings that are in our ears, that is, the old teachings, with which we adorned ourselves. These things because of: They will be ashamed of their idols, which they themselves desired. For no one has the idols previously described by us unwillingly; because desiring the passions, we thus deify them. 1.62 And they were ashamed of their gardens, which they desired. We find the name 'garden' being taken in both ways, as in Genesis according to Aquila: And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden. Again, the land of Egypt, being slandered, is called a garden of vegetables. Again, there is a blameworthy mention of a garden: when Ahab desired the inheritance of Naboth the Jezreelite to make a garden of vegetables. But Ecclesiastes mentions it in a praiseworthy way, saying: I made for myself

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αὐτοὺς ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατῆσαι, συντρίβει αὐτῶν τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Θυσία τῷ Θεῷ πνεῦμα συντετριμ μένον. Συντρίβεται γὰρ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ κόσμου, τὸ ἐνεργῆσαν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἵνα τὸ εὐθὲς ἐγκαινισθῇ τοῖς ἐγκάτοις. Καὶ συντρίβεται ὁ βραχίων τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, τουτέστιν ἡ πρακτικὴ τῆς ἁμαρτίας δύναμις, ἵνα ζητηθῇ ἡ ἁμαρτία αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῇ. Τοιοῦτόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ Ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῇν ποιήσω· πατάξω, κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι. Ἀποκτενεῖ γὰρ τὸν κα κῶς ζῶντα, ἵνα μετὰ τὴν κάθαρσιν τῆς χείρονος ζωῆς, τὴν καινὴν αὐτῷ χαρίσηται. 1.60 ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Συντριβήσονται οἱ ἄνομοι καὶ οἱ ἁμαρ τωλοὶ ἅμα, ἵνα παύσωνται ἀνυπότακτοι εἶναι καὶ παρα κούοντες. Καὶ οἱ ἐγκαταλιπόντες τὸν Κύριον συντελεσθή σονται, οἱονεὶ οὐκέτι ἡ τοῦ ἐγκαταλείπειν τὸν Κύριον ἁμαρτία ἐνεργηθήσεται. Τοιοῦτόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ παρὰ τῷ Ψαλμῷ· Συντελεσθήτω δὴ πονηρία ἁμαρτωλῶν. Ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις ἰατρὸν παρακαλοίη συντελεσθῆναι τὴν νόσον τῶν ἀῤῥωστούντων, ἢ τὴν νομὴν τῆς σήψεως κωλυθῆναι διὰ τῆς τέχνης. Οὐ πάντως δὲ ἡ συντέλεια τοῦ παντελοῦς ἀφανι σμοῦ ἐστι σημαντική, ἀλλὰ τῆς κατὰ τόδε ἐνεργείας τῶν ἐνεργούντων κωλυτική. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Παῦλος, περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἀπωλείας προφητεύων Θεσσαλονικεῦσιν, ἔφη· Ὃν ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἀναλώσει πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ ἡ ἀνάλωσις παντελής ἐστιν ἀφανισμὸς, πῶς ὁ μηκέτι ὢν καταργεῖται; Ἀλλὰ δηλονότι τὸ ἐν τῷ ἀνόμῳ ψεῦδος τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος τῆς ἀληθείας ἐξαφανίζεται καὶ οὕτω καταργηθήσεται τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Χρι στοῦ. Πολλαχοῦ δὲ τετηρήκαμεν, ὅτι αἱ κακίαι ἐξαφανίζον ται, οὐκ αὐταὶ αἱ οὐσίαι, αἷς συμβεβήκασιν, ὡς ἐν τῷ Καὶ ὁδὸν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἀφανιεῖ· καὶ Ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν ἀπολεῖται. 1.61 ∆ιότι αἰσχυνθήσονται ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων αὐτῶν, ἃ αὐτοὶ ἠβούλοντο. Εὐεργεσία μεγάλη, καὶ τὸ αἰσχυνθῆναι ἐπὶ πράγματι, ᾧ πρὸ τούτου ἐπηγάλλετο, ὑπὸ ἀναισθησίας τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ αἰσχρὸν συνιδεῖν μὴ δυνάμενος, ἀλλὰ τὴν δόξαν ἔχων ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτοῦ. Τὸ οὖν αἰσχύνεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων ἐπ' ἀγαθῷ τῶν αἰσχυνομένων ἐνεργεῖται. Ὅπερ οὐκ ἄλλως γίνεται, ἢ εἰς ἔννοιαν ἐλθόντων τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν τέως εἰδωλολατρούντων. Τότε γὰρ ἐγκαλύπτεται, εἰς συναίσθη σιν ἐλθὼν τοῦ ἀτόπου, ὁ τοῖς ἀψύχοις, ὡς δύναμιν εἰς τὸ σώ ζειν ἔχουσι προσευχόμενος. Καὶ πᾶς δὲ ὁ φιλήδονος, ᾧπερ ἂν ᾖ δεδουλωμένος τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων, τοῦτο θεοποιήσας, οἷον εἴδωλόν τι ἔχει ἐν ναῷ βεβήλῳ, τῇ ἑαυτοῦ καρδίᾳ, καθ ιδρυμένον, ἀεὶ συνὼν αὐτῷ διὰ τῆς φαντασίας καὶ τὰς εἰκόνας τοῦ ἐπιθυμητοῦ ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιφέρων. Οἷον ὁ φιλόπλουτος, ὅπου ὁ θησαυρὸς αὐτοῦ, ἐκεῖ ἔχων τὴν καρδίαν, τῷ ἐκ τῆς πλεονεξίας εἰδώλῳ λατρεύει. Ὁ γαστρί μαργος ταῖς ἐν βρώμασιν ἐπιθυμίαις δεδουλωμένος, θεὸν ἔχει τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κοιλίαν. Ἐπικατάρατος δὲ ἄνθρωπος ὅστις ποιήσει γλυπτὸν ἢ χωνευτὸν, βδέλυγμα Κυρίῳ. Μακάριοι δὲ οἱ κατὰ τὴν συμβουλὴν Ἰακὼβ περιαιροῦντες ἑαυτῶν θεοὺς ἀλλο τρίους, καὶ ἀλλάσσοντες στολὰς, ἀναβαίνοντες εἰς Βαιθήλ, τουτέστιν εἰς οἶκον Θεοῦ, τοῦ ποιῆσαι ἐκεῖ θυσιαστήριον τῷ Θεῷ. Ἀποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἀλλότρια τοῦ Θεοῦ εἴδωλα καὶ ἀλλάξωμεν τὰς στολὰς, ἐκδυσάμενοι τὸν παλαιὸν ἄν θρωπον· καὶ ἔτι πρότερον τὰ ἐνώτια τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ἡμῶν ἀποθώμεθα, τουτέστι τὰ παλαιὰ διδάγματα, οἷς ἐκαλλωπι ζόμεθα. Ταῦτα διὰ τὸ Αἰσχυνθήσονται ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων αὐτῶν, ἃ αὐτοὶ ἐβούλοντο. Οὐδὲ γὰρ μὴ βουλόμενός τις ἔχει τὰ εἴδωλα τὰ προαποδεδομένα ἡμῖν· διότι ἐπιθυμήσαν τες τῶν παθῶν, οὕτω θεοποιοῦμεν αὐτά. 1.62 Καὶ ἐπῃσχύνθησαν ἐπὶ τοῖς κήποις αὐτῶν, ἃ ἐπεθύ μησαν. Ἐπαμφότερα παραληφθεῖσαν τοῦ κήπου τὴν προσηγο ρίαν εὑρίσκομεν, ὡς ἐν μὲν τῇ Γενέσει κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν· Καὶ ἐφύτευσε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς κῆπον ἐν Ἐδέμ. Πάλιν δὲ ἡ γῆ Αἰγύπτου διαβαλλομένη κῆπος εἴρηται λαχανίας. Πάλιν ψεκτὴ μνήμη κήπου· ἡνίκα Ἀχαὰβ ἐπεθύμει τὸν κλῆρον Ναβουθαὶ τοῦ Ἰεζραηλίτου κῆπον λαχάνων ποιῆσαι. Ἐπαινετῶς δὲ μέμνηται ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς λέγων· Ἐποίησά μοι