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but not as the Jews; for it was not flesh, but sins that you put off. When, and where? In baptism. And what he calls circumcision, he again calls a tomb. See how he again passes on to ordinances. Of the sins, he says, of the flesh; that is, those things which they did in the flesh. He speaks of something greater than circumcision; for they did not cast away that which was circumcised, but destroyed it, but corrupted it. Having been buried with him, he says, in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. But it is not only a tomb; for see what he says: In which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. He has said well; for it is all of faith. You believed that God is able to raise, and so you were raised. Then also the trustworthy point, Who raised him, he says, from the dead. He already shows the resurrection: And you, being once dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made alive together with him. For you lay under the sentence of death. But even if you died, it was not simply, but a useful death. See how again he shows of what things they were worthy, by what he added: Having forgiven us all our trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross; having put off from himself the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Having forgiven us, he says, all our trespasses. Which ones? Those which caused the state of death. And what? Did he allow it to remain? No, but he also blotted it out; he did not just cross it out, but blotted it out, so that it might not even appear. By the ordinances, he says. By what ordinances? By faith. Therefore it is sufficient to believe. Not by works for works, but by faith he has set aside works. And what after these things? An intensification of the forgiving, the blotting out again. And he has taken it, he says, out of the way. And not even so did he keep it, but he also tore it apart, Nailing it to the cross. Having put off from himself the principalities and the powers he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Nowhere did he speak so grandiloquently. 3. Do you see how much effort he made for the handwriting to be destroyed? As for example, we were all under sin and punishment; he himself, being punished, loosed both the sin and the punishment; and he was punished on the cross. There, then, he nailed it; then, as having authority, he finally tore it apart. What handwriting? Either he means this, which they said to Moses, that All that God has said, we will do, and we will listen; or if not this, that we owe obedience to God; or if not this, that the devil held the handwriting which God made with Adam, saying: In whatever day you eat of the tree, you shall die. 62.341 The devil, therefore, held this handwriting. And Christ did not give it to us, but he himself tore it, which is the act of one forgiving with joy. Having put off from himself the principalities and the powers. He means the diabolical powers; either because human nature had put them on, or because they had them as a kind of handle, having become human he put off the handle. This is, He made a show of them. And he said this well; for never was the devil so disgraced. For expecting to hold him, he lost even those he had, and while the body was being nailed, the dead were rising. There the devil received the wound, receiving the fatal blow from a dead body. And just as an athlete, thinking he has thrown his opponent, himself receives a fatal blow from him; so also he shows that to die with boldness is a disgrace for the devil. For he would have done everything, if indeed he was able, to persuade men that he had not died. For since all time after this was proof of the resurrection, but of his death, if it had not happened then, there would not have been another time, for this reason he died publicly in the sight of all, but did not rise publicly, knowing that the time after this would bear witness

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ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς Ἰουδαῖοι· οὐ γὰρ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἀπεξεδύσασθε. Πότε, καὶ ποῦ; Ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι. Καὶ ὃ καλεῖ περιτομὴν, πάλιν τάφον καλεῖ. Ὅρα πῶς πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰ δικαιώματα διαβαίνει. Τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, φησὶ, τῶν τῆς σαρκός· τουτέστιν, ἅπερ ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ ἔπραξαν. Μεῖζον τῆς περιτομῆς λέγει· οὐ γὰρ ἔῤῥιψαν τὸ περιτμηθὲν, ἀλλ' ἀπώλεσαν, ἀλλ' ἔφθειραν. Συνταφέντες αὐτῷ, φησὶν, ἐν τῷ βαπτισμῷ, ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Ἀλλ' οὐ τάφος μόνον ἐστίν· ὅρα γὰρ τί φησιν· Ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Καλῶς εἶπε· πίστεως γὰρ ὅλον ἐστίν. Ἐπιστεύσατε ὅτι δύναται ὁ Θεὸς ἐγεῖραι, καὶ οὕτως ἠγέρθητε. Εἶτα καὶ τὸ ἀξιόπιστον, Τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν, φησὶν, ἐκ νεκρῶν. Ἤδη δείκνυσι τὴν ἀνάστασιν· Καὶ ὑμᾶς ποτε ὄντας νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασι καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν, συνεζωοποίησε σὺν αὐτῷ. Ὑπὸ γὰρ τὴν δίκην ἔκεισθε ἀποθανεῖν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀπεθάνετε, ἀλλ' οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ θάνατον χρήσιμον. Ὅρα πῶς πάλιν δείκνυσι τίνων ἦσαν ἄξιοι, δι' ὧν ἐπήγαγε· Χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν πάντα τὰ παραπτώματα. Ἐξαλείψας τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον τοῖς δόγμασιν, ὃ ἦν ὑπεναντίον ἡμῖν, καὶ αὐτὸ ἦρκεν ἐκ τοῦ μέσου, προσηλώσας αὐτὸ τῷ σταυρῷ, ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας, ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παῤῥησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ. Χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν, φησὶ, πάντα τὰ παραπτώματα. Ποῖα; Ἃ τὴν νεκρότητα ἐποίει. Καὶ τί; ἆρα ἀφῆκε μεῖναι; Οὐχὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξήλειψεν· οὐκ ἐχάραξε μόνον, ἀλλ' ἐξήλειψεν, ὥστε μηδὲ φαίνεσθαι. Τοῖς δόγμασι, φησί. Ποίοις δόγμασι; Τῇ πίστει. Οὐκοῦν ἀρκεῖ πιστεῦσαι. Οὐχὶ ἔργοις ἔργα, ἀλλὰ πίστει ἔργα παρέθηκε. Καὶ τί μετὰ ταῦτα; Ἐπίτασις τοῦ ἀφιέναι τὸ ἐξαλεῖψαι πάλιν. Καὶ αὐτὸ ἦρκε, φησὶν, ἐκ τοῦ μέσου. Καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἐφύλαξεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διέῤῥηξεν αὐτὸ, Προσηλώσας τῷ σταυρῷ. Ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παῤῥησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ. Οὐδαμοῦ οὕτω μεγαλοφώνως ἐφθέγξατο. γʹ. Ὁρᾷς σπουδὴν τοῦ ἀφανισθῆναι τὸ χειρόγραφον ὅσην ἐποιήσατο; Οἷον, πάντες ἦμεν ὑφ' ἁμαρτίαν καὶ κόλασιν· αὐτὸς κολασθεὶς ἔλυσε καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ τὴν κόλασιν· ἐκολάσθη δὲ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ. Ἐκεῖ οὖν αὐτὸ προσέπειρεν· εἶτα ὡς ἐξουσίαν ἔχων, λοιπὸν διέῤῥηξε. Ποῖον χειρόγραφον; Ἢ τοῦτό φησιν, ὃ ἔλεγον πρὸς τὸν Μωϋσέα, ὅτι Πάντα ὅσα εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς ποιήσομεν, καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα· ἢ εἰ μὴ τοῦτο, ὅτι ὀφείλομεν τῷ Θεῷ ὑπακοήν· ἢ εἰ μὴ τοῦτο, ὅτι κατεῖχεν ὁ διάβολος τὸ χειρόγραφον ὃ ἐποίησε πρὸς τὸν Ἀδὰμ ὁ Θεὸς, εἰπών· Ἧ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγῃς ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, ἀποθανῇ. 62.341 Κατεῖχεν οὖν τὸ χειρόγραφον τοῦτο ὁ διάβολος. Καὶ οὐκ ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν αὐτὸ ὁ Χριστὸς, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς αὐτὸ ἔσχισεν, ὅπερ τοῦ μετὰ χαρᾶς ἀφιέντος ἐστίν. Ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας. Τὰς διαβολικὰς δυνάμεις λέγει· ἢ ἐπεὶ αὐτὰς ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις ἐνδέδυτο, ἢ ἐπειδὴ αὐτὰς ὥσπερ λαβὴν εἶχον, ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος ἀπεδύσατο τὴν λαβήν. Τοῦτό ἐστιν, Ἐδειγμάτισε. Καὶ καλῶς εἶπε τοῦτο· οὐδέποτε γὰρ οὕτως ὁ διάβολος ἠσχημόνησε. Προσδοκῶν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἔχειν, καὶ ὅσους εἶχεν ἀπώλεσε, καὶ τοῦ σώματος προσηλουμένου, οἱ νεκροὶ ἀνίσταντο. Ἐκεῖ τὴν πληγὴν ἔλαβεν ὁ διάβολος, ὑπὸ σώματος νεκροῦ τὴν καιρίαν λαβών. Καὶ καθάπερ ἀθλητὴς νομίζων τὸν ἀντίπαλον βεβληκέναι, καιρίαν αὐτὸς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ λαμβάνει πληγήν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ οὗτος δείκνυσιν, ὅτι τὸ μετὰ παῤῥησίας ἀποθανεῖν, ἀσχημοσύνη ἐστὶ τοῦ διαβόλου. Πάντα γὰρ ἂν ἐποίησεν ἐκεῖνος, εἴ γε ἠδύνατο, ὥστε πεῖσαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ὅτι οὐκ ἀπέθανεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῆς μὲν ἀναστάσεως ὁ μετὰ ταῦτα πᾶς καιρὸς τεκμήριον ἦν, τοῦ δὲ θανάτου, εἰ μὴ ἐκεῖνος ἐγένετο, οὐκ ἂν ἐγένετο ἕτερος καιρὸς, διὰ τοῦτο ἀπέθανε μὲν δημοσίᾳ πάντων ὁρώντων, οὐκ ἀνέστη δὲ δημοσίᾳ, εἰδὼς τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνον μαρτυρήσοντα