[That It is the Will of God that Men Should Be of One Mind in Matters of Religion, in Accord with the Heavenly Powers.]

LVI. For this is that which our Lord taught us when we pray to say to His Father, “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon earth;”  246  Matt. vi. 10. that as the heavenly natures of the incorporeal powers do all glorify God with one consent, so also upon earth all men with one mouth and one purpose may glorify the only, the one, and the true God, by Christ His only-begotten. It is therefore His will that men should praise Him with unanimity, and adore Him with one consent.  247  “And adore him with one consent” is omitted in one V. ms. For this is His will in Christ, that those who are saved by Him may be many; but that you do not occasion any loss or diminution to Him, nor to the Church, or lessen the number by one soul of man, as destroyed by you, which might have been saved by repentance; and which therefore perishes not only by its own sin, but also by your treachery besides, whereby you fulfil that which is written, “He that gathereth not with me, scattereth.”  248  Matt. xii. 30. Such a one is a disperser of the sheep, an adversary, an enemy of God, a destroyer of those lambs whose Shepherd was the Lord, and we were the collectors out of various nations and tongues, by much pains and danger, and perpetual labour, by watchings, by fastings, by lyings on the ground, by persecutions, by stripes, by imprisonments, that we might do the will of God, and fill the feast-chamber with guests to sit down at His table, that is, the holy and Catholic Church, with joyful and chosen people, singing hymns and praises to God that has called them by us to life. And you, as much as in you lies, have dispersed them. Do you also of the laity be at peace with one another, endeavouring like wise men to increase the Church, and to turn back, and tame, and restore those which seem wild. For this is the greatest reward by His promise from God, “If thou fetch out the worthy and precious from the unworthy, thou shalt be as my mouth.”  249  Jer. xv. 19.

[Sec. VII.—On Assembling in the Church.]

[56] Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν, ὃ ἐδίδαξεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Κύριος προσευχομένους λέγειν τῶ Πατρὶ αὐτοῦ: »Γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς«, ἵνα, ὡς αἱ ἐπουράνιοι φύσεις τῶν ἀσωμάτων δυνάμεων πᾶσαι δοξάζουσιν τὸν Θεὸν συμφώνως, οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς πάντες ἄνθρωποι ἐν ἑνὶ στόματι καὶ μιᾷ διαθέσει δοξάζωσιν τὸν μόνον Θεὸν τὸν ἕνα καὶ ἀληθινὸν διὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς Χριστοῦ. Θέλημα οὖν αὐτοῦ ἐστιν αἰνεῖν αὐτὸν ὁμοφρόνως καὶ προσκυνεῖν αὐτὸν συμφώνως. Τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐστι θέλημα ἐν Χριστῷ, πολλοὺς εἶναι τοὺς σωζομένους ἐν αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ μὴ ζημιοῦν αὐτὸν μηδὲ ἐλαττονεῖν ὑμᾶς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἢ συστέλλειν τὸν ἀριθμὸν διὰ μιᾶς ψυχῆς ἀνθρώπου ὑφ' ὑμῶν ἀναιρεθείσης, ἥτις ἠδύνατο σωθῆναι διὰ μετανοίας, ἀπώλετο δὲ οὐ μόνον ἐξ ἰδίας ὀργῆς, ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ ἐξ ὑμετέρας ἐπιβουλῆς, καὶ ἐπληρώσατε τὸ γεγραμμένον: »Ὁ μὴ συνάγων μετ' ἐμοῦ σκορπίζει.« Τοιοῦτος δέ, ὢν σκορπιστής, προβάτων ἀντίδικος, Θεοῦ ἐχθρός, τῶν ἀρνίων φθορεύς, ὧν ὁ Κύριος ποιμὴν ὑπῆρξεν καὶ ἡμεῖς συναγωγοὶ, ἐκ διαφόρων ἐθνῶν καὶ γλωσσῶν ἐν πολλῷ μόχθῳ καὶ κινδύνῳ καὶ κόπῳ διηνεκεῖ, ἀγρυπνίαις, ἀσιτίαις, χαμευνίαις, διωγμοῖς, πληγαῖς, φυλακαῖς, ἵνα τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ ποιήσαντες πληρώσωμεν τὸν τρίκλινον τῶν ἀνακειμένων, τοῦτ' ἔστιν τὴν ἱερὰν καὶ καθολικὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, εὐφραινομένων τῶν κλητῶν καὶ ἀγαλλιωμένων, ὑμνούντων καὶ δοξαζόντων τὸν καλέσαντα αὐτοὺς δι' ἡμῶν εἰς ζωὴν Θεόν: ὑμεῖς οὖν, ὅσον τὸ ἐφ' ὑμῖν διεσκορπίσατε. Καὶ ὑμεῖς δέ, οἱ λαϊκοί, εἰρηνεύετε πρὸς ἀλλήλους, σπουδάζοντες ὡς φρόνιμοι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν αὔξειν καὶ τὰ νομιζόμενα ἄγρια ἐπιστρέφειν εἰς αὐτὴν καὶ ἐξημεροῦν καὶ ἀποκαθιστᾶν. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁ μέγιστος ἐξ ἐπαγγελίας μισθὸς παρὰ Θεοῦ: »Ἐὰν ἐξαγάγῃς ἐξ ἀναξίου τίμιον, ὡς τὸ στόμα μου ἔσῃ.«