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by his divinity, “from the things which he suffered,” having specially shared with us in flesh, having learned in a general sense the “obedience” of the flesh; that is, he received obedience, and wiped away the ancient disobedience. It would be foolish, therefore, to attribute to the divinity cowardice, or weeping, or growing weary, and all the things that were mentioned before. For the Son, the Word, can do all things, except to undergo these things according to the paternal generation, just as it is impossible for God to lie, as Paul writes, being displeased with such people. And it is as follows: “In which it is impossible for God to lie.” Therefore, let the heretics, having “their jaws checked with bit and bridle,” withdraw from what is unapproachable, and not meddle in what is not lawful; for what need have they of this? But hearing the things set before them, let them understand that some things he said in our nature, and others in his own; and let them recognize and worship with us his ineffable and indescribable love for mankind, and with the Apostle and us cry out: “The peace of God surpasses all understanding;” and, “The riches of Christ are unsearchable;” and at the same time let them sing with the psalmist: “The judgments of the Lord are a great abyss.” These things. the truly faithful and accurate preachers. And those outside also advised and admonished these things: Do not disturb unspeakable things; do not seek God. For man does not have such strength, To find by tracing and contriving The all-seeing, the incomprehensible nature. But you would easily attain him, being persuaded That the Maker of all things is the greatest.

CH. 22. But let us proceed to another chapter. And so, the all-wise response of the Lord of all to the apostles, found in Mark,

which says the following concerning the general end: “But of that 39.917 day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels who are in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father,” they do not consider soundly. For Matthew, before him, having come unerringly through the other words, did not say the Son was ignorant, but even set forth that he knew the very manner of the end, as follows: “But of that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father alone. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away; so also will be the coming of the Son of Man.” The other evangelists, therefore, did not mention this at all; but the apostles provided a solution against this heretical opposition, saying thus in the Gospel according to John: “Now we know that you know all things;” as, he says, the Son, the Word of God, through whom all things were made; among which all things is also the last day. And one must not take what was providentially denied in a literal sense. For just as for our sakes he chose to take the form of a servant, so also to say that he does not know. For he used this, as it were, as a medicine, because it was beneficial for humanity not to know its question; so that, always expecting, and thinking the time of judgment to be at the doors, it might be ready through works and faith to be saved. For he did not create a time which he did not know without being aware of it; nor again was he ignorant of his own second coming, he who is in the Father, and has the Father in himself, clearly, with knowledge; for if the Father, who knows all things, is in him, he also knows, who sees all things in the Father. For how could he not see, who has the light in himself, who brought all things into order and arrangement, who knows all things before their creation, the creator of times, who also set a limit for creation, and fixed the number of the days of its existence, and said: “As a thief in the night comes the

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αὐτῷ τῇ θεότητι, «ἀφ' ὧν ἔπαθεν,» ἰδίως κοινωνήσας ἡμῖν σαρκὶ, μαθὼν γενικῶς τῆς σαρκὸς «τὴν ὑπακοήν·» ὅ ἐστιν, ἐδέξατο τὴν ὑπακοὴν, καὶ ἀπήλειψεν τὴν ἀρχαίαν παρακοήν. Εὔηθες τοίνυν ἂν εἴη εἰς τὴν θεότητα λογίζεσθαι τὸ δειλιᾶσαι, ἢ δακρῦσαι, ἢ κοπιᾶσαι, καὶ ὅσα προελέχθη. Πάντα γὰρ δύναται ὁ Υἱὸς Λόγος, πλὴν τοῦ κατὰ τὴν πατρικὴν γέννησιν ταῦτα ὑποστῆναι, ὥς ἐστιν ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι τὸν Θεὸν, καθὰ γράφει Παῦλος δυσαρεστῶν τοῖς τοιούτοις. Ἔχει δὲ ὧδε· «Ἐν οἷς ἐστιν ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι τὸν Θεόν.» Οὐκοῦν «ἐν κημῷ καὶ χαλινῷ τὰς σιαγόνας αὐτῶν» ἀγχθέντες αἱρετικοὶ, τῶν μὲν ἀνεπιβάτων ἀναχωρείτωσαν, καὶ ἃ μὴ θέμις, μὴ πολυπραγμονείτωσαν· ποῦ γὰρ καὶ χρεία τούτου αὐτοῖς; Ἀλλ' ἀκούοντες τὰ προκείμενα, νοείτωσαν, ὡς ἃ μὲν ἔλεγεν ἐν τοῖς ἡμετέροις, ἃ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ· καὶ τὴν ἄφατον καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητον αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν μεθ' ἡμῶν γνωριζέτωσαν καὶ προσκυνείτωσαν, καὶ σὺν τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ καὶ ἡμῖν κραζέτωσαν· «Ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑπερέχει πάντα νοῦν·» καὶ, «Ὁ πλοῦτος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀνεξιχνίαστος·» ἅμα δὲ τῷ μελῳδῷ ψαλλέτωσαν· «Τοῦ Κυρίου τὰ κρίματα ἄβυσσος πολλή.» Ταῦτα. μὲν οἱ ἀληθινῶς πιστοὶ καὶ ἀκριβεῖς κήρυκες. Καὶ οἱ ἔξω δὲ συνεβούλευσαν καὶ ἐνουθέτησαν τάδε· Ἄῤῥητα μὴ σάλευε· μὴ ζήτει Θεόν. Οὐ γὰρ τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ σθένος, Τὸν παντεπόπτην, τὴν ἀχώρητον φύσιν Εὑρεῖν ἀνιχνεύοντι καὶ τεχνωμένῳ. Τύχοις δ' ἂν αὐτοῦ ῥᾳδίως, πεπεισμένος Μέγιστον εἶναι τὸν Ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων.

ΚΕΦ. ΚΒʹ. Ἀλλ' ἐφ' ἕτερον κεφάλαιον προΐωμεν. Καὶ τὴν ἐν Μάρκῳ τοίνυν

φερομένην πρὸς τοὺς ἀποστόλους πάνσοφον τοῦ πάντων ∆εσπότου ἀπόκρισιν, τὴν ἕνεκα τοῦ γενικοῦ τέλους λέγουσαν ταυτί· «Περὶ δὲ τῆς 39.917 ἡμέρας ἐκείνης, ἢ τῆς ὥρας, οὐδεὶς οἶδεν, οὐδὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι οἱ ἐν οὐρανῷ, οὐδὲ ὁ Υἱὸς, εἰ μὴ ὁ Πατὴρ,» θεωροῦσιν οὐχ ὑγιῶς. Ματθαῖος μὲν γὰρ πρὸ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τῶν ἄλλων λέξεων ἀπαραλείπτως ἐλθὼν, οὐκ εἶπεν τὸν Υἱὸν ἀγνοεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ σχῆμα αὐτὸ τοῦ τέλους εἰδέναι ἐξέθετο τοιῶσδε· «Περὶ δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης, ἢ τῆς ὥρας, οὐδεὶς οἶδεν, οὐδὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι τῶν οὐρανῶν, εἰ μὴ ὁ Πατὴρ μόνος. Ὥσπερ γὰρ αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ Νῶε, οὕτως ἔσται ἡ παρουσία τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ταῖς πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ τρώγοντες, καὶ πίνοντες, γαμοῦντες καὶ ἐκγαμίζοντες, ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας εἰσῆλθεν Νῶε εἰς τὴν κιβωτὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν, ἕως ἐπῆλθεν ὁ κατακλυσμὸς, καὶ ἦρεν πάντας· οὕτως ἔσται καὶ ἡ παρουσία τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.» Οἱ οὖν ἄλλοι εὐαγγελισταὶ οὐδὲ ὅλως ἐμνημόνευσαν τούτου· ἀλλὰ κατὰ ταύτης τῆς αἱρετικῆς ἐναντιώσεως λύσιν παρέσχον οἱ ἀπόστολοι, ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην Εὐαγγελίῳ φάμενοι οὕτως· «Νῦν οἴδαμεν, ὅτι πάντα οἶδας·» ἅτε, φησὶν, Υἱὸς Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο· ἐξ ὧν πάντων ἐστὶν καὶ ἡ ἐσχάτη ἡμέρα. Καὶ χρὴ δὲ μὴ καθηκόντως ἐκλαμβάνειν τὸ προνοητικῶς ἀρνηθέν. Καθάπερ γὰρ δι' ἡμᾶς εἵλετο μορφὴν δούλου λαβεῖν, οὕτω καὶ τὸ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἀγνοεῖ. Φαρμάκῳ γὰρ οἷον τούτῳ ἐχρήσατο, διὰ τὸ συμφέρειν τῇ ἀνθρωπότητι μὴ γνῶναι τὴν ἐρώτησιν αὐτῆς· ἵν' ἀεὶ προσδοκῶσα, καὶ ἐπὶ θύραις εἶναι νομίζουσα τῆς κρίσεως τὸν καιρὸν, ἕτοιμος γένηται δι' ἔργων καὶ πίστεως εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔλαθεν δημιουργήσας χρόνον, ὃν οὐκ ἠπίστατο· οὐδ' αὖ ἠγνόησεν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δευτέραν παρουσίαν, ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ τὸν Πατέρα ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ δῆλον δ', ὅτι σὺν τῇ εἰδήσει· εἰ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐστιν ὁ Πατὴρ, ὁ πάντα εἰδὼς, οἶδεν καὶ αὐτὸς, ὁ πάντα θεωρῶν ἐν τῷ Πατρί. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν καὶ μὴ βλέποι, ὁ τὸ φῶς ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ, ὁ πάντα εἰς τάξιν καὶ διακόσμησιν ἀγαγὼν, ὁ πάντα εἰδὼς πρὸ γενέσεως αὐτῶν, ὁ δημιουργὸς τῶν χρόνων, ὁ καὶ ὅριον θέμενος τῇ κτίσει, καὶ τὸ ποσὸν τῶν ἡμερῶν παγιώσας τῆς συστάσεως αὐτῆς, καὶ εἰπών· «Ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτὶ ἔρχεται ἡ