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the last day;” and again: “It will not be in the night, that the day should overtake you in darkness;” He who also foretold the signs to come around that time, and is about to make that very fearful and endless day dawn, He who also foretold the form and manner of the 39.920 judgment, He who was shown to have treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and foretold: “There will be heresies and schisms among you;” and the denial of Judas, and the denial of Peter before the cock crowed, and the destruction of the temple; He who forewarned of the false prophets who would be in the last times; He who says: “No one knows the Father except the Son;” and, “As the Father knows me, I also know him?” But it is clear, that it is with the knowledge which the Father has. But if it is one thing to know the Father, and another to know the things of the Father, it will be greater to know God the Father than to know His things, which is also the last day, inasmuch as each one is himself greater than his own things. Or perhaps the saying, “No one knows that day or the hour, not even the Son, but only the Father,” can be such as this, as one of the holy Fathers, full of wisdom, taught without syllogism—Basil was his name: instead of, “If the Father did not know, neither would the Son know;” from which it follows, since the Father knows, it is not possible for me to be ignorant; but I do not say it, he says; for I do all things according to the will of the Father; but for you to know this is not the will of the Father. To you, therefore, he says, I am ignorant, though in truth I am not ignorant; for I foretold to you through the psalmist: “How far from my 39.921 salvation are the words of my trespasses!” that is, far from my divinity are my words in the incarnation. Thus he also does in the case of Lazarus, foretelling, as one who knows all things: “Lazarus has fallen asleep;” but asking, as one who knows nothing: “Where have you laid him?” then as God raising him. So also in the case of the woman with the issue of blood, saying, as a man who is ignorant: “Who touched me?” but healing, as Savior; just as somewhere God the Father also asked, as if ignorant, Adam: “Where are you?” and Cain: “Where is Abel your brother?” and Moses: “What is that in your hand?” and elsewhere: “The Lord knows those who are his;” as if, forsooth, he were ignorant of those who are not. And he also said to Abraham, when he was willing to sacrifice his son to him: “Now I know that you fear God;” as if, forsooth, he had been ignorant of this before. And again: “Where is Sarah your wife?” But that he admittedly said this while knowing, the following shows. For when he said that she would bear a child, and she disbelieved because she had grown old, and smiled in the chamber, he said: “Sarah laughed while within.” And he also said to Lot: “I cannot do this—that is, bring punishment upon the Sodomites—until you have gone there. For this reason he called the name of the city Segor;” and elsewhere: “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity; I never knew you.” And other things of his are reported which seem small in relation to divinity; such as, “I will go down and come, to see if they are doing according to their cry which has come to me; but if not, that I may know;” and elsewhere: “I repent that I have made man;” and again: “I repent that I anointed Saul to be king;” and in the 105th psalm: “And he remembered his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercy, and gave them up to compassions.”
CHAP. XXIII. But they especially gird themselves, and they have on 39.924 display
that which Paul writes to the Corinthians in his first Epistle: “That there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many gods and many lords—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” For he says: ‘from whom,’ and ‘the God,’ are fitting for the Father alone, as being superior in respect to their religion, and as being, as it were, prior in time to both hypostases; but ‘through whom,’ and ‘the
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τελευταία ἡμέρα·» καὶ πάλιν· «Οὐκ ἔσται ἐν νυκτὶ, ἵνα ἡ ἡμέρα ἐν σκοτίᾳ ὑμᾶς καταλάβῃ·» ὁ καὶ τὰ ἐσόμενα σημεῖα περὶ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν προειρηκὼς, καὶ μέλλων ἐκείνην αὐτὴν ἀνατέλλειν τὴν φοβερὰν καὶ ἀνέσπερον ἡμέραν, ὁ καὶ τῆς κρί 39.920 σεως τὸ σχῆμα καὶ τὸν τρόπον προειπὼν, ὁ ἀποδειχθεὶς ἔχειν θησαυροὺς σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως, καὶ προμηνύσας· «Ἔσονται ἐν ὑμῖν αἱρέσεις καὶ σχίσματα·» καὶ τὴν ἄρνησιν Ἰούδα, καὶ τὴν πρὸ ἀλεκτρυοφωνίου ἄρνησιν Πέτρου, καὶ τὴν κατάλυσιν τοῦ ἱεροῦ· ὁ τοὺς ἐσομένους εἰς τὰ ἔσχατα ψευδοπροφήτας προσημάνας· ὁ λέγων· «Οὐδεὶς οἶδεν τὸν Πατέρα, εἰ μὴ ὁ Υἱός·» καὶ, «Καθὼς γινώσκει με ὁ Πατὴρ, κἀγὼ γινώσκω αὐτόν;» Σαφὲς δὲ, ὡς μεθ' ἧς ἔχει γνώσεως ὁ Πατήρ. Εἰ δ' ἕτερόν τι ἐστὶν εἰδέναι τὸν Πατέρα, ἕτερον δὲ τὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς, μεῖζον ἔσται τὸν Θεὸν Πατέρα τοῦ εἰδέναι τὰ αὐτοῦ, ὅ ἐστιν καὶ τὴν ἐσχάτην ἡμέραν, καθ' ὅσον ἕκαστος μείζων αὐτὸς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ὑπάρχει. Ἢ ἄρα καὶ τοιοῦτον εἶναι δύναται τὸ, «Οὐδεὶς οἶδεν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην, ἢ τὴν ὥραν, οὔτε ὁ Υἱὸς, εἰ μὴ ὁ Πατὴρ,» ὥς τις τῶν ἐν ἁγίοις Πατέρων σοφίας γέμων ἀσυλλογίστως ἐδίδαξεν Βασίλειος ἦν ὄνομα αὐτῷ· ἀντὶ τοῦ, «Εἰ μὴ ὁ Πατὴρ οἶδεν, οὐδὲ ὁ Υἱὸς οἶδεν·» ᾧ ἀκολουθεῖ, ὡς τοῦ Πατρὸς εἰδότος, οὐχ οἷόν τε ἐμὲ ἀγνοεῖν· ἀλλ' οὐ λέγω, φησίν· ποιῶ γὰρ πάντα κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός· τὸ δὲ γνῶναι τοῦτο ὑμᾶς, οὐκ ἔστιν θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός. Ὑμῖν οὖν, φησιν, ἀγνοῶ, τῇ ἀληθείᾳ οὐκ ἀγνοῶν· προεῖπον γὰρ ὑμῖν διὰ τοῦ ψαλμῳδοῦ· «Ὡς μακρὰν ἀπὸ τῆς σω 39.921 τηρίας μου οἱ λόγοι τῶν παραπτωμάτων μου!» τουτέστιν, πόῤῥω τῆς θεότητός μου οἱ ἐν τῇ ἐνανθρωπήσει λόγοι μου. Οὕτω δὲ ποιεῖ καὶ ἐπὶ Λαζάρου, προειπὼν μὲν, ὡς πάντα γινώσκων· «Λάζαρος κεκοίμηται·» ἐρωτῶν δὲ, ὡς οὐδὲν εἰδώς· «Ποῦ τεθείκατε αὐτόν;» εἶτα ὡς Θεὸς ἐγείρων αὐτόν. Οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς αἱμοῤῥούσης, φήσας μὲν, ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἀγνοῶν· «Τίς ἥψατό μου;» ἰασάμενος δὲ, ὡς Σωτήρ· ὡς καί που ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ ἠρώτα, ὡς ἀγνοῶν, τὸν Ἀδάμ· «Ποῦ εἶ;» καὶ τὸν Κάϊν· «Ποῦ Ἄβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου;» καὶ Μωϋσέα· «Τί ἐστιν ἐν τῇ χειρί σου;» καὶ ἑτέρωθι· «Ἔγνω Κύριος τοὺς ὄντας αὐτοῦ·» ὡς δῆθεν τοὺς οὐκ ὄντας ἀγνοῶν. Ἔλεγεν δὲ καὶ πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ, θελήσαντα σφαγιάσαι αὐτῷ τὸν υἱόν· «Νῦν ἔγνων, ὅτι φοβῇ σὺ τὸν Θεόν·» ὡς δῆθεν ἐν τῷ φθάσαντι τοῦτο ἀγνοήσας. Καὶ πάλιν· «Ποῦ Σάῤῥα ἡ γυνή σου;» Ὅτι δὲ ὁμολογουμένως καὶ τοῦτο εἰδὼς εἶπεν, τὰ ἐφεξῆς δηλοῖ. Εἰπόντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ, ὡς τέξεται, κἀκείνης ἀπιστησάσης διὰ τὸ καταγεγηρακέναι, καὶ ἐν τῷ κοιτωνίσκῳ μειδιασάσης, ἔφη· «Ἐγέλασεν Σάῤῥα ἔνδον οὖσα.» Ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῷ Λὼτ εἶπεν· «Οὐ δύναμαι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι τουτέστιν, τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐπαγαγεῖν Σοδομίταις, μέχρι τοῦ ἐλθεῖν σε ἐκεῖ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα τῆς πόλεως Σιγώρ·» καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· «Ἀπόστητε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ἐργάται τῆς ἀνομίας· οὐδέποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς.» Καὶ ἄλλα δὲ, τῷ δοκεῖν μικρὰ ὡς πρὸς θεότητα, φέρεται αὐτοῦ· οἷον τὸ, «Καταβὰς ἔρχομαι, εἰ κατὰ τὴν κραυγὴν αὐτῶν τὴν ἐρχομένην πρὸς μὲ συντελοῦνται· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἵνα γνῶ·» καὶ ἑτέρωθι· «Μεταμέλημαι ποιήσας τὸν ἄνθρωπον·» καὶ πάλιν· «Μεταμέλημαι χρίσας τὸν Σαοὺλ εἰς βασιλέα·» καὶ ἐν ρεʹ ψαλμῷ· «Καὶ ἐμνήσθη τῆς διαθήκης αὐτοῦ, καὶ μετεμελήθη κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ ἐλέους αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτοὺς εἰς οἰκτιρμούς.»
ΚΕΦ. ΚΓʹ. Καταζώννυνται δὲ εἰς τὰ μάλιστα, καὶ ἔχουσιν ἐν 39.924 προβολῇ
ὅπερ Παῦλος Κορινθίοις ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ γράφει Ἐπιστολῇ· «Ὅτι οὐδεὶς Θεὸς, εἰ μὴ εἷς. Καὶ γὰρ εἴπερ εἰσὶ λεγόμενοι θεοὶ, εἴτε ἐν οὐρανῷ, εἴτε ἐπὶ γῆς ὥσπερ εἰσὶ θεοὶ πολλοὶ, καὶ κύριοι πολλοὶ, ἡμῖν δὲ εἷς Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἡμεῖς δι' αὐτοῦ.» Φησὶν γάρ· Ἁρμόζει τὸ, «ἐξ οὗ,» καὶ τὸ, «ὁ Θεὸς,» ἐν μόνῳ τῷ Πατρὶ, ὡς ὑπερτέρῳ πρὸς τὴν θρησκείαν αὐτῶν, καὶ οἷον ὄντι τῷ χρόνῳ πρὸ ἀμφοῖν τῶν ὑποστάσεων· τὸ δὲ, «δι' οὗ,» καὶ τὸ, «ὁ