41

“Is Christ divided?” What he says is this: You have cut Christ in pieces, he says. You have divided his body; you have distributed it to men, and have partitioned the Church, and he himself has taken one part, and has given the other to them. “Was Paul crucified for you?” See the mind of a lover of Christ; how he now brings the whole matter forward under his own name, showing from a superabundance of proof that this honor is fitting for no one. And what was a matter of great care, this he sets forth: the cross and baptism, and the good things from them. For the creation of the world also shows the loving-kindness of God, but especially his condescension through the cross. “Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” 95.576 For since being called by the name of those who baptized them was becoming a cause of schisms, he corrects this also, saying: Were you baptized into the name of Paul? For do not say, he says, “Who baptized?” but “Into whose name?” For it is not the one who baptizes that is sought, but into whose name. For He Himself, he says, forgives sins. “I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that you were baptized into my name. I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.” It is as if he were to say: Why are you so proud about baptizing, when I myself even give thanks that I did not do this? In saying these things, he providentially puts down the pride about this, not the power of baptism, God forbid, but the folly of those who think great things of themselves for baptizing. For baptism is a great thing, but it is not the one baptizing who makes it great, but the One who is called upon in the baptism. And he also states the reason why he gives thanks: lest anyone should say, he says, that You were baptized into my name. Not that he was saying this about them, but because he feared lest the evil disease proceed to this point. “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” Why then were you baptizing? he says. Not in opposition, he says, to the one who sent me, did I baptize, but as doing this out of superabundance. And just as in the case of the widows, when the apostles said, “It is not fitting that we should leave the word of God to serve tables,” he served, not opposing them, but doing this out of superabundance; so also here. “Not with wisdom of speech, lest the cross of Christ be made void.” Having put down the pride of those who thought great things of themselves for baptizing, he now turns to those who boast in worldly wisdom, and arms himself more earnestly against them. For to those puffed up about baptizing he said, “I thank God that I baptized none of you”; and, “Christ did not send me to baptize”; and he used his words neither vehemently nor systematically. But here from the very prelude he delivers a great blow, saying, “lest the cross of Christ be made void.” Why then are you proud of that for which you ought even to blush? For if this wisdom wars against the cross and fights against the Gospels, one must not boast in it, but be brought down. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 95.577 For since it was likely that they, with the cross being mocked by the Greeks, would resist with the so-called wisdom of their own, and would fight, being disturbed by the things said by the Greeks, Paul, consoling them, says: Do not think that something strange and paradoxical is happening. The matter has this nature, that its power is not recognized by those who are perishing. For they are out of their minds and are insane, and for this reason they revile and find burdensome the medicines of salvation. “For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the discerning I will thwart.’ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?” For since it first cast itself down, it is henceforth useful for nothing. For when it was necessary for it to show its own power, and through created things to see the Master, it was unwilling. “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” That is, he showed it to be foolish for the comprehension of the faith. For since they thought great things of it, he quickly refuted it; for what sort of wisdom is it, when the chief of good things not

41

«Μεμέρισται ὁ Χριστός.» Ὃ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· Κατετέμνετε, φησὶν, τὸν Χριστόν. ∆ιείλετο αὐτοῦ σῶμα· διενείματο πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ ἐμερίσατο τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ μοῖραν τὴν μὲν αὐτὸς ἔλαβε, τὴν δὲ ἐκείνοις ἔδωκεν. «Μὴ Παῦλος ἐσταύρωται ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν;» Ὅρα φιλοχρίστου γνώμην· πῶς ἐπὶ τοῦ οἰκείου λοιπὸν ὀνόματος προάγει τὸ πᾶν, ἐκ περιουσίας δεικνὺς, ὅτι οὐδενὶ προσήκει αὕτη ἡ τιμή. Ὅπερ δὲ ἦν πολλῆς κηδεμονίας, τοῦτο τίθησι, τὸν σταυρὸν καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα, καὶ τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀγαθά. ∆είκνυσι μὲν γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ ἡ τοῦ κόσμου δημιουργία, μάλιστα δὲ ἡ διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ συγκατάβασις. «Ἢ εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Παύλου ἐβαπτίσθητε;» 95.576 Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῦτο αἴτιον ἐγίνετο σχισμάτων τὸ ἀπὸ τῶν βαπτισάντων καλεῖσθαι, καὶ τοῦτο διορθοῦται λέγων· Μὴ εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Παύλου ἐβαπτίσθητε; μὴ γὰρ εἴπῃς, φησίν· Τίς ἐβάπτισεν; ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ τίνος ὄνομα· οὐ γὰρ ὁ βαπτίσας, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ τίνος ὄνομα ζητεῖται. Αὐτὸς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀφίησι τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. «Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι οὐδένα ὑμῶν ἐβάπτισα, εἰ μὴ Κρίσπον καὶ Γάϊον, ἵνα μή τις εἴπῃ ὅτι εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα ἐβαπτίσθητε. Ἐβάπτισα δὲ καὶ τὸν Στεφανᾶ οἶκον. Λοιπὸν οὐκ οἶδα εἴ τινα ἄλλον ἐβάπτισα.» Ὅμοιον ὡς εἰ λέγοι· Τί μέγα φρονεῖς ἐπὶ τῷ βαπτίσαι, ὅπου γε ἐγὼ καὶ εὐχαριστῶ ὅτι οὐκ ἐποίησα τοῦτο; Ταῦτα δὲ λέγων, καθαιρεῖ τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦτο φύσημα οἰκονομικῶς, οὐχὶ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ βαπτίσματος, μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἄνοιαν τῶν μέγα ἀπὸ τοῦ βαπτίζειν φρονούντων. Μέγα μὲν γὰρ τὸ βάπτισμα, ἀλλὰ μέγα αὐτὸ οὐχ ὁ βαπτίζων ποιεῖ, ἀλλ' ὁ καλούμενος εἰς τὸ βάπτισμα. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν δι' ἣν εὐχαριστεῖ· ἵνα μή τις εἴπῃ, φησὶν, ὅτι Εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα ἐβαπτίσθητε. Οὐχ ὅτι δὲ περὶ ἐκείνων τοῦτο ἔλεγεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἐφοβεῖτο, μὴ εἰς τοῦτο προβῇ τὸ κακὸν τὸ νόσημα. «Οὐ γὰρ ἀπέστειλέν με Χριστὸς βαπτίζειν, ἀλλ' εὐαγγελίζεσθαι.» Τί οὖν ἐβάπτιζες; φησίν. Οὐκ ἐναντιούμενος, φησὶν, τῷ πέμποντι, ἐβάπτιζον, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐκ περιουσίας τοῦτο ποιῶν. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν χηρῶν εἰπόντων τῶν ἀποστόλων, Οὐκ ἔστιν ἀρεστὸν καταλειπόντας τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διακονεῖν τραπέζαις, διηκονήσατο, οὐκ ἐναντιούμενος ἐκείνοις, ἀλλ' ἐκ περιουσίας τοῦτο ποιῶν· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα. «Οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ λόγου, ἵνα μὴ κενωθῇ ὁ σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Καθελὼν τὸ φύσημα τῶν διὰ τὸ βαπτίζειν μέγα φρονούντων, μεθίσταται λοιπὸν πρὸς τοὺς ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ τῇ ἔξωθεν κομπάζοντας, καὶ κατ' αὐτῶν ὁπλίζεται σπουδαιότερον. Πρὸς μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ βαπτίζειν πεφυσιωμένους ἔλεγε· Εὐχαριστῷ ὅτι οὐδένα ὑμῶν ἐβάπτισα· καὶ ὅτι Οὐκ ἀπέστειλέν με Χριστὸς βαπτίζειν· καὶ οὔτε σφοδρῶς, οὔτε κατασκευαστικῶς κέχρηται τῷ λόγῳ. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἐκ προοιμίων πληγὴν δίδωσι μεγάλην, ἵνα μὴ κενωθῇ, λέγων, ὁ σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τί τοίνυν μέγα φρονεῖς, ἐφ' ᾧ καὶ ἐρυθριᾷν ἔδει; Εἰ γὰρ καὶ πολεμεῖ τῷ σταυρῷ, καὶ μάχεται τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ἡ σοφία αὕτη, οὐκ αὐχεῖν ἐπ' αὐτῇ, ἀλλὰ καταλύεσθαι δεῖ. «Ὁ λόγος γὰρ ὁ τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῖς μὲν ἀπολλυμένοις μωρία, τοῖς δὲ σωζομένοις ἡμῖν δύναμις Θεοῦ ἐστιν.» 95.577 Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν ἐκείνους, τοῦ σταυροῦ παρὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων χλευαζομένου, τῇ σοφίᾳ δῆθεν τῇ παρ' ἑαυτῶν ἀντίστασθαι, καὶ πολεμεῖν θορυβουμένους, τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λεγομένοις παραμυθούμενος ὁ Παῦλος, φησίν· Μὴ νομίσητε ξένον τι γίνεσθαι καὶ παράδοξον. Ταύτην ἔχει φύσιν τὸ πρᾶγμα, ὥστε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων μὴ γνωρίζεσθαι αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν. Ἐξεστήκασι γὰρ καὶ παραφρονοῦσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο λοιδοροῦνται, καὶ ἐπαχθῶς ἔχουσι τὰ σωτήρια φάρμακα. «Γέγραπται γάρ· Ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν, καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν συνετῶν ἀθετήσω. Ποῦ σοφός; ποῦ γραμματεύς; ποῦ συζητητὴς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου;» Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ προτέρα ἑαυτὴν κατέβαλεν, πρὸς οὐδὲν χρήσιμον λοιπόν ἐστιν. Ὅτε γὰρ ἔδει τὰ ἑαυτῆς αὐτὴν ἐνδείξασθαι, καὶ διὰ τῶν κτισμάτων ἰδεῖν τὸν ∆εσπότην, οὐκ ἠθέλησεν. «Οὐχὶ ἐμώρανεν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου;» Ἀντὶ τοῦ, μωρὰν ἔδειξεν οὖσαν πρὸς τὴν τῆς πίστεως κατάληψιν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ μέγα ἐφρόνουν ἐπ' αὐτῇ, ἤλεγξεν αὐτὴν ταχέως· ποία γὰρ σοφία, ὅταν τὸ κεφάλαιον τῶν ἀγαθῶν μὴ