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48

ε΄. That to the first world that was brought forth in the beginning, two others were co-generated, of which the last is a type of those things that were to come to be after these, being a certain middle between the ancient and the later things; and of what the land of promise was an image, and of what the ark, of what the law, of what the jar, of what Moses; of what things the events in paradise and those in Adam himself bore types.

στ΄. On the saying of the Apostle: "For if their trespass has become riches for the world" and what follows; and a personification of both peoples, I mean of the nations and of Israel.

(114) ζ΄. That the Church of Christ is a new world and faith in him a new paradise; and in addition to these, a recapitulation of the first world, setting in contrast to the things done in that one the things accomplished in the Church through Christ; and toward the end a repetition of the apostolic saying: "Those whom he foreknew, these he also predestined...".

α΄. An exhortation from the proems to repentance; and on the saying of the Apostle:

"Those whom he foreknew, these he also predestined" and what follows; and against those who twist both it and all the divine Scripture. (114)

I have heard many men saying: "Since he says: whom he foreknew, the

God, these he also predestined; and whom he predestined, these he also called; and whom he called, these he also glorified, what is the benefit to me if I undertake many labors, if I show conversion and repentance, but I am not foreknown by God nor predestined to be saved and to become conformed to the glory of His Son and God?" To whom it is right to utter and say: O you, why do you consider not the things that save you but the things that destroy you and selecting the hard-to-understand parts of the divinely-inspired Scripture, you snatch and twist them, taking them to your own destruction? Do you not hear the Savior crying out daily: "As I live, I do not desire the death of the sinner, so much as that he should turn and live"? Do you not hear Him saying: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," and again: "Amen I say to you, there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents"? Did He say or does He say to some: "Do not repent, for I will not receive you," (115) and to others, as it were to the predestined: "But you, repent, for I have foreknown you"? By no means, but daily in the whole world and in every church he cries out: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Come, he says, you who are burdened by many sins to the one who takes away the sin of the world; come you who thirst to the ever-flowing and immortal spring.

Did He make a distinction or does He separate anyone, calling one as being evidently foreknown, and sending away another as not being so? By no means. For this reason, "make no excuses in sins," nor wish to take occasions from the apostolic sayings for your own destruction, but all of you, run to the Master who is calling. For whether one is a tax collector, or a fornicator, or an adulterer, or a murderer, or anything else, the Master does not turn him away, but rather lifts the burden of his sins, and immediately shows him to be free. And how does He lift his burden? Just as He once lifted that of the paralytic, saying to him, "Child, your sins are forgiven you," and immediately he was lightened of the weight and was enriched with the healing of his body. Therefore, let everyone who wills come, and let one cry out: "Son of David, have mercy on me"; and if he hears, "What do you want me to do for you?" let him say concisely: "Lord, that I may regain my sight," and immediately he will hear: "I will it, receive your sight." And another: "Lord," he says, "my daughter"—the soul—"is grievously tormented by a demon," and he will hear:

48

ε΄. Ὅτι τῷ παραχθέντι πρώτῳ κατ᾿ ἀρχάς κόσμῳ ἕτεροι δύο συνεπεγένοντο, ὥν ὁ ἔσχατος τύπος ἐστί τῶν μετά ταῦτα μελλόντων γενέσθαι, μέσος τις ὥν τῶν ἀρχαίων καί τῶν ἐς ὕστερον· καί τίνος ἦν εἰκών ἡ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας γῆ, τίνος δέ ἡ κιβωτός, τίνος ὁ νόμος, τίνος ἡ στάμνος, τίνος ὁ Μωϋσῆς· τίνων τύπους ἔφερον τά ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ γεγονότα καί τά ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Ἀδάμ.

στ΄. Εἰς τό ῥητόν τοῦ Ἀποστόλου· "Εἰ γάρ τό αὐτῶν παράπτωμα πλοῦτος κόσμου γέγονε" καί τά ἑξῆς· καί προσωποποιΐα τῶν ἑκατέρων λαῶν, τῶν ἐθνῶν φημι καί τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.

(114) ζ΄. Ὅτι νέος κόσμος ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησια καί νέος παράδεισος ἡ πρός αὐτόν πίστις· καί πρός τούτοις ἀνακεφαλαίωσις τοῦ πρώτου κόσμου, ἀντιπαρατιθεμένων τοῖς ἐν ἐκείνῳ πραχθεῖσι τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησιᾳ διά Χριστοῦ τελεσθέντων· καί πρός τό τέλος ἐπανάληψις τοῦ ἀποστολικοῦ ῥητοῦ· "Οὕς προέγνω, τούτους καί προώρισε….".

α΄. Προτρεπτικός ἐκ προοιμίων εἰς μετάνοιαν· καί εἰς τό ῥητόν τοῦ Ἀποστόλου·

"Οὕς προέγνω, τούτους καί προώρισε" καί εἰς τά ἑξῆς· καί κατά τῶν στρεβλούντων αὐτό τε καί πᾶσαν τήν θείαν Γραφήν. (114)

Πολλούς ἀκήκοα λέγοντας τῶν ἀνθρώπων· "Ἐπειδήπερ φησίν· οὕς προέγνω ὁ

Θεός, τούτους καί προώρισεν· οὕς δέ προώρισε τούτους καί ἐκάλεσεν· οὕς δέ ἐκάλεσε, τούτους καί ἐδόξασε, τί μοι τό ὄφελος ἐάν πολλούς παραβάλλωμαι κόπους, ἐάν ἐπιστροφήν καί μετάνοιαν ἐπιδείξωμαι, προεγνωσμένος δέ οὐκ εἰμί ὑπό τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐδέ προωρισμένος εἰς τό σωθῆναι καί σύμμορφον γενέσθαι με τῆς δόξης τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καί Θεοῦ;" Πρός οὕς εἰκότως ἀποφθέγξασθαι χρή καί εἰπεῖν· Ὦ οὗτοι, διατί μή τά σῴζοντα ὑμᾶς ἀλλά τά ἀπολλύοντα συλλογίζεσθε καί τά δυσνόητα τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς ἐκλεγόμενοι διαρπάζετε καί στρεβλοῦτε ταῦτα πρός ἀπώλειαν ὑμῶν ἐκλαμβάνεσθε; Οὐκ ἀκούετε καθ᾿ ἑκάστην τοῦ Σωτῆρος βοῶντος· "Ζῶ ἐγώ, ὅτι οὐ θελήσει θέλω τόν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ ὡς τό ἐπιστρέψαι καί ζῆν αὐτόν"; Οὐκ ἀκούετε αὐτοῦ λέγοντος· "Μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γάρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν", καί πάλιν· "Ἀμήν λέγω ὑμῖν, χαρά γίνεται ἐν οὐρανῷ ἐπί ἑνί ἁμαρτωλῷ μετανοοῦντι"; Μή εἶπεν ἤ λέγει τισί μέν· "Μή μετανοεῖτε, οὐ γάρ προσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς", (115) τισί δέ οἱονεί τοῖς προωρισμένοις· "Ὑμεῖς δέ μετανοεῖτε, προέγνωκα γάρ ὑμᾶς"; Οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλά καθ᾿ ἡμέραν ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ καί ἐν πάσῃ βοᾷ ἐκκλησίᾳ· "∆εῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καί πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγώ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς". ∆εῦτε, φησίν, οἱ ἐν πολλαῖς ἁμαρτίαις βαρούμενοι πρός τόν αἴροντα τήν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου· δεῦτε οἱ διψῶντες πρός τήν ἀέναον πηγήν καί ἀθάνατον.

Μή διεστείλατο ἤ διαχωρίζει τινά, τόν μέν ὡς προεγνωσμένον δηλονότι καλῶν, τόν δέ ὡς μή τοῦτο ὄντα ἀποπεμπόμενος; Οὐδαμῶς. ∆ιά δή τοῦτο "μή προφασίζεσθε προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις", μηδέ ἀφορμάς ἐκ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν ῥημάτων πρός ἀπώλειαν ὑμῶν λαμβάνειν ἐθέλοιτε, ἀλλά τῷ ∆εσπότῃ καλοῦντι προσδράμετε ἅπαντες. Κἄν γάρ τελώνης, κἄν πόρνος, κἄν μοιχός, κἄν φονεύς, κἄν ὁτιοῦν ἕτερον πέλῃ τις, οὐκ ἀποστρέφεται ὁ ∆εσπότης αὐτόν, ἀλλά τό μέν φορτίον αἴρει τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων αὐτοῦ, ἐκεῖνον δέ ἐλεύθερον εὐθύς ἀποδείκνυσι. Καί πῶς αἴρει τό φορτίον αὐτοῦ; Καθώς ποτε καί τοῦ παραλυτικοῦ ἦρεν, εἰπών αὐτῷ" "Τέκνον, ἀφέωνταί σοι αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου", καί εὐθέως ἐκουφίσθη τοῦ βάρους καί τήν τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ θεραπείαν πεπλούτηκεν. Τοιγαροῦν προσερχέσθω πᾶς ὁ βουλόμενος καί ὁ μέν βοάτω· "Υἱέ ∆αβίδ, ἐλέησόν με"· καί ἐάν ἀκούσῃ· "Τί θέλεις ποιήσω σοι;" εἰπάτω συντόμως· "Κύριε, ἵνα ἀναβλέψω", καί εὐθέως ἀκούσει· "Θέλω, ἀνάβλεψον". Ὁ δέ· "Κύριε, φησίν, ἡ θυγάτηρ μου" ψυχή "κακῶς δαιμονίζεται", καί ἀκούσει·