Paul calls this of the spirit, by which he arms the soldiers of piety against the invisible enemies; for it is a word of God, which when remembered and sung and chanted becomes an expeller of demons. Such things are therefore perfective of the soul in the virtues according to piety, which come to the pious through the ecclesiastical hymns. Question 108. If involuntary ignorance draws pardon, as we are taught by the scripture, how did the Jews of old, who crucified Christ out of ignorance, experience very many and unbearable calamities, as Josephus testifies in his discourses *On the Capture*, and how were those of them who now disobey Christ, driven from their own homeland, scattered into all the earth, and given over to the Gentiles into dishonorable servitude, as the facts cry out more clearly than a monument? The Lord establishes the ignorance in both of them, at one time saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do"; at another time the apostle asserts, "For if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." And these things are concerning the Jews of old; but concerning those now, he says, "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." Response. When involuntary ignorance is considered knowledge by those who are ignorant, then the outcome of the thing done in ignorance shows whether it was in truth knowledge or according to error and ignorance. And when the supposed knowledge is shown through the outcome to be ignorance of the matter, if the one who was ignorant persists in the same ignorance, he draws no pardon but unavoidable punishment. But that the Jews crucified Christ thus, as knowing him to be an adversary of God and having God as a co-voter in his destruction, is clear to everyone; for they would not have crucified him, if they had known that after death God would raise him from the dead. But having been raised from the dead by God, he showed that the supposed knowledge of the Jews concerning Christ was in truth ignorance. Since therefore, after the Lord rose from the dead, and it was shown both that God was not a co-voter with the Jews in the death of Christ and that Christ did not remain in death without being raised, according to the expectation of those who crucified him, the Jews still remained in disobedience, for this reason they were not worthy of pardon. For to bribe away his resurrection and consider it a theft, and to forbid the apostles in his name not to perform divine works done in the power of the Holy Spirit, is not of involuntary ignorance drawing pardon, but of known voluntary fighting against God drawing punishment. For if the Jews crucified Christ with this hope, that his teaching might not prevail and that Judaism might not be dissolved, how is it not both

τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦτο ὁ Παῦλος ὀνομάζει, ἐν ᾧ κατὰ τῶν ἀο ράτων πολεμίων ὁπλίζει τοὺς ὁπλίτας τῆς εὐσεβείας· ῥῆμα γάρ ἐστι θεοῦ, ὃ καὶ ἐνθυμούμενον καὶ ­δόμενον καὶ ἀνα κρουόμενον δαιμόνων γίνεται ἀπελατικόν. Ἔστιν οὖν τὰ τοιαῦτα τελειωτικὰ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐν ταῖς κατ' εὐσέβειαν ἀρεταῖς, διὰ τῶν ­σμάτων τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν τοῖς εὐσεβέσι προσ γινόμενα. Ἐρώτησις ρη. Eἰ συγγνώμην ἡ ἀκούσιος ἐφέλκεται ἄγνοια, καθὼς ὑπὸ τῆς γραφῆς διδασκόμεθα, πῶς οἱ μὲν πάλαι Ἰουδαῖοι, τὸν Χριστὸν ἐξ ἀγνοίας σταυρώσαντες, πλείστων καὶ ἀνυποίστων δεινῶν ἐπειράθησαν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς Περὶ τῆς ἁλώσεως λόγοις μαρτυρεῖ ὁ Ἰώσηπος, οἱ δὲ νῦν τῷ Χριστῷ ἀπειθοῦντες αὐτῶν, τῆς μὲν οἰκείας πατρίδος ἀπελαθέντες, εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐλικμήθησαν, τοῖς δὲ ἔθνεσιν εἰς δουλείαν ἐξεδόθησαν ἄτιμον, ὡς τὰ πράγματα στήλης βοᾷ περιφανέστερον; Τὴν δὲ ἐν ἑκα τέροις αὐτῶν συνίστησιν ἄγνοιαν ποτὲ μὲν ὁ κύριος, Πάτερ, λέγων, ἄφες αὐτοῖς, οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τί ποιοῦσι· ποτὲ δὲ ὁ ἀπό στολος φάσκων· Eἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τῶν πάλαι Ἰουδαίων· περὶ δὲ τῶν νῦν, Μαρτυρῶ, φησίν, αὐτοῖς ὅτι ζῆλον θεοῦ ἔχου σιν, ἀλλ' οὐ κατ' ἐπίγνωσιν. Ἀπόκρισις. Ὅτε ἡ ἀκούσιος ἄγνοια τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι νομισθῇ γνῶσις, τότε ἡ ἀπόβασις τοῦ κατ' ἄγνοιαν πραττομένου πράγματος δείκνυσι κατ' ἀλήθειαν οὖσαν γνῶσιν ἢ κατὰ πλάνην καὶ ἄγνοιαν. ∆ειχθείσης δὲ τῆς νομιζομένης γνώσεως διὰ τῆς ἀποβάσεως ἀγνοίας ὑπαρχούσης τοῦ πράγματος, ἂν ἐμμένῃ τῇ αὐτῇ ἀγνοίᾳ ὁ ἀγνοήσας, οὐδεμίαν ἐφέλκεται συγγνώμην ἀλλὰ τιμωρίαν ἀπαραίτητον. Ἀλλ' ὅτι μὲν οὕτως ἐσταύρωσαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν Χριστὸν ὡς γινώσκοντες αὐτὸν ἀντίθεον καὶ σύμψηφον ἔχοντες τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῇ ἀναιρέσει αὐτοῦ, παντί που δῆλον· οὐκ ἂν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐσταύρωσαν, εἰ ἦσαν γινώσκοντες ὅτι μετὰ τὸν θάνατον αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς ἐγερεῖ ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν. Ἐγερθεὶς δὲ ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἔδειξε τὴν νομιζομένην κατὰ Χρι στοῦ γνῶσιν τῶν Ἰουδαίων κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ἄγνοιαν οὖσαν. Ἐπειδὴ οὖν μετὰ τὸ ἀναστῆναι τὸν κύριον ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ δειχθῆ ναι μήτε τὸν θεὸν σύμψηφον γεγονότα τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μήτε τὸν Χριστὸν ἀνεγέρτως μένειν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ κατὰ τὴν προσδοκίαν τῶν αὐτὸν σταυρωσάντων, ἔτι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἐν τῇ ἀπειθείᾳ μένειν, διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἦσαν συγγνώμης ἄξιοι. Τὸ γὰρ ἐξαργυρίζειν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀνάστασιν καὶ κλοπὴν ταύτην νομίζειν, καὶ κωλύειν τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ μὴ ἐκτελεῖν θεῖα ἔργα ἐν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος γινόμενα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀκουσίου ἀγνοίας συγ γνώμην ἐφελκομένης, ἀλλ' ἐγνωσμένης ἑκουσίου θεομαχίας τι μωρίαν ἐφελκομένης. Eἰ μὲν γὰρ ταύτῃ τῇ ἐλπίδι ἐσταύρωσαν τὸν Χριστὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, τοῦ μὴ κρατῆσαι τὴν διδασκαλίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ μὴ λυθῆναι τὸν ἰουδαϊσμόν, πῶς οὐκ ἔστιν ἀμφο