54

Those entering the Church of God must before all things pray for the peace of God for the people. And if he prays for this for others, much more let him himself possess it as a child of light; for he who does not have it in himself is not credible to bestow it on others. Therefore, before all things, it is necessary for him to be at peace with himself; for he who is not at odds with himself will not contend with another, but will be peaceful, friendly, gathering the things of the Lord and becoming his co-worker to increase for him those who are saved in concord. For those who devise enmities and battles, disputes and judgments are wicked and strangers to God. For God, being a God of mercy, from the beginning calls each generation to repentance through the righteous and the prophets; and those before the flood he brought to their senses through Abel and Seth and Shem, and also Enos and Enoch who was translated, those in the flood through Noah, those in Sodom through the hospitable Lot, those after the flood through Melchizedek and the patriarchs and the God-loving Job, those in Egypt through Moses, the Israelites through him and Joshua and Caleb and Phinehas and the rest, those after the law through angels and prophets, the same people through his own incarnation, which came from a virgin, those a little before his bodily manifestation through John the forerunner, and the same people through the same one even after his birth, saying: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near”; those after his passion through us, the twelve, and Paul, the chosen vessel. We therefore, who were counted worthy to be witnesses of his coming, along with James the brother of the Lord and the other seventy-two disciples and his seven deacons, heard from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ and, knowing accurately, we say, what is the will of God, that which is good and well-pleasing and perfect, which was made known to us through Jesus, that no one might perish, but that all people, believing in him in concord, sending up praise in concord to him, might live eternally. For this is what the Lord taught us when praying to say to his Father: “Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth,” so that, just as the heavenly natures of all the bodiless powers glorify God in concord, so also on earth all

54

Ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεοῦ εἰσερχομένους χρὴ πρὸ πάντων ἐπεύχεσθαι τῷ λαῷ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰρήνην. Eἰ δὲ ἄλλοις ταύτην ἐπεύ χεται, πολλῷ μᾶλλον αὐτὸς αὐτῆς ἐντὸς ὑπαρχέτω ὡς τέκνον φωτός· ὁ γὰρ μὴ ἔχων αὐτὴν ἐν ἑαυτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀξιόπιστος ἄλλοις αὐτὴν χαρίζεσθαι. ∆ιὸ πρὸ πάντων χρὴ εἰς ἑαυτὸν εἰρηνεύειν αὐτόν· ὁ γὰρ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν μὴ στασιάζων οὐδ' ἂν πρὸς ἄλλον διαμαχεσθήσεται, ἀλλ' ἔσται εἰρηνικός, φιλικός, συνάγων τὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ συνεργὸς αὐτοῦ γινόμενος πρὸς τὸ πλεονάσαι αὐτῷ τοὺς σῳζομένους ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ. Oἱ γὰρ ἐπινοοῦντες ἔχθρας καὶ μάχας, ἀντιλο γίας καὶ κρίσεις πονηροὶ καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀλλότριοι τυγχά νουσιν. Ὁ γὰρ Θεός, Θεὸς ὢν ἐλέους, ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἑκάστην γενεὰν ἐπὶ μετάνοιαν καλεῖ διὰ τῶν δικαίων καὶ τῶν προφητῶν· καὶ τοὺς μὲν πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ διὰ τοῦ Ἄβελ καὶ τοῦ Σὴθ καὶ Σήμ, ἔτι δὲ Ἐνὼς καὶ τοῦ μετα τεθέντος Ἐνὼχ ἐσωφρόνιζεν, τοὺς δὲ ἐν τῷ κατακλυσμῷ διὰ τοῦ Νῶε, τοὺς ἐν Σοδόμοις διὰ τοῦ φιλοξένου Λώτ, τοὺς μετὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν διὰ τοῦ Μελχισεδὲκ καὶ τῶν πατριαρχῶν καὶ τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς Ἰώβ, τοὺς ἐν Aἰγύπτῳ διὰ Μωϋσέως, τοὺς Ἰσραηλίτας δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἰησοῦ καὶ Χαλὲβ καὶ Φινεὲς καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν, τοὺς μετὰ τὸν νόμον δι' ἀγγέλων καὶ προφητῶν, τοὺς αὐτοὺς διὰ τῆς ἰδίας ἐνανθρωπήσεως τῆς ἐκ παρθένου γενομένῃς, τοὺς πρὸ μικροῦ τῆς ἀναδείξεως αὐτοῦ τῆς σωματικῆς διὰ Ἰωάννου τοῦ προδρόμου, τοὺς δ' αὐτοὺς διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ μετὰ τὴν γένεσιν αὐτοῦ λέγων· «Μετανοεῖτε, ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶνή· τοὺς μετὰ τὸ πάθος αὐτοῦ δι' ἡμῶν τῶν δώδεκα καὶ τοῦ τῆς ἐκλογῆς σκεύους Παύλου. Ἡμεῖς οὖν οἱ κατα ξιωθέντες εἶναι μάρτυρες τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ σὺν Ἰακώβῳ τῷ τοῦ Κυρίου ἀδελφῷ καὶ ἑτέροις ἑβδομήκοντα δύο μαθηταῖς καὶ τοῖς ἑπτὰ διακόνοις αὐτοῦ ἐκ στόματος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἠκούσαμεν καὶ ἀκριβῶς εἰδότες λέγομεν, τί ἐστιν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ εὐάρεστον καὶ τέλειον, τὸ διὰ Ἰησοῦ γνωρισθὲν ἡμῖν, ἵνα μηδεὶς ἀπόληται, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἄνθρωποι συμφώνως πιστεύσαντες αὐτῷ αἶνον σύμφωνον ἀναπέμψαντες αὐτῷ ζήσωσιν αἰωνίως. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν, ὃ ἐδίδαξεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Κύριος προσευχομένους λέγειν τῶ Πατρὶ αὐτοῦ· «Γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς», ἵνα, ὡς αἱ ἐπουράνιοι φύσεις τῶν ἀσωμάτων δυνάμεων πᾶσαι δοξά ζουσιν τὸν Θεὸν συμφώνως, οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς πάντες