54

in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And yet the matter seems to be a reproach, but in the world and among the unbelievers; but in the heavens and among the faithful, it is a glory, and the greatest. For poverty too is a reproach, but to us it is a boast; and to be despised by many is a laughing-stock, but we take pride in this. So also the cross is a boast to us. And he did not say, 'But I do not boast,' or, 'But I do not wish to boast,' but, 'But far be it from me,' as if praying to be saved from absurdities and he called upon the 61.679 alliance from God to accomplish this. And what is the boast of the cross? That Christ for my sake took on the form of a servant, and suffered what He suffered, for my sake, the slave, the enemy, the ungrateful; but He so loved me as to give Himself up. Could anything ever be equal to this? For if servants, when only praised by their masters, and these being of the same race, are very proud, how should we not boast, when the Master, the true God, is not ashamed of the cross on our behalf? Therefore, let us not be ashamed of His ineffable care. He was not ashamed to be crucified for you, and are you ashamed to confess His infinite care? as if some prisoner were not ashamed of the king, but when he came to the prison and broke the chains himself, for this reason he were ashamed of him. But this is extreme madness; for because of this very thing one ought especially to take pride. Through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. By the world he now means, not the heaven nor the earth, but the affairs of this life, the praise from men, the retinue, the glory, the wealth, all such things that seem to be splendid. For these things have become dead to me. Such must the Christian be, always carrying this saying about. For he was not content with only the former manner of deadness, but he also added another, saying: And I to the world; signifying a double deadness, and saying, that both those things are dead to me, and I to them, and neither can they capture and master me; for they are dead once for all; nor can I desire them; for I am also dead to them. Nothing is more blessed than this deadness. For this is the foundation of the blessed life. For neither circumcision is of any avail, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. Did you see the power of the cross, to what a height it has raised him? For not only did it put to death for him all the affairs of the world, but it also placed him far above the old way of life. What is equal to this strength? For the one who was being slaughtered for this circumcision and slaughtering others, the cross persuaded him, having left it on an equal footing with uncircumcision, to seek certain strange and paradoxical things and things beyond the heavens. For he calls this new creation the way of life among you, both on account of the things that have happened, and on account of the things that will be; on account of the things that have happened, because our soul, having grown old in the old age of sin, was suddenly renewed through baptism, as if created anew; for which reason we require a new and heavenly way of life; and on account of the things that will be, because both the heaven and the earth and all creation will be transformed into incorruption along with our bodies. Therefore do not tell me, he says, about circumcision which has no more power; for how will this appear, when all things have been changed to such an extent? but seek the new things of grace. For those who pursue these things, they will enjoy both peace and loving-kindness, and might properly be called by the name of Israel; whereas those who think the opposite, even if they were born from him, and carry his name, have fallen away from all 61.680 these things, both from the kinship and from the name itself. For those who are able to be truly Israelites, are those who this rule

54

τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Καὶ μὴν τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐπονείδιστον εἶναι δοκεῖ, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἀπίστοις· ἐν δὲ τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ παρὰ τοῖς πιστοῖς δόξα, καὶ μεγίστη. Καὶ γὰρ πενία ἐπονείδιστον, ἀλλ' ἡμῖν καύχημα· καὶ τὸ ἐξευτελίζεσθαι παρὰ πολλοῖς γέλως, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς ἁβρυνόμεθα τούτῳ. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ σταυρὸς ἡμῖν καύχημα. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐ καυχῶμαι, ἢ, Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐ βούλομαι καυχᾶσθαι, ἀλλ', Ἐμοὶ δὲ μὴ γένοιτο, ὡς περὶ τῶν ἀτόπων ἀπηύξατο καὶ τὴν 61.679 παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ συμμαχίαν ἐκάλεσεν εἰς τὸ κατορθῶσαι τοῦτο. Καὶ τί ἐστι τὸ καύχημα τοῦ σταυροῦ; Ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς δι' ἐμὲ δούλου μορφὴν ἀνέλαβε, καὶ ἔπαθεν ἅπερ ἔπαθε, δι' ἐμὲ τὸν δοῦλον, τὸν ἐχθρὸν, τὸν ἀγνώμονα· ἀλλ' οὕτω με ἠγάπησεν, ὡς καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐκδοῦναι. Ἆρα τούτου γένοιτ' ἄν τι ἴσον; Εἰ γὰρ οἰκέται, ἂν μόνον ἐπαινῶνται παρὰ τῶν δεσποτῶν, καὶ ταῦτα ὁμογενῶν ὄντων, μέγα φρονοῦσι, πῶς οὐ καυχᾶσθαι χρὴ, ὅταν ὁ ∆εσπότης ὁ ἀληθὴς Θεὸς μὴ ἐπαισχύνηται τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σταυρόν; Μηδὲ ἡμεῖς τοίνυν ἐπαισχυνώμεθα τὴν ἄφατον αὐτοῦ κηδεμονίαν. Αὐτὸς οὐκ ἐπῃσχύνθη σταυρωθῆναι διὰ σὲ, καὶ σὺ ἐπαισχύνῃ ὁμολογῆσαι αὐτοῦ τὴν ἄπειρον κηδεμονίαν; ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις δεσμώτης μὴ ἐπαισχυνόμενος τὸν βασιλέα, ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐπέστη τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ καὶ τὰ δεσμὰ ἔλυσε δι' ἑαυτοῦ, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸν ἐπαισχύνηται. Ἀλλ' ἐσχάτης ταῦτα παραπληξίας· δι' αὐτὸ γὰρ τοῦτο μάλιστα ἐναβρύνεσθαι δεῖ. ∆ι' οὗ ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ τῷ κόσμῳ. Τὸν κόσμον φησὶ νῦν, οὐ τὸν οὐρανὸν οὐδὲ τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ τὰ βιωτικὰ πράγματα, τὸν ἔπαινον τὸν παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὴν δορυφορίαν, τὴν δόξαν, τὸν πλοῦτον, τὰ τοιαῦτα ἅπαντα τὰ δοκοῦντα εἶναι λαμπρά. Ταῦτα γάρ μοι νεκρὰ γέγονε. Τοιοῦτον εἶναι χρὴ τὸν Χριστιανὸν, ταύτην ἀεὶ τὴν φωνὴν περιφέρειν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἠρκέσθη μόνον τῷ προτέρῳ τῆς νεκρώσεως τρόπῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕτερον ἐπήγαγεν εἰπών· Κἀγὼ τῷ κόσμῳ· διπλῆν τὴν νέκρωσιν αἰνιττόμενος, καὶ λέγων, ὅτι Καὶ ἐκεῖνα ἐμοὶ νεκρὰ, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐκείνοις, καὶ οὔτε αὐτὰ ἑλεῖν με δύναται καὶ χειρώσασθαι· νεκρὰ γάρ ἐστιν ἅπαξ· οὔτε ἐγὼ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῶν· νεκρὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς εἰμι καὶ ἐγώ. Οὐδὲν τῆς νεκρώσεως ταύτης μακαριώτερον. Αὕτη γάρ ἐστι τῆς μακαρίας ζωῆς ἡ ὑπόθεσις. Οὔτε γὰρ περιτομή τι ἰσχύει, οὔτε ἀκροβυστία, ἀλλὰ καινὴ κτίσις. Καὶ ὅσοι τῷ κανόνι τούτῳ στοιχήσουσιν, εἰρήνη ἐπ' αὐτοὺς καὶ ἔλεος, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἶδες σταυροῦ δύναμιν, εἰς ὅσον αὐτὸν ὕψος ἀνήγαγεν; Οὐ γὰρ δὴ μόνον τὰ τοῦ κόσμου πράγματα ἐνέκρωσεν αὐτῷ πάντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς πολιτείας τῆς παλαιᾶς ἀνώτερον πολλῷ κατέστησε. Τί ταύτης τῆς ἰσχύος ἴσον; Τὸν γὰρ ὑπὲρ ταύτης τῆς περιτομῆς σφαττόμενον καὶ ἑτέρους ἀποσφάττοντα, τοῦτον ἔπεισεν ὁ σταυρὸς ἐν ἴσῳ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ αὐτὴν ἀφέντα, ξένα τινὰ καὶ παράδοξα καὶ τὰ ὑπὲρ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἐπιζητεῖν πράγματα. Καινὴν γὰρ κτίσιν ταύτην καλεῖ τὴν καθ' ὑμᾶς πολιτείαν, διά τε τὰ γεγενημένα, διά τε τὰ ἐσόμενα· τὰ γεγενημένα μὲν, ὅτι ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν παλαιωθεῖσα ἐν γήρᾳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἀθρόως διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἀνενεώθη, ὡσανεὶ ἀνακτισθεῖσα πάλιν· διὸ καινὴν καὶ οὐρανίαν ἀπαιτούμεθα πολιτείαν· διὰ τὰ ἐσόμενα δὲ, ὅτι καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν μεταστήσεται μετὰ τῶν σωμάτων τῶν ἡμετέρων. Μὴ τοίνυν μοι λέγε, φησὶ, περιτομὴν τὴν οὐδὲν δυναμένην λοιπόν· πῶς γὰρ αὕτη φανεῖται, πάντων ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον μεταβεβλημένων; ἀλλὰ τὰ καινὰ ζήτει πράγματα τῆς χάριτος. Οἱ γὰρ ταῦτα διώκοντες, οὗτοι καὶ εἰρήνης καὶ φιλανθρωπίας ἀπολαύσονται, καὶ τῷ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὀνόματι κυρίως ἂν καλοῖντο· ὡς οἵ γε τὰ ἐναντία φρονοῦντες, κἂν ἐξ ἐκείνου γεγεννημένοι εἶεν, καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν αὐτοῦ περιφέροιεν, πάντων 61.680 ἐκπεπτώκασι τούτων, καὶ τῆς συγγενείας καὶ τῆς ἐπωνυμίας αὐτῆς. Οἱ γὰρ κυρίως Ἰσραηλῖται εἶναι δυνάμενοι, οἱ τὸν κανόνα τοῦτον