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Or also in another way; we are compelled to go the mile of faith, and we are also required to perform the works of faith.

QUESTION 179 What is the meaning of "if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him also the

other"? RESPONSE If, he says, the demons through their thoughts strike you on the right

cheek, puffing you up through your right-handed works, turn the other, that is, bringing to mind all the left-handed deeds that have been done by us.

QUESTION 180 What is the meaning of what was said by the Lord to his disciples, that "I will not drink

of the fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom"?

RESPONSE Since the food and drink of God is our salvation, according to what is

written, and the Lord, having fulfilled this through the economy in the flesh and having brought to completion the saving purpose concerning us 14Α_248 through his teaching and way of life, having made his disciples to be beyond sense perception, no longer, he says, will I drink from the fruit of the vine, that is, of the salvation administered to men through his sojourn among them. But in the age to come he drinks this new, that is, being renewed through the Holy Spirit and making the worthy ones gods by grace through the ecstatic and inebriated participation in good things.

QUESTION 181 What is the meaning of "My spirit shall not abide in these men because of

their being flesh; but their days shall be one hundred and twenty years"? RESPONSE God, caring for the salvation of the men of that time, foretold that their life would be

one hundred and twenty years; for twenty years passed until Noah was divinely instructed to build the ark; and for one hundred years he remained building the ark, so that by the example they might come to correction; but after this he brought the flood and took them all away. And the Scripture is true that it would be one hundred and twenty years for that generation from the time he threatened them.

QUESTION 182 What does Eutychus in Acts signify, having fallen "from the third story,

while Paul was speaking"? RESPONSE Every mind that has ascended the practical life as if it were the first story 14Α_250 and to the

natural contemplation as to a second story has applied itself, and through unwavering faith has mounted to the height of theology as to a third story, then having neglected the divine word and become drowsy, falls from the aforementioned third story; but if the word of teaching, falling upon it, finds something vital in it and it has not been entirely deadened through despair, it is made alive again through repentance.

QUESTION 183 How, since the intention is not the same, is the one denarius said in the

Gospel to be given by the householder to those who labored in the vineyard, and since the callings are different?

RESPONSE

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Ἢ καὶ ἄλλως· ἀγγαρευόμεθα τὸ τῆς πίστεως μίλιον, ἀπαιτούμεθα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῆς πίστεως.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 179 Τί ἐστιν τὸ «ἐάν τίς σε ῥαπίσῃ εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα, στρέψον αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν

ἄλλην»; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Ἐάν σε, φησίν, οἱ δαίμονες διὰ τῶν λογισμῶν ῥαπίσωσιν εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν

σιαγόνα, ἐπαίροντες διὰ τῶν δεξιῶν ἔργων, στρέψον τὴν ἄλλην, τουτέστιν τὰ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς πράξεως ἔργα ὅσα ἡμῖν πέπρακται, ὑπ᾽ ὄψιν ἄγων.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 180 Τί σημαίνει τὸ εἰρημένον ἀπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου πρὸς τοὺς μαθητάς, ὅτι "οὐ μὴ πίω

ἐκ τοῦ γενήματος τῆς ἀμπέλου ἕως ἂν αὐτὸ πίω καινὸν μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Πατρός μου";

ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Ἐπειδὴ βρῶσις καὶ πόσις ἐστὶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ ἡμετέρα σωτηρία κατὰ τὸ

γεγραμμένον, ταύτην δὲ διὰ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα οἰκονομίας ἐκπληρώσας ὁ Κύριος καὶ τὸν περὶ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς 14Α_248 σωτήριον σκοπὸν εἰς πέρας ἀγαγὼν διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας καὶ πολιτείας, τοὺς αὐτοῦ μαθητὰς ὑπὲρ τὴν αἴσθησιν ποιήσας γενέσθαι, οὐκέτι, φησίν, πίω ἐκ τοῦ γενήματος τῆς ἀμπέλου, τουτέστιν τῆς οἰκονομηθείσης διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐνδημίας τοῖς ἀνθρώποις σωτηρίας. Ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι πίνει τοῦτο καινόν, τουτέστιν ἀνανεούμενον διὰ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος καὶ θεοὺς χάριτι τοὺς ἀξίους ἀπεργαζόμενος διὰ τῆς ἐκστατικῆς καὶ μεμεθυσμένης τῶν ἀγαθῶν μετουσίας.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 181 Τί ἐστιν τὸ «οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ Πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις διὰ

τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας· ἔσονται δὲ αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῶν ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι ἔτη»; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Κηδόμενος ὁ Θεὸς τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τότε σωτηρίας προεῖπεν ἔσεσθαι τὴν

αὐτῶν ζωὴν ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι ἔτη· ἕως οὗ γὰρ ἐχρηματίσθη ὁ Νῶε κατασκευάσαι τὴν κιβωτὸν ἐγένοντο εἴκοσι ἔτη· ἐν ἑκατὸν δὲ ἔτεσιν ἔμεινεν τεκταίνων τὴν κιβωτόν, ὥστε διὰ τῆς παραστάσεως ἐλθεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς διόρθωσιν· μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ ἐπήγαγεν τὸν κατακλυσμὸν καὶ ἦρεν ἅπαντας. Καὶ ἀληθεύει ἡ Γραφὴ ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι ἔτη ἔσεσθαι τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ ἐξότε ἠπείλησεν αὐτοῖς.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 182 Τί δηλοῖ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν ὁ Εὔτυχος πεσὼν «ἀπὸ τοῦ τριστέγου,

διαλεγομένου τοῦ Παύλου»; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Πᾶς νοῦς τὴν πρακτικὴν καθάπερ πρώτην στέγην ἀναβὰς 14Α_250 καὶ τῇ

φυσικῇ θεωρίᾳ ὡς δευτέρᾳ στέγῃ ἐπιστήσας ἑαυτὸν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀνενδυάστου πίστεως τῷ τῆς θεολογίας ὕψει ὥσπερ τρίτῃ στέγῃ ἑαυτὸν ἐπιβιβάσας, εἶτα τοῦ θείου λόγου καταμελήσας καὶ νυστάξας, πίπτει ἀπὸ τοῦ εἰρημένου τριστέγου· εἰ δὲ ἐπιπίπτων αὐτῷ ὁ λόγος τῆς διδασκαλίας εὕρῃ ἐν αὐτῷ ζωτικόν τι καὶ μὴ πάντη διὰ τῆς ἀπογνώσεως ἐνεκρώθη, διὰ τῆς μετανοίας πάλιν ζωοποιεῖται.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 183 Πῶς τῆς προθέσεως οὐ ταὐτῆς οὔσης ἓν τὸ δηνάριον λέγεται ἐν τῷ

Εὐαγγελίῳ δίδοσθαι παρὰ τοῦ οἰκοδεσπότου τοῖς ἐν τῷ ἀμπελῶνι καμοῦσιν, καὶ ὅτι αἱ κλήσεις διάφοροι;

ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ