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is also God-breathed, since both we and our words, according to the wise man who said, and our very breath is in the hand of God who made us.

(146) Our Lord and God Jesus Christ, being the true Son of God the Father, consubstantial and of the same nature and of the same glory, enthroned with and sharing the same throne, abiding in the Father and the Father in him, looking upon our hardship and affliction, and indeed our very slavery in which we were enslaved through sin to the enemy who deceived us, and having compassion on us through his ineffable love for mankind, wished to deliver us from slavery and most shameful error, he came down from there, without leaving the paternal bosom at all, as he himself knows, and coming to be upon the earth, and walked among and conversed with us who are sinful men, and having given commandments of salvation to his holy disciples and apostles, he ascended again to his own Father with glory, having commanded them and said: "Go, preach the gospel to all creation, teaching" all, not "to observe" this or that, but "all that I have commanded you." And in saying "all," he left out nothing that he did not command to be kept. Then what? "He who believes," he says, "and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned."

Therefore, beloved brethren, have you understood what this is that he says: "He who believes and is baptized," then again: "He who does not believe," or should I also speak about this to your love? For what is said seems to be easy to grasp and simple, but it has meanings hidden in its depth.

(147) Here he does not mean that faith which is only that Christ is God, but that most comprehensive faith concerning all the holy commandments spoken by him, which somehow holds within itself all his divine commandments and which believes that nothing in them is idle, down to a single tittle, but that all things, down to one iota, are life and productive of eternal life; so that he who believes them to be so and through holy baptism has covenanted to keep all these things and to do them without omission, will be saved, but he who disbelieves in any of his words, down to a single, as has been said, tittle or one iota, as one who has denied him entirely, will be condemned. And rightly so; for he who has believed him in the great things, such as that, being God, he unchangeably became man, that he was crucified and died and rose again, that having risen, he entered though the doors were closed and appeared to his own disciples, that he was taken up and sits at the right hand of God the Father, that he is about to come to judge the living and the dead and to give to each according to his works, obviously having first raised up all of us, those who are to be born from Adam until the last day, but disbelieves him when he says, "Amen, I say to you, that for every idle word men will give an account on the day of judgment," how then will he be faithful and be numbered among the faithful?

Therefore, he who believes Christ in those fearful things that are beyond mind and beyond all human thought, both in what has happened and what is about to happen from our Lord Jesus Christ, having his soul obedient and consenting, (148) but he himself disbelieves when he hears him say: "He who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" and: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" and that "He who comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and brothers and sisters and wife and children, and even his own soul, cannot be my disciple" and that "Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments will be called least in the kingdom of heaven," how will such a person be faithful and not rather be condemned as an unbeliever or even worse than an unbeliever? Because while in the greater things he confesses to believe in Christ, yet in the least things he despises him, the God and Master of all, as if he were a liar; and while saying he believes in him as God in other things,

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ἐστί καί θεόπνευστος, ἐπειδή καί ἡμεῖς καί οἱ λόγοι ἡμῶν, κατά τόν εἰρηκότα σοφόν, καί αὐτή ἡμῶν ἡ πνοή ἐν χειρί Θεοῦ τοῦ πεποιηκότος ἡμᾶς.

(146) Ὁ Κύριος καί Θεός ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Υἱός ὤν γνήσιος τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός, ὁμοούσιός τε καί ὁμοφυής καί ὁμόδοξος, σύνθρονός τε καί ὁμόθρονος, ἐν τῷ Πατρί μένων καί ὁ Πατήρ ἐν αὐτῷ, πρός τήν ἡμετέραν ταλαιπωρίαν καί κάκωσιν, ἀλλά μήν καί αὐτήν ἡμῶν τήν δουλείαν ἥν διά τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῷ ἀπατήσαντι ἡμᾶς ἐχθρῷ ἐδουλεύσαμεν ἀπιδών καί κατελεήσας ἡμᾶς τῇ ἀφάτῳ φιλανθρωπίᾳ αὐτοῦ βουληθείς ἐξελέσθαι τῆς δουλείας καί αἰσχίστης πλάνης ἡμᾶς, κατῆλθεν ἐκεῖθεν ὅλως τούς πατρῴους κόλπους μή λιπών, ὡς οἶδεν αὐτός, καί γενόμενος ἐπί τῆς γῆς, ἐμπεριπατήσας τε καί συναναστραφείς ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὖσιν ἁμαρτωλοῖς, καί προστάγματα δούς σωτηρίας τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς καί ἀποστόλοις, ἀνῆλθεν αὖθις πρός τόν ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα μετά δόξης, παραγγείλας αὐτοῖς καί εἰπών· "Πορευθέντες, κηρύξατε τό εὐαγγέλιον πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει διδάσκοντες" πάντας, οὐχί τόδε "τηρεῖν" ἤ τόδε, ἀλλά "πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν". "Πάντα" δέ εἰπών οὐδέν ἀφῆκεν ὅ μή φυλάξαι προσέταξεν. Εἶτα τί; "Ὁ πιστεύσας, φησί, καί βαπτισθείς σωθήσεται, ὁ δέ ἀπιστήσας κατακριθήσεται".

Ἆρα οὖν, ἀγαπητοί ἀδελφοί, ἔγνωτε τί ἐστι τοῦτο ὅ λέγει· "Ὁ πιστεύσας καί βαπτισθείς", εἶτα πάλιν· "Ὁ ἀπιστήσας", ἤ καί περί τούτου εἴπω πρός τήν ὑμετέραν ἀγάπην; ∆οκεῖ γάρ εὔληπτον εἶναι καί ἁπλοῦν τό λεγόμενον, ἔχει δέ ἐγκεκρυμμένα εἰς βάθος αὐτοῦ τά νοήματα.

(147) Πίστιν ἐνταῦθα οὐ ταύτην λέγει ὅτι Θεός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός μόνον, ἀλλά τήν περί πασῶν τῶν παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ λεχθεισῶν ἁγίων ἐντολῶν περιεκτικωτάτην πίστιν τήν συνέχουσάν πως ἐν ἑαυτῇ πάσας τάς θείας αὐτοῦ ἐντολάς καί πιστεύουσαν μηδέν εἶναι ἀργόν μέχρι καί μιᾶς κεραίας ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλά πάντα ἕως ἑνός ἰῶτα ζωή καί ζωῆς αἰωνίου πρόξενα· ὡς ἄν ὁ πιστεύων οὕτως ἔχειν αὐτάς καί διά τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος συνταξάμενος ταῦτα πάντα φυλάσσειν καί ἀπαραλείπτως ποιεῖν σωθήσεται, ὁ δέ ἀπιστήσας ἔν τινι τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ μέχρι καί μιᾶς, ὡς εἴρηται, κεραίας ἤ ἑνός ἰῶτα, ὡς αὐτόν ἐκεῖνον ὅλον ἀπαρνησάμενος, κατακριθῇ. Καί εἰκότως· ὁ γάρ εἰς τά μεγάλα πιστεύσας αὐτῷ οἷον ὅτι Θεός ὤν ἀτρέπτως ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι ἐσταυρώθη καί ἀπέθανε καί ἀνέστη, ὅτι ἀναστάς τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων εἰσῆλθε καί ὤφθη τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς, ὅτι ἀνελήφθη καί κάθηται ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός, ὅτι μέλλει ἔρχεσθαι κρῖναι ζῶντας καί νεκρούς καί ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ κατά τά ἔργα αὐτοῦ πρότερον δηλονότι ἐξαναστήσας πάντας ἡμᾶς, τούς ἀπό Ἀδάμ καί μέχρι τῆς ἐσχάτης ἡμέρας τεχθήσεσθαι μέλλοντας , λέγοντι δέ αὐτῷ" "Ἀμήν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι καί ὑπέρ ἀργοῦ λόγου λόγον δώσουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως" ἀπιστῶν, πῶς ἄρα πιστός ἔσται καί μετά πιστῶν συγκαταριθμηθῇ;

Ὁ τοίνυν ἐπ᾿ ἐκείνοις τοῖς φρικτοῖς καί ὑπέρ νοῦν καί ὑπέρ πᾶσαν ἀνθρωπίνην διάνοιαν πιστεύων Χριστῷ καί τοῖς γεγονόσι καί μέλλουσι γενέσθαι παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πειθαρχοῦσαν ἔχων καί συντιθεμένην αὐτοῦ τήν ψυχήν, (148) ἀπιστῶν δέ αὐτός ὁπηνίκα λέγοντος ἀκούει· "Ὁ θέλων ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτόν καί ἀράτω τόν σταυρόν αὐτοῦ καί ἀκολουθείτω μοι" καί· "Ὁ φιλῶν πατέρα ἤ μετέρα ὑπέρ ἐμέ οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος" καί ὅτι "Ὁ ἐρχόμενος πρός με καί οὐ μισεῖ τόν πατέρα αὐτοῦ καί τήν μετέρα καί τούς ἀδελφούς καί τάς ἀδελφάς καί τήν γυναῖκα καί τά τέκνα, ἔτι δέ καί τήν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν, οὐ δύναταί μου εἶναι μαθητής" καί ὅτι "Ὁ λύσας μίαν τῶν ἐντολῶν τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων ἐλάχιστος κληθήσεται ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν", πῶς ὁ τοιοῦτος πιστός καί οὐχί μᾶλλον ὡς ἄπιστος ἤ καί χείρων ἀπίστου κατακριθήσεται; Ὅτι ἐν μέν τοῖς μείζοσιν ὁμολογεῖ πιστεύειν Χριστῷ, ἐν δέ τοῖς ἐλαχίστοις ὡς ψευδομένου καταφρονεῖ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ καί ∆εσπότου· καί πιστεύειν λέγων ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις αὐτῷ ὡς Θεῷ,