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wishing to deliver us from slavery and the most shameful error, He came down from there without leaving the Father's bosom at all, as He Himself knows, and coming to be on earth, and walking among and associating with us who are sinful men, and having given the commandments of salvation to His holy disciples and apostles, He ascended again to His own Father with glory, having commanded and said to them: "Go, preach the Gospel to every creature, teaching" all, not "to keep" this or that, but "all things that I have commanded you." And in saying "all things," 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 faith only in that Christ is God, but the most comprehensive faith concerning all the holy commandments spoken by Him, the one that somehow contains in itself all His divine commandments and believes that nothing in them is idle, down to a single tittle, but that all things, down to one iota, are life and procure eternal life; so that he who believes that they are so and who, through holy baptism, has committed himself to keep and do all these things without omission will be saved, but he who disbelieves in any of His words, even down to a single tittle or one iota, as has been said, 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 disciples, that He was taken up and is seated at the right hand of God the Father, that He is to come to judge the living and the dead and to give to each according to his works, having first, of course, raised us all, those from Adam and those who will be born 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 a believer and be numbered among the faithful?

Therefore, he who believes Christ in those awesome things that are beyond mind and beyond all human thought, and has his soul obedient to and in agreement with the things that have happened and are to happen from our Lord Jesus Christ, (148) but he himself disbelieves when he hears Him say: "Whoever 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 can such a one be a believer and not rather be condemned as an unbeliever or even worse than an unbeliever? Because in the greater things he confesses to believe in Christ, but in the least things he scorns Him, the God and Master of all, as if He were a liar; and saying that he believes in Him as God in other things, he disbelieves Him as he would any ordinary man when He says that for every idle word men will give an account on the day of judgment; and he thinks he can be saved while laughing and speaking shamefully and talking idly, though He calls those who laugh wretched and blesses those who mourn; but also, not denying himself nor carrying the cross, he thinks he follows Christ who was crucified for him; and loving more those

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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, ὡς τῷ τυχόντι ἀνθρώπῳ διαπιστεῖ λέγοντι ὅτι καί ὑπέρ ἀργοῦ λόγου λόγον δώσουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως· καί οἴεται γελῶν καί αἰσχρολογῶν καί ματαιολογῶν σωθῆναι, ταλανίζοντος ἐκείνου τούς γελῶντας καί μακαρίζοντος τούς πενθοῦντας· ἀλλά καί ἑαυτόν μή ἀπαρνούμενος μηδέ τόν σταυρόν βαστάζων, ἀκολουθεῖν νομίζει τῷ δι᾿ αὐτόν σταυρωθέντι Χριστῷ· καί πλεῖον φιλῶν τούς