62

introduces a more exact way of life. And just as the grammarian teaches the characters of the letters to those beginning their learning; and to those who have learned these things, he offers the combinations of syllables; teaching some the composition of words, and others the harmony of reading, he does not introduce contradictory laws of teaching, but offers instructions commensurate with their ages; so the Lord Christ gave to each generation its appropriate laws. For He inscribed the necessary and first ones in the nature of men. For each person has the discernment of good and evil; and by doing what we do not want to suffer, we thereby proclaim that we know that what is being done is evil. Therefore, someone who murders, or commits adultery, knows that what is being done is evil. For not only does he not wish to be slain, but he also devises every way not to suffer this, and if his wife is violated, he accuses the one who has defiled his bed, and having received insults, he brings a charge of insolence. And examining other things in this manner, we shall find that all men know that evil is evil. God who created us, therefore, has placed these in nature; but the others He has given differently in each generation. For to Adam He gave the law concerning the plant; to Noah, the one concerning the eating of meat; He legislated circumcision for the patriarch; and the others He wrote down through Moses the great prophet. But in the divine Gospels, having put an end to the practice of legislating about small matters, as if they were certain elementary things, He gave the most perfect laws. And just as mothers offer the breast to newborn infants, and after a little while food that is made fine by the teeth, and then solid food to children and youths; so the God of all offers more perfect lessons to those instructed in those earlier things. Nevertheless, we still handle the Old Testament, as a mother's breast; but we do not partake of the milk. For to the perfect, the milk of the one who nourished them is superfluous; but nevertheless they honor the nurse, as having been nourished by her. So too we do not endure to observe circumcision, and the Sabbath, and sacrifices, and purifications, but we reap the other benefit of the Old Testament. For it teaches piety accurately, and faith in God, and love for one's neighbor, and 83.512 temperance, and righteousness, and courage, and sets forth for imitation the archetypes of the ancient saints. 18. —Concerning baptism. But instead of those purifications, the gift of all-holy baptism is sufficient for believers. For not only does it grant the remission of past sins, but it also instills the hope of the promised goods, and makes them partakers of the Lord's death and resurrection, and bestows a share in the gift of the Spirit, and declares them sons of God, and not only sons, but also heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. For baptism does not, as the mad Messalians think, merely imitate a razor, removing the sins that have gone before. For it grants this in abundance. For if this were the only work of baptism, for what reason do we baptize infants who have not yet tasted sin? For the mystery does not promise this alone, but things greater and more perfect than these; for it is a pledge of the good things to come, and a type of the future resurrection, and a fellowship in the Lord's sufferings, and a participation in the Lord's resurrection, and a garment of salvation, and a tunic of gladness, and a robe of light, or rather

62

ἀκριβεστέραν πο λιτείαν εἰσάγει. Καὶ καθάπερ ὁ γραμματιστὴς, τοὺς μὲν τῆς μαθήσεως ἀρχομένους, τῶν στοιχείων διδά σκει τοὺς χαρακτῆρας· τοῖς δὲ ταῦτα μεμαθηκόσι τῶν συλλαβῶν προσφέρει τὰς συμπλοκάς· ἄλλους δὲ τὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐκπαιδεύων συνθήκην, καὶ ἑτέρους τὴν τῆς ἀναγνώσεως ἁρμονίαν, οὐκ ἐναντίους νό μους διδασκαλίας εἰσφέρει, ἀλλὰ σύμμετρα ταῖς ἡλι κίαις προσφέρει παιδεύματα· οὕτως ὁ ∆εσπότης Χρι στὸς ἑκάστῃ γενεᾷ τοὺς ἁρμοδίους ἔδωκε νόμους. Τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἀναγκαίους καὶ πρώτους, ἐν τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐνέγραψεν. Ἔχει γὰρ ἕκαστος ἀγα θοῦ καὶ κακοῦ τὴν διάκρισιν· καὶ δρῶντες ἃ πάσχειν οὐ θέλομεν, ταύτῃ κηρύττομεν ὡς ἴσμεν, ὅτι κακὸν τὸ γινόμενον. Τοιγάρτοι φονεύων τις, ἢ μοιχεύων, οἶδεν ὅτι κακὸν τὸ γινόμενον. Σφαγῆναι γὰρ οὐ μό νον οὐ βούλεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντα μηχανᾶται τρόπον ὥστε μὴ τοῦτο παθεῖν, καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς δὲ μοιχευ θείσης, τοῦ τὴν εὐνὴν σεσυληκότος κατηγορεῖ, καὶ λοιδορίας δεξάμενος ὕβρεως εἰσφέρει γραφήν. Καὶ τἄλλα δὲ τοῦτον ἐξετάσαντες τρόπον, εὑρήσομεν πάν τας ἀνθρώπους εἰδότας, ὅτι κακὸν τὸ κακόν. Τού τους μὲν οὖν ἐν τῇ φύσει τέθεικεν ὁ δημιουργήσας ἡμᾶς Θεός· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους διαφόρως ἐν ἑκάστῃ δέ δωκε γενεᾷ. Τῷ μὲν γὰρ Ἀδὰμ τὸν περὶ τοῦ φυτοῦ τέθεικε νόμον· τῷ δὲ Νῶε, τὸν περὶ τῆς κρεωφαγίας· τὴν δὲ περιτομὴν τῷ πατριάρχῃ νενομοθέτηκε· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους διὰ Μωϋσῆ τοῦ μεγάλου προφήτου συν έγραψεν. Ἐν δέ γε τοῖς θείοις Εὐαγγελίοις, τὰς περὶ τῶν μικρῶν πραγμάτων νομοθεσίας οἷόν τινων στοι χείων καταπαύσας μελέτην, τοὺς τελεωτάτους ἔδωκε νόμους. Καὶ καθάπερ αἱ μητέρες τοῖς μὲν ἀρτιτό κοις προσφέρουσι βρέφεσι τὴν θηλὴν, μετ' ὀλίγον δὲ τὴν τοῖς ὀδοῦσι λεπτυνομένην τροφὴν, εἶτα παι δίοις καὶ μειρακίοις γεγενημένοις τὴν στεγανήν· οὕ τως ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς τοῖς ἐκεῖνα παιδευθεῖσι τὰ τελεώτερα προσφέρει μαθήματα. Περιέπομεν δὲ ὅμως καὶ τὴν Παλαιὰν ∆ιαθήκην, ὡς μητρῴαν θη λήν· τοῦ δὲ γάλακτος οὐ μεταλαμβάνομεν. Περιττὸν γὰρ τοῖς τελείοις τῆς θρεψαμένης τὸ γάλα· τιμῶσι δὲ ὅμως τὴν τιθὴν, ὡς ὑπ' ἐκείνης τραφέντες. Οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς, τὴν μὲν περιτομὴν, καὶ τὸ Σάββατον, καὶ τὰς θυσίας, καὶ τὰ περιῤῥαντήρια φυλάττειν οὐκ ἀνεχόμεθα, τὴν δ' ἄλλην ὠφέλειαν τῆς Παλαιᾶς ∆ιαθή κης καρπούμεθα. Καὶ γὰρ εὐσέβειαν, καὶ τὴν εἰς Θεὸν πίστιν, καὶ τὴν περὶ τὸν πέλας ἀγάπην, καὶ 83.512 σωφροσύνην, καὶ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἀνδρείαν, ἀκριβῶς ἐκπαιδεύει, καὶ προτίθησιν εἰς μίμησιν τὰ τῶν πα λαιῶν ἁγίων ἀρχέτυπα. ΙΗʹ. -Περὶ βαπτίσματος. Ἀντὶ δὲ τῶν περιῤῥαντηρίων ἐκείνων ἀπόχρη τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἡ τοῦ παναγίου βαπτίσματος δωρεά. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον τῶν παλαιῶν ἁμαρτημάτων δωρεῖται τὴν ἄφεσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἐντίθησιν ἀγαθῶν, καὶ τοῦ ∆εσποτικοῦ θανάτου, καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως καθίστησι κοινωνοὺς, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος δωρεᾶς τὴν μετουσίαν χαρίζεται, καὶ υἱοὺς ἀποφαίνει Θεοῦ, καὶ οὐ μόνον υἱοὺς, ἀλλὰ καὶ κληρονόμους Θεοῦ, καὶ συγκληρονόμους Χριστοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ, ὡς οἱ φρενοβλαβεῖς Μεσσαλιανοὶ νομίζου σι, ξυρὸν μόνον μιμεῖται τὸ βάπτισμα, τὰς προγεγενημένας ἀφαιρούμενον ἁμαρτίας. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐκ περιουσίας χαρίζεται. Εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο μόνον ἔργον ἦν τοῦ βαπτίσματος, ἀνθ' ὅτου τὰ βρέφη βαπτίζομεν οὐδέπω τῆς ἁμαρτίας γευσάμενα; Οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο μόνον ἐπαγγέλλεται τὸ μυστή ριον, ἀλλὰ τὰ τούτων μείζω καὶ τελεώτερα· ἀῤῥα βὼν γάρ ἐστι τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, καὶ τῆς ἐσο μένης ἀναστάσεως τύπος, καὶ κοινωνία τῶν ∆εσπο τικῶν παθημάτων, καὶ μετουσία τῆς ∆εσποτικῆς ἀνα στάσεως, καὶ ἱμάτιον σωτηρίου, καὶ χιτὼν εὐφροσύ νης, καὶ στολὴ φωτοειδὴς, μᾶλλον