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from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left." And the divine Daniel also beheld this epiphany of his. "I watched," he says, "until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was a flame of fire, its wheels were burning fire. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened." -"And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days, and to him was given authority and kingship. His authority is an everlasting authority, and his kingdom shall be forever." And, "The rule of the beasts was taken away, and the kingdom was given to the saints of the Most High." So great is the agreement of the evangelical proclamations and the prophetic decrees. For both these and those oracles are from one God. Concerning this fire, the prophet Isaiah also says: "Who will announce to you the everlasting place?" -And at the end of the prophecy he says: "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched." And the divine David, prophesying this epiphany, said: "God, the Lord of gods, has spoken, and summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of his beauty. God will come openly, our God, and he will not be silent. A fire will be kindled before him, and around him a mighty tempest." And in another psalm: "A cloud and darkness are around him, righteousness and judgment are the foundation of his throne; fire will go before him, and will burn up his enemies round about." And again: "For he comes to judge the earth, to judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with uprightness." And through Malachi the prophet, the God of all himself: "Behold, I send you Elijah the Tishbite, lest I come and strike the earth utterly." And the divine Apostle, writing to the blessed Titus, joined the second epiphany of our Savior with the first: "For the grace of God has appeared," he says, "that brings salvation for all people, training us, so that, having denied ungodliness and worldly desires, we may live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, awaiting the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus 83.525 Christ." And through these words he showed that the first epiphany also happened for the sake of the second. For this reason, he says, he appeared, so that, having freed us from ungodliness and lawlessness, and having taught us every virtue, he might prepare us to await the second epiphany with gladness. And he marvels at the Thessalonians, because having been delivered from the error of idols, they chose to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the coming wrath. And writing to the Hebrews, he announced this coming, using a prophetic testimony. "For yet," he says, "a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay." And he taught these things to the Philippians also: "For our citizenship," he said, "is in heaven, from which we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus." And likewise also to the Thessalonians: "For the Lord himself," he says, "will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first," and what follows. And it is easy to bring forward other testimonies proclaiming the second epiphany of our Savior, but these are sufficient to persuade even the very contentious.

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ἀλλήλων, ὥσπερ ὁ ποιμὴν ἀφ ορίζει τὰ πρόβατα ἀπὸ τῶν ἐρίφων, καὶ στήσει τὰ μὲν πρόβατα ἐκ δεξιῶν αὑτοῦ, τὰ δὲ ἐρίφια ἐξ εὐ ωνύμων." Ταύτην δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἐθεάσατο ∆ανιήλ. "Ἐθεώρουν, φησὶν, ἕως οὗ θρόνοι ἐτέθησαν, καὶ ὁ Παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν ἐκάθισε· τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ λευκὸν ὡσεὶ χιὼν, καὶ ἡ θρὶξ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ ἔριον καθαρόν· ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ φλὸξ πυρὸς, οἱ τροχοὶ αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον, ποταμὸς πυρὸς πορευόμενος εἷλκεν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ. Χίλιαι χιλιάδες ἐλειτούργουν αὐτῷ, καὶ μύριαι μυριάδες παρειστήκεισαν αὐτῷ. Κριτήριον ἐκάθισε, καὶ βί βλοι ἠνεῴχθησαν." -"Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἤρχετο ὡς Υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἕως τοῦ Παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἔφθασε, καὶ αὐτῷ ἐδόθη ἡ ἐξουσία καὶ ἡ βασιλεία. Ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ ἐξουσία αἰώνιος, καὶ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἔσται." Καὶ, "Μετεστάθη ἡ ἀρχὴ τῶν θηρίων, καὶ ἐδόθη ἡ βασιλεία ἁγίοις Ὑψίστου." Τοσαύτη συμφωνία τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν κηρυγμάτων καὶ τῶν προφητικῶν θεσπισμάτων. Ἑνὸς γὰρ Θεοῦ ταῦτα κἀκεῖνα τὰ λόγια. Περὶ τούτου τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ Ἡσαΐας ὁ προφήτης φησί· "Τίς ἀναγγελεῖ ὑμῖν τὸν τόπον τὸν αἰώνιον;" -Καὶ ἐν τῷ τέλει τῆς προφητείας φησίν· "Ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτή σει, καὶ τὸ πῦρ αὐτῶν οὐ σβεσθήσεται." Ταύ την καὶ ὁ θεῖος ∆αβὶδ θεσπίζων τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἔφη· "Θεὸς, θεῶν Κύριος, ἐλάλησε, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὴν γῆν, ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου μέχρι δυσμῶν. Ἐκ Σιὼν ἡ εὐπρέπεια τῆς ὡραιότητος αὐτοῦ. Ὁ Θεὸς ἐμφανῶς ἥξει, ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐ παρασιωπήσεται. Πῦρ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καυθήσεται, καὶ κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ καταιγὶς σφοδρά." Καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ δὲ τῷ ψαλμῷ· "Νεφέλη καὶ γνόφος κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ, δικαιοσύνη καὶ κρῖμα κατόρθωσις τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ· πῦρ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ προπορεύσεται, καὶ φλογιεῖ κύκλῳ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ." Καὶ πάλιν· "Ὅτι ἥκει κρῖναι τὴν γῆν, κρῖναι τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ λαοὺς ἐν εὐθύτητι." Καὶ διὰ Μαλαχίου τοῦ προφή του αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός· "Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω ὑμῖν Ἠλίαν τὸν Θεσβίτην, ἵνα μὴ ἐλθὼν πατάξω τὴν γῆν ἄρδην." Καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος τῷ μακα ρίῳ Τίτῳ γράφων, τῇ προτέρᾳ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιφανείᾳ καὶ τὴν δευτέραν συνέταξεν· "Ἐπεφάνη γὰρ, φησὶν, ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ σωτήριος πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, παιδεύουσα ἡμᾶς, ἵνα ἀρνησάμενοι τὴν ἀσέβειαν, καὶ τὰς κοσμικὰς ἐπιθυμίας, σωφρόνως καὶ δικαίως καὶ εὐσεβῶς ζήσωμεν ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι, προσδεχόμενοι τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα, καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ 83.525 Χριστοῦ." Ἔδειξε δὲ διὰ τούτων καὶ τὴν προτέραν ἐπιφάνειαν διὰ τὴν δευτέραν γεγενημένην. Τούτου γὰρ ἕνεκα, φησὶν, ἐπεφάνη, ἵνα ἀσεβείας ἡμᾶς καὶ παρανομίας ἐλευθερώσας, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν ἐκπαι δεύσας, μετὰ θυμηδίας τὴν δευτέραν ἐπιφάνειαν προσμένειν παρασκευάσῃ. Καὶ Θεσσαλονικέας δὲ θαυμάζει, ὅτι τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων πλάνης ἀπαλλαγέντες εἵλοντο δουλεύειν Θεῷ ζῶντι καὶ ἀληθινῷ, καὶ ἀνα μένειν τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, Ἰησοῦν τὸν ῥυόμενον ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τῆς ἐρχομένης. Καὶ Ἑβραίοις δὲ γράφων, τήνδε τὴν παρουσίαν ἐμήνυσε προφητικῇ χρησάμε νος μαρτυρίᾳ. "Ἔτι γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅσον ὅσον, ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἥξει καὶ οὐ χρονιεῖ." Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ Φι λιππησίους ἐδίδαξεν· "Ἡμῶν γὰρ, ἔφη, τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει, ἐξ οὗ καὶ Σωτῆρα ἀπεκδεχόμεθα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν." Ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ Θεσσαλονικέας· "Αὐτὸς γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι Θεοῦ καταβήσεται ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτοι," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ῥᾴδιον δὲ καὶ ἄλλας παραγαγεῖν μαρτυρίας, τὴν δευτέραν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιφάνειαν κηρυττούσας, ἀλλ' ἀποχρῶσι καὶ αὗται πεῖσαι καὶ τοὺς λίαν ἐριστικούς.