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the light dazzles those with weak eyes. And who is sufficient for these things? Since he has spoken great things, that we are a sacrifice of Christ, and a sweet savor, and we are led in triumph everywhere, he again attributes these things to God; wherefore he also says, And who is sufficient for these things? for the whole is Christ's, he says, and nothing is our own. For we are not as the many, peddling the 95.720 word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God. If we have spoken great things, yet nothing has appeared to be our own accomplishment, but all things are Christ's. For we do not imitate the false apostles, who say that many things are their own. For this is to peddle, when one adulterates the wine, and when one sells for money what he was commanded to give freely. And we speak in the sight of God in Christ. We do not preach it deceiving you, nor in our own wisdom, but supplied by the power from Him.

CHAP. III. Are we beginning again to commend ourselves, unless we need, as some, letters of recommendation

letters to you, or from you of recommendation. You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men. What was about to be retorted to him by them, that "You are exalting yourself," he anticipates and resolves this himself. What he says is this: We are so far from needing letters of recommendation to you, that we have you in place of a letter. And he says, as if, "If it were necessary to commend ourselves to others, we would have brought you forth into the midst in place of a letter." being made manifest, that you are a letter of Christ, ministered by us. Here he bears witness not only to their love, but also to their accomplishments. written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone but on tablets of fleshly hearts. That is, which all know; thus we carry you about everywhere, and have you in mind. And such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Again he attributes the whole to God. For Christ is the cause of these things for us, he says. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as from ourselves. See again another correction. And he says: I did not say, "we have confidence," as if part were ours and part God's; but he attributes and reckons the whole to Him. But our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit. And "made sufficient" means, He made us able and fit. For it is no small thing to bring forth for the world such victories, and commandments much greater than the former ones. Wherefore he also added, "not of the letter, but of the spirit." For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. He says these things, taking down those who are high-minded about Judaism. For Moses, he says, did not bring spirit, but letters; but we have been entrusted to give spirit. And letter here, 95.721 he says, is the law, which punishes transgressors; but spirit is the grace through the Spirit, which gives life to those made dead by sins. But if the ministry of death. He still works out the comparison. And this is the meaning. If that one is a ministry of death, but this one of glory, it is indisputable that this glory is greater than that one; and he calls the law the ministry of death. For it ministers to death, by convicting sins. in letters, engraved on stones, came in glory, so that the sons of Israel could not gaze at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, which was being brought to an end, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more in glory? For if the ministry of condemnation is glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. Again he takes down the Jewish mindset. For indeed what was glorified has not been glorified in this respect, because of the surpassing glory. For if what is being brought to an end was through glory, much more that which remains is in glory. If we compare, he says, this glory with that one, the glory of the old is not even glory. Not

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ἀσθενεῖς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τὸ φῶς σκοτίζει. Καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα τίς ἱκανός; Ἐπειδὴ μεγάλα ἐφθέγξατο, ὅτι θυσία ἐσμὲν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ εὐωδία, καὶ ἐθριαμβευόμεθα πανταχοῦ, πάλιν τῷ Θεῷ ἀνατίθησι ταῦτα· διὸ καί φησι, Καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα τίς ἱκανός; τὸ γὰρ πᾶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, φησὶ, καὶ οὐδὲν ἡμέτερον. Οὐ γάρ ἐσμεν ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ καπηλεύοντες τὸν 95.720 λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐξ εἰλικρινείας, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐκ Θεοῦ. Εἰ μεγάλα ἐφθεγξάμεθα, ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τὸ ἡμέτερον ἔφανεν εἶναι κατόρθωμα, ἀλλὰ πάντα τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ μιμούμεθα τοὺς ψευδαποστόλους, τοὺς τὰ πολλὰ αὐτῶν λέγοντας εἶναι. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ καπηλεῦσαι, ὅταν τις νοθεύῃ τὸν οἶνον, καὶ ὅταν τις χρημάτων πωλῇ, ὃ ἐκελεύσθη δωρεὰν δοῦναι. Καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλοῦμεν. Οὐκ ἀπατῶντες ὑμᾶς αὐτὸ κηρύττομεν, οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ σοφίᾳ, ἀλλὰ τῇ παρ' ἐκείνου δυνάμει χορηγούμενοι.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. Γʹ. Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν, εἰ μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν

ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἢ ἐξ ὑμῶν συστατικῶν. Ἡ ἐπιστολὴ ἡμῶν ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐγγεγραμμένη ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν· γινωσκομένη καὶ ἀναγινωσκομένη ὑπὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων. Ὅπερ ἔμελλεν αὐτῷ παρ' ἐκείνων ἀνθυποφέρεσθαι, ὅτι Ἐπαίρεις σαυτὸν, τοῦτο προλαβὼν αὐτὸς λύει. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· Τοσοῦτον ἀπέχομεν τοῦ δεηθῆναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν, ὡς ὑμᾶς ἀντ' ἐπιστολῆς ἔχειν. Λέγει δὲ, ὡς Εἰ ἔδει πρὸς ἑτέρους συστῆναι, ὑμᾶς ἂν παρηγάγομεν εἰς μέσον ἀντὶ ἐπιστολῆς. Φανερούμενοι, ὅτι ἐστὲ ἐπιστολὴ Χριστοῦ, διακονηθεῖσα ὑφ' ὑμῶν. Ἐνταῦθα οὐ μόνον αὐτοῖς ἀγάπην, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατορθώματα μαρτυρεῖ. Ἐγγεγραμμένη, οὐ μελάνι, ἀλλὰ Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ζῶντος· οὐκ ἐν πλαξὶν λιθίναις, ἀλλ' ἐν πλαξὶ καρδίας σαρκίναις. Τουτέστιν, ἣν πάντες ἴσασιν· οὕτως ὑμᾶς πανταχοῦ περιφέρομεν, καὶ ἐν νῷ ἔχομεν. Πεποίθησιν δὲ τοιαύτην ἔχομεν διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Πάλιν τὸ ὅλον ἀνατίθησι τῷ Θεῷ. Τούτων γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ Χριστὸς αἴτιος, φησίν. Οὐχ ὅτι ἱκανοί ἐσμεν ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν λογίσασθαί τι ὡς ἐξ ἑαυτῶν. Ὅρα πάλιν ἑτέραν διόρθωσιν. Λέγει δέ· οὐχ οὕτως εἶπον, πεποίθησιν ἔχομεν, ὡς τὸ μὲν ἡμέτερον εἶναι, τὸ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλὰ τὸ πᾶν αὐτῷ ἀνατίθησι καὶ λογίζεται. Ἀλλ' ἡ ἱκανότης ἡμῶν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὃς καὶ ἱκάνωσεν ἡμᾶς διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης, οὐ γράμματος, ἀλλὰ πνεύματος. Τὸ δὲ, ἱκάνωσεν, τουτέστι, δυνατοὺς ἐποίησε καὶ ἐπιτηδείους. Οὐ μικρὸν γὰρ προκομίσαι τῇ οἰκουμένῃ τοιαύτας νίκας, καὶ ἐντολὰς πολλῷ μείζους τῶν προτέρων. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἐπήγαγεν, οὐ γράμματος, ἀλλὰ πνεύματος. Τὸ γὰρ γράμμα ἀποκτείνει, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζωοποιεῖ. Ταῦτά φησιν, ἐκείνους καθαιρῶν τοὺς μεγαλοφρονοῦντας ἐπὶ τῷ Ἰουδαϊσμῷ. Οὐ γὰρ πνεῦμα, φησὶν, ἐκόμιζεν Μωϋσῆς, ἀλλὰ γράμματα· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπιστεύθημεν πνεῦμα διδόναι. Γράμμα δὲ ἐνταῦθα, 95.721 τὸν νόμον φησὶ, τὸν κολάζοντα τοὺς πλημμελοῦντας· πνεῦμα δὲ, τὴν χάριν τὴν διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος, τοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν νεκρωθέντας ζωοποιοῦσαν. Εἰ δὲ ἡ διακονία τοῦ θανάτου. Ἔτι τὴν σύγκρισιν ἐξεργάζεται. Ὃ δὲ νοῦς οὗτος. Εἰ ἐκείνη μὲν θανάτου, αὕτη δὲ δόξης διακονία, ἀναμφίβολον ὅτι ἡ δόξα αὕτη ἐκείνης μείζων ἐστί· διακονίαν δὲ θανάτου, τὸν νόμον λέγει. ∆ιακονεῖ γὰρ εἰς θάνατον, ἐλέγχων τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. Ἐν γράμμασιν, ἐντετυπωμένη ἐν λίθοις, ἐγεννήθη ἐν δόξῃ, ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι ἀτενίσαι τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον Μωϋσέως διὰ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ τὴν καταργουμένην, πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἡ διακονία τοῦ Πνεύματος ἔσται ἐν δόξῃ; Εἰ γὰρ ἡ διακονία κατακρίσεως δόξα, πολλῷ μᾶλλον περισσεύει ἡ διακονία τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἐν δόξῃ. Καθαιρεῖ πάλιν τὸ Ἰουδαϊκὸν φρόνημα. Καὶ γὰρ οὐ δεδόξασται τὸ δεδοξασμένον ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει, εἵνεκεν τῆς ὑπερβαλλούσης δόξης. Εἰ γὰρ τὸ καταργούμενον διὰ δόξης, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὸ μένον, ἐν δόξῃ. Ἂν συγκρίνωμεν, φησὶ, ταύτην δόξαν ἐκείνῃ, οὐδὲ δόξα ἐστὶν ἡ δόξα τῆς παλαιᾶς. Οὐχ