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of his feet to loose. Men, brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us the word of this salvation was sent forth. For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, not knowing him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him; and though they found no cause of death, they asked that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; who was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 7.45 And we bring you good tidings of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this for us their children by raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm: "3You are my Son, today I have begotten you"3; and as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way: "3I will give you the sure holy things of David"3; therefore he says also in another place: "3You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption"3. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption; but he whom God raised up saw no corruption. Be it known to you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone that believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets: "3Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which you will in no wise believe, if a man declare it to you"3." 7.46 And having related these things similarly from the prophets, he said nothing else than what he had foretold to the others: death, resurrection, and the kingdom of heaven, striving to persuade all, with God working with him through signs and wonders and powers, which both he himself and all the apostles performed in the presence of Greeks and Jews, believers and unbelievers, and furthermore confirming them in all things through prophecies and their outcomes, which transcend this world, "who also made them sufficient, as Paul writes, as ministers of a New Covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life," so that he might say: By God we were made sufficient through the signs of the Holy Spirit to persuade while teaching such things. 7.47 For God appointed us as ministers of the New and life-giving Covenant, not of the old letter, that is, of the written law that threatens death, but of the life-giving power, that is, of the Holy Spirit. Whence again he says: "Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power," so that he might say that the word of the kingdom of heaven surpasses all speech, and some are puffed up in vain trying to establish it through speech. For it is trustworthy only from the power of the Holy Spirit and the signs that follow from it. And again he says: "If you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who to you is not weak, but is mighty in you," as if to say: He is mighty from the signs that are performed among you in his name. And that is enough about these things. 7.48 But some say that the angels are not in this world, but in the higher and heavenly realm; to whom we shall set forth a few things in part from the divine Scripture, showing that they live together with us in this realm, and that not one of them has yet been deemed worthy to attain to the things above. First, the Lord, speaking thus with Nicodemus, says: "And no one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven," having declared more clearly that no one at all has ascended into the higher realm, except the Lord Christ. But the apostle Paul says: "A spectacle

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ποδῶν λῦσαι. Ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί, υἱοὶ γένους Ἀβραὰμ καὶ οἱ ἐν ὑμῖν φοβούμενοι τὸν Θεόν, ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος τῆς σωτηρίας ταύτης ἐξαπεστάλη. Οἱ γὰρ κατοικοῦντες ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτῶν, τοῦτον ἀγνοήσαντες καὶ τὰς φωνὰς τῶν προφητῶν τὰς κατὰ πᾶν Σάββατον ἀναγινωσκομένας κρίναντες ἐπλήρωσαν· καὶ μηδεμίαν αἰτίαν θανάτου εὑρόντες ᾐτήσαντο ἀναιρεθῆναι αὐτόν· ὡς δὲ ἐτέλεσαν πάντα τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ γεγραμμένα, καθελόντες ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου ἔθηκαν εἰς μνημεῖον· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ἤγειρεν αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν· ὃς ὤφθη ἐπὶ ἡμέρας πλείους τοῖς συναναβᾶσιν αὐτῷ ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, οἵτινες νῦν εἰσι μάρτυρες αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν λαόν. 7.45 Καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμᾶς εὐαγγελιζόμεθα τὴν πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ἐπαγγελίαν γενομένην, ὅτι ταύτην ὁ Θεὸς ἐκπεπλήρωκε τοῖς τέκνοις ἡμῶν ἀναστήσας Ἰησοῦν, ὡς ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ γέγραπται τῷ δευτέρῳ· "3Υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε"3· ὅτι δὲ ἀνέστησεν αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν μηκέτι μέλλοντα ὑποστρέφειν εἰς διαφθοράν, οὕτως εἴρηκεν ὅτι· "3∆ώσω ὑμῖν τὰ ὅσια ∆αυῒδ τὰ πιστά"3· διὸ καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ λέγει· "3Οὐ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν"3. ∆αυῒδ μὲν γὰρ ἰδίᾳ γενεᾷ ὑπηρετήσας τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ βουλῇ ἐκοιμήθη καὶ προσετέθη πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶδε διαφθοράν· ὃν δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἤγειρεν, οὐκ εἶδε διαφθοράν. Γνωστὸν οὖν ὑμῖν ἔστω, ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί, ὅτι διὰ τούτου ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν καταγγέλλεται, ἀπὸ πάντων ὧν οὐκ ἠδυνήθητε ἐν νόμῳ Μωϋσέως δικαιωθῆναι, ἐν τούτῳ πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων δικαιοῦται. Βλέπετε οὖν μὴ ἐπέλθῃ ἐφ' ὑμᾶς τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν τοῖς προφήταις· "3Ἴδετε, οἱ καταφρονηταί, καὶ θαυμάσατε καὶ ἀφανίσθητε, ὅτι ἔργον ἐργάζομαι ἐγὼ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ὑμῶν, ὃ οὐ μὴ πιστεύσητε, ἐάν τις ἐκδιηγῆται ὑμῖν"3." 7.46 Καὶ τούτοις ὁμοίως ἐκ τῶν προφητῶν διηγησάμενος οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἔλεγεν, ἢ ὅσα τοῖς ἄλλοις προείρηκε, θάνατον, ἀνάστασιν καὶ βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν, πάντα σπεύδων πείθειν, συνεργοῦντος αὐτῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ σημείοις τε καὶ τέρασι καὶ δυνάμεσιν, οἷς ἐποίουν αὐτός τε καὶ πάντες οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἐναντίον Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ Ἰουδαίων, πιστῶν καὶ ἀπίστων, ἔτι τε καὶ προρρήσεσι καὶ ἐκβάσεσι βεβαιῶν αὐτοὺς ἐν πᾶσιν, ἅπερ ὑπερβαίνει τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον, "ὃς καὶ ἱκάνωσεν αὐτούς, καθὼς γράφει Παῦλος, διακόνους Καινῆς ∆ιαθήκης, οὐ γράμματος, ἀλλὰ πνεύματος· τὸ γὰρ γράμμα ἀποκτέννει, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζωοποιεῖ", ἵνα εἴπῃ· Ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγενόμεθα ἱκανοὶ διὰ τῶν σημείων τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος εἰς τὸ πείθειν τοιαῦτα διδάσκοντες. 7.47 ∆ιακόνους γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς κατέστησε τῆς Καινῆς καὶ ζωοποιοῦ ∆ιαθήκης, οὐ τοῦ παλαιοῦ γράμματος, τουτέστι τοῦ γραπτοῦ νόμου, τοῦ θανατοῦν ἀπειλοῦντος, ἀλλὰ τῆς δυνάμεως τῆς ζωοποιοῦ, τουτέστι τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· ὅθεν πάλιν λέγει· "Ὡς μὴ ἐρχομένου δέ μου πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἐφυσιώθησάν τινες· ἐλεύσομαι δὲ ταχέως, ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ, καὶ γνώσομαι οὐ τὸν λόγον τῶν πεφυσιωμένων, ἀλλὰ τὴν δύναμιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν λόγῳ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἐν δυνάμει", ἵνα εἴπῃ ὅτι πάντα λόγον ὑπερβαίνει ὁ λόγος τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ μάτην φυσῶνταί τινες διὰ λόγου συνιστᾶν πειρώμενοι· μόνον γὰρ ἀξιόπιστός ἐστιν ἐκ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος καὶ τῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ παρακολουθούντων σημείων· καὶ πάλιν λέγει· "Εἰ δοκιμὴν ζητεῖτε τοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ λαλοῦντος Χριστοῦ, ὃς εἰς ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἀσθενεῖ, ἀλλὰ δυνατεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν", ὡσανεί· ∆υνατός ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν σημείων τῶν γινομένων ἐν ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τούτων. 7.48 Τινὲς δὲ λέγουσι μὴ εἶναι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ τοὺς ἀγγέλους, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ ἀνωτέρῳ καὶ οὐρανίῳ χώρῳ· πρὸς οὓς ἐκ μέρους ὀλίγα παραθήσομεν ἀπὸ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς δηλούσης ὡς ἅμα ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ χώρῳ τούτῳ διάγουσι, καὶ οὔπω τις ἐξ αὐτῶν ἠξιώθη τῶν ἄνω τέως τυχεῖν. Πρῶτος ὁ Κύριος οὕτω πρὸς Νικόδημον διαλεγόμενός φησι· "Καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ", σαφέστερον δηλώσας μηδένα τὸ σύνολον ἀναβεβηκέναι εἰς τὸν ἀνώτερον χῶρον, εἰ μὴ τὸν ∆εσπότην Χριστόν· ὁ δὲ ἀπόστολος Παῦλός φησι· "Θέατρον