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the restoration to freedom. Indeed, one of the saints cried out to his benefactor: "My exultation, deliver me from those who pursue me"; and again: "You have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth." 3.285 The chief of Christ's disciples, Peter, reveals the turning away of those rescued from their former evil conduct, writing to the faithful: "You were redeemed from your futile way of life handed down from your fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot." 3.286 Having redeemed, the Savior who promised this necessarily adds: "I will multiply them as they were many," not so much in multitude and number as in preeminence of honor, similar to the blessing spoken by God to Abraham: "I will increase him, and I will multiply him, and I will bless him, and he shall be blessed, being revealed as a father of many nations by the gift of God." And he becomes a father of many nations not only according to the flesh, but according to the spiritual sense, that is, of his children and sons by doing his works and having his faith. 3.287 Indeed, the Savior, strongly rebuking those who boasted of having Abraham as their father according to the flesh, said: "If you are Abraham's children, do the works of Abraham." In this sense, "the chosen instrument," the apostle Paul writes to the Church, clarifying how the sacred patriarch is the father of the nations, saying: "Those who are of faith are sons of Abraham, being blessed with him." That prophetic saying found in Isaiah suggests the same understanding: "The few shall become a thousand, and the least a great nation." 3.288 Taken in a physical sense, these things provoke laughter, since many of the most holy did not have children at all; for instance, Elijah and Elisha and John the Baptist, of whom there is none greater in praiseworthy action and holy knowledge, in no way had children, so that it is fitting to understand spiritually the multiplying of those who have such promises "as they were many." For the just did not begin to be multiplied here and to become many according to the given understanding; for they were many even before the present life. 3.289 These who were many he sowed like seeds among the peoples so that they might partake of their virtue. For in the same way that seeds cast into the ground transform the adjacent earth so that it may produce crops and fruit, so too those sown among the peoples and the nations, bring those among whom they were sown to their own quality, to be imitators of their virtue. 3.290 And one would not err in saying that those were sown by Jesus who heard: "Go and make disciples of all nations"; and again to the same ones in John: "For this reason I appointed you," that is, I ordained and showed, "that you should go and bear more fruit," and your fruit will be glorified. 3.291 I believe that in this way the saints are taken captive with the peoples even to Babylon and Assyria, so that by imparting their own virtue, like saving seeds, they might show them to be ears of corn and produce. In harmony with this, it follows that those who were far from him on account of sins and impieties remember the Lord. 3.292 Especially do these promises fit those from the nations who have believed. Indeed, it is said concerning them in the twenty-first Psalm: "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before him, for the kingdom is the Lord's and he rules over the nations." For how does he not rule and have dominion over those who have remembered him and turned to him, so as to worship and glorify the mighty benefactor? 3.293 And what follows for those who have remembered the king of all, but to be in remembrance of "the city of the living God," which is heavenly, according to what was said: "You who are far off, remember the Lord,

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τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀποκατάστασις. Εἷς τις γοῦν τῶν ἁγίων πρὸς τὸν εὐεργετήσαντα κέκραγεν· «Τὸ ἀγαλλίαμά μου, λύτρωσαί με ἀπὸ τῶν καταδιωκόντων με»· καὶ ἔτι· «Ἐλυτρώσω με, Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς τῆς ἀληθείας.» 3.285 Φανεροῖ τη`̣ν ἀποστροφὴν τῶν ῥυσθέντων ἀπὸ τῆς πρότερον κακοπραγίας̣ ὁ κορυφαῖος τῶν Χριστοῦ μαθητῶν Πέτρος, γράφων τοῖς πιστοῖς· «Οὐ φθαρτοῖς χρυσίῳ ἢ ἀργυρίῳ ἐλυθρώθητε ἐκ τῆς ματαίας ὑμῶν ἀναστροφῆς πατροπαραδότου, ἀλλ' ἐν αἵματι τιμίῳ ἀμνοῦ ἀμώμου καὶ ἀσπίλου Χριστοῦ.» 3.286 Λυτρωσάμενος ὁ τοῦτ' ἐπαγγειλάμενος Σωτὴρ ἀναγκαίως ἐπιφέρει τό· «Πληθυνῶ αὐτοὺς καθότι ἦσαν πολλοί», οὐ τοσοῦτον πλήθει καὶ ἀριθμῷ ὅσον τῇ κατὰ τιμὴν ὑπεροχῇ, παραπλησίως τῇ πρὸς τὸν Ἀβραὰμ εὐλογίᾳ λεχθείσῃ ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ· «Αὐξανῶ αὐτόν, καὶ πληθυνῶ αὐτόν, καὶ εὐλογήσω αὐτόν, καὶ εὐλογημένος ἔσται, πατὴρ πολλῶν ἐθνῶν δωρεᾷ Θεοῦ ἀναδεικνύμενος.» Γίνεται δὲ πατὴρ πολλῶν ἐθνῶν οὐ κατὰ σάρκα μόνον, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ νοητόν, δηλονότι τέκνων καὶ υἱῶν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ ποιεῖν αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔργα καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἔχειν. 3.287 Αὐτὸς γοῦν ὁ Σωτὴρ τοῖς αὐχοῦσι κατὰ σάρκα τὸν Ἀβραὰμ ἔχειν πατέρα ἐρρωμενέστατα ἐλέγχων ἔφη· «Εἰ τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ ἐστε, τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ποιεῖτε.» Ταύτῃ τῇ νοήσει, «τὸ τῆς ἐκλογῆς σκεῦος», ὁ ἀπόστολος Παῦλος ἐπιστέλλει τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, σαφηνίζων πῶς πατὴρ τῶν ἐθνῶν ὁ ἱερὸς πατριάρχης ὑπάρχει φάσκων· «Ὅσοι ἐκ πίστεώς εἰσιν υἱοὶ Ἀβραάμ εἰσιν, σὺν αὐτῷ εὐλογούμενοι.» Τὴν αὐτὴν θεωρίαν ὑποβάλλει τὸ προφητικὸν ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἐν Ἠσαΐᾳ φερόμενον· «Ὁ ὀλιγοστὸς ἔσται εἰς χιλιάδας, καὶ ὁ ἐλάχιστος εἰς ἔθνος μέγα.» 3.288 Ἐπὶ αἰσθητῶν ταῦτα λαμβανόμενα γέλωτα κινεῖ, πολλῶν ἁγιωτάτων οὐδ' ὅλως τεκνούν̣των· Ἠλίας γοῦν καὶ Ἐλισαῖε καὶ ὁ βαπτιστὴς Ἰωάννης, οὗ μείζων οὐδεὶς κατὰ πρᾶξιν ἐπαινετὴν καὶ γνῶσιν ἁγίαν, οὐδαμῶς ἐτέκνωσαν, ὥστε πνευματικῶς ἐκλαμβάνειν προσήκει τὸ πληθύνεσθαι τοὺς ἔχοντας τὰς τοιαύτας ἐπαγγελίας «καθότι ἦσαν πολλοί». Οὐ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα ἤρξαντο οἱ δίκαιοι πληθύνεσθαι καὶ γίνεσθαι πολλοὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀποδοθεῖσαν νόησιν· ἦσαν γὰρ πολλοὶ καὶ πρὸ τῆς π̣αρούσης ζωῆς. 3.289 Τούτους τοὺς ὄντας πολλοὺς οἷα σπέρματα ἔσπειρεν ἐν τοῖς λαοῖς ἵνα μεταλάβωσιν αὐτῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς. Ὅνπερ γὰρ τρόπον τὰ εἰς γῆν βαλλόμενα σπέρματα μεταποιεῖ τὴν παρακειμένην χθόνα ὡς γενήματα καὶ καρπὸν γενέσθαι, οὕτως οἱ ε᾿̣πισπειρόμενοι τοῖς λαοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν ποιότητα φέρουσιν τοὺς οἷς ἐπεσπάρησαν, μιμητὰς τῆς ἀρετῆς αὐτῶν ἐσομένους. 3.290 Οὐχ ἁμαρτήσοι δέ τις λέγων ἐσπάρθαι ὑπὸ Ἰησοῦ τοὺς ἀκούσαντας· «Πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη»· καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην· «∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἔθηκα ὑμᾶς», τοῦτ' ἔστιν ὡρισάμην καὶ ἀπέδειξα, «ἵνα ὑπάγητε καὶ πλείονα καρπὸν φέρητε», καὶ ὁ καρπὸς ὑμῶν δεδοξασμένος ἔσται. 3.291 Ἡγοῦμαι κατὰ τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον συναιχμαλωτίζεσθαι τοὺς ἁγίους τοῖς λαοῖς καὶ εἰς αὐτὴν τὴν Βαβυλῶνα καὶ Ἀσσυρίαν, ἵνα μετα̣δόντες τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀρετῆς δίκην σωτηριωδῶν σπερμάτων στάχυς καὶ γενήματα αὐτοὺς ἀποδείξωσιν. Τούτῳ ἁρμονίως ἕψεται μνησθῆναι τοῦ Κυρίου τοὺς μακρυνθέντας αὐτοῦ διὰ ἁμαρτήματα καὶ ἀσεβείας. 3.292 Μάλιστα αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι αὗται ἁρμόζουσιν τοῖς ἀπὸ ἐθνῶν πιστεύσασιν. Εἴρηται γοῦν περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν εἰκοστῷ καὶ πρώτῳ Ψαλμῷ· «Μνησθήσονται καὶ ἐπιστραφήσονται πρὸς Κύριον πάντα τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς, καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ πᾶσαι αἱ πατριαὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὅτι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡ βασιλεία καὶ αὐτὸς δεσπόζει τῶν ἐθνῶν.» Πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἄρχει καὶ δεσπόζει τῶν μνησθέντων αὐτοῦ ἐπιστρεψάντων πρὸς αὐτόν, ὡς προσκυνεῖν καὶ δοξολογεῖν τὸν κρατοῦντα εὐεργέτην; 3.293 Τί δ' ἕψεται τοῖς μνησθεῖσιν τοῦ παμβασιλέως, ἢ τὸ ἐν ἀναπολήσει γενέσθαι «τῆς πόλεως τοῦ ζῶντος Θεοῦ», τυγχανούσης ἐπουρανίου, κατὰ τὸ λεχθέν· «Οἱ μακρὰν μνήσθητε τοῦ Κυρίου,