127

to be revealed and will be considered fearsome to them and like an unbearable fire. But God will appear as this fire not entirely spiritually, but, as one might say, incorporeally in a body, just as Christ, having risen, was seen by the disciples of old, as the evangelist says: for as he was being taken up into the heavens, the angels say these things to them: “In the same way that you saw him going into heaven, so he will come again.” For if this will not be, how will the sinners, the unbelievers, the heretics, and the adversaries of the Spirit see him, being blind in soul and having its eyes blocked up with the mire of unbelief and sin, just as the apostle Paul also wrote to the Thessalonians. For when he spoke about those who have fallen asleep and the glory to come, and how all the saints will be caught up through the clouds, he said: “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not (296) of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.” And after a little: “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”

Therefore, beloved, when you hear "sons of light" and "sons of the day," do not say in your heart that, as many of us as have been baptized into Christ and believe in him and worship him as God, we have also put him on and are by all means imperceptibly sons of the day and sons of light and not of the night nor of darkness. Do not say or suppose this and pass the remaining days of your life in negligence and carelessness, only seeming and thinking yourself to be something, when you are nothing. But consider and understand accurately for yourself and say: “If all people who are in the world and who see this sun with their senses are in darkness, then surely, since I see nothing more than the others, I too am with them in darkness. For just as when it sets each day night comes, and I see nothing more than this, so too, when I have died, I will see light nowhere, but I will be in lightless and sunless darkness for ages and I will no longer see this visible light with my eyes. For people, when separated from the body, are at once separated from all sensible things. If therefore I am in darkness now, I will also be in darkness after death; surely for me also the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night and as labor pains upon her who is with child, and I will not be able to escape.”

For our salvation is not in the baptism of water, but also in the Spirit, nor is the remission of sins and participation in life given in the bread and the wine of communion alone, but also in the divinity that follows and is mixed (297) mystically and unconfusedly with them. And it is called mystical because it is not revealed to all, but to those worthy of eternal life, and makes those who see it sons of light and of the day; for those who do not see the light, even if it shines brightly, yet they sit in darkness. Let no one deceive you, brethren, with empty words, nor let anyone trust in faith in Christ alone. For, he says, "if you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing," and again: "Faith without works is dead." For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. For those who confess that Christ is God, but do not keep his commandments, will be reckoned not only as denying, but also as dishonoring him; and not only this, but also more so than those who circumcise their own bodies, as ones who mutilate the commandments of God, justly

127

ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι καί φοβερά αὐτοῖς καί ὡς πῦρ ἄστεκτον λογισθήσεται. Φανήσεται δέ τοῦτο τό πῦρ ὁ Θεός οὐχ ὅλον πνευματικῶς, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἄν τις εἴποι ἀσωμάτως ἐν σώματι, ὥσπερ ἐξαναστάς ὡρᾶτο τοῖς μαθηταῖς πάλαι ὁ Χριστός, καθά φησιν ὁ εὐαγγελιστής· ἀναλαμβανομένου γάρ αὐτοῦ εἰς οὐρανούς, ταῦτά φασιν οἱ ἄγγελοι πρός αὐτούς· «Ὅν τρόπον ἐθεάσασθε αὐτόν πορευόμενον εἰς τόν οὐρανόν, οὕτως πάλιν ἐλεύσεται». Εἰ γάρ μή τοῦτο ἔσται, πῶς αὐτόν οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί, οἱ ἄπιστοι, οἱ αἱρετικοί καί πνευματομάχοι θεάσονται, τυφλοί ὄντες τῇ ψυχῇ καί τούς ὀφθαλμούς αὐτῆς ἐμπεφραγμένους τῷ βορβόρῳ τῆς ἀπιστίας καί ἁμαρτίας ἔχοντες, ὥσπερ πρός Θεσσαλονικεῖς καί Παῦλος ὁ ἀπόστολος ἔγραψεν. Ἐπειδή γάρ περί τῶν κεκοιμημένων και τῆς μελλούσης δόξης εἶπε καί ὅπως πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι διά νεφελῶν ἁρπαγήσονται, ἔφη· «Περί δέ τῶν χρόνων καί τῶν καιρῶν, ἀδελφοί, οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε τοῦ γράφεσθαι ὑμῖν· αὐτοί γάρ ἀκριβῶς οἴδατε ὅτι ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτί οὕτως ἔρχεται· ὅταν γάρ εἴπωσιν, εἰρήνη καί ἀσφάλεια, τότε αἰφνίδιος αὐτοῖς ἐφίσταται ὄλεθρος, ὥσπερ ἡ ὠδίν τῇ τικτούσῃ, καί οὐ μή ἐκφύγωσιν. Ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἐστέ ἐν σκότει, ἵνα ἡ ἡμέρα ὑμᾶς ὡς κλέπτης καταλάβῃ· πάντες ὑμεῖς υἱοί φωτός ἐστε καί υἱοί ἡμέρας. Οὐκ ἐσμέν (296) νυκτός οὐδέ σκότους· ἄρ᾿ οὖν μή καθεύδωμεν ὡς καί οἱ λοιποί, ἀλλά γρηγορῶμεν καί νήφωμεν». Καί μετ᾿ ὀλίγα· «ὅτι οὐκ ἔθετο ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεός εἰς ὀργήν, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς περιποίησιν σωτηρίας, ἵνα εἴτε γρηγοροῦμεν, εἴτε καθεύδομεν, ἅμα σύν αὐτῷ ζήσωμεν».

Υἱούς οὖν ἀκούων φωτός καί υἱούς ἡμέρας, ἀγαπητέ, μή εἴπῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὅτι, ὅσοι εἰς Χριστόν ἐβαπτίσθημεν καί εἰς ἐκεῖνον πιστεύομεν καί Θεόν αὐτόν προσκυνοῦμεν, αὐτόν καί ἐνδεδύμεθα καί υἱοί ἡμέρας καί υἱοί φωτός ἀνεπαισθήτως πάντως ἐσμέν καί οὐχί νυκτός οὐδέ σκότους. Μή τοῦτο εἴπῃς ἤ ὑπολάβῃς καί ἐν ἀμελείᾳ καί ἀμεριμνίᾳ τάς ὑπολοίπους τῆς ζωῆς σου διέλθῃς ἡμέρας, δοκῶν μόνον καί οἰόμενος εἶναί τι, μηδέν ὤν· ἀλλά σκόπησον καί κατά σεαυτόν ἀκριβῶς κατανόησον καί εἰπέ· «Εἰ πάντες ἄνθρωποι οἱ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὄντες καί τόν ἥλιον τοῦτον αἰσθητῶς βλέποντες ἐν τῷ σκότει εἰσί, πάντως, ἐπεί οὐδέν πλέον τῶν ἄλλων ὁρῶ, καί ἐγώ σύν αὐτοῖς ἐν σκότει εἰμί. Ὥσπερ γάρ δύνοντος αὐτοῦ καθ᾿ ἑκάστην νύξ γίνεται καί οὐδέν πλέον τι τούτου ὁρῶ, οὕτως, ἀποθανόντος μου, οὐδαμοῦ φῶς θεάσομαι, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν ἀφεγγεῖ σκότει καί ἀνηλίῳ εἰς αἰῶνας ἔσομαι καί οὐκέτι διά τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν βλέψω τό ὁρώμενον τοῦτο φῶς· τοῦ γάρ σώματος οἱ ἄνθρωποι χωριζόμενοι, τῶν αἰσθητῶν εὐθύς πάντων ἀποχωρίζονται. Εἰ οὖν ἐν σκότει εἰμί νῦν, καί ἐν σκότει μετά θάνατον ἔσομαι· πάντως καί ἐπ᾿ ἐμοί ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτί ἐπελεύσεται καί ὡς ἡ ὠδίν τῇ ἐν γαστρί ἐχούσῃ καί οὐ μή δυνηθῷ ἐκφυγεῖν».

Οὐ γάρ ἐν τῷ τοῦ ὕδατος βαπτίσματι ἡ σωτηρία ἡμῶν ἐστιν, ἀλλά καί ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι, οὐδέ ἐν τῷ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ καί τῷ οἴνῳ τῆς μεταλήψεως ἡ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἄφεσις καί ἡ τῆς ζωῆς μετουσία δίδοται, ἀλλά καί ἐν τῇ συνεπομένῃ καί ἀνακεκραμένῃ (297) μυστικῶς καί ἀσυγχύτως τούτοις θεότητι. Μυστικῶς δέ λέγεται διά τό μή πᾶσιν, ἀλλά τοῖς ἀξίοις ζωῆς αἰωνίου, ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι καί υἱούς φωτός καί ἡμέρας ποιεῖν τούς ὁρῶντας αὐτήν· οἱ γάρ τό φῶς μή ὁρῶντες, εἰ καί λάμπει τρανῶς, ἀλλ᾿ οὖν ἐκεῖνοι ἐν σκότει κάθηνται. Μηδείς ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, κενοῖς λόγοις ἐξαπατάτω μηδέ εἰς τήν πίστιν τήν εἰς Χριστόν μόνην θαρρείτω τις. «Χριστός»γάρ, φησίν, «ἐάν περιτέμνησθε, οὐδέν ὑμᾶς ὠφελήσει», καί πάλιν· «Ἡ πίστις δίχα τῶν ἔργων νεκρά ἐστιν». Ὥσπερ γάρ τό σῶμα ψίχα ψυχῆς ὑπάρχει νεκρόν, οὕτω καί ἡ πίστις δίχα τῶν ἔργων νεκρά ἐστιν.Οἱ γάρ Θεόν εἶναι τόν Χριστόν ὁμολογοῦντες, τάς δέ ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ μή φυλάσσοντες, οὐχ ὡς ἀρνούμενοι μόνον, ἀλλά καί ὡς ἀτιμάζοντες αὐτόν λογισθήσονται· οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλά καί μειζόνως ὑπέρ τούς τά ἴδια σώματα περιτέμνοντας, ὡς τάς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντολάς ἀκρωτηριάζοντες, ἐνδίκως