134

our, to subject all these to one sentence, the Cathars and Encratites and Hydroparastatae, because the beginning of the separation occurred through schism; but those who had apostatized from the Church no longer had the grace of the Holy Spirit upon them; for the transmission ceased when the succession was broken. For the first ones who departed had ordinations from the Fathers, and through the laying on of their hands they had the spiritual gift; but those who were broken off, having become laymen, had the authority neither to baptize nor to ordain, no longer able to impart the grace of the Holy Spirit to others, from which they themselves had fallen. Therefore, they commanded that those baptized by them, as by laymen, coming to the Church should be purified again by the true baptism of the Church. But since it has seemed good to some in Asia, for the sake of the economy of the many, that their baptism be accepted, let it be accepted. But we must understand the wickedness of the Encratites, that, in order to make themselves unacceptable to the Church, they then attempted to preemptively use their own baptism; whence also they corrupted their own custom. I think, therefore, since nothing has been specifically stated concerning them, that it is proper for us to reject their baptism; and if anyone has received it from them, upon approaching the Church, he should be baptized. However, if this is going to be an obstacle to the general economy, custom must be used again and the Fathers who have ordered our affairs must be followed. For I am suspicious that, while we wish to make them hesitant about baptizing, we may hinder those who are being saved on account of the austerity of the proposition. But if they observe our baptism, this should not shame us. For we are not responsible for returning grace to them, but for serving the precision of the canons. But let it be established by every account that those approaching that baptism are to be anointed by the faithful, clearly, and so approach the mysteries. And I know that we have received the brethren with Izoius and Saturninus, who were of that order, to the episcopal chair. So that we are no longer able to separate from the Church those united to their order, having set forth a kind of canon for communion with them through the reception of the bishops. 188.2 She who deliberately causes an abortion is subject to the penalty for murder. A precise distinction between a formed and an unformed fetus is not found among us. For in this case, not only is the one who was to be born avenged, but also she who plotted against herself, because women very often die in such attempts. And added to this is the destruction of the embryo, another murder, at least in the mind of those who dare such things. However, their penance must not be extended until death, but the measure of ten years should be accepted; and the cure is to be determined not by time, but by the manner of repentance. 188.3 A deacon who commits fornication after his diaconate shall be cast out from the diaconate, but having been thrust into the place of the laity, he shall not be excluded from communion, because there is an ancient canon that those who have fallen from a rank are to be subjected to this mode of punishment only, the ancients having followed, as I think, that law which says, ‘You shall not punish twice for the same thing’, and for another reason, that those who are in the order of the laity, having been cast out from the place of the faithful, are again taken back to the place from which they fell, but the deacon has the punishment of deposition once and for all. Therefore, since his diaconate is not restored to him, they have settled on this punishment alone. These things, then, are from the forms. But in general, the truer cure is the withdrawal from sin. So that he who through pleasure of the flesh has rejected grace, by the contrition of the flesh and every subjugation according to continence, departing from the pleasures by which he was ruined, will provide us with the complete proof of his cure. Therefore we must know both the things of precision and the things of

134

ἡμέτερον, τούτους πάντας μιᾷ ψήφῳ ὑποβαλεῖν, Καθαροὺς καὶ Ἐγκρατίτας καὶ Ὑδροπαραστάτας, διότι ἡ μὲν ἀρχὴ τοῦ χωρισμοῦ διὰ σχίσματος γέγονεν· οἱ δὲ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀποστάντες οὐκέτι ἔσχον τὴν χάριν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύ ματος ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς· ἐπέλιπε γὰρ ἡ μετάδοσις τῷ διακο πῆναι τὴν ἀκολουθίαν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτοι ἀναχωρήσαντες παρὰ τῶν Πατέρων ἔσχον τὰς χειροτονίας, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐπιθέσεως τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν εἶχον τὸ χάρισμα τὸ πνευ ματικόν· οἱ δὲ ἀπορραγέντες, λαϊκοὶ γενόμενοι, οὔτε τοῦ βαπτίζειν οὔτε τοῦ χειροτονεῖν εἶχον τὴν ἐξουσίαν, οὐκέτι δυνάμενοι χάριν Πνεύματος Ἁγίου ἑτέροις παρέχειν ἧς αὐτοὶ ἐκπεπτώκασι. ∆ιὸ ὡς παρὰ λαϊκῶν βαπτιζομένους τοὺς παρ' αὐτῶν ἐκέλευσαν ἐρχομένους ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τῷ ἀληθινῷ βαπτίσματι τῷ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀνακαθαίρεσθαι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὅλως ἔδοξέ τισι τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν οἰκονομίας ἕνεκα τῶν πολλῶν δεχθῆναι αὐτῶν τὸ βάπτισμα, ἔστω δεκτόν. Τὸ δὲ τῶν Ἐγκρατιτῶν κακούργημα νοῆσαι ἡμᾶς δεῖ, ὅτι, ἵν' αὑτοὺς ἀπροσδέκτους ποιήσωσι τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἐπεχείρησαν λοιπὸν ἰδίῳ προκα ταλαμβάνειν βαπτίσματι· ὅθεν καὶ τὴν συνήθειαν τὴν ἑαυτῶν παρεχάραξαν. Νομίζω τοίνυν ὅτι, ἐπειδὴ οὐδέν ἐστι περὶ αὐτῶν εἰληφὸς διηγορευμένον, ἡμᾶς προσῆκεν ἀθετεῖν αὐτῶν τὸ βάπτισμα· κἄν τις ᾖ παρ' αὐτῶν εἰληφώς, προσιόντα τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ βαπτίζειν. Ἐὰν μέντοι μέλλοι τῇ καθόλου οἰκονομίᾳ ἐμπόδιον ἔσεσθαι τοῦτο, πάλιν τῷ ἔθει χρηστέον καὶ τοῖς οἰκονομήσασι τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς Πατράσιν ἀκο λουθητέον. Ὑφορῶμαι γὰρ μήποτε, ὡς βουλόμεθα ὀκνηροὺς αὐτοὺς περὶ τὸ βαπτίζειν ποιῆσαι, ἐμποδίσωμεν τοῖς σωζομένοις διὰ τὸ τῆς προτάσεως αὐστηρόν. Εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖνοι φυλάσσουσι τὸ ἡμέτερον βάπτισμα, τοῦτο ἡμᾶς μὴ δυσω πείτω. Οὐ γὰρ ἀντιδιδόναι αὐτοῖς ὑπεύθυνοι χάριν ἐσμέν, ἀλλὰ δουλεύειν ἀκριβείᾳ κανόνων. Παντὶ δὲ λόγῳ τυπω θήτω τοὺς ἐπὶ τὸν βαπτισμὸν ἐκεῖνον προσερχομένους χρίεσθαι ἐπὶ τῶν πιστῶν δηλονότι καὶ οὕτω προσιέναι τοῖς μυστηρίοις. Οἶδα δὲ ὅτι τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς τοὺς περὶ Ἰζοῒν καὶ Σατορνῖνον, ἀπ' ἐκείνης ὄντας τῆς τάξεως, προσεδεξάμεθα εἰς τὴν καθέδραν τῶν ἐπισκόπων. Ὥστε τοὺς τῷ τάγματι ἐκείνων συνημμένους οὐκέτι δυνάμεθα διακρίνειν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, οἷον κανόνα τινὰ τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς κοινωνίας ἐκθέμενοι διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐπισκόπων παραδοχῆς. 188.2 Ἡ φθείρασα κατ' ἐπιτήδευσιν φόνου δίκην ὑπέχει. Ἀκριβολογία ἐκμεμορφωμένου καὶ ἀνεξεικονίστου παρ' ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔστιν. Ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ἐκδικεῖται οὐ μόνον τὸ γενη σόμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ἑαυτῷ ἐπιβουλεύσας, διότι ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ ἐναποθνήσκουσι ταῖς τοιαύταις ἐπιχειρήσεσιν αἱ γυναῖκες. Πρόσεστι δὲ τούτῳ καὶ ἡ φθορὰ τοῦ ἐμβρύου, ἕτερος φόνος, κατά γε τὴν ἐπίνοιαν τῶν ταῦτα τολμών των. ∆εῖ μέντοι μὴ μέχρι τῆς ἐξόδου παρατείνειν αὐτῶν τὴν ἐξομολόγησιν, ἀλλὰ δέχεσθαι μὲν τὸ μέτρον τῶν δέκα ἐτῶν· ὁρίζειν δὲ μὴ χρόνῳ, ἀλλὰ τρόπῳ τῆς μετανοίας τὴν θεραπείαν. 188.3 ∆ιάκονος μετὰ τὴν διακονίαν πορνεύσας ἀπόβλητος μὲν τῆς διακονίας ἔσται, εἰς δὲ τὸν τῶν λαϊκῶν ἀπωσθεὶς τόπον τῆς κοινωνίας οὐκ εἰρχθήσεται, διότι ἀρχαῖός ἐστι κανών, τοὺς ἀπὸ βαθμοῦ πεπτωκότας τούτῳ μόνῳ τῷ τρόπῳ τῆς κολάσεως ὑποβάλλεσθαι, ἀκολουθησάντων, ὡς οἶμαι, τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῷ νόμῳ ἐκείνῳ τῷ «Οὐκ ἐκδικήσεις δὶς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό», καὶ δι' ἑτέραν δὲ αἰτίαν, ὅτι οἱ μὲν ἐν τῷ λαϊκῷ ὄντες τάγματι, ἐκβεβλημένοι τοῦ τόπου τῶν πιστῶν, πάλιν εἰς τὸν ἀφ' οὗ ἐξέπεσον τόπον ἀναλαμβά νονται, ὁ δὲ διάκονος ἅπαξ ἔχει διαρκῆ τὴν δίκην τῆς καθαιρέσεως. Ὡς οὖν οὐκ ἀποδιδομένης αὐτῷ τῆς διακονίας ἐπὶ ταύτης ἔστησαν μόνης τῆς ἐκδικήσεως. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τὰ ἐκ τῶν τύπων. Καθόλου δὲ ἀληθέστερον ἴαμα ἡ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀναχώρησις. Ὥστε ὁ διὰ σαρκὸς ἡδονὴν ἀθετήσας τὴν χάριν, διὰ τοῦ συντριμμοῦ τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ πάσης δουλαγωγίας τῆς κατ' ἐγκράτειαν ἀποστὰς τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑφ' ὧν κατεστράφη, τελείαν ἡμῖν παρέξει τῆς ἰατρεύσεως αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. Ἀμφότερα τοίνυν εἰδέναι ἡμᾶς δεῖ, καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀκριβείας καὶ τὰ τῆς