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distant. For human conceptions concerning God are not sufficient, since all human comprehensions, being from visible things and from the elements of the world, are not reliable for the comprehension of the things sought, the invisible things being sought. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Christ, he says, is both the Father and the Holy Spirit. And lest anyone should think the indwelling to be relative, or simply connective, for this reason he said, 'bodily,' instead of, 'substantially.' He says, therefore, that this one who became man is the Son of God, consubstantial with both him and with the Holy Spirit. And you are in him, made complete. Since you have become his flesh and members, and have him as head, for this reason you are filled with the Holy Spirit. Who is the head of all rule and authority. Even if, he says, he has become consubstantial with us according to the flesh, that is, humanity, yet he is also the one who has authority over men. In whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. He adds the Greek things to the Judaic, not casting them out as he did those, but ascending beyond them, and preserving the bodily things in the spiritual. Having, therefore, the first characteristic of Judaism, circumcision, he says that we who believe have the true circumcision of Christ, and partake of it; and this is not done by human surgery, but by the voluntary putting off of the body, the earthly life being laid aside for the assumption of the heavenly, which is given back to us through the resurrection; which resurrection we already have in power, believing in him who rose for us, and we will receive the resurrection in deed in its own time. Having blotted out the handwriting against us in its decrees, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed 95.896 the principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. In those who have disobeyed God, just as there is a letter convicting of the disobedience, there is the imprint from the wicked life. This record is blotted out, so that it no longer testifies against us, if we approach with a divine decree, that is, with choice and earnestness. It is nailed, therefore, he says, to the cross of the Lord, that is, it has been put to death and annulled, the life having been put to death, in which we had the imprint of wickedness, and the testimony against us from it. For he who put the life to death, put to death the handwriting against it, and the wicked powers that cling to the evil of the flesh, and as it were cover and conceal man, he stripped them off with the body, he crucified them with it, bearing shame himself in the eyes of men, but turning it against those who crucify, who are the rulers of this age; because their strength, death, was taken away, having been changed into life, so that they have fallen from the throne, because its rooting and foundation, which is death, has been removed. Therefore let no one judge you in food, or in drink, or in respect of a festival, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. You have been set free, he says, from the laws concerning bodies. For all these are typical shadows of things to come, when, having true purity and celebrating the true festival, we shall stand before God. Let no one defraud you of your prize, delighting in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Let no one legislate for you, he says, any longer the humble legislation, the

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ἀφεστηκυῖα. Οὐ γὰρ ἱκανὰ περὶ Θεοῦ τὰ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων νοήματα, ἐπειδὴ πᾶσαι αἱ ἀνθρώπιναι καταλήψεις ἐκ τῶν ὁρατῶν οὖσαι, καὶ ἐκ τῶν τοῦ κόσμου στοιχείων, οὐκ εἰσὶ βέβαιαι πρὸς τὴν τῶν ζητουμένων κατάληψιν, τῶν ἀοράτων τῶν ζητουμένων. Ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ κατοικεῖ πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς. Ἐν Χριστῷ, φησὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατήρ ἐστι καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. Καὶ ἵνα μή τις νομίσῃ σχετικὴν εἶναι τὴν κατοίκησιν, ἢ συναπτικὴν ἁπλῶς, τούτου χάριν εἶπε, σωματικῶς, ἀντὶ τοῦ, οὐσιωδῶς. Λέγει οὖν, ὡς οὗτος ὁ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ ὁμοούσιος αὐτῷ τε καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι. Καὶ ἐστὲ ἐν αὐτῷ πεπληρωμένοι. Ἐπειδὴ σὰρξ αὐτοῦ καὶ μέλη γεγόνατε, καὶ κεφαλὴν αὐτὸν ἔχετε, τούτου χάριν Πνεύματος ἁγίου ἐστὲ πεπληρωμένοι. Ὅς ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ πάσης ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας. Εἰ καὶ ὁμοούσιος, φησὶ, γέγονεν ἡμῖν κατὰ τὴν σάρκα, ἤτοι τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα, ἀλλ' οὖν καὶ οὗτός ἐστι κατεξουσιάζων τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ἐν ᾧ καὶ περιετμήθητε περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ, ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματος τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τῆς σαρκὸς, ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι, ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν. Καὶ ὑμᾶς νεκροὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασι, καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν, συνεζωοποίησεν ὑμᾶς σὺν αὐτῷ, χαρισάμενος ὑμῖν πάντα τὰ παραπτώματα. Ἐπισυνάπτει τοῖς Ἰουδαϊκοῖς τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ, οὐκ ἐκβάλλων αὐτὰ ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνα, ἀλλ' ὑπεραναβαίνων, καὶ σώζων ἐν τοῖς πνευματικοῖς τὰ σωματικά. Τὸ πρῶτον οὖν γνώρισμα τοῦ Ἰουδαϊσμοῦ τὴν περιτομὴν ἔχων, ἡμᾶς, φησὶ, πιστεύοντας τῇ ἀληθεῖ περιτομῇ Χριστοῦ, καὶ μετέχοντας αὐτῆς· αὕτη δέ ἐστιν οὐ διὰ χειρουργίας ἀνθρωπίνης γινομένη, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἑκουσίου ἀποδύσεως, τοῦ γηΐνου βίου ἀποτιθεμένου εἰς ἀνάληψιν τοῦ οὐρανίου, τοῦ δι' ἀναστάσεως ἡμῖν ἀποδιδομένου· ἥντινα ἀνάστασιν ἤδη μὲν ἔχομεν δυνάμει, πιστεύοντες τῷ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀναστάντι, κομιούμεθα δὲ καὶ ἔργῳ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ καιρῷ. Ἐξαλείψας τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον τοῖς δόγμασιν, ὃ ἦν ὑπεναντίον ἡμῖν, καὶ αὐτὸ ἦρκεν ἐκ τοῦ μέσου, προσηλώσας αὐτῷ τῷ σταυρῷ, ἀπεκδυσάμε 95.896 νος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας, ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παῤῥησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἐν τοῖς παρακούσασι Θεοῦ, καθάπερ γράμμα ἐστὶ τὴν παρακοὴν ἐλέγχον, ἡ ἐκτύπωσις, ἡ ἐκ τῆς πονηρᾶς ζωῆς. Τὸ διάγραμμα τοῦτο ἐξαλείφεται, ὡς μηκέτι καταμαρτυρεῖν ἡμῶν, ἐὰν δόγματι θείῳ προσίωμεν, τουτέστι προαιρέσει καὶ σπουδῇ. Προσήλωται οὖν, φησὶ, τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Κυρίου, τουτέστι νενέκρωται καὶ ἠκύρωται, τῆς ζωῆς νεκρωθείσης, ἐν ᾖ τὴν τύπωσιν εἴχομεν τῆς πονηρίας, καὶ τῆς ἐξ αὐτῆς καταμαρτυρίας. Ὁ γὰρ νεκρώσας τὴν ζωὴν, ἐνέκρωσε τὸ κατ' αὐτῆς χειρόγραφον, καὶ τὰς πονηρὰς ἐξουσίας τὰς περιπεφυκυίας τῇ κακίᾳ τῇ σαρκικῇ, καὶ οἱονεὶ σκεπούσας καὶ καλυπτούσας τὸν ἄνθρωπον, συναπεκδύσατο τῷ σώματι, συνεκρέμασε, βαστάζων μὲν αἰσχύνην αὐτὸς, τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώπων ὀφθαλμοῖς, περιτρέπων δὲ αὐτὴν εἰς τοὺς σταυροῦντας τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἄρχοντας ὄντας· ὅτι τὸ ἰσχυρὸν αὐτῶν, ὁ θάνατος ἀνῃρέθη μεταπεσὼν εἰς ζωὴν, ὥστε ἐκπεπτωκέναι τοῦ θρόνου, διὰ τὸ τὴν ῥίζωσιν, καὶ τὴν ὑποβάθραν αὐτοῦ περιῃρῆσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ θάνατος. Μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει, ἢ ἐν πόσει, ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς, ἢ Νουμηνίας, ἢ Σαββάτων, ἅ ἐστι σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων, τὸ δὲ σῶμα Χριστοῦ. Ἀπηλλάγητε, φησὶ, τῶν περὶ σωμάτων νομοθετημάτων. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα τυπικαὶ σκιαὶ μελλόντων, ὅτε τὴν ὄντως ἔχοντες καθρότητα, καὶ τὴν ἀληθῆ ἑορτάζοντες ἑορτὴν, Θεῷ παραστησόμεθα. Μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω, θέλων ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ, καὶ θρησκείᾳ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἃ μὴ ἑώρακεν ἐμβατεύων, εἰκῆ φυσιούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ κρατῶν τὴν κεφαλὴν, ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῶν ἁφῶν καὶ συνδέσμων χορηγοῦν, καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον αὔξει τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μὴ νομοθετείτω τις ὑμῖν, φησὶ, νομοθεσίαν ἔτι τὴν ταπεινὴν, τὴν