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It seemed good to divine men, who had also been disciples of the apostles, to say that the creative hands of God were the only-begotten and the Holy Spirit. Of this opinion Irenaeus was a chief proponent, from which it is clear that it is an ancient opinion that posits the Holy Spirit not as created but as creative. 926 Ps 94,6-7c They do not exhort one another to worship God by going from one place to another. For worship is no longer local, as it happened to be when Jerusalem and the temple there stood. For they worship the Lord, according to the prophet, each from his own place, not sensibly and bodily but in spirit and in truth. Therefore, those who worship and fall down before Him come according to disposition rather than a change of place, bending the knee to Him, confessing Him as God, not only those on earth but also those in heaven and under the earth, weeping before Him the weeping of repentance, or in as many ways as we have said some weep and are in pain. But blameless and escaping every stain is the weeping that dares to happen before the Lord. And they state the cause for which they perform the things set forth, saying, For He is our God, and we are the sheep of His pasture, the relation of the people to God being shown through this word. For this reason, he says: We are the people of His pasture because He has given Himself to become our God; for since He is our God, we are also the people of His pasture; and since we are the people of His pasture, He is our God. And being the people of His pasture, we are also the sheep of His hand, He being our shepherd. Therefore no one shall snatch us from His right hand; For I give them eternal life, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. 927 Ps 94,7c-9 The apostle, saying that these words to the end of the psalm were spoken by the Holy Spirit, placed them in the Epistle to the Hebrews in some way and added an interpretation to them. And he interpreted "today," referring it to the entire present age; for each day of the age is signified by "today." And a heart is hardened, in the way Pharaoh's was, inclining toward wickedness and appearing hard and resistant under all sin. Therefore, leaving aside this cruelty, let us incline our hearing to God who cries out, so that we may become righteous. 928 Ps 94,10.11 Another says "I was provoked" means I became displeased not with every generation but with that one which always lived in error because it did not want to have knowledge of God; he said that God, having become angry, swore that they would not enter His rest, saying these things among the seventy. But since Paul also has explained this word, we shall say nothing more than what was said then. 929 Ps 95,1-2a And you will understand it this way: the rational soul, being in the image and likeness of God, is a house of its maker, especially when it lives with virtue, but when it sins it is taken captive and torn down so that it is no longer a temple of God. For God said concerning some, My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh. For long ago, when the divine spirit dwelt in them, they were His temple; but when, sinning, they became flesh, having taken on a passible and material state, then He who dwelt in them departed, and they suffered destruction at the hands of the evil spirits that took them captive. Therefore, just as the sinner who has become a captive ceases to be God's house, the structure built from virtues having been dissolved, so he who turns back to God through repentance is not only ransomed from captivity, but is also founded and built as a house of God through correctness of thought and best actions. And this is what the preceding inscription of the psalm shows. For after the captivity, when the house had been built by those who were well-disposed, a song of thanksgiving is sent up for the release from captivity and the dedication of the divine house. and to take the things concerning the place literally
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εδοξε δὲ ἀνδράσι θείοις καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων φοιτηταῖς γεγενημένοις εἰπεῖν, ὡς αρα αἱ δημιουργικαὶ τοῦ θεοῦ χεῖρες ὁ μονογενὴς ειη καὶ τὸ αγιον πνεῦμα. ταύτης δὲ τῆς γνώμης ὁ Εἰρηναῖος μάλιστα ην, ἐξ ου δηλονότι παλαιὰ δόξα ἐστὶν ἡ τιθεμένη μὴ ποιούμενον ἀλλὰ ποιητικὸν καὶ τὸ αγιον πνεῦμα. 926 Ps 94,6-7c Οὐκ ἐκ τόπου εἰς ετερον τόπον ἰόντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεὸν προσκυνῆσαι παρακαλοῦσιν ἀλλήλους. οὐκέτι γὰρ τοπικὴ προσκύνησίς ἐστιν, ωσπερ ἐτύγχανεν ουσα οτε συνέστηκε τὰ ̔Ιεροσόλυμα καὶ ὁ ἐκεῖσε ναός. Προσκυνοῦσι γὰρ τῷ κυρίῳ, κατὰ τὸν προφήτην, εκαστος ἐκ τοῦ τόπου ἑαυτοῦ, οὐκ αἰσθητῶς καὶ σωματικῶς ἀλλὰ πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ. Ερχονται τοίνυν κατὰ διάθεσιν μᾶλλον η μεταβολὴν τόπου οἱ προσκυνοῦντες καὶ προσπίπτοντες αὐτῷ, κλίνοντες αὐτῷ γόνυ θεὸν αὐτὸν ὁμολογοῦντες, οὐχ οἱ ἐπὶ γῆς μόνοι ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ καταχθονίοις κλαίοντες ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ τὸν ἐκ μετανοίας κλαυθμόν, η καὶ ὁσαχῶς κλαίειν καὶ ὀδυνᾶσθαί τινας ειπομεν. αμεμπτος δὲ κλαυθμὸς καὶ πᾶσαν κηλίδα διαφεύγων ὁ θαρσῶν ἐνώπιον κυρίου γίνεσθαι. Λέγουσι δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν δι' ην τὰ ἐγκείμενα ἐπιτελοῦσι, φάσκοντες Οτι αὐτὸς θεὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἡμεῖς πρόβατα νομῆς αὐτοῦ, σχέσεως τοῦ λαοῦ πρὸς θεὸν δηλουμένης διὰ τῆσδε τῆς λέξεως. διὰ τοῦτό φησι· Λαὸς νομῆς αὐτοῦ τυγχάνομεν οτι αὐτὸς ἐπιδέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν θεὸς ἡμῶν γενέσθαι· ἐπεὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡμεῖς λαὸς νομῆς αὐτοῦ τυγχάνομεν· καὶ ἐπεὶ ἡμεῖς λαὸς νομῆς αὐτοῦ, αὐτὸς θεὸς ἡμῶν. τῆς δ' αὐτοῦ νομῆς λαὸς αὐτοῦ οντες, ἐσμὲν καὶ πρόβατα χειρὸς αὐτοῦ οντος ποιμένος ἡμῶν. διὸ οὐδεὶς ἁρπάσει ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς δεξιᾶς αὐτοῦ· Κἀγὼ γὰρ δίδωμι αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ οὐχ ἁρπάσει τις αὐτὰ ἐκ τῆς χειρός μου. 927 Ps 94,7c-9 Ταύτας τὰς λέξεις εως τοῦ τέλους τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος εἰρῆσθαι φήσας ὁ ἀπόστολος, εθηκεν αὐτὰς ἐν τῇ Πρὸς ̔Εβραίους ἐπιστολῇ ἀμωσγέπως καὶ ἑρμηνείαν αὐταῖς ἐπαγαγών. ἡρμήνευσε δὲ τὸ σήμερον, εἰς τὸν πάντα ἐνεστηκότα αἰῶνα ἀναφέρων αὐτό· ἑκάστη γὰρ ἡμέρα τοῦ αἰῶνος σημαίνεται διὰ τοῦ σήμερον. σκληρύνεται δὲ καρδία, ον τρόπον καὶ ἡ τοῦ Φαραὼ κακίᾳ προσκλινομένη καὶ ὑπὸ ἁπάσης τῆς ἁμαρτίας σκληρὰ καὶ ἀντίτυπος ἀναφαινομένη. ταύτης τοίνυν ἀφέμενοι τῆς ὠμότητος, βοῶντι θεῷ κλίνωμεν τὴν ἀκοὴν ἐπὶ τῷ δίκαιοι γενέσθαι. 928 Ps 94,10.11 Αλλος δὲ τὸ Προσώχθισα προσκορής φησιν ἐγενόμην οὐ πάσῃ γενεᾷ ἀλλ' ἐκείνῃ ἀεὶ πλάνῃ συμβιούσῃ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐθέλειν γνῶσιν εχειν θεοῦ· εφη τὸν θεὸν ὀργισθέντα ὀμόσαι μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ, ταῦτα δὲ ἐν ΟΖ εἰπών. ἐξηγησαμένου δὲ καὶ Παύλου ταύτην τὴν λέξιν, οὐδὲν πλέον τῶν τότε ῥηθέντων ἐροῦμεν. 929 Ps 95,1-2a Νοήσεις δὲ καὶ ουτως· ἡ λογικὴ κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν θεοῦ γινομένη ψυχὴ οικός ἐστι τοῦ πεποιηκότος, μάλιστα σὺν ἀρετῇ διάγουσα, ἁμαρτάνουσα δὲ αἰχμαλωτίζεται καὶ καθαιρεῖται ωστε μηκέτι ειναι ναὸς θεοῦ. ειπε γοῦν ὁ θεὸς περί τινων Οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις διὰ τὸ ειναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας. πάλαι γὰρ ἐνοικοῦντος ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῦ θείου πνεύματος ναὸς ησαν αὐτοῦ· οτε δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντες σάρκες γεγένηνται ἐμπαθῆ καὶ ὑλικὴν εξιν ἀναλαβόντες, τὸ τηνικάδε ἀπέστη ὁ ἐνοικῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ καταστροφὴν ὑπέμειναν πρὸς τῶν αἰχμαλωτισάντων αὐτοὺς πονηρῶν πνευμάτων. Ωσπερ τοίνυν ὁ ἁμαρτάνων αἰχμάλωτος γεγονὼς παύεται τοῦ ειναι θεοῦ οικος διαλυθέντος τοῦ ἐξ ἀρετῶν οἰκοδομήματος αὐτοῦ, ουτως ὁ ἐπιστρέφων πρὸς θεὸν διὰ μετανοίας οὐ μόνον τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας λυτροῦται, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεμελιοῦται καὶ οἰκοδομεῖται θεοῦ οικος δι' ὀρθότητα φρονήματός τε καὶ πράξεων ἀρίστων. καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ο δηλοῖ ἡ ἐγκειμένη τοῦ ψαλμοῦ προγραφή. μετὰ γὰρ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ οικου οἰκοδομηθέντος πρὸς τῶν εὐπαθόντων χαριστήριος ᾠδὴ ἀναπέμπεται ὑπὲρ ἀφέσεως τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας καὶ ἐγκαινισμοῦ τοῦ θείου οικου. καὶ πρὸς τὸ ῥητὸν ἐκλαβεῖν τις τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον