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they might be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.
αʹ. It is necessary for us to flee alike all things that corrupt the soul
passions; but much more those that are many and of themselves bring forth sins; such as, I say, avarice. This disease is terrible in itself; but it becomes much more grievous, because it is the root and mother of all evils. Such also is vainglory. Behold, these men also were broken off from the faith by the love of glory. For many, it says, even of the rulers believed in him; but because of the Jews they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. Which indeed he said to them from the beginning: How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that is from the only God? They were not rulers, then, but slaves in the uttermost slavery. Nevertheless, this fear was later overcome. For nowhere in the time of the apostles do we see them possessed by this passion. For rulers and priests believed in their time. For the grace of the Spirit, having come, made them all harder than adamant. Since, then, this was what hindered them from believing at that time, hear what he says: He that believes in me, believes not in me, but in him that sent me; as if he were saying: Why are you afraid to believe in me? Belief passes through me to God, as does unbelief. See how through all things he shows the unchangeableness of his substance. And he did not say, 'He that believes me,' lest someone should say that he spoke on account of his words, which could also be said of men. For he who believes the apostles does not believe them, but God. But that you may learn that he is speaking of faith in his substance, he did not say, 'He that believes my words,' but, 'He that believes in me.' And why, he says, did he nowhere say the reverse: 'He that believes in the Father, believes not in the Father, but in me'? Because they would have said, 59.378.20 Behold, we believe in the Father, but we do not believe in you. For they were still too weak. At least when speaking to the disciples he said thus: Believe in God, and believe in me. But seeing these men were too weak to hear such words, he leads them on another way. He shows, then, that it is not possible to believe in the Father without believing in him. And lest you should think that this is spoken as of a man, he adds: He that sees me sees him that sent me. What then? Is God a body? By no means. For he speaks here of the vision of the mind, and from this he declares his consubstantiality. And what is, 'He that believes in me'? As one might say: He who draws water from the river, takes it not from the river, but from the source. Or rather, even this image is still too weak for the subject at hand. I have come as a light into the world. For since the Father is everywhere called by this name in the Old and in the New Testament, he also has used the name for himself. For this reason Paul also calls him the effulgence, having learned it from this. And he shows here a great kinship with the Father, and that there is nothing in between, if indeed he says that faith in him passes not to him, but to the Father. And he called himself Light, because he delivers from error, and dispels the intellectual darkness. If anyone hears me not, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. For lest they should think that he passed over those who despised him out of weakness, for this reason he said, I did not come to judge the world. βʹ. Then, lest they become more careless on this account, learning that he who believes is saved, but he who disbelieves is punished, see how he also established for them a fearsome tribunal, adding and saying: He that rejects me, and does not receive my words, has one who judges him. If the Father judges no one, and you did not come to judge the world, who judges him? The word that I have spoken, that will judge him. For since
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ἀποσυνάγωγοι γένωνται. Ἠγάπησαν γὰρ τὴν δόξαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων μᾶλ λον ἤπερ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ.
αʹ. Πάντα μὲν φεύγειν ὁμοίως ἡμῖν ἀναγκαῖον τὰ τὴν ψυχὴν διαφθείροντα
πάθη· πολλῷ δὲ πλέον ἐκεῖνα τὰ πολλὰ καὶ ἐξ ἑαυτῶν τίκτοντα ἁμαρτήματα· οἷόν τι λέγω, ἡ φιλαργυρία. Ἔστι μὲν οὖν καθ' ἑαυτὸ δεινὸν τὸ νόσημα· πολλῷ δὲ γίνεται χαλεπώτερον, ὅτι ῥίζα καὶ μήτηρ ἐστὶ πάντων τῶν κακῶν. Τοιοῦτον καὶ ἡ κενοδοξία. Ἰδοὺ γοῦν καὶ οὗτοι τῆς πίστεως διὰ τὸν τῆς δόξης ἀπεῤῥάγησαν ἔρωτα. Πολλοὶ γὰρ, φησὶν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτόν· διὰ δὲ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους οὐχ ὡμολόγουν, ἵνα μὴ ἀποσυνάγωγοι γένωνται. Ὅπερ οὖν καὶ αὐτοῖς ἄνωθεν ἔλεγε· Πῶς δύνασθε πιστεύειν, δόξαν παρ' ἀλλήλων λαμβάνοντες, καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ οὐ ζητοῦντες; Οὐκ ἄρα ἄρχοντες ἦσαν, ἀλλὰ δοῦλοι δουλείαν τὴν ἐσχάτην. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ οὗτος ὕστερον ἐλύθη ὁ φόβος. Οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων ὁρῶμεν τούτῳ κατεχομένους τῷ πάθει. Καὶ γὰρ ἄρχοντες ἐπ' ἐκείνων ἐπίστευσαν καὶ ἱερεῖς. Ἡ γὰρ τοῦ Πνεύματος χάρις ἐλθοῦσα, πάντας αὐτοὺς ἀδάμαντος ἐποίησε στεῤῥοτέρους. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τοῦτο ἦν τὸ κωλύον αὐτοὺς πιστεῦσαι τότε, ἄκουσον τί φησιν· Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ, οὐ πιστεύει εἰς ἐμὲ, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν πέμψαντά με· ὡσανεὶ ἔλεγε· Τί δεδοίκατε πιστεῦσαι εἰς ἐμέ; εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἡ πίστις διαβαίνει δι' ἐμοῦ, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἡ ἀπιστία. Ὅρα πῶς διὰ πάντων τὸ ἀπαράλλακτον δείκνυσι τῆς οὐσίας. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, Ὁ πιστεύων ἐμοὶ, ἵνα μή τις εἴπῃ, ὅτι τῶν ῥημάτων ἕνεκεν ἔλεγεν, ὃ καὶ ἐπ' ἀνθρώπων δυνατὸν ἦν εἰπεῖν. Ὁ γὰρ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις πιστεύων, οὐκ αὐτοῖς πιστεύει, ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι περὶ τῆς εἰς τὴν οὐσίαν πίστεως αὐτοῦ φησιν, οὐκ εἶπεν, Ὁ πιστεύων μου τοῖς ῥήμασιν, ἀλλ', Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ. Καὶ διατί μηδαμοῦ, φησὶν, εἶπεν ἀντιστρόφως· Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν Πατέρα, οὐκ εἰς τὸν Πατέρα πιστεύει, ἀλλ' εἰς ἐμέ; Ὅτι εἶπον ἂν, 59.378.20 Ἰδοὺ ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν εἰς τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ εἰς σὲ οὐ πιστεύομεν. Καὶ γὰρ ἀσθενέστερον ἔτι διέκειντο. Τοῖς γοῦν μαθηταῖς διαλεγόμενος οὕτως εἶπεν· Πιστεύετε εἰς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ πιστεύετε. Τούτους δὲ ἀσθενεστέρους ὁρῶν τοῦ τοιαῦτα ἀκοῦσαι ῥήματα, ἄλλως ἐνάγει. ∆είκνυσιν οὖν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι πιστεῦσαι τῷ Πατρὶ, μὴ πιστεύσαντας εἰς αὐτόν. Καὶ ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς, ὅτι ὡς ἐπ' ἀνθρώπου εἴρηται, ἐπάγει· Ὁ θεωρῶν ἐμὲ, θεωρεῖ τὸν πέμψαντά με. Τί οὖν; σῶμά ἐστιν ὁ Θεός; Οὐδαμῶς. Θεωρίαν γὰρ τὴν τοῦ νοῦ φησιν ἐνταῦθα, καὶ ἐντεῦθεν τὸ ὁμοούσιον δηλῶν. Καὶ τί ἐστιν, Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ; Ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις· Ὁ τὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἀναιρούμενος ὕδωρ, οὐ τὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς πηγῆς λαμβάνει. Μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ αὕτη ἔτι ἀσθενεστέρα ἡ εἰκὼν πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον. Ἐγὼ φῶς εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐλήλυθα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ τούτῳ καλεῖται πανταχοῦ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ καὶ ἐν τῇ Καινῇ, καὶ αὐτῷ κέχρηται τῷ ὀνόματι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ Παῦλος ἀπαύγασμα αὐτὸν καλεῖ, ἐντεῦθεν μαθών. Καὶ πολλὴν δείκνυσιν ἐνταῦθα τὴν πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα συγγένειαν, καὶ οὐδὲν τὸ μέσον, εἴ γε τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν πίστιν μὴ εἰς αὐτὸν, ἀλλ' εἰς ἐκεῖνον διαβαίνειν φησίν. Φῶς δὲ ἑαυτὸν ἐκάλεσε, διὰ τὸ τῆς πλάνης ἀπαλλάττειν, καὶ τὸ νοητὸν λύειν σκότος. Ἐάν τίς μου μὴ ἀκούσῃ, ἐγὼ οὐ κρίνω αὐτόν. Οὐ γὰρ ἦλθον ἵνα κρίνω τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλ' ἵνα σώσω τὸν κόσμον. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ νομίσωσιν ὅτι δι' ἀσθένειαν τοὺς καταφρονοῦντας παρέδραμε, διὰ τοῦτο εἶπε τὸ, Οὐκ ἦλθον ἵνα κρίνω τὸν κόσμον. βʹ. Εἶτα, ἵνα μὴ ῥᾳθυμότεροι ταύτῃ γένωνται, μαθόντες ὅτι ὁ πιστεύων σώζεται, ὁ δὲ ἀπιστῶν κολάζεται, ὅρα πῶς αὐτοῖς καὶ φοβερὸν ἐπέστησε δικαστήριον, ἐπάγων καὶ λέγων· Ὁ ἐμὲ ἀθετῶν, καὶ μὴ λαμβάνων τὰ ῥήματά μου, ἔχει τὸν κρίνοντα αὐτόν. Εἰ ὁ Πατὴρ οὐδένα κρίνει, καὶ σὺ οὐκ ἦλθες ἵνα κρίνῃς τὸν κόσμον, τίς αὐτὸν κρίνει; Ὁ λόγος ὃν ἐλάλησα, ἐκεῖνος κρινεῖ αὐτόν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ