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of death,” in descending into Hades he plundered Hades, he freed those bound in courage, he took up the trophy of the cross against the devil. And see how this glory is from Moses until the Lord. how much more shall the covenant of life be in glory, with the stone rolled away, the rocks being split, the tombs being opened, angels flashing like lightning, women proclaiming the good news, peace being given, the spirit being given by him to the apostles, the kingdom of heaven being proclaimed, the gospel having enlightened the world? “He who descended is the same one who also ascended far above all the heavens” and sits at the right hand of the Father. The covenant was not death-dealing, but the covenant was against death. But the covenant of death was in glory, so that the surpassing glory might be against death. 74. Then the same Manes says again: “The old and new covenant cannot be of one teacher. For the one grows old day by day, 3.115 but the other is renewed day by day; for everything that is growing old and aging is near to vanishing. But that one is of another god and another teacher, and this one is of a different god and a different teacher.” And if he were able to show two old covenants, what he says might have been plausible to him, as if there were two who made covenants then. Likewise, if he were able to show two new covenants, it would be possible to entertain the aforementioned thought. But if the old is of one and the new of another, and if the new covenant is of the good god, and the old of the evil one, then if the good god had not seen the evil one making a covenant, he would not have known that it was necessary to make a covenant, and he would more likely be taking the pretext for his teaching from him, and be inexperienced in the matters; for if he had not seen, he would not have imitated. And the old covenant ought rather to be of the good one, so that at least the evil one might be heard as an imitator, rather than he who is the true god. For the Lord says in the Gospel, “Whatever the Son sees the Father doing, this the Son also does likewise.” And that he not yield to the one advising, so that the devil may not boast and say that the Savior has done something through his advice, as he says to him: “Command that these stones become bread,” but he does not permit it, lest he be thought to have learned by taking the advice from the devil. And do you see that he says the two covenants are of one God? For the apostle says, “The first covenant was given from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. For Mount Sinai is in Arabia; but the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.” For if there are two women, yet there is one husband; so also if there are two covenants, yet there is one God, who established the two. And for this reason he did not call them two new, nor two old, but one old and one new. And he says, “For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, which is why 3.116 not even the first was inaugurated without blood.” “For Moses took the blood of the goats and sprinkled both the book itself and the people.” For this reason also the second covenant was given upon the death of the Savior; since indeed both are in harmony with each other, the one saying, “A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he comes for whom it is reserved,” and the second, that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” And there is much to say about this, but for the sake of brevity I will pass over it. 75. But again he compares the law and the prophets to withered and aged trees, supposedly from the saying which has been spoken, “The law and the prophets were until John.” And nothing is more foolish than this. For to whom is it not clear that when the law proclaimed by the prophets was fulfilled, the prophets were finished? For if prophets were still coming proclaiming that Christ was coming from Mary, Christ would not yet have appeared. For this hypothesis is like such a matter; as when a king, about to visit a country, sends before him

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τοῦ θανάτου», ἐν τῷ κατελθεῖν εἰς τὸν Ἅιδην ἐσκύλευσε τὸν Ἅιδην, ἔλυσε τοὺς πεπεδημένους ἐν ἀνδρείᾳ, ἔλαβε τὸ τρόπαιον τοῦ σταυροῦ κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου. καὶ ὅρα πῶς ἡ δόξα αὕτη ἀπὸ Μωυσέως ἄχρι τοῦ κυρίου. πόσῳ γε μᾶλλον ἡ διαθήκη τῆς ζωῆς ἔσται ἐν δόξῃ, λίθου ἀποκεκυλισμένου, πετρῶν ῥηγνυμένων, μνημάτων ἀνοιχθέντων, ἀγγέλων ἐξαστραπτόντων, γυναικῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων, εἰρήνης διδομένης, πνεύματος παρ' αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις διδομένου, οὐρανῶν βασιλείας καταγγελλομένης, εὐαγγελίου φωτίσαντος τὴν οἰκουμένην; «ὁ καταβὰς αὐτὸς καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς ἐπάνω πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν» καὶ καθεζόμενος ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρός. οὐκ ἦν θανατοποιὸς ἡ διαθήκη, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τοῦ θανάτου ἡ διαθήκη. ἐν δόξῃ δὲ ἡ τοῦ θανάτου, ἵνα ἡ ὑπερβάλλουσα δόξα κατὰ τοῦ θανάτου γένηται. 74. Εἶτα πάλιν λέγει ὁ αὐτὸς Μάνης· «οὐ δύναται ἑνὸς διδασκάλου εἶναι παλαιὰ καὶ καινὴ διαθήκη. ἡ μὲν γὰρ παλαιοῦται ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας, 3.115 ἡ δὲ ἀνακαινίζεται ἡμέραν καθ' ἡμέραν· πᾶν γὰρ τὸ παλαιούμενον καὶ γηράσκον ἐγγὺς ἀφανισμοῦ γίνεται· ἀλλὰ ἐκείνη ἄλλου θεοῦ καὶ ἄλλου διδασκάλου, καὶ αὕτη ἑτέρου θεοῦ καὶ ἑτέρου διδασκάλου». καὶ εἰ μὲν εἶχε δεῖξαι δύο διαθήκας παλαιάς, ἠδύνατο παρ' αὐτῷ πιθανὸν εἶναι τὸ λεγόμενον, ὡς δύο ὄντων τῶν τότε διαθεμένων. ὡσαύτως δὲ εἰ δύο καινὰς διαθήκας εἶχε δεῖξαι, ἦν εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν λαβεῖν τὸ προειρημένον. εἰ δὲ ἡ μὲν παλαιὰ ἑνὸς καὶ ἡ καινὴ τοῦ ἄλλου, τοῦ τε καλοῦ θεοῦ εἰ ἐστιν ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη, πονηροῦ δὲ ἡ παλαιά, ἄρα εἰ μὴ εἶδεν ὁ ἀγαθὸς θεὸς τὸν πονηρὸν διαθέμενον, οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι χρὴ διαθέσθαι διαθήκην, καὶ ἔσται μᾶλλον παρ' αὐτοῦ λαμβάνων τὴν πρόφασιν τῆς διδασκαλίας, καὶ ἄπειρος ὢν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν· εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἑώρακεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐμιμήσατο. καὶ ἔδει μᾶλλον τὴν παλαιὰν διαθήκην εἶναι τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, ἵνα κἂν ὁ πονηρὸς μιμηλὸς ἀκούσῃ, ἤπερ ὁ ὢν ἀληθινὸς θεός. λέγει γὰρ ὁ κύριος ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ «ὃ ἐὰν βλέπῃ ὁ υἱὸς πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ποιοῦντα, οὕτω καὶ αὐτὸς ὁμοίως ποιεῖ». καὶ ἵνα μὴ εἴξῃ τῷ συμβουλεύοντι, εἰς τὸ μὴ καυχᾶσθαι τὸν διάβολον καὶ λέγειν διὰ τῆς συμβουλίας αὐτοῦ τι τὸν σωτῆρα πεποιηκέναι, ὥς φησι πρὸς αὐτόν· «εἰπὲ ἵνα οἱ λίθοι ἄρτοι γένωνται», ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἀνέχεται, ἵνα μὴ μαθὼν ὑποληφθείη παρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου λαμβάνων τὴν συμβουλίαν. καὶ ὁρᾷς ὅτι τὰς δύο διαθήκας ἑνὸς λέγει θεοῦ; φησὶ γὰρ ὁ ἀπόστολος «ἡ πρώτη διαθήκη ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους Σινᾶ ἐδόθη, εἰς δουλείαν γεννῶσα. τὸ γὰρ ὄρος Σινᾶ ἐστιν ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ· ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν, ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ ἡμῶν.» εἰ γὰρ δύο εἰσὶ γυναῖκες, ἀλλὰ εἷς ὁ ἀνήρ· οὕτως εἰ καὶ δύο εἰσὶ διαθῆκαι, ἀλλὰ εἷς ὁ θεός, ὁ τὰς δύο θέμενος. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐ δύο κέκληκε καινάς, οὐδὲ δύο παλαιάς, ἀλλὰ μίαν παλαιὰν καὶ μίαν καινήν. καί φησι «διαθήκη δὲ ἐπὶ νεκροῖς βεβαία ἐστί, διὸ καὶ ἡ 3.116 πρώτη ἄνευ αἵματος οὐκ ἐγένετο». «ἔλαβε γὰρ Μωυσῆς τὸ αἷμα τῶν τράγων καὶ ἐρράντισεν αὐτὸ τὸ βιβλίον καὶ τὸν λαόν». διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ δευτέρα ἐπὶ τῷ θανάτῳ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐδόθη διαθήκη· ὁπότε μάλιστα αἱ ἀμφότεραι ἀλλήλαις συνᾴδουσιν, ἡ μὲν λέγουσα «οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα, οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὃ ἀπόκειται», ἡ δὲ δευτέρα ὅτι «θεὸς ἦν ἐν Χριστῷ, κόσμον καταλλάσσων ἑαυτῷ, μὴ λογιζόμενος αὐτοῖς τὰ παραπτώματα». καὶ πολλὰ ἔστι περὶ τούτου λέγειν, διὰ δὲ τὴν συντομίαν ὑπερβήσομαι. 75. ∆ένδρεσι δὲ ἐξηραμμένοις καὶ γεγηρακόσιν ἀπεικάζει πάλιν νόμον καὶ προφήτας, δῆθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥητοῦ οὗ εἴρηκεν «ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἕως Ἰωάννου». καὶ οὐδὲν τούτου ἠλιθιώτερον. τίνι γὰρ οὐ σαφὲς ὑπάρχει ὅτι πληρωθέντος τοῦ ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν καταγγελλομένου νόμου ἐτελέσθησαν οἱ προφῆται; εἰ γὰρ ἔτι προφῆται ἤρχοντο καταγγέλλοντες Χριστὸν ἐρχόμενον ἀπὸ Μαρίας, οὔπω Χριστὸς ἐπεδήμησεν. ἔοικε γὰρ ἡ ὑπόθεσις αὕτη τοιούτῳ τινὶ πράγματι· ὡς βασιλεὺς μέλλων ἐπιδημεῖν εἰς χώραν προπέμπει ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ