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De prophetiarum obscuritate

A demonstration that the prophecies concerning Christ, the gentiles, and the falling away of the Jews are usefully obscure.

1. Today I wish to set before you a prophetic table and I am preparing to launch my discourse into the sea of Isaiah's wisdom. But what am I to do? I hesitate and I fear, lest perhaps, having left the harbor and having arrived at the depth of the prophetic thoughts, we should become dizzy; which is just what happens to those unaccustomed to sailing. For when those men, having left the land, see the open sea on either side of the ship, and nothing else but sea and sky, they are seized by vertigo, and think the ship is spinning in a circle along with the sea. But the dizziness happens not on account of the nature of the sea, but on account of the inexperience of the sailors; at any rate, other 56.164 sailors dive headlong with their bare bodies into the waves, and suffer nothing of the sort, but descending to the very depth, they pass their time more safely than those living on the ground, and receiving the salt-water with their mouth, and with their eyes, and with their whole body, they are not troubled. So great a good is practice, such an evil is inexperience; thus the latter persuades one to despise even fearful things, while the former causes one to suspect and fear even safe things. For some, sitting on the high decks of the ship, become dizzy even at the sight; while others are not disturbed even in the midst of the waves. This also happens in the case of our mind; for indeed waves of passions wilder than those of the sea often seize it, such as a storm of anger churning the heart from below, 56.165 and winds of evil desire causing great confusion in the mind. But the inexperienced and unpracticed man, at the beginning of the storm of anger, is immediately disturbed, troubled, shaken; he watches his soul being submerged by the passions and suffering shipwreck; but the experienced man, who has practiced bearing such things nobly, just like a pilot at the helm, having seated his reason above the passions, does not cease doing everything until he guides the vessel to the calm harbor of philosophy. What therefore happens on the sea and occurs in the mind, this also happens in the exegesis of the Scriptures; we must be disturbed and troubled when we go out into the open sea, not because the sea is fearsome, but because we who are sailing are inexperienced. For that it is possible for a discourse that is by nature easy to become difficult on account of the inexperience of the hearers, I shall present Paul to you as a witness. For having said that Christ became a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and seeking who Melchizedek is, he added: Concerning whom we have much to say, and it is hard to explain. What are you saying, O blessed Paul? Hard to explain for you, who have spiritual wisdom, who heard unspeakable words, who was caught up to the third heaven? If it is hard for you to explain, for whom is it comprehensible? For me, he says, it is hard to explain, not because of its own difficulty, but because of the weakness of the hearers. For having said, "Hard to explain," he added: "Since you have become dull of hearing." Do you see that not the nature of the discourse, but the inexperience of the hearers, made difficult what was not difficult? And not only does it make it difficult, but for the same reason it also makes what is short long; wherefore he said it was not only hard to explain, but also long, attributing the cause of both the length and the difficulty to the dullness of hearing. For just as in the case of the sick it is not necessary to set a short and hastily prepared table, but one must prepare

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De prophetiarum obscuritate

Ἀπόδειξις τοῦ χρησίμως τὰς περὶ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἐθνῶν καὶ τῆς ἐκπτώσεως Ἰουδαίων προφητείας ἀσαφεῖς εἶναι.

αʹ. Προφητικὴν σήμερον ὑμῖν παραθεῖναι βούλομαι τράπεζαν καὶ πρὸς τὸ πέλαγος τῆς Ἡσαΐου σοφίας ἐπαφεῖναι τὸν λόγον παρασκευάζομαι. Ἀλλὰ τί πάθω; Ὀκνῶ καὶ δέδοικα, μή ποτε τὸν λιμένα ἐξελθόντες, καὶ πρὸς τὸ βάθος καταντήσαντες τῶν προφητικῶν νοημάτων, ἰλιγγιάσωμεν· ὅπερ πάσχουσιν οἱ τῶν πλωτήρων ἀήθεις. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι, ἐπειδὰν τὴν γῆν ἀφέντες ἐξ ἑκατέρου μέρους τῆς νηὸς πέλαγος ἴδωσι, καὶ οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἀλλ' ἢ θάλατταν καὶ οὐρανὸν, σκοτοδίνῳ κατέχονται, καὶ περιφέρεσθαι τὸ πλοῖον αὐτοῖς κύκλῳ νομίζουσι μετὰ τῆς θαλάττης. Ἀλλ' οὐ παρὰ τὴν φύσιν τῆς θαλάττης, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ἀπειρίαν τῶν πλεόντων οἱ ἴλιγγοι γίνονται· ἕτεροι γοῦν 56.164 τῶν ναυτῶν γυμνοῖς τοῖς σώμασι κυβιστῶσι κατὰ τῶν κυμάτων, καὶ οὐδὲν πάσχουσι τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ βάθος καταβάντες αὐτὸ, τῶν ἐν ἐδάφει διαιτωμένων ἀσφαλέστερον διατρίβουσι, καὶ τῷ στόματι, καὶ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, καὶ παντὶ τῷ σώματι δεχόμενοι τὴν ἅλμην, οὐ δυσχεραίνουσι. Τοσοῦτόν ἐστι μελέτη καλὸν, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν ἀπειρία κακόν· οὕτως αὕτη καὶ τῶν φοβερῶν καταφρονεῖν πείθει, ἐκείνη δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀσφαλῆ ὑποπτεύειν καὶ δεδοικέναι παρασκευάζει. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐφ' ὑψηλῶν τῶν ἰκρίων καθήμενοι τῆς νηὸς, καὶ πρὸς τὴν θέαν ἰλιγγιῶσιν· οἱ δὲ οὐδὲ ἐν μέσοις θορυβοῦνται τοῖς κύμασι. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς διανοίας γίνεται τῆς ἡμετέρας· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταύτην πολλάκις καταλαμβάνει κύματα παθῶν τῶν θαλαττίων ἀγριώτερα, οἷον ζάλη θυμοῦ κάτωθεν στρέφουσα τὴν καρδίαν, 56.165 πνεύματα ἐπιθυμίας πονηρᾶς πολλὴν ἐμποιοῦντα τῇ διανοίᾳ τὴν σύγχυσιν. Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν ἄπειρος καὶ ἀμελέτητος, ἀρχομένου τοῦ χειμῶνος τῆς ὀργῆς, εὐθέως θορυβεῖται, ταράττεται, κλονεῖται, περιορᾷ γινομένην ὑποβρύχιον τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὸ τῶν παθῶν, καὶ ναυάγιον ὑπομένουσαν· ὁ δὲ ἔμπειρος καὶ μεμελετηκὼς τὰ τοιαῦτα φέρειν γενναίως, καθάπερ κυβερνήτην ἐπὶ τῶν οἰάκων, οὕτω τὸν λογισμὸν ἐπάνω τῶν παθῶν καθίσας, οὐ πρότερον ἀφίσταται πάντα ποιῶν, ἕως ἂν κατευθύνῃ τὸ σκάφος πρὸς τὸν εὔδιον τῆς φιλοσοφίας λιμένα. Ὅπερ οὖν ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάττης γίνεται, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς διανοίας συμβαίνει, τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐξηγήσει τῶν Γραφῶν συμπίπτει· ἀνάγκη θορυβεῖσθαι, ταράττεσθαι, ἐπειδὰν ἐξέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πέλαγος, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ τὸ πέλαγος φοβερὸν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἡμεῖς οἱ πλέοντες ἄπειροι. Ὅτι γὰρ ἔστιν, εὔκολον φύσει λόγον ὄντα, δύσκολον γενέσθαι παρὰ τὴν ἀπειρίαν τῶν ἀκουόντων, Παῦλον ὑμῖν παραστήσομαι μάρτυρα. Εἰπὼν γὰρ ὅτι Χριστὸς ἐγένετο ἀρχιερεὺς κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδὲκ, καὶ ζητῶν τίς ἐστιν ὁ Μελχισεδὲκ, ἐπήγαγε· Περὶ οὗ πολὺς ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος καὶ δυσερμήνευτος. Τί λέγεις, ὦ μακάριε Παῦλε; ∆υσερμήνευτός σοι τῷ πνευματικὴν ἔχοντι σοφίαν, τῷ τὰ ἀπόῤῥητα ῥήματα ἀκούσαντι, τῷ πρὸς τρίτον ἁρπαγέντι οὐρανόν; Εἰ σοὶ δυσερμήνευτος, τίνι καταληπτός; Ἐμοὶ, φησὶ, δυσερμήνευτος, οὐ παρὰ τὴν οἰκείαν δυσκολίαν, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῶν ἀκουόντων. Εἰπὼν γὰρ, ∆υσερμήνευτος, ἐπήγαγεν· Ἐπειδὴ νωθροὶ γεγόνατε ταῖς ἀκοαῖς. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι οὐχ ἡ φύσις τοῦ λόγου, ἀλλ' ἡ ἀπειρία τῶν ἀκουόντων δύσκολον τὸν οὐ δύσκολον ἐποίησεν; Οὐ μόνον δὲ δύσκολον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολὺν ποιεῖ τὸν βραχὺν ἡ αὐτὴ αἰτία· διόπερ οὐχὶ δυσερμήνευτον ἔφησεν εἶναι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολὺν, καὶ τοῦ μήκους, καὶ τῆς δυσκολίας ἀναθεὶς τὴν αἰτίαν τῇ νωθρότητι τῆς ἀκοῆς. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀῤῥωστούντων οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον σύντομον καὶ ἐσχεδιασμένην παραθεῖναι τράπεζαν, ἀλλὰ δεῖ παρασκευάσαι