Fragmenta ex commentariis in epistulam ad Ephesios Eph. i 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God. Let us hear what Origen also say

 Paul and those like him, and none of them bodily, but also in the heavenly places. For it was fitting for those whose citizenship is in heaven, who tr

 “Beloved” is what the Only-Begotten of God is called, with all loving the things conceived concerning him, whether they fail of the mark or hit it ju

 prophesying. See then if another punctuation of the reading does not fit this investigation of the passage, being thus: to the praise of the glory of

 And it is called a `κεφάλαιον` (summary/chapter/summation), I think, from the fact that our head (`κεφαλὴν`) also has everything in it and all the sen

 of the inheritance. But it is better to understand that, just as in the case of those who buy something together and give a down payment, the down pay

 all the ends of the earth will be turned before the Lord. And the enlightening of the eyes of the heart reveals the incorporeal and intelligible natur

 all a dispensation. Many, therefore, are the principalities and powers that need his oversight, and many are the authorities and many are the dominion

 of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also

 sons of disobedience (and everyone who disobeys the proclaimed divine dogmas, by the very act of disobeying, is revealed as a son of disobedience) an

 to consider [themselves] to be of the covenants of the promise. But you will ask whether perhaps for this reason it has been said, without God in thi

 that Israel is near, but the nations are far off. It will be necessary to use these sayings against those who divide the Godhead and suppose that the

 in my tribulations for you to be such, «wherefore I ask for you, that you not lose heart in my tribulations, which are your glory.» And what follows w

 that Christ may dwell through faith in the inner man, I mean in your hearts, that is, the governing principles. But he who wishes to restore the pass

 the power of his light would have arrived, it would be said to be also in all things thus, therefore, also with respect to intelligible things we thi

 some men being disposed not towards spirital things but teaching like dice-players, and others deceiving with all craftiness and cunning, because erro

 but they still feel pain therefore it is possible for them, having received rational help, to be healed, so as to live the rest of their time blamele

 to do all the things of corruption, it is always being corrupted. The desires of deceit, therefore, and the former way of life work to corrupt him, an

 in what was said, If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, do not leave your place, for healing pacifies great sins. But we give place to the

 in that it is not easy for outsiders to accept), and temper, anger beginning. Scripture seems in very many places to know a difference between temper

 we do good to others, these things, both on account of the end and on account of our being a body, refer to us more than to those to whom we seem to h

 to the kingdom of Christ and God and for one guilty of foolish talking and jesting, the matter of the judgment would seem rather cruel to someone, sho

 [v 9] for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Against those who separate the just from the good, and who suppose th

 foolish, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. [Origen says] the one who tests in each thing he says and does and thinks what is well-pleasi

 and for things in part one must give thanks. But it is necessary for the one giving thanks to God and the Father to give thanks in the mediator of God

 after his father mentioned and the after his mother mentioned a second time, but also the he will be joined to his wife. 31 Eph. vi1-3 Children, obey

 having journeyed with long-suffering and patience through the great and terrible spiritual desert, and having conquered those whom the Lord, a great k

 and wonders of falsehood and in every deceit, injustice. And if the enemy should persuade someone to receive him as Lord, speaking in him, Thus says

 whom it is necessary to shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace. And I think that symbols of these sandals are the sandals recorded in Exodus w

 a faithful minister in the Lord, whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that he might know your affairs and comfort your hearts. Since the ent

Fragmenta ex commentariis in epistulam ad Ephesios Eph. i 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God. Let us hear what Origen also says about this, whether the preposition 'through' (διὰ) indicates a subservient role (just as we have examined at greater length when discussing 'all things were made through him,' putting forward also the objections that appeared to us on this matter), it must be investigated how Paul is an apostle of Christ Jesus not 'from' (ἐκ) the will of God but 'through' (διὰ) the will of God. Someone, then, will say that Paul is not very precise everywhere with the properties of prepositions, which he also does with other meanings. But another, knowing the difference between 'through God' and 'through the will of God,' will say that it would have been absurd if it had been written 'Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through God'; but if the will of God is subservient, He who uses it being the principal, this would not be unreasonable. And you will consider also concerning the will of God whether it can be ranked with Christ; so that just as He is the power of God and the wisdom of God, so He might also be His will, He Himself possessing the hypostasis of God; but if it seems inappropriate to someone to say that the will of God is substantiated, let him consider whether the seeming inappropriateness is not similar also in the case of the power of God and the wisdom of God and the word of God, and the truth and the resurrection and the way; for it seems to me to be similar concerning all these things, as being substantiated in the only-begotten Word. 2 Eph. i 1b [to the saints who are and faithful in Christ Jesus.] [But Origen says] We have found the phrase 'to the saints who are' used only of the Ephesians; and we ask, if 'who are' added to 'to the saints' is not superfluous, what it can mean. See, therefore, if it is not that just as in Exodus He who spoke to Moses says His own name is 'He who is,' so those who partake of 'He who is' become 'beings,' being called, as it were, from not-being into being; for God chose the things that are not, says the same Paul, that He might bring to nothing the things that are. And someone will ask, how does He bring to nothing the things that are? But let us hear him adding, 'that no flesh should boast in the presence of God.' For if someone, having partaken of being, forgetting his participation, should arrogate to himself the cause of his being, and not refer all thanksgiving to Him who graciously gave him being from not-being, similar and according to His image, then that which is, is brought to nothing. [i 3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Someone will say that on account of the blessings in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and wherever else in scripture such things are written, the 'spiritual blessing' is so called in contrast to those; as if the God and Father of Jesus Christ blesses us not with a bodily blessing like those, but with a spiritual one. And so, at least, the heretics will interpret it, thinking that they would even receive from such an interpretation a pretext for dividing the Godhead. But we, by demonstrating that not even under the law are the blessings given, if they should be understood bodily, to those entrusted according to the law and to have lived soundly, will refute those who have supposed so, that either He who gave the blessings is lying, or that what was promised to those who lived as He commanded is not to be understood from the ready interpretation. For it follows from 'the law is spiritual' that the blessings in it are also spiritual. For the prophets, for example, have not obtained the blessings bodily; for they did not lend to many nations, men who went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth, nor were they blessed in the city or in the field; but neither were their storehouses blessed, which they did not even possess in the first place. And see if by these things we will not compel those who think otherwise to change their minds (if they would preserve the dignity of God who gave the blessings) to the view that He gave them spiritually to His blessed ones. Not only is every blessing spiritual with which they have been blessed

Fragmenta ex commentariis in epistulam ad Ephesios Eph. i 1 Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ. ἀκούσωμεν τί καὶ Ὠριγένης φησὶ περὶ τούτου εἰ ἡ διὰ πρόθεσις τὸ ὑπηρετικὸν ἐμφαίνει (ὥσπερ ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐξητάσαμεν διηγούμενοι τὸ πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, τιθέντες καὶ τὰς φαινομένας ἡμῖν εἰς τοῦτο ἀνθυποφοράς), ζητητέον πῶς ἀπόστολός ἐστι Παῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ οὐκ ἐκ θελήματος Θεοῦ ἀλλὰ διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ. ὁ μὲν οὖν τις ἐρεῖ, μὴ πάνυ ἀκριβοῦν πανταχοῦ τὸν Παῦλον τὰ τῶν προθέσεων ἰδιώματα, ὅπερ αὐτὸν ποιεῖν καὶ ἐπ' ἄλλων σημαινομένων. ἄλλος δέ, διαφορὰν εἰδὼς τοῦ «διὰ Θεοῦ» καὶ τοῦ διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ, ἐρεῖ ὅτι ἄτοπον ἂν ἦν εἰ ἐγέγραπτο Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διὰ Θεοῦ· εἰ δὲ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑπηρετικόν ἐστιν, ἡγουμένου ὄντος αὐτοῦ τοῦ χρωμένου αὐτῷ, οὐκ ἂν εἴη τοῦτο ἄλογον. ἐπιστήσεις δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ θελήματος τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰ δύναται τάσσεσθαι ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ· ἵν' ὥσπερ ἐστὶ Θεοῦ δύναμι καὶ Θεοῦ οφία, οὕτως ᾖ καὶ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, Θεοῦ ὑπόστασιν ἔχον αὐτόν· ἐὰν δέ τινι ἀπεμφαῖνον φαίνηται οὐσιῶσθαι λέγειν τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ θέλημα, ἐπιστησάτω εἰ μὴ ἡ δοκοῦσα ἀπέμφασις παραπλήσιός ἐστι καὶ ἐπὶ δυνάμεω Θεοῦ καὶ οφία Θεοῦ καὶ λόγου Θεοῦ, καὶ ἀληθεία καὶ ἀνατάεω καὶ ὁδοῦ· παραπλήσιος γάρ μοι δοκεῖ τυγχάνειν περὶ πάντων τούτων, ὡς οὐσιωμένων ἐν τῷ μονογενεῖ Λόγῳ. 2 Eph. i 1b [τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσιν καὶ πιστοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.] [Ὠριγένης δέ φησι] ἐπὶ μόνων Ἐφεσίων εὕρομεν κείμενον τὸ τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσι· καὶ ζητοῦ μεν, εἰ μὴ παρέλκει προσκείμενον τῷ τοῖς ἁγίοις <τὸ> τοῖς οὖσι, τί δύναται σημαίνειν. ὅρα οὖν εἰ μὴ ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ ὄνομά φησιν ἑαυτοῦ ὁ χρηματίζων Μωσεῖ τὸ <ὁ> ὤν, οὕτως οἱ μετέχοντες τοῦ ὄντος γίνονται ὄντες, καλούμενοι οἱονεὶ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ εἶναι εἰς τὸ εἶναι· ἐξελέξατο γὰρ ὁ Θεὸ τὰ μὴ ὄντα, φησὶν ὁ αὐτὸς Παῦλος, ἵνα τὰ ὄντα καταργήῃ. καὶ ζητήσει τις, πῶς τὰ ὄντα καταργεῖ· ἀλλὰ ἀκούωμεν ἐπιφέροντος αὐτοῦ τὸ ὅπω μὴ καυχήηται πᾶα ὰρξ ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ. ἐὰν γάρ τις μετεσχηκὼς τοῦ εἶναι, ἐπιλαθόμενος τῆς μετοχῆς, ἑαυτῷ καταχαρίσηται τὴν τοῦ εἶναι αἰτίαν, καὶ μὴ τὴν πᾶσαν εὐχαριστίαν ἀναφέρῃ ἐπὶ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ εἶναι τὸ εἶναι αὐτῷ ὅμοιον καὶ κατ' εἰκόνα χαρισάμενον, τότε καταργεῖται τὸ ὄν. [i 3] εὐλόγητος ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ εὐλογήσας ἡμᾶς ἐν πάσῃ εὐλογίᾳ πνευματικῇ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ. ὁ μέν τις ἐρεῖ, διὰ τὰς ἐν Λευιτικῷ καὶ ∆ευτερονομίῳ εὐλογίας καὶ εἴ που ἄλλοθι τῆς γραφῆς τοιαῦται εἰσὶν ἀναγεγραμμέναι, πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν ἐκείνων δέ, λέγεσθαι τὴν πνευματικὴν εὐλογίαν· ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡμᾶς εὐλογοῦντος οὐκ ἐν σωματικῇ ὁμοίως ἐκείνοις εὐλογίᾳ, ἀλλὰ πνευματικῇ. καὶ οὕτω γε ἐκδέξονται οἱ ἑτερόδοξοι, νομίσαντες ἂν καὶ ἀφορμὴν τοῦ διακόπτειν τὴν θεότητα ἐκ τοιαύτης ἐκδοχῆς λήψεσθαι. ἡμεῖς δὲ παραστήσαντες ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ νόμον δέδονται αἱ εὐλογίαι, εἰ σωματικῶς νοηθεῖεν, τοῖς πεπιστευμένοις κατὰ τὸν νόμον καὶ ὑγιῶς βεβιωκέναι, ἐλέγξομεν τοὺς οὕτως ὑπειληφότας ἤτοι ψεύδεσθαι τὸν τὰς εὐλογίας δεδωκότα, ἢ τὸ μὴ ἀπὸ τῆς προχείρου ἐκδοχῆς νοούμενον ἐπηγγέλθαι τοῖς βιώσασι καθὼς προσέταξεν. ἀκόλουθον γάρ ἐστι τῷ ὁ νόμο πνευματικό ἐτι καὶ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ εὐλογίας εἶναι πνευματικάς. οὐ τετεύχασι δὲ σωματικῶς τῶν εὐλογιῶν, φέρ' εἰπεῖν, οἱ προφῆται· οὐ γὰρ ἐδάνειαν ἔθνει πολλοῖ ἄνθρωποι περιελθόντε ἐν μηλωταῖ, ἐν αἰγίοι δέρμαιν, ὑτερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχούμενοι, ἐν ἐρημίαι πλανώμενοι καὶ ὄρει καὶ πηλαίοι καὶ ταῖ ὀπαῖ τῆ γῆ, οὐδὲ εὐλόγηνται ἐν πόλει ἢ ἐν ἀγρῷ· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ αἱ ἀποθῆκαι αὐτῶν εὐλόγηνται, ἃς οὐδὲ ἐκτήσαντο τὴν ἀρχήν. καὶ ὅρα εἰ μὴ ἐκ τούτων ἀναγκάσομεν τοὺς ἄλλως νοοῦντας μεταθέσθαι (εἰ τηροῖεν τὸ ἀξίωμα τοῦ τὰς εὐλογίας δεδωκότος Θεοῦ) πρὸς τὸ πνευματικῶς αὐτὸν δεδωκέναι αὐτὰς τοῖς μακαρίοις ἑαυτοῦ. οὐ μόνον δὲ πᾶσα εὐλογία πνευματική ἐστιν ἣν εὐλόγηνται