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In doing this they transgress the law manifestly. And this can be seen from the sacred writings. For the law commanded the lamb to be sacrificed on the day, that is, the feast of the Passover, and it was a type of Christ; but "it shall be eaten in one house," it says, "and you shall not "carry any of its flesh outside." Therefore, they carry the gift outside, who do not celebrate it in the one and catholic house of Christ, that is, the Church; and through another law something of this sort is signified. For it is written again, "And "whoever slaughters a calf or a sheep in the camp, and "does not bring it to the doors of the tabernacle, that "soul shall be cut off from its people." Therefore, those sacrificing outside the tabernacle would be none other than the heretics, and destruction hangs over those who dare to do this. We believe, therefore, that the offerings in the churches are both sanctified and blessed and perfected by Christ.

596 That we are able to curtail carnal, or rather natural, pleasures, but not to cut them off entirely.

SOLUTION. To some, the all-wise Paul seems to say certain difficult things, or rather, hard to understand, according to the voice of the holy apostles. But that these things are filled with wisdom from above, there is no room to doubt, for Christ speaks in him. He said therefore, "For "I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, "but I see another law warring against the law of my "mind, and making me captive to the law of sin," and again, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from "this body of death? But thanks be to God through "Jesus Christ our Lord." For the motion of the flesh wars against the mind that looks to continence through the fear of God, and opposes the impulses toward purity and fiercely leads the counter-attack. But those who practice the sobriety fitting for those who revere God, rebuke the motion of the flesh, and blunt the sting of sin by using ascetic practices and labors and other forms of moderation. So that it is not possible to uproot the innate desire of the flesh; but by sobriety, as I said, it is possible not to allow it to grow bold against the mind, especially since the 597 Only-Begotten Word of God became man, and He has not permitted the law of sin, which rages in our members, to behave insolently against us any longer. And the most excellent Paul will teach this clearly, writing, "For what the law could not do, in "that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, He condemned "sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law "might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but "according to the Spirit." We shall therefore overcome the innate motions, not entirely, nor completely; for this has been reserved for the all-blessed life that is expected in the age to come; but we are able to act manfully, and to rebuke the motions of the flesh, with God working with us, and supplying us with power from on high. And desire is stronger in the slothful, and, as it were, domineering over their hearts; but it is inactive and easily rebuked and cast out of the mind in those who have the fear of God. For it is written that "the fear of the Lord is pure," that is, it makes one pure.

To those who say If it was possible for Christ, who wore the

likeness of Adam through the flesh.

8

τοῦτο δρῶντες παρανομοῦσιν ἐμφανῶς. καὶ τοῦτο ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων. ἐκέλευε γὰρ ὁ νόμος θύεσθαι τὸ πρόβατον κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ἤτοι τὴν ἑορτὴν τοῦ πάσχα, καὶ ἦν εἰς τύπον Χριστοῦ· ἀλλ' "ἐν οἰκίᾳ μιᾷ βρωθήσεται, φησὶ, καὶ οὐκ "ἐξοίσετε τῶν κρεῶν αὐτοῦ ἔξω." ἔξω τοίνυν ἐκφέρουσι τὸ δῶρον, οἱ μὴ ἐν τῇ μιᾷ καὶ καθολικῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τουτέστι, τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, τελοῦντες αὐτό· καὶ δι' ἑτέρου δὲ νόμου τοιοῦτόν τι σημαίνεται. γέγραπται γὰρ πάλιν "Καὶ "ὃς ἐὰν θύσῃ μόσχον ἢ πρόβατον ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ, καὶ "ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς μὴ ἐνέγκῃ, ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἡ "ψυχὴ ἐκείνη ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτῆς." οὐκοῦν οἱ ἔξω θύοντες τῆς σκηνῆς, εἶεν ἂν οὐχ ἕτεροί τινες παρὰ τοὺς αἱρετικοὺς, καὶ ὄλεθρος αὐτοῖς ἐπήρτηται τοῖς τοῦτο τολμῶσι δρᾶν. πιστεύομεν τοίνυν τὰς ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις δωροφορίας καὶ ἁγιάζεσθαι καὶ εὐλογεῖσθαι καὶ τελειοῦσθαι παρὰ Χριστοῦ.

596 Ὅτι τὰς σαρκικὰς ἡδονὰς εἴτουν φυσικὰς κολοβῶσαι δυνάμεθα, ἐκκόψαι δὲ παντελῶς οὐκέτι.

ΕΠΙΛΥΣΙΣ. ∆οκεῖ τισιν ὁ πάνσοφος Παῦλος δυσχερῆ τινα λέγειν, ἤτοι δυσνόητα, κατὰ τὴν τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων φωνήν. ὅτι δὲ σοφίας τῆς ἄνωθεν μεμέστωται ταῦτα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀμφιβαλεῖν, λαλεῖ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ Χριστός. ἔφη τοίνυν "ὅτι "συνήδομαι γὰρ τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, "βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ "νοός μου, καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντά με τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας," καὶ πάλιν "Ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος, τίς με ῥύσεται ἐκ "τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου; χάρις δὲ τῷ Θεῷ διὰ "̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν." καταστρατεύεται μὲν γὰρ τοῦ νοῦ βλέποντος εἰς ἐγκράτειαν διὰ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβον τὸ κίνημα τῆς σαρκὸς, καὶ ταῖς εἰς ἁγνείαν ὁρμαῖς ἀντιτάττεται καὶ ἀντεξάγει δεινῶς. ἀλλ' οἱ νήψει χρώμενοι τῇ πρεπούσῃ τοῖς Θεὸν σεβομένοις, ἐπιτιμῶσι τῷ κινήματι τῆς σαρκὸς, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπαμβλύνουσι κέντρον ἀσκήσεσι καὶ πόνοις καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἐπιεικείαις χρώμενοι. ὥστε ἀποριζῶσαι μὲν τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν ἔμφυτον αὐτῆς ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ἔνεστι· νήψει δὲ, ὡς ἔφην, οὐκ ἐᾶν καταθρασύνεσθαι τοῦ νοῦ, δυνατὸν, μάλισθ' ὅτι γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος ὁ 597 Μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, καὶ ἀγριαίνοντα τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸν νόμον τὸν ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν οὐκ ἔτι νεανιεύεσθαι συγκεχώρηκε καθ' ἡμῶν. καὶ τοῦτο διδάξει σαφῶς ὁ πανάριστος Παῦλος γράφων "Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου, ἐν "ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς, ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ υἱὸν πέμψας "ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας κατέκρινε "τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ, ἵνα τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ νόμου "πληρωθῇ ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ "κατὰ πνεῦμα." περιεσόμεθα τοίνυν τῶν ἐμφύτων κινημάτων οὐκ εἰς ἅπαν, οὐδὲ ὁλοτελῶς· τετήρηται γὰρ τοῦτο τῇ παμμακαρίᾳ ζωῇ τῇ ἔσεσθαι προσδοκωμένῃ κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν μέλλοντα· δυνάμεθα δὲ κατανδραΐζεσθαι, καὶ ἐπιπλήττειν τοῖς τῆς σαρκὸς κινήμασι, Θεοῦ συμπράττοντος, καὶ τὴν ἐξ ὕψους ἡμῖν χορηγοῦντος δύναμιν. καὶ ἁδροτέρα μὲν ἐστὶν ἐν τοῖς ῥᾳθυμοῦσιν ἡ ἐπιθυμία, καὶ οἷον κατεξουσιάζουσα τῆς αὐτῶν καρδίας· ἀδρανὴς δὲ καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἐπιτιμωμένη καὶ ἐκπεμπομένη τοῦ νοῦ ἐν τοῖς τὸν θεῖον ἔχουσι φόβον. γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι "ὁ φόβος Κυρίου ἁγνὸς," τουτέστιν, ἁγνοποιός.

Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας Εἰ ἐνεδέχετο ἁμαρτῆσαι Χριστὸν φορέσαντα τὴν

ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ Ἀδὰμ διὰ τὴν σάρκα.