all a dispensation. Many, therefore, are the principalities and powers that need his oversight, and many are the authorities and many are the dominions, and many also are those that impart their own power, some indeed will be active in this age, and some also in the age to come; but none of these rules with a rule as great as the Son's. For all the principalities need him ruling over them; but also the authorities will exercise authority better being under the authority of Christ, with the power of God surpassing all other power; but even if some are led to a beneficial servitude by those who rule well, it is necessary for these rulers, receiving the knowledge of ruling from the Lord of rulers, to rule over those whom they rule. Whence he who raised Christ from the dead set him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; for it is likely that there are also certain unspoken and ineffable names named, not comprehensible to us, according to the arrangement of all things, some indeed in this age, but also <τινὰ> in the age to come. From where, then, did the apostle get these names, if not from the Holy Spirit who revealed them to him? But how it is said, and he put all things under his feet, must be examined, since it is clear that there are countless many who are still insubordinate to the Word of God. For we do not yet see all things put under him; and the phrase, for he must reign, until he has put all enemies under his feet, shows that not all his enemies are yet under his feet. Someone, therefore, will say that this too was said according to foreknowledge. But another, setting forth the ordering of God by which he places each one into some rank, will say this: He put all things under his feet, as many as are of the order of those who are subordinate. And he gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, <τὸ πλήρωμα> of him who is filled all in all. Finding the church called the body of Christ, we ask whether it must be understood as the rest of the body apart from the head, an instrument of the head, or just as the body of a man, of which body the head is a part, so the whole church of Christ is the body of Christ, animated by his divinity and filled by his spirit, or whether these things must be understood in some other way. If, however, it is the second, then his more human aspect will itself also be a part of the whole body, while the divine and life-giving part for the whole church will be the divine power which, as it were, animates it. But how the church, being the body of Christ, is the fullness of him who is filled all in all, we wish to know, and why it is not said of him who fills all in all, but of him who is filled. For it would seem more consistent for it to have been said that Christ is the one who fills, not the one who is filled; for he is not only the fullness of the law, but he is also the fullness of all fullnesses, since nothing could become full without him. But see if one can respond to these things in this way, by saying that, just as through the great relation and fellowship of the Son to rational beings the Son of God is, as it were, the fullness of all rational beings, so also he takes up a fullness, as it were, into himself, being shown to be most full in each of the blessed. And that what is said may become clearer, consider a king being filled with his kingdom by each of those who augment the kingdom, but being emptied of it by those who fall away; and of this king, nothing at all is more fitting to the philanthropic kingdom of Christ, with each of those who complete it being benefited rationally and perfected by him, who, taking refuge in him, complete his body, which is somehow empty when it lacks those who are being benefited. Therefore Christ is filled in all who come to him, lacking these before they come. [ii 1-5] And you, being dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the age

πάντα οἰκονομίαν. πολλὰ μὲν οὖν τὰ ἄρχοντα καὶ ἡγούμενα τῶν δεομένων τῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ ἐπιστασίας καὶ πολλὰ τὰ ἐξουσιάζοντα καὶ πολλὰ τὰ κυριεύοντα, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τὰ τῆς ἰδίας δυνάμεως μεταδιδόντα, τινὰ μὲν ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, τινὰ δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι ἐνεργήσοντα· οὐδὲν δὲ τούτων ἄρχει ἀρχὴν ἡλίκην ὁ υἱός. δεῖται γὰρ πάντα τὰ ἄρχοντα αὐτοῦ ἄρχοντος αὐτῶν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξουσίαι βέλτιον ἐξουσιάσουσιν ὑπὸ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ὄντες τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὑπερεχούσης τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως παρὰ πᾶσαν τὴν λοιπὴν δύναμιν· ἀλλὰ κἂν ἄγηταί τινα ἐπὶ συμφέρουσαν δουλείαν ὑπὸ τῶν καλῶς κυριευόντων, ἀνάγκη ταῦτα τὰ κυριεύοντα λαμβάνοντα τὴν ἐπιστήμην τοῦ κυριεύειν ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου τῶν κυριευόντων κυριεύειν ὧν κυριεύει. ὅθεν ὁ ἐγείρας ἐκ νεκρῶν τὸν Χριστὸν ἐκάθισεν αὐτὸν ἐν δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, ὑπεράνω πάσης ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ κυριότητος, καὶ παντὸς ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι· εἰκὸς γὰρ εἶναί τινα καὶ ἄρρητα καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητα κατὰ τὴν διάταξιν τῶν ὅλων ἡμῖν οὐ ληπτὰ ὀνόματα ὀνομαζόμενα, τινὰ μὲν ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ <τινὰ> ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι. πόθεν δὲ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ τὰ ὀνόματα ταῦτα ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀποκαλύψαντος αὐτῷ ἁγίου πνεύματος; πῶς δὲ εἴρηται καὶ πάντα ὑπέταξεν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ἐξεταστέον, φανεροῦ ὄντος ὅτι μυρίοι ὅσοι εἰσὶν οἱ ἔτι ἀνυποτακτοῦντες τῷ Λόγῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ. οὔπω γὰρ ἔτι ὁρῶμεν τὰ πάντα ὑποτεταγμένα· καὶ τὸ δεῖ δὲ αὐτὸν βαιλεύειν ἄχρι οὗ ἂν θῇ πάντα τοὺ ἐχθροὺ ὑπὸ τοὺ πόδα αὐτοῦ δηλοῖ τὸ μηδέπω πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ εἶναι. ὁ μὲν οὖν τις ἐρεῖ ὅτι κατὰ πρόγνωσιν εἴρηται καὶ τοῦτο. ἕτερος δέ, τὴν κατάταξιν τοῦ Θεοῦ ᾗ κατατάσσει ἕκαστον εἴς τι τάγμα παριστάς, ἐρεῖ τόδε· πάντα ὑπέταξεν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὅσα τῆς τάξεώς ἐστι τῶν ὑποτασσομένων. καὶ αὐτὸν ἔδωκε κεφαλὴν ὑπὲρ πάντα τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἥτις ἐστι τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ, <τὸ πλήρωμα> τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι πληρουμένου. σῶμα Χριστοῦ εὑρίσκοντες λεγομένην τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ζητοῦμεν πότερόν ποτε, ὡς παρὰ τὴν κεφαλὴν τὸ λοιπὸν σῶμα, ὄργανον τῆς κεφαλῆς δεῖ αὐτὴν νοεῖν, ἢ ὥσπερ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου σῶμα, οὗ σώματος μέρος ἐστὶν ἡ κεφαλή, οὕτως Χριστοῦ σῶμά ἐστι ψυχούμενον ὑπὸ τῆς θειότητος αὐτοῦ καὶ πληρούμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ ἡ πᾶσα ἐκκλησία Χριστοῦ, ἢ ἄλλως πως δεῖ ταῦτα ἐκλαμβάνειν. ἐὰν μέντοιγε τὸ δεύτερον ᾖ, ἔσται τὸ μὲν ἀνθρωπικώτερον αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸ μέρος τυγχάνον τοῦ ὅλου σώματος, τὸ δὲ θεῖον καὶ ζωοποιοῦν πᾶσαν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἡ ὡσπερεὶ ψυχοῦσα αὐτὴν δύναμις θεία. πῶς δὲ ἡ ἐκκλησία οὖσα σῶμα Χριστοῦ πλήρωμά ἐστι τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι πληρουμένου θέλομεν γνῶναι, καὶ διατί οὐ λέγεται τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι πληροῦντος ἀλλὰ τοῦ πληρουμένου. δόξει γὰρ ἀκολουθότερον ἂν εἰρῆσθαι τὸ τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι τὸν πληροῦντα, οὐχὶ δὲ τὸν πληρούμενον· αὐτὸς γὰρ οὐ μόνον νόμου ἐστὶ πλήρωμα, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων τῶν πληρωμάτων ἐστὶ πλήρωμα, οὐκ ἂν χωρὶς αὐτοῦ τινὸς πλήρους γινομένου. ὅρα δὲ εἰ δύναται πρὸς ταῦτα οὕτως ἀπαντῆσαι ὁ λέγων ὅτι, καθάπερ διὰ τὴν πολλὴν σχέσιν καὶ κοινωνίαν τοῦ υἱοῦ πρὸς τὰ λογικὰ ὥσπερ πλήρωμά ἐστι πάντων τῶν λογικῶν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὕτως καὶ αὐτὸς ὡσπερεὶ πλήρωμα εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀναλαμβάνει, πληρέστατος ἀποδεικνύμενος καθ' ἕκαστον τῶν μακαρίων. καὶ ἵνα γε σαφέστερον γένηται τὸ λεγόμενον, ἐννόει βασιλέα μὲν πληρούμενον τῆς βασιλείας καθ' ἕκαστον τῶν αὐξόντων τὴν βασιλείαν, κενούμενον δὲ ταύτης ἐν τοῖς ἀφισταμένοις· τούτου τοῦ βασιλέως οὐδὲν δὲ ὅλως ἁρμοδιώτερον τῇ Χριστοῦ φιλανθρώπῳ ἐστὶ βασιλείᾳ, ἑκάστου τῶν συμπληρούντων αὐτὴν εὐεργετουμένων ὑπ' αὐτοῦ λογικῶ<ς> καὶ τελειουμένων, οἵτινες προσφεύγοντες αὐτῷ συμπληροῦσιν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα, κενόν πως ὂν ὅτε λείπει τῶν εὐεργετουμένων. διὸ πληροῦται ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς προσιοῦσιν ὁ Χριστός, λείπων τούτοις πρὶν προσέλθωσιν. [ii 1-5] Καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασι καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν, ἐν αἷς ποτε περιεπατήσατε κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα