1. For the sick of the eyes, darkness seems better than light; therefore they like to be in darker dwellings. The same thing happened with spiritual wisdom: the wisdom of God seemed foolishness to the pagans, but their wisdom, which is indeed madness, was considered wisdom by them. It also happened to them, as if someone, knowing the skill of the helmsman, promised to sail across the boundless sea without a ship and sails, and tried to prove by his reasoning that this was possible, and another, completely inexperienced, embarking on a ship and entrusting himself to the helmsman and navigators, would thus sail safely. The seeming ignorance of the latter would be wiser than the wisdom of the former. The ability to steer the wheel, of course, is excellent; but when it promises too much, it becomes madness; so is all knowledge that does not remain within its limits.

In the same way, external wisdom would be wisdom if it received the Spirit; but since she had appropriated everything to herself and thought that she had no need of higher help, she became madness, although she seemed wise. Wherefore Paul, having rebuked it beforehand by his very works, afterwards called it foolishness, and called the wisdom of God foolishness beforehand, according to the opinion of the Gentiles, and then he proves that it is true wisdom, and after the proofs it is very easy to put to shame the adversaries, and says, "Wisdom is spoken in the perfect." If I, who am considered a madman and a preacher of madness, have conquered the wise, then the wisdom that has conquered is not foolishness, but the most perfect wisdom, and so much more excellent than external wisdom that it seems foolishness. Having first called it as the pagans then called it, and having proved its superiority by its very works, and having denounced them of extreme madness, he then calls it by its proper name and says: "But wisdom we preach among the perfect." Wisdom he calls preaching and the method of salvation by means of the cross; but He calls the believers perfect. Truly perfect are those who know that everything human is very weak, despise all this, and are convinced that it serves them for nothing; and such are the believers. "But the wisdom is not of this world." What is the use of external wisdom, which is limited to this world and does not extend beyond it, even here it cannot be of any use to those who possess it? The powers of the age he does not call demons, as some think, but men who are invested with distinction and power, and who regard it as something of great importance, philosophers, rhetoricians, and writers, who also often possessed power and were leaders of the people. And he calls them the powers of this world, because their power does not extend beyond the present age: therefore he adds: transitory, and thus proves the insignificance of external wisdom, both by its very property and by the quality of those who possess it. Having proved that it is false and insane, that it cannot discover anything, that it is powerless, now he shows that it is also short-lived. "But we preach the wisdom of God, which is in secret." What secret? Christ said: "Whatsoever ye hear in the ear, preach on the housetops" (Matt. 10:27). Why then does Paul call it a mystery? Because neither the angel, nor the archangel, nor any other created power knew it before it was revealed. That is why the Apostle says: "That now the manifold wisdom of God may be made known through the Church to the principalities and powers in heaven" (Ephesians 3:10). God so honored us that they also heard it with us; and in relation to our friends, we consider it a sign of our friendship with them that we do not reveal the secret to anyone before them. Let those who boast of preaching, indiscriminately offer the pearls of doctrine to all, throw holy things to dogs and swine, and moreover with excessive wisdom, hearken to them. The mystery does not admit of embellishment, but as it is, it is precisely proclaimed; it will no longer be a divine mystery and uncorrupted if you add something of yourself to it. It is also called a mystery because we do not contemplate in it what we see, but we see one thing and believe another. Such is the property of our sacraments. I look at them differently, otherwise I am an infidel. I hear that Christ is crucified, and I marvel at His love for mankind; the unbeliever hears it, and considers it powerlessness. I hear that Christ has become a slave, and I marvel at His providence; the unbeliever hears it, and considers it a disgrace. I hear that Christ died, and I marvel at His power, how He, having undergone death, was not restrained by it, but still destroyed death; the unbeliever hears, and attributes it to His weaknesses. When he hears about the resurrection, he calls it a fable; and I, being convinced of this by the very events, worship the economy of God. Hearing about baptism, he imagines only water; and I see not only the visible, but also the invisible cleansing of the soul, accomplished by the Spirit. He thinks that my body has only been washed; but I believe that the soul has also become pure and holy, and I represent the sepulchre, the resurrection, the sanctification, the justification, the redemption, the adoption, the inheritance, the heavenly kingdom, the gift of the Spirit, since I look at the things seen not with mere sight, but with spiritual eyes. It is said about the body of Christ, and I understand it differently, but I am an unbeliever.

2.

The same happens with the sacraments: the unbelievers, hearing about them, seem not to hear; but believers, being taught by the Spirit, understand the power of the unseen. That is why Paul says that even now "the gospel is closed": "for those who are perishing," he says, "it is closed" (2 Cor. 4:3). On the other hand, by the word mystery he expresses that preaching is something extraordinary; so the Scriptures usually call that which happens beyond expectation and exceeds human understanding. That is why in another place it is said: "My mystery is to me and to mine" [9]; and again Paul says: "I tell you a mystery, we will not all die, but we will all be changed" (1 Cor. 15:51). Though it is preached everywhere, yet it is a mystery. We are commanded to speak with the roof what we have heard in our ears (Matt. 10:27), and we are commanded not to give "holy things to dogs" and not to cast "pearls before swine" (7:6), because some are natural people and do not understand, others have a veil over their hearts and do not see. Consequently, all the more mysterious is that which, although preached everywhere, is not comprehended by those who do not have sound understanding, and is revealed not by wisdom, but by the Holy Spirit, as far as we can contain. Therefore he will not sin who, as a consequence, calls it an unknown mystery, for even we believers have not been given full and perfect knowledge, as Paul says: "We know in part, and we prophesy in part. Now we see as through a glass darkly, divinationly, and then face to face." —1 Cor. 13:9, 12. That is why he says: "We preach the wisdom of God, secret, hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory." Hidden, i.e., such as none of the heavenly powers knew before us, or which many do not know even now. This is expressed by the words: "which He has ordained for our glory"; and in another place He says: "To His glory" (Ephesians 1:12), because God counts our salvation by His glory, and also by His riches, although He Himself is a treasure of good things and needs no one to be rich. He predestined, he says, expressing God's care for us. As a rule, they are considered to be the most concerned for us and those who love us, who have long been disposed to do good to us, as parents do with their children: although they give them their property afterwards, they are disposed to do so for a long time and from the very beginning. In the same way, Paul tries to show here that God has loved us from ancient times and always, even when we did not yet exist; if He did not love us, He would not have given us riches. Therefore, do not think about past enmity, for love is older than it. The words "before the ages" mean eternity, just as in another place it is said: "He who is before the ages" (Psalm 54:20). It will also be proved that the Son is eternal, because of Him it is said: "Through Whom also He created the worlds" (Hebrews 1:2); this means that He exists before the ages, because the Creator undoubtedly exists before creatures. "Which none of the powers of this world has known; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 2:8). But if they crucified them out of foolishness, then they are not guilty? And again: if they did not understand, then why did Christ say to them: "And you know Me, and you know whence I come" (John 7:28)? The Scriptures say of Pilate that he did not understand; probably Herod did not understand either. They can be called the princes of this age. But if anyone says that it speaks of Jews and priests, he will not sin; and Christ said to them: "Ye know neither Me nor My Father" (John 8:19). How did He say above, "And you know Me, and you know whence I come"? However, what is the meaning of both sayings, this has already been said in the explanation of the Gospel; therefore, in order not to repeat the same thing often, we send those who wish to do so.

3. What is it? Are the Jews forgiven of their sin concerning the cross, according to the word of Christ: "Forgive them" (Luke 23:34)? If they repented, they are forgiven. And Paul, who lifted up a multitude of hands against Stephen and persecuted the Church, became the defender of the Church. Thus the sin was forgiven to those of them who wanted to repent, of which Paul also says: "Therefore I ask, Have they stumbled that they may fall completely? In no way." And again: "Has God rejected His people? In no way." Then, to prove that repentance is not closed to them either, he cites his own conversion: "For I also am an Israelite" (Romans 11:11, 1-2). The word "did not know" seems to me to be said here not in reference to Christ, but in relation to the work of God's economy, i.e. they did not understand what death and the cross meant. And here Christ did not say: "They do not know Me," but: "They do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34), i.e., they do not understand the ongoing economy and sacrament. They did not understand that the cross would shine so brightly that they would accomplish the salvation of the universe and the reconciliation of God with people, that their city would be taken, and that they would be subjected to extreme disasters. Wisdom Paul calls Christ, the cross, and preaching. But it is not in vain that he calls Christ the Lord of glory. Since the cross seemed to be a sign of infamy, it shows that there is great glory in the cross. Great wisdom was needed not only to know God, but also to understand such an economy of God; external wisdom was an obstacle not only to the former, but also to the latter. "But as it is written, 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him' (1 Cor. 2:9).

Where is it written? And so it is said when something is depicted not by words, but by the actions themselves, as in narratives, or when the same thought is expressed, though not in the same words as here; for example, the words: "they will see what was not spoken to them, and they will know what they did not hear" (Isaiah 52:15) – mean the same as the words: "eye has not seen, ear has not heard". In this way the Apostle either expresses it, or perhaps it was really written in the books, but the books themselves were lost. In fact, many books are lost and only a few survive, even at the time of the first captivity. This is evident from the book of Chronicles. Thus the Apostle says that "all the prophets, from Samuel and after him, foretold" Him (Acts 3:24); but this is not evident, whereas Paul, as versed in the law and speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, probably knew everything exactly. But what do I say about captivity? Many books were lost even before the captivity, when the Jews fell into extreme wickedness. This is evident from the end of the second book of Kings, where it is said that Deuteronomy was barely found somewhere unclean (2 Kings 22:8). Moreover, there are many prophecies of various meanings, which are understandable only to the wisest, and in which one can find many things that are not clear to others. What then? Has the eye not seen what God has in store? He certainly did not see it: who among men has seen the dispensation of God that was to be? Has not the ear heard or entered into the heart of man? Is this true? If the prophets foretold, how did not the ear hear and enter into the heart of man? It definitely wasn't. The Apostle speaks not only of the prophets, but of all human nature. How? Have the prophets not heard of it? They heard, but their prophetic hearing was not the hearing of men; they heard not as men, but as prophets. That is why Isaiah says: "He awakens [10] my ear that I may hear" (50:4), meaning the application given by the Spirit. From this it is evident that before they heard, it did not enter into the heart of a man, since after the gift of the Spirit, the heart of the prophets was not the heart of man, but the heart of a spirit, as Paul himself says: "We have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16). The meaning of his words is as follows: before the Spirit was given to us and unknown mysteries were revealed, none of us or the prophets understood them. And could it be otherwise, if even the angels did not know them? After this, what can we say about the princes of this world, if none of the people, not even the heavenly powers, knew this? What? That by the seeming folly of preaching the universe will be conquered, nations will be converted, God will be reconciled to men, and such great blessings will be granted to us. How did we know this? "But to us," he says, "God has revealed it by His Spirit," v. 10. Not by outward wisdom, which, like a despised servant, is not allowed to enter within and penetrate into the mysteries of the Lord.

4. Do you see what is the difference between the two wisdoms? One taught us what the angels did not know; but the external did the opposite: not only did it not teach, but it also served as an obstacle to this, and when everything was already accomplished, it overshadowed the events and despised the cross. In this way, Paul gives us honor by showing that we have not only learned, and moreover with the angels, but have also learned from the Spirit itself. Further, showing the importance of knowledge, he says that if the Spirit, who knows the mysteries of God, had not revealed it to us, we would not have known. Thus God was pleased to keep the matter secret. That is why we needed a teacher who would know this clearly. "For the Spirit," he says, "searcheth all things,[11] and the depths of God. For who among men knoweth what is in a man, except the spirit of man that dwelleth in him? In the same way, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. But we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit of God, that we might know the things which have been given to us of God" (vv. 10-12). Here the word searches does not mean ignorance, but exact knowledge; he uses the same expression about God, when he says: "Search the heart's tidings, which is the wisdom of the Spirit" (Romans 8:27). Having spoken of the perfect knowledge of the Spirit, having shown that it is equal to the knowledge of God, as the knowledge of men is equal to itself, and having proved that we have come to know all things from Him, and not otherwise than from Him, he continues: "Which also we proclaim, not from human wisdom with learned words, but with learned words from the Holy Spirit, considering spiritual things with spiritual things" (v. 13). Do you see how he magnified us with the dignity of the Teacher? We are as much wiser than the pagans as Plato is from the Holy Spirit. They have rhetoricians as their teachers, and we have the Holy Ghost as their teachers. What does it mean: "considering the spiritual with the spiritual"? If there is any spiritual thing–

Future events were inscribed and foreshadowed, as it were, by the past, so that they would believe in them after their fulfillment. I also show how man came from the earth, how without any copulation the wife came from one husband, how the earth itself came from nothing, how everywhere and in everything the power of the Creator was sufficient. In this way I explain the spiritual to the spiritual, and nowhere do I have recourse to external wisdom, reasoning, or reasoning. The pagan sages strain and torment their weak minds, and in no way can explain what they are talking about, but they still do the opposite, lead to greater confusion, increase darkness and bewilderment. That is why the Apostle says: "Considering the spiritual with the spiritual." Do you see how he proves that external wisdom is superfluous, and not only superfluous, but even hostile and harmful? He expressed this when he said: "lest the cross of Christ be abolished" (1 Cor. 1:17), and "that your faith may not be founded on the wisdom of men" (2:5). And now he proves that those who hope and rely on it in all things cannot learn anything useful. "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit" (v. 14). Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to reject it (external wisdom). How, you say, is external wisdom worthy of rejection? After all, it is also the work of God. And where can this be seen from? No, God did not create it, but you invented it; and here the Apostle calls wisdom excessive inquisitiveness and excessive eloquence. And if you say that he is speaking here about the human mind, then in that case it is also your fault. You yourself humiliate him, using him for evil, to your own detriment and to resist God, and demanding from him what he does not have. You boast about him and rebel against God, and therefore God has exposed his powerlessness. In the same way, bodily strength is good; but when Cain did not use it as he should, God made him weaken and tremble. Wine is also good; but when the Jews began to use it immoderately, God completely forbade the priests to use it. Thus, when you also began to use wisdom to resist God and ascribed to it a greater power than it has, He, turning you away from human hope, showed its powerlessness. A natural person is one who subordinates everything to cold reasoning and does not consider the highest help necessary for himself; And this is madness. God has given us reason so that it may know and receive what is communicated from God, and not so that it should consider itself sufficient for itself. Beautiful and useful are the eyes; but if they wanted to see without light, their beauty and their own strength would not benefit them in the least, but would do them harm. In the same way, the soul, if it wants to see without the Spirit, will serve as an obstacle to itself. How, you will say, did she see herself before? She had never seen it herself, but she had before her creations, as if they were a book. When, however, men, not wishing to follow the path commanded by God, and to know the Creator from the beauty of the visible, entrusted the scepter of knowledge to reasoning, they fell into impotence and the abyss of impiety, allowed an abyss of evil, and began to assert that nothing comes from nothing, but that everything came from uncreated matter, whence were born innumerable heresies. In the strangest absurdities they agreed with each other, and in what they imagined to be somewhat sensible, although as if in the shadows, they disagreed with each other, and in both cases they turned out to be ridiculous. That nothing comes from nothing, they almost all unanimously affirmed and wrote, and moreover with great zeal: so the devil entangled them with absurdities! As for useful things, in which they seem to have understood something as if in divination, they argued among themselves, as, for example, that the soul is immortal, that virtue has no need of anything external, that men are good or evil not by necessity and not by the determination of fate.

5. Do you see the wickedness of the devil? When he saw that people were saying something impious, he arranged a general agreement in it, and when he saw that they were asserting something sound, he stirred up one against another, so that the absurd, being established by common consent, would not be destroyed, and the good, being understood differently, would be destroyed. See how the soul is always powerless and insufficient on its own. And this is not in vain. If, being such, it thinks that it has no need of anyone, and deviates from God, then to what madness would it not have reached if it had not been such? If, having received a mortal body, it wanted to achieve too much, according to the false promise of the devil: "Ye shall be as gods" (Gen. 3:5), then what kind of fall would it not have undergone if it had received an immortal body in the beginning? Even after this, through the unclean lips of the Manichaeans, she called herself unborn and descended from the essence of God; By the same disease (pride) she invented gods, recognized as pagans. For this reason, it seems to me, God made virtue difficult for her, in order to restrain her and teach her humility. And that this is just, let us show from the example of the Israelites, concluding from the small to the great. When the Israelites led a comfortable life and enjoyed tranquility, they fell into wickedness, not knowing how to use their prosperity. What about God? He gave them many laws to curb their self-will. These laws did not lead to virtue, but only served as a bridle for them, which did not allow them to indulge in idleness: behold, listen to what the prophet says about them: "I have given them evil commandments." What does it mean: unkind? Not much contributing to virtue; wherefore he adds: "statutes by which they could not live" (Ezekiel 20:25). "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit." It is true: just as no one can see with the eyes of the body what is in heaven, so the soul of itself (cannot comprehend) spiritual things. And what do I say, in heaven? Not even everything that is on earth. Thus, looking at a quadrangular tower from a distance, we think that it is round; and such a thought is a deception of the eye. In the same way, if anyone judges remote things by a single reasoning, great laughter will follow; not only will he not say what they really are, but he will consider them the opposite of what they really are. For this reason the Apostle adds: "because he considers it foolishness." This does not arise from the quality of objects, but from the weakness of the one who cannot grasp their greatness with the eyes of the soul. Further, he adds the reason: "He cannot understand, because it [must] be judged spiritually," i.e., what he proclaims requires faith and cannot be comprehended by reason, because the greatness of it far surpasses our weak reason. Wherefore he goes on to say, "But the spiritual man judges all things, and no man can judge him," v. 15. The seer sees everything, even that which pertains to the unseer; and what relates to it, none of those who do not see see it. So it is here: we know both our own and everything that pertains to the infidels, but they do not know ours. We know what is the quality of present things and what is the dignity of future ones, what will happen to the world afterwards, what punishment sinners will suffer and what the righteous will enjoy; we know that present goods have no dignity, and we denounce their insignificance — to judge and denounce together — but future goods are eternal and unchanging. The spiritual one knows all this, both what punishment the natural man will suffer in the life to come, and what the believer will enjoy when he moves from here; but the spiritual one knows nothing of the sort. Therefore, in order to explain what has been said, the Apostle adds: "For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may be able to judge it? But we have the mind of Christ" (v. 16), that is, we know what is in the mind of Christ, what He wills, and what He has revealed to us. Since the Apostle said above that the Spirit has revealed to us, so that anyone does not reject the Son, he adds that Christ also revealed, not expressing that we know all that Christ knows, but that all our knowledge is not human, and therefore subject to doubt, but is the knowledge of the mind of Christ and spiritual.

6. The mind that we have in this regard is Christ's, i.e. the knowledge that we have about the objects of faith is spiritual knowledge, and therefore no one can really judge us, since a natural person cannot know divine things. For this reason the Apostle said: "Who understands the mind of the Lord?" And the words, "Who shall explain," he added, not in vain, but in accordance with the words aforesaid, "He who is spiritual is not taken up by one." If no one can know the mind of God, how much more can he teach and correct it; Do you see how variously he refutes outward wisdom and shows that the spiritual man knows more and better? For the above reasons are: "that no flesh should boast"; "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise"; "In order not to abolish the cross of Christ" may not seem very convincing, strong, necessary, and useful to the unbelievers, he finally gives the main reason, i.e., that only in this way can we see and know things that are lofty, mysterious, and above us: and reason has proved insufficient, because by means of worldly wisdom we cannot comprehend that which is above us. Isn't it obvious how beneficial it is to receive teaching from the Spirit? Such teaching is both the easiest and the clearest. "But we have the mind of Christ," i.e., spiritual, divine, which has nothing human in it; not Plato's, or Pythagoras', but Christ communicated His own to our reason. Let us be ashamed, beloved, and let us lead a virtuous life. Christ Himself represents as a sign of great friendship that He has revealed mysteries to us: "I already," He says, "I do not call you servants, but I have called you friends, because I have told you all that I have heard from My Father," i.e., I have entrusted you (John 15:14-15). And if trust alone is a sign of friendship, then consider what kind of love He expressed by entrusting us with mysteries, not only in words, but also by communicating them to us in reality. Let us be ashamed; and if hell does not frighten us too much, then let it be more terrible for us than hell — to be ungrateful and ungrateful to such a friend and benefactor. Let us do all things, not as wage slaves, but as sons and freemen, out of love for our father, and let us cease to cling to the world to shame the Gentiles. Wishing now to contend with them, I am afraid lest, by refuting them with words and the truth of doctrine, we may be subjected to great ridicule in the discourse of our lives, since they, being in error and believing nothing of ours, observe wisdom, while we are quite the opposite. However, I will say: perhaps, in trying to refute them, we will try to prove ourselves better than them in life itself. I said before that it would not have occurred to the apostles to preach what they preached if they had not had the grace of God, and that not only would they not have done, but would not have undertaken so great a work. Let us speak now on the same subject, and show what it would have been impossible for them to undertake or even to think about if Christ had not been with them, not only because they were weak against the strong, the few against the many, the poor against the rich, the unlearned. — against the wise, but also because the power of prejudice was great. You know that there is nothing stronger among men than an old habit, and consequently if there were not twelve of them, if they were not so humiliated, but at least they had on their side another universe of the same kind, and a number of men equal to their adversaries, and even much greater, then it would be difficult.

Those were helped by habit, and they were hampered by innovation. Nothing disturbs the soul so much as the introduction of something new and extraordinary, even if it serves to benefit, especially when it concerns worship and worship. How great this obstacle was, I will explain later; but I will say beforehand that there was another obstacle on the part of the Jews. Among the pagans, the apostles overthrew the gods and all their teaching; but they did not reason in this way with the Jews: they rejected many of their teachings, but they commanded them to worship God the Lawgiver; commanding us to honor the Lawgiver, they said, "Do not obey the law given by Him in all things, such as the keeping of the Sabbath, circumcision, the offering of sacrifices, and the like." Thus it was not only the sacrifices that were an obstacle, but also the fact that, in commanding the worship of God, they commanded that many of His laws should be abandoned. The pagans had a great force of habit.

7. If the apostles had come out against men who had become stagnant in habit only for ten years, I do not speak for so long, against a few, I do not speak against the whole universe, it would have been difficult to make a change. And then philosophers and rhetoricians, fathers and grandfathers, great-grandfathers and further ancestors, the earth and the sea, the mountains and the valleys, all the tribes of barbarians and all the peoples of the pagans, wise and unlearned, rulers and subordinates, wives and men, young men and old men, masters and slaves, farmers and artisans, all the inhabitants of cities and villages, were given over to error.

And how great is the power of habit, you can see from the fact that it often acted more strongly than the commandments of God. What do I say, commandments? Even the blessings of God. Thus the Jews, when they received manna, desired garlic; enjoying their freedom, they remembered slavery and often regretted Egypt out of habit. So great is the power of habit! If you want to see this from external examples, then it is said of Plato, that although he recognized the teaching about the gods as an error, he nevertheless participated in festivals and in everything else, because he could not overcome his habits and learned this from the example of his teacher. And this (Socrates), being suspected of certain innovations, not only did not achieve what he wanted, but also lost his life, although he spoke in his own defense. How many people do we see even now who stagnate in impiety through prejudice and, being accused of paganism, cannot say anything well-founded, but only refer to their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers! That is why some of the external (pagan writers) called habit second nature. But habit in matters of faith is even stronger; People do not change anything with such difficulty as worship of God. Along with habit, no small obstacle was the shame of learning at a very old age, and moreover from people who were considered unreasonable. And is it surprising that this happens to the soul, when the habit has great force over the body? Under the apostles there was another and powerful obstacle: they had not only to change so ancient and ancient a habit, but also to change it with danger. They did not simply incline from one habit to another, but from a safe habit to that which was fraught with dangers. The believer was immediately to lose his property, to be banished, to withdraw from his homeland, to endure extreme misfortunes, to be hated by all, to become a common enemy both for his own and for others. If they had turned from the innovation to the old customs, then this too would have been difficult; but inclining from customs to innovation, and moreover with such disasters, imagine what obstacles they encountered. Meanwhile, in addition to what has been said, they still had another, no less obstacle to complicate the work of change. Besides habit and dangers, their very commandments were more difficult, and what they deviated from was easy and convenient. They called from adultery to chastity, from drunkenness to fasting, from laughter to tears and contrition, from covetousness to non-acquisitiveness, from addiction to life to death, from tranquility to danger, and in everything they demanded extreme abstinence. "Foul language," they said, "and idle talk and ridicule are not befitting you" (Ephesians 5:4), and they said this to those who knew nothing else but to indulge in drunkenness and gluttony, the feasts of which consisted of nothing else but foul language, ridicule, and all kinds of obscenities. Thus the teaching (of the apostles) was burdensome, not only because it required wisdom, but also because it was offered to people who had been brought up in self-will, shamelessness, idle talk, and vicious merriment. Who among those who are accustomed to such a life would not be amazed to hear: "He who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me," and "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword: for I have come to divide a man from his father, and a daughter from her mother" (Matt. 10:38, 34)? Who would not doubt and go away, hearing: "Whoever does not renounce his house, and his fatherland, and his possessions, is not worthy of Me" (Luke 14:26, 33)? However, those who heard not only were not amazed and did not go away, but ran and rushed to difficult deeds and zealously accepted what was commanded. Who among those of that time would not have departed when he heard that for every idle word we would give an account (Matt. 12:36), "that whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her" (5:28), that he who is angry without cause shall be cast into hell (5:22)? However, everyone resorted, and many even exceeded what was commanded. What attracted them? Is not the power of Him whom the apostles preached manifest? If it were not so, but on the contrary, if they were in the place of them, and they in their place, would it be easy to attract those who resist? You can't say.

8. Thus everything proves that the divine power was at work here. Otherwise, tell me, how would they persuade people who were pampered and voluptuous to lead a harsh and strict life? Such were the commandments of the apostles. Let us see if their teaching was not attractive. And it was such that it could turn away the infidels. In preaching, what did they say? They said that one should worship the Crucified One and honor Him as God, who was born of a Judean woman. Who would believe them if the divine power did not contribute to this? Everyone knew that Christ was crucified and buried; and that He rose and ascended, no one saw except the apostles. But they, you say, inflamed people with promises and carried people away with seductive words? This very thing, even without all that has been said, especially proves that our teaching is not false. All the unpleasant things were to come here, and the pleasant things were promised after the resurrection. This, I repeat again, proves the divinity of our preaching. Why did none of the believers say: I do not accept this, and cannot bear it; Do you threaten me with unpleasant things here, and promise pleasant things after the resurrection? How else do we know that there will be a resurrection? Which of those who departed returned here? Which of the dead was resurrected? Which of them said what will happen after departing from here? The believers did not think anything of the sort, but laid down their lives for the Crucified One. Thus this very thing is especially a proof of the great power that the apostles, who had never heard anything of the kind, were suddenly persuaded by the apostles of such great truths, and made ready to experience the unpleasant in practice, and to have the pleasant only in hope. If they were to deceive, they would do the opposite: they would promise pleasant things here, and they would keep silent about unpleasant things, both present and future. This is exactly what deceivers and seducers do: they do not imagine anything severe, unpleasant and burdensome, but everything is the opposite; This is the deception. But many, you will say, foolishly believed what was said? What are you saying? As long as they were Gentiles, they were not foolish, but when they turned to us, they became foolish? But the apostles did not take and bring to faith other people and not from another universe. Moreover, these people adhered to paganism safely, and the acceptance of our teaching was fraught with dangers for them. Consequently, if they held to paganism with a reasonable conviction, then, having lived in it for so long, they would not have departed from it, especially since it was not safe to depart from it. No, they understood from the very essence of things that paganism was ridiculous and absurd, and therefore, in spite of the death that threatened them, they departed from their customs and resorted to a new teaching, seeing that the latter was in accordance with nature, and the former was contrary to nature. But those who believed, you say, were slaves, women, wet nurses, old women, and eunuchs? No, our Church was not composed of such people alone, as everyone knows; if they were of these, it is what makes it all the more wonderful to preach that fishermen, the most uneducated people, could suddenly persuade to accept a doctrine which Plato and his followers could not possibly invent. If they had persuaded only the wise, it would not have been surprising; and if they led servants, old women, and eunuchs to such wisdom that they made them like angels, this is the greatest proof of their divine inspiration. If they had taught anything of little importance, the persuasion of such men might have been adduced as a proof of the baseness of the doctrine; and if they were inquisitive about important and lofty things, even exceeding human nature and accessible to the lofty mind, then the less intelligent you imagine those who are convinced, the wiser and more full of the grace of God will be those who persuaded. But, you say, did they convince with the greatness of their promises? And this, tell me, does it not surprise you that they persuaded people to expect rewards and retributions after death? This amazes me. But even this, you say, was due to foolishness? From what foolishness, tell me? That the soul is immortal, that after this life an impartial judgment awaits us, and that we will give to God, Who knows the most innermost things, an account of words, deeds, and thoughts, and we will see the punishment of the evil and the reward of the good — such convictions do not mean foolishness, but great wisdom.