Then, so that you may know that it was not the use of mortality that helped Him to give sight to the blind, but that even without matter He could have created these eyes by a single command, He adds: "Go," he says, "wash in the pool of Siloam." Having shown us by the very way of working miracles, Who in the beginning created man, He then says to the blind man: "Go and wash in Siloam." As an excellent sculptor, wishing to show his art in practice, leaves a certain part of it unfinished in the manufacture of a statue, in order to present in this part a proof of his art in the construction of the whole statue, so Christ, wishing to show that He, having created the whole man Himself, left this (blind) imperfect, in order that, having come and given him eyes, by this part He might inspire us with faith in relation to the whole. And see with what part of the body He did this: not with the hand and the foot, but with the eyes, the most beautiful and necessary of our members, more precious than which we have no member. And whoever could create the most beautiful and necessary member, i.e., the eyes, is obviously able to create a hand, a foot, and other members. Oh, how blessed are those eyes that became the object of spectacle for all those present, attracted everyone to themselves, and by their beauty preached, announcing to all those present the power of Christ! Truly, it was a wondrous event: the blind man taught the sighted to see. Expressing this, Christ said: "I have come into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind" (John 9:39). Oh, blessed blindness! The eyes, which the blind man did not receive from nature, he received from grace, and he was not so much harmed by delay (in receiving eyes) as he was benefited by the way they were made. What can be more amazing than those eyes that immaculate and holy hands have vouchsafed to create? And what happened to the barren woman happened here. How she did not suffer any harm from long barrenness, but became more glorious, having received a son not according to the laws of nature, but according to the laws of grace (Gen. 16:1; Luke 1:7); so the blind man did not suffer any harm from the previous blindness, but also received the greatest benefit from it, being vouchsafed first to behold the Sun of righteousness, and then the visible Sun.

5. I say this so that we may not be grieved when we see ourselves or others in misfortune. If we endure everything that happens with gratitude and courage, then every misfortune will certainly have a good end for us and be accompanied by many blessings. But I began to say that just as Christ corrected bodies that were defective, so the law, which was found to be imperfect, He arranged, transformed, and made better. However, when no one hears of the imperfection of the law, let no one think that I am judging the Lawgiver. That law is imperfect not in its essence, but has become imperfect in the course of time; at the time when it was given, it was very perfect and suitable for those who received it; and when the human race, guided by it, became better, the law became less perfect, not in its essence, but because of the moral perfection of those taught by it.

Therefore, Christ came and offered us another, more perfect thing. And see with what wisdom He enumerates the ancient laws and proposes new ones. "They have heard," He says, "that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill" (Matt. 5:21). Tell me, then, by whom is it "spoken"? Have you said this, or is it your Father? But He doesn't say that. Why then did He keep silent and did not name the one who spoke (the lawgiver), but impersonally brought the law? For if He had said, "It would have been said, Thou shalt not kill; but I say unto you, Be not angry;' His words would have seemed disagreeable through the foolishness of their hearers, who could not yet understand that He did not propose His laws to destroy the former, but to supplement them. And they would have said to him, What sayest thou? Thy Father said, Thou shalt not kill, and Thou sayest, Thou shalt not be angry? And so, lest anyone should think that He was opposed to the Father, or as if He was proposing something wiser than that given by Him (the Lawgiver), He did not say, "We have heard from the Father." On the other hand, if He had said, "They have heard," as I spoke to the ancients; then even this would have seemed intolerable no less than the first. If, when He said, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58), they intended to stone Him, what would they not have done if He had added that He had given the law to Moses? For this reason He did not mention Himself or the Father, but vaguely said: "They have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill." As He dealt with bodies, by correcting their defects, instilling in His hearers also Who in the beginning created man; so he does here, too, by correcting the law and supplementing what is lacking, suggesting that He who in the beginning also gave the law. Therefore, when He spoke about the creation of man, He did not mention Himself or the Father, but even there He expressed Himself impersonally and indefinitely, saying: "He who created male and female in the beginning created them" (Matt. 19:4); in words He was silent about the Creator, but in deeds He pointed to Him, correcting bodily defects. So here, having said, "They have heard what was said to them of old time," He was silent about Who said it, but by His very deeds He pointed to Himself; for He who corrected the defects produced man in the beginning. But He reckons the ancient laws in order that the hearers may understand by comparison that what He says does not involve contradiction, and that He has the same authority as the Parent. The Jews also understood this and were amazed. And that they were amazed at this, listen, as the Evangelist testifies: "He was amazed," he says, "for He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes and Pharisees" (Matt. 7:28-29). But what, they say, if they thought it wrong? However, Christ did not condemn them or reproach them, but confirmed their opinion. And soon afterwards the leper came and said, "Lord! if thou wilt, thou canst cleanse me" (Matt. 8:2), then what does He say? "I will, be cleansed" (Matt. 8:3). Why did He not simply say, "Be cleansed," although the leper had already testified that He had authority to do so, saying, "If you will"? Lest you think that the words, "If thou wilt," constitute the opinion of the leper, Christ Himself added, "I will, be cleansed." In this way, He deliberately everywhere showed His authority and that He does everything on His own; otherwise, if it were not so, these words would be superfluous.

6. Thus we have understood from all this the authority of Christ, but if we see that on other occasions He did and said something humble, both for the reasons we have previously enumerated, and because He wanted to dispose His hearers to humility, we shall not therefore attribute to Him a humiliated nature. He allowed the very assumption of the flesh out of humility, and not because He was inferior to the Father. Where does this come from? The enemies of the truth divulge this also, and say: if Christ is equal to the Parent, then why did not the Father take on the flesh, and the Son put on the image of a servant? Is it not obvious because He is inferior to the Father? But if, therefore, He had clothed Himself with our nature, then the Spirit, whom they themselves consider to be less than the Son (and we do not say this), would have to be incarnated. If the Father is greater than the Son, because the one was incarnate and the other was not, then the Spirit would be greater than the Son for the same reason, since He also did not take flesh. However, in order that we may not prove it by inferences, let us now confirm this by the Scriptures themselves and show that Christ took flesh out of humility. Paul, who knows this exactly, wishing to inspire us with something useful, gives us examples of virtue from above: for example, repeatedly giving advice about love and wishing to dispose his disciples to mutual love, he cites Christ as an example and says: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church" (Ephesians 5:25). Likewise, when he speaks of mercy, he does the same thing: "You know," he says, "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that when he was rich, he became poor for your sake, that you might be enriched by his poverty" (2 Corinthians 8:9). The meaning of his words is as follows: As thy Lord was impoverished, having clothed himself with flesh, so thou shalt also be impoverished by money; and just as the poverty of glory did not harm Him in the least, so the poverty of money cannot harm you, but will bring you great wealth. Likewise, speaking to the Philippians, He cites Christ as an example, and having said: "In humility consider one another to be superior to yourselves," He adds: "For in you must have the same feelings as in Christ Jesus, He, being in the image of God, did not consider it a robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no value, taking the form of a servant" (Phil. 2:3,5-7). And if Christ had been pleased to take on the flesh because He was essentially inferior to the Father, then this would no longer have been a matter of humility, and in vain would Paul have pointed this out when teaching humility; for humility occurs when an equal obeys an equal. Expressing this, the Apostle says: "He, being in the image of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God, but humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant." What does it mean: "He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant"? He who steals something that does not belong to him constantly keeps what he has stolen with him and does not dare to put it aside, fearing and apprehension for the acquisition; but he who possesses the inalienable good does not fear to lay it aside.

And the son will not refuse to do any slavish work, knowing that even if he begins to perform all the slave services, his freedom will not suffer any harm, but will remain unchanged, since natural nobility cannot be destroyed by slavish deeds; it was acquired by him not by theft, as a slave, but by him from the first day. In explaining this, Paul also says of Christ, that He, being essentially the free and true Son of the Father, was not afraid to postpone it, as if by theft He had arrogated to Himself equality with Him, but boldly took on the form of a servant. Christ knew, and knew for sure, that humiliation could not diminish His glory in the least; for it was not borrowed, not acquired by theft, not alien or uncharacteristic of Him, but natural and true. For this reason He took the form of a servant, with clear knowledge and confidence that this could not harm Him in the least. This did not harm Him, but in the form of a servant He dwelt with the same glory. Do you see how the very assumption of the flesh serves as a proof that the Son is equal to the Parent, and that this equality is not borrowed, not coming and going, but unchanging and permanent, and such as the Son should have in relation to the Father?

7. Let us, therefore, say all this to the heretics, and try, as far as it depends on us, to divert them from the evil heresy and to turn them to the truth. And we ourselves will not consider faith alone sufficient for us to be saved, but we will also take care of our behavior, let us lead the best possible life, so that both may contribute us to the attainment of perfection. To what I exhorted before, to the fulfillment of the same I exhort now: let us cease enmity among ourselves, and let no one remain an enemy of his neighbor for more than one day, but let him tame his anger until nightfall, lest, being left alone and carefully remembering what has been done and said in enmity, it will not make its cessation more difficult and reconciliation more inconvenient.

Usually, not only the sight of those who have offended us, but also the memory of them constantly irritates us; and if we hear another say something about them, we raise our voices, and in general spend our whole lives in despondency and grief, doing more harm to ourselves than to our enemies, and having in our hearts a constant struggle.

But are you ashamed to come and kiss the offender? No, it is praise, it is a crown, it is glory, it is a benefit and a treasure full of innumerable blessings; and the enemy himself will approve of you, and all those present will praise you; and even if men condemn you, God will surely crown you. But if you wait for the enemy to come in advance and ask forgiveness, you will not receive such benefit: he will anticipate the reward and gain for himself all the blessing; and when you yourself come, you will not remain inferior to him, but you will conquer anger, overcome passion, show great wisdom by obeying God, and make the next life more pleasant, getting rid of troubles and anxiety. And not only before God, but also before people, it is reprehensible and dangerous to have many enemies. What do I say: many? It is as dangerous to have one and only enemy as it is safe and salutary to have all friends. It is not so much the multiplication of property, not so much weapons and walls, trenches and other innumerable means that can protect us, but sincere friendship. It is a wall, it is a fortress, it is wealth, it is a consolation, it will help us to spend our present life in peace of mind, and it will bring us a future life. Therefore, thinking about all this and imagining the great benefit of it, let us do everything and take all measures to reconcile ourselves with our real enemies, and not to make new enemies, and to make real friends more reliable. The beginning and the end of all virtue is love; enjoying it sincerely and constantly, may we be vouchsafed to receive the kingdom of heaven, through the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

AGAINST ANOMEE

THE ELEVENTH WORD.

The full title of this word is as follows: "what was said in Constantinople against the Anomoeans, about the incomprehensible, and about the fact that the New Testament agrees with the Old, and about those who are not present in the sacred assemblies."

ONE DAY I talked with you, and from that day I loved you as if I had lived among you from a long time ago and from an early age; Thus I have been united to you in a bond of love, as if for an innumerable time I had enjoyed the most pleasant association with you. This is not because I am particularly inclined to friendship and love, but because you are the most desirable and amiable of all. Who will not be amazed and amazed at your ardent zeal, unfeigned love, respect for teachers, harmony with each other, which are quite enough to attract to you even a soul of stone? Wherefore I also love you no less than the church (of Antioch) in which I was born, raised, and studied; This church is the sister of that one, and you have proved your kinship with her by your deeds. If she is older in time, then this one is more ardent in faith; there is a more numerous assembly and a more solemn spectacle, and here there is more patience and more proofs of courage. Wolves surround the sheep on all sides, but the flock is not destroyed; storm, bad weather, and waves constantly pursue this sacred ship, and swimmers do not drown; the fury of the heretical flame envelops on all sides, and those who are in the midst of the burning furnace enjoy the spiritual dew. To see a church planted in this part of the city is as amazing as to see an olive tree blooming in the midst of a burning furnace, clothed with leaves and burdened with fruit. But if you are so grateful and worthy of innumerable blessings, I will now gladly fulfill the promise I made to you before, when I discoursed before you about the weapons of David and Goliath, and said how the one was protected on all sides by a great multitude of weapons of all kinds, and the other, having no weapons at all, was protected by faith; one shone from the outside with armor and shield, and the other from the inside (shone) with spirit and grace. Therefore, the lad defeated the youth, the unarmed overcame the armed, the shepherd overthrew the soldier, the shepherd's ordinary stone shattered and shattered the enemy's brass armor (1 Samuel, ch. 17). In the same way, I will take in my hands the stone, that is, the cornerstone, the spiritual one. If Paul could have reasoned about the stone that was in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:4), then, of course, no one will reproach me when I use this stone in the same way. As with the Jews, it was not the nature of the visible stone, but the power of the spiritual stone that produced streams of water; so David struck the head of a foreigner not with a material, but with a spiritual stone; Wherefore I also promised you at that time not to say anything for intellectual reasons; "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty by God, we overthrow the schemes 5 and every arrogance that rises up against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Thus, we are commanded to bring down thoughts, and not to exalt them, we are commanded to destroy them, and not to arm ourselves with them. "The thoughts of mortals are unsteady," says the Most Wise One (Wisdom 9:14). What does it mean, "unsteady"? He who is fearful, even if he walks in a safe place, is not bold, but fears and trembles; In the same way, even that which is proved by intellectual considerations, although it be true, does not give the soul complete conviction and sufficient certainty. If such is the weakness of intellectual considerations, then I will now begin to fight against heretics on the basis of the Scriptures. Where should I begin to speak? From wherever you want, from the New or Old Testament; for not only in the Gospel and Apostolic, but also in the prophetic sayings and throughout the Old Testament one can see the glory of the Only-begotten shining with great brilliance. Therefore it seems to me that from there it is possible to throw arrows at these heretics (Anomoeans). By borrowing ideas from there, we shall be able to overcome not only these one, but also many other heretics, Marcion, Manichaeus, Valentinus, and all the Jewish sects. As in the time of David one Goliath fell, and the whole army took to flight, death overtook one body and one head was smitten, but flight and fear were common to the whole army; so it is with us now, when one heresy is defeated and overthrown, there will be a general flight of all these heretics. The Manichaeans, and those who suffer from the same disease as them, seem to recognize the Christ who is preached, but do not revere the prophets and patriarchs who preach about Him; the Jews, on the contrary, seem to accept and respect those who preach about Christ, that is, the prophets and their lawgiver, but do not revere Him whom they preach. If, therefore, by the grace of God, I prove that the glory of the Only-begotten is much foretold in the Old Testament, I shall be able to put to shame all such ungodly lips, and to bridle blasphemous tongues; for if the Old Testament is found to preach about Christ, what excuse will there be for the Manichaeans and their followers, who do not revere the Scriptures, which foretell the common Lord of all? What excuse and forgiveness will there be for the Jews who do not recognize Him of whom the prophets proclaim?

2. If, then, we are to have such a great victory, let us turn to the ancient books and to the oldest of all the ancients, that is, the book of Genesis, and in the King of Genesis itself let us turn to its beginning. That Moses said much about Christ, listen to how Christ Himself says: "For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me also, because he wrote about Me" (John 5:46). Where did Moses write about Him? This is what I will try to show now.

e. man. God, intending to create him, said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). Who is He talking to? Obviously, with His Only-begotten Son. He did not say, "Create," so that you would not take these words for a command to a servant, but, "Let us do," so that under the guise of verbal counsel you might reveal the equality of honor (with Him and the Son). Thus, it is sometimes said that God has a counselor, and sometimes it is said that He does not; and yet Scripture does not contradict itself, but through both reveals to us mysterious dogmas. When it wants to imagine that God needs nothing, it says that He has no counselor; and when he wishes to show the equality of honor between Him and the Only-begotten, then he calls the Son of God His counselor. And in order that you may be convinced of both, both that the prophets call the Son God's counselor, not because the Father has need of counsel, but in order that we may know the honor of the Only-begotten, and that God has no need of counselor, listen to the words of Paul: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies, and how unsearchable are His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who was His counselor?" (Romans 11:33-34)? He depicts that God has no need of anything; and Isaiah, on the other hand, testifying of the Only-begotten Son of God, says thus: "They shall be given to be burned, as food for the fire. For unto us a child is born, a Son is given unto us; and they shall call his name Wonderful, Counselor" (Isaiah 9:5-6). If the Son is a "wonderful counselor," then why does Paul say, "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who was His counsellor?" Because Paul, as I said above, wants to show that the Father has need of nothing, and the prophet shows that He has equality of honor with the Only-begotten. Wherefore here also God did not say, "Create," but, "Let us create," because the word "create" signifies a command given to a servant, as may be seen from the following. One day a centurion came up to Jesus and said: "Lord! my servant lies at home in paralysis, and suffers terribly." What about Christ? "I will come," He said, "and I will heal him" (Matt. 8:6-7). The centurion did not dare to lead the Physician to his house; but the Providence and Lover of mankind himself promised to go to him in order to provide an opportunity and an occasion to show us his virtue; for Christ, knowing what the centurion intended to say, promised to come, that thou mayest know the piety of this man. What does the centurion say? "Lord! I am not worthy that you should come under my roof" (Matt. 8:8). Even the severity of illness and calamity did not suppress his reverence, but even in misfortune he recognized the greatness of the Lord; Wherefore he says, "But speak only the word, and my servant shall recover; For I am also a subject man, but having soldiers under me, I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and come; and to my servant, Do this, and he does" (Matt. 8:8-9). Do you see that the word "create" is characteristic of a master who speaks to a servant? And the word "we will create" is characteristic of a person who has equal honor. Thus, when the master addresses the servant, he says, "Create," and when the Father converses with the Son, he says, "Let us do." What, it will be said, if the centurion thought so, but in fact it was not so? Was the centurion an apostle? Was he a disciple (of Christ) that I should receive his words? He could have been mistaken, they will say (heretics). Ok; But what do we see next? Did Christ correct his words? Did He denounce him as erring and expressing wrong teaching? Did he say to him, 'What are you doing, O man?' Thou hast a higher opinion of Me than thou should; you ascribe to Me more than what is proper; you think that I can rule autocratically, whereas I have no such authority. Did Christ say anything like that to him? No; He even confirmed the centurion's opinion and said to those who followed Him: "Verily I say to you, even in Israel I have not found such faith" (Matt. 8:10). Thus, the approval from the Lord serves as a confirmation of the centurion's words; and therefore these are no longer the words of the centurion, but the proclamation of the Lord; if He Himself praised the words spoken and spoke of them as words spoken well, then I take them for a divine saying; for they have received confirmation from above in the answer of Christ.