K. And that the work of the priesthood is glorious and truly worthy of attention, you can also see from the fact that it has a most glorious beginning and the same end: for neither can anyone be hidden, that someone is elevated to the level of the priesthood, nor that he is called from God to the highest and heavenly "mansions" (John 14:2) and left the priesthood to another. That is why Christ also said about the priests of the Gospel preaching among the Gentiles (Romans 15:16), as well as among the Israelites, that they would be known everywhere and in all things, and would gain glory visible to all: for "No one who has lit a candle puts it in a hidden place, nor under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that those who enter may see the light" (Luke 11:33). And that what has been said is true, I mean that the Divine minister will be in glory visible to all and wondrous, let the divine Isaiah convince of this, exclaiming: "Ascend to the high mountain, O thou who preaches the good tidings of Zion!" (Isaiah 40:9).

P. That this is so is clear to everyone. But tell me, how this image was painted for us in the Holy Scriptures.

K. It may be very easy for you, my friend, to see it depicted as if still in coarse features; For thus God said in the book of Numbers to the most holy Moses: "And take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and lead them up to Mount Horus. And thou shalt take off Aaron's garments, and clothe Eleazar his son in them, and Aaron shall depart and die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded. And they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation, and Moses took off Aaron's garments, and clothed Eleazar his son in them. and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain" (20:25-28). Do you understand, then, how Aaron, who was to die and cease to exist, is raised up on the mountain, and also how he was descended from him in the priesthood, that is, Eleazar, who was to be his successor in the priesthood? And the mountain signifies everywhere the visible and high position and vastness of glory. So let it be said of everyone who is elevated to the level of a sacred rite: "A city that stands on the top of a mountain cannot be hidden" (Matt. 5:14).

BOOK 14. That those who wish to have access to the church must be clean and washed from sinful defilement, and only in this way should they approach God

K. You will understand very well, and not for a long time. The Ammanites, who descended from Esau, were close in descent and of the same blood with the sons of Jacob, with Israel, I say; but even nature, I do not know how, leaving those descended from Esau unattended, turned out to be unfaithful to the customs of kinship, and appeared cruel and implacable to those who were close and consanguineous, that is, to Israel. For when he (Israel), departing from Egypt, passed by the country of the Ammanites, as a brother, he begged the inhabitant of this country to allow him to pass through it and show mercy to them who were offended; But he did not allow it. And what do I say: did not allow it? Moreover, he armed himself, undertook war, and would have offended grievously, if Israel, by the divine voice, had not deviated from him. And it is written about it thus: "And Moses sent ambassadors from Kadesh to the King of Edom [to say]: Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the difficulties that have befallen us; our fathers went over to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians dealt badly with us and our fathers; and we cried unto the Lord, and he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt; and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city at thy very border; let us pass through Thy land: we will not go through the fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from [Thine] wells; but let us go along the royal road, we will not turn either to the right or to the left, until we have crossed your borders. But Edom said to him, Do not pass through me, or I will go out with the sword against you" (Num. 20:14-18). And after a few words: "And Edom went out against him with a great people, and with a mighty hand. So Edom would not consent to allow Israel to pass through its borders, and Israel went away from it" (vv. 20-21). Is this word not clear and illustrative?

P. Not very much.

K. Do you not understand that those who were connected with the Israelites by their close kinship were exposed by their very deeds as alien to love and hard-hearted, and in no way different from wild beasts? For when they should have pitied those as brothers, who are in exploits and labors, they go out to fight against them. For this reason the law says: "He cannot enter into the company of the Lord, because they did not meet you with bread and water on the way, when you came out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 23:3-4), that is, because of extreme lack of compassion and savagery of morals, reaching the point of impiety. You can see that in relation to us, who have decided to walk the right path, such are the crowds and the leaders of heretics. For as for the knowledge of the one and only God the Father, and the acceptance of faith in the Son and the Spirit, though not entirely sound (acceptance), they have glory, though not true, brotherhood in relation to us, and in an inauthentic sense, it is true, they preserve kinship with us; but when we are persecuted, they do not defend us, but on the contrary burden us with their malice: for "They went out from us, but they were not of us," according to what is written: "For if they had been ours, they would have remained with us" (1 John 2:19). And the Saviour Himself addresses, and very justly, to those who have false honesty, who are not yet accustomed to do works for His glory, with the words: "He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters" (Matt. 12:30; Lk. 11:23). Does it seem to you that like the Ammonites, the God-hating crowds of heretics, exceedingly sick with lack of compassion and impiety?

P. Exactly.

K. Look, then, if you will, at the Moabites, who are obviously very hostile to those who want to serve the one by nature and true God. For they were worshippers of idols; relying excessively on divination and sorcery, not a little terrified even by the flight of birds, and gnashing their teeth at the benevolence of Israel, they bribed Balaam and inspired him to pronounce a curse (on Israel); but by the ineffable power of God, the lips of the soothsayer turned to the blessings they did not want. Such is the war of the Greeks against us, who envy the glory of our Saviour and raise up against us all the power of the devil, which is shaken by the Divine and higher grace, which pours out impotence into a crowd of demons and transforms that to which evil thought was directed into that which produces joy.

P. Exactly.

K. Therefore the Ammonites, as well as the Moabites, have no access to holiness, and it is very just: for he who has kinship in daring attempts and uniform insolence, it is fitting for him to be met with equal punishments. Pay attention also to the caution of the law: it completely separates the saints from them and even, one might say, does not command them to enter into conversation with them, saying: "Do not wish them peace and prosperity all your days forever" (Deuteronomy 23:6). Is this not evidently what the two saints, Paul and John, have taught us? For one of them says: "Whoever comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not greet him" (2 John 10); And the other says: "A heretic, after the first and second admonition, turn away, knowing that such a one has become corrupt and sinful, being self-condemned" (. 3, 10-11); For it is necessary, says the law, to give way to people who are exceedingly depraved, as fools, saying (to them): "Go into the flame of your fire and the arrows that you have burned" (Isaiah 50:11). But the Ammonite was forbidden (to enter into the court of the tabernacle) until the third generation, and the Moabite even up to the tenth, in which, as I think, God shows us the greatness of His indignation against both of them: the lesser punishment, as is natural, is due to the heretics, and of them it may be said that it is undoubtedly said of the Jews: "For I testify unto them that they have zeal for God; but not by reasoning" (Rom. 10:2); for, considering themselves to speak correctly and wisely, they do not notice that they are fighting against the dogmas of the truth, and, being possessed by false zeal, they think that they are defending the glory of God, taking up arms against those who walk the right path. But the Moabites, that is, the crowds of pagans, brazenly and openly, and without any hesitation, fight for the glory of God; for this reason the law threatened them with a more severe punishment. However, both are expelled from the sacred fence, as unclean and God-hating.