1 Cor. 3, 2. HOMIL. the Corinthians, I have fed you with milk, and not with XXIV. meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal; for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal? And also in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in many places, one may see Paul asserting that this is the cause of evil doctrines; for that the soul possessed by μan passions1 cannot behold any thing great or noble, but as 2 λhμns if darkened by a sort of film' suffers most grievous dimsightedness. 1 22. Let us then cleanse ourselves, let us kindle the light of knowledge, let us not sow among thorns. What the thorns are, ye know, though we tell you not; for often ye have Mat. 13, heard Christ call the cares of this present life, and the deceitfulness of riches, by this name. And with reason. For as thorns are unfruitful, so are these things; as thorns tear those that handle them, so do these passions; as thorus are readily caught by the fire, and hateful by the husbandman, so too are the things of the world; as in thorns, wild beasts, and snakes, and scorpions hide themselves, so do they in the deceitfulness of riches. But let us kindle the fire of the Spirit, that we may consume the thorns, and drive away the beasts, and make the field clear for the husbandman; and after cleansing it, let us water it with the streams of the Spirit, let us plant the fruitful olive, that most kindly of trees, the evergreen, the light-giving, the nutritious, the wholesome. All these qualities hath almsgiving, which is, as it were, a seal on those that possess it. This plant not ' with' even death when it comes causes to wither, but ever it 4 yeûpa stands enlightening the mind, feeding the sinews of the soul, and rendering its strength mightier. And if we constantly possess it, we shall be able with confidence to behold the Bridegroom, and to enter into the bridal chamber; to which may we all attain, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, for ever and ever. Amen. 3 lit. 4 HOMILY XXV. JOHN iii. 5. Verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. δίδωσι LITTLE children who go daily to their teachers receive their lessons, and repeat' them, and never cease from this 1àrokind of acquisition, but sometimes employ nights as well as days, and this they are compelled to do for perishable and 2 al. [by transient things. Now we do not ask of you who are come you] to age such toil as you require of your children; for not every day, but two days only in the week do we exhort you to hearken to our words, and only for a short portion of the day, that your task may be an easy one. For the same reason also we divide to you in small portions what is 3 dıağaíwritten in Scripture, that you may be able easily to receive yoμ and lay them up in the storehouses of your minds, and take such pains to remember them all, as to be able exactly to repeat them to others yourselves, unless any one be sleepy, and dull, and more idle than a little child. Let us now attend to the sequel of what has been before Isaid. When Nicodemus fell into error and wrested the words of Christ to the earthly birth, and said that it was not possible for an old man to be born again, observe how Christ in answer more clearly reveals the manner of the Birth, which even thus had difficulty for the carnal enquirer, yet still was able to raise the hearer from his low opinion of it. What saith He? Verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. What He declares is this: "Thou sayest that it is impossible, I say that it is so absolutely possible as XXV. 1 lit. 'things in hea ven' 2 ἀψίδας 208 Spiritual things objects of faith. HOMIL. to be necessary, and that it is not even possible otherwise to be saved." For necessary things God hath made exceedingly easy also. The earthly birth which is according to the flesh, is of the dust, and therefore heaven' is walled against it, for what hath earth in common with heaven? But that other, which is of the Spirit, easily unfolds to us the arches? above. Hear, ye as many as are unilluminated3, shudder, fearful is the threat, fearful the sentence'. "It is not groan, 4 àrópa- (possible)," He saith, "for one not born of water and the Spirit, to enter into the Kingdom of heaven;" because he wears the raiment of death, of cursing, of perdition, he hath 5 σúμßo- not yet received his Lord's token", he is a stranger and an alien, he hath not the royal watchword. Except, He saith, a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven. 3 i. e. unbaptized σις λον Yet even thus Nicodemus did not understand. Nothing is worse than to commit spiritual things to argument; it was this that would not suffer him to suppose any thing sublime and great. This is why we are called faithful, that having left the weakness of human reasonings below, we may is below ascend to the height of faith, and commit most of our bless7al.'this' ings to her teaching; and if Nicodemus had done this, the 6 or, thing would not have been thought by him impossible. What then doth Christ? To lead him away from his grovelling imagination, and to shew that He speaks not of the earthly birth, He saith, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven. This He spoke, willing to draw him to the faith by the terror of the threat, and to persuade him not to deem toe thing impossible, and taking pains to move him from his imagination as to the carnal birth. "I mean," saith He, "another Birth, O Nicodemus. Why drawest thou down the saying to earth? Why subjectest thou the matter to the necessity of nature? This Birth is too high for such pangs as these; it hath nothing in common with you; it is indeed called 'birth,' but in name only has it aught in common, in reality it is different. Remove thyself from that which is common and familiar; a different kind of childbirth bring I into the world; in another manner will I have men to be generated: I have ai.e. submit to the teaching of faith concerning them. The old Creation an object of faith. 209 III. 5. come to bring a new manner of Creation. I formed (man) JOHN of earth and water; but that which was formed was unprofitable, the vessel was wrenched awry1; I will no more form' dɩethem of earth and water, but of water and of the Spirit. στράφη And if any one asks, "How of water?" I also will ask, How of earth? How was the clay separated into different parts ? How was the material uniform, (it was earth only,) and the things made from it, various and of every kind? Whence are the bones, and sinews, and arteries, and veins? Whence the membranes, and vessels of the organs, the cartilages, the tissues, the liver, spleen, and heart? whence the skin, and blood, and mucus, and bile? whence so great powers, whence such varied colours? These belong not to earth or clay. How does the earth, when it receives the seeds, cause them to shoot, while the flesh receiving them wastes them? How does the earth nourish what is put into it, while the flesh is nourished by these things, and does not nourish them? The earth, for instance, receives water, and makes it wine; the flesh often receives wine, and changes it into water. Whence then is it clear that these things are formed of earth, when the nature of the earth is, according to what has been said ', contrary to that of the body? I cannot discover by reasoning, I accept it by faith only. If then things which take place daily, and which we handle, require faith, much more do those which are more mysterious and more spiritual than these. For as the earth, which is soulless and motionless, was empowered by the will of God, and such wonders were worked in it; much more when the Spirit is present with the water, do all those things so strange and transcending reason, easily take place. [2.] Do not then disbelieve these things, because thou seest them not; thou dost not see thy soul, and yet thou believest that thou hast a soul, and that it is a something different besides the body. 2 But Christ led him not in by this example, but by another; the instance of the soul, though it is incorporeal, He did not adduce for that reason, because His hearer's disposition was as yet too dull. He sets before him another, which has no 8 κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένα. This seems to be the best reading, and is found in Morel. Ben. and Mss. Savile reads P the passage thus: τὸ σῶμα; τὰ εἰρη- 2 Tapà 210 Superiority of the new Creation, HOMIL.Connection with the density of solid bodies, yet does not XXV. reach so high as to the incorporeal natures; that is, the το στοι χεῖον i. e. the fabric of the human 3 i.e. the 2 movement of wind. He begins at first with water, which is lighter than earth, but denser than air. And as in the 1 ÚTEKET- beginning earth was the subject material', but the whole was of Him who moulded it; so also now water is the 2 Tò nav subject material, and the whole3 is of the grace of the Spirit: then, man became a living soul, now he becomes a quickening Spirit. But great is the difference between the two. Soul body affords not life to any other than him in whom it is; Spirit not only lives, but affords life to others also. Thus, for instance, the Apostles even raised the dead. Then, man was formed last, when the creation had been accomplished; now, on the contrary, the new man is formed before the new creation; he is born first, and then the world is fashioned anew. And as in the beginning He formed him entire, so He creates him Gen. 2, entire now. Then He said, Let us make for him a help, but LXX. here He said nothing of the kind. What other help shall he need, who has received the gift of the Spirit? new man. Gen. 2, 7. 1 Cor. 15, 45. 18. 4 & TE λῶν εἰς τὸ σῶμα What further Te need of assistance has he, who belongs to the Body of Christ? Then He made man in the image of God, now He 5 wore hath united him with God Himself; then He bade him rule over the fishes and beasts, now He hath exalted our firstfruits above the heavens; then He gave him a garden for 6 díaтav his abode, now He hath opened heaven to us; then man was formed on the sixth day, when the world' was almost finished; but now on the first, at the very beginning, at the time when light was made before. From all which it is plain, that the things accomplished belonged to another and a the first better life, and to a condition having no end. 7 αἰών 8 al. 'were fruits of' 9 ката 10 9 The first creation then, that of Adam, was from earth; the OTάoews next, that of the woman, from his rib; the next, that of Abel, from seed; yet we cannot arrive at the comprehension of έκεσθαι any one of these, nor prove the circumstances by argument, 11 Taxú- though they are of a most earthly nature"; how then shall we be able to give account of the unseen1s generation 13 by 12 νοητής 13yev- Baptism, which is far more exalted than these, or to require arguments for that strange and marvellous Birth 14? Since τατα σεως 14 λ0 χείας b b Morel. and Ms. in Bodl. but if it is impossible to reply to these questions, how shall it not be more impossible to speak concerning the unseen and far higher Generation? or rather, how is it not superfluous to demand reasons, &c.' |