Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series • VOLUME 7
Cyril of Jerusalem & Gregory Nazianzen
SECTION 81
3. To thee, poor little feeble man, India is far from the land of the Goths, and Spain from Persia; but to God, who holds the whole earth in
3. To thee, poor little feeble man, India is far from the land of the Goths, and Spain from Persia; but to God, who holds the whole earth in the hollow of His hand [2245] , all things are near at hand. Impute not then weakness to God, from a comparison of thy feebleness, but rather dwell on His power [2246] . Does then the sun, …
2,238 wordsSECTION 8214. These questions, therefore, are for them, the unbelievers: but the words of the Prophets are for us who believe. But since some who have
14. These questions, therefore, are for them, the unbelievers: but the words of the Prophets are for us who believe. But since some who have also used the Prophets believe not what is written, and allege against us that passage, The ungodly shall not rise up in judgment [2268] , and, For if man go down to the grave he shall come…
2,267 wordsSECTION 8325. Of old the Psalmist sang, Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, (ye that are) from the fountains of Israel [2307] . But afte
25. Of old the Psalmist sang, Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, (ye that are) from the fountains of Israel [2307] . But after the Jews for the plots which they made against the Saviour were cast away from His grace, the Saviour built out of the Gentiles a second Holy Church, the Church of us Christians, concernin…
2,465 wordsSECTION 84[2241] Acts xvii. 32; xxvi. 24.
[2241] Acts xvii. 32; xxvi. 24. [2242] Cf. § 12, below. [2243] Tertull. De Resurr. carnis, cap. 2: "They acknowledge a half-resurrection, to wit of the soul only." Compare Iren. I. xxiii. 5, on Menander's assertion that his disciples attain to the resurrection by being baptized into him, and can die no more, but retain immorta…
2,207 wordsSECTION 85THE saME aUTHOR,
[2336] Eph. v. 26. [2337] Phil. iii. 1; and iv. 4; Luke xxi. 28. [2338] Is. xl. 3. [2339] Ib. lv. 1. [2340] Ib. v. 2. [2341] Is. lx. 1. [2342] Ib. i. 26. [2343] Ib. ii. 3. [2344] Ib. xlix. 18. [2345] Ib. lx. 8. [2346] Ib. lxvi. 8. [2347] Ib. lxv. 18. [2348] Ib. xlix. 13. [2349] Is. xliv. 22. [2350] Ib. lxv. 15. [2…
2,266 wordsSECTION 86[2368] Ps. cxix. 37.
[2368] Ps. cxix. 37. [2369] mimon, the name either of a species of low comedy, "consisting more of gestures and mimicry than of spoken dialogue," or of the persons who acted in them. Cyril's description of the coarse and indecent character of the mimes is more than justified by the impartial testimony of Ovid, Trist. ii. 497: "…
2,298 wordsSECTION 878. Having been sufficiently instructed in these things, keep them, I beseech you, in your remembrance; that I also, unworthy though I be, ma
8. Having been sufficiently instructed in these things, keep them, I beseech you, in your remembrance; that I also, unworthy though I be, may say of you, Now I love you [2412] , because ye always remember me, and hold fast the traditions, which I delivered unto you. And God, who has presented you as it were alive from the dead […
2,413 wordsSECTION 88[2423] ousiodes epiphoiesis egeneto. The Benedictine Editor understands this phrase as an allusion to the descent of the Holy Ghost on Jesus
[2423] ousiodes epiphoiesis egeneto. The Benedictine Editor understands this phrase as an allusion to the descent of the Holy Ghost on Jesus in a substantial bodily form. So Gregory Nazianzen (Orat xliv. 17), says that the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles ousiodos kai somatikos. But Anastasius Sinaita interprets ousiodos in …
2,307 wordsSECTION 89[2455] 2 Pet. i. 4.
[2455] 2 Pet. i. 4. [2456] John vi. 53. [2457] Ben. Ed.: "Here we are to understand (by ho Logos) the Divine Word, not the bare discourse of God, but the second Person of the Holy Trinity, Christ Himself, the Bread of Heaven, as He testifies of Himself, John vi. 51: Him Cyril contrasts with the earthly shew-bread in the O.T.; …
2,381 wordsSECTION 9018. But deliver us from the evil. If Lead us not into temptation implied the not being tempted at all, He would not have said, But deliver u
18. But deliver us from the evil. If Lead us not into temptation implied the not being tempted at all, He would not have said, But deliver us from the evil. Now evil is our adversary the devil, from whom we pray to be delivered [2510] . Then after completing the prayer thou sayest, Amen [2511] ; by this Amen, which means "So be …
2,204 wordsSECTION 91Prolegomena.
[2513] Apost. Const. VIII. c. xiii: "Let the Bishop speak thus to the people: Holy things for holy persons. And let the people answer: There is One that is holy; there is one Lord, one Jesus Christ, blessed for ever, to the glory of God the Father." The Liturgies of St. James and of Constantinople have nearly the same words: in …
2,599 wordsSECTION 92The city of Athens at this time was full of dangerous distractions for young men; feasts, theatres, assemblies, wine parties, etc. Gregory a
The city of Athens at this time was full of dangerous distractions for young men; feasts, theatres, assemblies, wine parties, etc. Gregory and his friend resolved to renounce all these, and to allow themselves to know only two roads--one, that which led to the Church and its holy teachers; the other, that which took them to thei…
2,342 wordsSECTION 93"It is not very long, and it seems to us a model of the tact and art which a Minister of the Gospel ought to use in his speech when just gri
"It is not very long, and it seems to us a model of the tact and art which a Minister of the Gospel ought to use in his speech when just grievances compel him to address deserved reproaches to the faithful. It would be impossible to blame with greater force, to complain with more frankness, and yet to do it in a way less offensi…
2,641 wordsSECTION 94In such a crisis Gregory came most unwillingly to the Capital. At first he lodged in the house of a relation of his own, part of which he ar
In such a crisis Gregory came most unwillingly to the Capital. At first he lodged in the house of a relation of his own, part of which he arranged as a Chapel, and dedicated under the title Anastasia, as the place where the Catholic faith was to rise again. There he began at once to carry out the rule of the Church as to daily s…
2,437 wordsSECTION 95Division II.--The Writings.
Division II.--The Writings. I. The Orations.--These--forty-five in number--raise him to equality with the best Orators of antiquity. a. The Five Theological Orations.--These won him the title of The Theologian. They were delivered in Constantinople, in defence of the Church's faith in the Trinity, against Eunomians and Macedon…
2,275 wordsSECTION 96Introduction to Oration II.
[2529] Isa. lxvi. 5. [2530] Ex. iv. 10. [2531] Jer. i. 6. [2532] Ex. iv. 27. [2533] Isa. i. 6. [2534] Mystery, according to Nicetas, is frequently used by S. Gregory in the sense of Festival. He also explains the Anointing as meaning the Imposition of hands at Ordination. [2535] Ex. xii. A fine piece of mystical interpreta…
2,297 wordsSECTION 979. Lastly, there is a matter more serious than any which I have mentioned, for I am now coming to the finale [2568] of the question: and I w
9. Lastly, there is a matter more serious than any which I have mentioned, for I am now coming to the finale [2568] of the question: and I will not deceive you; for that would not be lawful in regard to topics of such moment. I did not, nor do I now, think myself qualified to rule a flock or herd, or to have authority over the s…
2,281 wordsSECTION 9821. For these reasons I allege that our office as physicians far exceeds in toilsomeness, and consequently in worth, that which is confined
21. For these reasons I allege that our office as physicians far exceeds in toilsomeness, and consequently in worth, that which is confined to the body; and further, because the latter is mainly concerned with the surface, and only in a slight degree investigates the causes which are deeply hidden. But the whole of our treatment…
2,344 wordsSECTION 9936. Again, they are concerned with our original constitution, and final restoration, the types of the truth, the covenants, the first and se
36. Again, they are concerned with our original constitution, and final restoration, the types of the truth, the covenants, the first and second coming of Christ, His incarnation, sufferings and dissolution, [2625] with the resurrection, the last day, the judgment and recompense, whether sad or glorious; I, to crown all, with wh…
2,220 wordsSECTION 10048. Nay, the wiser of the Hebrews tell us that there was of old among the Hebrews a most excellent and praiseworthy law, [2653] that every a
48. Nay, the wiser of the Hebrews tell us that there was of old among the Hebrews a most excellent and praiseworthy law, [2653] that every age was not entrusted with the whole of Scripture, inasmuch as this would not be the more profitable course, since the whole of it is not at once intelligible to everyone, and its more recond…
2,257 wordsSECTION 10159. Joel again summons us to wailing, and will have the ministers of the altar lament under the presence of famine: so far is he from allowi
59. Joel again summons us to wailing, and will have the ministers of the altar lament under the presence of famine: so far is he from allowing us to revel in the misfortunes of others: and, after sanctifying a fast, calling a solemn assembly, and gathering the old men, the children, and those of tender age, [2724] we ourselves m…
2,386 wordsSECTION 10274. I know Whose ministers we are, and where we are placed, and whither we are guides. I know the height of God, and the weakness of man, an
74. I know Whose ministers we are, and where we are placed, and whither we are guides. I know the height of God, and the weakness of man, and, on the contrary, his power. Heaven is high, and the earth deep; [2769] and who of those who have been cast down by sin shall ascend? [2770] Who that is as yet surrounded by the gloom here…
2,274 wordsSECTION 10391. I have said nothing yet of the internal warfare within ourselves, and in our passions, in which we are engaged night and day against the
91. I have said nothing yet of the internal warfare within ourselves, and in our passions, in which we are engaged night and day against the body of our humiliation, [2825] either secretly or openly, and against the tide which tosses and whirls us hither and thither, by the aid of our senses and other sources of the pleasures of…
2,292 wordsSECTION 104105. We however, who extend the accuracy of the Spirit to the merest stroke and tittle, [2877] will never admit the impious assertion that e
105. We however, who extend the accuracy of the Spirit to the merest stroke and tittle, [2877] will never admit the impious assertion that even the smallest matters were dealt with haphazard by those who have recorded them, and have thus been borne in mind down to the present day: on the contrary, their purpose has been to suppl…
2,203 wordsSECTION 105[2551] Eph. iv. 11.
[2551] Eph. iv. 11. [2552] 1 Cor. xii. 20; Eph. iv. 15. [2553] Eph. iv. 15. [2554] Anarchy, &c. Comp. Plato Legg. XII. 2. [2555] A great thing. The Ben. editors note the obscurity of the original here. [2556] Accept, dechesthai. Many mss have harchesthai, preserving the play upon the word archein. The latter reading, the Be…
2,202 wordsSECTION 106[2774] Ps. xxxiii. 6.
[2774] Ps. xxxiii. 6. [2775] Eccles. vii. 24. [2776] Ib. i. 18. [2777] Ps. xxvi. 7 (LXX.). [2778] Ib. xviii. 12; civ. 6. [2779] 1 Tim. vi. 16. [2780] Exod. xxxiii. 19. [2781] S. Matt. xxii. 13. [2782] Ps. xxii. 11. [2783] Ib. xix. 10; cxix. 103. [2784] Prov. ii. 3. [2785] 2 Cor. xi. 23. [2786] Ps. cvii. 40. [2787] P…
2,383 wordsSECTION 107VIII. So may ye act, and so may ye honour us, whether present or absent, whether taking your part in our sermons, or preferring to do someth
VIII. So may ye act, and so may ye honour us, whether present or absent, whether taking your part in our sermons, or preferring to do something else: and may ye be the children of God, pure and unblamable, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation: [2931] and may ye never be entangled in the snares of the wicked that go …
2,325 wordsSECTION 1088. But when, after gathering into his single soul every kind of excellence and knowledge, as a mighty merchantman gathers every sort of ware
8. But when, after gathering into his single soul every kind of excellence and knowledge, as a mighty merchantman gathers every sort of ware, he was voyaging to his own city, in order to communicate to others the fair cargo of his culture, there befell a wondrous thing, which I must, as its mention is most cheering to me and may…
2,530 wordsSECTION 10916. This, Cæsarius, is my funeral offering to thee, this the firstfruits of my words, which thou hast often blamed me for withholding, yet w
16. This, Cæsarius, is my funeral offering to thee, this the firstfruits of my words, which thou hast often blamed me for withholding, yet wouldst have stripped off, had they been bestowed on thee; with this ornament I adorn thee, an ornament, I know well, far dearer to thee than all others, though it be not of the soft flowing …
2,395 wordsSECTION 11023. Would that I might mortify my members that are upon the earth, [2985] would that I might spend my all upon the spirit, walking in the wa
23. Would that I might mortify my members that are upon the earth, [2985] would that I might spend my all upon the spirit, walking in the way that is narrow and trodden by few, not that which is broad and easy. [2986] For glorious and great are its consequences, and our hope is greater than our desert. What is man, that Thou art…
2,332 wordsSECTION 1115. This good shepherd was the result of his wife's prayers and guidance, and it was from her that he learned his ideal of a good shepherd's
5. This good shepherd was the result of his wife's prayers and guidance, and it was from her that he learned his ideal of a good shepherd's life. He generously fled from his idols, and afterwards even put demons to flight; he never consented to eat salt with idolators: united together with a bond of one honour, of one mind, of o…
2,352 wordsSECTION 11214. O untended body, and squalid garments, whose only flower is virtue! O soul, clinging to the body, when reduced almost to an immaterial s
14. O untended body, and squalid garments, whose only flower is virtue! O soul, clinging to the body, when reduced almost to an immaterial state through lack of food; or rather, when the body had been mortified by force, even before dissolution, that the soul might attain to freedom, and escape the entanglements of the senses! O…
2,324 wordsSECTION 11323. Better, I know well, and far more precious than eye can see, is thy present lot, the song of them that keep holy-day, [3026] the throng
23. Better, I know well, and far more precious than eye can see, is thy present lot, the song of them that keep holy-day, [3026] the throng of angels, the heavenly host, the vision of glory, and that splendour, pure and perfect beyond all other, of the Trinity Most High, no longer beyond the ken of the captive mind, dissipated b…
2,352 wordsSECTION 114[3027] Carmina Hist., xi., 487.
[3027] Carmina Hist., xi., 487. [3028] Ib., 492-525. [3029] Ps. cxix. 131. [3030] Ps. cxli. 3. [3031] Ib. cxxxiii. 2. [3032] Lev. viii. 2. [3033] Ib. x. 1. [3034] Exod. xvii. 12. [3035] The Cross. The stretching out of Moses' hands was a type of the outstretched hands of our Lord Jesus, and His "intercession for the tran…
2,275 wordsSECTION 1157. I know the glittering sword, [3089] and the blade made drunk in heaven, bidden to slay, to bring to naught, to make childless, and to spa
7. I know the glittering sword, [3089] and the blade made drunk in heaven, bidden to slay, to bring to naught, to make childless, and to spare neither flesh, nor marrow, nor bones. I know Him, Who, though free from passion, meets us like a bear robbed of her whelps, like a leopard in the way of the Assyrians, [3090] not only tho…
2,364 wordsSECTION 11615. Let us be assured that to do no wrong [3137] is really superhuman, and belongs to God alone. I say nothing about the Angels, that we may
15. Let us be assured that to do no wrong [3137] is really superhuman, and belongs to God alone. I say nothing about the Angels, that we may give no room for wrong feelings, nor opportunity for harmful altercations. Our unhealed condition arises from our evil and unsubdued nature, and from the exercise of its powers. Our repenta…
2,201 wordsSECTION 117[3073] Ps. lxxv. 10.
[3073] Ps. lxxv. 10. [3074] Exod. v. 6; vii. 22. [3075] Rom. ix. 17. [3076] Isai. xl. 2. [3077] Ps. lxxix. 12. [3078] Gen. xv. 16. [3079] 1 Pet. v. 6. [3080] Ps. cxxix. 7. [3081] Joel i. 10. [3082] Another. Either this is a wrong reading, or S. Gregory's memory fails him. The second quotation is also from Joel. [3083] …
2,252 wordsSECTION 1187. I have heard the Scripture say: Who can find a valiant woman? [3202] and declare that she is a divine gift, and that a good marriage is b
7. I have heard the Scripture say: Who can find a valiant woman? [3202] and declare that she is a divine gift, and that a good marriage is brought about by the Lord. Even those without are of the same mind; if they say that a man can win no fairer prize than a good wife, nor a worse one than her opposite. [3203] But we can menti…
2,304 wordsSECTION 11915. Why need I count up all those who have been called to Himself by God and associated with such wonders as confirmed him in his piety? Nor
15. Why need I count up all those who have been called to Himself by God and associated with such wonders as confirmed him in his piety? Nor was it the case that after such and so incredible and startling beginnings, any of the former things was put to shame by his subsequent conduct, as happens with those who very soon acquire …
2,221 wordsSECTION 12024. But what was most excellent and most characteristic, though least generally recognized, was his simplicity, and freedom from guile and r
24. But what was most excellent and most characteristic, though least generally recognized, was his simplicity, and freedom from guile and resentment. For among men of ancient and modern days, each is supposed to have had some special success, as each chanced to have received from God some particular virtue: Job unconquered pati…
2,331 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.