And they say to the king: Behold Matthew in the gate! And he says: Who he is, or where he is, I see not. And they said to him: Behold, he is in sight of thee. And he says: All the while I see nobody. For he had been blinded by the power of God. And he began to cry out: Woe to me, miserable! what evil has come upon me, for my eyes have been blinded, and all my limbs paralyzed? O Asmodæus Beelzebul Satan! all that thou hast said to me has come upon me. But I pray thee, Matthew, servant of God, forgive me as the herald of the good God; for assuredly the Jesus proclaimed by thee three days ago through the night appeared to me altogether resplendent as with lightning, like a beautiful young man, and said to me, Since thou art entertaining evil counsels in the wickedness of thine heart in regard to my servant Matthew, know I have disclosed to him that through thee will be the release of his body. And straightway I saw him going up into heaven. If therefore he is thy God, and if he wishes thy body to be buried in our city for a testimony of the salvation of the generations after this, and for the banishing 2296 of the demons, I shall know the truth for myself by this, by thee laying on hands upon me, and I shall receive my sight. And the apostle having laid his hands upon his eyes, and saying Ephphatha, Jesus, 2297 he made him receive his sight instantly.
And straightway the king, laying hold of the apostle, and leading him by the right hand, brought him by craft into the palace; and Plato was on Matthew’s left hand, going along with him, and keeping hold of him. 2298 Then Matthew says: O crafty tyrant, how long dost thou not fulfil the works of thy father the devil? And he was enraged at what had been said; for he perceived that he would inflict upon him a more bitter death. For he resolved to put him to death by fire. And he commanded several executioners to come, and to lead him away to the place by the seashore, where the execution of malefactors was wont to take place, saying to the executioners: I hear, says he, that the God whom he proclaims delivers from fire those who believe in him. Having laid him, therefore, on the ground on his back, and stretched him out, pierce his hands and feet with iron nails, and cover him over with paper, having smeared it with dolphins’ oil, and cover him up with brimstone and asphalt and pitch, and put tow and brushwood above. Thus apply the fire to him; and if any of the same tribe with him rise up against you, he shall get the same punishment.
And the apostle exhorted the brethren to remain undismayed, and that they should rejoice, and accompany him with great meekness, singing and praising God, because they were deemed worthy to have the relics of the apostle. Having therefore come to the place, the executioners, like most evil wild beasts, pinned down to the ground Matthew’s hands and feet with long nails; and having done everything as they had been bid, applied the fire. And they indeed laboured 2299 closely, kindling it all round; but all the fire was changed into dew, so that the brethren, rejoicing, cried out: The only God is the Christians’, who assists Matthew, in whom also we have believed: the only God is the Christians’, who preserves His own apostle in the fire. And by the voice the city was shaken. And some of the executioners, having gone forth, said to the king: We indeed, O king, by every contrivance of vengeance, have kindled the fire; but the sorcerer by a certain name puts it out, calling upon Christ, and invoking his cross; and the Christians surrounding him play with the fire, and walking in it with naked feet, laugh at us, 2300 and we have fled ashamed.
Then he ordered a multitude to carry coals of fire from the furnace of the bath in the palace, and the twelve gods of gold and silver; and place them, says he, in a circle round the sorcerer, lest he may even somehow bewitch the fire from the furnace of the palace. And there being many executioners and soldiers, some carried the coals; and others, bearing the gods, brought them. And the king accompanied them, watching lest any of the Christians should steal one of his gods, or bewitch the fire. And when they came near the place where the apostle was nailed down, his face was looking towards heaven, and all his body was covered over with the paper, and much brushwood over his body to the height of ten cubits. And having ordered the soldiers to set the gods in a circle round Matthew, five cubits off, securely fastened that they might not fall, again he ordered the coal to be thrown on, and to kindle the fire at all points.
And Matthew, having looked up to heaven, cried out, Adonai eloi sabaoth marmari marmunth; that is, O God the Father, O Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me, and burn down their gods which they worship; and let the fire also pursue the king even to his palace, but not to his destruction: for perhaps he will repent and be converted. And when he saw the fire to be monstrous in height, the king, thinking that Matthew was burnt up, laughed aloud, and said: Has thy magic been of any avail to thee, Matthew? Can thy Jesus now give thee any help?
And as he said this a dreadful wonder appeared; for all the fire along with the wood went away from Matthew, and was poured round about their gods, so that nothing of the gold or the silver was any more seen; and the king fled, and said: Woe’s me, that my gods are destroyed by the rebuke of Matthew, of which the weight was a thousand talents of gold and a thousand talents of silver. Better are the gods of stone and of earthenware, in that they are neither melted nor stolen. 2301
And when the fire had thus utterly destroyed their gods, and burnt up many soldiers, there came to pass again another stranger wonder. For the fire, in the likeness of a great and dreadful dragon, chased the tyrant as far as the palace, and ran hither and thither round the king, not letting him go into the palace. And the king, chased by the fire, and not allowed to go into his palace, turned back to where Matthew was, and cried out, saying: I beseech thee, whoever thou art, O man, whether magician or sorcerer or god, or angel of God, whom so great a pyre has not touched, remove from me this dreadful and fiery dragon; forget the evil I have done, as also when thou madest me receive my sight. And Matthew, having rebuked the fire, and the flames having been extinguished, and the dragon having become invisible, stretching his eyes to heaven, and praying in Hebrew, and commending his spirit to the Lord, said: Peace to you! And having glorified the Lord, he went to his rest about the sixth hour.
Then the king, having ordered more soldiers to come, and the bed to be brought from the palace, which had a great show of gold, he ordered the apostle to be laid on it, and carried to the palace. And the body of the apostle was lying as if in sleep, and his robe and his tunic unstained by the fire; and sometimes they saw him on the bed, and sometimes following, and sometimes going before the bed, and with his right hand put upon Plato’s head, and singing along with the multitude, so that both the king and the soldiers, with the crowd, were struck with astonishment. And many diseased persons and demoniacs, having only touched the bed, were made sound; and as many as were savage in appearance, in that same hour were changed into the likeness of other men.
And as the bed was going into the palace, we 2302 all saw Matthew rising up, as it were, from the bed, and going into heaven, led by the hand by a beautiful boy; and twelve men in shining garments came to meet him, having never-fading and golden crowns on their head; and we saw how that child crowned Matthew, so as to be like them, and in a flash of lightning they went away to heaven.
And the king stood at the gate of the palace, and ordered that no one should come in but the soldiers carrying the bed. And having shut the doors, 2303 he ordered an iron coffin to be made, put the body of Matthew into it, and sealed it up with lead; through the eastern gate of the palace at midnight put it into a boat, no one knowing of it, and threw it into the deep part of the sea.
And through the whole night the brethren remained before the gate of the palace, spending the night, and singing; and when the dawn rose there was a voice: O bishop Plato, carry the Gospel and the Psalter of David; go along with the multitude of the brethren to the east of the palace, and sing the Alleluia, and read the Gospel, and bring as an offering the holy bread; and having pressed three clusters from the vine into a cup, communicate with me, as the Lord Jesus showed us how to offer up when He rose from the dead on the third day.
And the bishop having run into the church, and taken the Gospel and the Psalter of David, and having assembled the presbyters and the multitude of the brethren, came to the east of the palace at the hour of sunrise; and having ordered the one who was singing to go upon a certain lofty stone, he began to praise in singing of a song to God: Precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints. 2304 And again: I laid me down and slept; I arose: because the Lord will sustain me. 2305 And they listened to the singing of a song of David: Shall he that is dead not rise again? Now I shall raise him up for myself, saith the Lord. And all shouted out the Alleluia. And the bishop read the Gospel, and all cried out: Glory to Thee, Thou who hast been glorified in heaven and on earth. And so then they offered the gift of the holy offering for Matthew; and having partaken for thanksgiving 2306 of the undefiled and life-giving mysteries of Christ, they all glorified God.
And it was about the sixth hour, and Plato sees the sea opposite about seven furlongs off; and, behold, Matthew was standing on the sea, and two men, one on each side, in shining garments, and the beautiful boy in front of them. And all the brethren saw these things, and they heard them saying Amen, Alleluia. And one could see the sea fixed like a stone of crystal, and the beautiful boy in front of them, when out of the depth of the sea a cross came up, and at the end of the cross the coffin going up in which was the body of Matthew; and in the hour of the piercing on the cross, 2307 the boy placed the coffin on the ground, behind the palace towards the east, where the bishop had offered the offering for Matthew.
And the king having seen these things from the upper part of the house, and being terror-struck, went forth from the palace, and ran and worshipped towards the east at the coffin, and fell down before the bishop, and the presbyters, and the deacons, in repentance and confession, saying: 2308 Truly I believe in the true God, Christ Jesus. I entreat, give me the seal in Christ, and I will give you my palace, in testimony of Matthew, and you shall put the coffin upon my golden bed, in the great dining-room; only, having baptized me in it, communicate to me the Eucharist of Christ. And the bishop having prayed, and ordered him to take off his clothes, and having examined him for a long time, and he having confessed and wept over what he had done, having sealed him, and anointed him with oil, put him down into the sea, in the name of Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost. And when he came up from the water he ordered him to put on himself splendid garments, and so then having given praise and thanks, communicating the holy bread and mixed cup, the bishop first gave them to the king, saying: Let this body of Christ, and this cup, His blood shed for us, be to thee for the remission of sins unto life. And a voice was heard from on high: Amen, amen, amen. And when he had thus communicated in fear and joy, the apostle appeared and said: King Fulvanus, thy name shall no longer be Fulvanus; but thou shalt be called Matthew. And thou, the son of the king, shall no longer be called Fulvanus, but Matthew also; and thou Ziphagia, the wife of the king, shall be called Sophia; 2309 and Erva, the wife of your son, shall be called Synesis. 2310 And these names of yours shall be written in the heavens, and there shall not fail of your loins from generation to generation. And in that same hour Matthew appointed the king a presbyter, and he was thirty-seven years old; and the king’s son he appointed deacon, being seventeen years old; and the king’s wife he appointed a presbyteress; and his son’s wife he appointed a deaconess, 2311 and she also was seventeen years old. And then he thus blessed them, saying: The blessing and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be with you to time everlasting.
Then the king, having awakened out of sleep, and rejoiced with all his house at the vision of the holy Apostle Matthew, praised God.
And the king, having gone into his palace, broke all the idols to pieces, and gave a decree to those in his kingdom, writing thus: King Matthew, to all those under my kingdom, greeting. Christ having appeared upon earth, and having saved the human race, the so-called gods have been found to be deceivers, and soul-destroyers, and plotters against the human race. Whence, divine grace having shone abroad, and come even to us, and we having come to the knowledge of the deception of the idols, that it is vain and false, it has seemed good to our divinity that there should not be many gods, but one, and one only, the God in the heavens. And you, having received this our decree, keep to the purport of it, and break to pieces and destroy every idol; and if any one shall be detected from this time forth serving idols, or concealing them, let such an one be subjected to punishment by the sword. Farewell all, because we also are well.
And when this order was given out, all, rejoicing and exulting, broke their idols to pieces, crying out and saying: There is one only God, He who is in the heavens, who does good to men.
And after all these things had come to pass, Matthew the apostle of Christ appeared to the bishop Plato, and said to him: Plato, servant of God, and our brother, be it known unto thee, that after three years shall be thy rest in the Lord, and exultation to ages of ages. And the king himself, whom after my own name I have called Matthew, shall receive the throne of thy bishopric, and after him his son. And he, having said Peace to thee and all the saints, went to heaven.
And after three years the bishop Plato rested in the Lord. And King Matthew succeeded him, having given up his kingdom willingly to another, whence there was given him grace against unclean demons, and he cured every affliction. And he advanced his son to be a presbyter, and made him second to himself.
And Saint Matthew finished his course in the country of the man-eaters, in the city of Myrna, on the sixteenth of the month of November, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom be glory and strength, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen. 2312
Footnotes
528:2283Or, that dies not.
528:2284The other [Vienna] ms. has, eleven.
528:2285In some of themss. of the previous book the name of Matthew appears in place of that of Matthias—Matthaios for Mattheias.
528:2286Comp. Rev. xxii. 2.
529:2287The other [Vienna] ms. has: heretofore worshipping every evil thing.
529:2288The other [Paris]ms. has: having communicated in the Eucharist.
529:2289Or, giving drink to.
529:2290The other [Paris]ms. has Smyrna. Nicephorus calls it Myrmene.
530:2291Comp. Acts 18:9, Acts 23:11.
530:2292Or, as an apostle.
530:2293i.e., monks.
530:2294Lit., of the same form with him.
531:2295The other [Vienna] ms. has: for he neither ate nor drank, in his concern about these things.
531:2296The word thus translated is used by the LXX. in the sense of an asylum, or place of refuge.
531:2297Comp. Mark vii. 34. The addition of Jesus here shows that the writer did not know the meaning of the Aramaic word.
531:2298Or, holding him back.
531:2299I should be disposed to read ἔκαιον, set fire to, for ἔκαμνον, laboured.
532:2300The other [Vienna] ms. has: at our gods.
532:2301The other [Vienna] ms. adds: How my forefathers toiled, and with great trouble made the gods; and now, behold, they have been destroyed by one magician.
532:2302The change of person is noticable.
532:2303In the otherms. the king prays: And now, since there is still in me a little unbelief, I beseech thee that thou wilt bring the body of Matthew from the sea. For, behold, I will order the body to be thrown into the depths of the sea; and if thou deliver it as thou didst deliver it, in the funeral pile, I will forsake all my gods at once, and believe in thee alone. [The Viennams., here cited, interpolates still more.—R.]
533:2304Ps. cxvi. 15.
533:2305Ps. iii. 5 according to the LXX.
533:2306Or, of the Eucharist.
533:2307The meaning is not clear. The otherms. has: After one hour he sees in that place an image of a cross coming up from the depth of the sea. [The Viennams. varies more than this extract indicates.—R.]
533:2308The other [Vienna] ms. is much fuller here: And the cry of the multitude came to the king. And he asked: What is the uproar and shouting among the people? And he learned that Matthew’s coffin had come of itself. Then, filled with great joy, the king straightway goes to the coffin, crying out, and saying with a loud voice: The God of Matthew is the only God, and there is none other but Him. And he fell on his face near the coffin, saying: Pardon me, Lord Jesus Christ, for what I have done against this holy man, for I was in ignorance. And the bishop, seeing the repentance and tears of the king, gave him a hand, and raised him from the ground, and said to him: Rise up, and be of good courage; for the Lord God hath accepted thy repentance and conversion through the good offices of His servant and apostle Thomas. And the king rose up from the ground, and fell at the bishop’s feet, etc.—as in the text.
533:2309Wisdom.
533:2310Understanding.
533:2311The other [Vienna] ms. has: And likewise his wife and his daughter-in-law deaconesses.
534:2312The other [Paris]ms. ends differently: And there came a voice, Peace to you, and joy, for there shall not be war nor stroke of sword in this city, because of Matthew, mine elect, whom I have loved for ever. Blessed are they who observe his memory, for they shall be glorified to ages of ages.
And the day of his commemoration shall be the fourteenth of the month of Gorpiæus.* Glory, honour, and worship to God, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages. [The Paris ms. is usually followed by Tischendorf. But in the three concluding paragraphs, as given in the text above, he follows the Vienna ms.—R.]
*Gorpiæus was the eleventh month of the Macedonian year, and fell partly in August and partly in September.
Acts of the Holy Apostle Thomas.
————————————
At that time we the apostles were all in Jerusalem—Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax-gatherer; James of Alphæus and Simon the Cananæan; and Judas of James; 2313 —and we portioned out the regions of the world, in order that each one of us might go into the region that fell to him, and to the nation to which the Lord sent him. By lot, then, India fell to Judas Thomas, 2314 also called Didymus. And he did not wish to go, saying that he was not able to go on account of the weakness of the flesh; and how can I, being an Hebrew man, go among the Indians to proclaim the truth? And while he was thus reasoning and speaking, the Saviour appeared to him through the night, and said to him: Fear not, Thomas; go away to India, and proclaim the word; for my grace shall be with thee. But he did not obey, saying: Wherever Thou wishest to send me, send me elsewhere; for to the Indians I am not going.
And as he was thus speaking and growing angry, there happened to be there a certain merchant come from India, by name Abbanes, sent from the king Gundaphoros, and having received an order from him to buy a carpenter and bring him to him. And the Lord, having seen him walking about in the market at noon, said to him: Dost thou wish to buy a carpenter? And he said to Him: Yes. And the Lord said to him: I have a slave a carpenter, and I wish to sell him. And having said this, He showed him Thomas at a distance, and agreed with him for three pounds of uncoined silver; and He wrote a bill of sale, saying: I Jesus, the son of Joseph the carpenter, declare that I have sold my slave, Judas by name, to thee Abbanes, a merchant of Gundaphoros, the king of the Indians. And the purchase 2315 being completed, the Saviour taking Judas, who also is Thomas, led him to Abbanes the merchant; and Abbanes seeing him, said to him: Is this thy master? And the apostle answered and said: Yes, He is my Lord. And he says: I have bought thee from him. And the apostle held his peace.
And at dawn of the following day, the apostle having prayed and entreated the Lord, said: I go wherever Thou wishest, O Lord Jesus; Thy will be done. And he went to Abbanes the merchant, carrying nothing at all with him, but only his price. For the Lord had given it to him, saying: Let thy worth also be with thee along with my grace, wherever thou mayst go. And the apostle came up with Abbanes, who was carrying his effects into the boat. He began therefore also to carry them along with him. And when they had gone on board and sat down, Abbanes questioned the apostle, saying: What kind of work dost thou know? And he said: In wood, ploughs, and yokes, and balances, 2316 and boats, and boats’ oars, and masts, and blocks; in stone, slabs, 2317 and temples, and royal palaces. And Abbanes the merchant said to him: Of such a workman, to be sure, we have need. They began, therefore, to sail away. And they had a fair wind, and they sailed fast until they came to Andrapolis, a royal city.
And having gone out of the boat, they went into the city. And, behold, the voices of flute-players, and of water-organs, and trumpets, sounding round them; and the apostle inquired, saying: What festival is this in this city? And those who were there said to him: The gods have brought thee also, that thou mayst be feasted in this city. For the king has an only-begotten daughter, and he is now giving her to a husband in marriage: this festival, then, which thou seest to-day, is the rejoicing and public assembly for the marriage. And the king has sent forth heralds to proclaim everywhere that all are to come to the marriage, rich and poor, bond and free, strangers and citizens. And if any one shall refuse and not come to the marriage, he will be answerable to the king. 2318 And Abbanes having heard, said to the apostle: Let us also go, then, that we may not offend the king, and especially as we are strangers. And he said: Let us go. And having turned into the inn, and rested a little, they went to the marriage. And the apostle seeing them all reclining, reclined he also in the midst. And they all looked at him as a stranger, and coming from a foreign land. And Abbanes the merchant, as being a lord, reclined in another place.
And when they had dined and drunk, the apostle tasted nothing. Those, then, about him said to him: Why hast thou come hither, neither eating nor drinking? And he answered and said to them: For something greater than food or even drink have I come hither, even that I might accomplish the will of the King. For the heralds proclaim the wishes of the King, and whoever will not hear the heralds will be liable to the judgment of the King. When, therefore, they had dined and drunk, and crowns and perfumes had been brought, each took perfume, and one anointed his face, another his cheek, 2319 and one one part of his body, and another another. And the apostle anointed the crown of his head, and put a little of the ointment in his nostrils, and dropped it also into his ears, and applied it also to his teeth, and carefully anointed the parts round about his heart; and having taken the crown that was brought to him wreathed of myrtle and other flowers, he put it on his head, and took a branch of reed in his hand, and held it.
And the flute-girl, holding the flutes in her hand, went round them all; and when she came to the place where the apostle was, she stood over him, playing the flute over his head a long time. And that flute-girl was Hebrew by race.
And as the apostle looked away to the ground, a certain one of the wine-pourers 2320 stretched forth his hand and struck him. And the apostle, having raised his eyes, and regarded him who had struck him, said: My God will forgive thee this wrong in the world to come, but in this world He will show His wonders, and I shall soon see that hand that struck me dragged along by a dog. And having thus spoken, he began to sing and to repeat this song:—
Maiden, daughter of the light, in whom there exists and abides the majestic splendour of kings; and delightsome is the sight of her, resplendent with brilliant beauty. Her garments are like spring flowers, and the odour of a sweet smell is given forth from them; and on the crown of her head the king is seated, feeding with his own ambrosia those who are seated beside him; and truth rests upon her head, and she shows forth joy with her feet; and becomingly does she open her mouth; thirty-and-two are they who sing her praises, and their tongue is like a curtain of the door which is drawn for them who go in; and her neck is made in the likeness of the stairs which the first Creator created; and her two hands signify and represent the choral dance of the blessed ages, proclaiming it; and her fingers represent the gates of the city. Her chamber lighted up breathes forth scent from balsam and every perfume, and gives forth a sweet odour of myrrh and savoury herbs; and within are strewn myrtles and sweet-smelling flowers of all kinds; and the bridal chambers are adorned with calamus. 2321 And her groomsmen, of whom the number is seven, whom she has chosen for herself, surround her like a wall; and her bridesmaids are seven, who dance before her; and twelve are they in number who minister before her and are at her bidding, having their gaze and their sight upon the bridegroom, that through the sight of him they may be enlightened. And they shall be with him to everlasting in that everlasting joy, and they shall sit down in that wedding to which the great ones are gathered together, and they shall abide in the festivities of which the eternals are deemed worthy; and they shall be arrayed in royal raiment, and shall put on shining robes; and in joy and exultation both of them shall be, and they shall glorify the Father of the universe, whose majestic light they have received, and they have been enlightened by the sight of Him their Lord, whose ambrosial food they have received, of which there is no failing at all; and they have drunk also of the wine which brings to them no thirst, neither desire of the flesh; and they have with the living spirit glorified and praised the father of truth and the mother of wisdom.
And when he had sung and finished this song, all who were there present looked upon him and kept silence, and they also saw his form changed; and what had been said by him they did not understand, since he was a Hebrew, and what had been said by him had been said in Hebrew. But the flute-girl alone heard all, for she was Hebrew by race, and standing off from him she played the flute to the others; but at him she mostly turned her eyes and looked, for she altogether loved him as a man of the same nation with herself, and he was also beautiful in appearance above all who were there. And when the flute-girl had come to the end of all her flute-playing, she sat down opposite him, and looked and gazed upon him. But he looked at no one at all, neither did he regard any one, but only kept his eyes on the ground, waiting until he should depart thence. And that wine-pourer that struck him came down to the fountain to draw water; and there happened to be a lion there, and it came forth and killed him, and left him lying in the place, after tearing up his limbs; and dogs immediately seized his limbs, among which also one black dog, laying hold of his right hand in his mouth, brought it to the place of the banquet.
And all seeing were terror-struck, inquiring which of them had been taken off. And when it was clear that it was the hand of the wine-pourer who had struck the apostle, the flute-girl broke her flutes in pieces, and threw them away, and went and sat down at the feet of the apostle, saying: This man is either God or God’s apostle; for I heard him saying in Hebrew to the wine-pourer, I shall soon see the hand that struck me dragged about by dogs, which also you have now seen; for as he said, so also it has come to pass. And some believed her, and some not. And the king, having heard, came up and said to him: Rise up, and go with me, and pray for my daughter; for she is my only child, and today I give her away. And the apostle would not go with him; for his Lord had not at all been revealed to him there. And the king took him away against his will to the bridal-chamber, that he might pray for them.
And the apostle stood, and began to pray and speak thus: My Lord and my God, who accompanies His servants on their way, guiding and directing those who trust in Him, the refuge and the repose of the afflicted, the hope of the mourners, and the deliverer of the captives, the physician of the souls that are lying under disease, and Saviour of every creature, who gives life to the world, and invigorates our souls! Thou knowest what will come to pass, who also for our sakes makest these things perfect: Thou, Lord, who revealest hidden mysteries, and declarest unspeakable words; Thou, Lord, the planter of the good tree, also through the tree makest words to spring up; Thou, Lord, who art in all, and camest through all, and existest in all Thy works, and makest Thyself manifest through the working of them all; Jesus Christ, the Son of compassion, and perfect Saviour; Christ, Son of the living God, the undaunted Power which has overthrown the enemy; and the voice heard by the rulers, 2322 which shook all their powers; the ambassador who was sent to them from on high, and who wentest down even to Hades; who also, having opened the doors, didst bring out thence those that had been shut in for many ages by the controller of the world, and didst show them the way up that leads up on high: I beseech Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, I offer Thee supplication for these young persons, that Thou mayst make what happens and befalls them to be for their good. And having laid his hands on them, and said, The Lord will be with you, he left them in the place, and went away. 2323
And the king requested the groomsmen to go out of the bridal-chamber; and all having gone forth, and the doors having been shut, the bridegroom raised the curtain of the bridal-chamber, that he might bring the bride to himself. And he saw the Lord Jesus talking with the bride, and having the appearance of Judas Thomas, who shortly before had blessed them, and gone out from them; and he says to him: Didst thou not go out before them all? And how art thou found here? And the Lord said to him: I am not Judas, who also is Thomas; I am his brother. And the Lord sat down on the bed, and ordered them also to sit down on the seats; 2324 and He began to say to them:—
Keep in mind, my children, what my brother said to you, and to whom he commended you; and this know, that if you refrain from this filthy intercourse, you become temples holy and pure, being released from afflictions and troubles, known and unknown, and you will not be involved in the cares of life, and of children, whose end is destruction; but if you get many children, for their sakes you become grasping and avaricious, plundering orphans, coveting the property of widows, and by doing this you subject yourselves to most grievous punishments. For many children become unprofitable, being harassed by demons, some openly and others secretly: for they become either lunatics, or half-withered, or lame, or deaf, or dumb, or paralytics, or idiots; and even if they be in good health, they will be again good-for-nothing, doing unprofitable and abominable works: for they will be detected either in adultery, or in murder, or in theft, or in fornication, and by all these you will be afflicted. But if you will be persuaded, and preserve your souls pure to God, there will be born to you living children, whom these hurtful things do not touch; and you will be without care, spending an untroubled life, free from grief and care, looking forward to receive that marriage incorruptible and true; and you will be in it companions of the bridegroom, going in along with Him into that bridal-chamber full of immortality and light. 2325
And when the young people heard this, they believed the Lord, and gave themselves over into His keeping, and refrained from filthy lust, and remained thus spending the night in the place. And the Lord went out from before them, having spoken thus to them: The grace of the Lord shall be with you. And the dawn having come on, the king arrived, and having supplied the table, brought it in before the bridegroom and the bride; and he found them sitting opposite each other, and he found the face of the bride uncovered, and the bridegroom was quite cheerful. And the mother having come to the bride, said: Wherefore dost thou sit thus, child, and art not ashamed, but thus as if thou hadst for a long time lived with thine own husband? And her father said: Is it because of thy great love to thy husband that thou art uncovered?
And the bride answered and said: Truly, father, I am in great love, and I pray to my Lord to continue to me the love which I have experienced this night, and I shall beg for myself this husband whom I have experienced today. For this reason, then, I am no longer covered, since the mirror 2326 of shame has been taken away from me, and I am no longer ashamed nor abashed, since the work of shame and bashfulness has been removed far from me; and because I am not under any violent emotion, since violent emotion does not abide in me; and because I am in cheerfulness and joy, since the day of joy has not been disturbed; and because I hold of no account this husband, and these nuptials that have passed away from before mine eyes, since I have been joined in a different marriage; and because I have had no intercourse with a temporary husband, whose end is with lewdness and bitterness of soul, since I have been united to a true Husband.
And when the bride is saying yet more, the bridegroom answers and says: I thank Thee, Lord, who hast been proclaimed by the stranger and found by us; 2327 who hast put corruption far from me, and hast sown life in me; who hast delivered me from this disease, hard to heal, and hard to cure, and abiding for ever, and established in me sound health; who hast shown Thyself to me, and hast revealed to me all that concerns me, in which I am; who hast redeemed me from falling, and hast led me to something better, and who hast released me from things temporary, and hast deemed me worthy of things immortal and ever existing; who hast brought Thyself down even to me and to my littleness, in order that, having placed me beside Thy greatness, Thou mightest unite me to Thyself; who hast not withheld Thine own compassion from me lost, but hast shown me how to search myself, and to know what 2328 I was and what 2329 and how I am now, in order that I may again become as I was; whom I indeed did not know, but Thou Thyself whom I knew not hast sought me out and taken me to Thyself; whom I have experienced, and am not now able to forget, whose love is fervent in me; and speak indeed as I ought I cannot. But what I have time to say about Him is short, and altogether little, and not in proportion to His glory; but He does not find fault with me for not being ashamed to say to Him even what I do not know; because it is through the love of Him that I say even this.
And the king, having heard these things from the bridegroom and the bride, rent his garments, and said to those standing near him: Go out quickly, and go round the whole city, and seize and bring me that man, the sorcerer, who has come for evil into this city: for I led him with my own hands into my house, and I told him to pray for my most unfortunate daughter; and whoever shall find him and bring him to me, whatever service he shall ask of me, I give him. They went away, therefore, and went round seeking him, and found him not; for he had sailed. They went, therefore, also into the inn where he had stayed, and found there the flute-girl weeping and in distress, because he had not taken her with him. And they having recounted what had happened in the case of the young people, she was altogether glad when she heard it, and dismissed her grief, and said: Now have I found, even I, repose here. And she arose and went to them, and was with them a long time, until they had instructed the king also. And many also of the brethren were gathered together there, until they heard word of the apostle, that he had gone down to the cities of India, and was teaching there. And they went away, and joined him.
————————————
Footnotes
535:2313This list is a transcript of Matt. x. 2-4, except in the last name.
535:2314This double name is in accordance with a tradition preserved by Eusebius (H. E., i. 13), that the true name of Thomas was Judas.
535:2315Or, bill of sale.
535:2316Or, scales.
535:2317i.e., monuments.
535:2318Comp. Matt. xxii. 3-14.
536:2319Or, chin.
536:2320Or, cup-bearers.
536:2321Exod. 30:23, Cant. 4:14, Ezek. 27:19.
537:2322Comp. Ps. xxiv. 7, according to the LXX.
537:2323Three of the fivemss. either omit the prayer altogether, or give it very briefly.
537:2324Or, couches.
537:2325The text of this exhortation also varies much in the four mss. which give it.
538:2326Or, look.
538:2327Or, in us.
538:2328Or, who.
538:2329Or, who.
Acts of the Holy Apostle Thomas,
When He Came into India, and Built the Palace in the Heavens.
And when the apostle came into the cities of India, with Abbanes the merchant, Abbanes went away to salute Gundaphoros the king, and reported to him about the carpenter whom he had brought with him; and the king was glad, and ordered him to come in to himself. And when he had come in, the king said to him: What trade knowest thou? The apostle says to him: The carpenter’s and house builder’s. The king says to him: What work in wood knowest thou, then, and what in stone? The apostle says: In wood, ploughs, yokes, balances, pulleys, and boats, and oars, and masts; and in stone, monuments, temples, royal palaces. And the king said: Wilt thou build me a palace? And he answered: Yes, I shall build it, and finish it; for because of this I came, to build houses, and to do carpenter’s work.
And the king having taken him, went forth out of the gates of the city, and began to talk with him on the way about the building of the palace, and about the foundations, how they should be laid, until they came to that place in which he wished the building to be. And he said: Here I wish the building to be. And the apostle says: Yes; for assuredly this place is convenient for the building. For the place was well wooded, and there was much water there. The king therefore says: Begin to build. And he said: I cannot begin to build at this time.
And the king says: When wilt thou be able? And he says: I shall begin in Dius and end in Xanthicus. 2330 And the king wondering, said: Every building is built in summer; but canst thou build and make a palace in winter itself? And the apostle said: Thus it must be, and otherwise it is impossible. And the king said: If, therefore, this be thy opinion, mark out for me how the work is to be, since I shall come here after some time. And the apostle, having taken a reed, measured the place, and marked it out; and he set the doors towards the rising of the sun, to look to the light, and the windows towards its setting, to the winds; and he made the bakehouse to be towards the south, and the water-tank, for abundance, towards the north. And the king seeing this, said to the apostle: Thou art a craftsman indeed, and it is fitting that thou shouldst serve kings. And having left many things for him, he went away.
And from time to time he also sent the money that was necessary, for the living both of him and the other workmen. And he taking it, dispenses it all, going about the cities and the places round, distributing and doing kindnesses to the poor and the afflicted, and gave them rest, 2331 saying: The king knows how to obtain royal recompense, and it is necessary for the poor to have repose for the present.
And after this, the king sent a messenger to the apostle, having written to him as follows: Show me what thou hast done, or what I am to send thee, or what thou needest. The apostle sends to him, saying: The palace is built, and only the roof remains to be done. And the king, having heard, sent him again gold and silver uncoined, and wrote to him: Let the palace, if it be done, be roofed. And the apostle said to the Lord: I thank Thee, Lord, as to all things, that Thou didst die for a short time, that I might live in Thee for ever; and hast sold me, so that Thou mayst deliver many through me. And he did not cease to teach and refresh the afflicted, saying: These things the Lord hath dispensed to us, and He gives to each his food; for He is the support of the orphans, and the provider of the widows, and to all that are afflicted He is rest and repose.
And when the king came into the city, he inquired of his friends about the palace which Judas, who also is Thomas, had built; and they said to him: He has neither built a palace, nor done anything else of what he promised to do; but he goes round the cities and the districts, and if he has anything he gives all to the poor, and teaches one new God, 2332 and heals the diseased, and drives out demons, and does many other extraordinary things; and we think that he is a magician. But his acts of compassion, and the cures done by him as a free gift, and still more, his single-mindedness, and gentleness, and fidelity, show that he is a just man, or an apostle of the new God whom he preaches; for he continually fasts and prays, and eats only bread with salt, and his drink is water, and he carries one coat, whether in warm weather or in cold, and he takes nothing from any one, but gives to others even what he has. The king having heard this, stroked his face with his hands, shaking his head for a long time.
And he sent for the merchant that had brought him, and for the apostle, and said to him: Hast thou built me the palace? And he said: Yes, I have built it. And the king said: When, then, are we to go and see it? And he answered and said: Now thou canst not see it; but when thou hast departed this life, thou shalt see it. And the king, quite enraged, ordered both the merchant, and Judas who also is Thomas, to be put in chains, and to be cast into prison, until he should examine, and learn to whom he had given the king’s property. And thus I shall destroy him along with the merchant. And the apostle went to prison rejoicing, and said to the merchant: Fear nothing at all, but only believe in the God proclaimed by me, and thou shalt be freed from this world, and thou shalt obtain life in the world to come.
And the king considered by what death he should kill them; and when it seemed good to him to flay them, and burn them with fire, on that very night Gad the king’s brother fell ill, and through the grief and imposition which the king suffered he was grievously depressed; and having sent for the king, he said to him: My brother the king, I commend to thee my house and my children; for I, on account of the insult that has befallen thee, have been grieved, and am dying; and if thou do not come down with vengeance upon the head of that magician, thou wilt give my soul no rest in Hades. And the king said to his brother: During the whole night I have considered this, how I shall put him to death; and this has seemed good to me—to flay him and burn him up with fire, both him and with him the merchant that brought him.
And as they were talking together, the soul of Gad his brother departed. And the king mourned for Gad exceedingly, for he altogether loved him. And he ordered him to be prepared for burial in a royal and costly robe. And as this was being done, angels received the soul of Gad the king’s brother, and took it up into heaven, showing him the places and dwellings there, asking him: In what sort of a place dost thou wish to dwell? And when they came near the edifice of Thomas the apostle, which he had built for the king, Gad, seeing it, said to the angels, I entreat you, my lords, permit me to dwell in one of the underground chambers of this palace. And they said to him: Thou canst not dwell in this building. 2333 And he said: Wherefore? They say to him: This palace is the one which that Christian built for thy brother. And he said: I entreat you, my lords, permit me to go to my brother, that I may buy this palace from him; for my brother does not know what it is like, and he will sell it to me.
Then the angels let the soul of Gad go. And as they were putting on him the burial robe, his soul came into him. And he said to those standing round him: Call my brother to me, that I may beg of him one request. Straightway, therefore, they sent the good news to their king, saying: Thy brother has come alive again. And the king started up, and along with a great multitude went to his brother, and went in and stood beside his bed as if thunderstruck, not being able to speak to him. And his brother said: I know and am persuaded, brother, that if any one asked of thee the half of thy kingdom, thou wouldst give it for my sake; wherefore I entreat thee to grant me one favour, which I beg of thee to do me. And the king answered and said: And what is it that thou askest me to do for thee? And he said: Assure me by an oath that thou wilt grant it me. And the king swore to him: Of what belongs to me, whatever thou shalt ask, I will give thee. And he says to him: Sell me that palace which thou hast in the heavens. And the king said: Whence does a palace in the heavens belong to me? And he said: That which the Christian who is now in the prison, whom the merchant bought from a certain Jesus, and brought to thee, built for thee. And as he was at a loss, he says to him again: I speak of that Hebrew slave whom thou didst wish to punish, as having suffered some imposition from him, on account of whom I also was grieved and died, and now have come alive again.
Then the king, having come to know, understood about the eternal benefits that were conferred upon him and destined for him, and said: That palace I cannot sell thee, but I pray thee to go into it, and dwell there, and become worthy to be of its inhabitants; but if thou really wishest to buy such a palace, behold, the man is alive, and will build thee a better than that. 2334 And having sent immediately, he brought out of the prison the apostle, and the merchant who had been shut up along with him, saying: I entreat thee, as a man entreating the servant of God, that thou wilt pray for me, and entreat him whose servant thou art, to pardon me, and overlook what I have done to thee, or even what I meant to do, and that I may be worthy to be an inhabitant of that house for which indeed I have laboured nothing, but which thou labouring alone hast built for me, the grace of thy God working with thee; and that I may become a servant, I also, and slave of this God whom thou proclaimest. And his brother, falling down before the apostle, said: I entreat thee, and supplicate before thy God, that I may become worthy of this ministry and service, and may be allotted to become worthy of those things which were shown me by his angels.
And the apostle, seized with joy, said: I make full confession 2335 to Thee, Lord Jesus, that Thou hast revealed Thy truth in these men: for Thou alone art a God of truth, and not another; and Thou art He who knowest all things that are unknown to many: Thou art He, Lord, who in all things showest compassion and mercy to men; for men, through the error that is in them, have overlooked Thee, but Thou hast not overlooked them. And now, when I am entreating and supplicating Thee, accept the king and his brother, and unite them into Thy fold, having cleansed them by Thy purification, and anointed them with Thy oil, from the error which encompasseth them; and protect them also from the wolves, bringing them into Thy meadows; and give them to drink of Thy ambrosial fountain, that is never muddy and never faileth: for they entreat Thee, and supplicate, and wish to become Thy ministers and servants; and on account of this they are well pleased even to be persecuted by Thine enemies, and for Thy sake to be hated by them, and insulted, and to die; as Thou also for our sakes didst suffer all these things, that Thou mightst gain us to Thyself, as being Lord, and truly a good shepherd. And do Thou grant them that they may have confidence in Thee alone, and aid from Thee, and hope of their salvation, which they obtain from Thee alone, and that they may be confirmed in Thy mysteries; and they shall receive the perfect benefits of Thy graces and gifts, and flourish in Thy service, and bear fruit to perfection in Thy Father.
King Gundaphoros, therefore, and Gad, having been altogether set apart by the apostle, followed him, not at all going back, they also providing for those that begged of them, giving to all, and relieving all. And they entreated him that they might also then receive the seal of baptism; and they said to him: As our souls are at ease, and as we are earnest about God, give us the seal; for we have heard thee saying that the God whom thou proclaimest recognises through his seal his own sheep. And the apostle said to them: And I am glad, and entreat you to receive this seal, and to communicate with me in this thanksgiving 2336 and blessing of God, and to be made perfect in it; 2337 for this Jesus Christ whom I proclaim is Lord and God of all, and He is the Father of truth, in whom I have taught you to believe. And he ordered to bring them oil, in order that through the oil they might receive the seal. They brought the oil, therefore, and lighted many lamps, for it was night. 2338
And the apostle arose, and sealed them; and the Lord was revealed to them, through a voice saying, Peace to you, brethren! And they heard His voice only, but His form they saw not; for they had not yet received the ratification 2339 of the seal. And the apostle, having taken oil, and poured it over their head, and salved and anointed them, began to say: Come, holy name of Christ, which is above every name; come, power of the Most High, and perfect compassion; come, grace most high; come, compassionate mother; come, thou that hast charge 2340 of the male child; come, thou who revealest secret mysteries; come, mother of the seven houses, that there may be rest for thee in the eighth house; come, thou presbyter of the five members—intelligence, thought, purpose, reflection, reasoning—communicate with these young persons; come, Holy Spirit, and purify their reins and heart, and seal them in the name of Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. And when they had been sealed, there appeared to them a young man holding a burning torch, so that their lamps were even darkened by the approach 2341 of its light. And he went out, and disappeared from their sight. And the apostle said to the Lord: Thy light, Lord, is too great for us, and we cannot bear it; for it is too much for our sight. And when light came, and it was dawn, having broken bread, he made them partakers of the thanksgiving 2342 of Christ. And they rejoiced and exulted; and many others also believed, and were added, and came to the refuge of the Saviour.
And the apostle ceased not proclaiming, and saying to them: Men and women, boys and girls, young men and maidens, vigorous and aged, both bond and free, withhold yourselves from fornication, and covetousness, and the service of the belly; for under these three heads all wickedness comes. For fornication maims the mind, and darkens the eyes of the soul, and becomes a hindrance of the due regulation of the body, changing the whole man into feebleness, and throwing the whole body into disease. And insatiableness puts the soul into fear and shame, existing by what pertains to the body, 2343 and forcibly seizing what belongs to another;…and the service of the belly throws the soul into cares and troubles and griefs.…Since, therefore, you have been set free from these, you are without care, and without grief, and without fear; and there remains to you that which was said by the Saviour: Take no care for the morrow, for the morrow will take care of itself. 2344 Keep in mind also that saying before mentioned: Look upon the ravens, and behold the fowls of the heaven, that they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and God takes care of them; how much more you, O ye of little faith! 2345 But look for His appearing, and have your hopes in Him, and believe in His name: for He is the Judge of living and dead, and He requites to each one according to his deeds; and at His coming and appearance at last no one will have as a ground of excuse, when he comes to be judged by Him, that he has not heard. For His heralds are proclaiming in the four quarters of the world. Repent, therefore, and believe the message, 2346 and accept the yoke of gentleness and the light burden, 2347 that you may live and not die. These things lay hold of, these things keep; come forth from the darkness, that the light may receive you; come to Him who is truly good, that from Him you may receive grace, and place His sign upon your souls.
When he had thus said, some of the bystanders said to him: It is time for this debtor to receive his debt. And he said to them: The creditor, 2348 indeed, always wishes to receive more; but let us give him what is proper. And having blessed them, he took bread and oil, and herbs and salt, and gave them to eat. But he continued in his fasting, for the Lord’s day was about to dawn. And on the night following, while he was asleep, the Lord came and stood by his head, saying: Thomas, rise up early and bless them all; and after the prayer and service go along the eastern road two miles, and there I shall show in thee my glory. For because thou goest away, many shall flee to me for refuge, and thou shalt reprove the nature and the power of the enemy. And having risen up from sleep, he said to the brethren who were with him: Children and brethren, the Lord wishes to do something or other to-day through me; but let us pray and entreat Him that nothing may be a hindrance to us towards Him, but as at all times let it now also be done unto us according to His purpose and will. And having thus spoken, he laid his hands upon them and blessed them. And having broken the bread of the Eucharist, he gave it to them, saying: This Eucharist shall be 2349 to you for compassion, and mercy, and recompense, and not for judgment. And they said: Amen.
Footnotes
539:2330Dius was the first, and Xanthicus the sixth, of the twelve lunar months of the Macedonian calendar, which after the time of Alexander was adopted by the Greek cities of Asia generally. Dius fell partly in October and partly in November; Xanthicus answered generally to April.—Smith’s Dict. of Antiq., s.v. Mensis.
Another reading is: I shall begin in Hyperberetæus—the twelfth month.
539:2331Or, remission.
539:2332One of themss. has: that there is one God, namely Jesus.
540:2333One ms. has: But if thou buy it, thou shalt live in it. And he said to them: Can I buy it? And they said to him: See that thou obtain one like this which thou seest, or better if thou wilt, that when thou comest hither again, thou mayst not be driven into the darkness.
540:2334One of themss. here ends the history in these words:—And he sent, and brought out Thomas, and said to him: Pardon us if we have in ignorance been in any way harsh to thee; and make us to be partakers of him whom thou preachest. And the apostle says: I too rejoice with you, that you are made partakers of His kingdom. And he took and enlightened them, having given them the washing of grace in the name of Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom is due all glory and kingdom without end. And when they had gone up straightway out of the water, the Saviour appeared to them, so that the apostle wondered, and a great light shone brighter than the rays of the sun. And having confirmed their faith, he went out, going on his way in the Lord.
540:2335i.e., give thanks, as in Matt. 11:25, Luke 10:21, etc.
541:2336Or, Eucharist.
541:2337i.e., by it.
541:2338One ms. for this whole section has: The two brothers having been set apart by the apostle, said to him, Give us the seal in Christ. And he ordered them to bring him oil. And ends the history thus: And he arose, and sealed them in the name of Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, and baptized them. And the Lord was revealed to them, through a voice saying to them, peace unto you! And the apostle sealed also all that were with them. And they all believed in our Lord Jesus Christ: and the whole of India became believing.
The last sentence in the text seems to be an interpolation. The oil was not for the lamps, but for the ceremony of baptism. The practice of baptizing with oil instead of water—one of the “notable and execrable” heresies of the Manichæans—is said to have been founded on this passage.
541:2339Lit., the sealing up.
541:2340Lit., the administration.
541:2341Perhaps for προσβολῇ we should read προβολῇ, projection or emanation.
541:2342Or, communicants of the Eucharist.
541:2343Or, arising from the things of the body.
541:2344Comp. Matt. vi. 34.
541:2345Luke xii. 24.
542:2346Or, announcement.
542:2347Matt. xi. 30.
542:2348Lit., master of the debt.
542:2349i.e., be.
About the Dragon and the Young Man.
And the apostle went forth to go where the Lord had bidden him. And when he came near the second milestone he turned a little out of the way, and saw the body of a beautiful youth lying; and he said: Lord, was it for this that Thou broughtest me out to come here, that I might see this trial? Thy will therefore be done, as Thou purposest. And he began to pray, and to say: Lord, Judge of the living, and of those that are lying dead, and Lord of all, and Father—Father not only of the souls that are in bodies, but also of those that have gone out of them; for of the souls that are in pollutions Thou art Lord and Judge—come at this time, when I call upon Thee, and show Thy glory upon him that is lying down here. And he turned and said to those that followed him: This affair has not happened idly; but the enemy has wrought and effected this, that he might make an assault upon him; and you see that he has availed himself of no other form, and has wrought through no other living being, but through his subject.
And when the apostle had thus spoken, behold, a great dragon came forth from his den, knocking his head, and brandishing his tail down to the ground, and, using a loud voice, said to the apostle: I shall say before thee for what cause I have put him to death, since thou art here in order to reprove my works. And the apostle says: Yes, say on. And the dragon: There is a certain woman in this place exceedingly beautiful; and as she was once passing by, I saw her, and fell in love with her, and I followed and watched her; and I found this young man kissing her, and he also had intercourse with her, and did with her other shameful things. And to me indeed it was pleasant to tell thee this, for I know that thou art the twin-brother of Christ, and always bringest our race to nought. But, not wishing to harass her, I did not at this time put him to death; but I watched him passing by in the evening, and struck him, and killed him, and especially as he had dared to do this on the Lord’s day. 2350 And the apostle inquired of him, saying: Tell me, of what seed and of what race art thou?
And he said to him: I am the offspring of the race of the serpent, and hurtful of the hurtful; I am son of him who hurt and struck the four brothers that stood; I am son of him who sits on the throne of destruction, and takes his own from what he has lent; 2351 I am son of that apostate who encircles the globe; I am kinsman to him who is outside of the ocean, whose tail lies in his mouth; I am he who went into paradise through the hedge, and spoke with Eve what my father bade me speak to her; I am he who inflamed and fired Cain to kill his brother, and through me thorns and prickles sprang up in the ground; I am he who cast down the angels from above, and bound them down by the desires of women, that earth-born 2352 children might be produced from them, and that I might work my will in them; 2353 I am he who hardened the heart of Pharaoh, that he should murder the children of Israel, and keep them down by the hard yoke of slavery; I am he who caused the multitude to err in the desert when they made the calf; I am he who inflamed Herod and incited Caiaphas to the lying tales of falsehood before Pilate, for this became me; I am he who inflamed Judas, and bought him, that he should betray Christ; I am he who inhabits and holds the abyss of Tartarus, and the Son of God has wronged me against my will, and has gathered his own out of me; I am the kinsman of him who is to come from the east, to whom also power has been given to do whatever he will upon the earth.
And that dragon having thus spoken in the hearing of all the multitude, the apostle raised his voice on high, and said: Cease henceforth, O thou most unabashed, and be ashamed and altogether put to death; for the end of thy destruction is at hand, and do not dare to say what thou hast done through thy dependants. And I order thee, in the name of that Jesus who even until now makes a struggle against you for the sake of His own human beings, to suck out the poison which thou hast put into this man, and to draw it forth, and take it out of him. And the dragon said: The time of our end is by no means at hand, as thou hast said. Why dost thou force me to take out what I have put into him, and to die before the time? Assuredly, when my father shall draw forth and suck out what he has put into the creation, then his end will come. And the apostle said to him: Show us, therefore, now the nature of thy father. And the dragon went up, and put his mouth upon the wound of the young man, and sucked the gall out of it. And in a short time the skin of the young man, which was like purple, grew white, and the dragon swelled. And when the dragon had drawn up all the gall into himself, the young man sprang up and stood, and ran and fell at the apostle’s feet. And the dragon, being swelled up, shrieked out and died, and his poison and gall were poured forth; and in the place where his poison was poured forth there was made a great chasm, and that dragon was swallowed up. And the apostle said to the king and his brother: Take workmen, and fill up the place in which the dragon has been swallowed up, and lay foundations, and build houses-above it, that it may be made a dwelling-place for the strangers.
And the young man said to the apostle, with many tears: I have sinned against the God proclaimed by thee, and against thee, but I ask pardon of thee; for thou art a man having two forms, and wherever thou wishest there art thou found, and thou art held in by no one, as I see. For I beheld that man, when I stood beside thee, who also said to thee, I have many wonders to show by means of thee, and I have great works to accomplish by means of thee, for which thou shalt obtain a reward; and thou shalt make many to live, and they shall be in repose and eternal light as the children of God: do thou therefore bring alive—he says, speaking to thee about me—this young man who has been cast down by the enemy, and in all time be the overseer of him. Thou hast, then, well come hither, and again thou shalt well go away to him, he being not at all forsaken by thee. And I am without care and reproach, for the dawn has risen upon me from the care of the night, and I am at rest; and I have also been released from him who exasperated me to do these things: for I have sinned against Him who taught me the contrary, and I have destroyed him who is the kinsman of the night, who forced me to sin by his own practices; and I have found that kinsman of mine who is like the light. I have destroyed him who darkens and blinds those who are subject to him, lest they should know what they are doing, and, ashamed of their works, withdraw themselves from them, and their deeds have an end: and I have found Him whose works are light, and whose deeds are truth, of which whoever does them shall not repent. I have been set free also from him in whom falsehood abides, whom darkness as a covering goes before, and shame conducting herself impudently in idleness follows after. And I have found also Him who shows me what is beautiful, that I should lay hold of it, the Son of the truth, who is kinsman of concord, who, driving away the mist, enlightens His own creation, and heals its wounds, and overturns its enemies. But I entreat thee, O man of God, make me again to behold and see Him, now become hidden from me, that I may also hear His voice, the wonders of which I cannot declare: for it is not of the nature of this bodily organ.
And the apostle said to him: If, as thou hast also said, thou hast cast off the knowledge of those things which thou hast received, and if thou knowest who has wrought these things in thee, and if thou shalt become a disciple and hearer of Him of whom, through thy living love, thou now desirest the sight, thou shalt both see Him, and shalt be with Him for ever, and shalt rest in His rest, and shalt be in His joy. But if thou art rather carelessly disposed towards Him, and again returnest to thy former deeds, and lettest go that beauty and that beaming countenance which has now been displayed to thee, and if the splendour of the light of Him whom thou now desirest be forgotten by thee, thou shalt be deprived not only of this life, but also of that which is to come; and thou shalt go to him whom thou hast said thou hast destroyed, and shalt no longer behold Him whom thou hast said thou hast found.
And when the apostle had thus spoken, he went into the city, holding that young man by the hand, and saying to him: Those things which thou hast beheld, my child, are a few out of the many which God has: for it is not about these things that appear that the good news is brought to us, but greater things than these are promised to us; but inasmuch as we are in the body, we cannot tell and speak out what He will do for our souls. If we say that He affords us light, it is seen by us, and we have it; and if riches, they exist and appear in this world, and we name them, since it has been said, With difficulty will a rich man enter into the kingdom of the heavens. 2354 And if we speak of fine clothing, which they who delight in this life put on, it has been said, They that wear soft things are in kings’ palaces; 2355 and if costly dinners, about these we have received a commandment to keep away from them, not to be burdened by carousing and drunkenness and the cares of life; 2356 as also in the Gospel it has been said, Take no heed for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor for your body, what ye shall put on: because the life is more than food, and the body than clothing. 2357 And if we speak of this rest lasting only for a season, its judgment has also been ordained. But we speak about the upper world, about God and angels, about ambrosial food, about garments that last and become not old, about those things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath there come into the heart of sinful men what God has prepared for those that love Him. 2358 Do thou also therefore believe in Him, that thou mayst live; and have confidence in Him, and thou shalt never die. For He is not persuaded by gifts, that thou shouldst offer them to Him; nor does He want sacrifices, that thou shouldst sacrifice to Him. But look to Him, and thou shalt not look in vain, for His comeliness and desirable beauty will make thee love Him; and neither will He allow thee to turn thyself away from Him.
And when the apostle was thus speaking to that young man, a great multitude joined them. And the apostle looked, and saw them lifting themselves up that they might see him; and they went up into elevated places. And the apostle said to them: Ye men who have come to the assembly of Christ, and who wish to believe in Jesus, take an example from this, and see that if you do not get high up, you cannot see me, who am small, and cannot get a look of me, who am like yourselves. If, then, you cannot see me, who am like yourselves, unless you raise yourselves a little from the earth, how can you see Him who lives above, and is now found below, unless you first raise yourselves out of your former behaviour, and unprofitable deeds, and troublesome desires, and the riches that are left behind here, and create things that are of the earth, and that grow old, and the garments that are destroyed, and the beauty that ages and vanishes away, yea, even out of the whole body in which all these have been stored past, and which grows old, and becomes dust, returning into its own nature? for all these things the body itself sets up. 2359 But rather believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we proclaim to you, in order that your hope may be upon Him, and that you may have life in Him to ages of ages, that He may be your fellow-traveller in this land, and may release you from error, and may become 2360 a haven for you in this troublous sea. And there shall be for you also a fountain welling out in this thirsty land, and a fold full of food in the place of the hungry, and rest for your souls, and also a physician for your bodies.
Then the multitude of those assembled that heard, wept, and said to the apostle: O man of God, as for the God whom thou proclaimest, we dare not say that we are his, because our works which we have done are alien from him, not pleasing to him; but if he has compassion upon us, and pities us, and delivers us, overlooking our former doings; and if he set us free from the evil things which we did when we were in error, and shall not take into account nor keep the recollection of our former sins, we shall become his servants, and we shall do his will to the end. And the apostle answered and said to them: He does not reckon against you the sins which you did, being in error; but He overlooks your transgressions which you have done in ignorance. 2361
Footnotes
542:2350In this passage we have one of the data for fixing the date of the writing.
542:2351Or, from those to whom he was lent.
542:2352And, by implication, gigantic.
542:2353Or, by them.
544:2354Matt. xix. 23.
544:2355Matt. xi. 8.
544:2356Rom. 13:13, Luke 12:34.
544:2357Matt. vi. 25.
544:23581 Cor. 2:9, Isa. 64:4.
544:2359Or, establishes.
544:2360Or, and that there may be.
544:2361Comp. Acts xvii. 30.
About the Demon that Dwelt in the Woman.
And the apostle went into the city, all the multitude accompanying him; and he thought of going to the parents of the young man whom, when killed by the dragon, he had brought to life; for they earnestly entreated him to come to them, and to enter into their house.
And a certain woman, exceedingly beautiful, suddenly uttered a loud cry, saying: O apostle of the new God, who hast come into India, and servant of that holy and only good God—for through thee he is proclaimed the Saviour of the souls that come unto him, and through thee he heals the bodies of those that are punished by the enemy, and thou hast become the cause of life to all who turn to him—order me to be brought before thee, that I may declare to thee what has happened to me, and that perhaps there may be hope to me from thee and those who stand beside thee may have more and more hope in the God whom thou proclaimest. For I am not a little tormented by the adversary, who has assailed me for now a period of five years. As a woman, I formerly sat down in peace, and peace encompassed me on all sides and I had nothing to trouble me, for of nothing else 2362 had I a care. And it happened on one of the days as I was coming forth from the bath, there met me one like a man troubled and disturbed; and his voice and utterance seemed to me to be indistinct and very weak. And he said, standing over against me, Thou and I shall be in one love, and we shall have intercourse with each other, as a man is coupled with his wife. And I answered him, saying, To my betrothed I consented not, entreating him not to marry me; and to thee, wishing to have intercourse with me as it were in adultery, how shall I give myself up? And having thus spoken, I went away from him. And to my maid I said, Hast thou seen the young man and his shamelessness, how shamelessly and boldly he talks to me? And she said to me, It was an old man I saw talking with thee. And when I was in my own house, and had supped, my mind suggested to me some suspicion, and especially because he had appeared to me in two forms. I fell asleep, having this same thing in my thoughts. And he came that night, and made me share in his filthy commerce. And I saw him when it was day, and fled from him; but, according to his wont, he came at night and abused me. And now, as thou seest me, I have been tormented by him five years, and he has not departed from me. But I know and am persuaded that even demons, and spirits, and avenging deities, are subject to thee, and tremble at thy prayer. Pray, then, for me, and drive away from me the demon that torments me, that I also may become free, and may be brought to my former nature, and I shall receive the gift 2363 that has been granted to my kindred.
And the apostle said: O irrepressible wickedness! O the shamelessness of the enemy! O the sorcerer that is never at rest! O the ill-favoured one, bring to subjection the well-favoured! O the many-formed one! He appears just as he may wish, but his essence cannot be changed. O offspring of the crafty and insatiable one! O bitter tree, which also his fruits are like! O thou who art of the devil, who fights over those who do not belong to him! O thou who art of the deceit that uses shamelessness! O thou who art of the wickedness that creeps like a serpent, and art thyself his kindred! And when the apostle had thus spoken the fiend stood before him, no one seeing him but the woman and the apostle, and with a very loud voice he said in the hearing of all: What have we to do with thee, O apostle of the Most High? What have we to do with thee, O servant of Jesus Christ? What have we to do with thee, O thou that sittest in council with the Holy Spirit. Wherefore dost thou wish to destroy us, when our time has not yet come? On what account dost thou wish to take away our power? for until the present hour we have had hope and time left us. 2364 What have we to do with thee? Thou hast power over thine own, and we over our own. Why dost thou wish to use tyranny against us, and especially thou who teachest others not to use tyranny? Why dost thou want those who do not belong to thee, as if thou wert not satisfied with thine own? Why dost thou liken thyself to the Son of God, who has done us hurt? For thou art like him altogether, just as if thou hadst been brought forth by him. For we thought to bring him also under the yoke, like the rest; but he turned, and held us under his hand. For we did not know him; but he deceived us by the form which he had put on, and his poverty and his want; for when we saw him such, we thought him to be a man clothed with flesh, not knowing that it was he who makes men live. And he gave us power over our own, and, in the time in which we live, not to let our own go, but to employ ourselves about them. But thou wishest to get more than is necessary, or than has been given thee, and to overpower us.
And having thus spoken, the demon wept, saying: I let thee go, my most lovely yoke-fellow, 2365 whom I found long ago and was at rest; I leave thee, my beloved and trusty sister, in whom I was well pleased. What I shall do I know not, or whom I shall call upon to hear me and protect me. I know what I shall do. I shall go to some place where the fame of this man has not been heard, and perhaps I shall call thee, my beloved, by a new name. 2366 And lifting up his voice, he said: Abide in peace, having received an asylum with a greater than I; but I, as I have said, will go away and seek thy like, and if I find her not I shall again return to thee: for I know that when thou art beside this man, thou hast an asylum in him; but when he has gone away, thou shalt be as thou wast before he made his appearance, and him indeed wilt thou forget, and to me there will again be opportunity and boldness; but now I am afraid of the name of him who has delivered thee. And having thus said, the demon disappeared. And just when he had disappeared, fire and smoke were seen there, and all there present were struck with amazement.
And the apostle seeing this, said to them: Nothing strange or unusual has that demon shown, but his own nature, in which also he shall be burnt up; for the fire shall consume him, and the smoke of him shall be scattered abroad. And he began to say: O Jesus Christ, the secret mystery which has been revealed to us, Thou art He who disclosest to us all manner of mysteries, who hast set me apart from all my companions, and who hast told me three words with which I am set on fire, and I cannot tell them to others; O Jesus, man slain, dead, buried; Jesus, God of God, and Saviour who bringest the dead to life, and healest those who are diseased; O Jesus, who appearest to be in want, and savest as if in want of nothing, catching the fishes for the morning and the evening meal, and establishing all in abundance with a little bread; Jesus, who didst rest from the toil of the journey as a man, and walk upon the waves as God; 2367 Jesus Most High, voice arising from perfect compassion, Saviour of all, the right hand of the light overthrowing him that is wicked in his own kind, and bringing all his kind into one place; Thou who art only begotten, the first-born of many brethren, 2368 God of God Most High, man despised until now; Jesus Christ, who overlookest us not when we call upon Thee; who hast been shown forth to all in Thy human life; who for our sakes hast been judged and kept in prison, and freest all that are in bonds; who hast been called a deceiver, 2369 and who deliverest Thine own from deception: I entreat Thee in behalf of those standing and entreating Thee, and those that believe in Thee; for they pray to obtain Thy gifts, being of good hope in Thine aid, occupying Thy place of refuge in Thy majesty; they give audience, so as to hear from us the words that have been spoken to them. Let Thy peace come and dwell in them, that they may be purified from their former deeds, and may put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new now declared to them by me. 2370
And having laid his hands on them, he blessed them, saying: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you for ever! 2371 And they said, Amen. And the woman begged of him, saying: Apostle of the Most High, give me the seal, that that foe may not come back upon me again. Then he made her come near him; and putting his hand upon her, he sealed her in the name of Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost. And many others also were sealed along with her. And the apostle ordered his servant 2372 to set out a table; and they set out a bench 2373 which they found there. And having spread a linen cloth upon it, he put on it the bread of the blessing. And the apostle standing by it, said: Jesus Christ, Son of God, who hast deemed us worthy to communicate of the Eucharist of Thy sacred body and honourable blood, behold, we are emboldened by the thanksgiving 2374 and invocation of Thy sacred name; come now, and communicate with us. And he began to say: Come, perfect compassion; come, communion with mankind; come, Thou that knowest the mysteries of the chosen one; come, Thou that communicatest in all the combats 2375 of the noble combatant; come, peace that revealest the great things of all greatness; come, Thou that disclosest secrets, and makest manifest things not to be spoken; the sacred dove which has brought forth twin young; come, thou secret mother; come, Thou who art manifest in Thy deeds, and givest joy and rest to those who are united to Thee; come and communicate with us in this Eucharist, which we make in Thy name, and in the love 2376 in which we are united in calling upon Thee. 2377 And having thus said, he made the sign of the cross upon the bread, and broke it, and began to distribute it. And first he gave it to the woman, saying: This shall be to thee for remission of sins, and the ransom of everlasting transgressions. And after her, he gave also to all the others who had received the seal.
Footnotes
545:2362Or, no one else.
545:2363Or, grace.
545:2364Comp. Matt. viii. 29.
545:2365Or, wife.
545:2366i.e., get another instead of thee, my beloved.
546:2367Matt. 14:17, John 21:11, John 4:6, Matt. 14:25.
546:2368Rom. viii. 29.
546:2369Matt. xxvii. 63.
546:2370Col. iii. 9.
546:2371Rom. xvi. 20.
546:2372Or, deacon.
546:2373συμψέλλιον, which is not Greek, is obviously the Latin subsellium.
546:2374Or, Eucharist.
546:2375Or, prizes.
546:2376Or, love-feast.
546:2377Or, in Thy calling.
About the Young Man Who Killed the Maiden.
And there was a certain young man who had done a nefarious deed; and having come to the apostle, he took the bread of the Eucharist into his mouth, and his two hands immediately withered, so that he could no longer bring them to his mouth. And those who were present and saw him told the apostle what had happened. And he, having summoned him, said: Tell me, my child, and be ashamed of nothing, 2378 what thou hast done, and why thou hast come hither; for the Eucharist of the Lord has convicted thee. For this gracious gift coming to many is especially healing to those who approach it through faith and love; but thee it has withered away, and what has happened has happened not without some working cause. And the young man who had been convicted by the Eucharist of the Lord came up, and fell at the apostle’s feet, and prayed him, saying: An evil deed has been done by me, yet I thought to do something good. I was in love with a certain woman living outside of the city in an inn, and she loved me. And I having heard from thee, and believed that thou proclaimest the living God, came and received the seal from thee along with the others; and thou saidst, Whoever shall indulge in filthy intercourse, and especially in adultery, shall not have life with the God whom I proclaim. 2379 Since, then, I altogether loved her, I begged of her, and persuaded her to live with me in chaste and pure intercourse, as thou thyself teachest; but she would not. When therefore she would not, I took a sword and killed her; for I could not see her living in adultery with another.
The apostle, having heard this, said: O maddening intercourse, into what shamelessness dost thou lead! O unrestrained lust, how hast thou brought him into subjection to do this! O work of the serpent, how dost thou rage in thine own! And the apostle ordered water to be brought him in a dish. And when the water had been brought, he said: Come waters from the living waters, existing from the existing, and sent to us; the fountain sent to us from repose, the power of salvation coming from that power that subdues all things, and subjects them to its own will; come and dwell in these waters, that the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit may be fully perfected in them. And he said to the young man: Go, wash thy hands in these waters. And when he had washed, they were restored. And the apostle said to him: Dost thou believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, that He can do all things? And he said: Even though I am least of all, I believe; but this I did, thinking to do a good thing: for I implored her, as also I told thee; but she would not be persuaded by me to keep herself chaste.
And the apostle said to him: Come, let us go to the inn where thou didst this deed, and let us see what has happened. And the young man went before the apostle on the road; and when they came to the inn, they found her lying. And the apostle, seeing her, was disheartened, for she was a beautiful maiden; and he ordered her to be brought into the middle of the inn. And having put her on a couch, they brought it, and set it in the midst of the court-yard of the inn. And the apostle laid his hand on her, and began to say: Jesus, who always appearest to us—for this Thou always wishest, that we should seek Thee—and Thou Thyself hast given us this power of asking and receiving; 2380 and not only hast Thou given us this, but hast also taught us how to pray; 2381 who art not seen by bodily eyes, but who art not altogether hidden from those of our soul, and who art hidden in Thy form, but manifested to us by Thy works; and by Thy many deeds we have recognised Thee as we go on, and Thou hast given us Thy gifts without measure, saying, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 2382 We pray, therefore, having suspicion of our sins; 2383 and we ask of Thee not riches, nor gold, nor silver, nor possessions, nor any of those things that come from the earth and go into the earth again; but this we beg of Thee, and entreat that in Thy holy name Thou raise this woman lying here by Thy power, to the glory and faith of those standing by.
And when he had thus prayed, he sealed the young man, and said to him: Go, and take her by the hand, and say to her, I through my hands killed thee with the sword; 2384 and again I raise thee by my hands, in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the young man went and stood by her, saying: I have believed in Thee, O Christ Jesus. And looking upon Judas Thomas the apostle, he said to him: Pray for me, that my Lord, upon whom also I call, may come to my help. And having laid his hand on her hand, he said: Come, Lord Jesus Christ, giving this woman life, and me the earnest of Thy faith. And immediately, as he drew her hand, she sprang up, and sat, looking at the great multitude standing round. And she also saw the apostle standing opposite to her; and having left the couch, she sprang up, and fell at his feet, and took hold of his garments, saying: I pray thee, my lord, where is that other who is with thee, who has not left me to remain in that fearful and grievous place, but has given me up to thee, saying, Do thou take her, that she may be made perfect, and thereafter brought into her own place?
And the apostle says to her: Tell us where thou hast been. And she answered: Dost thou, who wast with me, to whom also I was entrusted, wish to hear? And she began to say: A certain man received me, hateful in appearance, all black, and his clothing exceedingly filthy; and he led me away to a place where there were many chasms, and a great stench and most hateful odour were given forth thence; and he made me bend down into each chasm, and I saw in the chasm blazing fire; and wheels of fire ran there, and souls were hung upon those wheels, and were dashed against each other. And there was there crying and great lamentation, and there was none released. And that man said to me, These souls are of thine own nation, and for a certain number of days 2385 they have been given over to punishment and torture; and then others are brought in instead of them; and likewise also these are again succeeded by others. These are they who have exchanged the intercourse of man and wife. And again I looked down, and saw infants heaped upon each other, and struggling and lying upon each other; and he answered and said to me, These are their children, and for this have they been placed here for a testimony against them.
And he brought me to another chasm, and I bent down and saw mud, and worms spouting forth, and souls wallowing there; and a great gnashing of teeth was heard thence from them. And that man said to me, These are the souls of women that left their own husbands, and went and committed adultery with others, and who have been brought to this torment. He showed me another chasm, into which I bent down and saw souls hung up, some by the tongue, some by the hair, some by the hands, some by the feet, head downwards, and smoked with smoke and sulphur; about whom that man who was with me answered me, These souls which are hung up by the tongue are slanderers, and such as have uttered false and disgraceful words; those that are hung up by the hair 2386 are those that are shameless, and that have gone about with uncovered heads in the world; these hung up by the hands are those who have taken what belongs to others, and have stolen, and who have never given anything to the poor, nor assisted the afflicted; but they so acted, wishing to get everything, and giving no heed at all to justice and the laws; and these hung up by the feet are those who lightly and eagerly ran in wicked ways, and disorderly wickedness, not looking after the sick, and not aiding those departing this life, and on account of this each individual soul is requited for what has been done by it.
Again leading me away, he showed me a cavern, exceedingly dark, exhaling a great stench; and many souls were peeping out thence, wishing to get some share of the air, but their keepers would not let them peep out. And he who was with me said, This is the prison of those souls which thou seest; for when they shall complete their punishments for those things which each one has done, afterwards again others succeed them—and there are some also quite used up—and are given up to other punishments. Those, then, who guarded the souls that were in the dark cave said to the man that had charge of me, Give her to us, that we may take her in beside the others, until the time comes for her to be given up to punishment. And he answered them, I will not give her to you, for I am afraid of him who gave her up to me; for I received no orders to leave her here, and I shall take her up with me until I get some injunction about her. And he took me and brought me to another place, in which were men who were bitterly tortured. And he that is like thee took me and gave me up to thee, having thus said to thee, Take her, since she is one of the creatures that have been led astray. And I was taken by thee, and am now before thee. I beg, therefore, and supplicate thee that I may not go into those places of punishment which I saw.
And the apostle said to the multitudes standing by: You have heard, brethren, what this woman has recounted; and these are not the only punishments, but there are others worse than these; and if you do not turn to this God whom I proclaim, and refrain from your former works and deeds which you have done without knowledge, in these punishments you shall have your end. Believe, therefore, in our Lord Jesus Christ, and He will forgive you the sins done by you heretofore, and will purify you from all the bodily desires that abide in the earth, and will heal you from the faults that follow after you, and go along with you, and are found before you. And let each of you put off the old man, and put on the new, and leave your former course of conduct and behaviour; and let those that steal steal no more, but let them live, labouring and working; 2387 and let the adulterers no more commit adultery, lest they give themselves up to everlasting punishment; for adultery is with God an evil altogether grievous above other evils. Put away also from yourselves covetousness, and lying, and drunkenness, and slandering, and requiting evil for evil: for all these are alien and strange to the God proclaimed by us; but rather live in faith, and meekness, and holiness, and hope, in which God rejoices, that ye may become His servants, having received from Him gracious gifts, which few or none receive.
All the people therefore believed, and presented their souls obedient to the living God and Christ Jesus, enjoying His blessed works, and His holy service. And they brought much money for the service of the widows; for he had them collected in the cities, and he sent to all of them by his own servants 2388 what was necessary, both clothing and food. But he did not cease proclaiming and saying to them, and showing that this is Jesus the Christ, concerning whom the Scriptures proclaimed that He should come, and be crucified, and be raised from the dead after three days. And he showed them a second time, beginning from the prophets, and explaining the things concerning Christ, and that it was necessary for Him to come, and for all things to be fulfilled that had been said to us beforehand concerning Him. 2389
And the report of him ran through all the cities and countries; and all who had persons sick or tormented by unclean spirits brought them, and they were healed. Some also they laid on the road by which he was to pass, and he healed them all by the power of the Lord. 2390 Then said all with one accord who had been healed by him, with one voice: Glory to Thee, Jesus, who givest Thy healing to all alike by means of Thy servant and apostle Thomas. And being in good health, and rejoicing, we pray Thee that we may be of Thy flock, and be numbered among Thy sheep; receive us, therefore, O Lord, and consider not our transgressions and former offences which we did, being in ignorance.
And the apostle said: Glory to the only-begotten from the Father; 2391 glory to the first-born of many brethren; 2392 Glory to Thee, the defender and helper of those who come to Thy place of refuge; Thou that sleepest not, and raisest those that are asleep; that livest and bringest to life those that are lying in death; O God Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, redeemer and helper, refuge and rest of all that labour in Thy work, who affordest health to those who for Thy name’s sake bear the burden of the day, and the icy coldness of the night; we give thanks for the gracious gifts that have been given us by Thee, and for the help from Thee bestowed upon us, and Thy providential care that has come upon us from Thee. Perfect these things upon us, therefore, unto the end, that we may have confidence in Thee; look upon us, because for Thy sake we have left our homes, and for Thy sake have become strangers gladly and willingly; look upon us, O Lord, because for Thy sake we have abandoned our possessions, that we may have Thee for a possession that shall not be taken away; look upon us, O Lord, because we have left those related to us by ties of kindred in order that we may be united in relationship to Thee; look upon us, O Lord, who have left our fathers and mothers, and those that nourished us, that we may behold Thy Father, and be satisfied with His divine nourishment: look upon us, O Lord, because for Thy sake we have left our bodily yoke-fellows, 2393 and our earthly fruit, in order that we may share in that intercourse which is lasting and true, and bring forth true fruits, whose nature is from above, the enjoyment of which no one can take away from us, with which we abide, and they abide with us.
Footnotes
546:2378Or, stand in awe of no one.
547:23791 Cor. vi. 9.
547:2380Matt. 7:7, Luke 11:9.
547:2381Matt. 6:9, Luke 11:2.
547:2382Matt. vii. 7.
547:2383Or, having our sins in view.
547:2384Lit., with iron.
547:2385Lit., days of number.
548:2386Obviously omitted either in the mss. or in the text.
548:2387Eph. iv. 28.
548:2388Or, deacons.
549:2389Comp. Luke xxiv. 46.
549:2390Comp. Acts v. 15.
549:2391John i. 14.
549:2392Rom. viii. 29.
549:2393i.e., wives.
Consummation of Thomas the Apostle. 2394
————————————
At the command of King Misdeus 2395 the blessed Apostle Thomas was cast into prison; and he said: I glorify God, and I shall preach the word to the prisoners, so that all rejoiced at his presence. When, therefore, Juzanes the king’s son, and Tertia his mother, and Mygdonia, and Markia, had become believers, but were not yet thought worthy of baptism, they took it exceedingly ill that the blessed one had been shut up. And having come to the prison, and given much money to the jailor, 2396 they went in to him. And he, seeing them, was glad, and glorified the Lord, and blessed them. And they entreated and begged the seal in the Lord, a beautiful young man having appeared to them in a dream, and ordered the apostle into the house of Juzanes.
And again the beautiful young man coming to them and Thomas, bade them do this on the coming night. And he ran before them, and gave them light on the way, and without noise opened the doors that had been secured, until all the mystery was completed. And having made them communicate in the Eucharist, and having talked much with them, and confirmed them in the faith, and commended them to the Lord, he went forth thence, leaving the women, and again went to be shut up. 2397 And they grieved and wept because Misdeus the king was to kill him.
And Thomas went and found the jailors fighting, and saying: What wrong have we done to that sorcerer, that, availing himself of his magic art, he has opened the doors of the prison, and wishes to set all the prisoners free? But let us go and let the king know about his wife and his son. 2398 And when he came they stripped him, and girded him with a girdle; and thus they stood before the king.
And Misdeus said to him: Art thou a slave, or a freeman? And Thomas answered and said to him: I am not 2399 a slave, and thou hast no power against me at all. And how, said Misdeus, hast thou run away and come to this country? And Thomas said: I came here that I might save many, and that I might by thy hands depart from this body. Misdeus says to him: Who is thy master? and what is his name? and of what country, and of whom is he? My Lord, says Thomas, is my Master and thine, being the Lord of heaven and earth. And Misdeus said: What is he called? And Thomas said: Thou canst not know His true name at this time; but I tell thee the name that has been given Him for a season—Jesus the Christ. And Misdeus said: I have not been in a hurry 2400 to destroy thee, but have restrained myself; but thou hast made a display of works, so that thy sorceries have been heard of in all the country. But now this will I do, 2401 that thy sorceries may also perish with thee, that our nation may be purified from them. And Thomas said: Dost thou call these things which will follow me sorceries? They shall never be removed from the people here.
And while these things were saying, Misdeus was considering in what manner he should put him to death; for he was afraid of the multitude standing round, many, even some of the chief men, having believed in him. And he arose, and took Thomas outside of the city; and a few soldiers accompanied him with their arms. And the rest of the multitude thought that the king was wishing to learn something from him; and they stood and observed him closely. And when they had gone forth three stadia, he delivered him to four soldiers, and to one of the chief officers, 2402 and ordered them to take him up into the mountain and spear him; but he himself returned to the city.
And those present ran to Thomas, eager to rescue him; but he was led away by the soldiers who were with him. For there were two on each side having hold of him, because of sorcery. And the chief officer held him by the hand, and led him with honour. And at the same time the blessed apostle said: O the hidden mysteries of Thee, O Lord! for even to the close of life is fulfilled in us the riches of Thy grace, which does not allow us to be without feeling as to the body. For, behold, four have laid hold of me, and one leads me, since I belong to One, to whom I am going always invisibly. But now I learn that my Lord also, since He was a stranger, to whom I am going, who also is always present with me invisibly, was struck by one; but I am struck by four. 2403
And when they came to that place where they were to spear him, Thomas spoke thus to those spearing him: Hear me now, at least, when I am departing from my body; and let not your eyes be darkened in understanding, nor your ears shut up so as not to hear those things in which you have believed the God whom I preach, after being delivered in your souls from rashness; and behave in a manner becoming those who are free, being void of human glory, and live the life towards God. And he said to Juzanes: Son of an earthly king, but servant of Jesus Christ, give what is due to those who are to fulfil the command 2404 of Misdeus, in order that I may go apart from them and pray. And Juzanes having paid the soldiers, the apostle betook himself to prayer; and it was as follows:—
My Lord, and my God, and hope, and leader, and guide in all countries, I follow Thee along with all that serve Thee, and do Thou guide me this day on my way to Thee. Let no one take my soul, which Thou hast given to me. Let not publicans and beggars look upon me, nor let serpents slander me, and let not the children of the dragon hiss at me. Behold, I have fulfilled Thy work, and accomplished what Thou gavest me to do. I have become a slave, that I might receive freedom from Thee; do then give it to me, and make me perfect. And this I say not wavering, but that they may hear who need to hear. I glorify Thee in all, Lord and Master; for to Thee is due glory for ever. Amen.
And when he had prayed, he said to the soldiers: Come and finish the work of him that sent you. And the four struck him at once, and killed him. And all the brethren wept, and wrapped him up in beautiful shawls, and many linen cloths, and laid him in the tomb in which of old the kings used to be buried.
And Syphor and Juzanes did not go to the city, but spent the whole day there, and waited during the night. And Thomas appeared to them, and said: I am not there; why do you sit watching? for I have gone up, and received the things I hoped for; but rise up and walk, and after no long time you shall be brought beside me. And Misdeus and Charisius 2405 greatly afflicted Tertia and Mygdonia, but did not persuade them to abandon their opinions. And Thomas appeared, and said to them: Forget not the former things, for the holy and sanctifying Jesus Himself will aid you. And Misdeus and Charisius, when they could not persuade them not to be of this opinion, granted them their own will. And all the brethren assembled together, for the blessed one had made Syphorus 2406 a presbyter in the mountain, and Juzanius 2407 a deacon, when he was led away to die. And the Lord helped them, and increased the faith by means of them.
And after a long time, it happened that one of the sons of Misdeus was a demoniac; and the demon being stubborn, no one was able to heal him. And Misdeus considered, and said: I shall go and open the tomb, and take a bone of the apostle’s body, and touch my son with it, and I know that he will be healed. And he went to do what he had thought of. And the blessed apostle appeared to him, and said: Thou didst not believe in me when alive; how wilt thou believe in me when I am dead? Fear not. Jesus Christ is kindly disposed to thee, through His great clemency. And Misdeus, when he did not find the bones (for one of the brethren had taken them, and carried them into the regions of the West 2408 ), took some dust from where the bones had lain, and touched his son with it, and said: I believe in Thee, Jesus, now when he has left me who always afflicts men, that they may not look to Thy light which giveth understanding, O Lord, kind to men. And his son being healed in this manner, he met with the rest of the brethren who were under the rule of Syphorus, and entreated the brethren to pray for him, that he might obtain mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Footnotes
550:2394The following translation of a ms. in the Bodleian Library, transcribed by Tischendorf (Apocal. Apocr., p. 158), gives a fuller account of the martyrdom of St. Thomas:—
MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY AND ALL-RENOWNED APOSTLE THOMAS.
After the apostle had gone forth, according to the command of our Lord, and God, and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Lord appeared to him, saying: Peace to thee, my disciple and apostle! And the apostle fell on his face on the ground, and prayed the Lord to reveal to him the circumstances of his precious departure. And the Lord said to him: Misdæus is contriving a plan to destroy thee very soon; but, behold, he will come to me. And after having sealed him, He ascended into the heavens. And the apostle taught the people, and there was added unto the flock of Christ. But some men who hated Christ accused him before King Misdeus, saying: Destroy this sorcerer, who corrupts and deceives the people in this new one God whom he proclaims. Moreover, he has deceived thy lady and thy son. On hearing this, Misdeus, without inquiry, ordered him to be laid hold of, and shut up in prison. And they quickly did what they were ordered, and threw him into the prison, and sealed it. And when the women who believed in God had heard that Judas was shut up, they gave a great sum of money to the warders, and went in to him in the prison. And the apostle says to them: My daughters, handmaidens of Jesus Christ, listen to me. In my last day I address you, because I shall no more speak in the body; for, lo, I am taken up to my Lord Jesus Christ, who has had pity upon me, who humbled Himself even to my littleness. And I rejoice that the time is at hand for my change from this, that I may depart and receive my reward in the end; for my Lord is just. And at the end of his discourse to them, he said: O my Saviour, who hast endured much for our sake, let Thy mercies be upon us. And he sent them away, saying: The grace of the Holy Spirit be with you! And they grieved and wept, knowing that King Misdeus was going to put him to death. And Judas heard the warders contending with each other, and saying: Let us go and tell the king, Thy wife and thy son are going to the prison to this sorcerer, and for their sakes thou shouldst put him to death soon. And at dawn they arose and went to King Misdeus, and said: My Lord, release that sorcerer, or cause him to be shut up elsewhere; for though we shut in the prisoners, and secure the doors, when we rise we find them opened. Nay, more: thy wife and son will not keep away from the man any more than the rest of them. And when the king heard this, he went to look at the seals. And he looked all about them on the doors, and found them as they were. Then he said to the jailors: What are you telling lies about? for certainly these seals are quite safe: and how do you say that Tertia, and Mygdonia, and my son go within the prison? And the warders said: We have told thee the truth, O king. And after this the king went into the prison, and sent for the apostle. And when he came, they took off his girdle, and set him before the tribunal. And the king said: Art thou a slave, or free? And Thomas said: I am One’s slave. Thou hast no power over me whatever. And Misdæus says: Didst thou run away and come to this country? Thomas: I came here to save many, and I am to depart from my body by thy hands. Misdæus says to him: Who is thy master? and what is his name? and what country dost thou belong to? Thomas: Thou canst not hear His true name at this time; but I tell thee the name that has been given Him for the time: it is Jesus the Christ. And Misdæus says: I have been in no hurry to put thee to death, but have restrained myself; but thou hast made a display of thy works, so that thy sorceries have been heard of in every country. But no; I shall bring thee to an end, that thy sorceries may be destroyed, and our nation purified. And Thomas said: What thou callest sorceries shall abound in me, and never be removed from the people here. And after this was said, Misdeus reflected in what manner he should put the apostle to death, for he was afraid of the people standing by who believed. And he arose and took Thomas outside of the city; and he was accompanied by a few armed soldiers. And the multitude suspected that the king was plotting about him, and stood and addressed themselves to him. And when they had gone forth three stadia, he delivered him to four soldiers and one of the polemarchs, and ordered them to spear him on the mountain; and he returned to the city. And those who were present ran to Thomas, eager to rescue him. And he was led away, accompanied by the soldiers, two on each side.…And Thomas, walking along, said: O Thy secret mysteries, O Jesus! for even unto the end of life are they fulfilled in us. O the riches of Thy grace!…for, lo, how four have laid hold of me, since of four elements…(Here the fragment ends.) [Thems. in which this occurs is not that one which has been so frequently cited in the preceding Apocryphal Acts.—R.]
550:2395Pseudo-Abdias, in his Histories of the Apostles, has as follows: Wherefore, in a rage, Mesdeus king of India thrust into prison the Apostle Thomas, and Zuganes his son, and several others.
550:2396Abdias: Treptia, who was the king’s wife, and Mygdonia the wife of Charisius, one of the king’s friends, and Narchia the nurse, gave the jailor 360 pieces of silver, and were let in to the apostle.
550:2397Abdias: Thomas stood in the prison, and said: Lord Jesus, who didst endure very much for us, let the gates be shut as they were before, and the seals be made again on the same doors.
550:2398Abdias gives an account of the king going to the prison, and disbelieving the report of the warders, because he found the seals on the doors as he had left them.
551:2399The not should, by the context, be omitted. [So Pseudo-Abdias.—R.]
551:2400Reading ἠπείχθην for ἀπήχθην.
551:2401i.e., I will so act.
551:2402Lit., polemarchs, who in the early times of Athens combined the duties of Foreign Secretary and War Secretary, and sometimes took the command in the field.
551:2403Abdias: The apostle said that great and divine mysteries were revealed in his death, since he was led by four soldiers, because he consisted of four elements; and the Lord Jesus had been struck by one man, because He knew that one Father had begotten Him.
551:2404Lit., the servants of the order.
551:2405The husband of Mygdonia.
552:2406These names are slightly different in form in this paragraph.
552:2407These names are slightly different in form in this paragraph.
552:2408Abdias: and buried them in the city of Edessa. [The translator cites the readings of Pseudo-Abdias, as given by Tischendorf (from Fabricius), as those of “Abdias.” The same form of citation appears in the footnotes to the Martyrdom of Bartholomew, pp. 553–557.—R.]
Martyrdom of the Holy and Glorious Apostle Bartholomew.
————————————
Historians declare that India is divided into three parts; and the first is said to end at Ethiopia, and the second at Media, and the third completes the country; and the one portion of it ends in the dark, and the other in the ocean. To this India, then, the holy Bartholomew the apostle of Christ went, and took up his quarters in the temple of Astaruth, and lived there as one of the pilgrims and the poor. In this temple, then, there was an idol called Astaruth, which was supposed to heal the infirm, but rather the more injured all. And the people were in entire ignorance of the true God; and from want of knowledge, but rather from the difficulty of going to any other, they all fled for refuge to the false god. And he brought upon them troubles, infirmities, damage, violence, and much affliction; and when any one sacrificed to him, the demon, retiring, appeared to give a cure to the person in trouble; and the foolish people, seeing this, believed in him. But the demons retired, not because they wished to cure men, but that they might the more assail them, and rather have them altogether in their power; and thinking that they were cured bodily, those that sacrificed to them were the more diseased in soul.
And it came to pass, that while the holy apostle of Christ, Bartholomew, stayed there, Astaruth gave no response, and was not able for curing. And when the temple was full of sick persons, who sacrificed to him daily, Astaruth could give no response; and sick persons who had come from far countries were lying there. When, therefore, in that temple not even one of the idols was able to give a response, and was of benefit neither to those that sacrificed to them nor to those who were in the agonies of death on their account, they were compelled to go to another city, where there was a temple of idols, where their great and most eminent god was called Becher. 2409 And having there sacrificed, they demanded, asking why their god Astaruth had not responded to them. And the demon Becher answered and said to them: From the day and hour that the true God, who dwelleth in the heavens, sent his apostle Bartholomew into the regions here, your god Astaruth is held fast by chains of fire, and can no longer either speak or breathe. They said to him: And who is this Bartholomew? He answered: He is the friend of the Almighty God, and has just come into these parts, that he may take away all the worship of the idols in the name of his God. And the servants of the Greeks said to him: Tell us what he is like, that we may be able to find him.
And the demon answered and said: He has black hair, a shaggy head, a fair skin, 2410 large eyes, beautiful nostrils, his ears hidden by the hair of his head, with a yellow beard, a few grey hairs, of middle height, and neither tall nor stunted, but middling, clothed with a white undercloak bordered with purple, and upon his shoulders a very white cloak; and his clothes have been worn twenty-six years, but neither are they dirty, nor have they waxed old. Seven times 2411 a day he bends the knee to the Lord, and seven times 2412 a night does he pray to God. His voice is like the sound of a strong trumpet; there go along with him angels of God, who allow him neither to be weary, nor to hunger, nor to thirst; his face, and his soul, and his heart are always glad and rejoicing; he foresees everything, he knows and speaks every tongue of every nation. And behold now, as soon as you ask me, and I answer you about him, behold, he knows; for the angels of the Lord tell him; and if you wish to seek him, if he is willing he will appear to you; but if he shall not be willing, you will not be able to find him. I entreat you, therefore, if you shall find him, entreat him not to come here, lest his angels do to me as they have done to my brother Astaruth.
And when the demon had said this, he held his peace. And they returned, and set to work to look into every face of the pilgrims and poor men, and for two days they could find him nowhere. And it came to pass, that one who was a demoniac set to work to cry out: Apostle of the Lord, Bartholomew, thy prayers are burning me up. Then said the apostle to him: Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And that very hour, the man who had suffered from the demon for many years was set free.
And Polymius, the king of that country, happened to be standing opposite the apostle; and he had a daughter a demoniac, that is to say, a lunatic. And he heard about the demoniac that had been healed, and sent messengers to the apostle, saying: My daughter is grievously torn; I implore thee, therefore, as thou hast delivered him 2413 who suffered for many years, so also to order my daughter to be set free. And the apostle rose up, and went with them. And he sees the king’s daughter bound with chains, for she used to tear in pieces all her limbs; and if any one came near her, she used to bite, and no one dared to come near her. The servants say to him: And who is it that dares to touch her? The apostle answered them: Loose her, and let her go. They say to him again: We have her in our power when she is bound with all our force, and dost thou bid us loose her? The apostle says to them: Behold, I keep her enemy bound, and are you even now afraid of her? Go and loose her; and when she has partaken of food, let her rest, and early to-morrow bring her to me. And they went and did as the apostle had commanded them; and thereafter the demon was not able to come near her.
Then the king loaded camels with gold and silver, precious stones, pearls, and clothing, and sought to see the apostle; and having made many efforts, and not found him, he brought everything back to his palace.
And it happened, when the night had passed, and the following day was dawning, the sun having risen, the apostle appeared alone with the king in his bed-chamber, and said to him: Why didst thou seek me yesterday the whole day with gold and silver, and precious stones, pearls, and raiment? For these gifts those persons long for who seek earthly things; but I seek nothing earthly, nothing carnal. Wherefore I wish to teach thee that the Son of God deigned to be born as a man out of a virgin’s womb. He was conceived in the womb of the virgin; He took to Himself her who was always a virgin, having within herself Him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that therein is. He, born of a virgin, like mankind, took to Himself a beginning in time, He who has a beginning neither of times nor days; but He Himself made every beginning, and everything created, whether in things visible or invisible. And as this virgin did not know man, so she, preserving her virginity, vowed a vow 2414 to the Lord God. And she was the first who did so. For, from the time that man existed from the beginning of the world, no woman made a vow of this mode of life; but she, as she was the first among women who loved this in her heart, said, I offer to Thee, O Lord, my virginity. And, as I have said to thee, none of mankind dared to speak this word; but she being called for the salvation of many, observed this—that she might remain a virgin through the love of God, pure and undefiled. And suddenly, when she was shut up in her chamber, the archangel Gabriel appeared, gleaming like the sun; and when she was terrified at the sight, the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favour in the sight of the Lord, and thou shalt conceive. And she cast off fear, and stood up, and said, How shall this be to me, since I know not man? The angel answered her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also that holy thing which is born of thee shall be called Son of God. 2415 Thus, therefore, when the angel had departed from her, she escaped the temptation of the devil, who deceived the first man when at rest. For, having tasted of the tree of disobedience, when the woman said to him, Eat, he ate; and thus the first man was cast out of paradise, and banished to this life. From him have been born the whole human race. Then the Son of God having been born of the virgin, and having become perfect man, and having been baptized, and after His baptism having fasted forty days, the tempter came and said to Him: If thou art the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves. And He answered: Not on bread alone shall man live, but by every word of God. 2416 Thus therefore the devil, who through eating had conquered the first man, was conquered through the fasting of the second man; and as he through want of self-restraint had conquered the first man, the son of the virgin earth, so we shall conquer through the fasting of the second Adam, the Son of the Virgin Mary.
The king says to him: And how is it that thou saidst just now that she was the first virgin of whom was born God and man? And the apostle answered: I give thanks to the Lord that thou hearest me gladly. The first man, then, was called Adam; he was formed out of the earth. And the earth, his mother out of which he was, was virgin, because it had neither been polluted by the blood of man nor opened for the burial of any one. The earth, then, was like the virgin, in order that he who conquered the son of the virgin earth might be conquered by the Son of the Virgin Mary. And, behold, he did conquer; for his wicked craft, through the eating of the tree by which man, being deceived, came forth from paradise, kept paradise shut. Thereafter this Son of the virgin conquered all the craft of the devil. And his craft was such, that when he saw the Son of the virgin fasting forty days, he knew in truth that He was the true God. The true God and man, therefore, hath not given Himself out to be known, except to those who are pure in heart, 2417 and who serve Him by good works. The devil himself, therefore, when he saw that after the forty days He was again hungry, was deceived into thinking that He was not God, and said to Him, Why hast thou been hungry? tell these stones to become loaves, and eat. And the Lord answered him, Listen, devil; although thou mayst lord it over man, because he has not kept the commandment of God. I have fulfilled the righteousness of God in having fasted, and shall destroy thy power, so that thou shalt no longer lord it over man. And when he saw himself conquered, he again takes Jesus to an exceeding high mountain, and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world, and says, All these will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. The Lord says to him, Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. And there was a third temptation for the Lord; for he takes Him up to the pinnacle of the temple, and says, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down. The Lord says to him, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And the devil disappeared. And he indeed that once conquered Adam, the son of the virgin earth, was thrice conquered by Christ, the Son of the Virgin Mary.
And when the Lord had conquered the tyrant, He sent His apostles into all the world, that He might redeem His people from the deception of the devil; and one of these I am, an apostle of Christ. On this account we seek not after gold and silver, but rather despise them, because we labour to be rich in that place where the kingdom of Him alone endureth 2418 for ever, where neither trouble, nor grief, nor groaning, nor death, has place; where there is eternal blessedness, and ineffable joy, and everlasting exultation, and perpetual repose. Wherefore also the demon sitting in your temple, who makes responses to you, is kept in chains through the angel of the Lord who has sent me. Because if thou shalt be baptized, and wishest thyself to be enlightened, I will make thee behold Him, and learn from how great evils thou hast been redeemed. At the same time hear also by what means he injures all those who are lying sick in the temple. The devil himself by his own art causes the men to be sick, and again to be healed, in order that they may the more believe in the idols, and in order that he may have place the more in their souls, in order that they may say to the stock and the stone, Thou art our God. 2419 But that demon who dwells in the idol is held in subjection, conquered by me, and is able to give no response to those who sacrifice and pray there. And if thou wishest to prove that it is so, I order him to return into the idol, and I will make him confess with his own mouth that he is bound, and able to give no response.
The king says to him: To-morrow, at the first hour of the day, the priests are ready to sacrifice in the temple, and I shall come there, and shall be able to see this wonderful work.
And it came to pass on the following day, as they were sacrificing, the devil began to cry out: Refrain, ye wretched ones, from sacrificing to me, lest ye suffer worse for my sake; because I am bound in fiery chains, and kept in subjection by an angel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom the Jews crucified: for, being afraid of him, they condemned him to death. And he put to death Death himself, our king, and he bound our prince in chains of fire; and on the third day, having conquered death and the devil, rose in glory, and gave the sign of the cross to his apostles, and sent them out into the four quarters of the world; and one of them is here just now, who has bound me, and keeps me in subjection. I implore you, therefore, supplicate him on my account, that he may set me free to go into other habitations.
Then the apostle answered: Confess, unclean demon, who is it that has injured all those that are lying here from heavy diseases? The demon answered: The devil, our ruler, he who is bound, he sends us against men, that, having first injured their bodies, we may thus also make an assault upon their souls when they sacrifice to us. For then we have complete power over them, when they believe in us and sacrifice to us. And when, on account of the mischief done to them, we retire, we appear curing them, and are worshipped by them as gods; but in truth we are demons, and the servants of him who was crucified, the Son of the virgin, have bound us. For from that day on which the Apostle Bartholomew came I am punished, kept bound in chains of fire. And for this reason I speak, because he has commanded me. At the same time, I dare not utter more when the apostle is present, neither I nor our rulers.
The apostle says to him: Why dost thou not save all that have come to thee? The demon says to him: When we injure their bodies, unless we first injure their souls, we do not let their bodies go. The apostle says to him: And how do you injure their souls? The demon answered him: When they believe that we are gods, and sacrifice to us, God withdraws from those who sacrifice, and we do not take away the sufferings of their bodies, but retire into their souls.
Then the apostle says to the people: Behold, the god whom you thought to cure you, does the more mischief to your souls and bodies. Hear even now your Maker who dwells in the heavens, and do not believe in lifeless stones and stocks. And if you wish that I should pray for you, and that all these may receive health, take down this idol, and break it to pieces; and when you have done this, I will sanctify this temple in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; and having baptized all of you who are in it in the baptism of the Lord, and sanctified you, I will save all.
Then the king gave orders, and all the people brought ropes and crowbars, and were not at all able to take down the idol. Then the apostle says to them: Unfasten the ropes. And when they had unfastened them, he said to the demon dwelling in it: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, come out of this idol, and go into a desert place, where neither winged creature utters a cry, nor voice of man has ever been heard. And straightway he arose at the word of the apostle, and lifted it up from its foundations; and in that same hour all the idols that were in that place were broken to pieces.
Then all cried out with one voice, saying: He alone is God Almighty whom Bartholomew the apostle proclaims. Then the holy Bartholomew, having spread forth his hands to heaven, said: God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, who for the salvation of men hast sent forth Thine only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that He might redeem by His own blood all of us enslaved by sin, and declare us to be Thy sons, that we may know Thee, the true God, that Thou existest always to eternity God without end: one God, the Father, acknowledged in Son and Holy Spirit; one God, the Son, glorified in Father and Holy Spirit; one God, the Holy Spirit, worshipped in Father and Son; and acknowledged to be truly one, 2420 the Father unbegotten, the Son begotten, the Holy Spirit proceeding; and in Thee the Father, and in the Holy Spirit, Thine only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ is, in whose name Thou hast given us power to heal the sick, to cure paralytics, to expel demons, and raise the dead: for He said to us, Verily I say unto you, that whatever ye shall ask in my name ye shall receive. 2421 I entreat, then, that in His name all this multitude may be saved, that all may know that Thou alone art God in heaven, and in the earth, and in the sea, who seekest the salvation of men through that same Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom Thou livest and reignest in unity of the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.
And when all responded to the Amen, suddenly there appeared an angel of the Lord, shining brighter than the sun, winged, and other four angels holding up the four corners of the temple; and with his finger the one sealed the temple and the people, and said: Thus saith the Lord who hath sent me, As you have all been purified from all your infirmity, so also this temple shall be purified from all uncleanness, and from the demons dwelling in it, whom the apostle of God has ordered to go into a desert place; for so hath God commanded me, that I may manifest Him to you. And when ye behold Him, fear nothing; but when I make the sign of the cross, so also do ye with your finger seal your faces, and these evil things will flee from you. Then he showed them the demon who dwelt in the temple, like an Ethiopian, black as soot; his face sharp like a dog’s, thin-cheeked, with hair down to his feet, eyes like fire, sparks coming out of his mouth; and out of his nostrils came forth smoke like sulphur, with wings spined like a porcupine; and his hands were bound with fiery chains, and he was firmly kept in. And the angel of the Lord said to him: As also the apostle hath commanded, I let thee go; go where voice of man is not heard, and be there until the great day of judgment. And when he let him go, he flew away, groaning and weeping, and disappeared. And the angel of the Lord went up into heaven in the sight of all.
Then the king, and also the queen, with their two sons, and with all his people, and with all the multitude of the city, and every city round about, and country, and whatever land his kingdom ruled over, were saved, and believed, and were baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the king laid aside his diadem, and followed Bartholomew the apostle of Christ.
And after these things the unbelievers of the Greeks, having come together to Astreges 2422 the king, who was the elder brother of the king who had been baptized, say to him: O king, thy brother Polymius has become disciple to a certain magician, who has taken down our temples, and broken our gods to pieces. And while they were thus speaking and weeping, behold, again there came also some others from the cities round about, both priests 2423 and people; and they set about weeping and making accusations 2424 before the king. Then King Astreges in a rage sent a thousand armed men along with those priests, in order that, wherever they should find the apostle, they might bring him to him bound. And when they had done so, and found him, and brought him, he says to him: Art thou he who has perverted my brother from the gods? To whom the apostle answered: I have not perverted him, but have converted him to God. The king says to him: Art thou he who caused our gods to be broken in pieces? The apostle says to him: I gave power to the demons who were in them, and they broke in pieces the dumb and senseless idols, that all men might believe in God Almighty, who dwelleth in the heavens. The king says to him: As thou hast made my brother deny his gods, and believe in thy God, so I also will make you reject thy God and believe in my gods. The apostle says to him: If I have bound and kept in subjection the god which thy brother worshipped, and at my order the idols were broken in pieces, if thou also art able to do the same to my God, thou canst persuade me also to sacrifice to thy gods; but if thou canst do nothing to my God, I will break all thy gods in pieces; but do thou believe in my God.
And when he had thus spoken, the king was informed that this god Baldad 2425 and all the other idols had fallen down, and were broken in pieces. Then the king rent the purple in which he was clothed, and ordered the holy apostle Bartholomew to be beaten with rods; and after having been thus scourged, to be beheaded.
And innumerable multitudes came from all the cities, to the number of twelve thousand, who had believed in him along with the king; and they took up the remains of the apostle with singing of praise and with all glory, and they laid them in the royal tomb, and glorified God. And the king Astreges having heard of this, ordered him to be thrown into the sea; and his remains were carried into the island of Liparis.
And it came to pass on the thirtieth day after the apostle was carried away, that the king Astreges was overpowered by a demon and miserably strangled; and all the priests were strangled by demons, and perished on account of their rising against 2426 the apostle, and thus died by an evil fate.
And there was great fear and trembling, and all came to the Lord, and were baptized by the presbyters who had been ordained by the holy apostle Bartholomew. And according to the commandment of the apostle, all the clergy of the people made King Polymius bishop; and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ he received the grace of healing, and began to do signs. And he remained in the bishopric twenty years; and having prospered in all things, and governed the church well, and guided it in right opinions, 2427 he fell asleep in peace, and went to the Lord: to whom be glory and strength for ever and ever. Amen.
Footnotes
553:2409The history of Abdias gives the name as Berith, after Judg. ix. 46.
553:2410Lit., white flesh.
553:2411Pseudo-Abdias says: a hundred times.
553:2412Pseudo-Abdias says: a hundred times.
554:2413Abdias calls him Pseustius.
554:2414Or, prayed a prayer.
554:2415Comp. Luke i. 26-38. Abdias goes on: He then, after His birth, suffered Himself to be tempted by that devil who had overcome the first man, persuading him to eat of the tree forbidden by God.
554:2416Comp. Luke iv. 1-13.
555:2417Matt. v. 8.
555:2418Lit., reigneth.
555:2419Jer. ii. 27.
556:2420Or, unity.
556:2421Matt. xxi. 22.
556:2422Abdias calls him Astyages; elsewhere he is called Sanathrugus.
556:2423Lit., no-priests—μιερεῖς for μὴ ἱερεῖς—a name given in scorn to heathen priests by Christian writers.
557:2424Lit., calling out.
557:2425Abdias calls him Vualdath.
557:2426Or it may mean: that the apostle might be established.
557:2427Or, in orthodoxy.
Acts of the Holy Apostle Thaddæus,
One of the Twelve. 2428
————————————
Lebbæus, who also is Thaddæus, was of the city of Edessa—and it is the metropolis of Osroene, in the interior of the Armenosyrians—an Hebrew by race, accomplished and most learned in the divine writings. He came to Jerusalem to worship in the days of John the Baptist; and having heard his preaching and seen his angelic life, he was baptized, and his name was called Thaddæus. And having seen the appearing of Christ, and His teaching, and His wonderful works, he followed Him, and became His disciple; and He chose him as one of the twelve, the tenth apostle according to the Evangelists Matthew and Mark.
In those times there was a governor of the city of Edessa, Abgarus by name. And there having gone abroad the fame of Christ, of the wonders which He did, and of His teaching, Abgarus having heard of it, was astonished, and desired to see Christ, and could not leave his city and government. And about the days of the Passion and the plots of the Jews, Abgarus, being seized by an incurable disease, sent a letter to Christ by Ananias the courier, 2429 to the following effect:—To Jesus 2430 called Christ, Abgarus the governor of the country of the Edessenes, an unworthy slave. The multitude of the wonders done by thee has been heard of by me, that thou healest the blind, the lame, and the paralytic, and curest all the demoniacs; and on this account I entreat thy goodness to come even to us, and escape from the plottings of the wicked Jews, which through envy they set in motion against thee. My city is small, but large enough for both. Abgarus enjoined Ananias to take accurate account of Christ, of what appearance He was, and His stature, and His hair, and in a word everything.
And Ananias, having gone and given the letter, was carefully looking at Christ, but was unable to fix Him in his mind. And He knew as knowing the heart, and asked to wash Himself; and a towel 2431 was given Him; and when He had washed Himself, He wiped His face with it. And His image having been imprinted upon the linen, He gave it to Ananias, saying: Give this, and take back this message, to him that sent thee: Peace to thee and thy city! For because of this I am come, to suffer for the world, and to rise again, and to raise up the forefathers. And after I have been taken up into the heavens I shall send thee my disciple Thaddæus, who shall enlighten thee, and guide thee into all the truth, both thee and thy city.
And having received Ananias, and fallen down and adored the likeness, Abgarus was cured of his disease before Thaddæus came.
And after the passion, and the resurrection, and the ascension, Thaddæus went to Abgarus; and having found him in health, he gave him an account of the incarnation of Christ, and baptized him, with all his house. And having instructed great multitudes, both of Hebrews and Greeks, Syrians and Armenians, he baptized them in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, having anointed them with the holy perfume; and he communicated to them of the undefiled mysteries of the sacred body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and delivered to them to keep and observe the law of Moses, and to give close heed to the things that had been said by the apostles in Jerusalem. For year by year they came together to the passover, and again he imparted to them the Holy Spirit.
And Thaddæus along with Abgarus destroyed idol-temples and built churches; ordained as bishop one of his disciples, and presbyters, and deacons, and gave them the rule of the psalmody and the holy liturgy. And having left them, he went to the city of Amis, great metropolis of the Mesechaldeans and Syrians, that is, of Mesopotamia-Syria, beside the river Tigris. And he having gone into the synagogue of the Jews along with his disciples on the Sabbath-day, after the reading of the law the high priest said to Thaddæus and his disciples: Men, whence are you? and why are you here?
And Thaddæus said: No doubt you have heard of what has taken place in Jerusalem about Jesus Christ, and we are His disciples, and witnesses of the wonderful things which He did and taught, and how through hatred the chief priests delivered Him to Pilate the procurator of Judæa. And Pilate, having examined Him and found no case, 2432 wished to let Him go; but they cried out, If thou let him go, thou art not Cæsar’s friend, because he proclaims himself king. And he being afraid, washed his hands in the sight of the multitude, and said, I am innocent of the blood of this man; see ye to it. And the chief priests answered and said, His blood be upon us and our children. And Pilate gave him up to them. And they took Him, and spit upon Him, with the soldiers, and made a great mock of Him, and crucified Him, and laid Him in the tomb, and secured it well, having also set guards upon Him. And on the third day before dawn He rose, leaving His burial-clothes in the tomb. And He was seen first by His mother and other women, and by Peter and John first of my fellow disciples, and thereafter to us the twelve, who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection for many days. And He sent us in His name to proclaim repentance and remission of sins to all the nations, that those who were baptized, having had the kingdom of the heavens preached to them, would rise up incorruptible at the end of this age; and He gave us power to expel demons, and heal every disease and every malady, and raise the dead.
And the multitudes having heard this, brought together their sick and demoniacs. And Thaddæus, having gone forth along with his disciples, laid his hand upon each one of them, and healed them all by calling upon the name of Christ. And the demoniacs were healed before Thaddæus came near them, the spirits going out of them. And for many days the people ran together from different places, and beheld what was done by Thaddæus. And hearing his teaching, many believed, and were baptized, confessing their sins.
Having therefore remained with them for five years, he built a church; and having appointed as bishop one of his disciples, and presbyters, and deacons, and prayed for them, he went away, going round the cities of Syria, and teaching, and healing all the sick; whence he brought many cities and countries to Christ through His teaching. Teaching, therefore, and evangelizing along with the disciples, and healing the sick, he went to Berytus, a city of Phœnicia by the sea; 2433 and there, having taught and enlightened many, he fell asleep on the twenty-first 2434 of the month of August. And the disciples having come together, buried him with great honour; and many sick were healed, and they gave glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
Footnotes
558:2428[Curiously enough, the Vienna ms. has in the title: “one of the seventy,” instead of “one of the twelve.” The same confusion exists in the writings of Eusebius and Jerome.—R.]
558:2429Lit., the swift runner.
558:2430[Compare with this letter that found in Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., i. 13), where the reply is also given. Eusebius claims that he had seen the original documents.—R.]
558:2431Lit., doubled in four.
559:2432Or, fault.
559:2433The other [Vienna] ms. here adds: And having gone into it, he preached Christ, saying to them all with tears, Ye men who have ears to hear, hear from me the word of life; hear attentively, and understand. Cast off your many opinions, and believe and come to the one living and true God, the God of the Hebrews. For He only is the true God and Maker of the whole creation, searching the hearts of mankind, and knowing all about each one before their birth, as being the Maker of them all. To Him alone, fixing your eyes upon heaven, fall down evening and morning, and at noon, and to Him alone offer the sacrifice of praise, and give thanks always, refraining from what you yourselves hate; because God is compassionate and benevolent, and recompenses to each one according to his works.
559:2434The Parisms. has 20th.
Acts of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian.
About His Exile and Departure.
————————————
When Agrippa, whom, on account of his plotting against Peace, they stoned and put to death, was king of the Jews, Vespasian Cæsar, coming with a great army, invested Jerusalem; and some prisoners of war he took and slew, others he destroyed by famine in the siege, and most he banished, and at length scattered up and down. And having destroyed the temple, and put the holy vessels on board a ship, he sent them to Rome, to make for himself a temple of peace, and adorned it with the spoils of war.
And when Vespasian was dead, his son Domitian, having got possession of the kingdom, along with his other wrongful acts, set himself also to make a persecution against the righteous men. For, having learned that the city was filled with Jews, remembering the orders given by his father about them, he purposed casting them all out of the city of the Romans. And some of the Jews took courage, and gave Domitian a book, in which was written as follows:—
O Domitian, Cæsar and king of all the world, as many of us as are Jews entreat thee, as suppliants we beseech of thy power not to banish us from thy divine and benignant countenance; for we are obedient to thee, and the customs, and laws, and practices, and policy, doing wrong in nothing, but being of the same mind with the Romans. But there is a new and strange nation, neither agreeing with other nations nor consenting to the religious observances of the Jews, uncircumcised, inhuman, lawless, subverting whole houses, proclaiming a man as God, all assembling together 2435 under a strange name, that of Christian. These men reject God, paying no heed to the law given by Him, and proclaim to be the Son of God a man born of ourselves, Jesus by name, whose parents and brothers and all his family have been connected with the Hebrews; whom on account of his great blasphemy and his wicked fooleries we gave up to the cross. And they add another blasphemous lie to their first one: him that was nailed up and buried, they glorify as having risen from the dead; and, more than this, they falsely assert that he has been taken up by 2436 clouds into the heavens.
At all this the king, being affected with rage, ordered the senate to publish a decree that they should put to death all who confessed themselves to be Christians. Those, then, who were found in the time of his rage, and who reaped the fruit of patience, and were crowned in the triumphant contest against the works of the devil, received the repose of incorruption.
And the fame of the teaching of John was spread abroad in Rome; and it came to the ears of Domitian that there was a certain Hebrew in Ephesus, John by name, who spread a report about the seat of empire of the Romans, saying that it would quickly be rooted out, and that the kingdom of the Romans would be given over to another. And Domitian, troubled by what was said, sent a centurion with soldiers to seize John, and bring him. And having gone to Ephesus, they asked where John lived. And having come up to his gate, they found him standing before the door; and, thinking that he was the porter, they inquired of him where John lived. And he answered and said: I am he. And they, despising his common, and low, and poor appearance, were filled with threats, and said: Tell us the truth. And when he declared again that he was the man they sought, the neighbours moreover bearing witness to it, they said that he was to go with them at once to the king in Rome. And, urging them to take provisions for the journey, he turned and took a few dates, and straightway went forth.
And the soldiers, having taken the public conveyances, travelled fast, having seated him in the midst of them. And when they came to the first change, it being the hour of breakfast, they entreated him to be of good courage, and to take bread, and eat with them. And John said: I rejoice in soul indeed, but in the meantime I do not wish to take any food. And they started, and were carried along quickly. And when it was evening they stopped at a certain inn; and as, besides, it was the hour of supper, the centurion and the soldiers being most kindly disposed, entreated John to make use of what was set before them. But he said that he was very tired, and in want of sleep more than any food. And as he did this each day, all the soldiers were struck with amazement, and were afraid lest John should die, and involve them in danger. But the Holy Spirit showed him to them as more cheerful. And on the seventh day, it being the Lord’s day, he said to them: Now it is time for me also to partake of food. And having washed his hands and face, he prayed, and brought out the linen cloth, and took one of the dates, and ate it in the sight of all.
And when they had ridden a long time they came to the end of their journey, John thus fasting. And they brought him before the king, and said: Worshipful king, we bring to thee John, a god, not a man; for, from the hour in which we apprehended him, to the present, he has not tasted bread. At this Domitian being amazed, stretched out his mouth on account of the wonder, wishing to salute him with a kiss; but John bent down his head, and kissed his breast. And Domitian said: Why hast thou done this? Didst thou not think me worthy to kiss thee? And John said to him: It is right to adore the hand of God first of all, and in this way to kiss the mouth of the king; for it is written in the holy books, The heart of a king is in the hand of God. 2437
And the king said to him: Art thou John, who said that my kingdom would speedily be uprooted, and that another king, Jesus, was going to reign instead of me? And John answered and said to him: Thou also shalt reign for many years given thee by God, and after thee very many others; and when the times of the things upon earth have been fulfilled, out of heaven shall come a King, eternal, true, Judge of living and dead, to whom every nation and tribe shall confess, through whom every earthly power and dominion shall be brought to nothing, and every mouth speaking great things shall be shut. This is the mighty Lord and King of everything that hath breath and flesh, 2438 the Word and Son of the living One, who is Jesus Christ.
At this Domitian said to him: What is the proof of these things? I am not persuaded by words only; words are a sight of the unseen. 2439 What canst thou show in earth or heaven by the power of him who is destined to reign, as thou sayest? For he will do it, if he is the Son of God. And immediately John asked for a deadly poison. And the king having ordered poison to be given to him, they brought it on the instant. John therefore, having taken it, put it into a large cup, and filled it with water, and mixed it, and cried out with a loud voice, and said: In Thy name, Jesus Christ, Son of God, I drink the cup which Thou wilt sweeten; and the poison in it do Thou mingle with Thy Holy Spirit, and make it become a draught of life and salvation, for the healing of soul and body, for digestion and harmless assimilation, for faith not to be repented of, for an undeniable testimony of death as the cup of thanksgiving. 2440 And when he had drunk the cup, those standing beside Domitian expected that he was going to fall to the ground in convulsions. And when John stood, cheerful, and talked with them safe, Domitian was enraged against those who had given the poison, as having spared John. But they swore by the fortune and health of the king, and said that there could not be a stronger poison than this. And John, understanding what they were whispering to one another, said to the king: Do not take it ill, O king, but let a trial be made, 2441 and thou shalt learn the power of the poison. Make some condemned criminal be brought from the prison. And when he had come, John put water into the cup, and swirled it round, and gave it with all the dregs to the condemned criminal. And he, having taken it and drunk, immediately fell down and died.
And when all wondered at the signs that had been done, and when Domitian had retired and gone to his palace, John said to him: O Domitian, king of the Romans, didst thou contrive this, that, thou being present and bearing witness, I might to-day become a murderer? What is to be done about the dead body which is lying? And he ordered it to be taken and thrown away. But John, going up to the dead body, said: O God, Maker of the heavens, Lord and Master of angels, of glories, of powers, in the name of Jesus Christ, Thine only begotten Son, give to this man who has died for this occasion a renewal of life, and restore him his soul, that Domitian may learn that the Word is much more powerful than poison, and is the ruler of life. And having taken him by the hand, he raised him up alive.
And when all were glorifying God, and wondering at the faith of John, Domitian said to him: I have put forth a decree of the senate, that all such persons should be summarily dealt with, without trial; but since I find from thee that they are innocent, and that their religion is rather beneficial, I banish thee to an island, that I may not seem myself to do away with my own decrees. He asked then that the condemned criminal should be let go; and when he was let go, John said: Depart, give thanks to God, who has this day delivered thee from prison and from death.
And while they were standing, a certain home-born slave of Domitian’s, of those in the bed-chamber, was suddenly seized by the unclean demon, and lay dead; and word was brought to the king. And the king was moved, and entreated John to help her. And John said: It is not in man to do this; but since thou knowest how to reign, but dost not know from whom thou hast received it, learn who has the power over both thee and thy kingdom. And he prayed thus: O Lord, the God of every kingdom, and master of every creature, give to this maiden the breath of life. And having prayed, he raised her up. And Domitian, astonished at all the wonders, sent him away to an island, appointing for him a set time.
And straightway John sailed to Patmos, where also he was deemed worthy to see the revelation of the end. And when Domitian was dead, Nerva succeeded to the kingdom, and recalled all who had been banished; and having kept the kingdom for a year, he made Trajan his successor in the kingdom. And when he was king over the Romans, John went to Ephesus, and regulated all the teaching of the church, holding many conferences, and reminding them of what the Lord had said to them, and what duty he had assigned to each. And when he was old and changed, he ordered Polycarp to be bishop over the church.
And what like his end was, or his departure from men, who cannot give an account of? For on the following day, which was the Lord’s day, and in the presence of the brethren, he began to say to them: Brethren, and fellow-servants, and co-heirs, and copartners of the kingdom of the Lord, know the Lord what miracles He hath shown you through me, what wonders, what cures, what signs, what gracious gifts, teachings, rulings, rests, services, glories, graces, gifts, faiths, communions; how many things you have seen with your eyes, that ear hath not heard. Be strong, therefore, in Him, remembering Him in all your doings, knowing the mystery of the dispensation that has come to men, for the sake of which the Lord has worked. He then, through me, exhorts you: Brethren, I wish to remain without grief, without insult, without treachery, without punishment. For He also knows insult from you, He knows also dishonour, He knows also treachery, He knows also punishment from those that disobey His commandments. Let not therefore our God be grieved, the good, the compassionate, the merciful, the holy, the pure, the undefiled, the only, the one, the immutable, the sincere, the guileless, the slow to anger, He that is higher and more exalted than every name that we speak or think of—our God, Jesus Christ. Let Him rejoice along with us because we conduct ourselves well; let Him be glad because we live in purity; let Him rest because we behave reverently; let Him be pleased because we live in fellowship; let Him smile because we are sober-minded; let Him be delighted because we love. These things, brethren, I communicate to you, pressing on to the work set before me, already perfected for me by the Lord. For what else have I to say to you? Keep the sureties of your God; keep His presence, that shall not be taken away from you. And if then ye sin no more, He will forgive you what ye have done in ignorance; but if, after ye have known Him, and He has had compassion upon you, you return to the like courses, even your former offences will be laid to your charge, and ye shall have no portion or compassion before His face. 2442
And when he had said this to them, he thus prayed: Jesus, who didst wreathe this crown by Thy twining, who hast inserted these many flowers into the everlasting flower of Thy countenance, who hast sown these words among them, be Thou Thyself the protector and healer of Thy people. Thou alone art benignant and not haughty, alone merciful and kind, alone a Saviour, and just; Thou who always seest what belongs to all, and art in all, and everywhere present, God Lord Jesus Christ; who with Thy gifts and Thy compassion coverest those that hope in Thee; who knowest intimately those that everywhere speak against us, and blaspheme Thy holy name, do Thou alone, O Lord, help Thy servants with Thy watchful care. So be it, Lord.
And having asked bread, he gave thanks thus, saying: What praise, or what sort of offering, or what thanksgiving, shall we, breaking the bread, invoke, but Thee only? We glorify the name by which Thou hast been called by the Father; we glorify the name by which Thou hast been called through the Son; we glorify the resurrection which has been manifested to us through Thee; of Thee we glorify the seed, 2443 the word, the grace, the true pearl, the treasure, the plough, the net, 2444 the majesty, the diadem, Him called Son of man for our sakes, the truth, the rest, the knowledge, the freedom, the place of refuge in Thee. For Thou alone art Lord, the root of immortality, and the fountain of incorruption, and the seat of the ages; Thou who hast been called all these for our sakes, that now we, calling upon Thee through these, may recognise Thine illimitable majesty, presented to us by Thy presence, that can be seen only by the pure, seen in Thine only Son.
And having broken the bread, he gave it to us, praying for each of the brethren, that he might be worthy of the Eucharist of the Lord. He also therefore, having likewise tasted it, said: To me also let there be a portion with you, and peace, O beloved. And having thus spoken, and confirmed the brethren, he said to Eutyches, also named Verus: Behold, I appoint thee a minister 2445 of the Church of Christ, and I entrust to thee the flock of Christ. Be mindful, therefore, of the commandments of the Lord; and if thou shouldst fall into trials or dangers, be not afraid: for thou shalt fall under many troubles, and thou shalt be shown to be an eminent witness 2446 of the Lord. Thus, then, Verus, attend to the flock as a servant of God, until the time appointed for thy testimony.
And when John had spoken this, and more than this, having entrusted to him the flock of Christ, he says to him: Take some brethren, with baskets and vessels, and follow me. And Eutyches, without considering, 2447 did what he was bid. And the blessed John having gone forth from the house, went outside of the gates, having told the multitude to stand off from him. And having come to the tomb of one of our brethren, he told them to dig. And they dug. And he says: Let the trench be deeper. And as they dug, he conversed with those who had come out of the house with him, building them up, and furnishing them thoroughly into the majesty of the Lord. And when the young men had finished the trench, as he had wished, while we knew 2448 nothing, he takes off the clothes he had on, and throws them, as if they were some bedding, into the depth of the trench; and, standing in only his drawers, 2449 stretched forth his hands, and prayed.
O God, who hast chosen us for the mission 2450 of the Gentiles, who hast sent us out into the world, who hast declared Thyself through the apostles; who hast never rested, but always savest from the foundation of the world; who hast made Thyself known through all nature; who hast made our wild and savage nature quiet and peaceable; who hast given Thyself to it when thirsting after knowledge; 2451 who hast put to death its adversary, when it took refuge in Thee; who hast given it Thy hand, and raised it from the things done in Hades; who hast shown it its own enemy; who hast in purity turned its thoughts upon Thee, O Christ Jesus, Lord of things in heaven, and law of things on earth, the course of things aerial, and guardian of things etherial, the fear of those under the earth, and grace of Thine own people, receive also the soul of Thy John, which has been certainly deemed worthy by Thee, Thou who hast preserved me also till the present hour pure to Thyself, and free from intercourse with woman; who, when I wished in my youth to marry, didst appear to me, and say, I am in need of thee, John; who didst strengthen for me beforehand my bodily weakness; who, when a third time I wished to marry, didst say to me at the third hour, in the sea, John, if thou wert not mine, I would let thee marry; who hast opened up the sight of my mind, and hast favoured my bodily 2452 eyes; who, when I was looking about me, didst call even the gazing upon a woman hateful; who didst deliver me from temporary show, and preserve me for that which endureth for ever; who didst separate me from the filthy madness of the flesh; who didst stop up 2453 the secret disease of the soul, and cut out its open actions; who didst afflict and banish him who rebelled in me; who didst establish my love to Thee spotless and unimpaired; who didst give me undoubting faith in Thee; who hast drawn out for me pure thoughts towards Thee; who hast given me the due reward of my works; who hast set it in my soul to have no other possession than Thee alone: for what is more precious than Thou? Now, O Lord, when I have accomplished Thy stewardship with which I was entrusted, make me worthy of Thy repose, having wrought that which is perfect in Thee, which is ineffable salvation. And as I go to Thee, let the fire withdraw, let darkness be overcome, let the furnace be slackened, let Gehenna be extinguished, let the angels follow, let the demons be afraid, let the princes be broken in pieces, let the powers of darkness fall, let the places on the right hand stand firm, let those on the left abide not, let the devil be muzzled, let Satan be laughed to scorn, let his madness be tamed, let his wrath be broken, let his children be trodden under foot, and let all his root be uprooted; and grant to me to accomplish the journey to Thee, not insulted, not despitefully treated, and to receive what Thou hast promised to those that live in purity, and that have loved a holy life.
And gazing towards heaven, he glorified God; and having sealed himself altogether, he stood and said to us, Peace and grace be with you, brethren! and sent the brethren away. And when they went on the morrow they did not find him, but his sandals, and a fountain welling up. And after that they remembered what had been said to Peter by the Lord about him: For what does it concern thee if I should wish him to remain until I come? 2454 And they glorified God for the miracle that had happened. And having thus believed, they retired praising and blessing the benignant God; because to Him is due glory now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
Footnotes
560:2435Tischendorf gives a conjectural reading: who is present to them when they assemble; but the mss. reading will bear the interpretation given above.
560:2436Or, in.
561:2437Prov. xxi. 1.
561:2438Lit., of all breath and flesh.
561:2439Equal to our proverb, Seeing is believing.
561:2440i.e., the Eucharist.
561:2441Tischendorf conjectures this clause, as the original is illegible.
562:2442Comp. Heb. x. 26.
562:2443Or, sowing.
562:2444Comp. Matt. xiii.
563:2445Or, deacon.
563:2446i.e., martyr.
563:2447The othermss. has: not without concern.
563:2448Or, saw.
563:2449The word διγρωσίω is not to be found in any of the dictionaries. Perhaps it is a misreading of διαζώστρᾳ.
563:2450Or, apostleship.
563:2451Lit., words or reasons.
563:2452Or, visible.
563:2453Or, muzzle.
564:2454John xxi. 22.
Revelation of Moses.
————————————
Account and life of Adam and Eve, the first-created, revealed by God to His servant Moses, when he received from the hand of the Lord the tables of the law of the covenant, instructed by the archangel Michael.
This is the account of Adam and Eve. After they went forth out of paradise, Adam took Eve his wife, and went up into the east. And he remained there eighteen years and two months; and Eve conceived and brought forth two sons, Diaphotus called Cain, and Amilabes 2455 called Abel.
And after this, Adam and Eve were with one another; and when they lay down, Eve said to Adam her lord: My lord, I have seen in a dream this night the blood of my son Amilabes, who is called Abel, thrown into the mouth of Cain his brother, and he drank it without pity. And he entreated him to grant him a little of it, but he did not listen to him, but drank it all up; and it did not remain in his belly, but came forth out of his mouth. And Adam said to Eve: Let us arise, and go and see what has happened to them, lest perchance the enemy should be in any way warring against them.
And having both gone, they found Abel killed by the hand of Cain his brother. And God says to the archangel Michael: Say to Adam, Do not relate the mystery which thou knowest to thy son Cain, for he is a son of wrath. But grieve thyself not; for I will give thee instead of him another son, who shall show thee all things, as many as thou shalt do to him; but do thou tell him nothing. This God said to His angel; and Adam kept the word in his heart, and with him Eve also, having grief about Abel their son.
And after this, Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and brought forth Seth. And Adam says to Eve: Behold, we have brought forth a son instead of Abel whom Cain slew; let us give glory and sacrifice to God.
And Adam had 2456 thirty sons and thirty daughters. 2457 And he fell into disease, and cried with a loud voice, and said: Let all my sons come to me, that I may see them before I die. And they were all brought together, for the earth was inhabited in three parts; and they all came to the door of the house into which he had entered to pray to God. And his son Seth said: Father Adam, what is thy disease? And he says: My children, great trouble has hold of me. And they say: What is the trouble and disease? And Seth answered and said to him: Is it that thou rememberest the fruits of paradise of which thou didst eat, and grievest thyself because of the desire of them? If it is so, tell me, and I will go and bring thee fruit from paradise. For I will put dung upon my head, and weep and pray, and the Lord will hearken to me, and send his angel; and I shall bring it to thee, 2458 that thy trouble may cease from thee. Adam says to him: No, my son Seth; but I have disease and trouble. Seth says to him: And how have they come upon thee? Adam said to him: When God made us, me and your mother, for whose sake also I die, He gave us every plant in paradise; but about one he commanded us not to eat of it, because on account of it we should die. And the hour was at hand for the angels who guarded your mother to go up and worship the Lord; and the enemy gave to her, and she ate of the tree, knowing that I was not near her, nor the holy angels; then she gave me also to eat. And when we had both eaten, God was angry with us. And the Lord, coming into paradise, set His throne, and called with a dreadful voice, saying, Adam, where art thou? and why art thou hidden from my face? shall the house be hidden from him that built it? And He says, Since thou hast forsaken my covenant, I have brought upon thy body seventy strokes. 2459 The trouble of the first stroke is the injury of the eyes; the trouble of the second stroke, of the hearing; and so in succession, all the strokes shall overtake thee.
And Adam thus speaking to his sons, groaned out loud, and said: What shall I do? I am in great grief. And Eve also wept, saying: My lord Adam, arise, give me the half of thy disease, and let me bear it, because through me this has happened to thee; through me thou art in distresses and troubles. And Adam said to Eve: Arise, and go with our son Seth near paradise, and put earth upon your heads, and weep, beseeching the Lord that He may have compassion upon me, and send His angel to paradise, and give me of the tree in which flows the oil out of it, and that thou mayest bring it to me; and I shall anoint myself, and have rest, and show thee the manner in which we were deceived at first.
And Seth and Eve went into the regions of paradise. And as they were going along, Eve saw her son, and a wild beast fighting with him. And Eye wept, saying: Woe’s me, woe’s me; for if I come to the day of the resurrection, all who have sinned will curse me, saying, Eve did not keep the commandment of God. And Eve cried out to the wild beast, saying: O thou evil wild beast, wilt thou not be afraid to fight with the image of God? How has thy mouth been opened? how have thy teeth been strengthened? how hast thou not been mindful of thy subjection, that thou wast formerly subject to the image of God? Then the wild beast cried out, saying: O Eve, not against us thy upbraiding nor thy weeping, but against thyself, since the beginning of the wild beasts was from thee. How was thy mouth opened to eat of the tree about which God had commanded thee not to eat of it? For this reason also our nature has been changed. Now, therefore, thou shalt not be able to bear up, if I begin to reproach thee. And Seth says to the wild beast: Shut thy mouth and be silent, and stand off from the image of God till the day of judgment. Then the wild beast says to Seth: Behold, I stand off, Seth, from the image of God. Then the wild beast fled, and left him wounded, and went to his covert.
And Seth went with his mother Eve near paradise: and they wept there, beseeching God to send His angel, to give 2460 them the oil of compassion. And God sent to them the archangel Michael, and he said to them these words: Seth, man of God, do not weary thyself praying in this supplication about the tree in which flows the oil to anoint thy father Adam; for it will not happen to thee now, but at the last times. Then shall arise all flesh from Adam even to that great day, as many as shall be a holy people; then shall be given to them all the delight of paradise, and God shall be in the midst of them; and there shall not any more be sinners before Him, because the wicked heart shall be taken from them, and there shall be given to them a heart made to understand what is good, and to worship God only. Do thou again go to thy father, since the measure of his life has been fulfilled, equal to 2461 three days. And when his soul goes out, thou wilt behold its dreadful passage.
And the angel, having said this, went away from them. And Seth and Eve came to the tent where Adam was lying. And Adam says to Eve: Why didst thou work mischief against us, and bring upon us great wrath, which is death, holding sway over all our race? And he says to her: Call all our children, and our children’s children, and relate to them the manner of our transgression.
Then Eve says to them: Listen, all my children, and my children’s children, and I shall relate to you how our enemy deceived us. It came to pass, while we were keeping paradise, that we kept each the portion allotted to him by God. And I was keeping in my lot the south and west. And the devil went into the lot of Adam where were the male wild beasts; since God parted to us the wild beasts, and had given all the males to your father, and all the females He gave to me, and each of us watched his own. And the devil spoke to the serpent, saying, Arise, come to me, and I shall tell you a thing in which thou mayst be of service. Then the serpent came to him, and the devil says to him, I hear that thou art more sagacious than all the wild beasts, and I have come to make thy acquaintance; 2462 and I have found thee greater than all the wild beasts, and they associate with thee; notwithstanding, thou doest reverence to one far inferior. Why eatest thou of the tares 2463 of Adam and his wife, and not of the fruit of paradise? Arise and come hither, and we shall make him be cast out of paradise through his wife, as we also were cast out through him. The serpent says to him, I am afraid lest the Lord be angry with me. The devil says to him, Be not afraid; only become my instrument, and I will speak through thy mouth a word by which thou shalt be able to deceive him. Then straightway he hung by the walls of paradise about the hour when the angels of God went up to worship. Then Satan came in the form of an angel, and praised God as did the angels; and looking out from the wall, I saw him like an angel. And says he to me, Art thou Eve? And I said to him, I am. And says he to me, What doest thou in paradise? And I said to him, God has set us to keep it, and to eat of it. The devil answered me through the mouth of the serpent, Ye do well, but you do not eat of every plant. And I say to him, Yes, of every plant we eat, but one only which is in the midst of paradise, about which God has commanded us not to eat of it, since you will die the death. Then says the serpent to me, As God liveth, I am grieved for you, because you are like cattle. For I do not wish you to be ignorant of this; but rise, come hither, listen to me, and eat, and perceive the value of the tree, as He told us. But I said to him, I am afraid lest God be angry with me. And he says to me, Be not afraid; for as soon as thou eatest, thine eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods in knowing what is good and what is evil. And God, knowing this, that ye shall be like Him, has had a grudge against you, and said, Ye shall not eat of it. But do thou observe the plant, and thou shalt see great glory about it. And I observed the plant, and saw great glory about it. And I said to him, It is beautiful to the eyes to perceive; and I was afraid to take of the fruit. And he says to me, Come, I will give to thee: follow me. And I opened to him, and he came inside into paradise, and went through it before me. And having walked a little, he turned, and says to me, I have changed my mind, and will not give thee to eat. And this he said, wishing at last to entice and destroy me. And he says to me, Swear to me that thou wilt give also to thy husband. And I said to him, I know not by what oath I shall swear to thee; but what I know I say to thee, By the throne of the Lord, and the cherubim, and the tree of life, I will give also to my husband to eat. And when he had taken the oath from me, then he went and ascended upon it. And he put upon the fruit which he gave me to eat the poison of his wickedness, that is, of his desire; for desire is the head 2464 of all sin. And I bent down the branch to the ground, and took of the fruit, and ate. And in that very hour mine eyes were opened. and I knew that I was stripped 2465 of the righteousness with which I had been clothed; and I wept, saying, What is this thou hast done to me, because I have been deprived of the glory with which I was clothed? And I wept too about the oath. And he came down out of the tree, and went out of sight. And I sought leaves in my portion, 2466 that I might cover my shame; and I did not find them from the plants of paradise, since, at the time that I ate, the leaves of all the plants in my portion fell, except of the fig alone. And having taken leaves off it, I made myself a girdle, and it is from those plants of which I ate. And I cried out with a loud voice, saying, Adam, Adam, where art thou? Arise, come to me, and I shall show thee a great mystery. And when your father came, I said to him words of wickedness, which brought us down from great glory. For as soon as he came I opened my mouth, and the devil spoke; and I began to advise him, saying, Come hither, my lord Adam, listen to me, and eat of the fruit of the tree of which God said to us not to eat of it, and thou shalt be as God. And your father answered and said, I am afraid lest God be angry with me. And I said to him, Be not afraid, for as soon as thou shalt eat thou shalt know good and evil. And then I quickly persuaded him, and he ate; and his eyes were opened, and he was aware, he also, of his nakedness. And he says to me, O wicked woman, why hast thou wrought mischief in us? Thou hast alienated me from the glory of God. And that same hour we heard the archangel Michael sounding his trumpet, calling the angels, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Come with me to paradise, and hear the word in which I judge Adam. And when we heard the archangel sounding, we said, Behold, God is coming into paradise to judge us. And we were afraid, and hid ourselves. And God came up into paradise, riding upon a chariot of cherubim, and the angels praising Him. When God came into paradise, the plants both of Adam’s lot and of my lot bloomed, and all lifted themselves up; and the throne of God was made ready where the tree of life was. And God called Adam, saying, Adam, where art thou hidden, thinking that I shall not find thee? Shall the house be hidden from him that built it? Then your father answered and said, Not, Lord, did we hide ourselves as thinking that we should not be found by Thee; but I am afraid, because I am naked, and stand in awe of Thy power, O Lord. God says to him, Who hath shown thee that thou art naked, unless it be that thou hast forsaken my commandment which I gave thee to keep it? Then Adam remembered the word which I spake to him when I wished to deceive him, I will put thee out of danger from God. And he turned and said to me, Why hast thou done this? And I also remembered the word of the serpent, and said, The serpent deceived me. God says to Adam, Since thou hast disobeyed my commandment, and obeyed thy wife, cursed is the ground in thy labours. For whenever thou labourest it, and it will not give its strength, thorns and thistles shall it raise for thee; and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread. And thou shalt be in distresses of many kinds. Thou shalt weary thyself, and rest not; thou shalt be afflicted by bitterness, and shall not taste of sweetness; thou shalt be afflicted by heat, and oppressed by cold; and thou shalt toil much, and not grow rich; and thou shalt make haste, 2467 and not attain thine end; and the wild beasts, of which thou wast lord, shall rise up against thee in rebellion, because thou hast not kept my commandment. And having turned to me, the Lord says to me, Since thou hast obeyed the serpent, and disobeyed my commandment, thou shalt be in distresses 2468 and unbearable pains; thou shalt bring forth children with great tremblings; and in one hour shalt thou come to bring them forth, 2469 and lose thy life in consequence of thy great straits and pangs. And thou shalt confess, and say, Lord, Lord, save me; and I shall not return to the sin of the flesh. And on this account in thine own words I shall judge thee, on account of the enmity which the enemy hath put in thee; and thou shalt turn again to thy husband, and he shall be thy lord. 2470 And after speaking thus to me, He spoke to the serpent in great wrath, saying to him, Since thou hast done this, and hast become an ungracious instrument until thou shouldst deceive those that were remiss in heart, cursed art thou of all the beasts. Thou shalt be deprived of the food which thou eatest; and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; upon thy breast and belly shalt thou go, and thou shalt be deprived both of thy hands and feet; there shall not be granted thee ear, nor wing, nor one limb of all which those have whom thou hast enticed by thy wickedness, and hast caused them to be cast out of paradise. And I shall put enmity between thee and between his seed. He shall lie in wait for 2471 thy head, and thou for his heel, until the day of judgment. And having thus said, He commands His angels that we be cast out of paradise. And as we were being driven along, and were lamenting, your father Adam entreated the angels, saying, Allow me a little, that I may entreat God, and that He may have compassion upon me, and pity me, for I only have sinned. And they stopped driving him. And Adam cried out with weeping, saying, Pardon me, Lord, what I have done. Then says the Lord to His angels, Why have you stopped driving Adam out of paradise? It is not that the sin is mine, or that I have judged ill? Then the angels, falling to the ground, worshipped the Lord, saying, Just art Thou, Lord, and judgest what is right. And turning to Adam, the Lord said, I will not permit thee henceforth to be in paradise. And Adam answered and said, Lord, give me of the tree of life, that I may eat before I am cast out. Then the Lord said to Adam, Thou shalt not now take of it, for it has been assigned to the cherubim and the flaming sword, which turneth to guard it on account of thee, that thou mayst not taste of it and be free from death for ever, but that thou mayst have the war which the enemy has set in thee. But when thou art gone out of paradise, if thou shalt keep thyself from all evil, as being destined to die, I will again raise thee up when the resurrection comes, and then there shall be given thee of the tree of life, and thou shalt be free from death for ever. And having thus said, the Lord commanded us to be cast out of paradise. And your father wept before the angels over against paradise. And the angels say to him, What dost thou wish that we should do for thee, Adam? And your father answered and said to the angels, Behold, you cast me out. I beseech you, allow me to take sweet odours out of paradise, in order that, after I go out, I may offer sacrifice to God, that God may listen to me. And the angels, advancing, said to God, Jael, eternal King, order to be given to Adam sacrifices 2472 of sweet odour out of paradise. And God ordered Adam to go, that he might take perfumes of sweet odour out of paradise for his food. And the angels let him go, and he gathered both kinds—saffron and spikenard, and calamus 2473 and cinnamon, and other seeds for his food; and having taken them, he went forth out of paradise. And we came to the earth. 2474
Now, then, my children, I have shown you the manner in which we were deceived. But do ye watch over yourselves, so as not to forsake what is good.
And when she had thus spoken in the midst of her sons, and Adam was lying in his disease, and he had one other day before going out of the body, Eve says to Adam: Why is it that thou diest, and I live? or how long time have I to spend after thou diest? tell me. Then says Adam to Eve: Do not trouble thyself about matters; for thou wilt not be long after me, but we shall both die alike, and thou wilt be laid into my place. 2475 And when I am dead you will leave 2476 me, and let no one touch me, until the angel of the Lord shall say something about me; for God will not forget me, but will seek His own vessel which He fashioned. Arise, rather, pray to God until I restore my spirit into the hands of Him who has given it; because we know not how we shall meet Him who made us, whether He shall be angry with us, or turn and have mercy upon us. Then arose Eve, and went outside; and falling to the ground, she said: I have sinned, O God; I have sinned, O Father of all; I have sinned to Thee, I have sinned against Thy chosen angels, I have sinned against the cherubim, I have sinned against Thine unshaken throne; I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned much, I have sinned before Thee, and every sin 2477 through me has come upon the creation. And while Eve was still praying, being on her knees, behold, there came to her the angel of humanity, and raised her up, saying: Arise, Eve, from thy repentance; for, behold, Adam thy husband has gone forth from his body; arise and see his spirit carried up to Him that made 2478 it, to meet Him.
And Eve arose, and covered her face with her hand; and the angel says to her: Raise thyself from the things of earth. And Eve gazed up into heaven, and she saw a chariot of light going along under four shining eagles—and it was not possible for any one born of woman 2479 to tell the glory of them, or to see the face of them—and angels going before the chariot. And when they came to the place where your father Adam was lying, the chariot stood still, and the seraphim between your father and the chariot. And I saw golden censers, and three vials; and, behold, all the angels with incense, and the censers, and the vials, came to the altar, and blew them up, and the smoke of the incense covered the firmaments. And the angels fell down and worshipped God, crying out and saying: Holy Jael, forgive; for he is Thine image, and the work of Thine holy hands.
And again, I Eve saw two great and awful mysteries standing before God. And I wept for fear, and cried out to my son Seth, saying: Arise, Seth, from the body of thy father Adam, and come to me, that thou mayst see what the eye of no one hath ever seen; and they are praying for thy father Adam. 2480
Then Seth arose and went to his mother, and said to her: What has befallen thee? and why weepest thou? She says to him: Look up with thine eyes, and see the seven firmaments opened, and see with thine eyes how the body of thy father lies upon its face, and all the holy angels with him, praying for him, and saying: Pardon him, O Father of the universe; for he is Thine image. What then, my child Seth, will this be? and when will he be delivered into the hands of our invisible Father and God? And who are the two dark-faced ones who stand by at the prayer of thy father? And Seth says to his mother: These are the sun and the moon, and they are falling down and praying for my father Adam. Eve says to him: And where is their light, and why have they become black-looking? And Seth says to her: They cannot shine in the presence of the Light of the universe, 2481 and for this reason the light from them has been hidden.
And while Seth was speaking to his mother, the angels lying upon their faces sounded their trumpets, and cried out with an awful voice, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord upon what He has made, for He has had compassion upon Adam, the work of His hands. When the angels had sounded this forth, there came one of the six-winged seraphim, and hurried Adam to the Acherusian lake, and washed him in presence of God. And he spent three hours 2482 lying, and thus the Lord of the universe, sitting upon His holy throne, stretched forth His hands, and raised Adam, and delivered him to the archangel Michael, saying to him: Raise him into paradise, even to the third heaven, and let him be there until that great and dreadful day which I am to bring upon the world. And the archangel Michael, having taken Adam, led him away, and anointed him, as God said to him at the pardoning of Adam.
After all these things, therefore, the archangel asked about the funeral rites of the remains; and God commanded that all the angels should come together into His presence, each according to his rank. And all the angels were assembled, some with censers, some with trumpets. And the Lord of Hosts went up, 2483 and the winds drew Him, and cherubim riding upon the winds, and the angels of heaven went before Him; and they came to where the body of Adam was, and took it. And they came to paradise, and all the trees of paradise were moved so that all begotten from Adam hung their heads in sleep at the sweet smell, except Seth, because he had been begotten according to the appointment of God.
The body of Adam, then, was lying on the ground in paradise, and Seth was grieved exceedingly about him. And the Lord God says: Adam, why hast thou done this? If thou hadst kept my commandment, those that brought thee down to this place would not have rejoiced. Nevertheless I say unto thee, that I will turn their joy into grief, but I will turn thy grief into joy; and having turned, I will set thee in thy kingdom, on the throne of him that deceived thee; and he shall be cast into this place, that thou mayst sit upon him. Then shall be condemned, he and those who hear him; and they shall be much grieved, and shall weep, seeing thee sitting upon his glorious throne.
And then He said to the archangel Michael: Go into paradise, into the third heaven, and bring me three cloths of fine linen and silk. And God said to Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael: 2484 Cover Adam’s body with the cloths, and bring olive oil of sweet odour, and pour upon him. And having thus done, they prepared his body for burial. And the Lord said: Let also the body of Abel be brought. And having brought other cloths, they prepared it also for burial, since it had not been prepared for burial since the day on which his brother Cain slew him. For the wicked Cain, having taken great pains to hide it, had not been able; for the earth did not receive it, saying: I will not receive a body into companionship 2485 until that dust which was taken up and fashioned upon me come to me. And then the angels took it up, and laid it on the rock until his father died. And both were buried, according to the commandment of God, in the regions of paradise, in the place in which God found the dust. 2486 And God sent seven angels into paradise, and they brought many sweet-smelling herbs, and laid them in the earth; and thus they took the two bodies, and buried them in the place which they had dug and built.
And God called Adam, and said: Adam, Adam. And the body answered out of the ground, and said: Here am I, Lord. And the Lord says to him: I said to thee, Dust 2487 thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. Again I promise thee the resurrection. I will raise thee up in the last day in the resurrection, with every man who is of thy seed.
And after these words God made a three-cornered seal, and sealed the tomb, that no one should do anything to him in the six days, until his rib should return to him. And the beneficent God and the holy angels having laid him in his place, after the six days Eve also died. And while she lived she wept about her falling asleep, because she knew not where her body was to be laid. For when the Lord was present in paradise when they buried Adam, both she and her children fell asleep, except Seth, as I said. And Eve, in the hour of her death, besought that she might be buried where Adam her husband was, saying thus: My Lord, Lord and God of all virtue, do not separate me, Thy servant, from the body of Adam, for of his members Thou madest me; but grant to me, even me, the unworthy and the sinner, to be buried by his body. And as I was along with him in paradise, and not separated from him after the transgression, so also let no one separate us. After having prayed, therefore, she looked up into heaven, and stood up, and said, beating her breast: God of all, receive my spirit. And straightway she gave up her spirit to God.
And when she was dead, the archangel Michael stood beside her; and there came three angels, and took her body, and buried it where the body of Abel was. And the archangel Michael said to Seth: Thus bury every man that dies, until the day of the resurrection. And after having given this law, he said to him: Do not mourn beyond six days. And on the seventh day, rest, and rejoice in it, because in it God and we the angels rejoice in the righteous soul that has departed from earth. Having thus spoken, the archangel Michael went up into heaven, glorifying, and saying the Alleluia: 2488 Holy, holy, holy Lord, to the glory of God the Father, because to Him is due glory, honour, and adoration, with His unbeginning and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
Footnotes
565:2455There is great variety as to these names in the mss. The true reading was probably διαφύτωρ or διαφυτευτής, a planter, and μηλατάς or μηλοβότης, a keeper of sheep.
565:2456Lit., made.
565:2457One ms. adds: And Adam lived 930 years; and when he came to his end he cried, etc.
565:2458One ms. has: and he will bring to me of the tree in which compassion flows, and thy trouble shall cease from thee.
565:2459Or, plagues.
566:2460Lit., and he will give.
566:2461Perhaps for ἴσον we should read εἴσω, within. Another reading is: for the days of his life have been fulfilled, and he will live from today three days, and he will die.
566:2462C has: I take counsel with thee. [C is a Vienna manuscript of the twelfth century; see p. 358, and Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocryphæ, pp. xi., xii.—R.]
566:2463It seems to be settled that the zizania of the Greeks, the zawân of the Arabs, was darnel; but, from the associations connected with the word, it is better to keep the common translation.
567:2464C has, root and origin.
567:2465Lit, naked.
567:2466i.e., of the garden.
567:2467I have read ταχυνθήσει for παχυνθήσει, thou shalt grow fat.
568:2468The text has ματαίοις, vain; the true reading is probably καμάτοις or μόχθοις.
568:2469Inserted fromms. C.
568:2470ms. B. inserts: And Eve was twelve years old when the demon deceived her, and gave her evil desires. For night and day he ceased not to bear hatred against them, because he himself was formerly in paradise; and therefore he supplanted them, because he could not bear to see them in paradise. [B is a Viennams. of the thirteenth or fourteenth century; see Tischendorf, Apocal. Apocr., p. xi.—R.]
568:2471This is after the version of the LXX., and it is also the interpretation of Gesenius of the Hebrew shûph, Gen. iii. 15.
568:2472Or, incense.
568:2473This is the “sweet cane” of Isa. 43:24, Jer. 6:20. See also Exod. 30:23, Cant. 4:14, Ezek. 27:19.
568:2474Or, and we were upon the earth.
568:2475Perhaps τάφον, tomb, would be better than τόπον.
568:2476Or, anoint.
569:2477Or, all sin.
569:2478The text has πονήσαντα, a misprint for ποιήσαντα .
569:2479Lit., of a womb.
569:2480The last clause is not in C.
569:2481ms. A here ends thus: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen. [A is the Venice ms. “of about the thirteenth century;” Tischendorf, Apocal. Apocr., p. xi.—R.]
569:2482The mss. originally had days, and hours is substituted in another hand.
569:2483i.e., mounted His chariot.
570:2484According to a Jewish tradition, these were the four angels who stood round the throne of God.
570:2485Probably the reading should be ἕτερον, another, and not ἑταῖρον. Or it may mean: I will not receive a friendly body, i.e., one upon which I have no claims.
570:2486i.e., of which Adam was made.
570:2487Lit., earth.
570:2488ms. D ends here with: To whom be glory and strength to ages of ages. Amen. [D is the Milan manuscript which Tischendorf assigns to “About the eleventh century,” Apocalypses Apocryphæ, p. xi.—R.]
Revelation of Esdras.
————————————
Word and Revelation of Esdras, the Holy Prophet and Beloved of God.
It came to pass in the thirtieth year, on the twenty-second of the month, I was in my house. And I cried out and said to the Most High: Lord, give the glory, 2489 in order that I may see Thy mysteries. And when it was night, there came an angel, Michael the archangel, and says to me: O Prophet Esdras, refrain from bread for seventy weeks. 2490 And I fasted as he told me. And there came Raphael the commander of the host, and gave me a storax rod. And I fasted twice sixty 2491 weeks. And I saw the mysteries of God and His angels. And I said to them: I wish to plead before God about the race of the Christians. It is good for a man not to be born rather than to come into the world. I was therefore taken up into heaven, and I saw in the first heaven a great army of angels; and they took me to the judgments. And I heard a voice saying to me: Have mercy on us, O thou chosen of God, Esdras. Then began I to say: Woe to sinners when they see one who is just more than the angels, and they themselves are in the Gehenna of fire! And Esdras said: Have mercy on the works of Thine hands, Thou who art compassionate, and of great mercy. Judge me rather than the souls of the sinners; for it is better that one soul should be punished, and that the whole world should not come to destruction. And God said: I will give rest in paradise to the righteous, and I have become 2492 merciful. And Esdras said: Lord, why dost Thou confer benefits on the righteous? for just as one who has been hired out, and has served out his time, goes and again works as a slave when he come to his masters, so also the righteous has received his reward in the heavens. But have mercy on the sinners, for we know that Thou art merciful. And God said: I do not see how I can have mercy upon them. And Esdras said: They cannot endure Thy wrath. And God said: This is the fate of such. And God said: I wish to have thee like Paul and John, as thou hast given me uncorrupted the treasure that cannot be stolen, the treasure of virginity, the bulwark 2493 of men. And Esdras said: It is good for a man not to be born. It is good not to be in life. The irrational creatures are better than man, because they have no punishment; but Thou hast taken us, and given us up to judgment. Woe to the sinners in the world to come! because their judgment is endless, and the flame unquenchable. And while I was thus speaking to him, there came Michael and Gabriel, and all the apostles; and they said: Rejoice, O faithful man of God! And Esdras said: 2494 Arise, and come hither with me, O Lord, to judgment. And the Lord said: Behold, I give thee my covenant between me and thee, that you may receive it. And Esdras said: Let us plead in Thy hearing. 2495 And God said: Ask Abraham your father how a son pleads with his father, 2496 and come plead with us. And Esdras said: As the Lord liveth, I will not cease pleading with Thee in behalf of the race of the Christians. Where are Thine ancient compassions, O Lord? Where is Thy long-suffering? And God said: As I have made night and day, I have made the righteous and the sinner; and he should have lived like the righteous. And the prophet said: Who made Adam the first-formed? And God said: My undefiled hands. And I put him in paradise to guard the food of the tree of life; and thereafter he became disobedient, and did this in transgression. And the prophet said: Was he not protected by an angel? and was not his life guarded by the cherubim to endless ages? and how was he deceived who was guarded by angels? for Thou didst command all to be present, and to attend to what was said by Thee. 2497 But if Thou hadst not given him Eve, the serpent would not have deceived her; 2498 but whom Thou wilt Thou savest, and whom Thou wilt Thou destroyest. 2499 And the prophet said: Let us come, my Lord, to a second judgment. And God said: I cast fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And the prophet said: Lord, Thou dealest with us according to our deserts. And God said: Your sins transcend my clemency. And the prophet said: Call to mind the Scriptures, my Father, who hast measured out Jerusalem, and set her up again. Have mercy, O Lord, upon sinners; have mercy upon Thine own creatures; 2500 have pity upon Thy works. Then God remembered those whom He had made, and said to the prophet: How can I have mercy upon them? Vinegar and gall did they give me to drink, 2501 and not even then did they repent. And the prophet said: Reveal Thy cherubim, and let us go together to judgment; and show me the day of judgment, what like it is. And God said: Thou hast been deceived, Esdras; for such is the day of judgment as that in which there is no rain upon the earth; for it is a merciful tribunal as compared with that day. And the prophet said: I will not cease to plead with Thee, unless I see the day of the consummation. And God said: 2502 Number the stars and the sand of the sea; and if thou shalt be able to number this, thou art also able to plead with me. And the prophet said: Lord, Thou knowest that I wear human flesh; and how can I count the stars of the heaven, and the sand of the sea? And God said: My chosen prophet, no man will know that great day and the appearing 2503 that comes to judge the world. For thy sake, my prophet, I have told thee the day; but the hour have I not told thee. And the prophet said: Lord, tell me also the years. And God said: If I see the righteousness of the world, that it has abounded, I will have patience with them; but if not, I will stretch forth my hand, and lay hold of the world by the four quarters, and bring them all together into the valley of Jehoshaphat, 2504 and I will wipe out the race of men, so that the world shall be no more. And the prophet said: And how can Thy right hand be glorified? And God said: I shall be glorified by my angels. And the prophet said: Lord, if Thou hast resolved to do this, why didst Thou make man? Thou didst say to our father Abraham, 2505 Multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea-shore; 2506 and where is Thy promise? And God said: First will I make an earthquake for the fall of four-footed beasts and of men; and when you see that brother gives up brother to death, and that children shall rise up against their parents, and that a woman forsakes her own husband, and when nation shall rise up against nation in war, then will you know that the end is near. 2507
For then neither brother pities brother, nor man wife, nor children parents, nor friends friends, nor a slave his master; for he who is the adversary of men shall come up from Tartarus, and shall show men many things. What shall I make of thee, Esdras? and wilt thou yet plead with me? And the prophet said: Lord, I shall not cease to plead with Thee. And God said: Number the flowers of the earth. If thou shalt be able to number them, thou art able also to plead with me. And the prophet said: Lord, I cannot number them. I wear human flesh; but I shall not cease to plead with Thee. I wish, Lord, to see also the under parts of Tartarus. And God said: Come down and see. And He gave me Michael, and Gabriel, and other thirty-four angels; and I went down eighty-five steps, and they brought me down five hundred steps, and I saw a fiery throne, and an old man sitting upon it; and his judgment was merciless. And I said to the angels: Who is this? and what is his sin? And they said to me: This is Herod, who for a time was a king, and ordered to put to death the children from two years old and under. 2508 And I said: Woe to his soul! And again they took me down thirty steps, and I there saw boilings up of fire, and in them there was a multitude of sinners; and I heard their voice, but saw not their forms. And they took me down lower many steps, which I could not measure. And I there saw old men, and fiery pivots turning in their ears. And I said: Who are these? and what is their sin? And they said to me: These are they who would not listen. 2509 And they took me down again other five hundred steps, and I there saw the worm that sleeps not, and fire burning up the sinners. And they took me down to the lowest part of destruction, and I saw there the twelve plagues of the abyss. And they took me away to the south, and I saw there a man hanging by the eyelids; and the angels kept scourging him. And I asked: Who is this? and what is his sin? And Michael the commander said to me: This is one who lay with his mother; for having put into practice a small wish, he has been ordered to be hanged. And they took me away to the north, and I saw there a man bound with iron chains. And I asked: Who is this? And he said to me: This is he who said, I am the Son of God, that made stones bread, and water wine. And the prophet said: My lord, let me know what is his form, and I shall tell the race of men, that they may not believe in him. And he said to me: The form of his countenance is like that of a wild beast; his right eye like the star that rises in the morning, and the other without motion; his mouth one cubit; his teeth span long; his fingers like scythes; the track of his feet of two spans; and in his face an inscription, Antichrist. He has been exalted to heaven; he shall go down to Hades. 2510 At one time he shall become a child; at another, an old man. And the prophet said: Lord, and how dost Thou permit him, and he deceives the race of men? And God said: Listen, my prophet. He becomes both child and old man, and no one believes him that he is my beloved Son. And after this a trumpet, and the tombs shall be opened, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. 2511 Then the adversary, hearing the dreadful threatening, shall be hidden in outer darkness. Then the heaven, and the earth, and the sea shall be destroyed. Then shall I burn the heaven eighty cubits, and the earth eight hundred cubits. And the prophet said: And how has the heaven sinned? And God said: Since 2512 …there is evil. And the prophet said: Lord, and the earth, how has it sinned? And God said: Since the adversary, having heard the dreadful threatening, shall be hidden, even on account of this will I melt the earth, and with it the opponent of the race of men. And the prophet said: Have mercy, Lord, upon the race of the Christians. And I saw a woman hanging, and four wild beasts sucking her breasts. And the angels said to me: She grudged to give her milk, but even threw her infants into the rivers. And I saw a dreadful darkness, and a night that had no stars nor moon; nor is there there young or old, nor brother with brother, nor mother with child, nor wife with husband. And I wept, and said: O Lord God, have mercy upon the sinners. And as I said this, there came a cloud and snatched me up, and carried me away again into the heavens. And I saw there many judgments; and I wept bitterly, and said: It is good for a man not to have come out of his mother’s womb. And those who were in torment cried out, saying: Since thou hast come hither, O holy one of God, we have found a little remission. And the prophet said: Blessed are they that weep for their sins. And God said: Hear, O beloved Esdras. As a husbandman casts the seed of the corn into the ground, so also the man casts his seed into the parts of the woman. The first month it is all together; the second it increases in size; the third it gets hair; the fourth it gets nails; the fifth it is turned into milk; 2513 and the sixth it is made ready, and receives life; 2514 the seventh it is completely furnished; the ninth the barriers of the gate of the woman are opened; and it is born safe and sound into the earth. And the prophet said: Lord, it is good for man not to have been born. Woe to the human race then, when Thou shalt come to judgment! And I said to the Lord: Lord, why hast Thou created man, and delivered him up to judgment? And God said, with a lofty proclamation: I will not by any means have mercy on those who transgress my covenant. And the prophet said: Lord, where is Thy goodness? And God said: I have prepared all things for man’s sake, and man does not keep my commandments. And the prophet said: Lord, reveal to me the judgments and paradise. And the angels took me away towards the east, and I saw the tree of life. And I saw there Enoch, and Elias, and Moses, and Peter, and Paul, and Luke, and Matthias, and all the righteous, and the patriarchs. And I saw there the keeping of the air within bounds, and the blowing of the winds, and the storehouses of the ice, and the eternal judgments. And I saw there a man hanging by the skull. And they said to me: This man removed landmarks. And I saw there great judgments. 2515 And I said to the Lord: O Lord God, and what man, then, who has been born has not sinned? And they took me lower down into Tartarus, and I saw all the sinners lamenting and weeping and mourning bitterly. And I also wept, seeing the race of men thus tormented. Then God says to me: Knowest thou, Esdras, the names of the angels at the end of the world? Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Gabuthelon, Aker, Arphugitonos, Beburos, Zebuleon.
Then there came a voice to me: Come hither and die, Esdras, my beloved; give that which hath been entrusted to thee. 2516 And the prophet said: And whence can you bring forth my soul? And the angels said: We can put it forth through the mouth. And the prophet said: Mouth to mouth have I spoken with God, 2517 and it comes not forth thence. And the angels said: Let us bring it out through thy nostrils. And the prophet said: My nostrils have smelled the sweet savour of the glory of God. And the angels said: We can bring it out through thine eyes. And the prophet said: Mine eyes have seen the back parts of God. 2518 And the angels said: We can bring it out through the crown of thy head. And the prophet said: I walked about with Moses also on the mountain, and it comes not forth thence. And the angels said: We can put it forth through the points of thy nails. And the prophet said: My feet also have walked about on the altar. And the angels went away without having done anything, saying: Lord, we cannot get his soul. Then He says to His only begotten Son: Go down, my beloved Son, with a great host of angels, and take the soul of my beloved Esdras. For the Lord, having taken a great host of angels, says to the prophet: Give me the trust which I entrusted to thee; the crown has been prepared for thee. 2519 And the prophet said: Lord, if Thou take my soul from me, who will be left to plead with Thee for the race of men? And God said: As thou art mortal, and of the earth, do not plead with me. And the prophet said: I will not cease to plead. And God said: Give up just now the trust; the crown has been prepared for thee. Come and die, that thou mayst obtain it. Then the prophet began to say with tears: O Lord, what good have I done pleading with Thee, and I am going to fall down into the earth? Woe’s me, woe’s me, that I am going to be eaten up by worms! Weep, all ye saints and ye righteous, for me, who have pleaded much, and who am delivered up to death. Weep for me, all ye saints and ye righteous, because I have gone to the pit of Hades. And God said to him: Hear, Esdras, my beloved. I, who am immortal, endured a cross; I tasted vinegar and gall; I was laid in a tomb, and I raised up my chosen ones; I called Adam up out of Hades, that I might save 2520 the race of men. Do not therefore be afraid of death: for that which is from me—that is to say, the soul—goes to heaven; and that which is from the earth—that is to say, the body—goes to the earth, from which it was taken. 2521 And the prophet said: Woe’s me! woe’s me! what shall I set about? what shall I do? I know not. And then the blessed Esdras began to say: O eternal God, the Maker of the whole creation, who hast measured the heaven with a span, and who holdest the earth as a handful, 2522 who ridest upon the cherubim, who didst take the prophet Elias to the heavens in a chariot of fire, 2523 who givest food to all flesh, whom all things dread and tremble at from the face of Thy power,—listen to me, who have pleaded much, and give to all who transcribe this book, and have it, and remember my name, and honour my memory, give them a blessing from heaven; and bless him 2524 in all things, as Thou didst bless Joseph at last, and remember not his former wickedness in the day of his judgment. And as many as have not believed this book shall be burnt up like Sodom and Gomorrah. And there came to him a voice, saying: Esdras, my beloved, all things whatever thou hast asked will I give to each one. And immediately he gave up his precious soul with much honour, in the month of October, on the twenty-eighth. And they prepared him for burial with incense and psalms; and his precious and sacred body dispenses strength of soul and body perpetually to those who have recourse to him from a longing desire. To whom is due glory, strength, honour, and adoration,—to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
Footnotes
571:2489i.e., reveal.
571:2490Supplied by Tischendorf. Perhaps it should be days.
571:2491Perhaps this should be five—έ instead of ξ—which would make seventy days, as above.
571:2492Or, I am.
571:2493Lit., wall.
571:2494Tischendorf supplies this clause from conjecture, and adds that some more seems to have fallen out.
571:2495Lit., to Thine ear.
571:2496This seems to be the meaning of the text, which is somewhat corrupt. It obviously refers to Abraham pleading for Sodom.
572:2497This passage is very corrupt in the text; but a few emendations bring out the meaning above.
572:2498Better, him.
572:2499Comp. Exod. 33:19, Rom. 9:18.
572:2500Lit., framing, or fashioning.
572:2501Matt. xxvii. 34.
572:2502This is inserted by Tischendorf.
572:2503Comp. 2 Tim. 4:1, 8, Titus 2:13.
572:2504Joel 3:2, 12.
572:2505Gen. xxii. 17.
572:2506Lit., the lip of the sea.
572:2507Comp. Matt. xxiv.
572:2508Matt. ii. 16.
572:2509Or, who heard wrong.
573:2510Comp. Matt. xi. 23.
573:25111 Cor. xv. 52.
573:2512There is something wanting here in the text.
573:2513So in the text.
573:2514Or, the soul.
573:2515Or, tribunals.
573:2516Or, thy trust, or pledge. Comp. 1 Tim. 6:20, 2 Tim. 1:14, in Textus Receptus.
573:2517Comp. Deut. xxxiv. 10.
573:2518Comp. Ex. xxxiii. 23.
574:2519Comp. 2 Tim. iv. 8.
574:2520The word is wanting in the ms.
574:2521Eccles. xii. 7.
574:2522Or, in a measure. Δρακήν in the text should be δρακά. Comp. Isa. xl. 12 in the LXX.
574:2523Comp. 1 Kings 2:11, Sir. 48:9.
574:2524So the ms. Perhaps them would be better.
Revelation of Paul.
————————————
Revelation of the holy Apostle Paul: the things which were revealed to him when he went up even to the third heaven, and was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words. 2525
There dwelt a certain nobleman in the city of Tarsus, in the house of St. Paul the apostle, in the government of Theodosius the worshipful king, and of the most illustrious Gratianus; 2526 and there was revealed to him an angel of the Lord, saying: Upturn the foundation of this house, and lift up what thou shalt find. But he thought that he had had a dream. And the angel having persisted even to a third vision, the nobleman was compelled to upturn the foundation; and having dug, he found a marble 2527 box containing this revelation; and having taken it, he showed it to the ruler of the city. And the ruler, seeing it sealed up with lead, sent it to the King Theodosius, thinking that it was something else. 2528 And the king having received it, and transcribed it, sent the original writing to Jerusalem. And there was written in it thus:—
The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Say to this people, Till when do you sin, and add to your sin, and provoke to anger the God who made you, saying that you are children to Abraham, 2529 but doing the works of Satan, going on in speaking against God, boasting only in your addressing of God, but poor on account of the substance of sin? Know, ye sons of men, that the whole creation has been made subject to God; but the human race alone, by sinning, provokes God to anger. For often the great light, the sun, has come before God, saying against men: Lord God Almighty, how long dost Thou endure all the sin of men? Command me, and I will burn them up. And there came a voice to him: My long-suffering endures them all, that they may repent; but if not, they shall come to me, and I will judge them. And often also the moon and the stars have come before God, saying: Lord God Almighty, Thou hast given us the dominion of the night, and we no longer cover the thefts, and adulteries, and blood-sheddings of men; command us, and we shall do marvels against them. And there came a voice: My long-suffering bears with them, that they may turn to me; but if not, they shall come to me, and I will judge them. And in like manner also the sea cried out, saying: Lord God Almighty, the sons of men have profaned Thy holy name; command me, and I shall rise up and cover the earth, and wipe out from it 2530 the sons of men. And there came a voice, saying: My long-suffering bears with them, that they may repent; but if not, they shall come to me, and I will judge them. You see, ye sons of men, that the whole creation has been made subject to God, but the human race alone sins before God. On account of all these things, bless God without ceasing, and yet more when the sun is setting. For at this hour all the angels come to God to adore Him, and they bring before Him the works of men, of each what he has done from morning even to evening, whether good or evil. And one angel goes rejoicing on account of man when he behaves well, and another goes with a sad countenance. All the angels at the appointed hour meet for the worship of God, to bring each day’s works of men. But do ye men bless God without ceasing. Whenever, therefore, at the appointed hour the angels of pious men come, rejoicing and singing psalms, they meet for the worship of the Lord; and, behold, the Spirit of God says to them: Whence do ye come rejoicing? And they answered and said: We are here from the pious men, who in all piety spend their life, fearing the name of God. Command them, Lord, to abide even to the end in Thy righteousness. And there came to them a voice: I have both kept and will keep them void of offence in my kingdom. And when it came to pass that they went away, there came other angels with a cheerful countenance, shining like the sun. And behold a voice to them: Whence have ye come? And they answered and said: We have come from those who have held themselves aloof from the world and the things in the world for Thy holy name’s sake, who in deserts, and mountains, and caves, and the dens of the earth, in beds on the ground, and in fastings, spend their life. 2531 Command us to be with them. And there came a voice: Go with them in peace, guarding them. Moreover, when they went away, behold, there came other angels to worship before God, mourning and weeping. And the Spirit went forth to meet them, and there came a voice to them: Whence have ye come? And they answered and said: We have come from those who have been called by Thy name, and are slaves to the matter of sin. 2532 Why, then, is it necessary to minister unto them? And there came a voice to them: Do not cease to minister unto them; perhaps they will turn; but if not, they shall come to me, and I will judge them. Know, sons of men, that all that is done by you day by day, the angels write in the heavens. Do you therefore cease not to bless God.
And I was in the Holy Spirit, and an angel says to me: Come, follow me, that I may show thee the place of the just, where they go after their end. And I went along with the angel, and he brought me up into the heavens under the firmament; and I perceived and saw powers great and dreadful, full of wrath, and through the mouth of them a flame of fire coming out, and clothed in garments of fire. And I asked the angel: Who are these? And he said to me: These are they who are sent away to the souls of the sinners in the hour of necessity; for they have not believed that there is judgment and retribution. And I looked up into the heaven, and saw angels, whose faces shone like the sun, girded with golden girdles, having in their hands prizes, on which the name of the Lord was inscribed, full of all meekness and compassion. And I asked the angel: Who are these? And he answered and said to me: These are they who are sent forth in the day of the resurrection to bring the souls of the righteous, 2533 who intrepidly walk according to God. 2534 And I said to the angel: I wish to see the souls of the righteous and of the sinners, how they go out of the world. And the angel said to me: Look to the earth. And I looked, and saw the whole world as nothing disappearing before me. And I said to the angel: Is this the greatness of men? And he said to me: Yes; for thus every unjust man disappears. And I looked, and saw a cloud of fire wrapped over all the world; and I said: What is this, my lord? And he said to me: This is the unrighteousness mingled with the destruction of the sinners. And I wept, and said to the angel: I wished to see the departures of the righteous and of the sinners, in what manner they go out of the world. And the angel says to me: Paul, look down, and see what thou hast asked. And I looked, and saw one of the sons of men falling near death. And the angel says to me: This is a righteous man, and, behold, all his works stand beside him in the hour of his necessity. 2535 And there were beside him good angels, and along with them also evil angels. And the evil angels indeed found no place in him, but the good took possession of 2536 the soul of the righteous man, and said to it: Take note of the body whence thou art coming out; for it is necessary for thee again to return to it in the day of the resurrection, that thou mayst receive what God hath promised to the righteous. And the good angels who had received the soul of the righteous man, saluted it, as being well known to them. And it went with them; and the Spirit came forth to meet them, saying: Come, soul, enter into the place of the resurrection, which God hath prepared for His righteous ones. And the angel said to me: Look down to the earth, and behold the soul of the impious, how it goes forth from its tabernacle, which has provoked God to anger, saying, Let us eat and drink; 2537 for who is it that has gone down to Hades, and come up and announced that there is judgment and retribution? And take heed, and see all his works which he has done standing before him. And the evil angels came and the good. The good therefore found no place of rest in it, but the evil took possession of it, saying: O wretched soul, pay heed to thy flesh; take note of that whence thou art coming forth, for thou must return into thy flesh in the day of the resurrection, that thou mayst receive the recompense of thy sins. And when it had gone forth from its tabernacle, the angel who had lived along with it ran up to it, saying to it: O wretched soul, whither goest thou? I am he who each day wrote down thy sins. Thou hast destroyed the time of repentance; be exceedingly ashamed. And when it came, all the angels saw it, and cried out with one voice, saying: Woe to thee, wretched soul! what excuse hast thou come to give to God? And the angel of that soul said: Weep for it, all of you, along with me. And the angel came up, and worshipped the Lord, saying: Lord, behold the soul which has dwelt in wickedness in its time, and in its temporary life; do to it according to Thy decision. And there came a voice to that soul, saying: Where is the fruit of thy righteousness? And it was silent, 2538 not being able to give an answer. And again there came a voice to it: He who has shown mercy will have mercy shown to him; 2539 he who has not shown mercy will not have mercy shown to him. Let this soul be delivered to the merciless angel Temeluch, and let it be cast into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. And there was a voice as of tens of thousands, saying: Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and righteous is Thy judgment. 2540 And moreover I saw, and, behold, another soul was led by an angel; and it wept, saying: Have mercy upon me, O righteous Judge, and deliver me from the hand of this angel, because he is dreadful and merciless. And a voice came to it, saying: Thou wast altogether merciless, and for this reason thou hast been delivered up to such an angel. Confess thy sins which thou hast done in the world. And that soul said: I have not sinned, O righteous Judge. And the Lord said to that soul: Verily thou seemest as if thou wert in the world, and wert hiding thy deeds from men. Knowest thou not that whensoever any one dies, his deeds run before him, whether they are good or evil? And when it heard this, it was silent. And I heard the Judge saying: Let the angel come, having in his hands the record of thy sins. And the Judge says to the angel: I say to thee the angel, Disclose all. Say what he has done five years before his death. By myself I swear to thee, that in the first period of his life there was forgetfulness of all his former sins. And the angel answered and said: Lord, command the souls to stand beside their angels; and that same hour they stood beside them. And the lord of that soul said: Take note of these souls, and whether thou hast in any way sinned against them. And it answered and said: Lord, a year has not been completed since I killed the one and lived with the other. And not only this, but I also wronged it. And the Lord said to it: Knowest thou not that he who wrongs any one in the world is kept, as soon as he dies, in the place until he whom he has wronged come, and both shall be judged before me, and each receive according to his works? And I heard a voice saying: Let this soul be delivered to the angel Tartaruch, and guarded till the great day of judgment. And I heard a voice as of tens of thousands saying: Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and righteous Thy judgment.
And the angel says to me: Hast thou seen all these things? And I answered: Yes my lord. And again he said to me: Come, follow me, and I shall show thee the place of the righteous. And I followed him, and he set me before the doors of the city. And I saw a golden gate, and two golden pillars before it, and two golden plates upon it full of inscriptions. And the angel said to me: Blessed is he who shall enter into these doors; because not every one goeth in, but only those who have single-mindedness, and guiltlessness, and a pure heart. 2541 And I asked the angel: For what purpose have the inscriptions been graven on these plates? And he said to me: These are the names of the righteous, and of those who serve God. And I said to him: Is it so that their names have been inscribed in heaven itself while they are yet alive? And the angel said to me:… 2542 of the angels, such as serve Him well are acknowledged by God. And straightway the gate was opened, and there came forth a hoary-headed man to meet us; and he said to me: Welcome, Paul, beloved of God! and, with a joyful countenance, he kissed me with tears. And I said to him: Father, why weepest thou? And he said to me: Because God hath prepared many good things for men, and they do not His will in order that they may enjoy them. And I asked the angel: My lord, who is this? And he said to me: This is Enoch, the witness of the last day. 2543 And the angel says to me: See that whatever I show thee in this place thou do not announce, except what I tell thee. And he set me upon 2544 the river whose source springs up in the circle of heaven; and it is this river which encircleth the whole earth. And he says to me: This river is Ocean. And there was then a great light. And I said: My lord, what is this? And he said to me: This is the land of the meek. Knowest thou not that it is written, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth? 2545 The souls of the righteous, therefore, are kept in this place. And I said to the angel: When, then, will they be made manifest? And he said to me: When the Judge shall come in the day of the resurrection, and sit down. Then, accordingly, shall he command, and shall reveal the earth, and it shall be lighted up; and the saints shall appear in it, and shall delight themselves in the good 2546 that have been reserved from the foundation of the world. And there were by the bank of the river, trees planted, full of different fruits. And I looked towards the rising of the sun, and I saw there trees of great size full of fruits; and that land was more brilliant than silver and gold; and there were vines growing on those date-palms, and myriads of shoots, and myriads of clusters on each branch. And I said to the archangel: What is this, my lord? And he says to me: This is the Acherusian lake, and within it the city of God. All are not permitted to enter into it, except whosoever shall repent of his sins; and as soon as he shall repent, and alter his life, he is delivered to Michael, and they cast him into the Acherusian lake, and then he brings him in the city of God, near the righteous. And I wondered and blessed God at all that I saw. And the angel said to me: Follow me, that I may bring thee into the city of God, and into its light. And its light was greater than the light of the world, and greater than gold, and walls encircled it. And the length and the breadth of it were a hundred stadia. And I saw twelve gates, exceedingly ornamented, leading into the city; and four rivers encircled it, flowing with milk, and honey, and oil, and wine. And I said to the angel: My lord, what are these rivers? And he said to me: These are the righteous who, when in the world, did not make use of these things, but humbled themselves for the sake of God; and here they receive a recompense ten thousand fold.
And I, going into the city, saw a very lofty tree before the doors of the city, having no fruit, and a few men under it; and they wept exceedingly, and the trees bent down to them. And I, seeing them, wept, and asked the angel: Who are these, that they have not turned to go into the city? And he said to me: Yes, the root of all evils is vainglory. And I said: And these trees, why have they thus humbled themselves? And the angel answered and said to me: For this reason the trees are not fruit-bearing, because they have not withheld themselves from vaunting. And I asked the angel: My lord, for what reason have they been put aside before the doors of the city? And he answered and said to me: On account of the great goodness of God, since by this way Christ is going to come into the city, and that those who go along with Him may plead for these men, and that they may be brought in along with them. And I was going along, guided by the angel, and he set me upon the river. And I saw there all the prophets; and they came and saluted me, saying: Welcome, Paul, beloved of God. And I said to the angel: My lord, who are these? And he said to me: These are all the prophets, and these are the songs of all the prophecies, 2547 and of whoever hath grieved his soul, not doing its will, for God’s sake. Having departed, then, he comes here, and the prophets salute him. And the angel brought me to the south of the city, where the river of milk is. And I saw there all the infants that King Herod slew for the Lord’s name’s sake. And the angel took me again to the east of the city, and I saw there Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. And I asked the angel: My lord, what place is this? And he said to me: Every one who is hospitable to men comes hither when he comes out of the world, and they salute him as a friend of God on account of his love to strangers. And again he took me away to another place, and I saw there a river like oil on the north of the city, and I saw people there rejoicing and singing praises. And I asked: Who are these, my lord? And he said to me: These are they who have given themselves up to God; for they are brought into this city. And I looked, and saw in the midst of the city an altar, great and very lofty; and there was one standing near the altar, whose face shone like the sun, and he had in his hands a psaltery and a harp, and he sung the Alleluia delightfully, and his voice filled all the city. And all with one consent accompanied him, so that the city was shaken by their shouting. And I asked the angel: Who is this that singeth delightfully, whom all accompany? And he said to me: This is the prophet David; this is the heavenly Jerusalem. When, therefore, Christ shall come in His second appearing, David himself goes forth with all the saints. For as it is in the heavens, so also upon earth: for it is not permitted without David to offer sacrifice even in the day of the sacrifice of the precious body and blood of Christ; but it is necessary for David to sing the Alleluia. And I asked the angel: My lord, what is the meaning of Alleluia? It is called in Hebrew, thebel, marematha—speech to God who founded all things: let us glorify Him in the same. So that every one who sings the Alleluia glorifies God.
When these things, therefore, had been thus said to me by the angel, he led me outside of the city, and the Acherusian lake, and the good land, and set me upon the river of the ocean that supports the firmament of the heaven, and said to me: Knowest thou where I am going? And I said: No, my lord. And he said to me: Follow me, that I may show thee where the souls of the impious and the sinners are. And he took me to the setting of the sun, and where the beginning of the heaven had been founded upon the river of the ocean. And I saw beyond the river, and there was no light there, but darkness, and grief, and groaning; and I saw a bubbling river, and a great multitude both of men and women who had been cast into it, some up to the knees, others up to the navel, and many even up to the crown of the head. And I asked: Who are these? And he said to me: These are they who lived unrepenting in fornications and adulteries. And I saw at the south-west of the river another river, where there flowed a river of fire, and there was there a multitude of many souls. And I asked the angel: Who are these, my lord? And he said to me: These are the thieves, and slanderers, and flatterers, who did not set up God as their help, but hoped in the vanity of their riches. And I said to him: What is the depth of this river? And he said to me: Its depth has no measure, but it is immeasurable. And I groaned and wept because of mankind. And the angel said to me: Why weepest thou? Art thou more merciful than God? for, being holy, God, repenting over men, waits for their conversion and repentance; but they, deceived by their own will, come here, and are eternally punished. And I looked into the fiery river, and saw an old man dragged along by two, and they pulled him in up to the knee. And the angel Temeluch coming, laid hold of an iron with his hand, and with it drew up the entrails of that old man through his mouth. And I asked the angel: My lord, who is this that suffers this punishment? And he said to me: This old man whom thou seest was a presbyter; and when he had eaten and drunk, then he performed the service of God. And I saw there another old man carried in haste by four angels; and they threw him into the fiery river up to the girdle, and he was frightfully burnt by the lightnings. And I said to the angel: Who is this, my lord? And he said to me: This whom thou seest was a bishop, and that name indeed he was well pleased to have; but in the goodness of God he did not walk, righteous judgment he did not judge, the widow and the orphan he did not pity, he was neither affectionate nor hospitable; 2548 but now he has been recompensed according to his works. And I looked, and saw in the middle of the river another man up to the navel, having his hands all bloody, and worms were coming up through his mouth. And I asked the angel: Who is this, my lord? And he said to me: This whom thou seest was a deacon, who ate and drank, and ministered to God. And I looked to another place where there was a brazen wall in flames, and within it men and women eating up their own tongues, dreadfully judged. And I asked the angel: Who are these, my lord? And he said to me: These are they who in the church speak against their neighbours, and do not attend to the word of God. And I looked, and saw a bloody pit. And I said: What is this pit? And he said to me: This is the place where are cast the wizards, and sorcerers, and the whoremongers, and the adulterers, and those that oppress widows and orphans. And I saw in another place women wearing black, and led away into a dark place. And I asked: Who are these, my lord? And he said to me: These are they who did not listen to their parents, but before their marriage defiled their virginity. And I saw women wearing white robes, being blind, and standing upon obelisks of fire; and an angel was mercilessly beating them, saying: Now you know where you are; you did not attend when the Scriptures were read to you. And the angel said to me: These are they who corrupted themselves and killed their infants. Their infants therefore came crying out: Avenge us of our mothers. And they were given to an angel to be carried away into a spacious place, but their parents into everlasting fire.
And the angel took me up from these torments, and set me above a well, which had seven seals upon its mouth. And the angel who was with me said to the angel at the well of that place: Open the well, that Paul the beloved of God may see, because there has been given to him authority to see the torments. And the angel of the place said to me: Stand afar off, until I open the seals. And when he had opened them, there came forth a stench which it was impossible to bear. And having come near the place, I saw that well filled with darkness and gloom, and great narrowness of space in it. And the angel who was with me said to me: This place of the well which thou seest is cast off from the glory of God, and none of the angels is importunate in behalf of them; and as many as have professed that the holy Mary is not the mother of God, and that the Lord did not become man out of her, and that the bread of the thanksgiving and the cup of blessing are not His flesh and blood, 2549 are cast into this well: and as I said before no angel is importunate in their behalf. And I saw towards the setting of the sun, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, many men and women there tormented. And I said to the angel: Who are these, my lord? And he said to me: These are they who say that there is no resurrection of the dead; and to them mercy never comes.
Having heard this, I wept bitterly; and looking up into the firmament, I saw the heaven opened, and the archangel Gabriel coming down with hosts of angels, who were going round about all the torments. And they who were judged in the torments seeing them, all cried out with one loud voice: Have mercy upon us, Gabriel, who standest in the presence of God; for we heard that there was a judgment: behold, we know it. And the archangel Gabriel answered and said: As the Lord liveth, beside whom I stand, night and day without ceasing I plead in behalf of the race of men; but they did not do any good when in life, but spent the period of their life in vanity. And now I shall weep, even I, along with the beloved Paul; perhaps the good Lord may have compassion, and grant you remission. And they assented with one voice: Have mercy upon us, O Lord. And they fell down before God, and supplicated, saying: Have mercy, O Lord, upon the sons of men whom Thou hast made after Thine image. And the heaven was shaken like a leaf, and I saw the four and twenty elders lying on their face; and I saw the altar, and the throne, and the veil; and all of them entreated the glory of God; 2550 and I saw the Son of God with glory and great power coming down to the earth. 2551 And when the sound of the trumpet took place, all who were in the torments cried out, saying: Have mercy upon us Son of God; for to Thee has been given power over things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth. And there came a voice saying: What good work have you done, that you are asking for rest? For you have done as you wished, and have not repented, but you have spent your life in profligacy. But now for the sake of Gabriel, the angel of my righteousness and for the sake of Paul my beloved, I give you a night and the day of the holy Lord’s day, on which I rose from the dead, for rest. And all who were in the torments cried out, saying: We bless Thee, O Son of the living God; better for us is such rest than the life which we lived when spending our time in the world.
And after these things the angel says to me: Behold, thou hast seen all the torments: come, follow me, that I may lead thee away to paradise, and that thou mayst change thy soul by the sight of the righteous; for many desire to salute thee. And he took me by an impulse of the Spirit, and brought me into paradise. And he says to me: This is paradise, where Adam and Eve transgressed. And I saw there a beautiful tree of great size, on which the Holy Spirit rested; and from the root of it there came forth all manner of most sweet-smelling water, parting into four channels. And I said to the angel: My lord, what is this tree, that there comes forth from it a great abundance of this water, and where does it go? And he answered and said to me: Before the heaven and the earth existed, He divided them into four kingdoms and heads, of which the names are Phison, Gehon, Tigris, Euphrates. And having again taken hold of me by the hand, he led me near the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And he says to me: This is the tree by means of which death came into the world, and Adam took of the fruit of it from his wife, and ate; and thereafter they were cast out hence. And he showed me another, the tree of life, and said to me: This the cherubim and the flaming sword guard. And when I was closely observing the tree, and wondering, I saw a woman coming from afar off, and a multitude of angels singing praises to her. And I asked the angel: Who is this, my lord, who is in so great honour and beauty? And the angel says to me: This is the holy Mary, the mother of the Lord. And she came and saluted me, saying: Welcome, Paul, beloved of God, and angels, and men; thou hast proclaimed the word of God in the world, and established churches, and all bear testimony to thee who have been saved by means of thee: for, having been delivered from the deception of idols through thy teaching, they come here.
While they were yet speaking to me, I gazed, and saw other three men coming. And I asked the angel: Who are these, my lord? And he said to me: These are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the righteous forefathers. And they came and saluted me, saying: Welcome, Paul, beloved of God.…God did not grieve us. But we know thee in the flesh, before thou camest forth out of the world. And in succession they told me their names from Abraham to Manasseh. And one of them, Joseph who was sold in Egypt, says to me: Hear me, Paul, friend of God: I did not requite my brethren who cursed me. For blessed is he who is able to endure trial, because the Lord will give him in requital sevenfold reward in the world to come. 2552 And while he was yet speaking with me, I saw another coming afar off, and the appearance of him was as the appearance of an angel. And I asked the angel, saying: My lord, who is this? And he said to me: This is Moses the lawgiver, by whom God led forth the children of Israel out of the slavery of Egypt. And when he came near me, he saluted me weeping. And I said to him: Father, why weepest thou, being righteous and meek? 2553 And he answered and said to me: I must weep for every man, because I brought trouble upon a people that does not understand, and they have not borne fruit; and I see the sheep of which I was shepherd scattered, and the toil which I toiled for the children of Israel has been counted for nothing; and they saw powers 2554 and hosts in the midst of them, and they did not understand; and I see the Gentiles worshipping, and believing through thy word, and being converted, and coming here, and out of my people that was so great not one has understood. For, when the Jews hanged the Son of God upon the cross, all the angels and archangels, and the righteous, and the whole creation of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, lamented and mourned with a great lamentation, but the impious and insensate Jews did not understand; wherefore there has been prepared for them the fire everlasting, and the worm that dies not.
While he was yet speaking, there came other three, and saluted me, saying: Welcome, Paul, beloved of God, the boast of the churches, and model of angels. And I asked: Who are you? And the first said: I am Isaiah, whom Manasseh sawed with a wood saw. 2555 And the second said: I am Jeremiah, whom the Jews stoned, but they remained burnt up with everlasting fire. And the third said: I am Ezekiel, whom the slayers of the Messiah pierced; all these things have we endured, and we have not been able to turn the stony heart of the Jews. And I threw myself on my face, entreating the goodness of God, because He had had mercy upon me, and had delivered me from the race of the Hebrews. And there came a voice saying: Blessed art thou, Paul, beloved of God; and blessed are those who through thee have believed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, because for them has been prepared everlasting life.
While this voice was yet speaking, there came another, crying: Blessed art thou, Paul. And I asked the angel: Who is this, my lord? And he said to me: This is Noah, who lived in the time of the deluge. And when we had saluted each other, I asked him: Who art thou? And he said to me: I am Noah, who in a hundred years built the ark, and without putting off the coat which I wore, or shaving my head; moreover, I practised continence, and did not come near my wife; and in the hundred years my coat was not dirtied, and the hair of my head was not diminished. And I ceased not to proclaim to men, Repent, for, behold, a deluge is coming. And no one paid heed; but all derided me, not refraining from their lawless deeds, until the water of the deluge came and destroyed them all.
And looking away, I saw other two from afar off. And I asked the angel: Who are these, my lord? And he said to me: These are Enoch and Elias. And they came and saluted me, saying: Welcome, Paul, beloved of God! And I said to them: Who are you? And Elias the prophet answered and said to me: I am Elias the prophet, who prayed to God, and He caused that no rain should come down upon the earth for three years and six months, on account of the unrighteousness of the sons of men. For often, of a truth, even the angel besought God on account of the rain; and I heard, Be patient until Elias my beloved shall pray, and I send rain upon the earth. 2556
Footnotes
575:25252 Cor. xii. 4.
575:2526The mss. have Kontianus.
575:2527Or, according to the primary meaning of the word, shining, sparkling. The translation of the Syriac version has, “a box of white glass.”
575:2528Syr., Thinking that there was something of gold within it.
575:2529Syr., of the living God.
575:2530Or, sweep off it.
576:2531Comp. Heb. xi. 38.
576:2532i.e., to sinful matter—ὕλη—the source of the σῶμα in the Gnostic doctrine.
576:2533Comp. Matt. xiii. 41.
576:2534Or, come to God.
576:2535Comp. Rev. xiv. 13.
576:2536Or, bare rule over.
576:2537Isa. 22:13, 1 Cor. 15:32.
576:2538Lit., shut up.
577:2539Matt. v. 7.
577:2540Ps. cxix. 137.
577:2541Comp. Ps. xxiv. 3.
577:2542The hiatus is thus filled up in the Syriac: Yes, not only are their names written, but their works from day to day: the angel their minister brings tidings of their works every day from morning to morning; they are known to God by their hearts and their works. And after they are recorded, if there happen to them a matter of sin or deficiency, it is purified by chastisement according to their sin, that there be not unto them any defect in their strivings.
577:2543Rev. xi. 3-12. Enoch and Elijah were supposed to be the two witnesses there mentioned.
577:2544Or, above.
577:2545Matt. v. 5.
577:2546Or, the good things.
578:2547Syr., This is the place of the prophets. A very slight change in the Greek text would give this reading.
579:2548Comp. 1 Tim. iii. 1-4.
579:2549The Syriac has: Those who do not confess Jesus Christ, nor His resurrection, nor His humanity, but consider Him as all mortal, and who say that the sacrament of the body of our Lord is bread.
The word θεοτόκος in the text was the occasion of the three years’ struggle between Nestorius and Cyril of Alexandria, which ended by the condemnation of the former by the Council of Ephesus, a.d. 431.
The view of the Eucharist in the text is not inconsistent with an early date, though it must be remembered that the idea of a substantial presence became the orthodox doctrine only after the Second Council of Nicæa in a.d. 787.
580:2550Rev. iv. 4.
580:2551Matt. xxiv. 30.
580:2552Comp. Matt. xix. 29.
580:2553Num. xii. 3.
580:2554Or, miracles.
581:2555For this tradition, see the Bible Dictionaries under Manasseh. Comp. Heb. xi. 37.
581:2556Here the [Greek]ms. abruptly ends. The Syriac thus continues:—And He gave not until I called upon Him again; then He gave unto them. But blessed art thou, O Paul, that thy generation and those thou teachest are the sons of the kingdom. And know thou, O Paul, that every man who believes through thee hath a great blessing, and a blessing is reserved for him. Then he departed from me. And the angel who was with me led me forth, and said unto me: Lo, unto thee is given this mystery and revelation. As thou pleasest, make it known unto the sons of men.—And then follow details of the depositing of the revelation under the foundation of the house in Tarsus,—details which Tischendorf says the translator of the Syriac did not find in his original. [The close of the English translation of the Syriac version is given in full by Tischendorf (pp. 68, 69). It varies greatly from the above paragraph in the text, besides the addition of the details which Tischendorf regards as spurious.—R.]
Revelation of John.
————————————
Revelation of Saint John the Theologian.
After the taking up of our Lord Jesus Christ, I John was alone upon Mount Tabor, 2557 where also He showed us His undefiled Godhead; and as I was not able to stand, I fell upon the ground, and prayed to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, who hast deemed me worthy to be Thy servant, hear my voice, and teach me about Thy coming. When Thou shalt come to the earth, what will happen? The heaven and the earth, and the sun and the moon, what will happen to them in those times? Reveal to me all; for I am emboldened, because Thou listenest to Thy servant.
And I spent seven days praying; and after this a cloud of light caught me up from the mountain, and set me before the face of the heaven. And I heard a voice saying to me: Look up, John, servant of God, and know. And having looked up, I saw the heaven opened, and there came forth from within the heaven a smell of perfumes of much sweet odour; and I saw an exceeding great flood of light, more resplendent than the sun. And again I heard a voice saying to me: Behold, righteous John. And I directed my sight, and saw a book lying, of the thickness, methought, of seven mountains; 2558 and the length of it the mind of man cannot comprehend, having seven seals. And I said: O Lord my God, reveal to me what is written in this book. And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. In this book which thou seest there have been written the things in the heaven, and the things in the earth, and the things in the abyss, and the judgments and righteousness of all the human race. 2559 And I said: Lord, when shall these things come to pass? and what do those times bring? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. 2560 There shall be in that time abundance of corn and wine, such as there hath never been upon the earth, nor shall ever be until those times come. Then the ear of corn shall produce a half chœnix, 2561 and the bend of the branch shall produce a thousand clusters, and the cluster shall produce a half jar of wine; and in the following year there shall not be found upon the face of all the earth a half chœnix of corn or a half jar of wine.
And again I said: Lord, thereafter what wilt Thou do? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then shall appear the denier, and he who is set apart in the darkness, who is called Antichrist. And again I said: Lord, reveal to me what he is like. And I heard a voice saying to me: The appearance of his face is dusky; 2562 the hairs of his head are sharp, like darts; his eyebrows like a wild beast’s; his right eye like the star which rises in the morning, and the other like a lion’s; his mouth about one cubit; his teeth span long; his fingers like scythes; the print of his feet of two spans; and on his face an inscription, Antichrist; he shall be exalted even to heaven, and shall be cast down even to Hades, making false displays. 2563 And then will I make the heaven brazen, so that it shall not give moisture 2564 upon the earth; and I will hide the clouds in secret places, so that they shall not bring moisture upon the earth; and I will command the horns of the wind, so that the wind shall not blow upon the earth. 2565
And again I said: Lord, and how many years will he do this upon the earth? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Three years shall those times be; and I will make the three years like three months, and the three months like three weeks, and the three weeks like three days, and the three days like three hours, and the three hours like three seconds, as said the prophet David, His throne hast Thou broken down to the ground; Thou hast shortened the days of his time; Thou hast poured shame upon him. 2566 And then I shall send forth Enoch and Elias to convict him; and they shall show him to be a liar and a deceiver; and he shall kill them at the altar, as said the prophet, Then shall they offer calves upon Thine altar. 2567
And again I said: Lord, and after that what will come to pass? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then all the human race shall die, and there shall not be a living man upon all the earth. And again I said: Lord, after that what wilt Thou do? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then will I send forth mine angels, and they shall take the ram’s horns that lie upon the cloud; and Michael and Gabriel shall go forth out of the heaven and sound with those horns, as the prophet David foretold, With the voice of a trumpet of horn. 2568 And the voice of the trumpet shall be heard from the one quarter of the world to the other; 2569 and from the voice of that trumpet all the earth shall be shaken, as the prophet foretold, And at the voice of the bird every plant shall arise; 2570 that is, at the voice of the archangel all the human race shall arise. 2571
And again I said: Lord, those who are dead from Adam even to this day, and who dwell in Hades from the beginning of the world, and who die at the last ages, what like shall they arise? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. All the human race shall arise thirty years old.
And again I said: Lord, they die male and female, and some old, and some young, and some infants. In the resurrection what like shall they arise? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Just as the bees are, and differ not one from another, but are all of one appearance and one size, so also shall every man be in the resurrection. There is neither fair, nor ruddy, nor black, neither Ethiopian nor different countenances; but they shall all arise of one appearance and one stature. All the human race shall arise without bodies, as I told you that in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God. 2572
And again I said: Lord, is it possible in that world to recognise each other, a brother his brother, or a friend his friend, or a father his own children, or the children their own parents? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, John. To the righteous there is recognition, but to the sinners not at all; they cannot in the resurrection recognise each other. And again I John said: Lord, is there there recollection of the things that are here, either fields or vineyards, or other things here? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. The prophet David speaks, saying, I remembered that we are dust: as for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he shall flourish: for a wind hath passed over it, and it shall be no more, and it shall not any longer know its place. 2573 And again the same said: His spirit 2574 shall go forth, and he returns to his earth; in that day all his thoughts shall perish. 2575
And again I said: Lord, and after that what wilt Thou do? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then will I send forth mine angels over the face of all the earth, and they shall lift off the earth everything honourable, and everything precious, and the venerable and holy images, and the glorious and precious crosses, and the sacred vessels of the churches, and the divine and sacred books; and all the precious and holy things shall be lifted up by clouds into the air. And then will I order to be lifted up the great and venerable sceptre, 2576 on which I stretched forth my hands, and all the orders of my angels shall do reverence to it. And then shall be lifted up all the race of men upon clouds, as the Apostle Paul foretold. 2577 Along with them we shall be snatched up in 2578 clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And then shall come forth every evil spirit, both in the earth and in the abyss, wherever they are on the face of all the earth, from the rising of the sun even to the setting, and they shall be united to him that is served by the devil, that is, Antichrist, and they shall be lifted up upon the clouds.
And again I said: Lord, and after that what wilt Thou do? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then shall I send forth mine angels over the face of all the earth, and they shall burn up the earth eight thousand five hundred 2579 cubits, and the great mountains shall be burnt up, and all the rocks shall be melted and shall become as dust, and every tree shall be burnt up, and every beast, and every creeping thing creeping upon the earth, and every thing moving upon the face of the earth, and every flying thing flying in the air; and there shall no longer be upon the face of all the earth anything moving, and the earth shall be without motion.
And again I said: Lord, and after that what wilt Thou do? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then shall I uncover the four parts of the east, and there shall come forth four great winds, and they shall sweep 2580 all the face of the earth from the one end of the earth to the other; and the Lord shall sweep sin from off the earth, and the earth shall be made white like snow, and it shall become as a leaf of paper, without cave, or mountain, or hill, or rock; but the face of the earth from the rising even to the setting of the sun shall be like a table, and white as snow; and the reins of the earth shall be consumed by fire, and it shall cry unto me, saying, I am a virgin before thee, O Lord, and there is no sin in me; as the prophet David said aforetime, Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be made pure; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. 2581 And again he 2582 said: Every chasm shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill brought low, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough ways into smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 2583
And again I said: Lord, and after that what wilt Thou do? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then shall the earth be cleansed from sin, and all the earth shall be filled with a sweet smell, because I am about to come down upon the earth; and then shall come forth the great and venerable sceptre, with thousands of angels worshipping it, as I said before; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man from the heaven with power and great glory. 2584 And then the worker of iniquity with his servants shall behold it, and gnash his teeth exceedingly, and all the unclean spirits shall be turned to flight. And then, seized by invisible power, having no means of flight, they shall gnash their teeth against him, saying to him: Where is thy power? How hast thou led us astray? and we have fled away, and have fallen away from the glory which we had beside Him who is coming to judge us, and the whole human race. Woe to us! because He banishes us into outer darkness.
And again I said: Lord, and after that what wilt Thou do? And I heard a voice saying to me: Then will I send an angel out of heaven, and he shall cry with a loud voice, saying, Hear, O earth, and be strong, saith the Lord; for I am coming down to thee. And the voice of the angel shall be heard from the one end of the world even to the other, and even to the remotest part of the abyss. And then shall be shaken all the power of the angels and of the many-eyed ones, and there shall be a great noise in the heavens, and the nine regions of the heaven shall be shaken, and there shall be fear and astonishment upon all the angels. And then the heavens shall be rent from the rising of the sun even to the setting, and an innumerable multitude of angels shall come down to the earth; and then the treasures of the heavens shall be opened, and they shall bring down every precious thing, and the perfume of incense, and they shall bring down to the earth Jerusalem robed like a bride. 2585 And then there shall go before me myriads of angels and archangels, bearing my throne, crying out, Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. 2586 And then will I come forth with power and great glory, and every eye in 2587 the clouds shall see me; and then every knee shall bend, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth. 2588 And then the heaven shall remain empty; and I will come down upon the earth, and all that is in the air shall be brought down upon the earth, and all the human race and every evil spirit along with Antichrist, and they shall all be set before me naked, and chained by the neck.
And again I said: Lord, what will become of the heavens, and the sun, and the moon, along with the stars? And I heard a voice saying to me: Behold, righteous John. And I looked, and saw a Lamb having seven eyes and seven horns. 2589 And again I heard a voice saying to me: I will bid the Lamb come before me, and will say, Who will open this book? And all the multitudes of the angels will answer, Give this book to the Lamb to open it. And then will I order the book to be opened. And when He shall open the first seal, the stars of the heaven shall fall, from the one end of it to the other. And when He shall open the second seal, the moon shall be hidden, and there shall be no light in her. And when He shall open the third seal, the light of the sun shall be withheld, and there shall not be light upon the earth. And when He shall open the fourth seal, the heavens shall be dissolved, and the air shall be thrown into utter confusion, as saith the prophet: And the heavens are the works of Thy hands; they shall perish, but Thou endurest, and they shall all wax old as a garment. 2590 And when He shall open the fifth seal, the earth shall be rent, and all the tribunals upon the face of all the earth shall be revealed. And when He shall open the sixth seal, the half of the sea shall disappear. And when He shall open the seventh seal, Hades shall be uncovered.
And I said: Lord, who will be the first to be questioned, and to receive judgment? And I heard a voice saying to me, The unclean spirits, along with the adversary. I bid them go into outer darkness, where the depths 2591 are. And I said: Lord, and in what place does it lie? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. As big a stone as a man of thirty years old can roll, and let go down into the depth, even falling down for twenty years will not arrive at the bottom of Hades; as the prophet David said before, And He made darkness His secret place. 2592
And I said: Lord, and after them what nation 2593 will be questioned? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. There will be questioned of Adam’s race those nations, both the Greek and those who have believed in idols, and in the sun, and in the stars, and those who have defiled the faith by heresy, and who have not believed the holy 2594 resurrection, and who have not confessed the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost: then will I send them away into Hades, as the prophet David foretold, Let the sinners be turned into Hades, and all the nations that forget God. 2595 And again he said: They were put in Hades like sheep; death shall be their shepherd. 2596
And again I said: Lord, and after them whom wilt Thou judge? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then the race of the Hebrews shall be examined, who nailed me to the tree like a malefactor. And I said: And what punishment will these get, and in what place, seeing that they did such things to Thee? And I heard a voice saying to me: They shall go away into Tartarus, as the prophet David foretold, They cried out, and there was none to save; to the Lord, and He did not hearken to them. 2597 And again the Apostle Paul said: As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in law shall be judged by means of law. 2598
And again I said: Lord, and what of those who have received baptism? And I heard a voice saying to me: Then the race of the Christians shall be examined, who have received baptism; and then the righteous shall come at my command, and the angels shall go and collect 2599 them from among the sinners, as the prophet David foretold: The Lord will not suffer the rod of the sinners in the lot of the righteous; 2600 and all the righteous shall be placed on my right hand, 2601 and shall shine like the sun. 2602 As thou seest, John, the stars of heaven, that they were all made together, but differ in light, 2603 so shall it be with the righteous and the sinners; for the righteous shall shine as lights and as the sun, but the sinners shall stand in darkness.
And again I said: Lord, and do all the Christians go into one punishment?—kings, high priests, priests, patriarchs, rich and poor, bond and free? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. As the prophet David foretold, The expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. 2604 Now about kings: they shall be driven like slaves, and shall weep like infants; and about patriarchs, and priests, and Levites, of those that have sinned, they shall be separated in their punishments, according to the nature 2605 of the peculiar transgression of each,—some in the river of fire, and some to the worm that dieth not, and others in the seven-mouthed pit of punishment. To these punishments the sinners will be apportioned.
And again I said: Lord, and where will the righteous dwell? And I heard a voice saying to me: Then shall paradise be revealed; and the whole world and paradise shall be made one, and the righteous shall be on the face of all the earth with my angels, as the Holy Spirit foretold through the prophet David: The righteous shall inherit the earth, and dwell therein for ever and ever. 2606
And again I said: Lord, how great is the multitude of the angels? and which is the greater, that of angels or of men? And I heard a voice saying to me: As great as is the multitude of the angels, so great is the race of men, as the prophet has said, He set bounds to the nations according to the number of the angels of God. 2607
And again I said: Lord, and after that what wilt Thou do? and what is to become of the world? Reveal to me all. And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. After that there is no pain, there is no grief, there is no groaning; there is no recollection of evils, there are no tears, there is no envy, there is no hatred of brethren, there is no unrighteousness, there is no arrogance, there is no slander, there is no bitterness, there are none of the cares of life, there is no pain from parents or children, there is no pain from gold, there are no wicked thoughts, there is no devil, there is no death, there is no night, but all is day. 2608 As I said before, And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, that is, men who have been made like the angels through their excellent course of life; them also must I bring, and they will hear my voice, and there shall be one fold, one shepherd. 2609
And again I heard a voice saying to me: Behold, thou hast heard all these things, righteous John; deliver them to faithful men, that they also may teach others, and not think lightly of them, 2610 nor cast our pearls before swine, lest perchance they should trample them with their feet. 2611
And while I was still hearing this voice, the cloud brought me down, and put me on Mount Thabor. And there came a voice to me, saying: Blessed are those who keep judgment and do righteousness in all time. 2612 And blessed is the house where this description lies, as the Lord said, He that loveth me keepeth my sayings 2613 in Christ Jesus our Lord; to Him be glory for ever. Amen. 2614
Footnotes
582:2557For the history of the tradition that the transfiguration occurred on Mount Tabor, see Robinson’s Researches, ii. 358.
582:2558One ms. has: 700 cubits.
582:2559ms. B adds: And they shall be manifested at the consummation of the age, in the judgment to come. Just as the prophet Daniel saw the judgment, I sat, and the books were opened. Then also shall the twelve apostles sit, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And when I heard this from my Lord, I again asked: Show me, my Lord, when these things shall come to pass, etc. [B is the designation of a Paris manuscript dated 1523. All the manuscripts are comparatively recent; see Tischendorf, pp. xviii., xix.—R.]
582:2560ms. B. here inserts Luke xxi. 11.
582:2561The chœnix of corn was a man’s daily allowance. It was equal to two points according to some, a pint and a half according to others.
582:2562Or, gloomy.
582:2563ms. B. adds: And he will love most of all the nation of the Hebrews; and the righteous shall hide themselves, and flee to mountains and caves. And he shall take vengeance on many of the righteous; and blessed is he who shall not believe in him.
582:2564Or, dew.
582:2565To the description of Antichrist, ms. E adds: He holds in his hand a cup of death; and all that worship him drink of it. His right eye is like the morning star, and his left like a lion’s; because he was taken prisoner by the archangel Michael, and he took his godhead from him. And I was sent from the bosom of my Father, and I drew up the head of the polluted one, and his eye was consumed. And when they worship him, he writes on their right hands, that they may sit with him in the outer fire; and for all who have not been baptized, and have not believed, have been reserved all anger and wrath. And I said: My Lord, and what miracles does he do? Hear, righteous John: He shall remove mountains and hills, and he shall beckon with his polluted hand, Come all to me; and through his displays and deceits they will be brought together to his own place. He will raise the dead, and show in everything like God. [E is one of the Venice manuscripts.—R.]
583:2566Ps. 89:44, 45.
583:2567Ps. li. 19.
583:2568Ps. xcviii. 6 according to the LXX.
583:2569Lit., from quarters even to quarters of the world.
583:2570Adapted from Eccles. xii. 4.
583:2571To this sectionms. E adds many details: They that have gold and silver shall throw them into the streets, and into every place in the world, and no one will heed them. They shall throw into the streets ivory vessels, and robes adorned with stones and pearls; kings and rulers wasting away with hunger, patriarchs and governors (or abbots), elders and peoples. Where is the fine wine, and the tables, and the pomp of the world? They shall not be found in all the world; and men shall die in the mountains and in the streets, and in every place of the world. And the living shall die from the stink of the dead, etc. Whosoever shall not worship the beast and his pomp shall be called a witness (or martyr) in the kingdom of heaven, and shall inherit eternal life with my holy ones.
583:2572Comp. Matt. xxii. 30, and parallel passages.
583:2573Ps. ciii. 14-16 according to LXX.
583:2574Or, breath.
583:2575Ps. cxlvi. 4 according to LXX.
583:2576Another reading is cross.
583:25771 Thess. iv. 17.
583:2578Or, by.
584:2579Two mss. have this number; the other four have 500, 1800, 30, 60-100ths.
584:2580Or, winnow.
584:2581Ps. li. 7.
584:2582ms. D has: Again another prophet has said. [D is another Paris manuscript of the fifteenth century.—R.]
584:2583Isa. xl. 4.
584:2584Comp. Matt. xxiv. 30.
584:2585Rev. xxi. 2.
584:2586Comp. Isa. vi. 3.
584:2587Or, upon.
584:2588Phil. ii. 10.
584:2589Rev. v. 6.
585:2590Ps. cii. 26.
585:2591Or, regions sunk in water.
585:2592Ps. xviii. 11.
585:2593Lit., tongue.
585:2594ms. D inserts, Trinity and.
585:2595Ps. ix. 17.
585:2596Ps. xlix. 14.
585:2597Ps. xviii. 41.
585:2598Rom. ii. 12.
585:2599Lit., heap up.
585:2600Ps. cxxv. 3.
585:2601Matt. xxv. 33.
585:2602Matt. xiii. 43.
585:26031 Cor. xv. 41.
585:2604Ps. ix. 18.
585:2605Lit., proportion or analogy.
585:2606Ps. xxxvii. 29.
585:2607Deut. xxxii. 8 according to the LXX.
586:2608Rev. 7:17, Rev. 21:4.
586:2609John x. 16. [The correct text of John x. 16 is: “one flock, one shepherd,” but it was altered quite early.—R.]
586:2610i.e., the things heard.
586:2611Matt. vii. 6.
586:2612Ps. cvi. 3.
586:2613John xiv. 23.
586:2614As a specimen of the eschatology of these documents, Tischendorf gives the following extracts from the termination of ms. E:—
Hear, righteous John: All these shall be assembled, and they shall be in the pit of lamentation: and I shall set my throne in the place, and shall sit with the twelve apostles and the four and twenty elders, and thou thyself an elder on account of thy blameless life; and to finish three services thou shalt receive a white robe and an unfading crown from the hand of the Lord, and thou shalt sit with the four and twenty elders, etc. And after this the angels shall come forth, having a golden censer and shining lamps; and they shall gather together on the Lord’s right hand those who have lived well, and done His will, and He shall make them to dwell for ever and ever in light and joy, and they shall obtain life everlasting. And when He shall separate the sheep from the goats, that is, the righteous from the sinners, the righteous on the right, and the sinners on the left; then shall He send the angel Raguel, saying: Go and sound the trumpet for the angels of cold and snow and ice, and bring together every kind of wrath upon those that stand on the left. Because I will not pardon them when they see the glory of God, the impious and unrepentant, and the priests who did not what was commanded. You who have tears, weep for the sinners. And Temeluch shall call out to Taruch: Open the punishments, thou keeper of the keys; open the judgments; open the worm that dieth not, and the wicked dragon; make ready Hades; open the darkness; let loose the fiery river, and the frightful darkness in the depths of Hades. Then the pitiful sinners, seeing their works, and having no consolation, shall go down weeping into streams as it were of blood. And there is none to pity them, neither father to help, nor mother to compassionate, but rather the angels going against them, and saying: Ye poor wretches, why are you weeping? In the world you had no compassion on the weak, you did not help them. And these go away into everlasting punishment. There you will not be able to bear the sight of Him who was born of the virgin; you lived unrepenting in the world, and you will get no pity, but everlasting punishment. And Temeluch says to Taruch: Rouse up the fat three-headed serpent; sound the trumpet for the frightful wild beasts to gather them together to feed upon them (i.e., the sinners); to open the twelve plagues, that all the creeping things may be brought together against the impious and unrepenting. And Temeluch will gather together the multitude of the sinners, and will kick the earth; and the earth will be split up in diverse places, and the sinners will be melted in frightful punishments. Then shall God send Michael, the leader of His hosts; and having sealed the place, Temeluch shall strike them with the previous cross, and the earth shall be brought together as before. Then their angels lamented exceedingly, then the all-holy Virgin and all the saints wept for them, and they shall do them no good. And John says: Why are the sinners thus punished? And I heard a voice saying to me: They walked in the world each other after his own will, and therefore are they thus punished.
Blessed is the man who reads the writing: blessed is he who has transcribed it, and given it to other Catholic churches: blessed are all who fear God. Hear ye priests, and ye readers; hear ye people, etc.
The Book of John Concerning the Falling Asleep of Mary.
————————————
The Account of St. John the Theologian 2615 of the Falling Asleep of the Holy Mother of God.
As the all-holy glorious mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, as was her wont, was going to the holy tomb of our Lord to burn incense, and bending her holy knees, she was importunate that Christ our God who had been born of her should return to her. And the Jews, seeing her lingering by the divine sepulchre, came to the chief priests, saying: Mary goes every day to the tomb. And the chief priests, having summoned the guards set by them not to allow any one to pray at the holy sepulchre, inquired about her, whether in truth it were so. And the guards answered and said that they had seen no such thing, God having not allowed them to see her when there. And on one of the days, it being the preparation, the holy Mary, as was her wont, came to the sepulchre; and while she was praying, it came to pass that the heavens were opened, and the archangel Gabriel came down to her and said: Hail, thou that didst bring forth Christ our God! Thy prayer having come through to the heavens to Him who was born of thee, has been accepted; and from this time, according to thy request, thou having left the world, shall go to the heavenly places to thy Son, into the true and everlasting life.
And having heard this from the holy archangel, she returned to holy Bethlehem, having along with her three virgins who ministered unto her. And after having rested a short time, she sat up and said to the virgins: Bring me a censer, that I may pray. And they brought it, as they had been commanded. And she prayed, saying: My Lord Jesus Christ, who didst deign through Thy supreme goodness to be born of me, hear my voice, and send me Thy apostle John, in order that, seeing him, I may partake of joy; and send me also the rest of Thy apostles, both those who have already gone to Thee, and those in the world that now is, in whatever country they may be, through Thy holy commandment, in order that, having beheld them, I may bless Thy name much to be praised; for I am confident that Thou hearest Thy servant in everything.
And while she was praying, I John came, the Holy Spirit having snatched me up by a cloud from Ephesus, and set me in the place where the mother of my Lord was lying. And having gone in beside her, and glorified Him who had been born of her, I said: Hail, mother of my Lord, who didst bring forth Christ our God, rejoice that in great glory thou art going out of this life. And the holy mother of God glorified God, because I John had come to her, remembering the voice of the Lord, saying: Behold thy mother, and, Behold thy son. 2616 And the three virgins came and worshipped. And the holy mother of God says to me: Pray, and cast incense. And I prayed thus: Lord Jesus Christ, who hast done wonderful things, now also do wonderful things before her who brought Thee forth; and let Thy mother depart from this life; and let those who crucified Thee, and who have not believed in Thee, be confounded. And after I had ended the prayer, holy Mary said to me: Bring me the censer. And having cast incense, she said, Glory to Thee, my God and my Lord, because there has been fulfilled in me whatsoever Thou didst promise to me before thou didst ascend into the heavens, that when I should depart from this world Thou wouldst come to me, and the multitude of Thine angels, with glory. And I John say to her: Jesus Christ our Lord and our God is coming, and thou seest 2617 Him, as He promised to thee. And the holy mother of God answered and said to me: The Jews have sworn that after I have died they will burn my body. And I answered and said to her: Thy holy and precious body will by no means see corruption. And she answered and said to me: Bring a censer, and cast incense, and pray. And there came a voice out of the heavens saying the Amen. And I John heard this voice; and the Holy Spirit said to me: John, hast thou heard this voice that spoke in the heaven after the prayer was ended? And I answered and said: Yes, I heard. And the Holy Spirit said to me: This voice which thou didst hear denotes that the appearance of thy brethren the apostles is at hand, and of the holy powers that they are coming hither to-day.
And at this I John prayed.
And the Holy Spirit said to the apostles: Let all of you together, having come by the clouds from the ends of the world, be assembled to holy Bethlehem by a whirlwind, on account of the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ; Peter from Rome, Paul from Tiberia, 2618 Thomas from Hither India, James from Jerusalem. Andrew, Peter’s brother, and Philip, Luke, and Simon the Cananæan, and Thaddæus who had fallen asleep, were raised by the Holy Spirit out of their tombs; to whom the Holy Spirit said: Do not think that it is now the resurrection; but on this account you have risen out of your tombs, that you may go to give greeting to the honour and wonder-working of the mother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, because the day of her departure is at hand, of her going up into the heavens. And Mark likewise coming round, was present from Alexandria; he also with the rest, as has been said before, from each country. And Peter being lifted up by a cloud, stood between heaven and earth, the Holy Spirit keeping him steady. And at the same time, the rest of the apostles also, having been snatched up in clouds, were found along with Peter. And thus by the Holy Spirit, as has been said, they all came together.
And having gone in beside the mother of our Lord and God, and having adored, we said: Fear not, nor grieve; God the Lord, who was born of thee, will take thee out of this world with glory. And rejoicing in God her Saviour, she sat up in the bed, and says to the apostles: Now have I believed that our Master and God is coming from heaven, and I shall behold Him, and thus depart from this life, as I have seen that you have come. And I wish you to tell me how you knew that I was departing and came to me, and from what countries and through what distance you have come hither, that you have thus made haste to visit me. For neither has He who was born of me, our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, concealed it; for I am persuaded even now that He is the Son of the Most High.
And Peter answered and said to the apostles: Let us each, according to what the Holy Spirit announced and commanded us, give full information to the mother of our Lord. And I John answered and said: Just as I was going in to the holy altar in Ephesus to perform divine service, the Holy Spirit says to me, The time of the departure of the mother of thy Lord is at hand; go to Bethlehem to salute her. And a cloud of light snatched me up, and set me down in the door where thou art lying. Peter also answered: And I, living in Rome, about dawn heard a voice through the Holy Spirit saying to me, The mother of thy Lord is to depart, as the time is at hand; go to Bethlehem to salute her. And, behold, a cloud of light snatched me up; and I beheld also the other apostles coming to me on clouds, and a voice saying to me, Go all to Bethlehem. And Paul also answered and said: And I, living in a city at no great distance from Rome, called the country of Tiberia, heard the Holy Spirit saying to me, The mother of thy Lord, having left this world, is making her course to the celestial regions through her departure; 2619 but go thou also to Bethlehem to salute her. And, behold, a cloud of light having snatched me up, set me down in the same place as you. And Thomas also answered and said: And I, traversing the country of the Indians, when the preaching was prevailing by the grace of Christ, and the king’s sister’s son Labdanus by name, was about to be sealed by me in the palace, on a sudden the Holy Spirit says to me, Do thou also, Thomas, go to Bethlehem to salute the mother of thy Lord, because she is taking her departure to the heavens. And a cloud of light having snatched me up, set me down beside you. And Mark also answered and said: And when I was finishing the canon 2620 of the third day in the city of Alexandria, just as I was praying, the Holy Spirit snatched me up, and brought me to you. And James also answered and said: While I was in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit commanded me, saying, Go to Bethlehem, because the mother of thy Lord is taking her departure. And, behold, a cloud of light having snatched me up, set me beside you. And Matthew also answered and said: I have glorified and do glorify God, because when I was in a boat and overtaken by a storm, the sea raging with its waves, on a sudden a cloud of light overshadowing the stormy billow, changed it to a calm, and having snatched me up, set me down beside you. And those who had come before likewise answered, and gave an account of how they had come. And Bartholomew said: I was in the Thebais proclaiming the word, and behold the Holy Spirit says to me, The mother of thy Lord is taking her departure; go, then, to salute her in Bethlehem. And, behold, a cloud of light having snatched me up, brought me to you.
The apostles said all these things to the holy mother of God, why they had come, and in what way; and she stretched her hands to heaven and prayed, saying: I adore, and praise, and glorify Thy much to be praised name, O Lord, because Thou hast looked upon the lowliness of Thine handmaiden, and because Thou that art mighty hast done great things for me; and, behold, all generations shall count me blessed. 2621 And after the prayer she said to the apostles: Cast incense, and pray. And when they had prayed, there was thunder from heaven, and there came a fearful voice, as if of chariots; and, behold, a multitude of a host of angels and powers, and a voice, as if of the Son of man, was heard, and the seraphim in a circle round the house where the holy, spotless mother of God and virgin was lying, so that all who were in Bethlehem beheld all the wonderful things, and came to Jerusalem and reported all the wonderful things that had come to pass. And it came to pass, when the voice was heard, that the sun and the moon suddenly appeared about the house; and an assembly 2622 of the first-born saints stood beside the house where the mother of the Lord was lying, for her honour and glory. And I beheld also that many signs came to pass, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, lepers cleansed, and those possessed by unclean spirits cured; and every one who was under disease and sickness, touching the outside of the wall of the house where she was lying, cried out: Holy Mary, who didst bring forth Christ our God, have mercy upon us. And they were straightway cured. And great multitudes out of every country living in Jerusalem for the sake of prayer, having heard of the signs that had come to pass in Bethlehem through the mother of the Lord, came to the place seeking the cure of various diseases, which also they obtained. And there was joy unspeakable on that day among the multitude of those who had been cured, as well as of those who looked on, glorifying Christ our God and His mother. And all Jerusalem from Bethlehem kept festival with psalms and spiritual songs.
And the priests of the Jews, along with their people, were astonished at the things which had come to pass; and being moved 2623 with the heaviest hatred, and again with frivolous reasoning, having made an assembly, they determine to send against the holy mother of God and the holy apostles who were there in Bethlehem. And accordingly the multitude of the Jews, having directed their course to Bethlehem, when at the distance of one mile it came to pass that they beheld a frightful vision, and their feet were held fast; and after this they returned to their fellow-countrymen, and reported all the frightful vision to the chief priests. And they, still more boiling with rage, go to the procurator, crying out and saying: The nation of the Jews has been ruined by this woman; chase her from Bethlehem and the province of Jerusalem. And the procurator, astonished at the wonderful things, said to them: I will chase her neither from Bethlehem nor from any other place. And the Jews continued crying out, and adjuring him by the health of Tiberius Cæsar to bring the apostles out of Bethlehem. And if you do not do so, we shall report it to the Cæsar. Accordingly, being compelled, he sends a tribune of the soldiers 2624 against the apostles to Bethlehem. And the Holy Spirit says to the apostles and the mother of the Lord: Behold, the procurator has sent a tribune against you, the Jews having made an uproar. Go forth therefore from Bethlehem, and fear not: for, behold, by a cloud I shall bring you to Jerusalem; for the power of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit is with you. The apostles therefore rose up immediately, and went forth from the house, carrying the bed of the Lady the mother of God, and directed their course to Jerusalem; and immediately, as the Holy Spirit had said, being lifted up by a cloud, they were found in Jerusalem in the house of the Lady. And they stood up, and for five days made an unceasing singing of praise. And when the tribune came to Bethlehem, and found there neither the mother of the Lord nor the apostles, he laid hold of the Bethlehemites, saying to them: Did you not come telling the procurator and the priests all the signs and wonders that had come to pass, and how the apostles had come out of every country? Where are they, then? Come, go to the procurator at Jerusalem. For the tribune did not know of the departure of the apostles and the Lord’s mother to Jerusalem. The tribune then, having taken the Bethlehemites, went in to the procurator, saying that he had found no one. And after five days it was known to the procurator, and the priests, and all the city, that the Lord’s mother was in her own house in Jerusalem, along with the apostles, from the signs and wonders that came to pass there. And a multitude of men and women and virgins came together, and cried out: Holy virgin, that didst bring forth Christ our God, do not forget the generation of men. And when these things came to pass, the people of the Jews, with the priests also, being the more moved with hatred, took wood and fire, and came up, wishing to burn the house where the Lord’s mother was living with the apostles. And the procurator stood looking at the sight from afar off. And when the people of the Jews came to the door of the house, behold, suddenly a power of fire coming forth from within, by means of an angel, burnt up a great multitude of the Jews. And there was great fear throughout all the city; and they glorified God, who had been born of her. And when the procurator saw what had come to pass, he cried out to all the people, saying: Truly he who was born of the virgin, whom you have thought of driving away, is the Son of God; for these signs are those of the true God. And there was a division among the Jews; and many believed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in consequence of the signs that had come to pass.
And after all these wonderful things had come to pass through the mother of God, and ever-virgin Mary the mother of the Lord, while we the apostles were with her in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit said to us: You know that on the Lord’s day the good news was brought to the Virgin Mary by the archangel Gabriel; and on the Lord’s day the Saviour was born in Bethlehem; and on the Lord’s day the children of Jerusalem came forth with palm branches to meet him, saying, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is 2625 He that cometh in the name of the Lord; 2626 and on the Lord’s day He rose from the dead; and on the Lord’s day He will come to judge the living and the dead; and on the Lord’s day He will come out of heaven, to the glory and honour of the departure of the holy glorious virgin who brought Him forth. And on the same 2627 Lord’s day the mother of the Lord says to the apostles: Cast incense, because Christ is coming with a host of angels; and, behold, Christ is at hand, sitting on a throne of cherubim. And while we were all praying, there appeared innumerable multitudes of angels, and the Lord mounted upon cherubim in great power; and, behold, a stream of light 2628 coming to the holy virgin, because of the presence of her only-begotten Son, and all the powers of the heavens fell down and adored Him. And the Lord, speaking to His mother, said: Mary. And she answered and said: Here am I, Lord. And the Lord said to her: Grieve not, but let thy heart rejoice and be glad; for thou hast found grace to behold the glory given to me by my Father. And the holy mother of God looked up, and saw in Him a glory which it is impossible for the mouth of man to speak of, or to apprehend. And the Lord remained beside her, saying: Behold, from the present time thy precious body will be transferred to paradise, and thy holy soul to the heavens to the treasures of my Father in exceeding brightness, where there is peace and joy of the holy angels,—and other things besides. 2629 And the mother of the Lord answered and said to him: Lay Thy right hand upon me, O Lord, and bless me. And the Lord stretched forth His undefiled right hand, and blessed her. And she laid hold of His undefiled right hand, and kissed it, saying: I adore this right hand, which created the heaven and the earth; and I call upon Thy much to be praised name Christ, O God, the King of the ages, the only-begotten of the Father, to receive Thine handmaid, Thou who didst deign to be brought forth by me, in a low estate, to save the race of men through Thine ineffable dispensation; do Thou bestow Thine aid upon every man calling upon, or praying to, or naming the name of, Thine handmaid. And while she is saying this, the apostles, having gone up to her feet and adored, say: O mother of the Lord, leave a blessing to the world, since thou art going away from it. For thou hast blessed it, and raised it up when it was ruined, by bringing forth the Light of the world. And the mother of the Lord prayed, and in her prayer spoke thus: O God, who through Thy great goodness hast sent from the heavens Thine only-begotten Son to dwell in my humble body, who hast deigned to be born of me, humble as I am, have mercy upon the world, and every soul that calls upon Thy name. And again she prayed, and said: O Lord, King of the heavens, Son of the living God, accept every man who calls upon Thy name, that Thy birth may be glorified. And again she prayed, and said: O Lord Jesus Christ, who art all-powerful in heaven and on earth, in this appeal I implore Thy holy name; in every time and place where there is made mention of my name, make that place holy, and glorify those that glorify Thee through my name, accepting of such persons all their offering, and all their supplication, and all their prayer. And when she had thus prayed, the Lord said to His mother: Let thy heart rejoice and be glad; for every favour 2630 and every gift has been given to thee from my Father in heaven, and from me, and from the Holy Spirit: every soul that calls upon thy name shall not be ashamed, but shall find mercy, and comfort, and support, and confidence, both in the world that now is, and in that which is to come, in the presence of my Father in the heavens. And the Lord turned and said to Peter: The time has come to begin the singing of the hymn. And Peter having begun the singing of the hymn, all the powers of the heavens responded with the Alleluiah. And then the face of the mother of the Lord shone brighter than the light, and she rose up and blessed each of the apostles with her own hand, and all gave glory to God; and the Lord stretched forth His undefiled hands, and received her holy and blameless soul. And with the departure of her blameless soul the place was filled with perfume and ineffable light; and, behold, a voice out of the heaven was heard, saying: Blessed art thou among women. And Peter, and I John, and Paul, and Thomas, ran and wrapped up her precious feet for the consecration; and the twelve apostles put her precious and holy body upon a couch, and carried it. And, behold, while they were carrying her, a certain well-born Hebrew, Jephonias by name, running against the body, put his hands upon the couch; and, behold, an angel of the Lord by invisible power, with a sword of fire, cut off his two hands from his shoulders, and made them hang about the couch, lifted up in the air. And at this miracle which had come to pass all the people of the Jews who beheld it cried out: Verily, He that was brought forth by thee is the true God, O mother of God, ever-virgin Mary. And Jephonias himself, when Peter ordered him, that the wonderful things of God might be showed forth, stood up behind the couch, and cried out: Holy Mary, who broughtest forth Christ who is God, have mercy upon me. And Peter turned and said to him: In the name of Him who was born of her, thy hands which have been taken away from thee, will be fixed on again. And immediately, at the word of Peter, the hands hanging by the couch of the Lady came, and were fixed on Jephonias. And he believed, and glorified Christ, God who had been born of her.
And when this miracle had been done, the apostles carried 2631 the couch, and laid down her precious and holy body in Gethsemane in a new tomb. And, behold, a perfume of sweet savour came forth out of the holy sepulchre of our Lady the mother of God; and for three days the voices of invisible angels were heard glorifying Christ our God, who had been born of her. And when the third day was ended, the voices were no longer heard; and from that time forth all knew that her spotless and precious body had been transferred to paradise.
And after it had been transferred, behold, we see Elisabeth the mother of St. John the Baptist, and Anna the mother of the Lady, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and David, singing the Alleluiah, and all the choirs of the saints adoring the holy relics of the mother of the Lord, and the place full of light, than which light nothing could be more brilliant, and an abundance of perfume in that place to which her precious and holy body had been transferred in paradise, and the melody of those praising Him who had been born of her—sweet melody, of which there is no satiety, such as is given to virgins, and them only, to hear. We apostles, therefore, having beheld the sudden precious translation of her holy body, glorified God, who had shown us His wonders at the departure of the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose 2632 prayers and good offices may we all be deemed worthy to receive, 2633 under her shelter, and support, and protection, both in the world that now is and in that which is to come, glorifying in every time and place her only-begotten Son, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
Footnotes
587:2615The titles vary considerably. In two mss. the author is said to be James the Lord’s brother; in one, John Archbishop of Thessalonica, who lived in the seventh century.
587:2616John 19:26, 27.
587:2617i.e., wilt see.
588:2618A place near Rome; one ms. calls it Tiberis.
588:2619Or, dissolution.
588:2620A canon is a part of the Church service consisting of nine odes. The canon of the third day is the canon for Tuesday.
589:2621Luke i. 48.
589:2622Or, a church.
589:2623Burning—ms. B. [Thisms. is in Venice; see Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocryphæ, p. xliii., for designations of mss.—R.]
589:2624Lit., chiliarch, i.e., commander of a thousand.
590:2625Or, be.
590:2626Matt. 21:9, Luke 19:38, Ps. 18:26.
590:2627The holy—ms. A.
590:2628Lit., a going forth of illumination.
590:2629Perhaps the true reading is: thou shalt dwell where there is peace and joy of the holy angels.
590:2630Or, grace.
591:2631Four of themss. give a different account here: While the apostles were going forth from the city of Jerusalem carrying the couch, suddenly twelve clouds of light snatched up the apostles, with the body of our Lady, and translated them to paradise.
591:2632i.e., the mother’s.
591:2633One ms. has: To find mercy and remission of sins from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Passing of Mary.
————————————
First Latin Form.
Concerning the Passing 2634 of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In that time before the Lord came to His passion, and among many words which the mother asked of the Son, she began to ask Him about her own departure, addressing Him as follows:—O most dear Son, I pray Thy holiness, that when my soul goes out of my body, Thou let me know on the third day before; and do Thou, beloved Son, with Thy angels, receive it. 2635 Then He received the prayer of His beloved mother, and said to her: O palace and temple of the living God, O blessed mother, 2636 O queen of all saints, and blessed above all women, before thou carriedst me in thy womb, I always guarded thee, and caused thee to be fed daily with my angelic food, 2637 as thou knowest: how can I desert thee, after thou hast carried me, and nourished me, and brought me down in flight into Egypt, and endured many hardships for me? Know, then, that my angels have always guarded thee, and will guard thee even until thy departure. But after I undergo suffering for men, as it is written, and rise again on the third day, and after forty days ascend into heaven, when thou shalt see me coming to thee 2638 with angels and archangels, with saints and with virgins, and with my disciples, know for certain that thy soul will be separated from the body, and I shall carry it into heaven, where it shall never at all have tribulation or anguish. Then she joyed and gloried, and kissed the knees of her Son, and blessed the Creator of heaven and earth, who gave her such a gift through Jesus Christ her Son.
In the second year, therefore, after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most blessed Virgin Mary continued always in prayer day and night. And on the third day before she passed away, an angel of the Lord came to her, and saluted her, saying: Hail, Mary, full of grace! the Lord be with thee. And she answered, saying: Thanks to God. Again he said to her: Receive this palm which the Lord promised to thee. And she, giving thanks to God, with great joy received from the hand of the angel the palm sent to her. The angel of the Lord said to her: Thy assumption will be after three days. And she answered: Thanks to God. 2639
Then she called Joseph of the city of Arimathæa, and the other 2640 disciples of the Lord; and when they, both relations and acquaintances, were assembled, she announced her departure to all standing there. Then the blessed Mary washed 2641 herself, and dressed herself like a queen, and waited the advent of her Son, as He had promised to her. And she asked all her relations to keep beside 2642 her, and give her comfort. And she had along with her three virgins, Sepphora, Abigea, and Zaël; but the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ had been already dispersed throughout the whole world to preach to the people of God.
Then at the third hour 2643 there were great thunders, and rains, and lightnings, and tribulation, and an earthquake, 2644 while queen Mary was standing in her chamber. John the evangelist and apostle was suddenly brought from Ephesus, and entered the chamber of the blessed Mary, and saluted her, and said to her: Hail, Mary, full of grace! the Lord be with thee. And she answered: Thanks to God. And raising herself up, she kissed Saint John. And the blessed Mary said to him: O my dearest son, why hast thou left me at such a time, and hast not paid heed to the commands of thy Master, to take care of me, as He commanded thee while He was hanging on the cross? And he asked pardon with bended knee. Then the blessed Mary gave him her benediction, and again kissed him. And when she meant to ask him whence he came, and for what reason he had come to Jerusalem, behold, all the disciples of the Lord, except Thomas who is called Didymus, were brought by a cloud to the door of the chamber of the blessed Mary. They stood and went in, and saluted the queen with the following words, and adored her: Hail, Mary, full of grace! the Lord be with thee. And she eagerly rose quickly, and bowed herself, and kissed them, and gave thanks to God. These are the names of the disciples of the Lord who were brought thither in the cloud: John the evangelist and James his brother, Peter and Paul, Andrew, Philip, Luke, Barnabas, Bartholomew and Matthew, Matthias who is called Justus, 2645 Simon the Chananæan, Judas and his brother, Nicodemus and Maximianus, and many others who cannot be numbered. Then the blessed Mary said to her brethren: What is this, that you have all come to Jerusalem? Peter, answering, said to her: We had need to ask this of thee, and dost thou question us? Certainly, as I think, none of us knows why we have come here to-day with such rapidity. I was at Antioch, and now I am here. All declared plainly the place where they had been that day. And they all wondered that they were there when they heard these things. The blessed Mary said to them: I asked my Son, before He endured the passion, that He and you should be at my death; and He granted me this gift. Whence you may know that my departure will be to-morrow. 2646 Watch and pray with me, that when the Lord comes to receive my soul, He may find you watching. Then all promised that they would watch. And they watched and prayed the whole night, with psalms and chants, with great illuminations.
And when the Lord’s day came, at the third hour, just as the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in a cloud, 2647 so Christ descended with a multitude of angels, and received the soul of His beloved mother. For there was such splendour and perfume of sweetness, and angels singing the songs of songs, where the Lord says, As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters, 2648 that all who were there present fell on their faces, as the apostles fell when Christ transfigured Himself before them on Mount Thabor, and for a whole hour and a half no one was able to rise. But when the light went away, and at the same time with the light itself, the soul of the blessed virgin Mary was taken up into heaven with psalms, and hymns, and songs of songs. And as the cloud went up the whole earth shook, and in one moment all the inhabitants of Jerusalem openly saw the departure of St. Mary.
And that same hour Satan entered into them, and they began to consider what they were to do with her body. And they took up weapons, that they might burn her body and kill the apostles, because from her had gone forth the dispersions of Israel, on account of their sins and the gathering together of the Gentiles. But they were struck with blindness, striking their heads against the walls, and striking each other. 2649 Then the apostles, alarmed by so much brightness, arose, and with psalms carried the holy body down from Mount Zion to the valley of Jehoshaphat. But as they were going in the middle of the road, behold, a certain Jew, 2650 Reuben by name, wishing to throw to the ground the holy bier with the body of the blessed Mary. But his hands dried up, even to the elbow; whether he would or not, he went down even to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, weeping and lamenting because his hands were raised to the bier, and he was not able to draw back his hands to himself. And he began to ask the apostles 2651 that by their prayer he might be saved and made a Christian. Then the apostles, bending their knees, asked the Lord to let him loose. And he, being healed that same hour, giving thanks to God and kissing the feet of the queen of all the saints and apostles, was baptized in that same place, and began to preach the name of our God Jesus Christ.
Then the apostles with great honour laid the body in the tomb, weeping and singing through exceeding love and sweetness. And suddenly there shone round them a light from heaven, and they fell to the ground, and the holy body was taken up by angels into heaven.
Then the most blessed Thomas was suddenly brought to the Mount of Olivet, and saw the most blessed body going up to heaven, and began to cry out and say: O holy mother, blessed mother, spotless mother, if I have now found grace because I see thee, make thy servant joyful through thy compassion, because thou art going to heaven. Then the girdle with which the apostles had encircled the most holy body was thrown down from heaven to the blessed Thomas. And taking it, and kissing it, and giving thanks to God, he came again into the Valley of Jehoshaphat. He found all the apostles and another great crowd there beating their breasts on account of the brightness which they had seen. And seeing and kissing each other, the blessed Peter said to him: Truly thou hast always been obdurate and unbelieving, because for thine unbelief it was not pleasing to God that thou shouldst be along with us at the burial of the mother of the Saviour. And he, beating his breast, said: I know and firmly believe that I have always been a bad and an unbelieving man; therefore I ask pardon of all of you for my obduracy and unbelief. And they all prayed for him. Then the blessed Thomas said: Where have you laid her body? And they pointed out the sepulchre with their finger. And he said: The body which is called most holy is not there. Then the blessed Peter said to him: Already on another occasion thou wouldst not believe the resurrection of our Master and Lord at our word, unless thou went to touch Him with thy fingers, and see Him; how wilt thou believe us that the holy body is here? Still he persists saying: It is not here. Then, as it were in a rage, they went to the sepulchre, which was a new one hollowed out in the rock, and took up the stone; but they did not find the body, not knowing what to say, because they had been convicted by the words of Thomas. Then the blessed Thomas told them how he was singing mass in India—he still had on his sacerdotal robes. He, not knowing the word of God, had been brought to the Mount of Olivet, and saw the most holy body of the blessed Mary going up into heaven, and prayed her to give him a blessing. She heard his prayer, and threw him her girdle which she had about her. And the apostles seeing the belt which they had put about her, glorifying God, all asked pardon of the blessed Thomas, on account of the benediction which the blessed Mary had given him, and because he had seen the most holy body going up into heaven. And the blessed Thomas gave them his benediction, and said: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2652
And the same cloud by which they had been brought carried them back each to his own place, just like Philip when he baptized the eunuch, as is read in the Acts of the Apostles; 2653 and as Habakkuk the prophet carried food to Daniel, who was in the lions’ den, and quickly returned to Judæa. 2654 And so also the apostles quickly returned to where they had at first been, to preach to the people of God. Nor is it to be wondered at that He should do such things, who went into the virgin and came out of her though her womb was closed; who, though the gates were shut, went in to His disciples; 2655 who made the deaf to hear, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, gave sight to the blind, 2656 and did many other wonderful things. To believe this is no doubtful matter.
I am Joseph who laid the Lord’s body in my sepulchre, and saw Him rising again; and who, before the ascension and after the ascension of the Lord, always kept his most sacred temple the blessed ever-virgin Mary, and who have kept in writing and in my breast the things which came forth from the mouth of God, and how the things mentioned above were done by the judgment of God. And I have made known to all, Jews and Gentiles, those things which I saw with my eyes, and heard with my ears; and as long as I live I shall not cease to declare them. And her, whose assumption is at this day venerated and worshipped throughout the whole world, let us assiduously entreat that she be mindful of us in the presence of her most pious Son in heaven, to whom is praise and glory through endless ages of ages. Amen. 2657
————————————
Footnotes
592:2634ms. B, the assumption. [For the list of mss. used by Tischendorf, see his Apocal. Apocr., p. xliii.—R.]
592:2635ms. C adds: And cause all the apostles to be present at my departure.
592:2636Puerpera.
592:2637Protevangelium of James, ch. 8, p. 363.
592:2638ms. C has: When, therefore, thou shalt see my archangel Gabriel coming to thee with a palm which I shall send to thee from heaven, know that I shall soon come to thee, my disciples, and angels, etc.
592:2639ms. C: And she began to give great thanks to God in these words: My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
592:2640Or, other.
592:2641ms. A, raised. Levavit instead of lavit.
592:2642Lit., guard.
592:2643ms. C inserts: of the second day after the angel had come to her with the palm.
592:2644Or, earthquakes.
593:2645It was Joseph, the other candidate for the apostleship, who was called Justus (Acts i. 23).
593:2646ms. C adds: And she showed them the palm which the Lord had sent her from heaven by His angel.
593:2647ms. C has: just as the Holy Spirit appeared in a cloud to His disciples, viz., Peter, James, and John, when He was transfigured, so, etc.
593:2648Song of Sol. 2.2.
593:2649ms. C: By the divine vengeance, at that very instant they began to strike and slay each other with their weapons, and struck their heads against the walls like madmen.
593:2650ms. C inserts: a scribe of the tribe of Dan.
593:2651ms. C adds: and firmly to promise that, if he were made whole by their prayers, he would become a Christian.
594:2652Ps. cxxxiii. 1.
594:2653Acts viii. 39.
594:2654Bel. 33-39.
594:2655John xx. 19.
594:2656ms. C adds: and in Cana of Galilee made wine out of water.
594:2657ms. C has this last section as follows: For I am Joseph, who laid the body of our Lord Jesus Christ in my sepulchre, and saw Him and spoke with Him after His resurrection; who afterwards kept His most pious mother in my house until her assumption into the heavens, and served her according to my power; who also was deemed worthy to hear and see from her holy mouth many secrets, which I have written and keep in my heart. That which I saw with mine eyes, and heard with mine ears, of her holy and glorious assumption, I have written for faithful Christians, and those that fear God; and while I live I shall not cease to preach, speak, and write them to all nations. And let every Christian know, that if he keep this writing by him, even in his house, whether he be cleric, or lay, or a woman, the devil will not hurt him; his son will not be lunatic, or demoniac, or deaf, or blind; no one will die suddenly in his house; in whatever tribulation he cries to her, he will be heard; and in the day of his death he will have her with her holy virgins for his help. I beseech continually that the same most pious and merciful queen may be always mindful of me, and all who believe in her and hope before her most pious Son, or Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns God through endless ages of ages. Amen.
Second Latin Form.
Here Beginneth the Passing of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
1. 2658 Therefore, when the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was hanging on the tree fastened by the nails of the cross for the life of the whole world, He saw about the cross His mother standing, and John the evangelist, whom He peculiarly loved above the rest of the apostles, because he alone of them was a virgin in the body. He gave him, therefore, the charge of holy Mary, saying to him: Behold thy mother! and saying, to her: Behold thy son! 2659 From that hour the holy mother of God remained specially in the care of John, as long as she had her habitation in this life. And when the apostles had divided the world by lot for preaching, she settled in the house of his parents near Mount Olivet.
2. In the second year, therefore, after Christ had vanquished death, and ascended up into heaven, on a certain day, Mary, burning with a longing for Christ, began to weep alone, within the shelter of her abode. And, behold, an angel, shining in a dress of great light, stood before her and gave utterance to 2660 the words of salutation saying: Hail! thou blessed by the Lord, receive the salutation of Him who commanded safety to Jacob by His prophets. Behold, said He, a palm branch—I have brought it to thee from the paradise of the Lord—which thou wilt cause to be carried before thy bier, when on the third day thou shalt be taken up from the body. For, lo, thy Son awaits thee with thrones and angels, and all the powers of heaven. Then Mary said to the angel: I beg that all the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ be assembled to me. To whom the angel said: Behold, to-day, by the power of my Lord Jesus Christ, all the apostles will come to thee. And Mary says to him: I ask that thou send upon me thy blessing, that no power of the lower world may withstand me in that hour in which my soul shall go out of my body, and that I may not see the prince of darkness. And the angel said: No power indeed of the lower world will hurt thee; and thy Lord God, whose servant and messenger I am, hath given thee eternal blessing; but do not think that the privilege of not seeing the prince of darkness is to be given thee by me, but by Him whom thou hast carried in thy womb; for to Him belongeth power over all for ever and ever. Thus saying, the angel departed with great splendour. And that palm shone with exceeding great light. Then Mary, undressing herself, put on better garments. And, taking the palm which she had received from the hands of the angel, she went out to the mount of Olivet, and began to pray, and say: I had not been worthy, O Lord, to bear Thee, unless Thou hadst had compassion on me; but nevertheless I have kept the treasure which Thou entrustedst to me. Therefore I ask of Thee, O King of glory, that the power of Gehenna hurt me not. For if the heavens and the angels daily tremble before Thee, how much more man who is made from the ground, who possesses no good thing, except as much as he has received from Thy benignant bounty! Thou art, O Lord, God always blessed for ever. And thus saying, she went back to her dwelling.
3. And, behold, suddenly, while St. John was preaching in Ephesus, on the Lord’s day, at the third hour of the day, there was a great earthquake, and a cloud raised him and took him up from the eyes of all, and brought him before the door of the house where Mary was. And knocking at the door, he immediately went in. And when Mary saw him, she exulted in joy, and said: I beg of thee, my son John, be mindful of the words of my Lord Jesus Christ, in which He entrusted me to thee. For, behold, on the third day, when I am to depart from the body, 2661 I have heard the plans of the Jews, saying, Let us wait for the day when she who bore that seducer shall die, and let us burn her body with fire. She therefore called St. John, and led him into the secret chamber of the house, and showed him the robe of her burial, and that palm of light which she had received from the angel, instructing him that he should cause it to be carried before her couch when she was going to her tomb.
4. And St. John said to her: How shall I alone perform thy funeral rites, unless my brethren and fellow-apostles of my Lord Jesus Christ come to pay honour to thy body? And, behold, on a sudden, by the command of God, all the apostles were snatched up, raised on a cloud, from the places in which they were preaching the word of God, and set down before the door of the house in which Mary dwelt. And, saluting each other, they wondered, saying: What is the cause for which the Lord hath assembled us here? 2662
5. Then all the apostles, rejoicing 2663 with one mind, finished their prayer. And when they had said the Amen, behold, on a sudden, there came the blessed John, and told them all these things. The apostles then, having entered the house, found Mary, and saluted her, saying: Blessed art thou by the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth. And she said to them: Peace be with you, most beloved brethren! How have you come hither? And they recounted to her how they had come, each one raised on a cloud by the Spirit of God, and set down in the same place. And she said to them: God hath not deprived me of the sight of you. Behold, I shall go the way of all the earth, and I doubt not that the Lord hath now conducted you hither to bring me consolation for the anguish which is just coming upon me. Now therefore I implore you, that without intermission you all with one mind watch, even till that hour in which the Lord will come, and I shall depart from the body.
6. And when they had sat down in a circle consoling her, when they had spent three days in the praises of God, behold, on the third day, about the third hour of the day, a deep sleep seized upon all who were in that house, and no one was at all able to keep awake but the apostles alone, and only the three virgins who were there. And, behold, suddenly the Lord Jesus Christ came with a great multitude of angels; and a great brightness came down upon that place, and the angels were singing a hymn, and praising God together. Then the Saviour spoke, saying: Come, most precious pearl, within the receptacle of life eternal.
7. Then Mary prostrated herself on the pavement, adoring God, and said: Blessed be the name of Thy glory, O Lord my God, who hast deigned to choose me Thine handmaid, and to entrust to me Thy hidden mystery. Be mindful of me, therefore, O King of glory, for Thou knowest that I have loved Thee with all my heart, and kept the treasure committed to me. Therefore receive me, Thy servant, and free me from the power of darkness, that no onset of Satan may oppose me, and that I may not see filthy spirits standing in my way. And the Saviour answered her: When I, sent by my Father for the salvation of the world, was hanging on the cross, the prince of darkness came to me; but when he was able to find in me no trace of his work, 2664 he went off vanquished and trodden under foot. But when thou shalt see him, thou shalt see him indeed by the law of the human race, in accordance with which thou hast come to the end of thy life; but he cannot hurt thee, because I am with thee to help thee. Go in security, because the heavenly host is waiting for thee to lead thee in to the joys of paradise. And when the Lord had thus spoken, Mary, rising from the pavement, reclined upon her couch, and giving thanks to God, gave up the ghost. And the apostles saw that her soul was of such whiteness, that no tongue of mortals can worthily utter it; for it surpassed all the whiteness of snow, and of every metal, and of gleaming silver, by the great brightness of its light.
8. Then the Saviour spoke, saying: Rise, Peter, and take the body of Mary, and send it to the right hand side of the city towards the east, and thou wilt find there a new tomb, in which you will lay her, and wait until I come to you. And thus saying, the Lord delivered the soul of St. Mary to Michael, who was the ruler of paradise, and the prince of the nation of the Jews; 2665 and Gabriel went with them. And immediately the Saviour was received up into heaven along with the angels.
9. And the three virgins, who were in the same place, and were watching, took up the body of the blessed Mary, that they might wash it after the manner of funeral rites. And when they had taken off her clothes, that sacred body shone with so much brightness, that it could be touched indeed for preparation for burial, but the form of it could not be seen for the excessive flashing light: except that the splendour of the Lord appeared great, and nothing was perceived, the body, when it was washed, was perfectly clean, and stained by no moisture of filth. 2666 And when they had put the dead-clothes on her, that light was gradually obscured. And the body of the blessed Mary was like lily flowers; and an odour of great sweetness came forth from it, so that no sweetness could be found like it.
10. Then, accordingly, the apostles laid the holy body on the bier, and said to each other: Who is to carry this palm before her bier? Then John said to Peter: Thou, who hast precedence of us in the apostleship, shouldst carry this palm before her couch. And Peter answered him: Thou wast the only virgin among us chosen by the Lord, and thou didst find so great favour that thou didst recline upon His breast. 2667 And He, when for our salvation He was hanging upon the stem of the cross, entrusted her to thee with His own mouth. Thou therefore oughtest to carry this palm, and let us take up that body to carry it even to the place of sepulture. 2668 After this, Peter, raising it, and saying, Take the body, began to sing and say: Israel hath gone forth out of Egypt. Alleluiah. And the other apostles along with him carried the body of the blessed Mary, and John bore the palm of light before the bier. And the other apostles sang with a most sweet voice.
11. And, behold, a new miracle. There appeared above the bier a cloud exceeding great, like the great circle which is wont to appear beside the splendour of the moon; and there was in the clouds an army of angels sending forth a sweet song, 2669 and from the sound of the great sweetness the earth resounded. Then the people, having gone forth from the city, about fifteen thousand, wondered, saying: What is that sound of so great sweetness? Then there stood up one who said to them: Mary has departed from the body, and the disciples of Jesus are singing 2670 praises around her. And looking, they saw the couch crowned with great glory, and the apostles singing with a loud voice. And, behold, one of them, who was chief of the priests of the Jews in his rank, filled with fury and rage, said to the rest: Behold, the tabernacle of him who disturbed us and all our race, what glory has it received? And going up, he wished to overturn the bier, and throw the body down to the ground. And immediately his hands dried up from his elbows, and stuck to the couch. And when the apostles raised the bier, part of him hung, and part of him adhered to the couch; and he was vehemently tormented with pain, while the apostles were walking and singing. And the angels who were in the clouds smote the people with blindness.
12. Then that chief cried out, saying: I implore thee, Saint Peter, do not despise me, I beseech thee, in so great an extremity, because I am exceedingly tortured by great torments. Bear in mind that when, in the prætorium, the maid that kept the door 2671 recognised thee, and told the others to revile thee, then I spoke good words in thy behalf. Then Peter answering, said: It is not for me to give other to thee; but if thou believest with thy whole heart on the Lord Jesus Christ, whom she carried in her womb, and remained a virgin after the birth, the compassion of the Lord, which with profuse benignity saves 2672 the unworthy, will give thee salvation. 2673
To this he replied: Do we not believe? But what shall we do? The enemy of the human race has blinded our hearts, and confusion has covered our face, lest we should confess the great things of God, especially when we ourselves uttered maledictions against Christ, shouting: His blood be upon us, and upon our children. 2674 Then Peter said: Behold, this malediction will hurt him who has remained unfaithful to Him; but to those who turn themselves to God mercy is not denied. And he said: I believe all that thou sayest to me; only I implore, have mercy upon me, lest I die.
13. Then Peter made the couch stand still, and said to him: If thou believest with all thy heart upon the Lord Jesus Christ, thy hands will be released from the bier. And when he had said this 2675 his hands were immediately released from the bier, and he began to stand on his feet; but his arms were dried up, and the torture did not go away from him. Then Peter said to him: Go up to the body, and kiss the couch, and say: I believe in God, and in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom she bore, and I believe all whatsoever Peter the apostle of God has said to me. And going up, he kissed the couch, and immediately all pain went away from him, and his hands were healed. Then he began greatly to bless God, and from the books of Moses to render testimony to the praises of Christ, so that even the apostles themselves wondered, and wept for joy, praising the name of the Lord.
14. And Peter said to him: Take this palm from the hand of our brother John, and going into the city thou wilt find much people blinded, and declare to them the great things of God; and whosoever shall believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt put this palm upon their eyes, and they shall see; but those who will not believe shall remain blind. And when he had done so, he found much people blinded, lamenting thus: Woe unto us, because we have been made like the Sodomites struck with blindness. 2676 Nothing now is left to us but to perish. But when they heard the words of the chief who had been cured speaking, they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; and when he put the palm over their eyes, they recovered sight. Five of them remaining in hardness of heart died. And the chief of the priests going forth, carried back the palm to the apostles, reporting all things whatsoever had been done.
15. And the apostles, carrying Mary, came to the place of the Valley of Jehoshaphat which the Lord had showed them; and they laid her in a new tomb, and closed the sepulchre. And they themselves sat down at the door of the tomb, as the Lord had commanded them; and, behold, suddenly the Lord Jesus Christ came with a great multitude of angels, with a halo of great brightness gleaming, and said to the apostles: Peace be with you! And they answered and said: Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have hoped in Thee. 2677 Then the Saviour spoke to them, saying: Before I ascended to my Father I promised to you, saying that you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His majesty, will sit, you also, upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 2678 Her, therefore, did I choose out of the tribes of Israel by the command of my Father, that I should dwell in her. What, therefore, do you wish that I should do to her? Then Peter and the other apostles said: Lord, Thou didst choose beforehand this Thine handmaid to become a spotless chamber for Thyself, and us Thy servants to minister unto Thee. Before the ages Thou didst foreknow all things along with the Father, with whom to Thee and the Holy Spirit there is one Godhead, equal and infinite power. If, therefore, it were possible to be done in the presence of the power of Thy grace, it had seemed to us Thy servants to be right that, just as Thou, having vanquished death, reignest in glory, so, raising up again the body of Thy mother, Thou shouldst take her with Thee in joy into heaven.
16. Then the Saviour said: Let it be according to your opinion. And He ordered the archangel Michael to bring the soul of St. Mary. And, behold, the archangel Michael 2679 rolled back the stone from the door of the tomb; and the Lord said: Arise, my beloved and my nearest relation; thou who hast not put on corruption by intercourse with man, suffer not destruction of the body in the sepulchre. And immediately Mary rose from the tomb, and blessed the Lord, and falling forward at the feet of the Lord, adored Him, saying: I cannot render sufficient thanks to Thee, O Lord, for Thy boundless benefits which Thou hast deigned to bestow upon me Thine handmaiden. May Thy name, O Redeemer of the world, God of Israel, be blessed for ever.
17. And kissing her, the Lord went back, and delivered her soul to the angels, that they should carry it into paradise. And He said to the apostles: Come up to me. And when they had come up He kissed them, and said: Peace be to you! as I have always been with you, so will I be even to the end of the world. And immediately, when the Lord had said this, He was lifted up on a cloud, and taken back into heaven, and the angels along with Him, carrying the blessed Mary into the paradise of God. And the apostles being taken up in the clouds, returned each into the place allotted 2680 for his preaching, telling the great things of God, and praising our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in perfect unity, and in one substance of Godhead, for ever and ever. Amen.
Footnotes
595:2658The otherms. has the following introductory chapter: Melito, servant of Christ, bishop of the church of Sardis, to the venerable brethren in the Lord appointed at Laodicea, in peace greeting. I remember that I have often written of one Leucius, who, having along with ourselves associated with the apostles, turned aside through alienated feelings and a rash soul from the path of rectitude, and inserted very many things in his books about the acts of the apostles. Of their powers, indeed, he said many and diverse things; but of their teaching he gave a very false account, affirming that they taught otherwise than they did, and establishing his own impious statements, as it were, by their words. Nor did he think this to be enough; but he even vitiated, by his impious writing, the assumption of the blessed ever-virgin Mary, the mother of God, to such a degree that it would be impious not only to read it in the church of God, but even to hear it. When you ask us, therefore, what we heard from the Apostle John, we simply write this, and have directed it to your brotherhood; believing, not the strange dogmas hatched by heretics, but the Father in the Son, the Son in the Father, while the threefold person of the Godhead and undivided substance remains; believing not that two human natures were created by a good God, which by the craft of the serpent was vitiated through sin, and restored through the grace of Christ. [Tischendorf gives this from Maxima Bibliotheca vet. patr , ii. 2, pp. 212 sqq. (ed. Sugdun).—R.]
595:2659John 19:26, 27.
595:2660Lit., sprung forward to.
595:2661The otherms. has a better reading: For, behold, on the third day I am to depart from the body; and I have heard, etc.
596:2662The otherms. here adds: And there came with them Paul, converted from the circumcision, who had been selected along with Barnabas for the ministry of the Gentiles. And when there was a pious contention among them as to which of them should be the first to pray to the Lord to show them the reason, and Peter was urging Paul to pray first, Paul answered and said: That is thy duty, to begin first, especially seeing that thou hast been chosen by God a pillar (Gal. ii. 9) of the Church, and thou hast precedence of all in the apostleship; but it is by no means mine, for I am the least of you all, and Christ was seen by me as one born out of due time (1 Cor. xv. 8); nor do I presume to make myself equal to you: nevertheless by the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor. xv. 10).
596:2663The otherms. adds: at the humility of Paul.
596:2664Comp. John xiv. 30.
596:2665Comp. Dan. 10:21, Dan. 12:1.
596:2666This does not seem to make very good sense. Another reading is: And the splendour appeared great, and nothing was perceived, while the body, perfectly clean, and unstained by any horror of filth, was being washed.
597:2667John xiii. 23.
597:2668The otherms. inserts: And Paul said to him: And I, who am younger than any of you, will carry along with thee. And when all had agreed, Peter, raising the bier at the head, began to sing and say.
597:2669Lit., a song of sweetness.
597:2670Lit., saying.
597:2671John xviii. 17.
597:2672Or, heals.
597:2673Or, health.
597:2674Matt. xxvii. 25.
597:2675The otherms. has: And when he had said this, “I believe.”
598:2676Gen. 19:11, Wis. 19:17.
598:2677Ps. xxxiii. 22.
598:2678Matt. xix. 28.
598:2679The otherms. has Gabriel.
598:2680Lit., the lot.
The Decretals.
[Translated by the Rev. S. D. F. Salmond.]
Introductory Notice
to
The Decretals.
————————————
The learned editors of the Edinburgh series have given us only a specimen of these frauds, which, pretending to be a series of “papal edicts” from Clement and his successors during the ante-Nicene ages, are, in fact, the manufactured product of the ninth century,—the most stupendous imposture of the world’s history, the most successful and the most stubborn in its hold upon enlightened nations. Like the mason’s framework of lath and scantlings, on which he turns an arch of massive stone, the Decretals served their purpose, enabling Nicholas I. to found the Papacy by their insignificant aid. That swelling arch of vanity once reared, the framework might be knocked out; but the fabric stood, and has borne up every weight imposed upon it for ages. Its strong abutments have been ignorance and despotism. Nicholas produced his flimsy framework of imposture, and amazed the whole Church by the audacity of the claims he founded upon it. The age, however, was unlearned and uncritical; and, in spite of remonstrances from France under lead of Hincmar, bishop of Rheims, the West patiently submitted to the overthrow of the ancient Canons and the Nicene Constitutions, and bowed to the yoke of a new canon-law, of which these frauds were not only made an integral, but the essential, part. The East never accepted them for a moment: her great patriarchates retain the Nicene System to this day. But, as the established religion of the “Holy Roman Empire,” the national churches of Western Europe, one by one, succumbed to this revolt from historic Catholicity. The Eastern churches were the more numerous. They stood by the Constitutions confirmed by all the Œcumenical Synods; they altered not a word of the Nicene Creed; they stood up for the great Catholic law, “Let the ancient customs prevail;” and they were, and are to this day, the grand historic stem of Christendom. The Papacy created the Western schism, and contrived to call it “the schism of the Greeks.” The Decretals had created the Papacy, and they enabled the first Pope to assume that communion with himself was the test of Catholic communion: hence his excommunication of the Easterns, which, after brief intervals of relaxation, settled into the chronic schism of the Papacy, and produced the awful history of the mediæval Church in Western Europe.
In naming Nicholas I. as the founder of the Papacy, and the first Pope, I merely reach the logical consequence of admitted facts and demonstrated truths. I merely apply the recognised principles of modern thought and scientific law to the science of history, and dismiss the technology of empiricism in this science, as our age has abolished similar empiricisms in the exact sciences. For ages after Copernicus, even those who basked in the light of the true system of the universe went on in the old ruts, talking as if the Ptolemaic theory were yet a reality: and so the very historians whose lucid pages explode the whole fabric of the Papal communion, still go on, in the language of fable, giving to the early Bishops of Rome the title of “Popes;” counting St. Peter as the first Pope; bewildering the student by many confusions of fact with fable; and conceding to the modern fabric of Romanism the name of “the Catholic Church,” with all the immense advantages that accrue to falsehood by such a surrender of truth, and the consequent endowment of imposture with the raiment and the domain of Apostolic antiquity.
The student of this series must have noted the following fundamental facts:—
1. That the name papa was common to all bishops, and signified no pre-eminence in those who bore it.
2. That the Apostolic Sees were all equally accounted matrices of unity, and the roots of other Catholic churches.
3. That, down to the Council of Nicæa, the whole system of the Church was framed on this principle, and that these were the “ancient customs” which that council ordained to be perpetual.
4. That “because it was the old capital of the empire,” and for no other reason (the Petrine idea never once mentioned), the primacy of honour was conceded to Old Rome, and equal honour to New Rome, because it was the new capital. 2681 It was to be named second on the list of patriarchates, but to be in no wise inferior to Old Rome; while the ancient and all-commanding patriarchate of Alexandria yielded this credit to the parvenu of Byzantium only on the principle of the Gospel, “in honour preferring one another,” and only because the imperial capital must be the centre of Catholic concourse.
Now, the rest of the story must be sought in post-Nicene history. The salient points are as follows:—
1. The mighty centralization about Constantinople; the three councils held within its walls; the virtual session of the other councils under its eaves; the inconsiderable figure of “Old Rome” in strictly ecclesiastical history; her barrenness of literature, and of great heroic sons, like Athanasius and Chrysostom in the East, and Cyprian and Augustine in the West; and her decadence as a capital,—had led Leo I., and others after him, to dwell much upon “St. Peter,” and to favour new ideas of his personal greatness, and of a transmitted grandeur as the inheritance of his successors. As yet, these were but “great swelling words of vanity;” but they led to the formulated fraud of the Decretals.
2. Ambition once entering the pale of Catholicity, we find a counter idea to that of the councils at the root of the first usurpation of unscriptural dignity. John “the Faster,” bishop of New Rome, conceived himself not merely equal (as the councils had decreed) to the bishop of Old Rome, but his superior, in view of the decrepitude of the latter, and its occupation by the Goths, while the imperial dignity of Constantinople was now matured. He called himself “Œcumenical Bishop.”
3. Gregory was then bishop of “Old Rome,” and that was the time to assert the principle of the Decretals, had any such idea ever been heard of. How did he meet his brother’s arrogance? Not appealing to decretals, not by asserting that such was his own dignity derived from St. Peter, but by protesting against such abasement of all the other patriarchs and all other bishops (who were all equals), and by pronouncing the impious assumption of such a nefarious title to denote a “forerunner of Antichrist.” Plainly, then, there was no “Pope” known to Christendom at the close of the sixth century.
4. But hardly was Gregory in his grave when court policy led the Emperor Phocas (one of the most infamous of men) to gratify the wicked ambition of the new Bishop of Rome by giving to him the titular honour of being a “forerunner of Antichrist.” Boniface III. (607 a.d.) assumed the daring title of “Universal Bishop.” But it was a mere court-title: the Church never recognised it; and so it went down to his successors as mere “sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal” till the days of Charlemagne.
5. In his times the Petrine fable had grown upon the Western mind. All Western Europe had but one Apostolic See. As “the Apostolic See” it was known throughout the West, just as “the Post-Office” means that which is nearest to one’s own dwelling. What was geographically true, had grown to be theologically false, however; and the Bishop of Rome began to consider himself the only inheritor of Apostolic precedency, if not of all Apostolic authority and power.
6. The formation of the Western Empire favoured this assumption: but it did not take definite shape while Charlemagne lived, for he regarded himself, like Constantine, the “head of the Church;” 2682 and in his day he acted as supreme pontiff, called the Council of Frankfort, overruled the Roman bishop, and, in short, was a lay-Pope throughout his empire. That nobody refused him all he claimed, that Adrian “couched like a strong ass” under the burden of his rebukes, and that Leo paid him bodily “homage,” demonstrated that no such character as a “Pope” was yet in existence. Leo III. had personally “adored” Charlemagne with the homage afterwards rendered to the pontiffs, and Adrian had set him the example of personal submission.
7. But, Charlemagne’s feeble sons and successors proving incapable of exercising his power, the West only waited for an ambitious and original genius to come to the See of Rome, to yield him all that Charlemagne had claimed, and to invest him with the more sacred character of the Apostolic head to the whole Church.
8. Such a character arose in Nicholas I. He found the Decretals made to his hand by some impostor, and he saw a benighted age ready to accept his assumptions. He therefore used them, and passed them into the organic canon-law of the West. The “Holy Roman Empire” reluctantly received the impious frauds 2683 the East contemptuously resisted. Thus the Papacy was formed on the base of the “Holy Roman Empire,” and arrogated to itself the right to cut off and anathematize the greater part of Christendom, with the old patriarchal Sees. So we have in Nicholas the first figure in history in whose person is concentrated what Rome means by the Papacy. No “Pope” ever existed previously, in the sense of her canon-law; and it was not till two centuries longer that even a “Pope” presumed to pronounce that title peculiar to the Bishop of Rome. 2684
Such, then, are the historical facts, which render vastly important some study of the Decretals. I shall give what follows exclusively from “Roman-Catholic” sources. Says the learned Dupin: 2685 —
1. All these Decretals were unknown to all the ancient Fathers, to all the Popes and all the ecclesiastical authors that wrote before the ninth century. Now, what rational man can believe that so vast a number of letters, composed by so many holy Popes, containing so many important points in relation to the discipline of the Church, could be unknown to Eusebius, to St. Jerome, to St. Augustine, to St. Basil, and, in short, to all those authors that have spoken of their writings, or who have written upon the discipline of the Church? Could it possibly happen that the Popes, to whom these epistles are so very favourable, would never have cited and alleged them to aggrandize their own reputation? Who could ever imagine that the decisions of these Decretals should be never so much as quoted in any council or in any canon? He that will seriously consider with himself, that, since these Decretals have been imposed upon the world, they have been cited in an infinite number of places by Popes, by councils, and as often by canonists, will be readily convinced that they would have acquired immense credit, and been very often quoted by antiquity, if they had been genuine and true.
Here I must direct attention to the all-important fact, that whatever may have been the authorship of these forgeries, the Roman pontiffs, and the “Roman Catholic” communion as such, have committed themselves over and over again to the fraud, as Dupin remarks above, and that, long after the imposture was demonstrated and exposed; in proof of which I cite the following, from one whose eyes were opened by his patient investigation of such facts, but who, while a member of the Roman communion, wrote to his co-religionist Cardinal Manning as follows: 2686 —
Is it credible that the Papacy should have so often appealed to these forgeries for its extended claims, had it any better authorities—distinctive authorities—to fall back upon? Every disputant on the Latin side finds in these forgeries a convincing argument against the Greeks. ‘To prove this,’ the universal jurisdiction of the Pope, said Abbot Barlaam, himself converted by them from the Greek Church, to convert his countrymen, ‘one need only look through the decretal epistles of the Roman pontiffs from St. Clement to St. Sylvester.’ In the twenty-fifth session of the Council of Florence the provincial of the Dominicans is ordered to address the Greeks on the rights of the Pope, the Pope being present. Twice he argues from the pseudo-decretal of St. Anacletus, at another time from a synodical letter of St. Athanasius to Felix, at another time from a letter of Julius to the Easterns, all forgeries. Afterwards, in reply to objections taken by Bessarion, in conference, to their authority, apart from any question of their authenticity, his position in another speech is, ‘that those decretal epistles of the Popes, being synodical epistles in each case, are entitled to the same authority as the Canons themselves.’ Can we need further evidence of the weight attached to them on the Latin side?
“Popes appealed to them in their official capacity, as well as private doctors; (1) Leo IX., for instance, to the pseudo-donation in the prolix epistle written by him, or in his name, to Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople, on the eve of the schism. (2) Eugenius IV. to the pseudo-decretals of St. Alexander and Julius, during the negotiations for healing it, in his instructions to the Armenians. (3) But why, my lord, need I travel any further for proofs, when in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, that has been for three centuries the accredited instructor of the clergy themselves, recommended authoritatively by so many Popes, notwithstanding the real value of these miserable impostures had been for three centuries before the world, I find these words: 2687 ‘On the primacy of the Supreme Pontiff, see the third epistle (that is, pseudo-decretal) of Anacletus’! Such is, actually, the authority to which the clergy of our own days are referred, in the first instance, for sound and true views on the primacy. (4) Afterwards, when they have mastered what is said there, they may turn to three more authorities, all culled likewise from Gratian, which they will not fail to interpret in accordance with the ideas they have already imbibed. Nor can I refrain from calling attention to a much more flagrant case. On the sacrament of confirmation there had been many questions raised by the Reformers, calculated to set people thinking, and anxious to know the strict truth respecting it. On this the Catechism proceeds as follows: 2688 —
“‘Since it has been already shown how necessary it would be to teach generally respecting all the sacraments, by whom they were instituted, so there is need of similar instruction respecting confirmation, that the faithful may be the more attracted by the holiness of this sacrament. Pastors must therefore explain that not only was Christ our Lord the author of it, but that, on the authority of the Roman pontiff St. Fabian (i.e., the pseudo-decretal attributed to him), He instituted the rite of the chrism, and the words used by the Catholic Church in its administration.’
“Strange phenomenon, indeed, that the asseverations of such authorities should be still ordered to be taught as Gospel from our pulpits in these days, when everybody that is acquainted with the merest rudiments of ecclesiastical history knows how absolutely unauthenticated they are in point of fact, and how unquestionably the authorities cited to prove them are forgeries.
“Absolutely, my lord, with such evidence before me, I am unable to resist the inference that truthfulness is not one of the strongest characteristics of the teaching of even the modern Church of Rome; for is not this a case palpably where its highest living authorities are both indifferent to having possible untruths preached from the pulpit, and something more than indifferent to having forgeries, after their detection as such, adduced from the pulpit to authenticate facts?
“This, again, strongly reminds me of a conversation I had with the excellent French priest who received me into the Roman-Catholic Church, some time subsequently to that event. I had, as an Anglican, inquired very laboriously into the genuineness of the Santa Casa: and having visited Nazareth and Loretto since, and plunged into the question anew at each place, came back more thoroughly convinced than ever of its utterly fictitious character, notwithstanding the privileges bestowed upon it by so many Popes. On stating my convictions to him, his only reply was: ‘There are many things in the Breviary which I do not believe, myself.’ Oh the stumbling-blocks of a system in the construction of which forgeries have been so largely used, in which it is still thought possible for the clergy to derive edification from legends which they cannot believe, and the people instruction from works of acknowledged imposture!
Further, Dupin remarks: 2689 —
“The first man that published them, if we may believe Hincmar, was one Riculphus, bishop of Mentz, who died about the ninth century. It is commonly believed, seeing the collection bears the name of Isidore, that he brought them from Spain. But it never could have been composed by the great Archbishop of Seville; and there is great reason to believe that no Spaniard, but rather some German or Frenchman, began this imposture,
“It likewise seems probable that some of these Decretals have been foisted in since the time of Riculphus. Benedict, a deacon of the church of Mentz, who made a collection of canons for the successors of Riculphus, may have put the last hand to this collection of false Decretals attributed to one Isidore, a different person from the famous Bishop of Seville, and surnamed Peccator, or Mercator. About his time a certain Isidore did come from Spain, along with some merchants, and then withdrew to Mentz. Not improbably, therefore, this man’s name was given to the collection, and it was naturally believed that it was brought from Spain.
“And since these letters first appeared in an unlearned, dark age, what wonder is it that they were received with very little opposition? And yet Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims, with other French bishops, made great difficulty in accepting them, even in that time. Soon after, however, they acquired some authority, owing to the support of the court of Rome, the pretensions of which they mightily favoured.
On the twin imposture of the “Donation of Constantine,” it may be well to cite the same learned authority. But this shall be found elsewhere. 2690
Let me now recur to the same candid Gallican doctor, Dupin, who remarks as follows:—
“2. The imposture of these letters is invincibly proved from hence: because they are made up of a contexture of passages out of Fathers, councils, papal epistles, and imperial ordinances, which have appeared after the third century, down to the middle of the ninth.
“3. The citations of Scripture in all these letters follow the Vulgate of St. Jerome, which demonstrates that they are since his time (a.d. 420), and consequently do not proceed from Popes who lived long before St. Jerome.
“4. The matter of these letters is not at all in keeping with the ages when those to whom they are attributed were living.
“5. These Decretals are full of anachronisms. The consulships and names of consuls mentioned in them are confused and out of order; and, moreover, the true dates of the writers themselves, as Bishops of Rome, do not agree with those assumed in these letters.
“6. Their style is extremely barbarous, full of solecisms; and in them we often meet with certain words never used till the later ages. Also, they are all of one style! How does it happen that so many different Popes, living in divers centuries, should all write in the same manner?”
Dupin then goes on to examine the whole series with learning and candour, showing that every single one of them “carries with it unequivocal signs of lying and imposture.” To his pages let the student recur, therefore. I follow him in the following enumeration of the frauds he calmly exposes with searching logic and demonstration:—
1. St. Clement to St. James the Lord’s Brother.—Plainly spurious.
2. The Second Epistle of Clement to the Same.—Equally so.
3. St. Clement to all Suffragan Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and Others of the Clergy: to all Princes Great and Small, and to all the Faithful.
Dupin remarks: “This very title suffices to prove the forgery, as, in the days of St. Clement, there were no “princes great or small” in the Church.” He adds that it speaks of “subdeacons,” an order not then existing, and that it is patched up from scraps of the apocryphal Recognitions.
4. A Fourth Letter of the Same. It is self-refuted by “the same reasons.”
5. The Fifth Letter to St. James of St. Clement, Bishop of Rome and Successor of St. Peter.
“But,” says Dupin, “as St. James died before St. Peter, it necessarily follows, that this epistle cannot have been written by St. Clement.” Further, “We have one genuine epistle of St. Clement, the style of which is wholly different from that of these Decretals.”
6. The Epistle of Anacletus.—Barbarous, full of solecisms and falsehoods.
7. A Second Epistle of Anacletus.—Filled with passages out of authors who lived long after the times of Anacletus.
8. A Third Letter, etc..—Spurious for the same reasons.
9. An Epistle of Evaristus.—Patched up out of writings of Innocent in the fifth century, dated under consuls not contemporaries of the alleged writer.
10. A Second Epistle of the Same.—Stuffed with patchwork of later centuries.
11. An Epistle of Alexander.—Contains passages from at least one author of the eighth century.
12. A Second Epistle of the Same.—Refers to the Council of Laodicea, which was held (a.d. 365) after Alexander was dead.
13. A Third Epistle, etc.—Quotes an author of the fifth century.
14. An Epistle of Xystus.—Dated under a consul that lived in another age, and quotes authors of centuries later than his own day.
15. A Second Epistle of the Same.—Subject to the same objections, anachronisms, etc.
16. An Epistle of Telesphorus.—False dates, patched from subsequent authors, etc.
17. An Epistle of Hyginus.—Anachronisms, etc.
18. A Second of the Same.—Stuffed with anachronisms, and falsely dated by consuls not of his age.
19. An Epistle of Pius I.—Full of absurdities, and quotes “the Theodosian Code”!
20. A Second.—It is addressed to Justus, etc. Bad Latin, and wholly unknown to antiquity, though Baronius has tried to sustain it.
21. A Third Letter, etc.—Addressed to Justus, bishop of Vienna. False for the same reasons.
22. An Epistle of Anicetus.—Full of blunders as to dates, etc. Mentions names, titles, and the like, unheard of till later ages.
23. An Epistle of Soter.—Dated under consuls who lived before Soter was bishop of Rome.
24. A Second Letter, etc.—Speaks of “monks,” “palls,” and other things of later times; is patched out of writings of subsequent ages, and dated under consuls not his contemporaries.
25. An Epistle of Eleutherus.—Subject to like objections.
26. A Second Letter, etc.—Anachronisms.
27. A Third Letter, etc.—Addressed to “Desiderius, bishop of Vienna.” There was no such bishop till the sixth century.
28. A Fourth Letter, etc.—Quotes later authors, and is disproved by its style.
29. An Epistle of Zephyrinus.—Little importance to be attached to anything from such a source; but Dupin (who lived before his bad character came to light in the writings of Hippolytus) convicts it of ignorance, and shows that it is a patchwork of later ideas and writers.
30. A Second Letter.—“Yet more plainly an imposture,” says Dupin.
31. An Epistle of St. Callistus.—What sort of a “saint” he was, our readers are already informed. This epistle is like the preceding ones of Zephyrinus.
32. A Second Epistle, etc.—Quotes from writings of the eighth century.
33. An Epistle of Urban.—Quotes the Vulgate, the Theodosian Code, and Gregory the Fourth.
34. An Epistle of Pontianus.—Anachronisms.
35. A Second Epistle, etc.—Barbarous and impossible.
36. An Epistle of Anterus.—Equally impossible; stuffed with anachronisms.
37. An Epistle of Fabianus.—Contradicts the facts of history touching Cyprian, Cornelius, and Novatus.
38. A Second Epistle, etc.—Self-refuted by its monstrous details of mistake and the like.
39. A Third Epistle, etc.—Quotes authors of the sixth century.
40. An Epistle of Cornelius.—Contradicts historical facts, etc.
41. A Second Epistle, etc.—Equally full of blunders. “But nothing,” says Dupin, “shows the imposture of these two letters more palpably than the difference of style from those truly ascribed to Cornelius in Cyprian’s works.”
42. A Third Letter, etc.—Equally false on its face. Dupin, with his usual candour, remarks: “We find in it the word ‘Mass,’ which was unknown to the contemporaries of Cornelius.”
43. An Epistle of Lucius.—It is dated six months before he became Bishop of Rome, and quotes authors who lived ages after he was dead.
44. An Epistle of Stephen.—“Filled with citations out of subsequent authors.”
45. A Second Epistle, etc.—Open to the like objection; it does not harmonize with the times to which it is referred.
Here Dupin grows weary, and winds up his review as follows:—
For like reasons, we must pass judgment, in like manner, on the two Epistles of Sixtus II.; the two of Dionysius; the three of St. Felix I; the two of Eutychianus; one of Caius; two of Marcellinus and those of Marcellus; the three of Eusebius; those of Miltiades, and the rest of Isidore’s collection: they are full of passages out of Fathers, Popes, and councils, more modern than the very Popes by whom they are pretended to be written. In them are many things that clash with the known history of those times, and were purposely framed to favour the court of Rome and to sustain her pretensions against the rights of bishops and the liberties of churches. But it would take up too much time to show the gross falsehood of these monuments. They are now rejected by common consent, and even by those authors who are most favourable to the court of Rome, who are obliged to abandon the patronage of these epistles, though they have done a great deal of service in developing the greatness of the court of Rome, and ruining the ancient discipline of the Church, especially with reference to the rights of bishops and ecclesiastical decisions.
The following is the Translator’s Preface to these frauds:—
In regard to these Decretals, Dean Milman says: “Up to this period the Decretals, the letters or edicts of the Bishops of Rome, according to the authorized or common collection of Dionysius, commenced with Pope Siricius, towards the close of the fourth century. To the collection of Dionysius was added that of the authentic councils, which bore the name of Isidore of Seville. On a sudden was promulgated, unannounced, without preparation, not absolutely unquestioned, but apparently overawing at once all doubt, a new code, which to the former authentic documents added fifty-nine letters and decrees of the twenty oldest popes from Clement to Melchiades, 2691 and the donation of Constantine; 2692 and in the third part, among the decrees of the popes and of the councils from Sylvester to Gregory II., thirty-nine false decrees, and the acts of several unauthentic councils.” 2693
In regard to the authorship and date of the False Decretals, Dean Milman says: “The author or authors of this most audacious and elaborate of pious frauds are unknown; the date and place of its compilation are driven into such narrow limits that they may be determined within a few years, and within a very circumscribed region. The False Decretals came not from Rome; the time of their arrival at Rome, after they were known beyond the Alps, appears almost certain. In one year Nicholas I. is apparently ignorant of their existence; the next he speaks of them with full knowledge. They contain words manifestly used at the Council of Paris, a.d. 829, consequently are of later date. They were known to the Levite Benedict of Mentz, who composed a supplement to the collection of capitularies by Ansegise, between a.d. 840–847. The city of Mentz is designated with nearly equal certainty as the place in which, if not actually composed, they were first promulgated as the canon law of Christendom.” 2694
Footnotes
602:2681Compare these Canons: Nicæa, vi.; Constantinople, ii., iii.; Ephesus, viii.; and Chalcedon, xxviii.
603:2682Episcopus ab extra; i.e., head of temporalities.
603:2683Hincmar of Rheims opposed them as he could. See Prichard’s Hincmar, Oxford, 1849.
603:2684See vol. v. p. 154, Elucidation III.
603:2685See his Eccles. History, Cent. iii. p. 173, ed. London, 1693.
603:2686Ed. Hayes, London, 1868.
604:2687De Ord. Sacram., § 49.
604:2688§ 5.
604:2689P. 173, as above.
605:2690Elucidation II., infra.
607:2691[Elucidation I.]
607:2692[Elucidation II.]
607:2693History of Latin Christianity, vol. iii. p. 191.
607:2694History of Latin Christianity, vol. iii. p. 193. [In the marvellous confusion of vol. ix. of the Edinburgh series, these Decretals are mixed up with genuine works as “Fragments of the Third Century.”]
The Epistles of Zephyrinus. 2695
————————————
The First Epistle.
To All the Bishops of Sicily.
Of the final decision of the trials of bishops, and graver ecclesiastical cases in the seat of the apostles.
Zephyrinus, archbishop of the city of Rome, to all the bishops settled in Sicily, in the Lord, greeting.
We ought to be mindful of the grace of God to us, which in His own merciful regard has raised us for this purpose to the summit of priestly honour, that, abiding by His commandments, and appointed in a certain supervision of His priests, we may prohibit things unlawful, and teach those that are to be followed. As night does not extinguish the stars of heaven, so the unrighteousness of the world does not blind the minds of the faithful that hold by the sure support of Scripture. Therefore we ought to consider well and attend carefully to the Scriptures, and the divine precepts which are contained in these Scriptures, in order that we may show ourselves not transgressors, but fulfillers of the law of God.
Now patriarchs and primates, in investigating the case of an accused bishop, should not pronounce a final decision until, supported by the authority of the apostles, they find that the person either confesses himself guilty, or is proved so by witnesses trustworthy and regularly examined, who should not be fewer in number than were those disciples whom the Lord directed to be chosen for the help of the apostles—that is, seventy-two. Detractors also, who are to be rooted out by divine authority, and the advisers of enemies (auctores inimicorum), we do not admit in the indictment of bishops or in evidence against them; nor should any one of superior rank be indicted or condemned on the accusations of inferiors. Nor in a doubtful case should a decisive judgment be pronounced; nor should any trial be held valid unless it has been conducted according to order. No one, moreover, should be judged in his absence, because both divine and human laws forbid that. The accusers of those persons should also be free of all suspicion, because the Lord has chosen that His pillars should stand firm, and not be shaken by any one who will. For a sentence should not bind any of them if it is not given by their proper judge, because even the laws of the world ordain that that be done. For any accused bishop may, if it be necessary, choose twelve judges by whom his case may be justly judged. Nor should he be heard or excommunicated or judged until these be chosen by him; and on his being regularly summoned at first to a council of his own bishops, his case should be justly heard by them, and investigated on sound principles. The end of his case, however, should be remitted to the seat of the apostles, that it may be finally decided there. Nor should it be finished, as has been decreed of old by the apostles or their successors, until it is sustained by its authority. To it also all, and especially the oppressed, should appeal and have recourse as to a mother, that they may be nourished by her breasts, defended by her authority, and relieved of their oppressions, because “a mother cannot,” and should not, “forget her son.” 2696 For the trials of bishops and graver ecclesiastical cases, as the apostles and their holy successors have decreed, are to be finally decided along with other bishops 2697 by the seat of the apostles, and by no other; because, although they may be transferred to other bishops, it was yet to the blessed Apostle Peter these terms were addressed: “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 2698 And the other privileges which have been granted to this holy seat alone are found embodied both in the constitutions of the apostles 2699 and their successors, and in very many others in harmony with these. For the apostles have prefixed seventy 2700 decrees, together with very many other bishops, and have appointed them to be kept. For to judge rashly of the secrets of another’s heart is sin; and it is unjust to reprove him on suspicion whose works seem not other than good, since God alone is Judge of those things which are unknown to men. He, however, “knoweth the secrets of the heart,” 2701 and not another. For unjust judgments are to be guarded against by all, especially however by the servants of God. “And the servant of the Lord must not strive,” 2702 nor harm any one. For bishops are to be borne by laity and clergy, and masters by servants, in order that, under the exercise of endurance, things temporal may be maintained, and things eternal hoped for. For that increases the worth of virtue, which does not violate the purpose of religion. You should be earnestly intent that none of your brothers be grievously injured or undone. Therefore you ought to succour the oppressed, and deliver them from the hand of their persecutors, in order that with the blessed Job you may say: “The blessing of him that was ready to perish will come upon me, and I consoled the widow’s heart. I put on righteousness, and clothed myself with a robe and a diadem, my judgment. I was eye to the blind, and foot to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and the cause which I knew not I searched out most carefully. I brake the grinders of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth;” 2703 and so forth. You, therefore, who have been placed in eminence by God, ought with all your power to check and repel those who prepare snares for brethren, or raise seditions and offences against them. For it is easy by word to deceive man, not however God. Therefore you ought to keep these off, and be on your guard against them, until such darkness is done away utterly, and the morning star shines upon them, and gladness arises, most holy brethren. Given on the 20th September, in the consulship of the most illustrious Saturninus and Gallicanus. 2704
————————————
Footnotes
609:2695The little that is known of Zephyrinus is derived from Eusebius. That historian states that Zephyrinus succeeded Victor in the presidency of the Roman church “about the ninth year of the reign of Severus” (a.d. 201), and that he died in the first year of the reign of Antoninus (Heliogabalus, a.d. 218). He is several times alluded to in the fragments ascribed to Caius, or in connection with them.
The two letters bearing his name are forgeries. They belong to the famous collection of False Decretals forged in the ninth century.
609:2696Isa. xlix. 15.
609:2697The word “bishops” is omitted in ms.
609:2698Matt. xvi. 19.
610:2699This means the seventy-third apostolic canon, in which it is ordained that episcopal cases be not decided but by superior bishops, councils, or the Roman pontiff. [See note 1, p. 612.]
610:2700Another reading has sixty, and another fifty. Whatever be the reading, it is true that by these decrees are meant the apostolic canons: and although their number was only fifty, yet, because sometimes several decrees are comprehended in one canon, there would be no inconsistency between the number of sixty or seventy apostolic decrees and the number of fifty apostolic canons (Sev. Bin.).
610:2701Ps. xliv. 21.
610:27022 Tim. ii. 24.
610:2703Job xxix. 13-17, according to the Vulgate version.
610:2704Or, Gallus. But Saturninus and Gallus were consuls in the year 198, while Victor was yet alive.
The Second Epistle.
To the Bishops of the Province of Egypt.
Zephyrinus, archbishop of the city of Rome, to the most beloved brethren who serve the Lord in Egypt.
So great trust have we received from the Lord, the Founder of this holy seat and of the apostolic church, and from the blessed Peter, chief of the apostles, that we may labour with unwearied affection 2705 for the universal Church which has been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and aid all who serve the Lord, and give help to all who live piously by apostolic authority. All who will live 2706 piously in Christ must needs endure reproaches from the impious and aliens, and be despised as fools and madmen, that they may be made better and purer who lose the good things of time that they may gain those of eternity. But the contempt and ridicule of those who afflict and scorn them will be cast back upon themselves, when their abundance shall change to want, and their pride to confusion.
Footnotes
610:2705Or, diligence. [See note 2, p. 612.]
610:27062 Tim. ii. 24.
I.
On the Spoliation or Expulsion of certain Bishops.
It has been reported at the seat of the apostles by your delegates, 2707 that certain of our brethren, bishops to wit, are being expelled from their churches and seats, and deprived of their goods, and summoned, thus destitute and spoiled, to trial; a thing which is void of all reason, since the constitutions of the apostles and their successors, and the statutes of emperors, and the regulations of laws, prohibit it, and the authority of the seat of the apostles forbids it to be done. It has been ordained, indeed, in the ancient statutes, that bishops who have been ejected and spoiled of their property should recover their churches, and, in the first place, have all their property restored to them; and then, in the second place, that if any one may desire to accuse them justly, he should do so at the like risk; that the judges should be discreet, the bishops right-minded and harmonious in the Church, where they should be witnesses for every one who seemed to be oppressed; and that they should not answer till all that belonged to them was restored to them, and to their churches by law without detriment. Nor is it strange, brethren, if they persecute you, when they persecuted even to death your Head, Christ our Lord. Yet even persecutions are to be endured patiently, that ye may be known to be His disciples, for whom also ye suffer. Whence, too, he says Himself, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” 2708 Sustained by these testimonies, we ought not greatly to fear the reproach of men, nor be overcome by their up-braidings, since the Lord gives us this command by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, my people, in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings;” 2709 considering what is written in the Psalm, “Shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart, 2710 and the thoughts of such men, that they are vanity,” 2711 “They spoke vanity every one with his neighbour: with deceitful lips in their heart, and with an evil heart they spoke. But the Lord shall cut off all deceitful lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things; who have said, Our lips are our own; who is Lord over us?” 2712 For if they kept these things in memory, they would by no means break forth into so great wickedness. For they do not this by laudable and paternal instruction (probabili et paterna doctrina), but that they may wreak their vengeful feeling against the servants of God. For it is written, “The way of a fool is right in his eyes;” 2713 and, “There are ways which seem right unto a man, but the end thereof leads to death.” 2714 Now we who suffer these things ought to leave them to the judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works; 2715 who also has thundered through His servants, saying, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” 2716 Assist ye, therefore, one another in good faith, and by deed and with a hearty will; nor let any one remove his hand from the help of a brother, since “by this,” saith the Lord, “shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” 2717 Whence, too, He speaks by the prophet, saying, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” 2718 In a spiritual dwelling, I interpret it, and in a concord which is in God, and in the unity of the faith which distinguishes this pleasant dwelling according to truth, which indeed was more beauteously illustrated in Aaron and the priests 2719 clothed with honour, as ointment upon the head, nurturing the highest understanding and leading even to the end of wisdom. For in this dwelling the Lord has promised blessing and eternal life. Apprehending, therefore, the importance of this utterance of the prophet, we have spoken this present brotherly word for love’s sake, and by no means seeking, or meaning to seek, our own things. For it is not good to repay detraction with detraction, or according to the common proverb to cast out a beam with a beam (excutere palum palo). Be it far from us. Such manners are not ours. May the Godhead indeed forbid it. By the just judgment of God, power is given sometimes to sinners to persecute His saints, in order that they who are aided and borne on by the Spirit of God may become more glorious through the discipline of sufferings. But to those very persons who persecute, and reproach, and injure them, there will doubtless be woe. Woe, woe to those who injure the servants of God; for injury done to them concerns Him whose service they discharge, and whose function they execute. But we pray that a door of enclosure be placed upon their mouths, as we desire that no one perish or be defiled by their lips, and that they think or publish with their mouth no hurtful word. Whence also the Lord speaks by the prophet, “I said I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue.” 2720 May the Lord Almighty, and His only-begotten Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ, give you this incitement, that with all means in your power you aid all the brethren under whatsoever tribulations they labour, and esteem, as is meet, their sufferings your own. Afford them the utmost assistance by word and deed, that ye may be found His true disciples, who enjoined all to love the brethren as themselves.
Footnotes
610:2707By these apocrisarii are meant the deputies of the bishops, and their locum tenentes, as it were, who manage the affairs of the Church, hear the cases of individuals, and refer them to the bishops. They are therefore called apocrisarii, i.e., responders, from ἀποκρίνομαι, to respond. Mention is made of them in Justinian Novell., Quomodo oporteat Episcopos, chap. xii. Albericus understands by them the legates of the Pope. [Note 3.]
611:2708Matt. v. 10.
611:2709Isa. li. 7.
611:2710Ps. xliv. 21.
611:2711Ps. xciv. 11.
611:2712Ps. xii. 2-4.
611:2713Prov. xii. 15.
611:2714Prov. xiv. 12.
611:2715Matt. xvi. 27.
611:2716Rom. xii. 19.
611:2717John xiii. 35.
611:2718Ps. cxxxiii. 1.
611:2719The ms. reads, “and those wearing the priestly dignity.”
611:2720Ps. xxxix. 1.
II.
On the Ordination of Presbyters and Deacons.
Ordinations of presbyters and Levites, moreover, solemnly perform on a suitable occasion, and in the presence of many witnesses; and to this duty advance tried and learned men, that ye may be greatly gladdened by their fellowship and help. Place the confidence of your hearts without ceasing on the goodness of God, and declare these and the other divine words to succeeding generations: “For this is our God for ever and ever, and He will guide us to eternity.” 2721 Given on the 7th November, in the consulship of the most illustrious Saturninus and Gallicanus. 2722
————————————
Footnotes
612:2721Ps. xlviii. 14.
612:2722Or, Gallus. [See note 5, p. 610.]
Notes by the American Editor.
1. The translator’s reference to Canon 73 is a mistake, and quite misleading. See vol. vii. Canon 74, p. 504.
2. It is worth while to recall who and what Zephyrinus was. See vol. v. p. 156, Elucidation V.; also same volume of this series, p. 157, Elucidation VI. This unhappy prelate was a heretic; and his decrees and opinions are worthless, as Hippolytus shows. Hence this letter, even were it genuine, would be of no value whatever. Consult also vol. v. p. 156, in Elucidation IV.; also same volume, Elucidation III.
3. On p. 610, Ep. 2, sec. 1, observe the reference to the “statutes of Emperors,” where the wily forger forgot himself, as if the Cæsars of this date had legislated for the Christian Church. On the spirit of the ancient Canons, refuting all these Decretals, compare the Canons of Nicæa, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 15; of Constantinople, 2 and 3; of Ephesus, 8; and of Chalcedon, 9 and 28. To these Canons, against the claims of the Paparchy, the Church of England appealed at her Restoration.
The Epistles of Pope Callistus. 2723
————————————
The First Epistle. 2724
To Bishop Benedictus.
On the Fasts of the Four Seasons, and that no one should take up an accusation against a doctor (teacher).
Callistus, archbishop of the Church Catholic in the city of Rome, to Benedictus, our brother and bishop, greeting in the Lord.
By the love of the brotherhood we are bound, and by our apostolic rule we are constrained, to give answer to the inquiries of the brethren, according to what the Lord has given us, and to furnish them with the authority of the seal of the apostles.
Footnotes
613:2723Callistus succeeded Zephyrinus in the bishopric of Rome, and discharged the duties of that office for five years. This is all the information which Eusebius (in his Chronicon and Hist. Eccl., vi. 21) gives us in regard to Callistus. Later writers make many other statements. [See note, p. 618.]
The letters attributed to him form part of the False Decretals of the pseudo-Isidorus, mentioned in the notice of Zephyrinus.
613:2724Mansi, Concil., i. 737.
I.
(Of the seasons for fasting.)
Fasting, which ye have learned to hold three times in the year among us, we decree now to take place, as more suitable, in four seasons; so that even as the year revolves through four seasons, we too may keep a solemn fast quarterly in the four seasons of the year. And as we are replenished with corn, and wine, and oil for the nourishment of our bodies, so let us be replenished with fasting for the nourishment of our souls, in accordance with the word of the prophet Zechariah, who says, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I repented not; so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; judge the truth and the judgment of peace in your gates; and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour, and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord of hosts. And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of the Lord joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; only love the truth and peace, saith the Lord of hosts.” 2725 In this, then, we ought to be all of one mind, so that, according to apostolic teaching, we may all say the same thing, and that there be no divisions among us. Let us then be perfect in the same mind, and in the same judgment; 2726 in ready zeal for which work we congratulate ourselves on having your affection as our partner. For it is not meet for the members to be at variance with the head; but, according to the testimony of sacred Scripture, 2727 all the members should follow the head. It is matter of doubt, moreover, to no one, that the church of the apostles is the mother of all the churches, from whose ordinances it is not right that you should deviate to any extent. And as the Son of God came to do the Father’s will, so shall ye fulfil the will of your mother, which is the Church, the head of which, as has been stated already, is the church of Rome. Wherefore, whatsoever may be done against the discipline of this church, without the decision of justice, cannot on any account be permitted to be held valid.
Footnotes
613:2725Zech. viii. 1-19.
613:27261 Pet. iii.
613:27271 Cor. xii.
II.
(Of accusations against doctors.)
Moreover, let no one take up an accusation against a doctor (teacher), because it is not right for sons to find fault with fathers, nor for slaves to wound their masters. Now, all those whom they instruct are sons of doctors; and as sons ought to love their fathers after the flesh, so ought they to love their spiritual fathers. For he does not live rightly who does not believe rightly, or who reprehends fathers, or calumniates them. Doctors therefore, who are also called fathers, are rather to be borne with than reprehended, unless they err from the true faith. Let no one, consequently, accuse a doctor by writing (per scripta); neither let him answer to any accuser, unless he be one who is trustworthy and recognised by law, and who leads also a life and conversation free from reproach. For it is a thing unworthy that a doctor should reply to a foolish and ignorant person, and one who leads a reprehensible life, according to the man’s folly; as Scripture says, Answer not a fool according to his folly. 2728 He does not live rightly who does not believe rightly. He means nothing evil who is faithful. If anyone is faithful (a believer), let him see to it that he make no false allegations, nor lay a snare for any man. The faithful man acts always in faith; and the unfaithful man plots cunningly, and strives to work the ruin of those who are faithful, and who live in piety and righteousness, because like seeks like. The unfaithful man is one dead in the living body. And on the other hand, the discourse of the man of faith guards the life of his hearers. For as the Catholic doctor, and especially the priest of the Lord, ought to be involved in no error, so ought he to be wronged by no machination or passion. Holy Scripture indeed says, Go not after thy lusts, but refrain thyself from thine appetites; 2729 and we must resist many allurements of this world, and many vanities, in order that the integrity of a true continence may be obtained, whereof the first blemish is pride, the beginning of transgression and the origin of sin; for the mind with lustful will knows neither to abstain nor to give itself to piety. No good man has an enemy except in the wicked, who are permitted to be such only in order that the good man may be corrected or exercised through their means. Whatever, therefore, is faultless is defended by the Church Catholic. Neither for prince, nor for any one who observes piety, is it lawful to venture anything contrary to the divine injunctions. Consequently an unjust judgment, or an unjust decision (diffinitio), instituted or enforced by judges under the fear or by the command of a prince, or any bishop or person of influence, cannot be valid. The religious man ought not to hold it enough merely to refrain from entering into the enmities of others, or increasing them by evil speech, unless he also make it his study to extinguish them by good speech. 2730 Better is a humble confession in evil deeds, than a proud boasting in good deeds. 2731 Moreover, all who live the blessed life, choose rather to run that course in the proper estate of peace and righteousness, than to involve themselves in the avenging pains of our sins. 2732 For I am mindful that I preside over the Church under the name of him whose confession was honoured by our Lord Jesus Christ, and whose faith ever destroys all errors. And I understand that I am not at liberty to act otherwise than to expend all my efforts on that cause in which the well-being of the universal Church is at stake (infestatur). I hope, too, that the mercy of God will so favour us, that, with the help of His clemency, every deadly disease may be removed, God Himself expelling it, and that whatever may be done wholesomely, under His inspiration and help, may be accomplished to the praise of thy faith and devotion. For all things cannot otherwise be safe, unless, as far as pertains to the service of the divine office, sacerdotal authority upholds them. Given on the 21st day of November in the consulship of the most illustrious Antoninus and Alexander. 2733
————————————
Footnotes
614:2728Prov. xxvi. 4.
614:2729Ecclesiasticus 18.30.
614:2730See Augustine’s Confessions, book ix. ch. ix.
614:2731See Augustine on Ps. xciii.
614:2732See Ambrose, Epistle xxi.
614:2733In the year 222.
The Second Epistle.
To All the Bishops of Gaul.
(Of conspiracies and other illicit pursuits, that they be not engaged in, and of the restoration of the lapsed after penitence.)
Callistus to our most dearly beloved brethren, all the bishops settled throughout Gaul.
By the report of very many, we learn that your love, by the zeal of the Holy Spirit, holds and guides the helm of the Church so firmly in the face of all assaults, that by God’s will it is conscious neither of shipwreck nor of the losses of shipwreck. Rejoicing, therefore, in such testimonies, we beg you not to permit anything to be done in those parts contrary to the apostolic statutes; but, supported by our authority, do ye check what is injurious, and prohibit what is unlawful.
I.
(Of those who conspire against bishops, or who take part with such.)
Now we have heard that the crime of conspiracies prevails in your parts, and it has been shown us that the people are conspiring against their bishops; of which crime the craft is hateful, not only among Christians, but even among the heathen, and it is forbidden by foreign laws. And therefore the laws not only of the Church, but of the world, condemn those who are guilty of this crime; and not only those indeed who actually conspire, but those also who take part with such. 2734 Our predecessors, moreover, together with a very numerous body of bishops, ordained that any guilty of this offence among those who are set in the honour of the priesthood, and who belong to the clergy, should be deprived of the honour which they enjoy; and they ordered that others should be cut off from communion, and expelled from the Church; and they decreed, at the same time, that all men of both orders should be infamous (infames); and that, too, not only for those who did the deed, but for those also who took part with such. For it is but equitable that those who despise the divine mandates, and prove themselves disobedient to the ordinances of the fathers, should be chastised with severer penalties, in order that others may fear to do such things, and that all may rejoice in brotherly concord, and all take to themselves the example of severity and goodness. For if (which may God forbid) we neglect the care of the Church, and are regardless of its strength, our slothfulness will destroy discipline, and injury will be done assuredly to the souls of the faithful. Such persons, moreover, are not to be admitted to accuse any one: neither can their voice, nor that of those who are under the ban, injure or criminate any man.
Footnotes
615:2734Comp. Rom. i. 32.
II.
(Of those who have intercourse with excommunicated persons, or with unbelievers.)
Those, too, who are excommunicated by the priests, let no one receive previous to the just examination of both sides; nor let him have any intercourse with such in speech, or in eating or drinking, or in the salutation with the kiss, nor let him greet such; because, whosoever wittingly holds intercourse with the excommunicated in these or other prohibited matters, will subject himself, according to the ordinance of the apostles, 2735 to like excommunication. From these, therefore, let clergy and laity keep themselves if they would not have the same penalty to endure. Also do not join the unbelievers, neither have any fellowship with them. They who do such things, indeed, are judged not as believers, but as unbelievers. Whence the apostle says: “What part hath he that believeth with an infidel? or what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?” 2736
Footnotes
615:2735The reference is to the 11th and 12th of the canons of the apostles. [Vol. vii. p. 501, this series.]
615:27362 Cor. 6:14, 15.
III.
(That no bishop should presume in anything pertaining to another’s parish, and of the transference of bishops.)
Let no one, again, trespass upon the boundaries of another, nor presume to judge or excommunicate one belonging to another’s parish; because such judgment or ordination, or excommunication or condemnation, shall neither be ratified nor have any virtue; since no one shall be bound by the decision of another judge than his own, neither shall he be condemned by such. Whence also the Lord speaks to this effect: “Pass not the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set.” 2737 Moreover, let no primate or metropolitan invade the church or parish of a diocesan (diœcesani), or presume to excommunicate or judge any one belonging to his parish, or do anything without his counsel or judgment; but let him observe this law, which has been laid down by the apostles 2738 and fathers, and our predecessors, and has been ratified by us: to wit, that if any metropolitan bishop, except in that which pertains to his own proper parish alone, shall attempt to do anything without the counsel and good-will of all the comprovincial bishops, he will do it at the risk of his position, and what he does in this manner shall be held null and void; but whatever it may be necessary to do or to arrange with regard to the cases of the body of provincial bishops, and the necessities of their churches and clergy and laity, this should be done by consent of all the pontiffs of the same province, and that too without any pride of lordship, but with the most humble and harmonious action, even as the Lord says: “I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” 2739 And in another passage He says: “And whosoever of you is the greater, shall be your servant,” 2740 and so forth. And in like manner the bishops of the same province themselves should do all things in counsel with him, except so much as pertains to their own proper parishes, in accordance with the statutes of the holy fathers (who, although they have preceded us by a certain interval of time, have yet drawn the light of truth and faith from one and the same fountain of purity, and have sought the prosperity of the Church of God and the common advantage of all Christians by the same enlightening and guiding Spirit), that with one mind, and one mouth, and one accord, the Holy Trinity may be glorified for ever. No primate, no metropolitan, nor any of the other bishops, is at liberty to enter the seat of another, or to occupy a possession which does not pertain to him, and which forms part of the parish of another bishop, at the direction of any one, unless he is invited by him to whose jurisdiction it is acknowledged to belong; nor can he set about any arrangement or ordinance, or judgment there, if he wishes to keep the honour of his station. But if he presume to do otherwise, he shall be condemned; and not only he, but those who co-operate and agree with him: for just as the power of making appointments (ordinatio) is interdicted in such circumstances, so also is the power of judging or of disposing of other matters. For if a man has no power to appoint, how shall he judge? Without doubt, he shall in no wise judge or have power to judge: for just as another man’s wife cannot intermarry with anyone (adulterari), nor be judged or disposed of by any one but by her own husband so long as he liveth; so neither can it in anywise be allowed that the wife of a bishop, by whom undoubtedly is meant his church or parish, should be judged or disposed of by another without his (the bishop’s) judgment and good-will so long as he liveth, or enjoy another’s embrace, that is, his ordaining. Wherefore the apostle says: “The wife is bound by the law so long as her husband liveth; but if he be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.” 2741 In like manner also, the spouse of a bishop (for the church is called his spouse and wife) is bound to him while he liveth; but when he is dead she is loosed, and may be wedded to whomsoever she will, only in the Lord, that is, according to order. For if, while he is alive, she marry another, she shall be judged to be an adulteress. And in the same manner, he too, if he marry another of his own will, shall be held to be an adulterer, and shall be deprived of the privilege of communion. If, however, he is persecuted in his own church, he must flee to another, and attach himself to it, as the Lord says: “If they persecute you in one city, flee ye into another.” 2742 If, however, the change be made for the sake of the good of the church, he may not do this of himself, but only on the invitation of the brethren, and with the sanction of this holy seat, and not for ambition’s sake, but for the public good.
Footnotes
615:2737Prov. xxii. 28.
615:2738Canons 35 and 36. [Vol. vii. p. 503.]
615:2739Matt. xx. 28.
615:2740Mark x. 44.
616:2741Rom. vii. 2.
616:2742Matt. x. 23.
IV.
(Of marriages among blood-relations, and of those who are born of them; and of accusations which the laws reject.)
Moreover, marriages among blood-relations are forbidden, since all laws, both sacred and secular, forbid such. Wherefore the divine laws not only expel, but even anathematize, those who do so, and those who spring from them. Secular laws, again, call such persons infamous, and interdict them from inheriting. And we too, following our fathers, and keeping close by their footsteps, brand such with infamy, and hold them to be infamous, because they are sprinkled with the stains of infamy. Neither ought we to admit those men or their accusations, that secular laws reject. (For who doubts that human laws, when they are not inconsistent with reason and honour, are to be embraced, especially when they either further the public good or defend the authority of the ecclesiastical office, and uphold it as a help?) And we call those blood-relations whom divine laws, and those of the emperors, both Roman and Greek, name blood-relations, and whom they admit to the right of inheriting, and cannot exclude from that. Marriages, then, between such are neither lawful nor capable of holding good, but are to be rejected. (And if any such are attempted in rash daring, they come to be rescinded by apostolic authority.)
V.
(Of those who ought not to be admitted to prefer an accusation, or to bear witness; and that evidence is not to be given but on things happening in the person’s presence.)
Whosoever, therefore, has not been lawfully married, or has been united without the dotal title (dotali titulo) and the blessing of a priest, cannot by any means bring a charge against priests, or those who are lawfully married, or bear witness against them, since every one who is polluted with the stain of incest is infamous, and is not allowed to accuse the above-named. And consequently not only they, but all those too who agree with them, are to be rejected, and are rendered infamous. We hold that the same should also be the case with robbers, or with those who assault the elderly. The laws of the world, indeed, put such persons to death; but we, with whom mercy has the first place, receive them under the mark of infamy to repentance. That infamy also with which they are stained, we are not able to remove; but our desire is to heal their souls by public penitence, and by satisfaction made to the Church: for public sins are not to be purged by secret correction. Those, again, who are suspected in the matter of the right faith, should by no means be admitted to prefer charges against priests, and against those of whose faith there is no doubt; and such persons should be held of doubtful authority in matters of human testimony. Their voice, consequently, should be reckoned invalid whose faith is doubted; and no credit should be given to those who are ignorant of the right faith. Accordingly, in judgment, inquiry should be made as to the conversation and faith of the person who accuses, and of him who is accused; since those who are not of correct conversation and faith, and whose life is open to impeachment, are not allowed to accuse their elders, neither can such permission be given to those whose faith and life and liberty are unknown. Nor should vile persons be admitted to accuse them. But a clear examination is to be made as to what kind of persons the accusers are (rimandæ sunt enucleatim personæ accusatorum); for they are not to be admitted readily without writing, and are never to be admitted as accusers on mere writing. For no one may either accuse or be accused by mere writing, but with the living voice; and every one must lay his accusation in the presence of him whom he seeks to accuse. And no credit should be given to any accuser in the absence of him whom he seeks to accuse. In like manner, witnesses must not prefer their evidence by writing only; but they must give their testimony truthfully in their own persons, and in matters which they have seen and do know. And they are not to give evidence in any other cases or matters but in those which are known to have happened in their presence. Accusers, moreover, of one blood, are not to bear witness against those who are not related to the family, nor is that to be the case with domestics (familiares) or those proceeding from the house; but if it is their wish, and they agree among themselves, the parents only should give evidence in such cases, and not others. Neither accusers nor witnesses should be admitted who are open to any suspicion; for the feeling of relationship, or friendship, or lordship, is wont to impede the truth. Carnal love, and fear, and avarice, commonly blunt the perceptions of men, and pervert their opinions; so that they look on gain as godliness, and on money as the reward of prudence. Let no one, then, speak deceitfully to his neighbour. 2743 The mouth of the malevolent is a deep pit. The innocent man, while he believes easily, falls readily; but though he falls, he rises; and the shuffler, with all his arts, goes headlong to ruin, whence he can never rise or escape. Therefore let every one weigh well his words, and let him not say to another what he would not say to himself. Whence the sacred Scripture says well: “Do not that to another which thou wouldest not have done to thyself.” 2744 For we need time to do anything perfectly (maturius); and let us not be precipitate in our counsels or our works, neither let us violate order. But if any one has fallen in anything, let us not consign him to ruin; but let us reprove him with brotherly affection, as the blessed apostle says: “If a man be overtaken in any fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burden, and so will ye fulfil the law of Christ.” 2745 Furthermore, the sainted David had deadly crimes to repent of, and yet he was continued in honour. The blessed Peter also shed the bitterest tears when he repented of having denied the Lord; but still he abode an apostle. And the Lord by the prophet makes this promise to the sinning: “In the day that the sinner is converted, and repenteth, I will not mention any more against him all his transgressions.” 2746
Footnotes
617:2743Ps. xxiv. 4.
617:2744Comp. Tobit iv. 15.
617:2745Gal. 6:1, 4.
617:2746Ezek. 18:21, 22.
VI.
(As to whether a priest may minister after a lapse.)
For those are in error who think that the priests of the Lord, after a lapse, although they may have exhibited true repentance, are not capable of ministering to the Lord, and engaging their honourable offices, though they may lead a good life thereafter, and keep their priesthood correctly. And those who hold this opinion are not only in error, but also seem to dispute and act in opposition to the power of the keys committed to the Church, whereof it is said: “Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.” 2747 And in short, this opinion either is not the Lord’s, or it is true. But be that as it may, we believe without hesitation, that both the priests of the Lord and other believers may return to their honours after a proper satisfaction for their error, as the Lord Himself testifies by His prophet: “Shall he who falls not also rise again? and shall he who turns away not return?” 2748 And in another passage the Lord says: “I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he may turn, and live.” 2749 And the prophet David, on his repentance, said: “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.” 2750 And he indeed, after his repentance, taught others also, and offered sacrifice to God, giving thereby an example to the teachers of the holy Church, that if they have fallen, and thereafter have exhibited a right repentance to God, they may do both things in like manner. For he taught when he said: “I will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.” 2751 And he offered sacrifice for himself, while he said: “The sacrifice for God is a broken spirit.” 2752 For the prophet, seeing his own transgressions purged by repentance, had no doubt as to healing those of others by preaching, and by making offering to God. Thus the shedding of tears moves the mind’s feeling (passionem). And when the satisfaction is made good, the mind is turned aside from anger. For how does that man think that mercy will be shown to himself, who does not forgive his neighbour? If offences abound, then, let mercy also abound; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. 2753 In the Lord’s hand there is abundance of all things, because He is the Lord of powers (virtutum) and the King of glory. 2754 For the apostle says: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, ‘I say,’ at this time His righteousness, that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” 2755 And David says: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” 2756 Man, therefore, is cleansed of his sin, and rises again by the grace of God though he has fallen, and abides in his first position, according to the above-cited authorities. Let him see to it that he sin no more, that the sentence of the Gospel may abide in him: “Go, and sin no more.” 2757 Whence the apostle says: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof: neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin; but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men.” 2758 For greater is the sin of him who judgeth, than of him who is judged. “Thinkest thou,” says the apostle, “O man, that judgest them that do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? or despisest thou the riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering? Dost thou not know that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life; but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek: but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good.” 2759 My brethren, shun not only the holding, but even the hearing, of the judgment that bans mercy; for better is mercy than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices. 2760 We have replied to your interrogations shortly, because your letter found us burdened overmuch, and preoccupied with other judgments. Given on the 8th day of October, in the consulship of the most illustrious Antonine and Alexander.” 2761
————————————
Footnotes
617:2747Matt. xviii. 18.
617:2748Jer. viii. 4.
617:2749Ezek. 18:32, Ezek. 33:11.
617:2750Ps. li. 12.
617:2751Ps. li. 13.
617:2752Ps. li. 17.
618:2753Ps. cxxx. 7.
618:2754Ps. xxiv. 10.
618:2755Rom. iii. 23-26.
618:2756Ps. xxxii. 1.
618:2757John viii. 11.
618:2758Rom. vi. 12-19.
618:2759Rom. iii. 3-10.
618:2760Mark xii. 33.
618:2761In the year 222.
Note by the American Editor.
See p. 613, note 1. For Callistus and his times, see the testimony of Hippolytus, vol. v. pp. 158, 159, 160; Elucidations X., XI., XII., XIII., XIV., XV. It must be owned that the forgery is better than the genuine productions of this forerunner of the Popes of the ninth and tenth centuries. The title “Pope,” in its later sense, seems not inappropriate to such a character.
The Epistle of Pope Urban First. 2762
To All Christians.
————————————
Of the church’s receiving only the property of the faithful, and not the price of the same, as in the times of the apostles; and as to why elevated seats should be prepared in the churches for the bishops; and as to the fact that no one should have intercourse with those whom the bishops excommunicate, and that no one should receive those whom they have cast out in any manner whatever. 2763
Urban, bishop, to all Christians, in sanctification of the spirit, in obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, greeting.
It becomes all Christians, most dearly beloved, to imitate Him whose name they have received. “What doth it profit, my brethren,” says the Apostle James, “though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?” 2764 “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that ye receive (sumitis) the greater condemnation; for in many things we offend all.” 2765 “Let him who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you, show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” 2766
Footnotes
619:2762Urban was the successor of Callistus. The letter ascribed to him is one of the pseudo-Isidorian forgeries.
619:2763Mansi, Concil. Collect., i. p. 748.
619:2764Jas ii. 14.
619:2765Jas. 3:1, 2.
619:2766Jas. iii. 13.
I.
Of the life in common, and of the reason why the Church has begun to hold property.
We know that you are not ignorant of the fact that hitherto the principle of living with all things in common has been in vigorous operation among good Christians, and is still so by the grace of God; and most of all among those who have been chosen to the lot of the Lord, that is to say, the clergy, even as we read in the Acts of the Apostles: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, the son of consolation), a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet;” 2767 and so forth. Accordingly, as the chief priests and others, and the Levites, and the rest of the faithful, perceived that it might be of more advantage if they handed over to the churches over which the bishops presided the heritages and fields which they were in the way of selling, inasmuch as they might furnish a larger and better maintenance for the faithful who hold the common faith, not only in present but also in future times, out of the revenues of such property than out of the money for which they might at once be sold, they began to consign to the mother churches the property and lands which they were wont to sell, and got into the manner of living on the revenues of these.
Footnotes
619:2767Acts iv. 32-37.
II.
Of the persons by whom, and the uses for which, ecclesiastical property should be managed, and of the invaders thereof.
The property, moreover, in the possession of the several parishes was left in the hands of the bishops, who hold the place of the apostles; and it is so to this day, and ought to be so in all future time. And out of those possessions the bishops and the faithful as their stewards ought to furnish to all who wish to enter the life in common all necessaries as they best can, so that none may be found in want among them. For the possessions of the faithful are also called oblations, because they are offered to the Lord. They ought not therefore to be turned to any other uses than those of the Church, and in behoof of Christian brethren before mentioned, and of the poor; for they are the offerings of the faithful, and they are redemption moneys for sins (pretia peccatorum), and the patrimony of the poor, and are given over to the Lord for the purpose already named. But if any one act otherwise (which may God forbid), let him take care lest he meet the condemnation of Ananias and Sapphira, and be found guilty of sacrilege, as those were who lied as to the price of the property designated, of whom we read thus in the before-cited passage of the Acts of the Apostles: “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold land (agrum), and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said to Ananias, Why hath Satan tempted (tentavit) thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whilst it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto the Lord. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down, and gave up the ghost. And great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, and removed him (amoverunt), and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, and said, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost. And the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the Church, and upon as many as heard these things.” 2768 These things, brethren, are carefully to be guarded against, and greatly to be feared. For the property of the Church, not being like personal, but like common property, and property offered to the Lord, is to be dispensed with the deepest fear, in the spirit of faithfulness, and for no other objects than the above-named, lest those should incur the guilt of sacrilege who divert it from the hands to which it was consigned, and lest they should come under the punishment and death of Ananias and Sapphira, and lest (which is yet worse) they should become anathema maranatha, and lest, though their body may not fall dead like that of Ananias and Sapphira, their soul, which is nobler than the body, should fall dead, and be cut off from the company of the faithful, and sink into the depths of the pit. Wherefore all must give heed to this matter, and watch in faithfulness, and avert the dishonour of such usurpation, lest possessions dedicated to the uses of things secret (or sacred) and heavenly be spoiled by any parties invading them. And if any one do so, then, after the sharp vengeance which is due to such a crime, and which is justly to be carried out against the sacrilegious, let him be condemned to perpetual infamy, and cast into prison or consigned to life-long exile. For, according to the apostle, 2769 we ought to deliver such a man to Satan, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
Footnotes
620:2768Acts v. 1-11.
620:27691 Cor. v. 5.
III.
As to any one’s attempting to take from the Church the right of holding property.
By the increase, therefore, and the mode of life which have been mentioned, the churches over which the bishops preside have grown so greatly with the help of the Lord, and the greater part of them are now in possession of so much property, that among them there is not a man who, selecting the life in common, is kept in poverty; but such an one receives all necessaries from the bishop and his ministers. Therefore, if any one in modern or in future time shall rise up and attempt to divert that property, let him be smitten with the judgment which has been already mentioned.
IV.
Of the seats of the bishops.
Furthermore, as to the fact that in the churches of the bishops there are found elevated seats set up and prepared like a throne, they show by these that the power of inspection and of judging, and the authority to loose and bind, are given to them by the Lord. Whence the Saviour Himself says in the Gospel, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 2770 And elsewhere: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” 2771
Footnotes
620:2770Matt. xviii. 18.
620:2771John 20:22, 23.
V.
That no one should have intercourse with those with whom the bishop has no intercourse, or receive those whom he rejects.
These things, then, we have set before you, most dearly beloved, in order that ye may understand the power of your bishops, and give reverence to God in them, and love them as your own souls; and in order that ye may have no communication with those with whom they have none, and that ye may not receive those whom they have cast out. For the judgment of a bishop is greatly to be feared, although he may bind one unjustly, which, however, he ought to guard against with the utmost care.
VI.
Of the engagement made in baptism, and of those who have given themselves to the life in common.
And in exhorting you, we also admonish all who have embraced the faith of Christ, and who have taken from Christ the name of Christian, that ye make your Christianity vain in no respect, but keep stedfastly the engagement which ye took upon yourselves in baptism, so that ye may be found not reprobate, but worthy in His presence. And if any one of you has entered the life which has all things common, and has taken the vow to hold no private property, let him see to it that he make not his promise vain, but let him keep with all faithfulness this engagement which he has made to the Lord, so that he may acquire for himself not damnation, but a reward; for it is better for a man not to take a vow at all than not to discharge to the best of his ability the vow that he has made. For they who have made a vow, or taken on them the faith, and have not kept their vow, or have carried out their life in things evil, are punished more severely than those who have carried out their life without a vow, or have died without faith, but not without doing good works. For to this end have we received a reasonable mind by the gift of nature, and the renewal also of the second birth, that, according to the apostle, we may discern (sapiamus) rather things above, and not things on the earth; 2772 for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. 2773 For to what, most dearly beloved, does the wisdom of this world urge us, but to seek things that are hurtful, and to love things that are to perish, and to neglect things that are healthful, and to esteem as of no value things that are lasting? It commends the love of money, of which it is said, The love of money is the root of all evil; 2774 and which has this evil in especial, that while it obtrudes the transitory, it hides from view the eternal; and while it looks on things that are outside, it does not look in upon things that lurk within; and while it seeks after strange things, it is an evil that makes itself strange to him who does it. 2775 Behold, to what does the wisdom of this world urge a man? To live in pleasures. Whence it is said: A widow that liveth in pleasure, is dead while she liveth. 2776 It urges a man to feed the flesh with the softest delights, with sins, and vices, and flames, to press the soul with intemperance in food and wine, and to check the life of the spirit, and to put into his enemy’s hand the sword to be used against himself. Behold, what is the counsel which the wisdom of this world gives? That those who are good should choose rather to be evil, and that in error of mind they should be zealous to be sinners, and should not bethink themselves of that terrible voice of God, when the wicked shall be burned up like grass. 2777
Footnotes
621:2772Col. iii. 2.
621:27731 Cor. iii. 19.
621:27741 Tim. vi. 10.
621:2775“Sectatori,” for which read “factori.”
621:27761 Tim. v. 6.
621:2777Ps. xcii. 7.
VII.
Of the imposition of the bishop’s hand.
For all the faithful ought to receive the Holy Spirit after baptism by imposition of the hand of the bishops, so that they may be found to be Christians fully; because when the Holy Spirit is shed upon them, the believing heart is enlarged for prudence and stedfastness. We receive of the Holy Spirit in order that we may be made spiritual; for the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. 2778 We receive of the Holy Spirit in order that we may be wise to discern between good and evil, to love the just, and to loathe the unjust, so as to withstand malice and pride, and resist luxury and divers allurements, and impure and unworthy lust. We receive of the Holy Spirit in order that, fired with the love of life and the ardour of glory, we may be able to raise our mind from things earthly to things heavenly and divine.—Given on the Nones of September,—that is, on the fifth day of the same month, in the consulship of the most illustrious Antonine and Alexander.
Footnotes
621:27781 Cor. ii. 14.
The Epistles of Pope Pontianus. 2779
————————————
The First Epistle. 2780
To Felix Subscribonius.
On the honour to be bestowed on priests.
Pontianus, bishop, to Felix Subscribonius, greeting.
Our heart is exceedingly rejoiced with your goodness, in that you strive by all means in your power to carry out the practice of holy religion, and strengthen sad and destitute brethren in faith and religion. Wherefore we implore the mercy of our Redeemer, that His grace may support us in all things, and that He may grant us to carry out in effect what He has given us to aspire after. In this good thing, therefore, the benefits of recompense are multiplied just in proportion as our zeal for the work increases. And because in all these things we need the assistance of divine grace, we implore with constant prayers the clemency of Omnipotent God, that He may both grant us the desire for these good works which should ever be wrought by us, and give us power also to perform them, and direct us in that way, for the fruit of well-doing—which way the Pastor of pastors declared Himself to be—so that ye may be able to carry out through Him, without whom nothing can be done, those good works which you have begun. Moreover, with respect to the priests of the Lord whom we have heard you aid against the plots of wicked men, and whose cause you sustain, know ye that in so doing ye please God greatly, who has called them to the service of Himself, and has honoured them with so intimate a fellowship with Him, that through them He accepts the oblations of others, and pardons their sins, and reconciles them with Him. They also make the body of the Lord with their own mouth (proprio ore corpus Domini conficiunt), and give it to the people. For of them it is said: He that hurteth you, hurteth me; and he that doeth you an injury, shall receive again that which he hath done unrighteously. 2781 And elsewhere: He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth Him that sent me. 2782 Hence they are not to be molested, but honoured. And in them the Lord Himself is honoured, whose commission they execute. They accordingly, if they happen to fall, are to be raised up and sustained by the faithful. And again, they are not to be accused by the infamous, or the wicked, or the hostile, or by the members of another sect or religion. If they sin, they are to be arraigned by the other priests; further, they are to be held in check (constringantur) by the chief pontiffs, and they are not to be arraigned or restrained by seculars or by men of evil life. Not slight, therefore, is our grief in hearing that you have to sorrow for your brother’s passing away (transitu). For which reason we beseech Almighty God to console you by the breathing (aspiratione) of His grace, and keep you with heavenly guardianship from evil spirits and perverse men. For if ye have to bear any turmoil of certain adversaries after his disease, do not think it strange though ye, who seek to enjoy good in your own country—that is, in the land of the living—have to bear evil things at the hands of men in a strange country. For the present life is a sojourning; and to him who sighs after the true fatherland, the place of his sojourning is a trial, however pleasant it may seem. And as to you who seek the fatherland, among the sighs which ye heave I hear the groans also of human oppression rising. And this happens by the wonderful dispensation of Almighty God, in order that, while the truth calls you in love, this present world may cast back your affection from itself through the tribulations which it brings on, and that the mind may be so much the more easily delivered from the love of this world, as it is also impelled while it is called. Therefore, as you have begun, give heed to the duty of hospitality; labour most urgently in prayer and tears; devote yourselves more liberally and freely now to those almsgivings which you have ever loved, in order that in the recompense the profit to you for your work may be greater in proportion as your zeal for the labour has risen to higher degrees here.
Furthermore, hailing your goodness with paternal pleasantness, we beg you not to fail in the good works which ye have begun. And may no one be able to turn you from them; but may the clergy and servants of God, and all Christians who sojourn in those parts, fully discover by the love of Christ and Saint Peter the disposition of your charity in all things, and obtain the comforts of your favour in every necessity that may arise; to the end that all may be defended and helped by your aid, and that we, too, may owe you thanks, and that our Lord Jesus Christ may make good to you eternal glory, and that the blessed Apostle Peter, the chief of the apostles, in whose cause you spend yourselves, may open the gate of that same glory.—Given on the 10th day before the kalends of February (the 23d of January), in the consulship of the most illustrious Severus and Quintianus. 2783
————————————
Footnotes
622:2779Eusebius tells us that Pontianus was bishop of the Roman church five or six years (230–235 a.d.). He succeeded Urbanus. The letters are the forgeries of the pseudo-Isidorus.
622:2780Mansi, Concil. Collect., i. 735.
622:2781Perhaps Zech. ii. 8.
622:2782Luke x. 16.
623:2783In the year 235.
The Second Epistle.
To All Bishops.
On brotherly love, and on avoiding the evil.
Pontianus, bishop of the holy and universal Church, to all who worship the Lord aright, and love the divine worship, greeting.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will. 2784 These words, most beloved, are not the words of men, but of angels; and they were not devised by human sense, but were uttered by angels at the birth of the Saviour. And from these words it can be understood without doubt by all that peace is given by the Lord, not to men of evil will, but to men of good will. Whence the Lord, speaking by the prophet, says: “How good is God to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart! But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped: for I was envious at the unrighteous, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” 2785 Of the good, however, the Truth says in His own person, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” 2786 And they are not the pure in heart who think evil things, or things hurtful to their brethren; for he who is the faithful man devises nothing evil. The faithful man, accordingly, loves rather to hear things which are becoming, than to speak things which are not becoming. And if any one is faithful, let him see to it that he speak no evil, and lay no snares in the way of any one. In this, then, are the children of God distinguished from the children of the devil. For the children of God always think and strive to do things which are of God, and give help unceasingly to their brethren, and wish to injure no one. But, on the other hand, the children of the devil are always meditating things evil and hurtful, because their deeds are evil. And of them the Lord, speaking by the prophet Jeremiah, says: “I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness.” 2787 “Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord; and with your children’s children will I plead.” 2788 “Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you.” 2789 These things, brethren, are greatly to be feared, and to be guarded against by all; for the man on whom the judgment of God may fall will not depart unhurt. And therefore let every one see to it carefully that he neither contrive nor do against a brother what he would not wish to have to endure himself. And let not the man of faith come under the suspicion even of saying or doing what he would not wish to have to endure himself. Wherefore persons suspected, or hostile or litigious, and those who are not of good conversation, or whose life is reprehensible, and those who do not hold and teach the right faith, have been debarred from being either accusers or witnesses by our predecessors with apostolic authority; and we too remove them from that function, and exclude them from it in times to come, lest those lapse wilfully whom we ought to keep in and save; lest not only (which may God forbid!) the predicted judgment of God should fall upon both, but we also should perish (which may God forbid!) through their fault. For it is written, “Have they made thee the master of a feast? Take care for them, that thou mayst be merry on their account, and receive as thy crown the ornament of esteem, and find approbation of thine election.” 2790 For the evil word affects the heart, out of which proceed these four objects, good and evil, life and death; and the tongue in its assiduous action is what determines these. Wherefore the before-named parties are altogether to be avoided; and until the before-noted matters are investigated, and the parties are found to be clear of such, they are not to be received: for the right sacrifice is to give heed to the commandments, and to depart from all iniquity. “To depart from wickedness is a thing pleasing to the Lord, and to forsake unrighteousness is a sacrifice of praise.” 2791 For it is written, “Love thy friend, and be faithful unto him. But if thou bewrayest his secrets, follow no more after him. For as a man who destroyeth his friend, so is he who destroys (loseth) the friendship of his neighbour. And as one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so art thou that has let thy neighbour go and shalt not get him again. Follow after him no more, for he is far off. For he has escaped like a roe out of the snare, because his soul is wounded. Thou wilt not be able to bind him any more, and there is reconciliation for the reviled. But to betray the secrets of a friend is the desperation of a wretched soul. He that winketh with the eye worketh evil, and no one will cast him off. When thou art present, he will despise his own mouth, and express his wonder at thy discourse; but at the last he will writhe his mouth, and slander thy sayings. I have hated many things, but nothing like him; and the Lord will hate him. Whoso casteth a stone on high, it will fall upon his own head, and a deceitful stroke of the deceitful will make wounds. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein; and he that setteth a stone in his neighbour’s way will fall thereon; and he that placeth a snare for another will perish therein. He that worketh mischief, it shall fall upon him, and he shall not know whence it cometh on him. Mockery and reproach are from the proud; and vengeance, as a lion, shall be in wait for them. They that rejoice at the fall of the righteous shall perish in the snare, and anguish shall consume them before they die. Anger and wrath are both abominations, and the sinful man shall have them both.” 2792 “He that will be avenged shall find vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely keep his sins. Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done unto thee, and then shall thy sins be forgiven thee when thou prayest. One man beareth hatred against another; and doth he ask redress of God? He showeth no mercy to a man which is like himself; and doth he ask forgiveness of the Most High for his own sins? He, though he is flesh, nourisheth hatred; and doth he ask pardon of God? Who will entreat for his sins? Remember thy end, and let enmity cease; for corruption and death impend on commandments. Remember the fear of God, and bear no malice to thy neighbour. Remember the covenant of the Highest, and look down upon (despice) the ignorance of thy neighbour. Abstain from strife, and thou shalt diminish thy sins.
For a furious man kindleth strife; and a sinful man will disquiet friends, and make enmity among them that be at peace. For even as the trees of the wood are, so will the fire burn; and as a man’s strength is, so will his anger be; and as his riches are, so will he make his anger rise. An hastened contention will kindle a fire, and an hastening quarrel will shed blood, and a testifying (testificans) tongue will bring death. If thou blow upon the spark, it will burn like a fire; and if thou spit upon it, it will be extinguished: and both these come out of the mouth. Cursed be the whisperer and doubled-tongued, for such have troubled many that were at peace. A third (tertia) tongue hath disquieted many, and driven them from nation to nation: the fortified cities of the rich it hath pulled down, and overthrown the houses of great men. It has subverted the virtues of peoples, and has destroyed strong nations. A third tongue hath cast out truthful 2793 women, and deprived them of their labours. Whoso hearkeneth unto it shall never find rest, and never dwell quietly. The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh, but the stroke of the tongue will break bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not in such manner as those who have perished by their tongue. Well is he that is defended from the evil tongue, who hath not passed into the anger thereof, and who hath not drawn the yoke thereof, nor hath been bound with the bands of it; for the yoke thereof is a yoke of iron, and the band thereof is a band of brass. The death thereof is the vilest death, and the grave were better than it. The perseverance thereof shall not abide; but it shall hold the ways of the unrighteous, and its flame shall not burn the righteous. Such as forsake the Lord shall fall into it, and it shall burn in them, and not be quenched; and it shall be sent upon them as a lion, and hurt them as a leopard. Hedge thine ears about with thorns, and listen not to the evil tongue; and make a door for thy mouth, and bars for thine ears. Smelt (confla) thy gold and silver, and make a balance for thy words, and right curbs for thy mouth. And beware that thou slide not perchance in thy tongue, and fall before thine enemies that lie in wait for thee, and thy fall be irremediable even to death.” 2794 “Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord, and put not off from day to day. For suddenly shall His wrath come, and in the time of vengeance He will destroy thee. Set not thine heart upon goods unjustly gotten, for they shall not profit thee in the day of veiling (for execution, obductionis) and vengeance. Move not with every wind, and go not into every way; for so is the sinner proved with the double-tongue. Be stedfast in the way of the Lord, and in the truth of thine understanding, and in knowledge; and let the word of peace and righteousness attend thee. Be courteous in hearing the word, that thou mayest understand it, and with wisdom give a true answer. If thou hast understanding, answer thy neighbour; if not, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, lest thou be caught in a word of folly, and be confounded. Honour and glory are in the talk of the intelligent man; the tongue of the unwise is his fall. Be not called a whisperer, and be not caught in thy tongue, and confounded. For confusion and penitence are upon the thief, and the worst condemnation upon the double-tongued. Moreover, for the whisperer there is hatred, and enmity, and shame. Justify the small and the great alike.” 2795 Instead of a friend, become not an enemy to thy neighbour. For the evil man shall inherit reproach and shame, and every sinner in like manner that is envious and double-tongued. Extol not thyself in the counsel of thine own heart as a bull, lest perchance thy virtue be shattered in folly, and it consume thy leaves, and destroy thy fruits, and thou be left as a dry tree in the desert. For a wicked soul shall destroy him that hath it, and makes him to be laughed to scorn by his enemies, and shall bring him down to the lot of the impious.” 2796 Most dearly beloved, study to lift up the oppressed, and always help the necessitous; for if a man relieves an afflicted brother, delivers a captive, or consoles a mourner, let him have no doubt that that will be recompensed to him by Him on whom he bestows it all, and who says: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” 2797 Strive, then, unceasingly to do what is good in such wise that ye may both obtain the fruit of good works here, and enjoy the favour of God in the future, to the intent that hereafter ye may be worthy to enter the court of the heavenly kingdom.—Given on the fourth day before the kalends of May (the 28th of April), in the consulship of the most illustrious Severus and Quintianus.
————————————
Footnotes
623:2784Luke i. 14.
623:2785Ps. lxxiii. 1-3.
623:2786Matt. v. 8.
623:2787Jer. i. 16.
623:2788Jer. ii. 9.
623:2789Jer. xviii. 11.
624:2790Ecclesiasticus 32.1-3.
624:2791Ecclesiasticus 35.1-3.
624:2792Ecclesiasticus 27.17-30.
624:2793Veridicas. The text reads “Viratas.”
624:2794Ecclesiasticus 28.
625:2795Ecclesiasticus 5.7-18.
625:2796Ecclesiasticus 6.1-4.
625:2797Matt. xxv. 40.
Note by the American Editor.
In Bower’s History of the Popes (ed. Philadelphia, 1847), vol. i. p. 22, may be seen an interesting note on the “Pontifical” of Bucherius, under the name of Pontianus. It was this bishop who is said to have condemned Origen. He probably shared the fate of Hippolytus in exile, and was martyred under Maximin the Thracian.
Pope Anterus. 2798
————————————
The Epistle.
On the translation of bishops and of episcopal seats.
To the brethren, most dearly beloved, constituted to be bishops in the provinces of Bœtica and Toletana, Bishop Anterus sends greeting in the Lord.
I should wish, my dearest brethren, always to receive the glad account of your sincere love and peace, so that the signs of your welfare might be promoted in turn by the dissemination of our letters among you, if our ancient enemy should give us quiet and deliverance from his attacks; who was a liar from the beginning, 2799 the enemy of the truth, the rival of man—in order to deceive whom he first deceived himself,—the adversary of modesty, the master of luxury. He feeds on cruelties; he is punished by abstinence; he hates fasts, and his ministers preach, to that effect, as he declares them to be superfluous, having no hope of the future, and echoing that sentence of the apostle, in which he says, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.” 2800 O miserable boldness! O subtlety of a desperate mind! For he exhorts to hatred, and puts concord to flight. And because the mind of man is easily drawn over to the worse part, and chooses rather to walk by the broad way than laboriously to take its course by the narrow way, for this reason, brethren most dearly beloved, follow ye the better, and always leave the worse behind you. Do good, avoid evil, in order that ye may be found to be the disciples of the Lord in truth.
Now, of the transference of bishops, on which subject it has been your wish to consult the holy seat of the apostles, know ye that that may lawfully be done for the sake of the common good, or when it is absolutely necessary, but not at the mere will or bidding of any individual. Peter, our holy master, and the prince of the apostles, was translated for the sake of the common good from Antioch to Rome, in order that he might be in a position there of doing more service. Eusebius also was transferred from a certain minor city to Alexandria by apostolic authority. In like manner Felix, on account of the doctrine and the good life which he maintained, was translated by the common consent of the bishops and the other priests, and the people from the city in which, on the election of the citizens, he had been ordained, to Ephesus. For that man is not chargeable with shifting from city to city who does not do that of his own inclination or by the force of ambition, but who is transferred for the general good, or in virtue of some necessity, by the counsel and with the consent of the chief parties. Nor can he be said to transfer himself from a smaller city to a larger, who is placed in that position not by his own self-seeking or his own choice, but either as being driven out of his own proper seat by force, or as being compelled by some necessity, and who without pride and in humility has been translated and installed there by others for the good of the place or the people: for man looketh on the countenance, but the Lord seeth the heart. And the Lord, speaking by the prophet, says, “The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vanity.” 2801 That man, therefore, does not change his seat who does not change his mind. Nor does he change his city who is changed not of his own will, but by the decision and election of others. And accordingly he does not shift from city to city who does not leave his own city for the sake of gain to himself, or of his own choice, but who, as has already been said, has been translated to another city either in consequence of being driven out of his own seat, or compelled by some necessity, or in virtue of the election and injunction of the priests and people. For as the bishops have power regularly to ordain bishops and other orders of priests, so, as often as any matter of advantage or necessity constrains them, they have power in the above-mentioned manner both to transfer and to install. As ye have asked our opinion in these matters, though they are not subjects unknown to you, we give you these things in charge to hold them, lest, through the ignorance of some, that which is better and more profitable be avoided, and what is more profitless be taken up, even as we read in the holy Gospel: “Woe unto you, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” 2802 What is lawful is with them not lawful, and what is not lawful is lawful. Even as Jannes and Mambres 2803 resisted the truth, so do they, being reprobate in mind, and lovers of pleasure rather than of God, teach that that is unlawful which is lawful, to wit, that bishops should shift from city to city in the manner already noted; and what is unlawful they teach as lawful, to wit, to omit to show mercy to those who endure straits: that is to say, they deny that a bishop belonging to another city should be bestowed for good, or for necessity’s sake, upon those who have no bishop, and who want the sacred episcopal ministry; and that another episcopal seat should be assigned to bishops who endure persecution or straits. They contradict the sacred Scripture also, which testifies that God desireth mercy rather than judgment. 2804
What greater charity, I pray you, can there be, or what more profitable service of piety, on the part of any one to another, than to deliver him from the darkness of ignorance and the thick darkness of inexperience, and restore him, in fine, by the nutriment of the doctrine of the true faith, not for gain indeed, or ambition, but for instruction and edification? [For he becomes, so to speak, the hand for the maimed, the foot for the lame, the eye for the blind, 2805 who unlocks the treasure of wisdom and knowledge to one wrapped in the darkness of ignorance, and opens up to such an one the brightness of the light and the ways of the Lord.] 2806
Now for both parties—namely, for those who endure a famine of the word of God, and for bishops who endure straits, when they are installed in other cities for the common good—no small degree of mercy is shown. And they who deny this, although they have the form of godliness, do yet deny the power thereof. 2807 For in such a matter I make no recognition of race (prosapiam). If, however, any one of the wise, whom the stress of this storm (or season) has allied with other leaders among the unwise, is stained with a participation in their deeds, yet the excellence of the wise man, although he may chance to be privy to their offences, makes him incapable of giving himself as a leader to sinners. The cause of public good and necessity is one thing, and the cause of self-seeking, and presumption, or private inclination, is another thing. On account of self-seeking, or presumption, or private inclination, bishops are not to be transferred from one city to another, but only on account of public good and necessity. And this is a matter which no one denies, except those of whom it is said, “They have erred through wine; they have not known the seer; they have been ignorant of judgment.” 2808 For if I were constrained to open up in narration things that have been brought to end, I would show you that no comfort comes from the comparison of such deeds. But, most dearly beloved, “stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths of the Lord, and see what is the good way and the right, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” 2809 And, to speak according to the word of Wisdom: “Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth. Think of the Lord in goodness, and in simplicity of heart seek Him. For He is found of them that tempt Him not, and showeth Himself unto such as do not distrust Him. For froward thoughts separate from God; and His power, when it is tried, reproveth the unwise. For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter, nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin. For the holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are without understanding, and will not abide when unrighteousness cometh in. For wisdom is a benign spirit, and will not acquit a blasphemer of His words. For God is witness of his reins, and a true beholder of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue. For the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the world, and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice. Therefore he that speaketh unrighteous things cannot be hid; neither shall vengeance, when it punisheth, pass by him. For inquisition shall be made into the counsels of the ungodly. And the sound of his words shall come unto the Lord, and unto the manifestation of his wicked deeds; for the ear of jealousy heareth all things, and the noise of murmurings shall not be hid. Therefore beware of murmuring, which is unprofitable; and refrain your tongue from backbiting, for there is no word so secret that it shall go for nought. The mouth that belieth slayeth the soul. Seek not death in the error of your life, and pull not upon yourself destruction with the works of your hands; for God made not death, neither hath He pleasure in the destruction of the living. For He created all things that they might have their being, and He wished the nations of the world to be healthful. There is no poison of destruction in them, nor the kingdom of death upon the earth of the living. Righteousness is perpetual and immortal, but unrighteousness is the acquisition of death. And ungodly men with their hands and words called it to them; and when they thought to have it their friend, they consumed to nought, and made a covenant with it; because they are worthy of death who take part with it.” 2810 “For they said, reasoning with themselves, but not aright, The time of our life is short and tedious; and in the death of a man there is no remedy, neither was there any man known to have returned from the grave. For we are born of nothing, and we shall be hereafter as though we had never been. For the breath in our nostrils is as smoke, and speech is a little spark for the moving of our heart; which being extinguished, our body shall be turned into ashes, and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air. And our life shall pass as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist that is driven away with the beams of the sun, and overcome with the heat thereof. And our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall have our works in remembrance. For our time is a very shadow that passeth away, and after our end there is no returning; for it is fast sealed, and no man shall come again.” 2811 And for this reason every one must see to it that he keep himself with all care, and watch himself for his own good, so that when his last day and the end of his life come upon him, he may not pass over to everlasting death, but to eternal life. For the deeds of those put under us are judged by us, but our own doth God judge. Sometimes, moreover, bishops are perverted through the fault of the people, to the end that those fall more precipitately who follow them. When the head languisheth, the other members of the body are affected thereby. And viler are those who corrupt the life and morals of the good, than those who spoil the property and goods of others. Let each one take care that he have neither an itching tongue nor itching ears; that is to say, that he neither be a detractor of others himself, nor listen to others in their detractions. “Thou sattest,” saith he, “and spakest against thy brother; and thou didst slander thine own mother’s son.” 2812 Let every individual abstain from a detracting tongue, and keep a guard upon his own words, and understand that all that they say of others shall enter into the judgment wherewith they themselves shall be judged. No one readily refers to an unwilling auditor. Let it be the care of all of you, most dearly beloved, to keep not only your eyes, but also your tongue, pure. And let not another house ever know by your means what is done in any man’s house. Let all have the simplicity of the dove, that they devise not guile against any one; and the subtlety of the serpent, that they be not ever thrown by the crafty designs of others. It does not belong to my humble station and measure to judge others, and to say anything unfavourable of the ministers of the churches. Far be it from me that I should say anything unfavourable of those who are the successors to the apostolic status, and make the body of Christ with their sacred mouth; by whose instrumentality we too are Christians, and who have the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and exercise judgment before the day of judgment. Moreover, it is contained in the ancient law, that whoever has not given obedience to the priests should either be stoned outside the camp by the people, or with his neck beneath the sword should expiate his presumption by his blood. 2813
Now, however, the disobedient is cut off by spiritual chastisement; and being cast out of the church, is torn by the rabid mouth of demons. 2814 For it becomes those who have God in their heritage, to serve God free from all the hindrances of the world, so that they may be able to say, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance.” 2815 “O how good and pleasant is Thy Spirit, O Lord, in all things!” 2816 And Thou sparest all because they are Thine, O Lord, who lovest souls. Therefore chastenest Thou them by little and little that offend, and warnest them of those things wherein they offend, and dost address them, that leaving their wickedness, they may believe on Thee, O Lord.” 2817 “But Thou, our God, art gracious and true, long-suffering, and in mercy ordering all things. For if we sin, we are Thine, knowing Thy power. And if we sin not, we know that we are counted Thine.” 2818 “The spirit of those that fear the Lord shall be required of him; and in His regard they shall be blessed.” 2819 Wherefore, most beloved brethren, “let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ hath forgiven you.” 2820 “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient; but rather giving of thanks. For this know ye, understanding that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth), proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever is made manifest (manifestatur) is light. Wherefore He saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, brethren, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Holy Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.” 2821 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the tradition of the apostles and the apostolic seat, “that our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, may comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good work and word.” 2822 “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” 2823 Wherefore set your hearts continually in the strength (virtute) of God, and always resist the wicked, and tell these things, according to the word of the prophet, “to the generations following; for this God is our God unto eternity, and He will rule us for ever and ever.” 2824 Hence ye who are set for examples (in specula) by the Lord, ought by all means to check and keep back those who devise crafty counsels against the brethren, or excite against them seditions and slanders. For it is an easy thing to deceive man with a word, but it is not so with the Lord. Wherefore ye ought to reprehend such persons, and turn away from them, to the end that, all darkness of this manner being completely done away, the Morning Star may shine upon them, and gladness arise in their hearts. “And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, brethren, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.” 2825 For the more ye show forth your kindnesses to them, the greater a return have ye to look for from the omnipotent God whom they serve. May the omnipotent God keep you in His protection, and grant you to maintain honour and precept; and may glory and honour be to God the Father Almighty, and to His only-begotten Son our Saviour, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
Given on the 12th day before the kalends of April (the 21st of March), in the consulship of the most illustrious Maximianus and Africanus.
Footnotes
626:2798Anterus succeeded Pontianus in the bishopric of the Roman church (232–236 a.d.). The letter ascribed to him is one of the pseudo-Isidorian forgeries.
626:2799John viii. 44.
626:28001 Cor. xv. 32.
626:2801Ps. xciv. 11.
627:2802Matt. 23:23, 24.
627:28032 Tim. iii. 8.
627:2804Hos. vi. 6; judicium.
627:2805Job xxix. 15.
627:2806The bracketed passage is wanting in one manuscript.
627:28072 Tim. iii. 5.
627:2808Isa. xxviii. 7.
627:2809Jer. vi. 16.
628:2810Wisd. i.
628:2811Wisd. ii. 1-5.
628:2812Ps. i. 20.
628:2813Deut. xvii.
628:2814Thus far Jerome.
628:2815Ps. xvi. 5.
628:2816Wisd. xii. 1.
628:2817Wisd. xii. 2.
628:2818Wis. 15:1, 2.
628:2819Sir. 34:13, 14.
629:2820Eph. iv. 29-32.
629:2821Eph. v. 1-21.
629:28222 Thess. ii. 15-17.
629:28232 Thess. iii. 1-3.
629:2824Ps. 48:13, 14.
629:28252 Thess. iii. 4.
The Epistles of Pope Fabian. 2826
————————————
The First Epistle.
To All the Ministers of the Church Catholic.
Of those who ought not to be admitted to clear themselves, and of the duty of having no fellowship with the excommunicated.
To the dearly-beloved brethren in the ministry of the Church Catholic in all regions, Fabian sends greeting in the Lord.
By the divine precepts and the apostolic institutes, we are admonished to watch in behoof of the position of all the churches with unwearied interest. Whence it follows that you ought to know what is being done in things sacred in the church of Rome, in order that, by following her example, ye may be found to be true children of her who is called your mother. Accordingly, as we have received the institution from our fathers, we maintain seven deacons in the city of Rome distributed over seven districts of the state, who attend to the services enjoined on them week by week, and on the Lord’s days and the solemn festivals, in concert with the subdeacons, and acolytes, and servants of the succeeding orders, and hold themselves in readiness every hour for religious duty, and for the discharge of all that is enjoined upon them. In like manner ought ye also to do throughout your different cities, as may be convenient, that religious duty may be discharged zealously and regularly, without any delay or negligence. Furthermore, we have ordained in like manner seven subdeacons who shall stand by (imminerent) the seven notaries, and bring into one full and accurate account the histories of the martyrs, and lay them before us for our examination. And this, too, we urge you all to do, so that no doubt or questioning of these things may arise in later times; “for whatsoever things were written, were written for our learning.” 2827 And whatsoever things are written in truth in our times, are directed to the learning of future times. And therefore we enjoin these duties to be put in charge of the most faithful, that nothing false may be found in them, from which an offence (which may God forbid) may arise to the faithful. For this reason also we beg it of your love in paternal benignity, that the holy Church may now find the good-will of your love in all things, and obtain the comforts of your favour whenever there is necessity. And as the goodness of your zeal affords us the assurance that we ought to distrust it in nothing, but rather commit these things in all confidence to you as to wise sons of our church; so, small importance being attached to opportune occasions, your virtue ought to exert itself the more strenuously in labours, and keep off reproaches by all possible means, and with all zeal. We exhort you also, according to the word of the apostle, to be “stedfast and immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not vain in the Lord.” 2828 And in another place: “Watch ye, and pray, and stand fast in the faith. Quit you like men, and be strong. Let all things be done with charity.” 2829 Furthermore, we desire you to know this, that in our times, as our sins embarrassed us, and that ancient enemy who always goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, 2830 instigated him, Novatus came up out of Africa, and separated Novatianus and certain other confessors of Christ from the Church of Christ, and persuaded them into the acceptance of evil doctrine. From such persons, brethren, keep yourselves aloof, and beware of all who hold a faith and doctrine different from that which the apostles and their successors have held and taught, lest (which may God forbid) going after him ye fall into the toils of Satan, and be bound with his fetters. Wherefore with most earnest prayers we beg it of your brotherly love, that ye may deem it fit to remember our insignificance in your holy prayers, beseeching and entreating the Lord of heaven that we, as well as our holy mother the Church of Christ, redeemed with His precious blood, may be delivered from the toils of Satan, who lieth in wait for us; and from troublesome and wicked men, and that the Word of God may have free course and be glorified, and that the evil doctrine of them, and of all who teach things contrary to the truth, may be overthrown and perish. We beseech you also to be zealous in praying in your pious supplications, that our God and Lord Jesus Christ, who will have all men to be saved, and no one to perish, 2831 may, by His vast omnipotence, cause their hearts to turn again to sound doctrine and to the Catholic faith, in order that they may be recovered from the toils of the devil who are held captive by him, and be united with the children of our mother the Church. Be mindful also of your brethren, and have pity upon them, and labour for them by all means in your power, that they be not lost, but be saved unto the Lord by your prayers, and other efforts of your goodness. So act therefore in these matters that ye may approve yourselves as obedient and faithful children of the holy Church of God, and that ye may obtain the recompense of reward. These men, and all else who do not teach the true doctrine, and hold not the true faith, cannot act as accusers of any true believer, because they are branded with infamy, and are cut off from the bosom of our holy mother the Church by the sword of the apostles, until their return to correct conversation and belief. Hence by apostolic authority, and in agreement with all the sons of the same apostolic and universal Church, we resolve that all who come under suspicion with respect to the Catholic faith cannot be admitted as accusers of those who hold the true creed; for suspicions are always to be set aside. Rightly therefore are charges which are preferred by those who are objects of suspicion in the matter of the true faith, rejected. Neither are they at all to be credited who are unacquainted with the faith of the Trinity. In like manner we set aside and withdraw from all part in the accusing of the faithful, all those whom the decrees of the holy fathers in times past and times future alike anathematize. Accordingly, the believing ought always to be kept distinct from the unbelieving, and the righteous from the unrighteous; since the unbelieving and evil-minded, by every means in their power, are always troubling the believing, and striving to undo them; and consequently they are not to be received, but rejected and kept entirely at a distance, lest they may undo or defame the believing. For this reason, dearly beloved, beware of the pit of such persons, into which we know many have fallen. Beware of the snares (or darts) of such persons, and of the efforts of the ancient enemy, by which we have seen even those closely connected with us fall wounded before us. Watch the nooses of the liers in wait, by which they are wont to strangle associates and comrades. Follow not such, but keep them far off from you. Be ye, according to the voice of Truth, wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 2832 See to it that ye neither run nor labour in vain; but, sustained by each other’s prayers and supplications, strive ye to do the will of God; and from those persons whom I have mentioned, if they show themselves incorrigible, keep yourselves separate in all things. In like manner keep yourselves separate from all those of whom the apostle makes mention when he says, “with such persons, no, not to eat;” 2833 since these latter, as well as the former, are to be rejected, and are not to be admitted before they have given satisfaction to the Church. For those with whom it is not lawful to eat are manifestly separated from all intercourse with the rest of the brethren until such satisfaction is given. Wherefore they ought not and cannot be admitted to the preferring of charges against the faithful, but they ought to be debarred from their society until the satisfaction already mentioned is given, lest these too should be made like them, or underlie their excommunication; for to this effect have the apostles decreed, saying, With the excommunicated no fellowship is to be held. And if any one, setting aside the rules wittingly, sings with the excommunicated in his house, or speaks or prays in company with them, that man is to be deprived of the privilege of communion. Such persons, therefore, are in all things to be guarded against, and are not to be received, because, according to the apostle, not only those who commit such things are condemned, but also those who consent with those who do them. 2834 Whence also the blessed chief of the apostles, Peter, addressing the people at the ordination of Clement, says this among other things: 2835 If this Clement is hostile to any one on account of his deeds, wait not ye for his saying directly to you, Be not on terms of friendship with this man. But mark ye carefully his will as ye ought, and second it without need of direct injunction; and separate yourselves from that man to whom ye perceive him to be inimical, and speak not with those with whom he speaks not, in order that every one who may be in fault, as he desires to possess the friendship of all of you, may be zealous in effecting a reconciliation all the more quickly with him who presides over all, so that he may return to spiritual well-being (redeat et salutem) hereby, when he begins to yield obedience to the charges of the president.
If, however, any one is not friendly, and speaks with those with whom he (his chief) speaks not, such an one belongs to those who seek to exterminate the Church of God; and though he seems to be with you in body, he is against you in mind and heart. And such an one is a much more dangerous enemy than those who are without, and who are openly hostile. For this man under the guise of friendship acts the part of an enemy, and scatters and ruins the church. And therefore, dearly beloved, in these apostolic institutes we warn and teach you, that your charity, being instructed therein (effecta certior), may hereafter study to act with greater care and prudence, so that perverse and unbelieving men may not have the power of injuring the faithful and well-disposed; for the hope of such, and of all the ungodly, is like dust that is blown away with the wind; and like a thin froth that is driven away with the storm; and like as the smoke which is dispersed here and there with a tempest, and as the remembrance of a guest of a single day that passeth away. 2836 With the utmost care, dearly beloved, are such persons to be guarded against, and avoided, and rejected, if they show themselves injurious. For the laws of the world, no less than those of the Church, do not admit the injurious, but reject them. Whence it is written, “The mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.” 2837 And the Lord, speaking by the prophet, saith, “With the holy thou wilt show thyself holy; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward; and with the excellent thou wilt show thyself excellent (electus); and with the innocent man thou wilt show thyself innocent.” 2838 And the apostle says, “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” 2839 Wherefore, as has already been indicated, the wicked are always to be avoided and shunned, and the good and rightly-disposed are to be stedfastly followed, in order that, as far as possible, we may avoid the peril of sloth. And lest this pest may be spread abroad more widely, let us cut it off from us with all possible severity; for the temerity of presumption does not intervene where there is the diligence of piety. Let every one of you, sustained by this apostolic representation, act according to his strength, and study in brotherly love and in godly piety to keep his own manners correct, and to help each other, and to abide in charity, and to keep himself in the will of God unceasingly, in order that we may praise the Lord together, and give Him thanks always without wearying. Fare ye well in the Lord, dearly beloved, and with the Lord’s help strive to fulfil to the best of your ability the things before mentioned.—Given on the first day of July, in the consulship of the most illustrious Maximinus (or, Maximus) and Africanus. 2840
————————————
Footnotes
630:2826Fabian was bishop of Rome from 236 to 250 a.d. The letters ascribed to him are rejected by all as spurious.
630:2827Rom. xv. 4.
630:28281 Cor. xv. 58.
630:28291 Cor. 16:13, 14.
630:28301 Pet. v. 8.
631:28311 Tim. ii. 4.
631:2832Matt. x. 16.
631:28331 Cor. v. 11.
631:2834Rom. i. 32.
631:2835Clementines: Ep. of Clem. to James, xviii. [P. 221, supra.]
632:2836Wisd. v. 14.
632:2837Prov. xix. 28.
632:2838Ps. 18:25, 26.
632:28391 Cor. xv. 33.
632:2840In the year 236.
The Second Epistle.
To All the Bishops of the East.
That the chrism 2841 should be renewed with consecration every year, and that the old supply should be set aside to be burnt in the churches; also concerning the accusing of priests, and on the duty of the sheep not to dare to blame their shepherd unless he errs in the faith.
Fabian, bishop of the city of Rome, to all the bishops of the East, and to the whole body of the faithful, greeting in the Lord.
Your love for the seat of the apostles requires counsels which we neither can nor ought to deny you. It is clear, moreover, that our predecessors did this for the bishops of many districts; and brotherly charity and the debt of obedience impose the duty of so doing also upon us who, by the bountiful goodness of God, are placed in the same seat. Care, therefore, is to be had by your solicitude, that neither remissness may avail to neglect, nor presumption be able to disturb, those things which have been ordained by the apostles and their successors, and established under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But as it was proper that that should be defined which the use of right order required, so what has been so defined ought not to be violated.
Footnotes
632:2841The unguent of oil and balsam used in the so-called sacrament of confirmation. [See p. 604, supra.]
I.
That new chrism should be made every year, and the old be burnt.
Now, among other matters, in your letter we find it stated that certain bishops of your district adopt a different practice from yours and ours, and do not prepare the chrism at the Lord’s supper every year, but keep it in use for two or three, making such a supply of the holy chrism once for all. For they say, as we find in the letter referred to, that balsam cannot be got every year; and besides that, even though it were got, there would be no necessity for preparing chrism every year, but that, so long as the one preparation of chrism is sufficiently large, they have no need to make another. They are in error, however, who think so; and in making such statements they speak like madmen rather than men in their right senses. For on that day the Lord Jesus, after supping with His disciples, and washing their feet, according to the tradition which our predecessors received from the holy apostles and left to us, taught them to prepare the chrism. That washing of their feet signifies our baptism, as it is completed and confirmed by the unction of the holy chrism. For as the solemn observance of that day is to be kept every year, so the preparing of that holy chrism is to be attended to every year, and it is to be renewed from year to year and given to the faithful. For the material of this new sacrament is to be made anew every year, and on the day already named; and the old supply is to be burned in the holy churches. These things we have received from the holy apostles and their successors, and we commit them to your keeping. The holy church of Rome and that of Antioch have been guardians of these things from the times of the apostles: these things also the churches of Jerusalem and Ephesus maintain. Presiding over these churches, the apostles taught these things, and ordained that the old chrism should be burnt, and permitted them to use it no longer than one year, and commanded them thereafter to use the new, and not the old material. If any one, therefore, ventures to go against these things, let him understand that the door of indulgence is barred against him on your part and on that of all right-minded men: for the perverse doctrine of most depraved minds, while it uses the reins too indulgently, slips into the sin of presumption; and it can by no means be cast out, unless it is cleared of all support and correction on the part of the intelligent. And those usages which the holy Church throughout the whole world uniformly observes with respect to the divine mysteries, and towards the subjects of baptism, are not to be regarded with indifferent concern, lest we make way for purposeless efforts and superstitions. We ought not, therefore, to bring over the untaught minds of the faithful to such practices as we have named, because they should be instructed rather than played upon. For good deeds make for our happiness, and evil deeds prick us with the stings of sorrow. But here, however we are situated, we are among the hands of robbers and the teeth of raging wolves, and the contumacious are put in the place of the true sheep. And it is by the barking of the dogs and the staff of the shepherd that the fury of the wolves is checked. Those wounds, moreover, which cannot be healed by remedies, must be cut out with the knife. Neither can we keep silence, for, in seeking here to call back some from things unlawful, we are impelled by the instinct of our office, having been set on the watch-towers by the Lord with this object, that we should prove the diligence of our watchfulness by checking things that should be prohibited, and deciding for things that should be observed.
II.
Of the right of bishops not to be accused or hurt by detraction.
You desired also to consult us, as we find in the above-mentioned letter of yours, on the subject of the accusing of priest,—a thing which, as we learn also from the same epistle, is exceedingly frequent among you. You have intimated, besides, that very many notice that not a few in places of ecclesiastical dignity do not live in a manner conformable to the discourses and sacraments with which the people are served by their means. O miserable men, who in looking at these forget Christ, who long since indeed told us how that the law of God should be obeyed, rather than that those should be looked to for imitation who do not the things which they say; and bearing with the traitor himself even to the end, He sent him also along with the rest to preach the Gospel. For the apostles had no such custom, neither did they teach that it was one fit to be had. And to like effect their successors also, foreseeing by the Spirit of God things to come, have determined largely on such subject. Besides, as you read in the Acts of the Apostles, “There was at that time among them that believed one heart and one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.” 2842 For there was no laying of accusations against each other among them, except what was friendly; neither ought there ever to be such among their followers or among believers: for the Lord says, “Do not that to another which thou wouldst not have done to thyself.” 2843 And He says also, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;” 2844 and,” Love worketh no ill to his neighbour.” 2845 In accordance herewith, the apostles themselves and their successors decreed of old time that those persons should not be admitted to lay accusations who were under suspicion, or who but yesterday, or the day before, or a little time ago, were at enmity, as they come thus under suspicion, or who are not of good conversation, or whose life is reprehensible, or who are doubtful in the matter of the true faith. In like manner is it decided to be with those whose faith and life and liberty are unknown, or who are marked with the stains of infamy, or entangled in the snares of offences. Again, those have neither the right nor the power to accuse the priests or the clergy, who are incapable themselves of being made priests legitimately, and are not of their order; for just as the priests and the other members of the clerical order are debarred from laying accusations against the secular laity, so these latter, too, should be debarred and excluded from the right of bringing charges against the former. And as the former should not be admired by the latter, so the latter should not be admired by the former: for as the conversation of the priests of the Lord ought to be something separate from the conversation of these others, so should they be separate from them also in the matter of litigation; “for the servant of the Lord ought not to strive.” 2846 To the utmost of your power, dearly beloved brethren, do ye prohibit such accusations, and all unrighteous and injurious emulations, because contention is to be avoided by all means. “For a just man will fall seven times in a day, and will rise again; but the wicked shall fall into mischief. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth,” saith Solomon, “and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth; lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him. Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou envious at the wicked: for the evil have not the hope of the future, and the candle of the wicked shall be put out. Envy not evil men, neither be thou desirous to be with them; for their mind meditates rapine, and their lips speak deceits.” 2847 Dearly beloved, beware of these things. Ponder these things, and minister comfort to the brethren in all things; for, as the Truth says in His own person, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” 2848 For if in things secular each man’s right and his proper position are kept for him, how much more ought there to be no confusion induced in matters of ecclesiastical order! And this is a right which will be duly observed if no deference is paid to mere power, but all to equity. Whence it is an established duty, that the bishops of each several district should exercise a watchful care over all those who live under their rule, and in the fear of God should dispose of all cases in which they are concerned, and of all matters in which they are interested. It is therefore extremely inequitable that any bishops should neglect their own cases, and mix themselves up with those of others. But those whose part it is to ordain such persons to the priesthood, and by whom they have been already ordained, ought to order the life and judgment of such by the exercise of a competent and regular administration; for, as the law says, “Cursed is every one that removeth his neighbour’s landmarks. And all the people said Amen.” 2849 To this therefore, brethren, has God foreordained you, and all who hold the highest office of the priesthood, that ye should put all injustice out of the way, and cut off presumption, and help those who labour in the priesthood, and give no occasion for their reproach and trouble, but bring assistance to him who endures calumny and reproach, and cut off him who works calumny and reproach, and act for the help of the Lord in His priests. The Lord, moreover, has chosen the priests for Himself, that they should sacrifice to Him, and offer oblations to their Lord. He commanded the Levites also to be under them in their ministries. Whence He speaks to Moses in these terms: “And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.” 2850 For of these the Lord spake to Moses in this wise: “Take the Levites instead of the first-born among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord.” 2851 If the Lord willed the Levites to be His own, how much more has He taken the priests for Himself! And of these He says: “If any stranger cometh nigh, he shall be put to death.” 2852 All objects, moreover, that are the Lord’s are to be handled carefully, and are not lightly to be injured; for even among men, those are reckoned faithful who attend to the interests of their masters rightly, and deal with them faithfully, and rightly observe the commands of their masters, and transgress them not. And those, on the other hand, are reputed unfaithful who deal with the interests of their masters carelessly and negligently, and despise their commands, and do not observe them as they ought.
Accordingly we have set these matters before you, in order that those who now know it not may know this; viz., that the priests, too, whom the Lord has taken to Himself from among all men, and has willed to be His own, are not to be dealt with lightly, nor injured, nor rashly accused or reprehended, save by their masters, seeing that the Lord has chosen to reserve their causes to Himself, and ministers vengeance according to His own judgment. For in these and other precepts of the Lord the faithful are distinguished, and the unfaithful at the same time disapproved. For these are rather to be borne with by the faithful than made subjects of reproach (exprobrandi); just as there is chaff with the wheat even to the last winnowing, and as there are bad fish with good even on to their separation, which is yet to be on the shore,—that is to say, at the end of the world. By no means, then, can that man be condemned by a human examination, whom God has reserved for His own judgment, that the purpose of God, according to which He has decreed to save what had perished, may be unalterable. And consequently, as His will suffers no change, let no man presume on matters which are not conceded to him. And herein is the meaning of that word which the apostle speaks: “Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?” 2853 To this, too, our Lord’s word may refer: “And if any man will take away thy coat, and sue thee at the law, let him have thy cloak also.” 2854 And in another place: “Of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again.” 2855 Moreover, there are certain things which might be thought most trivial were they not shown in the Scriptures to be of more serious import. Who would ever consider the man who says to his brother “Thou fool” worthy of hell-fire, were it not that the Truth Himself told us so? 2856 Those, furthermore, who commit those sins whereof the apostle says, “They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God,” 2857 are by all means to be guarded against, and are to be compelled to seek amendment if they do not choose it voluntarily, because they are marked with the stains of infamy, and go down into the pit, unless assistance is brought them by sacerdotal authority. Those also are to be dealt with in like manner of whom he says, “With such persons, no, not to eat;” 2858 because such persons are branded with infamy until they are restored by sacerdotal authority, and reinstated in the bosom of our holy mother the Church; since those who are outside us cannot communicate with us. And it is manifest that these are outside us, and ought to be separated from us, with whom it is not lawful for us to eat or to take food. In like manner also, all persons who underlie the charge of any manner of turpitude and dishonour, are rendered infamous; and all who arm themselves against fathers are rendered infamous. “Sand, and salt, and a mass of iron, is easier to bear than a man without understanding, and foolish and impious.” 2859 “He that wanteth understanding thinks upon vain things; and a foolish and erring man imagineth follies.” 2860 For their suspicion has overthrown many, and their opinion hath held them in vanity. “A stubborn heart shall fare evil at the last; and he that loveth danger shall perish therein. A heart that entereth two ways shall not have rest; and the evil heart in them shall be made to stumble. A wicked heart shall be laden with sorrows; and the sinner shall heap sin upon sin.” 2861 The holy apostles and their successors, having such things in mind, and foreseeing, as being filled with the Holy Spirit, the course of wicked men, and having regard to the simple, determined that the accusing of priests should be a matter undertaken with difficulty, or never undertaken, that they might not be ruined or displaced by wicked men. For if this were made an easy matter to secular and wicked men, there would remain no one, or but the scantiest few; seeing that it ever has been and still is the case—and (which is yet worse) that too in growing measure—that the wicked persecute the good, and that the carnal are hostile to the spiritual. For this reason, then, as has been already said, they decreed that such should not be accused at all; or if that could not be avoided, that the accusing of such should be made a matter of great difficulty. And they determined also, as has been stated above, by what persons that function should not be assumed; and they resolved further, that bishops should not be cast out from their own proper seats and churches. But if in any way the matter of accusation should be taken in hand before their rightful seat and all their property are restored by those laws, they should by no means be accused or criminated by any one, and should not answer any one on such charges, unless they choose to do so of their own accord. But after they have been reinstated, as has been before noted, and have had all their effects restored to them by those laws, when their affairs are arranged and set in order, they should then have a long period allowed them for the disposing of their case; and thereafter, if need be, they should be regularly summoned, and so come to the suit; and if the matter seem just, they should answer the propositions of their accusers with the help of their brethren. For so long as their effects, or their churches and property, are held by their adversaries, or by any person, no manner of reason allows that any charge ought to be preferred against them. And no one is at liberty by any means to bring any charge against them, whether superior or inferior, so long as they are dispossessed of their churches, effects, or powers. In like manner also it was decreed, and we too confirm the same statutes and hereby decree, that if any one among the clergy proves an enemy or traducer of his bishops, and seeks to criminate them, or conspires against them, at once, before the consideration of judicial investigation, he should be removed from the clerical order, and given over to the court (curiæ), to which he shall devote himself zealously all the days of his life, and shall remain infamous without any hope of restoration. And let no one ever presume to be at once accuser, and judge, or witness; for in every judicial investigation there must always be four persons present: that is, the judges elected, and the accusers, and the defenders, and the witnesses. In like manner we decree and ordain by apostolic authority, that the flock should not dare to bring a charge against their pastor, to whose care they had been consigned, unless he falls into error in the faith; for the deeds of superiors are not to be smitten with the sword of the mouth; neither can the disciple be above the master, as the voice of Truth saith, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.” 2862
And pride is hateful before God and men, and all iniquity is execrable. “The Lord hath destroyed the memory of the proud, and hath left the memory of the humble in mind. The seed of men shall be honoured, this seed that feareth God. But that seed shall be dishonoured that transgresseth the commandments of the Lord. Among brethren, he that is chief is honourable; and they that fear the Lord shall be in His eyes. My son, saith Solomon, preserve thy soul in meekness, and give honour to him whom honour beseemeth.” 2863 “Blame not any one before thou examinest him; and when thou hast examined him, reprove him justly. Answer not a word before thou hearest the cause; neither interrupt with talk in the midst of thy seniors.” 2864 After the example of Ham the son of Noah, they are condemned who bring the faults of their fathers into public view, or presume to accuse or calumniate them; even as was the case with Ham, who did not cover the shame of his father Noah, but exhibited it for mockery. And in like manner those are justified by the example of Shem and Japhet, who reverently cover and seek not to display those matters in which they find their fathers to have erred. For if a bishop should happen to err from the faith, he should in the first place be corrected privately by those placed under him (a subditis suis). And if he show himself incorrigible (which may God forbid), then an accusation should be laid against him before his primates, or before the seat of the apostles. For his other actings, however, he is rather to be borne with by his flock and those put under him, than accused or made the subject of public detraction; because when any offence is committed in these matters by those put under them, His ordinance is withstood who set them before him, as the apostle says, “Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God.” 2865 But he who fears Almighty God, agrees in no way to do anything contrary to the Gospel, or contrary to the apostles, or contrary to the prophets or the institutions of the holy fathers. The priests therefore are to be honoured, and not to be injured or reproached. Thus read we in Ecclesiasticus: “Fear the Lord with all thy soul, and reverence His priests. Love Him that made thee with all thy strength, and forsake not His ministers. Honour God with thy whole soul, and honour the priest, and cleanse thyself beforehand with the shoulders (propurga te cum brachiis). Give him his portion, as it is commanded thee, of the first-fruits; and purge thyself concerning negligence with a few things. Thou shalt offer the gift of thy shoulders, and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the first-fruits of the holy things to the Lord. And stretch thine hand unto the poor, that thine atonement and blessing may be perfected.” 2866 We desire these things to become known not to you only, but through you to all the brethren, that we may abide in Christ of one accord and one mind, making no claim for ourselves through strife or vainglory, and being pleasers not of men, but of God our Saviour. To Him belongeth honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
————————————
Footnotes
633:2842Acts iv. 32.
633:2843Matt. 7:12, Luke 6:0.
633:2844Matt. 22:39, Mark 12:31.
633:2845Rom. xiii. 10.
634:28461 Tim. ii. 24.
634:2847Prov. xxiv. 17, etc.
634:2848John xiii. 35.
634:2849Deut. xxvii. 17.
634:2850Num. iii. 32.
634:2851Num. iii. 45.
634:2852Num. i. 51.
635:28531 Cor. vi. 7.
635:2854Matt. v. 40.
635:2855Luke vi. 30.
635:2856Matt. v. 22.
635:2857Gal. v. 21.
635:28581 Cor. v. 11.
635:2859Ecclesiasticus 22.15.
635:2860Ecclesiasticus 16.23.
635:2861Ecclesiasticus 3.24, etc.
636:2862Matt. x. 24.
636:2863Ecclesiasticus 10.7, etc.
636:2864Sir. 11:7, 8.
636:2865Rom. xiii. 2.
636:2866Ecclesiasticus 7.29-32.
The Third Epistle.
To Bishop Hilary.
That extraneous judgments should be rejected, and that the accused person should carry out his cause in his own locality; and that every one who brings forward a charge should intimate in writing his ability to prove it, and that if he fails to prove what he alleges, he should bear the penalty which he advanced.
Fabian, to my dearly beloved brother Bishop Hilary.
We ought to be mindful of the grace of God to us, who, in the compassion of His own regard, hath raised us for this reason to the summit of sacerdotal dignity, that by cleaving to His commandments, and by being set in a certain eminence as overseers of His priests, we may restrain things unlawful, and inculcate things that are to be followed. For we have heard that in those western parts in which you dwell, the craft of the devil rageth so violently against the people of Christ, and breaketh forth in delusions so manifold, that it oppresseth and troubleth not only the secular laity, but the priests of the Lord themselves also. Wherefore, involved as we are in deep grief, we cannot conceal what we ought severely to correct. Accordingly a sufficient remedy must be employed for such wounds, lest a hasty facility in the cure may prove of no service for the deadly disease of the head; and lest the trouble, by being too easily dealt with, may involve, through the defect of an illegitimate mode of cure, the hurt and the healers together in its evil.
I.
Of those who ought not to be admitted to the right of accusation.
On this account, therefore, we decree and resolve, that those who are not of good conversation, or whose life is impeachable, or whose faith and life and liberty are unknown, should not have the power of accusing the priests of the Lord, lest vile persons should thus be admitted to the liberty of accusing them. In like manner, those who are involved in any matters of accusation, or who are under suspicion, should not have a voice in laying charges against their seniors; for the voice of the suspected and the inimical is wont to oppress the truth.
II.
Of extraneous judgments.
Moreover, by a general ordinance, and without prejudice to the authority of the apostles in all things, we prohibit extraneous judgments, because it is not fit that he should be judged by strangers, who ought to have those of his own province and those elected by himself as his judges, unless an appeal has been made. Wherefore, if any one of the bishops is accused on precise charges, he ought to be heard by all the bishops who are in the province; for it is not right that an accused person should be heard elsewhere than in his own circuit. Again, if any one is of opinion that he has a judge adverse to him, he should claim the right of appeal; and an appellant ought to be injured by no kind of oppression or detention; but an appellant ought to have the liberty of righting his case, when wronged, by the remedy of appeal. There ought also to be liberty of appeal in criminal cases. And the right of appealing ought to be denied to no one whom judgment has destined for punishment.
III.
Of the arraigned.
A person arraigned ought to plead his cause before his judge; and an arraigned person may refuse to speak, if he choose so, before one who is not his own proper judge; and indulgence (induciæ) should be granted to the arraigned as often as they appeal.
IV.
Of the case of any one bringing forward a charge in passion, or failing to prove his allegations.
If, then, any one in passion brings a charge rashly against any one, mere abuse is not to be taken for an accusation. But a certain time being allowed for dealing with the matter, the person should profess his ability in writing to prove what he has alleged in passion; so that, if he should happen to think better of the things he uttered in passion, and decline to repeat or write them, the person may not be held as charged with the crime. Every one, therefore, who adduces a charge, ought to state in writing his ability to prove it. And, indeed, a cause should always be dealt with in the place where the charge is admitted; and the man who fails to substantiate his allegation, should himself bear the penalty which he advanced.
V.
On the question of an accused bishop appealing to the seat of the apostles.
It is determined, moreover, that, in the case of an accused bishop appealing to the seat of the apostles, that should be held to be a settlement which is the decision of the pontiff of that same seat. On all occasions, however, in cases concerning priests, let this form be maintained, that no one be bound by a decision pronounced by another than his own proper judge. It is the duty also of all the faithful to be ready to help the oppressed and the miserable in their distress, in order that by the manifestation of another manner of recompense (vindictæ) they may be able to keep the recompense (vengeance) of God from themselves. For he offers (libat) things prosperous to the Lord who keeps off things adverse from the afflicted. Whence it is written, “A brother aiding a brother shall be exalted.” 2867 For the Church of God ought to be without spot or wrinkle, and therefore it ought not to be trodden and defiled by certain persons; for it is written, “My dove, my undefiled, is but one.” 2868 Hence, again, the Lord says to Moses, “There is a place with me (penes me), and thou shalt stand upon a rock.” 2869 What place is there that belongs not to the Lord, seeing that all things consist in Him by whom they were created? There is a place, however, with God—to wit, the unity of the holy Church—in which there is a standing upon a rock, while the perfection of the confession (confessionis soliditas) is held in lowliness. We admonish thee, our brother, and all our brethren who are rulers in the Church of Christ, which He hath purchased with His blood, to keep back, by whatever checks ye possess, all men from that abyss into which some brethren are slipping, in reviling the Lord’s pastors, and persecuting them both by word and deed; and we counsel you not to suffer them to be wounded with the hook of passion: for it is written, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” 2870 Hence it is said again, “Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to wrath.” 2871 Now I doubt not that with God’s help you observe all these things; but as an occasion for counsel has arisen, I also secretly attach my word to your good desires and deeds, so that what you are doing of yourselves and independently of admonition you may do presently not by yourselves alone, now that the counsellor himself is added to you. Wherefore, brethren, it becomes you and all the faithful to love each other, and not to calumniate or accuse one another: for it is written, “Love thy neighbour, and be faithful unto him. But if thou bewrayest his secrets, thou shalt follow no more after him. For as a man who destroyeth his friend, so is he that loseth the love of his neighbour. And as one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so art thou who hast let thy neighbour go, and shalt not get him again. Follow after him no more, for he is far off. For he is as a roe escaped out of the snare, since his soul is wounded. Further thou wilt not be able to bind him up, and after reviling there may be reconcilement; but to bewray the secrets of a friend is the despair of an unhappy mind. He that winketh with the eye worketh evil, and every one will cast him off. When thou art present, he will speak sweetly, and will admire thy words. But at last he will writhe his mouth, and slander thy sayings. I have hated many things, but nothing like him; and the Lord will hate him. Whoso casteth a stone on high, it will fall upon his own head; and a deceitful stroke shall make wounds in the deceiver. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein; and he that placeth a stone in his neighbour’s way shall stumble thereon; and he that setteth a trap for another shall perish in it. He that worketh mischief, it shall fall upon him; and he shall not know whence it cometh on him. Mockery and reproach are from the proud; and vengeance, as a lion, shall lie in wait for them. They that rejoice at the fall of the righteous shall be taken in the snare; and anguish shall consume them before they die. Wrath and fury are both abominations, and the sinful man shall have them both.” 2872 “He that desireth to be avenged shall find vengeance from the Lord, and He will surely keep his sins in remembrance. Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done thee; so shall thy sins also be forgiven thee when thou prayest. One man beareth hatred against another, and doth he seek pardon from the Lord? He showeth no mercy to a man which is like himself, and doth he ask forgiveness of his own sins from the Most High? He, though he is but flesh, nourishes hatred; and does he implore mercy from God? Who will entreat for pardon of his sins? Remember thy end, and let enmity cease. For corruption and death impend on His commandments. Remember the fear of God, and bear no malice to thy neighbour. Remember the covenant of the Highest, and wink at the ignorance of thy neighbour. Abstain from strife, and thou shalt diminish thy sins. For a furious man will kindle strife, and a sinful man will disquiet friends, and will make debate among them that be at peace. For according to the trees of the wood, so will the fire burn; and according as a man’s strength is, so will his wrath be; and according to his riches, his anger will rise. An hasty contention will kindle a fire; and an hasty fighting will shed blood; and a tale-bearing (testificans) tongue will cause death. If thou blow the spark, it shall burn like a fire; and if thou spit upon it, it shall be quenched; and both these come out of thy mouth. The whisperer and double-tongued is cursed; for he has destroyed many that were at peace. A backbiting (tertia) tongue hath disquieted many, and driven them from nation to nation. Strong cities of the rich hath it pulled down, and overthrown the houses of great men. It has destroyed the strength of peoples, and has scattered strong nations. A backbiting tongue hath cast out virtuous women (viratas, spirited), and deprived them of their labours. Whoso hearkeneth unto it shall never find rest, and shall never have a friend on whom he may repose. The stroke of the whip maketh marks; but the stroke of the tongue will break the bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not so many as have fallen by the tongue. Well is he that is defended from the evil tongue, and hath not passed through the venom thereof; who hath not drawn the yoke thereof, nor hath been bound in her bands. For the yoke thereof is a yoke of iron, and the bands thereof are bands of brass. The death thereof is an evil death, and the grave were better than it. Its endurance shall not abide, but it shall possess the ways of the unrighteous. In its flame it shall not burn the righteous. Such as forsake the Lord shall fall into it; and it shall burn in them, and not be quenched; and it shall be sent upon them as a lion, and devour them as a leopard. Hedge thine ears (sæpi aures) about with thorns, and refuse to listen to the evil tongue, and make a door for thy mouth and bars for thine ears. Smelt (confla) thy gold and thy silver, and make a balance for thy words, and a right bridle for thy mouth. And beware lest thou slide perchance in thy tongue, and fall in the sight of thine enemies that be in wait for thee, and thy fall be irremediable unto death.” 2873 Let all beware of these things, and “keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” 2874 “Finally, dearly beloved, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places (cœlestibus). Wherefore take unto you the armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and to stand perfect in all (omnibus perfecti). Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in all (in omnibus) taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” 2875 It is our wish, brother, that those things which we have written to you should be made known generally to all, in order that things which touch the others should be made known to all. May Almighty God protect you, brother, and all our brethren everywhere situate, even to the end,—even He who has thought good to redeem the whole world, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever. Amen.—Given on the 16th day of October, in the consulship of the most illustrious Africanus and Decius.
————————————
Footnotes
638:2867Prov. xviii. 19.
638:2868Song of Sol. 6.9.
638:2869Ex. xxxiii. 21.
638:2870Jas. i. 20.
638:2871Jas. i. 19.
638:2872Ecclesiasticus 27.17-30.
639:2873Ecclesiasticus 28.
639:2874Ps. xxxiv. 13.
639:2875Eph. vi. 10-17.
Note by the American Editor.
It should be borne in mind by the reader that the holy martyr Fabian must not be less esteemed because this forgery was put upon him long after his decease. The forger puts many good things into his work, to make it accord with the character to which he attributes good and bad together. So with all the Decretals: they are made specious by piety and texts of Scripture.
Decrees of Fabian.
————————————
Taken from the Decretal of Gratian.
I.
That the man who refuses to be reconciled to his brother should be reduced by the severest fastings. 2876
If any injured person refuses to be reconciled to his brother, when he who has injured him offers satisfaction, he should be reduced by the severest fastings, even until he accepts the satisfaction offered him with thankful mind.
II.
The man is rendered infamous who knowingly presumes to forswear himself. 2877
Whosoever has knowingly forsworn himself, should be put for forty days on bread and water, and do penance also for the seven following years; and he should never be without penance; and he should never be admitted to bear witness. After this, however, he may enjoy communion.
III.
A man and a woman subject to madness cannot enter into marriage. 2878
Neither can a mad man nor a mad woman enter into the marriage relation. But if it has been entered, then they shall not be separated.
IV.
Marriage relations in the fifth generation may unite with each other; and in the fourth generation, if they are found, they should not be separated. 2879
Concerning relations who enter affinity by the connection of husband and wife, these, on the decease of wife or husband, may form a union in the fifth generation; and in the fourth, if they are found, they should not be separated. In the third degree of relationship, however, it is not lawful for one to take the wife of another on his death. In an equable manner, a man may be united in marriage after his wife’s death with those who are his own kinswomen, and with the kinswomen of his wife.
To the immediately preceding notice. 2880
Those who marry a wife allied by blood, and are separated, shall not be at liberty, as long as both parties are alive, to unite other wives with them in marriage, unless they can plead the excuse of ignorance.
V.
Blood connections alone, or, if offspring entirely fails, the old and trustworthy, should reckon the matter of propinquity in the synod. 2881
No alien should accuse blood connections, or reckon the matter of consanguinity in the synod, but relations to whose knowledge it pertains,—that is, father and mother, sister and brother, paternal uncle, maternal uncle, paternal aunt, maternal aunt, and their children. If, however, offspring entirely fails, the bishop shall make inquiry canonically of the older and more trustworthy persons to whom the same relationship may be known; and if such relationship is found, the parties should be separated.
VI.
Every one of the faithful should communicate three times a year. 2882
Although they may not do it more frequently, yet at least three times in the year should the laity communicate, unless one happen to be hindered by any more serious offences,—to wit, at Easter, and Pentecost, and the Lord’s Nativity.
VII.
A presbyter should not be ordained younger than thirty years of age. 2883
If one has not completed thirty years of age, he should in no way be ordained as presbyter, even although he may be extremely worthy; for even the Lord Himself was baptized only when He was thirty years of age, and at that period He began to teach. It is not right, therefore, that one who is to be ordained should be consecrated until he has reached this legitimate age.
————————————
Footnotes
640:2876Dist. 90, Si quis contristatus. Basil, in Reg., c. 74.
640:28776, Q. 1, Quicunque sciens. Regino in the Book of Penance.
640:287832, Q. 7, Neque furiosus. And in the Decret. Ivo., book vi., Regino adduces it from the law of Rome.
640:287935, Q. 2 and 3, De propinquis. From the Pœnitentiale of Theodorus.
640:2880From the same.
640:288135, Q. 6, Consanguineos extraneorum. And in the Decret. Ivo., vii.
640:2882De Consecr., dist. 2, Etsi non. And in the Decret. Ivo., i.
640:2883Dist. 78, Si quis, 30; and in the Decret. Ivo., iii.; from Martin Bracar, ch. 20.
The Decrees of the Same, from the Codex of Decrees in Sixteen Books, from the Fifth Book, and the Seventh and Ninth Chapters.
I.
That the oblation of the altar should be made each Lord’s day.
We decree that on each Lord’s day the oblation of the altar should be made by men and women in bread and wine, in order that by means of these sacrifices they may be released from the burden of their sins.
II.
That an illiterate presbyter may not venture to celebrate mass.
The sacrifice is not to be accepted from the hand of a priest who is not competent to discharge the prayers or actions (actiones) and other observances in the mass according to religious usage.
————————————
Elucidations.
I
(From Clement to Melchiades, p. 607.)
The early Bishops of Rome, who till the time of Sylvester (a.d. 325) were, with few exceptions, like him pure and faithful shepherds, and not lords over God’s heritage, shall here be enumerated. But first let us settle in few words the historic facts as to the See.
St. Paul was, clearly, the Apostolic founder of the Roman church, as appears from Holy Scripture. St. Peter seems to have come to Rome not long before his martyrdom. Linus and Cletus could not have been Bishops of Rome, for they were merely coadjutors of the Apostles during their lifetime. Clement was the first who succeeded to their work after their death; and thus he should unquestionably be made the first of the Roman bishops,—a position of which he was eminently worthy, for his was the spirit of St. Peter himself, 2884 as set forth in that incomparable passage of his first Epistle, 2885 in which the Apostle bids all his brethren to be shepherds indeed, and “ensamples to the flock.” We may therefore give the outline of this history as follows:—
1. St. Paul was the “Apostle of the Gentiles,” and St. Peter of “the Circumcision.”
2. St. Paul came first to Rome, and organized the Christians he found there after the pattern “ordained in all the churches.”
3. He had Linus for his coadjutor, being himself a prisoner, until he went into Spain.
4. St. Peter came to Rome (circa a.d. 64), and laboured with the Jewish Christians there, St. Paul recognising his mission among them.
5. This Apostle (soon thrown into prison) had Cletus for his coadjutor.
6. In the Neronian persecution Linus seem to have suffered with St. Paul, and probably Cletus as well. The latter died before St. Peter.
7. St. Peter, therefore, about to suffer himself, ordains Clement to succeed him.
8. As he was the first “successor of the Apostles,” therefore, in the See of Rome, and the first who had jurisdiction there (for the Apostles certainly never surrendered their mission to their coadjutors), it follows that Clement was the first Bishop of Rome.
9. This is confirmed by the earliest testimony,—that of Ignatius.
10. It agrees with Tertullian’s testimony, and he speaks (as a lawyer and expert) from “the registers.” Irenæus, speaking less precisely, may be harmonized with these testimonies without violence to what he reports.
Bishops of Rome.
1. Clement a.d. 68–71.
2. Evaristus a.d. 72–108.
3. Alexander a.d. 109–117.
4. Xystus I. a.d. 117–127.
5. Telesphorus a.d. 127–138.
6. Hyginus a.d. 139–142.
7. Pius a.d. 142–156.
8. Anicetus a.d. 156–168.
9. Soter a.d. 168–176.
10. Eleutherus a.d. 176–189.
11. Victor a.d. 190–201.
12. Zephyrinus a.d. 201–218.
13. Callistus a.d. 218–222.
14. Urban a.d. 223–230.
15. Pontianus a.d. 230–234.
16. Anterus a.d. 235–236.
17. Fabianus a.d. 236–249.
18. Cornelius a.d. 251–251.
19. Lucius a.d. 252–252.
20. Stephen a.d. 253–256.
21. Xystus II. a.d. 257–258.
22. Dionysius a.d. 259–269.
23. Felix a.d. 269–274.
24. Eutychianus a.d. 275–282.
25. Caius a.d. 283–295.
26. Marcellinus a.d. 296–304.
27. Marcellus a.d. 308–309.
28. Eusebius a.d. 310–310.
29. Melchiades a.d. 311–314.
30. Sylvester a.d. 314–335.
N.B.—After a.d. 325 the Bishops of Rome are canonical primates; the Bishops of New Rome primates equally, but second on the list; then Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus. The Councils of Constantinople and Chalcedon state that these primacies were awarded because Rome and New Rome were the capitals of the œcumene, or empire. The primacy conferred no authority over the sister Sees of Apostolic foundation, and recognised no inequality among bishops, save those of such honorary distinction.
The Patriarchate.
1. From (a.d. 325) Sylvester to Gregory the Great, and his successor, who lived but one year, the Bishops of Rome were canonical primates.
2. Boniface III. accepted the court title of “Universal Bishop” (a.d. 606) from the Emperor Phocas, but it was not recognised by the Church.
3. From this time to Adrian I. many Bishops of Rome vied with those of Constantinople to augment their honour and power. The establishment of the Western Empire (a.d. 800) made their ambitious claims acceptable to the Latins; and they became primates of all Christendom in Western estimation, with extra-canonical and indefinite claims as “successors of St. Peter.”
4. Nicholas I. (a.d. 863), by means of the False Decretals, gave shape to these extra-canonical claims, abrogated the Nicene Constitutions in the West by making these Decretals canon-law, and asserted a supremacy over the old patriarchares, which they never allowed: hence the schism of the West from the Apostolic Sees of the East, and from the primitive discipline which established the Papacy, as now understood.
5. From Nicholas I. (who died a.d. 867) the Latin churches recognised this Papacy more or less; the Gallicans resisting, though feebly, by asserting their “liberties,” according to Nicene Constitutions.
6. Gregory VII., honestly persuaded that the Decretals were authentic, enforced these spurious canons without reference to antiquity, and pronounced the title of “Pope” the sole and peculiar dignity of the Bishops of Rome a.d. 1073. He reigned from a.d. 1061 to 1085.
7. The churches of England and France, which claimed to be outside of the “holy Roman Empire,” under kings whose own crowns were “imperial,” maintained a perpetual contest with the Papacy, admitted the extra-canonical “primacy,” but resisted all claims to “supremacy.”
8. School-doctrines were framed and enforced, but were extra-symbolic, and of no Catholic authority. They abused the episcopate to exalt the Papacy.
9. The Council of Trent, after the Northern revolt from the Papacy and School-doctrine, sat seventeen years (from a.d. 1545 to a.d. 1563) framing the “Roman-Catholic Church” out of the remainder of national churches, depriving them of their nationalities, and making out of them all, with the missions in America, one mixed confederation, to which it gave a new creed and new organic laws; debasing the entire episcopate (which it denied to be an order distinct from that of presbyters), and making the Pope the “Universal Bishop,” with other bishops reduced to presbyters, acting as his local vicars.
10. The Gallicans feebly withstood these changes, and strove to maintain the primitive Constitutions by accommodations with their theory of the “Gallican liberties,” as founded by St. Louis.
11. Gallicanism was extinguished by Pope Pius IX., who proclaimed the Pope “infallible,” and thus raised his “supremacy” into an article of the Roman-Catholic faith.
12. The following is the modern creed of “Roman Catholics,” which, with the latest additions, embodies a library of dogmas in the eleventh article, and now, since the decree of Infallibility makes the entire Bullary (a vast library of decrees and definitions), equally part of the Creed. 2886
The Trentine Creed, or the Creed of Pius IV., a.d. 1564.
1. I most stedfastly admit and embrace Apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the Church.
2. I also admit the Holy Scripture according to that sense which our holy mother the Church has held, and does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretations of the Scriptures. Neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
3. I also profess that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all for every one; to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; and that they confer grace; and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Order cannot be reiterated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the received and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church in the solemn administration of the aforesaid sacraments.
4. I embrace and receive all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent concerning original sin and justification.
5. I profess, likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I also confess that under either kind alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament.
6. I constantly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.
7. Likewise, that the saints, reigning together with Christ, are to be honoured and invocated, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be respected.
8. I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the mother of God, ever virgin, and also of the saints, ought to be had and retained, and that due honour and veneration is to be given them.
9. I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people.
10. I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church for the mother and mistress of all churches; and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.
11. I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons, and general Councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent.
12. And I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies whatsoever, condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the Church.
This true Catholic faith, without which no one can be saved, I N.N. do at this present freely confess and sincerely hold; and I promise most constantly to retain, and confess the same entire and unviolated, with God’s assistance, to the end of my life. Amen.
N. B.—(1) To this was added, Dec. 8, 1854, the new article of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, to be believed as necessary to salvation.
N. B.—(2) To which was added (December, 1864) the whole Syllabus.
N. B.—(3) To which was added (July 18, 1870) the new dogma of Infallibility.
Observe, this “Creed” is imposed on all in the Roman Obedience, and especially on those who enter it from other communions, as that without which no one can be saved. The Catholic Creed of Nicæa is not sufficient. But the Seventh Canon of Ephesus not only forbids the composition of any other creed, but especially adds: “Those who shall presume to compose another creed, or to produce or offer it to persons desiring to return to the acknowledgment of the truth…from any heresy whatever, shall be deposed…if bishops or other clergy, and if they be laymen they shall be anathematized.”
Footnotes
641:2884See his genuine Epistle, vol. i. p. 1, this series. Compare vol. i. pp. 69, 416, with vii. p. 478.
641:28851 Pet. v. 1-4. The Bishops of Rome have only to restore themselves to the spirit of St. Peter as here set forth, and the schisms of the churches will be at an end. For Tertullian’s testimony, see vol. iii. p. 258, note 9.
643:2886De Maistre, thinking to overthrow the Anglicans, and imagining the Thirty-nine Articles to be “terms of communion” in the Anglican Church, where they never were, commits himself rashly to the following position: “If a people possess one of these Codes of Belief, we may be sure of this: that the religion of such a people is false.” No people on earth has such as enormous Code of Belief as those who profess the creed of Pius the Fourth, and who accept the decrees of Pius the Ninth. See De Maistre, Le Principe Générateur, etc., p. 20, Paris, 1852. This Trent Creed is the fruit of the Decretals.
II.
(Donation of Constantine, p. 607.)
On this stupendous fraud I quote from Dupin, as follows:—
“Among the number of Constantine’s edicts I do not place the Donation which goes under his name. Some have attributed this false monument to the author of the collection (Decretals) ascribed to Isidore, he being a notorious forger of such kind of writings; and this conjecture is more probable than some others.
“By this Donation, Constantine is supposed to give to the Bishops of Rome the sovereignty of the city, and of the provinces of the Western Empire. I note some of the reasons which clearly prove this instrument to be a forgery:—
“(1) Not one of the ancients mentions this pretended liberality of the emperor. How could Eusebius, and all the other historians who wrote about Constantine, have passed over in silence, had it been a reality, the gift of a Western Empire to the Bishop of Rome?
“(2) Not one of the Bishops of Rome ever refers to such a donation, though it would have been much to their advantage so to do.
“(3) It is dated falsely, and under consuls who flourished when Constantine was unbaptized; yet his baptism is referred to in this instrument. Again, the city of Constantinople is mentioned in it, although it was called Byzantium for ten years subsequent to its date.
“(4) Not only is the style very different from the genuine edicts of the emperor, but it is full of terms and phrases that came into use much after the time of Constantine.
“(5) How comes it that he should have given one-half of his empire to the Bishop of Rome, including the city of Rome itself, without any one ever hearing of it for hundreds of years after?
“(6) The falsities and absurdities of this edict demonstrate that it was composed by an ignorant impostor. Thus by it, for example, the Pope is permitted to wear a crown of gold, and a fabulous history is given of the emperor’s baptism by Sylvester: also, it contains a history of the emperor’s miraculous cure of leprosy by Sylvester, all which do plainly prove the forgery. It is certain that the city of Rome was governed by the emperor, and that the Bishops of Rome were subject to him, and obeyed him, as all his other subjects.
“All that we have said plainly shows that the edict of Donation that bears the name of Constantine is wholly supposititious; but it is not so easy to find out who was the author. However it be, this document has neither any use nor authority.” 2887
Footnotes
644:2887Dupin, ut supra, p. 17. See also Bryce’s Holy Roman Empire, pp. 43 and 100. He pronounces “the Donation of Constantine” to be “the most stupendous of all the mediæval forgeries. The Decretals certainly surpass it in their nature and their effects; but Mr. Bryce’s reference to these is very feeble and unsatisfactory, after Dupin. See p. 156 of his work, ed. Macmillan, 1880.
Memoirs of Edessa
And Other Ancient Syriac Documents.
[Translated by the Rev. B. P. Pratten, B.A.]
Introductory Notice
to
Memoirs of Edessa and Other Syriac Documents.
————————————
The Syriac Documents here subjoined are to be regarded as interesting relics of the primitive ages, but neither wholly genuine nor in details authentic. They have been interpolated and corrupted so as to reflect, in some particulars, ideas wholly repugnant to those of Christian antiquity, and which first received currency in the period of the Iconoclastic controversy. 2888 Yet the pages of Eusebius bear witness to the Edessene legends as of very early origin, and it is reasonable to suppose that they rest on some inquiries made by the contemporary Abgar concerning the great Prophet who had appeared in Galilee. The visit of the Wise Men from the East, and the history of Naaman the Syrian, lend antecedent probability to the idea that such inquiries may have been made. The mission of Thaddæus seems a historical fact; and if he found Abgar predisposed to believe, and familiar with the story of the Christ, the growth of the whole fable is sufficiently accounted for. Let me quote Wake in the Preliminary Discourse to his Apostolic Fathers. He says: 2889 “That both the intercourse reported by Eusebius between our Saviour and this prince (Abgarus), and the report of the picture being brought to him, have been received as a matter of unquestionable truth in those parts, the authority of Gregorius Abulpharagius 2890 will not suffer us to doubt.…But Gelasius 2891 pronounced the epistle of our Saviour to be apocryphal.…Natalis Alexander judges both it and the reply of Abgar supposititious; and Dupin, after him, yet more solidly convicts it of such manifest errors as may satisfy all considering persons that Eusebius and Ephraem were too easy of belief in this particular, and did not sufficiently examine into it.” 2892
But I cannot do better than refer the inquirer to Jones’ work On the Canon, 2893 where, even in early youth, I found the whole matter, and the story of the portrait of our Saviour, attractive reading. I owe to that work my initiation into the study of what I am now endeavouring to elucidate, in some degree, for others. I subjoin the words of Lardner, 2894 in concluding his candid examination of the matter, as follows: “The whole history is the fiction of some Christian at Edessa, in the time of Eusebius or not long before. The people of Edessa were then generally Christians; and they valued themselves upon it, and were willing to do themselves the honour of a very early conversion to the Christian faith. By some one of them, or more united together, this history was formed, and was so far received by Eusebius as to be thought by him not improper to be inserted in his Ecclesiastical History.”
I conclude that Eusebius was led to put some confidence in it by the antecedent probability to which I have referred, favouring the idea that some knowledge of Christ had penetrated the mind and heart of Abgar even in our Saviour’s lifetime. This idea receives some countenance from the fact recorded by St. Matthew: 2895 “His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases,” etc.
The remarks I have quoted from the learned will sufficiently prepare the reader for the other Syriac Documents which follow these Edessene Memoirs, as I find it convenient to call them.
Here follows the Introductory Notice by the translator:—
These Documents were selected by the late Dr. Cureton, from manuscripts acquired by the British Museum from the Nitrian Monastery in Lower Egypt, of which the first portion arrived in 1841, the second in 1843, and a third in 1847. The preparation of them for publication occupied the closing days of his life. It is to be regretted that his death occurred before he was able to write a preface: the more so because, to use the words of Dr. W. Wright, the editor of the posthumous work, “he had studied the questions connected with this volume for years and from every point of view.” In a note occurring in the preface to his Festal Letters of Athanasius, 2896 he says: “I have found among the Syriac mss. in the British Museum a considerable portion of the original Aramaic document which Eusebius cites as preserved in the archives of Edessa, and various passages from it quoted by several authors, with other testimonies which seem to be sufficient to establish the fact of the early conversion of the inhabitants of that city, and among them of the king himself, although his successors afterwards relapsed into paganism. These, together with accounts of the martyrdom of some of the first bishops of that city, forming a most interesting accession to our knowledge of the early propagation of Christianity in the East down to about a.d. 300, I have already transcribed, and hope to publish.” “He was himself firmly persuaded,” adds Dr. Wright, “of the genuineness of the Epistles attributed to Abgar, king of Edessa, and our Lord: an opinion which he shared with such illustrious scholars as Baronius, Tillemont, Cave, R. Mountague (Bishop of Norwich), and Grabe.”
Without attempting here to decide what degree of historical value belongs to these Documents, it may be proper to observe that the several matters contained in them are so far distinct from one another that they do not necessarily stand or fall together. Such matters are: the celebrated Epistles, the conversion of King Abgar Uchomo, the visit of Thaddæus, and the early prevalence of Christianity at Edessa. With regard to the letters said to have passed between Abgar and our Lord, it seems sufficient, without referring to the internal evidence, to remark, with Lardner and Neander, that it is inconceivable how anything written by Christ should have remained down to the time of Eusebius unknown to the rest of the world 2897 The conversion of Abgar is a distinct matter of inquiry. But on this again, doubt, to say the least, is cast by the statement that Abgar Bar Manu, who reigned between the years 160 and 170 a.d., is the first king of Edessa on whose coins the usual symbols of the Baal-worship of the country are wanting, these being replaced in his case by the sign of the Cross. 2898 If this refers to a complete series of the coins of Edessa, the evidence afforded must be considered very strong. For although, to take a parallel instance, “we seek in vain for Christian emblems on the coinage of Constantine, the first Christian emperor,” 2899 this may readily be accounted for by his preference of military distinction to the humbler honours conferred by his new faith, whilst it does not appear that anti-Christian emblems are found, and on the coins of his son and successor Christian emblems do make their appearance. The other two subjects referred to do not lie under the same suspicion. There is nothing in the nature of the case to disprove the visit of Thaddæus (or Addæus)—nothing improbable in the fact itself, whatever judgment may be formed of the details of it presented to us here. If, however, the visit of Thaddæus also should have to be ranked among apocryphal stories, this would not affect the remaining point—that with which we are chiefly concerned in these Documents. “It is certain,” says Neander, “that Christianity was early diffused in this country.” How early, is not so certain. But the evidence furnished by the later portions of these Documents, which there is nothing to contradict and much to confirm, proves that early in the second century Christianity had already made many converts there. The martyrdoms of Sharbil and Barsamya are said to have occurred a.d. 113, 2900 the year in which Trajan conquered the Parthian kingdom, of which Edessa was a part; and, whilst the pagan element was plainly predominant, we find the Christians sufficiently numerous to have a bishop and presbyters and deacons. This sufficiently falls in with the proof already adduced of the conversion of even a king of Edessa about fifty years later.
To the Documents which are presumably of the ante-Nicene age, Dr. Cureton added two Metrical Homilies by Jacob of Serug, who lived in the next century. But, as they are so closely connected with the most interesting portions of the rest, the martyrdoms, and are besides of considerable merit as compositions, the decision of the editors to insert them will, it is presumed, be approved by most readers. The two supplemental portions, one from the Latin of Simeon Metaphrastes, and the other from Le Vaillant de Florival’s French translation of Moses of Chorene, have also been inserted.
The translation of the Syriac portions, although made with Dr. Cureton’s version constantly in sight, may fairly be considered as independent. The only matter in which his authority has been relied on is—in the case of proper names, the supply of the necessary vowels,—for the text is vowelless. And even to this, one exception occurs, in the Martyrdom of Barsamya, where “Evaristus” has been adopted instead of his “Erastus.” In regard to the sense, it has been frequently found necessary to differ from him, while a style somewhat freer, though, it is hoped, not less faithful, has been employed. The Metrical Homilies also have been arranged so as to present the appearance of poetry. The results of Dr. Wright’s collation of the text with the mss. have also contributed to the greater correctness of the work.
The translator desires very thankfully to acknowledge his obligations to Dr. R. Payne Smith, Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford, 2901 the progress of whose Thesaurus Syriacus is regarded with so much satisfaction and hope, for his kindness in furnishing much valuable information respecting matters on which the lexicons are silent.
The notes marked Tr. are by the translator. The others, where the contrary is not indicated, are, at least in substance, Dr. Cureton’s: though their citation does not always imply approval. 2902
Footnotes
647:2888Had the early Christians used icons,—i.e., pictures in their churches,—the churches themselves would everywhere have been visible proof against the Council of Frankfort and all who condemned icons. Sculptured images are not icons, technically.
647:2889Abridged.
647:2890Jacobite primate, died 1286.
647:2891Bishop of Rome a.d. 492–496.
647:2892Wake, Apostolic Fathers, p. 4.
647:2893Vol. ii. pp. 1–31.
647:2894Credib., vi. 605.
648:2895Cap. iv. 24.
648:2896P. xxiii.
648:2897Hist. of the Church, vol. i. p. 109 (Foreign Theol. Lib.).
648:2898Bayer, Historia Edessena e nummis illustrata, l. iii. p. 173.
648:2899Humphreys’ Coin-Collector’s Manual, p. 364.
649:2900It should have been 115.
649:2901Now Dean of Canterbury.
649:2902The translator takes the opportunity of correcting the error by which the preparation of Tatian’s work in vol. iii. of the Edinburgh Series was ascribed to him. The credit of it is due in the first instance to his lamented friend Mr. J. E. Ryland, at whose request, and subsequently by that of the editors, he undertook to correct the manuscript, but was soon obliged by other engagements to relinquish the task. [The correction was duly made in this series. See vol. ii. pp. 59, 61.]
Ancient Syriac Documents
Relating to the Earliest Establishment of Christianity in Edessa and the Neighbouring Countries.
————————————
From the History of the Church. 2903
————————————
The Story 2904 Concerning the King of Edessa. 2905
Now the story relating to Thaddæus was on this wise:—
While the Godhead of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ was proclaimed among all men by reason of the astonishing mighty-works which He wrought, and myriads, even from countries remote from the land of Judæa, who were afflicted with sicknesses and diseases of every kind, were coming to Him in the hope of being healed, King Abgar 2906 also, who was renowned among the nations on the east of the Euphrates for his valour, had his body wasting away with a grievous disease, such as there is no cure for among men. And when he heard and was informed of the name of Jesus, and about the mighty works which He did,—for every one alike bore witness concerning Him,—he sent a letter of request by a man belonging to him, 2907 and besought Him to come and heal him of his disease.
But our Saviour at the time that he asked Him did not comply with his request. Yet He deigned to give him 2908 a letter in reply: for He promised him that He would send one of His disciples, and heal his sicknesses, and give salvation 2909 to him and to all who were connected with him. 2910 Nor did He delay to fulfil His promise to him: but after He was risen from the place of the dead, and was received into heaven, Thomas 2911 the apostle, one of the twelve, as by an impulse from God, sent Thaddæus, 2912 who was himself also numbered among the seventy 2913 disciples of Christ, to Edessa, to be a preacher and proclaimer of the teaching of Christ; and the promise of Christ was through him fulfilled.
Thou hast in writing the evidence of these things, which is taken from the Book of Records 2914 which was at Edessa: for at that time the kingdom was still standing. 2915 In the documents, then, which were there, in which was contained whatever was done by those of old down to the time of Abgar, these things also are found preserved down to the present hour. There is, however, nothing to prevent our hearing the very letters themselves, which have been taken by us 2916 from the archives, and are in words to this effect, translated from Aramaic into Greek.
Copy of the letter which was written by King 2917 Abgar to Jesus, and sent to Him by the hand of Hananias, 2918 the Tabularius, 2919 to Jerusalem:—
“Abgar the Black, 2920 sovereign 2921 of the country, to Jesus, the good Saviour, who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem: Peace. I have heard about Thee, 2922 and about the healing which is wrought by Thy hands without drugs and roots. For, as it is reported, Thou makest the blind to see, and the lame to walk; and Thou cleansest the lepers, and Thou castest out unclean spirits and demons, and Thou healest those who are tormented with lingering diseases, and Thou raisest the dead. And when I heard all these things about Thee, I settled in my mind one of two things: either that Thou art God, who hast come down from heaven, and doest these things or that Thou art the Son of God, and doest these things. On this account, therefore, I have written to beg of Thee that Thou wouldest weary Thyself to come to me, and heal this disease which I have. For I have also heard that the Jews murmur against Thee, and wish to do Thee harm. But I have a city, small and beautiful, which is sufficient for two.”
Copy of those things which were written 2923 by Jesus by the hand of Hananias, the Tabularius, to Abgar, sovereign of the country:—
“Blessed is he that hath believed in me, not having seen me. For it is written 2924 concerning me, that those who see me will not believe in me, and that those will believe who have not seen me, and will be saved. But touching that which thou hast written to me, that I should come to thee—it is meet that I should finish here all that for the sake of which I have been sent and, after I have finished it, then I shall be taken up to Him that sent me; and, when I have been taken up, I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thy disease, and give salvation to thee and to those who are with thee.”
To these letters, moreover, is appended the following also in the Aramaic tongue:—
“After Jesus was ascended, Judas Thomas sent to him Thaddæus the apostle, one of the Seventy. And, when he was come, he lodged with Tobias, son of Tobias. And, when the news about him was heard, they made it known to Abgar: “The apostle of Jesus is come hither, as He sent thee word.” Thaddæus, moreover, began to heal every disease and sickness by the power of God, so that all men were amazed. And, when Abgar heard the great and marvellous cures which he wrought, he bethought himself that he was the person about whom Jesus had sent him word and said to him: When I have been taken up, I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thy disease. So he sent and called Tobias, with whom he was lodging, and said to him: I have heard that a mighty man has come, and has entered in and taken up his lodging in thy house: bring him up, therefore, to me. And when Tobias came to Thaddæus he said to him: Abgar the king has sent and called me, and commanded me to bring thee up to him, that thou mayest heal him. And Thaddæus said: I will go up, because to him have I been sent with power. Tobias therefore rose up early the next day, and took Thaddæus, and came to Abgar.
“Now, when they were come up, his princes happened to be standing 2925 there. And immediately, as he was entering in, a great vision appeared to Abgar on the countenance of Thaddæus the apostle. And, when Abgar saw Thaddæus, he prostrated himself before him. 2926 And astonishment seized upon all who were standing there: for they had not themselves seen that vision, which appeared to Abgar alone. And he proceeded to ask Thaddæus: Art thou in truth the disciple of Jesus the Son of God, who said to me, I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thee and give thee salvation? And Thaddæus answered and said: Because thou hast mightily 2927 believed on Him that sent me, therefore have I been sent to thee; and again, if thou shalt believe on Him, thou shalt have the requests of thy heart. And Abgar said to him: In such wise have I believed on Him, that I have even desired to take an army and extirpate those Jews who crucified Him; were it not that I was restrained by reason of the dominion of the Romans. 2928 And Thaddæus said: Our Lord has fulfilled the will of His Father; and, having fulfilled it, has been taken up to His Father. Abgar said to him: I too have believed in Him and in His Father. And 2929 Thaddæus said: Therefore do I lay my hand upon thee in His name. And when he had done this, immediately he was healed of his sickness and of the disease which he had. And Abgar marvelled, because, like as he had heard concerning Jesus, so he saw in deeds by the hand of Thaddæus His disciple: since without drugs and roots he healed him; and not him only, but also Abdu, 2930 son of Abdu, who had the gout: for he too went in, and fell at his feet, 2931 and when he prayed over him he was healed. And many other people of their city did he heal, and he did great works, and preached the word of God.
“After these things Abgar said to him: Thou, Thaddæus, doest these things by the power of God; we also marvel at them. But in addition to all these things I beg of thee to relate to me the story about the coming of Christ, and in what manner it was; and about His power, and by what power He wrought those things of which I have heard.
“And Thaddæus said: For the present I will be silent; 2932 but, because I have been sent to preach the word of God, assemble me tomorrow all the people of thy city, and I will preach before them, and sow amongst them the word of life; and will tell them about the coming of Christ, how it took place; and about His mission, 2933 for what purpose he was sent by His Father; and about His power and His deeds, and about the mysteries which He spake in the world, and by what power He wrought these things, and about His new preaching, 2934 and about His abasement and His humiliation, and how He humbled and emptied and abased Himself, and was crucified, and descended to Hades, 2935 and broke through the enclosure 2936 which had never been broken through before, and raised up the dead, and descended alone, and ascended with a great multitude to His Father. 2937
“Abgar, therefore, commanded that in the morning all the people of his city should assemble, and hear the preaching of Thaddæus. And afterwards he commanded gold and silver to be given to him; but he received it not, and said: If we have forsaken that which was our own, how shall we accept that of others?”
These things were done in the year 340. 2938
In order, moreover, that these things may not have been translated to no purpose word for word from the Aramaic into Greek, they are placed in their order of time here.
Here endeth the first book.
Footnotes
651:2903By Eusebius of Cæsarea.—Tr. The ms. from which this extract from Eusebius is taken is numbered 14,639, fol. 15 b. It is described in Cureton’s Corpus Ignatianum, p. 350.
651:2904Book I. chapter the thirteenth.—Tr.
651:2905Properly Urrhoi, or Orrhoi (***). It seems probable that the word is connected with Osrhoene, the name of the province in which Edessa held an important place, the correct form of which is supposed to be Orrhoene. The name Edessa (***) occurs only once in these Documents, viz., in the “Acts of Sharbil,” sub init.—Tr.
651:2906“By this title all the toparchs of Edessa were called, just as the Roman emperors were called Cæsars, the kings of Egypt Pharaohs or Ptolemies, the kings of Syria Antiochi.” Assem., Bibl. Or., vol. i. p. 261. Assemani adds: “Abgar in Syriac means lame.” Moses of Chorene, however, with more probability, derives it from the Armenian Avag-aïr, “grand homme, à cause de sa grande mansuétude et de sa sagesse, et de plus, à cause de sa taille.” See below the extract from his History of Armenia, book ii. ch. 26.
651:2907Eusebius has δι᾽ ἐπιστοληφόρου.
See note on ταχυδρόμου , on next page.—Tr.
651:2908Lit. “deemed him worthy of.”—Tr.
651:2909Gr. σωτηρίαν: and so the Syriac word, meaning “life,” is generally to be translated in this collection.—Tr.
651:2910Syr. “near to him;” Gr. τῶν προσηκόντων.
651:2911His real name was Judas Thomas: see p. 8.
651:2912The name is taken from Eusebius, but in the original Syriac treatises, which follow, he is called Addæus.
651:2913In The Teaching of the Apostles he is said to have been one of the “seventy two apostles.” His name, like that of Thomas, seems to have been the very common one, Judas.
651:2914These were kept in the archives of the kingdom, which were transferred by Abgar from Nisibis to Edessa when he made it the capital of his dominions. See Moses Chor. B. ii. ch. 27, infra. The archives appear to have been still kept at Edessa in a.d. 550. [Compare this fact with Tertullian’s statement, vol. iii. p. 164.]
651:2915The kingdom of Edessa was brought to an end and entirely subjected to the Romans in a.d. 217 or 218.
651:2916The extract from the archives was probably made by Sextus Julius Africanus, and copied by Eusebius from his Chronographia.
652:2917Gr. τόπαρχος.
652:2918Called Hanan in the original Syriac document; and so in Moses Chor.; Eusebius has ᾽Ανανίας, which is copied here.
652:2919Gr. ταχυδρόμου. But the post held by Hananias must have been one of more dignity than that of a courier. He was probably a Secretary of State. In The Acts of Addæus (infra) he is called, in connection with the name Tabularius, a sharir, or confidential servant.
It would seem that Tabularius has been confounded with Tabellarius, a letter-carrier.—Tr.
652:2920Or “Abgar Uchomo.” The epithet was peculiar to this King Abgar. He was the fourteenth king: the eleventh was called Abgar Sumoco, or “the Red.”
The occasion of the name “Black” is doubtful: it can hardly have arisen from the fact that Abgar was suffering, as Cedrenus asserts, from the black leprosy.—Tr.
652:2921“Head,” or “chief.”—Tr.
652:2922Comp. Matt. iv. 24; “And His fame went throughout all Syria,” etc. See also Moses Chor. B. ii. c. 30.
652:2923Gr. ἀντιγραφέντα, “written in reply.”
652:2924[John 9:39, John 20:29, 31, Hab. 1:5, Isa. 52:15, Isa. 53:1]
652:2925Cureton, “were assembled and standing;” nearly as Euseb.: παρόντων καὶ ἑστώτων. But in 2 Sam. xx. 1, the only reference given by Castel for the word *** is used for the Heb. ארקנ, “he chanced.”—Tr.
652:2926***, like the προσεκύνησε of Eusebius, may be rendered “worshipped.”—Tr.
652:2927***; Gr. μεγάλως, lit. “greatly;” C. “nobly.” But nothing more than intensity is necessarily denoted by either word. Compare, for the Syriac, Ps. 19:107, 167, Dan. 2:12.—Tr.
652:2928Compare the letters of Abgar and Tiberius, infra.
653:2929In another piece, The Teaching of Addæus, i.e., Thaddæus, we have a portion of the original Syriac from which Eusebius’ translation was made. The only portions that correspond are: in the present piece, from this place to “—accept that of others,” near the end; and, in the following one, from the beginning to “—that which is not ours.” Some of the variations are worthy of notice.
653:2930See note 9, p. 657, infra.
653:2931This answers sufficiently well to the Greek: ὁς καὶ αὐτὸς προσελθὼν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ἔπεσεν; but, as the original Syriac, p. 12, reads “he too brought his feet to him, and he laid his hands upon them and healed him,” the Greek translation must have been at fault.
For brought read presented.—Tr.
653:2932The original Syriac has “I will not hold my peace from declaring this.”
653:2933So Euseb. The orig. Syr. has “His sender.”
653:2934The orig. Syr. has “the certitude of His preaching.” The error seems to have arisen from the Greek translator confounding *** with ***.
More probably with ***, “newness (of his preaching),” which was freely translated by him (περὶ) τῆς καινῆς αὐτοῦ κηρύξεως; and this, again, was by the Syrian re-translator rendered literally, as in the text.
The word certitude (above) may be rendered unerring truth. —Tr.
653:2935Or “Sheol,” as in Hebrew. The orig. Syr. gives “the place of the dead.”
653:2936Eph. ii. 14.
653:2937Comp. Matt. xxvii. 52.
653:2938Valesius says that the Edessenes commenced their era with the 117th Olympiad, the first year of the reign of Seleucus. The year 340 corresponds, therefore, with the fifteenth year of Tiberius.
It should be the beginning of the 117th Olympiad.—Tr.
Ancient Syriac Documents.
————————————
A Canticle of Mar 2939 Jacob the Teacher on Edessa. 2940
Edessa sent to Christ by an epistle to come to her and enlighten her. On behalf of all the peoples did she make intercession to Him that He would leave Zion, which hated Him, and come to the peoples, who loved Him.
She despatched a messenger to Him, and begged of Him to enter into friendship with her. By the righteous king she made intercession to Him, that He would depart from the Jewish people, and towards the other peoples direct His burden.
From among all kings one wise king did the daughter of the peoples find. Ambassador she made him. To her Lord she sent by him: Come Thou unto me; I will forget in Thee all idols and carved images.
The harlot heard the report of Him from afar, as she was standing in the street, going astray with idols, playing the wench with carved images. She loved, she much desired Him, when He was far away, and begged Him to admit her into His chamber.
Let the much-desired Bridegroom kiss me: with the kisses of His mouth let me be blessed. I have heard of Him from afar: may I see Him near; and may I place my lips upon His, and be delighted by seeing Him with mine eyes.
Thy breasts are better to me than wine: for the fragrance of Thy sweetness is life for evermore. With Thy milk shall I be nourished; with Thy fragrance shall I grow sweet from the smoke of idols, which with its rank odour did make me fetid.
Draw me after Thee into Thy fold: for I am a sheep gone astray in the world. After Thee do I run, and Thy converse do I seek: that in me may be completed that number of a hundred, by means of a lost one which is found. 2941
Let Gabriel rejoice and be exceeding glad, with the company of all the angels, in Thee, the Good Shepherd, who on Thy shoulders didst carry the maimed sheep, that that number of a hundred might be preserved.
Thy love is better than wine; than the face of the upright Thy affection. By wine let us be reminded of Thee, how by the cup of Thy blood Thou didst grant us to obtain new life, and the upright did celebrate Thy love.
A church am I from among the peoples, and I have loved the Only-begotten who was sent by God: whereas His betrothed hated Him, I have loved Him; and by the hands of Abgar the Black 2942 do I beseech Him to come to me and visit me.
Black am I, yet comely. Ye daughters of Zion, blameless is your envy, seeing that the Son of the Glorious One hath espoused me, to bring me into His chamber. Even when I was hateful, He loved me, for He is able to make me fairer than water.
Black was I in sins, but I am comely: for I have repented and turned me. I have put away in baptism that hateful hue, for He hath washed me in His innocent blood who is the Saviour of all creatures.
Here end the Extracts from the Canticle on Edessa. 2943
Footnotes
654:2939Or, “My Lord,” or “Mr.”—Tr.
654:2940This is taken from Cod. Add. 17, 158, fol. 56, where is added: “when she sent to our Lord to come to her.”
654:2941[Luke xv. 6.]
654:2942See note on p. 652.
654:2943[This ancient imitation of the Canticles shows how that book was understood, as of Christ and His Church.]
Ancient Syriac Documents.
————————————
Extracts from Various Books Concerning Abgar the King and Addæus the Apostle.
I.
Of the blessed Addæus the apostle. From his teaching which he gave in Edessa before Abgar the King and the assembly of the city. 2944
And, when he had entered the sepulchre, he was raised to life again, and came forth from the sepulchre with many. And those who were guarding the sepulchre saw not how He came forth from the sepulchre; but the watchers from on high—they were the proclaimers and announcers of His resurrection. For, had He not willed, He had not died, because He is Lord of death, the exit from this life; nor, had it not pleased Him, would He have put on a body, inasmuch as He is Himself the framer of the body. For that will which led Him to stoop to be born of the Virgin, likewise caused Him further to descend to the suffering of death.—And a little after (we read): For, although His appearance was that of men, yet His power, and His knowledge, and his authority, were those of God.
Footnotes
655:2944Taken from Cod. Add. 14,535, fol. i.
II.
From the teaching of Addæus the apostle, which was spoken in the city of Edessa. 2945
Ye know that I said unto you, that none of the souls which go forth out of the bodies of men are under the power of death, but that they all live and continue to exist, and that there are for them mansions and an abode of rest. For the reasoning power of the soul does not cease, nor the knowledge, because it is the image of the immortal God. For it is not without perceptions, after the manner of the bodily frame, which has no perception of that corruption which has acquired dominion over it. Recompense, however, and reward it will not receive apart from its bodily form, because what it experiences belongs not to itself alone, but to the bodily form also in which it dwelt for a time. But the disobedient, who have not known God, will then repent without avail.
Footnotes
655:2945From Cod. Add. 12,155, fol. 53 vers.
III.
From the epistle of Addæus the apostle, which he spake in the city of Edessa. 2946
Give heed to this ministry which ye hold, and with fear and trembling continue ye in it, and minister every day. Minister ye not in it with neglectful habits, but with the discreetness of faith. And let not the praises of Christ cease out of your mouth, and let not any sense of weariness come over you at the season of prayers. Give heed to the verity which ye hold, and to the teaching of the truth which ye have received, and to the teaching of salvation which I commit to you. Because before the tribunal of Christ will it be required of you, when He maketh reckoning with the pastors and overseers, and when He shall take His money from the traders with the usury of what they have taught. 2947 For He is the Son of a King, and goeth to receive a kingdom, and He will return and come and make a resuscitation to life of all men.
Footnotes
655:2946From Cod. Add. 17,193, fol. 36. See Teaching of Addæus, p. 657, infra.
655:2947Or “of the doctrines.”—Tr.
IV.
Addæus 2948 preached at Edessa and in Mesopotamia (he was from Paneus 2949 ) in the days of Abgar the king. And, when he was among the Zophenians, Severus the son of Abgar sent and slew him at Agel Hasna, as also a young man his disciple.
Footnotes
655:2948Extracts iv. and v. are from Cod. Add. 14,601, fol. 164, written apparently in the eighth century.
655:2949i.e., Paneas.—Tr.
V.
71. and Narcissus. 2950 For they did not suffer that selection of the Seventy-two to be wanting, as likewise neither that of the Twelve. This man was of the Seventy-two: perhaps he was a disciple of Addæus the apostle.
Footnotes
655:2950Extracts iv. and v. are from Cod. Add. 14,601, fol. 164, written apparently in the eighth century.
VI.
From the departure 2951 of Marath 2952 Mary from the world, and the birth and childhood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Book the Second.
In the year three hundred and forty-five, in the month of the latter Tishrin, 2953 Marath Mary went out from her house, and went to the sepulchre of Christ: because every day she used to go and weep there. But the Jews immediately after the death of Christ seized the sepulchre, and heaped great stones at the door of it. And over the sepulchre and Golgotha they set guards, and commanded them that, if any one should go and pray at the sepulchre or at Golgotha, he should immediately be put to death. And the Jews took away the cross of our Lord, and those two other crosses, and that spear with which our Saviour was struck, and those nails which they drove into His hands and into His feet, and those robes of mockery in which He had been clad; and they hid them: lest, as they said, any one of the kings or of the chief persons should come and inquire concerning the putting to death of Christ.
And the guards went in and said to the priests: Mary cometh in the evening and in the morning, and prayeth there. And there was a commotion in Jerusalem on account of Marath Mary. And the priests went to the judge, and said to him: My lord, send and command Mary that she go not to pray at the sepulchre and at Golgotha. And while they were deliberating, lo! letters came from Abgar, the king of the city of Edessa, to Sabina the procurator 2954 who had been appointed by Tiberius the emperor, and as far as the river Euphrates the procurator Sabina had authority. And, because Addæus the apostle, one of the seventy-two apostles, had gone down and built a church at Edessa, and had cured the disease with which Abgar the king was afflicted—for Abgar the king loved Jesus Christ, and was constantly inquiring about Him; and, when Christ was put to death and Abgar the king heard that the Jews had slain Him on the cross, he was much displeased; and Abgar arose and rode and came as far as the river Euphrates, because he wished to go up against Jerusalem and lay it waste; and, when Abgar came and was arrived at the river Euphrates, he deliberated in his mind: If I pass over, there will be enmity between me and Tiberius the emperor. And Abgar wrote letters and sent them to Sabina the procurator, and Sabina sent them to Tiberius the emperor. In this manner did Abgar write to Tiberius the emperor:—
“From Abgar, the king of the city of Edessa. Much peace to thy Majesty, our lord Tiberius! In order that thy Majesty may not be offended with me, I have not passed over the river Euphrates: for I have been wishing to go up against Jerusalem and lay her waste, forasmuch as she has slain Christ, a skilful healer. But do thou, as a great sovereign who hast authority over all the earth and over us, send and do me judgment on the people of Jerusalem. For be it known to thy Majesty that I desire that thou wilt do me judgment on the crucifiers.”
And Sabina received the letters, and sent them to Tiberius the emperor. And, when he had read them, Tiberius the emperor was greatly incensed, and he desired to destroy and slay all the Jews. And the people of Jerusalem heard it and were alarmed. And the priests went to the governor, and said to him: My lord, send and command Mary that she go not to pray at the sepulchre and Golgotha. The judge said to the priests: Go ye yourselves, and give her what command and what caution ye please.
Footnotes
656:2951From Cod. Add. 16,484, fol. 19. It consists of an apocryphal work on the Virgin, of the fifth or sixth century.
656:2952i.e., “My Lady” or “Madam” (= mea domina): it is the feminine form of “Mar.”—Tr.
656:2953Beginning with the new moon of October. The former Tishrin was the month immediately preceding.—Tr.
656:2954The Greek ἐπίτροπος is used.—Tr.
VII.
From the homily composed by the holy Mar Jacob, the teacher, on the fall of idols. 2955
To Edessa he made his journey, and found in it a great work:
For the king was become a labourer for the church, and was building it.
The apostle Addæus stood in it like a builder,
And King Abgar laid aside his diadem and builded with him.
When apostle and king concurred the one with the other,
What idol must not fall before them?
Satan fled to the land of Babylon from the disciples,
And the tale of the crucifixion had got before him to the country of the Chaldeans.
He said, when they were making sport of the signs of the Zodiac, that he was nothing.
Footnotes
656:2955From Cod. Add. 14,624, apparently written in the ninth century.
VIII.
From the homily about the town of Antioch. 2956
To Simon was allotted Rome, 2957 and to John Ephesus; to Thomas India, and to Addæus the country of the Assyrians. 2958 And, when they were sent each one of them to the district which had been allotted to him, they devoted themselves 2959 to bring the several countries to discipleship.
Footnotes
656:2956From Cod. Add. 14,590, of the eighth or ninth century.
656:2957[A note of the Middle Age. The reverse is taught in the Scriptures, but even Hebrew Christians slurred the name of Paul.]
656:2958This is probably the correct reading: the printed text means “among the Assyrians.”—Tr.
656:2959Lit. “set their faces.”—Tr.
Ancient Syriac Documents.
————————————
The Teaching of Addæus the Apostle. 2960
• • • • • • • • • • • •
Addæus 2961 said to him: Because thou hast thus believed, I lay my hand upon thee in the name of Him in whom thou hast thus believed. And at the very moment that he laid his hand upon him he was healed of the plague of the disease which he had for a long time. 2962 And Abgar was astonished and marvelled, because, like as he had heard about Jesus, how He wrought and healed, so Addæus also, without any medicine whatever, was healing in the name of Jesus. And Abdu also, son of Abdu, had the gout in his feet; and he also presented his feet to him, and he laid his hand upon them, and healed him, and he had the gout no more. And in all the city also he wrought great cures, and showed forth wonderful mighty-works in it.
Abgar said to him: Now that every man knoweth that by the power of Jesus Christ thou doest these miracles, and lo! we are astonished at thy deeds, I therefore entreat of thee to relate to us the story about the coming of Christ, in what manner it was, and about His glorious power, and about the miracles which we have heard that He did, which thou hast thyself seen, together with thy fellow-disciples.
Addæus said: I will not hold my peace from declaring this; since for this very purpose was I sent hither, that I might speak to and teach every one who is willing to believe, even as thou. Assemble me tomorrow all the city, and I will sow in it the word of life by the preaching which I will address to you—about the coming of Christ, in what manner it was; and about Him that sent Him, why and how He sent Him; and about His power and His wonderful works; and about the glorious mysteries of His coming, which He spake of in the world; and about the unerring truth 2963 of His preaching; and how and for what cause He abused Himself, and humbled His exalted Godhead by the manhood which He took, and was crucified, and descended to the place of the dead, and broke through the enclosure 2964 which had never been broken through before, and gave life to the dead by being slain Himself, and descended alone, and ascended with many to His glorious Father, with whom He had been from eternity in one exalted Godhead.
And Abgar commanded them to give to Addæus silver and gold. Addæus said to him: How can we receive that which is not ours. For, lo! that which was ours have we forsaken, as we were commanded by our Lord; because without purses and without scrips, bearing the cross upon our shoulders, were we commanded to preach His Gospel in the whole creation, of whose crucifixion, which was for our sakes, for the redemption of all men, the whole creation was sensible and suffered pain.
And he related before Abgar the king, and before his princes and his nobles, and before Augustin, Abgar’s mother, and before Shalmath, 2965 the daughter of Meherdath, 2966 Abgar’s wife, 2967 the signs of our Lord, and His wonders, and the glorious mighty-works which He did, and His divine exploits, and His ascension to His Father; and how they had received power and authority at the same time that He was received up—by which same power it was that he had healed Abgar, and Abdu son of Abdu, the second person 2968 of his kingdom; and how He informed them that He would reveal Himself at the end of the ages 2969 and at the consummation of all created things; also of the resuscitation and resurrection which is to come for all men, and the separation which will be made between the sheep and the goats, and between the faithful and those who believe not.
And he said to them: Because the gate of life is strait and the way of truth narrow, therefore are the believers of the truth few, and through unbelief is Satan’s gratification. Therefore are the liars many who lead astray those that see. For, were it not that there is a good end awaiting believing men, our Lord would not have descended from heaven, and come to be born, and to endure the suffering of death. Yet He did come, and us did He send 2970 …of the faith which we preach, that God was crucified for 2971 all men.
And, if there be those who are not willing 2972 to agree with these our words, let them draw near to us and disclose to us what is in their mind, that, like as in the case of a disease, we may apply to their thoughts healing medicine for the cure of their ailments. For, though ye were not present at the time of Christ’s suffering, yet from the sun which was darkened, and which ye saw, learn ye and understand concerning the great convulsion 2973 which took place at that time, when He was crucified whose Gospel has winged its way through all the earth by the signs which His disciples my fellows do in all the earth: yea, those who were Hebrews, and knew only the language of the Hebrews, in which they were born, lo! at this day are speaking in all languages, in order that those who are afar off may hear and believe, even as those who are near. For He it is that confounded the tongues of the presumptuous in this region who were before us; and He it is that teaches at this day the faith of truth and verity by us, humble and despicable 2974 men from Galilee of Palestine. For I also whom ye see am from Paneas, 2975 from the place where the river Jordan issues forth, and I was chosen, together with my fellows, to be a preacher.
For, according as my Lord commanded me, lo! I preach and publish the Gospel, and lo! His money do I cast upon the table before you, and the seed of His word do I sow in the ears of all men; and such as are willing to receive it, theirs is the good recompense of the confession of Christ; but those who are not persuaded, the dust of my feet do I shake off against them, as He commanded me.
Repent therefore, my beloved, of evil ways and of abominable deeds, and turn yourselves towards Him with a good and honest will, as He hath turned Himself towards you with the favour of His rich mercies; and be ye not as the generations of former times that have passed away, which, because they hardened their heart against the fear of God, received punishment openly, that they themselves might be chastised, and that those who come after them may tremble and be afraid. For the purpose of our Lord’s coming into the world assuredly was, 2976 that He might teach us and show us that at the consummation of the creation there will be a resuscitation of all men, and that at that time their course of conduct will be portrayed in their persons, and their bodies will be volumes for the writings of justice; nor will any one be there who is unacquainted with books, because every one will read that which is written in His own book. 2977
Ye that have eyes, forasmuch as ye do not perceive, are yourselves also become like those who see not and hear not; and in vain do your ineffectual voices strain themselves to deaf 2978 ears. Whilst they are not to be blamed for not hearing, because they are by 2979 nature deaf and dumb, yet the blame which is justly incurred falls upon you, 2980 because ye are not willing to perceive—not even that which ye see. For the dark cloud of error which overspreads your minds suffers you not to obtain the heavenly light, which is the understanding of knowledge. 2981
Flee, then, from things made and created, as I said to you, which are only called gods in name, whilst they are not gods in their nature; and draw near to this Being, who in His nature is God from everlasting and from eternity, and is not something made, like your idols, nor is He a creature and a work of art, like those images in which ye glory. Because, although this 2982 Being put on a body, yet is He God with His Father. For the works of creation, which trembled when He was slain and were dismayed at His suffering of death,—these bear witness that He is Himself God the Creator. For it was not on account of a man that the earth trembled, 2983 but on account of Him who established the earth upon the waters; nor was it on account of a man that the sun grew dark in the heavens, but on account of Him who made the great lights; nor was it for a man that the just and righteous were restored to life again, but for Him who had granted power over death from the beginning; nor was it for a man that the veil of the temple of the Jews was rent from the top to the bottom, but for Him who said to them, “Lo, your house is left desolate.” For, lo! unless those who crucified Him had known that He was the Son of God, they would not have had to proclaim 2984 the desolation 2985 of their city, nor would they have brought down Woe! upon themselves. 2986 For, even if they had wished to make light of this confession, 2987 the fearful convulsions which took place at that time would not have suffered them to do so. For lo! some even of the children of the crucifiers are become at this day preachers and evangelists, along with my fellow-apostles, in all the land of Palestine, and among the Samaritans, and in all the country of the Philistines. The idols also of paganism are despised, and the cross of Christ is honoured, and all nations and creatures confess God who became man.
If, therefore, while Jesus our Lord was on earth ye would have believed in Him that He is the Son of God, and before ye had heard the word of His preaching would have confessed Him that He is God; now that He is ascended to His Father, and ye have seen the signs and the wonders which are done in His name, and have heard with your own ears the word of His Gospel, let no one of you doubt in his mind—so that the promise of His blessing which He sent to you may be fulfilled 2988 towards you: Blessed are ye that have believed in me, not having seen me; and, because ye have so believed in me, the town 2989 in which ye dwell shall be blessed, and the enemy shall not prevail against it for ever. 2990 Turn not away, therefore, from his faith: for, lo! ye have heard and seen what things bear witness to His faith—showing that He is the adorable Son, and is the glorious God, and is the victorious King, and is the mighty Power; and through faith in Him a man is able to acquire the eyes of a true mind, 2991 and to understand that, whosoever worshippeth creatures, the wrath of justice will overtake him.
For in everything which we speak before you, according as we have received of the gift of our Lord, so speak we and teach and declare it, that ye may secure 2992 your salvation and not destroy 2993 your spirits through the error of paganism: because the heavenly light has arisen on the creation, and He it is who chose the fathers of former times, and the righteous men, and the prophets, and spoke with them in the revelation of the Holy Spirit. 2994 For He is Himself the God of the Jews who crucified Him; and to Him it is that the erring pagans offer worship, even while they know it not: because there is no other God in heaven and on earth; and lo! confession ascendeth up to Him from the four quarters of the creation. Lo! therefore, your ears have heard that which was not heard by you; and lo! further, your eyes have seen that which was never seen by you. 2995
Be not, therefore, gainsayers of that which ye have seen and heard. Put away from you the rebellious mind of your fathers, and free yourselves from the yoke of sin, which hath dominion over you in libations and in sacrifices offered before carved images; and be ye concerned for your endangered 2996 salvation, and for the unavailing support on which ye lean; 2997 and get you a new mind, that worships the Maker and not the things which are made—a mind in which is portrayed the image of verity and of truth, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; believing and being baptized in the triple and glorious names. For this is our teaching and our preaching. For the belief of the truth of Christ does not consist of many things. 2998 And those of you as are willing to be obedient to Christ are aware that I have many times repeated my words before you, in order that ye might learn and understand what ye hear.
And we ourselves shall rejoice in this, like the husbandman who rejoices in the field which is blessed; God also will be glorified by your repentance towards Him. While ye are saved hereby, we also, who give you this counsel, shall not be despoiled of the blessed reward of this work. And, because I am assured that ye are a land blessed according to the will of the Lord Christ, therefore, instead of the dust of our feet which we were commanded to shake off against the town that would not receive our words, I have shaken off to-day at the door of your ears the sayings of my lips, in which are portrayed the coming of Christ which has already been, and also that which is yet to be; and the resurrection, and the resuscitation of all men, and the separation which is to be made between the faithful and the unbelieving; and the sore punishment which is reserved for those who know not God, and the blessed promise of future joy which they shall receive who have believed in Christ and worshipped Him and His exalted Father, and have confessed Him and His divine Spirit. 2999
And now it is meet for us that I conclude my present discourse; and let those who have accepted the word of Christ remain with us, and those also who are willing to join with us in prayer; and afterwards let them go to their homes.
And Addæus the apostle was rejoiced to see that a great number of the population of the city stayed with him; and they were but few who did not remain at that time, while even those few not many days after accepted his words and believed in the Gospel set forth in 3000 the preaching of Christ.
And when Addæus the apostle had spoken these things before all the town of Edessa, and King Abgar saw that all the city rejoiced in his teaching, men and women alike, and heard them saying to him, “True and faithful is Christ who sent thee to us”—he himself also rejoiced greatly at this, giving praise to God; because, like as he had heard from Hanan, 3001 his Tabularius, about Christ, so had he seen the wonderful mighty-works which Addæus the apostle did in the name of Christ.
And Abgar the king also said to him: According as I sent to Christ in my letter to Him, and according as He also sent to me, so have I also received from thine own self this day; so will I believe all the days of my life, and in the selfsame things will I continue and make my boast, because I know also that there is no other power in whose name these signs and wonders are done but the power of Christ whom thou preachest in verity and in truth. And henceforth Him will I worship—I and my son Maanu, 3002 and Augustin, 3003 and Shalmath the queen. And now, wherever thou desirest, build a church, a place of meeting for those who have believed and shall believe in thy words; and, according to the command given thee by thy Lord, minister thou at the seasons with confidence; to those also who shall be with thee as teachers of this Gospel I am prepared to give large donations, in order that they may not have any other work beside the ministry; and whatsoever is required by thee for the expenses of the building I myself will give thee without any restriction, 3004 whilst thy word shall be authoritative and sovereign in this town; moreover, without the intervention of any other person do thou come into my presence as one in authority, into the palace of my royal majesty.
And when Abgar was gone down to his royal palace he rejoiced, he and his princes with him, Abdu son of Abdu, and Garmai, and Shemashgram, 3005 and Abubai, and Meherdath, 3006 together with the others their companions, at all that their eyes had seen and their ears also had heard; and in the gladness of their heart they too began to praise God for having turned their mind towards Him, renouncing the paganism in which they had lived, 3007 and confessing the Gospel of Christ. And when Addæus had built a church they proceeded to offer in it vows and oblations, they and the people of the city; and there they continued to present their praises all the days of their life.
And Avida and Barcalba, 3008 who were chief men and rulers, and wore the royal headband, 3009 drew near to Addæus, and asked him about the matter of Christ, requesting that he would tell them how He, though He was God, appeared to them as a man: And how, said they, were ye able to look upon Him? And he proceeded to satisfy them all about this, about all that their eyes had seen and about whatsoever their ears had heard from him. Moreover, everything that the prophets had spoken concerning Him he repeated before them, and they received his words gladly and with faith, and there was not a man that withstood him; for the glorious deeds which he did suffered not any man to withstand him.
Shavida, moreover, and Ebednebu, chiefs of the priests of this town, together with Piroz 3010 and Dilsu their companions, when they had seen the signs which he did, ran and threw down the altars on which they were accustomed to sacrifice before Nebu and Bel, 3011 their gods, except the great altar which was in the middle of the town; and they cried out and said: Verily this is the disciple of that eminent and glorious Master, concerning whom we have heard all that He did in the country of Palestine. And all those who believed in Christ did Addæus receive, and baptized them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And those who used to worship stones and stocks sat at his feet, recovered from the madness 3012 of paganism wherewith they had been afflicted. Jews also, traders in fine raiment, 3013 who were familiar with the law and the prophets—they too were persuaded, and became disciples, and confessed Christ that He is the Son of the living God.
But neither did King Abgar nor yet the Apostle Addæus compel any man by force to believe in Christ, because without the force of man the force of the signs compelled many to believe in Him. And with affection did they receive His doctrine—all this country of Mesopotamia, and all the regions round about it.
Aggæus, moreover, who 3014 made the silks 3015 and headbands of the king, and Palut, and Barshelama, and Barsamya, together with the others their companions, clave to Addæus the apostle; and he received them, and associated them with him in the ministry, their business being to read in the Old Testament and the New, 3016 and in the prophets, and in the Acts of the Apostles, and to meditate upon them daily; strictly charging them to let their bodies be pure and their persons holy, as is becoming in men who stand before the altar of God. “And be ye,” said he, “far removed from false swearing and from wicked homicide, and from dishonest testimony, which is connected with adultery; and from magic arts, for which there is no mercy, and from sooth-saying, and divination, and fortune-tellers; and from fate and nativities, of which the deluded Chaldeans make their boast; and from the stars, and the signs of the Zodiac, in which the foolish put their trust. And put far from you unjust partiality, and bribes, and presents, through which the innocent are pronounced guilty. And along with this ministry, to which ye have been called, see that ye have no other work besides: for the Lord is the work of your ministry all the days of your life. And be ye diligent to give the seal of baptism. And be not fond of the gains of this world. And hear ye a cause with justice and with truth. And be ye not a stumbling-block to the blind, lest through you should be blasphemed the name of Him who opened the eyes of the blind, according as we have seen. Let all, therefore, who see you perceive that ye yourselves are in harmony with whatsoever ye preach and teach.”
And they ministered with him in the church which Addæus had built at the word and command of Abgar the king, being furnished with supplies by the king and his nobles, partly for the house of God, and partly for the supply of the poor. Moreover, much people day by day assembled and came to the prayers of the service, and to the reading of the Old Testament, and the New of the Diatessaron. 3017 They also believed in the restoration of the dead, and buried their departed in the hope of resuscitation. The festivals of the Church they also observed in their seasons, and were assiduous every day in the vigils of the Church. And they made visits of almsgiving, to the sick and to those that were whole, according to the instruction of Addæus to them. In the environs, too, of the city churches were built, and many received from him ordination to the priesthood. 3018 So that even people of the East, in the guise of merchants, passed over into the territory of the Romans, that they might see the signs which Addæus did. And such as became disciples received from him ordination to the priesthood, and in their own country of the Assyrians they instructed the people of their nation, and erected houses of prayer there in secret, by reason of the danger from those who worshipped fire and paid reverence to water. 3019
Moreover, Narses, the king of the Assyrians, when he heard of those same things which Addæus the apostle had done, sent a message to Abgar the king: Either despatch to me the man who doeth these signs before thee, that I may see him and hear his word, or send me an account of all that thou hast seen him do in thy own town. And Abgar wrote to Narses, 3020 and related to him the whole story of the deeds of Addæus from the beginning to the end; and he left nothing which he did not write to him. And, when Narses heard those things which were written to him, he was astonished and amazed.
Abgar the king, moreover, because he was not able to pass over into the territory of the Romans, 3021 and go to Palestine and slay the Jews for having crucified Christ, wrote a letter and sent it to Tiberius Cæsar, 3022 writing in it thus:—
King Abgar to our Lord Tiberius Cæsar: Although I know that nothing is hidden from thy Majesty, I write to inform thy dread and mighty Sovereignty that the Jews who are under thy dominion and dwell in the country of Palestine have assembled themselves together and crucified Christ, without any fault worthy of death, after He had done before them signs and wonders, and had shown them powerful mighty-works, so that He even raised the dead to life for them; and at the time that they crucified Him the sun became darkened and the earth also quaked, and all created things trembled and quaked, and, as if of themselves, at this deed the whole creation and the inhabitants of the creation shrank away. And now thy Majesty knoweth what it is meet for thee to command concerning the people of the Jews who have done these things.
And Tiberius Cæsar wrote and sent to King Abgar; and thus did he write to him:—
The letter of thy Fidelity towards me I have received, and it hath been read before me. Concerning what the Jews have dared to do in the matter of the cross, Pilate 3023 the governor also has written and informed Aulbinus 3024 my proconsul concerning these selfsame things of which thou hast written to me. But, because a war with the people of Spain, 3025 who have rebelled against me, is on foot at this time, on this account I have not been able to avenge this matter; but I am prepared, when I shall have leisure, to issue a command according to law against the Jews, who act not according to law. And on this account, as regards Pilate also, who was appointed by me governor there—I have sent another in his stead, and dismissed him in disgrace, because he departed from the law, 3026 and did the will of the Jews, and for the gratification of the Jews crucified Christ, who, according to what I hear concerning Him, instead of suffering the cross of death, deserved to be honoured and worshipped 3027 by them: and more especially because with their own eyes they saw everything that He did. Yet thou, in accordance with thy fidelity towards me, and the faithful covenant entered into by thyself and by thy fathers, hast done well in writing to me thus.
And Abgar the king received Aristides, who had been sent by Tiberius Cæsar to him; and in reply he sent him back with presents of honour suitable for him who had sent him to him. And from Edessa he went to Thicuntha, 3028 where Claudius, the second from the emperor, was; and from thence, again, he went to Artica, 3029 where Tiberius Cæsar was: Caius, moreover, was guarding the regions round about Cæsar. And Aristides himself also related before Tiberius concerning the mighty-works which Addæus had done before Abgar the king. And when he had leisure from the war he sent and put to death some of the chief men of the Jews who were in Palestine. And, when Abgar the king heard of this, he rejoiced greatly that the Jews had received punishment, as it was right.
And some years after Addæus the apostle had built the church in Edessa, and had furnished it with everything that was suitable for it, and had made disciples of a great number of the population of the city, he further built churches in the villages 3030 also—both those which were at a distance and those which were near, and finished and adorned them, and appointed in them deacons and elders, and instructed in them those who should read the Scriptures, and taught the ordinances and 3031 the ministry without and within.
After all these things he fell ill of the sickness of which he departed from this world. And he called for Aggæus before the whole assembly of the church, and bade him draw near, and made him Guide and Ruler 3032 in his stead. And Palut, 3033 who was a deacon, he made elder; and Abshelama, who was a scribe, he made deacon. And, the nobles and chief men being assembled, and standing near him—Barcalba son of Zati, 3034 and Maryhab 3035 son of Barshemash, and Senac 3036 son of Avida, and Piroz son of Patric, 3037 together with the rest of their companions—Addæus the apostle said to them:—
“Ye know and are witness, all of you who hear me, that, according to all that I have preached to you and taught you and ye have heard from me, even so have I behaved myself in the midst of you, and ye have seen it in deeds also: because our Lord thus charged us, that, whatsoever we preach in words before the people, we should practise it in deeds before all men. And, according to the ordinances and laws which were appointed by the disciples in Jerusalem, 3038 and by which my fellow-apostles also guided their conduct, so also do ye—turn not aside from them, nor diminish aught from them: even as I also am guided by them amongst you, and have not turned aside from them to the right hand or to the left, lest I should become estranged from the promised salvation which is reserved for such as are guided by them.
“Give 3039 heed, therefore, to this ministry which ye hold, and with fear and trembling continue in it, and minister every day. Minister not in it with neglectful habits, but with the discreetness of faith; and let not the praises of Christ cease out of your mouth, nor let weariness of prayer at the stated times come upon you. Give heed to the verity which ye hold, and to the teaching of the truth which ye have received, and to the inheritance of salvation which I commit to you: because before the tribunal of Christ will ye have to give an account of it, when He maketh reckoning with the shepherds and overseers, and when He taketh His money from the traders with the addition of the gains. For He is the Son of a King, and goeth to receive a kingdom and return; and He will come and make a resuscitation to life for all men, and then will He sit upon the throne of His righteousness, and judge the dead and the living, as He said to us.
“Let not the secret eye of your minds be closed by pride, lest your stumbling-blocks be many in the way in which there are no stumbling-blocks, but a hateful 3040 wandering in its paths. Seek ye those that are lost, and direct those that go astray, and rejoice in those that are found; bind up the bruised, and watch over the fatlings: because at your hands will the sheep of Christ be required. Look ye not for the honour that passeth away: for the shepherd that looketh to receive honour from his flock—sadly, sadly stands his flock with respect to him. Let your concern be great for the young lambs, whose angels behold the face of the Father who is unseen. And be ye not stones of stumbling before the blind, but clearers of the way and the paths in a rugged country, among the Jews the crucifiers, and the deluded pagans: for with these two parties have ye to fight, in order that ye may show the truth of the faith which ye hold; and, though ye be silent, your modest and decorous appearance will fight for you against those who hate truth and love falsehood.
“Buffet not the poor in the presence of the rich: for scourge grievous enough for them is their poverty.
“Be not beguiled by the hateful devices of Satan, lest ye be stripped naked of the faith which ye have put on.” 3041 …“And with the Jews, the crucifiers, we will have no fellowship. And this inheritance which we have received from thee we will not let go, but in that will we depart out of this world; and on the day of our Lord, before the judgment-seat of His righteousness, there will He restore to us this inheritance, even as thou hast told us.”
And, when these things had been spoken, Abgar the king rose up, he and his chief men and his nobles, and he went to his palace, all of them being distressed for him because he was dying. And he sent to him noble and excellent apparel, that he might be buried in it. And, when Addæus saw it, he sent to him, saying: In my lifetime I have not taken anything from thee, nor will I now at my death take anything from thee, nor will I frustrate the word of Christ which He spake to us: Accept not anything from any man, and possess not anything in this world. 3042
And three days more after these things had been spoken by Addæus the apostle, and he had heard and received the testimony concerning the teaching set forth in their preaching from those engaged with him in the ministry, in the presence of all the nobles he departed out of this world. And that day was the fifth of the week, and the fourteenth of the month Iyar, 3043 nearly answering to May. And the whole city was in great mourning and bitter anguish for him. Nor was it the Christians only that were distressed for him, but the Jews also, and the pagans, who were in this same town. But Abgar the king was distressed for him more than any one, he and the princes of his kingdom. And in the sadness of his soul he despised and laid aside the magnificence of his kingly state on that day, and with tears mingled with moans he bewailed him with all men. And all the people of the city that saw him were amazed to see how greatly he suffered on his account. And with great and surpassing pomp he bore him, and buried him like one of the princes when he dies; and he laid him in a grand sepulchre adorned with sculpture wrought by the fingers—that in which were laid those of the house of Ariu, the ancestors of Abgar the king: there he laid him sorrowfully, with sadness and great distress. And all the people of the church went there from time to time and prayed fervently; and they kept up the remembrance of his departure from year to year, according to the command and direction which had been received by them from Addæus the apostle, 3044 and according to the word of Aggæus, who himself became Guide and Ruler, and the successor of his seat after him, by the ordination to the priesthood which he had received from him in the presence of all men.
He too, with the same ordination which he had received from him, made Priests and Guides in the whole of this country of Mesopotamia. For they also, in like manner as Addæus the apostle, held fast his word, and listened to and received it, as good and faithful successors of the apostle of the adorable Christ. But silver and gold he took not from any man, nor did the gifts of the princes come near him: for, instead of receiving gold and silver, he himself enriched the Church of Christ with the souls of believers.
Moreover, as regards the entire state 3045 of the men and the women, they were chaste and circumspect, and holy and pure: for they lived like anchorites 3046 and chastely, without spot—in circumspect watchfulness touching the ministry, in their sympathy 3047 toward the poor, in their visitations to the sick: for their footsteps were fraught with praise from those who saw them, and their conduct was arrayed in commendation from strangers—so that even the priests of the house of 3048 Nebu and Bel divided the honour with them at all times, by reason of their dignified aspect, their truthful words, their frankness of speech arising from their noble nature, which was neither subservient through covetousness nor in bondage under the fear of blame. For there was no one who saw them that did not run to meet them, that he might salute them respectfully, because the very sight of them shed peace upon the beholden: for just like a net 3049 were their words of gentleness spread over the contumacious, and they entered within the fold of truth and verity. For there was no man who saw them that was ashamed of them, because they did nothing that was not accordant with rectitude and propriety. And in consequence of these things their bearing was fearless as they published their teaching to all men. For, whatsoever they said to others and enjoined on them, they themselves exhibited in practice in their own persons; and the hearers, who saw that their actions went along with their words, without much persuasion became their disciples, and confessed the King Christ, praising God for having turned them towards Him.
And some years after the death of Abgar the king, there arose one of his contumacious 3050 sons, who was not favourable to peace; and he sent word to Aggæus, as he was sitting in the church: Make me a headband of gold, such as thou usedst to make for my fathers in former times. Aggæus sent to him: I will not give up the ministry of Christ, which was committed to me by the disciple of Christ, and make a headband of wickedness. And, when he saw that he did not comply, he sent and brake his legs 3051 as he was sitting in the church expounding. And as he was dying he adjured Palut and Abshelama: In this house, for whose truth’s sake, lo! I am dying, lay me and bury me. And, even as he had adjured them, so did they lay him—inside the middle door of the church, between the men and the women. And there was great and bitter mourning in all the church, and in all the city—over and above the anguish and the mourning which there had been within the church, such as had been the mourning when Addæus the apostle himself died.
And, 3052 in consequence of his dying suddenly and quickly at the breaking of his legs, he was not able to lay his hand upon Palut. Palut went to Antioch, and received ordination to the priesthood from Serapion bishop of Antioch; by which Serapion himself also ordination had been received from Zephyrinus bishop of the city of Rome, in the succession of the ordination to the priesthood from Simon Cephas, who had received it from our Lord, and was bishop there in Rome twenty-five years in the days of the Cæsar who reigned there thirteen years.
————————————
And, according to the custom which exists in the kingdom of Abgar the king, and in all kingdoms, that whatsoever the king commands and whatsoever is spoken in his presence is committed to writing and deposited among the records, so also did Labubna, 3053 son of Senac, son of Ebedshaddai, the king’s scribe, write these things also relating to Addæus the apostle from the beginning to the end, whilst Hanan also the Tabularius, a sharir of the kings, set-to his hand in witness, and deposited the writing among the records of the kings, where the ordinances and laws are deposited, and where the contracts of the buyers and sellers are kept with care, without any negligence whatever.
Here endeth the teaching of Addæus the apostle, which he proclaimed in Edessa, the faithful city of Abgar, the faithful king.
————————————
Footnotes
657:2960This fragment, extending to the lacuna on p. 658, is contained in the ms. No. 14,654, at fol. 33. It consists of one leaf only, and is part of a volume of fragments, of which the age is certainly not later than the beginning of the fifth century.
657:2961See note 1 on p. 653.—Tr.
657:2962Moses Chor says that he had been suffering seven years from a disease caught in Persia.
657:2963“The certitude.”—C. [See p. 653, supra, note 6.]
657:2964Eph. ii. 14.
657:2965The vowels supplied in this word are conjectural, as is the case with most of the proper names in these Documents. Perhaps the name of this person is to be read Shalamtho, as there is a Σαλαμψιώ, the wife of Phasaëlus, mentioned in Jos., Antiq., b. xviii. c. v.
657:2966Who this was, does not appear. He may have been some connection of Meherdates king of the Parthians, of whom Tacitus, Ann., xii. 12, speaks as having been entertained at Edessa by Abgar.
657:2967According to Moses Chor. b. ii. ch. xxxv., the first, or chief, wife of Abgar was Helena.
657:2968Probably one of the second rank. Tacitus, Ann., vi. 31, 32, mentions a man named Abdus, perhaps the same as this one, as possessing great authority in the Parthian kingdom. [Note 2, p. 653, supra]
657:2969Or “times.”—Tr.
658:2970The remainder of “The Teaching of Addæus” is taken from another ms. of the Nitrian collection in the Brit. Mus., Cod. Add. 14,644. It is one of those which were procured in the year of the Greeks 1243 (a.d. 931) by the abbot Moses during his visit to Bagdad. It appears to be of the sixth century.
658:2971Both “for” and “willing” are conjectural, the ms. being damaged.—Wright.
658:2972Both “for” and “willing” are conjectural, the ms. being damaged.—Wright.
658:2973Possibly “earthquake,” for which sense see Mich., p. 161; and so on p. 659, infra.—Tr.
658:2974Properly “miserable.” Compare Rom. 7:24, 1 Cor. 15:19.—Tr.
658:2975Otherwise Cæsarea Paneas, or C. Philippi: now Banias.—Tr.
658:2976Cureton: “the whole object of our Lord’s coming into the world was.” But *** is = omnino.—Tr.
658:2977A few lines are wanting here in the ms.
658:2978The greater part of the word rendered “deaf” is conjectural.—Wright.
The “your” looks as if it were impersonal: “it is useless for any one to talk to the deaf.”—Tr.
658:2979“By” (***) is not in the printed text.—Tr.
658:2980Lit. “the blame in which justice is involved (prop., buried) is yours.”—Tr.
658:2981Comp. Prov. xix. 25.—Tr.
658:2982“This” is doubtful.—Wright.
658:2983I have very little doubt that we should substitute ***—the earth trembled—for ***—who is from the earth.—Wright. [Words in italics are by the translator.]
659:2984Lit. “have proclaimed.”—Tr.
659:2985Cureton renders: “They would not have proclaimed the desolation of their city, nor would they have divulged the affliction of their soul in crying Woe!” Dr. Wright pronounces the two words whose equivalents are given in italics to be very doubtful. Dr. Payne Smith, instead of the latter of the two (***), conjectures ***. This conjecture has been adopted. “Brought down” is lit “cause to drop.”—Tr.
659:2986The ancient Syriac Gospel, Luke xxiii. 48, gives: “And all those who were assembled there, and saw that which was done, were smiting on their breast, and saying, Woe to us! what is this? Woe to us for our sins!”
659:2987i.e., Christianity.—Tr.
659:2988Or “confirmed.”—Tr.
659:2989Perhaps “town” will not seem too insignificant a word if it be taken in its original sense of a fortified place, which the Syriac term also denotes. It seemed desirable to distinguish, if possible, the two words which have been rendered respectively “city” and “town” in these pages. The only exception made is in a single passage were Rome is spoken of.—Tr.
659:2990These words are not in the letter of Christ to Abgar. They must therefore be, either a message brought by Addæus himself, or, much more probably, a later interpolation: earlier, however, than Ephraem Syrus, who alludes to them in his Testament. This notion of the immunity of the city of Edessa is referred to by several Syriac writers. Nor was it confined to the East: it obtained in very early times in our own country, where the letter of our Lord to Abgar was regarded as a charm. In a very ancient service-book of the Saxon times, preserved in the British Museum, the letter followed the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed; and an appended description of the virtues of the epistle closes with these words, according to the Latin version of Rufinus: “Si quis hanc epistolam secum habuerit, securus ambulet in pace.” Jeremiah Jones, writing of the last century, says: “The common people in England have had it in their houses in many places in a frame with a picture before it: and they generally, with much honesty and devotion, regard it as the word of God and the genuine epistle of Christ.” Even now a similar practice is believed to linger in some districts. The story of Abgar is told in an Anglo-Saxon poem, published in Abgarus-Legenden paa Old-Engelsk by G. Stephens, Copenhagen, 1853.
It consists of 204 lines, is a tolerable close rendering of Eusebius, and is ascribed by Stephens to Aelfric, archbishop of York from 1023 to 1052. Note that ambulet (above) is for ambulabit, apparently.—Tr.
659:2991See Eph. i. 18.
659:2992Lit. “obtain.”—Tr.
659:2993Or “lose.”—Tr.
659:2994Lit. “Spirit of holiness.”—Tr.
659:2995[Isa. lii. 15.]
659:2996Prop. “lost,” or “being lost,” “perishing.”—Tr.
659:2997Lit. “support of your head.”—Tr. The word rendered “support” is not in the dictionaries, but its derivation and form are known. Mar Jacob, infra, has a similar expression: “A resting-place for the head, etc.”
Where, however, his word is derived from a root meaning to “prop up” (***), whereas the root of our word denotes to “bend itself,” “bow down” (***), and is often used of the declining day (as Luke xxiv. 29). It is used of the bending of the head in John xix. 30. The actual leaning of the head of support is not expressed in the verb, but would naturally be inferred from it.—Tr.
660:2998Lit. “the truth of Christ is not believed in many things.”—Tr.
660:2999Lit. “the Spirit of His Godhead” = His Spirit of Godhead = His divine spirit.—Tr.
660:3000Lat. “The Gospel of.”—Tr.
660:3001See p. 652, note 3, supra.
660:3002Abgar had two sons of this name. This is probably the elder, who succeeded his father at Edessa, and reigned seven years. Bayer makes him the fifteenth king of Edessa.
660:3003Abgar’s mother: see p. 657.
660:3004Lit. “reckoning.”—Tr.
660:3005The vowels in this name are supplied from the treatise of Bardesan. Whiston, from the Armenian form, writes the name Samsagram. He was sent, together with Hanan and Maryhab, as envoy to Marinus. See Mos. Chor. B. ii. c. 30.
660:3006See Tac., Ann., xii. 12.
660:3007Lit. “stood.”—Tr.
660:3008The son of Zati (see p. 663, note 7, supra).
660:3009Or “the headbands of the kings.” Nothing appears to be known of the derivation of the word ***, which does not occur in the ordinary lexicons. Dr. Payne Smith has favoured the translator with the following note: “*** is evidently some kind of ornament. In Ephs. ii. 379 (in the form ***) it is an ornament worn by young people. B.A. (Bar Alii Lex. Syro-Arab.) and K. (Georgii Karmsedinoyo Lex.) render it (in the form ***) ***, which may mean ‘a circlet of jewels.’” Cureton says: “These headbands of the king, or diadems, seem to have been made of silk or muslin scarves, like the turbans of orientals at the present day, interwoven with gold, and with figures and devices upon them, as was the case with that worn by Sharbil. See Acts of Sharbil, sub init.” The art. Diadema in Dr. W. Smith’s Antiqq. seems to furnish a good idea of what is intended. The ornament was probably white; and this has caused our expression to be sometimes confounded with the similar ***. See Teaching of Simon Cephas, init.—Tr.
661:3010The same name as Berosus, who is so called in the modern Persian.
661:3011These were the chief gods of Edessa, the former representing the sun, and the latter the moon.
661:3012The reference seems to be to Mark v. 15.—Tr.
661:3013The “soft clothing” of Matt. xi. 8, where the Peshito and the “Ancient Recension” have the same word as appears here. Cureton renders it “silk,” but remarks: “It would appear to be cotton or muslin, lana xylina, not bombycina.” [The word clothing, with the Peshito and, should be credited to the translator.]
661:3014The text has not ***, but it is best to supply it.—Tr.
661:3015Cureton gives “chains,” which in his notes he changes to “silks,” or “muslins,” adopting, with C., the reading *** instead of the *** of the printed text. Mos. Chor. calls Aggæus “un fabricant de coiffures de soie,” according to the translation of Florival; or “quendam serici opificem,” according to Whiston. It may be added that the word *** is doubtless the same as our “silk,” which is only a form of Sericum, an adjective from Seres, the people whose country was the native home of the silk-worm.—Tr.
661:3016These terms could only have been used here in the sense of the Law of Moses and the Gospel. If by the Acts of the Apostles is meant the work of Luke, this passage seems to show that the compiler of this account of Addæus wrote some years subsequently to the events which he relates, or that it has been added by a later interpolator. For at the earlier period of Addæus’ ministry no other part of the New Testament was written than the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, which is probably the Gospel here meant.
662:3017Or “Ditornon.” The reading of the ms. is not clear. It seems that it ought to be Diatessaron, which Tatian has the Syrian compiled from the four Gospels about the middle of the second century. This was in general use at Edessa up to the fourth century, and Ephraem Syrus wrote a commentary on it. If this be so, we have here a later interpolation. [The translator says (of Ditornon and Diatess.): “The two words would differ but slightly in the mode of writing.” He also corrects Cureton, who calls Tatian “the Syrian:” it should be “the Assyrian.”]
662:3018Lit. “the hand of priesthood:” and so passim.—Tr.
662:3019Strabo, de Persis, b. xv. (ch. iii.): “They sacrifice to fire and to water.”
662:3020See his letter in Mos. Chor., infra.
662:3021Dio Cassius, liv. 8: “Augustus fixed as the boundaries of the empire of the Romans the Tigris and Euphrates.”
662:3022See it also, with some variations, in Mos. Chor., infra.
662:3023It was Pilate’s duty, as governor of Judea, to send an account to the Roman Government of what had occurred in respect to Jesus; and his having done so is mentioned by Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and several other writers.
662:3024The word is evidently misspelt. The name intended may have been confounded with that of the Albinus who was made governor of Judea at a later period by Nero, a.d. 62. The same person is referred to, in the Exit of Mary, infra: “Sabinus, the governor who had been appointed by the Emperor Tiberius; and even as far as the river Euphrates the governor Sabinus had authority.” The person meant can only be Vitellius, who was then governor of Syria, who removed Pilate from the administration of Judea, sending Marcellus in his stead, and ordered him to appear before Tiberius at Rome. The emperor died before he reached Rome.
662:3025No mention is made by historians of any war with Spain. But about this time Vitellius, mentioned in the preceding note, was mixed up with the wars of the Parthians and Hiberians; and, as Hiberi is a name common to Spaniards, as well as Hiberians, the apparent error may have arisen in translating the letter out of Latin into Syriac.
662:3026Baronius says Pilate violated the law by crucifying our Lord so soon after sentence had been passed, whereas a delay of ten days was required by a law passed in the reign of Tiberius.
662:3027Tiberius is said by Tertullian (Apol., 5) to have referred to the senate the question of admitting Christ among the gods. This has been interpolated into the epistle of Tiberius to Abgar as given in Moses Chor., B. ii. c. 33. He also adds another letter from Abgar in reply to this.
663:3028This word has been so much distorted and disfigured by the transcribers, that I am unable to recognise what is the place intended.—Cureton.
663:3029This word may be read Ortyka, and may be intended for Ortygia near Syracuse, which was not far from the island of Capreæ, where Tiberius then resided, seldom leaving it to go farther than to the neighbouring coast of Campania.
663:3030Lit. “the other villages.” So, in several passages of these Documents, “the rest of the other—.” The habit of including two or more distinguished nations under a class to which only one of them belongs was not unknown among classical writers also: as when, e.g., Thucydides speaks of the Peloponnesian war as the most remarkable of all the wars that preceded it. Milton’s imitation, “The fairest of her daughters, Eve” [Paradise Lost, iv. 324], is well known.—Tr.
663:3031The *** (and) seems to have been altered into *** (of).—Wright. Perhaps “of” is the better reading.—Tr.
663:3032It is plain from the context here, as well as wherever it occurs in these early Syriac Documents, that this title (or that of Guide alone) is precisely the same as that of Bishop, although the Greek word ἐπίσκοπος had not yet obtained in the East. The first mention we find of the title Bishop (in these pages) is in the Acts of Sharbil about a.d. 105–112, where Barsamya is called “the Bishop of the Christians,” although he is more generally designated as here. It is also found in the Teaching Simon Cephas, sub fin., which seems to have been written early in the second century or at the end of the first. The passage in the Teaching of Addæus, p. 665, infra, where it occurs, was interpolated at a much later period. [The parenthetic words of this note are supplied by the translator.]
663:3033Perhaps Φιλώτας.
663:3034Perhaps the same as Izates: see Jos., Antiq., xx. ii. 1, 4; Tac., Ann., xii. 14.
663:3035This seems to be the person spoken of by Moses Chor., B. ii. c. 30, under the name “Mar-Ihap, prince d’Aghtznik,” as one of the envoys sent by Abgar to Marinus.
663:3036Tacitus writes this name Sinnaces: see Ann., vi. 31, 32.
663:3037Patricius.
663:3038These are given at pp. 673 sqq., infra.
663:3039Quoted in the Epistle of Addæus, infra.
663:3040Probably “wicked,” the meaning being that all such wandering is wilful. Cureton makes “hateful” the predicate: “error is abominable in its paths.”—Tr.
664:3041One leaf apparently is lost from the ms. in this place. What follows appears to be part of the reply of those addressed—their “testimony concerning the teaching set forth in their preaching.”—Tr.
664:3042The reference seems to be to Matt. x. 7-10.
664:3043May. The death of Addæus occurred before that of Abgar, which took place a.d. 45. It would appear, therefore, that his ministry at Edessa lasted about ten or eleven years.
664:3044Compare the Teaching of the Apostles, Ord. xviii. p. 669, infra.
664:3045This seems to apply to those who especially belonged to the ministry of the Church.
This is the only passage in the Documents in which women are spoken of as connected with the ministry.—Tr. [The estate of deaconesses was of Apostolic foundation. Rom. xvi. i.]
664:3046The reference is only to their purity of life. It is not implied that they lived in seclusion.—Tr.
664:3047Lit. “their burden-bearing.”—Tr.
664:3048Or “belonging to.”—Tr.
664:3049An allusion to Matt. iv. 19: “I will make you fishers of men.”
665:3050i.e., refusing to accept Christianity: as a few lines before.—Tr. The person referred to would seem to be the second of the two sons of Abgar called Maanu, who succeeded his brother Maanu, and reigned fourteen years—from a.d. 52 to a.d. 65, according to Dionysius as cited by Assemani.
665:3051This ignominious mode of execution, which was employed in the case of the two thieves at Calvary, seems to have been of Roman origin. The object of the king in putting Aggæus to this kind of death was, probably, to degrade and disgrace him.
665:3052This paragraph is a barefaced interpolation made by some ignorant person much later, who is also responsible for the additions to the Martyrdom of Sharbil, and to that of Barsamya. For this Palut was made Elder by Addæus himself, at the time that Aggæus was appointed Bishop, or Guide and Ruler. This took place even before the death of Abgar, who died a.d. 45; whereas Serapion did not become bishop of Antioch till the beginning of the third century, if, as is here stated, he was consecrated by Zephyrinus, who did not become Bishop of Rome till a.d. 201.
665:3053Moses Chor., ii. 36, calls him, in the translation of Le Vaillant de Florival, “Ghéroupna, fils de l’ecrivain Apchatar;” in that of Whiston, “Lerubnas, Apsadari scribæ filius.” Apchatar of the first, and Apsadar of the second, translator are evidently corruptions in the Armenian from the Adbshaddai (= Ebedshaddai) of the Syriac. Dr. Alishan, in a letter to Dr. Cureton from the Armenian Convent of St. Lazarus, Venice, says he has found an Armenianms., of probably the twelfth century, which he believes to be a translation of the present Syriac original. It is a history of Abgad and Thaddæus, written by Ghérubnia with the assistance of Ananias (= Hanan), confidant (= sharir) of King Abgar.
Syriac Calendar.
A Note by the Translator.—The following list of the Syrian names of months, in use in the empire and during the era of the Seleucidæ, several of which have been mentioned in these Documents, is taken from Caswinii Calendarium Syriacum, edited in Arabic and Latin by Volck, 1859. The later Hebrew names also are here added for comparison. It must, however, be noticed that “the years employed in the Syrian Calendar, were, at least after the incarnation, Julian years, composed of Roman months.” (SeeL’Art de vérifier les dates: Paris, 1818, tom. i. p. 45.) The correspondence with the Hebrew months, therefore, is not so close as the names would indicate, since these commenced with the new moons, and an intercalary month, Veadar, following their twelfth month Adar, was added.
Month / Syrian / Hebrew
October / Tishri prior / Tishri, or Ethanim
November / Tishri posterior / Bull, or Marcheshvan
December / Canun prior / Chisleu
January / Canun posterior / Tebeth
February / Shubat / Shebat
March / Adar / Adar
April / Nisan / Nisan
May / Ajar / Zif, or Iyar
June / Chaziran / Sivan
July / Tamuz / Tammuz
August / Ab / Ab
September / Elul / Elul
Ancient Syriac Documents.
————————————
The Teaching of the Apostles. 3054
At that time Christ was taken up to His Father; and how the apostles received the gift of the Spirit; and the Ordinances and Laws of the Church; and whither each one of the apostles went; and from whence the countries in the territory of the Romans received the ordination to the priesthood.
In the year three hundred and 3055 thirty-nine of the kingdom of the Greeks, in the month Heziran, 3056 on the fourth 3057 day of the same, which is the first day of the week, and the end of Pentecost 3058 —on the selfsame day came the disciples from Nazareth of Galilee, where the conception of our Lord was announced, to the mount which is called that of the Place of Olives, 3059 our Lord being with them, but not being visible to them. And at the time of early dawn our Lord lifted up His hands, and laid them upon the heads of the eleven disciples, and gave to them the gift of the priesthood. And suddenly a bright cloud received Him. And they saw Him as He was going up to heaven. And He sat down on the right hand of His Father. And they praised God because they saw His ascension according as He had told them; and they rejoiced because they had received the Right Hand conferring on them the priesthood of the house of Moses and Aaron.
And from thence they went up to the city, and 3060 proceeded to an upper room—that in which our Lord had observed the passover with them, and the place where the inquiries had been made: Who it was that should betray our Lord to the crucifiers? There also were made the inquiries: 3061 How they should preach His Gospel in the world? And, as within the upper room the mystery of the body and of the blood of our Lord began to prevail in the world, so also from thence did the teaching of His preaching begin to have authority in the world.
And, when the disciples were cast into this perplexity, how they should preach His Gospel to men of strange tongues 3062 which were unknown to them, and were speaking thus to one another: Although we are confident that Christ will perform by our hands mighty works and miracles in the presence of strange peoples whose tongues we know not, and who themselves also are unversed in our tongue, yet who shall teach them and make them understand that it is by the name of Christ who was crucified that these mighty works and miracles are done?—while, I say, the disciples were occupied with these thoughts, Simon Cephas rose up, and said to them: My brethren, this matter, how we shall preach His Gospel, pertaineth not to us, but to our Lord; for He knoweth how it is possible for us to preach His Gospel in the world; and we rely on His care for us, which He promised us, saying: “When I am ascended to my Father I will send you the Spirit, the Paraclete, that He may teach you everything which it is meet for you to know, and to make known.”
And, whilst Simon Cephas was saying these things to his fellow-apostles, and putting them in remembrance, a mysterious voice was heard by them, and a sweet odour, which was strange to the world, breathed upon them; 3063 and tongues of fire, between the voice and the odour, came down from heaven 3064 towards them, and alighted and sat on every one of them; and, according to the tongue which every one of them had severally received, so did he prepare himself to go to the country in which that tongue was spoken and heard.
And, by the same gift of the Spirit which was given to them on that day, they appointed Ordinances and Laws—such as were in accordance with the Gospel of their preaching, and with the true and faithful doctrine of their teaching:—
1. The apostles therefore appointed: Pray ye towards the east: 3065 because, “as the lightning which lighteneth from the east and is seen even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be:” 3066 that by this we might know and understand that He will appear from the east suddenly. 3067
2. The apostles further appointed: On the first day of the week let there be service, and the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and the oblation: 3068 because on the first day of the week our Lord rose from the place of the dead and on the first day of the week He arose upon the world, and on the first day of the week He ascended up to heaven, and on the first day of the week He will appear at last with the angels of heaven. 3069
3. The apostles further appointed: On the fourth 3070 day of the week let there be service: because on that day our Lord made the disclosure to them about His trial, 3071 and His suffering, and His crucifixion, and His death, and His resurrection; and the disciples were on account of this in sorrow. 3072
4. The apostles further appointed: On the eve of the Sabbath, 3073 at the ninth hour, let there be service: because that which had been spoken on the fourth day of the week about the suffering of the Saviour was brought to pass on the same eve; the worlds and creatures trembling, and the luminaries in the heavens being darkened.
5. The apostles further appointed: Let there be elders and deacons, like the Levites; 3074 and subdeacons, 3075 like those who carried the vessels of the court of the sanctuary of the Lord; and an overseer, 3076 who shall likewise be the Guide of all the people, 3077 like Aaron, the head and chief of all the priests and Levites of the whole city. 3078
6. The apostles further appointed: Celebrate the day of the Epiphany 3079 of our Saviour, which is the chief of the festivals of the Church, on the sixth day of the latter Canun, 3080 in the long number of the Greeks. 3081
7. The apostles further appointed: Forty 3082 days before the day of the passion of our Saviour fast ye, and then celebrate the day of the passion, and the day of the resurrection: because our Lord Himself also, the Lord of the festival, fasted forty days; and Moses and Elijah, who were endued with this mystery, likewise each fasted forty days, and then were glorified.
8. The apostles further appointed: At the conclusion of all the Scriptures other let the Gospel be read, as being the seal 3083 of all the Scriptures; and let the people listen to it standing upon their feet: because it is the Gospel of the redemption of all men.
9. The apostles further appointed: At the completion of fifty 3084 days after His resurrection make ye a commemoration of His ascension to His glorious Father.
10. The apostles appointed: That, beside the Old Testament, and the Prophets, and the Gospel, and the Acts (of their exploits), nothing should be read on the pulpit in the church. 3085
11. The apostles further appointed: Whosoever is unacquainted with the faith of the Church and the ordinances and laws which are appointed in it, let him not be a guide and ruler; and whosoever is acquainted with them and departs from them, let him not minister again: because, not being true in his ministry, he has lied.
12. The apostles further appointed: Whosoever sweareth, or 3086 lieth, or beareth false witness, or hath recourse to magicians and soothsayers and Chaldeans, and putteth confidence in fates and nativities, which they hold fast who know not God,—let him also, as a man that knoweth not God, be dismissed from the ministry, and not minister again.
13. The apostles further appointed: If there be any man that is divided in mind touching the ministry, and who follows it not with a steadfast will 3087 , let not this man minister again: because the Lord of the ministry is not served by him with a stedfast will; and he deceiveth man only, and not God, “before whom crafty devices avail not.” 3088
14. The apostles further appointed: Whosoever lendeth and receiveth usury, 3089 and is occupied in merchandise and covetousness, let not this man minister again, nor continue in the ministry.
15. The apostles further appointed: That whosoever loveth the Jews, 3090 like Iscariot, who was their friend, or the pagans, who worship creatures instead of the Creator,—should not enter in amongst them and minister; and moreover, that if he be already amongst them, they should not suffer him to remain, but that he should be separated from amongst them, and not minister with them again.
16. The apostles further appointed: That, if any one from the Jews or from the pagans come and join himself with them, and if after he has joined himself with them he turn and go back again to the side on which he stood before, and if he again return and come to them a second time,—he should not be received again; but that, according to the side on which he was before, so those who know him should look upon him.
17. The apostles further appointed: That it should not be permitted to the Guide to transact the matters which pertain to the Church apart from those who minister with him; but that he should issue commands with the counsel of them all, and that that only should be done which all of them should concur in and not disapprove. 3091
18. The apostles further appointed: Whenever any shall depart out of this world with a good testimony to the faith of Christ, and with affliction borne for His name’s sake, make ye a commemoration of them on the day on which they were put to death. 3092
19. The apostles further appointed: In the service of the Church repeat ye the praises of David day by day: because of this saying: “I will bless the Lord at all times, and at all times His praises shall be in my mouth;” 3093 and this: “By day and by night will I meditate and speak, and cause my voice to be heard before Thee.”
20. The apostles further appointed: If any divest themselves of mammon and run not after the gain of money, let these men be chosen and admitted to the ministry of the altar.
21. The apostles further appointed: Let any priest who accidentally puts another in bonds 3094 contrary to justice receive the punishment that is right; and let him that has been bound receive the bonds as if he had been equitably bound.
22. The apostles further appointed: If it be seen that those who are accustomed to hear causes show partiality, and pronounce the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, let them never again hear another cause: thus receiving the rebuke of their partiality, as it is fit. 3095
23. The apostles further ordained: Let not those that are high-minded and lifted up with the arrogance of boasting be admitted to the ministry: because of this text: “That which is exalted among men is abominable before God;” and because concerning them it is said: “I will return a recompense upon those that vaunt themselves.”
24. The apostles further appointed: Let there be a Ruler over the elders who are in the villages, and let him be recognised as head of them all, at whose hand all of them shall be required: for Samuel also thus made visits from place to place and ruled. 3096
25. The apostles further appointed: That those kings who shall hereafter believe in Christ should be permitted to go up and stand before the altar along with the Guides of the Church: because David also, and those who were like him, went up and stood before the altar. 3097
26. The apostles further appointed: Let no man dare to do anything by the authority of the priesthood which is not in accordance with justice and equity, but in accordance with justice, and free from the blame of partiality, let all things be done.
27. The apostles further appointed: Let the bread of the Oblation be placed upon the altar on the day on which it is baked, and not some days after—a thing which is not permitted.
All these things did the apostles appoint, not for themselves, but for those who should come after them—for they were apprehensive that in time to come wolves would put on sheep’s clothing: since for themselves the Spirit, the Paraclete, which was in them, was sufficient: that, even as He had appointed these laws by their hands, so He would guide them lawfully. For they, who had received from our Lord power and authority, had no need that laws should be appointed for them by others. For Paul also, and Timothy, 3098 while they were going from place to place in the country of Syria and Cilicia, committed these same Commands and Laws of the apostles and elders to those who were under the hand of the apostles, for the churches of the countries in which they were preaching and publishing the Gospel.
The disciples, moreover, after they had appointed these Ordinances and Laws, ceased not from the preaching of the Gospel, or from the wonderful mighty-works which our Lord did by their hands. For much people was gathered about them every day, who believed in Christ; and they came to them from other cities, and heard their words and received them. Nicodemus also, and Gamaliel, chiefs of the synagogue of the Jews, used to come to the apostles in secret, agreeing with their teaching. Judas, moreover, and Levi, and Peri, and Joseph, and Justus, sons of Hananias, and Caiaphas 3099 and Alexander the priests—they too used to come to the apostles by night, confessing Christ that He is the Son of God; but they were afraid of the people of their own nation, so that they did not disclose their mind toward the disciples.
And the apostles received them affectionately, saying to them: Do not, by reason of the shame and fear of men, forfeit your salvation before God, nor have the blood of Christ required of you; even as your fathers, who took it upon them: for it is not acceptable before God, that, while ye are, in secret, with His worshippers, ye should go and associate with the murderers of His adorable Son. How do ye expect that your faith should be accepted with those that are true, whilst ye are with those that are false? But it becomes you, as men who believe in Christ, to confess openly this faith which we preach. 3100
And, when they heard these things from the Disciples, those sons of the priests, all of them alike, cried out before the whole company of the apostles: We confess and believe in Christ who was crucified, and we confess that He is from everlasting the Son of God; and those who dared to crucify Him do we renounce. For even the priests of the people in secret confess Christ; but, for the sake of the headship among the people which they love, they are not willing to confess openly; and they have forgotten that which is written: 3101 “Of knowledge is He the Lord, and before Him avail not crafty devices.”
And, when their fathers heard these things from their sons, they became exceedingly hostile to them: not indeed because they had believed in Christ, but because they had declared and spoken openly of the mind of their fathers before the sons of their people.
But those who believed clove to the disciples, and departed not from them, because they saw that, whatsoever they taught the multitude, they themselves carried into practice before all men; and, when affliction and persecution arose against the disciples, they rejoiced to be afflicted with them, and received with gladness stripes and imprisonment for the confession of their faith in Christ; and all the days of their life they preached Christ before the Jews and the Samaritans.
And after the death of the apostles there were Guides and Rulers 3102 in the churches; and, whatsoever the apostles had committed to them and they had received from them, they continued to teach to the multitude through the whole space of their lives. They too, again, at their deaths committed and delivered to their disciples after them whatsoever they had received from the apostles; also what James had written from Jerusalem, and Simon from the city of Rome, and John from Ephesus, and Mark from Alexandria the Great, and Andrew from Phrygia, and Luke from Macedonia, and Judas Thomas from India: 3103 that the epistles of an apostle 3104 might be received and read in the churches that were in every place, just as the achievements of their Acts, which Luke wrote, are read; that hereby the apostles might be known, and the prophets, and the Old Testament and the New; 3105 that so might be seen one truth was proclaimed in them all: that one Spirit spoke in them all, from one God whom they had all worshipped and had all preached. And the divers countries received their teaching. Everything, therefore, which had been spoken by our Lord by means of the apostles, and which the apostles had delivered to their disciples, was believed and received in every country, by the operation 3106 of our Lord, who said to them: “I am with you, even until the world shall end;” the Guides disputing with the Jews from the books of the prophets, and contending also against the deluded pagans with the terrible mighty-works which they did in the name of Christ. For all the peoples, even those that dwell in other countries, quietly and silently received 3107 the Gospel of Christ; and those who became confessors cried out under their persecution: This our persecution to-day shall plead 3108 on our behalf, lest we be punished, for having been formerly persecutors ourselves. For there were some of them against whom death by the sword was ordered; and there were some of them from whom they took away whatsoever they possessed, and let them go. 3109 And the more affliction arose against them, the richer and larger did their congregations become; and with gladness in their hearts did they receive death of every kind. And by ordination to the priesthood, which the apostles themselves had received from our Lord, did their Gospel wing its way rapidly into the four quarters of the world. And by mutual visitation they ministered to one another.
1. Jerusalem received the ordination to the priesthood, as did all the country of Palestine, and the parts occupied by the Samaritans, and the parts occupied by the Philistines, and the country of the Arabians, and of Phœnicia, and the people of Cæsarea, from James, who was ruler and guide in the church of the apostles which was built in Zion.
2. Alexandria the Great, and Thebais, and the whole of Inner Egypt, and all the country of Pelusium, 3110 and extending as far as the borders of the Indians, received the apostles’ ordination to the priesthood from Mark the evangelist, who was ruler and guide there in the church which he had built, in which, he also ministered.
3. India, 3111 and all the countries belonging to it and round about it, even to the farthest sea, received the apostles’ ordination to the priesthood from Judas Thomas, who was guide and ruler in the church which he had built there, in which he also ministered there.
4. Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia, and Galatia, even to Pontus, received the apostles’ ordination to the priesthood from Simon Cephas, who himself laid the foundation of the church there, 3112 and was priest and ministered there up to the time when he went up from thence to Rome on account of Simon the sorcerer, who was deluding the people of Rome with his sorceries. 3113
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII, part 5 of 6. . Hermetic Cloud, https://hermeticcloud.com/library/ante-nicene-fathers-vol-viii-part-5/. Public-domain text reproduced in full; markup only.