1z Ps. ci. 6; Rom. xiv. 1. 13 Cf. Letter xi. sub. init.
14 The Syriac is ‘was persecuted ’—which supplies no good sense. 15 Ps, ii. 1; Deut. xxviii. 66.
m 530 LEP ERO Or rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah; having exceeded in this even the iniquity of the Sodomites, as the prophet also saith, *Sodom is justified before thee 7.’ For the Sodomites raved against angels, but these against the Lord and God and King of all, and these dared to slay the Lord of angels, not knowing that Christ, who was slain by them, liveth. But those Jews who had conspired against the Lord died, having rejoiced a very little in these temporal things, and having fallen away from those which are eternal. They were ignorant of this—that the immortal promise has not respect to temporal enjoyment, but to the hope of those things which are everlasting. For through many tribulations, and labours, and sorrows, the saint enters into the kingdom of heaven; but when he arrives where sorrow, and distress, and sighing, shall flee away, he shall thenceforward enjoy rest; as Job, who, when tried here, was afterwards the familiar friend of the Lord. But the lover of pleasures, rejoicing for a little while, afterwards passes a sorrowful life; like Esau, who had temporal food, but afterwards was condemned thereby. 6. We may take as a type of this distinction, the departure of the children of Israel and the Egyptians from Egypt. For the Egyptians, rejoicing a little while in their injustice against Israel, when they went forth, were all drowned in the deep; but the people of God, being for a time smitten and injured, by the conduct of the taskmasters, when they came out of Egypt, passed through the sea unharmed, and walked in the wilderness as an inhabited place. For although the place was unfrequented by man and desolate, yet, through the gracious gift of the law, and through converse with angels, it was no longer desert, but far more than an inhabited country. As also Elisha‘, when he thought he was alone in the wilderness, was with companies of angels; so in this case, though the people were at first afflicted and in the wilderness, yet those who remained faithful afterwards entered the land of promise. In like manner those who suffer temporal afflictions here, finally having endured, attain comfort, while those who here persecute are trodden under foot, and have no good end. For even the rich man?, as the Gospel affirms, having indulged in pleasure here for a little while, suffered hunger there, and having drunk largely here, he there thirsted exceedingly. But Lazarus, after being afflicted in worldly things, found rest in heaven, and having hungered for bread ground from corn, he was there satisfied 17 Ezek. xvi. 48, cf. Lam. iv. 6.
t The reference is to 2 Kings vi, 13—r7, though ‘the wilderness’ agrees better with the history of Elijah, 1 Kings xix. 4—8.
2 Luke xvi. 19.: with that which is better than manna,.even the Lord who came down and said, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven, and giveth life to mankind 3,’; 7. Oh! my dearly beloved, if we shall gain comfort from afflictions, if rest from labours, if health after sickness, if from death immortality, it is not right to be distressed by the temporal ills that lay hold on mankind. It does not become us to be agitated because of the trials which befall us. It is not right to fear if the gang that contended with Christ, should conspire against godliness; but we should the more please God through these things, and should consider such matters as the probation and exercise of a virtuous life. For how shall patience be looked for, if there be not previously labours and sorrows? Or how can fortitude be tested with no assault. from enemies? Or how shall magnanimity be exhibited, unless after contumely and injustice? Or how can long-suffering be proved, unless there has first been the calumny of Antichrist+? And, finally, how can a man behold virtue with his eyes, unless the iniquity of the very wicked has previously appeared? ‘Thus even our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ comes before us, when He would shew men how to suffer, Who when He was smitten bore it patiently, being reviled He reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened not, but He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to buffetings, and turned not His face from spitting5; and at last, was willingly led to death, that we might. behold in Him the image of all that is virtuous and immortal, and that we, conducting ourselves after these examples, might truly tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy®.
8. Thus too Paul, while he conducted himself after the example of the Lord, exhorted us, saying, ‘ Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ7.’ In this way he prevailed against all the divisions of the devil, writing, ‘I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ’. For the enemy draws near to us in afflictions, and trials, and labours, using every endeavour to ruin us. But the man who is in Christ, combating those things that are contrary, and opposing wrath by long-suffering, contumely by meekness, and vice by virtue, obtains the victory, and exclaims, ‘I can do all 3 John vi. 51. 4 i.e, Arians, D DP et iiaeoenlisan leo: et Cruc. 19. (aC onexier, See /xdex to this vol. s.v. 6 Cf. Pseudo-Ath. de Pass.
LETTER X.
things through Christ Who strengtheneth me;’ and, ‘In all these things we are conquerors through Christ Who loved us9.’ This is the grace of the Lord, and these are the Lord’s means of restoration for the children of men. For He suffered to prepare freedom from suffering for those who suffer in Him, He descended that He might raise us up, He took on Him the trial of being born, that we might love Him Who is unbegotten, He went down to corrup-- tion, that corruption might put on immortality, He became weak for us, that we might rise with power, He descended to death, that He might bestow on us immortality, and give life to the dead. Finally, He became man, that we who die as men might live again, and that death should no more reign over us; for the Apostolic word proclaims, ‘Death shall not have the dominion over us?°.’
9. Now because they did not thus consider these matters, the Ario-maniacs*!, being opponents of Christ, and heretics, smite Him who is their Helper with their tongue, and blaspheme Him who set [them] free, and hold all manner of different opinions against the Saviour. Because of His coming down, which was on behalf of man, they have denied His essential Godhead; and seeing that He came forth from the Virgin, they doubt His being truly the Son of God, and considering Him as become incarnate in time, they deny His eternity; and, looking upon Him as having suffered for us, they do not believe in Him as the incorruptible Son from the incorruptible Father. And finally, because He endured for our sakes, they deny the things which concern His essential eternity; allowing the deed of the unthankful, these despise the Saviour, and offer Him insult instead of acknowledging His grace. To them may these words justly be addressed: Oh! unthankful opponent of Christ, altogether wicked, and the slayer of his Lord, mentally blind, and a Jew in his mind, hadst thou understood the Scriptures, and listened to the saints, who said, ‘Cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved;’ or again, ‘Send out Thy light and Thy truth;’—then wouldest thou have known that the Lord did not descend for His own sake, but for ours; and for this reason, thou wouldest the more have admired His lovingkindness. And hadst thou considered what the Father is, and what the Son, thou wouldest not have blasphemed the Son, as of a mutable nature *3, derstood His work of loving-kindness towards us, thou wouldest not have alienated the Son 9 Phil. iy. 13; Rom. viii. 37. to Rom. vi. 9, 14, cf. de Pass.
et Cruc, it. u The Syriac mistranslates Arius and Manetes. 12 Ps. xliii. 3, xxx. 7. 13 Cf. Orat. i. 35} ii. 6, and notes there.
And hadst thou un-} - from the Father, nor have looked upon Him as a stranger ™, Who reconciled us to His Father. I know these [words] are grievous, not only to those who dispute with Christ *s, but also to the schismatics; for they are united together, as men of kindred feelings. For they have learned to rend the seamless coat of God: they think it not strange to divide the indivisible Son from the Father 7.
to. I know indeed, that when these things are spoken, they will gnash their teeth upon us, with the devil who stirs them up, since they are troubled by the declaration of the true glory concerning the Redeemer. But the Lord, Who always has scoffed at the devil, does the same even now, saying, ‘I am in the Father, and the Father in Me™.’ This is the Lord, Who is manifested in the Father and in Whom also the Father is manifested; Who, being truly the Son of the Father, at last became incarnate for our sakes, that He might offer Himself to the Father in our stead, and redeem us through His oblation and sacrifice This is He Who once brought the people of old time out of Egypt; but Who afterwards redeemed all of us, or rather the whole race of men, from death, and brought them up from the grave. This is He Who in old time was sacrificed as a lamb, He being signified in the lamb; but Who afterwards was slain for us, for ‘Christ our Passover is sacrificed 79,’ This is He Who delivered us from the snare of the hunters, from the opponents of Christ, I say, and from the schismatics, and again rescued us His Church. And because we were then victims of deceit, He has now delivered us by His own self.
11. What then is our duty, my brethren, for the sake of these things, but to praise and give thanks to God, the King of all? And let us first exclaim in the words of the Psalms, ‘Blessed be the Lord, Who hath not given us over as a prey to their teeth 7°.” Let us keep the feast in that way which He hath dedicated for us unto salvation—the holy day of Easter—so that we may celebrate the feast which is in heaven with the angels. Thus anciently, the people of the Jews, when they came out of affliction into a state of ease, kept the feast, singing a song of praise for their victory. So also the people in the time of Esther, because they were delivered from the edict of death, kept a feast to the Lord 7, reckoning it a feast, returning thanks to the 14 Cf, supr. p. 70. 15 j.e, the Arians. 16 Syr. xutwv. The words translated ‘rend’ and ‘seamless’ are cognate in the Syriac, and answer to oxi¢ew and its derivaves. 4 17 The Arians were thence called Avaroptrac. de heresib. apud Cotel, eccles. Gr. mionum. p. 298. 18 John xiv. 11. ait COL 7. 20 Ps, cxxiv. 6. 21 Cf. Esth, iii. 93 ix. 21; Letter iv. p. 32.
Vid, Damascen, M mM 2 632 LETTERS! OF Lord, and praising Him for having changed their condition. Therefore let us, performing our vows to the Lord, and confessing our sins, keep the feast to the Lord, in conversation, moral conduct, and manner of life; praising our Lord, Who hath chastened us a little, but hath not utterly failed nor forsaken us, nor altogether kept silence from us. For if, having brought us out of the deceitful and famous Egypt of the opponents of Christ, He hath caused us to pass through many trials and afflictions, as it were in the wilderness, to His holy Church, so that from hence, according to custom, we can send to you, as well as receive letters from you; on this account especially I both give thanks to God myself, and exhort you to thank Him with me and on my behalf, this being the Apostolic custom, which these opponents of Christ, and the schismatics, wished to put an end to, and to break off. The Lord did not permit it, but both renewed and preserved that which was ordained by Him through the Apostle, so that we may keep the feast together, and together keep holy-day, according to the tradition and commandment of the fathers.
12. We begin the fast of forty days on the nineteenth of the month Mechir (Feb. 13); and the holy Easter-fast on the twenty-fourth of the month Phamenoth (Mar. 20). We cease from the fast on the twenty-ninth of the month Phamenoth (Mar. 25), late in the evening of the seventh day. And we thus keep the feast on the first day of the week which dawns on the thirtieth of the month Phamenoth (Mar. 26); from which, to Pentecost, we keep holyday, through seven weeks, one after the other. For when we have first meditated properly on these things, we shall attain to be counted worthy of those which are eternal, through Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Greet one another with a holy kiss, remembering us in your holy prayers. All the brethren who are with me salute you, at all times remembering you. And I pray that ye may have health in the Lord, my beloved brethren, whom we love above all.
Here endeth the tenth Letter of holy Athanasius.
LETTERSX1, Coss. Constantius Augustus IT, Constans I; Prefect, Philagrius the Cappadoctan, for the second time; Indict. xit; Easter-day xvii Kal. Mat, xx Pharmuthi; Ara Dioclet. 55.
Tue blessed Paul, being girt about with every virtue!, and called faithful of the Lord— for he was conscious of nothing in himself but what was a virtue and a praise’, or what was in harmony with love and godliness—clave to these things more and more, and was carried up even to heavenly places, and was borne to Paradise 3; to the end that, as he surpassed the conversation of men, he should be exalted above men. And when he descended, he preached to every man; ‘ We know in part, and we prophesy in part; here I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known +.’ For, in truth, he was known to those saints who are in heaven, as their fellow-citizen 5. And in relation to all that is future and perfect, the things known by him here were in part; but with respect to those things which were committed and entrusted to him by the Lord, he was perfect; as he said, ‘We who are perfect, should be thus minded ©.’ For as the Gospel of Christ is the fulfilment and accomplishment of the ministration which was supplied by the law of Israel, so future things will be the accomplishment of such as now exist, the Gospel being then fulfilled, and the faithful receiving those things which, not seeing now, they yet hope for, as Paul saith; ‘ For what a man seeth, why doth he also hope for? But if we hope for those things we see [not], we then by patience wait for them 7.’ Since then that blessed man was of such a character, and apostolic grace was committed to him, he wrote, wishing ‘that all men should be as he was,’ For virtue is philanthropic 9, and great is the company of the kingdom of heaven, for thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads there serve the Lord. And though a man enters it through a strait and narrow way, yet having entered, he beholds immeasurable space, and a place greater than any other, as they declare, who were eye-witnesses and heirs of these things. ‘ Thou didst place afflictions before us.’ But afterwards, having related their afflictions, they say, ‘ Thou broughtest us forth into a wide place;’ and again, ‘ In affliction Thou hast enlarged us *°.’ For truly, my brethren, the course of the saints here is straitened; since they either toil painfully through longing for those things which are to come, as he who said, ‘ Woe is me that my pilgrimage is prolonged **;’ or they are distressed and spent for the salvation of other men, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, saying, ‘ Lest, when I come to you, God should humble me, and I should bewail many of those who have sinned already, and not repented for the uncleanness and fora 25 Cian Coraiver4s 6 Phil. iii. 15.
11 Tb. cxx. 5, LX X, LETT RIXT: nication and lasciviousness which they have committed 7.’ As Samuel bewailed the destruction of Saul, and Jeremiah wept for the captivity of the people. But after this affliction, and sorrow, and sighing, when they depart from this world, a certain divine gladness, and pleasure, and exultation receives them, from which misery and sorrow, and sighing, flee away.
2. Since we are thus circumstanced, my brethren, let us never loiter in the path of virtue; for hereto he counsels us, saying, ‘Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ 3.’ For he gave this advice not to the Corinthians only, since he was not their Apostle only, but being ‘a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity", he admonished us all through them; and in short, the things he wrote to each particular person are commandments common to all men*s. On this account, In writing to different people, some he exhorted, as, for instance, in the Epistles to the Romans, and the Ephesians, and Philemon. Some he reproved, and was indignant with them, as in the case of the Corinthians and Galatians. To some he gave advice, as to the Colossians and Thessalonians. The Philippians he approved of, and rejoiced in them. The Hebrews he taught that the law was a shadow to them *, But to his elect sons, Timothy and Titus, when they were near, he gave instruction; when far away, he put them in remembrance. For he was all things to all men; and being himself a perfect man, he adapted his teaching to the need of every one, so that by all means he might rescue some of them. Therefore his word was not without fruit; but in every place it is planted and productive even to this day.
3. And wherefore, my beloved? For it is right that we should search into the apostolic mind. Not only in the beginning of the Epistles, but towards their close, and in the middle of them, he used persuasions and admonitions. I hope therefore that, by your prayers, I shall in no respect falsely represent the plan of that holy man. As he was well skilled in these divine matters, and knew the power of the divine teaching, he deemed it necessary, in the first place, to make known the word concerning Christ, and the mystery regarding Him; and then afterwards to point to the correction of habits, so that when they had learned to know the Lord, they might earnestly desire to do those things which He commanded. For when the Guide to the laws is unknown, one does not readily pass on to the observance of them. Faithful Moses, 16 Vid. Letter vii.
15 Cf, Letter ii. § x, and Letter iii. § 5.
the minister of God, adopted this method; for when he promulgated the words of the divine dispensation of laws, he first proclaimed the matters relating to the knowledge of God: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord 7.’ Afterwards, having shadowed Him forth to the people, and taught of Him in Whom they ought to believe, and informed their minds of Him Who is truly God, he proceeds to lay down the law relating to those things whereby a man may be well-pleasing to Him, saying, ‘ Thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal;’ together with the other commandments. For also, according to the Apostolic teaching, ‘He that draweth near to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him'®.’ Now He is sought by means of virtuous deeds, as the prophet saith; ‘Seek ye the Lord, and when ye have found Him, call upon Him; when He is near to you, let the wicked forsake his ways, and the lawless man his thoughts 9.’
4. It will also be well if a man is not offended at the testimony of the Shepherd, saying in the beginning of his book, ‘Before all things believe that there is one God, Who created and established all these things, and from nonexistence called them into being’ And, further, the blessed Evangelists— who recorded the words of the Lord—in the beginning of the Gospels, wrote the things concerning our Saviour; so that, having first made known the Lord, the Creator, they might be believed when narrating the events that took place. For how could they have been believed, when writing respecting him who [was blind] from his mother’s womb, and those other blind men who recovered their sight, and those who rose from the dead, and the changing of water into wine, and those lepers who were cleansed; if they had not taught of Him as the Creator, writing, ‘In the beginning was the Word???’ Or, according to Matthew, that He Who was born of the seed of David, was Emmanuel, and the Son of the living God? He from Whom the Jews, with the Arians, turn away their faces, but Whom we acknowledge and worship. The Apostle therefore, as was meet, sent to different people, but his own son he especially reminded, ‘that he should not despise the things in which he had been instructed by him,’ and enjoined on him, ‘Remember Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my Gospel 3.’ And speaking of these things being delivered to him, to be always had in remembrance, he immediately writes to him. saying, ‘ Meditate on these things: be engaged 2 Johni. 1.
17 Deut. vi. 4.
t Herm. JZand. 1.
834 Cbd bRoeOr in them 4.’ For constant meditation, and the remembrance of divine words, strengthens piety towards God, and produces a love to Him inseparable and not merely formals; as he, being of this mind, speaks about himself and others like-minded, saying boldly, ‘Who shall separate us from the love of God6?’ For7 such men, being confirmed in the Lord, and possessing an unshaken disposition towards Him, and being one in spirit (for® ‘he who is joined to the Spirit is one spirit’), are sure ‘as the mount Sion;’ and although ten thousand trials may rage against them, they are founded upon a rock, which is Christ9. In Him the careless take no delight; and having no continuous purpose of good, they are sullied by temporal attacks, and esteem nothing more highly than present things, being unstable and deserving reproof as regards the faith. For ‘either the care of this world, or the deceitfulness of riches, chokes them?®;’ or, as Jesus said in that parable which had reference to them, since they have not established the faith that has been preached to them, but continue only for a time, immediately, in time of persecution, or when affliction ariseth through the word, they are offended. Now those who meditate evil, we say, [think] not truth, but falsehood; and not nghteousness, but iniquity, for their tongue learns to speak lies. They have done evil, and have not ceased that they might repent. For, persevering with delight in wicked actions, they hasten thereto without turning back, even treading under foot the commandment with regard to neighbours, and, instead of loving them, devise evil against them, as the saint testifies, saying, ‘ And those who seek me evil have spoken vanity, and imagined deceit all the day™.’ But that the cause of such meditation is none other than the want of instruction, the divine proverb has already declared; ‘The son that forsaketh the commandment of his father meditateth evil words 77,’ But such meditation, because it is evil, the Holy Spirit blames in these words, and reproves too in other terms, saying, ‘ Your hands are polluted with blood, your fingers with sins; your lips have spoken lawlessness, and your tongue imagineth iniquity: no man 4x Tim. iv. 15.
5 The Syriac word here rendered ‘not merely formal’ is one which seems to take no other meaning than ‘inexpiable’—a sense scarcely admissible in this place. The Greek was probably &yarhv Mpos avTov axXwWpiTToY Kal ovK ahoo.ovzevyy. This supposition would account for the Syriac misapprehension of the word.
© Rom, viii. 35.
7 The Syriac text from here to the words, ‘There is also such a proverb as this’ (end of §), was discovered after Cureton’s edition of the Syriac, and 1s absent in Larsow, Cor. vi_ 17. Ps. cxxv. x; 1 Cor. x. 45 Matt. vii. 25, 10 Matt. xiii. 22, tr Ps. xxxviil. 12. 12 Prov. xix.
speaketh right things, nor is there true judgment 3.’ But what the end is of such perverse imagining, He immediately declares, saying, ‘They trust in vanities and speak falsehood; for they conceive mischief, and bring forth lawlessness. ‘They have hatched the eggs of an asp, and woven a spider’s web; and he who is prepared to eat of their eggs, when he breaks them finds gall, and a basilisk therein ™4.’ Again, what the hope of such is, He has already announced. ‘ Because righteousness does not overtake them, when they waited for light, they had darkness; when they waited for brightness, they walked in a thick cloud. They shall grope for the wall like the blind, and as those who have no eyes shall they grope; they shall fall at noon-day as at midnight; when dead, they shall groan. They shall roar together as a bear, or as a dove%s.’
This is the fruit of wickedness, these rewards are given to its familiars, for perverseness does not deliver its own. But in truth, against them it sets itself, and it tears them first, and on them especially it summons ruin. Woe to them against whom these are brought; for ‘it is sharper than a two-edged sword *6,’ slaying beforehand and very swiftly those who will lay hold of it. For their tongue, according to the testimony of the Psalmist, is a ‘sharp sword, and their teeth spears and arrows %.’ But the wonderful part is that while often he against whom men imagine [harm] suffers nothing, they are pierced by their own spears: for they possess, even in themselves, before they reach others, anger, wrath, malice, guile, hatred, bitterness. Although they may not be able to bring these upon others, they forthwith return upon and against themselves, as he prays, saying, ‘Let their sword enter into their own heart.’ There is also such a proverb as this: ‘The wicked is held fast by the chain of his sins 78,’ 5. The Jews in their imaginings, and in their agreeing to act unjustly against the Lord, forgot that they were bringing wrath upon themselves. Therefore does the Word lament for them, saying, ‘Why do the people exalt themselves, and the nations imagine vain things'9?? For vain indeed was the imagination of the Jews, meditating death against the Life *, and devising unreasonable things against the Word of the Father?.’ For who that looks upon their dispersion, and the desolation of their city, may not aptly say, ‘Woe unto them, t The parallel clause of this sentence would seem to determine that by ‘ Life’ here we must understand Christ.
2 dAdoya Kara rod Aéyov tod Iarpés. Cf. Suicer. Thes. s.v. "Adoyos tom. i. p. 199..
LETTER XI