Greek lab

How could such a one be a mere man, receiving the beginning of His existence from Mary, and not rather God the Word, and the only-begotten Son? For "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,[27]

The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."[16]

And he expresses himself thus: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God."[118]

For that according to John relates His original, effectual, and glorious generation from the Father, thus declaring, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."[146]

This was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made."[161]

And hence the holy writings teach us, and all the spirit-bearing [inspired] men, one of whom, John, says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,"[48]

and "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."[10]

For both are one-that is, God. For He has said, "In the beginning the Word was in God, and the Word was God."[142]

Read the testimony of John: "That which we have seen, which we have heard, which we have looked upon with our eyes, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life."[131]

but because they knew that He was the Word of Life, and was come from God,[29]

-"and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made."[205]

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God: all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made."[243]

but what is that which, in a certain way, has been grasped by hand[15]

To God their beauty, to God their youth (is dedicated). With Him they live; with Him they converse; Him they "handle"[39]

rst and the last, the Lord assumes to Himself, as figures of the beginning and end! which concur in Himself: so that, just as Alpha rolls on till it reaches Omega, and again Omega rolls back till it reaches Alpha, in the same way He might show that in Himself is both the downward course of the beginning on to the end, and the backward course of the end up to the beginning; so that every economy, ending in Him through whom it began,-through the Word of God, that is, who was made flesh,[28]

From death recovered body,[182]

The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made."[115]

and as in his Gospel John indicates the same thing, saying, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: the same was in the beginning with God: all things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made; "[165]

and a sense of touch, by which John says that he "handled with his hands of the Word of life; "[81]

But according to Celsus, God Himself is the reason of all things, while according to our view it is His Son, of whom we say in philosophic language, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; "[94]

If, however, we attend to the passage, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,"[343]

-no one is so foolish as not to see that the word "hands" is taken figuratively, as when John says, "Our hands have handled the Word of life."[81]

For the Lord of those who are "ambassadors for Christ" is Christ Himself, whose ambassadors they are, and who is "the Word, who was in the beginning, was with God, and was God."[16]

This was in the beginning with God, all things were made by Him, and without Him was not one thing that was made. And what was formed in Him is life."[184]

For he speaks to this effect: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made."[251]

Also in the Gospel according to John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word."[165]

nativity, His passion, His resurrection, His conversation with His disciples, and His twofold advent,-the first in the humiliation of rejection, which is now past, and the second in the glory of royal power, which is yet in the future. What marvel is it, then, that John brings forward these several things[31]

And let us therefore believe this, since it is most faithful that Jesus Christ the Son of God is our Lord and God; because "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning with God."[276]

And we anathematize those who constitute different worships, one for the divine and another for the human, and who worship the man born of Mary as though He were another than the God of God. For we know that "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."[69]

"The law was given to them through Moses" for their discipline; "but grace and truth" have been given to us by Jesus Christ.[18]

I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? Thou who wast in the beginning, and wast with God, and wast God;[10]

For" the Word was with God."[125]

by the will of God, "the Word was made flesh,"[8]

For who ever heard such things? or who, now hearing them, is not astonished, and does not stop his ears that the pollution of these words should not touch them? Who that hears John saying, "In the beginning was the Word,"[48]

Now, since He truly was and is, being in the beginning with God, and being God,[14]

Now consider whether the saying: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God; "[11]

The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made."[59]

The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made that was made."[23]

But John, when he begins, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,"[28]

For if they think that nature is irrational, it is most foolish to suppose that a rational creature can proceed from an irrational creator. But if it is Reason-that is, Logos[12]

as meaning that the scribes-that is, those who rest satisfied in the bare letter-may repent of this method of interpretation and be instructed in the spiritual teaching which is called the kingdom of the heavens through Jesus Christ the living Word. Wherefore, also, so far as Jesus Christ, "who was in the beginning with God, God the word,"[71]

But if also Elijah be in some sort a word inferior to "the Word who was in the beginning with God, God the Word,"[32]

For its salvation is endangered, not by its being ignorant of itself, but of the word of God. "The life," says He, "was manifested,"[179]

And this is the water in those fair nuptials which Jesus changing made into wine. This, he says, is the mighty and true beginning of miracles[77]

But none of the names we have mentioned expresses His representation of us with the Father, as He pleads for human nature, and makes atonement for it; the Paraclete, and the propitiation, and the atonement. He has the name Paraclete in the Epistle of John:[168]

And consider now, if in addition to what we have already recounted, you can otherwise take the good seed to be the children of the kingdom, because whatsoever good things are sown in the human soul, these are the offspring of the kingdom of God and have been sown by God the Word who was in the beginning with God,[6]

and the Word was God."[28]

And again, "All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made."[277]

His own Word is both suitable and sufficient for the formation of all things, even as John, the disciple of the Lord, declares regarding Him: "All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made."[9]

), and was formed by the hand of God, that is, by the Word of God, for "all things were made by Him,"[430]

and as we read in the Gospel, "All things were made by Him; and without Him was nothing made; "[448]

follow the one God. "All things[59]

The divine Instructor is trustworthy, adorned as He is with three of the fairest ornament"-knowledge, benevolence, and authority of utterance;-with knowledge, for He is the paternal wisdom: "All Wisdom is from the Lord, and with Him for evermore; "-with authority of utterance, for He is God and Creator: "For all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made; "[261]

He that is illuminated is therefore awake towards God; and such an one lives. "For what was made in Him was life."[182]

At home, therefore, they ought to regard with modesty parents and domestics; in the ways, those they meet; in the baths, women; in solitude, themselves; and everywhere the Word, who is everywhere, "and without Him was not anything."[59]

But a rational work is accomplished through God. "And nothing," it is said, "was made without Him"-the Word of God.[100]

(that is, of the great High Priest, "by whom all things were made, and without whom not even one thing was made"[289]

For the knowledge and apprehension of intellectual objects must necessarily be called certain scientific knowledge, whose function in reference to divine things is to consider what is the First Cause, and what that "by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made; "[25]

He does not express the divine essence, but wishing to declare the majesty of God, he has applied to the Divinity what is best and most excellent in the view of men. Thus also Patti, when he speaks of "light inaccessible."[75]

as that "Word of God by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made; "[872]

Then that the Word was produced, "through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made."[466]

In the first place, because all things were made by the Word of God, and without Him was nothing made.[34]

, ) Son Jesus Christ, that "our fellowship may be with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ."[399]

and the teaching of the Gospel, that "by Him were all things made, and without Him nothing was made; "[49]

In conformity with which John also in his Gospel says: "All things were created by Him; and without Him was not anything made."[30]

John also, who lived after him, said, "That which was in the Logos was life, and the life was the light of men; "[21]

" In this way, he says, the Phrygians call him "Amygdalus," from which proceeded and was born the Invisible (One), "by whom all things were made, and nothing was made without Him."[121]

Now who is it who says that He can lay down His life, or can Himself recover His life again, because He has received it of His Father? Or who says that He can again resuscitate and rebuild the destroyed temple of His body, except because He is the Word who is from the Father, who is with the Father, "by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made; "[168]

and, "by Him were all things made,"[50]

He is the true light, and the light of the Gentiles. In the opening of the Gospel now before us He is the light of men: "That which was made,"[120]

" The "through[20]

We then alone, who first have touched the confines of life, are already perfect; and we already live who are separated from death. Salvation, accordingly, is the following of Christ: "For that which is in Him is life.[52]

And what? Does not he, who denies the Lord, deny himself? For does he not rob his Master of His authority, who deprives himself of his relation to Him? He, then, who denies the Saviour, denies life; for "the light was life."[59]

of thy foot: and God shall give thee a wearying heart, and a pining soul, and failing eyes, that they see not: and thy life shall hang on the tree[251]

What shall all the Gentiles do if ye be darkened in ungodliness? So shall ye bring a curse upon our race for whom came the light of the world, which was given among you for the lighting up of every man.[23]

For, in discoursing of the Saviour and declaring that all things beyond the Pleroma received form from Him, he says that He is the fruit of the entire Pleroma. For he styles Him a "light which shineth in darkness, and which was not comprehended"[122]

In itself it is darkness, and there is nothing luminous in it. And this is the meaning of the saying, "The darkness comprehendeth not the light."[41]

For how, says Heraclitus, can one escape the notice of that which never sets? Let us by no means, then, veil our selves with the darkness; for the light dwells in us. "For the darkness," it is said, "comprehendeth it not."[208]

Draw whatever (veil of) darkness you please over your deeds, "God is light."[53]

Now, I should like to ask these persons what they have to say respecting that passage where it is declared that God is light; as John writes in his Epistle, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."[3]

Nor, seeing He is called the Son of (His) love, will it appear absurd if in this way He be called the Son of (His) will. Nay, John also indicates that "God is Light,"[19]

hearing it declared in one passage, that "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all; "[192]

But even this rational light itself ought not to be worshipped by him who beholds and understands the true light, by sharing in which these also are enlightened; nor by him who beholds God, the Father of the true light,-of whom it has been said, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."[37]

and of the Word, who says, "The light shineth in darkness,"[134]

Furthermore, how can that being, seeing that he is pure and total darkness, surprise the light and apprehend it, while the evangelist gives us the testimony that "the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not? "[200]

They ungratefully and malignantly ask, Who is this? as if they had never yet seen their Benefactor, and Him whom divine miracles, beyond the power of man, had made famous and renowned; for the darkness comprehended not[24]

"They knew not, they understood not, they walk in darkness." Consider, however, this passage,[75]

The same came as a witness, that he might bear witness of that Light. He was not that Light, but [came] that he might testify of the Light."[128]

Si autem in luce ambulamus, sicut et ipse est in luce, societatem habemus cum ipso, et sanguis Jesu filii ejus emundat nos a peccato."[25]

celestial in John-the Spirit of prophecy-so completely failed, after the transfer of the whole Spirit to the Lord, that he presently sent to inquire whether He whom he had himself preached,[105]

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."[89]

These are they against whom the Lord has cautioned us beforehand; and His disciple, in his Epistle already mentioned, commands us to avoid them, when he says: "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Take heed to them, that ye lose not what ye have wrought."[296]

From the Epistle also of John they forthwith cull (a proof). It is said: "The blood of His Son purifieth us utterly from every sin."[240]

"He came for a witness that He might bear witness of the light, that all through Him might believe."[102]

and title of brotherhood, and bond[210]

If we confess our sins, faithful and just is He to remit them to us, and utterly purify us from every unrighteousness."[243]

And again, in his epistle, John lays it down, and says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."[10]

Also in the Epistle of John: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."[644]

Wisdom availeth more in the way of help than a band of the most powerful men in a city, and it often also pardons righteously those who fail in duty. For there is not one that stumbleth not.[50]

and another, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."[40]

And of what man could it be said, "He was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world: He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not? "[26]

He is so lovely, as to be alone loved by us, whose hearts are set on the true beauty, for "He was the true light."[44]

Immediately there appears the Word, "that true light, which lighteth man on his coming into the world,"[132]

For see yet again: "If we say," he says, "that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."[244]

But if any one, he says, is blind from birth, and has never beheld the true light, "which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world,"[134]

" And this, he says, is that which has been stated in the Gospels: "He was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."[28]

Thou who art the true light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the world;[13]

But Methodius: The Holy Spirit, who of God is given to all men, and of whom Solomon said, "For Thine incorruptible Spirit is in all things,"[9]

The fountain of God, most abundant and most full, is open to all; and this heavenly light rises for all,[113]

For ye are translated from your former vain and tedious mode of life and have contemned the lifeless idols, and despised the demons, which are in darkness, and have run to the "true light,"[133]

it says, "was life in Him, and the life was the light of men; and the light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it." A little further on, in the same passage, He is called the true light:[121]

And John, the disciple of the Lord, has intensified their condemnation, when he desires us not even to address to them the salutation of "good-speed; "for, says he, "He that bids them be of good-speed is a partaker with their evil deeds; "[218]

John, however, does himself put this matter beyond all controversy on our part, when he says, "He was in this world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own [things], and His own [people] received Him not."[125]

However, as many as did receive Him, to these gave He power to become the sons of God, to those that believe in His name."[162]

And beneath He says, "The world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not; He came unto His own, and His own received Him not."[252]

said: John the apostle laid it down in his epistle, saying: "If any one come unto you, and have not the doctrine of Christ, receive him not into your house, and say not to him, Hail. For he that saith to him, Hail, partakes with his evil deeds."[133]

Moreover, this is that word which came unto His own, and His own received Him not. For the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not."[86]

I think, then, that the world is not this compacted whole of heaven and earth according to the Divine Scriptures, but only the place which is round about the earth, and this is not to be conceived in respect of the whole earth, but only in respect of ours which is inhabited; for the true light "was in the world," that is, in the place which is around, conceived in relation to our part of the earth; "and the world knew Him not,"[127]

And if I glance around at their examples-(examples) of some David heaping up marriages for himself even through sanguinary means, of some Solomon rich in wives as well as in other riches-you are bidden to "follow the better things; "[39]

In the Gospel, too, according to John: "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God who believe on His name."[28]

."[7]

The prayer begins with a testimony to God, and with the reward of faith, when we say, "Our Father who art in the heavens; "for (in so saying), we at once pray to God, and commend faith, whose reward this appellation is. It is written, "To them who believed on Him He gave power to be called sons of God."[9]

If any one says there is one God, and also confesses Christ Jesus, but thinks the Lord to be a mere man, and not the only-begotten[51]

knows Him, so that he understands that He who "was not born either by the will of the flesh, or by the will of man,"[364]

Those therefore who did not receive Him did not receive life. "But to as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God."[166]

For not only must the idols which he formerly held as gods, but the works also of his former life, be abandoned by him who has been "born again, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,"[127]

he strikes at those inexplicable genealogies of the Valentinian ¦ons. Again, there is an answer to Ebion in the Scripture: "Born,[336]

And thus also John, describing the nativity of Christ, says: "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full Of grace and truth.".[80]

but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For "the Word was made flesh."[54]

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly begotten of God and of the Virgin, but not after the same manner. For indeed God and man are not the same. He truly assumed a body; for "the Word was made flesh,"[62]

But not, as some of the unbelievers, who are ashamed of the formation of man, and the cross, and death itself, affirm, that in appearance only, and not in truth, He took a body of the Virgin, and suffered only in appearance, forgetting, as they do, Him who said, "The Word was made flesh; "[13]

And concerning the incarnation: "The Word," says [the Scripture], "became flesh, and dwelt among us."[17]

who is by nature unchangeable? Why dost thou say that it is unlawful to declare of the Lawgiver who possesses a human soul, "The Word was made flesh,"[32]

because He[75]

He also styles Him Son, and Aletheia, and Zoe, and the "Word made flesh, whose glory," he says, "we beheld; and His glory was as that of the Only-begotten (given to Him by the Father), full of grace and truth."[124]

For they say that he, the Lord and Creator of the plan of creation, by whom they hold that this world was made, was produced from the Mother; while the Gospel affirms plainly, that by the Word, which was in the beginning with God, all things were made, which Word, he says, "was made flesh, and dwelt among us."[126]

For to him all things are consistent: he has a full faith in one God Almighty, of whom are all things; and in the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom are all things, and in the dispensations connected with Him, by means of which the Son of God became man; and a firm belief in the Spirit of God, who furnishes us with a knowledge of the truth, and has set forth the dispensations of the Father and the Son, in virtue of which He dwells with every generation of men,[484]

And again, showing the dispensation with regard to His human nature, John said: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."[163]

Let us then aim at the fulfilment of the commandments by the works of the Lord; for the Word Himself also, having openly become flesh,[14]

" Now the Word issuing forth was the cause of creation; then also he generated himself, "when the Word had become flesh,"[37]

none other body can be understood than that of the flesh,[638]

," he not only confirmed the statement, "The Word was made flesh,"[280]

Constituting, therefore, His word as the life-giving principle, because that word is spirit and life, He likewise called His flesh by the same appellation; because, too, the Word had become flesh,[244]

Word. For just as, when John says, "The Word was made flesh,"[363]

"The Lord for the body: "yes; for "the Word was made flesh."[169]

And he who beheld these things could say, "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."[355]

, His nature in the flesh derived from the Virgin, even as he (John) hath said beforetime, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us."[128]

And, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us."[277]

" The one says: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father."[25]

In the meanwhile the evangelist says with firmness, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."[38]

And the apostle said: Glory to the only-begotten from the Father;[62]

And these things indeed are said of the typical and symbolical body. But many things might be said about the Word Himself who became flesh,[141]

who might say, "and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."[195]

left also His mother, as He was the very son of the Jerusalem which is above, and was joined to His wife who had fallen down here, and these two here became one flesh. For because of her, He Himself also became flesh, when "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,"[146]

rs as a Mediator, when the invocation of a man to afford salvation is condemned as ineffectual? If Christ is only man, why is hope rested upon Him, when hope in man is declared to be accursed? If Christ is only man, why may not Christ be denied without destruction of the soul, when it is said that a sin committed against man may be forgiven? If Christ is only man, how comes John the Baptist to testify and say, "He who cometh after me has become before me, because He was prior to me; "[96]

This, too, was the reason why "Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." Hence, too,[63]

For of the prophets it is said, "We have all received of His fulness,"[197]

as figurative of things spiritual. And thus, when the grace of God advanced to higher degrees among men,[38]

Wherefore also they acknowledge (the truth of this word), "Out of His fulness have all we received."[50]

; while he likens Moses, on the other hand, to the truth? But the holy John, the greatest of the evangelists, also tells us of the giving and diffusing of grace for grace;[552]

Now the law is ancient grace given through Moses by the Word. Wherefore also the Scripture says, "The law was given through Moses,"[129]

Next is to be learned the greatness of the Saviour after Him, and the newness of grace; for, according to the apostle, "the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ; "[8]

and sets forth Christ as born of the seed of Joseph, contending that He was merely human, without divinity; affirming also that the Law was given by angels;[47]

and was superinducing grace over the law,[65]

Since certainly "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,"[6]

And there is also one Son, God the Word. For "the only-begotten Son," saith [the Scripture], "who is in the bosom of the Father."[12]

For "no man," he says, "hath seen God at any time," unless "the only-begotten Son of God, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared [Him]."[137]

If, then, neither Moses, nor Elias, nor Ezekiel, who had all many celestial visions, did see God; but if what they did see were similitudes of the splendour of the Lord, And prophecies of things to come; it is manifest that the Father is indeed invisible, of whom also the Lord said, "No man hath seen God at any time."[299]

And John the apostle says: "No man hath seen God at any time. The only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him,"[153]

For God the Father none ever saw, and lived.[170]

His own bosom. For this is preceded by another statement: "No man hath seen God at any time."[246]

Not, as some suppose, that the nature of God is visible to some and invisible to others: for the apostle does not say "the image of God invisible" to men or "invisible" to sinners, but with unvarying constancy pronounces on the nature of God in these words: "the image of the invisible God." Moreover, John, in his Gospel, when asserting that "no one hath seen God at any time,"[18]

The following, then, are their declarations. It is written, that "no man hath seen God at any time."[48]

and in these, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."[190]

For the Scriptures plainly speak of God as of a being without body. Hence it is said, "No man hath seen God at any time; "[53]

But if thou hast not known the image, which is the Son, how dost thou seek to see the Father? And that this is the case is made clear by the rest of the chapter, which signifies that the Son who "has been set forth[231]

Now, if we can by no means apprehend things that are done in ourselves, how could it ever be that we should understand the mystery of the uncreated Creator, which goes beyond every mind? Assuredly, if this mystery were one that could be penetrated by man, the inspired John would by no means have affirmed this: "No man hath seen God at any time."[6]

Furthermore, there is but one only inconvertible substance, the divine substance, eternal and invisible, as is known to all, and as is also borne out by this scripture: "No man hath seen God at any time, save the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father."[299]

does not condemn those who say there was a time when He was not? Who that hears these words of the Gospel, "the only-begotten Son; "[49]

Let us then also sing the like song, and raise the hymn to the Holy Father, glorifying in the Spirit Jesus, who is in His bosom.[2]

Therefore God alone is celebrated, as the unbegotten, independent, and unwearied nature; being incorporeal, and therefore invisible; for "no man hath seen God."[118]

After this he comes to the water, and blesses and glorifies the Lord God Almighty, the Father of the only begotten God;[189]

the one happens to be self-begotten or unbegotten, they cannot be called the same; nor can it be asserted of him who has been begotten that he is of the same substance as he is who has begotten him?[56]

Then the Jews sent priests and levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou And he confessed and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ.[31]

why look ye so earnestly at me? "I am not the Christ; "[384]

Well, then, was it really in a Pythagorean sense that the Jews approached John with the inquiry, "Art thou Elias? "[251]

"Art thou that prophet? And he answered No."[51]

He will leave nothing to himself, who separates either the Father from the Son, or the Son from the Father.[118]

He will deny that he is Christ, but will profess himself to be "a voice crying in the wilderness." Who, then, is John?[15]

as being he who not merely "prepared His ways in the desert,"[177]

I cannot keep silence while Thou art present, for I am a voice; yea, I am the voice, as it is said, of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.[9]

" And John practises a similar abbreviation in the text, "Behold I send My messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee," when he does not add the words "before thee," as in the original. Coming now to the statement, "They were sent from the Pharisees and they asked Him,"[91]

They wished to know why he baptized, if he was neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet; and he said:[29]

For some such meaning seems to be indicated by John the Baptist, when he said to the multitude in the bodily absence of Jesus, "There standeth one among you whom ye know not: He it is who cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose."[32]

John the Baptist, when predicting that the Son of God was to appear immediately, not in that body and soul, but as manifesting Himself everywhere, says regarding Him: "There stands in the midst of you One whom ye know not, who cometh after me."[31]

Another is made manifest by that John who wrote the Gospel, when, speaking in the person of John the Baptist, he said, "There standeth one among you whom ye know not; He it is who cometh after me."[47]

This was also made plain in the Gospel according to John: "And John answered them, I indeed baptize with water, but there standeth One in the midst of you whom ye know not: He it is of whom I said, The man that cometh after me is made before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose."[249]

John[100]

I am worthless, and the least; but "after me there comes One who is before me"[388]

I acknowledge my own servitude, I proclaim Thy glorious greatness, I recognise Thy perfect lordship, I recognise my own perfect insignificance, I am not worthy to unloose the latchets of Thy shoes;[14]

"These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing."[115]

because He was prior to me: and of His fulness have all we received."[102]

Behold the Lamb of God!"[48]

And the fat and unctuous food,-the delicacies abundant and sufficing of the blessed,-the fatted calf is killed; which is also again spoken of as a lamb (not literally); that no one may suppose it small; but it is the great and greatest. For not small is "the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world,"[8]

but withal, by pointing out "the Lamb of God,"[178]

Then, again, when He is designated by John (the Baptist) as "the Lamb of God,"[247]

came down on Jesus;[66]

For after the return of the people from Babylon under the leadership of Jesus the son of Josedech, and Ezra the scribe, and Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of David, there were 434 years unto the coming of Christ, in order that the Priest of priests might be manifested in the world, and that He who taketh away the sins of the world might be evidently set forth, as John speaks concerning Him: "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!"[169]

After this, at the Jordan, seeing the Saviour with his own eye, he points Him out, and says, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!"[101]

Also in the Gospel: "On the next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, and behold Him that taketh away the sins of the world!"[227]

I Extend Thy dread right hand, which Thou hast prepared for Thyself, and crown my head by Thy touch, in order that I may run the course before Thy kingdom, crowned like a forerunner, and diligently announce the good tidings to the sinners, addressing them with this earnest call: "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!"[17]

And the Son of God came to me; and I, seeing Him a long way off, said to the people: Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.[5]

Since, then, He takes away sin until every enemy shall be destroyed and death last of all, in order that the whole world may be free from sin, therefore John points to Him and says:[166]

"And he sayeth, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."[148]

Bat another will say not merely that, but also collecting the passages together, will say that the Son is first delivered up by God,-then about to be tempted, then to be in conflict, then to suffer for men, or even for the whole world that He might take away its sin,[62]

"Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world," and in these words he declares Him as a man,[106]

And I knew Him not; but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, Upon whom you will see the Spirit descending, and abiding on Him, the same is He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost And I saw, and bear witness, that this is the Son of God."[86]

Thus John, when explaining how he knew who Christ was, spoke not only of the descent of the Spirit on Jesus, but also of its remaining upon him. For it is written that John said:[28]

to perform this duty, )[99]

" Now, if he came, where did he come from? To those who find it difficult to follow us, we point to what John says afterwards of having seen the Holy Spirit as a dove descending on the Saviour. "He that sent me," he says,[93]

And, in my opinion, such things are indicated in the Gospel according to John in these words, "On the morrow again John was standing and two of his disciples.[2]

For this cause I was born, and for this cause I am come into the world, that I might bear testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."[322]

But it is sufficient at present to bring forward this from the Gospel according to John, "Jesus turned and beheld them-" clearly, Peter and Andrew-"following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? "[156]

For there is a difference in thought perhaps between Simon who is found by his own brother Andrew, and who is addressed "Thou shalt be called Cephas,"[22]

But we hoped that it was He which should redeem Israel." Again, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter found his own brother Simon and said to him,[36]

"We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, Christ." And a little further on Philip finds Nathanael and says to him,[37]

By whom also Nathanael, being taught, recognised [Him], he to whom also the Lord bare witness, that he was "an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile."[138]

in the Church far on high, in which are gathered the philosophers of God, "who are Israelites indeed, who are pure in heart, in whom there is no guile; "[198]

and in His name shall the Gentiles trust."[140]

and Nathanµl[306]

And as their love towards God increases, He bestows more and greater [gifts]; as also the Lord said to His disciples: "Ye shall see greater things than these."[108]

And He affirmed Himself that they were quite right in their convictions; for He answered Nathanµl: "Because I said, I saw thee under the fig-tree, therefore dose thou believe?"[250]

But with respect to this opening of the heavens, the Saviour, foretelling to His disciples that it would happen, and that they would see it, says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."[87]