May 24 – Pentecost Sunday

OVERVIEW: There are five sections in this chapter: the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1 4), the listing of all the nations represented and the amazement of the crowd (Acts 2:5 13), Peter’s speech (Acts 2:14 36), the reaction of the hearers (Acts 2:37 41) and a summary description of the restored and new people (Acts 2:42 47). In the theological presentation of Luke, we first saw the reconstitution of the Twelve, and thus the new Israel (Acts 1:15 26), and the giving of the new law at a new Sinai at Pentecost follows this. Then, in Peter’s speech to the old Israel, gathered from the nations in Jerusalem, the new Israel, in the power of the Holy Spirit, addresses the old Israel. The Fathers are sensitive to Luke’s allusive theology of a new Sinai: many remark on the significance of the fifty days, others allude to the “beginnings of the Gospel” (LEO), thus of a new people. They link Christian baptism to this baptism in the Holy Spirit (CHRYSOSTOM, CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, ARATOR). They are aware that Luke is alluding to the undoing of Babel in the gift of tongues (BEDE, CYRIL) and the significance of the presence of this gift in showing forth the universality of the church (AUGUSTINE, LEO, CYRIL, CASSIODORUS), though they show little curiosity about the precise description of this gift. Finally, Augustine poses the very modern question: what is the relation between the bestowal of the Spirit in John 20:22 23 and that at Pentecost? Typically, he compares the events while modern exegesis, also typically, looks rather to different theological viewpoints in the two authors.

2:1 The Day of Pentecost
THE SAME SPIRIT. LEO THE GREAT: To the Hebrew people, now freed from Egypt, the law was given on Mount Sinai fifty days after the immolation of the paschal lamb. Similarly, after the passion of Christ in which the true Lamb of God was killed, just fifty days after his resurrection, the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles and the whole group of believers. Thus the earnest Christian may easily perceive that the beginnings of the Old Covenant were at the service of the beginnings of the gospel and that the same Spirit who instituted the first established the Second Covenant. SERMON 75.

THE FIFTIETH DAY. BEDE: It should be noted with respect to the historical sense that among the ancients the day of Pentecost (that is the fiftieth day, on which the law was given) was computed from the killing of the paschal lamb. In our case, however, it is not from the Lord’s passion but from his resurrection, as the blessed Augustine explains it, that we are to calculate the fiftieth day, on which was sent the Holy Spirit, who, recalling the example of the old sign, most clearly consecrated the Lord’s day to himself by his coming. Indeed, by this specific time of his coming he also showed that the Passover was to be celebrated on the Lord’s day. For here too God appeared in a vision of fire, as he had also in the earlier case, as Exodus says, “For the whole of Mount Sinai was smoking because the Lord had descended upon it in fire.” COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2.1.

THE INGATHERING. CHRYSOSTOM: Do you see the type? What is this Pentecost? The time when the sickle was to be put to the harvest and the fruits to be gathered. Look at the reality now, how the time has come to ply the sickle of the Word. The Spirit, keen edged, came down in place of the sickle. For hear the words of Christ, “Lift up your eyes and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.” And again, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” He himself, taking our nature as the first fruits, lifted it up high and he was himself the first to ply the sickle. For this reason he calls the Word also the Seed. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 4.

THE MYSTERY OF THE FIFTY DAYS. AUGUSTINE: Fifty days are reckoned from the celebration of the Passover (which, as Moses ordered, was accomplished by slaying the lamb, a type to signify the future passion of the Lord) to the day on which Moses received the law on tablets written by the finger of God. Likewise, when fifty days had passed from the slaying and resurrection of him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter, the finger of God, that is, the Holy Spirit filled the believers gathered in one place. ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 16.28.

THE SCENT OF PARADISE. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: When the blessed apostles were gathered together the place shook and the scent of Paradise, having recognized its home, poured forth its perfumes, delighting the heralds by whom the guests are instructed and come to his banquet; eagerly he awaits their arrival for he is the Lover of mankind. HYMNS ON PARADISE 11.14.

2:2 The Rush of a Mighty Wind
EACH APOSTLE RECEIVES A SPRING OF SPIRIT. CHRYSOSTOM: Thus Moses was the greatest of the prophets, yet he, when others were to receive the Spirit, suffered diminution himself. But here it is not so. For just as fire kindles as many lamps as it will, so here the abundance of the Spirit was shown. Each one received a spring of Spirit, just as he himself said, that those who believe in him shall have “a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” And it was justly so. For they were not going forth to argue with the pharaoh but to wrestle with the devil. The wonderful thing is this: they made no objections when they were sent; they did not say they were “weak in voice and slow of speech.” For Moses had taught them better. They did not say they were too young. Jeremiah had made them wise. And yet they heard many fearful things, much worse than what was in former times, but they were afraid to object. For they were angels of light and the servants of things on high. No one from heaven appeared to people of former times, because they were in pursuit of matters on earth. But when man ascended on high, the Spirit descends from on high, “like the rush of a mighty wind.” Through this it is made clear that nothing will be able to stand against them and they will blow away all adversaries like a heap of dust. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 4.

MIRACLES OF SOUND AND SIGHT. AUGUSTINE: But I am surprised that you think it possible for the sound of that voice which said, “You are my Son,” to be produced by the divine will acting on physical nature without the agency of a living being, and you do not think it possible for the physical appearance of any living creature and of movement like that of life to be produced by the divine will in the same way without the agency of any animal life principle. If created nature obeys God without the actions of a vivifying soul, so that sounds are uttered such as are usually uttered by a living body and the form of articulate speech is brought to the ears, why should it not obey him so that without the agency of a vivifying soul the form and movement of a bird should be presented to the sight by the same power of the Creator? . . . Therefore, there is no need to inquire how the corporeal appearance of the dove was produced, just as we do not inquire how the words of an articulate body produce their sound. For, if it were possible for a soul not to be the medium by which a voice is said to have been made audible and not as a voice usually is, how much more possible was it when the dove was spoken of that this word should signify merely a physical appearance presented to the eyes without the actual nature of a living creature! These words, also, were said in that sense, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind coming, and there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire,” where a certain phenomenon is said to be “as of a wind” and “as it were” a visible fire, like the natural fire with its customary nature, but it does not seem to mean that natural fire of the customary kind was produced. LETTER 169.

PENTECOST AND OUR BAPTISM. CHRYSOSTOM: For in the case of the apostles too, there was a “sound of a mighty wind,” and visions of fiery tongues appeared, but not for the apostles’ sake, but because of the Jews who were then present. Nevertheless, even though no sensible signs take place, we receive the things that have been once manifested by them. Since the dove itself at that time therefore appeared, that as in place of a finger (so to say) it might point out to them that were present, and to John, the Son of God. Not however merely on this account, but to teach you also, that upon you no less at your baptism the Spirit comes. But since then we have no need of sensible vision, faith sufficing instead of all. For signs are “not for them that believe but for them that believe not.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 12.3.

THE DISCIPLES’ BAPTISM. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: And lest people should be ignorant of the greatness of the mighty gift coming down to them, there sounded as it were a heavenly trumpet. For suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, signifying the presence of him who was to grant power to people to seize with violence the kingdom of God, that both their eyes might see the fiery tongues and their ears hear the sound. And it filled all the house where they were sitting; for the house became the vessel of the spiritual water; as the disciples sat within, the whole house was filled. Thus they were entirely baptized according to the promise and invested soul and body with a divine garment of salvation. CATECHETICAL LECTURE 17.15.

2:3 Tongues of Fire
WHY WATER AND FIRE. ARATOR: A matter of greatest importance compels me not to keep silent long as to why it is that the fostering Spirit is given to them as flame but at the River Jordan as a dove; I shall fitly sing this mystery, and I shall fulfill the promises owed if the Spirit brings his gifts. These two signs are allegories that there should be simplicity, which very appropriately this bird loves, and that, lest this simplicity be sluggish and grow lukewarm without the fire of doctrine, there should also be faith that has been kindled. There in the Jordan he appointed by means of the waters that they be of one mind; here with fire he bids that they teach with flaming words. Love presses hard upon their minds; zeal burns in their words. ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.

THE SPIRIT MAKES ONE BURN AND SPEAK. BEDE: Now the Holy Spirit appeared in fire and in tongues because all those whom he fills he makes simultaneously to burn and to speak to burn because of him and to speak about him. And at the same time he indicated that the holy church, when it had spread to the ends of the earth, was to speak in the languages of all nations. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2.3A.

UNITY AND DIVERSITY. AUGUSTINE: Therefore, when he sent the Holy Spirit he manifested him visibly in two ways by a dove and by fire: by a dove upon the Lord when he was baptized, by fire upon the disciples when they were gathered together. . . . The dove shows that those who are sanctified by the Spirit should be without guile. That their simplicity should not continue cold is shown us by the fire. Nor let it trouble you that the tongues were divided; for tongues are diverse, therefore the appearance was that of cloven tongues. “Cloven tongues,” it said, “as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” There is a diversity of tongues, but the diversity of tongues does not imply schisms. Do not be afraid of separation in the cloven tongues, but in the dove recognize unity. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.3.

PREPARE FOR THE FIRE. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: They partook of fire, not of burning but of saving fire. This is a fire that consumes the thorns of sins but gives luster to the soul. This is now coming upon you also in order to strip away and consume your sins, which are like thorns, and to brighten yet more that precious possession of your souls, and to give you grace, the same given then to the apostles. The Spirit descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, that they might crown themselves with new and spiritual diadems by fiery tongues upon their heads. As a fiery sword had barred of old the gates of paradise, a fiery tongue that brought salvation restored the gift. CATECHETICAL LECTURE 17.15.

2:4 Speaking in Other Tongues
THE CHURCH: A GATHERING OF LANGUAGES. LEO THE GREAT: O how swift is the speech of wisdom! Where God is the teacher, how quickly is that learned which is being taught! No interpretation is used in order to understand, no practice is needed in order to use it. No time is needed to study, but, with the “Spirit” of truth “blowing wherever he pleases,” the particular voices of each distinct people become familiar in the mouth of the church. From this day the trumpet of the gospel teaching resounds. From this day showers of graces and streams of benedictions water all the desert and every wasteland, to “renew the face of the earth,” “God’s Spirit hovered over the water.” To take away the old darkness, beams of new light flash out, when by the splendor of those glowing tongues, the Word of the Lord becomes “clear” and “speech takes fire.” Both the force of giving light and the power of burning were present for this reason, to create knowledge and to destroy sin. SERMON 75.2.

TONGUES SIGNIFY A VARIETY OF GRACES. BEDE: The church’s humility recovers the unity of languages that the pride of Babylon had shattered. Spiritually, however, the variety of languages signifies gifts of a variety of graces. Truly therefore, it is not inconsistent to understand that the Holy Spirit first gave to human beings the gift of languages, by which human wisdom is both learned and taught extrinsically, so that he might thereby show how easily he can make people wise through the wisdom of God, which is within them. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2.4.

SINAI AND PENTECOST: THE CONTRAST. AUGUSTINE: Now, amid this admirable correspondence, there is at least this very considerable difference in the cases, in that the people in the earlier instance were deterred by a horrible dread from approaching the place where the law was given; whereas in the other case the Holy Spirit came upon them who were gathered together in expectation of his promised gift. There it was on tables of stone that the finger of God operated; here it was on the hearts of people. There the law was given outwardly, so that the unrighteous might be terrified; here it was given inwardly, so that they might be justified. For this, “Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment” such, of course, as was written on those tables “it is briefly comprehended,” says he, “in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love works no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Now this was not written on the tables of stone but “is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given to us.” God’s law, therefore, is love. “To it the carnal mind is not subject, neither indeed can be;” but when the works of love are written on tables to alarm the carnal mind, there arises the law of works and “the letter which kills” the transgressor; but when love itself is shed abroad in the hearts of believers, then we have the law of faith and the Spirit which gives life to one who loves. ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 17.29.

TWO BESTOWALS OF THE SPIRIT? AUGUSTINE: For the Lord has transacted even this explicit imparting of the Holy Spirit not once but twice. For later when he arose from the dead, breathing on them, he said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Then because he gave him at that time, did he therefore not also later send him whom he promised? Or is this not the same Holy Spirit who was both breathed by him then and later sent by him from heaven? Therefore, why his giving, which clearly was done, was done twice is another question. Perhaps this double giving of him was done in manifestation of the two commandments of love, that is of neighbor and of God, in order that love might be shown to belong to the Holy Spirit. And if another reason must be sought, this discourse must not now by an inquiry into it be expanded to greater length than it ought, yet let it be established that without the Holy Spirit we cannot love Christ and keep his commandments. We can and do keep his commandments less as we receive him less, but so much the more as we receive him more. Accordingly, not only to one who does not have him but also to one who does, he is not promised to no purpose: to the one not having, that he may be had, but to the one having, that he may be had more. For if he were not had less by the one, more by the other, the holy Elisha would not say to the holy Elijah, “May the spirit who is in you be in me in double measure.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 74.2.2 3.

THE SPEECH OF BABYLON AND PENTECOST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: The Galilean Peter or Andrew spoke Persian or Median. John and the other apostles spoke all the tongues of various nations, for the thronging of multitudes of strangers from all parts is not something new in Jerusalem, but this was true in apostolic times. What teacher can be found so proficient as to teach people in a moment what they have not learned? So many years are required through grammar and other arts merely to speak Greek well; and all do not speak it equally well. The rhetorician may succeed in speaking it well, the grammarian sometimes less well; and one who is skilled in grammar is ignorant of philosophical studies. But the Spirit taught them at once many languages, which they do not know in a whole lifetime. This is truly lofty wisdom. This is divine power. What a contrast between their long ignorance in the past and this sudden, comprehensive, varied and unaccustomed use of languages. The multitude of those listening was confounded; it was a second confusion, in contrast to the first evil confusion at Babylon. In that former confusion of tongues there was a division of purpose, for the intention was impious. Here there was a restoration and union of minds, since the object of their zeal was righteous. Through what occasioned the fall came the recovery. CATECHETICAL LECTURE 17.16 17.

THE ELOQUENCE THAT COMES FROM UNITY. CASSIODORUS: “He heard a tongue which he knew not.” We must interpret tongue here as the precepts of the New Testament, for if you understand it as “language,” how did the Jewish people hear a tongue that they did not know, when we are sure that the Lord Christ spoke in Hebrew? So the passage means that in the gospel they heard a tongue or precepts that their earlier knowledge did not embrace; alternatively it refers to the time when the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in unknown and varied tongues. EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 80.6.

THE MULTITUDE IS AMAZED
OVERVIEW: Luke now recounts how Jews “from every nation under heaven,” thus, representatives from all the world, heard the witness of Peter as he proclaimed the new Sinai. The list of nations, perhaps taken from similar lists and then added to, is meant also to show the universality of the proclamation and the unification of those separated by the confusion at Babel. The Fathers generally do not remark on the notion of all Israel representatively present, though they do mention once again the theme of the undoing of Babel (ARATOR) and find different “allegorical” (ARATOR), “mystical” (BEDE) or fulfillment (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM) forms of significance in the reference to new wine. Chrysostom picks up the familiar theme of the power of speech given to uneducated men.

2:6 The Multitude Bewildered
DEVOUT PEOPLE PERPLEXED. CHRYSOSTOM: Notice their piety: they do not pronounce judgment in haste but are perplexed. The reckless ones, on the other hand, pronounce at once, saying, “They are filled with new wine.” Now it was in order that they might comply with the law and appear three times each year in the temple that they lived there, the “devout men from all nations.” Notice that the writer does not flatter them: he does not say that they did not pronounce judgment. What does he say? “And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered.” This is quite likely, since they thought that things were coming to a head for them because of the outrage committed against Christ. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 4.

2:8-11 Hearing of God’s Wonderful Works
THE UNCOUTH RUSTIC HAS OVERCOME THEM ALL. CHRYSOSTOM: Even Plato, who talked a great deal, is now silent. His voice was heard everywhere, not only among his own people but also among the Parthians, the Medes, the Elamites, in India, in short, in every part of the earth and to the ends of the world. But where is the arrogance of Greece now? Where the name of Athens? Where the ravings of the philosophers? He of Galilee, he of Bethsaida, he, the uncouth rustic, has overcome them all. Are you not ashamed (confess it!) at the very name of your vanquisher’s country? And if you hear his own name as well, that he was called Cephas, you will hide your faces even more. For this has utterly defeated you, because you believe it is a disgrace; you believe that glibness of tongue is praiseworthy and lack of glibness a disgrace. You did not travel the road that ought to have been followed. Instead, you left the road to the kingdom, so easy and smooth, and walked the road that was rough, steep and laborious. Therefore, you did not arrive at the kingdom of heaven. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 4.

THE CHURCH GATHERS SCATTERED LANGUAGES. ARATOR: Long after the old ark had overcome the waters of the sea, malicious people wished to extend their tower [of Babel] into heaven. In them, irreligious hearts divided the forms of their speech, and the good will in these arrogant confederates perished with their voice. At that time there was a confusion of language for a homogenous race; now there is one [language] for many since [that language] rejoices at the appearance of the coming church, [a language that] will have harmonious sounds; and [the church] brings about a return of eloquence in peace for the obedient [apostles], and the humble order gathers again what arrogant people scattered. ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.

OVERVIEW: God put form before function when he created human beings. Function will cease, but human beauty will induce us to give glory to God, who clothes himself in praise and beauty (AUGUSTINE). At his incarnation Christ came humbly, dressed in swaddling clothes; when he returns in judgment he will be clothed in glory and escorted by angels (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). Regardless of how the world is constituted, we know it was made by God’s will and command (JOHN). The world began and will end by divine command, not by its own nature, and its constitution does not depend on human understanding of it (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). Christ is clothed in the depths of knowledge and the light of wisdom, which are his holy garments (ORIGEN). Christ, the source of our immortality, is greater than the angels, who are his ministering spirits (CLEMENT OF ROME). Moses, David in the Psalms and Isaiah all attribute creation to God but from different perspectives and with different facts (JACOB, JOHN OF DAMASCUS). Only those who are receptive to the Holy Spirit can understand in depth the teachings of holy Scripture.

God created the world and all its creatures, provides for them and gave each a purpose or reason for existence (ORIGEN). When David spoke of bread strengthening a person’s heart, he was prophesying the Lord’s Supper and its spiritual blessings (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). Intelligent people who are not deceived by scientific learning know that true nourishment for the mind comes from the word of God (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

104:1-4 Clothed in Honor and Majesty
THE BEAUTY AND FUNCTION OF THE HUMAN BODY. AUGUSTINE: There are some things, too, which have such a place in the body, that they obviously serve no useful purpose, but are solely for beauty, as e.g. the teats on a man’s breast, or the beard on his face; for that this is for ornament, and not for protection, is proved by the bare faces of women, who ought rather, as the weaker sex, to enjoy such a defence. If, therefore, of all those members which are exposed to our view, there is certainly not one in which beauty is sacrificed to utility, while there are some which serve no purpose but only beauty, I think it can readily be concluded that in the creation of the human body comeliness was more regarded than necessity. In truth, necessity is a transitory thing; and the time is coming when we shall enjoy one another’s beauty without any lust, a condition which will specially redound to the praise of the Creator, who, as it is said in the psalm, has “put on praise and comeliness.” CITY OF GOD 22.24.

CHRIST’S TWO COMINGS COMPARED. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: What we proclaim is not one single coming of Christ but a second as well, much fairer than the first. For the first presented a demonstration of longsuffering, but the second wears the crown of the kingdom of God. Most things about our Lord Jesus Christ are twofold. His birth is twofold, once of God before the ages and once of the Virgin in the end of the ages. Twice he comes down, once all unseen like dew on a fleece and a second time still future and manifest. When first he came, he was swaddled in a manger. When next he comes he will “clothe himself with light as with a garment.” At his first coming “he endured the cross, despising the shame”; at his second, he comes surrounded with glory and escorted by hosts of angels. We do not therefore simply rest on Christ’s first coming, by itself, but let us look forward also to his second; and as we say of his former coming, “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord,” so also we will say the same words again at his Second Coming, that we may meet our Master in company with angels and say, “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord” as we worship him. The Savior comes again, but not to be judged again, for he will pass judgment on those who passed judgment on him, and he who before kept silence as they judged him now reminds those lawless people who did their outrageous deeds to him on the cross and says, “These things you have done, and I kept silence.” He adapted himself when he came then and taught people by persuasion, but this time it is they who will be forced to bow to his rule, whether they want to or not. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 15.1.

ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY GOD. JOHN OF DAMASCUS: Others [unspecified pagan philosophers], however, have imagined the heavens to have the form of a hemisphere, because the inspired David says, “Who stretches out the heaven like a pavilion” which means a tent; and the blessed Isaiah: “He that establishes the heavens like a vault”; and because the sun, the moon and the stars, when they set, go round the earth from west to north and return again to the east. However, whichever way it may be, all things have been made and established by the command of God and have their foundation in the divine will and desire. “For he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created. He has established them for ever, and for ages of ages; he has made a decree, and it shall not pass away.” ORTHODOX FAITH 2.6.

THE EARTH CONTINUES TO EXIST BY DIVINE COMMAND. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The sky that you behold, O man [a listener who is a sensible person], made completely of air, carries many waters and is not itself supported by anything else, since a mere command hung it up and the sole force of a precept supports it. The divine revelation states, “Who stretches out the heaven like a pavilion, who covers the higher rooms thereof with water.” The great weight and burden of the mountains rests on the earth, which is made solid by its own mass; and that earth floats on a foundation of liquid, as the prophet testifies: “Who established the earth above the waters.” Consequently, the fact that it stands arises from a commandment, not from nature. “He spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created.” Therefore, the fact that the world holds together is a matter of divine operation, not of human understanding. The sea rolls along with the high crest of its own waves and is raised aloft toward the clouds. Yet, light sands hem it in. Hence we see that its great might yields not to the sand but to a precept. All the beings in the sky and earth and sea move and live after they have been made by one sole command. The prophet affirms that they will be dissolved again by a mere command when he says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They shall perish, but you remain; and all of them shall all grow old like a garment, and as a garment shall you change them, and they shall be changed.” How? In such a way that their great age may fail through time but not that creation will perish before the eyes of its Creator. SERMON 101.

GOD’S HOLY GARMENTS. ORIGEN: And, therefore, about this one [Jesus Christ] it is rightly said, “He has perfect hands to put on the holy things.” For this one is truly he who “put on holy things,” not those who were “bad examples” but these that are truly “holy.” But if you want to hear about his more lofty garments, take the prophetic words, “Clothed with light as a garment, the abyss as a garment is his clothing.” This is the appearance of my great high priest who is declared clothed with the depths of knowledge and the light of wisdom that truly are “holy” garments. HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 12.3.3.

GOD IS GREATER THAN THE ANGELS. CLEMENT OF ROME: This is the way, dear friends, in which we found out salvation, namely Jesus Christ, the high priest of our offerings, the guardian and helper of our weakness. Through him let us look steadily into the heights of heaven; through him we see as in a mirror his faultless and transcendent face; through him the eyes of our hearts have been opened; through him our foolish and darkened mind springs up into the light; through him the Master has willed that we should taste immortal knowledge, for “he, being the radiance of his majesty, is as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent.” For so it is written: “He makes his angels winds and his ministers flames of fire.” But of his Son the Master spoke thus: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the Gentiles for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.” And again he says to him, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Who, then, are these enemies? Those who are wicked and resist his will. 1 CLEMENT 36.

ANGELS WERE CREATED BY GOD. JACOB OF SARUG: That through visible things the world might learn who is its Lord And what Moses omitted from his account, and what was not written, David expressed in the book of his psalm. “He made his angels and his ministers of fire and wind.” Thus David caused to be written in his excellent book of Psalms So that the world might learn that angels too were created works And with the created things they come to birth from the Creator. For what the great Moses did not write about concerning the angels David wrote down, but single is the spirit of their revelations. And the world learned through Moses as well as through David That he is one who created all creatures with his gesture. And David showed on what day the angels came into being For their creation was made plain to the world, when and how In that gesture with which heaven and earth were created. In it all the hosts of heavenly beings arose. Through the word of the Lord heaven was made, David showed. And together with it [his word] were the hosts made through the Spirit from his mouth. Moses demonstrated that the Lord created the heaven and the earth And David demonstrated how the hosts came into being. Isaiah, too, through that revelation of his prophecy, brought to the world an account of that power of the seraphim. ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CREATION.

MINISTERING SPIRITS. JOHN OF DAMASCUS: [God] is the maker and creator of the angels. He brought into being and made them after his own image into a bodiless nature, some sort of spirit, as it were, and immaterial fire as the divine David says: “Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire.” And he determined their lightness, fieriness, heat, extreme acuity, their keenness in their desire for God and his service and their being raised up and removed from every material consideration. ORTHODOX FAITH 2.3.

104:6 The Earth Clothed with Water
THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD. ORIGEN: Now, according to a Hebrew figure of speech, it is said of God in the eighteenth psalm that “he made darkness his secret place,” to signify that those notions that should be worthily entertained of God are invisible and unknowable, because God conceals himself in darkness, as it were, from those who cannot endure the splendors of his knowledge or are incapable of looking at them, partly owing to the pollution of their understanding, which is clothed with the body of mortal lowliness, and partly owing to its feebler power of comprehending God. And in order that it may appear that the knowledge of God has rarely been vouchsafed to people and has been found in very few individuals, Moses is related to have entered into the darkness where God was. And again, with regard to Moses it is said, “Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but the rest shall not come near.” And again, that the prophet may show the depth of the doctrines that relate to God and that are unattainable by those who do not possess the “Spirit that searches all things, even the deep things of God,” he added, “The abyss like a garment is his covering.” No, our Lord and Savior, the Logos of God, manifesting that the greatness of the knowledge of the Father, is appropriately comprehended and known preeminently by him alone, and in the second place by those whose minds are enlightened by the Logos and God, declares, “No one knows the Son but the Father; neither does any one know the Father but the Son, and he to whoever the Son will reveal him.” For no one can worthily know the “uncreated” and firstborn of all created nature like the Father who begat him, nor any one the Father like the living Logos, and his Wisdom and Truth. By sharing in him who takes away from the Father what is called “darkness,” which he “made his secret place,” and “the abyss,” which is called his “covering,” and by unveiling the Father in this way, every one knows the Father who is capable of knowing him. AGAINST CELSUS 6.17.

OVERVIEW: The hedgehogs spoken of by the psalmist are symbolic of people who live simple and nonaggressive lives intent on spiritual meditation (CASSIAN). The heavenly bodies witness to their creator by their brilliant beauty and persevere to do his will (AMBROSE). The sun, which knows its setting, refers to Christ, who willingly endured his passion (CAESARIUS). Prayer is like the sunrise, which dispels darkness, drives off Satan, enlightens our minds and dissipates our sinful passions (CHRYSOSTOM). The universe was made by the Son of God, who is coeternal with his Father (ATHANASIUS). The universe gives evidence of the majesty and wisdom of its creator and lifts our eyes from the visible world around us to the invisible God above (AMBROSE). People have many reasons to thank God their creation in God’s image, including their call to repentance and the incarnation of God’s Son. The psalmist testifies that the triune nature of God is clearly attested already in the opening verses of Genesis. Christ is the Wisdom of God and God’s instrument of creation (AUGUSTINE). The dangers of the sea are symbolic of the dangers that Christians face in the world (ATHANASIUS). The vastness and beauty of the sea and its inhabitants and the fact that the sea abides by its divinely imposed limitations attests to the wisdom of its creator (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). The sea represents the world filled with countless sinful people; the ship represents the church, which sails toward its destiny; the port, paradise; and the dragon, Satan (CAESARIUS). When God created the devil, he foreknew that he would become an instrument of good as well as evil.

Just as God provides for the needs of the body, he also feeds the soul through sermons if we pay attention (AUGUSTINE). Since only God is good, everything that is good comes from him even if it is deferred for a time (AMBROSE, AUGUSTINE). The resurrection and revivification of believers by the Spirit was prophesied by David (GREGORY OF NYSSA). David gives witness to the mortality of the body and the immortality of the soul of the faithful (JOHN, GREGORY OF NYSSA). In creation the Holy Spirit gave beauty to unformed matter, and neither can anything continue to exist nor can there be a resurrection without him (AMBROSE, GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS). When this universe is destroyed, a new one will be created where people will live physically without sorrow and death and will have a life that resembles the life of angels (METHODIUS, BASIL). We cannot praise the Holy Spirit enough when we remember that he is the one who raises us from the dead and will enable us to adjust to the new spiritual life in heaven (BASIL). The Holy Spirit was and is instrumental in the three creations the creation of the world, baptismal regeneration and the recreation or resurrection to life everlasting (NICETAS). The Holy Spirit shared in the work of creation, fills the world and dwells in us all this is proof of his divinity (FULGENTIUS).

The animal sacrifices in the Old Testament have been replaced by sacrifices of prayer, meditation and righteous living (ATHANASIUS). Prayer is conversation with God, which God desires but which is not absolutely necessary for God to bestow on us his providential care (CHRYSOSTOM). God’s judgment falls on sinners who deny him by their deeds as well as those who deny him by their words (AUGUSTINE).

104:18-26 Seasons and Times
A PIOUS CHRISTIAN IS LIKE THE HEDGEHOG. JOHN CASSIAN: And so by the illumination of God himself he mounts to that manifold knowledge of him and begins to be nourished on more sublime and still more sacred mysteries, in accordance with these words of the prophet: “The high hills are a refuge for the stags, the rocks for the hedgehogs,” which is fairly applied in the sense we have given, because whoever continues in simplicity and innocence is not harmful or offensive to any one, but being content with his own simple condition endeavors simply to defend himself from being harmed by his foes and becomes a sort of spiritual hedgehog, protected by the continual shield of that rock of the gospel. That is, while he is sheltered by the recollection of the Lord’s passion and by ceaseless meditation on the verse given above, he escapes the snares of his enemies. And of these spiritual hedgehogs we read in Proverbs as follows: “And the hedgehogs are a feeble folk, who have made their homes in the rocks.” CONFERENCES 10.11.

THE HEAVENLY BODIES HAVE SET PURPOSES. AMBROSE: Consider that the sun, the moon and the stars, the lights of the sky which, though they shine with brilliant splendor, are yet creatures, and, whether they rise or fall in their daily performance of duty, they serve the will of the eternal Creator, bringing forth the beauty with which they are clothed and shining by day and by night. How often is the sun covered by clouds or taken from the gaze of the earth when the ray of its light is dispelled in the sky or an eclipse occurs, and as Scripture says: “The moon knows its going down.” It knows when it should shine in full light or weakened light. The stars, which are engaged in service to this world’s advantage, disappear when they are covered by clouds, not willingly, surely, but in hope, because they hope for gratitude for their labor from him who made them subject [to him]. Thus, they persevere for his sake, that is, for his will. LETTER 51.

CHRIST IS THE TRUE SUN OF JUSTICE. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: As you know, that psalm [104 (103 LXX)] contains the words “The sun knows the hour of its setting. You bring darkness, and it is night.” What person, though unlettered, does not understand and know that when the sun reaches its setting, immediately night and darkness appear? Why, then, was it necessary for the prophet to say what is evidently understood by everyone? Likewise what follows: “Then all the beasts of the forest roam about. Young lions roar for the prey and seek their food from God.” Can there be found anyone who does not know this? Truly, it is known to everyone that when night comes all the beasts roam about everywhere. Since, as you see, we ought not receive this according to the letter, listen attentively, as is your custom, to their spiritual significance. Now what the psalmist said, “The sun knows the hour of its setting,” is not to be taken concerning the sun but with regard to him of whom the prophet says, “For those who fear your name there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” Of him we read in Solomon that the wicked will say, “The sun did not rise for us.” Therefore, Christ is the true sun of justice. He knew his setting when he yielded to his passion for our salvation; for when he was crucified, night and darkness took hold of the souls of his disciples. Truly, brothers, how was there not darkness in those who did not believe Christ was risen from the dead? Finally, when the women reported that they had seen the Lord, “this talk seemed to the apostles to be nonsense, and they did not believe the women.” Moreover, on another occasion the two disciples spoke thus to the Lord who was talking to them: “But we were hoping that it was he who should redeem Israel.” When the apostles spoke these words, then was fulfilled those others: “The sun knows the hour of its setting. You bring darkness, and it is night.” SERMON 136.2 3.

PRAYER IS LIKE THE SUN’S RAYS. CHRYSOSTOM: Then, even if anger boils up, it is easily cooled. If passion flares forth, the flames are readily quenched. If envy consumes us, it is not difficult to drive it away. The same thing happens that the prophet says happens when the sun rises. What did he say? “You made the darkness, and it was night. In it all the wild beasts of the forest will go forth, even young lions roaring for prey and to seek meat for themselves from God. The sun arose, and they were gathered together and shall lie down in their dens.” At sunrise, then, every wild beast is driven off and slinks away to its lair. So, too, when a prayer, like a ray of the sun, arises from our tongue and comes forth from our mouth, our mind is enlightened, all the savage passions that destroy our reason slink away and flee to their own lairs, if only our prayer is diligent, if only it comes from a watchful soul and sober mind. Should the devil be on hand when we pray, he is driven off; should a demon be there, he slinks away. AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS 7.59.

GOD MADE THE WORLD IN WISDOM. ATHANASIUS: But their doctrine is false. Truth witnesses that God is the eternal fountain of his proper wisdom; and, if the Fountain is eternal, the Wisdom also has to be eternal. For in it were all things made, as David says in the psalm, “In wisdom you have made them all”; and Solomon says, “The Lord by wisdom has formed the earth, by understanding he has established the heavens.” And this Wisdom is the Word, and by him, as John says, “all things were made,” and “without him not one thing was made.” DISCOURSES AGAINST THE ARIANS 1.6.19.

THE WORK OF GOD’S HAND. ATHANASIUS: Doubtless the things that came to be through the Word, these are “founded in wisdom” and what are “founded in wisdom,” these are all made by the Hand and came to be through the Son. And we have proof of this, not from external sources, but from the Scriptures; for God says by Isaiah the prophet, “My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spanned the heavens.” And again, “And I will cover you in the shadow of my hand, by which I planted the heaven, and laid the foundations of the earth.” And David, who was taught this and knew that the Lord’s hand was nothing else than wisdom, says in the psalm, “In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creation.” DEFENSE OF THE NICENE DEFINITION 4.17.

CREATION DECLARES THE GLORY OF GOD. AMBROSE: This world is an example of the workings of God, because, while we observe the work, the Worker is brought before us. The arts may be considered in various aspects. There are those that are practical. These relate to the movement of the body or to the sound of the voice. When the movement or the sound has passed away, there is nothing that survives or remains for the spectators or the hearers. Other arts are theoretical. These display the vigor of the mind. There are other arts of such a nature that, even when the processes of operation cease, the handiwork remains visible. As an example of this we have buildings or woven material that, even when the craftsman is silent, still exhibit his skill, so that testimony is presented of the craftsman’s own work. In a similar way, this work is a distinctive mark of divine majesty from which the wisdom of God is made manifest. On beholding this, raising the eyes of his mind at the same time to the things invisible, the psalmist says, “How great are your works, O Lord; you have made all things in wisdom.” SIX DAYS OF CREATION 1.5.17.

REASONS FOR THANKING GOD. AUGUSTINE: In case any of us should struggle with this, there are just two commands: God and neighbor; the one who made you, and the one he made you to be with. No one has told you “Love the sun, love the moon, love the earth and everything that has been made.” These are the things in which God is to be praised, the Maker to be blessed. “How magnificent are your works!” we say; “in wisdom you have made them all.” They are yours, you have made them all. Thanks be to you! But you have made us over all of them. Thanks be to you! For we are your image and likeness. Thanks be to you! We have sinned, we have been sought. Thanks be to you! We have been negligent, we have not been neglected. Thanks be to you! When we despised you, we were not despised; in case we should have forgotten your divinity and should lose you, you even took upon yourself our humanity. Thanks be to you! When and where can there not be thanks? SERMON 16A.6.

GOD CREATED THE WORLD THROUGH HIS SON. AUGUSTINE: This Word, through which heaven and earth were made, this Word was not itself made. I mean, if it was made, through what was it made? “All things were made through it.” So if whatever has been made was made through the Word, the Word itself, clearly, through which all things were made, was not made. One more point: the narrator of the works of creation, God’s servant Moses, says, “In the beginning, God made heaven and earth.” He made heaven and earth in the beginning. By what means did he make it? Through the Word. Did he also make the Word? No; well what, then? “In the beginning was the Word”; that through which he made things already was; that is how he made what as yet was not. We can understand it, and rightly understand it, in the sense that heaven and earth were made in the only begotten Word itself. They were made in, you see, that through which they were made. This can be, and be understood as, the beginning in which God made heaven and earth. This Word, after all, is also the wisdom of God, about which it is said, “You have made all things in wisdom.” If God made all things in wisdom, and his only begotten Son is without a shadow of doubt that wisdom of God, let us not doubt that whatever we have learned was made through the Son, was also made in the Son. The Son himself, after all, is certainly the beginning. When the Jews were questioning him and saying, “Who are you? he answered, The beginning.” There you have, “In the beginning, God made heaven and earth.” SERMON 223A.1.

REFERENCES TO THE TRINITY IN GENESIS 1. AUGUSTINE: I will not contest the point, chiefly because it gives me the liveliest satisfaction to find the Trinity celebrated in the very beginning of the book of Genesis. For having said “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” meaning that the Father made them in the Son (as the psalm testifies where it says, “How manifold are Thy works, O Lord! in Wisdom hast Thou made them all”), a little afterwards mention is fitly made of the Holy Spirit also. CITY OF GOD 11.32.

GOD MAKES ALL THINGS IN WISDOM. AUGUSTINE: “All things” then, my brothers, “all things” each and every one “were made through him, and without him was nothing made.” But how were all things made through him? “That which was made, in him is life.” Now this can be taken as follows: “That which was made in him, is life.” And if we express the sentence in this way, everything is life. For what was not made in him? For he himself is the wisdom of God, and in the psalm it is said, “You have made all things in wisdom.” If, then, Christ is the wisdom of God and the psalm says, “You have made all things in wisdom,” as all things were made through him, so they were made in him. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.16.1.

THE WORLD IS FULL OF DANGERS. ATHANASIUS: Let us, therefore, in the faith of the disciples, converse frequently with our Master. For the world is like the sea to us, my brothers, of which it is written, “This is the great and wide sea, there go the ships; the Leviathan, which you have created to play therein.” We float on this sea, as with the wind, through our own free will, for everyone directs his course according to his will, and either, under the pilotage of the Word, he enters into rest, or, laid hold on by pleasure, he suffers shipwreck and is in peril by storm. For as in the ocean there are storms and waves, so in the world there are many afflictions and trials. FESTAL LETTERS 19.7.

GOD SETS LIMITS FOR THE OCEANS. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: “This great and wide sea, in it there are creeping things without number.” Who can describe the beauty of the fishes therein? Who can describe the greatness of the whales and the nature of the amphibious animals, how they live on the dry land and in the waters? Who can describe the depth and breadth of the sea or the shock of its tumultuous waves? The sea stays within its confines because of him who said, “This far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!” It clearly reveals the decree imposed on it, when running out it leaves on the sands a distinct line marked by its waves, as though to signify to those who see it that it has not transgressed its appointed bounds. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 9.11.

THE CHURCH IS LIKE A SHIP. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: After this the prophet added the words “The sea also, great and wide, in which are schools without number of living things.” The sea is understood as the world, which is full of storms and dangerous waves, even full of bitterness and saltiness. It also has quite large fish that do not cease to devour the smaller ones. There are numberless creeping things, so called because they creep over the earth. For this reason carnal people and those who are too fond of the world, because they think only of the present life and continuously apply themselves to its pursuits out of love for it, are not unfittingly called creeping things. Furthermore, the words “The sea also, great and wide, where ships move about” are not to be understood relative to the ships of wood that are carried over the sea by the force of the wind but to the catholic church. While the latter desires to reach the port of paradise by holy, just works, it is beaten by many waves of tribulation and the winds of various storms. Moreover, although it is tossed by the violent beating of the winds, it is so well directed by the oars of holy discipline, so well driven by the breath of the Holy Spirit, that it is carried to eternal life by the very adversities that oppose it. In this sea there is also that dragon of which it is written: “This sea dragon that you formed to make sport of it.” That dragon is understood as the devil. He is apt to play in the wicked in such a way that not only does he persuade them to sin but, using them as his ministers, he does not cease to persecute even those who are holy and just. This dragon was made a good angel by God, but since he exalted himself against God by pride and fell from that happy angelic state, deceiving himself by pride, through God’s hidden but just judgment he is permitted to deceive with his cunning careless people. SERMON 136.6.

GOD MAKES USE OF THE DEVIL’S WICKEDNESS. AUGUSTINE: And because God, when he created him, was certainly not ignorant of his future malignity, and foresaw the good which he Himself would bring out of his evil, therefore says the psalm, “This leviathan whom Thou hast made to be a sport therein,” that we may see that, even while God in his goodness created him good, he yet had already foreseen and arranged how he would make use of him when he became wicked. CITY OF GOD 11.17.

THE DEVIL WAS CONDEMNED AFTER HE HAD SINNED. AUGUSTINE: There is a passage, too, in the Book of Job, of which the devil is the subject: “This is the beginning of the creation of God, which he made to be a sport to his angels,” which agrees with the psalm, where it is said, “There is that dragon which Thou hast made to be a sport therein.” But these passages are not to lead us to suppose that the devil was originally created to be the sport of the angels, but that he was doomed to this punishment after his sin. His beginning, then, is the handiwork of God; for there is no nature, even among the least, and lowest, and last of the beasts, which was not the work of Him from whom has proceeded all measure, all form, all order, without which nothing can be planned or conceived. How much more, then, is this angelic nature, which surpasses in dignity all else that he has made, the handiwork of the Most High! CITY OF GOD 11.15.

104:27-30 When God Opens His Hand
GOD IS THE GREAT PROVIDER. AUGUSTINE: Let us all therefore fix our gaze on him, that he may feed our hungry souls; he himself was hungry for our sake, seeing that “he became poor though he was rich, in order that by his poverty we might be enriched.” How appropriate that we sang to him just now, “All things look to you to give them their food at the proper time.” If all things, then all people; if all people, then us too. So if I am going to give you anything good in this sermon, it is not I who shall be giving it but he from whom we all receive because we all look to him. It is time for him to give, but we must do what he said if he is to give, namely, we must look to him. Let us gaze on him with our minds, because just as the eyes and ears of your bodies are turned to me, so the eyes and ears of your minds should be turned to him. SERMON 2.6.

GOD PROVIDES US WITH GOODNESS. AMBROSE: One who has sought God and has found him exists among those good things. For where a person’s heart is, there also is his treasure; the Lord is not accustomed to deny his good gift to those who pray. And so, because the Lord is good and especially good to those who await him, let us cling to him and be with him with our whole soul, our whole heart and our whole strength that we may be in his light and see his glory and enjoy the gift of heavenly joy. Accordingly, let us lift up our spirits to that good and be in it and live in it; let us cling to it, for it is above every thought and every reflection and enjoys an everlasting peace and tranquility, and that peace, moreover, is beyond every thought and every understanding. This is the good that enters into all things; in it we all live and on it we all depend; moreover, it possesses nothing beyond itself but is of God, for “no one is good but only God.” Therefore, what is good is of God, and what is of God is good. And for that reason it is said, “When you open your hand, all things shall be filled with goodness.” For, through God’s goodness, all good things are deservedly granted to us, and in them there is no admixture of evil. Scripture promised these good things to the faithful when it said, “You shall eat the good things of the land.” That we may obtain the good things, let us be like that good, the good that is without iniquity and without deceit and without severity but is with grace and holiness and purity and benevolence and love and justice. Thus goodness, like a prolific mother, embraces all the virtues. FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 6.36.

GOD IS A PRUDENT PROVIDER. AUGUSTINE: Don’t we see such things every day in human affairs a kind of hard and inexorable mercy? How many things sick people ask the doctors for, counter to their health, and how many things the doctors, in mercy, refuse them! They refuse them and so spare them; if they grant them, they are being cruel. The doctor knows this; and doesn’t God? The one who was created like you knows how to deal with you in this way; and doesn’t the one who created you both know how to deal with you both? Accordingly, dearly beloved, in all your troubles, all your fears, all your joys, beg God to grant you, of temporal goods, what he knows is best for you. As for eternal things, though, such as “hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done as in heaven also on earth,” and others of that sort, ask for them without a qualm or qualification; they cannot possibly be to your disadvantage. Choose, cherish, gather; he opens his hand, after all, and fills every soul with blessing. “And when you give,” it says, “they gather.” None of us should have any doubts about heavenly good things; even if they are deferred, they will be given. The reward is not being refused, but desire is being whetted. We must go on desiring day after day, because it is a great thing we are going to receive. We must go on thirsting day after day, because it is the fountain of life we shall be drinking from. All the same, dearly beloved, there is something it is not an impudence for us to ask for, because the apostle taught us; let us ask that “we may spend a quiet and tranquil life, and with all piety and charity.” SERMON 306C.8.

THE MYSTERY OF THE RESURRECTION. GREGORY OF NYSSA: But she said, “I think that we should first run briefly through what is set forth in various places by the divine Scripture concerning this doctrine [the resurrection], so that from there we may approach the conclusion of our discourse. I have heard, indeed, what David sings in his divine odes, when he has made the ordering of the universe the subject of his hymn. Near the end of Psalm 103 [LXX] he says, “You will take away their spirit, and they will die and turn to their dust. You will send out your Spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth.” He is saying that the power of the Spirit, accomplishing everything in everything, both gives life to those whom it enters and removes from life those from whom it departs. He says that the death of the living happens by the departure of the Spirit, and by its presence the renewal of the dead takes place. Because the death of those who are being renewed comes first in the order of the words, we can say that the mystery of the resurrection is being proclaimed to the church, as David has foretold this grace by his spirit of prophecy. ON THE SOUL AND THE RESURRECTION 10.

GOD IS GOD OF THE LIVING. JOHN OF DAMASCUS: And again to Moses: “I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” God “is not the God of the dead,” of those who have died and will never be again. Rather, he is the God of the living, whose souls live in his hand and whose bodies will by the resurrection live again. And David, the ancestor of God, says to God, “You shall take away their breath, and they shall fail and shall return to their dust.” See how it is a question of their bodies. Then he adds, “You shall send forth your spirit, and they shall be created; and you shall renew the face of the earth.” ORTHODOX FAITH 4.27.

THE HOLY SPIRIT’S ROLE IN CREATION AND RESURRECTION. AMBROSE: So when the Spirit was moving on the water, the creation was without grace; but after this world being created underwent the operation of the Spirit, it gained all the beauty of that grace wherewith the world is illuminated. And that the grace of the universe cannot abide without the Holy Spirit the prophet declared when he said, “You will take away your Spirit, and they will fail and be turned again into their dust. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be made, and you will renew all the face of the earth.” Not only, then, did he teach that no creature can stand without the Holy Spirit but also that the Spirit is the Creator of the whole creation. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 2.5.33.

THE AUTHOR OF SPIRITUAL RENEWAL. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: This Spirit shares with the Son in working both the creation and the resurrection, as you may be shown by this Scripture: “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the power of them by the breath of his mouth”; and this, “The Spirit of God that made me, and the breath of the Almighty teaches me”; and again, “You shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.” And he is the author of spiritual regeneration. ON PENTECOST, ORATION 41.14.

A NEW WORLD WITHOUT SORROW. METHODIUS: But if our opponents say, How then is it, if the universe will not be destroyed, that the Lord says that “heaven and earth shall pass away”; and the prophet, that “the heaven shall perish as smoke, and the earth shall grow old as a garment”; we answer, because it is usual for the Scriptures to call the change of the world from its present condition to a better and more glorious one, destruction; as its earlier form is lost in the change of all things to a state of greater splendor; for there is no contradiction or absurdity in the holy Scriptures. For not “the world” but the “fashion of this world” passes away, it is said; so it is usual for the Scriptures to call the change from an earlier form to a better and more comely state, destruction; just as when one calls by the name of destruction the change from a childish form into a perfect adult, as the stature of the child is turned into adult size and beauty. We may expect that the creation will pass away, as if it were to perish in the burning, in order that it may be renewed, not however that it will be destroyed, that we who are renewed may dwell in a renewed world without taste of sorrow; according as it is said, “When you let your breath go forth, they shall be made, and you shall renew the face of the earth.” ON THE RESURRECTION 1.9.

THE THREE CREATIONS. BASIL THE GREAT: But, if we must go on with our discussion and make a deeper study, let us, from this point, contemplate especially the divine power of the Holy Spirit. We find three creations mentioned in the Scripture; the first, the bringing forth from nonexistence into existence; the second, the change from worse to better; and the third, the resurrection of the dead. In these you will find the Holy Spirit cooperating with the Father and the Son. Take, for instance, the calling into existence of the heavens. And what does David say? “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their power by the spirit of his mouth.” Now, humankind is created a second time through baptism, “for if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature.” And what does the Savior say to the disciples? “Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You see here, also, the Holy Spirit present with the Father and the Son. But what would you say concerning the resurrection of the dead, when we shall have departed and returned into our dust, “for we are dust and to dust we shall return”? “And he will send forth the Holy Spirit, and he will create us, and he shall renew the face of the earth.” For what Paul spoke of as the resurrection, David called renewal. LETTER 8.

THE SPIRIT CREATES AND RENEWS. NICETAS OF REMESIANA: One may concede that, in regard to the Word, it is clear that he created, but have doubts in regard to the Spirit. My reply to this is the testimony of Job, the righteous man of old, who wrote, “The spirit of God made me.” So, too, David in one of his psalms says to God, “You shall send forth your spirit, and they shall be created; and you shall renew the face of the earth.” But if creation and renewal are to be attributed to the Spirit, certainly the beginning of creation did not occur apart from the Spirit. However, those who are opposed to the truth resort to the evasion of saying that, wherever there is mention of the Spirit as creator, the name and person of the Spirit belong to the Son. The Son is a Spirit, they say, just as the Father is a Spirit. This is a fallacy that should deceive no one. It is enough merely to remember that David clearly distinguishes the Son, whom he calls the Word of the Lord, from the holy One, whom he calls the Spirit. It is the Word who “makes the heavens”; it is the Spirit who “adorns” them, who gives them their power. Anyone who reads these words must believe else, if he insists on being obstinate, why does he bother to read? Let no one imagine that, somehow, our faith dims the glory of the Father. Rather, it adds to the glory of the Father to refer the creation of all things to a Word of which he is the Father or to a Spirit of which he is the source. The fact remains that when his word and Spirit create, it is he who creates all things. THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 8.

THE GIVER OF NEW LIFE. BASIL THE GREAT: Resurrection from the dead is accomplished by the operation of the Spirit: “You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.” If “creation” means the conversion of sinners to a better way of life (the Scripture often understands it this way; for example, the words of Paul: “If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation.”), and the renewal of this earthly life and changing our earthly, passionate life into heavenly citizenship, then we should know that our souls attain such a high degree of exaltation through the Spirit. Understanding all this, how can we be afraid of giving the Spirit too much honor? We should instead fear that even though we ascribe to him the highest titles we can devise or our tongues pronounce, our ideas about him might still fall short. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 19.49.

THE HOLY SPIRIT ALSO PARTICIPATED IN CREATION. FULGENTIUS OF RUSPE: Hence it is that the true faith asserts that the Holy Spirit as well is the Creator, not created. How is the Spirit to be denied as Creator, by which the power of the heavens has been strengthened, as David says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and all their host by the breath of his mouth.” And in another text: “When you send forth your spirit, they are created.” Indeed it is the Creator of all things who is the maker of human beings. Concerning it, the blessed Job says, “The Spirit of God has made me.” The Holy Spirit, then, as it has created all things, so, as infinite, it fills all things. And the one who fills all things is by nature true God. It is written that “the Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world.” The blessed David as well bears witness that the Spirit of God is everywhere, saying to God, “Where can I go from your Spirit, or where can I flee from your presence?” How do the Arians deny that the Holy Spirit is God since we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, just as we are the temple of the Father and the Son? For the apostle says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.” The apostle asserts that we are the temple of God in such a way that in the same letter he also says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. For he says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” And in order that he may show that the Holy Spirit is God, he immediately added, “Therefore glorify God in your body.” LETTER 8.8.17.

104:34-35 Meditation That Pleases God
OFFER GOD SACRIFICES OF PRAYER. ATHANASIUS: Thus then, being before instructed and taught, they [the people of Israel] learned not to do service to any one but the Lord. They began to know how long the shadow would last and not to forget the time that was at hand, in which no longer should the bullock of the herd be a sacrifice to God, or the ram of the flock or the he goat, but all these things should be fulfilled in a purely spiritual manner and by constant prayer and upright conversation, with godly words; as David sings, “May my meditation be pleasing to him. Let my prayer be set forth before you as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” The Spirit also, who is in him, commands, saying, “Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay to the Lord your vows. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.” FESTAL LETTERS 19.4.

PRAYER IS CONVERSATION WITH GOD. CHRYSOSTOM: Prayer is a great good: someone conversing with a virtuous person gains no little advantage from the experience, so how much good will the one communing with God be granted? Prayer, after all, is conversing with God. For proof of this, listen to the words of the inspired author: “Let my meditation be pleasing to God,” that is, may my words seem acceptable to God. I mean, he is able to offer help before we ask for it, isn’t he? Still, he wants so as to take occasion from us for daily bestowing on us providential care from himself. Accordingly, whether we have our requests granted or not, let us persist in asking, and render thanks not only when we gain what we ask but also when we do not. Failure to gain, you see, when that is what God wants, is not worse than succeeding; we do not know what is to our advantage in this regard in the way he does understand. The result is, then, that succeeding or failing we ought to give thanks. HOMILIES ON GENESIS 30.16.

GOD CAN BE DENIED BY DEED AS WELL AS BY WORD. AUGUSTINE: If God does not punish the sinner, what about the prophecy, “If the just person scarcely will be saved, where will the impious and the sinner appear?” And elsewhere: “Truly the wicked shall perish”; and again: “Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the unjust, so that they be no more”; and finally: “As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish away: as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.” In these passages it is not so much the incredulous and the unfaithful whom I hear condemned, but the sinners. In a certain passage I read that our Savior said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Yet, those people believed in Christ and even called him Lord. Nevertheless, on that account alone the gate of the heavenly kingdom is not opened to them, because by their deeds they deny him whom they praise with their lips. Moreover, the apostle asserts that God is denied by deeds no less than by words: “They profess to know God, but by their works they disown him.” And the Lord himself says in the Gospel, “Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out devils in your name and work many miracles in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’” It is related that they were so strong in their faith that they worked miracles in the name of the Lord; nevertheless, their faith will not profit them, because they have not performed works of justice. So, if faith alone suffices, why are they eternally confined with the minions of Satan in the flames of hell, since they are condemned not because of unbelief but because they did nothing good, as is written: “And the king will say to those on his left hand, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire that my Father prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat,’ ” etc.? He did not say “because you have not believed in me.” Hence, we may conclude that they were condemned for lack of good works, not because of unbelief. ON THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 13.

OVERVIEW: The giver of varied gifts is God the Holy Spirit (HILARY OF POITIERS, CHRYSOSTOM). Gifts, service and working are different forms of the same ministry (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, CHRYSOSTOM) of the triune God (AMBROSIASTER) whose gifts cannot be artificially separated as to persons of the Godhead. There is only one God, whose grace is distributed by the Spirit to individuals as he wishes, according to his incomparable justice and power (AMBROSE), not according to the merits or will (JEROME) of any particular person (AMBROSIASTER). They are for the upbuilding of his church (BASIL, AMBROSIASTER, CHRYSOSTOM). Even today (THEODORET OF CYR) each baptized person receives the Spirit’s gift so that he or she may be useful both to self and others (AMBROSIASTER). The utterance of wisdom refers to the knowledge of divine things (AUGUSTINE) through the Scriptures (SEVERIAN OF GABALA). The utterance of knowledge refers to human science (AUGUSTINE) or the revelation of things forgotten (SEVERIAN). It is the Spirit who enlightens (AMBROSIASTER). The faith mentioned here is the faith that moves mountains (THEODORET OF CYR), not just a formal doctrine (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). Even the shy can lay claim to such bold faith. The gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues (AMBROSIASTER), as well as the gift of prophecy, is the gift of the triune God, given through the Holy Spirit (AMBROSE) to whomever God sees fit, both to women and men (THEODORET OF CYR). Hence it is not for boasting (CHRYSOSTOM).

12:4 Different Gifts
VARIETIES OF GIFTS. CHRYSOSTOM: Even if the gift bestowed on you is less than the gift bestowed on someone else, the Giver is the same, and therefore you have equal honor with him. It is the same Fountain from which you draw refreshment. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.4.

THE SPIRIT NOT DIVIDED IN DIVERSE GIFTS. AMBROSE: This does not pertain to the fullness nor to a portion of the Spirit, because neither does the human mind grasp God’s fullness, nor is God divided into any portions of himself. But he pours out the gift of the grace of the Spirit in which God is adored, as he is also adored in truth, for no one adores him except he who draws in the truth of his godhead with pious affection. THE HOLY SPIRIT 11.71.

12:5 Different Kinds of Service
ADAPTING TO EACH. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: The Holy Spirit adapts himself to each person. He sees the dispositions of each. He sees into our reasoning and our conscience, what we say, what we think, what we believe. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 14.22.

ONE BODY, MANY MEMBERS. AMBROSE: We are all the one body of Christ, whose head is God, whose members we are. Some perhaps are the eyes, like the prophets. Others are more like teeth, as the apostles who passed the food of the gospel teaching into our hearts. . . . Some are hands who are seen carrying out good works. Those who bestow the strength of nourishment upon the poor are his belly. Some are his feet, and would that I were worthy to be his heel! He pours water on the feet of Christ who forgives the lowly their sins, and, in setting free the common man, he bathes the feet of Christ. LETTER 62.

VARIETIES OF SERVICE. CHRYSOSTOM: One who hears about gifts might be upset if someone else has a greater one. But when it comes to service, things are the other way round. In this case, labor and sweat are implied. Why do you complain if they have been given more to do so as to spare you? HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.4.

THE FACULTIES OF BODY AND SOUL COMPARED. HILARY OF POITIERS: Just as a faculty of the human body will be idle when the causes that stir it into activity are not present, so with the soul. The eyes will not perform their functions except through the light or the brightness of day. The ears will not comprehend their task when no voice or sound is heard. The nostrils will not be aware of their office if no odor is detected. It is not that the faculty is lost because the cause is absent. Rather the employment of the faculty comes from the cause. It is the same with the soul of man. If the soul has not breathed in the gift of the Spirit through faith, even though it will continue to possess the faculty for understanding, it will not have the light of knowledge. The one gift, which is in Christ, is available to everyone in its entirety, and what is present in every place is given insofar as we desire to receive it and will remain with us insofar as we desire to become worthy of it. This gift is with us even to the consummation of the world. This is the consolation of our expectation. This, through the efficacy of the gifts, is the pledge of our future hope. This is the light of the mind, the splendor of the soul. For this reason we must pray for this Holy Spirit. ON THE TRINITY 2.35.

12:6 The Work of the Same God
THE ONE WORK OF THE TRIUNE GOD. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is emphatic in asserting that the distribution of gifts is not to be attributed to human causes as if they were achievable by men. The varied gifts of the Holy Spirit and the grace of the Lord Jesus are the work of one and the same God. The grace and the gift cannot be divided according to the persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but must be understood as constituting the one work of the undivided unity and nature of the Three. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE FOURFOLD SEQUENCE. HILARY OF POITIERS: There is a fourfold meaning in the words that lie before us: There is the same Spirit in the varieties of the gifts. There is the same Lord in the varieties of ministries. There is the same God in these varieties. And there is a manifestation of the Spirit in the bestowal of what is profitable. ON THE TRINITY 8.29.

THE SAME GOD WHO INSPIRES. CHRYSOSTOM: Gifts, service and working all amount to the same thing in the end, for they are different forms of the same ministry. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.4.

12:7 Gifts Given for the Common Good
MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT. AMBROSIASTER: Each person receives a gift so that, governing his life by divine constraints, he may be useful both to himself and to others while presenting an example of good behavior. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

FOR YOUR BENEFIT. CHRYSOSTOM: Whatever measure of the Spirit has been given to you, it is for your benefit, so there is no reason to complain of what seems like a small gift. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.5.

FOR THE COMMON GOOD. BASIL: Since no one has the capacity to receive all spiritual gifts, but the grace of the Spirit is given proportionately to the faith of each, when one is living in community with others, the grace privately bestowed on each individual becomes the common possession of the others. . . . One who receives any of these gifts does not possess it for his own sake but rather for the sake of others. THE LONG RULES 7.

IN OUR TIME GRACE GIVEN. THEODORET OF CYR: Even in our time grace is given to those who are deemed worthy of holy baptism, but it may not take the same form as it did in those days. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 243.

12:8 Utterance of Wisdom and Knowledge
WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE. AMBROSIASTER: In other words, he is given knowledge not by book learning but by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

DIVINE THINGS AND HUMAN SCIENCE. AUGUSTINE: Wisdom refers to the knowledge of divine things, and knowledge to human science. ON THE TRINITY 14.

REVELATION OF THINGS FORGOTTEN. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: The utterance of wisdom means understanding what God has said through the prophets and evangelists and communicating this to those who are listening. The utterance of knowledge is the revelation of things which have been forgotten, which someone learns for the first time and then shares with others. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

12:9 Gifts of Faith and of Healing
SURPASSING HUMAN NATURE. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: This faith which is given by the Spirit as a grace is not just doctrinal faith but a faith which empowers activities surpassing human nature, a faith which moves mountains. . . . For just as a grain of mustard seed is of little bulk but of explosive energy, taking a trifling space for its planting and then sending out great branches all around, so that when it is grown it can give shelter to the birds, so in like manner the faith present in one’s soul achieves the greatest things by the most summary decision. For such a one places the thought of God before his mind and as enlightenment of faith permits it, beholds God. His mind also ranges through the world from end to end, and with the end of this age not yet come, beholds the judgment already, and the bestowal of the promised rewards. CATECHETICAL LECTURE ON FAITH 5.11.

LAY CLAIM TO FAITH. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says this to encourage the person concerned to suppress his shyness and receive the ability to profess and lay claim to faith. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

NOT MANY SPIRITS. AUGUSTINE: Without the spirit of faith no one will rightly believe. Without the spirit of prayer no one will profitably pray. It is not that there are so many spirits, “but in all things one and the same Spirit works, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” LETTER 191, TO SIXTUS.

FAITH THAT MOVES MOUNTAINS. THEODORET OF CYR: The faith mentioned here is not the kind given to every believer but the kind which can move mountains. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 244.

12:10a Prophecy
THE GRACE IS ONE. AMBROSE: According to Paul, prophecy is not only through the Father and the Son but also through the Holy Spirit. On this account the office is one, the grace is one. THE HOLY SPIRIT 2.13.143.

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN SPIRITS. ORIGEN: In the distribution of spiritual gifts, it is also added that “discernment of spirits” is given to some. It is a spiritual gift, therefore, by which the spirit is discerned, as the apostle says: “Test the spirits, if they are from God.” HOMILIES ON EXODUS 3.

12:10b Tongues and Interpretation
INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES. AMBROSIASTER: To interpret is to interpret faithfully by God’s gift the sayings of those who speak in tongues or in writing. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

NOT TO BOAST. CHRYSOSTOM: The Corinthians boasted of their speaking in tongues, which is why Paul put it last in his list. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.5.

GIVEN TO WOMEN ALSO. THEODORET OF CYR: These gifts were given to women as well as men, as the Acts of the Apostles makes plain. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 245.

12:11a Inspired by the Same Spirit
THE WRITTEN WORD INSPIRED BY THE SPIRIT. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Let us assert of the Holy Spirit only what is written. Let us not busy ourselves about what is not written. The Holy Spirit has authored the Scriptures. He has spoken of himself all that he wished, or all that we could grasp. Let us confine ourselves to what he has said, for it is reckless to do otherwise. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 16.2.

THE SAME SPIRIT. CHRYSOSTOM: The universal medicine of his consolation stems from the same root, from the same treasure, the same stream. Therefore Paul occasionally dwells on this expression so as to level out apparent inequalities and console them. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.5.

THE SPIRIT NOT DIVIDED. AMBROSE: The Spirit spoke also in the patriarchs and the prophets, and finally the apostles then began to be more perfect after they had received the Holy Spirit. Thus there is no separation of the divine power and grace, for although “there are varieties of gifts, yet there is the same Spirit.” THE HOLY SPIRIT 2.12.138.

THE COMFORT OF SUPPOSED LESSER GIFTS. THEODORET OF CYR: Here Paul is comforting those who received the lesser gifts, pointing out that they too come from the Holy Spirit. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 246.

12:11b Gifts Apportioned Individually
ACCORDING TO GOD’S JUSTICE AND POWER. AMBROSE: It belongs to God’s justice that he divides and to his power that he divides according to his will or because he wishes to give to each one what he knows will be of profit. LETTER 20.

THE THREE DO WHAT THE ONE DOES. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is here attributing to the Holy Spirit what he earlier attributed to all three persons. Because they are of one nature and power, the Three do what the One does. There is only one God, whose grace is distributed to individuals as he wishes, not according to the merits of any particular person but for the upbuilding of his church. All those things which the world wants to imitate but cannot, because it is carnal, may be seen in the church, which is the house of God, where they are granted by the gift and instruction of the Holy Spirit. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE WILL OF THE SPIRIT. JEROME: Notice that Paul does not say “according to the will of each and every member” but “according to the will of the Spirit.” AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 16.

THE ONE SPIRIT ADAPTS TO PERSONAL DIVERSITY. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: One and the same rain comes down on all the world, yet it becomes white in the lily, red in the rose, purple in the violets and hyacinths, different and manycolored in manifold species. Thus it is one in the palm tree and another in the vine, and all in all things, though it is uniform and does not vary in itself. For the rain does not change, coming down now as one thing and now as another, but it adapts itself to the thing receiving it and becomes what is suitable to each. Similarly the Holy Spirit, being One and of one nature and indivisible, imparts to each one his grace “according as he will.” The dry tree when watered brings forth shoots. So too does the soul in sin, once made worthy through repentance of the grace of the Holy Spirit, flower into justice. Though the Spirit is one in nature, yet by the will of God and in the name of the Son, he brings about many virtuous effects. For he employs the tongue of one for wisdom, illumines the soul of another by prophecy, to another he grants the power of driving out devils, to another the gift of interpreting the sacred Scriptures. He strengthens the selfcontrol of one while teaching another the nature of almsgiving, and still another to fast and humble himself, and another to despise the things of the body. He prepares another for martyrdom. He acts differently in different persons, though he himself is not diverse. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 14.12.

THE GIFT HIMSELF. AUGUSTINE: For not everyone has all of them, but some have these and others those, although each has the Gift himself by whom the things proper to each one are divided, namely, the Holy Spirit. ON THE TRINITY 15.

12:12 Many Members, One Body
MANY MEMBERS IN ONE BODY. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul talks about Christ when perhaps he might well have said the church. In doing so, he raises the level of discourse and appeals more and more to the hearers’ sense of awe. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 30.1.

EVERY MEMBER NECESSARY. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul is pointing out that just as the body has many members, some of which are more important than others, so it is with the church also. But every member is necessary and useful. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 246.

12:13 Baptized into One Body
ONE IN CHRIST. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: You are all one in Christ Jesus. It is not that some are enlightened gnostics and others less perfect spirituals. Everyone, putting aside all carnal desires, is equal and spiritual before the Lord. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 1.5.31.

ONE MYSTERY. AMBROSE: There is one work because there is one mystery, there is one baptism because there was one death for the world. There is a unity of outlook which cannot be separated. THE HOLY SPIRIT 1.3.45.

TREAT NO ONE WITH CONTEMPT. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is teaching that we should not treat anyone with contempt, nor should we regard anyone as perfect. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE BODY IS ONE. CHRYSOSTOM: He who formed the body is one, and the body which he formed is also one. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 30.2.

OVERVIEW: John records that it was evening, which indeed was the case for minds darkened with grief (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). But Jesus does not delay in comforting his disciples with his presence (CHRYSOSTOM). He appeared through doors that were locked, which shows the extent of the disciples’ terror, their fear having caused them to lock not only their house but also their hearts (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). And yet, Christ still appears among the disciples through those locked doors, giving us a foretaste of what our resurrected bodies will be like (AUGUSTINE). He entered through those closed doors with the same body that entered through the closed door of the Virgin’s womb (GREGORY THE GREAT). What happened with Christ’s body after the resurrection is no more amazing than what happened in the miracles he did before the resurrection, such as walking on the water (CAESARIUS). Jesus stands among them as true God (GREGORY OF NYSSA) with death’s power banished from his body (CYRIL). In his greeting of peace he breathes into them a tranquility as well as a sharing in the Holy Spirit (MAXIMUS). The peace he gave was himself, since his presence always brings tranquility of soul (CYRIL). He shows them his hands and his side, demonstrating that what has occurred is a true, bodily resurrection (IRENAEUS). When Jesus showed the disciples the scars from his wounds, he proved to us all that the resurrected body is the same body that had died (THEODORET), although now glorified (JEROME). The wounds that brought us healing also heal unbelieving hearts (LEO). Jesus proved he was both human and divine after the resurrection (LEO). Jesus’ earlier prophecy that no one would take their joy away is now fulfilled in his presence among them (CHRYSOSTOM).

20:19a Evening of the First Day and Locked Doors
AN EVENING MORE BY GRIEF THAN BY TIME. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: It was evening more by grief than by time. It was evening for minds darkened by the somber cloud of grief and sadness because although the report of the resurrection had given the slight glimmer of twilight, nevertheless the Lord had not yet shone through with his light in all its brilliance. SERMON 84.2.

JESUS DOES NOT DELAY. CHRYSOSTOM: It was likely that when the disciples heard these things from Mary they would either not believe the woman or if they did believe her, they would be sad that he had not considered them worthy of such a vision even though he promised to meet them in Galilee. Since this was so, he did not let a single day pass so that they might not dwell on this and become distracted. Rather, he brought them to a state of longing by their knowledge that he was risen and by what they heard from the woman. And when they were thirsting to see him and were greatly afraid (which especially made their yearning greater), he then, when it was evening, presented himself before them. And he did so in a very marvelous way. And why did he appear in the “evening”? Because that was probably when they would be especially fearful. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.2.

DOORS AND HEARTS ARE LOCKED. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The extent of their terror and the disquiet caused by such an atrocity had simultaneously locked the house and the hearts of the disciples and had so completely prevented light from having any access that for their senses, overwhelmed more and more by grief, the murkiness of night increased and became more pervasive. No darkness of night can be compared with the gloom of grief and fear because they are incapable of being tempered by any light of either consolation or counsel. SERMON 84.2.

THE STATE OF OUR RESURRECTED BODIES. AUGUSTINE: But since you have repeatedly asked me what I thought about the resurrection of bodies and the future functions of the members in that incorruptibility and immortality, listen briefly to what could with the Lord’s help be further discussed. We must hold most firmly that point on which the statement of the holy Scripture is truthful and clear, namely, that these visible and earthly bodies that are now called natural will be spiritual in the resurrection of the faithful and righteous. But I do not know how the character of a spiritual body, unknown as it is to us, can be either comprehended or taught. Certainly there will be no corruption in them, and for this reason they will not then need this corruptible food that they now need. They will, nonetheless, be able to take and really consume such food, not out of need. Otherwise, the Lord would not have taken food after his resurrection. And he offered us an example of bodily resurrection so that the apostle says of him, “If the dead will not rise, neither has Christ risen.” When he appeared with all the members of his body and used their functions, he also displayed the places of his wounds. I have always taken these as scars, not as actual wounds, and saw them as the result of his power, not of some necessity. He revealed the ease of this power, especially when he either showed himself in another form or appeared as his real self to the disciples gathered in the house when the doors were closed. LETTER 95.7.

INCORRUPTIBLE BUT TOUCHABLE. GREGORY THE GREAT: The Lord’s body that made its entrance to the disciples through closed doors was the same as that which issued before the eyes of people from the Virgin’s closed womb at his birth. Is it surprising if he who was now going to live forever made his entrance through closed doors after his resurrection, who on his coming in order to die made his appearance from the unopened womb of a virgin? But because the faith of those who beheld it wavered concerning the body they could see, he showed them at once his hands and his side, offering them the body that he brought in through the closed doors to touch. By this action he revealed two wonderful, and according to human reason quite contradictory, things. He showed them that after his resurrection his body was both incorruptible and yet could be touched. . . . By showing us that it is incorruptible, he would urge us on toward our reward, and by offering it as touchable he would dispose us toward faith. He manifested himself as both incorruptible and touchable to show us that his body after his resurrection was of the same nature as ours but of a different sort of glory. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 26.

RESURRECTION WAS ONE MORE MIRACLE. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: You ask me and say, If he entered through closed doors, where is the bulk of his body? And I reply, If he walked on the sea, where was the weight of his body? But he [walked on the sea] as the Lord. Did he, then, because he arose, cease to be the Lord? What about the fact that he also made Peter walk upon the sea? What divinity could do in the one, faith fulfilled in the other. Christ was able to do it, and Peter could because Christ willed it. Therefore, when you begin to examine the reasonableness of miracles by your human senses, fear that you may lose your faith. Do you not know that nothing is impossible for God? So when anyone tells you, If he entered through closed doors there was no body, answer him on the contrary, No, if he was touched there was body, and if he ate there was a body. The one thing he did by a miracle, the other by nature. SERMON 175.2.

JESUS IS TRULY GOD. GREGORY OF NYSSA: He did not remain in death’s power. The wounds that his body had received from the iron of the nails and spear offered no impediment to his rising again. After his resurrection he showed himself whenever he wanted to his disciples. When he wished to be present with them, he was in their midst without being seen, needing no entrance through open doors. . . . All of these occurrences, and whatever other similar facts we know about his life, require no further argument to show that they are signs of deity and of a sublime and supreme power. THE GREAT CATECHISM 32.

DEATH’S POWER BANISHED FROM THE BODY. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: By his unexpected entry through closed doors Christ proved once more that by nature he was God and also that he was none other than the one who had lived among them. By showing his wounded side and the marks of the nails, he convinced us beyond a doubt that he had raised the temple of his body, the very body that had hung on the cross. He restored that body that he had worn, destroying death’s power over all flesh, for as God, he was life itself. Why would he need to show them his hands and side if, as some perversely think, he did not rise again bodily? And if the goal was not to have the disciples think about him in this way, why not appear in another form and, disdaining any likeness of the flesh, conjure up other thoughts in their minds? But he obviously thought it was that important to convince them of the resurrection of his body that, even when events would have seemed to call for him to change the mode of his body into some more ineffable and surpassing majesty, he nonetheless resolved in his providence to appear once more as he had been in the past [i.e., in the flesh] so that they might realize he was wearing no other form than the one in which he had suffered crucifixion. Our eyes could not have endured the glory of his holy body, if he had chosen to reveal it to his disciples before he ascended to the Father. Anyone who reflects on the transfiguration will easily infer this is the case. . . . since, it says, they could not endure the sight but fell on their faces. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12.1.

20:19b Peace Be With You
THE SPIRIT BREATHES TRANQUILITY. MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR: Through his greeting of peace he breathes on them and bestows tranquility as well as a sharing in the Holy Spirit. CHAPTERS ON KNOWLEDGE 2.46.

THE PEACE OF CHRIST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: When Christ greeted his holy disciples with the words “peace be with you,” by peace he meant himself, for Christ’s presence always brings tranquility of soul. This is the grace Paul desired for believers when he wrote, “The peace of Christ which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds.” The peace of Christ which passes all understanding is in fact the Spirit of Christ, who fills those who share in him with every blessing. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12.1.

20:20 Jesus’ Hands and Side and the Disciples’ Rejoicing
A TRUE BODILY RESURRECTION. IRENAEUS: As Christ rose in the substance of flesh and pointed out to his disciples the mark of the nails and the opening in his side (now these are the tokens of that flesh that rose from the dead), so “shall he also,” it is said, “raise us up by his own power.” What, then, are mortal bodies? Can they be souls? Not at all, for souls are incorporeal when compared with mortal bodies. . . . We must therefore conclude that it is in reference to the flesh that death is mentioned. This [flesh], after the soul’s departure, becomes breathless and inanimate and is decomposed gradually into the earth from which it was taken. This, then, is what is mortal. And it is concerning this that [Paul] says, “He shall also enliven your mortal bodies.” AGAINST HERESIES 5.7.1.

THE MARKS OF THE NAILS. THEODORET OF CYR: And so the reason why the Lord stood in the midst of the disciples, even though the doors were closed, after the passion but not before it, was that you might know that your body was sown as a physical body but raised as a spiritual body. But in order that you might not think that what rises is something different, when Thomas did not believe in the resurrection, he shows him the marks of the nails. He shows him the scars of the wounds. He who healed everybody even before the resurrection could have healed himself especially after the resurrection, could he not? Yes, but through the marks of the nails that he shows he teaches that it is this [body], while through the closed doors by which he enters, he reveals that it is not such a [body as it was]. It was this [body], in order that he might fulfill the goal of the divine plan by raising that which had died, but it was such a body [as it was], in order that it might not lapse into corruption again and not be subject to death again. DIALOGUE 2.56.

A GLIMPSE OF GLORIFIED RESURRECTED BODIES. JEROME: The substance of our resurrection bodies will certainly be the same as now, though of higher glory. For the Savior after his descent into hell had the same body in which he was crucified. He showed the disciples the marks of the nails in his hands and the wound in his side. AGAINST JOVINIANUS 1.36.

HEALING WOUNDS OF UNBELIEVING HEARTS. LEO THE GREAT: He offers to the doubters’ eyes the marks of the cross that remained in his hands and feet and invites them to handle him with careful scrutiny. He does this because the traces of the nails and spear had been retained to heal the wounds of unbelieving hearts, so that not with wavering faith but with the most certain conviction they might comprehend that the nature that had been lain in the sepulcher was to sit on God the Father’s throne. SERMON 73.3.

JESUS IS HUMAN AND DIVINE AFTER THE RESURRECTION. LEO THE GREAT: He showed the wound in his side, the marks of the nails and all the signs of his quite recent suffering, saying, “See my hands and feet, that it is I. Handle me and see that a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me have,” in order that the properties of his divine and human nature might be acknowledged to remain still inseparable. He also did this so that we might know the Word was not different from the flesh so that we can also confess that the one Son of God is both the Word and flesh. LETTER 28.5.

JESUS’ PROPHECY OF JOY COMES TRUE. CHRYSOSTOM: Do you see the words issuing in deeds? For what he said before the crucifixion, that “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you,” this he now accomplished in deed. But all these things led them to a most exact faith. For since they had an endless war with the Jews, he continually repeated “Peace be to you,” giving them consolation to counterbalance the strife. And so this was the first word that he spoke to them after the resurrection. (Similarly Paul keeps on saying, “Grace be to you and peace.”). To the women, however, he gives good news of joy, because they were in sorrow and had received this as the first curse. Therefore he gives good news to each in their own situation: to the men he gave peace because of their war; to the women he gave joy because of their sorrow. Then having put away all painful things, he tells of the victory of the cross, and this was the “peace.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.2 3.

THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT FOR FORGIVENESS

OVERVIEW: Jesus reiterates his comfort for the troubled minds of the disciples (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). He commissions the disciples in love (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS), sending them on a mission to preach his message of repentance and forgiveness. They were in no way to follow their own will but the will of him that sent them (CYRIL). As the Father had sent his Son in love, so now he sends his disciples, who may undergo the same persecution Jesus did (GREGORY THE GREAT). He gradually prepares them to receive more and more of the Spirit (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS). Christ gives his Spirit to the disciples more than once after the resurrection: He first gave it while he was on earth and later from heaven when the Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost, where they manifested the Spirit’s power (AUGUSTINE). This was the second breath of the Spirit, the first breath in Genesis having been stifled by willful sin (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM), while the second would enliven their faith to be bold in the preaching of the Gospel (THEODORE). The Spirit, which is the breath of God (CYRIL), is the Son’s to give (ATHANASIUS). He prepares the apostles for being sent by breathing his Spirit on them, giving them the spiritual power to remit sins (CHRYSOSTOM). The authority that the apostles have is found in Christ, and their unity, and that of the church that grew from them, is traced back to their one Lord, who binds them together through the Spirit (CYPRIAN). Forgiveness is given by the Spirit through all of Christ’s apostles who receive his authority (THEODORE) to both forgive and retain sins. Both binding and loosing sin are allowed to the church; neither is allowed to heresy (AMBROSE). Christ gave this authority to all of the apostles (JEROME) and confirms the sentence they pronounce (CHRYSOSTOM). They can only forgive what God forgives (ORIGEN). The transformative power of ordination given by the Spirit to the apostles provided them with the strength they needed to fulfill their calling (CYRIL). But those who receive such power through the gift of ordination should understand that with great power comes great responsibility (GREGORY THE GREAT, CHRYSOSTOM).

20:21 Peace Again, and the Disciples’ Commissioning
PEACE REITERATED TO COMFORT TROUBLED MINDS. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: What does this repetition in bestowing peace mean, except that he wants the tranquility that he had announced to their minds individually also to be kept collectively among them by granting peace repeatedly? He knew, at any rate, that they were going to have far from insignificant struggles in the future stemming from his delay, with one boasting that he had persevered in faith and another in grief because he had doubted. . . . Peter denies, John flees, Thomas doubts, all forsake him: unless Christ had granted forgiveness for these transgressions by his peace, even Peter, who was the first in rank of all of them, would have been considered inferior and undeserving of his subsequent elevation to the primacy. SERMON 84.5.

HE SENDS THEM IN LOVE. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The mention of his having been sent does not diminish him as Son but declares that what he wants to be understood here is not the power of the one who sends but the charity of the one who has been sent. This is why he says, “Just as the Father,” not the Lord, “has sent me, so I send you.” In other words, I send you no longer with the authority of a Master but with all the affection of someone who loves you. I send you to endure hunger, to suffer the burden of chains, to the squalor of prison, to bear all kinds of punishments and to undergo bitter death for all: all of which charity, and not power, enjoins on human minds. SERMON 84.6.

THE APOSTOLIC MISSION. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Christ says that he sent the apostles even as the Father had sent him, that they might fully comprehend their mission: to call sinners to repentance and to minister to those who were caught up in evil, whether of body or soul. In all their dealings on this earth, they were not in any way to follow their own will but the will of him who sent them. They were also called to save the world by their teaching, so far as was possible. And in truth we shall find that holy disciples were eager to show the utmost enthusiasm in performing all these things. It is not difficult for people to see this, if they give their attention to the Acts of the Apostles and the words of the holy Paul. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12.1.

THE FATHER SENDS THE SON, THE SON SENDS YOU. GREGORY THE GREAT: The Father sent his Son, appointing him to become a human person for the redemption of the human race. He willed him to come into the world to suffer and yet he loved his Son whom he sent to suffer. The Lord is sending his chosen apostles into the world, not to the world’s joys but to suffer as he himself was sent. Therefore as the Son is loved by the Father and yet is sent to suffer, so also the disciples are loved by the Lord, who nevertheless sends them into the world to suffer. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 26.

20:22 The Breath of the Spirit Given and Received
THE GRADUAL MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: [Christ’s disciples] were able to receive [the Spirit] on three occasions: before he was glorified by the passion, after he was glorified by the resurrection and after his ascension. . . . Now the first of these manifests him the healing of the sick and casting out of evil spirits and so does that breathing on them after the resurrection, which was clearly a divine inspiration. And so too the present distribution of the fiery tongues. But the first manifested him indistinctly, the second more expressly, this present one more perfectly, since he is no longer present only in energy but . . . substantially, associating with us and dwelling in us. ON PENTECOST, ORATION 41.11.

TWOFOLD GIVING OF THE SPIRIT. AUGUSTINE: But the reason why, after his resurrection, he both gave the Holy Spirit, first on earth, and afterward sent him from heaven, is in my judgment this: that “love is shed abroad in our hearts,” by that gift itself, whereby we love God and our neighbors, according to those two commandments, “on which hang all the law and the prophets.” And Jesus Christ signified this by giving them the Holy Spirit once on earth because of the love of our neighbor and a second time from heaven because of the love of God. And if some other reason may perhaps be given for this double gift of the Holy Spirit, at any rate we ought not to doubt that the same Holy Spirit was given when Jesus breathed on them, of whom he says, “Go, baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” where this Trinity is especially commended to us. It is therefore he who was also given from heaven on the day of Pentecost, that is, ten days after the Lord ascended into heaven. ON THE TRINITY 15.26.46.

RECEIVING THE SPIRIT DISTINGUISHED FROM BEING CLOTHED IN IT. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: This was the second time he breathed on human beings his first breath having been stifled through willful sins. . . . But though he bestowed his grace then, he was to lavish it yet more bountifully. And he says to them, I am ready to give it even now, but the vessel cannot yet hold it. For awhile therefore receive as much grace as you can bear. And look forward for yet more. “But stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.” Receive it in part now. Then, you shall wear it in its fullness. For the one who receives often possesses only a part of the gift. But the one who is clothed is completely enfolded by his robe. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 17.12.

THE LIFE-GIVING POWER OF THE SPIRIT. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: With these words he teaches them the identity of the giver and the distributor of all these goods. His “breathing” convinces them to have no doubt about this because the body was created in the beginning as immobile and inanimate but then received life, which it did not have in itself when the soul entered into it through “breathing,” as the blessed Moses said. After Jesus breathed for the first time, he mentioned the Spirit in order to show that, as then nothing prevented the body from living even though it did not by nature possess [life], which the soul by entering gave it, so now they had to believe that the body of human beings was made imperishable through resurrection, because the Spirit who gives it this strength is powerful. Therefore he said to them, You must truly believe in what has been said to you and must have no doubts about the resurrection. You must not reject the honor of the apostolate because you are scared of being sent as messengers of a new doctrine into the world. You will indeed receive the effect of the Spirit, which, at the right time, will confer on you resurrection and immortality. Through the Spirit, you will receive in this life an amazing, supernatural strength to perform unheard-of miracles by a mere word. You will be able to face easily any afflictions that may befall you because of those who oppose your preaching. And even though there were many other things to be accomplished in them through the Spirit, without mentioning them, he mentioned the most important argument of all. Here, he says, is what will clearly demonstrate to you the strength of the Spirit. Indeed, as soon as you receive it, you will be able to absolve the sins of whomever you want, as well as to pronounce a sentence of condemnation against anyone. If you, who are human, after receiving the gift of the Spirit, will be able to do all those things that are of God indeed, only he has the power to judge I leave to you to consider what the effectiveness of the Spirit is. Once you have received it, you must no longer doubt. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 7.20.22.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE BREATH OF GOD. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Son, sharing the same nature as God the Father, has the Spirit in the same manner that the Father would be understood to have the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit is not something added or which comes from without, for it would be naïve even insane to hold such an opinion. But God the Father has the Spirit, just as each one of us has our own breath within us that pours forth from the innermost parts of the body. This is why Christ physically breathed on his disciples, showing that as the breath proceeds physically from the human mouth, so too does Christ, in a manner befitting God, pour forth the [Spirit] from the divine essence. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 9.1.

THE SPIRIT IS THE SON’S TO GIVE. ATHANASIUS: [He gave the Spirit] to the disciples, demonstrating his Godhead and his majesty and intimating that he was not inferior but equal to the Spirit. And so, he gave the Spirit, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and “I send him,” and “he shall glorify me,” and “Whatever he hears is what he shall speak.” . . . Through whom then and from whom is it that the Spirit should be given but through the Son, to whom also the Spirit belongs? And when were we enabled to receive it, except when the Word became man? DISCOURSES AGAINST THE ARIANS 1.12.50.

PREPARED TO RECEIVE THE SPIRIT. CHRYSOSTOM: How is it that he says elsewhere, “If I do not go away, he will not come,” and yet he gives them the Spirit here? Some say that by breathing he did not give them the Spirit but prepared them to receive the Spirit by breathing on them. For if Daniel’s senses were so overpowered by the sight of the angel, how would they have been overwhelmed in receiving that unutterable gift, if he had not first prepared them for it! . . . It would not be wrong, however, to say that they received then the gift of a certain spiritual power, not to raise the dead and do miracles but to remit sins. For the gifts of the Spirit are of different kinds. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.3.

THE BEGINNING PROCEEDS FROM UNITY. CYPRIAN: To all the apostles, after his resurrection, he gives an equal power and says, “As the Father has sent me, even so send I you: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever’s sins you remit, they shall be remitted to him. And whoever’s sins you retain, they shall be retained.” And yet, that he might promote unity, he arranged by his authority the origin of that unity, as beginning from one . . . so that the beginning proceeds from unity. And this one church, also, the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs designated in the person of our Lord, saying, “My dove, my spotless one, is but one. She is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bore her.” THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH 4.

20:23 The Breath of the Spirit and Forgiveness
THE APOSTLES RECEIVE CHRIST’S AUTHORITY. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: What truly wonderful gifts! Indeed, it does not only give the power over the elements and the faculty to make signs and wonders but also concedes that God may name them [judges], and therefore the servants receive from him the authority that is proper to him. The prerogative to absolve and retain sins only belongs to God, and the Jews sometimes raised this objection with the Savior, saying, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” The Lord generously gave this authority to those who honored him. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 7.20.22 25.

THE CHURCH FORGIVES AND RETAINS SIN. AMBROSE: They affirm that they are showing great reverence for God, to whom alone they reserve the power of forgiving sins. But in truth no one does him greater injury than those who choose to prune his commandments and reject the office entrusted to them. For the Lord Jesus himself said in the Gospel, “Receive the Holy Spirit; whoever’s sins you forgive they are forgiven to them, and whoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.” Who is it that honors him most, the one who obeys his bidding or the one who rejects it? The church holds fast its obedience on either side by both retaining and remitting sin. Heresy is on the one side cruel and on the other disobedient. It wishes to bind what it will not loosen and will not loosen what it has bound, whereby it condemns itself by its own sentence. For the Lord willed that the power of binding and of loosing should be the same, and he sanctioned each by a similar condition. So whoever does not have the power to loose does not have the power to bind. For as, according to the Lord’s word, the one who has the power to bind also has the power to loose, their teaching destroys itself, inasmuch as those who deny that they have the power of loosing ought also to deny that of binding. For how can the one be allowed and the other disallowed? It is plain and evident that either each is allowed or each is disallowed in the case of those to whom each has been given. Each is allowed to the church; neither is allowed to heresy. For this power has been entrusted to priests alone. It is only right, therefore, that the church, which has true priests, claims it. Heresy, which does not have the priests of God, cannot claim it. And by not claiming this power heresy pronounces its own sentence, that not possessing priests it cannot claim priestly power. CONCERNING REPENTANCE 1.2.6 7.

THE CHURCH FOUNDED ON ALL OF THE APOSTLES. JEROME: But you say the church was founded on Peter, although elsewhere the same is attributed to all the apostles, and they all receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the church depends on them all alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen so that when a head has been appointed, there may be no occasion for schism. AGAINST JOVINIANUS 1.26.

THE MASTER CONFIRMS THE SENTENCE OF THE SERVANTS. CHRYSOSTOM: Anyone who considers how much it means to be able, in his humanity still entangled in flesh and blood, to approach that blessed and immaculate Being will see clearly how great the honor is that the grace of the Spirit has bestowed on priests. It is through them that this work is performed, and other work no less than this in its bearing on our dignity and our salvation. For earth’s inhabitants, having their life in this world, have been entrusted with the stewardship of heavenly things, and they have received an authority that God has not given to angels or archangels. Not to them was it said, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose, shall be loosed.” Those who are lords on earth have indeed the power to bind, but only people’s bodies. But this binding touches the very soul and reaches through heaven. What priests do on earth, God ratifies above. The Master confirms the decisions of his servants. Indeed, he has given them nothing less than the whole authority of heaven. For he says, “Whoever’s sins you forgive are forgiven, and whoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.” What authority could be greater than that? “The Father has given all judgment to the Son.” But I see that the Son has placed it all in their hands. For they have been raised to this prerogative, as though they were already translated to heaven and had transcended human nature and were freed from our passions. ON THE PRIESTHOOD 3.5.

WHEN TO FORGIVE, WHEN TO RETAIN. ORIGEN: Consider the person inspired by Jesus as the apostles were and who can be known by his fruits as someone who has received the Holy Spirit and become spiritual by being led by the Spirit as a son of God to do everything by reason. This person forgives whatever God forgives and retains sins that cannot be healed, serving God like the prophets by speaking not his own words but those of the divine will. So he, too, serves God, who alone has authority to forgive. ON PRAYER 28.8.

TRANSFORMING POWER OF ORDINATION. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: After dignifying the holy apostles with the glorious distinction of the apostleship and appointing them ministers and priests of the divine altar, as I have just said, he at once sanctifies them by promising his Spirit to them through the outward sign of his breath, that we might be firmly convinced that the Holy Spirit is not alien to the Son but consubstantial with him and through him proceeding from the Father. He shows that the gift of the Spirit necessarily attends those who are ordained by him to be apostles of God. And why? Because they could have done nothing pleasing to God and could not have triumphed over the snares of sin if they had not been “clothed with power from on high” and been transformed into something other than they were before. . . . [Jesus] consecrates by actual sanctification, making people partakers in his nature, through participation in the Spirit and in some sort strengthening the nature of humanity into a power and glory that is superhuman. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12.1.

WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY. GREGORY THE GREAT: It is pleasant to observe the disciples, lifted up to a height of glory equal to the burden of humility to which they were called. You see how they not only acquire peace of mind concerning themselves but even receive the power of releasing others from their bonds. They share in the right of divine judgment so that as God’s vicars they may withhold forgiveness of sins from some and grant it to others. So it was fitting that only those who had consented to be humbled for the sake of God be raised up by him. Those who feared God’s strict judgment were made judges of hearts. Those who were themselves fearful of being condemned condemn some and set others free. Their place in the church is now held by the bishops. Those who obtain the position of governing receive authority to loose and to bind. It is a great honor, but the burden is heavy. In truth it is difficult for one who does not know how to exercise control over his own life to become the judge of someone else’s life. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 26.

IMPORTANCE OF PRIESTLY VIGILANCE. CHRYSOSTOM: You should hold your pastor in high honor. You care about your own affairs, and if you care for them well you won’t have to give an account to anyone else. But your pastor, even if he orders his own life well, if he does not have an anxious concern for your life as well, yes and of all those around him, he is sent to hell with the evildoers. . . . Therefore, knowing the greatness of their danger, give them a large measure of your goodwill. . . . They should receive your most favorable attention. But if you join with the rest in trampling on them . . . and throw them into despondency, you weaken their hands and render them, as well as yourselves, an easy prey to the waves, no matter how courageous they are. . . . You have respect for secular authorities, but when God appoints do we despise him who is appointed and abuse him and besmirch him with ten thousand reproaches, and though forbidden to judge our brothers, do we sharpen our tongue against our pastors? . . . I am not saying that I approve of those who exercise their pastorate unworthily, but I do greatly pity them and weep for them. . . . And even if there is much to say against the way they have lived their lives, this in no way invalidates what they do by commission from God. . . . But why am I speaking only of pastors? Not even an angel or archangel can do anything on its own. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit do it all while the pastor only furnishes the tongue and the hand. For it would not be right that the salvation of those who come to the sacraments in faith should be endangered by another’s wickedness. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.4.