Chapter 9

§ 1.

Of one therefore and the same kind of subsistence are all things, i.e., from one and the same God, as the Lord also saith to His Disciples,¹ Therefore every Scribe which is instructed into the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth out of his treasure things new and old. He taught not of one bringing forth old things, another new, but one and the same. For the Householder is the Lord, who rules over the whole house of his Father: Who to the slaves indeed, and those who are yet undisciplined, delivers the Law, which is suited to them; but to the free and to those justified by faith, giving apt precepts, and to the sons revealing their proper inheritance.

As for the Scribes and Teachers of the Kingdom of Heaven,² by them He meant His own disciples: of whom also He elsewhere saith to the Jews,³ Behold, I send to you wise men, and scribes, and teachers, and some of them ye shall kill, and persecute from city to city.

Again,⁴ by the new and old things which are brought out of the treasure, He means unquestionably the two Testaments: whereof the Old which had existed before, is characterized by the giving of the Law; the New, by a manner of life which becometh the Gospel; concerning which David saith, Sing unto the Lord a new song.⁵ And Esaias, Sing unto the Lord a new hymn;⁶ the beginning thereof, glorify His Name from the end of the earth, they declare His virtues in the islands. And Jeremiah saith,⁷ Behold, saith he, I will make a new testament, not as I made with your fathers in Mount Horeb. Both Testaments however are the revelation of one and the same Householder, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ: Who spake both to Abraham and Moses, and to us in our new estate restored liberty, and multiplied the grace which is of Himself.

§ 2.

For More,⁸ saith He, than the Temple is here. Now more and less are terms used, not of those things which have nothing in common with each other,⁹ and which are of a contrary nature, and in mutual discord, but of such as are of the same mode of subsistence, and partake of one another, but differ only in number and in greatness; as water from water, and light from light, and grace from grace. Thus, the gift is greater of that Law which is bestowed on us for liberty, than of that which is given for servitude: and therefore it is not for one nation but is diffused over the whole world: yet the Lord is one and the same,¹⁰ who is more than the Temple, and more than Solomon, and gives men more than Jonas did, i.e., His own Presence, and the Resurrection from the dead: not however changing God, nor preaching another Father, but the Very same; Who always hath a larger measure for those of His own household: And as their love towards God advances, His gifts become more and greater;¹¹ as the Lord also said to His Disciples, Ye shall see even greater things than these. And Paul saith, Not that I have already received,¹² or am justified, or am already made perfect.¹³ For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then things which are in part shall be done away.

As then,¹⁴ when that which is perfect cometh, we shall see no other Father, but Him Whom we now desire to see; (for Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God:¹⁵) neither are we to wait for another Christ or Son of God, but Him Who is of the Virgin Mary, Who also suffered, and in Whom we believe, and Whom we love:¹⁶—(as Esaias saith, And they shall say in that day, Lo, the Lord our God, in Whom we have hoped, and have rejoiced in our salvation. And Peter saith in his Epistle, Whom seeing not,¹⁷ saith he, ye love; in Whom, now not seeing, ye have believed,—ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable:)—neither do we receive¹⁸ another Holy Ghost, besides Him Who is with us, and Who cries, Abba Father:¹⁹ and in These, the very same, we shall have our growth and increase, so as to enjoy the gifts of God, now no more through a glass and darkly,²⁰ but face to face:—so now also in receiving somewhat more than the Temple and more than Solomon, that is, the coming of the Son of God, we have not been learning of another God, besides the Maker and Framer of all things, Who was shewn unto us from the beginning; nor another Christ the Son of God, besides Him Who was announced by the Prophets.

§ 3.

For in that the New Testament was known and announced by the Prophets, He also was announced, Who was to order the same according to the decree of the Father; being manifested unto men, as God willed, that believing in Him they might make continual progress, and that the perfect work of salvation might come to its maturity by the Testaments.²¹ For there is one salvation and one God: but the precepts which form man are many, and the steps not few, which lead man unto God. While to an earthly and temporal King, being but a man, it is permitted to bestow from time to time more and more preferment on his subjects; shall not God have the same permission, being the Same, and always willing to grant unto mankind more grace, and with additional gifts continually to honour those who please Him?

But if this is making progress,—to find out another Father, besides Him Who was declared from the beginning, and again besides Him Who is thought to have been found in the second, to find out yet another, a third: it will belong to the same progress, to go on from the third also unto a fourth, and after this again to another and another: and thus the aforesaid view, fancying itself always in progress, will never stay itself in one only God. For being driven from the existing one, and turned backward, he will be always indeed seeking God, but will never find Him: rather he will float perpetually in the abyss of mysteriousness, except he be converted through penitence,²² and return to the place from which he was cast out; confessing and believing one God the Father and Creator, Who was announced by the Law and the Prophets, to Whom Christ bore witness: as He saith Himself to those who were accusing His Disciples as though they kept not the Tradition of the Elders:²³ Why do ye make void the commandment of the Lord by your tradition? For God said, ‘Honour thy Father and thy Mother,’ and, ‘He that curseth Father or Mother, let him die the death.’ And again He saith unto them,²⁴ Ye have made void the word of God by your tradition: Christ most evidently confessing Him as God and Father, Who said in the Law, Honour thy father and mother that it may be well with thee. Thus the God Who speaketh the Truth confessed the precept of the Law to be the word of God: and to none other did He give the Name of God; but to His Own Father.