Even Years: St. Hippolytus, Against the heresy of Noetus
| Εἷς
θεός, ὅν οὐκ ἄλλοθεν
ἐπιγινώσκομεν,
ἀδελφοί, ἢ ἐκ τῶν
ἁγίων γραφῶν Ὅσα
τοίνυν κηρύσσουσιν
αἱ θεῖαι γραφαὶ
ἴδωμεν, καὶ ὅσα
διδάσκουσιν ἐπιγνῶμεν·
καὶ ὡς θέλει
πατὴρ πιστεύεσθαι
πιστεύσωμεν,
καὶ ὡς θέλει υἱὸν
δοξάζεσθαι δοξάσωμεν,
καὶ ὡς θέλει
πνεῦμα ἅγιον
δωρεῖσθαι λάβωμεν·
μὴ κατ᾽ ἰδίαν
προαίρεσιν μηδὲ
κατ᾽ ἰδιον νοῦν
μηδὲ βιαζόμενοι
τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ
δεδομένα, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ
ὅν τρόπον αὐτὸς
ἐβουλήθη διὰ τῶν
ἁγίων γραφῶν
δεῖξαι οὕτως ἴδωμεν.
| There is one God, and we can come to know him only through sacred Scripture. So then, let us look at what Scripture proclaims, let us discover what its teaching is. As the Father wants to be believed, so let us believe; as he wants the Son to be glorified, so let us glorify him; as he wants the Holy Spirit to be given, so let us receive him. We must not act in accordance with our own mind or our own will; we must not do violence to what God has given. We must look at things rather as God has chosen to make them known through Scripture.
| | Θεὸς
μόνος ὑπάρχων
καὶ μηδὲν ἔχων ἑαυτῷ
σύγχρονον ἐβουλήθη
κόσμον κτίσαι, ὃν
κόσμον ἐννοηθεὶς
θελήσας τε καὶ
φθεγξάμενος ἐποίησεν,
ᾧ παραυτίκα
παρέστη τὰ γενόμενα
ὅσα ἠθέλησεν, ὅτε
ἠθέλησεν, καθὼς
ἠθέλησεν· αὔταρκες
οὖν ἡμῖν ἐστιν
μόνον εἰδέναι ὅτι
σύγχρονον θεῷ
οὐδὲν πλὴν αὐτὸς
ἦν. Αύτὸς δὲ μόνος
ὢν πολὺς ἦν, οὔτε
γὰρ ἄλογος οὔτε
ἄσοφος οὔτε ἀδύνατος
οὔτε ἀβούλευτος
ἦν· πάντα δὲ ἦν ἐν
αὐτῷ, αὐτὸς δὲ ἦν
τὸ πᾶν. Ὅτε ἠθέλησεν,
καθὼς ἠθέλησεν,
ἐγέννα τὸν λόγον
αὐτοῦ, δι᾽ οὗ τά
πάντα ἐποίησεν
καιροῖς ὡρισμένοις
παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ
| God, existing alone, without contemporary of any sort, decided to make the world. He conceived it in his mind, willed it, spoke the word, and so made it, and immediately it came into being, formed as he had willed it. It is enough for us simply to know that God had no contemporary; apart from him there was nothing. But though alone, God was manifold. He was not without reason or wisdom or power or counsel. All things were in him and he was all. When he willed, and as he willed, he revealed his Word, at times which he himself had determined.
| | Ὅν
λόγον ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ
ἀόρατόν τε ὄντα
τῷ κτιζομένῳ κόσμῳ
ὁρατὸν ποιεῖ·
πρότερον φωνὴν
φθεγγόμενος καὶ
φῶς ἐκ φωτὸς
γεννῶν προῆκεν
τῇ κτίσει κύριον
τὸν ἴδιον νοῦν, ὃν
αὐτῷ μόνῷ πρότερον
ὁρατὸν ὑπάρχοντα,
τῷ δὲ γινομένῳ
κόσμῳ ἀόρατον ὄντα,
ὁρατὸν ποιεῖ, ὅπως
διὰ τοῦ φανῆναι
ἰδὼν ὁ κόσμος
σωθῆναι δυνηθῇ
| Through his Word he made all things.
The Word was in God and was invisible to the created world, but God made him visible. He spoke, as he had done before, and, begetting light from light, he sent forth his own mind to the world as its Lord. He who formerly had been visible only to God and invisible to the world was now made visible, so that through this manifestation the world could see him, and be saved.
| | Οὗτος
δὲ νοῦς, ὃς προβὰς
ἐν κόσμῳ ἐδείκνυτο
παῖς θεοῦ· πάντα
τοίνυν δι᾽ αὐτοῦ,
αὐτὸς δὲ μόνος ἐκ
πατρός
| The Word is the mind of God; he came into the world and was shown forth as Son of God. All things, then, come into being through him, and he alone is from the Father.
| | Οὗτος
δὲ ἔδωκεν νόμον
καὶ προφήτας,
καὶ δοὺς διὰ
πνεύματος ἁγίου
ἠνάγκασεν τούτους
φθέγξασθαι, ὅπως
τῆς πατρῴας
δυνάμεως ἀποπνοίαν
λαβόντες τὴν
βουλὴν καὶ τὸ θέλημα
τοῦ πατρὸς
καταγγείλωσιν.
| It was this one God who gave the law and the prophets. In giving them, he made them speak by the Holy Spirit: the Father's power inspires them, and they proclaim the Father's purpose and will.
| | Οὕτως
οὖν ἐμφανὴς ἐγένετο
ὁ λόγος καθὼς λέγει.
Ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται
γὰρ ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης
τὰ διὰ τῶν
προφητῶν εἰρημένα,
δεικνὺς τοῦτον
εἶναι τὸν λόγον
δι᾽ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο,
φησὶν γὰρ οὕτως·
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος,
καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν
πρὸς τὸν θεόν,
καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος·
πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ
ἐγένετο, καὶ
χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο
οὐδὲ ἕν, ὑποβὰς
δὲ ἔφη· Ὁ κόσμος
δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο
καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν
οὐκ ἔγνω· εἰς τὰ
ἴδια ἦλθεν, καὶ
οἱ ἴδιοι αὐτὸν
οὐ καρέλαβον.
| And so the Word was manifested. Saint John sums up what the prophets said and shows that this is the Word through whom all things came to be: In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him. Later he goes on: The world had its being through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him.
|
Odd Years: Jerome, On Psalm 84 84 (CCL 78,107-108)
| Misericordia et ueritas
obuiauerunt sibi: iustitia et pax osculatae sunt. o quam praeclara amicitia! misericordia
et ueritas obuiauerunt sibi. peccator es? audi quid dicat, misericordia.
sanctus es? audi quid dicat, et ueritas. nec si peccator es, desperes; nec si
iustus es, superbias. dicamus aliter.
| ["Mercy and truth have met; justice and peace have kissed." What a wonderful friendship! Mercy and truth have met—Are you a sinner? Listen to the word "mercy". Are you holy? Listen to the word "and truth". If you are a sinner, do not despair. If you are just, do not be proud. Let's put it another way:]
| | duo sunt credentes populi: unus de
gentium populo, et aliud de iudaeorum. iudaeis repromissum est quod ueniret
saluator: nobis autem, qui extranei eramus a lege dei, non est repromissum.
misericordia igitur est in populo gentilium, ueritas in populo iudaeorum: quia
quod repromissum est uenit, hoc est, quod repromissum est patribus, hoc
conpletur in filiis.
| There are two peoples who believe in the one God, those of Gentile origin and the Jews. To the Jews it was promised that a saviour would come, but to us who were outside God's law no such promise was made. This means that mercy has been shown to the Gentiles, but God has kept faith with the Jews by sending them what he had promised. The promise made to the fathers has come to fulfilment in their sons.
| | iustitia et pax osculatae sunt.
uidete quid dicat, iustitia et pax osculatae sunt. ipsum est quod supra dixit,
misericordia et ueritas. misericordia ipsum est quod et pax, ueritas autem
ipsum est quod et iustitia. si quid enim ad pacem pertinet, hoc et ad
misericordiam: et si quid ad ueritatem, hoc et ad iustitiam. uidete ergo quid
dicat. iustitia et pax deosculatae sunt: hoc est, misericordia et ueritas
amicitiam fecerunt, hoc est, gentium populus et iudaeorum sub uno pastore
xpisto est.
| When the psalm says: Justice and peace have embraced, it is telling us that mercy and truth have made friends. Mercy is the same as peace, and truth is the same as justice. Anything that pertains to peace also applies to mercy. And whatever belongs to truth belongs also to justice. See now what he says: Justice and peace have kissed. That is, mercy and truth have become friends,] and that means that Gentiles and Jews are now united under a single shepherd, Christ.
| | ueritas de terra orta est. ego
sum uia et ueritas et uita. ille qui dixit, ego sum ueritas, de terra ortus
est. quae est ista ueritas, quae de terra orta est? exiet uirga de radice
iesse, et flos de radice eius ascendet. et in alio loco: quoniam deus operatus
est salutem in medio terrae. quid dicis, manichaee, qui negas carnem habuisse
saluatorem? ecce ueritas saluator de terra, hoc est, de maria ortus est.
| Truth has grown up from the earth. Jesus Christ said: I am the way, the truth, and the life. Truth incarnate has grown up from the earth, for Scripture says: There shall come forth a shoot from Jesse's stock, and out of his root a flower shall blossom: and another text says: God has wrought salvation in the heart of the earth. These texts show us that the truth that has grown up from the earth is our Saviour, born of Mary.
| | et iustitia de caelo prospexit.
iustum enim erat, ut saluator misereretur populo suo. uidete quid dicat. o
iusta iudicia dei, et inuestigabiles uiae eius! ueritas de terra orta est, hoc
est saluator et rursum et iustitia de caelo prospexit. iustitia ipse saluator
est. quomodo de terra orta est? quomodo de caelo prospexit?
| And justice looked down from heaven. That the Saviour should have mercy on his people was indeed an act of justice. See what the Scripture says: O how just are God's judgments and how unsearchable his ways! On the one hand truth, that is, a saviour, has grown up from the earth, and on the other justice looks down from heaven in the person of that same Saviour who is himself justice. [How did he arise from the earth? And how does he look down from heaven?]
| | de terra orta est, quoniam homo
natus est: de caelo prospexit, quoniam deus semper in caelis est. hoc est,
natus quidem est de terra: sed ille qui de terra natus est, semper in caelo
est. hoc est, sic apparuit in terris, ut caelos non relinqueret. deus enim
ubique est. prospexit: quoniam donec peccabamus, auertebat oculos suos a nobis.
quod dicit, hoc est. iustum est, ut figulus misereatur operibus suis, ut pastor
misereatur gregi suo. nos populus eius sumus, nos creatura eius sumus.
propterea ergo de terra ortus est, et de caelo prospexit, ut impleat iustitiam
suam, et misereatur operi suo.
| [He rose from the earth, because he was born a man. He looked down from heaven, because God is always in heaven. That is, he certainly was born from the earth, but he who was born of the earth is always in heaven. That is, he appeared on earth without leaving heaven. For God is everywhere. He looks, because until we sin he turns his eyes from us, which is to say:] It is right and just for a potter to treat his works of art gently and for a shepherd to show compassion on his flock And so, because we are the Lord's people and the work of his own hands, he grew up from the earth and looked down from heaven at one and the same time, in order to give full scope to his justice and show pity to his handiwork.
| | denique ut sciatis quoniam iustitia non crudelitatem sonat, sed misericordiam, uidete quid dicat. etenim
dominus dabit benignitatem. propterea prospexit de caelo, ut misereatur operibus suis. et terra nostra dabit fructum suum. ueritas quidem de terra
orta est: hoc de praeterito. nunc de futuro dicitur, et terra nostra dabit fructum suum.
| Finally, look at the words: The Lord will show his kindness, and you will hear a note of mercy, not of harshness, in the word justice, because the very reason for justice looking down from heaven was to show pity to his handiwork And our earth will yield its fruit. Truth has indeed grown up from the earth: that is a historical fact. But when the psalm goes on to speak of the earth yielding fruit, the verb is in the future tense.
| | nolite desperare, quod semel natus est ex maria: cotidie et in nobis nascitur. et terra nostra dabit fructum
suum. et nos possumus parere xpistum, si uolumus. et terra nostra dabit fructum suum: de quo fiat caelestis panis, de quo dicit ego sum caelestis panis.
| So do not be disheartened by the fact that Christ's birth from Mary is an unrepeatable event of the past. He is also born in us every day. Our earth will yield its fruit; we too can give birth to Christ if we wish. Our earth will yield the fruit from which the bread of heaven is made, the bread of which Jesus said: I am the bread of heaven.
| | haec quidem omnia diximus de
misericordia domini, quoniam propterea uenit, ut saluaret humanum genus.
| [We have said all this about the mercy of the Lord, because he came to save the human race.]
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