Church Fathers: Post-Nicene Fathers Vol 07: 27.01.06 Lecture VI Part 1

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Church Fathers: Post-Nicene Fathers Vol 07: 27.01.06 Lecture VI Part 1



TOPIC: Post-Nicene Fathers Vol 07 (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 27.01.06 Lecture VI Part 1

Other Subjects in this Topic:

Lecture VI

Concerning the Unity of Godhyperlink . On the Article, I Believe in One God. Also Concerning Heresies.

Isaiah XLV. 16, 17. (Sept.)

Sanctify yourselves unto Me, O islands. Israel is saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; they shall not be ashamed, neither shall they be confounded for ever, &c.

1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christhyperlink . Blessed also be His Only-begotten Sonhyperlink . For with the thought of God let the thought of Father at once be joined, that the ascription of glory to the Father and the Son may be made indivisible. For the Father hath not one glory, and the Son another, but one and the same, since He is the Father's Only-begotten Son; and when the Father is glorified, the Son also shares the glory with Him, because the glory of the Son flows from His Father's honour: and again, when the Son is glorified, the Father of so great a blessing is highly honoured.

2. Now though the mind is most rapid in its thoughts, yet the tongue needs words, and a long recital of intermediary speech. For the eye embraces at once a multitude of the 'starry quire;' but when any one wishes to describe them one by one, which is the Morning-star, and which, the Evening-star, and which each one of them, he has need of many words. In like manner again the mind in the briefest moment compasses earth and sea and all the bounds of the universe; but what it conceives in an instant, it uses many words to describehyperlink . Yet forcible as is the example I have mentioned, still it is after all weak and inadequate. For of God we speak not all we ought (for that is known to Him only), but so much as the capacity of human nature has received, and so much as our weakness can bear. For we explain not what God is but candidly confess that we have not exact knowledge concerning Him. For in what concerns God to confess our ignorance is the best knowledgehyperlink . Therefore magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name togetherhyperlink ,-all of us in common, for one alone is powerless; nay rather, even if we be all united together, we shall yet not do it as we ought I mean not you only who are here present, but even if all the nurslings of the whole Church throughout the world, both that which now is and that which shall be, should meet together, they would not be able worthily to sing the praises of their Shepherd.

3. A great and honourable man was Abraham, but only great in comparison with men; and when he came before God, then speaking the truth candidly he saith, I am earth and asheshyperlink . He did not say `earth', and then cease, lest he should call himself by the name of that great element; but he added `and ashes', that he might represent his perishable and frail nature. Is there anything, he saith, smaller or lighter than ashes? For take, saith he, the comparison of ashes to a house, of a house to a city, a city to a province, a province to the Roman Empire, and the Roman Empire to the whole earth and all its bounds, and the whole earth to the heaven in which it is embosomed;-the earth, which bears the same proportion to the heaven as the centre to the whole circumference of a wheel, for the earth is no more than this in comparison with the heavenhyperlink : consider then that this first heaven which is seen is less than the second, and the second than the third, for so far Scripture has named them, not that they are only so many, but because it was expedient for us to know so many only. And when in thought thou hast surveyed all the heavens, not yet will even the heavens be able to praise God as He is, nay, not if they should resound with a voice louder than thunder. But if these great vaults of the heavens cannot worthily sing God's praise, when shall `earth and ashes', the smallest and least of things existing, be able to send up a worthy hymn of praise to God, or worthily to speak of God, that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and holdeth the inhabitants thereof as grasshoppershyperlink .

4. If any man attempt to speak of God, let him first describe the bounds of the earth. Thou dwellest on the earth, and the limit of this earth which is thy dwelling thou knowest not: how then shalt thou be able to form a worthy thought of its Creator? Thou beholdest the stars, but their Maker thou beholdest not: count these which are visible, and then describe Him who is invisible, Who telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their nameshyperlink . Violent rains lately came pouring down upon us, and nearly destroyed us: number the drops in this city alone: nay, I say not in the city, but number the drops on thine own house for one single hour, if thou canst: but thou canst not. Learn then thine own weakness; learn from this instance the mightiness of God: for He hath numbered the drops of rainhyperlink , which have been poured down on all the earth, not only now but in all time. The sun is a work of God, which, great though it be, is but a spot in comparison with the whole heaven; first gaze stedfastly upon the sun, and then curiously scan the Lord of the sun. Seek not the things that are too deep for thee, neither search out the things that are above thy strength: what is commanded thee, think thereuponhyperlink .

5. But some one will say, If the Divine substance is incomprehensible, why then dost thou discourse of these things? So then, because I cannot drink up all the river, am I not even to take in moderation what is expedient for me? Because with eyes so constituted as mine I cannot take in all the sun, am I not even to look upon him enough to satisfy my wants? Or again, because I have entered into a great garden, and cannot eat all the supply of fruits, wouldst thou have me go away altogether hungry? I praise and glorify Him that made us; for it is a divine command which saith, Let every breath praise the Lordhyperlink . I am attempting now to glorify the Lord, but not to describe Him, knowing nevertheless that I shall fall short of glorifying Him worthily, yet deeming it a work of piety even to attempt it at all. For the Lord Jesus encourageth my weakness, by saying, No man hath seen God at any timehyperlink .

6. What then, some man will say, is it not written, The little ones' Angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heavenhyperlink ? Yes, but the Angels see God not as He is, but as far as they themselves are capable. For it is Jesus Himself who saith, Not that any man hath seen the Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the Fatherhyperlink . The Angels therefore behold as much as they can bear, and Archangels as much as they are able; and Thrones and Dominions more than the former, but yet less than His worthiness: for with the Son the Holy Ghost alone can rightly behold Him: for He searcheth all things, and knoweth even the deep things of Godhyperlink : as indeed the Only-begotten Son also, with the Holy Ghost, knoweth the Father fully: For neither, saith He, knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Himhyperlink . For He fully beholdeth, and, according as each can bear, revealeth God through the Spirit: since the Only-begotten Son together with the Holy Ghost is a partaker of the Father's Godhead. He, whohyperlink was begotten knoweth Him who begat; and He Who begat knoweth Him who is begotten. Since Angels then are ignorant (for to each according to his own capacity doth the Only-begotten reveal Him through the Holy Ghost, as we have said), let no man be ashamed to confess his ignorance. I am speaking now, as all do on occasion but how we speak, we cannot tell: how then can I declare Him who hath given us speech? I who have a soul, and cannot tell its distinctive properties, how shall I be able to describe its Giver?

7. For devotion it suffices us simply to know that we have a God; a God who is One, a livinghyperlink , an ever-living God; always like unto Himselfhyperlink ; who has no Father, none mightier than Himself, no successor to thrust Him out from His kingdom: Who in name is manifold, in power infinite, in substance uniformhyperlink . For though He is called Good. and Just, and Almighty and Sabaothhyperlink , He is not on that account diverse and various; but being one and the same, He sends forth countless operations of His Godhead, not exceeding here and deficient there, but being in all things like unto Himself. Not great in loving-kindness only, and little in wisdom, but with wisdom and loving-kindness in equal power: not seeing in part, and in part devoid of sight; but being all eye, and all ear, and all mindhyperlink : not like us perceiving in part and in part not knowing; for such a statement were blasphemous, and unworthy of the Divine substance. He foreknoweth the things that be; He is Holy, and Almighty, and excelleth all in goodness, and majesty, and wisdom: of Whom we can declare neither beginning, nor form, nor shape. For ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shapehyperlink , saith Holy Scripture. Wherefore Moses saith also to the Israelites: And take ye good heed to your own souls, for ye saw no similitudehyperlink . For if it is wholly impossible to imagine His likeness, how shall thought come near His substance?

8. There have been many imaginations by many persons, and all have failed. Some have thought that God is fire; others that He is, as it were, a man with wings, because of a true text ill understood, Thou shalt hide me under the shadow of Thy wingshyperlink . They forgot that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten, speaks in like manner concerning Himself to Jerusalem, How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and ye would nothyperlink . For whereas God's protecting power was conceived as wings, they failing to understand this sank down to the level of things human, and supposed that the Unsearchable exists in the likeness of man. Some again dared to say that He has seven eyes, because it is written, seven eyes of the Lord looking upon the whole earthhyperlink . For if He has but seven eyes surrounding Him in part, His seeing is therefore partial and not perfect: but to say this of God is blasphemous; for we must believe that God is in all things perfect, according to our Saviour's word, which saith, Your Father in heaven is perfecthyperlink : perfect in sight, perfect in power, perfect in greatness, perfect in foreknowledge, perfect in goodness, perfect in justice, perfect in loving-kindness: not circumscribed in any space, but the Creator of all space, existing in all, and circumscribed by nonehyperlink . Heaven is His throne, but higher is He that sitteth thereon: and earth is His footstoolhyperlink , but His power reacheth unto things under the earth.

9. One He is, everywhere present, beholding all things, perceiving all things, creating all things through Christ: For all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything madehyperlink . A fountain of every good, abundant and unfailing, a river of blessings, an eternal light of never-failing splendour, an insuperable power condescending to our infirmities: whose very Name we dare not hearhyperlink . Wilt thou find a footstep of the Lord? saith Job, or hast thou attained unto the least things which the Almighty hath madehyperlink ? If the least of His works are incomprehensible, shall He be comprehended who made them all? Eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Himhyperlink . If the things which God hath prepared are incomprehensible to our thoughts, how can we comprehend with our mind Himself who hath prepared them? O the depth of the riches, and wisdom, and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding outhyperlink ! saith the Apostle. If His judgments and His ways are incomprehensible, can He Himself be comprehended?

10. God then being thus great, and yet greater, (for even were I to change my whole substance into tongue, I could not speak His excellence: nay more, not even if all Angels should assemble, could they ever speak His worth), God being therefore so great in gooness and majesty, man hath yet dared to say to a stone that he hath graven, Thou art my Godhyperlink ! O monstrous blindness, that from majesty so great came down so low! The tree which was planted by God, and nourished by the rain, and afterwards burnt and turned into ashes by the fire,-this is addressed as God, and the true God is despised. But the wickedness of idolatry grew yet more prodigal, and cat, and dog, and wolfhyperlink were worshipped instead of God: the man-eating lionhyperlink also was worshipped instead of God, the most loving friend of man. The snake and the serpenthyperlink , counterfeit of him who thrust us out of Paradise, were worshipped, and He who planted Paradise was despised. And I am ashamed to say, and yet do say it, even onionshyperlink were worshipped among some. Wine was given to make glad the heart of manhyperlink : and Dionysus (Bacchus) was worshipped instead of God. God made corn by saying, Let the earth bring forth grass, yielding seed after his kind and after. his likenesshyperlink , that bread may strengthen man's hearthyperlink : why then was Demeter (Ceres) worshipped? Fire cometh forth from striking stones together even to this day: how then was Hephaestus (Vulcan) the creator of fire?11. Whence came the polytheistic error of the Greekshyperlink ? God has no body: whence then the adulteries alleged among those who are by them called gods? I say nothing of the transformations of Zeus into a swan: I am ashamed to speak of his transformations into a bull: for bellowings are unworthy of a god. The god of the Greeks has been found an adulterer, yet are they not ashamed: for if he is an adulterer let him not be called a god. They tell also of deathshyperlink , and fallshyperlink , and thunder-strokeshyperlink of their gods. Seest thou from how great a height and how low they have fallen? Was it without reason then that the Son of God came down from heaven? or was it that He might heal so great a wound? Was it without reason that the Son came? or was it in order that the Father might be acknowledged? Thou hast learned what moved the Only-begotten to come down from the throne at God's right hand. The Father was despised, the Son must needs correct the error: for He Through Whom All Things Were Made must bring them all as offerings to the Lord of all. The wound must be healed: for what could be worse than this disease, that a stone should be worshipped instead of God?

Of Heresies.

12. And not among the heathen only did the devil make these assaults; for many of those who are falsely called Christians, and wrongfully addressed by the sweet name of Christ, have ere now impiously dared to banish God from His own creation. I mean the brood of heretics, those most ungodly men of evil name, pretending to be friends of Christ but utterly hating Him. For he who blasphemes the Father of the Christ is an enemy of the Son. These men have dared to speak of two Godheads, one good and one evilhyperlink ! O monstrous blindness! If a Godhead, then assuredly good. But if not good, why called a Godhead? For if goodness is an attribute of God; if loving-kindness, beneficence, almighty power, are proper to God, then of two things one, either in calling Him God let the name and operation be united; or if they would rob Him of His operations, let them not give Him the bare name.

13. Heretics have dared to say that there are two Gods, and of good and evil two sources, and these unbegotten. If both are unbegotten it is certain that they are also equal, and both mighty. How then doth the light destroy the darkness? And do they ever exist together, or are they separated? Together they cannot be; for what fellowship hath light with darkness? saith the Apostlehyperlink . But if they are far from each other, it is certain that they hold also each his own place; and if they hold their own separate places, we are certainly in the realm of one God, and certainly worship one God. For thus we must conclude, even if we assent to their folly, that we must worship one God. Let us examine also what they say of the good God. Hath He power or no power? If He hath power, how did evil arise against His will? And how doth the evil substance intrude, if He be not willing? For if He knows but cannot hinder it, they charge Him with want of power; but if He has the power, yet hinders not, they accuse Him of treachery. Mark too their want of sense. At one time they say that the Evil One hath no communion with the good God in the creation of the world; but at another time they say that he hath the fourth part only. Also they say that the good God is the Father of Christ; but Christ the call this sun. If, therefore according to them, the world was made by the Evil One, and the sun is in the world, how is the Son of the Good an unwilling slave in the kingdom of the Evil? We bemire ourselves in speaking of these things, but we do it lest any of those present should from ignorance fall into the mire of the heretics. I know that I have defiled my own mouth and the ears of my listeners: yet it is expedient. For it is much better to hear absurdities charged against others, than to fall into them from ignorance: far better that thou know the mire and hate it, than unawares fall into it. For the godless system of the heresies is a road with many branches, and whenever a man has strayed from the one straight way, then he falls down precipices again and again.

14. The inventor of all heresy was Simon Magushyperlink : that Simon, who in the Acts of the Apostles thought to purchase with money the unsaleable grace of the Spirit, and heard the words, Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matterhyperlink , and the rest: concerning whom also it is written, They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with ushyperlink . This man, after he had been cast out by the Apostles, came to Rome, and gaining over one Helena a harlothyperlink , was the first that dared with blasphemous mouth to say that it was himself who appeared on Mount Sinai as the Father, and afterwards appeared among the Jews, not in real flesh but in seeminghyperlink , as Christ Jesus, and afterwards as the Holy Spirit whom Christ promised to send as the Paracletehyperlink . And he so deceived the City of Rome that Claudius set up his statue, and wrote beneath it, in the language of the Romans, "Simoni Deo Sancto," which being interpreted signifies, "To Simon the Holy Godhyperlink ."



Footnotes



1 1 Thes. v. 21, 22.



2 2 Cor. i. 3.



3 This clause is omitted in some Mss. Various forms of the Doxology were adopted in Cyril's time by various parties in the Church. thus Theodoret (Hist. Eccles. II. c. 19) relates that Leontius, Bishop of Antioch, A.D. 348-357, observing that the Clergy and the Congregation were divided into two parties, the one using the form "and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost," the other "through the Son, in the Holy Ghost," used to repeat the Doxology silently, so that those who were near could hear only "world without end."



The form which was regarded as the most orthodox, and adopted in the Liturgies ran thus: "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and to the ages of the ages." See Suicer's Thesaurus, Docologi/a.

4 Iranaeus II. xxviii. 4: "But since God is all mind, all reason, all active Spirit, all light, and always exists as one and the same, such conditions and divisions (of operation) cannot fittingly be ascribed to Him. For our tongue, as being made of flesh, is not able to minister to the rapidity of man's sense, because that is of a spiritual nature; for which reason our speech is restrained (suffocatur) within us, and is not at once expressed as it has been conceived in, the mind but is uttered by successive efforts, just as the tongue is able to serve it."



5 Tertullian, Apologeticus, § 17: "That which is infinite is known only to itself. This it is which gives some notion of God, while yet beyond all our conceptions - our very incapacity of fully grasping Him affords us the idea of what He really is. He is presented to our minds in His transcendent greatness, as at once known and unknown." Cf. Phil. Jud. de Monarch. i. 4: Hooker, Eccles. Pol. I. ii. 3: "Whom although to know be life, and joy to make mention of His name; yet our soundest knowledge is to know that we know Him not as He is, neither can know Him."



6 Ps. xxxiv. 3.



7 Gen. xviii. 27.



8 The opinion of Aristarchus of Samos, as stated by Archimedes (Arenarius, p. 320, Oxon), was that the sphere of the fixed stars was so large, that it bore to the earth's orbit the same proportion as a sphere to its centre, or more correctly (as Archimedes explains) the same proportion as the earth's orbit round the sun to the earth itself. Compare Cat. xv. 24.



9 Is. xl. 22.



10 Ps. cxlvii. 4.



11 Job xxxvi. 27: a'riqmhtai\ de\ auQtw= otago/nej u 9etou=. R.V. For He draweth up the drops of water.



12 Ecclus. iii. 21, 22.



13 Ps. cl. 6.



14 John i. 18. They are the Evangelist's own words.



15 Matt. xviii. 10.



16 John vi. 46.



17 1 Cor. ii. 10.



18 Matt. xi. 27.



19 The Benedictine and earlier printed texts read o 9 gennhqei=j a'paqw=j pro\ tw\n xro/nwn ai'wni/wn: but the words in brackets are not found in the best Mss. The false grammar betrays a spurious insertion, which also interrupts the sense. On the meaning of the phrase o 9 gennhqei/j a'paqw=j, see note on vii. 5: ou'pa/qei path\r geno/menoj.



20 Gr. o!nta, a'ei\ o!nta.



21 Iren. II. xiii. 3: "He is altogehter like and equal to Himself; since He is all sense, and all spirit, and all feeling, and all thought, and all reason, and all hearing, and all ear, and all eye, and all light, and all a fount of every good, - even as the religious and pious are wont to speak of God."



22 monooeidh=. A Platonic word. Phaedo, 80 B: tw= me\n qei/w kai\ a\qana/tw kai\ nohtw= kai\ monooeidei= kai\ a'dialn/tw kai\ a'ei\ w'san/twj kuta\ ta\ au'ta\ e!xonti e 9autw= oo 9mooioo/tatoon ei\nai yuxh/n. See Index "hypostasis."



23 Iren. II. xiii. 3: "If any object that in the Hebrew language different expressions occur, such as Sabaoth, Elöe, Adonai, and all other such terms, striving to prove from these that there are different powers and Gods, let them learn that all expressions of this kind are titles and announcements of one and the same Being."



24 See the passages of Irenaeus quoted above, § 2 note 4, and § 7 note 3.



25 John v. 37.



26 Deut. iv. 15.



27 Ps. xvii. 8.



28 Matt. xxiii. 37.



29 Zech. iv. 10.



30 Matt. v. 48.



31 Philo Judaeus (Leg. Alleg. I. 14. p. 52).. Qeou= ga\r ou'de\ o 9 su/mpaj ko/smoj a'ci/on a@n ei!h xwri/on kai\ endiai/thma, e'pei\ au'to\j e 9autw= th/poj. So Sir Isaac Newton, at the end of the Principia, asserts that God by His eternal and infinite existence constitutes Time and Space: "Non est duratio vel spatium, sed durat et adest, et existendo semper et ubique spatium et durationem constituit."



32 Is. lxvi. 1.



33 John i. 3.



34 the sacred name (xwxy



35 Job xi. 7 (R. V.): Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? Cyril seems to have understood ta\ e!sxata as "the least," not as "the utmost."



36 1 Cor. ii. 9.



37 Rom xi. 33.



38 Is. xliv. 37.



39 The cat was sacred to the goddess Pasht, called by the Greeks Bulastis, and identified by Herodotus (ii. 137) with Artemis or Diana. Cats were embalmed after death, and their mummies are found at various places, but especially at Bubastis (Herod. ii. 67).



"The Dogs are interred in the cities to which they belong, in sacred burial-places" (Herod. ii. 67), but chiefly at Cynopolis ("City of Dogs") where the dog-headed deity Anubis was worshipped.

Mummies of wolves are found in chamber excavated in the rocks at Lycopolis, where Osiris was worshipped under the symbol of a wolf.

40 The lion was held sacred at Leontopolis (Strabo, xvii. p. 812).



41 "In the neighbourhood of Thebes there are sacred serpents perfectly harmless to man. These they bury in the temple of Zeus, the god to whom they are sacred." (Herod. ii. 74.)



At Epidarus in Argolis the serpent was held sacred as the symbol of Aesculapius. Clement of Alexandria (Exhort. c. ii.) gives a fuller list of animals worshipped by various nations. Compare also Clement. Recogn. V. 20.

42 Juvenal Sat. xv. 7.



Illic aeluros, hic piscem fluminis, illic

Oppida tota canem venerantur, nemo Dianam.

Possum et caepe nefas violare et frangere morsu.

43 Ps. civ. 15.



44 Gen. i. 11.



45 Ps. civ. 15.



46 The early Creeds of the Eastern Churches, like that which Eusebius of Caesarea proposed at Nicaea, expressly declare the unity of God, in opposition both to the heathen Polytheism, and to the various heresies which introduced two or more Gods. See below in this Lecture, §§ 12-18; and compare Athan. (contra Gentes, § 6, sqq.)



47 Clement of Alexandria (Exhort. cap. ii. § 37), quotes a passage from a hymn of Callimachus, implying the death of Zeus;



"For even thy tomb, O king, The Cretans fashioned."

Adonis, or "Thammuz yearly wounded," was said to live and die in alternate years.

48 By the word "falls" (a'poptw/seij) Cyril evidently refers to the story of Hephaestus, or Vulcan, to which Milton alludes (Paradise Lost, I. 740):-



"Men call'd him Mulciber, and how he fell

From heaven they fabled, thrown by angry Jove

Sheer o'er the crystal battlements: from morn

To noon he fell, form noon to dewy eve,

A summer's day."

49 The "thunder-strokes" refer to "Titan heaven's first-born, With his enormous brood" (Par. Lost, I. 510). Cf. Virgil, Aen. vi. 580:-



"Hic genus antiquum Terrae, Titania pubes,

Fulmine deject fundo volvuntur in imo."

Ibid. v. 585:-

"Vidi et crudeles dantem Salmonea poenas,

Dum flammas Jovis et sonitus imitatur Olympi."

Clem. Alex. (Exhort. II. § 37):- "Aesculapius lies struck with lightning in the regions of Cynosuris." Cf. Virg. Aen. vii 770 ss.

50 The theory of two Gods, one good and the other evil, was held by Cerdo, and Marcion (Hippolytus, Refut. omnium Haer. VII. cap. 17: Irenaeus, III. xxv. 3, quoted in note on Cat. iv. 4). The Manichees also held that the Creator of the world was distinct from the Supreme God (Alexander Lycop. de Manichaeorum Sententiis, cap. iii.).



51 2 Cor. vi. 14. Cyril's description applies especially to the heresy of Manes. See § 36, note 3, at the end of the Lecture; also Cat. xi. 21. and Cat. xv. 3.



52 So Iranaeus (I. xxiii. 2) says that "from this Simon of Samaria all kinds of heresies derive their origin."



53 Acts viii. 18-21.



54 1 John ii. 19.



55 Irenaeus (I. xxiii. 2): "Having purchased from Tyre, a city of Phoenicia, a certain harlot named Helena, he used to carry her about with him, declaring that this woman was the first conception of his mind, the mother of all, by whom in the beginning he conceived in his mind the creation of Angels and Archangels."



56 Cf. Epiphan. (Haeres. p. 55 B): "He said that he was the Son and had not really suffered, but only in appearance (dokh/sei)."



57 Irenaeus (I. xxiii. 1): "He taught that it was himself who appeared among the Jews as the Son, and descended in Samaria as the Father, but came to other nations as the Holy Spirit."



Cyril here departs from his authority by substituting Mount Sinai for Samaria, and thereby falls into error. Simon had first appeared in Samaria, being a native of Gitton: moreover in claiming to be the Father he meant to set himself far above the inferior Deity who had given the Law on Sinai, saying that he was "the highest of all Powers, that is the Father who is over all."

58 "Justin Martyr in his first Apology, addressed to Antoninus Pius, writes thus (c. 26): `There was one Simon a Samaritan, of the village called Gitton, who in the reign of Claudius Caesar, and in your royal city of Rome, did mighty feats of magic by the art of daemons working in him. He was considered a god, and as a god was honoured among you with a statue, which statue was set up in the river Tiber between the two bridges, and bears this inscription in Latin:



Simoni Deo Sancto;

which is,

To Simon the holy God.

"The substance of this story is repeated by Irenaeus (adv. Haer. I. xxiii. 1), and by Tertullian (Apol. c. 13), who reproaches the Romans for installing Simon Magus in their Pantheon, and giving him a statue and the title `Holy God.


0''

"In A.D. 1574, a stone, which had formed the base of a statue, was dug up on the site described by Justin, the Island in the Tiber, bearing an inscription - `Semoni Sanco Deo Fidio Sacrum, &c. Hence it has been supposed that Justin mistook a statue of the Sabine God, `Semo Sancus,


0' for one of Simon Magus. See the notes in Otto's Justin Martyr, and Stieren's Irenaeus.

"On the other hand Tillemont (Memories, t. ii. p. 482) maintains that Justin in an Apology addressed to the emperor and written in Rome itself cannot reasonably be supposed to have fallen into so manifest an error. Whichever view we take of Justin's accuracy concerning the inscription and the statue, there is nothing improbable in his statement that Simon Magus was at Rome in the reign of Claudius."(Extracted by permission from the Speaker's Commentary, Introduction to the Epistle to the Romans, p. 4.)