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Methodius
Introductory Notice to Methodius.
[2487] [In Dr. Schaff’s History (vol. ii. p. 809) is just such a notice and outline as would be appropriate here.]
[2488] St. Epiph. Hæres., 64, sec. 63. [But this seems only his nom de plume, assumed in his fiction of the Banquet.]
[2489] St. Hieronymus, De viris illustr., c. 83.
[2490] For the larger fragments we are indebted to Epiphanius (Hæres., 64) and Photius (Bibliotheca, 234–237).
[2491] Epiph., Hær., 64, sec. 63. ἀνὴρ λόγιος καὶ σφόδρα περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀγωνισάμενος. [Petavius renders this: “vir apprime doetus acerrimusque veritatis patronus.”]
[2492] Hieron., Com. in Dan., c. 13.
[2493] Id., De vir. ill., c. 83. Many more such testimonies will be found collected in the various editions of his works in Greek.
The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; Or, Concerning Chastity.
[2494] [The idea, and some of the ideas borrowed from the Symposium of Plato, but designed to furnish a contrast as strong as possible between the swinish sensuality of false “philosophy” in its best estate, and the heavenly chastity of those whom the Gospel renders “pure in heart,” and whose life on earth is controlled by the promise, “they shall see God.”]
[2495] In Migne’s ed. Euboulion, but apparently with less authority; and probably because the name is connected with that of Gregorion. Euboulios is a man, and Gregorion a woman.
[2496] [Gregorion answers to the Diotima of Socrates in Plato’s Banquet, and talks like a philosopher on these delicate subjects.]
[2497] Hom., Il., iv. 3, 4.
[2498] A personification of virtue, the daughter of philosophy. [i.e., of philosophy not falsely so called.]
[2500] “A tall tree like the willow, the branches of which were strewn by matrons on their beds at the Thesmophoria, vitex agnuscastus. It was associated with the notion of chastity, from the likeness of its name to ἁγνός.”—Liddell and Scott.
[2501] [Much of this work suggests a comparison with the Hermas of vol. ii., and Minucius Felix seems not infrequently reflected.]
[2502] [Virtue presides, and “to the pure all things are pure;” but the freedoms of the converse must offend unless we bear in mind that these are allegorical beings, not women in flesh and blood.]
[2503] [See the oration on Simeon and Anna, cap. 10, infra.]
Chapter I.—The Difficulty and Excellence of Virginity; The Study of Doctrine Necessary for Virgins.
[2504] Lit. the udder.
[2506] [I think evidence abounds, in the course of this allegory, that it was designed to meet the painful discussions excited in the Church by the fanatical conduct of Origen, vol. iv. pp. 225–226.]
[2507] Lit. “leaps out.”
[2508] Ecclesiasticus 6.36.
[2510] Lev. ii. 13; Mark ix. 40.
[2513] Lev. xviii. 19; xx. 17.
[2514] [Contending with the worse than bestial sensuality of paganism, and inured to the sorrows of martyr-ages, when Christian families could not be reared in peace, let us not wonder at the high conceptions of these heroic believers, based on the words of Christ Himself, and on the promise, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”]
[2515] Ecclesiasticus 18.30.
[2516] Ecclesiasticus xix. 2
[2519] Wisd. iv. 3.
[2520] Ecclesiasticus 23.1,4,6.
[2521] Wisd. iv. 1, 2.
[2522] [This seems to me admirable. Our times are too little willing to see all that Scripture teaches in this matter.]
[2523] A distinction common among the Fathers.
[2527] [Compare Cyprian, vol. v. p. 475, this series.]
Chapter I.—Marriage Not Abolished by the Commendation of Virginity.
[2529] ἕως ἄρτι, even until now. John v. 17.
[2532] Remark the connection, ἔκστασις and εξίσταται.
[2534] Job xxxviii. 14 (LXX.).
[2537] Wisd. iii. 16.
[2538] [Bastardy seems to have been regarded as washed out by baptism, thousands of pagan converts having been born under this stain.]
Chapter VI.—God Cares Even for Adulterous Births; Angels Given to Them as Guardians.
[2539] Wisd. iv. 6.
[2541] [This language shows that it is not cited as Holy Scripture. It confirms St. Jerome’s testimony, Prolog. in Libros Salomonis.]
[2542] Wisd. xv. 10, 11.
[2544] His virgin. [St. Paul was married, and then a widower, in the opinion of many of the ancients. See Euseb., H. E., iii. 30.]
[2548] The bridegroom’s.
Chapter I.—Passages of Holy Scripture Compared.
[2550] Gen. ii. 23-24, and Eph. v. 28-32.
[2551] Eph. v. 32. [A forcible argument.]
[2553] Eph. v. 28-32. [Compare the next chapter, note 4.]
[2554] This is the obvious English equivalent of the Greek text.—Tr. [A singularly cautious testimony against Origen, whom our author follows too closely in allegorizing interpretations of Scripture. Origen, having literalized so sadly in one case, seems to have erred ever afterward in the other extreme. Here is a prudent caveat.]
Chapter III.—Comparison Instituted Between the First and Second Adam.
[2559] Namely, the second Adam.
[2560] Second Adam.
[2561] The obscurity of this chapter is indicated in the heading placed over it by the old Latin translator. The general meaning, however, will be clear enough to the theological reader.—Tr.
Chapter V.—A Passage of Jeremiah Examined.
Chapter VII.—The Works of Christ, Proper to God and to Man, the Works of Him Who is One.
[2567] In Him.
[2568] Here, as in the previous chapter, and in many other passages, I have preferred the text of Jahn to that of Migne, as being generally the more accurate.—Tr.
[2570] 1 Cor. xv. 22. The words are, “Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”
[2574] Rib.
[2575] Commonly used by the Greek Fathers for the Baptized. [Following Holy Scripture, Heb. x. 32, and Calvin’s Commentary, ad loc. Also his comment on Tit. iii. 5.]
[2576] Jahn’s reading, ἀναπλησθείς. Migne has ἀναπλασθεὶς, moulded.
[2577] Rib.
Chapter IX.—The Dispensation of Grace in Paul the Apostle.
Chapter X.—The Doctrine of the Same Apostle Concerning Purity.
[2585] [Laver (Gr. λουτρὸν). Compare Tit. iii. 5 and Calvin’s comment, Opp., tom. ii. p. 506, ed. 1667.]
[2586] Eph. v. 25, 26. [Baptismus = lavacrum animæ.—Calvin, Ib., p. 350.]
Chapter XI.—The Same Argument.
[2587] Paul.
[2588] 1 Cor. vii. 1. [All vulgar familiarity included.]
[2589] In the original the two words are different. In the quotation from St. Paul it is ἅπτεσθαι; here it is προσψαύειν. Nothing could be gained by using two words in the translation.—Tr.
Chapter XII.—Paul an Example to Widows, and to Those Who Do Not Live with Their Wives.
[2591] 1 Cor. vii. 1. [All vulgar familiarity included.]
[2593] E.V. “Fasting and prayer.” As in the best mss., τῇ νηστείᾳ καί is wanting in the text.
[2596] [See p. 316, supra (note), and also Eusebius, there cited. Per contra, see Lewin, vol. i. 382, 386.]
[2597] Καλόν. It is the same word which is translated good in ver. 1, “It is good for a man.”
[2598] i.e., participate in the same ordinances, and in their fruits.
Chapter XIII.—The Doctrine of Paul Concerning Virginity Explained.
[2602] Which I recommend.
[2603] 1 Cor. vii. 29. [Nobody can feel more deeply than I do the immeasurable evils of an enforced celibacy; nobody can feel more deeply the deplorable state of the Church which furnishes only rare and exceptional examples of voluntary celibacy for the sake of Christ. On chastity, see Jer. Taylor’s Holy Living, Works, i. p. 424.]
[2605] A clause is omitted here in the text.
Chapter XIV.—Virginity a Gift of God: the Purpose of Virginity Not Rashly to Be Adopted by Any One.
[2607] 1 Cor. vii. 36. [On virginity, see Taylor, i. 426, ed. London, 1844.]
Chapter I.—The Necessity of Praising Virtue, for Those Who Have the Power.
[2609] πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως.Heb. i. 1.
[2610] i.e., αἱ ψυχαί.
[2611] The body.
[2612] Ps. cxxxvii. E.V., and in Heb. [Does not our author follow the Hebrew here? I must think his reference here is to the Psa. 136 as we have it. It is Eucharistic, and verses 10–16 seem to be specially referred to.]
[2613] Or, Eucharistic hymn.
[2616] “By the waters of Babylon,” etc. [He passes to the next psalm.]
[2617] Ps. cxxxvii. 1, 2. [Here is a transition to Psalm cxxxvii., which has been the source of a confusion in the former chapter. This psalm is not Eucharistic, but penitential.]
[2618] Odyss. K’. 510.
[2620] ὄργανον. The word used for harp above, and here employed with a double meaning. [“Body” here = "man"’s physical system.]
Chapter IV.—The Author Goes on with the Interpretation of the Same Passage.
[2621] In Hebrew the word means simply “a memorial.”
[2623] i.e., To those without.
[2624] Amos iv. 5 (LXX.). The E.V. is, “Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving in the leaven.”
Chapter V.—The Gifts of Virgins, Adorned with Which They are Presented to One Husband, Christ.
[2628] Wisd. iv. 2.
[2630] O Jerusalem.
[2631] Commentators have remarked the allusion to Phil. iii. 11. See Migne’s note. The thought of the marriage of the heavenly bridegroom, Christ, to His virgin bride, the Church, at the second Advent, when “the dead shall be raised,” was obviously present to the mind of the writer.
Chapter VI.—Virginity to Be Cultivated and Commended in Every Place and Time.
[2632] Jer. ii. 32. The author, in quoting from the LXX., slightly alters the text, so as to make it almost a command, instead of a question. The original has ἐπιλήσεται; in the text it is ἐπιλαθέσθαι.
[2633] Literally, breastband.
Chapter I.—The Offering of Chastity a Great Gift.
[2634] [Compare vol. v. p. 587, this series.]
[2635] Lit. game or toil, ἆθλον.
[2636] Lit. shall greatly vow a vow to offer, with sacrifices of purification, chastity to the Lord. Num. vi. 1, 2.
[2637] There are two readings. The above rendering may fairly embrace them both.
[2638] Gen. xv. 9. [Our author has in mind (the triad) 1 Thess. v. 23.]
[2639] Luke xii. 35-38. The author apparently quotes from memory.
Chapter III.—Far Best to Cultivate Virtue from Boyhood.
Chapter IV.—Perfect Consecration and Devotion to God: What It is.
[2641] Num. vi. 2 (LXX.).
[2642] 1 Cor. vii. 34; quoted from memory.
[2643] Cf. Ps. cxxxix. 4, and cxli. 3.
[2645] Isa. viii. 1. The LXX is quoted from memory. The meaning, however, is nearer the original than the E.V. Cf. Keil and Delitzsch, Bib. Com., in loc.
[2646] Cf. Ecclesiasticus 6.36.
[2647] τὸ πορευτικόν, the power of going.
[2648] Divine.
Chapter V.—The Vow of Chastity, and Its Rites in the Law; Vines, Christ, and the Devil.
[2650] St.John xv. 1, 5.
[2653] Lev. xi. 29; not an exact quotation.
Chapter VII.—The Church Intermediate Between the Shadows of the Law and the Realities of Heaven.
[2655] Heb. x. 1. The apostle says, “a shadow,” and “not the very image.” The difference, however, is verbal only.—Tr.
Chapter VIII.—The Double Altar, Widows and Virgins; Gold the Symbol of Virginity.
[2659] An apparent confusion between the altar of incense, to which the author refers, and which stood in the Holy Place, and the Mercy-Seat, which was within the vale in the Holy of holies.—Tr.
[2660] Cf. 1 Tim. vi. 16.
[2661] πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας (Eph. vi. 12). In E.V. “spiritual wickedness.”
Chapter II.—The Parable of the Ten Virgins.
[2663] [Which has suggested the form of this allegorical work.]
Chapter III.—The Same Endeavour and Effort After Virginity, with a Different Result.
[2665] In Greek ί = ten. The word employed signifies the index of a sun-dial.—Tr. [The lamps found in the Roman catacombs have this mark (X), which is at once a monogram for Christ and a reference to the ten virgins. In the Greek the accented Iota might yet be associated with the initial of Jesus.]
[2666] Luke xii. 49. The Latin version is certainly more accurate, “Quid volo nisi ut accendatur?”—Tr. [A visionary interpretation follows. But has not this text been too much overlooked in its literal significance? “It is the last time.” The planet is now on fire.]
Chapter IV.—What the Oil in the Lamps Means.
[2671] Exod. xi., xii.
[2672] Matt. xxv. 6. [This parable greatly stimulated primitive celibacy.]
[2675] Bodies.
[2676] 1 Thess. iv. 17. Commentators have remarked on the peculiarity of the interpretation. We give simply the writer’s meaning.—Tr.
Chapter V.—The Reward of Virginity.
[2677] Wisd. iv. 2.
[2678] Although the Greek word is not the same as in 1 Tim. vi. 16, the meaning is probably this rather than unquenchable, as it is rendered in the Latin.—Tr. [See Discourse XI. cap. 2, infra.]
[2680] πνεῦμα here and for wind above.
[2681] Literally, only begotten. Wisd. vii. 22.
[2682] St. John xiv. 28.
[2683] [That the Canticles demand allegorical interpretation, we may admit; nor can I object to our author’s ideas here.]
Chapter II.—The Interpretation of that Passage of the Canticles.
Chapter III.—Virgins Being Martyrs First Among the Companions of Christ.
[2692] [Here allegorizing is refuted and perishes in fanciful and over-strained analogies.]
[2694] This was Eve’s testimony to the serpent, not the original command.—Tr. [But I do not see the force of this note. Eve in her innocency is surely a competent witness.]
[2697] Here, and in many other places, the prevalent millenarian belief of the first centuries is expressed by Methodius.—Tr. [See Barnabas, vol. i. p. 147, this series; also Irenæus (same vol.), p. 562, at note 11.]
[2698] This word, as being that employed in the E. T. of the Canticles, is adopted throughout. It must be remembered, that, in this connection, it stands for νεάνιδες, and not for παρθένοι.—Tr.
Chapter VIII.—The Human Nature of Christ His One Dove.
[2701] The forty-fifth in our arrangement.
Chapter IX.—The Virgins Immediately After the Queen and Spouse.
[2704] παρθενία.
[2705] παρθενία.
[2706] παρθενία…παρθεΐα.
[2707] αἱρετή.
[2708] αἴρειν.
[2709] Than of the most ordinary things of life.
Chapter III.—The Lot and Inheritance of Virginity.
[2710] The influence of Plato is traceable, here and elsewhere, throughout the works of Methodius. It has been fully examined in the able work of Jahn, Methodius Platonizans.—Tr. [Elucidation I.]
[2712] Baruch iii. 14, 15. The apocryphal book of Baruch, as bearing the name of the companion of Jeremiah, was usually quoted, in the second and third centuries, as the work of that great prophet.—Tr.
[2714] The same word in the text which is translated wind: πνεῦμα. The play upon the word cannot be preserved in the translation.—Tr.
[2716] St.John v. 39.
[2717] [i.e., the Church. See p 337, note 4, infra.]
[2719] σελήνη.
[2720] σέλας.
[2721] νεοφώτιστοι.
[2722] It is hardly necessary to observe, that amid many interpretations of the passage, this which Methodius condemns is probably the true one, as it is certainly the most natural.—Tr. [It is certainly worth observing, that Methodius has on his side a strong following among the ancients; the interpretation the translator favours having little support save among modern defenders of the late pontiff’s bull Ineffabilis. Elucidation II.]
[2724] In the LXX. “a male.”
Chapter VIII.—The Faithful in Baptism Males, Configured to Christ; The Saints Themselves Christs.
[2725] The baptized.
[2728] χριστῶν.
[2729] Anointed.
Chapter IX.—The Son of God, Who Ever Is, is To-Day Begotten in the Minds and Sense of the Faithful.
[2732] Certain phrases like this have led to the opinion that Methodius was inclined to Arianism. There is no ground for the supposition. In the writer’s mind, as is clear from the previous statements, the previous generation was eternal.—Tr.
[2733] In the baptismal font.
[2734] Patripassianism: nearly the same as Sabellianism.—Tr.
[2735] Δοκήσει, hence Docetæ.—Tr.
[2736] Virtue.
[2738] Methodius is not the first or the last who has sought to explore the mystery of numbers. An interesting and profound examination of the subject will be found in Bähr’s Symbolik; also in Delitzsch’s Bib. Psychology.—Tr. [On the Six Days’ Work, p. 71, translation, Edinburgh, 1875.]
[2739] i.e., in a regular arithmetical progression.
[2740] i.e., its divisors or dividends.
[2741] “Make Himself of no reputation.”—E. T., Phil. ii. 7.
[2744] Hom., Il., vi. 181.
[2746] Hom., Od., i. 7.
[2748] [“As they think.” Had Methodius any leaning to Pythagoras and his school? To “science” the world owes its rejection of the true theory of the universe for two thousand years, till Copernicus, a Christian priest, broke that spell. Could the Christian Fathers know more than science taught them? Methodius hints it.]
[2749] Castor and Pollux.
[2750] We cannot preserve the play upon words of the original. There it is—μαθηματικὴν and καταθεματικήν.—Tr.
[2751] Gen. i. 14, etc.
Chapter XVI.—Several Other Things Turned Against the Same Mathematicians.
[2752] γένεσις = birth, i.e., our life is not controlled by the star of our nativity.—Tr. [See Hippolytus, vol. v. p. 27, this series.]
[2753] Hom., Od., i. 7.
[2754] γένεσις = birth, h. the star of man’s nativity, h. destiny.
Chapter XVII.—The Lust of the Flesh and Spirit: Vice and Virtue.
[2756] The LXX. adds “And of the Agnos.” See note on this tree at the beginning of the treatise, p. 310, note 2.]
[2758] [Methodius did not adopt the errors of the Chiliasts, but he kept up the succession of witnesses to this primitive idea. Coleridge’s remarks on Jeremy Taylor, touching this point, may be worth consulting. Notes on Old English Divines, vol. i. p. 218.]
[2762] St.John xiv. 16.
Chapter III.—How Each One Ought to Prepare Himself for the Future Resurrection.
[2773] 1 Cor. xiii. 2, 3. Quoted from memory and in meaning, not verbally.—Tr.
[2774] Isa. xliv. 4. The reading of the LXX.
[2775] [See Jer. Taylor, Holy Living, cap. ii. sec. 3, Works, vol. i. p. 427, ed. Bohn, 1844. This is a token of antiquity.]
Chapter V.—The Mystery of the Tabernacles.
[2777] In Hebrew, Succoth. Num. xxxiii. 5.
Chapter II.—The Allegory of the Trees Demanding a King, in the Book of Judges, Explained.
[2781] For this use of heart, cf. 2 Cor. iv. 6.—Tr. [See Coleridge on Leighton, Old English Divines, vol. ii. p. 137.]
[2784] Good news.
[2787] Jahn’s reading is here followed. [This is a puzzle as well as a parable; the Seventy give ῥάμνος, which is not = ἄγνος. It spoils the force of Jotham’s caustic satire to adopt this conception of our author.]
[2790] [Diabolus simia Dei, an idea very common to the Fathers. He is the malignant caricature of the Most High, exulting in the deformity which he gives to his copies. Exod. vii. 11.]
[2795] Joel ii. 21-23. The last words of the quotation are from the LXX. version.—Tr.
[2798] 2 Kings xx. 7; Isa. xxxviii. 21.
Chapter VI.—The Mystery of the Vision of Zechariah.
[2802] E.V. “Anointed ones,” Zech. 4.14.
[2803] σχοίνισμα: same word as that translated “wick.”—Tr.
Chapter I.—The True and Chaste Virgins Few; Chastity a Contest; Thekla Chief of Virgins.
[2805] Wisd. vii. 9.
[2806] [Compare our Lord’s wisdom and mercy, Matt. xix. 11.]
[2807] The text of Jahn is here followed.—Tr. [I have been obliged to arrange this hymn (so as to bring out the refrain as sung by the chorus of virgins) somewhat differently from the form in the Edinburgh edition. I invite a comparison.]
[2814] [The only one. See p. 355, Elucidation II., infra.]
[2815] In Jahn, Telmesiake.—Tr. [Comp. p. 356, n. 2, infra.]
[2816] [Contrast the shameful close of Plato’s Symposium.]
[2818] [Recur to what is said of Origen and his epoch on p. 224, vol. iv. of this series.]
[2819] [Recur to what is said of Origen and his epoch on p. 224, vol. iv. of this series.]
[2820] [Here is our author’s conclusive condemnation of Origen, whose great mistake, I have supposed, gave occasion to this extraordinary work. Possibly the epoch of Anthony had revived such discussions when this was written.]
I. (We here behold only shadows, etc., p. 335.)
[2821] Introduction to the Dialogues, etc., Dobson’s translation, Cambridge, 1836.
II. (Christ Himself is the one who is born, p. 337.)
[2822] See his work On the Apocalypse, Lecture IX. p. 198, ed. Philadelphia, 1852.
[2823] Speaker’s Com., ad loc.
[2824] Vol. v. p. 217, this series.
[2825] Works, vol. i. p. 447, ed. Paris, 1845.
[2826] Dec. 8, 1854.
[2827] See The Eirenicon of Dr. Pusey, ed. New York, 1866.
[2828] [This debate between Orthodoxus and a Valentinian reminds us of the Octavius of Minucius Felix, vol. iv.]
[2833] Iliad, ix. 4, H. (Cowper’s Tr.).
[2835] [See the essay of Archbishop King On the Origin of Evil, ed. Cambridge, 1739. Law’s annotations in this edition are valuable. See also Dr. Bledsoe, Theodicy, and Elucidation VIII. p. 522, vol. ii, this series. Of Leibnitz (refuting Bayle), no need to speak here. Comp. Addison, Spectator, Nos. 237 and 519; also Parnell’s Hermit; also Jer. xii. 1.]
[2836] The reader will here naturally think of the great and long-continued Manichæan controversy.—Tr.
[2837] [See Routh, R. S., tom. ii. p. 98, and note p. 115, and all Routh’s notes on Maximus, the original of Methodius, of whom see Eusebius, H. E., book v. cap. 27.]
[2838] Jahn’s reading is here followed.
[2839] The text is here in an uncertain state. Cf. Migne and Jahn.
[2840] Imperfect. The rest from the Bibliotheca of Photius.
[2841] The whole of this work, as preserved, is in a very fragmentary state. We have followed Migne in general, as his edition is most widely known, and but little is gained by adopting Jahn’s, which is somewhat more complete.—Tr.
[2842] Of the bestowal of free-will.
From the Discourse on the Resurrection.
[2844] [Compare Athenagoras, vol. ii. p. 149, and other Fathers passim.]
[2845] [See p. 363, supra.]
[2846] Cf. Anastasius, in Doctrina Patrum de Verbi Incarnatione, c. 25.—Jahn.
[2847] By Epiphanius, Hær., lxiv. n. 22.—Migne.
[2850] [See vol. iv. p. 38, this series.]
[2852] [i.e., “in the courts of the Lord’s house;” among the buildings.]
[2856] Wisd. i. 14.
[2857] [Greek, creation, κτίσις. The English version faulty and confusing.]
[2858] [Greek, creation, κτίσις. The English version faulty and confusing.]
[2859] [Greek, creation, κτίσις. The English version faulty and confusing.]
[2861] The reading and punctuation of Jahn are here adopted.
[2869] Or, “dispensation.”
[2870] When tempted by the Sadducees.
[2872] Wisd. ii. 23.
[2878] [A play on the Greek ἀνάστασις, but good exegesis.]
[2889] [See part ii. cap. viii., p. 375, infra.What he testifies may be accepted, at least, as his genuine conviction.]
[2890] Wisd. xvi. 24.
Part II.The Second Discourse on the Resurrection.
[2893] From St. John Damascene, Orat. 2, De Imagin., tom. i. p. 389, ed. Paris, 1712.
I. From the Discourse on the Resurrection.
[2894] From Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 234.
[2895] Gregory, surnamed Theologus, commonly known as Gregory Nazianzen.
[2896] [Athenagoras, Plea, cap. xxiv. vol. ii. p. 142, this series.]
[2897] [Athenagoras, Plea, cap. xxiv. vol. ii. p. 142, this series.]
[2899] [Gregory’s opponent, not St. Paul’s.]
[2901] [Gregory says.]
II. A Synopsis of Some Apostolic Words from the Same Discourse.
[2902] From Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 234.
[2913] Jer. xxi. 8; Ecclesiasticus 15.8; Deut. xxx. 15.
[2920] Eph. vi. 13, 14–17.
[2929] Rom. viii. 2, 11, 3, 4.
[2930] Methodius.
[2932] The Word means literally, “by an abuse, or misapplication;” but the author’s meaning is very nearly that expressed in the text.—Tr.
[2935] σκηνάς.
[2936] ἐπενδύσασθαι.2 Cor. v. 2, 3.
[2945] Commonly known as St. Justin Martyr.—Tr. [See his treatise On the Resurrection, vol. i. p. 295; also On Life, p. 198, this series.]
[2947] Cf. p. 368, supra. [Pyragnos = fire-proof agnos.]
[2949] Hades.
[2952] [Justin Martyr, vol. i. p. 295, this series.]
[2954] Dan. ix. 23, marginal reading.
[2956] The Israelites.
[2958] 1 Sam. xxviii. 12. [See vol. v. p. 169, note 11, this series.]
[2959] The reading of Jahn, “καθ᾽ ἑαυτήν,” is here adopted.—Tr.
[2960] Jahn’s reading.
On the History of Jonah. From the Book on the Resurrection.
[2963] [A fragment given by Combefis, in Latin, in the Bioliotheca Concionatoria, t. ii. p. 263, etc. Published in Greek from the Vatican ms. (1611), by Simon de Magistris, in Acta Martyrum ad ostia Tiberina sub Claudio Gothico. (Rome, 1792, folio. Append. p. 462.)]
[2964] [Matt. xii. 40. This history comes to us virtually from the Son of God, who confirms the testimony of His prophet. See the very curious remarks of Edward King in his Morsels of Criticism, vol. i. p. 601, ed. 1788.]
[2966] Or, dispensation.
Extracts from the Work on Things Created.
[2967] From Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 235.
[2969] ᾽Εκκλησία.
[2970] ἐκκεκληκέναι.
[2975] Ecclesiasticus 1.2.
From the Works of Methodius Against Porphyry.
[2976] From the Parallels of St. John Damascene, Opera, tom. ii. p. 778, ed. Lequien.
[2977] Ibid., p. 784, B.
[2978] Ibid., p. 785, E.
From His Discourse Concerning Martyrs.
[2979] From Theodoretus, Dial., 1, ᾽Ατρεπτ. Opp., ed. Sirmond, tom. iv. p. 37.
[2981] Murdock’s Mosheim, Eccles. Hist., ii. 51.
[2982] P. 369, note 4, supra.
[2983] The Jonah Fragment, p. 378, supra.
[2984] The sense, that is, of the golden image of God in angels, and “in clay or brass, as ourselves.” See p. 378, supra.
[2985] See pp. 131, 132, edition of the London Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.
Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna On the Day that They Met in the Temple.
[2986] The oration likewise treats of the Holy Theotocos. [Published by Pantinus, 1598, and obviously corrupt. Dupin states that it is “not mentioned by the ancients, nor even by Photius.” The style resembles that of Methodius in many places.]
[2992] John i. 11; Ps. l. 3. ἦλθεν—ἐμφανῶς. The text plainly requires this connection with evident allusion to Ps. l. “Our God will manifestly come” ἐμφανῶς ἥξει, which passage our author connects with another from John i.—Tr.
[2993] Ecclesiasticus 1.10.
[2995] τὴν ἀκίνητον ἧτταν ἐγκαυχησάμενοι. It seems better to retain this. Pantinus would substitute ἀνίκητον for ἀκίνητον, and render less happily “invicto hoc certamine victos.”
[2996] [See p. 309, note 1, supra, and the reflection upon even the Banquet of Philosophers, the Symposium of Plato.]
[2998] Isa. vi. 1-9. The quotations are from LXX. version.
[2999] μυστήριον is, in the Greek Fathers, equivalent to the Latin Sacramentum.—Tr.
[3001] ἱεράτευμα. Perhaps less definitely priesthood. Acc. Arist. it is ἡ περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ἐπιμέλεια. The cult and ordinances of religion to be observed especially by the priests, whose business it is to celebrate the excellence of God.—Tr.
[3002] κατὰ τὴν εὐδοκίαν. Allusion is made to Eph. i. 5, According to the good pleasure of God, and His decree for the salvation of man. Less aptly Pantinus renders, ob propensam secæm in nos voluntatem.—Tr.
[3003] “One and the same essence.” This is the famous ὁμοουσιοςof the Nicene Council.—Tr.
[3004] ἱεροφάντης, teacher of the divine oracles. This, which is the technical term for the presiding priest at Eleusis, and the Greek translation of the Latin “Pontifex Maximus,” is by our author applied to St. Paul.—Tr.
[3009] ὑποτίτθιον τυγχάνοντα. It is an aggravation, so to speak, that He not only willed to become an infant, and to take upon Him, of necessity, the infirmities of infancy, but even at that tender age to be banished from His country, and to make a forcible change of residence, μέτοικος γενέσθαν. μέτοικοι are those who, at the command of their princes, are transferred, by way of punishment, to another State. Their lands are confiscated. They are sometimes called ἀνάσπαστοι. Like to the condition of these was that of Jesus, who fled into Egypt soon after His birth. For the condition of the μέτοικοι at Athens, see Art. Smith’s Dict. Antiq.—Tr.
[3014] Cf. Luke ii. 22.
[3015] [Here seems to me a deep and true insight regarding the scriptural topics and events touched upon.]
[3017] The quotation from the prophet Habakkuk is from the LXX. version.—Tr.
[3023] [Note “made worthy;” so “found grace” and “my Saviour,” in St. Luke. Hence not immaculate by nature.]
[3025] τὸν τῆιπλασιασμὸν τὴς ἁγιότητος, Pantinus translates triplicem sanctitatis rationem, but this is hardly theological. Allusion is made to the song of the seraphim, Isa. vi.; and our author contends that the threefold hymn sung by the angels at Christ’s birth answers to that threefold acclamation of theirs in sign of the triune Deity.—Tr.
[3027] τὸν τὰ πάντα ἐν ἀκαταληψίᾳ ὑπεριδρυμένον. Cf. 1 Tim. vi. 16, φῶς οἰκῶν ἀπρόσιτον, ὃν εἶδεν οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων οὐδὲ ἰδεῖν δύναται.—Tr.
[3028] [This apostrophe is not prayer nor worship. (See sec. xiv., infra.) It may be made by any orator. See Burgon’s pertinent references to Legh Richmond and Bishop Horne, Lett. from Rome, pp. 237, 238.]
[3031] ὁ τῶν τελουμένων τελειωτής, initiator, consummator. διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἁγίου is to be referred to συνεκάλεσεν, rather than to τῶν πραττομένων.—Tr.
[3032] τὸν αὐθέντην διδάσκαλον. The allusion is to Mark i. 22.
[3035] Wisd. xv. 3.
[3036] Ps. cxviii. 22; Isa. xxviii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 6.
[3038] Exod. xv. 2; Isa. xxv. 1; Ps. civ. 1.
[3039] Isa. xlii. 7; Luke i. 79.
[3040] 1 Tim. i. 17; Ps. xlv. 2.
[3051] Isa. ix. 2; xlii. 7; Luke i. 79.
[3055] Isa. lxiii. 9, Sept. version.
[3067] Ecclesiasticus 48.1.
[3068] 2 Kings ii. 20; iv. 41; v.
[3069] [The feast of the Purification. Here follows an impassioned apostrophe, which apart from its Oriental extravagance is full of poetical beauty. Its language, however, like that of other parts of this Oration, suggests at least interpolation, subsequent to the Nestorian controversy. Previously, there would have been no call for such vehemence of protestation.]
[3081] [Apostrophes like the above; panegyrical, not odes of worship.]
[3083] Baruch iii. 24, 25.
[3084] [This must have been interpolated after the Council of Ephesus, a.d. 431. The whole Oration is probably after that date.]
[3088] Isa. vi. 9; Acts xxviii. 26.
[3089] Ps. xlvi. 8; Isa. vii. 11.
[3092] Ecclesiasticus 22.7.
[3096] Ps. xlviii. 2; Matt. v. 35; Isa. i. 26.
[3097] Isa. lx. 1; Ps. lxxxvii. 3; Ps. cxxxii. 16.
[3101] [Here is an apostrophe to the Church, a hymn to “the Elect Lady.” See, illustrating note 17, p. 390, supra.]
[3102] τρικυμίας, stormy waves. Latin, decumani fluctus. Methodius perhaps alludes to Diocletian’s persecution, in which he perished as a martyr.—Tr.
[3106] [He again apostrophizes the Blessed Theotocos, but in language hardly appropriate to the period preceding Cyril of Alexandria.]
[3107] [Not so, for he ends with a noble strain of worship to the Son of God. This expression suggests interpolation.]
[3109] [Dupin hardly credits this oration to Methodius. See elucidation, p. 398.]
[3112] [Evidently a homily for Palm Sunday, the first day of the Paschal week.]
[3113] Ps. lxxxv. 9; xcv. 1; xlvii. 1.
[3116] Ps. cxviii. 26; Matt. xxi. 9; Mark xi. 9; Luke xix. 38; John xii. 13.
[3121] Mal. iv. 6; Luke i. 17.
[3140] Luke viii. 29, etc.
[3141] Dan. iii. 56 (LXX.).
[3170] Ecclesiastical Writers, vol. i. p. 161.
[3171] He was a Dominican, and learned in Greek. Died 1679.
[3172] Apud. Gretserum, De Sancta Cruce, p. 401, tom. ii. Nov. edit. Ratisb., 1754. [Concerning which I quote from Dupin as follows: “The Père Combefis has collected some other fragments, attributed to Methodius, cited by St. John Damascene and by Nicetas as drawn out of his books against Porphyry. But, besides that, we cannot depend upon the authority of these two authors, who are not very exact; these fragments have nothing considerable and we think it not worth while to say anything more concerning them.”]
II. The Same Methodius to Those Who are Ashamed of the Cross of Christ.
[3173] Apud. Gretserum, De Sancta Cruce, tom. ii. p. 403.
[3174] Apud. Allatium, Diatr. de Methodiorum scriptis, p. 349.
[3175] Ex Nicetæ Catena on Job, cap. xix. p. 429, edit. Londin., 1637. All the shorter fragments collected in the editions of Migne and Jahn are here appended.
[3177] Ex Nicetæ Catena on Job, cap. xxvi. p. 538.
[3178] Ex Nicetæ Catena on Job, p. 547.
[3180] Ex Nicetæ Catena on Job, cap. xxviii. p. 570.
[3182] Ex Nicetæ Catena on Job, cap. xix. p. 418, ex Olympiodoro.
[3183] Wisd. xii. 1. [“The Spirit of Christ,” given to all; John i. 9.]
[3184] Ex Parallelis. Damascen., Opp., tom. ii. p. 331, D.
[3185] Ibid., p. 488, B.
[3186] [Such is the fact, no doubt, as to the ancestors of the Jewish race; the fatherly character of Abraham, the filial character of Isaac, and the missionary offices of Jacob—whose wisdom and organizing faculties are so conspicuous—interpreting, in some degree, “the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity.” This seems to be hinted, indeed, in the formula, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Isaac’s submission to be sacrificed upon Mount Moriah, and Jacob’s begetting and sending forth the twelve patriarchs, singularly identify them as types of the Atoning Son and the regenerating Spirit, whose gifts and mission were imparted to the twelve Apostles.]
[3187] [Abel.]
[3188] [Note the single procession. The formula of the Hebrews, however, above noted, supplies a type of the Filioque and the ab utroque in the true sense of those terms.]
[3189] [Recur to chap. v. of The Banquet, p. 333, supra.]
[3190] See vol. i. p. 181, this series.
[3191] See p. 285, supra, under the Emperors.
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