{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/208/2080309.htm","path":"chr/ecf/208/2080309.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/208/2080309.htm","text":"Letter CCXXXVI. 2975\n1. Enquiry has already frequently been made concerning the saying of the gospels as to our Lord Jesus Christ\u2019s ignorance of the day and of the hour of the end; 2976 an objection constantly put forward by the Anom\u0153ans to the destruction of the glory of the Only-Begotten, in order to show Him to be unlike in essence and subordinate in dignity; inasmuch as, if He know not all things, He cannot possess the same nature nor be regarded as of one likeness with Him, who by His own prescience and faculty of forecasting the future has knowledge coextensive with the universe. This question has now been proposed to me by your intelligence as a new one. I can give in reply the answer which I heard from our fathers when I was a boy, and which on account of my love for what is good, I have received without question. I do not expect that it can undo the shamelessness of them that fight against Christ, for where is the reasoning strong enough to stand their attack? It may, however, suffice to convince all that love the Lord, and in whom the previous assurance supplied them by faith is stronger than any demonstration of reason.\nNow \u201cno man\u201d seems to be a general expression, so that not even one person is excepted by it, but this is not its use in Scripture, as I have observed in the passage \u201cthere is none good but one, that is, God.\u201d 2977 For even in this passage the Son does not so speak to the exclusion of Himself from the good nature. But, since the Father is the first good, we believe the words \u201cno man\u201d to have been uttered with the understood addition of \u201cfirst.\u201d 2978 So with the passage \u201cNo man knoweth the Son but the Father;\u201d 2979 even here there is no charge of ignorance against the Spirit, but only a testimony that knowledge of His own nature naturally belongs to the Father first. Thus also we understand \u201cNo man knoweth,\u201d 2980 to refer to the Father the first knowledge of things, both present and to be, and generally to exhibit to men the first cause. Otherwise how can this passage fall in with the rest of the evidence of Scripture, or agree with the common notions of us who believe that the Only-Begotten is the image of the invisible God, and image not of the bodily figure, but of the very Godhead and of the mighty qualities attributed to the essence of God, image of power, image of wisdom, as Christ is called \u201cthe power of God and the wisdom of God\u201d? 2981 Now of wisdom knowledge is plainly a part; and if in any part He falls short, He is not an image of the whole; and how can we understand the Father not to have shewn that day and that hour\u2014the smallest portion of the ages\u2014to Him through Whom He made the ages? How can the Creator of the universe fall short of the knowledge of the smallest portion of the things created by Him? How can He who says, when the end is near, that such and such signs shall appear in heaven and in earth, be ignorant of the end itself? When He says, \u201cThe end is not yet.\u201d 2982 He makes a definite statement, as though with knowledge and not in doubt. Then further, it is plain to the fair enquirer that our Lord says many things to men, in the character of man; as for instance, \u201cgive me to drink\u201d 2983 is a saying of our Lord, expressive of His bodily necessity; and yet the asker was not soulless flesh, but Godhead using flesh endued with soul. 2984 So in the present instance no one will be carried beyond the bounds of the interpretation of true religion, who understands the ignorance of him who had received all things according to the \u0153conomy, 2985 and was advancing with God and man in favour and wisdom. 2986\n2. It would be worthy of your diligence to set the phrases of the Gospel side by side, and compare together those of Matthew and those of Mark, for these two alone are found in concurrence in this passage. The wording of Matthew is \u201cof that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.\u201d 2987 That of Mark runs, \u201cBut of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the p. 277 Father.\u201d 2988 What is noticeable in these passages is this; that Matthew says nothing about the ignorance of the Son, and seems to agree with Mark as to sense in saying \u201cbut my Father only.\u201d Now I understand the word \u201conly\u201d to have been used in contradistinction to the angels, but that the Son is not included with His own servants in ignorance.\nHe could not say what is false Who said \u201cAll things that the Father hath are Mine,\u201d 2989 but one of the things which the Father hath is knowledge of that day and of that hour. In the passage in Matthew, then, the Lord made no mention of His own Person, as a matter beyond controversy, and said that the angels knew not and that His Father alone knew, tacitly asserting the knowledge of His Father to be His own knowledge too, because of what He had said elsewhere, \u201cas the Father knoweth me even so know I the Father,\u201d 2990 and if the Father has complete knowledge of the Son, nothing excepted, so that He knows all knowledge to dwell in Him, He will clearly be known as fully by the Son with all His inherent wisdom and all His knowledge of things to come. This modification, I think, may be given to the words of Matthew, \u201cbut my Father only.\u201d Now as to the words of Mark, who appears distinctly to exclude the Son from the knowledge, my opinion is this. No man knoweth, neither the angels of God; nor yet the Son would have known unless the Father had known: that is, the cause of the Son\u2019s knowing comes from the Father. To a fair hearer there is no violence in this interpretation, because the word \u201conly\u201d is not added as it is in Matthew. Mark\u2019s sense, then, is as follows: of that day and of that hour knoweth no man, nor the angels of God; but even the Son would not have known if the Father had not known, for the knowledge naturally His was given by the Father. This is very decorous and becoming the divine nature to say of the Son, because He has, His knowledge and His being, beheld in all the wisdom and glory which become His Godhead, from Him with Whom He is consubstantial.\n3. As to Jeconias, whom the prophet Jeremiah declares in these words to have been rejected from the land of Judah, \u201cJeconias was dishonoured like a vessel for which there is no more use; and because he was cast out he and his seed; and none shall rise from his seed sitting upon the throne of David and ruling in Judah,\u201d 2991 the matter is plain and clear. On the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom had been destroyed, and there was no longer an hereditary succession of reigns as before. Nevertheless, at that time, the deposed descendants of David were living in captivity. On the return of Salathiel and Zerubbabel the supreme government rested to a greater degree with the people, and the sovereignty was afterwards transferred to the priesthood, on account of the intermingling of the priestly and royal tribes; whence the Lord, in things pertaining to God, is both King and High Priest. Moreover, the royal tribe did not fail until the coming of the Christ; nevertheless, the seed of Jeconias sat no longer upon the throne of David. Plainly it is the royal dignity which is described by the term \u201cthrone.\u201d You remember the history, how all Jud\u00e6a, Idum\u00e6a, Moab, both the neighbouring regions of Syria and the further countries up to Mesopotamia, and the country on the other side as far as the river of Egypt, were all tributary to David. If then none of his descendants appeared with a sovereignty so wide, how is not the word of the prophet true that no one of the seed of Jeconias should any longer sit upon the throne of David, for none of his descendants appears to have attained this dignity. Nevertheless, the tribe of Judah did not fail, until He for whom it was destined came. But even He did not sit upon the material throne. The kingdom of Jud\u00e6a was transferred to Herod, the son of Antipater the Ascalonite, and his sons who divided Jud\u00e6a into four principalities, when Pilate was Procurator and Tiberius was Master of the Roman Empire. It is the indestructible kingdom which he calls the throne of David on which the Lord sat. He is the expectation of the Gentiles 2992 and not of the smallest division of the world, for it is written, \u201cIn that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek.\u201d 2993 \u201cI have called thee\u2026for a covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles\u201d; 2994 and thus then God remained a priest although He did not receive the sceptre of Judah, and King of all the earth; so the blessing of Jacob was fulfilled, and in Him 2995 \u201cshall all the nations of the earth be blessed,\u201d and all the nations shall call the Christ blessed.\n4. And as to the tremendous question put by the facetious Encratites, why we do p. 278 not eat everything? Let this answer be given, that we turn with disgust from our excrements. As far as dignity goes, to us flesh is grass; but as to distinction between what is and what is not serviceable, just as in vegetables, we separate the unwholesome from the wholesome, so in flesh we distinguish between that which is good and that which is bad for food. Hemlock is a vegetable, just as vulture\u2019s flesh is flesh; yet no one in his senses would eat henbane nor dog\u2019s flesh unless he were in very great straits. If he did, however, he would not sin.\n5. Next as to those who maintain that human affairs are governed by fate, do not ask information from me, but stab them with their own shafts of rhetoric. The question is too long for my present infirmity. With regard to emerging in baptism\u2014I do not know how it came into your mind to ask such a question, if indeed you understood immersion to fulfil the figure of the three days. It is impossible for any one to be immersed three times, without emerging three times. We write the word \u03c6\u03ac\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 paroxytone. 2996\n6. The distinction between \u03bf\u1f50\u03c3\u03af\u03b1 and \u1f51\u03c0\u03cc\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 is the same as that between the general and the particular; as, for instance, between the animal and the particular man. Wherefore, in the case of the Godhead, we confess one essence or substance so as not to give a variant definition of existence, but we confess a particular hypostasis, in order that our conception of Father, Son and Holy Spirit may be without confusion and clear. 2997 If we have no distinct perception of the separate characteristics, namely, fatherhood, sonship, and sanctification, but form our conception of God from the general idea of existence, we cannot possibly give a sound account of our faith. We must, therefore, confess the faith by adding the particular to the common. The Godhead is common; the fatherhood particular. We must therefore combine the two and say, \u201cI believe in God the Father.\u201d The like course must be pursued in the confession of the Son; we must combine the particular with the common and say \u201cI believe in God the Son,\u201d so in the case of the Holy Ghost we must make our utterance conform to the appellation and say \u201cin God 2998 the Holy Ghost.\u201d Hence it results that there is a satisfactory preservation of the unity by the confession of the one Godhead, while in the distinction of the individual properties regarded in each there is the confession of the peculiar properties of the Persons. On the other hand those who identify essence or substance and hypostasis are compelled to confess only three Persons, 2999 and, in their hesitation to speak of three hypostases, are convicted of failure to avoid the error of Sabellius, for even Sabellius himself, who in many places confuses the conception, yet, by asserting that the same hypostasis changed its form 3000 to meet the needs of the moment, does endeavour to distinguish persons.\n7. Lastly as to your enquiry in what manner things neutral and indifferent are ordained for us, whether by some chance working by its own accord, or by the righteous providence of God, my answer is this: Health and sickness, riches and poverty, credit and discredit, inasmuch as they do not render their possessors good, are not in the category of things naturally good, but, in so far as in any way they make life\u2019s current flow more easily, in each case the former is to be preferred to its contrary, and has a certain kind of value. To some men these things are given by God for stewardship\u2019s sake, 3001 as for instance to Abraham, to Job and such like. To inferior characters they are a challenge to improvement. For the man who persists in unrighteousness, after so goodly a token of love from God, subjects himself to condemnation without defence. The good man, however, p. 279 neither turns his heart to wealth when he has it, nor seeks after it if he has it not. He treats what is given him as given him not for his selfish enjoyment, but for wise administration. No one in his senses runs after the trouble of distributing other people\u2019s property, unless he is trying to get the praise of the world, which admires and envies anybody in authority.\nGood men take sickness as athletes take their contest, waiting for the crowns that are to reward their endurance. To ascribe the dispensation of these things to any one else is as inconsistent with true religion as it is with common sense.\nThis letter is also dated in 376, and treats of further subjects not immediately raised by the De Spiritu Sancto: How Christ can be said to be ignorant of the day and the hour; Of the prediction of Jeremiah concerning Jeconiah; Of an objection of the Encratites; Of fate; Of emerging in baptism; Of the accentuation of the word \u03c6\u03ac\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2; Of essence and hypostasis; Of the ordaining of things neutral and indifferent.\n276:2976 276:2977\nMark x. 18. i.e. in Adv. Eumon. iv. vide Proleg.\n276:2978\nThe manuscripts at this point are corrupt and divergent.\n276:2979 276:2980 276:2981 276:2982 276:2983 276:2984\ncf. Ep. cclxi. 2. The reference is to the system of Apollinarius, which denied to the Son a \u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u1f74 \u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae or reasonable soul.\n276:2985\n\u03bf\u1f30\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03b9\u03ba\u1ff6\u03c2, i.e. according to the \u0153conomy of the incarnation. cf. note on p. 7.\n276:2986\ncf. Luke ii. 52.\n276:2987\nMatt. xxiv. 36. R.V. in this passage inserts \u201cNeither the Son,\u201d on the authority of \u05d0, B. D. Plainly St. Basil knew no such difference of reading. On the general view taken by the Fathers on the self-limitation of the Saviour, cf. C. Gore\u2019s Bampton Lectures (vi. p. 163, and notes 48 and 49, p. 267).\n277:2988 277:2989 277:2990 277:2991\nJer. xxii. 28-30, LXX.\n277:2992 277:2993\nIs. xi. 10. The LXX. is \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f41 \u1f00\u03bd\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03ac\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f04\u03c1\u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd \u1f10\u03b8\u03bd\u1ff6\u03bd.\n277:2994 277:2995 278:2996\nAmphilochius\u2019s doubt may have arisen from the fact that \u03c6\u03b1\u03b3\u03cc\u03c2, the Doric form of \u03c6\u03b7\u03b3\u03cc\u03c2, the esculent oak of Homer, is oxytone.\n278:2997\n\u201c\u1f00\u03c3\u03cd\u03b3\u03c7\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2,\u201d unconfounded, or without confusion, is the title of Dialogue II. of Theodoret. cf. p. 195. n.\n278:2998\nThe Benedictine note is Videtur in Harl\u00e6ano codice scriptum prima manu \u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f78\u03bd \u03b8\u03b5\u03cc\u03bd. Their reading is \u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf \u03b8\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bf\u03bd \u03c0\u03bd\u03b5\u1fe6\u03bc\u03b1 \u03c4\u1f78 \u1f05\u03b3\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd. cf. Ep. viii., \u00a7 2, where no variation of mss. is noted and Ep. cxli, both written before he was bishop. cf. Proleg. Gregory of Nazianzus, Or. xliii., explains the rationale of St. Basil\u2019s use of the word \u201cGod,\u201d of the Holy Ghost; alike in his public and private teaching he never shrank from using it, whenever he could with impunity, and his opinions were perfectly well known, but he sought to avoid the sentence of exile at the hands of the Arians by its unnecessary obtrusion. He never uses it in his homily De Fide, and the whole treatise De Spiritu Sancto, while it exhaustively vindicates the doctrine, ingeniously steers clear of the phrase.\n278:2999 278:3000\nThe Ben. Edd. note \u201cExistimat Combefisius verbum \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03c7\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03af\u03b6\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 sic reddendum esse, in various formas mutari. Sed id non dicebat Sabellius. Hoc tantum dicebat, ut legimus in Epist. ccxiv. Unum quidem hypostasi Deum esse, sed sub diversis personis a Scripturare pr\u00e6sentari. According to Dante the minds of the heresiarchs were to Scripture as bad mirrors, reflecting distorted images; and, in this sense, \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03c7\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03b6\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd might be applied rather to them.\n\u201cSi fe Sabellio ed Arrio e quegli stolti,\nChe furon come spade alle scritture\nIn render torti li diritti volti.\u201d\nPar. xiii. 123 (see Cary\u2019s note).\n278:3001\n\u1f10\u03be \u03bf\u1f30\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03af\u03b1\u03c2. In Ep. xxxi. Basil begins a letter to Eusebius of Samosata: \u201cThe dearth has not yet left us, we are therefore compelled still to remain in the town, either for stewardship\u2019s sake or for sympathy with the afflicted.\u201d Here the Benedictines\u2019 note is S\u00e6pe apud Basilium \u03bf\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03af\u03b1 dicitur id quod pauperibus distribuitur. Vituperat in Comment. in Isa. pr\u00e6sules qui male partam pecuniam accipiunt vel ad suos usus, \u1f22 \u1f10\u03c0\u1f76 \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u1ff3 \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03c0\u03c4\u03c9\u03c7\u03b5\u03c5\u03cc\u03bd\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc7 \u1fbd\u0395\u03ba\u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03c3\u03af& 139\u00b7 \u03bf\u1f30\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03af\u03b1\u03c2, vel per causam distribuendi pauperibus Ecclesi\u00e6. In Epistola 92 Orientales inter mala Ecclesi\u00e6 illud etiam deplorant quod ambitiosi pr\u00e6sules \u03bf\u1f30\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc as \u03c0\u03c4\u03c9\u03c7\u1ff6\u03bd, pecunias pauperibus destinatas in suos usus convertant.","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Ser. II, Vol. VIII: The L...","type":"page"}