Justification is not in the Law but in Christ
Book 2. That it is impossible to escape the death that comes from sin, and the devil's greed, except through the sanctification that is according to Christ; and that justification is not in the Law but in Christ.
Cyril said: So then, Palladius, a not ignoble argument has shown us that it is a thing to love to keep clear of what is naturally hurtful, and that we must desire the slavery under God, as both honorable and profitable.
Palladius said: Indeed it has.
Cyril: And we were quite sure that, leaving the more shameful things entirely, we ought to seek the better.
Palladius: Very much so.
Cyril: And so it seemed we must, putting as far away as we can the love of pleasure in this world's life and the bustle that goes with it, be eager to sacrifice to God, and — as if we had come into a desert by a disposition of mind — practice for him a worship that is unhurried and most clean, not to be entered by defilements, beautiful and acceptable.
Palladius: It did seem so.
Cyril: And that, when Satan from greed was shutting us up under himself and wanting to hold us, a divine law was calling us into a free dignity, setting the teaching about the best things against his abominations, and tutoring us toward the better — was this not made white-clear from ten thousand examples?
Palladius: True.
Cyril: God, then, is the giver of salvation, and the steward of all our well-being, showing the road of kinship with himself, Christ mediating. Or would not Moses' mediation be a type, and a very clear one, of the mediation through Christ?
Greek
ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΝ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑΙ ΠΡΟΣΚΥΝΗΣΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΑΤΡΕΙΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΣ Ὅτι ἀμήχανον διαφυγεῖν τὸν ἐξ ἁμαρτίας θάνα τον, καὶ τὴν τοῦ διαβόλου πλεονεξίαν, εἰ μὴ δι' ἁγιασμοῦ τοῦ κατὰ Χριστὸν, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἐν νόμῳ ἡ δικαίωσις, ἀλλ' ἐν Χριστῷ. Χρῆμα μὲν οὖν, ὦ Παλλάδιε, τὸ ἀπονοσφίζεσθαι φιλεῖν τοῦ κατασίνεσθαι πεφυκότος, ἐφίεσθαι δὲ δεῖν τῆς ὑπὸ τῷ Θεῷ δουλείας, ὡς εὐκλεές τε καὶ ὀνησιφόρον, οὐκ ἀγεννὴς ἡμῖν διέδειξε λόγος.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐ γὰρ οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὁλοτρόπως γε μὴν τῶν αἰσχιόνων ἀπαίροντας, τὰ ἀμείνω ὅτι προσῆκεν ἡμᾶς ὅτι ζητεῖν, εὖ μάλα διεβεβαιούμεθα.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Χρῆναι δὲ οὕτω λοιπὸν ἐδόκει τῆς ἐν κόσμῳ ζωῆς τὸ φιλήδονον, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷδε τύρβην ἱέντας ὡς ἀποτάτω καταθύειν ἐπείγεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ οἷάπερ ἐν ἐρήμῳ γεγονότας διαθέσει νοῦ, σχολαίαν καὶ καθαρωτάτην, καὶ μολυσμοῖς οὐ βατὴν, καλὴν δὲ καὶ εὐπρόσδεκτον ἐπιτηδεύειν αὐτῷ τὴν λατρείαν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἐδόκει γὰρ ὧδε.
{ΚΥΡ.} Καὶ μὴν, ὅτι καθειργνύντος ὑφ' ἑαυτῷ καὶ συνέχειν ἡμᾶς ἐθέλοντος, ἐκ πλεονεξίας τοῦ Σατανᾶ, θεῖος ἐκάλει νόμος εἰς ἐλεύθερον ἀξίωμα, τὴν περὶ τῶν ἀρίστων εἰσήγησιν ταῖς ἐκείνου βδελυρίαις ἀντιτιθεὶς, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἀμείνω παιδαγωγῶν, ἐκ μυρίων ὅσων τῶν παραδειγμάτων διελευκαίνετο;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀληθές.
{ΚΥΡ.} Θεὸς οὖν ἄρα τῆς σωτηρίας ὁ χορηγὸς, καὶ ἁπάσης ἡμῖν εὐημερίας πρύτανις, τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν οἰκειότητος καταδεικνύων τὴν ὁδὸν, μεσιτεύοντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἢ γὰρ οὐχὶ τύπος ἂν γένοιτο, καὶ μάλα σαφὴς τῆς διὰ Χριστοῦ μεσιτείας, ἡ διὰ Μωσέως;
About this text
Cyril continues the dialogue with Palladius on worship in spirit and truth. Book 2 of a seventeen-book dialogue — not the whole work.
English follows Migne PG 68 (Aubert reprint). The PDF and a cleaned text of the same print were checked against each other. This page is Book 2 of seventeen. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 68 De adoratione Book 2 (Aubert reprint) (Greek · Book 2)
- Checked print PDF of PG 68 De adoratione (Greek · Book 2)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.