11.

We must also know this: that we received God's so-called covenants upon compacts we made with him, undertaking to live according to Christianity. And in our compacts with God was the whole conduct after the Gospel, saying: 'If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever will save his soul shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his soul for my sake shall save it.' Often we grew more inspired hearing also the 'For what shall a man profit, if he gain the whole world but lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he shall render to each according to his deed.' That one must deny himself, take up his own cross, and follow Jesus, not Matthew alone — whose wording we set out — recorded, but Luke and Mark too. Hear Luke saying: 'And he said to all: If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever will save his soul shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his soul for my sake shall save it. For what is a man profited, gaining the whole world but losing or forfeiting himself?' And Mark: 'And calling the crowd with his disciples, he said to them: If anyone will follow after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever will save his own soul shall lose it; but whoever shall lose for the Gospel's sake shall save it. And what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?' Long since, then, we owed to deny ourselves and say the 'No longer I.' Now let it appear whether, taking up our cross, we followed Jesus — which came to be, if 'Christ in us,' if we will to save our soul, that we may receive it back, better than soul(?) — and lose it by martyrdom. For if we lose it for Christ's sake, casting it upon him in death through him, we shall procure it true salvation. But if the contrary, we shall hear that he who gained the whole sensible world profits nothing, through his own destruction or being forfeited himself. Once one loses his soul or forfeits it — though he gain the whole world — he cannot give it in 'exchange' for the perishing 'soul.' For what is fashioned 'after God's image' is more precious than all bodies. One alone could give an exchange for our formerly perishing soul: he who bought us with his own 'precious blood.'