23.
But when the Father of the saints is said to be 'in the heavens,' we must not suppose him circumscribed by a bodily figure, dwelling 'in the heavens' — for God would then be found smaller than the heavens, contained by the heavens that contain him. We must be persuaded that all things are contained and held together by him, through the unspeakable power of his divinity. And generally the words, taken at the letter, which seem to the simpler to say that God is in a place, must be transferred becomingly to the great and spiritual conceptions concerning God — such as these in John: 'Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, loved them unto the end'; and after a little: 'knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God and goes to God'; and after other things: 'You have heard that I said to you: I go, and come to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice that I go to the Father'; and again after other things: 'But now I go to him who sent me, and none of you asks me: Whither goest thou?' For if these are to be taken locally, then plainly so is 'Jesus answered and said to them: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.'
But these things do not happen with a local passage concerning the Father and the Son toward the one who loves Jesus' word — nor, therefore, are they to be taken locally. The Word of God, condescending to us — humbled, as befits his own worth, when he is among men — is said to pass 'from this world to the Father,' that we too may contemplate him perfected there, returning from the emptiness with us, which 'he emptied himself' of, to his own fullness. There we too, using him as guide, shall be filled and delivered from all emptiness. Let the Word of God, then, depart 'to him who sent' him, leaving the world, and journey 'to the Father.' And the word at the end of John's Gospel, 'Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father,' let us seek to understand more mystically — of the Son's ascent 'to the Father,' conceived by us with holy clarity in a manner worthier of God: an ascent which mind ascends rather than body.
This, I take it, I have examined together with 'Our Father who art in the heavens' — to remove the low conception of God from those who think he is locally 'in the heavens,' and not to let anyone say God is in a bodily place (for it follows from this that he is also a body) — which draws after it the most impious doctrines, supposing him divisible and material and corruptible. For every body is divisible and material and corruptible. Or let them tell us — not idly fanciful but claiming to grasp things plainly — how there can be another nature besides the material. And since, even before Christ's bodily sojourn, many writings seem to say God is in a bodily place, it seems to me not out of place to set out a few of those as well, to remove all entanglement from those who, through boorishness, enclose the God over all in a small and narrow place, so far as they can. And first in Genesis: Adam and Eve, he says, 'heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening; and Adam and his wife hid from the face of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.' We shall say to those who will not come to the treasuries of the letter, nor even knock at first on its 'door,' whether they can present the Lord God — who fills 'heaven and earth,' who, as they suppose, uses the more bodily 'heaven' as throne and 'the earth' as 'footstool of his feet' — as contained by a place so small by comparison with the whole heaven and earth that the paradise they suppose bodily is not filled by God, but is greater than him in size, so as to hold him walking, with a 'voice' heard from the base of his feet. Still more absurd, on their view, is Adam and Eve hiding, for shame at God over the transgression, 'from the face of God among the trees of the garden.' For it is not said that they merely wished to hide so — but that they really 'hid.' And how, on their view, does God inquire of Adam, saying: 'Where art thou?'
We have discussed these things at greater length, examining Genesis; but now, not to pass over so great a problem in utter silence, let us sufficiently recall the 'I will dwell in them and walk in them,' said by God in Deuteronomy. For whatever his walk among the saints is, such too is the walk in Paradise — with God hiding, and everyone who sins fleeing his oversight and falling from frankness. For so too 'Cain went out from the face of God and dwelt in the land of Nod over against Eden.' As, then, he dwells in the saints, so also in heaven — that is, in every saint and in Christ, in whom are all the saved as 'luminaries' and stars of heaven — or even because of the saints in heaven he dwells there, according to the saying 'To thee I lifted my eyes, who dwellest in heaven.' And the saying in Ecclesiastes, 'Hasten not to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven above, and thou upon earth below,' means to declare the distance from those in the body — of lowliness — to those lifted by profit and the word, the angels and holy powers, and Christ himself. For it is not absurd that he himself should properly be the throne of the Father — allegorically called heaven — and his church, called earth, should be 'the footstool of his feet.'
We have added, then, a few sayings even from the old covenant, deemed to present God in a place — to persuade the reader on every side, with the power given us, to hear divine Scripture more loftily and more spiritually whenever it seems to teach that God is in a place. And these things had to be examined together with 'Our Father who art in the heavens' — as withdrawing, so to speak, God's essence from all generated things. For the things with which God's essence does not commune(?) receive a certain glory and power of God — and, if I may so speak, an effluence of divinity comes to be in them.
Greek (GCS)
ΧΧΙΠ 1. Ἐπὰν (δὲ) λέγηται ὃ πατὴρ τῶν ἁγίων εἶναι „Ev τοῖς οὖρ avols,“ οὐ περιγεγράφϑαι αὐτὸν σχήματι σωματικῷ ὑποληπτέον καὶ „ev οὐρανοῖς" κατοικεῖν, ἐπεί τοι περιεχόμενος ἐλάττων τῶν οὐρανῶν ὁ ϑεὸς εὐρεϑήσεται, περιεχόντων αὐτὸν τῶν οὐρανῶν" δέον τῇ ἀφάτῳ δυνάμει τῆς ϑεότητος αὐτοῦ πεπεῖσθαι περιέχεσϑαι 1 ὄντι] (τῷ) ὄντε Angl. (bei Del. 1 9218), vgl. unten 2.2|2 ἐν (2) tilgt Bent. (bei Del. 1233 Anm. a) | 3 ἀνακαινώσει Lond, | 4 δῆλον ὅτι Lond. | 7 ἐκ τοῦ ϑεοῦ von I. H. nachgetragen (τοῦ ϑεοῦ übergeschr.) T | 11 αὐτό schreibe ich mit Bent. Del. (I 233 Anm. c) Angl. (a. a. O.), αὐτόν TAusgg. | 16 hinter τοίνυν + μόνον Angl. (a. a. O.) ohne Grund | 18 προσεύχεσϑαι)] προσεύχεσϑε Lond. u. Del. (I 233 Anm. 4) ohne Grund | 21 ἱδρύσϑαι TAusgg. | 24 (δὲ) füge ich mit Angl. (a. a, O.) ein | τῶν ἁγίων] τῶν ὅλων Bent. (bei Del. I 233 Anm. 6). καὶ συνέχεσϑαι τὰ πάντα ὑπ αὐτοῦ. καὶ καϑολικῶς τὰς ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ ῥητῷ λέξεις, τὰς νομιζομένας τοῖς ἁπλουστέροις ἐν τόπῳ φάσχειν εἶναι τὸν ϑεὸν, μεταληπτέον πρεπόντως ταῖς μεγάλαις καὶ πνευματι- καῖς ἐντοίαις περὶ ϑεοῦ, οἷαί εἰσιν ἐν τῷ κατὰ ᾿Ιωάννην αὕται" »πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἑορτῆς τοῦ πάσχα εἰδὼς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι ἦλϑεν αὐτοῦ ἡ ὥρα, ἵνα μεταβῇ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ἀγαπήσας τοὺς ἰδίους τοὺς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, εἰς τέλος ἠγάπησεν αὐτούς“ καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγα" εἰδὼς ὅτι πάντα ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ ϑεοῦ ἐξῆλϑε καὶ πρὸς ϑεὸν ὑπάγει,“ καὶ μεϑ᾽ ἕτερα" »ἢχούσατε ὅτι ἐγὼ εἶπον ὑμῖν. ὑπάγω καὶ ἔρχομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. εἰ ἠγαπᾶτέ us, ἐχάρητε ἂν ὅτι πορεύομαι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα“ καὶ πά- λὲν μεϑ’ ἕτερα᾽ ονῦν δὲ ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πέμψαντά με, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐρωτᾷ με ποῦ ὑπάγεις;“ εἰ γὰρ ταῦτα τοπικῶς ἐκδεχτέον, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τὸ »ἀπεχρίϑη ὃ Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς" ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με, τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτὸν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεϑα καὶ μονὴν παρ᾽ αὐτῷ ποιησόμεϑα.“ 2. οὐχὶ δέ γε ταῦτα τοπικῆς μεταβάσεως νοουμένης περὶ τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν πρὸς τὸν ἀγαπῶντα τὸν λόγον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γίνεται, οὐδ᾽ ἄρα τοπικῶς ταῦτα ἐχδεχτέον" ἀλλ ὁ λόγος τοῦ ϑεοῦ, ἡμῖν συγκαταβαίνων καὶ ὡς πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν ἀξίαν, ὅτε “παρὰ ἀνϑρώ- ποις ἐστὶ, ταπεινούμενος, οἰεταβαίνειν λέγεται „EX τοῦ κόσμου τού- του πρὸς τὸν πατέρα," ὅπως καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐκεῖϑι τέλειον αὐτὸν ϑὲε- ασώμεϑα, ἀπὸ τῆς παρ᾽ ἡμῖν κενότητος, ἣν ,,κένωσεν ἑαυτὸν, ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον ςπλήρωμα“ παλινδρομοῦντα" ἔνϑα καὶ ἡμεῖς, αὐτῷ ὁδηγῷ χρώμενοι ᾿ πληρωϑέντες πάσης κερότητος ἀπαλλαγησόμεϑα. ἀπιέτω τοίνυν ,πρὸς τὸν πέμψαντα“ αὐτὸν ἀφεὶς τὸν κόσμον ὃ τοῦ ϑεοῦ λόγος, καὶ ωμπρὸς τὸν πατέρα“ πορευέσϑω. καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ τέλει δὲ τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωάννην εὐαγγελίου: „un μου ἅπτου οὔπω γὰρ ἀναβέ- βηκα πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου“ μυστικώτερον νοῆσαι ζητήσωμεν τῆς ἀναβάσεως (πρὸς τὸν πατέρα“ τοῦ υἱοῦ ϑεοπρεπέστερον μετὰ ἁγίας τρανότητος ἡμῖν νοουμένης, ἥντινα ἀνάβασιν νοῦς μᾶλλον ἀναβαίνει σώματος. 5 Joh. 18,1. — 8 Joh. 18, 8. — 10 Joh. 14, 28, — 12 Joh. 16, 5. -- 14 Joh. 20, 17. 14 δήλονοτι [30] T δηλονότι Lond. | 17 γε von 1. Η., w.e. sch., über- geschr. T. 801 8. ταῦτα ἡγοῦμαι | συνεξηταχέναι τῷ ,πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς“ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ταπεινὴν περὶ ϑεοῦ ὑπόληψιν τῶν νομιζόν- τῶν αὐτὸν εἶναι τοπιχῶς „Ev οὐρανοῖς“ περιελεῖν καὶ μὴ ἐᾶν τινα ἐν σωματιχῷ τόπῳ εἶναι τὸν ϑεὸν (ἐπεὶ τούτῳ ἀκόλουθόν ἐστε καὶ σῶμα αὐτὸν elvar) λέγειν, ᾧ ἕπεται δόγματα ᾿ἀσεβέστατα, τὸ διαιρετὸν καὶ ὑλικὸν καὶ φϑαρτὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι ὑπολαμβάνειν" πᾶν γὰρ σῶμα διαιρετόν ἐστι καὶ ὑλικὸν χαὶ φϑαρτόν" ἢ λεγέτω- σαν ἡμῖν μὴ κενοπαϑοῦντες ἀλλὰ τρανῶς καταλαμβάνειν φάσχοντες, πῶς οἷόν τε ἐστὶν ἑτέρας (εἶναι) φύσεως παρὰ τὴν ὑλικήν. ἐπεὶ δὲ 10 καὶ πρὸ τῆς σωματικῆς Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίας γραμμάτων πολλὰ τὸ ἐν σωματικῷ τόπῳ εἶναι τὸν ϑεὸν λέγειν δοχεῖ, οὐκ ἄτοπόν μοι φαίνε- ται ὀλίγα κἀκείνων παραϑέσϑαι ὑπὲρ τοῦ πάντα περισπασμὸν ἄφε- λεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν διὰ τὸν ἰδιωτισμὸν τὸ ὅσον ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς μιχρῷ καὶ βραχεῖ τόπῳ ἐμπεριλαμβανόντων τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων ϑεόν. xal πρῶ- 15 τόν γε ἐν τῇ Teveocı „Adau“ xal Eva, φησὶν, ,, ἤκουσαν τῆς φωνῆς κυρίου τοῦ ϑεοῦ περιπατοῦντος τὸ δειλινὸν ἐν τῷ παραδείσφ᾽ καὶ ἐχρύβησαν ὃ τε ᾿Αδὰμ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου τοῦ 235 ϑεοῦ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ παραδείσου." ἐροῦμεν πρὸς τοὺς εἰς τοὺς ϑησαυροὺς τῆς λέξεως ἐλϑεῖν μὴ βουλομένους ἀλλὰ μηδὲ τὴν 20 ἀρχὴν κρούοντας »τὴν ϑύραν"“ αὐτῆς, εἰ δύνανται παραστῆσαι κύριον τὸν ϑεὸν, τὸν πληροῖντα ,τὸν οὐρανὸν χαὶ τὴν γῆν,“ τὸν, ὡς αὐτοὶ ὑπολαμβάνουσι, σωματιχώτερον »οὐρανῷ“ ϑρόνῳ χρώμενον καὶ „ch γῇ“ ὑποποδίῳ »τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ,“ ὑπὸ οὕτω βραχέος συγχρίσει τοῦ παντὸς οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς περιέχεσϑαι τόπου, ὥστε ὃν ὑπολαμ- 26 βάνουσι σωματικὸν παράδεισον μὴ ἐχπληροῦσϑαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ϑεοῦ ἀλλὰ τοσούτῳ αὐτοῦ εἶναι τῷ μεγέϑει μείζονα, ος καὶ περιπατοῦντα χω- ρεῖν αὐτὸν, ἀχουομένης φωνῆς“ ἀπὸ τῆς βάσεως τῶν ποδῶν av- 1 hinter ἡγοῦμαι + ἀναγχαίως Angl. (bei Del. I 9218) nicht ohne Wahr- u andere Stellen | 4 hinter τέρα + οἴεσθαι Del. (I 234 Anm. Ὁ) | hinter τόπῳ un φάσκειν Angl. (a. a. O.), vgl. oben S. 350 Z. 2; aber ἐν σωματικῷ τόπῳ εἶναι τὸν ϑεὸν hängt von λέγειν (Z.5) ab | 6 u. 7 διαίρετον T Ausgg. | 9 (εΐναι) füge ich mit Angl. (8. ἃ. O.) ein, während Bent. u. Del. (I 234 Anm. ὁ) das vorhergehende ἐστὶν in εἶναι corrigieren wollen | 21 τὸν (vor πληροῦντα) < Wet.Del. | 28 βρα- x&og schreibe ich mit Bent. Del. (1 235 Anm. a) Angl. (a. a. O.), βραχεία TAusgg. τοῦ. ἔτι δὲ χατ᾽ ἐχείνους ἀτοπώτερον τὸ αἰδουμένους τὸν ϑεὸν διὰ τὴν παράβασιν τὸν ᾿Αδὰμ καὶ τὴν Εὔαν κρύπτεσϑαι͵, ἀπὸ προσώ- που τοῦ ϑεοῦ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ παραδείσου.“ οὐδὲ γὰρ λέγεται ὅτι οὕτως ἠϑέλησαν χρύπτεσϑαι, ἀλλ᾿ ὄντως ,ἐχρύβη- σαν. πῶς δὲ κατ᾽ αὐτοὺς πυνϑάνεται τοῦ Adau ὁ ϑεὸς λέγων" »ποῦ εἶ; “ 4, περὶ τούτων δὲ ἐπὶ πλεῖον διειλήφαμεν, ἐξετάζοντες τὰ εἰς τὴν Γένεσιν᾽ πλὴν καὶ νῦν ἵνα μὴ τέλεον παρασιωπήσωμεν τὸ τηλι- κοῦτον πρόβλημα, αὐτάρχως ἀναμνησϑησόμεϑα τοῦ ,,ἐνοικήσω ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐμπεριπατήσω ἐν αὐτοῖς, λεγομένου ἐν Δευτερονομίῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ ϑεοῦ. ὁποῖος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ὃ περίπατος ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις, τοιοῦτός τις καὶ ὃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, κρυπτομένου | ϑεὸν καὶ φεύγοντος τὴν ἐπισχοπὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀφισταμένου τῆς παῤῥησίας παντὸς τοῦ ἅμαρ- τάνοντος᾽ οὕτω γὰρ καὶ, Κάϊν ἐξῆλϑεν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ϑεοῦ καὶ ῴχησεν ἐν γῇ Ναϊδ κατέναντι Ἐδέμ.“ ὡς οὖν ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐνοικεῖ, οὕτως καὶ ἔν οὐρανῷ, ἤτοι παντὶ ἁγίῳ καὶ φοροῦντε, τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου“ ἢ τῷ Χριστῷ, ἐν © εἰσι πάντες οἱ σῳζόμενοι »φωστῆρες“ καὶ ἀστέρες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἢ καὶ διὰ τοὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ ἁγίους κατοικεῖ (ἐκεῖ χατὰὺ τὸ εἰρημένον᾽ ,πρὸς σὲ ἦρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, τὸν κατοικοῦντα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ.“ καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ Ἐκχκλησιαστῇ de‘ „un σπεύσῃς ἐξενεγκεῖν λόγον πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ ϑεοῦ" ἕτι ὃ ϑεὸς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ σὺ ἐπὶ γῆς κάτω“ διάστημα βούλεται δηλῶσαι ἀπὸ τῶν ὄντων ἐν τῷ σώματι, τῆς ταπεινώσεως“ ἕως τοῦ παρὰ τοῖς ὑψουμένοις ὑπὸ τῆς ὠφελείας καὶ τοῦ λόγου ἀγγέλοις καὶ 1, 14. 16. Weish. Sal. 13, 2). — 19 Psal. 122, 1. — 21 Pred. Sal. δ, 1. — 23 10 Zevregovouly) wohl kein Textfehler sondern ungenaue Angabe des Ori- Del. | ϑεὸν] (ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ) ϑεοῦ liest Angl. (bei Del. I 921b) nach Anm. c) ohne Grund | 18 διὰ τοὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ ἁγίους κατοικεῖ] διὰ τὸ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἁγίους κατοικεῖν vermutet Bent. (bei Del. I 235 Anm. ἃ) | 19 (dxe7 κατὰ füge ich mit Angl. (a. a. O.) ein, da das Citat Psal. 122, 1 offenbar zu dem vorher- gehenden u. nicht mit dem Citat Pred. Sal. 5, 1 zum folgenden Satze gehört; hinter τὸ ++ δ᾽ Bent. (bei Del. I 235 Anm. d) der Satzverbindung wegen | 28 τοῦ] τῶν (scil. ἐν οὐρανῷ ἁγίων) vermutet Angl. (a. a. 0.) | 24 xal (vor τοῦ) tilgt Angl. (a. a. O.), vielleicht ist τῆς statt χαὶ zu schreiben. δυνάμεσιν ἁγίαις 7 αὐτῷ τῷ Χριστῷ. οὐ γὰρ ἄτοπον αὐτὸν μὲν εἶναι κυρίως ϑρόνον τοῦ πατρὸς, ἀλληγορικώτερον οὐρανὸν καλούμενον, τὴν δὲ ἐχκλησίαν αὐτοῦ γῆν ὀνομαζομένην ,ὑποπόδιον“ τυγχάνειν τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ." 5. προστεϑείχαμεν δὴ ὀλίγα καὶ τῆς παλαιᾶς διαϑήχης ῥητὰ, νομιζόμενα ἐν τόπῳ παριστάνειν τὸν ϑεὸν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ πάντοϑεν κατὰ τὴν διδομένην | ἡμῖν δύναμιν πεῖσαι τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα ὑψηλότερον καὶ πνευματικώτερον ἀκούειν τῆς ϑείας γραφῆς, ὅταν δοχῇ ἐν τόπῳ διδάσκειν εἶναι τὸν ϑεόν. ἔπρεπε δὲ ταῦτα συνεξετασϑῆναι τῷ »πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς," οἱονεὶ ᾿ἀφιστάντι τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ ϑεοῦ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν γεννητῶν᾽ οἷς γὰρ οὐ κοινωνεῖ, αὐτοῖς δόξα τις ϑεοῦ καὶ δύναμις αὐτοῦ, καὶ, ἵν οὕτως εἴπω, ἀποῤῥοὴ τῆς ϑεότητος ἐγγίνεται αὐτοῖς.