THE SEVEN BOOKS

OF

JOHN CASSIAN

ON THE INCARNATION OF THE LORD, AGAINST NESTORIUS.

Notes by Edgar C.S. Gibson


From: A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, Volume 11

New York, 1894


1. Mi Leo, veneranda ac suscipienda caritas mea, Romanae ecclesiae ac divini ministerii decus (Petschenig). Gennadius (De Vir. Illus. c. lxi.) tells us of Cassian, that "finally at the request of Leo, then archdeacon of Rome and afterwards Bishop, he wrote seven books against Nestorius on the Incarnation of the Lord, and thus brought to a close his literary labours at Marseilles, as well as his life, in the reign of Theodosius and Valentinian." The date of the work must have been A.D. 430, shortly before the Council of Ephesus.

2. Professio (Petschenig); Progressio (Gazæus).

3. Nestorius had been consecrated Bishop of Constantinople in A.D. 428, and very shortly afterwards joined Anastasius in the denial that God could be born of a woman, and developed the heresy associated with his name.

4. Petschenig's text gives no titles to the chapters in this work. They are added here from the text of Gazæus.

5. The earliest writer to refer to an "Ebion" as the supposed founder of the Ebionites is Tertullian (Praescriptio c. xxxiii.). He is followed in this by Epiphanius (I. xxx.); Rufinus (In Symb. Apost. c. xxxix.), and others; but the existence of such a person is more than doubtful, and the name is now generally believed to have been derived from the Hebrew "Ebhion"=poor.

6. Incarnatio.

7. Cassian's statement here is scarcely accurate, as Eunomius is best known from his bold assertion that the Son was unlike (anomoion) to the Father.

8. Photinus, the pupil of Marcellus of Ancyra, appears to have taught a form of Sabellianism, teaching that Christ Himself, the Son of God, had not existed from all eternity but only from the time when He became the Son of God and Christ; viz., at the Incarnation.

9. Et maxima Belgarum urbe (Petschenig). Gazæus edits: Et maxime Beligarum urbe. The city must be Trêves, and the allusion is to the heresy of Leporius, which was an outcome of Pelagianism. Leporius was apparently a native of Trêves, who propagated Pelagian views in Gaul, ascribing his virtues to his own free will and his own strength; and going to far greater lengths than his master in that he connected this doctrine of human sufficiency with heretical views on the Incarnation; thus combining Pelagianism with what was practically Nestorianism, teaching that Jesus was a mere man who had used His free will so well as to have lived without sin, and had only been made Christ in virtue of His Baptism, whereby the Divine and Human were associated so as virtually to make two Christs. He taught further that the only object of His coming into the world was to exhibit to mankind an example of virtue; and that if they chose to profit by it they also might be without sin. For these errors he was rebuked by Cassian and others in Gaul, and on his refusal to abandon them was formally censured by Proculus Bishop of Marseilles and Cylinnius (Bishop of Fréjus?). He then left Gaul and came to Africa, where he was convinced by Augustine of the erroneous character of his teaching, and under his influence signed a recantation, which was perhaps drawn up by Augustine himself, and from which Cassian quotes below (c. v.). This recantation was read in the Church of Carthage, and was subscribed by four bishops as witnesses (including Augustine). It was then sent to the Gallican Bishops accompanied by a letter from the four attesting bishops (Epp. August. no. ccxxix.) commending the treatment which Leporius had previously received, but recommending him once more to their favour as having retracted his errors. See further Fleury H. E. Book XXIV. c. xlix. and Dictionary of Christian Biography, Art. Leporius.

10. Nestorius.

11. The after history of Leporius appears to have been this. Having come under Augustine's influence, he was persuaded by him to give up all his property, and renounce the temporal care of a monastery which he had previously founded in a garden at Hippo; where also he had begun to build a xenodochium or house of refuge for strangers, partly at his own expense, and partly out of the alms of the faithful. He also at Augustine's suggestion, built a church in memory of the "eight martyrs" (see Aug. Serm. 356). This complete renunciation of the world must have taken place about 425; and in the following year we find that he was present at the election of Eraclius to succeed Augustine (Aug. Ep. 213); but subsequent to this nothing is known of his history except that he was still living when Cassian wrote. It is right to mention that doubts have been raised by Tillemont whether the presbyter of Hippo is identical with the quondam heretic, but on scarcely sufficient grounds.

12. The recantation of Leporius may be found in the Bibliotheca Maxima Patrum. vol. vii. p. 14; Labbe, Concilia, ii. p. 1678; and Migne Patrol. Lat. xxi. p. 1221.

13. Sibi . . . nobis.

14. Caro and Verbum when used in this way stand for the Humanity and the Divinity of Christ.

15. The meaning of course is not that the manhood was endowed with the properties of Deity, or conversely the Deity with the properties of Humanity, but simply that two whole and perfect natures were joined together in the one Person.

16. S. John 1:14.

17. This phrase gives some countenance to the idea that the recantation was actually drawn up by Augustine, as the thought which it contains is a favorite one with him, as excluding any notion that Christ ever for one moment ceased to be God. See Serm. 184. "Intelligerent . . . Eum . . . in homine ad nos venisse et a Patre non recessisse." 186 "manens quod erat." Similar language is used by S. Leo, Serm. 18. c. 5. In Natio. 2. c. 2. and S. Thomas Aquinas in the well-known sacramental hymn "Verbum supernum prodiens, Nec Patris linquens dexteram." Cf. Bright's S. Leo on the Incarnation, p. 220.

18. Homo is here used as frequently by Augustine and other early writers for "Manhood," and not an "individual man." In this way it was freely used until the Nestorian Controversy, after which it went out of favour as capable of a Nestorian interpretation, and gave place to "humanitas" or "humana natura," when the manhood of Christ was spoken of. See the Church Quarterly Review, vol. xviii. p. 10; and Bright's S. Leo on the Incarnation, p. 165.

19. Verbum Dei (Petschenig) Verbum Deus (Gazæus).

20. Substantiae.

21. The allusion is to Ps. 18 (19):5, where the Latin (Gallican Psalter) has "Exultavit, ut gigas, ad currendam viam." The mystical interpretation which takes the words as referring to Christ is not uncommon. So in a hymn "De Adventu Domini" (Mone. Vol. i. p. 43) we have the verse "Procedit a thalamo suo Pudoris aula regia Geminæ gigas substantiæ, Alacris ut currat viam," and in another "De natali Domini" (p. 58) "Ut gigas egreditur ad currendam viam."

22. Etsi (Petschenig) Et sic (Gazæus).

23. The attesting Bishops who subscribed his recantation as witnesses were Aurelius of Carthage; Augustine of Hippo Regius; Florentius of the other Hippo; and Secundinus of Megarmita.

24. Scrobibus (Petschenig): The text of Gazæus has enoribus.

25. The allusion is to the recantation of Leporius and his companions. They were the immediate predecessors of Nestorius, and Cassian means to say that their recantation of their error ought to have been an example for Nestorius to follow.

26. Eph. 6:16-17.

27. Curationem (Petschenig): Damnationem (Gazæus).

28. The Nestorian controversy was originated by a sermon of Anastasius a follower of Theodore of Mopsuestia, whom Nestorius brought with him to Constantinople as his chaplain on his appointment as Archbishop, A.D. 428. This man, preaching in the presence of the archbishop, said: "Let no one call Mary Theotocos; for Mary was but a woman, and it is impossible that God should be born of a woman." In the controversy which was immediately excited by these words Nestorius at once took the part of his chaplain and preached a course of sermons in maintenance of his views; refusing to the Blessed Virgin the title of Theotocos, while admitting that she might be termed Christotocos. See Socrates H. E. Book VII. c. xxxii. Evagrius H. E. Book I. c. ii. and Vincentius Lirinensis Book I. c. xii. The sermons are still partially existing in the writings of Marius Mercator: and in the second of them the title Cristotokos is admitted. Cf. Hefele's Councils Book IX. c. i. (Vol. iii. Eng. Transl. p. 12 sq.).

29. The subject is dealt with in Book IV. c. ii.; VII. c. ii. sq.

30. S. Luke 2:11.

31. S. Luke 1:35.

32. On the conception by the Holy Ghost compare Pearson on the Creed. Article III. c. ii.

33. Ps. 32 (33):9.

34. Petschenig's text is as follows: Videlicet ut, quia agi tanta res per humanum officium non valebat, ipsius ad futuram diceret majestatem in conceptu, qui erat futurus in partu; while Gazæus reads deceret for diceret.

35. Isa. 7:14.

36. Incredule (Petschenig). Incredulae (Gazæus).

37. Here is an instance of language which the mature judgment of the Church has rejected, as experience showed how it was capable of being pressed into the service of heresy. Homo unitus Deo, in Cassian's mouth evidently means the manhood joined to the Godhead, but the words might easily be taken as implying that a man was united to God, i.e., that there were in the Incarnation two persons, one assuming and the other assumed, which was the essence of Nestorianism. Compare above, the note on Homo to Book I. c. v.

38. Isa. 9:6 where in the LXX. B reads `oti paidion `egenneqh `hmin, `uios kai edoqh `hmin, ou `h arch egenhqh epi tou wmou autou, kai kaleitai to onoma autou Megalhs Boulhs aggelos azw gar k. t. l. To this, however, ['aleph = the Sinaiticus] and A add after aggelos, qaumastos sumboulos; Qeos (our Qeos A) iscuros `exoustiasths arcwn eirhnhs pathr tou mellontos aiwnos and hence in the main comes the old Latin version, which Cassian here follows. Jerome's version has Parvulus enim natus est nobis et filius datus est nobis; et factus est principatus super humerum ejus: et vocabitur nomen ejus admirabilis consiliarius Deus fortis pater futuri sæculi princeps pacis. The Hebrew has nothing directly corresponding to the "angel of great counsel," which seems to be intended as a paraphrase of "Wonderful Counsellor" (Cf. Judg. 13:18), while "Father of the world to come" is an interpretation of the Hebrew "Father of eternity."

39. Suscepti hominis. Cf. the line in the Te Deum, which originally ran "Tu ad liberandum mundum suscepisti hominem: non horruisti virginis uterum."

40. See the language of Nestorius himself quoted below in Book VII. c. vi. and cf. V. iii.

41. The text of Gazæus omits Deus.

42. Malachi 3:8. Jerome's rendering is almost identical "Si affiget homo Deum, quia vos configitis me;" where the Douay version strangely departs from the literal sense of the word and renders vaguely "afflict." It is clear however that it was intended to be understood literally, as it is here taken by Cassian as a direct prophecy of the Crucifixion. The LXX. has pterniei. The Hebrew word, which is only found again in Prov. 22:23, appears to mean "defraud."

43. Titus 2:11-13.

44. S. Matt. 2:2, 7.

45. Exod. 3:2.

46. Vas Dei (Petschenig): Gazæus has Vis Dei.

47. S. Luke 2:11.

48. Jacobum. So Petschenig, after his authority. It is however an error on Cassian's part, as the words quoted were spoken not by S. James, but by S. Peter. (The text of Gazæus reads apparently with no authority Petrum.)

49. Acts 15:10, 11.

50. Titus 2:11.

51. S. John 1:17.

52. 1 Cor. 16:23.

53. Nestorius maintained that "that which was formed in the womb of Mary was not God Himself . . . but because God dwells in him whom He has assumed, therefore also He who is assumed is called God because of Him who assumes Him. And it is not God who has suffered, but God was united with the crucified flesh." (Fragm. in Marius Mercator p. 789 sq. [ed. Migne].) Thus he made out that in Christ were two Persons, one assuming and the other assumed.

54. S. Luke 1:35.

55. There is some doubt whether the words enclosed in brackets form part of the genuine text. Petschenig brackets them, as wanting in some MSS.

56. Homo ille.

57. Rom. 9:3-5.

58. 2 Cor. 5:19.

59. Exod. 7:1.

60. Ps. 81 (82):6.

61. 2 Cor. 5:16.

62. Petschenig's text reads as follows: Ac per hoc et illud ibi; Qui est super omnia Deus, hoc dicit: non novimus, jam Christum secundum carnem, et hic: non novimus jam Christum secundum carnem, hoc ait: Qui est Deus benedictus in saecula. That of Gazæus has: Ac per hoc et illud ibi qui est super omnia Deus: et hoc dicit, non novimus jam Christum secundum carnem: Quia est Deus benedictus in saecula.

63. The language used in the text by Cassian is scarcely defensible. The whole tenour of the treatise shows clearly enough that his meaning is orthodox enough, and that he fully recognizes that the Human nature of Christ is still existing (See especially c. vi.): but the language used comes perilously near to Eutychianism, and might be taken to imply that the human nature had been absorbed in the Divine. Again in Book V. c. vii. he speaks of the Son of man "united to the Son of God" (Cf. also c. viii.) language which taken by itself might seem to sanction Nestorianism, the very heresy against which Cassian himself is writing. These instances of inaccurate language, which a later writer would have carefully avoided, serve to show one great service which heresies did to the Church in making Churchmen write logikwteron. Cf. Dorner, Doctrine of the Person of Christ, Vol. i. p. 458 (E. T.).

64. Gal. 1:1.

65. Christum (Petschenig): Jesum (Gazæus).

66. Acts 26:12-15.

67. Inaestimabili majestatem Dei luce fulgentem (Petschenig): Gazæus edits Inaestimabilem majestatem, Dei luce fulgentem.

68. Quas tibi immensus et ineffabilis pavor mentis augeret (Petschenig): Gazæus has Quas tibi immensas et ineffabiles augustias pavor mentis augeret?

69. 2 Cor. 13:3.

70. 2 Cor. 5:10.

71. Rom. 14:10, 11.

72. S. John 5:22, 23.

73. 1 John 2:23.

74. Rom. 8:9.

75. Rom. 8:33, 34.

76. 1 Cor. 1:22-24.

77. Mater (Petschenig): Caro (Gazæus).

78. 1 Cor. 1:6-9.

79. S. John 11:27.

80. Principatus.

81. S. Matt. 16:16.

82. S. John 20:28.

83. S. Matt. 24:35.

84. S. Luke 24:39.

85. S. Matt. 16:4.

86. S. Matt. 3:16, 17.

87. Gal. 4:4.

88. Rom. 8:3.

89. Sacramentum.

90. Exod. 4:13. Where the LXX. has Deomai, Kurie, proceirisai dunamenon allon `on aposteleis, which was followed by the old Latin. Jerome however rendered the passage correctly from the Hebrew: "obsecro, Domine, mitte quem misurus es." Cf. the note on the Institutes, XII. xxxi.

91. S. John 3:17.

92. Ps. 106 (107):20.

93. 1 John 4:14.

94. S. Luke 2:11.

95. Cf. Hooker Eccl: Polity., Book V. c. liii. § 4. "A kind of mutual commutation there is whereby those concrete names, God and man, when we speak of Christ, do take interchangeably one another's room, so that for truth of speech it skilleth not whether we say that the Son of God hath created the world, and the Son of man by His death hath saved it, or else that the Son of man did create, and the Son of God die to save the world. Howbeit as oft as we attribute to God what the manhood of Christ claimeth, or to man what His Deity hath right unto, we understand by the name of God and the name of man neither the one nor the other nature, but the whole person of Christ, in whom both natures are." The technical phrase by which this interchange of names is described is the Communicatio idiomatum, and in Greek antidosis. Cf. Pearson on the Creed, Art. IV. c. i.

96. S. John 4:12.

97. De se dicentem (Petschenig): Gazæus reads descendentem.

98. S. John 17:3.

99. 1 Cor. 8:6.

100. Tanti mysterii sacramentum.

101. S. John 1:3.

102. S. John 3:13.

103. S. John 6:63.

104. Eph. 4:10.

105. Phil. 2:6-8.

106. See Hooker as above (V. liii. 4) "When the Apostle saith of the Jews that they crucified the Lord of Glory, and when the Son of man being on earth affirmeth that the Son of man was in heaven at the same instant, there is in these two speeches that mutual circulation before mentioned. In the one, there is attributed to God or the Lord of Glory death, whereof Divine nature is not capable; in the other ubiquity unto man which human nature admitteth not. Therefore by the Lord of Glory we must needs understand the whole person of Christ, who being Lord of Glory, was indeed crucified, but not in that nature for which he is termed the Lord of Glory. In like manner by the Son of man the whole person of Christ must necessarily be meant, who being man upon earth, filled heaven with his glorious presence, but not according to that nature for which the title of man is given Him."

107. Ne necesse sit (Petschenig).

108. S. Luke 19:10.

109. 1 Tim. 1:15.

110. S. John 1:11.

111. Cf. Jer. 1:5.

112. The passage comes not from Jeremiah, but from Baruch (3:36-38). It is also quoted as from Jeremiah by Augustine (c. Faustin. xii. c. 43): and in the LXX. version the book of Baruch is placed among the works of Jeremiah, e.g., In both the Vatican and Alexandrine MSS. they stand in the following order: (1) Jeremiah, (2) Baruch, (3) Lamentations, (4) the Epistle of Jeremy (Baruch c. 6 in A. V.). The passage which Cassian here quotes is constantly appealed to by both Greek and Latin Fathers, as a prophecy of the Incarnation. See e.g. S. Augustine (l.c.) S. Chrysost. "Ecloga" Hom. xxxiv. Rufinus in. Symb. § 5.

113. Isa. 52:6.

114. Cf. Col. 2:14, 15.

115. Isa. 14:14, 15.

116. Hosea 11:4.

117. Eph. 4:1.

118. Philemon 9.

119. Acts 4:32.

120. 2 Cor. 5:19.

121. S. Luke 2:11.

122. S. Matt. 1:21.

123. Judges 3:9.

124. Judges 3:15.

125. S. John 1:29.

126. Isa. 1:3.

127. S. John 1:11.

128. Baruch 3:37, 38.

129. Ps. 117 (118):27.

130. Phil. 2:10, 11.

131. See above Book I. cc. ii. iii.

132. See below Book VI. c. xiv. For the twofold error of Pelagianism cf. a striking article on "Theodore of Mopsuestia and Modern Thought" in the Church Quarterly Review, vol. i. See esp. p. 135; where, speaking of Pelagianism, the writer says: "as the hypostatic union was denied, lest it should derogate from the ethical completeness of Christ, so the efficacious working of grace must be explained away lest it should derogate from the moral dignity of Christians. The divine and human elements must be kept as jealously apart in the moral life of the members as in the person of the Head of the Church. In the ultimate analysis it must be proved that the initial movement in every good action came from the human will itself, though when this was allowed, the grace of God might receive, by an exact process of assessment, its due share of credit for the result."

133. Viz., Nestorianism.

134. 2 Cor. 6:16.

135. 1 Cor. 3:16.

136. 2 Cor. 13:3.

137. 2 Cor. 13:5.

138. Eph. 3:16, 17.

139. Idem credendus in corpore qui creditur in majestate, qui nasciturus in carne non divisionem, etc., (Petschenig): Gazæus reads Idem credendus in majestate quia nasciturus in carne. Non divisionem, etc.

140. Col. 2:9.

141. S. John 14:23.

142. Isa. 45:14, 15.

143. Baruch 3:37.

144. Ps. 21 (22):11.

145. Dominicus Homo, literally "the Lordly man." The same title is used again by Cassian in Book VI. cc. xxi., xxii., and in the Conferences XI. xiii. It is however an instance of a title which the mature judgment of the Church has rejected as savouring of an heretical interpretation. We learn from Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. 51) that the Greek equivalent of the title `o kuriakos anqrwpos, was a favourite term with the Apollinarians, as it might be taken to favour their view that the Divinity supplied the place of a human soul in Christ. It is however freely used by Epiphanius in his Anchoratus, and is also found in the exposition of faith assigned to Athanasius (Migne. Pat. Graec. xxv. p. 197). And Augustine himself actually uses the title Dominicus Homo in his treatise on the Sermon on the Mount, Book II. c. vi., though he afterwards retracted the term, see "Retract," Book I. c. xx. "Non video utrum recte dicatur Homo Dominicus, qui est mediator Dei et hominum, homo Christus Jesus, cum sit utique Dominus: Dominicus autem homo quis in ejus sancta familia non potest dici? Et hoc quidem ut dicerem, apud quosdam legi tractores catholicos divinorum eloquiorum. Sed ubicunque hoc dici, dixisse me nollem. Postea quippe vidi non esse dicendum, quamvis nonnulla possit ratione defendi." The question is discussed by S. Thomas, whether the title is rightly applied to Christ and decided by him in the negative. Summa @III. Q. iv. art. 3.

146. Ps. 84 (85):12.

147. S. John 14:6.

148. Isa. 2:22. Cf. the note on the Institutes XII. xxxi.

149. Ps. 45 (46):7.

150. Ps. 82 (83):19.

151. Isa. 57:15.

152. 1 John 1:1, 2.

153. Heb. 13:8.

154. Col. 1:12-20.

155. S. Matt. 19:28.

156. S. John 8:40, 42.

157. S. John 8:58.

158. Exod. 3:14.

159. S. Jude 5.

160. 1 Cor. 10:9.

161. Acts 15:10, 11.

162. Deut. 32:12.

163. Ps. 80 (81):10.

164. Jer. 17:5.

165. S. John 4:2, 3. It will be noticed that Cassian quotes this passage with the reading "Qui solvit Jesum," where the Greek has `o mh `omologei ton Ihsoun. Luei is found in no Greek MS., uncial or cursive, and the only Greek authority for it is that of Socrates, who says it was the reading in "the old copies." "Qui solvit" was probably an early gloss, current in very early days in the West, being found in Tertullian (adv. Marc. v. 16; De Jejun: i.) and in all Latin MSS. whether of the Vetus or the Vulgate (with a single exception), and finally becoming universal in the Fathers of the Western Church. Cf. Westcott on the Epp. of S. John, p. 156, sq.

166. Non negares (Petschenig). Gazæus has denegares. 167. The last sentences are placed in brackets by Petschenig.

168. S. Matt. 19:6.

169. Eph. 5:25-30.

170. 1 Tim. 3:16. Quod manifestum in carne. The true reading is pretty certainly `os, see Westcott and Hort, Greek Testament, vol. ii., p. 132. The neuter `o is found in D. and in many Latin Fathers, as well as the Vulgate.

171. S. John 10:18.

172. Ps. 48 (49):8.

173. Cf. S. John 6:62.

174. S. John 3:13.

175. Gal. 4:26.

176. S. Matt. 13:17.

177. Isa. 64:1.

178. Ps. 143 (144):5.

179. Exod. 33:13.

180. 1 Tim. 1:7.

181. Isa. 64:1.

182. Hab. 3:2, 3, where the Old Latin has "Theman," and the Vulgate "Austro."

183. Ps. 49 (50):3; 79 (80):2.

184. Phil. 2:7.

185. Muneraris, (Petschenig): Gazæus reads numeraris.

186. Nestorius, who had belonged to the monastery of St. Euprepius near the gate of Antioch before his elevation to the see of Constantinople.

187. This creed is plainly given by Cassian as the baptismal formula of the Church of Antioch; and with it agrees almost verbally a fragment of the Creed preserved in a Contestatio comparing Nestorius to Paul of Samosata (A.D. 429, or 430) which is said by Leontius to have been the work of Eusebius afterward Bishop of Dorylæum. The form is especially interesting as showing that the Creed of Antioch, in common with several other Eastern Creeds, underwent revision, probably about the middle of the fourth century, from the desire to enrich the local creed with Nicæan phraseology. The insertions which are obviously due to the Creed of Nicæa are: non factum. Deum verum ex Deo vero, homoousian patri, or as they would run in the original ou poihqenta, Qeon alhqinon ek Theou aliqinou, `omoousion tw Patri, and it has been suggested that they were probably introduced at the Synod held at Antioch under Meletius in 363. Similar forms of local creeds thus enlarged by the adoption of Nicene phraseology are (1) that of Jerusalem as given by Cyril in his Catechetical Lectures, (2) the Creed of Cappadocia, (3) that of Mesopotamia, and (4) the "Creed of Charisius" preserved in the Acts of the Council of Ephesus (Mansi IV. 1348). On all of these see Dr. Hort's "Two Dissertations," p. 110 sq.

Another interesting feature in the Creed as given by Cassian is that it was in the singular "Credo," I believe; whereas the Eastern Creeds are almost all in the plural pisteuomen. That however which is found in the Apostolical Constitutions (VII. xli.) has the singular pisteuw kai baptizomai, and therefore it is possible that Cassian may have preserved the original form here. It is however more probable that the singular Credo is due to a reminiscence of the form current in the Western church, which has influenced the translation. See further Hahn's Bibliothek des Symbole p. 64 sq.

188. Cassian nowhere quotes the last section of the Creed of Antioch, as it did not concern the question at issue. A few clauses of it may however be recovered from S. Chrysostom's Homilies (In 1 Cor. Hom. xl. § 2); viz., kai eis `amartiwn `afesin kai eis nekrwn anastasin kai eis zwhn aiwnion.

189. Symbolus, or more commonly and correctly Symbolum (=sumbolon) is the general name for the creed in the ancient church, met with from the days of Cyprian (who uses it more than once, e.g., Ep. lxix.) onwards. In the account which Cassian gives in the text of the origin of the name he is certainly copying Rufinus (whose exposition of the Apostles' Creed is directly quoted by him below in Book VII. c. xxvii.). The passage which Cassian evidently has in his mind is the following: "Moreover for many and excellent reasons they determined that it should be called Symbolum. For `Symbolum' in Greek may mean both Indicium (a token) and collatio (a collection), that is, that which several bring together into one; for the apostles effected this in these sentences by bringing together into one what each thought good. . . .  Therefore being about to depart to preach, the apostles appointed that token of their unanimity and faith." (Ruf. De Symb. § 2). Cf. also § 1. "In these words there is truly discovered the prophecy which says: `Completing His work and cutting it short in righteousness, because a short word will the Lord make upon the earth.'" This explanation, however, of the origin of the term labours under the fatal mistake of confusing two distinct Greek words sumbolh a "collection," and sumbolon a "watchword:" and the true explanation of the word is probably that which Rufinus gives as an alternative, which gives it the meaning of "watchword." It was the watchword of the Christian soldier, carefully and jealously guarded by him, as that by which he could himself be distinguished from heretics, and that for which he could challenge others of whose orthodoxy he might be in doubt.

190. Rom. 9:28.

191. Viz., Constantinople, where Nestorius was Bishop and where Cassian himself had been ordained deacon by S. Chrysostom, as he tells us below in Book VII. c. xxxi., where he returns to the subject of his love for the city of his ordination, and interest in it.

192. Gal. 4:4.

193. Ps. 44 (45):17.

194. S. John 8:58.

195. Persius Sat. iii. l. 116 . . . "quod ipse non sani esse hominis non sanus juret Orestes."

196. Petschenig's text is as follows: Ut quid doceas Christianos? Christum non credere, cum ipsum in cujus Dei templo sint Deum negare. Gazæus edits: Ut quid doces Christianos, Christum non credens? Cum ipsum, in cujus Dei templo sunt, Deum neges.

197. Cicero in Verr. Act. Book l. xv. 40.

198. Ut, quia tu esse nolis quod omnes sint, omnes sint, quod tu velis (Petschenig). Gazæus has: Et quia tu esse nolis quod omnes sunt, quod tu velis: a text which he confesses must be corrupt.

199. The reference is the ceremony known as the Traditio Symboli, which is thus described by Professor Lumby: "The practice of the early church in the admission of converts to baptism seems to have been of this nature. For some period previous to their baptism (the usual seasons for which were Easter and Pentecost) the candidates for admission thereto were trained in the doctrines of the faith by the presbyters. A few days before they were to be baptized (the number of days varying at different periods) the Creed was delivered to them accompanied with a sermon. This ceremony was known as Traditio Symboli, the delivery of the Creed. At the time of Baptism each candidate was interrogated upon the articles of the Creed which he had received, and was to return an answer in the words which had been given to him. This was known as Redditio Symboli, the repetition of the Creed, and Baptism was the only occasion on which the Creed was introduced into any public service of the Church." History of the Creeds, pp. 11, 12.

200. 1 Cor. 1:23, 24.

201. Homo.

202. Nativitas.

203. Homoousios parienti debet esse nativitas.

204. St. John 3:6.

205. S. Matt. 1:20.

206. Phil. 2:7, 8; S. John 1:14; 2 Cor. 8:9.

207. Cf. Augustine, Tr. 78 in Joan.

208. 1 John 2:23.

209. Ab inferis.

210. Eph. 4:10.

211. Demutatus.

212. S. John 11:27.

213. S. Matt. 16:16.

214. S. John 20:28.

215. Phil. 2:7, 8.

216. Heb. 13:8.

217. Hominem.

218. 1 Cor. 8:6.

219. Col. 1:16.

220. Dominicus homo, see above on V. v.

221. Homini.

222. Dominicus homo.

223. S. John 3:13.

224. S. John 6:63.

225. 1 Cor. 8:6.

226. 1 Cor. 2:8. See the note on IV. vii.

227. Gen. 15:13.

228. S. Matt. 12:40.

229. Apud inferos.

230. Ps. 8:5.

231. S. John 1:15.

232. Verbi.

233. Ps. 117 (118):6.

234. 2 Cor. 10:4, 5.

235. Cf. S. Luke 10:19; Ps. 90 (91):13.

236. Isa. 11:8.

237. Cf. Mal. 3:2, 3.

238. S. Matt. 21:13.

239. Onocentauri: the allusion is to Is. 34:14, 15. Cf. Jerome in Esaiam, Bk. X.

240. Isa. 45:9; Rom. 9:20.

241. Abluto eo (Petschenig): Ab luto eo (Gazæus).

242. Mal. 3:8.

243. Acts 20:28.

244. Acts 3:15.

245. S. John 3:13.

246. Ex inanimis animalia, ex insensibilibus sensibilia nascuntur (Petschenig). The text of Gazæus has ex atomis animalia nascuntur.

247. Cf. Virgil's Georgics IV. Rufinus, on the Apostles' Creed (c. xi.) gives the same illustration of the Incarnation, and cf. with the passage in the text S. Basil Hom. in Hexaem., IX. ii.

248. Gal. 1:1.

249. 1 Cor. 2:6, 8.

250. Col. 2:9.

251. 1 Cor. 8:6.

252. Dispensatio.

253. Cf. V. ii.

254. Ps. 49 (50):3.

255. Gen. 32:30.

The name Israel was in the 4th and 5th centuries commonly explained to mean the "man seeing God" as if it came from ish, raah, and El. S. Jerome (Quaest. in Genesim c. xxxii. ver. 27, 28) rejects this interpretation as forced, and prefers "a Prince with God." Hence the rendering in the A. V. "For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed." This however is now generally rejected, and the right interpretation of the name appears to be "He who striveth with God." Cf. R. V. "For thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed." Cf. the Conferences, Pref. and V. xxiii. XII. xi.

256. Isa. 40:9; 25:9; 9:6, 7.

257. S. Matt. 16:16.

258. S. John 11:27.

259. S. John 1:29.

260. S. Matt. 3:14.

261. S. Matt. 3:17.

262. S. Luke 4:3.

263. S. Matt. 27:42.

264. Heb. 7:3.

265. S. Matt. 1:1.

266. Isa. 53:8.

267. S. Luke 4:9, 10.

268. Ps. 90 (91):13.

269. Separavit (Petschenig).

270. S. Matt. 1:20.

271. 1 Tim. 3:16.

272. S. Luke 9:20.

273. S. John 1:32.

274. Acts 1:2.

275. Hominem suum.

276. Prov. 9:1.

277. 1 Tim. 3:16.

278. 1 Cor. 1:30.

279. 1 Cor. 6:11.

280. Acts 3:6.

281. Acts 9:34.

282. Acts 16:18.

283. S. Matt. 9:6.

284. S. John 4:50.

285. S. Luke 7:14.

286. S. Matt. 7:29.

287. S. Matt. 10:8.

288. S. Mark 16:17.

289. S. Luke 10:19.

290. S. John 1:32.

291. Ille enim; viz., Pelagius. This appears to be the true reading, though one MS. followed by Gazæus has Leporius ille enim; a reading which would involve the supposition that there were two persons of the name of Leporius, master and scholar.

292. Acts 1:2.

293. S. John 3:13.

294. S. John 20:17.

295. Ps. 46 (47):6.

296. Tantam Petschenig. Tamen Gazæus.

297. Ps. 23 (24):7.

298. I nunc Petschenig. The text is however doubtful. One MS. reading In hunc, and another jam nunc.

299. S. Matt. 25:31.

300. S. Hilary of Poictiers (ob. A.D. 368). The reference is of course to his banishment to Phrygia by the Emperor Constantius in 356, because of his resolute defence of the Nicene faith against Arianism.

301. De Trinitate II. xxv., xxvii.; X. vii.

302. This preface to Hilary's work on S. Matthew is now lost, though the commentary itself still exists. See Opera S. Hilarii Pictav: (Verona, 1730). Vol. i. 658.

303. Cf. Cant. 5:10 (LXX.).

304. S. Ambrose. De Virg. Lib. i. xlvi.

305. Ezek. 44:2.

306. These words are not found in any extant writing of S. Ambrose, but something very like them occurs in S. Augustine's Sixth Sermon in Natali Domini.

307. In Lucam II. i.

308. Ep. xxii. Ad Eustochium.

309. Cf. Ezek. 44:2.

310. Book III. c. vii.

311. Rufinus in Symb. c. xiii.

312. There is no authority for the reading of Cuyck and Gazæus "Magnus Sacerdos." On the coldness with which Augustine is here spoken of see the Introduction. Note.

313. August. Tract. II. in Johan. xv.

314. Ep. cxxxvii. c. 4.

315. Aliud in Deum adsumitur, aliud in Deitatis gratiam praestat. So Petschenig edits. The text of Gazæus has aliud Deitatis gratia praestat.

316. Greg. Nazianz. Oratio xxxviii. The Greek of the passage which Cassian translates is as follows: proelqwn de Qeos meta ths proslhyews `en ek duo twn enantiwn, sarkos kai pneumatos: wn to men eqewse to de eqewqh, w ths kainhs mixews, w ths paradoxou kraseow, `o `wn ginetai kai `o aktistos ktizetai kai `o acwrhtos cwreitai dia meshs yuchs noeras mesiteuoushs qeothti kai sarkos pacuthti, kai `o ploutizwn ptwceuei. Oratio xxxix. Ti ginetai kai ti to mega peri `hmas musthrion; kainotomountai fuseis kai Qeos anqrwpos ginetai . . . kai `o `uios tou Qeou decetai kai `uios anqrwpou genesqai te kai klhqhnai, ouc `o hn metabalwn, atreptonu gar, all' `o ouk hn proslabwn, filanqrwpos gar, `ina cwrhqh `o acwrhtos.

317. See the Orations Against the Arians IV. The Greek is as follows: Skopos toinun `outos kai carakthr ths grafhs, `ws pollakis eipomen, diplhn einai thn peri tou swthros apaggelian en auth, `oti te aei Qeos hn kai estin `o ueos, logos wn kai apaugasma kai sofia tou patros, kai `oti `usteron di' `hmas sarka labwn ek parqenou ths qeotokou Marias anqrwpos gegonen.

318. Orations Against the Arians IV. polloi goun `agioi gegonasi kai kaqaroi pashs `amartias: `Ieremias de kai ek koilias `hgiasqh kai Iwannhs eti kuoforoumenos eskirthsen en agalliasei epi th fwnh ths Qeotokou Marias.

319. The passage has not been identified with any now extant in the writings of S. Chrysostom.

320. S. Chrysostom had been taken from Antioch for the Bishopric of Constantinople: and after the death of Sisinnius in 426, as there was so much rivalry and party spirit displayed at Constantinople, the Emperor determined that none of that Church should fill the vacant see, but sent for Nestorius from Antioch, where he had already gained a great reputation for eloquence (cf. Socrates H. E. VII. xxix.). It is to the fact that both S. Chrysostom and Nestorius came from the same city that Cassian alludes in the text.

321. The reference is to Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop of Constantinople from 379 to 381 when he retired in the interests of peace; to Nectarius who was chosen to succeed him; and to his successor, S. John Chrysostom, 397 to 404.

322. Cf. 1 Cor. 12:26.

323. Ps. 13 (14):4; Col. 2:21, 23; 2 Cor. 6:17.

 


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