Cyril of Jerusalem
Lecture 4, Part A
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world….” — Colossians 2:8
Summary: Baptism begins a living relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; Which are together One God, equally possessing One Godhood or nature. Be armed with the Creed against deception.
Preview: 1. “Vice
mimics virtue”; tares strive to be like wheat; Satan appears as an angel of
light; wolves dress in sheep’s clothing; yet, claws and teeth are not
disguised; grace and sobriety are needed to avoid eating tares, becoming prey
to the wolf, being devoured by the Devil.
2. Godliness consists of pious
doctrine, and virtuous practice; doctrine is not acceptable apart from good
works; acceptable works are perfected by pious doctrine; doctrine is not
profitable for corrupt behavior; philosophy and vain deceit make spoil of
souls: the Greeks by smooth tongues, the Jews by twisted Scripture. “Take heed lest any man mislead you.” This is the reason for the teaching of the Creed
and for expositions upon it.[i] 3.
Introduces “a short summary of necessary doctrines.”
Ⅰ. Of God.
4. God is One: not
begotten, beginning, changing; He is good and Just; undivided; One Creator, One
Father, One Son.[ii] 5. He
is without boundary, limit, or superior; He foreknows all, is mightier than
all, and does as He will; He is not subject to sequences of events, nativity,
chance, or fate; He possesses every virtue in absolute perfection, neither
decreasing nor increasing. 6. Seeing that many have gone astray on various
detours; lay a foundation of God’s unity in your hearts and souls by faith.
Ⅱ. Of Christ.[iii]
7. Believe also in
the Son, “Who is in all things like to Him that begot”; for He received His
crown by Being, not by doing, by eternal generation, “being God and Wisdom and
Power”; “lacking nothing in the dignity of the Godhead[iv]”;
equal in knowledge with the Father.
8. The Son is neither to be
separated from nor confused with the Father; of One God, there is [also] God
the Word the Son who hears the Father; not being impersonal.
Ⅲ. Concerning His
Birth of the Virgin.
9. This Only-begotten
Son of God descended from heaven to earth; took upon Himself a human nature;
begotten by the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary; not by show, but in truth; made
man, made flesh; thus, Christ was of two natures: visible man; yet, invisible
God; as man — eating, dying, asleep in the ship; as God — feeding multitudes by
miracles, resurrecting [Lazarus], walking on water.
Ⅳ. Of the Cross.
10. Crucified for our
sins, witnessed by Golgotha, the Cross, the Creation, the sun.
Ⅴ. Of His Burial.
11. Truly buried in
rock; yet, rocks were rent; descended into [hell], to redeem the righteous
[dead]; freeing Adam, Esaias, David, Samuel, the Prophets, John, and all such
as these.
Ⅵ. Of the
Resurrection.
12. He Who descended
into [Hell], Who was buried, raised on the third day; if the Jews contest this,
remind them of Jonah, and Elisha; seen by the twelve; are you still
incredulous?
Ⅶ. Concerning the
Ascension.
13. Jesus finished
His Course; ascended with angels, Apostles watching; the power of kings is
extinguished in death; but, the world worships and devils tremble before the
crucified Christ. 14. Be not ashamed of the cross of Christ; seal
it on your forehead; make this sign eating, drinking, sitting, lying, standing,
speaking, walking, at every act: for the Crucified is in heaven, where He sits
at the Father’s right hand.
Ⅷ. Of Judgement to
Come.
15. He will come
again from heaven; appearing brighter than light, attended by angels, to judge
both living and dead; reigning over the endless and eternal heavenly kingdom.
Ⅸ. Of the Holy
Ghost.
16. Believe in the
Holy Ghost as same as the Father and the Son; One, indivisible, powerful; Who
searches all things, descended in the form of a dove, wrought in Law an
Prophets; seals your soul at baptism; for Whose blaspheme there is no
forgiveness; Who as the Father and the Son together, is honored with Godhood as
One God.[v]
[i]
Note that at least part of Catechesis is teaching the Creed.
[ii]
One has to work deviously to derive any form of Arianism or Semi-Arianism from
this sort of statement.
[iii]
We added all the Roman numerals after Ⅰ, in order to clarify the outline.
[iv]
Godhood or God’s essence in more modern English.
[v]
The true meaning of Godhead is Godhood or essence of God.
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