Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 18, Part B

Cyril of Jerusalem

Lecture 18, Part B

https://www.swrktec.org/catechism

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.” — Ezekiel 37:1

Summary: St. Cyril continues discussion of the resurrection of human beings from the dead as well as its apologetic.  So far, he has limited himself to natural law and Torah; now he turns to all the Prophets and Apostles for authority.  Completing this topic, he concludes with an overview of the Church and its catholicity.

Preview:  13.  “And whence in the beginning came man into being at all…?  Go [Samaritans] to the first book of the Scripture, which even you receive; And God formed man of the dust of the ground.[i]  Is dust transformed into flesh, and shall not flesh be again restored to flesh?  … whence the heavens … earth, and seas?  … sun, and moon, and stars?  … waters … things which fly and swim?  … earth all its living things?  Were so many myriads brought from nothing into being, and shall we men, who bear God’s image, not be raised up?  Truly this course is full of unbelief, and the unbelievers are much to be condemned; when Abraham addresses the Lord as the Judge of all the earth[ii]….”  14.  “These questions, therefore, are for them, the unbelievers: but the words of the Prophets are for us who believe. But since some who have also used the Prophets believe not what is written, and allege against us that passage, The ungodly shall not rise up in judgment,[iii] and, For if man go down to the grave he shall come up no more,[iv] and, The dead shall not praise You, O Lord[v]  … For if it is said, that the ungodly shall not rise up in judgment, this shows that they shall rise, not in judgment, but in condemnation….  And if it is said, The dead shall not praise You, O Lord, this shows, that since in this life only is the appointed time for repentance and pardon….  Therefore the just then offer praise; but they who have died in sins have no further season for confession.”  15.  “Respecting that passage, If a man go down to the grave, he shall come up no more, observe what follows … He shall come up no more, neither shall he return to his own house.[vi] … since the whole world shall pass away….  But they ought to have heard Job, saying, For there is hope of a tree; for if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and the tender branch thereof will not cease.  For though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the rocky ground; yet from the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth a crop like a new plant. But man when he dies, is gone; and when mortal man falls, is he no more?[vii]  … since a tree falls and revives, shall not man, for whom all trees were made, himself revive?  And that you may not suppose that I am forcing the words, read what follows … For if a man die, he shall live again … I will wait till I be made again; [viii] … Who shall raise up on the earth my skin, which endures these things.[ix]  Esaias … says, The dead men shall rise again, and they that are in the tombs shall awake.[x]  … Ezekiel … says … Behold I will open your graves, and bring you up out of your graves.[xi]  Daniel says, Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame.[xii]  16.  “Many Scriptures … testify of the Resurrection of the dead….”  “We will make a passing mention of the raising of Lazarus … and allude … to the widow’s son … [and] mention the ruler of the synagogue’s daughter, and the rending of the rocks, and how there arose many bodies of the saints which slept[xiii]….  But specially be it remembered that Christ has been raised from the dead.[xiv]  … in passing of Elias, and the widow’s son … of Elisseus also, who raised the dead twice; once in his lifetime, and once after his death.  For when alive he wrought the resurrection by means of his own soul.[xv]  … though [the corpse of Elisseus] gave life, yet continued itself among the dead.”  “And let us not foolishly disbelieve, as though this thing had not happened: for if handkerchiefs and aprons, which are from without, touching the bodies of the diseased, raised up the sick, how much more should the very body of the Prophet raise the dead?”  17.  “We might say [moree] … in detail … of each event: but as you have been already wearied both by the … fast … and by [prayer vigils], let … [this] suffice for a while; … words … were sown thinly, that you, … like richest ground, may in bearing fruit increase them.  But be it remembered, that the Apostles also raised the dead … even though the wonders wrought by each have not all been written.”  “Remember … Paul … How are the dead raised, and with what manner of body do they come?[xvi]  … how he says, For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; how he called them fools, who believed not; … and how he wrote to the Thessalonians, But we would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as the rest which have no hope,[xvii] … that, And the dead in Christ shall rise first.[xviii]”  18.  “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.[xix]”  “… such as we cannot worthily speak of.  Then … shall the righteous shine forth as the sun,[xx] and the moon, and as the brightness of the firmament.[xxi]”  19.  “We shall be raised therefore, all with our bodies eternal [in two companies]”  “God [will] assign this portion to either company; for we do nothing without the body.”  We sin with the body; yet, with the body we also pray, keep chastity, and give alms.  “Since then the body has been our minister in all things, it shall also share with us in the future the fruits of the past.”[xxii]  20.  “Therefore, brethren, let us be careful of our bodies, nor misuse them as though not our own.”[xxiii]  “The past wounds … God heals by Baptism; against future ones let us one and all jointly guard ourselves, that we may keep this vestment of the body pure, and may not … lose the salvation of heaven….”  21.  “Thus much … of the Resurrection of the dead; and now … [continuing] the profession of the faith, and do you with all diligence pronounce it while I speak , and remember it.”  22.  “And in one Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; and in one Holy Catholic Church; and in the resurrection of the flesh; and in eternal life.”  “Now then let me finish what still remains to be said for the Article, In one Holy Catholic Church….”  23.  “It is called Catholic then because it extends over all the world, from one end of the earth to the other; and because it teaches universally and completely one and all the doctrines which ought to come to men’s knowledge, concerning things both visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly; and because it brings into subjection to godliness the whole race of mankind, governors and governed, learned and unlearned; and because it universally treats and heals the whole class of sins, which are committed by soul or body, and possesses in itself every form of virtue which is named, both in deeds and words, and in every kind of spiritual gifts.”[xxiv]  24.  “And it is rightly named (Ecclesia) because it calls forth and assembles together all men … And make an assembly for all the congregation at the door of the tabernacle of witness.[xxv]  … the word assemble, is used for the first time in [Leviticus] at the time when the Lord puts Aaron into the High-priesthood.”  … the Lord [also] says to Moses, Assemble the people unto Me, and let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me.[xxvi]  And … concerning the Tables, And on them were written all the words which the Lord spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the Assembly[xxvii]….  The Psalmist also says, I will give thanks unto You, O Lord, in the great Congregation; I will praise You among much people.[xxviii]

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[i] Genesis 2:7

[ii] Genesis 18:25

[iii] Psalms 1:5

[iv] Job 7:9

[v] Psalms 6:5; 115:17; Isaiah 38:18

[vi] Job 7:9-10

[vii] Job 14:7-10

[viii] Job 14:14 Septuagint

[ix] Job 19:23-27 Septuagint

[x] Isaiah 26:19 Septuagint

[xi] Ezekiel 37:12

[xii] Daniel 12:2

[xiii] Matthew 27:52

[xiv] 1 Corinthians 15:20

[xv] 2 Kings 4:34; 2 Kings 13:21

[xvi] 1 Corinthians 15:35; also 1 Corinthians 15:1-58

[xvii] 1 Thessalonians 4:13

[xviii] 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18

[xix] 1 Corinthians 15:53

[xx] Matthew 13:43

[xxi] Daniel 12:2-3

[xxii] St. Cyril, here seems to deviate from his own rule, to say nothing without proof from Scripture; so, part or all of this section may have been tampered with by others: the voice of speculative theology putting words in St. Cyril’s mouth: words that he may never have said.  The beauty and glory of St. Cyril, thus far, is that he has assiduously avoided speculative theology.  It is strange that 1 Corinthians 3:6-15 was not discussed here to alleviate any confusion.  As far as any assurance of the realities of heaven and hell, St. Cyril has thoroughly discussed these elsewhere.  Whether the just and the reprobate are raised with different kinds of sensate bodies remains unknown: Scripture appears to be silent on the matter.

[xxiii] 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

[xxiv] We quote St. Cyril’s definition of catholicity in its entirety because it seems unlike any definition we should form today.  It is we who have deviated from truth; it is unlikely to be St. Cyril’s error.

[xxv] Leviticus 8:3; Numbers 8:9

[xxvi] Deuteronomy 4:10

[xxvii] Deuteronomy 5:22; 9:10; 10:4

[xxviii] Psalms 18:49; 22:22, 25; 35:18; 57:9; 108:3

Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 17, Part B

Cyril of Jerusalem

Lecture 17, Part B

https://www.swrktec.org/catechism

https://www.swrktec.org/spirit

“For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom….” — 1 Corinthians 12:8

Summary: Now it becomes virtually impossible to summarize St. Cyril’s speech as he races through Acts compactly showing how the Spirit baptizes in the inside as well on the outside.  We may only add that the book, Acts of the Apostles, is inappropriately named: for it should have been called, Acts of the Spirit, through Apostles, Deacons, and the whole Christian Church on earth.  This part begins with Pentecost (circa 33) and ends with Paul on his way to Spain.[i]

Preview:  14.  “But He came down to clothe the Apostles with power, and to baptize them; for the Lord says, you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.[ii]  This grace was not in part, but His power was in full perfection … so were they also baptized completely by the Holy Ghost.  … [not] the outside only, but the Spirit baptizes also the soul within, and that completely.  … why wonder that the Holy Ghost enters into the very inmost recesses of the soul?  15.  “Lest men should be ignorant of the greatness of the mighty gift coming down to them, there sounded as it were a heavenly trumpet, For suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind,[iii] signifying the presence of Him who was to grant power unto men … that both their eyes might see the fiery tongues, and their ears hear the sound. And it filled all the house where they were sitting;[iv] … Thus they were … invested soul and body with a divine garment of salvation.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.[v]  They partook … of saving fire; of fire which consumes the thorns of sins, but gives luster to the soul.[vi]  This is now coming upon you also, and that to strip away and consume your sins which are like thorns, and to brighten yet more that precious possession of your souls, and to give you grace; for He gave it then to the Apostles….”  16.  “And they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.[vii]  … What teacher can be found so great as to teach men all at once things which they have not learned?  So many years are they in learning….  But the Holy Spirit taught them many languages at once, languages which in all their life they never knew.  This is in truth vast wisdom, this is power divine.  What a contrast of their long ignorance in time past to their sudden, complete and varied and unaccustomed exercise of these languages![viii]  17.  “The multitude of the hearers was confounded … [as] at Babylon.[ix]  … there … division … here minds were restored and united, because the object of interest was godly.…  Wherefore they marveled, saying, How hear we them speaking?[x]  No marvel if you be ignorant; for even Nicodemus was ignorant of the coming of the Spirit, and to him it was said, The Spirit breathes where it lists, and you hear the voice thereof, but cannot tell whence it comes, and whither it goes;[xi] but if, even though I hear His voice, I know not whence He comes, how can I explain, what He is Himself in substance?”  18.  “But others mocking said, They are full of new wine,[xii] and they spoke truly though in mockery….  For though His grace had come before to the Fathers also, yet here it came exuberantly; for formerly men only partook of the Holy Ghost, but now they were baptized completely.”  19.  “But Peter who had the Holy Ghost, and who knew what he possessed, says, Men of Israel … these men are not drunken as you suppose.[xiii]  Drunken they are … according to that which is written, They shall be drunken with the fatness of your house; and you shall make them drink of the torrents of your pleasure.[xiv]  They are drunken, with a sober drunkenness, deadly to sin and life-giving to the heart, a drunkenness contrary to that of the body … that bestows the knowledge even of what was not known.  They are drunken, for they have drunk the wine of the spiritual vine, which says, I am the vine and you are the branches.”[xv]  “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass after this, says God, I will pour forth of My Spirit….[xvi]  … I will pour forth, implied a rich gift; for God gives not the Spirit by measure, for the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand;[xvii] … I will pour forth of My Spirit unto all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; and afterwards, Yea, and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy.[xviii]  … let each prepare himself for reception of the Heavenly gift.”  20.  “We have said much today … yet more still remains.  … there were need of a third lecture … But … the Holy Festival of Easter is now at hand [yet] we have this day … many passages are still to come from the Acts … from the Catholic Epistles, and the fourteen Epistles of Paul; out of all which we will now endeavor to gather a few, like flowers from a large meadow, merely by way of remembrance.”  21.  “For in the power of the Holy Ghost, by the will of Father and Son, Peter stood … lifting up his voice, (… Lift up your voice with strength, you that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem),[xix] captured in the spiritual net … about three thousand souls.  So great was the grace … this great number believed, and were baptized in the Name of Christ, and continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and in the prayers.[xx]  And again in the same power of the Holy Ghost, Peter and John went up into the Temple at the hour of prayer, which was the ninth hour[xxi], and in the Name of Jesus healed the man at the Beautiful gate, who had been lame from his mother’s womb for forty years;[xxii] that it might be fulfilled which was spoken, Then shall the lame man leap as an hart.[xxiii]  And thus, as they captured in the spiritual net … five thousand believers at once[xxiv], so they confuted the misguided rulers … not through their own wisdom, for they were unlearned and ignorant men,[xxv] but through the mighty power of the Holy Ghost; for it is written, Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost said to them.[xxvi]  So great also was the grace of the Holy Ghost, which wrought … in them who believed, that they were of one heart and of one soul,[xxvii] and their enjoyment of their goods was common, the possessors piously offering the prices of their possessions, and no one among them wanting anything; while Ananias and Sapphira, who attempted to lie to the Holy Ghost, underwent their befitting punishment.[xxviii]”  22.  “And by the hands of the Apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.[xxix]  And so great was the spiritual grace shed around the Apostles, that … they were the objects of dread; for of the rest dared no man join himself to them;[xxx] but the people magnified them; and multitudes were added of those who believed on the Lord, both of men and women; and the streets were filled with the sick on their beds and couches, that as Peter passed by, at least his shadow might overshadow some of them.  And the multitude also of the cities round about came unto this holy Jerusalem, bringing sick folk, and them that were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one in this power of the Holy Ghost.”[xxxi]  23.  “After the Twelve Apostles had been cast into prison[xxxii] … and had been marvelously delivered from it at night by an Angel, and were brought before them in the judgment hall from the Temple, they fearlessly rebuked them in their discourse to them concerning Christ, and added this, that God has also given His Holy Spirit to them that obey Him.[xxxiii]  And when they had been scourged, they went their way rejoicing, and ceased not to teach and preach Jesus as the Christ.[xxxiv]  24.  “The grace of the Holy Spirit wrought, also in … the seven Deacons; for these also were chosen, as it is written, being full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom.[xxxv]  Of whom Stephen, rightly so named, the first fruits of the Martyrs, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, wrought great wonders and miracles among the people, and vanquished those who disputed with him; for they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.[xxxvi]  But when he was maliciously accused and brought to the judgment hall, he was radiant with angelic brightness; for all they who sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face, as it had been the face of an Angel.[xxxvii]  And having by his wise defense confuted the Jews, those stiff necked men, uncircumcised in heart and ears, ever resisting the Holy Ghost,[xxxviii] he beheld the heavens opened, and saw the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. He saw Him, not by his own power, but, as the Divine Scripture says, being full of the Holy Ghost, he looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.”[xxxix]  25.  “In this power of the Holy Ghost, Philip also … drove away the unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice; and healed the palsied and the lame, and brought to Christ great multitudes of them that believe.[xl]  To whom Peter and John came down, and with prayer, and the laying on of hands, imparted the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, from which Simon Magus alone was declared an alien, and that justly.[xli]  And at another time Philip was called by the Angel of the Lord[xlii] in the way, for the sake of that most godly Ethiopian, the Eunuch, and heard distinctly the Spirit Himself saying, Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.[xliii]  He instructed the Eunuch, and baptized him, and so having sent into Ethiopia a herald of Christ, according as it is written, Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hand unto God,[xliv] he was caught away by the Angel, and preached the Gospel in the [other] cities in succession.”  26.  Concerning Paul, Ananias also said, “The Lord, even Jesus who appeared to you in the way which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.[xlv]  And straightway the Spirit’s mighty working changed the blindness of Paul’s eyes into newness of sight; and having vouchsafed His seal unto his soul, made him a chosen vessel to bear the Name of the Lord who had appeared to him, before kings and the children of Israel, [xlvi] and rendered the former persecutor an ambassador and good servant — one, who from Jerusalem, and even unto Illyricum, fully preached the Gospel,[xlvii] and instructed even imperial Rome … as far as Spain….”

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[i] And to think I once met a person who claimed that no doctrine could come from the book of Acts.

[ii] We note that this promised baptism has nothing to do with water; either by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling: it is exclusively about the Spirit.  Acts 1:5

[iii] Acts 2:2

[iv] Acts 2:2

[v] Acts 2:3-4

[vi] In Exodus, except of Moses, Joshua, and seventy or so others, this fire spelled certain death; so, even its reflection in the face of Moses was unbearable to see.  Exodus 19:12-13; 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:13; Hebrews 12:20

[vii] Acts 2:4

[viii] Note that there is no reference here to speaking anything other than another human language or dialect.

[ix] Genesis 11:9

[x] Acts 2:8

[xi] John 3:8

[xii] Acts 2:13

[xiii] Acts 2:14-15

[xiv] Psalms 36:8

[xv] John 15:5

[xvi] Joel 2:28

[xvii] John 3:34-35

[xviii] Joel 3:1-2 Septuagint; Joel 2:28-29

[xix] Isaiah 40:9

[xx] Acts 2:42-47

[xxi] Possibly around 3 PM; yet, certainty is not possible, since we do not know if Hebrew, Greek, or Roman time concepts were in view; most likely this was Roman time though: at the hour of Jesus death, which was the ninth hour.

[xxii] Acts 3:1-26; 4:22

[xxiii] Isaiah 35:6

[xxiv] Acts 4:4

[xxv] Acts 4:13

[xxvi] Acts 4:8

[xxvii] Acts 4:32

[xxviii] We remember Acts 3:22-23.  However, their deaths cast a pall over any attempt or thought of easy believism: clamping down hard on the number of conversions.

[xxix] Acts 5:12

[xxx] Among the rulers; conversions among the people would be a different matter.  Acts 5:13

[xxxi] Acts 5:13-16

[xxxii] Acts 5:18

[xxxiii] Acts 5:32

[xxxiv] Acts 5:42

[xxxv] Acts 6:3

[xxxvi] Acts 6:8-10

[xxxvii] Acts 6:15

[xxxviii] Acts 7:51-54

[xxxix] Acts 7:55-60

[xl] Not preaching the word; rather preaching the Word, Who is Christ: for by parallelism verse 4 parallels verse 5.  Acts 8:4-8

[xli] Acts 8:9-25

[xlii] Another name for the Holy Spirit, so powerfully presented that we should reconsider the idea that Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament is the pre-incarnate Christ: but, possibly the Spirit of Christ.  Acts 8:26 paralleled with Acts 8:29

[xliii] Acts 8:26-39

[xliv] Psalms 68:31

[xlv] Acts 9:17

[xlvi] Acts 9:15

[xlvii] Romans 15:19