Homilies 16.1–16.21

At daybreak Peter went out and, taking his stand at the usual place of discussion, saw a large crowd gathered. Just as he was about to speak, one of his deacons came in, saying: “Simon arrived from Antioch yesterday evening and, having learned that you promised to give the discourse on the sole rule of God, is ready to come upon you while you speak, together with Athenodorus the Epicurean, to contradict publicly every argument you may put forward for the sole rule.” While the deacon was saying this, look, Simon himself came in with Athenodorus and some other companions. And before Peter could say anything, he spoke first.

“I have learned that yesterday you promised Faustus to show today—setting out your discourse in order and beginning from the Lord of all things himself—that he alone must be called God, and that others must neither be called nor thought gods, and that whoever does otherwise must be punished eternally. Above all I am truly astonished at your forethought, that you hoped to win over to your will a wise man, and an old man at that. But you will not achieve your plans, all the less because I am present and will refute your false arguments. For perhaps, had I not been present, the wise old man would have been deceived, since he is unacquainted with the books publicly believed among the Jews. For now I will pass over many words, so that I may refute your promise the sooner. So begin what you promised to say, before us who know the Scriptures. But if, ashamed of being refuted, you wish to abandon your promise before us, that in itself is sufficient proof that you are lying, since you did not dare to speak before those who know the Scriptures. And now why do I wait for you to speak, when I have the greatest witness of your promise in the old man standing here?” Having said this he looked at the father and said: “Tell me, most honored of all men, did not this man promise to show you today that God is one, and that one must neither call nor think any other God, and that whoever does otherwise, as committing the greatest sin, must be punished eternally? Or will you not answer me?”

And the father said: “You would rightly be demanding testimony from me, Simon, if Peter had first denied it; but as it is, I shall not be ashamed to say what must be said. I think you want to argue while burning with anger, which is unfitting for you to do and for us to listen to, because it means watching a fight, not being helped toward the truth. So, knowing from Greek education how those who inquire ought to proceed, I will remind you of it. Let each of you set out his own doctrine, and let the arguments be aimed at the other's. For if Peter alone sets out his view while you keep yours silent, some argument you put forward might bear hard on both his view and yours; and then, though both of you were defeated by the argument, both would not appear defeated: the one who set out his view would, but the one who did not, though equally defeated, would not be seen to be so, and might even be thought to have won.” And Simon answered: “I will do as you say; but I am afraid that, already prejudiced by his arguments, you will not be a truth-loving judge.”

And the father answered: “Do not force me to agree with you without judgment so that I may seem a truth-loving judge. If you want to hear the truth, it is your view that I am rather prejudiced in favor of.” And Simon: “How are you prejudiced, when you do not know what I think?” And the father: “That is easy to know; hear how. You promised to prove that Peter lies in saying there is one God. Now one who undertakes to convict of falsehood a man who says there is one, as though he himself were speaking the truth, does not say the same thing. For if he says the same as the man he accuses of lying, he too is lying; but if he proves his case by saying the opposite, then he is speaking the truth. You therefore call the one who says there is one God a liar on no other ground than that you hold there are many gods. And I too say there are many gods. So, before the inquiry, I say the same as you: I am rather prejudiced in your favor. On this score you need not be anxious about me; Peter should be, since I still think the opposite of him. Yet after your inquiry I hope, as a truth-loving judge who has put off his prejudice, to agree with the argument that prevails.” When the father had said this, a quiet murmur of praise arose from the crowds at his speaking in this way.

And then Peter said: “I am ready to do as the arbiter of the debate has said, and at once, without any delay, I will set out my view about God. I say that there is one God, who made heaven and earth and all things in them; and it is not permitted either to call or to think another God.” And Simon: “But I say that the Scriptures believed among the Jews speak of many gods, and that God is not displeased at this, since he himself has spoken of many gods through his Scriptures.”

“For instance, in the very first utterance of the law he is seen to speak of them as like himself. It is written that, when the first man had a command from God to eat of every tree in paradise but not to eat of the tree of knowing good and evil, the serpent, through the woman, persuaded them to eat by promising that they would become gods, and made them see; and then God said to them, now that their eyes were opened: ‘Behold, Adam has become like one of us.’ So the serpent, in saying ‘You will be like gods,’ evidently spoke as though there were gods—the more so as God confirmed it, saying: ‘Behold, Adam has become like one of us.’ Thus the serpent, who said there were many gods, did not lie. Again, the written words ‘You shall not revile the gods, and you shall not speak evil of the rulers of your people’ point to many gods, whom he does not want even to be reviled. And elsewhere it is written: ‘Has another god dared to come and take for himself a nation out of the midst of a nation, as I, the Lord God?’ In saying ‘Has another god dared,’ he spoke as though there were others. And elsewhere: ‘Let the gods who did not make heaven and earth perish’—as though it were only those who did not make them that are to perish. And elsewhere he says: ‘Take heed to yourself, lest you go and serve other gods, whom your fathers did not know’—as though there were other gods, whom he tells them not to follow. And again: ‘The names of other gods shall not come up upon your lips.’ Here too he speaks of many gods, whose names he does not want named. And again it is written: ‘The Lord your God, he is God of gods.’ And again: ‘Who is like you, Lord, among the gods?’ And again: ‘God, the Lord of gods.’ And again: ‘God stood in the assembly of gods; in their midst he judges gods.’ So I wonder how, with so many sayings bearing written witness that there are many gods, you have firmly asserted that one must neither speak of them nor think they exist. Now then, what have you to say to these plain statements? Say it before everyone.”

And Peter said: “Hear a rather brief answer to what you have said. The very law that often spoke of gods says to the Jewish people: ‘Behold, to the Lord your God belongs the heaven of heaven and all that is in them’—embracing everything, so that even if there are gods, they are under him, that is, under the God of the Jews. And again: ‘For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath, and there is no other besides him.’ And elsewhere the Scripture says to the Jewish people: ‘The Lord your God, he is God of gods’—as if to say that, even if there are gods, they are under the God of the Jews. And elsewhere Scripture says of him: ‘The great and true God, who does not show partiality and will not take a gift, executing justice for the orphan and the widow.’ In calling the God of the Jews great and true and one who executes justice, Scripture indicated that the others are small and not true. And elsewhere too Scripture says: ‘As I live, says the Lord, there is no other God besides me. I am first, I am after these things; besides me there is no God.’ And again: ‘You shall fear the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ And again: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.’ So many sayings seal it with an oath that God is one and that besides him there is no God. So I wonder how, with so many sayings testifying that there is one God, you say there are many.”

And Simon: “My argument from the beginning was against you: to refute you from the Scriptures as lying when you say that one must not speak of gods. So I showed many written sayings to prove that the divine Scriptures themselves speak of many gods.” And Peter: “The very Scriptures that speak of many gods themselves warned us, saying: ‘The names of other gods shall not come up upon your lips.’ So I did not speak against what is written, Simon.” And Simon: “Hear something on this point yourself, Peter. You seem to me to sin in speaking against them, when Scripture says: ‘You shall not revile, and you shall not speak evil of the rulers of the people.’” And Peter: “I do not sin, Simon, in foretelling their destruction in keeping with the Scriptures. For thus it is written: ‘Let the gods who did not make heaven and earth perish.’ It said this not as though some had made them and are not to perish, as you interpreted it. For it is made plain that the maker is one by what is written at the very beginning: ‘In the beginning God made heaven and earth’; and it did not say ‘the gods.’ And elsewhere it says: ‘The firmament proclaims the work of his hands.’ And in another place it is written: ‘The heavens themselves will perish, but you will remain forever.’”

And Simon said: “Against my showing from the Scriptures—which I presented clearly—that there are many gods, you have brought the same number of sayings, or even more, from the same Scriptures, to show that God is one, and he the God of the Jews. And against my saying that one must not revile gods, you replied, to show that the maker is one, that those who did not make heaven and earth must perish. And against my saying that one must speak of gods, since the Scriptures speak of them too, you showed further that their names must not be uttered, since the same Scripture says the names of other gods are not to be uttered. Since, then, the same Scriptures say at one time that there are many gods and at another that there is only one, and at one time that they are not to be reviled and at another that they are, what are we to conclude from this, except that the Scriptures themselves lead us astray?”

And Peter said: “They do not lead astray; they test, and bring into the open the evil intent against God that lurks within each person like a serpent. For they lie before us like many different molds. Each person, then, having his own intent like wax, looks them over and finds everything in them, and by pressing upon them his intent, which, as I said, is like wax, takes the impression of whatever kind of God he says there is. Since, then, whatever anyone wishes to think about God he finds in them, for this reason one person takes from them the impression of the forms of many gods, while we have taken the impression of the form of him who is, recognizing the true type from our own shape. Moreover, our inner soul has been clothed with his image for immortality. If I abandon its begetter, by just judgment the soul too must abandon me, having recognized me as unjust by that very act of daring; and as leaving one who is unjust it will justly leave me; and so, after punishment, deprived of its help, I shall perish. But if there is another God, let a man first put on another form, another shape, so as to recognize the new God through his body's new shape. But if the shape should change, would not the substance of the soul change too? And if that changes, I am no longer myself, having become another in both shape and substance. So let him form other men, if he is another God. But there is none; if there were, he would have formed them. Since, then, he has not formed any, let him, as one who does not exist, leave the one who exists to him who exists. For there is no such God, except in Simon's opinion alone. I accept no other God but only the one who created me.”

And Simon: “Since I see you speaking rather often on behalf of the God who formed you, learn from me how you are impious even toward him. Those who formed man appear to be two, as the Scripture says: ‘And God said, Let us make man according to our image and likeness.’ ‘Let us make’ signifies two, or more, but not one.”

And Peter answered: “It is the one God who said to his Wisdom, ‘Let us make man.’ In this Wisdom he himself always rejoiced, as in his own spirit. She is united to God as the soul is, but is extended from him as a hand, fashioning the universe. For this reason too one man came into being, and from him the female came forth; and being one in kind, it is a pair. For by extension and contraction the unit is regarded as a pair. So I do right in offering all honor to one God, as to parents.” And Simon said: “What then? Even if the Scriptures speak of other gods, will you not accept them?”

And Peter answered: “Whether the Scriptures or the prophets speak of gods, they speak so to test the hearers. For thus it is written: ‘If a prophet arises among you, giving you signs and wonders, and that sign and wonder then comes to pass, and he says to you, Let us go and serve other gods, whom your fathers did not know, you shall not listen to that prophet; let your hands be the first upon him to stone him. For he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. And if you say in your heart, How did he do that sign or wonder? you shall surely know that the tempter was testing you, to know whether you fear the Lord your God.’ That it was ‘the tempter’ who was testing is what had been said; but after the removal to Babylon it appears otherwise. For God, who knows all things, as can be shown from many passages, would not have tested in order that he himself might know—he who foreknows all things. If you wish, let us discuss this, and I will show that God foreknows. But the statement that he does not know, being a falsehood, has been shown to be written—this too—as a test. Thus we, Simon, can be made to stumble neither by the Scriptures nor by anyone else: we are not deceived into accepting many gods, nor do we assent to any statement made against God.”

“For we ourselves know from the Scriptures that angels have been called gods—I mean, for example, the one who spoke from the bush and the one who wrestled with Jacob; and also the Emmanuel who is born, and the one called mighty God. Moses too became a god to Pharaoh, though in reality he was a man. And further there are the idols of the nations. But for us there is one God, one who made the creatures and set all things in order; whose Son also is the Christ, and by obeying him we recognize what is false in the Scriptures. Moreover, supplied by the fathers with what is true in the Scriptures, we know only one who made the heavens and the earth, the God of the Jews and of all who choose to worship him. This the fathers, having established it as true by God-loving reasoning, handed down to us, so that we may know that whatever is said against God is false. And I will say something more, going further still: if this is not as I have said, may it be my lot, and the lot of those who love the truth, to run a risk for speaking well of the God who made us.”

Hearing this, Simon said: “Since one must not believe even a prophet who gives wonders if he says one must believe in another god—and you know that he deserves death as well—then your teacher too, having given signs and wonders, was reasonably put to death.” And Peter answered: “Our Lord neither said that there are gods besides the one who created all things, nor proclaimed himself to be God; but he reasonably called blessed the one who called him Son of the God who set all things in order.” And Simon answered: “Does it not seem to you, then, that one who is from God is God?” And Peter said: “Tell us how this can be. For we cannot say this to you, because we did not hear it from him.”

“Besides this, it is proper to the Father not to have been begotten, and to the Son to have been begotten; and what is begotten is not compared with what is unbegotten or self-begotten.” And Simon said: “Even if it is not the same in its origin?” And Peter said: “One who is not in every respect the same as another cannot have all the same names as he.” And Simon: “That is asserting, not proving.” And Peter: “Why do you not see that the one happens to be self-begotten or unbegotten, while what is begotten cannot be called the same—not even if the one begotten is of the same substance as the one who begot him? Learn this too: human bodies have immortal souls, clothed with the breath of God; and having come forth from God they are of the same substance, yet they are not gods. But if they are gods, then by this reasoning the souls of all human beings—the dead, the living, and those yet to be born—are gods. And if, to keep up the contest with me, you say that they too are gods, what great thing is it any longer for Christ to be called God? For he has what everyone has.”

“We call God him whose property cannot belong to another. For just as, being infinite in every direction, he is for that reason called boundless, and it is altogether necessary—since no other can be infinite as he is—that he be called boundless (and if anyone says it is possible, he lies; for two things infinite in every direction cannot exist together, since the one is bounded by the other), so it is by nature that the unbegotten is one. And if he is in a shape, even so the incomparable is one. For this reason he is also called Most High, because, being above all, he has all things subject to him.”

And Simon: “Is ‘God,’ which everyone says, his ineffable name, then, that you insist so strongly even about a name, that it must not be given to another?” And Peter said: “I know that this is not some ineffable name of his, but the one used by human agreement. Yet if you give it to another, you will attach to another the unspoken name as well, by the logic of intention. The name that is spoken goes before the one that is not spoken. By this reasoning an insult is reckoned against what has not yet been spoken, by the same reasoning by which honor paid to what is known passes on to what is not yet known.”

And Simon said: “I should like to know, Peter, whether you truly believe that the human form has been molded after his form.” And Peter: “Truly, Simon, I am fully convinced that it is so.” And Simon: “Then how can death dissolve the body, when it has been molded with the greatest of seals?” And Peter: “It is the form of the righteous God. So when a person begins to do wrong, the likeness in him flees, and so the body is dissolved, so that the form may vanish and an unrighteous body may not have the form of the righteous God. The dissolution, however, happens not to the seal but to the body that was sealed. And without the one who sealed it, what was sealed is not dissolved; so not even dying is possible without judgment.” And Simon: “What need was there, then, to give the form of such a being to the man raised up from the earth?” And Peter: “It came about through the love for humankind of God who made him. For in respect of substance all things are superior to human flesh—I mean the ether, the sun, the moon, the stars, the air, the water, the fire, in a word all the rest—and these, having come into being for the service of man and being superior in substance, gladly submit to serve what is inferior in substance, because of the form of the superior. For as those who honor a clay statue of a king have their honor pass to him whose form the clay bears, so the whole creation gladly serves the man who came from the earth, looking to that one's honor.”

“See, Simon, what a God you want to persuade us to be ungrateful to! And the earth bears you, perhaps wishing to see who will dare to think as you do. For you were the first to dare what no one has dared; you were the first to utter what we have heard for the first time. We are the first and only ones to have seen, in the face of such impiety as yours, the boundless patience of God—of none other than the Creator of the world, against whom you dared to be impious. And the earth did not open in chasms, and fire was not sent down from heaven and did not go out to burn men up, and rain was not withheld, and no multitude of wild beasts was sent from the thickets, and the deadly wrath of God did not begin against us ourselves because of one who sins, as for a spiritual adultery—which is worse than adultery of the flesh. For is it not God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who punished sins in those days? Otherwise, blasphemed now in the greatest way, he would be punishing in the greatest way now too. But on the contrary he is patient and calls to repentance, keeping stored in his treasuries the arrows that bring an end, for the end of the ungodly; these he will let loose like living creatures when he takes his seat to render judgment to his enemies. So let us fear the righteous God, whose form the body bears for the honor of man.”

When Peter had said this, Simon answered: “Since I see you hinting cleverly that some things written in the books against the Creator are not true, tomorrow I will show from your teacher's own words that he says the Creator is not the highest God.” Having said this, Simon went out. And Peter said to the crowds standing by: “Even if Simon can harm us in nothing else concerning God, at least he keeps you from hearing the words that can cleanse the soul.” When Peter had said this, there was much murmuring in the crowds, as they said: “What need is there to let him come in here and speak his blasphemies against God?” Hearing this, Peter said: “Would that the talk against God, for the testing of human beings, might stop with Simon! For there will be, as the Lord said, false apostles, false prophets, heresies, and desires for preeminence; and these, as I suppose, taking their beginning from Simon, who blasphemes God, will join in saying the same things against God as Simon.” Having said this with tears, he beckoned the crowds with his hand, and when they came he laid his hands on them, prayed, and dismissed them, telling them to gather earlier. Having said this, groaning, he went in and slept without taking food.