Discourses against Judaizing Christians

Discourse I

DISCOURSE I ODAY I HAD INTENDED [843] to complete my discussion of the topic on which I spoke to you a few days ago; I wished to present you with even clearer proof that God's nature is more than our minds can grasp. Last Sunday2 I spoke on this at great length and I brought, forward as my witnesses Isaiah, David, and Paul. For it was Isaiah who exclaimed: "Who shall declare his generation?,,3 David knew 1 This is a clear reference to the first sermon De incomprehensibili Dei natura contra Anomoeos, delivered in 386 (cf. PG 48.699-710; SC 28bis 72-110). Quasten 3.451 describes the Anomoeans as the most radical of the Arian sects, which pretended to know God as God knows Himself; they maintained not merely the inequality but the dissimilarity of the Son's nature to that of the Father. The bracketed 843 and the bracketed numbers that follow in sequence refer to (approximate) column-openings in PG 48. 2 Since last Sunday was only "a few days ago," Chrysostom must also have preached at weekday liturgies. See above, Introd. I 8. 3 Cf. Is 53.8 (LXX). The Hebrew text of this verse has been variously emended and translated. NAB reads: "... and who would have thought any more of his destiny?" JB gives: "...would anyone plead his cause?" and adds a note that the words "who will explain his generation (or descent)?" of the Greek and Latin has been taken by Christian tradition to refer to the mysterious origin of Christ. E. Power (CCHS 568) points out that the Hebrew noun dor (the reading probably basic to LXX) usually means "generation" in the sense of lifetime or contemporaries, but it cannot indicate the act of generating, the eternal or temporal generation of Christ. Chrysostom, following the School of Antioch, takes the Greek word genea in its literal meaning of descent or generation. When he mentions the text in De incomp. 1.5 (PG 48.705-6; SC 28bis 94) he seems more interested in the future tense of the verb, because he says: "He did not say, 'Who declares (or explains)' but, 'Who shall declare (or explain)' his generation?" Thus he excluded any future declaration or explanation. Hence, the Anomoean can never define the substance of God (ibid. 1.4, PG 48.705; SC 28 bis 92). 2 ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM God was beyond his comprehension and so he gave thanks to him and said: "I will praise you for you are fearfully magnified: wonderful are your works."4 And again it was David who said: ''The knowledge of you is too wonderful for me, a height to which my mind cannot attain."s Paul did not search and pry into God's very essence , but only into his providence; I should say rather that he looked only on the small portion of divine providence which God had made manifest when he called the gentiles. And Paul saw this small part as a vast and incomprehensible sea when he exclaimed: "0 the depth of the riches and of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways'-"6 (2) These three witnesses gave us proof enough, but I was not satisifed with prophets nor did I settle for apostles. I mounted to the heavens and gave you as proof the chorus of angels as they sang: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men."7 Again, you heard the Seraphim as they shuddered and cried out in astonishment: "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is filled with his glory."8 And I gave you also the Cherubim who exclaimed: "Blessed be his glory [844] in his dwelling."9 4 Cf. Ps l38(139).14, which both here and where cited twice in De incomp. 1.4 (PG ibid.; SC 28 bis 90 92) follows the variant "you are fearfully magnified" for "I am etc." of Rahlfs' LXX and "I am fearfully, wonderfully made" of NAB. 5 Ps l38(139).6. The text also is found twice in De incomp. (ibid.). 6 Rom 11.33. Cited also in De incomp. 1.5 (PG 48.706; SC 28bis 96), where Chrysostom makes the same point about God's providence in calling the gentiles but adds the rejection of the Jews. 7 A common variant of Lk 2.14 found in many Greek NT...