# The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church/XX

| FERIA IIII. | WEDNESDAY. |
| DE FIDE CATHOLICA. | OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH. |
| Ælc cristen man sceal æfter rihte cunnan ægðer ge his Pater noster ge his Credan. Mid þam Pater nostre he sceal hine gebiddan, mid ðam Credan he sceal his geleafan getrymman. We habbað gesæd embe þæt Pater noster, nu we wyllað secgan eow þone geleafan þe on ðam Credan stent, swa swa se wísa Augustinus be ðære Halgan Þrynnysse trahtnode. | Every christian man should by right know both his Pater noster and his Creed. With the Pater noster he should pray, with the Creed he should confirm his faith. We have spoken concerning the Pater noster, we will now declare to you the faith which stands in the Creed, according to the wise Augustine's exposition of the Holy Trinity. |
| An Scyppend is ealra ðinga, gesewenlicra and ungesewenlicra; and we sceolon on hine gelyfan, forðon ðe hé is soð God and ána Ælmihtig, seðe næfre ne ongann ne anginn næfde; ac he sylf is anginn, and he eallum gesceaftum anginn and ordfruman forgeaf, þæt hí beon mihton, and þæt hí hæfdon agen gecynd, swa swa hit þære godcundlican fadunge gelicode. Englas he worhte, þa sind gastas, and nabbað nænne lichaman. Menn he gesceop mid gaste and mid lichaman. Nytenu and deor, fixas and fugelas he gesceop on flæsce butan sáwle. Mannum he gesealde uprihtne gang; ða nytenu he lét gán alotene. Mannum he forgeaf hláf to bigleofan, and þam nytenum gærs. | There is one Creator of all things, visible and invisible; and we should all believe in him, for he is true and God alone Almighty, who never either began or had beginning; but he is himself beginning, and he to all creatures gave beginning and origin, that they might be, and that they might have their own nature, so as it seemed good to the divine dispensation. Angels he created, which are spirits, and have no body. Men he created with spirit and with body. Cattle and other beasts, fishes and birds he created in flesh without soul. To men he gave an upright gait; the cattle he let go bending downwards. To men he gave bread for sustenance, and to the cattle grass. |
| Nu mage ge, gebroðru, understandan, gif ge wyllað, þæt twa ðing syndon: án is Scyppend, oðer is gesceaft. He is Scyppend seðe gesceop and geworhte ealle ðing of nahte. Þæt is gesceaft þæt se soða Scyppend gesceop. Þæt sind ærest heofonas, and englas þe on heofonum wuniað, and syððan þeos eorðe mid eallum ðam ðe hire on eardiað, and sǽ mid eallum ðam þe hyre on swymmað. Nu ealle ðas ðing synd mid anum naman genemnode, gesceaft. Hi næron æfre wunigende, ac God hi gesceop. Þa gesceafta sind fela. An is se Scyppend þe hi ealle gesceop, se ana is Ælmihtig God. He wæs æfre, and æfre he bið þurhwunigende on him sylfum and ðurh hine sylfne. Gif he ongunne and anginn hæfde, butan tweon ne mihte he beon Ælmihtig God; soðlice þæt gesceaft ðe ongann and gesceapen is, næfð nane godcundnysse; forði ælc edwist þætte God nys, þæt is gesceaft; and þæt þe gesceaft nis, þæt is God. | Now, brethren, ye may understand, if ye will, that there are two things: one is the Creator, the other is the creature. He is the Creator who created and made all things of naught. That is a creature which the true Creator created. These are, first, heaven, and the angels which dwell in heaven; and then this earth with all those which inhabit it, and sea with all those that swim in it. Now all these things are named by one name, creature. They were not always existing, but God created them. The creatures are many. The Creator, who created them all, is one, who alone is Almighty God. He was ever, and ever he will continue in himself and through himself. If he had begun and had origin, without doubt he could not be Almighty God; for the creature that began and is created, has no divinity; therefore every substance that is not God is a creature; and that which is not a creature is God. |
| Se God wunað on Ðrynnysse úntodæledlic, and on ánnysse ánre Godcundnysse, soðlice oðer is se Fæder, oðer is se Sunu, oðer is se Halga Gast; ac þeah-hwæðere ðæra ðreora is án Godcundnys, and gelíc wuldor, and efen-ece mægenðrymnys. Ælmihtig God is se Fæder, Ælmihtig God is se Sunu, Ælmihtig God is se Halga Gast; ac þeah-hwæðere ne sind ðry Ælmihtige Godas, ac án Ælmihtig God. Ðry hí sind on hadum and on naman, and án on Godcundnysse. Þry, forði þe se Fæder bið æfre Fæder, and se Sunu bið æfre Sunu, and se Halga Gast bið æfre Halig Gast; and hyra nán ne awent næfre of ðam ðe he is. Nu habbað ge gehyred þa Halgan Þrynnysse; ge sceolon eac gehyran ða soðan Annysse. | God exists in Trinity indivisible, and in unity of one Godhead, for the Father is one, the Son is one, the Holy Ghost is one; and yet of these three there is one Godhead, and like glory, and coeternal majesty. The Father is Almighty God, the Son is Almighty God, the Holy Ghost is Almighty God; but yet there are not three Almighty Gods, but one Almighty God. They are three in persons and in name, and one in Godhead. Three, because the Father will be ever Father, and the Son will be ever Son, and the Holy Ghost will be ever Holy Ghost; and neither of them will ever change from what he is. Ye have now heard concerning the Holy Trinity; ye shall also hear concerning the true Unity. |
| Soðlice se Fæder, and se Sunu, and se Halga Gast, habbað áne Godcundnysse, and án gecynd, and án weorc. Ne worhte se Fæder nán ðing ne ne wyrcð, butan ðam Suna, oððe butan þam Halgan Gaste. Ne heora nán ne wyrcð nán ðing butan oðrum; ac him eallum is án weorc, and án rǽd, and án willa. Æfre wæs se Fæder, and æfre wæs se Sunu, and æfre wæs se Halga Gast án Ælmihtig God. Se is Fæder, seðe nis naðer ne geboren ne gesceapen fram nanum oðrum. Se is Fæder geháten, forðan ðe he hæfð Sunu, ðone ðe he of him sylfum gestrynde, butan ælcre meder. Se Fæder is God of nanum Gode. Se Sunu is God of ðam Fæder Gode. Se Halga Gast is God forðstæppende of ðam Fæder and of ðam Suna. Þas word sind sceortlice gesæde, and eow is neod þæt we hi swutelicor eow onwreon. | Verily the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, have one Godhead, and one nature, and one work. The Father created nothing nor creates, without the Son, or without the Holy Ghost. Nor does one of them anything without the others; but they have all one work, and one counsel, and one will. The Father was ever, and the Son was ever, and the Holy Ghost was ever One Almighty God. He is the Father, who was neither born of nor created by any other. He is called Father, because he has a Son, whom he begot of himself, without any mother. The Father is God of no God. The Son is God of God the Father. The Holy Ghost is God proceeding from the Father and from the Son. These words are shortly said, and it is needful for you that we more plainly expound them. |
| Hwæt is se Fæder? Ælmihtig Scyppend, na geworht ne acenned, ac hé sylf gestrynde Bearn him sylfum efen-ece. Hwæt is se Sunu? He is ðæs Fæder Wisdom, and his Word, and his Miht, þurh ðone se Fæder gesceop ealle ðing and gefadode. Nis se Sunu na geworht ne gesceapen, ac he is acenned. Acenned he is, and þeah-hwæþere he is efen-eald and efen-ece his Fæder. Nis na swa on his acennednysse swa swa bið on ure acennednysse. Þonne se mann sunu gestrynð, and his cild acenned bið, þonne bið se fæder mara, and se sunu læssa. Hwí swa? Forði þonne se sunu wyxð, þonne ealdað se fæder. Ne fintst þu na gelice on mannum fæder and sunu. Ac ic ðe sylle bysne, hu ðu Godes acennednysse þy bet understandan miht. Fyr acenð of him beorhtnysse, and seo beorhtnys is efen-eald þam fyre. Nis na þæt fyr of ðære beorhtnysse, ac seo beorhtnys is of ðam fyre. Þæt fyr acenð þa beorhtnysse, ac hit ne bið næfre butan ðære beorhtnysse. Nu ðu gehyrst þæt seo beorhtnys is ealswa eald swa þæt fyr þe heo of cymð; geðafa nu forði þæt God mihte gestrynan ealswa eald Bearn, and ealswa ece swa he sylf is. Se ðe mæg understandan þæt ure Hælend Crist is on ðære Godcundnysse ealswa eald swa his Fæder, hé ðancige þæs Gode, and blissige. Seðe understandan ne mæg, he hit sceal gelyfan, þæt he hit understandan mæge; forðan þæs witegan word ne mæg beon aídlod, ðe þus cwæð, "Buton ge hit gelyfan, ne mage ge hit understandan." Nu habbað ge gehyred þæt se Sunu is of ðam Fæder butan ælcum anginne; forðan ðe he is þæs Fæder Wisdom, and he wæs æfre mid þam Fæder, and æfre bið. | What is the Father? The Almighty Creator, not created nor born, but he himself begot a Child coeternal with himself. What is the Son? He is the Wisdom of the Father, and his Word, and his Might, through whom the Father created and disposed all things. The Son is neither made nor created, but he is begotten. He is begotten, and yet he is coeval and coeternal with his Father. It is not with his birth as it is with our birth. When a man begets a son, and his child is born, the father is greater and the son less. Why so? Because when the son waxes the father grows old. Thou findest not among men father and son alike. But I will give thee an example, whereby thou mayest the better understand the birth of God. Fire begets brightness of itself, and the brightness is coeval with the fire. The fire is not of the brightness, but the brightness is of the fire. The fire begets the brightness, and it is never without the brightness. Now thou hearest that the brightness is as old as the fire of which it comes; allow therefore that God might beget a Child as old and as eternal as he himself is. Let him who can understand that our Saviour Christ is in the Godhead as old as his Father, thank God therefore and rejoice. He who cannot understand it shall believe it, that he may understand it; for the word of the prophet may not be rendered void, who thus spake, "Unless ye believe it ye cannot understand it." Ye have now heard that the Son is of the Father without any beginning; for he is the Wisdom of the Father, and he was ever with the Father, and ever will be. |
| Uton nu gehyran be ðan Halgan Gaste, hwæt he sý. He is se Willa and seo soðe Lufu þæs Fæder and þæs Suna, ðurh ðone sind ealle ðing gelíffæste and gehealdene, be ðam is þus gecweden, "Godes Gast gefylð ealne ymbhwyrft middangeardes, and he hylt ealle ðing, and he hæfð ingehýd ælces gereordes." Nis hé geworht, ne gesceapen, ne acenned, ac hé is forðstæppende, þæt is ofgangende, of ðam Fæder and of ðam Suna, þam hé is gelic and efen-ece. Nis se Halga Gast na Sunu, forðan ðe hé nis na acenned, ac hé gæð of ðam Fæder and of ðam Suna gelice; forðan ðe hé is heora beigra Willa and Lufu. Crist cwæð þus be him on his godspelle, "Se Frofor-gást, þe ic eow asendan wille, Gast ðære soðfæstnysse, ðe of minum Fæder gæð, he cyð gecyðnysse be me." Þæt is, He is min gewita þæt ic eom Godes Sunu. And eac se rihta geleafa us tæcð, þæt we sceolon gelyfan on ðone Halgan Gast: he is se liffæstenda God, se gæð of ðam Fæder and of ðam Suna. Hu gæð hé of him? Se Sunu is þæs Fæder Wisdom, æfre of ðam Fæder; and se Halga Gast is heora beigra Willa, æfre of him bám. Is forði þonne án Fæder, seðe æfre is Fæder, and án Sunu, seðe æfre bið Sunu, and án Halig Gast, seðe æfre is Halig Gast. | Let us now hear concerning the Holy Ghost, what he is. He is the Will and the true Love of the Father and of the Son, through whom all things are quickened and preserved, concerning whom it is thus said, "The Spirit of God filleth all the circumference of earth, and he holdeth all things, and he hath knowledge of every speech." He is not made, nor created, nor begotten, but he is proceeding, that is going from, the Father and from the Son, with whom he is equal and coeternal. The Holy Ghost is not a son, for he is not begotten, but he proceeds from the Father and from the Son; for he is the Will and Love of them both. Christ spake of him thus in his gospel, "The Spirit of comfort whom I will send unto you, the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from my Father, will bear testimony concerning me." That is, He is my witness that I am the Son of God. And the right faith also teaches us, that we should believe in the Holy Ghost: he is the quickening God, who proceeds from the Father and from the Son. How proceeds he from him? The Son is the Wisdom of the Father, ever of the Father; and the Holy Ghost is the Will of them both, ever of them both. There is therefore one Father, who is ever Father; and one Son, who is ever Son; and one Holy Ghost, who is ever Holy Ghost. |
| Æfre wæs se Fæder, butan anginne; and æfre wæs se Sunu mid þam Fæder, forðan ðe he is þæs Fæder Wisdom; æfre wæs se Halga Gast, seðe is heora beigra Willa and Lufu. Nis se Fæder of nanum oðrum, ac he wæs æfre. Se Sunu is acenned of ðam Fæder, ac he wæs æfre on ðæs Fæder bosme, forðan ðe he is his Wisdom, and he is of ðam Fæder eal þæt he is. Æfre wæs se Halga Gast, forðan ðe he is, swa we ǽr cwædon, Willa and soð Lufu þæs Fæder and ðæs Suna; soðlice willa and lufu getacniað an ðing: þæt þæt þu wylt, þæt ðu lufast; and þæt þæt ðu nelt, þæt ðu ne lufast. | Ever was the Father, without beginning; and ever was the Son with the Father, for he is the Wisdom of the Father; ever was the Holy Ghost, who is the Will and Love of them both. The Father is of no other, for he was ever. The Son is begotten of the Father, for he was ever in the bosom of the Father, for he is his Wisdom, and he is of the Father all that he is. Ever was the Holy Ghost, for he is, as we before said, the Will and true Love of the Father and of the Son; for will and love betoken one thing: that which thou wilt thou lovest; and that which thou wilt not, thou lovest not. |
| Seo sunne ðe ofer us scinð is lichamlic gesceaft, and hæfð swa-ðeah ðreo agennyssa on hire: an is seo lichamlice edwist, þæt is ðære sunnan trendel; oðer is se leoma oððe beorhtnys æfre of ðære sunnan, seoðe onliht ealne middangeard; þridde is seo hætu, þe mid þam leoman cymð to ús. Se leoma is æfre of ðære sunnan, and æfre mid hire; and ðæs Ælmihtigan Godes Sunu is æfre of ðam Fæder acenned, and æfre mid him wunigende; be ðam cwæð se apostol, þæt he wære his Fæder wuldres beorhtnys. Ðære sunnan hætu gæð of hire and of hire leoman; and se Halga Gast gæð æfre of ðam Fæder and of þam Suna gelice; be ðam is þus awriten, "Nis nán þe hine behydan mæge fram his hætan." | The sun which shines over us is a bodily creature, and has, nevertheless, three properties in itself: one is the bodily substance, that is the sun's orb; the second is the beam or brightness ever of the sun, which illumines all the earth; the third is the heat, which with the beam comes to us. The beam is ever of the sun, and ever with it; and the Son of Almighty God is ever of the Father begotten, and ever with him existing, of whom the apostle said, that he was the brightness of his Father's glory. The heat of the sun proceeds from it and from its beam; and the Holy Ghost proceeds ever from the Father and from the Son equally; of whom it is thus written, "There is no one who may hide himself from his heat." |
| Fæder, and Sunu, and Halig Gast ne magon beon togædere genamode, ac hí ne beoð swa-þeah nahwár totwæmede. Nis se Ælmihtiga God na ðryfeald, ac is Ðrynnys. God is se Fæder, and se Sunu is God, and se Halga Gast is God: na ðry Godas, ac hí ealle ðry án Ælmihtig God. Se Fæder is eac wisdom of nanum oðrum wisdome. Se Sunu is wisdom of ðam wisan Fæder. Se Halga Gast is wisdom. Ac ðeah-hwæðere hí sind ealle ætgædere án wisdom. Eft se Fæder is soð lufu, and se Sunu is soð lufu, and se Halga Gast is soð lufu; and hí ealle ætgædere án God and án soð lufu. Eac swilce is se Fæder gast and halig, and se Sunu is gast and halig untwylice; þeah-hwæðere se Halga Gast is synderlice geháten Halig Gast, þæt þæt hí ealle ðry sind gemænelice. | Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, may not be named together, but yet they are nowhere separated. The Almighty God is not threefold, but is Trinity. The Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God: not three Gods, but they all three one Almighty God. The Father is also Wisdom of no other wisdom. The Son is Wisdom of the wise Father. The Holy Ghost is Wisdom. But yet they are all together one Wisdom. Again, the Father is true Love, and the Son is true Love, and the Holy Ghost is true Love; and they all together one God and one true Love. In like manner the Father is ghost and holy, and the Son is ghost and holy undoubtedly; nevertheless the Holy Ghost is specially called Holy Ghost, that which they all three are in common. |
| Swa micel gelicnys is on ðyssere Halgan Ðrynnysse, þæt se Fæder nis na mare þonne se Sunu on ðære Godcundnysse; ne se Sunu nis na mare þonne se Halgan Gast; ne nan heora án nis na læsse þonne eall seo Ðrynnys. Swa hwær swa heora án bið, þær hí beoð ealle ðry, æfre án God untodæledlic. Nis heora nán máre þonne oðer, ne nán læssa ðonne oðer; ne nán beforan oðrum, ne nán bæftan oðrum; forðan swa hwæt swa læsse bið þonne God, þæt ne bið na God; þæt þæt lator bið, þæt hæfð anginn, ac God næfð nán anginn. Nis na se Fæder ana Ðrynnys, oððe se Sunu Ðrynnys, oððe se Halga Gast Ðrynnys, ac þas ðry hadas sindon án God on anre Godcundnysse. Þonne ðu gehyrst nemnan þone Fæder, þonne understenst ðu þæt he hæfð Sunu. Eft, þonne þu cwyst Sunu, þu wast, butan tweon, þæt he hæfð Fæder. Eft, we gelyfað þæt se Halga Gast is ægðer ge ðæs Fæder ge ðæs Suna Gast. | There is so great likeness in this Holy Trinity, that the Father is no greater than the Son in the Godhead; nor is the Son greater than the Holy Ghost; nor is one of them less than the whole Trinity. Wheresoever one of them is, there they are all three, ever one God indivisible. No one of them is greater than other, nor one less than other, nor one before other, nor one after other; for whatsoever is less than God, that is not God; that which is later has beginning, but God has no beginning. The Father alone is not Trinity, nor is the Son Trinity, nor the Holy Ghost Trinity, but these three persons are one God in one Godhead. When thou hearest the Father named, then thou wilt understand that he has a Son. Again, when thou sayest, Son, thou knowest, without doubt, that he has a Father. Again, we believe that the Holy Ghost is the Spirit both of the Father and of the Son. |
| Ne bepæce nán man hine sylfne, swa þæt he secge oððe gelyfe þæt ðry Godas syndon; oððe ænig hád on þære Halgan Þrynnysse sy unmihtigra þonne oðer. Ælc ðæra þreora is God, þeah-hwæðere hí ealle án God; forðan ðe hí ealle habbað án gecynd, and áne godcundnysse, and áne edwiste, and án geðeaht, and án weorc, and áne mægenðrymnysse, and gelíc wuldor, and efen-ece ríce. Is hwæðere se Sunu ana geflæschamod and geboren to men, of ðam halgan mædene Marian. Ne wearð se Fæder mid menniscnysse befangen, ac hwæðere hé asende his Sunu to ure alysednysse, and him æfre mid wæs, ægðer ge on life ge on ðrowunge, and on his æriste, and on his upstige. Eac eal Godes gelaðung andet, on ðam rihtum geleafan, þæt Crist is acenned of ðam clænan mædene Marian, and of ðam Halgan Gaste. Nis se Halga Gast þeah-hwæðere Cristes Fæder; ne nán cristen man þæt næfre ne sceal gelyfan: ac se Halga Gast is Willa þæs Fæder and ðæs Suna; forði þonne swiðe rihtlice is awriten on urum geleafan, þæt Cristes menniscnys wearð gefremmed þurh ðone Halgan Willan. | Let no man deceive himself so as to say or to believe that there are three Gods, or that any person in the Holy Trinity is less mighty than other. Each of the three is God, yet they are all one God; for they all have one nature, and one Godhead, and one substance, and one counsel, and one work, and one majesty, and like glory, and coeternal rule. But the Son alone was incarnate and born to man of the holy maiden Mary. The Father was not invested with human nature, but yet he sent his Son for our redemption, and was ever with him, both in life and in passion, and at his resurrection, and at his ascension. Also all the church of God confesses, according to true faith, that Christ was born of the pure maiden Mary, and of the Holy Ghost. Yet is not the Holy Ghost the Father of Christ; never shall any christian man believe that: but the Holy Ghost is the Will of the Father and of the Son; therefore is it very rightly written in our belief, that Christ's humanity was accomplished by the Holy Ghost. |
| Beheald þas sunnan mid gleawnysse, on ðære is, swa we ær cwædon, hætu and beorhtnys; ac seo hætu drygð, and seo beorhtnys onlyht. Oðer ðing deð seo hætu, and oðer seo beorhtnys; and ðeah ðe hí ne magon beon totwæmde: belimpð, hwæðere ðeah, seo hæðung to ðære hætan, and seo onlihting belimpð to ðære beorhtnysse. Swa eac Crist ana underfeng ða menniscnysse, and na se Fæder, ne se Halga Gast: þeah-hwæðere hí wæron æfre mid him on eallum his weorcum and on ealre his fare. | Behold the sun with attention, in which there is, as we before said, heat and brightness; but the heat dries, and the brightness gives light. The heat does one thing, and the brightness another; and though they cannot be separated, the heating, nevertheless, belongs to the heat, and the giving light to the brightness. In like manner Christ alone assumed human nature, and not the Father, nor the Holy Ghost: they were, nevertheless, ever with him in all his works and in all his course. |
| We sprecað ymbe God, deaðlice be Undeaðlicum, tyddre be Ælmihtigum, earmingas be Mildheortum; ac hwá mæg weorðfullice sprecan be ðam ðe is únasecgendlic? He is butan gemete, forðy ðe he is æghwær. He is butan getele, forðon ðe he is æfre. He is butan héfe, forðon þe he hylt ealle gesceafta butan geswince; and he hí ealle gelogode on þam ðrim ðingum, þæt is on gemete, and on getele, and on héfe. Ac wite ge þæt nán man ne mæg fullice embe God sprecan, þonne we furðon þa gesceafta þe he gesceop ne magon asmeagan, ne areccan. Hwá mæg mid wordum ðære heofenan freatewunge asecgan? Oððe hwá ðære eorðan wæstmbærnysse? Oððe hwá herað genihtsumlice ealra tida ymbhwyrft? Oððe hwá ealle oðre ðing, þonne we furðon þa lichomlican ðing, þe we onlociað, ne magon fullice befón mid ure gesihðe? Efne ðu gesihst ðone mannan beforan ðe, ac on ðære tide þe ðu his neb gesihst, þu ne gesihst na his hricg. Ealswa, gif ðu sumne clað sceawast, ne miht ðu hine ealne togædere geseon, ac wenst abutan, þæt ðu ealne hine geseo. Hwylc wundor is, gif se Ælmihtiga God is unasecgendlic and unbefangenlic, seðe æghwær is eall, and nahwar todæled? | We speak of God, mortals of the Immortal, feeble of the Almighty, miserable beings of the Merciful; but who may worthily speak of that which is unspeakable? He is without measure, because he is everywhere. He is without number, for he is ever. He is without weight, for he holds all creatures without toil; and he disposed them all in three things, that is in measure, and in number, and in weight. But know ye that no man can speak fully concerning God, when we cannot even investigate or reckon the creatures which he has created. Who by words can tell the ornaments of heaven? Or who the fruitfulness of earth? Or who shall adequately praise the circuit of all the seasons? Or who all other things, when we cannot even fully comprehend with our sight the bodily things on which we look? Behold thou seest the man before thee, but at the time thou seest his face, thou seest not his back. So also if thou lookest at a cloth, thou canst not see it all together, but turnest it about, that thou mayest see it all. What wonder is it, if the Almighty God is unspeakable and incomprehensible, who is everywhere all, and nowhere divided? |
| Nu smeað sum undeopðancol man, hu God mæge beón æghwær ætgædere, and nahwar todæled. Beheald þas sunnan, hu heage heo astihð, and hu heo asent hyre leoman geond ealne middangeard, and hu heo onliht ealle ðas eorðan þe mancynn on-eardað. Swa hraðe swa heo up-asprincð on ærne merigen, heo scinð on Hierusalem, and on Romebyrig, and on ðisum earde, and on eallum eardum ætgædere; and hwæðere heo is gesceaft, and gæð be Godes dihte. Hwæt wenst ðu hu miccle swiðor is Godes andweardnys, and his miht, and his neosung æghwær. Him ne wiðstent nan ðing, naðer ne stænen weall ne bryden wáh, swa swa hi wiðstandað þære sunnan. Him is nan ðing digle ne uncuð. Þu gesceawast ðæs mannes neb, and God sceawað his heortan. Godes gast afandað ealra manna heortan; and ða ðe on hine gelyfað and hine lufiað, þa he clænsað and gegladað mid his neosunge, and ðæra ungeleaffulra manna heortan he forbyhð and onscunað. | Now some shallow-thinking man will inquire, how God can be everywhere at once, and nowhere divided. Behold this sun, how high he ascends, and how he sends his beams over all the world, and how he enlightens all this earth which mankind inhabit. As soon as he rises up at early morn, he shines on Jerusalem, and on Rome, and on this country, and on all countries at once; and yet he is a creature, and goes by God's direction. How much ampler then is God's presence, and his might, and his visitation everywhere! Him nothing withstands, neither stone wall nor broad barrier, as they withstand the sun. To him nothing is hidden or unknown. Thou seest a man's face, but God seeth his heart. The spirit of God tries the hearts of all men; and those who believe in him and love him he purifies and gladdens with his visitation, and the hearts of unbelieving men he passes by and shuns. |
| Wite eac gehwá, þæt ælc man hæfð þreo ðing on him sylfum untodæledlice and togædere wyrcende, swa swa God cwæð, þaþa hé ærest mann gesceop. He cwæð, "Uton gewyrcean mannan to ure gelicnysse." And hé worhte ða Adám to his anlicnysse. On hwilcum dæle hæfð se man Godes anlicnysse on him? On þære sawle, na on ðam lichaman. Þæs mannes sawl hæfð on hire gecynde þære Halgan Þrynnysse anlicnysse; forðan þe heo hæfð on hire ðreo ðing, þæt is gemynd, and andgit, and willa. Þurh þæt gemynd se man geðencð þa ðing ðe he gehyrde, oþþe geseah, oþþe geleornode. Þurh þæt andgit he understént ealle ða ðing ðe he gehyrð oððe gesihð. Of ðam willan cumað geðohtas, and word, and weorc, ægðer ge yfele ge gode. An sawul is, and an líf, and an edwist, seoðe hæfð þas ðreo ðing on hire togædere wyrcende untodæledlice; forði þær þæt gemynd bið þær bið þæt andgit and se willa, and æfre hí beoð togædere. Þeah-hwæðere nis nan ðæra ðreora seo sawul, ac seo sawul þurh þæt gemynd gemanð, þurh þæt andgit heo understent, þurh ðone willan heo wile swa hwæt swa hire licað; and heo is hwæðere án sawl and án líf. Nu hæfð heo forði Godes anlicnysse on hire, forðan ðe heo hæfð þreo ðing on hire untodæledlice wyrcende. Is hwæðere se man án man, and na ðrynnys: God soðlice, Fæder and Sunu and Hálig Gast, þurhwunað on ðrynnysse hada, and on annysse anre godcundnysse. Nis na se man on ðrynnysse wunigende, swa swa God, ac he hæfð hwæðere Godes anlicnysse on his sawle þurh ða ðreo ðing þe we ær cwædon. | Let everyone also know that every man has three things in himself indivisible and working together, as God said when he first created man. He said, "Let us make man in our own likeness." And he then made Adam in his own likeness. In which part has man the likeness of God in him? In the soul, not in the body. The soul of man has in its nature a likeness to the Holy Trinity; for it has in it three things, these are memory, and understanding, and will. By the memory a man thinks on the things which he has heard, or seen, or learned. By the understanding he comprehends all the things which he hears or sees. Of the will come thoughts, and words, and works, both evil and good. There is one soul, and one life, and one substance, which has these three things in it working together inseparably; for where memory is there is understanding and will, and they are ever together. Yet is none of these three the soul, but the soul through the memory reminds, through the understanding comprehends, through the will it wills whatsoever it likes; and it is, nevertheless, one soul and one life. It has therefore God's likeness in itself, because it has three things in it inseparably working. Yet is the man one man, and not a trinity: but God, Father and Son and Holy Ghost, exists in a trinity of persons and in the unity of one Godhead. Man exists not in trinity as God, but he has, nevertheless, the likeness of God in his soul, by reason of the three things of which we have before spoken. |
| Arrius hatte an gedwolman, se flát wið ænne bisceop þe wæs genemned Alexander, wís and riht-gelyfed. Þa cwæð se gedwolman þæt Crist, Godes Sunu, ne mihte na beon his Fæder gelic, ne swa mihtig swa he; and cwæð, þæt se Fæder wære ær se Sunu, and nam bysne be mannum, hu ælc sunu bið gingra þonne se fæder on ðisum life. Þa cwæð se halga bisceop Alexander him togeanes, "God wæs æfre, and æfre wæs his Wisdom of him acenned, and se Wisdom is his Sunu, ealswa mihtig swa se Fæder." Þa begeat se gedwola þæs caseres fultum to his gedwylde, and cwæð gemót ongean ðone bisceop, and wolde gebigan eal þæt folc to his gedwyldum. Þa wacode se bisceop ane niht on Godes cyrcan, and clypode to his Drihtne, and ðus cwæð, "Ðu Ælmihtiga God, dém rihtne dóm betwux me and Arrium." Hi comon ða þæs on mergen to ðam gemote. Þa cwæð se gedwola to his geferum, þæt he wolde gán embe his neode forð. Þaða he to gange cóm and he gesǽt, þa gewand him út eall his innewearde æt his setle, and he sæt þær dead. Þa geswutulode God þæt he wæs swa geæmtogod on his innoðe swa swa he wæs ǽr on his geleafan. He wolde dón Crist læssan þonne he is, and his godcundnysse wurðmynt wanian; þa wearð him swa bysmorlic deað geseald swa swa he wel wyrðe wæs. | There was a heretic called Arius, who disputed with a bishop who was named Alexander, a wise and orthodox man. The heretic said, that Christ the Son of God could not be equal to his Father, nor so mighty as he; and said, that the Father was before the Son, and took example from men, how every son is younger than his father in this life. Then said the holy bishop Alexander in opposition to him, "God was ever, and ever was his Wisdom of him begotten, and the Wisdom is his Son, as mighty as his Father." Then the heretic got the emperor's support to his heresy, and proclaimed a synod against the bishop, and would bend all the people to his heresies. Then the bishop watched one night in God's church, and cried to his Lord, and thus said, "Thou Almighty God, judge right judgement between me and Arius." On the morrow they came to the synod. The heretic then said to his companions, that he would go forth for his need. When he came to the place and sat, all his entrails came out, while he was sitting, and he sat there dead. Thus God manifested that he was as void in his inside as he had before been in his belief. He would make Christ less than he is, and diminish the dignity of his Godhead; when a death was given him as ignominious as he was well worthy of. |
| Oðer gedwolman wæs se hatte Sabellius. He cwæð, þæt se Fæder wære, þaþa he wolde, Fæder; and eft, ðaða he wolde, he wære Sunu; and eft, ðaða he wolde, wære Hálig Gast; and wære forði án God. Þa forwearð eac þes gedwola mid his gedwylde. | There was another heretic who was called Sabellius. He said, that the Father was, whenever he would, Father; and again, when he would, he was Son; and again, when he would, was Holy Ghost; and was therefore one God. Then this heretic also perished with his heresy. |
| Nu eft þæt Iudeisce folc ðe Crist ofslogon, swa swa hé sylf wolde and geðafode, secgað þæt hí willað gelyfan on þone Fæder, and na on ðone Sunu ðe hyra magas ofslogon. Heora geleafa is naht, and hi forði losiað. For ure alysednysse Crist geðafode þæt hí hine ofslogon. Hit ne mihte eal mancynn gedón, gif he sylf nolde; ac se Halga Fæder gesceop and geworhte mancyn þurh his Sunu, and he wolde eft þurh ðone ylcan us alysan fram helle-wíte, ðaða we forwyrhte wæron. Buton ælcere ðrowunge he mihte us habban, ac him ðuhte þæt unrihtlic. Ac se deofol forwyrhte hine sylfne, ðaða hé tihte þæt Iudeisce folc to ðæs Hælendes slege, and we wurdon alysede, þurh his unscyldigan deað, fram ðam ecan deaðe. | Now again, the Jewish people who slew Christ, as he himself would and permitted, say that they will believe in the Father, and not in the Son whom their forefathers slew. Their belief is naught, and they will therefore perish. For our redemption Christ permitted them to slay him. All mankind could not have done it, if he himself had not willed it; but the Holy Father created and made mankind through his Son, and he would afterwards through the same redeem us from hell-torment, when we were undone. Without any passion he might have had us, but that seemed to him unjust. But the devil undid himself, when he instigated the Jewish people to the slaying of Jesus, and we were redeemed by his innocent death from the eternal death. |
| We habbað þone geleafan ðe Crist sylf tæhte his apostolum, and hi eallum mancynne; and ðone geleafan God hæfð mid manegum wundrum getrymmed and gefæstnod. Ærest Crist ðurh hine sylfne dumbe and deafe, healte and blinde, wode and hreoflige gehælde, and ða deadan to lífe arærde: syððan, þurh his apostolas and oðre halige men, þas ylcan wundra geworhte. Nu eac on urum timan, gehwær þær halige men hí restað, æt heora deadum banum God wyrcð fela wundra, to ði þæt he wile folces geleafan mid þam wundrum getrymman. Ne wyrcð God na þas wundra æt nanes Iudeisces mannes byrgene, ne æt nanes oðres gedwolan, ac æt riht-gelyfedra manna byrgenum, ða ðe gelyfdon on ða Halgan Ðrynnysse, and on soð Annysse anre Godcundnysse. | We have the belief that Christ himself taught to his apostles, and they to all mankind; and that belief God has confirmed and established by many miracles. First Christ by himself healed dumb and deaf, halt and blind, mad and leprous, and raised the dead to life: after, by his apostles and other holy men, he wrought the same miracles. Now also in our time, everywhere where holy men rest, at their dead bones God works many miracles, because he will with those miracles confirm people's faith. God works not these miracles at any Jewish man's sepulchre, nor at any other heretic's, but at the sepulchres of orthodox men, who believed in the Holy Trinity, and in the true Unity of one Godhead. |
| Wite gehwá eac, þæt nan man ne mot beon tuwa gefullod; ac gif se man æfter his fulluhte aslide, we gelyfað þæt he mæge beon gehealden, gif he his synna mid wope behreowsiað, and be lareowa tæcunge hí gebet. We sceolon gelyfan þæt ælces mannes sawul bið þurh God gesceapen, ac hwæðere heo ne bið na of Godes agenum gecynde. Þæs mannes lichaman antimber bið of ðam fæder and of ðære meder, ac God gescypð þone lichaman of ðam antimbre, and asent on þone lichaman sawle. Ne bið seo sawl nahwar wunigende ǽror, ac God hí gescypð þærrihte, and beset on ðone lichaman, and læt hí habban agenne cyre, swa heo syngige swa heo synna forbuge. Þeah-hwæðere heo behófað æfre Godes fultumes, þæt heo mæge synna forbugan, and eft to hyre Scyppende gecuman þurh gode geearnunga; forðon ðe nan man ne deð butan Gode nan ðing to góde. | Let everyone know also, that no man may be twice baptized; but if a man err after his baptism, we believe that he may be saved, if with weeping he repent of his sins, and, according to the teaching of his instructors, atone for them. We are to believe that the soul of every man is created by God, but yet it is not of God's own nature. The matter of a man's body is from the father and from the mother, but God creates the body from the matter, and sends a soul into the body. The soul is nowhere existing previously, but God creates it forthwith, and sets it in the body, and lets it have its own election, whether it shall sin, whether it shall eschew sins. Nevertheless it ever needs God's support, that it may eschew sins, and again come to its Creator through good deserts; for no man doeth anything good without God. |
| Eac we sceolon gelyfan þæt ælc lichama ðe sawle underfeng sceal arisan on domes dæge mid þam ylcum lichaman þe he nu hæfð, and sceal onfón edlean ealra his dæda: þonne habbað ða gódan ece líf mid Gode, and he sylð þa méde ælcum be his geearnungum. Þa synfullan beoð on helle-wite á ðrowigende, and heora wite bið eac gemetegod ælcum be his ge-earnungum. Uton forði geearnian þæt ece líf mid Gode þurh ðisne geleafan, and ðurh gode geearnunga, seðe þurhwunað on Ðrynnysse án Ælmihtig God áá on ecnysse. Amen. | We are also to believe that every body which has received a soul shall arise at doomsday with the same body that he now has, and shall receive the reward of all his deeds: then will the good have eternal life with God, and he will give a meed to everyone according to his deserts. The sinful will be ever suffering in hell-torment, and their torment will also be measured to everyone according to his deserts. Let us therefore merit eternal life with God through this faith, and through good deserts, who existeth in Trinity One Almighty God ever to eternity. Amen. |