Christian Topography 1 part 19/22

'The Lord God, who made heaven and fastened it'—at once both indicating its shape, that it is like a vault, and, by saying 'set up' and 'fastened,' indicating that it does not revolve.

Having written such things, it is quite clear that he also benefited the Babylonians.

For it is possible for anyone who wishes to learn this from what happened concerning Cyrus, king of the Persians.

For having taken the book of Isaiah in hand and read it, he found the passage written which had been foretold concerning him:

for Isaiah says in that passage as follows:

'Thus says God to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, that nations should obey before him, and I will break through the strength of kings; I will open doors before him, and cities shall not be shut;'

'I will go before him and level the mountains; I will shatter the bronze doors and break in pieces the iron bars, and I will give you hidden treasures; I will open to you treasures unseen, that you may know that I am the Lord God, who calls your name, the God of Israel.'

'for the sake of my chosen one, I will call you by my name and receive you favorably.' And after a little:

'I have raised him up with righteousness, and all his ways are straight;'

'he shall build my city and shall bring back the captivity of my people, not for ransom nor for gifts,' says the Lord Sabaoth. And marveling at the foreknowledge and the prophecy, and finding also his own name expressly proclaimed beforehand by the prophet, he commanded the people to go up to Jerusalem, granting release from captivity, and also giving expenses for the building of the city and the temple;

and not he alone did this, but also those after him, until the city and the temple were completed.

And the decree of Cyrus is also set down in writing in Chronicles and in Ezra, commanding all the people to go up, saying as follows:

'In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, after the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah was fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians, and he commanded that it be proclaimed in all his kingdom, in writing, saying: Thus says Cyrus king of the Persians:'

'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He Himself has commanded me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, in Judea.'

'Whoever among you is of all His people, may God be with him, and let him go up.' See, admirable friend, how he himself confesses that he has read the book of Isaiah, and has believed the things written, and with all zeal and expense has fulfilled the things written in Scripture.

How is it not perfectly clear that from all these things much benefit of piety came to all the nations? And how could those who had had such great faith in the writing of Isaiah disbelieve him also when he speaks in it concerning the shape of heaven:

'He who set up heaven as a vault'—especially since, at that time, the wonders that had occurred concerning Sennacherib and the retreat of the sun were still recent? Wherefore also all their nobles, being persuaded concerning these renowned signs and by the prophecy of Isaiah, agreed with the judgment of the king, releasing the people with all honor.

Therefore, the Babylonians, who were first of all to conjecture and suppose that heaven is a sphere, were themselves again the first to be taught, through the prophet Isaiah, that it is not a sphere but a vault;

and from these we too, having received them, have set down all the figures in the Christian Topography, naming also in the preface the teacher who handed them down—I mean the great Patricius, who came here from the land of the Chaldeans.

And so much again concerning these matters.

When the ambassadors of the Babylonian came to Hezekiah, he again, suffering a human failing and being lifted up in mind, received them with all joy, for his own glory;

and he brought them, contrary to the will of God, into the palace, showing them the treasures and all his wealth.

Then Isaiah was again sent to him, to correct his mind, and he says to him ironically:

'What do these men say? And from where have they come to you?' And Hezekiah said:

'They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.'

'What did they see in your house?' And he, knowing that Isaiah asked while already knowing, tells the truth and says to him:

'They saw everything in my house, and there is nothing in my house that they did not see, but also the things in my treasuries.' Then Isaiah speaks to him, as it were in the manner of a threat, chastising the arrogance of his mind, telling him the things that would happen after him, and says:

'Hear the word of the Lord Sabaoth:'

'Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when they shall take all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have gathered until this day shall go to Babylon, and nothing at all shall they leave behind.'

And God said that also from your sons, whom you have begotten, they shall take, and shall make them eunuchs in the house of the king of the Babylonians, so that he might say:

'... of the Babylonian?' You ought to have been instructed by the things that went before, that the great signs did not happen so much for your own glory, but for my glory, so that the nations too might be instructed in my majesty—which you, again despising, were puffed up, not giving thanks, but receiving the ambassadors without me and showing the envoys the wealth which you acquired from me;

therefore from now on you shall learn that afterward, in the time of your successors, I will hand over all your wealth to the Babylonians for plunder and captivity, because you again neglected my glory, preferring yourself to me;

but since you have always been virtuous and pious, none of these things shall come to pass in your own days.

Hezekiah, having heard these things and understood, and having been humbled, as a righteous man obedient to God, gave thanks and said to Isaiah:

'Good is the word of the Lord which He has spoken;'

'let there be peace, then, in my days.' That all things happened according to the word of the prophet is quite clear, in that Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian, having sacked Jerusalem, took everything to Babylon, and, having selected from the royal family the young men associated with Daniel—namely Ananias, Azarias, and Misael—and having cut off from them the generative parts of their nature, appointed them to his own service;

for it is the custom for the king to be served by such eunuchs;

for they also lived in close attendance with him;

for neither is the marriage of any one of them recorded in the divine Scripture, nor a child, nor was anything of the kind heard concerning them; but also tradition and custom, in accordance with the prophecy, depict them in images as beardless and smooth.

And that in their case too many wonders and marvels and revelations and prophecies occurred, and much benefit came about among the Babylonians, the Medes, and the Persians, you are not ignorant, O admirable Peter, so that their kings honored them greatly and set forth decrees of piety to their own peoples concerning the God of all, declaring that He is God of gods and Lord of lords, and they commanded that those who spoke blasphemy against Him be punished.

Thus God, who continually administers affairs through His own people, instructs all the nations, glorifying them when they act righteously, but punishing them and delivering them into captivity when they sin, through each of the two means teaching the nations His own beneficence and majesty, so that they too might partake of piety, being trained beforehand for the faith that was to be revealed through our Lord Jesus Christ.

For neither one stroke of Scripture nor one iota was written without purpose, but all things were written usefully and for the common and manifold benefit of humanity.

Therefore I exhort you, lover of Christ, that through you also those who meet with this our writing may continually read the divine Scripture and reap the profit from it, which is able to benefit every person in both divine and human affairs.

May it be granted to us to obtain the divine blessings and promises through the prayers of our teachers and of your brotherhood, you who are altogether a lover of Christ.

Of the Christian, concerning the ode of Hezekiah and the retreat of the sun. Book Nine. On the course of the stars. The circle of the twelve months is the uppermost, and below this is that of the sun, and below this again is that of the moon.

And divine Scripture signifies this through the construction of the lampstand, through the three and three circular branches proceeding from both its sides, one running ahead of the other.

And each day the circle of the twelve months runs ahead of the sun by one degree, so that the sun is found to traverse one month in thirty days, and thus to complete the year in twelve months, lagging behind, as has been said, by one degree each day.

And the circle of the sun runs ahead of that of the moon by twelve degrees each day, so that the moon is found, lagging behind, to complete the entire circle—that is, one month—in thirty days.

...each day twelve degrees and some minutes; and than the circle uppermost of all, that is, of the twelve months, the circle of the sun lags behind by one degree each day.

And these the invisible Powers move in orderly and rational fashion, according to the will of God, having received this law from Him, as it is written in David:

'Bless the Lord, all you His angels, mighty in strength, who do His word, hearkening to the voice of His words.'

'Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, His ministers who do His will.' To Him be glory forever.

And these courses, with respect to the longitude of the three circles' motion—of the twelve houses of the stars and of the two great luminaries—being moved both by divine help and reasoning from the things that appear to the sight, we have expounded, insofar as it was possible for us to speak in a Christian manner;

but concerning the course in latitude of the two great luminaries, the transitions, both the ascents and descents, the conjunctions and full moons, the nodal and diametrically-opposed courses, the parallaxes and phases, and the regular and irregular movements, and the northern and southern limits, and the rest of the names which those outside the faith wish to use, by which they calculate the eclipses of these same luminaries—we leave the calculation to those who know and philosophize about such matters, to calculate and predict eclipses, we ourselves being in no way harmed by this, but rather even being confirmed in our position.

For if such names—I mean the transitions and ascents and descents and all the rest—are preserved within our own figure of the universe, the dispute is untimely.

For we have been eager to show nothing else through this our treatise than that these very eclipses of both luminaries occur and accord with this our figure, the heaven itself not moving at all from east to west, or from west to east, nor being spherical, nor consisting of many spheres, but the stars and the luminaries accomplishing their course and order in the air through the rational Powers, and the figure of the two heavens and the earth being preserved according to the divine Scripture, in which God from the beginning wrought the two states, both the present and the future.

These circles which we have drawn, we did not draw as spherical heavens, continuous and solid in their bodies and transparent, according to the foolish talk of those outside; rather, wishing to signify the circular courses of the stars carried through the air by the angels, we drew these, that they might become easily comprehensible to those who behold them.

In the second book we have made mention, saying that the angels move the luminaries and the stars and all the other things, as being appointed for the service of men; and here we have also drawn the figure, insofar as it is possible to convey it in a drawing.

For we have testimonies from the divine Scripture signifying that these things are so:

That they move in a circular course, the blessed David signifies, saying:

'You will bless the crown of the year of your goodness,' wonderfully calling the circle of the twelve months a crown, as crowning the earth from above with beauty; whence he added:

'And your plains will be filled with fatness.' For by the circle and the succession of the turnings, the fruits of the earth both grow and ripen.

Moreover, Moses too, in the type of the earth, that is, the table, placed upon it in a circle the twelve loaves of the presentation, three to a corner, signifying by the corners the four turnings of three months each, by the circle the twelve months, and by the loaves the yearly fruits of the earth—enigmatically fashioning the months as a circle crowning the earth from above.

Likewise he also arranged the twelve tribes again in a circle around the tabernacle: three to the east, three to the south, three to the west, and three to the north, beginning from the east, then going up to the south, and again going down to the west, then finally passing through the north as well, according to the movement of the stars and the position of the earth.

This circle those outside call the zodiac, which we too have drawn as the second, following their own supposition.

As for the other seven, which they call planets, Moses enigmatically placed seven lamps on the lampstand, setting it in the south, so that it might give light toward the table on the north, thereby signifying at the same time the week of days; through all these he signified days, weeks, months, turnings, and the year: by the daily loaves that were set fresh each day he indicated the days, by the seven lamps the week, by the number twelve the months, by the four corners the turnings, and by the circle the year.

Concerning which the divine Apostle speaks thus in the Epistle to the Hebrews:

'For if he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law;'

'who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was instructed by God when he was about to complete the tabernacle;'

For he says, 'See that you make all things according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.' But the wise Solomon too, made wise by the same divine Spirit, says:

'The sun rises, and the sun sets, and hastens to its place;'

'rising there, it goes toward the south and circles toward the north;'

'it goes round and round, and upon its circuits the wind travels'; and this one declared the same things as Moses and David, that from the east it rises up to the south, and circling through the north it accomplishes the turnings and the great circle of the year, running through the air;

for this is what 'the wind travels' means, as it were in the air.

That they are also moved by the invisible Powers, this too the divine Scripture signifies, saying thus:

'For creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that creation itself also will be freed from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God' — that is, at the consummation the angels are freed from this bondage and ministry which they perform for the sake of men, when men become immortal and unchangeable and no longer have need of such things; just as also in the Gospels the Lord speaks thus concerning the consummation:

'For the Powers of the heavens will be shaken, and the stars of heaven will fall to the earth' — calling the angels 'the Powers of the heavens';

and by 'will be shaken' he means from their own order;

clearly then, since the angels who move the stars themselves and all else are being freed from this order and ministry, he said that the stars fall to the earth.

And what is said by the Apostle, 'Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation,' shows still more clearly that all of them minister and serve for the sake of men, working the nights and the days and all else for the rest and need of men;

for when we no longer have need of these things, they are freed from this bondage and service, casting the stars down to the earth.

Again, when the apostle Paul was enduring many toils and afflictions and persecutions on behalf of the Church, and was consequently being compelled, by the multitude of the dangers hanging over him, to lose heart, the divine grace comforted him through frequent visions, that he should not give up, but continue and minister for the growth and increase of the Church.

He himself, then, relates to us out of these two causes, which signify — the one concerning toil, the other concerning reward;

For what does he say? 'I know a man, fourteen years ago—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven;' and again he says:

'And I know that such a man was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not permitted for a man to speak' — plainly relating what concerned himself as though concerning another person.

up to two-thirds of the firmament, so that a third of the whole height of heaven remained for me.

And I will say, with God's help, what the reason for this rapture was.

Since the invisible Powers at that height, where Paul was caught up, ministering to the divine command for the sake of men, move the stars unceasingly and unremittingly night and day, for this reason he, having caught up Paul, brought him up to that place, showing him their unremitting ministry, which they perform for the sake of men, how rationally and orderly and harmoniously and wisely, with much toil and diligence and care, they serve and accomplish it — in a certain manner comforting Paul, that he, laboring on behalf of the Church, should not give up, but continue in his ministry, just as he beheld the angels also doing.

Whence Paul took courage to declare also their order, speaking of Principalities and Authorities and Powers and Thrones and Dominions.

For some of them accomplish the work itself, others oversee those who work, others exercise authority as commanders of ranks; and, simply put, all of them alike, groaning together and travailing together, accomplish the work with much thought and care and rational order, all of them together desiring to obtain freedom from the bondage which they perform for the sake of men.

And concerning the rapture into paradise, again, with God working together with us, I will speak.

Since, after the departure from the body, the souls of the righteous who are deemed worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven are deposited in paradise, as we are taught from the account concerning the thief who was crucified with the Lord, until the resurrection, as in a more excellent and honored place, kept by the invisible Powers with hymns and all honor — there again, having caught up Paul, he showed him these things, comforting him for the time being in part with the prizes of his toils and the crowns of his contests;

wherefore he was not able to relate the matters completely, saying rather that they were ineffable and unattainable, yet taking courage to write that, having finished the course of his ministry and having kept the faith, there was laid up for him a crown of righteousness from the Lord;

and not only for him, but also for all who are like him.

And these things we have said concerning the visions.

It should be noted here that all the stars are below the firmament, beneath the two-thirds mark of the height of heaven, being moved and turned about by the ministry and order of the invisible Powers;

and from this we are taught that no angel goes beyond the stars.

For if all are ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation, let him who disputes this also state the ministry of the angel who goes beyond;

but if he is unable to show it, let him rather be persuaded, not by us, but by the divine Scripture.

For it is impossible, while still being mortal or corruptible or changeable, to go beyond the stars.

If, then, we do not receive from God incorruptibility and immortality and unchangeableness from the resurrection of the dead — likewise also the angels being freed together with us from bondage and casting the stars down to the earth, they too obtaining unchangeableness and freedom — we do not go beyond and cut through the firmament, entering into the kingdom of the heavens;

for this is what the Apostle shows, saying:

'Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God' — meaning by 'flesh' mortality, and by 'blood' changeableness;

he said, then, that it is impossible for one who is still mortal or changeable to inherit the kingdom of the heavens;

'Nor does corruption inherit incorruption;'

again he added this too, showing that nothing corruptible can ascend there;

for it is harmed rather than benefited.

For just as we, being far off and perhaps gazing intently upon the disk of the sun, are not able to endure it, being harmed and blinded rather than benefited, so it is also with the mortal one, or the one still changeable or corruptible, who seeks to transgress the boundaries and approach that very way of the kingdom of the heavens, while still being far from it.

Just as, then, the Master Christ also, having risen from the dead, becoming incorruptible in body and immortal, and unchangeable in soul, then passed beyond the heavenly Powers, and, approaching the firmament, as having become better than the angels, just as it is written, cut through it, entering into the kingdom of the heavens — as the Apostle relates, saying that he has ascended far above all Principality and the rest — so also we, and the angels, obtaining these things, enter in.

Again, the two trees in the midst of paradise enigmatically prefigure the present state and the future one;

and the tree of knowing good and evil is a type of this world, the mortal and changeable one, since it has both pleasant and grievous things, and is a place of instruction — just as Adam too was instructed by that very tree in both the good and the evil;

but the tree of life is a type of the future heavenly world, in which life and blessedness prevail;

for by saying 'lest he stretch out his hand and take of the tree of life,' Scripture signified the height of the tree, and through it, the dwellings above.

Just as, then, he appointed the Cherubim and the turning flaming sword to guard the way of the tree of life, so he appointed the angels and the luminaries, turning about the height of the firmament, where also is the way leading to the kingdom of the heavens — wishing to signify that the dwellings above are for the time being impassable for men.

In his own passion, then, the Master Christ brought in together with him the soul of the thief into paradise, having caused the guard of the Cherubim and of the turning flaming sword to cease;

and after the resurrection, at the ascension, having passed by the multitude of the invisible Powers and the luminaries, and having cut through the firmament itself, he entered into the kingdom, where immortality and unchangeableness and blessedness prevail.

At the consummation, then, when the angels cease turning the luminaries and the stars fall, no longer do the Cherubim and the dividing flaming sword hinder men from walking in the true life, but the righteous, having become elevated, and journeying the new way and cutting through the firmament together with the Master Christ, inherit the kingdom of life.

Grant that we also, together with your righteous ones, may be counted worthy of this life and this inheritance, O you who have compassions and great mercy.

Just as the twelve loaves of the presentation lying on the table are a type of the yearly cycle and the fruits of the earth, as has been said before concerning the tabernacle, and was recorded in the ninth book, so also now we have depicted the circle of the twelve months of the year, with the fruits of each month, giving thanks to God the giver of all things, just as David too, moved by the Holy Spirit, says in a psalm to God thus:

'Bless the crown of the year of your goodness' — wonderfully calling the circle of the twelve months of the year a 'crown of goodness,' as crowning the earth from above with beauty, and, through the blending of the elements which the invisible Powers accomplish, both increasing and ripening its monthly fruits.

'And your plains will be filled with fatness'; and again:

'You have prepared their food, for such is the preparation'; and elsewhere again he says thus:

'All things look to you, to give them their food in due season' — as if to say:

'You, preparing fittingly for each season, nourish us.'

And elsewhere, concerning our most necessary food, which the turning of summer, accomplishing its work, gives in the three successive months, he speaks thus:

From the fruit of their grain, wine, and oil they were multiplied; again wonderfully preserving order in the thanksgiving, saying first the wheat, second the wine, and third the oil, just as by the blessing of God, through the rational orders — I mean angels and men — these things are wrought in succession within the three months of summer.

...to read the divine Scripture, just as I exhorted from the beginning, but with diligence and fitting order, so that divine grace, having accepted our resolve, may become our fellow-worker toward being able to know the great things of God.

To Him be the glory unto the ages.

Farewell, Christians, in the Lord.

BOOK 10. Testimonies of the Fathers. Certain of those accustomed to contentiousness, having read the book and being unable to look in the face at so great a testimony from the divine Scriptures made by us in this book, said the following to us:

You and your fathers interpret the divine Scripture somewhat differently, according to what suits you;

for nothing of this sort concerning shapes and places is found in it, as you claim;

but our fathers, who were bound to know precisely the purpose of the divine Scripture, in expounding it handed down to us nothing of this sort;

for since Scripture says, 'God appointed in the Church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers,' you seem, by your interpretation, to lay hold of the apostles and the prophets, but of the teachers — who expounded the true purpose of the divine Scripture — you lay hold not at all, but travel a strange road known to no one, except to you and those like you.

For this reason, then, we were compelled once more to make their contentiousness manifest to all, setting forth in this discourse testimonies of fathers who are acclaimed even among themselves — whether in pretense or in truth — so that they might have from their own household the refutation: that our composition stands rightly and is well attested by all the apostles, prophets, and teachers.

Let the great Athanasius come forward first into the midst, proclaiming the same things as we do.