sort of canon of interpretation, they wrest the whole of the divine oracles into accordance with it. And so on the bare mention of such doctrine, they deserve nothing but the reply, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God; and if they persist in it, they must be put to silence, by the words Render to man the things that are man's, and to God the things that are God's.

DISCOURSE FOURTH.

CYRIL.

A PECULIAR interest attaches to this early ecclesiastic, from his res ilence in Jerusalem; where he was born, probably in the year 315, and where he is known to have become a presbyter, and, in 350, patriarch or bishop. But few biographical records remain of him. It is ascertained, however, that he was several times deposed from his office, through the strifes and conflicting interests of those stormy times, and that he died in the year 386. The authorities are not unanimous as to some points of his character and belief; but his writings afford ample proof that, in common with most of his time, he imbibed erroneous opinions as to the efficacy of the ordinances, the advantages of celibacy, and the uses of tradition. These and other views, alike unscriptural, are every where met with in his works that have come down to us.

Of these extant writings, twenty-three catechetical lectures constitute the only important part. These lectures, though composed when Cyril was a young man, are written in a style of clearness and simplicity, and are especially valuable as furnishing the most complete system of theology, and circumstantial account of the rites of the early churches that have reached us from a period so remote. They derive additional interest from having been delivered to a congregation of catechumens, and mostly previous to their simultaneous baptism, on the eve of the commemoration of the resurrection; and also from the fact that they were pronounced in that consecrated spot Jerusalem, and near the place of the sepulcher and the cross. Of these lectures, the following is a very favorable specimen.

THE CREATOR SEEN IN THE CREATIONS.

"Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man: for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me."-JOB, Xxxviii. 2, 3.

I. With the eyes of the flesh it is impossible to behold God; for the incorporeal can not be subject to fleshly sight, and the only

begotten Son of God Himself hath testified, saying, No man hath seen God at any time. Should, however, any one, from a passage in Ezekiel, understand that Ezekiel saw Him, let him inquire what that Scripture says. He saw the likeness of the glory of the Lord, not the Lord Himself; nay, the likeness of His glory, not the glory itself, as it is in truth; and beholding only the likeness of His glory, he fell to the earth with fear. But if the sight of the likeness of the glory, and not of the glory itself, wrought fear and distress in the prophets, any one who should attempt to behold God Himself, would to a certainty lose his life, according to the text, "There shall no man see Me and live." Wherefore, of His exceeding loving-kindness, God has spread out the heaven to be the vail of his proper Godhead, lest we perish. This is not my word, but the prophet's: "If thou shouldest open the heavens, trembling would take hold of the mountains from thee, and they would melt away." And what wonder if Ezekiel, seeing the similitude of the glory, fell down? since Daniel, when Gabriel, the servant of the Lord, appeared, straightway shuddered and fell on his face; and, prophet as he was, dared not answer him, until the angel turned himself into the likeness of a son of man. For if the sight of Gabriel wrought trembling in the prophets, had God himself appeared according as He is, would they not all have perished?

II. The Divine nature, then, with the eyes of the flesh, we can not see; but from the Divine works we may obtain some idea of His power; according to the saying of Solomon, For by the greatness and beauty of the creatures, proportionally the Maker of them is seen. For he says not that from the creatures the Maker is seen, but hath added, "proportionally;" for so much the greater does God appear to each, as the man hath attained a large survey of the creatures; and when, by that large survey, his soul is raised aloft, he gains a more excellent conception of God.

III. Wouldest thou know that the nature of God is incomprehensible? The Three Children, singing praises to God in the fiery furnace, say, Blessed art Thou that beholdest the depths, and sittest upon the Cherubim. Tell me the nature of the Cherubim, and then look upon Him who sitteth upon them. And yet Ezekiel the prophet has made a description of them, as far as could be, saying, that every one had four faces; the face of a man, and of a lion, and of an eagle, and of a calf; and that every one had six wings, and eyes on every side, and under each a wheel with four parts; yet, though the prophet has so described, we are not yet able, even if we read it, to comprehend it. But if we can not comprehend the throne which

the prophet has declared, how shall we be able to comprehend Him who sits upon it, the Invisible and Ineffable God? Curiously to scan the nature of God is impossible; but we are able to offer glory to Him from His works that are seen.

IV. These things I say to you because of what comes next in the creed, and because we say, "We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth," and thus rescue ourselves against the by-paths of ungodly heretics who have dared to speak evil of the All-wise Artificer of all this world, and who, though they see with the eyes of the flesh, are blinded in the eyes of their mind.

V. For what fault have they to find in this, the greatest of the works of God? Truly they ought to have been struck dumb, when they viewed the vaultings of the heavens, and worshiped Him who has reared the sky as an arch, who out of the fluid waters has made the immovable substance of the heavens. For God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. God spake once, and it stood fast, and does not fall. The sky is water, and those orbs in it, sun, moon, and stars are of fire; and how run those fiery bodies in the water? But if any one is perplexed, from fire and water being of such opposite natures; let him remember the fire which in Egypt in the time of Moses flamed in the hail. Let him also behold the all-wise workmanship of God; for since there would be need of water for tilling the earth, He made the heaven above of water, that when the region of the earth should require watering by means of showers, the heaven from its own nature might be ready for this purpose.

VI. What is there not much to wonder at in the sun, which being small to look on, contains in it an intensity of power, appearing from the east, and shooting his light even to the west? The Psalmist describes his rising at dawn, when he says, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. This is a description of his pleasant and comely array on first appearing to men; for when he rides at high noon we are wont to flee from his blaze; but at his rising he is welcome to all, as a bridegroom to look on. Behold also how he proceeds (or rather not he, but one who has by His bidding determined his course); how in summer time aloft in the heavens, he finishes off longer days, giving men due time for their works; while in winter he straightens his course, lest the day's cold last too long, and that the night's lengthening, may conduce both to the rest of men, and to the fruitfulness of the earth's productions. And see likewise in what order the days correspond to each other, in

summer increasing, in winter diminishing, but in spring and autumn affording one another a uniform length; and the night again in like manner. And as the Psalmist saith concerning them, Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.

For to the heretics, who have no ears, they almost shout aloud, and by their orders say, there is no other God save their Maker and the appointer of their bounds, Him who laid out the universe.

VII. No one must tolerate such as say that the Maker of light is different from the Maker of darkness; for let a man remember Isaiah's words, I the Lord form the light and create darkness. Why, O man, art thou offended with these? Why so annoyed at the time of rest given thee? The servant would not have gained it from his master, but for the darkness bringing a necessary respite. And often, after toiling in the day, how are we refreshed by night; and he who was yesterday amid labors, starts in the morning vigorous from a night's rest. And what more conduces to religious wisdom than the night, when oftentimes we bring before us the things of God, and read and contemplate the Divine Oracles? When too, is our mind more alive for psalmody and prayer than at night? When does a recollection oftener come over us of our sins than at night? Let us not then be perverse enough to entertain the notion. that another beside God is the Maker of darkness; for experience shows that darkness is good and most useful

VIII. Those persons ought to have felt astonishment and admiration, not only at the sun and moon, but also at the well-ordered choirs of the stars, their unimpeded courses, their respective risings in due season; and how some are the signs of summer, others of winter, and how some mark the time of sowing, others introduce the season of sailing. And man, sitting in his ship, and sailing on the boundless waves, looks at the stars and steers his vessel. Well says Scripture concerning these bodies, Let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days, and for years; not for star-gazing and vain. tales of nativities. Observe, too, how considerately He imparts the daylight by a gradual growth; for the sun does not rise upon us, while we gaze, all at once, but a little light runs up before him, that by previous trial our eye-ball may bear his stronger ray: and again, how He has cheered the darkness of night by the gleam of moonlight.

IX. Who is the father of rain: and who hath given birth to the drops of dew? Who hath condensed the air into clonds, and bid them carry the fluid mass of showers, at one time bringing from the north