HOMILY VIII.] HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS. 295 his doings " ? He means the choice, with the acts. And he calleth him " old," on purpose to show his deformity, and hideousness, and im becility ; and " new," as if to say, Do not expect that it will be with this one even as with the other, but the reverse : for ever as he farther ad vances, he hasteneth not on to old age, but to a youthfulness greater than the preceding. For when he hath received a fuller knowledge, he is both counted worthy of greater things, and is in more perfect maturity, in higher vigor ; and this, not from youthfulness alone, but from that " like ness " also, " after " which he is. Lo ! the best life is styled a creation, after the image ofChrist : for this is the meaning of, " after the image of Him that created him," for Christ too came not finally to 1 old age, but was so beautiful as it is not even possible to tell. Ver. ii. "Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, Bar barian, Scythian, bondman, freeman : but Christ is all, and in all." Lo ! here is a third encomium of this " man." With him, there is no difference admitted either of nation, or of rank, or of ancestry, seeing he hath nothing of externals, nor needeth them ; for all external things are such as these, " cir cumcision, and uncircumcision, bondman, free man, Greek," that is, proselyte, "and Jew," from his ancestors. If thou have only this " man," thou wilt obtain the same things with the others that have him. " But Christ," he saith, " is all, and in ali " : Christ will be all things to you, both rank, and descent, " and " Himself " in you all." Or he says another thing, to wit, that ye all are be come one Christ, being His body. Ver. 12. "Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved." He shows the easiness of virtue, so that they might both possess it continually, and use it as the greatest ornament. The exhortation is ac companied also with praise, for then its force is greatest. For they had been before ~ holy, but not elect ; but now both " elect, and holy, and beloved." "A heart of compassion." He said not " mercy," but with greater emphasis used the two words. And he said not, that it should be as towards brethren, but, as fathers towards chil dren. For tell me not that he sinned, therefore he said " a heart." And he said not " compas sion," lest he should place them 3 in light esti mation, but " a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering ; forbearing 1 ou Trpo? yTjpas fTfAevnjcrei , Lat. "Nee senex mortuus est " (died not old). But the other sense seems more suitable. In either sense it is opposed to the view ascribed to Byzantine artists. See Rio s Po^sie Chretienne. 2 e-yeVoi-To, i.e. he had before called them holy, c. 1. v. 2. 3 e/ceivous, " the objects." one another, and forgiving each other, if anyman have a complaint against any : even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." Again, he speaks after the class,4 and he al ways does it ; for from kindness comes humble ness of mind, and from this, longsuffering. " Forbearing," he saith, " one another," that is, passing things over. 5 And see, how he has shown it to be nothing, by calling it a "complaint," and saying, " even as Christ forgave you." Great is the example ! and thus he always does ; he ex horts them after Christ. " Complaint," he calls it. In these words indeed.he showed it to be a petty matter ; but when he has set before us the example, he has persuaded us that even if we had serious charges to bring, we ought to forgive. For the expression, " Even as Christ," signifies this, and not this only, but also with all the heart ; and not this alone, but that they ought even to love. For Christ being brought into the midst, bringeth in all these things, both that even if the matters be great, and even ifwe have not been the first to injure, even if we be of great, they of small account, even if they are sure to insult us afterwards,we ought to lay down our lives for them, (for the words, " even as," demand this ;) and that not even at death only ought one to stop, but if possible, to go on even after death. Ver. 14. " And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness." Dost thou see that he saith this? For since it is possible for one who forgives, not to, love ; yea, he saith, thou must love him too, and he points out a way whereby it becomes possible to forgive. For it is possible for one to be kind, and meek, and humbleminded, and longsuffer ing, and yet not affectionate. And therefore, he said at the first, " A heart of compassion," both love and pity. "And above all these things, love, which is the bond of perfectness." Now what he wishes to say is this ; that there is no profit in those things, for all those things fall asunder, except they be done with love ; this it is which clenches them all together ; whatsoever good thing it be thou mentionest, if love be away, it is nothing, it melts away. And it is as in a ship, even though her rigging be large, yet if there be no girding ropes, it is of no service ; and in an house, if there be no tie beams, it is the same ; and in a body, though the bones be large, if there be no ligaments, they are of no service. For whatsoever good deeds any may have, all do vanish away, if love be not there. He said not that it is the summit, but what is greater, "the bond" ; this is more necessary than the other. For "summit" indeed is an intensity of perfectness, but " bond " is the holding fast 4 KO.T elSot, from genus to species, as remarked above, on v. 7.^ > Trapa.TTffj.ir6fiLfvoi, al. Trapa.&ex^fvot i " receiving one another."