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The Pastor of Hermas

Chap. XII.

"First of all, sir," I said, "explain this to me: What is the meaning of the rock and the gate?" "This rock," he answered, "and this gate are the Son of God." "How, sir?" I said; "the rock is old, and the gate is new." "Listen," he said, "and understand, O ignorant man. The Son of God is older than all His creatures, so that He was a fellow-councillor with the Father in His work of creation: ¹ for this reason is He old." "And why is the gate new, sir?" I said. "Because," he answered, "He became manifest ² in the last days of the dispensation: for this reason the gate was made new, that they who are to be saved by it might enter into the kingdom of God. You saw," he said, "that those stones which came in through the gate were used for the building of the tower, and that those which did not come, were again thrown back to their own place?" "I saw, sir," I replied. "In like manner," he continued, "no one shall enter into the kingdom of God unless he receive His holy name. For if you desire to enter into a city, and that city is surrounded by a wall, and has but one gate, can you enter into that city save through the gate which it has?" "Why, how can it be otherwise, sir?" I said. "If, then, you cannot enter into the city except through its gate, so, in like manner, a man cannot otherwise enter into the kingdom of God than by the name of His beloved Son. You saw," he added, "the multitude who were building the tower?" "I saw them, sir," I said. "Those," he said, "are all glorious angels, and by them accordingly is the Lord surrounded. And the gate is the Son of God. This is the one entrance to the Lord. In no other way, then, shall any one enter in to Him except through His Son. You saw," he continued, "the six men, and the tall and glorious man in the midst of them, who walked round the tower, and rejected the stones from the building?" "I saw him, sir," I answered. "The glorious man," he said, "is the Son of God, and those six glorious angels are those who support Him on the right hand and on the left. None of these glorious angels," he continued, "will enter in unto God apart from Him. Whosoever does not receive His ³ name, shall not enter into the kingdom of God."

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Shepard of Hermas (Loeb)

XII

1. Πρῶτον, φημί, πάντων, κύριε, τοῦτό μοι δήλωσον· ἡ πέτρα καὶ ἡ πύλη τίς ἐστιν; Ἡ πέτρα, φησίν, αὕτη καὶ ἡ πύλη ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστί. Πῶς, φημί, κύριε, ἡ πέτρα παλαιά ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ πύλη καινή; Ἄκουε, φησὶ, καὶ σύνιε, ἀσύνετε, 2. ὁ μὲν υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως αὐτοῦ προγενέστερός ἐστιν, ὥστε σύμβουλον αὐτὸν γενέσθαι τῷ πατρὶ τῆς κτίσεως αὐτοῦ· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ παλαιὰ ἡ πέτρα. Ἡ δὲ πύλη διατί καινή, φημί, κύριε; 3. Ὅτι, φησίν, ἐπ’ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν τῆς συντελείας φανερὸς ἐγένετο, διὰ τοῦτο καινὴ ἐγένετο ἡ πύλη, ἵνα οἱ μέλλοντες σώζεσθαι δι’ αὐτῆς εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν εἰσέλθωσι τοῦ θεοῦ. 4. εἶδες, φησίν, τοὺς λίθους τοὺς διὰ τῆς πύλης εἰσεληλυθότας εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου βεβλημένους, τοὺς δὲ μὴ εἰσεληλυθότας πάλιν ἀποβεβλημένους εἰς τὸν ἴδιον τόπον; Εἶδον, φημί, κύριε. Οὕτω, φησίν, εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ οὐδεὶς εἰσελεύσεται, εἰ μὴ λάβοι τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ. 5. ἐὰν γὰρ εἰς πόλιν θελήσῃς εἰσελθεῖν τινα κἀκείνη ἡ πόλις περιτετειχισμένη κύκλῳ καὶ μίαν ἔχει πύλην, μήτι δύνὴ εἰς ἐκείνην τὴν πόλιν εἰσελθεῖν, εἰ μὴ διὰ τῆς πύλης ἧς ἔχει; Πῶς γάρ, φημί, κύριε, δύναται γενέσθαι ἄλλως; Εἰ οὖν εἰς τὴν πόλιν οὐ δύνῃ εἰσελθεῖν εἰ μὴ διὰ τῆς πύλης ἧς ἔχει τῆν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἄλλως εἰσελθεῖν οὐ δύναται ἄνθρωπος εἰ μὴ διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἠγαπημένου ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ. 6. Εἶδες, φησί, τὸν ὄχλον τὸν οἰκοδομοῦντα τὸν πύργον; Εἰδον, φημί, κύριε. Ἐκεῖνοι, φησί, πάντες ἄγγελοι ἔνδοξοί εἰσι· τούτοις οὖν περιτετείχισται ὁ κύριος. ἡ δὲ πύλη ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν· αὕτη μία εἴσοδός ἐστι πρὸς τὸν κύριον. ἄλλως οὖν οὐδεὶς εἰσελεύσεται πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰ μὴ διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. 7. Εἶδες, φησί, τοὺς ἓξ ἄδρας καὶ τὸν μέσον αὐτῶν ἐνδοξον καὶ μέγαν ἄνδρα τὸν περιπατοῦντα περὶ τὸν πύργον καὶ τοὺς λίθους ἀποδοκιμάσαντα ἐκ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς; Εἶδον, φημί κύριε. 8. Ὁ ἔνδοξος, φησίν, ἀνὴρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστι, κἀκεινοι οἱ ἓξ οἱ ἔνδοξοι ἄγγελοί εἰσι δεξιὰ καὶ εὐώνυμα συγκρατοῦντες αὐτόν. τοῦτων, φησί, τῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν ἐνδόξων οὐδεὶς εἰσελεύσεται πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἄτερ αὐτοῦ· ὃς ἂν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ μὴ λάβῃ, οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.