Chap. VI.
"Hear," he answered: "the Son of God is not in the form 1 of a slave, but in great power and might." "How so, sir?" I said; "I do not understand." "Because," he answered, "God planted the vineyard, that is to say, He created the people, and gave them to His Son; and the Son appointed His angels over them to keep them; and He Himself purged away their sins, having suffered many trials and undergone many labours, for no one is able to dig without labour and toil. He Himself, then, having purged away the sins of the people, showed them the paths of life 2 by giving them the law which He received from His Father. [You see," he said, "that He is the Lord of the people, having received all authority from His Father. 3 ] And why the Lord took His Son as councillor, and the glorious angels, regarding the heirship of the slave, listen. The holy, pre-existent Spirit, that created every creature, God made to dwell in flesh, which He chose. 4 This flesh, accordingly, in which the Holy Spirit dwelt, was nobly subject to that Spirit, walking religiously and chastely, in no respect defiling the Spirit; and accordingly, after living 5 excellently and purely, and after labouring and co-operating with the Spirit, and having in everything acted vigorously and courageously along with the Holy Spirit, He assumed it as a partner with it. For this conduct 6 of the flesh pleased Him, because it was not defiled on the earth while having the Holy Spirit. He took, therefore, as fellow-councillors His Son and the glorious angels, in order that this flesh, which had been subject to the body without a fault, might have some place of tabernacle, and that it might not appear that the reward [of its servitude had been lost 7 ], for the flesh that has been found without spot or defilement, in which the Holy Spirit dwelt, [will receive a reward 8 ]. You have now the explanation 9 of this parable also."
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[Phil. ii. 7. But no longer is He such.] ↩
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[Heb. i. 3; Ps. xvi. 11] ↩
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The sentence in brackets is omitted in Lips. And Aeth., occurs in Vat. And Pal. ↩
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This passage varies in each of the forms in which it has come down, and is corrupt in most, if not in all. The Vatican (Lat.) has, "Because the messenger hears the Holy Spirit, which was the first of all that was poured (infusus) into a body in which God might dwell. For understanding (intellectus) placed it in a body as seemed proper to Him." The Pal. reads: "For that Holy Spirit which was created pure [first] of all in a body in which it might dwell, God made and appointed a chosen body which pleased Him." The Aeth. reads: "The Holy Spirit, who created all things, dwelt in a body in which He wished to dwell." [See Grabe's collation and emendation here, in Wake's translation.] ↩
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The Vatican renders this sentence: "This body, therefore, into which the Holy Spirit was led, was subject to that Spirit, walking rightly, modestly, and chastely, and did not at all defile that Spirit. Since, then, that body had always obeyed the Holy Spirit, and had laboured rightly and chastely with it, and had not at any time given way, that wearied body passed its time as a slave; but having strongly approved itself along with the Holy Spirit, it was received unto God." The Palatine is similar. The Aeth. reads: "That body served well in righteousness and purity, nor did it ever defile that Spirit, and it became His partner, since that body pleased God." ↩
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poreia. Vatican, potens cursus. ↩
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The passages within brackets are omitted by Lips. and Aeth. ↩
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The passages within brackets are omitted by Lips. and Aeth. ↩
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[If the reader feels that the explanation itself needs to be explained, let him attribute it to the confused and inaccurate state of the text. Grabe says emphatically, that "the created Spirit of Christ as a man and not the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Trinity," is spoken of in this chapter chiefly. The apparent confusion of words and phrases must be the result of ignorant copying. It is a sufficient answer to certain German critics to cite the providential approval of Athanasius, a fact of the utmost moment. Nobody doubts that Athanasius was sensitive to any discoloration of the Nicene Faith. In the text of Hermas, therefore, as it was in his copy, there could have been nothing heretical, or favouring heresy. That Hermas was an artist, and purposely gave his fiction a very primitive air, is evident. He fears to name the Scriptures he quoted, lest any one should doubt their use, in the days of Clement, in the Western churches.] ↩
