mlinssen wrote: ↑Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:41 am
Epiphanius, Panarion, against Manicheans
19,7 And it will be found that the fraud is falsely accusing Christ of failure to keep his word. For the apostles’ generation is gone—I mean the generation from Peter until Paul, and until John who even lived until the time of Trajan. And James is gone, the first to exercise the episcopate in Jerusalem. (James was called the Lord’s brother but he was Joseph’s son, born, like the rest of his brothers, of Joseph’s real wife. (8) Because the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born in the flesh of the ever-virgin Mary, was brought up with them, < they > were in the position of brothers to him, and he was called their brother.) And all the saints who shared James’ throne are gone, and Symeon, the son of James’ uncle, with them—Symeon, the son of Cleopas the brother of Joseph.
It's rather inevitable really, unless James was also born from a virgin, which would rather spoil this special attribute of Jesus. Never thought about it!
Thanks for this quotation from Epiphanius. I had not read his writings before.
I searched
The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis Books II and III using the search term "mother" and I found a lot more to ponder:
74.6 And do you see that he says that the two testaments are those
of one God? The apostle says, “The first testament was given at Mt. Sinai
and gendereth to bondage. For Mt. Sinai is in Arabia. < But the heavenly
Jerusalem is free, which is the mother of us all >.” 365 For if there are two
wives, there is still only one husband, thus, even though there are two
Testaments, there is one God, the giver of the two. (7) And this is why
he did not call two testaments “New,” or two testaments “Old,” but called
one Old and one New. And he says, “A testament is of force after men
are dead; therefore the first testament was not dedicated without blood.
For Moses took the blood of goats and sprinkled both the book and the
people.” 366 Thus the second testament too was given at the death of the
Savior. (8) And above all, both Testaments are in agreement. The one says,
“There shall not fail a ruler from Judah, nor a governor from out of his
loins, until that come for which it is prepared”; 367 but the second says,
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them.” 368 And there is a great deal to be said about this,
but for brevity’s sake I shall omit it.
----
MANICHAEANS
87,1 But, says Mani, the scripture says, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God”; 427 and here he thinks he has a point. In fact, how-
ever, fornication cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, nor can adultery,
uncleanness or idolatry; that is, “flesh and blood” cannot inherit the king-
dom of heaven.
87,3 If you suppose, however, that the "flesh and blood” [mentioned
here] is the actual flesh, what application can be left for, “And as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, who
were born, not of the flesh, but of God?” 428 Who in the world has been
born without flesh? (3) But because their minds were changed — not the
natures of those who are born of flesh and blood mothers and fathers,
[but their minds \ — and they were born with the second birth, which is
birth from the Lord by Spirit and fire, he gave them the right to become
the sons of God.
87,4 Thus, as they were born of flesh and blood here, < so in turn they
are born again of spirit* >. And because of their conversion to righteous-
ness their birth is no longer counted as a birth of flesh and blood, although
< they live* > in flesh and blood — as he says, "For though we walk in the
flesh, we do not war after the flesh.” 429 (5) Thus there can be flesh that
does not “war after the flesh.” And this is why he says that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. He < is not speaking > of this flesh
which has grown weary [in welldoing], been sanctified, pleased God, but
of the “flesh” which is counted as sinful. (6) Otherwise what application
can there be of “This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mor-
tal must put on immortality?” 430
424 1 Cor 12:18.
425 Read ex pepoui; with 1 Cor 12:27. MSS ex peXoup is surely an error.
426 Eph 1:22-23.
427 1 Cor 15:53.
428 John 1:12-13.
----
HIERACITES
7.1 And as to your assertion that Melchizedek himself is the Spirit — in
that case, the Spirit came and took flesh. It cannot, then, be just the Only-
begotten who has been born in the flesh; the Spirit must have been too.
But if the Spirit was born in the flesh — well, it was Mary who bore the
Savior. Hieracas should say where the mother is who bore the Spirit.
7.2 And in saying, “Made like unto the Son of God he remaineth a
priest forever,” 38 the scripture cannot be referring to the Holy Spirit. (3) It
didn’t say, "like the Son of God,” but, “made like.” Now “made like” refers
to something that came to be at a later date. But if the Spirit is “made
like” Christ after the time of Abraham, there was a time when there was
no Spirit, and this is why he was “made like” the Son of God.
And how can he be “without father?” (4) If the Spirit is self-existent and
not of the Godhead’s own essence, it can fairly be shown that he is “without
father.” And indeed, the Son is only-begotten and has no brother, but is the
Son of God. (5) But even if we say that the Spirit is not begotten, since
the Son is on/y-begotten, Christ still says that the Spirit “proceeded” from
the Father” and “receiveth of the Son.” 39 Hence the Spirit who “proceedeth
from the Father” and "receiveth of me,” cannot be “without father.”
7,6 Even if he means “ ‘without mother’ in heaven and ‘without father’
on earth” — for this can also be said of the Savior — why does the apostle
explain this at the end by saying, “He whose descent is not counted from
them received tithes of the patriarch Abraham?” 40 (7) [The phrase], “from
them” is indicative of precise expression; for since his descent was not
counted from the children of Israel he must surely have been descended
from other nations. But because his father and mother are not recorded
in the scriptures, those who misrepresent the truth imagine one thing in
place of another. (8) I, though, have found both his mother and his father
in traditions; he was descended from the Sidonians and the Canaanites.
Thus his fairy story has crumbled. And his ascetic practice is of no avail;
to settle for lifeless things coupled with wrong belief is no school of life
and the hope of salvation. Scripture says, “Let all things be done to the
glory of God.” 41
35 Heb 3:4.
36 1 Tim 5:11.
37 1 Tim 5:14.
38 Heb 7:3.
----------
ANTIDICOMARIANS
9,1 Where can I not find proof that the Virgin remained pure? For a
starter, let them show me that Mary bore children after the Savior’s birth!
Let these designers and reciters of deceit and mischief make the names up
and give them! But they can’t show them because she was still a virgin and,
perish the thought, had no sexual relations! (2) If she had ever born children
even though she was always with the Savior himself, her children too would
be said to be with < him >.
But the text, “Lo, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking
thee ,” 29 misleads them. (3) Besides, they do not know the earlier passage,
“His brethren believed < not > on him . 20 As I myself grow older and wonder
at the triviality of the things in the sacred scriptures — I can tell you, as I
become fully acquainted with them I thank God for taking the precaution to
prove the truth of every text in the sacred scripture by the seemingly trivial
words. (4)
I always heard that James was called the Lord’s brother, and I
said in wonderment, “What’s the use of this?” But now I understand why the
sacred scripture said this beforehand. When we hear, “Lo, thy mother and
thy brethren stand without, seeking thee,” (5) let us by all means learn that
it is speaking of James and the other sons of Joseph, and not of sons of Mary
whom she never had.
For it was plain that, in comparison with the [years of] the Lord’s incar-
nation, James was the elder. ( 6 ) The scripture calls them brothers to con-
found [our opponents], and names James, Joses, Simeon, Judah, Salome and
Mary, so that they will learn whose son James is and by which mother, and
understand who is the elder.
26 cf. Matt 1:19.
27 Matt 1:20.
28 Luke 2:19.
29 Matt 12:47.
30 John 7:
-------
10,7 But Joseph died during these years, and Jesus was no longer brought
up by Joseph, but in Joseph’s home. This is why the Gospel can no longer say
that his father and mother and brethren came, but says, “Lo, thy mother and
thy brethren stand without, seeking thee. ” 31 ( 8 ) Nor did it say that his father
and brothers had spoken to him, when they said to him in Galilee, “No one
that doeth these things would be in secret; if thou doest these things, show
thyself .” 32 It said that his brothers had spoken to him; Joseph was no longer
alive in the flesh. ( 9 ) But then at his perfecting itself, when the Savior was on
the cross, the Lord turned, as the Gospel according to John tells us, “and saw
the disciple whom he loved, and said to him of Mary, “Behold thy mother”.
And to her he said, “Behold thy son .” 33 ( 10 ) If Mary had children and her
husband was alive, why did he entrust Mary to John and John to Mary? And
why not rather entrust her to Peter’? Why not to Andrew, Matthew and Bar-
tholomew? But it is plain that he entrusted her to John because of virginity.
10,11 For < he says >, “Behold thy mother, ” even though physically she was
not John’s mother; [he says this] to show that <as> the originator of vir-
ginity she was his mother, since the life began with her. ( 12 ) And lest it be
supposed that the work [of salvation] was appearance and not reality he
said this to John to teach him to honor his own mother, even though, physi-
cally speaking, John was not his kin; for the Lord was truly born of her in the
flesh. ( 13 ) For if she had not truly been the mother who bore him, he would
not have taken care to entrust the Ever-virgin to John — his mother because
of the incarnation, but undefiled in his honor and the wondrous vessel But
the Gospel says, “And from that day he took her unto his own home ." 34 But
if she had a husband, a home, children, she would return to her own home
and not to someone else’s.
31 Matt 12:47.
32 Cf. John 7:4.
33 John 19:26-27.
-------------
“And he knew her not.” For how could he know that a woman would
receive so much grace? Or how could he know that < the > Virgin would be
so highly glorified? (8) Fie knew that she was a woman by her appearance,
and her womanliness by her sex, and knew that her mother was Ann and her
father, Joachim, that she was related to Elizabeth, that she was of the house
and lineage of David. But he did not know that anyone on earth, especially
a woman, would be honored with such glory. ( 9 ) He did not know her, then,
until he had seen the wonder; he did not know how wondrous she was until
he had seen “that which was born of her .’’ 6,3 But when she gave birth he also
knew the honor God had done her, for it was she who had been told, “Hail,
thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee ." 64
18,1 It is Mary who is intimated by Eve, for she was symbolically given
the title, “mother of the living." For Eve was called “mother of the living ” 65
in that passage," and this after being told, “Earth thou art, and unto earth
shall thou return ” 66 following her transgression. And yet, it was a a won-
der that she received the great title after this transgression. ( 2 ) Physically
speaking, every birth of human beings on earth is from that Eve; but here life
itself has truly been born into the world of Mary, so that Mary brings forth
the Living One and becomes the mother of the Living. ( 3 ) Mary, then, was
mystically called the “mother of the living.” For “Who has given the woman
the wisdom < of weaving > and skill in embroidery ?” 67 was said of the two
women. The first wise woman, Eve, < was > the weaver of earthly garments
for Adam whose nakedness she had caused; for this task was assigned to her.
( 4 ) Since the nakedness was her fault, she had been given the task of cloth-
ing the physical body to hide its physical nakedness. But God’s assignment to
Mary was that she bear a lamb and sheep for us, and that, by his virtue, we
receive a garment of immortality wisely made — as though, from his fleece —
from the glory of the lamb and sheep.
18,5 But there is another marvel to ponder in connection with these
women, Eve and Mary. Eve has become the occasion of human deaths, for
“Death entered into the world ” 68 through her. But Mary, through whom Life
was born for us, is the occasion of life. ( 6 ) And this is why the Son of God
came into the world; and “Where sin hath abounded, grace did much more
abound .” 69 And in the place from which death came, life got the start of it,
so that there might be Life in place of death. He who, in his turn, had become
our life through a woman, shut out the death that came from a woman.
18,7 And since Eve in Paradise fell into the sin of disobedience while still a
virgin, the obedience of grace in its turn has come through the Virgin, when
she was told of the descent from heaven, of the coming in the flesh and eter-
nal life. ( 8 ) For in Paradise God tells the serpent, “And I shall put enmity
between thee and her, and between thy seed, and her seed ”' 70 But there is
no instance of a woman’s seed < with an enmity toward the physical seed of
a snake* >, unless, as the riddle suggests, the “enmity” is taken to mean Eve’s
enmity towards the progeny of the snake itself, and of the devil who dwelt in
the snake, and his envy.
19,1 And in fact, the whole cannot have its complete fulfillment in Eve. But
it will truly be fulfilled in the holy Seed, the elect Seed, the unique Seed, the
Seed which originated from Mary alone, and not from union with a man. For
he came to “destroy" the “power of the dragon and crooked serpent which
flees ” 11 saying that it has taken the whole world captive. ( 2 ) And so the Only-
begotten came from a woman for the destruction of the serpent — that is, of
heresy, corruption and deceit, imposture and iniquity. ( 3 ) It is he who truly
“opens a mother’s womb .’’ 12 All the firstborn who have ever been bom — to
put it delicately — could not manage this; none but the Only-begotten, who
“opened a virgin’s womb.” That has been accomplished in him alone, and in
no one else.
19,4 But this 73 can also be seen from the subject itself. The expression,
[“mother of the living”], is to be understood of Mary, and I shall take the one
that says, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and
shall cleave unto his wife, and the two shall become one flesh ,” 14 as a refer-
ence to the church. ( 5 ) The holy apostle also says, “This is a great mystery,
but I say it concerns Christ and the church .” 75 ( 6 ) And see the precision of
the scriptures! It says, “formed, ” 76 of Adam, but of Eve it no longer speaks of
being “formed," but of being “built.” For it says, “He took one of his sides and
built it into a wife for him ,” 11 to show that the Lord formed his body from
Mary, but the church has been built from his side itself — when his side was
pierced, and the mysteries of blood and water became atonements for us.
20,1 But in any case Joseph knew Mary, not with any knowledge of physi-
cal intimacy, not with the knowledge of intercourse — he knew her, and hon-
ored her whom God had honored. For he did not know how glorious she was
until he saw the Lord who was born of a woman. ( 2 ) And “Before they came
together she was found with child ” 18 is said to keep the argument of those
who think that the God-ordained mystery came from sexual commerce from
prevailing. For it meant, “before this thing that was expected took place —
but the thing did not take place. ” ( 3 ) For even if it was expected that the Vir-
gin would have relations with Joseph, an impossibility because of his age, the
holy scripture shows us in advance, and confirms our notion, <to> convince
< us > that, although the thing is possible despite the sacred childbirth, no man
< may > ever again approach the Virgin for sexual relations — convincing us
in the same way in which the angel convinced Joseph that his suspicion was
unfounded. ( 4 ) For there is a similarity between “before they came together,”
which means that this was expected but did not happen, and, “Being a righ-
teous man he sought not to make her a public example but to put her away
privily ,” 19 which means that he would become evil if he made her a public
example, but he did not. In the same way the angel teaches him, “Fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife ’” 80 though she had not yet become his wife,
“even if you suspect her of a fall”; but she is not what you think,” and so on.
( 5 ) For he says directly after that, “for that which was conceived in her,” 8l as
though it had already occurred , 82 but then, “she shall bear a son ,” 88 as of a
future event; and she did. (6) And the prediction 84 < has come down tous*>
because its truth has been demonstrated, just as “before they came together”
< has come down to us* > because we are satisfied 85 that no such thing has
occurred. “Until she brought forth her son, the firstborn, ” is to be interpreted
along the same lines , 86 because of the marvel of the knowledge of the Virgin,
with her honor in the sight of God.
63 Luke 1:35.
64 Luke 1:28.
65 Gen 3:20.
66 Gen 3:19.
67 Job 38:36.
68 Cf. Rom 5:12.
69 Rom 5:20.
70 Gen 3:15.
71 Isa 27:1.
72 Cf. Luke 2:23 (Exod. 13:12).
73 That not all the statements in Gen. 2-3 are to be taken of Eve.
21.1 But no one should suppose that because it says, “before they came
together,” they came together Later on. No one can prove this or show it;
74 Gen 2:24.
75 Eph 5:32.
76 Gen 2:7.
77 Gen 2:21-22.
78 Matt 1:18.
79 Cf. Matt 1:25.
80 Matt 1:20.
81 Matt 1:20.
82 Eltester yEysvvjpEvov, Holl and MSS yEy£vvv]pEvou.
83 Matt 1:21.
------------
7,1 And so in Mary’s case. The angel foretold what her father would
receive from God on his return home — the favor her father and mother
had asked in prayer, "Lo, thy wife hath conceived in her womb,” 21 as
a sure fulfillment, by the promise, of the faithful man’s purpose. But for
some this became an occasion of error. No one in the world can be born
in any but the normal human way. Only < the Son* > was fit < for this* >;
nature allowed it to him alone. (2) As Maker and Master of the thing [to
be made] he formed himself from a virgin as though from earth — God
come from heaven, the Word who had assumed flesh from a holy Virgin.
But certainly not from a virgin who is worshiped, or to make her God,
or to have us make offerings in her name, or, again, to make women
priestesses after so many generations. (3) It was not God’s pleasure that
this be done with Salome, or with Mary herself. He did not permit her
to administer baptism or bless disciples, or tell her to rule on earth, but
only to be a sacred shrine and be deemed worthy of his kingdom. (4) He
did not order the woman called the mother of Rufus to advance < to* >
this rank 22 or the women who followed Christ from Galilee, or Martha
the sister of Lazarus and [her sister] Mary, or any of the holy women who
were privileged to be saved by his advent < and > who assisted him with
their own possessions — or the woman of Canaan, or the woman who was
healed of the issue of blood, or any woman on earth.
---------
6,5 Besides, these same esteemed brethren of ours in the monasteries,
or, as we say, the cloisters of Mesopotamia, have been detected in another
form [of error], that of deliberately < having > their hair long like a wom-
an’s and wearing sackcloth openly. (6) The children of < Christ’s > holy
virgin, our mother the church, should be grave and retiring persons and
secretly serve the God who, as the scripture says, knows our secrets and
rewards us openly. They should < walk > decorously because of outsiders,
and not desire reward and credit from those who see them. Visible sack-
cloth is out of place in the catholic church, as is < un >cut hair, because of
the apostle’s injunction, “A man ought not to have long hair, inasmuch as
he is the image of God.” 21
------------
Let us hasten to the city the
moment we spy it — the holy Jerusalem and Christ’s virgin and bride, the
firm foundation and rock, our holy mother < but > Christ’s bride. At this
most auspicious moment let us ourselves say, “Come, let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, and the house of the God of Jacob. And he shall
teach us his way,”
----------------
6,1 For the church is engendered by one faith and born with the help
of the Holy Spirit, and is the only daughter of the only mother, and the
one daughter of her that bore her. And all the women who came after and
before her have been called concubines. They have not been entire strang-
ers to the covenant and inheritance, but have no stated dowry and are not
receptacles of the Holy Spirit, but have only an illicit union with the Word.
---------
7,5 For Abraham gave Hagar, a bondmaid and cast out by Abraham —
([she was] like the Jerusalem below who was in bondage with her children,
of whom it is said, “I have cast out thy mother,” 34 and again, "I gave the bill
of divorcement into her hands.”) 35 Abraham gave this bondmaid, I mean
Hagar, a skin full of water, the more of a type because of the hope of her
conversion. 36 This was to show the power of the “laver of regeneration,” 37
which has been given to unbelievers for a gift of life, and for the conver-
sion of all the heathen to the knowledge of the truth.
31 Cant 6:9.
32 Cant 6:7-8.
33 Gal 4:28; 31.
34 Cf. Jer 22:26.
------
18,1 For our mother, the holy church herself, believes as has been truly
preached to her and enjoined upon her, that we shall all fall asleep and
be raised with this body, with this soul, with our whole vessel, “that each
may receive according to that he hath done.” 77 (2) It is true that the
resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment, the kingdom of heaven, and
repose < are in store > for the righteous, and the inheritance of the faith-
ful and an angelic choir is awaiting those who have kept the faith, purity,
hope and the Lord’s commandments. And it has been proclaimed, certi-
fied and believed that “These shall rise to life eternal,” 78 as we read in
the Gospels.
18,3 For whatever the apostle and all the scriptures say is true, even
though it is taken in a different sense by unbelievers and those who mis-
understand it. (4) But this is our faith, this is our honor, this is our mother
the church who saves through faith...
---------
From: The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III. De Fide, Translated, by Frank Williams
https://archive.org/stream/EpiphaniusPa ... 1_djvu.txt