On the Endless Kingdom (Final Excerpt):
The like doctrine thou has also in the interpretation of the Stone, which was cut out of a mountain without hands, which is Christ according to the flesh; And His kingdom shall not be left to another people. David also says in one place, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; and in another place, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth, they shall perish, but Thou remainest; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail: words which Paul has interpreted of the Son.
And wouldest thou know how they who teach the contrary ran into such madness? They read wrongly that good word of the Apostle, For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet; and they say, when His enemies shall have been put under His feet, He shall cease to reign, wrongly and foolishly alleging this. For He who is king before He has subdued His enemies, how shall He not the rather be king, after He has gotten the mastery over them.
They have also dared to say that the Scripture, When all things shall be subjected unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subjected unto Him that subjected all things unto Him,--that this Scripture shews that the Son also shall be absorbed into the Father. Shall ye then, O most impious of all men, ye the creatures of Christ, continue? And shall Christ perish, by whom both you and all things were made? Such a word is blasphemous. But further, how shall all things be made subject unto Him? By perishing, or by abiding? Shall then the other things, when subject to the Son abide, and shall the Son, when subject to the Father, not abide? For He shall be subjected, not because He shall then begin to do the Father's will (for from eternity He doth always those things that please Him), but because, then as before, He obeys the Father, yielding, not a forced obedience, but a self-chosen accordance; for He is not a servant, that He should be subjected by force, but a Son, that He should comply of His free choice and natural love.
But let us examine them; what is the meaning of "until" or "as long as?" For with the very phrase will I close with them, and try to overthrow their error. Since they have dared to say that the words, till He hath put His enemies under His feet, shew that He Himself shall have an end, and have presumed to set bounds to the eternal kingdom of Christ, and to bring to an end, as far as words go, His never-ending sovereignty, come then, let us read the like expressions in the Apostle: Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam till Moses. Did men then die up to that time, and did none die any more after Moses, or after the Law has there been no more death among men? Well then, thou seest that the word "unto" is not to limit time; but that Paul rather signified this,--"And yet, though Moses was a righteous and wonderful man, nevertheless the doom of death, which was uttered against Adam, reached even unto him, and them that came after him; and this, though they had not committed the like sins as Adam, by his disobedience in eating of the tree."
Take again another similar text. For until this day... when Moses is read, a vail lieth upon their heart. Does until this day mean only "until Paul?" Is it not until this day present, and even to the end? And if Paul say to the Corinthians, For we came even as far as unto you in preaching the Gospel of Christ, having hope when your faith increases to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you, thou seest manifestly that as far as implies not the end, but has something following it. In what sense then shouldest thou remember that Scripture, till He hath put all enemies under His feet? According as Paul says in another place, And exhort each other daily, while it is called to-day; meaning, "continually." For as we may not speak of the "beginning of the days" of Christ, so neither suffer thou that any should ever speak of the end of His kingdom. For it is written, His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
And though I have many more testimonies out of the divine Scriptures, concerning the kingdom of Christ which has no end for ever, I will be content at present with those above mentioned, because the day is far spent. But thou, O hearer, worship only Him as thy King, and flee all heretical error. And if the grace of God permit us, the remaining Articles also of the Faith shall be in good time declared to you. And may the God of the whole world keep you all in safety, bearing in mind the signs of the end, and remaining unsubdued by Antichrist. Thou hast received the tokens of the Deceiver who is to come; thou hast received the proofs of the true Christ, who shall openly come down from heaven. Flee therefore the one, the False one; and look for the other, the True. Thou hast learnt the way, how in the judgment thou mayest be found among those on the right hand; guard that which is committed to thee concerning Christ, and be conspicuous in good works, that thou mayest stand with a good confidence before the Judge, and inherit the kingdom of heaven:--Through whom, and with whom, be glory to God with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM (CATECHETICAL LECTURES, LECTURE XV., Verses 28-33, On DANIEL vii. 9--14)
And wouldest thou know how they who teach the contrary ran into such madness? They read wrongly that good word of the Apostle, For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet; and they say, when His enemies shall have been put under His feet, He shall cease to reign, wrongly and foolishly alleging this. For He who is king before He has subdued His enemies, how shall He not the rather be king, after He has gotten the mastery over them.
They have also dared to say that the Scripture, When all things shall be subjected unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subjected unto Him that subjected all things unto Him,--that this Scripture shews that the Son also shall be absorbed into the Father. Shall ye then, O most impious of all men, ye the creatures of Christ, continue? And shall Christ perish, by whom both you and all things were made? Such a word is blasphemous. But further, how shall all things be made subject unto Him? By perishing, or by abiding? Shall then the other things, when subject to the Son abide, and shall the Son, when subject to the Father, not abide? For He shall be subjected, not because He shall then begin to do the Father's will (for from eternity He doth always those things that please Him), but because, then as before, He obeys the Father, yielding, not a forced obedience, but a self-chosen accordance; for He is not a servant, that He should be subjected by force, but a Son, that He should comply of His free choice and natural love.
But let us examine them; what is the meaning of "until" or "as long as?" For with the very phrase will I close with them, and try to overthrow their error. Since they have dared to say that the words, till He hath put His enemies under His feet, shew that He Himself shall have an end, and have presumed to set bounds to the eternal kingdom of Christ, and to bring to an end, as far as words go, His never-ending sovereignty, come then, let us read the like expressions in the Apostle: Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam till Moses. Did men then die up to that time, and did none die any more after Moses, or after the Law has there been no more death among men? Well then, thou seest that the word "unto" is not to limit time; but that Paul rather signified this,--"And yet, though Moses was a righteous and wonderful man, nevertheless the doom of death, which was uttered against Adam, reached even unto him, and them that came after him; and this, though they had not committed the like sins as Adam, by his disobedience in eating of the tree."
Take again another similar text. For until this day... when Moses is read, a vail lieth upon their heart. Does until this day mean only "until Paul?" Is it not until this day present, and even to the end? And if Paul say to the Corinthians, For we came even as far as unto you in preaching the Gospel of Christ, having hope when your faith increases to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you, thou seest manifestly that as far as implies not the end, but has something following it. In what sense then shouldest thou remember that Scripture, till He hath put all enemies under His feet? According as Paul says in another place, And exhort each other daily, while it is called to-day; meaning, "continually." For as we may not speak of the "beginning of the days" of Christ, so neither suffer thou that any should ever speak of the end of His kingdom. For it is written, His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
And though I have many more testimonies out of the divine Scriptures, concerning the kingdom of Christ which has no end for ever, I will be content at present with those above mentioned, because the day is far spent. But thou, O hearer, worship only Him as thy King, and flee all heretical error. And if the grace of God permit us, the remaining Articles also of the Faith shall be in good time declared to you. And may the God of the whole world keep you all in safety, bearing in mind the signs of the end, and remaining unsubdued by Antichrist. Thou hast received the tokens of the Deceiver who is to come; thou hast received the proofs of the true Christ, who shall openly come down from heaven. Flee therefore the one, the False one; and look for the other, the True. Thou hast learnt the way, how in the judgment thou mayest be found among those on the right hand; guard that which is committed to thee concerning Christ, and be conspicuous in good works, that thou mayest stand with a good confidence before the Judge, and inherit the kingdom of heaven:--Through whom, and with whom, be glory to God with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM (CATECHETICAL LECTURES, LECTURE XV., Verses 28-33, On DANIEL vii. 9--14)
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