1. Since the Lord warns us, saying, “Ye are the salt of the earth,” and since He bids us to be simple to harmlessness, and yet with our simplicity to

 2. From which an example is given us to avoid the way of the old man, to stand in the footsteps of a conquering Christ, that we may not again be incau

 3. But, beloved brethren, not only must we beware of what is open and manifest, but also of what deceives by the craft of subtle fraud. And what can b

 4. If any one consider and examine these things, there is no need for lengthened discussion and arguments.  There is easy proof for faith in a short s

 5. And this unity we ought firmly to hold and assert, especially those of us that are bishops who preside in the Church, that we may also prove the ep

 6. The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous she is uncorrupted and pure. She knows one home she guards with chaste modesty the sanctity of one couc

 7. This sacrament of unity, this bond of a concord inseparably cohering, is set forth where in the Gospel the coat of the Lord Jesus Christ is not at

 8. Who, then, is so wicked and faithless, who is so insane with the madness of discord, that either he should believe that the unity of God can be div

 9. Therefore also the Holy Spirit came as a dove, a simple and joyous creature, not bitter with gall, not cruel in its bite, not violent with the rend

 10. Hence heresies not only have frequently been originated, but continue to be so while the perverted mind has no peace—while a discordant faithless

 11. Against people of this kind the Lord cries from these He restrains and recalls His erring people, saying, “Hearken not unto the words of the fals

 12. Nor let any deceive themselves by a futile interpretation, in respect of the Lord having said, “Wheresoever two or three are gathered together in

 13. Thus, also, when He gave the law of prayer, He added, saying, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any that your Father

 14. Even if such men were slain in confession of the Name, that stain is not even washed away by blood: the inexpiable and grave fault of discord is n

 15. For both to prophesy and to cast out devils, and to do great acts upon the earth is certainly a sublime and an admirable thing but one does not a

 16. This evil, most faithful brethren, had long ago begun, but now the mischievous destruction of the same evil has increased, and the envenomed plagu

 17. Yet let not the excessive and headlong faithlessness of many move or disturb us, but rather strengthen our faith in the truthfulness which has for

 18. Thus Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who endeavoured to claim to themselves the power of sacrificing in opposition to Moses and Aaron the priest, under

 19. These, doubtless, they imitate and follow, who, despising God’s tradition, seek after strange doctrines, and bring in teachings of human appointme

 20. Nor let any one marvel, beloved brethren, that even some of the confessors advance to these lengths, and thence also that some others sin thus wic

 21. Confession is the beginning of glory, not the full desert of the crown nor does it perfect our praise, but it initiates our dignity and since it

 22. For the Lord chose Judas also among the apostles, and yet afterwards Judas betrayed the Lord. Yet not on that account did the faith and firmness o

 23. I indeed desire, beloved brethren, and I equally endeavour and exhort, that if it be possible, none of the brethren should perish, and that our re

 24. The Holy Spirit warns us, and says, “What man is he that desireth to live, and would fain see good days? Refrain thy tongue from evil, and thy lip

 25. This unanimity formerly prevailed among the apostles and thus the new assembly of believers, keeping the Lord’s commandments, maintained its char

 26. But in us unanimity is diminished in proportion as liberality of working is decayed. Then they used to give for sale houses and estates and that

7. This sacrament of unity, this bond of a concord inseparably cohering, is set forth where in the Gospel the coat of the Lord Jesus Christ is not at all divided nor cut, but is received as an entire garment, and is possessed as an uninjured and undivided robe by those who cast lots concerning Christ’s garment, who should rather put on Christ.23    The above reading of this passage seems hopelessly obscure; and it is not much mended apparently by substituting “ipsam” for Christum, unless “potius” be omitted, as in some editions, in which case we should read, “who should put it on.” Holy Scripture speaks, saying, “But of the coat, because it was not sewed, but woven from the top throughout, they said one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots whose it shall be.”24    John xix. 23, 24. That coat bore with it an unity that came down from the top, that is, that came from heaven and the Father, which was not to be at all rent by the receiver and the possessor, but without separation we obtain a whole and substantial entireness. He cannot possess the garment of Christ who parts and divides the Church of Christ. On the other hand, again, when at Solomon’s death his kingdom and people were divided, Abijah the prophet, meeting Jeroboam the king in the field, divided his garment into twelve sections, saying, “Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten sceptres unto thee; and two sceptres shall be unto him for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen to place my name there.”25    1 Kings xi. 31. As the twelve tribes of Israel were divided, the prophet Abijah rent his garment. But because Christ’s people cannot be rent, His robe, woven and united throughout, is not divided by those who possess it; undivided, united, connected, it shows the coherent concord of our people who put on Christ. By the sacrament and sign of His garment, He has declared the unity of the Church.

VII. Hoc unitatis sacramentum, hoc vinculum concordiae inseparabiliter cohaerentis ostenditur quando in Evangelio tunica Domini Jesu Christi non dividitur omnino nec scinditur, sed sortientibus de veste Christi quis Christum indueret, integra vestis accipitur, et incorrupta atque indivisa tunica possidetur. Loquitur 0505A ac dicit Scriptura divina: De tunica autem, quia de superiore parte non consutilis, sed per totum textilis fuerat, dixerunt ad invicem: Non scindamus illam, sed sortiamur de ea cujus sit (Joan. XIX, 23, 24). Unitatem illa portabat de superiore parte venientem, id est de coelo et a Patre venientem, quae ab accipiente ac possidente scindi omnino non poterat, sed totam simul et solidam firmitatem inseparabiliter obtinebat. Possidere non potest indumentum Christi qui scindit et dividit Ecclesiam Christi. Contra denique cum, Salomone moriente, regnum ejus et populus scinderetur, Achias propheta Jeroboam regi obvius factus in campo, in duodecim scissuras vestimentum suum discidit dicens: Sume tibi decem scissuras, quia haec dicit Dominus: Ecce scindo regnum de manu Salomonis, et 0505Bdabo tibi decem sceptra, et duo sceptra erunt ei propter servum meum David et propter Hierusalem civitatem quam elegi ut ponam nomen meum illic (III Reg. XI, 31, 32, 36). Cum duodecim tribus Israel scinderetur, vestimentum suum propheta Achias discidit. At vero, quia Christi populus non potest scindi, tunica ejus per totum textilis et cohaerens divisa a possidentibus non est. Individua, copulata, connexa ostendit populi nostri, qui Christum induimus, concordiam cohaerentem. Sacramento vestis et signo declaravit Ecclesiae unitatem.