Pg 88 Κοσμάς Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography. Preface to the online edition

John the Forerunner.

This is the greatest of all men----John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Ghost while he was yet in the womb, and leaped in joy and eagerness to be the forerunner of his Lord----a man great in the sight of God, the forerunner of Christ, preparing for him a people put in readiness to receive him----a man superior to the prophets, born into the world before the Apostles, intermediate between the Old and the New Testament, the last under the law, the receiver of the new dispensation----the man who showed to all the Lord Christ as present among them, who surpassed all men in the austerity of his manner of life, and outdid all men in service rendered----who went before in the spirit and power of Elias, and surpassed Elias, in that he baptized the Lord----a lamp that was lighted before the sun of righteousness. He [240] proclaimed the presence of the Lord, saying: Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world,¹⁹² calling him a lamb as being a sacrificial victim, and taking away the sin of the world----as delivering the world from sin, rendering men incorrupt, and immortal and immutable through the resurrection. This great John was privileged to be the herald of such a ministry and of such great things.

Note.

This is John the greatest of all men, who had both his father and his mother as fellow-prophets, who not only shows the Lord Christ to be present as the Prince of the second state, but proclaims him to be the Judge of all, saying: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with |210 unquenchable fire.¹⁹³ He again proclaims beforehand the kingdom of heaven, and prepares the way for Him who comes after him, and who shows in himself in very deed the kingdom of heaven, which is the second state. Glory to God who has produced all things out of nothing, and again creates them anew in Christ. Amen!

The Prophet Zachariah.

This Zachariah the priest, who was himself thought worthy of the power of prophecy, spoke both concerning his own son and the Lord Christ together, in these words: And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.¹⁹⁴

The Prophetess Elisabeth.

This is the prophetess Elisabeth, who by the Holy Spirit was privileged to prophesy both concerning the Lord Christ and the Holy Virgin, speaking thus: And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?¹⁹⁵ Thus both the father and the mother of the forerunner were privileged to announce beforehand the Lord Christ. To him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen!

The Virgin Mary.

This is the holy virgin, Mary, who brought forth her blessed offspring to the world without seed by the Holy Spirit, who even before his birth announced with great joy the dignity of her son, and said: For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;¹⁹⁶ and again: He hath holpen Israel his servant, that lie might remember [241] mercy, as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed for ever.¹⁹⁷ To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen! |211 

The Prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel.

This is Anna the daughter of Phanuel, who gave thanks to God concerning Him in the temple, when His parents brought Him up into the temple in the days of their purification, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written.¹⁹⁸

Simeon.

This is the righteous Simeon who, when he had taken up the Lord Christ in his arms, prayed to God to let him depart this life, as it had been revealed to him by the spirit, saying thus: Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart, in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people----a light for revelation to the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.¹⁹⁹

The Lord Christ.

This is the Lord of all, Christ, concerning whom all prophecy made its predictions to men, unto whom all creation turns its eye, and to whom every tongue shall confess, bending the knee to the glory of God----Christ, in whom all prophecy terminates, the judge of the quick and the dead, the light from the light, the Son of the living God----unto whom the whole creation is subjected both of things in heaven, and things on earth and things under the earth, who also spoke through His own lips: The law and the prophets until John predicted Christ.²⁰⁰ To Him be glory with the Father and with the Holy Ghost for ever. Amen.

Introduction concerning the Apostles.

We have now fulfilled our promise in accordance with the obligations it imposed upon us, namely to show that |212 the men of primitive times and all the prophets uttered predictions concerning the mystery of Christ, and that they all, from the first-created man, Adam, until John the Baptist, had the future state full in their view; which also the Lord Christ and his disciples and Apostles afterwards explicitly proclaimed, setting forth that there is a future state far better than the present state, which the Lord Christ first showed in himself to us when he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, which also the men of old with some purpose in view²⁰¹ [obscurely?] announced, and which those who came afterwards clearly set forth. We have also shown that not one of them whether of the later or the earlier ever proclaimed or imagined that [242] besides those two states there was any other state at all either before or after them; but that when God began to make the whole creation, he made these two states and these only, ordaining that this present state, in which we live as citizens, should be first, and then the future state, whereunto the whole purpose of God and of his prophets has respect. Let the Pagans then take shame to themselves, who suppose the world to be co-eternal with God, while they both advocate the doctrine of a previous life, and deny the resurrection of the body. And let those too take shame to themselves who are their followers, and who, while they regard themselves as Christians, nevertheless think as do the Pagans who assert that the heaven is spherical. For their views differ not at all from those which the Pagans proclaim; as for instance, that the bodies of which the world is made are always in corruption, and that there is no resurrection of the body, nor any other state than the present Let the Manichaeans |213 and the Marcionists²⁰² take shame to themselves, who reject the flesh, and maintain that it is the production of the evil principle. Let all be ashamed who contemn our souls with their intelligence, Eutychês to wit, Arius, and Appolinarius²⁰³ and all their followers. Let all the heretics take shame to themselves who acknowledge not one God the Maker of heaven and earth, known and worshipped in three persons, and who acknowledge neither the resurrection of our flesh, nor the existence of angel or spirit. Let the unbelieving Jews take shame to themselves who have not received Him who was expected, and confess not the Christian resurrection, but only such a condition of life as our present, in which there is marrying and being given in marriage. But well-done! well-done! ye who are truly Christians, to you be joy and exultation, to you who believe all divine scripture, both the Old and the New Testament, who have been led by the law and have believed in Christ and all that he has proclaimed, especially when saying: The law and the prophets prophesied until John;²⁰⁴ and: From the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force;²⁰⁵ meaning that as many as do violence to themselves, and live righteously, and are not guided by their own notions, but have faith in God, all obtain that kingdom. |214 And to be sure, when the mother of John and James asked the Lord that one of them should sit on His right hand and the other on His left hand in His Kingdom, He answered her saying: It is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father;²⁰⁶ that is, the gift of God is extended to all, the rising again from the dead, and becoming incorruptible, and immortal and immutable----but to be preferred in honour to another, this is not a gift, but what is prepared by God for those who believe and act aright. For the Lord again saith: Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you;²⁰⁷ and when it was prepared he tells us by adding: from the foundation of the world.

[243] Since Moses then, who describes the world, and all the other prophets, and the men of old have spoken of these two states and of these only, without making mention of any others, but proclaiming only these and committing them to writing----and since not these only but also the Lord when he came among us, and his disciples, Evangelists and Apostles have proclaimed nothing else than only these two states and these alone, what is there further wanting to confute the belief that these things are not true? Who will not pay regard to the multitude of predictions----to the fulfilment of prophecies----to the multitude of signs and astonishing miracles----to the very walk and conversation of all the saints and of the Lord Christ and his Apostles----to the harmony of the Old and the New Testament? Which of these dissented from the others, and maintained that the heaven was spherical, or proclaimed the pre-existence of this world, or represented that the world was eternal, or denied the resurrection of the body, or the dispensation of Christ, under which righteous men go up to heaven? But all of them, |215 as being guided by one divine Spirit, predicted the same things by words and by acts and by figures, and all of them direct their view to the future state. And the Lord Christ himself shows in the Gospels in what place perfect righteous men, intermediate men, and impious men shall have their abode. And concerning the perfect righteous, he shows their place when he calls them to himself saying: Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of the world;²⁰⁸ and concerning the impious he shows theirs, when he says to those on his left hand: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels,²⁰⁹ as if he said, to the righteous, come above to the inner heaven beyond this visible firmament, and to the impious, go down to the place about the earth,²¹⁰ into which the devil also was hurled down. We are left under the necessity of seeking the place of the intermediate men. Christ says then in the parable of the ten virgins, that the five who were wise went in with the bridegroom into the bride-chamber, that is, into heaven, because, since they were wise, they chose virginity and alms-giving----but the foolish virgins who had, chosen the one of these but despised the other, remained outside of the bride-chamber, having found the door shut, and heard these words: Depart from me, I know you not;²¹¹ being neither permitted to enter, nor condemned along with the impious, but remaining outside of the bride-chamber.

Thus then each one who has right and unfeigned faith and a worthy life enters with confidence into the Kingdom, but such, on the other hand, as have not even one of them, neither right faith nor an honest life, are condemned ta spend their time along with the devil about the earth. But |216 those who have one and hot the other, are the intermediate [244] men, condemned to remain outside the bride-chamber, that is, the firmament. The particular nature, however, either of the good things or of the punishments, it is impossible for us to know, except by our actual experience of them; but by what was merely an example taken from the punishments and the good things of life here, He indicated what would be hereafter. For, since it was not possible for us before we had as yet acquired experience, to hear new things otherwise than in so far as they were figuratively stated, He said: The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain King who made a marriage feast for his son,²¹² having selected the highest of the good things of this life, and likened them to the good things of the future life. In like manner also to the worst things----fire, the undying worm, Tartarus, the gnashing of teeth, darkness and things similar to these, because they are the most frightful forms of earthly punishments, to these he likened the punishments of the hereafter. But it is possible to estimate neither the good things of the future life, nor its terrible things, nor the things that are intermediate. But that other state is far better than the present, and is altogether very far superior, just as this present life is far better than that when we were within our mother's womb. For we must consider what was our condition within the womb, where we existed in a confusion of darkness, blood, bad humours, bile and all kinds of impurity, while we were in ignorance of everything. But having emerged into this life we see things quite different, of which we had gained no previous experience----an extension of freedom, inspiration of the air, the enjoyment of the beautiful light, the framework of nature, the workmanship of an all-wise artificer, and this too while we are filled with the knowledge of God; |217 not one of which things it was possible for us either to know, or to conceive, or to hear, or to enjoy, while we were still in the womb. In like manner also it is impossible for us, while we are still in this life, to understand or to conceive or to picture to our minds the future state which is altogether better than this, unless we are in the midst of the things themselves, for, saith He: Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him.²¹³ Just as God then has in this life freely bestowed a common gift upon all, making the sun rise upon just and unjust, and sending his rain upon good and bad, so also in the future state he bestows a common gift upon all, immortality and incorruption and life and immutability, but each one, according to his former deeds, procures for himself either the Kingdom, or the punishment due to him, or ascent into heaven, or remaining about the earth, or in the intermediate condition. All these things, moreover, are eternal and infinite, both the good things and the very worst. And altogether that state differs much, yea as much as can be, from the state here. In contrast to the good things which have been prepared for the righteous are set the things of the impious, punishment of the utmost [245] severity, and judgment without mercy; for the judgment and punishment of this present state have their analogy in the future state. Let us then now come to the Evangelists and Apostles and show that they also speak in harmony with the ancients, declaring that these two states and these alone have been made by God: the first, being this in which we now exist, and the future, that unto which all we Christians direct our gaze. Let us therefore delineate Matthew the first of the evangelists who speaks concerning such things. |218 

Matthew the Evangelist.

This is the first of the evangelists who wrote a Gospel. A Gospel ('Euagge/lion) is so called because it is an announcement (a)ggeli/a) of good things. When upon the outbreak in Jerusalem of the persecution in which Stephen was stoned to death, he was on the point of quitting the city, and certain of the faithful requested him to leave them his teaching in writing; he, who knew by personal experience the manner of life of the Lord incarnate upon earth, wrote for them an account thereof, for the purpose of setting before them an image of virtuous social intercourse, of a heavenly life, and of a divine walk and conversation. In carrying out this design he begins the narrative which he composed in these words: The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham,²¹⁴ as if he said, addressing to you, O most faithful, my discourse of the miraculous generation, of our highest duty to others, of the heavenly life, and of the new state, I lay my book before you. And, seeing that God made promises to David and to Abraham that all the nations of the world should be blessed through their seed, and that their seed should reign for ever, I set forth the genealogy of Him who sprang from their seed, of Him, through whom God blesses the world and creates it anew, and on whom He bestows an everlasting Kingdom, and I show that He is the Prince of the future state, conceived and born in a new and becoming way, and that He directed His life in all righteousness and holiness and without sin. For just as the first-made man Adam was produced by divine power from earth which had not been sown nor tilled by man, so also the Prince of the second state was |219 produced from human kind, that is to say, He was produced from the virgin earth without seed, without man, by the power of the Holy Ghost And just again as formerly the female was produced from the male, so too in this case the male was produced from the female; and just as the former, having been worsted by the devil, brought death upon the human race, so too the latter, having proved victorious, destroyed the power of death over the race, and procured for it, besides, immortality and life without end. The blessed Matthew, having in view to tell these and such like things, gave forth the work which he had written, wherein he showed how Christ had been conceived without seed by the Holy Ghost, and how, as He advanced in [246] years, He lived without sin among His fellow men, and fulfilled the requirements of the law and gospel, and all other righteousness; and how, when He was delivered over to the tempter, He came off victorious, having remained invincible, and having hurled out of the arena²¹⁵ the adversary of human nature; and how when the Jews plotted against Him and delivered Him over unjustly to death, He submitted willingly even to this, for the sake of our race----in order that having, as reason required, torn up the old bond, He might nail it to the cross, and might, as a reasonable sacrifice, pay the penalty of death that was due for all, by offering Himself to God spotless. Then afterwards, having after three days risen from the dead, He showed to all the destruction of death, and exhorted all to rejoice because He had taken away henceforth the power of death. Matthew also mentions the ascent into heaven, if not at the end of his book, yet in the course of his narrative, when he speaks concerning John the Baptist thus: And in those days came John the Baptist |220 preaching in the wilderness of Judaea and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;²¹⁶ as if he said, the mansion in the heavens is now ready to be revealed, as the Christ is now near. But even in the Beatitudes and everywhere in his book, he mentions the kingdom of heaven, but more especially when the Lord in arguing with the Pharisees and Sadducees concerning the resurrection he speaks thus: For in the resurrection thcy neither marry nor are given in marriage, but arc as the angels of God in heaven.²¹⁷ This is the design which the blessed Matthew the Evangelist had in view when composing his narrative.
Mark the Evangelist.

This is Mark, the second who composed a Gospel, a work which Peter in Rome enjoined him to undertake. He described, as the beginning of the Gospel or the Gospel dispensation, the baptism which was a type of the resurrection from the dead, through which we are born again into an immortal and unchangeable life. Then, after he had given an account of the temptations and the victory, and likewise of the plotting against Him, and the death, and the resurrection, he brought his composition to a close. He too mentions John the Baptist as proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven was at hand----and all that he announced was in harmony with the blessed Matthew.

Note.

And he also, being a preacher of the New Testament, wrote for us the same things as his predecessor, beginning with the account of the baptism, which is a type of the resurrection from the dead----that is, of the new and heavenly dispensation. He showed how Christ was baptized, and what was His manner of life, and how He was put to death, and rose again and ascended |221 into heaven, where there is the seat and the polity of the second state. Glory to God who from the beginning has prepared it, [247] and announced it beforehand and has fulfilled it, and is fulfilling it. Amen!

Luke the Evangelist.

This is Luke the third of the Evangelists, who, having seen that many had taken in hand to write Gospels, and invented many things out of their own head, at once wrote to his own disciple Theophilus, warning him not to be carried away with their fictions, and not to be turned away from what he had learned at first: That thou, he says, mightest know accurately the certainty of those things wherein thou wast instructed.²¹⁸ He relates therefore to him what he had already delivered to him, beginning from the birth of John, announcing this, that the birth of the Forerunner also was miraculous. He then related the birth of the Lord Christ according to the flesh which was also miraculous, and, following the design of Matthew, who had preceded him, he enumerated his ancestors retrogressively, showing that he was descended from David and Abraham, and going still farther back he derived him from Adam. As he found no remoter ancestor he then at length fell back upon God, saying: who was the son of God, that is, of Him who, according to the sacred historian Moses, originated the creation, and made the first man Adam. Then again after having narrated things similar to the other evangelists, concerning the baptism and the temptations, and still further concerning His death and resurrection, he relates after these, both in the Gospel itself and in the Acts, His ascension into heaven, and states that He will in like manner come back again. And so he also closes his work directing his eyes to the object of |222 desire which all expect, and instructing in this also his disciple the God-beloved Theophilus.

Note 1.

This preacher of the New Testament also said the same things with the others, beginning from the generation of the Forerunner, and coming to the birth of Jesus, and showing what was the manner of His life. In like manner he also discoursed of the evangelical life----I mean baptism, death, resurrection, and finally of the ascent into heaven, which is the place of our habitation in the second state. Glory to God who from the beginning prepared these things and announced them beforehand, and who has now fulfilled and is fulfilling them. Amen!

Note 2.

It was he again who noted down the doxology of the multitude of the host of the angels, who were rejoicing and exulting at the birth of the Lord Christ according to the flesh, and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure among men,²¹⁹ now putting away from themselves the old dejection brought upon them through the first-made man, and rejoicing at the birth of the second Adam.