Section IX

Chrysostom elsewhere also hands down and confirms these heads of doctrine, by which both the twofold will of God is distinguished and the force and rationale of each is laid open, if not with greater fullness of explanation, certainly with no less perspicuity. For, expounding the words which are found in the Psalms¹ and are repeated by Paul², Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not; If thou hadst willed sacrifice, I would surely have given it, he infers³: ἄρα οὖν οὐχ αἱ θυσίαι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ τῶν θυσιῶν ἀναίρεσις, “therefore the sacrifices are not the will of God, but the abolition of the sacrifices”; and he joins the inference with these words: For who required these (sacrifices) from your hands? Then he objects to himself: πῶς οὖν αὐτὸς ἐπέταξε; “How, then, did he himself command them?” And he replies:

συγκαταβαίνων, ὥσπερ ὁ Παῦλος φαίνεται λέγων, θέλω πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἶναι ὡς καὶ ἐμαυτὸν ἐν ἐγκρατείᾳ· καὶ πάλιν παραινῶν ἀλλαχοῦ φησί, βούλομαι νεωτέρας γαμεῖν, τεκνογονεῖν· δύο θελήματα τίθησιν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τὰ δύο αὐτοῦ ἐστίν, εἰ καὶ ἐπιτάττει· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν αὐτοῦ, διὸ καὶ χωρὶς αἰτίας τίθησιν, ἐκεῖνο δὲ οὐκ αὐτοῦ, εἰ καὶ βούλεται, διὸ καὶ μετὰ αἰτίας πρόσκειται· πρότερον γὰρ κατηγορήσας αὐτῶν, ὅτι κατεστρηνίασαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τότε φησί, βούλομαι νεωτέρας γαμεῖν, τεκνογονεῖν· οὕτω

δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα συγκαταβαίνων οἰκονομεῖ· οὐκ αὐτοῦ θέλημα ἦν προηγούμενον τὸ τὰς θυσίας γίνεσθαι· οὕτω καὶ περὶ τοῦ θανάτου λέγων, οὐ βούλομαι τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ὡς τὸ ἐπιστρέψαι αὐτὸν καὶ ζῆν αὐτόν· καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ λέγει, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἠβουλήθη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπεθύμησε τοῦτο· καίτοιγε ἐναντία ταῦτα ἀλλήλοις· ἐπιθυμία γὰρ ἐπιτεταμένη ἡ βούλησίς ἐστι· πῶς οὖν οὐ θέλων, ἀλλαχοῦ ἐπιθυμεῖς, ὃ τοῦ σφόδρα θέλειν ἐστὶ σημεῖον; τοῦτο δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐστὶν εἰπεῖν,

accommodating himself to them and lowering himself to their circumstances. As Paul says⁴, “I will that all men be continent like myself.” And again he says⁵, “I will the younger women to marry, to bear children.” He sets down two wills, but both are not his, even if he commands; the former indeed is his, and therefore he sets it down with no cause adduced, whereas the latter is not his, even if he wills it, and therefore it is proposed not without an added cause. For when he had first accused them because they had grown wanton against Christ, he then added, “I will the younger women to marry, to bear children.” In no other manner does God here administer the matter, accommodating and indulging. It was not his principal⁶ will that sacrifices should be made. Thus also concerning death⁷ he says, “I will not the death of the sinner, but that he return to his senses and live.” And in another place⁸ he says that he not only willed this, but even desired it, although these things seem mutually opposed. For desire is an intense will. How, therefore, do you elsewhere desire that which you do not will, a thing which is an indication of vehement will? This, however, is what must be repeated here also.

Namely, God did not will sacrifices by that will which Christ⁹ signified when he said, ἰδοὺ ἥκω τοῦ ποιῆσαι, ὁ Θεός, τὸ θέλημά σου, “Behold, I come, O God, to do thy will.”