Nilus of Ancyra→Aelianus|c. 415 AD|nilus ancyra|From Ancyra|AI-assisted
To Aelianus the Reader.
"Wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from the body of this death?" [Romans 7:24]. The divine Apostle does not declare that the body is death, but rather the law of sin, which is in the members of the body, lurking within us because of the transgression in Adam, and urging the soul on toward the death of unrighteousness.
Our Lord, Savior, and Christ takes delight in our praiseworthy works, being nourished by them each day and night. For "I have food to eat," he said to the apostles, "which you do not now know" [John 4:32], but after these things you shall know; for he was rising up beforehand to set before his own disciples, as food, the salvation of the city of the Samaritans who then believed [John 4], and the salvation of the countless nations who became Christians thereafter. For Isaiah too proclaimed beforehand concerning Christ that "He shall eat butter and honey" [Isaiah 7:15]. He who in the beginning fashioned Adam, but later was seen as a little child and as a man, is Christ Jesus the God also of heaven and of earth and of all visible things. Through butter and honey he intimates that which nourishes the soul and that which is sweet, gentle, and agreeable in the good work of Christians.
"Wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from the body of this death?" [Romans 7:24]. The divine Apostle does not declare that the body is death, but rather the law of sin, which is in the members of the body, lurking within us because of the transgression in Adam, and urging the soul on toward the death of unrighteousness.
Our Lord, Savior, and Christ takes delight in our praiseworthy works, being nourished by them each day and night. For "I have food to eat," he said to the apostles, "which you do not now know" [John 4:32], but after these things you shall know; for he was rising up beforehand to set before his own disciples, as food, the salvation of the city of the Samaritans who then believed [John 4], and the salvation of the countless nations who became Christians thereafter. For Isaiah too proclaimed beforehand concerning Christ that "He shall eat butter and honey" [Isaiah 7:15]. He who in the beginning fashioned Adam, but later was seen as a little child and as a man, is Christ Jesus the God also of heaven and of earth and of all visible things. Through butter and honey he intimates that which nourishes the soul and that which is sweet, gentle, and agreeable in the good work of Christians.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.