Letter 278

To Drusianus. Even though the horns have not yet, in a manner of speaking, grown upon the calf, still it knows perfectly well that they will grow; and for this reason, with its head it wards off whatever seems to make war against it. So too David: even though Christ the Savior had not yet, according to the dispensation [oikonomia, the divine plan of the Incarnation], appeared to men, yet as a prophet he knew from where the horn of salvation would spring forth—that is, from the seed and from the lineage of David. Therefore David himself said to the Master, Christ: "In you we will gore our enemies" [Psalm 44:5], that is, through you and through your strength and your might, by might we ward off our enemies, the demons. For we, by ourselves, are not strong enough to overcome our invisible enemies.

Κἂν μὴ πὼς ἐφύῃ τῷ μόσχῳ τὰ κέρατα, ἀλλ’ οἶδε πάντως, ὅτι φυήσεται· ὅθεν καὶ τῇ κεφαλῇ τὸ δοκοῦν πολεμεῖν ἀμύνεται. Οὕτω καὶ Δαυΐδ, κἂν μήπω ὁ Σωτὴρ Χριστὸς κατὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐφάνη, ἀλλ’ ὡς προφήτης ἐγίνωσκε, πόθεν ἐξανατελεῖ τῆς σωτηρίας τὸ κέρας, τουτέστιν ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ γένους Δαυΐδ. Διόπερ καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτὸς ὁ Δαυΐδ πρὸς τὸν Δεσπότην Χριστόν· «Ἐν σοὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἡμῶν κερατιοῦμεν», τουτέστι διὰ σοῦ, καὶ διὰ τῆς σῆς ἰσχύος, καὶ τοῦ κράτους, κατὰ κράτος τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἡμῶν ἀμυνόμεθα δαίμονας. Ἡμεῖς γὰρ καθ’ ἑαυτοὺς οὐκ ἰσχύομεν περιγενέσθαι τῶν ἀοράτων ἐχθρῶν.