Dialogues of Ss. Cyril and Methodius with Jews

Our Holy Fathers, Cyril (known in the world as Constantine the Philosopher) and Methodius, the Enlighteners of the Slavs, were renowned for their profound wisdom and unwavering confession of Christ.

The following excerpts, taken from the Life of these Saints as compiled by St. Demetrios of Rostov, recount the God-inspired dialogues St. Constantine the Philosopher held with Jewish scholars during his mission to the Khazars. Herein, we witness the clarity with which the Saint, drawing from the very Old Testament Scriptures, demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah, the fulfillment of all prophecy, and that the Orthodox Christian Faith is the New Israel, the true inheritor of God’s promises.

For us, True Orthodox Christians, these ancient words serve as a powerful affirmation. They illuminate the path of Divine Truth, which the Church has steadfastly maintained, and reveal the tragic misstep of those who rejected the Cornerstone. May the firm confession of St. Constantine strengthen our own understanding and our resolve to stand fast in the True Faith.

At this dinner, there were many Jews. Some of them said to the blessed Constantine: “Tell us, Christian philosopher: how can the female sex contain God in the womb, upon Whom even the angels cannot gaze?”

The philosopher, pointing with his finger at the Khagan’s first counsellor, said: “If someone were to say that this first counsellor cannot receive the Khagan into his house and entertain him, when even the lowliest slave can do so, what would we call him: mad or sensible?”

“Even very mad,” replied the Jews.

Then the philosopher proposed this question: “Which of all visible creations under heaven is the most honourable?”

“Man is the most honourable creation,” replied the Jews, “because he has a rational soul, created in the image of God.”

“Therefore, those are irrational,” replied the philosopher, “who deem it impossible for God to be contained in a human womb, when they know that He was contained in the thorn bush (the burning bush) with Moses. Is the bush, a soulless and unfeeling creation, more honourable than a sentient and rational creature, having a God-like soul? Besides the bush, God was contained in a cloud, smoke, and fire, when He appeared to Job, Moses, and Elijah. Especially wondrous is it that God was contained in the most honourable animate creation, desiring to appear on earth and live with men, to deliver them from the mortal plague inflicted upon the human race by Adam’s sin. From whom, if not from the Creator Himself, tell me, should the most honourable creation, that is, the human race, have expected healing and renewal? Did not David foretell: ‘He sent His Word, and healed them’ (Ps. 106:20)? Therefore the Word of the Father, God the Son, came and healed human nature. How could the Word of the Father heal man, if He had not united with man through incarnation and applied Himself to man like a healing plaster? Does a physician, wishing to heal a wounded man, apply a plaster to a tree or a stone, and not to the sick person? Therefore, God also applied His Only-begotten Word, like a plaster, not to a tree, although It had previously appeared even among trees in the bush, nor to a stone, although It was visible in the stone mountains of Sinai and Horeb to Moses and Elijah, but to man, who was afflicted by the disease of sin. The union became inseparable, for the Lord deigned to dwell in a pure, virginal, and not merely female, womb, as Isaiah prophesied concerning this: ‘Behold, a Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which means: God with us’ (Is. 7:14). Here the prophet clearly says that God the Son would be born on earth of a pure and unwedded Virgin. And that it was possible for God to dwell in a virginal womb for our salvation, recall what is written in your books. Your Rabbi Akiva says: ‘In thunder of stone and in voice of trumpet, appear not thus unto us, O Lord, appear not thus unto us, O bountiful Lord, but dwell Thou in our womb, take away our sins.’ If, then, Moses prayed to God that He might dwell in our wombs, why then do you reproach us, who confess that God dwelt in a female womb, and not simply a female one, but in a virginal, pure, undefiled, and unespoused one? He dwells also in our wombs when we Christians partake in the mystical sacrifice. As you see, the ancient prayer of Moses, recorded in your books according to the testimony of Rabbi Akiva, has been fulfilled: God has dwelt in our wombs, taking away our sins.”

After dinner, all dispersed and appointed a day on which they would again converse about faith. On the appointed day, all gathered and, at the Khagan’s invitation, sat in the designated places. Constantine made this preface to the conversation:

“Behold, I am alone among you, a foreigner, and we are all conversing about God, in Whose hands are all things, and our hearts. As we converse, let him among you who is strong in words, if he understands, confirm our words; and if he does not, let him ask again, and we will endeavour to explain.”

The Jews began the conversation with this question: “Tell us: which law did God give first: the Mosaic law, or the one which you Christians hold?”

“Is it not for this reason,” replied the blessed Constantine, “that you have asked me which law was first, so that you may then say that the first is the best?”

“Yes,” replied the Jews. “And therefore, one should obey the first law, as the primary and best.”

“If you wish to fulfil only the first law, then renounce circumcision,” Constantine said to the Jews.

“Why do you say this?” asked the Jews.

“Tell me truly,” Constantine said to the Jews, “was the first law given in circumcision or in uncircumcision?”

“We think,” replied the Jews, “that it was in circumcision.”

“Was it not to Noah,” said Constantine, “that God gave the first law? And this was before circumcision and after the commandment given in paradise to Adam after his fall. God covenanted with Noah that human blood should not be shed: ‘Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed’ (Gen. 9:6). Then, speaking of the eating of green herbs, beasts, cattle, birds, and fish, God said to Noah: ‘And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you’ (Gen. 9:9).”

“But a covenant is not a law,” said the Jews. “God did not say to Noah: My law, but My covenant. We, however, speak of law.”

“Do you observe circumcision as a law, or not?” asked Constantine.

“We hold it as a law,” replied the Jews.

“But circumcision,” continued Constantine, “God also did not call a law, but only a covenant, when He said to Abraham: ‘And thou shalt keep My covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations… Every male among you shall be circumcised… and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you… and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant’ (Gen. 17:9–13). Behold, see,” said Constantine, “God never called circumcision a law, but a covenant. Will you therefore renounce circumcision as unlawful? If, however, you observe the covenant of circumcision as a law, then you must also observe the covenant given to Noah as a law and call it the first law, which God gave to the human race, exiled from paradise and preserved from the waters of the flood.”

“No,” replied the Jews. “Only the law given to Moses is law, and that we fulfil.”

“If the covenant given to Noah,” said Constantine, “is not a law, but only a covenant, because God did not call it a law, but a covenant, then the law given to Moses is also not a law, because God in the 11th chapter of the book of the prophet Jeremiah does not call it a law, but a covenant: ‘Hear ye the words of this covenant… Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt’ (Jer. 11:2–4). If this covenant is a law for you, then the covenant given to Noah is also a law. And since this law was given before circumcision, you ought to observe it as the first and not listen to other laws that came after it, that is, Abraham’s and Moses’. For you yourselves said that the first law is the best and one must obey it.”

The Jews then evaded this question, began to speak of something else, and said: “Whoever kept the law of Moses pleased God. Therefore, we also, observing it, hope likewise to be pleasing to God. You, however, hold to a new law, which you yourselves have invented, and despise the old law.”

“By accepting the new law,” replied the philosopher, “we have done well. For even Abraham, if he had not accepted circumcision, but only fulfilled Noah’s covenant, would not have been called a friend of God. Likewise Moses, after Abraham, not content with the previously given laws to Noah and Abraham, wrote a new law. We act according to their example. However, just as they, following one after another, did not abolish the former laws – Abraham did not reject Noah’s, nor Moses both – but, supplying what was lacking, set forth in more extensive laws the more perfect will of God, so that the Lord’s commandment might be firm; so too we do not deny the old covenant, written on the Mosaic tablets, but hold to all that, so as to know the One God, Creator of all creation, and also: not to kill, not to steal, and the other commandments. We only abstain from all that is not written on the Mosaic tablets, for example: circumcision, the offering in sacrifice of irrational creatures, and other similar things. They were only a shadow and likeness of the new law that was to come, and therefore with its advent, they had to be abandoned. What need is there to keep the shadow, when we have the thing itself in our hands?”

“If what you say about the old covenant,” objected the Jews, “the ordinances and covenants, apart from the Mosaic tablets, were only a shadow and likeness of your new covenant, then the ancient lawgivers would have known this and would have spoken of your new law, which was to be in the future. For a shadow and likeness must delineate the thing that eyes expect to see. But your law the lawgivers did not expect, and therefore all Old Testament ordinances and covenants, like the Mosaic tablets, are not a shadow and likeness, but the very truth (the thing), which you also, like what is written on the Mosaic tablets, must keep as truth.”

Against this, the philosopher replied thus: “If the ancient lawgivers, who were in the old covenant, did not know that after their law a new law would come, then I would ask you: when God first gave Noah the covenant, about which we spoke earlier, did He then announce to him that He would give another law after it to His favourite, Abraham? Of course not, but He established the first covenant as existing for eternal generations. Did He also announce to Abraham, when He gave him the covenant, that He would subsequently give another law to Moses? But concerning our new covenant, He thoroughly announced it through His holy prophets. So listen to Jeremiah speaking: ‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord’ (Jer. 31:31–32). See, here is a clear prophecy about our new covenant. Likewise, the prophet Isaiah foretold of the new covenant, from the Lord’s Person, saying: ‘Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth’ (Is. 43:18–19). Thus, the ancient lawgivers knew about the new law of grace, awaited it, and prophesied about it. Therefore, your Old Testament ordinances and covenants are a shadow and likeness of our awaited law, and not the very truth, and therefore they must be cast aside as unnecessary.”

“Every Jew acknowledges as truth that there will be a new law,” said the Jews, “but the time has not yet come for the Anointed One to appear.”

“What are you still waiting for?” replied Constantine. “Has not the authority of your kingdom and principality, which according to the prophecy of the forefather Jacob was to exist only until the coming of Christ the Messiah, ceased? Has not Jerusalem been destroyed? Have not the sacrifices been rejected? Has not the glory of the Lord departed from you to the Gentiles, as the prophet Malachi clearly foretold concerning this, saying: ‘I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same My name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My name, and a pure offering: for My name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts’ (Mal. 1:10–11).”

“We understand this passage thus,” replied the Jews, “that the Gentiles will be blessed through us, as we, the seed of Abraham, are blessed; they will be circumcised in the city of Jerusalem.”

“Through Whom the seed of Abraham is blessed,” replied Constantine, “through Him we also are blessed, namely through the Messiah, Who came from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesse, and David. For God said to Abraham: ‘In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed’ (Gen. 12:3), and to Isaac: ‘In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed’ (Gen. 26:4), and the same to Jacob (Gen. 28:14); but David says: ‘All nations shall call Him blessed’ (Ps. 71:17). And that the Messiah was to come both for the sake of the tribe of Abraham and for the salvation of the Gentiles, Jacob once said, blessing Judah: ‘The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be’ (Gen. 49:10). And the prophet Zechariah, announcing to the daughter of Zion – Jerusalem – the coming of the meek King, sitting on an ass and a colt, says: ‘And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and He shall speak peace unto the heathen’ (Zech. 9:10). Behold, you see that the Messiah was to come not only for your sake, O Jews, but also for the sake of the Gentiles. It seems to me that He came more for the Gentiles than for you, for you did not receive Him, but the Gentiles received Him; you killed Him, but the Gentiles believed in Him; you rejected Him, but the Gentiles loved Him; therefore He also rejected you, but called the Gentiles and is glorified in them. And that the awaited Messiah has indeed come, you can be convinced by the holy prophet Daniel. To this prophet in Babylon, in the first year of the reign of Darius, the angel of the Lord, Gabriel, appeared and from this time until the coming of the Messiah into the world appointed 70 weeks. Each week contains 7 years, and all together – 490 years. Your Talmud also counts thus. How long ago have these years passed? If you examine, you will find that more than 800 years have passed since the weeks spoken to Daniel were fulfilled (Dan. 2:1–49).”

“I will ask you also about this,” said Constantine, “what do you think was the iron kingdom, about which Daniel spoke to Nebuchadnezzar when he explained to him the dream of the great image?”

“The iron kingdom signified the Roman,” replied the Jews.

“And whom,” asked the philosopher, “does the stone signify, which was cut out of the mountain without human hands and crushed this image?”

“The stone signifies the Messiah,” replied the Jews, and at this they added, “if, according to the sayings of the prophets and other events, as you say, the Messiah has already come, then why does the Roman kingdom still hold power to this day?”

“No,” replied the philosopher, “it no longer holds power, but has passed away, like the other kingdoms. Our kingdom is not Roman, but Christ’s, as the prophet said: ‘And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever’ (Dan. 2:44). Is this not the Christian kingdom, so called by the name of Christ? The Romans served idols, but these – Christians, partly consisting of this people, partly of other tribes and nations – reign in the name of Christ, as the prophet Isaiah describes it, saying: ‘And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto My chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call His servants by another name: That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth’ (Is. 65:15–16). Have not all the prophecies spoken about Christ been fulfilled? Isaiah foretold His birth of a Virgin, saying thus: ‘Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel’ (Is. 7:14). And the holy prophet Micah speaks thus of the birth in Bethlehem: ‘But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will He give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth’ (Mic. 5:2–3).”

“We,” said the Jews, “are the blessed descendants of Shem, who received a blessing from his father, Noah. You, however, have not received a blessing.”

“Noah’s blessing of Shem has nothing to do with you,” said Constantine, “but is only a glorification of God, for Noah said: ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Shem’ (Gen. 9:26). Here the Lord God is blessed by the lips of Noah for the sake of virtuous Shem, and nothing more. But to Japheth, from whom we are descended, Noah said: ‘God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem’ (Gen. 9:27). You yourselves can see how, by the grace of God, Christianity is spreading, and how you are increasingly losing significance. Even where you once dwelt, there now the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is blessed and glorified by Christians.”

“Behold, you,” said the Jews, “trusting in man, think to be blessed, whereas the books curse such.”

To this the philosopher proposed to the Jews this question: “Is David cursed or blessed?”

“Greatly blessed,” replied the Jews.

“Therefore,” said Constantine, “we also are blessed, because we trust in Him in Whom he also trusted, when he said in the psalm: ‘Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted’ (Ps. 40:10). This Man is Christ God. But whoever trusts in a mere man, him we also consider cursed.”

After this, the Jews proposed another question: “Why do you Christians reject circumcision, when Christ did not reject it, but fulfilled it according to the law?”

The philosopher replied: “He Who first said to Abraham: ‘It shall be a token between Me and thee,’ He, having come, fulfilled it (circumcision), which is why it was observed from him (Abraham) until Him (Christ). In place of circumcision, Christ established baptism.”

Then the Jews said: “Why then did some please God, not having received that sign (baptism), but Abraham’s (circumcision)?”

“None of those,” replied the philosopher, “had two wives, except Abraham. And therefore God gave him circumcision, to set a limit not to transgress further, but to live according to the first example of Adam’s life (to have one wife). And to Jacob He gave a similar indication when He injured his leg, because he had two wives. When Jacob understood the fault, why this was done to him, he then received the name ‘Israel,’ that is, seeing God with the mind. But Abraham did not understand this.”

“How do you,” the Jews asked a new question, “worshipping idols, think that you please God?”

“First of all,” replied the philosopher, “learn to distinguish names, what is an icon and what is an idol, and then you will see that you wrongly reproach Christians. Many indications are found in your books about images. I will ask you about some: Did Moses construct the tabernacle according to the pattern which he saw on the mountain, or according to a pattern which presented itself to his artistry, did he construct the tabernacle from wood, skins, wool, and worthy cherubim? But since the first is true, shall we call you worshippers of wood, skins, and wool, and not of God, Who gave Moses in His time such a pattern (image) of the tabernacle? The same I will say about Solomon’s temple, in which there were many images of cherubim, angels, and others. So we Christians, honouring the rites of those who pleased God, render honour to God.”

“Why do you eat pork and hare meat,” said the Jews, “when this is contrary to God?”

“The first covenant (Noah’s),” said the philosopher, “ordained: ‘Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things’ (Gen. 9:3), because to the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled their conscience is unclean. Also, God says of all created things: ‘all things are very good’ (Gen. 1:31). But because of your gluttony and for your instruction, God took from you the most insignificant things. And how harmful gluttony is for you, it is written: ‘And Israel waxed fat, and forsook God’ (Deut. 32:15), or ‘the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play’ (Ex. 32:6).”

Such conversations the blessed philosopher Constantine held with the Jews about the Christian faith. These conversations took place every day in the presence of the Khagan himself and continued for a fairly long time. They were subsequently written down by the blessed Methodius and divided into eight parts, of which very little has been cited here.