Still another example of a
baptismal interpretation is the woman wrapped in the sun with the moon under
her feet (Rev. 12). For Andrew, the moon represents baptism, a classic
patristic interpretation of moon imagery because of its association with tides,
hence with water. It is under her feet because baptism is the foundation of the
Church. Baptismal references dominate Andrew's interpretation of that section
of Révélation. Again, the contrast with Oikoumenios' orientation is striking:
for Oikoumenios the moon is the Law of Moses, which is waning. (Eugenia
Scarvelis Constantinou, “Andrew of Caesarea and the Apocalypse in the Ancient
Church of the East: Studies and Translation” [PhD Dissertation; Laval
University, Quebec, 2008], 151-52)
Andrew of Caesarea on Rev 12:1:
And the following: “She stood upon the moon. The moon I
regard figuratively <to be> the faith of those who are cleansed of
corruption by the washing <of baptism>, for [122] the condition of liquid
substance is regulated by the moon. She labored and gave birth anew to those
‘carnal-minded into spiritually minded’ and formed and fashioned them according
to the likeness of Christ.” And again he says: “We must not think that Christ
is he who is to be born. For formerly, before the Apocalypse, the mystery of
the Incarnation of the Logos had been fulfilled. John speaks with authority
about the present and future things.” And afterwards <he mentions> other
things, <and then says>, “Therefore, it is necessary to confess that the
Church must be the one in labor and gives birth to those redeemed, as the
Spirit said in Isaiah: ‘Before she labored to give birth, she escaped and gave
birth to a male.’16 Whom did she escape? Either the dragon,
certainly, in order for the spiritual Zion to give birth to virile people.” And
in continuation, “so that in each one Christ is to be born in the nous. Because of this the Church is
swollen and in ‘great pain’ until Christ, having been born, might be ‘formed in
us,’ so that each one by partaking of Christ becomes Christ.” Moreover, the
Church has been clothed in the “Sun of Righteousness.” And the legalistic light
of the [123] moon, which shines by night, and the secular life, alterable like
the moon, has been mastered under the feet, and round about upon her head
<is> the crown of the apostolic precepts and virtues. Since <it is>
from the moon that liquid substance depends, the same one <Methodios>
also says that by the moon is meant
baptism, figuratively called “sea,” which, on the one hand, <is> the
salvation for those who are reborn and, on the other hand, ruination for the
demons. (Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse,
ed. David G. Hunter [trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou; The Fathers of the
Church 123; Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011],
137-38)
Andrew of Caesarea on Rev 20:5-6:
20:5–6. And the rest of the dead did not come to
life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has a share in
the first resurrection! Over such ones the second death has no power, but they
will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand
years.
From the divine Scriptures we are
taught two lives and two types of deadness, that is to say, deaths. The first
life is the transitory and fleshly one after the transgression of the
commandment, but the other one is eternal life promised to the saints after
heeding the divine commandments of Christ. And in like manner, <there
are> two deaths: the one transitory of the flesh and the other through sins
leading to the full payment in the age to come, which is the Gehenna of fire.
And we know there is a difference among the dead. For on the one hand, there
are those to be avoided concerning whom Isaiah says, “The dead will not see
life,” [220] that is, those bringing stench and deadness by <their>
conduct, and on the other hand, those praiseworthy ones who in Christ “mortify
the activities of the body,” who are crucified with Christ and are dead to the
world. Therefore, those unacceptable dead, those not “buried with and raised
with Christ, through baptism,” but those remaining in <a state of> death
by sins, will not live with him until the completion of the one thousand years,
that is, the perfect number extending from his first coming until the second in
glory, as it has been said above, but, having been born “from the earth” only
and not “by the Spirit,” they will return to the earth. Their death becomes the
beginning of their future punishment. Those who have a share in the first resurrection, that is, in the
rising out of deadening thoughts and mortifying actions, these are blessed. For the second death will have
no power over them, that is, never-ending punishment, but instead, they will
exercise priesthood and reign with Christ,
as we see it, these things signifying to us one
thousand years until the loosening of Satan and the deception of the
nations, not as being then deprived of the kingdom, but as more certainly and
very clearly they will possess it by the passage of temporal things and arrival
of eternal things. For the time will be short after the loosening of the devil
until the judgment against him and the punishment of Gehenna. Therefore, they will be priests of God and of Christ
is thought to be a repetition of the [221] foregoing. For the things seen now,
through the trial and the end result of things, the rewards of the saints and
wonders were then destined to be when they were seen by the Evangelist, as was
said. So then, since there are two deaths, it is necessary to understand that
there are also likewise two resurrections. First, then, physical death, given
as the penalty for humankind’s disobedience; the second, eternal punishment.
The first resurrection is being
brought to life out of “dead works,” the second, the transformation from bodily
corruption into incorruption. (Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on
the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter [trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou;
The Fathers of the Church 123; Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of
America Press, 2011], 209-10)
