A Compendium of Heretical Fables

15. *Aliter.* If our Savior and Lord nailed our handwriting to the cross, as the divine Apostle says, then he nailed the body. For every human being imprints the stains of his sins upon his body, like letters of a kind. Therefore, for the sake of sinners, he handed over a body free from all sin. ^A

16. *Aliter.* When we say that the body, or the flesh, or the humanity has suffered, we do not separate the divine nature. For just as it was united to [the body] when it was hungry, and thirsty, and weary, and indeed when it was sleeping, and when it was struggling with death—undergoing none of these things itself, but allowing it [the body] to receive the passions of its nature—so too it was united [to it] when it was being crucified, and it allowed the passion to be brought to completion, in order that by the passion it might destroy death. It did not receive pain from the passion, but it adopted the passion as belonging to its own temple and to the flesh that was united to it; on account of which those who have believed are called members of Christ, and he himself is named the head of those who have believed. ^B

[Epigram] Unchanged, unconfused, impassible remains The Word, co-eternal with God the Father, Even if he assumes flesh in the last of days; As Theodoret writes here, Having received Theodoret as a grace from on high. Like a triple-edged whetted sword, May the ungodly be struck by these three arguments. May you be struck, and slaughtered, and fall before me, All you who do not fear to wickedly attach Change, or confusion, or even passion to the Word. And also a cord, as Solomon writes somewhere, Unbreakable, as a triple-braided noose for us, May it be the trinity of these wise arguments.

COMPENDIUM OF HERETICAL FABLES BY THE BLESSED THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS

To the most magnificent and most glorious, and Christ-loving son, Sporacius, Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus of the Augustoeuphratesia, sends greetings in the Lord. ^C

The purpose of your magnificence is worthy of praise. For you desire to know what things on either side of the [straight] road have deviated from it...

paths whose end is the abyss of destruction. You have accepted this desire, not so that you might listen to fables that are most basely fashioned and emit a foul odor, but so that you might teach those who do not know what the royal highway is, which is adorned with apostolic and prophetic footprints and possesses the kingdom of heaven as its end, and which are the paths of the heretics that bring ultimate destruction to those who travel upon them.

^A The purpose, then, as I have said, is excellent and worthy of admiration. But it is necessary for your God-loving soul to know that most of the ancient heresies have, through divine grace, been extinguished and have become, to speak with the Prophet, "like the grass of the housetops, which withers before it is plucked up" (Ps. CXXVIII, 6). ^B And perhaps someone might find fault with us for bringing back into the light of memory those things which had been delivered to the darkness of oblivion. Furthermore, there is the manifold delirium of these fables, and the magnitude of the blasphemy dared against God, which is unutterable by tongues trained in piety. As for the lewdness which they both legislate and practice, not even one of those raised on the stage would endure to speak of it or to hear others speaking of it—to such a degree does it leave behind even the famous practitioners of debauchery. But since the abomination of these most vile doctrines, when exposed, renders all the more detestable both those who have impiously brought them forth and those who have foolishly believed them, I shall willingly undertake this labor, looking to the benefit. I will attempt, as far as possible, to cut short the storytelling of these fables, and to omit the greatest of their blasphemies, and to leap over the abominable filth of their most lewd and profane rites.

We shall divide our work, God willing, into five books. The first will receive the narrative of those myths whose authors invented another creator, and, denying the one principle of all things, posited other principles that do not exist, and claimed that the Lord appeared among men only in appearance. The first inventor of these doctrines was Simon Magus the Samaritan, and the last was Manes the Persian sorcerer. ^C The second book will show those who held the superstition contrary to these; they acknowledged one principle of all things, but called the Lord a mere man. The initiator of this heresy was Ebion, and it underwent various modes of interpretation down to Marcellus and Photinus. The third will indicate those who were born between these and those others, who became fathers of diverse doctrines. In the fourth, we shall demonstrate the more recent heresies, I mean those of Arius and Eunomius, and as many as sprang up after them, down to this latest one, which the Lord has suddenly torn out by the roots. In these four books, therefore, we shall lay bare the manifold error of the heresies. But in order that we may also soothe the tongues of those who will read, and the ears of those who will listen, and from the pestilential stench...

deliver those who listen from the pestiferous odor, and, like ^A a sort of Chalastraean and sweet-smelling balm, we shall bring forward the truth of the evangelical doctrines, and shall demonstrate that every heresy is contrary to the teaching of the divine oracles. Moreover, I have collected the fables of the ancient heresies from the ancient teachers of the Church: Justin the philosopher and martyr, and Irenaeus, who cultivated and enlightened the Celtic nations, and Clement, who is called Stromateus, and Origen, and Eusebius—both the Palestinian and the Phoenician—and Adamantius, and Rhodon, and Titus, and Diodorus, and Georgius, and others who armed their tongues against falsehood. Those things which were written by them in a scattered manner, I shall arrange in order, and I shall speak briefly of those things which were spoken at length. For I have not undertaken to refute them at present (for I have already contended in published books against those which still exist today), but I have been commanded to ^B explain the difference of the fables themselves. The name, indeed, for the collection of the detestable heresies shall be: *Compendium of Heretical Fables*; for the teaching of the truth: *Epitome of Divine Decrees*; and that which is common to both: *Distinction of the False and the True*. Finally, I exhort those who are to read this to compare each one of the heretical doctrines with the teaching of the truth; for the sake of this, indeed, I have also written the fifth book. For one will see that the latter follows the oracles of the divine Spirit, while the former are the inventions of a depraved mind. But he who clearly finds the power of the truth in the labors of others, let him return the favor with prayers, both for him who wrote and for him who requested ^C the writing. For he who uses a military cloak and belt, and performs the military service entrusted to him, and is compelled because of this to attend at the palace, yet places the knowledge of divine things and the doctrine of the truth before all things, and cries out with the Prophet: "How I have loved thy law, O Lord! It is my meditation all the day."

COMPENDIUM OF HERETICAL FABLES BOOK ONE

Preface. Concerning Simon Magus.

^A 2 Concerning Menander. 3 Concerning Saturnilus. 4 Concerning Basilides and Isidore. 5 Concerning Carpocrates and Epiphane. 6 Concerning Prodicus. 7 Concerning Valentinus. 8 Concerning Secundus and others. 9 Concerning Marcus the wonder-worker. 10 Concerning the Ascodruti, or Ascodrupiti.

11 Concerning the Archontici. 12 Concerning the Colorbasii. 13 Concerning the Barbeliotae, or Borboriani. 14 Concerning the Sethians, or Ophiani, or Ophites. 15 Concerning the Cainites. 16 Concerning the Antitacti. 17 Concerning the Peratae. 18 Concerning Monoimus. 19 Concerning Hermogenes. ^B 20 Concerning Tatianus, and the Hydroparastatae, or Encratites. 21 Concerning Severus. 22 Concerning Bardisanes and Harmonius. 23 Concerning Florinus and Blastus. 24 Concerning Cerdo and Marcion. 25 Concerning Apelles, Potitus, Prepon, and others. 26 Concerning Manes.

PREFACE

The all-wise God of all things entrusted the cultivation of the desolate inhabited earth to a few men, and these fishermen and tax-collectors, and one tentmaker. But the most wicked demon, the tormentor of men, seeing these men plucking out by the roots the thorns of polytheistic error, and seeing himself being stripped of the number of those who obey him, being a contriver of machines and a craftsman of wickedness, devised other schemes of attack. For having chosen men worthy of his own operation, and having placed upon them the name of Christians like a mask, and having smeared the mouth of the cup with a kind of honey, he offered to men the destructive poison of falsehood. And thirsting for the ruin of men, he did not wait for the preaching of the Apostles to grow strong, and then introduce his deception; but as soon as they began to cultivate the earth and sow the seeds of piety, he meanwhile sowed the tares among them.

1. — Concerning Simon Magus

First of all, Simon, the Samaritan, the magician, appeared as the minister of this wickedness. Who from

Gitta (for this is a village of Samaria), having reached the height of sorcery, first persuaded many—by the prodigies which he performed—to adhere to him, and to call him a certain divine power. But then, when he saw the apostles performing truly genuine and divine miracles, and bestowing the grace of the Holy Spirit on those who approached them, he requested that he receive the same power from them. Since the great Peter detected his utterly wicked intention, and ordered him to heal the incurable wounds of his mind with the remedies of repentance, that man immediately returned to his former wickedness. Having left Samaria, as it had received the saving seeds, he ran off to those who had not yet been cultivated by the apostles, so that by deceiving the simple-minded with his sorceries, and binding them with his own preposterous myths, he might make the dogmas of the holy apostles more difficult for them to accept. ^B But the divine grace armed the great Peter against his madness. For he, following him, scattered his detestable teaching like a kind of mist and darkness, and showed the rays of the light of truth. Yet, even though the most wretched man was openly refuted, he did not cease to fight against the truth until he arrived in Rome while Claudius Caesar was reigning. And he so stunned the Romans with his sorceries, that they even honored him with a bronze statue. But again, the divine Peter, arriving, stripped him of the feathers of his deceit, and finally, having challenged him to a contest of miracles and shown the difference between divine grace and sorcery, he cast him down from a great height through his prayers, with all the Romans watching, and brought the spectators of the miracle to salvation. ^C He concocted a myth of this kind: He posited an infinite power, and called it the root of all things. He said that it was fire, having a twofold operation, one which is visible, and the other which lies hidden. He said, furthermore, that the world was created, and that it was created from the operation of the fire which was visible. From this, he claimed, were first produced three pairs, which he also called roots: and the first he named Mind and Thought (ennoia), the second, Voice and Intelligence, the third, Reason and Reflection. He called himself that infinite power, and [said] that he had appeared to the Jews as the Son, and had descended to the Samaritans as the Father, and had come to the other nations as the Holy Spirit. And having taken as his companion a certain woman living in a brothel, named Helen, he asserted that she was his first conception, and he called her the mother of all things, and [claimed] that through her he had made the angels and archangels, and that the world had been crafted by the angels. But the angels, he says, later envied her and kept her among themselves. For, he says, they did not want their works to be called hers. Therefore, into much... ^D

The Heresy of Simon

many female bodies, and even into that Helen for whom the Trojan War was fought. For her sake, he said, he himself had descended, in order to free her from the bonds imposed upon her, and to provide salvation to men through the knowledge of him. He had descended having changed his form, so that he would not be recognized by the angels who govern the created world; and he appeared in Judea as a man, though he was not a man, and suffered as though he had suffered, when he had not. He also claimed that the prophets were ministers of the angels. He commanded those who believed in him not to pay attention to them, nor to shudder at the threats of the laws, but to act as free men, doing whatever they might wish; for it was not through good deeds, but through grace, that they would attain salvation. ^B For this reason, those of his faction dared every kind of licentiousness and made use of all sorts of juggling tricks, devising certain love charms and seductive spells, and performing all the other acts peculiar to sorcery as if they were divine mysteries. And having fashioned an image of Zeus for him, and one of Athena for Helen, they burned incense to them and poured libations, and worshiped them as gods, calling themselves Simonians. From this most bitter root sprang the Cleobiani, Dositheani, Gortheni, Masbothei, Adrianistae, Eutychitae, and Cainistae. But all these, having devised only small changes to this impious heresy, did not last long but were delivered to perpetual oblivion.

II. — On Menander

Menander, also a Samaritan, hailing from the village called Chabrai, followed the sorcery of the former, but did not call himself the First Power; for he said that this power was unknown. Instead, boasting that he had been sent by that power, he called himself the Savior. ^C He said that the angels, similar to the account of Simon, were produced by the Thought, and that they had created the world. He taught that those who are baptized into him are saved, and even become more powerful in this life, and receive the authority to overcome the world-creating powers most easily. Against these wrote Justin, who in the garb of a philosopher was a defender of the truth and was adorned with the crown of martyrdom, and Irenaeus, whom we mentioned above—a man who was also apostolic—and Origen, who pursued great learning. Having this man as their teacher were Saturnilus and Basilides: of whom the former proclaimed Antioch, ^D situated on the river Orontes, to be his home, but Basilides [proclaimed] Alexandria; and both to their master and to each other they introduced contrary fa-

fables. Both, however, lived in the time of Hadrian the Emperor. ^A

III. — Concerning Saturnilus

I, for my part, shall first set forth the mythology of Saturnilus. He, resembling Menander, said that there is one Father who is altogether unknown; and that this Father created angels and other powers. He says that seven out of this number made the world and fashioned man, and that these [powers] said, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness" (Gen. I, 26). And when the figurine could not stand upright, but crawled like a worm, the divine power, he says, taking pity on it, sent a spark of life, and made the imperfect man complete. This spark of life, after the dissolution of the animal [nature], returns to the power that sent it. He said that the Savior and Lord was not only not made, but that he was unbegotten, incorporeal, and without form, and that he appeared to men by appearance rather than by the truth of his being. He said the God of the Jews was one of the angels. Then, forgetting his own invention (for he had called the Savior unbegotten), he says that the Father of Christ, wishing to destroy both the other angels and the God of the Jews, sent Christ into the world for the salvation of those who believed in him. He teaches that there are two differences among men, saying that some are good and others evil, and that they have received this difference by nature. And since wicked demons aid the wicked, the Savior came, he says, to succor the good. He was the first of all to call marriage a doctrine of the devil. He also gives orders to abstain from living creatures. ^B He said that some of the prophecies were uttered by the world-making angels, and others by Satan; and that this one, too, is an angel, who especially opposes the God of the Jews.

IV. — Concerning Basilides and Isidorus

But Basilides, despising these myths as trivial, fabricated others more impious. For he said that the Unbegotten Mind first begat the Word, and from the Mind the Word proceeded, from the Word [proceeded] Prudence, from Prudence Wisdom and Power, and from these angels and archangels, and that these created the heaven. ^C And from their outpouring other angels were produced, who made another heaven similar to the first, and again from their outpouring others were born, who also fashioned another

heaven, and that this outpouring and the creation of the heavens continued up to the three hundred and sixty-fifth heaven. The angels who inhabit the last heaven, the one seen by us, created the world and divided the dominion of the earth among themselves; one, however, obtained the administration of the Jews, and he rules over the others. ^B But when this one wished to subject all other nations to his own people, the other princes resisted him. The Unbegotten, seeing this, sent His first-begotten Mind, whom He also called Christ, so that He might save those who chose to believe. He says that He by no means suffered, but that Simon of Cyrene endured the passion, having been thought to be Christ, while Christ, looking on from afar, mocked the foolishness of the Jews, and then departed to Him who had sent Him. He said that one ought to believe not in the crucified one, but in Him who was thought to have been crucified. For thus, he says, it is possible to be delivered from the power of the creators of the world. He also denied the resurrection of the flesh, and he himself stated that the prophecies were made by the angels, and that the Law was given by the prince of the Jews. He commanded them to eat of things sacrificed to idols without fear, and to perform forbidden acts without distinction. These also, like the disciples of Menander and Simon, use incantations, sorceries, ^C and all kinds of magic. Having devised names for the angels, they said that some possess the first heaven, others the second, and so on up to the three hundred and sixty-fifth. They call the Savior and Lord “Caulacau.” They call these things ineffable and say they are not comprehensible or grasped by everyone, but by one in a thousand. He says that their prince is “Abrasax,” for the numerical value of this name signifies the number of the 365 heavens. Basilides also had his own prophets, Barcabas and Barcoph, and certain other similarly barbarian ones. He also invented other more loathsome fables than these, which I have not included so as not to offend my readers. Isidorus, too, the son of Basilides, confirmed the fabulous sayings of his father with some additions. But against these, Agrippas, also surnamed Castor, contends, as do Irenaeus, and Clement the Stromateus, and Origen, all struggling for the truth.

V. — Concerning Carpocrates and Epiphanes.

that our Lord Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary in a manner similar to other men, but that he excelled in virtue and possessed a pure soul, which remembered its life with the Unbegotten. He says also that those who are like unto him 49, having despised the world-creating angels, likewise receive power to do similar things. And if anyone, he says, possesses a purer soul, he will even surpass the dignity of the Son. Into such a 50 madness of arrogance did these men lapse, being addicted to magical illusions and the invocation of demons, and not enduring to conceal their lust, they held incontinence as a law. For he used to say that by opinion, not by truth, some things in human affairs are seen as good, and others as bad. ^B But since I am here, I do not know how I can pass over this law of wantonness. For while they accepted the Pythagorean theory of the transmigration of souls, they did not accept the principle which he attached to it. For Pythagoras taught that souls which had sinned were sent into bodies so that they might pay the penalties and be duly purified. But these men declare a cause for the transmigration of souls that is diametrically opposed to the Pythagorean one. For they say that souls are sent into bodies in order to perform every kind of lust. Those, therefore, who in one descent have fulfilled them [the kinds of vices] do not need another mission; but those who have sinned little are sent [into bodies] twice, three times, or more, until they have fulfilled all the kinds of vice. And so that no one may suspect me of inventing these things against them, I shall bring forward the testimony of Irenæus, that apostolic man who enlightened the West ^C. He writes thus in the first book of those he wrote against the heresies: "And if, indeed, such impious, nefarious, and forbidden acts are committed among them, I would not believe it; but in their own books it is so written, and they themselves interpret it thus, saying that Jesus spoke in private to his disciples and apostles in mystery, and that he asked them to transmit these things to those who were worthy and obedient. For by faith and love they are saved; but the other things, being indifferent, are considered good or bad according to human opinion, since nothing is naturally evil." This, therefore, the admirable Irenæus said about them. I have not added what follows, for it contains excessive madness. Epiphanes 52, his son, who had been trained in Platonic discipline, amplified his fables. And while Hadrian was emperor, these men also strengthened their nefarious ^D heresies.

VI. — Concerning Prodicus. Prodicus, having succeeded him, established the heresy of those who are called Adamites 53. This man, in addition to the decrees of Carpo-

^Acrates, added that they should commit fornication openly; for he decreed that women should be common. On account of which, not only at public banquets, when the lamp-light was removed, would each one consort with whichever woman he encountered, but they even considered this unbridled license a mystical rite of initiation. I shall produce as a witness of this matter Clement, author of the Stromata, a holy man who surpassed all in abundance of learning. He speaks as follows in the third book of the Stromata: "There are those who call public Venus a mystical communion, using the very name as a reproach." Then, having said a few things against their swinish intemperance, he adds these words: "For the most miserable men consecrate their carnal communion of coitus, and imagine that this leads them to the kingdom of Christ. This communion, therefore, leads to ^B brothels, and swine and goats would be participants with them, and harlots—who stand at the ready in the brothel and admit all who wish—would have the highest hopes among them." And after other things of the same kind, he adds: "The followers of Prodicus also, who falsely call themselves Gnostics, profess such dogmas as these."

VII. — Concerning Valentinus. From all these heresies, Valentinus took his starting-points and composed his infinite fables. He established his heresy in the time of Antoninus the First. He supposed first a perfect Aeon, whom he calls Proarche, and Propatore, and Bythus; and that with him exists a certain Ennoea, who is called Charis and Sige. He said that this ^C one embraced rest for infinite ages; later, in time, from both of them, Nous and Aletheia were born. They call Nous the Only-Begotten. These two conjugations they call the Pythagorean quaternion, and the root of all things. He says that from Nous and Aletheia, Logos and Zoe were produced; and from Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia. These four conjugations are, as it were, the primordial Ogdoad, and the root and substance of all. And they say that the first Aeon is he, then Logos and Zoe. After the production of Anthropos and Ecclesia, they say they produced ten other Aeons: Bythius and Mixis, Ageratos and Henosis, ^D Autophyes and Hedone, Acinetus and Syncrisis, Monogenes and Macaria. And from Anthropos and Ecclesia, twelve other Aeons were produced: Paracletus and Pistis, Patricus and Elpis, Metricus and Agape, Ainus and Synesis, Ecclesiasticus and Macariotes, Theletus and Sophia. These thirty Aeons, they say, are unknown to all others, but to them alone

^A Afterwards, having mythologized many things in order to show that the number eight, and ten, and twelve, and thirty are venerable, he says that Bythus is inaccessible to all who are from him. Sige restrained him, and forbade the attempt, so that [those born from him] might not see him or declare him to others. But the last Aeon, whom they call Sophia, having been seized by the same desire, and being unable to attain what she sought, brought forth, he says, an unformed substance. Being distressed at such a birth, she approached the Pro-pater and explained her affliction; the other Aeons also supplicated along with her, and she herself obtained some pardon. They say this unformed fetus is Matter, born from ignorance, ^B and sadness, and fear, and perplexity. Bythus, fearing that another Aeon might suffer a similar fate, brings forth Horos without a female consort; for each of the other Aeons is joined to a female. This Horos they also call the Cross, and they invent other names for him as well. Through him, he says, Sophia was cleansed and freed from her affliction. And that Enthymesin, which they also called Affection, and the unformed fetus, and Matter, Horos cast far away from her. ^C After these things, he says that the Only-Begotten, by the will of the Father, brought forth Christ and the Holy Spirit for the security and establishment of the Aeons. For they say Christ taught the Aeons that the Father is incomprehensible, while the Holy Spirit bestowed a more excellent equality upon the Aeons among themselves. Having obtained these things, the Aeons praised the Propater, and having each brought together the most beautiful things they possessed, they brought forth through these Jesus, whom they also call the Savior, and Christ the Word. Together with him, they also brought forth other angels, that they might be his satellites; and all these things they name within the Pleroma. ^D Those things which are said to be outside the Pleroma are these: The Enthymesin of that Sophia, which they called the unformed fetus, they call Achamoth; they say that, having come into being outside the Pleroma, she dwells in a certain shadow and void. But Christ, being moved by compassion, they say, was extended by Horos, who is also called the Cross, and gave form to that substance, but left it destitute of knowledge, and afterwards drew back his power to himself. But she, having been affected by the sense of the light which had apprehended her, indeed ran to search for it, but was forbidden by Horos to proceed, he having said "Iao"—from which they say this name also originated. Then, because she was distressed at being forbidden to proceed, she admitted sadness, and fear, and doubt; afterwards she conceived a desire for conversion. From these affections, they say, this world was founded.

from the conversion, the Creator and the souls of all; and from the other affections, the rest. From her tears, the humid substance; from her laughter, the light; and from the others, the rest. For I do not think it would be blameworthy to recount all the things they mythologize. They say that she besought the Christ, who had already pitied her, that he might impart light to her; and that he accepted the petition, but did not go himself; instead, he sent Jesus, so that in him both the visible and invisible things, and the thrones, and dominions, and ^B divinities, as they themselves say, might be created. He arrived, then, with the angels that had been brought forth, and he separated her from the affections that had come upon her, and, having separated them, he established them. But she, being separated from the affections, received a desire for the angels, and brought forth a spiritual offspring similar to the angels, and this ran up on high. From the conversion, they say, the animal substance came into being, and from this, the God was formed, and the Father and King of the souls 71 that have the same nature as he, which they call the Right, and of those 72 of material origin, which they call the Left. For they say that he laid claim to all visible things as his own. They even call him Metropator, and Father, and Creator. And what need is there to recount every trifle of their myth-making? For the ^C entire fiction is similar to what has already been said. They say that the Savior who appeared received the spiritual element from Achamoth, but put on Christ, who is animal, from the Creator, and from the Economy was clad in a body having an animal substance, fashioned by ineffable wisdom so as to be tangible and visible and capable of suffering. But they say he took on absolutely nothing material, because none of those things consisting of matter can attain salvation. They further say that they themselves are saved by knowledge alone, while we are saved by faith and good deeds; but that they have no need of works, as knowledge is sufficient for salvation. For which reason, those among them who are the most "perfect" commit whatever is forbidden by the divine laws without fear. For they celebrate pagan festivals, partake of things sacrificed to idols, ^D serve their pleasures, and commit every wickedness without distinction.

VIII. — Concerning Secundus and others 73

Secundus, succeeding Valentinus, divided the Ogdoad bipartitely; he called one part of it the Right, and the other the Left 74, and added Light and Darkness. From this source, countless other leaders of heresy also sprang up: Cossianus, Theodotus, Heracleon, Ptolemaeus, and Marcus, who concocted various further doctrines.

^A

IX. — On Marcus the Magician.

Marcus not only practiced the art of magic, but by performing certain amazing feats through legerdemain, he deceived many who were easily captured. He concocted a long fable, claiming that Sige had told him these things, and he was not ashamed to present Sige as an idle chatterer. The same man compared the Aeons to the twenty-four letters, calling some mutes, others semi-vowels, and others vowels. In a great multitude, these men attempted to strike terror into the foolish by writing books with false titles. When they baptize those whom they deceive, they are accustomed to say: "In the name of the unknown Father of all, into Truth the mother of all, into him who descended into Jesus, into union, and redemption, and communion with the powers." They also intermix Hebrew names to terrify those being initiated, which I have judged superfluous to recount. From these, after the grass had sprouted, very many heresies have sprung up; they say that those whom some call Ascodrutae and others Ascodrupitae are a branch of these men. ^B

X. — On the Ascodrutae or Ascodrupitae.

These men, however, say that the divine mysteries, which are signs of invisible things, ought not to be performed through visible things, nor incorporeal things through sensible and corporeal things; but that perfect redemption is the true knowledge of that which is. For everything that is seen, consisting as it does of ignorance and passion, is destroyed through knowledge. Therefore, redemption must also be spiritual. For this reason, they do not baptize those who approach, nor is the mystery of baptism celebrated among them. Indeed, they call the knowledge of the All "redemption." ^C

XI. — On the Archontici.

From these men, in turn, some are called Archontici, who, having fashioned certain books [which they claim to be] revelations of the prophets...

And they have called one of these "Symphonia," in which they have written down seven heavens, and [claim] that each of them has one archon (that is, a ruler), and that a certain Photina is the highest mother of all. They execrate the laver, and the participation in the mysteries, as being performed in the name of Sabaoth, for they say that he exercises tyranny in the seventh heaven. They say that souls are the nourishment of the archons, and that without this it is not possible for them to live. They say that the devil is the son of Sabaoth; and that Sabaoth is the God of the Jews, and that the son, being evil, does not honor him, but opposes him in everything. They say that Cain and Abel are the children of the devil. And they tell other fables as well, full of all impiety. Certain others, after death, pour oil and water upon the heads of the deceased. For they say that they will thus become invisible, and superior to the powers and principalities that lie between. They also teach them to recite a certain fable, which I have thought to be a participator in foolishness if I were to insert it into my writing ^B.

XII. — On the Colobasii

The Colobasii say that the first Ogdoad came into being from Him whom they call the Forefather; and as for the Savior, some say he was projected from the thirty Aeons, and therefore is called Eudocetus (that is, the well-pleasing one), because it pleased the whole Pleroma to glorify the Father through him; but others [say he came] from only the ten Aeons, and others that he came into being by Christ and the Spirit for the strengthening of the Pleroma, and is called Christ by the name of the Father. And they tell very many other such fables.

XIII. — On the Barbeliotae, that is to say, the Borboriani

From the seeds of Valentinus emerged the filth of the Barbeliotae, or ^C Borboriani, or Naasini, or Stratiotici, or those whom they call Phemionitae. For they postulated a certain incorruptible Aeon dwelling in a virginal spirit, whom they call Barbeloth; and [they claim] that Barbeloth requested Prognosis (Foreknowledge) from him. And when this had come forth, and had requested again, there came forth Incorruptibility, and then Eternal Life. And Barbeloth, being delighted, conceived and brought forth the Light. This, they say, was called Christ, anointed with the perfection of the Spirit. This Christ, in turn, Nun him ^D

and he received him. But the Father added also the Logos. Then Ennoea and Logos, Aphtharsia and Christ, Vita aeterna and Thelema, Nus and Prognosis were conjoined. And further, they say that from Ennoea and Logos, Autogenes was produced, and with him Alethia, and that there was again fashioned another conjugation of Autogenes and Alethia. And what need is there to recount the other productions from Light and Aphtharsia? For the myth is long, and besides being impious, it is also disgusting. To these they have also added Hebrew names, attempting to astound the simpler-minded. ^B Furthermore, they say that Autogenes produced a perfect and true man, whom they also call Adamas, and together with him was produced his consort, perfect Gnosis. From this, in turn, was shown the mother, father, and son. And from Anthropos and Gnosis germinated the Tree, which they also call Gnosis. From the first angel, they say, was produced the Holy Spirit, whom they called Sophia and Prunicus. This one, they say, desiring a consort, brought forth a Work, in which were Ignorance and Arrogance. This Work they call Protarchon (that is, the first prince), and they say that he is the maker of created things. This one, having joined with Arrogance, begat Vice and its parts. These things, then, I have set forth in summary, skipping over the length of the fiction. But as for their mystical ceremonies, who is so wretched as to wish to express with the tongue what is performed by them? For those things which are celebrated by them as if they were divine surpass every wicked thought and every foul conception of the mind. But the very surname is sufficient ^C to indicate their execrable audacity. For this reason they were nicknamed Borboriani [the Muddy ones].

XIV. — Concerning the Sethians, or Ophiani, or Ophites.

Sethians, indeed, whom some call Ophiani or Ophites, call the God of all “Man,” naming that Light again, likewise calling him blessed and incorruptible, and asserting that his dwelling is in the Bythos [the Abyss]. His Ennoea, however, they call the Son of man, and the second man. After this, they say, is the holy Spirit, and below these, four elements: water, darkness, the abyss, chaos. They say the Spirit is female, and that she is borne ^D upon the elements. And they say that the first man and the second were enamored

^A of the Spirit, and begat Light, which they call Christ. But because the female could not bear the excess of the light, it overflowed; and they say that Christ, together with his mother, was caught up to the incorruptible Aeon, which they also call the true Church; but they say that the moisture of the light that overflowed fell down below, and was called Sophia, and Prunicus, and Androgynous. And as it swam in the waters, it took from them a body, and was weighed down, and was in danger of being submerged; but it emerged, and from the body with which it was covered the heaven was fashioned, and then, having cast off the rest, it flew up to its mother. And they call that one the son of Prunicus. And he, in turn, produced another son, and they say that from him another came into being, and that the emanations proceeded up to the number of seven: and by each of these a heaven was created, and each dwells in its own. And they also imposed names upon the aforementioned sons, using the Hebrew language, which I have deemed entirely superfluous to mention. And they say that the others rebelled against the first, of whom he was in part grandfather, in part great-grandfather, and of some even the progenitor. ^B Being anxious in spirit, he fixed his thought upon the dregs of matter, and begat a son in the form of a serpent. Then the father of the serpent-formed one, boasting, said: “I am God and father, and there is no one above me.” But the mother, indignant, cried out to him: “Do not lie; for there is above you the father of all, the first man, the son of man.” When the father of the serpent had heard these words, he said: “Come, let us make man in our image.” And they add many other things, full both of impiety and of disgust. And they name that serpent-formed one Michael and Samanna. And they divide the prophets, and distribute them among the seven sons as they wish. And they say that Seth is a certain divine power; for which reason they have been called Sethians. And they say that Jesus is different from Christ; and that Jesus was born of the Virgin, but that Christ descended into him from heaven. And they say that the apostles were also led astray, having thought that the Savior’s flesh was resurrected. And some of them say that Christ, having transformed himself into the shape of a serpent, entered into the womb of the Virgin. And in this way those wretches understand the apostolic statement: ^C “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.” ^D Some, however, say that the serpent itself has intimacy with Sophia, and as if through dreams they differ from the figments of Saturnilus.

^A They say that it fought against the Creator God, deceived Adam, and gave him the knowledge, and for this reason the serpent is said to be the most prudent of all things. They say that the winding position of our intestines imitates the body of the serpent, demonstrating the life-giving wisdom of the serpent. For this reason, they also worship the serpent. They charm it with certain incantations, keep it in the dark, and in the rite of their detestable mysteries, they bring it forth onto the table: when it has ascended, they partake of the loaves as if they were sanctified.

XV. — Of the Cainites.

^B Others, whom they call Cainites, say that Cain was liberated by the authority from above, and they acknowledge Esau, Korah, the Sodomites, and all others of that sort as their own kin, and that although they were hated by the Creator, they suffered no harm from him. For the wisdom which it had in them snatched them away; and they say that Judas the traitor alone of all the apostles possessed this knowledge, and for this reason performed the mystery of the betrayal. They also bring forward a Gospel of his, which they themselves have composed: for he immediately took the noose as the reward of his betrayal. And when they do things that are forbidden, they invoke the name of some angel, as if offering their intemperance to him; and they do this in every form of impurity. For they say that there are certain angels, equal in number to the various forms of impurity, who are worshipped by those deeds.

XVI. — Of the Antitactae.

^C There were also others, whom they called Antitactae, impious men who called the great unknown God, as they say, their own father; but him—the Creator God—to be good, while a certain one sprung from those who were born of him sowed cockle; and he, as they say, cast evils upon all of us, having set himself against our most good father. For which reason we too set ourselves against him, standing against his laws in retribution for the father. And since he said, "You shall not commit adultery," we, he says, shall commit adultery so that we may break his commandment. One might justly call these men the inventors of evils, who join blasphemies to their own lusts.

XVII. — Of the Peratae.

^D Ademes the Carystian, and Euphrates the Peratic, from whom those who hold their view are called Peratae, teach that there is one world divided into three parts. And one part, as it were, is a great source, capable of being divided by reason into infinite things. The first division is the Triad…

and they name it the perfect good, the paternal magnitude. The second, truly, is the multitude of infinite powers. The third, finally, they call the specific. And the first they call unbegotten, and they name three gods, three words, three minds, three men. And from on high, from the unbegotten and the first division of the world, down to the very consummation of the world, in the times of Herod, they say there descended a certain man of triple nature, of three bodies, and of triple power, called Christ; and that he passed through the unbegotten world, and the self-begotten one, and came into this world in which we are. And ^B the Christ who descended will cause those things which descended from on high to return on high, and those things which conspired against them he will deliver to punishment. And they say that the unbegotten world and the self-begotten one are to be saved; but that this world, which they call the specific, is to perish.

XVIII. — Concerning Monoimus.

They say that Monoimus the Arab derived the arguments for his heresy from the science of arithmetic.

XIX. — Concerning Hermogenes.

Hermogenes, moreover, said that God created all things out of subject and likewise unbegotten matter. ^C For the foolish man supposed it to be impossible even for the God of the universe to create out of nothing. The same man said that the Lord’s body was placed in the sun, and that the devil and the demons were to be cast back into matter. Theophilus, the bishop of Antioch, wrote against him, and Origen likewise. And against Valentinus, and those who came from him, [wrote] Irenaeus, and Clement, and Origen.

XX. — Concerning Tatian and the Hydroparastatae, or Encratites.

Tatian the Syrian ^D was a sophist at first, but later became a disciple of the divine Justin, the martyr. But after the death of his master, he wished to become the leader of a heresy. He begged the materials for his figment from various sources: from Valentinus, the emissions of the Aeons; but from Saturnilus and Marcion, the loathing of marriage and the use of living creatures and wine. Those who are called Hydroparastatae and Encratites hold him as their leader. They are called Hydroparastatae because they offer water instead of wine; and Encratites because they neither drink wine nor partake of living creatures.

diabolic junction. He composed the Gospel called the Diatessaron, having amputated the genealogies and everything else that shows the Lord to have been born of the seed of David according to the flesh. This book was used not only by those of his own sect but also by those who followed the apostolic doctrines, not recognizing the fraudulence of its compilation but using it more simply as a compendious book. I myself found more than two hundred such books held in honor in our churches, all of which I collected and put away, and in their place introduced the Gospels of the four evangelists.

XXI. — Concerning Severus.

^B Severus, succeeding to this man’s teaching, named those whom he had deceived after himself. Hence it is that some call the Encratites "Severians." They also reject the Epistles of the divine Paul and the history of the Acts. Against them wrote Musanus, a champion of the truth, as well as Clement the Stromatist, and Apolinarius, who became bishop of the holy city in Phrygia, and Origen.

XXII. — Concerning Bardesanes and Harmonius.

Bardesanes the Syrian, a native of Edessa, flourished in the times of the Emperor Marcus Verus. They say that he excised much of the mythologizing of Valentinus. He also wrote many things in the Syrian language, which some others translated into the Greek tongue. I myself have chanced upon his works, which he wrote against fate, and against the heresy of Marcion, and many others besides. They say that Harmonius, who was his son, learned the Greek language at Athens. He too wrote many things, using the Syrian tongue. The error of both of them, however, was ^C strenuously refuted by the most celebrated man, Ephraim the Syrian.

XXIII. — Concerning Florinus and Blastus.

But Florinus and Blastus, who were enrolled in the list of presbyters at Rome, declined into the plague of Valentinus. They say that the thrice-blessed Irenaeus, bewailing the disease of these men, wrote his work against Valentinus. Thus all these, starting from Simon, brought forth doctrines related to one another, naming certain Aeons, and the productions of Aeons, and other productions of ^D productions.

XXIV. — Concerning Cerdon and Marcion.

Marcion, and Cerdon his teacher, received...

^A from the imposture of Simon the materials for their blasphemy, but they fashioned another way of impiety. For Cerdon, who lived in the times of Antoninus the First, claimed that the father of our Lord Jesus Christ was one God, unknown to the prophets, and that the creator of the universe and lawgiver of the Mosaic law was another; and that the latter is just, while the former is good. For, he says, in the law, he mandates the plucking out of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ^B—but the good one, in the Gospels, commands that if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, you should turn to him the other also, and to him who wishes to take your tunic, you should give your cloak as well. And the one in the law commanded to love one's friend and hate one's enemy, but the other ordered us to love even our enemies. And the utterly thunderstruck man does not perceive that even in the law it is prescribed to lead back the straying ox of one's enemy, and to raise up a fallen beast of burden, and not to overlook an enemy in need of help; and that he who is called by him "the only good one" threatened Gehenna to the one who calls his brother a fool, and showing himself to be just, said: "With what measure you measure, it shall be measured back to you." But to refute these things is not the task of the present time, especially since this blasphemy can be easily detected by those who have read the divine Scriptures.

But Marcion of Pontus, having been educated in these things by Cerdon, did not rest content with the doctrine handed down to him, but increased the impiety. For he fabricated in his discourse four unbegotten substances; and the one he called good and unknown, whom he also addressed as the Father of the Lord; and another, the creator and just one, whom he also termed evil; and in addition to these, matter, which is evil and subject to another evil. He says that the creator, having overcome the evil, took the matter and from it created all things: from the purest part, the heaven; from the remainder, the four elements; and from the dregs, Hades and Tartarus. Again, having filtered the purest part of the earth, he constructed, he says, Paradise; and having taken one clod of earth from this, he fashioned Adam, having given him a soul from his own substance. Hence, he says, arises the conflict of the soul and the body, with the body contending to drag the soul down to that matter, while the soul attempts to pull the body up to the Creator. They also do not fear to say that the serpent is better than the Creator. For the one forbade eating from the tree of knowledge, while the other strongly urged it. And ^D the impious do not see that the counsel of the serpent brought forth death. Therefore, some of them even honor the serpent. And I myself found among them a bronze serpent concealed in a certain small chest along with their execrable mysteries. Not only, however, do they blaspheme the Creator, but they also call the patriarchs and prophets iniquitous, as

^A if to prove the Demiurge a lover of evil. He accepted from the Gospels only that according to Luke, and this with the greater part of the genealogy cut away; the Law, the prophets, and the entire Old Testament he rejected, as though given by a foreign God. He asserts that our Lord Jesus Christ descended in order to liberate those who believed in Him from the servitude of the Demiurge; he claims that He merely appeared to be man, while possessing nothing human, and appeared to suffer while having suffered nothing at all. He ^B has also rejected the resurrection of bodies, assuming it impossible for this to take place. He affirmed that Cain, the Sodomites, and all the other impious had attained salvation, having approached the Savior Christ in Hades and having been taken up into the kingdom; but that Abel, Enoch, Noah, the patriarchs, the remaining prophets, and the righteous had not attained the freedom given to those others, because they were unwilling to betake themselves to Him. For this reason, he says, they were condemned to inhabit Hades. Such were the ravings of Marcion against the Maker—or rather, things far more grievous than these; for I have passed over the greater blasphemies in silence. I know a certain nonagenarian among them who, when he rose in the morning, would wash his face with the discharge of his own spittle, and when asked the reason, said that he did not wish to have need of the Creator nor to make use of water that was from His works. And when those present said, "How then do you eat, and drink, and clothe yourself, and sleep, and perform the customary ^C mysteries?" he replied, compelled by necessity, that he did this because he could neither live nor perform the mysteries in any other way. And the madman confessed, even if against his will, that the one whom they call "good" has nothing of his own, but that they enjoy all goods from the works of the Creator. But I, passing over most matters, will move on to what follows in the text. For this sect, too, has been divided into many parts.

XXV. — Concerning Apelles, Potitus, Prepon, and others.

For to the unbegotten beings of Marcion, Apelles added another: the "Fiery" one. He also composed another book, which he called the *Prophecy of Philumena*. To Christ, moreover, he attached a body, not human, but formed from the substance of the world. Potitus ^D and Blastus, and Syneros, and Prepon, and Pithon, stood at the head of diverse doctrines; but all of them received the pretext for their blasphemies from Marcion. Many, indeed, have written against this impiety. For Justin the philosopher and martyr, and Theophilus

^A the bishop of Antioch, and Philip the bishop of Gortyna, and Irenæus, whom we mentioned earlier, the bishop of Lyon, and Modestus, and Origen, and Rhodon, and Adamantius, and Hippolytus, and Eusebius of Emesa, all of them most excellently and wisely refuted the madness of this blasphemy.

XXVI. — Concerning Manes.

Manes was by race a Persian, as they say, but he bore the yoke of slavery for a long time, and while he was a slave he was called Scythianus. Having become his mistress’s heir, he was not satisfied to have grown rich beyond his expectations, nor did he praise the Giver of good things; instead, he stirred up his tongue to blasphemy and impious mythology, having become a most perfect instrument of the enemy of truth. He said there were two unbegotten ^B and eternal beings, God and Matter, and he called God Light, and Matter Darkness; and he termed the Light Good, and the Darkness Evil, though he also applied other names to them. For he called the Light a good tree, filled with good fruits; and Matter, an evil tree, bearing fruits corresponding to its root. He said that God was far removed from Matter, and was entirely unknown to Matter, and Matter to Him; and that God possessed the northern parts, and the eastern and western, while Matter held the southern. After many centuries, however, Matter raised up a sedition within itself, and its fruits also rose up against one another; and when the war had progressed, as some pursued and others fled, they arrived at the borders of the Light. Then, having beheld the Light, they were affected with both joy and admiration, and with joined forces intended to rush upon it, to seize it, and to mix the Light into their own darkness.

Therefore, as the foolish, nonsensical, and witless fable says, Matter rushed with its demons, and its idols, and with fire and water ^C against the Light that had appeared. But God, fearing the sudden invasion—for He had no fire, as he says, to use as thunderbolts and lightning, nor water to bring on a flood, nor iron, nor any other weapon—devised something of this sort. Taking a certain portion of the Light, He sent it into Matter, as if it were bait and a hook. Hunger-struck and falling upon it, she swallowed what had been sent, and became ensnared and caught as if in a trap. From this, they say, God was forced to create the world; yet they declare that the parts of the world are not His, but are the works of Matter. He created it, however, desiring to dissolve its constitution and to lead into peace things at war, so that little by little He might liberate the Light that had been mixed into Matter. Furthermore, they say that man was not fashioned by God, but by the ruler of Matter; they call this one Saclas, and they say ^D that Eve was in like manner made by Saclas and by Nimrod.

^A And they say that Adam had been created in the form of a beast, but Eve was without soul and motion; and that the masculine virgin, whom they call the daughter of Light and designate as Joel, imparted to Eve both life and light; and that Eve released Adam from his bestial nature, but was subsequently stripped of the light. They say that Saclas was the first to consort with her, and that she conceived from him a beast-like child. Then, they say that he consorted with her again ^B.

But perhaps someone might justly blame me for deigning to write these things. Therefore, leaving aside other myths and trifles, I shall briefly set forth the heads of this impious heresy. They call the sun and the moon gods, sometimes calling the former Christ, and providing as sufficient proof of this the fact that the sun was eclipsed at the time of the Crucifixion; at other times they call them ships that carry the souls of the departed from Matter to the Light. For in this way, they say, it is little by little delivered from the wicked mixture. And they say that the moon becomes crescent and half-full because it is being emptied, and that it receives luminous souls from Matter and deposits them in the Light; and thus, little by little, the Light is freed from the evil mixture.

When the whole nature of the Light has been separated from Matter, they say that God will deliver it to fire and form it into a single mass; and with it, those souls also that have not believed in Manes. He calls the devil sometimes Matter, and sometimes the ruler of Matter. He says the marriage of the devil is a law. They blame the charity exercised toward the poor, saying it is the veneration of Matter. They also teach that the Lord neither assumed a soul nor a body, but appeared as a man, while having nothing human; and that the cross, the passion, and the death were mere appearance. ^C They reject the resurrection of bodies as a myth. For they consider no particle of matter worthy of salvation.

They also say that transmigrations of souls occur, and that some are sent down into the bodies of birds, others into the bodies of beasts, wild animals, and serpents. They believe that all things are ensouled—the fire, the water, the air, the plants, and the seeds. For this reason, those who are called "perfect" among them neither break bread nor cut vegetables, and they openly revile those who do so as murderers—though they nonetheless eat that which is cut and broken.

Moreover, they use sorcery, especially when performing their nefarious mysteries; and for this reason, their doctrine is even more difficult to wash away. He who has been imbued with their execrable orgies is extremely hard to move from the operation of the demons that corrupt souls, who bind the souls of those being initiated through their incantations. ^D Now, this Manes had from the beginning three disciples: Aldan, Thomas, and Hermas. He sent Aldan to preach in Syria, and Thomas to the Indians. But after they returned, reporting that they had endured all bitter and grievous things, and since no one could be brought into their mind to acknowledge Manes as master, the most wicked man dared to call himself Christ and to claim he was the Holy Spirit, saying he had been sent according to the Savior's promise. For indeed he had promised

^A sent Addas as a herald to the Syrians, and Thomas to the Indians. But when these returned, telling of the many kinds of sufferings they had undergone, and that no one was willing to accept Manes as a teacher, the all-wicked one dared 58 not only to call himself Christ, but also to name himself the Holy Spirit, and to claim that he had been sent according to the Savior’s promise. For the Lord had promised that He would send another Paraclete. Having designated twelve disciples after the example of the Lord, he set out for Mesopotamia, fleeing from the King of the Persians. For by boasting that he would cure the king’s son, who was held fast by a certain malady, he entangled him in more grievous ills. But after he was driven out from there also as an manifest enemy of God, he returned to Persia; having been arrested by the king, he suffered the Persian punishment, and having been flayed of his skin, he was delivered to the dogs. Such was the end of Manes, and these are the chapters of that impious heresy. For if one were to wish to go through all the nonsense of his myths, one would require a great many books. Such doctrines did the all-wicked demon whisper into the minds of unholy men, and such leaders and commanders of ranks did he employ in waging war against the truth. But, to speak with the prophets, he wove the web of a spider. For the Lord most easily refuted the lie, and dispersed the crowds of those who patronized it. Against the impiety of Manes, however, illustrious defenders of the truth wrote: Titus and Diodorus, the one who shepherded the Church of the Bostrenes, and the other who ruled over the metropolis of the Cilicians. George of Laodicea also wrote, a man who, while he was a patron of the Arian heresy, was yet schooled in philosophical disciplines. Besides these, there is also Eusebius the Phoenician 59, of whom we made mention earlier. But I shall proceed to another phalanx 60.

COMPENDIUM OF HERETICAL FABLES BOOK II.

Preface 61. 1. On Ebion 62. 2. On the Nazarenes 63. 3. On Cerinthus. 4. On Artemon. 5. On Theodotus.

COMPENDIUM OF HERETICAL FABLES BOOK II

Preface: On the heretics who lived at the time of the apostles.

^A What kind of branches the most bitter root of Simon has put forth, and what destructive fruits these have produced, we have shown clearly in the first book, having pruned as much as possible the prolixity of their fables, dreading to utter their greatest blasphemies, and passing over in silence those things concerning their most abominable orgies which were too impious and execrable. For we judged that we would be sinning if we taught these things to those who are ignorant of them. For not even to those who have delivered themselves entirely to lusts have the things they dared to perpetrate entered into their minds. But the most wicked demon whispered these things into their souls, having undertaken a war against the heralds of the truth, and attempting by this means to cast a bad reputation upon those who profess divine things. For he believed that the community of the name would bring disgrace upon all, because both the teachers of detestable dogmas and the heralds of the Gospels were called Christians, and whoever was ignorant of the difference supposed that all who were included under one and the same name were wicked. ^B And the inventor and artificer of wickedness dared these things as soon as the light of truth arose, and sent forth the divine apostles like rays throughout the world. For while they were still alive, Simon appeared, and Menander, and the other disciples of Simon whom we mentioned before. They also say that even Cerinthus, during the life of the most renowned John who wrote the divine Gospel, sowed the tares of his own heresy. And the divine Paul also reproved others in his Epistles to Timothy. He speaks as follows: "Shun profane novelties of words; for they grow much towards ungodliness, and their speech will spread like a canker. Of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; who have erred from the truth, saying, that the resurrection is past already, and have subverted the faith of some." ^C Then he shows the firmness and solidity of the truth: "But the foundation of God standeth firm, having this seal." And he teaches also how the Lord cares for His own: "The Lord knoweth," he says, "who are his." Furthermore, he exhorted them to flee the company of the wicked: "And let every one who nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." Then, by an example, he heals those who are distressed that the wicked live together with the good: "For in a great house," he says, "there are not only ^D vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some indeed unto honour, and some...

^A unto dishonour." He shows here the freedom of the will and that the mind is its own master, capable of easily shifting its own inclination wherever it wishes. He says thus: "If any man cleanse himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and useful, prepared unto every good work." He wrote things similar to this in his former Epistle: "This charge," he says, "I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou mightest war the good warfare; holding faith, and a good conscience, which some having put away, concerning faith have made shipwreck: of whom is Hymenæus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." ^B By these words he clearly taught that an unlawful life is the foundation of impiety. For he called a pure life a good conscience, and said those who had cast it away had made shipwreck concerning the faith. And again: "But refuse profane and old wives' fables." And further: "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions," and the rest. And a little after: "The love of money is the root of all evils: which while some coveted after, they have been seduced from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." And in the very end ^C he exhorts, saying: "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith." These things clearly declare that many authors of execrable heresies appeared even while they were still preaching. He also foretells that, after their departure, some who believed them would invent vain dogmas. "For the Spirit," he says, "speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." And in the second Epistle, having foretold many ^D of the reproaches of those who would come after them, he adds these words: "For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men corrupt in

^A mind, reprobate concerning the faith.” Then he foretells that falsehood shall be easily detected: “But they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.” I have brought forward these apostolic testimonies to show that, even while they were planting, the common enemy of all had sown the tares of heresy. But the all-wise Lord did not prevent the sowing of the evil seed, but transformed the greater part of the tares into wheat. And cities and villages bear witness to this, being now freed from the tares of Simon, and Menander, and Cleobius, and Dositheus, and Gortheus, and Adrian, and Saturnilus, and Basilides, and Isidore, and Carpocrates, and Epiphanes, and others of this kind altogether. For those who had been deceived by them, the Lord called mature grain. A few in number, and these scattered through various cities, infected with the corruption of Valentinus, Marcion, and Manes, remained; perhaps to put to the test those who are now entrusted with the feeding of the Churches, who are unable to convert even the small remnants of these impious heresies. But the adversary of God, the Devil, did not tire of his war against piety, but sent forth others again against the truth, who openly profess things contrary to the aforementioned heretics.

328 I. — On Ebion.

The leader of this band was Ebion; the Hebrews call a beggar by this name. He said that there is one unborn, just as we do, and taught that He is the Creator of the world; but he said that the Lord Jesus Christ was born of Joseph and Mary, that He was indeed a man, but one who excelled all others in virtue and purity. They live according to the Mosaic law. These acknowledge only the Gospel according to the Hebrews, and they call the Apostle an apostate. From these came Symmachus, who translated the Old Testament from the Hebrew into the Greek language. There was another sect besides this, bearing the same name; for these are also called Ebionites. In all other respects they agree with the former, but they say that the Saviour and Lord was born of a Virgin. They use only the Gospel according to Matthew, and they keep the Sabbath according to the ^C customs of the Jews.

II. — On the Nazarenes

III. — On Cerinthus

IV. — On Artemon

He held sentiments regarding the God of all similar to ours, declaring Him to be the Maker of the universe, but he said that the Lord Jesus Christ was a mere man, born of a virgin, though superior in virtue to the prophets. He also claimed that the apostles had preached these things, perverting the meaning of the divine Scriptures, and that those who came after them had deified Christ, though He was not God.

V. — On Theodotus

VI. — On the Melchisedecians

they suppose Melchisedec to be a certain divine and most great power, and that Christ was made in his image. Another Theodotus, a silversmith by trade, started this heresy.

VII. — On the Elcesaites The Elcesaites, having taken their name from a certain Elcesai who began the heresy, have woven their own error by gathering myths from various heresies. With regard to the beginning of all things, they agree with us, for they speak of one Unbegotten and call him the Creator of all things. However, they say that there is not one Christ, but one above and another below, and that the latter once dwelt in many, but later descended. ^B He says that Jesus is sometimes from God, sometimes calls him a spirit, and sometimes asserts that he had a virgin mother. In other writings, however, they do not even say this; and he says that this one again undergoes transmigration and enters into other bodies, and manifests himself in different ways at each season. They also make use of incantations and invocations of demons, and of baptisms with the confession of the elements. They embraced astrology, magic, and the mathematical error, and called themselves "Prognosticators." They completely rejected the Apostle, and composed a certain book which they claimed had fallen from the heavens. Whoever heard this, they claimed, would receive remission of sins beyond that which Christ granted. Origen wrote truly against this heresy. Alcibiades, originating from Apamea in Syria, spread it. ^C

VIII. — On Paul of Samosata Paul of Samosata was bishop of the Antiochenes. At that time, Zenobia held the government (since the Persians, having conquered the Romans, had given her Syria and Phoenice to rule), and he slipped into the heresy of Artemon, thinking that by this means he would obtain her favor, since she held the same opinions as the Jews. When the rulers of the Churches learned of this, they judged that it was not without danger to overlook such a disease, which was hastening to spread and had the prominence of a great city as its assistant. Dionysius, the bishop of Alexandria, a man distinguished in doctrine, deferred his journey due to the infirmity of old age, but he persuaded him by letter to do what was profitable, and stirred up ^D those bishops who had gathered to a zeal for the truth. Among those who had gathered, those who held the lead were Gregory, that great and most celebrated man, who, through the grace of the Spirit dwelling in him, performed miracles sung of by all; and Athenodorus, his brother; and Firmilianus, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, an illustrious man who flourished in both kinds of knowledge, both secular and divine; and Helenus, furthermore, who ruled the metropolis of the Cilicians.

^A These men were the leaders of the many who had assembled. And first, indeed, by persuasions and counsels, they tried to turn Paul away from his false doctrine. But since that man openly denied that he had held any such view, and claimed that he followed the apostolic dogmas, they praised the Lord for the harmony, and returned to their own flocks. As time passed, however, the report, spreading again everywhere, announced to all the perversion of Paul. Yet not even so did the most praiseworthy Fathers proceed easily to the cutting off of the man, but first they tried to heal the disease by letters; but when they saw the malady was ^B incurable, they again eagerly hastened to Antioch. They applied gentle medicines, admonishing, exhorting, and calling to remembrance the covenants that had been made. Thereafter, seeing both him denying it and the accusers pressing him, and promising that they would convict him, they convened in council. Here, Malchion, a man who had previously taught sophistry and had later been ordained a presbyter, conducted a debate with Paul, and it was detected that he called Christ a man who was distantly adorned with divine grace. Therefore, they then justly removed him from the sacred registers, having brought forth a unanimous vote. And since he resisted, and held the leadership of the Church, they informed Aurelian, who was emperor at that time, of Paul’s insolence, and persuaded him to expel him from the Church. For he, being devoted to the worship of idols, thought it just ^C that he who would not acquiesce to the judgment of the men of his faith, should be severed from their fellowship.

IX. — On Sabellius.

Sabellius the Libyan, from Pentapolis, began this heresy. He said that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one hypostasis, and one person of a triple name, and that it is the same one whom he calls sometimes the Father, sometimes the Son, and sometimes the Holy Spirit; and that in the Old Testament He gave the law as the Father, in the New He was incarnate as the Son, and came to the apostles ^D as the Holy Spirit. Against him, Dionysius, the bishop of the Alexandrians, wrote.

X. — On Marcellus.

Marcellus the Galatian, similarly to that man, denied Christ [alt-version omitted]

the Trinity of hypostases. He claimed that a certain extension of the divinity of the Father had come into Christ, and this he called God the Word; but when the whole economy was finished, it was drawn back and returned to God, from whom it had been extended. He says that the All-Holy Spirit is an extension of the extension, and that this was given to the apostles. And, in short, he imagined a Trinity that extends and contracts according to the various economies. ^B

XI. — On Photinus.

Photinus said that there is one operation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, preaching the thought of the doctrines of Sabellius under other names. The divine Diodorus, who ruled the metropolis of the Cilicians, wrote against these four, proving that Christ is God before the ages, having become man in the last days, and having negotiated the salvation of men. The pest of mankind, the devil, devised all these heresies for the subversion of the divinity of the Only-Begotten; but He who rebukes the abyss and dries it up has extinguished them all, He who says to the abyss: "Be desolate, and I will dry up your rivers." For not even a slight remnant of these remains: neither of the Cerinthians, nor of the Ebionites, nor of the Theodotians, nor of the Elcesaeans, nor of the Melchisedecians, nor of the Sabellians, nor of the Paulianists, nor of the Marcellians, nor of the Photinians; ^C but all things have been delivered once and for all to the darkness of oblivion, so that not even their names are known to the many. For truthful is the word of our Savior, that "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." But the divine doctrines of the Gospels have sprouted, and the shoots of the apostles have extended even to the sea, and the branches have filled the inhabited world, and the whole earth has been filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water as to cover the seas, and the witness of events has shown ^D the truth of the prophecy.

HERETICAL FABLES BOOK THREE

^A 338 Preface. 1. Of the Nicolaitans. 2. Of the Montanists. 3. Of Noetus of Smyrna. 4. Of the Tessarescaidecatites. 5. Of Novatus. 6. Of Nepos.

PREFACE

Since in the previous books we have set forth the heresies that are contrary to one another, come, let us also teach those who do not know the others that have sprung up between them. For just as field mice are produced from the earth by a certain intemperance of the air and the foul quality of rot, and are harmful to seeds and plants, and yet are hunted and destroyed by farmers: so too, by the malignant artifice of the devil, heresies have appeared which injured the simpler sort of men; but the excellent farmers of piety have driven them out from the divine crops and removed them from the midst. The Lord predicted the snares ^B of these through the parable of the tares, and taught the apostles in express terms, at one time saying that many false Christs, false prophets, and false apostles would appear, and at another time commanding them to be on their guard, adding: “Many will come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” Then he teaches how it is necessary to discern the difference between the sheep and the wolf clothed in a sheep’s hide. “By their fruits,” he says, “you will know them.” Then, through a certain analogy, he explains his statement more clearly. “Can they gather,” he says, “grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree brings forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.” And having ^C expanded his argument, he added: “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Impious and wicked dogmas are therefore sufficient in themselves to show who their father is. For, he says, “a tree is known by its fruit.”

^A And the end of these things is sufficient to refute the falsehood. For falsehood is easily dissolved, but the power of the truth is lasting. For this reason, the fables of diabolical operation have vanished, but the dogmas of the Gospels flourish and bloom. And although many have fought against them—tribes, demagogues, generals, and kings—the foundations of the Church have remained fixed upon the rock; but the heralds of the ill-named heresies have fled, as the Wise man said, with no one pursuing. For it is his voice: “I stretched out my hands, and they withered, and they became as dry grass upon the housetops; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness shall not fail.” But let us proceed to the narrative of the remaining dogmas.

I. — On the Nicolaitans.

The heresy of the Nicolaitans was composed not only of folly, but also of intemperance. ^B Clement taught the matters concerning this more clearly. He says that Nicolaus was one of the seven deacons whom the chorus of the apostles chose for the ministry of the widows. Since he had a beautiful wife, he was accused before the apostles as if he were laboring under the disease of jealousy. Wishing to remove this opinion, he brought his wife into the midst and permitted whoever wished to enjoy her, not decreeing this as a law, but refuting the calumny of those who had accused him. Thence, some, receiving in a very evil manner what had been done by him for the aforementioned reason, ordained that women should be held in common. But Clement says that Nicolaus was distinguished for temperance ^C and taught his children supernatural chastity, and that his son remained celibate and his daughters virgins. From which it is clearly proven that those who practice the aforementioned intemperance falsely arrogate to themselves the name from his appellation. Against these the aforementioned Clement wrote, and Irenaeus, and Origen, and Hippolytus, the bishop and martyr.

II. — On the Montanists.

The heresy called that of the Phrygians was begun by Montanus, who originated from a certain village of that region called Ardaban. This man, moved by a love of authority, called himself the Paraclete ^D and made two prophetesses, Priscilla and Maximilla, and of them

^A called their writings prophetic books, and named the village Pepuza Jerusalem. He furthermore legislated for the dissolving of marriage and introduced new fasts beyond the custom of the Church. He did not, however, corrupt the doctrine concerning the divine Trinity, and he taught concerning the creation of the world in the same way as we do. Those who adhere to his teaching are indeed called Montanists from him, but they are also called Cataphrygians from the nation, and Pepuzians from the village which he named Jerusalem. Moreover, the prophecies of Priscilla and Maximilla are honored by them above the divine Gospel. Regarding the mysteries, some people circulate certain rumors, but they do not admit to these, calling the accusation a slander. Certain of them have denied the three hypostases of the Godhead, similar to Sabellius, saying that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the same, ^B similar to Noetus the Asian. Apollinarius, who became bishop of the holy city in Phrygia, a man worthy of praise, and one who in addition to the knowledge of divine things had also acquired secular learning, wrote against them. Likewise Miltiades, and Apollonius, and other writers. Against Proclus, who presided over the same heresy, wrote Caius, whom we mentioned before.

III. — On Noetus of Smyrna.

Noetus was by birth a Smyrnean, but he revived the heresy which a certain man named Epigonus had first brought to light, and Cleomenes, having received it, confirmed ^C it. These are the main points of the heresy. They say that there is one God and Father, the creator of all things: not appearing when He wills, and appearing when He wishes; and that the same one is invisible and visible, begotten and unbegotten; unbegotten from the beginning, but begotten when He willed to be born from the Virgin; impassible and immortal, and again on the other hand, passible and mortal. For being impassible, he says, He willingly endured the passion of the cross. They call this one both Son and Father,

^A and the Father, according as the usage requires, bearing this or that name. They were called Noetians who loved this heresy. ^B After Noetus, Callistus championed it, and he too, having devised certain additions, added to the impiety of the dogma.

IV. — On the Tessarescadecatites.

The heresy of the Tessarescadecatites (or Quartadecimans) has this premise. They say that John the Evangelist, preaching in Asia, taught them to observe the feast of Pascha on the fourteenth day of the moon; but, wrongly understanding the apostolic tradition, they do not await the day of the Lord’s resurrection, but sometimes on a Tuesday, sometimes on a Thursday, sometimes on a Sabbath, or however it may happen, they celebrate the memorial of the passion. They use also the erroneous Acts of the Apostles, and other spurious works, or rather works alien to grace, which they call apocrypha. ^C They also agree with Novatus; for they too turn away from the discussion concerning repentance.

V. — On Novatus.

Novatus was a presbyter of the Roman Church. When a most severe tempest ^D assailed the Churches, it happened that some of those reared in piety, after various torments, became exhausted and used words of denial. When tranquility was restored, these begged to obtain the remedies of repentance. And indeed, to the best pastors, the fearful accusation of the Lord seemed to apply, which says: "O shepherds, that which was broken you did not bind, and that which had strayed you did not bring back, and that which had fallen you did not raise up" (Ezech. XXXIV, 4); and that a hand must be extended to those who have fallen, and these must be strengthened according to the command of the Lord. For the Lord said to the great Peter: "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail" (Luc. XXII, 31, 32). Novatus was not pleased with these counsels, but openly contradicted them, saying that it was not right for those who had denied [the faith] to attain salvation; acting similarly to those who stop the sick from enjoying medical remedies. But those who were begging to obtain the cure argued against him, that although he had often been asked to hasten to them and confirm with words those who were being struck by the engines of the tyrant, he, concealing himself and trying to remain hidden, denied himself to be a presbyter. But yet, even when these things were heard by the bishops who had gathered at Rome, to persuade

^A them to agree with the best opinions, they tried. But when they saw him raging and ordaining a God-hated cruelty, they separated him from the body of the Church, while Cornelius was then governing Rome. This Novatus, having persuaded a few—and those very easily counted—to join in his heresy, departed for Italy, and having deceived three bishops of small towns, he led them away, as if they were to intercede on his behalf with the bishop of Rome. Having arrived with them at a certain village, he forced them to impart episcopal ordination to him; and they themselves lamented this violence when they reached Rome and explained what had occurred. Thus, the wretch having stolen the ordination, he became the leader of the heresy. Those of his own faction, he called not only Novatians, but also ^B Cathari. And he did not fear the accusation of the Lord God, which He made against certain people, saying: "Those who say, I am pure, do not touch me"; and He added: "He is the smoke of my wrath, a fire burning in it all the days." For the Lord "resists the proud." The successors of this man also added other things to the doctrine; for those who have entered into second marriages, they drive away from the holy mysteries, and they utterly banish from their assemblies any mention of repentance, and to those whom they baptize, they do not offer the most holy chrism. For this reason, the most praiseworthy Fathers commanded that those who join the body of the Church from this heresy should be anointed. Against this heresy, Cornelius wrote many letters, as did Dionysius, the bishop of the Alexandrians, and many other bishops of that time, through whom the inhumanity of Novatus immediately became manifest to all.

VI. — On Nepos

^C Nepos, a bishop of an Egyptian city, in all other respects agreed with the dogmas of the Church, but he erred regarding the divine promises, as he considered that these would take place on earth, and that eating and drinking, and Jewish festivals, and periods of a thousand years were to be spent in these things. Against him, in turn, wrote Dionysius, the bishop of the Alexandrians, in other matters praising him, but in these convicting the deceiver.

These things, then, occurred between those who denied the humanity of God and our Savior, and those who called him a mere man, who even before the ages ^D was God

the dogmas have sprung up. And most of these, as soon as they were born, withered and remained dried up. For who knows anyone now who is called after Nepos, or Nicolaus, or Noetus, or Proclus ^A? The East has been completely liberated from the Montanists, and the Novatians, and the Tessarescaedecatites; Egypt and Libya have also been liberated, and the West is likewise free from them; only small parts of Asia and of Pontus retain these weeds. For neither the Polemoniac Pontus, nor Helenopontus, nor the Armenias, nor the Cappadocias, nor Lycaonia, nor Pisidia, nor Pamphylia, nor Lycia, nor Caria have received these heresies. But the earth is full of those who worship the truth, and the ends of the world are full of them. For the prediction of the God of the universe, which He uttered through the prophetic tongue to the Savior, is true: "Behold, I have given Thee as a covenant to a race, for a light to the nations, that Thou shouldst be salvation unto the end of the earth." Accordant with Isaiah, the blessed David also says: "He shall have dominion," he says, "from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. Before Him the Ethiopians shall fall down, and His enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tharsis and the isles shall bring gifts; the kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts ^B. And all the kings of the earth shall worship Him; all nations shall serve Him." These predictions have received their fulfillment through the Church. But the teaching of the heretics has for the most part been uprooted entirely, while in other parts it differs nothing from withered trees, lingering in a few cities and villages, and revealing the weakness and falsehood of those who composed it. For the Lord "dissipates the signs of the ventriloquists, and divinations from the heart, and establishes the words of His Son, and demonstrates the counsel of His envoys to be true." And, "He dissipates the counsels of nations, and brings to naught the reasonings of peoples; but the counsel of the Lord abides forever; the reasonings of His heart to generation and generation. Blessed, then, is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He chose for an inheritance for Himself ^C."

BOOK FOUR. ON THE HERETICAL MYTHOLOGIES. ON THE DOCTRINE OF SIMON.

THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS HERETICAL FABULATIONS, BOOK FOUR

Præfatio. 1. Concerning Arius. 2. Concerning Eudoxius. 3. Concerning Eunomius and Aetius. 4. Concerning the Psathyrians and others derived from the heresy of Arius. 5. Concerning the Macedonians. 6. Concerning the Donatists. 7. Concerning the Meletians. 8. Concerning Apollinarius. 9. Concerning the Polemians and other Apollinarists. 10. Concerning the Audians. 11. Concerning the Messalians, or Euchites, and Enthusiasts. 12. Concerning Nestorius. 13. Concerning Eutyches.

PROLOGUE

I. — Concerning Arius.

^A he contradicted him, calling Him a creature whom he had previously declared to be the true Son; and while the former was teaching that God the Word is coeternal with God the Father, as existing in the beginning, being God the Word and the radiance of His glory, he said that He who is came into being from things that did not exist, and he claimed that He possessed a mutable nature. He also mutilated the doctrine of the Incarnation, for he said that He took on a body without a soul, and that the Divinity filled the roles of the soul, in order that He might assign to it the sympathy that arises from the body.

Abandoning the laws of doxology which those who were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word from the beginning had handed down, he introduced a different pattern, teaching those he had deceived to glorify the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. And although he did not dare to alter the invocation used at divine baptism, because the transgression would be manifest, he did instruct them to baptize according to the Lord’s command in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; but he forbade them to offer glory according to the law of baptism, even though our God and Savior commanded not simply to baptize, but first to make disciples. "For," He said, "go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. XXVIII, 19). According to this law, the divine apostles and the teachers of the Church who followed them teach those who approach to believe in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and they baptize those who have been made disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, those who have partaken of the gift, just as they were taught and baptized, so do they glorify the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For it is absurd that those who have received the gift of baptism from the Holy Trinity ^B should offer glory only to the Father, and leave the Son and the Holy Spirit unhonored.

But we have spoken of these things at length in the books we wrote against them; the purpose of the present work, however, is to demonstrate the character of each heresy. The holy Fathers who assembled at Nicaea, therefore, openly cast out this Arius, who held such views, as one who was introducing doctrines that were utterly alien to the divine oracles and of a foreign nature. ^C Later, however, feigning repentance, he persuaded those who were in positions of authority with the great Emperor Constantine to grant him a place for repentance. The Emperor, having accepted the petition, bade the Bishop of the imperial city extend his hand to one who desired salvation. But the divine Alexander (for he held the helm of that Church), ^D first indeed attempted to persuade the Emperor not to be led astray by the feigned words of Arius. When, however, he perceived that the Emperor took this poorly, he withdrew in silence. It was, moreover, ordained that Arius should be admitted in the morning, for it was a Saturday when these things were said. That true man of God, therefore, having entered the divine temple with two of his domestics, the Lord of the Churches...

^A having implored—prostrate upon the earth before the holy altars and pouring out tears—not to permit the wolf to mix with the sheep, since he, wishing to do exactly what wolves do, was covering himself with sheep’s clothing. They say that he even added these words to his prayer: "If You permit him to enter, even though he plots such things, for the sake of Your ineffable plan (for Your judgments cannot be investigated), then remove me, Your servant, from this present life." Having thus completed his prayer, he returned home weeping. Arius, however, confident that the emperor’s promises would be fulfilled, set out at daybreak. Then, when his stomach pressed him to make an evacuation, he entered a public latrine, leaving the servant who followed him outside. Suddenly, his intestines having been loosened and poured out, he died while sitting inside. Those who were sitting nearby saw the event and cried out; the servant ran in, and seeing him dead, informed his household of what had happened. When the plague sent by God was reported throughout that most populous city, everyone together ran to the divine temple. ^B And when they learned of the emperor’s promise and the priest’s prayer, they praised the Protector of the Churches and abhorred the impiety of the heresy. Yet, even though these things had come to pass, and the divine sentence had been shown most clearly, those who had contracted the disease persisted in sharpening their tongues against the Only-Begotten and the most holy Spirit. But since I have written about these things at length in my *Ecclesiastical History*, I consider it superfluous to speak of them here. Therefore, passing over Eusebius, Theognis, Theodotus of Perinthus, Menophantus of Ephesus, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, ^C and others, I shall make mention of Eudoxius alone. For the accounts which must be told concerning Aetius and Eunomius require mention of him.

II. — Concerning Eudoxius.

This Eudoxius was bishop of Germanicia, a city neighboring the Taurus [mountains]; but, having despised that little town, he set out for Antioch when he heard of the death of Leontius. Then, he seized the see in violation of ecclesiastical laws. ^D Being driven out from there by imperial letters, and ordered to go to the synod which was being gathered at Seleucia in Isauria, he did indeed arrive as he was commanded, but he did not dare to enter the assembly; rather, he ran to the city of Constantine, and by flattering the emperor’s chamberlains, persuaded them that the synod should be gathered there. And lest I be too long in telling everything (for I made mention of all these people in that [previous] work), I shall also...

say that he was able to seize the throne of that city and to strip the churches of the heralds of the truth.

III. — 354 Concerning Eunomius and Aetius.

^B Then, having removed the most laudable Eleusius from Cyzicus, he ordained Eunomius in his place. Eunomius boasted of Aetius the Syrian as his master, whose most miserable life, and the studies to which he had devoted himself, Gregory of Nyssa and Theodore of Mopsuestia accurately taught in the works they wrote against Eunomius. This man openly amplified the blasphemies of Arius. For this reason, Constantius relegated him to a certain wasteland in Phrygia; and this happened after he had turned aside from the straight path and inclined toward another way. For after the death of his father, having been led astray by certain men who had charge of his person, he enacted a law forbidding anyone to dare to call the Son of God either of the same substance or of a different substance (for he said it was not holy to scrutinize the substance of God), but he ordered that He should be called similar to the ^C Father in all things. And for this reason he banished Aetius, who was the first of all to dare to say that the Son is in all things dissimilar to the God who begat Him, to the aforementioned wasteland. Eudoxius, knowing this, persuaded Eunomius not to reveal what they believed, but to keep it hidden for a time, and to nourish it in the darkness like a furtive fetus, until time should provide the opportunity. Eunomius, acquiescing to these things, imparted his doctrine, obscured from many, at Cyzicus. But desiring to give birth to impiety, he hinted at this while conversing, and wounded the souls of his hearers. Then certain men, fired with divine zeal, concealing their zeal, assumed the guise of the heresy and, coming to Eunomius' house, begged him to teach clearly the truth of the dogma. Persuaded, and thinking them to be of his own mind, he vomited forth the poison that he had hitherto concealed. They, in turn, begged him more importunately to exhibit his doctrine to the whole people and to prefer the flock that desired to know the truth to the favor ^D of the emperor. Thus, deceived again, Eunomius published his blasphemy. Then they, having immediately taken along many of like faith, ran to the camp and taught Eudoxius the impiety that had been dared. Eudoxius was indeed grieved to hear that Eunomius had transgressed the covenants upon which they had agreed; but he promised the accusers that the matter would be a care to him, though he neglected it completely, pretending a multitude of affairs. Therefore, the accusers of Eunomius, when they had perceived the mind of Eudoxius, [set out to address] Eunomius' blasphe-

to the Emperor. And the Emperor first commanded Eudoxius to bring Eunomius and to examine the accusation that had been made. But when he saw that he was procrastinating (for the accusers came constantly), he threatened to send them both into the wilderness in which Aetius was living. Eudoxius, therefore, fearing, brought Eunomius; and first he reminded him of the instructions he had given him ^B and then, having clearly convicted him, he deposed him, although he himself was suffering from the same disease. For he feared the Emperor’s threats. But Eunomius, on the contrary, immediately proclaimed himself the leader of the heresy, and this while having been forced to dwell in a certain remote region of Pamphylia. Hence the gang of the Eunomians appeared. He turned theology into technical jargon, and openly belched forth blasphemies against the Only-Begotten and the Holy Spirit. And he said that the Son was the first creature of the Father and pre-eminent; but that the Holy Spirit was created by the Son before other works. ^C He also overturned the law of holy baptism given long ago by the Lord and the Apostles, and openly legislated the opposite, saying that one ought not to submerge the one being baptized three times, nor to perform the invocation of the Trinity, but to baptize once into the death of Christ. And in baptizing, they wet them with water only as far as the chest, but they forbid applying water to the rest of the parts of the body as if they were accursed. For which reason, when they were baptizing in a tub, they would stand the man outside of it and submerge his head as far as the chest once into the water. But since it happened that someone was injured when his head struck the tub, they devised another kind of baptism. For they stretch the man out prone upon a certain bench, ^D and, holding his head up outside of it, they pour water, which touches no other part. But some of them have discovered yet another mode of baptism. For, preparing a very long ribbon and consecrating it, they wrap the man in it as far as the toenails, starting from the chest, and then thus they apply the pouring of the water. These things were reported by those who, fleeing their impiety, have joined themselves to the sheep of our Savior and God. And they say that they dare even another thing, which I would not dare to commit to writing. For the mere hearing of so nefarious a deed is sufficient to pollute the mind. But whether these things are perpetrated by them or otherwise, I, for one, would not care to affirm; I have certainly heard it from those who know their affairs intimately. Having raged in such a manner against the truth, Eunomius continued to increase his disease day by day.

He dared to say that he was ignorant of nothing divine, but that he knew precisely the very essence of God, and possessed the same knowledge concerning God as God himself possesses concerning himself. Driven into madness by him, those who partook of his corruption dare to say openly that they know God just as He knows Himself. He devised various other things so that he might appear to be the inventor of new dogmas. From this, the Arian faction was divided in two: some were called Arians, others Eunomians. The Arians were also termed Eudoxians during the time of Eudoxius; for, being a slave to vainglory, he strove to impose his own name upon those who held his views. These same people are also called Exacioniṭae, receiving the name from the place where they were accustomed to hold their assembly. The Eunomians were also called Aetians, because Eunomius named Aetius as his master. The same people are also called Troglitae, or Troglodytes, as they celebrate their meetings secretly in hidden houses. For they are very few in number, as everyone shuns them on account of the impudence of their blasphemy. And truly, the greatest part of the world has been delivered from their ruin, and only a very few cities possess any of these men, and even they themselves try to remain in hiding. ^B

IV. Regarding the Psathyrians, and others derived from the heresy of Arius.

From the blasphemy of Arius, another sect again broke off. These say: God is the Father, but the Son was also always created by God. For, in the case of God, they claim that creating and begetting are the same thing. The people of Antioch call them Psathyrians, because they say that the author of this heresy was a maker of such cakes. Others, again, being separated from these, were called by some Cyrtiani, and by others Pitheciani, from a certain small man with high shoulders who had gone out with them, and who caused this name to be imposed upon them. ^C In time, a later gathering also arose, separated from the Arians; they received their name from their impiety. For they were called Duliani, because they dared to call the only-begotten Son of God a servant of the Father. They construct their blasphemy using a syllogism of this kind. Every creature, they say, is a servant of the Creator; but the Son is a creature of the Father. Thus, they took so many opportunities for blasphemy from the madness of Arius, and into so many parts has the sect of Arius been divided. ^D

V. — On the Macedonians.

There grew up from these, besides the aforementioned, another heresy, which was deemed to hold somewhat less impious views. For when Paul, most renowned, who had been shepherd of the royal city, was driven out by those who were afflicted with the Arian malady, Macedonius took up the helm of that Church in his stead. This Macedonius completely rejected the statement that the Son is consubstantial with the Father; instead, he ordained that He be called "like in all things," and he devised the term *homœousion* (like in substance) in place of *homoousion* (consubstantial). He continued to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, just as Arius and Eunomius did. Whence those who were called of his sect were named Pneumatomachi (Spirit-fighters). From this source also were the tares of the Macedonians sown.

VI. — On the Donatists.

Now in that region which was formerly called Libya, but is now called Africa, the common enemy stirred up the madness of those known as Donatists. As far as their heresy is concerned, they align themselves with Arius; but they have devised a new kind of madness. They call a violent death "martyrdom," and those who desire to obtain this title make it known to their co-religionists long beforehand. These, in turn, attend to them with every care and bring them all kinds of food, fattening and nourishing them like certain sacrificial victims. And after they have spent a long time in these luxuries, they force those they encounter upon the roads to inflict lethal wounds upon them with the sword. Some indeed obtain what they desire, while others are thwarted. For who of sound mind would take upon himself the manifest crime of murder? Therefore, like the Corybantes in their frenzy, they cast themselves down from high cliffs. ^C

I, however, amidst these Arian narratives, wish to relate an amusing incident that occurred regarding them. For when many of them, fattened like pheasants, fell upon a certain robust young man, and with drawn sword held out, commanded him to inflict wounds upon them—threatening to slaughter him if he did not do as ordered—he said that he feared that, if some were killed, the survivors, led to repentance, might exact from him the penalty for the slaughter. Therefore, he argued, it was necessary first to bind each one of them, and only then to apply the sword. When they complied with him and accepted being bound, he thrashed them all with rods, and having left them bound, he departed. Into such a frenzy did the evil demon truly cast these people. ^D

VII. — Concerning the Meletians in Egypt.

^A In Alexandria of Egypt, at the time when Arius began his blasphemy against the Only-Begotten, one Meletius, a bishop, stirring up sedition against the great Alexander, ordained bishops, presbyters, and deacons in many cities, not by initiating a new heresy (for he held the same views as the Church), but by suffering from the disease of ambition. Those most holy Fathers who had gathered at Nicaea removed him from the helm of the Church and stripped those ordained by him of the titles that had been conferred contrary to the laws. Hence arose the schism of the Meletians in Egypt. Yet he himself introduced no innovations into the doctrines of piety; these men, however, when they saw the heresy of Arius being strengthened by those who were then in power, inclined toward it. But now they say that they have been freed from that disease, yet they live privately, refusing to be ruled by others and declining to be united with the Churches. For this reason, as if they were independent, they have devised such ridiculous practices as cleansing the body with water every other day, singing hymns with the clapping of hands and a certain style of dancing, shaking many little bells attached to a piece of wood, and other things similar to these. Because of this, that great Athanasius waged perpetual war against them.

VIII. — Concerning Apolinarius.

^C Apolinarius the Laodicean, in some of his writings, did not corrupt the doctrine concerning the Trinity, but, like us, preached both the one substance of the Godhead and the three hypostases; yet in some he defined degrees of rank, establishing himself as the distributor of divine grace. For the invention of “Great, greater, greatest” is his—as though the Spirit were great, the Son greater, and the Father the greatest. But what could be more ridiculous than this? For if he truthfully says that the substance of the Trinity is one, how has he imagined it to be both small and great? In bodies, quantity and the measure of quantity produce such scales; but the nature that is free from these admits of no such measures. However, our purpose at present is not to refute, but to point out various opinions. In some of his books, therefore, he again confused the properties of the hypostases, and did the same thing with regard to the Trinity that he dared to do regarding the dispensation. Hence he also received the accusation of Sabellianism, and said that God the Word was incarnate, having assumed a body and a soul—not the rational soul, but the irrational one, which

^A some call the vegetable [(58)], or vital. Asserting that the intellect is something other than the soul, he said that it was not assumed, but that the divine nature had sufficed to fill the need of an intellect. And the wisest man [(39)] [(40)] did not perceive that He would not have needed even a body if He had not willed it, but would have appeared even without a body, just as He did of old to the patriarchs. But [(41)] we shall reserve the discourse on the economy for the book which follows this one.

IX. — Of the Polemians and other Apolinarians

^B A certain Polemius [(43)], having taken a pretext from his writings, spoke of a confusion of substances, and a commixtion of the divinity and the body. From this the heresy of the Polemians sprouted. And certain others also from the gathering of Apolinarius [(45)] said [(46)] that the body of the Lord had descended from heaven; and finding diverse doctrines in his writings, some were pleased by one, and others by another. How this man, having been severed from the body of the Church, produced his diverse doting nonsense of dogmas, I thought it superfluous to say.

X. — Of the Audians

A certain Audaeus [(47)], springing from the Syria beyond the Euphrates, taught that God has a human form, and attributed to Him the members of a body, foolishly ^C understanding those things which were spoken by way of accommodation in the divine Scripture. For divine Scripture, speaking to men who do not even exactly know the nature of those things which are seen, has fashioned its teaching as they were able to hear. For this reason, it has called the visual power of God "eyes," and the auditory "ears," and the active power "hands," and the other operations likewise. Not understanding any of these things, the foolish man imposed a human form upon God. For thus he understood also this: "Let us make man according to our image and likeness" [(Gen. I, 26)]. And suffering from irrationality, ^D he did not perceive the invisible and immortal part of the soul, but pinned the power of reason on the body alone. But [(48)] concerning this also, it shall be said with God's help when we discuss the formation of man. They say, therefore, that this Audaeus also called darkness, and fire, and water unbegotten. But those who bear his name conceal these things. They pretend, however, to avoid communion with the Church on account of usurers and those living with women, although much graver things are perpetrated among them. Nor do they notice that

it is not easy even for the most scrupulous bishops to cut someone off, but that accusers and witnesses are needed, according to the apostolic law: “Do not,” he says, “admit an accusation against a presbyter, except on the evidence of two or three witnesses” (1 Tim. v. 19). That ecclesiastical laws do indeed punish those who are caught, is witnessed by what happens everywhere on land and sea; for bishops, deacons, and presbyters are struck from the ecclesiastical registers.

These people, however, boast that they can grant the remission of sins. For they divide the holy books into two parts, along with spurious ones (for they consider these latter to be exceptionally arcane and mystical), and placing them in a row on either side, they command each person to walk between them ^B and to confess their misdeeds; then they grant forgiveness to those who have confessed, not prescribing a time for penance as the laws of the Church command, but granting it by their own authority. Those who pass through, knowing that this is a farce, conceal their true sins and relate some trivial things worthy of laughter—things that one would be ashamed to mention, were one not possessed by the same madness as they.

11. On the Messalians, otherwise known as Euchites and Enthusiasts

The Messalians (for this name, when translated into the Greek tongue, means "Euchites," or "those who pray") claim that baptism confers no benefit upon those who receive it; for, like a razor, it removes past sins, but it does not uproot the root of sin. Perpetual prayer, they say, both tears out the root of sin completely and expels from the soul the evil demon that was assigned to each person from the very beginning. For they assert that at the birth of every man, a demon is immediately present and incites him to absurd actions. ^C This demon, they say, cannot be driven from the soul by baptism, nor by anything else, save only by the power of prayer. They also claim that the indwelling demon departs through mucus and the impurities of phlegm. Thus, the wretches, having been deceived, engage in no work at all (for they call themselves "spiritual"), but, having purportedly devoted themselves to prayer, they sleep for the greater part of the day. Then, deceived by the demon that drives them, they claim to have seen revelations and attempt to foretell the future; yet they are proven to be liars by the actual events. They even boast that they can see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit with their bodily eyes, ^D and that they perceive the advent of the Spirit through their senses. They are prepared, however, to deny this, and if they are pressured, they immediately anathematize those who claim any of these things. Thus...

^A when they were summoned to appear before the most celebrated Flavian, bishop of Antioch, they denounced the charges brought against them as calumnies. But that most wise man detected the hidden heresy. For, pretending to be angry with the accusers and annoyed as if they had concocted false rumors, he ordered Adelphius, who was the leader of those accused of heresy—a man already with one foot in the grave, and near the gates of death—to sit beside him. ^B Addressing him, the most blessed Flavian said that the accusers were ignorant, as they were coarser, of the spiritual way of life. "We, however," he said, "who have grown old in time, have perceived this knowledge." "But tell me," he said, "truthfully and ingenuously, what are the things that are said?" Lulled in this way, the old man, thinking that he had found a partner in his doctrines, confirmed the accusation with his own confession. Having thus learned these things, the divine man expelled them from the borders of the East. They also do many other things that prove their madness. For they suddenly jump, and boast that they have leaped upon demons, and with their fingers they mimic the form of archers, claiming to shoot at demons. And they perform many other things full of similar frenzy, from which they have obtained the name of "Enthusiasts." The leaders of this heresy were Sabbas, and Adelphius, and Daodes, and Symeones, and Hermas, and certain others. ^C But the most celebrated Letoius, bishop of Melitene, wrote letters against them when he had detected the heresy. The most excellent Amphilochius, however, who governed the Church of Iconium, more accurately attacked the heresy, inserting their very words into the Acts that he compiled, which clearly declare the difference of their doctrine.

XII. Concerning Nestorius.

After the world had begun to slip away little by little, and was hastening toward the dissolution of this universe, everyone thought himself a capable teacher of piety; and because, on account of the pride of ignorance, no one could bear to learn, the man-killing demon, the father of lies, the sower of tares, no longer stirred up arms against the Church through external and manifest enemies; but

^A having found an instrument that, so to speak, suddenly received his craft, he introduced, under the guise of orthodox opinion, the denial of the divinity and humanity of the Only-Begotten at the same time, confusing our simple and artless faith with Hellenic sophistries. You have surely heard of Nestorius; for the man is well known to all. He, originating from the small town of Germanicia, educated I know not in what studies from the beginning, moving from one region to another like some Egyptian scourge, burst into the great city of the Antiochians. In this place, having had a moderate share in the liberal arts, and having trained a most beautiful and powerful voice, he insinuated himself into the Church of God; and having been enrolled in the number of the presbyters, and entrusted with the duty of teaching the people, he immediately, at the very beginning, showed what his whole life would be like. For he did not pursue a noble and wholesome style of discourse, capable of cultivating the souls of men; but, by directing his speech toward the pleasure of the people, and striving for empty applause as much as anyone, he excited the turbulent and unstable mob to his own desire, dressed in a dark garment, walking sadly, avoiding public clamors, pretending to be continent by the paleness of his body, mostly intent on books at home, and living in peace and quiet by himself. By such habits and pretenses, he ensnared the many, and spent a great part of his life, being eager to seem a Christian rather than to be one, and preferring his own glory to that of Christ. But since, as it was said by the Lord, ^B "There is nothing hidden that will not be known, nor secret that will not come to light," and "Good works are manifest, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden," through the unsearchable abyss of the judgments of God, Nestorius, by the vote of those who were in the palace and the (episcopal) thrones, and of him who then held the scepter of the world, was entrusted with the leadership of the orthodox Catholic Church at Constantinople, and in no less degree, of the entire world. Here, then, began those actions that almost filled both land and sea. For as soon as he attained that most exalted throne, and seized the management of the priesthood like some tyranny, he was no longer able to contain the labor of impiety within himself; but having taken from his power a foolish boldness, he brought it into the open, and set before all the blasphemy he had long ago conceived against the Only-Begotten. And he waged war openly against the apostolic dogmas, and against the holy Fathers who, from the time the Gospel was announced, had presided over the faith of the orthodox, striving to reject their words, disturbing the Church of the royal city, and indeed disturbing the whole world; making of no account the divine Paul, who cries: "But he who disturbs...

you shall bear his judgment, whoever he may be." ^B But upon the lampstand of the divine pontifical office, he places not the lamp of truth, but the darkness of impiety. The first step of his innovation was the claim that we should not confess the holy Virgin, who gave birth to the Word of God as He took flesh from her, to be Theotokos [Mother of God], but only Christotokos [Mother of Christ], whereas the most ancient preachers of the orthodox faith, following the apostolic tradition, taught men to name and believe her the Mother of the Lord. Come then, let us bring into the open this blasphemous technicality and observation, known to no one before his time. The name of Christ, he says, is indicative of two natures, the divinity of the Only-Begotten and the humanity; but the word God, when pronounced absolutely, represents the simple and incorporeal substance of the Word of God, while that of "man" indicates only the human nature. For this reason, he says, it is necessary to confess the Virgin to be Christotokos and not Theotokos, lest we, being imprudent, say that the Word of God received His beginning from the holy Virgin, and thus be forced by logical consequence to confess the mother as older than the one born from her. ^C But lest I seem to be hurling these charges against the man with empty insults, I will produce the man himself as a witness by his own words. For, banishing from his mind the memory of apostolic teachings and of all the saints, he cried out many such things in the Church of the orthodox: "O excellent sir, Mary did not give birth to God, but she gave birth to a man, an instrument of divinity." And again in other babblings: "The Gentile is free from blame who introduces a mother for his gods." Let these few things out of many be said by me, while the discourse hastens to what follows. Whence, since the impious shall perish by a miserable death, he was cast out of the pontificate by divine suffrage through the holy men gathered at Ephesus, and by the order of the emperor was commanded to inhabit the Oasis; from there he took the beginning of the future punishment of the impious, becoming a mockery of his own madness, and fulfilling in himself that saying of the Apostle: "Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment." But these things, as they have been examined by many others, it is fitting to pass over, and to proceed to what follows in the history.

XIII. — Concerning Eutyches.

^D The envious demon introduced the very last of these wretched heresies, the Eutychian, by which he afflicted the Churches throughout the world: and of his wickedness

^A having found the wretched Eutyches as an instrument susceptible to him, he caused the long-since withered heresy of Valentinus to bloom again. For Arius confessed the assumption of the body alone, and Apollinarius that of the soul as well; but this man denied even the assumption of the body. For he said that God the Word took nothing human from the Virgin, but that He Himself was immutably transformed and became flesh—I use his own ridiculous words—and that He merely passed through the Virgin, and that the uncircumscribed, ^B infinite, and incomprehensible divinity of the Only-Begotten was nailed and suspended on the cross, and that this same divinity was committed to the tomb and experienced resurrection. But to pass over the excess of his madness, let us consider this: that no benefit has come to us from the incarnation, and we have no pledge of our own resurrection. For if God has risen from the dead, it does not follow that man will also surely rise; for the difference between the natures is vast. Why then does the divine Apostle strengthen the argument concerning our own resurrection ^C from the resurrection of the Master, and crying out to the Corinthians, wail: “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen” (I Cor. xv, 12, 13)? For by means of that which was believed, he demonstrated that which was not believed; and with that which was not believed, he cast out also that which was believed. For if, he says, it is true that Christ rose, then it is true that we shall rise; but if this is false, then the rising of Christ is likewise false; for that is a body, and these are bodies. Having strengthened this with many arguments, ^D he subsequently asserted with authority: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (Ibid. 20). And by the term “firstfruits,” he clearly indicated the lump, since the firstfruits have the same nature as that of which they are the firstfruits. Moreover, he also teaches the cause of the dispensation: “For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead” (Ibid. 21). Then he passes from natures to persons: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (Ibid. 22). But since I have often written much about this, I considered it superfluous to prolong the discussion for the present, especially since I intend to speak about these things also in the fifth book, God willing. Putting an end, therefore, to this fourth book, I shall endeavor to demonstrate the excellence of the evangelical teaching as far as I am able.

BOOK FIVE. AN EPITOME OF DIVINE DOGMAS

THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS: COMPENDIUM OF HERETICAL FABLES, BOOK FIVE. EPITOME OF DIVINE DOGMAS.

INDEX OF CHAPTERS

^A 1. Concerning the beginning and the Father. 2. Concerning the Son. 3. Concerning the Holy Spirit and the divine names. 4. Concerning creation. 5. Concerning matter. 6. Concerning the Aeons. 7. Concerning the angels. 8. Concerning the demons. 9. Concerning man. 10. Concerning Providence. 11. Concerning the dispensation of the Savior. 12. That the Master assumed a body. 13. That He also assumed a soul along with the body. 14. That He assumed the perfect human nature. 15. That He raised up the nature which He assumed. 16. That the same [Lord] is good and just. 17. That the same [Lord] gave both the Old and the New Testament. 18. Concerning baptism. 19. Concerning the resurrection. 20. Concerning judgment. 21. Concerning the promises. 22. Concerning the second appearing of the Savior. 23. Concerning the Antichrist. 24. Concerning virginity. 25. Concerning marriage. 26. Concerning second marriage. 27. Concerning fornication. 28. Concerning repentance. 29. Concerning abstinence.

PREFACE

^C Sweet indeed does honey seem to all men, even when compared with nothing else; yet it appears sweeter if some bitter quality is set beside it. And all men consider health desirable, but after an illness, they consider it more desirable; and tranquility too is more pleasant after a storm. Thus, those who are sound of mind also know that the truth is a possession worth acquiring; ^D and they know that it shines more brightly ...

^A when compared with the evidence of falsehood. Since, therefore, we have demonstrated the shameful nature of falsehood and have laid bare the heretical myths, and since their impiety, unpleasantness, and complete lack of credibility have become manifest, let us proceed, by comparing them with evangelical doctrine, to show the difference between light and darkness, between perfect health and most grievous sickness.

Truly, however, it is impossible to find an analogy that fits the proposed comparison. For darkness, even if it lacks light, yet provides a necessary service to mankind, since night offers rest to those who labor during the day. And illness, too, has often been a source of benefit to many; for by means of it they recognized the ^B Savior and Creator, sought relief from their afflictions, and, having obtained what they asked for, applied themselves to virtue. But from those utterly wicked myths and unspeakable blasphemies, nothing but destruction flows to those who give credence to them. Therefore, no analogy of opposites can be found that corresponds to the discrepancy between these opposing doctrines. Or rather, I have found one that is most clear: for as great as the distinction is between God and the devil, so great is the difference between the teaching of God and that of the devil. And this will be shown more clearly when the beauty of the divine oracles, which emits the rays of intellectual light, ^C is placed alongside those myths. But first, before all else, we must say what we have been taught concerning the principle of all things.

I. – Concerning the Principle and the Father

Both the Old and New Scripture teach that there is one principle of all things, the God of all, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, unbegotten, immortal, eternal, infinite, uncircumscribed, unlimited, incomposite, incorporeal, invisible, simple, good, righteous, an intellectual light, a power recognized by no measure but measured only by the divine will. For He can do all that He wills; and this the Prophet has clearly taught us: "For all things, whatsoever the Lord willed, He has done." ^D The master of what is spoken for us is divine Scripture. We hear God saying at the beginning of the Law: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; you shall have no other gods besides me." And again: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one." In harmony with these, He also teaches through the prophet Isaiah: "For I," He says, "am the first God, and I am after these things, and besides me there is no God." "Before me there is no other God, and after me there will be none," and "Except for me, there is none." And again: "I am God, and after me there shall be none." And again: "I am God, and there is no other besides me; there is no righteous savior except me." By these words, He clearly refutes the trifles of Valentinus, Marcus, Basilides, and Marcion. For He says that there is neither another God before Him, nor after Him, but that the same one is the first and

^A last. The divine teaching of the holy Gospels also agrees with these things. For our Savior and Lord, fulfilling all righteousness for our sake (as He Himself said to John: "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness"), accepted—inasmuch as He was man—the need for prayer; and He asked the Father to teach the apostles, and under the form of prayer He offered the teaching of theology to the disciples. "For this is," He says, "life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God." And again: "I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." And the divine Apostle also speaks thus: "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." And again: "One God; one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." And again: "One God the Father, of whom are all things." And it is possible to find many other sentences from the Old and New Testament, showing the harmony and preaching one God. And that He is invisible, the Old Testament also teaches, and the New. For in the Old, He says to Moses: "There shall no man see my face, and live." But in the holy Gospels the Lord said: "Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father." ^B This is what the inspired evangelist also proclaims: "No man hath seen God at any time." He shows also from where he learned it; for he adds: "The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." The Apostle also cries out: "Now unto the immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." And again: "Whom no man hath seen, nor can see." We have also learned of His immensity and circumscription [sic; i.e.

Uncircumscription

These things demonstrate his uncircumscribed nature, both in essence and power. And the prophet Isaiah also cries out: "Who hath measured the waters in his hand, and meted out heaven with his span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?" And again, refuting the weakness of idols, he brought us this teaching concerning the God of the universe: "Who hath known the mind of the Lord, and who hath been his counselor, who shall instruct him? Or who hath showed him judgment, or who hath showed him the way of understanding?" Then, as far as was possible for human thought and earthly tongue, he demonstrates the infinitude of his power: "For if all the nations are as a drop from a bucket, and as a momentum of the scales, and were and shall be accounted as spittle, to whom will ye liken the Lord, or with what image will ye compare him?" Since heaven and earth and the nature of the waters encompass every created nature, and ^B the measure of all these things is the measure of the hand of the Lord, let those who attempt to measure God with their tongue consider the immensity of that nature—understanding "hand" not as a limb of a body, but as the operation that has fashioned and governs all things.

These things, then, the Old Testament Scripture teaches concerning the God of the universe; and one might find other things similar to those mentioned, which teach that the essence, and the wisdom, and the power of God cannot be comprehended. In the holy Gospels, the Lord taught the Samaritan woman to think similarly. Since she supposed that the Divinity was circumscribed by place, and for that reason had said, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say that in Jerusalem it is necessary to worship," the Lord instructed her in the opposite opinions, and taught the uncircumscribed nature of the divine essence. For he said to her: "Amen I say to thee, woman, that the hour cometh, and now is, when ^C neither in Jerusalem, nor in this place, will they worship the Father." And having taught thus—that divine worship is not circumscribed by certain places—he added: "God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." By the same token, he also showed the incorporeal and infinite nature of his own self.

That the God of the universe is also eternal, the blessed David teaches, saying at one time: "From eternity and unto eternity thou art"; and at another: "God will hear, and he will humble them, who is before the ages." The prophet Isaiah also teaches, crying out: "The eternal God, who hath established the ends of the earth: he shall not hunger, neither shall he be weary, and there is no searching of his understanding."^D

The divine Apostle also understands him to be the maker of the ages. And the Lord says that not only the divine nature existed before creation, but that the kingdom also had been prepared for the saints before the foundation of the world. ^A We have been taught these things regarding the principle of all things both from the Old and from the New Scripture; not according to the fables of Valentinus and Basilides, concerning the conjunctions, matings, and emanations of masculine and feminine Aeons, nor according to the diverse and contrary principles of Cerdon, Marcion, and Manes, but one principle, the same, good, and just, as we shall hereafter demonstrate.

II. — Concerning the Son.

has dared to name Him otherwise; but before the contests, ^A doubting, he said: "If you are the Son of God," but after the victory, having learned who He was, he cries out without ambiguity: "What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" And in the city of Philippi, he called Him both Most High and God. "These men," he said, "are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." He called the apostles servants of Christ, having learned this from the apostles themselves. For he heard the divine Paul both saying and writing this; for Paul says: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle," and: "Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ." If the master of lies himself both calls Him Son, and Most High, and Son of God, yielding to the splendors of the truth, then those who dare to call the Son a creature strive to surpass the Father's own naming. ^B That the divine men also call Him Most High, one can hear from Zechariah speaking to his own son: "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord, to prepare His ways." The great John went before, not the God and Father, but the only-begotten Son. He himself is witness to this; for when asked if he were the Christ, he denied this, but said: "I have been sent before Him." And the divine David also says to Him: "Let them know that Your name is Lord, You alone are the Most High over all the earth." For if the Son is the Lord (since "there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things," according to the divine Apostle, and, "one Lord, one faith"), then the Son is the Most High, since He is also the Lord. But we have discussed these things ^C at length in the discourses we wrote against Arius and Eunomius. Let us, therefore, move on to the proposed doctrine, and demonstrate that we have been taught that the same one is the Lord, and the Only-begotten, and God, and the Word, and the Savior, and Jesus. Let us bring into the middle Peter, who is the first to have consistently confessed these appellations. For when the first of the apostles was asked by the Savior, "But who do you say that I am?" he answered: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And the divine John the evangelist calls the same one both the Word, who is before the ages, and the Only-begotten Son, and the creator of all things, and Christ Jesus. "For in the beginning," he says, "was the Word." This is indicative of His eternal existence; for he who was in the beginning, clearly always was. He did not say: "In the beginning He was made," or, "In the beginning He was created," but, "In the beginning He was." ^D He also teaches what He was. For he added: "And the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Then he resumes the prologue, and says: "This was in the beginning with God." And by the name

^A of the designation, he indicates the consubstantiality; but by saying "God with God," he manifests the difference of the persons. He often called Him both the only-begotten Son and Jesus Christ. And the all-wise Paul also says thus: "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." And again: "But when it pleased Him, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me." And it is possible to find countless such ^B expressions, through which they name Him both Christ, and the everlasting Son, and co-eternal with the Father. Teaching this, the same master first shows Him to be the creator of the ages. "For in these last days," he says, "He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the ages." But since those who do not wish to understand divine things in a manner worthy of God think it impossible for Him who is from God to be co-eternal with God—for they foolishly imagine that the divine nature is subject to the law of human nature, and have judged the Father to be older ^C than the Son—the divine Apostle clearly demonstrates, by means of a certain image, that the only-begotten Son is both out of God and with God. For he called Him the brightness of His glory. For the brightness has its existence from the fire, and coexists with the fire; for the brightness is connatural with the fire, as is the ray with the sun; for from whatever source the sun is, from that same source also are the rays. But the sun is the cause of the rays, and the fire of the brightness; for the sun is not from the rays, but the rays are begotten from the sun, and the brightness springs from the fire. Thus, the only-begotten Son is indeed begotten of the Father, but ^D He exists with the Father, as the Word with the One who begat Him, and the brightness with the fire, and the ray with the sun. But not one of these subsists by itself; rather, it has its substance in that from which it originated. But God the Word, the brightness of the glory, is not some unsubstantial operation of the Father, but a living substance, and one subsisting by itself. For He is not called simply "Word," but "God the Word"; nor only "brightness of glory," but also "the express image of His substance." Since, therefore, it was not possible to teach divine things clearly by a single image, we learn these things somehow through several images. For the brightness of the glory teaches the co-eternity; but the express image of the substance both shows the perfect likeness and teaches the difference of the persons. Finally, the word signifies that the generation was impassible. For, lest hearing of the Son we should fall into human thoughts, and believe

the Creator of all things to have been begotten in a manner similar to us, he named him the Word, ^A teaching thereby that that generation is free from all passion. For our mind, giving birth to a word, neither needs the union of a female, nor suffers any division or flux; but being perfect, it produces a perfect word. By these things, therefore, we have been taught both the impassibility of the generation and the eternity of the Only-begotten. That he is also equal in power to the One who begat him, and in all things similar and equal, is easy to learn from the Lord's own teaching. "For my Father," he says, "worketh hitherto, and I work." And, "As the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will." And, "All things that the Father hath are mine." And, "I in the Father, and the Father in me." And, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." In these passages he clearly showed the unchangeable nature of the similarity. For when Philip asked that the Father be shown to him, the Lord showed himself, thereby teaching that he is the living image of the One who begat him, clearly manifesting the characters of the Begetter. For he said to Philip, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?" You desire to see the Father, he says, while seeing me? Truly you have not known me! For if you had known me, you would not have desired to see him; for in me the Father is contemplated. For this reason he added, "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." ^B Here he called the contemplation of faith a seeing. "For so long a time," he says, "have I been with you, and have you not known me, Philip?" He did not say, "You have not seen," but, "You have not known." For Philip saw that which was visible, but he did not contemplate the invisible divinity. Wherefore he was also rebuked, as one who had not known the Son accurately, and for that reason had desired to see the Father. But if we were to use all these demonstrations against every heresy, we would fill not only ten or twenty books of refutation; against these we have already recently written twelve books, and in addition to these, we have now set forth the scope of other theology, as well as ethics and doctrine.

III. — Concerning the Holy Spirit, and divine names.

We have learned, then, that the Holy Spirit has his existence from God and the Father. ^C The mode of his existence is neither similar to the creature—for the Holy Spirit is uncreated—nor to the Only-begotten Son, for no one of the divinely-inspired writers has called the existence of the divine Spirit a generation. However, the sacred Scriptures teach that he is from God, and that he is divine. For our Master Christ says these things concerning him: "It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Paraclete

^A comes not to you." And again: "But when the Paraclete comes, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he shall guide you into all truth." By saying "proceeds from the Father," he showed the Father to be the source of the Spirit. And he did not say "shall proceed," but "proceeds," showing both the identity of nature and the indivisibility and undistinguishability of the substance and the union of the persons. For that which proceeds cannot be separated from that from which it proceeds. The divine Apostle says these things concerning the Spirit: "The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." And lest anyone suppose the searching to be ignorance, he added: "For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man that is in him? So also, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God." Having thus borne witness to his knowledge, he shows also whence he has his existence. "For we," he says, "have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God." In this way, he always joins him with the Father and the Son, but has never joined him with the creature. For he does not acknowledge him to be a portion of the creation, nor does he name him the first creature, according to the blasphemy of Arius, and Eunomius, and Macedonius; but showing the gifts of divine grace, he thus said: "There are ^B divisions of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are divisions of operations, but the same God, who works all in all." Then, having shown the free gift of the graces, he added: "But all these things one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each one as he wills." For the most holy Spirit, he says, is not of a servile ministry, but of sovereign authority; he does not serve in his work, but cooperates, and works in the manner of a Lord. Thus, also, at the end of the second Epistle to the same people, he wove together the blessing: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen." And in the former Epistle ^C he placed the Spirit first, but here last, teaching that the order of the names does not create a difference in dignity. In this way, he even put the Son before the Father, not overturning the order which the Lord established, but demonstrating the equality of honor in the Trinity. He also approached the apostles as it befitted God. For first he shook the house, declaring his divine advent. For the Prophet says concerning the God of all: "Who looks upon the earth, and makes it tremble." Then he settled upon the tongues in the form of fire, just as long ago he said that God appeared to Moses in the bush. And just as that [bush] ^D while burning was not consumed, so the tongues of the apostles did not feel the power of burning.

^A These things, the most divine Peter, having learned not by words but by deeds, called [the Spirit] God, while exposing the theft of Ananias. For having said, "Why did Satan deceive your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?" he added, "You have not lied to men, but to God." And those things spoken by the divine Paul concerning the Spirit also agree. For he called those who had believed temples of God, since they had the grace of the Spirit inhabiting them: "Do you not know," he says, "that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" And again: "Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God?" These things openly teach that the Holy Spirit is of the divine nature. For if those who have believed are called the temple of God because they received the grace of the Spirit, it follows that the Holy Spirit is from God; for having the grace of this [Spirit] inhabiting them, they were named the temple of God.

^B The Lord reveals the dignity of the Spirit to us more clearly. For in teaching the mystery of baptism, he spoke to the disciples thus: "Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." If the Son or the Holy Spirit had a created nature, they would not have been numbered along with the Creator God; for the divine scriptures denounce those who worship the creature alongside the Creator. For this reason the Only-Begotten also became man, so that he might free men from this error, and demonstrate the difference between God and the creature. Having removed the worship of the creature, he would not have ordered [us] to worship a created nature again; for it would be the height of absurdity to draw men away from gods that do not exist, and then lead them back to the service of created things. It is clear, therefore, that the Son and the Holy Spirit have an uncreated nature. Therefore, we are taught to believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, ^C and we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. For since it was not the Father alone who formed the first man, but also the Son and the Holy Spirit—for he said, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness"—it is with good reason that, in the re-forming that takes place, and in the new creation being accomplished, both the Son and the Holy Spirit participate with the Father; and the invocation of the Trinity renews each of those who are baptized.

But, indeed, I have also written three books concerning the Holy Spirit against the heretics who are destitute of his grace; and I think it superfluous to extend the discourse further ^D in this place, since the remaining chapters call the discourse to themselves. Therefore, where I have added the interpretation of the divine names, I shall turn to those matters. For since foolish men, ignorant of the meaning of the Hebrew names, have thought that Adonai, and Eloi, and Sabaoth are different gods, I have deemed it worth the effort to show to those who do not know what each of these signifies in the Greek language. Eloi, therefore, is interpreted as the name God,

^A while El, if held, signifies God as well; if it is aspirated, it signifies "strong." Adonai, moreover, is interpreted as "Lord," and Lord Sabaoth as "Lord of powers," or "Lord of hosts." For among the Greeks, military ranks are called "powers" (dynamis). Saddai, furthermore, signifies the "sufficient" and "powerful." Aia signifies "the One who is"—this was also unutterable among the Hebrews. The Samaritans, however, call it Jave, being ignorant of the power of the word. Having failed to understand these things, the foolish have called them diverse gods. But we shall proceed to the remaining subjects of our treatise. [IV. — On Creation.] ^B

It must be demonstrated before all else that the Creator of the creation is not he who, according to the fable of Valentinus, was formed from the passion of Achamoth and was born after thirty-five aeon-productions out of conversion and passion; nor is it certain angels, as it appeared to Basilides and Cerinthus and others, whose chief they say is Jadabaoth; nor do we say, as the execrable Marcion wished, that there is any other creator besides the good One. Rather, we both have learned and do teach that the God of all things, together with the Only-begotten Word and the most holy Spirit, created all things. "For by the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all the powers of them by the spirit of his mouth." And elsewhere, when he had made mention of the visible and invisible creation and had instructed us to praise the Author, he added: "For he said, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created." And again: "Extending the heaven like a curtain, who covers his upper chambers with waters." And a little later: "Who established the earth upon its stability." And again: "Who made the heavens in understanding, who established the earth upon the waters." And before this, the great Moses teaches us more securely, how He Himself made the heaven and the earth together with the other elements; how He Himself created the nature of light and adorned it; the heaven, indeed, with luminaries, but the earth with woods, meadows, and crops. And He Himself brought forth the kinds of animals and gave the air for the birds to inhabit, and assigned the humid substance to those that swim, and the earth to cattle and wild beasts. ^C He also teaches how, after all things, He fashioned the human nature. All the prophets also teach us in harmony with these things. For Isaiah cries out: "Creating the heavens and extending them; establishing the earth and what is in it; giving breath to the people who are upon it, and spirit to those who tread upon it." And again: "Who established the heaven as a ^D

arch, and stretched it out as a tent." And God ^A himself says through him: "I stretched out the heaven alone." The blessed Jeremiah spoke thus: "This is the God who showed forth the earth, and filled it with cattle and quadrupeds. He who sends forth the light, and it goes; he called to it, and it obeyed him in trembling." But I have no need of prophetic voices. For even before the Law and the prophets, nature taught men these things. And that ancient Melchizedek, in blessing Abraham, spoke thus: "Blessed be Abraham by the Most High God, who created the heaven and the earth." And the patriarch himself said the same things to those from Sodom: "I will stretch out my hand to the Most High God, who created the heaven and the earth." And again, ^B when sending his servant to seek a bride, Abraham said: "Place your hand under my thigh, and I will adjure you by the Lord, the God of heaven and of earth." And the noble Job, having excelled in virtue before the Law was given, acknowledged the true God as Creator. "For," he says, "he who stretched out the heaven alone, and walks upon the sea as upon dry land." And the Arbiter himself teaches the victorious athlete many things about creation. But lest we give an opportunity to those who do not accept the Old Testament to contradict what has been said, let us pass on to the New, and show that it speaks in harmony with it. For thus it will appear that these waters and those flow from one fountain. Let us hear, then, divine John declaring that everything has been brought into being through the Word, and that nothing of things visible or intelligible in creation has been brought into being without him. "For without him," he says, "was nothing made." Let us hear also divine Paul crying out: "In him all things were created, visible and invisible." And again: "Through him the Father made the worlds." And when speaking ^C at the Areopagus, he said this: "The God who made the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and he made from one blood every nation of men to dwell upon all the face of the earth." And at Lystra, to those who wished to sacrifice, he said this: "And we are mortal men like you, bringing you good news that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all things that are in them." And the things that follow have the same meaning. But it is superfluous to speak more of these things, and to produce many testimonies from the Holy Scripture, when ^D

those among the Greeks who excelled in philosophy have affirmed that God is the Creator. For Socrates, son of Sophroniscus, and Plato, son of Aristo, and their successors, and indeed very many others, have held this opinion, and have said that God took the grounds for creation from underlying matter. Come, then, let us also show in this chapter the nobility of the ecclesiastical dogmas.

V. — On Matter.

Those, therefore, as I was saying, maintain that all things were created from underlying matter, and while they teach that it is coeternal with God, they name God its author; yet they do not define it as evil, according to the impiety of Marcion and Manes. For they consider it a most great blasphemy to say that God is the maker of evils. And those men perhaps deserve some pardon, since they neither heard the prophetic words nor had the divine apostles as guides, but committed the knowledge of things only to their own reasonings. But what punishment worthy of their impiety could these men pay, who, having received the divine Gospels, have turned away from their light and have embraced darkness after the manner of bats? They ought, at the very least, to have held the opinion of those philosophers, since they have stopped their ears and have not been willing to hear the oracles of the divine Spirit, and [thus] to introduce matter without calling it evil.

And this too is a proof of the weakness of human reasonings. For since every art among men needs underlying matter—pottery needs clay, architecture needs stones and bricks, carpentry and ship-building need wood, the weaver's art needs wool, the shoemaker's art needs hides, and the arts of painting and stucco-work need colors—and, to speak briefly, each art needs suitable material, these foolish men imagined that God, too, could not create without matter. They did not understand how great the difference is between God and men, and that it is not possible for an image to have all that the archetype has, and that man, as an image, creates from existing things, but God [creates] both from existing things and from non-existing things.

And the Sacred Scripture has clearly taught us this. For the Apostle says: "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." ^D And again: "Who calleth those things which be not as though they were." And he who wrote the account of the world's origin has clearly taught what things the Creator made from what did not exist, and what things from what did exist. For He made the heaven and the earth and the other elements from things that did not exist. "In the beginning," he says, "God created the heaven and the earth." And He created the light likewise from things that did not exist. "For He said," he says, God:

^A "Let there be light," and there was light. He brought forth the firmament from things that already existed. "For He said," he says, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it divide between water and water." And He also commanded the seeds and plants to germinate from the earth. "For let the earth germinate," he says, "the herb of hay, sowing seed according to its kind and according to likeness, and a fruit-bearing tree producing fruit, whose seed is in itself according to likeness after its kind upon the earth." In this way He also brought forth the kinds of irrational animals: from the waters, those that traverse the air, and those that live in the waters, and those called amphibians. "For let the waters bring forth," he says, "reptiles of living souls, and flying birds ^B along the firmament of heaven." And from the earth, the quadrupeds and reptiles. "For let the earth bring forth," he says, "a living soul, quadrupeds, reptiles, and beasts." He made man from things that were and things that were not. For He fashioned the body by taking dust from the earth, but He created the soul from things that did not exist. For the soul is not, according to the impious doctrine of Marcion, consubstantial with God who made it, but it was created from things that did not exist; for He creates all things whatsoever He wills with the greatest ease. For it is not fitting to measure the power of the Creator by the things that have already been created. For it is easy for Him to bring forth much more than these. And this the divine David indicated: "For all things," he says, "whatsoever the Lord willed, He did." He did not say, "Whatsoever He was able to do," but, "Whatsoever He willed." ^C For He possesses power equal to His will. Whence He creates not only from things that exist, but also from things that do not exist. Rightly, therefore, is the argument concerning matter thrust out from the dogmas of the truth. But let those who find fault with creation, and who attempt to slander the all-harmonious workmanship, and who on this account introduce the argument concerning matter, hear the divine oracles crying out: "God saw all things that He made, and behold, they were very good." For nothing made by God is by nature evil. But we shall unfold the argument concerning this later. In the meantime, let us briefly discuss the mythology of the Aeons.

VI. — On the Aeons

Valentinus, and Secundinus, and Marcus, and their successors, say that there are very many Aeons older than the Creator, not having learned this from the divine ^D oracles, but having themselves fabricated the myths. And the senseless ones did not understand that an Aeon is not some substance existing in itself, but a certain interval denoting time, sometimes infinite, when it is spoken of regarding God, sometimes commensurate with creation, and at other times with human life. [index: entries preserved]

^A For the divine David says: "Our age [is] in the illumination of thy countenance." And concerning creation, the Lord says: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the consummation of the age." And concerning the God of all things, the blessed David says again: "From age and unto age thou art," for this means that thou hast neither beginning nor end. And because the word "age" denotes a certain interval, lest anyone foolishly suppose that the God of all things did not exist before the ages, the same Prophet said in another psalm: "God shall hear, and shall humble them; he who is before the ages." Therefore, the God of all things, the Creator of all, did not come into being after thirty-five ^B aeons following the passion of Achamoth, after the ogdoad, and the decad, and the dodecad, and Achamoth, and the limit, and the Son, and the Spirit; but He is before all the ages—not those base ones invented by [the heretics] through couplings, but those that signify any interval whatsoever. On this account, the blessed Paul also said that the Father and the Son are the makers of the ages: "For he has spoken to us by his Son," he says, "whom he appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the ages." And the word "made" does not designate the substance of the ages, but that nothing is more ancient than the God of all. And in another place he says: "Now to the King of ages, immortal, invisible, to God alone, ^C be honor and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen," not teaching that there are some subsistent aeons, but proclaiming the eternal kingdom of God. And again the same Apostle: "Yet we speak wisdom among the perfect, but not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing; but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, which is hidden, which God predestinated before the ages." But if the mystery of the dispensation is more ancient than the ages, as the sacred Scriptures define, it is of the utmost impiety to call the God of all things younger than the ages. And the prophet Isaiah also cries out: "The eternal God, who created the ends of the earth." And again: "From the age we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God besides thee." Therefore, God, who is the Maker of all things, is before the ages.

VII. — Concerning the Angels.

^D As for the angels, we do not deify them like the poets and philosophers of the Greeks, nor do we distinguish the incorporeal nature into male and female, nor do we charge the invisible powers with intemperate unions; nor, as the fables of the heretics establish, do we define them as the creators of the world, nor do we affirm that they are coeternal with the God of all things. For to human beings, the female is useful for the increase of the race. For the God of all things, foreseeing this, thus fashioned this nature.

^A And therefore He bestowed this blessing upon the race, saying: "Increase and multiply, and replenish the earth, and have dominion over it." For since death despoils the nature of human beings, and, like some reaper, cuts down not only the old but also the young, nature had necessary need of those who would till the earth, and sow, and provide other ears of corn in place of those that were cut down, and overcome the hands of the reaper by agriculture. But for the immortal nature, the division of the race is superfluous. For they have no need of growth, as they are not diminished, nor are they in need of copulation, as they are free from bodies. And holy Scripture is our teacher in this. For it did not create only two angels at the beginning, as it did human beings, but produced as many myriads as it willed. For a nature exempt from corruption is in no need of increase. But human beings, having been allotted a mortal body and being subject to death, necessarily have need of the female. Let no one of the pleasure-loving, out of ignorance of the angels, make an accusation, taking as a pretext for blasphemy that which was recorded by the all-wise Moses: that "the sons of God (87) seeing the daughters of men that they are fair, took to themselves wives from among them." For it is the extreme of madness to attribute the incontinence of men to the angels. ^B For there were two races at that time: that of Cain, and that of Seth. And the race of Cain was cursed, but that of Seth was devoted to piety. For Enos, his son, hoped (88) to call upon the name of the Lord God. Hence those born of him, being called sons of God, avoided intermarriage with the race of Cain. But after many years had passed, the descendants of the pious, beholding the daughters of those others to be charming, were overcome by their beauty, and transgressed the law of their fathers, and contracted affinity with them. Then the intermingling brought in wickedness. ^C When, therefore, we hear holy Scripture saying: "The sons of God went in unto the daughters of men," let us not accuse the bodiless angels; for it was men who were called sons of God that dared this transgression. And that these things are so, God Himself, the God of all things, is witness, thus saying: "My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh (89)." And again the historian: "And the Lord saw (90) the earth, and it was corrupt, because all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth." And to Noah, the God of all things also said: "Behold I destroy all flesh (91)." And having ordered him to build an ark, He added: "For I have found thee (92) righteous in this generation." And if angels had sinned, He would not have punished human beings—the Lawgiver of justice would not have punished humans, and not ten, and twenty, and a hundred, but myriads innumerable. Therefore, neither for the sake of increase nor of mixing ^D

s—the Lawgiver of justice would not have punished humans, and not ten, and twenty, and a hundred, but myriads innumerable. Therefore, neither for the sake of increase nor of mixing ^A does the nature of angels require the female. That there are many myriads of angels, the divine Scripture teaches: "For thousands," it says, "of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him."

The ministry of the angels is the singing of hymns. For concerning the Seraphim, the blessed Isaiah says that they cried out and said: "Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth: the heaven and the earth are full of His glory." And concerning the Cherubim, the divine Ezekiel said that he heard them saying: "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place."

They do not only sing hymns, but they also minister in divine dispensations. And this the all-wise Paul taught us, saying: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" And the Lord Himself said in the holy Gospels: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones who believe in me. For I say to you, that their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven." ^B

The divine prophet Daniel speaks also of certain princes of the nations—or rather, not he himself, but the angel who was speaking with him. "For," he says, "the prince of the Persians withstood me." He also mentions the prince of the Greeks and added that no one else helped him in his intercession with God for the freedom of the Jews, except Michael their prince.

The great Moses also said in his canticle: "When the Most High divided the nations, when He dispersed the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God."

From these things, and from what was said by Daniel and by the Lord, it is gathered that some angels preside over nations, and to certain others is entrusted the care of individual ^C people, so that the wicked demons may not harm or injure them.

We believe that the angels were made by the God of all; for so were we taught. For the psalmist David, when he had exhorted the angels and the heavenly powers to praise the God of all, added: "For He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created." And again: "Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire."

The three youths in the furnace, while praising God, called all creation to the society of praise, but placed the angels first of all. And the prelude to the hymn is thus: "Bless ^D the Lord, all you works of the Lord; praise and highly exalt Him forever." Then they immediately add: "Bless the Lord, you angels of the Lord," teaching that they themselves also are a part of the divine works. But the divine Apostle explains this more clearly to us

For when he mentioned our Lord Jesus Christ, he added: "For in Him were created all things that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible." And leaving aside the visible things as manifest, he lists the orders of the invisible ones: ^A "Whether Thrones, or Dominions, or Principalities, or Powers: all things were created through Him and for Him." We have been taught to think this also about the angels.

VIII. Concerning the devil and the demons.

We do not say that the devil and the demons who are subject to him are uncreated, as the myths of Marcion, Cerdon, and Manes suggest. For if they were uncreated, they would then be equal in honor to the God of all things; and if they were equal in honor, it is clear that they would also be equal in power. ^B But if they are equal in power, how do we say that they were created by the God of all? For how could those who had received such a nature from the beginning be justly punished? And that they will be punished, the Lord explicitly said to those on the left: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." And the demons themselves clearly know this; hence they cried out: "What have we to do with you, Son of the most high God? Have you come to torment us before the time?" And again: "I adjure you, do not torment me." That they will be punished, therefore, we have clearly learned. ^C Let us then consider whether they will justly suffer this, having received such a nature from the Creator. For how could the author of vice rightly be called good, and how could he be called just if he punishes a nature that is incapable of doing any good, but is bound by the chains of vice? But we know the God of all is just and the fountain of justice; therefore, He will not unjustly punish the demons and their leader. And we know that the good God is called the creator of all good things by all who ^D think rightly. Therefore, He did not create a nature capable of doing no good, but one that only involuntarily gives birth to vice. But if God neither created an evil nature—since, as a good Creator, He is the maker of good things—nor suffers to punish unjustly (for He is just and the lawgiver of justice), and yet He does punish the devil and those who serve under him, then the devil and the members of his faction are evil by their own will. For just as God created man good from the beginning, and by the free choice of their will some preserved the incorrupt nature they had received, while others declined toward the worse and corrupted the divine characteristics, and changed those who were God-like into savage beasts; thus the devil and the company of demons, having been created with the other incorporeal beings, [imitate the benevolence of others toward God the Lord]

^A did not emulate their good will toward the Master and God, but having received the passion of pride and arrogance, they turned to the worse and fell from their former state. The divine Apostle declared this, laying down a law regarding episcopal ordination: "Not a novice, lest he be puffed up with pride and fall into the judgment of the devil" (I Tim. 3:6). For by these words he hints that pride was the cause of the devil’s fall. Writing also to the Ephesians, he showed that before he was turned to the worse, the administration of the air had been entrusted to him: "According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2). Yet, having fallen from his former rank, he has as his ministers those who contradict God. The Lord also said in the holy Gospels: "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven" (Luc. 10:18). And in another place: "He was," he says, "a murderer from the beginning, and he did not stand in the truth" (Joan. 8:44). This demonstrates that, having turned away from the truth, he chose the things contrary to the truth. The blessed prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel also used similar enigmas. For this is what is meant by the saying: "I will set my throne above the stars, and I will be like the Most High, and I will take hold of the world as a nest, and as abandoned eggs I will take them" (Isa. 14:13–14). And Ezekiel, through the prince of Tyre, designates the apostate prince who worked within him. Thus he speaks: "Thus says the Lord Adonai: You are a signet of resemblance, full of wisdom, and a crown of beauty, and you were in the delights of the paradise of God, clothed in every precious stone" (Ezech. 28:12–13). ^B Then, having enumerated the species of stones, he added: "From the day you were created with the cherub, you were anointed by God in the tabernacle, and I placed you on the holy mountain of God. You were generated in the midst of fiery stones; you walked blameless in your days, from the day you were created, until iniquities were found in you. For by the multitude of your circumcursation you filled your storehouses with iniquity, and you sinned, and you were wounded. From the mountain of God the cherub led you away, overshadowing from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was exalted because of your beauty. Your knowledge was corrupted along with your beauty. Because of the multitude of your sins, I cast you onto the earth; I gave you as an adversary to kings, that you might be mocked. Because of the multitude of your iniquities and the injustices of your trade, I defiled your holiness. I will bring forth fire from the midst of you; this will devour you" (Ezech. 28:14–18). ^C These words of the prophets show that the devil was indeed created good at the beginning, but of his own volition he rushed toward the worse, and by his wicked actions increased his malice. For he called the circumcursation and the trade [the] thoughts of wickedness. He exposed him, ^D

improbitatem sponte sua illum elegisse ostendant. Justi enim Dei proprium non est, eum punire qui necessitate malus sit. Sufficit autem et comminata poena ^A ad ostendendum eum qui necessitate malus factus est.

IX. — On Man.

^B We say that man was formed, not by certain angels, according to the fables of Basilides and Cerinthus, nor by Ialdabaoth, according to the stupidity of the Sethians, nor yet by Sacla, according to the madness of Manes; but by the divine and most holy Trinity, which fashioned all things. For we have heard the divine Scripture saying that the God of all said: "Let us make man in our image and likeness." The blessed David also spoke consonantly: "Thy hands, he says, have made me and fashioned me; teach me, and I will learn thy commandments." Now, by the hands of God we understand, not any bodily parts, but His creative power. For the incorporeal and ^C uncircumscribed nature is not composite, according to the delirium of Audaeus, but simple, devoid of form and figure, and comprehending all things. When, therefore, we hear the Mosaic history narrating that God took dust from the earth and fashioned man, we inquire into the meaning of the letter, and we understand the signal affection of the God of all toward the human nature. For the great prophet, signifying this, says that God of the universe made other things by a word, but fashioned man with His own hands. Nor do we understand by "word" in the former case a command, but a will and purpose; nor here do we understand by the formation a manual labor of the body, but a greater affection for this work. For just as now, at His will, the fetus is created in the womb, and nature obeys the laws set for it by Him from the beginning, so then the human body was fashioned ^D from the earth at His will; and the clay became flesh, and blood, and skin, and fat, and nerves, and veins, and arteries, and brain, and marrow, and the supports of the bones, and the tunics of the eyes, and the brightness of the pupil, and the winding passages of the ears, and the perception of odors, and the rational organ of the mouth, in which the teeth provide the use of strings, the tongue imitates the plectrum, but the mind the right hand of the musician. But who could sufficiently admire, according to its worth, the formation of the animal endowed with life? which, indeed, others also

attempt to slander, and not least the successors of Manes. For this reason, they say that it was not God who fashioned this, but Saclas, the prince of matter. But the wise men of the Greeks—Socrates, and Hippocrates, and Plato, and Xenophon, and Aristotle, and Galen, and countless others—admire the harmony of the human body, and marvel at the utility of each member, and confess that the speech of one who praises the wisdom of the supreme Artificer, which is beheld in this animal, is inferior to the reality. By so much are they better than those dishonorably named heretics, who neither received the prophetic husbandry, nor enjoyed apostolic guidance, but entrusted the knowledge of divine things to reason alone. And I say this, not to defend the philosophers who are so called from the error of polytheism, but to show that those who glory in the name of Christ are more impious not only than the philosophers, but even than the demons. For what is more impious than these men, who take occasion from every matter to blaspheme against the Creator? But we have been taught to give praise in all things, not only in those which seem pleasant, but also in those which are accounted bitter. But this is not yet the point to be discussed: for it behooves our discourse to preserve the harmony of its arrangement. We say, therefore, that the body is fashioned from four elements. For it has heat from fire, coldness from air, dryness from earth, and moisture from water. But we say that the soul is simple, endowed with reason, and immortal, yet that it does not exist before the body. For Pythagoras, and Plato, and Plotinus, and those of his school, while they confess that souls are immortal, have said that they exist before bodies, and that there is a sort of host of innumerable souls, and that those which sin are sent into bodies, so that, being purged by such discipline, they may return to their own place; but that those which have led a wicked life even while in bodies, are sent down into irrational animals: those, indeed, who have been bitter and malignant, into reptiles; the rapacious, into wolves; the bold, into lions; the fraudulent, into foxes; and they have fabricated such foolish myths. They say that the Peripatetics even remove the immortality of the soul in their writings. But the most learned of the physicians have termed the soul the good temperament of the body, deriving this opinion from the affections which befall the body—to wit, the comitial disease, apoplexy, and frenzies. For because each of these affections damages the reason and exhausts it, they therefore deemed the soul to be the good temperament of the body. But it behooved them to consider that even he who plays the lyre, if the lyre be not rightly tuned, does not display his art. For if the strings be either too taut or too loose, they hinder the harmony. And if some of them be broken, they render even the musician utterly idle. The very same thing may be seen in pipes and in other instruments. Thus also a boat, if it be waterlogged or constructed contrary to the principles of art, overturns the art of the pilot.

This can be seen in flutes and in other instruments. Thus, a waterlogged ship, or one constructed contrary to the dictates of the art, harms the art of the pilot. And lame horses, or those naturally sluggish, and indeed the defects of the chariots, harm the charioteers. So too, certain bodily afflictions do not allow the soul to demonstrate the energy of reason. ^B Indeed, when the affliction occurs in the tongue, speech is restrained; if in the eyes, the power of visual energy no longer passes through the member. But if the disease should fall upon the meningitis, the brain is harmed, or the imbalance of vapors and humors, and being overwhelmed by these, it does not receive the soul's operation, but resembles a person who has been submerged, who moves feet and hands and the other parts of the body at random. Therefore, the good temperament of the body is not the substance of the soul, but in the good temperament of the body, the substance of the soul demonstrates its own wisdom. These, then, fell into this senselessness.

But the impious heretics, Carpocrates, and Epiphanes, and Prodicus, and the Caiani, and the Antitactae, and the Eutychitae, embraced trifles far more absurd than these. For they said that souls are sent into bodies so that, by practicing every incontinence and iniquity in them, they might serve the creators of the world, the angels, with the pursuits of impiety. The Church, however, obeying the divine words, loathes the doctrine of these men supremely, and avoids the fables of others as well; but, giving credence to the divine Scripture, she says that the soul is created together with the body, not to have the origin of its creation from the matter of the seed, but to come into being after the formation of the body by the will of the Creator. For the most divine Moses said that the body of Adam was formed first, and only then did God breathe into it the soul. ^C "For God took dust from the earth, and formed man, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Gen. II, 7). That breath, however, we do not say is a part of the divine substance, according to the madness of Cerdo and Marcion; but we say that the nature of the soul is signified by this word, because the soul is spirit, rational and intelligent.

And in the laws, the same prophet again taught us more clearly that the body is formed first, and then the soul is infused. For speaking about the one who struck a pregnant woman, he said: “If the fetus should come forth formed, he shall give eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” and what follows (Exod. XXI, 22-24). But if it should come forth unformed, he shall be fined; ^D by this reasoning teaching that that which is formed is animated, but that which is not formed is inanimate. But the most celebrated Job also addressed the Lord thus: "Remember that thou hast formed me as clay, and into the earth thou dost turn me back. Hast thou not milked me like milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast knit me together with bones and sinews" (Job X, 9-11). And when by these words he had shown the prior formation of the body, he added this praise of animation.

"And thou hast granted me life and mercy" (Job X, 12). He also remembers the care that follows these things: "And thy visitation hath preserved my spirit" (Job X, 12). Then he proclaims the omnipotence of God: "Knowing these things in thyself, I know that thou canst do all things, and that there is nothing impossible for thee" (Job X, 13). God has honored the body with the privileges of time, thus establishing equality. For since he made the soul immortal and the body mortal, he attributed the privileges of time to the body, so that the soul might not grow insolent against it, being superior both by nature and by time.

X. — On Providence

The Church has learned this opinion regarding the soul and body from the divine oracles. It acknowledges God not only as the Creator of the universe, but also as its caretaker, administrator, and governor of all things. For it would be most absurd to say that He created all things—not for any utility of His own, but out of pure benevolence—and yet that He takes no care of those things which He has made, neglecting the creation like some boat without a helm or pilot, driven here and there by contrary winds, and dashed against crags and rocks. ^B We execrate the impious Diagoras; we also abhor Epicurus, who indeed concedes that God exists, but says that He is turned in upon Himself, and perceives nothing of what happens in the created world. And we also reprove the providence of Aristotle, who set the moon as its limit, accusing Him of one of two things—either impotence or sloth. For either He does not have sufficient power for the care of the universe, or, having it, he has left our affairs without governance through sloth. But both are full of blasphemy. For how can He be called impotent who has deigned to create even the smallest parts of the creation? Or how ^C could He neglect, out of sloth, those things which He has created through the abyss of His goodness? But the providence of Plato sufficiently refutes the senselessness of these men. For he, and those who share his sentiments, said that the God of the universe exercises care over all things. And if God exercises providence, the fable of fate and the Fates, with their threads, is exploded. For it would be the height of folly, while God governs the vessel of the world, to introduce another governor. However, it is appropriate to distinguish in speech which things depend on the helm of Providence, ^D which things have been assigned to the reasoning of the soul, and which things are natural evils, and which things are similarly called such, even though they are not evils.

^A In human affairs, therefore, nature in itself is good—prudence, temperance, justice, greatness of soul, and the other parts of virtue—but evils are imprudence, intemperance, injustice, cowardice, and whatever else is similar to these. Wealth, poverty, servitude, dominion, health, illness, and the other successes and misfortunes of human life hold a middle ground. For they are like certain instruments set before men; and those who are the best of men acquire virtue for themselves through each of these. For one may see those who, whether they are overflowing with wealth or struggling with poverty, take care of virtue, and who praise their benefactor in health and bear illness bravely, and servants ^B who are distinguished by temperance and justice. But, on the other hand, there are others who, in poverty, embrace wickedness, and not only steal but even dare to commit sacrilege and rob graves; or those who make wealth an instrument of injustice, and in health display pride and insolence, but in illness belch forth blasphemous words. From which it is easy to understand that, depending on the use made by those who possess them, wealth and poverty, servitude and dominion, and things similar to these, are at one time praiseworthy and at another blameworthy; just as we call ^C iron at one time a helper of human life, because with the plow, the mattock, and the spade it cultivates the earth, with the sickle it prunes trees, and through the adze, the saw, and the tools it provides for the construction of houses and various implements, yet at another time some call it a plotter, seeing a sword and the slaughter that happens through it. But neither is the sword the cause of the slaughter, but he who has used the sword badly; nor do wealth and poverty, and the other prosperity or adversity of life, deserve blame, but those who have used any of these contrary to the laws. For if each of these were by nature evil, it would not have been for some ^D the occasion of goods. But we perceive many who have achieved perfect virtue through these things. Therefore, that which becomes an instrument of good is not evil, nor again is that which becomes an instrument of vice for another a good. They hold, therefore, a middle order, just like medicines. For opium and hemlock, if they are administered with correct judgment by physicians, become remedies for diseases; but if they are taken contrary to the rule of the art, they become lethal poisons. Furthermore, sometimes bread and wine bring disease to those who use them, for immoderation produces harm. Thus, indeed, those who govern prosperity and adversity correctly make them salutary medicines, but those who do so foolishly and senselessly take from them the occasion of destruction. These things, therefore, and whatever is similar to them—the fertility and sterility of the earth, a successful voyage and a shipwreck—depend on divine Providence. Wherefore, it is proper for everyone to acquiesce in those things which are done by it, and not to inquire into the causes too curiously; for the reasoning of the divine governance is incomprehensible: but of those things which are in our power,

^A to take care, and to put away vice entirely, and to introduce virtue, and to be radiant with its parts; and just as women who are fond of adornment polish their bodies with the art of cosmetics, so should we adorn the beauty of the soul with the flowers of temperance, and justice, and fortitude, and prudence. For the acquisition of these is in our power. But it is the height of folly to seek the possession of those things which are not in our power, and which are subject to rapid changes, while neglecting those things which are under our own authority—which are glorious, enduring, and stable—as if they were cheap and worthy of no account. If we grasp this distinction in human affairs, we shall acquiesce in the movements of the divine rudders, and we shall not doubt ^B concerning the Providence that governs all things. For we see the seasons of the year changing according to order, and all things being produced in due season, and each thing coming to be at the proper time. For it is not, according to the most obscene fables of Manes, that the princes of matter, desiring the daughter of light and pursuing her, break into a sweat and provide the rain; but rather the Creator of all things gives the nod, and the clouds are gathered. And this the divine Scripture clearly teaches. "Bringing up," it says, "the clouds from the ends of the earth, He has made lightnings for the rain," and "He brings forth the winds from His treasuries." And again: "He who calls the water of the sea, and pours it out upon the face of the earth." And again: "His spirit shall blow, and waters shall flow." And elsewhere: "Watering the mountains from His upper chambers, the earth shall be satisfied ^C from the fruit of Thy works. He brings forth grass for the cattle, and herb for the service of men, to bring forth bread out of the earth." And ten thousand other things can be found in the divine Scripture demonstrating the providence of God. But since I have already written ten discourses on Providence, I think it superfluous to produce more discourse on it now.

XI. — On the Incarnation of the Savior.

It is worthwhile to show what we think concerning the divine incarnation. For this topic more clearly proclaims the providence of God over all things. Valentinus, therefore, in the fables which he fashioned, said that the Only-Begotten was one, the Word another, and the Christ who is within the Pleroma another, and Jesus yet another, and again another, the ^D Christ who is outside. He said that Jesus became incarnate, having put on the Christ who is outside, and having assumed a body from the substance of the soul, he merely passed through the Virgin, and received nothing from human nature. Basilides in like manner said that the Only-Begotten was one, the Word another, and Wisdom another. But Cerdon, and Marcion, and Manes said that Christ appeared as a man, while having nothing human. Cerinthus, indeed, [said] that Jesus was from Joseph and

Maria, having been begotten by the common law of men, but that Christ descended from above upon Jesus. ^A The Ebionites, however, and the Theodotians, and the Artemonians, and the Photinians have said that Christ, born of the Virgin, was a mere man. Arius and Eunomius said that he did indeed assume a body, but that the divinity performed the function of the soul. Moreover, Apollinarius said that the body of the Savior was indeed animated, but that it did not possess a rational soul; for he says that the mind was superfluous where the God-Word was present. ^B I have set forth the opinions of the majority of heresies, wishing to show the truth of the Church. For the Church calls the same Being Son, and Only-Begotten, and God-Word, and Savior-Lord, and Jesus Christ. But the Son, who is indeed Only-Begotten, and God-Word, and Lord, was also called such before the incarnation, and is called so similarly after the incarnation. Jesus Christ, however, was named the same after the incarnation, having taken the names from the very events. For Jesus is interpreted as Savior, and Gabriel is a witness of this, speaking to the Virgin: "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he himself shall save his people from their sins." ^C But he was called Christ because of the anointing of the Spirit. For the hymn-writer David says: "Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." And through the tongue of Isaiah the prophet, the Lord himself said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for which cause the Lord hath anointed me." And the Lord himself taught us how to understand this prophecy. For having entered into the synagogue and having taken the prophetic book, he read the aforementioned passage and said to those who were present: "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears." And in harmony with the prophets, the great Peter also preached. For, explaining the mystery to those who were with Cornelius, he spoke thus: "Ye know the word which was spread throughout all Judæa, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power." ^D It is evident, therefore, from what has been said, that he was called Christ because of the anointing of the Spirit. And he was anointed, not as God, but as man. But if he was anointed according to his human nature, he was also called Christ after the incarnation. Yet, the God-Word is not one, and Christ another; for the God-Word, having become incarnate, was named Christ Jesus. And he became incarnate so that he might renew the nature that had been corrupted by sin. Therefore, he took on everything that had sinned, so that he might heal the whole. For he did not assume the nature of the body as a cloak for his divinity, according to the delirium of Arius and Eunomius. For it would have been easy for him to be seen even without a body, just as he was once seen by Abraham, and Jacob, and other saints: but he willed that the nature itself, which had been defeated, should war against the adver-

^Asary, and win back the victory; for this reason, he assumed both a body and a rational soul. For Holy Scripture does not divide man into three parts, but says that this living creature consists of soul and body. For God, when he had fashioned the body from the clay, breathed in the soul, and showed that there are two natures, not three. The Lord himself also says in the Gospels: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul" (Matt. x, 28). And many such things can be found in divine Scripture.

That he did not assume a perfect human nature as a covering for his divinity, according to the fables of the heretics, but in order to procure the victory for the whole race through the firstfruits, is attested by the true witness and absolute teacher, the divine Apostle. For in his Epistle to the Romans, revealing the mystery of the dispensation, he speaks thus: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and thus death passed upon all men, in that all have sinned" (Rom. v, 12). Having shown by these words what was the beginning of sin, and what fruit sprouted from it, and who first admitted it, he also shows its end. "For until the law", he says, "sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of him who was to come" (Rom. v, 13, 14). By Moses he means the law; and until the advent of the Savior, the observance of this prevailed. But for those who transgressed, both those living under this and those who lived under the law of nature, death reigned by right, with sin confirming its power. For death was the penalty of sin.

Having taught in this way whence sin took its beginning, and until when death reigned, he shows how the power of these was broken, and he praises the immense goodness of God, saying: "But not as the offense, so also is the gift. For if by the offense of one many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace of the one man Jesus Christ, has abounded to many" (Rom. v, 15). The munificence of kindness, he says, surpasses justice. For the decree of justice, when one had sinned, delivered the whole of his race to death; but the divine mercy, when all men were under a curse and trapped in the snares of sin, granted salvation to all because of the justice of one. But he called the Savior a man, not denying his divinity—for he knew that he was God, and God equal to the Father—but teaching that like is cured by like, and that the whole is sanctified through the firstfruits. For since he was subject to the law according to his humanity, and had fulfilled the law, he liberated from the curse those who had transgressed the law. Then again he twists the same speech in another way: "And not"

^A as by one who sinned is the gift. For the judgment, he says, came by one unto condemnation: but the grace came from many offenses unto justification." When, he says, one sinned, all were condemned: but now, though all have sinned, to all who wish it, salvation through faith is proposed. Thus, having shown that the righteousness of the one became an averter of evil for the common sin, he shows through him also the destruction of death that was accomplished. ^B "For if by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more shall they who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift and of the righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ." Sin, he says, is the producer of death, but the righteousness of the one is the producer of life in the kingdom. We are saved, not by the law, but by the divine compassion, obtaining salvation. For the law of the just led all to punishment. For we were all established as workers of sin. For if, when one had sinned, the race was condemned, it was surely much more just for those who lived under sin to receive the penalty. But divine mercy transgressed the boundaries of justice, and kindness conquered equality, and when one had fulfilled the law, it is permitted to all who wish to believe in him to enjoy salvation. Having shown in these things the unfathomableness of the kindness, he transfers himself again to the principle of the word. "Therefore, as by one offense unto all ^C men unto condemnation, so also by one act of righteousness unto all men unto justification of life." Then he passes from things to persons. "As by the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also by the obedience of the one, the many shall be made righteous." He has very necessarily placed "the many" in both cases. For when Adam had sinned, and the majority had transgressed the divine laws, some remained within the boundaries of nature and became diligent in virtue, like Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and the patriarchs, and the prophets, and very many others, not only among the Jews, but also among the other nations, concerning whom the divine Apostle said: "For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves." And after the advent of the Savior, not all enjoy salvation, ^D but those who believe and lead their lives according to his divine laws. Therefore, both in the image and in the archetype, he placed "the many." But let us see for what cause the only-begotten Son of God was incarnated, and, having assumed human nature, was called man. He brought forward the same doctrine for us also in the Epistle to the Corinthians. For he says thus: "But now Christ has risen from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep; for since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead." Then he passes from nature to persons, and says: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

He did not say "shall be saved," but "shall be made alive"; for the resurrection is common, but after the resurrection, the distinction shall take place. And he made this clear by adding: "But each in his own order." For there are many orders both of those who are punished and of those who are saved. For according to the quality and quantity of justice, the recompenses of gifts shall be provided. And in the same way, the punishments shall occur according to the difference of sins.

XII. That the Lord assumed a body.

^B Since, therefore, we have learned the cause of the divine incarnation, let us proceed to show, using the testimonies of the divine oracles, that God the Word, having become man, assumed a human body. First, indeed, the swaddling clothes belonged to a body, not to divinity; then the butter and honey, which the prophet foretells long before; and the maternal milk, and the other food and drink, show a nature capable of these things. But if anyone, acting foolishly, should object the food offered in the tent of Abraham, let him know that he speaks very foolishly. For those things appeared to happen, but were consumed in another manner, which He who consumed them knows. But if one should foolishly grant that the incorporeal nature was a participant in those things, yet you would certainly not find hunger and thirst there. Here, however, necessity excited such passions, not because the united divinity was unable to make the body not in need (for He who a little later granted immortality to all bodies would more easily have rendered His own body superior to want), but He permitted it to show its own nature, so that the heresies which denied that assumption might be clearly refuted as false. ^C For just as, though He was able to render it superior to death (for indeed He did this after three days), He permitted it to suffer and to die, so that He might fulfill the mystery of the dispensation; so likewise He yielded to hunger, and thirst, and exhaustion, and sleep, so that the Docetists might have no opportunity to strengthen their false heresy. Therefore, hunger, and thirst, and besides these, exhaustion and sleep, bear witness that the body of the Lord was a human body. Confirming this, the divine Apostle cries out and says: "Since therefore the children shared in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise participated in the same, so that through death He might destroy him who had ^D the power of death, and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to mortality all their lives." By these words, he clearly declared that He took on the same nature as we have.

But if someone is distressed by the [use of the term] "garment," let him hear the patriarch Jacob prophesying: "He will wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape" (Gen. xlix, 11). Let ^A him also hear the divine Paul crying out: "Having therefore, brethren, confidence in the entrance into the holies by the blood of Christ, which he hath dedicated for us a new and living way through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith" (Hebr. x, 19-22), and what follows. For he called his flesh a veil, just as the patriarch Jacob called it a robe and a garment. But it is superfluous to speak at length on this matter, since both the New and the Old Testament openly demonstrate the body of the Lord.

XIII. That He also assumed a soul along with the body

That the only-begotten Son of God, having become man, also assumed a rational soul, the evangelist Luke teaches, saying: "And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and grace with God and men" (Luc. ii, 52). Now he advanced in age ^B regarding the body, but in wisdom regarding the soul. For the Divinity admits of no increase; for the Word of God is perfect in every respect. But rightly did He join the increase of wisdom with the increase of age. For according to the measure of the age of the body, the divine nature revealed its own wisdom. The Lord teaches the assumption of the soul, however, more clearly. For to those who conjectured that the passion was involuntary, He said before the passion: "I have power to lay down my soul, and I have power to take it up again. No man taketh it away from me: but I lay it down of myself, that I may take it up again" (Joan. x, 18). By these words He clearly showed that one thing is the soul which is laid down and taken up, and another is the Divinity which lays it down and takes it up. I said "one and another," not dividing [Him] into two persons, but showing the difference of the natures. So also elsewhere He said: "Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my soul for the sheep" (ibid. 17). And in another place, He openly demonstrated also the turmoil which the soul endured at the time of the passion. For He said: "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause I came unto this hour" (Joan. xii, 27). By these ^C arguments, He showed the anxiety, at one time shrinking from the passion, at another casting aside the fear. Luke taught this fear more clearly. For he said that He was in such agony over the passion that the sweat of His body became bloody. "For His sweat," he says, "became as drops of blood" (Luc. xxii, 44). He also added that an angel came and supported Him.

^A For by all means observe for me the weakness of human nature. For why, even with the divinity of the Only-Begotten united to it, and with the Spirit present as an anointing, does an angel support the weakness of both soul and body? Is it not clear that all these things happened by the permission of the divine nature, so that those who would come after, who would believe in the assumption of soul and body, might be confirmed by these demonstrations, and those who would contradict them might be refuted by evident testimonies?

XIV. — That He assumed the perfect human nature.

^B For this reason, He calls Himself both a man and the Son of man. To the apostles, He often said: "The Son of man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise again." And to him who wished to follow He said: "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head." And to the Jews He said plainly: "Why do you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from My Father?" ^C The divine Apostle also cries out: "One God, and one mediator between God and men." And again: "For since by man came death, and by man came the resurrection of the dead." On this account He was called the seed of Abraham and the son of David. For since the God of all promised Abraham that in his seed He would bless all nations, and gave this promise also to Isaac and to Jacob, rightfully the divine Apostle, writing to the Galatians, says: "To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed"; and teaching whom he called seed, he adds: "He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one: 'And to your seed,' which is Christ." ^D And writing to the Hebrews, he says: "For surely He does not take hold of angels, but He takes hold of the seed of Abraham. Whence He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God." And because the patriarch Jacob bestowed upon Judah the blessing which he had received from the God of all, saying: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from your loins, until He comes for whom it is laid up, and He shall be the expectation of the nations"; and the prophet Micah also renews the prediction, saying: "And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall go forth for Me a ruler, and His goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity." And again the divine Apostle shows the outcome of the predictions and says: "For it is evident that

our Lord has sprung from Judah." These promises were also received by David, the king and prophet, from the God of all. For He said to him: "I will establish his seed unto ^A eternity, and I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation." And again: "And I will set his seed unto the eternity of eternity, and his throne as the days of heaven." And a little later: "Once have I sworn by my holy One, if I will lie to David: his seed shall remain unto eternity, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon being established unto eternity, and the witness in heaven is faithful." These promises the truthful Master renewed again through the prophet Isaiah: "For there shall come forth," he says, "a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from the root. And the spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, a spirit of the fear of God shall fill him," and the things that follow are of the same line of thought. And again: "There shall be the root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule over the nations; in him shall the nations hope, and his rest shall be honor." And in another place: "And I will appoint," He says, "for you an eternal covenant, the holy things of David that are faithful." For what I promised him I will fulfill, and through that seed I will save the inhabited world. For the promise is faithful and truthful to me. ^B Showing the truth of these promises, the evangelist Matthew, in the very preface of his writing, proclaims to the inhabited world that the expectation of the nations has blossomed. "For the book," he says, "of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham." For the promises regarding the seed were made to both. And indeed, the divine Apostle also, writing to the Romans, at the beginning of his Epistle, showed the end of the promise made to David. "For Paul," he says, "a servant of Jesus Christ, called an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Scriptures, concerning his Son who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh." By adding "according to the flesh," he indicated that our Lord Jesus Christ was also God before the ages, but was called son of David according to the human nature. ^C Teaching this more clearly, he added: "The Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ." For when, he says, He had risen from the dead, and the grace of the Spirit had filled the apostles, God was manifested through the miracles performed by them. For in His name they performed the greatest miracles. In the middle of the Epistle, moreover, when he had made mention of the good things formerly given to the Jews, he added: "Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God." And in one person the difference of the two natures

it shows: born of the Jews according to the flesh, but God over all, as God, and blessed forever. He instructs blessed Timothy again, saying, "Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David according to my Gospel, in which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds." And it is permitted to find many other testimonies in both Testaments proclaiming our kinship with the Savior according to the ^A flesh. These things, however, suffice to show that He assumed a perfect human nature, and for that reason was called Son of David, Son of Abraham, Son of man, man, Adam, Jacob, and Israel. For just as He was perfect God, so also did the perfect man provide perfect salvation to men.

XV.—That He raised up the nature which He assumed

That He indeed raised up the nature which He took upon Himself, He Himself testifies, showing the apostles both His hands and feet; the fingers of Thomas, which touched His wounds, also testify to this, as did the rest of the apostles when the Lord commanded them. "For handle me," He said, "and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have." But the divine apostle John also cries out in the beginning of his Epistle: "Which we have seen, and our hands have handled." ^B Great Peter, moreover, preaching among the Jews, when he had made mention of the prediction of David, which he prophesied concerning the Lord's resurrection, said these things also: "Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he ^C foresaw [and] spoke of His resurrection, that His soul was not left in hell, neither did His flesh see corruption." Two witnesses, therefore, teach us at the same time: one the apostle, the other the prophet—the one predicting, the other explaining the prediction after the event—that the resurrection belongs not to the divinity, but to the body and the soul. And they whose is the resurrection, theirs ^D also was the passion—not by the soul being extinguished with the body (for the souls of men are also immortal), but because the body underwent death through the separation of the soul. The divinity, however, is not separated from the humanity, neither on the cross nor in the tomb; but since it is immortal and immutable, it endured neither death nor passion—[original-script column: see facsimile]

For if the soul, because of its inherent immortality, has not participated in the death of the body, how was it possible for the uncircumscribed nature either to be nailed to wood, ^A or to be delivered to a tomb? The four evangelists, declaring this, make mention of Joseph of Arimathea, and say that he went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and when Pilate had granted it, he took the body down from the wood, wrapped it in a linen shroud, and delivered the body to the tomb. And they have placed the name of "body" very often, obstructing the impudent mouth of those who blaspheme with clear and manifest testimonies.

XVI. — That the same [Being] is both good and just.

Since, however, the execrable Marcion calls one being just, whom he also names Creator, and another being good, whom he claims to be Christ Jesus, come, let us discuss this briefly as well, and let us demonstrate that our Lord Jesus Christ is both Creator and Savior, and that the same one is both good and just. For because that most profane man heard the law proclaiming, "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, a burn for a burn, a stripe for a stripe," while the Lord enjoins the one smiting to turn the right cheek and the other also, and for one wishing to go to law to obtain the tunic, to offer the cloak as well, the thunderstruck man supposed ^B that the former was just, but this one good. And he did not perceive that the precision of the evangelical laws is more terrible than the Mosaic legislation. For that law indeed forbids murder, but that of the evangelical laws threatens hell even to him who calls his brother a fool. For "Everyone," He says, "who says to his brother, 'Fool,' is liable to the hell of fire." Thus, in turn, the ancient law condemns adultery, but the evangelical law calls even the shameful desire, which enters through the lascivious look, adultery. And the ancient law forbids lying, but the new law forbids even swearing. And the ancient law ordered him who felt hatred toward his wife to dismiss her; but the new ^C law calls the dismissal, apart from fornication, adultery. "For everyone," He says, "who dismisses his wife, except for the cause of fornication, makes her commit adultery, and he who marries a dismissed woman commits adultery." In addition to these things, He also threatened that He would demand an account for an idle word, and [threatened] eternal punishment, and outer darkness, and the hell of fire, and many other such things. From these things, therefore, there will be discovered that the one whom he calls just is good, and the one called good is just. For He has established more strict laws, and threatened more severe punishments. But to say these things is also clear insanity. For He who in the Gospels commanded to love ^D enemies, had also in the old law commanded not to despise the beast of an enemy that had succumbed under its load, but to bring aid, and not to

remember animosity in the time of need. So again, he commands that the wandering ox of an enemy be brought back and restored to its owner. And the old law teaches humanity not only toward men, but also orders us to have pity on irrational animals. "For thou shalt not muzzle," he says, "the ox that treadeth out the corn." And, "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk." And he forbids those who find the chicks of certain birds from capturing the parents along with them. He also commanded that the seventh day be kept as a day of rest, so that not only may the manservant and the maidservant rest, but also the ox and the beast of burden; so great is the care he shows even for irrational animals. One can also find laws written concerning proselytes, which are full of all humanity. "For ye shall not wrong," he says, "the stranger [proselyte], for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." And he commanded those harvesting to leave behind the ears of corn that fall for the proselyte, and the orphan, and the widow. Thus, he also forbids those gathering grapes ^C from twice gathering the fallen berries and the overlooked clusters. He orders the same thing to be done regarding other fruits. "For thou shalt not glean," he says, "thy vineyard, nor shall thou gather the fallen olives; but they shall be for the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, and for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth." And moreover, he deems even the captive woman worthy of the greatest consideration; for he does not give her up to the insult of the lustful, but first commands that she be permitted to mourn her own, then to have her hair shorn, and only then to be joined in marriage. If, however, the master should become sated with pleasure, he permits neither her sale nor her servitude, but decrees that she be sent away free, counting the intimacy that has occurred as sufficient in place of the price. What punishment, therefore, equal to their blasphemy will they pay, who have dared to call a legislator so good not only unjust, but even evil?

XVII.—That the same One gave both the Old and the New Testament.

We, however, know that there is one Author of both the Old and New Testament, and he teaches this very thing clearly through Jeremiah the prophet. "For I will make," he says, "a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant ^D which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; but I will make a new covenant with them, putting my laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will write them." By these words he taught clearly that He who gave the old will also provide the new. "For I will make," he said, "not according to the covenant which I made." And through Isaiah the prophet he says: "And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David." And David the prophet likewise cries out: "Arise, O

Lord, let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you; constitute, O Lord, a lawgiver over them."^A But if they do not believe the prophecies, let them hear the Lawgiver, who does not subvert the ancient laws but reinforces them. For it would be the act of one subverting them to say: "It was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you, Commit adultery"; and, "It was said to those of old, You shall not kill; but I say to you, Kill." For this is what the Antitactae, the kinsmen of Marcion, do. The Lord, however, by the laws He enacts, teaches openly that He does not subvert the ancient things, but introduces a more perfect way of life. And just as a schoolmaster teaches those beginning to learn the characters of the letters; but to those who have already learned these, he offers the combinations of syllables; and others he instructs in how to join together nouns, and others in the harmony of reading, yet he does not introduce laws of teaching that are contrary, but provides lessons appropriate to their age: so Christ the Lord gave laws appropriate to each generation. For the necessary and primary ones He inscribed in the nature of men. For each person has the discernment of good and evil; and seeing that we do not wish to suffer, by this we testify that we know that what is being done is evil. Therefore, someone who kills or commits adultery knows that what he is doing is evil. For he not only does not wish to be killed, but he contrives every way so as not to suffer this; and if his wife has been disgraced, he accuses the one who has violated his bed, and having received insults, he brings a grievance for the injury. And if we examine the rest in this way, we shall find all humans knowing that what is evil is evil. These, therefore, God who created us implanted in nature; but He gave others in different ways in each generation. For to Adam He gave the law regarding the tree; to Noah, the one regarding the eating of meat; to the patriarch, He gave the law of circumcision; and He wrote others through Moses, the great prophet. But in the divine Gospels, having caused the laws regarding small matters to cease like some exercises of elements, He gave the most perfect laws. And just as mothers offer the breast to their newborn infants, but later food broken down by the teeth, and then, once they have become boys and youths, solid food: so the God of all offers more perfect teachings to those who have learned those things. ^B Yet we still cherish the Old Testament as a motherly breast; but we do not partake of the milk. For ^C milk is superfluous to those who are mature, those whom it nourished; yet they still honor the nurse, as having been raised by her. Thus, indeed, do we; we do not endure to keep circumcision, and the Sabbath, and the sacrifices, and the sprinklings, but we harvest the other profit of the Old Testament. For it teaches piety, and faith in God, and love for one's neighbor, and temperance, and justice, and ^D fortitude precisely, and proposes the examples of the ancient saints to be imitated.

XVIII. — Concerning Baptism.

XIX. — Concerning the Resurrection.

^A Marcion, and Cerdo, and Manes, and all those who did not accept the resurrection of bodies, have rejected this return to life as something altogether impossible. For just as they thought that God could not create without matter, so they thought that he was utterly unable to restore to its former shape that which had been completely dissolved, and turned into a small amount of dust, and consumed by time. Yet they also admit that God, having taken a clod from the earth, fashioned man. And it was necessary to consider that, just as at that time the God of all things very easily transformed that clod into a body and fashioned many varied members, so it is easy for him to construct the substance of the body from these few remains. For we see this being done even now, according to the ancient creation, in the womb. For from the small matter of the seed, both bones grow, and membranes, and nerves, and veins, and arteries, and skin, and fat, and flesh, and all other things of which the body is composed. For nature proceeds according to the divine decree, and like some sculptor, it fashions the ensouled statue; and neither the smallness of the matter, nor the narrowness of the place, nor the surrounding darkness hinders the craftsmanship. It is, therefore, of extreme madness not to give credence to the things that are seen, especially when God promises. For Christ himself said: "Those who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life; but those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." But a person of sound mind would not say that souls dwell in the tombs; for it is bodies that lie in them. And the Lord, rebuking the Sadducees also, who rejected the mention of the resurrection, ^B said these things: "Have you not read what was spoken by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" And he added: "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." And he said to Martha: "Your brother shall rise again." And she, having been taught this from the Old Scripture, answered: "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Then the Lord, taking up the discourse, said: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, even if he die, shall live." As, therefore, having said at that time, "Your brother shall rise again," he did not raise only the soul of Lazarus, but indeed brought this back and raised the body, foul and dissolved; so also, having promised the common resurrection, he will restore to the souls the dissolved bodies, now composed again, having rendered them free from death and corruption. And the divine Apostle ^C taught this expressly: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption." And again: "For we do not want to be unclothed, but to be ^D clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." And again: "It is sown in corru

corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in ^A weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." And again: "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible." 445 He also set forth the objection of those who do not believe: "But someone will say, How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come?" And first he called them foolish, as those who see in seeds the pattern of the resurrection, and are not led therefrom to believe in the resurrection of bodies. "Foolish one," he said, "that which you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or some of the others." Look, he says, at the things that happen daily. For furrows do not differ at all from graves. In these, as in graves, seeds are buried, while the Creator of all, by providing rain, causes them to bring forth roots, and leaves, and stalks, and husks, and ears; and while the farmers provide nothing but the burying of the seeds, the decree of Him who fashioned all things accomplishes the rest. For this is what the divine Apostle also said: "But God gives it a body as He wills." And that no one might think that a different body is formed, he necessarily added: "And to each of the seeds its own body." And writing to the Philippians, he expressly says: ^C "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body." And he called it a "transformation," not a change into another form, but a change from corruption into incorruption. And comforting the Thessalonians, who were grieving excessively because of the dead, he brought in mention of the resurrection. "For I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus." And lest any one should think that he said these things by his own reasoning, he added: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep." And it is possible to find countless other testimonies with him that openly preach the resurrection. Also at Jerusalem, when he was being accused of transgressing the Law, he cried out: "Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged this day." And why do I speak of the apostles, who received a more manifest doctrine concerning the resurrection from the Lord

For indeed, the inspired prophets also constantly held this hope. We hear the most divine David saying to God: "You will take away their spirit, and they shall fail, and return to their dust; you shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth." We hear also the inspired Isaiah crying aloud: "The dead shall rise, and those who are in the tombs shall be raised." And ^B the thrice-blessed Ezekiel said that he himself had seen the mode of the resurrection. For when he had seen a great multitude of bones, he was commanded to enjoin them to bring forth flesh, and sinews, and skin. "And it came to pass," he says, "as I prophesied, and behold a shaking, and bone came to bone, each to its respective joint. And I saw, and behold, there came upon them sinews, and flesh grew up, and came upon them, and skin was stretched over them from above." Then he teaches how the spirits, having been commanded from every side, returned, and how by these being joined to those, the type of the future resurrection was pre-described. But if the prophets also foretold these things before the manifestation of the Savior, what punishment would those not deserve who, after the resurrection of the Savior and the preaching of the apostles, disbelieve the word concerning the resurrection?

XX. - Concerning judgment.

How ^C indeed will the judgment be justly conducted if the bodies, as the unbelievers say, do not rise, and the account of sins is required only from the souls? For it is not just that the soul, which sinned together with the body, and received through the eyes envy and wicked desires, and through the ears was beguiled by unlawful words, and through each member of the body admitted certain evil enticements, should alone pay the penalty for the sins committed, and endure this not for some short time, but for infinite ages; for this we have been taught by the divine Scripture. "For these," He says, "shall go away into eternal life, but these into eternal punishment and shame." On the other hand, how would it be holy and righteous for the souls of the saints alone to ^D enjoy the promised blessings, having practiced virtue together with their bodies? For the eyes shed tears of compunction, the ears transmit divine words to the soul, the tongue both praises the Benefactor and continually offers prayer, the hands minister to the relief of the needy, and the feet both run to the houses of prayer and stand during prayer, and they endure much labor. How therefore would it be just, that the body, which together with the soul has acquired the treasures of virtue, should be dust and be cast away

and the soul alone be proclaimed as the victor? If this is cruel, it is just that the bodies should rise first, and then together give an account of their conduct. For this is what the divine Apostle also said: "For we shall all," he says, "stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." Blessed David also says in agreement: "For you will render to each according to his works." Now Pythagoras invented the myth of the transmigration of souls, saying that they pass not only into the bodies of brute animals, but even into trees. And Plato followed this myth in some way. From this, Manes, and before him the impious crowd of those called Gnostics, taking their occasion, asserted that this was a punishment. But the utterly profane Carpocrates, and Epiphanes, and Prodicus, and the Cainites, instituting a swinish life, said that souls are transmitted into bodies so that, through lust and every intemperance, each one might appease the angels who are creators. But the Church of the pious abominates these and similar myths; following the divine oracles, it believes that bodies will rise, and that souls will be judged with them, and that those who have lived viciously will be punished, while those who have been studious of virtue will obtain the promised rewards.

XXI. — Concerning the promises.

^C The munificent Giver has promised to give not anything perishable or temporary, but the eternal enjoyment of good things. For the kingdom of God and of our Savior will not be earthly, according to the heresy of Cerinthus and those similar to him, nor delimited by a set time. Let those people imagine for themselves the circuit of a thousand years, and perishable luxuries, and other sensual pleasures, and in addition to these, sacrifices and Jewish festivals; for we await a life free from old age. "For these," says the Lord, "will rise to eternal life, but these to punishment and eternal shame." And again: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the ^D foundation of the world." And, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And he commanded the divine apostles, as they preached, to say: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." And in another place he said to them: "When I am exalted from the earth, I will draw all to myself." And again: "There are many mansions with

my Father. If it were not so, I would have told you that I go to prepare a place for you." And: "I will come again and will receive you to myself, that where I am, there you ^A may be also." And again: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life." Furthermore, speaking to the Father, he said: "Father, those whom you have given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world." Having learned these things, the divine Apostle said: "We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord, and so we shall always be with the Lord." And again: "The saying is sure: for if we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him." And writing to the Romans, he said: "If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift and of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ." And again: "For this slight momentary affliction of ours is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." The culmination of good things is that the promised life is immune to sin. ^B For when bodies rise immortal and souls receive immutability, sin will no longer have any place. When sin has been removed, and the devil with his demons has been delivered to hell, the toils of struggle will cease, as will the fear of defeat and the anxiety about victory. A life without sorrow and full of joy will be given to those who are worthy, and they will enjoy intellectual and divine light, or rather, they will become luminous themselves. "For then," says the Lord, "the righteous will shine like the sun."

XXII. On the second coming of God and our Savior.

These things will come to pass after the second coming of our Savior. For so he promised to the apostles: "I go away and I come to you." And again: "I will come again to you and will receive you to myself." And in another place: "Then you will see the Son of Man coming ^D on the clouds of heaven with his glory, and all his holy angels with him. Then he will sit on his glorious throne, and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate"

^A them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left." This advent of his was also seen by the divine Daniel: "I was watching," he says, "until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat down. His garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was a flame of fire, its wheels a burning fire, a stream of fire issued forth from before him. Thousands of thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened." And, "Behold, one like the Son of Man was coming with the clouds of heaven, and he reached as far as the Ancient of Days, and to him was given dominion ^B and the kingdom. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom shall be for ever." And, "The dominion of the beasts was taken away, and the kingdom was given to the saints of the Most High." Such is the harmony of the evangelical proclamations and the prophetic decrees. For these oracles and those belong to one God. Concerning this fire, Isaiah the prophet also says: "Who shall announce to you the eternal place?" And at the end of the prophecy he says: "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished." The divine David, foretelling this same advent, said: "The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto its setting. Out of Zion is the beauty of his excellence. God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence. Fire shall be kindled in his presence, and a violent tempest round about him." And in another psalm: "A cloud and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the setting of his throne. Fire shall go before him, and shall burn up his enemies round about." And again: "For he comes to judge the earth; he shall judge the inhabited world in righteousness, and the peoples in uprightness." And through Malachi the prophet, the God of all things himself says: "Behold, I send you Elijah the Tishbite, lest I come and strike the earth utterly." And the divine Apostle, writing to the blessed Titus, joined the second advent of our Savior with the first: "For the grace of God that brings salvation," he says, "has appeared to all men, instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." By these words he shows that the first advent was made for the sake of the second. For he says ^D that he appeared so that, delivering us from ungodliness and iniquity and teaching every virtue, he might cause us to await the second advent with a joyful and eager spirit. He also praises the Thessalonians, because they had turned to God from idols and were willing to serve

^A the living and true God, and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. And writing to the Hebrews, he indicated this coming, using a prophetic testimony: "For yet a little while," he says, "he that is to come will come and will not tarry." He taught these things to the Philippians also: "For our citizenship," he said, "is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus." And likewise to the Thessalonians: "For the Lord himself," he says, "shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first," ^B and what follows. It would be easy to bring forward other testimonies proclaiming the second advent of our Savior, but these are sufficient to persuade even the most contentious.

XXIII. — On the Antichrist.

It is, however, necessary to add to what has been said, that before the Lord’s advent, the bane of men, the anti-godly demon, the robber of the divine appellation, will come, having put on human nature. And just as formerly, having stolen the name of God, he imposed it upon himself and his ministers of wickedness, and persuaded men ^C to offer to him, through hand-made images, the divine worship due to God; so, having usurped the appellation of the Lord Christ, he will deceive all, so to speak, and will beguile many of those who have taken upon themselves the venerable name, saying that he is the Christ, whom the spirit-filled prophets foretold would appear. He will also lure the gullible, employing certain deceptive miracles; this was foretold enigmatically by many of the prophets in the Old Testament. The divine Daniel prophesied ^D more broadly and clearly concerning this matter. But if there is any need to clarify any of these things, we have already expounded them, having interpreted the entire prophecy word for word. And when interpreting the things written to the Thessalonians by the divine Paul along with the rest of the Epistles, we employed a longer discourse than is our custom, examining the passage which deals with the Antichrist. For because some supposed that the time of the Lord’s advent was near, the divine Apostle necessarily taught that the world of men must needs be illuminated by the rays of divine knowledge, and the nurslings of the faith be made manifest, and those who contradict be separated from the believers, and then, only then, does the artificer of falsehood appear, for the confounding of those who have not accepted the preaching of the truth. For this is what the Lord also said to the Jews: "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: another shall come in his own name, and him"

^A ye will receive." The divine Apostle said the very same thing: "Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Therefore, for those who have not believed the preaching of the truth, there shall come the father and teacher of wickedness. For since the Jews, allegedly fighting for God, nailed the Lord to the cross as one opposed to God, the presence of the Antichrist will be the greatest evidence of their impiety. For the Lord Christ, being true God and Son of the true God, called himself Son of man and man, taking names derived from the nature that was visible, and only rarely did he call himself Son of God. But that most wicked demon will call himself the greatest god. For the ^B holy angel taught the prophet Daniel this very thing: "Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers," he said, "nor shall he exalt himself above every god," for he shall glorify the god Maozim in his place; that is, he will call himself a strong and mighty god. Yet those who crucified the Lord because he called himself the Son of God, will believe this one when he appears; and by this they show that they are most hostile to the truth and workers of falsehood. For this reason, the all-wise One permits the destroyer to appear. For it is clear that he would not have been seen if God had not willed it. However, we do not call his will "effection" or "operation." For God is not the cause of evils, even according to the pagans. For He did not make Cain a murderer, because ^C He did not prevent him when he wished to slay his brother. Nor did He Himself cause the sons of Jacob to sell Joseph, because He did not suppress their attempt. For it is possible to find that they made bad use of the free choice of their mind, while the all-wise Lord, through their wickedness, showed the truth of the dreams. Thus, therefore, He permits this one also to appear, exposing his wickedness and convicting the malice of the Jews. He brings upon him, however, as soon as possible, destruction, but to the Jews, [He brings] a remedy. "For He will send the Thesbite Elijah, who will both refute his fraud and foretell His saving coming." However, this adversary of the truth will imitate the Lord's coming in every respect, and having chosen a human instrument worthy of his own ^D activity, he will thus abuse men, using false miracles. The divine Apostle clearly taught this in what he wrote to the Thessalonians. He says as follows: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." By these words, however, he shows that some had deceived them, asserting

that the Apostle had said that the coming of the Lord was near. Whence he prohibited the deception not only by spoken words and by letters, but also by what was thought to be a prophetic prediction. For this is ^A what he said: "Neither by spirit." Then he adds: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God." He calls the very presence of the Antichrist the falling away. For many, being deceived by the signs to come, will fall away from the truth and embrace falsehood. He called him the man of sin and the son of perdition, both clearly indicating the nature visible to the eyes and revealing the manifold operation of sin. He also shows his tyranny, his pride, and his arrogance, calling him "one who opposeth and is lifted up," and showing that it will come to pass that he will not only name himself superior to false gods, but will also sit in the temple of God ^B as God. He calls the churches the temple of God. Then, reminding them of what he had often taught: "Do you not remember," he says, "that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know what withholds, that he may be revealed in his time." Already, he says, he would have appeared, if the divine grace had not restrained him, and destined his coming for a suitable time. "For the mystery of iniquity already worketh." By these words he signifies the heresies which had sprung up at that time. "Until he who now holdeth, do take him out of the way." The divine decree, he says, prevents him from appearing. For it behooveth, according to the divine prediction, that the Gospel be preached first to all nations, and then at last for him to appear. "And then that wicked one shall be revealed, whom the Lord ^C Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." He clearly showed that as soon as the Lord appears, he will make that wicked one vanish and will deliver him to eternal punishments, whose coming is according to the working of Satan in all power and signs and lying wonders, and in all seduction of iniquity in them that perish. For he will not hunt all to destruction, but those who have a fickle mind exposed to frauds. Moreover, he taught that he would also take on the operation of Satan the devil. For just as the only-begotten Son of God distributed the gifts of the most holy Spirit to the holy prophets, and to the holy apostles, and to others as well; the man who was made ^D did not give any particular grace to the assumed nature, but all the fullness of the divinity,

according to the Apostle, was pleased to dwell in him; ^B thus the devil, although he has persuaded other men to become workers of iniquity, has not instilled in them every manner of wickedness; but to this man, he will be joined entirely, and will display all his manifold mechanical devices of wickedness through him. Then he also states the reason for this permission: "Because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God will send them the working of error, that they should believe the lie; that they all might be judged who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." These things we have learned from the divine Scripture concerning the antichrist. We have written what pertains to him in summary, since in interpreting both the prophet Daniel and the Apostle, we have spoken at greater length concerning his coming, and it is easy for anyone who wishes to approach those commentaries, and to find in them if we have omitted anything in this place. These, then, are the dogmas the Church has received from the God-bearing men—I mean the prophets and apostles and their successors—not fabricating impious fables, nor following human reasonings, but believing in divine utterances. Since, however, the most defiled men have also corrupted moral teaching, and have devised paths contrary to one another—for some have called marriage fornication, while others have embraced every illicit and nefarious lust—come, let us also show what opinion the Church holds regarding morals.

XXIV. — Concerning Virginity.

Cerdon, therefore, and Marcion legislated virginity, waging war against the Creator, lest they increase his handiwork through marriage. Manes called marriage a helper of matter, and for this reason commanded virginity to be observed. Saturnilus and Tatian openly called marriage diabolical. But the Lord God did not impose laws concerning virginity, for He knew the matter to be above nature; but by bestowing praises upon it, He encouraged those who were willing to enter the contest. For when the apostles had said, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry," the Lord, answering, said: "All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are ^C eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake."

^A This He said not regarding the amputation of members, but regarding the amputation of perverse thoughts. Then He added: "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." For this reason, the divine Apostle also, speaking of virginity, says: "I have no commandment of the Lord: for the Lord has not laid down a law regarding virginity; but I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful." "I counsel," he says, "I do not legislate," and in this, he is not using boldness, but having received the ministry of the proclamation by divine decree. "I think therefore that this is good for a man" (70) "so to be." And He added "I think," not doubting the things regarding which he was giving counsel, but tempering his speech, so that it might not become a law. For the law also involves transgression, and transgression brings with it punishment. On account of this, therefore, he has added "I think," in order to show that what he was saying was counsel, not law. ^B Then he shows what he called "good": "Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not a loosing. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife." For, foreseeing the deadly poisons of the heretics, he prepares the prophylactic medicine. Wherefore he first confirmed the law of marriage, and then in this way introduced the exhortations concerning virginity. For so that no one might suppose that he was legislating regarding purity while condemning marriage (71), he of necessity strengthened the law of marriage, saying: "Seek not a loosing." And having set this same thing regarding purity, and saying: "Seek not a wife," he did not persist in the decree, but added: "But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned." For he does not advise avoiding marriage as if it were an illegality, but as one exhorting toward a better life. ^C He also demonstrates the gain of virginity. For of those who marry he said: "Such shall have trouble in the flesh" (72). For the man who has married is distracted by many cares, being concerned not only for his wife, but also for children, and servants, and handmaidens; and signifying this, he said: "Such shall have trouble in the flesh." He also makes manifest his own benevolence; for he said: "But I spare you." And after a little: "But I would have you" (73) "to be without carefulness." Then he institutes a certain contention and comparison of the one who has married with the one who has embraced celibacy: "He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband" (74). By these things, he has explicitly taught the necessity of virginity. For he does not bid one to flee from

that which are of the world, how he may please his wife.” ^A Clearly, therefore, in these things he teaches the utility of virginity. For he does not bid us flee marriage as though it were illicit, but to seek virginity so that we might be free from cares. For the mind of those who are joined in marriage is divided by many things, and it prevents them from leading an exact and perfect life. But those who have chosen the solitary life bestow their entire concern upon divine things. He proceeds, furthermore, to show the utility, and to remove the necessity of the law from his words: “And this I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you.” For I do not drag the unwilling by force, but I demonstrate the profit that arises from this. Therefore he subjoins: “But for that which is comely, and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction.” For he who is free from the marriage yoke draws its burden easily, with no one else to draw him away from diligent attention. And he continues to refute the law of the unspeakable heretics, saying: ^B “But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry.” Now he says this concerning those who have not yet made covenants regarding virginity. “Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well.” Not having necessity is the same as being under the power of no other. For masters prevent servants from doing what they wish. Thus, to him who wishes to betroth, and to him who desires to keep his daughter chaste, having given power, he added: ^C “So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better.” Such are the definitions concerning virginity that we have received from men who are theologians, who do not accuse marriage, but urge those who are willing toward a life free from care.

XXV. — On Marriage.

I think it worth the effort to examine also the laws of marriage, and to beat back the audacity of those who accuse it. The difference of sex alone is sufficient to show the cause of its creation. For it was for this sake that the Maker of all things formed the woman, whence he also called her a helper. “For let us make,” he said, “for Adam a helper like unto him.” ^D And not only did he form her, but he also joined her to the man, and according to the custom that now prevails, he led her to the man, and he himself was the groomsman and the one who gave the bride away; he himself, as if a gift, bestowed this blessing upon marriage, saying, “Increase and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.” This was the first blessing that the race of men received from the God of all things. But many years later, when

^A He brought about the destruction of the flood, He commanded not only men, but also women equal in number to the men, to enter the ark; and when the punishment had ceased, He renewed the former blessing. For He said also to them: “Increase and multiply, and replenish the earth.” And having led Abraham the patriarch out of his father’s land, He bade him look at the stars of heaven, and promised that He would make men ^B equal in number to these: “For I will make,” He said, “your seed as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore.” Now if marriage were an evil thing, the Lord God would not have ordained it from the beginning, nor would He have called the procreation of children a blessing. It is for this reason that He did not forbid the ancients to have several wives, so that the race of men might increase. For this cause, even godly men were joined to two, and three, and more wives, desiring to be fathers of many children. That they did not endure the company of many women enslaved to pleasure is testified to by Abraham the patriarch, who, after the many entreaties of Sarah, had relations with Hagar, but after her bearing, did not again approach her. Witness also the all-wise Jacob, who, having received Leah against his will, yet for the sake of the jealousy of his spouses, endured the union with their handmaids. And they, too, not enslaved to pleasure, but desiring to become mothers of more children, had strife between themselves. ^C The Old Scripture, therefore, instructs those who are nurtured in the faith regarding the purpose of marriage. But let those who do not accept the ancient laws learn similar things from the New Testament. For here too, marriage is altogether praised. For first of the apostles, he was called from the rank of the married. The evangelists are witnesses to this, explicitly teaching that the Lord healed his mother-in-law when she was suffering from fever. And the Lord Himself not only did not forbid marriage, but even feasted at a wedding, and presented to the marriage wine produced without cultivation. Furthermore, He so confirmed the law of marriage that He inhibits by another law anyone who wishes to dissolve the marriage apart from the cause of fornication. “For everyone,” He says, “who puts away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, makes her commit adultery.” Then, when the Pharisees said that the ancient law commanded to give a bill of divorcement, He interpreted for them the aim ^D of the law; for He said: “For the hardness of your hearts He wrote this commandment for you; but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two into one flesh.” Thus, after He had read the first law which He Himself had given, He subjoined: “Therefore they are no longer two. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Now all these things show that marriage is lawful and legitimate. But also the great Peter [punished] Ananias and Sap-

Sapphira, not by separating them—for they were joined together—but he severely rebuked them because they had stolen. ^A For the lawful act was the marriage, but the act of theft was exceedingly lawless. Now the divine apostle Paul wrote a complete epistle to Philemon and Apphia, who were joined together by the law of marriage. And to the Corinthians, who wished to learn whether those who have believed in the Lord ought to prefer celibacy to marriage, he explained these things: “Now concerning the things whereof you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But for fear of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” Having thus legislated these things, he urges them to have a firm mutual benevolence toward one another: ^B “Let the husband render the debt of benevolence to the wife, and likewise also the wife to the husband.” And because it was likely that either the husband or the wife might prefer the continent life to the conjugal union, which, if it did not happen by mutual consent, would result in the one who could not contain falling into fornication, he forbids the practice of continence that occurs without consent, and says: “The wife has not power of her own body, but the husband; and the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife.” You are, he says, one under the other's authority. You cannot do what you wish, apart from the one who pulls the yoke with you. And confirming the law, he added: “Defraud not one the other, unless it be by consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and return together again.” ^C He called "defrauding" the cessation of marital relations that happens against the will [of the other]. For when one party practices continence, the other considers that they are deprived of the communion. He also teaches for what reason he commanded them to come together again after prayer and fasting; for he added: “Lest Satan tempt you.” And showing that that one takes from us the opportunities for war, he appropriately added: “For your incontinency.” For if you are struggling, he says, that one will have no power at all. Then, inviting them to better things, he says: “But I speak this by permission, not by commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself (in continence); but everyone has his proper gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that.” If then the thrice-blessed Paul called marriage, when joined with temperance, a gift of God, the lawless laws of the ill-famed heretics are clearly shown [for what they are]. ^D And the things which follow are of the same sentiment: “But to them that are married, I command, yet not I, but the Lord, that the wife depart not from her husband: but if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.” So far is he from forbidding marriage, that he even restrains with the Lord’s laws him who dissolves it. For I do not write this law, he says, but the Lord God, who in the divine Gospels added, and she who has been separated [shall]...

^A commanded to remain unmarried, by this compelling [her] to return to her husband. And moreover, even to those who have unbelieving husbands, and to those joined to unbelieving wives, he gives orders not to dissolve the marriage. "For if," he says, "any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, let him not send her away; and if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, let her not send him away." If, then, he did not dissolve a marriage [with one] not possessing the harmony of the faith, it is clear that he recognizes the marriage as lawful, and not unlawful.

XXVI. — On Second Marriages.

And what do I say of the first marriage? He has also ordained a second union. "For I say," he said, "to the unmarried and to the widows: it is good for them if they remain as I am; but if they do not exercise self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn." By "burning," however, he did not mean the irritation of desire, but being overcome by it. And ^B after a few words he confirms the law; he says thus: "A woman is bound by the law for as long a time as her husband lives; but if her husband also falls asleep, she is free to marry whom she wishes, only in the Lord," that is to say, modestly and lawfully, to a pious and faithful man. And regarding self-control he counsels: "But she will be more blessed if she remains thus, according to my opinion." And by his addition he shows the credibility of the law: "For I think," he said, "that I also have the Spirit of God." I am not legislating using human reasonings, but as becoming an instrument of the divine Spirit. It must be noted, however, that he called the one practicing self-control not blessed, but *more* blessed, ^C by this teaching that even she who embraces a second marriage is not entirely destitute of blessedness, if indeed she accepts the yoke according to the established law. And writing to the Romans, and teaching the difference between law and grace, he has placed a pattern of the second marriage. "Or do you not know, brethren," he says (for I speak to those who know the law), "that the law rules over a man for as long a time as he lives?" Then the example: "For the woman who is under a husband is bound by the law to her living husband. But if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband. So then, if she becomes joined to another man while the husband is living, she will be termed an adulteress; but if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so as not to be an adulteress having become joined to another man." ^D Here, therefore, while establishing another point, he showed that the second marriage is not to be rejected. Writing also to the blessed Timothy, and delivering laws concerning the ecclesiastical orders, when he had discoursed much concerning the order of widows, he added: "But avoid younger widows." And when he had stated the causes, [and] the bondage of the soul and the inclination toward the worse.

he adds: "I desire therefore that the younger [widows] marry, bear children, rule the house, give no occasion to the adversary for the sake of reproach." But while Paul says, "I desire," Novatus dares to say, "I do not desire." But let us follow the laws of Paul, and let us bid the arrogance of Novatus to be gone.

XXVII. — On Fornication.

Fornication, however, and every intemperance we forbid as unlawful actions. For we hear the most divine Paul crying out: "But fornication and uncleanness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints." And again: "Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau." And: "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge." And in the Epistle to the Corinthians: "If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one no, not to eat." ^B Because of this intemperance, he even delivered the one who had committed fornication to Satan, and cries out openly: "If any man violate the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are." On this account he also exhorts that one should flee from intemperance. "Or know you not," he says, "that he who is joined to a harlot, is one body? For they shall be, he says, two in one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin whatsoever a man doth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body." And to the Galatians he brought forth the same doctrine: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, ^C wantonness, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God." Now Basilides, and Carpocrates, and Epiphanes, and Prodicus, and the rest of the teachers of wantonness and iniquity, indeed read these things, but they introduced a contrary legislation, openly setting themselves against the laws of the Spirit. Consonant with these, he also wrote to the Ephesians: "This then I say and testify in the Lord: that henceforth you walk not as also the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding ^D darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling, have delivered themselves up to lasciviousness, unto the working of uncleanness

^A in greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off concerning your former conduct the old man, who is corrupted according to the deceitful desires, and what follows. And a little after: “For this you know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” He also wrote these things to the Philippians: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things; which you have both learned, and received, and seen in me.” He writes in the same way also to the Colossians: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, ^B passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience.” And the Old Scripture also legislates in harmony with the New. For God himself says: “Be holy, for I am holy.” And: “Give no heed to a wicked woman; for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, which for a time indeed sweetens your throat, but afterwards you shall find it more bitter than gall.” And ten thousand other things can be found that accuse this intemperance. But those most defiled and ill-named ones have even called uncleanness a mystic communion. ^C

XXVIII. — Concerning Repentance

The divine Scripture not only forbids iniquities, but also heals those who have received the wounds of these things. For it detests the savagery of Novatus, and rebukes the shepherds who did not exercise this care for their sheep. And God himself says: “O shepherds, you have not strengthened that which was weak, and you have not healed that which was sick, and that which was ill you have not bound up, and that which was wandering you have not turned back, and that which was lost you have not sought.” But in accusing those who have not taken this care, it is clear that He wishes the weak sheep to be healed. Therefore He said to the same prophet: ^D “I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel; and you shall hear the word from my mouth, and you shall warn them in my name. When I say to the sinner, You shall surely die, and you do not announce to the sinner that you have care of the ungodly, that he may turn from his evil way, that he may live: the ungodly indeed shall die in his iniquity, but his blood

I shall require at your hand." ^A And a little later: "As I live, says the Lord God, I do not desire the death of the sinner, as that he should turn from his evil way, and live." Then, in a hortatory manner: "Turn, turn from your evil way, and why will you die, O house of Israel?" Next, he commands the prophet to carry these words also to them: "And you, son of man, say to the sons of your people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day he goes astray, and the iniquity of the ungodly shall not kill him in ^B the day he turns from his iniquity, and does judgment and righteousness, and restores the pledge to the debtor, and pays back what was stolen. If he who was ungodly walks in the precepts of life, so as not to do what is unjust, he shall surely live and shall not die, and all his sins which he committed shall be forgotten; because he has done judgment and righteousness, he shall live in them." And blessed Daniel offered the medicines of repentance to Nebuchadnezzar. "And now, O king," he says, "may my counsel please you; and by almsgiving wash away your iniquities, and your injustices by mercies to the poor." The prophecy of holy Jeremiah also is full ^C of this teaching. For now he says: "Turn, O you backsliding children, and I will turn to you, says the Lord God." And now: "Wash the evil from your heart, O Israel, that you may be saved, lest the thoughts of your labors be found in you." And again: "Shall he who falls not rise again, or he who turns away not turn back?" And one may find very many other such admonitions in him. Moreover, the most wise Isaiah cries out: "When you have turned and groaned, then you shall be saved, and you shall know where you were when you trusted in vanities." And in the prologue, when he had recounted many of the people's iniquities and shown the disease to be hard to ^D cure, he said, "There is no plaster to apply, nor oil, nor bandages." After a few words, he offered them the remedy of repentance, saying: "Wash yourselves, be clean, take away your iniquities from your souls before my eyes: cease from your evil ways, learn to do good; seek judgment, deliver him who is wronged from the hand of him who wrongs him." Then he promises that he will make them like white wool and snow, even if they have the color of scarlet and purple. But God alone can perform this. For dyers can change white into other colors, but they cannot change other colors into white. But to the Creator, all things are easy. But we shall extend our discourse beyond measure if we collect all the exhortations of the prophets. For they are full of these, and...

the prophetic song, and the oracles of the other ^A prophets. But those who have imbibed the arrogance of Novatus say that after baptism one ought not to offer medicine to those who sin. Yet it would have befitted them to perceive that the ancients also had the type of the sacred mysteries, [in] the sprinklings and divine sacrifices. ^B But that we may refute this folly with an abundance [of proofs], let us bring Aaron into the midst. For he, having been anointed and created the first high priest, and having received the grace of the divine Spirit, did indeed yield to the impious demands of the lawless people, and fashioned the image of the calf, and offered sacrifices along with the other Levites; yet nevertheless he obtained forgiveness, and continued in the high priesthood until his death. And great David too, being a prophet and possessing the grace of the divine Spirit dwelling within him, committed two grievous transgressions, but he healed his wounds through repentance, and he was not stripped of the grace of the Spirit, but even after the sin he prophesied many of the things that were to come. And what will they say regarding him who fornicated at Corinth, ^C who was deemed worthy not only of the divine mysteries but had even obtained the gift of teaching? For which reason, since those who were under him boasted as if [he were] a learned and wise man, the divine Apostle rebuked them, saying: "And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who hath done this deed might be taken away from among you." But nevertheless, having delivered to Satan him who was a teacher and had dared to commit a most grievous transgression, he again snatched him from his hands and restored him to the body of the Church. And he writes thus in the second Epistle: "To whom you forgive anything, I also. For if I also have forgiven anything, to whom I have forgiven, for your sakes [it was]." ^D And that no one might suppose he had done this for the favor of men, he added: "In the person of Christ," that is, as the Lord of all seeing [it], as knowing that this which was being done was pleasing to Him. Whence he also adds the reason: "That we may not be defrauded by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his devices." — "So that you rather [should] forgive and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow." Such compassion had the teachers of the Church; for they were spiritual physicians, preserving the health of those who were sound, but driving away the diseases of those who were ill. Looking to this, he also inserted these things in the letters written to them: "Lest, when I come again, my God humble me among you, and I shall bewail many of those who have sinned before, and have not repented of the uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness which they have committed." Thus also the Galatians, who had fallen away from the faith, and after the calling of grace and the perception of the divine mysteries, had received circumcision and embraced the observation of legal [rites], he leads back to salvation, and applies to them the remedy of repentance.

He utters the voice of a tender mother: "My little children, of whom I am again in labor until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. IV, 19). Now the Lord Christ Himself also offered this teaching to us through His own parables. For both the lost sheep and the lost drachma teach us to take care of those who have sinned (Luc. XV, 4, 8). The prodigal son clearly signifies the transgression that has occurred after baptism. For having received the proper portion of his father’s estate, which was his due, and having squandered it intemperately, he returned; yet he was adorned with the best robe, and through the ring he received the divine image, ^B and he ate the fatted calf, and prepared a great feast for his father. Indeed, every teaching and action of the Lord teaches the healing of sinners; both the called publicans, and the harlot who approached, and the robber who believed, and the words of benevolence: "I came not to call the just, but sinners to repentance. For they that are whole need not the physician, but they that are sick" (Matth. IX, 12, 13). But if they say that these things happened before baptism, let them perceive the first foundation of the Church being shaken, and [then] being confirmed by divine grace. For the great Peter, who had denied [Him] thrice, remained ^C the first, being healed by his own tears. The Lord commanded him to apply this same healing to his brothers also: "And thou," He says, "being converted, confirm thy brethren" (Luc. XXII, 32). And when He gave the form of prayer to the disciples, He commanded them to say: "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors" (Matth. VI, 12). Furthermore, we do not teach the uninitiated this prayer, but the initiated. For none of those who are not initiated dares to say, "Our Father, who art in heaven," since he has not yet received the gift of the adoption of sons. But he who has attained the gift of baptism calls God Father, as having been enrolled among the children of grace. ^D These, therefore, were commanded to say: "Forgive us our debts." Therefore, the wounds that occur after baptism are also healable; yet they are healable, not as of old, when remission was granted through faith alone, but through many tears, and through wailings, and weeping, and fasting, and prayer, and toil measured to the magnitude of the sin that has been committed. For we have been taught neither to despair of those who are thus disposed, nor lightly to share the holy things with them. "Do not," He says, "give that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine" (Matth. VII, 6). Such laws the Church has concerning repentance.

XXIX. — On abstinency.

^A Abstinence from wine and the eating of meat, and other forms of continence, are not embraced by the Church in the same manner as by the heretics. For the latter enjoin abstinence from these things as if they were abominable; but the Church prescribes nothing concerning them, nor does she forbid their use. For this reason, some securely enjoy the permitted pleasures, while others abstain. And no one who is of sound mind condemns him who eats; for both abstinence and participation are within the authority of one's will, and the monastic life is not undertaken by necessity, but by free choice. We have learned this, moreover, from the apostolic laws. "Let not him that eateth," he says, "despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth" (Rom. XIV, 3). And again: "All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence" (Rom. XIV, 20). And rebuking those very impious ones in the Epistle to Timothy, he has written these things: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, ^B and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (I Tim. IV, 1-5). And he also instructed the Corinthians to "eat whatsoever is sold in the shambles, asking no question for conscience sake" (I Cor. X, 25). He also commanded that if one is invited by any of the unbelievers to a feast, one may eat of what is set before him without anxiety, unless someone should declare that some of the food is offered to idols. So far was that divine man from forbidding the use of meats. And the Lord Himself said concerning Himself: "The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners" (Matth. XI, 19). And when He celebrated the Passover, He ate the lamb, with His disciples of course; and when invited to the marriage feast, not only did He not forbid drinking, but He even miraculously produced wine for those who were feasting. ^C Therefore, the divine dogmas clearly refute the error of the Encratites; and the Church of God both opposes the fables of the heretics and follows the divine dogmas. I ask, therefore, those who may encounter this writing, to compare the divine with each of those wicked dogmas, and by that collation

to recognize how great is the difference between truth and falsehood. For what fellowship has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? ^A For in truth, the former are inventions of diabolical malice; but these are decrees of the divine Spirit, which it behooves us to pursue assiduously, to keep their immutable rule, and to direct our own soul toward it, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom it is fitting that glory, honor, and majesty be ascribed to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ages of ages. Amen.

THE BLESSED THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS, ON PROVIDENCE, TEN DISCOURSES

DISCOURSE I

Nature has established this law for mortals: that children should avenge the injury inflicted upon their parents, and servants should defend the cause of their masters, and when cities are besieged by enemies, citizens should expose themselves to the dangers of their country; that, in short, whoever has received benefits from others should, to the best of their ability, render worthy thanks to their benefactors. And one may also see kings, who, when they govern the people entrusted to them rightly and justly, and temper their power with clemency, are fiercely defended in wars by their shield-bearers and guards. And let no one here immediately contradict me, and accuse this discourse of falsehood by bringing forward parricides, scoundrels, traitors, and tyrants. For my discourse concerns the keepers of the law, whereas those others are [a group of] ungrateful and

transgressors, who indeed pay the penalties worthy of their crimes. But if nature commands children to fight for their parents, and servants for their masters, and citizens for their cities, and bodyguards for kings, how much more holy and just it is that those who have both been created and saved by God should not only fight for God with words, but even choose the most extreme death. For He is closer to us than our parents, since it is through Him that they are called parents; and He is more sovereign than any masters, for in His case, the lordship over servants is according to nature and not by virtue of misfortune. He is also safer than any wall; for even if a wall were of adamant, it is still man-made, and even if it could escape the power of siege engines, it could never escape the hands of time. But He is eternal and everlasting, and sufficient for all guardianship and security. ^B And He is as much more kingly than kings as that which is eternal, when compared to that which is created and perishable, reveals the immeasurable gulf of its superiority. For He is eternal, and possesses power connatural with His very being; whereas the [earthly king] possesses his existence and his authority as something received from Him, and that too for a short time and over few, not over all who partake of the same nature. Since, therefore, He is closer to us than parents, more sovereign than masters, more provident than all benefactors, safer than any wall, and immeasurably more kingly than all kings, it is fitting for us—who have received from Him both the fact of our being and the blessing of our well-being—to set our own tongues against those which dare to blaspheme Him, and with pious arguments to strike down their impious words. Not that we bring support to one who has need of it; ^C for the Creator of all has no need, and He has no need of the patronage of a clay-born tongue, though He approves of it when it celebrates His praises, and He rewards it when it fights on His behalf, and He crowns it when it refutes falsehood. Rather, we do this so that we might demonstrate our own affection toward Him, and if possible, break the boldness of our fellow servants; but if that is not possible, let us at least refute them and make the truth manifest to those who have remained ignorant hitherto.

^D There are many and varied swarms of those who choose to live impiously, and they have diverse arrows of blasphemy; for falsehood is multi-faceted and complex, but the grace of truth is simple. The phalanx of poets, by dividing the Divine being into many parts in their discourse and seasoning falsehood with the pleasure of myths, mixing it like some sort of potion out of many different herbs, has intoxicated the minds of men with the delusion of a multitude of gods. But that other school, which measures philosophy by a white cloak, the length of a beard, and the hair of the head, seeing the ridiculous nature of the poets' theology, has devised other paths of error,

which lead nonetheless to the same abyss of poetic ruin. ^A For some, with the elegant style of their discourse and the formidable force of their arguments, have veiled that shameful fiction of the poets concerning the gods. Others have dared to attribute the names of the gods to the very passions of men, and have called pleasure Venus, anger Mars, drunkenness Bacchus, theft Mercury, and prudence Minerva. And while they pour forth such things with haughty arrogance and Attic fluency (not without the utter admiration of their listeners), they have led many men into another kind of error: so much so that those who professed philosophy—adorned by all with the honor that comes from their outward appearance—while they bade men to master their passions, actually became the authors of their worship of them, and foolishly persuaded men to sacrifice to desire, anger, theft, drunkenness, and the other passions, rather than to lead the sovereign mind as the charioteer of the passions.

Other, again, being unable to conceive of anything beyond what is seen, but confining their mind to the contemplation of sensible things, have declared these external and visible objects to be gods. And that august name, which strikes the ears of men with awe, some have deigned to assign to the elements, and others to parts of them. And some have dreamt with a foolish imagination that the world was made by chance, others that there are many gods instead of one. Some have said that the Divine does not exist at all, others that it does exist but has no care for anything that is in the nature of things; others again have said that it does indeed care for the things of the world, but does so very sparingly and negligently, limiting providence to the bounds of the moon, and declaring that the rest of the world is compelled to serve the necessity of fate and is borne along by chance.

^C There are some, moreover, who bear the name of Christians, but who openly fight against the dogmas of the truth. For some divide the Unbegotten into three, and call one Good, another Evil, and the third Just. Others portray in their discourse two unbegotten principles, diametrically opposed to each other. Others again, while promising to fight against these impious dogmas, devise another path of impiety. For although they confess the only-begotten Word of God to be the Son, they nevertheless count Him as a creature among created things, and set the Creator on a par with the creation. And with their impious argument, they exclude the Holy Spirit from the divine nature. Others have lost the straight path in other ways, and, unwilling to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before, have wandered very far from the truth. Some of these have utterly denied the incarnation that took place for our sake; ^D others indeed confess that God the Word became man, but that He assumed only a body. Others call the flesh that was taken human, but say that a logical and intellectual soul did not come to be within it—perhaps having their own lack of intelligence as proof of this. But we know of no other soul of man than the logical and immortal one. But let us leave all the others for the present; for the argument cannot release the arrows of its refutations against all of them at once, as if in battle array. Therefore, let the rest of the host of the impious be silent, and let those who...

watch attend the struggle ^A. For it is likely that none of those ranks will need to be engaged individually; rather, they will defect to the truth, having beheld the defeat of those others and having reflected upon the power of the truth. But perhaps, if the discourse lingers and proceeds too slowly, it will weary both those who are listening now and those who will encounter it later. Having, therefore, girt ourselves with the whole armor of the Spirit, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and having girded our loins with truth, and shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and above all, having taken up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, let us join the battle, and let the divine trumpet sound, supporting our weakness ^B.

As for us, let us ask the adversaries right at the starting line why they speak against the doctrine of providence, even while they acknowledge that He is their Creator. For it is to them that our discourse shall be directed for the present. Whence have you been driven to this impiety? What among the things seen appears to you to be without order? What among the things that have come to be is observed to be disordered? What part of creation is lacking in harmony? What stands in need of beauty or magnitude? What is it that, not being moved in a well-ordered way, has given birth to ^C this impiety in you? Consider now, at any rate, if you have not done so before, the nature, the position, the order, the stability, the motion, the rhythm, the harmony, the season, the beauty, the magnitude, the utility, the pleasure, the variety, the alteration, the return back to the same state, and the duration within corruptible things of the things that are seen. Behold the providence of God itself, peering through every part of creation, appearing, speaking, and through the very things themselves, as it were, crying out and stopping your unbridled mouths and reining in your unrestrained tongues. Behold it in heaven, and in the luminaries in heaven—I mean the sun, the moon, and the stars; in the air and in the clouds, in the earth and in the sea, and in all things that are around the earth; in plants, herbs, and seeds; in animals—rational and irrational, ^D those that walk and those that fly, those that swim, and those that creep, amphibious creatures, both tame and wild, those that are manageable and those that are untamable. Consider...

with yourselves, who is it that holds together the heavenly vaults? How, in so many thousands of years, has the heaven remained ageless, having received no alteration from time, even though it possesses a nature subject to passion, as the blessed David teaches: "They (the heavens)," he says, "shall perish, but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." Yet, although it possesses a nature that is subject to passion and corruption, it has nevertheless remained whole and sound until now, preserved by nothing other than the word of its Creator. For the Word that created it is the very same that preserves it, and grants it stability and firmness for as long as He wills. For this reason, although such a great fire revolves around it—I mean the sun, the moon, and the other luminaries—in these cycles of years it does not melt, nor does it wither, nor does it burn up; for the nature of fire received these activities from the One who created it. For it melts and dissolves gold, silver, iron, bronze, lead, tin, wax, pitch, and whatever else is of this kind, and shifts them into a flowing nature; but as for clay and marshy, waterlogged places, it dries them out, consuming the moisture. It cooks stones, peels away their hardness, and converts their most solid nature into dust; and it burns wood, hay, and stubble very easily and quickly. But the heaven undergoes none of these things. For neither does its crystalline [nature] melt and dissolve, even though there is such an ^B abundance of fire present there, nor does it harm its smoothness, nor does it make its spherical shape uneven; but the station it was allotted from the beginning, this it preserves to the end. For He who set it up like a vault, and stretched it out like a tent to dwell in, brought opposing natures into friendship. And neither is the nature of fire extinguished by the abundance of the waters, nor does that crystalline, or airy, or cloudy heavenly body melt or perish by the most abundant essence of the fire. But although they dwell as neighbors to one another, they conceal their hostile forces and, persuaded by the word of the Creator, have struck a league of eternal friendship. And this is so, even though they are inanimate and lack ^C a governing mind; yet they remain, keeping the boundary that was established for them from the beginning. For the Creator governs the creation, and He has not left the ship He constructed without a governor, but He Himself is its shipwright and the creator of its matter, and at the same time, having created the matter and having woven the ship, He continues to hold fast the rudder. And the cycle of so many years and the long span of time bear witness to this, not having corrupted the ship, but showing it safe and sound, not only to the first men but also to those born later. Since, therefore, you have seen, O friend, the providence ^D of God appearing in the heaven, come, let us lead you to the remaining parts of creation; and...

just as with infants 16 who begin to take their first steps, we take you by the right hand and prepare you to walk through and examine creation little by little. Descend, therefore, from the heavens, as if to a first step, namely the sun, and do not fear being scorched, but step upon it and look around. For it will not scorch you if you are well-disposed toward the Creator, but rather will point out to you the Demiurge, who commands it to use its natural energy in a manner contrary to its nature. For fire, by nature, loves an upward motion, just as water loves a downward course. And it is not possible for a person to lead the latter from the foothills to the summit, nor to persuade the former to send its flame downward. Even if someone were to strive a thousand times, holding a lamp or a torch, to transfer it downward with his hand, the flame moves again to the heights and darts against the hand holding it; it does not depart from the impetus it received from the beginning, but stands upon the boundaries of nature. But to the Creator, all things are easy. For that which does not obey your right hand yields to the nods of the Creator. And one may see the sun and the moon, and the chorus of the stars, turning their backs to the sky and sending their rays downward; for they are servants of their Controller, and their nature is the limit set by Him who created them. ^B For the nature of fire does not obey you, nor does it depart from its own operation, for it is your fellow-servant; but, obeying the nods of the Creator, it is transformed 17, and the upward-moving nature becomes downward-moving. In this way, He leads and carries the nature of the waters, though it be boisterous and loose, to the heights, and drawing it up from below, He stands it in the midst of the heaven and the earth, supported by no foundation, but sustained and suspended by the Word alone. But for a while, do not desire to hear about the clouds, nor do you wish to run before you have learned to walk; but journeying through creation little by little, learn the path of piety. Behold, therefore, here too the providence of God, standing over the sun, the moon, and the other luminaries, and as if by a voice commanding them to act as torchbearers for mankind, and not merely to provide light, but to do so according to the distribution of time. For the rising sun creates the day, and by setting and as if hiding itself, it yields to the night, whose darkness the Demiurge tempers through the moon and the stars 18. And one may see, as it were, sisters—I mean the day and the night—borrowing time from one another for the needs 19 of men ^C and again returning it with gratitude. For when winter comes to an end and spring shines forth, at the time when many toils for men arise concerning their work—travels and journeys abroad, and departures from harbors—and the sea is calmed and stripped of the ruggedness of winter, and the earth, teeming with crops, calls the farmer to care for it, and the plants call the cultivator to pruning, cleansing, and irrigation, and [when the Creator] scatters...

increase the labor period for men, it receives it gradually, so that it may not harm those using it by a sudden increase. For labor that becomes excessive all at once badly damages bodies that have remained idle for a long time. For this reason, it receives its increase little by little. When summer is already in its middle, it ceases borrowing, but immediately begins repayment, not delaying the payment even for a single day. Yet, little by little, just as it received, it gives back what it received. Then, in the autumn, becoming equal in measure, it is not ashamed to become smaller, nor does it endure cheating its sister and spouse of her due; but it does not cease diminishing until it has paid back the entire debt, and even then it provides a long opportunity for rest, by which men can be restored.

^B For when we are forced to stay at home because of the annoyance of cold, rains, mud, and mire, the night is much more pleasant to us than the day. There are even those who, when the night is extended to such a length, do not obtain their fill of rest and sleep, but are annoyed when they see the dawn beginning to shine. Thus, in turn, the night, having recovered its debt, does not refuse the loan. Thus our whole life proceeds through these cycles, and the night provides no less utility to men than the day. For, first of all, the variety of darkness and light makes the light more pleasant and delightful to us; hence the dawn is more desirable to us than midday. For when we have had our fill of light during the day, we have need of nocturnal rest; then, having obtained this, we put aside our satiety, and the light becomes desirable to us once again. So too, being sated with the day's tasks, we give the body, wearied by labors, rest at night; and when it has been properly restored by bed, sleep, and quiet, we bring it forth anew for work at dawn.

^C Of such and so great utility is the night the author. By its benefit the hireling rests, and the servant finds an end to his labors and repose. For the darkness of the night compels even the most hardworking to cease from their labors. This same night even those who are warring and fighting have often desired—namely, those who, having won a victory, have pursued the fleeing enemy; and seeing this approaching, they have put an end to the pursuit, and have granted the fugitives a safer and more secure flight. It gathers people home and brings sweet sleep to them; but it leads out the wild beasts for pasture, and gives them a free and safe time for grazing. ^D Concerning these things, the great David cried out, celebrating God, the Lord of all: "Thou hast appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth, the young lions roaring after their prey, and seeking their meat from God. The sun ariseth, and they gather themselves together, and lie them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening." So, the night also provides this need, and...

for it shelters men in repose and offers wild beasts the opportunity to seek their food safely. But perhaps one of those who deny providence might object: “Why did the Lord create wild beasts? And what utility comes to men from them?” Let him wait for the answer to these questions until our discourse arrives at the wild beasts; for now, let our discourse proceed in order. That the requirement of night is necessary and most beneficial to men is, I think, sufficiently taught by what has already been said. ^A Nevertheless, our discourse shall add others that confirm those prior arguments with their own testimony. Since we possess a mortal nature and live a life circumscribed by fixed limits, it was necessary for us to be taught the measures of time. Night, therefore, intervening between the days, establishes the measures of time. For if a light had remained continuous, without any intervening medium, we certainly would not have learned the cycles of years, nor would we have been taught the number of months; rather, that one continuous day would have seemed the measure of the entire present age—and we believe that the expected age to come ^B will possess this characteristic, for we have been taught that that day will be without evening and entirely without succession. For such an age is fitting for those who are to be immortal. But in the present life, since we lack many things on account of our mortal and fragile nature, it was necessary to know the measures of time, so that, seeing it flowing away, we might take care of ourselves and prepare for our departure from this world. Night, therefore, succeeding the day, becomes a measure of time, and when it has done this seven times, it completes the span of a week. We derive the measure of the month from the moon, from which it also derives its name; for the Greeks are accustomed to call the moon *mene*. ^C For as it grows and wanes, becoming crescent-shaped, half-full, gibbous, and full, then transitioning back to the gibbous shape, and thence to the half, and to the crescent, it fills again the number of thirty days, lacking only a few hours. We learn the annual cycle not only from the months, but also from the days. For when spring begins to shine, the sun, traveling through the middle of the sky, brings about the equality of day and night. ^D From there, reaching the more northerly parts of the horizon, and rising from there, it shortens the nights and lengthens the days; and falling upon the earth with more heat, it ripens its fruits. And having traveled until the accustomed limits, it returns from the northern parts toward the south, and again, in autumn, having acted as the arbiter of equality for night and day, it becomes more southerly, and restores to the nights what it had taken from them and given to the days; and it permits the air to thicken, to be filled with clouds, and to irrigate the entire continent. From there, returning to the equinoctial turn, it completes the annual cycle. Since, therefore, you have seen the usefulness of the sun and the moon, and of night and

day, along with the fruit that returns to men from them, consider now also the most pleasant and most useful succession of the four seasons ^A of the year. For the Creator did not divide the annual cycle in two, nor did He give us only summer and winter, nor do we pass from extremes to extremes without an intermediary; but spring and autumn, which possess a certain moderate temperament, are the middle between cold and heat. And indeed, a summer that is extremely dry and hot does not succeed a winter that is extremely moist and cold; but spring, which partakes of the heat of the ^B latter and the cold of the former, produces an excellent mixture of those that were standing apart. As if by certain hands holding the opposites—by the cold of winter on one side, and the heat of summer on the other—it leads those things that are utterly hostile into concord and friendship. For this reason, as we proceed from winter to summer, we proceed without any distress. For by departing little by little from the cold of the one and approaching the heat of the other, we suffer no harm from an abrupt change. Similarly, we pass from summer to winter, with autumn again serving as a middle path, which does not allow us ^C to come suddenly upon the extremes; but by mixing the highest heat with the highest cold, and producing a different temperament, it leads us little by little to that other extreme. Such is the care that the supreme Creator of all things has for us, who in this way, through the successions of the parts of the year, not only frees us from distress but also delights us with pleasure.

But perhaps some ungrateful person might arise, wishing to blame even those things which have been done well and beautifully, and which are simultaneously administered wisely and conveniently, saying: "Why, pray, do these ^D conversions of the year happen? And what utility comes to us from these successions of the parts of the year?" But oh! most wise and most powerful accuser of Providence, what goods do we not obtain by the benefit of these? For when winter begins, we entrust seeds to the lands: but He who taught us this art nourishes and cherishes them, drawing up the seawater by His word to the heights, carrying it aloft, changing that salty quality into a sweet one, and separating the drops, which He sends down sometimes small, and other times larger and rushing like a torrent, as if separating the offspring of the clouds with a sieve. Therefore, the winter season was ordained for this use: to nourish you, the ungrateful one, and to provide the need of necessities to you, the most unreasonable judge. But when spring begins again, some of the husbandmen prune the vines, while others plant others, and as the earth is softened by the heat of the air

the shoots are compelled to bud. Then, when summer has flourished, and the sun thoroughly heats the air, the corn calls the husbandman to the harvest, the grapes darken, the olive trees swell with the fruit already nourished, and the kinds of autumn fruits reach maturity. Thereafter, autumn arriving, it delivers these fully ripe to the husbandmen; and they, having performed the harvest, return to their seeds. ^A Cease, therefore, from being ungrateful, and from attempting to slander Providence with the gifts of Providence, and from hurling back the good things given to you like darts against the Giver of them. In all the things mentioned, perceive the providence of God, which guides and steers you, and prepares for you the abundance of all good things. Look also at the nature of the stars, their position, order, the variety of their shapes, the delight, the utility, the movement, the risings, and the settings; the Creator of all has made these not only to illuminate the darkness of the night and to provide the need of light to men in a moonless night, but also to escort the traveler and to guide those who sail. For the mariners, looking toward these, follow a precise path and, attending to their position, direct the ship and steer toward whatever harbors they wish. ^B For since the nature of waters admits neither the tracks of horses, nor of asses, nor of mules, nor of wayfarers, nor the lines of wagons and carriages, by attending to which travelers may undoubtedly make their journey, the Master of all has given to those who traverse the great seas the position of the stars as if they were certain tracks of marine paths. Oh, that ineffable love for mankind! Oh, that inexpressible wisdom! Who could worthily admire the goodness of God’s providence, its power, its resourcefulness in perplexities, its facility in difficulties, its magnitude of works, its wealth? Truly, “Your knowledge has been made wonderful by me; it has been strengthened, I shall not be able to attain to it,” ^C I also cry out. If you would be persuaded by me, you shall utter this voice with me as well; you shall praise the Benefactor to the best of your ability, and, being benefited by infinite works, you shall return grateful words to Him. But, lest we should now cause distress to you, who are beginning to take your first steps, by the length of a longer road, we bid you rest here, leaving you to contemplate the providence of God which appears in heaven and in the heavenly luminaries. For I believe that you, who have been led thus far, will yourself increase this contemplation and, from what we have said, easily infer the things omitted in this discourse for the sake of brevity, and will finally cry out with the Prophet: “How magnified are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom You have made them all.” To Him be glory, and honor, and worship, unto the ages. Amen.

exclaims: "How magnificent are thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast thou made them all." To thee be glory, honor, and adoration for ever. Amen.

ORATION II. Demonstration (of Providence) from the air, the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the springs.

^A Those who do not wish to have faith in Providence, and who assert with extreme imprudence that this world, which consists of heaven and earth, is carried along with such harmony and order without a governor, appear to me to act just as if someone, sitting in a ship and traversing the deep, seeing the pilot holding the tiller and moving the rudders as is necessary—now turning them to the right, now to the left—and guiding the ship to whatever ports he chooses, were nonetheless, while manifestly striving to oppose the truth with lies, to deny that the pilot is standing at the stern, or that the ship itself is equipped with oars or guided by the motion of the tiller, but were to claim that it is carried along of its own accord, and by itself surmounts the storms of the waves, and contends against the incursions of the winds, and to maintain further that there is no need of the sailors' assistance, nor of a captain who, providing for the common good, commands the rowers what must be done.

For these men, since they see clearly and more brightly than the light that the Lord of all things governs the world which He has created, and directs and moves all things conveniently and in just order, and since they perceive in all things that come to pass a fitting proportion, and in all this machine of the world—as well as in its individual parts—both beauty and utility evidently appearing, they are nevertheless voluntarily blind; or rather, they behave shamelessly even while seeing, and, while receiving the gifts of Providence, they assail those very things which they receive, and through that which they enjoy, they make war upon their Governor. ^B Yet what was said yesterday concerning the heaven, the sun, the moon, and the other luminaries might be sufficient to persuade willing and well-disposed hearers both to judge more wisely and to celebrate their benefactor with worthy praises. ^C But lest any of those who have set the moon as the limit for Providence, and who have said that its powers extend only to its sphere, and have thus portrayed it as too restricted, should seize upon the brevity of our discourse as a pretext for blasphemy, come now, O friend, we shall lead you again from there, through the air, down to the earth; and, as we did yesterday, so now too, guiding your steps step by step, we shall demonstrate that Providence extends itself even into the smallest parts of the world to those who are willing to attend; nay, we shall show that it is simply present always and attends to all things that have been made or generated, both commonly and privately. ^D Moving forward, then, in the right path, let us examine the nature of the air, how it is most thin and slippery, and so easily vanishing, as when other mediums hold it...

^A in a most secure enclosure. Wherefore the Maker of all things, after creating heaven and earth, willed that air should be poured out between them; he built for it a most firm wall by means of these two bodies, and at the same time rendered it a helper of life for all living beings that exist between them. For by breathing this, we humans live, and also all brute beasts, as many as are winged, and creeping things, and amphibious animals; each uses this as a helper of its life. This, when moved, provides us with the breezes of the winds; this, when condensed, sends down to the earth the irrigation from the clouds; the light, using this as a vehicle, feasts the eyes of those who see. This, acting as a mediator between the sun and the earth, tempers the violence of the ray, and with its own inherent moisture and cold, soothing that element's dryness and heat, it brings it about that we may enjoy the light without hardship or pain. ^B And lest you should think the air to be the cause of these goods, learn how the heat of the sun regulates the intemperance even of this. For no one would be able to endure the cold of the air in its pure state; witness the winter season. For in that season, the sun running to the southern parts of the pole, and leaving the northern and middle regions of the sky, gives the air freedom to use its own nature; on account of which, since it is no longer consumed similarly by the sun's heat, but is condensed and becomes frequent, it lets fall both heavy rain, and, roughening it with the more violent assault of the winds, congeals it into snow and hail, and the dew distilling in clear, open skies, the air, by freezing it with its cold, works into hoarfrost; and yet these things, even if [they seem to come] from afar, are nevertheless cast off through being warmed by the sun. It is possible, therefore, to discern from this also, with precision, the providence of God. For since there is great and manifold utility in the elements, and along with this utility, great beauty, and an ineffable grace, the all-wise One dispensed those things which seem to be ^C troublesome, so that we might believe these things to be not gods, but the works of God, being directed and governed wherever He guides them. For this reason the air, our helper in life, which we all live by breathing—this common treasure of those who are poor and those who pride themselves on their wealth, of servants and masters, of private citizens and kings, which those adorned in purple breathe no more than the poor man, but rather human nature as a whole has been honored by the impartial equality regarding the need for it—this air not only gladdens us with its inhalations, and with breezes, and with the provision of rain, but it also causes distress with cold, teaching us that it alone does not suffice for the generation of life and the care of the living. Thus the sun not only gladdens us with the incidence of its rays, and teaches us the distinction of ^D visible bodies, both in terms of bulk and color, but also causes distress with the warmer incidence of its rays; and even if the sun, having stirred the air...

^A to bring us cooling breezes, were not governed by that supreme ruler of all things, this sun, which the foolish are wont to worship, would utterly consume everything, and the living would be deprived of life. Therefore, none of the elements by itself is capable of producing life, nor can they all, even when blended together, be the cause of any good without that power which governs all things. For one can see, again, that when the air has been tempered, and rain has been granted 52 to the earth at the right time, and the sun has used its rays gently, and the breezes of the winds have moved in order, and farmers have diligently tilled the earth 53 and duly cast the seeds 54, yet the earth does not gratefully yield its fruits, nor does the human race remain free from disease. The Governor of all things brings these things about, persuading us not to trust in creation, nor to attribute the cause of good things to it, but to believe in its Creator 55. Since, therefore, you have seen that the air also enjoys the governance of God’s providence, and because of that has sufficed for so many thousands of years, and has neither been exhausted by the breathing of animals nor flowed out beyond the bounds of the bodies that contain it, come, let us lead you to the earth, the common nurse of all, mother and tomb; from which your body is made of clay, and that mouth of yours which speaks great things against the Creator, according to the vision of Daniel.

Consider, before all things, the position of this earth ^B and the variety of its forms. For it is not all flat or level or even steep, but the whole earth is divided into mountains, wooded vales, and plains. For one might see in the most expansive plains hills rising to a height, and between the mountains some sloping and level places, resembling in their shape certain bays of the sea. And the Creator even divided those mountains for the use and utility of men, and, having separated them with deep ravines, fashioned paths for the winter waters, and crafted easy ways for men in difficult and rough places. Moreover, the mountains provide material for the craft of building, while the plains provide an abundance of grain for those who cultivate the mountains. But this varied position does not only nourish, but also marvelously delights the eyes of those who behold it; for things that have one and the same form are wont to quickly bring about satiety. Tell me, therefore, who is it who disposed these things so beautifully? Who endowed them with such faculties ^C, so that so many 57 cycles of years have not been able to exhaust the treasure? Who is it that preserves the things that exist firm and unmoved? Who impels the streams of the rivers? Who drives the throes of the springs? Behold them here, on the one hand, gushing forth on the peaks of the mountains, and 58 pouring down their currents from above; and there, not even in the

^A lowest roots of the mountains do they appear, but offer the use of water to men from the deepest wells. For lest you think that it is the nature of water to dart upward of its own accord, the Creator teaches you by the facts themselves that water, obeying the word of God, easily occupies the highest peaks of the mountains, and even if you wished to force it with your art, it would never return to the level plain; but there you dig and deepen wells, and enjoy the water by drawing it up from below: for you are a fellow-servant of the elements, not their creator. But to the Creator it is easy to bring up the nature of water not only to the mountaintops, but even into the mid-air, ^B and to make the bitter sweet, and to solidify that which is melted, and to melt that which is frozen, and to divide the continuous, and to hold back the flowing, and to show that which is naturally accustomed to flow downwards running upwards, and to warm that which is cold without fire. And these things He does for your sake, O ungrateful one, so that you may have the benefit of heated springs not made by hands, in order to heal the maladies of your body. And these again He has set before you in varied forms, and adapted to contrary needs. For some relax the stiffness of the nerves; others tighten and strengthen those that are relaxed; some fight against phlegm, others cure black bile, and others dry up ulcers. Such utility, too, has the Guardian of all provided for you ^C in the hot springs. But nothing convinces you not to blaspheme; rather, you remain ungrateful and abusive, and suffering from the disease of Mani, who, while enjoying food and drink, lashes out with abuse at those who provide these things for him: nay, he even attacks the reapers and the bakers, and curses those who cut the bread, himself not daring to cut it, but not at all fearing to eat what was cut. In the same way, you too, while you receive these infinite and numberless good things which the Creator of the universe offers you every day through creation, show yourself ungrateful to the Giver, and you revile and blaspheme, saying that He does not care for the things He has made. See how much injustice you charge Him with, slandering Him in such ways. For why, pray, did He create them if He did ^D not want to take care of them? And for what reason does He refuse to care for them? Is it because He could do so but does not want to, or does He want to but cannot? Yet all these things which have been created testify that He can. For how could He have created the magnitude of these visible things, their beauty, and their harmony, if He did not possess power corresponding to His design? Or how, likewise, could He have brought together into fellowship and connection things that are disparate—water and fire, day and night—and fashioned one harmony and symphony out of all, if He were unable to provide for them? For it is a much greater thing to have brought from non-being into being, than to provide for those things that exist. But that He can is testified by creation; and that He also wishes to, it itself bears witness again. For He did not come to the work of creation because someone else compelled Him, nor did He bring forth the creation as if He were in need of it; but being good, and to goodness

having possessed more than any measure, He wished to grant existence even to those things which did not exist. ^A He who exercised such goodness toward things that were not, how could He neglect those things that have already come into being? For it is not possible to say that He envied things that have come to be; for He possesses a nature that is free from envy and devoid of every passion. But in order that we may strip away 66 the weakness of impiety from an abundance of evidence, let us ask them a few short questions.

For what cause, tell me, do you say that God envied the creation which received its being from Him? Is it because of its magnitude? But He Himself is uncreated and infinite, having neither had a beginning nor ever having received an end, holding all things, yet being encompassed by nothing; 68 for in His hand are the ends of the earth, and He Himself measured the waters with His hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with His fist. But is it because of its beauty? Yet even that has been made by Him. And no one, not even among the most envious of men, having built an elegant and splendid house, ever envies it; but rather he delights in it, and prides himself on it, and such a one rejoices, and points it out to those who have not seen it. But what human speech will ever worthily weigh how much the beauty of that intelligible Light, by whose virtue all these things were founded, surpasses the entire form and beauty of this world? See, therefore, to what point impiety finally leads. For since even the most wicked of men not only do not envy the houses built by themselves, but even take the greatest pride in them, if you say that the affect of envy falls upon the fountain of all goodness, whose nature is to be troubled by no passion, what degree of impiety more sublime than this is left for us? ^C Since, therefore, God is able to hold the rudders of the creation, and wills that it enjoy all good things, it is manifest that He both cares for it and presides over it; indeed, having grasped its reins, like some skilled charioteer, He governs all the nature created by Him, and leaves nothing uncared for.

Furthermore, that these things may be more fully clear to you, turn yourself again to the sea, and observe its depth, its amplitude, the intervals of its straits, its shores, its harbors, and the islands situated in its midst, and likewise the kinds, species, forms, and variety of its fish, and the love with which they seek the land. At the same time, consider also the leaping of its waves and the bridle of providence which has been cast upon them, by which, of course, they are prevented from being able to flood the lands; but while they are carried impetuously against the sand, they fear the boundaries set for them, and seeing the law written there by God, like some refractory horse, ^D pulled back by the bit of a horse-breaker, it bends back its neck and retreats, as if it regretted the fact that it had even touched the sand. By means of this, we see the continents divided and, though seated far from one another, brought together into friendship. For harmony

^A wishing to implant it in the human race, the Lord bound them together by the necessity of mutual labor and aid. Through the sea we make long journeys, and we borrow from one another the things we need, and recompense others with what is necessary for them. For the supreme Administrator of all things did not allow any part of the earth to provide all things necessary for human life to its inhabitants, lest a lack of need should harm friendship; for satiety is an insolent thing and the parent of disorder. Therefore, the sea lies in the midst of the inhabited world, divided into countless bays, like the marketplace of a great city, providing an abundance of all necessities, receiving many sellers and buyers, and both sending those from here to there ^B and bringing those from there to here. For because travel by land is laborious—and not only laborious, but also impossible for supplying every deficiency—the back of the sea is laid out, receiving both small and large vessels, and carrying much necessary freight to those in need. For it is possible to see the cargo of a single merchant ship carrying the equivalent of many thousands of pack animals. But so that those who travel upon it might not grow weary, the Creator fixed the islands like certain stations, in which, having put in, and having rested, and having purchased necessary supplies, they set sail again for wherever they have their course. Be ashamed, therefore, of the multitude of benefits, said the sea. For the words of the prophet fit you better ^C than they did Sidon. The latter, indeed, ignorant of the Creator, divided the Divine into many gods, and splitting the one worship, offered it to those who were not gods, not denying Providence, but attributing it to them. For she would not have sacrificed to those she deemed gods if she had not strongly persuaded herself that they both provide benefits and avert harm. You, however, liberated from the error of polytheism, and confessing that all visible things are creations, and worshipping the Creator of them, cast Him out from what He has made, and seat Him far from creation, and say that so great a world is without a pilot, and is carried along like a ship without ballast ^D just as it happens. Be ashamed, therefore, of the benefits through the sea, those from the earth, those from the air, those from the sun, and the heaven that lies over you as a roof. Stand in awe of the tribute which you receive from creation; for each of the things mentioned pays you a tax, and offers to your need a kind of tribute. The sun, for instance, gives light, warms, and ripens the fruits from the earth. The moon gives you light by night. The stars, while remaining above the earth, show you the time of night and signify the changes of the seasons, and for those traveling by sea, they become guides toward the mainland. The air, when inhaled, cools your innate heat; when it rains, it nourishes the fruits of agriculture; when it produces cold, it checks the upward growth of plants and seeds.

they indicate, and they mark the flux of time; for those sailing across the sea, they are guides to the land. The air, too, inhaled by you, recreates the heat that is innate to you. Rains nourish the fruits of agriculture. And while the Creator of nature induces cold, He prevents plants and seeds from germinating upward and distributes the vegetative force into the roots, and—by a kind of scourge—drives that which was carried upward down into the depths. He destroys the bodies of reptiles, which are also harmful to plants and seeds; and at the same time, He reveals to you the genuses of the birds that you have reared. But what is the point of enumerating these fruits, which come from the earth, from springs, from rivers, and from the sea? While you enjoy all these things, do you forget the Giver? And while you perceive the fruits of created things, do you nevertheless grow insane, rage, and play the fool against the Creator? Indeed, do you not even feel the gifts that you carry in your hands, but instead labor under a madness of contradiction? For I know your objections, but I have decided neither to add those same objections to this discourse nor to weave in their solutions. But since another discourse remains for me whereby I may be assisted, I wished to support, with these reasonings, the Providence which you attack. In the meantime, having dismissed you here, I bid you to spend your time with pleasure in the consideration of those things which have been said and, from every side, to seek your salvation, while I myself shall sing the praises of the Governor of all, to whom glory is due for ever and ever. Amen.

ORATION III

Those who are well in body have no need for the care of physicians, for health that is sound and intact has no need of the assistance of medicines. Those, however, who are afflicted by some disease are accustomed to call physicians to their aid, and, using the arts and weapons as auxiliaries against diseases, they attempt to drive them out of their bodies as though they were actual enemies. For the medical art provides aid to bodies and lays snares for diseases. Similarly, those who are well in their souls, and who have them adorned with sound and integral piety, have no need of the medicines of doctrine. But those who are held by some depraved opinion, and who have contracted the disease of profane dogmas, and who, with the passage of time, have acquired a habit of disease from the affection, have need of many purgative remedies—remedies capable of uprooting that wicked substance and rendering souls pure—and they have need of many other medicines, which by their power may close and obstruct the genital passages ^C of the erring substance and calm the harmful pains. Since, therefore, the disease of those who attempt to strip the world of the care of Providence is very dangerous and difficult, we have already offered them two medicines, prepared from the parts of the world. But in order that we may pull the disease up by the roots and completely free them from this troublesome and difficult infirmity, we shall also endeavor to prepare and offer a third. The substance for preparing this, however, ^D not from heaven, or earth, or sea, nor from the sun, or moon, or the rest of the stars, nor likewise from the air, or clouds, or winds, nor even from rivers, or fountains, or wells, but from...

those very persons who attempt to utter such blasphemies shall we obtain our proofs. ^A For having received a mouth from the Creator, that they might offer praise to the Giver for the good things they enjoy, not only do they refuse to praise Him, but they defile their tongue with blasphemies (80) and treat with contumely that noble instrument of speech. Yet this single member of man is sufficient to demonstrate not only the wisdom of the Maker, but also His insatiable philanthropy. 81 For it resembles a musical instrument constructed of bronze pipes, blown by bellows, moved by the fingers of a craftsman, and producing that harmonious sound. But nature was not taught this mechanism of delightful sound by art; rather, art learned from nature. For nature is the archetype of art, and art is an imitation of nature.

Consider therefore, O man, who, having received the gift of speech from God, yet despoil the One who honored you with such great honor of His own proper honor, how the lung is situated like a bellows, and is squeezed—not by the feet of a man, but by the muscles surrounding the thorax, which contract and expand it. It sends forth the breath through the trachea; and this, being impelled, opens the epiglottis and is carried through the pharynx to the mouth. ^B Logic, or the faculty of speech, taking hold of the tongue as if it were a kind of right hand, presents it to the teeth as if to those bronze pipes, and contrives for it to run up and down and to slip and slide easily and very readily. The gland situated beneath it assists it toward this ease of motion, like a spring bubbling over with moisture. For since the frequent motion dries it out, it needed a moderate amount of moisture, cooling it and smoothing it, and making its movement very easy. Thus, therefore, when the discourse interacts with the teeth through the tongue, and the breath, as I said, is carried, and the lips are folded, and the air is harmoniously struck by the force of the breath, the articulate voice is completed, and the breath being carried out from within becomes the vehicle of speech; and nature expels the sooty [vapor] as superfluous. For since the Creator has made the heart the source of innate heat, and the entire body derives its quality of heat from this organ, and since it is also bound by much heat, it needed some small relief; therefore, the Creator of nature has brought it about that the heart is cooled by the breathing of the lung. ^C For this [the lung] receives the pure breath from without through the trachea, and transmits it through the smooth [artery] to the left ventricle of the heart; for from there, as those who have accurately investigated such things say, it has its outlet. While this lung transmits the pure breath, it receives the sooty breath in exchange, and shoves this, as something superfluous, out again through the trachea; ^D and that which seemed superfluous and entirely useless becomes, when the mind wills it and moves the tongue in rhythm and harmony,

^A a vehicle of speech; and that which 83 the lungs expel from the heart as noxious, becomes an assistant to articulate voice. Truly! “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” [Rom. xi, 33] Truly! “Who shall declare the mighty acts of the Lord, and make all his praises heard?” [Psal. cv, 2] Truly, I say, we exclaim: “How magnified are thy works, O Lord! in wisdom hast thou made them all.” [Psal. civ, 24] And what speech is sufficient for the hymns of the Creator? What speech is sufficient for the narration of one’s own creation? Who is a speaker capable of explaining the organs of speech? Who has arrived at such wisdom as to perceive exactly the wisdom of the Fashioner? Yet you, while seeing these things and enjoying their use, refuse to celebrate the Author of them, nay, you accuse of negligence the One who exercises the most diligent care over everything He has made. And indeed, this single part (of the human body) could most fully demonstrate the Creator’s concern, by which He is bound toward this living creature of His. For since He has gifted us with the use of speech, He has also given organs suitable for speech. From these, art taking the handle for imitation, has fashioned flutes, ^B and indeed has composed lyres and citharas. For, in place of teeth, the strings are stretched, and in place of lips, the bronze is inserted; the tongue becomes the plectrum for the strings, and the passage of the hand from high to low sound imitates the reason which regulates the tongue running up and down. But even so, though such great diligence is apparent in art, those who listen admire the rhythm and the harmony of the melody, but they do not hear an articulate voice or speech. For art is an imitator of nature, but nature produces articulate voice, inasmuch as it was founded by God, the Creator of all. And just as art is accustomed to imitate the figure of an animal—and either from a mass of bronze or from stone fashions a human form, and adds eyes, and nostrils 84, and mouth, and ears, and neck, and hands, and chest, and belly, and thighs, and legs, and feet—but is unable to gift it with sensation, and reason, and the capacity for voluntary movement: so too the lyre and the cithara, and the instrument consisting of brass pipes, renders an harmonious sound and rhythm through breathings or pluckings, but only that living organ, which is the archetype of these, produces articulate voice. For this, indeed, is the ^C work of the Creator Himself, while all those are (the work) of the image of the Creator. For man, being the image of the Creator, contends to imitate the Creator. And the things that come to be are like shadows contending with the truth itself, which indeed possess the form of things, but are deprived of the power of acting. Seeing, therefore, such great providence of the Creator of all in these organs, cease, I beseech you, to cast the charge of negligence upon Him. But that you may learn, also from the other members, the care of the One who made us, come, let us lead you back again to the heart itself. ^D

^A This, therefore, because it is the most vital part and has been entrusted with the government of the body, He fortifies on all sides like some king, and surrounds it with a strong rampart, the chest, so that nothing of those things which fall upon it from without may easily harm the heart. And since it is perpetually in motion (for it is the source of the arteries), He has spread out beneath it a soft bedding, as it were, the porous, spongy, and manifold body of the lung, which is full of arteries; but above, He has fashioned its conical part to be stronger, and has placed around it a tunic which is membranous, yet tight and strong. He supplies it with the substance of its nourishment, not only spirit, but also blood; and it draws this, as if through some conduit of the vena cava, from the parts of the liver. The liver, in turn, draws this substance from the belly. ^B The belly, by means of the stomach, draws in the food which has been cut by the teeth and thinned and smoothed by the grinders. Upon drawing it in, it first holds it, turns it into juice, alters and transforms it, and makes it like to itself; then, when it has been well digested and properly altered, it distributes it justly, and allows the liver to strain and draw from it the pure part, while it pushes away the superfluous part and sends it on to the intestines, using the pushing power as a co-worker. In this way the liver, having received the pure part of the nourishment, is not content with that purification and discrimination which has occurred, but, as if through certain sieves, it divides and cleanses it again; and the denser and most thick sediment, the spleen drawing it in for certain reasons, makes this its nourishment; but that which has been cooked beyond measure, and has taken on a bilious quality, and has turned into a pale-colored body, the vessel which receives the bile takes; while that which is flowing and very thin, and devoid of nourishment, goes into the reservoir for fluid waste. Thus, the nourishment having become purely clean and having been assimilated to the liver and passed into the nature of blood, the vena cava, having received it, supplies the heart with its need, and rises upward, and dividing into many veins, it nourishes the chest, it nourishes the shoulders and hands, and reaches as far as the nails, wraps around the neck, ^C occupies the head, descends to the buttocks, and thighs, and knees, and shins, and feet, and, in a word, travels around every part of the body, and deprives none of the living limbs of this irrigation. For the veins resemble certain conduits and channels, to which the duty of irrigating the body has been entrusted; wherefore they also have a thin and sparse tunic, so that the adjacent parts may easily draw their nourishment from them; but the arteries have tunics that are not only tight, but also double; for they are vessels of spirit, not of blood; and spirit is thin and flows out easily. Understand, therefore, even in this, the providence of the Creator. For the veins, inasmuch as they carry blood to the parts of the body, He has made of thin membranes, and as if of something sparse...

^A in that aperture, He has overlaid them with coverings. For the blood is thick, and requires larger pores for its excretion. Therefore, so that it might not all flow out at once, but might supply a kind of moisture to the neighboring parts, He fashioned the nature of the vessels in this way.

As for the arteries, through which that vital spirit is carried throughout the body (which is something thin, and easily vanishes, and is easily emitted ^B through the very smallest parts), the Fashioner did not weave them in a similar manner, nor did He make them of one single tunic, but of two, which are dense and very solid. For He placed the arteries alongside the veins, so that the blood, excited by the commotion of the hot spirit, might run through everywhere; for stagnation is known to cause coagulation. For this reason, in certain parts, He has grafted these into one another through certain minute pores, so that the blood might partake of a little of the spirit, which pushes it and forces it to move, and the spirit might enjoy some moisture, which soaks and wets it, and does not allow it to dry up ^C completely.

For who among those who are most ambitious and most wealthy, when building a house, ever makes provision for water-ducts with such providence, or arranges for a sufficient supply of water for their springs, or builds fountains and basins for such great delight, as the Creator of all, when fashioning this rational house, has surrounded it with such and so many vessels, which serve it for every necessity? And who is such an architect, who, wishing for a house to be blown through by the breezes of the west wind, so widens the paths of the winds as the all-artful God; and Who has contrived that the smoky and sooty spirit should exit the body, and the pure spirit should enter and run through all the arteries? ^D And who, when planting herbs or trees, so conducts the nature of the waters, and provides irrigation to the roots of the plants, as He Who planted this living being, and created all of creation, in an ineffable way brings irrigation through the veins to the limbs of the body?

For we human beings do not differ at all from inanimate trees in regard to nourishment; for we are in need of this just as they are. For the tree that is not nourished becomes withered and dry, and the human being, pressed by hunger, similarly empties out all liquid and is handed over to death. Just as, therefore, trees—whether they have received the rain sent down from the clouds or the streams of rivers and fountains—draw moisture through their roots, and in this manner nourish the branches, the bark, and the pith, which at once produces leaves, and blossoms, and finally ripens its fruits toward maturity; so too this animal receives food in the mouth, which is to it like a spring, and the esophagus imitates a conduit, which we are accustomed to call the stomach; and the belly, like a sort of root, receiving this, acts as a foundation for the branches and sends it on to the liver. It does not permit itself merely to enjoy the need for this, but to all the parts of the body

it offers irrigation through the veins. ^A Thus the body, being nourished, grows in infants, lengthens, and widens, and gradually assumes the appropriate bulk. But when it has reached the defined measure, at that point it ceases from growth and is only nourished. So does the Creator of all things provide for our nature; He does not merely form it, but continues to sustain it, and He does not merely sustain it, but provides all our other care.

But I am at a loss: how shall I praise the Creator? For the variety of His providence over us overcomes the mind, every word yields to the wisdom of creation, no one is able to fathom the construction of our bodies. Let this alone suffice for you to sing the praises of the Creator. You do not look down at the earth like the irrational animals, nor do you grovel on your belly like swine; look up ^B only, and see His providence. He created you alone among animals upright, supported on two feet. And each of these He has not made of one limb, but joined together from three parts, and bound them with three joints. He fitted one to the hip, joined the second to the knees, and entrusted the third to the ankles. He bound the joints with strong tendons, and implanted muscles for voluntary movements. He made the bonds neither too loose nor, again, too taut; for if they were totally loose, they would completely remove movement, and if too taut, they would cause the joints to slip and slide away from one another. Because of this providence of His, you walk and run when you wish, and you have the power of standing and sitting.

Observe also another form of His care. For so that you might not be distressed by sitting on bare joints, but rather that you might remain free from pain while sitting on the ground or a stone, He has placed upon you, as it were, ^C a natural cushion, the flesh of the buttocks. Yet you, in the same way, are ungrateful. For you do not perceive these gifts, but you are mad and rage against the wisdom that provides for you so kindly. A dog recognizes its feeder, stays beside him when present, longs for him when absent, and shows its joy when he returns by lowering its ears, wagging its tail, signaling its submission, acknowledging its servitude, and demonstrating the favor it has received—and this while being a slave to irrationality, deprived of all reason, yet learning the difference between a stranger and an acquaintance, between a friend and a plotter, through time, habit, and frequent favors. But you, who share in reason and have received the mind as your leader—that winged one, faster even than all ^D things seen. For the sun traverses the circuit of the inhabited world in a single day, but the mind, the moment it wishes, travels around the inhabited world, attains the heavens in its imagination, goes beyond them, contemplates God as much as it is able, and sees the infinite myriads of angels and faster than the archangels—all things that are seen and all things that are winged.

And because it explores even the things beneath the earth, it strives to exceed these, but it cannot; for it has its limit of imagination, which is the knowledge of the things which it has learned to exist. Having such a guide, and pilot, and charioteer, you do not perceive the divine benefits, nor do you consider the multitude of these favors, but you persist in the vice of ingratitude. And though so many teachers are present to you, you do not wish to learn the elements of Providence. Beware, therefore, lest He abandon you altogether neglected, and you learn by experience how great the difference is between the protection and care of Providence and its deprivation. Come therefore, my friend, and let us lead you to another ^A part of the body.

Consider the spine, which begins from the sacrum—as they call the bone that lies near the buttocks—and extends all the way to the neck, composed like a strong, watertight column of many vertebrae, supporting the belly, the shoulders, the hands, the neck, and the head. For because the Creator added no bony strength to the outer part of the belly, so that it might easily expand when food is taken in, and swell with sufficient size to receive sustenance, He willed that it should be supported on the posterior part of the body by the fulcrum of the spine. God constructed this spine from many bones so that when a man wishes to bend himself, he may be bent more easily, and the bending may not break it. The spinal marrow, which has its source in the brain, nourishes it. What need is there for me to speak of the hands, whose utility all the arts proclaim? But we shall make mention of them in a later ^B discourse; hence, let us reserve the explanation of their use for that place. Ascend then to the neck and consider its formation. And here you will recall the water-towers, which are perforated from the bottom upwards with many holes, yet receive one central one that is largest and widest, through which the water-conduits draw in a great quantity of water, and then distribute and emit it through other diverse pipes, sending one part to the southern part of the city, another toward the east, another to the west, and another to the north. The neck provides this same service to the human body. For art, as I said before, is accustomed to imitate nature, and fashions its own inventions in the likeness of nature's works. The neck, indeed, extends to the orifice of the stomach and transmits food and drink to the belly. It also has the ^C trachea, rising from the lungs to the larynx; it has also the veins and the smooth arteries through which the brain receives blood and spirit, and being nurtured and increased, it sends the spinal marrow through the connected bones to the spine; from which is nourished all the

nature of the bones, and at the same time the strongest nerves arise, both thick and thin, broad and round, by whose bonds the joints are secured and the muscles receive the power of movement. ^A Since we have come to the head, behold it as a certain acropolis of this city of the body, sitting on high, and guarding, as it were, a certain wealth and treasure, the brain, in a most secure fortress. For the skull is like a rampart and a helmet; for the helmet is named after this, being fashioned in its likeness; surrounding the brain, it wards off as much as possible any injury coming from without. And in order that the brain, which is very soft and altogether porous, might not receive any harm by being bruised by the bones, which are hard and resistant, the Creator placed around it two tunics, which the pupils of the physicians call meninges. ^B But the finest one, called the choroid, He caused to grow together with it, and made it to touch it closely, such that it is able to hold it together, even though it has no power to strike, due to its extreme thinness; the other one, however, He made dense and strong, and assigned it the middle space between the brain and the skull, so that it might neither injure the brain by having a harder substance, nor be injured by the bones, having a nature softer than them. The brain, therefore, as I said, is stored in the head as if in an acropolis, like a treasure. ^C Since, however, the ruler of the fortress, the mind, needed also scouts to foresee both hostile and friendly things, the Creator gave these also, and did not entrust this lookout to one, but set up two guards, and ordained for the one to watch and look out for things on the right, and for the other to do the same for things on the left. And since these also needed guards, and battlements, and bulwarks, and trenches, the Creator of this city was not negligent of these either; but He placed upon the eyes, to which He entrusted the faculty of vision, as it were battlements and bulwarks, the projections of the eyebrows, under which, being hidden, they can safely look out at things from afar. ^D And upon these battlements, as a sort of roof against things sent down from above, He caused to grow certain fine hairs, leaning towards the outside of the face, which receive the sweat flowing down from the forehead, passing it along to each other, and distilling it through the temples, and freeing the eyes from this harm. Since the guards also needed armor, He clothed them with the tunics of the eyelids, and as if they were spears and javelins, He arranged the eyelashes, not leaning in the same way as the eyebrows, lest they become enemies instead of defenders; nor stretched out in a straight line, lest they rub against each other in the closing of the eyelids, but leaning a little towards the outside, so that they might push away the harm of even the finest particles. For when a wind blows more strongly, and dust, not only fine but also thicker

is stirred up, as are straws and other similar things; nay, even gnats and suchlike small living creatures fly into the eyes—but when they perceive the eyelashes fixed there like stakes and pales, they flee back. ^A Similarly, the supreme Creator of all things has armed the ears of corn. For, by placing awns upon the capsules of the grain, He does not permit the seed-gathering birds to do excessive harm to the fruit; but, as if with some spear-points, He frightens them away and makes them flee.

But you might perhaps say, o most ungrateful man: "What, then, has He granted me more than the ears of corn?" But, o most stupid man, even the ears of corn He fashioned for your own use. Why then are you ungrateful, if those things which are yours He has armed with His own weapons for your sake? You, most ungrateful of men, commit the seeds of the crops to the earth, but He Himself waters, warms, nourishes, guards, and preserves them, and offers them to you ripe. And you, when the harvest is finished and you have brought the crops into the threshing-floor, and with skill have separated them from the chaff, and crushed them with the mill, and winnowed them of the bran, and kneaded them with your hands, and consigned them to the oven or furnace, you enjoy the baked bread, yet you are ignorant of the Giver of these things. ^B But let us return to the eye. Contemplate, therefore, its nature: see how many tunics it is protected by; see how great is its exterior beauty. See, moreover, the thinness of the pupil, the iris poured around it, which we are accustomed to call the crown; see also the horny circle, the uvea tunic, and the crystalline sphere which lies beneath this and looks out through its middle; furthermore, the vitreous humor which is diffused around it, and indeed the other tunic, which derives its name from the shape of a fishing net. Inspect also its glandular seat, upon which it wholly reposes, and the nourishment which is provided to it from the brain ^C through a very thin vessel, and the discharge of superfluous humor through the corners of the eye. See, besides, into how many species of color the blood is changed. For this was first food, which, crushed by the force of the teeth, was transmitted to the stomach. That organ changed it to its own proper hue and rendered it white; the liver, receiving this, again changes it into its own proper color. After the nature of the blood has been perfected in this way, a part of it ascends into the brain and becomes white again; it is condensed into bones, and is transformed into nerves—dense, indeed, and firm, but flexible and pliable. But perhaps I shall do the same as those who try to count the sands, if I wish to set forth all the providence of God that appears in our bodies. ^D Do you, therefore, privately run through all the remaining senses—taste, smell, and hearing—with the contemplation of your mind. So that, for instance, the sense of smell might perceive odors, and indeed admit the sweet ones but repel the fetid—and it is entrusted with the excretions of the wastes from the head. For since it receives all the vapors sent up from below, as if from a superincumbent source...

of the body, the flooding of these [fluids] would have caused great damage to the most sovereign part, namely the brain. But the Creator of all things did not neglect even this; rather, having fashioned within them certain passages—making them spongy and porous—He directed the moist and thick excrements toward the palate and the nostrils, and assigned two ^A members for these excretions, so that what is harmful might be swiftly carried away. And the vaporous and soot-like excrement He caused to be dispersed and forced out from above through the sutures of the skull. ^B Observe also the operation of the sense of hearing; see how, though it receives myriads of voices, it is not sated nor filled, nor does it receive all in the same way, but it knows the difference between a sharp and a heavy voice; it delights in harmonious sound and turns away from discord. Through this we hear the divine oracles, and through this nature teaches all human instruction: grammar, rhetoric, sophistry, arithmetic, medicine, mechanics, and whatever other thing human nature has discovered. Subject this same hearing to our words; receive it as a medicine that cleanses the soul, and free it from that wicked blasphemy. Set gates for it—reason—and add a gatekeeper—the fear of God—and become a judge of the discourses offered to you. Let the gatekeeper open the gates to the pious, but send away the blasphemous, the profane, and the God-hating; let him shut the gates and, as it were, place a ^C solid and unbreakable bar against them, the strength of faith. For thus it is possible to be delivered from enemies, and for those who listen to the friendly and beneficial discourses to keep their souls in health: not having itching ears, according to the divine Paul, nor subjecting them to discourses that, while pleasing, harm the rational faculty; but becoming upright and just judges of what is said, selecting those that bring profit, and, according to the prophet, keeping God before them always, both night and day, and while walking and sitting, and in all that they do or suffer. To Him be the glory, and the honor, and the adoration unto the ages. Amen.

ORATION IV.

A proof from human hands and the arts invented [by them].

I heard the prophetic voice singing and crying aloud: ^D "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaimeth the work of His hands." But as for that voice, which the spirit, borne through the windpipe to the mouth, and speech, gracefully applying the tongue to the teeth, and the contraction of the lips, and the striking of the air, and the reverberation produce, no one amongst men ever on earth

has heard. ^A Yet while it appears and displays both its magnitude and its beauty, and provides to men the utility of a roof, it silently proclaims its Maker, and stirs the tongues of all to the singing of praises. And just as when we see a house built with great skill, and resting upon a firm foundation, and joined together with right-angled corners, and possessing a width and length and height that preserves the appropriate proportion to these, and illuminated by windows arranged properly and in order, and adorned with all those things that tend to brighten such houses, we immediately admire the architect, and paint his image in our minds while he is absent, and attribute the beauty of all the elegance seen in the building to his art; so too when we gaze at the sky, and at the useful and convenient motions of the heavenly bodies, we do not worship these things, but rather we extol their Maker with the hymns that are in our power, and by the magnitude and beauty of the creatures we contemplate the Creator in a manner that is fitting. ^B For we reason rightly and justly: If the magnitude and excellence of the works is so great, how great is the Maker of the works himself? And if such elegance is inherent in created things, how great must the beauty of that most wise artisan and Creator of all be? Thus, I say, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands"; thus, "Day unto day pours forth speech, and night unto night declares knowledge," not indeed by any emission of voice or speaking of tongue, but by that mutual succession and vicissitude, through which they succeed one another, and through which they serve the utility of men: by which they cry out so loudly, in a manner, that the whole race of men hears their voice. "For there are no speeches," he says, "nor words, whose voices are not heard." For every nation and every tongue hears the proclamations of the day and of the night. ^C For while languages indeed differ from one another by some distinction, one nature, however, derives the same utility from them. Whence the same one who spoke these things, celebrating the Creator in another psalm, said: "Thy knowledge has become wonderful from me; it has been strengthened, I shall not be able to attain to it." For, he says, having turned to myself, and having come to be within myself, and having been freed from all external cares, I wished to contemplate the nature of myself, and to look more diligently upon that rational power of the soul, namely, the sciences of which it is capable, and the arts by which it has filled all of life, by the benefit of which it leads a life that is sweeter and more pleasant, and then that immense abundance of words which it both produces and at the same time receives, so that finally it stores up the same, and distinctly guards each thing, how easily it brings forth whatever it wishes from those things that have been stored up, ^D and how it directs the body, and commits the discernment of bulks and colors to the eyes; and to the tongue it entrusted the judgment of tastes, and appointed it as the minister of its own inner stirrings; and it manifested the nostrils as the judge of odors, and opened the ears to words brought from without.

and extended the sense of touch throughout the entire body; and as it grants to these [senses] the power of perception, it itself receives from them the feeling of either pain or joy. ^B Reflecting on these things, and all such matters as these—and seeing the concurrence of these opposites in the construction of a single animal, and the union and conjunction of the mortal and the immortal nature—I am overcome by the wonder; and since I cannot grasp the theory, I acknowledge my defeat, and proclaiming the victory of the Creator’s wisdom, and praising the Maker, I cry out: "Thy knowledge is become wonderful from me; it is strengthened, I shall not be able to attain to it" (Ps. cxxxviii. 6). And these words suit us in the present business, for we endeavor to inspect the wisdom that appears in the members of the human body, though we experience our own weakness in the very act.

Yet we have derived no small profit even from that dim contemplation; for we have beheld, even in the smallest particle of the body, the providence of God shining forth. For what is more worthless than hair? What in all the parts of the body is more devoid of every sense? Nevertheless, our argument shows the necessary use of these things as well. The eyebrows and the hairs of the eyelids bear witness to this; so do the hairs that adorn and at the same time cover the head. For the need for these is taught by those who have been shorn of them. For, first, they blush as though despoiled of their proper beauty; and then they devise other coverings to fulfill the need that those served. ^C And as it seems, for this reason the Creator allowed some heads to be stripped of these, so that we might learn how the Maker—having taken care even of these—formed the animal in this way. Thus, those who finally reach manhood, and cross the threshold of youth, He adorns with a beard, and with a portion of the cheeks alongside the chin. For at first, down blooms, and after that, moderate hair covers it, so that by this addition He might teach the difference between the ages, and persuade one through this appearance to refrain from childish trifles and to gird oneself for serious tasks. But since, for women, the pangs of childbirth are sufficient for such a lesson, He crowned only the cheeks of men in this way.

But if anyone, having learned only to contradict the truth, were to put forward the growth of hair in other parts of the body, let him learn that he is being ungrateful in vain regarding these as well. For nature has provided a natural covering for those parts for which we are eager to stitch up artificial ones. For this reason, for those whose rational faculty does not yet know how to distinguish virtue from vice, nature has not provided the covering of hair; but for those who have already begun to possess knowledge, and have learned the need for each of its members, He has adorned them very well and most beautifully with this garment—covering them as though they were blushing for things about which they had no need to blush; for our progenitor Adam, in paradise, had not this shame. For they were, he says,

^A both naked, both Adam and his wife, and they did not blush. But after the transgression of the law, having come to an awareness of their offenses, and having heard the divine voice, they sewed fig leaves and made themselves loin-coverings. ^B Observe, therefore, O bitter accuser of both creation and providence, and in these members behold the Creator’s care. Regarding them, you blush even to hear, while the Creator, even as He fashions them, rejoices. For God saw, He says, all that He had made, and behold, it was very good; and, Let us make for him a helper like unto him. And the first blessing of God: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it. Since, however, the discourse has wandered ^C as if by some force to those members of the body which, by the testimony of the divine Paul, are considered more unseemly, observe again the ineffable philanthropy of the Creator. For the mouth, whose duty is to serve speech, to receive food, and to transmit it entrusted to the stomach, He placed near the eyes; but the passage for evacuations, which could offend the sight, and cause loathing of food and provoke nausea, He not only made far removed from these, but even rendered it completely hidden from view, by turning the rectum toward the back parts of the body, and opening the passage between the buttocks, and for their projection He even devised a natural covering. Reverence, therefore, the immeasurable nature of God’s philanthropy; shudder at His ineffable care, seeing Him creating things that you are ashamed to name, seeing Him providing for things the very mention of which makes you blush. For since that which is seen in a living creature is mortal, and, being mortal, has need of food, he necessarily supplied both a mouth and a passage for evacuations, and fashioned the many-coiled circles of the intestines, which receive the muddy part of the food, and do not discharge it by a straight path, lest the necessity for food should constantly annoy us, with evacuation always demanding replenishment.

And what need is there to recount all the miracles of nature? For it is time now to pass on to the hands, ^D the mention of which we omitted yesterday, promising to explain their use today. Behold them, therefore: they are not stretched out beyond what is needed, lest they should become a burdensome weight to the rest of the body, nor again are they contracted into a smaller length than is required, but they have received a measure matching the labors for the execution of which they were destined. For this reason...

^A the Creator of all things also divided them in three ways, and inserted the first joint into the shoulders, and fitted the arm and forearm to the elbow, and by joining the remaining extremity of the forearm to the wrist, and appending the metacarpus to this, He caused the five fingers to spring forth from it. And each of these He composed of three phalanges; and having hollowed out the beginnings of some, and fashioned the others into a spherical shape, and inserted the spherical end into the hollow cavity, He bound them together with firm sinews, and, having granted to the muscles the power of voluntary movement, He clothed them with soft skin, lest hardness should obstruct their contraction. ^B And having fashioned the tips of the fingers to be hollow on the inside, He also took thought for their safety on the outside. For He placed upon them thin and broad nails, having rounded projections on the outside; and He made them thin so that they would not weigh down the soft flesh that is at the tips of the fingers, becoming an unnecessary burden; but broad, so that they might resist in arduous labors, supporting from the outside the softness of the flesh lying beneath; and He fashioned their projections to be rounded, contriving that they be less susceptible to injury by means of this shape. For in thin bodies, the angles of triangular and quadrangular shapes are fragile. To lions ^C and bears and leopards and other wild beasts, the Creator inserted sharp, thick, long, and very strong nails, and covered them with a natural panoply, since their lack of reason prevents them from partaking of the assistance afforded by art. But man, having created him rational, and having implanted in him a mind that is the inventor of myriad sciences and arts, He fashioned devoid of natural panoply; and He neither gave him bestial nails, nor covered his feet with hoofs or claws; for how else would he have climbed ladders? Or how would he have stood upon thin walls, weaving stones or bricks and constructing a house? Or how would he have stood on the tops of roofs if he had been using hoofs or claws? But as it is, the soft and elongated shape of the feet, and the flexibility ^D of the fingers, make for him a movement that is easy, and a stance that is secure. And using his bare feet, he walks with great ease even upon logs, and dares [to climb] thin ladders, and performs ten thousand things of this kind with great agility. But the use of hoofs or claws man procures from elsewhere. For having taken hides from the domestic cattle subjected to his rule, and using the tanning and shoemaking arts as his assistants, he mimics the position and bulk, the length and breadth of his feet, and thus covers them so that they might both ward off the danger that threatens him from hard bodies while walking, and blunt the sharpness of the cold. For this reason the Creator granted to man alone the limbs of the hands, as instruments befitting a rational being. For by means of these, people plow the earth, and cut furrows, and cast in seeds, and by using a spade or a pickaxe, they dig pits, and plant trees, and sharpening sickles, they now [prune] the vines towards

germination, and remove the superfluous part of the shoots: but now they harvest the crops, and pluck the rewards of their labors by the benefit of their hands, and tie up the sheaves, and carry them to the threshing floors, and separate the wheat from the chaff, and using their hands as if they were fellow-workers, they send the former [the chaff] to its own heaps, but store the latter in barns and granaries. At the same time, with these same hands, they perform the vintage, and gather olives, press wine, plant all kinds of herbs, and, contriving myriad species of fruits through the variety of their arts, both pluck them and offer them to those who wish to enjoy them. By the means of the hands, the human mind not only adorns the land with flowery meadows, luxuriant fields, and vast forests, but it has also finished the sea itself with many paths, and has rendered that which was impassable to all on foot such that it receives many travelers. ^B For when, by the divinely granted gift of wisdom, it had discovered the art of ship-building, having taken from the blacksmiths—whose art it had devised before this—an axe, a saw, an adze, and whatever other instruments of this art exist, and having borrowed from its elder sister, namely agriculture, the unfruitful trees, it cut them down with those carpenter’s tools; and having laid the keel as a kind of foundation, then weaving the planks upon this like walls, and fitting them most excellently with nails, and smearing them with the fattiness of pitch, and by this method walling off the influx of the waters, it manifested the hull as a sea-going vehicle. And since there was need of horses and mules for this carriage, yet the fluid substance of the waters did not bear them, the captain of the ship wisely consults for this also, using the ministry of the hands. For in place of a pole he erects a mast, to which he hangs the sails as if they were a yoke, and capturing the gusts of the winds, he uses them as if they were horses or mules, and attaches them to the yoke just like horses. Furthermore, since there was also need of reins for the ship, the rudders imitate these; and taking hold of the tillers, the governor, like some charioteer, sitting at the stern as if on the circumference of a chariot, easily moves the ship hither and thither. ^C And he knows not only how to guide the ship skillfully when favorable winds are blowing, but also how to dissolve the turbulent squalls of the winds, and as if they were untamed and unbridled horses, to restrain them with the bridle; and the human mind contrives these things, using the hands as servants. Through these means, the sailor rows, and the captain guides, and the merchant unloads the cargo he has bought, and every fisherman exercises his craft, and hunts the invisible prey with the ingenious weaving of nets. But come, let us descend from the sea to the land. For time does not suffice for the exact exposition of each art. ^D Look, therefore, how the arts [take] from one another

the art of building from the blacksmith the use of tools, and the blacksmith in turn from the art of building the house; and both of them receive food from agriculture. And agriculture, in its turn, receives from them both the construction of houses and what can cooperate toward agriculture. But rather, consider from the beginning how the Creator indicated to this animal the necessary needs. For whence did it know how to mine iron, and bronze, and lead, and tin? Who pointed out to it the veins of silver? Who taught it to dig the earth rich in gold, and indicated how to collect the small grains of gold? Whence did it learn the nature of glass? Who trained it in the discernment of sand? Who besides taught it what kind of sand must be entrusted to the fire, and how, and to what extent; and how the continuous is to be separated, and how the separable is to be transformed into an inseparable continuum? How did it know how to form from this, using fire and breath as assistants, myriad kinds of cups, vials, and goblets, and bombs, and small jars, and furniture, and other vessels suitable for every need of food and drink? It is evident, therefore, that it received the knowledge of all these things from Him who made it, and that the Creator implanted in nature the powers of intelligence and the discoveries of the arts.

Wherefore, also, conversing with the great Job, He said: "Who gave to women the wisdom of weaving, and the science of embroidery?" ^B For truly this beauty of art is also a gift of divine goodness. By the passage of time it has indeed become despised, and knowledge of the operation has stripped the inventors of their fame. But if anyone should wish to examine each detail precisely, he would greatly admire this art also. For the wool, when shorn and cleansed in waters, is first combed and divided into thin [strands]; then the teaseled wool becomes a fleece; next, the spinning [process] taking it, separates the pure [part], which has as it were straight fibers, ^C from the rest; and assembling what is left, it prepares the woof for the warp. Then the hands of women, taking these, spin thin threads, and stretching these first, like certain chords, in order upon the looms, they insert the woof, and with the shuttles distinguish the warps, and of the inserted threads, some they slacken, others they stretch; then, with the instruments fashioned for this purpose, as if pushing and packing the woof, they thus complete the fabric. Who would be able to admire fittingly the wisdom given to [this] animal? How, by one color of the underlying [materials], of wool or silken threads, are woven in the types of all kinds of animals, ^D and likenesses of men—some hunting, others praying—and images of trees, and myriad other things.

Revera igitur laudate Dominum, ^A all nations, who have been deemed worthy of such great wisdom, and who are nurtured in such great blessings. Who, I ask you, decreed that a sea-fish should provide dye for wool? Who again became the inventor of this art, which is accustomed to clothe the appearance of wool in infinite kinds of colors? Perhaps, suffering from the vice of ingratitude, you will say that there are also found worms which are accustomed to draw out threads finer than men can. But this, too, is a work of divine providence towards you. For that you might not be puffed up with pride over the wisdom of multifarious arts, nor exult too youthfully in the abundance of riches, the Artificer, in taking care of you, teaches through the worms ^B that these are by no means works of your own virtue, but gifts of that divine benevolence which He exercises toward us. But although He instructs you in this way, He at the same time consoles you, lest you grieve (more heavily than is fitting) while you see yourself surpassed by them: for He offers you their labors, and subjects the makers of these things to your commands. You alone out of the number of all animals have built cities with splendor, fortified them with towers and walls, constructed elegant forms of lodging-houses and upper chambers, and joined the sea itself to the continent with harbors.

Since, however, God, who created you mortal in this life, knew that you would also have to be exercised by diseases (for what is mortal is also subject to sicknesses), He at the same time taught you the medical art, and opposed the knowledge of it to the incursions of diseases. Hence you have learned to discern ^C the difference between diseases that are not apparent, and through the movement of the pulses to recognize the intensities and remissions of fevers, and to judge the time of onset, and when it is at its height or on the wane, and to foresee the signs of death; furthermore, to detect the species of the material that is causing the disturbance (or aberration), and to apply those things which are naturally fitted to overcome it: to dry up the moist, to quench the hot, to warm the cold with sudden heat, and to drain out the excess by emetics or expulsive drugs, or even by the incision of veins. Furthermore, what speech could worthily explain the abundance of either diseases or remedies? For many are the things contrary to the natural health of bodies, but at the same time very many and various are the drugs by which these things can be warded off. For art has indeed discovered many things ^D that are naturally fitted to oppose individual diseases. On this account the Creator ordered the earth to produce also many species of herbs, not only for eating, but also those that are useless for food: inasmuch as we humans have need not only of nourishment, but also of care for our health. And some of these we prepare for food, while others the herbivorous animals graze upon; others, again, the disciples of physicians gather, and out of them they compose drugs that ward off diseases, so that what brings destruction when eaten becomes an antidote by which the diseases of the body are driven away. Wherefore there is no reason that these things should move you to an accusation of Providence. For each of these calls the tongue of the grateful to praise. But

I seem to myself to be doing what those do who swim in the sea and, being overwhelmed from all sides by the waves, desire to reach the shore; as I, having dared to enter the vast sea of the wisdom which concerns the arts, and seeking to escape the onslaught of the arguments coming upon me from all sides as if they were waves, desire to run to the end and to reach that as if it were a marine coast. Leaving, therefore, all other things, let our discourse turn to the art of grammar, which is more rational than the rest and appropriate to the reasoning animal. ^B This [art], then, discovered elements, delimited them by a certain number, joined them to each other, and produced combinations of syllables; then, having linked together two or three syllables at the same time, it taught the reading of words; having composed and woven these together, it produced a single harmony of discourse. Hence, countless books were filled with the sayings of the ancients; some, however, contain the mysteries of religion, oracles, and heavenly things; others explain profane disciplines. Which, indeed, by the variety of meters, the elegance of words, and the fitting structure of their composition, veils mythic narratives; it both charms the ear and becomes a weapon for the pious against the students of impiety. Through this science, we converse with those who are absent, and we who dwell at a distance of many days' journey, and have many stations intervening to wall us off, we send to each other through our hands the fruits ^C of our intellects. And the tongue, the primary organ of discourse, is at rest, but the right hand serves the discourse, and, taking up the reed, inscribes upon the paper the conversation with a friend; and it becomes the vehicle of the discourse—no longer the tongue and mouth, but the hand, having practiced the art over time and having precisely learned the composition of elements. For this reason the Creator fashioned our hands in such a way, divided into five fingers, and set the thumb in opposition to the four. For it would not have been possible for one to execute work of every kind if the fingers were arranged in an equal row. But now, with the great [finger] placed opposite the others, we very easily hold both the stylus, and the spade, and the mattock, the saw, the adze, ^D the hammer, and the tongs, and all the tools that belong to art. Having considered, therefore, through this account, how much you have enjoyed the providence concerning your creation, how many arts and sciences the Creator has gifted you—not only for living, but also for living well—and with what great liberality He has treated your care, and how great a multitude of good things He has bestowed upon you gratis, so that He might make life more pleasant for you through the use of the arts, since He has provided for you not only necessary things, but also those that exceed common use, in a copious and abundant manner, cast away the ingratitude of the tongue, teach it to speak well, submit yourself to the Lord, and entreat Him. Learn to cry out with the Prophet: "Thy knowledge has been made wonderful from me,

it has been strengthened, I shall not be able to attain to it" (Ps. cxxxviii, 6). To Him be glory now and always, and unto the ages. Amen.

ORATION V. A demonstration of Providence from the authority committed to man over brute animals.

^A How great is the care of the Creator and Artificer of all things for our nature, you already know clearly, O friends and companions, and you have no need of teaching through words. For since you constantly behold the sources of benefits flowing from Him, you offer praises to the Bestower of these according to your ability. But since one may find some who, seized by great stupidity, do not perceive these divine gifts, but while they luxuriate in the goods divinely granted, they nevertheless belch forth most ungrateful words against the Creator, it was entirely necessary that our discourse, traversing this whole world with a swift course and placing human nature in the midst, should clearly and openly demonstrate God's providence in every part of both the world and our own nature. At the same time, it has also declared the wisdom and use of some of the arts which have been discovered by the industry of the human mind. ^B Yet those which the desire for ambition and pleasure discovered—I mean painting, plastic art, sculpture, goldsmithing, the culinary art, and the countless inventions of pastries—it has intentionally passed over. In addition to these, it has also remained silent about those whose curiosity exceeds the limit—I mean astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, and music, whose function is to soothe and move the ear, to change the affections of the soul according to its own will, and to resolve the sorrowful into joy, but to render the dissolute more courageous and manly. These, I say, and those similar to them, the discourse has intentionally omitted, both to avoid the vice of excessive verbosity and to strive for brevity, and to allow the minds of the hearers a more exact contemplation of each individual art. For it is very easy, having seized the opportunity from what we have said, to arrive at the contemplation of those we have omitted.

^C But there will perhaps be some among those who, while they know not how to celebrate God, have learned well how to slander Him, who will say that the Creator did not bestow the discovery of the arts upon the nature and genius of men alone. For, they say, one may see that smallest genus of winged creatures, the bees, for instance, which diligently follow the laws of a political and social life. On account of their weakness, they are armed with a sting; they fly out from their hives in turns and ranks, traversing the air, and they fly around groves and meadows and plains, and they alight upon flowers, leaves, and fruits, and they gather whatever is downy and useful to them, and storing it up...

ORATIO V

^A load themselves, and place these burdens upon their necks and shoulders, and then, thus laden, return to their hives. Furthermore, they build their honeycombs, needing neither ruler nor compass, and they create angles equal to one another, superior to any mathematical science. But they also weave the textures of the walls and the interstices for the honey, being very fine and membranous, as if made of threads and certain thin membranes; and by confining the moist nature of the honey very well with these thin but frequent partitions, they are accustomed to fill their vessels in this way with the sweetest honey-liquors. And what, they say, has been invented by human nature—which is divided into students and teachers, and which, with much labor and time, has fully corrected its knowledge of an art—that equals what that industrious and beauty-loving species of bees has fashioned, which is not divided into teachers and students, nor has learned the art through straps and rods, but having a knowledge of constructing such difficult work that is innate and planted in it by nature, weaves honeycombs, and without needing measures, centers, or angles, fills its vessels? It fills its vessels, I say, while neither pressing clusters ^B nor harming any fruits, but by drawing only the thin part of the dew, it ingeniously produces the substance of honey. Come then, let us weave our defense from the very accusation itself; for it will be very easily solved by itself. For the bees offer that copious and ingenious labor, and the best and sweetest fruit of that labor, to the human race. And like servants, compelled by the law of rightful lordship, they go forth from their homes, collect what contributes to their work, strive to carry their burdens, build studiously, and as if for a treasure, place signs and seals upon their honey-liquors, and continually provide them to humans, as to their kings, like a tax and tribute. What then, O miserable one, do you slander, and while enjoying this tribute, do you abuse its collector, and while filling your own pleasure with the labors of others, do you attack their provider with ungrateful darts of speech? ^C And not only do you reap the fruits of their industry, but you also harvest another benefit from this. For first, you learn what great goods concord bestows upon men, and what sweet fruits it produces. For the swarms of bees imitate a political life. Nothing among them is private, but wealth is common and possession is undivided. They do not have lawsuits, nor courts; for they do not wrong one another, nor do they desire more, but are persistently disposed only toward their work; for which reason they also drive the drones out from the gates, as those who do not endure to work, but lazily devour the labor of others. They hate polyarchy and democracy; they have one leader, and to obey him is pleasing to them. And each of these things they do and experience alike, without listening to speeches, nor reading volumes of laws, nor visiting the schools of teachers; for no one among them is wiser than another, ^D nor does the elder know more than the younger; but all of them likewise go about each of the things mentioned, not by rational knowledge,

but because they have received from the Creator of all ^A that industrious and beauty-loving labor in the storehouses of nature. For you, the rational being, learn from the irrational: to loathe an idle life as harmful, to pursue the labors of virtue with a ready spirit, and to gather its treasure from every side; ^B to seek by no means a position of authority that does not belong to you, but to administer rightly and justly that which comes to you; to regard wealth as common, and to permit the enjoyment of it to those in need. For as for those who are endowed with true wisdom and preserve the character of their nature unimpaired, the innate reason suffices for training and instruction; but for those who have corrupted this and have chosen a beastly life, the rapacious and bloodthirsty one, the well-ordered society of the irrational animals stands as a true indictment.

For the sake of your benefit, the Fashioner of all things adorned the races of the irrational animals with certain natural prerogatives, that you might reap some profit even from them. And Solomon is witness to this, exhorting you and saying: “Go to the ant, O sluggard, and emulate her ways. ^C Or go to the bee, and learn how industrious she is, and how she makes her work honorable; whose labors both kings and private persons employ for the preservation of health.” The God of all also bears witness himself, saying through the prophet: “The turtledove and the cicada and the swallow, the birds of the field, have known the times of their coming; but my people have not known the judgments of the Lord.” And again through Isaiah: “The ox known its owner, and the ass the manger of its master; but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood me.”

Consequently, the natural advantages of the irrational animals accuse those who have been honored with reason. For this reason the Prophet, grieving and lamenting the transition of men to an irrational condition, cried out: “Man, being in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like them.” ^D On account of this, the prophets call some men wolves, others lurking lions, others dogs barking at their own feeders, others heifers goaded by a gadfly, others serpents and the offspring of vipers, others asps that stop their ears and do not hear the charms. And just as they have imposed the names of wild beasts upon corrupt human characters, so too have they adorned simple and maliciousness-free souls with the names of praised animals. For it is possible to find a soul adorned with the simplicity of faith that is called by the name of a dove or a turtledove. By this designation, the bridegroom in the mystical Song of Songs calls the Church.

He is also accustomed to calling those who are obedient and lovers of the shepherd "sheep." "For my sheep," he says, "hear my voice, and I know my sheep, and I am known by my own." ^B And again: "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." And elsewhere: "He will set the lambs on his right hand, but the kids on the left." In a similar manner, he also honored those who fly high, who have been freed from all earthly cares, who possess a pure eye of the soul, and who desire to touch the mystical body, with the name of eagles in the holy Gospels. For when discussing the saints who are to be snatched up into the heavens at the time of the resurrection, he eventually adds: "Wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will be gathered together."

It is evident, therefore, from what has been said, that for our sake the Creator has given and distributed to the bees, and to all other irrational creatures, certain natural advantages, so that we might gather benefit from every quarter. We immediately reap another gain from the bees. For we are taught not to be arrogant in our discovery of sciences and arts, nor to think highly of ourselves, nor to be ignorant of nature; but to know the Creator, and to refer the causes of good things to Him. But lest we be dejected ^C and discouraged in our minds because we have irrational creatures as partners in our craft, and are no different from them, God has handed over to us the entire fruit of that laborious honey-making: so that He might at once repress our stubborn necks by this partnership in craft, and, by the service of these associates, console us and drive away our sorrow. Why, therefore, do you grieve, O man, when you see the bees displaying their craft? For their labor is your fruit; and while they toil, you enjoy the luxury that comes from their toils. And the Creator has also instilled in the spider the art of spinning those fine and invisible threads, that He might teach you how one must hunt the various species of birds. For that creature weaves its nets, not having learned the art through reason, but having nature as its teacher. But you, possessing indwelling reason and beholding the example set before you, have devised a myriad kinds of nets. And that tiny little creature restrains your pride and arrogance, having provided you—without the use of language—the service of an example. You are also entertained by the variety of the nets; for there is one archetype, but a myriad of imitations. For you have fashioned for the birds certain misty and aerial nets, and by setting these ^D in shady places, by the resemblance of the nets to the air, you steal away the birds'

' ^A sense. And you take as a collaborator in your hunting the fear caused by pursuit: for the birds that are being hunted, driven and crowded together from here and there into the traps, and terrified by those who pursue them, are unable to see the nets clearly; and then, flying against the nets that are invisibly stretched, they fall into the snares. And these you hunt by hanging them in the air.

But again, other machines more solid than these have been devised by you for the capturing of these same animals: some you spread out upon the ground, while for a pit dug for this purpose you fill it with water, and you place tame birds on the nets, so that by their sight and voice they may attract their own kind. Then, when the others see the water and the bird is heard and seen calling, they fly toward it, and you, using your skill, pull them within the nets.

Another machine has again been invented by you for the hunting of quadrupeds. For by nooses, shackles, and foot-traps ^B deer are hunted, while by hunting-nets, wild boars, fallow deer, and hares are caught; and by pits and similar machines, the wildest of beasts. Nor has the nature of birds and cattle sufficed you for prey, but you have even dared to pursue sea animals, and by constructing weirs, creels, casting-nets, seines, and all such instruments, you hunt the swimming species, and by your skill you bring into the upper air those whom nature willed to spend their lives beneath the waters, and you hunt the nurslings of the waters; and though you yourself are terrestrial, you draw to yourself those whose home is the depth of the sea, and the myriad kinds of fish lie before you for your enjoyment, the fisherman’s art providing you with their use.

Do not, therefore, feel annoyed when you see the spider weaving its thin threads; for you gain from that ^C the lesson not to think highly of yourself, but to praise the common Creator of all. And you find comfort again in observing that while the spider hunts gnats and flies and other such tiny creatures, yet by your own industry the swiftest of birds is overcome, and that aquatic genus of swimmers yields to your machines, and land animals are made subject to your laws.

Do not, therefore, grieve because you are deprived of wings; for you have obtained the gift of wisdom, which is able to subject the winged nature to your-self. And you possess a mind faster than all birds, nay, even than the winds themselves: for wherever it turns, there it arrives in an instant; and though it is confined in the prison of the body and bound to the earth, yet it traverses the heaven and the beauties that are in heaven, and it ascends above the heaven, and envisions the things that are beyond it, and it wanders over the whole world, and meets with ^D myriad nations, and holds converse with friends who are far away. Why, then, does the lack of visible wings pain and weary you, when you possess such intellectual wings?

which so easily surpass those of birds? You lack a winged body, but by the power of wisdom you catch birds of the air. Using this as your ally, you bring the bull, armed with strength and horns, under the yoke, compel it to serve, and submit it to continuous labors, to plow the field, to pull the wagon, to transport burdens too heavy for other beasts of burden, and to carry materials to builders. And you, indeed, give the command, while the animal submits to the yoke and endures the collar, forgets the utility of its horns, trembles at your voice, and though it does not understand the difference in strength between you and itself, it consents to serve a creature far weaker than itself. So much better is reason than physical strength! ^B Reason commands the donkey, the mule, and the camel to carry burdens; and each of these, when commanded, crouches down to submit itself, and again, when ordered and relieved of the burden, it rises. Furthermore, when they are exhausted by long journeys, they endure what harms them, obey those who weigh them down, accept the fodder offered to them, and when afflicted by hunger, they do not cry out against their owners; for as nature is their teacher, they have learned what the limits or laws of servitude are. For this reason, the voice of their masters alone strikes terror into the strongest of animals. You, however, despise the Lord of all creation, and while you find an occasion for your own benefit and even for your salvation in the likeness of these brute animals, you do not deign to be subject to the Lord, nor to become a suppliant to Him, nor to bear the burdens of virtue properly (for the Lord has laid these upon you to be borne); ^C but you kick, you breathe defiance, and like a wild calf unbroken to the yoke, you flee it; you do not endure the bridle, but breaking it, you flee and rush headlong down precipices, dragging down your innate guide. But as many as have loved this noble servitude and have been wounded with this fervent and generous love for their Master, have derived the greatest benefit even from the brute animals themselves. Wherefore, in the Psalms, through the voice of one, they all cry out: "I became as a beast of burden before thee, and I am always with thee" (Ps. LXXII, 22, 23). For, he says, like a beast of burden led by another, I follow thee, not being over-curious as to the path along which thou leadest me, nor inquiring too closely as to whether it be short or long or laborious, nor do I unjustly complain of its narrowness, its steep ascent, or its precipices. For I have persuaded myself ^D that since Thou art good, Thou wilt also be the best guide for the way. For this reason, in all other matters I am searching and rational in my judgment of things, and I know how to discern what is necessary; nay more, I clearly know how to flee what harms me; yet when Thou art leading, I bid farewell to that rationalistic spirit, and I imitate the docility of the beast of burden; and though in other things I am rational, towards Thee I become as a beast of burden. For this reason I do not separate myself from Thy company, but am always with Thee; since I follow in Thy footsteps, and obey the bridle, and as Thou leadest, I am led.

whether Thou guidest me through smooth, or rough, or narrow, or broad ways. ^A For I trust in Thy wisdom, I believe in Thy goodness; for I know that what Thou Thyself willest is in truth honorable and good. So much do those who know how to profit draw from the irrational nature. Therefore, seeing that the races of irrational animals obey thee, do thou obey Him Who made them subservient to thee.

He Himself subjected the herds of horses to thee, and when thou hast found a spirited horse that does not yet know how to admit a rider, thou dost transform it by thy art, ^B thou freest it of its boldness, thou checkest its caperings, thou bendest down its neck that is stretched on high in a curved shape, and thou causest its face to look toward the ground. Furthermore, thou teachest it a measured gait and the harmonious movement of its hooves, and speed in running when there is need; and finally, thou makest the herd-mate tame, and persuadest it to endure thy voice and hand. It endures thee and thy scourges, though it is far superior to thee in both strength and speed. It bears thy threats and fears them, and by the very things it does, it confesses its servitude. This same creature hunts with thee when thou art hunting, provides assistance when thou art fighting, and rushes with impetus against thy adversaries. But when thou desirest to consult thy safety in flight, it too, immediately struck with fear, sets aside its bold spirit, turns, takes to flight, and by the immense swiftness of its running, frees thee from the hands of those who pursue. Furthermore, if it is ordered to rush against the front of a hostile line, it does not show itself disobedient, nor, if thou enjoinest flight upon it, does it gainsay thee, but recognizes the law of its rider as the sole limit of its safety.

Why, indeed, do I speak of the horse, the ass, and the camel? For now the elephant, ^C the largest of land animals, which is able to uproot the greatest trees with the strength of its trunk, even deigns to obey thee; it does not weigh how great its strength is, nor does it consider its powers in its mind, nor look at the bulk of its body, which in size imitates even hills, but it supports thy rule. And thou, indeed, sitting upon it, givest orders (for I call thee "Nature"), and it does what is commanded; and if it receives the wages of its performance from the onlookers, it offers them to thee, using its trunk as a pair of pincers. ^D This same creature also provides thee with assistance when thou art at war, and taking many archers upon its back, it enables them to shoot at the enemy as if from a tower; and attacking their phalanxes, it easily terrifies them, breaks through, and scatters the armed men. Do not, therefore, grieve that thou art endowed with a small body, but rather consider how great are the animals that deign to serve thee, and praise with a ready mind Him Who subjected these to thy rule, and through this very thing testify to thy gratitude to thy Creator. For, providing for the salvation of thy soul, He has not clothed thee in an exceedingly large body, so that, not becoming arrogant on both accounts, thou mightest fall into the devilish pride. For even if

while thy body is small, thou ragest and art furious against thy Creator, what wouldst thou not have done if thou hadst received this magnitude as well? ^B But now, thy shortness teaches thee to be wise and to recognize thy Maker; and the gift of reason consoles thee for the smallness of thy body. For by means of this, thou drivest and leadest the nature of irrational creatures—flocks of sheep, herds of goats, droves of swine, herds of horses, nomadic camels that carry burdens, and the mixed nature of birds and mules. Some of these are placed before thee for feasting, and render thy table sumptuous, and cater to thy every luxury, and provide the materials for all kinds of clothing; while others provide corn and carry wood, and fulfill the needs of other necessities. Among dogs, some hunt with thee, others graze together with the sheep, and others become guardians of the house; trusting in whose vigilance, the shepherds enjoy sleep. Having these as fellow-workers, a few are able to tend many sheep; for they endure to face danger not only for their masters, but also for the sheep, and fight on behalf of the shepherds, and contend eagerly with wolves, and even when wounded do not bear to flee ignobly, but by barking summon the shepherds to their aid. And the dog does these things, not having reason as his teacher, but endowed with a certain natural excellence. This creature, when ordered by the hunter to track prey, perceives the scents, and by following these as if they were tracks with precision, does not desist before he finds the quarry. And having found it, he grips it with his teeth and claws, but does not partake of the prey; rather, he keeps it unharmed for the one who sent him, and though enslaved to irrationality, he recognizes the lordship, and does not attempt to share the prey with its owner. But if he finds a larger beast, one surpassing his own strength, such as a wild boar or a bear or something of that kind, he cautiously avoids the strike of its tusks, yet fights courageously; and by constantly moving about its back, he attempts to hold the prey securely, and by his fierce struggle does not allow it to flee; for by his continuous assault he forces the beast to turn about constantly, makes it stay in one place, and wait for the hunter. Then the latter, coming up, and using the tools of his art as helpers, captures the prey very easily and readily. And let no one of those who are prone to contradictions bring forward here into our midst mad dogs, or kicking donkeys, ^C or biting camels, or goring bulls; for only a few out of many succumb to these afflictions, and that quite necessarily. For thou acknowledgest through this that it is not by chance that their nature is subject to thee, but by obeying the beckoning of the Creator. And those that rebel against thy authority bear witness to this—the camel that bites, and the bull that gores, and ^D

whatsoever else is like to these—these provide the most manifest testimony to this fact. For similarly, all those would have escaped thy dominion, had they not been restrained by the divine law. Whence their rebellion is to thee the author of right order; and their unruly leaps curb thy leaps, and being tyrannized by them, thou learnest not to play the tyrant, but to acknowledge the Master. ^A For all such things, in like manner, would have escaped thy dominion, had the divine law not restrained them. So that their disorder becomes for thee the harbinger of order, and their capers put a stop to thy own capers; and being tyrannized by them, thou learnest not to play the tyrant, but to recognize the Master.

For this cause the Creator fashioned also wild beasts and kinds of reptiles, that He might school thy youthful and bold spirit toward virtue, and through the terror of the beasts, force thee to feel the need of divine aid. ^B For the fear of them, hanging over thee and pricking and goading thee unceasingly, rouses thee to prayer and compels thee to summon the Helper to thy aid. And being ordered by necessity to seek aid, thou art eager to honor Him who is able to defend thee, and art forced to be constant at His side so that thou mayest escape the harm of those lying in wait. For thou lookest up, and seekest for a protector, longing for deliverance from the things that afflict thee. And this fear becomes for thee a guide toward God. ^C But that thou mightest not, being continually struck by this fear, live a life full of sorrow, He has removed these things to a greater distance from thee. For He hid the nature of venomous creatures in certain fissures, and ordered them to dwell in recesses under the earth, not allowing them to move boldly against men, but—commanding them to be ever hidden, and to appear but seldom, and when they appear, to flee from the sight of men, as if from their masters—He laid down a law that they should injure very few and only rarely, and this not when they themselves initiate the fight, but defending themselves when provoked. For never would the fear of them have affected us, if our nature had never experienced their power. ^D As for the kinds of four-footed beasts, the supreme Governor of all commanded them to inhabit thickets and crags and cavernous places entirely remote from the society of men; and for their feeding He assigned the night as their time. "For Thou hast set," He says, "darkness, and it became night; in it all the beasts of the forest shall prowl about. The lion's whelps roaring to snatch, and to seek their food from God. The sun arose, and they were gathered together, and in their dens they shall lie down. Man shall go forth to his work, and to his labor until evening." Then, having marveled at the divine dispensation, the Prophet cries out: "How magnified are thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast thou made them all."

That, however, after the entry of sin, even these renounced the dominion of men, whereas previously they were subject and acknowledged their servitude, Adam, the progenitor of the human race, bears witness, as he gave names to all—

^A that were placed under his charge, and neither fearing nor fleeing, nor receiving any injury from them. The second leader of men, too, the spark and tinder of the whole human race, the blessed Noah, bears witness, who became the shepherd, not only of tame animals, but also of the most savage ones in the ark, and for a whole year 15 pastured both these and those in one place, and compelled the flesh-eaters to feed on grass. The number of clean animals, kept safe and sound 14, also bears witness. The great Daniel likewise bears witness, who, being delivered to the lions, terrified them with the radiance of his virtue, and struck them with the character of the divine image; for when they saw in the image a likeness of the archetype most pure and 15 preserved, they acknowledged their servitude, laid aside their ferocity, and supposed they were seeing that Adam who, before the Fall, had imposed names upon them. ^B A similar thing befell the Apostle Paul. For when he was bringing a bundle of sticks to provide fuel for the fire, and was tempering the chill of the air with the aid of the fire, the viper that was concealed in the wood fled from the fire as from something destructive, but laid hold of the Apostle’s hand, as though intending to take vengeance for what it was about to suffer 17; yet when it found not the softness and yielding of sin, but the firm and unbreakable armor of virtue, it instantly recoiled like a javelin which, upon being hurled against a hard object, is accustomed to fly back against the one who threw it; and it went into the burning pyre, as if exacting upon itself the punishment for its rashness, because it had attacked with fury a ^C hand of the Master. The species of wild beasts, therefore, are like thongs, rods, and pedagogic disciplines. These are extremely contemptible to those who are already perfected and have passed beyond the age of childhood, but to those who are still infants in mind, they are exceedingly necessary and useful. And just as the law is not laid down for the righteous man, according to the divine Apostle, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, and such like; so too the nature of wild beasts is set before men as a kind of discipline, terrifying and frightening those who are inclined toward sin, while by those who are nurtured in virtue, it is regarded as a mere trifle. Therefore, having discovered from this the providential care of God, and having learned of His manifold providence, cease, O friend, from your slanders, and repay the Benefactor with hymns. For how is it not absurd to praise the schoolmaster, who at the proper time scourges children, and with the rod drives out laziness, and with the strap fixes a firm memory of the letters, and to confess one's gratitude to a physician, not only when he provides food and drink to the afflicted, but also when he cuts, burns, fights against the disease, and checks its forward spread ^D; yet to blaspheme God, who with greater wisdom...

and provides for the salvation of souls with more abundant wisdom and more diligent care, and instructs us in the elements of virtue through the bestowal of good things and the fear of scourges, and tears the disease of wickedness up by the roots, and works for the soul’s true health? ^A “Refrain,” therefore, “your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good.” Contemplate the care He has for you, and give praise to Him who provides for you by His providence, so that, having beheld your gratitude for the benefits bestowed upon you, He may now shower you with benefits and deem you worthy of the promised good things; which may we also attain in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

ORATION VI.

That both wealth and poverty are useful to human life.

Often, indeed, I have already said with the Prophet to the wicked: “Do no iniquity;” and to those who sin: “Lift not up the horn, lift not up your horn on high, and speak not iniquity against God,” ^B while you say that the world which He created is devoid of all governance by Him. But the heavens, which declare the glory of God, as the Prophet testifies, are unable to persuade such ungrateful men, ^C nor the sun, which comes forth from his chamber like a bridegroom and penetrates to the ends of the earth with its brightness and heat; neither the moon, which shines with its changing phases and measures the periods of time; nor the rising and setting of the stars, which are guides for those who sail and stir the farmers to harvest and the sowing of seeds; nor the succession of the seasons, nor the changes of the solstices, nor the timely and alternate bringing forth of the clouds, nor the concord of earth and sea, nor the flow of rivers, nor the springs of waters, nor the most abundant produce of fruits, nor the variety and useful service of animals, nor the construction of this body adapted to reason, nor the immortality of the soul and the wisdom that governs the body, nor the variety of arts, both many and countless, which provide not only what is necessary, but also things outside of necessary use, ^D nor any other gifts, whatever the magnificent Giver bestows daily upon the human race. And yet, though they enjoy all these things, they rage and rant, and they slander this zealous care of God with the title of negligence, and by casting wealth and poverty in our faces, they complain of the inequality of life. Come then, taking as an aid to our discourse the One who wisely steers the ship of this world, let us meet their objections, dissolve the arguments arrayed against us, and demonstrate that the accusation they have woven is but a spider’s web.

Why, they say, do the most wicked of men abound in wealth and overflow on every side with infinite good things,

^A and complete the navigation of this life with favorable winds, and receive the abundance of wealth as provisions for iniquity? For opulence becomes the material for the flame of greed; and malice, having found wealth as its assistant, kindles a great fire, and as power is added to the will, it makes evil unbearable. But those who care for virtue live in poverty, are miserably tossed by hardships, suffer from a scarcity even of necessities, are squalid, filthy, bowed towards the earth, are treated with insolence, are abused, and endure a myriad of painful things.

Therefore, let us first ask them what they say the definition of happiness is. And if they say wealth, we shall immediately refute their falsehood. For how could the provider of happiness be the collaborator in iniquity, as they themselves have said? For if, because of this, those who live in wickedness raise their eyebrows and puff out their cheeks, and being carried on horses and in chariots, strut through the marketplace, despising others as much as it is fitting for them to be despised themselves; if, in short, because of these things they act unjustly, defraud, claim what is not theirs, covet what does not belong to them, take away the property of their neighbor ^B and revel in the goods of others, and trade in the misfortunes of the poor—and do all these things using the power of wealth as a helper—how then is wealth the definition of happiness and the subject of renown?

But if they should say that virtue is the most beautiful and best of goods, and confess that its most ardent lover and diligent worker is established at the highest summit of all good things, why on earth do they look towards ^C wealth and call those who are rich enviable? For the abundance of riches and a wealth of virtuous deeds are diametrically opposed to one another. But let us examine this, conducting a common inquiry, taking the light of truth as our helper, as to what the species of virtue are, and how the possession of them might easily fall to anyone. Therefore, by the name of virtue, we define Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, Justice, and the parts of philosophy that are born from these or are contained within them. Let us inquire, therefore, what each of these things signifies, what is their meaning, or interpretation, or power.

Prudence, indeed, is the wakefulness of the rational part within us, just as, naturally, derangement and folly are, in turn, its drunkenness, born from the passions, and becoming like a certain cloud, and thickening, and obstructing, and not allowing ^D it to perceive what is needful. Therefore, the health of the rational part is called Prudence. Moreover, we designate as Temperance the constitution of the reason that is free from the passions. For when this sense is sound and whole, the passions grow slack, languish, and are dissipated, and that which is swollen in them with heat is dissolved; and the mind of man, as a charioteer, is borne appropriately by its horses. Therefore, the good order of the passions, and the health of the charioteer, we call Temperance.

^A We call Fortitude that just movement of the irascible faculty, just as, on the other hand, we name audacity that which is unjust and disorderly. But Justice we call the right governance of the soul, and the symmetry of the obedient passions. For the harmony of the concupiscible and irascible faculties toward the rational, and their well-tempered state toward one another, effects for us the acquisition of justice. Since, therefore, we have learned what the parts of virtue are, and what concept and power each possesses, come, let us again inquire how it is possible for anyone who wills to attain these rightly, whether by using wealth as an assistant, or by taking poverty as a helper in their acquisition.

^B Now wealth, having many turmoils and anxieties and infinite species of fluctuations and storms, is a conspirator against, and an enemy of, virtue, not a helper. For how could one attain and maintain temperance if he is constantly serving his belly, and wasting away in drinking parties, and preparing banquets, and occupied with couches and tables, and carrying about in his mind bakers, cooks, pastry-makers, fragrant wines, bowls, cups, and various kinds of drinking vessels, and a variety of delicacies, drinking unmixed wine greedily, and burdening his belly more than nature can bear? Who, finally, extinguishes the spark of reason, but kindles the fire of the passions all the more with this fuel? ^C And it inflames the intemperate pursuit of pleasure to the highest degree, sharpens anger through those things which serve its fervor, and subjects the man’s guiding reason to the servitude of the passions, rendering the one who was established as mistress a servant of the belly; and it drags down that which received the man’s sovereignty from the Creator to the desires of slaves, hands over the prince as a captive to his subjects, offers the charioteer to be torn asunder by his horses, and causes the helmsman no longer to hold the tiller, nor to be able to steer the whole ship, but to surrender it to the storms of the passions, which snatch the ship headlong and permit it to be sunk by the waves? Whoever, therefore, is such a man, is not only destitute of prudence, but also addicted to every kind of intemperance. He is not only despoiled of fortitude, but has also been reduced to slavery by the hostile passions. ^D As for justice, what need is there to speak here, when even the adversaries themselves admit that he who desires to possess many things is unwilling to recognize the difference between the unjust and the just? For to such men all things are disorderly, infinite, and indistinguishable. That those, therefore, who use the aid of riches can only with difficulty attain virtue, it is permitted to learn even for the most contentious from the things just said. But that poverty is a helper of philosophy, and that one cannot otherwise attain the most perfect virtue, we shall presently learn.

For, first of all, the scarcity of necessities compels the passions to be subjected to the rational, and forces them neither to swell up, nor

^A to rebel against the guiding mind, as usually happens to those who live in luxury and serve their bellies. Then the soul, once it is freed from superfluous burdens and delivered from external disturbances, and enjoys complete quiet and serenity, looks into itself, contemplates its own proper dignity, and recognizes the servitude of the passions that are subject to it. It then takes up the command, prescribes laws of order to its subjects, and punishes and represses the rebellion of both (that is, of anger and of desire) by turns. Now it rouses desire by means of the swelling affect of anger, and dissolves the vehemence of the latter with the softness of the former; now, changing the duty of punishment, it uses the affect of anger against desire, and with the lash of anger restrains the more vehement motion of concupiscence.

Furthermore, hardships also contribute to the rational soul for the moderation of the passions. For the necessity of need rouses one to the pursuit of labor, and the scarcity of things essential produces labors; the hardship of these labors, however, causes the passions to wither away, and by consuming their substance, it does not permit them to swell. Why, then, do you show yourself ungrateful when you see poverty joined to the just, and why do you slander the instrument of virtue, acting like a man who might praise thrones, and steps, and couches, and gateways, and all the elegance of a structure, but who berates the tools of the builder and carpenter, and casts reproaches at the axe, the drill, and the other things ^B by which each of those things is made?

That virtue can be attained more easily through poverty than through wealth, even the followers of impiety themselves bear witness. These also testify who were esteemed as sages among the Greeks, and who followed the law of nature alone. For through poverty all of them attained moral virtue, and this even though they had not heard the divine oracles, which openly cry out: "If any man does not renounce all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple." Nevertheless, nature sufficed for them for instruction. For the divine Word does not bring forward new teachings, but calls to mind the laws of nature, and the letters of nature, which the length of time had corrupted through the negligence of men, the Creator of nature writes out again through His own heralds. If, therefore, even Socrates, and Diogenes, and Anaxarchus, and those similar to them, moved by the desire for moral virtue, rejected the wealth which they possessed, and used poverty as an assistant ^C for the most excellent attainment of virtue—and this while they were blind to the truth of the doctrine, and did not await the kingdom of heaven, nor possess the realization of that true and highest Good—why, my friend, do you accuse poverty, through which the course of virtue is made easy, and that rugged and steep way is rendered clear and smooth for those who travel by it? ^D

^A We say this, not because we accuse wealth, nor that we seek to repel evil with evil (for if riches were said to be evil of themselves, the blasphemy would revert back to their Giver). Rather, we say that wealth and poverty are set before men by the Creator as a sort of material or tools, and that men, as if they were craftsmen, fashion through these either an image of virtue or carve out a statue of vice. Furthermore, through wealth, one can scarcely carve out a few small members of virtue with elegance, whereas, aided by poverty, many are able to construct them all at once. Let us not, therefore, disparage poverty, which is the parent of virtue, nor let us lacerate wealth with reproaches; rather, let us accuse those who use them wrongly. For iron also is given to men as a helper for builders, farmers, and shipwrights, and to assist in the other arts of human life. But those who rage against one another do not allow it to serve only for necessary needs, but even contrive the slaughter of one another by means of it. Yet we do not on this account blame the iron, but we detest the wickedness of those who abuse it. ^B Similarly, the use of wine was given to men for the gladness of the heart, not for the senselessness of the mind. But those who are eager for intemperance and are given to drunkenness make the generator of gladness the cause of senselessness. We, however, rendering a righteous judgment, call those who use the divine gift ill "wine-bibbers," "drunkards," and "wicked," but we admire wine itself as a gift bestowed by God. Let us, therefore, render the same judgment concerning wealth and its possessors: let us free wealth from all blame, but those who possess it—if they prove to be its just stewards—let us adorn with the highest praises. If, however, they have inverted the order of things and have become servants to wealth, by following its commands in all things and undertaking every evil service, let us bring against them a charge of wickedness: for, having been appointed masters, they have corrupted their lordship and exchanged a master's authority for servility. ^C But perhaps someone might say this—one of those who know nothing but how to cavil at good words: "Why did the Creator not bestow the possession of wealth upon all men, but instead heaped riches upon some, while assigning poverty to others by lot, and arranged this life with such unequal conditions?" I, in turn, would gladly ask that person: Why did the Creator of all things not bestow one and the same power upon all the members of our body? ^D Instead, He entrusted the judgment of colors and shapes to the eyes, but willed that the ears should know the differences of voices and sounds; the nostrils He instituted to receive vapors and to discern a sweet odor from a stench; the tongue to judge flavors by taste, and to detect the difference between sweet and sour, sharp and bitter, and oily; to the feet He granted the power of walking, but to the hands He assigned the many-sided work, and to the belly a receptacle for food,

^A the liver, moreover, a purgatory for the same; the brain a treasury of marrow; and the heart He constituted the source of heat. To the arteries He enclosed the spirit, and the veins He manifested as channels for the blood, and to one member He implanted one operation, and to another, another. And yet all the things that have been mentioned, and those which have been passed over in silence, contribute to the perfect fabrication of a single body; yet each one is entrusted with some peculiar function, and they contribute to the common whole. For sight indeed guides the feet, and shows them the smooth path, and averts them from rougher places, yet it is itself carried by the feet. Hearing also, taking in sounds, stirs the sight to contemplation, and by means of the sight it learns the makers of the sounds. And that we may confirm the things said with Apostolic testimony: "The eye cannot say to the hand: I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet: I have no need of you; but much more those that seem to be the more feeble members of the body are necessary, and those that we think to be the less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor." ^B And no one ever felt indignant, seeing a diverse operation in the members, unless he were utterly deranged; but rather he loves and admires the Creator, who so wisely distinguished each thing, and assigned to each its fitting need, and made that which was its own, common to the whole body. For neither does sight alone enjoy the sense of visible things, nor hearing alone delight in sounds, nor the mouth in tastes, nor the nose in odors, nor the feet in walking, nor the hands in work, nor the belly in food, nor the heart in heat, nor the brain in the affection of sense; but each has indeed a peculiar power, but contributes all utility in common. And this indeed warms the whole body, that nourishes the whole, while another brings some other tribute to the living creature; and the variety of operation is divided into all the parts of the body, but all enjoy one another, and the need becomes common. And neither does hearing feel indignant at not seeing, nor does the eye feel aggrieved at not hearing, but each zealously observes the limits of nature, and renders the tribute which from the beginning it was commanded to pay. ^C But you feel great indignation, because not all men are flooded with the waves of wealth, and inhabit splendid houses, and adorn the body with the splendor of tunics and cloaks, and ride on horses and mules, and have many to lead them and ^D followers, and a swarm of servants attending to their service, and gold-embroidered couches, and a soft and flowing bed, and the enchantments of cooks, and inventions of pleasures, and luxury brought from every side, and things that kindle pleasures. And how could anyone have acquired temperance, rousing as many enemies against it, and driving it out from all the parts of the soul and body? Or how could a man come to be in a state of prudence, with so many

burdens overwhelming his reason? But what is the point of speaking here of temperance, justice, fortitude, and prudence, when these people cannot even endure to hear their names? ^B And how, likewise, could all possess wealth at the same time, if they were of the same condition and lot? How, finally, if all were equal and all were similarly to abound in riches, could men supply the need of necessities? Or who, if he were provided with the same abundance as the rest, would want to serve another? Who, I ask, would sit by the hearth and prepare food; who would bake bread, or grind wheat in a mill, and sift the flour through a sieve, and knead [(50)], and cook [(51)], and endure the heat of a burning fire [(52)], if need did not compel him? Who indeed would have brought oxen to the plow beneath the yoke, and cut the earth with new furrows, and sown the seed [(53)], and, when it had sprouted and come to maturity, reaped it, transferred it to the threshing floor, and separated it from the chaff, if poverty did not impel him to sustain such labors? Who, moreover, would ever have sat by the stone quarries, and brought forth the material of stones for the building of edifices, and built houses well and elegantly fitted together, if need had not pricked him and moved him to work? Who would have pursued the nautical art? Who the maritime commerce, and the nautical diligence in labors? Who weaving and cobbling? Who pottery [(54)] and smithing? For if the possession of wealth were equal, it would in no way allow one man to serve another; but of two things, one would necessarily happen: either each man would have had to pursue every art with great zeal, or we would all together have perished from a scarcity of necessities. ^C That it is impossible for one man to master all the arts, there is no need of arguments, as experience itself is witness. For if anyone should attempt to learn even two things at the same time, he loses both, since one harms the other. For the mind, distracted into the pursuit of different parts and unable to grasp both simultaneously, derives a few fragments from each, but achieves an exact and perfect knowledge of not even one. It remained, therefore, that if all had been gifted with an equal abundance of wealth, that same thing must have become the cause of destruction; and the same thing would have happened to us that befalls those who lose the pleasure of eating through excessive surfeit. For those men weaken their appetites by the continuous eating of food; and these men, because of the love of wealth, desire to procure for themselves a scarcity of necessities, and prefer the death joined to riches over a life joined with poverty. But let us leave these people to their ravings; we, however, shall demonstrate here also God’s care for us, and show that what they call inequality is the cause of a most pleasant life, and the foundation of an excellent social order. For the Sovereign of all will be shown to have provided in the highest degree for the equality of these things.

^A For in the first place, He gave the earth as a common foundation for all, a common dwelling, nurse, mother, and tomb; He gave one origin of creation for all men, dust—the common ancestor—and He stretched out the heaven as a common roof for all. He bestowed the sun, the moon, and the other luminaries as common, just like light-bearers; He poured out the air in the midst, setting this forth as a common treasure for all alike. For the rich do not inhale it more than the poor, but poverty there also receives an equal share, or rather, a greater one; for her foster children are more numerous, and their senses are stronger and freed from such superfluous burdens. Rivers and springs, in turn, gush forth waters common to all. He fashioned bodies ^B equal for these and those; or rather, even in this regard the poor have the advantage, for their bodies are stronger. For want is the mother of health, according to the wisest of physicians; and labors and exercises are the allies of health, according to this same teacher. And the souls of both these and those have the same nature; there is one origin of conception for these and those, the result of one creation of marriage, and an equal number of months for the pregnancy. For time does not revere the abundance of money, nor does it yield, out of respect for wealth, to send the infant forth before the appointed limits ^C or to keep it longer in the womb, but the fetus of both the rich and the poor emerge in a similar manner. Pains bring both of them into the light; in fact, if you trust in experience, the birth of the poor woman is far easier, and the pains are fewer. For the habit of labor produces ease. Wherefore physicians likewise impose the necessary labor upon more delicate women before the time of birth arrives. Thus they conceive in a similar way, but they do not give birth in a similar way; rather, where there is the consolation of wealth, the difficulty is greater, but where there is a lack of the necessities of life, nature assists with ease. Or rather, the Creator of nature, so tempering this unequal condition of life, applies the consolation of physicians and drugs to the difficulty of childbirth which arises from a more delicate way of life, while to that ^D which, due to poverty, is destitute of this aid, He provides the help of nature. Observe the scales of the just Judge, and move your tongue to praise. Observe also the newborn infants, who alike come forth naked; for the infant of the rich is not wrapped in purple, nor is that of the poor covered in rags, but both come forth naked, the Creator Himself proclaiming equality. In a similar way they draw in the air, in a similar way they pull at the breast; the infant of the poor is not fed with one milk, and the infant of the rich provided with another, but this one and that one enjoy one and the same nourishment. And we not only have one and the same entry into life, all of us, but also an equal exit. For death receives us all; for it does not fear the rich man, nor does it shrink from those who guard him, nor does it tremble at the purple robe.

^A Indeed, it despises walls, and towers, and the palaces of kings, and penetrates even into the bedchambers; it does not pity the weeping, nor does it show mercy to the supplicant, nor is it corrupted by gifts; it does not heed the medical art, it shows the powers of drugs to be ineffectual, and often does not even permit one to give final instructions, or to record an heir to one's wealth, but it snatches, it drags, and it separates the soul from the body. Therefore, both those who pride themselves on riches and those who struggle with poverty have a common end to this life. And when they have departed from this life, they undergo the same pilgrimage from this world. For in a similar way, putrefaction follows, and ichor flows out, and worms are spawned, and that terrible countenance is extinguished and decays: then that insatiable mouth and the rabid tongue are given over to be gnawed by worms. Furthermore, the haughty neck is not only bent but dissolved; that swollen cheek is not only dissolved but passes into fine dust; the bloom of the cheeks languishes and vanishes altogether; and the fingers that wrote wickedness lie scattered in their whole structure. Therefore, all these things are common ^B to both the rich and the poor. It remains, then, to show that wealth itself and poverty, which you indeed consider to belong to certain specific individuals, are actually common to all, a fact which our discourse, with the favor of the Divine Will, will demonstrate. For those who live in poverty share equally in the resources of the rich. For the Creator of both the one and the other has adorned poverty with manifold crafts, on account of which the rich come to the doors of the poor, and in return for money, receive from them the necessities they require; and since, on account of their wealth, they are in need of more, they suffer from a scarcity of all necessary things. And from these they buy bread, and from those they buy side-dishes; some fashion shoes for the feet, others prepare tunics, togas, and cloaks; others weave carpets, headbands, and wrappers; and some build houses and thrones, while others provide countless kinds of vegetables and fruits; others bring forth wheat, barley, and the other riches of agriculture, ^C without which it is impossible to pass through life, even if one should possess the gold of Croesus or Midas. But for the poor man, even bread made of millet or bran suffices, and he is content with common food. Whom, therefore, if you wish to speak rightly and justly, will you call needy and poor, and lacking in necessities—the one who needs a few things, or the one who needs many? The one who holds in his hands the provisions for life, or the one who trusts in treacherous gold, which also ^D surpasses seals and signets, and, though he has fortified himself by closing doors and bolts, yet he falls victim to the hands of housebreakers? And no robber would gain the craft of the poor man, but the riches of the wealthy are taken away not only by a robber but also by a false accuser. And the poor man sits in the marketplace, cobbling, or refining gold, or silver, or clothing, or selling some other of the necessities. But he who, in his wealth, is haughty

who puffs himself up to the very crown of his head, carrying his hands about, ^A surrounded by a great crowd of retainers, comes to this man. And the latter, as is proper, sits, either sewing leather, or engraving silver, or performing some other work of the craft which he professes: but the former stands by, engaging in conversation with him, and by his presence indicating his need and his use for it. Why then are you indignant and why do you accuse poverty, seeing that wealth is in great need ^B of it, and that those who possess wealth cannot live without it? Marvel rather at Him who so wisely ordained these things: who grants money to some, and arts to others, and unites them into concord and friendship through need. For the one provides money, while the other offers the fruits of his craft. For poverty vies in honor and excels wealth with its gifts. For what the rich man possesses as useless, poverty, by means of art, transforms and shows to be necessary and suited for every need. And if one were to examine it precisely, poverty even gathers the very material of wealth: for it is poverty that mines ^C the gold and the silver, the bronze and the iron, through which wealth is established. For wealth is born by gathering from every craft, but the crafts are the property of poverty. And this formless material of wealth poverty takes, shapes, and forms, and out of its makes rings, ear-pendants, necklaces, furniture, circular ornaments, drinking cups, and all the other things that inflate the vanity of the rich. If, then, wealth itself is established through poverty, and poverty has wealth as an assistant in its crafts, why do you accuse a state of such equality of being unequal? Why do you call things that are most friendly to one another ^D opposites? Why do you slander the social order, through which life is more pleasant for both the poor and the rich? For by receiving necessary things from one another, they both satisfy their need.

But perhaps you might say: "Why is it that the majority of the wealthy live in injustice? Why are not all of them followers of righteousness?" But here again you divest man of free will, and you rob this most excellent animal of the honor which he received from his Creator. Besides, the workers of wickedness would have a very wide field for defense if the Judge had distributed wealth in this present life only to the righteous. For they would say exactly what their master spoke against Job: "Because you have hedged about the things inside and outside their house, and have multiplied grain and wine for them; but put forth your hand and touch all that they have, will they not curse you to your face?" (Job 1, 10, 11). These things, I say,

^A they say, those who live in wickedness, if only those who are nourished in virtue received the gift of wealth. ^B Since, however, the Creator has set forth poverty and wealth in our midst, as it were certain raw materials, and some use these for the acquisition of virtue, while others use them as a pretext for vice, there remains no room for excuse or pardon for either rich or poor who spend their lives in wickedness. For those who manage wealth well and honorably, and who do not increase it through the miseries of others, and who take the needy as partners in their abundance, these are sufficient to accuse those who make unjust and greedy use of wealth; and those who have tempered poverty with philosophy, and have borne its attacks with endurance and nobility, will become true accusers of those who have learned malice in poverty.

Consider also the other dispensation of the Governor, so that you may sing His praises more fervently. For since He saw that the rich have much concern devoted to their health, He has allotted bodily soundness to poverty. The one is carried about, while the other walks, having no need of another’s feet. And the one desires the health of the poor man, while the other pities the infirmity of the rich. ^C It is possible to see even in times of illness: the one is cared for by a multitude, yet is bitterly pained, and unable to bear the onset of the disease. In the season of winter, he lies in warm houses, rolling about on a soft bed, wrapped in many warm garments, having hearths set around him to ward off the force of the cold, countless medicines fighting against the disease, hearing promises from doctors full of consolation, and enjoying the presence of friends who break or beguile the strength of the disease with pleasant conversations. But if the summer season arrives, other houses then receive him, more open, of course, which easily admit breaths of wind, and when these have ceased, servants diligently create a breeze with moving fans. Boughs are fixed round about, imitating a garden, and rendering the house like a grove. They contrive fountains of water in the upper stories, wishing to impose sleep upon his eyelids. Yet though such great care is provided from every side, he is nevertheless tormented, ^D throwing himself hither and thither, naked, and by the tossing of his hands indicating the hidden fever. The poor man, however, has a single little house, and that often rented. There are even those who, being unable to pay rent, use the marketplace as their house; for them the ground serves as a bed, and a mat provides the use of a softer quilt; and there stands by them neither doctor, nor cook serving the doctor's commands, nor manservant, nor maidservant, and perhaps not even a wife. But God’s providence becomes everything to him, blunting the stings of his passions, dimming the pains, and extinguishing with the medicine

apart from the flame of the fire, while warding off the injury—that from cold, that from heat, that from the underlying moisture. No one teaches him which of the foods nourishes the disease, or which contends for his health, but he eats whatever chance offers without definition or discernment; and what is harmful becomes beneficial, and cold water consumed appears as a medicine, and dry bread extinguishes the heat and flame of the disease. He requires neither the softening agents from above ^A nor the purgatives injected from below. For nature replenishes the deficiency and itself offers the assistance of physicians to the sufferer. And one may see him who is cast upon the ground bearing the disease more easily than those who are nurtured with all the care we mentioned before. Seeing, therefore, the providence of God in each of the things that occur, do not be overly curious about each of the events. But if you wish to do even this, take piety as a companion to your curiosity. Let this lead your path, let this guide you toward the investigation of the things being sought. Obeying this, take every opportunity for the hymn-singing of the Creator; imitate those three children who, having been delivered into the furnace, ^B even called upon the inanimate creation into the communion of their doxology, and drew the tyrant who had cruelly delivered them to the furnace into a contemplation of the miracle, and compelled him by the miracle to worship the God against whom he had warred. Those ones, truly, neither furnace nor fire compelled to move their tongues to blasphemy, but even when delivered to such a flame, they were honoring the benefactor with hymns. But as for you, neither furnace nor lions compel you to blaspheme; rather, while you are accustomed to revel in the God-given good things, you do not perceive the gifts. But if you would obey ^C me, you will adorn your tongue with piety, and you will praise creation, but you will hymn the Creator, and you will worship His providence that is everywhere present, for to Him be glory and power, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ORATIO VII. That servitude and masterly power are useful for life.

The Creator of all has no need of a human tongue for the provision of hymns; for He does not receive even the doxology offered to Him by the angels as one in need of it, but, seeing their goodwill, He approves their gratitude; and when those who offered the legal sacrifices used to offer them, they ^D did not offer them as if providing for a need, but on behalf of the myriad benefits which

they received, endeavoring to repay the grace that was within their power.

^A Straightway, therefore, one may see that they did not all offer one and the same sacrifice. For one sacrificed a calf, another a lamb, and another a kid; and one offered more victims, another fewer; and he who lacked these, and lived in poverty, offered a pair of turtledoves or young pigeons; and he who was in want even of these, a little fine flour and a small amount of incense. From this, then, we are surely taught to attend to the quality of the mind, not the quantity of the gifts, in the righteous Judge. And we, too, offer these humble discourses, not indeed so that we might increase the abyss of wisdom with the smallest drop, but endeavoring to demonstrate the goodwill appropriate to servants, to refute the boldness of our fellow-servants, and to subject them to the yoke of the Master. For a great and bitter grief torments us when we see the wisdom of God, which governs all things, slandered by them; for the sake of which we have taken up this present labor of speaking, and we attempt to check their blasphemous words with arguments. That they blame the perceived inequality of life very foolishly, and in their derangement do not discern what is necessary, the preceding discourse has sufficiently taught, having both demonstrated the useful purpose of poverty and refuted the dearth of riches.

Since, however, they not only accuse poverty, but also lament slavery, and bewail the royal tax exactions, along with countless other things that are in the first instance ^C appropriate to this life: come, let us run through these things also in a few words, and let us imitate the most excellent of physicians, who, when they see that patients abstain from food and loathe all the edibles offered to them, cleverly beguile their moroseness with certain medical arts. For they mix the more arid and bitter things with sweeter flavorings, and make that which seemed loathsome to the patient most pleasant. And these men, likewise, like the others, find fault with all things that are seen and come to pass. But while for those others the sickness occurs contrary to their will, and, tormented by sharp pains, they abstain from food, and though they desire to partake, they are prevented by the sickness; these men, however, are attacked by voluntary perturbations of the soul, and they labor from loathing, not for food or delicacies, but for all those things which are both wisely and justly dispensed by divine providence. ^D And while they are sowing, they desire rains; but when they are traveling, they accuse the same. Furthermore, so that the fruit of the seeds may be ripened to maturity, they have need of a warmer heat from the sun’s rays; yet they bear the same with annoyance, and revile the heat. They undertake every labor for the sake of the belly—namely, the cultivation of fields, voyages, and long journeys—and yet, in turn, they become bitter complainers against it; as if they were not intended to serve the impulses of the soul, but were meant to rule. They complain of thunderbolts, and hail, and such-like chastenings,

but on the other hand, they find fault with the long-suffering of God, and are touched by reverence for neither His justice nor His long-suffering. Yet they themselves, even if they commit the greatest of crimes, still pray that they might enjoy God's long-suffering; but against those by whom they themselves have been offended, they desire that the absolute rigor of justice be exercised. They see a poor man, and immediately move their tongue against Providence, and overwhelm poverty with a great many reproaches. And when, on the contrary, they perceive a rich man walking on tiptoe, looking with a lion’s gaze, swinging his shoulders hither and thither, or being carried on vehicles and surrounded by a multitude of servants and guards, they immediately pour out their blasphemy against wealth. They bear life most miserably, as if it were full of inequality; but they pursue with hatred death, which removes inequality and brings about an equal condition for all bodies. And yet it would behoove those who revile death to love life, or those who complain of life to praise death. For death and life are diametrically opposed to one another. But these people senselessly tear everything to pieces with insults all at once, and revile all things indiscriminately. When they are children, they judge men happy; but having reached a manly age, they call children blessed. But why is there a need to enumerate all the calumnies which this wicked disease begets? For there is nothing in the number of all things that happen that does not receive some shaft of reproach sent from their tongue. ^B Come, then, using medical methods, let us demonstrate to them those things which have hitherto offended them as being most pleasant. Concerning wealth and poverty, and the inequality that seems to be in these, we have sufficiently discoursed in the preceding discourse, demonstrating the useful purpose of both this and that. But that the Maker himself did not from the beginning distinguish nature into servitude and mastery, we shall demonstrate immediately. ^C Come, then, to this first creation of ours, and see that while one man was fashioned from the earth, the woman who is like him was not fashioned from the earth in the same way. For the Creator, taking one rib from him, ^D fashioned this sex in such a way so that it might not seem to be of another nature on account of the difference in form. Therefore, one was fashioned from the earth, and from the man the woman, and from both of them the entire nature of human beings. For the Creator did not from the beginning assign to some servitude and to others mastery, but He created one race of us all. Furthermore, when He had ordered Noah to prepare an ark, and had provided for him salvation as a reward for his righteousness, He commanded him and his spouse, together with his sons and their wives, to enter the constructed ark, and not a single slave entered. For human nature had not yet accepted that division; but

it only received those which are truly servile, namely, the kinds of brute animals, which for this very reason the universal Creator of all things brought into this life. ^A But when, in the events that followed, He saw much disorder occurring from anarchy and every lawlessness being perpetrated without fear, He divided the human race into rulers and ruled, so that the fear of rulers might diminish the multitude of sins. For fear is accustomed to bridle the impulses of the irrational passions and to blunt the soul’s inclination toward the worse; and often what reason could not accomplish, fear performed admirably. For since nature slipped toward the worse, and the mind, overwhelmed by the passions and having become submerged like a vessel without ballast, left the body to be carried along in disorder, we necessarily had need of laws, like an anchor, to steady the ship and halt its headlong rush, and to allow the pilot to emerge once more and seize the helm. ^B Yet it was not possible for these laws to be established if there was an isocracy and equality prevailing in the administration. For not even in those cities governed by democracy, where the people held authority over what was to be done, did all men share in equal conditions; but some were *thesmothetae*, some legislators, some generals, and others filled the rank of the subjects; and the demagogue ruled both over the magistrates and the leaders. And even in cities governed by an oligarchy, while the majority belonged to the catalog of subjects, the few—those who excelled in prudence and were distinguished by their virtues—held the administration of public affairs and the power. And these were ephors, others were navarchs, others in turn governors, and they steered the populace as seemed most useful to them. ^C Therefore, sin introduced the need for laws, but the laws required the authority of those who established them—and not only those who established them, but also those who had the power to punish transgressors. And while sin brought in confusion and disorder, the Governor of all things imposed order upon this disorder and, with laws like a bridle, restrained the unchecked course of sin; and the reins of this bridle He entrusted to the magistrates, as to charioteers. By them, ^D both cities, and villages, and armies are rightly governed. For who could endure the hands of the unjust, if the fear of the laws did not hold back the forward rush of their greed-driven flame? For the greater would have devoured the lesser after the manner of fish, had not the law displayed the sharpened sword, the burning pyre, and all the other things devised by magistrates for the punishment of those living in wickedness. For if, even when the laws threaten and the magistrates punish, there are some more savage than any beast in their disposition toward their neighbors, and they dart about like scorpions, and bite like snakes, and rage like dogs, and roar against those of their own kind as lions do against those of a different kind—what would they not have done had laws

not existed, and no magistrate exacted penalties? Now, however, although some dare to act iniquitously, they still study to remain hidden, because they fear the laws and attempt to veil their injustice with the power of words. And he who has suffered injury approaches the judges fearlessly, and institutes an action for the injury, and fears neither the power of the man who did him wrong, nor does he dread the splendor of his wealth. But he hastens into the forum, as if into a harbor, enumerates the forms of the injury, and beseeches that the laws be brought into the midst, and prays the judge to deliver a verdict according to them. He then brings forth his judgment, and commands that the plundered house, or field, or chattel be returned to him who suffered the injury; often he also exacts a monetary penalty from him who has dared to commit the injustice. ^B Because of this fear, both wall-breakers and thieves pursue their injustice not openly but secretly, and by the very fact that they attempt to lie hidden, they proclaim their fear; for otherwise, having seized daggers, they would have slaughtered all they encountered and divided their possessions among themselves. But since they are afraid, while many abstain entirely, those who do dare to commit wickedness either lie in wait in the more desolate roads, or perpetrate their iniquity by night in the cities, aided by the darkness, sleep, and the quiet of all, to which everyone indulges. But if two or three of their number are caught and punished according to the laws, they become a sufficiently useful example to the rest; for when they see the punishments of their associates, they pursue with hatred [that same] wickedness, as the mother of such punishments. But I know not how I have digressed into these words, since I intended to set forth the cause of servitude; wherefore, the time requires that I return whence I digressed.

On the Providence of God.

^C That, therefore, from the beginning the Creator of all things made one nature for all men, and from one man and one woman filled the whole inhabited world with this race, the divine Scripture testifies; but nature also testifies to the divine Scripture. For whoever have received the parts toward the rising and setting sun, and the southern and northern regions, and whoever inhabit the middle of this [earth], possess the same form of formation and the same number of sensory organs, differing only in characters and colors. ^D Yet character is produced by customs and the self-determination of the soul. And it is even possible to find this difference among ourselves. The difference of colors, however, is brought about by the position of regions. For those who dwell farther from the solar ray have a whiter surface of the body. But those who have been allotted to dwell in the eastern and western sections, according to the southern part of the pole, being nearer to the ray, contract a blackness of the body, just as wood

^A that has been treated with the application of more fire becomes charred and clothed in a black color. Therefore, there is one nature for all mankind, both for rulers and the ruled, for subjects and kings, and for slaves and masters. Yet, this nature, being one, proclaims the justice of the Creator; but having been divided by time into slavery and lordship, and having kept the same character in both the one and the other, it accuses sin, which introduced this necessity, while at the same time it demonstrates in this matter the equity of the Maker. For He maintained the identity of the essence until the end, and by the order of government He drove out the disorder of sin ^B and regulated its greed by the rule of legislation, just as a shipbuilder straightens planks with a cord and removes what is superfluous. Do not, therefore, accuse the Creator when you see slavery, but flee from sin and the blasphemy on account of which the human race was divided into the condition of slave and master. But as for you, when you see a ship carried by favorable winds, and the passengers sitting safely and quietly, while the sailors either row with oars, or pull the ropes, or perform some other task they are commanded to do, while the lookout watches for cliffs and reefs and shoals and signals them to the pilot, and the pilot stands over all and steers the ^C ship with the rudder, you admire this order, and you do not order there to be many pilots, nor do you entrust the command of the ship to everyone. And as you see some sitting quietly, others performing the commands, one predicting what is coming, and another presiding over all together, you are not indignant, nor do you blame it as disorder, but rather you continue to admire the order. Yet you do not want houses to be governed similarly to ships, but you are resentful when you see one person steering the whole house and all the others being ruled by him. And yet, regarding administration, there is a very great similarity between a ship and a house. For the master, like some pilot, having taken hold of the tiller of the house, presides ^D over all things. And the one who is first among the household servants, to whom the care of all the others has been entrusted, imitating the lookout, teaches the master what he thinks is beneficial for him. As for the rest of the domestic staff, some perform the commands, having responsibilities distributed among them, just like sailors; the rest, like passengers, are in the midst of them, being directed by them and obtaining through them the things that are necessary. Why then do you praise a ship that is governed in this way, but continue to mock a house that has the same method of administration? I certainly think you also approve of the organization of an army, whose leader is a supreme commander; the captains oversee the companies, the lieutenants bring the ranks into order, while the centurions and chiliarchs transmit the signals from the general to these, and sometimes they station the army in a phalanx, and at other times in a square,

^A and at other times they arrange the army in the shape of a horn. It also happens that when they have extended each horn as widely as possible, they surround the enemy, not allowing them even to flee, but shooting their arrows from all sides alike, and destroying everyone completely. Now, none of this would have happened if the army were not divided into those who command and those who are commanded; for in an army, a multiplicity of leaders is the most harmful thing of all, cutting it up into many pieces, tearing apart its concord, and attempting to guide it with many counsels, but harming it more than governing it. How, then, is it not absurd that you, who admire the oversight of the one in a ship and praise the order of an army which the laws of the generals create, should blame a household that is governed in the same way?

“But it is bitter,” one says, ^B “to be a slave, and to receive one’s daily ration or satisfy one’s needs at the whim of masters, and to be worn out by constant labors.” But if you were willing to examine each of the things said with a love of truth, bidding farewell to those contentious arguments, you will find some to be full of sadness, but others full of great benefit. For the master of the house is besieged by many cares, considering how he may provide necessities for his household, how he may pay the taxes prescribed by the kings, how he may sell the surplus of his revenues, and how he may buy what is lacking. The earth becomes thankless toward the farmers, in this way imitating the ingratitude of men toward the Creator; and the master is distressed, and looks about for creditors, and writes out loan agreements, ^C and drags upon himself a voluntary servitude. The earth has brought forth its fruits, and is heavy with its yield, and is covered with crops, and because it is burdened with the mass of produce, it compels the branches of the trees to bend down toward it; but he, on the other hand, is pricked by different goads: for, looking for buyers for his produce, he finds none, and the abundance of the harvest becomes for him a little more unbearable. And it is not only during the day that cares beset them and surround and disturb their soul, but they also attack them even more grievously at night. For the soul, existing in quiet and being liberated from external affairs, perceives its own concerns, whether they be good or bad, more sharply. But the slave, although serving with his body, possesses a soul that is free ^D and exempt from all these things. For he does not grieve over the barrenness of the earth, nor does he lament a lack of buyers for goods; he is not pained as he looks upon a creditor, nor does he fear a swarm of tax collectors, nor is he compelled to wait upon the courts, nor does he fear the voice of the herald, nor a judge showing a fierce countenance; he receives his ration by measure, but it is free from anxiety.

^A He sleeps prostrate upon the ground, yet no anxiety drives away his sleep; rather, it is poured so sweetly upon his eyelids that it does not allow him to feel the hardness of the ground. The Wise Man also, in accordance with the laws of nature, gave utterance to this: "Sweet is the sleep of the servant" (Eccl. V, 11). He covers his body with a single garment, yet he possesses a body more vigorous than his master's. He eats bran-bread, and enjoys no relish with it; yet he enjoys his food much more sweetly than the master himself. For the latter, continually subserving his belly and transgressing the bounds of satiety, forces food down and sends it to his stomach by necessity; whereas the former, measuring his portion by his need, and distributing with prudence ^B the allotted ration, receives his food with an appetite, and digests it easily, having labor as his helper. But you see the servitude, while you do not see the health of his body; you perceive the ministry, but you do not discern the consolation that underlies it; you condemn the toil, but you do not praise the life free from anxiety; you calumniously attack the servitude, but you do not notice that sweetest sleep. And yet, from this point, one ought to have perceived the providence of God and the equality of His governance. For since the necessity of sin divided the human race into the condition of master and servant, He joined cares to those in authority, and assigned wakefulness to them, and allotted them more numerous diseases; but to the servant, He granted better health, and a sweeter enjoyment of food, and a sleep that is sweeter and longer, which is able to refresh the body from toil and render it stronger for the labors of the following day. ^C Do not, therefore, look only at the toils, but also behold the consolations of those toils, and praise the Governor of all things through everything. And why do you slander the toils, you who easily attack everything with calumny? What human good is accomplished correctly without toil? What prosperity do human beings enjoy without first reaping it through toils? We reap the benefits of agriculture through toils, and the fruits of commerce; we build cities, constructing them with toil; under the guidance of toil we inhabit homes, cover the body with clothing, place footwear upon our feet, and partake of all sorts of food. And what need is there to recount all the necessary uses of things, whose utility is established for us through toils? ^D But you seem to be a kind of drone, reared in idleness, who reaps the fruits of others' toils, while contributing nothing yourself to the common life, save only a tongue which knows how to carp at everything. Yet this idle prattle and excessive garrulity have been brought forth by abundance of leisure. For he who applies himself to labors speaks few words, but performs many deeds. If, therefore, each of the goods is accomplished correctly and properly through toil, do not, O my friend, because of the toils.

blame servitude. But rather see how many of the masters labor no less than the servants, nay, even much more, if you also include their cares along with their labors. Therefore, look at those who are considered industrious in our present time; but I will show you, for your part, the ancients who have labored even more than the servants.

Behold the blessed Noah, who both cuts wood, and cleans it with an adze, and levels it to right angles, and constructs the ark, as he was commanded, out of square timbers, and fastens the joints with ship-nails, and in this way weaves the whole thing together, and smears it with asphalt and pitch, and walls off the inflow of the waters ^A.

Furthermore, look at the great patriarch Abraham, the master of three hundred and eighteen house-born slaves, himself undertaking the work, ministering to the guests, running to the herds, pulling the calf, and urging his yoke-fellow toward the making of bread; and she, in the same way, kneading the flour, and baking the hearth-cakes, and not entrusting the service to the handmaids; and that admirable old man himself standing by the guests, and not reclining at the table, but fulfilling the entire service ^B.

Look at Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, the granddaughter of Nahor, who was already of marriageable age and radiant in her bloom, and who did not endure to linger in her chambers, but (41) was a self-worker and water-carrier, and ran to the spring before the city; and not only carrying the water (42) home, but also providing service to those who arrived, and drawing up the water, and offering it both to them and to the camels, and keeping the beautiful possession of temperance safe, and preserving her virginity unblemished, and choosing labors with all readiness, and being adorned by these even more than she was made brilliant by her beauty ^C.

In these labors, his son, and truly his son, the great Jacob, spent twenty years, pasturing and struggling with wild beasts, and enduring the painful rays of the sun, and not even able to be satisfied with sleep at night. And we read in the histories that his wives, for whose sake he endured these labors, also pastured sheep. But his sons also were livestock-rearers, and manual laborers, and shepherds, sustaining a labor manifold greater than that of the servants ^D.

And the most divine Moses also spent forty years of his life living in this way. And his wife, being the daughter of a priest, pastured sheep, and having been delivered from the wicked shepherds through his help, she accepted the betrothal. But it would be superfluous to lengthen the speech, and to bring into the middle of the discussion all those from the divine Scripture who finished the course of this life through toils. If, then, it is the property of not only servants but also masters to labor, for what reason do you blame servitude because of the toils? For the servants have the masters themselves as companions in their labors, but they themselves do not participate in the cares of their masters. But if indeed labor

is common to servants and masters, yet care is the peculiar possession of the masters, why do we not deem those who are exempt from cares blessed, but rather enroll them among the miserable? Since, therefore, the providence of the Governor of all things has been demonstrated clearly even here, let us gather up each of the things said into one, and let us summarize them, and make their contemplation clearer.

It has been demonstrated, therefore, that the Creator from the beginning created one nature, and honored it with the capacity of free will; then, that this nature, by using the free choice of the mind otherwise than it ought, declined for the worse, and plunged into infinite species of transgressions. It was necessary, therefore, to restrain the rush of sin with laws, and the laws required lawgivers. Thus, the human race was necessarily divided into two: some were ordained to rule, and others to obey the rulers, so that the fear of laws and the dread of magistrates might check the excessive progress of wickedness. Therefore, ^B governors preside over cities, curators over villages, generals over armies, and over these and those are kings. Over a ship, the pilot; over athletes, the trainers; the teacher, over boys; the tanner, over his own students, and in the same way the blacksmith, over those who wish to learn the craft from him. For this reason, the head of the house also presides over the home. For it is not possible for any house to be safe and unharmed without a head of the family: which these very houses testify, for when they are destitute of such, they seem almost entirely desolate. The peoples of the angels also have a similar government. For we have learned from the sacred Scriptures that the heaven which is above our heads has not only angels as inhabitants, but archangels as well. And these indeed preside, while those obey. But if even that place which is free from all iniquity, and that nature which is superior, as it is in condition to bodies, so also is superior to all passions, does not in any way reject this order, but some obey submissively and others rule rightly and decently, why then do you fret, O man, when you see among men, where there is a very great propensity toward evil, both the power of magistrates and those subject to them who obey it? For the Creator of all things has imposed the government of ^C magistrates as a kind of medicinal remedy for the ulcers of sin. Furthermore, a father rules over his children, and corrects those living more boisterously, and praises those who are studious of modesty. Likewise, a teacher presides over boys, and a man over his wife, and the head of the family over servants, and he approves those who are more obedient and more industrious among the rest, and often bestows upon them honors, and care, and liberty; but he chastises the slothful and wicked, and instructs them with honest precepts. The God who is common to all willed that the same order should exist among the priests as well: and ^D some He judged worthy of the priesthood, while to others He entrusted the government of these, and He has made other forms of ranks under them. But if you see some of the masters too cruel, and excessively dissolute,

even those of the rulers who sell justice for gifts, you stumble and give birth to contradiction. I anticipate this wicked thought of your mind and say that it is not God who entrusted the leadership to such men, but the wickedness of the subjects that drew their rule upon themselves. For since they were unwilling to draw any benefit from those who had guided them well and honorably, but rather insulted the teaching of those men through the depravity of their own conduct, they deprived themselves of divine care; and then, stripped of divine governance, they enjoyed such rulers, so that by the experience of worse men they might come to a remembrance of the better ones and be reminded of that good and noble ^B education. We find, however, that the God of all, because of the excess of human wickedness, often allows the reins to go slack and permits the human race to be carried along as it wishes. And God himself, teaching us this through the prophet, said to Israel: "And I said, I will not shepherd you; let that which is dying die, and that which is perishing perish, and let the rest eat each one the flesh of his neighbor." It behooves us, therefore, when wicked rulers preside and cruel and bitter masters govern our households, to supplicate the Governor of all, and by a change of life and a transformation of our ways to make Him merciful, move Him to our aid, and fervently entreat Him to change the difficulty of the times. For He obeys those who beseech Him sincerely with ease, since He is good and naturally inclined to mercy—or rather, is the very fountain of mercy—and He himself is a witness to those who supplicate Him in this way, promising and saying: "You shall call, and I will answer you; while you are yet speaking, I will say, Behold, I am here." That not even those who are utterly lawless and strive to surpass all others in impiety are able to harm those who are firmly established in reason and are lovers of piety, we shall show, God willing, in the speech that follows. But for the present, let us praise Him who bestows both common and private gifts upon mankind and overwhelms our race with innumerable good things. To Him be the glory unto the ages. Amen.

ORATION VIII

I know well, indeed, that a great tongue and intellect are necessary for one who attempts to take up so great a subject for discourse; for the glory of matters is somehow naturally wont to be endangered in words, since those who desire to pay attention not to the nature of the things themselves, but to the cleverness of the words, are accustomed to judge the matters according to the weakness or strength of the latter. But I, trusting in the power of the subject, did not measure its ^D

^A products of thought, nor did I weigh its small and fleeting pangs, but I only considered—as is manifest to those who wish to know the light of the truth, just as the sun is for those healthy of eye—that even if no one advocates for it, the providence of our Creator and Savior cries out. Therefore, I deemed it neither absurd nor worthy of reproach to provide my tongue for the service of the voice which resounds from every side, and to echo this into the stopped ears of the ungrateful. That both poverty and wealth are necessary and useful to our life, and that the Physician of souls has applied a certain servitude and lordship as medicines to the ulcers of sin, we have, with the aid of divine grace, sufficiently demonstrated. ^B That servitude, however, brings no harm to those who are subject to its yoke, but rather greatly benefits those who desire it, will, God willing, be demonstrated immediately; for this we promised yesterday we would say. For it is possible, if one wishes, even leaving aside the examples of the ancients, to examine those who serve together, and to observe many who are eager for virtue, who adorn their servitude with good will, and not needing compulsion, perform what is necessary by their own choice, and prefer the care of their masters; and for this reason, they are judged worthy of freedom, become masters of great wealth, and reap the rewards of faithfully performed servitude. ^C Yet, it would perhaps not be foreign to our purpose to bring forward a few of those who once served, and to uncover the treasure of piety which they gathered, for the reproof of those who attempt to slander servitude, and who make of it a cause for greater blasphemy, while they dare from this point to launch missiles against the providence of God.

Oration VIII

Therefore, let the primary servant of the patriarch Abraham come forward first of all. For this man, when the patriarch was already seized by old age, and, knowing the limit of nature and seeing the end of life (for old age is the prelude to death), gave instructions concerning his son, and exhorted him to bring a wife for him from his own (or his father's) people, ^D and to flee the kinship of the Canaanites, believing in the ancient curses and blessings—at that time this admirable servant, first, indeed, diligently examines each of his master's words, and fearing the sanctity of the oath by which he was bound, and revering the eye which is the overseer of all, he asks first whether he ought to bring the son back to his paternal home, should the woman refuse the journey. And when Abraham forbade it, and said that he must not take him away, but rather trust in God who had called him, and believe in His pilotage, the servant departs from his master's house, and having traveled many stages, arrives at the necessities.

He arrives at Charras towards evening; and he makes his camels lie down, ^A offering rest as a remedy for their toils, while he himself, bidding a long farewell to the gifts he was carrying and to all the splendor of wealth, stretches out his hands to heaven, and beseeches God to be the matchmaker for his master’s son, and to deign to betroth to him a maiden who corresponds to his master's character. It is worth hearing those pious words themselves: "O Lord," he says, "God of my master Abraham, behold I stand by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the inhabitants of the city are coming out to draw water; and it shall be that the virgin to whom I shall say, 'Incline your pitcher that I may drink,' and she shall say to me, 'Drink, and I will water your camels,' until they cease drinking, her have You prepared for Your servant Isaac; and by this I shall know that You have shown mercy to my master Abraham." Who would not admire the man for this piety? Or rather, who would rightly ^B laud each of the things he said? For it is possible to see his prayer adorned simultaneously with faith, and wisdom, and piety. For to declare to all that he is relying on the providence of God as the cause of his journey, who would not say that this is a work of both piety and transcendent wisdom? And in that he trusts in the righteousness of his master, and calls the Lord, who is the common God of all, the God of this man, and hopes that on his account his prayers will receive a happy end and his request will be brought to completion, does he not bear witness to the most excellent degree of faith? And that he obtained what he asked for demonstrates that he was a friend of God. For he could not have obtained it so easily, had he not been most grateful to the Giver; and the virtue of his soul produced this gratitude. And that he was at once made a partaker of his desire, history teaches. For before his prayers were finished, Rebecca arrives and shows a sign of hospitality. For when a little water was requested of her, she promises to water all the camels; and drawing the water with much effort, she quenches the thirst of the beasts and the man alike, by which act, both exhibiting a specimen of fortitude and ^C humanity, she fully expressed the prototype of the maiden who had been painted in the words of his prayer, and showed herself worthy of the Abrahamic house, inasmuch as she possessed a mind that perfectly suited her hospitable father-in-law. For this is what that faithful servant had requested: not beauty, not stature, not the flower of the cheeks, not the loveliness of the eyes, not the elegant lines of the eyebrows, not the splendor of lineage, not an abundance of wealth: but a hospitable mind, gentle manners, mild and moderate speech, an equitable and humane disposition of soul, and one worthy of the master's house, which was open to all strangers, which received diverse forms of men, and which offered appropriate things to all. These things he asked for, these things he received. And not even

then did he ^A receive them without examination; but by examining each of the events that were taking place, he wished to see, he says, if the Lord had prospered his way or not. ^B And when he had seen all the signs for which he had asked, not even then did he give the tokens of betrothal before the hymn of thanksgiving; nor, overcome by pleasure, did he forget the Giver. But as he looked upon the gift, he believed he was also looking upon the Giver of the gift; and first he praised Him according to his ability, and only then did he accept the gift. For having inquired who she was and from whom she was sprung, and having learned that she was the daughter of Bathuel, and that she possessed both a lodging and fodder sufficient for the camels, “Hastening,” he says, “the servant worshipped and said: Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth from my master, and has led me by a prosperous way into the house of the brother of my master.” For because he had received more than he had requested—for the girl had not given him only water, but had also promised of her own accord to provide a lodging, and had pledged to supply food both for him and for the camels; and he saw the kinship, which he had not requested, brought forward together with those things for which he had requested—he made return with the hymns that he could to the Giver of grace, and bore witness to the veracity of the divine promises. “For blessed,” he says, “is the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth from my master Abraham.” For, he says, Thou art just, showing greater care for the pious, and deeming thy willing servant—my own kind master—worthy of every care. And the facts themselves proclaim the truth of Thy words; for Thou dost confirm with offspring the promises which Thou didst give to my master. Thus having hymned the Bountiful One, he offers to the girl the tokens of betrothal. And he adorns her ears with gold, as they received the requests of guests so easily and so quickly; and he adorns her hands likewise, as they served so well in the magnanimity of her disposition. ^C But when he had entered into the house, and had seen her parents, and had revealed the commands of his master, and had made known the help of God, and had enjoyed every sort of attention, as one well-known, did he forget his master, and, stung by cares, did he neglect the Lord, or prefer his own rest to the service that was owed to Him? By no means. But when both the father and mother of the maiden, and he also who had shared in the sorrows of her birth, were ^D earnestly requesting him to remain, so that they might enjoy her presence for at least a few days as she was about to depart for a foreign land, he said: “Do not detain me, because the Lord has prospered my way; send me away, that I may go to my master.” And everywhere he accompanies his words with the divine appellation

^A and draws the supply of good things from thence, and attributes everything that concerns him to that providence. Tell me, what did slavery harm this man? Or did any of those who were reared in liberty and who boast of free ancestors show such an outstanding specimen of virtue? Who, I ask, did not attain to this degree of supreme piety? ^B But perhaps someone of those who know how to weave false accusations and to slander all good things might say that the master’s philosophy had trained him in this way from boyhood, and that, looking to him as to a certain mirror, he drew from there the features of virtue. But those who have evil masters, they say, also express the form of their own exemplar, and, having taken the first fruits of malice from there, they become workers of wickedness, ^C showing their teachers within themselves. Come, then, let us refute their lie, and show that the possession of both virtue and vice is a matter of our own choice, and that no evil master could force a servant who does not wish to live in malice to do so.

Let the most divine Joseph be brought into the middle, the grandson of that woman, and the great-grandson of the patriarch Abraham, who in spring, in his prime, in the season—for the most vigorous part of the year is spring—who, I say, was in the spring of his age, and possessed the flower of time, and while shining in the season regarding his body, he possessed a soul far more radiant than his body. ^D He was most dear and uniquely beloved to his father, not only because he was born in his old age, but because he was entirely in harmony with his character, being the very image of his father’s virtue. After this man saw those dreams, and narrated them to his father while his brothers were listening, he is immediately attacked by envy, and is targeted by the darts of abuse which envy had brought forth. But not long after, when they caught sight of the youth coming toward them, those who could not bear the happy promises of his dreams rush toward him like wild beasts toward a lamb that has been separated from the flock and abandoned by the aid of its shepherd. They neither revered the grey hairs of their father, nor pitied his old age, supported by this youth as by a staff; nor did they respect the law of nature, nor the right of kinship, nor the unity of the root, nor the immaturity of his age, which was inexperienced in all malice, nor his rule, which was unwillingly offered as in a dream and at the time was more uncertain than any shadow; they attempted at once to deliver him to slaughter and to stain their hands with kindred blood. But when Ruben argued against the slaughter and urged them to flee from this stain, having hidden him for a short time in a certain cistern, they sell him a little later to Ishmaelite merchants, and by the sale they mitigate the slaughter, since they could not even deign to look upon the one who was to reign in his dreams. Such, therefore,

^A is the penalty for dreams that Joseph paid, being led into Egypt, where he was sold again to Pentaphris; for he was the chief cook of the king. Yet even when he arrived there, he guarded his ancestral freedom and preserved his noble lineage unblemished, nor did he change his mind with the passage of time, nor did a change in his way of life follow upon these calamities, nor did he change his intention like a color; but though he had undergone a different condition of life and had fallen from freedom into slavery, he remained firmly fixed upon his previous judgment, and in everything he said or did, he wore modesty shining on his brow. For this reason, he was immediately deemed worthy of all honor and was entrusted with the stewardship of his master’s house. He continued to show benevolence to his masters and equity to his fellow servants. And being grateful towards those who had gifted him with honors, he also took appropriate care of those who were to be governed by his counsel. Whence he was held dear by both the one and the other. For he had received from God grace responding to his virtue, or rather, he was reaping manifold fruits of his labors. For this reason, whatever he did, the Lord made prosperous in his hands. But soon another storm took him from there, and a second, more difficult tempest of slavery followed; and while one wave left him, another seized him. Yet, journeying through such great storms of waves and winds, he kept his vessel free ^B from all inundation of the waves. For the youth, as has just been said, was shining in the vigor of his age, like a flower just emerging from its calyx or buds, having a first down creeping over his cheeks, and clothing them like a crown, and displaying a beauty of form mixed with grace and tempered by nobleness, bearing modesty fixed upon his brow and persuasion sitting on his lips. His mistress, seeing this daily, instead of needing to draw some benefit from it, fell into the pit of licentiousness. And when the flame of desire was stirred high within by the material for contemplation via her gaze, and reason did not at once extinguish the spark, she could no longer extinguish the fire which had later grown into a conflagration. Then, taking shamelessness as an ally for her attempt, she endeavored to ensnare the youth with words. But when this beast was stronger than any net, and he easily leapt over the fixed hunting-nets woven for him, and the speeches which she had brought forth, colored with harlot-like and pleasurable enticements—which were not spoken without adjurations—departed fruitless and useless, then she bade farewell to words ^C and studied to test the matter by deed. And taking the solitude of the bedchamber as an aid to the act, she seized the youth, whom she thought to be a slave to passions, and not a master. But he did not trust in the absence of men, but beheld the eye of God ^D present everywhere, and neither willed to be of servile condition in his soul, nor did he fear that woman’s lordship, nor…

having calculated the magnitude of the calamity he was enduring, did he ^B wish to give free rein to his passions, as though no one were watching human affairs and demanding punishment from those who choose to commit injustice. But he set his reason in opposition to his servitude, and his lordship, and the change in his life, and the impulse of desire, and the inflammation of his age, and the persuasive and wheedling words which the mistress was offering to her slave, and the absence of accusers, and the calumny that was to be expected, and the myriad calamities arising therefrom. And first, having said goodbye to the laws of servitude and taken on the role of advisor and teacher, he becomes an advocate of temperance and an accuser of licentiousness. And the young man to his elder, the slave to his mistress, and he who had not yet accepted the yoke of marriage—though receiving the violent assaults of desire—to her who was yoked to a husband and able to satisfy her desire lawfully, offers an exhortation concerning temperance. It is worth hearing those holy words of that chaste man: “If my master,” he says, “knows nothing because of me in his house, and everything that is his he has given into my hands, and there is nothing in this house that is withheld ^C from me except you, because you are his wife, how then shall I do this wicked thing? I will have sinned before God.” “Do you not see,” he says, “the One whom I see? For you indeed are drunk with passion, but I have not accepted this drunkenness; rather, I see the Pilot of this whole universe, who beholds each one of the things that come to pass. For neither does a roof, nor a wall, nor closed doors hinder that eye from seeing what it wills to see, nor does the darkness of night become an obstacle to His vision. He knows clearly even the offspring of the mind, and he discerns precisely the words still being conceived before their birth pangs. Seeing Him, I tremble and am afraid, and I cannot bear to insult marriage—the fountain of our nature, the door of entrance into this life, through which the race of men has not failed, which has not allowed our nature to be extinguished by death, but overcomes the hands of the cutter by its planting, and prevails ^D over the scythe of the reaper by its burgeoning; which imitates the season of spring appearing after the robbery of winter, and clothes again those things that were stripped by it. You have accepted a yoke, O mistress; cherish the yoke; do not tear apart the traces, nor look about at what is outside, but attend to your yoke-fellow. With him you were ordained to draw the plow of husbandry. Do not dishonor the laws of marriage and the bounds of nature, nor insult a bed honored by God. You were ordained to rule over others; do not become a slave of pleasures, do not

^A invert the order, do not remove the rule of reason, and do not hand over the reins to the passions. I, for my part, desire that you too be freed from this passion. But if you do not obey, and do not wish to be freed from this drunkenness, I still refuse to commit any wickedness here; for I was made a slave in body, but not in soul. Moreover, I abhor the injustice of the matter in another way. Being indebted to you for many benefits, O mistress, I will certainly never endure to repay my master with the opposite. For although I was bought with money, I have been preferred over those born in your house; and I who entered your house only a short time ago, have now received the administration of everything. The master has appointed me curator of all that is in the house, and he has ordered me, a newly bought servant, to have authority over all. Only you, revering the laws of marriage, has he willed to remain within the limits of his own authority. With what eyes, then, shall I look upon the author of such great honor, if I were to repay him with this favor? It is abominable, O mistress, and very abominable, to be forgetful of received favors and to have a soul unmindful of benefits. But graver than these, and indeed by far the most grievous, is injustice, and especially that which is committed against a benefactor. I was ordered to guard the riches and goods of my master, not to steal them. I will not, therefore, allow myself to become a brigand instead of a faithful guardian. I do not touch those things which are excluded by the law of my office; nor do I imitate my forefather Adam, who, when he had received power over all plants and trees, stretched his hand toward that which was not of his own right and dominion, and while wishing for that one thing, fell from all at once. With such words did that slave plead before that wicked mistress. And neither his slavery nor the malice of his mistress brought him any harm; rather, he showed himself to be more splendid, like gold or some precious stone. But after he did not persuade her by speaking, and was assailed by force, he fled and, casting away his cloak, emerged naked, clothed only with the garment of temperance or chastity. For he was not ashamed, as was Adam after the transgression, but he departed with the same disposition ^C regarding the nakedness of the body that he had possessed before the transgression. Then she indeed devises slanders, and persuades her husband, and calls the one who had been her defender a plotter against chastity. But he silently receives the sentence of his master, and does not wish to expose the wickedness of his mistress; rather, he prefers to confirm the slander with his silence, than to expose the whole tragedy of her plots and openly to convict his mistress of incontinence. For he indeed offered the counsel he should have offered; however, he did not press the suit he could have pressed: but like one condemned as a defendant in a defaulted bail, being neither present to the judge nor hearing the accusation, he accepted the sentence passed against him, inhabited the prison, and was bound with criminals, yet he endured all these adversities with a noble spirit. For that constant, and by turns succeeding, storm of various calamities neither took away the strength of his soul, nor converted his fortitude into timidity. Moreover, such [strength] in...

^A joy and cheerfulness did he possess even in the midst of his tribulations, that he would even bring consolation to the other prisoners, and if he saw them distressed, he would ever seek to comfort them. For the state of a person’s soul is often evidenced by the disposition of their features, which harmonize with the movements of the mind—not merely the color of the face, but also the movement of the eyes, and the contraction or relaxation of the brows. The terrifying gaze of the eyes marks the uprising of a passionate temper; the folds of the eyelids, creating a smile, reveal the relaxing effect of despondency; the gathering of the brows at the center hints at anxieties; and the upward curving of the same signifies pride. Since, therefore, most movements of the soul are revealed in the face, that admirable athlete, using these features as it were ^B as messengers of the soul, was constant in cheering those who were despondent. And having once seen two of the king’s servants in a dejected state—namely, the chief butler and the chief baker, who had been imprisoned there on account of certain offenses—he approached them both, questioned them, and inquired into the cause of their sadness. A man overwhelmed by such waves of calamity—the great-grandson of Abraham, the grandson of Isaac, the son of Jacob, held by them all to be the most beloved, viewed as a light, and having been the unique source of joy—having fallen into slavery and endured that disaster, not through being taken captive by some wild barbarians in war, but having been sold into servitude by the envy of his brothers (who had convicted him of no crime, but had seized upon dreams as the cause for their enmity): he, I say, harboring none of these things in his mind, nor the misfortunes that followed his slavery, nor the contests he had undergone for the sake of chastity, nor the condemnation that followed his victory, nor the punishment imposed upon him in place of crowns, nor the prison cell returned to him instead of proclamations of praise—he, I say, approached to comfort others who were overcome by sorrow of soul, and questioned his fellow-prisoners, saying: "Why are your faces sad today?" (Gen. XL, 7). And when they said they had seen dreams and were troubled in mind by ignorance of their interpretation, that divine man did not break forth into miserable lamentations upon the mention of dreams, nor did he weep while remembering his own calamities, nor did he shed base tears, nor did he wail, nor did he bring the tragedy of his emotions into view; indeed, he did not even laugh aloud after they spoke to him about the dreams, the vanity of which he had already perceived to be manifest, nor did he say to those prisoners: ^C "You are ignorant, it seems, my friends, of the vanity of dreams, and, as is likely, never having experienced their deception before, you desire their interpretation; but I, ^D taught by experience as my mistress, command you to laugh at these things: for they predict nothing true, but are accustomed to announce everything contrary to the truth."

^A I hoped to rule over my brothers and to be prince of my father's house, having once trusted in dreams; and not only did I not obtain the rule, but, fallen from my freedom, I became a miserable slave. And not even while serving did I sail on favorable winds, but even there, having fallen into myriads of storms, I am forced to inhabit a prison. Let not, therefore, night-time fantasies disturb you; the race of dreams falls far short of the truth. That noble man said none of these things, nor indeed did he think them, but he says to them: "Is not their interpretation from God? Tell it to me." And everywhere he carries around the divine name, and with this he adorns both his soul and his words at once. And in saying that the interpretation is of God, he takes courage in it, inasmuch as he had fashioned himself into a divine temple. They were telling, then, and he was interpreting, and he was clarifying those things that presented the appearance of riddles and were more obscure. And after he finished the interpretation, he says to the chief cupbearer: "Only remember me when it is well with you, because I was stolen by theft from the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing evil, and they cast me into the pit of this house." And ^B not even when necessity demanded did he expose the wickedness of his brothers, but he puts forward the pretext of theft, and he does not pursue with words even those who had subjected him to the yoke of slavery, but out of an innate sense of shame he conceals their injustice: and he not only did not wish to bring forward the record of his brothers, but he did not make the wickedness of his mistress known to those who were ignorant of it; and although he was aware of such wantonness, licentiousness, falsehood, calumny, and treachery in her, he brought forward none of these things into the open, but offered only a simple defense for himself. "For," he says, "I was stolen by theft from the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing evil, and they cast me into the pit of this prison." See the wisdom of his words, see the magnanimity of his mind, see a spirit free and unterrified, see a soul always the same to itself, neither puffed up by prosperity ^C nor humbled by hardships, but laughing at all the things of this life, both the grievous and the pleasant, admiring only virtue, and striving to pursue it. What did the abominable wickedness of that mistress harm this man? What did her iniquity injure him? By no means conclude, therefore, that the iniquity of masters harms their servants. For it is possible for one who serves evil masters to escape the imitation of wickedness with all his might. But in order that you may understand that neither is masterly power a teacher of malice, nor wealth the creator of vices, observe that man himself, being already manumitted and made second to the king, who is not puffed up by the majesty of the throne, but tempers his rule with meekness, and teaches that ^D power is nothing but care. He who, I say, [did not wish even to mention his brothers' desire for] his death—

seeing them conspiring against him, yet not feeling bitter toward them—remembers the dreams, but forgets the envy that the dreams sparked. For while the famine drew his brothers into Egypt, the necessity of the situation forced them to bow down to one they did not recognize; yet the dreams, which had been fought against, received their fulfillment through the designs of those very men who had sought to thwart them. And those who sold their brother on account of his dreams, so that they might not bow down to him as the dreams had predicted, actually brought about that bowing down by the very act of selling him. ^A For, having been sold, he served, and after serving, he abhorred his mistress's intemperance; having abhorred it, he suffered false accusation; having been accused, he dwelt in prison; and having been imprisoned, he interpreted the dreams of the king's servants. From there, he became known to the king, and relieved him of the agitation caused by his dreams; having interpreted these clearly and advised what must be done, he was subsequently appointed steward of the things he had counselled. He tempers the expected barrenness of the land with the abundance of the grain, and guards the plenty as a medicine against the famine; and he becomes the provider, not only of the Egyptians, but also of his own brothers, who had exposed him to be devoured by others. Therefore, those who had envied the dreams bowed down to him in truth, and those who would not accept the bowing down as it appeared in the dreams, performed the true bowing down. And he accepts the bowing down, but does not repay his brothers in kind; rather, he feeds them, cares for them, and bestows the grain upon them for free. And finally, having seen his own brother of the same mother, and having woven the drama of the conspiracy, when he saw them contending for the boy and preferring the safety of their aged father to their own liberty, he cast off the mask of threat, and ordered everyone to depart from the courthouse, saying, "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt." And so that they might not be immediately thunderstruck by fear and suffer the destruction of a fit of apoplexy, he immediately added, saying: "And now do not be afraid, nor let it seem harsh to you; for God sent me before you for life." ^B For because he knew that they were stripped of every defense and that their tongues were bound by the consciousness of sin, he himself, having suffered those ten thousand evils, sets aside the accusation and instead provides the defense. "For God sent me before you for life, that a great people might be sustained." It is not your work, he says, but God's. Do not be grieved at my enslavement, which is a divine dispensation. Lay aside your fear; nothing difficult has resulted from this. Through slavery, I obtained the rule of all Egypt; ^C through this I hold the second place from the king, and the reins of so great a nation have been entrusted to me. Such was this man while serving and while ruling; such [was he] in both prosperous and adverse fortune; such [was he] when he was suffering and when he was faring well. Therefore, neither riches, nor command, nor poverty, nor slavery produce malice, but everywhere the choice of the mind reigns. ^D

^A That the malice of masters does not injure the virtue of servants is easy to learn from other examples as well. Who among those instructed in the sacred Scriptures is ignorant of the malice of Ahab and the impiety of Jezebel, and their madness conceived against God? And yet, ^B Obadiah, serving under these same people and having been entrusted with a certain administrative role by them, not only did not follow the footprints of his masters, but continued, in fact, on the path opposite to theirs. For they, raging against the prophets of God, had ordered all of them to be put to the sword and considered the destruction of the ministers of God a delight, contending thoroughly to extinguish the spark of piety. He, on the other hand, fought against the impious attempts of his masters and was zealous to keep the torch of piety safe, and having hidden one hundred prophets in two caves, he fed them, while in the meantime a very grievous famine of the season, which the great Elijah had brought upon the people, exacting from them the penalty for their impiety, had occupied the whole remainder of the land. ^C And yet, neither the beastly mind of his masters terrified him, nor did the slaughter of the pious strike him with fear, nor did the tyranny of the famine and the scarcity of provisions make him more parsimonious in his care for the prophets; but, detesting the cruelty of those people, he brought sufficient sustenance to these, preferring their salvation to his own safety and considering life that would have to be passed without them to be a place of death. And in those matters in which God was not in any way fought against, he rendered the due service to his masters; but regarding the laws promulgated against the universal Creator of all as laughable, he hated the authors of these, while he had pity on those who were forced to execute the commands. And since he thought that such obedience was the uttermost destruction, he deemed those whom he had been ordered to destroy worthy of salvation, judging death joined with piety to be more honorable than an impious life. Therefore, the abominable impiety of his masters in no way harmed him, but rather the malice of those same men rendered him distinguished and conspicuous to all. For nothing is firmer than a soul destined for the study of piety, nothing more robust than a soul that does not wish to serve vices. ^D But I know not what happens to me, as the virtue of excellent men pressures the discourse and forces it to extend further than is fitting. Come, then, let us draw this to a close and pass on to another example.

Sedecias was the last king of the Jews, who himself also labored under a grave disease of impiety and could not endure to hear the oracles of the divine word. This man, when the most divine Jeremiah was at that time acting as a prophet and delivering the oracles of God to men, cast him into a cistern

^A into a foul and stinking mire, because he had predicted very sorrowful and painful fates. But Abdemelech, a certain servant, an Ethiopian eunuch, not revolving in his mind the pride of the royal court, nor the impiety of the reigning king, nor the fury conceived against the prophet, nor the miserable condition of his slavery, reprimands the unjust sentence of the king, accuses the most wicked deed perpetrated against the prophet, and points out the supreme overseer of all things, and terrifies the king with the prospect of just punishment. And so the servant becomes the king's counselor; the eunuch becomes the advisor to the man, the foreigner to the native, the Ethiopian to the Israelite—he whose lineage descended from Ham, the son of Shem. And he persuades the king with pious words, and leads the prophet up out of that bitter, dark, and foul prison, and provides him with necessary sustenance for the whole time of the siege. And he receives from God the reward of his piety, the blessing; and when the city was captured and those inhabiting the palace were slaughtered, he enjoys salvation according to the divine promise. ^B

It is clear, therefore, from what has been said, that wicked masters not only do not harm good servants, but that these servants also reap great benefit from them. And this in turn may be understood from another source. For after that city was devastated on account of much iniquity, and many were destroyed by war and many were killed by famine, the king of the Chaldeans led the rest away as captives to Babylon. Then, choosing those who were born of noble lineage, who were radiant in the beauty of their bodies and flourishing in the prime of their youth, he ordered them to live inside the royal palace, destined to perform royal services. But first he ordered them to put off the exhaustion they had contracted from the siege and the journey, with a sumptuous diet, and with food and delicacies brought from the royal table. ^C Here, behold with me the nobility of those divine youths. For neither the destruction of the city, nor the burning of the divine temple, nor the desolation of the holy of holies and the most sacred places, nor the sacred vessels snatched by the hands of barbarians, nor the slaughter of kings, nor the massacre of the priests, nor being settled so far from the sanctuary, nor the pilgrimage in a foreign land, nor the lack of teachers, nor the impiety of the rulers, nor the necessity of slavery, nor the heavy yoke of the king, nor tender age, nor desire of life, nor fear of death, nor anything else of this kind persuaded them to wish to transgress in the slightest, or to break the commands of the law. But they entreat the overseer set over them to grant them food from seeds, abominating the royal feast and detesting those various luxuries of the banquet. For they saw them contaminated by the designation of idols. And they were possessed of such fortitude of mind, and likewise love and faith toward their ancestral God, that they promised their procurator that lentils would make them shine

^A brighter than those nourished on royal food. And they were not disappointed in their hope, but reaped the fruits of their faith. For they appeared, as they had promised, healthier and more robust than all who had been sumptuously feasting, and glowing with greater vitality, decorated by the strength of their bodies.

When time progressed and brought them to manhood, where they gave proof of their own virtue, those who had been taken in war were established as rulers of the locals; then another stadium was opened to them. For that arrogant man, imitating his father in the pride of his madness, set up that magnificent statue, constructed of material and gold, and ordered everyone to worship the image as God; and for those who did not wish to worship it, he decreed as punishment that furnace, which he increased to the utmost with an insatiable frenzy for fuel. ^B Then, indeed, many, wishing to gratify the king, did what was commanded; many, however, continuing what they were accustomed to do, offered this worship as they did to some other idol; there were also those who, through fear of the fire, cast away their souls, and though agitated by the stings of conscience, nonetheless transferred their divine worship to the image.

But those noble and high-minded ones—Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, I say, the pupils of the Law, the heirs of the Abrahamic faith, the athletes of piety, the precursors of grace, the champions of faith, servants in body but free in spirit, those captives, yet superior in soul to the kings themselves—not only did they not willingly worship the image, but when they were accused of not having done what was ordered, they offered no excuse whatever, but openly denied that they would worship it, and cried out with a loud voice: "There is a God in heaven whom we worship, who is able to deliver us from the furnace of burning fire, and from your hands, O king, He will deliver us. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up." ^C For we do not serve the Creator for a reward, nor do we purchase salvation through piety, nor do we desire to preserve our life at any cost, but we love the will of the Lord; if He delivers us from adversities, we give thanks, and if He permits us to fall into them, we worship. That He is able to render us superior to the punishments you threaten, we know well and do not in any way doubt; but whether He wills it, we do not know. For the abyss of divine Providence cannot be investigated. Do not hesitate, therefore, but hand us over to the prepared punishments. For to us, death joined with piety is sweeter than a life with impiety.

And these men indeed said these things; but he did not delay, but cast the bound youths into the furnace. Furthermore, the fire dissolved the iron chains, but preserved the hairs themselves, which are nevertheless easily burned, as unscathed; nor did it dare to touch the provided fuel, but fled and turned back, and attacked its own worshippers, while guarding the servants of God unharmed. And indeed

^A a new and strange spectacle came to pass, beyond all expectation. For those who were in the midst of the pile of wood and walking upon the coals felt no power of the fire at all. But those who stood outside and provided fuel for the furnace were consumed by the fire. And these, while burning and being consumed, were lamenting, while those others, singing hymns, were dancing, and were calling upon all of creation to join in their song of praise, and were bidding the elements, which were worshipped by the senseless, to praise their Benefactor. So great, however, was the power of that miracle, that the arrogant and raving tyrant himself ran to them, and worshipped those who had refused to worship the image, and sent out a decree to all his subjects to honor the God of these men.

In like manner, ^B the great Daniel, who endured the same calamity as these, although captured in war and forced to live his life among barbarians, nevertheless diligently kept the law of his fathers. Living according to it, he kept his soul pure and unadulterated, and emitted such a radiance of virtue that he struck even the savage tyrant with its glow: first, he revealed dreams that were unknown, and then he showed and advised what was necessary to do, and what was going to be useful. And why is it necessary to recount all that was gloriously accomplished by him? How the king prohibited anyone from praying and supplicating to God; how this man, whereas previously he had prayed lawfully and in secret, once the impious law was enacted, continued to pray to God openly, mocking the law and despising the lawgiver. How he was cast to the lions; how he struck even them with the rays of piety, and bound their raging mouths with the features of the divine image, ^C as if with some sort of bridle. How he drew the impious king to the contemplation of the miracle. How he taught him that the God of the Hebrews is the Creator and Lord of all. How, furthermore, he exposed the deceit of the idols. For it is permitted to learn each of these things from the histories, and to understand clearly that it is possible for those serving evil masters to contract no malice from them, but rather to arrive at the highest peak of virtue, and to free these men too from error, and lead them to the knowledge of the truth, and be set forth as an archetype of salvation to many others.

Let no one, therefore, blame servitude, nor deem that the evil authority and dominion of masters can overcome the virtue of slaves; rather, let him observe the providence of God in all things. But perhaps someone might say: For what reason did the God of all ^D hand over those who had lived in lawlessness to the king of the Babylonians, and allow the righteous also to be taken captive? What work of providence is this? What example of just judgment? What is there not

is there any disorder, confusion, or perversion in these things? ^A But those who are ignorant of the abyss of divine governance attempt to say such things. Those, however, who have been initiated and have tasted some portion of the divine mysteries know the cause and root of these matters. For that most merciful God cares for those who transgress and disciplines them, and He desires to leave no one among mortals neglected. Therefore, when He sent the wicked into captivity, He sent with them, as it were, pedagogues and teachers, men devoted to virtue, so that, being enlightened and led by a kind of lamp—namely, their life and conversation—they might in some way enter upon the straight path. And that this captivity was the cause of salvation not only for their fellow tribesmen but also enlightened the foreigners with the light of the knowledge of God, history bears abundant witness. If, therefore, they themselves shone through their struggles, became conspicuous and renowned, left behind an example of salvation for posterity, were the cause of salvation for their fellow captives, and even benefited the barbarians by carefully keeping their piety and performing great miracles through it, why do you accuse Providence for instituting these things so wisely? Why do you not rather celebrate with hymns the Steward of souls and the Governor of the world, who directs all things so wisely and fittingly? I have, therefore, demonstrated from the divine oracles that it is ^B possible for one who serves a wicked master to flee wickedness, attain virtue, and also provide such masters with many opportunities for salvation. But you, observe those who now serve as fellow servants, and you will see many who serve intemperate masters but who abhor intemperance and cultivate self-control, and who do not acquire any vice from their masters but imitate the life of those men whom we have just mentioned. And since, from both what has been said and what is seen, you have been taught of the free will of our nature and have learned the wisdom of divine Providence, sing a palinode. Convert the blasphemy which you just uttered into an anthem, and let the sounds of your tongue, which were just now produced against God, serve instead for the glory of God and sing of the providence of the Creator, of Christ our God, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

ORATION IX

If all were worthy to hear that wholesome admonition which cries out plainly: "Seek not things that are too difficult for you, and do not search out things that are higher than you; think upon those things which have been commanded you," there would truly have been no need for many words, while ^D the [providence] of God, which concerns all things,

^A should demonstrate itself. For it was very easy and quite simple for those who have been delivered from that superfluous and vain curiosity, to behold this providence taking hold of the rudders of the universe and wisely governing all things. But since many of those who are men are unwilling to see, though they are able, but even close their eyes and stop their ears, and refuse to listen to the voice that is brought from every side, and mock, blaspheme, slander, and weave together countless false accusations against each of the things that are well and beautifully done by God, ^B it is reasonable, I think, that we have taken up the argument against this accusation, wishing to demonstrate that it is a calumny and not a just charge. And having called upon Providence—which is being attacked by them—as our ally, and having set it at the head of our defense, we have already gone through eight discourses, refuting the blasphemy of the ungrateful. And we have produced at once the accusers and the witnesses of their ingratitude: the heaven, the earth, the sea, the air, and all the bodies contained within them, animate and inanimate, rational and irrational, winged and land-dwelling, swimming and amphibious. In addition to these, we have discussed the construction of human bodies, and the wisdom and providence of God that shines forth in each of the members. ^C Then that god-given gift of reason, by whose benefit the nature of mankind discovered agriculture, navigation, medicine, and the science of grammar, and all the other arts and sciences which make the life of men more pleasant. We have also demonstrated, God willing, the use of animals both tame and wild, the usefulness of wealth and poverty, and the necessity of slavery and mastership; then, in addition to these, that those who serve suffer no harm from masters who live in wickedness, if they themselves wish to be wise. And we have brought forth the demonstrations of these things from the inner shrines of the holy Scriptures; but as for those bitter accusers of Providence, we have left the examination of those who are currently in slavery. For it is possible even now to see ten thousand ^D serving wicked masters, and not only not imitating the master’s wickedness, but even utterly loathing it, embracing nobility of character, and walking a path contrary to their masters. But perhaps they will again take from this another opportunity for accusation against divine Providence, and will say that the fosterlings of virtue labor in vain, and sow upon rocks, as the saying goes, and draw water with a sieve, and do such things, enjoying no good fruits from them. For some, they say, live in poverty and, being allotted much hardship, pass through their life; others drag the heavy yoke of slavery and are subject to constant labors; and what is more grievous than all these, many who hate wickedness are compelled to serve wicked masters. What reward, therefore, do these have, he says? What are the returns for their virtue? What are the prizes for their labors? What is [the reward] for their [...]

^A toils? For it is not possible to see all those who have fallen into slavery enjoying freedom, nor do we see those who have been allotted poverty but have become diligent in virtue passing over into the company of the wealthy; rather, it is plain that most remain in that former misery. But you, O wretched and low-minded man, you measure happiness by your belly, by your cheeks, and by your eyebrows, and you deem the end of blessedness to be riding in a high chariot, having bodyguards, a splendid robe, horses trained for beauty and adorned with frontlets and breastplates, a shouting herald, a house rising to a great height, guest chambers decorated with Euboean and Thessalian stones and variegated with the art of painting, and finally couches, tables, furnishings, goblets, fragrant wines, a Sicilian and Sybaritic feast, and all other things that characterize a soft, idle, and luxurious life. ^B Yet everyone who is truly wise is accustomed to call all these things not only not happiness, but the most extreme unhappiness and misfortune. For the Ruler of all things did not give riches to mankind to this end, that they might squander them on intemperance and make them an incentive to wickedness, but so that, by administering them rightly, they might themselves enjoy the necessary things and, by bestowing from their abundance upon the needy, make them the material for temperance and justice. And not only has God, the Ruler of all, ordained these things in this way, and the divine men, following the Lord, willingly contain themselves within the boundaries set for them, but even you, who are afflicted with the most extreme ingratitude, are accustomed to blame those who use wealth so badly; and rather, you deem them worthy of pardon, ^C while you spew blasphemies against the supreme Governor of all things, as one who has granted the abundance of wealth to wicked men. Therefore, it is your own opinion too that such luxury ought by no means to be called happiness, but that the just and temperate life is worthy of praise and to be judged worthy of the highest commendation, and that whether one appears in poverty or in abundance, one must be deemed worthy of equal crowns. But I suppose that you, for your part, will crown with double wreaths those who in poverty apply themselves to virtue, as they demonstrate greater endurance.

But those who have been eager to serve God do not have this as their reward, nor do those who are intent upon the divine laws look to this recompense. For praise often harms many of mankind. It makes their alacrity more sluggish and hinders them in their course; and when someone considers that he has reached the goal of the course (for this is what praise is wont to persuade one), he ceases running ^D and misses the victory. The Lord of all things, indicating this very thing through the prophet, said: "My people, those who call you blessed lead you astray, and disturb the path of your feet" (Isa. III, 12). For with praises they dissolve intense alacrity and do not allow one to grasp the goal. And thus that blessed Paul ran, yielding his ears neither to those who praised him nor to those who reviled him.

^A Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, he pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling. Therefore, the guardians of the divine laws do not define the praise of men as the reward for their labors; rather, they await the divine promises, expecting the Umpire of their contests, awaiting the incorruptible crowns, looking for the divinely-given prizes, and awaiting the judgment of the just Judge: the resurrection of the body, the ascension into the heavens, the chorus with the angels—and before all these things, the continuous and unceasing sight of Him whom they have pursued with such great love, for whose sake they, having traversed the sea of this life, have overcome the waves of wickedness, and though swimming through many labors, have refused to be submerged, but by joining the desire for the harbor to their labors, they have sustained their weakness. ^B For those who have reached the pinnacle of virtue have for a harbor not life, nor resurrection, nor any other of the things to be desired, but the very One who is yearned for, for whose sake they deemed hardship to be luxury, and painful toil to be the sweetest sleep, and life in the desert to be more pleasant than life in cities, and life in poverty to be more brilliant than that which is passed in riches, and bitter servitude to be sweeter than any tyranny. This is the reward which the workers of virtue await. ^C "For it is an inheritance to those who serve the Lord," as the prophet Isaiah cries out. The blessed David also bears witness, weaving a hymn of thanksgiving to the Giver of good things and saying: "Thou hast given an inheritance to those who fear Thy name, O Lord." And how many such things the Master Christ Himself recounts in the holy Gospels! "Blessed," He says, "are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," and the rest of the things that follow these, which anyone who wishes may easily learn by unfolding the divine Books. For he will find these same things also in the distribution of the talents, and in the parable of the ten virgins, and in the figurative division of the sheep and the goats, and in the field sown with seed which received the tares, and in the net which those who cast it into the sea let down, though they caught the fish without distinction, and only afterward ^D separated them appropriately. But countless things of this kind may also be found in the apostolic teachings. Leaving these things, therefore, for the studious to investigate, as they would extend the discourse beyond its due measure, I proceed to the continuous matter of my oration. For it is otherwise superfluous, and most alien to my design, to discuss in further detail the reward of virtue.

^A For those who believe that God cares for all men have no need of our words, but are content with the eyes of faith and the teaching of the divinely inspired oracles. But the infidels, obsessed by the darkness of unbelief and suffering from the disease of ingratitude toward the Creator, disdain to hear the oracles of the divine Scripture. Wherefore, omitting those arguments which can be drawn from thence, let us confute them with physical reasonings.

Let us ask them, therefore, whether they consider temperance and justice, and the other parts of virtue, to be good and the causes of good things, or whether they count them among the vices? But not even the father of vice himself would ever dare to say this. For with what face would he say so, who daily opposes the practitioners of these virtues, and always opposes intemperance to temperance, and injustice to justice? It is necessary, therefore, that they themselves confess the same as their master, and not attempt to surpass in malice the one who begat it. For the disciple is not above his master, according to the voice of the Lord. ^B

Let us ask them again, therefore: If these things are honorable, and the most honorable of honorable things, and good, and the best of all good things—and no one, unless he is raving mad and devoid of reason, would contradict that this is so—then it is surely fitting that those who cultivate them should be called honorable and good, and that they should have a fruit not only equal to their labors, but also much more abundant. For how would it not seem absurd for a farmer who commits seeds to the earth to bring back a manifold yield of fruits from thence, and likewise for a gardener who plants trees to have the fruits that are produced as a source of consolation, while those who are devoted to virtue and are the cultivators of this divine paradise, and who contribute much sweat, very many labors, and diligent care to these plants, should alone undergo fruitless labor and endure their sweat lacking its reward? And that those who exercise either their body or their voice in singing should enjoy crowns, and receive prizes, and be adorned with the applause of the spectators, ^C but that virtue should appear less honored than the art of athletics and boxing; and that this greatest of all contests should have neither spectators, nor a president to appoint the prizes, nor honor, nor prize, nor crown? Yet the actors of tragedies and comedies have that for the sake of which they practice their art, and they endure labors in the hope of crowns; and then the charioteers of the races boldly undergo dangers while they hope for victory and await the praise of the spectators, and at the same time receive a reward from the horse-breeders. But even the pilot, looking toward the harbors, dares to brave the waves, waiting for [the prize of his labors. And the helmsman, looking to the harbors, dares the waves,]

and being refreshed by the desire for gain, he bears the onslaughts of the storms. Moreover, the cobbler, and the coppersmith, and everyone practicing some craft, looks forward to the end of their toils, and by yoking together the hope of benefit with the suffering involved in their craft, they have a pleasure mingled with their sweat. ^A Shall we then assume, as it seems, that the possession of virtue—whether one wishes to call it a craft, or a science for contests and struggles, or agriculture and planting (for all these names can fit it)—has no good end that is able to provide refreshment during the time of toils? But do the temperate struggle in vain, and do they fight against many and various passions, striving to extinguish the fire of these? And do the workers of justice strive in vain against injustice, abstaining from the things of others and giving away their own? Is the acquisition of fortitude useless to those who pursue it? For though they nobly bear the painful things that befall them, do they have no umpire? ^B But these things are not so, they are not. For the possession of virtue is admirable and worthy of acquisition. And this you too would say, driven by the necessity of conscience. For this knowledge is innate in men, and no one of those who have attained this possession has need of lessons brought in from elsewhere, whether borne from God or offered by men; for the innate reason is sufficient for the teaching of these things. The workers of vice themselves testify to this, both practicing it in secret, and, if they are caught, contriving excuses for themselves. For indeed, wall-breakers, and grave-robbers, and thieves, and adulterers, and murderers, and those who dare to practice things akin to these, having used darkness as an accomplice, attempt to do these things. But if anyone should try to do any of these things during the day, he takes solitude as his ally among men. Therefore, in that they try to hide, they show what discernment they have regarding the things that are done. For they would not have hidden if they had assumed that they were doing good things; but by trying to hide, and fearing to be caught, they confess that the things being done are evil. Therefore you too, O most ungrateful men, know that the possession of virtue is good, and that it has very many toils joined to it. It is fitting, therefore, that what is praised by all—both by friends and by adversaries—and what is enjoyed not without many toils, should have worthy rewards. ^C But we see in this present life that many pursue it, and many endure toils for its sake, yet not all enjoy any praise and honor because of it; but some, as lovers of it, are heralded on the tongues of all and become notorious, and after death leave behind an indelible glory for themselves; while others remain completely unknown and hidden, looking like a pearl still concealed in the deep, and shut up in an oyster. ^D Wherefore, since we see these things, let us consider within ourselves for what reason, of those who value divine things, some are indeed very famous, while others are

^A entirely obscure. Then let us reflect that, since the Creator and Judge of all is just, He will justly assign the prizes to His own athletes, and the scales of the Just One will not suffer justice to be perverted. Then, too, when we see both these and those having completed their lives, some with great glory and others very meanly, like mere ordinary men, let us consider again that He has prepared another life in which He rewards according to their desert those who have lived well. For by the fact that He has honored some with glory, He wished to manifest that crowns are laid up for virtue; but by not rendering all in this life clear and illustrious, He reveals that future life. Indeed, the honor shown to some becomes a sign of divine justice; but the fact that not all who are zealous in the same works receive equal rewards here intimates the future life and confirms the hope of those things which are expected. For this reason, the Sovereign of all does not proclaim all who have lived well and honorably in this age, nor does He punish all who have lived with wickedness in the same way; but some He delivers to punishment, both demonstrating the justice of judgment and by these things terrifying the rest, and calling them to repentance. But ^B by not destroying all who work evils, He again signifies to us the future life. But if there is no other life after the departure from here, then those who have been chastised here have suffered injustice, while the others have escaped justice; and those who embrace the pursuit of philosophy have most clearly suffered injustice, since they enjoy no reward or honor from it, while others, having accomplished similar things in life, have passed through life in great glory. But to name the Fountain of justice unjust surpasses every blasphemy and exceeds every type of madness. If He is just—as He truly is—the supreme Inspector of all, who sees the things that are done and judges justly, and holds the balance of justice, and if He should wish to incline it in any way, He adds a vote of loving-kindness, but not of injustice; there is another life in which both those who have escaped punishment here will pay the deserved penalties, and those who have received no honor in the present life for the labors of virtue will receive the recompenses for their toils. But perhaps you also will agree. For even the Greeks, though they had not received prophet, apostle, or evangelist as a herald, and were led by nature alone, perceived that things are in this way, even if they were detained by much error ^C while they mixed myths with their true opinions; since both poets and philosophers believed that there would be punishments for wicked men and honors for righteous men after the departure from this life, and they handed this down and left the doctrine committed to writing for the memory of posterity. So it is fitting that you too, being persuaded and taught by the reasonings of nature, and also moved by the things we have just said, should concur with our opinion, and that you should hold these things to be so.

^B But that one should suspect only the souls will receive rest or punishment, while the body is thrown away as something thoroughly useless and irrational to be delivered to corruption—how could this be reasonable? For after the soul has struggled together with the body and been victorious, would it be reasonable that it alone be crowned, or, deprived of the body, it alone be delivered to punishment? For the one under punishment might reasonably say to the Judge: "Not alone, O Master, have I transgressed thy laws, but together with the body I have been cast upon the rocks of wickedness; or rather, to speak the truth, it has dragged me into the pit of sin. Enticed by its eyes, I have plundered the marriage beds of others; I have eagerly sought a beauty belonging to another; I have coveted wealth and money, because it forced me to look upon these things. From this I have fallen into the abyss of injustice; for its affections have subjected me to servitude and taken away the freedom thou didst give me. For I was compelled to serve it as a kinsman and fellow-slave, and to minister to its needs. The belly drove me to gluttony, and gluttony induced voracity, and voracity gave birth in me to the thoughts of injustice. Often, unwilling and bearing it with difficulty, I yielded to the necessities of the flesh, and anxious and grieving greatly, I was compelled to serve its concupiscences. And often, indeed, I resisted and bravely beat back its impulses; but the persistence of the war often overcame me, and I was taken, miserable as I am, obeying my sister ^C and vexing her in this. For I received the pain again, and while nourishing it, I was being ensnared; for I received the goads from it again, and I did not know what to do; for the wretchedness of this caused me great grief, and the remedy made the battle more violent and fanned the struggle. Do not therefore, O Master, deliver me alone to punishment, but either free me along with it from these difficulties, or deliver it with me to the punishment." And the body, too, which has rightly served the counsels of the soul, might in like manner say to the just Judge, if it had some use of voice: "As soon as thou didst create me, O Master, thou didst breathe in the soul. But if it is necessary to argue the whole path of nature from the beginning, I was created first, and then thou didst bestow upon me the vital power of the soul. Together with it I was a partner in the life spent in paradise. We passed the same time of conception in the womb together. Together we issued forth into this life when the pangs of labor were loosed, ^D and participated in the splendor of this light...

^A and drew the need of air; in common we traversed life. It never performed any good thing by itself, but using me, the flesh, as a fellow worker, it gathered the wealth of virtue. I, having received the wasting away that comes from fasting, vigils, and sleeping on the ground, and of all other hardship, gathered for it the wealth that comes from these. I provided tears for it as it prayed; I offered my heart to it to labor in the service of the Spirit, when it was hastening to groan. Through my tongue it ceased not to hymn Thee; using my lips as instruments, it offered up requests to Thee; stretching my hands into heaven, it harvested the fruits of Thy philanthropy; carried upon my feet, it ran to Thy holy shrines. I provided it with hearing for the reception of Thy oracles; using my eyes, beholding the sun and the moon, and the ^B choir of the stars, and heaven, and earth, and sea, and all the visible creation, it was led toward the contemplation of Thee, and from the greatness and the beauty of the things seen, it imagined Thee, the Creator. Through my eyes, it plundered the treasure hidden in the Scriptures. Using my fingers as instruments, it engraved Thy divine teachings in letters, and left behind an immortal memory of them. Through my hands, which erected houses of prayer throughout the whole world, it used my cooperation to fulfill the laws of charity; with my hands it washed the feet of the saints; with my hands it succored the necessity of the afflicted, and cherished sick bodies with care. Do not, therefore, O Master, separate me from my yoke-fellow joined to me from above, nor dissolve the union, which was not formed simply or rashly, but was decreed from above by Thy creation; but grant one and the same crown to those who have ^C traversed the same danger. For this is proper to Thy equity; this befits Thy just judgment. These things, I say, the body also would say—which provided useful labor in the struggles for the soul—if it were to receive any use of a voice. But neither will the body say these things, nor that other soul which has served iniquity. For the Judge has no need of such supplication; but just as He rules wisely, so He judges justly; and when He restores bodies to souls, He likewise apportends according to the dignity of each. For how would it not be absurd, if a very brave soldier, who has brought back victory from the battle line, and to whom the honor of a statue has been paid by his own kin, should be either painted, or molded, or sculpted—whether stone, or bronze, or wood be the material of the image—with that armor with which he put the enemies to flight; and if he conquered with a bow, to be represented with a bow, and if ^D indeed with a spear, and helmet, and shield, to be sculpted again with these same weapons; but the soul, which accomplished the struggle while the body helped it, and brought back victory by overcoming invisible enemies, and which has for its painter the universal Creator of all, should stand naked and despoiled of all armor? Nor do we see only the leader of an army honored in this way, but also the athlete, and the boxer, and the runner, and the actor of tragedies, and the charioteer holding the reins of the chariot. For each of these is exhibited in statues in the habit in which they conquered. And this one indeed stands with cothurns and imperial chlamys, bearing the character of someone like Oenomaus or Creon, saying to all all but this: that he acted the characters of these, and with these having attained the prize of victory

Another runs naked, teaching the type of contest; another seems to struggle, or holds the crown, and teaches those who do not know what kind of contest he has fought; another boxes and strikes his opponent; another shows by his posture and his whip what art he was pursuing when he won the victory. ^B Do not, therefore, deem the nature ^C through which each of these things is accomplished more dishonorable than these things themselves; nor assume that God, who is the fountain of justice, is more unjust than men; nor suspect that He honors His own victors in the manner of men. For if men, who often do not value justice and equity, but rather even neglect them entirely, are accustomed to honor the victors of such base and useless contests in this way, how much more will the Lawgiver and Agonothetes of this virtue honor and crown these illustrious and great athletes of virtue, and overcome justice itself with the magnificence of His gifts! But I know whence you have drifted into this blasphemy: for from your own ^D weakness you infer the divine, and you make your own weakness the limit of divine power, and you think that things that are utterly impossible for you are likewise impossible for God. But these things are not so; they are not. For the clay cannot do the same thing as the potter, and yet both exist of the same nature; for both this and that are from the earth. And the man who is conversing with Job is a witness, saying: “Thou art fashioned of the same clay as I.” Yet, although the clay and the potter are of one nature, it is not possible to find equal power in both. For the one moves, but the clay is moved; and the one fashions, but the other is fashioned; the one steeps, and the other is steeped; the one forms, and the other is formed, and it changes into whatever shape the potter wishes. If, however, where the nature is one and the same, the power is not equal, how much more where the nature is different will the power also be different? But indeed, it is not even possible to compare things that are incomparable. For how could that which was made from nothing be compared with that which has always been? That which had a beginning in time with that which is eternal? That which was made from clay with the Creator of heaven and earth?

Do not, therefore, ^D consider things that are utterly impossible for you to be impossible for God as well. For all things are possible and very easy for that nature. Therefore, God is able to gather together the nature of the body that has once flowed away into corrupt matter, and then become dust, and been scattered everywhere—in rivers, in seas, in birds, in wild beasts, in fire, in water (for I am bringing forth all the suggestions of your unbelief into the midst)—and you

should desire to gather them together again, and to restore them to their former magnitude and form. For He only willed it, and the heaven was made; and it was arched as much as He willed. He willed it, and the earth was spread out, and hangs there, having as its foundation nothing else but the limit prescribed by God. ^A “He said, and light was made.” He commanded, and the nature of the waters was brought forth; He gave the order, and it was separated from the earth; He nodded, and the earth was adorned with meadows, and groves, and fields of every kind; He said, and infinite species of animals were brought forth, terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial. He who made these things by His word, much more easily raises up the nature of the body from these; for it is much easier to renew that which has been consumed by age than to create things that are not out of nothing without matter.

But if you disbelieve this, Paul, the great teacher of the world, will say to you: ^B “Fool, that which you sow is not quickened unless it die.” And that which you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or some of the others; but God gives it a body as He willed. If, however, you think the teaching of this also to be some delirium or fable, behold, accept nature herself, who teaches and proclaims the resurrection. For the farmer first cuts the furrows, and digs as it were certain graves, then he casts in the seeds, and as if delivering bodies to burial, he covers them; and he can do ^C nothing more than these things, except that if he has an abundance of water, he can only provide that. But God, whether He rains from heaven or provides from fountains and rivers water for the seeds—then, by irrigating and moistening them, and by decomposition, as it were, resolving them like human bodies, He makes them indeed useless for men to eat henceforth, but most useful for the bodies that are to be produced from them. For when they have received the moisture, and have expanded and putrefied, they bring forth fibers of roots, by which they apprehend the earth nearest to them; then they draw the moisture from this through the roots, as if through certain pipes, toward themselves, and bring forth the herb growing upward; and they are nourished in the way we have mentioned, and send the stalk up to height, and bring forth the ear, containing in itself the fruit, and surrounded by the beards as by certain spearmen. ^D Do not, therefore, persist in denying the resurrection, when you daily see the examples of the resurrection and continually hear its proclamations.

Furthermore, that you may conceive a firm faith concerning the resurrection, return again with me to the history of plants, and examine the shoots of vines, or the slips torn from trees, or the offshoots born from the roots; for they undergo, as it were, death by amputation; but when they are buried, they are committed, as it were, to burial; then, covered by the earth and putrefied, by the will of God they send their roots downward, and

shoot forth sprouts upward, and thrive, and lift themselves to a height, and grow heavy with fruit, and the things that are born appear more beautiful than the buried vines.

But why speak of vines, and trees, and seeds? Come to the workshop of your own nature. Look at the material of your formation, how ^A vile it is, and small, and differing little from mucus. Nevertheless, this so vile and small thing, which is also inanimate, lacking spirit and sense, becomes a man by the nod of God. And although it has one and the same form, it is transformed into infinite variations: some parts are shell-like and resistant, others yielding and soft; some porous and full of holes, others thick and dense; some thick and smooth, others thin, reticulated, and membranous; some pipe-like and hollow, others solid and devoid of any cavity. And indeed, we see that from that small matter are born the vessels of blood, the conduits of breath, the solid ligaments, the softness of the flesh, the hardness of the bones, ^B the brightness of the eyes, the purity of the pupil, the smoothness of the cheeks, the fineness of the hairs, and countless other things that the human race possesses. Many indeed of those skilled in such matters have attempted to explain their use and function, but being vanquished by the wisdom of the Creator, they ended their discourse in a hymn—and these were not even from our own fold, but were of the number of the sheep wandering outside. Nevertheless, grazing in these pleasant pastures, moved and taught by nature alone, they celebrated the Shepherd, Governor, and Creator of all to the best of their ability.

But you, besides nature, have also the Law as your teacher, and the prophets who instruct in divine things, and the choir of the apostles who teach about present things and proclaim the future—receive from every side the gift of salvation offered to you. The very nature of the embryo ^C alone, and the first formation of men in the womb, can teach you with sufficient demonstration the resurrection of the bodies that lie in the grave. Believe that the earth is the maternal womb, the tomb the matrix, and the seed simply that very small and downy trifle of the body's remains—that which is altogether obscure to all men, but is seen by God, and that eye escapes no one. "For in his hand are the ends of the earth." And, "He measured the waters with his hand, and the heaven with a span, and the whole earth with his fist." And it is easy for him to see what is in his hand. For it is very easy for you too: even if you wish to mix together millet and lentils, and ^D wheat and barley, you can easily discern them again;

y for him to see what is in his hand. For it is very easy for you too: even if you wish to mix together millet and lentils, and wheat and barley, you can easily discern them again; ^A for if the ends of the earth are in the hand of God, it is most easy for him to render even those things that are utterly commingled distinct. Believe, therefore, that the grave is the womb, the remains lying there are the seed, the Creator is the Creator, the final day of life is the birth pangs, and the terrible voice of the archangel is [the delivery]. For the trumpet shall sound, he says, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. Then the account for the things we have done in life will be demanded of us; then we shall render an account of the things we have done well or ill; then the hidden thoughts of our mind shall be made manifest to all. Then shall we all ^B be set before the tribunal of Christ, that each one may receive according to what he has done through the body, whether good or evil. Fearing these things, O men, put away your hostile spirits against Providence; flee this wicked hatred; abstain from blasphemy that is devoid of any excuse. Pledge friendship to the Creator, so that he may govern us as friends, and not, as enemies, cast us out of the vessel. Celebrate with praises the rudders of Providence, that governed by them, you may escape the waves of the present life, and attain those tranquil and safe harbors, in Christ Jesus our Lord, for to him is fitting all glory forever. Amen.

ORATION X. That God from the beginning cared not only for the Jews, but also for all mankind: and concerning the incarnation of the Savior.

The sea of divine wisdom and Providence is, I know clearly, ^C unfathomable. I remember also the most holy Prophet crying out: "Thy judgments are a great abyss." I remember also that great herald of truth, the divine Paul, who uttered this cry once again: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" We do not, however, recklessly attempt those things which cannot be penetrated, but we admire the divine things to the best of our ability, and we praise them as much as can be perceived by the powers of our intellect. For we know that those who attempt to gaze upon the sun more than they ought, neither perceive the things they desire, but even impair their sight, and not only draw no light from it, but gather darkness for themselves. ^D It is easy to see that the human mind undergoes this same thing. For a man, seduced by folly, desires to scrutinize what it is that sustains the earth, and what again is its foundation, and upon what that same thing in turn is carried, or what are the things that are above the heavens, or what are the things outside the entire world, and he not only finds nothing of what he seeks, but also

returns filled with great darkness and ^B doubt. Understanding such to be the infirmity of the mind, the blessed Paul exhorts us, saying: "If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he does not yet know anything as he ought to know." And again: "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when the perfect comes, that which is in part will be abolished." And elsewhere: "Now I see as in a mirror and in a riddle, but then face to face: now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also have been known." And again: "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I abolished the things that were of a child." The divine man recounts all these things, wishing to persuade everyone both to curb the insatiable desire of the mind, so it does not attack impossible things, and to await the accurate understanding of things in the life to come. For this reason, he calls the knowledge currently given to us "childish." And comparing it to the legal teaching, he calls it perfect, but comparing it to the impassible and immortal life, he calls it "infantile." And this is truly an argument for divine Providence. For He who wisely administers all things, knowing the swelling of our arrogance, did not give even to the saints the accurate knowledge of divine things. For knowledge, as it seemed to blessed Paul and to the truth, puffs up. But He has proposed it as the prize of virtue so that, after we have struggled well in the present life, and have stripped off our passions entirely, and have put on a body ^C free from corruption and passions, then we may also receive perfect knowledge: receiving no damage in the future—inasmuch as we are liberated from passions and placed outside the danger of battle. Let us not, therefore, attempt to penetrate those things to which one cannot attain; but let us embrace those things which we have received, and as we are able, let us hymn our good Master, and with those things which we have, let us exalt our Benefactor with praises. Do we see men who are workers of virtue living in glory and honor and care? Let us worship the legislator of virtue and the judge of the contest, who proclaims it rightly and justly. Do we see others occupied with the same zeal for life, who yet do not receive the same rewards from people? Let us not be vexed, O friend, but let us believe that they indeed are struggling well the contest of patience, for this reason, however, that they are to be celebrated only in the future age, as we have explained ^D in the preceding discourse. And let us not shoot blasphemous words against Providence. For it is absurd, and comes from much

foolishness—or rather, from the utmost madness ^A — that those who navigate through waves and are pummeled by storms, and who spend their lives in deep distress, should praise the pilot, while those who are beyond the range of arrows (as the proverb says), having been positioned as spectators rather than contestants, should assail the president of the games with blasphemous words, since they cannot do so with deeds. But the foster-children of piety, not only when they are carried by favorable winds, but even when they struggle against waves and storms, praise the God of all. We may hear the blessed ^B David exclaiming this, a man who spent his whole life in wars and struggled against countless misfortunes: "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?" (Ps. CXVII, 20). One may also hear the divine Daniel and those holy young men, who in the very assault of those dangers praised God, and brought to mind the sins of which they were not the doers, and confessed that they were paying the penalty for the things wherein they had transgressed, not calling themselves worthy of crowns, nor complaining of the scales of justice. Great Abraham the patriarch, who had received those promises from God, ^C when pressed by famine, bore the assault of the famine with a noble spirit. Twice deprived of his wife, and seeing her among barbarian men, he nevertheless persevered in giving thanks to him who had called him, and awaiting the end of the promises, he gladly sailed over the waves. And what speech could equal his magnanimity? And who could admire his supreme philosophy as it deserves? Leaving the reading of the history to those who are fond of learning, so that they may accurately understand his courage, his endurance, his temperance, his justice, his endurance of labors, his love for God, and in short, the height of his virtue, I shall turn my discourse to the men of the New Testament. ^D Look, then, upon Peter and John, the towers of piety, the pillars of truth, who were shoring up the edifice of the Church, being scourged by the Jews, yet rejoicing and glad, "that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ" (Act. V, 41). For he who wrote these things, when he had said that they were beaten with rods, did not say that they had patiently and bravely endured the stripes, but that they had departed rejoicing and exulting. And yet, there is a great difference between rejoicing and enduring. For one often endures the onset of adverse things, but while grieving and sad. But he who rejoices proclaims the comfort of his soul. Thus also the blessed Paul, that greatest trumpet of the preaching, cried out: "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake" (II Cor. XII, 10). He did not say, I endure,

or I suffer patiently, but "I take pleasure," which signifies a great intensification of delight. And elsewhere he says: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for Christ" (Coloss. I, 24). And again: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. VIII, 18). And again: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" (Rom. VIII, 35). And a little later: "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. VIII, 38). But the day would fail me if I wished to collect all ^B the sayings of that great trainer of the athletes of piety. If, therefore, those who have obtained every kind of virtue and have reached its highest peak not only do not resent the storm of this life—which is a sea—but even when the heat rises, when the winds and storms dash against them, and the whirlwind churns the deep, they continue to rejoice as if they were being carried along by favorable winds, and their only concern was not to investigate too curiously what was happening, but to celebrate the Governor with worthy praises; why is it that you, being outside the waves and being land-dwellers rather than sea-farers, criticize what happens, and praise the combatants, but blame the judge of the contest? And yet, it is fitting that those who admire the virtue of the athletes should also embrace their judgment. For they received as the ^C greatest benefit the misery that had to be undergone for the sake of the proclamation of the Word: the slaughters, the stonings, the burnings, the stripes, the revilings, the prisons, the dangers—those on land, those at sea, those in cities, those in the fields, those from kinsmen, and those from strangers.

Since we have diverged into these topics, come, let us also say a few words about the incarnation of our Savior, which is indeed the greatest head of God's care for men. For neither the heaven, nor the earth, nor the sea, nor the air, nor the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor that whole visible and invisible creation, which was created by a word alone, or rather, was brought forth by the Word according ^D to His will, demonstrates His immeasurable goodness as does the fact that He, the only-begotten Son of God (who was in the form of God, the splendor of glory, the character of the substance, who was in the beginning, and was with God, and was indeed Himself God, through whom all things were made), assumed the form of a servant, in order that in the likeness of man

and to be found in fashion as a man, to be seen upon ^A the earth, to converse with men, to take upon Himself our infirmities, and to bear our diseases. And blessed Paul also recognized this as the greatest proof of God's love toward men, and he cries out, saying: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." And again: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" The divine John also agrees that these things are so: "For God," he says, "so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." He does not, therefore, merely care for men, but cares for them as one who loves them. Such is the excellence of this love, that He determined to appoint as our Physician and Savior the only begotten Son, consubstantial with Him, begotten from the womb before the morning star—He whom He used as a fellow-worker in creating the world—and through Him to bestow upon us the gift of adoption as sons of God. ^B

For when the Creator saw our nature voluntarily deserting to a bitter tyrant, and falling into the very pit of wickedness, and at the same time boldly violating the laws of nature—and saw that this visible creation, in speaking and proclaiming its Creator, was unable to persuade those who had fallen into extreme indifference—He worked out our salvation both wisely and justly. For He did not desire to bestow freedom upon us by power alone, nor did He wish to arm mercy alone against the adversary of the human race, lest he should call this mercy unjust; instead, He fashioned a way full of love and beautifully adorned with justice. For by uniting the defeated nature to Himself, He guides it into the struggle, and prepares it to retrieve its defeat, to overcome the one who had formerly won a wicked victory, and to dissolve the tyranny of the one who had subjected us to bitter servitude, ^C and to recover its former freedom. On this account, the Lord Christ is born of a woman just as we are; however, this birth had something more and unique, namely, virginity. For she who conceived and brought forth the Lord Christ was a virgin. But when you hear "Christ," understand the only begotten Son of God, the Word born of the Father before the ages, clothed with human nature, and do not consider this dispensation which is proclaimed to be a squalor of God; for nothing can pollute that most pure nature. For if the sun, which is a body (for it is visible and subject to corruption), passes through dead corpses and foul-smelling mud, and through many other ^D filthy things...

things that emit a bad odor, it ^A is not in the least empowered to be defiled; much more can the Creator of the sun and the Maker of all things—the incorporeal, the invisible, the unchangeable, He who is always the same—not be defiled by any such things. And that these things are so, let us understand in this way. We say and believe that His nature is infinite. For I heard Him who says: "Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." And: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool." And: "Who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with a handful?" and whatever other such testimonies there are. And the blessed David cried out: "In his hand are the ends of the earth." And the divine Paul: "For in him we live and move and have our being." If, therefore, we live and move and have our being in Him, according to the voice of the Apostle, no part of creation is bereft of God. But within creation, some things are holy and others profane; some things are full of good fragrance, while others abound in stench. And among men, some are adorned with piety, while others are engulfed in profane impiety. But He who fills all things "is well pleased with those who fear him, but hates all who work iniquity, and will destroy all who speak a lie, and the Lord detests the man of blood and deceit, and the evildoer does not dwell with him." ^B Nothing, therefore, harms Him who is immortal. For if those who practice the medical art do not themselves receive wounds while they heal wounds, but rather procure good health for the infirm, and derive no harm from it, how much more does God, that supreme artisan, who possesses a nature impassible and superior to all change, and who admits of no alteration, contract absolutely no stain from our healing while He provides us a remedy. Let us, therefore, admire Him, who did not entrust our healing to angels, but Himself undertook the healing of men.

In this way, therefore, the Lord Christ, having been born, draws the maternal breast similarly to us, but is placed in a manger, the table of brute animals, both accusing the brutish and irrational nature of men and manifesting His own love for mankind; because, being the Nourisher as God, He becomes food according to His humanity ^C for men who were suffering from great irrationality. But now that human nature has cast off its irrationality and taken up the use of reason, the mystical table receives it, becoming a type of that manger and teaching men that, "When man was in honor, he did not understand, but he was compared to the senseless beasts and became like unto them." Manger, that divine... ^D

it received that divine and spiritual food. But after nature returned to itself and clearly recognized that the divine image resided within it, then afterward that food passed onto the rational table. He also accepted circumcision and offered sacrifices; for He was man, and it was necessary that nature should yield the victory to the observance of the Law. Then, as a man, He fled into Egypt, ^A He who is present everywhere as God and stands by all, as the divine Scripture says. He came, moreover, to John the Baptist, who had not received the stains of sin, yet He suffers Himself to be baptized, that He might fulfill all righteousness. And He is proclaimed from heaven by the Father, and pointed out by the Holy Spirit. For the Father cried out from above: «This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.» But the Holy Spirit, appearing in the form of a dove, drew the voice to Himself, and taught those standing by who He was who had received the testimony from the Father. Hence He proceeds to the struggles against the tyrant: the desert becomes the stadium of the contests, the hosts of angels the spectators, and the adversary the one who is the adversary of truth; who, having heard the voice at first and having remembered the prophetic oracles, feared the battle; and although he could not endure the radiance of His virtue itself, yet he was compelled to fight against Him, ^B though he feared the contest, mindful of that voice. But the creator of our nature, and its champion, crown-giver, and judge of the games, does not fear the antagonist, nor does He drive away the beast, but gives him confidence and incites him to the struggle, that He might take away his former victory. And He allows the body, which had fasted for the space of forty days, to feel hunger; yet He does not suffer it to exceed the limit of those who had fasted in times past, so that His true humanity might be believed. The wretched enemy saw the hunger and hoped for victory, and confidently attacked the battle. And he thought he was seeing Adam, ^C when he perceived the suffering of hunger. Truly he approached as if to Adam, but he found the Creator of Adam clothed in the nature of Adam, and he said to Him: «If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.» And he brings into the midst the confirmation of the voice brought down from heaven, but he requests that it be confirmed by the making of bread. From this it is possible to learn accurately how that enemy seizes from us ourselves the occasion for error. For having observed hunger, he casts his missiles from it as if from a high place. But our Savior, although His body was hungry and in need of food, does not wish to work a miracle. But He attacks the tyrant with the word of Scripture, and says: «Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds through the mouth of God.» ^D And as man He gave the answer, and hiding His divinity for a time, He procured victory for men in a like manner. For, He says, not only is bread the sustainer of life for man, but every word from God

suffices to provide life for hungry men. ^A We believe, therefore, that God willing, human nature can preserve life even without bread. When He had in this way dissolved the machinations of the adversary, and demonstrated that his second and third assault were vain, and having used demonstrations as a man, in order to recover the victory lost to men, He put that harmful enemy to flight and stripped the common destroyer of men of his tyranny; He is proclaimed victor by the angels, who had been spectators of the victory. "For drawing near," Scripture says, "the angels were ministering to Him" (Matt. iv, 11).

From that point, He performed myriad miracles. He made wine from water without vines or soil; with five loaves He fed many thousands; by His word He rendered the lame swift-footed, cleansed the leprosy of lepers, made languid hands agile, and restored the full sense of sight to eyes that had been deprived of it. Opening the tomb, He made the dead man—who was already bound in wrappings and putrid—run, escaping the hands of death and hastening toward the Creator who called him, hindered neither by the gates of death nor by its bonds. Having performed these and countless other works, He is envied by the Jews, but He voluntarily sustains their treachery, foreseeing the salvation that would come to men from this. And He had predicted these things long before through the prophet: ^B "And I," He says, "am not disobedient, nor do I gainsay; but I gave my back to the scourging, and my cheeks to blows, and I did not turn away my face from the shame of spitting" (Isa. l, 5, 6). Having predicted these things, and having suffered them, He is nailed to the cross, not paying the penalty for sins (for "He did no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth" [Isa. liii, 9; 1 Pet. ii, 22]), but paying the debt of our nature. For it was this nature which, having transgressed, owed the laws of the Creator. And because it was unable to pay the debt by which it was held, the Lord Himself wisely contrives the payment of that debt: taking human members as if they were currency or wealth, and disposing of them wisely and justly, ^C He satisfies the debt and frees our nature. Witnesses to these things are Isaiah and Paul—the one having prophesied these things before the passion, the other having interpreted the prophecy after the event; but the same Spirit spoke in both. Isaiah indeed cries out from afar: "A man in a stroke of affliction, and knowing how to bear infirmity" (Isa. liii, 3). For he gives Him that name from what he had seen, inasmuch as what he beheld, He was suffering. "He," he says, "bears our infirmities and is deeply affected for us in our pains; and we thought Him to be in labor and in a stroke from God, and in affliction" (Isa. liii, 4). For those who saw Him fixed to the wood thought that He was being punished for many sins and paying the penalty for His own crimes. ^D Therefore [He was counted] in the midst of two evildoers.

wishing to create a wicked reputation for Him. But the Holy Spirit teaches through the prophet that He was wounded for our sins and has become weak for our iniquities. And He shows this more clearly by what follows: "For the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; by His stripe we were healed." For we were enemies of God, as we had offended Him, and we owed chastisement and punishment. But we have not experienced this, for our Savior endured it Himself; and by enduring it, He bestowed upon us peace with God. And what follows shows this more clearly: "For all we," he says, "like sheep have gone astray; everyone has gone astray in his own way. Therefore He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb." ^B For it was fitting for Him to heal like by like, and through the sheep to recall the error of the sheep. He becomes a sheep, not by being transformed into a sheep, nor by undergoing any conversion, nor by failing of His own substance, but by most clearly clothing Himself in the nature of the sheep, and becoming, as the ram that leads the flock, the bellwether of the flock, and preparing all the sheep to follow Him. As a sheep, therefore, He became also a sacrificial victim, and was offered as a sacrifice for the whole race. And the prophet did not mention both the slaughter and the shearing without cause. ^C But since He was God and man, and the divine nature remained impassible while the body was being slaughtered, the inspired Isaiah necessarily demonstrated to us both the slaughter of the sheep and the shearing of the lamb. For not only, he says, was He slaughtered, but He was also shorn. For according to His humanity He endured death, but as God living and remaining impassible, He gave the wool of His body to the shearers. Thus the blessed Isaiah also pointed out these saving passions to us and taught the causes of the passions. And the most divine Paul cries out directly: ^D "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." By saying "for us," he showed that since He was blameless and free from all sin, He paid our debt, and judged us worthy of freedom, even though we were weighed down by countless debts and on that account compelled to be slaves—redeeming us and depositing His own blood as the price. Therefore the same [apostle] cries out elsewhere: "We were bought with a price." And again: "The weak brother will perish in your knowledge, for whom Christ has died." For this reason He also endured the death of the cross, since this type of death was a curse according to the law; at the same time, our nature was cursed as having transgressed the law.

^A “For cursed is everyone,” he says, “who does not remain in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” For this reason He takes upon Himself the common curse, and dissolves it by an unjust slaughter. For as He was not subject to the curse (for He did no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth), yet He endured the death of sinners, and pleads His case against the enemy, the common foe of our nature, having become the champion and advocate of our nature at once, and says with good reason to our bitter tyrant: “You are caught, O most wicked one, and have been snared in your own nets; and your sword has entered into your own heart, and your bows have been broken; you dug a pit and fell into it; the snares you spread have bound your own hands. Tell me, why did you nail my body to the cross and consign it to death? What kind of sin did you discern in me? What violation of the law did you perceive? ^B Search now at least more diligently, beholding this body naked upon the wood. Look at a tongue free from all defilement; and ears free from all injury; look also at eyes that have received no corruption from without; and hands indeed most foreign to injustice, but adorned with every righteousness; and feet that did not run to evil—to use prophetic language—but that traversed the course of virtue. Examine most carefully all the parts of the body; examine the movements of the soul; if but the smallest transgression is found, you hold me well and most justly; for death is the penalty for those who have sinned. But if you find nothing of those things which the divine law forbids, but rather everything that it enjoins, I shall not allow you to hold that which it is impious to hold. ^C Rather, I shall open the prison of death to all others, but I shall shut you in alone, as one who has transgressed the divine decree. For the divine decree handed over those who sinned to death, but you gave over even the one innocent of sin to the bonds of death; and your own insatiability has become the cause of your ultimate cruelty. Having taken one unjustly, you are justly stripped of all those you held in subjection; and having eaten food not to be eaten, you will vomit up all that you had already swallowed, and you shall teach all to be content with what they have, and to abstain from what does not belong to them. Remember the reason for which the progenitor of the human race, Adam, was handed over to death. He, when the abundance of all the trees of paradise was made available to him, was not content with those things that had been given, and, when it was not enough for him to enjoy the richness of all things, he dared to touch the tree of knowledge, whose fruit the Creator had forbidden. ^D Hence, laboring with insatiable craving and desiring forbidden things, he was deprived of the whole of paradise. To these same punishments I shall subject you as well. For it would be unjust that he who was seduced should have suffered such a penalty, but the seducer should not suffer the same.

you had received against sinners, you invaded a body guilty of no sin; depart from your power, desist from your tyranny. ^A I will free all from death: not simply using mercy, but just mercy: and not using lordly power, but just power. For I paid the debt for the human race. I who did not owe death, endured death: and I who was not subject to death, took on death. Being innocent, I was enrolled among the guilty: and I who was free from all debts, was placed in the order of debtors. Therefore I paid the debt of nature, and while I endured an undeserved death, I dissolve the deserved one: and those who had been justly detained, I, having been unjustly seized, release from the prison. Behold the handwriting of nature deleted, O bitter avenger of sin. Behold that very thing nailed to the cross, and see the marks of sins taken away from it. See how it did not accept the subscription of malice. Therefore, the eyes of this body paid the debt of the eyes that had looked evilly; its ears satisfied for the defiled ears: likewise also the tongue for the tongues that had been moved iniquitously, and the hands for those hands that had committed unjust deeds: and the remaining members for the members that had committed whatever sins. The debt therefore being paid, it is fitting that those who were enclosed in prison on account of it should be freed from it, and enjoy their former liberty, and return to their ancestral places. ^B

Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus

Saying these things, the Lord raised up His own body, and sowed in the nature of men the hopes ^C of the resurrection, having given to all a pledge in the resurrection of His own body. And let no one think that we are speaking vainly; for from the holy Gospels and apostolic teachings we have been instructed that these things are so. For we heard the Lord Himself saying: “The prince of this world comes, and in Me he finds nothing” (John xiv, 30). For I have, He says, no marks of sin; I have a body free from all transgression. But nevertheless, although he finds nothing, as though it were liable to countless debts, he will deliver it to death; yet I endure it, wishing to cast him justly out of his tyranny. Wherefore, in another place, He also says: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world shall be cast out” (John xii, 31). For when the judgment and discussion have taken place, he will be condemned, and ^D shall be cast out from his tyranny, as one who has dared to pass an unjust sentence against Me. Teaching then, that not only his own

body shall be freed from the power of death, but the whole nature of mankind together, He immediately added, saying: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself.” For I will not endure that only the body which I assumed should rise again, but I will procure the resurrection for all men; for this sake I have come, and have taken the form of a servant. For this cause I was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer was dumb. ^B These things the blessed Paul also says, writing to the Colossians, and through them to all men: “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all trespasses, having blotted out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Hence, therefore, we have been taught that He paid the debt for us, and blotted out the handwriting against us, and nailed it to the cross, and made a public display of the principalities and powers—that is, the opposing forces—by triumphing over them openly in Himself. That is to say, having shown to them His own body and soul to be sinless, and having exposed the unjust sentence passed against Him by them; and having done these things, He made alive together with Himself all human nature. And it is possible to find countless other testimonies in the divine Scripture, which teach that these things are so. But if we wished to collect them all, and to provide for each one a suitable interpretation, we would be undertaking an infinite labor. Leaving the task of collecting these to those who are lovers of learning, I shall pass on to the established order of the discourse. ^C In this way, therefore, Christ the Lord, having dissolved the powers of death, and having procured our salvation, has ascended into the heavens, and has left to the foster-children of piety the hope of the same ascension. “For when,” He says, “I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto Myself.” So great was the care of God, the Lord of all things, toward men. So great a providence did the Creator exercise toward an ungrateful work. Such was the providence of that first Archetype toward His own image. In the beginning, He created it, He deigned to honor it with His own likeness; but it became ungrateful toward its Maker, and, corrupting the divine image, it received the characters of wild beasts, and from divine it was changed into a brutish and wild nature. But the Artificer did not neglect it, even though it had now put on a beastly form: but He renewed it, and brought it back to its pristine decorum, and restored its ancient beauty, and adopted as His children those who were not even worthy to be His slaves.

sons those who were not even worthy to be slaves. ^A But there are some who, as the blessed Paul says, do nothing but are busybodies, prying into what is not lawful, and who contend to measure the abyss of divine wisdom with their own reasoning, saying: "For what reason did the Lord not ordain these things from the beginning, but only after many thousands of years?" That to pry into such matters is far too bold and daring, and beyond all madness, even those who investigate such things might admit. But in order to show that God did not ordain these things out of a repentance for an error, but that He had so arranged them from above and from the beginning, come, let us bring the divine Scripture into the midst, and let us listen first to the Lord Christ Himself, who says in the Gospels: "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." ^B If, before the foundation of the world, He prepared the kingdom for the apostles and for those who have believed through them, it is clear that God willed these things from above, and that He does not think one thing now and another different thing then; rather, He brings about what is beneficial in each timeframe, and He measures His teachings by the capacity of human beings. For this reason, He prescribes to Adam, as if he were a newborn infant, the commandment concerning the tree. For every law forbidding adultery, murder, false testimony, and injustice would have been superfluous for him. For with whom would he have committed adultery, when there was only one woman at that time? Whom would he have murdered, when there was no one to provoke him? Against whom, also, would he have fabricated false testimony or practiced injustice? ^C For this reason, he receives only the commandment concerning the tree, a thing childlike and suitable for infants newly born. Again, when the human race had already increased after a number of many years, He gave laws to Noah concerning foods, and ordered him to partake freely of all meat—of the clean ones, that is (for He had instructed him in the distinction between these as well)—only forbidding the consumption of blood. Then, after the passage of a long time, He calls Abraham and commands him to leave his ancestral house, and leads him into the country that was of old called the land of the Canaanites, but is now called the land of the Palestinians, and gives him the commandment of circumcision, so that the people who were to be born from him might have the removal of the superfluous as a sign of piety. ^D By bringing about the necessity of famine, He leads about the herald of piety everywhere, showing His own worshipper to both the Egyptians and the Palestinians. And He permits his wife to be seized by the

barbarians, yet He defends the one who was seized, and He scourged the rapers; and those who had become hunters of the woman He did not allow to enjoy their quarry, but those who were within their own nets, which they had spread, they could not enjoy. They themselves, however, were caught in invisible nets, and through experience as their teacher, they learned that their guest was a friend of God and acceptable to Him. And those who were kings of those nations send for the guest, the newcomer, the foreigner, and they become suppliants to the guest. ^B He, taking the opportunity, offered the teachings of piety to those who were ignorant of them; and injustice opened the way for piety, and unlawful greed became the harbinger of the knowledge of God. In this way He ordered the affairs concerning Isaac and Jacob. For the former bestowed benefits upon Abimelech, and the latter pointed out the true God to Laban, and exposed the weakness of those who were not gods, but only appeared to be. In the same way He administered the affairs concerning Joseph. And having permitted him to become a slave first, through servitude and false accusations and chains, He handed over to him the reins of the Egyptian kingdom. And he first proclaims one God to the cupbearer; then he brings this same teaching to the king himself. Having taken the helm from there, he wisely steers the whole ship. Thus, wishing to rescue Israel, which had increased greatly, from the Egyptian servitude, He liberates it through many and great wonders, thereby accomplishing their distinction. For He appointed this nation as teacher of the knowledge of God for all nations. And just as for the care of this nation, He chose now Moses, now Joshua, and again Samuel, and at other times another of the prophets, and through one man who practiced philosophy, He benefited all who were of the same race; so too, through one nation, Israel, He called all nations, which have the same nature, to a communion of piety. And that these things are so, Raab the harlot bears witness, who, being a foreigner and a harlot, yet content with the report alone, and through this having received piety, she abandoned her own kin and entrusted herself to those who were outsiders. "For we have heard," she says, "what the Lord your God did to the Egyptians, and your fear has fallen upon us." For this reason, she makes a covenant with the spies, and confirms these with an oath. ^D The Philistines also bear witness, fearing the presence of the ark, and saying to one another: "This is the God who struck Egypt; woe to us, Philistines." For this reason God delivers the ark to the Philistines, rebuking the transgression of the people; for it was not right to make the law a champion for those who had openly transgressed the law. Yet by delivering it, He preserves His majesty, teaching the Philistines that they had not conquered God, but the transgression of men. For this reason, Dagon, whom they worshipped as a god,

m transgressi fuerant); traditæ autem majestatem tuetur, Allophylos docens, quod non Deum vicissent, sed hominum iniquitatem. Propterea Dagonem quoque, quem illi ceu deum adorabant ^A (though this idol was mute and devoid of sense), He caused to fall before the Ark, and displayed to them the posture of those who worship, that the Philistines might learn the difference. But they, in their folly, set it up again, only to see it once more fallen and, as it were, worshipping. Then, led by great stupidity and refusing to see the difference, they were taught to be wise by experience; and being chastened, they came to their senses, shook off the drunkenness of their ignorance, sent the Ark to those who were its proper ministers as was fitting, honored it with gifts, proclaimed the punishments they had received, and taught those who were to receive it the manner of its return.

God did the same thing in the case of Balthasar. For since ^B the people, having slipped into great impiety, had been sent captive into Babylon and the sacred vessels had become spoils of the enemy, Nabuchodonosor, for his part, as became divine and sacred things, removed them far from profane uses and brought them into the temples of those whom he regarded as gods. His son, however—I speak of Balthasar—not sufficiently taught by his father’s calamities, nor considering how great were the penalties he paid for his arrogance, even though he had honored these vessels as he deemed them sacred, brought into the open what had once been consecrated to God; the wretched man drank from them and offered to his feast companions things which it was unlawful to touch. But as these things were happening, a sentence was pronounced against the impious one, and the hand of someone invisible inscribed the judgment of God upon the wall. He was seized with perplexity, ^C being able neither to read nor to understand the meaning of what was written. His mother brought forward Daniel, who had frequently delivered the father from such perplexities. He read and interpreted, and taught the cause of the punishment, saying: "Just as we, paying the penalties for our sins, have been made captive, so too did God deliver these vessels, which had been consecrated by us, to the captor, teaching us that He did not accept sacrifices as though He were in need of them. But as long as we practiced piety, He accepted these offerings from us, wishing to care for us; but when we plunged into impiety, He rejected even the gifts offered by us." "But your father, in his own way chastened by these things, honored them as he supposed, removing them far from human use and dedicating them to those whom he mistakenly thought were gods. You, however, not even considering the honor that had been bestowed by him, have fallen into the abyss of arrogance and have revelled ^D with these sacred cups. For this reason, the Lord of these things teaches what the end of arrogance is—not caring for the inanimate objects, but providing for human beings, and through your punishment setting before many men an example of modesty." These things he said, and the other paid the penalty that very night. See, therefore, how He always has care for all men [(95)]

and not only of those who trace their lineage from Abraham, but of all who are from Adam; and through the one nation, He guided all nations toward the knowledge of God. Nor did He offer their teaching to all men only when they were practicing piety, but even when He was exacting penalties for lawlessness. ^A Indeed, concerning that Nebuchadnezzar, the arrogant tyrant who erected the golden image and ordered all to worship it, who said: "I will set my throne above the stars, and I will ascend above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High, and I will take in my hand the whole world as a nest, and as eggs that have been left I will take them," the God of all did not chasten him that he might become wise through angels, but through those who had been taken captive by him. For when he saw the three youths, who had not fulfilled the royal decree, despising that terrible fire as though it were a toy, and walking upon those coals as upon roses, and those who were surrendered to such a flame praising God, he is amazed at the miracle, and stricken, he fears the author of the miracle, and he commands all to worship their God, and he terms Him the Most High, and calls Him the God and King of all. ^B Thus, that Assyrian who raged against Him, and used those insane words: "For the Lord God will not deliver you out of my hand, and where are the gods of the nations?" He chastened, so that he might recognize his own weakness, and He forced him merely to flee, delivering those many thousands of men, in whom he exulted, to death in a short moment of time by one angel. Thus He sent Jonah to the Ninevites as a herald of repentance; and when he did not wish to carry out what was commanded, but foolishly attempted to flee, He binds him with the waves, as though in a prison, and delivers him to the sea-monster. ^C The irrational fish then brought the rational man to where he had been ordered to preach. But when that great mystery of the dispensation was about to be fulfilled, and the proclamation concerning the divine incarnation was to be sown throughout the entire world, then at last this people, which He had chosen from the beginning from all peoples for the benefit of all nations, He dispersed into the entire world, so that all who were possessed by the error of polytheism might become accustomed to hearing that there is one God, the Maker of heaven and earth, and that from this the proclamation might become easier and more direct for the divine apostles. But perhaps someone might say that the Jews not only did not assist in the teaching concerning Christ, but even greatly opposed it, and became a hindrance to those from the nations who were willing to believe. ^D But if someone wishes to examine the matter carefully, he will find that the opposition of the Jews greatly assisted the faith of the nations. For the disputation with the Jews, and the demonstration taken from the Law and the prophets, manifestly refuted their madness—

but also demonstrated that the Christian religion had been preached long ago. And the testimony which was borne by the enemies rendered the word that was preached worthy of faith. For the heralds of this word brought into the midst Abraham the patriarch, who received the same promises; and Isaac, the fruit of the promise; and Jacob, who brought back the same blessing from his father; and Judah, who succeeded to the paternal lot of the blessing; and Moses, who foretold these things; and King David, who prophesied the same; and Isaiah and Jeremiah, who predicted them; and Ezekiel and Daniel, who preached these things through the Spirit; and, furthermore, the whole choir of the prophets, who most clearly showed forth these things of ours beforehand. ^B Those who heard them, seeing the Jews confess that these were divine voices, and observing the benefits which were being conferred in the name of Christ, and receiving the signs as hostages and pledges of the words, received the preaching easily, believed in the God who was preached, and loathed the impious nonsensicalities of the Jews. Consequently, the unbelief of the Jews was not only not an obstacle to the divine preaching, but it actually brought authority to the word of faith for those against whom they tried to resist. For the contradiction compelled the testimonies of the Lord to be brought into the midst; and they confuted the falsehood and showed forth the light of the truth. Formerly, therefore, that universal God of all men zealously administered the salvation of men, and applied the fitting care at each time. ^C And teaching this, the blessed Paul said: “As long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” And that He did not come to this dispensation out of repentance for a former plan, but had ordained it so from eternity, let the same witness teach, writing to the Corinthians and saying: “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, ^D they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” For they did not, in their envy of the happiness of men, provide them with the occasion for the highest blessedness; but, being ignorant of the end of the mystery, they raged against the Savior of our souls, and yet, inadvertently, they...

became the agents of the greatest blessings for us. The mystery was therefore hidden, but it had been predetermined before the ages.

^A Having known these things, then, and having learned through all things the providence of God, and seeing His unsearchable love for mankind, and beholding His immeasurable mercy, cease to rage against the Creator; learn to hymn your Benefactor, and repay His great benefits with words of gratitude. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise; do not defile your tongue with blasphemy, but make the organ that was created for this purpose an instrument of praise. Worship those divine dispensations which are manifest, but do not be over-curious about those which are hidden; rather, await the learning that will come in its own time. ^B When we have put off our passions, then shall we receive perfect knowledge. Do not imitate Adam, who dared to touch the forbidden fruits; do not touch what is hidden, but leave the knowledge of these things for the proper time. Obey the wise man who says: "Do not say: What is this? To what end is this? For all things were created for some use." ^C Having therefore gathered from all sides the subjects for hymns, and having blended them into one hymnody, offer it with us to the Maker, the Giver of good, and the Savior Christ, our true God. To Him be glory, and worship, and majesty, unto the endless ages of ages. Amen.

ORATION X ON PROVIDENCE

THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS, HEALING FOR HELLENIC MALADIES. THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS, HEALING FOR HELLENIC MALADIES. EDITED ACCORDING TO MANUSCRIPT CODICES BY THOMAS GAISFORD, D.D., DEAN OF CHRIST CHURCH AND REGIUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK. OXFORD, AT THE ACADEMIC PRESS, 1839. TO THE READER

In editing this excellent work of Theodoret, I have used two manuscript codices of the best quality, on parchment, of the eleventh century if I am not mistaken: one (which I call B) from the Bodleian Library, formerly no. 2410, 3, now Auctar. E. 2, 14; the other (C) from the Royal Library of Paris, among the Coislin codices no. CCL. I myself checked the former against the Sylburg edition, while the learned young man E. Miller, at my request, compared the latter with the same edition. And since B, after p. 157, 41 of the Sylburg edition (a), is defective due to some missing folios, I have attempted to supply this lack as best I could by consulting a third codex (D), on paper, quite recent, but which appears to have been transcribed from a not insignificant exemplar, from the Bodleian Library among the Canonici codices no. 27.

To the readings which the aforementioned books provided, I have added others extracted by Fulvio Orsini from certain Vatican and other manuscripts (see the various readings below at sermon XII, p. 474) and finally brought to light by Garnerius in the Appendix to the Sirmondian edition. For Orsini had wished to issue this book from the press, hitherto unpublished except in the Latin version of Zenobius Acciaoli; and to that end, he had either prepared or caused to be prepared a transcript of it, and had furnished it with a supply of various readings collected from here and there. However, prevented by death, he could not carry out this plan. Garnerius, after this transcript was later moved into the treasures of the Vatican Library, used it in such a way that he distributed all its bounty into two columns; in the left, he placed the words of the transcript separately, and in the right, the diversity of reading which Orsini had collected from either the manuscript books of Theodoret or from the ancient authors from whom Theodoret drew, and which he had placed in the margin of the transcript. I do not doubt, therefore, that the readings of the left column, which I have marked with the letters Va, are derived from some manuscript codex; nor is it less certain to me that the others, which I call Vb, are owed not only to manuscripts, but at least in part to the exemplars of ancient writers, such as Plato, Eusebius, etc.; indeed, not...

(a) We have placed the pages of the Sylburg edition in brackets in the Greek text; and these are the ones to which the Oxford editor refers. Ed. Patr.

than mere conjectures, whether of Ursinus himself or of any other learned man. I think, therefore, that these must be used cautiously; nor will anyone complain if I am found to have taken a little liberty in repeating them.

I have added the Latin version of Zenobius Acciaolus; yet not as it was amended by Sirmond, but whole and intact, just as it was in Sylburg. I am not unaware that this translator is often mistaken in expressing the sense of words and thoughts; yet, in rendering the traces of the manuscript codex which he used, he followed it so closely that not infrequently one can discern the readings of that very codex from it. Therefore, this interpretation was not to be omitted, seeing that it must be placed among the critical apparatus, even if we could otherwise manage without its help, since the writer is beset by few difficulties. ^A

To the Consuls and Senators of the City of Veterensis, men conspicuous for their prudence, industry, and the praise of their virtues, patrons to be cultivated with perpetual respect, Fridericus Sylburgius of Veterensis, Greeting.

Since our country, our kin, and our friends each lay claim to a part of our origin, all who indeed wish to be grateful must endeavor above all to return to them, if not in deeds, at least in spirit and words, the gratitude they owe them according to God. Wherefore I too, although from early adolescence, by the persuasion of my teachers, I went to foreign schools and spent the greater part of my life abroad, have always acknowledged that my service is owed to my country above all others. And so, had it called me twice, I would not have followed it reluctantly, had not grave impediments hindered me on both occasions. But such is the magnanimity of my country that it thinks itself sufficiently satisfied if it has many and wealthy witnesses of its fruitfulness abroad. For to you, most respected and distinguished men, by a singular gift of God, there has fallen such a fertility of good talents that, just as cities of old, enlarged by a more abundant crop of youth, used to send out sacred spring-sacrifices and colonies, ^B so you too, from your not so large city, have for some years now sent forth a numerous supply of gifted youth: so that it is not at all absurd for our teachers to hold the opinion that our town derived its name from the ancient camps of the Romans, in which we read that service was rendered to the Muses just as to Mars. And I could indeed, if necessary, enumerate more than forty learned men who, originating among you, are laboring abroad, besides those whom you have at home sufficiently instructed in learning and in the industry of civil affairs. But neither does the space allow this, nor will it seem a marvel to anyone who considers at least three recent examples. For when in the Pincier family, besides the excellent theologian, a jurist first, then a physician, and afterwards another jurist, were decorated with a doctoral title, and in the family related to them, the Vultei, three sons of one father and one mother, by an alternating study of law and medicine, climbed to the doctoral pinnacle, and likewise as many Gernand brothers honored both their family and their fatherland with the laurel of jurisprudence within a short interval of years. Therefore, since I have long wished to declare my gratitude and respect toward you by some public document, yet no sufficiently convenient opportunity has been granted me until now. In this year, at last, with God guiding things well, a timely and welcome opportunity has offered itself, while there came into my hands that author whom I first tasted among you from the ecclesiastical writers: namely, Theodoret: whose golden books ^C *On Providence*, I remember hearing with great pleasure thirty-three years ago, partly from Justus Vulteius and partly from the theologian Johannes Pincier, men worthy of eternal memory. From that time on, such love and such veneration for his writing has deeply settled in my mind that I have always held him in high regard, both for his style and for the excellence of his argument. Wherefore, since last year I first saw his *Disputations against the Greeks*, which were published long ago in Latin by Zenobius Acciaolus, but in Greek have been edited by no one for so great an interval of time, I immediately decided that they should be both published and dedicated to your patronage. And lest anyone perhaps think them of little importance, let him know that in them, besides sacred and profane archeology, there are not a few things that are quite appropriately applied to the controversies of our own times as well. Nor is there any reason for us to wonder why he extols the martyrs and other saints so highly, and speaks of human powers more handsomely than Augustine and other Latins. For by those magnificent encomia he wished first to recall the Greeks from the ostentatious boasting of their gods and philosophers, and then to kindle the zeal of Christians to a similar glory of competition. For that these powers were referred by him to God, as the first source of all good, he sufficiently declares when he openly confesses that the grace given to them effected whatever was miraculous in them; and that it is *the gift of God, so that no man should boast*. But lest I exceed the limits of this *dedicatory address*, what remains is that this excellent work of a noble theologian, so long desired by the learned, I [have... ^D

polished with the greatest care through a diligent collation, and augmented and illustrated with no mean additions, and do pray you to accept, most prudent and distinguished men, as a testimony of my gratitude and respect toward you. Among you I was born and educated, initiated into sacred and profane letters, and finally, I gladly and willingly profess that I have attained, as is my due, those things which to man from men are the best and greatest that can happen. May God, the sole and unique author of all good, grant that the seminary so excellently established among you by revered teachers, with its roots sunk deeper, may send forth branches more noble by the day, which at home and abroad may produce, with constant fruitfulness, fruits beneficial to the Church and the Commonwealth, and pleasing to God. Heidelberg, the Kalends of September, 1592.

TO THE FAIR-MINDED READER, FREDERICK SYLBURG WISHES PEACE

^A It is nearly eighty years, kind Reader, since these *Therapeutic* discourses of Theodoret were brought to light in Latin by Zenobio Acciaolo. From that time, although the Greek edition of them has been most earnestly sought by learned men, no one has yet been found who would perform this labor for the public benefit. At length, when having last year examined our Palatine library here, I had found in it one old manuscript, and later another more recent one, I urged Hieronymus Commelinus, an old friend and host, that while we were occupied with the edition of Clement, he should see to the transcription of these books of Theodoret, as he had long before thought of doing. There was no delay: immediately the hand was set to the work, and those books were transcribed from a manuscript of no poor quality, copied about 133 years ago by the hand of Michael Apostolios. ^B But because these supplies seemed insufficient for a *worthy* edition, other aids were summoned besides. For when I learned from David Hoeschel that two codices of these *Disputations* also existed at Augsburg, one older and one more recent, I strove with as many prayers as I could from that most friendly man, that he should assist me in this long-desired edition with the same zeal with which he had hitherto helped me in promoting literary matters. He did not suffer himself to be asked for long; immediately, with as much promptness as he could, he sent such aids as were possible; and indeed, beyond the copies of the symbols, he contributed not a few things from his own collection, as he had previously done for Clement. ^C Having obtained these, and having instituted a collation of the copies, I discovered what I had also experienced a few times before: that little is achieved if the edition of any significant author is undertaken with the aid of only one copy. For although the old Palatine exemplar had been written out fairly diligently by a learned man, it was nonetheless found to be incomplete in many places, so that not only were individual particles missing here and there, but frequently even whole sections were omitted: which, indeed, I would attribute not to the scribe, as he was a learned man, but to the exemplar which he had before him as a model. In supplementing these, just as the old Augsburg manuscript provided excellent service, so the more recent ones did not fall short of it in many respects. For although they were written carelessly in places and mutilated in many parts, yet it was apparent that they had been copied originally from a book of the highest quality. And just as the Augsburg manuscript was more complete among the older ones, so conversely the Palatine was sounder among the more recent ones. The older Palatine possessed this unique feature over the others, that while the old Augsburg and the two more recent ones lacked several pages toward the end of the eleventh and twelfth books, it alone provided the conclusion to these *Disputations*. To these was added a fifth, Acciaolo. For he, too, partly in his translation and partly in the quotation of Greek testimonies, indicated not obscurely the reading he had followed. For the passages cited by Theodoret, if they were short, he had inserted into his translation complete; if they were longer, he had set down only the beginnings; and indeed, they sometimes disagreed with his translation. This citation has been deliberately omitted by us in this edition of ours: because, having placed the Greek opposite the Latin, it would have been superfluous had we set the same things down twice on both sides. ^D Having assumed these aids, if anything was clearly missing in our transcript, I supplemented it from the others; but what clearly differed from it in some fashion, so that it seemed they could be absent in some way—or conversely, if there was anything in it which was absent in the others—these I have generally enclosed in brackets, so that they might better strike the eyes and judgment of the readers. I also did the same thing, however, at times when there happened to be some significant defect in our exemplar, so that it might be perceived from that how carelessly good authors have often been treated by copyists. Furthermore, because it seemed that an account of this work should be rendered, I prepared a separate volume of notes; in which I not only set forth what was missing from which codices, but also where the same codices varied either in wording or in meaning. And since in this category there were many things of such a kind that they could serve not just one place, but several, and not only this author but others as well: a good portion of them, omitted from the book of notes, has been referred either to the Greek or the Latin Index, as convenience required; and the result is that they serve in part the function of a grammatical, in part a historical and practical, repertory. Nay, I even had recourse not infrequently to the very sources from which Theodoret drew, if either necessity demanded it or the pressure of time allowed. In this matter, it is owed to Acciaolo that he had added almost all the passages of Holy Scripture to the margin of his translation: the rest we have tracked down as best we could. But just as we gladly profess that we were aided again and again by the work of Acciaolo, so in turn we have rendered no small amount of service to him. For we did not study only to express his translation faithfully and correctly according to the traces of the exemplar, but also, wherever we observed it to disagree with the Greek, we have noted it in our notes concerning that matter.

Furthermore, because some annotations were added in the margin of the translation that would bring some light to the translation, these have been placed partly in the book of notes, partly at its end separately, and partly in the Indexes, for the convenience of each reader. Then, regarding the translation, we have followed the most ancient and excellent edition; namely, that which Henri Estienne oversaw at Paris in the year 1519, the grandfather of the one under whose guidance we have worked. In the Indexes, we have specifically aimed at having the Greek index show what is either narrated by the author himself, or what varies from the manuscripts, or what is otherwise worthy of note; while in the Latin, the more memorable matters and the citations of authors are represented, for the quick convenience of those searching. Indeed, the authors themselves we have enumerated separately in alphabetical order on the back of the frontispiece, so that by a brief synopsis it might be perceived what witnesses he used. You understand, therefore, Reader, what has been contributed in part by us, and in part sought from others. For this reason, just as it is right that the credit due to each should be maintained in your estimation, so also is this owed to the Academy of Marburg, which, by the support of our most clement princes, has now for several years assisted me with an annual subsidy for the continuation of the edition of good authors. What remains is that we ask the learned both to receive this work of ours with grateful minds, and, if they can adorn it with any gathering of gleanings, to offer themselves willingly to the partnership of this study: by name, we seek such collaboration from the distinguished men Fulvio Orsini and Theodoor Canter. The former, ten years ago, by the order of the Pope, saw to it that these Disputations of Theodoret were copied anew so that they might be placed in the Vatican Library, and he corrected and restored them where they were faulty and mutilated in many places; the latter, for his part, transcribed almost all of them with his own hand several years ago from an ancient book. To these, if others wish to join as associates, they will earn good favor both from us and from the republic of letters.

THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS, HEALING OF GREEK MALADIES, OR, KNOWLEDGE OF EVANGELICAL TRUTH FROM GREEK PHILOSOPHY

PROLOGUE

^A It has often happened that some of those who are captivated by the fables of the Greek pagans, having associated with me in a friendly manner, have ridiculed our Christian faith, asserting that we instill nothing else into those whom we take to be instructed in divine matters than mere credulity. Moreover, they accused the apostles of ignorance, calling them barbarians because they lacked any adornment of eloquence. Furthermore, they said it was ridiculous that we honor the martyrs, and that it is an act of extreme folly for the living to contend that they derive any benefit from those who have departed this life. They added other things similar to these, which this work will teach in their proper places. I, indeed, explained to them at that time what ought to be brought forward to resolve these slanders; but I considered it a wicked and impious thing to allow men of simpler character to be deceived by their wiles, without committing to writing something that might refute the vanity of those accusations. ^B Therefore, having undertaken the task, I have distributed the whole treatise into twelve discourses; and I have used a more relaxed style in these, for I have deemed it suitable for teaching, especially since it makes use of the testimonies of Plato and the other philosophers

^A For it was necessary to harmonize my own arguments—so that they would not be altogether discordant—with those, holding some resemblance to them.

The FIRST discourse provides a defense of the faith and of the unlearned character of the apostles, offering proofs from the Greek philosophers.

The SECOND review the opinions held by the most famous wise men among the Greeks and by those who were later called philosophers concerning the First Cause of all things; and, by setting the true theology of Moses—who preceded all of them—in parallel, it refutes their falsehoods and demonstrates the shining truth of his teaching. ^B

The THIRD teaches what has been mythologized by the Greeks concerning those whom they call secondary gods, and what the divine Scripture teaches us concerning the incorporeal created natures; so that, again, by comparison, what we worship may be shown worthy of praise, and the unsightly and foul nature of those abominable myths may be refuted.

The FOURTH has as its subject matter and the world, and shows our account of the creation of the world to be much more appropriate than that of Plato and the others.

Concerning the nature of man, the FIFTH takes up the struggle, and by demonstrating the opinions of the Greeks and the Christians, it teaches how great is the difference between light and darkness. ^C

The SIXTH place in the sequence of the discourse is claimed by the discourse on Providence. For it was fitting that this discourse should follow those concerning God and things created by God, refuting the atheism of Diagoras, the blasphemy of Epicurus, and the narrow-mindedness of Aristotle concerning Providence; but it praises the teachings on Providence of Plato, Plotinus, and the others who are of one mind with them, and by physical arguments it shows this [Providence] to be observed in creation, and to be manifest in each of the things that have come to be from God.

Since it was also necessary to show the superfluity of the sacrifices, the SEVENTH discourse takes this as its topic, condemning the sacrifices of the nations by philosophical arguments, and by prophetic authorities demonstrating how infantile was the ritual observance of the law of the Jews. ^D

The EIGHTH brings forward the objections of those who

honor the martyrs, and at the same time their defense, using the testimonies of philosophers, historians, and poets, showing that the Greeks honored the dead not only with libations but also with sacrifices, calling some gods, others demigods, and others heroes, and that most of these had lived defiled by great impieties.

I thought it would be a worthwhile effort to compare our own men—the fishermen, I say, the leather-worker, and the tax-collectors—with the most celebrated legislators among the Greeks, so that from the comparison it might be known what difference exists between them, and how those laws, together with their authors, have been surrendered to the darkness of oblivion, whereas the laws of the fishermen flourish not only among the Greeks and Romans, but also among the Scythians, Sauromatians, Persians, and other barbarian nations. The NINTH discourse contains this comparison.

The TENTH ^B teaches what kind of things were predicted by the divine oracles, and how befitting they were to God and agreeable to men of sound mind; and on the other hand, what kind were those things which the Pythian, the Dodonaean, and other false prophets of the nations predicted. In these they were caught being both liars and ignorant of things to come, and they prophesied such things as no man who is considered upright would wish to utter.

Since it is also fitting for the ignorant to know what is taught by them and by our own regarding the end and the judgment of the world, the ELEVENTH discourse provides instruction on these matters to those who wish to read it.

But I also considered it necessary to show the distinction of active virtue, since I see the ^C Greek nation boasting of their ancient philosophers and attempting to extol their life with praises. The TWELFTH discourse, therefore, will show that their life is unworthy not only of philosophers but even of praised slaves; whereas the life of the apostles and of those who follow in their footsteps is superior to human nature, and similar to those who, released from bodily chains, inhabit the celestial realms.

The title of the book is: *The Cure of Greek Affections, or, The Recognition of Evangelical Truth from Greek Philosophy.*

I, therefore, for the sake of both curing the sick and providing for the benefit of those who are well, have undertaken this work. ^D

[... I received. I would, however, request those who happen upon the labors of others, that if everything written therein is good, they praise the Giver of these things and offer prayers in return for those who have labored; but if anything is lacking, they ought not on account of these things condemn the whole, but rather derive profit from the things that are well written.]

SERMON I. De fide.

^B [4] Medical treatment belongs indeed to the body, but it belongs also to the soul; for, in truth, many diseases occur to both the one and the other. However, those of the body are involuntary, while those of the soul are, for the most part, voluntary. God, then, being all-wise and the Creator of both souls and bodies and of all things, knowing this well, distributed appropriate remedies to each nature; and He appointed physicians, having instructed some in the one science and others in the other, and commanded them to wage war against diseases and to conquer them. But those who are not in a good state of body are distressed by their disease, and they long for health, and they yield to their physicians, and they accept from them not only mild medicines, but even if they cut, even if they burn, even if they command them to fast, and even if they offer cups full of bitter and unpleasant things; and recovering their health through such painful care, they offer a reward to those who attend them in this way, and receiving the treatment, they do not scrutinize the preparation of the medicines; for they desire health, and do not ^C investigate the method of it. But those who have contracted the ailment of unbelief not only do not know the very grievous disease, but they even suppose that they are enjoying a state of perfect prosperity. If, then, anyone skilled in treating these things should wish to apply a healing remedy to the malady, they immediately recoil, just as those who are possessed by the disease of phrenitis; and they turn away from the treatment offered to them, and flee from the medicine as if it were an infirmity. Nevertheless, those who profess this science ought to bear with those who are difficult, and to endure it if they resort to insults, or if they strike with their fists, or if they kick; for those who are deranged are accustomed to commit such errors. And the physicians are not distressed when these things happen, but they even apply bonds, and they bathe the heads with force, and they devise every device so that they may expel the disease and restore the former ^D harmony of the parts to the whole. This is what we too must do, and we must care to the best of our ability for those who are so affected. For even if they are very few in number who are enslaved by the disease, and they appear to be like a thick sediment of [...]

those things that cannot pass through the pores of a filter, nevertheless they must not be neglected, nor must we overlook those who are being corrupted by this malady, but every method must be devised to dispel the mist that lies upon them and to show forth the brilliance of intellectual light. For no industrious farmer cuts away many thorns so as to leave a few, but if he finds even one or two, he pulls them up by the roots and makes the crop entirely clean. By much more, therefore, must this be done by us. For the law of our husbandry does not command us to cut away the thorns, but to change them. Come, therefore, let us apply to them, as if to certain thorns, the farmer's iron ^A, and with the mattock of the Word let us widen the fallow furrows of their ears, so that no impediment lying in the middle may block the stream of irrigation; and indeed, let us sprinkle them as if they were sick, and let us bring to them these saving and healing medicines.

Sermon I

First of all, let us study to cure the disease of arrogance. For certain of them who have been conversant with the writings of poets and orators, and some who have even tasted of the elegance of Plato, despise the divine oracles, as things not adorned with the curling-irons of eloquence; and they count it unworthy to be taught the primary truth by fishermen. And yet, in the individual arts whose fruits they enjoy, they are not anxious about the language which the craftsmen of those arts speak. For they do not require shoemakers to be Attics, nor blacksmiths, nor architects, nor painters, nor shipbuilders, nor pilots; but whether they are Scythians, or Sauromatae, or Iberians, or Egyptians, they enjoy the arts with pleasure, demanding only the ^B expertise of these, and being not at all troubled by the difference of nations. And when they hear the strings of a lyre, they look only for the harmony, and they do not seek to learn whether he is a Greek or a Barbarian. Yet in the sole study of learning the truth, they cannot refrain from being curious, but they consider it a disgrace if a Barbarian should instruct them in the truth by his speech. And with this kind of pride men swell up, who have not even reached to the highest pinnacle of Greek philosophy, but have only tasted a few things, as the saying goes, with the tips of their lips, and have gathered together some meager trifles from here and there.

But the most illustrious of the Greek philosophers, whose memory is even today most celebrated among the learned—Pherecydes the Syrian ^C, and Pythagoras the Samian, and Thales the Milesian, and Solon the Athenian, and finally that Plato himself, the son of Ariston, indeed, but a student of Socrates, and as for eloquence [...]

^A they were not ashamed, for the sake of finding the truth, to travel around Egypt and the Egyptian Thebes, and Sicily, and Italy—and this while no single empire governed those nations at that time, but different modes of life and laws prevailed in the individual cities. For some favored democracy, others oligarchy; some were ruled by tyrants, others were reigned over by lawful kings. Yet none of these obstacles prevented them from rushing to the barbarian peoples, and learning from them what they perceived were better known by them than by themselves. They say that in Egypt they received the doctrine of the true God not only from the Egyptians, but also from the Hebrews. Plutarch the Boeotian teaches this, and so does Porphyry ^B who raved against the truth, and indeed Numenius the Pythagorean, and very many others. They say that Pythagoras also submitted to circumcision, having learned this from the Egyptians; and the Egyptians had received this law from the Hebrews. For when Abraham the patriarch had received the commandment of circumcision from the God of all, his descendants observed it [a]; and he dwelt for a very long time in Egypt, and the Egyptians emulated the Hebrews. That there was no law among the Egyptians of old to circumcise infants [b], Pharaoh’s daughter is sufficient witness. For having found Moses exposed on the bank of the river, she immediately saw the circumcision, and recognized the race, and declared the infant to be born of Hebrew parents.

They, therefore, having passed through every discipline, possessed such a love of philosophy ^C that they even scorned wars and the greatest seas, and visited barbarian men, and gathered from everywhere what they deemed necessary. But Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus, the best of the philosophers, did not even consider it unworthy of a philosopher to learn something useful from women; wherefore he was not ashamed to address Diotima as his teacher, and he also frequented Aspasia.

But the majority of these people do not even know the wrath of Achilles, from which young students are accustomed to begin their literature. And since they have received very little from the poets and very little from the orators, and have not learned even the names of the philosophers, except for two or three of the famous ones, they nevertheless call divine Scripture "barbarian," and deem it shameful to learn the truth from it. From this ignorance ^D the malady of pride arises in them. For if they had read the Greek histories, they would have known, surely, that the Greeks learned both the illustrious sciences and most of the arts from the Barbarians. For they say that geometry and astro-

astronomy were discovered first by the Egyptians; and astrology and the casting of nativities are said to be the discovery of the Chaldaeans; while the Arabs and Phrygians were the first to invent augury. That the trumpet is the work of the Tyrrhenians, and the flute that of the Phrygians, both tragedies and histories teach. The Greeks also claim that letters were the invention of the Phoenicians, and that Cadmus first brought them into Greece. They assert that the physician Apis the Egyptian was the author of medicine, and that Aesculapius subsequently expanded the art. They say that the boat was first constructed in Libya. ^B That Orpheus, an Odrysian by birth, brought the rites of the Dionysia, the Panathenaea, the Thesmophoria, and the Eleusinia to Athens, and that upon traveling to Egypt he transferred the sacred rites of Isis and Osiris into those of Demeter and Father Dionysus, is attested by Plutarch from Chaeronea in Boeotia; Diodorus the Sicilian and the orator Demosthenes are also witnesses, for they say that Orpheus handed down to them the most sacred rites. Furthermore, that the festal solemnities of Rhea—or Cybele, or Brimo, or whatever other name you choose to call her (for you have a great plenty of names for things that do not actually exist)—and the ceremonies performed in them were brought to Greece from the land of Phrygia, those same witnesses whom I cited above clearly teach. ^C Since, therefore, the Greeks were instructed by the Barbarians in the arts, the sciences, the ceremonies for worshiping demons, and the first elements of letters, and yet glory in these teachers, why I ask, do you—who are not even able to comprehend the things written by them—refuse to learn the truth from those men who received wisdom handed down to them by God? But if you are unwilling to lend them your ears on the grounds that they did not originate from Greece, it follows that you ought not to call Thales wise, nor Pythagoras a philosopher, nor his teacher Pherecydes. For the latter was by nation a Syrian, not an Athenian, nor a Spartan, nor a Corinthian; while Aristoxenus, Aristarchus, and Theopompus say that Pythagoras was a Tyrrhenian, but Neanthes calls him a Tyrian. As for Thales, some indeed say he was a Milesian, but Leander and Herodotus call him a Phoenician. ^D Add to this that Aristotle was a Stagirite, Diogenes was from Sinope, Alcman, the son of Pirithes, was a Crotoniate, who is said to have been the first to write a treatise on the nature of things; and Empedocles, again, was an Agrigentine, and Agrigentum is a city of Sicily.

^A But if you say that these men were born and raised outside of Greece, but were trained in the Greek language, first of all, you admit that there have been wise men among other nations as well; for you surely admire Zamolxis the Thracian and Anacharsis the Scythian for their wisdom, and the reputation of the Brahmans is great among you—yet these are Indians, not Greeks. Furthermore, you are refuted from another quarter for wrongly preferring elegance of speech to truth. For you surely admit, even you, that Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus, was the most excellent of the Greek philosophers; yet he was born of a father who was a stone-cutter, and for the most part he followed the craft of his father. And many others have said this, and Porphyry also wrote this in the third book of his *Philosophical History*. He says as follows: "Let us speak regarding Socrates of those things which have been deemed worthy of record by others; and while we pause briefly to examine what has been recounted in many and various ways by eloquent men to his praise and blame, we wish to leave unexamined whether he practiced the stone-cutting craft with his father, or whether his father did so alone. For even if he had performed some work for a little time, this would not have been an impediment to his attaining wisdom. And if he had been a sculptor, all the more so; for this art is considered honorable, not disgraceful." And what follows is of the same opinion; for he introduces some who say that Socrates practiced the stone-cutting craft. But perhaps he spent the ^B first part of his life as a stone-worker, but later, having become enamored of poetic and rhetorical discourses, he partook of education. But one cannot even say this; for Porphyry said the exact opposite. He speaks thus: "And that he was inept in nothing, yet uneducated in everything, to put it simply; for he knew almost no letters at all; but it was a laughingstock whenever it was necessary for him either to write or read, stammering like children." And ^C Plato also represents him in the *Apology* as saying the following: "But I swear by Zeus, men of Athens, you will not hear me speaking in ornate words, like the speeches of these men, adorned with expressions and names, but you will hear them spoken at random with the words that come to mind." And after a few words, he added this again: "And now I request this of you, which is just, as it seems to me: let the manner of speech be—for perhaps it might be worse, perhaps better—and ^D look only to this, and turn your attention to this...

whether what I say is just. ^A Yet even this man, though he possessed an unlearned and unrefined tongue, was worthy of honor not only above all others, but ^B even above Plato, who surpassed all the Greeks in elegance of speech. And not even the son of Ariston himself would deny this; for how could he, who attributed and referred all the discourses he ever produced to him, desiring them to be believed to have originated from his mind? But that he too—who surpassed all men, and not only the rest of the Greeks, but even the Athenians themselves, in eloquence and beauty of language—exhorts us to attend not to the elegance of speeches, but to the harmony of thoughts, hear him speak explicitly in the *Politicus*: "Even if you are careful not to be overly concerned with words, you will appear richer in wisdom in old age." ^C And hear also what he says in the fifth book of the *Republic*: "Shall we then class all these, and those who study other such mathematical subjects, and those who work at the mechanical arts, as philosophers? Not at all, I said, but as similar to philosophers. But whom, he asked, do you call the true ones? Those, I said, who are spectators of the truth. For philosophy does not lie in geometry, which has its postulates and hypotheses, nor in music, which is merely a matter of conjecture, nor in astronomy, which is filled with physical, wavering, and probable arguments; but it requires the knowledge of the Good itself and of the truth." Hear, O men, the greatest philosopher calling those who are experts in music and geometry and other such faculties not philosophers, but "similar to philosophers," while naming those who are teachers of the truth "philosophers" in the true sense. ^D And in the third book of the *Laws*, he says this: "Let this, therefore, be held as a sacred and established rule, that no magistracies should be entrusted to those citizens who are ignorant of these things; but, as if they were unlearned in all matters, they should be reproached, even if they are very sharp in reasoning and have labored in all those things which are considered elegant and which are most conducive to the advancement of the soul. But those citizens whose condition is the opposite—even if, as the saying goes, they neither know their letters nor how to swim—are to be called wise, and it is to them that magistracies and rule should be entrusted, as to men of understanding." How, then, could anyone more truly and clearly refute the ignorance and arrogance that now occupy all things? For the prince of philosophers measures wisdom not by the discipline of letters, but by the knowledge of the truth; and he calls those men wise who know the truth, even if they do not know the first elements, while those who have attained all branches of learning, if they do not know the knowledge of truth and justice...

are removed and repelled, nor does he think they should be entrusted with any magistracy. ^A Moreover, in the Theaetetus, he criticizes those who talk about high things with these words: "Just as they say that a clever and charming Thracian maidservant mocked Thales, O Theodorus, when he was observing the courses of the stars with his gaze fixed upward and fell into a well, saying that he was eager to know what was happening in the heavens, while he did not see what was placed right before his feet." And again in the same dialogue: ^B "It is necessary that such a man, whether rustic or uneducated because of his leisure, should be the same as a shepherd, surrounded by walls in the city just as they are by a sheepfold on the mountain. And when he hears that someone possesses ten thousand acres or even more, he thinks he hears of something very small, since he is accustomed to look at the whole earth." To the foregoing he adds these words: "For the knowledge of this [the truth] is wisdom and the truest virtue; but ignorance is manifest folly and vice; and the other skills, ^C which are also thought to be wisdom, become burdensome when they are exercised in public affairs and positions of power, but in the crafts, they become base and sordid." Thus, therefore, those who abounded in every kind of learning knew most exactly how much truth is to be valued above words and names, and that it receives no detriment from such ignorance of ornamentation.

Why then, my friends, do you disdain to learn the sentiments of apostolic doctrine, while accusing only the barbarous mode of speech, when your own philosophers are witnesses to you that the Greeks have wandered far from the truth, and that it has come forth ^D rather from barbarian inventors? For that Porphyry, who undertook a most bitter war against us—where he discourses on philosophy from oracles—speaks thus: "For the path that leads to the gods is fashioned of bronze, and it is steep and rugged. Many tracks of this, indeed, the Barbarians have discovered, but the Greeks have wandered away; and those who already held them have corrupted them. And God bears witness that the inventors of it were Egyptians, Phoenicians, Chaldeans, Lydians, and Hebrews." If, then, even a man who is the most hostile of all to us accuses his own Greeks as being enslaved to error, while he ascribes the truth to the Hebrews, Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Chaldeans, and bears witness that this same thing is confirmed by the response of Apollo, why do you not listen to your own philosopher, nor accept the oracle of the Delphic tripod, and attend with your ears to the Hebrew prophets and apostles? For these are the ones whom Apollo Pythius calls the inventors of truth.

^A And if he joined the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, and the Phoenicians to these, you should know that the Phoenicians, being their neighbors and living on their borders, learned the truth from them, if indeed they learned it at all; and furthermore, the Egyptians benefited to a very great extent from their sojourn, for the Hebrews dwelt in Egypt for a long time. The Chaldeans, in the same way, reaped the greatest benefit from them; for when they took them captive and settled them in Babylon, they then, having witnessed the miracles that took place there regarding the furnace and the lions, deemed them capable of being their teachers of the truth. And Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, having shared his life with Daniel, partook of the lessons of piety; and after he had overthrown the Lydians and taken them into subjection, he undoubtedly shared with his own ^B subjects what he had learned from him.

That the Pythian Apollo bore witness to the truth of the Hebrews and that Porphyry mentioned this oracle, is sufficiently demonstrated, I think, by what I have said. But hear of what sort the things are for which he accuses the Greek philosophers themselves of exceeding great ignorance, in the words he wrote to Boethus regarding the soul. Among many other things, he says: "For who among those who engage in philosophy does not have an ambiguous discourse?" And he wrote the following words to Anebo the Egyptian: "I shall begin my friendship with you from the gods and from the good demons, and from the philosophical ^C inquiries that are related to them; regarding which, the most has indeed been said by the Greek philosophers, but the greater part of what they have said is based on conjecture, for they lack the principles of faith." And again, a little later: "For among us there is much logomachy, inasmuch as the good is guessed at by human reasonings; but as for those with whom interaction with the higher powers has been effected, this part of the inquiry is always passed over." If, therefore, the doctrines of the philosophers are open to question (for they are the findings of human reasonings), and there is much strife and irreconcilable logomachy among them, whereas Porphyry has testified that certain other men have had communion and conversation with God; ^D why then, my friends, do you hang upon human and ambiguous discourses, while you reject the doctrine of men who are most beloved of God? For if you do not admit them because they are barbarians, you are doing things that are repugnant and contrary to your own conduct; for you believe Pythagoras, who, according to some, is a Tyrrhenian, but according to others a Tyrian, and you use the Stagirite as a teacher, and you admire the man from Sinope, and others who possessed not Greek but barbarian fatherlands. We have already demonstrated

that both Solon and Plato learned many things from barbarian men. But now let us also hear with what words the Egyptian priest addresses Solon—for these are Plato’s words in the *Timaeus*: ^A “O Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always children; there is no old man among the Greeks. For you possess no learning that is hoary with age.” If, therefore, the learning of the Greeks is new and more recent, while that of the Hebrews is most ancient and venerable, and possesses truth that flourishes with the passage of time, it is clearly to be preferred and chosen over things that are new and doubtful, or rather, false and not plausibly invented. Nor should the uncultivated nature of the language provide you with an excuse. For we demonstrated that Socrates, the chief of philosophers, was uninitiated in Greek education, and that Plato preferred truth to all science and eloquence.

^B But if you accuse us regarding the term “faith” (for I have heard you saying this too, that we offer no demonstration of our doctrines, but merely urge those we teach to believe), you are most openly slandering our teaching. For we adapt the testimony of the very facts themselves to our arguments; yet you, in turn, are again piercing yourselves with your own feathers, ^C as the proverb says. For that celebrated Pythagoras—who was the son of Mnesarchus, a student of Pherecydes, and the leader of the Italian sect—had laid down a law for his students to keep silence for a five-year period, and only to lend their ears to his words, in order that they might receive what was said without question or dispute, believing it to be so, and not prying into it as if they were doubtful. Thus it came to pass that those who succeeded him, if anyone asked for a demonstration of the things he said, were accustomed to answer, “He himself said it,” deeming the voice of Pythagoras stronger than any demonstration and bidding them hold it so. If, then, both those who spoke and those who heard that they were the doctrines ^D of Pythagoras thought it sufficient to produce faith, who would be so foolish, or rather so thunderstruck, as to doubt when the God of all things is the teacher, and not believe what is said, nor offer as much reverence to the God of all things as those who had shared in the teaching of Pythagoras offered to him? And how is it not tragic, O dear friends, that we should unquestioningly—

^A accept even the poets, whereas you are hostile to us because we urge you to believe God when He teaches? Or are these not the words of Plato: “To speak of other demons and to know their origin is a task greater than our own. However, we must believe those who have spoken before us, being as they said descendants of the gods, and knowing their own ancestors quite clearly. It is impossible, therefore, not to believe the children of the gods, even though they speak without probable and necessary demonstrations, but as they declare they are reporting their own family affairs, we must believe them in obedience to the law.” Plato said these things about the poets in the Timaeus, and he commanded that belief be given to Homer, Hesiod, and the other poets who tell myths. He was not afraid to assert that they use neither signs nor ^B demonstrations—although elsewhere he mocks the things said by the poets, as we shall clearly demonstrate in another place. But if Plato commands that faith be given to those who compose such trifles and myths full of obscenity, and that no proof be demanded of them, it is much more holy and just to believe the divine apostles and prophets, who teach nothing base, nothing fabulous, nothing incredible, but everything that is worthy of God, holy, and salutary.

Moreover, that those who follow the opinions of the philosophers also used faith as their guide, and that some embraced the doctrines of one and others of another, anyone who diligently examines the differences in their dogmas will very easily learn. For some said the soul is immortal, others that it is mortal; others defined it as a mixture, asserting that it is in part mortal ^C and in part immortal. And as for the things we see with our eyes, some said they were unbegotten, others begotten; some that they were formed from earth, others from matter, others from atoms. Finally, some make the entire universe endued with a soul, others inanimate. All of whom, although they expressed conflicting views, nonetheless found people to believe their words and opinions. Nor would some have thought that one thing was true and others another, unless some faith had persuaded them to accept what was being said. For this reason, that Socratic of Plato in the Gorgias, having said much about those who are punished ^D beneath the earth, and also about those who are celebrated with praises as pious men, added: “These are the things, Callicles, which I, having heard, believe to be most true.” And yet these things were neither clear nor visible, but unknown to the majority of men and accepted by only a few; yet he said he believed them to be true, and neither did he himself bring any proof for his faith, nor did those who were listening demand it. Indeed, in the first book of the *Laws*, Plato also confirmed the argument concerning faith. He says as follows:

^A "Vobis quidem, tametsi quae ad leges pertinent mediocriter confecta sint, haec una inter optimas lex fuerit, ut nulli, qui paulo sit junior, quaerere liceat quaenam in illis bene vel perperam sese habeant, sed una voce unoque quod dicitur ore, omnes bene se habere omnia fateantur." Plato therefore does not permit anyone to fret about these things, but orders that whatever laws are enacted should be accepted with full faith, and not to be overly inquisitive as to whether they are good or not.

And Theognis, the Sicilian poet, also declares faith to be a ^B foster child, and he says: "The faithful man is more precious than gold and silver, When exposed to a difficult, O Cyrnus, discord." If he says that the man who is faithful during a civil conflict is more precious than gold and silver, to what extent should one evaluate the man who, without doubt, trusts in the divine oracles? But for those who, like you, contradict me, it seems that what Heraclitus the Ephesian stated very aptly applies: "Those who do not understand are like the deaf; the common proverb bears witness to them: though present, they are absent."

Empedocles of Agrigentum also agrees with the Ephesian, saying thus: "But to the wicked it is extremely fitting to be faithless; For this is what the clear proofs of our Muse command." According to the Agrigentine, then, the faithless are to be relegated to the camp of the wicked; and according to Heraclitus, these same men are senseless and like the deaf.

Furthermore, Parmenides the Eleatic, the companion of Xenophanes of Colophon, ^C exhorts us to approach things that are known by the intellect through faith. For he says: "Look nonetheless at things absent, as being firmly present to the mind." For by the mind alone it is possible to approach things that are known by the intellect; but without faith, even the mind is unable to see the things that are to be understood.

Solon also alludes to this: "It is most difficult to know the hidden measure of wisdom, Which alone holds all the limits." And if it is most difficult to know it, then it is entirely impossible to express it. And Empedocles says this concerning things that are invisible: "It is not possible to approach [them], nor for our eyes Is it reachable, ^D nor to be grasped by hands; which is the greatest Highway of Persuasion that descends into the heart of man."

And Antisthenes, who was a student of Socrates and a leader of the Cynic sect, testifies thus concerning the God of all things: "He is not known from an image, he is not seen by the eyes, and he resembles no one; wherefore he..."

^A can be learned by no one from an image." Faith is, therefore, necessary for those who wish to contemplate things perceived by the intellect, since it turns out that they cannot even discover an image for them. The Athenian Xenophon, the Socratic disciple, son of Gryllus, wrote things consistent with this, saying (Clem. Alex. Prot. p. 61): "He who shakes and calms all things is indeed known as great and powerful, but what he is like in form is invisible." There is need, then, of faith for those who desire to reach an understanding of the invisible. One might also hear Bacchylides saying in his Paeans: For it is not easy to find the gates of unspeakable words.

We have need, therefore, of intellectual eyes for the ^B apprehension of things perceived by the intellect; and just as we have need of the eyes of the body for the contemplation of things that can be seen, so, surely, we have need of faith for the contemplation of divine things. For what the eye is in the body, that faith is in the mind. Or rather, just as the eye needs light that reveals what is visible, so also the intellect needs faith that reveals divine things, and keeps the opinion regarding them stable.

Hear also how Plato accuses those who do not wish to contemplate with their mind things that are perceptible to the intellect alone. "Look carefully," he says (Theaet. p. 155 E), "lest any of the uninitiated overhear. These are they who believe nothing else to be real except what they can grasp tightly ^C with their hands, and who do not accept actions and generations and everything invisible as being in the category of substance." You also are of this same sect; do not, however, take the rebuke ill. For you waste away with things that are solely visible, and by venerating man-made idols, you do not accept the teaching concerning the invisible nature. Perhaps the comic poet Epicharmus adapted that iambic for men of this sort: Human natures, inflated skins.

It is characteristic, however, of prudent men not to indulge personal bias, nor to be bound by ancestral customs, but to seek the truth, and to gather what is useful from every source. Did not Socrates ^D say as much to Crito (p. 46 C)? "I, however, not only now, but always, desire to be such a man as to be persuaded by nothing of my own, but by the argument which, upon reflection, seems to me best." By these words, he shows that he is eager to discover the truth by the aid of reason, and that he has not sworn allegiance to that law which is to be a slave to personal bias. In this way he persuades Alcibiades

to learn, having first banished the conceit of knowledge. For he first convicted him of ignorance; then, when he said, "But do you not think that I would find it?" he added, "Certainly, if you search." And when he, in turn, said, "Do you not think, then, that I have searched?" he replied, "I do, provided you think that you do not know." Therefore, the beginning of knowledge is the recognition of ignorance. Furthermore, one must also expel evil teachings from the soul, and only then accept the divine. Plato teaches this again in these words: "For it is not permitted for one who is not pure to touch that which is pure." ^B Orpheus also sings of this:

"I shall speak to those who have the right; close the doors, you profane."

Euripides also agrees, saying:

"Secrets are not for the uninitiated to know, oh mortals."

For how could one transmit divine teachings to the uninitiated? Or how could anyone be initiated, if he does not, by faith, confirm within himself the dogmas offered by the teachers? Or how could he have faith, if he has not first cast out from his mind the doctrines poorly planted there? Therefore, that tragic saying is true, which Euripides spoke in the *Phoenissae*:

"For wicked speech, Being diseased in itself, needs wise remedies." ^C

And that God also cooperates with those who desire to enjoy healing, the same tragic poet said:

"But for the one who labors, even God lends a hand."

Faith, therefore, is a most useful thing. For, to quote the Pythagorean Epicharmus:

"Mind sees and mind hears; all else is deaf and blind."

Heraclitus, too, again urges us to be guided by faith, speaking as follows: "If you do not hope, you will not find the unhoped-for, since it is inscrutable and inaccessible." And again: "Those who seek gold dig into much earth and find [but] a little." If, then, they endure great labor, and even danger, for the sake of a few grains, who is so averse to divine things as to flee from the teaching concerning the truth, which contains a profit ten thousand times greater? ^D

Let no one, therefore, my friends, accuse faith. For Aristotle has called faith the criterion of knowledge; and Epicurus said that it is a *prolepsis* (presumption) of the mind; and that this *prolepsis*, upon receiving knowledge, becomes *katalepsis* (comprehension). And according to our...

^A definition, faith is a voluntary assent of the soul, or the contemplation of a hidden matter, or an abiding fixation upon that which truly exists, and an apprehension of invisible things appropriate to their nature, or an unambiguous disposition implanted in the souls of those who possess it. Faith, however, stands in need of knowledge, just as knowledge, in turn, stands in need of faith. For neither can faith exist without knowledge, nor knowledge without faith. Indeed, faith precedes knowledge, but knowledge follows faith; desire follows knowledge, and action follows desire. For it is necessary first to believe, then to learn; and having learned, to desire; and having desired, to act. For it is not possible to learn the first elements if one does not believe the teacher that it is necessary to call the first one this, and the second one that, and so on. For if he immediately objects, claiming that the first letter should not be called *alpha*, but that another name must be assigned to it, he would not learn the truth; rather, he must necessarily wander astray and take the false for the true. But if, having placed faith in the teacher, he receives the subjects of study according to his rules, knowledge will very quickly follow faith.

So, too, one must have faith in the geometer who teaches that there is a certain point which has no part, and that there is a length which lacks any breadth. ^B Yet no one would ever be able to demonstrate in discourse that this is so; for if you strip away the breadth from the length, length itself will surely be removed from the eyes along with the breadth. But the geometer commands it to be understood in this way, and he who desires to learn those linear figures easily believes and readily has faith. Thus, the students also believe the astronomers when they compile the number of the stars, and measure the intervals by which they are distant from one another, and how many myriads of stadia the heaven which we behold is removed from the earth—even though there is a great difference in measurement among the astronomers: for while some say there are four hundred seventy myriads of stadia, others say fewer, and some even many more, the students nevertheless obey their teachers, giving faith ^C to what they say.

For concerning the sun, there is again great disputation among them. For Anaximander and Anaximenes affirmed that it is twenty-seven times larger than the earth; Anaxagoras, that it is larger than the Peloponnese; and Heraclitus the Ephesian, that it is a foot wide. Who, then, would justly laugh at such a disagreement? For the dissension among them has not arisen over some small measure, but over an immense one, and one that no one could express in discourse. For who could

^A calculate the measure of the earth, then multiply this measure twenty-seven times, and sum up the calculation of the reckoning, and compare this to the measure of a human foot? And yet there are some who align themselves with these, and others with those, and while having faith, some affirm these things and others those. Why, therefore, do you heap praise upon that faith which is most irrational and surpasses all reason, while you accuse only our own, which is free from such myths and trifles, and receives divine and intelligible things in an intellectual manner?

Now, in addition to what has been said, let us ^B consider this as well: that every person who wishes to learn a certain craft goes to one who knows how to teach, and embraces the lessons offered by him. The cobbler, for instance, shows how one must hold the knife, and cut the leather, and indeed, how to sew it and fit it to the wooden last; and the other trusts what is said and does not contradict the teacher. The one possesses the knowledge of the things being done, while the other holds to faith, but through faith he gradually gains the knowledge. In this way, also, the shipwright instructs the one who desires to learn how it is necessary to stretch the plumb line, and how it is fitting to move the saw, and how he must use the hatchet, the chisel, and the auger. The apprentice learns each of these things, performing everything he is commanded, considering the words of the teacher as laws, and believing that under his guidance he will perfect the craft. Thus also, the physician not only teaches the science but also heals those who are sick. He himself indeed knows the theory of medicine; but the one who is suffering with an illness does not know this, yet he believes that through the medical art he will be delivered from the disease. And indeed, only those who know the art of navigation know how to steer a ship, while the passengers trust in them that they will be brought into the desired harbors. ^C Is it not, then, O friends, a thing common to all—faith—both for those desiring to learn some craft, and for those sailing, and farming, and attending upon physicians? But knowledge belongs not to all, but only to those who understand the crafts. Therefore, if we wish to distinguish good and refined gold, we do not ourselves submit it to the test, but we bid the one who is skilled in such things to test it; and he, either by applying the touchstone or the fire, declares whether it is counterfeit or genuine. Likewise, when we are buying precious stones, we do not entrust the discernment of them to ourselves, but to those to whom time and experience have brought this expertise. And as for silk ^D vestments, whether they are embroidered or woven...

^A if one wishes to purchase them, he entrusts to those who have the expertise of weaving the task of setting the price upon them. And indeed, if someone wishes to learn the weight of certain vessels of gold or silver, or of coins, he brings them to one who is skilled in the art of the balance, and is instructed by him regarding the weight, and he believes him and does not contradict the one who informs him. It is not, then, the case that knowledge belongs to everyone, but to those who have learned such things through instruction, time, and experience; but faith belongs to all who are eager to learn something. Faith is, however, the foundation and basis of knowledge. For even your own philosophers defined faith as a voluntary assent of the soul, but knowledge as a stable habit accompanied by reason. It is absurd and highly unreasonable that, while all masters of every art possess knowledge and those who are learning possess faith, in the doctrine of divine matters alone the order should be inverted, so that knowledge is demanded before faith. For in those matters which cannot be seen, we are in the greatest need of the eyes of faith. Wherefore the divine ^B Apostle likewise loudly proclaims: "For it is necessary for one approaching God to believe that He is, and that He becomes a rewarder to those who seek Him." For this reason, we also set before those who approach and desire to learn divine things the instruction of faith before all other things, and then, once they have been imbued with faith and initiated, we reveal to them the enigmas of the events that have preceded. And among you likewise, not everyone knows the hierophantic discourse, but the great crowd sees the ceremonies being performed, while those who are called priests carry out the rites and orgies in the authorized manner, but the hierophant alone knows the reason for what is being done, and reveals it to those whom he deems fit. And that Priapus is the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, some of those who have been initiated ^C into these mysteries know; but for what reason he is called their son, and why a virile member, erect and very large, is attached to a figure of such diminutive size, the hierophant of these foul mysteries knows, as does any other who happens upon those abominable books. For, calling pleasure Venus, and drunkenness Bacchus, they said that what is accomplished by both is Priapus, because pleasure joined to drunkenness excites the obscene parts of the body. In the same way, as for the phallus of Dionysus (for thus did ridiculous men name the virile member, and the festival of the phallus was called by the Greeks Phallagogia), those who celebrated the orgies ^D all worshipped and kissed this, yet they did not know the reason. But he who was called the hierophant knew about Osiris and Typhon, and the limbs of Osiris cut up by Typhon and scattered far and wide, and besides, about Isis, the sister of Osiris, who gathered them together with great zeal, but alone did not find his phallus, and for this reason, having erected

and scattered everywhere; and Isis, the sister of Osiris, gathering these together with pain, and failing only to find the phallus, for which reason she fashioned an image of it and commanded it to be worshipped by all. These orgies, ^A having learned in Egypt, the Odrysian Orpheus transferred to Greece, and established the festival of the Dionysia.

If, therefore, not even these impure and abominable orgies were known to all, but only those who were called hierophants held them, it is clear madness to seek the knowledge of the most holy and divine mysteries before faith. Or do you not listen to Pindar the lyric poet, who clearly forbids you,

*Not to reveal the ancient word to all?*

^B This same thing Plato also advises: "Take care," says he, "lest these things should fall into the hands of the uneducated. For there is almost nothing, in my opinion, that can be heard by the masses with greater derision than these things of ours, just as, on the other hand, there is nothing that seems more admirable and divine to men of talent; but being often repeated and always heard, and for many years, they are cleansed with much effort, just like gold." You heard also the earlier saying of Orpheus:

*I will speak to those whom it is lawful to address; but shut the doors, ye profane.*

^C Let faith, therefore, be the guide, and knowledge will follow. For the Lord, in whom we believe, grants knowledge to those who believe purely and sincerely, and knowledge, added to faith, perfects the science of truth. He who attains this is happy, nay, most happy. And this Plato has revealed in his *Laws* (p. 730 C): "It is necessary," he says, "that he who is to be blessed and happy should from the very beginning be a partaker of the truth, so that he may live as long as possible a partaker of the truth." For to those who have been partakers of the truth, and have lived a life worthy of it, heaven is well-prepared, and the dwellings of the angels. ^D But he who is destitute of this, and uninitiated, and ignorant of the most holy and divine mysteries, will be deprived of these blessings, and will be delivered over to eternal punishments. And this same thing Plato again has revealed in the *Phaedo* (p. 69 C). For he says that those who have handed down the initiation rites have said that "whoever arrives in Hades uninitiated and unperfected will lie in the mire; but he who has been purified and initiated, arriving there, will dwell with the gods."

Believe, therefore, O friends, your own philosophers, who initiate you and pre-teach our doctrines. For they seem

^A exactly like those vocal birds which mimic the human voice but are ignorant of the meaning of the words they utter. For in a similar way, these men too, when discussing divine matters, did not know the truth of what they were saying. Yet they deserve, I think, some pardon, since they were guided by the light of neither prophets nor apostles, but used nature as their only guide, the characters of whose letters, once impressed by God, the error of impiety had blotted out. Nevertheless, He who had established them repaired some of these, and did not permit them to be utterly destroyed, clearly signifying His providence to men through the creation of the world. The divine Apostle Paul showed this very thing when he preached at Lystra. ^B For among many other things, he said: "Who in past generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways; yet he did not leave himself without witness, doing good, giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness." For while the Abrahamic race received the divine law and enjoyed the grace of prophecy, the Governor of all led the other nations toward piety through nature itself and the contemplation of creation. And just as He pours out rain, bountiful and generous, especially upon cultivated fields for the sake of providing for the human race, but out of ^C abundance and munificence also waters the wilderness and the mountains—producing milder fruits in the tilled soil, but wild ones in the untilled (we very often see wild figs growing on tombs and walls)—so too the gift of knowledge is bestowed especially upon the pious; but upon those who are not of this sort, it falls like rain upon desert and wild places. Hence they often produce certain edible things that are similar to the fruits of cultivated fields, although it is apparent that they are bereft of prophetic agriculture, for a certain roughness and bitterness is mixed into them. But those who know how to discern, taking what is useful, leave the rest; just as those who harvest rose gardens leave the thorns, but gather the ^D calyxes. Nature has instituted this same law for bees as well. For by alighting not only upon sweet blossoms, but also upon bitter ones, they draw out the sweet quality while turning away from the bitter, and from the various qualities—bitter and tart, austere and pungent—they prepare the sweetest honey for men. Following their example, we too, from your bitter meadows, compose for you the sweet honey of utility. But just as those who heal the bodies

producing medicines that are beneficial from poisonous animals; and as they reject some parts of vipers while boiling others, they drive away many diseases through these means: so do we, in handling the works of your poets, historians, and philosophers, leave aside some things as poisonous, while others we adapt to the science of doctrine, and offer them to you as a salutary remedy. Those whom you have supposed to be our adversaries, we show to be supporters of our arguments and teachers of the faith. Thus, with God’s help, we shall offer you our other teachings as well. Do you, therefore, having learned how necessary a thing faith is, cultivate that Pythagorean silence and lend your ears with attention to our words, faithfully receiving what is said; for thus you will soon be able to learn the truth. ^A

SERMON II. Concerning the Beginning.

The light which is perceptible to the senses, whether it descends to us from above or—if we consider things on earth—is devised by the art of man, indicates to those who see what is gold and what is silver, what is bronze and iron, ^B and tin, and similarly with other substances; and it teaches the difference between colors, forms, plants, and animals. But only those who have keen eyesight perceive this distinction of things. For those who are blind are in no way helped by the sun's rays, since they do not even see the brightness of the light itself. Similar to these are they who do not wish to look upon the intellectual light of truth, but rather willingly remain in the darkness of ignorance, like those birds that fly at night, ^C which quite naturally have a name derived from the night. For owls and night-ravens shun the light as an enemy, and love the darkness as if it were salutary. Now, against them, no one of sound mind would feel indignation; for nature assigned this kind of life to them from the beginning. But as for those who have of their own accord bound themselves to darkness, what measure of pardon could they justly obtain, especially when the divine light of truth has filled every continent and island with its rays, and has occupied the ends of the whole world? ^D For those who were afflicted with this malady before the divine manifestation of Christ have some moderate excuse, on the grounds that the Sun of righteousness had not yet risen, and they were living as if in darkness, guided only by the light of nature. When

however, this Sun has not only risen, but, to speak poetically, ^A *has climbed to the center of the heavens*, what room for excuse remains for those who go blind at midday and close their eyes so as not to enjoy the light? It is the vice of arrogance that does not allow them to dispel the mist from their eyes 22. For they suppose they know the truth better than anyone else, because they have been nurtured in the teachings of eloquent men; and they are unwilling to perceive that while sea fish are nourished in the saltiest of brine, they nonetheless require salt for seasoning. Nor, again, do they discern that fluency of speech is by no means the teacher of the truth. For what is more pleasant than the poetry of Homer? ^B What is sweeter than his beautiful diction? And yet the greatest of philosophers (you understand, I think, that I speak of the son of Aristo) drove him, anointed with oils just as women are accustomed to do with swallows, far from the city he himself established (Rep. III, p. 198), calling him the master of all licentiousness and impiety. For, he says, he teaches the young to blaspheme, and instills in them shameful opinions about the gods, and sows wicked, pernicious, and corrupt teachings in minds that are still tender. Furthermore, he brings many other charges against that most excellent of poets. Thus, not everyone who is trained in sweet eloquence is capable of teaching the truth. But if you object to us by pointing to your philosophers, know that these too were entangled in many errors. For they did not all travel the same path, nor did they follow the footsteps of those who went before them, ^C but each cut out a path for himself and invented ten thousand tracks; for the paths of falsehood are many and branch in many directions. And that this is so will be shown clearly in a moment. For Thales, the eldest of those who are called the seven sages, supposed that water was the principle of all things, having followed Homer, I believe, who said: *Oceanus the father of the gods, and Tethys the mother.*

Anaximander, his successor, said that the infinite was the principle; but his successor Anaximenes, and Diogenes of Apollonia, with one mind declared that air was the principle. Hippasus of Metapontum and Heraclitus of Ephesus assigned the principle of all things to fire. Empedocles of Agrigentum said it was the four elements. Xenophanes of Colophon said that the universe was eternal, and that all things ^D

^A came from earth. Parmenides the Eleate, a companion of his, confirmed this same opinion, and declared that the judgment of the senses was false, denying that we can reach the truth by this guide. Democritus of Abdera asserted that the universe is infinite and unbegotten. Epicurus, the son of Neocles the Athenian, said that the whole was composed from the beginning of atoms, yet that it was without beginning and eternal. Furthermore, Metrodorus of Chios, Zeno the Eleate, and Diogenes of Smyrna posited different principles for all things.

From this it happened that Socrates, son of Sophroniscus, always attacked them, because while they claimed to know those things which human nature cannot attain, they battled against one another and made themselves leaders of new and clashing doctrines, as Xenophon says in his *Memorabilia*. And Plato also wrote of him in the *Phaedo* saying: "For I, Cebes, when I was young, was wonderfully eager for this philosophy, which they call the investigation of nature. For it seemed to me a splendid and noble thing to know the causes of each thing, why it comes to be, and why it perishes, and why it exists." Then, having recounted many such things, he added: "I will give you a sufficient proof. For I, as I previously thought I clearly understood, as I believed myself and others believed me, was rendered so blind by this investigation of nature that I even unlearned what I previously thought I knew." ^B And again, blaming the contention of the philosophers, Plato says the following in the *Theaetetus*: "But if you ask any of them, they struggle as if drawing forth the riddles of sentences from a quiver; and if you seek to grasp the reason for this, what they have said, you will be struck by another word newly coined, and you will achieve nothing from any of them, nor do they with one another; but they will guard very carefully that nothing be certain, neither in speech nor in their own souls; believing, as it seems to me, that this is the only thing that is solid; and against this they fight vehemently, and as far as they can, they [cast out] from everywhere. Perhaps, Theodorus, you have seen these men fighting, but you have not been present with them while they were at peace; for they are not your companions; but, I think, they say these things to their students in the school, whom they wish to make like themselves. To what students, my good friend? For not even does one among such men become a student of another, but they sprout up spontaneously, whenever each of them happens to be moved, and one does not think that the other knows anything." And after a little while again: "I almost forgot, ^C Theodorus, that others have declared the opposite to these things; for instance, that there is one name for the universe, and [other] things as much as Melissus and the Parmenidians, opposing themselves to all these, maintain ^D

^A And indeed, in the *Sophist*, he accuses them in such words—not an apostle nor a prophet, but the first of the philosophers, whether one would wish to speak of Plato the son of Ariston, or Socrates the son of Sophroniscus; for the matters and opinions are those of Socrates, but the writings are those of Plato. Whichever of them it may be, he left it written thus (Soph. p. 242 C): “Each one of them seems to me to be telling us a myth, as if we were children. One ^B of them says that the things that are are three; but they sometimes fight among themselves, at other times they become friends, providing marriages, births, and the upbringing of children. Another declares that there are two principles of things, the moist and the dry, or the hot and the cold, and he gathers them together and brings them forth. But those among us who are called Eleatics, starting from Xenophanes and even earlier, relate their myths as if what is called ‘all things’ were one. And now some Sicilian Muses ^C have conceived that it is safer to combine both, and to say that what is is both many and one, and is held together by strife and friendship.” And after having discussed other things of this kind, he adds: “And so there appears to be a sort of war of giants among them, so great is their dispute concerning the substance of things. How so? Some drag all things down from heaven and from the invisible realm to the earth, having grasped, quite literally, rocks and trees ^D with their hands. For, having taken hold of [all] such things, they very strongly assert that only that which admits of collision and touch exists, defining the same thing as body and substance.”

These are not our Peter, nor Paul, accusing your philosophers; but most eloquent Plato, and Socrates, who was judged by the Pythian oracle to be the wisest of all men. They say that your philosophers affirm that only that which admits of collision and touch exists, and they define the same as body and substance, conceiving nothing beyond the things that are seen. How then could anyone use these men as guides to the truth, who themselves are subject to such and so great errors, and who bring forward such conflicting opinions, and have stirred up the greatest war among themselves? But Timon the Phliasian also, the associate of Pyrrho, mocked them in his *Silli*; and I, from the great number of them, shall mention a few:

Wretched mortals, base, belly-like, What disputes and strife of babblers drive you, O skins, whom empty conceit of soul fills?

Not therefore do we alone [avoid] the stain of arrogance...

for long ago, and very long ago, Timon, one of your philosophers, made this accusation. It is one thing to know, and another to imagine that one knows while knowing nothing. For there is a very great difference, O friends, between truth and the conjecture of truth. For conjecture errs in many things, but truth teaches in such a way that it admits nothing contrary to itself. Hence, one person speaks of truth by conjecture, and truth interprets itself differently; since even Anaxagoras, son of Hegesibulus, of Clazomenae, seeing that the philosophers before him had understood nothing beyond what is visible, was the first to say that an Intellect ^B presided over the world, and that this intellect brought the elements from disorder into order. And Pythagoras, son of Mnesarchus, said that the Monad, that is, the unit, was the principle of all things. Anaxagoras and Pythagoras lived at the same time. But after Pythagoras died, his wife Theano, along with her sons Telauges and Mnesarchus, undertook to manage his school; and Empedocles of Agrigentum became a student of Telauges, while Archelaus became a student of Anaxagoras; and Socrates of Athens was a student of Archelaus. Moreover, Anaxagoras and Pythagoras journeyed to Egypt and mingled with the wise men of the Egyptians and Hebrews there, ^C and gathered knowledge concerning Being. A long time later, Plato also undertook this same pilgrimage; and Plutarch mentions this in his *Parallel Lives*, and Xenophon, son of Gryllus, also mentions it in the things he wrote to the Socratic Aeschines. He writes as follows (Euseb. P. E., 745 D): “For they fell in love with Egypt, and with the monstrous wisdom of Pythagoras; and that they were licentious and not sufficiently stable under the discipline of Socrates, that love of tyranny indicated, as well as their seeking, in place of a frugal and simple life, Sicilian dinners, in keeping with a most voracious belly.” Such are the things Xenophon wrote ^D about Plato, that, having disregarded the teaching of Socrates, he envied the monstrous wisdom of Pythagoras, and lived with Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, enjoying the luxuries of Syracuse. He also testifies that he fell in love with the wisdom of the Egyptians. Therefore, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, and Plato all gathered certain riddles concerning Being from the Egyptians and Hebrews. Why, then, do you put faith in these men, who learned divine matters only superficially, yet refuse to learn from those from whom they themselves received these things? For that the poets and philosophers who lived before them supposed that there was nothing beyond what is seen, Plato shows in his *Cratylus*: “It seems to me,” he says, “that the first men in Greece considered those to be the only gods whom many of the barbarians now consider such: the sun, and the moon, and the earth, and the stars, and the heaven.”

^A Since they saw these things moving and running in a certain course, they named them gods from this nature, from their running. But Homer and Hesiod were entirely ignorant of the Maker of the whole universe. For Hesiod said that Oceanus and Tethys were born from Chaos; and from Oceanus and Tethys the heaven and the earth; and from these, Saturn and Rhea with the other brothers; and from Saturn and Rhea, Jupiter and Juno and Neptune and Pluto. Homer calls Oceanus the generator of the gods, and Tethys their mother; and he calls him whom he styles father of gods and men the Saturnian, as if he were born from Saturn. These men, therefore, also served great errors. Although Plato himself knew this very well, he nevertheless exhorts that faith be given to them, even though they invent such fables and use no signs or true demonstrations. Elsewhere, the same Plato also testifies: “The poet is a light and holy thing, and he is not able to compose anything poetic before he is inspired and loses his senses.” ^B Orpheus the Odrysian, having also traveled to Egypt, learned some things about the true God and cries out: Perfect is God, who perfects all things alone, He traverses the same: but by no man's eyes May he be seen, though He watches all things Seen by none, since clouds of dark mist Resist, and mortal lights for us, And delicate pupils, while flesh and bones stand in the way. And again: He himself sits back upon the great heaven, Sitting on a golden throne, and beneath his feet The earth is pressed; he stretches his right hand to the shores Of Ocean: the roots of the mountains in their depths Tremble, and cannot bear the divine power on their backs. Residing in heaven, yet he perfects all things on earth below, He acts as the head, the middle, and the end. ^C But although he had learned these things from the Egyptians—who had received certain documents of truth from the Hebrews—he nevertheless mingled some errors of theology and handed down the most impure orgies of the Dionysian and Thesmophorian rites; and as if smearing the cup with a certain honey, he offered the lethal drink to the deceived. Plato indeed did this very same thing. For the things he wrote in the Timaeus regarding the Being (God) are truly worthy of admiration. For who would not admire him, hearing him say: “What is that which always is, and has no generation? And what, on the contrary, is that which is always becoming, yet never exists? The former is grasped by intellect with reason, always existing in the same way; but the latter is opinable by irrational sense, as it comes into being and perishes, but properly it ^D never exists.” He also adds these things to what has been said:

^A “For all these things are parts of time, ‘was’ and ‘shall be’; ^B and while we carry these about, we are unwittingly applying them even to the eternal substance, not rightly. For we say that it ‘was,’ ‘is,’ and ‘shall be’; but to it, in the true sense, only ‘is’ is appropriate; and ‘was’ and ‘shall be’ are suitable to be said of that generation which is in time. But that which always and in the same way possesses itself immutably, it is not appropriate to be called either older or younger.” ^B Who, then, is so caviling and querulous an accuser as to take offense at what has been said, and not rather bear full witness to the truth in them? For that which is always is superior to all generation; but that which [indeed] comes into being, and admits of very many changes, he plausibly said never to be; for the embryo, when it has become an infant, is no longer then an embryo, but an infant; and again the infant, when it has become a child, is no longer called an infant; thus the child, having taken on the age of a youth, is called what it has become; and when it again attains to manhood, it is no longer called a youth, but a man; and having become an old man, this again in turn is called what it has indeed become. ^C With good reason, therefore, he called those things which come into being and are changed ‘non-beings.’ And Socrates, conversing with Crito, teaches that there is one Inspector of all things, with these words: “But now regarding just and unjust things, and shameful and fair, and bad and good, about which our deliberation is now, whether we must obey the opinion of the many and fear it, or that of the one, if there is anyone who understands, whom we ought to fear and revere more than all the rest? For if we do not follow him, we will corrupt and injure that which was indeed made better by the just, but perished by the unjust.” And a little later again: “Therefore, my good sir, we must not be at all concerned about what the many will say of us, but what the one who understands just and unjust things will say, [who is] the one man, and truth itself.” ^D Do you see, O men, how in these words Plato and Socrates drove out the swarm of non-existent gods, and exhorted that only the Moderator of all things be revered and feared? Teaching that, if ever he made mention of many gods, he was forced to do so on account of the deceived Athenian crowd. For if, even having done these things, Socrates did not escape the cup of hemlock, what evil would he not have suffered if he had openly denied the large swarm of gods? And Plato has made this clear in what he wrote to Dionysius. For among many other things, he added this: “But concerning the symbol regarding the letters, both those which I write in haste, and those which I do not, I think that you remember; nevertheless, take note, and

^A pay attention. For many are those who urge me to write, whom it is not easy to dismiss openly. Of the serious letter, then, God is the beginning, but of the lighter one, the gods. How else could one more clearly show his own intention? For he showed openly the difference he held regarding these names, almost saying: 'For the sake of the opinion of the many, I use the plural name concerning God, suspicious of the deceived preconceptions of the citizens; for when writing seriously, and trusting in both the bearer and the receiver of the ^B letters, I name God in the singular, and I make this the beginning of my words.' And elsewhere, too, he writes thus concerning the Being: 'For to find the Father and Maker of this whole universe is a labor, and having found Him, to declare Him to all is impossible; for it is in no way expressible as other branches of learning.' But he who in these [passages] theologized thus accurately, in others, whether fearing the many or in truth being ignorant, made mention of many gods, and causes much harm to those who encounter [his writings]. ^C Why then, O friends, do we draw muddy and earthy water, and do not seek that clear and transparent spring, from which this man, taking the arguments of theology, mixed into it the muddy and earthy dregs? Or are you ignorant that Moses, the lawgiver of the Jews, is more ancient than all your poets, historians, and philosophers? But if you still even now doubt, and suspect that we are inventing this account, let Porphyry at least be a sufficient witness for you: who, having become a champion of impiety, moved his unbridled tongue against the God of the universe. Hear, therefore, him saying these things in that which he wrote against us: ^D 'Sanchuniathon the Berytian, having received the records from Hierombalus, the priest of the god Jao, narrates the things concerning the Jewish affairs most truthfully, for they are most consistent both with the places and with the names of the Jews. He, having dedicated his history to Abibalus, king of the Berytians, was approved by him and the other examiners of the truth. Moreover, the times of these [men] are prior to the Trojan times, and they approach closely to the times of Moses, as the successions of the kings of Phoenicia indicate. Sanchuniathon, indeed, who in the Phoenician tongue, as a lover of truth, collected and wrote down all the ancient history from the records of the individual cities and the monuments in the temples, lived under Semiramis, the queen of the Assyrians.' And from this it is clearly possible to learn by how many years Moses is older than the Trojan times. For if he who wrote the Jewish history flourished in the time of Semiramis, and committed it to writing, Sanchuniathon

who ^A lived long before—did so, then Moses, having been the lawgiver of the Jews, is consequently much older than Sanchuniathon. That Semiramis lived more than a thousand years before the Trojan times is clearly shown by those who have compiled the chronological records. But to refute Porphyry, as one ignorant of the eras, is not the task of the present moment. It suffices for me to show by how many years Moses was older than the Trojan times. Homer and Hesiod flourished long after the Trojan times. Orpheus, however, was the first of the poets, preceding the Trojan times by one generation. For he sailed to Colchis as a companion to Jason, Peleus, Telamon, Hercules, and the Dioscuri. Now Euneus is said to be the son of Jason, he who sent wine to the Achaeans who were besieging Troy. There was also Tlepolemus, the son of Hercules, whom Sarpedon (the leader of the Lycians) transfixed with a spear in the Trojan war; and Ajax, the son of Telamon; and Achilles, the son of Peleus. When Helen, desiring to see Castor and Pollux—the so-called Dioscuri—from the walls as if they were her brothers, and then, missing the object of her longing, bewailed them bitterly, supposing them to be dead. I have not recounted these things like a garrulous storyteller, but wishing to show clearly that Orpheus was one generation older than the Trojan war. Linus and Musaeus flourished around the time of the Trojan war, and Thamyris and Philammon likewise along with these. If, therefore, ^B according to Porphyry's own opinion, Moses is more than a thousand years older than these, and they are the most ancient of the poets (for even Homer and Hesiod were born after them, and these again were many years older than Thales and the other philosophers, and those who philosophized after him), why do we not leave them all and pass on to Moses, the ocean of theology, from whom, to speak poetically, all rivers and every sea are derived? For Anaxagoras, Pythagoras, and Plato after them, drew from thence certain small gleams of truth; and Socrates, having conversed with Anaxagoras and Archelaus, learned from them what he taught regarding the Existent. But Moses, the most divine, did not follow human reasonings like these men in writing his theology, but was instructed by the very voice of the Existent itself. For when the Creator of all things began the giving of the law, He exhorted [men] to worship the one God, saying, «I am, He said, the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.» And having ^C reminded them of the benefit conferred a little before, He exhorted them to persist in the service of God, and not to bestow the worship owed to God upon any other, but to attribute it to the one true God. «For there shall not be, He said, to thee other gods beside me.» Thence He clearly teaches that none of those

things which are seen is like unto Him, and altogether forbids the making of any image for the imitation of any seen things, or thinking such to be a representation and idol of the invisible God. «For thou shalt not make to thyself, He said, an idol, nor the likeness of anything, as many as are in heaven above, and as many as are on the earth beneath, and as many as are in the waters under the earth: ye shall not make them for yourselves, nor shall ye worship them; for I am the Lord thy God.» Thou hast heard a voice, he says, but thou hast not seen a form. Make not, therefore, any image the archetype of which thou dost not know. And elsewhere, also, refuting the false gods and rooting out the error of the Egyptians, He said to them: «Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is one.» ^B

This teaching is contained in the writings of the great Moses; this theology he has interwoven with both histories and laws and prophecies; and having written five books, he forbids the honoring of those who are many and are thought and called gods, yet are not such, and commands that worship be offered to the Creator of all things alone. Joshua, also, the successor to his leadership of the people and military command, and finally the whole chorus of the prophets, did not cease to exhort and command these same things. But you might perhaps say: «You yourselves have not kept this law inviolate. For you preach a Trinity, not a unity; whereas the Jews, nurtured on the books of Moses and the prophets, worship only one, and condemn your Trinity.» ^C But I, O friendly men, do not consider you unworthy of pardon, as you are ignorant of the divine Scriptures; but I mourn the extreme ignorance of the Jews, that, being nurtured, according to the prophet, from the womb, and trained from childhood even unto old age in divine things, they are ignorant of the truth of theology. For because they had sojourned for a very long time in Egypt, and had learned the worship of many gods according to the Egyptian rite, the all-wise God by no means manifested to them all the mysteries of the Trinity, lest they should take occasion from the multitude of gods and incline toward the impiety of the Egyptians: yet He did not, even then, fully conceal the dogmas concerning the Trinity from those who were to come after, but sowed as it were seeds of a more perfect theology. For this reason He legislates in the singular, ^D yet enigmatically indicates the Trinity. For the one who says, «Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is one,» teaches both the unity, and

signifies the Trinity. For by uttering «God» once and «Lord» twice, he has indicated the number of the Trinity. But by adding «is one,» he has brought forth the teaching appropriate to the Jews, and signified the identity of the divine essence. For the essence, the power, and indeed the will of the holy Trinity are one. On this account, the choirs of invisible powers, offering their hymn to God, say «Holy» three times, but «Lord» only once; in the former they express the number of the properties, in the latter they signify the common lordship. ^A And while these things are declared through enigmas concerning the divine Trinity, the holy men teach these same things more clearly in other places. For Moses, that divine man, providing an account of the origin of the world and explaining the formation of man, said that the Creator of all said: «Let us make man in our image and after our likeness.» Then he added, as it is written: «God made man; in the image of God he made him.» And he called the one who made man God, as he also called the one after whose image he fashioned the one whom he formed; not that the species of the one is different from that of the other, since the nature of the Trinity is one. For this very reason he said that God had said, «Let us make man in our image and after our likeness,» and added, «In the image of God he made him,» in order to show the distinction of the persons. ^B And indeed, when legislating to Noah regarding the eating of meat and forbidding the consumption of blood, he said that the God of all said: «Everything, as the herbs of the grass, you shall eat; but flesh in the blood of its life you shall not eat. For your blood I will require; from all the beasts I will require it, and from the hand of man, his brother, I will require it. He who sheds a man’s blood, for his blood his own blood shall be shed, because in the image of God I made man.» He did not say, «In my own image I made him,» but «In the image of God,» again showing the distinction of the persons. And when those who in their madness against their Maker gathered together and were building that great tower, which received its name from the confusion of languages, the legislator says that God said: «Come, and descending let us confuse their languages.» ^C And indeed, the words «Descending let us confuse» signify equality of rank; for he did not say, «Descend,» or «Let him descend,» which would be appropriate for those who are subject or ordered to obey, but «Descending let us confuse,» which clearly demonstrates equality. Moreover, the word «Come» signifies both the Son and the Holy Spirit. ^D

the partners in the creation. Since, indeed, when forming man He said, ^A «Let us make man according to our image and likeness,» it is reasonably inferred that, even while dividing the one voice into many, He takes the Son and the all-holy Spirit as associates. And later, in time, wishing to consume Sodom and the neighboring cities—those partakers in impiety and transgression—with violent winds and thunderbolts, He manifested to us a duality of Lords, as Moses, who wrote these things, says: «And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.» ^B And that no one should suppose that this prophet alone has spoken the things concerning the divine Trinity, hear, O beloved, also the divine David crying out: «By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their power by the Spirit of His mouth.» And again: «The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.» And after a little, the Father of the Lord is introduced addressing the same Lord: «From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you.» And in another psalm: «Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the scepter of rectitude is the scepter of your kingdom. You loved righteousness and hated iniquity: therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.» And the prophet Isaiah, ^C and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and Daniel, and Zechariah, [and Micah,] and the entire chorus of the prophets deliver the same doctrine to us. But I think it superfluous to bring these things to you, who have not yet presented the confession of faith.

I shall therefore approach another method of instruction, and I will show that both Plato and those who followed him gathered certain things of theology from these divine men and inserted them into their own writings. For Plato, in what he wrote to Coriscus, placed these words: «Swearing with a study not inept, and with the sister of study—education—and swearing by the leader of all gods, both present and future, and by Him who is the leader and cause, ^D the father and lord, whom, without doubt, you will know if you philosophize correctly.» These, O beloved men, are the dogmas of Plato; of which some are indeed most worthy of praise, as being in harmony with apostolic and prophetic doctrine, while others are the offspring and shoots of Greek mythology. For to say that one is the leader and cause of the whole world, and another is the father of the cause, he truly—

^A demonstrated the truth, from which he drew to adorn his own discourses. But the fact that he calls him leader of the gods, both those that are and those that are to be, signifies one of two things: either the philosopher has fallen into the suffering of ignorance, or, pretending to be sick with it, he has mixed falsehood with the truth. Furthermore, he declares those whom the many call gods to be not gods by nature; for who, unless completely deranged, would call him God who is not always God? Yet he has said that these things come to be in time; for he said, “Of the gods that are and those that are to be.” How, then, could anything be God which has not yet come to be? Or how could it partake of the most august name, if it has not yet received existence? The divine oracles designate none of the things that have come to be as God by nature; for they have bestowed only a bare name upon those ^B to whom the power of judging has been entrusted, and, moreover, upon those who have kept the divine image as undefiled as possible. By nature, however, they are accustomed to call Him God alone, who is always God, and who always exists in the same way and after the same manner. But we shall reserve this for a later part of our discourse; for the present it will suffice to demonstrate that the philosopher knows the leader and cause of the whole world, and also the father of this leader. We may hear him in the *Epinomis* also, where he says: “And let us pay honors, not assigning to one a year, to another a month, to another a portion of a month, nor any time in which he traverses his own pole, ^C bringing to completion the world which the most divine Word has ordered; which the blessed one first admired, and then had a desire to learn all that was possible for nature to know.” And in these words, he stated that the Word ordered all things, not the Father of the Word. Also, writing to Dionysius, he says the following: “You must speak in enigmas, so that if anything should happen to our letter by sea or on land, the reader may not understand. For the case is this: All things are around the king of all, and for his sake all things exist, and he himself is the cause of all good things; and the second around the second, and the third around the third.” ^D Do you see how, fearing and trembling, they presented the dogmas of the truth, and declared the truth enigmatically and not clearly, guarding against the error of the many? He has also revealed this fear in the *Timaeus*. He speaks as follows: “Now, therefore, let our resolve be this: concerning the cause or causes of all things, or whatever may be thought regarding these, we must not speak at this present time, for no other reason than because it is difficult to communicate what is thought}

^A Numenius the Pythagorean, in what he has written concerning the Good, has taught these things more clearly. For he says: "It is not fitting that the First should be a maker, and one must believe that the first God is the Father of the God who is the maker." Plotinus as well, who emulated the philosophy of Plato, wrote a book about the three primary hypostases, in which he also said: "What, then, must one say about the most perfect? Is nothing from it, or are the greatest things after it? The greatest things after it are mind, and a secondary thing; for mind gazes upon It." And again: "Everything that generates desires and loves what it has generated, especially if they are alone, both that which generates and that which is generated; and when that which is generated is also the best, it is of necessity with Him, so as to be separated only by otherness. And we say that the mind is an image of Him. For one must speak more clearly." Many other things ^B were said both by him, and by Plutarch, and by Numenius, and by the others who were of their school. For since these men lived after the advent of our Savior, they mingled many things of Christian theology with their own discourses. Developing, therefore, the thought of Plato, both Plotinus and Numenius say that he spoke of three things that are above time and eternal: the Good, and Mind, and the Soul of the universe; and that which we call the Father, he names the Good; but the Mind, which we name the Son and the Word, and the power that animates and gives life to all things, he calls the Soul—which is the very thing that the sacred Scriptures name the Holy Spirit. And these things, as I said, have been plundered from the wisdom and theology of the Hebrews. For David, the composer of hymns, striking up a divine melody and being breathed upon by divine grace, cried out saying: "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were fixed, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their power." ^C But both the holy Gospels and Plutarch and Plotinus have heard this; and Amelius, who presided over the school of Porphyry, clearly shows this. For he marvels greatly at the prologue from which John began his theology, speaking thus: "And this, therefore, was the Word, according to which things that come into being always came into being; just as Heraclitus might suppose, and, by Zeus, the barbarian also supposes that, set in the place and dignity of the beginning, He is toward God, and is God; through whom all things absolutely have come to be; in whom whatever has come to be was living and life and being; and that He ^D came into a body and, having put on flesh, appeared as a man, and that thereupon he even showed the magnificence of his nature; and, indeed, that having been released, he became deified again, and is God, just as he was

before he descended into the carnal body and into man. ^A Thus, therefore, he admired the theology of the barbarian—a man nourished by the eloquence of Plato and the other philosophers. And he confessed that the Word existed in the beginning, and that he was God, and was with God; and that he made all things, and that he exists as the cause and dispenser of life to all; and that, for the sake of the salvation of all, he concealed the magnificence of the Godhead in flesh, yet revealed the nobility of the Father even within that small and dense cloud. For the divine Evangelist also, having said: «And the Word became flesh,» and having shown the immutability of the [divine] nature, added: «And he dwelt among us.» He taught that even while clothed in flesh, he shed the ineffable and incorruptible radiance of the Godhead. ^B «For we beheld,» he says, «his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.» For the covering of the flesh did not tarnish the rays of his Godhead; but even while clothed in it, he was manifest as to who he was and from whom he shone forth. But if even the adversaries of the truth so greatly admire the truth, that they adorn their own writings with even small particles plundered from it, and do not dim their own splendor even when mixed with much falsehood, but the pearls shine [exceedingly] even when lying in the ^C dirt and refuse, and, according to the evangelical teaching, «the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it;» it is easy to discern how worthy of love and how admirable the divine teachings are, separated from falsehood. For a pearl lying in the mire possesses, surely, a great difference compared to one shining in a diadem; and indeed, the joints of the fingers, when separated from one another and scattered, do not possess the same beauty and grace and utility as they are seen to have when they are naturally attached to one another, fitted together, and functioning. Therefore, the beauty of the truth—pure and unmixed—must be contemplated. For if it shines even when mixed with contrary colors, it is clear that it will appear ^D more brilliantly if it is separated from harmful things. A person would discern this more clearly by setting the Greek mythology alongside the prophetic and apostolic teaching, and viewing the difference side by side. For Sanchoniathon the Berythian wrote the theology of the Phoenicians; and Philo, not the Hebrew but the Byblian, translated this into the Greek language. Porphyry praises Sanchoniathon greatly. Manetho, furthermore, [transmits] the accounts of Isis and Osiris, and Apis and Sarapis, and of others...

^A among the Egyptian gods. Diodorus the Sicilian wrote a history of the creation of the world; and the younger generation even knows the Theogony of the Ascræan poet. Orpheus the Odrysian taught the Greeks the mysteries of the Egyptians 40, and Cadmus those of the Phoenicians. Cornutus the philosopher compiled the Greek theology, and Plutarch and Aetius published the opinions of the philosophers; Porphyry also undertook the same labor, adding the life of each individual to their opinions. I ask you, sirs, to compare our own [teachings] with these, and to learn that it ^B is not only, according to the poet:

*As far as heaven is distant from the earth,*

that it is removed, but as far as that which is called Tartarus is from heaven. I, for my part, ask leave to set aside these myths, that no one may call me a chatterer and a trifler. Yet, in the next discussion, God willing, I shall mention a few of them, so as to demonstrate not only the absurdity of the myths told about the so-called gods, but also their foolishness and impurity. And if anyone should wish to study this comparison for himself, he will find it in the books of Eusebius of Palestine—a work he titled the *Gospel Preparation*. But I shall state briefly that the Egyptians and the Phoenicians, and the ^C poets and philosophers of the Greeks, either imagined visible elements to be gods, or declared men who had rendered some benefit or had excelled in certain remarkable things to be gods, and built temples to the dead. We, however, make none of the things that are seen with the eyes into God; but we honor men who have been distinguished by some virtue as the best of men. We worship only the God and Father of all, and His Word, and the most holy Spirit. This same One we call and believe to be the unbegotten Son, and Word, and Life, and Light, and Truth; and, using many other names, we hymn the Divine nature. We name Him not only from the attributes which He possesses, but we address Him also by those which He does not possess. For we call Him without beginning, ^D and incorruptible, and immortal, and infinite, and beyond destruction, and invisible, and without form and figure, and uncircumscribed, and incomprehensible, and inaccessible, bestowing such designations from the things which the divine nature lacks. For because He cannot be seen, He is called invisible and unviewable; and because He transcends the imagination of the mind, He is called inaccessible; and infinite, as one who has neither end nor beginning; and because

is superior to all corruption and destruction, incorruptible and immortal. Other names, too, of this kind indicate to us those things of which the divine nature is devoid. But "good," "just," "light," "life," "creator of all things," "ruler and governor of all," and things similar to these, which it possesses and by which it directs ^A creation and benefits human nature, are significant. Thus, He is named Son, as having been begotten of God and the Father; and Word, as having come forth timelessly and impassibly, without dividing the One who begat Him; and again, ^B Radiance of His glory, as being coeternal with the One who begat Him. But let no perturbation seize you, because you hear that the Word is from the Father and with the Father. For it is most absurd for you to tolerate Plato, who calls God the creator of matter, and calls matter coeternal with God, and maintains that the ideas are from God and with God; yet not to believe that the Word of God and the Holy Spirit proceed from God and are with God. For if the philosopher wishes that matter, which is of another kind and nature and is foreign, should be from God and with God, much more reasonably and truthfully must our doctrine be regarded. For we do not say that the Son is of another nature, nor the Holy Spirit, but we proclaim one substance of the Trinity.

If, however, anyone desires to learn the mode of the existence of the Son and the Holy Spirit, let him first explain ^C the mode of the existence of the Unbegotten, how He is, having no cause. For this is entirely unsearchable, and can be grasped only by a pure and sincere faith. For human reason easily admits that something of those things that can be begotten and created comes to be from a cause; but human reason does not accept that there is something which has no cause, unless some promise of faith intervenes. But if we believe that there is something [that is] unbegotten, beginningless, and causeless, we must therefore believe that from the Intellect, having ^D being, was the Word begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeded. That even some of the ancients call the God of all things "unbegotten," one might hear from Timaeus the Locrian, saying: "There is one origin of all things, unbegotten. For if it was begotten, it would not have been an origin, but those things from which the origin was begotten." And Parmenides the Eleatic, also saying that the world is unbegotten, cries out: Only, soligenitus, and motionless, and unbegotten. And Plutarch of Chaeronea, regarding the "EI" in Delphi

writing thus, he said: "What then is that ^A which is eternal and unbegotten and incorruptible? Or does time bring no change to it?" If therefore we say that there is something unbegotten and without cause, according to Parmenides, the world, but according to Plato, and Timaeus the Locrian, and Plutarch, and ourselves, the Maker of all things: it is by far more credible to say that the Word and the all-holy Spirit spring from that Unbegotten—the Word, indeed, as begotten from the intellect; but the Spirit, as proceeding. For the Spirit goes forth together with the Word, not as being co-generated with the Word, but as being concomitant and accompanying and proceeding. But we do not say that the Spirit is some breath of mouth—for the Divine is incomposite and formless—nor that the Word is that which is poured into the air; but [we say it is] the substantial Word and the subsistent Spirit; both of which are considered in the Father, and are believed in themselves, both joined and divided: joined by the same identity of nature, but divided by the difference of their properties and understood by themselves. These things, however, cannot be accurately grasped by one who has not encountered the divine Oracles, and received the light of knowledge from divine grace.

One must read not only the teachings of the holy apostles, but also the pronouncements of the divine prophets. For thus will anyone who sees the harmony of both the old and the new theology admire the truth, and will flee the atheism of Diagoras the Milesian, and of the Cyrenaic ^B Theodore, and of Evemerus the Tegeate: for Plutarch said these men believed that there was no God at all. He will flee also the unseemly opinion of the Stoics concerning God, for these said that God was corporeal; and he will abhor the ambiguous and faithless discourses of Protagoras concerning God. For his are such as these: "Concerning the gods, therefore, I do not know whether they exist, or whether they do not exist, nor of what kind they are in form." He will escape, moreover, the error of other mythologists. And as for Plato and those similar to him, he will find and admire whatever they have pilfered from the divine Scriptures; but whatever false things they have mixed in, he will scrape off, and reject like dung, and drive them from the seats of his soul. Finally, the thieves' hiding places having been detected, he will have faith in the Pythagorean Numenius, who says: ^{C D} "For what is Plato but Moses speaking Attic Greek?" For by these words Numenius shows most openly that whatever Plato said piously, he has pilfered from the theology of Moses.

Therefore, it is time, O men, to investigate the root of truth. For just as those who mine the earth for gold and silver, as soon as they find small grains, follow them to search out all the veins, and do not cease digging until they find the abundance of gold from which those grains were scattered ^A: so too it becomes you, having heard the discourses of Anaxagoras, and Pythagoras, and Plato, and indeed of Numenius, Plutarch, and Plotinus, and the rest of the philosophers, to search out the fountain from which they drew a few small divine streams to adorn their own books; and leaving behind their poverty, to embrace the abyss of wisdom, and to learn accurately from it what is the Maker and what is the work, and what is the dignity of invisible creatures, and what is the utility of those that are seen. For having learned this, you will no longer divide divine worship into many; but you will worship Him who is always and truly is, and who out of pure goodness gave existence to all things that are ^B; and instead of enemies and adversaries, you will become kinsmen and friends, and—as those familiar with Him—you will enjoy great boldness; and you who now are in need of other guides, you yourselves will guide many who are wandering back to the truth.

SERMON III. On angels, and those who are called gods, and on evil demons.

We are accustomed to praise those bodies that are whole and lacking no members, and that maintain the regularity which they received from nature at the beginning, whole and complete; but those in which something is missing or redundant, we are accustomed to call monsters ^C. And as for anarchy and polyarchy, because they are harmful, we denounce them, while we admire monarchy and praise the Homeric view, which introduces this law:

Bad is a multitude of masters; let there be one master, One king.

I do not babble these things in vain, but in order to demonstrate divine matters from human ones. And I beg you, O men, to observe this law in those matters too: so that you may call healthy and sound those who follow the true theology, which nature from the beginning delivered to men and the divine oracles subsequently confirmed ^D; and that you may call maimed, in turn, not only those who believe there is no God, but also those who have divided the divine worship into many, and who set the creature as an equal to the Creator of all.

^A For it is not only Diagoras the Milesian and Theodorus of Cyrene, and Euhemerus of Tegea, and those who followed them—who declared that there are absolutely no gods, as Plutarch 39 said—but also Homer and Hesiod, and the various schools of the philosophers, who have fabricated vast swarms of gods, and have declared some of them to be like slaves, subjected to human passions. Indeed, they have even attributed the most shameful passions, which they themselves condemn and from which they earnestly exhort the young to abstain, to the gods, and have bestowed upon them the honor due to gods. ^B And as Diodorus the Sicilian says, the Egyptians were the first of all to name the sun and the moon as gods, calling the sun Osiris and the moon Isis; and he reports that the Phoenicians, having learned this from them, emulated the deification practiced by the Egyptians. Plato also admits in the *Cratylus* that the Greeks were the first to be imbued with this error regarding those they call gods. He speaks as follows: “It seems to me that the first of mankind in Greece held those alone to be gods whom many of the barbarians also hold to be such: the sun, and the moon, and the earth, and the stars, and the heaven; ^C and because they saw these things running a course and racing, they named them gods (*theous*) from this nature of running (*theein*).” Now, the all-wise Creator of all things, being in need of nothing, and having absolutely no need of anything either visible or invisible, created heaven and earth, sun and moon, and all other things which are sensible and visible, for the sake of human need; or rather, by the generosity of his great handiwork, he exceeded the bounds of need, and through these things he bestows upon them an enjoyment of all kinds of good things. For the sun, rising and causing day, stirs up the human race to work. ^D And the moon, when the greater luminary withdraws, tempers the darkness of night, and neither distresses those who wish to rest from their labors with an excessive abundance of light, nor, for those who wish to travel or do anything else, does it fail to provide a sufficient torch; and when it wanes, the stars fulfill this need. However, as I said, the Creator has shown such providence for men; yet they, having received these greatest of gifts, and being obliged to use them as guides to the contemplation of God, and to hymn the author and provider of those things as the great benefactor, have left him unhonored, while they have worshipped the creature, and, as the Apostle says, have served the creature rather than the Creator; and the magnitude and beauty of the gifts became for them an occasion for ingratitude. For they did not know the Giver, and they rendered the honor due to God to the things themselves.

^A Yet the Creator, being all-wise, foreseeing this error of men, mingled certain imperfections with the elements, so that their beauty and magnitude might incite men to praise the Maker, but the imperfections attached to them might prevent the attribution of divine worship to them. Thus, small clouds often cover the most brilliant sun and the moon, and mist or haze makes their rays dimmer. Sometimes, even at midday, with no clouds present, the light of the sun vanishes by the casting of a haze, and the same thing happens to the moon at night. Furthermore, the wise Lord devised this again: since the moderate heat of the sun is suitable for bodies, for seeds, and for plants—for it increases and nourishes the former, and ripens the fruits and makes them ready—He ordained that at other times its rays should be intensified, so as to afflict the bodies of men and other animals, and to ruin the germination of seeds and plants, so that we might not suppose it to be the cause of life, but believe it to be a servant of the divine will. ^B Moreover, He revealed the air to be a helper to us for life. For not only we, but each of the irrational creatures, lives by breathing it, and by its inflow it tempers the innate heat. However, even pestilential disease arises from the air, and bodies that were nourished by its temperate state perish; so that we might not suppose even this to be God, but, seeing it subject to change and alteration, might recoil from worshipping it. In like manner also, the Creator fashioned the earth as a bringer of life, a bestower of riches, a mother, a nurse, and a common foundation for living creatures. But in order that, seeing these things, we might not be led astray and deify it as the provider of good things, He mingled many and various imperfections with it as well. For it is harmed by an excess of cold and heat, and is dissolved by rain more abundant than is needed, so that it ruins seeds and plants. And again, if the clouds do not pour forth their rains at the proper time, it dries up and becomes sterile. Often also rain, falling at an unseasonable time, brings about putrefaction and forces it to breed animals harmful to men. ^C Perceiving this infirmity of the earth, those who are of sound mind refuse to worship it as God, and rather are led through it, and through the germs coming from it, to contemplate the Creator of the earth and its produce, and through those things which are seen, they arrive at Him who is invisible. ^D

^A Wisely, therefore, did one of our own say, and relevantly: "For from the greatness and beauty of created things, their Creator is analogously contemplated." For the Creator is not such as are the things created, nor is He of such size as they; for the latter are visible, and palpable, and sensible, and conjoined with certain passions: but He is intangible and invisible, impassible and incorruptible, and ^B incapable of being circumscribed, as are the things created. Wherefore, very fittingly, the word "analogously" was added in the aforementioned text. For when we see the vaulted expanse of the heavens, the breadth of the earth, the magnitude of the seas, the splendor of the sun, the brightness of the moon, and all other things which are visible, we do not equate the Creator with these, but we say that He is superior to the things created in an infinite degree of magnitude and beauty. Deservedly, therefore, did that wise man say: "For from the greatness and beauty of created things, their Creator is analogously contemplated." This statement is confirmed also by the divine Apostle, who speaks thus: ^C «For His invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and divinity.» For through the things that are seen, we perceive the invisible Creator. And just as, when we see a chest or a stool, we do not call these the craftsman, but we call them the works of the craftsman; and as we look upon a ship skillfully built, we not only admire it, but we praise its shipwright, even though he be absent, and that most highly; and when we see a necklace or some other ornament of the neck skillfully wrought, we offer praise to the goldsmith: so, too, when we turn our eyes to the fabric of the world, we marvel at its magnitude and beauty, and the utility ^D flowing from it; the mind, however, leaving these aside, runs to that One who wisely fashioned all these things. Very well, therefore, did the divine Apostle say: «For His invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and divinity.» Then he declares those to be unworthy of any pardon who have indeed beheld the creation, but have not admired its Creator, but have attributed to the creature the worship owed to God. Whence he deservedly added: «So that they are inexcusable, because, when they had known God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor gave thanks, but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened.» And he exaggerates the accusation

and brings their arrogance into the light: «Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.» And he also speaks of the kinds of their folly: «And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man.» By naming God incorruptible, and yet constructing an image of corruptible bodies (for they know not the form of the immortal soul), they bestowed divine honors upon the image of flesh. Nor was this madness sufficient for their impiety; but they also, by fashioning likenesses of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things, called these also gods; and the very things which, because they are poisonous and deadly, they kill when alive, the images of these they named gods and saviors. ^B

But let us return to that which gave birth to these arguments for us: that the Egyptians, and the Phoenicians, and indeed the Greeks as well, first considered the sun, and the moon, and the earth, and the stars, and the other elements to be their gods. For this is what Plato, and Diodorus the Sicilian, and Plutarch of Chaeronea have taught; but in later times, those who had conferred some benefit upon the human race, or who had fought bravely in wars, or had introduced some method of cultivating the earth, or had brought a cure to those suffering from illnesses, they both deified and built temples to them. ^C For indeed Sanchuniathon said that Saturn was a man, and Rhea, his wife, a woman, and that Jove and Juno were their children; then, having begun to perform certain deeds of benefit, and having reached the end of their lives, they were deemed worthy of divine honor by the Phoenicians, and were proclaimed gods and honored with altars and sacrifices and annual public feasts. And the Greeks deified Hercules, as being valiant and brave; and they addressed Asclepius as a god after he had died, as one who had become the inventor of the medical art. And for the same reason the Egyptians also deemed Apis worthy of a divine appellation. And yet the Greeks themselves say that Hercules burned himself because of the plot hatched by Deianira, and in this way put an end to his life; and that Asclepius, being a man, and one who had delivered many men from very many sufferings through the art of medicine, was struck by a thunderbolt from Jove and destroyed. For indeed these things, besides many others, Diodorus the Sicilian recorded in the fourth book of his *Bibliotheca*. Nevertheless, although ^D the Greeks well know these things, they none the less [continue to worship] both Hercules and

Asclepius gods, and in addition to these, the sons of Tyndareus, Castor and Pollux, whom they call the Dioscuri—even though they are not of the most ancient times, but sailed with the Argonauts. For both these, and Hercules, and in addition to them Orpheus, who played the lyre and charmed the fish with his music, compelling them to follow the harmony of the sound, completed the number of the Argonauts. That these men were one generation older than the Trojan [war] we demonstrated in the preceding discourse.

They also ranked Dionysus among the number of the other gods, because he was the first to plant the vine, and pressed out its fruit, and showed the need for wine. But as for Aphrodite, who initiated no benefit but became a teacher of intemperance (for they say she was a prostitute and a harlot, and the mistress of Cinyras), they called her a goddess. And this is not at all surprising. For if those who even deigned to bestow this appellation upon venomous reptiles would hardly have deprived women of this honor, [why should we be surprised]? And indeed, as the poets say, the gods snatched up [[43]] Ganymede to pour wine for Zeus. And they separated Helen from Menelaus after her much-talked-of and excessive adultery, ^C and, as Euripides says, carried her up into heaven. Thus, the Greeks made gods not only of those who had performed some good thing, but even of the most dissolute men and women.

When the Romans had learned these rites from them, they used to consecrate their emperors as gods after the end of their lives; and not only those who had reigned lawfully and had cared for justice, but also those who had guided their rule through tyranny and injustice and contrary to divine law. For they added to the catalogue of their gods even Nero, who practiced every sort of lasciviousness and iniquity to the point of satiety, and Domitian, and Commodus, and indeed other murderous and most lustful men.

Humans devised this as the second kind of deification; the third, however, is that which relies on the myths of the poets. Plato, in the *Timaeus*, urges us to believe these: "For to speak of the other demons," he says, "and to know their generation, exceeds our power. One must believe those who have spoken beforehand, being as they assert themselves to be: ^D descendants of the gods, and clearly knowing their own ancestors. It is impossible, therefore, not to believe the children of the gods, even though they speak without probable or necessary demonstrations; but since they claim to bear witness to their own, we must follow the law and believe them." Then, bringing Hesiod into the middle...

^A he cites Chaos, and Oceanus, and Tethys, and Heaven, and Earth, and their children, Saturn and Rhea, Japetus, and the others; and again, those born of Saturn and Rhea: Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, and Pluto. And the philosopher is not ashamed to urge us to believe those who invent such myths, and who introduce to us debauched gods, patricides, and murderers of their children. For Saturn cut off the genitals of his father Heaven, and devoured the children born to him. ^B And Jupiter, after expelling his father Saturn from his kingdom and delivering him to Tartarus, appeared as a tyrant, and one most lecherous. For he made not only his sister, but also his mother and his daughter his wives; and besides these, he defiled countless other goddesses and women.

Yet, although Plato was clearly aware of these things, he nevertheless exhorted us to place our trust in the poets for the sake of the law of the fatherland alone, even though they rely neither on probable signs nor on necessary demonstrations. It is evident, therefore, that he was in awe of the Athenian ^C throng, and the delusion that held it captive. And that this is true, he himself is witness, speaking thus in his *Republic*: "First of all, I said, the greatest and most significant lie, he who spoke it has lied untruthfully, that Heaven did those things which Hesiod says he did, and that Saturn in turn took vengeance upon him. Even if the deeds and sufferings of Saturn at the hands of his son were true, they ought not to be spoken of so readily to the foolish and to the young; but rather they should be kept silent, or if there were any necessity to speak of them, they should be heard in ^D private." And again, after a few words, he said this: "For in truth, said I, O Adeimantus, these stories are difficult and are not to be told in our city; nor should it be told to a young person hearing them, that one who does injury in the most extreme degree would be doing nothing strange, nor one who punishes an unjust father in every way; but one might do what the first and greatest of the gods did. Nor does it seem appropriate to me, said I, for him to say this, nor to anyone at all, that gods wage war with gods and plot and fight against them; for these things are neither true, nor useful—if indeed we ought to hold that those who are to guard the city must consider it most shameful to be easily hostile to one another. Much less should they be told myths

[of the] Battle of the Giants [inscribed]

which are invented by Homer, ought not to be admitted into the city, neither with allegories nor without allegories."

I think these things are manifest even to those who are completely senseless ^A and uninitiated in discourses, as being directly contrary to what the same Plato wrote in the *Timaeus*. For there, he commanded that the poets be believed without any dispute or controversy, even though they speak without signs or necessary demonstrations; whereas here, he openly and clearly accuses them, as having fabricated certain false and blasphemous things. For this reason, he also turns the names of the gods into allegory and attempts to obscure the indecency of the myths. ^B The *Cratylus* is full of such discourses. For in that dialogue, he sometimes calls Cronus "Coronon" (= intellect's reason), and sometimes "Chronus" (= time); and he calls Rhea the "flowing nature," and Hera the "air." "For he who," he says, "frequently uses the straight form of Hera will clearly be saying 'air' instead of 'Hera'." He also called the moist substance "Poseidon," as if binding and restraining the feet of those walking, and preventing them from advancing. And Plato, as well as Orpheus ^C and others, call Demeter "the earth," as being the mother and nourisher of all things dwelling upon it. But the Egyptians say that Isis and Osiris are the sun and the moon; and that Zeus is the spirit that permeates all things; and Hephaestus is fire; and the moist substance is Oceanus. This is also written by Manethon and Diodorus. They named the leading part of the earthly power "Hestia"; Rhea, the rocky and mountainous; Demeter, the plain-dwelling; and the vegetative force, they named "Dionysus." ^D They named the moon "Artemis," being so called from the *selas* (light), and also, as if she were "aerotemis" (air-cutter), inasmuch as she goes through the air and cuts it. For this reason the Egyptians nourish Apis, that is, the bull for the moon; but for the sun, the one they call Mnevis. Thus, some of the philosophers, being affected by shame, turned the myths of the poets into allegory. Yet the Romans never considered that such expositions of myths should be admitted. Dionysius of Halicarnassus is a competent witness to this, speaking thus regarding the Romans in the books which he wrote *On Roman Antiquities* (II, 19): "For neither is it related among the Romans that Caelus was emasculated by his own children, nor that Saturn destroyed the offspring born to him for fear of being attacked by them, nor that Jupiter overthrew the dominion of Saturn and shut up his own father in the prison of

^A Tartarus. He also reports that the other mythologies and ceremonies of the Greeks are likewise rejected by the Romans.

We have spoken of this third mode of deification devised by the Greeks; but there is also a fourth, filled with the utmost madness and frenzy. For that part of the soul which they call passible and devoid of reason, and which they exhort to be subject to the command of reason, this they deify. They call desire Venus and Cupid; anger they name Mars; drunkenness, Dionysus; theft, Mercury; mind, Minerva; and they call Vulcan those arts which use fire as an aid. And they are not ashamed, when they denounce intemperance and punish those addicted to it, to venerate the very same thing as a god; and although by their laws they disgrace those who commit adultery and those who prostitute themselves, and put to death those who leap into others’ beds, and raise murderers onto the cross ^B and beat them with clubs, yet they call the causes and sources of such great crimes—lust, anger, and drunkenness—celestial gods, and accord them divine honors. And though they establish all laws on account of such diseases, they nevertheless command by law that the diseases themselves be venerated; they honor virtue with laws and words, but in their deeds they worship vices and banish virtue as something superfluous. For if, as they themselves say, desire is a god, then whoever resists it is utterly impious. In like manner, if drunkenness and anger are gods, then he who restrains himself from these is openly contrary to God. Wherefore virtue is to be fled from, as being contrary to the gods, and incontinence is to be embraced, as being called a god. But these things are much lighter and more harmful than poetic fables; and, as the proverb says, while shunning the smoke, we have fallen into the very fire. For such is the deception of falsehood, that if one escapes this path, he falls into another that is more difficult. Such, therefore, is the fourth species of deification ^C among the Greeks. Antisthenes, the associate of Socrates and teacher of Diogenes, valuing temperance most highly and detesting pleasure, is said to have spoken thus regarding Venus: “I would transfix Venus with arrows, if I could catch her, because she has corrupted many of our good and noble women.” He called Cupid a vice of nature, to which the wretched, falling victim, ^D

^A choose to go mad rather than find pleasure.

That they also disagreed with one another in the matter of allegory, one may clearly perceive by examining the writings of the philosophers. For Plato called the air Hera; but Plutarch of Chaeronea claimed that she is the earth; while he called Latona oblivion, or the night in which the mind receives a kind of forgetfulness of things. Orpheus, moreover, says: Earth, he says, is the mother of all, Demeter bestowing wealth. ^B

That they also overturned one another’s theologies, Plato shows in the *Epinomis*, speaking thus: “It is necessary, therefore, as it seems, that since those before us have ill-depicted theology and the generation of animals, we who have taken up the task should depict it better in a later discourse, approaching that which is holy and proper.”

Regarding those men who were deified, Plutarch in his work *On the Cessation of Oracles* left this written: ^C “The deeds of the Giants and Titans, which are sung of among the Greeks, and many other lawless acts, and the conflicts of Typhon against Apollo, the banishments of Dionysus, and the wanderings of Demeter, differ in no way from the affairs of Osiris and Typhon, which one may hear shamelessly spread as myths everywhere.” And the same author also says the following: “Since I also hear that the Solymi, who are neighbors to the Lycians, revere Saturn above all; and after he killed their leaders, Arsalus and Aryus and Tosabis, he fled and went away to some place (for they cannot say where he went), it was not he who was cared for by them, but they called those who were around Arsalus harsh gods, and the Lycians make imprecations by their names both privately and publicly.”

Porphyry also, in his *Epistle to Anebo the Egyptian*, testifies that the Egyptians worship a man in the village of Annabi, and sacrifice to him upon altars, and then offer him his own food at the appointed time to eat. ^D

But indeed, not even the fourth error sufficed for them; rather, they devised a fifth as well, and they made the most wicked demons their gods, and having learned from them the trickery of sorcery, they honored them with rites and sacrifices. Porphyry also revealed this in his book, *On Philosophy from Oracles*. I shall append his very words here: “Through the hostile (demons), indeed, every use (in magic) is accomplished. For those who perform harmful deeds through sorcery appease the power that presides over these ones above all.” For they are full

^A of every apparition, and are capable of deceiving through wonder-working, and of preparing philtres and love potions, these evil demons. For all hope of riches and glory rests upon these, and most especially deceit. For falsehood is proper to them, since they wish to be gods; and the power presiding over them seems to be the greatest god. These are they who delight in libations and the burnt-offering of fat, through which their bodily and spiritual nature is nourished.

It is now fitting for me to join the discourses of the Homeric gods with the words of Porphyry; for those [Homeric gods] also call libations and the savour of roasted fat their own portion. Thus, Porphyry is clearly naming as evil demons those whom the poet calls gods. For the one, as well as the other, ^B has plainly asserted that they delight in libations and the savour of fat. We must inquire, however, what power Porphyry says presides over these evil demons, which, being a lie, has claimed to call itself the greatest god. Yet I do not need much labor for this investigation, for in the same treatise he also says these things: “We do not suspect without reason that the evil demons are under the power of Serapis, nor are we persuaded by signs alone; but because whatever is done to appease or avert them, is all done to Pluto, as we showed in the first book. And this god is the same as Pluto, and for this reason he is especially the ruler of the demons.”

Again, he has also added these things: ^C “Are these they over whom Serapis rules, and is their symbol the three-headed dog? That is to say, the evil demon who is found in the three elements—water, earth, and air—whom the god restrains, having them under his hand. And Hecate also rules over them, as she contains them according to the triple element.”

These things were not written against evil demons by Moses the lawgiver, nor by Peter, or Paul, ^D or John, the heralds of the truth, but by Porphyry, the adversary of the truth; and he named both Pluto and Hecate as princes of the evil demons, and said that he who called himself the greatest god was a liar. And this miracle truly appears similar to the riddle of the brave Samson: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness” (Judic. xiv, 14). For these things were indeed written against falsehood by the advocate of falsehood; and he who accused the truth was found, against his will, to be an advocate of the truth. For God, who compelled the tongue of the seer Balaam (Num. xxii, 12 seqq.), which was prepared to curse, to bring forth a blessing, the same also changed this man’s tongue, which was rushing in rabid fury against the truth, and compelled it against its will to speak against falsehood. Nor did he write these things in this place alone, but in the Epistle

^A to Anebo the Egyptian he set forth similar things. He speaks thus: "As for those who are called gods, but are in reality evil demons, it troubles me greatly how, when invoked as though they were superior beings, they are ordered about as if they were inferior; and while they claim that it is just that a servant who has done wrong should be punished, they themselves do not refuse to perform unjust deeds when ordered; and when someone who is not pure from sexual relations invokes them, they do not heed him, yet they themselves do not hesitate to lead any who happen to be present into unlawful sexual acts. The interpreters of sacred rites determine that one must abstain from meat, lest they be defiled by vapors from bodies, yet they themselves are caught and enticed most of all by the savors ^B of sacrifices. And they consider it a sacrilege for the high priest to touch a dead body, yet by means of dead animals, the acts of drawing down gods are performed. But more absurd by far than these things is that a man of the lowest condition, threatening not merely a demon or the soul of someone deceased, but the king Helios himself, or the moon, or anyone among the heavenly bodies, should strike terror into them, lying so that they might speak the truth. For to say that he will shatter the sky, and reveal the secrets of Isis, and disclose what is hidden in the sanctuary, and halt the sacred barque, and tear asunder the limbs of Osiris for Typhon—what measure of madness does this not exceed in him who threatens those things which he neither knows nor can perform, and what measure of servility in those who tremble ^C at such empty terror and fiction, after the manner of foolish children? And yet Chaeremon, the scribe of sacred things, writes that these things are widely known among the Egyptians themselves, and says that these and such like things are of the greatest compulsion." And having added many other things, he also subjoined this: "Concerning happiness, they have nothing secure or reliable. They were not, therefore, either gods or good demons, but that which is called error." Who among those instructed in divine matters, and who detest that error, could have demonstrated more clearly that the so-called gods are that error? For the adversary of truth himself manifestly shows that these are neither gods nor good demons, but teachers of lies and fathers of wickedness. Plato, in the Timaeus, says that they are not by nature immortal. For he says that their Creator ^D spoke to them: "You are not immortal, nor are you altogether indissoluble, but you shall not be dissolved, meeting the success of my will." And yet it seems that Homer holds the opposite, for he calls them immortal everywhere (Iliad E 341): "For they eat not food," he says, "nor do they drink dark wine; / Therefore they are bloodless and are called immortals."

^A Such is the controversy among poets and philosophers regarding those who are not gods, but are called such. Yet they built temples to them, raised altars, and honored them with sacrifices; and by carving out of wood and stone and other materials certain shapes and images, they labeled these man-made idols as gods, and esteemed the statues fashioned by the art of Phidias, Polycletus, and Praxiteles worthy of the divine appellation. Xenophanes of Colophon, censuring this error, says the following: "But mortal men imagine that gods are born And have perception equal to our own, and voice, and form." And again: "But if oxen or elephants possessed hands, Or could use their hands to paint and perform as men do, Horses would paint the forms of gods like horses, And oxen like oxen, to match their own bodies, Just as they are, in form." Then, mocking this deception more clearly, he refutes the falsehood by the very color of the figures. For he said that the Ethiopians depict their own gods as black and snub-nosed, just as they themselves are by nature; while the Thracians portray gods as having blue eyes and red hair; and, moreover, that the Persians and Medes make theirs resemble themselves, and the Egyptians similarly shape them according to their own form. Observing these things, Zeno of Citium ^B in his book *On the Republic* forbids both the building of temples and the crafting of statues; for he says that no such work is worthy of God. Plato, however, did not absolutely forbid this, fearing, as it seems, the Athenian temper, and dreading the hemlock that was administered to Socrates. Yet he too censures the making of statues to a great extent, speaking as follows: "Let no one, then, consecrate a sacred image to the gods. Gold and silver in other cities, held both privately and in temples, are a cause of envy. Ivory, taken from a dead body, is not a holy offering. Iron and brass are instruments of war. But let anyone who wishes dedicate wooden and stone images, and offer them to the public temples." That through fear of the Athenian populace he did not forbid the making of statues entirely, is easy to understand ^C from this. First, he forbade anyone to make images of the gods privately. Then, he rejected gold and silver as invidious materials that provoke sacrilege. He called ivory profane. He said that brass and iron belong to war, not to the statues of gods. He ordered them to be carved only of wood and stone, because he knew, I suppose, that the material is contemptible and would easily persuade those who see it not to consider as divine, nor to worship, things so cheap and of no value. For indeed the ^D

^A God, through the prophet, has made the same accusation against those who both perform these deeds and worship them. "For," he says, "a craftsman chooses wood that does not rot, and a wise man seeks how he may set up an image for himself, and that it may not shake." For he does not merely remove the superfluous parts of the material and imprint the likeness of the human form, carving each of the limbs extremely well, but he also takes the greatest care for its foundation and its posture, preparing its stability for it with certain props and nails; and what has been put together from material and art is called a god. "Half of it," he says, "he burned in the fire, and having roasted meat he ate, and said: 'It is pleasant to me, because I have been warmed and have seen the light'; but the half of it he made into a carved image, and he worships it, and prays, saying: 'Rescue me, for you are my God.'" After he had thus openly mocked their insanity, he added: "Know that their heart is ash, and they themselves go astray." ^B

I, for my part, am astonished at the impudence of those who still cleave to the gentiles. For while they pay reverence to the inhabited world, which has turned to a sound mind and has been delivered from its former error, they say that the things spoken by the poets about the gods are false myths, and they do not blush to be accused by their very deeds. For they worship idols fashioned according to these myths. The figure of Aphrodite is more shameless than any harlot standing in a brothel. For who has ever seen a harlot standing in the marketplace naked, without a tunic or a girdle? But the statuaries and sculptors make the mistress of these women naked, and do not cover her even with a tiny tunic. Moreover, painters depict, ^C craftsmen cast, and statuaries carve Europe sitting upon the bull. And these same craftsmen make Bacchus with soft and slack limbs and an effeminate body. They also fashion Pan and the Satyrs as though they were desiring and attempting copulation in the manner of horses and donkeys. In like manner, the makers of images also fashion Jupiter raging for Ganymede in the form of an eagle, and consorting with Leda in the guise of a swan, and flowing into Danae's bosom in the likeness of gold; and they fashion other things similarly, just as the poets recount them. If, therefore, you assert that the myths about these things, invented by the poets, are false, why do you suffer the statuaries, sculptors, and painters to be among you, confirming falsehood through their art? Why do you bestow such honor upon the idols fashioned by them? For it would have been fitting, if you indeed condemn the poets with a just accusation, to burn their poems, and to prohibit the craftsmen by law, and to threaten them with death, so that no one might ^D at any time make such images.

^A It was necessary, moreover, to smash and destroy the things constructed—even if done in mockery or insult of those called gods—and to persuade everyone that the things bruited about by myths regarding these are false. But nothing of this sort has ever been done by you; on the contrary, one may see the opposite occurring: poets are admired for their poems, and sculptors, image-makers, and painters are praised highly for their handiwork, while those very images, which you verbally denounce, are worshipped and honored with sacrifices and rites. ^B Even that small figure—I mean Priapus—is honored with a great and erect member, and the phallus of Dionysus is worshiped in the Phallagogia by those performing the orgies. No less is the female comb (for so they call the pudenda of a woman) honored with divine reverence in the Thesmophoria by initiated women. The Egyptians, indeed, were so enslaved to obscene pleasures that they even called the goat a god, as it is a most lustful animal; the Mendesians especially venerate this. ^C Other cities also dedicated divine worship to other animals. For the Memphites worshiped the bull, the Lycopolitans the wolf, the Leontopolitans the lion, and indeed the Cynopolitans the dog; the inhabitants of the city of Latona worshiped a certain fish called the *laton*, others the ibis, and others the crocodile. Each of these they consecrated in their own temples, served them an appropriate diet, and performed sacrifices to them as if they were gods; and upon their death, they honored them with the extravagant mass of a sepulcher. Such a great error once occupied the world. But that error was utterly destroyed and rooted out by Him who is worshiped by us and unknown to you, who has led the drunken and deranged nature of men toward a better fruit and condition.

^D But I think you will say: Yet you yourselves say that there are certain invisible powers, which you call and name Angels and Archangels, and Principalities, and Powers, and Dominations, and Thrones; and furthermore you have learned to call others by the Hebrew names Cherubim and Seraphim. Why then are you indignant at us if, after that God who is ever-existing and who always remains in the same state, we suppose there to be certain secondary gods, and those far inferior to him, and honor them with veneration? I, for my part, confess that our divine Scripture teaches that there are certain invisible powers, who praise the Creator and are obedient to his divine will. Yet we do not call them gods, nor do we pay them divine worship, nor do we divide divine adoration between the true God and these; but we consider these to be of higher...

^A station than men, yet still fellow servants. We do not divide the incorporeal nature into male and female. For the nature of those who are subject to the laws of death requires this distinction of sex. Since death leads mortals into captivity, marriage introduces the procreation of children to replace what is consumed; for the Creator devised procreation for the mortal living creature as a kind of restorative immortality. For this reason, the use of the female is necessary for those who possess a mortal nature, but for those who have been created immortal, the female sex is entirely superfluous. For they neither need to increase in number, since they cannot decrease, nor do they have any work of union, since they are devoid of bodies. The creation of both the one and the other confirms what we say. For God did not create many men immediately from the beginning, but He fashioned one man and one woman, and through their union He filled the whole earth and sea with this race. But He did not create the nature of the bodiless ones according to two, but He created them all at once. For as many myriads of them as He deemed to exist, He brought forth all of them from the beginning. Therefore, the use of the female is superfluous for them: as immortals, they do not need increase; and as incorporeals, they do not admit of union. For this reason, we also call them ^B holy, as having nothing earthly, but being free from earthly passions, having as their task the dance in heaven and the hymn-singing to Him who made them; and again, they perform services as they are commanded according to the divine will, being sent by the God of all for the salvation of the human race. For the divine Apostle said, indeed, concerning them: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who are to be heirs of salvation?" (Heb. 1, 14) Renouncing their way of life, all those men who have embraced the service of God have even fled the legitimate union of bodies, as something that draws one away from divine things; they have even left behind their country and their kin, in order to transfer all their care to divine things, so that no bond might hinder the mind from flying up to heaven. And as they desire to contemplate the invisible and ineffable beauty of God, they have despised all things that are on earth. Of these, cities and villages are now full, ^C and mountain tops and valleys. And some, dwelling together in groups, fashion in their souls the images of philosophy and piety; others live together two or three at a time; others live alone, being shut up, and preventing their eyes from being delighted by the beauty of visible things, they provide the soul with the opportunity to feast upon the contemplation of intelligible things.

But if those who are still fettered to bodies and are troubled by many and diverse passions embrace an incorporeal, lofty, and heaven-befitting life, what language could express the passionless and care-free manner of life of the incorporeal natures? ^A These things, therefore, the sacred Oracles have taught us, regarding what we should think concerning those natures that are indeed created, but cannot be perceived by the sight of the eyes. Yet you proclaim such wantonness and incontinence of them, and such baseness of every kind, and furthermore such contentions, and wars, and tyrannies, that what is fabulously invented about them would not befit even the most wicked of men. For not even the most utterly depraved possess all those things that you attribute to the father of gods, ^B and the highest and greatest of all. For those who have been slaves to the wantonness concerning the young have not violated the marriages of others; and those who have fallen into this passion have spared their closest kin. And if anyone has fallen into love for a sister, he did not rage against a mother, nor did he go mad for a daughter, but he respected nature, and did not emulate the senselessness of brute beasts. The Persians alone do such things, obeying some ancient and most detestable law, and not considering themselves to be acting lawlessly. But this one, whom Homer called the father of gods and men, ^C made Hera, who was his sister, his spouse; and with his mother Rhea—whom they also call Deo and Demeter—he consorted in insane frenzy. And having fathered Proserpina from her, he had her as his consort, and became the husband of his own daughter. As for the things fabulously told concerning Ganymede, and Leda, and Danae, and Semele, and Alcmena, and countless others, I am ashamed to even speak of them; and I think it would be superfluous to recount these tales to those who already know them, and to stir up the poetic stench. You, feeling shame for their mythology, call it false, yet at the same time you embrace it as true theology. ^D Compare, therefore, the things fabulously invented by you concerning natures that are incorporeal but created, with the things reported by us concerning the celestial powers, and you will perceive the difference. And with a sober mind, discern which of the two is more appropriate to invisible substances. For you will find, if you are willing to judge with a correct vote, that those things which you religiously observe as your gods befit not holy angels, but most wicked demons. Since, however, I have mentioned demons, I think it advantageous to demonstrate also what our opinion regarding them is. For the sacred oracles call them—and their ruler, whom they name Satan—demons; (and the name signifies the

apostate in the Hebrew tongue). ^A And the divine Scripture also calls him “diabolus” (the devil), as one who slanders God to men, and stirs up strife and contention among men themselves. We, I say, by no means assert that these were created evil by the God of all from the beginning, nor that they were endowed with such a nature, but that through the perversion of their will they fell from better to worse; and, not content with the gifts given to them by their Maker, but desiring greater things, they admitted the disease of pride, and fell, and were stripped of the honor initially bestowed upon them. Then, they raged against men, who were honored as the divine image, and undertook a war against them. The Maker, on the one hand, shielded the human race with the guardianship of the angels, so that he ^B who invisibly attacks—using violence and tyranny, and pursuing with hatred through envy those whom he hated—might not destroy them with impunity. Yet, he did not remove the struggle and the contest, in order to display the most stalwart athletes through the wrestling match, and that they might become archetypes of virtue. For this reason, although he checked that one’s violent assault through the protection of the angels, he allowed the struggle of fighting thoughts, that he might show those who have resisted bravely to be worthy of crowns; not that he assigned to that adversary a role by nature, but that he made use of his malice for a necessary purpose, just as physicians use vipers for the curing of diseases. These things, then, the sacred Scriptures have taught us to hold regarding the adverse powers. But what ^C Plato thought about these same matters, one who reads what he wrote in the tenth book of the *Laws* (p. 896 D) would most easily recognize. He speaks thus: “When you say that soul governs all things, and is implanted in all things that move everywhere, it is necessary to say also that it governs the heavens. What then? One or many? I shall answer on your behalf. Let us not posit fewer than two: one that confers good, and another that is capable of producing the contrary.” Such indeed are the things he wrote. But it is easy to perceive immediately with how many absurdities these things are filled. For he called “soul” the power that moderates all things, both visible and invisible. And he asserted that this [soul] governs not only the earth, but also the heavens. Then, being asked whether one or many ought to be spoken of, he replied that it should not be said that there are fewer than two, and ^D of these he called one the producer of goods, the other of evils: he attributed equal power and faculty to both. Furthermore, he established that the heavens are governed by that one which is the author of evil. We, however, say that the Holy Spirit, whom the divine oracles also call the Paraclete, steers, governs, and sanctifies not only the angels and archangels, and the other supercelestial orders, but also from among men those...

those who desire to cultivate piety and to value things divine highly; but as for the demons, and their leader, we say that they have not only been cast down from the vault of heaven, but that they also shudder at, fear, and flee from the athletes of virtue, and that they have as subjects only those who are deserters and who have voluntarily embraced his friendship. For the divine Apostle has said that he operates only in the sons of disobedience. ^B Regarding this, Plato has again left this written in the *Phaedrus*: "There are, indeed, other evils, but some demon has mixed present pleasure with the majority of them. He uses this as a sort of lure, and by concealing the deadly hook, he deceives and destroys those who are easily misled; but those who are endowed with a stronger spirit foresee the snares and leap over them." Since, therefore, you set the views regarding this side by side, behold which of these is more fitting to God: to say that the good God is the author of an evil nature, and to entrust and permit him to govern not only the earth, but also heaven as he pleases? Or, on the contrary, to say that God is in no way the author of evils, and that the demons have become evil by the choice of their own will, just as is the case for most men? Yet I believe that you too will acknowledge that these doctrines are better than those. But if you were to look into the divine Scriptures yourselves, and to discern their intent more diligently, you would more clearly perceive how much the divinely inspired words excel human reasonings, and what the doctrines of the Holy Spirit are, and what, on the other hand, the teachings of the evil demons are. ^C

SERMON IV. Concerning matter and the world.

They say that Democritus the son of Damasippus, the Abderite, used to say that the best teaching is that which is similar to nature. For it truly transforms it and alters the soul for the better, and renews the ancient marks which nature placed there from the beginning. And I for my part have judged this principle to be very sound. For Porphyry also reports that Socrates the son of Sophroniscus, when he was young and inclined toward intemperance, abolished these marks through study and discipline, and imprinted those of philosophy. And surely the divine Scriptures have taught us many such things. For our Savior also rescued from wickedness [the] publicans, ^D a class of men addicted to greed and injustice, and the most lustful harlot, and the most wicked thief, and many others of a lost and profligate life, by means of his persuasions and exhortations.

And if he was able to rescue these from the abyss of wickedness and make them ^A workers of the most perfect virtue, why do I speak of three or four, or ten or fifteen? For he suddenly transformed the whole world, which was in such a state, by means of those few whom he himself had reformed, and he caused that which formerly resembled those who were deranged and raving to become temperate. Since we clearly know this, we offer to you the saving doctrine; and seeing you struggling and contradicting and pushing away the cure, we do not weary, but rather with the sponge of our discourse we wash away the disease of unbelief. We have already done this three times, and we have shown how necessary and useful the medicine of faith is. We have explained what one ought to believe regarding the divine substance, and what one ought to think concerning those natures that are created but invisible; and we have also exposed the obscenity of poetic mythology and refuted the monstrous allegories of the philosophers. But because they have held opinions regarding visible creation that are neither true nor in harmony with one another—but rather, as if in a night battle, they have split into many factions and have attacked ^B one another like enemies—I think it fitting to bring their opinions into the midst and to set against them the dogmas of holy Scripture. From this, it will be manifest to everyone how timid are the thoughts of men, and how uncertain are their providences, just as a certain wise man of ours has said.

Xenophanes, therefore, the son of Orthomenes, the Colophonian, who was the leader of the Eleatic sect, said that this universe is one, spherical in shape and ^C finite, not begotten, but altogether eternal and immovable. Yet, forgetting this very argument, he said that all things were born from the earth. For this is his verse:

All things are from the earth, and unto the earth all things pass.

These opinions are contrary to one another. For if the world is eternal, it is certainly without a beginning; and if it is without a beginning, it is without a cause; and if it is without a cause, then it does not have the earth as a mother. But if the earth is the cause of the world, then the cause is not lacking; and if the cause is not lacking, then neither is the beginning; but if it has a beginning, it is not eternal. Moreover, Parmenides, the son of Pyrrhetus, the Eleatic, being a hearer of Xenophanes, wrote things in harmony with those which were said in the former ^D place by his master. For they say that this verse is his:

^A Solum, atque unigenum, intrepidum manet, ingenitumque.

He asserted that the cause of all things was not only the earth, as did that other, but fire as well. Melissus, the son of Ithagenes, the Milesian, was a companion of his, but did not preserve the handed-down doctrine intact. For while they held the world to be finite, he asserted it to be infinite. Democritus of Abdera, son of Damasippus, first introduced the opinion regarding the vacuum and the solids. Metrodorus of Chios called these indivisibles and a vacuum. Just as Epicurus, son of Neocles, the Athenian, born in the fifth generation after Democritus, called the things which those men termed solids and indivisibles "atoms." ^B Some say that they were named indivisible, atomic, and solid because they are impassible; others, because they are exceedingly small, and so cannot admit of cutting or division. They call those smallest and most minute bodies thus, which the sun, shining through windows, reveals dancing up and down within itself. Diophantus the Syracusan, the Pythagorean, also followed this opinion. Plato, son of Ariston, taught that the principles of all things are God, matter, and the ideas. Aristotle, son of Nicomachus, the Stagirite, taught form, matter, and privation. He affirms the elements are not four, but five: for he says there is another element, the ethereal, which can neither be altered nor changed. Xenocrates of Chalcedon called matter the ^C ever-flowing, from which all things have been made. Zeno of Citium, son of Mnaseas, a pupil of Crates, from whom the Stoic sect took its beginning, said that God and matter are the principles of all things. Hippasus of Metapontum and Heraclitus, son of Bloson, the Ephesian, said that the universe is one, immovable, and finite, and that it has taken fire as its principle. Diogenes of Apollonia said that the universe was constituted from air. Furthermore, Thales, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Heraclitus, and the whole order of the Stoics said that matter was mutable, alterable, and fluid; but Democritus, Metrodorus, and Epicurus posited the atoms and the vacuum as impassible ^D principles. Plato, however, said that matter was similar to a body, but formless, without species, without figure, and entirely without quality. For he says that it received all these things subsequently from the Creator. Aristotle called it bodily; the Stoics, a body; and Democritus taught that the vacuum is the place of the atoms. But all the others openly mock this account of his. Therefore, Empedocles speaks as follows:

In toto nihil est vacui, nihil inde superfit.

^A The Stoics, on the other hand, say that within the universe there is no vacuum, but outside it, there is a vast and infinite one. Strato, quite the contrary, says that there is no vacuum outside, but that one can exist within.

Nor was this the only matter on which there was the greatest disagreement among them; they held the same in other things as well. For Thales, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Parmenides, Melissus, Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle, and Zeno all agreed that the world is one; but Anaximander, Anaximenes, Archelaus, Xenophanes, Diogenes, Leucippus, Democritus, and Epicurus held the opinion that there are many and infinite worlds. ^B Some said that it is spherical in shape, others said it is otherwise. Some said it is mill-like, others that it revolves like a wheel. Some said it is animate and breathing; others that it is entirely inanimate. Some said it is generated by a mental conception, not in time; others that it is entirely unbegotten and causeless. And the former thought it corruptible, the latter that it was exempt from corruption.

Furthermore, Thales said that the stars are earthy and fiery. Anaxagoras said that stones were torn away by the rotation of the universe, and that these, having been ignited and thrust upwards, were called stars, an opinion which Democritus also confirms. Diogenes says that they are pumice-like, endowed with certain exhalations. Anaximander said that they are certain agglomerations of air, compressed into a circle, full of fire, and emitting flames through certain vents. ^C Diogenes said that some of them fall to the earth, and that when they are extinguished, they are shown to have the nature of stones, and he brings forward as a witness the one that once fell, in the form of fire, into Aegospotami. Plato says that they consist for the most part of fire, but that they also share in the other elements. Aristotle, however, asserted that they are kin to the fifth body. Xenophanes says that they are composed of fiery clouds, but that they are extinguished by day and reignited by night, like coals. Heraclides and some other Pythagoreans say that each of the stars is a world, containing earth and air; and some said they were spherical, while Cleanthes the Stoic said they were conical. ^D Moreover, Xenophanes affirms that the sun and moon are fiery clouds; Anaxagoras, Democritus, and Metrodorus, that they are a fiery mass or stone; Thales, that they are earthy; Diogenes, that they are pumice-like; Aristotle, that they are a sphere composed of the fifth body; and Plato, that they have for the most part fire, but also partake of the other bodies. Philolaus the Pythagorean said that it [the sun] was made of glass, receiving

^A the reflection of the fire that is in the world, and straining toward us both its light and heat, serving the purpose of an image. And others have imagined other things about this, which I think it superfluous to recount, lest I myself fall into the same absurdities. There is also much contention among them about its size and shape. For some say it is spherical; others, boat-shaped; others, like a chariot-wheel; and Anaximander asserted it to be twenty-seven times larger than the earth; Empedocles, equal to the earth; Anaxagoras, larger than the Peloponnese; Heraclitus, of the size of a foot. And concerning the moon they babble in like manner. For Thales says it is of an earthy nature; Anaximenes, and Parmenides, and Heraclitus [say it is composed] of fire alone; Anaxagoras and Democritus, a burning solid, containing within itself plains and mountains and ravines; Pythagoras, a stony body; Heraclides, earth surrounded by mist. And some declare it to be larger than the earth; others, equal; others, smaller; and some say it has a palm's breadth for its diameter. But what need is there to recount what they fabricate about shapes, eclipses, and distances? For they do not only pronounce how far they are from each other, but also how far they are distant from the earth; and they count four hundred myriads of stadia—and even more—some from the earth to the moon, and others from thence to the sun. And they are not ashamed that, while they are ignorant of the depth of the sea, into which they could at least lower a plumb line and a cord, they yet boast that they clearly know the measure of the air and the ether, neither pondering the vanity of the matter nor heeding the saying of Aeschylus: ^C Do not seek in vain for things that profit you nothing.

Each of these things, even if it were easy to discover, was nevertheless utterly useless. But since this discovery is also unattainable by men, they seem exactly like those who write upon water, or draw water with a sieve. For both the one and the other undergo vain labor, and expend their leisure on nothingness. When Socrates perceived this, he bade farewell to those who discourse on meteors and the nature of things, and embraced the study of morals. Xenophon has shown this in his Memorabilia, speaking thus: ^D "He entirely discouraged any concern for the things of the heavens, which God himself contrives. For he did not think these things could be discovered by men, nor did he believe that one would be pleasing to the gods who would search out things which they did not wish to reveal; and he was in danger of becoming insane who would trouble himself with these things, no less than Anaxagoras who…

^A prided himself greatly on assuming to explain the mechanisms of the gods. And the same writer again records the following regarding Socrates: “No one ever saw Socrates doing anything impious or unholy, nor heard him saying such things. For he did not discourse about the nature of all things, or how the universe—as most of the so-called sophists would have it—is ordered, and by what necessities each of the heavenly bodies comes to be; indeed, he even showed that those who concern themselves with such things are foolish. And first of all, he would examine whether these people, when they consider that they already understand human affairs well enough, arrive at the study of such things, or whether, neglecting human affairs and investigating divine ones, they believe they are doing what is appropriate. Further, he wondered if it was not obvious to them that it is impossible for humans to discover these things, since even those who ^B think most highly of themselves in their discussions about them hold not the same opinions, but are disposed toward one another just like madmen. For among the mad, some do not fear even things that are dangerous, while others fear things that are not to be feared; and to some it does not seem base to say or do anything whatsoever in a crowd, while others think they should not even appear in public. And some again do not honor temple, nor altar, nor any other divine thing, while others worship stones, and wood, and even beasts. Likewise, among those who anxiously inquire into the nature of all things, some believe that what exists is only one, while others [believe it to be] infinite in number; and to some it seems that all things are always in motion, while to others that nothing could ever be moved; and to some [it seems] that all things are generated and perish, while to others that nothing is ever generated or will perish.” And he sets forth many other such things, exposing their great loquacity. It was not one of our own people who brought these charges against those high-talking men, but Xenophon and Socrates, the most excellent of the Greeks. And it is easy for those who wish to encounter the Memorabilia of Xenophon to know clearly ^C that he wrote these things about the most celebrated philosophers.

If anyone thinks that I too am slandering those men by exposing their great disagreement, let him read the Collection of Opinions by Aetius; let him read also the Compendium of the Philosophers' Opinions by Plutarch; and the Philosophical History of Porphyry also teaches many such things. But the words which we have just brought forward from Xenophon are enough to give credence to our statements. For he ^D has abundantly criticized them.

^A For he also ridiculed their great ignorance and the strife they have always maintained against one another.

I shall pass over all the others, but I will praise certain things in Plato, and refute others, as not being well stated. For those things which he wrote in the *Timaeus* are highly praiseworthy: "Let us say, then, for what cause the Opifices constituted generation and this whole universe." Then he appended that most excellent and admirable answer: "He was good; and for the good, no envy arises regarding anything. And being beyond this, He desired that all things should be as much as possible like unto Himself." ^B And he says that they are not "like" according to nature, but only in the fact that they exist. For just as He Himself is, so He desired that things which were not should come to be and exist; but while He Himself is, having received being from no one, to generated things He Himself has granted being.

Affiliated with the things mentioned are these also: "For God did not make the world because of any need, so that He might reap honors from men and from other gods and demons, as if He were deriving some profit from generation: from us, indeed, the vapor of smoke; from gods and demons, their own proper ministries." ^C And here again, he said that God is in need of nothing, and that for the sake of goodness alone He made all things. And he called those "gods and demons" whom we address as angels, and said that these are ministers of the God of the universe.

Things which he wrote in the *Republic* are also worthy of praise: "For to those things which have come to be, he says, not only the fact that they are generated and created comes from the Good, but also that their very Being and substance is added to them by Him; the Good itself not being substance, but beyond substance, surpassing in dignity and power." ^D For He did not merely impart to them a common form, like a coppersmith or a goldsmith, but He also created and gave them their very substance; not possessed of the same nature as the things created, for He is above substance and beyond substance; being superior to the things made by Him not only in eternity, but also in power. By these words he has clearly shown that God did not create all things out of underlying matter, but brought forth as He willed those things which previously were not.

His following words are also admirable and worthy of wonder: "Whether was the world always, having no beginning of generation, or has it come into being, having started from some beginning?" Then he answers and says: "It has come into being." And he provides the demonstration: "For, he says, being visible, it is also touchable; and being touchable, it also has a body; and all things of this sort are sensible; and things which are sensible were revealed as apprehended by opinion and [as being] generated. But to that which is generated, we say that it is necessary that it be generated by some cause."

Having said these things concerning generated things, which one ought to think...

^A regarding their Author, he taught most wisely. For he says: "To find the creator and maker of this universe, and having found him, to declare him to all, is impossible; for it is in no way expressible as are other subjects of instruction." He shows us, furthermore, that it was the Word of God that created all things (for he had learned these things also from the writings of the Hebrews), and he cries out, saying: "From the Word and Mind, therefore, of God, toward the generation of time, so that time might be generated, the sun and the moon and five other stars, called planets, came into being for the distinction and preservation of the numbers of time. And God, having made their bodies, placed them in the orbs of the heavens." By these words, he taught us that God not only created the fabric of the world through the Word, but also that the sun and the moon ^B and the stars are generated bodies, and that they received their existence from God the Maker. None of these, according likewise even to Plato's argument, is God; for they have been generated for the use of men. And Euripides has made this clear in his *Phoenissae*, saying thus: "While sun and black night serve mortals, Will you not endure that your house should be equal?" But while Euripides says that the sun and the moon serve mortals, you for your part do not begrudge serving your own slaves, and you offer them divine worship. But I shall turn myself again to Plato. For I praise the man, because he spoke things similar to ours even concerning the consummation of the world. For ^C saying (p. 29 A): "If this world is good, and the Maker is good, it is manifest that he looked toward the eternal." And adding concerning heaven: "For this is the most beautiful of generated things; and he, the most excellent of causes." And again adding: "He constructed a heaven visible and tangible," he added a little later: "Time, therefore, was generated with heaven, so that, born together, they might also be dissolved together, if ever any dissolution of them should occur." And in the *Statesman* (p. 269 D) he left it written thus: "To remain always in the same state and in the same way, and to be absolutely the same, befits those things alone which are most divine. But the nature of the body is not to be classed in such an order. And indeed, the heaven which we have named the world has partaken of many and most blessed things from the Maker; yet, nevertheless, it has entered into a communion with a body; and for this reason ^D it cannot be entirely free from mutation." And these also are his (p. 272 E): "Then the governor of this universe, as if letting go of the rudders, withdrew to his own watchtower; but fate and innate desire turned the world back again in various ways."

^A And the other parts of the world they abandoned, failing to care for them. But the one who turned back and collided, having been impelled by an impulse contrary to the beginning and the end, causing a great earthquake within it, brought about yet another corruption of all kinds of animals. Now, in these things, he agrees with us insofar as he spoke of the transformation of the universe, and that when God let go of the rudders, the invisible powers that had been commanded to manage certain parts of creation departed, while the things that are seen underwent alteration. But as for the rest, he remains in the error that gripped him at that time, because the innate desire of matter turned the world back, according to the fate that was allotted from the beginning.

For these are the very things we find fault with in the philosopher concerning his discourses on creation; he said that matter co-exists with God, just as Pythagoras, Aristotle, and those named after the ^B Stoa (the Porch) also said. He even calls matter evil at times. For we hear him saying about the world: "From the one who constructed it, it possesses all things good; but from its former state, whatever harsh and unjust things occur in heaven, these it has from that source, and it produces them in animals." And he added these things also: "The cause of these very things is the corporeal form, having been nurtured with the ancient nature, because before it arrived at the world as it is now, it possessed much disorder."

I think that any person who has a sound mind should be indignant at these things. For he openly slanders the nature of matter, and says that its vice is so strong and invincible ^C that not even the Maker could change it for the better. For it persisted in using its bad state, and even after receiving form from God, it did not cast off its former wickedness. For which reason, it performs harsh and unjust deeds not only on earth, but also in heaven, and produces them in animals. These things are unworthy of what was said before, and alien to that lofty theology, and are the product of low-lying and earth-bound reasonings. For the very claim that disorder remained even in heaven, so that even there some harsh and unjust things are dared, gives cause for the suspicion that we should consider matter to be most powerful, but the maker weak and feeble.

Yet he says that he ^D fashioned the heaven itself according to an intelligible model. For it is written thus in the *Timaeus*: "Whether, then, have we rightly said there is one heaven, or would it be more correct to say there are many and infinite ones? One, if indeed it is to be created according to the model." I think he means by "model" either God, in that He is one; or the Idea, which he says is the thought of God; or the intelligible heaven, which the divine Scripture says is superior to this one. Whether he means this or that,

it certainly ^A does not befit heaven for any grave or unjust act to be attributed to it.

Therefore, among those who are called philosophers, there is so much discord in their dogmas. But now it is time to demonstrate the excellence of the divine Scripture and the truth concerning the creation of the world. For he cast all the fables about matter into the Chaos of Hesiod, and declared that God created all things—yet not ^B as masons, shipbuilders, coppersmiths, goldsmiths, and indeed weavers, shoemakers, and other craftsmen, who—borrowing materials—shape them, fashion them, and take instruments from one another, do. Rather, he declared that at the very moment He willed it, things that before in no way existed were brought forth. For the God of the universe is in need of nothing; but human arts are in need of one another. For the helmsman needs the shipbuilder, and the shipbuilder needs the woodcutter, the blacksmith, the pitch-maker, and the rope-maker; ^C and the woodcutter needs the gardener, and again the gardener needs land, irrigation, plants, seeds, and the blacksmith to forge a hoe and a mattock for him. And the blacksmith, in turn, needs the carpenter to build a wooden shed for him, to place an anvil upon a wooden base, and to fit a handle to the hammer; and all alike, furthermore, have need of the shoemaker, the weaver, and the farmer, so that they may nourish and clothe their bodies. And in general, every art needs the work of another in order to subsist. But the Artificer of all things needs neither instruments nor matter; rather, what ^D matter, instruments, time, labor, art itself, and diligence are to other craftsmen, that is the will to the God of the universe. “For all that the Lord willed, He did in heaven and in earth, in the seas, and in all deeps,” as the sacred Scriptures testify. He willed, however, not all that He could, but all that He deemed sufficient. For it would have been easy for Him to produce ten or twenty thousand worlds, since to will is the easiest of all operations. For even to us, to will is the easiest of all things; but our power does not immediately follow our will. But for the God of the universe, all things He wills, He can do. Indeed, to the divine will, power is joined. Yet He did not measure out the creation of things by His power, but made what He willed. And since of things that have been made, some are sensible and some intelligible, and some are terrestrial and some supercelestial, He fittingly created creatures of both kinds, some sensible and some intelligible: and to the intelligible He assigned the ether and the heaven, to the sensible...

He gave the earth and the sea as a dwelling place. And since some of the intelligible beings inclined of their own accord toward evil, they were justly driven out of the heavenly regions, and He assigned as their residence the air and the earth, not that they should bring to pass whatever they attempt to plot against men—for the guard of the holy angels indeed prevents them from doing this—but so that by the change of place they might learn what great evils wickedness produces. And since He distinguished the sensible creatures into two categories, and made some rational and others irrational, He subjected the nature of the irrational to the rational living being. Yet some of these rebel and rise up against their authority and attempt to plot; since their own leaders ^B do this very thing, and though adorned with reason, they rage against the Creator; for this reason they themselves also suffer sedition, so that by what they endure they may learn how wretched and wicked it is to transgress the order and to audaciously overstep the established boundaries. And it is possible to see even the inanimate elements keeping these boundaries. For the sea, though it be ruffled and stirred by storms and driven violently toward the land, yet it respects the sand and does not dare to cross the fixed boundaries; but just as a horse speeding in a race is held back by a bridle, so it too, observing the unwritten law ^C of God on the shores, turns back, as if checked by certain reins. In the same way the rivers run as they were commanded from the beginning, and the springs gush forth, and the wells provide enough water for human needs, and the seasons of the year succeed one another in orderly fashion and, honoring equality, do not seek more than their due. Days and nights also observe this law unceasingly: neither do they boast when they are extended, nor do they complain when they are shortened; but, by borrowing time from one another, they pay back the debt again without any dispute, not struggling against one another, but most peacefully both giving and receiving. Furthermore, that fact demonstrates the wisdom and power of the Creator, ^D that neither has the earth—though for so many thousands of years it has been plowed, sown, planted, nourishing fruits, trodden upon, mined, and rained upon, covered with snow, and scorched—suffered any diminution, nor does it produce fewer or smaller fruits for the farmers; nor has the sea, though from it the clouds continuously draw up the nature of the waters, and beget rain and pour it out upon the earth, ever appeared less, or become deeper, or abandoned the shores which it formerly occupied; nor has it increased, even though it receives the rivers flowing into it from all sides. And indeed not even now does it...

^A appear to me—whence the streams of the rivers are derived; for this account is to me altogether ineffable. But how the sun is by nature accustomed to consume moisture is very easy to learn for those who wish to do so. For it dries up marshes, and consumes the collections of water, and makes our own bodies drier. And indeed, we see rivers decrease when the sun, having left the southern regions, moves to the northern tracts and produces summer for us. And for this reason, they say that the Nile also does not flood outside its channel at the same time as the other rivers, but rather covers Egypt with overflowing waters in the middle of the summer, as the sun is traversing the more northern zone and exerting influence on the other rivers, while remaining very far from this one. But if some contend that this increase occurs for other reasons as well, I for my part do not think that this argument is appropriate at this time; for I counsel others not to investigate the causes of the divine governance too curiously, but rather to wonder at what happens and to praise the Creator. Therefore, I myself also wonder ^B that the nature of the air is not consumed, although so many humans and so many brute animals are incessantly drawing it in by breathing, and the fervent rays of the sun, and besides the sun, the moon and the stars also, are penetrating it throughout. Indeed, it is a miracle above a miracle; and I am nearly led to say that a miracle should not even be held as a miracle. For when God is at work, to wonder is least appropriate, but to praise is most appropriate. For it is easy for Him to do all things that are fitting for Him. Moreover, He implanted in the things He created a sufficient power for the time during which He decreed they should endure. From which it has come to pass that the earth remains even today just as it was created from the beginning, and the sea neither decreases nor increases, and the air preserves inviolate the nature it obtained from the beginning, and the sun cannot liquefy or dissolve the firmament through which it runs, nor does the firmament, although humid by nature, extinguish the hot sun. For each thing has perpetually ^C preserved the lot it obtained from the beginning. For the Creator of all things brought the contrary qualities of the dry and the moist, and again of the cold and the hot, into friendship. When, therefore, we see each of these things, and that the sun now traverses the northern regions, now the southern, and at other times the middle parts of the heavens, and that the moon increases and wanes in light, and that the stars rise and set at specific times, declaring the time of harvest and sowing, and indicating to those who sail at sea storms and calm—these things, O friends, let us not deify, but rather, recognizing their Author as the Creator and Governor, and through these things which we contemplate with our eyes, let us proceed to Him.

But indeed, it is not travel that we need, but faith; for by this alone can we see ^A Him. When, therefore, we see the seasons moving in their time, and rain being provided for the earth, and the earth causing it to grow, covering itself with grass, and the grain crops waving, and the meadows blooming, and the groves flourishing and heavy with fruit, let us move our tongue to the praise of Him who has given these things; and let us not deify the Orestiades nymphs, or those of the fountains or rivers, nor the daughters of Nereus, nor let us sing our hymns ^B to Iulus or Lityerses for Ceres, nor the dithyramb to Dionysus, nor the Paean to the Pythian prophet, nor the *hypopa* to Artemis. But let us offer the Davidic melody to the Creator of all

Sermon V

These things, O friends, compare with the opinions of the philosophers, and examine, using a right and just judgment, which of these seems more appropriate to speak concerning God: that the all is unbegotten, or that it came into being by chance, or was fitted together by atoms and the void, or that it was indeed created by God, but from matter; or whether it is impious to say any of these things ^D about God, but that this is right and true: that God is the Maker of all things, not having fashioned all these things from primeval matter like other craftsmen, but having Himself brought all things forth from nothing, and having willed to grant being to what did not exist. For it is easy for Him to create both from things that do not exist and from things that do; for He did this long ago, and continues to do it, so to speak, every day. For He fashions the bodies of animals from pre-existing bodies, and He creates souls from what does not exist—not for all animals, but for humans alone. And He creates birds from birds, and swimming creatures from swimming creatures, and each of the other species He fashions from its own kind. In this way, He also produces the fruits of the earth for human use through those things that are sown and planted. Yet long ago, the earth, neither plowed nor sown, sprouted every species of plants and seeds, and brought forth the genera of reptiles and quadrupeds. They themselves—

and planted. Yet long ago, the earth, neither plowed nor sown, sprouted every species of plants and seeds, and brought forth the genera of reptiles and quadrupeds. They themselves— ^A Likewise, the nature of the waters, as it was commanded, brought forth the creatures dwelling in the waters and those naturally suited to traverse the air. However, God did not instruct matter to produce the earth itself, the heaven, the air, the nature of the waters, fire, and light; rather, He brought them forth from nothing, He himself being the planter ^B and the shipwright of this great vessel of creation; He himself governs and steers it, having crafted it most wisely. These things are taught to us not only by the evangelists and apostles, but also by the prophets, and by the chief of the prophets, Moses, who wrote the cosmogony; and before them, Abraham and Melchizedek, and the whole chorus of the patriarchs. For each of these acknowledged not many, but one Creator of the universe, God. This you will perceive if you unroll the books of Divine Scripture. Taught, therefore, by comparison how much the teachings of the Holy Scriptures excel human cogitations, flee from error, O friends, and love the truth which is brighter than the sun, so that, being enlightened by it, you may grasp the sense of Divine Scripture and respect its masters, and—to speak in the apostolic manner—falling upon your faces, you may worship God, saying: "Truly God is in you."

SERMON V. Concerning the Nature of Man.

^C There is a certain kind of stone which they call the magnet, whose nature is such that, while leaving all other matter unmoved, it draws only iron to itself; and sometimes it even displays it suspended in the air, neither supported by anything from below, nor attached to anything visible above, but hanging invisibly by the hidden virtue of the stone. One may see something of this sort occurring in the divine oracles. For many, or rather almost all mortals, hear these things, but only those who are foster-children of faith are grasped by them: for they are held neither by the consolation of any lower earthly happiness, nor are they ^D suspended, attached to any visible thing above, but they adapt their mind to hidden hopes alone. For this reason, the divine Apostle Paul also said that the word of the Cross is "to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." But that stone, by a certain property of its nature, compels the iron to move toward it; the grace of the divine words, however, does not itself admit some and exclude others (for it pours out its streams to all who desire to be filled), but it is the free will of those who hear that brings the thirsty forward, while it holds at a distance those who do not wish to have this desire. But the Physician of souls—

do not wish to enjoy the healing. For having created the rational nature as sovereign and self-determining, he turns it away from worse things by exhortations and laws, and urges it toward better things, yet he does not force those who do not wish to partake of the good things, lest he disturb the boundaries of nature. Therefore, he cries out even through the prophets: "If you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good things of the land." And again: "Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, loving to see good days?" Then, turning them away from worse things, he shows what must be done: "Refrain your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. ^B Turn away from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." He also makes manifest to those who obey the rewards for their labors: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer." But since fear is also appropriate for those being disciplined, he necessarily terrifies those living in sloth with threats, saying: "The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth." He who offered this exhortation through the prophet, in the holy Gospels, not using another as a minister, but speaking himself in the flesh which he assumed, said: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." And again: "Come to me, all ^C you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." One could find ten thousand other things in the holy Gospels, as well as in the writings of the apostles, which clearly demonstrate the free will of human nature. For this reason, I too, O men, offer this fifth exhortation to you: not merely requesting, but even greatly entreating and beseeching you not to cast away the opportunity for this healing, and not to defer your salvation until tomorrow, for we do not know if we shall see it at all; but let us remember the warning of the Ascræan poet, and not defer salvation until tomorrow, which [in the poet's words], "do not defer until tomorrow comes, until the third day arrives," and let us ^D diligently attend to the other sentiment of the same poet, which vibrates in harmony with these words: "The procrastinator always struggles with disasters."

Sermon V

^A For they do not merely say that men were born from the earth, but also that they were sown, and that they sprang from the teeth of a serpent. Those things alone which the philosophers and historians recount 74 are to be brought forward for the instruction of the truth. It must be stated, before all else, how much strife and contention there has been among them concerning the origin of this race. For some have said that the nature of men is eternal, and that the earth has always been full of this race; others, that men were first born in Attica; others, that this occurred first in Arcadia; others again, that it happened in Egypt; and other cities also have had great ambition concerning this matter. Furthermore, some have called this animal blessed, while others, conversely, have called it wretched and most miserable. Homer calls it feeble and woe-stricken; and ^B Theognis the Sicilian of Megara exclaims:

“Better it is for mortal wights not to be born, Nor to behold the rays of the sharp sun; But once born, as quickly as possible to cross the gates of Hades.”

The trimeters of Euripides’ tragedy also accord with these sentiments:

“For we ought to gather together And bewail the newborn as he enters into many evils; But the dead, who has ceased from his labors, We should carry forth from the house with joy and words of praise.”

Moreover, Herodotus bears witness that Solon the Athenian, who gave laws to the Athenians, said to King Croesus: “O Croesus, every man is a heavy calamity.” ^C Pythagoras and Plato, furthermore, introduce a certain population of incorporeal souls, and they say that those which have fallen into some sin are, for the sake of punishment, sent down into bodies. Hence Plato in the *Cratylus* called the body a tomb (*sēma*), as if the soul were buried in the body. Philolaus the Pythagorean expressed agreement with this in these words. He says thus: “The ancient theologians and seers also bear witness that the soul is yoked to the body on account of certain punishments, and is buried in it as in a tomb.” But Plato, having forgotten these things which he had said, signifies the opposite in the third book of the ^D *Republic*: “For one must take care of the body,” he says, “for the sake of the soul and of harmony; for through the body it is granted to us to live, and to live rightly, if we wish to proclaim the message of the truth with a clear voice.” But if the soul lives and lives rightly through the body, then it certainly did not exist before the body; but if it did exist before the body, it must surely have lived, since it was endowed with an immortal and rational nature. And if it existed formerly, but did not live rightly while it was separate...

^A from the body, but once it had come into the body, and had trained this most excellently, it accomplished a righteous life, it follows that it obtained through the body the good things of which it did not partake before the body. Why therefore did he say it was buried in the body as if in a tomb?

From these things, then, we have clearly learned that they not only wrote things contrary to one another, but even to themselves regarding the same matters. But that we may understand their great conflict, come, let us again display what the celebrated philosophers have opined concerning the soul, and how empty glory, according to Homer, persuaded them to ^B fight in battle.

What I shall say, with God’s guidance

, I will relate from the commentaries of Plutarch and Porphyry and indeed also of Aëtius.

Moreover, there has been the greatest dispute among them concerning its division. For Pythagoras and Plato and Democritus distribute it into two parts: and the one part of it is rational, the other, irrational. And again, they divided the irrational part into two; and one part of it they say is spirited, the other, appetitive. But Xenocrates, although he is reckoned the third from Plato (for he was a student of Speusippus, the nephew of Plato), divided the soul into the faculty of sensation and the power of reason. But the son of Nicomachus attributed to it five duties and parts: appetitive, nutritive, sensitive, locomotive, and cognitive. But the Stoics did not acquiesce in this number, but eight from

^A the parts of which they said the soul is composed: the sensitive [power] of sight, and of hearing, and of smell, and of taste, and of touch; sixth, they said, is the vocal [power]; and the seminal, the seventh; and the ruling [power], the eighth, by which each of these is set in action. They said also that it resembles the tentacles of an octopus. But the successors of Pythagoras, asserting that the body is tempered from five elements (for to the four they added the ether), said that the powers of the soul ^B are equal in number to this; and they have named these intellect, prudence, knowledge, opinion, and sense. And how much they clashed with one another regarding the seat of the ruling [power] is easy to discern. For Hippocrates, and Democritus, and Plato have said that it is situated in the brain; but Straton, between the eyebrows. Erasistratus the physician [said it is] around the membrane of the brain, which he also calls the ^C epicranis; and Herophilus, in the ventricle of the brain; and Parmenides and Epicurus, in the whole chest of man; but Empedocles, and Aristocles, and the troop of the Stoics assigned the heart to it. And again among these, some [placed it] in the ventricle of the heart, others in the blood, and some in the pericardial membrane, and others in the diaphragm. And Pythagoras, and Anaxagoras, and Diogenes, and Plato, and Empedocles, and Xenocrates declared the soul to be incorruptible; ^D but Heraclitus said that those which are released from the body depart into the soul of the universe, as being of the same kind and substance. But the Stoics said that souls separated from bodies survive and live by themselves, but the weaker ones for a short time, the stronger ones even until the conflagration of the universe. And Democritus, and Epicurus, and Aristotle have freely declared this to be corruptible. But Plato and Pythagoras held that the rational part of it is incorruptible, and the irrational corruptible. And Plato indeed called even plants animals, since they possess the third kind of soul, the appetitive alone; but Aristotle could not be brought to call them animals: for he deemed that only that which is endowed with the function of sensation is worthy of the name of animal. He supposed, however, that the vegetative and nutritive soul exists in plants. But the Stoics did not in the least admit this opinion: for they refused to call the vegetative power a soul. And Zeno of Citium, the leader of this sect, taught his disciples to think the following things concerning the soul: for he said that the human seed, being fluid and endowed with spirit, is a part of the soul, or an avulsed particle, and a certain confused mixture of the ancestors' seed, collected into one from all parts of the soul: of its

^A reason, therefore, he called it corruptible. But Numenius the Pythagorean, debating against these, said (Euseb. P. E. p. 822 ^B): “They declare the soul to be generated and corruptible; yet that it does not perish immediately upon being released from the body, but persists for a certain time by itself: that of the upright, until the conflagration of all things in fire; but that of the foolish, for certain periods of time.” Longinus also openly accuses them, writing thus (Euseb. ibid. p. 825 ^C): “One might justly be angry with Zeno and Cleanthes, who have spoken so very abusively concerning the soul; for both asserted the soul to be a certain exhalation of a solid body.” But to these, the opinions of Pythagoras and Plato were entirely contrary; for they declared the intellect to be a divine portion. And Nicomachus also agrees with this account, even though he pronounced the soul itself to be mortal; for he supposed the intellect to be something else beyond it. And those around Plato and Pythagoras say that this [intellect] is admitted from without. Again, on the other hand, some of them said the intellect is self-governing, and able to lead the passions wherever it wills; while others declared it to be a slave to necessity and fate, and that its actions and operations depend upon the threads of the Fates, and the rotation of the heaven, and the conjunction of the stars. ^B But Plato taught the contrary opinion to these concerning the soul. For he said it was free, and mistress of the disturbing passions, and that it moves of its own accord here or there, and is victorious or defeated by its own will. And he has clearly shown this in his *Laws*. He speaks as follows: “Even here, O stranger, to conquer oneself is the first and best of all victories; but to be conquered by oneself is the most base and evil; for these things signify that there is a war of every one of us against ourselves.” And again, a little further on: “But this we know, that these passions within us, like certain nerves or strings, pull us and draw us in opposite directions, as they are contrary to one another, toward contrary actions, where a distinct seat of virtue and vice is placed. For logic says that there must be one principle of the pulls; ^C which, if one follows it, and never departs from it, he will clearly perceive that the forces of the passions, which attempt ^D to pull in contrary directions, are altogether moderate. This guidance and principle, we assert, is that of reason.” By these words, therefore, he showed that we men have not been allotted an evil nature, nor are we compelled to sin by necessity or violence; nor are we led by the threads of Clotho, nor indeed are we driven by the conjunction of the stars to act; but that there is an internal struggle for the soul, and that it has the power of victory, if it inclines toward virtue.

It draws desire toward itself, but anger pulls in the opposite direction; yet reason has the power of being persuaded, or not. For it was appointed to hold the reins, and to lead, not to be led and dragged along. ^A He confirmed this argument even in the tenth book of the *Laws*, speaking thus: "He has left the causes of the generation of each one of us to the wills of each; for in whatever direction one may desire, and of such a quality as one may be in his soul, in that way he almost always becomes, and such each of us becomes for the most part." And after a few words he also adds these: "But the soul is greater, when it has become a participant of virtue or vice, and through its own will and constant habit, when it has adhered to the divine virtue, and has become especially such, it is transferred into a holy and better place; but when it has chosen things contrary to virtue, it also transfers and establishes its life in contrary abodes." ^B In this place, too, he taught that the Creator has granted to the will of the soul the choice of better and worse things. For it is the free will of the mind that makes it incline toward this side or that; but use and custom beget a powerfully inherent habit. And so, when the soul, being a lover of virtue, has impressed the form of it upon itself, it migrates into another place, a holy one and much better than the present one; but, on the contrary, having chosen vice and having embraced a shameful life, it obtains the corresponding place in return. ^C Also in the second book of the *Republic*, he wrote in harmony with these things, in these words: "Is God, therefore, entirely good? Indeed, he is. And must we speak thus? Why not? And is nothing that is good harmful? For how could it be? It does not seem so to me. Does that which is not harmful bring harm? Not at all. And that which does not harm, does it produce any evil? Not at all. And could it be the cause of any evil? How could it? What then? Is the good useful? Yes. Is it therefore the cause of well-being? Yes. Is the good, therefore, not the cause of all things, but the cause of all things that are well, and the non-cause of evil things? Entirely so, he said. Therefore, I said, God, since he is good, would not be the cause of all things, as many say, but he is the cause of few things for men, and of many he is not the cause; ^D for far fewer are the good things that happen to us than the evil. And for good things, the cause must be attributed to no other; but for evil things, other causes must be sought, and not God. Most truly, he said, you seem to me to speak. Therefore, I said, one must not listen to Homer, nor to any other poet, who foolishly commit this sin regarding the gods, and say that...

^A Two jars sit at the threshold of Jove, With lots of fates, the one of good, the other of evil; And to whomsoever Zeus, mixing them, grants both, Sometimes he meets with evil, at other times with good. ^B There are other things of this kind also in Homer, and in Hesiod, and indeed also in Aeschylus. Then he adds: "But one must fight in every way against saying that God, being good, is the cause of evil; nor should anyone in his city, if it is to be governed by just laws, say this, nor should anyone hear it, neither young nor old, whether telling stories in meter or without meter, as such things would be neither holy, if they were said, nor useful to us, nor consistent with themselves. I agree with you, he said, regarding this law, and it pleases me. This, however, I said, would be one of the laws and patterns regarding God, in which it will be necessary for those who speak to speak, and for those who act to act, that God is not the cause of all things, but only of the good." ^C This is what Plato taught us to think and believe, both concerning the God who made us and concerning ourselves, and he ordered those who say that God is the cause of evils to be banished; for he says that this doctrine is impious, and both useless to us and inconsistent with itself. For if God is good, as he is indeed good (for this is the common opinion), then he who is good could not be the cause of evils. But if God is not the cause of the evils that happen (and we properly call evils, not those things which the crowd considers as such—poverty, and sickness, and other things like these, which some are accustomed to call calamities—but malice, and intemperance, and the other illegalities), but we ourselves dare to commit these things, then we are the causes of them, and not God, who has legislated the opposite. ^D Socrates and Plato taught us to think these things; they also called that part of the soul which is endowed with reason divine. And it is possible to hear Socrates speaking to Alcibiades, which Plato also recorded: "Can we then say that the most divine part of the soul is this, or are we unable to know or understand anything about this matter? We cannot. This part of it therefore resembles God; and someone looking into this, and knowing all that is divine, both God and wisdom, would thus also be most able to know himself." Similar things to these are also written in the Phaedo: "Are you willing, he said, that we posit two species of things: one, visible; the other, invisible? Let us posit them, he said. And the invisible, always remaining the same; the visible, never remaining the same? Let us also posit this, he said. Come then, he said: is there anything else in us, than this which is body, and that which is soul? Nothing else, he said. To which species, then, shall we say that the body is more similar and more akin? It is clear to everyone, he said, that it is to the visible. What then of the soul? Is it visible, or invisible? Not visible to men, O Socrates, he said. But...

is it invisible? Yes. Is the soul, then, more akin to the invisible, and the body to the visible? It is altogether necessary, O Socrates. Having gone through many other such things, he added: To which, then, is the soul akin? Clearly, O Socrates, that the soul is akin to the divine, but the body to the mortal. And again, after a few words: What then? Since these things are so, does it not follow that it is appropriate for the body to be quickly dissolved, and for the soul to be entirely indissoluble, or to draw very near to being so? Why should it not? Then, having explained how the body is dissolved, he added: But the soul, being something invisible, departing to another place like itself, noble and pure and invisible, indeed ^B departs to the good and wise God, to which, if God wills, my soul also must straightway depart. But this our soul, being such and endowed with such a nature, once it has been freed from the body, will it immediately be dissipated and perish, as most men say? Far from it, O beloved Cebes and Simmias; but it is much rather the case that it is otherwise. And the following things also hold the same line of thought and demonstrate the immortality of the soul quite explicitly. ^C Such, then, and so great is the strife and contention that historians, philosophers, and poets have stirred up among themselves concerning the soul and the body, and indeed concerning the very constitution of man; for some have championed these views, others those, and still others have spawned opinions contrary to both. For they were not held by a desire to learn the truth, but, serving vain glory and ambition, they desired to be called inventors of new dogmas. And for this reason they have endured a great deal of error, since those who succeeded their predecessors overturned the opinions of the ancients. For Anaximander, when Thales had already died, employed contrary dogmas; and Anaximenes, after the death of Anaximander, did the same thing; and Anaxagoras likewise. But Aristotle openly opposed Plato while he was still alive, and undertook a war against the Academy, and he neither honored the teaching of which he had once been a most eager recipient, nor did he revere the glory of that most celebrated man, nor did he fear the power of Platonic eloquence, but he licentiously showed himself an adversary to him, having become the author not of better, but of much worse dogmas. For when the latter said the soul is immortal, the former said it is mortal; and when the latter taught that God embraces all things with providence, the former, as far as his words go, [assigned this to] the earth...

moon, while asserting that all other things are subject to fate. He innovated 87 many other things besides, which I have judged superfluous to recount at present. They have justly demolished one another’s opinions. For falsehood is contrary not only to the truth but also to itself, while truth is in harmony with itself, having only falsehood as its enemy. It is therefore easy to find that Moses the lawgiver, the prophet David, the valiant Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the whole choir of the prophets, as well as Matthew, John, Luke, Mark, Peter, Paul, and the entire assembly of the apostles, ^B taught all men in harmony everywhere. For we do not hear one of them saying these things and others saying those, nor some claiming that men are earth-born, others that they are not; nor some declaring the soul to be mortal and others immortal; nor some calling reason the mistress of the passions and others naming it a slave and servant enslaved to them. For all teach in harmony that the human body was fashioned from earth, water, and the other elements, and that the soul was not sent down into it after existing previously, but was created after the body's formation. ^C "For God," he says, "formed man, taking dust from the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and the man became a living soul." We must understand this inbreathing not as some outflow of spirit coming from a mouth (for the Divine is incorporeal, simple, and uncompounded), but as the very nature of the soul, in that it is a rational and intelligent spirit. The lawgiver recorded these things in the account of the world's generation, and he teaches similar things in the laws. For, speaking of a pregnant woman who suffers a miscarriage as a result of certain ^D blows, he says that the infant is first shaped in the womb and then receives a soul, not that the soul is introduced into the body from somewhere outside, nor that it originates from the seed, but that it receives its creation by divine decree, according to the law implanted in nature from the beginning. The valiant Job, also, in his renowned struggles, while discoursing with the Umpire and Creator, said: "Remember that you fashioned me as clay, and you turn me back to the earth." "Did you not milk me like milk, and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh; you knitted me together with bones and sinews; you placed life and mercy within me, and your oversight guarded my spirit." By these words he reveals the nuptial intercourse, the help for begetting children, and that small human...

seed transforming into ten thousand forms, and then the soul being fashioned and united to the body, and moreover, even after the birth pains, the divine assistance guarding and governing it. ^C The inspired David also cries out: "Your hands made me, and formed me: give me understanding, and I will learn your commandments." (Ps. CXVII, 73) In these words, along with created things, he also commemorates the Creator and begs to obtain understanding from Him. All the prophets likewise teach in harmony with this concerning human nature. But lest anyone imagine that Greeks are born in one way, and Romans in another, and Egyptians differently, and that Persians and Massagetes and Scythians and Sauromatae have obtained a different substance, he who wrote the history of the world's generation taught our own, how the Creator fashioned one man from the earth and, having created the woman from his side, from the union of these two filled the entire inhabited world with humans, with children and grandchildren from them propagating the human race. For it was very easy for God to command and immediately fill every land and sea with inhabitants; ^D but in order that no one might suppose that the natures of men are different, He ordered the myriad tribes of men to come into being from that one pair. For this reason, He did not fashion the woman from anywhere else but took the material for her formation from the man, so that she herself, thinking she possessed a nature other than the man's, might not behave insolently toward him. Hence, He offers the same laws to both men and women, because they differ in body shape, not in soul. For she, too, is endowed with reason, just like him, and is capable of understanding, and skilled in action, and equally knowledgeable about what must be avoided and what must be pursued; sometimes even finding better than a man what will be to their advantage, becoming a useful and suitable counselor to him. Whence not only men, but women too must approach the divine temples; nor does the law permit them to participate in the divine mysteries and forbid the others: but it commands them to be initiated equally and to be instructed in the holy rites. Indeed, the rewards of virtue are set before them just as they are before them, ^A since the struggles for virtue are common. Nor does the difference in languages harm nature at all. For even among Greeks and among Barbarians it is possible to see both those who strive for virtue and those who labor at wickedness. The Greeks themselves confirm this. For they admire and praise Anacharsis, a Scythian man—not an Athenian, not an Argive, not a Corinthian, not a Tegean, or a Spartan; and they look up to the Brahmans, Indians by race, not Dorians, not Aeolians, not Ionians. They praise, moreover, the Egyptians as being most wise: for they accepted many disciplines from them. Therefore, the variety of languages does not [harm] nature; for indeed even among Greeks and among barbarians one can see those who care for virtue and those who are workers of wickedness. Greeks indeed agree with the

^A barbarians that there is some care for virtue, and that the difference of language does not prevent one from being adorned with this possession. For indeed all the heralds of the truth, I mean the prophets and apostles, did not partake of Greek eloquence, but because they abounded in true wisdom, they brought the divine doctrine to all nations, both Greek and barbarian, and filled every land and sea with books concerning virtue and piety. And now everyone, abandoning the trifles of the philosophers, enjoys the teachings of the fishermen and publicans, and embraces the volumes of Paul; and they do not even know the names of the Italian, Ionian, and Eleatic sects, for time has erased their memory. But the names of the prophets, who preceded those philosophers by more than ^B fifteen hundred years, they have on their lips and circulate; indeed, they even know the fathers who were more ancient than these—I refer to Abraham and his children—and those even older than them: Abel, Enoch, Noah, and those others whose praiseworthy life made them illustrious. But the names of those seven wise men who were born after the prophets, and of those who succeeded them, even those who cherish the Greek language do not know with certainty. And why do I speak of those who live now? For indeed, even among those of old, there was great ^C doubt regarding these. For some include among them Periander the Corinthian, others Epimenides the Cretan, others Acusilaus the Argive, others Anacharsis the Scythian, others Pherecydes the Syrian; but Plato lists Myson the Chenean. These ancients, therefore, they themselves have ignored, but Matthew, Bartholomew, and James—yea, even Moses, David, Isaiah, and the other apostles and prophets—men know as well as they know the names of their own children. And although they even mock their names as barbaric, we, for our part, lament the insanity of those ^D who, when they see that men of barbarian speech have surpassed the eloquence of Greek diction, and that their skillfully adorned fables have been thoroughly routed, and that the Attic syllogisms have been dissolved by the solecisms of fishermen, do not blush, nor do they hide themselves in shame, but impudently fight on behalf of a lie; even though they are so few that they can easily be counted, and are not even imbued with Greek eloquence, but are men who fall into as many barbarisms as they speak words, thinking the acme of doctrine and the brilliance of discourse to consist in their swearing and saying: "Not by the gods, not by the sun," and crafting other oaths of this sort in their speech.

If I do not speak the truth, tell me, O men, whom did Xenophanes of Colophon leave as the successor of his sect? Whom did Parmenides the Eleatic? Whom did Protagoras and Melissus? Whom did Pythagoras or Anaxagoras? Whom did Speusippus or Xenocrates? Whom did Anaximander or Anaximenes? Whom did Arcesilaus or Philolaus? Who today preside over the Stoic sect? Who maintain the doctrine of the Stagirite? Where are those who govern cities according to the laws of Plato, who have embraced the form of commonwealth written by him? But certainly you can show us no master of these dogmas. We, however, clearly demonstrate to you the power and strength of the apostolic and prophetic doctrine. For all the earth that is under the sun is filled with these teachings. And the Hebrew language was translated not only into the ^A language of the Greeks, but also into that of the Romans, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Indians, the Armenians, the Scythians, and the Sauromatae, and, to speak concisely, into all the languages which nations use to this day. And indeed the wisest Plato, who held many discourses regarding the immortality of the soul, did not even persuade his auditor Aristotle to cherish this tenet. But our fishermen and tax-collectors and the leather-worker have persuaded both Greeks and Romans and Egyptians, and, in a word, every nation of men, that the soul is immortal, and endowed with reason, and able to master the passions; and that, disdaining these, it transgresses the laws not because compelled by any force, but by contempt and negligence; and again, inclining toward better things, it is liberated from its former malice and imprints the divine marks upon itself once more. And everywhere you may see these dogmas ^B of ours held not only by those who are masters in the Church, but also by shoemakers, blacksmiths, and wool-workers, and other artisans; and likewise by women, not only those who have learned letters, but also by seamstresses and needlewomen, and even by maidservants. Nor do only those who inhabit cities possess this knowledge; you may find farmers, ditch-diggers, herdsmen, and planters of trees, who discourse about the Divine Trinity and the creation of all things, and who are much more expert in human nature than Aristotle and Plato; who, moreover, take care of virtue and shun vice, fearing the punishments laid up and awaiting the divine judgment without doubt, and philosophizing about the immortal and eternal life, and eagerly undergoing every labor for the grace of the celestial kingdom; and these things they learned not from any other, but from those whom you yourselves call Barbarians: and have you not heard even Anacharsis saying: "To me all Greeks are Scythizing." This is indeed plainly in agreement with the words of our Paul ^D

^B "For if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me" (I Cor. xiv, 11). For in truth, just as the Illyrians, and Paeonians, and Taulantii, and Atintanes are considered to speak barbarously to the Greeks, so in turn, to them and to all others who are unable to understand the Greek tongue, the Attic, and Doric, and Aeolic, and Ionic dialects seem to be barbarian. That every language possesses the same faculty of reason (for the nature of all men is indeed one) is taught by experience. For one can find even among the Barbarians both arts and sciences and deeds of valor in war; and some of them often discover mechanical devices more clever than those of the Greeks, and better battle formations, and more cunning ambushes. There are even those who surpass the eloquence of the Greeks in brevity of speech. This ^C is indeed testified to by the Persians, both by ancient writers and by anyone who, whether acting as an envoy, or leading an army, or for any trade, has spent time among them. For they say that they acutely detect all the shifts of speech and conquer their interlocutors with very brief statements; and that they are most keen debaters, able to dissolve the arguments of their opponents and to use proverbs and riddles full of wisdom—not because they have read the labyrinths of Chrysippus and Aristotle, nor because Socrates or Plato taught them this kind of education; for they were trained in neither rhetorical nor philosophical discourses, but used nature alone as their teacher. They say, moreover, that the Indians are even wiser than these. But the Nomads also, our neighbors (I mean the Ishmaelites, who live in the deserts and are utterly ignorant of Greek writings), are adorned with sagacity and understanding ^D and possess a keen mind, capable of discerning the truth and refuting falsehood. Concerning the Egyptians, moreover, I think it superfluous to speak, since the very princes of the philosophers among the Greeks themselves have said that these were superior to them. The Romans, indeed, have had both poets, and orators, and historians, and, as those who are versed in both languages say, their inventions are more prudent, and their sentences more brief, than those of the Greeks. And I say this, not that I may disparage the Greek tongue, of which I am in some measure a participant, nor that I may render rewards contrary to my foster-mother; but that I may curb the mouths of those who boast of it more than is just, and cast down their pride, and teach them not to mock the language which radiates with truth, nor to be arrogant on account of expressions cultivated by the veneer of art but destitute of truth; but rather to admire the teachers of truth, who, while indeed adorning and varying their speech

^A with the varnish of art, have not been taught to do so, but rather exhibit the beauty of truth unadorned, and have the least need of foreign and imported flowers.

Compare then, O friend, the simple teaching of the fishermen with the windy trifles of the philosophers, and discern the difference; and as you count up the many myriads of your volumes, recognize the weakness of their arguments. For no one has induced my soul ^B to follow either the poetic fables or the opinions of the philosophers. But admire the brevity of the divine Scriptures, and praise their power, and learn the truth of divine dogmas, the divine formation of the body, the immortal nature of the soul, and its rational part which governs the passions, and that the passions are necessary and useful to nature. For the power of concupiscence is most useful, and the irascible power opposite to it is likewise so. For through the former we desire even divine things, and, despising things visible, we ponder the intelligible ^C with our mind; and while dwelling on earth, we desire to see the Lord who is in the heavens, and we seek virtue; and, indeed, we maintain our life, we take food and drink, and through the lawful procreation of children the race is propagated. But the irascible power is given as an ally to reason, so that it may coerce immoderate desire. For since the latter strives to cross the established boundaries, the Creator has yoked to it, as a kind of colt, the irascible power, to draw it back ^D whenever it tries to advance beyond the need. And just as hot things are indeed contrary to cold, yet when mixed with one another they produce the best temperament, so concupiscence and irascibility, mixed with one another and chastened by one another, produce the best mixture of virtue. But reason holds the power and authority over actions, so that it both restrains the one and impels the other, or inhibits the one and excites the other. For concupiscence checks excessive irascibility, and irascibility in turn chastens the insatiability of concupiscence. These things, then, are perfectly accomplished while reason skillfully holds the reins; but if the reason, having been charmed by the soft and slippery sense of concupiscence, or having joined in the untimely exultation of the irascible power and exceeded the bounds, has loosened the reins more than is proper, they indeed beyond measure

^A like horses biting the bit, run headlong, or are dragged away by force, and become a laughing-stock and a subject of reproach to those who see them. For this reason they also pay the penalty, as having endured the passion voluntarily. For human laws also punish those who commit offenses, and God has threatened unquenchable fire for those who sin. Now, neither would God, being good and just, have exacted a penalty from those who embrace an unlawful life if they sinned under necessity; nor would the wisest of men have enacted such laws if they had known that human offenses were not committed by the judgment of the mind; nor, again, would those who have been allotted the magistracy inflict the most cruel tortures upon those who dare to do evil, if they had clearly understood that the laws were violated not by the decision of the will, but by the necessity of fate or nature. But if they do not grant pardon to those who commit offenses, they clearly demonstrate that wickedness is a work of the will.

We have been taught ^B to think thus concerning the nature of man, and we ourselves teach it; and we admire the wisdom of the Creator God which is manifest in us as we contemplate it, seeing the different activities of the senses produced from one brain, yet each contributing to it a different perception: one of sight, another of hearing, and another of smell, and another of taste, and another of touch; and furthermore the use of all the members, both those that are manifest and those that are hidden; and the memory, which receives many and diverse things and does not confuse them, but preserves them uncorrupted, and brings them forth ^C just as it had received them long and very long ago; and the many sciences, not harming one another, but each displaying itself at the proper time. When, therefore, we contemplate these and similar things in our soul and thought, let us raise our voice with the Prophet: "Thy knowledge is become wonderful from me; it is strengthened; I shall not be able to attain to it." For what speech is sufficient to explain either the manifest harmony in the body or the wisdom contemplated in the soul? For although many things have been written concerning these by Hippocrates and Galen, and indeed also by Plato and Xenophon, and Aristotle and Theophrastus, and countless others, yet many more things than what they have said have been left out, because the human ^D mind cannot attain to the works of divine wisdom. Therefore, the Prophet praised God for the things he had grasped, but as for all the things that are seen in us, since he could not attain to them, he openly confessed himself overcome, deeming such a confession sufficient for a worthy hymn of praise. ☛ Ps. CXXXVIII, 6.

HOMILY VI. On the providence of God.

^A Those who have devoted themselves to maritime pursuits, some ply merchant ships with oars, while others steer them with rudders. Moreover, every fisherman, riding in his boat, casts his net and hunts the denizens of the waters; another, seated upon a rock, lets down a fishing line, and with bait, impales some of the fish upon his hook. There are also those who suffer shipwreck and are overwhelmed by the waves, either because they imprudently launched into the deep at the wrong time, or because they recklessly dared to defy the tempests. I have not poured forth these words at such length without purpose, but rather to demonstrate by a kind of analogy the stupidity of those who stumble over created things, and who, without shame, accuse those things which are governed within them by divine Providence. For some, looking upon creation, offer hymns of praise to the Creator; others, admiring it more ^B than they ought, most foolishly make it their god. Some observe each individual event occurring in the world and look upon the Ruler of the universe as one who manages all things excellently, and they praise the wisdom that is evident in these manifestations; others, however, find fault with everything that happens, and nothing that is done pleases them at all; indeed, they condemn riches, and bring infamy upon poverty, and complain of diseases, and are severely disturbed by those who are in good health; and to say it in a word, nothing that occurs in life pleases them, whether they be prosperous things or adverse. Thus, they are annoyed by both the abundance of crops and the sterility of the fields, and they are equally tormented by both the abundance and the scarcity of children, by peace and by war. Hence it comes about, of course, that they accuse the helm of Providence; nay, as much as in them lies, they utterly abolish it, and instead introduce the Fates, Destiny, Fortune, and some ^C violent necessity which they set over every individual; and they affirm that this [necessity] forces them to become murderers, burglars, and adulterers against their own will. Come, then, let us again examine the opinions of the Gentiles, and compare them with apostolic and prophetic dogmas. But let us leave the poets with their impious fables; for indeed, the prince of these poets represents the prince of the gods lamenting because he is unable to bring aid to his own son, but must yield to the threads of Clotho, and wanting to undo them, is prevented by Atropos and Lachesis, and for this reason mingles his words with complaints, weeping, and wailing. The same man says that Neptune, when he wished to take vengeance upon the leader of the Cephallenians who gouged out the eye of Polyphemus, was unable to overcome fate, because it was fated ^D that the son of Laertes would visit Ithaca. Having set these aside, let us bring forward the company of the philosophers. Di-

^A They say that those around Diagoras were called atheists by name, because they denied the Divine altogether. They say that Protagoras held an ambiguous opinion about these matters. For they report him as saying that he did not know whether there are gods, or whether they do not exist at all. Epicurus, son of Neocles, and his faction said that God exists, but that He has turned to Himself, and neither cares for any business nor wishes to provide for others. But the son of Nicomachus ^B went so far as to claim that God’s providence governs things up to the moon, but that He neglects everything below it, and has handed over the management of these to the necessity of fate: and that this distributes to mortals not only wealth and poverty, health and sickness, slavery and freedom, war and peace, but also assigns to them virtue and vice. Oenomaus the Cynic clearly and openly censured all of these, and because the Pythian seer responded with similar things, he entangled him in the same accusation, and called his book *The Exposure of Impostors*. In it these things are read (Euseb. P. E., p. 254 D): "For it has perished, as far as it lies with wise men—it has perished, I say, from human life—whether one likes to call it a rudder, or ballast, or a foundation—the liberty of our life: which we indeed judge to be the master of the most necessary things. But Democritus, if I am not mistaken, and Chrysippus, the one attempts to show the most beautiful part of man to be a slave, the other a half-slave. But as much as one would esteem a human being, as a human being, their discourse should be worth that much. But if ^C in this matter God also opposes us, alas! what evils we shall suffer!" And having said many other such things, he added these also (p. 257 C): "Come, and let us also be indignant in return. Why then? Where something seems good to us, shall this be most certain and most ancient? But where it does not seem so, there a certain hidden adverse power predominates over it, Fate and Destiny (Himarmene and Pepromene), having different things for each of us, part from God, and part from those minute bodies which, by urgent necessity, are driven up and down, and are intertwined, and dissolved, and separated, and placed alongside one another?" And again, after a little: "And for this reason I have brought these matters into the discourse, because they have escaped you, O seer, of which we ourselves are the masters; and you who know all things, have not yet known these things, the threads of which depend upon our own will." ^D With these words, that Cynic reproved the Pythian, and Democritus, and Chrysippus, being deservedly indignant that, having enslaved the free nature of our own mind, they surrendered it to the necessity of Fate and Destiny. But Destiny...

^A Chrysippus said was a finished and completed governance; while *Himarmene* (Fate) he termed a kind of "interweaving," whether from the will of God or from any other cause whatsoever. The Fates (*Mæræ*) were so called because something is divided and distributed to each one of us; and in this way also *Chreon* (Necessity) is said to be derived from *chreos* (debt), namely that which happens and is incumbent according to the law of fate. The number of the Fates signifies the three times in which all things revolve and in which they are accomplished. And Lachesis is so called from the fact that each one "allots" (*lanchanō*) what is fated; Atropos, on account of the "inflexibility" and immutability of the allotted portion; Clotho, because all things are "wound together" (*sygklōthesthai*) and woven together, and because there is one set purpose for them all. They have called this Providence ^B because it arranges each thing for what is useful; and the same is called Adrasteia, because nothing escapes it. Not only did those around Democritus, Chrysippus, and Epicurus say that all things happen according to necessity, calling Fate "necessity," but the most celebrated Pythagoras also said that necessity encompasses the world. Parmenides called necessity "Daemons," "Justice," and "Providence." Heraclitus also asserted that all things come to be according to Fate, and he too gave to Fate the name of necessity. Chrysippus the Stoic also said that there is no difference between what is fated and what is necessary, but that Fate is an eternal, continuous, and ordered motion. Zeno of Citium ^C called Fate a force, the mover of matter, and he named the same thing Providence and Nature. His successors said that Fate is the reason for the things in the world that are governed by Providence, and in other writings they called Fate a "chain of causes." In like manner, some have regarded Fortune as a god and have honored her as such; but Plato said it was a cause that comes to be according to some accident, and again, he called it an occurrence of nature or of choice. Aristotle likewise said it was a cause per accidens in those things that come to be for the sake of something through voluntary motion, being hidden and unstable. Anaxagoras and Democritus, and those who took their name from the *Poecile* (the Stoa), said it was a cause hidden from human reason. Philemon the comic poet, ^D though a poet made to provoke laughter, openly accuses those who have supposed Fortune to be a god, and explicitly exclaims:

There is for us no god of Fortune, There is none; but that which happens by chance, As it befalls each man, is called by the name of Fortune.

The same poet, ridiculing those who use omens and auguries, said: When I see, he says, one who observes who sneezed, Or who spoke, or who is the one approaching,

^A I will destroy this man instantly in the marketplace. Our man walks, and speaks, and sneezes For himself, not for his fellow citizens in the city. For things happen just as nature brings them about. Menander also, in *The Superstitious Man*, mocks those who observe such things with these words: I pray that this may turn out well for me, most precious gods: While I was tying the strap of my right Sandal, it broke. And reasonably so, you fool, For it was rotten; but you are too stingy to want To buy new ones. Thus, even those who spent their lives in laughter and the theaters knew that such signs and observations are highly ridiculous. Furthermore, when someone was distressed and suspected that some harmful omen was being signaled because a sow had eaten her own farrow, Antipho said: "Rejoice at this sign, because it was out of hunger that she did not eat your children." Similar to this is the remark made by Bion. For he, too, mocking such things, said: "What is ^B strange, he said, if a mouse, having nothing to eat, gnawed through a bag? That would have been strange indeed, if, as Arcesilaus said in jest, the bag had eaten the mouse." And Diogenes, when a serpent had wound itself around a pestle, and someone was amazed at this and thought it was a portent, said: "Do not gaze in wonder; for it would be more extraordinary if you had seen the pestle wound around the upright serpent." And again, finding this same man in the house of a certain scoundrel where it was written: The son of Zeus, the victorious Hercules, Dwells here: may no evil enter, "And how then," he said, "will the master enter the house?" Thus did even those who were enslaved by the error of superstition mock the omens, and the voices, and the portents that are still considered such by many even today. They said that those who sneezed were not signaling anything to others, but were merely suffering a common physical experience; and those who were talking were not declaring anything to others, but were simply discussing the matters before them; and that the mouse, driven by hunger to pierce the bag, was not making any prophecy to the master of the bag; and that the straps of the sandal had broken because they were old, not because they were foretelling some misfortune like an oracle. ^C Epicharmus the Pythagorean, clearly understanding these things, bids us disdain all of them, and exhorts us to fear Him who observes all things. For he speaks thus: Nothing escapes the divine; you must know this firmly. He Himself is our inspector, and nothing is impossible for God. Diphilus the comic poet also, mixing true philosophy with comedy, left these things written:

^A

Do you think, O Niceratus, that those dead, Who partook of every pleasure in life, Have escaped the Divine, as though unnoticed? There is an eye of Justice, which sees all things; And we believe there are two paths in Hades, One of the just, and another of the impious.

And after a few words: Be not deceived; there is also a judgment in Hades, Which God, the Master of all, will execute.

Since not all who transgress pay the penalty here, nor do all the athletes worthy of the prize of virtue receive the rewards of their struggles according to their merits in this life, he very reasonably pointed to the eye that beholds all things and predicted the coming judgment, so that, fearing those things and believing that He sees these, all might embrace the struggles of virtue that are so worthy of love, and not be disheartened when they do not see the rewards of their labors. Pindar the Theban also, while bidding farewell to Fate and Fortune, teaches those who are ignorant of the omnipotent power of God: ^B

For it is in the power of God, he says, To raise a pure beam from the darkness of black Night, and to shroud in dark shadows The clear light of day.

But the son of Ariston [Plato] shows us more clearly the Governor of all things, holding the helm of the entire world in His hands. In the *Laws* he says this (p. 716A): "God, therefore, as the ancient saying also testifies, holding the beginning, the end, and the middle of all existing things, brings them to completion in a straight course, proceeding according to nature; and Justice always follows Him, taking vengeance on those who abandon the divine law. He who is to be blessed attaches himself to it, following along in humility and order. But if any man, puffed up by pride, or exalted by wealth ^C or honors, or by physical beauty, inflamed in his soul by youth and foolishness, acts with insolence, as though he had no need of a ruler or leader, but were himself capable of leading others, he is left behind, deserted by God; and having been left, and having attached others of the same kind to himself, he leaps about, throwing everything into confusion, and to many he seems to be someone of importance; but after a time, suffering a penalty not to be complained of at the tribunal of justice, he brings total ruin upon himself, his house, and his city." Through these words, the philosopher showed both the Caretaker of the whole world, and His long-suffering toward some at certain times, the harm that subsequently arises for the foolish from this, and the total destruction that is brought upon them in the end. And in the *Gorgias* he also reveals the causes of punishment, stating it thus: "It is fitting for every one who is in punishment, if he is ^D rightly punished by another, either to become better and derive benefit from it, or to serve as an example to others, so that they, seeing what he suffers, may become better through fear. There are those who are benefited and pay the penalty at the hands of gods and men; these are they who have..."

sinned in a curable way. ^A Yet even for them, the benefit comes through pain and suffering, both here and in Hades; for it is not possible to be delivered from injustice in any other way. But those who have committed the most extreme wrongs, and because of such misdeeds have become incurable, from these come the examples; and these people themselves are no longer benefited at all, being, as they are, incurable; but others are benefited, those who see them suffering the most grievous, painful, and fearful ^B afflictions for their great sins, and being held up as examples for all time. The philosopher seems to have pilfered these things from the divine Oracles. For he certainly heard what the inspired Moses wrote that God had said to Pharaoh: "For this very reason have I raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." For in truth, God inflicted manifold punishments upon that most wicked man; not so as to render him better (for He knew his mind was recalcitrant and his malady incurable), but in order that the accounts concerning him might become useful examples for all. Just as cities ^C maintain executioners, so that they may punish murderers, housebreakers, and others who break the law through them; not indeed praising them, but rather greatly detesting their way of life, yet tolerating their service because of necessity: so too the Governor of this great city of the world permits tyrants to be, as it were, executioners, that through them He may exact penalties from the ungodly and the lawless; yet afterward He is about to hand them over themselves to the most exact punishment, for they brought about those terrible things ^D not as ministers of God, but serving their own wickedness. Thus He handed over the sinful Israel to the cruelty of the Assyrians. But because these men did not recognize the reason for that punishment, He also overturned their dominion and compelled them to serve others. And Isaiah, Ezekiel, and all the prophets teach these things clearly; from whom, I think, Plato stole the premises, and said that those who have become incurable are punished for the benefit of others. Again, in the *Philebus*, he strengthened the discourse concerning Providence: "For all wise men," he says, truly honoring themselves, "agree that intellect is king over heaven and earth for us. And perhaps they speak well. But let us, if you wish, examine the genus itself through smaller things." Then, having used very many syllogisms, he added these words: "Do you wish that we, too, agree with what has been previously admitted, that these things are so, and that we should not only think we ought to speak of others' affairs without danger, but also that there is a common danger..."

we should share in the blame when a serious man says that these things are not so, but are in disorderly state?" ^B And having used many other arguments, he adds this: "Therefore, if it is not this, we would speak better by following that reason, as it is, which we have often stated, that there is much that is infinite in the universe, and a sufficient end; and some cause over them that is not trivial, adorning and connecting years and months and hours, called wisdom and intellect." And he drew these things from the Hebrew streams. For those clearly teach that God founded the earth by wisdom, and prepared the heavens by prudence, and the other things that follow these.

In the *Laws*, this same philosopher also divides the nature of goods, and shows that some are human, others divine. For he speaks thus: ^C "There are two kinds of goods: some are human, others divine. The latter depend upon the divine ones; and if one obtains the greater, he also possesses the lesser; but if not, he is deprived of both. The lesser, however, are in the first place health, in the second beauty, in the third strength of body for running and all other movements; and in the fourth place, wealth—not that blind one, but one that sees most sharply, if it follows prudence as its guide. But the first of the divine goods, and one presiding over the rest, is prudence; the second, along with intellect, is a tempered habit of soul. And from these, when mixed with fortitude, the third will be justice; the fourth, fortitude. All these things are naturally prior to the others; and thus it must be arranged by the lawgiver. After these, I judge that other precepts ^D must be prescribed to the citizens, which tend toward this. Of these goods, those which are human look toward the divine, but those which are divine look in their entirety toward the ruling intellect."

Then he teaches at greater length that by nature only virtue is a good, and that other things are called good equivocally, partaking of the name alone: "For what are commonly called goods," he says, "are not rightly called so. For it is commonly said that good health is the best of goods, in the second place beauty, and in the third, riches. And ten thousand other things are also called goods. For to be endowed with sharp sight or hearing, and to enjoy the other senses without hindrance, and for one who is in power to do whatever he desires, and the end of all blessedness, is to be possessed of all these things and to have been born immortal as quickly as possible. But you and I, however, say that all these things are the best possessions for just and holy men, but for the unjust, all things are the worst, starting from health. And indeed, to see, and to hear, and to use the other senses, and to live at all, is the greatest evil to the one who is immortal for all time and has obtained...

^A all the things called goods, save for justice and every virtue; and it is a lesser evil, provided that such a one lives for the shortest possible time. » And after a few lines: « For I clearly say that what are called evils are good for the righteous, but [are] evils for the unrighteous; and [I say] that what are called goods are good for the good, but are evils for the bad. » And I myself very much approve of this distinction. For it is truly a great good to know what is properly good, and what is called good but becomes now one thing, now the contrary, in the hands of those who either pursue it well and nobly, or embrace the opposite opinion. For health, and beauty, and bodily strength, and indeed wealth, have profited some and shown them worthy of the possession of such things, while to others they have become instruments of wickedness and incontinence. But temperance and justice, and all other things similar to these, are possessions of the soul, which are useful to all who hold them, and harm none of their possessors. To such people, even those things which are commonly called goods are useful possessions; for they fall into the hands of just and temperate stewards. Yet those things which become best through such people appear ^B worst when they have fallen to wicked and lawless men; for they see what they ought not, and hear what they ought not, and train their other senses toward incontinence.

Do not, therefore, O friendly men, confuse the natures of things, but let us distinguish what is truly good, what is evil, and what has taken the middle rank between these; and let us not call those happy who are wealthy, and robust, and clothed with some power; for it is fitting to call those truly wicked and thrice-wretched who have indeed partaken of these things, but have rendered them the material for vice and wickedness. When, therefore, we see a thoroughly wicked man pouring over with wealth, let us not call him thrice-blessed, but wretched, because he has many incentives for living in a lawless manner; and when we see another, who seems to be an upright man, joined to ^C some difficulty and poverty, let us neither deem him miserable, nor think of the providence of God as unjust. For, in the first place, he who is thought to be just is not necessarily just in reality; for the eye that sees all things sees and judges these matters differently. And the observer of all things himself taught this to the prophet Samuel: « For, » he says, « not as man sees does God see; for man looks to the face, but God looks to the heart » (I Reg. xvi, 7). And even if we assume that one who is gripped by some misfortune is truly just, this at least is manifest to all, that he will receive no harm from his adversity, as he bears it ^D as an athlete of virtue

^A For just as those who live in wickedness reveal even the things called good to be instruments of wickedness, so too do those who love virtue make even the things considered evil to be material for true philosophy. By thus discerning each of these things, we shall never call God unjust; rather, we shall agree that what was written by Plato in the *Theaetetus* is correct, namely: "God is in no way and in no manner unjust, but as far as possible most just; and there is nothing more like Him than the one among us who becomes most just in this respect."

Again, in the tenth book of the *Laws*, he attempts to heal those who do not accept the reasoning concerning divine providence. He says the following: "As for the man who believes that there are gods, but that they take no thought for human affairs, he is to be consoled thus: 'My dear Demophon [for he thinks that there are gods, and a certain divine kinship leads you to honor and believe them], the fortunes ^B of wicked and unjust men, both in private and in public, are not truly happy, though they are highly praised in opinion; but they lead you quite improperly toward impiety.'"

Then, having discussed the supposed success of the unjust, he continues: "But perhaps it would not be difficult to demonstrate this: that the gods are no less careful of small things, but rather more so than of those that excel in magnitude. For you have heard, and are present at what is now being said, that since they are good, they possess every virtue and treat the care of all things as most peculiarly their own." ^C Then, having strengthened the argument with syllogisms, he adds: "Let us not, therefore, suppose that God is inferior to mortal craftsmen, who, the better they are, the more accurately and perfectly they produce both small and great things by one and the same art; but that God, being wise and willing to care for all, is able to do so—and being able, cares for them more easily—while it is impossible for Him not to care for small things, as if He were some idle or cowardly person ^D who grows sluggish through labor." And then he adds: "Let us in no way accept such an opinion about God, my friend; for such a notion would be neither holy nor true." And again, after a few lines: "For every physician and every skilled craftsman does everything for the sake of the whole, and works with a view to the common good, performing the part for the sake of the whole, and not the whole for the sake of the part; but you are indignant, being ignorant of how that which concerns you turns out for the best for the whole." And after many windings of speech, he added: "The same argument of yours will also hold concerning those whom you, having observed that from small beginnings they have grown great by committing acts of impiety or something of the sort, have thought to have become happy from wretched, and as if in a mirror you thought you had seen through their actions the neglect of all things by the gods,"

^A nor do you know their goal, nor how it contributes to the whole. For by all these things He showed the justice of Providence, and how each of the things that come to pass is established as beneficial to the universe. For the whole has not been created for the sake of the smallest part, but the parts fill up the harmony of the whole; nor was the entire body fashioned for the sake of one finger or one joint, but both the fingers and their joints were fitted together for the sake of the body. Since, therefore, the nature of men has become mortal, and being mortal, is in need of many things—of agriculture, and the cultivation of plants, and navigation, and indeed also of architecture, and metalworking, and weaving, and shoemaking, and the shipbuilding art, and all the others which cooperate toward the necessary care of the body—the Governor of the universe very reasonably allotted poverty to some and wealth to others, so that the former might provide the materials, and the latter, hands trained in the crafts. And the Ruler of all things has made those who pride themselves on their wealth dependent upon poverty, through their need. For they have need not only of bakers and cooks and cupbearers, but also of builders and farmers and weavers and shoemakers; and those who are vainglorious [have need] of painters and sculptors and the others whose work makes the houses of the wealthy appear more brilliant. ^B And on the other hand, the manual laborers again have need of the well-to-do, who provide the money and purchase the things produced by them. But let those who are vexed at this difference, and are angry that we have not all shared in the same things, accuse also the painters, because they do not paint with one color, but adorn their images with various ones; let them also accuse the lyre-makers, and indeed the musicians themselves, because all the strings do not emit the same sound, but one is the lowest, another the highest; and the one has a sharp note, another a deep one, and another has the middle tone. ^C And it would have been appropriate for them to be indignant also at the geometers, because those who are taught the science of lines do not demonstrate only one shape, but triangles and squares and crescents and circles and tables and many other things besides those mentioned. Let them also complain against those who teach the science of arithmetic, because of the numbers, some are even, others odd, others even-odd, and others odd-even; and some are cubes, and others are supercubes, and others cube-supercubes. But if the ideas of numbers are necessary, and the variety of shapes, and the difference in the strings, and the diverse kinds of colors, why then are you vexed that you have not all been made Croesuses and Midases and Dariuses? For nothing else ^D

^A do you desire, you who long for this equality, save that the human race should be utterly destroyed by famine and the lack of necessary things. For who would be willing, if all men shared the same status, to undertake the labor of attending to his neighbor, or to plow the land and sow it, and to reap the wheat, or to plant and gather and press the fruit of the vine and the olive? And if equality of status did not allow one to serve another, how would each one be sufficient for himself, becoming at once a cowherd, a goatherd, a shepherd, and a swineherd, and moreover also a weaver, a shoemaker, a builder, a copper-smith, a baker, a cook, a farmer, a gardener, a shipbuilder, a sailor, and a helmsman? For each one of us stands in need of all these crafts and of many more besides. Why then do you not praise this excellent distribution ^B of things, but rather complain of it most of all—you who possess so many handmaidens, servants, and farmhands? For the farmer lives content with his lot, and the servant likewise, and the craftsman also loves his art and the toils to which he has been assigned. You, however, who are sated with a surfeit of luxuries and who overflow with every indulgence ministered to you by others, assail the Giver of these many blessings with blasphemous words. You pour forth such words because you have chosen to be slaves to incontinence, and you think you have found an excuse for your apology—first, that the tiller of the universe is not moved by divine Providence; and second, that you think not only the body and what pertains to the body, but even the very choice of the soul, lies under the necessity of fate. But Plato teaches the contrary: ^C 'Virtue is subject to no master; he who honors it will have more, and he who slights it will have less.' And again: 'The fault is his who chooses; God is blameless.' For God is never the cause of evils. And in the midst of the most grievous dangers, Plato shows Socrates philosophizing about Providence and about not fearing death. For he has inscribed these things also in his Apology: 'But you, too, O men of the jury, ought to be full of good hope concerning death, and to think on this one truth, that to a good man no evil can befall, neither in life nor in death, and that his affairs are not neglected by the gods.' Therefore, poverty, disease, slavery, and death are not truly evils; ^D but they are indeed called evils by the foolish, while they become goods for those who make good and noble use of them. That the lack of belief that all things are governed by Providence increases the wickedness of men, is loudly proclaimed by Atticus the Platonist: 'And so, the despair of Providence is a thing most ready for wickedness.' And Plotinus too (who is also of great renown among those who write on philosophy) has inserted this opening into his discourses on Providence: 'To attribute the essence and constitution of this universe to chance and fate is the mark of a man who is irrational, and who possesses neither sense nor...

intellection, which is sufficiently manifest even if I should utter no word;' and many copious discourses have been brought forward before this man, which demonstrate that this is the case. Then, having unrolled many such arguments, he added: ^B «Thus, then, from one Mind and from the Word which proceeded from It, did this whole rise up and stand apart.»

These things, moreover, he has pilfered from the sacred oracles. For he certainly heard the theology taught by the divine Gospels, which says: «All things were made through the Word, and without him was made nothing» (John 1, 3). For this man was born many years after the Apostles. For they began the saving preaching under Tiberius Caesar; but Tiberius was succeeded by Gaius, and him by Claudius, then Nero, and Vespasian, and Titus, and Domitian, and Nerva, and Trajan, and Hadrian, and Antoninus the First, and Verus, and Commodus. In the reign of this man, Ammonius, surnamed Saccas, having abandoned the sacks in which he used to carry grain, devoted himself to the philosophical life. They say that our Origen, and this Plotinus, were his students. And Porphyry was a student of the teaching of Plotinus.

I have not set down the calculation of time idly, but to show that Plotinus, not only, like Plato, having been imbued with the doctrine of the Hebrews, but also with that of the fishermen and of Paul, learned from that source that all things were constituted and set apart from the Mind and the Word which proceeds from It, and attained the fitting harmony. After this, he refutes the folly of those who attempt to find fault with certain parts of the creation, speaking as follows: ^C «For He made something whole, very beautiful, and self-sufficient, and friendly to Himself and to its own parts, both to the more principal ones and to the lesser ones, in a way that is equally fitting. He, therefore, who finds fault with the whole because of the parts would be absurd in his reasoning. For one must consider the parts in relation to the whole itself to see if they are consistent and harmonious with it, and he who considers the whole should not look to some small parts; for this is not the act of one finding fault with the world, but of one taking certain things of it separately—for example, if someone, looking at a hair of an entire animal, or at the nails of its feet, should neglect to gaze upon the whole man—a divine vision—or, by Zeus, if he should leave aside the other animals and take the most lowly one, or, overlooking the whole genus, should bring forward, for example, Thersites into the middle.»

Since, then, the world is the whole that has been brought into being, he who contemplates this might perhaps hear from it: ^D «God has made me, and I too have come into being from thence, perfect from all animals, and sufficient in myself and self-satisfied, needing nothing; for all things are in me, and [the]

^A plants, and animals, and the nature of all kinds. In these words, he surely betrayed another theft of his. For he seems to me to have heard David saying: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands." And after a little, he shows the difference between the things that have come to be, and says: "Some things seem to participate only in being; others, in living; others, more so in perceiving; others already possess reason; others, the whole of life. For one should not demand the same things from those that are not the same; for surely, it is not the role of fingers to see, but of eyes; but for a finger, it is, I think, to be a finger and to possess what belongs to it." He said that stones and things similar to these participate only in being, whereas plants participate also in living, and that irrational animals possess perception along with life; but the human race has been granted to participate in reason, and the nature of the incorporeal beings possesses the most perfect life. And to these he adds: "But if fire is extinguished by water, and another thing is destroyed by fire, do not marvel; for Another brought them into being." And concerning virtue and vice, ^B in the same discourse, he argues thus: "Many things suffer also from one another, even when those acting are unwilling and are tending toward a different end. But as for the animals that move by themselves in the exercise of free power, they might incline at one time toward the better, at another toward the worse; but to immediately demand a reversal toward the worse from Him—perhaps this is not worthy. For a motion that is small at the beginning, when it has proceeded little by little, always generates a greater and more numerous sin; and the body is aligned with it, and out of necessity, desire [arises]. And having been seduced at first and suddenly, and not having been restrained, it immediately produced a choice for the thing into which someone fell. Yet justice follows; and it is not unjust for one who has become such to suffer things consistent with his disposition. Nor should one demand that happiness belong to those who have not performed things worthy of happiness. For the good alone are happy; for it is for this reason that the gods ^C are also considered happy. If, therefore, it is possible for souls in this universe to be happy, if some are not happy, the universe is not to be blamed, but the weaknesses of those who were not able to struggle well, where the prizes of virtue are set forth. And if they did not become divine and did not possess a divine life, what is the terrible thing?" Then he enumerates the difficulties, and says these are necessary for the good, but a misfortune for the wicked; "and it is necessary for those who possess bodies to fall ill. And these things are not altogether useless for the arrangement and completion of the whole." Then he teaches how, from these examples, most of the others benefit, and says: "For poverty, he says, and diseases are, to the good, nothing, but to the bad, a calamity; and it is necessary ^D for those who possess bodies to fall ill. And these things are not altogether useless for the arrangement and completion of the whole." Then he teaches how, from these examples, most of the others benefit, and says: "For poverty, he says, and diseases are, to the good, nothing, but to the bad, a calamity; and it is necessary for those who possess bodies to fall ill. And these things are not altogether useless for the arrangement and completion of the whole." Then he teaches how, from these examples, most of the others benefit, and says: "For the, or they [who] sin..."

^A against, vice has produced something useful for the whole, having become an example of justice, and having provided many useful things from itself. For it made men vigilant, and awakens the mind and understanding, opposing the ways of wickedness; and it also makes them learn what a good thing virtue is by comparison with the evils that the wicked possess. And evils have not come to be because of these things, but it has been stated ^B that it uses even them for a necessary purpose. Now this is of the greatest power, to be able to use even evil things well, and to be sufficient to use those things which have become without form for other forms. And in general, evil must be posited as a deficiency of the good. And after many such arguments, he exhorts one not to require the good to be exact and pure in the mixed animal, and he says: 'First, therefore, it must be said that those seeking the good in the mixed entity must not look for it in every way, but rather as much as the mixed entity possesses of the good; nor should they look for the higher things in the secondary, but since it also possesses a body ^C, they must allow it to go from this to the whole, and must ask from reason as much as the mixture is capable of receiving, if it lacks nothing in this.' Then he is indignant at those who do not wish to struggle for the sake of virtue, but claim to be saved by God, and he says: 'But now, some, being unarmed, and others being armed, gain the upper hand, where it was not fitting for God Himself to fight on behalf of the unwarlike. For the law says that men ought to be saved from wars by manliness, ^D and not by prayers. For just as we do not gather fruits by praying, but by taking care of the land, nor do we remain healthy without taking care of health, nor should we be indignant if the fruits be more for the wicked, or if they cultivate them at all, or better. Then it is ridiculous to do all other things in life by one's own judgment, even if we do not do them in a way pleasing to the gods, yet to claim to be saved by the gods alone, without having done even those things by which the gods order them to be saved. And so, death is better for them than to live in such a way as the laws of the universe do not wish them to live. So, since opposite things are happening, with peace being maintained in the midst of follies and 874 all manner of wickedness, it would be absurd for the affairs of Providence to be such that it allows the worse to prevail in this way. For the wicked rule, while those who are ruled show cowardice; for this is just, and not the other. For Providence ought not to be such that we are nothing. For if Providence alone existed, then there would be nothing; for what would there be? But only the divine would exist.' And after a few words he displays the rewards of the good: 'For, he says, to those who have become good, a good life will be, and it lies in wait for the future; but to the wicked, the opposite. And to demand that others be their saviors when they themselves have abandoned themselves...'"

that they should cultivate the fields themselves, or something better. Then it is ridiculous that men should perform all other things in life of their own will, even if they do not do them because they are pleasing to the gods, yet at the same time expect to be saved by the gods, without having done the things through which the gods command them to be saved. For them, therefore, it is far better to perish than to live in a way contrary to the laws that exist in the universe. Wherefore, if the opposite were to happen, and a certain perpetual peace were established among foolish and wicked men, providence would be acting wrongly, since it would allow those who are worse to have so much power. Yet the wicked rule because of the sloth of their subjects. For this is fairer than the contrary. For it is not fitting that providence should be such that we are nothing. For if Providence were all things, and it alone were, it would not even be providence (for of what thing would it then be?), but there would be only God. ^B And a little later, he shows the rewards of the good: "For those, indeed, who might turn out to be good men, there will be a good life, and from then on into the future: but for the wicked, all things will be contrary. But for others to wish to save the wicked at their own peril, when they ask it, is not right." Then, too, he speaks thus concerning other living creatures: "For not even does a sensible person complain about other living creatures, however many there be that are smaller than man and bring honor to the world. For it would be ridiculous if someone were to complain that they bite people, as if it were fitting for them to spend their lives sleeping. It is necessary, however, that these things also exist, as they possess manifest benefits: but many things that were hidden, time itself finds: so that none of them is in vain, even for men. It would also be ridiculous to complain that many of them are wild, when men themselves are wild." And after many other things, he adds this: "But we are like those who, ignorant of the art of painting, accuse the painter because he has not applied bright colors everywhere, nor wherever they are appropriate to each place: or if someone were to accuse a drama because not all the characters in it are heroes, but a servant also speaks, and a rustic, and someone of the lowest station; yet the tragic drama will not be beautiful if someone removes the men of inferior fortune, since it is completed through these as well." The whole discussion, therefore, both the former and the latter, is full of arguments of this kind. ^C But I, so as not to be longer, will pass over the greater part, although I could use the Socratic Xenophon, and the Stoic Epictetus, and very many other witnesses; and although I could demonstrate with physical proofs the ignorance of those who do not believe our discourse, I think that these things which I have collected are sufficient to confirm the truth. But I have thought this only to be worth the effort to add to what has already been said, that when it has once been established that the Creator provides for all things, the account of the Savior’s dispensation is proven to be invincible and indeed indisputable. For it was fitting for Him who possesses all things, and who bestowed existence upon those who did not exist, not to overlook the nature of men being destroyed, for the sake of which He prepared all things that are visible. ^D For the earth is their dwelling-place, and they have the heaven as a ceiling; and the air, and the sea, and the rivers, and the springs, and the throes of clouds, and the dews, and the breezes, and indeed the fruitful and unfruitful plants, and animals of the earth and the air and the water and amphibians, and ten thousand kinds of herbs, and metallic woods, provide for the need of the human race. And indeed, the sun, and the moon, and the multitude of stars, having divided time in two, perhaps apportioned it for themselves; and one illuminates the day, and calls to labor; the other, with the stars, obtained the torch-bearing of the night. Therefore, the Lord of all did not deem it just to overlook him, for whose sake all these things were made, being besieged by sin, and handed over to death as if captured by the spear. For this very reason He assumed the human form, and covered the invisible nature with the visible, and preserved the visible one without sin, and the hidden...

^B one untouched. For neither did the latter suffer the infirmities of the flesh, nor did the flesh contract the stains of sin. For it was very easy for Him, even without the covering of the flesh, to bring about the salvation of men, and by His will alone to dissolve the tyranny of death, and to render its mother, sin, utterly vanished, and to drive away from the earth the all-wicked demon who travailed with it, and to send him into that darkness to which He threatened to deliver him a little later; but He did not wish to demonstrate His power, but rather the fairness of His providence. For just as He was able, from heaven, to converse with men and to terrify those who lived in ease, yet He did not do this, knowing that the nature of men could not contain it; but He appeared only rarely, measuring His appearances to the capacity of those who saw Him, and always, through men, He continued both to give laws and to offer exhortations to men, using the prophets as ministers of His words and as servants: ^C so, too, when He later wished to bring saving remedies to all humanity, He did not use angels or archangels as servants, nor did He from heaven pour forth a resonant voice, audible and easy for all men to hear, but He Himself made for Himself a tabernacle in the womb of a Virgin, and from thence came forth [Christ] as man seen, and God worshipped; begotten from the essence of the Father before the ages, but having taken his visible form from the Virgin, being the same both recent and eternal. For the ^D union did not confuse the natures, nor did it make the Maker of times subject to time, nor did it represent that which was born in time as being before the ages; but each nature remained pure; the one enduring the sufferings of nature—I mean hunger and thirst, sleep and weariness, and the cross and death; 100 the other working the divine things, and customarily performing miracles: preparing feet of flesh to walk upon the sea, and commanding five loaves to suffice for a weary multitude of many thousands, and bestowing at the wedding wine that was then made for the first time, and healing marred bodies; and eyes—which nature, in forming them in the womb, had left behind—fashioning with clay; and by His word binding up limbs that had failed, and opening tombs, and calling those who were lying within, and preparing them to run, and doing all the other things which the histories of the divine Gospels teach.

had failed, and opening tombs, and calling those who were lying within, and preparing them to run, and doing all the other things which the histories of the divine Gospels teach.

^A But if you admire these things, and say that they are worthy of God, yet call the manner of the dispensation unbecoming, first, it is a sign of extreme audacity and madness to declare yourselves wiser than that Wisdom which fashioned all things, and not to be content with what is done by Her, but to suppose that you could find a better course of action. I, for my part, have no doubt that even if He had devised another way of salvation, you would have criticized that as well. For you are fastidious, and skilled only in caviling at and attacking the mysteries of the divine dispensation. Since, then, you boast that you can surpass the abyss of Wisdom with your own counsels, show us a better device for our salvation. But you will not be able to show it. For He exercised such an excess of benevolence that it seems incredible to you and those like you, namely, that the only-begotten Son of God, who is God the Word before the ages, the Creator of all things, took upon Himself human nature and became man, and wrought our salvation. ^B And yet you are accustomed to praise those physicians who do not commit the sick to be cared for by others, but themselves, having put aside their cloaks and girded up their tunics, take the iron in their hands and make incisions; they do not turn away from the stench of the ulcer, but catch the flowing pus, daub it with the sponge, apply the medicines, and perform all the other things which the law of the healing art prescribes. Furthermore, you also like to admire and praise those kings who are not those pampered in royal chambers, enjoying every kind of luxury, but those who do not find it burdensome to expose their heads to dangers for the sake of their subjects, and who, clad in armor, fight bravely against the enemy in the front line. ^C But if you perchance ask, why did the Creator of all things not do this earlier? Accuse also the physicians, because they reserve the stronger remedies for the final stage; for having first used milder ones, they apply the most potent last. The all-wise physician of our souls has done the same. For since He had first brought many and varied remedies—to all men indeed through the fabric of the world and the nature of things, but to the Hebrews through the law and the prophets—at length He brought this all-powerful and saving medicine, and drove away the disease. ^D And the facts themselves confirm our words: earth and sea have been delivered from their former ignorance; the deceit of idols has ceased, the darkness of impiety has been dispelled, and the rays of the light of (divine) knowledge are filling the world; Greeks, Romans, and barbarians proclaim the crucified God, and honorably cherish the sign of the cross.

^A And instead of the many and false-named gods, they worship the Trinity. The shrines of the demons have become desolate, the altars of the idols have been torn up from their foundations, and illustrious churches have been built everywhere—in cities, in villages, in the fields, and in the furthest reaches of the provinces. Temples of the martyrs have been beautifully constructed, and the dwellings of the ascetics hallow the mountain peaks and inhabit the desolate wildernesses. ^B

These things, and things similar to these, demonstrate the divine character of the dispensation of our Savior; and the ancient prophecies also bear witness to the truth of the Gospels. For some contain the prediction of these things, while others demonstrate the end of the prediction. Some foretold the birth from the Virgin, while others teach the truth of that prophecy. Some prophesied the cross, while others show the cross; some foretold the sufferings, while others record the miracles. Some uttered oracles concerning the salvation of the world, while we behold the end of those oracles. They announced the unbelief and the total destruction of the Jews, while we see their unbelief, their dispersion, and their servitude. ^C But for my part, if I did not fear that the length of my discourse would weary both you and those who might happen upon these things in the future, I would have set before you the actual predictions of the divine prophets, so that you might have learned the truth of their words more accurately through the events themselves. But since the multitude of the things already mentioned does not allow me to do this, I ask you, sirs, to both believe the prophecies and to harken to the events that cry out, and to be persuaded by Euripides, the writer of tragedies, who says in his *Oenomaus*:

By things present we conjecture what is hidden.

And again in the *Phoenissae*:

What is hidden is caught by suitable conjectures.

^D And if the tragic poet does not seem to you a sufficient witness, listen to the orator Hyperides, who says: "But it is necessary that those who teach things that are obscure should investigate them through conjectures and signs." And Isocrates (this orator, too, is among the illustrious) has written consistently on this subject: "For it is necessary," he says, "to conjecture future things from those that have already occurred." And moreover, Andocides (who is also one of the ten orators) says: "It is necessary to use precedents as proofs for future matters." For since you are dependent upon the elegance of language, I have brought you these demonstrations, so that, being guided by them toward the truth, and seeing manifest by the events of things

and, seeing the epiphany of our God and Savior proclaimed by his works, you may embrace the discourse concerning his dispensation, and not fail to attain that most desirable and thrice-longed-for salvation. ^A

SERMON VII. On sacrifices.

Most men are, for the most part, fond of play and laughter, and take no heart in a diligent and serious life, but rather in one that is fluid and relaxed. Hence it is that the most wicked demon has most easily brought them under his power. For he did not bid them walk solely by that straight, narrow, rough, difficult, and uphill path, but by that other one which is downhill, sloping, level, and easy. He did not command them to concern themselves with temperance and justice, but permitted them to abandon themselves with impunity to intemperance and lust, and to dare every sort of lawlessness. From this it is easy to see how he led most men into servitude. For, fleeing from the laborious life of virtue and avoiding the difficulty of the divine law, they have, of their own accord, defected to the one who commands what is easy and agreeable to do. In this way, having reduced them to servitude, he first of all took care to abolish the opinions which ^B nature had from the beginning inscribed in them concerning the God of the universe; next, he handed down perverse dogmas about false gods, and taught them to worship a vast throng of false gods instead of the one true God, establishing this as the foundation and base of a most depraved life. For since a secret concern gnaws at those who do wrong (for the conscience pricks them from within, and does not allow the pleasure of sin to be untainted, but mixes in a most bitter torment: as one may see in the case of a violator of tombs, or one who commits adultery, or in the housebreaker, the thief, the traitor, or whoever else attempts something that is forbidden), the cunning master of iniquity devised this remedy for their pain, namely, to insinuate into men the worst opinions concerning the gods, as they are called. For he showed them to be pleasure-loving and most lascivious, and boys-seducers, adulturers, ^C laying violent hands upon their parents, and most impudently polluted by the embraces of mothers, sisters, and daughters, laying traps for each other’s marriage beds, and when discovered in these acts, being bound by those whom they had injured and laughed at profusely by others. And they say that these things are practiced by the celestial beings, as they call them, in heaven and on earth; by those of the sea, in the sea and on land; and by those called nymphs, in the mountains and in the dales and ^D

^A in the streams. But this most shameful and detestable myth-making was instilled not only by poets, but also by theologians and philosophers, who skillfully devised this deception and used many teachers of this imposture. And because not everyone is learned in letters, nor indeed capable of understanding poetic and philosophic discourses, he fashioned other snares for those unable to learn these things. For he taught painters, bronze-smiths, and the makers of stone and wooden statues to paint, carve, and mold images of those whom they call gods, such as the myth-tellers had described in their tales, so that those who could not grasp the doctrines through words might have before their eyes proposed models of licentiousness and not fall short of that accursed teaching. And with these idols he filled not only their temples, but also the marketplaces, the streets, ^B and even the houses of the wealthy. For everywhere it is possible to find the so-called gods loving, raging, and leaping; the father of the gods likened to an eagle, a bull, and a swan, and in this manner having intercourse with his mistresses; Mercury, the master of eloquence, turned into a goat; and Pan, with his goat-legs and goat-horns, begetting offspring. And what need is there to speak of the love of the Pythian god, and the chastity of the maiden, and the frenzied embrace of the tree, and the abduction of the daughter by Pluto, and the wandering of Ceres? For poets tell all these things in their myths, theologians confirm them, and philosophers try to bestow upon them a certain dignity, but they offer an allegory more ridiculous than the myths themselves. The enemy of mankind ordained that feast days, public assemblies, and public banquets be performed for these: the Pandia and Diasia for Jupiter; the Heræa for Juno; the Panathenæa for Minerva; the Dionysia for Bacchus; the Eleusinia and Thesmophoria for Ceres; the Delia and Pythia for Apollo. And for all the others—for the crowd of them is great—he drew lots for festivals for each of the demons, naming the feast after the title of the deity: Hermæa, Cronia, Posidonia, Heraclea, Asclepia, and Anacea. ^C For not only to those called gods, but also to men, they assigned this worship. In these assemblies, every kind of licentiousness was performed without fear. For the ceremonies and the orgies of these gods had their riddles: Eleusis had the comb, the Phallagogia had the phallus. But even apart from the riddles, the acts performed by those celebrating the orgies provoked the spectators to every kind of debauchery. For who, even among the most lecherous men, has ever dared to perpetrate within the privacy of his bedroom such things as the chorus of Satyrs performed publicly while parading, having ^D in their midst

^A Silenus and Pan—the one raging with the Bacchae, the other undone by drunkenness, called the tutor of the effeminate boy. To these they sacrificed hecatombs and chiliombs, slaughtering flocks and herds, offering up frankincense, and pouring out wine—and that in the greatest possible abundance—along with other such things as the hierophants of these beings enjoined. For the poets say that they take great pleasure in the libations and the burnt-fat, and that they declare this to be their honor and reward; for this reason, they say, they travel even to the sacrifices of the Ethiopians, and honor Hector with every care, because he never left their altars destitute of sacrifice. And Chryses reminds Apollo not of justice and temperance, but of the fat thighs of goats and bulls, and of the garlands with which he adorned the temple. So delightful to them was the smoke and the foul odor of the burnt-fat, and they were, in truth, simple cooks. Yet I have not correctly compared them to cooks; for cooks test the delicacies they have skillfully prepared by smell and taste, whereas those gods received the stench exhaled from charred bones. And each of us, if even a tiny bit of such things should fall into the hearth, finds it unbearable and stops up his nose, turning away from the foul smell; yet those who are said to enjoy nectar and ambrosia are seen to depend on the stench of burnt bones.

These things, perhaps, they will dare to retort even upon the true and everlasting God; for although they hear the laws concerning sacrifices laid down in the divine Scripture, they are utterly ignorant ^C of the Lawgiver’s purpose. For Israel, having spent a very long time in Egypt and having become imbued with the depraved customs of the natives, having been taught by them to sacrifice to idols and demons, and to take pleasure in games, dances, and musical instruments—desiring to liberate them, now that they were accustomed to these things, He permitted them to sacrifice, yet not to sacrifice everything, nor to the pseudo-gods of the Egyptians, but to Himself alone to offer the gods of the Egyptians. For the Egyptians of old used to deify the ox, the sheep, the goat, the dove, the turtledove, and others among those that were not eaten, but called unclean. That they might not, therefore, be vexed as if entirely cut off from those customs, He forbade them to sacrifice to the gods who are not gods, but ordained that they sacrifice to Himself those things which had been worshipped by them formerly: from the land-dwelling animals, the goat, the ox, and the sheep; from the winged creatures, the turtledove and the dove. For both of these types of animals are gentle and fond of humans. Therefore, the all-wise Physician applied this kind of remedy to the Egyptian malady: he granted the Jews the right to sacrifice, on account of their weakness, but commanded them to sacrifice those things which they formerly worshipped, so that ^D by sacrificing they might learn that those which they slaughtered as victims were not gods. For this reason also he ordered them to abstain from swine's flesh.

^A because the Egyptians fed on these alone, while abstaining from others as if they were gods. For by enacting that these things were to be held as unclean, he commanded them to eat those things which were being worshipped as gods, so that they might appear contemptible, since they were eaten by them, and might not usurp divine honor. For knowing them to be superstitious and gluttonous, he opposed one ailment with another, and set gluttony against superstition. For by ordering them to abstain from swine as unclean, and enacting that they should enjoy the others as clean, he constrained them ^B by the desire for eating meat to partake of the things that were thought to be gods. God, therefore, not needing animal victims, nor yearning for the odor of burnt offerings, commanded them to sacrifice, but was healing the ailments of those who were ill. Thus also he suffered the use of musical instruments, not because he was delighted by the harmony of these things, but because he was gradually putting an end to the deception of idols. For if, immediately upon their release from the power of the Egyptians, he had presented them with perfect laws, they would have revolted utterly, and throwing off the bridle, they would have returned to their former corruption. For if, while things were ordered in this way, they attempted to do this many times, what would they not have dared if God had mandated the evangelical philosophy to them from the very beginning? But that God is in need of neither sacrifices nor musical instruments, hear him saying through the prophets: ^C « I will not accept from your house calves, nor from your flocks he-goats. For mine are all the wild beasts of the field, the cattle on the mountains, and the oxen. I know all the birds of the air, and the beauty of the field is with me. » For in these words he cast aside everything that was ordered by the law to be offered, not only terrestrial animals and winged ones, but also the libations of wine, and the oil which it was the custom to offer with fine flour and cakes. For he called these things the beauty of the field, and testified that both these and those things were his own handiwork, teaching thereby that the divine nature lacks nothing. Then, with a certain elegant irony, full of every benefit, he refutes their ignorance and displays his own power. He said: « If I hunger, I will not tell you; for mine is the world and its fullness. » ^D Having thus clearly shown through these things both the creation and his own lordship over it, he tempered what he had ironically said, by saying: « Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? » And having shown that sacrifices were utterly superfluous and unworthy of the divine nature, he proposes a certain new manner of sacrifice, one that does not stain an altar with blood, but is performed by the tongue and lips. « Sacrifice to God, » he says, « a sacrifice of praise, and render your vows to the Most High; and call upon me in the day of your tribulation, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me. » For a rational and congruous prayer is sufficient for him, above all the flocks of sheep and goats, and above all the herds of oxen: and this

^A he receives and recompenses those who offer it, extending aid, and helping in time of need; and delivering them from those who attempt to harm them. He added the very same thing at the end of the melody: « A sacrifice of praise shall glorify me; and there is the way wherein I will show them the salvation of God. » For it is not sufficient only to sing hymns to the Benefactor; it is necessary also to walk the path whose end is true salvation. The prophet says this also in another psalm, addressing God: « Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. Burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you did not seek. » Again elsewhere: « I will praise, he says, the name of my God with a song: I will magnify him in praise: and it shall please God more than a young bull that brings forth horns and hoofs. »

But lest anyone think that David alone wrote these things, hear, O men, what God himself said again through the voice of Isaiah. For these are his very words: « To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? says the Lord. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of lambs, and I do not desire the blood of bulls or goats. ^B Nor if you come to appear before me. For who has required these from your hands? » By these words he openly shows that he did not ordain these things as necessary, but accommodated himself to their weakness. For that is what the words: « Who has required these from your hands? » signify. Then he added: 891. « You shall no longer walk in my courtyard. For if you offer me fine flour, it is in vain: incense is an abomination to me. Your new moons, and sabbaths, and the great day I do not tolerate. Your fasts, and leisure, and your festivals my soul hates. You have become a burden to me. » These things are very similar to the Davidic melody. For here too, in like manner, he not only rejected bulls, and goats, and lambs, but also the fine flour, and the sweet fragrance of aromatics, and the catalogue of great solemnities.

But as, through the mouth of David, having removed sacrifices of this kind, he ordered the sacrifice of praise to be offered: so also here, by eliminating all these, he proposes the baptism of incorruption and regeneration, saying: « Wash yourselves, be clean. » And lest anyone think he commanded him in the matter of customary washings, he necessarily added: ^C « Take away the evils from your souls, from before my eyes »; which words manifestly signify the gift of holy baptism. And in the middle, again, of the prophecy, God says to the prophet through the prophet: « I have not called you now, Jacob, nor have I made you labor, Israel. You have not brought me the cattle of your oblation, nor have you glorified me in your sacrifices. You have not served me. »

in offerings, nor have I made you weary with frankincense; neither have you bought me silver incense, nor have I desired the fat of your sacrifices; but you have stood before me in your sins and your iniquities ^A.» Having thus once again shown the futility of the legal ritual, he promises the forgiveness of sins, which he has granted through the all-holy baptism: «I am he that blots out your iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.» For it is not by praiseworthy works, but by faith alone, that we have attained these mystical blessings. Therefore, the divine Apostle also cries out: «By grace you have been saved, and this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, so that no one may boast.» Indicating this here as well, he has added «for my own sake.» He also gives witness to these things through Jeremiah, saying: «Gather your burnt offerings together with your sacrifices, and eat flesh; for I did not speak to your fathers, nor did I command them on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifice.» For what he had commanded concerning these things in the Law was for the sake of their dullness, not for his own need or desire. He says these same things elsewhere too: «Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not pleased me.» And again he cries out: «Remove from me the sound of your songs, and I will not listen to the voice of your instruments.» And it is possible to find many other such things, which clearly declare that God did not need sacrifices, nor did he command them to be performed because he was delighted by smoke, the smell of burnt flesh, or musical instruments, but rather out of concern for the healing of those people.

^C Do not, therefore, think that this counter-accusation regarding the charges against your sacrifices is a defense. For the Lawgiver has made clear what the intent of the Law was through the prophets. Having read these precisely—for Porphyry spent a great deal of time on them, while he was contriving his volumes against us—he also declares that sacrificing is alien to true piety, both doing and suffering something like the apes. For just as they imitate the practices of men, yet do not change into the nature of men, but remain apes; so too, having stolen these divine oracles and inserted the meaning of some of them into his own writings, he did not desire to learn the truth, but remained an ape, or rather a jackdaw, decking himself out in borrowed ^D feathers.

^A This man, having written many arguments on the necessity of abstaining from living things, introduced Theophrastus [V. Euseb. P. E. p. 28] ^B saying that "the men of old offered neither incense nor any other victim, but taking a small amount of the down of productive nature in their hands, they burned it, ^C thereby honoring with sacrifice the visible celestial gods." Then, after having set forth many such things at length, he added: "But far from those first fruits of sacrifice provided for men, the transgression ^D of taking the most terrible victims was introduced, full of cruelty; so that the curses uttered against us long ago seem now to have reached their fulfillment, when men slaughtered their fellow-men and besmeared the altars with blood." Then, having gone through many arguments, he said: "One ought not to suppose that the gods are those who delight in the sacrifices of animals; for it is most unjust, impious, and abominable [and harmful] to sacrifice animals, and therefore not pleasing to the gods." He added further: "Rightly does Theophrastus forbid those who truly wish to be pious from sacrificing living things, using also other such reasons." Then he shows what is appropriate to sacrifice, and says: "Moreover, one must sacrifice those things which, when sacrificed, will harm no one. For nothing ought to be so innocent to everyone as sacrifice." And again: "One must therefore abstain from living things in sacrifices." He also calls back to memory the ancient murders committed by men: "For it is said, in Rhodes, on the sixth of the month Metageitnion, a man was sacrificed to Cronus. This, having prevailed for a long time, passed into a custom. For they would keep one of those condemned to death until the Cronia." Then he says that in Salamis of Cyprus, too, a human being was sacrificed to Agraulus, daughter of Cecrops, and in Heliopolis of Egypt, three men were slaughtered every day. And they say that the Lacedaemonians also sacrifice a man to Ares, and that in Laodicea of Syria and in Carthage of Libya, such sacrifices were offered in olden times, and that the Greeks, when going out to war, were accustomed to sacrifice a human being; and he recounts many other such things. The historian Philo also says that Aristomenes the Messenian slaughtered three hundred men to Zeus Ithometas. Plutarch also bears witness to things consonant with these; and many other historians have committed many such things to memory; and the tragic poets have dramatized such calamities—that of Menoeceus in Thebes, of Codrus in Athens, and of the daughters of Leos. It is easy for anyone who wishes to turn the pages of ancient histories to know that these things were sacrificed at the command of those whom they called gods. But the Creator and Master of the world condemns this transgression everywhere; and through David He cries aloud: "[And] they sacrificed their sons"

and their daughters to demons; and they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the carved images of Chanaan." ^A And again, blaming them through the prophet Ezekiel, He says: "And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you begot for me, and brought them to your lovers. This is beyond all your fornication." ^B Accordingly, these things were practiced of old by Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Hebrews, and other barbarians; but after the manifestation of our God and Savior, all those things have been extinguished, and the divine laws of the Gospels prevail. Sophocles the Athenian, describing those bloody slaughters in a tragic manner, spoke excellently of God and very wisely mocked the statues of the demons and the unlawful slaying of victims. He says as follows:

"There is in truth one God, Who fashioned the heaven and the vast earth, The swell of the sea, and the violence of the winds. Yet we mortals, with hearts wandering in sleep, Have set up as a light solace for our minds Statues of gods from stone, or bronze, Or wrought of gold, or patterns of ivory; And by offering sacrifices and fair festivals to these, We think we are being pious."

^C Therefore, not only we, but also your own poets, historians, and philosophers mock these things which you deem divine. I think, too, that Socrates son of Sophroniscus ordered the cock to be sacrificed so that he might refute the indictment laid against him; for Anytus and Melitus had brought charges against him as one who did not deem [them] gods. For that he knew the Divine to be in need of nothing, he clearly declared in other places. For these things are indeed also his, if indeed Plato wrote down his doctrines: "God did not make the world for the sake of any necessity of His own, so that He might receive honors from men and from other gods and demons, ^D as if harvesting some income from the generation of things—from us, indeed, smokes, and from gods and demons, the services proper to each." By these words he has clearly shown that the Divine is in need of nothing, and that such sacrifices possess nothing more than smoke, and smoke full of foul odor.

Having learned these things from your own teachers and from the divine oracles, from which they have plundered these things, and having confirmed [our] teaching—abhor the sacrifices that are suited to victuallers and butchers, and offer to the Creator the sacrifice of praise. And let it not be the laws of the ruling powers that persuade you to do this, nor the fear of punishment, but the power of the truth, which has by now become known to all the inhabitants of the sea and the land.

SERMO VIII.

On the Veneration of the Martyrs.

^A They say that Pythagoras, whose praise is celebrated among you, was said by those who wrote his life to have preferred the Muses to the Sirens. As for me, if it had been his habit to use clear speech, as is the case with some other philosophers, I would have said that he deemed the voice of the Muses sweeter. But because his sayings were enigmatic and hidden (for he offered his exhortations symbolically; such, for instance, are: "Do not stir fire with a sword," and "Do not sit upon a bushel," and "Do not eat the *melanurus*," and "Do not overstep the balance," ^B and other things of this sort), I think he compared those speeches that are elegant and polished to the Sirens, but to the Muses those which, displaying no artificial embellishment, show the naked form of truth. For by as much as natural beauty is superior to that which is patched up by the art of cosmetics, by that much is the simple decor of truth better than a sharp and artfully composed speech. Therefore, one must have faith, O men, if not in others, then at least in the most celebrated philosopher who decreed these things. And the sacred Scriptures are not to be despised by you because they do not use a superfluous apparatus of speech, but rather set before us the naked and radiant beauty of truth. ^C For it was inclined and very easy for the source of wisdom—which gave eloquence even to impious men, and could have rendered the heralds of truth more eloquent than Plato, sharper than Demosthenes, weightier than Thucydides, and more acute at hammering out insoluble syllogisms than Aristotle or Chrysippus—to have done so. But He did not wish that only five, or ten, or fifteen, or a hundred, or twice that many men should be refreshed by the saving waters, but all men, both Greeks and barbarians, those nurtured in the study of letters, and the unlearned, and cobblers, and weavers, and blacksmiths, and the rest of the manual laborers, ^D and with these also slaves, and beggars, and farmers, and woodcutters, and women likewise—both those flowing with riches and those bound to labor and those forced to live by the work of their hands. For this reason, using fishermen, publicans, and Paul as his ministers, He brought saving and divine doctrine to men, not at all changing the tongues they had received from the beginning, but pouring through them the clear streams of wisdom: in no other way than if someone, providing wine of the sweetest scent and taste for his guests, were to pour it into phials and cups that were less elegantly carved. For those who are thirsty drink more freely, not considering the cups, but admiring the wine. All men always do the very same thing. For when they drink the streams of sacred doctrine, not only do they not mock the tongues of the apostles, but they much rather admire them, because elo-

eloquent speech they have not been instructed in, yet some having learned fishing from childhood, others having served in tax-collecting bureaus, and others having practiced the trade of leather-working, they were suddenly revealed as ministers of holy oracles, dispensers of heavenly gifts, and saviors who keep away evil, and most brilliant luminaries, ^A enlightening not one nation, but as many as the sun which we see sheds its rays upon. And all admire and wonder excessively that even when dead they perform those things which they were accustomed to do while alive, or rather, the events accomplished by them after their departure from here are far greater and more brilliant. For when they were living with their bodies, now they used to travel to these people, and now to those, and at one time they would converse with Romans, at another time with Spaniards or Celts; but since they have traveled to Him by whom they were sent, all enjoy them continually, not only the Romans and those who love their yoke and are steered by them, but also Persians, Scythians, Massagetae, Sarmatians, Indians, and Ethiopians, and to speak succinctly, all the ends of the inhabited world. For their writings, being simple and stripped of Greek brilliance, and indeed small and few, are ^B greatly beloved by all men, except you and if there is anyone else who, having the cloud of unbelief poured over him as you have, does not wish to see the radiance of the truth. And not only are these stripped of Greek elegance, but the very nature of the things they teach has nothing magnificent or illustrious about it. For they do not propose to their followers some visible kingdom, adorned with purple and shining with a crown, and surrounded by the number and magnitude of shield-bearers and guards, and possessing a numerous army, and generals taught to excel in wars, and all the other things that make their possessors famous; but a cave, and a manger, and a working maiden, and an infant wrapped in humble swaddling clothes ^C and cast into an empty manger, and an obscure and small village in which these things happened, and again the poverty of the growing infant, and hunger, and thirst, and the fatigue from traveling, and after these the passion sung by all, slaps on the cheek, backs torn by scourges, the cross, nails, gall, vinegar, death. And yet, when the writings of the apostles relate these things and things like these, they have produced faith in all men that He is the Son of God, and God begotten before the ages, and the creator and maker of all things, who assumed human nature and through it worked the salvation of the human race. Nor did they merely produce faith, but they implanted such faith in very many, that they most willingly met death for these dogmas, and to those commanding them to deny these, they would by no means surrender their ^D tongues, but to those wishing to scourge their shoulders and—

^A their sides with torches and claws, and to have their necks offered to the swords, and to be eagerly crushed and impaled, and indeed even to be burned and to see wild beasts devouring their bodies. Therefore, the Arbiter of the contest granted them an inextinguishable glory, and a memory which overcomes the very nature of time. For while time is naturally accustomed to wither everything, it has preserved their glory unfading. And the noble souls of the conquerors now circulate through heaven, dancing together with the incorporeal choirs; but their bodies are not hidden in the individual tomb of each, but cities and villages have divided these among themselves, calling them the preservers of souls and physicians of bodies, and revering them as guardians and protectors of the cities; and by using them as intercessors with the Lord of all, they receive through them divine gifts; and though the body is divided, the grace has remained undivided. And that small and most slight relic possesses the same power ^B as the martyr who has not been divided at all in any way. For the grace which blossoms upon them distributes the gifts, measuring its own liberality by the faith of those who approach. Yet not even these things move you to praise the God of these men, but you laugh and scoff at the honor offered to them by all, and you consider it an abominable crime to approach their tombs. But even if all mortals were offended by these things, the Greeks certainly ought not to have been angry at them: for they have their libations, and expiatory offerings, and heroes, and demigods, and men promoted to the rank of gods. For they declared Hercules, who was born a man, the son of Alcmene and Amphitryon, to be a god, as it seemed good to them, and they numbered him among the other gods. But that Plato also knew him to have been the son of Amphitryon, and not of Zeus, hear him speaking ^C thus in the *Theaetetus* (p. 175 A): "Moreover, when someone counts a lineage of twenty-five ancestors, and traces the origin of Hercules, the son of Amphitryon, he seems to him to be a person of ridiculously small mind; for he thinks that he is the twenty-fifth from Hercules." The rhetor Isocrates also says thus (p. 13 A): "For Jupiter, when he had begotten Hercules and Tantalus, as it is in the myths and is believed by all everywhere." In this way they mocked, those who were able to discern what kind of things those were which others commended in myths. And yet, although he was a man, and was compelled to serve Eurystheus, they erected temples and altars to him, and offered sacrifices, and ^D dedicated feast days—and not only the Spartans and Athenians, but all of Greece, and a part of Europe.

^B Indeed, this disease of delusion crossed over into Asia as well. For in Tyre and other cities, they built him many very great shrines. And they did not merely assign annual festivals to him, but honored him also with quadrennial contests; and this, too, while knowing the man, and knowing that he was neither temperate nor a lover of wisdom, but that he lived in incontinence and debauchery. To pass over the rest of his utter lack of self-control, they say that in a single night he defiled fifty virgins, having perhaps engaged in this thirteen-fold struggle. This is sufficient to reveal the whole bent of his life. Indeed, he also met the end of his life before his time because of such incontinence. For, having Deianeira as his wedded wife, he became enamored of another, and suffered, despite the earlier one's intentions, at her hands. ^C For she, having prepared a love potion and having anointed her husband’s tunic, sent it to him when he requested it, and in this way she hoped to entice him to herself, but she was deceived in her hopes. For the poison, heating Hercules' body, wrapped him in a most grievous malady. He, pained and unable to bear the suffering, heaped up a pyre and cast himself into it, and so received the end of his life. Worthy indeed—is it not?—are the pursuits for which it was thought he deserved to be made a god by you! Nevertheless, though you know these things (for ancient writings teach them), you none the less continued to call him "Savior" and "Averter of Evil," and you appended "Lord Hercules" to your speeches. And you, in the same way, pride yourselves on such phrases, thinking it sufficient for a display of learning to frequently use such little expressions. ^D Now Apollodorus says that Asclepius, according to some, was the son of Arsinoe, but according to others, of Coronis, who, having become pregnant by a secret and violent congress with Apollo, is said to have exposed the child she had borne. But then hunters, having found him by chance—snatched from the teats of a bitch—are said to have brought him to Chiron the centaur, and having been nourished there and instructed in the medical art, he first displayed an example of his art at Tricca and Epidaurus. And it is said that he was instructed with such diligence and such zeal that he attempted to raise not only the sick, but even some from the dead; and for this reason, Jupiter, indignant, struck him with a thunderbolt and removed him from the midst. He was, therefore, also a mortal man, though not raised after the manner of other men, but first fed by a dog and saved by the pity of hunters, not by divine wisdom teaching the skill of healing...

but by having learned this art from Chiron. And this Chiron was also the tutor of Achilles. ^A Whence it is evident that he lived at the same time, or was even a little older than Achilles, since he also sailed with the Argonauts, and his son, Machaon, fought alongside Achilles.

Furthermore, that lightning bolt and the subsequent incineration demonstrate a nature liable to death. And yet, although he was a man thus born, and saved, and nurtured, and incinerated, they joined him to the other gods, dedicating shrines to him and consecrating altars; and with libations and the burnt-offering of victims—in times past openly and publicly, and now perhaps in secret—you worship him, and deem his images worthy of divine honor. You marvel at the serpent entwined about him and assert that it is a symbol of the medical art, because just as that creature casts off old age, so does medicine set one free from diseases.

That he had not yet attained to the status of a god in the time of Homer, the poet himself is witness, for he introduces Paeon, not Asclepius, as the healer of the wounds of Ares; for it is fitting that such gods should have both wounds and physicians. And he calls Machaon not the son of a god, nor of a demi-god, but of a physician. ^B For he said:

*To this man, Asclepius is father, famous in the healing art.*

Moreover, both Homer and Euripides and very many others affirm that Dionysus was born of Semele; and Semele was the daughter of Cadmus. And yet, this one, too, was deemed worthy of divine honor, even though he was effeminate and womanish, and a half-man. ^C For he promised to give to those who brought him aid a reward, not of gold or silver, but the ignominy of his own body; and he was such a faithful performer of that execrable promise that, for those who had assisted him and died before receiving that infamous reward, he devised another way of fulfilling his pledge. I pass over the fig-wood phallus and the things done in relation to it, for I am ashamed to mention those things on account of which the Greeks held their solemn festivals.

Nay, the Greeks ^D even called the Tyndaridae gods, and named them Dioscuri, and Ephestii, and Anaces; and not only the Spartans, but the Athenians also deemed them worthy of sacred shrines. And the rhetorician mentions these...

things ^A in these words: "In the public hostelry that is near the temple of the Dioscuri." The Leocorion is actually a temple dedicated to the daughters of Leos. They also deified many other miserable and thrice-wretched little men, and honored them with public banquets. For indeed the Pythian prophet ordered that divine honors be granted to Cleomedes the Astypalaean, the boxer, and the Pythia issued this oracle concerning him:

"Last of the heroes, Cleomedes the Astypalaean, Whom ye honor with sacrifices, as one no longer a mortal."

But that you yourselves may know for what cause he was numbered with Zeus and the other gods, I myself shall tell you the stories that have been handed down about him. This man, while being a boxer, struck his antagonist one blow and opened his side, and putting his hand inside, he gripped his entrails. The presiding officials of the games, being greatly moved on account of the excess of his cruelty and imposing a fine upon him, he departed in resentment; and as he was passing through the marketplace, he pulled down one of the columns that supported the roof of the portico, and by this collapse crushed the entire assembly of boys who happened to be gathered there with their teacher. On account of these ^B achievements, the Pythian god assigned him a place among the gods. And they say that Hadrian, the Roman emperor, pronounced Antinous, who had been his favorite, to be a god, and built a temple to him, and commanded that he be worshiped by his subjects with divine honor. Furthermore, the Spartans considered the Hyacinthia an extremely great festival and a public banquet.

Why then do you, who have named so many dead men as gods, begrudge us, who do not make gods, but honor the martyrs as witnesses of God and extremely beloved servants? Why do you think that he who approaches the tombs of the dead is defiled and polluted? For these are things of madness and of the utmost ignorance. For ^C indeed at Athens, as Antiochus testifies in the ninth book of his history, there is the tomb of Cecrops up in the acropolis itself, near the City-Protectress Minerva; and in Larissa in Thessaly, they say again that Acrisius is buried in the temple of Athena; and Leander states that Cleomachus lies inside the Didymeum at Miletus; and Zeno of Myndus reports that Lycophron was buried in the sanctuary of Artemis in Magnesia. They state that the altar of Apollo which is at Telmessus is the monument of Telmessus the seer. But nevertheless, neither did those who buried them at that time think they were polluting the altars, nor did those who sacrificed ^D later think that they incurred any guilt therefrom. You alone entertain this notion, whereas the ancients

^A suspected nothing of the kind. For Homer, in the *Iliad*, describes Achilles, son of Peleus, the Aeacid, born of Thetis, and—as you claim—of Jove himself, embracing the dead body of Patroclus, and when the Myrmidons would carry it to the lit pyre, he would support its head; he would then extinguish the pyre, collect the bones, and place them into a golden urn, carrying them inside to his tent. Thucydides, too, commemorates the rewards of those who had fallen in the Peloponnesian War, and how each man buried the bodies of his kinsfolk that were found, and what honors they devised for those that were not found, manufacturing cypress caskets; and they would all carry these together—some leading, others following and accompanying—and build a huge tomb for those who had been consumed by birds, dogs, or wild beasts. In this same manner they honored those who had fallen in battle on the plains of Marathon. That they also offered libations to the dead, you yourselves know, who do not hesitate to do this by night against the laws. Homer also bears witness to this (*Odyssey* 10.517), showing the son of Laertes, in accordance with the instructions of Circe, digging the earth, pouring out libations, and recounting these things to Alcinous:

"I drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh, And dug a pit, a cubit’s length and breadth; About it I poured drink-offerings to all the dead, First with honey-mixture, then with sweet wine, And the third time with water, and sprinkled white barley over it. I made many vows to the strengthless heads of the dead, That when I came to Ithaca, I would slaughter a barren heifer in my halls, The best I had, and fill the pyre with choice gifts, And to Tiresias alone I would sacrifice a black ram apart, The one that excels among my flocks. But when I had besought the tribes of the dead with vows and prayers, I took the sheep and cut their throats over the pit; And the dark blood flowed, and the spirits gathered up ^B From out of Erebos of those who had died."

He then narrates how the throng of spirits gathered and hastened to partake of the libations. But why do I cite the poet? For Aristocles the Peripatetic cites Lycon the Pythagorean as a witness, saying that Aristotle, son of Nicomachus, was accustomed to perform rites for his deceased wife in the same manner that the Athenians performed them for the goddess Demeter. But we, O men, offer neither sacrifices nor libations to the martyrs, but honor them as holy and God-loving men. For they followed the Creator and Savior with such love that they considered death, endured for His sake, to be desirable. But if you chance to think that they lack consciousness of what is occurring, nor

enjoy a truly divine and thrice-blessed lot ^A in truth, let Pindar the lyric poet cast out this opinion of yours, saying thus:

The souls of the pious, dwelling in the heavens, Sing of the great blessed one in hymns.

But if heaven is the dwelling-place of those who have lived piously, the martyrs possess this lot; for among them there is nothing more pious. And Empedocles of Agrigentum also speaks thus:

Hymn-singing seers, and those skilled in medicine, Are the first among mortal men, From whom arise gods, greatest in honors.

If that man said that seers and physicians are worthy of such honor, what might someone say regarding those who have displayed such courage for the sake of piety, to whom he bears witness not only of courage, but also of justice, temperance, wisdom, and prudence? ^B For what is more temperate than those who did not allow themselves to be led away from those things which they judged from the beginning to be right? Or what is more just than those who repaid divine benefits with slaughter, and delivered their own bodies for the sake of Him who delivered His own body to the cross for us? Or what is more prudent or wiser than those who took this counsel for themselves, and held these lower things in contempt, as having nothing firm or stable, but fell in love with those things which speech cannot interpret? Or what is more courageous than those who competed ^C against many and various sufferings, and conquered their tormentors by the constancy of their mind? These are truly the leaders and champions of men, and helpers, and averters of evils, wards who keep far away the harms brought on by demons. Heraclitus indeed considers even those who have been slain in wars to be worthy of all honor: “For those slain by Ares,” he says, “the gods and men honor.” And again: “For only the greater ones obtain a greater lot.” But I, for my part, do not accept this statement; for very many who have embraced a most wicked life have endured a violent death. If, therefore, it is fitting that all who are slain in war be honored, it is time for you to bestow this tribute also on the sons of Oedipus, who left their father neglected, and for the sake of tyranny, ^D raging against one another, stained their own right hands with the blood of their brother. The Pisistratidae, too, who were justly slain by Harmodius and Aristogeiton, would have to be honored. But the Athenians did the opposite; for they honored the slayers with bronze statues, and granted to their descendants immunity from taxes. Therefore, it is not all those who have been slain by the sword who are to be honored, as Heraclitus maintains, but those who gladly embraced death for the sake of piety; for they alone, he says, and truly are the greater ones, and therefore greater

^A portions they enjoy, and now receive the reward from all men, and await the eternal crowns. But that saying of Heraclitus I greatly admire: "Men who die await what they neither hope for nor expect." That the souls of the holy also enjoy a divine lot, Plato has also shown in the *Phaedo*, speaking as follows: "Those who are judged to have lived with preeminent piety, these are they who are released from these places in the earth as from a prison, and arrive above at a pure dwelling." And after a few words he adds: "And they reach dwellings even more beautiful than these, which it is neither easy to describe, nor is there sufficient time at present." But lest anyone hearing these things, and becoming inflamed with the desire for that divine life, might deem it just and holy to lay violent hands upon himself and drive himself from this life, he appropriately added: "It is unlawful, however, for anyone to release himself from this dwelling, and to take flight from here, and, to speak concisely, to consider matter to be evil." He says also that the soul, when it has withdrawn into itself, can attain true wisdom and a power and capacity greater than human, when love from here makes it fly upward to heaven, through the philosophical life having reached the end of its hope, and taking hold of the beginning of another eternal life. And again in the same dialogue he says: "They depart from here with a good hope; but the wicked, he says, live with an evil hope." He also called philosophy a meditation on death. "For those," he says, "who happen to engage in ^B philosophy correctly, are in danger of escaping the notice of others that they practice nothing else but to die and to be dead." These things, therefore, he wrote in the *Phaedo*; but in the tenth book of the *Republic* he speaks thus: "And of those who have died on campaign, whoever dies having won glory, shall we not say that he is first of the golden race? Most certainly." And after a little: "And what then? shall we not for the rest of time, as if they had become daemons, thus honor and worship their tombs, and shall we not deem the same must be done when one dies from old age or in any other way, of those who are judged to have been preeminently good in life?" And in the *Cratylus* he expanded on this sentiment: for he praises Hesiod and ^C the other poets who have said that when a good man dies, he receives a great lot and honor there, and becomes a daemon according to the name of wisdom. Therefore, in this I [agree]. ^D

^A And Hesiod said these things concerning the golden race:

But after this race was covered by earth by fate, They were called holy earthly daemons, Good ones, averters of evil, guardians of mortal men.

If, therefore, the poet has called those who have lived best and then departed, “good” and “averters of evil” and “guardians of mortal men,” and the best of the philosophers confirmed the poet’s ^B statement, and affirmed that one ought to honor and revere their tombs, why then do you blame what is done by us, O best of men? For we call those who have shone in piety, and who have accepted slaughter for its sake, averters of evil and physicians—not calling them daemons (may such madness be far from us!), but friends of God and kind servants, who possess boldness of speech and announce to us the flow of good things. For the chief of the philosophers himself has declared this ^C to us in his *Epinomis*. For he says:

I do not say that it is possible for men to become blessed and happy, except for a few; as long as we live, I define this, but the departed has a good hope of obtaining all things.

Do not call any man blessed before his death h;

The light of the just shines always i;

The souls of the just are in the hand of God j;

That the Ruler of all has apportioned to the just in this present life reproaches, and insults, and outrages, ^D and scourges, Plato also has written in his *Republic*.

For in this way,

the just man being disposed, will be insulted, tortured, bound, have his eyes put out, and at the end, having suffered all evils, will be impaled. Are not, therefore, those who do these things most miserable, but those who suffer them most blessed?

^A Yet the philosopher bids us believe rumor; but you not only disbelieve us and refuse to listen to the voice of events crying aloud the truth, but you are not even willing to believe your own philosopher when he says outright that the souls of the holy, once released from their bodies, occupy themselves with human affairs. To such men it is fitting that this prize should be attained, as to those who have loved the divine things with all their heart and have persisted until the end in what they from the beginning chose, and who have not endured to abandon the station in which they set themselves. Plato confirms this argument in the *Apology*, saying as follows: ^B "For it is truly so, O men of Athens, in truth: wherever a man has posted himself, deeming it to be best, or has been posted by a commander, there, as I think, he must remain and face danger, taking no account of death or any other thing compared to what is shameful." And a little later: "For to fear death, O men, is nothing other than to seem wise when one is not." And again after a little: "For at least regarding the evils which I know to be evils, I shall not fear or flee those which I do not know if they happen to be good." And again: "For as for other things, those who are there are happier than those who are here; and already they are immortal for the remainder of time." Of the same man, O friendly men, are these words also: ^C "For neither Melitus nor Anytus will harm me at all; for they will not be able. For I do not think it is divinely permitted for a better man to be harmed by a worse one. He will perhaps kill me, or exile me, or dishonor me; but while he perhaps, and some other man somewhere, thinks these are great evils, I do not think so, but rather much more [to be an evil] to do what he is doing now, attempting to kill a man unjustly."

Such, then, is the philosophy that Socrates practiced even in the very crisis of his life, as Plato has testified; yet he did not obtain the honor equal to the martyrs. For those who shared in his discourses neither built a temple for him, nor consecrated any place, nor appointed a solemn festival, but allowed even a man who had become wise and brave to remain without honor, although he had endured an unjust slaughter; but he did not possess the best and purest piety, ^D for it was mixed with the error that was then received and common. Whence I think it came about that, once his life was finished, he was deemed worthy of no honor. Nor did that Anaxarchus, who, when he was being pounded with iron pestles, said, as they report: "Pound, pound, the pouch of Anaxarchus; for you are not pounding Anaxarchus," obtain that prize.

^A Nor did Zeno the Eleate, who, when he was being forced to betray some secrets, withstood the tortures without confessing anything. As Eratosthenes says in his *On Good and Evil*, he, fearing that he might be overcome by the extremity of his sufferings and blurt out some of the things they had agreed upon, and thus denounce his fellow conspirators, bit off his tongue and spat it in the tyrant’s face. They say that the Pythagorean Theodotus did the same, as did Paul, a close associate of Lacydes, as Timotheus of Pergamum writes in his *On the Courage of Philosophers*; Achaicus also confirms this in his *Ethics*. ^B Yet none of them was deemed worthy of the honor of the martyrs. Nor, indeed, were those who erected brilliant and world-renowned trophies: not Miltiades, not Cimon, not Pericles, not Themistocles, not Aristides the son of Lysimachus; although he was considered not only valiant, but also just. Yet neither he, nor Brasidas the Spartan, nor Agesilaus, nor Lysander (who destroyed the Athenian hegemony), nor Pelopidas the Boeotarch, nor Epaminondas (who ravaged Laconia and dared to bring his army to Sparta), nor the most illustrious generals of the Romans—not Scipio the elder, nor the man who bore his name, nor Cato, nor Sulla, nor Marius, nor Pompey, nor Caesar himself. For each of these was outstanding in generalship and in brave deeds in war, but they did not share in the reward of the martyrs. And why do I speak of generals? For not even those who held the kingship of the world enjoyed this honor: not Cyrus, not Darius, not Xerxes, ^C not Alexander the son of Philip—for I am naming only the famous ones; not Augustus, not Vespasian, not Trajan, not Hadrian, not Antoninus. All of these were indeed remarkable while they lived, and they conquered the barbarians, and after their victories they celebrated processions and festivals; but once they have died, they differ in no way from the masses. For they have neither notable tombs, nor are they honored with annual public feasts. For who knows the tomb of Xerxes, or of Darius? Or who knows that of Alexander, who conquered so many nations in so short a time? And why do I speak of the ancients? For not even the monument of Augustus is known, nor of the others who, after him, guided the Roman Empire ^D and ignored the giver and provider of this power. Only the tombs of the pious emperors are known and famous; and if any among them reigned impiously, their monuments indeed remain, but they are in no honor whatever. For not only are they deprived of imperial honor, but also of that...

^A which falls to the lot of private individuals. And yet there have been certain foolish people who have proclaimed themselves gods and built temples to themselves. For Antiochus was called a god, and Gaius, the successor of Tiberius, and Vespasian and Hadrian built most magnificent temples to themselves, but together with their lives they were stripped of that impious honor.

But the shrines of the victorious martyrs appear luminous and conspicuous, distinguished by their size, adorned in every way, and diffusing the splendor of their beauty to a distance. And we do not approach them once or twice ^B in the year, or even five times, but we keep feasts frequently, and often on every single day we offer hymns to the Lord of them. Those who are in sound health ask for the preservation of their health; those who are struggling with some disease ask for the removal of their ailments; those who are childless ask for children, and the barren supplicate to become mothers; and those who have enjoyed this gift ask for the gifts to be kept whole for them. Those who are setting out on a journey implore them to be their companions and guides on the way; and those who have returned in safety offer a confession of gratitude, not approaching them as gods, but beseeching them as divine men and asking them to be intercessors on their behalf.

That those who ask in faith do indeed obtain what they seek, their votive offerings, which demonstrate the healing they have received, ^C plainly testify. For some hang up images of eyes, others of feet, others of hands, fashioned of silver or gold. For the Lord of these accepts even small and inexpensive things, measuring the gift according to the means of the one offering it. These things indicate the removal of diseases, to verify which they were placed by those who received health. These same things also proclaim there the virtue of those buried there; and their virtue further declares that their God is the true God.

Let us examine who they were and whence they came, these who were found worthy of this grace. Were they perhaps some famous and illustrious people who prided themselves on the nobility of their birth, or who were flowing with the streams of wealth, or who had become ^D known through some power? By no means, O men. For they possessed none of these things, but they were private, common people. Some of them were even menservants and maidservants, who in weak bodies strove courageously; some of them bearing the yoke of marriage chastely, others not yet having known marriage. I myself hear that some were even raised on the stage, and suddenly joined the ranks of the athletes, and became victors and obtained the crowns; and after they were proclaimed, they struck the demons, to whom they had once been subject, with great terror. Moreover, many priests and temple attendants raised trophies against impiety. From such men and women, therefore, the choirs of martyrs were constituted.

the demons to whom they were subject in the past. ^B And many of the priests and temple wardens have raised up trophies against [pagan] impiety. From such men and women the choirs of the martyrs have been formed. And while philosophers and orators are given over to oblivion, and the masses do not even know the names of kings and generals, yet all men know the names of the martyrs better than the names of their own loved ones. And they are eager to give these names to their children, for they thereby secure for them safety and protection. And why do I speak of philosophers, kings, and generals? For they have even erased from the minds of men the memory of those who were called gods. For the temples of the latter have been so utterly destroyed that the common people of this age do not even know the shape of their forms or the design of their altars; but the materials of these shrines have been consecrated to the shrines of the martyrs. For our Lord God has introduced His own dead into the temples in place of your ^C gods, and while he has rendered the latter useless and void, He has bestowed honor upon the former. For instead of your Pandia, Diasia, Dionysia, and other festivals, the public feasts of Peter, Paul, Thomas, Sergius, Marcellus, Leontius, Panteleemon, Antoninus, Maurice, and the other martyrs are celebrated; and instead of that ancient pomp and shameful obscenity of deeds and words, modest festivals are celebrated, not exhibiting drunkenness, laughter, and jests, but divine hymns, the hearing of sacred discourses, and prayer adorned with praiseworthy tears. Seeing, therefore, the utility of the honor paid to the martyrs, flee, O friends, from the error of the demons, and using these as luminaries and guides, walk the path that leads to ^D God, that you may share in their choir in the ages that have no end.

SERMON IX. Concerning Laws.

You, O men, desire to hear elegantly composed speeches, and you seek to be charmed by them; but when you do not find such, you laugh and mock, and you stop your ears, and do not wish to listen to what is said. Yet you ought to have recognized that the greater part of the most precious things are covered in cheap wrappings. For it is a vile shell that produces and nourishes the precious pearl, so desired by the rich, and it even conceals it; but those who buy it, paying as much gold as possible, let the shell go. And those gleaming little stones that adorn the royal head are surrounded on the outside by another kind of stone that is altogether useless; but the craftsman of such an ornament, by cutting away and scraping off what is superfluous and useless in it, reveals the brilliance of the transparent stones. Gold, too, which all men commonly love, and silver, and copper, and

iron are covered by sand and earth; but those who search for the gold-bearing and silver-bearing veins dig through ^A the metals and gather the particles. And when gold has been stamped and has received the royal impression, it is kept not in golden containers, but in leathern or wooden ones. Reasonably, therefore, it is not some brilliant men of great swelling puffed-up speech who proclaim the true doctrine concerning divine and human things, but simple, lowly men, known to all, who carry about this great and ineffable treasure in most vile containers.

How much strength and power these men possess, anyone can easily perceive who brings forward the legislators of the Greeks and Romans, and compares our fishermen and tax-collectors with them. For he will find that the former did not even persuade their neighbors to live according to their laws, whereas the Galileans have persuaded not only Romans and Greeks, but every race of barbarians as well, to embrace the evangelical legislation.

For Minos, who boasts according to the myth that he is the son of Zeus, and who, as their fables tell, by frequenting that man’s ^B cave, learned the principles of his laws, became the legislator of the Cretans; yet he did not persuade either the Sicilians, or the Carthaginians, or indeed the Greeks to live according to his laws, but forced only that island over which he reigned to accept these laws, and not even that for an eternal length of time; for since the Romans have mastered the world, they too follow the laws of the latter.

Again, they say that Charondas was the first legislator of Italy and Sicily. But neither could he persuade the Tyrrhenians, or the Celts, or the Iberians, or the Celtiberians, although they were neighbors and border-dwellers, to accept the laws laid down by him. And why do I speak of neighbors? For not even those who at that time cherished and admired those laws live by the same laws now; for these, too, have submitted to the yoke of the Roman laws.

Zaleucus, in turn, gave laws to the Locrians, having received the knowledge of them from Minerva, as they say who delight in inventing fables. But neither the Acarnanians, nor the Phocians, nor the other Locrians admitted his laws, even though they dwelt not far away but were immediate neighbors.

Furthermore, those who are eager to invest the laws of Lycurgus with authority say that he betook himself to Delphi to the Pythian god, and being inspired by him, gave the laws to the Lacedaemonians. They also produce the oracle which the Pythian god uttered concerning him. It is as follows:

^C Thou art come, O Lycurgus, to my fat temple, Dear to Zeus, and to all that inhabit the halls of Olympus. I am in doubt whether to pronounce thee a god or a man, Yet I am more inclined to believe thee a god, O Lycurgus.

Such was the oracle concerning him. But neither the vast glory of the lawgiver, nor the splendor of Sparta, nor the response of the Pythian oracle compelled the Argives, or the Tegeatans, or the Mantineans, or the Corinthians—though they were very close neighbors—to accept the constitution of the Lacedaemonians. And why do I speak of the others? For the Phliasians dwell, it is true, in a small town, and they have always loved the Lacedaemonian government, and were their allies; yet, though they served as mercenaries under them and always fought ^B by their side, they did not make use of their laws. And to pass over other lawgivers—Apis of the Argives, and Mneson of the Phocians, and Demonax of the Cyrenaeans, and Pagondas of the Achaeans, and Archias of the Cnidians, and Eudoxus of the Milesians, and Philolaus of the Thebans, and Pittacus of the Mityleneans, and Nestor of the Pylians, whose words Homer said were sweeter than honey—to pass over these, I say, and the lawgivers of other nations, Solon the renowned, and Draco, and Cleisthenes were lawgivers of the Athenians. Yet the Athenians were unable to persuade the Megarians, or the Euboeans, or the Thebans—though they were their neighbors and lived in extremely close proximity—to obey the laws of Solon, or of Draco, or of Cleisthenes. ^C And the Athenians themselves, having bidden these farewell, just as the Lacedaemonians, and the Locrians, and the Thebans, and the rest of the Greeks, now live according to the laws of the Romans. The Romans, indeed, having gathered together the laws of the Greeks and the barbarians, and having taken those from each lawgiver that seemed best established, compelled the nations subject to them to serve these laws, yet those who did not wish to be ruled by them they did not force, either by violence or by persuasion, to embrace their policy. Many, even though they have accepted the bridle of servitude, refuse to live according to their laws. For neither the Ethiopians who are neighbors to the Egyptian Thebes, nor the many tribes of Ishmael, nor the Lazi, nor the Sanni, nor the Abasgi, nor the other barbarians who rejoice in the rule of the Romans, draw up ^D their mutual contracts according to the Roman laws. But our fishermen, and the publicans, and the tentmaker, have brought the evangelical laws to all men. And they have induced not only the Romans and those who serve under them, but also the Scythian and Sarmatian nations, and the Indians, and the Ethiopians, and the Persians, and the Seres, and the Hyrcanians, and the Bactrians, and the Britons, and the Cimmerians, and the Germans, and, to speak once for all, every human race and all nations, to accept the laws of the Crucified; not using arms, not using an infinite force of picked soldiers, not the cruelty of Persian violence, but persuading by words, and demonstrating the utility of the laws.

^A And they did not do this without dangers, but endured many outrages in every city, received many lashes from whoever happened to be there, were tortured, imprisoned, and met every form of punishment. For men, regarding their benefactors, and saviors, and physicians as conspirators and enemies, some drove them out, some pelted them with stones, others bound them with shackles and fetters; some they beat with clubs, others they impaled, others they threw to the teeth of beasts. But they indeed confounded those legislators, yet they could not abolish the force of the laws. For they appeared much more powerful after their death. ^B For after their death, the laws penetrated even to the Persians and the Scythians and the other barbarian nations; and although everyone resisted, not only barbarians but even the Romans themselves, they remained holding the same power. And the Romans, having set everything in motion to extinguish the memory of the fishermen and of Paul, made it even more illustrious and more conspicuous. ^C And whereas they ordered the laws of Lycurgus, and Solon, and Zaleucus, and Charondas, and Minos, and the other legislators to cease, and none of those who obeyed their empire dared to struggle—but their word became law, and the memory of those once-most-celebrated legislators was utterly extinguished—the Roman laws, on the other hand, govern the cities of the Greeks. The Areopagus among the Athenians is idle, and the Heliaea, and the court which was held at the Delphinium, and the council of the five hundred, and the eleven, and the Thesmothetae, and the Polemarch, and the annual archon, whose names are known to very few, except to those who spend time in the monuments of ancient writers. ^D But neither among the Lacedaemonians is it possible to see guests expelled from their borders according to their ancestral custom, nor the servitude of the Helots, nor the neodamodeis, nor finally the impunity for pederasty according to the laws of Lycurgus, nor the licit abuses in marriage. For that Lycurgus, the most excellent of legislators in the judgment of the wise men of the Greeks, left written in his laws, as those who have written about the Lacedaemonian polity say, that it is permitted for both men and women who have already received the yoke of marriage to beget children freely by cohabiting, the men with the wives of others, and the women with the husbands of others. And Plato took admiration of these laws, and ordered the state established by him to be governed by them. But let us reserve the philosopher—as a philosopher, and as someone who boasts himself to be the best of those who have enacted laws—for the final place; but now let us refute the weakness of the Pythian laws (for it matters nothing whether one prefers to call them Pythian or Lycurgan). For as soon as the Romans ordered these to cease and their own to be observed, the impregnable force of the Lycurgan laws was dissolved.

But the laws of the fishermen, the tax-collector, and the tent-maker, neither Gaius could dissolve, nor Claudius, nor Nero who followed them, even though he struck down two of the best of the lawgivers; for he slew both ^B Peter and Paul. But he did not destroy the laws along with the lawgivers. Neither did Vespasian, nor Titus, nor Domitian, although they assailed them with many and various machinations. For they sent many who embraced these laws to their death, using all sorts of punishments. Trajan and Adrian, too, strongly took the field against these laws. But while Trajan subverted the empire of the Persians, subjected the Armenians to the Roman bridle, and compelled the Scythian nations to submit to his scepters, he could not abolish the legislation of the fishermen and the leather-worker. And Adrian utterly destroyed the city of those who crucified Jesus, but he could not persuade those who believed in Him to abandon His service. Antoninus also, who succeeded him, and Verus his son, erected many and brilliant trophies over the defeated Barbarians and imposed the yoke of Roman rule upon peoples living under their own laws; yet they could neither persuade nor force those who had fallen in love with the yoke of the saving Cross to abandon what they loved, although they terrified them with many threats and tortured them with many punishments. ^C And to pass over Commodus, and Maximinus, and all the rest who reigned up to the time of Aurelian, Carus, and Carinus, who is ignorant of the madness of Diocletian, Maximian, Maxentius, Maximinus, and Licinius against the Christian piety? For they did not attack the Christians one by one, or by twos or threes, but slaughtered them in droves, by the thousand and tens of thousands. In some cities, they even set fire to churches filled with men, women, and children; and on the very day of the saving Passion, in which we celebrate the memory of both the Passion and the Lord's Resurrection, they destroyed all the churches that were within the boundaries of the Roman empire. ^D However, they demolished the structure and fabric of stones, but they did not subvert the piety of souls. As for what things were attempted against the Christians in the times of Julian, those more advanced in age know; and we too have heard those who saw it narrating that tragedy. Moreover, though all these men were so many in number, and ruled over such a great empire, and broke the audacity of so many Barbarians, and were renowned for deeds of war, they could not prevail against manual laborers, the uneducated and the very poor, and women seeking their living by wool and weaving, with numberless

^A devices. And what shall I say of men and women? They could not drive out the opinions concerning God and our Savior even from youths who had only been taught the rudiments. And though they acted like the Corybantes, raging and fuming, and employed numberless artifices and sophistries, they did not abolish the laws of the fishermen; rather, by attacking them, they rendered them much stronger. They were exactly like those who want to extinguish a flame, but pour oil upon it, and make it burn more vehemently. For in this way, too, those who undertook war against piety made the strength of the truth more manifest. And just as once upon a time the fire was burning that bush but not consuming it, so the weapons of the assailants did not consume those who were attacked. But ^B just as when woodcutters cut down a forest, far more branches sprout from the roots than those which are cut away, so too, at that time, as the Christians were being slain, many more were coming over to the evangelical doctrine, and that blood of those who were slaughtered became a kind of irrigation for the new converts. And the things we witness bear testimony to this; for those who now take pride in the name of the faith are ten thousand times more numerous than those who believed of old. For the children of the enemies, having loathed the madness of their parents, have passed over into the phalanx of those who were attacked. The things of the Greeks have vanished and been handed over to eternal oblivion, while the things of the fishermen have blossomed, and the God who was preached by them is believed to be the God of all. And the cities are full ^C of those who believe these things, and the villages are full, and the mountains are free from the error. For instead of those altars and that ancient deceit, choirs of ascetics inhabit these places, praising the Crucified One, and his Father, and the all-holy Spirit.

But if anyone supposes that the piety of the emperors lent strength to the dogmas of the fishermen, this very fact shows how great the force of those dogmas was. For they would not have despised the ancient laws, and the written monuments of their ancestors, and long-established custom, and the institutions of their fathers, if they had not admired the truth of the former and hated the fables of the latter. Why then do you not call to mind the past wars against the Church? For by them you will easily dissolve that opinion. For if so many and such great emperors ^D

^A arranged themselves with all their might against the Church, and brought against it machines of every kind, yet did not effect even the slightest tremor in its walls, then he is surely a foolish and utterly stupid man who does not suppose the power of the fishermen to be divine, but imagines it to have been increased by imperial power. But that this may become clearer to you, learn what is now being dared by the Persians. For what kind of slaughter against the pious has not been devised by them? Are there not skinning, the cutting off of hands and feet, the mutilation of ears and noses, bonds invented for the excess of pain, and pits ^B prepared with extreme care and stuffed with the largest mice, which devour those bound within? And yet, although they have devised such torments and others many times greater than these against those who are pious, they indeed mangle and maim their bodies and utterly destroy them, but they cannot plunder the treasure of their faith. And while they compel all their subjects to submit to their other laws, they do not persuade the faithful to renounce the laws of the fishermen. Rather, the Persians, who formerly lived according to the laws of Zaradas, and who—O the shame—mingled without fear with their mothers, sisters, and even daughters, and considered this illegality to be a law, once they heard the legislation of the fishermen ^C, they trampled upon the laws of Zaradas as an illegality and embraced evangelical temperance. And those who had learned from that same man to expose their dead to dogs and birds, now cannot be induced to do this, for the faithful do not allow it, but bury them in the earth, and they do not care for the laws that forbid them to do this, nor do they tremble at the cruelty of those who punish them; for they fear the judgment seat of Christ much more, and, while they see and laugh at the things that are visible, they ponder and fear the things that are not seen. And they received these laws from Galilean men; and they did not fear the power of the Romans, but submitted to the kingdom of the Crucified. ^D Neither Augustus nor Trajan, who overthrew their dominion, could compel them to live according to the Roman laws; but the writings of Peter and Paul and John and Matthew and Luke and Mark they revere as though they had been brought from heaven, and the natives have become subject to the laws of foreigners and strangers. The Massagetae, too, who formerly considered those who did not die by a violent death to be the most miserable of men, and who for this reason had established a law to sacrifice and feast upon those who had grown old, once they heard the laws of the fishermen and of the tentmakers, loathed those abominable feasts and slaughters. The Tibareni, also, who were once accustomed to throw their old men headlong from the highest cliffs, having received the evangelical law, annulled this most iniquitous law. Nor indeed do the Hyrcani or the Caspii any longer feed dogs for the purpose of a human

^A corpse-devouring and slaughter. And the Tibareni, who were accustomed to push their elders off the deepest cliffs, brought this most iniquitous law to an end, having hearkened to the evangelical laws. No longer do the Hyrcani or the Caspii feed dogs with the bodies of the dead, nor do the Scythians bury the living together with those who have departed, whom they loved. Such a change in customs did the fishermen bring about.

And these men persuaded even the barbarian nations to live according to the laws handed down by them; but Plato, the best of the philosophers, having written laws, did not even persuade his own fellow-citizens, the Athenians, to regulate their state according to his prescriptions. And very rightly so; for they are truly laughable. And that no one may suppose that I am slandering the philosopher, listen, O men, to what he has ^B legislated. For having commanded that women—not only the young, but also those advanced to a senile age—should exercise in the gymnasium in the nude, and then seeing those who were conversing about this breaking into laughter, he took the floor and said: "The man who laughs at women nude, who are exercising for the best possible cause, as he reaps the fruit of wisdom from a ridiculous situation, does not even know, as it seems, at what he is laughing." And again: "This, my discourse, would say the same things regarding females as it does regarding males, that it is necessary for the females to practice the same things." And fearing nothing, I might say this word, that neither the art of horsemanship nor gymnastics would be a fitting thing for men if it were not also fitting for women. And who, hearing these things, would not ^C reasonably laugh? For nature has distributed to each gender what is appropriate: to women, spinning; to men, agriculture and the experience of war. By this division, indeed, Homer also makes use. For he has made Hector in the epics say to Andromache:

Go to thy house and busy thee with thine own duties, The loom and the distaff, and bid thy handmaidens Ply their work; but war shall be the care of men.

But the philosopher seemed not to know even this division of the poets, but commanded that women exercise and ride horses in the nude. And the things that follow in Plato are consistent with the former. For he says thus: "Let a judge, inspecting, decide what age is appropriate for celebrating nuptials: and for this reason let him inspect the males nude, and the females nude down to the navel." But he who ordained these things does not appear to recall what the wife of King Candaules once said. For she, when ordered by her husband to show her nude body, very wisely replied: "A woman, when she takes off her tunic, together with it takes off her shame." Therefore, the philosopher strips the brides of their modesty and teaches impudence. And in the tenth book of the Laws he wrote similar things. "For the sake of such a thing," he says,

^A that a discipline be established, so that both boys and girls may perform dances, observing and being observed, and—together with reason and at an age that has appropriate and plausible causes—we allow both these and those to be stripped, as long as the modesty and decency of each person is preserved."

But I see significant ruin arising from this, and no advantage coming from it. For not only were they trained in impudence, being stripped and viewing stripped men, but they also afforded many opportunities for incontinence to one another. For the sight of bare bodies provoked both men and women to illicit love.

But so that we do not appear to be railing against the philosopher rather than refuting him by laying bare the damage flowing from these laws in every respect, let us pass on to the noble laws of marriage, using moderate reproofs. ^B Let us hear him, therefore, speaking thus in the *Republic*: "‘Of all these men, wives are to be common, and no one is to live privately with any man; and the children, in turn, are to be common, and neither is a parent to know his own offspring, nor a child his parent.’ Then he adds: ‘One person, therefore, I said, the legislator, just as he chooses the men, so also he will hand over the women, to the extent possible, to those of a similar nature. And they, seeing that they possess homes and common meals, and that no one possesses anything of the sort privately, will ^C live together continuously. Mixed together promiscuously, both in the gymnasia and in other occupations, they will be driven, I suppose, by an innate natural appetite, toward mutual intercourse. Or do I not seem to you to be saying necessary things?’ ‘Not by geometric, he replied, but by erotic necessities, which are likely to be sharper than those for convincing and pulling along the common crowd.’"

That the philosopher ordered wives to be common, there is no need for long arguments for refutation. For he himself has declared it in direct terms, and has invented the necessity for common intercourse. For he said that by living in common, dining in common, and exercising in common, they will be impelled by innate desire toward mutual intercourse. And this indeed declares the children born to be common, ^D as each one fearlessly consorts with those he happens upon, and they consider that which is born of these to be their own. Having understood this, the interlocutor, when Socrates had said: "‘Or do I not seem to you to be saying necessary things?’" replied: "‘Not by geometric, but by erotic necessities, which are likely to be sharper than those for convincing and pulling along the common crowd.’"

I, for my part, marvel at the impudence of those who nowadays wish to interpret Plato’s words—or rather, to misinterpret them; for they say that he did not legislate common intercourse, but a friendly communion, and not...

^A listening to him saying: "And sharing with one another dwellings and banquets and gymnasia, they will be led by necessity and by natural desire to mutual intercourse." But perhaps, blushing at the ridiculous laws of the philosopher, they attempt to hide their master’s blunder; but they ought to have remembered his words, that "man is a friend, but truth is a friend; and though both are dear, truth is dearer." Let us, then, listen to his other laws as well. For these, too, are his: "For a woman, I would say, it is fitting to bear children for the city from her twentieth year until her fortieth; and for a man, once he has passed the peak of his swiftest race, to beget children for the city until his fifty-fifth year." But these do not contain any manifest ruin; yet the things that follow are worthy not only of laughter but of tears, and of a fire to consume such illustrious laws. For he says the following: "But when the women and the men have passed the age for childbearing, we shall allow them to associate with whomever they wish, providing only that they take care not to bring into the light any fetus that has been conceived; but if any by force of action transgress this, they are to dispose of it so that there is no nourishment for such a one." Which Echetus or Phalaris has legislated such things? Or who has ever dared such murders, as if they were lawful acts? For by ordering that they not be brought into the light, he is surely commanding that infants be done away with by abortive drugs; and those who have survived the power of the lethal potion and have been brought into the light, he orders them to be exposed in such a way that they do not enjoy even the slightest care, but perish by hunger or cold, or become the prey of wild beasts. What peak of cruelty do these things not surpass?

^C Such, then, were his laws regarding marriage and the procreation of children; what he teaches regarding the other sort of incontinence is easy for anyone who wishes to learn. For those who embrace unnatural lewdness, he has supposed both to be blessed here and has asserted that they will be equally blessed after departing from this life. "For they receive," he says, "no small reward for their love. For there is still a law for those excluded from the heavenly journey to go into the darkness and the journey under the earth, traveling together and using the same wings for the sake of love." Then, after these things, he concludes thus: "O boy, and thus shall the friendship of a lover bestow upon you divine gifts." And he says these things not concerning those who are temperate, but concerning those who...

are ^A licentiously in love; and it is easy to learn these things from his dialogues. Such a law, however, neither Nero, the most shameful king of the Romans, nor Sardanapalus the Assyrian, notorious for his pleasures and luxuries, ever wrote or ever praised. For I think that even those who are excessively enslaved to voluptuousness do not praise the passion, but are slaves to it, having made a habit of it through time. And what need is there to speak of all the laws he enacted in violation of the law concerning murders? For he orders that he who kills his own slave be considered innocent, but that he who kills another’s slave in anger pay only a fine; and he decrees that he who kills a free man in anger be exiled for only two years; and he orders him who kills by treachery to be exiled for three years; and as for him who commits the same acts after his exile, he punishes him with perpetual exile alone. He has enacted similar punishments for children who kill parents, and parents who kill children, ^B and husbands who kill wives, and wives who kill husbands.

But the philosopher wrote down such laws as these, and has persuaded no human being—not a citizen, not a foreigner, not an urbanite, not a rustic, not a Greek, not a barbarian, not a slave, not a freeman, not a man, not a woman, not a youth, not an old man, not one educated in letters, not one uninitiated in learning—to live according to these laws. But I, in turn, shall now recite the laws which the fishermen, the tax-collectors, and the tent-maker have presented to all men. And you, placing those and these side by side, marvel at the divine rays of the latter. For the philosopher admired even licentious pederasty, and pointed out the thrice-blessed prizes of this; ^C but our Savior punishes not only the licentious act, but even the look of such a kind. "For whoever," He says, "has looked at a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart." And while he (the philosopher) decreed that it was safe and permitted to share in the wives of others, the Creator of nature, because when He created human nature He formed one man and one woman from the beginning, forbids the dissolving of the marriage, and has assigned one sole cause for dissolution, that which truly tears asunder the bond. "For everyone," He says, "who puts away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries her who is put away commits adultery." And through these {words} He commands one to bear all the faults of a wife, even if she be a babbler, even if she be a drunkard, even if she be most prepared for ^D scolding; but if she should transgress the laws of marriage and look toward another, only then does He command that the bond be broken. He established similar laws again through Paul, and he, writing the Epistle to the Corinthians, has

^A brought these laws before all people. "It is good," he said, "for a man not to touch a woman; but because of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband." Do you see how great the difference is ^B between the laws of the philosopher and those of the leather-cutter? For the latter commanded that each woman possess her own husband, and each man his own wife; but the former held that all women should be common to all men. And when laying down laws concerning continence, he does not permit the wife to flee from the husband's intimacy if he does not consent to it, nor the husband if the wife does not approve. "For the wife," he says, "does not have authority over her own body, but the husband; likewise, the husband also does not have authority over his own body, but the wife. Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by consent." He considers one to be defrauded of power if they observe continence against the will of their spouse. Then, gradually leading them to more perfect things, he added: "For a time, that you may have leisure for fasting and prayer; and come together again into the same." Thus, having measured the laws to nature, he also states the cause: "Lest Satan tempt you." And in order to teach that he takes the occasion to tempt us from ourselves, he added: "Because of your incontinence." And concerning celibacy, ^C not giving commands but advice, he showed how great is the usefulness of that state of life. "He who is unmarried," he says, "is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but he who is married is concerned for the things of the world, how he may please his wife." He said these same things also concerning women, teaching that virginity provides a life free from cares.

Marvel, O men, at the tongue of the leather-cutter, and worship Him who spoke through it. And if you wish, examine also the laws concerning murders and parricides. For the philosopher did not even order the murderer of a father to suffer the punishment of retaliation, but our Savior punishes even unseasonable insult ^D and movement of anger that is aroused unjustly. "For everyone," He says, "who is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be in danger of the council; but whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be in danger of hell fire." He also threatened that he will demand an account for idle words. And He commanded not only to do good to friends, but also to enemies. "For love," He says, "your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." After these things, He also points out the reward, far exceeding the dignity of those who strive. "That you may be," He says, "sons of your Father who is in heaven, who causes to rise

upon the evil and the good, and rains upon the just and the unjust." And when He established laws concerning oaths, He forbade the taking of oaths entirely, saying that it was sufficient for the confirmation of what is said that it be "Yes" and "No." Moreover, He declared that a life of poverty is the most perfect. "For whoever," He says, "does not renounce all his possessions cannot be My disciple." Yet, even while legislating such a rigorous manner of life, He did not promise to bestow anything delightful or ^B pleasant in this life; rather, He promised poverty, misery, reproach, scourgings, and various kinds of slaughter. "For in the world," He said, "you shall have tribulation." And: "Blessed are you when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake; rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in heaven." He showed both the labors and the dangers, but promised that He would bestow the rewards and the crowns after the end of this life. And in another place He says: "If they have ^C persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My word, they will also keep yours." And again: "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of His household?"

The laws, then, are of this sort; but it is truly right to admire those divine men, and likewise those who believed in them. For when hearing such words, and having received from Him who called them neither wealth, nor power, nor bodily strength, but having believed in long-standing promises of things that were not seen, they embraced ^D labors and endured dangers, and traversing the inhabited world, brought the teachings to the nations. But it is no less fitting to praise those who received them, because, seeing nothing illustrious or noteworthy in the heralds—but only the tongues of fishermen and leather-workers, and extreme poverty (for they did not even have an abundance of necessary food; for whence could they have it, who were forbidden by law even to be anxious about the morrow?)—they not only believed what was said, but also despised the laws by which they had lived until that day, renounced their ancestral customs, and themselves also lived their remaining time in the midst of dangers, preaching in the same manner as their teachers, and suffering the same insults and outrages, and traveling through the same storms and billows. Yet so great is the reverence that men then had, and that all now possess, for those who risked their lives even unto death, that they consider their tombs to be treasuries, from which all sorts of good things are derived. Observe, therefore, O men, the power of these laws. For these, both Romans, and Persians, and those who

eir tombs to be treasuries, from which all sorts of good things are derived. Observe, therefore, O men, the power of these laws. For these, both Romans, and Persians, and those who ^A live outside their rule, in striving exceedingly to abolish them, have shown their own weakness, but have rendered the power of these laws more manifest. No one has waged war against the laws of Lycurgus and Solon, but they have collapsed of their own accord. And neither the Pythian [god] nor the City-Guardian [Athena] preserved the laws which they themselves had set, but as soon as the Romans commanded it, they were extinguished. Let anyone of you, O men, point out even one Spartan who consented to die for the laws of Lycurgus, or one Athenian for the laws of Solon, or a Locrian for those of Zaleucus, or a Cretan for those of Minos; but none of you could point this out. We, however, point out many myriads of men and women who have willingly encountered death for the laws of the fishermen and of Paul. The temples raised for the martyrs are witnesses of this, which both adorn cities and brighten regions, and provide great advantages to both foreigners and natives. Since, therefore, the difference between the laws themselves and the lawgivers has been made clear by comparison, and some have been seen to be the inventions of human reasoning, while others have been given from God and are saving, receive, O men, these divine gifts, and do not despise the bountiful and generous Giver. You will know the surpassing dignity of these laws more accurately if, having driven the wicked opinion from your minds, you unfold these words of ours.

SERMON X. On true and false oracles.

Those who affect tyranny invade a power that by no right belongs to them. They indeed usurp royal trappings—the purple, the crown, the throne, the chariot, and the bodyguards—yet they are unwilling to imitate royal manners. For they do not desire to be called gentle fathers, but harsh masters; nor benevolent guardians, but most severe leaders. Whence it happens that often the legitimate kings defeat them, being moved by compassion for those oppressed by them; and often also soldiers and citizens, not enduring their pride, strip them of their tyranny. The most wicked demons have both done and suffered the same thing. For having abandoned the station they had been assigned, and fleeing the most gentle dominion of the Creator, they seized a tyranny, and flying toward the divine name, they called themselves gods, and persuaded foolish men to offer divine worship to them. Then, in order to confirm the tyranny they had seized, they boasted that they knew and could predict future events, driving easily captured men into fraud by this method above all. Wherefore they erected factories of deceit everywhere in the world, and ^{B C D}

pres^Acribed methods of divination, such as flour-divination, breast-divination, and necromancy; and the fountain of Castalia, and the stream of Colophon, and the sacred oak, and the Dodonaean cauldron, and the tripod of Cirrha, and the Thesprotian caldron. In Libya there is the oracle of Ammon; in Dodona, that of Zeus; among the Branchidae, and at Delos, and at Delphi, and at Colophon, there are those of Clarian, Pythian, Delian, and Didymaean Apollo; and at Lebadia, that of Trophonius; at Oropus, that of Amphiaraus; and in the lands of the Tyrrhenians and Chaldaeans, the most obscure caverns for necromancy. Elsewhere there are those of Amphilochus, elsewhere of Glaucus, and in another place of Mopsus, and of other infamous men.

That these oracles were of most wicked demons who had stolen the divine name, the silence now imposed upon them is sufficient proof. ^B For after the manifestation of our Savior in the flesh, those who introduced these deceits to men took flight, unable to endure the brilliance of the divine light. Plutarch of Chaeronea bears witness to this quite clearly—a man who was not a Hebrew, but a Greek both by race and by language, and indeed enslaved to Greek opinions, and accurately acquainted with the deceit of the oracles. For Delphi, Lebadia, and Oropus are not far from Chaeronea, but are neighbors and share the same territory. This man wrote many other things—for he was a learned man and very experienced—and among others, he wrote concerning divination and titled his book, *On the Oracles that have Ceased*. In this book, then, among many other things, he also said this: "That it is not gods, who ought to be far removed from earthly regions, who preside over the oracles, but demons, the servants of gods, does not seem to me to be ill stated; but to suppose that these demons ^C should take—as it were—a drachma from the verses of Empedocles, and bring about faults and follies and errors, and finally even deaths, as if they were men, I consider to be rather bold and barbarous."

These words were not spoken by a prophet of ours, nor by an apostle, nor by any other of those who have believed in Christ and have been eager to hold their convictions, but by a man who, while trained in every discipline, was yet enslaved to the ancient error of the philosophers. This is what he said: first, that those who gave the responses were demons, not gods; then, that the temple attendants of these demons, being seized and possessed by them, used to sell their oracles for payment. And that they predicted nothing true; but concerning those same ones whose spirit they boasted dwelt within them, they uttered many serious and harsh things, not only harms and deceits, but even deaths, such ^D as men suffer. Yet they do not [speak] these verses from any fury...

^A or possession, but by filching from the poetry of Empedocles. The following passage also bears the same meaning; for he says: "And concerning the mysteries, from which one may derive the greatest indications and proofs of the truth regarding the nature of demons, let silence be observed by me, in accordance with Herodotus; but as for festivals and sacrifices, just as on inauspicious and gloomy days, in which there is the eating of raw flesh and the rending of limbs, and fasts and wailings, and in many places again, obscene language at the sanctuaries, and other manias of those who are stirred up and toss their heads with tumult—I would say that these are performed for no god, but for the averting of evil demons, providing a consolation in place of the slaughter of men that was once sacrificed to them."

In the foregoing discussions, he said that those oracles were not of the gods, but of the demons; but here he even called them malignant, deriving most manifest proofs from their own actions. For to whom do raw feasts, and the rending of limbs, and shameful words or deeds, and the frenzies of those in tumult, and the ^B tossing of heads with clamor, belong, if not to the evil demons that infest the human race? For they, in days of old, as most wicked beings, took delight in the slaughter of miserable men; but after they saw that men loathed such slaughters, which those [demons] craved, and abstained from them, they devised scourging, raw feasts, and other rites of this kind. To the things already said, he also added this: "When Ammonius had finished speaking, 'Tell us rather,' I said, 'O Cleombrotus, something about the oracle. For great was the ancient fame of the divinity there, but now it seems to have withered away completely.' But as Cleombrotus remained silent and looked down at the ground, 'It is not right,' said Demetrius, 'to inquire about the affairs of that place, nor to doubt whether the oracle there has vanished, when we see that ^C everywhere, with the exception of one or two, all the oracles have failed.'"

Plutarch wrote these things after the advent of our God and Savior. Therefore, the very time makes manifest the cause of why the oracles ceased. But Porphyry also, in the book which he wrote *On the Philosophy from Oracles*, says these things as well: "But even an exact knowledge of the movement [of the stars?], and the accounts derived from these things, are incomprehensible to men; and not only to these, but also to some of the demons; whence they are often found to be lying when questioned about many things." Since, therefore, O men, when we discourse about your oracles, you are unwilling to put faith in us, believe at least him who is most hostile to us, but most friendly to you. For this being is implacable to us ^D

^A and has undertaken an open war against piety. Yet this man says that the demons who preside over what are called oracles are liars. That he calls these same beings gods, and attributes astrology to them rather than any divine foreknowledge, he has shown in the same book. For he says these things: “For what the gods say, if they say them as being aware of what is fated, they indicate from the motion of the stars; and this almost all the truthful among the gods have made known.” But those whom he here called gods, he ^B has denied are gods again in this same book, and not in another. For having set down the oracle of Apollo—which teaches how one must sacrifice to the subterranean gods, how to the terrestrial, how to the marine, and how to the celestial and ethereal—he refutes this as foolish, saying that “those who delight in having animals sacrificed to them are not to be considered gods; for it is the most unjust, impious, abominable, and harmful thing of all to sacrifice living creatures, and therefore not even pleasing to the gods.” Then he introduces Theophrastus saying that sacrifices involving animals are not appropriate for gods, but for demons. He also mocks the ancient human ^C sacrifices and recounts how they were used by many. Having then taught that it was by the command of evil demons that these things were wont to be done, he adds: “Therefore a prudent and temperate man will beware of using such sacrifices, through which he would draw such beings to himself; he will strive by all means to purge his soul, for they do not approach a purified soul.” But the Pythian contradicts the views of Porphyry. He orders him who seeks a response from the oracle to offer certain ransoms to the evil demon, namely libations, a pyre, black blood ^D and dark wine; and having added such things, he taught [him] the prayer which one sacrificing must offer: “Demon who has obtained the kingdom of sinful souls, Below the vault of heaven, yet above the earth.” These things Porphyry has set down in the same book, refuting him as not being God, and establishing his own argument that those who delight in sacrifices are not gods. And lest anyone suspect that he is inventing these things falsely, he has prefaced [this section] with an oath regarding the book. “For I call the gods to witness,” he said, “that I have neither added anything nor taken anything away from the meaning of the oracles, unless I have corrected some faulty word, or changed it for the sake of greater clarity, or added the missing meter.” By these words he also accuses the Pythian of ignorance; for not only did he correct the erroneous words, and [explain] those that were clearer...

but he also supported the lameness of the verses which the Pythian had brought forth through his prophets. ^A Moreover, Diogenianus likewise refutes the falsehood of the gods who utter oracles. He speaks as follows: “That the so-called prophets fail in most things, the entire life of men can bear witness, and they themselves too, who profess the art of divination.” And after a few words: “Now, I will just add this to what has been said, that if the so-called prophets ever happen to speak the truth in their predictions, it would be the work of a fortuitous cause, not of knowledge. For we have previously determined that if someone occasionally attains their proposed end—not always, nor for the most part, nor as if from knowledge—we should call it the work of fortune, distinguishing by separate names the evident conceptions of our mind.” ^B That Porphyry also affirms the same, namely that the gods who utter oracles are forced by men to make their predictions, is easy for anyone who wishes to learn from that very book which he entitled *Philosophy from Oracles*; for he inserted the very words of the gods themselves. He says, therefore, that Hecate, having been called by a certain man, responded thus: I have come, moved by the sound of your wise prayer, Which the race of mortals discovered by the counsel of the gods. And again, chiding the one who had called her: What need, she says, of us do you have, ^C That you have bound Hecate with fatal necessities to your roof? And Apollo also cries out: Hear those things which, though unwilling, I shall tell you, and which I tell under compulsion. And again: Release the king now; no mortal can hold a god any longer. By these words, Porphyry shows that even those who have usurped the name of God for themselves—human arts are more powerful than them, and impose necessity upon them. For they draw them down from heavenly places and keep them bound in lower ones, ^D so that they cannot depart until they are released by men. Many other countless such things can be found in the same writer, which demonstrate the weakness of the demons. And how many evils their divinations bring, anyone who reads our account will easily recognize. For when Athens was pressed by famine, the Pythian gave the response that it would not cease until the Athenians sacrificed seven virgins and as many youths to Minos. Furthermore, the puzzling obscurities of the oracles have brought destruction to many. For Aristomachus...

having misconstrued the Stengyra, ^A left behind the strait and the triremes, and having attacked by way of the isthmus, he met his end, having suffered a defeat. But it was fitting for the vaticinating god, if indeed he had knowledge of the future, not to shroud the oracle in the gloom of darkness; yet he craftily gave an ambiguous prediction so that his falsehood might not be easily detected. This very thing also led Croesus to disaster. For Croesus, he says, "crossing the Halys, shall destroy a great empire." ^B But he did not reveal which one, whether his own or that of his enemies, so that whether he won or was defeated, he could not accuse the prophet. And the Pythian did these things after having received from him most precious gifts. Therefore, one of two things must be the case: either he is arrogant or most ungrateful. For he either vaunts that he foresees what he does not know, or, being aware of future events, he deliberately inflicts injury upon those who were eager to worship him. He employed similar evasions also when Julian ^C was leading his army against the Persians: "For now, he said, we all, the gods, have arrived at the river named for a wild beast, to carry off the trophies of victory. Of these, I shall be the leader, fierce Gradivus, the whirlwind of war." He did something similar also in the case of the Athenians. For indeed, since Xerxes had marched against them with many myriads, the envoys of the Athenians ran to him; and he began his response concerning the oracles thus: "O wretched ones, why do you linger and sit idly?" ^D This indeed plainly convicts him of ignorance. For if he had truly foreseen the victory, he would surely not have called them wretched, but most blessed. For they defeated three thousand two hundred Persian ships and three thousand myriads of men. They were therefore victors and most renowned, not wretched and most miserable, they who would raise up a famous and much-told-of trophy. Then he counseled them to flee, foreshadowing the weakness of the city's guardian goddess: "For Pallas," he said, "cannot appease great Zeus, though she beseeches him pouring forth imploring words." To this, what follows is directly contrary. For after having said that Zeus is not persuaded by Athena while she entreats him, as if retracting his words, he soon adds: "Zeus, the high-thundering, grants to the daughter of Triton a wooden wall." And to those whose hopes were poised on a razor's edge, he did not quickly point out any clear path of safety, but he veiled his own ignorance with the ambiguity of the oracles.

^A Likewise, the end of the oracle itself is similar:

*O Salamis, and you shall destroy the offspring of women,* *Either when chosen Ceres meets, or when she is scattered in the fields.*

For he was ignorant, as he showed, of who was to fall, whether the Persians or the Athenians. On this account he mentioned only women, but he kept silent about their nation and homeland. And of the words, *either when chosen Ceres meets, or when she is scattered in the fields*, these are the words of one who is entirely ignorant of the time of victory. Elsewhere, however, Themistocles, using prudence and courage, did not permit the falsehood of the oracle to be completely exposed; however, he did not show the Athenians to be miserable, but blessed. But to the Lacedaemonians and the Cnidians, the oracles of this one brought defeat to some, and slavery to others. And he boasts that he gave to Lycurgus the legislator those most cruel and shameful laws. For when he arrived at Delphi, he spoke these things:

*You come, O Lycurgus, to my rich temple,* *Dear to Zeus and to all who inhabit the halls of Olympus.* *I am in doubt whether to call you a god or a man.* *But I have even more hope, O Lycurgus, in a god.* *You come seeking good laws; and I will surely give them to you.*

^B What kind of laws this man established, we have revealed in the previous discourse. For he legislated the expulsion of foreigners, and he permitted the wanton loves of boys and illicit unions with women, and he overturned the marriage laws. And the most wise and most musical prophet himself declares he is the inventor of these laws, and calls him a god who promulgated them; and he confesses that he does not know whether one ought to call him a god or a man. And though he wished to give him the more honorable title, he did not give it as a god, but said "I hope," like a man. This same one also praises the Lacedaemonian women, who mingled freely with whomever they wished, and he says:

*In all the cities, Pelasgic Argos is best,* *Thracian horses, and the women of the land of the Lacedaemonians,* *And the men who drink the water of fair Arethusa are praised.*

This same one also called Archilochus, who was a most obscene poet, famous and immortal, and he gave this response to his father:

*Immortal shall your son be, O Telesicles,* *And he shall be the most famous among mortals.*

^D And to Homer he said:

*O you both happy and most miserable,* *The one indeed on account of the misfortune of blindness, the other on account of the poetry composed by him, which he deemed most perfect, because of which Plato judged that he should be driven from the city, like swallows, after being sprinkled with ointment. This one also commanded that the boxer Cleomedes be honored with divine honors.

^A “The last of the heroes,” he says, “is Cleomedes of Astypalaea, / Whom you honor with sacrifices, as one no longer mortal.” How many murders this man dared to commit, we have already stated before. He also gave this oracle to the Methymnaeans: “It will be much better for the inhabitants of Methymna, / If they honor the Phallos, the head of Dionysus.”

And the wisest of the gods is not ashamed—whom the poets called Phoebus, as though he were pure and undefiled—to give an oracle that the *acro-posthion* (the prepuce) of Dionysus should be honored. This one did not help his own temple when it was burning, but said that this lot had been received from the Fates, and he sang a monody, lamenting the misfortune. But I shall state the end of this [poem]: “Endure the unchangeable counsels of the Fates, / For the head of Zeus, the son of heaven, has consented to them, / That whatever they spin, it shall remain unshaken, ^B and irrevocable.” For it was fated that in the long passage of time, the very beautiful shrine / Should be subdued by the lightning sent down from Jove.

There are ten thousand other such ridiculous things to be found in his oracles. And not only did Porphyry collect these in his work *On the Philosophy from Oracles*, but also the Cynic Oenomaus, refuting the lies of the oracle-mongers.

I have mentioned Oenomaus, and Porphyry, and Plutarch, and Diogenian, and the others, for your sake, ^C since they who recount your own affairs to you are worthy of belief in your eyes. To us, however, the testimony of the facts themselves is sufficient, being of a most distinct voice, and openly convicting the falsehood of the oracles. For before the appearance of our Savior, while a kind of darkness was covering the world, those malignant demons—the enemies of mankind—like certain brigands and cutpurses, used ambushes and snares and every kind of net, hunting for the nature of men. But when the light of truth arose, ^D they all fled and abandoned their own shrines. Therefore, when He appeared, they cried out, “Away! What have we to do with Thee, Son of God? Hast Thou come hither before the time to torment us?” And others again besought Him not to cast them into the abyss. At Philippi, the spirit of Python cried out regarding the apostles, testifying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” Seeing, therefore, the proclamation of truth spreading everywhere, like fugitive soldiers who have committed many terrible and lawless deeds, and then sensing the presence of the King, they took flight and abandoned the places empty of their snares.

^A The King of the universe, however, has destroyed their strongholds. No longer do divinations take place at the waters of Castalia, nor does the fountain at Colophon prophesy, nor does the Thesprotian cauldron divine, nor does the Cirrhaean tripod utter oracles, nor does the Dodonaean bronze chatter, nor does that most famous oak speak. The Dodonaean is silent, the Colophonian is silent, as are the Delian, the Pythian, the Clarian, the Didymaean, and those at Lebadia, the cave of Trophonius, Amphilochus, Amphiaraus, Ammon, and the necromancy of the Chaldeans and Tyrrhenians. For He who rebukes the abyss, according to the prophet, and dries it up—He who says to the abyss, "You shall be left desolate, and I will dry up your rivers"—has commanded silence upon them. ^B And the Daphnaean Apollo, once he had caused the bones of our martyr to be moved elsewhere, was struck by a lightning bolt from heaven. For he did not allow him to prophesy anything or to continue leading men astray with his usual trickery. Just as the great Paul rebuked the spirit of Python, so the ashes of this martyr placed a bridle upon that most mendacious seer.

What kind of oracles your demons have, you have learned from your own philosophers. But as for what the God and Creator of the universe foretells, and how useful, beneficial, and radiant with the light of truth those things are, it is possible for anyone who wishes to know, if he but turns the pages of the Divine Scriptures. ^C I, however, shall relate but a few such predictions, that by comparison I may show the difference. First, I shall mention those which foretold the destruction of the idols. Hearken, then, to Isaiah the prophet saying: "In the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, and the house of God at the top of the mountains; and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall come to it. And many peoples shall walk and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will declare to us His way, and we will walk in it. For the law of God will go forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ^D And He shall judge between the nations, and shall rebuke many a people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; and nation shall not take up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to make war any more." You have heard, then, what the prophet has foretold. But, I ask you by the truth, tell me whether anything in these words appeared to you twisted or ambiguous. But I know you will not say so, for you respect the testimony of the very events themselves. For you see the outcome of the prediction clearly. Do you not see the loftiness of the Church, and all men bowing down in supplication to her, and rendering her honor? And most of them

willing, while others speak against her and serve under constraint? Do you not see the mountain peaks relieved of your defilement and adorned with the dwellings of monastics, and all men ^A flocking from every direction, and proclaiming as God the Word who appeared in Sion, and embracing the law that gushed forth from Sion, and wars having ceased, and instead of weapons of war using the tools of agriculture? Or are you unaware that at the time the prophet foretold these things, Jerusalem was ruled by one king, Samaria by another, and others by the Idumeans, and others again by the Moabites, and in turn others by the Ammonites? And the Arabs, and the Midianites, and the Amalekites were subject to other leaders; and Gaza, and Ascalon, and Azotus, and indeed also Sidon, and Tyre, and Damascus were governed by separate rulers. For it was not merely by cities, but even by villages that they were ruled. But immediately as our Savior was born according to the flesh, ^B Caesar Augustus gained control of everything, and having abolished the ethnarchies and petty kingdoms, he brought everyone under the sway of the Romans. Seeing these things in advance, the prophet foretold what has been said, and after a few words he described the abolition of hand-made idols: "For all hand-made things they shall hide, carrying them into the caves, and into the fissures of the rocks, and into the crevices of the earth, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his might, when he arises to crush the earth. For in that day a man shall cast out his abominations, the silver and the gold, which they made for themselves to worship as vanities and bats, to go into the crevices of the solid rock, and into the fissures of the rocks, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his might, when he arises [144—] to crush the earth." ^C It is not for us to provide the interpretation of this prophecy, but for you to marvel at the truth of the oracle, and to acknowledge what has frequently occurred among you. But do not blush, O men; for it is not the confession of sin that one should be ashamed of, but the commission of it. But if you yourselves do not wish to speak, yet all who have been eyewitnesses of the gods frequently buried in the earth, and then dug up by those who had been taught to be pious and brought into the light, are well aware of this. For some, enslaved by impiety, buried them, thinking they were helping the ^D gods; but others informed those who were searching for such things. And these, having dug them up and found them, brought them out to be seen in public, so that those who were called gods might be a laughingstock to women and youths. For they were images partly of reptiles, partly of quadrupeds. They worshiped the images of bats also, and of mice; and though they would kill the animals themselves, I say, snakes and scorpions, and mice and bats, yet they worshiped the images of these as gods.

^B But we have already spoken many words concerning these things; let us therefore learn the truth of other prophecies. The same prophet also says these things: “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: In that day a man shall trust in Him who made him; and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel. And they shall not trust in the altars, nor in the works of their hands, which their fingers have made, and they shall no longer look to the trees, and to their abominations.” ^C The prophet predicted these things more than a thousand years before Constantine reigned, after whose reign the shrines of the demons were destroyed. But that man filled with God saw things so far in the future as if they were present, and predicted events at such a great distance of time. As for the Dodonean and Pythian oracles, they did not even predict what was to happen three months hence, but issued uncertain oracles that slanted this way and that. Hear also what follows: “Turn back, you who have devised the deep and iniquitous counsel, O sons of Israel; for in that day ^D men shall cast away their hand-made idols of silver and gold, which their hands have made.” And again: “I am the first God, and I am for the times to come. The nations saw me and were afraid, the ends of the earth were amazed; they drew near and came together, each one judging to help his neighbor and his brother, and he shall say: The craftsman has prevailed, and the smith striking with a hammer, at the same time driving. Then indeed he shall say: It is a good joining; they strengthened it with nails, they will set it up, and it shall not be moved.” For they can neither stand unless they are nailed, nor move unless they are carried by others. And again: “Jacob is my servant, I will uphold him; Israel is my chosen, my soul has received him. I have given my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the nations; he shall not cry out, nor show slackness, nor shall his voice be heard outside; he shall not break a bruised reed, and he shall not quench smoking flax; but he shall bring forth judgment unto truth; he shall shine, and shall not be broken, until he shall set judgment upon the earth, and in his name shall the nations hope. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and fixed it, who established the earth and what is in it, and gives breath to the people who are upon it, and spirit to those who walk upon it. I the Lord God have called you in righteousness, and I will hold your hand, and will strengthen you. I have given you for a covenant of the race, for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead out of the bonds the

bound, and to lead those sitting in darkness out of the house of prison. I am the Lord God; this is my name. My glory I will not give to another, nor my virtues to graven things. ^B These words the God of all spoke as if to a man to the Master Christ, naming him Jacob and Israel from his visible nature; for from that lineage he sprang according to the flesh, and the writer clearly demonstrated his gentleness and the long-suffering he employed when he was mocked by the Jews. He said that he was given as a covenant of the race, for he had promised to the patriarchs, and to the Jews themselves, that he would grant salvation through him. He said also that he had risen as a light for the nations, so as to open the eyes of the blind, and to break the bonds of the shackled, and to deliver those sitting in the gloom of ignorance, as it were in a prison, from the darkness. He called those who are surrounded by the mist of ignorance, and those shackled by the chains of sin, the blind, the shackled, and those sitting in darkness. ^C That he thus named those enslaved by the deceit of superstition is testified by what follows: "For I," he said, "am the Lord God; this is my name. My glory I will not give to another, nor my virtues to graven things." For as soon as he appeared, he stripped them of the title which they had seized and placed upon themselves. And after a few words he said again: "The Lord God of hosts shall go forth to crush war and kindle zeal, and shall cry out against his enemies with power." Then he teaches why he had not done this long ago, and says: "I kept silent from the age; shall I also always be silent and endure? I have long suffered as a woman in labor; I will manifest and at once destroy and dry up." ^D Those were words of long-suffering, and these are of humanity. For suffering long from the beginning, he did not punish; then, using mercy, he called the wandering and scattered those who led them astray. "For I will destroy," he says, "and dry up at once. I will make deserts of mountains and hills; I will turn rivers into islands, and I will dry up the marshes." By these words he indicated the shrines of the idols which were in such places, all of which, after he appeared, he demolished and dried up like marshes. He adds furthermore: "And I will lead the blind in a way that they knew not, and I will make them walk in paths which they did not know." For they, while once wandering, were ignorant of the way of truth; but having found the apostles as hosts, leaders, and indeed ministers of light, they abandoned the paths of deceit and recognized the way of truth. "I will make darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight." For instead of the former darkness, that of the intellectual

^A light they partake, and having left behind the distorted paths, they walk in the straight one. Then, as if reproving those still wandering, he says: "Be ashamed with shame, you who trust in graven images, who say to molten things: You are our gods." And after a few words: "Behold I do new things, which shall now arise, and you shall know them; and I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in a dry land, to give drink to my elect race, my people whom I have acquired for myself, to recount my virtues." Now he has called his race those who have believed, of whom he was named the firstborn because of the flesh he assumed. That he said these things concerning the nations, what follows bears witness: "Hear, O islands, and attend, O nations; stand for a long time, says the Lord." That none of this is appropriate for the Jews, the very name of islands and nations testifies. And again: "Hear me, hear me, my people; and you kings, hearken to me; ^B for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light of the nations; my righteousness draws near quickly, and my salvation shall go forth as light; the islands shall wait for me, and in my arm shall the nations hope." By all these things he prophesied the salvation of the nations, and the evangelical law, and the light of divine knowledge, which he brought to all men through the holy apostles. He did not, however, mean the arm as a member of the human body (for the divine nature is simple and devoid of composition), but he indicated power figuratively. Since it is with their arms ^C that soldiers fight, and farmers work, and indeed all those who practice any craft, he rightly indicated by [the word] "arm" that power in which we trust, crying out: "I will not fear evils, for you are with me." And again he cries: "Behold, I have given him as a testimony among the nations, a prince and commander to the nations. Behold, nations that did not know you, shall call upon you; peoples who do not know you shall take refuge in you, for the sake of the Lord your God, and the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you." Seeing, therefore, Christ the Lord reigning over the inhabited world, and all the nations most gladly acknowledging his sovereignty, understand now the prophecy, and admire its truth. Hear also what follows: "And those ^D who are in the West shall fear the name of the Lord, and those who are in the East, his glorious name." And again: "I became manifest to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. I said: Behold I am, to a nation that did not call upon my name." And the whole prophecy is full of such words. But that we may also show the other prophets in harmony

^A listen to Jeremiah crying out: "In that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered together into it; and they shall no longer walk after the evil thoughts of their heart." Observe, O men, the agreement of the words, and see all people from every quarter running together to that city, which received the Lord’s and saving passion and which loathed the deception of idols and offered that same veneration to the Crucified. And of the same prophet, these words also [are written]: "Thus saith the Lord God: Stand upon the ways, and see, and ask for the ancient paths of the Lord, and see what the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find ^B sanctification for your souls. And they said: We will not walk [in it]. I set watchmen over you; hear the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hear. Therefore the nations heard, and those who feed the sheep among them." For the divine proclamations were first offered to the Jews, both by the prophets and by the apostles. But since they showed themselves stubborn, the divine gifts were granted to all the nations. And the God of the prophet calls the ancient prophets "ways," but the Savior and Lord Himself the "good way." For just as paths from the villages and fields lead into and move toward the royal highway, so did all the prophets point out this way to those willing to believe. And the Lord Himself cries out in the holy Gospels: "I am the way, and the life, and the truth." He exhorts the Jews, therefore, to read the oracles of the prophets and to seek what is heralded by them. And since they spoke against the prophecies, He sounded the apostolic trumpet. But because they said again, "We will not hear," the divine men cry out to them, as Luke recounts in the Acts: "It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken to you first; but since you judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, ^C henceforth we go to the nations." Again, however, the prophet foretells the salvation of the nations and cries to the God of all: "Lord, my strength, and my help, and my refuge in the day of evils, the nations shall come to you from the ends of the earth, and shall say: Surely our fathers have possessed vain and false idols, and there was no profit in them; shall a man make gods for himself, and they themselves not be gods?" What could be more manifest than these words? For as if present and beholding the change of the world, and as if hearing the nations who had turned to repentance and were mocking the weakness of idols, so he wrote down the oracle. ^D Now the prophet Amos predicts not only the salvation of the nations, but also the dispersion of the Jews, or rather, the God of all [speaks] through his tongue: "For behold, he says, I command, and I shall sift the house of Israel among all the nations, just as one sifts [grain] in a sieve."

And after a little: "In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David which had fallen, and I will rebuild its fallen parts, and I will rebuild its demolished parts; and I will rebuild it as in the days of old, so that the remnant of men and all the nations upon whom my name has been called may seek me, says the Lord who does all these things." If any of you wishes to know what this tabernacle is, let him hear the most holy John saying: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth." ^B Furthermore, Sophonias also cries out: "The Lord shall appear upon them, and he shall destroy all the gods of the earth; and they shall worship him, each from his own place, and all the islands of the nations." For because he had commanded the Jews to frequent the temple that is in Jerusalem, he necessarily added that, when the false gods had been removed from the midst, each would worship the true God, not being compelled to run to that city, but offering worship in their houses, and cities, and villages, and fields. And after a few things he says again: ^C "Then I will turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him under one yoke; from the borders of the rivers of Ethiopia they shall bring me sacrifices." For he divided the one tongue of the apostles, which was Galilean, into the languages of all the nations, and brought to all the saving calling. And indeed, he also foretells things consonant with these through Zacharias: "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Sion; for behold I come, and I shall dwell in your midst, says the Lord; and many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord in that day, and they shall be to him a people; and he shall dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you." ^D In these words the Only-begotten showed both his own person and that of the Father. He says he was sent because he appeared not as God, but as man; for it is fitting that he, having come, should fulfill justice for men, and demonstrate the lauded obedience. And again: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; preach, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King comes to you, just and saving; he is meek, and riding upon a beast of burden and a young foal. And he shall destroy chariots

^A from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and a multitude of peace from the nations; and he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. And after much more: «And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day the Lord shall be one, and his name one, encompassing all the earth and the wilderness.» Which of these things, O men, is obscured or stands in need of clarification? And which of the things said does not possess the testimony of the events themselves crying out?

Hear also what God of all said through Malachi to Israel: «I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord, and I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands; for from the sun’s rising even to its setting, my name is glorified among the nations; and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty; but you profane it.» ^B

Compare, friends, these words with the events themselves, and see both the contumacy of the Jews and the confession of the nations, and how everywhere on earth and sea a spiritual sacrifice is offered to the God of all; and praise Him who so clearly predicted these things. And if you wish, apply your eyes also to the oracles of Daniel, and Ezekiel, and Joel, and Micah, and Hosea, and the other prophets. For all of them indeed proclaim the salvation of the nations.

Moreover, God himself, in making covenants with the patriarch Abraham, promised that through his seed he would give the blessing to the nations. «For I will bless you,» he said, «and I will magnify your name, and you shall be blessed, and I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.» And he gave this promise to him not once, but also many times; indeed, even after his death he bestowed that same blessing upon his son Isaac, ^C and after him again upon Jacob. For because the Only-Begotten, having taken human nature from their seed, became man, and having become man and having fulfilled the dispensation, sent forth the apostles into the whole world, and commanded them to make disciples of all the nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, the nations, having believed, attained their salvation; therefore, with good reason did He bestow this blessing upon Abraham and those from him, both making manifest to them the things that were to come and demonstrating the greatness of the gift, and providing comfort with the hope of salvation to those who listen to the divine oracles.

And Jacob the patriarch, in blessing Judah, also made mention of the blessing of the nations. «For a ruler,» he said, «shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he comes for whom it is reserved; and he himself is the expectation of the nations.» And Moses the great ^D likewise exclaims: «Rejoice, O nations, with his people.» But who could easily compile the prophecies of divine David? For in the second psalm, assuming the person of our Savior: «The Lord,» he says, «said to me: My Son...

th his people.» But who could easily compile the prophecies of divine David? For in the second psalm, assuming the person of our Savior, he says: «The Lord said to me: My Son are you; I today have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and your possession the ends of the earth.» And in the eighth ^A he says: «O Lord our God, how wonderful is your name in all the earth! because your majesty has been raised above the heavens. Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise.» We see these things being fulfilled daily. In the ninth [psalm] again, he speaks to the God of all: «Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail; let the nations be judged in your sight. Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver ^B over them; let the nations know that they are men.» For since the human race had fallen into extreme insanity, he necessarily asks for a lawgiver to be given to them, so that they might both recognize their nature and cast off their beastly habits. And in the twenty-first: «All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations will worship before him: for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he himself rules the nations.» And what follows has the same meaning; for he predicts a new people [formed] from all the nations. And that I might omit the greater part, hear him directly in the forty-fourth psalm saying: «Instead of your fathers, your sons have been born; you will establish them as princes over all the earth.» And again in the forty-fifth: «Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.» ^C And the one that follows this entirely foretells the salvation of the nations: «For all you nations, clap your hands; shout to God with a voice of exultation. For the Lord is most high, terrible, a great king over all the earth.» But indeed, the forty-seventh, and the eighth, and the ninth, and I may say almost all the Davidic psalms, predict the change of the world, and proclaim both the calling and the faith of the nations, and furthermore the existence of our God and Savior that is before the ages, his birth from the Father, his birth from the Virgin, the miracles, the sufferings, the unbelief of the Jews, the resurrection from the dead, the ascension into heaven, the descent of the Holy Spirit, and ^D the course of the apostles through the whole world, by land and sea. And indeed all the other prophets predict these things. But I have considered it superfluous to collect all the predictions; for I would have need of many books if I were to describe them all, and of speaking about [them] each in turn.

of each, and saying what is fitting. But it is enough for you, if you wish, to discern the truth also from the other things you have heard. ^A For these are manifest and true, and are, as it were, clear images of the facts. Just as, therefore, one would be able to learn the art of the best painters more easily by comparing the painted image with the true and archetypal form, so it behoves you also to compare the prophecy, as a kind of idea previously outlined by the most wise painter, with the events themselves, now that it has obtained its end, and to contemplate the similarity, which admits of no variation. For formerly, before the prophecy received its end,2 it was a matter of no small labor to persuade the men of that time that the things which were predicted would come to pass. But now, when we see fulfilled what was long ago predicted, and that those words have become deeds, we have no labor in creating faith for our ears. For they have the testimony of the eyes, and Herodotus’s saying is superfluous to us, that “men’s ears are less faithful than their eyes”; ^B for our eyes surely see what our ears receive by hearing.

Since, therefore, you have heard a few prophecies and have seen the testimony of the events, compare, O men, the oracles of the prophets with your own, and cry out with the Apostle: “What partnership has light with darkness? Or what accord has Christ with Beliar? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” For the choirs of the prophets are the temples of God; but the idols, which the nations worshipped, are deaf and dumb, concerning which the divine Spirit says: “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have a mouth, but will not speak; they have eyes, but will not see; they have ears, but will not hear; they have noses, but will not smell; they have hands, but will not handle; they have feet, but will not walk; they will not cry out in their throat; for there is no spirit in their mouth. Let those who make them be like them, and all who trust in them.” But may it be granted to you, O men, to learn the truth, and not to suffer the punishment of the prophetic curse.

SERMON XI.

On the end and judgment.

^D Perhaps, O men, you have heard of that Aristippus, the grandson of that Aristippus who was a companion of Socrates. He, living with his mother as she practiced philosophy, partook to the greatest extent of philosophy. He also obtained a name derived from the event, for everyone called him Metro-didactos [taught by his mother]. But that was sufficient for him for...

acquiring philosophy; but you, although you have already heard so many prophets and apostles, and indeed also those who, following them, have flourished in doctrine, are nevertheless unwilling to learn the truth. ^A This affliction comes upon you because perhaps you consider these teachings to be useless. For they do not promise Syracusan delights, nor a relaxed and most soft kind of life, nor detestable riches and their slippery, Euripus-like flux, but sweats and labors and a life exposed to many hardships. For these things are clear to you, but the end of these things is not seen. For, being accustomed to behold only those things which are seen, you are unable to see the nature of those things which are not seen; for you lack those eyes of which faith is the creator. But I, as far as I am able and as far as you are capable of grasping, will manifest even these, using once again the torchlight of the divine oracles. It is, I think, useful to show even now, in parallel, the opinions of the philosophers and the dogmas of the divine Gospels, so that you may know what end they defined, and what end the divine words promise.

^B Epicurus, therefore, measured the end by living most pleasantly. For he thought that pleasure alone was the supreme good. Democritus the Abderite, the father of his dogmas, instead of pleasure, posited "desire," having made a change of names, not of dogmas. And Heraclitus the Ephesian shifted the designation, but left the meaning; for instead of pleasure, he posited "good-pleasure" [beneplacitum]. This definition, however, has another force. For he posited the good-pleasure indefinitely, but did not express the quality of it. For various and different are the opinions of men. If, indeed, temperance is pleasing to some, to others vice, its opposite, is pleasing; and to some, incontinence; to others, continence; and to these, a life given to iniquity and avarice; to others, one tenacious of justice. Therefore, that which is pleasing and sweet and desirable to each one, this he seemed to have defined as the end, having substituted the term "good-pleasure" for pleasure. ^C The widely-celebrated Pythagoras thought the ultimate good was in the most exact science of numbers; Hecataeus, in self-sufficiency; Antisthenes, in freedom from vanity; but Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, in the contemplation of life and the freedom which proceeds from it, establishing a definition fitting for a philosopher. For it is truly the greatest good to discern the nature of things, to despise those things which are fleeting, and to preserve the soul unenslaved and free. But Plato, the son of Aristo (Rep. p. 613 A), surpassed him in the height and magnificence of his definition; ^D for he defined the end of goods as being to be made like to God as far as is possible. Praise-worthy, therefore, is also the

^A exhortation which invites us to the imitation of divine things. Yet that addition, “as far as is possible,” renders the definition more admirable. For it is not possible that we should become like to God in every respect. For how could one who is visible be made like to the invisible, and one who is brief and circumscribed in a small space be made like to the uncircumscribed, who contains the creation? And again, one who is recent be made like to the eternal, and the creator of all things be made like to one who cannot even fashion a heaven of a single cubit's span? Therefore, it is impossible to imitate that nature, or that power, or indeed that wisdom; yet it is possible to express in some way certain types of His goodness, justice, gentleness, and philanthropy. For even the Lord Christ proposed this imitation to those longing for perfection: “Be ye,” He saith, “merciful, as your heavenly Father ^B is merciful; for He maketh His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and raineth upon the just and the unjust” d. And Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus, the teacher of Plato, was accustomed to call not him who flows with wealth and is carried by favorable winds, but him who is adorned with justice, happy; and he called those who separate the useful from the just impious, for he said that only the just is useful. But the orators did not wish to incline their ears to these words; for they said that what is just is something other than the useful, thus showing the useful to be in a certain way at odds with it; for what is unjust, of course, is separated from what is just; and what is unjust is harmful; but what is harmful cannot reasonably be called useful. Plato, then, and Socrates spoke things that are consistent and worthy of praise; but Aristotle, although he was a disciple of Plato’s teaching, ^C did not profit from these dogmas, but said that happiness is completed from a threefold category, from those things relating to the soul, from those relating to the body, and from external things; for he said that it was necessary for the happy man not only to be adorned with virtue, but also to have strength, and to shine in bloom of youth, and to flow with wealth; and that he who is deprived of any of these is in no way to be called happy. But this man, as it seems, followed rather the poet Simonides. For he said thus: To have health is best for a man; Second, to be born of beautiful form; And third, to be wealthy without guile. And Theognis ^D also urges that poverty be fled, and he says: It is necessary for him who flees poverty even into the vast-gulfed sea To cast himself, or from the steep crags, O Cyrnus. But the Stoics decreed the contrary to these openly:

^A for they defined the end of life as living in accordance with nature, and they said that the soul receives neither benefit nor detriment from the body. For neither does health compel an unwilling person to virtue, nor does sickness drag one into vice against one's will; for they said that these things are indifferent. But that other tenet of theirs is truly bold; for they asserted that the virtue of man and God is the same. Epicurus, however, walking the opposite path to these, defined human happiness as neither hungering nor thirsting; and he said that he who experiences these things could fight even with father Zeus: so much did the love of pleasure school him in impiety. For let no one look only at the name mocked by him, namely Zeus; for understanding that he was the God of all things, he dared such blasphemy. But this has befallen the wretch because he attributed everything to chance and atoms, and believed that all things are without a ruler and without care, and that they do not await an examination of their lives, but considers the constitution of men to extend only as far as the grave. ^B Plato, however, shows that judgments and punishments await those who have departed from this life, and he writes in the tenth book of the *Republic* (p. 615 C): "There stood by, men of savage aspect, fiery to behold, who, understanding the cry, seized some of them and led them away; but Aridaeus and others, having bound their hands and feet and head, threw them down and flayed them, and dragged them along the road outside, carding them over thornbushes." In the *Phaedo* also he writes things similar to these (p. 113 A): "For a third river," he says, "flows between them, and not far from its entrance it falls into a place great and burning with much fire, and makes a marsh larger than our sea, boiling with water and mud. ^C Thence it travels in a circle, murky and muddy, and winding about, it arrives at other places, and at the edges of the Acherusian lake; and it does not mingle with its waters. And having wound around many times under the earth, it pours out into the lower parts of Tartarus. This is the one which they name Pyriphlegethon; and it is from this that its streams throw off fragments wherever they happen upon the earth. And opposite this, again, a fourth falls into a place terrible and wild. It is said to have a color altogether like blue; which they name the Styx; and the marsh which the river makes as it flows in, they call the Stygian. ^D The river, having fallen into this, and having received some powers in the water, having gone under the earth, and winding around, proceeds contrary to the Pyriphlegethon, and meets it at the Acherusian lake from the opposite side. And not even its water mingles with any other, but this one also, having circled around, falls into Tartarus opposite to the Pyriphlegethon." And in order that I may not, by saying all things, grow too

^A long in my discourse, it is easy, o men, to take the dialogue itself into your hands, and to learn clearly from reading it how he establishes a tribunal, and how he determines due penalties for those who have sinned in small ways, and incurable torments for those who have committed many great acts of impiety. I will, however, recall a few things. He speaks thus: "But those who are thought to be incurable on account of the magnitude of their sins, whether they have committed many great acts of sacrilege, or many murders contrary to what is right and just, or other deeds of a like nature, a fitting fate casts these into Tartarus, from whence they never emerge. But those who are found to have committed sins that are curable, though great—as, for instance, those who in a fit of rage have committed some violent act against their father or mother, and who, having repented, have lived the rest of their lives according to that repentance, or those who have become murderers in some similar way—these must necessarily fall into Tartarus; but after they have fallen, and have spent a year there, the wave casts them out: the murderers, by way of the Cocytus; those who have sinned against their parents, by way of the Pyriphlegethon." After this he teaches how they cry out and beseech those whom they have wronged to grant them forgiveness; and then, ^B when those whom they have wronged refuse, how they are sent back again into the lake, where they continue to undergo the same torments. Having thus shown the places of punishment, he also reveals the regions of those who have lived well, in this manner: "But those who are thought to have excelled in living a life of holiness, these are they who are liberated and released from these places on earth as if from prisons, and arriving at that pure dwelling above, they establish their homes upon the earth. And of these very ones, those who have been sufficiently purified by philosophy live forever, for all time to come, without any labors, and they arrive at dwellings even more beautiful than these, which it is neither easy to describe, nor is the present time sufficient to relate them; but for the sake of these things which we have recounted, o Simmias, one must make every effort to partake of virtue and wisdom. For the prize is noble, ^C and the hope is great." In the *Gorgias* also, he says things of a similar nature: "Hear, then, a very beautiful discourse, which you, I suppose, will think is a fable, but I believe is the truth; for it is as a truth that what I am about to tell you should be recounted." And after a few words: "But him who has passed his life justly and piously, when he dies, [he says] that he goes to the isles of the blessed, to dwell in all blessedness, exempt from evils; but him who has lived unjustly and impiously, [he sends] to the prison of judgment and justice, which they call Tartarus." And again: "Then men must be judged naked of all these things. For it is necessary that they be judged dead; and the judge must be naked and dead, viewing the very soul of each person with his own soul, suddenly, when he has died, ^D bereft of all his kin, having left behind on earth all that ornament, so that the judgment may be just." Thus strictly and accurately

^A Plato was persuaded that there are places of judgment in Hades. For having resided in Egypt with the Hebrews, he had heard the prophetic oracles, and had learned of the river of fire which the divine Daniel relates that he witnessed. He had also learned the words of the divine Isaiah. For he speaks thus in a certain place concerning the punishments of the guilty: "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished." And again: "Who shall announce to you that fire is burning? Who shall announce to you the eternal place?"

Another many things to this effect can be found among the prophets. But the philosopher, taking some things from thence, and mixing in other things from the myths of the Greeks, wrote ^B his discourses on these matters. And the things that follow have the same intent. "For of the judges," he says, "as I was saying, first of all that Rhadamanthus, if he receives someone such as this to be judged, knows nothing else about the man, neither who he is, nor from whom he is sprung, but only that he is wicked; and having perceived this, he sends him away to Tartarus, marking him to signify whether he appears curable or incurable. And he, having arrived there, suffers appropriate things. Sometimes, however, having seen one ^C who has lived holily and with truth, whether a private man or another who has cultivated truth—and especially, I truly think, Callicles, the philosopher who has devoted himself to his own affairs and has not been busy about many things in life—he both admires and sends him to the islands of the blessed." And after a few words he added: "I, for my part, Callicles, am persuaded by these arguments, and I look to one thing, how I may present my soul most sound to the judge. Dismissing, therefore, the honors which many covet, and inclining toward truth, I will strive with all my strength, both that I may live as the best man, and, when it is time to die, that I may die. I exhort also the other ^D men, as far as I am able; and indeed I invite you in turn to this life and to this struggle, which I affirm is to be chosen before all the struggles that can be entered into in life. And I rebuke and accuse you now, for you will not be able to offer yourself assistance when your case is there, and the judgment that I was just speaking of occurs; but when you have come before that judge, the son of Aegina, when he has seized hold of you and leads you away, you will gape and be dizzy, just as I am here, and you there; and perhaps he will strike you, and will dishonor you with blows, and will utterly treat you with contumely. Perhaps, therefore, this tale seems to you to be a myth.

and you despise them; and indeed it would not be a matter of wonder to despise these things, if, while searching, we could find better and truer things. But now you see that you three, ^A who are the wisest of the Greeks—you, I mean, Polus and Gorgias—cannot prove that any other life is to be lived except for this one, which appears to be useful for the attainment of that happiness. Such things he discussed both in this dialogue and regarding those matters, and he exhorted us most wisely so that we might take care of those things by which we may be delivered from those punishments. ^B In the *Crito* also, he introduces the laws, speaking thus to Socrates: "But, Socrates, believe us, your nourishers, and do not value your children, nor life, nor anything else more than what is just, so that when you arrive in the underworld, you may be able to present an account of all these things to those who preside there." And in the *Apology* he says that death is also a good thing: "Let us consider," he said, "even in this way, that there is great hope that it is a good thing. For death is one of two things: it is either as if it were nothing, and he who is dead has no perception of anything at all; or, according to what is said, ^C it happens to be some change and a migration of the soul from this place to another."

Now, these words of his are worthy of praise, although they contain some admixture of spurious dogmas, such as Rhadamanthus and Minos, and the islands of the blessed, and, moreover, that only souls separated from bodies are punished. For these things are indeed foreign to the dogmas of the truth; however, he is in a way to be forgiven, as he was not a participant in the apostolic teaching. But the transmigrations into other bodies, which he drew from the dogmas of the Pythagoreans, ^D must be wholly avoided, O men. For those dogmas are utterly ridiculous. For regarding the souls that are sent into bodies, he says in the *Phaedo* that they put on, as is natural, the same habits as they happened to have practiced in this life: "What kinds do you mean, Socrates? For instance, those who have practiced gluttony and wantonness and drunkenness, and have taken no thought for anything, it is likely that they will enter into the breeds of donkeys and other such animals. Is it not so? Most likely, you say. But those who have preferred injustice and tyrannies and robberies, into the breeds of wolves and hawks and kites? Or whither else should we say that such souls go? To be sure," said Cebes, "into such animals." And that I may not prolong the discourse by mentioning everything, one who reads him will find him asserting that the souls of those who have practiced the political virtue enter into the bodies of bees, or of wasps or...

^A formicarum, et hominum subituras. Haec vero f non modo sunt ridicula, verum iis etiam quae superius dixerat, penitus contraria. These things, however, are not only ridiculous, but are also directly contrary to what he has already said. In those earlier passages, he said that souls were punished, some being cast into Acheron and the Acherusian lake, and others into the Styx, Cocytus, and Pyriphlegethon; and that those who had sinned beyond remedy were swept away in the currents of the Pyriphlegethon into Tartarus, while those who had committed sins for which they could be expiated, as they were carried along by the waves, became suppliants to those whom they had injured in times past, whom they perceived on the bank of the river, and then were carried back again by the wave into the lake. But here, he says that those who have been slaves to pleasures become donkeys, and those who have loved a tyrannical and rapacious life pass into the bodies of wolves, hawks, and kites. Moreover, those who have cultivated the political virtue, he says, enjoy the most blessed rewards, being converted into wasps, bees, and ants. For such are the prizes the philosopher ^B assigned to those who were diligent in virtue. And these things are likewise contrary to what was said above. For there, he sent them to the Isles of the Blessed and asserted that the dwellings of the philosophers could not be explained in words; but here, he attributes to them the life of wasps, bees, and ants, and claims that those who in their former life had harmed no one receive as a reward the ability to harm others and inflict damage. For bees and wasps have it by nature to prick with stings, and ants plunder the crops and share the fruits with the farmers, although they have not shared in their labors. Wasps, however, are pests to those who cultivate plants, corrupting the produce of the trees. And bees do something similar in a way. Yet it never ^C entered the mind of this most wise philosopher, but he looked only to the authority of the one who first uttered these things. Indeed, even elsewhere he brings forward other myths of this kind in these words (Phaed. p. 248 E): "For into that same place whence each soul comes, it does not arrive for ten thousand years. For it does not grow wings to fly away before that time, except for him who has philosophized sincerely, or who has loved boys in accordance with the standard of philosophy. These, upon the third period of a millennium, are released. Three times, I say, having been lifted up by these wings for that life in succession, they depart after a thousand years. But other souls, when they have completed their first life, undergo judgment: once this is finished, some are sent down into the subterranean places of justice and pay the penalty: but others, being lightened by justice into a certain place in heaven, ^D live in a manner worthy of the life they lived in the form of a human." [And he does this] even as he admits the absurdity of these things.

^A For who taught him about the myriads of years, and that after ten thousand years have passed, each soul returns to 39 its own place? And the things spoken between these matters were not fit for the most debauched men to say, let alone a philosopher. For he yoked the licentious and the pederasts to those who have achieved pure philosophy, and said that both these and those would enjoy the same rewards. But again, forgetting these words (for in the *Republic* he assigned heaven to such souls), he said that Orpheus’ soul chose a swan’s body, and that Agamemnon became an eagle, Ajax 40 a lion, Atalanta an athlete, and Thersites a monkey. And I know not for the sake of what he consented to insert the irrationality of these doctrines into his dialogues; but it is clear that he is playing rather than being serious in the passages where he discourses on transmigration, for in many places he ^B shows the places of punishment in Hades. I shall turn back to these, so that I do not leave the philosopher among those ridiculous 41 words. Hear, therefore, his own words: "But I will not tell you an Alcinoan tale, but the tale of a courageous man, Er the son of Armenius, of the Pamphylian lineage; who, having died in battle, [was found] when the ten-day-old corpses were already decaying, yet he was taken up whole, and brought home, and being about to be buried, on the twelfth day while lying on the pyre he came back to life, and while alive he told what he had seen there. And he said that, when [there] the soul had departed, it went along with many, and they arrived at a certain ^C demonic place, in which there were two chasms of the earth near to each other, and again in the heaven above, two others directly opposite; and between these sat judges, whom, when they had judged, they ordered the righteous to go by the right-hand way and upward [through] heaven, having signs fastened on them from the front of what had been judged; but the unjust [they ordered] the way to the left and downward, having these also behind them, a sign of all that they had done. And [he said] that when he approached himself, they said he must become a messenger to men of the things there, and they commanded him to listen to and ^D watch everything in that place." These words are truly worthy of philosophy. For they do not send souls down into the bodies of irrational animals, but those that have lived well to heaven, and those that have chosen the opposite down into Hades. It is clear, therefore, that he is playing in the former cases, but speaks seriously in these. And indeed, Plutarch also, in his writings about the soul, pointed out both the judge and the ministers of the court, having inserted a certain narrative of this kind into his composition;

^D "To this Antyllus," he says, "we ourselves were present, along with Sositelis and Heracleon, as he related it. For when he seemed to the physicians to be already lifeless, having revived a little from a certain fit of lethargy—not by any means a violent one—he neither did nor said anything that might be a sign of a deranged mind. Rather, he recounted that he had returned to life again, and that he would not die at all from that illness. He even complained that those who brought him were rebuked by the Lord’s master, for having been sent for a certain Nicandas, they had brought him instead; now, Nicandas was a leather-worker." He relates, moreover, that when Nicandas died, Antyllus immediately recovered.

Such then are the dogmas of the philosophers, and you have learned from what we have said above how some of them have measured human happiness by the belly, while others have spoken of it more perfectly; and how some have considered the life of man to extend only to the grave, while others have dreamed of rewards for those things done in life, and have depicted, as far as their eloquence could reach, places of torment full of horror, not even leaving these free from fables. Now it is time for you to contemplate the dogmas of the holy Gospels, which are worthy of God. They say, therefore, that the beginning of good things is the praiseworthy fear of God: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord," as Solomon and his father teach; ^B and the end is a life adorned by divine laws: "For blessed," he says, "are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that search his testimonies; with their whole heart shall they seek him." The Savior of all taught us this very thing in the holy Gospels. For he calls blessed, not the rich and those who enjoy luxuries and to whom all things flow smoothly, but the poor in spirit, and the meek, and the merciful, and those who hunger and thirst after justice, and those who endure suffering for the sake of some good; and to those who have performed these and similar things zealously, he promises the kingdom of heaven. I think it will be useful for me to recite to you the laws themselves as they were written under the form of beatitude: ^C "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God." Other things, too, O men, tend to the same meaning. But these will be sufficient to show the intention of the Lawgiver, and to whom ^D

^A He taught us to look as the end. For He did not command us to look forward to riches, nor to the bloom and health of the body, but to the labors of virtue, and the dangers undertaken for its sake, and its greatest and ineffable rewards. For what speech is capable of proving that kingdom of heaven which is undying and infinite, and a life free from old age, from grief, and from cares? Regarding these, the inspired Paul cries out: "Things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him." But if the one who was a spectator of these things could not utter what he was deemed worthy to see, hardly would another dare to attempt to describe the ineffable. And that He Himself also defined the end of good things to be eternal life, hear Him writing to the Romans: "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit, then, had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, having been freed from sin and having become slaves to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." It is sufficient, ^B he says, the gift of freedom in itself to show you the fruit of piety; yet, out of His bounty, the generous and munificent Lord bestows upon you eternal life as well, so that you might discern the difference between sin and righteousness: for sin had death as its end, but righteousness, eternal life. Then, after many other things, he shows the greatest of the gifts: "For as many," he says, "as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." And writing similar things to the Galatians, he said: "So that you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ." And to Timothy he has written the same thought: "It is a faithful word: for if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him." And writing another epistle to him, he also included these things: ^{C D} "For I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith; finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me in that day, and not only to me, but also to all those who have loved His appearing."

^A Likewise, regarding the resurrection of bodies, he wrote to the Corinthians, the Thessalonians, the Philippians, and to many others. And now, he says, "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in

^A His body, which is dishonored, he says, which is small and lowly, he will clothe with light and immortality." And when those on the right are praised, and have received the rewards of their labors, he will say also to those on the left: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." And he explains to these also the causes of their punishments: because none of them performed those things which the choir of the just performed, nor even imitated their exceeding modesty. For those, while having done all those things, denied it; but these, while not having done them, falsely claim to have done them; but they shall both receive the rebuke, and shall be delivered to punishment.

These things, O men, compare with the discourses of Plato, which are praised the most. For the rest of this man's words, and those of the others, are trifles, worthy of those same shadows. But those which we have praised possess some affinity to these. For both he confessed the punishments and the rewards of good works, and the holy oracles, both the new and the old, demonstrate them. And he indeed introduced other judges, Aeacus, and Minos, and Rhadamanthus, men not altogether to be praised—in the case of Minos, indeed, there are even those who bring many charges. We, however, await as judge Him who made us, who also knows best the nature which He Himself fashioned, and who knows not only its deeds and words, but even the very impulses of the internal thought. He will judge us, having put on the garment of our humanity; for the nature of the Godhead cannot be seen by the eyes. ^C Wherefore He also called Himself the Son of man, because those who are to be judged will see this nature. Whence the divine Apostle, preaching among the Athenians, said thus: "The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."

If any man does not believe these things that are said, and deems the words of the apostles to be trifles, let him learn the truth of them in this way. Many things concerning the future life ^D both Christ our Master and His heralds foretold; but they also prophesied other things which in no way pertain to that future life, but only to this present life. Examine, therefore, O men, the predictions that have been uttered concerning this, and if you find them true and clearly matched by the events, accept without dispute those things foretold concerning the future. This, indeed, must be examined in this way: the of Jerusalem

^A Master Christ foretold the siege, and how that famous Temple would be utterly destroyed, and how the race of those who crucified Him would be scattered to the ends of the inhabited world. Let us see, then, if the report received its fulfillment. And concerning the Jews, I do not believe you will doubt; for they have been driven out of that city and have become sojourners in all lands. As for the desolation of the Temple and its destruction from the foundations, those of you who have seen it, confess it truthfully; and the rest of you, believe those who recount it. For I myself have been an eyewitness of that desolation, and the prediction 31 which I had heard with my ears, I saw with my eyes, and I praised and worshipped its truth. That this saying is therefore unerring, ^B and that events cry out the same, [using the most powerful voice]: let us inquire also into the outcome of another prophecy. Master Christ foretold to the apostles the struggles and dangers that they were to suffer when bringing the teaching to both the Gentiles and the Jews. "For behold," He said to them, "I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." And again: "They will deliver you up to courts, and in their synagogues they will scourge you, and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles." And a little later: "Brother will deliver brother to death, and father his children; and children will rise up against parents and will put them to death; and you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But the one who has endured to the end, he will be saved." And again: "If they called the Master of the house Beelzebul, how much more his domestics?" And again: "Do not think that I came to cast peace upon the earth. I did not come to cast peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and daughter against her mother, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be his own ^C domestics." Each of these things, O friend, one can see fulfilled in deed. For it was amidst these dangers that the apostles illuminated the inhabited world, and those who came after them preserved the faith they had received; and the shrines of the martyrs bear witness to this, shining everywhere on land and sea, and proclaiming the truth of the divine predictions. For He did not foretell to them only the dangers, but also the victory. "For upon this rock," He said, "I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." One can also see, according to the prophecy, houses divided; for either husbands, caught by the net of the faith, struggle with wives who are still unbelieving, or wives, having accepted the yoke of piety, strive to ensnare their husbands who are still wandering, and this necessary disagreement for the sake of salvation gives birth to a praiseworthy conjunction. And that I may pass over other ^D predictions, a certain woman brought ointment to His holy feet: accepting her faith, He said to the standing disciples: "Amen, I say to you, wherever"

this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached, that which this woman has done shall also be told for a memorial of her." ^A This prediction we can see even now being fulfilled. For everywhere on land and sea the sacred Gospel is read, and the faith of this woman is proclaimed.

Seeing then that the Lord has foretold these things, and ^B proclaimed what was to come to pass in that life, and since we see the truth of these with our own eyes, let us also accept those others without doubt, making our way from the things that have already happened toward those things, and using the former as proofs of the latter. For this is the very reason why He foretold both the former and the latter, so that through these He might confirm those. And He generously bestowed honors upon those who believed in Him that He had not even promised; ^C and not only did He give great splendor to the living, but He also assigned very great honor to those who have departed this life most excellently, so that by those things which He did not promise, yet gave, we might believe in those things which He did promise. For He who bestowed gifts not contained in the covenants, and by His liberality exceeded His promises, will undoubtedly give what He promised, and reveal the rewards He has shown to those who contend. For it would be shameful for the overseers of the gymnasia ^D to provide the promised wage to the athletes, and for those who hire laborers to fulfill the agreements after the work is completed, but to say of the Creator of the universe—who out of goodness alone granted existence even to those who did not exist, and who accomplished the mystery of the dispensation, and who bestowed the light of the knowledge of God upon those who did not see the light—that He will not fulfill His own promises. For if the divine promise is true—as it indeed is true—then the teachings of divine instruction, O dear friends, are not in vain. For He has promised the kingdom of heaven, and life that has no end, and intellectual light, and fellowship with the incorporeal beings, to those who obey, just as, on the other hand, He has threatened eternal punishment to those who disbelieve; for He has made this clear even in the parable of the tares. For, interpreting it, He added: "So will it be at the end of this age: the Son of man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Having said these things, He added: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." These same things we also say to you, O dear friends, exhorting you. For we do not force anyone against their will to receive the divine gifts, but we exhort and entreat you, demonstrating to you the magnitude of these things. Therefore, since this word of the Lord God

^A bids us: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

SERMON XII. Concerning active virtue.

Trees are indeed nourished by their roots and bring forth growth, but it is the branches and leaves that adorn them, and the fruit that hangs between these. For if anyone were to cut away the branches and strip the foliage, they become useless and are despoiled of their comeliness, and the foundation of the roots appears utterly superfluous. So too, the body requires eyes that see and guide the other senses; it requires feet that walk and carry the body; and it requires hands that perform work and supply food, drink, and all other necessities to all its members. ^B And indeed, as for tunics, cloaks, and mantles—to speak in a word, all garments—they are not made by the warp alone: there is need also for the woof, which is woven through the warp and holds it together. Why, then, have I said these things? Not, sirs, because I love wordy trifles, but in order that through these analogies I might show the substance of the most perfect philosophy. For the knowledge of divine things is truly a most great and magnificent good; but it is not sufficient to render a man perfect who possesses it. For good actions must surely be joined to knowledge. For what the root is to the tree, and the eye ^C to the body, and the warp to the woven fabric, that is the knowledge of truth and stable faith to the soul.

It is necessary, however, not only to know what ought to be believed about the Divine, but also to order one’s life and character according to His laws. For just as those who are being taught painting, or cobbling, or any other craft do not apply themselves to it merely so that they may have the knowledge, but so that they may also practice the work and show themselves in their deeds to be imitators of their teachers; so must those who are lovers of piety be trained not only in theology and the study of nature, but also in the laws of active virtue, and must keep these as much as they are able, ^D and endeavor to mold and fashion the appearance of their soul according to them. For he who thus regulates and forms his soul not only expresses the characters of the divine laws, but also becomes a living and rational image of the Legislator Himself. Teaching this, that great herald of the truth exclaims: “Be therefore imitators of God.” His Lord also urges this, saying: “Be imitators of your Father who is in heaven.” And again: “Be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Moreover, he who loves God imitates Him as much as is permitted, and likewise pursues with hatred those things which He hates.

« Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. » ^A He who desires the God of all things also imitates Him as much as is possible, feeling hatred and love for the same things that the Lord Himself hates and loves. The divine laws teach us expressly who is hostile to Him and who is beloved by Him. For we hear the divine David crying out: "For You are not a God who desires iniquity; the wicked shall not dwell with You, nor shall the lawless remain before Your eyes; You have hated all those who work iniquity, You shall destroy all those who speak a lie; the Lord abhors a man of blood and deceit." ^B Having demonstrated in these words the disposition of the Lawgiver, he introduces in another melody [n. Ps. ci, 2-7] the person who has accurately copied these characteristics and who prays to the Lawgiver, saying: "I walked in the innocence of my heart in the midst of Your house; I set no lawless thing before my eyes. I hated those who commit transgressions. A crooked heart did not cleave to me; as for the one who turned away from me, I did not know the wicked man. The one who slandered his neighbor in secret, I drove him away; with a proud eye and an insatiable heart, with such a one I did not eat. My eyes were upon the faithful of the land, that they might sit with me; the one walking in a blameless way, this one served me; the one doing pride did not dwell in the midst of my house. The one speaking unjust things did not prosper before my eyes." By these things, He has not only taught us that it is possible to imitate the all-powerful and all-wise Lord, but He has also shown us the very mode of imitation. ^C For He did not command us to create heaven and earth, the sun and the moon, and other things, nor to possess a simple and uncircumscribed nature, but only to hate what He has hated and to love what He has dearly loved. Having attained the pinnacle of this virtue, the Prophet cries out to the Lord with boldness: "But to me, O God, Your friends have been greatly honored; their rule has been established exceedingly." [Ps. cxxxviii, 17] And again: "Did I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and pine away because of Your enemies? I hated them with a perfect hatred; they became enemies to me." [Ps. cxxxviii, 21, 22] And again: "Ye men of blood, depart from me." [Ps. cxxxviii, 19] And once more: "Depart from me, ye wicked, and I will search out the commandments of my God." [Ps. cxviii, 115] And again: "I have hated the lawless, but I have loved Your law." [ibid. 113] And again: "How I have loved Your law, O Lord! It is my meditation all the day." [ibid. 97] And: "How sweet are Your words to my throat! More than honey to my mouth." [ibid. 103] ^D Many other things much more numerous than these can be found in the same psalm: for the prophecy is full of this kind of doctrine. Moses the Lawgiver also shows in the laws what is pleasing to the God of the universe and what, conversely, He hates. To these things, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the whole chorus of the prophets...

^B have instructed us regarding this distinction. And their God Himself said in the Gospels: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of God, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven." And again: "He who has done and taught shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." And again: "He who loves Me will keep My commandments." Moreover, even in the parable of the talents, He showed that He will demand not only the number of what He gave, but He will also exact the interest; and he who did not possess this, having been stripped of grace, He will deliver, bound, into the darkness. And the virgins who had not brought sufficient oil He left outside the bridal chamber, and this while calling them virgins. And the man who was clothed in a garment not befitting the wedding, He separated from the guests and drove out from the banquet; and yet, he did not intrude of his own accord, but entered having been invited. But because, having been summoned by the pure liberality of the bridegroom, he did not change his garment, for this reason he suffered what he suffered. Hence the Apostle also says: "For if we sin willfully after having received the knowledge of the divine gift, no longer does a sacrifice for sins remain, but a certain ^C terrible expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire which is about to consume the adversaries." Then, confirming his words with an example, he reinforces the argument: "Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has considered the blood of the covenant, by which he was sanctified, as common, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said: 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. And again: 'The Lord will judge His people.'" Then he terrifies the idle and slothful, saying: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." And he cries out elsewhere: "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he did, whether good or evil."

That knowledge requires practical virtue, these things, I think, are sufficient to demonstrate. But let us see what the philosophers of the Greeks have ^D thought regarding these matters as well. For we shall find Plato, and some others who have zealously followed his philosophy, in agreement with this discourse; for indeed in the Laws he speaks thus: "Therefore, he who has become pleasing and beloved to God..."

^A in as much as it is possible, he must become such himself; and according to this reasoning, he who among us is temperate is dear to God, for he is like Him; but he who is not temperate is unlike and plainly different. Therefore, he has said nothing alien, but he himself also agrees that it is possible, in the dispositions regarding the good, to imitate God, the Creator. Yet here he did not call "temperate" him who is superior to pleasures, but him who preserves the rational part of the soul safe and sound. He wrote similar things also in the *Theaetetus*; for he said: "But it is not possible that evils should perish, O Theodore; for it is necessary that there should always be something contrary to the good, nor is it possible for them to be established among the gods, but of necessity they roam around the mortal nature and this region; wherefore it is necessary to attempt to flee from here to there as quickly as possible. And flight is the likeness to God, as much as possible. And the likeness is to become ^B just and holy with wisdom." Most clearly and wisely, he educated us in these words on the manner of imitation. For, first, he commanded us to flee the things here, not becoming outside the earth, but being freed from all earthly things; for he made this clear in what he added: "For I called flight the likeness to the divine." And the addition is also praiseworthy; for he did not ordain that we be simply like, but as is possible for men. Then he showed the form of the likeness: "For, I called the likeness," he says, "the becoming holy and just with wisdom." And this addition is also worthy of admiration. For there are some who have the greatest concern for justice, but by foolishness they corrupt the beauty ^C of the noble action. Afterward, in the same dialogue, he teaches the perfection of virtue through many words, writing thus: "Let us speak regarding the foremost. For what could one say of those who spend their time unlawfully in philosophy? For these, perhaps, know not the way to the market, nor where the court, or the council-chamber, or any other common assembly of the city may be; and laws and decrees, whether spoken or written, they neither see nor hear; and the strivings of societies for offices, and meetings, and feasts, and revels with flute-girls, do not even in a dream come upon them in their actions; nor does he know if anyone has become evil in the city, or what evil has happened to anyone from ancestors, from men or women, ^D more than he knows how many measures of water are in the sea. And he does not even know that he does not know all these things; for he abstains from them not for the sake of reputation. But in truth his body alone lies in the city and sojourns there, but his mind, considering all these things small, and as nothing, despises them, and flies everywhere, according to Pindar, both beneath the earth, and measuring the plains, and observing the heavens above, and searching out every nature in every way. And in these...

words did Plato depict the life of our philosophers; for no one such as this existed among them. For Socrates, that coryphaeus of ^A philosophers, used to spend his time debating both in the gymnasia and in the workshops; at one time he would linger in the city, at another he would go down to the Piraeus to watch the processions; and being enrolled among the armed soldiers, he served in Potidaea and on the island of Delos. Indeed, he would attend banquets, endure the comic mockery of Aristophanes and the petulance of Alcibiades — for this is what Plato’s *Symposium* teaches—and even entering the theater, he would watch the spectacles with the people. Therefore, what has been said by Plato least of all befits Socrates. And if it does not befit him, it would scarcely befit anyone else.

But those who have loved the evangelical philosophy have kept themselves far ^B from all the tumults of the city, and having occupied the mountain peaks or living in solitary places, they have given themselves over to the contemplation of divine things and to the life that befits this; not distracted by any care for wives, children, or possessions, but directing their souls according to the canon of the divine laws, and like excellent painters, they express their own intellectual images according to the archetypes of virtue. For that what has been said by Plato befits these men, he himself is witness, adding these things after many others: "It is necessary for such a one to be unrefined and unlearned on account of his occupation, no less than the shepherds, inasmuch as he is surrounded by a wall on the mountain just as they are by a sheepfold. But when he hears of ten thousand acres or more being mentioned, and that he who possesses them is proclaimed most wealthy, he seems to hear something very small, as he is accustomed to look upon the whole world." That no philosopher among the Greeks, however, inhabited a mountain sheepfold, the old writings sufficiently show; and you yourselves bear witness to this, for you are deeply resentful of those who teach this way of life, even though Plato called it highly praiseworthy.

He writes things consistent with this also in the second book of the *Republic*: "Once we have posited such a man, he says, let us place the just man beside him in our discourse, a man simple and noble, who, as Aeschylus says, desires not to seem, but to be good. For I ^C hold that this 'seeming' must be stripped away entirely. For if he is thought to be just, honors and gifts will follow him, because he is seen to be such. It will therefore be uncertain whether he is such for the sake of justice, or for the sake of the gifts and honors. He must be stripped bare of everything, except justice, and modeled in the opposite way to the prior one. For even though he possesses nothing, let him have the greatest reputation for injustice, so that he may be tested in his justice, by not being swayed by a bad reputation and the things that arise from it; but let him be immovable until death, appearing to be unjust throughout his life." And these things likewise befit our athletes of virtue. For not in the manner of Antisthenes, and Diogenes, and Crates, for the sake of empty glory, but for the sake of the truth itself...

do they perform what they do. And for this reason, they live removed from cities and villages, hiding their virtue, and showing it only to Him who rewards it. But you do not wish either to behold these men thus struggling, or to follow them with praise. If, however, by chance you see some who bear the appearance of this name, but do not live a life consistent with their garb, you immediately move your tongue to slander. And if you were attacking only those men, one might find some reason for what is happening; but since, together with them, you attempt to mock and disparage those who are diametrically opposed to them and who truly live philosophically, you clearly show the most unjust purpose of your mind. For you are not hostile to the wicked, but you slander the praiseworthy life, acting just as if someone, seeing an ape mimicking the gestures of a man, were to hate the nature of man as well on account of that imitation.

And that this is the judgment, not only of me, but also of Plato, he testifies. For in his *Theaetetus* he says: "Let us examine it in this way: come, if someone praises the rearing of goats, and the animal itself, as if it were a fine possession; but another person, having seen goats grazing in cultivated fields without a goatherd and doing damage, were to find fault—and seeing all such a herd lacking a master or with bad masters, were to rebuke it—do we consider such a rebuke to be a healthy way to find fault, and in any way at all?" ^B These are Plato’s words, O men, not mine. And he taught us not to mock all the herds because of those that are badly managed by bad masters, or that are completely deprived of a master. And elsewhere again he teaches expressly that it is impossible for the multitude to be philosophers. "For there are many who bear the wand," he says, "but the Bacchants are few." This same thing our Master Christ also said: "For many," said He, "are called, but few are chosen" (Matt. xx, 16; xxii, 14).

In harmony with these, Plato also says in the *Epinomis*: "I do not say that it is possible for men to become happy and blessed, except for a few. As long as we live, I define it thus. But there is a good hope for the dying to obtain everything." Why, then, are you angry with us, seeing some who belie the life they profess? And why do you not admire those who have loved a life beyond nature, and while struggling in a body, have emulated a bodiless manner of life? For you ought to do the complete opposite: to admire those who surpass the bounds of nature, and to grant some pardon to others [as they are] dragged along by the passions that are innate. For that these things are most difficult, [know that] even you — for "you are not born from an oak," according to the poetic saying, "nor from a rock." ^D Plato has indicated this also in the first dialogue of the *Republic*, having introduced Cephalus conversing with Socrates, and saying: "Know well that for me, as much as..."

^A the other bodily pleasures wither away, by so much do the desires and pleasures concerning discourses increase." Then, when Socrates inquired if the passion of pleasures still arose in him, he replied, saying: "Speak better, man; most gladly have I escaped such things, as one having escaped a raging and wild master." ^B In that place, then, he has discoursed thus concerning shameful pleasure; but in the *Gorgias*, concerning justice and injustice, he speaks thus: "For it is difficult, O Callicles, and worthy of much praise, for a man having been placed in great power to do wrong, to live justly. But few such men become. For both here and elsewhere there have been, and I think there will be, beautiful and good men, who might manage this virtue justifiably if someone entrusts it to them." And again: "But in such arguments, many being refuted, this argument alone rests, that one must be more cautious of doing wrong than of suffering wrong, and that every man must be practiced not in appearing good, but in being good, both privately and publicly." ^C And Socrates brought these arguments again to Crito. For after many other things he added this: "In no way, therefore, must one do wrong. Nor, when being wronged, must one return wrong, as the many think; since in no way is it permitted to do wrong. But what then? Is it necessary to do harm, O Crito, or not? Surely not, O Socrates. And what then? To return harm when suffering harm, as the many say, is it just or unjust? In no way. For to do harm to men surely differs in nothing from doing wrong. You speak correctly. Therefore, neither is it necessary to return wrong, nor to do harm to any human being, not even if one should suffer anything from them." Such a doctrine, then, [[172]] concerning injustice and justice, Socrates and Plato have produced, truly worthy of praise and logical and consistent with human nature; for nature has instructed all men in moral teachings. ^D For the Creator, having fashioned the race of men, has implanted in their nature the discernment of good things and their opposites. Whence not only Socrates and Plato and Aristides, son of Lysimachus, and some others of the Greeks abhorred the unjust life, but many even of the barbarians. For Hellanicus also said in his histories: "The Hyperboreans dwell beyond the Rhipaean mountains, and they practice justice, not eating meat, but using fruits." And others record that the Brahmans dwell in the woods, covering their bodies with leaves. And they say that Anacharsis the Scythian became a philosopher. So did the love of philosophy set him on fire, that he became most renowned and celebrated among all. For he strove not only while awake to control the passions of the soul, but even while sleeping he revealed the signs of temperance; for he was accustomed with his left hand to...

hold his genitals, and with his right to cover his lips, thereby demonstrating that the struggle of the tongue is far greater, and it requires greater relief for its safety.

Hermippus of Berytus says that Chiron the Centaur was a teacher of justice, and Homer called him “the most just of the Centaurs.” It is therefore not at all appropriate to marvel at either Hesiod, who calls the path of virtue rough and steep and difficult to travel, or Simonides, who said that ^B “virtue dwells upon inaccessible and difficult rocks.” For what Homer attested regarding Chiron and the Hippemolgi, and what Anacharsis the Scythian pursued in deed, the poets who are praised recommended in word.

Antisthenes the Cynic (who was also a Socratic) said it is better to be mad than to be pleased; for this reason he advised his acquaintances never to extend even a finger for the sake of pleasure. Diogenes of Sinope was imbued with his teaching; he too, in word, zealously pursued philosophy, but became a slave to pleasure, mingling publicly with harlots and offering a most wretched example to those who watched. They say that when someone reproved his conduct and said, ^C “What are you doing, O Diogenes?” he used his customary insulting language and replied, “O scoundrel! I am looking for a man, if I can find one.” Thus openly did he live in lewdness.

Crates the Theban emulated his life, and graced virtue with many praises; for this is his very saying:

From the servile empire of pleasure, free and unbending, ^D They love an immortal kingdom and liberty.

He was accustomed to say that the remedy for the sexual impulse is hunger; if not that, then a noose. But when passion rose up, he married Hipparchia the Maronite publicly and celebrated his cynical nuptials in the Stoa Poikile, leaving behind those magnificent words of his.

Aristippus the Cyrenian, when reproached because he frequently consorted with the Corinthian harlot, said, “I possess Lais, but I am not possessed by her.” And the Peripatetics in word praised virtue, but in deed they were devoted to pleasure; and they are not accused of this by others, but write it themselves about their own teacher. For Aristocles the Peripatetic says that Lycon the Pythagorean testified regarding Aristotle that it was his custom to sell oil, applying it after...

^A he had first anointed himself with warm oil; and when he was going away to Chalcis, the tax collectors, having searched his baggage, discovered seventy-four bronze dishes belonging to him: although certain other authorities have stated that he had three hundred dishes. And I think that they are not lying altogether. For it was in such things indeed that that man defined happiness. For he was accustomed to say that no one could become happy in any other way than through the pleasant condition of the body and the abundance of external things, without which he said that virtue benefited nothing. And Atticus the Platonist clearly shows this in the things which he wrote against Aristotle (see Euseb. xv, 4). Therefore, the things that are said against him are confirmed by the talk of many. But Plato teaches exactly the opposite. For in the third book of the *Republic* (Clem. Alex. iv, p. 571), he orders that care be taken of the body for the sake of the soul's harmony, ^B through which it is possible for men to live, and to live rightly, while proclaiming the message of the truth. The divine Apostle also exhorts this, saying: "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." For he does not suggest that such great care should be offered to it, so that it might kick against the soul; but only that it might serve and assist, and follow the impulses of the soul. Plato, therefore, agrees with our teachings ^C in these things, having encouraged that the necessary care of the body be taken. He also demonstrated how the passion of desire begins and how it grows. "For we," he said, "might perhaps not unreasonably say that sight is the beginning of love, but hope increases the passion, memory nourishes it, and habit preserves it." He has also said this very same thing concerning virtue. "For of every plant," he says, "the first germination, if well-directed toward virtue, is the most powerful mistress of its own nature to append the appropriate end." And Socrates also commanded ^D us to beware of those things that persuade us to eat when not hungry, and to drink when not thirsty; and the glances and the kisses of the beautiful ones, as being naturally prone to infuse a poison more grievous than scorpions and phalangia. But these were mere words, lacking in deeds and actions. For he was accustomed to frequent the gymnasia for the sake of beautiful youths, and fed his eyes with a shameful spectacle. And the *Philebus*, and the *Phaedrus*, and the *Rivales*, and the *Charmides*, and many other dialogues of Plato, which narrate many things of this kind, are witnesses. But as for the things which Alcibiades said in the *Symposium* concerning Socrates, Plato actually wrote them, and I, out of respect for Socrates, will not endure to repeat them. Such great absurdity and drunken folly do those stories in that dialogue have regarding the fallibility of Socrates. And to pass the evening

^A in drinking, he said, and while the others were already exhausted and seeking sleep, he remained awake, drinking and conversing, if not to any profit, at least in a manner that was fitting for Alcibiades and Aristophanes and the other revelers. And Porphyry, too, in writing his philosophical history, first states that he was quick-tempered and easily angered, using as his witness Aristoxenus, who wrote the life of Socrates. For he said he had never encountered anyone more persuasive than him. Such was his voice, his mouth, his outward demeanor, and in addition to all these things, the peculiarity of his form. And this would happen when he was not angry; but when he was seized by this passion, his indecency was terrible; for he would refrain neither from any word nor any deed. And having detailed other things of this sort, he demonstrates that he was also enslaved to pleasures. He speaks as follows: ^B “As for the use of sexual relations, he was more vehement, but he was not unjust; for he kept to either his wedded wife or common women. He had two wives at the same time, Xanthippe, a citizen and somewhat common, and Myrto, the granddaughter of Aristides, the daughter of Lysimachus. And Xanthippe, having been taken after a marriage, from her Lamprocles was born. Myrto he took in legal marriage, from whom he had Sophroniscus and Menexenus. And these women, when they ceased from their mutual quarrels among themselves, would rush upon Socrates, because he never used to stop them when they were fighting, but would look on with a laugh, both at them fighting with each other and at their attacks upon him. He says that in his conversations he was also terribly contentious, abusive, and insulting.” And Porphyry said these things ^C regarding the life of Socrates: “It was said about him that even as a boy he did not live well, nor orderly. For first, they say that he was always disobedient to his father, and whenever he ordered him to take up the tools of his craft and go anywhere, he would disregard the command and run off wherever he pleased. And when he was about seventeen years old, Archelaus, the student of Anaxagoras, approached him, claiming to be his lover; and Socrates did not rebuff the meeting and conversation with Archelaus, but spent many years with him; and thus he was encouraged by Archelaus to take up philosophy.” And then, after a little, “And these things among others were criticized in Socrates, that he used to force his way into crowds, and hold his discussions ^D near the tables, and near the Hermae.” These things Porphyry said regarding Socrates, and other such things, which I voluntarily

have omitted. From these it is possible to understand ^A how they lauded virtue in words, while they embraced pleasure and willingly allowed themselves to be slaves to the passions. For if, according to Porphyry, he was inclined towards sexual indulgence, and was not satisfied with the cohabitation of two wives at once, but even impudently made use of public women, and took delight in the sight of youths naked in the palaestra, as Plato testifies; if he was prone to wrath, and could scarcely restrain his rising anger, and had an abusive and unbridled tongue, what kind of philosophy was it, pray, that he practiced?

That some of the ancients also accused Plato of having done many things unworthy of philosophy, hear Xenophon speaking thus in his Epistle to Aeschines: ^B “For they became enamored of Egypt and of the monstrous wisdom of Pythagoras. The excess and lack of stability in which he persisted in the case of Socrates is shown by that love with which he pursued the tyrant, and his desire for the Sicilian table of immoderate gluttony and voracity instead of a frugal and sparse diet.” By these words he implies his association with Dionysius the tyrant in Sicily. For, having left Athens, he lived with him, enjoying the luxuries of Syracuse, and after his death, with his son. And he profited the tyrant so little by his exhortations that he was even bound and confined in the stone quarries, and later was even sold like some barbarian slave. And Plutarch also says that he carried oil to Egypt for the sake of trade. ^C But nevertheless, hearing even such reproaches as these, we admire the things well-said by him, and we desire that you also gather the benefit from them. For we hear that there were also women among the Greeks worthy of praise. Lysidice, as they say, because of her extreme modesty, did not take off her tunic when she washed. Philotera, however, when going down into the bathtub, would gradually bare that part of the body which the water covered, little by little drawing down the tunic, and again coming out, she would clothe herself in a similar manner. The Pythagorean Theano, when someone looked upon her and said, “A beautiful arm,” is said to have replied, “But not public.” Again, when asked what kind of woman goes from her husband’s house to the Thesmophorion, she said, ^D “From her own, immediately; but from a stranger’s, never.” These, and as many things as these, we both praise and say are worthy of philosophy. And we accept Plato, who enjoined marriage upon good men, and who encouraged the conception of immortality and the preservation of the race. But we greatly blame Democritus and Epicurus, who urge that both marriage and childbearing be avoided. For, having defined pleasure as the end, they utterly rejected things that involve cares and certain discomforts. Those of the Stoa chose a middle path; for they joined marriage and childbearing with matters of indifference. But the divine words hymn purity conceived for the sake of philosophy, as

^A one that renders life free from cares; whereas they served pleasures and wrote laws that teach incontinence. For such are the laws of Plato concerning marriages and pederasty. And indeed, concerning friendship, Hippodamus the Pythagorean wrote thus: "Some things are born from the knowledge of the gods; others, from the provision of men; others, from the pleasure of animals." But the Lord Christ says in the holy Gospels: "Greater love than this no man can show, that one should lay down his life for his friends" (John xv, 13). And, instructing in the most perfect things, He commanded us to love even our enemies (Matth. v, 44). But he who had learned the Pythagorean quaternary said that human friendship proceeds from provision. Which discourse is not only discordant, but cannot even subsist in any way. For we find many who have conferred benefits upon their enemies, and again, many who, having been the recipients of benefits, have been utterly ungrateful toward the authors of those benefits. Therefore, friendship is not the offspring of provision, but provision is the fruit of friendship. ^B

Our own teachers, then, have instituted a life befitting those endowed with reason; but the most excellent among the philosophers were themselves enslaved to pleasures, and wrote laws teaching incontinence; for such are the laws of Plato concerning marriage and pederasty. And yet, the holy Scriptures, indeed, praise chastity undertaken for the sake of philosophy, as that which provides a life free from cares; they, however, sanctioned chaste marriages by law, that they might increase the race and free from lust those who wish to be chaste. Fornication, however, and every other incontinence they condemn as befitting swine. "For marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled," says the divine Apostle; "but fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Hebr. xiii, 4). And again: "But I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they so remain, even as I; but if they do not contain themselves, let them marry" (1 Cor. vii, 8, 9). And elsewhere: "But fornication and uncleanness, let it not be named among you, as becometh saints" (Ephes. v, 3). And elsewhere: "Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau" (Hebr. xii, 16). ^C

Compare these things again, O men, and recognizing how great is the difference between divine and human things, hasten through the former, as if through certain elements, toward the perfection of the latter: "Neither," as the melody of the Holy Spirit admonishes (Psal. cxl, 4), "make excuses in sins." For when we show to you that the evangelical laws are much more sublime than Greek philosophy, you praise them indeed, but you shamelessly bring forward their transgressors, and for their sake you attempt to calumniate the laws. ^D

^A For we do not shun the best vines because of poor ones, nor do we turn away from sweet almonds because of bitter ones; nor do we condemn pure gold because of that which is base with copper, nor do we mock true purple because of that which is counterfeit; nor do we blame skillful painters because of ignorant ones, nor do we hate good men because of wicked ones; nor, if we happen upon an unskilled physician, do we straightway repudiate the art of medicine. But among painters, and physicians, and shoemakers, and coppersmiths, and goldsmiths, we admire those who are excellent, and we are accustomed to rebuke those who do not master the art ^B perfectly. Yet we do not, under any circumstances, deem the arts themselves worthy of blame, even if we find no one who possesses them. For it would certainly be most insipid, on account of a few who are blind, to disparage the eyes and the very sense of sight as useless; or, on account of those whose tongues are tied, to condemn the organs of speech as unnecessary; or, on account of those whose ears are stopped, to call the sense of hearing superfluous. In the same way, therefore, it is truly wretched and unjust, on account of those who transgress the laws, to accuse the laws themselves, along with those who strive to observe them. For if some woodworker should draw a line correctly, but, by using his ax badly, should spoil the marks of the ink, or by removing too much from the inside, or by leaving behind things that are superfluous on the outside, should go beyond that line, the line ought not to be blamed, for it shows what is straight; ^C for the sin is the ignorance of the worker. The laws, therefore, hold the place of a line, a rule, and a plumb line. But of those who use the laws, some order their own lives in the best way, while others, preferring what is pleasant to what is better, are carried outside the straight line of these. These, therefore, are to be accused, while the laws are to be praised. For if a skilled physician should instruct a sick person to partake of some things, but to abstain entirely from others, and he, having disregarded the medical instructions, should prefer pleasure to the cure, and by eating and drinking what was forbidden should make the disease more serious, we should not for that reason accuse the physician as a traitor; since the illness grew strong from the intemperance of the sufferer, and not from the providence of the one who gave the counsel. ^D Having therefore gathered together these things, and whatever is similar to them, celebrate the Lawgiver of the saving laws, and regard the beneficial utility of the laws themselves for human life. And as if you were established as spectators of some praiseworthy contests, celebrate those who observe the laws. But do not condemn all transgressors with an equal vote: since not all transgress with the same intent. For many things, indeed, and contrary to

^A even those laws themselves call involuntary. For if someone casts a stone at a dog or anything else and misses it but kills a man, Herodotus also tells of such mishaps. Or if someone holding an axe and cutting wood often casts the iron at someone passing by, it happens involuntarily. To these and the like, as being involuntary, the laws grant pardon.

But even voluntary acts have no small difference. For it is not an equal sin if someone, spurred on by some anger and rage, strikes a neighbor and sends him to his death—not having premeditated this, nor having struck with that intention—and if someone should compass a death by treachery, ambush, and forethought. For the former was of a precipitous anger, but the latter of supreme malice; and the former was not entirely, while the latter was entirely of the will.

So also, not all men fall into the sins of pleasure in the same way. But some, while not at all preoccupied with the attractiveness of bodies, are yet pierced by them—sometimes seeing them suddenly and succumbing to the passion, their reason having been dislodged from its command. Others consume their life in ^B feeding their eyes with such spectacles. There are those who do not partake of food or drink without fear, yet, though they struggle, they are defeated because they do not wish to struggle skillfully. Others indulge in luxury and gluttony beyond measure, and devise every kind of decadence, and excite their other appetites with every artifice, and even feel aggrieved when they are extinguished.

Since, therefore, there is such a difference among those who transgress, one should not feel the same indignation toward all; but those who openly embrace a swinish life should be loathed, while the others should be counseled, exhorted, and have a hand extended to them, and be cared for diligently, offering them the remedies of health. But as for those others, if they persist in living like beasts, we shall mourn them while they live, and when they die, we shall offer them the epitaph of Sardanapalus. For upon his tomb it has been inscribed:

These I have, that which I ate and committed lewdness with, and for love’s sake I enjoyed delights, but the many and great blessings of all, I have left behind. ^C For I am ash, I who once ruled Over great Nineveh.

But the writers of this epitaph also spoke falsely. For one who has finished this life does not possess what he ate and drank; but those things have passed into foul corruption. He possesses only the foul odor of an unlawful life, which continuously grieves and distresses the soul, being conscious of the most terrible things and remembering what it wickedly committed.

This, O men, is the twelfth discourse I have presented to you, and I have shown what, concerning ^D God, and regarding mate-

concerning the nature of God, the origin of the world, and what the Greek philosophers thought about virtue and vice, and what the sacred Scriptures have taught us concerning the same matters; and how it is that their systems are already entirely quenched and wrapped in the darkness of oblivion, while these of ours flourish and thrive, and are frequented by countless myriads of hearers in every city and province, and by teachers who, indeed, lack Platonical eloquence, but offer the healing medicine of truth: and how the error of the false gods has been expelled, while the doctrines of our Savior have been proclaimed. ^A For Porphyry himself, in the works he wrote against us, has testified to this. "But now," he says, "they marvel that for so many years a disease has held the city, since there is no longer any access for Aesculapius or the other gods. For from the time that Jesus began to be worshipped, no one has experienced any public benefit from the gods." This Porphyry, our most bitter enemy of all, has said, and he openly confessed that Jesus, from the time that faith began to be placed in Him, rendered the gods devoid of power. Therefore, after the cross and the saving passion, Aesculapius no longer imposes upon men, nor does any other of those who are called gods. For the rising light, like some sort of daystar, drove their whole band into darkness, just as it does with owls. I pray that you too may become partakers of this light. It was for this reason that I undertook this labor of writing, and, like someone collecting various herbs from everywhere, I have prepared a salutary medicine for you.

ADMONITION TO THE READER

From the Appendix annexed to the fourth volume of the Sirmond edition, nothing is added to this fourth volume of the new edition except the *Book Against Nestorius*, or the *Epistle to Sporacius*, and the arguments of the twenty-seven books *Against the Eutychians*. The *Oration on Divine and Holy Charity* has found its place in our edition in volume III, p. 1296, after the *Religious History*. The epistles found in the Appendix of the Sirmondian edition will be inserted in their proper place with the remaining epistles. Finally, the *Reprehension of the Anathematisms of Cyril* will hold the first place in the fifth and final volume of this edition, so that the bulk of this volume may not be excessively increased.

THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS, AGAINST NESTORIUS, TO SPORACIUS

^A Since the world is gradually passing away and hastening toward the dissolution of this universe, every man has come to consider himself a sufficient teacher of piety. Because, through the pride of ignorance, no one can endure to learn, the soul-destroying demon, the father of lies, the sower of tares, no longer arms himself against the Church through external and manifest enemies; but having found an instrument that could, so to speak, suddenly receive his entire art, he introduces, under the guise of orthodoxy, the denial both of the divinity and of the humanity of the Only-Begotten, disturbing the simple and artless faith of ours with Hellenic sophistries. You have surely heard of Nestorius; for he is, indeed, a notorious man. This man, hailing from the little town of Germanicia, and educated, I know not in what sort of studies from the beginning, moving from one region to another like an Egyptian scourge, burst into the great city of the Antiochians. In this place, having had a moderate share of liberal disciplines, and having practiced a voice that was most beautiful and ^B magnificent, he thrust himself into the Church of God, and having been enrolled in the number of the presbyters, and having had the duty of teaching the people imposed upon him, he showed immediately at the beginning what he would be throughout his whole life. For he did not follow the noble and fruitful style of speech, one capable of cultivating the souls of men; but, inclining toward what is pleasing to the people, and being a hunter of applause that dissolves into the air—if ever there was one—

^A he summoned the mob and the unstable multitude toward the desire he felt for his own ends, clothing himself in a dark-colored cloak, walking with a sullen air, avoiding public clamor, and by the pallor of his body hunting for the reputation of being disciplined, while staying mostly at home occupied with books, and spending time with himself in quiet. By such appearances and pretenses he ensnared many, and he advanced far into his life, being eager to seem a Christian rather than to be one, and preferring his own glory to the glory of Christ.

But since, as it was said by the Lord, “There is nothing hidden that shall not be known, nor secret that shall not come to light,” and, “Good works are manifest, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden,” through the ^A unsearchable abyss of the judgments of God, Nestorius, by the vote of those residing in the palace and the cathedrae of state, and of him who then held the scepter of the world, was entrusted with the leadership of the Catholic Orthodox Church in Constantinople, and to no lesser degree that of the entire world. ^B From there on, those deeds were committed which all but filled land and sea. For as soon as he occupied that great throne, having seized the charge of the high priesthood like some sort of tyranny, he could no longer contain the impiety he was pregnant with; but, taking foolish license from the power he possessed, he brought into the open and exposed to all the blasphemy he had long ago conceived against the Only-Begotten, and openly waged war against the apostolic doctrines. He strove to cast out the words of the holy Fathers who, from the time the Gospel was proclaimed, had ^B led the way in the faith of the orthodox; he disturbed the Church of the royal city, and he disturbed the entire world, paying no heed to the divine Paul who cries out: “But he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he may be.” But upon the lampstand of the divine pontifical throne, he set not the lamp of truth, but the darkness of impiety. ^C The first step of his innovation was the assertion that one ought not call the holy Virgin, who gave birth to the Word of God having taken flesh from her, “Theotokos” (Mother of God), but only “Christotokos” (Mother of Christ)—although the most ancient heralds of the orthodox faith, in accordance with apostolic tradition, had taught that the Mother of the Lord be called and believed to be Theotokos. Come then, let us bring into the open his blasphemous technicality and the observation known to no one before.

^D The appellation of “Christ,” he says, is significant of the two natures, the divinity of the Only-Begotten and his humanity; but the word “God,” when uttered absolutely, represents the simple and incorporeal substance of the Word of God, whereas “man” points only to the human nature. For this reason, he says, it is necessary to confess the Virgin as Christotokos and not Theotokos, lest we...

^A be forced to admit, by consequence, that the Word of God received a beginning of existence from the holy Virgin, and thus that the mother is older than the One born of her. But lest I be thought to accuse the man of these things with empty reproaches, I will produce him as a witness against himself, by his own words. For, having banished from his mind the memory of apostolic teachings and of all the saints, he uttered many such expressions in the Church of the orthodox: “Mary, my good friends, did not bring forth God, but brought forth a man, an instrument of the divinity.” And in other trifles again: “The Gentile is blameless, who introduces a mother to the gods.” Let these few things be said by me out of the many, while the discourse hastens to what follows. ^B Whence, since the impious perish by a terrifying death, and he was deposed from the high priesthood by the holy ones assembled at Ephesus, and ordered by the imperial will to dwell in the Oasis, he took from there the beginning of the future punishment of the impious, becoming a laughingstock for his own madness and fulfilling in himself that saying of the Apostle: “Some men’s sins are manifest, going before to judgment” (1 Tim. v, 24). But these things, as they have been examined by many others, it is necessary to pass over. Let us go on to what follows, and proceed to the confession of the holy Fathers.

We, obeying the evangelical and apostolic dogmas everywhere, according to the tradition of the holy ^C Fathers, believe that the God Word, the Creator and Lord of this whole universe, the only-begotten Son of the Father, who is before the ages, who is without a body and exempt from all things that are of the body, in whom are all things that are in the Father, except for the being the Father, did in the last days, moved by His own philanthropy and by the good will of God the Father, take to Himself consubstantial flesh from the holy Virgin and became man; that the God was born together with that which He assumed, not having cast off what He was (for the divine is free from all change), but having assumed in addition the becoming man. This One, according to the apostolic word, we believe to have been tempted in ^D all things by human affections, according to the likeness and human law, without sin; for to hunger, and to be weary, and to weep, and such things as these, demonstrate the truth of the human nature. We believe Him to have been crucified under Pontius Pilate, and to have died, and to have been buried, and to have risen on the third day, and to have been taken up into the heavens, being worshipped and glorified together with His own Father by every nature gifted with intellect and sense; and that He will come again to judge the living and the dead, in no way diminished in His divine nature by the form of a servant; but that we confess one God, the only-begotten and Lord of all, with His own flesh, whom all acknowledge and

^A always adore. For this reason, O good sir, the Virgin is proclaimed as Theotokos by those who adore Christ as God; not as though the divine nature of the Only-Begotten took its beginning of being from her; for God is, and shall be, and was in the beginning, and He never received the beginning of His being from anyone at all; but as one who already existed, the Word of God made the dwelling in the virginal and immaculate womb the beginning of His incarnation and of the dispensation toward us. And the apostle Paul is a witness to this fact, and the divine evangelist John is also a witness. The holy Paul, indeed, crying out thus: «God sent forth His Son,»—the one who already existed, that is—«(for that which is not is not sent, but it becomes) made of a woman, made under ^B the law,» and so on. And John, who was called by the Lord the Son of Thunder on account of the grand and heavenly nature of his dogmas, having first said that the Word was God, and that He was in the beginning, and with God, and that He always was, and that all things were made by Him, and that He Himself is the Lord of all, and having shown His being to be without beginning and consubstantial with the Father, as [pertaining to] the Only-Begotten; then descending to the ineffable discourses regarding the dispensation, he says: «And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.» How then, O most wise man, as you think yourself to be, is she who carried the Word of God in her womb as He became man, and gave birth to Him, and is necessarily believed to be the mother of Him who was born, not the Theotokos? And all the prophets proclaim these things. Or have you not heard Isaiah ^C crying out? «Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.» Not, by your account and your delirious trifles, an instrument of the Deity, but God with us, having become man according to our nature. And Jeremiah, he too, theologizing about the Word who became man, in the words where he says: «This is our God, no other shall be accounted besides Him; He found all the way of knowledge.» And after a few words: «Afterward He was seen upon the earth, and conversed with men.» And also the mother of the Forerunner, being moved prophetically by the adorable Spirit and crying out: «And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?» To pass over these things, which have been said by many before and are now said in the same way, is necessary. That the holy Virgin is therefore the Theotokos, what we have said is sufficient for sound minds; ^D but I will attempt to overturn his clever argumentation in a few words.

A little above, he says, the appellation "Christ" is indicative of the two natures; but "God" is indicative of the simple and incomposite [nature]; and "man" represents the human nature. What do you say? Therefore, when the Lord in the Gospels, while teaching the more divine things, and, as He himself says, heavenly things, was saying to Nicodemus (for as one skilled in the divine Scriptures, I will deal with you): «No one hath ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, the Son