presides according to the rules of art, and moderates the sounds to the end intended; but the tongue that sings psalms, from which the aberration of thoughts removes attention, does not have a mind that is in harmony, nor one that modulates the rhythms.
16. In these things, we should be zealous to imitate the sharp-witted children B who recite from memory the most important lessons, and take the greatest care in what they recite. For they turn their whole mind both to the teacher and to the things they are recounting. We ought to do the same, and fix our mind both on the things we sing, and on our greatest Teacher to whom we sing, so that he may make us, as we pray, blessed like the aforementioned children, and may bid us become like them, and write us down as heirs of his kingdom and his sons.
17. If, when we are singing hymns to God, or to any of the servants of God, we imagine that we are standing before them and speaking face to face, why do we not at that time call back our whole mind from the outward tumult, and gather it into one, and become truly new, being present to the things we are saying, and gluing our souls to them, and thus being occupied with nothing worldly—not to speak of evil things, but not even of those things worthy of any care? For the crafty enemy lies in wait C for us, scheming not only to separate us from God by wicked thoughts, but somehow also by better thoughts, so that he may at least disrupt our prayer in any way possible, and contrive for us to say one thing, while he opportunely or inopportunely applies the intellect of our soul to something else. But let us, both when singing hymns and when otherwise conversing with God and his saints, strain toward one goal, namely, to know what we are saying and to whom we are saying it, so that we may thus pierce the terrible adversary with our arrows, happily attaining the heavenly inheritance.
18. Let us also consider that if, when conversing with a king, we are not distracted by anything from without, nor do we say one thing while sending our mind to another, D we should much more strive, in divine conversations, for such attention, harmony, and agreement between the tongue and the soul. These things, beloved listeners, if they please you, please me as well; but if you contest them, better solutions must be sought elsewhere. You will surely find them, with God granting it, who promises that it will be found by those who seek, and opened to those who knock.
ON OBEDIENCE DUE TO A CHRISTIAN MAGISTRATE
1. Reminding again and again, and indeed teaching those among you who have need either of admonition or of doctrine (for perhaps there will be some who have need of neither, whether they be in need of no doctrine, or whether they study with intent mind all the justifications of God and therefore are strengthened for every...), to this hon...
honest exhortation aiming at spiritual integrity, persuasion, and obedience, I now prepare myself, drawing back to the very first beginnings, to which I gladly cling. A For there was a time, brothers, when there existed among men neither law, nor rule, nor any rational administration or constitution of a well-ordered state; nay, there was not even security of life, because no society gathered, no assembly was held, no meeting was known; and (why should I, indeed, hold my peace about what is the most sorrowful of all?) humanity and gentleness appeared not, which alone make a man. The proof of this matter, partly to be sought from afar and partly to be deduced from immediate arguments, will be easy and ready.
2. Our ancestors by nature and kind, the first humans, as soon as they saw a fundamental number of children born to them, suffered a wounding, since the pious Abel quickly departed, not passing away by a natural death, but snatched away by slaughter through the devil’s envy. From that time on, the most wicked demon ceased not to sow similar tares of malice in every way among contemporaries and their descendants, and after the fraud by which he deprived our ancestors of paradise, he brought forth other horrendous crimes similar to the Cainite malice. B Even though these may be of a different kind and seem of less moment than that murder, nevertheless they approach close enough to it and secretly produce mortal calamities, such as we have seen arising most especially from the injustices and robberies which (the devil) has lately perpetrated, in order to pervert the rational, beautiful, royal, wise, divine creature, next in rank to the angels, created by God, and to deflect it toward madness and make it so that the men of that age would not use life wisely, but rather decline toward the ways of wild beasts. Whence arose such a great calamity that the world seemed to exist no longer. For how is there a world where there is no man? Or how is there a man, where the world is not administered?
3. But because the nature of things could not stay right, lest some good grains be missed among those tares, from which in the success of time a divine harvest, abounding in ears and crops,1 might emerge (for the wise farmer and administrator of the world was guiding it, just as He guides it even now), and lest with those evil faculties good qualities should not also be conjoined by which a life acceptable to God might be fashioned: together with those corrupt men there were here and there a few upright ones who grieved over the malice of the rest, reflecting on how Adam and the first mother of the human race were created by God—simple, surely, and tranquil, free from change, gentle, knowing not how to act unjustly—and how they had been established to act securely to the end that they should increase and multiply, the divine precept being brought to fulfillment. D Yet they err regarding the life of the ancestors, they who are commanded to pursue what is good, behaving not as toward earth, as
A they ought, laboring not in it, nor striving to acquire bread by the sweat of their brow, nor directing their life and character according to reason, as God commanded, but rather cruelly insurgent against themselves, disturbing and offending and lacerating one another, and bringing all manner of evils upon those who are men just as they are, so that those people miserably loathe the long life granted them by God.
5. What would those few prudent men not have done to bring about a reformation, they who were acceptable to God, living according to nature, the true descendants of Adam, whose good natural disposition taught them a gentle humanity? What would those not have devised, who were stirred toward brotherly love by their own reason, or rather by God? How could their inward parts not have been inflamed, how could their heart not have burned, B when they saw the divine creature—man, I say—to be almost inferior to the beasts, so that nothing was lacking for them to be equal and similar to wild and cruel beasts, except that they did not walk on all fours?
6. Truly, we must infer from what is probable that those good men would first have lamented inwardly within themselves, satiated with a wealth of tears in their solitude. Then, some prudent men, whom the divine, natural spark had warmed to act with philanthropy, having gathered for the sake of counsel, would have deliberated on the best method by which to recall the old man. Then, first calling upon the Creator God, representing Him in their minds, they would have besought Him to look upon His world, which had turned toward wickedness C and was being dismantled, and not to allow the creature similar to Himself to deviate from nature, while sheep and oxen and all animals followed the laws of nature according to which they were created. They prayed that God would not despise man, who was descending below the order of the beasts, since the latter lived tranquilly and in no way violated their nature, whereas this one, who excels over all and for whose sake all things were made, disturbs the well-ordered world and casts himself into destruction, and finally, as much as lies in his power, strives to deprive the world of men and of sovereignty. Furthermore, D they besought the Lord, the fountain of all goodness, not to repay the sins perpetrated by the multitude with precise justice, nor to measure out punishments equal to those with which they raged against their fellow men, nor to avenge the slaughters, but rather to defer the penalty, since He, by timely and fruitful rain, makes the earth fertile for the benefit of those who would moisten it with the blood of their brothers; and that which the rain, benignly granted by God, makes fertile, they pollute with the gore of their kinsmen, and, as if furnishing themselves with victuals, they devour one another by the law of mutual consumption.
7. After they had prayed for these things (for the Lord, who not only guards infants but also makes them wise, and who rejoices if praise is offered to Him even by them, would not pass over those men, either, without showing kindness, and [implanting?] in those possessed of brotherly love... )
and once they had confirmed this godly and brotherly counsel, they ventured to assemble, if they could find them, a select group and company to organize, and to proclaim a crowded synod for the common good and for what is easier.
8. When God, quickly gathering that assembly and guiding it—He who loves charity and peace, and who on that account created Adam in His own image, and wishing his descendants to multiply over all the face of the earth, gave him for a similar end the population that is in the world—had guided them, those men, as teachers divinely inspired and instructed in heavenly wisdom in matters that appeared necessary and suitable, surely spoke out. For, recalling to memory the first parents, by whose example they were eager to stir their listeners toward an honest life, and in order to persuade them more strongly, they said that those parents at the beginning had received only one commandment from God, and one easy to observe, by which, had they been obedient, they would have turned out to be gods. But those, having transgressed the commandment, caused the venerable paradise to be left deserted, and all those who had been gathered there from the beginning were now excluded from it, with God enjoining them only that they should multiply by propagation and fill the earth. Now, indeed, proceeding further, they said that their descendants had given themselves over to such wickedness that they were not only worthy to be removed entirely from the earth, but even to be cast while alive into Tartarus. Furthermore, to add a sharper stimulus and to render their accusation more severe, they said threateningly to those being taught: If God desired the paradise to be left uninhabited, how will He spare the rest of the earth which we befoul with unspeakable crimes? How will He not do one of two things: either shake the earth to pieces and crush it upon the heads of its inhabitants, or, casting down the heavens, destroy the whole, or, submerging it with a flood—as indeed once happened—completely cut off the human race, which, though it ought to be the most beautiful, is now the most wicked of all?
9. Furthermore, those self-taught wise teachers brought into the midst men afflicted with ulcers and every kind of wound, and displaying them openly, so that they might infuse mercy into those who were at least repenting, while rebuking them with what manner of fellow-citizens they were making of those who were like themselves, by maiming some, surgically cutting others, killing not a few, and maltreating most in every way, so that even such a life must be deemed more miserable than the slaughter of Abel. Moreover, they reminded them of the fear that seized Cain, and his rejection from the face of God, and the sweat of his brow to which Adam, when he had sinned in even a slight matter, was condemned. Finally, they brought up the mention of thistles and thorns, by which man, when God is angry, is pricked while laboring in the field.
10. Therefore, those men, providing many such things and enchanting away the base disease by which those who were acting like wild beasts against one another were suffering, with God entirely confirming their words and assisting their teaching, would have quietly, for a little while, persuaded those who were listening; and from that time, the days...
A of wickedness diminished by the frequent arrival of the teaching, and in so far as the depravity was enfeebled, even injustice shrank back. For all, with unanimous zeal having turned toward shame and repentance, amended their way of life, and being rebuked, understood that they were God’s people who ought to dedicate themselves to Him whose image they bore, and that man had been appointed to be the master of those on earth. And they were ashamed—as was fitting for those who, though fashioned in such a way, were in no respect different from beasts that serve their gluttony—of falsifying the purpose of God, and thus provoking the devil to take possession of them as his own people. And so, as if by some progression, they ascended in their reason on high, and no longer set their minds on earthly things at all, nor did they look down toward the things below; but looking to heaven at intervals not far apart, and contemplating the Creator of the world, and thus having begun to think on high things, and rising above the things that crawl on the ground, they began to become B of God; and having pierced through the fear of Him as the beginning of wisdom, they were written down as being conformed to Him, and they hastened as much as was possible toward the mean. And their hands for the many became instruments of work, casting down the tools for wickedness, whether those were stones, or wood, or the brandishing of swords; and such a manner of life was pleasing to the majority—both to those who had been wronged, because they no longer suffered such things, and to those who had been unjust, because they no longer had business, nor caused it, nor lived any longer after the manner of beasts, but, joined to the divine assembly, labored for concord, having crossed over from the number of enemies to the fellowship of brothers. Therefore, moroseness ceased, the haughty became tranquil, the solitary C joined together into a society, the scattered came into proximity and the bond of friendship, and those who had been rent apart found a remedy, being sewn together in concord.
11. And the gatherers of the people—whoever were first stirred by the zeal according to God toward such a good work—rejoiced in every way; but those who enjoyed the benefit rejoiced even more exceedingly; or, to speak accurately, divine joy was multiplied for both: for those who were doing the good, and were thus revealed to be divine, and for those who were experiencing it, and were becoming human in relation to the truth. And so, gathering together, they held banquets, and practiced boldness of speech, and observed festivals, which the occasions prompted, and celebrated the seasons. And if the luxurious foods, and likewise the wine, were not yet present, so as to furnish tables D and feast and drink wine with pleasure, yet they seasoned their festivities with other things, as the time allowed; for there were dances, and certain songs, and the formerly solitary gathered into a throng, and the grace from their common life appeared in the greatest degree, and love was sown, being announced as a little thing, yet even so, growing to the extent that was fitting.
12. As, therefore, the teaching-power progressively brought back, bit by bit, those who were in a bad state to true health—since they were naturally well-disposed to be restored to such a good—both the good increased, and virtue...
A had prevailed: then those prudent and grave counselors brought forward the opinion that this natural state, which one might call a divine institution, should be fixed and preserved. When those who were already participants in that benefit heard this opinion, they readily acquiesced, and mutual charity was promoted in a wonderful way, so that all agreed to retain such happiness. It pleased everyone, therefore, even after the first hearing, and it was decreed that this good, so recently discovered, should be propagated into future time, and that there should be no deviation from it thereafter. Now truly, what had thus pleased was confirmed more and more day by day; the common salvation received stability, and the decree passed into daily use and custom, which, when it came into the light and appeared among men, produced a certain abundance, and, if I may say so, a splendor and magnificence of life.
13. B From that time on, men lived securely and tranquilly; sincere friendships flourished, and covenants were ratified. Furthermore, true and rational worship prevailed, insofar as they began, as before, to acknowledge God, the Creator of the universe, and, as befits men, to give Him thanks. Moreover, they cultivated the highest and most pleasant good of life—I mean justice—and there were no longer suppressions, as the proverb has it, but distributions. Gentleness, the primary mark of man, rendered the brotherhood of the brethren tranquil, while the fruitful mother, the earth, was worked extensively by plowing, digging, and furrowing, and brought forth sustenance and delicacies of every kind—the former for necessity, the latter for abundance.
14. C Nor did Venus, the common prostitute, any less sink as if into an ocean of forgetfulness; in her place, marriage was introduced and sanctified the union of men. Common love departed; individual marriages were instituted, and each one, knowing one true wife, exercised paternal authority over children born not of illegitimacy. Finally, according to the example of Adam and Eve set before their eyes, they became one flesh, and were eager to be conformed to such a conspicuous model and to become like them, so that those who in the future would indulge in the love of many women might be suffused with shame. Hence it came to pass that any tent D or apartment had, as it were, its own people and family—a husband, a wife, children, and whoever lived with them, joined by this new bond. And the devil? You would say that he did not live among them at that time; for he was detained in places which the Lord did not visit; but man was truly man.
15. Moreover, those God-beloved primary counselors and arch-teachers who accomplished this good were celebrated in the mouths of all, raised up by admiration, praises, and congratulatory remarks, and elevated to the dignity of princes. They were thus made famous and held worthy to manage the affairs of the state and to look ahead to the growth of a prosperous life thereafter. Some, however,
A struck by this miracle, advanced so far as to refer them to the gods and rank them in a superior order of nature, astonished, no doubt, by the divine power by which, through institution and persuasion alone, they made rational and prudent beings out of those who had been almost brute creatures, and transformed those who did not even know what a true human being is into the will of God.
16. B When, therefore, those primary agents of this good noticed that men were being made better in this way, and that they themselves were held in greater admiration, they were inflamed with zeal and fervor; stimulated by the praises which they received on account of the new prosperity growing with such happy success, and endowed daily with greater wisdom and activity, they gathered larger assemblies again and brought forth good counsels, and reminded those who had already learned to lend a ready ear of what kind they had become from what they once were, and in this way they sought to promote them to true humanity. Finally, they introduced conversation about their once wild and wandering life, and lauded the recent mutual charity through which they lived and conducted themselves almost like brothers—a charity which had now passed into a custom of life and rested upon a firm foundation, and finally which had been proven by use and experience and found useful to all.
17. C Then the inventors of gentleness and teachers of a tranquil life laid out and, as it were, placed before their eyes how many good things, which once were lacking, men now enjoyed, and how many and how great were the evils by which the human race was once vexed but had now been thoroughly eradicated; and thus with greater force and success they spoke before the people. They who had once been merely a gregarious crowd were now gathered into a rational society, and they strove with the highest endeavor to cultivate concord and devote themselves to virtue.
18. D When, however, at that time letters were also discovered—that excellent gift of memory, that primary museum, that repository of wisdom, that remedy for forgetfulness, those delineators of erudition, that example of eloquence, those markers of the soul's counsels, messengers of innermost thoughts, detectors of hidden things, types fixing and retaining that which passes swiftly and propagating it to the notice of posterity after many centuries, painters of conflicts, of deeds, of persons, for the knowledge and memory of all, those excellent characters of all sciences, which teach and instruct men not less through sight than through hearing—since, I say, such and so great a good shone upon the world, whereby all good custom, hitherto preserved without letters, might be confirmed by writing and sanctioned, which today we call law, then those who had once mastered the intolerable force and violence applied themselves with the greatest zeal so that they might imprint the character of law onto their recent custom, in order that the written sanction might be confirmed as if by an attached seal, and that the wandering and uncertain might be reduced to firmness.
A
19. And people, gathered into society, willingly embraced that plan and agreed that it should be done in this way; for they saw well—and, as I think, even declared—that it was altogether better that the good, as if invested with a body, should be placed upon the foundation of books, in the same way that the word of God was either proclaimed by a living voice or read from the sacred pages. Therefore, the leaders of the council prepared themselves to draft laws and to fix them in a certain and stable form, and, after a discussion of what law is, it was determined that it is a divine good. Furthermore, having been accepted, it is engraved upon tablets, or [inclosed] in boxes and codices—or, to speak more precisely, in volumes, in which, as if in a certain house or storehouse, it is preserved, and so is perpetually present to the whole assembly. B
20. At the same time, examiners of justice were chosen and appointed—pursuers of injustice, censors of probity, guardians of honest conduct, providers of laws, and inspectors of institutions no longer unstable but defined by the tenor of writing. With laws thus established and promulgated so that no one might be ignorant of them, some composed their lives and characters to their standard, and thus, navigating as if on a straight course, enjoyed the tranquility of heavenly goods, disturbed by no storm or tempest of life. Others, on the contrary, having entered upon a different path, struck against rocks and miserably perished, paying penalties which that ancient, savage, and brute custom had not previously imposed upon those who behaved otherwise, but which the divine law had established, cutting and striking with a gentle sword, as one might not inaptly say. C
21. Such an infliction of penalties made the wicked return from impropriety to honesty, as they were impatient of this medicine, which was at once sweet and bitter; and human nature returned to its primitive state, distinguished by simplicity, perpetual peace, tranquility, and joy.
22. Such things had been like this in ancient times, of which no one could easily remember; but now, the life which had formerly prevailed—the leonine, or, if one wishes to use a milder term, the impure and vain life—began to be corrected and recalled to gentleness, first indeed through a certain sort of living together, then through certain common customs, and finally through the laws, which, proposed by individuals, were sanctioned by the votes of all. D For through the combined meditation and consultation of wise men, laws were promulgated, and the law of nature and of nations appeared, and by the wise dispensation of God and the assistance of the Holy Spirit, it received increase. — But since that which is beautiful had to become more beautiful, that which is divine more divine, and the worldly to put off its coarseness, so that its virtue might appear, and it might be transformed from earthly into heavenly, and from worldly into supermundane, so that in proportion as men increase and multiply, the beauty of their return—
A and virtuous conduct might also increase, and the good originating from God might be perfectly restored to that same one—for He Himself is recognized as the giver and indeed the author of the new and divinely-written good law. Beyond that first one, another law is discovered, secondary, yet higher and more powerful, and elevated above the one previously contemplated, just as a beautiful and vigorous body is held to be superior to an ugly and infirm one.
23. That Mosaic law, however, was not only Sinaitic, but there were many others like it and of the same argument; it was a law, I say, that did not creep upon the earth, nor merely look toward, correct, and straighten earthly things, but was rather suspended from God Himself. It provided B knowledge of God and divine philosophy—that is, theology—and knowledge of the world through the teaching which the creation of the world imparts, as well as judgment concerning the nature of things, and contempt for things worthy of being despised; by all of which, morals are perfected, so that we may concern ourselves with the world insofar as it shows us true cleanliness, but despise other things by which human life is dragged down to filth.
24. Such a law produced not only men who were simply good, such as those few who had appeared among those who came before them, and who were easily counted—and especially when that wildness was darkening the earth—but also holy men, and, most remarkably, "God-fathers." Such a law, therefore, appeared more perfect and C more venerable than any other, inasmuch as it was written by God and prepared men for supreme perfection. It was seen as if shadowing forth and delineating divine precepts; and while it was easily grasped and understood more subtly by the perspicacious prophets, it was perceived by the rest in a cruder manner, so that they could scarcely attain its meaning even by conjecture. For when it spoke of great and divine things that could not be grasped by the men of that time, it did not reveal the light of understanding, but hid the truth as if under the veil of enigmas, prefiguring future things by its phrasing, for which reason very few mastered the meaning of the enigmas, while the multitude stuck to the surface.
25. Therefore, God, who had bestowed this law D upon men and wrapped it in symbols, also provided that it might be understood in the best way, and that those things which had been spoken obscurely might be brought to clarity and perspicuity. For if a teacher, wishing to test the disciples for whom he cares, perceives that the deep meaning of his words is not understood by them, and that they are becoming sluggish in their learning, and either because they are shorn of vigor of mind or seized by [mental] instability, they fall away—all, so to speak, failing in insight—he does not allow himself to keep the difficult truth from being brought into the light, but interprets it clearly, and thus wins their souls. Much more, then, does He who has from eternity been the supreme teacher resolve in His benevolence to reveal His law, written by Moses and his contemporaries, to men who [are seeking] divine grace
and truth, and who, by means of this later and most perfect law, run back to Him A in order to perform His ordinances well and without blemish.
26. Therefore, He descends through the incarnate dispensation to His own world and man, and chooses a few disciples from the multitude, even from the beginning, from such a great totality of that time, revealing something wondrous in this: that He did not wait to be sought out to teach those who desired it, but rather He deigned to empty Himself, so that He might even seek out those who were to be taught by Him, and accommodate Himself to their weakness.
27. The super-luminous brilliancy, the Arch-light, the Father of lights, therefore descends from heaven and illumines the shadow. Indeed, he brings the symbols of the wise delineator Moses to perfection, interprets the symbolic enigmas, and having brought the shadowy characters to real truth, he adorned that excellent law for an unspeakable beauty, or rather, to speak more accurately, he set it forth as B approachable toward spiritual truth. For there is no longer, after the condescension, any type, no symbol, no shadow; all things are manifest, all things are clear. The characters have been explained; the truth has appeared, shining brightly; the sun of justice has risen; and we who were formerly in the shadows, not knowing where we should go, nor even wanting to grasp what was necessary, have been brought from everlasting darkness to infinite light. The ambiguity of the law has vanished, and in its place has come a mind that is truly profound, yet simple as well, insofar as it interprets the truth wisely and vigorously. C The legal veil, within which the doctrine of salvation is hidden, is no longer cast before us.
28. Nor can anyone say today, "I live according to the bodily letter, doing these things and those in a more literal way. But if anything spiritual is hidden in them, who could know?" But all things are clear, and the decrees of the Word of God made man are easy to grasp; the pearl that comes from them, devoid of any obscure covering, is understood through itself. Pure and unalloyed gold lies before us, needing no Lydian stone; the precious stones do not impose sweat or labor on those who dig them. The Giver of these D appears not only most magnificent, but because of His immense mercy, He permits those who wish to receive the gift; and He does not seek merchants to whom He might sell these precious things at a heavy price, so that they might resell them for profitable trade and drive a better bargain with those who desire them; but He seeks, as friends, the poor in spirit, those with a deep capacity, whom He may enrich, bestowing His own gifts upon them and raising them to the height of blessedness.
29. For He is, as it were, burdened by the infinite wealth that is His, and He desires to find partakers of the good, those who are truly "laborers," men capable of carrying, like an Atlas, the goods He has stored away,
and who wisely welcome those who come to take hold of those goods, and thus forcefully enter the kingdom of heaven. He willingly suffers the theft, since it is committed with prudence; for He does not fear that His riches will ever fail, since they cannot be compared with gushing waters, nor with a full river, nor with the bosom of the sea. Rather, He is the immense fountain of wealth, whose circuit and depth the mind cannot comprehend, nor can it be defined by any measure; its immensity is so far from being observable in any way that one cannot even attain it by conjecture. A
30. Such and so great, to be brief, is God, the Author of the third and new law, not only most wealthy, but also excelling in the liberality of His gifts, Lord of all knowledge and Wisdom itself. Wherefore His law is also worthy of so great a legislator regarding the depth of its pronouncements, and it illuminates with an ineffable light of knowledge those who deign to hear His voice and to have this lamp accompanying their steps and this light guiding their paths. B
31. But if some of His traditions are mysterious, as it were teleological, and otherwise hidden, and for that reason deep, and—so to speak—nocturnal to those who do not see clearly (and there are indeed many such), yet He Himself willingly opens our eyes, if only we wish it, so that, arising as if from the night, we may be illuminated and understand the wonders contained in His law, being instructed very often by teachers, and sometimes illuminated by the inspiration of the divine Spirit. Then indeed we can rightly say: Not only has as much light shone upon us from the revelation as there was night and darkness holding us, but six hundred—nay, infinitely—more; for the clouds of ignorance being dispersed, or, to put it otherwise, knowledge having been changed and directed for the better, the lightnings of divine doctrine have shone forth from there through the whole world, if only men were not sleeping or constrained by blindness. Furthermore, even if that latest—or rather, first—eminent law contains inexplicable mysteries, appearing to be comprehensible to God alone, and not to any man until He reveals them to those who are worthy, nevertheless in many places—and not only in many, but especially in such places—it is seen more clearly, so that almost nothing at all obscure or, as it were, tortuous, nothing deep and hidden, nothing that requires long interpretation for its understanding, may be found in them. C
32. Immediately, therefore, there occurs to us, gladly adopted by those who are studious of what is beautiful, that saying: "Love one another, and do not lie, and do not slander, but be busy with being human; or rather, do not even go to the trouble of this." For what is troublesome about immediately and with easy detachment doing the unadorned good, that which is—I say—fitting for men, social, philanthropic, and acting according to the truth more naturally, without any elaborate thinking, in the D
A rustic way, to speak of a boat as a boat, and at the same time to neither calumniate, nor accuse, nor commit other things of this sort that are akin to such vices?
53. Therefore, one must not strive to accomplish what is ready-at-hand—love, and the easily grasped truth, and whatever other works there are of [this] unelaborated simplicity—but rather, one must study and devise, as much as one is able, not to cast away love, nor to propose for elaboration and a serious art that which is this very thing and nothing else: namely, practicing how to harm the brotherhood, and thus to terrify it, and to contrive an unapproachable mastery. For this is no longer the act of a good man, but rather of a brigand and a pirate—if one still wishes to classify such a person among men—or else of a wild and violent beast, one that one might associate with the concept of a "beast-man," since such a person becomes like that even if he is from among men, inasmuch as he is for the most part becoming dehumanized. And since, after the most holy dispensation of the incarnation, a law of this kind was not given, it is necessary by all means that all men who are placed under it should surpass those who, as we said above, obeyed the ancient holy law, and especially the primal [law]. For I cannot call that former law "primal"—which, though it had already passed into custom at that time, was nowhere established by any manner of decree or law, but, if it is right to say so, was wandering and straying wherever men might wish to admit it. B
54. And so it was necessary for it to happen in this way, so that the Lawgiver might also rejoice in being honored, in that the good given by Him was being preserved, and we ourselves might become better, as is pleasing and acceptable to both God and men. However, it does not happen so, but our affairs fall short, such that even while thinking we are burdened, and while seeing we are filled with shame, and while speaking we are quickly brought to silence.
55. Come, let us review the whole matter briefly and summarize it. Certain good and easily counted men C led the ferocity and inhumanity that had gradually invaded the descendants after the first parents, bringing them to mildness. They accomplished this by embracing their brethren with the greatest love, speaking benevolently, exhorting like teachers, bringing forth good speech with prudence, and thus persuading; and by continuous, useful instruction, they exchanged depravity for the beauty of virtue. For they themselves abstained from human flesh, and those who had been accustomed to feed upon nothing but human flesh and to live by theft and rapine applied their minds to exercising arts according to their ability. And, calling to mind from the beginning the memory of Abel, who was acceptable to God, they began to pasture and nurture herds, obtaining from them many good things—and that without great labor—they restrained their hands from mutual theft and untimely killings. D
36. And having tasted of such a good and easier life, they applied their mind to finding other useful things; and having departed from caves and other such fortuitous shelters,
A in which one would say they did not dwell, but rather skulked like wild beasts, they built houses and dwellings, so that they might dwell there securely and keep the things necessary for life free from the threat of theft. B And immediately they also constructed quarters for the women, having separated the over-amorous ones, leaving them to run to irrational females, since they had persuaded them not to even approach the women in their homes; they themselves, I think, having learned from afar, and, as they say, "from the hearth," where such desire ends when it is evil—with a diabolical zeal inciting and goading it—to drive away the ravisher as if he were a wolf.
37. B Consequently, when agriculture had been practiced from that time on, the mother earth, being importuned, provided milky, sweet sustenance to her human children—the goods of herself. And when mortals enjoyed such a good thing along with peace and tranquility, they banished rebellions, contentions, and persistent fighting far away, and loved only the saving sufficiency; unless, indeed, the god of gain (Mercury) easily brought them under his own sway. For those men, distinguished by boldness and vigor of mind and generosity, did not fear to throw themselves into the dangers of the sea, and having left behind their sweet and nourishing fatherland, they became strangers to the salt water, in a way departing from their own selves, or surrendering themselves to Harpies, or at least putting on the nature, as it were, of amphibians.
38. C Therefore, having built ships as houses upon the waters, they endangered themselves, and placed burdens in them, and having despised the nourishing earth, they acquired another that "feeds" them, which one would not hesitate to call a stepmother; nay, rather, having taken up a greater courage than before, they put in at foreign and remote shores. For it is an act full of bold madness for a man, a nursling of the earth, to abandon the air for the sake of his belly and to take a plunge into the abyss and dwell there, and furthermore, to be subjected to the rule of maritime winds, to labor and be put in peril for the sake of food, and that, too, for the most part, hard to come by.
39. D And because the dry land provides labors [or: business] for those who cultivate it, and for the hunters who kill wild beasts and capture them in any way at all, and because these things are considered as an art useful to life, fishing also was held in the same place and was defined and cherished as an art itself, as it transferred God’s creature (man) from warring against men to the practice of hunting beasts, through which he no longer wishes to be stigmatized as a murderer, but as a skillful craftsman, sturdy and valiant, even as a hunter upon the sea.
40. D And so, he who otherwise spends his leisure time about the sea is bold and daring; but it is of a bold spirit to depart far from the firmly established and fixed earth, and to seek that which is unstable, and to commit oneself to the waves of the ocean agitated by the force of the winds, and to meditate a flight though devoid of wings—not indeed with waxen, as in the fable of Icarus, but certainly with linen wings, which, easily stirred by the wind and broken on all sides, cause the navigators to lower their anchors
abandoning the plow of the land and scorning the safe vessel in the vines, and to commit themselves to the wooden one, through which, rising up to the heavens and descending to the abyss, they are exposed to destruction. But this is the boldness of a severe and daring man, and it exceeds all courage and rashness. B 41. And yet (since it is a greater evil to live like unreasoning creatures, like wild beasts, and to devour one another, and in many ways and by all painful means to lead astray the brothers created by God, and thus to fight against God), those men who have been tamed have chosen even such a strange art, according to which, it is clear, those who abandon the land also, in a way, bid farewell to life.
42. As for other arts, however—those free from all danger, and indeed pleasant and full of sweetness, and drawing with them much delight, by which men who were once wild afterwards became tame—hardly anyone could enumerate them. But thus that good admonition, and wise speech, and reasonable doctrine of virtue, and prompt obedience, restored those formerly crooked ones to rectitude and polished them, and changed the perversity of their ways into probity. Many serious arts are celebrated which, being invented then, led men who were previously idle and lacking civil governance into a civil constitution.
43. For besides other things, those men began to map out and found cities, leaving behind also the salutary examples of this good for posterity; but those who followed them—men, indeed, addicted to the law handed down by their ancestors—taking a handle from thence, confirmed that excellent thing with all their might, and on that beautiful foundation, they strove to add increments, venerable and becoming to the houses of God. Furthermore, the most skilled artificers of these things, among whom the most ancient patriarchs are also numbered, are proclaimed with the highest praises and are objects of admiration, and are numbered among the holy princes, nay, they are even believed to be denizens of heaven, inasmuch as they transmitted such virtue to the divine apostles; these set the roof upon that beautiful, ancient structure, and filled it with inhabitants, and enriched it with most holy churches, and appointed blessed heralds, and established holy heads, and, having prepared divine flocks, entrusted them to be pastured spiritually, and enacted laws and decreed rules according to which the sheep of God should be pastured in the Christian manner, and pointed out the pastures in which they should take their nourishment. C D
44. And thus those great men brought the law contained in the holy Old Testament, from the simple unwritten state, to the written law, completing and restoring it—where it was not possible to add even one iota or one tittle, or even to take one away. But we who now live, little men, and I before all others, not only [do not emulate] those excellent men...
but we even detest the very doctrine, and indeed the simple sermon, and would much more gladly listen to the roaring of wild beasts than to a man who directs our perversity toward evangelical probity.
45. Just as a craftsman’s rule can smooth blocks or wood in no other way than by scraping off and removing what is superfluous, so we think that God, through the divine preaching of the apostles, also cuts away and removes painful parts of our flesh when concerns for the perfection of the soul arise. But we are so slothful regarding it, and so neglectful of purity. When the shoes we wear have become soiled, we rejoice if someone, noticing it before we do, either wipes them off for us or alerts us to B clean them (and we feel this way about every filth, whether of the body or of garments); yet when the soul is disgraced by the most shameful stain, we do not even endure to hear that it is affected in such a way, much less to wipe it off, if it has been smudged by some dishonorable baseness.
46. Perhaps we think we differ nothing from slaves or children, if commands are laid upon us and we are constrained to do them. Perhaps we speak more highly of ourselves than we ought, saying even that we are such as these, and that we shall be taught. But it appears to those who do not think rightly that the charge of folly lies against us, because, seeing that we do C what we ought not, we hear that we do not act well, and, being thus disposed and turning a deaf ear to those things for which we are rightly admonished, and being greatly vexed, we seem unable to understand that no man comes to any virtue alone by himself, but is considered as an indivisible point in the universe in relation to the whole. This is clear to those who apply diligent labor to individual virtues, according to the proverb which says: "There is no reason for a single man to fear or be terrified, except that he speaks the truth alone." But that statement especially strikes fear into those who are prudent: "Woe to the one who D is alone!" for who will offer himself as a surety for him, so that he is not crushed, once he has fallen?
47. It may be heard from those who know how to instruct the obedient, that nature itself teaches and trains man to be gentle, sociable, given to the love of life, civil, diligent, and pious, so that just as it joins many things and matters into one, so it also calls men to assembly and society and makes them participants in a perfect life. For truly nothing has value alone, without the others—a weaver, for instance, regarding garments, a shoemaker regarding shoes, and many others who supply various things destined for the use of the body. But if this is so for the body, much more is it for the soul, which is the most excellent part of man, indeed without which no man even exists.
48. If this is known and has been accepted as pleasing by all men, why then, when a man walks through the marketplace and is recognized as being good at any trade whatsoever, do we- and those in need of obtaining [some work]...
search for it with great zeal, and having found it, take hold of it eagerly, and are even willing to spend a price higher than is just, in order that we may present the servant-flesh to the sight of observers as more beautiful through some ornamentation—an ornamentation, I say, which for the most part is not even seen by us? But as for the soul, the mistress, we allow it to be polluted with filth and enwrapped in darkness as is pleasing to the black demon, and not only do we expend no labor to adorn it ourselves as a bride of God, or to endure that this be done by another who is skilled in this matter, but even if anyone should appear inviting us and provoking us to a divine formation or transformation, we attack him with insults and order him to depart far away; nay, we are even eager to attack and slay him with the sword! A Furthermore, every art is loved and approved by us, and we admit no distinction between them; yet that art which looks to the beauty of the soul is rejected far from us and neglected, nor is it sent away to some ill-omened bird or to the precipices of cliffs, from whence it might at length some day be brought back, but it is plunged into the abyss of forgetfulness, whence it never returns to the light.
49. On the contrary, every wise counsel, all the precepts of the learned that look toward the correction of life, and the laws that aid and strengthen the canons, lie suppressed, and society schemes in every way, not for how the state might be saved, but for how the just man, being troublesome as it were, might suffer in chains, and the teacher renounce forever that in which he is well-instructed and which he has tasked himself to teach to others, and the father, instructed by the divine Spirit, might not be distracted by his son (for this would be a lesser evil), but might be enrolled as an unprofitable servant through the agency of an evil spirit, and the bishop finally might suffer something unworthy and ill-omened. B C
50. We therefore do not obey, nor do we keep spiritual obedience, nor are we under the fathers whom the holy Spirit gives, nor do we stand in need of the teacher’s art. Wherefore we also reject the present [art], and that which we do not have, we do not desire; which is the lot of every art among men who have no need of it. But for such miserably situated affairs, it necessarily follows that we breathe after that ancient, feral life, although this happens secretly and is hardly perceived by those who lack discernment. D
51. And the account of this passion is of such a nature: we love of necessity the arts that were discovered after the taming of men, as it is not possible to live without them, but we are reluctant to be persuaded by sound counsels and law-abiding statutes, judging them to be curious or even superfluous. And we are even willing to gossip ourselves, saying that they contribute nothing toward our daily bread; and conversely, using the proverb that speaks of "a loaf rather than a hanging," we deem that which is someone else’s to be good, and we claim that bread obtained from a stranger is tasty, and wine snatched [by robbery] is sweetest, and water taken by theft is most pleasant, and clothing acquired through rapine is like the rising of light, and a neighbor's house like paradise.
[GREEK COLUMN] [LATIN COLUMN]
other people's house. And so we revert A to the ancient malice, doing wrong, snatching, reviling, blaspheming, slandering, and—beyond all these and because of all these—reaping the destruction of our souls, neither ourselves considering conversion, nor heeding those who, as brothers through the love of God, wish to restore us. Wherefore it can hardly happen that we are not reduced to the point of allowing our children, and everything we embrace with love, to wander without a shepherd and guide through the pastures. Nor do we examine ourselves by asking: why is it that, as men, we wish to shepherd in our own houses our kin, our slaves, our adopted ones, and whoever else, each of us having spontaneously become a teacher and legislator of his own household, and look to the health of the body and the tranquility of the soul? Yet the teacher given by God, established according to God, and—as is manifest to all—granted by God, is deposed, as if he were someone deprived of life, and thus is barred B from performing the divine work. And why does every family rejoice in an uninterrupted succession, and is held together by the law of nature as if by an indissoluble chain, yet the apostolic and divine family, whose bonds, as descending from heaven to earth, ought never to be broken but rather to preserve the native beauty divinely implanted in them, is to be abolished?
52. These things, brethren, are not good, nor are those that resemble them, nor are they pleasing to God; they are manifestly [the result of] diabolical C maneuvering. For how could it have happened, unless the envious demon and author of all evil had proposed to himself to disturb the good and spiritual Sabbath, divinely given and marked by the suppression of all malice, and to pervert into the opposite that which is said: "The old things have passed away, all things have become new according to God," saying instead: "The new and divine things have passed away, while the old malice has stealthily crept back into our midst to hold its revelry"?
53. And I know (for may I not be so mad or forgetful of my duty) that God will not sleep to the end, but will arise, powerful and like one awakened from wine, and will restore his own things to his own people: to the teacher the right to teach, to the father the right to have obedient sons, to the shepherd the right to lead and bring back the flocks D as is fitting; and, to speak simply, to every superior and subordinate he will restore what is spiritually due, and what is proper and canonically appropriate to each person.
54. And I know that this will happen; but I wished to see this realized immediately and to rejoice, and not to despair and suffer and be anxious for those who are to come after, and to importune the Lord to arise and lift up a high hand for a heavy vengeance; nor to sit and write that the time has indeed come, and that God’s own filling and portion among us has grown rife with tares and thorns, and how many have been afflicted, as they should not have been, and as many as ought not, and in ways that were not fitting, and, being stung, the victims have been pricked into sorrow. But late, at some time after so many blows—would that they were not ten-fold!—may that land for productive fertility
be restored. So deeply has the desire for such a thing settled into me, and the zeal of God so burns within me, that it is my prayer that, as of today, the tares may spontaneously undergo a change into pure wheat, so that they may never again be sifted by the demon, and that the thorns may grow up in a way pleasing to God—some raised up into cedars, cypresses, and pines, which the house of God desires, and others growing into different productive trees, bearing the fruit that God loves.
55. If, in saying these things and pointing out friendly wounds, I seem heavy and severe to those who perhaps are suffused with shame—just as someone who is not handsome, but wishes to appear so, rails against a person who tells him that the handsome form he attributes to himself is false—I, for my part, desire to convince my hearers that I do not know how to flatter, nor to B bestow indiscriminate praise on all things, and thus lie openly. For one alone is God, to be praised wholly, altogether, and at all times, who knows not how to commit sin—the most just, the all-good, the most holy, in whom there is no injustice, from whom all guile and every evil is banished. But man, whoever he may be and of whatever age, aspires, imagines, and labors in vain to be worthy of praise in all things. For although he may do many things in the world, he will not reach the point of being free from all fault and blame on his way; but he is rightly and deservedly praised only for those things which he performs well and in so far as he reaches the proposed goal.
56. And this is a trainer’s law, C by which both those who compete and those who achieve distinction are urged on to reinforcement—some by praises and blessings and encomia, and some by being anointed with rewards. And indeed, there are times when even the one who does well is not praised by those who manage matters of the soul. For they fear that learners and those being trained in virtue might, through assent and congratulation, be driven to arrogance and empty pride, and therefore they chide the vigorous combatants, whose chidings, however, from such teachers incite them to better things, and become like goads, spurring them on to virtuous labor.
57. But in this way, one who does well at the right time is worthy of praise. When, however, someone sins by either having gone too far, so as to run past the mark, D or by having fallen short, then indeed he will not be considered worthy of praise in the truth itself, but will hear words from somewhere—even if they are not entirely bitter and, as it were, like wormwood, yet at least they are temperately mixed with the honey of discernment. When, namely, the stumbling block does not threaten the fallen one with destruction, as though unto death, through the tripping of a demon; when it is not a moderate matter, so to speak, but he has sinned heavily, and the transgression appears hardly able to be forgiven, then the sinner will be chastised with rebukes and censures; and, if he only has a sound mind, he will gladly accept the healing of his wound through correction, as if through a bitter root. For if he does not think in this way, but shows himself to be impatient and disgruntled at the spiritual medicine, he will be spoken of ill, in contrast to the praiseworthy men, and after many things that have passed, and not even friendly to himself,
A nor will he perhaps be acceptable to any of those who look for his things. But God, and those of God, will approve of the one who treats precisely, even if the sons of men, being hard-hearted and loving vanities and lies, might wish that those like them be praised, and might not endure to suffer rebuke. But God, the chief physician, will stand by the one who does what is good, and will avenge him who is harmed. For let no one think that the most high Lord is slothful in such matters; but let him be fully assured that He rises up against every evil and every man and every deed, late indeed because of His long-suffering and love for mankind, but severely, and, to speak with the great David, very strongly, when He shall judge this to be opportune. B
59. Now indeed, O brethren, we must consider here that, just as a great teacher, or to speak more accurately, a teacher of teachers, and the head of all philosophy (even that which is not subject to it—or as one might well say, the presiding one), would not desire to instruct by himself and alone. But having made others wise in many ways, he sets them forth, as far as is possible, to teach the lesser ones among the students. He himself, however, being present at all his doctrines, and articulating them, if there is anywhere anything indistinct, and indeed also correcting them wherever it may be necessary, adorns the schools, and makes the good even more and more beautiful. C So also God, the bestower of wisdom, multiplying His own goodness on earth in various ways through servants clothed in bodies: as soon as He created man, He instilled wisdom into him—a certain sweet spring thereof, a stream derived from His own sea, a sweet rivulet from the abyss of sweetness, a derivation of the holy and ineffable knowledge that is in Him, of which the faculty of foreknowing the future is a part.
60. He prophesied, therefore, as we have learned, the first man, immediately inspired by God. And having begun from thence, the all-wise Lord has not ceased to illuminate those who came after, as is the case even now, but He exerts Himself to send into the world men who are likened to the Divinity. For all those who are indeed divine and full of God are D those who, being themselves vivified and illuminated by God, and thus bearing the knowledge of light and life in the world, vivify and illuminate those who desire to live in God, and shine upon those who are not dim-sighted regarding the truth, and who do not hesitate to stay awake for a work pleasing to God. And blowing into such men those things which pertain to teaching, and managing their spiritual sophistication, He runs along with and watches over the students for His sake; and by adding to those who instruct a corresponding gift of knowledge, He takes part with them in the work, and writes, and distributes what pertains to preparation, and converses with them, interpreting out of the whole Scripture those things which are from Him and return to Him, and no less does He strive to incite and, in teaching, assists and
A benefits. And B thus through those C who are put forward by Him for instruction, even while He himself remains invisible on high (for the whole world is full of God), those who are apt for virtue become better.
61. But what do I mean by "apt"? Since even from stones, which those who holily mine gather up, divine seeds arise—that is, divine men. And that illustrious reality redounds also upon us who live at the present time. For the torrent of the divine word—I mean doctrine—gushing forth from God, is poured into certain bosoms, that is, into the souls of upright teachers, and flowing thence it reaches even to us, and like the paradises of God it irrigates us unto every kind of fruitfulness, by which souls are nourished; and, as if flooding furrows, it waters them for the growth of souls; and it washes men, defiled by the filth of life, and leads them to purity. Nor indeed can our salvation be obtained in any other way than by this sole method, however much men may labor in finding other means.
62. Whoever, therefore, disparages this good, which is found as the only one in the whole world, let them be B convinced that they wander blindly in the densest darkness, because they neither carry the light of doctrine before them to guide them in the gloom of this life, nor are they directed by any other reason; nay, instead of this cheerful light, a conflagration shall rush upon their head, and instead of the refreshing water that irrigates from above and leaps up into eternal life, they shall be overwhelmed by evil waves, not only bitter, but also—which is a weightier punishment—destitute of all vigor and fertility, so to speak. And thus the common Father of all will be deprived of a great abundance of children, whom a demonic torrent has swept away.
63. For since it is agreed by all men in the world that it is a pernicious evil for men to live according to their own pleasure and will, with no master subject to them (which is the same as being enslaved to one’s own will and indulging one’s genius with excessive confidence), those peoples C who do not have leaders submissive to the supreme Leader, God, suffer from such a calamity, inasmuch as they are subject to no one. For the world drives such peoples about like certain animals that lack heads. Wherefore, in jest, as the old proverb says, you might rightly call them "headless and neckless" (those who have neither head nor neck), or rather you might reckon them among inarticulate worms—existing indeed, so far as the manner of life is concerned, but thinking themselves to be superior to every man who approaches God, and persuading one another to think so, and placing confidence in matters in which they ought not. Concerning this confidence, although I have spoken often, I wish now also to set down what is sufficient by way of remembrance.
64. Confidence and persuasion, a thing at once desirable in its season and yet, as we know, to be avoided in other respects, for the most part spring from one root and source, or to speak more simply, from one principle, namely, from subjection. And whereas they are bipartite (for the one appears good, according to which, in regard to things...
altogether useful, we subject ourselves; the other is not such, but is seen in the fact that we obey base men, and are zealously studious to fashion ourselves after such an evil example), persuasion must necessarily also be bipartite, flowing from both.
65. For if we obey good teachers, we experience a good mooring ropes [reliance]; but if we obey not such, we decline toward that bad relying, which is unenvied, in a way that befits not men. Therefore, since subjection takes the lead for a subsequent reliance, and since that which pertains to the subjection of the one obeying takes the second place, he who attends to God is persuaded by a divine teacher, and by receiving the instructions from that source performs his duties; that man is God’s [man], and he is himself steadfast in virtue, and firm in good things, and secure in his goodness, and unswerving, so as even to be praised, and a column of uprightness, unbent, and a foundation unshaken, even though he might sometimes be jolted, and a tree of paradise, pushing its roots into the deep so that it cannot be cast down into ruin by evil demonic spirits, and an indestructible house of God. B And the reliance [that is, mooring] against such a man is not merely admired as being placed in praise, but is also judged to be dear to God and holy.
66. But if someone is not arranged in a straight line under a teacher of this standing, but walks in a circle and twists uprightness—who would not be blameless in the way of the Lord, and who, being borne away from the side opposite to the First [Teacher] and Him who sits upon the throne of highest glory, becomes part of a twisted persuasion; and having obtained from that source principles neither of the love of God nor of prudence, but—to speak the whole thing succinctly—not virtuously toward the truth, and having persuaded himself, he stands fast toward an end that is not good, and struggles and resists, or, to phrase it more commonly, he uses his "mooring rope" for the sake of an unlearned "proficiency" [that is, a popular knack] which exists among the many, so that he conquers by power and establishes what he wills; there is not, nor would anyone who thinks correctly and is a partaker of reason dare to say, that one who is thus easily persuaded is virtuously disposed. C For it is not given for a bad principle to have a good conclusion.
67. But if someone, while proposing falsehoods in discourse, appears to introduce truth, I know not how that which is perversely argued could result in salvation. It is manifest, however, that it returns to the same evil: either to be persuaded by a base principle and, in accordance with that, to be twisted in the subsequent discourse of subjection, and to yield and deviate from the straight path, where wicked men and those who oppose virtue enter—who themselves also, submitting to demonic purposes, are persuaded toward evil. That the God-beloved "mooring rope" [reliance] brings those who have it into a saving calm when they are tempest-tossed in life, the primary meaning of the word shows; D for we are accustomed to call the nautical ropes "mooring lines" [peismata], by which, clearly, a ship anchored in a harbor is held, not being allowed to be tossed about and swamped in danger; when that vessel remains calm for its own salvation and that of those who happen to be sailing in it. Here, then, I inquire confidently: when does a ship of this sort manifest such self-will in a danger-loving way, and vie to break itself off from the harbor,
or allow the ship entrusted to it to be plunged into danger, or surrender it to the driving winds, unless that rope has either rotted through or was in some other way unsuitably woven? A
68. Therefore, confidence B in men is truly a good thing—and for this reason it is to be emulated by holy martyrs, and is dear to venerable men, and is altogether beloved by all who are obedient to God. It is that from which all virtue, art, science, and the order of a correct commonwealth arise. May God grant it to all Christians and preserve such a good in them, so that it may always be present and remain with them, and at the opportune time show itself to be effective, so that it may raise up, as if they were holy pillars, august statues, and vessels of God, His own servants for the common salvation. Such is that confidence placed in God, without which there is no salvation; for if men lack it, why then was Paradise planted, if it was to have no inhabitants? But there is another kind of confidence: imprudent, irrational, wooden, stony, brutish, impetuous, inexcusable, shapeless, hardening, inhumane, provocative, rapacious, demonic, insane—may the Lord of peace avert it from us and from all men, and especially from the Christian!
69. May You hear us, O God our Savior, the first Ruler, greatest among stewards, teacher of the whole world, leader of the sacred orders, prince of princes, Lord of lords, head of those who govern, who for our sake descended C from heaven to us, so that even bodily You might demonstrate Your dominion to those who did not know it, and by commanding and subjecting, and by giving principles for salvation in a teaching manner, and by being obeyed, and by persuading, and by ordering what must be done, You might complete the disciples late in learning what is good, and even more so those who minister to You most closely; who, according to the one who sings holily, are required to walk blameless in the way according to You. For he says, "He who walks in a blameless way, he served me," not indeed being driven by frenzy or casting himself headlong, unrestrained, into the abyss of destruction. D I pray in this way, O Lover of mankind, Lord, for this very reason and for this alone: because every good comes down to us from above through You; not because it is essentially difficult and nearly impossible to cast off that evil confidence, to destroy it, and to bring it to nothing. For as soon as we have willed it, we who obey You, we have also accomplished it; and as soon as we have brought it into our soul, we have reached the end; or, to speak more expressively, as soon as we cast our cares upon You and arm ourselves against this evil, we have carried off the victory.
70. And the method of this victory is as follows: Let it be supposed that someone has easily persuaded himself, and, having coupled together a headstrong confidence, has gone forth to join hands with a fierce boxer and to enter into a fight with an adversary, in order that, shortly after,
A he may be deterred from that boldness, lest he be struck upon the head and, as they say, be brought to nothing, crushed, and stifled, and perish. And if, afterward, having cast aside that first foolish counsel, he adopts another, more wise, and, having deliberated upon both and compared them, perceives his mind inclining toward the second, then he may rightly say to his own mind, which had suggested the former resolution: "You did persuade me, but you shall not convince me; for you wanted me to undergo the crisis of a fight against a stronger man; yet, even though you have tried to lead me astray, you will never convince me. For I fear lest, dashed to the ground, I be exposed to crawling rather than be fit to walk upright."
oa'. Again, a thought has led someone astray—as is often the case with such things—to be noble, and to wrestle with a struggle, if someone should rise up against him in the wrestling school. And a contest was proclaimed, and a wrestling match was announced, and he himself slipped into the middle, eager for the grapple, and confident in throwing his opponent, and already quite convinced B of such a contest. But when he sees an opponent appear, one whom he had not contemplated, but who then, as he observes, rises up and advances against him, he says to his former thought, "You will not convince me, even if you did persuade me before; for I will not endure to be thrown and crushed, and in total view of those who are prudent and learned, to deliberate, and once again to change my mind to look at the ground." A man persuades himself in many things, and even submits to something blameworthy, and often is provoked and rushes into the act. But, having repented, he abandons that to which he had consented, and rejoices that he has stopped, and by such reasoning, even if he has been persuaded, he is nevertheless no longer convinced—much as if one had started over a cliff and then, changing his mind, turned back, and from being irrational became sensible.
ob'. It is necessary, therefore, to act in this way in all similar matters, so that we too, having taken up a fixed stubbornness in any way—whether from our own selves foolishly, or according to evil counsel, but certainly from the primeval demon—and having been urged toward an act that ends in depravity, may reflect that there is someone superior to us, and if not a human, at least God, who, as the fount of good things, is opposed to depravity and will certainly avenge Himself through such a visitation. C For He is also the lawgiver of all goodness; and His is the world, just as it is also His—the orderly ruler over all; and His is the commandment, to obey and submit to those in authority, who are His images and likenesses. Hence it is clear that their insult, and harm, and the injustice and meddlesomeness and contempt directed toward them, ascends to Him, who hates all malice, and not least the perseverance in it.
og'. For it is impossible to gainsay that stubbornness is a most wretched thing and that a perverse persistence is a bestial D quality, difficult to efface, and in many places even indelible. Yet, in men who are rational and know how to bow to reason and be convinced, it is not impossible that even such a thing should be effaced; and that such...
a A good quality is not even increased in them by nature, but it springs up and matures through unlearned habit—or more clearly, through evil persuasion, which is in itself twofold. For either a man is persuaded from within, having taught and instructed and established himself in evil to be perversely obstinate; or he takes his principles from elsewhere, and being dragged along by the compelling persuasion from that source, and thus remaining evil through an attachment to that which is dearest to him. For one would not remain in a thing unless he had an excessive love for it, but would quickly leap up and depart from it. Therefore, such an affection of the soul does not belong to the common man, but is clearly something adventitious and superinduced through doctrine, inasmuch as he has either been confirmed in that evil affection by some other person, or has admitted it on his own initiative, and, having been contumaciously addicted to it, has labored at it day by day with more ardent zeal, not without the aid of an evil spirit, and thus, by an improper habit, has been puffed up in his evil confidence.
74. But obstinacy is in general a perseverance of the soul originating from evil persuasion, and a fixed and B firm, that is to say, immutable, persistence. Therefore, a man so affected may rightly and deservedly be called tenacious of purpose, persistent, and inexorable, not so much according to nature simply, as according to his own will and the inclination of his soul, over which he himself has power. For even if the nature of one's disposition cannot be changed, yet those things that are subsequent to nature can be changed, and especially those qualities properly called human can the more easily be changed, particularly when they incline toward virtue, which God Himself aids, leading us away from wickedness,—as also appears in the case of obstinacy.
75. For if that which drives and persuades a man to act is contrary to human nature and knows not how to bend, but rather hardens him to an excessive degree, such an affection is nothing but mere arbitrariness and a singular habit in one who, as if he were wise, persists in evil with such great pertinacity, bespattering himself with the stain of ostentation. Furthermore, such an affection degenerates into a pursuit of singularity, vain display, and pride. But we must now consider that the Lord, who resists the proud, by no means favors such a voluntary C confidence, from which Lucifer began, inasmuch as he, seduced by pride and vanity, boasted not only that he would do other great things, but also that he would place his throne in the clouds and thus become like God.
76. And since he had so persuaded himself, D those who were his followers of old, having taken their principles from thence, it is impossible to say how much zeal they exerted in striving to imitate him: for, neglecting the divine essence, they miserably surrendered themselves to weak and obscure masters, and proceeded to such a point of madness that, with that worst confidence as their guide—which no teacher could correct—they seemed to mock God after the likeness of the devil. For when they had renounced God, the first principle and the one beyond all beginning and omnipotent, they gave themselves over to others, and—
gave divine honor to cats, and played such foolish games, dignifying with solemn teachings, without any obstinacy, both beans and onions. A
77. But those who are carried away into wickedness, puffed up by such self-assurance, lean upon it as an anchor, and God opposes them, since they have no other desire in their hearts but to cast a man down wickedly, and to trample upon one who has fallen, and to say: "Lie there unraised!" But whenever He (God) finds someone who does not swell with self-assurance or arrogance, but is full of an honest, praiseworthy, firm, and unshakable trust according to the will of God, He immediately assists him, leads him into the path of virtue, confirms the steps of such a man, reduces to nothing the snares and nets imminent to his feet, and preserves him as he walks on the straight path; and to him who runs, He grants wings, so that he may reach the good end as quickly as possible. And if it becomes necessary to stand, not even the devil himself will trip him up; for he is a man of God and places his trust in Him, as if he were established on Mount Zion, and B as the house of God, as the holy Gospel says, resting on firm foundations, never to be shaken, neither by storms, like a reed, nor by the violence of torrents, like a house built upon sand or upon rock that is not solid; but he rather persists like a pillar, which can neither be tilted nor, much less, cast down, but is also able to stoutly ward off and repel any assault.
78. God, therefore, who exists for all men as a cause, a principle, and an exemplar (all these things are to be adored in Him), has exhorted, and continually exhorts, those who look to Him to be firm and steadfast in the battle against wickedness, and to remain persevering in virtue, and with a life composed according to the norm of the Gospel, to imitate Him with all their might and confess Him before men. Contra C satanas, as an adversary, is the author and instigator of the opposite disposition, impelling those who stand on his side to follow malice and to oppose God in all things.
79. And behold, of these two idiosyncrasies and dispositions, the one, which is evil, leads those who in various ways are demonized into the confusion of life; the other, however, the second, has presented those who have sanctified themselves to God—ascetics, hermits, stylites, those living in caves, recluses, public teachers, vigorous guardians of souls, physicians of the disclosed wounds of the soul, who must use the knife and cautery when it seems opportune, explorers of that which is still hidden, D severe or gentle punishers of wickedness, defenders of those who have been unjustly despoiled, just reprovers for the time being, and where there is need, censors, monitors for promoting the pursuit of virtue, and rebukers for exciting men to probity,
those who account for things to be done in a spiritual manner, in a word, the caretakers of souls, and those also who according to the life, and as many as are otherwise of the Spirit, and to say the greatest thing of all, those who have blessedly borne witness to God, whom having been persuaded by the holy apostles, and before them by the holy Law of old, or to speak the most solemn truth, by the first martyr of truth Himself, God, the Savior Christ, and abiding in the most holy faith, their confession and testimony concerning Him, and death endured for His sake—the most terrifying and dreaded thing among men, and in truth the most grievous—rendered them servants to God, and He took them unto Himself.
80. If anyone, imitating such men and persuading himself, stands by orthodox opinions and beliefs, and remaining in them does what is duly appropriate, attaching a good end to good beginnings, he would not be said to harbor wayward stubbornness B or over-confidence, but rather orthodoxy and an insistent attentiveness to the things of God; for stubborness and over-confidence were seen not to have been established for the good of the majority in any good way, but to be a thing of ill repute. Yet if we suppose, perhaps, that these things also apply to those who are rightly persuaded and are thus insistent, I have to say in distinction here that not even the spiritual man who is stubborn is praised at all times and for all things, being such; but there is a point where, in many things, he will be moved from his own insistence, and will yield even from his own right as far as possible, and will not only not be prone to wrangling and contention, but will not even wish to fight to the very last extremity even for just causes.
81. Hence, through such a good method, truces of wars have been devised, and treaties, and other such good things. And therefore one who acts in this way will no longer be called stubborn at all, but as though transformed, he will be adorned C with more honorable names: he will be called, for instance, humane, peaceable, an enemy of anger, a friend of concord, and to speak more accurately, a lover of moderation. For he who, from the stubbornness of an unyielding right, has retreated, and who for the sake of repentance has shifted into another persuasion, having wisely reflected and having passed over from a contentious insistence into forbearance—for as he who, by repentance from a vile and sinful persuasion, through a second, virtuous persuasion being changed, is carried off to a better mind, being transformed, or rather, re-persuaded, so too he who is a lover of moderation, having D decided from the beginning to firmly adhere to his own right, then, at an opportune time, having laudably changed and being inclined toward peace, and as it is pleasing to the sages of old, relaxes his own right somewhat, and manifests virtue—that is, moderation, as the sages have named it—and thus yields to his adversaries and in that very act submits himself.
82. Thus, then, these things having been considered by us—for if we wished to drag out this discussion any longer, we would incur the charge of unseasonable display—why, after all, do we not submit ourselves, O Savior Lord, who, having already…
A desired this, confirm such confidence in us through teachers established by You, and stand firmly upon the foundations laid by them according to the impulse of the truth; but rather, do we succumb to the adversary, trusting in ourselves and warring against one another? ... How dreadful is it, both with weapons suited for close combat, with malignant ambushes, pernicious counsels, suspicions, and conspiracies, and with weapons suited for distant fighting, such as revilings and calumnies—from which nothing good will ever result for us, but both the worldly and the spiritual paradise will not only lack flowers and fruits, but will also wither and turn into a desert; and our land and life will be destitute of all grace, in no way like the life of the righteous, which is recorded in writings, but not even worthy of the name of life?
B 83. Truly, I hear not a few of those who sound plausible to themselves, as they suppose, speaking against me and saying that it is neither good nor worthy of a free state that some among men should be superior, and others inferior and subject; and this is all the less so, inasmuch as charity is thought to be equality, and the parity of citizens is proclaimed by laws, and all constitute one communion. They, I suppose, think that the inequality which exists between teachers and disciples, between flocks and pastors, between subjects and rulers, is something evil, and therefore that subjection ought to be rejected by all who aspire to a free life. But those who maintain this do not notice that they themselves submit themselves, as parents to children, as masters to servants, and, when they arrive at C advanced old age, to infants. I pass over women, to whom they themselves—though established as their masters—prostrate themselves at their feet whenever it pleases them, so that that by which men ought to excel is entirely overturned.
84. For if in the aforementioned things the inequality is apparent and undeniable, why, when all do not exist in the same place, and work, and rank, is it not the case that fathers who instruct children and fashion them toward honest conduct—and in due time rebuke and beat them—are themselves in turn instructed and chastised and begotten, and return to an infantile life? And those who are established as heads of families, why do they not themselves sometimes submit to their servants, and thus equalize the disparity of fortune? Why, finally, do those who have come to decrepit old age, for the sake of the same equality, not D return to infancy—not, to be sure, that they might become heirs of the kingdom of heaven, but that they might be amused by playthings, and play, and be held for derision? Thus also would women, for the sake of such parity, be made equal to their husbands who are their masters, and they would render void the holy canon of the Apostle, and in this way all things would be overturned. For how could it come to pass that, with natural and spiritual principles—whatever they may be—being dissolved and held in contempt, those things which concern rulers and subjects should fare well among us?
A 85. Woe to regions and cities and villages and fields, and now even to deserts, which many who live according to God have loved and do love, and have transformed into a habitation worthy of Nazirites, where the one who is superior according to the Holy Spirit and the right law and the custom established by God and nature is not found and chosen and cherished, and furthermore not sought and firmly appointed, while the one who is smaller is under him; from both of whom that beautiful and, in equality, wise and praiseworthy parity is geometrically measured, according to which, when affairs are administered in accordance with the divine will, many disciples become better than their teachers in their results, and good servants become excellent above masters who are not such, and infants, according to divine revelation and bounty, become wiser than the aged, and women, enlightened by divine grace and wisdom, display a masculine spirit.
86. O arts and sciences, why do you not, because of envy, come to one another, you by whom supremacies are surveyed, and among whom the envious is found in our midst? B O great fifth body, according to the ancient opinion, descend sometime, and allow those things which are subject to you to be counted in the number of the heavenly ones. O members and parts in men, why do you not rise up against the beautiful head, the heaven within us, but rather does it seem tolerable to you that a porous sphere be placed over the frame of such members, of which the greater part is bony and almost destitute of the abundance of flesh? Why does each one of you toil and struggle, especially the breast, while the head, placed on high, stands out free from all labor, and like some tyrant, luxuriates loftily and looks down upon the other members as if they were humble? C O you who have handed down to us right dogmas and divine precepts, apostles and other heralds of the heavenly word, why at last do you bid us to turn our mind toward you, and do not permit us to oppose your laws and doctrines? Are we not all, just as you also are, men fashioned from clay?
87. All these things, and however many such speeches and moral habits are comprehended, whither do they finally tend? Anyone who works with a dull intellect and is unable to perceive things more deeply would easily be ignorant of this. For it is apparent that he who is not attached with an inmost heart to the doctrine of the apostles and Fathers, but is alien to it, is not far from holding divine things in contempt, D since, however, it is agreed among all that, as every good thing is from God, so also were the most holy Gospels handed down, and the doctrine of the divine apostles and other heralds and interpreters has come to us. Wherefore also he who clings to them and through them ascends on high and lifts up others with himself, is a man of God, rendering the obedient ones like to himself, and thus worshipping God Himself, to whom ascends every good thing done by men, since the grace to do good descends from thence. He, however, who resists, and with stopped ears places all his zeal in opposing and being refractory, he indeed crowns the master by whom he is incited to follow virtue, but he himself
A separates from the heavenly Father and is placed among the sons of perdition.
88. B Act, O Lord, lest when you punish such a man who is in civil authority, others might perish at the same time who are perhaps innocent; but you will never do this, you who are good, whose justice and mercy is infinite. Therefore, you do not strike the guilty and the innocent in the same way—if anyone can be called innocent—but you will preserve every good man, and those who are addicted to malice you will treat with humaneness and gentleness; you will care for them, tolerate them, and in making your judgment you will hold them to account, and thus you will temper the bitterness of condemnation, which you always do, granting benefits to these, and to those granting mercy, benevolence, and cheerfulness. In inflicting punishments, you show yourself gentle, never desiring the destruction of a human being, but only harboring hatred for the devil, the most tenacious author of depravity.
89. C Now, O brothers, the current of our discourse must not run beyond measure, but must be checked and restrained. What I am now about to say is not mere words, but absolute truth. If we do not bring forth in this life the most beautiful fruits according to the measure of that ancient life which was complete in all respects, and if we do not follow the second life which is described in the holy Old Testament, and those things which are similar to it, and do not obtain the perfect and perfecting grace of the most holy third life—not gathering it as if in passing, like alms, but receiving it as the Father of fathers and supreme teacher commands, with judgment suitable to him, which renders us better, and with the most holy Trinity aiding us, storing up in our hearts the things that bring salvation, which we partly seek out diligently for ourselves, and partly are taught by good masters, written by the finger of God and thus handed down to us without labor—we shall depart in a way we would not wish. Behold, we have spoken to you, and the omniscient and omnipotent God has heard, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. D