De principiis

 To one who has received instruction and has practiced the ticklings and irritations occur, but reason, having been greatly strengthened and nourished

 He speaks to us as having free will and being the cause of our own destruction or salvation for he says, or do you despise the riches of his goodnes

 Since it was possible for him to be persuaded, and he certainly would have been persuaded, not being of an earthly nature, when constrained by the won

 In the underlying matter, from the one heat the wax is melted, but the clay is dried so the one energy working through moses on the one hand exposed

 In proportion to the unspeakable beneficence, to the greatest possible degree of blessedness they have attained. 3.1.13 therefore, he who is abandoned

 Stony hearts” and places in them “fleshy ones,” so that “his ordinances may be kept” and the commandments observed, it is not in our power to put away

 From the old [testament], being accused of such things. but if they seek a defense concerning the gospel, it must be said to them, unless they act rep

 Such things, by which having been seen and heard, the sin of those who after such great and numerous things have not believed is proven to be heavier

 Therefore, that which is from god is manifoldly and exceedingly more for salvation than that which is in our power. therefore, i think the saying mean

 Of the body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad” is it sound, when those who have done evil things have come to this course of a

 To advance to better things, while others fall from better things to worse, and some are preserved in good things or ascend from good things to better

 Nor when the teachers were many, to be preached everywhere in the world, so that greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish were added to the worship

 “grace is poured out on his lips”? for a proof of the “grace poured out on his lips” is that after a short time of his teaching (for he taught for abo

 In the sun and moon and stars and is not so manifest in the events of human life, as in the souls and the bodies of animals, since the “for what purp

 They thought, since the creator was imperfect and not good, that the savior had come announcing a more perfect god, whom they say is not the creator,

 You did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.” 4.2.4 the way, therefore, that appears to us for how one ought to approach the scripture

 Character. but a spiritual interpretation for the one who is able to show of what “heavenly things the pattern and shadow” the jews “according to the

 Is so great upon the earth, and if not only upon the earth, but also elsewhere, it is necessary for us to learn. 4.2.8 these things, and others like t

 Like a farmer, that god 'planted a paradise in eden toward the east,' and made in it a 'tree of life,' visible and perceptible, so that by tasting of

 But also the saying “to be struck on the right jaw” is most improbable, since everyone who strikes, unless he happens to have some unnatural condition

 Every part has the spiritual, but not every part the corporeal for in many places the corporeal is shown to be impossible. therefore, much attention

 Of us.” and in another epistle: “but you have come to mount zion and to the city of the living god, the heavenly jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

 Of israel or of those being far off, and the “descent into egypt of the seventy souls”, that there they might become “as the stars of heaven in number

to one who has received instruction and has practiced; the ticklings and irritations occur, but reason, having been greatly strengthened and nourished by practice and confirmed in its doctrines toward the good, or at least having come near to being confirmed, repels the irritations and relaxes the desire. 3.1.5 But when these things happen to us in this way, to blame external things and to absolve ourselves of the charge, representing ourselves as like wood and stones that are dragged by external forces that move them, is neither true nor sound, and such an argument is one that wishes to debase the concept of free will. For if we were to ask him what free will was, he would say that it is if, when I purposed a certain thing, nothing from without met me, provoking me to the contrary. Again, to blame our bare constitution is manifestly wrong, since instructive reason takes the most incontinent and the most savage, if they would but follow its exhortation, and changes them; so that the exhortation and the change for the better have become very great, often with the most dissolute becoming better than those who by nature previously did not seem to be such, and the most savage changing to such a degree of gentleness that those who were never so savage seem savage in comparison with someone who has changed to gentleness. And we see others, most stable and venerable, being driven out from their venerability and stability by perversion into worse pursuits, so that they change to dissoluteness, often beginning their dissoluteness in the middle of their life and falling into disorder after the instability of youth, so far as nature is concerned, has passed. Therefore, reason shows that external things are not in our power, but to use them in this way or the opposite, taking reason as the judge and examiner of how one must respond to certain external things, is our work. 3.1.6 And that it is our work to live well, and that God asks this of us as something that is not his own nor comes from any other source or, as some think, from fate, but rather as our work, the prophet Micah will testify, saying: "Has it been told to you, O man, what is good? Or what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to be ready to walk with the Lord your God?" And Moses: "I have set before your face the way of life and the way of death; choose the good and walk in it." And Isaiah: "If you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you are not willing and do not obey me, the sword shall devour you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." And in the Psalms: "If my people had listened to me, and if Israel had walked in my ways, I would soon have humbled their enemies, and laid my hand on their oppressors," as if it were in the people's power to "listen" and "to walk in the ways" of God. And the Savior also, saying, "But I say to you, do not resist the evil one," and "that whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to the judgment," and "whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery in his heart," and whatever other commandment he gives, he speaks as if it is in our power to keep what is commanded, and reasonably that we will be "liable to the judgment" if we should transgress them. Whence also he says, "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man, who built his house on the rock," and what follows, "but he who hears and does not do them is like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand," and what follows. And saying to those on the right, "Come to me, you who are blessed by my Father," and what follows, "for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink," very clearly gives the promises to them as being the causes of their being praised, and on the contrary to the others, as being blameworthy by their own doing, he says, "Depart, you cursed, into the eternal fire." But let us see how Paul also, as

μαθήματα ἀνειληφότι καὶ ἠσκηκότι· οἱ μὲν γαργαλισμοὶ καὶ οἱ ἐρεθισμοὶ συμβαίνουσιν, ὁ λόγος δέ, ἅτε ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἰσχυροποιηθεὶς καὶ τραφεὶς τῇ μελέτῃ καὶ βεβαιωθεὶς τοῖς δόγμασι πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ἢ ἐγγύς γε τοῦ βεβαιωθῆναι γεγενημένος, ἀνακρούει τοὺς ἐρεθισμοὺς καὶ ὑπεκλύει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν. 3.1.5 Τὸ δὲ τούτων οὕτως ἡμῖν γινομένων τὰ ἔξωθεν αἰτιᾶσθαι καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ἀπολῦσαι ἐγκλήματος, ὁμοίους ἑαυτοὺς ἀποφηναμένους ξύλοις καὶ λίθοις ἑλκυσθεῖσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν αὐτὰ κινησάντων, οὐκ ἀληθὲς οὐδὲ εὔγνωμον, βουλομένου τε λόγος ἐστὶν ὁ τοιοῦτος τὴν ἔννοιαν τοῦ αὐτεξουσίου παραχαράττειν. εἰ γὰρ πυθοίμεθα αὐ τοῦ, τί ἦν τὸ αὐτεξούσιον, λέγοι ἂν ὅτι εἰ μηδὲν τῶν ἔξωθεν ἀπήντα, ἐμοῦ τόδε τι προθεμένου, τὸ ἐπὶ τὸ ἐναντίον προκαλούμενον. πάλιν τε αὖ ψιλὴν τὴν κατασκευὴν αἰτιᾶσθαι παρὰ τὸ ἐναργές ἐστι, λόγου παιδευτικοῦ τοὺς ἀκρατεστάτους καὶ τοὺς ἀγριωτάτους παραλαμβά νοντος, εἰ τῇ προτροπῇ παρακολουθήσαιεν, καὶ μεταβάλλοντος· ὥστε παρὰ πολὺ γεγονέναι τὴν προτροπὴν καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μετα βολήν, πολλάκις τῶν ἀκολαστοτάτων βελτιόνων γινομένων παρὰ τοὺς τῇ φύσει πρότερον οὐ δοκοῦντας εἶναι τοιούτους, καὶ τῶν ἀγριωτάτων ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἡμερότητος μεταβαλλόντων, ὥστε τοὺς μηδὲ πώποτε οὕτως ἀγριωθέντας ἀγρίους εἶναι δοκεῖν συγκρίσει τοῦδέ τινος μεταβεβληκότος ἐπὶ τὸ ἥμερον. ὁρῶμέν τε ἑτέρους εὐσταθεστάτους καὶ σεμνοτάτους ἐκ διαστροφῆς ἐπὶ τὰς χείρους δια τριβὰς ἐκκρουομένους τοῦ σεμνοῦ καὶ εὐσταθοῦς, ὥστε εἰς ἀκολασίαν αὐτοὺς μεταβαλεῖν, πολλάκις ἀρχομένους τῆς ἀκολασίας μεσούσης τῆς ἡλικίας καὶ ἐμπίπτοντας εἰς ἀταξίαν μετὰ τὸ παρεληλυθέναι τὸ τῆς νεότητος ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ φύσει ἄστατον. οὐκοῦν ὁ λόγος δεί κνυσιν ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἔξωθεν οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἐστι, τὸ δὲ οὕτως ἢ ἐναν τίως χρήσασθαι αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον κριτὴν παραλαβόντα καὶ ἐξεταστὴν τοῦ πῶς δεῖ πρὸς τάδε τινὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἀπαντῆσαι, ἔργον ἐστὶν ἡμέτερον. 3.1.6 Ὅτι δὲ ἡμέτερον ἔργον τὸ βιῶσαι καλῶς ἐστι, καὶ αἰτεῖ ἡμᾶς τοῦτο ὁ θεὸς ὡς οὐκ αὐτοῦ ὂν οὐδὲ ἐξ ἑτέρου τινὸς παραγινό μενον ἤ, ὡς οἴονταί τινες, ἀπὸ εἱμαρμένης, ἀλλ' ἢ ὡς ἡμέτερον ἔργον, μαρτυρήσει ὁ προφήτης Μιχαίας λέγων· «εἰ ἀνηγγέλη σοι, ἄνθρωπε, τί καλόν; ἢ τί κύριος ἐκζητεῖ παρὰ σοῦ ἀλλ' ἢ τοῦ ποιεῖν κρίμα καὶ ἀγαπᾶν ἔλεος καὶ ἕτοιμον εἶναι τοῦ πορεύεσθαι μετὰ κυρίου θεοῦ σου;» καὶ Μωσῆς· «τέθεικα πρὸ προσώπου σου τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ θανάτου· ἔκλεξαι τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ πορεύου ἐν αὐτῷ» καὶ Ἡσαΐας· «ἐὰν θέλητε καὶ εἰσακούσητέ μου, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ θέλητε μηδὲ εἰσακούσητέ μου, μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς κατέδεται· τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα» καὶ ἐν τοῖς ψαλ μοῖς· «εἰ ὁ λαός μου ἤκουσέ μου, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ ταῖς ὁδοῖς μου εἰ ἐπορεύθη, ἐν τῷ μηδενὶ ἂν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν ἐταπείνωσα, καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς θλίβοντας αὐτοὺς ἐπέβαλον ἂν τὴν χεῖρά μου», ὡς ἐπὶ τῷ λαῷ ὄντος τοῦ «ἀκούειν» καὶ «πορεύεσθαι ταῖς ὁδοῖς» τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ δὲ λέγων τὸ «ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ἀντιστῆναι τῷ πονηρῷ» καὶ «ὅτι ὃς ἂν ὀργισθῇ τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ, ἔνοχος ἔσται τῇ κρίσει» καὶ «ὃς ἐὰν ἐμβλέψῃ γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι, ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ», καὶ εἴ τινα ἄλλην δίδωσιν ἐντολήν, φησὶν ὡς ἐφ' ἡμῖν ὄντος τοῦ φυλάξαι τὰ προστεταγμένα, καὶ εὐλόγως «ἐνόχων» ἡμῶν «τῇ κρίσει» ἐσομένων, εἰ παραβαίνοιμεν αὐτά. ὅθεν καὶ «πᾶς» φησιν «ὁ ἀκούων μου τοὺς λόγους τούτους καὶ ποιῶν αὐτοὺς ὁμοιω θήσεται ἀνδρὶ φρονίμῳ, ὅστις ᾠκοδόμησεν αὐτοῦ τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, «ὁ δὲ ἀκούων καὶ μὴ ποιῶν ὅμοιός ἐστιν ἀνδρὶ μωρῷ, ὅστις ᾠκοδόμησεν αὐτοῦ τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμμον» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. καὶ λέγων δὲ «τοῖς ἐκ δεξιῶν· δεῦτε πρός με, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, «ἐπείνασα γὰρ καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, ἐδίψησα καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με» σφόδρα σαφῶς ὡς αἰτίοις οὖσι τοῦ ἐπαι νεῖσθαι δίδωσι τὰς ἐπαγγελίας, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου τοῖς ἑτέροις ὡς ψεκτοῖς παρ' αὐτοὺς λέγει τὸ «πορεύεσθε οἱ κατηραμένοι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον». Ἴδωμεν δὲ πῶς καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ὡς