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singing praises, we would do nothing unfitting in responding to your question. You have supposed in your argument an impious judge, who has given a choice to two athletes of piety, so that they do one of two things, either sacrifice to demons, or cast themselves into the sea; and that the one seized the second option, and eagerly plunged into the deep; but the other chose neither; but abhorred the worship of idols just like the first one, but did not give himself to the waves, but waited to suffer this by force from another. Having thus arranged these things in your argument, you asked which of them seems to have acted better. But I think it seems to you also that the second one is more worthy of admiration. For not even when it is ordered must someone remove himself, but must await either a natural or a violent death. And teaching this, the Master urged those persecuted in this city to flee to another; and again he commanded them to leave that one and go to another city. Having been instructed in these things, the divine Apostle escaped the hands of the ethnarch and did not keep silent about the manner of his flight; but he showed in his account the basket and the wall and the window, boasting and taking pride in these things. For the divine law made what seemed shameful to be honorable. Thus at one time he called himself a Pharisee, and at another a Roman; not fearing death, but contending lawfully. Thus he appealed to Caesar, having learned beforehand of the plots of the Jews; and he sent his nephew to the chiliarch and revealed the plots, not because he was desirous of the present life, but because he was following the divine laws. For the Master does not indeed wish us to cast ourselves into obvious danger. And this he taught us not only through words, but also through deeds. For many times he avoided the murderous hands of the Jews. And the great Peter, the first of the apostles, having been released from his chains and having escaped the hands of Herod, came to the house of John who is called Mark, and having relieved their anxiety by his presence and having ordered them to be silent, he moved to another house, trying to be more hidden by the move. We shall find this kind of philosophy also in the Old Testament. For that much-praised Moses, having used his former courage against the Egyptian, then having learned on the next day that the murder had become known, fled, and completed a journey of many days, and reached the land of Midian. Thus the great Elijah, having learned of the threats of Jezebel, did not give himself up to those who wished to kill him, but leaving the inhabited world he ran into the desert. But if to flee the hands of those who make war is both holy and dear to God, it is much more holy, surely, not to obey the one who ordered him to become his own murderer. For the Lord did not yield to the devil when he said: 'Cast yourself down from above'. But when he armed the Jewish hands against himself through the scourges and the thorns and the nails, and creation was urging to bring utter destruction upon those sinners, he himself as Master prevented it, knowing that the passion was salvific for the world. For this reason, even at the time of the passion, he said to the apostles: 'Pray that you may not enter into temptation'. And he taught us to say: 'And lead us not into temptation'. But let us change, if it seems good, some small parts of the problem, and we shall learn the truth more clearly; and taking the sea out of the argument, let us say that the judge handed a sword to each of the athletes and ordered the one who would not consent to sacrifice, to cut off his own head; who then, being of sound mind, would have endured to stain his right hand with his own blood, and become his own executioner and declare his hand an enemy and yield to the judge who unlawfully commands? Therefore, the second one is much more worthy of admiration. For to the first, his zeal alone brings praise, but the second one to

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ἀνυμνοῦντες, οὐδὲν ἀπεικὸς δρῴημεν ἂν πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀποκρινόμενοι πεῦσιν. Ὑπέθεσθε τῷ λόγῳ δυσσεβῆ δικαστήν, αἵρεσιν δεδωκότα δύο τισὶν ἀθληταῖς εὐσεβείας, ὥστε δυοῖν θάτερον δρᾶσαι, ἢ θῦσαι δαίμοσιν, ἢ σφᾶς εἰς τὸ πέλαγος ῥῖψαι· καὶ τὸν μὲν ἁρπάσαι τὸ δεύτερον, καὶ προθύμως εἰς τὸν βυθὸν κυβιστῆσαι· τὸν δὲ μηδέτερον ἑλέσθαι· ἀλλὰ τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων λατρείαν παραπλησίως τῷ προτέρῳ βδελύξασθαι, ἑαυτὸν δὲ μὴ παρα δοῦναι τοῖς κύμασιν, ἀλλ' ἀναμεῖναι βίᾳ τοῦτο παρ' ἑτέρου παθεῖν. Οὕτω ταῦτα τῷ λόγῳ διασκευάσαντες, ἤρεσθε πότε ρος αὐτοῖν ἄμεινον δεδρακέναι δοκεῖ. Ἐγὼ δὲ οἶμαι καὶ ὑμῖν συνδοκεῖν τὸν δεύτερον ἀξιαγαστότερον εἶναι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ προσ ταττόμενον χρή τινα ἑαυτὸν ὑπεξάγειν, ἀλλὰ προσμένειν ἢ τὸν αὐτόματον ἢ τὸν βίαιον θάνατον. Καὶ τοῦτο διδάσκων ὁ ∆εσπότης τοὺς ἐν τῇδε τῇ πόλει διωκομένους φεύγειν εἰς ἑτέραν παρεκελεύσατο· καὶ αὖθις κἀκείνην ἀμείβειν καὶ εἰς ἑτέραν ἀπιέναι πόλιν ἐκέλευσε. Ταῦτα πεπαιδευμένος ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος τοῦ ἐθνάρχου τὰς χεῖρας διέφυγε καὶ οὐδὲ τῆς φυγῆς τὸν τρόπον ἐσίγησεν· ἀλλ' ὑπέδειξε τὴν σαργάνην τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τὸ τεῖχος καὶ τὴν θυρίδα, αὐχῶν ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ σεμνυνόμενος. Ὁ γὰρ θεῖος νόμος τὸ δοκοῦν αἰσχρὸν ἐποίει σεμνόν. Οὕτω ποτὲ μὲν Φαρισαῖον, ποτὲ δὲ Ῥωμαῖον ἑαυτὸν προσηγόρευεν· οὐ τὸν θάνατον δειμαίνων, ἀλλ' ἐννόμως ἀγω νιζόμενος. Οὕτως ἐπεκαλέσατο Καίσαρα, τὰς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐπιβουλὰς προμαθών· καὶ τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν δὲ πρὸς τὸν χιλίαρ χον ἔπεμψε καὶ τὰ τυρευθέντα μεμήνυκεν, οὐ τῆς παρούσης βιοτῆς ἐφιέμενος, ἀλλὰ τοῖς θείοις νόμοις ἑπόμενος. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ βούλεται ἡμᾶς ὁ ∆εσπότης εἰς προὖπτον ἑαυτοὺς ἐμβάλ λειν. Καὶ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς οὐ διὰ λόγων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ πραγ μάτων ἐδίδαξεν. Πολλάκις γὰρ τὰς μιαιφόνους τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐξέκλινε χεῖρας. Καὶ ὁ μέγας δὲ Πέτρος, τῶν ἀποστόλων ὁ πρῶτος, ἀπολυθεὶς τῶν δεσμῶν καὶ τὰς Ἡρώδου χεῖρας δια φυγὼν ἀφίκετο μὲν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν Ἰωάννου τοῦ ἐπικαλου μένου Μάρκου, καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων φροντίδα λύσας τῇ παρουσίᾳ καὶ σιγὴν ἄγειν κελεύσας εἰς οἰκίαν ἑτέραν μετέστη, πλέον λαθεῖν τῇ μεταβάσει πειρώμενος. Τοῦτο τῆς φιλοσοφίας τὸ εἶδος εὑρήσομεν κἀν τῇ Παλαιᾷ. Καὶ γὰρ Μωϋσῆς ἐκεῖνος ὁ πολυύμνητος, ἀνδρείᾳ τῇ προτεραίᾳ κατὰ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου χρη σάμενος, εἶτα γνοὺς τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ κατάδηλον τὸν φόνον γεγε νημένον, ἀπέδρα, καὶ πολλῶν ὁδὸν ἐξήνυσεν ἡμερῶν, καὶ τὴν Μαδιανῖτιν κατέλαβε χώραν. Οὕτως Ἠλίας ὁ πάνυ τὰς τῆς Ἰεζάβελ μεμαθηκὼς ἀπειλὰς τοῖς ἀνελεῖν βουλομένοις ἑαυ τὸν οὐκ ἐξέδωκεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην καταλιπὼν ἔδραμεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον. Εἰ δὲ τὸ φυγεῖν τῶν πολεμούντων τὰς χεῖρας ὅσιόν τε καὶ Θεῷ προσφιλές, πολλῷ δήπουθεν ὁσιώτερον τὸ μὴ πεισθῆναι τῷ κελεύσαντι αὐτὸν ἑαυτοῦ γενέσθαι φονέα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος εἶξεν εἰρηκότι τῷ διαβόλῳ· Βάλε σεαυ τὸν ἄνωθεν κάτω . Ὅτε δὲ τὰς Ἰουδαϊκὰς κατ' αὐτοῦ καθώπλισε χεῖρας διὰ τῶν μαστίγων καὶ τῶν ἀκανθῶν καὶ τῶν ἥλων, καὶ τῆς κτίσεως ἐπειγομένης τοῖς ἀλιτηρίοις ἐκείνοις πανω λεθρίαν ἐπαγαγεῖν αὐτὸς ὡς ∆εσπότης ἐκώλυσεν, εἰδὼς τὸ πάθος τῷ κόσμῳ σωτήριον. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο καὶ παρὰ τὸ πάθος τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἔλεγεν· Εὔξασθε μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς πει ρασμόν . Καὶ ἡμᾶς λέγειν ἐδίδαξεν· Καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν . Μετασχηματίσωμεν δέ, εἰ δοκεῖ, μικρά τινα τοῦ προβλήμα τος καὶ σαφέστερον μαθησόμεθα τὴν ἀλήθειαν· καὶ ἀφελόμενοι τοῦ λόγου τὴν θάλατταν, φῶμεν ξίφος ἐγχειρίσαι τὸν δικαστὴν ἑκατέρῳ τῶν ἀθλητῶν καὶ προστάξαι τὸν οὐκ ἀνεχόμενον θῦσαι, τὴν οἰκείαν ἐκτεμεῖν κεφαλήν· τίς οὖν ἄρα εὖ φρονῶν ἠνέσχετ' ἂν αἵματι οἰκείῳ φοινῖξαι τὴν δεξιάν, καὶ δήμιος ἑαυτοῦ γενέσθαι καὶ πολεμίαν ἀποφῆναι τὴν χεῖρα καὶ εἶξαι τῷ παρανόμως κελεύοντι δικαστῇ; Πολλῷ τοιγαροῦν ὁ δεύτε ρος ἀξιαγαστότερος. Τῷ προτέρῳ μὲν γὰρ ἡ προθυμία μόνη προσφέρει τὴν εὐφημίαν, τὸν δὲ δεύτερον πρὸς