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an undisciplined zeal; the one not approaching the good, the other overshooting it, and making something more right than the right itself. Which the divine Solomon, understanding well, says, "Do not turn aside to the right, nor to the left;" lest through opposites you fall into an equal evil, which is sin. And yet, praising what is by nature right, he says, "For God knows the ways on the right; 36.181 but those on the left are perverse." How then does he praise the right, and again turn us away from the right? Clearly, from this which seems right, but is not. Looking to this, elsewhere he says, "Do not be overly righteous, nor be overly wise." For the same affliction applies to both righteousness and wisdom, a zeal concerning action and speech, which through excess falls outside of the good and of virtue. To which both deficiency and excess are equally ruinous, just as addition or subtraction is to a rule.

7. Let no one, therefore, be wiser than is fitting, nor more legal than the law, nor brighter than the light, nor straighter than the rule, nor higher than the commandment. But how will this be? If we know order, and praise the law of nature, and follow reason, and do not dishonor good order. Look up at the heaven above, and at the earth below, and consider how the universe was formed, and from where, and what was before its ordering, and what name the universe now has. All things were ordered by order, and by the Word who ordered them; and yet it was possible for all things to exist as one and at once (for he who gave being to things that were not, and ideas and forms to things that came to be, was not powerless to display and order the universe all at once) but for this reason a first and a second are numbered, and a third, and so on, so that order might enter at once with created things.

8. Order, then, constituted the universe. Order holds together both heavenly and earthly things; order among intelligibles; order among sensibles; order among angels; order among stars, and in their motion, and size, and relation to one another, and brightness. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory; order in the seasons and times, as they proceed and recede in order, and through their mean temper what is harsh; order in the measures and intervals of day and night. Order in the elements, from which bodies are composed; order made the heaven revolve, spread out the air, placed the earth beneath, or even set it above, poured out and gathered the liquid element, released the winds, and did not let them loose, bound water in the clouds, and did not hold it back, but scattered it upon the face of all the 36.184 earth, in an orderly and uniform manner; and these things not for a short while, nor for one season or time, but from the beginning to the end, directed and revolving along the same path, both fixed and in motion, the one by the Word, the other by its flux; "He has established them for ever and ever; he has made a decree, which shall not pass away." This belongs to what is fixed; and whatever has been, or will be, this belongs to what is in flux. And while order prevails, the Universe is an adornment, and its beauty is unmoved. But disorder and disarray have introduced thunderbolts in the air, earthquakes in the earth, floods in the sea, wars in cities and homes, illnesses in bodies, and sins in souls. All these are names not of order, nor of peace, but of confusion and disorder. And the famed and expected destruction, let us consider it to be nothing else, brothers, than an excess of disorder. For order binds, but disorder dissolves, whenever it is present to the one who bound to dissolve or remake the universe.

9. Order has also legislated for all living creatures their generation, and nourishment, and the appropriate regions for each. And no one has seen a dolphin cutting a furrow, nor an ox gliding through water; just as no one has seen the sun waning or waxing at night, nor the moon blazing during the day; the high mountains for the deer,

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θερμότης ἀπαίδευτος· ἡ μὲν οὐκ ἐγγίζουσα τῷ καλῷ, ἡ δὲ ὑπερπίπτουσα, καὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ ποιουμένη τι δεξιώτερον. Ὅπερ καὶ ὁ θεῖος Σολομὼν καλῶς ἐπιστάμενος, Μὴ ἐκκλί νῃς, φησὶν, εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ, μηδ' εἰς τὰ ἀριστερά· μηδὲ διὰ τῶν ἐναντίων εἰς κακὸν ἴσον ἐμπέσῃς, τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. Καίτοιγε τὸ φύσει δεξιὸν ἐπαινῶν, Ὁδοὺς γὰρ, φησὶ, τὰς ἐκ δεξιῶν οἶδεν ὁ Θεός· 36.181 διεστραμμέναι δέ εἰσιν αἱ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν. Πῶς οὖν ἐπαινεῖ τὸ δεξιὸν, καὶ ἀπάγει πάλιν τοῦ δεξιοῦ; Τούτου δηλαδὴ τοῦ φαινομένου δεξιοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ὄντος. Πρὸς ὃ βλέπων ἑτέρωθι, Μὴ γίνου δίκαιος πολὺ, φησὶ, μηδὲ σοφίζου περισσά. Τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ καὶ περὶ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ περὶ σοφίαν πάθος, θερμότης περὶ πρᾶξιν καὶ λόγον, ἔξω τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς δι' ὑπερβολὴν πίπτουσα. Ἧ καὶ τὸ ἐνδέον καὶ τὸ ὑπερβάλλον ὁμοίως λυμαίνεται, ὥσπερ καὶ τῷ κανόνι πρόσθεσις ἢ ὑφαίρεσις.

Ζʹ. Μηδεὶς οὖν ἔστω πλέον ἢ καλῶς ἔχει σοφὸς, μηδὲ τοῦ νόμου νομιμώτερος, μηδὲ λαμπρότερος τοῦ φωτὸς, μηδὲ τοῦ κανόνος εὐθύτερος, μηδὲ τῆς ἐντολῆς ὑψηλότερος. Ἔσται δὲ τοῦτο πῶς; Ἐὰν εἰδῶμεν κόσμον, καὶ ἐπαινῶμεν φύσεως νόμον, καὶ ἑπώμεθα λόγῳ, καὶ μὴ ἀτιμάζωμεν εὐταξίαν. Ἐμβλέψατε εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω, καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν κάτω, καὶ ἐννοήσατε, πῶς συνέστη τὸ πᾶν, καὶ ὅθεν, καὶ τί πρὸ τῆς διακοσμήσεως ἦν, καὶ τί νῦν ὄνομα τῷ παντί. Τάξει τὰ πάντα διεκοσμήθη, καὶ, ὁ δια κοσμήσας Λόγος· καίτοιγε ὡς ἓν τὰ πάντα καὶ ἀθρόως ὑποστῆναι δυνατὸν ἦν (ὁ γὰρ τοῖς οὐκ οὖσι τὸ εἶναι δοὺς, καὶ τοῖς γενομένοις τὰς ἰδέας καὶ τὰ σχήματα, οὐδ' ὁμοῦ τὸ πᾶν ἀναδεῖξαι καὶ διακοσ μῆσαι ἀσθενὴς ἦν) ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο πρῶτόν τι καὶ δεύτερον ἀριθμεῖται, καὶ τρίτον, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ἵνα τάξις εὐθὺς συνεισέλθῃ τοῖς κτίσμασι.

Ηʹ. Τάξις οὖν τὸ πᾶν συνεστήσατο. Τάξις συν έχει καὶ τὰ ἐπουράνια καὶ τὰ ἐπίγεια· τάξις ἐν νοητοῖς· τάξις ἐν αἰσθητοῖς· τάξις ἐν ἀγγέλοις· τά ξις ἐν ἄστροις, καὶ κινήσει, καὶ μεγέθει, καὶ σχέσει τῇ πρὸς ἄλληλα, καὶ λαμπρότητι. Ἄλλη δόξα ἠλίου, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων· ἀστὴρ γὰρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ· τάξις ἐν ὥραις καὶ καιροῖς, ἐν κόσμῳ προϊοῦσί τε καὶ ὑπαπιοῦσι, καὶ διὰ τῆς μεσότητος τὸ αὐστη ρὸν τιθασσεύουσι· τάξις ἐν ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς μέ τροις, καὶ διαστήμασι. Τάξις ἐν στοιχείοις, ἐξ ὧν τὰ σώματα· τάξις περιήγαγεν οὐρανὸν, ἥπλωσεν ἀέρα, γῆν ὑπέθηκεν, ἢ καὶ ὑπερέθηκε, φύσιν ὑγρὰν ἔχεε καὶ συνήγαγεν, ἀνέμους ἀφῆκε, καὶ οὐκ ἐπ αφῆκεν, ὕδωρ ἔδησεν ἐν νεφέλαις, καὶ οὐ κατ έσχεν, ἀλλ' ἔσπειρεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς 36.184 γῆς, εὐτάκτως καὶ ὁμοτίμως· καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐπ' ὀλί γον, οὐδὲ εἰς ἕνα καιρὸν ἢ χρόνον, ἀλλ' ἀπ' ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος, τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν εὐθυνόμενα καὶ περιπο ρευόμενα, πεπηγότα τε καὶ κινούμενα, τὸ μὲν τῷ Λόγῳ, τὸ δὲ τῇ ῥεύσει· Ἔστησεν αὐτὰ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος· πρόσταγμα ἔθετο, καὶ οὐ παρελεύσεται. Τοῦτο τῆς πήξεως· καὶ εἴ τι γέγονεν, ἢ γεννήσεται, τοῦτο τοῦ ῥεύ ματος. Καὶ τάξεως μὲν ἐπικρατούσης, κόσμος, τὸ Πᾶν, καὶ τὸ κάλλος ἀκίνητον. Ἀταξία δὲ καὶ ἀκοσμία, ἐν μὲν ἀέρι τοὺς σκηπτοὺς, ἐν δὲ γῇ τοὺς σεισμοὺς, ἐν δὲ θαλάσσῃ τὰς ἐπικλύσεις, ἐν δὲ πόλεσι καὶ οἴκοις πολέμους, ἐν δὲ τοῖς σώμασι τὰς ἀῤῥωστίας, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ψυχαῖς τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ἐκαινο τόμησεν. Ταῦτα πάντα οὐ τάξεως, οὐδὲ εἰρήνης, ἀλλὰ ταραχῆς καὶ ἀταξίας ὀνόματα. Καὶ τὴν θρυλ λουμένην δὲ φθορὰν καὶ προσδοκωμένην, μὴ ἄλλο τι, ἀδελφοὶ, ἢ πλεονασμὸν ἀταξίας εἶναι νο μίζωμεν. Συνδεῖ μὲν γὰρ τάξις, λύει δὲ ἀταξία, ὅταν λύσαι τὸ πᾶν ἢ μεταποιῆσαι παραστῇ τῷ συνδή σαντι.

Θʹ. Τάξις καὶ τοῖς ζώοις ἅπασι γένεσιν, καὶ τρο φὴν, καὶ τὰς καταλλήλους ἑκάστῳ χώρας ἐνο μοθέτησε. Καὶ οὔτε δελφῖνά τις εἶδεν αὔλακα τέ μνοντα, οὔτε βοῦν δι' ὕδατος ὀλισθαίνοντα· ὥσπερ οὐδ' ἥλιον ἐν νυκτὶ μειούμενον, ἢ πληρούμενον οὔτε σελήνην ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πυρσεύουσαν· ὄρη τὰ ὑψηλὰ ταῖς ἐλάφοις,