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if into the neighboring sea are brought things from all sides according to its will and with authority. 46.900 But neither will I make mention in my speech of his ancestors, those who preceded him in his lineage according to the flesh, recounting their wealth and ambitions and worldly distinctions. For what would these things contribute to his praise—tombs, and monuments, and epitaphs, and dead narratives—for one who has raised himself above the entire world? Besides, is it even possible to bring into a share of this eulogy those whose kinship he rejected for kinship in the soul? For they, on the one hand, became futile in the error of idols; but he, looking up to the truth, adopted himself through faith into the kinship above. But how, or from whom he was born, or what city he first inhabited, we shall omit, as these things contribute nothing to our present endeavor; and we will take as the beginning of this eulogy that which he himself made the beginning of his virtuous life.

For since in a very young body he was bereft of natural guardianship, his parents having departed this life, at a time when for most people the mind, being immature because of age, fails in its judgment of what is good, he showed immediately from the first what sort of man he would become at a mature age. And just as noble shoots, when from their first growth they run up into straight saplings, show beforehand to the farmers through their present state their future beauty; in the same way he also, at a time when for others the soul is prone to stumble through ignorance, as youth for the most part readily slips toward things vain and unprofitable; then, through his first choice in life, he showed in his own person that David spoke truly, that, The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. For this tree alone springs up from the earth with the full thickness of its crown; and as its growth proceeds in height, it receives no addition to its breadth over time. So he too flourished from his first sprouting, immediately, through his choice of life, rising up perfect and high-crowned. For having stood apart from all things about which youth is excited—horsemanship, hunting, adornments, fine clothes, gambling, luxury—he was at once wholly devoted to the acquisition of virtues, choosing in succession what was suitable for his age at each stage. And for him the first acquisition of virtues was the pursuit of wisdom. And with this, self-control followed, like a yoked foal; and for both, continence was an ally; while his freedom from pride and from anger was achieved together with his contempt for money. For there is no other origin of vanity and pride, unless greed brings such passions in along with itself. And just as the account holds that the pa 46.901 triarch Abraham, having become knowledgeable in Chaldean philosophy, and having understood the harmonious and ordered position and movement of the stars, used the knowledge of these things as a foundation for the contemplation of the good that lies beyond, reasoning that if the things perceptible by the senses are such as this, what must be the nature of the things beyond the senses? and thus to attain what he sought, as if stepping upon worldly wisdom and becoming higher through it, so as to draw near in a certain way through it to what is incomprehensible; so also this Great man, having diligently engaged with secular philosophy, through which Hellenism is confirmed for the many, was through these things guided to the understanding of Christianity, and abandoning the erring religion of his fathers, he sought the truth of reality, having been taught the incoherence of the Greek dogmas from the very works composed by those outside. For when he saw both Greek and barbarian philosophy alike being split into different assumptions in their opinions about the Divine, and the chief proponents of the dogmas neither agreeing with one another, and each striving contentiously to establish his own view with cleverness of arguments; these on the one hand, being overthrown by one another as in a civil war, he abandoned; but he grasps the steadfast doctrine of the faith, which not

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εἰ τῇ γείτονι θαλάττῃ τὰ πανταχόθεν πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν κατ' ἐξουσίαν εἰσάγεται. 46.900 Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῶν προγόνων αὐτοῦ, τῶν προκαθηγησα μένων τῆς κατὰ σάρκα γενέσεως, μνήμην ἐπὶ τοῦ λόγου ποιήσομαι, πλοῦτον καὶ φιλοτιμίας καὶ τὰς κοσμικὰς περιφανείας αὐτῶν διηγούμενος. Τί γὰρ ταῦτα συντελέσειε πρὸς ἔπαινον, τάφοι, καὶ στῆλαι, καὶ ἐπιγράμματα, καὶ τὰ νεκρὰ διηγήματα πρὸς τὸν τοῦ κόσμου παντὸς ἑαυτὸν ὑπεράραντα; ἄλλως δὲ οὔτε δυνατόν ἐστιν εἰς κοινωνίαν τῆς εὐφημίας ἐκεί νους ἄγειν, ὧν τὴν συγγένειαν οὗτος τῆς κατὰ ψυχὴν ἀγχιστείας ἠρνήσατο; Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τῇ πλάνῃ τῶν εἰδώλων ἐματαιώθησαν· ὁ δὲ, πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀνα βλέψας, τῇ ἄνω συγγενείᾳ διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἑαυτὸν εἰσεποίησεν. Ἀλλ' ὅπως μὲν, ἢ ἀπὸ τίνων ἐγένετο, ἢ τίνα τὸ κατ' ἀρχὰς ᾤκησε πόλιν, ὡς οὐδὲν ἡμῖν συντελοῦντα πρὸς τὴν προκειμένην σπουδὴν, παραλείπομεν· ἀρ χὴν δὲ ταύτην τῆς εὐφημίας ληψόμεθα, ἣν ἐκεῖνος τοῦ κατ' ἀρετὴν βίου πεποίηται.

Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν κομιδῇ νέῳ τῷ σώματι τῆς φυσικῆς κηδεμονίας ἔρη μος ἦν, τῶν γονέων τετελευτηκότων τὸν βίον, ὅτε ἀτελὴς ὑφ' ἡλικίας οὖσα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἡ διάνοια τῆς τοῦ καλοῦ κρίσεως ἁμαρτάνει, ἔδειξεν εὐθὺς παρὰ τὴν πρώτην, οἷος ἐν τῷ τελείῳ τῆς ἡλικίας γενή σεται. Καὶ καθάπερ τὰ εὐγενῆ τῶν βλαστημάτων, ὅταν ἐκ πρώτης αὐξήσεως εἰς εὐθυγενεῖς ἀναδράμῃ τοὺς ὅρπηκας, προδείκνυσι τοῖς γηπόνοις διὰ τῆς παρούσης ὥρας τὸ εἰς ὕστερον κάλλος· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον κἀκεῖνος, ὅτε τοῖς ἄλλοις ὑπ' ἀγνοίας περισφαλής ἐστιν ἡ ψυχὴ, πρὸς τὰ μάταιά τε καὶ ἀνόνητα κατολισθαινούσης προχείρως ὡς τὰ πολλὰ τῆς νεότη τος· τότε διὰ τῆς πρώτης τοῦ βίου αἱρέσεως, ἔδειξεν ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ τὸν ∆αβὶδ ἀληθεύοντα, ὅτι ∆ίκαιος ὡς φοῖνιξ ἐξανθήσει. Μόνον γὰρ δὴ τοῦτο τῶν δένδρων τελείῳ τῷ πάχει τῆς κορυφῆς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀναφύε· καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸ μῆκος ἐπιδιδούσης αὐξήσεως, οὐδεμίαν ἐπὶ τὸ πλάτος προσθήκην ἀπὸ τοῦ χρόνου δέχεται. Οὕτω κἀκεῖνος ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἤνθησε βλάστης, εὐθὺς τῇ αἱρέσει τοῦ βίου τέλειος ἀνασχὼν καὶ ὑψίκομος. Πάντων γὰρ ἀποστὰς, περὶ ἃ τὸ νέον τῆς ἡλικίας ἐπτόηται, ἱππικῆς, κυνηγεσίων, καλ λωπισμάτων, ἐνδυμάτων, κυβείας, τρυφῆς· εὐθὺς ὅλος τῆς τῶν ἀρετῶν κτήσεως ἦν, τὸ πρόσφορον ἀεὶ τῆς παρούσης αὐτῷ ἡλικίας καθεξῆς προαιρούμενος. Γί νεται δὲ αὐτῷ πρώτη τῆς κτήσεως τῶν ἀρετῶν, ἡ περὶ τὴν σοφίαν σπουδή. Ταύτῃ δὲ συνείπετο καθά περ τις πῶλος συνεζευγμένη ἡ σωφροσύνη· πρὸς ἀμφότερα δὲ σύμμαχος ἦν ἡ ἐγκράτεια· τὸ δὲ ἄτυ φον αὐτῷ καὶ ἀόργητον, τῇ τῶν χρημάτων ὑπεροψίᾳ συγκατωρθώθη. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἄλλη τύφου τε καὶ ὑπερηφανίας γένεσις, μὴ τῆς πλεονεξίας ἑαυτῇ τὰ τοιαῦτα πάθη συνεισαγούσης. Καθάπερ δὲ τὸν πα 46.901 τριάρχην Ἀβραὰμ ὁ λόγος κατέχει, τῆς Χαλδαϊκῆς φιλοσοφίας ἐν ἐπιστήμῃ γενόμενον, καὶ τὴν ἐναρμό νιόν τε καὶ τεταγμένην τῶν ἄστρων κατανοήσαντα θέσιν καὶ κίνησιν, ὑποβάθρᾳ χρήσασθαι τῇ περὶ ταῦτα γνώσει πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ὑπερκειμένου ἀγαθοῦ θεω ρίαν, λογισάμενον, ὡς εἰ τὰ τῇ αἰσθήσει ληπτὰ τοιαῦτα, τί ἂν εἴη τὰ ὑπὲρ αἴσθησιν; καὶ οὕτως τοῦ ζητου μένου τυχεῖν, οἷον ἐπιβάντα τῆς ἕξω σοφίας, καὶ γενόμενον δι' αὐτῆς ὑψηλότερον, ὥστε προσεγγίσαι τρόπον τινὰ δι' αὐτῆς τοῖς ἀλήπτοις· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Μέγας οὗτος, τῇ ἔξω φιλοσοφίᾳ δι' ἐπιμελείας καθ ομιλήσας, δι' ὧν ὁ Ἑλληνισμὸς τοῖς πολλοῖς βεβαιοῦται, διὰ τούτων ὡδηγήθη πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ κατανόησιν, καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν πεπλανημένην τῶν πατέρων θρησκείαν, ἐζήτει τὴν τῶν ὄντων ἀλήθειαν, ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πεπονημένων τοῖς ἔξωθεν διδαχθεὶς τὸ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν δογμάτων ἀσύστατον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶδεν πρὸς διαφόρους ὑπολήψεις ἐν ταῖς περὶ τοῦ Θείου δόξαις σχιζομένην τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν καὶ τὴν βάρβαρον ὁμοίως φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ τοὺς τῶν δογμάτων προεστη κότας, οὔτε πρὸς ἀλλήλους συμβαίνοντας, καὶ τὸ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστον κρατύνειν τῇ περινοίᾳ τῶν λόγων φιλονεικοῦντας· τούτους μὲν ὥσπερ ἐν ἐμφυλίῳ πο λέμῳ, ὑπ' ἀλλήλων ἀνατρεπομένους κατέλιπεν· κατα λαμβάνει δὲ τὸν ἑστῶτα λόγον τῆς πίστεως, τὸν οὐ