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evils surrounded them; within were fightings, without were fears, from friends, from strangers, from those bound to each other by nature. 2. Seeing these things, therefore, the blessed Paul, the trainer of the inhabited world, the teacher of heavenly doctrines, since the terrible things were at hand and being done before their eyes, but the good things were only in hopes and promises, the kingdom of heaven, I say, and resurrection, and the possession of those good things which surpass all mind and reason—but furnaces and frying pans and swords and punishments and all kinds of torments and deaths were not in hopes, but in experience; and those who were about to struggle against these things had been recently brought into the faith from altars and idols and luxury and licentiousness and drunkenness, having not yet meditated on anything lofty concerning eternal life, but rather clinging to present things; and it was likely that many of them would lose heart and grow weary, and give up, being besieged each day; see what the partaker of the mysteries does, and attend to the wisdom of Paul. He continually discourses with them about the things to come, and brings the prizes before their eyes, and shows them the crowns, anointing them and comforting them with the hopes of eternal good things. And what does he say? For we reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For what do you tell me, he says, of wounds and altars and executioners and punishments and famines and confiscations and poverty and bonds and chains? Put forward all you wish of the things that seem terrible among men, and you say nothing worthy of those prizes and crowns and rewards. For the one are destroyed with the present life, but the others in the infinite age have no end; and the one pass away, being temporary, but the others remain perpetually, co-existing without growing old. Which very thing he also said elsewhere, hinting at it: 51.159 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment; undercutting the quality by the quantity, and comforting the burdensome by the time. For since the things then happening were by nature heavy and burdensome, he undercuts their burdensome nature by their temporariness, saying: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. And again, leading them up to the conception of the greatness of the good things of that time, he introduces creation itself as groaning in pain and travailing together over the present evils, and strongly desiring the things to come, as being exceedingly good, saying thus: For the creation groans and travails in pain together until now. For what reason does it groan? for what reason does it travail in pain? Expecting those good things to come and desiring the change for the better. For creation itself also, he says, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. But when you hear that it groans and travails in pain, do not think it is rational, but learn the style of the Scripture. For when God wishes to announce something great and good to men through the prophets, He makes even inanimate things perceive the greatness of the wonders that are happening; not because we say creation perceives, but that He might be able to represent the greatness of the wonders from the things happening to men. This indeed is also our custom to say, when something unexpected happens, [that the city itself was saddened, the very ground became gloomy;] and concerning fearsome men who have a beast-like temper one might say this very thing: that he shook the very foundations, the stones themselves trembled at him; not because the stones really trembled at him, but that they might be able to represent the excess of his beast-like heart and temper. For this very reason also the wondrous prophet David

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περιειστήκει τὰ κακά· ἔνδοθεν μάχαι, ἔξωθεν φόβοι, παρὰ τῶν φίλων, παρὰ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων, παρ' αὐτῶν τῶν τῇ φύσει συνδεδεμένων ἀλλήλοις. βʹ. Ταῦτ' οὖν ὁρῶν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος, ὁ τῆς οἰκουμένης παιδοτρίβης, ὁ τῶν οὐρανίων δογμάτων διδάσκαλος, ἐπειδὴ τὰ μὲν δεινὰ ἐν χερσὶν ἦν καὶ πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν πραττόμενα, τὰ δὲ χρηστὰ ἐν ἐλπίσι μόνον καὶ ἐπαγγελίαις, βασιλεία οὐρανῶν, λέγω, καὶ ἀνάστασις, καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐκείνων λῆξις τῶν πάντα νοῦν καὶ λόγον ὑπερβαινόντων κάμινοι δὲ καὶ τήγανα καὶ ξίφη καὶ τιμωρίαι καὶ παντοδαπαὶ κολάσεις καὶ θάνατοι οὐκ ἐν ἐλπίσιν, ἀλλ' ἐν πείρᾳ· οἱ δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα ἀγωνίζεσθαι μέλλοντες, ἀρτίως ἀπὸ βωμῶν καὶ εἰδώλων καὶ τρυφῆς καὶ ἀκολασίας καὶ μέθης εἰσποιηθέντες ἦσαν τῇ πίστει, οὐδὲν ὑψηλὸν περὶ τῆς ἀϊδίου ζωῆς τέως μεμελετηκότες ἐννοεῖν, ἀλλὰ τῶν παρόντων ἀντεχόμενοι μᾶλλον· καὶ εἰκὸς τούτων πολλοὺς μικροψυχεῖν καὶ ἐκλύεσθαι, καὶ ἀναπίπτειν καθ' ἑκάστην πολιορκουμένους ἡμέραν· ὅρα τί ποιεῖ ὁ τῶν ἀποῤῥήτων κοινωνὸς, καὶ πρόσεχε τῇ Παύλου σοφίᾳ. Συνεχῶς περὶ τῶν μελλόντων αὐτοῖς διαλέγεται, καὶ τὰ βραβεῖα ὑπ' ὄψιν ἄγει, καὶ δείκνυσι τοὺς στεφάνους, ἀλείφων αὐτοὺς καὶ παραμυθούμενος ταῖς τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν ἐλπίσι. Καὶ τί φησι; Λογιζόμεθα γὰρ, ὅτι οὐκ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς. Τί γάρ μοι λέγεις, φησὶ, τραύματα καὶ βωμοὺς καὶ δημίους καὶ τιμωρίας καὶ λιμοὺς καὶ δημεύσεις καὶ πενίαν καὶ δεσμὰ καὶ ἁλύσεις; πάντα ὅσα βούλει τίθει τὰ δοκοῦντα ἐν ἀνθρώποις δεινὰ, καὶ οὐδὲν ἄξιον λέγεις τῶν ἐπάθλων ἐκείνων καὶ τῶν στεφάνων καὶ τῶν ἀμοιβῶν. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ τῷ παρόντι συγκαταλύεται βίῳ, τὰ δὲ ἐν τῷ ἀπείρῳ αἰῶνι τέλος οὐκ ἔχει· καὶ τὰ μὲν παροδεύει πρόσκαιρα ὄντα, τὰ δὲ παραμένει διηνεκῶς ἀγήρατα συνυπάρχοντα. Ὅπερ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ τοῦτο αὐτὸ αἰνιττόμενος ἔλεγε· 51.159 Τὸ γὰρ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως· τῇ ποσότητι τὴν ποιότητα ὑποτεμνόμενος, καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ τὸ φορτικὸν παραμυθούμενος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῇ φύσει βαρέα καὶ φορτικὰ ἦν τὰ τότε συμβαίνοντα, τῷ προσκαίρῳ τὸ φορτικὸν αὐτῶν ὑποτέμνεται, λέγων· Τὸ γὰρ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν καθ' ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης κατεργάζεται ἡμῖν, μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα. Τὰ γὰρ βλεπόμενα, πρόσκαιρα· τὰ δὲ μὴ βλεπόμενα, αἰώνια. Καὶ πάλιν ἀνάγων αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν ἔννοιαν τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν τότε ἀγαθῶν, αὐτὴν εἰσάγει τὴν κτίσιν ὀδυνωμένην καὶ συστενάζουσαν ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσι μοχθηροῖς, καὶ σφόδρα ἐπιθυμοῦσαν τὰ μέλλοντα, ὡς πάνυ ὄντα χρηστὰ, λέγων οὕτω· Καὶ γὰρ ἡ κτίσις συστενάζει καὶ συνωδίνει ἄχρι τοῦ νῦν. Τίνος ἕνεκεν στενάζει; τίνος ἕνεκεν ὠδίνει; Τὰ μέλλοντα ἐκεῖνα προσδοκῶσα ἀγαθὰ καὶ ἐπιθυμοῦσα τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον μεταβολήν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴ, φησὶν, ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὅταν δὲ ἀκούσῃς, ὅτι στενάζει καὶ ὠδίνει, μὴ λογικὴν εἶναι νόμιζε, ἀλλὰ μάνθανε τῆς Γραφῆς τὸ εἶδος. Ὅταν γὰρ βούληται ὁ Θεὸς μέγα καὶ χρηστὸν ἀναγγεῖλαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διὰ τῶν προφητῶν, καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ ἄψυχα αἰσθάνεσθαι ποιεῖ τῶν γινομένων θαυμάτων τὸ μέγεθος· οὐκ ἐπειδὴ αἰσθάνεσθαι τὴν κτίσιν φαμὲν, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῶν θαυμάτων τὸ μέγεθος παραστῆσαι δυνηθῇ ἐκ τῶν συμβαινόντων τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Τοῦτο δὴ καὶ ἡμῖν ἔθος λέγειν, ὅταν τι τῶν ἀδοκήτων συμβῇ, [ὅτι αὐτὴ ἡ πόλις ἐστύγνασεν, αὐτὸ τὸ ἔδαφος σκυθρωπὸν ἐγένετο·] καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν φοβερῶν δὲ ἀνθρώπων καὶ θηριώδη θυμὸν ἐχόντων τοῦτο αὐτὸ εἴποι τις ἄν· ὅτι αὐτὰ τὰ θεμέλια διέσεισεν, αὐτοὶ οἱ λίθοι αὐτὸν ἐτρόμαξαν· οὐκ ἐπειδὴ ὄντως οἱ λίθοι τοῦτον ἐτρόμαξαν, ἀλλ' ἵνα τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς θηριώδους καρδίας αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν θυμὸν παραστῆσαι δυνηθῶσι. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ θαυμάσιος προφήτης ∆αυῒδ