4

show goodwill toward those who nurture them? And if we naturally choose goodwill and affection toward our benefactors, and endure every labor for the repayment of what has been done for us, what word can worthily attain 31.913 to the gifts of God? They are so many in number as to escape counting; and so great in magnitude and of such a kind that even one is sufficient to make us liable for every grace to the one who has given it. Therefore, I will pass over the others, which, although in themselves they excel in magnitude and grace, yet being outshone by the greater ones, like stars by the rays of the sun, present their own grace more dimly. For there is no time, having left aside the most excellent things, to measure the goodness of the benefactor from the lesser ones. Let then be silenced the risings of the sun, and the circuits of the moon, the temperaments of the air, the changes of the seasons, water from clouds, and other water from the earth, the sea itself, the whole earth, the things that grow from the earth, the creatures that live in the waters, the species in the air, the countless varieties of animals, all things appointed for the service of our life. But that one thing is not possible to pass over, even for those who wish it, and to be silent about this grace is utterly impossible for one who has a sound mind and reason; but to say something worthy of it is even more impossible: that God, having made man according to the image and likeness of God, and deemed him worthy of the knowledge of Himself, and adorned him with reason above all animals, and granted him to delight in the ineffable beauties of paradise, and established him as ruler of all things on earth, then when he was deceived by the serpent and fell into sin, and through sin into death and the things worthy of it, He did not overlook him; but first He gave the law for assistance, appointed angels for protection and care, sent prophets for the reproof of wickedness and the teaching of virtue, He checked the impulses of wickedness with threats, He stirred up zeal for good things with promises, He often revealed beforehand the end of each in different persons for the admonition of others, and after all these and such things, He did not turn away from those who persisted in disobedience. For we were not abandoned by the goodness of the Lord, nor did we cut off His love for us, though we insulted our benefactor by our insensibility to His honors; but we were recalled from death, and made alive again by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In which the manner of the benefaction holds a greater wonder: For, being in the form of God, He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave. 31.916 And He took up our infirmities, and bore our diseases, and was wounded for us, that by His stripe we might be healed; and He redeemed us from the curse, becoming a curse for us, and He underwent the most dishonorable death, that He might bring us back to the glorious life. And He was not content only to give life to us when we were dead, but also bestowed the dignity of divinity, and prepared eternal rests, surpassing every human thought in the greatness of their joy. What then shall we render to the Lord for all that He has rendered to us? But He is so good that He does not demand repayment, but is content only to be loved for what He has given. When I come to the thought of all these things (to speak of my own feeling), I fall into a certain shuddering and fearful ecstasy, lest perhaps from inattention of mind, or preoccupation with vain things, I might fall from the love of God and become a reproach to Christ. For he who now deceives us, and through worldly enticements strives with every device to cause in us a forgetfulness of our benefactor, leaping upon us for the destruction of our souls, and treading upon us, will then bring our contempt as a reproach against the Lord, and will boast in our disobedience and apostasy; who indeed neither created us, nor died for us, but nevertheless had us following him in disobedience and in neglect of the

4

πρὸς τοὺς τρέφοντας τὴν εὔνοιαν ἐπιδείκνυνται; Εἰ δὲ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς εὐεργέτας εὔνοιαν καὶ τὸ φίλτρον φυσικῶς αἱ ρούμεθα, καὶ πάντα πόνον εἰς ἀντίδοσιν τῶν προγε νομένων ἡμῖν ὑπομένομεν, τίς λόγος ἀξίως ἐφικέ 31.913 σθαι τῶν δωρεῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναται; αἳ τοσαῦται μέν εἰσι τὸ πλῆθος, ὡς καὶ ἀριθμὸν διαφεύγειν· τηλικαῦται δὲ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τοιαῦται, ὥστε ἐξαρ κεῖν καὶ μίαν εἰς τὸ ὑπευθύνους ἡμᾶς εἰς πᾶσαν χάριν τῷ δεδωκότι ποιῆσαι. Τὰς μὲν οὖν ἄλλας παρ ήσω, αἳ, εἰ καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὰς ὑπερβάλλουσι μεγέθει καὶ χάριτι, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῶν μειζόνων, ὥσπερ ἀστέρες ἡλιακαῖς ἀκτῖσιν, ὑπερλαμπόμεναι, τὴν καθ' ἑαυτὰς χάριν ἀμυδροτέραν παρέχονται. Οὐ γὰρ σχολὴ κα ταλιπόντι τὰ ὑπερβάλλοντα, ἐκ τῶν ἐλαττόνων με τρεῖν τοῦ εὐεργέτου τὴν ἀγαθότητα. Σιωπάσθωσαν τοίνυν ἡλίου ἀνατολαὶ, καὶ σελή νης περίοδοι, κράσεις ἀέρων, ὡρῶν ἐναλλαγαὶ, ὕδωρ ἀπὸ νεφῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ γῆς ἕτερον, αὐτὴ ἡ θάλασσα, ἡ γῆ σύμπασα, τὰ ἐκ γῆς φυόμενα, τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὕδασι διαιτώμενα, τὰ ἐν ἀέρι γένη, αἱ μυρίαι τῶν ζώων διαφοραὶ, πάντα τὰ πρὸς ὑπηρεσίαν τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν τεταγμένα. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνο οὐδὲ βουλομένοις παρελθεῖν δυνατὸν, καὶ σιωπῆσαι μὲν τὴν χάριν τῷ γε νοῦν ὑγιᾶ καὶ λόγον ἔχοντι παντελῶς ἀμήχα νον· εἰπεῖν δέ τι πρὸς ἀξίαν πλέον ἀδυνατώτερον, ὅτι κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ποιήσας τὸν ἄν θρωπον ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ γνώσεως ἀξιώσας, καὶ λόγῳ παρὰ πάντα τὰ ζῶα κατακοσμήσας, καὶ τοῖς ἀμηχάνοις τοῦ παραδείσου κάλλεσιν ἐντρυφᾷν παρασχόμενος, καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἁπάντων ἄρχοντα καταστήσας, εἶτα κατασοφισθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ ὄφεως, καὶ καταπεσόντα εἰς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρ τίας εἰς τὸν θάνατον, καὶ τὰ τούτου ἄξια, οὐ περιεῖ δεν· ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα νόμον ἔδωκεν εἰς βοήθειαν, ἀγγέλους ἐπέστησεν εἰς φυλακὴν καὶ ἐπιμέλειαν, προφήτας ἀπέστειλεν εἰς ἔλεγχον κακίας καὶ διδα σκαλίαν ἀρετῆς, τὰς ὁρμὰς τῆς κακίας ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς ἐνέκοψε, τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν προθυμίαν ἐπαγγελίαις διήγειρε, τὸ πέρας ἑκατέρου πολλάκις ἐν διαφόροις προσώποις εἰς νουθεσίαν τῶν ἄλλων προλαβὼν ἐφανέ ρωσε, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις ἅπασιν ἐπιμέ νοντας τῇ ἀπειθείᾳ οὐκ ἀπεστράφη. Οὐ γὰρ ἀφείθη μεν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγαθότητος τοῦ ∆εσπότου, οὐδὲ ἐνεκόψαμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἀγάπην, ἀναισθησίᾳ τῶν τιμῶν τὸν εὐεργέτην παρυβρίσαντες· ἀλλὰ ἀνεκλήθη μεν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου, καὶ ἐζωοποιήθημεν πάλιν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἐν ᾧ καὶ ὁ τρόπος τῆς εὐεργεσίας μεῖζον ἔχει τὸ θαῦμα· Ἐν μορφῇ γὰρ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων, οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγή σατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε, μορφὴν δούλου λαβών. 31.916 Καὶ τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἀνέλαβε, καὶ τὰς νόσους ἐβάστασε, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐτραυματίσθη, ἵνα τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰαθῶμεν· καὶ τῆς κατάρας ἡμᾶς ἐξηγόρασε, γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα, καὶ τὸν ἀτιμότατον ὑπέστη θάνατον, ἵνα ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἔνδοξον ζωὴν ἐπαναγάγῃ. Καὶ οὐκ ἠρκέσθη μό νον νεκροὺς ὄντας ζωοποιῆσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεότητος ἀξίωμα ἐχαρίσατο, καὶ ἀναπαύσεις ἡτοίμασεν αἰω νίους, πᾶσαν ἔννοιαν ἀνθρωπίνην τῷ μεγέθει τῆς εὐφροσύνης ὑπερβαινούσας. Τί οὖν ἀνταποδῶ μεν τῷ Κυρίῳ περὶ πάντων ὧν ἀνταπέδωκεν ἡμῖν; Ὁ δὲ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀγαθὸς, ὥστε οὔτε ἀντίδοσιν ἀπαι τεῖ, ἀλλ' ἀρκεῖται μόνον ἀγαπώμενος ἐφ' οἷς ἔδωκεν. Ὧν ἁπάντων ὅταν εἰς ἔννοιαν ἔλθω (ἵνα τὸ ἐμὸν πάθος ἐξείπω), εἰς φρίκην τινὰ καὶ ἔκστασιν φοβε ρὰν καταπίπτω, μήποτε ἐξ ἀπροσεξίας τοῦ νοῦ, ἢ τῆς περὶ τὰ μάταια ἀσχολίας, τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκπεσὼν ὄνειδος γένωμαι τῷ Χριστῷ. Ὁ γὰρ νῦν ἀπατῶν ἡμᾶς, καὶ διὰ τῶν κοσμικῶν δελεασμάτων λήθην ἐμποιεῖν ἡμῖν τοῦ εὐεργέτου μηχανῇ πάσῃ σπουδάζων, ἐπ' ὀλέθρῳ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν ἐναλ λόμενος ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐπεμβαίνων, εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν τότε προσοίσει τῷ Κυρίῳ τὴν ἡμετέραν καταφρόνησιν, καὶ ἐγκαυχήσεται τῇ ἀπειθείᾳ καὶ ἀποστασίᾳ ἡμῶν· ὅς γε οὔτε κτίσας ἡμᾶς, οὔτε ἀποθανὼν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἔσχεν ἡμᾶς ἀκολουθοῦντας αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἀπειθείᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀμελείᾳ τῶν