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we make great effort when we are sick, and spend money, and call for physicians, and apply medicines, and restrain our belly, and punish our desire? For if both health and sickness depend on fate, the expenditure of money is superfluous, the entrance of physicians is superfluous, the strictness of the diet of the sick is superfluous. But now, along with other things, we also show from these things that none of them is superfluous. But the myth of fate is gone; for our affairs are subject to no necessity; but all things, as I said, have been honored with freedom of choice. 4. Knowing these things, therefore, beloved, and more than these—for there are many other things to say about these matters, but these are sufficient for the more intelligent—let us flee vice, let us choose virtue, that we may show through our actions that we have free will in our judgment concerning what seems best, so that we may not be put to shame on the day of the revelation of our deeds. For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, as Paul says, that each one may receive according to what he has done, whether good or evil. Let us take, I beseech you, that tribunal to mind, and let us consider it to be present now, and the judge to be seated, and all things to be revealed, and brought into the open. For we must not simply be present, but also be made manifest. Did you not blush? Did you not shudder? Do we not often choose to die, rather than have our hidden fault be revealed before venerable friends? How then shall we be disposed at that time, when our sins are revealed before all angels and all men, and stand before our eyes? For I will convict you, He says, and I will set your sins before your face. But if, when the event is not yet present, but is given by hypothesis and described in word, we are destroyed by our conscience, what shall we do when 56.284 it comes to pass, when the whole world is present, when angels and archangels, when principalities and powers, when the trumpets sound continuous and successive, and the righteous are caught up in the clouds, and there is much weeping of the sinners? What fear then will seize those who are left upon the earth? For one, he says, is taken, and one is left; and one is taken up, and one is left behind. What will be the state of their soul, when they see some being led away with great honor, but themselves being left behind with great shame? It is not possible, it is not possible, believe me, to describe the suffering in words. Have you ever seen those who are led away to death? What do you think their soul is like as they walk the road to the gate? What would they not choose to do and to suffer, so as to be delivered from that darkness? I have heard many say, who by royal clemency were recalled after being led away, that they did not even see people as people, their soul being troubled and terrified. And why do I speak of those being led away? A crowd stands around then, the greater part of whom do not know them. If someone had then examined the soul of each one, there is no one so cruel, no one so bold, no one so noble, whom he would not find with it fallen and prostrate from fear and despondency. But if those who have nothing in common with them are so affected when others are being executed, what then will we be like, when we ourselves fall into greater things, being sent away from that ineffable joy, and being sent over to eternal punishment? For even if there were no Gehenna, to be cast out from such splendor, and to depart in dishonor, what a punishment! For indeed even now, when a king rides in, many who are watching and considering their own poverty, do not receive as much pleasure from the sight, as they do despondency from having no share in the things around the king, nor being near to the ruler

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σπουδὴν πολλὴν ποιούμεθα νοσοῦντες, καὶ χρήματα δαπανῶμεν, καὶ ἰατροὺς καλοῦμεν, καὶ φάρμακα ἐπιτίθεμεν, καὶ γαστρὸς κατέχομεν, καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν κολάζομεν; Εἰ γὰρ τῆς εἱμαρμένης ἤρτηται καὶ ὑγίεια καὶ νόσος, περιττὰ τῶν χρημάτων τὰ ἀναλώματα, περιττὴ τῶν ἰατρῶν ἡ εἴσοδος, περιττὴ τῆς τῶν νοσούντων διαίτης ἡ ἀκρίβεια. Νῦν δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων καὶ ἐκ τούτων δηλοῦμεν, ὅτι οὐδὲν αὐτῶν περιττόν ἐστιν. Ἀλλ' οἴχεται μὲν ὁ τῆς εἱμαρμένης μῦθος· οὐδεμιᾷ γὰρ ἀνάγκῃ τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς ὑπόκειται· πάντα δὲ, καθὼς ἔφην, ἐλευθερίᾳ τετίμηται προαιρέσεως. δʹ. Ταῦτ' οὖν εἰδότες, ἀγαπητοὶ, καὶ τὰ τούτων πλείονα πολλὰ γὰρ ἔστι καὶ ἄλλα περὶ τούτων εἰπεῖν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς συνετωτέροις ἀρκεῖ ταῦτα, φύγωμεν κακίαν, ἑλώμεθα ἀρετὴν, ἵνα δείξωμεν διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων, ὅτι αὐτεξούσιον ἔχομεν πρὸς τὰ δοκοῦντα τὴν γνώμην, ἵνα μὴ καταισχυνθῶμεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς τῶν ἔργων ἀποκαλύψεως. Τοὺς γὰρ πάντας ἡμᾶς φανερωθῆναι δεῖ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βήματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καθώς φησιν ὁ Παῦλος, ἵνα κομίσηται ἕκαστος πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξεν, εἴτε ἀγαθὸν, εἴτε κακόν. Λάβωμεν, παρακαλῶ, κατὰ νοῦν ἐκεῖνο τὸ δικαστήριον, καὶ νομίσω, μὲν αὐτὸ παρεῖναι νῦν, καὶ τὸν κριτὴν καθέζεσθαι, καὶ τὰ πάντα ἀνακαλύπτεσθαι, καὶ εἰς μέσον ἄγεσθαι. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς παραστῆναι δεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ φανερωθῆναι ἡμᾶς. Ἆρα οὐκ ἠρυθριάσατε; ἆρα οὐκ ἐφρίξατε; ἆρα οὐχ αἱρούμεθα πολλάκις ἀποθανεῖν, ἢ ἐπὶ φίλων αἰδεσίμων πταῖσμα κρυπτὸν ἡμῶν φανερωθῆναι; Πῶς οὖν τότε διακεισόμεθα, ἐπὶ πάντων ἀγγέλων καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων φανερουμένων τῶν ἡμετέρων ἁμαρτημάτων, καὶ πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἡμῶν ἱσταμένων; Ἐλέγξω σε γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ παραστήσω κατὰ πρόσωπόν σου τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου. Εἰ δὲ μήπω τοῦ πράγματος παρόντος, ἀλλὰ καθ' ὑπόθεσιν δοθέντος, καὶ λόγῳ διαγραφέντος, ἀπολλύμεθα ὑπὸ τοῦ συνειδότος, τί ποιήσομεν ὅταν 56.284 παραγένηται, ὅταν ἡ οἰκουμένη πᾶσα παρῇ, ὅταν ἄγγελοι καὶ ἀρχάγγελοι, ὅταν ἀρχαὶ καὶ ἐξουσίαι, ὅταν σάλπιγγες ἠχῶσιν αἱ συνεχεῖς καὶ ἐπάλληλοι, καὶ ἁρπαγὴ τῶν δικαίων ἐπὶ νεφελῶν, καὶ πολὺς τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων ὁ κλαυθμός; Ποῖος ἄρα φόβος ἕξει τότε τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀπομένοντας; Μία γὰρ, φησὶν, ἁρπάζεται, καὶ μία ἀφίεται· καὶ εἷς παραλαμβάνεται, καὶ εἷς καταλιμπάνεται. Τίς ἔσται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνων, ὅταν τοὺς μὲν ὁρῶσιν ἀπαγομένους μετὰ τιμῆς μεγάλης, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ ἀφιεμένους μετὰ πολλῆς αἰσχύνης; Οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστι, πιστεύσατε, παραστῆσαι λόγῳ τὸ πάθος. Εἴδετέ ποτε τοὺς ἀπαγομένους ἐπὶ θάνατον; Ποίαν αὐτοῖς νομίζετε εἶναι τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν μέχρι τῆς πύλης ὁδὸν βαδίζουσι; Τί οὐκ ἂν εἵλοντο καὶ ποιῆσαι καὶ παθεῖν, ὥστε ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς ἀχλύος ἐκείνης; Ἐγὼ πολλῶν ἤκουσα λεγόντων τῶν φιλανθρωπίᾳ βασιλικῇ μετὰ τὴν ἀπαγωγὴν εἰς τοὐπίσω ἀνακληθέντων, ὅτι οὐδὲ ἀνθρώπους ἑώρων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τεθορυβημένης τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ ἐκπεπληγμένης. Καὶ τί λέγω περὶ τῶν ἀπαγομένων; Ὄχλος περιέστηκε τότε, οἱ πλείους οὐκ εἰδότες αὐτούς. Εἴ τις ἑνὸς τότε ἑκάστου τὴν ψυχὴν περιεσκόπησεν, οὐδεὶς οὕτως ὠμὸς, οὐδεὶς οὕτω θρασὺς, οὐδεὶς οὕτω γενναῖος, ὃν οὐ καταπεπτωκυῖαν αὐτὴν ἔχοντα εὕροι καὶ παρειμένην ὑπὸ τοῦ φόβου καὶ τῆς ἀθυμίας. Εἰ δὲ ἑτέρων ἀναιρουμένων οἱ μηδὲν αὐτοῖς κοινωνοῦντες οὕτω διατίθενται, ὅταν ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ τοῖς μείζοσι περιπέσωμεν, τίνες ἄρα ἐσόμεθα, τῆς μὲν ἀῤῥήτου χαρᾶς ἐκείνης ἀποπεμπόμενοι, εἰς αἰωνίαν δὲ τιμωρίαν παραπεμπόμενοι; Εἰ γὰρ καὶ γέεννα μὴ ἦν, τὸ ἐκ τοσαύτης λαμπρότητος ἀπωσθῆναι, καὶ ἄτιμον ἀναχωρῆσαι, πόση κόλασις; Καὶ γὰρ εἰ νῦν, βασιλέως εἰσελαύνοντος, θεωροῦντες πολλοὶ, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτῶν πενίαν ἐννοοῦντες, οὐ τοσαύτην ἀπὸ τῆς θέας λαμβάνουσιν ἡδονὴν, ὅσην ἀπὸ τοῦ μηδενὸς μετέχειν τῶν περὶ τὸν βασιλέα, μηδὲ ἐγγὺς εἶναι τοῦ κρατοῦντος, ἀθυμίαν