IV. ANSWER TO OBJECTIONS: MAN'S FREEWILL AND GOD'S FOREKNOWLEDGE

Of objects that move, some have the cause of motion outside them. Such are objects which are lifeless and in passive motion simply by force of condition, and those which are moved by force of nature and of life in the same manner and not like things which move occasionally, for stones and stocks that have been quarried or cut off from growth, being in passive motion simply by force of condition, have the cause of motion outside them.

Such too are dead bodies of animals and movable parts of plants, which change position under compulsion and not as animals and plants themselves change their position but in the same manner as stones and stocks cut off from growth—although even these may be said to move in respect that, all bodies in decay being in flux, they possess the motion inherently attendant upon decay. Besides these a second class of moving objects are those which move by force of their internal nature or life, which are said by those who use terms in their stricter sense to move of themselves.

A third kind of movement is that in animals, which is termed spontaneous movement, whereas, in my opinion, the movement of rational beings is independent movement. If we withdraw from an animal spontaneous movement, it cannot be any longer conceived as even an animal; it will be like either a plant moving by mere force of nature or a stone borne along by some force external to it: Whenever an object follows its own peculiar movement, since that is what we have termed independent movement, it must needs be rational. Thinkers therefore who will have it that nothing is in our power, will necessarily assent to a most foolish statement, firstly that we are not animals, and secondly that neither are we rational beings, but that, what we are believed to do, we may be said to do by force as it were of some external cause of motion and in no sense moving ourselves.

Let anyone, moreover, with special regard to his own feelings, see whether without shame he can deny that it is himself that wills, eats, walks, gives assent to and accepts certain opinions, dissents from others as false. There are certain opinions to which a man cannot possibly assent though he puts them with innumerable refinements of argument and with plausible reasoning: and similarly it is impossible to assent to any view of human affairs in which our free will is in no sense preserved.

Who assents to the view that nothing is comprehensible, or lives as in complete suspense of judgement: Who that has received a sense perception of a domestic misdeed, forebears to reprove the servant? And who is there that does not censure a son who fails to pay the duty owed to parents, or does not blame and find fault with an adulteress as having committed a shameful act? Truth forces and compels us, in spite of innumerable refinements, to impulsive praise and blame, on the basis of our retention of free will with the responsibility in which it involves us.

If our free will is in truth preserved with innumerable inclinations towards virtue or vice, towards either duty or its opposite, its future must like other things have been known by God, before coming to pass, from the world's creation and foundation; and in all things prearranged by God in accordance with what He has seen of each act of our free wills. He has with due regard to each movement of our free wills prearranged what also is at once to occur in His providence and to take place according to the train of future events. God's foreknowledge is not the cause of all future events including those that are to have their efficient cause in our freewill guided by impulse.

Even though we should suppose God ignorant of the future, we shall not on that account be incapacitated for effecting this and willing that. Rather it ensues from His foreknowledge that our individual free wills receive adjustment to suit the universal arrangement needful for the constitution of the world. If, therefore, our individual free wills have been known by Him, and if in His providence He has on that account been careful to make due arrangement for each one, it is reasonable to believe that He has also pre-comprehended what a particular man is to pray in that faith, what his disposition, and what his desire.

That being so, in His arrangement it will accordingly have been ordained somewhat after this wise: This man I will hear for the sake of the prayer that he will pray, because he will pray wisely: but that man I will not hear, either because he will be unworthy of being heard, or because his prayer will be for things neither profitable for the suppliant to receive nor becoming me to bestow: and in the case of this prayer, of some particular person, let us say, I will not hear him, but in the case of that I will.

Should the fact of God's unerring foreknowledge of the future disquiet anyone by suggesting that things have been necessarily determined, we must tell him that it is a real part of God's fixed knowledge that a particular man will not with any fixed certainty choose the better or so desire the worse as to become incapable of a change for his good. And again I will do this for this man when he prays, as becomes me seeing that he will pray without reproach and will not be negligent in prayer: upon that man who will pray for a certain amount, I will bestow this abundantly in excess of his asking or thinking, for it becomes me to surpass him in well doing and to furnish more than he has been capable of asking.

To this other man of a particular character I will send this angel as minister, to cooperate from a certain time in his salvation and to be with him for a certain period: to that other, who will be a better man than he, that angel of higher rank than his. From this man who, after having devoted himself to the higher views will gradually relax and fall back upon the more material, I will withdraw this superior cooperator, upon whose withdrawal that duly inferior power, having found an opportunity to get at his slackness, will set upon him and when he has given himself up in readiness to sin, will incite him to these particular sins. So we may imagine the Prearranger of All saying:

Amos will beget Josiah, who will not emulate his father's faults but will find his way leading on to virtue, and will by aid of these companions be noble and good, so that he will tear down the evilly erected altar of Jeroboam. I also know that Judas, in the sojourn of my son among the race of men, will at the first be noble and good but later turn aside and fall away to human sins so that he will rightly suffer thus for them. This foreknowledge, it may be in regard to all things, certainly in regard to Judas and other mysteries, exists in the Son of God also, who in His discernment of the evolution of the future has seen Judas and the sins to be committed by him, so that, even before Judas came into existence, He in His comprehension has said through David the words beginning "O God, keep you not silence at my praise."—Knowing as I do the future and what an influence Paul will have in the cause of religion, ere yet I set me to begin creation and found the world I will make choice of him: I will commit him from the moment of his birth to these powers that cooperate in men's salvation.

I will set him apart from his mother's womb. I will permit him at the first to fall in youth into an ignorant zeal and in the avowed cause of religion to persecute believers in my Christ and to keep the garments of them that stone my servant and witness Stephen, so that later at the close of his youthful wilfulness he may be given a fresh start and change for the best and yet not boast before me but may say: "I am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God," and realizing the kindness that he will receive from me after his faults committed in youth in the avowed cause of religion may declare "It is by God's grace that I am what I am"; and, being restrained by conscience by reason of the deeds he wrought while still young against Christ, he will not be excessively elated by the exceeding abundance of the revelations which in kindness I shall show him.

To the objection in reference to prayer for the rising of the Sun we may reply as follows. The Sun also possesses a certain free will, since he with the moon joins in praising God, for "Praise Him, Sun and Moon" it says: as also manifestly the moon and all the stars conformably, for it says "Praise Him all the stars and light." As, therefore, we have said that God has employed the free will of individual beings on earth for the service of beings on earth in arranging them aright, so we may suppose that He has employed the free will, fixed and certain and steadfast and wise as it is, of sun, moon and stars in arranging the whole world of heaven with the course and movement of the stars in harmony with the whole.

If I do not pray in vain for what concerns any other freewill, much more shall I pray for what concerns the freewill of the stars which tread in heaven their world-conserving measures. It may indeed be said of beings on earth that certain appearances in our surroundings call out now our instability, now our better inclination to act or speak in certain ways: but in the case of beings in heaven what appearances can interpose to oust and remove from the course that benefit the world beings which have each a life so adjusted by Reason independently of them, and which enjoy so ethereal and supremely pure a frame?

[6] Τῶν κινουμένων τὰ μέν τινα τὸ κινοῦν ἔξωθεν ἔχει ὥσπερ τὰ ἄψυχα καὶ ὑπὸ ἕξεως μόνης συνεχόμενα καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ φύσεως καὶ ψυχῆς κινούμενα, οὐχ ᾗ τοιαῦτα ἔσθ' ὅτε κινούμενα ἀλλ' ὁμοίως τοῖς ὑπὸ ἕξεως μόνης συνεχομένοις: λίθοι γὰρ καὶ ξύλα, τὰ ἐκκοπέντα τοῦ μετάλλου ἢ τὸ φύειν ἀπολωλεκότα, ὑπὸ ἕξεως μόνης συνεχόμενα τὸ κινοῦν ἔξωθεν ἔχει, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τῶν ζῴων σώματα καὶ τὰ φορητὰ τῶν πεφυτευμένων, ὑπό τινος μετατιθέμενα, οὐχ ᾗ ζῷα καὶ φυτὰ μετατίθεται ἀλλ' ὁμοίως λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις τοῖς τὸ φύειν ἀπολωλεκόσι: κἂν κινῆται καὶ ταῦτα τῷ ῥευστὰ εἶναι πάντα τὰ σώματα φθίνοντα, παρακολουθητικὴν ἔχει τὴν ἐν τῷ φθίνειν κίνησιν. δεύτερα δὲ παρὰ ταῦτά ἐστι κινούμενα τὰ ὑπὸ τῆς ἐνυπαρχούσης φύσεως ἢ ψυχῆς κινούμενα, ἃ καὶ ἐξ αὑτῶν κινεῖσθαι λέγεται παρὰ τοῖς κυριώτερον χρωμένοις τοῖς ὀνόμασι. τρίτη δέ ἐστι κίνησις ἡ ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις, ἥτις ὀνομάζεται ἡ ἀφ' αὑτῶν κίνησις: οἶμαι δὲ ὅτι ἡ τῶν λογικῶν κίνησις δι' αὐτῶν ἐστι κίνησις. ἐὰν δὲ περιέλωμεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῴου τὴν ἀφ' αὑτοῦ κίνησιν, οὐδὲ ζῷον ἔτι ὂν ὑπονοηθῆναι δύναται, ἀλλὰ ἔσται ὅμοιον ἤτοι φυτῷ ὑπὸ φύσεως μόνης κινουμένῳ ἢ λίθῳ ὑπό τινος ἔξωθεν φερομένῳ. ἐὰν δὲ παρακολουθῇ τι τῇ ἰδίᾳ κινήσει, ἐπεὶ τοῦτο δι' αὐτοῦ κινεῖσθαι ὠνομάσαμεν, ἀνάγκη τοῦτο εἶναι λογικόν. οἱ τοίνυν θέλοντες μηδὲν εἶναι ἐφ' ἡμῖν, ἀναγκαίως ἠλιθιώτατόν τι παραδέξονται: πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι οὐκ ἐσμὲν ζῷα, δεύτερον δὲ ὅτι οὐδὲ λογικὰ, ἀλλ' οἷον ὑπὸ ἔξωθεν κινοῦντος αὐτοὶ οὐδαμῶς κινούμενοι ποιεῖν ὑπ' ἐκείνου λεγοίμεθα ἃ ποιεῖν νομιζόμεθα. ἄλλως τε καὶ τοῖς ἰδίοις πάθεσιν ἐπιστήσας τις ὁράτω, εἰ μὴ ἀναιδῶς ἐρεῖ μὴ αὐτὸς θέλειν καὶ μὴ αὐτὸς ἐσθίειν καὶ μὴ αὐτὸς περιπατεῖν μηδὲ αὐτὸς συγκατατίθεσθαι καὶ παραδέχεσθαι ὁποῖα δή ποτε τῶν δογμάτων μηδὲ αὐτὸς ἀνανεύειν πρὸς ἕτερα ὡς ψευδῆ. ὥσπερ οὖν πρός τινα δόγματα ἀμήχανον διατεθῆναι ἄνθρωπον, κἂν μυριάκις αὐτὰ κατασκευάζῃ εὑρεσιλογῶν καὶ πιθανοῖς λόγοις χρώμενος, οὕτως ἀδύνατον διατεθεῖσθαί τινα περὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων, ὡς μηδαμῶς τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν σῳζομένου. τίς γὰρ διάκειται περὶ τοῦ μηδὲν εἶναι καταληπτὸν ἢ οὕτως βιοῖ, ὡς ἐπέχων περὶ παντὸς οὑτινοσοῦν; τίς δὲ οὐκ ἐπιπλήττει, φαντασίαν ἁμαρτήσαντος οἰκέτου λαβὼν, τῷ θεράποντι; καὶ τίς ἐστιν, ὃς μὴ αἰτιᾶται υἱὸν τὸ πρὸς γονεῖς καθῆκον μὴ ἀποδιδόντα ἢ μὴ μέμφεται καὶ ψέγει ὡς αἰσχρὸν πεποιηκυῖαν τὴν μεμοιχευμένην; βιάζεται γὰρ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἀναγκάζει, κἂν μυριάκις τις εὑρεσιλογῇ, ὁρμᾶν καὶ ἐπαινεῖν καὶ ψέγειν, ὡς τηρουμένου τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, καὶ τούτου ἐπαινετοῦ ἢ ψεκτοῦ γινομένου παρ' ἡμᾶς. εἰ δὴ τὸ ἐφ' ἡμῖν σῴζεται, μυρίας ὅσας ἀπονεύσεις ἔχον πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἢ κακίαν καὶ πάλιν ἢ πρὸς τὸ καθῆκον ἢ πρὸς τὸ παρὰ τὸ καθῆκον, ἀναγκαίως τοῦτο μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν, πρὶν γένηται, τῷ θεῷ ἔγνωσται ”ἀπὸ κτίσεως” καὶ „καταβολῆς κόσμου„, ὁποῖον ἔσται: καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν, οἷς προδιατάσσεται ὁ θεὸς ἀκολούθως οἷς ἑώρακε περὶ ἑκάστου ἔργου τῶν ἐφ' ἡμῖν, προδιατέτακται κατ' ἀξίαν ἑκάστῳ κινήματι τῶν ἐφ' ἡμῖν τὸ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς προνοίας αὐτῷ ἀπαντησόμενον ἔτι δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὸν εἱρμὸν τῶν ἐσομένων συμβησόμενον, οὐχὶ τῆς προγνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ αἰτίας γινομένης τοῖς ἐσομένοις πᾶσι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν κατὰ τὴν ὁρμὴν ἡμῶν ἐνεργηθησομένοις. εἰ γὰρ καὶ καθ' ὑπόθεσιν μὴ γινώσκοι ὁ θεὸς τὰ ἐσόμενα, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ἀπολοῦμεν τὸ τάδε τινὰ ἐνεργήσειν καὶ τάδε θελήσειν: πλέον δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς προγνώσεως γίνεται τὸ κατάταξιν λαμβάνειν εἰς τὴν τοῦ παντὸς διοίκησιν χρειώδη τῇ τοῦ κόσμου καταστάσει τὸ ἑκάστου ἐφ' ἡμῖν. εἰ τοίνυν τὸ ἑκάστου ἐφ' ἡμῖν αὐτῷ ἔγνωσται, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προεωραμένον αὐτῷ διατάττεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς προνοίας τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν παντί τῳ εὔλογον καὶ τὸ τί εὔξηται –καὶ– ποίαν διάθεσιν ἔχων ὁ δεῖνα οὕτως πιστεύων καὶ τί βουλόμενος αὐτῷ γενέσθαι προκατειλῆφθαι: οὗ προκαταληφθέντος, καὶ τοιοῦτόν τι ἀκολούθως ἐν τῇ διατάξει τετάξεται, ὅτι τοῦδε μὲν ἐπακούσομαι συνετῶς εὐξομένου δι' αὐτὴν τὴν εὐχὴν, ἣν εὔξεται, τοῦδε δὲ οὐκ ἐπακούσομαι ἤτοι διὰ τὸ ἀνάξιον αὐτὸν ἔσεσθαι τοῦ ἐπακουσθήσεσθαι ἢ διὰ τὸ ταῦτα αὐτὸν εὔξασθαι, ἃ μήτε τῷ εὐχομένῳ λυσιτελεῖ λαβεῖν μήτε ἐμοὶ πρέπον παρασχεῖν: καὶ κατὰ τήνδε μὲν τὴν εὐχὴν, φέρε εἰπεῖν, τοῦ δεῖνος οὐκ ἐπακούσομαι αὐτοῦ κατὰ τήνδε δὲ ἐπακούσομαι. (ἐὰν δέ τις ταράττηται διὰ τὸ μὴ οὐ ψεύσασθαι τὸν θεὸν τὰ μέλλοντα προεγνωκότα, ὡς τῶν πραγμάτων κατηναγκασμένων, λεκτέον πρὸς τὸν τοιοῦτον ὅτι αὐτὸ τοῦτο τῷ θεῷ ἔγνωσται ἀραρότως, τὸ μὴ ἀραρότως τόνδε τινὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ βεβαίως βούλεσθαι τὰ κρείττονα ἢ οὕτω θελήσειν τὰ χείρονα, ὥστε ἀνεπίδεκτον αὐτὸν ἔσεσθαι μεταβολῆς τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ συμφέροντα.) καὶ πάλιν τάδε μέν τινα ποιήσω τῷδε εὐξομένῳ, ἐμοὶ γὰρ τοῦτο πρέπον ἐστὶν οὐ ψεκτῶς μοι εὐξομένῳ οὐδὲ ἀμελῶς περὶ τὴν εὐχὴν ἀναστραφησομένῳ: τῷδε δὲ ἐπὶ ποσὸν εὐξομένῳ ”ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ ὧν” αἰτεῖται ἢ νοεῖ δωρήσομαι τάδε τινὰ, ἐμοὶ γὰρ τόνδε πρέπει νικᾶν ἐν ταῖς εὐποιΐαις καὶ χορηγεῖν πλείονα ὧν αἰτῆσαι κεχώρηκε. καὶ τῷδε μέν τινι τοιῷδε ἐσομένῳ τόνδε τὸν ἄγγελον λειτουργὸν ἐπιπέμψω, ἀπὸ τοῦδε ἀρξόμενον τοῦ χρόνου συνεργεῖν αὐτοῦ τῇ σωτηρίᾳ καὶ μέχρι τοῦδε συνεσόμενον, τῷδε δὲ τόνδε, φέρε εἰπεῖν, τὸν τοῦδε τιμιώτερον, τῷ τοῦδε ἐσομένῳ κρείττονι. τοῦδε δέ τινος, μετὰ τὸ ἐπιδεδωκέναι ἑαυτὸν λόγοις τοῖς διαφέρουσιν ὑπεκλυθησομένου καὶ παλινδρομήσοντος ἐπὶ τὰ ὑλικώτερα, ἀποστήσω τόνδε τὸν κρείττονα συνεργόν: οὗ ἀποστάντος, κατ' ἀξίαν αὐτοῦ χείρων τις ἥδε ἡ δύναμις, καιρὸν εὑρηκυῖα τοῦ ἐπιβαίνειν τῇ ῥᾳθυμίᾳ, ἐπιστᾶσα ἐπὶ τάδε τινὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα αὐτὸν, ἕτοιμον ἑαυτὸν πρὸς τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν δεδωκότα, προκαλέσεται. οὕτως οὖν ἤδη οἱονεὶ ἐρεῖ ὁ προδιατασσόμενος τὰ ὅλα ὅτι Ἀμὼς γεννήσει τὸν Ἰωσίαν, ὅστις οὐ ζηλώσει τὰ τοῦ πατρὸς πταίσματα ἀλλὰ τυχὼν τῆσδε τῆς ἐπ' ἀρετὴν προτρεπούσης ὁδοῦ διὰ τῶνδε τῶν συνεσομένων καλὸς ἔσται καὶ ἀγαθὸς, ὅστις κατασκάψει τὸ τοῦ Ἱεροβοὰμ κακῶς οἰκοδομηθὲν θυσιαστήριον. οἶδα δὲ καὶ Ἰούδαν, ἐπιδημήσαντός μου τοῦ υἱοῦ τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει, κατὰ μὲν τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐσόμενον καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν ὕστερον δὲ ἐκτραπησόμενον καὶ εἰς τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἁμαρτήματα ἐκπεσούμενον, ὅντινα ἐπὶ τούτοις εὔλογον ἔσται παθεῖν τάδε τινά. (ἡ δὲ πρόγνωσις αὕτη τάχα μὲν ἐπὶ πάντων πάντως δὲ ἐπὶ Ἰούδα καὶ ἑτέρων μυστηρίων καὶ ἐν τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεται, ἑωρακότι τῇ κατανοήσει τοῦ ἐξελιγμοῦ τῶν ἐσομένων τὸν Ἰούδαν καὶ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τὰ ἁμαρτηθησόμενα αὐτῷ: ὥστε μετὰ καταλήψεως αὐτὸν, καὶ πρὶν γενέσθαι τὸν Ἰούδαν, διὰ τοῦ Δαυῒδ εἰρηκέναι: „ὁ θεὸς, τὴν αἴνεσίν μου μὴ παρασιωπήσῃς„ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.) εἰδὼς δὲ τὰ μέλλοντα, καὶ ὁποῖον τόνον ἕξει πρὸς τὴν θεοσέβειαν ὁ Παῦλος, ἐν ἐμαυτῷ μὲν, πρὶν κτίσαι τὸν κόσμον ἐπιβαλλόμενος τῇ ἀρχῇ τῆς κοσμοποιΐας, αὐτὸν ἐπιλέξομαι καὶ ταῖσδε συνεργούσαις ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίᾳ δυνάμεσιν ἅμα τῷ γεννηθῆναι παραθήσομαι, ἀφορίζων αὐτὸν ”ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς” καὶ ἐπιτρέπων κατὰ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐν νεότητι ζήλῳ μετὰ ἀγνοίας ἐγγινομένῳ προφάσει θεοσεβείας διώκειν τοὺς εἰς τὸν Χριστόν μου πεπιστευκότας καὶ τηρεῖν „τὰ ἱμάτια„ τῶν λιθοβολούντων τὸν θεραπευτήν μου καὶ μάρτυρα Στέφανον, ἵνα νεανιευσάμενος ὕστερον ἀφορμῆς λαβόμενος καὶ μεταβαλόμενος ἐπὶ τὰ βέλτιστα ”μὴ καυχήσηται” „ἐνώπιον„ ἐμοῦ ἀλλὰ λέγῃ: ”οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς καλεῖσθαι ἀπόστολος, διότι ἐδίωξα τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ,” καὶ αἰσθόμενος τῆς ἐσομένης μου εἰς αὐτὸν εὐεργεσίας μετὰ τὰ ἐν νεότητι προφάσει θεοσεβείας πταίσματα εἴπῃ: „χάριτι δὲ θεοῦ εἰμι ὅ εἰμι„: καὶ κωλυόμενος δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ συνειδότος διὰ τὰ ὑπὸ νεανίου αὐτοῦ ἔτι τυγχάνοντος πεπραγμένα κατὰ Χριστοῦ οὐχ ὑπερεπαρθήσεται ”τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῶν” ἐπ' εὐεργεσίᾳ φανερωθησομένων αὐτῷ „ἀποκαλύψεων.„

[7] Καὶ πρὸς τὸ περὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ ἀνατέλλειν τὸν ἥλιον εὐχῆς ταῦτα λεκτέον. ἔστι τι καὶ τοῦ ἡλίου ἐφ' ἡμῖν, καὶ αὐτοῦ αἰνοῦντος μετὰ τῆς σελήνης τὸν θεόν: ”αἰνεῖτε γὰρ αὐτὸν,” φησὶν, „ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη„: δῆλον δ' ὅτι καὶ τῆς σελήνης καὶ ἀκολούθως πάντων τῶν ἀστέρων: ”αἰνεῖτε γὰρ αὐτὸν,” –φησὶ,– „πάντα τὰ ἄστρα καὶ τὸ φῶς.„ ὥσπερ οὖν εἰρήκαμεν τῷ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἑκάστου τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς καταχρώμενον τὸν θεὸν εἴς τινα χρείαν τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς κατατεταχέναι εἰς δέον αὐτά, οὕτως ὑποληπτέον τῷ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων, ἀραρότι καὶ βεβαίῳ ὄντι καὶ σταθηρῷ καὶ σοφῷ, διατεταχέναι ”πάντα τὸν κόσμον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ” καὶ τὴν τῶν ἄστρων ἁρμονίως τῷ παντὶ πορείαν καὶ κίνησιν. καὶ εἰ περὶ τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἑτέρου μὴ μάτην εὔχομαι, πολλῷ πλέον περὶ τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν τῶν ἐν οὐρανῷ σωτηρίως τῷ παντὶ χορευόντων ἀστέρων. καίτοι γε ἔστιν εἰπεῖν περὶ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ὅτι τοιαίδε τινὲς προσγενόμεναι ἐκ τῶν περιεστώτων φαντασίαι προκαλοῦνται τὸ ἀβέβαιον ἡμῶν ἢ τὸ ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον ῥεπτικὸν ἡμῶν πρὸς τὸ ποιῆσαι ἢ εἰπεῖν τάδε τινὰ ἢ τάδε: ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἐν οὐρανῷ ποία δύναται ἐγγενομένη φαντασία ἐκστῆσαι καὶ μετακινῆσαι ἀπὸ τῆς ὠφελίμου τῷ κόσμῳ πορείας ἕκαστον τῶν τοιαύτην ψυχὴν ὑπὸ λόγου κατηρτισμένην καὶ παρὰ τὴν αὐτῶν αἰτίαν ἐχόντων καὶ τοιούτῳ σώματι αἰθερίῳ καὶ καθαρωτάτῳ χρωμένων;