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foreign to the Godhead; and he rightly maintained the one, for it is by Godhead; and he piously taught the three, for it is by properties; neither confusing them in the one, nor dividing them in the three, but remaining within the bounds of piety, by fleeing the immoderate inclination and opposition to either side.

14. And for this reason, first, in this holy council at Nicaea, and with the number of three hundred and eighteen chosen men, whom the Holy Spirit brought together into one, as far as was in his power, he stopped the disease; not yet ranked among the bishops, but ranked first among those who had assembled; for preference was given no less to virtue than to rank. Then, when the evil was already fanned by the breezes of the wicked one, and taking hold of the greater part (here for me are also the dramas, with which almost all the earth and sea are full), great was the war around him, as a noble cham 35.1097 pion of the Word; (for the battle line is especially against that which resists, and one terrible thing after another flowed in from all sides; for impiety is an inventor of evils, and very bold in its undertakings; for how were they likely to spare men, who had not spared the Godhead?) but one of the attacks, and the most grievous. I myself also contribute something to the drama; but let my dear native land be excused by me; for the wickedness is not of her that bore them, but of those who chose it. For she is both holy and known to all for piety; but they are unworthy of the Church that bore them. You have heard that a thorn-bush also grows in a vineyard; and Judas, one of the disciples, the betrayer.

15. There are, then, some who do not even acquit my namesake of the charge; who, out of a love for learning, was then visiting the city of the Alexandrians, and having received every kindness from him, equally with the most honored of his children, and being one of those entrusted with the greatest things, planned a rebellion, as they say, against his father and protector. And the plot was others', but the hand of Absalom was with them, as the saying goes. If any of you knows of the hand, of which the holy man was falsely accused, and the living dead man, and the unjust exile, he knows what I am saying. But this I will willingly forget. For in doubtful matters I hold that one must incline toward what is humane, and acquit rather than condemn the accused. For the evil man would quickly condemn even the good man; but the good man not even the evil man readily. For that which is not ready for wickedness is not prone to suspicion either. But that which is no longer a story, but a fact, nor some unexamined suspicion, but a proclaimed certainty.

16. A certain Cappadocian monster, springing from our remotest parts, wicked in his race, more wicked in his mind, not even completely free, but of mixed blood, such as we know that of mules to be; 35.1100 at first a slave at another's table, and bought for a barley-cake, having learned to do and say everything for his belly; but finally, having wormed his way into public life, and been entrusted with its meanest duties, such as to become a contractor for pork, with which the military is fed; then, having become corrupt in the faith, and having conducted his affairs for his belly, since only his body was left, he thinks of flight, and changing one country and city for another, as fugitives do, at last, for the common evil of the Church, like some Egyptian plague, he seizes Alexandria. There he halts his wandering, and begins his villainy. And in other respects he was worthy of nothing, having had no share in a liberal education, not talkative in company, not even wearing any appearance or empty pretense of reverence, but most terrible of all at working mischief and confusing matters.

17. You all know and relate what outrages he commits against the holy man. For the just are also often delivered into the hands of the impious, not that the former may be honored, but that the latter may be tested; and the wicked indeed by a dreadful death, according to what is written, but nevertheless the pious are laughed at for the present, as long as the goodness of God is hidden, and the great storehouses of what is laid up hereafter for each; when

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θεότητος ἔκφυλον· καὶ τὸ ἓν καλῶς ἐτήρησε, θεότητι γάρ· καὶ τὰ τρία εὐσεβῶς ἐδίδαξεν, ἰδιότησι γάρ· οὔτε τῷ ἑνὶ συγχέας, οὔτε τοῖς τρισὶ διαστή σας, ἀλλ' ἐν ὅροις μείνας τῆς εὐσεβείας, τῷ φυγεῖν τὴν ἄμετρον ἐπὶ θάτερα κλίσιν τε καὶ ἀντίθεσιν.

Ι∆ʹ. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πρῶτον μὲν ἐν τῇ κατὰ Νίκαιαν ἁγίᾳ ταύτῃ συνόδῳ, καὶ τῷ τῶν τρια κοσίων ὀκτὼ καὶ δέκα ἀριθμῷ ἀνδρῶν λογάδων, οὓς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον εἰς ἓν ἤγαγεν, ὅσον ἦν ἐπ' αὐτῷ, τὴν νόσον ἔστησεν· οὔπω μὲν τεταγμένος ἐν ἐπισκόποις, τὰ πρῶτα δὲ τεταγμένος τῶν συνεληλυθότων· καὶ γὰρ ἦν ἀρετῆς οὐχ ἧττον ἢ βαθμῶν ἡ προτίμησις. Ἔπειτα τοῦ κακοῦ ῥιπισθέντος ἤδη ταῖς αὔραις τοῦ πονηροῦ, καὶ τὸ πλεῖον ἐπιλαμβάνοντος (ἐνταῦθά μοι καὶ τὰ δρά ματα, ὧν πᾶσα μικροῦ πλήρης γῆ τε καὶ θάλασσα), πολὺς μὲν περὶ αὐτὸν ὁ πόλεμος, ὡς γενναῖον προ 35.1097 στάτην τοῦ Λόγου· (πρὸς γὰρ τὸ ἀντιτεῖνον μάλιστα ἡ παράταξις, καὶ ἄλλοθεν ἄλλο τι τῶν δεινῶν περιῤῥέον· εὑρέτις γὰρ κακῶν ἡ ἀσέβεια, καὶ λίαν τολμηρὸν εἰς ἐγχείρησιν· πῶς δὲ ἀνθρώπων ἔμελλον φείδεσθαι, οἱ θεότητος μὴ φεισάμενοι;) μία δὲ προσβολῶν καὶ χαλεπωτάτη. Συνεισφέρω τι καὶ αὐτὸς τῷ δράματι· ἀλλά μοι παρῃτήσθω τὸ φίλον ἔδαφος ἡ πατρίς· οὐ γὰρ τῆς ἐνεγκούσης, ἀλλὰ τῶν προελομένων ἡ πονηρία. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἱερά τε καὶ πᾶσιν ἐπ' εὐσεβείᾳ γνώριμος· οἱ δὲ ἀνάξιοι τῆς τεκούσης αὐτοὺς Ἐκκλησίας. Φύεσθαι δὲ καὶ ἐν ἀμπέλῳ βάτον ἠκούσατε· καὶ Ἰούδας, τῶν μαθητῶν εἷς, ὁ προδότης.

ΙΕʹ. Εἰσὶ μὲν οὖν, οἳ μηδὲ τὸν ὁμώνυμον ἐμοὶ τῆς αἰτίας ἀφιᾶσιν· ὃς κατὰ παιδεύσεως ἔρωτα, τῇ Ἀλεξανδρέων ἐπιδημῶν τότε πόλει, καὶ πάσης παρ' αὐτοῦ τυχὼν δεξιώσεως, ἴσα καὶ παί δων ὁ τιμιώτατος, καὶ τῶν τὰ μέγιστα πιστευομέ νων εἷς ὢν, ἐπανάστασιν, ὥς φασι, βουλεύεται τῷ πατρὶ καὶ προστάτῃ. Καὶ ἦν τὸ μὲν δρᾶμα ἑτέρων, ἡ δὲ χεὶρ Ἀβεσσαλὼμ μετ' αὐτῶν, ὡς ὁ λόγος. Εἴ τις ὑμῶν οἶδε τὴν χεῖρα, ἣν ὁ ἅγιος κατεψεύσθη, καὶ τὸν ζῶντα νεκρὸν, καὶ τὴν ἄδικον ἐξορίαν, οἶδεν ὃ λέγω. Πλὴν τοῦτο μὲν ἑκὼν ἐπιλήσομαι. Καὶ γὰρ οὕτως ἔχω ἐν τοῖς ἀμφιβόλοις, νεύειν χρῆναι πρὸς τὸ φιλάνθρωπον, καὶ ἀπογινώ σκειν μᾶλλον, ἢ καταγινώσκειν τῶν ὑπαιτίων. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ κακὸς τάχιστα ἂν καταγνοίη καὶ τοῦ ἀγα θοῦ· ὁ ἀγαθὸς δὲ οὐδὲ τοῦ κακοῦ ῥᾳδίως. Τὸ γὰρ εἰς κακίαν οὐχ ἕτοιμον, οὐδὲ εἰς ὑπόνοιαν εὐχε ρές. Ὃ δὲ οὐκ ἔτι λόγος, ἀλλ' ἔργον ἐστὶν, οὐδὲ ὑπόνοιά τις ἀνεξέταστος, ἀλλὰ πίστις κεκηρυ γμένη.

Ιςʹ. Τέρας τι Καππαδόκιον, ἐκ τῶν ἐσχατιῶν τῶν ἡμετέρων ὁρμώμενον, πονηρὸν τὸ γένος, πο νηρότερον τὴν διάνοιαν, οὐδὲ παντελῶς ἐλεύθερον, ἀλλ' ἐπίμικτον, οἷον τὸ τῶν ἡμιόνων γινώσκομεν· 35.1100 τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τραπέζης ἀλλοτρίας δοῦλον, καὶ μάζης ὤνιον, πάντα καὶ ποιεῖν καὶ λέγειν ἐπὶ τῇ γαστρὶ μεμαθηκός· τὰ τελευταῖα δὲ καὶ πολιτείᾳ παρεισφθαρὲν, καὶ πιστευθὲν ταύτης τὰ ἔσχατα, ὅσον ὑείων κρεῶν ὑποδοχέα γενέσθαι, οἷς τὸ στρα τιωτικὸν τρέφεται· εἶτα κακὸν περὶ τὴν πίστιν γενόμενον, καὶ τῇ γαστρὶ πολιτευσάμενον, ἐπειδὴ τὸ σῶμα ὑπελείπετο μόνον, δρασμὸν ἐννοεῖ, καὶ ἄλλην ἐξ ἄλλης ἀμείβων χώραν καὶ πόλιν, οἷα τὰ τῶν φυγάδων, τέλος ἐπὶ κακῷ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, οἷόν τις Αἰγυπτιακὴ πληγὴ, τὴν Ἀλεξαν δρέων καταλαμβάνει. Ἐνταῦθα τῆς ἄλης ἵσταται, καὶ τῆς κακουργίας ἄρχεται. Καὶ ἦν τἄλλα μὲν οὐδενὸς ἄξιος, οὐ λόγων ἐλευθερίων μετεσχηκὼς, οὐ τὴν συνουσίαν στωμύλος, οὐκ εὐλαβείας σχῆμα γοῦν τι καὶ πλάσμα κενὸν περικείμενος, κα κουργῆσαι δὲ, καὶ συγχέαι πράγματα πάντων δεινότατος.

ΙΖʹ. Ἴστε καὶ διηγεῖσθε πάντες, οἷα κατὰ τοῦ ἁγίου νεανιεύεται. Παραδίδονται γὰρ καὶ δίκαιοι πολλάκις εἰς χεῖρας ἀσεβῶν, οὐχ ἵνα ἐκεῖνοι τιμη θῶσιν, ἀλλ' ἵνα οὗτοι δοκιμασθῶσι· καὶ φαῦλοι μὲν ἐν θανάτῳ ἐξαισίῳ, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, καταγελῶνται δὲ ὅμως πρὸς τὸ παρὸν εὐσεβεῖς, ἕως ἡ χρηστότης τοῦ Θεοῦ κρύπτεται, καὶ τὰ μεγάλα ταμιεῖα τῶν ὕστερον ἑκατέροις ἀποκειμένων· ἡνίκα