6
condemned from being of the light, or to speak more truly, having become so by himself; 35.740 but the rest remain in their own rank, of which the first quality is to be peaceful and without faction, having received their being one from the praiseworthy and holy Trinity, from which they also receive their illumination. Since that One is and is believed to be one God, not less because of its unanimity than its identity of substance; so that near to God and divine things are all who are seen to embrace the good of peace, and who detest and are vexed by its opposite, strife; but of the opposite party are all who are warlike in character, and hunt for esteem through novelty, and adorn themselves with their own shame; since he himself is also at odds with himself, both in his manifold nature and his passions, and in others he works this same thing, as a murderer from the beginning and a hater of beauty, that in the dead of night he might shoot his arrows at the common body of the Church, hiding himself in the gloom of strife, just as, I think, he also approaches each individual for the most part sophistically and craftily, and as it were opening up a space for himself in us through his art, so that he might rush in completely, just like a champion with his army through a breach in the wall or the battle-line.
14. This then is one thing, and so great a one, for the necessity of goodwill and concord, the imitation of God and of divine things; towards which alone it is safe for the soul made in the image of God to look, so that its nobility may be preserved in the highest degree through its inclination towards them, and as far as possible, its likeness; and secondly, let us look up to heaven above, and to the earth below, having heard a divine voice, and let us learn the laws of creation; that heaven, and earth, and sea, and this whole universe, the great and celebrated work of God, by which God is revealed, proclaimed in silence, as long as it is well-ordered and at peace with itself, remaining within its own natural bounds, and nothing rises up against another, nor goes beyond the bonds of goodwill, with which the Artificer, the Word, bound all things together, it is a cosmos, as it is called, and a beauty unapproachable, and no one could ever conceive of anything more brilliant or magnificent than it. But as soon as it ceases to be at peace, it also ceases to be a cosmos. For does it not seem to you that heaven, communicating in an orderly way with air and earth, 35.741 with the one by its light, with the other by its rains, is governed by a law of goodwill? And earth and air, the one bestowing food, the other breath upon all living things, and thereby sustaining life, do they not imitate the tender love of parents?
15. And the seasons, gently blending, and little by little yielding to one another, and taming the harshness of the extremes by moderation, are they not suitably governed by peace for both pleasure and need? And what of day and night, having received equal shares with each other and a measured alternation, the one rousing us to work, the other to rest? What of the sun, and moon, and the beauty and multitude of stars, appearing and rising in order? And sea and land, gently mingling with one another, and kindly giving to each other, and benevolently receiving in return, nourish man, and supply to man from themselves richly and generously? And rivers, winding through mountains and plains, and not overflowing, except for a useful purpose, nor turning back to cover the earth? And the mixtures and blendings of elements, and the symmetries and harmonies of limbs? and the foods, and generations, and divided habitations of animals? and those that rule and those that are ruled, and those yoked to us, and those that are free? All these things being so, and according to the first causes of harmony, or rather of confluence and concert, being directed and carried through, what else should they be thought to be but proclamations of friendship and concord, and to legislate for men through themselves the being of one mind?
6
φωτὸς εἶναι κατακριθεὶς, ἢ τό γε ἀληθέστερον εἰπεῖν, ὑφ' 35.740 ἑαυτοῦ γενόμενος· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ μένουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀξίας, ἧς πρῶτον τὸ εἰρηναῖον καὶ ἀστασία στον, τὸ ἓν εἶναι λαβόντες παρὰ τῆς ἐπαινετῆς καὶ ἁγίας Τριάδος, παρ' ἧς καὶ τὴν ἔλλαμψιν. Ἐπεὶ κἀκείνη εἷς Θεός ἐστί τε καὶ εἶναι πιστεύεται, οὐχ ἧττον διὰ τὴν ὁμόνοιαν ἢ τὴν τῆς οὐσίας ταυτότητα· ὥστε Θεοῦ μὲν καὶ τῶν θείων ἐγγὺς, ὅσοι τὸ τῆς εἰρήνης ἀγαθὸν ἀσπαζόμενοι φαίνονται, καὶ τῷ ἐναντίῳ τῇ στάσει ἀπεχθανόμενοί τε καὶ δυσχεραί νοντες· τῆς δ' ἀντικειμένης μερίδος ὅσοι πολε μικοὶ τὸν τρόπον, καὶ τὸ εὐδόκιμον τῷ καινῷ θηρώ μενοι, καὶ τῇ ἑαυτῶν αἰσχύνῃ καλλωπιζόμενοι· ἐπεὶ κἀκεῖνος αὐτός τε στασιάζει πρὸς ἑαυτὸν, καὶ τῷ πολυειδεῖ, καὶ τοῖς πάθεσι, κἀν τοῖς ἄλλοις, ταυτὸ τοῦτο ἐνεργεῖ, ὡς ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἀπ' ἀρχῆς καὶ μισόκαλος, ἵν' ἐν σκοτομήνῃ κατατο ξεύῃ τὸ κοινὸν σῶμα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τῷ ζόφῳ τῆς στάσεως ἑαυτὸν ἐγκρύπτων, ὥσπερ οἶμαι, καὶ τοῖς καθ' ἕκαστον πρόσεισι σοφιστικῶς τὰ πολλὰ καὶ πανούργως, καὶ οἷον χώραν ἐν ἡμῖν ὑπανοίγων ἑαυτῷ διὰ τῆς τέχνης, ἵν' ὅλως εἰσπέσῃ, καθά περ ἀριστεὺς στρατῷ κατὰ τὸ παραῤῥηγνύμε νον τοῦ τειχίου ἢ τῆς παρατάξεως.
Ι∆ʹ. Ἓν μὲν δὴ τοῦτο, καὶ τοσοῦτον εἰς εὐ νοίας τε καὶ συμφωνίας ἀνάγκην, ἡ Θεοῦ καὶ τῶν θείων μίμησις· πρὸς ἃ βλέπειν ἀσφαλὲς μόνα τὴν κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ γενομένην ψυχὴν, ἵν' ὡς μάλιστα τὸ εὐγενὲς αὐτῇ διασώζηται διὰ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὰ νεύσεως, καὶ ὡς ἐφικτὸν ὁμοιώσεως· δεύτερον δὲ ἀναβλέψωμεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω, καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν κάτω, θείας φωνῆς ἀκούσαντες, καὶ καταμάθωμεν νόμους κτίσεως· ὅτι οὐρανὸς, καὶ γῆ, καὶ θάλασσα, καὶ ὁ σύμπας οὗτος κόσμος, τὸ μέγα τοῦ Θεοῦ στοιχεῖον καὶ περιβόητον, ᾧ καὶ δη λοῦται Θεὸς σιωπῇ κηρυττόμενος, ἕως μὲν εὐστα θεῖ καὶ εἰρηνεύει πρὸς ἑαυτὸν, ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις ὅροις μένων τῆς φύσεως, καὶ οὐδὲν τοῦ ἑτέρου κατ εξανίσταται, οὐδὲ τῶν τῆς εὐνοίας ἐκβαίνει δεσμῶν, οἷς ὁ τεχνίτης Λόγος τὸ πᾶν συνέδησε, κό σμος τέ ἐστιν, ὥσπερ λέγεται, καὶ κάλλος ἀπρόσιτον, καὶ οὐδὲν μή ποτε τούτου τις ἐπινοήσειε λαμπρό τερον ἢ μεγαλοπρεπέστερον. Ὁμοῦ δὲ τοῦ εἰρη νεύειν πέπαυται, καὶ τοῦ εἶναι κόσμος. Ἢ γὰρ οὐ δοκεῖ σοι οὐρανὸς μὲν εὐτάκτως ἀέρι καὶ γῇ κοινω 35.741 νῶν, τῷ μὲν φωτὸς, τῇ δὲ ὑετῶν, εὐνοίας κρατεῖσθαι νόμῳ; γῆ δὲ καὶ ἀὴρ, ἡ μὲν τροφὰς, ὁ δὲ τὸ ἀναπνεῖν χαριζόμενοι ζώοις ἅπασι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸ ζῇν συνέχοντος, γονέων ἀπομιμεῖσθαι φιλοστοργίαν;
ΙΕʹ. Ὧραι δὲ ἡμέρως κιρνάμεναι, καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἀλλήλαις ὑπεξιοῦσαι, καὶ τὸ τῶν ἄκρων αὐστη ρὸν τῇ μεσότητι τιθασσεύουσαι, πρός τε ἡδονὴν ἅμα καὶ χρείαν ἐπιτηδείως εἰρήνῃ βραβεύεσθαι; Τί δαὶ ἡμέρα καὶ νὺξ, ἰσομοιρίαν πρὸς ἀλλήλας λαχοῦσαι καὶ περιτροπὴν ἔμμετρον, καὶ ἡ μὲν εἰς ἔργον ἡμᾶς ἐγείρουσα, ἡ δὲ ἀναπαύουσα; Τί δαὶ ἥλιος, καὶ σελήνη, καὶ κάλλος ἀστέρων καὶ πλῆθος, ἐν τάξει φαινομένων τε καὶ ὑπανιόντων; Θάλασσα δὲ καὶ γῆ πράως ἀλλήλαις ἐπιμιγνύμενα, καὶ διαδιδόντα χρη στῶς, καὶ ἀντιλαμβάνοντα φιλανθρώπως τὸν ἄνθρωπον τρέφει, καὶ ἀνθρώπῳ τὰ παρ' ἑαυτῶν χορ ηγοῦντα πλουσίως καὶ φιλοτίμως; Ποταμοὶ δὲ δι' ὀρέων καὶ πεδίων ἑλκόμενοι, καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβαίνοντες, ὅτι μὴ πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον, οὐδὲ ἐπιστρέφοντες καλῦψαι τὴν γῆν; Στοιχείων δὲ μίξεις καὶ κράσεις, καὶ μελῶν συμμετρίαι καὶ συμφωνίαι; ζώων δὲ τροφαὶ, καὶ γενέσεις, καὶ οἰκήσεις μεμε ρισμέναι; καὶ τὰ κρατοῦντα καὶ τὰ κρατούμενα, καὶ τὰ ὑπεζευγμένα ἡμῖν, καὶ τὰ ἐλεύθερα; Ταῦτα πάντα οὕτως ἔχοντα, καὶ κατὰ τὰς πρώτας αἰτίας τῆς ἁρμονίας, εἴτ' οὖν συῤῥοίας τε καὶ συμπνοίας, εὐθυνόμενά τε καὶ διεξαγόμενα, τί ποτ' ἐχρῆν δοκεῖν ἕτερον ἢ φιλίας τε καὶ ὁμονοίας εἶναι κηρύγματα, καὶ νομοθετεῖν ἀνθρώποις δι' ἑαυτῶν τὸ ὁμόψυχον;