6

is. At any rate, this blessed Paul himself praises it with exaggeration, saying thus: But if to live in the flesh, this is to me the fruit of labor, and what I shall choose, I do not know. And though he adds for himself the choice of living here and of departing and being with Christ, he prefers the sojourn here. But if it were evil, neither would he have said these things about himself, nor could anyone else have used it for virtue, even if he tried very hard. For one could never use wickedness for good, nor fornication for self-control, nor envy for friendliness. For when Paul says of the mind of the flesh that it is not subject to the law of God, for neither can it be; he means this, that wickedness, remaining wickedness, cannot be virtue. So when you hear "evil age," understand it to mean evil deeds, a corrupt moral choice. For Christ did not come to kill us and take us out of the present life, but, having left us in the world, to prepare us to be worthy of the life in the heavens. For this reason also, speaking with the Father, He said: And these are in the world, and I am coming to you. And again, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one, that is, from wickedness. But if you do not accept these things, but still say that the present life is evil, do not blame those who kill themselves. For just as one who removes himself from wickedness is worthy not of accusations but of crowns, so too one who by a violent death, either by hanging or by some other means, ends his life, would not be justly accused according to you. But now God punishes such people more than murderers, and we all abhor them, and rightly so. For if it is not good to kill others, much more is it not good to kill oneself. But if the present life is evil, one ought to crown murderers, because they deliver us from evil. Besides these things, they also contradict themselves by what they themselves say. For in asserting that the sun is God, and after it the moon, and worshiping them as the causes of many good things, they speak in contradiction to themselves. For the use of these and the other stars contributes to nothing else 61.619 but our present life, which, as they say, is evil, by nourishing and illuminating our bodies, and bringing fruits to ripeness. How then do these gods of yours contribute so great a service to the constitution of an evil life? But neither are the stars gods, may it not be, but works of God made for our use, nor is the world evil. But if you mention to me the murderers and the adulterers and the tomb-robbers, these have nothing to do with the present life; for these are not sins of the life in the flesh, but of a corrupt moral choice. For if these things belonged to the present life, as being in every way allotted to it, no one would be free or pure. See, at any rate, the properties of the life in the flesh, which no one can escape. And what are these? To eat, to drink, to sleep, to grow, to be hungry, to be thirsty, to be born, to die, and all such similar things. And no one can overcome these, not a sinner, not a righteous man, not a king, not a private citizen, but we are all subject to the necessity of nature. So also, to do evil things, if it were allotted to the nature of life, no one would have escaped them, just as no one escapes those other things. For do not tell me that those who do right are rare. For you will find no one who has ever overcome natural necessities. So as long as even one is found who has achieved virtue, the argument will not be harmed at all. What are you saying, you wretched and miserable man? The present life is evil, in which we have come to know God, in which we philosophize about the things to come, in which we have become angels from men, and dance together with the powers above? And what other proof shall we seek of your evil and perverse opinion?

6

ἐστιν. Αὐτὸς γοῦν οὗτος ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ἐπαινεῖ μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς αὐτὸν λέγων οὕτως· Εἰ δὲ τὸ ζῇν ἐν σαρκὶ, τοῦτό μοι καρπὸς ἔργου, καὶ τί αἱρήσομαι, οὐ γνωρίζω. Καὶ αἵρεσιν δὲ ἑαυτῷ προσθεὶς τοῦ ζῇν ἐνταῦθα, καὶ τοῦ ἀναλῦσαι καὶ σὺν Χριστῷ εἶναι, προτιμᾷ τὴν ἐνταῦθα διαγωγήν. Εἰ δὲ πονηρὸς ἦν, οὔτ' ἂν ἐκεῖνος ταῦτα περὶ ἑαυτοῦ εἶπεν, οὔτ' ἂν ἄλλος τις εἰς ἀρετὴν αὐτῷ καταχρήσασθαι ἠδυνήθη, εἰ καὶ σφόδρα ἐσπούδαζε. Κακίᾳ γὰρ οὐκ ἄν ποτε εἰς ἀγαθόν τις χρήσαιτο, οὐ πορνείᾳ εἰς σωφροσύνην, οὐ φθόνῳ εἰς φιλοφροσύνην. Καὶ γὰρ ὅταν λέγῃ Παῦλος περὶ τοῦ φρονήματος τῆς σαρκὸς, ὅτι τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται· οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται· τοῦτο λέγει, ὅτι ἡ κακία μένουσα κακία οὐ δύναται εἶναι ἀρετή. Ὥστε ὅταν ἀκούσῃς πονηρὸν αἰῶνα, τὰς πράξεις νόει τὰς πονηρὰς, τὴν προαίρεσιν τὴν διεφθαρμένην. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἵνα ἀποκτείνῃ ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἐξαγάγῃ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς, ἦλθεν ὁ Χριστὸς, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἀφεὶς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, παρασκευάσῃ τῆς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς διαγωγῆς γενέσθαι ἀξίους. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τῷ Πατρὶ διαλεγόμενος ἔλεγε· Καὶ οὗτοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ εἰσὶ, καὶ ἐγὼ πρὸς σὲ ἔρχομαι. Καὶ πάλιν, Οὐκ ἐρωτῶ, ἵνα ἄρῃς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, ἀλλ' ἵνα τηρήσῃς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ, τουτέστιν, ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας. Εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἀνέχῃ τούτων, ἀλλ' ἔτι πονηρὰν τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν εἶναι φὴς, μὴ ἐγκάλει τοῖς ἑαυτοὺς ἀναιροῦσιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ τῆς κακίας ἑαυτὸν ὑπεξάγων, οὐκ ἐγκλημάτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ στεφάνων ἄξιος· οὕτω καὶ ὁ βιαίῳ θανάτῳ, καὶ δι' ἀγχόνης ἢ δι' ἄλλων τινῶν καταλύων τὸ ζῇν, οὐκ ἂν εἴη δίκαιος ἐγκαλεῖσθαι καθ' ὑμᾶς. Νῦν δὲ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς τοιούτους κολάζει τῶν ἀνδροφόνων μᾶλλον, καὶ πάντες βδελυττόμεθα, καὶ εἰκότως. Εἰ γὰρ ἑτέρους ἀνελεῖν οὐ καλὸν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἑαυτόν. Εἰ δὲ πονηρὸν ἡ παροῦσα ζωὴ, τοὺς ἀνδροφόνους στεφανοῦν ἔδει, ὅτι τῆς πονηρίας ἡμᾶς ἀπαλλάττουσι. Χωρὶς δὲ τούτων, καὶ ἐξ ὧν αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν, ἑαυτοῖς περιπίπτουσι. Τὸν γὰρ ἥλιον Θεὸν εἶναι φάσκοντες, καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνον τὴν σελήνην, καὶ προσκυνοῦντες ὡς τῶν πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν αἰτίους, ἑαυτοῖς μαχόμενοι λέγουσιν. Ἡ γὰρ τούτων χρεία καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἄστρων πρὸς ἕτερον 61.619 μὲν οὐδὲν, εἰς δὲ τὴν παροῦσαν ἡμῖν συντελεῖ ζωὴν, τὴν, ὡς αὐτοί φασι, πονηρὰν, σώματα τρέφουσά τε, καὶ καταυγάζουσα, καὶ καρποὺς εἰς ἀκμὴν ἄγουσα. Πῶς οὖν πρὸς τὴν σύστασιν τοῦ πονηροῦ βίου τοσαύτην εἰσάγουσι λειτουργίαν οὗτοι οἱ καθ' ὑμᾶς θεοί; Ἀλλ' οὔτε τὰ ἄστρα θεοὶ, μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλ' ἔργα Θεοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν πεποιημένα χρείαν, οὔτε ὁ κόσμος πονηρός. Εἰ δὲ λέγοις μοι τοὺς ἀνδροφόνους καὶ τοὺς μοιχοὺς καὶ τοὺς τυμβωρύχους, οὐδὲν ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν παρόντα βίον· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῆς ἐν σαρκὶ ζωῆς ταῦτα ἁμαρτήματα, ἀλλὰ τῆς διεφθαρμένης προαιρέσεως. Εἰ γὰρ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς ἦν ταῦτα, ὡς πάντως αὐτῇ συγκεκληρωμένα, οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐλεύθερος ἦν οὐδὲ καθαρός. Ὅρα γοῦν τῆς ἐν σαρκὶ ζωῆς τὰ ἰδιώματα οὐδένα δυνάμενον διαφυγεῖν. Τίνα δὲ ταῦτά ἐστι; Τὸ ἐσθίειν, τὸ πίνειν, τὸ καθεύδειν, τὸ αὔξεσθαι, τὸ πεινῇν, τὸ διψῇν, τὸ γεννᾶσθαι, τὸ τελευτᾷν, καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἐοικότα ἅπαντα. Καὶ τούτων οὐδεὶς ἂν περιγένοιτο, οὐχ ἁμαρτωλὸς, οὐ δίκαιος, οὐ βασιλεὺς, οὐκ ἰδιώτης, ἀλλὰ πάντες ὑποκείμεθα τῇ τῆς φύσεως ἀνάγκῃ. Οὕτω καὶ τὸ φαῦλα πράττειν, εἰ τῇ φύσει τῆς ζωῆς ἦν συγκεκληρωμένον, οὐδεὶς ἂν αὐτὰ διέφυγεν, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνα. Μὴ γάρ μοι τοῦτο εἴπῃς, ὅτι σπάνιοι οἱ κατορθοῦντες. Τῶν γὰρ φυσικῶν ἀναγκῶν οὐδένα εὑρήσεις περιγεγενημένον ποτέ. Ὥστε ἕως ἂν εὑρίσκηται καὶ εἷς κατωρθωκὼς ἀρετὴν, οὐδὲν ὁ λόγος παραβλαβήσεται. Τί φὴς, ἄθλιε καὶ ταλαίπωρε; πονηρὰ ἡ παροῦσα ζωὴ, ἐν ᾗ τὸν Θεὸν ἐπέγνωμεν, ἐν ᾗ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων φιλοσοφοῦμεν, ἐν ᾗ γεγόναμεν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἄγγελοι, καὶ ταῖς ἄνω συγχορεύομεν δυνάμεσι; Καὶ ποίαν ἑτέραν ζητήσωμεν τῆς πονηρᾶς ὑμῶν γνώμης καὶ διεστραμμένης ἀπόδειξιν;