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to be insulted, while the others were to be both laid to rest and tended by holy hands, nor to allow the sophist of wickedness to boast in his insults; so that by the same hand monuments of martyrs might not be raised up on the one hand, and pulled down on the other; and some martyrs be honored, while others are dishonored, the honor in appearance barely preceding the real dishonor; nor should he, in addition to the magnitude of his insolence, think himself wise in his own estimation, escaping the notice, as he thinks, not only of men, but also of God, the most keen-sighted and wisest of all, who catches the wise in their own craftiness, through this apparent offering; but let him know that he is understood, and not be puffed up when he is caught. 35.556

28. For even if the God of the martyrs did not restrain his impiety, nor immediately dry up or check the practiced and hidden wickedness like a wicked stream, for reasons which He Himself knew, according to His ineffable wisdom and governance, by which He also arranged for the iniquities of the Amorites to be filled up; yet it was necessary for his malice to be hated, and his honor to be rejected for the sake of the many, and for God's impartiality and purity concerning all offerings to be shown.

29. For He who said to impious Israel: If you offer fine flour, it is in vain; incense is an abomination to me; not accepting their New Moons and Sabbaths, and the great day; for being full, He has no need of anything human and small, so as to rejoice even in things offered unworthily; and abhorring the sacrifice of the lawless man, even if it be a calf, as that of a dog, and frankincense as blasphemy, and casting out and shaking off from the temple the hire of a prostitute, honoring only the sacrifice which pure hands and a mind both lofty and sanctified offer to the Most Pure; what wonder is it, if He did not accept his honor either, offered wickedly and with a wicked intention, He who does not see as a man sees, nor looks at the outward appearance, but at the hidden man, and at the inner workshop of vice or virtue? Such, then, is this matter; and if anyone disbelieves, we call as witnesses those who saw it themselves; and there are many who have both handed down and will hand down this wonder to us and to those who come after.

30. But when, now advancing to manhood, they took up the doctrines of philosophy (would that they never had!), and acquired the power that comes from eloquence, which for the good becomes a weapon of virtue, but for the more wicked a goad of evil, he was no longer able to contain the whole disease, nor to philosophize entirely on the deceit of impiety within himself alone; but just as a fire lurking in matter, even if it has not yet risen to a bright flame, some flying sparks or smoke from the depths give a sign; or, if you will, like springs which run through certain channels with a current of air, and then having no open space, nor a free outlet, in many places of the earth gush up and make a sound from below, being pushed up by the force of the current, and held down and checked by the pressure from above; so he too concealed most of his impiety 35.557 because of the times and the tutelage of the emperor; for it was not yet safe to be openly impious; but in some ways he would also expose the secret of his mind to those who were keener in impiety than in understanding; and in his discussions with his brother, more than was proper, he would argue on behalf of the Greeks (on the pretense, forsooth, of practicing the weaker argument, but it was in reality an exercise against the truth), and rejoicing in all things by which an impious character is marked.

31. But when the emperor's benevolence appointed his brother as Caesar, and no small part of the world was entrusted to him, while to the other there was, with great power and impunity, access to the most destructive of arguments and teachers

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ὑβρίζεσθαι, τῶν ἄλλων ὁσίαις χερσὶ τεθησομέ νων τε καὶ θεραπευθησομένων, οὐδὲ δοῦναι τῷ σο φιστῇ τῆς κακίας ταῖς ὕβρεσιν ἐγκαυχήσασθαι· ἵνα μὴ παρὰ τῆς αὐτῆς χειρὸς τὰ μὲν ἀνιστῆται μαρτύ ρων μνήματα, τὰ δὲ καταλύηται· καὶ οἱ μὲν τιμῶν ται μάρτυρες, οἱ δὲ ἀτιμάζωνται, μικρὸν φθα νούσης τῆς ἐν σχήματι τιμῆς τὴν ἀληθινὴν ἀτιμίαν· μηδὲ πρὸς τῷ μεγέθει τῆς ὕβρεως καὶ σοφὸς εἶναι νομίσῃ παρ' ἑαυτῷ, λανθάνων, ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπους, οὕτω καὶ Θεὸν τὸν πάντων ὀξύτατον καὶ σοφώτατον, καὶ δρασσόμενον τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐν τῇ πανουργίᾳ αὐ τῶν, διὰ τοῦ φαινομένου προβλήματος· ἀλλὰ γινώσκῃ νοούμενος, καὶ μὴ ὑπεραίρηται καταλαμβανόμε νος. 35.556

ΚΗʹ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὴν ἀσέβειαν οὐκ ἐπέσχεν ὁ τῶν μαρτύρων Θεὸς, οὐδὲ τὴν μελετωμένην καὶ κρυπτο μένην κακίαν ὥσπερ ῥεῦμα πονηρὸν εὐθὺς ἀν εξήρανεν, ἢ ἀνέκοψεν, οἷς αὐτὸς ἠπίστατο λόγοις, κατὰ τὴν ἄῤῥητον αὐτοῦ σοφίαν τε καὶ κυβέρνησιν, καθ' ἣν καὶ τὰς Ἀμοῤῥαίων ἀνομίας ἀναπληρωθῆναι ᾠκονόμει· ἀλλ' ἔδει τήν τε κακοήθειαν μισηθῆ ναι, καὶ τὴν τιμὴν ἀπωσθῆναι τῶν πολλῶν ἕνε κεν, καὶ δειχθῆναι τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν περὶ πάντα τὰ προσφερόμενα ἰσότητά τε καὶ καθαρότητα.

ΚΘʹ. Ὁ γὰρ εἰπὼν ἀσεβοῦντι τῷ Ἰσραήλ· Ἐὰνπροσφέρητε σεμίδαλιν, μάταιον· θυμίαμα βδέλυγμά μοί ἐστι· τάς τε Νουμηνίας αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ Σάββατα, καὶ ἡμέραν μεγάλην οὐ προσιέμενος· μηδὲ γὰρ δεῖσθαι, πλήρης ὢν, μηδενὸς τῶν ἀνθρω πίνων τε καὶ μικρῶν, ἵνα χαίρῃ καὶ τοῖς ἀναξίως προσφερομένοις· τήν τε τοῦ ἀνόμου θυσίαν, κἂν ᾖ μόσχος, ὡς κυνὸς βδελυττόμενος, καὶ ὡς βλασφημίαν τὸν λίβανον, καὶ ἄλλαγμα πόρνης ἐξ ορίζων τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ ἀποσειόμενος, μόνην δὲ θυσίαν τιμῶν, ἣν καθαραὶ τῷ καθαρωτάτῳ προσφέρουσι χεῖρες, καὶ νοῦς ὑψηλός τε καὶ ἡγνισμένος· τί θαυ μαστὸν, εἰ μηδὲ τὴν ἐκείνου τιμὴν προσεδέξατο πο νηρῶς τε καὶ μετὰ πονηρᾶς τῆς διανοίας προσαγο μένην, ὁ μὴ καθορῶν ὡς ἄνθρωπος, μηδὲ εἰς τὸ φαινόμενον βλέπων, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν κρυπτὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ εἰς τὸ ἔνδον τῆς κακίας ἢ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐργαστή ριον; Τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τοιοῦτο· καὶ εἴ τις ἀπιστεῖ, τοὺς τεθεαμένους αὐτοὺς ἐπιμαρτυρόμεθα· πολλοὶ δέ εἰσιν, οἳ καὶ ἡμῖν καὶ τοῖς ἔπειτα τὸ θαῦμα τοῦτο παρ έπεμψάν τε καὶ παραπέμψουσιν.

Λʹ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς ἄνδρας προϊόντες ἤδη τῶν ἐν φι λοσοφίᾳ δογμάτων ἥψαντο (ὡς μήποτε ὤφελον!) καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ λόγου προσελάμβανον δύναμιν, ἢ τοῖς μὲν ἐπιεικέσιν ἀρετῆς ὅπλον, τοῖς δὲ μοχθηροτέροις κέν τρον κακίας γίνεται, οὐκέτι κατέχειν ὅλην τὴν νόσον οἷός τε ἦν, οὐδὲ παντελῶς τὸν τῆς ἀσεβείας δόλον ἐν ἑαυτῷ μόνῳ φιλοσοφεῖν· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ πῦρ ἐμφωλεῦον ὕλῃ, κἂν μήπω πρὸς φλόγα λαμπρὰν ἀρθῇ, σπινθῆ ρές τινες ἐξάπτοντες ἢ καπνὸς ἐκ βάθους ὑπο σημαίνουσιν· εἰ βούλει δὲ, τῶν πηγῶν αἳ σήραγγάς τινας ὑποτρέχουσαι μετὰ πνεύματος, εἶτ' εὐρυχω ρίαν οὐκ ἔχουσαι, οὐδὲ διέξοδον ἐλευθέραν, πολλαχοῦ τῆς γῆς ἀναφυσῶσι καὶ ὑπηχοῦσι κάτωθεν, ὑπὸ μὲν τῆς τοῦ πνεύματος ἀνωθούμεναι, ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς ἄνωθεν βίας κατεχόμεναί τε καὶ ἀνακοπτόμεναι· οὕτω καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ μὲν πολὺ τῆς ἀσεβείας κατ 35.557 έκρυπτεν ὑπὸ τοῦ καιροῦ καὶ τῆς τοῦ κρατοῦντος παιδαγωγίας· οὔπω γὰρ τὸ φανερῶς ἀσεβεῖν ἦν ἀσφαλές· ἔστι δὲ ὅποι καὶ παρεγύμνου τὸ τῆς γνώμης ἀπόῤῥητον τοῖς ὀξυτέροις τὴν ἀσέβειαν ἢ τὴν σύνεσιν· ἔν τε τοῖς πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν λόγοις πλέον ἢ καλῶς εἶχεν, ὑπὲρ Ἑλλήνων διατεινόμενος (προφάσει δῆθεν ὡς τὸν ἥττω γυμνάζων λόγον, τὸ δὲ ἦν ὄντως γυμνασία κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας), καὶ πᾶσι χαίρων οἷς ἀσεβὴς τρόπος χαρακτηρίζεται.

ΛΑʹ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν μὲν ἀδελφὸν ἡ φιλανθρωπία τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος ἀποδείκνυσι βασιλέα, καὶ μέρος οὐκ ὀλίγον ἐγχειρίζεται τῆς οἰκουμένης, τῷ δὲ ὑπῆρχε κατὰ πολλὴν ἐξουσίαν καὶ ἄδειαν, καὶ λόγων καὶ διδασκάλων τοῖς ὀλεθριωτάτοις