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the end of each of our lives is terminated; but the foreknowledge of the God over all, which extends through all things, is not the cause of our sinning or not sinning, concerning whom not a few of those before us have labored excellently in many places. And these things we both philosophize about and will philosophize about again; but you, for the rest, do not become "children of wrath," but receive a spirit of gentleness, enter into your own consciences, cease "from anger" and with David leave your rage an orphan, put to death the mindset of arrogance, cut off the members of pride, soothe the inflammation of your nature, humble the mindset and exaltation of haughtiness, make humility your own, do not appropriate anything insolent or centaur-like, "in honor" prefer one another, according to the divine apostle; he who has hunted for the first place is evangelically ranked last. let the wealth of knowledge puff no one up, we know "in part" and "we see through a mirror" and in a riddle according to the divine apostle, and we will properly endure the saying of the secular writer who decreed for men, «"we know nothing clearly, but wander about."» let us somehow more simply and more piously flee the stumbling blocks of dogmas and the tangles of questions and the contrivances of inquiries, having become dizzy at the abysses of things not entrusted to us, so that "He who catches the wise in their craftiness" may not place a "stumbling stone" under the rashness of our tongue and stumbling against it we be winnowed away, then we may hear from Paul «"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age?"» and what follows. Therefore, having changed your doctrines along with your ways and words, let each of you depart, having failed in his purpose.

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τὸ τῆς ἑκάστου ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἀποτερματίζεται τέλος· οὐκ αἰτία δὲ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν ἡμᾶς ἢ μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν ἡ διὰ πάντων διήκουσα καθέστηκε πρόγνωσις τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων θεοῦ, περὶ οὗ οὐκ ὀλίγα ἄττα πολλοὶ πολλαχοῦ τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν ἄριστα πεφιλοπονήκασι. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἡμεῖς καὶ φιλοσοφοῦμεν καὶ αὖθις φιλοσοφήσομεν· ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ γίνεσθε "τέκνα ὀργῆς" τὸ λοιπόν, ἀλλὰ λάβετε πνεῦμα πραότητος, εἰσέλθετε εἰς τὰς συνειδήσεις ὑμῶν, παύσασθε "ἀπὸ ὀργῆς" καὶ τὸν θυμὸν ὀρφανὸν μετὰ τοῦ ∆αυὶδ καταλείψατε, νεκρώσατε τῆς ἀλαζονείας τὸ φρόνημα, τὰ μέλη τῆς ἐπάρσεως ἀποτέμετε, τῆς φύσεως τὴν φλεγμονὴν κατευνάσατε, ταπεινώσατε τῆς ὑπερηφανίας τὸ φρόνημά τε καὶ ὕψωμα, οἰκειώσασθε τὴν ταπείνωσιν, μηδὲν γαῦρον ἢ κενταυρικὸν σφετερίσησθε, ἀλλήλων "τῇ τιμῇ" προηγεῖσθε κατὰ τὸν θεῖον ἀπόστολον· ὁ τὰ πρωτεῖα θηράσας λαβεῖν ἔσχατος εὐαγγελικῶς κατατάττεται. μηδένα γνώσεως πλοῦτος ὀγκώσῃ, "ἐκ μέρους" γινώσκομεν καὶ "βλέπομεν δι' ἐσόπτρου" καὶ δι' αἰνίγματος κατὰ τὸν θεῖον ἀπόστολον, καὶ τοῦ θύραθεν λόγου τὸ «"ἴσμεν οὐδὲν τρανές, ἀλλ' ἀλώ-μεθα"» τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νενομοθετηκότος ὡς ἔπρεπεν ἀνεξόμεθα. σκινδαλμοὺς δογμάτων καὶ πλοκὰς ἐρωτήσεων καὶ πεύσεων μηχανήματα ἁπλοϊκώτερόν πως καὶ εὐσεβέστερον ἀποδράσωμεν τῶν μὴ πεπιστευμένων ἡμῖν τὰς ἀβύσσους ἰλιγγιάσαντες, ἵνα μὴ "ὁ δρασσόμενος τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐν τῇ πανουργίᾳ αὐτῶν" "λίθον προσκόμματος" ὑποστορέσῃ τῇ προπετείᾳ τῆς γλώττης καὶ προσ-πταίσαντες ἐν αὐτῷ λικμηθῶμεν, εἶτα παρὰ τοῦ Παύ-λου ἀκούσωμεν «"ποῦ σοφός, ποῦ γραμματεύς, ποῦ συζητητὴς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου;"» καὶ τὰ ἑπόμενα. ἀμείψαντες γοῦν μετὰ τῶν τρόπων καὶ τῶν ῥημάτων τὰ δόγματα ἕκαστος ἀπίτω ὑμῶν διη-τυχηκὼς τοῦ βουλήματος.