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before it, nor having an older cause, you have named unoriginate, and unbegotten; and that which will not cease to be, immortal and indestructible. Such indeed are the first pairs, and thus they stand. What are the things that neither exist nor are spoken of? The divine is evil, the sphere is square, the past is present, man is not composite. For who did you ever know to have reached such a state of madness as to dare either to think or to declare such a thing? It remains to show what both exists and is spoken of: God, man, angel, judgment; such reasonings are vanity, and an overthrow of the faith, and an emptying of the mystery.

24 Since there is, therefore, so great a difference in the names and in the things, how are you such a slave to the letter, and become a follower of Jewish wisdom, and follow syllables, letting go of the things themselves? But if, when you said twice five, or twice seven, I understood ten, or fourteen from what was said; or from 'rational, mortal animal,' I understood 'man,' would I have seemed to you to be talking nonsense? And how, when I say your own words? For the words do not belong more to the one speaking, than to the one whose meaning compels the speech. Just as, therefore, in this case, I would not consider what is said so much as what is meant; so too if I found anything else that was not stated, or not clearly, but was understood from scripture, I would not have fled from its utterance, fearing you, the slanderer of names. Thus, then, we will stand against those who are half-reasonable. For it is not permitted for you to say even this. For you who deny the Son's titles, which are so clear and so many, it is clear that you would not have respected these either, even if you knew them to be much clearer and more numerous. But now I will also declare the reason for this whole concealment, even though you are wise, by taking the argument back a little.

25 Two manifest changes of life have occurred throughout all time, which are also called two covenants, and earthquakes, on account of the renowned nature of the event: the one from idols to the law, the other from the law to the gospel. And we preach a third earthquake, the removal from here to there, to the things no longer moved nor shaken. And the two covenants have undergone the same thing. What is this? They were not changed all at once, nor at the first move of the undertaking. For what reason? For it is necessary to know. So that we might not be forced, but persuaded. For the involuntary is not permanent; just like things held by force, whether streams or plants; but the voluntary is more permanent and more secure. And the one belongs to the one who forces, the other to us; and the one is of the goodness of God, the other of tyrannical power. Therefore, He did not think it right to do good to the unwilling, but to benefit the willing. For this reason, both pedagogically and medically, He takes away some of the ancestral customs, but allows others, conceding a little something for pleasure; just as doctors do for the sick, so that the medicine may be accepted, being mixed by art with more pleasant things. For the change of things that are customary and honored by long time is not easy. What do I mean? The first, having cut away idols, permitted sacrifices; the second, having taken away sacrifices, did not forbid circumcision; then, once they had accepted the removal, they also conceded what had been permitted; some the sacrifices, others the circumcision; and they became, instead of Gentiles, Jews; and instead of these, Christians, having been stolen away by partial changes to the gospel. Let Paul persuade you of this, who advanced from circumcising and purifying himself to saying: But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? The former belongs to the economy, the latter to perfection.

26 To this I can compare the matter of theology, except insofar as it proceeds from opposites. For there the change came from subtractions; but here perfection comes through additions. For it is thus. The Old Testament proclaimed the Father openly, the Son more dimly. The New revealed the Son, and suggested the divinity of the Spirit.

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πρὸ αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ πρεσβυτέραν αἰτίαν ἔχειν, ἄναρχον προσηγόρευσας, καὶ ἀγέννητον· τὸ δὲ μὴ στήσεσθαι τοῦ εἶναι, ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀνώλεθρον. αἱ μὲν δὴ πρῶται συζυγίαι τοιαῦται, καὶ οὕτως ἔχουσαι. τίνα δὲ οὔτε ἔστιν, οὔτε λέγεται; πονηρὸν τὸ θεῖον, ἡ σφαῖρα τετράγωνος, τὸ παρελθὸν ἐνέστηκεν, οὐ σύνθετον ὁ ἄνθρωπος. τίνα γὰρ εἰς τοσοῦτον ἐμ πληξίας ποτὲ ἀφικόμενον ἔγνως, ὥστε τι τοιοῦτον ἢ ἐννοῆσαι τολ μῆσαι, ἢ ἀποφήνασθαι; λείπεται δεῖξαι τίνα καὶ ἔστι καὶ λέγεται· θεός, ἄνθρωπος, ἄγγελος, κρίσις· ματαιότης οἱ τοιοῦτοι συλλο γισμοί, καὶ τῆς πίστεως ἀνατροπή, καὶ τοῦ μυστηρίου κένωσις.

24 Τοσαύτης οὖν οὔσης διαφορᾶς ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασι καὶ τοῖς πράγ μασι, πῶς οὕτω σὺ λίαν δουλεύεις τῷ γράμματι, καὶ γίνῃ μετὰ τῆς Ἰουδαικῆς σοφίας, καὶ συλλαβαῖς ἀκολουθεῖς, ἀφεὶς τὰ πράγματα; εἰ δὲ σοῦ τὰ δὶς πέντε λέγοντος, ἢ τὰ δὶς ἑπτά, τὰ δέκα συνῆγον, ἢ τέσσαρες καὶ δέκα ἐκ τῶν λεγομένων· ἢ ἐκ τοῦ ζῶον λογικόν, θνητόν, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἆρα ἄν σοι ληρεῖν ἐνομίσθην; καὶ πῶς, τὰ σὰ λέγων; οὐ γὰρ τοῦ λέγοντος μᾶλλον οἱ λόγοι, ἢ τοῦ λέγειν συναναγκάζοντος. ὥσπερ οὖν ἐνταῦθα, οὐκ ἂν τὰ λεγόμενα μᾶλλον ἐσκόπουν, ἢ τὰ νοούμενα· οὕτως οὐδὲ εἴ τι ἄλλο τῶν μὴ λεγομένων, ἢ μὴ σαφῶς, ἐκ τῆς γραφῆς νοούμενον ηὕρισκον, ἔφυγον ἂν τὴν ἐκφώνησιν, φοβούμενος σὲ τὸν συκοφάντην τῶν ὀνομάτων. οὕτω μὲν οὖν στησόμεθα πρὸς τοὺς ἐξ ἡμισείας εὐγνώμονας. σοὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἔξεστι λέγειν. ὁ γὰρ τὰς τοῦ υἱοῦ προσηγορίας οὕτως ἐναργεῖς οὔσας καὶ τοσαύτας ἀρνούμενος, οὐδ' ἂν ταύτας ᾐδέσθης δῆλον ὅτι, καὶ εἰ πολλῷ σαφεστέρας καὶ πλείους ἐγίνωσκες. ἤδη δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν δηλώσω τῆς πάσης ἐπικρύψεως, καίπερ σοφοῖς οὖσιν ὑμῖν, βραχύ τι τὸν λόγον ἀναγαγών.

25 ∆ύο γεγόνασι μεταθέσεις βίων ἐπιφανεῖς ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς αἰῶνος, αἳ καὶ δύο διαθῆκαι καλοῦνται, καὶ σεισμοὶ γῆς, διὰ τὸ τοῦ πράγ ματος περιβόητον· ἡ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων ἐπὶ τὸν νόμον, ἡ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου πρὸς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. καὶ τρίτον σεισμὸν εὐαγγελιζόμεθα, τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἐπὶ τὰ ἐκεῖσε μετάστασιν, τὰ μηκέτι κινούμενα, μηδὲ σαλευόμενα. ταὐτὸν δὲ αἱ δύο διαθῆκαι πεπόνθασι. τί τοῦτο; οὐκ ἀθρόως μετεκινήθησαν, οὐδὲ ὁμοῦ τῇ πρώτῃ κινήσει τῆς ἐγχειρή σεως. τίνος ἕνεκα; εἰδέναι γὰρ ἀναγκαῖον. ἵνα μὴ βιασθῶμεν, ἀλλὰ πεισθῶμεν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀκούσιον οὐδὲ μόνιμον· ὥσπερ ἃ βίᾳ κατέ χεται τῶν ῥευμάτων ἢ τῶν φυτῶν· τὸ δὲ ἑκούσιον μονιμώτερόν τε καὶ ἀσφαλέστερον. καὶ τὸ μὲν τοῦ βιασαμένου, τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον· καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐπιεικείας θεοῦ, τὸ δὲ τυραννικῆς ἐξουσίας. οὔκουν ᾤετο δεῖν ἄκοντας εὖ ποιεῖν, ἀλλ' ἑκόντας εὐεργετεῖν. διὰ τοῦτο παιδα γωγικῶς τε καὶ ἰατρικῶς τὸ μὲν ὑφαιρεῖ τῶν πατρίων, τὸ δὲ συγ χωρεῖ, μικρόν τι τῶν πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἐνδιδούς· ὥσπερ οἱ ἰατροὶ τοῖς ἀρρωστοῦσιν, ἵνα ἡ φαρμακεία παραδεχθῇ διὰ τῆς τέχνης φαρ ματτομένη τοῖς χρηστοτέροις. οὐ γὰρ ῥᾴστη τῶν ἐν ἔθει καὶ τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ τετιμημένων ἡ μετάθεσις. λέγω δὲ τί; ἡ πρώτη τὰ εἴδωλα περικόψασα τὰς θυσίας συνεχώρησεν· ἡ δευτέρα τὰς θυσίας περιελοῦσα τὴν περιτομὴν οὐκ ἐκώλυσεν· εἶτα ὡς ἅπαξ ἐδέξαντο τὴν ὑφαίρεσιν, καὶ τὸ συγχωρηθὲν συνεχώρησαν· οἱ μὲν τὰς θυσίας, οἱ δὲ τὴν περιτομήν· καὶ γεγόνασιν, ἀντὶ μὲν ἐθνῶν, Ἰουδαῖοι· ἀντὶ δὲ τούτων, Χριστιανοί, ταῖς κατὰ μέρος μεταθέσεσι κλαπέντες ἐπὶ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. πειθέτω σὲ τοῦτο Παῦλος, ἐκ τοῦ περιτέμνειν καὶ ἁγνίζεσθαι προελθὼν ἐπὶ τὸ λέγειν· Ἐγὼ δέ, ἀδελφοί, εἰ περιτομὴν κηρύσσω, τί ἔτι διώκομαι; ἐκεῖνο τῆς οἰκονομίας, τοῦτο τῆς τελειότητος.

26 Τούτῳ τὸ τῆς θεολογίας εἰκάζειν ἔχω, πλὴν ὅσον ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων. ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ὑφαιρέσεων ἡ μετάθεσις· ἐνταῦθα δὲ διὰ τῶν προσθηκῶν ἡ τελείωσις. ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως. ἐκήρυσσε φανερῶς ἡ παλαιὰ τὸν πατέρα, τὸν υἱὸν ἀμυδρότερον. ἐφανέρωσεν ἡ καινὴ τὸν υἱόν, ὑπέδειξε τοῦ πνεύματος τὴν θεότητα.