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weighing upon no one; and to be sprinkled a little through mire, or to be clean by being carried along a clean road. And as a proof of the argument, one thing alone justified Rahab the harlot, her hospitality, though she was not praised for other things; and one thing exalted the publican, his humility, though nothing else was witnessed of him; so that you may learn not to despair of yourself easily.

20. But what is the advantage to me, he says, to be taken possession of beforehand by baptism, and to have shut myself out from the pleasure of life by my haste, when it was possible to give myself up to pleasures, and then to obtain grace? For not even to those who toiled before in the vineyard was there any 36.385 advantage, since an equal wage was given even to the last. You have freed us from trouble, whoever you are who say these things, having with difficulty spoken the secret of procrastination; and while not praising you for your wickedness, I praise you for your confession. But come, and let the parable be interpreted, so that you may not be harmed by the scriptures out of inexperience. First, the discourse here is not about baptism, but about those who believe at different times, and enter into the good vineyard, the Church. For from the day and hour that each one believed, from that time the work is required. Then, even if in the measure of their toil those who entered before contributed more, yet not so in the measure of their choice; and perhaps to the last, from this even more was owed, even if the statement is somewhat paradoxical. For the reason for entering later was that they were also called later to the vineyard work; but let us consider how great the difference was in other respects: The one group did not believe, nor enter, until their wage was agreed upon; but the others approached the work without an agreement, which is a sign of greater faith. And the one group were found to be of an envious and grumbling nature; but the others are not accused of anything of the sort. And for the one group, what was given was a wage, although they were wicked, but for the other it was grace; so that, being accused also of folly, they were reasonably deprived of more. And what would have happened to them if they had delayed, let us consider: the same wage, clearly. How then do they accuse the employer, as if because of the inequality of the equality? All these things take away the grace of the sweat for the first, even if they have toiled before. From which it follows that the distribution of the equal amount is also just, choice being weighed against labor.

21. But if the parable also sketches the power of the laver, according to your explanation; what would prevent one who entered before and was scorched by the heat from not envying the last, so that in this very thing you might have an advantage in being philanthropic, and receive the recompense as a debt, and not as grace? Then the laborers are received there 36.388 having entered, not having missed the vineyard; which is a danger for so many to suffer. So if it were clear that you would obtain the gift, thinking thus and wickedly holding back some of the work, it would be pardonable for you to resort to such reasonings, and wishing to gain some profit from the Master's philanthropy; not to mention that to have toiled more is itself a greater reward for one whose mind is not entirely mercenary. But if there is a danger for you of falling out of the vineyard completely through this trafficking, and by pilfering small things you suffer loss in the principal; come, be persuaded by my words: leaving aside such misinterpretations and objections, approach the gift without calculation, lest you be snatched away from your hopes beforehand, and be unaware that you are devising such sophistries against yourself.

22. What then? Is not the Divine philanthropic, he says? For being a knower of thoughts, He both tests the desire, and in place of baptism, takes the impulse for baptism. You speak something like a riddle, if the unilluminated is illuminated for God, because of His philanthropy, or if one who is zealous to obtain the kingdom of heaven is within it, without doing the things of the kingdom. But I, as I hold concerning these things, will dare to speak; and I think that those who have understanding among the others will agree. Of those who obtain the gift, some

8

μηδενὶ βαρού μενον· καὶ διὰ βορβόρου μικρὰ ῥαντίζεσθαι, ἢ καθα ρὸν εἶναι διὰ καθαρᾶς ὁδοῦ φερόμενον. Τεκμήριον δὲ τοῦ λόγου, καὶ Ῥαὰβ τὴν πόρνην ἓν ἐδικαίωσε μό νον, ἡ φιλοξενία, τἄλλα οὐκ ἐπαινουμένην· καὶ τὸν τελώνην ἓν ὕψωσεν, ἡ ταπείνωσις, οὐδὲν ἄλλο μαρτυρηθέντα· ἵνα σὺ μάθῃς, σεαυτοῦ μὴ ῥᾳ δίως ἀπογινώσκειν.

Κʹ. Ἀλλὰ τί μοι πλέον, φησὶ, προκατασχεθέντι διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος, καὶ τὸ τερπνὸν τοῦ ζῇν ἐμαυτῷ διὰ τοῦ τάχους ἀποκλείσαντι, ἐνὸν ἐφεῖναι ταῖς ἡδο ναῖς, καὶ τηνικαῦτα τυχεῖν τῆς χάριτος; Οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῖς ἐν τῷ ἀμπελῶνι προκεκμηκόσιν ὑπῆρξέ τι 36.385 πλέον, ἴσου τοῦ μισθοῦ δοθέντος καὶ τοῖς τελευταίοις. Ἀπήλλαξας ἡμᾶς πραγμάτων, ὅστις ποτὲ εἶ, ὁ ταῦτα λέγων, μόγις τῆς ἀναβολῆς ἐξειπὼν τὸ ἀπόῤῥητον· καί σε τῆς κακουργίας οὐκ ἐπαινῶν, ἐπαινῶ τῆς ἐξαγορεύσεως. Ἀλλὰ δεῦρο, καὶ τὴν παραβολὴν ἑρ μηνεύθητι, ὡς ἂν μὴ βλάπτῃ τοῖς γεγραμμένοις ἐξ ἀπειρίας. Πρῶτον μὲν, οὐ περὶ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἐνταῦθα ὁ λόγος, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν κατὰ διαφόρους και ροὺς πιστευόντων, καὶ εἰς τὸν καλὸν ἀμπελῶνα εἰσ ερχομένων, τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν. Ἀφ' ἧς γὰρ ἡμέρας καὶ ὥρας ἐπίστευσεν ἕκαστος, ἀπ' ἐκείνης καὶ ἀπαι τεῖται τὴν ἐργασίαν. Ἔπειτα, εἰ καὶ τῷ μέτρῳ τοῦ μόχθου, πλεῖον εἰσήνεγκαν οἱ προεισελθόν τες, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ καὶ τῷ μέτρῳ τῆς προαιρέσεως· καὶ τυχὸν τοῖς τελευταίοις, ἐκ ταύτης καὶ πλεῖον ὠφείλετο, εἰ καὶ παράδοξός πως ὁ λόγος. Τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ὕστερον εἰσελθεῖν, τὸ καὶ ὕστερον κληθῆναι πρὸς τὴν ἀμπελουργίαν αἴτιον· τῶν ἄλλων δὲ τὸ διάφο ρον ὅσον ἐπισκεψώμεθα· Οἱ μὲν οὐ πρότερον ἐπίστευσαν, οὐδὲ εἰσῆλθον, πρὶν ἢ συμφωνηθῆναι αὐτοῖς τὸν μισθόν· οἱ δὲ ἀσύμφωνοι τῇ ἐργασίᾳ προσ ῆλθον, ὃ μείζονός ἐστι γνώρισμα πίστεως. Καὶ οἱ μὲν φθονερᾶς, καὶ γογγυστικῆς εὑρέθησαν ὄντες φύ σεως· οἱ δὲ οὐδὲν ἐγκαλοῦνται τοιοῦτον. Καὶ τοῖς μὲν μισθὸς ἦν τὸ διδόμενον, καίπερ οὖσι πονηροῖς, τοῖς δὲ ἡ χάρις· ὥστε καὶ ἄνοιαν ἐγκληθέντες, εἰκότως τοῦ πλείονος ἐστερήθησαν. Τί δ' ἂν καὶ αὐτοῖς ὀψισθεῖσιν ἐγένετο, καταμάθωμεν· τὸ ἴσον τοῦ μισθοῦ δηλονότι. Πῶς οὖν αἰτιῶνται τὸν ἐργοδότην, ὡς διὰ τὸ τῆς ἰσότητος ἄνισον; Ταῦτα πάντα τὴν τοῦ ἱδρῶτος ὑφαιρεῖ χάριν τοῖς πρώτοις, καὶ εἰ προ κεκμήκασιν. Ἐξ ὧν συμβαίνει καὶ δικαίαν εἶναι τὴν τοῦ ἴσου διανομὴν, ἀντιμετρουμένης τῷ πό νῳ τῆς προαιρέσεως.

ΚΑʹ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ λουτροῦ δύναμιν ἡ παρα βολὴ σκιογραφεῖ, κατὰ τὴν σὴν ἐξήγησιν· τί κωλύσειε καὶ προεισελθόντα, καὶ καυσωθέντα, μὴ βασκαίνειν τοῖς τελευταίοις, ἵν' αὐτῷ τούτῳ πλέον ἔχῃς τῷ φιλανθρώπῳ, καὶ χρέος, ἀλλὰ μὴ χά ριν λαβεῖν τὴν ἀντίδοσιν; Ἔπειτα εἰσελθόντας ἐκεῖ 36.388 λαμβάνειν τοὺς ἐργάτας, οὐ διαμαρτόντας τοῦ ἀμπε λῶνος· ὅ σοι παθεῖν, κίνδυνος. Ὥστε εἰ μὲν ἦν δῆ λον, ὅτι τεύξῃ τῆς δωρεᾶς, οὕτω φρονῶν, καὶ ὑπο κρατῶν τι κακούργως τῆς ἐργασίας, συγγνωστὸν ἦν σοι πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους καταφεύγοντι λογισμοὺς, καὶ παρακερδαίνειν τι βουλομένῳ τῆς τοῦ ∆εσπότου φιλ ανθρωπίας· ἵνα μὴ λέγω, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ καμεῖν πλέον, πλείων μισθὸς τῷ μὴ πάντη καπηλικῷ τὴν διάνοιαν. Εἰ δὲ κίνδυνός σοι, τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος παντε λῶς ἐκπεσεῖν διὰ τῆς ἐμπορίας, καὶ εἰς τὸ κεφάλαιον ζημιοῖ τὰ μικρὰ παρεκλέγων· φέρε, τοῖς ἐμοῖς πείσθητι λόγοις· ἀφεὶς τὰς τοιαύτας παρεξηγήσεις καὶ ἀντιθέσεις, ἀσυλλογίστως τῷ δώρῳ πρόσελθε, μὴ προαναρπασθῇς τῶν ἐλπίδων, καὶ κατὰ σεαυτοῦ λάθῃς τὰ τοιαῦτα σοφιζόμενος.

ΚΒʹ. Τί δαί; Οὐχὶ φιλάνθρωπον, φησὶ, τὸ Θεῖον; Καὶ γνωστικὸν γὰρ ἐννοιῶν, δοκιμάζει τε τὴν ἔφεσιν, καὶ ἀντὶ βαπτίσματος, ποιεῖται τὴν ὁρμὴν τοῦ βαπτίσματος. Αἰνίγματι λέγεις ὅμοιον, εἰ πεφωτισμένος ἐστὶ Θεῷ, διὰ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον, ὁ ἀφώ τιστος, ἢ καὶ τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐντὸς ὁ ταύτης τυχεῖν σπουδάζων, δίχα τοῦ πράττειν τὰ τῆς βασιλείας. Ἐγὼ δὲ, ὡς ἔχω περὶ τούτων, εἰπεῖν θαῤῥήσω· οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συνθήσεσθαι τοὺς νοῦν ἔχοντας. Τῶν τυχόντων τῆς δωρεᾶς, οἱ μὲν