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and the sea not going out beyond its appointed boundaries against the mainland; how would one who sees these things and such things not comprehend all things by reason, through which the teaching of what is comes to those who theologize, having prepared for himself no small power for the participation of that delight by having with him the concepts, through which the mind is guided towards virtue, both geometry and astronomy and the understanding of the truth through number, and every method for demonstrating the unknown and confirming the comprehended, and before these, the philosophy of the divinely inspired scripture, bringing perfect purification to those educated through it in the divine mysteries? But one who has come to know none of these things, nor has been led by the hand through the cosmos towards the understanding of super-cosmic goods, having passed through life as someone tender and untrained and inexperienced 87 in mind, that one would not be in the same state as the one the argument has shown before, so that for this reason, according to the antithesis previously proposed by us, the one who has not participated in life is no longer shown to be more blessed than the one who has participated well. For of one who has lived together with wickedness, not only would the one inexperienced in evil be more blessed, but perhaps also the one who has not entered into life at all; for we have been taught such a thing also about Judas through the voice of the Gospel, that in such cases the completely non-existent is better than that which exists in wickedness; for in the one, because of the depth of the wickedness which has grown in him, the punishment through purification is extended indefinitely, but for the one who does not exist, how could pain take hold? But if anyone should judge the infantile and untimely life against the life of virtue, such a one is truly untimely, using such a judgment concerning reality. You ask, then, for what reason someone at this age is removed from life, what the divine wisdom provides for through this. But if you speak about those things that are a reproach of an unlawful conception and for this reason are made to disappear by those who begot them, you would not rightly demand an account from God for the works of wickedness, He who brings to judgment things not well done in this matter. But if someone, even when their parents are raising them and caring for them with diligence and are zealous through prayer, nevertheless does not partake of life, because the sickness (which alone is the undoubted cause) prevails until death, about 88 such cases we conjecture these things, that it is of perfect providence not only to cure passions that have come to be, but also to provide that one not even at the start should become involved in what is forbidden. For it is likely that He who knows the future equally with the past prevents the infant's progress to the perfection of life, so that the evil perceived by His prognostic power might not be perfected in the one who is going to live thus in the future, and life become the material of wickedness for the one who is going to live with such a choice. By a certain example it would be easy to present the idea; for let there be, by hypothesis, some all-various feast set before the banquet, and let some such one preside over the guests, as to know precisely the properties of each one's nature, and what is suitable for such a constitution, and what is harmful and unfitting; and let there be added to this also a certain sovereign authority to allow one person, according to his own will, to partake of the things set before him, and to turn another away, and to do all things, so that each according to his own constitution might touch what is suitable, so that neither the sickly might be worn down, adding material to his disease through the foods, nor the more robust grow weary, falling into a plethoric unpleasantness from the unsuitable nourishment. In these circumstances, if in the middle of the banquet one of those inclined to drunkenness is led out, whether being at the beginning of his intoxication or remaining at the feast until the end, the master of the feast 89 arranging these things, so that the table might be continually seemly, being pure from the evils of excess and drunkenness and delirium. Just as, then, the one who is torn away from the savor of the seasonings does not take pleasure in the deprivation of his desires, but condemns a certain lack of judgment in the one presiding, as

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καὶ οὐκ ἐπεξιοῦσαν ὑπὲρ τοὺς τεταγμένους ὅρους κατὰ τῆς ἠπείρου τὴν θάλασσαν· ὁ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα βλέπων πῶς οὐκ ἂν τὰ πάντα διαλάβοι τῷ λόγῳ, δι' ὧν γίνεται τοῖς θεολογοῦσιν ἡ διδασκαλία τοῦ ὄντος, οὐ μικρὰν ἑαυτῷ δύναμιν πρὸς τὴν μετουσίαν τῆς τρυφῆς ἐκείνης παρασκευάσας τῷ εἶναι παρ' αὐτῷ τὰ νοήματα, δι' ὧν ὁδηγεῖται πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἡ διάνοια, γεωμετρίαν τε καὶ ἀστρονομίαν καὶ τὴν διὰ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ κατανόησιν τῆς ἀληθείας πᾶσάν τε μέθοδον ἀποδεικτικὴν τῶν ἀγνοουμένων καὶ βεβαιωτικὴν τῶν κατειλημμένων καὶ πρό γε τούτων τὴν τῆς θεοπνεύστου γραφῆς φιλοσοφίαν, τελείαν ἐπάγουσαν κάθαρσιν τοῖς δι' αὐτῆς τὰ θεῖα πεπαιδευμένοις μυστήρια; ὁ δὲ μηδενὸς τούτων ἐν γνώσει γενόμενος μηδὲ χειραγωγηθεὶς διὰ τοῦ κόσμου πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων ἀγαθῶν κατανόησιν, ἁπαλός τις καὶ ἀγύμναστος καὶ ἀτριβὴς 87 τὴν διάνοιαν παρελθὼν τὸν βίον, ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἂν ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς εἴη, ἐν οἷς ὁ λόγος τὸν προλαβόντα ἀπέδειξεν, ὡς μηκέτι διὰ τοῦτο μακαριστότερον ἀποδείκνυσθαι κατὰ τὴν προενεχθεῖσαν ἡμῖν ἀντίθεσιν τὸν μὴ μετασχόντα τοῦ βίου τοῦ μετασχόν τος καλῶς. τοῦ μὲν γὰρ κακίᾳ συνεζηκότος οὐ μόνον ὁ ἀπειρόκακος ἂν εἴη μακαριστότερος, ἀλλὰ τάχα καὶ ὁ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν παρελθὼν εἰς τὸν βίον· τοιοῦτον γὰρ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα διὰ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς φωνῆς ἐδιδάχθημεν, ὅτι ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων κρεῖττον τοῦ κατὰ κακίαν ὑφεστῶτός ἐστι τὸ παντελῶς ἀνυπόστατον· τῷ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὸ βάθος τῆς ἐμφυείσης κακίας εἰς ἄπειρον παρατείνεται ἡ διὰ τῆς καθάρσεως κόλασις, τοῦ δὲ μὴ ὄντος πῶς ἂν ὀδύνη καθάψαιτο; εἰ δέ τις πρὸς τὸν κατ' ἀρετὴν βίον κρίνοι τὸν νηπιώδη καὶ ἄωρον, ὄντως ἄωρος ὁ τοιοῦτός ἐστι τοιαύτῃ κρίσει περὶ τῶν ὄντων χρώμενος. Ἐρωτᾷς οὖν, ὅτου χάριν ἐν τούτῳ τῆς ἡλικίας τις ὢν τῆς ζωῆς ὑπεξάγεται, τί διὰ τούτου τῆς θείας σοφίας προ μηθουμένης. ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν περὶ τούτων λέγοις, ὅσα τῆς παρανόμου κυήσεως ἔλεγχος γίνεται καὶ διὰ τοῦτο παρὰ τῶν γεννησαμένων ἐξαφανίζεται, οὐκ εἰκότως ἂν τῶν τῆς κακίας ἔργων τὸν θεὸν ἀπαιτοίης τὸν λόγον, τὸν τὰ μὴ καλῶς ἐπὶ τούτῳ γεγενημένα εἰς κρίσιν ἄγοντα· εἰ δέ τις καὶ ἀνατρεφομένων τῶν γεννητόρων καὶ δι' ἐπιμελείας θεραπευόντων καὶ δι' εὐχῆς σπουδαζόντων ὅμως οὐ μετέχει τοῦ βίου, κατακρατοῦντος μέχρι θανάτου τοῦ ἀρρωστήματος (ὃ μόνον τῆς αἰτίας ἀναμφιβόλως ἐστίν), ταῦτα περὶ τῶν 88 τοιούτων εἰκάζομεν, ὅτι τελείας ἐστὶ προνοίας οὐ μόνον γεγονότα θεραπεύειν τὰ πάθη, ἀλλ' ὅπως ἂν μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχήν τις τοῖς ἀπηγορευμένοις ἐγγένοιτο προνοεῖν. τὸν γὰρ ἐγνωκότα ἐπ' ἴσης τῷ παρεληλυθότι τὸ μέλλον ἐπικωλύειν εἰκὸς τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ τέλειον τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ νηπίου πρόοδον, ὡς ἂν μὴ τῇ προγνωστικῇ δυνάμει τὸ κατανοηθὲν κακὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος οὕτως βιώσεσθαι τελειωθείη καὶ γένηται τῷ τοιαύτῃ προαιρέσει συζήσεσθαι μέλλοντι ὕλη κακίας ὁ βίος. ὑποδείγματι δέ τινι ῥᾴδιον ἂν εἴη παραστῆσαι τὸ νόημα· ἔστω γὰρ καθ' ὑπόθεσιν παντοδαπή τις εὐωχία προκειμένη τῷ συμ ποσίῳ, ἐπιστατείτω δέ τις τοιοῦτος τῶν δαιτυμόνων, οἷος ἀκριβῶς εἰδέναι τὰ τῆς ἑκάστου φύσεως ἰδιώματα καὶ τί μὲν κατάλληλον τῇ τοιαύτῃ κράσει, τί δὲ ἐπιβλαβὲς καὶ ἀνοίκειον· προσκείσθω δὲ τούτῳ καὶ αὐθεντική τις ἐξουσία τοῦ κατὰ τὸ ἴδιον βούλημα τὸν μέν τινα μετέχειν τῶν προκειμένων ἐᾶν, τὸν δὲ ἀποτρέπειν, καὶ πάντα ποιεῖν, ὡς ἂν κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κρᾶσιν ἕκαστος τῶν καταλλήλων προσ άπτοιτο, ἵνα μήτε ὁ νοσώδης ἐπιτριβείη, προσθεὶς ὕλην διὰ τῶν ἐδωδίμων τῇ νόσῳ, μήτε ὁ εὐρωστότερος κάμοι, εἰς πληθωρικὴν ἀηδίαν ἐκπίπτων τῇ ἀκαταλλήλῳ τροφῇ. ἐν τούτοις εἰ μεσοῦντος τοῦ συμποσίου τις τῶν τῇ οἰνοφλυ γίᾳ προσκειμένων ἐξάγεται ἢ ἐν ἀρχῇ ὢν τῆς μέθης ἢ μέχρι τέλους παραμένει τῷ δείπνῳ, ταῦτα τοῦ ἐπιστάτου 89 οἰκονομοῦντος, ὡς ἂν εὐσχημονοίη διαρκῶς ἡ τράπεζα τῶν ἐκ πληθώρας καὶ μέθης καὶ παραφορᾶς κακῶν καθαρεύουσα. ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ τῆς τῶν ἡδυσμάτων κνίσης ἀποσπώμενος οὐκ ἐν ἡδονῇ ποιεῖται τῶν καταθυμίων τὴν στέρησιν, ἀλλ' ἀκρισίαν τινὰ τοῦ ἐπιστατοῦντος καταγινώσκει, ὡς