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24. One man is rich in contemplation, and is lifted up above the many, and compares spiritual things with spiritual, and inscribes in a threefold way, upon the breadth of his heart, the word which edifies all, and that which edifies many, and that which edifies some instead of most or all, and does not endure being poor, and enters into the depths. Let him ascend, and be guided, and be carried along by his mind, and, if he wishes, even to the third heaven, according to Paul; only with reason and knowledge, and let him not fall through pride, nor lose his feathers because of the height of his flight. What envy can there be of a praiseworthy ascent? And what a fall it is, to be puffed up by pride, and not to know the lowliness of human renewal, and how far even the highest of all still falls short of the true height?

25. But another is meager in thought, and poor in speech, and does not know the turns of phrases, nor the sayings of the wise and their riddles, nor the objections of Pyrrho, or his suspensions of judgment, or antitheses, and the refutations of Chrysippus' syllogisms, or the artful villainy of Aristotle's techniques, or the enchantments of Plato's eloquence, which have evilly crept into our Church, like so many Egyptian plagues. This man also has a way to be saved. And by what words? Nothing is richer than grace. You do not need, it says, to ascend into heaven, to bring Christ down from there; nor to descend into the abyss, to draw Him up from the dead, meddling with His first nature, or His final economy. The word, it says, is near you; the mind has this treasure, and the tongue; the one believing, the other confessing. 36.204 What is more concise than this wealth? what is easier than this gift? Confess Jesus Christ, and believe that He has been raised from the dead, and you will be saved. For righteousness is even to believe only; but complete salvation is also to confess, and to add boldness to your acknowledgement. You seek something greater than salvation, the glory and splendor from there; for me it is the greatest thing to be saved, and to escape the torments from there. You walk the path untrodden and inaccessible; I, the one that is well-worn, and which has saved many.

26. Nothing would be more unjust than our faith, brothers, if indeed it fell only to the wise, and the eloquent in speech, and in logical proofs; and the many would have to fail to obtain it, just as with gold, and silver, and the other things that are prized below, and eagerly sought after by the many; and the high thing which reaches but a few was dear and proper to God; but that which is nearer, and attainable by the many, was to be spat upon and rejected. For not even the more moderate of men would act this way, so as not to demand honors according to ability, but to rejoice only in the pre-eminent ones, much less God; for whom, though there are many things for which He is marveled, nothing is so characteristic as doing good to all. Do not dishonor the customary, do not hunt for the novel, that you may be well-approved among the majority. Better is a small portion with security, than a large one with unsoundness, let Solomon instruct you with his counsel; and, Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity (this also being one of the wise proverbs), the one poor in speech and knowledge, and relying on simple words, and on these things, as on a small raft, being saved, than a fool with perverse lips, one who trusts in demonstration of speech with ignorance, and who makes void the cross of Christ, a thing better than speech, through the power of words, where the weakness of the proof is a lessening of the truth.

27. Why do you fly up to heaven, when you are on foot? Why do you build a tower, when you do not have the means for its completion? Why do you also measure the water in your hand, and heaven with a span, and all the earth in a handful, great elements, measurable only by Him who made them? Know yourself first; understand what is in your hands; who you are, and how you were formed, and how

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Κ∆ʹ. Ὁ μέν τις πλουτεῖ θεωρίᾳ, καὶ ὑπὲρ τοὺς πολλοὺς αἴρεται, καὶ πνευματικὰ συγκρίνει πνευμα τικοῖς, καὶ ἀπογράφεται τρισσῶς, ἐπὶ τὸ πλά τος τῆς καρδίας, τὸν πάντας οἰκοδομοῦντα λό γον, καὶ τὸν πολλοὺς, καὶ τὸν τινὰς ἀντὶ πλειόνων ἢ πάντων, καὶ οὐκ ἀνέχεται πένης ὢν, καὶ ἐμβα τεύει τοῖς βάθεσιν. Ἀνίτω, καὶ ὁδηγείσθω, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ νοῦ φερέσθω, καὶ, εἰ βούλεται, μέχρις οὐρανοῦ τρίτου, κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον· μόνον σὺν λόγῳ καὶ ἐπι στήμῃ, καὶ μὴ καταπιπτέτω διὰ τὴν ἔπαρσιν, μηδὲ πτεροῤῥυείτω διὰ τὸ ὕψος τῆς πτήσεως. Τίς φθόνος ἐπαινετῆς ἀναβάσεως; Καὶ τί πτῶμα τοιοῦτο, οἷον ἐπάρσει περιπαρῆναι, καὶ μὴ γνῶναι τῆς ἀνθρω πίνης ἀνανεύσεως τὴν ταπείνωσιν, καὶ ὅσον ἔτι λείπεται τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ ὕψους ὁ πάντων ἀνώτα τος;

ΚΕʹ. Ὁ δὲ ὀλίγος ἐστὶ τὴν διάνοιαν, καὶ πένης τὴν γλῶτταν, καὶ οὐκ οἶδε λόγων στροφὰς, ῥήσεις τε σοφῶν καὶ αἰνίγματα, καὶ τὰς Πύῤῥωνος ἐνστά σεις, ἢ ἐφέξεις, ἢ ἀντιθέσεις, καὶ τῶν Χρυσίππου συλλογισμῶν τὰς διαλύσεις, ἢ τῶν Ἀριστοτέλους τε χνῶν τὴν κακοτεχνίαν, ἢ τῆς Πλάτωνος εὐγλωτ τίας τὰ γοητεύματα, οἳ κακῶς εἰς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἡμῶν εἰσέφησαν, ὥσπερ Αἰγυπτιακαί τινες μάστιγες. Ἔχει καὶ οὗτος ὅθεν σωθῇ. Καὶ διὰ τίνων ῥημάτων; Οὐδὲν τῆς χάριτος πλουσιώτερον. Οὐ δὲν δεῖ σοι, φησὶν, εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνελθεῖν, ἵν' ἐκεῖθεν ἑλκύσῃς Χριστόν· οὐδὲ εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον κατελθεῖν, ἵν' ἐντεῦθεν αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνασπά σῃς, ἢ τὴν πρώτην πολυπραγμονῶν φύσιν, ἢ τὴν τελευταίαν οἰκονομίαν. Ἐγγύς σου, φησὶ, τὸ ῥῆμά ἐστιν· ἡ διάνοια τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν θησαυρὸν, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα· ἡ μὲν πιστεύουσα, ἡ δὲ ὁμολογοῦσα. 36.204 Τί τούτου συντομώτερον τοῦ πλούτου; τί ταύτης τῆς δωρεᾶς εὐκολώτερον; Ὁμολόγησον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, καὶ πίστευσον, ὅτι ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγήγερ ται, καὶ σωθήσῃ. ∆ικαιοσύνη μὲν γὰρ, καὶ τὸ πιστεῦ σαι μόνον· σωτηρία δὲ παντελὴς, τὸ καὶ ὁμο λογῆσαι, καὶ προσθεῖναι τῇ ἐπιγνώσει τὴν παῤῥη σίαν. Σὺ μεῖζόν τι σωτηρίας ζητεῖς, τὴν ἐκεῖ θεν δόξαν τε καὶ λαμπρότητα· ἐμοὶ καὶ τὸ σωθῆναι μέγιστον, καὶ τὰς ἐκεῖθεν φυγεῖν βασάνους. Σὺ βα δίζεις τὴν ἀτριβῆ καὶ ἀπρόσιτον· ἐγὼ τὴν τετριμ μένην, καὶ ἣ πολλοὺς ἔσωσεν.

Κ ςʹ· Οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν, ἀδελφοὶ, ἀδικώτερον, εἴ γε εἰς τοὺς σοφοὺς ἔπιπτε μόνον, καὶ τοὺς περιττοὺς ἐν λόγῳ, καὶ ταῖς λογικαῖς ἀπο δείξεσι· τοὺς πολλοὺς δὲ ἔδει, καθάπερ χρυσοῦ, καὶ ἀργύρου, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ὁπόσα τίμια κάτω, καὶ περισπούδαστα τοῖς πολλοῖς, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ταύ της ἀποτυγχάνειν· καὶ τὸ μὲν ὑψηλόν τε καὶ εἰς ὀλίγους φθάνον, φίλον ἦν Θεῷ καὶ οἰκεῖον· τὸ δὲ ἐγ γυτέρω, καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐφικτὸν, ἀπόπτυστον καὶ ἀπόβλητον. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ μετριώτεροι τοῦτο πάθοιεν ἂν, ὥστε μὴ τὰς κατὰ δύναμιν ἀπαι τεῖν τιμὰς, ἀλλὰ χαίρειν μόνον ταῖς προεχούσαις, μήτιγε δὴ Θεός· οὗ πολλῶν ὄντων ἐφ' οἷς θαυμάζεται, οὐδὲν οὕτως, ὡς τὸ πάντας εὐεργετεῖν, ἰδιώτατον. Μὴ ἀτίμαζε τὸ εἰωθὸς, μὴ θήρευε τὸ καινὸν, ἵν' εὐ δοκιμήσῃς ἐν τοῖς πλείοσι. Κρείσσων μι κρὰ μερὶς μετὰ ἀσφαλείας, ἢ μεγάλη μετὰ σαθρό τητος, παιδευέτω σε τῇ συμβουλῇ Σολομών· καὶ, Κρείσσων ἄπορος πορευόμενος ἐν ἁπλότητι αὐτοῦ (μία καὶ αὕτη τῶν παροιμιῶν σοφῶς ἔχουσα), ὁ πένης ἐν λόγῳ καὶ γνώσει, καὶ τοῖς ἁπλοῖς ῥήμα σιν ἐπερειδόμενος, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων ὥσπερ ἐπὶ λε πτῆς σχεδίας διασωζόμενος, ὑπὲρ στρεβλόχειλον ἄφρονα, τὸν ἀποδείξει λόγου θαῤῥοῦντα σὺν ἀμαθίᾳ, καὶ κενοῦντα τὸν σταυρὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, πρᾶγμά τι λόγου κρεῖττον, διὰ τῆς ἐν λόγοις δυνάμεως, ἔνθα τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῆς ἀποδείξεως, τῆς ἀληθείας ἐστὶν ἐλάτ τωσις.

ΚΖʹ. Τί πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἀνίπτασαι, πεζὸς ὤν; Τί πύργον οἰκοδομεῖς, τὰ πρὸς ἀπαρτισμὸν οὐκ ἔχων; Τί καὶ σὺ μετρεῖς τῇ χειρὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν σπιθαμῇ, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν δρακὶ, στοιχεῖα με γάλα, καὶ μόνῳ μετρητὰ τῷ ποιήσαντι; Γνῶθι σαυ τὸν πρῶτον· τὰ ἐν χερσὶ κατανόησον· τίς εἶ, καὶ πῶς ἐπλάσθης, καὶ πῶς