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a father, as a mother and more than a mother, as a bridegroom and more than a bridegroom, because as great as the distance of heaven from the earth and more than that, because as far as the east is from the west and more than that, not even here does He stop with the images, but He goes even further to show a much humbler example. 6.16 For when Jonah, after his flight and God's reconciliation with the Ninevites, was perplexed, as the things that had been threatened did not come to pass, and suffering some human passion and being sullen, having ordered the sunbeam to release a hotter flame, then having commanded the earth to quickly fashion a shelter for him from a plant, and having warmed him exceedingly and given him rest, then having grieved him by making this shelter disappear, since in the one case He saw him relaxed, and in the other strained, hear what He says to him: 6.17 "You spared the gourd, for which you did not toil, nor did you raise it; but shall I not spare Nineveh, the great city, in which dwell more than twelve myriads of men, who did not know their right hand or their left?" 6.18 What He says is something like this: The shade of the plant did not give you as much rest as the salvation of the Ninevites gave me joy; nor did its removal grieve you as much as their destruction would grieve me. So contrary to my will was their destruction. Do you see how even here He surpasses the image? For He did not say, "You spared the gourd," and fall silent, but added: "For which you did not toil, nor did you raise it. 6.19 For since husbandmen especially love those plants on which they have bestowed much labor, wishing to show that He also loves mankind according to this kind of affection, He added this: "For if you," He says, "so held on to the work of another, how much more I to My own of which I am the maker." Then He also lessens something of their accusation, saying that: "They did not know their right hand or their left," declaring that they had sinned more from simplicity than from wickedness, which the result of their repentance also showed. 6.20 And to others, rebuking them as they lamented as if abandoned, He says these words: "Ask me concerning my sons, and concerning the works of my hands, command me." What He says is something like this: Who reminds a father and exhorts him to provide for his child? Or a craftsman and creator not to let his work fall to ruin? Then in the case of men you are satisfied with nature and art as proof of care, but do you think that I need someone to exhort me, that I might take care of my children and my works? 6.21 But He said these things, not that they should not entreat, but that they might know that even before the entreaty God does His part, but He wishes also to be entreated, since He knows the great gain from this for those who entreat. Have you seen how, through these examples, the demonstration of His unspeakable providence shines forth more clearly and more brightly than the sun? 6.22 But consider. He brought forth the father, the mother, the bridegroom, the distance of the heaven and the earth, the space between the east and the west, the gardener laboring over plants, the builder of things to be, the ardent lover who is disturbed if he should grieve the beloved even with words; and through all these things He showed that the goodness of God surpasses them all by as much as wickedness is surpassed by goodness.

7.t Ch. 7. The demonstration of God's providence through creation

7.1 And so for the grateful, as I said, these things are sufficient; but since

some are made of clay and hard to lead up and hard to persuade and altogether carnal, come, let us also demonstrate His providence through His works, as far as we are able. For it is not easy to set forth all of it, or rather not even the smallest part of it; so infinite and unspeakable is it, both through the small things and through the great

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πατήρ, ὡς μήτηρ καὶ πλέον ἢ μήτηρ, ὡς νυμφίος καὶ πλέον ἢ νυμφίος, ὅτι τοσοῦτον ὅσον τὸ διάστημα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ πλέον ἢ τοσοῦτον, ὅτι τηλικοῦτον ὅσον ἀπέχουσιν ἀνατολαὶ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν καὶ πλέον ἢ τηλικοῦτον, οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα ἵσταται τῶν εἰκόνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ περαιτέρω πρόεισιν εἰς ἐπίδειξιν πολλῷ ταπεινοτέρου ὑποδείγματος. 6.16 Τοῦ γὰρ Ἰωνᾶ μετὰ τὴν φυγὴν καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν καταλλαγὴν τὴν πρὸς Νινευΐτας ἐξαπορηθέντος, ὡς οὐκ ἐλθόντων εἰς ἔργον τῶν ἀπειληθέντων καὶ παθόντος τι ἀνθρώπινον πάθος καὶ σκυθρωπάσαντος, ἐπιτάξας τῇ ἀκτῖνι θερμοτέραν ἀφεῖναι τὴν φλόγα, εἶτα κελεύσας τῇ γῇ σχεδιάσαι αὐτῷ στέγην ἀπὸ λαχάνου καὶ θάλψας αὐτὸν μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς καὶ ἀναπαύσας, εἶτα λυπήσας τῷ ταύτην ἀφανίσαι τὴν στέγην, ἐπειδὴ τῷ μὲν εἶδεν ἀνεθέντα, τῷ δὲ κατατεινόμενον, ἄκουε τί φησι πρὸς αὐτόν· 6.17 «Σὺ μὲν ἐφείσω ὑπὲρ τῆς κολοκύντης, ὑπὲρ ἧς οὐκ ἐκακοπάθησας, οὐδὲ ἐξέθρεψας· ἐγὼ δὲ οὐ φείσομαι ὑπὲρ Νινευὴ τῆς πόλεως τῆς μεγάλης, ἐν ᾗ κατοικοῦσιν ἐν αὐτῇ πλείους ἢ δώδεκα μυριάδες ἀνδρῶν, οἵτινες οὐκ ἔγνωσαν δεξιὰν ἢ ἀριστεράν.» 6.18 Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Οὐχ οὕτως ἀνέπαυσέ σε ἡ σκιὰ τοῦ λαχάνου ὡς ἐμὲ εὔφρανεν ἡ σωτηρία τῶν Νινευϊτῶν· οὐδὲ οὕτως σε ἐλύπησεν ἡ ἀφαίρεσις αὐτοῦ ὡς ἐμὲ ὁ τούτων ὄλεθρος. Οὕτω παρὰ γνώμην μου ἡ ἀπώλεια αὐτῶν ἦν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὑπερβαίνει τὴν εἰκόνα. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπε· «Σὺ μὲν ἐφείσω ὑπὲρ τῆς κολοκύντης», καὶ ἐσίγησεν, ἀλλ' ἐπήγαγεν· «Ἐφ' ᾗ οὐκ ἐκακοπάθησας, οὐδὲ ἐξέθρεψας αὐτήν. 6.19 Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐκεῖνα μάλιστα φιλοῦσι τῶν φυτῶν οἱ γηπόνοι περὶ ἃ πολὺν ἐπεδείξαντο πόνον, δεῖξαι θέλων ὅτι καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο φιλεῖ τὸ εἶδος τοῦ φίλτρου τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τοῦτο προσέθηκεν· «Εἰ γὰρ σὺ τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου ἔργου οὕτως ἀντείχου, φησί, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐγὼ τοῦ οἰκείου καὶ οὗ ποιητής εἰμι». Εἶτα καὶ ὑποτέμνεταί τι τῆς κατηγορίας αὐτῶν λέγων ὅτι· «Οὐκ ἔγνωσαν δεξιὰν ἢ ἀριστεράν», ἀφελείᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ κακίᾳ πεπλημμεληκέναι αὐτοὺς ἀποφηνάμενος, ὃ καὶ ἔδειξε τὸ τῆς μετανοίας τέλος. 6.20 Καὶ ἑτέροις δὲ ἐπιτιμῶν θρηνοῦσιν ὡς ἐγκαταλειφθεῖσι, ταῦτα λέγει τὰ ῥήματα· «Ἐρωτήσατέ με περὶ τῶν υἱῶν μου καὶ περὶ τῶν ἔργων τῶν χειρῶν μου ἐντείλασθέ μοι.» Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· Τίς πατέρα ἀναμιμνῄσκει καὶ παρακαλεῖ ὥστε προνοῆσαι παιδός; ἢ τεχνίτην καὶ δημιουργὸν ὥστε μὴ ἀφεῖναι διαπεσεῖν τὸ ἔργον; Εἶτα ἐπ' ἀνθρώπων μὲν ἀρκεῖσθε τῇ φύσει καὶ τῇ τέχνῃ εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς κηδεμονίας, ἐμὲ δὲ οἴεσθε χρῄζειν τοῦ παρακαλοῦντός με, ἵνα τῶν τέκνων τῶν ἐμῶν καὶ τῶν ἔργων ἀντιλήψωμαι; 6.21 Ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγεν, οὐχ ἵνα μὴ παρακαλῶσιν, ἀλλ' ἵνα εἰδέναι ἔχωσιν ὅτι καὶ πρὸ τῆς παρακλήσεως ὁ Θεὸς τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ποιεῖ, βούλεται δὲ καὶ παρακαλεῖσθαι, ἐπειδὴ μέγα οἶδε τοῖς παρακαλοῦσιν ἐντεῦθεν τὸ κέρδος. Εἶδες πῶς σαφέστερον καὶ ἡλίου φαιδρότερον διὰ τῶν ὑποδειγμάτων τούτων τῆς ἀφάτου προνοίας αὐτοῦ ἡ ὑπόδειξις διαλάμπει; 6.22 Σκόπει δέ. Παρήγαγεν εἰς μέσον τὸν πατέρα, τὴν μητέρα, τὸν νυμφίον, τὸ διάστημα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, τὸ μέσον τῶν ἀνατολῶν πρὸς δυσμάς, τὸν φυτουργὸν καὶ περὶ λάχανα πονούμενον, τὸν οἰκοδόμον τῶν γενησομένων, τὸν σφοδρὸν ἐραστὴν τὸν ταραττόμενον, εἰ καὶ μέχρι ῥημάτων λυπήσειε τὸν ἐρώμενον· καὶ τοσοῦτον ἁπάντων ὑπερακοντίζειν διὰ πάντων τούτων ἔδειξε τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθότητα, ὅσον πονηρίαν χρηστότητος.

7.t Κεφ. ζʹ. Ἀπόδειξις τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ προνοίας ἡ διὰ τῆς κτίσεως

7.1 Καὶ τοῖς μὲν οὖν εὐγνώμοσιν, ὅπερ ἔφην, ἀρκεῖ καὶ ταῦτα· ἀλλ' ἐπειδή

τινές εἰσι πήλινοι καὶ δυσανάγωγοι καὶ δυσπειθεῖς καὶ αὐτόσαρκες, φέρε δὴ καὶ διὰ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν ἀποδείξωμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν, καθ' ὅσον ἡμῖν οἷόν τε. Ἅπασαν γὰρ αὐτήν, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ τὸ πολλοστὸν αὐτῆς μέρος παραστῆσαι ῥᾴδιον· οὕτως ἐστὶν ἄπειρος καὶ ἄφατος καὶ διὰ τῶν μικρῶν καὶ διὰ τῶν μεγάλων