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Therefore, beginning, to consider him to be not only the author and lord of the laws that would be ordained for men by him a little later, but also of those in the nature of all things.

7.10.1 11. 12. CONCERNING UNIVERSAL PROVIDENCE AND CONCERNING THE CONSTITUTION AND CREATION OF THE WORLD

For he alone has been set as king and lawgiver of the ordering of the whole world; for by his nod and power the substance of all things has come into being, and by his laws and ordinances in turn, the whole age 7.10.2 is governed in its path and order. For by the word and law of God, first of all, heaven was established and the heavy and solid part of the earth, contrary to its own nature, is wonderfully suspended over the finer elements; and by the word and divine law the alternating course of night and day circles round, and by the word of God and law, the sun itself and the moon and the chorus of the other stars complete their proper journey in fitting order, and by the law of the universal King, the changes of the turnings and alterations of the seasons and the cycles of the year and the annual hours are fulfilled in the all-harmonious symphony of the universe, by the law of God winter gives way to spring, and this to the nearest turnings of the seasons, and the depths of the sea, though surging with winter floods, are by divine law shut up in their own basins, so that they do not dare to transgress the boundaries of the sacred laws, and the dry substance, being watered by streams of rain and snows supplied again in due measure by divine law, gives forth 7.10.3 countless kinds of plants and animals; and in a word, the all-mother nature of all things, being enslaved to the command of God, yields to divine laws and to the will of the all-ruling God; for so great an arrangement was not constituted rashly nor by chance nor by an automatic and irrational impulse, nor is this great and most beautiful work of art the product of a causeless nature, but it is the creation of the all-wise architect of all things, and is governed by His words and sacred 7.10.4 laws. Beginning from this point, the prophet, having set forth the laws concerning the nature of all things even before the legislation for men, urged first of all to give heed to the universal King, God, and not to be negligent of his laws, because indeed the sun itself and heaven and the world and the earth and all things on the earth and all that are considered to be works of nature serve his commands and ordinances and 7.10.5 sacred laws and words. Wherefore, the human race, which is no small part of the whole, ought all the more to attend to the divine ordinances in consequence, and not be inferior to the individual elements. For in the beginning he legislated for the earth, who said: "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed according to its kind, and the fruit tree yielding fruit;" and it, showing its obedience to the law with the word, has not yet to this day 7.10.6 neglected the divine ordinance. So also, when God said of the liquid substance: "Let the waters bring forth creeping things with living souls, and flying creatures that fly above the firmament of heaven," with the word it produced the 7.10.7 work, and is seen to this day yielding obedience to the law. And if indeed the sun and moon and stars, for whom the divine law has also been appointed to run their own courses and to be "for signs and for seasons and for days and for years," do not neglect the legislation, what escape of excuse would still be left for you who neglect the divine laws? 7.10.8 Having taught these things beforehand, the admirable man

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τοιγαροῦν ἀρχόμενος τοῦτον ἡγεῖσθαι μὴ μόνον τῶν πρὸς αὐτοῦ σμικρὸν ὕστερον διαταχθησομένων ἀνθρώποις νόμων αὐθέντην εἶναι καὶ κύριον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ φύσει τῶν ὅλων.

7.10.1 ιαʹ. ιβʹ. ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΚΑΘΟΛΟΥ ΠΡΟΝΟΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΣΥΣΤΑΣΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ∆ΗΜΙΟΥΡΓΙΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΚΟΣΜΟΥ

Βασιλέα γὰρ μόνον αὐτὸν καὶ νομοθέτην τῆς τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου διατάξεως ἐφεστάναι· νεύματι μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ δυνάμει τὴν τῶν ἁπάντων οὐσίωσιν γεγονέναι, νόμοις δὲ καὶ ὅροις πάλιν αὐτοῦ ὁδῷ καὶ τάξει 7.10.2 τὸν σύμπαντα διακυβερνᾶσθαι αἰῶνα. λόγῳ μὲν γὰρ καὶ νόμῳ θεοῦ πρῶτον ἁπάντων οὐρανὸν ἐστερεῶσθαι καὶ γῆς τὸ βαρὺ καὶ στερέμνιον παρὰ τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν τοῖς λεπτομερεστέροις τῶν στοιχείων θαυμασίως ἐπαιωρεῖσθαι· λόγῳ δὲ καὶ νόμῳ θείῳ νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας τὸν ἀμοιβαῖον ἀνακυκλεῖσθαι δρόμον, λόγῳ δὲ θεοῦ καὶ νόμῳ καὶ αὐτὸν ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὴν τῶν λοιπῶν ἀστέρων χορείαν ἐν πρέποντι κόσμῳ τὴν προσήκουσαν ἐξανύειν πορείαν, νόμῳ δὲ τοῦ παμβασιλέως τροπῶν ἀλλαγὰς καὶ μεταβολὰς καιρῶν ἐνιαυτοῦ τε κύκλους καὶ τὰς ἐτησίους ὥρας τῇ παναρμονίῳ τοῦ παντὸς ἀποπληροῦσθαι συμφωνίᾳ, νόμῳ θεοῦ χειμῶνα μὲν ὑποχωρεῖν ἔαρι, τοῦτο δὲ ταῖς ἄγχιστα τῶν ὡρῶν τροπαῖς, καὶ θαλάττης δὲ βυθοὺς ταῖς χειμαδίοις πλημμυρίσιν ἐπικυματίζοντας νόμῳ θείῳ τοῖς οἰκείοις ἐναποκεκλεῖσθαι πελάγεσιν, ὡς μηδὲ τοὺς ὅρους τῶν ἱερῶν νόμων ὑπερβαίνειν τολμᾶν, καὶ τὴν ξηρὰν οὐσίαν ὀμβρίοις νάμασι καὶ νιφετοῖς νόμῳ θείῳ πάλιν συμμέτρως ἐπιχορηγουμένοις ἀρδομένην μυρία γένη φυτῶν τε καὶ ζῴων ἀνα7.10.3 διδόναι· ἑνί τε λόγῳ, τὴν παμμήτορα τῶν ὅλων φύσιν, προστάγματι θεοῦ δεδουλωμένην, νόμοις θείοις ὑπείκειν καὶ τῇ τοῦ πανηγεμόνος θεοῦ βουλῇ· μὴ γὰρ εἰκῆ μηδ' ὡς ἔτυχε μηδ' αὐτομάτῳ καὶ ἀλόγῳ φορᾷ συνεστάναι τὸν τηλικοῦτον διάκοσμον μηδ' ἀναιτίου φύσεως ἔργον τυγχάνειν τὸ μέγα τοῦτο καὶ περικαλλὲς τεχνούργημα, ἀλλ' εἶναι μὲν ποίημα τοῦ πανσόφου τῶν ὅλων ἀρχιτέκτονος, τοῦ δὲ αὐτοῦ λόγοις καὶ νόμοις ἱεροῖς διακυβερ7.10.4 νᾶσθαι. ἔνθεν ἀρξάμενος ὁ προφήτης καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀνθρώπων νομοθεσίας τοὺς περὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων φύσεως προτάξας νόμους, πρώτιστα πάντων προσέχειν τῷ παμβασιλεῖ θεῷ καὶ μὴ ἀπορρᾳθυμεῖν αὐτοῦ τῶν νόμων παρεκελεύσατο, ὅτι δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς ἥλιος οὐρανός τε καὶ κόσμος γῆ τε καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ἅπαντα ὅσα τε ἔργα φύσεως εἶναι νενόμισται ἐντολαῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ διατάξεσιν 7.10.5 ἱεροῖς τε νόμοις καὶ λόγοις δουλεύει. διὸ καὶ μᾶλλον χρῆναι τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος, οὐ σμικρὸν μέρος τυγχάνον τοῦ παντός, κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον τοῖς θείοις προσανέχειν διατάγμασι μηδ' ἐλαττοῦσθαι τῶν κατὰ μέρος στοιχείων. γῇ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἀρχῇ νομοθετῆσαι τὸν φήσαντα· «Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπόν·» τὴν δέ, ἅμα λόγῳ τὸ εὐπειθὲς ἐπιδεδειγμένην τῷ νόμῳ, οὔπω καὶ εἰς δεῦρο 7.10.6 τῆς θείας παραμελῆσαι διατάξεως. οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὴν ὑγρὰν οὐσίαν φήσαντος τοῦ θεοῦ· «ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν καὶ πετεινὰ πετόμενα κατὰ τὸ στερέωμα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ» ἅμα λόγῳ τὸ ἔργον ἀπο7.10.7 δοῦναι ὁρᾶσθαί τε εἰσέτι δεῦρο τῷ νόμῳ παρέχουσαν τὸ πειθήνιον. εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη καὶ ἀστέρες, τοῦ θείου νόμου καὶ αὐτοῖς διωρισμένου τοὺς οἰκείους ἀποδιδόναι δρόμους εἶναί τε «εἰς σημεῖα καὶ εἰς καιροὺς καὶ εἰς ἡμέρας καὶ εἰς ἐνιαυτούς,» οὐ παραμελοῦσι τῆς νομοθεσίας, τίς ἂν ἔτι σοι λείποιτο συγγνώμης ἀποφυγὴ τῶν θείων κατολιγωροῦντι νόμων; 7.10.8 Ταῦτα προπαιδεύσας ὁ θαυμάσιος