10

an economy to be shown; For the ability, through eternal 92 purification over certain long periods of time, to restore again to the fullness of those who are saved even the one who has reached this measure of wickedness, is completely evident to everyone who looks to the divine power. For who is so unobservant of the divine nature, that when he sees the other things of God, all that He has wrought by His surpassing power in the mere impulse of His will, he should think Him to be weak in this alone? For if one should wish to examine it from a human perspective, it will be found more difficult to bring the heaven and the earth and all the world in them from non-being into being than to lead back again [it] a soul that has wandered through evil to the life according to nature, so that the benevolent will would not be idle even in these cases. But the persistence of this life in evil does not have its origins from God; for he received the power to live from the one who made life, but his own choice leads him to live badly, and if it did not have this inclination, man would not be in evil at all. For evil is nothing in its own substance, if it is not created in the choice of the one living badly. If, therefore, God is not the cause of the evil that exists in someone, no longer could the cause of their life in evil be reasonably referred to Him. But why, you will surely say, does He providentially remove one from life before his choice is perfected through evil, but 93 leaves another to become such that it would be better for him not to have been born at all? To this we shall give some such answer to the more fair-minded, that often the life of those who have lived well becomes a cause of what is better for their descendants as well. And there are countless testimonies of these things from the divinely-inspired scripture, through which we are clearly taught that their descendants also partake of the care given by God to the worthy. And it would be a good principal point that it is an impediment to evil for someone who was certainly going to live according to it. But since the argument here conjectures about things that are unclear, surely no one will find fault with the thought for leading the conjecture in many directions. For not only might one say that God, as a favor to the leaders of the race, removes from the evil life the one who would live according to it, but even if there were nothing of this sort in the case of those snatched away before their time, it is not unreasonable to think that they would receive a more grievous portion of the life of evil than each of these who were known for wickedness during their life. For we have recognized through many things that nothing happens without God, and on the other hand, everyone would agree that the things ordained by God are not random and irrational, knowing that God is reason and wisdom and all virtue and truth, and nothing of reason is irrational, nor is anything of the wise unwise, nor would virtue and truth accept what is not virtuous and outside of the true.

Whether, therefore, some are snatched away prematurely for the aforementioned reasons, or whether there is something else besides what has been said, it is proper to agree that these things happen in every case for 94 a better purpose. But I know another argument, having learned it from the wisdom of the apostle, for which reason some who are excessive in evil according to their own choice have been allowed to live; for having exercised such a thought further in his discourse to the Romans and having raised against himself the consequent objection—that the evil man could no longer reasonably be held at fault, if he has it from God that he is evil, since he would certainly not have become so if it were against the will of the ruler of all things—he thus answers the argument, resolving the objection through a certain deeper contemplation; for he says that God, who allots to each what is according to desert, sometimes also gives place to evil for a better purpose; for it was for this reason that He allowed the Egyptian tyrant to be born and to become such a man, so that by his affliction Israel might be disciplined, that great people who surpass all enumeration by number. For perhaps while the divine power is being made known through all things, being both sufficient for doing good to the worthy and not being weak for the punishment of evil, since it was certainly necessary for them to be removed from the

10

οἰκονομίαν διαφαίνεσθαι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ δύνασθαι καὶ τὸν πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ μέτρον τῆς πονηρίας ἐλάσαντα χρόνων τισὶ μακρῶν περιόδοις διὰ τῆς αἰωνίας 92 καθάρσεως πάλιν ἀποδοῦναι τῷ τῶν σῳζομένων πληρώματι παντὶ πρόδηλον πάντως τῷ πρὸς τὴν θείαν δύναμιν βλέποντι. τίς γὰρ οὕτως τῆς θείας φύσεως ἀνεπίσκεπτος, ὡς τὰ ἄλλα τοῦ θεοῦ βλέπων, ὅσα τῷ ὑπερέχοντι τῆς δυνάμεως ἐν μόνῃ τῇ τοῦ θελήματος ὁρμῇ κατειργάσατο, περὶ τοῦτο μόνον ἀτονεῖν αὐτὸν οἴεσθαι; εἰ γάρ τις ἀνθρωπικῶς ἐξετάζειν ἐθέλοι, δυσκολώτερον εὑρεθήσεται τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ πάντα τὸν ἐν τούτοις κόσμον μὴ ὄντα παραγαγεῖν εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἢ διὰ κακίας πλανηθεῖσαν ψυχὴν πάλιν ἐπαναγαγεῖν [αὐτὴν] πρὸς τὴν κατὰ φύσιν ζωήν, ὥστε τὸ φιλάνθρωπον θέλημα οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τούτων ἀργὸν ἂν εἴη. τὸ δὲ διαρκὲς τῆς ἐν κακίᾳ τούτῳ ζωῆς οὐ θεόθεν τὰς ἀφορμὰς ἔχει· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ζῆν τὴν δύναμιν παρὰ τοῦ τὴν ζωὴν πεποιηκότος ἐδέξατο, τοῦ δὲ κακῶς ζῆν ἡ οἰκεία καθηγεῖται προαίρεσις, ἧς μὴ πρὸς τοῦτο τὴν ῥοπὴν ἐχούσης οὐδ' ἂν ἦν ὅλως ἐν κακίᾳ ὁ ἄνθρω πος. κακὸν γὰρ κατ' οἰκείαν ὑπόστασιν οὐδέν, μὴ ἐν τῇ προαιρέσει τοῦ κακῶς βιοῦντος δημιουργούμενον. εἰ οὖν τῆς συνισταμένης ἔν τινι κακίας ὁ θεὸς ἀναίτιος, οὐκέτι ἂν εὐλόγως εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἀναφέροιτο τῆς ἐν κακίᾳ τούτων ζωῆς ἡ αἰτία. Ἀλλὰ διὰ τί, πάντως ἐρεῖς, τὸν μὲν προνοητικῶς ὑπεξάγει τοῦ βίου πρὶν τελειωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ κακοῦ τὴν προαίρεσιν, τὸν 93 δὲ καταλείπει γενέσθαι τοιοῦτον, ὡς ἄμεινον αὐτῷ εἶναι τὸ μὴ γενέσθαι ὅλως; πρὸς δὲ τοῦτο τοιοῦτόν τινα τοῖς εὐγνωμονεστέροις ἀποδώσομεν λόγον, ὅτι πολλάκις ἡ ζωὴ τῶν εὖ βεβιωκότων καὶ τοῖς ἐξ αὐτῶν αἰτία τοῦ βελτίονος γίνεται. καὶ μυρίαι τούτων ἐκ τῆς θεοπνεύστου γραφῆς αἱ μαρτυρίαι, δι' ὧν σαφῶς διδασκόμεθα τῆς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ γενομένης τοῖς ἀξίοις κηδεμονίας καὶ τοὺς ἐξ αὐτῶν συμμετέχειν. ἀγαθὸν δ' ἂν εἴη κεφάλαιον καὶ τὸ ἐμποδών τινι πρὸς κακίαν γενέσθαι τῷ μέλλοντι πάντως κατ' ἐκείνην βιώσεσθαι. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν ἀδήλων ὁ λόγος ἐνταῦθα καταστοχάζεται, πάντως οὐδεὶς αἰτιάσεται πολλαχῇ τοῦ στοχασμοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν ἄγοντος. οὐ μόνον γὰρ τοῖς καθηγουμένοις τοῦ γένους εἴποι τις ἂν τὸν θεὸν χαριζόμενον ὑπεξάγειν τῆς κακῆς ζωῆς τὸν κατ' αὐτὴν βιωσόμενον, ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ μηδὲν εἴη τοιοῦτον ἐπὶ τῶν πρὸ ὥρας ἀναρπαζομένων, οὐδὲν ἀπεικὸς οἴεσθαι τὸ χαλεπώτερον ἂν ἐκείνους ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι τοῦ κατὰ κακίαν βίου ἢ τούτων ἕκαστον τῶν ἐπὶ πονηρίᾳ γνωρισθέντων παρὰ τὸν βίον. τὸ γὰρ μηδὲν ἀθεεὶ γίνεσθαι διὰ πολλῶν ἐπεγνώκαμεν, τὸ δ' αὖ πάλιν μὴ τυχαῖά τε καὶ ἄλογα εἶναι τὰ θεόθεν οἰκονομούμενα πᾶς ἂν ὁμολογήσειεν, εἰδὼς ὅτι ὁ θεὸς λόγος ἐστὶ καὶ σοφία καὶ πᾶσα ἀρετὴ καὶ ἀλήθεια, οὐδὲν δὲ τοῦ λόγου ἄλογον οὐδὲ τοῦ σοφοῦ τι ἄσοφον, οὐδ' ἂν ἡ ἀρετή τε καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια τὸ μὴ ἐνάρετόν τε καὶ ἔξω τοῦ ἀληθοῦς καταδέξαιτο.

Εἴτε οὖν κατὰ τὰς εἰρημένας αἰτίας ἄωροί τινες ἀναρπάζονται εἴτε τι καὶ ἕτερον παρὰ τὰ εἰρημένα ἐστί, τὸ πάντως ἐπὶ 94 σκοπῷ τῷ βελτίονι ταῦτα γίνεσθαι συνομολογεῖσθαι προσήκει. οἶδα δέ τινα καὶ λόγον ἕτερον παρὰ τῆς τοῦ ἀποστόλου σοφίας μαθών, δι' ὅν τινες τῶν κατὰ κακίαν ὑπερβαλλόντων κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν προαίρεσιν ζῆσαι ἀφείθησαν· γυμνάσας γὰρ ἐπὶ πλέον τὴν τοιαύτην διάνοιαν ἐν τῷ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους λόγῳ καὶ ἀνθυπενεγκὼν ἑαυτῷ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ ἀκολούθου ἀντιτιθέμενον, τὸ μὴ ἂν εὐλόγως ἐν αἰτίᾳ τὸν κακὸν ἔτι γενέσθαι, εἴπερ θεόθεν ἔχει τὸ κακὸς εἶναι, μὴ ἂν γενόμενος πάντως, εἴπερ ἀβούλητον ἦν τῷ ἐπικρατοῦντι τῶν ὄντων, οὕτως ἀπαντᾷ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ βαθυτέρας τινὸς θεωρίας τὴν ἀνθυποφορὰν ὑπεκλύων· φησὶ γὰρ τὸν θεὸν ἑκάστῳ τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν νέμοντα ἔστιν ὅπου καὶ τῇ κακίᾳ διδόναι χώραν ἐπὶ σκοπῷ τῷ βελτίονι· τούτου γὰρ ἕνεκεν ἐᾶσαι γενέσθαι καὶ τοιοῦτον γενέσθαι τὸν Αἰγύπτιον τύραννον, ὡς ἂν τῇ ἐκείνου πληγῇ ὁ Ἰσραὴλ παιδευθείη, ὁ πολὺς ἐκεῖνος λαὸς καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἐξ ἀριθμοῦ περίληψιν διαβαίνων. ἴσως γὰρ τῆς θείας δυνάμεως διὰ πάντων γνωριζομένης καὶ πρὸς τὸ εὐεργετεῖν τοὺς ἀξίους ἱκανῶς ἐχούσης καὶ πρὸς τὴν κόλασιν τῆς κακίας οὐκ ἀτονούσης, ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντως ἐχρῆν ἀποικισθῆναι τῆς