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And Euripides also agrees, crying out: things unspeakable for uninitiated mortals to know. For to the uninitiated, how could one bring the divine teachings? And how could one be initiated, not having strengthened in himself by faith the doctrines brought forth by the teachers? And how could one believe, without first banishing from his mind the lessons badly implanted beforehand? True, then, is that tragic saying, which Euripides spoke in the 1.87 *Phoenissae*: But the unjust argument, being sick in [it]self, needs wise medicines. And that God also works with those who desire to obtain healing, the same tragedian said: And to him who labors, God also gives a hand. 1.88 Faith, therefore, is a most useful thing; for indeed according to Epicharmus, the Pythagorean I mean, mind sees, and mind hears; the rest are deaf and blind. And Heraclitus again exhorts to be guided by faith, saying thus: "If you do not expect, you will not find the unexpected, it being unsearchable and inaccessible." And again: "Those who seek for gold dig up much earth and find a little." But if 1.89 they endure so much labor, and indeed also danger, for the sake of a few particles, who is so unloving of divine things as to shun the teaching about the truth, which has a ten-thousandfold profit? 1.90 Let no one, therefore, O friends, speak against faith. For indeed Aristotle called faith a criterion of knowledge; and Epicurus called it a preconception of the mind; and that preconception, 1.91 having acquired knowledge, becomes comprehension. But according to our account, faith is a voluntary assent of the soul, or a contemplation of an unseen thing, or a position regarding what is and a comprehension of things by nature invisible, or an indubitable 1.92 disposition established in the souls of those who possess it. Faith, however, needs knowledge, just as, in turn, knowledge needs faith; for neither is there faith without knowledge, nor could there be knowledge without faith; however, faith leads knowledge, and knowledge follows faith, and impulse holds to knowledge, and action follows 1.93 this; for one must first believe, then learn, and having known, be moved to action, and having been moved, to act. For it is not even possible to learn the first elements without having trusted the schoolmaster, that one must name the first thus and the second thus, and the others in the same way; 1.94 for if indeed he should immediately object, saying that one must not call the first alpha, but give it another name, he would not learn the truth, but would of necessity wander about and take falsehood for truth; but if, having trusted the teacher, he should receive the lessons according to his rules, knowledge will follow faith as quickly as possible. 1.95 Thus also it is proper for the geometer to trust the one teaching that there is a point, which is altogether without parts, and that there is a length deprived of breadth; but this no one could ever prove by reason; for if he should take away the breadth from the length, the length would surely disappear along with the width; but nevertheless the geometer commands one to think thus, and the one who is eager to learn those linear figures is persuaded and readily believes. 1.96 Thus those who attend the astronomers believe them, and they state the number of the stars and measure the intervals by which they are distant from each other, and by how many myriads of stades the visible heaven is distant from the earth; and although there is much disagreement in the measurement, with some saying it is four hundred and seventy myriads of stades, others less, and others much more, nevertheless the students are persuaded by their teachers and believe what is said by them. 1.97 And again, there is much dispute among them concerning the sun. For Anaximander and Anaximenes said it was twenty-seven times the size of the earth, but Anaxagoras said it was larger than the Peloponnese, and Heraclitus of Ephesus said it was a foot wide.1.98 Who then could laugh worthily at such a disagreement? for their dissension was not about some small measure, but about an infinite one, and as much as one could not represent in words. For who could encompass the whole earth with a measure, and then, having multiplied the measure twenty-seven times, bring it together

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Ξυμφωνεῖ δὲ καὶ ὁ Εὐριπίδης βοῶν· ἄρρητ' ἀβακχεύτοισιν εἰδέναι βροτῶν. Τοῖς γὰρ ἀμυήτοις πῶς ἄν τις προσενέγκοι τὰ θεῖα παιδεύ ματα; πῶς δ' ἂν μυηθείη τις, μὴ τῇ πίστει κρατύνας ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὰ παρὰ τῶν διδασκάλων προσφερόμενα δόγματα; Πῶς δ' ἂν πιστεύσαι, μὴ πρότερον ἐξορίσας τῆς διανοίας τὰ κακῶς προεντε 1.87 θέντα μαθήματα; Ἀληθὴς ἄρα ὁ τραγικὸς λόγος ἐκεῖνος, ὃν ἐν 1.87 Φοινίσσαις εἴρηκεν Εὐριπίδης· ὁ δ' ἄδικος λόγος νοσῶν ἐν [ἑ]αυτῷ φαρμάκων δεῖται σοφῶν. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ξυνεργεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀπολαῦσαι θεραπείας ἐφιε μένοις, ὁ αὐτὸς τραγῳδοποιὸς ἔφη· τῷ δ' αὖ πονοῦντι καὶ θεὸς ξυλλαμβάνει. 1.88 Προυργιαίτατον ἄρα χρῆμα ἡ πίστις· κατὰ γὰρ δὴ τὸν Ἐπί χαρμον, τὸν Πυθαγόρειον λέγω, νοῦς ὁρῇ, καὶ νοῦς ἀκούει, τἄλλα κωφὰ καὶ τυφλά. Καὶ ὁ Ἡράκλειτος δὲ πάλιν παρεγγυᾷ ξεναγεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς πίστεως, οὕτω λέγων· "Ἐὰν μὴ ἐλπίζητε, ἀνέλπιστον οὐχ εὑρή σετε, ἀνεξερεύνητον ἐὸν καὶ ἄπορον." Καὶ πάλιν· "Χρυσὸν οἱ διζήμενοι γῆν πολλὴν ὀρύσσουσι καὶ εὑρίσκουσιν ὀλίγον." Εἰ 1.89 δὲ ἐκεῖνοι ὀλίγων ἕνεκα ψηγμάτων πλεῖστον ὅσον ὑπομένουσι πό νον, καὶ μέντοι καὶ κίνδυνον, τίς οὕτως ἐστὶ τῶν θείων ἀνέρα στος, ὡς τὴν περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας διαδρᾶναι διδασκαλίαν, μυριο πλάσιον ἔχουσαν κέρδος; 1.90 Μηδεὶς τοίνυν, ὦ φίλοι, κατηγορείτω τῆς πίστεως. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ τὴν πίστιν Ἀριστοτέλης κριτήριον ἐπιστήμης ἐκάλεσεν· ὁ δέ γε Ἐπίκουρος πρόληψιν διανοίας αὐτὴν ἐκάλεσε· τὴν δὲ πρό 1.91 ληψιν, προσλαβοῦσαν τὴν γνῶσιν, κατάληψιν γίνεσθαι. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν ἡμέτερον λόγον πίστις ἐστὶν ἑκούσιος τῆς ψυχῆς ξυγκα τάθεσις, ἢ ἀφανοῦς πράγματος θεωρία, ἢ περὶ τὸ ὂν στάσις καὶ κατάληψις τῶν ἀοράτων τῇ φύσει ξύμμετρος, ἢ διάθεσις ἀναμφί 1.92 βολος ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν κεκτημένων ἐνιδρυμένη. ∆εῖται μέν τοι ἡ πίστις τῆς γνώσεως, καθάπερ αὖ ἡ γνῶσις τῆς πίστεως· οὔτε γὰρ πίστις ἄνευ γνώσεως, οὔτε γνῶσις δίχα ἂν πίστεως γένοιτο· ἡγεῖται μέντοι τῆς γνώσεως ἡ πίστις, ἕπεται δὲ τῇ πίστει ἡ γνῶσις, ἔχεται δὲ τῆς γνώσεως ἡ ὁρμή, ἀκολουθεῖ δὲ 1.93 ταύτῃ ἡ πρᾶξις· δεῖ γὰρ πιστεῦσαι πρῶτον, εἶτα μαθεῖν, γνόντα δὲ ὁρμῆσαι, ὁρμήσαντα δὲ πρᾶξαι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τὰ πρῶτα στοιχεῖα μαθεῖν οἷόν τε μὴ τῷ γραμματιστῇ πεπιστευκότα, ὅτι τοιῶσδε χρὴ τὸ πρῶτον ὀνομάζειν καὶ τοιῶσδε τὸ δεύτερον, καὶ τἄλλα 1.94 ὡσαύτως· εἰ γὰρ δὴ εὐθὺς ἀντείποι, φάσκων μὴ χρῆναι ἄλφα τὸ πρῶτον προσαγορεῦσαι, ἀλλ' ἕτερον αὐτῷ ὄνομα ἐπιθεῖναι, οὐκ ἂν μάθοι τἀληθές, ἀλλ' ἀνάγκη περιπλανᾶσθαι καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος ὑπολαμβάνειν ἀλήθειαν· εἰ δὲ πιστεύσας τῷ διδασκάλῳ, κατὰ τοὺς ἐκείνου νόμους τὰ μαθήματα δέξαιτο, ἕψεται ὅτι τάχιστα 1.95 τῇ πίστει ἡ γνῶσις. Οὕτω καὶ τῷ γεωμέτρῃ προσήκει πιστεῦσαι διδάσκοντι εἶναι μέν τι σημεῖον, ὃ παντάπασίν ἐστιν ἀμερές, εἶναι δέ τι μῆκος εὔρους ἐστερημένον· τοῦτο δέ γε λόγῳ οὐδεὶς ἂν ἀποδείξαι ποτέ· εἰ γὰρ ἀφέλοι τοῦ μήκους τὸ εὖρος, ξυναφα νισθήσεται δήπουθεν τῷ πλάτει τὸ μῆκος· ἀλλ' ὅμως οὕτω κελεύει νοεῖν ὁ γεωμέτρης, καὶ πείθεταί γε καὶ πιστεύει προχείρως ὁ 1.96 τὰ γραμμικὰ σχήματα ἐκεῖνα μαθεῖν ὀριγνώμενος. Οὕτω τοῖς ἀστρονόμοις οἱ φοιτῶντες πιστεύουσι, καὶ τῶν ἄστρων τὸν ἀριθμὸν λέγουσι καὶ τὰ διαστήματα μετροῦσιν, οἷς ἀφεστήκασιν ἀλλήλων, καὶ πόσαις μυριάσι σταδίων τῆς γῆς ἀφέστηκεν ὁ ὁρώμενος οὐ ρανός· καὶ πολλῆς οὔσης ἐν τῷ μέτρῳ διαφωνίας, καὶ τῶν μὲν τετρακοσίας καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα σταδίων μυριάδας εἶναι λεγόντων, τῶν δὲ ἐλάττους, τῶν δὲ πολλῷ πλείους, ὅμως πείθονται οἱ φοι τηταὶ τοῖς διδασκάλοις καὶ τοῖς παρ' αὐτῶν λεγομένοις πι 1.97 στεύουσιν. Καὶ αὖ πάλιν περὶ ἡλίου λογομαχία παρ' ἐκείνοις πολλή. Ἀναξίμανδρος μὲν γὰρ καὶ Ἀναξιμένης ἑπτακαιει- κοσαπλασίονα τῆς γῆς τοῦτον ἔφασαν εἶναι, Ἀναξαγόρας δὲ Πελοποννήσου μείζονα, Ἡράκλειτος δὲ ὁ Ἐφέσιος ποδιαῖον.1.98 Τίς οὖν ἄρα ἀξίως τὴν τοιαύτην διαφωνίαν γελάσειεν; οὐδὲ γὰρ περὶ σμικροῦ τινος αὐτοῖς μέτρου γέγονεν ἡ διχόνοια, ἀλλὰ περὶ ἀπείρου, καὶ ὅσον οὐκ ἄν τις παραστήσαι τῷ λόγῳ. Τίς γὰρ ἅπασαν μέτρῳ ἂν περιλάβοι τὴν γῆν, εἶτα ἑπτάκις καὶ εἰκοσάκις πολυπλασιάσας τὸ μέτρον, ξυναγάγοι