13

it presides over all, and having comprehended all good things, it holds them within itself, so that even God Himself rejoices to hear this rather than anything else, since it is called by many names, shall we then suppose it to be so slight and common a thing, that we only need to wish it to be wise? This is a mark of great ignorance. If we say these things to them, and little by little purge away their error, or someone else who is more ready to learn and more intelligent, this is to sow upon rocks, and to speak into the ears of those who do not hear. Thus they are not wise even in this, to recognize their own ignorance. And it seems to me fitting to say of them the words of Solomon: There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, a man who seemed wise in his own eyes; and what is worse than this, one who is entrusted with teaching others, who is not even aware of his own ignorance. 35.461

ΝΑʹ. This affliction, if any other, is worthy of tears and groans; which I have often lamented, knowing well, that presumption takes away the greater part of being, and that vainglory is a great obstacle to virtue for men; but to heal and arrest the disease would be the work of some Peter or Paul, those great disciples of Christ, who along with the governance in word and deed have received the gift, and have become all things to all men, that they might win all; but for the rest of us it is a great thing, if even we are well governed and led by those entrusted with correcting and directing such things.

ΝΒʹ. But since we have made mention of Paul and those like him, let us leave aside, if you please, all the others, as many as were appointed for the legislation, or prophecy, or generalship, or some other such administration of the people, such as Moses, that Aaron, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, the Judges, Samuel, David, the multitude of the prophets, John, the twelve disciples after them, who each in their own times carried out their leadership with much sweat and toil; passing over all these, let us set forth Paul alone as a witness for our argument, and let us consider in him, how great a thing is the care of souls, and whether it is of small effort, or of little understanding. And that we might most easily know and perceive this, let us hear what Paul himself says about Paul.

ΝΓʹ. I omit to mention the labors, the vigils, the fears, the hardships in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, those plotting from without, those opposing from within. I pass over the persecutions, the councils, the prisons, the bonds, the accusers, the tribunals, the daily and hourly deaths, the basket, the stonings, the beatings with rods, the circuit, the dangers on land, the dangers at sea, the deep, the shipwrecks, dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from false brethren, the life from my hands, the cost-free Gospel, how he was a spectacle both to angels and to men, standing as a mediator between God and men; contending on behalf of the ones, and bringing and reconciling to the other a peculiar people, 35.464 apart from the things without. Who could worthily recount these things: the daily pressure, the care for each one, the anxiety for all the Churches, the sympathy and brotherly love towards all? Someone would stumble, and Paul was weak; and another was made to stumble, and it was Paul who was burning.

Ν∆ʹ. And what of his diligence in teaching? What of the variety of his healing? And his love for mankind? And again, his austerity? And the mixture and combination of both? so as neither to soften with kindness, nor to exasperate with severity. He lays down laws for slaves and masters, rulers and ruled, husbands and wives, parents and children, marriage and celibacy, self-control and luxury, wisdom and ignorance, circumcision and

13

πᾶσιν ἐπιστατεῖ, καὶ πάντα ἐν ἑαυτῇ τὰ καλὰ συλλαβοῦσα ἔχει, ὡς καὶ τὸν Θεὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτο μᾶλλον ἤ τι ἄλλο χαίρειν ἀκούοντα, ἐπειδὴ καλεῖται πολλοῖς ὀνόμασιν, οὕτω κοῦφόν τι καὶ πεπατημένον πρᾶγμα ὑποληψόμεθα, ὥστε θε λῆσαι δεῖν μόνον καὶ εἶναι σοφόν; Πολλῆς τοῦτο τῆς ἀμαθείας. Ἂν ταῦτα λέγωμεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν τὴν πλάνην ἀνακαθαίρωμεν, ἤ τις ἄλλος τῶν εὐμαθεστέρων καὶ συνετωτέρων, τοῦτο ἐκεῖνο κατὰ πετρῶν σπείρειν, καὶ λαλεῖν εἰς ὦτα μὴ ἀκουόντων. Οὕτως οὐδ' αὐτὸ τοῦτό εἰσι σοφοὶ, τὴν ἑαυτῶν γινώσκειν ἀπαιδευσίαν. Καί μοι δοκεῖ καλῶς ἔχειν τὸ τοῦ Σολομῶντος περὶ αὐτῶν εἰ πεῖν· Ἔστι πονηρία, ἣν εἶδον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, ἄνδρα δόξαντα παρ' ἑαυτῷ σοφὸν εἶναι· καὶ ὃ τούτου πονηρότερον, παιδεύειν ἄλλους πεπιστευ μένον τὸν μηδὲ τῆς οἰκείας ἀμαθείας ἐπαισθανό μενον. 35.461

ΝΑʹ. Τοῦτο δακρύων μὲν καὶ στεναγμῶν, εἴπερ τι ἄλλο, τὸ πάθος ἄξιον· ὃ καὶ πολλάκις ἐγὼ κατ ηλέησα, εὖ εἰδὼς, ὅτι τὸ οἴεσθαι τοῦ εἶναι τὸ πλεῖ στον ἀφαιρεῖται, καὶ μέγα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἡ κενο δοξία πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἐμπόδιον· ἰάσασθαι δὲ καὶ στῆσαι τὴν νόσον Πέτρου ἂν εἴη τινὸς ἢ Παύλου, τῶν μεγάλων Χριστοῦ μαθητῶν, καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἐν λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ κυβερνήσεως εἰληφότων τὸ χάρισμα, καὶ πᾶσι πάντα γινομένων, ἵνα τοὺς πάντας κερδήσωσιν· ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις μέγα, κἂν εἰ καλῶς κυβερνοίμεθα καὶ ἀγοίμεθα πρὸς τῶν ἐπανορθοῦν τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ διευθύνειν πεπιστευ μένων.

ΝΒʹ. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδή γε Παύλου καὶ τῶν κατ' ἐκεῖ νον ἐμνήσθημεν, ἀφέντες, εἰ δοκεῖ, τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας, ὅσοι κατὰ νομοθεσίαν, ἢ προφητείαν, ἢ στρατηγίαν, ἤ τινα τοιαύτην ἄλλην οἰκονομίαν τοῦ λαοῦ προεβλήθησαν, οἷον τὸν Μωσῆν, τὸν Ἀαρὼν ἐκεῖνον, τὸν Ἰησοῦν, τὸν Ἡλίαν, τὸν Ἐλισσαῖον, τοὺςκριτὰς, τὸν Σαμουὴλ, τὸν ∆αβὶδ, τῶν προφητῶν τὸ πλῆθος, τὸν Ἰωάννην, τοὺς δώδεκα μαθητὰς τοὺς ἐπ' ἐκείνοις ὕστερον, οἳ πολλοῖς ἱδρῶσι καὶ πόνοις διεξῆλθον τὴν προστασίαν κατὰ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν χρόνους ἕκαστοι· τούτους ὑπερβάντες ἅπαντας, Παῦλον προ στησώμεθα μόνον τοῦ λόγου συνίστορα, κἂν τούτῳ θεωρήσωμεν, ὅσον ἐστὶ καὶ ψυχῶν ἐπιμέλεια, καὶ εἰ βραχείας τῆς πραγματείας, ἢ μικρᾶς τῆς συν έσεως. Ὡς ἂν δὲ ῥᾷστα τοῦτο γνοίημεν καὶ κατίδοι μεν, τί Παῦλος αὐτὸς περὶ Παύλου φησὶ, ἀκούσωμεν.

ΝΓʹ. Ἐῶ λέγειν τοὺς πόνους, τὰς ἀγρυ πνίας, τοὺς φόβους, τὰς ἐν λιμῷ καὶ δίψει κακοπα θείας, τὰς ἐν ψύχει καὶ ἐν γυμνότητι, τοὺς ἔξωθεν ἐπιβουλεύοντας, τοὺς ἔνδοθεν ἀντιπράττοντας. Ἀφ ίημι τοὺς διωγμοὺς, τὰ συνέδρια, τὰ δεσμωτήρια, τὰ δεσμὰ, τοὺς κατηγόρους, τὰ δικαστήρια, τοὺς καθ' ἡμέραν καὶ ὥραν θανάτους, τὴν σαργάνην, τοὺς λιθασμοὺς, τοὺς ῥαβδισμοὺς, τὴν περίοδον, τοὺς κατὰ γῆν κινδύνους, τοὺς κατὰ θάλασσαν, τὸν βυ θὸν, τὰ ναυάγια, κινδύνους ποταμῶν, κινδύνους λῃ στῶν, κινδύνους ἐκ γένους, κινδύνους ἐν ψευδαδέλ φοις, τὸν ἐκ χειρῶν βίον, τὸ ἀδάπανον Εὐαγγέλιον, ὡς θέατρον ἦν καὶ ἀγγέλοις καὶ ἀνθρώποις, μέσος Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἱστάμενος· ὑπὲρ μὲν τῶν ἀγωνιζόμενος, τῷ δὲ προσάγων καὶ οἰκειῶν 35.464 λαὸν περιούσιον, χωρὶς τῶν παρεκτός. Τούτων τίς ἂν ἀξίως διέλθοι τὴν καθ' ἡμέραν ἐπιστα σίαν, τὴν τῶν καθ' ἕκαστον κηδεμονίαν, τὴν μέριμναν πασῶν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν, τὸ πρὸς πάντας συμπαθὲς καὶ φιλάδελφον; Προσέκοπτέ τις, καὶ Παῦλος ἠσθένει· καὶ ἄλλος ἐσκανδαλίζετο, καὶ Παῦλος ἦν ὁ φλεγόμενος.

Ν∆ʹ. Τὸ δὲ τῆς διδασκαλίας φιλόπονον; τὸ δὲ ποι κίλον τῆς θεραπείας; ἡ φιλανθρωπία δέ; τὸ δὲ αὐ στηρὸν πάλιν; ἡ δὲ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων μίξις καὶ κρᾶσις; ὡς μήτε τῇ χρηστότητι μαλακίζειν, μήτε τραχύνειν τῇ χαλεπότητι. Νομοθετεῖ δούλοις καὶ δεσπόταις, ἄρχουσι καὶ ἀρχομένοις, ἀνδράσι καὶ γυναιξὶ, γονεῦσι καὶ τέκνοις, γάμῳ καὶ ἀγαμίᾳ, ἐγ κρατείᾳ καὶ τρυφῇ, σοφίᾳ καὶ ἀμαθείᾳ, περιτομῇ καὶ