troubling our argument; since Paul says: “But we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” But let him observe that the Apostle immediately also gave the reason for their being “called according to purpose,” saying: “Because those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” And who, indeed, should have been included in the justifying call according to the purpose of God, rather than those who love him? And he completely establishes the cause of the purpose and of the foreknowledge as being from what is in our power by the words: “But we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” For he nearly said that all things work together for good for this reason: because those who love God are worthy of cooperation. At the same time, let us also ask those who say the opposite things, and let them answer us concerning these matters. Let it be assumed that something is in our power; and we will say this to them who deny what is in our power, until from the given assumption their argument is proved to be unsound. Indeed, with something being in our power, will God, having considered the sequence of future events, foreknow the things that will be done by what is in our power by each of those who have what is in their power, or will he not foreknow? To say, then, “He will not foreknow,” is characteristic of one who is ignorant of the mind that is over all things and of the greatness of God. But if they grant that he will foreknow, let us again ask them, is his having known the cause of future events coming to be, given that what is in our power exists? or did he foreknow because it will be, and is his foreknowledge in no way the cause of the future events from what is in the power of each one? It was possible, therefore, when certain things occurred, for the one created with free will to do not this but that. 25.4 Therefore, when these and such things are said, there is also preserved: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your master”; and all praise. And the reasonableness is also preserved of: “Wicked and lazy servant, you ought to have put my money into the bank.” And in this way only will the things be preserved that are justly said to those on the right: “Come to me, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; because I was hungry, and you gave me to eat,” and the rest; but to those on the left: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels; because I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat,” and the rest. But if indeed “set apart for the gospel of God” and “He who set me apart from my mother's womb” contained some necessity, how could he reasonably say: “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, having preached to others, I myself should become disqualified”; and: “For woe is to me if I do not preach the gospel”? For from these things he clearly shows that if he had not disciplined his body and brought it into subjection, it was possible for him, having preached to others, to become disqualified, and that it was possible for woe to come upon him if he did not preach the gospel. Perhaps, then, God set him apart from his mother's womb with these things, and set him apart for the gospel of God, having seen the cause of the just separation, that he would discipline his body and bring it into subjection, being careful lest, having preached to others, he himself should become disqualified, and that, knowing that woe would be to him if he did not preach the gospel, out of fear of God, so as not to be in woe, he did not keep silent but preached the gospel. And He who set him apart from his mother's womb and He who set him apart for his own gospel also saw these things, that he would be “in labors more abundantly, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths often; from the Jews five times he will receive forty stripes save one, three times he will be beaten with rods, once he will be stoned”; and he will suffer certain things like these, boasting in tribulations and knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and enduring. For these reasons, therefore, it was fitting for him to be set apart for the gospel of God, being foreknown to be so, and to be set apart from his mother's womb. And he was set apart for the gospel of God not because of a nature having something exceptional and, as far as its constitution, superior to the natures of those not such, but because of

θλίβον ἡμῶν τὸν λόγον· ἐπεί φησιν ὁ Παῦλος· «Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν θεὸν πάντα συνεργεῖ εἰς ἀγαθόν, τοῖς κατὰ πρόθεσιν κλητοῖς οὖσιν.» Ἀλλὰ προσεχέτω ὅτι τοῦ κατὰ πρόθεσιν εἶναι κλητοὺς τὴν αἰτίαν καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἀποδέδωκεν εὐθέως, εἰπών· «Ὅτι οὓς προέγνω, καὶ προώρισεν συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ.» Καὶ τίνα γε μᾶλλον ἐχρῆν ἐγκαταχωρισθῆναι εἰς τὴν δικαιοῦσαν κλῆσιν τῇ προθέσει τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας αὐτόν; πάνυ δὲ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν αἰτίαν παρίστησι τῆς προθέσεως καὶ τῆς προγνώσεως τό· «Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν θεὸν πάντα συνεργεῖ εἰς ἀγαθόν.» Σχεδὸν γὰρ εἶπεν ὅτι πάντα συνεργοῦντα εἰς ἀγαθὸν διὰ τοῦτο συνεργεῖ, ἐπεὶ ἄξιοί εἰσι συνεργίας οἱ ἀγαπῶντες τὸν θεόν. Ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἐρωτήσωμεν τοὺς τὰ ἐναντία λέγον τας, καὶ ἀποκρινάσθωσαν ἡμῖν πρὸς ταῦτα. Ἔστω καθ' ὑπό θεσιν εἶναί τινα ἐφ' ἡμῖν· καὶ τοῦτο ἐροῦμεν αὐτοῖς ἀναιροῦσι τὸ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, ἕως ἐκ τῆς διδομένης ὑποθέσεως ἐλεγχθῇ αὐτῶν ὁ λόγος οὐχ ὑγιὴς ὤν. Ὄντος δὴ τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, ἆρα ὁ θεὸς ἐπιβαλὼν τῷ εἱρμῷ τῶν ἐσομένων προγνώσεται τὰ πραχθησόμενα ἐκ τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἐχόντων τὸ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, ἢ οὐ προγνώσεται; Τὸ μὲν οὖν λέγειν· Οὐ προγνώσεται, ἀγνοοῦντός ἐστι τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι νοῦν καὶ τὴν μεγαλωσύνην τοῦ θεοῦ. Εἰ δὲ δώσουσιν ὅτι προγνώσεται, πάλιν ἐρωτήσωμεν αὐτούς, ἆρα τὸ ἐγνωκέναι αὐτὸν αἴτιόν ἐστι τοῦ ἔσεσθαι τὰ ἐσόμενα, διδομένου τοῦ εἶναι τὸ ἐφ' ἡμῖν; ἢ ἐπεὶ ἔσται προέγνω, καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἐστὶν αἰτία αὐτοῦ ἡ πρόγνωσις τῶν ἐσομένων ἐκ τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἑκάστῳ; ∆υνατὸν οὖν ἦν τῶνδέ τινων ἀπαντησάντων μὴ τόδε ἀλλὰ τόδε ἐνεργῆσαι τὸν δημιουργηθέντα αὐτεξούσιον. 25.4 Τούτων οὖν καὶ τοιούτων ἂν λεχθησομένων, σῴζεται καὶ τό· «Εὖγε, ἀγαθὲ δοῦλε καὶ πιστέ· ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ἦς πιστός, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω· εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κυρίου σου»· καὶ πᾶς ἔπαινος. Σώζεται δὲ καὶ τὸ εὔλογον τοῦ· «Πονηρὲ δοῦλε καὶ ὀκνηρέ, ἔδει σε βαλεῖν τὸ ἀργύριόν μου εἰς τράπεζαν.» Οὕτω δὲ σωθήσεται μόνως τὰ δικαίως λεγόμενα πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἐκ δεξιῶν· «∆εῦτε πρός με οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου, κληρονο μήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου· ὅτι ἐπείνασα, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν», καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἐξ εὐωνύμων· «Πορεύεσθε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ οἱ κατηραμένοι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον, τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ· ὅτι ἐπείνων, καὶ οὐκ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν», καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴπερ τό· «Ἀφωρισμένος εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ»· καὶ τό· «Ὁ ἀφορίσας με ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου»· ἀνάγκην τινὰ περιεῖχε, πῶς ἂν εὐλόγως ἔφασκε τό· «Ὑποπιάζω μου τὸ σῶμα καὶ δουλαγωγῶ, μήπως ἄλλοις κηρύξας αὐτὸς ἀδόκιμος γένωμαι»· καὶ τό· «Οὐαὶ γάρ μοί ἐστιν ἐὰν μὴ εὐαγγελίζωμαι;» Σαφῶς γὰρ ἐκ τούτων παρίστησιν ὅτι εἰ μὴ ὑπεπίαζεν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα καὶ ἐδουλαγώγει οἷόν τε ἦν αὐτὸν ἄλλοις κηρύξαντα ἀδόκιμον γενέσθαι, καὶ ὅτι δυνατὸν ἦν οὐαὶ αὐτῷ γενέσθαι εἰ μὴ εὐηγγελίζετο. Μήποτε οὖν σὺν τούτοις ἀφώρισεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός, καὶ ἀφώρισεν αὐτὸν εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ, σὺν τῷ ἑωρακέναι τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ δικαίου ἀφορισμοῦ, ὅτι ὑποπιάσει τὸ σῶμα καὶ δουλαγωγήσει εὐλαβούμενος μήπως ἄλλοις κηρύξας αὐτὸς ἀδόκιμος γένηται, καὶ ὅτι, εἰδὼς οὐαὶ αὐτῷ ἔσεσθαι ἐὰν μὴ εὐαγγελίσηται, φόβῳ τῷ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν πρὸς τὸ μὴ γενέσθαι ἐν τῷ οὐαὶ οὐκ ἐσιώπα ἀλλ' εὐηγγελίζετο. Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ ἑώρα ὁ ἀφορίζων αὐτὸν ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ ἀφορίζων αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ εὐαγγέλιον, ὅτι «ἐν κόποις ἔσται περισσοτέρως, ἐν φυλακαῖς περισσευόντως, ἐν πληγαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως, ἐν θανάτοις πολλάκις· ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων πεντάκις τεσσαράκοντα παρὰ μίαν λήψεται, τρὶς ῥαβδι σθήσεται, ἅπαξ λιθασθήσεται»· καὶ τάδε τινὰ πείσεται καυχώμενος ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσι καὶ εἰδὼς ὅτι ἡ θλίψις ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται καὶ ὑπομένων. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα δὲ ἄξιον ἦν αὐτὸν ἀφορισθῆναι εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ προγινωσκόμενον ἔσεσθαι, καὶ ἀφορισθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἀφωρίζετο εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ οὐ διὰ τὴν φύσιν ἔχουσάν τι ἐξαίρετον καὶ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ κατασκευῇ ὑπὲρ τὰς τῶν μὴ τοιούτων φύσεις, ἀλλὰ διὰ