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concerning the angels to Sodom and Gomorrah he says: I will not hide from Abraham my servant what I am about to do. What friend so reveals mysteries to a friend, as God revealed to Abraham? And I think that even to this day such a thing has not been granted by God to the so-called Encratites or Apotactites, which was granted to Abraham, who ate meat and lived with his wife. And what will they say about Isaac, who ate the kids prepared by Rebecca his wife and brought in by Jacob his son, how after eating the savory foods and drinking the wine he blessed Jacob, saying: May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, and may nations serve you and rulers bow down to you, and may you be lord of your brother. And not one word of the blessing failed, but the entire paternal blessing came upon Jacob. And what about Jacob himself and all the saints, I mean Moses and Aaron and consequently all the saints under the law who were pleasing to God, how they all ate meat and gave thanks to the Creator? But the holy Samuel himself, given at the age of three to the house of God and brought up in the holy of holies, partakes of the creatures of God and having anointed Saul as king permitted him and all the people to eat. And a certain prophet about them: Moses and Aaron among his priests and Samuel among those who call upon his name; they called upon the Lord, and he heard them. In a pillar of cloud he spoke to them. And it would be consistent to speak about all the saints, how all partook of God's creatures with thanksgiving and glorified the Creator. But lest by the multitude of words we should make the readers more sluggish, we were content to show that God both accepted the sacrifices from the saints and permitted them to eat with thanksgiving and reverence. And if any of the saints abstained from foods for a short time, he did not abstain as from unclean things. For what reward is there for abstaining from an unclean thing? But each of the reverent from pleasant and permitted things, for example, one abstains from a wife although God has permitted partaking of a wife; but for the greater crowns of chastity he abstains from his wife, being chaste, for no one who abstains from adultery or fornication has been crowned. For if he had done these things, both the law of God and that of men would have condemned him. Again, one abstains from foods which God created to be received by the faithful and those who have known the truth; but nevertheless, abstaining from these things, he does not abstain as from unclean things, otherwise, he has no reward. For no one abstaining from things sacrificed to idols, when no necessity is laid upon him, has been praised or has expected a reward for this, but in these holy fasts abstaining even from bread and water. By the same reasoning, therefore, if any of the holy men abstained from any marriage or foods or wine; for it is not possible to find in the scriptures of God any of the saints abstaining from all things, lest they should give a pretext to heretics. But if they praise this saint for chastity, they condemn him for his foods. Again, if they find someone abstaining from wine, they abominate him for his marriage; and in general you will not find any of the saints completely agreeing with their dogma. Nevertheless, they themselves also have something to boast about concerning abstinence from foods. For just as we have shown the holy patriarchs both offering to God from His creatures, so also they have Esau who neither offered sacrifices to God nor tasted meat or drank wine, but ate a pottage of lentils and thus sold his birthright. And the apostle also testifies to this, saying: Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one meal sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance. And here he called gluttony fornication. And these things from

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τοὺς ἀγγέλους εἰς Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα λέγει· Οὐ μὴ κρύψω ἐγὼ ἀπὸ Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ παιδός μου ἃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ. Ποῖος φίλος οὕτως ἀποκαλύπτει μυστήρια φίλῳ, ὡς ὁ θεὸς ἀπεκάλυψε τῷ Ἀβραάμ; Καὶ νομίζω μέχρι καὶ τῆς σήμερον μὴ ὑπάρξαι τοιοῦτον παρὰ θεοῦ τοῖς λεγομένοις Ἐγκρατέσιν ἢ Ἀποτακτίταις, ὃ ὑπῆρξε τῷ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ ἐσθίοντι κρέα καὶ συνοικοῦντι γυναικί. Τί δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ ἐροῦσι τοῦ φαγόντος τοὺς ἐρίφους ἐσκευασμένους ὑπὸ Ῥεβέκκας τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰσενεχθέντας ὑπὸ Ἰακὼβ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, πῶς φαγὼν τῶν ἐδεσμάτων καὶ πιὼν τοῦ οἴνου εὐλόγησε τὸν Ἰακὼβ λέγων· ∆ῴη σοι ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῆς δρόσου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πιότητος τῆς γῆς καὶ δουλευσάτωσάν σοι ἔθνη καὶ προσκυνησάτωσάν σε ἄρχοντες καὶ γίνῃ κύριος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου. Καὶ οὐ διέπεσεν εἷς λόγος τῆς εὐλογίας, ἀλλ' ἐπῆλθε πᾶσα ἡ πατρικὴ εὐλογία ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰακώβ. Τί δὲ καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων, λέγω δὴ Μωϋσέως καὶ Ἀαρὼν καὶ ἀκολούθως πάντων τῶν ἁγίων τῶν ἐννόμων εὐαρεστησάντων τῷ θεῷ, πῶς πάντες ἤσθιον κρέας καὶ ηὐχαρίστουν τῷ δημιουργῷ; Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ ἅγιος Σαμουὴλ ὁ τριετὴς ἀποδοθεὶς τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις τῶν ἁγίων ἀνατραφείς, μεταλαμβάνει τῶν κτισμάτων τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὸν Σαοὺλ χρίσας εἰς βασιλέα ἐπέτρεψε τούτῳ ἐσθίειν καὶ παντὶ τῷ λαῷ. Καί τις προφήτης περὶ αὐτῶν· Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ Σαμουὴλ ἐν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπεκαλοῦντο τὸν κύριον, καὶ αὐτὸς εἰσήκουσεν αὐτῶν· ἐν στύλῳ νεφέλης ἐλάλει πρὸς αὐτούς. Καὶ ἦν ἀκολούθως εἰπεῖν περὶ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων, πῶς πάντες μετ' εὐχαριστίας τῶν κτισμάτων τοῦ θεοῦ μετελάμβανον καὶ τὸν δημιουργὸν ἐδόξαζον. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ τῷ πλήθει τῶν λόγων ὀκνηροτέρους ποιήσωμεν τοὺς ἐντυγ χάνοντας, ἠρκέσθημεν δεῖξαι ὅτι καὶ ὁ θεὸς προσεδέξατο παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων τὰς θυσίας καὶ αὐτοῖς ἐπέτρεψε μετ' εὐχαριστίας καὶ εὐλαβείας ἐσθίειν. Εἰ δὲ καί τις τῶν ἁγίων ἀπέσχετο βρωμάτων πρὸς βραχύ, οὐχ ὡς ἀπὸ ἀκαθάρτων ἀπέσχετο. Ποῖος γὰρ μισθὸς ἀπὸ ἀκαθάρτου ἀπέχεσθαι; Ἀλλ' ἕκαστος τῶν εὐλαβῶν ἀπὸ τῶν ἡδέων καὶ ἐπιτετραμμένων οἷον ἀπέχεταί τις γυναικὸς καίπερ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπιτρέψαντος μεταλαμβάνειν γυναικός· ἀλλὰ διὰ τοὺς στεφάνους τῆς ἁγνείας τοὺς κρείττονας ἀπέχεται τῆς γυναικὸς ἁγνεύων, οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀπεχόμενος μοιχείας ἢ πορνείας ἐστεφανώθη. Ταῦτα γὰρ εἰ ἔπραξε, καὶ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ νόμος καὶ ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατέκρινεν αὐτόν. Πάλιν ἀπέχεταί τις βρωμάτων ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἔκτισεν εἰς μετάληψιν τοῖς πιστοῖς καὶ ἐπεγνωκόσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν· ἀλλ' ὅμως ἀπεχόμενος τούτων, οὐχ ὡς ἀπὸ ἀκαθάρτων ἀπέχεται, εἰ δὲ μή γε, μισθὸν οὐκ ἔχει. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ εἰδωλοθύτων ἀνάγκης αὐτῷ μὴ ἐπικειμένης ἐπῃνέθη ἢ μισθὸν περὶ τούτου προσεδόκησεν, ἐν ταύταις δὲ ταῖς ἁγίαις νηστείαις καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἄρτου καὶ τοῦ ὕδατος ἀπεχόμενος. Τῷ αὐτῷ οὖν λόγῳ καὶ εἴ τις τῶν ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν ἀπέσχετό τινος γάμου ἢ βρωμάτων ἢ οἴνου· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς τοῦ θεοῦ τινα τῶν ἁγίων πάντων ἀπεχόμενον, ἵνα μὴ δῶσιν αἱρετικοῖς λαβήν. Ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ ἐπαινοῦσι τόνδε τὸν ἅγιον δι' ἁγνείαν, διὰ τὰ βρώμα τα αὐτὸν κατακρίνουσι. Πάλιν ἐὰν εὕρωσί τινα οἴνου ἀπεχόμενον, διὰ τὸν γάμον τοῦτον βδελύσσονται· καὶ ὅλως οὐχ εὑρήσεις τινὰ τῶν ἁγίων δι' ὅλου τῷ δόγματι αὐτῶν συν τρέχοντα. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔχουσί τι καυχήσασθαι περὶ ἐγκρατείας βρωμάτων· ὡς γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἐδείξαμεν τοὺς ἁγίους πατριάρχας καὶ θεῷ προσκομίσαντας τῶν κτισμάτων αὐτοῦ, οὕτως καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔχουσι τὸν Ἠσαῦ μήτε θεῷ θυσίας προσκομί σαντα μήτε κρεῶν ἀπογευσάμενον ἢ οἶνον πιόντα, ἀλλ' ἕψεμα φακοῦ φαγόντα καὶ οὕτως ἀποδόμενον τὰ πρωτοτόκια. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος λέγων· Μήτε πόρνος ἢ βέβηλος ὡς Ἠσαῦ, ὃς ἀντὶ μιᾶς βρώσεως ἀπέδω τὰ πρωτοτόκια αὐτοῦ. Ἴστε γὰρ ὅτι καὶ μετέπειτα θέλων κληρονομῆσαι τὴν εὐλογίαν ἀπεδοκιμάσθη, μετανοίας γὰρ τόπον οὐχ εὗρε. Πορνείαν δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὴν γαστρι μαργίαν ὠνόμασεν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἀπὸ