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a curse, so that the former condemnation might be loosed, so that you might learn endurance, so that you might be taught perseverance, so that nothing of this present life might grieve you, not death, not insolence, not railings, not mockings, not scourgings, not the plots of enemies, not insults, not attacks, not slanders, not evil suspicions, not anything else of such things. 8.8 For He Himself came through all things and shared in all these things with you and through all things conquered exceedingly, teaching you and instructing you to fear none of these things. And He was not content with these things alone, but also, having ascended into heaven, He bestowed the ineffable grace of the Holy Spirit and sent apostles who would minister to this end. 8.9 And seeing them, the heralds of life, suffering countless evils, being scourged, being insulted, being drowned, being wasted by famine and thirst, being strangled every day, living with daily deaths, He endured it for your sake and for your care. For your sake, O man, He also prepared a kingdom, for your sake the unutterable good things, that portion in the heavens, the various and diverse mansions, the blessedness that can never be explained in words. 8.10 Having therefore so many proofs of His providence—those in the New, those in the Old, those in the present life, those in the future, those that will be, those that have been, those being accomplished each day, those from the beginning, those in the middle, those at the end, those perpetually, those concerning the body, those concerning the soul—and seeing from all sides snowflakes of proofs being brought, proclaiming His providence, do you still doubt? 8.11 But you do not doubt, but you believe that He provides and you have persuaded yourself of this. Therefore, do not be overly curious any more, knowing this clearly: that you have a Master more affectionate than a father and more caring than a mother, loving more passionately than a bridegroom loves a bride, considering your salvation His own repose and rejoicing in this more than you rejoice in deliverance from dangers and deaths—which I showed through Jonah—and demonstrating every form of love, 8.12 which a father has for his children or a mother for her offspring, a vine-dresser for plants, a builder for his art, a bridegroom for a bride, a young man for a virgin, and wanting to remove your evils as far as the east is from the west, as high as heaven is above the earth—for we have demonstrated this too—or rather not only so much, but even much more; just as we have shown when discussing these matters and advising not to stop at the images, but to transcend them with your thoughts. For the providence of God is unexplainable and His care incomprehensible, His goodness is unutterable and His love for mankind is unsearchable. 8.13 Knowing therefore all these things, both through what He has declared, and through what He has done and through what He will do, be not overly curious, nor be a busybody, nor say: Why this? For what purpose this? For how is it not mad and full of extreme folly and frenzy, to never question a physician cutting, cauterizing, applying bitter medicines, even if he is a servant, but for the master undergoing these things to lie in silence and to be grateful both for his cauterizing and for his cutting and for the medicines, and this with an uncertain future—for many have even killed many by doing these things—and to yield to him doing these things with much submission, and to do this very same thing in the case of a sailor and a builder and in the case of those who pursue other trades. 8.14 But I say it is considered ridiculous for the layman and inexperienced to demand from the craftsman the reasons for all that happens, but to be overly curious about that ineffable wisdom, that unspeakable, unutterable, incomprehensible one, and to seek why this or that has happened, and this while knowing clearly that this wisdom is unerring, that His goodness is great, that His providence is unutterable, that all things done by Him for us meet a good end; if only our own affairs are not interrupted, that He wishes no one to perish, but to be saved. How is it not of exceeding madness, for Him who wishes to save all and

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ἀρά, ἵνα ἡ προτέρα καταδίκη λυθῇ, ἵνα μαθῇς ὑπομονήν, ἵνα παιδευθῇς καρτερίαν, ἵνα μηδέν σε τῶν τοῦ παρόντος βίου λυπῇ, μὴ θάνατος, μὴ ὕβρις, μὴ λοιδορίαι, μὴ σκώμματα, μὴ μάστιγες, μὴ ἐχθρῶν ἐπιβουλαί, μὴ ἐπήρειαι, μὴ ἔφοδοι, μὴ συκοφαντίαι, μὴ ὑπολήψεις πονηραί, μὴ ἄλλο τῶν τοιούτων μηδέν. 8.8 ∆ιὰ γὰρ πάντων καὶ αὐτὸς ἦλθε καὶ πάντων σοι τούτων ἐκοινώνησε καὶ διὰ πάντων μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς ἐκράτησε, παιδεύων σε καὶ διδάσκων μηδὲν τῶν τοιούτων δεδοικέναι. Καὶ οὐδὲ τούτοις ἠρκέσθη μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνελθὼν εἰς οὐρανοὺς Πνεύματος ἁγίου ἐχαρίσατο χάριν ἄφατον καὶ ἀποστόλους ἔπεμψε τοὺς πρὸς τοῦτο διακονησομένους. 8.9 Καὶ ὁρῶν αὐτοὺς τοὺς τῆς ζωῆς κήρυκας τὰ μυρία πάσχοντας κακά, μαστιζομένους, ὑβριζομένους, καταποντιζομένους, κατατεινομένους λιμῷ καὶ δίψει, καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀγχομένους, θανάτοις συζῶντας καθημερινοῖς, ἠνείχετο διὰ σὲ καὶ τὴν κηδεμονίαν τὴν σήν. ∆ιὰ σέ, ἄνθρωπε, καὶ βασιλείαν ἡτοίμασε, διὰ σὲ τὰ ἀγαθὰ τὰ ἀπόρρητα, τὴν λῆξιν ἐκείνην τὴν ἐν οὐρανοῖς, τὰς μονὰς τὰς διαφόρους καὶ ποικίλας, τὴν μακαριότητα, τὴν οὐδέποτε λόγῳ ἑρμηνευθῆναι δυναμένην. 8.10 Τοσαῦτα οὖν ἔχων δείγματα αὐτοῦ τῆς προνοίας, τὰ ἐν τῇ Καινῇ, τὰ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ, τὰ ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ, τὰ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι, τὰ ἐσόμενα, τὰ γενόμενα, τὰ καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπιτελούμενα τὴν ἡμέραν, τὰ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, τὰ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ, τὰ ἐν τῷ τέλει, τὰ διηνεκῶς, τὰ περὶ σῶμα, τὰ περὶ ψυχὴν, καὶ νιφάδας ὁρῶν πάντοθεν φερομένας ἀποδείξεων, ἀνακηρυττούσας αὐτοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν, ἀμφιβάλλεις ἔτι; 8.11 Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀμφιβάλλεις, πιστεύεις δὲ ὅτι προνοεῖ καὶ πέπεικας σαυτὸν τοῦτο. Οὐκοῦν μηδὲν περιεργάζου πλέον, εἰδὼς τοῦτο σαφῶς ὅτι ∆εσπότην ἔχεις πατρὸς φιλοστοργότερον καὶ μητρὸς κηδεμονικώτερον, νυμφίου καὶ νύμφης ἐρῶντα ἐρωτικώτερον, οἰκείαν ἀνάπαυσιν τὴν σὴν ἡγούμενον σωτηρίαν καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ ταύτῃ χαίροντα ἢ σὺ ἐπὶ ἀπαλλαγῇ κινδύνων καὶ θανάτων-ὅπερ ἔδειξα διὰ τοῦ Ἰωνᾶ-καὶ πᾶν εἶδος ἀγάπης ἐπιδεικνύμενον, 8.12 ὃ πατὴρ περὶ παῖδας ἔχει ἢ μήτηρ περὶ ἔκγονα, ὁ ἀμπελουργὸς περὶ φυτά, ὁ οἰκοδόμος περὶ τέχνην, ὁ νυμφίος περὶ νύμφην, ὁ νεανίσκος περὶ παρθένον καὶ βουλόμενον ἀποστῆσαι σου τὰ κακά, ὅσον ἀφέστηκεν ἀνατολὴ τῆς δύσεως, ὅσον ὑψηλότερος τῆς γῆς ὁ οὐρανὸς-καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο ἀπεδείξαμεν, - μᾶλλον δὲ οὐ τοσοῦτον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλῷ πλέον· καθάπερ ἐδείξαμεν τὸν περὶ τούτων κινοῦντες λόγον καὶ παραινέσαντες μὴ μέχρι τῶν εἰκόνων ἑστάναι, ἀλλ' ὑπερβαίνειν τοῖς λογισμοῖς. Ἀνερμήνευτος γὰρ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόνοια καὶ ἀκατάληπτος αὐτοῦ ἡ κηδεμονία, ἄρρητος ἡ ἀγαθότης καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστος ἡ φιλανθρωπία. 8.13 Ταῦτα οὖν ἅπαντα εἰδὼς καὶ δι' ὧν ἀπεφήνατο, καὶ δι' ὧν ἐποίησε καὶ δι' ὧν ποιήσει, μηδὲν περιεργάζου, μηδὲ πολυπραγμόνει, μηδὲ λέγε· ∆ιὰ τί τοῦτο; εἰς τί τοῦτο; Πῶς γὰρ οὐ μανικὸν καὶ ἐσχάτης ἀπονοίας καὶ παραπληξίας ἀνάμεστον, ἰατρὸν μὲν μηδέποτε πολυπραγμονεῖν τέμνοντα, καίοντα, πικρὰ ἐπιτιθέντα φάρμακα, κἂν οἰκέτης ᾖ, ἀλλὰ κεῖσθαι σιγῇ τὸν δεσπότην ταῦτα πάσχοντα καὶ χάριν εἰδέναι καὶ τῆς καύσεως αὐτῷ καὶ τῆς τομῆς καὶ τῶν φαρμάκων καὶ ταῦτα ἐπ' ἀδήλῳ τῷ μέλλοντι -πολλοὶ γὰρ πολλοὺς καὶ ἀπέκτειναν ταῦτα ποιήσαντες, - καὶ παραχωρεῖν αὐτῷ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ὑποταγῆς ταῦτα ποιοῦντι, καὶ ἐπὶ ναύτου δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ποιεῖν καὶ οἰκοδόμου καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν τὰ ἄλλα ἐπιτηδεύματα μετιόντων. 8.14 Λέγω δὲ καταγέλαστον εἶναι νομίζειν, τὸ τὸν ἰδιώτην καὶ ἄπειρον ἀπαιτεῖν τὰς αἰτίας τῶν γινομένων ἁπάντων τὸν τεχνίτην, τὴν δὲ ἄφατον σοφίαν ἐκείνην, τὴν ἄφραστον, τὴν ἄρρητον, τὴν ἀκατάληπτον περιεργάζεσθαι καὶ ζητεῖν διὰ τί τὸ καὶ τὸ γέγονε καὶ ταῦτα εἰδότας σαφῶς, ὅτι ἀδιάπτωτος ἡ σοφία αὕτη, ὅτι πολλὴ ἀγαθότης αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἄρρητος ἡ πρόνοια, ὅτι πάντα πρὸς τὸ τέλος ἀπαντᾷ χρηστὸν τὰ παρ' αὐτοῦ γινόμενα εἰς ἡμᾶς· μόνον εἰ μὴ τὰ ἡμέτερα διακόπτοιτο, ὅτι οὐδένα ἀπολέσθαι βούλεται, ἀλλὰ σῶσαι. Πῶς οὐχ ὑπερβαλλούσης μανίας, τὸν πάντας σῶσαι καὶ