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having stripped themselves and purely running the course of virginity and in this imitating an angelic way of life and in a mortal body displaying the preludes of the resurrection—"for in that age," he says, "they neither marry, nor are given in marriage"—and setting up their contest against the bodiless powers and striving for incorruption in a corruptible body and achieving by their deeds what for many is not even bearable to hear and thrusting aside desire like a raging and constantly leaping dog and calming a maddened sea and sailing with tranquility in wild waves and being carried by a fair wind while the ocean is violently agitated and standing in a furnace of natural desire and not being burned, but trampling on these coals as if they were mud, were captured very shamefully and pitiably by this desire and having been able to do greater things, were overcome by this. 8.7 For so great a thing is virginity, and it requires so much toil, that Christ, having come down from heaven to make men angels and to plant the heavenly way of life here, did not even then dare to command this, nor to bring it into the order of a law, but legislated dying—what could be heavier than this?—and to be crucified continually and to do good to enemies, but He did not legislate virginity; but left it to lie in the choice of the hearers, saying: "He who is able to accept it, let him accept it." For great is the weight of the matter and the difficulty of these struggles and the sweat of the contests, and this region of virtue is exceedingly steep. And this is also made clear by those in the Old [Testament] who accomplished many things. For that great Moses, the chief of the prophets, the genuine friend of God, who enjoyed such boldness as to snatch six hundred thousand who had become liable to punishment from a divinely-sent plague, this man, so great and of such stature, commanded the sea and split the ocean and broke the rock and changed the air and turned the water of the Nile into blood and set an army of frogs and locusts against Pharaoh and transformed all of creation and displayed countless other wonders and many achievements of virtue—for he shone in both respects—but he did not have the strength even to look against these contests, but he needed marriage and the company of a wife and the safety from it and did not dare to give himself to the sea of virginity, fearing the waves from there. And the patriarch, the priest of his son, was strong enough to wrestle down the most tyrannical passion of nature and was able to slay his son, and that son Isaac, in the very flower of his age, in the very prime of his youth, his only-begotten, his true-born, and given to him against all hope, and resting on him alone, and in extreme old age, and priding himself in much virtue, and he was able to lead him up to the mountain, intending to lead him to such an action, and he built an altar and arranged the wood and placed the victim on it and seized a knife and thrust the sword through the throat of his son. For indeed he both thrust and drew blood, that man of adamant, or rather, even stronger than adamant; for the one possesses this by nature, but this man through philosophy according to his own choice imitated natural strength and displayed the passionlessness of angels through his deeds. But nevertheless, he who was strong enough to complete so great and of such a kind a trial, and had gone out of nature itself, did not dare to strip for the contests of virginity, but he himself also feared these wrestling-grounds and drew upon the consolation of marriage. 8.8 Do you wish me to add Job to those already mentioned, the righteous, the true, the God-fearing, who abstained from every evil thing? This Job shattered the face of the devil; being struck, not striking, he emptied his entire quiver and

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ἀποδυσάμεναι καὶ καθαρῶς τὸν τῆς παρθενίας διανύουσαι δρόμον καὶ ἀγγελικὴν ἐν τούτῳ μιμούμεναι πολιτείαν καὶ ἐν θνητῷ σώματι τὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐπιδεικνύμεναι προοίμια-»ἐν γὰρ τῷ αἰῶνι ἐκείνῳ, φησίν, οὔτε γαμοῦσιν, οὔτε ἐκγαμίσκονται»-καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀσωμάτους δυνάμεις θέμεναι τὴν ἅμιλλαν καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν ἐν φθαρτῷ σώματι φιλονεικοῦσαι καὶ ὃ πολλοῖς οὐδὲ ἀκοῦσαι φορητὸν διὰ τῶν ἔργων κατορθοῦσαι καὶ καθάπερ λυττῶντα κύνα καὶ συνεχῶς ἐπιπηδῶντα τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν διακρουόμεναι καὶ μαινομένην θάλασσαν καταστέλλουσαι καὶ ἐν ἀγρίοις κύμασι μετὰ γαλήνης πλέουσαι καὶ ταραττομένου σφοδρῶς τοῦ πελάγους ἐξ οὐρίας φερόμεναι καὶ ἐν καμίνῳ φυσικῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἑστῶσαι καὶ μὴ κατακαιόμεναι, ἀλλ' ὡς πηλὸν τοὺς ἄνθρακας τούτους καταπατοῦσαι, ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ταύτης ἑάλωσαν αἰσχρῶς πάνυ καὶ ἐλεεινῶς καὶ τὰ μείζονα δυνηθεῖσαι ὑπὸ τούτου κατηγωνίσθησαν. 8.7 Τοσοῦτον γάρ ἐστιν ἡ παρθενία πρᾶγμα, καὶ τοσού του δεῖται τοῦ πόνου, ὅτι κατελθὼν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ἵνα τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀγγέλους ποιήσῃ καὶ τὴν ἄνω πολιτείαν ἐνταῦθα καταφυτεύσῃ, οὐδὲ τότε ἐθάρρησεν ἐπιτάξαι τοῦτο, οὐδὲ εἰς νόμου αὐτὸ τάξιν ἀγαγεῖν, ἀλλ' ἀποθνῄσκειν μὲν ἐνομοθέτησεν· οὗ τί βαρύτερον γένοιτ' ἄν; Καὶ σταυροῦσθαι διηνεκῶς καὶ ἐχθροὺς εὐεργετεῖν, παρθενεύειν δὲ οὐκ ἐνομοθέτησεν· ἀλλ' ἀφῆκεν ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀκουόντων κεῖσθαι προαιρέσει εἰπών· «Ὁ δυνάμενος χωρεῖν χωρείτω.» Καὶ γὰρ μέγας ὁ ὄγκος τοῦ πράγματος καὶ ἡ δυσκολία τῶν παλαισμάτων τούτων καὶ ὁ ἱδρὼς τῶν ἀγώνων καὶ σφόδρα ἀπόκρημνον τοῦτο τῆς ἀρετῆς τὸ χωρίον. Καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῦσι καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ πολλὰ κατορθώσαντες. Καὶ γὰρ Μωϋσῆς ἐκεῖνος ὁ μέγας, τῶν προφητῶν τὸ κεφάλαιον, ὁ γνήσιος τῷ Θεῷ φίλος, ὁ τοσαύτης ἀπολαύσας παρρησίας ὡς ἑξακοσίας χιλιάδας ὑπευθύνους γενομένας κολάσει ἐξαρπάσαι θεηλάτου πληγῆς, οὗτος ὁ τοσοῦτος καὶ τηλικοῦτος ἀνὴρ θαλάσσῃ μὲν ἐπέταξε καὶ πέλαγος ἔσχισε καὶ πέτραν ἔρρηξε καὶ ἀέρα μετέβαλε καὶ τὸ Νειλῷον ὕδωρ εἰς αἷμα μετέστησε καὶ βατράχων καὶ ἀκρίδων στρατόπεδον ἐπετείχισε τῷ Φαραὼ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν μετεστοιχείωσε καὶ μυρία ἕτερα ἐπεδείξατο θαύματα καὶ ἀρετῆς δὲ πολλὰ κατορθώματα-καὶ γὰρ ἐξ ἑκατέρου μέρους ἔλαμψε-, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἀγῶνας τούτους οὐδὲ ἀντιβλέψαι ἴσχυσεν, ἀλλ' ἐδεήθη γάμου καὶ ὁμιλίας γυναικὸς καὶ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν ἀσφαλείας καὶ οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν εἰς τὸ τῆς παρθενίας πέλαγος ἑαυτὸν ἐκδοῦναι τὰ ἐκεῖθεν κύματα δεδοικώς. Καὶ ὁ πατριάρχης δὲ ὁ τοῦ παιδὸς ἱερεὺς τὸ μὲν τυραννικώτατον τῆς φύσεως καταπαλαῖσαι ἴσχυσε πάθος καὶ παῖδα ἀνελεῖν ἠδυνήθη καὶ παῖδα τὸν Ἰσαὰκ ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς ἡλικίας τῷ ἄνθει, ἐν αὐτῇ τῆς νεότητος τῇ ἀκμῇ, μονογενῆ, γνήσιον καὶ παρ' ἐλπίδα πᾶσαν αὐτῷ δεδομένον καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῷ σαλεύων μόνῳ καὶ ἐν ἐσχάτῳ γήρᾳ καὶ ἀρετῇ κομῶντα πολλῇ καὶ ἀναγαγεῖν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος ἴσχυσεν, ἐπὶ τοιαύτῃ μέλλων ἀγαγεῖν πράξει, καὶ θυσιαστήριον ᾠκοδόμησε καὶ ξύλα συνέθηκε καὶ τὸ ἱερεῖον ἐπέθηκε καὶ μάχαιραν ἥρπασε καὶ διὰ τοῦ λαιμοῦ τοῦ παιδὸς τὸ ξίφος ὤθησε. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὤθησε καὶ ᾕμαξεν ὁ ἀδάμας ἐκεῖνος, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἀδάμαντος στερρότερος· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τῇ φύσει τοῦτο κέκτηται, οὗτος δὲ διὰ τῆς κατὰ προαίρεσιν φιλοσοφίας φυσικὴν ἐμιμήσατο στερρότητα καὶ ἀγγέλων ἀπάθειαν διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐπεδείξατο. Ἀλλ' ὅμως ὁ τοσοῦτον καὶ τηλικοῦτον ἰσχύσας διανύσαι ἆθλον καὶ αὐτῆς ἐξελθὼν τῆς φύσεως, πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας τῆς παρθενίας ἀποδύσασθαι οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν, ἀλλ' ἔδεισε καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ σκάμματα ταῦτα καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ γάμου παραμυθίαν ἐπεσπάσατο. 8.8 Βούλει προσθῶ καὶ τὸν Ἰὼβ τοῖς εἰρημένοις, τὸν δίκαιον, τὸν ἀληθινόν, τὸν θεοσεβῆ, τὸν ἀπεχόμενον ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ πράγματος; Οὗτος ὁ Ἰὼβ συνέκοψε τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν ὄψιν, παιόμενος οὐ παίων ἐκένωσεν αὐτοῦ τὴν βελοθήκην ἅπασαν καὶ