15

we all breathe the same air as the beasts, we suffer the same death, and in this, man has nothing more than the beast. Therefore, the beastly and flesh-loving life is vanity. And from these things Ecclesiastes teaches us to pay attention not to our flesh, but to our rational substance, by which we have communion with the angels; for according to our sensible substance we are like the beasts; but according to the invisible and rational, to the holy angels. "All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. And who knows the spirit of the sons of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?" The Manicheans, speaking of metempsychosis, say that the immortal soul clothes itself with all bodies, both of rational and irrational beings, and of plants and reptiles. But Christians, instructed from the divine Scriptures, are taught to understand as beasts the more irrational, those who are compared to the foolish beasts, and as men, in contradistinction to the more beastly, the more rational. Who then knows if those who seem to be more rational among the many are, at the time of judgment, deemed worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and are not cast down below? Or even the opposite, if those who seem to be more irrational are not taken up above according to the incomprehensible judgments of God? For that the soul of man is immortal, while that of the irrational creatures perishes with the body, is surely quite evident to anyone who partakes of reason even a little. Otherwise: In many things Ecclesiastes, assuming the persona of the flesh-lover, brings forth words as from that persona, saying: Who knows the things to come? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. But the Apostle, making clear the things concerning life here, 93.524 said: If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Therefore everywhere Ecclesiastes, teaching us this through riddles, refers us to another life. "And I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?" If the saying is from the persona of the flesh-lover, you will understand it thus: I saw, says such a person, that there is nothing good in life, except to rejoice in one's own works and desires; and this is the portion and good fortune of man. Then Ecclesiastes teaches whence such notions arise in the body-lovers; because, he says, no one can show to these whose minds are blinded, the things that are to come and that will happen after these things, that is, the eternal punishments. But if the saying is from the Wise One, you will contemplate it more loftily. There is not, he says, a good thing for man, except the joy that is to succeed him, from his good works here. For his joyful deed, that is, the virtuous one, this will be his portion. For it is not possible for one who does not live according to virtue to return again after life here, and to come to repentance. CHAPTER 4. "And I returned, and saw the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter." I turned, he says, to another examination, and observing men, I saw the oppressors doing wrong, and the oppressed weeping from weakness, because no one strengthened them, nor by defending them gave them comfort. Some oppress for money, others for doctrines, as the heretics do to the orthodox. And the primeval evil demon, and the apostate powers, always oppress, speaking lies. "And I praised the dead, those who have already died, who themselves are living until now. And better than both of these is he who has not yet been, who does not know the evil work that is done under the sun." He blesses the dead above the living. Why? Because the just have ceased from their labors; while the sinners were cut off

15

αὐτὸν ἀέρα τοῖς κτήνεσιν ἀναπνέομεν ἅπαντες, τὸν αὐτὸν ὑφιστάμεθα θάνατον, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐν τούτῳ πλέον ἔχει τοῦ κτήνους ὁ ἄνθρωπος. ∆ιὸ ἡ κτηνώδης καὶ φιλόσαρκος ζωὴ ματαιότης ἐστί. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ ἡμᾶς ἐκ τούτων ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς, μὴ τῇ σαρκὶ ἡμῶν, ἀλλὰ τῇ λογικῇ οὐσίᾳ προσέχειν, καθ' ἣν τοῖς ἀγγέλοις κοινωνοῦμεν· κατὰ μὲν γὰρ τὴν αἰσθητὴν ἡμῶν οὐσίαν ὅμοιοι τοῖς κτήνεσίν ἐσμεν· κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἀόρατον καὶ λογικὴν, τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀγγέλοις. "Τὰ πάντα πορεύεται εἰς τόπον ἕνα· τὰ πάντα ἐγένοντο ἀπὸ τοῦ χοός· καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐπιστρέφει εἰς τὸν χοῦν. Καὶ τίς οἶδε τὸ πνεῦμα υἱῶν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ ἀναβαίνει αὐτὸ εἰς τὰ ἄνω, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ κτήνους, εἰ καταβαίνει αὐτὸ κάτω εἰς τὴν γῆν;" Μανιχαῖοι μετεμψύχωσιν λέγοντες, τὴν ἀθάνατον ψυχὴν πάντα λέγουσιν ἐνδύεσθαι σώματα, καὶ λογικῶν, καὶ ἀλόγων, καὶ φυτῶν, καὶ ἑρπετῶν. Χριστιανοὶ δὲ ἐκ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν παιδευόμενοι, διδασκόμεθα κτήνη νοεῖν τοὺς ἀλογωτέρους, τοὺς παραβληθέντας τοῖς κτήνεσι τοῖς ἀνοήτοις, ἀνθρώπους δὲ πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῶν κτηνωδεστέρων τοὺς λογικωτέρους. Τίς οὖν οἶδ' εἰ οἱ δοκοῦντες εἶναι παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς λογικώτεροι, ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς κρίσεως τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀξιοῦνται βασιλείας, καὶ οὐκ εἰς τὰ κάτω ἀποῤῥίπτονται; Ἢ καὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν, εἰ δοκοῦντες εἶναι ἀλογώτεροι οὐκ ἄνω προσλαμβάνονται κατὰ τὰ ἀνέφικτα τοῦ Θεοῦ κρίματα; Ὅτι γὰρ ἡ μὲν ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴ ἀθάνατος, ἡ δὲ τῶν ἀλόγων συμφθείρεται τῷ σώματι, παντί που πρόδηλον, τῷ γε καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν λόγου μετέχοντι. Ἄλλως· Ἐν πολλοῖς ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς τὸ τοῦ φιλοσάρκου πρόσωπον ὑποδυόμενος, ὡς ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ προσώπου προφέρει τὰ ῥήματα, λέγοντος· Τίς οἶδε τὰ ἐσόμενα; Φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν, αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνήσκομεν. ∆ιατρανῶν δὲ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐνταῦθα ζωῆς ὁ Ἀπόστο 93.524 λος ἔφη· Εἰ ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ ἠλπικότες ἐν Χριστῷ ἐσμεν μόνον, ἐλεεινότεροι πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐσμέν. Πανταχοῦ τοιγαροῦν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς τοῦτο ἡμᾶς διδάσκων δι' αἰνιγμάτων, εἰς ἑτέραν ἡμᾶς παραπέμπει ζωήν. "Καὶ εἶδον ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι ἀγαθὸν, εἰ μὴ ᾦ εὐφρανθήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐν ποιήμασιν αὐτοῦ· ὅτι αὐτὸ μερὶς αὐτοῦ· ὅτι τίς ἄξει αὐτὸν τοῦ ἰδεῖν ἐν ᾧ ἂν γένηται μετ' αὐτόν;" Εἰ μὲν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ φιλοσάρκου ὁ λόγος, οὕτω νοήσεις· Εἶδον, φησὶν ὁ τοιοῦτος, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἀγαθὸν ἐν τῷ βίῳ, εἰ μὴ τὸ εὐφραίνεσθαι ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις ποιήμασί τε καὶ θελήμασι· καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι μερὶς καὶ εὐκληρία τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Εἶτα ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς διδάσκει, πόθεν αἱ τοιαῦται ἔννοιαι τοῖς φιλοσωμάτοις ἐγγίνονται· ὅτι, φησὶν, οὐδεὶς δύναται τούτοις ἐπιδεῖξαι ἀποτυφλωθεῖσι τὴν διάνοιαν, τὰ μέλλοντα καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα γίνεσθαι, τουτέστι τὰς αἰωνίους κολάσεις. Εἰ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ Σοφοῦ ὁ λόγος, ὑψηλότερον θεωρήσεις. Οὐκ ἔστι, φησὶν, ἀγαθὸν ἀνθρώπῳ, εἰ μὴ ἡ μέλλουσα αὐτὸν διαδέχεσθαι εὐφροσύνη, ἐκ τῶν αὐτοῦ ἐνταῦθα ἀγαθῶν ποιημάτων. Ἣ γὰρ εὐφραντικὴ αὐτοῦ πρᾶξις, τουτέστι ἡ ἐνάρετος, αὕτη ἔσεται μερὶς αὐτοῦ. Τὸν γὰρ μὴ κατὰ ἀρετὴν βιοῦντα οὐκ ἔστι μετὰ τὴν ἐνθάδε ζωὴν πάλιν ἐπαναλῦσαι, καὶ εἰς μετάνοιαν ἐλθεῖν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ∆ʹ. "Καὶ ἐπέστρεψα ἐγὼ, καὶ εἶδον τὰς συκοφαντίας τὰς γινομένας ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον· καὶ ἰδοὺ δάκρυον τῶν συκοφαντουμένων, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοὺς ὁ παρακαλῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ χειρὸς συκοφαντούντων αὐτοὺς ἰσχὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοὺς ὁ παρακαλῶν." Εἰς ἑτέραν, φησὶν, ἐτράπην ἐξέτασιν, καὶ θεωρῶν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἐθεασάμην τοὺς συκοφάντας ἀδικοῦντας, καὶ τοὺς συκοφαντουμένους δακρύοντας ἐξ ἀδυναμίας, διὰ τὸ μηδένα ἐνισχύειν αὐτοῖς, καὶ διὰ τοῦ ἐπαμύνειν ποιεῖν αὐτοῖς παράκλησιν. Συκοφαντοῦσι δὲ οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ χρήμασιν, οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ δόγμασιν, ὡς οἱ αἱρετικοὶ τοὺς ὀρθοδόξους. Καὶ ὁ ἀρχέκακος δὲ δαίμων, καὶ αἱ ἀποστατικαὶ δυνάμεις συκοφαντοῦσιν ἀεὶ ψευδόμεναι. "Καὶ ἐπῄνεσα ἐγὼ τοὺς τεθνηκότας, τοὺς ἤδη ἀποθανόντας, οἳ αὐτοὶ ζῶσιν ἕως τοῦ νῦν. Καὶ ἀγαθὸς ὑπὲρ τοὺς δύο τούτους ὃς οὔπω ἐγένετο, ὃς οὐκ οἶδε [σὺν] τὸ ποίημα τὸ πονηρὸν τὸ πεποιημένον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον." Τοὺς τεθνηκότας μακαρίζει ὑπὲρ τοὺς ζῶντας. ∆ιὰ τί; Ὅτι οἱ μὲν δίκαιοι ἔληξαν τῶν πόνων· οἱ δὲ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀνεκόπησαν