De principiis

 To one who has received instruction and has practiced the ticklings and irritations occur, but reason, having been greatly strengthened and nourished

 He speaks to us as having free will and being the cause of our own destruction or salvation for he says, or do you despise the riches of his goodnes

 Since it was possible for him to be persuaded, and he certainly would have been persuaded, not being of an earthly nature, when constrained by the won

 In the underlying matter, from the one heat the wax is melted, but the clay is dried so the one energy working through moses on the one hand exposed

 In proportion to the unspeakable beneficence, to the greatest possible degree of blessedness they have attained. 3.1.13 therefore, he who is abandoned

 Stony hearts” and places in them “fleshy ones,” so that “his ordinances may be kept” and the commandments observed, it is not in our power to put away

 From the old [testament], being accused of such things. but if they seek a defense concerning the gospel, it must be said to them, unless they act rep

 Such things, by which having been seen and heard, the sin of those who after such great and numerous things have not believed is proven to be heavier

 Therefore, that which is from god is manifoldly and exceedingly more for salvation than that which is in our power. therefore, i think the saying mean

 Of the body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad” is it sound, when those who have done evil things have come to this course of a

 To advance to better things, while others fall from better things to worse, and some are preserved in good things or ascend from good things to better

 Nor when the teachers were many, to be preached everywhere in the world, so that greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish were added to the worship

 “grace is poured out on his lips”? for a proof of the “grace poured out on his lips” is that after a short time of his teaching (for he taught for abo

 In the sun and moon and stars and is not so manifest in the events of human life, as in the souls and the bodies of animals, since the “for what purp

 They thought, since the creator was imperfect and not good, that the savior had come announcing a more perfect god, whom they say is not the creator,

 You did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.” 4.2.4 the way, therefore, that appears to us for how one ought to approach the scripture

 Character. but a spiritual interpretation for the one who is able to show of what “heavenly things the pattern and shadow” the jews “according to the

 Is so great upon the earth, and if not only upon the earth, but also elsewhere, it is necessary for us to learn. 4.2.8 these things, and others like t

 Like a farmer, that god 'planted a paradise in eden toward the east,' and made in it a 'tree of life,' visible and perceptible, so that by tasting of

 But also the saying “to be struck on the right jaw” is most improbable, since everyone who strikes, unless he happens to have some unnatural condition

 Every part has the spiritual, but not every part the corporeal for in many places the corporeal is shown to be impossible. therefore, much attention

 Of us.” and in another epistle: “but you have come to mount zion and to the city of the living god, the heavenly jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

 Of israel or of those being far off, and the “descent into egypt of the seventy souls”, that there they might become “as the stars of heaven in number

in the sun and moon and stars; and is not so manifest in the events of human life, as in the souls and the bodies of animals, since the “for what purpose” and “on account of what” is very much discovered by those who study their instincts and their imaginations and the natures of the animals and the structures of their bodies. But just as providence is not discredited on account of the things that are unknown, at least by those who have once accepted it rightly, so neither is the divinity of Scripture, which extends through it all, discredited on account of our weakness being unable in every phrase to present itself to the hidden splendor of the doctrines which lies stored up in a humble and despised diction. “For we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power of God may shine, and” not be thought to be “of us” men. For if the well-trodden paths of proof found among men and laid down in their books had prevailed over men, our “faith” would reasonably have been supposed to be “in the wisdom of men” and not “in the power of God”; but now it is clear to one who lifts up his eyes that “the word and the preaching” has prevailed among the many “not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” Therefore, since a heavenly or even super-heavenly power strikes us to worship the one who created us alone, let us try, “leaving the word of the beginning of Christ,” that is, of “the first principles,” “to be carried on to perfection,” that the wisdom spoken to the perfect may also be spoken to us. For he who possesses it professes “to speak wisdom among the perfect,” being a different wisdom from “the wisdom of this age and the wisdom of the rulers of this age which is being brought to nothing”; and this wisdom will be clearly impressed on us “according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages, but now is made manifest, both through the prophetic writings and the appearance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for all ages. Amen.” 4.2.t How the divine Scripture must be read and understood 4.2.1 After having spoken in passing about the divine Scriptures being God-breathed, it is necessary to discuss the method of reading and understanding them, since very many errors have arisen because the way in which one ought to approach the holy readings has not been found by the many. For the hard-hearted and unlearned of the circumcision have not believed in our Savior, thinking they are following the letter of the prophecies concerning him, and not seeing him in a perceptible way “preaching release to the captives” nor building what they think is truly the “city of God” nor “destroying the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem,” nor “eating butter and honey, and before he knew or chose evil, choosing the good”; and furthermore, thinking that the “wolf,” the four-footed animal, was prophesied to be about to “feed with the lamb, and the leopard to lie down with the kid, and the calf and bull and lion to feed together, led by a little child, and the cow and the bear to graze together, their children being reared with one another, and the lion to eat straw like an ox,” and having seen none of these things happen in a perceptible way in the sojourn of the Christ in whom we believe, they did not accept our Lord Jesus, but crucified him as one who unduly proclaimed himself Christ. And those from the heresies, reading, “a fire is kindled from my anger” and “I am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation” and “I repent that I anointed Saul to be king” and “I am God, who makes peace and creates evil,” and in other places, “there is no evil in a city which the Lord has not done,” and furthermore, “evil came down from the Lord upon the gates of Jerusalem,” and “an evil spirit from God troubled Saul,” and countless other things similar to these, have not dared to disbelieve the scriptures as being from God, but believing them to be from the Creator, whom the Jews worship,

ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις· καὶ οὐχ οὕτω δῆλος ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὰ ἀνθρώ πινα συμπτώματα, ὡς ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς καὶ τοῖς σώμασι τῶν ζώων, σφόδρα τοῦ πρὸς τί καὶ ἕνεκα τίνος εὑρισκομένου τοῖς τούτων ἐπι μελομένοις περὶ τὰς ὁρμὰς καὶ τὰς φαντασίας καὶ φύσεις τῶν ζώων καὶ τὰς κατασκευὰς τῶν σωμάτων. ἀλλ' ὥσπερ οὐ χρεοκοπεῖται ἡ πρόνοια διὰ τὰ μὴ γινωσκόμενα παρὰ τοῖς γε ἅπαξ παραδεξαμένοις αὐτὴν καλῶς, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἡ τῆς γραφῆς θειότης διατείνουσα εἰς πᾶσαν αὐτήν, διὰ τὸ μὴ καθ' ἑκάστην λέξιν δύνασθαι τὴν ἀσθένειαν ἡμῶν παρίστασθαι τῇ κεκρυμμένῃ λαμπρότητι τῶν δογμάτων ἐν εὐτελεῖ καὶ εὐκαταφρονήτῳ λέξει ἀποκειμένῃ. «ἔχομεν γὰρ θησαυρὸν ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν, ἵνα λάμψῃ ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ μὴ» νομισθῇ εἶναι «ἐξ ἡμῶν» τῶν ἀνθρώπων. εἰ γὰρ αἱ κατημαξευμέναι τῶν ἀποδείξεων ὁδοὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐναπο κείμεναι τοῖς βιβλίοις κατίσχυσαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, «ἡ πίστις» ἡμῶν ἂν εὐλόγως ὑπελαμβάνετο «ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀνθρώπων» καὶ οὐκ «ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ»· νῦν δὲ τῷ ἐπάραντι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς σαφὲς ὅτι «ὁ λόγος καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα» παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς δεδύνηται «οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖς σοφίας λόγοις, ἀλλ' ἐν ἀποδείξει πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως». διόπερ δυνάμεως ἡμᾶς οὐρανίου ἢ καὶ ὑπερουρανίου πληττούσης ἐπὶ τὸ σέβειν τὸν κτίσαντα ἡμᾶς μόνον, πειραθῶμεν «ἀφέντες τὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ Χρι στοῦ λόγον», τουτέστι τῆς «στοιχειώσεως», «ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα φέρεσθαι», ἵνα ἡ τοῖς τελείοις λαλουμένη σοφία καὶ ἡμῖν λαληθῇ. «σοφίαν» γὰρ ἐπαγγέλλεται ὁ ταύτην κεκτημένος «λαλεῖν ἐν τοῖς τελείοις», ἑτέραν τυγχάνουσαν παρὰ τὴν «σοφίαν τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου καὶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου τὴν καταργουμένην»· αὕτη δὲ ἡ σοφία ἡμῖν ἐντυπωθήσεται τρανῶς «κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν μυστηρίου χρόνοις αἰωνίοις σεσιγημένου, φανερωθέντος δὲ νῦν διά τε γραφῶν προφητικῶν καὶ τῆς ἐπιφανείας τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς σύμπαντας αἰῶνας. ἀμήν». 4.2.τ Πῶς ἀναγνωστέον καὶ νοητέον τὴν θείαν γραφήν 4.2.1 Μετὰ τὸ ὡς ἐν ἐπιδρομῇ εἰρηκέναι περὶ τοῦ θεοπνεύστους εἶναι τὰς θείας γραφὰς ἀναγκαῖον ἐπεξελθεῖν τῷ τρόπῳ τῆς ἀνα γνώσεως καὶ νοήσεως αὐτῶν, πλείστων ἁμαρτημάτων γεγενημένων παρὰ τὸ τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ πῶς δεῖ ἐφοδεύειν τὰ ἅγια ἀναγνώσματα τοῖς πολλοῖς μὴ εὑρῆσθαι. Οἵ τε γὰρ σκληροκάρδιοι καὶ ἰδιῶται τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς εἰς τὸν σωτῆρα ἡμῶν οὐ πεπιστεύκασι, τῇ λέξει τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ προ φητειῶν κατακολουθεῖν νομίζοντες, καὶ αἰσθητῶς μὴ ὁρῶντες αὐτὸν «κηρύξαντα αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν» μηδὲ οἰκοδομήσαντα ἣν νομίζου σιν ἀληθῶς «πόλιν» εἶναι «τοῦ θεοῦ» μηδὲ «ἐξολοθρεύσαντα ἅρματα ἐξ Ἐφραῒμ καὶ ἵππον ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ», μηδὲ «βούτυρον καὶ μέλι φαγόντα, καὶ πρὶν γνῶναι αὐτὸν ἢ προελέσθαι πονηρὰ ἐκλέξασθαι τὸ ἀγαθόν»· ἔτι δὲ «λύκον», τὸ ζῷον τὸ τετράποδον, οἰόμενοι προ φητεύεσθαι μέλλειν «βόσκεσθαι μετὰ ἀρνὸς καὶ πάρδαλιν ἐρίφῳ συν αναπαύεσθαι μοσχάριόν τε καὶ ταῦρον καὶ λέοντα ἅμα βοσκηθήσεσθαι ὑπὸ μικροῦ παιδίου ἀγόμενα καὶ βοῦν καὶ ἄρκον ἅμα νεμηθήσεσθαι, συνεκτρεφομένων αὐτῶν ἀλλήλοις τῶν παιδίων, καὶ λέοντα ὡς βοῦν φάγεσθαι ἄχυρα», μηδὲν τούτων αἰσθητῶς ἑωρακότες γεγενημένον ἐν τῇ τοῦ πεπιστευμένου ἡμῖν Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίᾳ, οὐ προσήκαντο τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν, ἀλλ' ὡς παρὰ τὸ δέον Χριστὸν ἑαυτὸν ἀνα γορεύσαντα ἐσταύρωσαν. Οἵ τε ἀπὸ τῶν αἱρέσεων ἀναγινώσκοντες τὸ «πῦρ ἐκκέκαυται ἐκ τοῦ θυμοῦ μου» καὶ «ἐγὼ θεὸς ζηλωτής, ἀποδιδοὺς ἁμαρ τίας πατέρων ἐπὶ τέκνα ἐπὶ τρίτην καὶ τετάρτην γενεάν» καὶ «μεταμεμέλημαι χρίσας τὸν Σαοὺλ εἰς βασιλέα» καὶ «ἐγὼ θεὸς ποιῶν εἰρήνην καὶ κτίζων κακά», καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις τὸ «οὐκ ἔστι κακία ἐν πόλει, ἣν κύριος οὐκ ἐποίησεν», ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ «κατέβη κακὰ παρὰ κυρίου ἐπὶ πύλας Ἱερουσαλήμ», καὶ «πνεῦμα πονηρὸν παρὰ θεοῦ ἔπνιγε τὸν Σαούλ», καὶ μυρία ὅσα τούτοις παραπλήσια, ἀπιστῆσαι μὲν ὡς θεοῦ ταῖς γραφαῖς οὐ τετολμήκασι, πιστεύοντες δὲ αὐτὰς εἶναι τοῦ δημιουργοῦ, ᾧ Ἰουδαῖοι λατρεύουσιν,