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to hear His word, how could anyone be able to think that these have been placed outside their own blessedness? Unless someone should say that He does not wish to command them, so that they might return to their original perfect blessedness; for being commanded, they are mighty in strength, according to the prophet, to do His word, and to hear the voice of His words. For the testimony of the Spirit is true. And how were they zealous on account of those who destroyed the good seed sown by the Lord, and sought that their correction be entrusted to them by the Lord, having themselves cast away the purity of the first seed? To whom the Lord did not say, Why do you also, having been moved, cast away your first union with God, but to yield to them for a time, and to be permitted to do this at the proper season? And for what reason does the Lord say that He will come with His holy angels, if they do not have their holiness from the beginning? But when the Master justifies, who is he that condemns? And how, if they are not in their own blessedness, does the great Moses write concerning the God of all, that at His right hand are angels with Him. For it is not, as I think, to utter a more glorious voice concerning them, that the angels of God are set over the nations, and that the people of Jacob have become the Lord's portion, raising them to such a height, as to come into a share with the Lord. For even if it has been said rather hyperbolically for the sake of the people's glory, nevertheless it procures no ordinary glory for the angels. 96.505 And that God promises to send His angel to His place, to give the people rest, you have learned; than which what could be more honorable? And the blessed Micah says he saw God in a vision, and all the host of heaven standing before Him, and Daniel says he beheld a thousand thousands ministering to Him, and Jacob calls the meeting with the angels God's camp. And one could find countless things in holy Scripture testifying to the highest glory for the heavenly powers. For we are afraid to quote the Apostle's voice, lest he again endure the charge, From where did he get these things to say? And yet does he not himself cry out explicitly: I charge you before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels. And he says that the coming of the Lord is signified by the voice of an archangel. But concerning the Cherubim, or the Seraphim, we can say nothing, because the author learned from the Hebrew—and who is this Hebrew signified by him?—that the Son and the Holy Spirit are glorified by these. Who then is so bold as to say that those who have fallen away from their own worth, and endured a fall, are testified to by the Holy Spirit with so great a glory? But if they are mighty in strength to do the will of God, and seek to destroy the impious because of their goodwill toward the Divine, and are signified as standing before, and ministering, and being at the right hand of God, who is he that imagines things beyond these, and conceives of something greater than such trustworthiness, unless he is utterly delirious and considers the testimonies of the divine Scriptures as nothing? for we are able to conceive of nothing more glorious than these things, let alone God Himself. But the Holy Spirit has revealed these and similar things concerning the heavenly orders. But let them say from where they learned that, having fallen away from their first blessedness, they were embodied and divided into different orders. But the devil, he says, has been shown not to have been created as such, but to have fallen into this state from his own wickedness. It is clear then, that those also came to this from their own virtue. But let them answer, what were they when they came to this from their own virtuous deeds? Better than what they are, or worse? But they will surely say, better, and not simply better, but by a great interval as the preceding argument has shown. But no one ever comes to a worse state from virtuous deeds. but many to a better one. If then they came to a worse state, O excellent sirs, it was from sins, and not from

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ἀκοῦσαι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, πῶς ἔξω τοῦ ἰδίου μακαρισμοῦ καθεστηκέναι τούτους νομίσαι τις δυνηθείη; εἰ μή τις δ' ἂν ἐρεῖ μὴ θέλειν ἐπιτάττειν αὐτοῖς, ὥστε ἐπανελθεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν ἀρχῆθεν τελείαν μακαριότητα· Ἐπιταττόμενοι γὰρ, δυνατοὶ ἰσχύϊ τυγχάνουσι κατὰ τὸν προφήτην ποιεῖν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀκούειν τῆς φωνῆς τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ. Ἀψευδὴς γὰρ ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος μαρτυρία. Πῶς δὲ καὶ ἐζήλωσαν διὰ τοὺς ἀπολέσαντας τὸ καλὸν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καταβληθὲν σπέρμα, καὶ τὴν αὐτῶν διόρθωσιν ἐπιτραπῆναι παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐζήτουν αὐτοὶ, τοῦ πρώτου σπέρματος τὴν καθαρότητα ἀποβαλόντες; Πρὸς οὓς ὁ Κύριος οὐκ ἔφη, ὅτι ∆ιὰ τί καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀποβάλλετε τὴν πρώτην ὑμῶν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν κινηθέντες ἕνωσιν, ἀλλ' ἐνδοῦναι τέως αὐτοῖς, καὶ κατὰ καιρὸν τὸν προσήκοντα τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἐπιτρέπεσθαι αὐτούς; Ἀνθ' ὅτου δὲ, καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐλεύσεσθαι λέγει μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ, μὴ ἐχόντων τὴν ἐξαρχῆθεν ἁγιωσύνην; Τοῦ ∆εσπότου δὲ δικαιοῦντος, τίς ὁ κατακρινῶν; πῶς δὲ εἴπερ οὐχ ὑπάρχουσιν ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ μακαριότητι, ὁ μέγας γράφει Μωϋσῆς περὶ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ, ὅτι ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ ἄγγελοι μετ' αὐτοῦ. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν, ὡς οἶμαι, ἐπιδοξοτέραν περὶ αὐτῶν ἀφιέναι φωνὴν, τοῖς ἔθνεσι τοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγγέλους ἐπιστατεῖν, καὶ γενέσθαι μερίδα Κυρίου τὸν ἐξ Ἰακὼβ λαὸν, εἰς τοσοῦτον ὕψος ἀνάγων αὐτοὺς, ὡς εἰς μερισμὸν ἐλθεῖν μετὰ Κυρίου. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ διὰ τὴν τοῦ λαοῦ δόξαν ὑπερβολικώτερον λέλεκται, ἀλλ' ὅμως δόξαν οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν τοῖς ἀγγέλοις περιποιεῖται. 96.505 Καὶ ὅτι ἀποστέλλειν εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄγγελον αὐτοῦ ἐπαγγέλλεται, εἰς τὸ καταπαῦσαι τὸν λαὸν μεμαθήκατε· οὗ τί ἂν ἐντιμότερον γένοιτ' ἄν; Καὶ ὁ μακάριος δὲ Μιχαίας ἐν ὀπτασίᾳ ἑωρακέναι τὸν Θεὸν λέγει, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ παρίστασθαι ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, καὶ χιλίας χιλιάδας λειτουργοῦντας αὐτῷ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ θεάσασθαι λέγει, καὶ παρεμβολὴν Θεοῦ ὁ Ἰακὼβ τὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων ὑπάντησιν ὀνομάζει. Καὶ μυρία ἄν τις εὕροι τὴν ἀκροτάτην δόξαν μαρτυρούσης τῆς θείας Γραφῆς ταῖς οὐρανίοις δυνάμεσι. Τοῦ γὰρ Ἀποστόλου δεδοίκαμεν παραθέσθαι φωνὴν, μὴ πάλιν ἔγκλησιν ὑπομείνῃ, ὅτι Πόθεν ταῦτα λαβὼν λέγει; Εἰ δὲ μή γε καὶ αὐτὸς διαῤῥήδην βοᾷ· ∆ιαμαρτύρομαι ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν ἀγγέλων. Καὶ ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου φησὶ σημαίνεσθαι τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου παρουσίαν. Περὶ μὲν γάρτοι τῶν Χερουβὶμ, ἢ τῶν Σεραφὶμ, οὐδὲν δυνάμεθα λέγειν, διὰ τὸ μαθεῖν τὸν συγγραφέα παρὰ τοῦ Ἑβραίου· ὅστις καὶ ἔστιν ὁ παρ' αὐτοῦ σημαινόμενος Ἑβραῖος· ὅτι ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τούτοις σεμνύνεται. Τίς οὖν ἄρα οὕτω τολμηρὸς, ἵνα τῆς ἰδίας ἀξίας ἀποστάντας, καὶ κατάπτωσιν ὑπομείναντας, ἐπὶ τοσαύτῃ δόξῃ μαρτυρεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἁγίου; Εἰ δὲ δυνατοὶ ἰσχύϊ τυγχάνουσι ποιεῖν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ζητοῦσιν ἀπολέσθαι τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον εὔνοιαν, καὶ ἔμπροσθεν παρίστασθαι, καὶ λειτουργεῖν, καὶ ἐκ δεξιῶν εἶναι Θεοῦ σημαίνονται, τίς ὁ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα φανταζόμενος, καὶ τῆς τοσαύτης ἀξιοπιστίας τὸ μεῖζον ἐννοῶν, μὴ σφόδρα παραπαίων, καὶ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν παρ' οὐδὲν λογιζόμενος τὰς μαρτυρίας; οὐδὲν γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἐπιδοξότερον τούτων ἐννοεῖν δυνάμεθα, μήτιγε αὐτὸν τὸν Θεόν. Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα περὶ τῶν οὐρανίων ταγμάτων δεδήλωκεν. Αὐτοὶ δὲ πόθεν μαθόντες, ὅτι τῆς πρώτης μακαριότητος ἀποστάντες εἰς διάφορα τάγματα σωματωθέντες ἀπεμερίσθησαν, λεγέτωσαν. Ἀλλ' ὁ διάβολος, φησὶν, δέδεικται, ὅτι τοιοῦτος μὲν οὐκ ἐκτίσθη, ἐξ ἰδίας δὲ πονηρίας εἰς τοῦτο κατέπεσε. ∆ῆλον οὖν, ὅτι κἀκεῖνοι ἐξ ἰδίας ἀνδραγαθίας εἰς τοῦτο ἦλθον. Ἀλλ' ἀποκρινέσθωσαν, τί ὄντες ἐξ ἀνδραγαθημάτων ἰδίων πρὸς τοῦτο ἦλθον; κρείττους οὗπέρ εἰσιν, ἢ χείρους; ἀλλὰ πάντως ἐροῦσι, κρείττους, καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς κρείττους, ἀλλὰ πολὺ τὸ μέσον ὅσον ὁ προλαβὼν ἐδήλωσε λόγος. Ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς πώποτε ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἐξ ἀνδραγαθημάτων ἔρχεται. ἀλλὰ πολλοὶ ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον. Εἰ οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἦλθον, ὦ βέλτιστοι, ἐξ ἁμαρτιῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἐξ