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ashes? Are you proud, O man? Why? what is the gain, tell me? and from where do you get this pride against your own kind? Do you not share the same nature? not the same soul? have you not been honored in the same way by God? But are you wise? Therefore you ought to give thanks, not be puffed up. The first ingratitude is arrogance; for it takes away the gift of the benefit. For he who is lifted up, is lifted up as if he himself had achieved it; but he who thinks he has achieved it, is ungrateful towards the one who gave the honor. Is there any good in you? Give thanks to the one who gave it. Hear what Joseph says, and what Daniel says. For when the king of Egypt summoned him from the prison, and in the presence of the whole court questioned him on a matter, on which all the Egyptians who were especially skilled in these things had failed, he, about to surpass them in everything, and to appear wiser than the astrologers, the diviners, the sorcerers, the magicians, all the philosophers of that time, coming from captivity and slavery, being a child (for then the glory is greater; for it is not the same to shine when it is expected, as to shine contrary to expectation; so that the unexpectedness also made him more wonderful); what then did he say when he came before Pharaoh? that, Yes, I know? Not so; but what? When no one was convicting him, out of his great thankfulness what does he say? Is not the interpretation of them through God? See; he immediately glorified the Master; for this reason he himself was also glorified. And this is no small matter for glory; for God to reveal it is much greater than for him to have achieved it himself. And besides, he thus showed that what was said was trustworthy, and this is the greatest proof of intimacy with God. For nothing is so good as to be intimate with God. For if he was justified by works, he has something to boast about, it says, but not before God. For if he who is deemed worthy of grace boasts in God, that he is loved, because it was granted to him, and he who works has a 62.216 boast, but not before God, as that one does; for this is a proof of our great weakness; he who has also received wisdom from God, how much more wonderful would he be? He glorified God, and was glorified by Him; For "Those who glorify me," He says, "I will glorify." Again, his descendant, than whom none was wiser ("For are you wiser than Daniel?" it says), this Daniel, when all the wise men in Babylon, and again the astrologers themselves, diviners, magicians, sorcerers, of every philosophy, were not only being refuted, but also destroyed (for their destruction was proof that they had also previously deceived), coming forward and about to solve the question, did not adorn himself either, but first ascribed the whole thing to God, and says: But to me, O king, it was not revealed through any wisdom that is in me more than all other men. And the king bowed down before him, and commanded that an offering be poured. Do you see humility? do you see gratitude? do you see a character without pride? Hear also the apostles saying, at one time, "Why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?" and at another time, "We are men of like passions with you." But if they thus rejected honors given to them, men who worked greater things than Christ because of Christ's humility, and through His power (For "He who believes in me," He says, "will do greater things than I do"); how are they not wretched and miserable, who cannot even shoo away gnats, let alone demons? who are not strong enough to help even one person, let alone the whole world, and yet are so proud, as not even the devil himself is? 3. Nothing is so foreign to a Christian soul as arrogance; I say arrogance, not boldness nor courage; for those are proper to it. For this is one thing, and that is another; so that humility is one thing, but servility and flattery and

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σποδός; Μέγα φρονεῖς, ἄνθρωπε; διὰ τί; τί τὸ κέρδος, εἰπέ μοι; πόθεν δὲ καὶ μέγα φρονεῖς κατὰ τῶν ὁμοφύλων; οὐχὶ τῆς αὐτῆς μετέχεις φύσεως; οὐχὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ψυχῆς; οὐχ ὁμοίως τετίμησαι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ; Ἀλλὰ σοφὸς εἶ; Οὐκοῦν εὐχαριστεῖν, οὐ φυσᾶσθαι ὀφείλεις. Πρώτη ἀχαριστία, ἀπόνοια· ἀφαιρεῖται γὰρ τῆς εὐεργεσίας τὸ δῶρον. Ὁ γὰρ ἐπαιρόμενος, ὡς αὐτὸς κατορθώσας ἐπαίρεται· ὁ δὲ νομίζων κατωρθωκέναι, ἀχάριστός ἐστι περὶ τὸν δεδωκότα τὴν τιμήν. Ἔνεστί σοί τι ἀγαθόν; Εὐχαρίστει τῷ δεδωκότι. Ἄκουσον τί φησιν ὁ Ἰωσὴφ, τί δὲ ὁ ∆ανιήλ. Τοῦ γὰρ βασιλέως Αἰγύπτου μεταπεμψαμένου αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου, καὶ ἐπὶ πάσης τῆς στρατιᾶς πυνθανομένου ἐπὶ πράγματι, ἐφ' ᾧ πάντες παρεχώρησαν Αἰγύπτιοι οἱ περὶ ταῦτα μάλιστα δεινοὶ, μέλλων αὐτὸς κατὰ πᾶν ὑπεραίρειν, καὶ σοφώτερος φανήσεσθαι τῶν ἀστρολόγων, τῶν μάντεων, τῶν γοήτων, τῶν μάγων, πάντων τῶν φιλοσόφων τῶν τότε, ἀπὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας καὶ δουλείας, παιδίον ὢν (καὶ γὰρ τότε μείζων ἡ δόξα· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἴσον φαινόμενον λάμπειν, καὶ παρὰ προσδοκίαν· ὥστε καὶ τὸ παρ' ἐλπίδας ἐποίει αὐτὸν θαυμαστότερον)· τί οὖν οὗτος παρελθὼν εἶπε τῷ Φαραώ; ὅτι Ναὶ, οἶδα; Οὐχ οὕτως· ἀλλὰ τί; Οὐδενὸς αὐτὸν ἐλέγχοντος, ἀπὸ πολλῆς τῆς εὐγνωμοσύνης τί φησιν; Οὐχὶ διὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ διασάφησις αὐτῶν ἐστιν; Ὅρα· τὸν ∆εσπότην εὐθέως ἐδόξασε· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς ἐδοξάσθη. Οὐ μικρὸν δὲ τοῦτο εἰς δόξης λόγον· τοῦ γὰρ αὐτὸν κατωρθωκέναι τὸ τὸν Θεὸν ἀποκαλύψαι μεῖζον πολλῷ. Ἄλλως δὲ καὶ τὰ λεγόμενα ἐντεῦθεν ἀξιόπιστα ἔδειξε, καὶ τοῦτο τῆς οἰκειώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ τεκμήριον μέγιστον. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἀγαθὸν, ὡς τὸ οἰκειοῦσθαι τῷ Θεῷ. Εἰ γὰρ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ἔχει καύχημα, φησὶν, ἀλλ' οὐ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ χάριτος ἀξιωθεὶς καυχᾶται ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι ἀγαπᾶται, ἐπειδὴ συνεχωρήθη αὐτῷ, καὶ ἔχει καύ 62.216 χημα ὁ ἐργαζόμενος, ἀλλ' οὐ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος· τῆς γὰρ πολλῆς ἀσθενείας τεκμήριον τοῦτο τῆς ἡμετέρας· ὁ καὶ σοφίαν λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἂν εἴη θαυμαστός; Ἐδόξασε τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἐδοξάσθη ὑπ' αὐτοῦ· Τοὺς δοξάζοντάς με γὰρ, φησὶ, δοξάσω. Πάλιν ὁ ἀπόγονος ὁ τούτου, οὗ σοφώτερος οὐδεὶς (Μὴ γὰρ σοφώτερος εἶ, φησὶ, σὺ τοῦ ∆ανιήλ;), οὗτος δὴ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ τῶν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι πάντων σοφῶν, καὶ αὐτῶν πάλιν ἀστρολόγων, μάντεων, μάγων, γοήτων, πάσης φιλοσοφίας. οὐ μόνον ἐλεγχομένης, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀναιρουμένης (τὸ γὰρ ἀναιρεῖσθαι τεκμήριον ἦν τοῦ καὶ πρότερον αὐτοὺς ἠπατηκέναι), παρελθὼν καὶ μέλλων ἐπιλύεσθαι τὸ ἐρώτημα, οὐδὲ αὐτὸς καλλωπίζεται, ἀλλὰ πρότερον ἀνατίθησι τῷ Θεῷ τὸ πᾶν, καί φησιν· Ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν ἐμοὶ παρὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἀπεκαλύφθη, ὦ βασιλεῦ. Καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ εἶπε μαναὰ σπεῖσαι. Ὁρᾷς ταπεινοφροσύνην; ὁρᾷς εὐγνωμοσύνην; ὁρᾷς ἄτυφον ἦθος; Ἄκουε καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων λεγόντων, ποτὲ μὲν, Τί ἡμῖν ἀτενίζετε, ὡς ἰδίᾳ δυνάμει ἢ εὐσεβείᾳ πεποιηκόσι τοῦ περιπατεῖν αὐτόν; ποτὲ δὲ πάλιν, Ἡμεῖς ὁμοιοπαθεῖς ὑμῖν ἐσμεν ἄνθρωποι. Εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖνοι δεδομένας τιμὰς οὕτως ἀπεκρούοντο, ἄνθρωποι μείζονα τοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ταπεινοφροσύνην ἐργαζόμενοι, καὶ διὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ δύναμιν (Ὁ γὰρ πιστεύων ἐμοὶ, φησὶ, μείζονα ποιήσει ὧν ἐγὼ ποιῶ)· πῶς οὐκ ἄθλιοι καὶ ταλαίπωροι, οἱ μηδὲ κώνωπας σοβῆσαι δυνάμενοι, μήτι γε δαίμονας; οἱ μηδὲ ἕνα ἄνθρωπον ὠφελῆσαι ἰσχύοντες, μήτι γε τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν, καὶ τοσοῦτον φρονοῦντες, ὅσον οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ὁ διάβολος; γʹ. Οὐδὲν οὕτω ψυχῆς ἀλλότριον Χριστιανῆς, ὡς ἀπόνοια· ἀπόνοιαν λέγω, οὐ παῤῥησίαν οὐδὲ ἀνδρείαν· ἐκεῖνα γὰρ οἰκεῖα. Ἕτερον γάρ τι τοῦτό ἐστι, καὶ ἕτερον ἐκεῖνο· ὥστε ἕτερον μὲν ταπεινοφροσύνη, ἕτερον δὲ ἀνελευθερία καὶ κολακεία καὶ