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young for the accomplishment of virtue; but if he should indeed bear something noble, by the downpours of words from you before it can even sprout, it will quickly be choked. For just as a body, not enjoying healthy foods, but being nourished on diseased ones, cannot last even for a short time, so neither can a soul, being taught such things, 47.359 ever conceive anything noble and great, but it is necessary for such a soul, growing weak and soft, as if continually held fast by some consumption of vice, thus later to end up in Gehenna, and the destruction there. 7. But if you say that these things are not so, but that it is possible for one who moves in the midst of the world to accomplish all of virtue, and if you say these things not in jest, but in earnest, do not hesitate to teach us this new and paradoxical lesson; for I do not wish to have so many troubles in vain, nor to abstain from so many things for nothing. But I cannot learn this; for you do not allow it, both by what you say and by what you do, speaking out against this opinion, and teaching the opposite. For just as if you were deliberately striving for your sons to be destroyed, so you command them to do all things which make it impossible for those who do them to be saved. See now from the beginning. Woe, He says, to those who laugh; but you provide them many occasions for laughter. Woe to the rich; but you do everything so that they might make money. Woe, when all men speak well of you; but you have often spent whole fortunes for the sake of popular praise. Again, he who insults his brother is liable to Gehenna; but you consider those who bear insults from others in silence to be inactive and cowardly. Christ commands us to despise fighting and litigation; but you keep them constantly involved in these evils. He commanded us to pluck out our eye often, when it causes harm; but you make friends especially of those who can give money, even if they teach the worst vice. He did not permit a man to put away his wife, except for the sole cause of fornication; but you, when it is possible to get money, command them to despise this commandment. He completely forbade the oath; but you, if you see it being kept, even laugh. He who loves his life, He says, will lose it; but you throw them from all sides into this love. If you do not forgive, He says, men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you; but you even reproach them, when they are unwilling to avenge themselves on those who have wronged them, and you hasten quickly to bring them to this power. Christ declared that those who love glory do everything in vain, whether they fast, or pray, or give alms; but you arrange everything so that they might obtain it. And why must I go through everything? For when even the things that have been said are sufficient to prepare ten thousand Gehennas, not only all of them coming together, but also each of them by itself; but you, having heaped all things together, and having placed on them the unbearable burden of sins, thus send them into the river of fire. When will they be able to be saved, bringing so much fuel to the fire? And not only is this the terrible thing, that you advise the opposite of Christ's commands, but also that you clothe vice with fair-sounding names, calling constant devotion to horse-races and theaters "urbanity," being rich "liberality," loving glory "magnanimity," recklessness "boldness of speech," and profligacy "philanthropy," and injustice "courage." Then, as if this 47.360 deception were not enough, you also call virtue by opposite names, calling temperance "rusticity," gentleness "cowardice," and naming justice "unmanliness," and humility "servility," and forbearance "weakness;" as if fearing that your children, hearing the true name of these things from others, might flee the corruption. For it is no small thing for turning away from evils to use the plain and proper names of evils; but it has so much power to strike sinners, as

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νέος πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς κατόρθωσιν· εἰ δ' ἄρα τι καὶ τέκοι γενναῖον, ταῖς τῶν λόγων ἐπομβρίαις τῶν παρὰ σοῦ πρὶν ἢ βλαστῆσαι ταχέως ἀποπνιγήσεται. Ὥσπερ γὰρ σῶμα ὑγιεινῶν μὲν οὐκ ἀπολαῦον σιτίων, τοῖς δὲ νοσώδεσιν ἐντρεφόμενον, οὐκ ἔνι πρὸς μικρὸν γοῦν ἀρκέσαι χρόνον, οὕτως οὐδὲ ψυχὴν, τοιαῦτα 47.359 παιδευομένην, γενναῖόν τι καὶ μέγα ἐννοῆσαί ποτε, ἀλλ' ἀνάγκη τὴν τοιαύτην ἀσθενοῦσαν καὶ μαλακιζομένην, καθάπερ τινὶ φθόῃ τῇ κακίᾳ συνεχομένην διηνεκῶς, οὕτως ὕστερον εἰς τὴν γέενναν καταστρέψαι, καὶ τὴν ἀπώλειαν τὴν ἐκεῖ. ζʹ. Εἰ δὲ μὴ φῂς ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ δυνατὸν εἶναι καὶ ἐν μέσῳ στρεφόμενον πάντα κατορθοῦντα τῆς ἀρετῆς, καὶ μὴ παίζων, ἀλλὰ σπουδάζων ἀληθῶς ταῦτα λέγεις, μὴ κατοκνήσῃς ἡμᾶς διδάξαι τὸ καινὸν τοῦτο καὶ παράδοξον μάθημα· οὐδὲ γὰρ βούλομαι πράγματα εἰκῆ τοσαῦτα ἔχειν, οὐδὲ τοσούτοις ἀπέχεσθαι μάτην. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐ δύναμαι τοῦτο μαθεῖν· οὐ γὰρ ἐᾶτε ὑμεῖς, καὶ δι' ὧν λέγετε καὶ δι' ὧν ποιεῖτε ἀντιφθεγγόμενοι ταύτῃ τῇ ψήφῳ, καὶ τἀναντία παιδεύοντες· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐξεπίτηδες ἀπολέσθαι σπουδάζοντες τοὺς υἱοὺς, οὕτως ἅπαντα κελεύετε ποιεῖν, ἃ τοὺς ποιοῦντας σωθῆναι οὐκ ἔνι. Ὅρα δὲ ἄνωθεν. Οὐαὶ, φησὶ, τοῖς γελῶσιν· ὑμεῖς δὲ πολλὰς αὐτοῖς παρέχετε γέλωτος ἀφορμάς· Οὐαὶ τοῖς πλουτοῦσιν· ὑμεῖς δὲ ὅπως χρηματίσαιντο, πάντα πράττετε· Οὐαὶ, ὅταν καλῶς εἴπωσιν ὑμᾶς πάντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι· ὑμεῖς δὲ καὶ οὐσίας ὁλοκλήρους ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν δήμων εὐφημίας ἐκενώσατε πολλάκις. Πάλιν δὲ ὁ τὸν ἀδελφὸν ὑβρίζων ὑπεύθυνός ἐστι τῇ γεέννῃ· ὑμεῖς δὲ καὶ ἀδρανεῖς εἶναι νομίζετε καὶ δειλοὺς τοὺς σιγῇ τὰς παρὰ τῶν ἑτέρων φέροντας ὕβρεις. Μάχης κελεύει καὶ δίκης καταφρονεῖν ὁ Χριστός· ὑμεῖς δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐν τούτοις στρέφετε τοῖς κακοῖς διαπαντός. Τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν πολλάκις ἐξορύττειν ἐκέλευσεν, ὅταν βλάπτῃ· ὑμεῖς δὲ τούτους μάλιστα ποιεῖτε φίλους, ὅσοιπερ ἂν δύνωνται χρήματα δοῦναι, κἂν τὴν ἐσχάτην παιδεύσωσι κακίαν. Ἐκβαλεῖν γυναῖκα οὐκ ἀφῆκε, πλὴν ἐπ' αἰτίᾳ μόνῃ πορνείας· ὑμεῖς δὲ, ὅταν ἐξῇ χρήματα λαβεῖν, καὶ ταύτης καταφρονεῖν κελεύετε τῆς· ἐντολῆς. Τὸν ὅρκον ἀπεῖρξε παντελῶς· ὑμεῖς δὲ, ἂν ἴδητε φυλαττόμενον, καὶ γελᾶτε. Ὁ φιλῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὑτοῦ, φησὶν, ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· ὑμεῖς δὲ αὐτοὺς πάντοθεν εἰς ταύτην ἐμβάλλετε τὴν φιλίαν. Ἐὰν μὴ ἀφῆτε, φησὶ, τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ ὑμῖν ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἀφήσει ὁ οὐράνιος· ὑμεῖς δὲ καὶ ὀνειδίζετε, ὅταν τοὺς ἠδικηκότας μὴ θέλωσιν ἀμύνεσθαι, καὶ εἰς τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοὺς ταύτην ταχέως ἐπείγεσθε ἀγαγεῖν. Τοὺς δόξης ἐρῶντας πάντα εἰκῆ ποιεῖν ἀπεφήνατο ὁ Χριστὸς, κἂν νηστεύωσι, κἂν εὔχωνται, κἂν ἐλεῶσιν· ὑμεῖς δὲ, ὅπως ταύτης ἐπιτύχοιεν, ἅπαντα πραγματεύεσθε. Καὶ τί δεῖ πάντα ἐπιέναι; ὅταν γὰρ καὶ τὰ εἰρημένα μυρίας ἱκανὰ παρασκευάσαι γεέννας ᾖ, οὐχὶ πάντα ὁμοῦ συνελθόντα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸ τούτων ἕκαστον· ὑμεῖς δὲ πάντα ὁμοῦ συμφορήσαντες, καὶ τὸ ἀφόρητον τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐπιθέντες φορτίον, οὕτως εἰς τὸν τοῦ πυρὸς πέμπετε ποταμόν. Πότε σωθῆναι δυνήσονται, τοσαύτην κομίζοντες τῷ πυρὶ τὴν τροφήν; Καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον ἐστὶ τὸ δεινὸν, ὅτι τἀναντία τοῖς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παραινεῖτε προστάγμασιν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ προσηγορίαις εὐφήμοις περιστέλλετε τὴν κακίαν, τὸ μὲν ἱπποδρόμοις καὶ θεάτροις προσκεῖσθαι διαπαντὸς ἀστειότητα καλοῦντες, τὸ δὲ πλουτεῖν ἐλευθερίαν, τὸ δὲ δόξης ἐρᾷν μεγαλοψυχίαν, τὴν δὲ ἀπόνοιαν παῤῥησίαν, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἀσωτίαν φιλανθρωπίαν, τὴν δὲ ἀδικίαν ἀνδρείαν. Εἶτα, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἀρκούσης ταύτης 47.360 τῆς ἀπάτης, καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐναντίοις καλεῖτε ὀνόμασιν, ἀγροικίαν μὲν τὴν σωφροσύνην, δειλίαν δὲ τὴν ἐπιείκειαν, ἀνανδρίαν δὲ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὀνομάζοντες, καὶ τὸ μὲν ἄτυφον δουλοπρεπὲς, τὴν δὲ ἀνεξικακίαν ἀσθένειαν· καθάπερ δεδοικότες μὴ παρ' ἑτέρων τὴν ἀληθῆ τούτων προσηγορίαν ἀκούσαντες φύγωσι τὴν λύμην οἱ παῖδες. Οὐδὲ γὰρ μικρὸν εἰς τὴν τῶν κακῶν ἀποτροπὴν τὸ γυμνὰς αὐτὰς καὶ κυρίας τῶν κακῶν προφέρεσθαι τὰς ὀνομασίας· ἀλλὰ τοσαύτην ἔχει τὴν ἰσχὺν πρὸς τὸ πλῆξαι τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας, ὡς