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he says, to be born, and a time to die. Would that for me too birth might happen in due time, and a timely death! For no one would say that this involuntary birth-pang and this automatic death are now being set forth by the Preacher as an achievement of virtue; for the birth-pang is not according to the will of the woman, nor death according to the choice of those who die. And what is not in our power, no one would define as either virtue or vice. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the timely birth and the death that occurs in due time. It seems to me that a birth is timely and not an abortion when, 5.380 as Isaiah says, someone having conceived out of the fear of God gives birth to his own salvation through the birth-pangs of the soul; for in a way we become our own fathers, when through good choice we both form and beget ourselves and bring ourselves forth to the light. And we do this by receiving God in ourselves, becoming children of God and children of power and sons of the Most High. And again we miscarry and make ourselves unfruitful and wind-begotten, when the form of Christ is not formed in us, as the Apostle says. For it is necessary, he says, for the man of God to be complete. And he is entirely complete, in whom the principle of nature has been perfectly fulfilled. Therefore, if someone through virtue has made himself a child of God, having received authority for this noble birth, he has known the time of good birth-pangs and rejoices rightly according to the gospel, Because a man has been born into the world. But he who has become a child of wrath and a son of perdition and an offspring of darkness, a brood of vipers, an evil offspring and all the other things through which the wicked birth is slandered, did not know the life-giving time; for there is one time that gives birth to life, and not many. He who has missed this, in the untimeliness of birth has travailed himself unto perdition and has delivered his soul to death. 5.381 But if it is clear how we are born in due time, it would also be clear how we also die in due time, for example, to the holy Paul every time of good death was timely. For he cries out in his own words, making in a way an oath, in which he says, I die daily, I protest by your boasting, and For your sake we are killed all day long, and We have had the sentence of death in ourselves. And it is certainly not unclear how Paul dies daily, who never lives for sin, who is always deadening the members of the flesh and carrying about in himself the dying of the body of Christ, who is always crucified with Christ, who never lives for himself, but has Christ living in him. This would be, in my judgment at least, the timely death, which becomes the agent of true life. For I, he says, will kill and make alive, so as to be persuaded that it is truly a gift of God to be made dead to sin and made alive in the spirit; for through killing, the divine voice promises to make alive. And the next thing is similar to what has been said: A time, he says, to plant, and a time to pluck up what has been planted. We know, 5.382 who is our farmer and whose field we are. For the one we have learned from Christ, and the other from the servant of Christ, Paul. For the Lord says, My Father is the farmer, and the Apostle says to us, You are God's field. Therefore, the great farmer knows only how to plant good things (For God planted a paradise in Eden toward the east), but he plucks up the things opposite to the good things; for every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Therefore, the Pharisaical wickedness and unbelief and the ingratitude toward the miracles performed by the Lord are these plants which are plucked up. For it is necessary for the proclamation of salvation to prevail, it is necessary for the gospel to be preached in the whole world, it is necessary for every tongue to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Since, therefore, these things must surely happen, the unbelief now prevailing among some is not from the Father's planting, but from the one who sows the tares or who plants the Sodomite vine next to the master's vineyard. which therefore there in the gospel

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φησί, τοῦ τεκεῖν καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν. εἴθε κἀμοὶ γένοιτο ἐν καιρῷ τε ὁ τόκος καὶ ὁ εὔκαιρος θάνατος! οὐ γὰρ ἄν τις εἴποι τὴν ἀκούσιον ταύτην ὠδῖνα καὶ τὸν αὐτόματον θάνατον παρὰ τοῦ ἐκκλησιαστοῦ νῦν ὡς ἐν ἀρετῆς κατορθώσει προδείκνυ σθαι· οὔτε γὰρ ἐπὶ τῷ θελήματι τῆς γυναικὸς ἡ ὠδὶς οὔτε ἐπὶ τῇ προαιρέσει τῶν τελευτώντων ὁ θάνατος. ὃ δὲ ἐφ' ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔστιν, οὔτε ἀρετὴν ἄν τις οὔτε κακίαν ὁρίσαιτο. οὐκοῦν νοῆσαι προσήκει τὸν τόκον τὸν εὔκαιρον καὶ τὸν ἐν καιρῷ γινόμενον θάνατον. ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ τόκος ὥριμος καὶ οὐκ ἀμβλωθρίδιος εἶναι, ὅταν, 5.380 καθώς φησιν Ἡσαΐας, ἐκ τοῦ θείου τις φόβου κυοφορήσας διὰ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ὠδίνων τὴν ἰδίαν σωτηρίαν γεννήσῃ· ἑαυτῶν γὰρ τρόπον τινὰ πατέρες γινόμεθα, ὅταν διὰ τῆς ἀγαθῆς προαιρέσεως ἑαυτοὺς πλάσωμέν τε καὶ γεννήσωμεν καὶ εἰς φῶς προαγάγωμεν. τοῦτο δὲ ποιοῦμεν διὰ τοῦ δέξασθαι ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸν θεὸν, Τέκνα θεοῦ καὶ τέκνα δυνάμεως καὶ υἱοὶ ὑψίστου γενόμενοι. καὶ πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς ἀμβλίσκομεν καὶ ἀτελεσφορήτους τε καὶ ὑπηνεμίους ἀπεργαζόμεθα, ὅταν μὴ μορφωθῇ ἐν ἡμῖν, καθώς φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος, ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μορφή. δεῖ γὰρ εἶναι, φησίν, ἄρτιον τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπον. ἄρτιος δὲ πάντως ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν, ᾧ τελείως ὁ τῆς φύσεως συμπεπλήρωται λόγος. οὐκοῦν εἰ μέν τις δι' ἀρετῆς τέκνον θεοῦ ἑαυτὸν ἐποίησε λαβὼν ἐξουσίαν τῆς εὐγενείας ταύτης, ἔγνω οὗτος τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀγαθῆς ὠδῖνος καὶ χαίρει κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον εἰκότως, Ὅτι ἐγεννήθη ἄνθρωπος εἰς τὸν κόσμον. ὁ δὲ γενόμενος τέκνον ὀργῆς καὶ υἱὸς ἀπωλείας καὶ σκότους ἔκγονος, γέννημα ἐχίδνης, ἔκγονον κακὸν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα, δι' ὧν ὁ πονηρὸς διαβάλλεται τόκος, οὐκ ἔγνω τὸν ζωογονοῦντα καιρόν· εἷς γὰρ καιρὸς ὁ εἰς ζωὴν τίκτων καὶ οὐ πολλοί. οὗ ὁ διαμαρτὼν ἐν τῇ ἀκαιρίᾳ τοῦ τόκου τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ ἑαυτὸν ὤδινε καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐμαιεύσατο. 5.381 εἰ δὲ φανερόν ἐστι, πῶς ἐν καιρῷ τικτόμεθα, δῆλον ἂν εἴη, πῶς καὶ ἐν καιρῷ ἀποθνῄσκομεν, οἷον πᾶς τῷ ἁγίῳ Παύλῳ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θανάτου εὔκαιρος ἦν. βοᾷ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις λόγοις, ἔνορκον τρόπον τινὰ ποιούμενος, ἐν οἷς φησιν, ὅτι Καθ' ἡμέραν ἀποθνῄσκω, νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν καύχησιν, καὶ τὸ Ἕνεκα σοῦ θανατούμεθα πᾶσαν ἡμέραν, καὶ Αὐτοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ ἀπόκριμα τοῦ θανάτου ἐσχήκαμεν. πάντως δὲ οὐκ ἄδηλον, πῶς ἀποθνῄσκει καθ' ἡμέραν ὁ Παῦλος ὁ μηδέποτε τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ζῶν, ὁ ἀεὶ τὰ μέλη τῆς σαρκὸς νεκρῶν καὶ τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιφέρων, ὁ πάντοτε Χριστῷ συσταυρούμενος, ὁ μηδέποτε ἑαυτῷ ζῶν, ἀλλὰ ζῶντα ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸν Χριστόν. οὗτος ἂν εἴη, κατά γε τὴν ἐμὴν κρίσιν, ὁ εὔκαιρος θάνατος, ὁ τῆς ἀληθοῦς ζωῆς γινόμενος πρόξενος. Ἐγὼ γάρ, φησίν, ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω, ὡς πεπεῖσθαι ἀληθῶς θεοῦ δῶρον εἶναι τὸ νεκρωθῆναι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ καὶ ζωοποιηθῆναι τῷ πνεύματι· διὰ γὰρ τοῦ ἀποκτεῖναι ζωοποιεῖν ἐπαγγέλλεται ἡ θεία φωνή. Ὅμοιον δὲ τοῖς εἰρημένοις καὶ τὸ ἑπόμενον· Καιρός, φησί, τοῦ φυτεῦσαι καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἐκτῖλαι τὸ πεφυτευμένον. οἴδαμεν, 5.382 τίς ἡμῶν ὁ γεωργὸς καὶ ἡμεῖς τίνος γεώργιον. τὸ μὲν γὰρ παρὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸ δὲ παρὰ τοῦ δούλου τοῦ Χριστοῦ μεμαθήκαμεν Παύλου. ὁ μὲν γὰρ κύριός φησιν, ὅτι Ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ γεωργός ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ ἀπόστολος πρὸς ἡμᾶς λέγει, ὅτι θεοῦ γεώργιόν ἐστε. ὁ οὖν μέγας γεωργὸς τὰ ἀγαθὰ φυτεύειν μόνον ἐπίσταται (Ἐφύτευσε γὰρ ὁ θεὸς παράδεισον ἐν Ἐδὲμ κατὰ ἀνατολάς), τὰ δὲ ἐναντία τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀποτίλλει· πᾶσα γὰρ φυτεία, ἣν οὐκ ἐφύτευσεν ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ οὐράνιος, ἐκριζωθήσεται. οὐκοῦν ἡ Φαρισαϊκὴ κακία τε καὶ ἀπιστία καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὰ γινόμενα παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου θαύματα ἀγνωμοσύνη ταῦτα τὰ φυτά ἐστι τὰ ἐκτιλλόμενα. χρὴ γὰρ ἐπικρατῆσαι τὸ κήρυγμα τῆς σωτηρίας, χρὴ κηρυχθῆ ναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ, χρὴ πᾶσαν γλῶσσαν ἐξομολογήσασθαι ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός. ἐπεὶ οὖν ταῦτα γενέσθαι χρὴ πάντως, ἡ νῦν ἐπι κρατοῦσά τινων ἀπιστία οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς φυτείας, ἀλλὰ τοῦ παρασπείροντος τὰ ζιζάνια ἢ τοῦ παραφυτεύοντος τῷ δεσποτικῷ ἀμπελῶνι τὴν Σοδομιτικὴν κληματίδα. ὅπερ οὖν ἐκεῖ ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ