34

of teachers; for they were able to corrupt some with money, while others only look to how they might get a wage; and of the more respectable ones, who also care for the salvation of those entrusted to them, some are easily deceived and tricked, while others even fear the power of the licentious. For one suspected of tyranny might more easily be saved, than one who tried to lead them away from those defiled men could ever escape their hands; thus, as if in a great desert, in the midst of the cities, males commit shameless acts with males. And if some have escaped these snares, they will at least with difficulty escape the evil reputation of those who are thus abused; first, because they are very few, and on this account could easily be hidden by the multitude of the wicked; second, because those foul and accursed demons themselves, having no other way to take vengeance on those who have scorned them, are zealous to do them harm in this way. For since they were not strong enough to deliver a mortal blow, nor to reach the soul itself, they at least attempt to wound the outward adornment that clothes them, and to destroy all their good repute. Whence also I have heard many wondering, how a second rain of fire has not yet been brought down even today, how our city has not yet suffered the fate of Sodom, seeing that it is worthy of a much harsher punishment, inasmuch as it has not been corrected even by their evils? But although that country for two thousand years now, has been crying out to the whole world through sight more clearly than a voice not to dare such a thing, not only have they not become more hesitant concerning this sin, but even more reckless, as if contending with God, and zealous to show through their deeds, that they will apply themselves to these evils all the more, the more he threatens them. Why then has nothing of the sort happened, but while the sins of Sodom are dared, the sufferings of Sodom do not occur? Because another, harsher fire awaits them, and a punishment that has no 47.362 end. For since those after them, I say, dared much more polluted things than those destroyed by the flood, no such rain has occurred since then. And here again the reason is the same; since for what reason did those who lived at the beginning, when there were neither law-courts, nor was the fear of rulers impending, no threatening law was present, no chorus of prophets to discipline them, no expectation of Gehenna, no hope of the kingdom, no other philosophy, nor the miracles that could raise even stones, how did these men who enjoyed none of these things pay so great a penalty for their sins, while those who have partaken of all these things, and live amidst so much fear of both divine and human tribunals, have not yet even today suffered the same things as they, though being worthy of a harsher punishment? Is it not clear even to a child, that they are being kept for a more severe justice? For if we are thus angered and indignant, would God, who cares most of all for the human race, and vehemently turns away from and hates wickedness, endure these things to be dared unpunished? This is not so, it is not; but he will certainly bring upon them his mighty hand, and the unbearable plague, and the agony of those torments, which are so harsh that the sufferings in Sodom, when compared to these, are considered to be child's play. For what barbarians have these men not surpassed, what kind of beasts, through this shameless intercourse? In some of the irrational animals there is a great frenzy, and an unbearable lust, differing in nothing from madness; but nevertheless, it does not know this kind of love, but remains within the bounds of nature; and though it may boil ten thousand times over, it does not overturn the laws of nature. But those who are supposedly rational, and have enjoyed divine teaching, and who prescribe for others what must be done and what must not, and have heard the scriptures that came down from heaven, do not associate so fearlessly with prostitutes as they do with young men. For it is as if there were no men, nor a providence of God presiding and judging what happens, but as if darkness had seized everything, and no one was either seeing these things, or hearing of them,

34

διδασκάλων· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἴσχυσαν διαφθεῖραι χρήμασιν, οἱ δ' ὅπως αὐτοῖς μισθὸς γένοιτο μόνον ὁρῶσι· τῶν δὲ ἐπιεικεστέρων, καὶ φροντιζόντων τῆς τῶν ἐμπιστευθέντων αὐτοῖς σωτηρίας, οἱ μὲν κλέπτονται ῥᾳδίως καὶ ἀπατῶνται, οἱ δὲ καὶ δεδοίκασι τῶν ἀκολάστων τὴν δύναμιν. Ῥᾷον γὰρ ἄν τις ὑποπτευθεὶς ἐπὶ τυραννίδι διασωθείη, ἢ τῶν μιαρῶν ἐκείνων ἀπάγειν πειραθεὶς, τὰς ἐκείνων διαφύγοι χεῖράς ποτε· οὕτω καθάπερ ἐπ' ἐρημίας πολλῆς, ἐν μέσαις ταῖς πόλεσιν ἄῤῥενες ἐν ἄρσεσιν τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην κατεργάζονται. Εἰ δέ τινες ταύτας διέφυγον τὰς παγὰς, τὴν γοῦν πονηρὰν τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα ὑβριζομένων δυσκόλως διαφεύξονται δόξαν· πρῶτον μὲν, ὅτι ὀλίγοι σφόδρα εἰσὶ, καὶ ταύτῃ ῥᾳδίως ἂν τῷ τῶν πονηρῶν κρύπτοιντο πλήθει· δεύτερον, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ μιαροὶ καὶ ἐναγεῖς ἐκεῖνοι δαίμονες, οὐκ ἔχοντες ἑτέρως ἀμύνασθαι τοὺς ὑπεριδόντας αὐτῶν, ταύτῃ σπουδάζουσιν ἀδικεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν καιρίαν δοῦναι πληγὴν, οὐδ' αὐτῆς καθικέσθαι τῆς ψυχῆς, τὸν γοῦν ἔξωθεν αὐτοῖς περικείμενον τρῶσαι κόσμον ἐπιχειροῦσι, καὶ τὴν εὔκλειαν ἅπασαν ἀνελεῖν. Ὅθεν καὶ πολλῶν θαυμαζόντων ἤκουσα, πῶς οὐδέπω καὶ τήμερον ὄμβρος ἔτερος κατηνέχθη πυρὸς, πῶς οὐδέπω τὰ τῶν Σοδόμων ἔπαθεν ἡμῖν ἡ πόλις, τοσούτῳ χαλεπωτέρας ἀξία κολάσεως οὖσα, ὅσον μηδὲ τοῖς ἐκείνων ἐσωφρονίσθη κακοῖς; Ἀλλὰ καίτοι τῆς χώρας ἐκείνης ἐν δισχιλίοις λοιπὸν ἔτεσι, φωνῆς λαμπρότερον διὰ τῆς ὄψεως πρὸς ἅπασαν βοώσης τὴν οἰκουμένην μηδὲ τοιοῦτον τολμᾷν, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ὀκνηρότεροι περὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐγένοντο ταύτην, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἰταμώτεροι, καθάπερ φιλονεικοῦντες τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ διὰ τῶν ἔργων δεῖξαι σπουδάζοντες, ὅτι τοσούτῳ τοῖς κακοῖς ἐπιθήσονται τούτοις, ὅσῳπερ ἂν αὐτοῖς μειζόνως ἀπειλῇ. Πῶς οὖν οὐδὲν γέγονε τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν Σοδόμων ἁμαρτήματα τολμᾶται, τὰ δὲ Σοδόμων οὐ γίνεται πάθη; Ὅτι πῦρ αὐτοὺς ἕτερον χαλεπώτερον μένει, καὶ κόλασις οὐκ ἔχουσα 47.362 τέλος. Καὶ γὰρ τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ διαφθαρέντων πολλῷ μιαρώτερα τολμησάντων ἐκείνων, τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα λέγω, οὐδεὶς ἐξ ἐκείνου γέγονεν ὄμβρος τοιοῦτος. Κἀνταῦθα δὲ πάλιν ἡ αἰτία ἡ αὐτή· ἐπεὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν οἱ μὲν παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν γενόμενοι, ὅτε οὔτε δικαστήρια ἦν, οὐδὲ ἀρχόντων ἐπέκειτο φόβος, οὐ νόμος παρῆν ἀπειλῶν, οὐ προφητῶν χορὸς ῥυθμίζων, οὐ προσδοκία γεέννης, οὐ βασιλείας ἐλπὶς, οὐκ ἄλλη φιλοσοφία, οὐ τὰ θαύματα τὰ καὶ λίθους ἀναστῆσαι δυνάμενα, πῶς οὗτοι μὲν οἱ μηδενὸς τούτων ἀπολαύσαντες ὑπὲρ ὧν ἥμαρτον τοσαύτην ἔδωκαν δίκην, οἱ δὲ πάντων τούτων μετεσχηκότες, καὶ μεταξὺ τοσούτου ζῶντες φόβου καὶ θείων δικαστηρίων καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων, οὐδέπω καὶ τήμερον τὰ αὐτὰ ἔπαθον ἐκείνοις, χαλεπωτέρας ὄντες ἄξιοι κολάσεως; Ἆρ' οὐχὶ καὶ παιδὶ δῆλόν ἐστιν, ὅτι σφοδροτέρᾳ τηροῦνται δίκῃ; Εἰ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ὀργιζόμεθα οὕτως καὶ ἀγανακτοῦμεν, ὁ Θεὸς ὁ πάντων μάλιστα τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένους κηδόμενος, καὶ τὴν κακίαν σφόδρα ἀποστρεφόμενος καὶ μισῶν, πῶς ἀνάσχοιτο ταῦτα τολμᾶσθαι ἀτιμωρητί; Οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα, οὐκ ἔστιν· ἀλλ' ἐποίσει πάντω, αὐτοῖς τὴν χεῖρα τὴν κραταιὰν, καὶ τὴν πληγὴν τὴν ἀφόρητον, καὶ τῶν βασανιστηρίων τὴν ὀδύνην ἐκείνων, οὕτως οὖσαν χαλεπὴν, ὡς τὰ ἐν Σοδόμοις πάθη πρὸς ταῦτα παραβαλλόμενα παίγνια εἶναι νομίζεσθαι. Τίνας γὰρ οὐ παρήλασαν οὗτοι βαρβάρους, ποίων θηρίων γένος διὰ τῆς ἀναισχύντου μίξεως ταύτης; Ἔστιν ἔν τισι τῶν ἀλόγων οἶστρος πολὺς, καὶ ἐπιθυμία ἀφόρητος, μανίας οὐδὲν διαφέρουσα· ἀλλ' ὅμως τοῦτον οὐκ οἶδε τὸν ἔρωτα, ἀλλ' ἕστηκεν εἴσω τῶν τῆς φύσεως ὅρων· κἂν μυριάκις καχλάζῃ, τοὺς τῆς φύσεως οὐκ ἀνατρέπει νόμους. Οἱ δὲ λογικοὶ δῆθεν, καὶ θείας ἀπολαύσαντες διδασκαλίας, καὶ τὸ πρακτέον καὶ τὸ μὴ τοιοῦτον ἑτέροις διαγορεύοντες, καὶ γραμμάτων ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καταβάντων ἀκούσαντες, οὐχ οὕτως ἀδεῶς ταῖς πόρναις, ὥσπερ τοῖς νέοις συγγίνονται. Καθάπερ γὰρ μήτε ἀνθρώπων ὄντων, μήτε προνοίας Θεοῦ ἐφεστώσης, καὶ δικαζούσης τοῖς γινομένοις, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ σκότου πάντα καταλαβόντος, καὶ μηδενὸς μήτε ὁρῶντος ταῦτα, μήτε ἀκούοντος,