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they surrounded the dawn at an untimely hour." But it belongs to the perfect man, who by reason of use has his senses exercised, to be able to discern the nature of good from evil. And of an approved money-changer, to hold fast to that which is good; just as of a disapproved one, to have his criteria disposed contrary to nature. Three pairs, then, have now been set forth, differing in things of the body, but in things of the soul, revolving around one thing according to different conceptions. They define, then, the beautiful as a praiseworthy good, to which the shameful is opposed, which he has now named evil; which would be a blameworthy bad. And light is a substance that diffuses darkness; and darkness is air deprived of light. And sweetness is a smoothness of juice or liquid that delights the sense of taste. But the bitter is a taste that roughens the palate. These things, then, are according to the ready interpretation. But the discourse seems not to be about things known by sense. But if the commandment of the Lord is far-shining, enlightening the eyes, he who does not live by it, but wallows in material passions, has considered these things light, thinking that to be darkness, and dogmatically, he who does not believe in the true light, this indeed is darkness, but makes the devil light. And, if the oracles of the Lord are sweet to the throat of the just man, he who flees the toil of the commandments, but assents to the smoothness of pleasure, this man inverts the sweet and the bitter. But also dogmatically, the Lord is sweetness to those who taste him with knowledge; "For taste, and see that Christ is the Lord." But one not believing in him calls the sweet bitter. And the true is also beautiful, that which is symmetrically disposed in the soul according to virtue. For virtue is a mean, of which the excess or the defect is vice; as in the case of courage, deficiency is cowardice, and rashness is an excess, both of which work shame, and he who does not believe in the Lord 1921 does not assent to the nature of the beautiful. For that is properly beautiful, according to, "In thy comeliness and in thy beauty;" but all shame is the devil. Since, therefore, there is no fellowship of light with beauty, nor agreement of Christ with Beliar, these must be separated from one another; and let us not, being deceived, consider him who transforms himself into an angel of light to be light, nor pleasure sweet, nor prefer physical beauty to that of the soul. But why, in the case of the beautiful, is 'saying' used; but in the case of light and the sweet, 'putting'? and in some way also more bitter. For in the first choices of life we err by word alone. But by doing evil, and persisting after experience, we set for ourselves, as it were, unmovable boundaries for the works of wickedness. And if someone from licentiousness does not turn to self-control, he puts for himself the bitter as sweet. But worse than this is to also advocate for evil, and to say the beautiful is wicked; for 'not only do they do them,' he says, 'but they also approve of those who practice them.' Therefore, 'to put' is to practice. And 'to say' is to dogmatize. Which some have declared to be the sin unto death, belonging to those who approve, but are not pricked by conscience for what they sin; from which it results that they do not even repent. 23. 9Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. Woe to those of you who are mighty, who drink wine, and the powerful, and those who mix strong drink. Who justify the wicked for the sake of bribes, and take away the righteousness of the righteous9. And these things he has again applied to the above, even if he has a general threat against the wise in their own conceit, such as were some of the teachers of the Jews, teaching nothing with accuracy, but gleaning from the people, and being given over to drunkenness. For with the law saying, "Judge a righteous judgment," the prophet says to Jerusalem: "Your rulers are disobedient, companions of thieves, loving gifts, pursuing reward, not judging for the orphans, and not attending to the judgment of the widow." For they did these things, being overcome by shameful gains, for the dissoluteness of life. Wherefore the prophet says, "They drank wine from false accusations." And being teachers of evil things, they were stupefied by the darkness of ignorance, and mixed for others a deceitful drink, the strong drink, corrupting the word of God. To whom

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αὐγὴν ἐν ἀωρίᾳ περιέστησαν." Τελείου δέ ἐστιν, τοῦ διὰ τὴν ἕξιν γεγυμνασμένα ἔχοντος τὰ αἰσθητήρια, διακρίνειν δύνασθαι τὴν τοῦ καλοῦ φύσιν, ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. Καὶ δοκίμου τραπεζίτου, τὸ καλὸν κατέχειν· ὥσπερ ἀδοκίμου, τὸ παρὰ φύσιν ἔχειν τὰ κριτήρια διακείμενα. Τρεῖς μὲν οὖν συζυγίαι νῦν παρετέθησαν, ἐν μὲν τοῖς σωματικοῖς διαφέρουσαι, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ψυχικοῖς, κατὰ διαφόρους ἐπινοίας περὶ ἕν τι στρεφόμεναι. Καλὸν μὲν οὖν ὁρίζονται ἀγαθὸν ἐπαινετὸν, ᾧ τὸ αἰσχρὸν ἀντίκειται, ὃ νῦν ὠνόμασε πονηρόν· ὅπερ ἂν εἴη κακὸν ψεκτόν. Φῶς δὲ οὐσία διαχυτικὴ σκότους· Σκότος δὲ ἀὴρ ἐστερημένος φωτός. Καὶ γλυκύτης μὲν λειότης χυμοῦ ἢ χυλοῦ τὴν γευστικὴν ἡδύνουσα αἴσθησιν. Τὸ δὲ πικρὸν γευστὸν ἐκτραχύνον τὴν γεῦσιν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὴν πρόχειρον ἔκδοσιν. Ἀλλ' ἔοικε μὴ περὶ τῶν αἰσθήσει γνωρίμων ὑπάρχειν ὁ λόγος. Ἀλλ' εἴπερ ἡ ἐντολὴ Κυρίου τηλαυγὴς, φωτίζουσα ὀφθαλμοὺς, ὁ μὴ ταύτῃ ζῶν, ἐν ὑλικοῖς δὲ πάθεσι κυλινδούμενος, ταῦτα νενόμικε φῶς ἐκείνην σκότος δοκῶν, καὶ δογματικῶς ὁ μὴ πιστεύων εἰς τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν, τοῦτο μὲν σκότος, φῶς δὲ ποιεῖ τὸν διάβολον. Καὶ, εἰ γλυκεία τῷ λάρυγγι τοῦ δικαίου τὰ λόγια τοῦ Κυρίου, ὁ τὸ τῶν προσταγμάτων φεύγων ἐπίπονον, συγκατατιθέμενος δὲ τῷ λείῳ τῆς ἡδονῆς, οὗτος ἀναστρέφει τὸ γλυκὺ καὶ πικρόν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ δογματικῶς, γλυκύτης ἐστὶν τοῖς ἐπιστημόνως αὐτοῦ γευομένοις ὁ Κύριος· "Γεύσασθε γὰρ, καὶ ἴδετε ὅτι Χριστὸς ὁ Κύριος." Μὴ πιστεύων δέ τις αὐτῷ, τὸ γλυκὺ λέγει πικρόν. Καὶ τὸ ἀληθὲς δὲ καλὸν, τὸ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ συμμέτρως διακειμένῃ κατ' ἀρετήν. Μεσότης γὰρ ἡ ἀρετὴ, ἧς τὸ ὑπερβάλλον ἢ λεῖπον, κακία· ὡς ἐπ' ἀνδρείας ἔλλειψις μὲν ἡ δειλία, ἡ δὲ θρασύτης πλεονασμὸς, ἅπερ αἶσχος ἐργάζονται, καὶ ὁ μὴ πιστεύων δὲ εἰς τὸν Κύ 1921 ριον, οὐδὲ τῇ τοῦ καλοῦ συγκατατίθεται φύσει. Κυρίως γὰρ ἐκεῖνο καλὸν, κατὰ τὸ, "Τῇ ὡραιότητί σου καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου·" αἶσχος δὲ πᾶν ὁ διάβολος. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐκ ἔστι κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς κάλλος, οὐδὲ συμφώνησις Χριστοῦ πρὸς Βελίαρ, χωριστέον ταῦτα ἀλλήλων· καὶ μὴ παραλογισθέντες, φῶς, νομίσωμεν τὸν μετασχηματιζόμενον εἰς ἄγγελον φωτὸς, μηδὲ γλυκεῖαν τὴν ἡδονὴν, μηδὲ κάλλος σωματικὸν τοῦ ψυχικοῦ προτιμήσωμεν. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ καλοῦ, τὸ, λέγοντες, εἴρηται· ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ τοῦ γλυκέος τὸ, τιθέντες; κατά τι δὲ καὶ πικρότερον. Παρὰ γὰρ τὰς πρώτας αἱρέσεις τοῦ βίου διὰ τοῦ λόγου μόνον σφαλλόμεθα. Ἐνεργοῦντες δὲ τὸ κακὸν, καὶ μετὰ πεῖραν προσμένοντες, ὥσπερ ὅρους ἑαυτοῖς ἀκινήτους τῶν τῆς κακίας ἔργων τιθέμεθα. Κἄν τις ἐξ ἀσελγείας πρὸς σωφροσύνην οὐ μετατίθεται, τίθησιν ἑαυτῷ τὸ πικρὸν γλυκύ. Χεῖρον δὲ τούτου, τὸ καὶ συνηγορεῖν τῷ κακῷ, καὶ λέγειν τὸ καλὸν πονηρόν· οὐ μόνον γὰρ ποιοῦσι, φησὶν, αὐτὰ, ἀλλὰ καὶ συνευδοκοῦσι τοῖς πράσσουσι. Τιθέναι μὲν οὖν, τὸ πράττειν. Λέγειν δὲ, τὸ δογματίζειν. Ὃ τὴν εἰς θάνατον ἁμαρτίαν τινὲς ἀπεφήναντο τῶν εὐδοκούντων οὖσαν, ἀλλ' οὐ δακνομένων ἐφ' οἷς ἁμαρτάνουσιν· ἐξ οὗ τὸ μηδὲ μετανοεῖν ἐπιγίνεται. κακγʹ. 9Οὐαὶ οἱ συνετοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ἐπιστήμονες. Οὐαὶ οἱ ἰσχύοντες ὑμῶν, οἱ πίνοντες τὸν οἶνον, καὶ οἱ δυνάσται, καὶ οἱ κεραννύντες τὸ σίκερα. Οἱ δικαιοῦντες τὸν ἀσεβῆ ἕνεκεν δώρων, καὶ τὸ δίκαιον τοῦ δικαίου αἴροντεσ9. Καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς ἄνω πάλιν ἐφήρμοσεν, εἰ καὶ γενικὴν πρὸς τοὺς δοκησισόφους ἔχει τὴν ἀπειλὴν ὁποῖοί τινες ἦσαν οἱ τῶν Ἰουδαίων διδάσκαλοι, μηδὲν μὲν ἐπ' ἀκριβείας διδάσκοντες, καλαμώμενοι δὲ τὸν λαὸν, καὶ τῇ μέθῃ προσκείμενοι. Τοῦ γὰρ νόμου λέγοντος, "Κρῖμα δίκαιον κρίνατε," ὁ προφήτης φησὶ πρὸς τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ· "Οἱ ἄρχοντές σου ἀπειθοῦσιν, κοινωνοὶ κλεπτῶν, ἀγαπῶντες δῶρα, διώκοντες ἀνταπόδομα, ὀρφανοῖς οὐ κρίνοντες, καὶ κρίσει χήρας οὐ προσέχοντες." Ταῦτα γὰρ ἔδρων αἰσχρῶν λημμάτων ἡττώμενοι, πρὸς τὴν ἀσωτίαν τοῦ βίου. ∆ιὸ τῆς προφήτης φησὶν, "Οἶνον ἐκ συκοφαντιῶν ἔπινον." Καὶ κακῶν δὲ ὄντες διδάσκαλοι, τῷ τῆς ἀγνοίας ἐκεκάρωντο σκότῳ, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ποτὸν ἐκίρνων δεδολωμένον, τὸ σίκερα, τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ καπηλεύοντες λόγον. Πρὸς οὓς