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is our lowliness. But I, observing the encomiums of outsiders, terribly condemn them, because, wishing to honor whomever they may choose, as though having no exceptional good to speak of, they sit idly by the tombs and disturb the dead in vain and make the dead an adornment for the living; through whom they invoke the deceased, confessing that no good belongs to those praised by them. 8.2.4 And in addition to these things, if it were acknowledged that those descended from illustrious fathers were in every way good themselves and inherited virtue as a kind of nature, it would perhaps be opportune to make some mention of their parents; but since the difference in pursuits for the most part belies the successions of lineage—for the son of a philosopher becomes dissolute, and the son of a pleasure-lover becomes a philosopher—it is a vain labor to remember one's forefathers; one ought to show, if one has them, the achievements of virtue. 8.2.5 And that these things are in this manner, it is not possible to learn by investigating elsewhere, but from our Holy Scripture itself, which has a manifold and varied benefit. 8.3.1 We certainly know the priest, that elder, the foster-father and teacher of the great Samuel; but though he himself was most excellent, he did not benefit his sons at all; and this though they were raised by him who begat them and learned the laws of the priesthood day by day. 8.3.2 Again, from impious parents came Timothy, I mean the apostle, the noble whelp of Paul, and yet he did not follow the disposition of his parents as if by some nature; but reasonably hating their impiety he deserted to the holy ordinance of piety and appeared as sweet fruit from a bitter root. The intercourse of mules and the offspring of a sheep. 8.3.3 Thus Absalom, a mad youth from a gentle father, and as notorious for his insolence as his father was for his goodness; or rather, if one must speak more truly, surpassing by a great measure in wickedness the virtue of him who begat him. And in general, if anyone should wish to apply his mind to such oppositions of children to their fathers, he will find countless good men from bad fathers, and wicked men from the best. And very reasonably so. For if nature and not character produced virtue or vice, the two would not exist, but one of them would prevail unilaterally. 8.4.1 Let Peter therefore be called the son of Jonah; but of whom this man was, matters not at all to me. For I honor him who begat from the deeds of the son; and beginning from below I send the glory upwards, just as lamps at night light the ceilings from the floor. Isaiah then, prophesying, says that the Father made the Son a cornerstone, showing that the whole constitution of the world has him as its seat and foundation. 8.4.2 But the Only-Begotten again, as he says in the Gospels, names Peter the foundation of the church, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." For truly this man first, like some great and strong stone, was cast into the hollow of this world or into the valley of weeping, as David says, so that bearing up all Christians being built upon him, he might lead them up to the height, which is the dwelling-place of our hope. And Paul calls Christ the foundation, saying: "No one can lay a foundation other than the one that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 8.4.3 With the same title our Savior also adorned his first disciple, naming him the rock of faith. Through Peter, therefore, the establishment of the churches is preserved, unfallen and unwavering, having become a genuine and faithful initiator into the mysteries of piety. Through the building of the just one we stand rooted, we who are Christians from the rising of the sun to its setting. 8.4.4 And though many temptations have been stirred up since the gospel was announced, and countless tyrants, and before them the devil, have wished to shake down and to demolish us to the ground, foundations and all; the... flowed

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ἡμέτερον ταπεινότης ἐστίν. Ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐγκωμίων συνορῶν δεινῶς καταμέμφομαι, ὅτι σεμνύνειν βουλόμενοι οὓς ἂν ἕλωνται, ὡς μηδὲν ἐξαίρετον εἰπεῖν ἔχοντες ἀγαθὸν μάτην τοῖς τάφοις προσεδρεύουσι καὶ διοχλοῦσι τοὺς κειμένους εἰκῆ καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς ποιοῦνται κόσμον τῶν ζώντων· δι' ὧν ἐπικαλοῦνται τοὺς τελευτήσαντας ὁμολογοῦντες μηδὲν ἀγαθὸν τοῖς παρ' αὐτῶν ἐγκωμιαζομένοις προσεῖναι. 8.2.4 Καὶ πρὸς τούτοις, εἰ μὲν ὁμολογούμενον ἦν, πάντως τοὺς ἐκ λαμπρῶν πατέρων κατάγοντας καὶ αὐτοὺς ὑπάρχειν ἀγαθοὺς καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ φύσιν τὴν ἀρετὴν διαδέχεσθαι, εὔκαιρον ἦν ἴσως μνείαν τινὰ τῶν γονέων ποιεῖσθαι· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ψεύδεται τὰς τοῦ γένους διαδοχὰς ἐπὶ πλέον ἡ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων διαφορά γίνεται γὰρ ἄσωτος ὁ τοῦ φιλοσόφου καὶ φιλόσοφος ὁ τοῦ φιληδόνου, μάταιος πόνος τῶν προπάππων μεμνῆσθαι· δέον ἐπιδεικνύειν, εἴπερ ἔχει τις ἀρετῆς κατορθώματα. 8.2.5 Καὶ ταῦθ' ὅτι τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλοθεν πολυπραγμονοῦντας μαθεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἱερᾶς ἡμῶν Γραφῆς πολύτροπον ἐχούσης καὶ ποικίλην τὴν ὠφέλειαν. 8.3.1 Ἴσμεν πάντως τὸν ἱερέα, τὸν πρεσβύτην ἐκεῖνον, τὸν τοῦ μεγάλου Σαμουὴλ τροφέα τε καὶ διδάσκαλον· ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τοὺς υἱοὺς ὠφέλησεν αὐτὸς ἄριστος ὤν· καὶ ταῦτα τραφέντας ὑπ' αὐτῷ τῷ γεννησαμένῳ καὶ καθ' ἡμέραν μανθάνοντας τοὺς τῆς ἱερωσύνης θεσμούς. 8.3.2 Ἐκ πατέρων πάλιν ἀσεβῶν ὁ Τιμόθεος, τὸν ἀπόστολον λέγω, τὸν γενναῖον τοῦ Παύλου σκύλακα, καὶ οὐ μὴν ἠκολούθησεν ὥσπερ τινὶ φύσει τῶν γονέων τῇ γνώμῃ· λογικῶς δὲ μισήσας τὴν ἐκείνων ἀσέβειαν πρὸς τὸν ἅγιον θεσμὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀπηυτομόλησε καὶ καρπὸς ἀνεφάνη γλυκὺς ἀπὸ ῥίζης πικρᾶς. Ἡμιόνων ἡ συνουσία καὶ προβάτου ὁ τόκος. 8.3.3 Οὕτως ὁ Ἀβεσσαλών, πατρὸς ἐπιεικοῦς μεμηνὼς νεανίσκος καὶ τοσοῦτον ἐπὶ θρασύτητι γνώριμος, ὅσον ὁ πατὴρ ἐν χρηστότητι· ἢ μᾶλλον, εἰ δεῖ τἀληθέστερον εἰπεῖν, πολλῷ τῷ μέτρῳ ὑπερβαλλόμενος τῇ κακίᾳ τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ γεννήσαντος. Καὶ ὅλως, εἴ τις θελήσειε ταῖς τοιαύταις τῶν παίδων πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ἐναντιότησιν ἐπιστῆσαι τὸν νοῦν, μυρίους εὑρήσει σπουδαίους ἀπὸ κακῶν καὶ πονηροὺς ἐκ βελτίστων. Καὶ σφόδρα γε εἰκότως. Εἰ γὰρ φύσις καὶ μὴ τρόπος ἀρετὴν ἢ κακίαν εἰργάζετο, οὐκ ἂν ἦν τὰ δύο, ἀλλὰ μονομερῶς ἐπεκράτει τὸ ἕτερον. 8.4.1 Λεγέσθω τοίνυν Πέτρος υἱὸς Ἰωνᾶ· τίνος δὲ τούτου, οὐδέν μοι διαφέρει. Ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐκ τῶν πράξεων τοῦ υἱοῦ σεμνύνω τὸν γεννησάμενον· καὶ κάτωθεν ἀρξάμενος ἐπὶ τὰ ἄνω παραπέμπω τὴν δόξαν, ὥσπερ οἱ λύχνοι οἱ νύκτωρ ἐκ τοῦ ἐδάφους τοὺς ὀρόφους φωτίζοντες. Ἡσαΐας μὲν οὖν φησι προφητεύων, ὅτι λίθον ἀκρογωνιαῖον ὁ Πατὴρ ἔθηκε τὸν Υἱόν, ἐνδεικνύμενος ὡς ἡ πᾶσα τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις ἐκεῖνον ἔχει τὴν ἕδραν καὶ τὴν κρηπῖδα. 8.4.2 Ὁ δὲ Μονογενὴς πάλιν, καθὼς ἐν εὐαγγελίοις φησίν, θεμέλιον τὸν Πέτρον ὀνομάζει τῆς ἐκκλησίας, Σὺ εἶ Πέτρος, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. Πρῶτος γὰρ ἀληθῶς οὗτος ὥσπερ τις λίθος μέγας καὶ καρτερὸς ἐνερρίφη τῇ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου κοιλότητι ἢ τῇ κοιλάδι τοῦ κλαυθμῶνος, ὥς φησιν ὁ ∆αβίδ, ἵνα πάντας χριστιανοὺς ἐποικοδομου μένους βαστάσας ἀναγάγῃ πρὸς τὸ ὕψος, ὃ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἡμῶν ἐστιν οἰκητήριον. Θεμέλιον καλεῖ τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ Παῦλος φάσκων· Θεμέλιον οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. 8.4.3 Τῇ ὁμοίᾳ δὲ κλήσει ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ τὸν πρῶτον ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὴν κατεκόσμησε πέτραν ὀνομάσας τῆς πίστεως. ∆ιὰ Πέτρον τοίνυν ἄπτωτον καὶ ἀκλινὲς τὸ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἕδρασμα σώζεται, γνήσιον καὶ πιστὸν γενόμενον τῆς εὐσεβείας μυσταγωγόν. ∆ιὰ τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ δικαίου ἑστήκαμεν ἐρριζωμένοι, οἱ ἀπὸ ἀνίσχοντος ἡλίου μέχρι καὶ δυομένου χριστιανοί. 8.4.4 Πολλῶν δὲ πειρασμῶν κινηθέντων ἀφ' οὗ κατηγγέλη τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, καὶ μυρίων τυράννων καὶ πρὸ ἐκείνων τοῦ διαβόλου κατασεῖσαι θελήσαντος καὶ εἰς ἔδαφος καθελεῖν ἡμᾶς αὐτοῖς κρηπιδώμασιν· ἔρρευσαν μὲν οἱ