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he promises heaven, and we have gaped towards the earth. 5. These things we have gained from the name of Abraham, learning why he was called a passer-over, and that leaving his own land, he moved to a foreign one, and running past the visible things, he looked to the invisible, casting aside what was in his hands, he gaped for what was in his hopes, and taking things perceptible by sense, he reached for things intelligible by the mind, and this before grace, before the law, before the teaching from the prophets. From this it is clear that he had no instructor, but nature sufficed for him, moving the reasonings of his conscience, and so he found God, the creator of the universe; for this reason he was called Abram, for this reason also his parents gave him this name. But perhaps someone might say that this is false. For were the parents of Abraham righteous? Were they pleasing to God? Did they know the things that were to be? Did they foresee the promise that was to be uttered by the Lord? Were they not impious and idolaters, the most barbaric of barbarians? I too know it, and for this reason I praise the righteous man, that having such parents, he himself became such. And this is the wonderful and paradoxical thing, that from a foreign and wild root a cultivated fruit was borne. For the wickedness of fathers is not an accusation against children living in piety, but, if one must say something wonderful, it is rather a commendation, that not having received piety from their ancestors, nor having any to lead them by the hand, but as if journeying in a desert and trackless place, they were able to find the road leading to heaven. Therefore, it is not an accusation to have an impious father, but to imitate the impiety of the father; and a very great crime, not when we have wicked parents, but when we do not take care of them, and contribute everything on our part to deliver them from this wickedness. So that when we for our part have shown all concern for their soul, but they remain in their wickedness, we are freed from all blame and accusation. But I have said these things, so that you may not be ashamed, beloved, when you hear that Abraham had an impious father. For Timothy also had an impious father; for he was the son, it says, of a Jewish woman, 54.628 a faithful mother, but of a Greek father. And that the father remained in impiety and was not converted, is clear from this: for in praising the faith of Timothy, Paul says thus: Which dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that also in you. And nowhere the name of the father. Why? Because he remained in impiety, he was not worthy to be numbered with his child. And the apostles also had wicked fathers, and Christ made this clear, saying: If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But let this not trouble you, nor cause you to stumble. For from this we learn that wickedness and virtue are not of nature, but of choice. For if it were of nature, the wicked would have certainly begotten wicked children, and the good likewise; but since it is a matter of choice to be base or virtuous, for this reason both have good children come from wicked fathers, and often virtuous fathers from indolent children, so that we might everywhere attribute both these things not to nature, but to moral judgment. But as I was saying, since the parents of Abraham were impious, how did they give him this name? This too was especially a work of the wisdom of God, who arranged through an unbelieving tongue for a name to be given that held the story of things to come. For He once compelled Balaam also to speak of things to come, displaying His own power, and making it clear that He is able to prevail not only among His own, but also among strangers. And so that you may learn that in the case of the righteous, even if their fathers are not pious, they often unknowingly give them names that signify much of the future divine economy, I will make this clear to you from another example as well. Lamech the son of

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ἐπαγγέλλεται τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ πρὸς τὴν γῆν κεχήναμεν. εʹ. Ταῦτα ἐκερδάναμεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ὀνόματος, μαθόντες διὰ τί περάτης ἐλέχθη, καὶ ὅτι τὴν οἰκείαν ἀφεὶς γῆν, πρὸς τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν μετέστη, καὶ τὰ δῆλα παραδραμὼν, πρὸς τὰ ἄδηλα ἔβλεπε, τὰ ἐν χερσὶ ῥίψας, ἐκεχήνει πρὸς τὰ ἐν ἐλπίσι, καὶ αἰσθητὰ λαβὼν, πρὸς τὰ νοητὰ ἀνετείνατο, καὶ ταῦτα πρὸ τῆς χάριτος, πρὸ τοῦ νόμου, πρὸ τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν διδασκαλίας. Ὅθεν δῆλον, ὡς οὐδένα ἔσχε καθηγητὴν, ἀλλ' ἤρκεσεν αὐτῷ ἡ φύσις τοὺς τοῦ συνειδότος κινήσασα λογισμοὺς, καὶ οὕτως εὗρε τὸν Θεὸν τὸν τοῦ παντὸς δημιουργόν· διὰ τοῦτο Ἄβραμ ἐλέγετο, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ οἱ γονεῖς αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα ἐπέθηκαν τοῦτο. Ἀλλὰ τάχα ἴσως εἴποι τις ἂν, ὅτι τοῦτο ψεῦδος. Μὴ γὰρ δίκαιοι ἦσαν οἱ γονεῖς τοῦ Ἀβραάμ; μὴ γὰρ εὐάρεστοι τῷ Θεῷ; μὴ γὰρ ᾔδεισαν τὰ μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι; μὴ γὰρ προεώρων τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου μέλλουσαν ῥηθήσεσθαι; οὐχὶ ἀσεβεῖς ἦσαν καὶ εἰδωλολάτραι, βαρβάρων βαρβαρικώτατοι; Οἶδα κἀγὼ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπαινῶ τὸν δίκαιον, ὅτι τοιούτους ἔχων πατέρας, τοιοῦτος αὐτὸς ἐγένετο. Καὶ τὸ θαυμαστὸν καὶ παράδοξον τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι ἐξ ἀλλοτρίας ῥίζης καὶ ἀγρίας ἥμερος ἠνέχθη καρπός. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι κατηγορία παίδων ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ ζώντων ἡ τῶν πατέρων κακία, ἀλλ' εἰ χρή τι θαυμαστὸν εἰπεῖν, καὶ ἐγκώμιον μᾶλλον, ὅτι μὴ παρὰ προγόνων δεξάμενοι τὴν εὐσέβειαν, μηδὲ τοὺς χειραγωγοῦντας ἔχοντες, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐν ἐρήμῳ καὶ ἀβάτῳ ὁδεύοντες, ἠδυνήθησαν τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν φέρουσαν εὑρεῖν. Οὐ τοίνυν κατηγορία ἀσεβῆ πατέρα ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ μιμεῖσθαι τὴν ἀσέβειαν τοῦ πατρός· καὶ ἔγκλημα μέγιστον, οὐχ ὅταν φαύλους ἔχωμεν γονεῖς. ἀλλ' ὅταν αὐτῶν μὴ ἐπιμελώμεθα, καὶ τὰ παρ' ἑαυτῶν πάντα εἰσφέρωμεν πρὸς τὸ τῆς κακίας αὐτοὺς ἀπαλλάξαι ταύτης. Ὡς ὅταν ἡμεῖς μὲν πάντα ἐπιδειξώμεθα περὶ τὴν ἐκείνων ψυχὴν, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῶν μένωσι πονηρίας, πάσης μέμψεως ἀπηλλάγμεθα καὶ αἰτίας. Ταῦτα δὲ εἶπον, ἵνα μὴ αἰσχυνθῇς, ἀγαπητὲ, ὅταν ἀκούσῃς, ὅτι πατέρα ἀσεβῆ ἔσχεν ὁ Ἀβραάμ. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Τιμόθεος ἀσεβῆ πατέρα εἶχεν· Υἱὸς γὰρ Ἰουδαίας γυναικὸς 54.628 ἦν, φησὶ, πιστῆς μητρὸς, πατρὸς δὲ Ἕλληνος. Καὶ ὅτι ἔμεινεν ἐν ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ οὐ μετεβάλλετο ὁ πατὴρ, δῆλον ἐκεῖθεν· ἐπαινῶν γὰρ τοῦ Τιμοθέου τὴν πίστιν, οὕτω φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος· Ἥτις ἐνῴκησεν ἐν τῇ μάμμῃ σου Λωΐδι, καὶ τῇ μητρὶ Εὐνίκῃ, πέπεισμαι δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἐν σοί. Καὶ οὐδαμοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς τὸ ὄνομα. ∆ιὰ τί; Ὅτι ἐν τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ ἔμεινεν, οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ἀριθμεῖσθαι μετὰ τοῦ παιδός. Καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι δὲ πονηροὺς ἔσχον πατέρας, καὶ τοῦτο ἐδήλωσεν ὁ Χριστὸς εἰπών· Εἰ ἐγὼ ἐν Βεελζεβοὺλ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια, οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν ἐν τίνι ἐκβαλοῦσι; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο αὐτοὶ ἔσονται κριταὶ ὑμῶν. Ἀλλὰ μή σε θορυβείτω τοῦτο, μηδὲ σκανδαλιζέτω. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκ τούτου μανθάνομεν, ὅτι οὐ φύσεως, ἀλλὰ προαιρέσεως ἡ κακία καὶ ἡ ἀρετή. Εἰ γὰρ φύσεως ἦν, πάντως ἂν οἱ πονηροὶ πονηροὺς ἔτεκον, καὶ οἱ χρηστοὶ τοιούτους· ἐπειδὴ δὲ προαιρέσεώς ἐστι τὸ φαῦλον εἶναι καὶ σπουδαῖον, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ πατέρων πονηρῶν παῖδες ἐγένοντο χρηστοὶ, καὶ παίδων ῥαθύμων πατέρες σπουδαῖοι πολλάκις, ἵνα μὴ τῇ φύσει, ἀλλὰ τῇ γνώμῃ πανταχοῦ ταῦτα ἑκάτερα λογιζώμεθα. Ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἔλεγον, ὅτι ἀσεβεῖς ὄντες οἱ γονεῖς τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ, πῶς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῷ ἐπέθηκαν τοῦτο; Τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίας μάλιστα ἔργον καὶ τοῦτο ἦν διὰ ἀπίστου γλώττης οἰκονομήσαντος ἐπιτεθῆναι ὄνομα, τῶν μελλόντων ἔχον τὴν ἱστορίαν. Καὶ γὰρ τὸν Βαλαὰμ ἠνάγκασέ ποτε τὰ μέλλοντα εἰπεῖν, τὴν οἰκείαν δύναμιν ἐπιδεικνύμενος, καὶ δηλῶν ὅτι οὐχὶ ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις κρατεῖν δύναται. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι ἐπὶ τῶν δικαίων, κἂν μὴ εὐσεβεῖς ὦσιν οἱ πατέρες, πολλάκις οὐκ εἰδότες ἐπιτιθέασιν ὀνόματα πολλὴν τῶν μελλόντων δηλοῦντα τὴν οἰκονομίαν, καὶ ἐξ ἑτέρου σοι παραδείγματος τοῦτο ποιήσω φανερόν. Ὁ Λάμεχ ὁ τοῦ