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hypotheses and the ends? For instance, that God, having first ordained the present state to be mortal and changeable for the exercise of the rational being, and having led it through experience, afterwards brings the world to an end of its toils and training and reveals the world to come, bestowing eternal goods, freedom from want, impassibility, immortality, incorruptibility, immutability, perfect knowledge, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, blessedness for ever and ever. Amen. 3.87 For it is not as the pagans nonsensically say that the present state remains forever, supposing God to be malicious rather than powerless or envious, unable ever to give the world a respite from these struggles and from corruption, but daily adding corruption and passions and death and struggles, and not being able to bestow prizes for the contests or crowns, putting an end to the place of exercise. For just as they suppose Him to have been only the demiurge of the matter which He found available, so also now they suppose Him not to be able to make it better than this, disbelieving both in the resurrection of the bodies, as not being possible, and in all of Holy Scripture. For this reason, the wretches also accept the spherical shape of the heaven as true, disbelieving and abominating all of Holy Scripture, and turning away from the truth as from old wives' fables. 3.88 But for us, may we never boast, except in all of Holy Scripture, by which the outer world has been crucified to us, and we to the outer world. And may it be, O most God-loving and Christ-loving father Pamphilus, that we, with a good and virtuous life, embrace the divine oracles, and shake off those of the adversaries, by the will of the Greater One and the cooperation of the Savior of us all, Christ, with whom be glory to the Father together with His holy and adorable Spirit, now and always and unto the endless ages of ages. Amen. 4.τ BOOK 4. A brief summary, and a diagram of the shapes of the cosmos according to Holy Scripture, and the refutation of the sphere. 4.1 It is written: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth." We draw, therefore, the first heaven together with the earth, the vault-shaped, bound together at its extremities. And we have made it as it is possible to render it in a drawing, that is, according to the western or eastern side; for these two sides are walls from below up to the top of the vault. 4.2 And the firmament is also bound to the first heaven in the middle, on the back of which are the waters, according to Holy Scripture itself. Therefore, the position and the shape are as follows. From the earth to the firmament is the first space, this world, in which are angels and men and the whole present state; from the firmament to the vault above is the second space, that is, the kingdom of the heavens, where Christ, having been taken up, was the first of all to enter, inaugurating for us a new and living way. According to the western or the eastern side, it has such a long shape, as of a great dome. 4.3 But on the southern and northern parts it shows the length. Thus the shape is also as follows. At the ends of the earth, according to its four parts, the heaven is glued to it by its own ends, making the shape of a cube as if it were a quadrangle, but from above at a height it curves in a vault-like manner along its length, and it becomes like a great dome; and the firmament is also bound in the middle, and there are two spaces. Sidenote 4.4 This is the first vault-shaped heaven, that came to be on the first day, together with the earth, about which Isaiah says: "Who has established the heaven as a vault." But the one bound to it in the middle, which came to be on the second day, is that about which Isaiah again adds, saying: "And stretched it out as a tent to dwell in." And David says concerning it: "Stretching out the heaven like a curtain" and declaring it more clearly, he says: "Who covers His upper chambers with waters." 4.5 Further, since Scripture mentions ends of the heaven and ends of the earth, this cannot be conceived of on a sphere. Again Isaiah says: "Thus says the Lord, who made the heaven and pitched it," and the apostle Paul said likewise: "And of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched,

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ὑποθέσεις καὶ τὰ τέλη; Ὡς ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς πρῶτον ὁρίσας τὴν νῦν κατάστασιν θνητὴν καὶ τρεπτὴν πρὸς γυμνασίαν τοῦ λογικοῦ, καὶ διὰ πείρας ἀγαγὼν εἰς ὕστερον παύει τῶν μόχθων καὶ τῆς παιδείας τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἀναδείκνυσι τὸν μέλλοντα, χαριζόμενος ἀγαθὰ αἰώνια, ἀνένδειαν, ἀπάθειαν, ἀθανασίαν, ἀφθαρσίαν, ἀτρεπτότητα, γνῶσιν τελείαν, δικαιοσύνην, ἁγιασμόν, ἀπολύτρωσιν, μακαριότητα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν. 3.87 Οὐ γὰρ καθὼς οἱ ἔξωθεν ληρωδοῦντες λέγουσιν ἀϊδίως μένειν τὴν νῦν κατάστασιν, χαιρεσίκακον μᾶλλον ἢ ἀδύναμον ἢ φθονερὸν τὸν Θεὸν ὑποτιθέμενοι, τῶν ἀγώνων τούτων καὶ τῆς φθορᾶς μὴ δυνάμενόν ποτε παῦλαν δοῦναι τῷ κόσμῳ, ἀλλ' ὁσημέραι καὶ προστιθέντα φθορὰν καὶ πάθη καὶ θάνατον καὶ ἀγῶνας, καὶ μὴ ἰσχύοντα ἆθλα τῶν ἀγώνων ἢ στεφάνους χαρίσασθαι, καταπαῦον τὸ γυμνάσιον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ αὐτὸν ὑποτίθενται ἧς ηὐπόρησεν ὕλης δημιουργὸν γεγενῆσθαι μόνον, οὕτως αὐτὸν καὶ νῦν ὑποτίθενται μὴ εὐποροῦντα τούτου βέλ τιον ποιῆσαι, ἀπιστοῦντες καὶ τῇ ἀναστάσει τῶν σωμάτων, ὡς οὐ δυνατοῦ ὄντος, καὶ πάσῃ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οἱ τάλανες καὶ τὸ σφαιρικὸν σχῆμα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς ἀληθὲς παραδέχονται, ἀπιστοῦντες καὶ βδελυττόμενοι πᾶσαν τὴν θείαν Γραφήν, καὶ ὡς γραώδεις μύθους ἀποστρεφόμενοι τὴν ἀλήθειαν. 3.88 Ἡμῖν δὲ μὴ γένοιτο καυχᾶσθαι, εἰ μὴ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ, δι' ἧς κόσμος ὁ ἔξωθεν ἡμῖν ἐσταύρωται καὶ ἡμεῖς τῷ ἔξωθεν κόσμῳ. Γένοιτο δὲ ἡμᾶς, ὦ θεοφιλέστατε καὶ φιλόχριστε πάτερ Πάμφιλε, σὺν εὐζωΐᾳ ἀγαθῇ τὰ θεῖα λόγια ἀσπάζεσθαι, τὰ δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων ἀποσείεσθαι, βουλήσει τοῦ Κρείττονος καὶ συνεργείᾳ τοῦ πάντων ἡμῶν Σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ δόξα ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ προσκυνητῷ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ πάντοτε καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 4.τ ΛΟΓΟΣ ∆ʹ Ἀνακεφαλαίωσις σύντομος, καὶ διαγραφὴ σχημάτων τοῦ κόσμου κατὰ τὴν θείαν Γραφήν, καὶ τῆς σφαίρας ἡ ἀνατροπή. 4.1 Γέγραπται· "Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν." ∆ιαγράφομεν τοίνυν τὸν πρῶτον οὐρανὸν ἅμα τῇ γῇ, τὸν καμαροειδῆ, ἄκρα ἄκροις συνδεδεμένον. Καθὼς δὲ ἐνδέχεται αὐτὸν γραφῇ παραδοῦναι πεποιήκαμεν, τέως κατὰ τὸ πλάγιον τὸ δυτικὸν ἢ τὸ ἀνατολικόν· τὰ γὰρ αὐτὰ δύο πλάγια τοῖχοί εἰσιν ἀποκάτωθεν ἕως αὐτῆς ἄνω τῆς καμάρας. 4.2 Ἔστι δὲ καὶ τὸ στερέωμα κατὰ μέσου συνδεδεμένον τῷ πρώτῳ οὐρανῷ, ἐν ᾧ εἰσιν ἐπὶ νώτου τὰ ὕδατα, κατ' αὐτὴν τὴν θείαν Γραφήν. Ἔστιν οὖν ἡ θέσις καὶ τὸ σχῆμα τοιόνδε. Ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἕως τοῦ στερεώματος χῶρος πρῶτός ἐστιν, ὁ κόσμος οὗτος, ἐν ᾧ εἰσιν ἄγγελοι καὶ ἄνθρωποι καὶ πᾶσα ἡ νῦν κατάστασις· ἀπὸ τοῦ στερεώματος ἕως τῆς καμάρας ἄνω χῶρος δεύτερός ἐστι, τουτέστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἔνθα ὁ Χριστὸς ἀναληφθεὶς πρῶτος πάντων εἰσῆλθεν ἐγκαινίσας ἡμῖν ὁδὸν πρόσφατον καὶ ζῶσαν. Κατὰ μὲν τὸ πλάγιον τὸ δυτικὸν ἢ τὸ ἀνατολικὸν τοιόνδε σχῆμα ἔχει μακρόν, ὡς ἐπὶ θόλου μεγάλης. 4.3 Κατὰ δὲ τὰ νότια καὶ βόρεια μέρη τὸ μῆκος ἀποδείκνυσιν. Ἔστιν οὖν τὸ σχῆμα καὶ οὕτως τοιόνδε. Εἰς τὰ ἄκρα τῆς γῆς, κατὰ τὰ τέσσαρα μέρη αὐτῆς, ὁ οὐρανὸς αὐτῇ κεκόλληται τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ ἄκροις ποιῶν σχῆμα κύβου ὡσανεὶ τετράγωνον, ἄνωθεν δὲ ἐφ' ὕψους καμαροειδὴς ἑλισσόμενος κατὰ τὸ μῆκος, καὶ γίνεται ὡς θόλος μεγάλη· καταμέσοθεν δὲ συνδέδεται καὶ τὸ στερέωμα, καὶ γίνεται χῶροι δύο. Παραγραφή 4.4 Οὗτος ὁ πρῶτος οὐρανὸς ὁ καμαροειδής, ὁ ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ ἡμέρᾳ γεγονώς, ὁ ἅμα τῇ γῇ, περὶ οὗ λέγει Ἠσαΐας· "Ὁ στήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡσεὶ καμάραν." Ὁ καταμέσοθεν δὲ αὐτοῦ συνδεδεμένος, ὁ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ ἡμέρᾳ γεγονώς, ἐστὶ περὶ οὗ ἐπιφέρει πάλιν Ἠσαΐας λέγων· "Καὶ διατείνας αὐτὸν ὡς σκηνὴν κατοικεῖν." Ὁ δὲ ∆αυῒδ λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ· "Ἐκτείνων τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡσεὶ δέρριν" καὶ σαφέστερον δηλῶν λέγει· "Ὁ στεγάζων ἐν ὕδασιν τὰ ὑπερῷα αὐτοῦ." 4.5 Ἔτι ἄκρα οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἄκρα γῆς τῆς Γραφῆς μνημονευούσης, οὐ δύναται ἐπὶ σφαίρας νοεῖσθαι. Πάλιν λέγει Ἠσαΐας· "Οὕτως λέγει Κύριος ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ πήξας αὐτόν", ὁ δὲ ἀπόστολος Παῦλος ἔφη ὁμοίως· "Καὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τῆς ἀληθινῆς, ἣν ἔπηξεν ὁ