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those who plot devise all things randomly and in vain. For neither wickedness, nor enmity, nor envy, nor flattery, nor hypocrisy, nor any other thing will be able to touch such a soul. And he did not simply speak of love, but said to put it on as a strong breastplate. Then, thus having 62.451 said, he adds: And as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For just as the helmet saves the most vital of our parts, enveloping the head and covering it on all sides, so also hope does not allow our reasoning to fall apart, but keeps it upright like a head, allowing nothing from without to fall upon it. And as long as nothing is brought down, neither does this slip away; for it is not possible for one who is fortified with these weapons ever to fall. For there remains, he says, faith, hope, love, these three. Then, having said, put on and gird yourselves, he himself then forges the weapons, and shows whence faith and hope and love might be born, and the weapons might become stronger, adding and saying: For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. 4. Therefore he did not call us for this, to destroy us, but to save us. And that he wishes this, from where is it clear? He gave his Son for us, he says; so much does he desire us to be saved, that he gave his Son, and he did not simply give him, but to death. From these thoughts hope is born. For do not despair, O man, going to God who did not even spare his Son for your sake; do not give up in the face of present evils. He who gave the Only-begotten, that he might save you and deliver you from Gehenna, what will he then spare for your salvation? Therefore it is necessary to hope for all good things. For not even if we were going to a judge who was about to judge us, and who had shown so much love for us as to slaughter his son, would we have been afraid. Let us hope, therefore, for good and great things; for we have received the chief part, if we believe. For we have seen the example; let us love; for it is of the utmost folly not to love him who is so disposed. so that, whether we are awake, he says, or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another, and build one another up, just as you are doing. And again elsewhere, Whether we are awake, or asleep. But there he speaks of one kind of sleep, and another here; for here he signifies bodily death, but there carelessness concerning life. What he signifies, therefore, is this: Do not fear the dangers; even if we die, we shall live. Do not despair, because you are in danger; you have a sure pledge; he would not have given his Son, unless he burned exceedingly for us. Therefore even if you die, you will live; for he also died himself. Whether, therefore, we die, or whether we live, we shall live with him. I hold this to be a matter of indifference; it matters not to me, whether I live, or whether I die; for we shall live with him. Therefore let us do all things for the sake of that life, let us work all things looking to it. Wickedness is darkness, beloved, it is death, it is night, we see none of the things that are needful, we do none of the things that are fitting. Just as the dead are unsightly and stinking, so also the souls of those in wickedness are full of much impurity; their eyes are closed, their mouth is shut, they remain motionless on the bed of wickedness; or rather, more pitiful than those who have suffered these things. For these are dead to both, but those are insensible to virtue, while living 62.452 for wickedness. Even if one strikes a dead man, he does not feel it. nor does he defend himself; but just like dry wood, so also the soul is truly dry, having cast away its life; it receives countless wounds every day, and feels none of them, but is disposed insensibly towards all things. One would not err in comparing them to the mad, to the drunk, to the delirious. For wickedness has all these things, and is more grievous than all of them. The madman has much pardon from those who see him;

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πάντα εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην κατασκευάζουσιν οἱ ἐπιβουλεύοντες. Οὔτε γὰρ πονηρία, οὐκ ἔχθρα, οὐ βασκανία, οὐ κολακεία, οὐχ ὑπόκρισις, οὐκ ἄλλο οὐδὲν καθικέσθαι δυνήσεται τῆς τοιαύτης ψυχῆς. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς δὲ ἀγάπην εἶπεν, ἀλλ' ὡς θώρακα ἰσχυρὸν εἶπεν ἐνδύσασθαι. Εἶτα οὕτως εἰ 62.451 πὼν ἐπάγει· Καὶ περικεφαλαίαν, ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἡ περικεφαλαία τὸ καίριον σώζει τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν, τὴν κεφαλὴν περιβάλλουσα καὶ πάντοθεν στεγάζουσα· οὕτω καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς τὸν λογισμὸν οὐκ ἀφίησι διαπεσεῖν, ἀλλ' ὀρθὸν ἵστησιν ὥσπερ κεφαλὴν, οὐδὲν τῶν ἔξωθεν εἰς αὐτὸν πεσεῖν ἐῶσα. Ἕως δ' ἂν μηδὲν καταφέρηται, οὐδὲ αὕτη ἐπολισθαίνει· τὸν γὰρ τούτοις πεφραγμένον τοῖς ὅπλοις οὐκ ἔνι ποτὲ πεσεῖν. Μένει γὰρ, φησὶ, πίστις, ἐλπὶς, ἀγάπη, τὰ τρία ταῦτα. Εἶτα εἰπὼν, ἐνδύσασθε καὶ περιθέσθε, αὐτὸς κατασκευάζει τὰ ὅπλα λοιπὸν, καὶ δείκνυσιν ὅθεν ἂν τεχθείη πίστις καὶ ἐλπὶς καὶ ἀγάπη, καὶ τὰ ὅπλα ἰσχυρότερα γένοιτο, ἐπάγων καὶ λέγων· Ὅτι οὐκ ἔθετο ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς εἰς ὀργὴν, ἀλλ' εἰς περιποίησιν σωτηρίας διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ ἀποθανόντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. δʹ. Ὥστε οὐ πρὸς τοῦτο ἐκάλεσεν εἰς τὸ ἀπολέσαι, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ σῶσαι. Καὶ ὅτι τοῦτο βούλεται, πόθεν δῆλον; Τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἔδωκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, φησίν· οὕτως ἡμᾶς ἐπιθυμεῖ σωθῆναι, ὅτι τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἔδωκε, καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἔδωκεν, ἀλλ' εἰς θάνατον. Ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν λογισμῶν ἡ ἐλπὶς τίκτεται. Μὴ γὰρ ἀπογνῷς, ἄνθρωπε, πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀπερχόμενος τὸν μηδὲ Υἱοῦ φεισάμενον διὰ σέ· μὴ ἀπαγορεύσῃς τοῖς παροῦσι κακοῖς. Ὁ τὸν Μονογενῆ δοὺς, ἵνα σε σώσῃ καὶ τῆς γεέννης ἐξέληται, τίνος φείσεται λοιπὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς σῆς σωτηρίας; Ὥστε ἐλπίζειν χρὴ πάντα χρηστά. Οὐδὲ γὰρ, εἰ πρὸς δικαστὴν ἀπῄειμεν μέλλοντα κρίνειν ἡμᾶς, καὶ τοσαύτην ἀγάπην ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐπιδεδειγμένον, ὡς τὸν υἱὸν κατασφάξαι, ἐδείσαμεν ἄν. Ἐλπίζωμεν οὖν χρηστὰ καὶ μεγάλα· τὸ γὰρ κεφάλαιον ἐλάβομεν, εἰ πιστεύομεν. Εἴδομεν γὰρ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα· ἀγαπήσωμεν· ἐσχάτης γὰρ ἀνοίας τὸ μὴ τὸν οὕτω διατεθέντα ἀγαπῆσαι. Ἵνα, εἴτε γρηγοροῦμεν, φησὶν, εἴτε καθεύδομεν, ἅμα σὺν αὐτῷ ζήσωμεν. ∆ιὸ παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους, καὶ οἰκοδομεῖτε εἷς τὸν ἕνα, καθὼς καὶ ποιεῖτε. Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ πάλιν, Εἴτε γρηγοροῦμεν, εἴτε καθεύδομεν. Ἀλλ' ἕτερον ἐκεῖ τὸν ὕπνον φησὶ, καὶ ἕτερον ἐνταῦθα· ἐνταῦθα μὲν γὰρ τὸν θάνατον δηλοῖ τὸν σωματικὸν, ἐκεῖ δὲ τὴν περὶ τὸν βίον ἀμέλειαν. Ὃ οὖν δηλοῖ, τοῦτό ἐστι· Τοὺς κινδύνους μὴ δεδοίκατε κἂν ἀποθάνωμεν, ζησόμεθα. Μὴ ἀπελπίσῃς, ὅτι κινδυνεύεις· ἔχεις ἐνέχυρον ἀσφαλές· οὐκ ἂν, εἰ μὴ σφόδρα ἡμῶν περιεκαίετο, τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἔδωκεν. Ὥστε κἂν ἀποθάνῃς, ζήσῃ· καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπέθανεν. Ἄν τε οὖν ἀποθάνωμεν, ἄν τε ζῶμεν, μετ' αὐτοῦ ζησόμεθα. Ἀδιάφορον τοῦτο ἔχω· οὐδέν μοι μέλει, ἄν τε ζῶ, ἄν τε ἀποθάνω· μετ' ἐκείνου γὰρ ζησόμεθα. Πάντα οὖν ὑπὲρ ἐκείνης πράττωμεν τῆς ζωῆς, πάντα πρὸς ἐκείνην ὁρῶντες ἐργασώμεθα. Σκότος ἐστὶν ἡ κακία, ἀγαπητὲ, θάνατός ἐστι, νύξ ἐστιν, οὐδὲν ὁρῶμεν τῶν δεόντων, οὐδὲν πράττομεν τῶν προσηκόντων. Καθάπερ οἱ νεκροὶ δυσειδεῖς εἰσι καὶ ὀδωδότες, οὕτω καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ τῶν ἐν κακίᾳ πολλῆς εἰσιν ἀκαθαρσίας μεσταί· μέμυκεν αὐτῶν τὰ ὄμματα, τὸ στόμα συνείληπται, ἀκίνητοι μένουσιν ἐν τῇ κλίνῃ τῆς κακίας· μᾶλλον δὲ τῶν ταῦτα παθόντων ἐλεεινότεροι. Οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ πρὸς ἑκάτερα νεκροὶ, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ πρὸς μὲν ἀρετὴν ἀναίσθητοι, ζῶντες δὲ 62.452 πρὸς κακίαν. Νεκρὸν κἂν πλήξῃ τις, οὐκ αἰσθάνεται. οὐδὲ ἀμύνεται· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ξύλον αὖον οὕτω καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ αὖον ὄντως ἐστὶν, ἀποβαλοῦσα τὴν ζωήν· μυρία καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν λαμβάνει τραύματα, καὶ οὐδενὸς αἰσθάνεται, ἀλλ' ἀναλγήτως πρὸς πάντα διάκειται. Οὐκ ἄν τις ἁμάρτοι τοῖς μεμηνόσιν αὐτοὺς παραβάλλων, τοῖς μεθύουσι, τοῖς παραπαίουσι. Πάντα δὲ ταῦτα ἔχει ἡ κακία, καὶ πάντων ἐστὶ χαλεπωτέρα. Ὁ μαινόμενος ἔχει πολλὴν συγγνώμην παρὰ τῶν ὁρώντων·