79. For all these reasons I ought to have kept silence, but I was drawn in the other direction by love, which “seeketh not her own,”  17  1 Cor. xiii. 5. and desires to overcome every difficulty put in her way by time and circumstance. I was taught too by the children at Babylon,  18  Dan. iii. 12seqq. that, when there is no one to support the cause of true religion, we ought alone and all unaided to do our duty. They from out of the midst of the flame lifted up their voices in hymns and praise to God, reeking not of the host that set the truth at naught, but sufficient, three only that they were, with one another. Wherefore we too are undismayed at the cloud of our enemies, and, resting our hope on the aid of the Spirit, have, with all boldness, proclaimed the truth. Had I not so done, it would truly have been terrible that the blasphemers of the Spirit should so easily be emboldened in their attack upon true religion, and that we, with so mighty an ally and supporter at our side, should shrink from the service of that doctrine, which by the tradition of the Fathers has been preserved by an unbroken sequence of memory to our own day. A further powerful incentive to my undertaking was the warm fervour of your “love unfeigned,”  19  Rom. xii. 9 and 2 Cor. vi. 6. and the seriousness and taciturnity of your disposition; a guarantee that you would not publish what I was about to say to all the world,—not because it would not be worth making known, but to avoid casting pearls before swine.  20  Matt. vii. 6. My task is now done. If you find what I have said satisfactory, let this make an end to our discussion of these matters. If you think any point requires further elucidation, pray do not hesitate to pursue the investigation with all diligence, and to add to your information by putting any uncontroversial question. Either through me or through others the Lord will grant full explanation on matters which have yet to be made clear, according to the knowledge supplied to the worthy by the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[79] Τούτων μὲν οὖν πάντων ἕνεκεν σιωπᾶν ἔδει, ἀλλ' ἀνθεῖλκε γὰρ ἑτέρωθεν ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐ ζητοῦσα τὸ ἑαυτῆς, καὶ νικᾶν ἀξιοῦσα πᾶσαν καιρῶν καὶ πραγμάτων δυσχέρειαν. Ἐδίδαξαν δὲ ἡμᾶς καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας παῖδες, καὶ μηδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ συντιθεμένου τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ, καθ' ἑαυτοὺς τὸ ἐπιβάλλον ἐκτελεῖν: οἵ γε ἐκ μέσης τῆς φλογὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀνύμνουν, μὴ λογιζόμενοι τὸ πλῆθος τῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀθετούντων, ἀλλ' ἀλλήλοις ἀρκούμενοι, τρεῖς ὄντες. Διόπερ οὐδὲ ἡμῖν ὄκνον ἐνεποίησε τῶν πολεμίων τὸ νέφος, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα θέμενοι ἐπὶ τὴν βοήθειαν τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἐν πάσῃ παρρησίᾳ κατηγγείλαμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ἢ πάντων ἂν ἦν σχετλιώτατον, τοὺς μὲν βλασφημοῦντας τὸ Πνεῦμα, οὕτως εὐκόλως πρὸς τὸν εὐσεβῆ λόγον ἀποθρασύνεσθαι: ἡμᾶς δὲ τηλικοῦτον ἔχοντας συνασπιστὴν καὶ συνήγορον, ὀκνεῖν τὸν λόγον διακονεῖν, τὸν ἐκ τῆς τῶν πατέρων παραδόσεως πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀκολουθίᾳ μνήμης διασωθέντα. Ἐπὶ πλεῖον δὲ ἡμῶν ἐπήγειρε τὴν ὁρμὴν τῆς τε ἀνυποκρίτου σου ἀγάπης τὸ διάπυρον, καὶ τὸ τοῦ τρόπου ἐμβριθὲς καὶ ἡσύχιον, ἐγγυώμενον μὴ εἰς πολλοὺς ἐξοίσειν τὰ ῥηθησόμενα: οὐχ ὡς ἄξια κατακρύπτεσθαι: ἀλλ' ὥστε μὴ ῥίπτεσθαι τοῖς χοίροις τοὺς μαργαρίτας. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν εἰς τοσοῦτον. Σοὶ δέ, εἰ μὲν ἀρκούντως ἔχει τὰ εἰρημένα, τοῦτο πέρας ἔστω τοῦ περὶ τούτων λόγου. Εἰ δὲ ἐλλιπῶς ἔχειν δόξει, φθόνος οὐδεὶς φιλοπόνως προσεδρεύοντα τῇ ζητήσει, δι' ἐρωτήσεως ἀφιλονείκου προστιθέναι τῇ γνώσει. Δώσει γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ἢ δι' ἡμῶν, ἢ δι' ἑτέρων, τῶν λειπόντων τὴν πλήρωσιν κατὰ τὴν ἐπιχορηγουμένην τοῖς ἀξίοις αὐτοῦ γνῶσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος.