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these women also cooperated with many. Therefore the Churches were then being built up in no small way; for when the well-reputed, whether men or women, enjoyed so much honor from the rest, many good things came to pass. For first, the rest were led to the same zeal; second, they also profited through the honor; third, they made those very persons more eager and more intense. For this reason you see Paul everywhere taking care of this, and setting forth such people; as he also says in the Epistle to the Corinthians, Who are the firstfruits of Achaia. But some say that Syzygus is a proper name; however, whether it is this or that, we must not be overly precise, but we should marvel that he commands them to enjoy great protection. 4. All things for us are in heaven, both Savior and city, and whatever one might say; From whence, he says, we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is of His loving-kindness. He Himself comes again to us, He does not draw us there, and so taking us He departs; and this is a great honor. For if He came to us when we were enemies, much more will He come to us now that we have become friends. He does not entrust this to angels, nor to servants, but He Himself comes upon the clouds to call us into His kingdom. And perhaps His own, being honored by Him, will be lifted up on clouds. For we also, he says, will be caught up in the clouds, we who honor him, and so we shall ever be with the Lord. Who then will be found the faithful and wise servant? who then are those deemed worthy of such great good things? how pitiful are those who fall away? For if we were to weep for all time, having failed to obtain the kingdom, would we be doing anything worthy of it? For even if you speak of ten thousand Gehennas, you will say nothing equal to that anguish which the soul then endures, when the whole world is shaken, the trumpets sound, the angels run before, the first, then second, then third, then ten thousand orders pour forth upon the earth, then the Cherubim (and these are many and infinite); then the Seraphim, when He Himself is coming in that ineffable glory, meeting Him, those who have come to lead the elect into the midst; then those with Paul, and all who were well-pleasing like him, being crowned, proclaimed, honored by the King before the whole heavenly 62.281 host. For if there were no Gehenna, how great a thing it is for some to be honored, and others to be dishonored? Unbearable is Gehenna, I confess, and exceedingly unbearable; yet more unbearable than it is the falling away from the kingdom. For tell me: if some king, or a king's son, having gone away and won ten thousand wars, and being admired, and having a whole army, should enter some city with his chariot, with trophies, with ten thousand regiments all bearing gold, with all his bodyguards around him having golden shields, and the whole city should be crowned with garlands, and all the rulers of the world with him, and every age should follow him, and behind him foreign nations of captives, prefects, satraps, consuls, tyrants, rulers; then in the midst of all that splendor, he should receive and kiss those of the citizens who meet him, and extend his hand, and grant every confidence, and even while all are standing, converse with them as with friends, and say that he has made that whole journey on their account, and should lead some into his palace, but leave others behind, of how much punishment is this not worthy, even if they are not punished? But if in the case of a man it is so bitter to fall away from this glory, how much more so in the case of God, when all the powers above are present with the King, when the demons are bound and downcast, and the devil himself is led captive, and every opposing force, when the powers of the heavens, when

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πολλοῖς καὶ αὗται συνέπραττον. Οὐ μικρῶς οὖν τότε συνεκροτοῦντο αἱ Ἐκκλησίαι· τῷ γὰρ τοὺς εὐδοκίμους, εἴτε ἄνδρας, εἴτε γυναῖκας, τοσαύτης παρὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀπολαύειν τιμῆς, πολλὰ ἐγίνετο τὰ καλά. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ οἱ λοιποὶ πρὸς τὸν ἴσον ἤγοντο ζῆλον· δεύτερον δὲ καὶ ἐκέρδαινον διὰ τῆς τιμῆς· τρίτον καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους προθυμοτέρους ἐποίουν καὶ σφοδροτέρους. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πανταχοῦ ὁρᾷς ἐπιμελούμενον τούτου τὸν Παῦλον, καὶ παρατιθέμενον τοὺς τοιούτους· ὅπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους φησὶν, Οἵτινές εἰσιν ἀπαρχὴ τῆς Ἀχαΐας. Τινὲς δέ φασιν ὄνομα ἐκεῖνο κύριον εἶναι τὸ, Σύζυγε· πλὴν εἴτε τοῦτο, εἴτε ἐκεῖνο, οὐ σφόδρα ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι δεῖ, ἀλλ' ὅτι πολλῆς κελεύει αὐτὰς προστασίας ἀπολαῦσαι, θαυμάζειν. δʹ. Πάντα ἡμῖν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἐστι, καὶ Σωτὴρ καὶ πόλις, καὶ ὅ τι ἂν εἴποι τις· Ἐξ οὗ, φησὶ, καὶ Σωτῆρα ἀπεκδεχόμεθα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. Καὶ τοῦτο τῆς φιλανθρωπίας αὐτοῦ. Αὐτὸς πάλιν ἔρχεται πρὸς ἡμᾶς, οὐχ ἡμᾶς ἕλκει ἐκεῖ, καὶ οὕτω λαβὼν ἡμᾶς ἄπεισι· καὶ τοῦτο πολλῆς τῆς τιμῆς. Εἰ γὰρ πρὸς ἐχθροὺς ὄντας ἦλθε, πολλῷ μᾶλλον πρὸς φίλους γενομένους. Οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει τοῦτο ἀγγέλοις, οὐδὲ δούλοις, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν ἔρχεται καλέσων ἡμᾶς εἰς τὰ βασίλεια αὐτοῦ. Τάχα δὲ καὶ οἱ αὐτοῦ, τιμώμενοι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, ἀρθήσονται διὰ νεφελῶν. Καὶ ἡμεῖς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν νεφέλαις ἁρπαγησόμεθα οἱ τιμῶντες αὐτὸν, καὶ οὕτω πάντοτε σὺν Κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα. Τίς ἄρα εὑρεθῇ ὁ πιστὸς δοῦλος καὶ φρόνιμος; τίνες ἄρα οἱ καταξιούμενοι τῶν τοσούτων ἀγαθῶν; πῶς ἐλεεινοὶ οἱ ἀποπίπτοντες; Εἰ γὰρ τὸν πάντα χρόνον ἐκλαίομεν τῆς βασιλείας ἀποτυχόντες, ἆρά τι ἄξιον ἐποιοῦμεν; Εἰ γὰρ μυρίας γεέννας εἴπῃς, οὐδὲν ἴσον ἐρεῖς τῆς ὀδύνης ἐκείνης, ἣν ὑφίσταται τότε ἡ ψυχὴ, τῆς οἰκουμένης κλονουμένης ἁπάσης, τῶν σαλπίγγων ἠχουσῶν, τῶν ἀγγέλων προτρεχόντων, τῶν πρώτων, εἶτα δευτέρων, εἶτα τρίτων, εἶτα μυρίων ταγμάτων ἐκχεομένων εἰς τὴν γῆν, εἶτα τῶν Χερουβὶμ (πολλὰ δὲ ταῦτά ἐστι καὶ ἄπειρα)· εἶτα τῶν Σεραφὶμ, αὐτοῦ ἐρχομένου ἐπὶ τῆς δόξης ἐκείνης τῆς ἀφράστου, ἀπαντώντων, τῶν ἀφικομένων τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς ἄγειν εἰς μέσον· εἶτα τῶν περὶ Παῦλον, καὶ πάντων ὅσοι εὐδοκίμησαν κατ' αὐτὸν, στεφανουμένων, ἀνακηρυττομένων, τιμωμένων παρὰ τοῦ Βασιλέως ἐπὶ πάσης τῆς στρα 62.281 τιᾶς τῆς οὐρανίου. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ γέεννα ἦν, τὸ τοὺς μὲν τιμᾶσθαι, ἐκείνους δὲ ἀτιμάζεσθαι, πόσον ἐστίν; Ἀφόρητος ἡ γέεννα, ὁμολογῶ. καὶ σφόδρα ἀφόρητος· πλὴν ἀφορητοτέρα αὐτῆς, τῆς βασιλείας ἡ ἔκπτωσις. Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι· εἴ τις βασιλεὺς, ἢ υἱὸς βασιλέως ἀπελθὼν, καὶ πολέμους κατορθώσας μυρίους, καὶ θαυμασθεὶς, καὶ ἔχων στρατόπεδον ὁλόκληρον, ἐπιβαίνοι πόλεώς τινος μετὰ τοῦ ζεύγους, μετὰ τροπαίων, μετὰ μυρίων ταγμάτων πάντων χρυσοφορούντων, μετὰ τῶν δορυφόρων τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ἁπάντων ἀσπίδας ἐχόντων χρυσᾶς, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις ἐστεφανωμένη εἴη, καὶ πάντες οἱ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἄρχοντες μετ' αὐτοῦ, ἕποιτο δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ πᾶσα ἡλικία, ὀπίσω ἀλλογενῶν ἐθνῶν δεσμωτῶν, ὑπάρχων, σατραπῶν, ὑπάτων, τυράννων, ἀρχόντων· εἶτα ἐπὶ ἁπάσης τῆς λαμπρότητος ἐκείνης, τοὺς ἀπαντῶντας τῶν πολιτῶν δέχοιτο καὶ καταφιλοίη, καὶ χεῖρα ὀρέγοι, καὶ πάσης μεταδιδοῖ παῤῥησίας, ἢ καὶ πάντων ἑστώτων διαλέγοιτο, ὡς πρὸς φίλους, καὶ λέγοι πᾶσαν τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκείνην δι' αὐτοὺς πεποιῆσθαι, καὶ τοὺς μὲν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια ἄγοι τὰ ἑαυτοῦ, τοὺς δὲ καταλιμπάνοι, πόσης κολάσεως τοῦτο οὐκ ἄξιον, εἰ καὶ μὴ κολάζονται; Εἰ δὲ ἐπ' ἀνθρώπου οὕτω πικρὸν τὸ τῆς δόξης ταύτης ἀποπεσεῖν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ Θεοῦ, ὅταν αἱ ἄνω δυνάμεις πᾶσαι παρῶσι μετὰ τοῦ Βασιλέως, ὅταν οἱ δαίμονες δεδεμένοι καὶ κάτω νεύοντες, καὶ ὁ διάβολος αὐτὸς δέσμιος ἄγηται, καὶ πᾶσα ἰσχὺς ἡ ἀντικειμένη, ὅταν αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν, ὅταν