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relating the beauty of the heavens, thus he says: The heavens declare the glory of God; and again, Who has established the heaven as a vault, and stretched it out as a tent over the earth; and again: Who holds the circle of heaven. But another, showing that though it is beautiful and great, yet it is corruptible, thus says: In the beginning You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; and all will grow old like a garment, and like a cloak You will roll them up, and they will be changed. And again David says of the sun, that it is Like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; he will rejoice as a giant to run his course. Have you seen how he has presented to you the beauty and the greatness of the star? For just as a bridegroom appearing from some bridal chamber, so the sun at dawn sends forth its rays, and as with some saffron-colored curtain it beautifies the heaven, and makes the clouds rose-colored, and running unhindered all the day, it is interrupted by no obstacle in its course. You have seen, then, its beauty, you have seen its greatness? Behold also the proof of its weakness. For a certain wise man, declaring this also, said: What is brighter than the sun? he says, and this fails. But it is possible to see its weakness not only from this, but also in the gatherings of the clouds. For often when a cloud has run under, though it sent forth its rays and strove to break through the cloud, it did not have the strength, the cloud being thicker and not allowing it to pass through. But it nourishes the seeds, he says; and yet it does not nourish them alone, but also needs earth, and dew, and rains, and winds, and the favorable temper of the seasons; and if all these things do not concur, the service of the sun becomes superfluous. But this could not be of God, to need others for what He may wish to do; for it is most characteristic of God to be without need. He, at any rate, did not bring forth the seeds from the earth in this way, but only commanded, and all things sprouted. And again, that you may learn that it is not the nature of the elements, but His command that does all things, He brought forth the elements themselves when they were not, and in the case of the Jews, needing nothing, He brought down the manna; For, He says, He gave them the bread of heaven. And why do I say, with respect to the ripeness of the fruits, that it needs other elements for their constitution, when it itself needs many things for its own constitution, and would not be sufficient for itself? For in order that it may travel, it needs the heaven as a kind of underlying ground, and in order that it may shine, the purity and subtlety of the air, so that if this too should be condensed beyond measure, that one has no strength to show its own light, 49.117 and in order that it may not be unbearable to all, nor burn everything up, it needs coldness again and dew. When therefore other elements both overcome it and correct its weakness—overcome it, as clouds and walls, and certain other bodies hiding its light; and correct its excess, as dews, and fountains, and coldness of air—how could this be God? For God must be without need, and need nothing, and be the cause of all good things for all, and be hindered by no one; just as Paul and the prophet Isaiah say about God, the one speaking thus in His person: Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord; and again: I am a God at hand, and not a God afar off; and again David: I said to the Lord, You are my Lord, for You have no need of my goods. But Paul, declaring His self-sufficiency, and showing that both these things are most characteristic of God, to need nothing, and to supply all things to all, says something like this: God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, not as though He needed anything Himself, giving to all life and breath, and all things.

5. It was possible, then, to go through the other elements as well, the heaven, the air, the earth, the sea, and to show their weakness, and how each needs its neighbor, and without it is destroyed and perishes. For indeed the earth, if the springs and that from the sea and the rivers should leave it

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κάλλος τῶν οὐρανῶν διηγούμενος, οὕτω φησίν· Οἱ οὐρανοὶ διηγοῦνται δόξαν Θεοῦ· καὶ πάλιν Ὁ στήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡσεὶ καμάραν, καὶ διατείνας αὐτὸν ὡς σκηνὴν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· καὶ πάλιν· Ὁ κατέχων τὸν γῦρον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. Ἕτερος δὲ δεικνὺς ὅτι εἰ καὶ καλὸς καὶ μέγας, ἀλλὰ φθαρτός ἐστιν, οὕτω φησί· Κατ' ἀρχὰς σὺ, Κύριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου εἰσὶν οἱ οὐρανοί· αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμένεις· καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται. Καὶ πάλιν περὶ τοῦ ἡλίου φησὶν ὁ ∆αυῒδ, ὅτι Ὡς νυμφίος ἐκπορευόμενος ἐκ παστοῦ αὑτοῦ· ἀγαλλιάσεται ὡς γίγας δραμεῖν ὁδόν. Εἶδες τὸ κάλλος τοῦ ἄστρου καὶ τὸ μέγεθος πῶς σοι παρέστησε; Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐκ παστάδος τινὸς νυμφίος φανεὶς, οὕτως ὁ ἥλιος ὑπὸ τὴν ἕω τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἀφίησι, καὶ ὥσπερ τινὶ κροκωτῷ παραπετάσματι τὸν οὐρανὸν καλλωπίζων, καὶ ῥοδοειδεῖς ποιῶν τὰς νεφέλας, καὶ ἀνεμποδίστως τρέχων πᾶσαν τὴν ἡμέραν, οὐδενὶ διακόπτεται πρὸς τὸν δρόμον κωλύματι. Εἶδες τοίνυν τὸ κάλλος αὐτοῦ, εἶδες αὐτοῦ τὸ μέγεθος; βλέπε καὶ τῆς ἀσθενείας αὐτοῦ τὸ δεῖγμα. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο δηλῶν σοφός τις ἔλεγε· Τί φωτεινότερον ἡλίου; φησὶ, καὶ τοῦτο ἐκλείπει. Οὐκ ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ μόνον αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀσθένειαν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ταῖς τῶν νεφελῶν συνδρομαῖς. Νέφους γοῦν ὑποδραμόντος πολλάκις τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἀφεὶς, καὶ φιλονεικήσας διαῤῥῆξαι τὸ νέφος οὐκ ἴσχυσε, παχυτέρας τῆς νεφέλης οὔσης καὶ οὐκ ἀνασχομένης αὐτῷ διασχεῖν. Ἀλλὰ τὰ σπέρματα τρέφει, φησί· καὶ μὴν οὐκ αὐτὸς τρέφει μόνος, ἀλλὰ καὶ γῆς δεῖται, καὶ δρόσου, καὶ ὑετῶν, καὶ ἀνέμων, καὶ τῆς τῶν ὡρῶν εὐμοιρίας· κἂν μὴ ταῦτα ἅπαντα συνδράμῃ, περιττὴ ἡ τοῦ ἡλίου γίνεται χρεία. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἂν εἴη Θεοῦ, τὸ δεῖσθαι ἑτέρων πρὸς ἅπερ ἂν βούληται ποιεῖν· Θεοῦ γὰρ ἴδιον μάλιστα τὸ ἀνενδεές. Αὐτὸς γοῦν οὐχ οὕτω τὰ σπέρματα ἐξήγαγεν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ἀλλ' ἐκέλευσε μόνον, καὶ πάντα ἐβλάστησε. Καὶ πάλιν, ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι οὐχ ἡ τῶν στοιχείων φύσις, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρόσταγμα αὐτοῦ πάντα ποιεῖ, αὐτά τε τὰ στοιχεῖα οὐκ ὄντα παρήγαγε, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, οὐδενὸς δεηθεὶς, τὸ μάννα κατήγαγεν· Ἄρτον γὰρ, φησὶν, οὐρανοῦ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς. Καὶ τί λέγω, πρὸς τὴν τῶν καρπῶν ἀκμὴν ὅτι ἑτέρων δεῖται στοιχείων πρὸς τὴν αὐτῶν σύστασιν, ὅπου γε καὶ αὐτὸς πολλῶν χρῄζει πρὸς σύστασιν, καὶ οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸς ἀρκέσειεν ἑαυτῷ; Καὶ γὰρ ἵνα βαδίζῃ, τοῦ οὐρανοῦ δεῖται καθάπερ ἐδάφους τινὸς ὑποκειμένου, καὶ ἵνα φαίνηται, τῆς τοῦ ἀέρος καθαρότητος καὶ λεπτότητος, ὥστε ἂν πυκνωθῇ πέρα τοῦ μέτρου καὶ οὗτος, οὐκ ἰσχύει δεῖξαι τὸ ἑαυτοῦ φῶς ἐκεῖνος, 49.117 καὶ ἵνα μὴ πᾶσιν ἀφόρητος ᾖ, μηδὲ κατακαύσῃ πάντα, ψυχρότητος δεῖται πάλιν καὶ δρόσου. Ὅταν οὖν καὶ περιγίνηται αὐτοῦ στοιχεῖα ἕτερα, καὶ τὴν ἀσθένειαν αὐτοῦ διορθῶται περιγίνεται μὲν ὡς νεφέλαι καὶ τοῖχοι, καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ σώματα ἀποκρύπτοντα αὐτοῦ τὸ φῶς· διορθοῦται δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀμετρίαν ὡς δρόσοι, καὶ πηγαὶ, καὶ ψυχρότης ἀέρος, πῶς ἂν οὗτος εἴη Θεός; Τὸν γὰρ Θεὸν ἀνενδεῆ εἶναι χρὴ, καὶ μηδενὸς δεῖσθαι, καὶ πᾶσιν ἁπάντων αἴτιον εἶναι τῶν καλῶν, καὶ παρὰ μηδενὸς κωλύεσθαι· καθάπερ οὖν καὶ περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ φησιν ὁ Παῦλος καὶ ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας, ὁ μὲν οὕτω λέγων ἐκ προσώπου αὐτοῦ· Τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ, λέγει Κύριος· καὶ πάλιν· Θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐ Θεὸς πόῤῥωθεν· καὶ πάλιν ὁ ∆αυΐδ· Εἶπα τῷ Κυρίῳ· Κύριός μου εἶ σὺ, ὅτι τῶν ἀγαθῶν μου οὐ χρείαν ἔχεις. Ὁ δὲ Παῦλος τὸ ἀνενδεὲς αὐτοῦ δηλῶν, καὶ δεικνὺς ὅτι ἀμφότερα ταῦτα μάλιστά ἐστι Θεοῦ, τὸ μηδενὸς δεῖσθαι, καὶ πᾶσιν αὐτὸν ἅπαντα χορηγεῖν, οὕτω πώς φησιν· Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν, οὐ προσδεόμενός τινος αὐτὸς, διδοὺς πᾶσι ζωὴν καὶ πνοὴν, καὶ τὰ πάντα.

εʹ. Ἐνῆν μὲν οὖν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ στοιχεῖα ἐπελθεῖν, τὸν οὐρανὸν, τὸν ἀέρα, τὴν γῆν, τὴν θάλατταν, καὶ δεῖξαι αὐτῶν τὴν ἀσθένειαν, καὶ πῶς ἕκαστον τοῦ πλησίον δεῖται, καὶ τούτου χωρὶς ἀπόλλυται καὶ διαφθείρεται. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἐὰν ἀπολίπωσιν αὐτὴν αἱ πηγαὶ καὶ ἡ παρὰ τῆς θαλάττης καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν