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last of all paid the penalty; after how many sins did Nebuchadnezzar, toward the end, pay for it all; and the rich man, since he suffered nothing terrible here, for this very reason became most miserable, because having lived luxuriously in the present life, he went away there to pay the penalty for all these things, where there was no consolation to be found for the evil. But still there are some so cold and foolish, as to seek always only the things here, and to say those ridiculous words: I will enjoy all present things for now, and then I will consider the things that are uncertain; I will gratify my stomach, I will be a slave to pleasures, I will abuse the present life; give me today, and you take tomorrow. O excess of folly! And how do those who say these things differ from goats and pigs? For if the prophet does not permit those who neigh after their neighbor's wife to be considered men, who will blame us for considering these men to be goats and pigs and more foolish than donkeys, who think these things, which are more manifest than what is seen, to be uncertain; For if you believe no one else, attend to the demons who are being scourged, who have practiced saying and doing all things for our harm. For 57.215 you will not indeed dispute this, that they do not do all things so as to increase our indifference, and to dissolve the fear of hell, and that the tribunals there be disbelieved. But yet these, who desire these things, shouting and wailing often proclaim the torments there. From where then do they say these things, and utter the opposite of what they wish? From nowhere else, but from the necessity of enduring greater things. For they would not have willingly confessed, neither that they are tormented by dead men, nor that they suffer anything terrible at all. To what end then have I said these things? That demons confess hell, who wish hell to be disbelbelieved; but you, who enjoy so much honor, and have partaken of ineffable mysteries, do not even imitate them, but have become even more senseless than these. And who came from those in Hades, he says, and announced these things? For who has come from the heavens, and said that it is God who created all things? And that we have a soul, from where is this clear? For if indeed you are going to believe in visible things, you will also doubt concerning God, and concerning angels, and concerning mind, and concerning soul, and thus all the doctrines of truth will be gone for you. And yet if you wish to believe in what is manifest, you must believe in the invisible things rather than the visible. Although what is said is paradoxical, yet it is true, and strongly confessed among those who have sense. For the eyes are often deceived, not only in invisible things (for they do not even know them), but also in the very things they seem to see, and by distance, and air, and the mind being turned elsewhere, and anger, and care, and countless other things hindering their accuracy; but the reasoning of the soul, if it receives the light of the divine Scriptures, will be a more accurate and undeceived criterion of things that are. Let us not then deceive ourselves in vain, nor, in addition to the indifference of our life, which is born of such doctrines, let us heap up a more grievous fire for ourselves on account of the doctrines themselves. For if there is no judgment, neither shall we give an account for what we have done, nor shall we receive honors for what we have labored. Consider where your blasphemies tend, when you say that the just, and benevolent, and gentle God overlooks so many labors and sweats. And how could these things have reason? For if from nowhere else, at least from the things in your own house reason these things, and then you will see the absurdity. For even if you yourself were ten thousand times cruel and inhuman, and wilder than the beasts themselves, you would not choose to let a benevolent servant die unhonored, but you reward him both with freedom and a gift of money; and since you, going away, can no longer do any good for him, you charge those who are to inherit your property on his behalf, begging, exhorting, doing everything, so that he not remain unrewarded. Then you, the wicked one, become so good and benevolent toward your servant; but the infinite goodness, the

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πάντων ὕστερον ἔδωκε δίκην· πόσα ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ πλημμελήσας, πρὸς τῷ τέλει τὸ πᾶν ἐξέτισε· καὶ ὁ πλούσιος, ἐπεὶ μηδὲν ἔπαθεν ἐνταῦθα δεινὸν, δι' αὐτὸ τοῦτο μάλιστα γέγονεν ἄθλιος, ὅτι τρυφήσας ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ, ἀπῆλθεν ἐκεῖ πάντων τούτων δώσων δίκην, ἔνθα οὐδὲ παραμυθίαν ἦν εὑρεῖν τοῦ κακοῦ. Ἀλλ' ὅμως εἰσί τινες οὕτω ψυχροὶ καὶ ἀνόητοι, ὡς τὰ ἐνταῦθα ἐπιζητεῖν ἀεὶ μόνον, καὶ τὰ καταγέλαστα ἐκεῖνα λέγειν ῥήματα· Ἀπολαύσω τῶν παρόντων τέως πάντων, καὶ τότε σκέψομαι περὶ τῶν ἀδήλων· χαρίσομαι τῇ γαστρὶ, δουλεύσω ταῖς ἡδοναῖς, παραχρήσομαι τῷ παρόντι βίῳ· δίδου μοι τὴν σήμερον, καὶ λάμβανε τὴν αὔριον. Ὢ ὑπερβολὴ ἀνοίας! Καὶ τί τράγων καὶ χοίρων οἱ ταῦτα λέγοντες διαφέρουσιν; Εἰ γὰρ τοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον χρεμετίζοντας οὐκ ἀφίησιν ὁ προφήτης ἀνθρώπους νομίζεσθαι, τίς ἡμῖν ἐγκαλέσει τούτους τράγους καὶ χοίρους καὶ ὄνων ἀνοητοτέρους εἶναι νομίζουσιν, οἳ τὰ τῶν ὁρωμένων φανερώτερα ταῦτα ἄδηλα εἶναι νομίζουσιν· Εἰ γὰρ μηδενὶ τῶν ἄλλων πιστεύεις, παράστηθι δαίμοσι μαστιζομένοις, τοῖς ἐπὶ τῇ βλάβῃ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἅπαντα καὶ λέγειν καὶ πράττειν μεμελετηκόσιν. Οὐ 57.215 γὰρ δὴ πρὸς τοῦτο ἀντερεῖς, ὅτι οὐ πάντα ὥστε αὐξῆσαι τὴν ῥᾳθυμίαν ἡμῶν πράττουσι, καὶ τὸν τῆς γεέννης ἐκλῦσαι φόβον, καὶ ἀπιστηθῆναι τὰ ἐκεῖ δικαστήρια. Ἀλλ' ὅμως οἱ ταῦτα βουλόμενοι, βοῶντες καὶ ὀλολύζοντες πολλάκις τὰς ἐκεῖ βασάνους ἀνακηρύττουσι. Πόθεν οὖν ταῦτα λέγουσι, καὶ ἐναντία ὧν βούλονται φθέγγονται; Οὐδαμόθεν ἄλλοθεν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ πλείονα ὑπομένειν ἀνάγκην. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἠβουλήθησαν ἑκόντες ὁμολογεῖν, οὐδ' ὅτι ὑπὸ νεκρῶν ἀνθρώπων βασανίζονται, οὐδ' ὅτι ὅλως πάσχουσί τι δεινόν. Πρὸς τί οὖν μοι ταῦτα εἴρηται; Ὅτι δαίμονες ὁμολογοῦσι γέενναν, οἱ βουλόμενοι ἀπιστεῖσθαι γέενναν· σὺ δὲ, ὁ τοσαύτης ἀπολαύων τιμῆς, καὶ ἀποῤῥήτων κοινωνήσας μυστηρίων, οὐδὲ ἐκείνους μιμῇ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων ἀγνωμονέστερος γέγονας. Καὶ τίς ἦλθεν ἐκ τῶν ἐν ᾅδου, φησὶ, καὶ ταῦτα ἀπήγγειλεν; Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν οὐρανῶν τίς παρεγένετο, καὶ εἶπεν ὅτι Θεός ἐστιν ὁ τὰ πάντα δημιουργήσας; Ὅτι δὲ ψυχὴν ἔχομεν, πόθεν δῆλον; Εἰ γὰρ δὴ τοῖς ὁρωμένοις μέλλεις πιστεύειν, καὶ περὶ Θεοῦ, καὶ περὶ ἀγγέλων, καὶ περὶ νοῦ, καὶ περὶ ψυχῆς ἀμφιβαλεῖς, καὶ οὕτω σοι πάντα οἰχήσεται τὰ τῆς ἀληθείας δόγματα. Καίτοιγε εἰ τοῖς φανεροῖς πιστεύειν βούλει, τοῖς ἀοράτοις μᾶλλον ἢ τοῖς ὁρωμένοις πιστεύειν δεῖ. Εἰ καὶ παράδοξον τὸ εἰρημένον, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἀληθὲς, καὶ παρὰ τοῖς νοῦν ἔχουσι σφόδρα ὡμολογημένον. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὀφθαλμοὶ πολλὰ σφάλλονται, οὐκ ἐν τοῖς ἀοράτοις μόνον (ἐκεῖνα γὰρ οὐδὲ ἴσασιν), ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς οἷς δοκοῦσιν ὁρᾷν, καὶ διαστήματος, καὶ ἀέρος, καὶ διανοίας ἀλλαχοῦ τετραμμένης, καὶ θυμοῦ, καὶ φροντίδος, καὶ μυρίων ἑτέρων ἐμποδιζόντων αὐτῶν τὴν ἀκρίβειαν· ὁ δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς λογισμὸς, ἂν τὸ φῶς δέξηται τῶν θείων Γραφῶν, ἀκριβέστερον καὶ ἀνεξαπάτητον τῶν ὄντων ἔσται κριτήριον. Μὴ δὴ μάτην ἑαυτοὺς ἀπατῶμεν, μηδὲ πρὸς τῇ ῥᾳθυμίᾳ τοῦ βίου, τῇ διὰ τῶν τοιούτων τικτομένῃ δογμάτων, καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν τῶν δογμάτων χαλεπώτερον ἑαυτοῖς ἐπισωρεύωμεν πῦρ. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἔστι κρίσις, μηδὲ εὐθύνας δώσομεν τῶν πεπραγμένων, οὐδὲ τιμὰς τῶν πεπονημένων ληψόμεθα. Ἐννόησον οἷ τείνει τὰ τῆς βλασφημίας ὑμῶν, ὅταν λέγητε τὸν δίκαιον Θεὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον καὶ ἥμερον τοσούτους πόνους καὶ ἱδρῶτας ὑπερορᾷν. Καὶ πῶς ἂν ἔχοι ταῦτα λόγον; Εἰ γὰρ μηδαμόθεν ἄλλοθεν, ἀπὸ γοῦν τῶν κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν σὴν ταῦτα συλλογίζου, καὶ τότε ὄψει τὸ ἄτοπον. Κἂν γὰρ μυριάκις ᾖς αὐτὸς ὠμὸς καὶ ἀπάνθρωπος, καὶ θηρίων αὐτῶν ἀγριώτερος, οὐκ ἂν ἕλοιο τὸν οἰκέτην τὸν εὔνουν γενόμενον τελευτῶν ἀφεῖναι ἄτιμον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐλευθερίᾳ ἀμείβῃ, καὶ χρημάτων δωρεᾷ· καὶ ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸς λοιπὸν ἀπιὼν οὐδὲν δύνασαι εἰς αὐτὸν ἐργάσασθαι ἀγαθὸν, τοῖς μέλλουσί σου κληρονομεῖν τῆς οὐσίας ἐπισκήπτεις ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, δεόμενος, παρακαλῶν, πάντα ποιῶν, ὥστε μὴ μεῖναι αὐτὸν ἀγέραστον. Εἶτα σὺ μὲν, ὁ πονηρὸς, οὕτω χρηστὸς καὶ φιλάνθρωπος γίνῃ πρὸς τὸν οἰκέτην· ἡ δὲ ἄπειρος ἀγαθότης, ὁ