33. Seeing that the fear of death, that is, the ruin of our souls, menaces387    Lit., “is set before.” us, in what are we not acting, as we all are wont, from a sense of what will be to our advantage,388    So the ms., first ed., Gelenius, Canterus, Hildebrand, reading ex commodi sensu, for which all the other edd., following Ursinus and Meursius, read ex communi—“from common sense,” i.e., wisely. in that we hold Him fast who assures us that He will be our deliverer from such danger, embrace Him, and entrust our souls to His care,389    Perhaps, as Orelli evidently understands it, “prefer Him to our own souls”—animis præponimus. if only that390    So Oehler, reading ea for the ms. ut, omitted in all edd. interchange is right? You rest the salvation of your souls on yourselves, and are assured that by your own exertions alone391    Lit., “by your own and internal exertion.” you become gods; but we, on the contrary hold out no hope to ourselves from our own weakness, for we see that our nature has no strength, and is overcome by its own passions in every strife for anything.392    Lit., “of things.” You think that, as soon as you pass away, freed from the bonds of your fleshly members, you will find wings393    Lit., “wings will be at hand.” with which you may rise to heaven and soar to the stars. We shun such presumption. and do not think394    The ms. reads di-cimus, “say;” corrected du, as above. that it is in our power to reach the abodes395    The first four edd. read res, “things above,” for which Stewechius reads, as above, sedes. above, since we have no certainty as to this even, whether we deserve to receive life and be freed from the law of death. You suppose that without the aid of others396    Sponte. you will return to the master’s palace as if to your own home, no one hindering you; but we, on the contrary, neither have any expectation that this can be unless by the will of the Lord of all, nor think that so much power and licence are given to any man.

XXXIII. Mortis nobis cum proponatur metus, id est, animarum interitus: quid non ex communi facimus sensu, quo amamus nos omnes, quod eum qui nobis spondet tali a periculo liberaturum retinemus, amplectimur animisque ipsis nostris, si modo justa est vicissitudo, praeponimus. Vos vestrarum animarum salutem in ipsis vobis reponitis, fierique vos deos vestro fiditis intestinoque conatu: et vero nos nobis nihil de nostra infirmitate promittimus, naturam 0862A intuentes nostram virium esse nullarum, et ab suis affectibus in omni rerum contentione superari. Vos cum primum soluti membrorum abieritis e nodis, alas vobis affuturas putatis, quibus ad coelum pergere, atque ad sidera volare possitis: nos tantam reformidamus audaciam, nec in nostra ducimus esse positum potestate sedes superas petere: cum et hoc ipsum habeamus incertum, an vitam accipere mereamur, et ab lege mortalitatis abduci. Vos in aulam dominicam tamquam in propriam sedem remeaturos vos sponte, nullo prohibente, praesumitis: at vero nos istud, rerum sine domino fieri neque speramus posse, neque ulli hominum tantum potestatis attribui licentiaeque censemus.