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wall and binding it to the other, completes the whole figure of the world. 7.t A Christian's discourse concerning the permanence of the heavens BOOK 7 7.1 Having been asked by you to compose a discourse on heaven, O most industrious of men, Anastasius, I will not disobey. I will make clear whether the divine Scripture says it is indissoluble or is to be dissolved. For you said that one of those who boast of being Christians, wishing to speak against the Greeks, unwittingly found himself arguing in their favor, holding with them the opinion that heaven is a sphere always revolving, yet proclaiming in his own writing that it is to be dissolved. I do not know how he was moved to say this, and I am brought to marvel at the so very learned wisdom of the man, so blinded by excessive ambition. For if as a Christian he wished to overthrow the Greek opinion, he ought first to have destroyed from their foundations the first principles concerning this, the sphere and its revolution, which we, by the will of God, have done when asked in another writing. 7.2 But if he accepted their very foundation and principles, from which the proofs of its eternity proceed, why does the wise man babble in vain, building his own trifles not upon a rock, but upon sand? For no one of sound mind would call that which is ever-moving perishable and dissoluble, nor that which is perishable and dissoluble ever-moving; but that which is ever-moving, as ever-moving, is imperishable, while that which is not always moving and is dissoluble is surely perishable, since it also ceases from motion, wherefore it is not ever-moving. How then does the most learned man, having accepted that heaven is ever-moving—though it does not seem so to the divine Scripture—define it as dissoluble? For which of the ancients, or the moderns, who were distinguished among the pagan philosophers and also held that heaven is a sphere, did he find saying that it is dissoluble? For rather all of them, proceeding by logical deduction, said that it is indissoluble. 7.3 But this man, fashioning new absurdities, neither following the teaching of those outside, nor adhering to the spiritual tradition of those inside, but being ignorant both of the variety of the doctrines of those outside and of the unfeigned and pure teaching of the Church from within, attempted to teach newer things without examination, not considering the contradiction of his own words and the questions arising from these, but just as an inexperienced traveler who has wandered from the highway and gone outside of it is pierced through by the pain of cliffs and thorns, so also this excellent man, being wounded by the onslaught of contradictions, is easily cast down. 7.4 Wherefore, O lover of Christ, I thought it sufficient for you, upon reading our little treatise—for thus one must speak humbly of one's own work—I mean the Christian Topography of the whole world, to see how in the first book we used more physical refutations against those who seem to be Christians but hold the opinion that heaven is spherical; and in the second, the Christian hypotheses concerning the figures and topography of the whole world, having made our proofs from the divine Scripture; and in the third, that the divine Scripture is firm and trustworthy, and what is the use of the figures of the whole world; and in the fourth, a brief recapitulation and a description of the figures of the whole world, and the overthrow of the sphere; and in the fifth, the description of the tabernacle constructed by Moses, and the harmony of the prophets and apostles; and in the sixth, concerning the size of the sun, and thus concluding the little treatise. 7.5 Nevertheless again, because of your desire and your request, not being able to disregard your, as has been said, love of God, as you commanded, as I am able, I will make briefly from the divine Scripture the refutation of those who do away with the heavens, and the confirmation of their permanence, with the divine grace and your prayers working with us, stating first what idioms the divine Scripture uses concerning heaven, and then also that it defines them as always indissoluble. 7.6 Since the Old Testament therefore was written for the Hebrews it is necessary in the

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τοῖχον καὶ συνδεσμεύων ἐπὶ τὸν ἕτερον, ἀποτελεῖ ὅλον τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ κόσμου. 7.τ Χριστιανοῦ περὶ διαμονῆς οὐρανῶν ΛΟΓΟΣ Ζʹ 7.1 Τὸν περὶ οὐρανοῦ λόγον αἰτήσαντί σοι συγγραφῆναι παρ' ἡμῶν, ὦ φιλοπονικώτατε ἀνδρῶν Ἀναστάσιε, οὐκ ἀπειθήσω. Σαφηνιῶ δὲ πότερον ἀκατάλυτον αὐτόν φησιν ἡ θεία Γραφὴ ἢ καταλυόμενον. Ἔφησθα γὰρ ὥς τις τῶν χριστιανίζειν αὐχούντων βουλόμενος καθ' Ἑλλήνων εἰπεῖν ἔλαθεν ἑαυτὸν συνηγορῶν αὐτοῖς, σφαῖραν μὲν σὺν αὐτοῖς δοξάζων ἀεὶ περιστρεφομένην τὸν οὐρανόν, καταλυόμενον δὲ τοῦτον ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ συγγράμματι κηρύττων. Οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως κινούμενος ἐξεῖπε καὶ θαυμάζειν ἐμοὶ ἔπεισι τὴν οὕτω πολυμαθῆ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς σοφίαν, οὕτω τυφλώττουσαν ὑπὸ τῆς ἄγαν φιλοτιμίας. Εἰ γὰρ ὡς χριστιανὸς ἀνατρέπειν ἠβούλετο τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἑλληνικήν, τάς γε περὶ τούτου πρῶτον ἀρχὰς ἐχρῆν ἐκ βάθρων ἀνελεῖν, τὴν σφαῖραν καὶ τὴν ταύτης περιφοράν, ὅπερ ἡμεῖς βουλήσει Θεοῦ ἐν ἑτέρῳ συγγράμματι αἰτηθέντες πεποιήκαμεν. 7.2 Εἰ δὲ αὐτὸν τὸν θεμέλιον καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς αὐτῶν, ἐξ ὧν αἱ ἀποδείξεις τοῦ ἀϊδίου προΐασιν, ἐδέξατο, τί μάτην ὁ σοφὸς ἀδολεσχεῖ, οὐκ ἐπὶ πέτρας, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ ψάμμου τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ κτίζων ὕθλους; Οὐδεὶς γὰρ τῶν εὐφρονούντων τὸ ἀεικίνητον φθαρτὸν καὶ καταλυόμενον, οὐδὲ τὸ φθαρτὸν καὶ καταλυόμενον ἀεικίνητον ἂν εἴποι· ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἀεικίνητον ὡς ἀεικίνητον ἄφθαρτόν ἐστι, τὸ δὲ μὴ ἀεὶ κινούμενον καὶ καταλυόμενον πάντως φθαρτόν ἐστιν, ἐπείπερ καὶ τῆς κινήσεως παύεται, διὸ οὐκ ἀεικίνητον. Πῶς οὖν ὁ λογιώτατος ἀεικίνητον δεξάμενος τὸν οὐρανόν, οὐχ οὕτως τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ δοκοῦν, καταλυόμενον αὐτὸν ὁρίζεται; Τίνα γὰρ τῶν ἀρχαίων, ἢ τῶν νεωτέρων, τῶν διαπρεψάντων παρὰ τοῖς ἔξωθεν φιλοσόφοις, τῶν καὶ δοξαζόντων σφαῖραν εἶναι τὸν οὐρανόν, εὗρεν εἰρηκότα τοῦτον καταλυόμενον; Μᾶλλον γὰρ ἅπαντες συλλογιστικῶς προερχόμενοι ἀκατάλυτον αὐτὸν ἔφασαν εἶναι. 7.3 Οὑτοσὶ δὲ καινὰς ἀναπλάττων ἀτοπίας, οὔτε τῇ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἀκολουθήσας διδασκαλίᾳ, οὔτε τῇ τῶν ἔσωθεν πνευματικῇ παραδόσει προσθέμενος, ἀγνοήσας δὲ τῶν τε ἔξωθεν τὴν ποικιλίαν τῶν δογμάτων καὶ τῶν ἔσωθεν τὸ ἄπλαστον καὶ καθαρὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας μάθημα, τὰ νεώτερα διδάσκειν ἀβασανίστως ἐπεχείρησε μὴ λογισάμενος τῶν ἰδίων λόγων τὴν ἐναντιότητα καὶ τὰ ἐκ τούτων ἀνακύπτοντα ζητήματα, ἀλλ' οἷάπερ ἀτριβὴς ὁδοιπόρος τῆς λεωφόρου πλανηθεὶς καὶ ταύτης ἐκτὸς γεγονὼς τῇ τῶν κρημνῶν καὶ τῶν ἀκανθῶν ὀδύνῃ περιπείρεται, οὕτω καὶ ὁ βέλτιστος τῇ τῶν ἐναντίων φορᾷ τιτρωσκόμενος εὐχερῶς καταβάλλεται. 7.4 ∆ιό, φιλόχριστε, ἀρκετὸν μὲν ᾠήθην ἀναγινώσκοντά σε τὸ ἡμέτερον πονημάτιονοὕτω γὰρ δεῖ σμικρολογεῖν τὰ ἡμέτερα, τὴν Χριστιανικὴν λέγω Τοπογραφίαν παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου, κατιδεῖν πῶς ἐν μὲν τῷ πρώτῳ λόγῳ ἐλέγχοις ἐχρησάμεθα φυσικωτέροις πρὸς τοὺς δοκοῦντας μὲν χριστιανίζειν, σφαιροειδῆ δὲ τὸν οὐρανὸν δοξάζοντας· ἐν δὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ τὰς χριστιανικὰς ὑποθέσεις περὶ σχημάτων καὶ τοποθεσίας παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου, ἐκ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς τὰς ἀποδείξεις ποιησάμενοι· ἐν δὲ τῷ τρίτῳ, ὅτι βεβαία καὶ ἀξιόπιστός ἐστιν ἡ θεία Γραφή, καὶ τί τὸ χρήσιμον τῶν σχημάτων τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου· ἐν δὲ τῷ τετάρτῳ ἀνακεφαλαίωσιν σύντομον καὶ διαγραφὴν σχημάτων τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου, καὶ τῆς σφαίρας τὴν ἀνατροπήν· ἐν δὲ τῷ πέμπτῳ τὴν διαγραφὴν τῆς σκηνῆς τῆς ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως κατασκευασθείσης, καὶ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ ἀποστόλων τὴν συμφωνίαν· ἐν δὲ τῷ ἕκτῳ περὶ μεγέθους ἡλίου, καὶ οὕτως συμπεράναντες τὸ πονημάτιον. 7.5 Ὅμως δὲ πάλιν διὰ τὸν σὸν πόθον καὶ τὴν σὴν αἴτησιν μὴ δυνάμενος παρακούειν τῆς σῆς, ὡς εἴρηται, θεοφιλίας, ὡς ἐκέλευσας, καθὼς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ, διὰ συντόμων ποιήσομαι ἐκ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς τὸν ἔλεγχον μὲν τῶν ἀναιρούντων τοὺς οὐρανούς, σύστασιν δὲ τῆς αὐτῶν διαμονῆς, τῆς θείας χάριτος ἡμῖν συνεργούσης καὶ τῶν σῶν προσευχῶν, προλέγοντες πρῶτον ποίοις ἰδιώμασι κέχρηται περὶ οὐρανοῦ ἡ θεία Γραφή, ἔπειτα καὶ ὅτι ἀκαταλύτους αὐτοὺς διὰ παντὸς ὁρίζεται. 7.6 Τῆς Παλαιᾶς τοίνυν ∆ιαθήκης τοῖς Ἑβραίοις γραφείσης ἀνάγκη τῇ