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is it to your advantage to be consumed beforehand by sorrow? You have received a law for assistance. Great indeed was the aptitude for the good that existed in you even by nature, but perfecting this, God also added for you the guidance from the law. Do you wish to be persuaded about the future? Do what is prescribed according to the law, and await the enjoyment of good things. Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you and you may be long-lived upon the earth, which the Lord your God gives you. Do you desire good things? Do what is prescribed. Do not ask the diviner about your health, but endure the physician, who prescribes things for your health, of which you yourself are master. What are you taught by another? No diviner grants immortality, no one leads up to heaven; no one presents you to the judge with confidence, but the law and its strict observance; observing which, do not be overly concerned about the future, but await the reward. Therefore, he gave a law for assistance, so that they might say: Not like this word, concerning which it is not possible to give gifts. But this law is not like this word of the ventriloquist. for it was not devised for deception, like those things, but is a teacher of truth. And those men indeed divine for money; for this is the ridiculous thing, that those who are deceived also pay them money, the wage for the lie. But this word, that is of the law, is not such that one can give gifts for it. For no one sells the grace of God; Freely (he says) you have received, freely give. Do you see how Peter was indignant with Simon, who offered money for the grace of the Spirit; For your money (he said) be with you to destruction, because you thought to obtain the gift of God through money. Therefore the word of the Gospel is not like the words sold by the ventriloquists. For what worthy exchange could one give for them? Hear David being at a loss and saying: What shall I render to the Lord for all that he has rendered to me? Therefore it is not possible to give gifts for this that are worthy of the grace from it. One gift is worthy, the keeping of what was given. The one who gave you the treasure does not demand a price for what was given, but a keeping worthy of what was given. 8.222 And a harsh famine shall come upon you (he says) and it shall be, that when you are hungry, you will be grieved and will speak ill of the ruler and of your ancestral ways. The Lord, who orders all things for salvation, sometimes brings a famine for the benefit of those being instructed. For I afflicted you (he says) and I made you hungry, that I might do you good. Therefore he calls a harsh famine the one that is inconsolable, the one that is beyond devising. For there are different kinds of famines. Some occur only from a lack of grain; but others also from a want of other things that can be eaten. For this is the harsh famine which the word promises to bring, so as through want to produce sorrow, which is able to work a salvation that brings no regret. But when they are grieved according to God, then they will speak ill of the ruler and of their ancestral ways. Who is the ruler, who is spoken ill of by those who are rightly grieved? Is it not clearly the ruler of this world, whom they will speak ill of out of repentance, when they come to a consciousness of the harm from him. And they speak ill of their ancestral ways. And the ancestral ways of those living in sins are the affairs of this life, in which all who are lovers of glory are entangled. The ancestral ways for the sinner are the works of the flesh (adultery, fornication, impurity; licentiousness, idolatry, passion; evil desire). The ancestral ways are deceit and falsehood, plots and villainies and hypocrisies. Therefore the one who has sobered up, as from some drunkenness, from the affairs of the world, will speak ill of his ruler, the one who guided him to the works of destruction. And he will speak ill of his ancestral ways, by living with which he did not accept the law given to us by God for assistance. You cannot be under the true king, unless you speak ill of the ruler. For this reason the Church taught you to say: I renounce you, Satan. This is the speaking ill of the ruler. And what is that of the ancestral ways? I renounce

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σοι τὸ κέρδος προδαπανᾶσθαι τῇ λύπῃ; Νόμον ἔλαβες εἰς βοήθειαν. Μεγάλη μὲν ἦν σοι καὶ ἡ ἐκ φύσεως ἐνυπάρχουσα πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ἐπιτηδειότης, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο τελειῶν ὁ Θεὸς καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου σοι χει ραγωγίαν προσέθηκε. Βούλει περὶ τῶν μελλόντων πεπεῖ σθαι; Ποίει τὰ διατεταγμένα κατὰ τὸν νόμον, καὶ ἀνά μενε τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. Τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα, ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται καὶ ἔσῃ μακροχρόνιος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἧς Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου δίδωσί σοι. Ἐπιθυμεῖς τῶν ἀγαθῶν; Ποίει τὰ διατεταγμένα. Μὴ ἐρώτα τὸν μάντιν περὶ τῆς ὑγείας, ἀλλ' ἀνάσχου τοῦ ἰατροῦ, ὑποτιθεμένου τὰ πρὸς ὑγείαν, ὧν αὐτὸς εἶ κύριος. Τί παρ' ἑτέρου διδάσκῃ; Οὐδεὶς μάντις ἀθανασίαν χαρίζεται, οὐδεὶς ἀνάγει πρὸς οὐρανόν· οὐδείς σε τῷ κριτῇ ἐν παῤῥησίᾳ παρίστησιν, ἀλλ' ὁ νόμος καὶ ἡ τούτου ἀκριβὴς τήρησις· ὃν τηρῶν, μὴ πολυ πραγμόνει τὸ μέλλον, ἀλλ' ἀνάμενε τὴν ἀντίδοσιν. Νόμον οὖν ἔδωκεν εἰς βοήθειαν, ἵνα εἴπωσιν· Οὐχ ὡς τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο περὶ οὗ οὐκ ἔστι δῶρα δοῦναι περὶ αὐτοῦ. Οὗτος δὲ ὁ νόμος οὐκ ἔστιν ὡς τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο τοῦ ἐγγαστριμύθου. οὐ γὰρ πρὸς ἀπάτην ἐπινενόηται, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνα, ἀλλὰ ἀλη θείας ἐστὶ διδάσκαλος. Κἀκεῖνοι μὲν ἐπ' ἀργυρίῳ μαντεύον ται· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ καταγέλαστον, ὅτι καὶ ἀργύριον αὐτοῖς τελοῦσι, μισθὸν τοῦ ψεύδους, οἱ ἀπατώμενοι. Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ῥῆμα, τουτέστι τοῦ νόμου, οὔκ ἐστι τοιοῦτον, ὥστε δῶρα δοῦναι περὶ αὐτοῦ. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποδίδοται· ∆ωρεὰν (φησὶν) ἐλάβετε, δωρεὰν δότε. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἠγανάκτησε Πέτρος ἐπὶ τῷ Σίμωνι, ἀργύριον ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριτος προσκομίσαντι· Τὸ γὰρ ἀρ γύριόν σου (φησὶ) σὺν σοὶ εἴη εἰς ἀπώλειαν, ὅτι ἐνόμισας τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ χρημάτων κτᾶσθαι. Οὔκ ἐστιν οὖν ὁ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου λόγος, ὡς τὰ πωλούμενα ῥήματα παρὰ τῶν ἐγγαστριμύθων. Τί γὰρ ἄν τις δοίη ἄξιον αὐτῶν ἀντάλ λαγμα; Ἄκουε τοῦ ∆αβὶδ ἀποροῦντος καὶ λέγοντος· Τί ἀνταποδώσω τῷ Κυρίῳ, περὶ πάντων ὧν ἀνταπέδωκέ μοι; Οὐκ ἔστιν οὖν δῶρα δοῦναι περὶ τούτου ἀντάξια τῆς ἀπ' αὐ τοῦ χάριτος. Ἓν δῶρον ἄξιον, ἡ φυλακὴ τοῦ δωρηθέντος. Ὁ δούς σοι τὸν θησαυρὸν, οὐχὶ τιμὴν ἀπαιτεῖ τοῦ δοθέντος, ἀλλὰ φυλακὴν ἀξίαν τοῦ δεδομένου. 8.222 Καὶ ἥξει ἐφ' ὑμᾶς σκληρὰ λιμὸς (φησί) καὶ ἔσται, ὡς ἂν πεινάσητε· λυπηθήσεσθε καὶ κακῶς ἐρεῖτε τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ τὰ πάτρια. Ὁ πάντα πρὸς σωτηρίαν οἰκονομῶν, Κύριος, ἐπάγει ποτὲ καὶ λιμὸν ἐπὶ συμφέροντι τῶν παιδαγωγουμένων. Ἐκά κωσα γάρ σε (φησὶ) καὶ ἐλιμαγχόνησα, ἵνα εὖ σε ποιήσω. Σκληρὰν τοίνυν λιμὸν λέγει τὴν ἀπαραμύθητον, τὴν ἀνεπι νόητον. Εἰσὶ γὰρ λιμῶν διαφοραί. Αἱ μέν εἰσι κατὰ ἐπί λειψιν σίτου μόνον γινόμεναι· αἱ δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῶν λοι πῶν ἀπορίαν, τῶν ἐσθίεσθαι δυναμένων. Αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ σκληρὰ λιμὸς, ἣν ἐπάγειν ὁ λόγος ἐπαγγέλλεται, ὥστε διὰ τῆς ἐνδείας λύπην ἐμποιῆσαι, σωτηρίαν ἀμεταμέλητον ἐνεργάσασθαι δυναμένην. Ὅταν δὲ λυπηθῶσι κατὰ Θεὸν, τότε κακῶς ἐροῦσι τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ τὰ πάτρια. Τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἄρχων, ὁ παρὰ τῶν καλῶς λυπουμένων κακη γορούμενος; Ἦ δηλονότι ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, ὃν κακῶς ἐροῦσιν ἐκ μετανοίας, ὅταν εἰς συναίσθησιν τῆς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ βλάβης ἔλθωσι. Κακηγοροῦσι δὲ καὶ τὰ πάτρια. Πάτρια δὲ τῶν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ζώντων αἱ τοῦ βίου πραγμα τεῖαι, αἷς οἱ φιλόδοξοι πάντες ἐμπλέκονται. Πάτριά ἐστι τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκὸς (μοιχεία, πορνεία, ἀκαθαρσία· ἀσέλγεια, εἰδωλολατρεία, πάθος· ἐπιθυμία κακή). Πάτριά ἐστι δόλος καὶ ψεῦδος, ἐπιβουλαὶ καὶ ῥᾳδιουργίαι καὶ ὑποκρίσεις. Ὁ τοίνυν ἀνανήψας, οἷον ἀπό τινος μέθης, τῶν τοῦ κόσμου πραγμάτων, κακῶς μὲν ἐρεῖ τὸν ἄρχοντα αὐτοῦ, τὸν κα θηγησάμενον αὐτῷ πρὸς τὰ τῆς ἀπωλείας ἔργα. Κακῶς δὲ ἐρεῖ καὶ τὰ πάτρια, οἷς συζῶν, τὸν δεδομένον ἡμῖν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμον εἰς βοήθειαν οὐκ ἐδέχετο. Οὐ δύνασαι ὑπὸ τὸν ἀληθινὸν γενέσθαι βασιλέα, ἐὰν μὴ κακῶς εἴπῃς τὸν ἄρ χοντα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐδίδαξέ σε ἡ Ἐκκλησία λέγειν· ἀπο τάσσομαί σοι, Σατανᾶ. Αὕτη τοῦ ἄρχοντος ἡ κακηγορία. Τίς δὲ ἡ τῶν πατρίων; Ἀποτάσσομαι