123

a secret initiation; but if they interpret nothing more than what is readily understood, I do not know which of the two one might consider more pitiable, those who say such things or those who lend their ears to such things. 20to the weakest things,20 he says, 20on earth he has given the most honorable names, without also giving them an equal share of the dignities20. Therefore let us examine the meaning of what has been said. 2.1.317 The weakest things, he says, are deemed worthy of the mere appellation of honorable things, not being by nature what they are called, and this he says is the work of God, to belie the worse nature with the more honorable name. And conversely he says that God applies the less honorable terms to those who are preeminent by nature, without the nature being changed along with the name. 2.1.318 And so that what is said may become most clear to us, the absurdity will be shown in the things themselves. If someone were to call a man esteemed for every virtue intemperate, or conversely, were to call a man notorious for equal vice good and orderly, would such a person be thought to be of sound mind or to have any concern for the truth among those who have sense, making appellations exchanged for their opposites, when nature does not bear witness to the meaning of the names? 2.1.319 I for one do not think so. This man, then, says that these things are done by God, things which agree neither with our common conceptions nor with the testimonies of Scripture. For in the custom of our life, it belongs only to those who are delirious from drunkenness or madness to be mistaken about names and not to use terms for things according to their meaning, but to call a man a dog, if it so happens, and again to apply the appellation of man to a dog. 2.1.320 But divine Scripture is so far from agreeing with this confusion, that one can even hear the prophecy openly complaining about these things. He who calls, it says, light darkness and darkness light, who puts bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. With what in view, then, does he think he must attribute this absurdity to his own god? Let those initiated by him into the secrets tell us what 20the weakest thing on earth20 they judge to be, which is dignified by God with 20the most honorable20 2.1.321 epithets. The weakest of beings are those animals whose generation has its constitution from the decay of liquids, but the most honorable of beings are virtue and holiness and whatever is dear to God. Are then flies and gnats and frogs and those whose birth is from dung, are these honored with the epithet of holy and of virtue, so as to be dignified by the honorable names, but not to share in the 20equal portion of the dignities20, 2.1.322 as Eunomius says? But we have not yet heard such a thing, that these weak things have been called by the most magnificent appellations, or that what is great and honorable by nature has been insulted by the appellation of one of these. Noah was righteous, says the Scripture, Abraham faithful, Moses meek, Daniel wise, Joseph chaste, Job blameless, and David had achieved long-suffering. 2.1.323 Let them say, then, if each of these in any way received his epithets from their opposites, or if, in the case of those who are attested for the worse, such as Nabal the Carmelite and Pharaoh the Egyptian and Abimelech the foreigner and all who are remembered for wickedness, if they were honored by the divine voice with the more favorable epithets. These things are not so, but as things are in nature and truth, so are they judged and spoken of by God, not being named contrary to what they are, but so that their meanings might become most manifest, being declared by their proper appellations. 2.1.324 This is what the man strong in intellect, the accuser of 20detected custom,20 the one who disparages those who are 20justly deprived of their reason,20 supposes to know about the divine nature, these are the opinions he sets forth about God, as if he were being ironical about things with false names and bestowing 20the most honorable names on the weakest things20

123

ἀπόρρητον μύησιν· εἰ δὲ πλέον οὐδὲν τῶν ἐκ τοῦ προχείρου νοουμένων διερμη νεύουσιν, οὐκ οἶδα ποτέρους ἄν τις ἐλεεινοτέρους τῶν ἑτέ ρων λογίσαιτο, τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγοντας ἢ τοὺς τὰς ἀκοὰς τοῖς τοιούτοις ὑπέχοντας. 20τοῖς ἀσθενεστάτοις20, φησί, 20τῶν περὶ γῆν τῶν τιμιωτάτων μεταδέδωκεν ὀνομάτων, μὴ συμμεταδοὺς τῆς τῶν ἀξιωμάτων ἰσομοιρίας20. οὐκοῦν σκοπήσωμεν τὴν τῶν εἰρημένων διά 2.1.317 νοιαν. τὰ ἀσθενέστατα, φησί, ψιλῆς ἀξιοῦται τῆς τῶν τιμίων προσηγορίας, οὐκ ὄντα τὴν φύσιν ἅπερ κατονομάζεται, καὶ τοῦτο ἔργον εἶναι λέγει θεοῦ, τὸ διαψεύδεσθαι τῇ τι μιωτέρᾳ κλήσει τὴν χείρονα φύσιν. καὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν τὰς ἀτιμοτέρας φωνὰς τοῖς κατὰ φύσιν προέχουσι τὸν θεὸν ἐφαρμόζειν λέγει, μὴ συμμετατιθεμένης τῇ κλήσει τῆς φύ 2.1.318 σεως. ὡς δ' ἂν μάλιστα καταφανὲς ἡμῖν τὸ λεγόμενον γένοιτο, ἐπ' αὐτῶν δειχθήσεται τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ ἀτοπία. εἴ τις τὸν διὰ πάσης ἀρετῆς εὐδόκιμον ἀκόλαστον λέγοι ἢ ἀναστρέψας τὸν ἴσῃ κακίᾳ διαβεβλημένον ἀγαθὸν εἴποι καὶ κόσμιον, ἆρα σωφρονεῖν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἤ τινα τῆς ἀληθείας ἔχειν φροντίδα παρὰ τοῖς νοῦν ἔχουσι νομισθήσεται, ἐπηλ λαγμένας πρὸς τοὐναντίον τὰς προσηγορίας ποιούμενος, μὴ συμμαρτυρούσης τῇ σημασίᾳ τῶν ὀνομάτων τῆς φύσεως; 2.1.319 ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ οἶμαι. ταῦτα τοίνυν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεσθαί φησιν οὗτος, ἃ οὔτε ταῖς κοιναῖς τῶν ἐννοιῶν οὔτε ταῖς γραφικαῖς μαρτυρίαις συμβαίνει. ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῇ κατὰ τὸν βίον ἡμῶν συνηθείᾳ μόνων τῶν ἐκ μέθης ἢ φρενίτιδος παραπαιόντων ἐστὶ τὸ διαπλανᾶσθαι πρὸς τὰ ὀνόματα καὶ μὴ κατὰ τὸ σημαινόμενον ταῖς ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων κεχρῆ σθαι φωναῖς, ἀλλὰ κύνα μὲν λέγειν, ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, κυνὶ δὲ πάλιν ἐφαρμόζειν ἀνθρώπου προσηγορίαν. 2.1.320 ἡ δὲ θεία γραφὴ τοσοῦτον ἀπέχει τοῦ τῇ συγχύσει ταύτῃ συντίθεσθαι, ὥστε καὶ φανερῶς ἔστι τῆς προφητείας ἐπὶ τούτοις σχετλιαζούσης ἀκούειν. Ὁ λέγων, φησί, τὸ φῶς σκότος καὶ τὸ σκότος φῶς, ὁ τιθεὶς τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν. πρὸς τί τοίνυν βλέπων τὴν ἀτοπίαν ταύτην προσμαρτυρεῖν οἴεται δεῖν τῷ ἰδίῳ θεῷ; εἰπάτωσαν οἱ μυσταγωγηθέντες παρ' αὐτοῦ τὰ ἀπόρρητα, τί 20τῶν περὶ γῆν ἀσθενέστατον20 κρίνουσιν, ὃ 20ταῖς τιμιωτάταις20 2.1.321 τῶν ἐπωνυμιῶν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ σεμνύνεται. ἀσθενέστατα τῶν ὄντων τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ζῴων ἐστὶν οἷς ἡ γένεσις ἀπὸ σήψεως ὑγρῶν τὴν σύστασιν ἔχει, τιμιώτατον δὲ τῶν ὄντων ἀρετή τε καὶ ἁγιότης καὶ εἴ τι φίλον τῷ θεῷ. ἆρ' οὖν μυῖαι καὶ σκνῖπες καὶ βάτραχοι καὶ οἷς ἐκ κόπρου ἡ γέ νεσις, ταῦτα τῇ τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ τῇ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐπωνυμίᾳ τετίμηται, ὥστε σεμνύνεσθαι μὲν τοῖς τιμίοις τῶν ὀνομάτων, μὴ συμμετέχει δὲ τῆς τῶν 20ἀξιωμάτων ἰσομοιρίας20, 2.1.322 καθώς φησιν ὁ Εὐνόμιος; ἀλλ' οὔπω τὸ τοιοῦτον ἠκού σαμεν, ὅτι τὰ ἀσθενῆ ταῦτα ταῖς μεγαλοφυεστέραις τῶν προσηγοριῶν κατωνόμασται ἢ ὅτι τὸ μέγα τῇ φύσει καὶ τίμιον τῇ ἑνὸς τούτων καθυβρίσθη προσηγορίᾳ. δίκαιος ἦν ὁ Νῶε, φησὶν ἡ γραφή, πιστὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ πραῢς Μωϋσῆς καὶ σοφὸς ∆ανιὴλ καὶ σώφρων ὁ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ ἄμεμπτος ὁ Ἰὼβ καὶ μακροθυμίαν κατωρθωκὼς ὁ ∆αβίδ. 2.1.323 εἰπάτωσαν τοίνυν, εἴ πη τούτων ἕκαστος ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων τὰς ἐπωνυμίας ἔσχεν, ἢ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον μαρ τυρουμένων οἷον Νάβαλ ὁ Καρμήλιος καὶ Φαραὼ ὁ Αἰ γύπτιος καὶ Ἀβιμέλεχ ὁ ἀλλόφυλος καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐπὶ κακίᾳ μνημονευόμενοι, εἰ ταῖς δεξιωτέραις τῶν ἐπωνυμιῶν παρὰ τῆς θείας φωνῆς ἐτιμήθησαν. οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα, ἀλλ' ὡς ἔχει φύσεως τε καὶ ἀληθείας, οὕτω τὰ ὄντα παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ κρίνεται τε καὶ λέγεται, οὐκ ἐναντίως τοῖς οὖσιν ὀνο μαζόμενα, ἀλλ' ὡς ἂν μάλιστα καταφανῆ γένοιτο τὰ ση μαινόμενα ταῖς οἰκείαις προσηγορίαις ἐξαγγελλόμενα. 2.1.324 Ταῦτα ὁ εὐσθενὴς τὴν διάνοιαν, ὁ 20τῆς πεφωρη μένης συνηθείας20 κατήγορος, ὁ τοὺς 20παρῃρημέ νους ἐν δίκῃ τὸν λογισμὸν20 διασύρων, ταῦτα γινώ σκειν περὶ τῆς θείας ὑποτίθεται φύσεως, ταύτας περὶ θεοῦ τὰς δόξας ἐκτίθεται ὡς κατειρωνευομένου τῶν πραγμάτων ταῖς ψευδωνύμοις φωναῖς καὶ 20τοῖς ἀσθενεστάτοις τὰς τιμιωτάτας20 χαριζομένου