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is dressed more wretchedly than any beggar? One must praise and admire a man not for his clothes, or rather not even for his body, but for his soul. Strip the soul of these things, and you will see its beauty and its wealth through its words, through its doctrines, through the whole disposition of its character.

2. Let the Greeks, therefore, be ashamed, let them veil themselves and sink down in shame for their philosophers, and for their wisdom, which is more wretched than all foolishness. For their philosophers, during the time in which they lived, were able barely to teach their doctrines to a few, a very small number, and when a little danger befell them, they lost even these; but the disciples of Christ, the fishermen, and tax-collectors, and tent-makers, in a few years led the whole inhabited world back to the truth, and though ten thousand dangers have arisen since then, not only has the preaching not been extinguished, but it also flourishes and grows even greater; and they taught philosophy to unlearned men and farmers and those who associated with cattle. These men, having, along with all other things, love, the cause of all good things, rooted in them, hastened to us, running such a long way to come, and to embrace their own members. Come then, let us too, in return for these gifts, I mean of love and disposition, giving them provisions for their journey, thus send them away, and let us again take up the discourse concerning oaths, so that this wicked habit may be plucked up by the roots from the minds of all. 49.191 But first I wish to recall today a few things that were said by us previously. For when the Jews, having been delivered from Persia and freed from that tyranny, returned to their own fatherland, "I saw a flying sickle," he says, "twenty cubits in length, and ten cubits in width;" and they heard the prophet instructing them, that "This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the earth, and it shall enter into the house of him who swears falsely, and shall destroy it in the midst, and shall demolish all the timbers and the stones." And when these things were read at that time, we inquired for what reason it destroys not only the one who swore, but also his house; and we said this was the reason, that God wishes the punishments for the most grievous sins to remain perpetual, so that all who come after might be made sober-minded. Since, then, it is necessary for the perjurer, having died, to be buried and given over to the bosom of the earth, so that his wickedness might not be buried along with his body, He made his house a mound, so that all who pass by, seeing it and learning the cause of its demolition, might flee the imitation of the sin. This also happened in the case of Sodom; for since they were burned up in their lust for one another, the very nature of the land was also burned up by the fire sent down from above; for He wished the punishment for this sin also to remain perpetual. And consider the loving-kindness of God; He did not make the sinners themselves burn continually until the present day, but having burned them once, He hid them away, but having burned the face of the land, He set it forth in the midst for all to see who should wish to after these events, and now more clearly than any voice the sight of the land exhorts all subsequent generations, all but crying out and saying: Do not dare the deeds of Sodom, that you may not suffer the fate of Sodom. For a word is not so accustomed to reach the mind as a fearsome sight which bears the traces of the disaster throughout all time. And those who have visited those places bear witness, who, though often hearing the Scripture discoursing about these things, were not greatly afraid; but when they came, and set foot on the land, and saw its whole appearance blighted, and beheld the conflagration, and earth nowhere visible, but everything dust and ashes, they were struck with amazement, and having received much instruction in sober-mindedness from that sight, so they departed. For the very manner of the punishment of the sin

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προσαίτου παντὸς ἀθλιώτερον ἐσταλμένη ᾖ; Τὸν ἄνδρα οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ἱματίων, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπαινεῖν χρὴ καὶ θαυμάζειν. Ἀπόδυσον τούτων τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ ὄψει τὸ κάλλος αὐτῆς καὶ τὸν πλοῦτον διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων, διὰ τῶν δογμάτων, διὰ τῆς ὅλης τῶν τρόπων καταστάσεως.

βʹ. Αἰσχυνέσθωσαν τοίνυν οἱ Ἕλληνες, ἐγκαλυπτέσθωσαν καὶ καταδυέσθωσαν ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτῶν φιλοσόφοις, καὶ τῇ πάσης μωρίας ἀθλιωτέρᾳ αὐτῶν σοφίᾳ. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ παρ' αὐτοῖς φιλόσοφοι κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν, ὃν ἔζων, ὀλίγους μόλις καὶ σφόδρα εὐαριθμήτους ἴσχυσαν τὰ αὐτῶν διδάξαι δόγματα, καὶ κινδύνου μικροῦ καταλαβόντος καὶ τούτους ἀπώλεσαν· οἱ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθηταὶ, οἱ ἁλιεῖς, καὶ τελῶναι, καὶ σκηνοποιοὶ, ἐν ὀλίγοις ἔτεσι τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐπανήγαγον, καὶ μυρίων ἐξ ἐκείνου γινομένων κινδύνων, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐσβέσθη τὸ κήρυγμα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνθεῖ καὶ πρὸς τὸ μεῖζον ἐπιδίδωσι· καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν ἐδίδαξαν ἀνθρώπους ἰδιώτας καὶ γηπόνους καὶ θρέμμασιν ὁμιλοῦντας. Οὗτοι μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων καὶ τὴν πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν αἰτίαν ἀγάπην ἐῤῥιζωμένην ἔχοντες, ἔσπευσαν πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοσαύτην δραμόντες ἐλθεῖν ὁδὸν, καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα περιπτύξασθαι μέλη. Φέρε οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀντὶ τῶν δώρων τούτων, τῆς ἀγάπης λέγω καὶ τῆς διαθέσεως, ἐφόδια δόντες αὐτοῖς, οὕτως αὐτοὺς ἀποπέμψωμεν, καὶ τὸν περὶ τῶν ὅρκων πάλιν κινήσωμεν λόγον, ὥστε πρόῤῥιζον ἐκ τῆς διανοίας ἁπάντων ἀνασπασθῆναι τὴν πονηρὰν ταύτην συνήθειαν. 49.191 Βούλομαι δὲ πρότερον μικρὰ τῶν πρώην ἡμῖν εἰρημένων ἀναμνῆσαι τήμερον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῆς Περσίδος ἀπαλλαγέντες οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τῆς τυραννίδος ἐλευθερωθέντες ἐκείνης, πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπανῆλθον πατρίδα, Εἶδον δρέπανον, φησὶ, πετόμενον μήκους πηχῶν εἴκοσι, καὶ πλάτους πηχῶν δέκα· καὶ τοῦ προφήτου παιδεύοντος αὐτοὺς ἤκουον, ὅτι Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀρὰ ἡ ἐκπορευομένη ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς, καὶ εἰσερχομένη εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ ὀμνύοντος ἐπὶ ψεύδει, καὶ καταλύσει εἰς τὸ μέσον, καὶ τὰ ξύλα καὶ τοὺς λίθους καθελεῖ πάντας. Καὶ τούτων ἀναγνωσθέντων τότε, ἐζητοῦμεν τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐχὶ τὸν ὀμόσαντα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ καταλύει· καὶ ταύτην ἐλέγομεν αἰτίαν εἶναι, ὅτι τῶν χαλεπωτάτων ἁμαρτημάτων τὰς τιμωρίας βούλεται μένειν διηνεκεῖς ὁ Θεὸς, ὥστε τοὺς μετὰ ταῦτα σωφρονίζεσθαι πάντας. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸν ἐπίορκον ἀποθανόντα ἀνάγκη ταφῆναι καὶ τοῖς κόλποις παραδοθῆναι τῆς γῆς, ὥστε μὴ καὶ τῷ σώματι τὴν πονηρίαν αὐτοῦ συνταφῆναι, τὴν οἰκίαν ἐποίησε χῶμα, ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοὺς παριόντας ἅπαντας ὁρῶντας αὐτὴν καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν μανθάνοντας τῆς κατασκαφῆς φυγεῖν τὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας μίμησιν. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ Σοδόμων ἐγένετο· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐξεκαύθησαν ἐν τῇ ὀρέξει αὐτῶν εἰς ἀλλήλους, ἐξεκαύθη καὶ τῆς γῆς ἡ φύσις ὑπὸ τοῦ κατενεχθέντος ἄνωθεν πυρός· ἐβούλετο γὰρ καὶ ταύτης τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν τιμωρίαν μένειν διηνεκῆ. Καὶ σκόπει τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν· οὐχὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας αὐτοὺς ἐποίησε διηνεκῶς καίεσθαι μέχρι τῆς παρούσης ἡμέρας, ἀλλ' ἐκείνους μὲν ἅπαξ ἐμπρησθέντας ἀπέκρυψε, τὸ δὲ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς κατακαύσας, εἰς τὸ μέσον ἅπασι προὔθηκε τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα βουλομένοις ὁρᾷν, καὶ νῦν φωνῆς ἁπάσης λαμπρότερον πάσαις ταῖς μετὰ ταῦτα παραινεῖ γενεαῖς ἡ τῆς γῆς ὄψις, μονονουχὶ βοῶσα καὶ λέγουσα· Μὴ τολμήσητε τὰ Σοδόμων, ἵνα μὴ πάθητε τὰ Σοδόμων. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οὕτω λόγος καθικέσθαι διανοίας εἴωθεν, ὡς ὄψις φοβερὰ καὶ τὰ ἴχνη τῆς συμφορᾶς φέρουσα διὰ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου. Καὶ μαρτυροῦσιν οἱ ἐν τοῖς χωρίοις ἐκείνοις παραγενόμενοι, οἳ πολλάκις τῆς Γραφῆς ὑπὲρ τούτων διαλεγομένης ἀκούοντες, οὐ σφόδρα ἔδεισαν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἦλθον, καὶ τῆς χώρας ἐπέβησαν, καὶ τὴν ὄψιν αὐτῆς ἠφανισμένην εἶδον ἅπασαν, καὶ τὸν ἐμπρησμὸν ἐθεάσαντο, καὶ γῆν μὲν οὐδαμοῦ φαινομένην, κόνιν δὲ πάντα καὶ τέφραν, καταπλαγέντες καὶ πολλὴν ἀπὸ τῆς θεωρίας ἐκείνης δεξάμενοι διδασκαλίαν σωφροσύνης, οὕτως ἀπῆλθον. Καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ τῆς κολάσεως τρόπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας