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to show his own. Why then were you afraid to approach, when works were not required? Why do you rebel and contend, when grace is set before you, and propose the law to me rashly and in vain? For you will neither be saved from that, and you will corrupt this gift. For if you contend to be saved from that, you destroy this grace of God. Then, lest they should think this to be strange, he took up and said that even those seven thousand had been saved by grace. For when he says that so also in the present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace, he shows that they also were saved by grace. And not this only, but also by saying, I have left to myself; for this shows that he himself contributed the greater part. And if by grace, he says, why are not all saved? Because you are not willing; for grace, even though it is grace, saves those who are willing, not those who are unwilling and turn away from it, and continually war against it and oppose it. Do you see how throughout he establishes that point, "Not as though the word of God has taken no effect," showing that the promise came to the worthy, and that these, even if they are few, are able to be the people of God; although indeed in the opening of the Epistle he set it forth with greater hyperbole, saying: For what if some did not believe? and not stopping even at this, but adding: But let God be true, and every man a liar. And now again he establishes it in another way, and shows the power of grace, and that some are always being saved, and others perishing. Let us give thanks, then, that we have become among those who are saved, and being unable to be saved by works, we were saved by the gift of God. But in giving thanks, let us not do this in words only, but also in works and deeds. For this is the accurate thanksgiving, when we do those things through which God is about to be glorified; when we flee those things from which we have been delivered. For if, having insulted a king, we were honored instead of being punished, and then insulted him again, being convicted of the utmost ingratitude, we would justly have paid the ultimate penalty, and one much greater than the first. For the former insult did not show us to be so ungrateful as the one after the honor and the great care. Let us flee, then, those things from which we have been delivered, and let us not give thanks with the mouth only, so that it may not also be said of us: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. For how is it not absurd, when the heavens declare the glory of God, that you, for whom the heavens that give glory were made, do such things that God who made you is blasphemed because of you? For this very reason not only he who blasphemes, but you also are henceforth responsible for the punishment. For the heavens do not glorify God by uttering a voice, but by preparing others for this through their appearance, 60.580 and yet they themselves are said to declare the glory of God. Thus also those who provide a wonderful life, even if they are silent, glorify God, as others glorify him because of them. For he is not so admired from heaven, as from a pure life. When, at any rate, we converse with Greeks, we do not bring forth heaven into the midst, but the men whom he persuaded, being in a worse state than wild beasts, to become rivals of angels. And in speaking of this change, we stop their mouths. 2. For man is much better than heaven, and can possess a soul more brilliant than its beauty. For this, being seen for so long a time, did not strongly persuade; but Paul, after preaching for a short time, drew the whole world to himself. For he possessed a soul not inferior to heaven, able to draw all to itself. For our soul is not even worthy of the earth, but his is a match for even the heavens. For this stands keeping its own limit and rule; the height of his soul surpassed all the heavens, and converses with Christ himself; and its beauty was such, that God himself proclaimed it. For the angels marveled at the stars when they came into being; but he himself marveled at this man, saying: This man is a chosen vessel for me. And a cloud has often covered this heaven; but the

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ἐπιδείξασθαι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ. Τί τοίνυν ἐφοβήθης προσελθεῖν, οὐκ ἀπαιτούμενος ἔργα; τί δὲ στασιάζεις καὶ φιλονεικεῖς, χάριτος προκειμένης, καὶ νόμον μοι προβάλλῃ εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην; Οὔτε γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν σωθήσῃ, καὶ ταύτην λυμανῇ τὴν δωρεάν. Εἰ γὰρ φιλονεικεῖς ἐκεῖθεν σώζεσθαι, ἀναιρεῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν χάριν ταύτην. Εἶτα, ἵνα μὴ νομίσωσι τοῦτο ξένον εἶναι, προλαβὼν καὶ τοὺς ἑπτακισχιλίους ἐκείνους ἀπὸ χάριτος ἔφη σεσῶσθαι. Ὅταν γὰρ εἴπῃ, ὅτι οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ λεῖμμα κατ' ἐκλογὴν χάριτος γέγονε, δείκνυσιν ὅτι καὶ ἐκεῖνοι χάριτι ἐσώθησαν. Καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ εἰπεῖν, Κατέλιπον ἐμαυτῷ· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐμφαίνοντός ἐστιν, ὅτι τὸ πλέον αὐτὸς εἰσήνεγκε. Καὶ εἰ χάριτι, φησὶν, διὰ τί μὴ πάντες σωζόμεθα; Ὅτι μὴ βούλεσθε· ἡ γὰρ χάρις, κἂν χάρις ᾖ, τοὺς ἐθέλοντας σώζει, οὐ τοὺς μὴ βουλομένους καὶ ἀποστρεφομένους αὐτὴν, καὶ πολεμοῦντας αὐτῇ διηνεκῶς καὶ ἐναντιουμένους. Εἶδες πῶς δι' ὅλου ἐκεῖνο κατασκευάζει, τὸ, Οὐχ οἷον δὲ, ὅτι ἐκπέπτωκεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, δεικνὺς ὅτι εἰς τοὺς ἀξίους ἦλθεν ἡ ἐπαγγελία, καὶ ὅτι οὗτοι, εἰ καὶ ὀλίγοι εἰσὶ, δύνανται εἶναι λαὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ· καίτοι γε ἐν προοιμίοις τῆς Ἐπιστολῆς μετὰ πλείονος αὐτὸ τῆς ὑπερβολῆς τέθεικεν εἰπών· Τί γὰρ, εἰ ἠπίστησάν τινες; καὶ μηδὲ μέχρι τούτου στὰς, ἀλλὰ ἐπαγαγών· Γινέσθω δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἀληθὴς, πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης. Καὶ νῦν δὲ πάλιν ἑτέρως αὐτὸ κατασκευάζει, καὶ τῆς χάριτος δείκνυσι τὴν ἰσχὺν, καὶ ἀεὶ τοὺς μὲν σωζομένους, τοὺς δὲ ἀπολλυμένους. Εὐχαριστῶμεν τοίνυν, ὅτι τῶν σωζομένων γεγόναμεν, καὶ μὴ δυνηθέντες ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων σωθῆναι, ἐσώθημεν ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεᾶς. Εὐχαριστοῦντες δὲ, μὴ ῥήμασι τοῦτο ποιῶμεν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔργοις καὶ πράξεσιν. Αὕτη γὰρ ἡ εὐχαριστία ἡ ἀκριβὴς, ὅταν ταῦτα πράττωμεν, δι' ὧν ὁ Θεὸς δοξάζεσθαι μέλλει· ὅταν ἐκεῖνα φύγωμεν, ὧν ἀπηλλάγημεν. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ βασιλέα ὑβρίσαντες, ἀντὶ τοῦ δοῦναι δίκην ἐτιμήθημεν, εἶτα πάλιν ὑβρίσαμεν, ἅτε ἐσχάτης ἀχαριστίας ἁλόντες, τὴν ἐσχάτην δικαίως ἂν ἐδώκαμεν δίκην, καὶ πολλῷ μείζονα τῆς προτέρας. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οὕτως ἡμᾶς ἀχαρίστους ἡ προτέρα ὕβρις ἐδείκνυ, ὡς ἡ μετὰ τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν πολλὴν θεραπείαν. Φύγωμεν τοίνυν ἐκεῖνα, ὧν ἀπηλλάγημεν, καὶ μὴ τῷ στόματι μόνον εὐχαριστῶμεν, ἵνα μὴ καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν λέγηται· Ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τοῖς χείλεσί με τιμᾷ, τῇ δὲ καρδίᾳ πόῤῥω ἀπέχει ἀπ' ἐμοῦ. Πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἄτοπον, ὅταν οἱ μὲν οὐρανοὶ διηγῶνται δόξαν Θεοῦ, σὺ δὲ, δι' ὃν οἱ οὐρανοὶ οἱ δοξάζοντες ἐγένοντο, τοιαῦτα πράττεις ὡς βλασφημεῖσθαι διὰ σὲ τὸν ποιήσαντά σε Θεόν; ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο οὐκ ἐκεῖνος μόνον ὁ βλασφημῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ σὺ λοιπὸν ὑπεύθυνος εἶ τῆς κολάσεως. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ οὐρανοὶ φωνὴν ἀφιέντες δοξάζουσι τὸν Θεὸν, ἀλλ' ἑτέρους διὰ τῆς ὄψεως εἰς τοῦτο παρασκευάζοντες, 60.580 καὶ ὅμως αὐτοὶ λέγονται διηγεῖσθαι δόξαν Θεοῦ. Οὕτω καὶ οἱ παρεχόμενοι βίον θαυμαστὸν, κἂν σιγῶσι, τὸν Θεὸν δοξάζουσιν, ἑτέρων δι' αὐτοὺς αὐτὸν δοξαζόντων. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ θαυμάζεται, ὡς ἀπὸ βίου καθαροῦ. Ὅταν γοῦν πρὸς Ἕλληνας διαλεγώμεθα, οὐ τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰς μέσον παράγομεν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, οὓς θηρίων χεῖρον διακειμένους ἔπεισε γενέσθαι ἐφαμίλλους ἀγγέλοις. Καὶ ταύτην λέγοντες τὴν μεταβολὴν, ἐμφράττομεν αὐτῶν τὰ στόματα. ʹ. Καὶ γὰρ πολὺ βελτίων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ δύναται λαμπροτέραν τοῦ κάλλους αὐτοῦ κεκτῆσθαι ψυχήν. Οὗτος μὲν γὰρ ὁρώμενος ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον χρόνον, οὐ σφόδρα ἔπεισε· Παῦλος δὲ ὀλίγον κηρύξας χρόνον, τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐφειλκύσατο πᾶσαν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκέκτητο ψυχὴν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ οὐχ ἥττονα, πάντας ἐπισπάσασθαι δυναμένην. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἡμετέρα οὐδὲ τῆς γῆς ἐστιν ἀξία, ἡ δὲ ἐκείνου καὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνταξία. Οὗτος μὲν γὰρ ἕστηκε τὸν οἰκεῖον φυλάττων ὅρον καὶ τὸν κανόνα· τῆς ἐκείνου ψυχῆς τὸ ὕψος ἅπαντας ὑπερέβη τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, καὶ αὐτῷ ὁμιλεῖ τῷ Χριστῷ· καὶ τὸ κάλλος δὲ αὐτῆς τοιοῦτον ἦν, ὡς καὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἀνακηρύττειν αὐτό. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄστρα οἱ ἄγγελοι ἐθαύμασαν ὅτε ἐγένετο· τοῦτον δὲ αὐτὸς ἐθαύμασεν εἰπών· Σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς ἐστί μοι οὗτος. Καὶ τοῦτον μὲν τὸν οὐρανὸν νεφέλη πολλάκις ἐκάλυψε· τὴν δὲ