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the proconsul, when asked before the people and the assembly about the natural springs, from where they come out, answered thus. God, who created fire and water from non-existent substances, and from the fire fashioned by his word the light and the sun and the other stars, commanded them to bear torches for the day and the night; for his power is as great as his will. And from the water he fixed the firmament of heaven, and established the earth upon the waters, and he made all things in them by his foreknowing energy, so that the man who was to be formed by him might lack none of the necessary and useful things for his use. Among these he again prepared two eternal places; the one he fashioned to be illuminated with light and full of boundless good things, but the other he made of darkness and of the fire of eternal punishment, so that those who have pleased him and have not slipped into the deceit of the devil, receiving after the resurrection the place of light-bearing good things, might reign with him eternally, but those who have angered him and have followed the common enemy, receiving with him the region of darkness-bearing punishments, might weep unendingly. And having separated the fire and the water just as the light and the darkness, he distributed these throughout all his creation, and there is water above the firmament, which is the aether, and there is water 1.426 and fire beneath the earth. And the water above the earth, gathered into one collection, was called sea, but that which remained under the earth was called abyss, from which, like certain siphons, the springs are sent up for our life and that of every living creature. From which also the hot springs are brought up. And those which are further away from the fire below, by the providence of God, are sent up colder, but those near the fire, being heated from there, are brought up very boiling, and as many as are not very close, are sent up lukewarm. And the fire under the earth is a place of punishment for demons and sinful men, but the water furthest below, being colder and frozen into blocks of crystal, which is also called Tartarus, this likewise is a place of torment for those who have not kept the commandments of the Lord. And that there is fire under the earth, let the fire manifestly sent up in Sicily and in Lycia, and indeed likewise shown in other various places, persuade you, clearly burning all in the fearsome Gehenna, as many as have done the works of fire. Concerning which also the great Moses says from the person of God that a fire is kindled from my wrath, it shall burn to the lowest Hades, it shall devour the earth and its produce, it shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Thus also Isaiah, clearly showing to the sinners the future punishment prepared for them by the unquenchable fire, cries out: "Who will tell you that fire is burning, and who will tell you the eternal place? Walk 1.427 by the light of your fire, and by the flame which you have kindled. And they shall go out and see the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me, says the Lord. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh." And indeed the divine speaker Chrysostom says: See another paradox again, contrary natures coming together. For nothing is more fiery than lightning nor colder than water, but nevertheless they are mixed, and not confused nor mingled, but each maintains its own boundaries. The fire in the water and the water in the fire, and neither did this dry up that, nor did that quench this. And yet lightning is sharper and brighter than the fire of the sun. And our eyes bear witness, which are continually illuminated by its rays, but are not able to bear the force of that other even for a short time. And the sun runs through the heaven throughout the whole day, but it, in a single moment of time, the whole inhabited world, as Christ also testifies, saying, "As the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west." Then he says, "who brings forth winds from their treasuries." This again

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ἀνθύπατον, ἐρωτηθεὶς ἐπὶ λαοῦ καὶ δήμου περὶ τῶν αὐτοφυῶν πόθεν ἐξέρχεται, οὕτως ἀπεκρίθη. ὁ κτίσας θεὸς πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων οὐσιῶν, καὶ ἐκ μὲν τοῦ πυρὸς φῶς καὶ ἥλιον καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀστέρας κατασκευάσας λόγῳ, προσέταξεν αὐτοῖς ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα δᾳδουχεῖν· τοσαύτη γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἡ δύνα μις ὅσον καὶ τὸ θέλημα. ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος τὸ στερέωμα τοῦ οὐ ρανοῦ συμπήξας, καὶ γῆν ἐπάνω τῶν ὑδάτων ἑδράσας, ἐποίησε τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς πάντα προγνωστικῇ ἐνεργείᾳ, ἵνα ὁ μέλλων παρ' αὐ τοῦ πλασθήσεσθαι ἄνθρωπος μηδενὸς τῶν ἀναγκαίων καὶ συμφε ρόντων εἰς χρῆσιν ἐνδεῖται. ἐν οἷς δύο τόπους εὐτρεπίσας πάλιν ἀϊδίους, τὸν μὲν φωτὶ καταλάμπεσθαι καὶ ἀπεράντων ἀγαθῶν ἔμπλεων κατεσκεύασε, τὸν δὲ σκότους καὶ κολαστηρίου πυρὸς αἰωνίου πεποίηκεν, ὅπως οἱ μὲν εὐαρεστήσαντες αὐτῷ καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ διαβόλου μὴ κατολισθήσαντες ἀπάτην τὸν τῶν φωσφό ρων ἀγαθῶν μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἀπολαβόντες τόπον αἰωνίως αὐτῷ συμβασιλεύσωσιν, οἱ δὲ παροργίσαντες αὐτὸν καὶ τῷ κοινῷ ἐχθρῷ ἐξακολουθήσαντες σὺν αὐτῷ καὶ τὸν τῶν σκοτεινοφόρων κολαστηρίων ἀπειληφότες χῶρον ἀτελευτήτως ἀποκλαύσωσι. δια χωρίσας δὲ τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ὥσπερ τὸ φῶς καὶ τὸ σκότος, κατεκερμάτισε ταῦτα κατὰ πάσης αὐτοῦ τῆς κτίσεως, καὶ ἔστιν ὕδωρ ὑπεράνω τοῦ στερεώματος, ὅ ἐστιν αἰθήρ, καὶ ἔστιν ὕδωρ 1.426 καὶ πῦρ ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς. καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐπάνω τῆς γῆς ὕδωρ συν αχθὲν εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν θάλασσα προσηγορεύθη, τὸ δὲ ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς ἀπομεῖναν ἄβυσσος ἐκλήθη, ἐξ οὗ καθάπερ σίφωνές τινες ἀναπέμπονται πρὸς ζωὴν ἡμῶν καὶ παντὸς ζῴου αἱ πηγαί. ἀφ' οὗ καὶ τὰ θερμὰ ἀνάγονται. καὶ τὰ μὲν πορρωτέρω τοῦ κάτω πυρὸς ἀπέχοντα προνοίᾳ θεοῦ ἀναδίδονται ψυχρότερα, τὰ δὲ πλησίον τοῦ πυρὸς ἐκεῖθεν ἐκπυρούμενα ζέοντα λίαν ἀναφέρονται, ὅσα δὲ οὐ πολὺ πλησιάζουσι, χλιαρὰ ἀναδίδονται. καὶ τὸ μὲν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς πῦρ κολαστήριόν ἐστι δαιμόνων καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὸ δὲ κατωτάτω ὕδωρ, ψυχρότερον ὂν καὶ εἰς βώ λους κρυστάλλου πεπηγός, ὃ καὶ Τάρταρος λέγεται, βασανιστή ριόν ἐστιν ὡσαύτως καὶ τοῦτο τῶν μὴ φυλαξάντων τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ κυρίου. ὅτι δὲ πῦρ ἐστὶν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς, πειθέτω σε τὸ ἐν Σικελίᾳ καὶ ἐν Λυκίᾳ προφανῶς ἀναδιδόμενον καὶ μέντοι καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις διαφόροις τόποις ὁμοίως παραδεικνύμενον πῦρ, εἰς τὴν φοβερὰν γέενναν προδήλως πάντας κατακαῖον ὅσοι τὰ τοῦ πυρὸς ἔργα πεπράχασι. περὶ οὗ καὶ ὁ μέγας Μωϋσῆς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ φησὶν ὅτι πῦρ ἐκκέκαυται ἐκ τοῦ θυμοῦ μου, καυθήσεται ἕως ᾅδου κατωτάτου, καταφάγεται γῆν καὶ τὰ γεννήματα αὐτῆς, φλέξει θεμέλια ὀρέων. οὕτως δὲ καὶ Ἠσαΐας διαρρήδην προφαί νων τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς τὴν ἐσομένην καὶ ἡτοιμασμένην αὐτοῖς διὰ τοῦ ἀσβέστου πυρὸς κόλασιν ἐκβοᾷ "τίς ἀναγγελεῖ ὑμῖν ὅτι πῦρ καίεται, καὶ τίς ἀπαγγελεῖ ὑμῖν τὸν τόπον τὸν αἰώνιον; πορεύε 1.427 σθε τῷ φωτὶ τοῦ πυρὸς ὑμῶν, καὶ τῇ φλογὶ ᾗ ἐξεκαύσατε. καὶ ἐξελεύσονται καὶ ὄψονται τὰ κῶλα τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν παραβε βηκότων ἐν ἐμοί, λέγει κύριος. ὁ γὰρ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευ τήσει, καὶ τὸ πῦρ αὐτῶν οὐ σβεσθήσεται, καὶ ἔσονται εἰς ὅρασιν πάσῃ σαρκί." καὶ δὴ καὶ ὁ θεηγόρος Χρυσόστομός φησιν· ὅρα παράδοξον αὖθις ἕτερον, ἐναντίας φύσεις συνιούσας. οὔτε γὰρ ἀστραπῆς τι πυρωδέστερον οὔτε ὕδατος ψυχρότερον, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἀναμίγνυται, καὶ οὐ συγχεῖται οὐδὲ κεράννυται, ἀλλὰ τοὺς οἰ κείους ἕκαστον διατηρεῖ ὅρους. τὸ πῦρ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἐν τῷ πυρί, καὶ οὔτε τοῦτο ἐξήρανε ἐκεῖνο οὔτε ἐκεῖνο κατέσβεσε τοῦτο. καίτοι ἀστραπὴ τοῦ ἡλιακοῦ πυρὸς ὀξύτερον καὶ φανότερον. καὶ μαρτυροῦσιν αἱ ὄψεις αἱ ταῖς ἀκτῖσι διηνεκῶς καταλαμπόμεναι, ἐκείνης δὲ τὴν φορὰν οὐδὲ πρὸς βραχὺ δυνάμεναι ἐνεγκεῖν. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἥλιος διὰ πάσης ἡμέρας διατρέχει τὸν οὐρανόν, αὐτὴ δὲ ἐν μιᾷ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν, ὡς καὶ Χριστὸς μαρτυ ρεῖ λέγων "ὥσπερ ἡ ἀστραπὴ ἐξέρχεται ἐξ ἀνατολῶν καὶ φαίνεται ἕως δυσμῶν." εἶτα φησίν "ὁ ἐξάγων ἀνέμους ἐκ θησαυρῶν αὐ τῶν." αὕτη πάλιν