566

OF THEODORE

PRESBYTER OF RAITHU (1484)

A certain preparation and exercise for one who wishes to learn what the manner of the divine incarnation and economy is, according to which it was accomplished, and what things are said by the nurslings of the Church against those who do not rightly understand it.

I think it is absurd, and I have rightly considered it so; for it is truly absurd, if these men, who from Eutyches and Dioscorus are joined together in falsehood, and campaign against the truth, so persistently and sleeplessly wage war against the only catholic and apostolic Church of God; so that even their children, before their tongues are yet clear, before they go to teachers and learn the first elements, they sharpen and instill, so that they might be able to speak and hear on behalf of the dogma they revere, while we are so negligent and remiss as not even to be eager to know this very thing, what is the difference between them and the Church, and from what principles their war against us was established, and who these leaders of theirs are, from whom they have their name. For these reasons we ought not to consider the study of these things a secondary matter, nor, because by the grace and favor of God the affairs of the Church are at peace, and we are in calm and tranquility, with every heresy out of the way, hidden away in its own dens, should we now be unarmed and inexperienced in war; lest, if war should suddenly break out, we be found naked and unprepared and be destroyed by impiety. While you sail with a fair wind, fear shipwreck, says Gregory the Theologian, and you will be less likely to be shipwrecked, using fear as your helper. Therefore, according to the command (1485) of the chief of the apostles, let us be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks us a reason for the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience; so that one of two things may by all means be ours through such praiseworthy diligence: either to save those who separate themselves, and to snatch them from this wicked division, as the brother of the Lord by title advises; or if not this, at least to shut their mouths with just refutations, so that they may have no occasion for loose-tongued speech against the truth. And what is more honorable and greater than these things, that we ourselves may know and be fully assured of the faith in which we stand and boast, speaking boldly and freely in its confession, for the sake of which we turn away from those who oppose it. And I suppose that at the time of retribution, the reward will be greater and the acceptance more abundant for those who, with careful knowledge, hold fast and firmly to piety, than for those who are known in the same faith simply and by chance from ancestral custom. For some are found to be faithful only by accident, while others have become so both from thought and judgment; so that, if those who are negligent and do not examine happened to have heretical parents, they would not even have taken care to cast off their ancestral impiety; so reprehensible is ignorance, and the unwillingness to be taught; for this reason it is also said: He who despises wisdom and instruction is miserable; but he who loves instruction will find knowledge with righteousness. So that the things against those who because of... may be easy to grasp for everyone who encounters the present work.

566

ΘΕΟ∆ΩΡΟΥ

ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΟΥ ΤΗΣ ΡΑΪΘΟΥ (1484)

Προπαρασκευή τις καί γυμνασία, τῷ βουλομένῳ μαθεῖν τίς ὁ τρόπος τῆς θείας ἐνανθρωπήσεως, καί οἰκονομίας, καθ᾿ ὅν πέπρακται, καί τίνα τά πρός τούς ταύτην μή ὀρθῶς νοοῦντας λεγόμενα παρά τῶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τροφίμων.

Ἄτοπον οἶμαι, καί καλῶς μέν τοῦτο νενόμικα· καί γάρ ἐστιν ὄντως ἄτοπον, εἰ οὗτοι μέν, οἱ ἐξ Εὐτυχέως καί ∆ιοσκόρου τῷ ψεύδει συνιστάμενοι, καί στρατευόμενοι κατά ἀληθείας, οὕτω καρτερῶς καί ἀγρύπνως πολεμοῦσι τήν μόνην καθολικήν καί ἀποστολικήν τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίαν· ὥστε καί τά παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς παιδία μήπω τρανωθείσης αὐτοῖς τῆς γλώσσης, πρίν εἰς διδασκάλους φοιτῆσαι, καί τά πρῶτα στοιχεῖα μαθεῖν, ἀκονᾷν τε καί ἐμβιβάζειν, ὅπως λέγειν καί ἀκούειν δύναιντο ὑπέρ τοῦ παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς πρεσβευομένου δόγματος, ἡμᾶς δέ οὕτω καταῤῥᾳθυμεῖν καί ἀναπεπτωκέναι, ὡς μηδέ αὐτό τοῦτο σπουδάζειν εἰδέναι, τίς ἡ διαφορά τούτων πρός τήν Ἐκκλησίαν, καί ἐκ ποίων ἀρχῶν ὁ πρός ἡμᾶς αὐτοῖς συνέστηκε πόλεμος, τίνες τε καί οἱ ἡγεμόνες αὐτῶν οὖτοι, ἀφ᾿ ὧν ἔχουσι τήν προσωνυμίαν. ∆ιά ταῦτα μή πάρεργον ἡγεῖσθαι ὀφείλομεν τήν περί ταῦτα σχολήν, μηδέ, ὅτι Θεοῦ χάριτι καί εὐμενείᾳ εἰρηνεύει τά τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ἐν γαλήνῃ τε καί ἀταραξίᾳ ἐσμέν, πάσης αἱρέσεως ἐκποδών εἰς τούς ἑαυτῆς φωλεούς κατακεκρυμμένης, ἤδη καί ἡμεῖς ἄοπλοί τινες ὦμεν ἀπειροπόλεμοι· μήπως καί ἄφνω ἐνστάντος πολέμου, γυμνοί καί ἀπαράσκευοι εὑρεθέντες ὑπό τῆς δυσσεβείας ἀναιρεθῶμεν. Ἕως ἐξ οὐρίας πλεῖς, φοβήθητι τό ναυάγιον, φησίν ὁ Θεολόγος Γρηγόριος, καί ἦττον ναυαγήσεις, τῇ δειλίᾳ βοηθῷ χρώμενος. Τοίνυν κατά τήν ἐντολήν (1485) τοῦ κορυφαίου τῶν ἀποστόλων, Ἕτοιμοι γενώμεθα πρός ἀπολογίαν ἀεί, παντί τῷ αἰτοῦντι ἡμᾶς λόγον περί τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν ἐλπίδος, μετά πραΰτητος καί φόβου, συνείδησιν ἔχοντες ἀγαθήν· ἵνα ἕν τῶν ὁποτέρων πάντως ἡμῖν ὑπάρξῃ διά τῆς τοιαύτης ἀξιεπαίνου σπουδῆς, ἤ τό σώζειν τούς ἀποδιορίζοντας ἑαυτούς, καί ἐκ τῆς πονηρᾶς διακρίσεως ταύτης αὐτούς ἐξαρπάζειν, καθά παραινεῖ ὁ κατ᾿ ἐπίκλην ἀδελφός τοῦ Κυρίου· ἤ εἰ μή τοῦτο, κἄν ἀποῤῥάπτειν αὐτῶν στόμα τοῖς δικαίοις ἐλέγχοις, ὡς μηδέ καιρόν ἔχειν αὐτούς ἀθυρογλωττεῖν κατά τῆς ἀληθείας. Ὅ δέ τούτων τιμιώτερόν τε καί μεῖζον, ἵνα ἡμεῖς αὐτοί γινώσκωμεν καί πεπληροφορήμεθα ἐφ' οἵᾳ πίστει ἑστήκαμεν καί καυχώμεθα, παῤῥησιαζόμενοί τε καί ἐλευθεροστομοῦντες τῇ αὐτῆς ὁμολογίᾳ, οὗ χάριν τούς ταῦτῃ ἀντικειμένους ἀποστρεφόμεθα. Στοχάζομαι δέ ὅτι κατά τόν καιρόν τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως, μείζων ὁ μισθός ἔσται καί ἡ ἀποδοχή πλείων τοῖς μετά γνώσεως ἐμμελοῦς, ἀραρότως καί ἑδρασμένως ἐχομένοις τῆς εὐσεβείας, τῶν ἁπλῶς καί ὡς ἔτυχεν ἐκ πατροπαραδότου συνηθείας ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ πίστει γνωριζομένων. Οἱ μέν γάρ κατά συμβεβηκός μόνον, οἱ δέ καί ἀπό διανοίας καί γνώμης πιστοί γεγονότες εὑρίσκονται· ὡς, εἴπερ ἔτυχεν ἐκείνους τούς ῥαθύμους καί οὐκ ἐξεταστικούς ὑπό αἱρετικῶν γονέων ὑπάρξαι, οὐδ᾿ ἄν ἐφρόντισαν τήν πατρῴαν δυσσέβειαν ἀποδύσασθαι· οὕτω κατάγνωστον ἡ ἀμάθια, καί τό μή θέλειν διδάσκεσθαι· διά τοῦτο καί εἴρηται· Σοφίαν καί παιδείαν ὁ ἐξουθενῶν, ταλαίπωρος· ὁ δέ ἀγαπῶν παιδείαν, εὑρήσει γνῶσιν μετά διακαιοσύνης. Ἵνα δέ εὔληπτα γένηται παντί τῷ ἐντυγχάνοντι τῷ προκειμένῳ πονήματι τά πρός τούς δι᾿