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Prologus 7 (de judicio dei)

PREFACE BY THE SAME. Concerning the judgment of God.

By the goodness and loving-kindness of the good God, in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the working of the Holy Spirit, having been delivered from the error according to the tradition of those outside, and having been raised from above and from the beginning by Christian parents, from them I learned from infancy even the sacred scriptures, which lead me to the knowledge of the truth. But when I became a man, and often made journeys, and, as is likely, encountered many matters, in the other arts and sciences I perceived so great a harmony with one another among those who practiced each one with precision; but in the Church of God alone, for which Christ died, and upon which He poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly, I saw a certain great and excessive discord among the many, both with one another and with the divine Scriptures; and, what is most dreadful, its very leaders being in such great disagreement of mind and opinion with one another, and showing such great opposition to the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ, mercilessly tearing apart the Church of God, and ruthlessly disturbing his flock, so that now, if ever, there is fulfilled among them, since the Anomoeans have sprung up, that saying, 'From your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.'

Seeing these and such things, and in addition being perplexed as to who and whence was the cause of so great an evil, at first I lived as if in deep darkness, and like on a balance, at one time I was inclined this way, and at another that way; as one person drew me to himself in one way, because of the long-standing custom of men, or again another repelled me in another way, because of the truth recognized in the divine Scriptures. Experiencing this for a long time, and investigating the cause which I mentioned 31.656, I came to the memory of the book of Judges, which relates that 'each man did what was right in his own eyes,' and also reveals the cause by saying that, 'In those days there was no king in Israel.' Recalling these things, therefore, I also considered that about the present state of affairs, which is perhaps dreadful and strange to say, but most true to comprehend: that perhaps even now this great discord and conflict among those in the Church comes from the rejection of the one and great, the true and only King and God of all, with each one departing from the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, and asserting certain reasonings and definitions of his own with authority, and wishing rather to rule in opposition to the Lord than to be ruled by the Lord. Considering this, and being dismayed at the excess of impiety, and investigating further, I was convinced no less even from the affairs of life that the aforementioned cause was true. For I saw that all good order and harmony of a multitude is maintained so long as the common obedience of the rest to one ruler is preserved; but all discord and division, and also polyarchy, is made possible by anarchy. And I have once seen a swarm of bees led by the law of nature, and following its own king in an orderly fashion. And I have seen many such things, and heard many; and those who have studied these matters know even more, so that from these things what is said is shown to be true.

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Prologus 7 (de judicio dei)

ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΠΡΟΟΙΜΙΟΝ. Περὶ κρίματος Θεοῦ.

Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ χρηστότητι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ ἐν χάριτι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ κατ' ἐνέργειαν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, τῆς μὲν κατὰ παράδοσιν τῶν ἔξωθεν πλάνης ῥυσθεὶς, ἄνωθεν δὲ καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπὸ Χριστιανοῖς γονεῦσιν ἀνατραφεὶς, παρ' αὐτοῖς μὲν ἀπὸ βρέφους καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα ἔμαθον, ἄγοντά με πρὸς ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας. Ὡς δὲ γέ γονα ἀνὴρ, καὶ ἀποδημίαις πολλάκις χρώμενος, πράγμασί τε, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐντυγχάνων πλείοσιν, ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἄλλαις τέχναις καὶ ἐπιστήμαις τοσαύτην πρὸς ἀλλήλους συμφωνίαν κατεμάνθανον τῶν ἀκρι βῶς μετερχομένων ἑκάστην· ἐν μόνῃ δὲ τῇ Ἐκ κλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὑπὲρ ἧς Χριστὸς ἀπέθανε, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐπ' αὐτὴν πλουσίως ἐξέχεε, πολλήν τινα καὶ ὑπερβάλλουσαν τήν τε πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰς θείας Γραφὰς διαφωνίαν τῶν πολλῶν ἐθεώρουν· καὶ τὸ φρικωδέστατον, αὐτοὺς τοὺς προ εστῶτας αὐτῆς ἐν τοσαύτῃ μὲν τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαφορᾷ γνώμης τε καὶ δόξης καθεστῶτας, τοσαύτῃ δὲ τῇ πρὸς τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐναντιότητι χρωμένους, καὶ διασπῶντας μὲν ἀνηλεῶς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐκταράσσον τας δὲ ἀφειδῶς τὸ ποίμνιον αὐτοῦ, ὡς καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς πληροῦσθαι νῦν, εἴπερ ποτὲ, τῶν Ἀνομοίων ἐπι φυέντων τὸ ὅτι, Ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἀναστήσονται ἄνδρες λαλοῦντες διεστραμμένα, τοῦ ἀποσπᾷν τοὺς μαθητὰς ὀπίσω αὐτῶν.

Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ὁρῶν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἐπαπορῶν, τίς καὶ πόθεν ἡ αἰτία τοῦ τοσούτου κα κοῦ, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα, ὥσπερ ἐν βαθεῖ σκότῳ διῆγον, καὶ καθάπερ ἐπὶ ζυγοῦ, ποτὲ μὲν ὧδε, πο τὲ δὲ ἐκεῖσε ἔῤῥεπον· ἄλλου ἄλλως ἢ πρὸς ἑαυτόν με ἕλκοντος, διὰ τὴν πολυχρόνιον τῶν ἀνθρώπων συνήθειαν, ἢ πάλιν ἄλλως ἀπωθουμένου διὰ τὴν ἐν ταῖς θείαις Γραφαῖς ἐπιγινωσκομένην ἀλήθειαν. Ἐπιπολὺ δὲ τοῦτο πάσχων, καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἣν εἶπον 31.656 πολυπραγμονῶν, εἰς μνήμην ἦλθον τῆς βίβλου τῶν Κριτῶν, ἱστορούσης μὲν, ὅτι ἕκαστος τὸ εὐθὲς ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐποίει, δηλούσης δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐν τῷ εἰπεῖν ὅτι, Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις οὐκ ἦν βασιλεὺς ἐν Ἰσραήλ. Τούτων τοίνυν ἐπι μνησθεὶς, ἐλογισάμην καὶ περὶ τῶν παρόντων ἐκεῖνο, ὅπερ εἰπεῖν μὲν φοβερὸν ἴσως καὶ παράδοξον, κατα νοῆσαι δὲ ἀληθέστατον· ὅτι μήποτε καὶ νῦν παρὰ τὴν τοῦ ἑνὸς καὶ μεγάλου τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ καὶ μόνου τῶν ὅλων βασιλέως καὶ Θεοῦ ἀθέτησιν ἡ τοσαύτη διαφωνία καὶ μάχη τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ γίνεται, ἑκάστου τῆς μὲν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας ἀφισταμένου, λογισμοὺς δέ τινας καὶ ὅρους ἰδίους ἐκδικοῦντος ἐξ αὐθεντίας, καὶ μᾶλλον ἄρχειν ἀπ' ἐναντίας τοῦ Κυρίου, ἢ ἄρχεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου βουλομένου. Τοῦτο δὴ λογισάμενος, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ὑπερβάλλον τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐπτοημένος, ἐπὶ πλεῖόν τε ἐρευνῶν, ἐπειθόμην οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ πραγμάτων ἀληθῆ εἶναι τὴν προει ρημένην αἰτίαν. Ἑώρων γὰρ πᾶσαν μὲν πλήθους εὐταξίαν τε καὶ συμφωνίαν ἄχρι τότε κατορθουμένην, ἄχρις ἂν ἡ πρὸς ἕνα τινὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα σώζεται κοινὴ τῶν ἄλλων εὐπείθεια· πᾶσαν δὲ διαφωνίαν καὶ διάστασιν, ἔτι τε πολυαρχίαν, ἐξ ἀναρχίας ὁδο ποιουμένην. Ἐγὼ δὲ εἶδόν ποτε καὶ μελισσῶν πλῆ θος νόμῳ φύσεως στρατηγούμενον, καὶ κατακολου θοῦν εὐτάκτως τῷ ἰδίῳ βασιλεῖ. Καὶ πολλὰ μὲν ἐγὼ τοιαῦτα εἶδον, πολλὰ δὲ ἤκουσα· ἴσασι δὲ καὶ πλείονα οἱ περὶ ταῦτα ἠσχολημένοι, ὡς καὶ ἐκ τούτων ἀλη θὲς δείκνυσθαι τὸ λεγόμενον.