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Sacra parallela (recensiones secundum alphabeti litteras dispositae, quae tres libros conflant) (fragmenta e cod. Vat. gr. 1236)

PROLOGUE OF THE PARALLELS.

Virtue is a precious possession, uniting one to God, and procuring the kingdom of heaven. The means of acquiring it is the keeping of the divine commandments. For the Lord says in promises to the people in Egypt: If you listen to me, and keep my commandments, you will be to me a peculiar people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. And he declared that those who obey the commandments become sons of God. But how great a good this is, speech is unable to express. For the grace is beyond our nature; the dignity of adoption is beyond hope. It is fitting, therefore, for us to eagerly carry out the commandments for the sake of such goods. We will have an easy choice of what is beneficial, by placing in parallel the virtues, and their opposing and contrary vices, and whatever has been said about them in the divine Scripture and by our holy and God-bearing Fathers. For from this we shall know both the splendid allotments of the just, and the punishments threatened against those who set them at naught. It must be known, that maxims have also been gathered from the writings of Philo and Josephus for the glory of our truth. Both are Hebrews and learned men; therefore it is fitting to attend with all accuracy to their narratives and sayings, as they not only do not err at all from the purpose of our most faithful and blessed men; but indeed they also display much equality and similarity of language both in words and in character, confirming rather than diminishing the oracles of these men to be spoken from the Father.

95.1041 OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS JOHN OF DAMASCUS ON THE

SACRED PARALLELS. The study of the divinely-inspired Scripture surpasses wealth, glory, and power, and all that the mortal race embraces, granting us provisions for salvation. But this present work of ours deals with how to bear the labors arising from it more easily. For of the things greatly admired, things yet exceedingly better can be found in it, and no satiety of hearing comes to those who visit it. For the choice beauty of its contents draws to itself those who encounter it, not allowing those who desire to hear what is next to grow weary, and as is sung in stichera sayings: “Those who eat me will hunger for more, and those who drink me will thirst for more.” For truly lovely is the sweetness of spiritual teachings, sanctifying, and increasing, and nourishing souls; and it has included whatever has been said ethically, or sententiously, or paraenetically [the memory is an anchor] for every cause and subject in both the Old and New Scripture of the sacred oracles, and by our holy and God-bearing Fathers; whose great glory is proclaimed and sung throughout the whole world; and the sayings concerning these things, which lie scattered about, have been collected and set forth under their own titles. And the whole treatise has been written in three books; and of these, the first is composed of those things with which it is most fitting for Christians always to begin, from God, the triadic monad illuminating us from the prefaces. The second speaks concerning the constitution and condition of human affairs; the third has included specifically the things concerning virtue and vice. For the sake of easy comprehension, and of finding what is sought readily, the table of chapters, that is, the titles, is composed alphabetically; and each chapter sought will be found placed under the letter with which it also begins;

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Sacra parallela (recensiones secundum alphabeti litteras dispositae, quae tres libros conflant) (fragmenta e cod. Vat. gr. 1236)

ΠΡΟΛΟΓΟΣ ΤΩΝ ΠΑΡΑΛΛΗΛΩΝ.

Κτῆμα τίμιον ἡ ἀρετὴ, Θεῷ συνάπτουσα, καὶ βασιλείας οὐρανῶν προξενοῦσα. Πορισμὸς δὲ ταύτης ἡ τῶν θείων ἐντολῶν τήρησις γίνεται. Φησὶ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις πρὸς τὸν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ λαόν· Ἐὰν ἀκούσητέ μου, καὶ φυλάξητε τὰς ἐντολάς μου, ἔσεσθέ μοι λαὸς περιούσιος, βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, ἔθνος ἅγιον. Καὶ υἱοὺς Θεοῦ γενέσθαι τοὺς πειθαρχοῦντας τοῖς προστάγμασιν ἀπεφήνατο. Ἡλίκον δὲ τοῦτο ἀγαθὸν λόγος ἑρμηνεῦσαι οὐ δύναται. Ὑπὲρ γὰρ τὴν ἡμετέραν φύσιν ἡ χάρις· ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδα τὸ τῆς υἱοθεσίας ἀξίωμα. Προσήκει τοίνυν ἡμᾶς ὑπὲρ τῶν τοιούτων ἀγαθῶν τὰ ἐντεταλμένα προθύμως ἐκτελεῖν. Ῥᾳδίαν δὲ τὴν τοῦ συμφέροντος αἵρεσιν ἕξομεν, παραλλήλους θέντες τὰς ἀρετὰς, καὶ τὰς ἀντιζύγους καὶ ἀντιθέους αὐτῶν κακίας, καὶ ὅσα περὶ αὐτῶν λέλεκται τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ θεοφόροις ἡμῶν Πατράσιν. Εἰσόμεθα γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὰς λαμπρὰς τῶν δικαίων διανομὰς, καὶ τὰς ἠπειλημένας κατὰ τῶν ἀθετούντων κολάσεις. Ἰστέον δὲ, ὅτι καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν Φίλωνος καὶ Ἰωσήππου συνταγμάτων ἠθροίσθησαν γνῶμαι εἰς κλέος τῆς παρ' ἡμῶν ἀληθείας. Ἑβραῖοι δὲ ἄμφω καὶ λόγιοι ἄνδρες· διὸ προσήκειν δεῖ μετὰ πάσης ἀκριβείας τοῖς διηγήμασι, καὶ ἀποφθέγμασι τούτων, ὡς οὐ μόνον τοῦ σκοποῦ τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν πιστοτάτων καὶ μακαρίων ἀνδρῶν οὐδ' ὅλως διαμαρτάνουσιν· ἀλλά γε καὶ πολλὴν τὴν ἰσότητα, καὶ ὁμοιολεξίαν ἔν τε λόγοις καὶ ἤθεσι ἐπιδείκνυνται, βεβαιοῦντα μᾶλλον, οὐκ ἐλαττοῦντα τούτων παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ῥηθησόμενα λόγια.

95.1041 ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΤΟΥ ∆ΑΜΑΣΚΗΝΟΥ ΕΙΣ ΤΑ

ΙΕΡΑ ΠΑΡΑΛΛΗΛΑ. Τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς ἡ ἄσκησις, πλούτου δόξης καὶ ἀρχῆς, καὶ πάντων

ὅσα τὸ θνητὸν ἀσπάζεται γένος, ὑπερέχει, σωτηρίας ἡμῖν ἐφόδια χαριζομένη. Τὸ δὲ ῥᾷον φέρειν τοὺς ἐξ αὐτῆς πόνους, τὸ παρὸν ἡμῖν πραγματεύεται σύνταγμα. Τῶν γὰρ λίαν θαυμαζομένων, τὰ ἔτι καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ἀμείνω ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ κόρος οὐδεὶς ἀκοῆς τοῖς ἐπισκήπτουσι γίνεται. Ἡ γὰρ τοῦ κάλλους τῶν ἐγκειμένων ἐκλογὴ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἕλκει τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας, οὐκ ἐῶσα καμεῖν τὸ μέλλον ἀκοῦσαι ποθοῦντας, καὶ ὡς ἐν στιχηραῖς ᾄδεται ῥήσεσιν· «Οἱ ἐσθίοντές με, ἔτι πεινάσουσι, καὶ οἱ πίνοντές με, ἔτι διψήσουσιν.» Ἐπέραστος γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἡ γλυκύτης τῶν πνευματικῶν μαθημάτων ἁγιάζουσα, καὶ αὐξάνουσα, καὶ τρέφουσα τὰς ψυχάς· περιείληφεν δὲ ὅσα ἠθικῶς, ἢ γνωμικῶς, ἢ παραινετικῶς [ἡ μνήμη ἀγκναία] πρὸς πᾶσαν αἰτίαν τε, καὶ ὑπόθεσιν τῇ τε Παλαιᾷ, καὶ Νέᾳ τῶν ἱερῶν λογίων Γραφῇ λέλεκται, τοῖς δὲ ἁγίοις καὶ θεοφόροις ἡμῶν Πατράσιν· ὧν τὸ μέγα κλέος, κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην διαβεβόηται καὶ ὕμνηται· καὶ τὰ περὶ τούτων σποράδην κείμενα ἀποφθέγματα ἠνθολόγηνται, καὶ ἰδίοις τίτλοις παρατέθεινται. Πᾶσα δὲ ἡ πραγματεία ἐν τρισὶ βίβλοις ἀναγέγραπται· καὶ τούτων ἡ μὲν πρώτη σύγκειται ἀφ' ὧν μάλιστα προσήκοι Χριστιανοῖς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀεὶ ποιεῖσθαι, ἀπὸ Θεοῦ, τὴν τριαδικὴν μονάδα φωτίζουσαν ἐκ προοιμίων ἡμᾶς. Ἡ δὲ δευτέρα, περὶ συστάσεως καὶ καταστάσεως τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων φησίν· ἡ δὲ τρίτη, ἰδίως τὰ περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας περιείληφεν. ∆ιὰ τὸ εὔληπτον δὲ, καὶ ῥᾳδίως εὑρίσκειν τὰ ζητούμενα, ὁ πίναξ τῶν κεφαλαίων, ἤγουν οἱ τίτλοι, κατὰ στοιχεῖον σύγκειται· καὶ ἕκαστον ζητούμενον κεφάλαιον εὑρεθήσεται κείμενον ἐν τῷ γράμματι ἀφ' οὗ καὶ ἄρχεται·