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De providentia orationes decem

OF BLESSED THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRUS, TEN DISCOURSES ON PROVIDENCE. DISCOURSE I. Proof from heaven, and sun, and moon, and the other stars. There is a law laid down for men by nature, that children should defend their wronged fathers, and servants their masters, and citizens face danger for their embattled cities, and, in a word, that those who have been well-treated should repay their benefactors to the best of their ability. One might also see shield-bearers and spear-bearers in wars eagerly defending a king who governs his subjects rightly and justly, and who tempers his authority with gentleness. And let no one immediately contradict me and accuse my argument of falsehood by bringing forward parricides, and scoundrels, and traitors, and tyrants. For the argument is about the guardians of the law, but those others we are accustomed to call ungrateful and 83.557 transgressors; and they pay penalties worthy of their audacities. But if nature dictates that children should face danger for their fathers, and servants for their masters, and citizens for their cities, and spear-bearers for their kings, it is much more holy and just for those who have been both created and saved by God not only to defend God with words, but also to choose the ultimate death. For He is closer to us than fathers; for through Him they too are called fathers. And He is more of a master than masters; for here the mastery over servants is according to nature, not according to misfortune. And He is safer than any wall; for a wall, even if it be of adamant, is nevertheless man-made, and even if it escapes the force of siege engines, it will not escape the hands of time. But He is everlasting and eternal, and sufficient for all protection and security, and so much more kingly than kings, inasmuch as the ever-existing, when compared with the created and corruptible, shows the immeasurable degree of its superiority. For the one always is, and has His power naturally joined with His very being; but the other has received from Him both his being and his power to rule; and this for a short time and over a few, not even over all who have obtained the same nature. Since, therefore, He is more intimate to us than fathers, and more of a master than masters, and more provident than all benefactors, and safer than any wall, and immeasurably more kingly than all kings, it is right for us, who have received our being from Him and have additionally received our well-being, to set our own tongues against those tongues which dare to blaspheme Him, and with pious words to strike down impious words; not so that we might bring our aid to one who is in need; for the maker of all things is without need, and does not require a tongue of clay for assistance, but He accepts one that sings His praises, and rewards one that defends Him, and crowns one that refutes falsehood; but so that we might both show our goodwill towards Him, and, if possible, put down the audacity of our fellow-servants; or if not, at least refute them, and make it clear to the ignorant. Many and various, then, are the bands of those who choose to be impious, and different are the darts of blasphemy; for falsehood is multifaceted and varied, but the grace of truth is simple. For the phalanx of the poets, having divided the Divine into many parts by its account, and having mixed falsehood with the pleasure of myth, and having concocted a kind of potion, offered the intoxication of polytheistic error to men. But that one in a white cloak, and with a long beard,

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De providentia orationes decem

ΤΟΥ ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΥ ΘΕΟ∆ΩΡΗΤΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΥΡΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΠΡΟΝΟΙΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΙ

∆ΕΚΑ. ΛΟΓΟΣ Αʹ. Ἀπόδειξις ἀπὸ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἡλίου, καὶ σε λήνης, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀστέρων. Νόμος ἐστὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως κεί μενος, καὶ παῖδας πατέρων ἀδικουμένων ὑπερμα χεῖν, καὶ δεσποτῶν οἰκέτας, καὶ πόλεων πολεμουμέ νων πολίτας προκινδυνεύειν, καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς τοὺς εὖ πεπονθότας εἰς δύναμιν τοὺς εὐεργέτας ἀμείβεσθαι. Ἴδοι δ' ἄν τις καὶ βασιλέως ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως τοὺς ἀρχομένους ἰθύνοντος, καὶ ἡμερότητι κεραννύντος τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἀσπιδιφόρους καὶ δορυφόρους ἐν πο λέμοις προθύμως ὑπερασπίζοντας. Καὶ μή μοί τις εὐθὺς ἀντιλεγέτω, καὶ ψεῦδος τοῦ λόγου κατηγορείτω, τοὺς πατραλοίας, καὶ μαστιγίας, καὶ προδότας, καὶ τυράννους εἰς μέσον παράγων. Περὶ γὰρ τῶν τοῦ νόμου φυλάκων ὁ λόγος, ἐκείνους δὲ ἀχαρίστους καὶ 83.557 παραβάτας προσαγορεύειν εἰώθαμεν· τίνουσι δὲ καὶ δίκας τῶν τολμημάτων ἀξίας. Εἰ δὲ καὶ παῖδας πατέ ρων, καὶ δεσποτῶν οἰκέτας, καὶ πόλεων πολίτας, καὶ βασιλέων δορυφόρους προκινδυνεύειν ἡ φύσις διαγο ρεύει, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁσιώτερόν τε καὶ δικαιότερον τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ γεγενημένους καὶ σεσωσμένους μὴ λόγῳ μόνον ὑπερμαχεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θάνατον αἱρεῖσθαι τὸν ἔσχατον. Καὶ γὰρ πατέρων ἡμῖν πλησιώτερος· δι' αὐτοῦ γὰρ κἀκεῖνοι πατέρες καλοῦνται· καὶ δεσποτῶν κυριώτερος· ἐνταῦθα γὰρ κατὰ φύσιν, ἀλλ' οὐ κατὰ συμφορὰν, οἰκετῶν ἡ δεσποτεία· καὶ τείχους παντὸς ἀσφαλέστερος· τὸ μὲν γὰρ, κἂν ἀδαμάντινον ᾖ, χειροποίητον ὅμως ἐστὶ, κἂν τῶν μηχανημάτων τὴν ἰσχὺν διαφύγῃ, τοῦ χρόνου τὰς χεῖρας οὐ διαφεύξεται· ὁ δὲ ἀΐδιός τέ ἐστι καὶ αἰώνιος, καὶ πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀρκῶν φυλακὴν καὶ ἀσφάλειαν, καὶ βασιλέων τοσούτῳ βασιλικώτε ρος, ὅσῳ τὸ ἀεὶ ὂν τῷ γενητῷ καὶ φθαρτῷ παραβαλ λόμενον, τὸ ἀμέτρητον τῆς ὑπερβολῆς ὑποδείκνυσιν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀεί τε ἔστι, καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ εἶναι συμπε φυκὸς ἔχει τὸ κράτος· ὁ δὲ παρ' ἐκείνου καὶ τὸ εἶναι λαβὼν ἔχει, καὶ τὸ κρατεῖν· καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς ὀλίγον καὶ ὀλίγων, οὐδὲ παρὰ πάντων τῶν τὴν αὐτὴν φύσιν εἰληχότων. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν καὶ πατέρων ἡμῖν οἰκειό τερος, καὶ δεσποτῶν κυριώτερος, καὶ πάντων εὐερ γετῶν προμηθέστερος, καὶ τείχους παντὸς ἀσφαλέ στερος, καὶ βασιλέων ἁπάντων ἀμέτρως βασιλικώτε ρος, δίκαιον ἡμᾶς, τοὺς καὶ τὸ εἶναι παρ' αὐτοῦ λαβόντας, καὶ τὸ εὖ εἶναι προσειληφότας, ταῖς βλασ φημεῖν αὐτὸν τολμώσαις γλώτταις τὰς οἰκείας ἀντι τάξαι, καὶ λόγοις εὐσεβέσι τοὺς δυσσεβεῖς λόγους κατακοντίσαι· οὐχ ἵνα δεομένῳ τὴν παρ' ἡμῶν ἐπικουρίαν προσάξωμεν· ἀπροσδεὴς γὰρ ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων ποιητὴς, καὶ πηλίνης γλώττης εἰς ἐπικου ρίαν οὐ δεῖται, ὑμνοῦσαν δὲ ἀποδέχεται, καὶ ὑπερμα χοῦσαν ἀμείβεται, καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος ἐλέγχουσαν στε φανοῖ· ἀλλ' ἵνα καὶ τὴν περὶ αὐτὸν εὔνοιαν δείξωμεν, καὶ τῶν ὁμοδούλων τὸ θράσος, εἰ μὲν δυνατὸν, καταλύσωμεν· εἰ δὲ μὴ, διελέγξωμεν γοῦν, καὶ δῆλον τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι ποιήσωμεν. Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ παντοδαπὰ τῶν δυσσεβεῖν αἱρουμένων τὰ στίφη, καὶ διάφορα τῆς βλασφημίας τὰ βέλη· πολυσχιδὲς γὰρ καὶ ποικίλον τὸ ψεῦδος, ἁπλῆ δὲ τῆς ἀληθείας ἡ χάρις. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ποιητικὴ φάλαγξ, εἰς πολλὰ τὸ Θεῖον τῷ λόγῳ καταμερί σασα, καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος τῷ τερπνῷ τοῦ μυθώδους κε ράσασα, καὶ οἷόν τινα κυκεῶνα κατασκευάσασα, τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης τὴν μέθην τοῖς ἀνθρώποις προσήνεγκεν. Ἡ δὲ ἐν τρίβωνι λευκῷ, καὶ πώγωνι μακρῷ,