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De vitae termino

A question in the form of a personification by Theophylact Simocatta, former prefect, that limits of life have been allotted to men, of Theognostus against

Theophrastus

Theophrastus ought indeed, clothed in sacred reverence, and wearing the robe of righteousness, and wrapped in the shame of solemn gravity, to keep his tongue safely within the limits, and to be moored by the anchors of dogma, and to run somewhere within the turning-post, and not to shoot somewhere far from the mark, nor to sound dissonant notes, nor to bark most unmusically, nor to draw the circle without a center, or to fashion absurdities outside the line <and> rule, lest, legislating what is strange to the church and committing some great and immense error by the rashness of his enterprise, he become 'cast out of the synagogue' of the greatest of the sacred ordinances. But since he desires to reject the highways and royal roads and is dragged down to the more disreputable of the paths, where the thorn flourishes and the bramble is bold and a thicket has grown and a hedge has been spread underneath and nothing smooth or straight exists, I will lay hold of him with the staff of this argument and send him away from the sacred precincts like a wicked money-changer, having procured a gospel scourge, so that, by trading ill in doctrine, he may not profane the sacred sanctuary of the church. But on this account, O men, judges and guardians of the law, do not condemn as faulty the sting of my words, which has measured out the magnitude of his audacity; for our struggle is not about a small matter. today we have chosen to approach the arbitrator’s precinct without intermediaries, since our way is neither litigious nor phil-Athenian, but rather gospel-loving and simple and not tolerating courts of justice, which indeed urges not to resist those who commit outrage, but to be compliant even to those who strike us. For if somehow we had not taken up the Pharaonic disobedience of truly resisting an exhortation that is disagreeable to what is expedient, we would not have entered into this contest and associated with the dust of the wrestling-ground. For there is no small fear, that somehow our duties might be condemned, and visions of newer proclamations might appear to us, bringing a spectacle as it were of some bogey-like enterprises. For who taught him that limits of life are not established? Where in the sacred writings has he ever heard that men have been allotted the wandering indefiniteness of life? For if the vault of heaven has been prophetically measured by the divine palm and the number of 'the angels of God' has been discerned by the creative wisdom, so that we might also weave in for you the saying of Moses, both 'the boundaries of nations' and the portions of peoples have been allotted to the angels and 'the hairs of the head' have been numbered by God, how have not also the limits of life been fixed for men, having come into existence by some creative providence? Or has not he who created us weighed 'all things by measure and weight' according to the scripture? Away with the absurdity, my good sir. The sun, it says, 'stood in its order' and the moon has known its setting, and 'from the end of heaven is their going out' 'and their circuit to' the ends of heaven, and 'for signs and for seasons and for years' they were appointed by him who brought them forth; thus with a certain order of craftsmanship has the magnificent majesty of the God who brought forth all things adorned the universe; He who 'calls the stars by name' and discerned 'all things before their creation' and seasons and

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De vitae termino

Θεοφυλάκτου ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων τοῦ Σιμοκάτου ζήτημα προσωποποιΐα, ὅτι ὅροι ζωῆς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀποκεκλήρωνται, Θεογνώστου κατὰ

Θεοφράστου

῎Εδει μὲν τὸν Θεόφραστον ἱεροπρεπῆ περιβεβλημένον εὐλάβειαν δικαιοσύνης τε στολὴν ἀμπεχόμενον καὶ τὴν τῆς σεμνοπρεποῦς κατηφείας αἰδῶ περικείμενον ἔνδον τὴν γλῶτταν τῶν ὅρων διαφρουρεῖν καὶ ταῖς ἀγκύραις τῶν δογμάτων ἐλλιμενίζεσθαι καὶ εἴσω που διαθέειν τῆς νύσσης καὶ μὴ βάλλειν πόρρω που τοῦ σκοποῦ μήτε παρηχεῖν ἀναρμόνια μήτε καθυλακτεῖν ἀμουσότατα μήτε τοῦ κέντρου χωρὶς περιγράφειν τὸν κύκλον ἢ στάθμης <καὶ> κανόνος ἐκτὸς τεκταίνεσθαι τὰ παράλογα, ἵνα μὴ τὸ ἄηθες τῆς ἐκκλησίας νομοθετῶν καὶ μέγα τι καὶ παμμέγεθες πλημμελῶν τῷ ἐκχύτῳ τῆς ἐγχειρήσεως τῆς μεγίστης τῶν ἱερῶν συντάξεων "ἀποσυνάγωγος γένηται". ᾿Επεὶ δὲ τὰς λεωφόρους καὶ βασιλικὰς ἀποδοκιμάζειν τρίβους ἐφίεται καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀδοκιμωτέρας τῶν ἀτραπῶν κατασύρεται, ἔνθα κομᾷ μὲν ἡ ἄκανθα καὶ ἡ βάτος παρρησιάζεται καὶ πέφυκε λόχμη καὶ αἱμασιὰ ὑπεστόρηται καὶ λεῖον οὐδὲν ἢ εὐθὲς πολιτεύεται, τούτου τῇ βακτηρίᾳ τοῦ λόγου καθάψομαι καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν περιβόλων ὡς κακὸν κολλυβιστὴν ἀποπέμψομαι εὐαγγελικὴν πορισάμενος μάστιγα, ὅπως μὴ κακῶς τὸν λόγον ἐμπορευόμενος τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς ἐκκλησίας βεβηλώσῃ τέμενος. ᾿Αλλὰ μή μου τοῦγ' ἕνεκα, ἄνδρες δικασταὶ καὶ θεσμοφύλακες, καταδιαιτήσητε μῶμον τῷ κέντρῳ τῶν ῥημάτων τὰ μεγέθη τοῦ θράσους διαμετρήσαντος· οὐ περὶ μικροῦ γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ ἀγών. ἀμέσως διαιτητοῦ τέμενος προσελθεῖν εἱλόμεθα τήμερον, ἐπεὶ οὔτε φιλόδικος ἢ φιλαθήναιος ὁ τρόπος ἡμῖν, μᾶλλον δὲ φιλευαγγελικὸς καὶ ἀποίκιλος καὶ δικαστηρίων οὐκ ἀνεχόμενος, ὅς γε καὶ τοῖς ἀδικοῦσιν ἐν ὕβρει παρεγγυᾷ μὴ ἀντιτείνειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ῥαπίζουσι πεφυκέναι πειθήνιον· εἰ μή που γὰρ τὴν φαραωνίτιδα τοῦ ἀντιτείνειν ὄντως ἀπείθειαν ἀνειλόμεθα πρὸς τὸ συνοῖσον δυσάρεστον ἔχουσαν τὴν παράκλησιν, οὐκ ἂν ἐπὶ τουτονὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα κατεχωρήσαμεν καὶ τῇ κόνει τῆς παλαίστρας προσωμιλήσαμεν. δέος γὰρ οὐ τὸ τυχόν, μή πως ὀβελισθείη που τὰ καθήκοντα, καὶ νεωτέρων ἡμῖν κηρυγμάτων ὄψεις ἐπιφανείησαν, μορμολυκείων ὥσπερ ἐγχειρημάτων τινῶν θέαν ἐπιφερόμενα. Τίς γὰρ ὅρους μὴ καθεστάναι ζωῆς αὐτὸν ἐξεπαίδευσε; ποῦ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων ἀκήκοε πώποτε τὴν πλανήτιδα τῆς ζωῆς ἀοριστίαν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους κληρώσασθαι; εἰ γὰρ οὐράνιον κύτος προφητικῶς θείᾳ παλάμῃ καταμεμέτρηται καὶ ἀριθμὸς "ἀγγέλων θεοῦ" τῇ δημιουργῷ σοφίᾳ διέγνωσται, ἵνα σοι καὶ τὸ Μωσέως παρυφάνωμεν λόγιον, "ὅριά" τε "ἐθνῶν" καὶ μερίδες λαῶν τοῖς ἀγγέλοις κεκληροδότηνται καὶ "τρίχες κεφαλῆς" τῷ θεῷ κατηρίθμηνται, πῶς οὐχὶ καὶ ὅροι ζωῆς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πεπήγασι, δημιουργικῇ τινι φροντίδι προελθόντες εἰς ὕπαρξιν; ἢ οὐχὶ "πάντα μέτρῳ καὶ σταθμῷ" ὁ κτίσας ἡμᾶς κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν ἐταλάντευσεν; ἄπαγε τῆς ἀτοπίας, ὦ τᾶν. ἥλιος, φησίν, "ἔστη ἐν τῇ τάξει" αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ σελήνη τὴν ἑαυτῆς δύσιν ἐπέγνωκεν, καὶ "ἀπ' ἄκρου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἡ ἔξοδος" αὐτῶν "καὶ τὸ κατάντημα ἕως" ἄκρων οὐρανοῦ, καὶ "εἰς σημεῖα καὶ εἰς καιροὺς καὶ εἰς ἐνιαυτοὺς" ἐκ τοῦ παραγαγόντος ὡρίσθησαν· οὕτως ἀριστοτεχνίας τάξει τινὶ τὸ πᾶν διεκόσμησεν ἡ μεγαλουργὸς μεγαλειότης τοῦ πάντα παραγαγόντος θεοῦ· ὁ τοῖς ἄστροις "ὀνόματα καλῶν" καὶ "πάντα πρὶν γενέσεως" διαγνοὺς καὶ καιροὺς καὶ