Oration XLII. The Last Farewell in the Presence of the One Hundred and Fifty Bishops.

 1.  What think ye of our affairs, dear shepherds and fellow-shepherds:  whose feet are beautiful, for you bring glad tidings of peace and of the good

 2.  What then is my defence?   If it be false, you must convict me, but if true, you on behalf of whom

 3.  To speak in a more feeling strain, trusting in Him Who then forsook me, as in a Father, “Abraham has been ignorant of us, Israel has acknowledged

 4.  To return to my original startingpoint.  This was my field, when it was small and poor, unworthy not only of God, Who has been, and is cultivating

 5.  But since God, Who maketh poor and maketh rich, Who killeth and maketh alive Who maketh and transformeth all things Who turneth night into day,

 6.  Such then was once this flock, and such it is now, so healthy and well grown, and if it be not yet in perfection, it is advancing towards it by co

 7.  I seem indeed to hear that voice, from Him Who gathers together those who are broken, and welcomes the oppressed:  Enlarge thy cords, break forth

 8.  Thou countest tens of thousands, God counts those who are in a state of salvation thou countest the dust which is without number, I the vessels o

 9.  This I seemed to hear Him say, and to see Him do, and besides, to hear Him shouting to His people, which once were few and scattered and miserable

 10.  These we present to you, dear shepherds, these we offer to you, with these we welcome our friends, and guests, and fellow pilgrims.  We have noth

 11.  Lift up thine eyes round about, and see, thou critic of my words!  See the crown which has been platted in return for the hirelings of Ephraim

 12.  To those who platted this crown—that which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, nevertheless I will say it—I also have given assistance.  Some

 13.  Would you have me say something still more venturesome?  Do you see the tongues of the enemy made gentle, and those who made war upon the Godhead

 14.  But you are perhaps longing for me to give an exposition of the faith, in so far as I am able.  For I shall myself be sanctified by the effort of

 15.  One concise proclamation of our teaching, an inscription intelligible to all, is this people, which so sincerely worships the Trinity, that it wo

 16.  Let us then bid farewell to all contentious shiftings and balancings of the truth on either side, neither, like the Sabellians, assailing the Tri

 17.  But, to resume:  let us speak of the Unbegotten, the Begotten, and the Proceeding, if anyone likes to create names:  for we shall have no fear of

 18.  Moreover, the Moabites and Ammonites must not even be allowed to enter into the Church of God, I mean those sophistical, mischievous arguments wh

 19.  You have now, my friends, heard the defence of my presence here:  if it be deserving of praise, thanks are due for it to God, and to you who call

 20.  What then do I mean?  I am no proficient in virtue without reward, having not attained to so high a degree of virtue.  Give me the reward of my l

 21.  What more need be said?  But how can I bear this holy war?  For there has been said to be a holy, as well as a Persian, war.   How shall I unite

 22.   I cannot bear your horse races and theatres, and this rage for rivalry in expense and party spirit.  We unharness, and harness ourselves on the

 23.  Now, consider the charges laid against us.  You have been ruler of the church, it is said, for so long, and favoured by the course of time, and t

 24.  Perhaps we may be reproached, as we have been before, with the exquisite character of our table, the splendour of our apparel, the officers who p

 25.  What say you?  Are you persuaded, have you been overcome by my words?  Or must I use stronger terms in order to persuade you?  Yea by the Trinity

 26.  Farewell my Anastasia, whose name is redolent of piety:  for thou hast raised up for us the doctrine which was in contempt:  farewell, scene of o

 27.  Farewell, mighty Christ-loving city.  I will testify to the truth, though thy zeal be not according to knowledge.   Our separation renders us mor

6.  Such then was once this flock, and such it is now, so healthy and well grown, and if it be not yet in perfection, it is advancing towards it by constant increase, and I prophesy that it will advance.  This is foretold me by the Holy Spirit, if I have any prophetic instinct and insight into the future.  And from what has preceded I am able to be confident, and recognize this by reasoning, being the nursling of reason.  For it was much more improbable that, from that condition, it should reach its present development, than that, as it now is, it should attain to the height of renown.  For ever since it began to be gathered together, by Him Who quickeneth the dead,47    Rom. iv. 17. bone to its bone, joint to joint, and the Spirit of life and regeneration was given to it in their dryness,48    Ezek. xxxvii. 7, 10. its entire resurrection has been, I know well, sure to be fulfilled:  so that the rebellious should not exalt themselves,49    Ps. lxvi. 7. and that those who grasp at a shadow, or at a dream when one awaketh,50    Ps. lxxiii. 20. or at the dispersing breezes, or at the traces of a ship in the water,51    Wisd. v. 9 sqq. should not think that they have anything.  Howl, firtree, for the cedar is fallen!52    Zech. xi. 2.  Let them be instructed by the misfortunes of others, and learn that the poor shall not alway be forgotten,53    Ps. ix. 18. and that the Deity will not refrain, as Habakkuk says, from striking through the heads of the mighty ones54    Hab. iii. 13. in His fury—the Deity, Who has been struck through and impiously divided into Ruler and Ruled, in order to insult the Deity in the highest degree by degrading It, and oppress a creature by equality with Deity.

Ϛʹ. Τοιοῦτόν ποτε τοῦτο τὸ ποίμνιον, καὶ τοιοῦτον νῦν, οὕτως εὐεκτοῦν τε καὶ πλατυνόμενον: εἰ δὲ μήπω τελείως, ἀλλ' εἰς τοῦτό γε ταῖς κατὰ μέρος ὁδεῦον προσθήκαις: προφητεύω δὲ, ὅτι καὶ ὁδεῦσον. Τοῦτό μοι τὸ Πνεῦμα προλέγει τὸ ἅγιον, εἴ τι προφητικὸς ἐγὼ, καὶ βλέπων τὰ ἔμπροσθεν: καὶ ἅμα τοῖς προλαβοῦσιν ἔχω θαῤῥεῖν, καὶ λογισμῷ γινώσκειν, ὡς λόγου σύντροφος. Πολὺ γὰρ παραδοξότερον, ἐξ ἐκείνου τοσαύτην γενέσθαι, ἢ τὴν νῦν οὖσαν εἰς ἄκρον προελθεῖν λαμπρότητος. Ἐξ οὗ γὰρ συνάγεσθαι ἤρξατο παρὰ τοῦ ζωογονοῦντος τοὺς νεκροὺς, ὀστᾶ πρὸς ὀστᾶ, καὶ ἁρμονία πρὸς ἁρμονίαν, καὶ τοῖς ξηροῖς ἐδόθη Πνεῦμα ζωῆς καὶ παλιγγενεσίας, πᾶσαν, εὖ οἶδα, πληρωθῆναι δεῖ τὴν ἀνάστασιν: ὥστε μὴ ὑψούσθωσαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς οἱ παραπικραίνοντες: μηδὲ σκιὰν κρατοῦντες, ἢ ἐνύπνιον ἐξεγειρομένων, ἢ αὔρας διαπνεούσας, ἢ νηὸς ἴχνη καθ' ὕδατος, ἔχειν τι νομιζέτωσαν. Ὀλολυζέτω πίτυς, ὅτι πέπτωκε κέδρος. Τοῖς τῶν ἄλλων κακοῖς παιδευέσθωσαν, καὶ μανθανέτωσαν, ὅτι οὐκ εἰς τέλος ἐπιλησθήσεται ὁ πτωχός: οὐδὲ ἀνέξεται, μὴ ἐν ἐκστάσει διακόψαι κεφαλὰς δυναστῶν, ὡς ὁ Ἀμβακούμ φησιν, ἡ διακοπτομένη θεότης, καὶ διαιρουμένη κακῶς εἴς τε τὸ ἄρχον καὶ τὸ ἀρχόμενον: ὡς ἂν μάλιστα καὶ θεότης ὑβρισθείη καταγομένη, καὶ βαρηθείη κτίσις ὁμοτιμίᾳ θεότητος.