Small fragments (complete)
Authorship disputed: Four short Greek pieces printed by Bonwetsch among the 'fragments without closer identification' after the fragments on Job; they come from catenae and florilegia (Sacra Parallela, Anastasius Sinaita) and their attribution to Methodius is uncertain (no. 3 names Methodius in the third person). The two fragments headed 'From the discourse on martyrs' on the same pages are already published as On Martyrs 1-2.
Greek text: Bonwetsch, GCS 27 (Greek text: G. N. Bonwetsch, Methodius (GCS 27, 1917); OCR made for this site).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 1
1.1Bonwetsch GCS 27:520
Δικαιοσύνη ἐστὶν ἡ πασῶν τῶν ἐντολῶν πλήρωσις. — Οὐ δύναται ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις αὐτὸ καθαρῶς τὸ δίκαιον ἐν ψυχῇ θεάσασθαι, τὰ πολλὰ τῷ λογισμῷ ἀμβλυώττουσα. — Ὡς ἔοικεν ἡ δικαιοσύνη τετράγωνός ἐστι πάντοθεν ἴση καὶ ὁμοία. — Ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοκρισία ταῖς ἡμετέραις διαθέσεσιν ἐξομοιοῦται καὶ οἷάπερ ἂν τὰ παρʼ ἡμῶν ᾖ, τοιαῦτα ἡμῖν ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων ἀντιπαρέχεται.
Dikaiosynē estin hē pasōn tōn entolōn plērōsis. — Ou dynatai hē anthrōpinē physis auto katharōs to dikaion en psychę̄ theasasthai, ta polla tǭ logismǭ amblyōttousa. — Hōs eoiken hē dikaiosynē tetragōnos esti pantothen isē kai homoia. — Hē tou theou dikaiokrisia tais hēmeterais diathesesin exomoioutai kai hoiaper an ta parʼ hēmōn ę̄, toiauta hēmin ek tōn homoiōn antiparechetai.
Righteousness is the fulfilment of all the commandments. — Human nature cannot behold justice itself purely in the soul, since its reasoning is for the most part dim-sighted. — Righteousness, it seems, is foursquare, equal and alike on every side. — God's righteous judgment is made like our own dispositions, and whatever ours are, such he gives back to us in kind.
Notes and citation
Summary: Four sayings on righteousness: it fulfils all the commandments, human reason sees it only dimly, it is equal on every side, and God judges each according to his own disposition.
- Four separate sayings, joined under one heading in the florilegia (marked —); Bonwetsch cites Theodoret's Eranistes, the Sacra Parallela, Nilus and Antonius Melissa for them.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Methodius, Frag. min. 1.1 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:520; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-fragmenta-2/1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-fragmenta-2/1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Bonwetsch's Greek (GCS 27, 1917); no public-domain English of these fragments: re-read against the Greek.
1.2Bonwetsch GCS 27:521
Πονηρία ἀρετήν τε καὶ ἑαυτὴν οὐδέποτε ἂν γνοίη.
Ponēria aretēn te kai heautēn oudepote an gnoiē.
Wickedness could never know either virtue or itself.
Notes and citation
Summary: Evil knows neither the good nor its own nature.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Methodius, Frag. min. 1.2 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:521; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-fragmenta-2/1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-fragmenta-2/1-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Bonwetsch's Greek (GCS 27, 1917); no public-domain English of these fragments: re-read against the Greek.
1.3Bonwetsch GCS 27:521
Μή πως ἄρα αἱ τρεῖς αὗται τῶν προγόνων κεφαλαὶ πάσης τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ὁμοούσιοι ὑποστάσεις κατʼ εἰκόνα τινά, ὡς καὶ Μεθοδίῳ δοκεῖ, τυπικῶς γεγόνασι τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ὁμοουσίου τριάδος, τοῦ μὲν ἀναιτίου καὶ ἀγεννήτου Ἀδὰμ τύπον καὶ εἰκόνα ἔχοντος τοῦ ἀναιτίου καὶ πάντων αἰτίου παντοκράτορος θεοῦ καὶ πατρός, τοῦ δὲ γεννητοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰκόνα προδιαγράφοντος τοῦ γεννητοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ λόγου τοῦ θεοῦ, τῆς δὲ ἐκπορευτῆς Εὔας σημαινούσης τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐκπορευτὴν ὑπόστασιν.
Mē pōs ara hai treis hautai tōn progonōn kephalai pasēs tēs anthrōpotētos homoousioi hypostaseis katʼ eikona tina, hōs kai Methodiǭ dokei, typikōs gegonasi tēs hagias kai homoousiou triados, tou men anaitiou kai agennētou Adam typon kai eikona echontos tou anaitiou kai pantōn aitiou pantokratoros theou kai patros, tou de gennētou huiou autou eikona prodiagraphontos tou gennētou huiou kai logou tou theou, tēs de ekporeutēs Euas sēmainousēs tēn tou hagiou pneumatos ekporeutēn hypostasin.
Perhaps, then, these three heads of all humankind, the first parents, consubstantial hypostases, came to be, after a kind of image (as Methodius also holds), a type of the holy and consubstantial Trinity: the uncaused and unbegotten Adam bearing the type and image of the uncaused God, the almighty Father, cause of all; his begotten son foreshadowing the image of the begotten Son and Word of God; and Eve, who proceeded, signifying the proceeding hypostasis of the Holy Spirit.
Gen 5:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 2:21–22 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A later writer, following Methodius, sees Adam, his son and Eve as an image of the Trinity: Adam unbegotten like the Father, the son begotten like the Son, and Eve proceeding like the Spirit.
- This is a later writer reporting Methodius's view ('as Methodius also holds'), Anastasius of Sinai according to Bonwetsch, not Methodius's own words; its terms (consubstantial, hypostasis, proceeding) are those of the later Trinitarian debates.
- 'Consubstantial' renders ὁμοούσιος (of the same essence); 'hypostasis' is kept for ὑπόστασις.
- 'His begotten son' is Seth (Gen 5:3); Eve 'proceeded' from Adam (Gen 2:21–22).
Topics: Trinity
Cite (SBL): Methodius, Frag. min. 1.3 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:521; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-fragmenta-2/1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-fragmenta-2/1-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Bonwetsch's Greek (GCS 27, 1917); no public-domain English of these fragments: re-read against the Greek.
1.4Bonwetsch GCS 27:521
Εἴη ὑμῖν κωφεῦσαι καὶ ἀποβήσεται ὑμῖν σοφία.
Eiē hymin kōpheusai kai apobēsetai hymin sophia.
May it be granted you to keep silent, and it will turn out to be wisdom for you.
Job 13:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A quotation of Job 13:5: silence would be wisdom for Job's friends.
- The words are Job 13:5 in the Septuagint; the fragment preserves Methodius's use of the verse. The first word is uncertain in the scan (Εἴη).
Cite (SBL): Methodius, Frag. min. 1.4 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:521; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-fragmenta-2/1-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-fragmenta-2/1-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Bonwetsch's Greek (GCS 27, 1917); no public-domain English of these fragments: re-read against the Greek.