Compendium of Heretical Fables 5.8–5.10
Greek text: PG 83.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 5
5.8PG 83
Τὸν δὲ διάδολον καὶ τοὺς ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνῳ τελοῦντας δαίμονας, κατὰ τοὺς Μαρκίωνος, καὶ Κέρδωνος, καὶ τοὺς Μάνεντος μύθους, οὐκ ἀγενήτους εἶναί φαμεν, εἰ δὲ ὁμότιμοι, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ἰσοδύναμο:- εἰ δὲ ἰσοδύναμοι, πῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργηθῆν. ναί φαμεν; Πῶς γὰρ ἂν χκολασθεῖεν ἐνδίκως οἱ τοιαύτην φύσιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰληχότες- Ὅτι δὲ κολα-] σθήσονται, διαῤῥήδην εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τοῖς ἐξ εὐωνύβων᾽ « Πορεύεσθε ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, οἱ κατηραμένοι, εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον, τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαδόλῳ, καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ. » Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ σαφῶς οἱ δαίμονες ἴσασιν" ὅθεν ἑδόων" ε Τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοὶ, Υἱὲ Θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου; Ἦλθες πρὸ καιροῦ βασανίσαι ἡμᾶς; » Καὶ πάλιν" ε Ὁρκίζω σε, μὴ με βασανίσῃς.» Ὅτι μὲν οὖν κολασθήσονται, σαφῶς ἐδιδάχθημεν. Σκοπήσωμεν δὲ λοιπὸν, εἰ δικαίως τοῦτο πείσονται φύσιν τοιαύτην παρὰ τοῦ πεποιηκότος δεξάμενοι. Πῶς δ᾽ ἂν ἀγαθὸς εἰκότως κληθείη τῆς κακίας ὁ ποιητὴς, πῶς δὲ δίκαιος ὁ φύσιν κολάζων ἀγαθόν τι δράσαι μὴ δυναμένην, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τῆς κακίας πεπεδημένην δεσμοῖς; ᾿Αλλὰ δίκαιον ἴσμεν τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν, καὶ δικαιοσύνης πηγὴν " οὔχουν ἀδίκως κολάσει τοὺς δαίμονας, καὶ τὸν ἐχείνων ἡγούμενον. Καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἐπιστάμεθα δημιουργὸν τὸν ἀγαθὸν Θεὸν παρὰ τῶν εὖ φρονούντων ἁπάντων ὀνομαζόμενον. Οὔχουν ἐδημιούργησς φύσιν, δράσαι μὲν οὐδὲν ἀγαθὸν δυναμένην, κακίαν δὲ μόνην παρὰ γνώμην ὠδίνουσαν. Εἰ δὲ μήτε φύσιν πονηρὰν ἐδημιούργησεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἀγαθῶν γάρ ἔστιν ὡς ἀγαθὸς ποιητὴς, μήτε ἀδίκως κολάζειν ἀνέχεται, δίκαιος γάρ ἔστι καὶ δικαιοσύνης νομοθέτης, κολάζει δὲ τὸν διάδολον καὶ Εἰ γὰρ ἀγένητοι, ὁμότιμοι ἄρα τῷ τῶν ὅλων θεῷ" … διάδολος καὶ οἱ τῆς ἐχείνου συμμορίας, “Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀγαθὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀγαθὸς ἐδη μιούργήσεν ὁ Θεὸς, αὐθαιρέτῳ δὲ γνώμῃ οἱ μὲν ἐφύλαξαν ἀκήρατον ἣν ἔλαθον φύσιν " οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἀπἐχλιναν, καὶ τοὺς θείους χαρακτῆρας διέφθειραν, καὶ τοὺς θεοειδεῖς θηριώδεις ἀπέφηναν᾽ οὕτως ὁ διάδολος καὶ των δαιμόνων τὸ στίφος σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀσωμά… Θεὸν οὐκ ἐζήλωσαν εὔνοιαν, τὸ δὲ τοῦ τύφου καὶ τῆς ἀλαζονείας εἰσδεξάμενοι πάθος, ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἐτράπησαν, καὶ τῆς προτέρας ἐξέπεσον λήξεως. Καὶ τοῦτο δεδήλωκεν ὁ θεῖος ᾿Απόστολος, περὶ τῆς ἐπισχοπιχῦς χειροτονίας νομοθετῶν᾽ ε« Μὴ νεόφυτον, ἵνα μὴ τυφωβθεὶς εἰς. κρῖμα ἐμπέσῃ τοῦ διαδόλου. » Διὰ γὰρ τῶνδε τῶν λόγων αἰνίττεται, ὡς τῆς ἐχπτώσεοως τῷ διαδόλῳ τύφος ἐγένετο πρόξενος. Καὶ Ἐφεσίοις δὲ γράφων, παρεδήλωσεν ὡς πρὶν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον τραπῆναι, τὴν τοῦ ἀέρος οἰκονομίαν ἐπεπίστευτο. « Κατὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα γὰρ, φησὶ, τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας, » Τῆς δὲ προτέρας τάξεως ἐκπεσὼν, ὑπουργοὺς ἔχει τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας τῷ Θεῷ. Καὶ ὁ Κύριος δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ἔφη « Εἴδον τὸν Σατανᾶν ὡς ἀστραπὴν πεσόντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. » Καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ χωρίῳ, « Ἐκεῖνος, φηαἷν, ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἦν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ οὐκ ἔστηκε.» Τοῦτο δὲ παραδηλοῖ, ὡς τῆς ἀληθείας ἐχεραπεὶς, τἀναντία τῇ ἀληθείᾳ προείλετο. Καὶ οἱ μακάριοι δὲ προφῆται Ἡσαῖας καὶ Ἰεζεχιὴλ παραπλησίοις αἰνίγμασι κέχρηνται. Τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τό" « Ἐπάνω τῶν ἄστρων θήσω τὸν θρόνον μου, καὶ ἔσομαι ὅμοιος τῷ ὙΨίστῳ, καὶ καταλήψομαι τὴν οἰκουμένην ὡς νοσσιὰν, καὶ ὡς καταλελειμμένα ὠὰ ἀρῶ. » Καὶ ὁ Ἰεζεχιὴλ διὰ τοῦ ἄρχοντος Τύρου τὸν ἀποστάτην ἄρχοντα αἰνίττεται τὸν ἐνεργήσαντα ἐκείνῳ, Λέγει δὲ οὕτως" « Τάδε λέγει Κύριος ᾿Αδωναῖ᾿ Σὺ ἐκχσφράγισμα ὁμοιώσεως, πλήρης σοφίας, καὶ στέφανος κάλλους, καὶ ἐν τῇ τρυφῇ Θεοῦ ἐγενήθης, πάντα λίθον ἐνδέδυσαι. » Εἶτα τῶν λίθων ἀπαριθμή- ᾿ σας τὰ εἴδη, ἐπήγαγεν᾽ ε ᾿Αφ' ἧς ἡμέρας χατεσχενάτοῦ χατασχηνοῦντος, καὶ ἔθηχά σε ἐν ὄρει ἁγίῳ θεοῦ. Ἐγεννήθης ἐν μέσῳ λίθων πυρίνων, ἐπορεύθης ἄμωμος σὺ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις σου, ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἡμέρας ἐκτίσθης σὺ, ἕως οὗ εὑρέθῃ τὰ ἀδικήματα ἐν σοΐ, ᾿Απὸ γὰρ πλήθους περιδρομῆς σου, ἔπλησας τὰ ταμιεῖά σου ἀνομίας, καὶ ἥμαρτες, καὶ ἐτραυματίσθης " ᾿Απὸ ὄρους τοῦ Θεοῦ χατήγαγέ σε τὸ χερουδεὶμ τὸ συσχιάζον ἐκ μέσου λίθων πυρίνων. ὙΨώθη ἡ καρδία σου ἐπὶ τῷ κάλλει σου. Διεφθάρη ἡ ἐπιστήμη σου μετὰ τοῦ κάλλους σου. Διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν σον, ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἔῤῥιψά σε, ἐναντίον βασιλέων ἔδωκά σε παραδειγματισθῆναι. Διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀνομιῶν σου, καὶ τῶν ἀδικιῶν τῆς ἐμπὸορίας σου, ἐδεδήλωσα ἁγιασμόν σου. Ἐξάγω πῦρ ἐν μέσῳ σου τοῦτο καταφάγεταί σε. » Οὗτος ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος ἔδειξε τὸν διάβολον ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν ἀγαθὸν γεγενημένον, ἑκουσίως δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ῥοπὴν εἰσδεξάμενον, ταῖς δὲ καχομηχανίαις τὴν πονηρίαν αὐξήσαντα. Τὴν γὰρ περιδρομὴν, καὶ τὴν ἐμπορίαν, τὰς τῆς πονηρίας ἐπινοίας ἐκάλεσε. Τοῦτον παρεδειγμάτισεν, ἐλέγξας αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀσθένειαν, καὶ πατεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν πάλαι προσχυνούντιυν ἐχέλευσεν. Αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐστι φωνή " « Ἰδοὺ δόδωχα ὑμῖν ἐξουσίαν πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ. » Καὶ ἄλλα δὲ πάμπολλα ἔστιν εὑρεῖν, δι᾽ ὧν ῥάδιον μαθεῖν ὡς ἀγαθὸς δημιουργηθεὶς ὁ διάδολος, ἑχὼν εἰς πονηρίαν ἀπέχλινεν. ᾿Αρχεῖ δὲ καὶ ἡ ἀκειληθεῖσα κόλασις αὐτῷ δεῖξαι τὸ τῆς κακίας αὐθαίρετον. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἴδιον δικαίου Θεοῦ, κολάσαι τὸν ἀνάγκῃ γενόμενον πο-
Ton de diadolon kai tous hyp᾽ ekeinǭ telountas daimonas, kata tous Markiōnos, kai Kerdōnos, kai tous Manentos mythous, ouk agenētous einai phamen, ei de homotimoi, dēlon hoti kai isodynamo:- ei de isodynamoi, pōs hypo tou Theou tōn holōn dēmiourgēthēn. nai phamen? Pōs gar an chkolastheien endikōs hoi toiautēn physin ex archēs eilēchotes- Hoti de kola-] sthēsontai, diarrhēdēn eipen ho Kyrios tois ex euōnybōn᾽ « Poreuesthe ap᾽ emou, hoi katēramenoi, eis to pyr to aiōnion, to hētoimasmenon tǭ diadolǭ, kai tois angelois autou. » Touto de kai autoi saphōs hoi daimones isasin" hothen hedoōn" e Ti hēmin kai soi, Huie Theou tou hypsistou? Ēlthes pro kairou basanisai hēmas? » Kai palin" e Horkizō se, mē me basanisę̄s.» Hoti men oun kolasthēsontai, saphōs edidachthēmen. Skopēsōmen de loipon, ei dikaiōs touto peisontai physin toiautēn para tou pepoiēkotos dexamenoi. Pōs d᾽ an agathos eikotōs klētheiē tēs kakias ho poiētēs, pōs de dikaios ho physin kolazōn agathon ti drasai mē dynamenēn, alla tois tēs kakias pepedēmenēn desmois? ᾿Alla dikaion ismen ton tōn holōn theon, kai dikaiosynēs pēgēn " ouchoun adikōs kolasei tous daimonas, kai ton echeinōn hēgoumenon. Kai agathōn epistametha dēmiourgon ton agathon Theon para tōn eu phronountōn hapantōn onomazomenon. Ouchoun edēmiourgēss physin, drasai men ouden agathon dynamenēn, kakian de monēn para gnōmēn ōdinousan. Ei de mēte physin ponēran edēmiourgēsen ho Theos, agathōn gar estin hōs agathos poiētēs, mēte adikōs kolazein anechetai, dikaios gar esti kai dikaiosynēs nomothetēs, kolazei de ton diadolon kai Ei gar agenētoi, homotimoi ara tǭ tōn holōn theǭ" … diadolos kai hoi tēs echeinou symmorias, “Hōsper gar ton anthrōpon agathon ex archēs agathos edē miourgēsen ho Theos, authairetǭ de gnōmę̄ hoi men ephylaxan akēraton hēn elathon physin " hoi de epi to cheiron apechlinan, kai tous theious charaktēras diephtheiran, kai tous theoeideis thēriōdeis apephēnan᾽ houtōs ho diadolos kai tōn daimonōn to stiphos syn tois allois asōma… Theon ouk ezēlōsan eunoian, to de tou typhou kai tēs alazoneias eisdexamenoi pathos, epi to cheiron etrapēsan, kai tēs proteras exepeson lēxeōs. Kai touto dedēlōken ho theios ᾿Apostolos, peri tēs epischopichys cheirotonias nomothetōn᾽ e« Mē neophyton, hina mē typhōbtheis eis. krima empesę̄ tou diadolou. » Dia gar tōnde tōn logōn ainittetai, hōs tēs echptōseoōs tǭ diadolǭ typhos egeneto proxenos. Kai Ephesiois de graphōn, paredēlōsen hōs prin epi to cheiron trapēnai, tēn tou aeros oikonomian epepisteuto. « Kata ton archonta gar, phēsi, tēs exousias tou aeros, tou pneumatos tou nyn energountos en tois huiois tēs apeitheias, » Tēs de proteras taxeōs ekpesōn, hypourgous echei tous antilegontas tǭ Theǭ. Kai ho Kyrios de en tois hierois Euangeliois ephē « Eidon ton Satanan hōs astrapēn pesonta ek tou ouranou. » Kai en heterǭ chōriǭ, « Ekeinos, phēain, anthrōpoktonos ēn ap᾽ archēs, kai en tę̄ alētheią ouk estēke.» Touto de paradēloi, hōs tēs alētheias echerapeis, tanantia tę̄ alētheią proeileto. Kai hoi makarioi de prophētai Hēsaias kai Iezechiēl paraplēsiois ainigmasi kechrēntai. Touto gar sēmainei to" « Epanō tōn astrōn thēsō ton thronon mou, kai esomai homoios tǭ HyPsistǭ, kai katalēpsomai tēn oikoumenēn hōs nossian, kai hōs kataleleimmena ōa arō. » Kai ho Iezechiēl dia tou archontos Tyrou ton apostatēn archonta ainittetai ton energēsanta ekeinǭ, Legei de houtōs" « Tade legei Kyrios ᾿Adōnai᾿ Sy ekchsphragisma homoiōseōs, plērēs sophias, kai stephanos kallous, kai en tę̄ tryphę̄ Theou egenēthēs, panta lithon endedysai. » Eita tōn lithōn aparithmē- ᾿ sas ta eidē, epēgagen᾽ e ᾿Aph' hēs hēmeras chateschenatou chataschēnountos, kai ethēcha se en orei hagiǭ theou. Egennēthēs en mesǭ lithōn pyrinōn, eporeuthēs amōmos sy en tais hēmerais sou, aph᾽ hēs hēmeras ektisthēs sy, heōs hou heurethę̄ ta adikēmata en soï, ᾿Apo gar plēthous peridromēs sou, eplēsas ta tamieia sou anomias, kai hēmartes, kai etraumatisthēs " ᾿Apo orous tou Theou chatēgage se to cheroudeim to syschiazon ek mesou lithōn pyrinōn. HyPsōthē hē kardia sou epi tǭ kallei sou. Diephtharē hē epistēmē sou meta tou kallous sou. Dia to plēthos tōn hamartiōn son, epi tēn gēn errhipsa se, enantion basileōn edōka se paradeigmatisthēnai. Dia to plēthos tōn anomiōn sou, kai tōn adikiōn tēs empoorias sou, ededēlōsa hagiasmon sou. Exagō pyr en mesǭ sou touto kataphagetai se. » Houtos ho prophētikos logos edeixe ton diabolon ex archēs men agathon gegenēmenon, hekousiōs de tēn epi to cheiron rhopēn eisdexamenon, tais de kachomēchaniais tēn ponērian auxēsanta. Tēn gar peridromēn, kai tēn emporian, tas tēs ponērias epinoias ekalese. Touton paredeigmatisen, elenxas autou tēn astheneian, kai pateisthai hypo tōn palai proschynountiyn echeleusen. Autou gar esti phōnē " « Idou dodōcha hymin exousian patein epanō opheōn kai skorpiōn, kai epi pasan tēn dynamin tou echthrou. » Kai alla de pampolla estin heurein, di᾽ hōn rhadion mathein hōs agathos dēmiourgētheis ho diadolos, hechōn eis ponērian apechlinen. ᾿Archei de kai hē akeilētheisa kolasis autǭ deixai to tēs kakias authaireton. Ou gar estin idion dikaiou Theou, kolasai ton anankę̄ genomenon po-
The devil and the demons under him we do not say are unbegotten, according to the myths of Marcion, Cerdo and Mani. [For if they are unbegotten, they are equal in honor to the God of all;] and if equal in honor, clearly also equal in power; and if equal in power, how do we say they were made by the God of all? And how could those who received such a nature from the beginning be justly punished? That they will be punished the Lord expressly said to those on the left: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The demons themselves know this clearly; that is why they cried: “What have we to do with you, Son of the Most High God? Have you come before the time to torment us?” And again: “I adjure you, do not torment me.” That they will be punished, then, we have been clearly taught. Let us now consider whether they will justly suffer this, having received such a nature from their maker. How could the maker of evil fittingly be called good, and how could he be just who punishes a nature unable to do any good but bound in the chains of wickedness? But we know the God of all to be just and the source of justice; so he will not unjustly punish the demons and their leader. And we know that the good God, so named by all right-thinking people, is the maker of good things. So he did not create a nature able to do no good, but giving birth to wickedness alone against its will. If God neither created an evil nature (for, being good, he is the maker of good things) nor will punish unjustly (for he is just and the lawgiver of justice), yet punishes the devil and … the devil and those of his company. For as the good God created man good from the beginning, and by free choice some kept unspoiled the nature they received, while others turned to the worse, corrupted the divine features and made the God-like beastlike; so the devil and the troop of demons, with the other bodiless …, did not emulate [the goodwill] toward God, but, taking in the passion of conceit and boastfulness, turned to the worse and fell from their former lot. The divine Apostle made this clear when legislating about episcopal ordination: “Not a recent convert, lest, puffed up, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” By these words he hints that conceit caused the devil's fall. Writing to the Ephesians, he indicated that before he turned to the worse he had been entrusted with the government of the air: “According to the ruler,” he says, “of the authority of the air, the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Having fallen from his former rank, he has as his servants those who oppose God. And the Lord said in the holy Gospels: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” And in another place: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth.” This indicates that, having been in the truth, he chose what is contrary to the truth. The blessed prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel use similar riddles. For this is what is meant by: “I will set my throne above the stars and be like the Most High, and I will seize the world like a nest and take it up like abandoned eggs.” And Ezekiel, through the ruler of Tyre, hints at the apostate ruler who worked in him. He speaks thus: “Thus says the Lord Adonai: You are the seal of likeness, full of wisdom and a crown of beauty; you were in the delight of God; you have put on every stone.” Then, having listed the kinds of stones, he added: “From the day you were created [you were with] the cherub who dwells …, and I set you on the holy mountain of God. You were born in the midst of fiery stones; you walked blameless in your days from the day you were created until iniquities were found in you. From the abundance of your trafficking you filled your storehouses with lawlessness, and you sinned and were wounded; the overshadowing cherub brought you down from the mountain of God, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up at your beauty; your understanding was corrupted with your beauty. Because of the multitude of your sins I cast you down to the earth; I gave you up before kings to be made an example. Because of the multitude of your lawless deeds and the injustices of your trade I profaned your sanctuary. I will bring fire out of your midst; it will devour you.” This prophetic word showed that the devil was good from the beginning, but willingly took the turn to the worse and increased his wickedness by evil devices; for it called the schemes of wickedness trafficking and trade. Him he made an example, exposing his weakness, and ordered him to be trampled by those who once worshiped him. For his is the saying: “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” Very many other passages can be found from which it is easy to learn that the devil, created good, turned willingly to wickedness. The punishment threatened against him is enough to show that his wickedness is freely chosen. For it is not the part of a just God to punish one made evil by necessity ….
Matt 25:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 8:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Tim 3:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 2:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:18 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:44 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 14:13–14 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 10:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 28:12–18 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Theodoret argues that the devil and demons are creatures made good, who fell by their own free choice through pride, as Paul, the Gospels, Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 show, and so are justly punished.
- A sentence the scan prints later in the passage (“For if they are unbegotten, they are equal in honor to the God of all”) belongs at the start, where the argument requires it; it is translated there in square brackets. Migne's Latin and footnotes are removed; a few words are lost (marked …).
- Theodoret reads Isa 14:13–14 (joined with 10:14) and Ezek 28:12–18 as hinting at the fall of the devil.
- Quotations: Matt 25:41; 8:29; Mark 5:7; 1 Tim 3:6; Eph 2:2; Luke 10:18; John 8:44; Isa 14:13–14; 10:14; Ezek 28:12–18; Luke 10:19.
Notes on the original text
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Topics: Heresy, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Haer. fab. 5.8 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-haereticarum-fabularum-compendium/5-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-haereticarum-fabularum-compendium/5-8
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
5.9PG 83
Τὸν δέ γε ἄνθρωπον διαπλασθῆναί φαμεν, οὐκ ὑπ᾽ ἀγγέλων τινῶν κατὰ τοὺς Βασιλίδου καὶ Κηρίνθου μύθους, οὐδὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰαλδαδαὼθ κατὰ τὴν τῶν Σηθιανῶν ἐμδροντησίαν, οὐδέ γε ὑπὸ τοῦ Σαχλᾶ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Μάνεντος παραπληξίαν" ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῆς θείας καὶ παναγίας Τριάδος τῆς πάντα τεχτηναμένης. Ἡκούσαμεν γὰρ τῆς θείας λεγούσης Γραφῆς. ὡς ὁ τῶν ὅλων ἔφη Θεός" «ε Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ᾽ εἰκόνα καὶ καθ᾽ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν. ν» Συνῳδὰ δὲ καὶ ὃ μακάριος ἔφη Δαδίδ" «Αἱ χεῖρές σου γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐποίησάν με, καὶ ἔπλασάν με' συνέτισόν με, καὶ μαθήσομαι τὰς ἐντολάς σου. » Χεῖρας τοῦ Θεοῦ νοοῦμεν, οὗ σωματικά τινα μόρια, ἀλλὰ τὴν δημιουργικὴν αὐτοῦ δύναμιν. Οὐ γὰρ σύνθετος ἡ ἀσώματος καὶ ἀπερίγραφος φύσις κατὰ τὴν Αὐδαίου φρενοδλάδειαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἁπλῇ καὶ ἀνείδεος καὶ ἀσχημάτιστος, καὶ περιληπτικὴ τῶν ὅλων, ᾿Ακούοντες τοίνυν «ἧς Μωσαϊχῃς ἱστορίας διηγουμένης, ὅτι ἔλαθεν ὁ Θεὸς χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἔπλασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον, τὴν τοῦ γράμματος ἐπιζητοῦμεν διάνοιαν, καὶ νοοῦμεν, ἣν ἔχει διαφερόντως περὶ τὴν ἀνθριυυπείαν φύσιν διάθεσιν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός. Τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ μέγας προφήτης δηλῶν. τἄλλα μὲν εἶπε λόγῳ πεποιηκέναι τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν, τὸν δὲ ἄνθρωπον, ταῖς χερσὶ διαπλάσαι. Οὔτε δὲ ἐν ἐκείνοις ῥῆμα νοοῦμεν τὸ πρόσταγμα, ἀλλὰ βούλημά τε καὶ θέλημα" οὔτε ἐνταῦθα χειρῶν ἐργασίαν τοῦ σώματος τὴν διάπλασιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν πλείονα περὶ τὸ ποέημα τοῦτο διάθεσιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ νῦν βουληθέντος αὐτοῦ τὸ ἔμδρυον ἐν τῇ μήτρᾳ δημιουργεῖται, καὶ ἡ φύσις τοῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τεθεῖσιν ὅροις ἀκολουθεῖ, οὕτως τότε ἀνθρώπινον ἐκ «ἧς γῆς ἐθελήσαντος αὐτοῦ συνεπάγη σὥμα, καὶ ὁ πηλὸς ἐγένετο σὰρξ, καὶ αἷμα, καὶ δέρμα, εαἱ πιμελὴ, καὶ νεῦρα, καὶ φλέδες, καὶ ἀρτηρίαι, καὶ ἐγκέφαλος, καὶ μυελὸς, καὶ τὰ τῶν ὀστῶν ὑπερείσματα, καὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν οἱ χιτῶνες, καὶ τῆς γλήνης ἡ καθαρότης, καὶ τῶν ἀκοῶν οἱ ἑλιχοειδεῖς πόροι, καὶ τῶν ὀδμῶν ἡ ἀντίληψις, καὶ τὸ λογικὸν τοῦ στόματος ὄργανον, ἐν ᾧ οἱ μὲν ὀδόντες τῶν χορδῶν πληροῦσι τὴν … μουσικοῦ δεξιάν. ᾿Αλλὰ εἰς γὰρ ἱκανὸς ἀξίως θαυμάσαι τὴν τοῦ ζωτικοῦ τούτου ζώου διάπλασιν, ἣν πολλοὶ μὲν καὶ ἄλλοι διαδάλλειν ἐπιχειροῦσιν, οὖκ ἥκιστα δὲ οἱ τοῦ Μάνεντος διάδοχοι; Οὗ δὴ χάριν, οὐ πὸν Θεὸν τοῦτο διαπλάσαι φασὶν, ἀλλὰ τὸν Σαχλᾶν, τῆς ὕλης τὸν ἄρχοντα. Ἕλλήνων δὲ οἱ σοφοὶ, Ξωκράτης, καὶ Ἱπποχράτης, καὶ Πλάτων, καὶ Ξενοφῶν, καὶ ᾿Αριστοτέλης, καὶ Γαληνὸς, καὶ μυρίοι ἕτεροι, ὑπεράγανται μὲν τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου σώματος ἀρμονίαν, θαυμάζουσι δὲ ἑκάστου μορίου τὴν χρείαν, καὶ ὁμολόγοῦσιν ἡττᾶσθαι τὸν ἐπαινοῦντα λόγον τῆς ἂν τῷδε τῷ ζώῳ θεωρουμένης τοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἀριστοτέχνου σοφίας. Τοσούτῳ κρείττους τῶν δυσωνύμων αἱρετιχῶν, οἱ μήτε προφητικὴν δεξάμενοι γεωργίαν, μὴτε ἀποστολικῇς ἀπολαύζαντες ποδηγίας, τῷ λογισμῷ δὲ μόνῳ τὴν τῶν θείων ἐπιτρέψαντες γνῶσιν. Καὶ ταῦτά φημι, οὐκ ὑπὲρ τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης τῶν καλουμένων φιλοσόφων ἀπολογούμενος, ἀλλὰ δεικνὺς τοὺς ἐπὶ τῇ Χριστοῦ προσηγορίᾳ σεμνυνομένους, οὗ μόνιυον τῶν φιλοσόφων, ἀλλὰ καὶ «ὧν δαιμόνων δυσσεθεστέρους. Τί γὰρ ἀνοσιώτερον τούτων, οἵ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ἀφορμὴν ποιοῦνται τῆς κατὰ τοῦ Δημιουργοῦ βλασφημίας; Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ὑμνεῖν ἐδιδάχθημεν, οὐ μόνον ἐπὶ τοῖς δοκοῦσι τερπνοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς νομιζομένοις ἀνιαροῖς. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὔπω περὶ τούτου διαληπτέον" τὴν γὰρ τῆς συντάξεως ἁρμονίαν προσέχει φυλάξαι τὸν λόγον. Φαμὲν τοίνυν, ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων διαπλασθῆναι τὸ σῶμα. Ἔχει γὰρ ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ πυρὸς τὴν θερμότητα, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ἀέρος τὴν ψυχρότητα, τὴν ξηρότητα δὲ ἀπὸ τἧς γῆς, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος τὴν ὑγρότητα. Τὴν δὲ Ψυχὴν, ἁπλῆν εἶναί φαμεν καὶ λογικὴν καὶ ἀθάνατον, οὗ μὴν προὐπάρχειν τοῦ σώματος. Πυθαγόρας, μὲν γὰρ καὶ Πλάτων, καὶ Πλωτῖνος, καὶ οἱ τῆς ἐχείτὰς ψυχὰς, προὐπάρχειν ταύτας ἔφασαν τῶν σωμάτων, καὶ δῆμον εἶναί τινα ψυχῶν ἀναρίθμων, καὶ τὰς πλημμελούσας εἰς σώματα καταπέμπεσθαι, ὥστε τῇ τοιᾷδε χαθαρθείσας παιδείᾳ, πάλιν ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὸν ἴδιον χῶρον τὰς δὲ κἀν τοῖς σώμασι παράνομον βίον ἀσπασαμένας, εἰς τὰ ἄλογα χαταπέμπεσθαι ζῶα" τοὺς μὲν πικροὺς καὶ ἰοδόλους, εἰς ἑρπετὰ, τοὺς δὲ ἀρπαχτιχοὺς εἰς λύκους, τοὺς δὲ θρασεῖς εἰς λέονληρώδεις τινὰς ἀνέπλασαν μύθους. Τοὺς δὲ Περιπατητιχούς φᾶσι καὶ τὴν ἀθανασίαν τῶν ψυχῶν ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τῷ λόγῳ. Οἱ δὲ σοφώτατοι τῶν ἑατρῶν, τὴν τοῦ σώματος εὐκρασίαν ψυχὴν προσηγόρευσαν, ἐκ τῶν συμθαινόντων τῷ σώματι παθημάτων, ἐπιληεἰληφάτες τὴν δόξαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῶνδς τῶν παθημάτων ἕχαστον λωδᾶταε τῷ λογικῷ, καὶ φροῦδον. τοῦτο ποιεῖ, ὑπέλαδον τοῦ σώματος τὴν εὐκρασίαν εἶναι ψυχήν. "Ἔδει δὲ αὐτοὺς συνιδεῖν, ὡς καὶ ὁ λυρῳδὸς, τῆς λύρας οὐκ εὖ ἡσχημένης, τὴν οἰκείαν οὐκ ἐπιδείκνυσιν ἐπιστήμην. Ὑπερταθεῖσαι γὰρ αἱ χορἀδὲ δαὶ, καὶ μέντοι καὶ χαλαραὶ γινόμεναι, τὴν ἁρμονίαν λυμαίνονται. Εἰ δὲ καὶ διατμηθῶσί τινες, ἀργὸν παντελῶς τὸν μουσικὸν ἀποφαίνουσι. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ αὖλῶν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, καὶ ἐπὶ ἄλλων ὀργάνων. Οὕτως σκάφος διάδροχον, ἣ παρὰ τὸν λόγον χατεσχευατμένον Καὶ ἵπποι χωλεύοντες, ἣ φύσει βραδεῖς, καὶ μέντοι τῶν ἁρμάτων τὰ πάθη, τοῖς ἡνιόχοις λυμαίνεται. Οὕτω δῆτα καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἕνια τῶν σωματικῶν παθημάτων οὐκ ἐᾷ δεῖξαι τοῦ λογικοῦ τὴν ἐνέργειαν. ᾿Αλλὰ ἐν μὲν τῇ γλώττῃ γενομένου τοῦ πάθους, ὁ λόγος ἐπέχεται" ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τῆς ὀπτιχῆς ἐνεργείας ἡ δύναμις οὐκέτι διὰ τοῦ μορίου χωρεῖ. Εἰ δὲ τῇ μήνιγγι προσπέσοι τὸ νόσημα, σίνεται μὲν τὸν ἐγκέφαλον ἡ τῶν ἀτμῶν καὶ τῶν χυμῶν μυχθηοία, ὑπὸ δὲ τούτων περιχλυζόμενος, οὐ δέχεται τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔοικεν ὑποδρυχίῳ τινὶ γενομένῳ, καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε καὶ χεῖρας χινοῦντι καὶ πόδας, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τοῦ σώματος μόρια. Οὐ τοίνυν οὐσία τῆς ψυχῆς, ἡ τοῦ σώματος εὐκρασία, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῇ τοῦ σώματος εὐκρασίᾳ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡ οὐσία δείκνυσι τὴν οἰκείαν σοφίαν. Οὗτοι μὲν οὖν εἰς ταύτην τὴν ἀλογίαν ἐξέπεσον. Οἱ δὲ δυσσεόεῖς αἱρετικοὶ, Καρποκράτης, καὶ Ἐπιφάνης, καὶ Πρόδιχος, καὶ Καϊανοὶ, καὶ ᾿Αντιτάχται, καὶ Εὐτυχῖται, πολὺ τούτων ἀνοτιώτερον ἐκτήσαντο φλήναφον' ἔφασαν γὰρ εἰς σίματα χαταπέμπεσθαι τὰς ψυχὰς, ὥστε πᾶσαν ἐν τούτοις ἀχολατίαν καὶ παρανομίαν ἐργασαμένας, τοὺς κοσμοποιοὺς ἀγγέλους θεραπεῦσαι τοῖς τῆς ἀσεθείας ἐπιτηδεύμασιν. Ἡ δὲ Ἐκκλησία,, τοῖς θείοις πειθομένη λόγοις, τὸν μὲν τούτων διαφερόντως μυσάττεται λόγον, ἀποστρέφεται ὃὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τοὺς μύθους" τῇ δὲ θείᾳ πειθομένη Γραφῇ λέγει, τὴν ψυχὴν συνδημιουργεῖσθαι τῷ σώματι, οὐκ ἐκ τῆς ὕλης τοῦ σπέρματος ἔχουσαν τῆς δημιουργίας τὰς ἀφορμὰς, ἀλλὰ τῇ βουλήσει τοῦ ποιητοῦ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος συνισταμένην διάπλασιν. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ θειότατος Μωῦσῆς πρότερον ἔφησε τοῦ ᾿Αδὰμ διαπλασθῆναι τὸ σῶμα, εἶθ᾽ οὕτως ἐμφυσῆσαι τὸν Θεὸν τὴν ψυχήν. ε “Ἔλαδε γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἔπλασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς, καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν. » Ἐκεῖνο δὲ τὸ ἐμφύαημα, οὐ μέρος τι τῆς θείας οὗσίας φαμὲν, κατὰ τὴν Κέρδωνος καὶ Μαρκίωνος λύτταν᾽ ἀλλὰ τἧς Ψυχῆς τὴν φύσιν διὰ τούτου σημαίνεσθαι λέγομεν, ὅτι πνεῦμά ἔστιν ἡ ψυχὴ, λογικόν τε καὶ νοερόν. Κἀν τοῖς νόμοις δὲ πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς προφήτης σαφέστερον ἐμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν, ὡς πρόπτερὸν τὸ σῶμα διαμορφοῦται, εἶθ᾽ οὕτως ἐμφύεται ἡ ψυχῆ. Περὶ γὰρ τοῦ τὴν ἐγκύμονα τετυπτηχότος ἔφη" ε« Ἐὰν ἐξέλθῃ ἐξειχονισμένον τὸ ἔμδρυον, ἀποτίσει ὀφθαλμὸν ἀντὶ ὀφθαλμοῦ, ὀδόντα ἀντὶ ὁδόν… νον, ἐπιζήμιον ἔσται" ταύτῃ διδάσκων, ὡς τὸ μὲν διαμεμορφωμένον ἔμψυχον, τὸ δὲ μὴ μορφωθὲν ἄψυχον. Καὶ ὁ πανεύφημος δὲ Ἰὼδ οὕτως ἔφη πρὸς τὸν Κύριον" « Μνήσθητι ὅτι πηλόν με ἔπλασας, εἰς δὲ γὴν με πάλιν ἀποστρέφεις. Ἢ οὐκὶ ὡς γάλα με ἥμελξας, ἔπηξας δέ με ἴσα τυρῷ; Δέρμα καὶ κρέας με ἐνέδνσας, ὁστέοις δὲ καὶ νεύροις ἐνεῖράς με. » Καὶ δείξας διὰ τούτων προτέραν τοῦ σώματος τὴν διάπλασιν, οὕτως τὴν περὶ τῆς ψυχώσεως προστέθειχεν ὑμνῳδίαν " ε« Ζωὴν γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ἔλεον ἔθου παρ᾽ ἐμοί. ν» Μέμνηται δὲ καὶ τῆς μετὰ ταῦτα κηδεμονίας " « Ἢ δὲ ἐπισκοπή σου ἐφύλαττέ μου τὸ πνεῦμα. » Εἶτα κηρύττει τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ παντοδύναμον. « Ταῦτα ἔχων ἐν σεαυτῷ, οἷδα ὅτι πάντα δύνασαι, ἀδυνατεῖ δέ σοι οὐδέν. » Τοῖς δὲ τοῦ χρόνου πρεσβείοις τὸ σῶμα τετίμηκεν ὁ θεὸς, τὴν ἰσότητα πρυτανεύων, Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀθάνατον ἐποίησε τὴν ψυχὴν, τὸ δὲ σῶμα θνητὸν, ἀπένειμε τῷ σώματι τὰ τοῦ χρόνου προνόμια, ἵνα ἡ ψυχὴ μὴ μεγαλαυχῇ κατὰ τούτου, καὶ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν, καὶ κατὰ τὸν χρόνον πλεονεχτοῦσα,
Ton de ge anthrōpon diaplasthēnai phamen, ouk hyp᾽ angelōn tinōn kata tous Basilidou kai Kērinthou mythous, oude hypo tou Ialdadaōth kata tēn tōn Sēthianōn emdrontēsian, oude ge hypo tou Sachla kata tēn tou Manentos paraplēxian" all' hypo tēs theias kai panagias Triados tēs panta techtēnamenēs. Hēkousamen gar tēs theias legousēs Graphēs. hōs ho tōn holōn ephē Theos" «e Poiēsōmen anthrōpon kat᾽ eikona kai kath᾽ homoiōsin hēmeteran. n» Synǭda de kai ho makarios ephē Dadid" «Hai cheires sou gar, phēsin, epoiēsan me, kai eplasan me' synetison me, kai mathēsomai tas entolas sou. » Cheiras tou Theou nooumen, hou sōmatika tina moria, alla tēn dēmiourgikēn autou dynamin. Ou gar synthetos hē asōmatos kai aperigraphos physis kata tēn Audaiou phrenodladeian, all᾽ haplę̄ kai aneideos kai aschēmatistos, kai perilēptikē tōn holōn, ᾿Akouontes toinyn «hēs Mōsaïchę̄s historias diēgoumenēs, hoti elathen ho Theos choun apo tēs gēs, kai eplase ton anthrōpon, tēn tou grammatos epizētoumen dianoian, kai nooumen, hēn echei diapherontōs peri tēn anthriyypeian physin diathesin ho tōn holōn Theos. Touto gar ho megas prophētēs dēlōn. talla men eipe logǭ pepoiēkenai ton tōn holōn Theon, ton de anthrōpon, tais chersi diaplasai. Oute de en ekeinois rhēma nooumen to prostagma, alla boulēma te kai thelēma" oute entautha cheirōn ergasian tou sōmatos tēn diaplasin, alla tēn pleiona peri to poeēma touto diathesin. Hōsper gar nyn boulēthentos autou to emdryon en tę̄ mētrą dēmiourgeitai, kai hē physis tois ex archēs par᾽ autou tetheisin horois akolouthei, houtōs tote anthrōpinon ek «hēs gēs ethelēsantos autou synepagē sōma, kai ho pēlos egeneto sarx, kai haima, kai derma, eai pimelē, kai neura, kai phledes, kai artēriai, kai enkephalos, kai myelos, kai ta tōn ostōn hypereismata, kai tōn ophthalmōn hoi chitōnes, kai tēs glēnēs hē katharotēs, kai tōn akoōn hoi helichoeideis poroi, kai tōn odmōn hē antilēpsis, kai to logikon tou stomatos organon, en hǭ hoi men odontes tōn chordōn plērousi tēn … mousikou dexian. ᾿Alla eis gar hikanos axiōs thaumasai tēn tou zōtikou toutou zōou diaplasin, hēn polloi men kai alloi diadallein epicheirousin, ouk hēkista de hoi tou Manentos diadochoi? Hou dē charin, ou pon Theon touto diaplasai phasin, alla ton Sachlan, tēs hylēs ton archonta. Hellēnōn de hoi sophoi, Xōkratēs, kai Hippochratēs, kai Platōn, kai Xenophōn, kai ᾿Aristotelēs, kai Galēnos, kai myrioi heteroi, hyperagantai men tēn tou anthrōpinou sōmatos armonian, thaumazousi de hekastou moriou tēn chreian, kai homologousin hēttasthai ton epainounta logon tēs an tǭde tǭ zōǭ theōroumenēs tou tōn holōn aristotechnou sophias. Tosoutǭ kreittous tōn dysōnymōn hairetichōn, hoi mēte prophētikēn dexamenoi geōrgian, mēte apostolikę̄s apolauzantes podēgias, tǭ logismǭ de monǭ tēn tōn theiōn epitrepsantes gnōsin. Kai tauta phēmi, ouk hyper tēs polytheou planēs tōn kaloumenōn philosophōn apologoumenos, alla deiknys tous epi tę̄ Christou prosēgorią semnynomenous, hou moniyon tōn philosophōn, alla kai «hōn daimonōn dyssethesterous. Ti gar anosiōteron toutōn, hoi pan hotioun aphormēn poiountai tēs kata tou Dēmiourgou blasphēmias? Hēmeis de epi pasin hymnein edidachthēmen, ou monon epi tois dokousi terpnois, alla kai epi tois nomizomenois aniarois. ᾿All᾽ oupō peri toutou dialēpteon" tēn gar tēs syntaxeōs harmonian prosechei phylaxai ton logon. Phamen toinyn, apo men tōn tessarōn stoicheiōn diaplasthēnai to sōma. Echei gar apo men tou pyros tēn thermotēta, apo de tou aeros tēn psychrotēta, tēn xērotēta de apo tēs gēs, kai ek tou hydatos tēn hygrotēta. Tēn de Psychēn, haplēn einai phamen kai logikēn kai athanaton, hou mēn prouparchein tou sōmatos. Pythagoras, men gar kai Platōn, kai Plōtinos, kai hoi tēs echeitas psychas, prouparchein tautas ephasan tōn sōmatōn, kai dēmon einai tina psychōn anarithmōn, kai tas plēmmelousas eis sōmata katapempesthai, hōste tę̄ toiąde chathartheisas paideią, palin epanelthein eis ton idion chōron tas de kan tois sōmasi paranomon bion aspasamenas, eis ta aloga chatapempesthai zōa" tous men pikrous kai iodolous, eis herpeta, tous de arpachtichous eis lykous, tous de thraseis eis leonlērōdeis tinas aneplasan mythous. Tous de Peripatētichous phasi kai tēn athanasian tōn psychōn aphaireisthai tǭ logǭ. Hoi de sophōtatoi tōn heatrōn, tēn tou sōmatos eukrasian psychēn prosēgoreusan, ek tōn symthainontōn tǭ sōmati pathēmatōn, epilēeilēphates tēn doxan. Epeidē gar tōnds tōn pathēmatōn hechaston lōdatae tǭ logikǭ, kai phroudon. touto poiei, hypeladon tou sōmatos tēn eukrasian einai psychēn. "Edei de autous synidein, hōs kai ho lyrǭdos, tēs lyras ouk eu hēschēmenēs, tēn oikeian ouk epideiknysin epistēmēn. Hypertatheisai gar hai chorade dai, kai mentoi kai chalarai ginomenai, tēn harmonian lymainontai. Ei de kai diatmēthōsi tines, argon pantelōs ton mousikon apophainousi. Touto kai epi aulōn estin idein, kai epi allōn organōn. Houtōs skaphos diadrochon, hē para ton logon chatescheuatmenon Kai hippoi chōleuontes, hē physei bradeis, kai mentoi tōn harmatōn ta pathē, tois hēniochois lymainetai. Houtō dēta kai tēn psychēn henia tōn sōmatikōn pathēmatōn ouk eą deixai tou logikou tēn energeian. ᾿Alla en men tę̄ glōttę̄ genomenou tou pathous, ho logos epechetai" en de tois ophthalmois tēs optichēs energeias hē dynamis ouketi dia tou moriou chōrei. Ei de tę̄ mēningi prospesoi to nosēma, sinetai men ton enkephalon hē tōn atmōn kai tōn chymōn mychthēoia, hypo de toutōn perichlyzomenos, ou dechetai tēs psychēs tēn energeian, all᾽ eoiken hypodrychiǭ tini genomenǭ, kai hōs etyche kai cheiras chinounti kai podas, kai ta alla tou sōmatos moria. Ou toinyn ousia tēs psychēs, hē tou sōmatos eukrasia, all᾽ en tę̄ tou sōmatos eukrasią tēs psychēs hē ousia deiknysi tēn oikeian sophian. Houtoi men oun eis tautēn tēn alogian exepeson. Hoi de dysseoeis hairetikoi, Karpokratēs, kai Epiphanēs, kai Prodichos, kai Kaïanoi, kai ᾿Antitachtai, kai Eutychitai, poly toutōn anotiōteron ektēsanto phlēnaphon' ephasan gar eis simata chatapempesthai tas psychas, hōste pasan en toutois acholatian kai paranomian ergasamenas, tous kosmopoious angelous therapeusai tois tēs asetheias epitēdeumasin. Hē de Ekklēsia,, tois theiois peithomenē logois, ton men toutōn diapherontōs mysattetai logon, apostrephetai hoe kai tōn allōn tous mythous" tę̄ de theią peithomenē Graphę̄ legei, tēn psychēn syndēmiourgeisthai tǭ sōmati, ouk ek tēs hylēs tou spermatos echousan tēs dēmiourgias tas aphormas, alla tę̄ boulēsei tou poiētou meta tēn tou sōmatos synistamenēn diaplasin. Kai gar ho theiotatos Mōysēs proteron ephēse tou ᾿Adam diaplasthēnai to sōma, eith᾽ houtōs emphysēsai ton Theon tēn psychēn. e “Elade gar ho Theos choun apo tēs gēs, kai eplase ton anthrōpon, kai enephysēsen eis to prosōpon autou pnoēn zōēs, kai egeneto ho anthrōpos eis psychēn zōsan. » Ekeino de to emphyaēma, ou meros ti tēs theias housias phamen, kata tēn Kerdōnos kai Markiōnos lyttan᾽ alla tēs Psychēs tēn physin dia toutou sēmainesthai legomen, hoti pneuma estin hē psychē, logikon te kai noeron. Kan tois nomois de palin ho autos prophētēs saphesteron emas edidaxen, hōs propteron to sōma diamorphoutai, eith᾽ houtōs emphyetai hē psychē. Peri gar tou tēn enkymona tetyptēchotos ephē" e« Ean exelthę̄ exeichonismenon to emdryon, apotisei ophthalmon anti ophthalmou, odonta anti hodon… non, epizēmion estai" tautę̄ didaskōn, hōs to men diamemorphōmenon empsychon, to de mē morphōthen apsychon. Kai ho paneuphēmos de Iōd houtōs ephē pros ton Kyrion" « Mnēsthēti hoti pēlon me eplasas, eis de gēn me palin apostrepheis. Ē ouki hōs gala me hēmelxas, epēxas de me isa tyrǭ? Derma kai kreas me enednsas, hosteois de kai neurois eneiras me. » Kai deixas dia toutōn proteran tou sōmatos tēn diaplasin, houtōs tēn peri tēs psychōseōs prostetheichen hymnǭdian " e« Zōēn gar, phēsi, kai eleon ethou par᾽ emoi. n» Memnētai de kai tēs meta tauta kēdemonias " « Ē de episkopē sou ephylatte mou to pneuma. » Eita kēryttei to tou Theou pantodynamon. « Tauta echōn en seautǭ, hoida hoti panta dynasai, adynatei de soi ouden. » Tois de tou chronou presbeiois to sōma tetimēken ho theos, tēn isotēta prytaneuōn, Epeidē gar athanaton epoiēse tēn psychēn, to de sōma thnēton, apeneime tǭ sōmati ta tou chronou pronomia, hina hē psychē mē megalauchę̄ kata toutou, kai kata tēn physin, kai kata ton chronon pleonechtousa,
We say that man was formed, not by certain angels according to the myths of Basilides and Cerinthus, nor by Ialdabaoth according to the thunderstruck folly of the Sethians, nor by Saklas according to the derangement of Mani, but by the divine and all-holy Trinity that fashioned all things. For we have heard the divine Scripture saying that the God of all said: “Let us make man in our image and likeness.” In harmony with this the blessed David said: “Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding, and I will learn your commandments.” By the hands of God we understand not some bodily parts but his creative power; for the bodiless and uncircumscribed nature is not compound, as Audaeus in his derangement holds, but simple, without form or shape, and encompassing all things. So when we hear the Mosaic history relate that God took dust from the earth and formed man, we look for the sense of the letter, and understand the special disposition the God of all has toward human nature. The great prophet showed this when he said that the God of all made the other things by a word, but formed man with his hands. In those cases we do not understand the command as a spoken word but as will and purpose; nor here the forming as the work of bodily hands, but as his greater care for this work. For just as now, when he wills, the embryo is fashioned in the womb, and nature follows the limits he set from the beginning, so then, when he willed, a human body was put together from the earth, and the clay became flesh, blood, skin, fat, sinews, veins, arteries, brain, marrow, the supports of the bones, the coats of the eyes, the clearness of the pupil, the spiral passages of the ears, the perception of smells, and the speaking instrument of the mouth, in which the teeth fill the place of the strings … the musician's right hand. Who is able to marvel worthily at the forming of this living creature, which many others try to slander, and not least the successors of Mani? For this reason they say that not God but Saklas, the ruler of matter, formed it. But the wise men of the Greeks, Socrates, Hippocrates, Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, Galen and countless others, are lost in admiration at the harmony of the human body, marvel at the use of each part, and confess that the praising word is defeated by the wisdom of the supreme Craftsman of all seen in this creature. So much better are they than the ill-named heretics, though they received neither prophetic cultivation nor enjoyed apostolic guidance, but entrusted the knowledge of divine things to reason alone. I say this not in defense of the polytheistic error of the so-called philosophers, but to show that those who pride themselves on the name of Christ are more impious not only than the philosophers but even than the demons. For what is more unholy than these, who make anything whatever an occasion of blasphemy against the Creator? We have been taught to praise God in all things, not only in those that seem pleasant but also in those thought painful. But this is not yet to be discussed; the account must keep the harmony of its arrangement. We say, then, that the body was formed from the four elements: it has its heat from fire, its coldness from air, its dryness from earth and its moisture from water. The soul we say is simple, rational and immortal, but does not preexist the body. Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus and those of their [school …] about souls said that they preexist bodies, that there is a populace of countless souls, and that those that err are sent down into bodies, so that, purified by such discipline, they may return again to their own region; while those that embraced a lawless life in bodies too are sent down into irrational animals: the bitter and venomous into reptiles, the rapacious into wolves, the bold into lions, … [and other such] nonsensical myths they fashioned. They say that the Peripatetics in their account even take away the soul's immortality. And the wisest of the physicians called the good blend of the body the soul, taking the opinion from the affections that befall the body. For since each of these affections harms the rational faculty and makes it vanish, they supposed the good blend of the body to be the soul. They ought to have seen that a lyre-player, when the lyre is not well tuned, cannot show his skill. For when the strings are overstretched, or again become slack, they spoil the harmony; and if some are cut, they leave the musician wholly idle. One can see this with flutes and other instruments. So too a waterlogged boat, or one built contrary to the rule, [hampers the helmsman]; and lame horses, or horses slow by nature, and damage to chariots harm the charioteers. In just the same way some bodily affections do not let the soul show the working of its rational faculty. When the affection is in the tongue, speech is held back; when in the eyes, the power of seeing no longer passes through the organ. If the disease falls on the membrane of the brain, the noxiousness of vapors and humors harms the brain, and flooded by these it does not receive the working of the soul, but is like a man under water, moving hands, feet and the other parts of the body at random. So the good blend of the body is not the substance of the soul; rather, in the good blend of the body the substance of the soul shows its own wisdom. These men, then, fell into this unreason. But the impious heretics, Carpocrates, Epiphanes, Prodicus, the Cainites, the Antitactae and the Euchites, acquired a babble far more unholy than these. For they said that souls are sent down into bodies so that, having worked every licentiousness and lawlessness in them, they may serve the world-making angels by the practices of impiety. The church, obeying the divine words, abhors their account above all and turns away from the myths of the others too; obeying the divine Scripture, it says that the soul is created together with the body, not taking the starting points of its creation from the matter of the seed, but coming into being by the will of the Maker after the forming of the body. For the most divine Moses said that first Adam's body was formed, and then God breathed in the soul: “God took dust from the earth and formed man, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” That breathing we do not say is some part of the divine substance, according to the raving of Cerdo and Marcion; we say that the nature of the soul is signified by it, that the soul is a spirit, rational and intelligent. In the laws too the same prophet taught us more clearly that the body is shaped first and then the soul is implanted. For he said of one who struck a pregnant woman: “If the embryo comes out fully formed, he shall pay eye for eye, tooth for tooth; [but if it is not fully formed], he shall be fined”; teaching by this that what has been fully formed is ensouled, but what has not been formed is without soul. The all-praised Job too said thus to the Lord: “Remember that you formed me of clay, and you turn me back to earth again. Did you not milk me like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews.” Having shown by these words that the forming of the body comes first, he then added the hymn about ensoulment: “For you have granted me life and mercy.” He also mentions the care that follows: “And your oversight has guarded my spirit.” Then he proclaims God's omnipotence: “Having these things in yourself, I know that you can do all things, and nothing is impossible for you.” God honored the body with the prerogative of time, dispensing equality; for since he made the soul immortal and the body mortal, he gave the body the privileges of time, so that the soul might not boast over it, having the advantage both in nature and in time, ….
Gen 1:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:73 (118:73 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 21:22–24 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 10:9–12 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 10:13 (quotation, medium confidence) · Job 42:2 (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Theodoret teaches that the Trinity formed man, the body from the elements and the soul, rational and immortal, created after the body and not preexisting, against Gnostic, Manichaean, Platonic and medical theories.
- Migne's Latin and footnotes are removed; some words are lost (marked …; bracketed words supplied for sense). The chapter breaks off at the end.
- Theodoret's argument from Exod 21:22–23 follows the Septuagint, which distinguishes a formed from an unformed embryo; he takes it to show that the soul is given after the body is formed.
- Quotations: Gen 1:26; Ps 119:73 (LXX 118:73); Gen 2:7; Exod 21:22–24 (LXX); Job 10:9–12; 10:13 (LXX); 42:2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Migne's Latin read as Greek; column letter inside a word; footnote variant and Migne's Latin; Greek lost; marginal references and Migne's Latin inside the quotation; Greek lost; stray letter): Ὥσπερ γὰρ Ρἰ ἀϊαίεπι, πους ἃ 4618, υἱ Μαποιϊβ νυ} 1 δηηοθηιία ς νῦν → Ὥσπερ γὰρ νῦν; δη- Ὁ μιουργεῖται → δημιουργεῖται; πληροῦσι τὴν ἰδοὺ, κ. τ. λ. 1,060 εἷϊ. Ι6ᾳ. ἰδοὺ δίδωμ! ὑμῖν «ιν ἔξουσ. τοῦ πατεῖν, χ, τ. λ. οἱ ηοτνΐϊ, οἱ νϑηῷ, οἱ ἁυίογί:, οἱ σα ῦγυπι, οἱ → πληροῦσι τὴν … ; αὶ {||. Εἰ ὀαυὶ οἰδυάϊοαμη!65, νοὶ ὨδίυΓΑ ἰδγὰϊ, δὺς → ; τῆς ἢ ψυχῆς → τῆς ψυχῆς; δόνἡ 0... 7. Ὁ Εχοά. χχὶ, 1620} χ, ΒΘΥΙΩΟ ἱπηϊ οί Γ : δ] ἰῃ οὐυ} 15, υἱἀ θη αὶ Η ῬΟΓΪΒ8 ἰδ ρου ὉΓὰ 580 6 Ἐ[8Π| Οδἰ θη αἐὶ Δη γὶ Δ 158π| Δ σαὶ οΥοδίΟἾ5, 864 Ζῃ ΔυςίοΥ}8 γο-νον, ἐπιζήμιον → δόν… νον, ἐπιζήμιον.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato (Plato (works); allusion); Plotinus (Plotinus, Enneads; allusion); Hippocrates (Hippocrates, Hippocratic Corpus; allusion)
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Haer. fab. 5.9 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-haereticarum-fabularum-compendium/5-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-haereticarum-fabularum-compendium/5-9
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
5.10PG 83
Ταυτὴν ἣ Ἐκκλησία περὶ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος παρὰ τῶν θείων λογίων ἐδιδάχθη τὴν δόξαν. Οὐ μόνὸν δὲ δημιουργὸν οἷδε τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Τῶν γὰρ ἄγαν ἁτοπωτάτων, πεποιηκέναι μὲν αὐτὸν τὰ σύμπαντα λέγειν, οὐ διὰ χρείαν οἰκείαν, ἀλλὰ μόνὴν φιλανθρωπίαν, ἀμελεῖν δὲ ὧν ἐποίησε, καὶ περιγγίᾷν τὴν χτίτιν οἷόν τι σκάφος ἀνερμάτιστόν τε καὶ ἀχυδέρνητον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐναντίων ἀνέμων τῇδε κἀκεῖσε πεμπόμενον, καὶ σχοπέλοις καὶ ῥάχεσι Διαγόραν τὸ ἄθεον " βδελυττόμεθα δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἑ πίχουρον, εἶναι μὲν Θεὸν συγχωροῦντα, τοῦτον δὲ ἐπεστράφθαι πρὸς ἑαυτὸν λέγοντα, καὶ μηδενὸς τῶν ἐν τῇ κτίσει γινομένων αἱσθάνεσθαι. Καὶ τῆς ᾿Αριστοτέλους δὲ προνοίας χατηγοροῦμεν᾽" ὄρον γὰρ αὑτῇ τέθεικε τὴν σελήνην, δυοῖν θάτερον, ἣ ἀδυναμίαν αὐτῆς, ἣ ὄχναν κατηγορῶν" ἣ γὰρ οὐκ ἔχει δύναμιν πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὅλων ἐπιμέλειαν ἐξαρχοῦσαν, ἣ δυναμένη, ὀχνοῦσα δὲ τὰ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἀχυδέρνητα καταλέλοιπεν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἑκάτερον βλασφημίας μεστόν. ὋὉ γὰρ καὶ τὰ σμικρότατα τῆς κτίσεως μόρια δημιουργῆσαι θελῆσας, πῶς ἂν ἀδύνατος κληθείη; Πῶς δ᾽ ἂν ἀμελήσοι δι᾽ ὄκνον τούτων, ἃ πεποίηκε διὰ τὴν τῆς ἀγαθότητος ἄθυσσον; ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἱκανῶς τὴν τούτων ἄνοιαν διελέγχει ἣ Πλάτωνος πρόνοια. Πάντων γὰρ ἔφησεν ἐκεῖνος, καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ οἱ τὰ ἐχείνου φρογοῦντες, προμηθεῖσθαι τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεόν. Θεοῦ δὲ μοιρῶν καὶ τῶν νημάτων ἐλήλαται. ᾿Ανοίας γὰρ ἐσχάτης, τοῦ Θεοῦ χυδερνῶντος, ἕτερον τῷ σχάφει τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπεισαγαγεῖν χυδερνήτην. Χρὴ δὲ διαιρεθῆναι τῷ λόγῳ, τίνα μὲν τῶν τῆς Προνοίας πηδαλίων ἐξήρτηται, τίνα δὲ τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπονενέμηται λογικῷ,, καὶ τίνα μὲν φυσικὰ, τίνα δὲ ὁμωνύμως καλεῖται, οὐκ ὄντα μὲν, νομιζόμενα δὲ εἶναι κακά. Τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων τοίνυν πραγμάτων, φύσει μὲν ἀγαθὰ, φρόνησις, καὶ σωφροσύνη, καὶ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ ἀνδρεία, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα μόρια τῆς ἀρετῆς " κακὰ δὲ, ἀφροσύνη, καὶ ἀκολασία, καὶ ἀδικία, καὶ δειλία, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ὅσα τούτοις προσόμοια. Πλοῦτος δὲ, καὶ πενία, καὶ δουλεία, καὶ δεσποτεία, καὶ ὑγεία, καὶ νόσος, καὶ αἱ ἄλλαι τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίον εὐχληρίαι τε καὶ δυσχληρίαι, μέσον τινὰ ἔχουσι κλῆρον. Οἷον γάρ τινα ὄργανα πρόκειται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄριστοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν ἀρετὴν δι᾽ ἑκάστου τῶν εἰρημένων κατασκευάζουσιν. "Ἔστι γὰρ εὑρεῖν, καὶ πλούτῳ χομῶντας, καὶ πενίᾳ συζῶντας, ἀρετῆς ἐπιμελουμένους, καὶ ἐν ὑγείᾳ τὸν εὐεργέτην ἀνυμνοῦντας, καὶ ἐν νόσῳ καρτεροῦντας, καὶ δούλους σωφροσύνῃ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ λαμπρυνομένους " καὶ αὖ πάλιν ἄλλους, τοὺς μὲν ἐν πενίᾳ τὴν κακίαν ἀσπαζομένους, καὶ οὐ μόνον λωποδυτοῦντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ γεχροσυλίαν καὶ ἱεροσυλίαν τολμῶντας, τοὺς δὲ τὸν πλοῦτον ἀποφαίνοντας ὄργανον ἀδικίας, καὶ ἐν ὑγείᾳ μὲν ὑπεροψίᾳ κεχρημένους καὶ τύφῳ,, ἐν δὲ νόσοις βλασφήμους ἐρυγγάνοντας λόγους. Δι' ὧν καταμαθεῖν εὐπετὲς, ὡς τῶν μετιόντων τῇ χρήσει, πλοῦτος καὶ πενία, καὶ δουλεία καὶ δεσποτεία, καὶ τὰ τούτοις προσόμοια, νῦν μὲν ἐπαινετὰ, νῦν δὲ ψεκτά. Ὥσπερ δὲ καὶ τὸν σίδηρον νῦν μὲν συνεργὸν ἀποχαλοῦμεν τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωῆς,, διὰ μὲν ἀρότρου, καὶ σχαπάνης, καὶ διχέλλης, γεωργοῦντα τὴν γῆν, καὶ πρίονος καὶ οἰκιῶν καὶ σχευνῶν διαφόρων χατα-, ὄσχευὰς παρέχοντα " νῦν δέ τινες ἑπίδουλον ὀνομάζουσι, τὸ ξίφος ὁρῶντες, καὶ τὰς διὰ τούτου γεγενημένας σφαγάς. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τὸ ξίφος αἴτιον τῶν σφαγῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ κακῶς τῷ ξίφει χρησάμενος " οὔτε ὁ πλοῦτος καὶ ἡ πενία, καὶ ἡ ἄλλη τοῦ βίου εὐποτμία τε καὶ δυσποτμία, κατηγορίας ἄξιαι, ἀλλ᾽ οἱ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους ἑκάστῳ τούτων χρησάμενοι. Εἰ γὰρ τούτων ἕἔχαστον φύσει πονηρὸν ἐτύγχανεν, οὐκ ἂν ἀγαθῶν τισιν ἐγένετο πρόξενον. Εὑρίσκομεν δὲ ὅμως πολλοὺς διὰ τούτων κατωρθωκότας τὴν ἀρετήν. Οὔτε οὖν κακὸν τὸ ἀγαθοῦ γιγνόμενον ὄργανον, οὔτ᾽ αὖ πάλιν ἀγαθὸν τὸ ἐργαλεῖον ἑτέρῳ πρὸς πονηρίαν γιγνόμενον. Τὴν μέσην τοίνυν ἔχει τάξιν, καθάπερ τὰ φάρμακα. Καὶ γὰρ τὸ ὅπιον, καὶ τὸ κώνειον, εἰ ἄριστα κριθείη παρὰ τῶν ἰατρῶν, ἀλεξιφάρμακα γίγνεται" εἰ δὲ παρὰ τὸν τῆς τέχνης ληφθῇ λόγον, δηλητήρια καὶ ὀλέθρια. "Ἔστι δὲ ὅτε ἄρτος καὶ οἶνος νόσον τοῖς χρωμένοις ἐπάγουσι" λώδην γὰρ ἡ ἀμετρία γεννᾷ. Οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὴν εὐὑπραξίαν, καὶ τὴν δυσπραγίαν, οὗ μὲν σοφῶς «χυδερνῶντες σωτήρια χαταἀφορμὰς ὀλέθρου διὰ τούτων εἰσδέχονται. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν, καὶ ὅσα τούτοις προτόμοια, εὐχαρπία γῆς, καὶ ἀκαρπία, εὕπλοιά τε καὶ ναυαγία, τῇς θείας προνοίας ἐξήρτηται. Διὸ δὴ στέργειν ἅπαντας χρὴ τὰ παρ᾽ αὐτῆς γιγνόμενα, καὶ μὴ πολυπραγμονεῖν τὰς αἰτίας " ἀνέφιχτης γὰρ τῶν θείων πηδαλίων ὁ λόγος " δι᾽ … πάμπαν ἀποσχευάζεσθαι, εἰσοικίζεσθαι δὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν, καὶ τοῖς ταύτης μορίοις φαιδρύνεσθαι " καὶ καθάπερ αἱ φιλόκοσμοι γυναΐκες κομμωτικῇ τέχνῃ τὸ σῶμα λαμπρύνουσιν, οὕτω τῆς ψυχῆς χαλλωπίζξειν τὴν ὥραν τοῖς τῆς σωφροσύνης, καὶ δικαιοσύνης, καὶ ἀνδρείας, καὶ φρονήσεως ἄνθεσιν, Ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν γὰρ τούτων ἡ κτῆσις. ᾿Αὐελτηρίας δὲ ἐσχάτης, τῶν μὲν οὐκ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν τὴν κτῇσιν ἐπιζητεῖν, καὶ ταῦτα μετα» δολαῖς ὀξυῤῥόποις ὑποκειμένην, τῶν ὃὲ ὑπὸ τὴν ἦμετέραν ἐξουσίαν τελούντων, εὐχλεῶν τε ὄντων, καὶ τὸ διαρκὲς ἐχόντων, καὶ μόνιμον, ὡς εὐώνων τινῶν, καὶ οὐδενὸς λόγου ἀξίων καταφρονεῖν. Εὲ ταύτην τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων γνοίημεν τὴν διαίρεσιν, στέοξομεν τὰ τῶν θείων οἰάκων κινήματα, καὶ περὶ τῆς τὰ πάντα γὰρ κατὰ τὴν τάξιν ἐναλλαττομένας τοῦ ἕτους τὰς ὥρας, εἰς καιρὸν δὲ πάντα φυόμενα, καὶ κατὰ καιρὸν γιγνόμενον ἕχαστον. Οὐ γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς Μάνεντος ἀσελγεστάτους μύθους, οἱ τῆς ὕλης ἄρχοντες, τῆς «οὔ φωτὸς ἱμειρόμενοι θυγατρὸς, καὶ ταύτην καταδιώκοντες, ἱδροῦαι, καὶ τὸν ὑετὸν χορηγοῦσιν " ἀλλ᾽ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Δημιουργὸς νεύει, καὶ τὰ νέφη συνἰίσταται. Καὶ τοῦτο σαφῶς ἡἣ θεία διδάσκει Γραφή. « ᾿Ανάγων γὰρ, φησὶ, νεφέλας ἐξ ἐσχάτων τῆς γῆς, ἀστραπὰς εἰς ὑετὸν πεποίηκεν, ὁ ἐξάγων ἀνέμους ἐκ θησαυρῶν αὑτοῦ. » Καὶ πάλιν: « Ὁ προσκαλούμενος τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ ἐκχέων αὐτὸ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς. » Καὶ αὖθις " « Πνεύσει τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ῥυήσεται ὕδατα. » Καὶ ἑτέρωθι" «ε« Ποτίζων ὄρη ἐκ τῶν ὑπερῴων αὖποῦ, ἀπὸ χαρποὺῦ τῶν ἔργων σου χορτασθήσεται ἡ γῆ. Ὁ ἐξανατέλλων χόρτυν τοῖς κτήνεσι, καὶ χλόην τῇ δουλείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τοῦ ἐξαγαγεῖν ἄρτον ἐκ τῆς γῆς. ν Καὶ μυρία δὲ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ἕτερα παρὰ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ, τοῦ Θεοῦ δειχνύοντα τὴν πρόνοιαν. ᾿Αλλὰ περὶ προνοίας δέκα λόγους ἤδη συγγράψας, Περιττὸν οἶμαι νῦν τοῦτον εὐρῦναι τὸν λόγον.
Tautēn hē Ekklēsia peri psychēs kai sōmatos para tōn theiōn logiōn edidachthē tēn doxan. Ou monon de dēmiourgon hoide ton tōn holōn Theon, alla kai Tōn gar agan hatopōtatōn, pepoiēkenai men auton ta sympanta legein, ou dia chreian oikeian, alla monēn philanthrōpian, amelein de hōn epoiēse, kai peringiąn tēn chtitin hoion ti skaphos anermatiston te kai achydernēton hypo tōn enantiōn anemōn tę̄de kakeise pempomenon, kai schopelois kai rhachesi Diagoran to atheon " bdelyttometha de kai ton He pichouron, einai men Theon synchōrounta, touton de epestraphthai pros heauton legonta, kai mēdenos tōn en tę̄ ktisei ginomenōn haisthanesthai. Kai tēs ᾿Aristotelous de pronoias chatēgoroumen᾽" oron gar hautę̄ tetheike tēn selēnēn, dyoin thateron, hē adynamian autēs, hē ochnan katēgorōn" hē gar ouk echei dynamin pros tēn tōn holōn epimeleian exarchousan, hē dynamenē, ochnousa de ta kath᾽ hēmas achydernēta kataleloipen. ᾿All᾽ hekateron blasphēmias meston. HoO gar kai ta smikrotata tēs ktiseōs moria dēmiourgēsai thelēsas, pōs an adynatos klētheiē? Pōs d᾽ an amelēsoi di᾽ oknon toutōn, ha pepoiēke dia tēn tēs agathotētos athysson? ᾿All᾽ hikanōs tēn toutōn anoian dielenchei hē Platōnos pronoia. Pantōn gar ephēsen ekeinos, kai men dē kai hoi ta echeinou phrogountes, promētheisthai ton tōn holōn Theon. Theou de moirōn kai tōn nēmatōn elēlatai. ᾿Anoias gar eschatēs, tou Theou chydernōntos, heteron tǭ schaphei tēs oikoumenēs epeisagagein chydernētēn. Chrē de diairethēnai tǭ logǭ, tina men tōn tēs Pronoias pēdaliōn exērtētai, tina de tǭ tēs psychēs aponenemētai logikǭ,, kai tina men physika, tina de homōnymōs kaleitai, ouk onta men, nomizomena de einai kaka. Tōn anthrōpinōn toinyn pragmatōn, physei men agatha, phronēsis, kai sōphrosynē, kai dikaiosynē, kai andreia, kai ta alla moria tēs aretēs " kaka de, aphrosynē, kai akolasia, kai adikia, kai deilia, kai ta alla, hosa toutois prosomoia. Ploutos de, kai penia, kai douleia, kai despoteia, kai hygeia, kai nosos, kai hai allai tou anthrōpinou bion euchlēriai te kai dyschlēriai, meson tina echousi klēron. Hoion gar tina organa prokeitai tois anthrōpois. Kai hoi men aristoi tōn anthrōpōn tēn aretēn di᾽ hekastou tōn eirēmenōn kataskeuazousin. "Esti gar heurein, kai ploutǭ chomōntas, kai penią syzōntas, aretēs epimeloumenous, kai en hygeią ton euergetēn anymnountas, kai en nosǭ karterountas, kai doulous sōphrosynę̄ kai dikaiosynę̄ lamprynomenous " kai au palin allous, tous men en penią tēn kakian aspazomenous, kai ou monon lōpodytountas, alla kai gechrosylian kai hierosylian tolmōntas, tous de ton plouton apophainontas organon adikias, kai en hygeią men hyperopsią kechrēmenous kai typhǭ,, en de nosois blasphēmous erynganontas logous. Di' hōn katamathein eupetes, hōs tōn metiontōn tę̄ chrēsei, ploutos kai penia, kai douleia kai despoteia, kai ta toutois prosomoia, nyn men epaineta, nyn de psekta. Hōsper de kai ton sidēron nyn men synergon apochaloumen tēs tōn anthrōpōn zōēs,, dia men arotrou, kai schapanēs, kai dichellēs, geōrgounta tēn gēn, kai prionos kai oikiōn kai scheunōn diaphorōn chata-, oscheuas parechonta " nyn de tines hepidoulon onomazousi, to xiphos horōntes, kai tas dia toutou gegenēmenas sphagas. ᾿All᾽ oude to xiphos aition tōn sphagōn, all᾽ ho kakōs tǭ xiphei chrēsamenos " oute ho ploutos kai hē penia, kai hē allē tou biou eupotmia te kai dyspotmia, katēgorias axiai, all᾽ hoi para tous nomous hekastǭ toutōn chrēsamenoi. Ei gar toutōn heechaston physei ponēron etynchanen, ouk an agathōn tisin egeneto proxenon. Heuriskomen de homōs pollous dia toutōn katōrthōkotas tēn aretēn. Oute oun kakon to agathou gignomenon organon, out᾽ au palin agathon to ergaleion heterǭ pros ponērian gignomenon. Tēn mesēn toinyn echei taxin, kathaper ta pharmaka. Kai gar to hopion, kai to kōneion, ei arista kritheiē para tōn iatrōn, alexipharmaka gignetai" ei de para ton tēs technēs lēphthę̄ logon, dēlētēria kai olethria. "Esti de hote artos kai oinos noson tois chrōmenois epagousi" lōdēn gar hē ametria genną. Houtō dē kai tēn euypraxian, kai tēn dyspragian, hou men sophōs «chydernōntes sōtēria chataaphormas olethrou dia toutōn eisdechontai. Tauta men oun, kai hosa toutois protomoia, eucharpia gēs, kai akarpia, heuploia te kai nauagia, tę̄s theias pronoias exērtētai. Dio dē stergein hapantas chrē ta par᾽ autēs gignomena, kai mē polypragmonein tas aitias " anephichtēs gar tōn theiōn pēdaliōn ho logos " di᾽ … pampan aposcheuazesthai, eisoikizesthai de tēn aretēn, kai tois tautēs moriois phaidrynesthai " kai kathaper hai philokosmoi gynaïkes kommōtikę̄ technę̄ to sōma lamprynousin, houtō tēs psychēs challōpizxein tēn hōran tois tēs sōphrosynēs, kai dikaiosynēs, kai andreias, kai phronēseōs anthesin, Eph᾽ hēmin gar toutōn hē ktēsis. ᾿Aueltērias de eschatēs, tōn men ouk eph᾽ hēmin tēn ktę̄sin epizētein, kai tauta meta» dolais oxyrrhopois hypokeimenēn, tōn hoe hypo tēn ēmeteran exousian telountōn, euchleōn te ontōn, kai to diarkes echontōn, kai monimon, hōs euōnōn tinōn, kai oudenos logou axiōn kataphronein. Ee tautēn tōn anthrōpinōn gnoiēmen tēn diairesin, steoxomen ta tōn theiōn oiakōn kinēmata, kai peri tēs ta panta gar kata tēn taxin enallattomenas tou hetous tas hōras, eis kairon de panta phyomena, kai kata kairon gignomenon hechaston. Ou gar kata tous Manentos aselgestatous mythous, hoi tēs hylēs archontes, tēs «ou phōtos himeiromenoi thygatros, kai tautēn katadiōkontes, hidrouai, kai ton hyeton chorēgousin " all᾽ ho tōn holōn Dēmiourgos neuei, kai ta nephē syniistatai. Kai touto saphōs hēē theia didaskei Graphē. « ᾿Anagōn gar, phēsi, nephelas ex eschatōn tēs gēs, astrapas eis hyeton pepoiēken, ho exagōn anemous ek thēsaurōn hautou. » Kai palin: « Ho proskaloumenos to hydōr tēs thalassēs, kai ekcheōn auto epi prosōpon tēs gēs. » Kai authis " « Pneusei to pneuma autou, kai rhyēsetai hydata. » Kai heterōthi" «e« Potizōn orē ek tōn hyperǭōn aupou, apo charpouy tōn ergōn sou chortasthēsetai hē gē. Ho exanatellōn chortyn tois ktēnesi, kai chloēn tę̄ douleią tōn anthrōpōn, tou exagagein arton ek tēs gēs. n Kai myria de estin heurein hetera para tę̄ theią Graphę̄, tou Theou deichnyonta tēn pronoian. ᾿Alla peri pronoias deka logous ēdē syngrapsas, Peritton oimai nyn touton eurynai ton logon.
This is the opinion about soul and body that the church was taught by the divine oracles. It knows the God of all not only as Creator but also [as guardian and provider]. For it is utterly absurd to say that he made all things not from any need of his own but out of pure loving-kindness, and then neglects what he made and overlooks creation like a ship without ballast or helmsman, driven this way and that by contrary winds and [dashed] on rocks and reefs. [We abhor] the atheism of Diagoras; we loathe Epicurus too, who grants that God exists but says that he is turned in upon himself and perceives nothing of what happens in creation. We accuse Aristotle's providence as well, for he set the moon as its limit, charging it with one of two things, weakness or sloth: either it lacks power sufficient for the care of all things, or, though able, it has from sloth left our affairs without a helmsman. Both are full of blasphemy. How could he be called powerless who willed to create even the smallest parts of creation? How could he from sloth neglect what he made through the abyss of his goodness? Plato's providence sufficiently refutes their folly; for he, and those who share his views, said that the God of all takes thought for all things. … [the doctrine] of the Fates and their threads has been driven out [of the church]. For it is the height of folly, when God is steering, to bring in another helmsman for the ship of the world. We must distinguish in our account which things depend on the rudder of Providence and which are allotted to the rational faculty of the soul, which are natural, and which are called so by the same name, being not evils but thought to be evils. Among human things, then, good by nature are prudence, self-control, justice, courage and the other parts of virtue; evil are folly, licentiousness, injustice, cowardice and the others like them. Wealth and poverty, slavery and mastery, health and sickness, and the other good and ill fortunes of human life have a middle place; they lie before people like instruments. The best of people build virtue through each of them. For one can find people abounding in wealth and people living with poverty who care for virtue, people who praise their benefactor in health and endure in sickness, and slaves shining with self-control and justice; and again others who in poverty embrace wickedness, not only stealing clothes but daring to rob graves and temples, others who make wealth an instrument of injustice, who in health are arrogant and conceited, and in sickness belch out blasphemous words. From these it is easy to learn that wealth and poverty, slavery and mastery and the like are, according to the use made of them, now praiseworthy and now blameworthy. Just as we call iron now a helper of human life, tilling the land by plough, spade and mattock, and providing by the saw the construction of houses and of various furnishings, while some call it treacherous, seeing the sword and the slaughters done with it; yet the sword is not the cause of the slaughters, but the one who used the sword badly; so neither wealth and poverty nor the other good and bad fortune of life deserve blame, but those who used each of them against the laws. For if each of these were evil by nature, it would not have brought about good for anyone; yet we find many who achieved virtue through them. What becomes an instrument of good is not evil, nor again is the tool that becomes for another an instrument of wickedness good. They have a middle rank, like medicines. For opium and hemlock, if prescribed excellently by physicians, become remedies; but if taken against the rule of the art, deadly and destructive. And sometimes bread and wine bring sickness on those who use them, for excess breeds harm. So too prosperity and adversity: those who steer wisely make them saving, while [others] receive from them occasions of ruin. These things, then, and all like them, the fruitfulness and barrenness of the earth, good voyages and shipwrecks, depend on divine providence. Therefore all should be content with what comes from it and not pry into the causes; for the reason of the divine helm is beyond reach …, [and one should cast out wickedness] altogether, bring virtue in to dwell, and be made bright with its parts; and as women who love finery adorn the body with the art of cosmetics, so one should beautify the bloom of the soul with the flowers of self-control, justice, courage and prudence. For the acquisition of these is in our power. It is the height of stupidity to seek the acquisition of things not in our power, and subject to swift reversals, and to despise as cheap and worthless the things under our own authority, which are glorious, lasting and permanent. If we recognize this division of human things, we shall be content with the movements of the divine tiller, and [shall not doubt] about [providence, seeing] all things in order, the seasons of the year changing, everything growing in season, and each thing happening at its proper time. For it is not, according to Mani's most licentious myths, the rulers of matter, longing for the daughter of light and pursuing her, who sweat and supply the rain; but the Creator of all nods, and the clouds gather. The divine Scripture teaches this clearly: “Bringing up clouds from the ends of the earth, he has made lightnings for the rain, he who brings out winds from his storehouses.” And again: “He who calls the water of the sea and pours it out on the face of the earth.” And again: “He will blow with his wind, and waters will flow.” And elsewhere: “Watering the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth will be satisfied with the fruit of your works. Making grass grow for the cattle and green plants for the service of men, to bring forth bread from the earth.” And countless other passages can be found in the divine Scripture showing God's providence. But since I have already written ten discourses on providence, I think it superfluous to broaden this account now.
Ps 135:7 (134:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Amos 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Amos 9:6 (quotation, medium confidence) · Ps 147:18 (147:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:13–14 (103:13-Ps LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Theodoret teaches God's providence over all things against Diagoras, Epicurus, Aristotle, fate and Mani, distinguishing true goods (the virtues) from the neutral fortunes of life that can be used well or badly.
- The chapter heading “On providence” appeared in the scan as a marginal line and is removed; this chapter's heading was placed at Migne's Latin margin title. Some words are lost (marked …; bracketed words supplied for sense).
- The ten discourses on providence are Theodoret's own work On Providence.
- Quotations: Ps 135:7 (LXX 134:7); Amos 5:8 (9:6); Ps 147:18 (LXX 147:7); Ps 104:13–14 (LXX 103:13–14).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Migne's Latin read as Greek; column letter and chapter heading printed as a marginal line; footnote and Migne's Latin; Greek lost; stray bracket; stray letters inside a word): Β Ψ. Περὶ Προνοίας. → ; τοῦτον δὲ ( ἐπεστράφθαι → τοῦτον δὲ ἐπεστράφθαι; ὁμωνύ» ἐδ μως → ὁμωνύμως; εἶναι ἃ 864 4886 Οχί δι Πππδπίυγ. [ἢ κακά → εἶναι κακά; δι᾽ ἔχ. τ. εἰρ. [1 δὰ σαϊοοιῃ δα. οηι. Γαηίΐα, οἱ π᾿) α51}1|8,. οἱ εἰ! ἀ 148, αἱ 4114 ἢΐ5 βίῃ] δ. ιν ἴθ νογο, οἱ ρα ρογίδβ, οἱ βαευνί τι, οἱ ἀοῃιϊπίιπ,, σ πάμπαν → δι᾽ … πάμπαν.
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle (Aristotle (works); allusion); Plato (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Haer. fab. 5.10 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-haereticarum-fabularum-compendium/5-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-haereticarum-fabularum-compendium/5-10
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.