Against the Manichees 2.15–2.26 (Against the Manichees)

Titus of Bostra

Against the Manichees 2.15–2.26

Titus of Bostra · Against the Manichees · ca. 360s · Bostra · 12 passages

Greek text: Lagarde 1859 (Greek text: Paul de Lagarde (Berlin, 1859); machine-read from a scan of the printed pages).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

BothSource textEnglish

Transliteration

Show only the passage I followed

Chapter 2

2.15Lagarde 1859, 32

λοιπὸν δὲ περί τε τῆς πανσόφου διοικήσεως τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ περὶ τῶν μάτην εἰς κακίαν πρὸ[ς] τοῦ μανέντος διαβληθέντων δημιουργημάτων ῥητέον ὡς δύναμις. ἀταξίαν δὴ πολλὴν ψηφίζεται τῶν χαθʼ ἡμᾶς πραγμάτων, πλοῦτόν τε καὶ πενίαν, ὑγείαν τε καὶ νόσον ὡς ἄνισα διαβάλλων" ἔτι μὴν καὶ τὸ πολλάκις τὸν μὲν κακοῦργον διαφεύγειν τὴν τῶν νόμων τιμωρίαν, τὸν δʼ ἀναίτιον τιμωρεῖσθαι καὶ τοὺς φαύλους ἔστιν ὅτε τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀρχῆς ἐπιβαίνειν. ῥητέον τοίνυν ὅτι παρῆκται πρὸς τοῦ δημιουργήσαντος ἄνθρωπος εἰς τὸν βίον ἐμπορευόμενος ἕτερον οὐδὲν ἢ μόνην εὐσέβειάν τε καὶ ἀρετήν. ταῦτα γὰρ κτησάμενος μὲν καλῶς ἄν διανήξαιτο τόνδε τὸν βίον, ἀμελήσας δὲ τούτων χαλεπῶς ἄν διαβαπτισθείη πλανώμενος. τροφὴν δὲ σώματος καὶ ἐνδυμάτων περιβολὴν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην σκέπην δέδωκεν ὁ θεὸς αὐτῷ [οὐ] προηγούμενα δῶρα, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἀναγκαῖα πρὸς τὴν ἐνταῦθα τοῦ εἶναι σύστασιν, ἵνα μετὰ σώματος ὑπάρχων τὸ μὲν ζῆν διὰ τούτων ἔχῃ, τὸ δὲ πονεῖν καὶ κτᾶσθαι τὰ ῥηθέντα ἀόκνως μετίῃ.. φῶς δὲ περιεποίησε σωματικὸν καὶ κατάλληλον αὐτοῦ τῇ φύσει καὶ ἀέρα πρὸς ἀναπνοὴν καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα δὴ ὅσα ἀναγκαῖα. ταῦτα γὰρ κοινὰ μὲν φυσικῶς ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ὑπάρχει παρὰ θεοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις φαίη ὡς τῷ πένητι ἔλαττον τοῦ φωτὸς μέτεστι[ν] ἣ τῆς τῶν ὑδάτῶν χορηγίας οὔτε μὴν τῆς πρὸς τὸ ζῆν φυσικωτάτης ἀναπνοῆς. καὶ ἀναγκαίαν δὲ τὴν τροφὴν (εἰ καὶ μὴ ἄνευ ἱδρῶτος) πορίζεται. ἀλλʼ ὅμως κοινὸς τοῖς πᾶσι τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἀναγκαίως ζῆν χορηγίας ὃ τρόπος. χρυσός τε καὶ ἄργυρος καὶ λίθοι τίμιοι, παρʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς κεκτημένοις ὑπάρχει, οὐ μὴν πλέον τι συμβάλλοιτʼ ἄν πρὸς τὴν προειρημένην ἐμπορίαν, εἰ μὴ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐμποδίσειεν ἄν. ὅμως δὲ οὔτε πενίᾳ ἀνέφικτος ἣ προτεθεῖσα παρὰ θεοῦ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πορεία οὔτε πλούτῳ μᾶλλον ῥᾳδία, ἀλλʼ ἀμφοτέρως ἔνεστι τοῖς γε σπουδαιοτάτοις τὴν προκειμένην τεμεῖν ὁδόν. πενία μὲν γὰρ διὰ καρτερίας καὶ ἐλευθεριότητος, πλοῦτος δὲ διὰ μετριοφροσύνης καὶ τοῦ προτιμᾶν τῶν δοθέντων τὸν δεδωκότα κατορθώσειεν ἄν τὸ σπουδαζόμενον, ὡς μήτε τὸν πτωχεύοντα δυσχερείας ἄνευ καὶ πόνων ἐπιβάλλειν τῷ κατορθώματι, δεῖσθαι δὲ προσεχείας (εἰ καί τις αὐτῷ πρόσεστιν ἀφροντιστία) πρὸς τὸ μὴ τῆς πτωχείας χάριν ἀνελεύθερόν τι μὲν δρᾶσαι, ἀγανακτήσαντα δὲ πρὸς ταύτην διελέγξαι τὴν οἰκείαν πρόθεσιν ὡς μᾶλλον ἄν θεοῦ τιμῴη τὰ πρὸς αὐτοῦ διδόμενα — μήτε τὴν περιουσίαν πλείστην κεκτημένον ὠνίου τρόπον ἑαυτῷ δύνασθαι εὐσέβειάν τε καὶ ἀρετὴν πορίσασθαι, ἀλλὰ πλείονος ἱδρῶτος πρὸς τοῦτο δεῖσθαι. χειμάζεσθαι γὰρ μᾶλλον τὸν τοιοῦτον εἰκὸς τὴν διάνοιαν, τῇ φροντίδι μεριζόμενον πρός τε τὰ ἐκτὸς πρός τε τὰ περὶ τὴν ψυχήν, ὡς, εἰ μὴ πάρεργον εἶναι παντελῶς τὸν πλοῦτον οἰηθείη, ἔργον δὲ μόνον τὴν πρὸς θεὸν φιλίαν, βαπτισθήσεται πρὸς ἄνοιαν παντελῇ, μὴ συνιεὶς ὡς τὸ πρῶτον καὶ μόνον ἀγαθὸν ἐάσας δουλεύει νεκρῷ πλούτῳ, ὃν ἀπολιπὼν ἄλλοις οἰχήσεται. ἀκίνδυνος μὲν οὖν ἐπʼ ἴσης οὔτε πλουσίῳ οὔτε πένητι τῆς ἀρετῆς ἢ πορεία οὐ μὴν οὐδʼ ἀνέφικτος οὐδενὶ τούτοῖν, ἀλλήλων δὲ διαφέρουσι μόνον τῇ τῶν ἔξωθεν περιβολῇ, μηδὲν ἐχούσῃ πλέον πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον,

loipon de peri te tēs pansophou dioikēseōs tou theou kai peri tōn matēn eis kakian pro[s] tou manentos diablēthentōn dēmiourgēmatōn rhēteon hōs dynamis. ataxian dē pollēn psēphizetai tōn chathʼ hēmas pragmatōn, plouton te kai penian, hygeian te kai noson hōs anisa diaballōn" eti mēn kai to pollakis ton men kakourgon diapheugein tēn tōn nomōn timōrian, ton dʼ anaition timōreisthai kai tous phaulous estin hote tēs kata tōn allōn archēs epibainein. rhēteon toinyn hoti parēktai pros tou dēmiourgēsantos anthrōpos eis ton bion emporeuomenos heteron ouden ē monēn eusebeian te kai aretēn. tauta gar ktēsamenos men kalōs an dianēxaito tonde ton bion, amelēsas de toutōn chalepōs an diabaptistheiē planōmenos. trophēn de sōmatos kai endymatōn peribolēn kai tēn allēn skepēn dedōken ho theos autǭ [ou] proēgoumena dōra, allʼ hōs anankaia pros tēn entautha tou einai systasin, hina meta sōmatos hyparchōn to men zēn dia toutōn echę̄, to de ponein kai ktasthai ta rhēthenta aoknōs metię̄.. phōs de periepoiēse sōmatikon kai katallēlon autou tę̄ physei kai aera pros anapnoēn kai hydōr kai ta alla dē hosa anankaia. tauta gar koina men physikōs hapasin anthrōpois hyparchei para theou kai ouk an tis phaiē hōs tǭ penēti elatton tou phōtos metesti[n] hē tēs tōn hydatōn chorēgias oute mēn tēs pros to zēn physikōtatēs anapnoēs. kai anankaian de tēn trophēn (ei kai mē aneu hidrōtos) porizetai. allʼ homōs koinos tois pasi tēs pros to anankaiōs zēn chorēgias ho tropos. chrysos te kai argyros kai lithoi timioi, parʼ autou kai tauta tois kektēmenois hyparchei, ou mēn pleon ti symballoitʼ an pros tēn proeirēmenēn emporian, ei mē kai mallon empodiseien an. homōs de oute penią anephiktos hē protetheisa para theou tois anthrōpois poreia oute ploutǭ mallon rhądia, allʼ amphoterōs enesti tois ge spoudaiotatois tēn prokeimenēn temein hodon. penia men gar dia karterias kai eleutheriotētos, ploutos de dia metriophrosynēs kai tou protiman tōn dothentōn ton dedōkota katorthōseien an to spoudazomenon, hōs mēte ton ptōcheuonta dyschereias aneu kai ponōn epiballein tǭ katorthōmati, deisthai de prosecheias (ei kai tis autǭ prosestin aphrontistia) pros to mē tēs ptōcheias charin aneleutheron ti men drasai, aganaktēsanta de pros tautēn dielenxai tēn oikeian prothesin hōs mallon an theou timǭē ta pros autou didomena — mēte tēn periousian pleistēn kektēmenon ōniou tropon heautǭ dynasthai eusebeian te kai aretēn porisasthai, alla pleionos hidrōtos pros touto deisthai. cheimazesthai gar mallon ton toiouton eikos tēn dianoian, tę̄ phrontidi merizomenon pros te ta ektos pros te ta peri tēn psychēn, hōs, ei mē parergon einai pantelōs ton plouton oiētheiē, ergon de monon tēn pros theon philian, baptisthēsetai pros anoian pantelę̄, mē synieis hōs to prōton kai monon agathon easas douleuei nekrǭ ploutǭ, hon apolipōn allois oichēsetai. akindynos men oun epʼ isēs oute plousiǭ oute penēti tēs aretēs ē poreia ou mēn oudʼ anephiktos oudeni toutoin, allēlōn de diapherousi monon tę̄ tōn exōthen peribolę̄, mēden echousę̄ pleon pros to prokeimenon,

It remains to speak, as far as we can, about God’s all-wise governance and about the created things slandered in vain as evil by the madman. He condemns much disorder in our affairs, attacking wealth and poverty, health and sickness, as unequal; and also that often the evildoer escapes the penalty of the laws while the innocent is punished, and that bad men sometimes rise to rule over others. We must say, then, that man was brought into life by his Creator to trade in nothing else but piety and virtue alone. If he acquires these, he will swim well through this life; but if he neglects them, he will be grievously plunged under as he wanders. Food for the body, clothing to wear and other shelter God has given him not as the principal gifts, but as necessary for keeping him in being here, so that, being with a body, he may have life through these, and may pursue without hesitation the toil of acquiring what has been mentioned. And he provided bodily light suited to his nature, air for breathing, water and all the other necessary things. These belong by nature to all men in common from God, and no one could say that the poor man has a smaller share of light or of the supply of water, or of breathing, which is most natural for life. And necessary food he provides (even if not without sweat); still the manner of supplying what is needed for life is common to all. Gold, silver and precious stones also come from him to those who possess them, but they would contribute nothing more to the trade we have spoken of; rather they would hinder it. Yet the journey God set before men is neither out of reach for poverty nor easier for wealth; in either condition the very earnest can cut the road set before them. Poverty by endurance and freedom of spirit, and wealth by moderation and by honouring the giver above his gifts, would achieve what is sought. So the poor man cannot reach the achievement without difficulty and toil, but needs attention (even if he has a certain freedom from care), so as not to do anything servile for the sake of his poverty, nor, being vexed at it, to show by his purpose that he would value God’s gifts more highly than God; and the man who possesses very great wealth cannot procure for himself piety and virtue as by purchase, but needs more sweat for it. For such a man is likely to be more storm-tossed in mind, divided in his concern between external things and the things of the soul; so that, unless he thinks wealth wholly secondary and friendship with God his only work, he will be plunged into utter folly, not understanding that, having left the first and only good, he serves dead wealth, which he will leave to others when he departs. The journey of virtue, then, is equally free of danger for neither rich nor poor, yet out of reach for neither; they differ only in the outward wrappings, which contribute nothing to what is set before them,

Notes and citation

Summary: Wealth and poverty are unequal only outwardly; the necessities of life are common to all, and virtue is equally possible and equally demanding for rich and poor.

“[οὐ]” before “the principal gifts” is bracketed in Lagarde; translated. In “πρὸ[ς]”, “μέτεστι[ν]” and “καταβαλ[λ]όμενα” the bracketed letters are Lagarde’s. The section ends mid-sentence.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR kappa/chi; OCR, line-end break): φηφίζεται → ψηφίζεται; χτησώμενος → κτησάμενος; ἀχλʼ ὡς → ἀλλʼ ὡς; χτᾶσθαι → κτᾶσθαι; μετίῃς → μετίῃ.; φυσιχωτάτης → φυσικωτάτης; πᾶλλον → μᾶλλον; χατορθώσειεν → κατορθώσειεν; θεοὸν → θεὸν; βαπτι- ʼ σθήσεται → βαπτισθήσεται.

Topics: Ethics, Wealth and poverty

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.15 (Lagarde 1859, 32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-15

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-15) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.16Lagarde 1859, 34

ἀναγκαίως καὶ τοῦτο τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ σοφίας “διαθείσης. ὅ τε γὰρ πένης διαγυμνάζεται πρὸς καρτερίαν, πλοῦτον παρʼ ἄλλῳ βλέπων, καὶ ὃ πλούσιος δοκιμάζεται τὴν γνώμην τῷ τοῦ πτωχεύοντος εὐτελείᾳ. πλοῦτος μὲν γὰρ μὴ παρακειμένης πτωχείας ἄχρηστος (τίνα γὰρ εὖ ποιήσει;) καὶ πενία ἀδόκιμος, μὴ ἀντικειμένου πλούτου. ὅλως δὲ οὔτε τὸ πλουτεῖν μακάριον οὔτε τὸ πένεσθαι ἐλεεινόν, ἐπειδή γε μόνος ἐκεῖνος μακάριος, ᾧ πρόσεστιν ἣ βέβαιος τῆς ψυχῆς κατʼ ἀρετὴν εὐπραγία (κἄν τε πλούσιος κἂν πένης ὑπάρχῃ ὁ τοιοῦτος), ἧς ἕνεκεν πρὸς θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος γεγένηται, ὡς δέον παρὰ μὲν θεοῦ τὸ εἶναι λαβεῖν, παρʼ ἑαυτοῦ δὲ τὸ ἀγαθὸν προσγενέσθαι λαβεῖν, συνεργοῦντος θεοῦ: βούλεται γὰρ θεὸς καὶ παρʼ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔχειν ἄν τὸ λογικὸν ὄντα πρὸς ἔνδοξον παρρησίαν. ὥστε οὐ θαυμάσομεν οὐδὲ μακαριοῦμεν ἄνδρα πλούσιον κακοπραγοῦντα οὐδὲ διαπορήσομεν, ὅτι πλουτεῖ τοιοῦτος ὦν, πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ πρόνοιαν. τί γὰρ ὑπάρχει πλέον ἀνδρὶ πονηρῷ πλουτοῦντι; τί δὲ οὐκ ἔλαττον αὐτῷ πρόσεστιν; ἀγρυπνίαι μὲν καὶ κίνδυνοι διὰ τὰ χρήματα, λύπαι δὲ τῶν ἀναλισκομένων μείζους ἥπερ ἡδοναὶ τῶν ποριζομένων. οὐ. γὰρ οὕτω τὸ παρὸν εὐφραίνει, ὡς τὸ ἀπὸν λυπεῖ, καὶ ἀεὶ τὰ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας συναύξεται τῷ πλούτῳ, ὡς τὸν λογισμὸν ἀδιαλείπτως συνοικεῖν ἀσχέτῳ πάθει, τὸ δὲ σῶμα πολλάκις συγκατατήκεσθαι τῷ λογισμῷ. τὸ δὴ δοκοῦν πλεονέκτημα τοῦ περιουσίαν κεκτημένου χαλεπώτερον τυγχάνει ἢ μειονέκτημα. τρυφῶν γὰρ καὶ εὐνῆς ἀπαλότητι χρώμενος εἰς ἀρρωστίας ἔστιν ὅτε ποικίλας ἐμπίπτει, τοῦ πένητος τῇ ξηρότητι τῆς ἀναγκαίας διαίτης τὸ ὑγιαῖνον τῷ σώματι ποριζομένου. καίτοι τίς ἄν φαίη ὡς οὐχὶ τὸ σῶμα τῶν ἐκτὸς προτιμότερον; εἰ δὲ τοῖς τὰ ἀναγκαῖα μετρίοις ἐρρωμενεστέρα τοῦ σώματος ἕξις διαμένει, τοῖς δὲ πρὸς ἄμετρον τρυφὴν κεχαλασμένοις συγκατάγεται καὶ τοῦ σώματος ὃ τόνος, πῶς οὐκ εὔδηλον ὡς κατὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἔλαττον τῆς πενίας ὁ πλοῦτος; πλὴν εἰ μή τις εὑρεθείη καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων προσδεής, ὅπερ οὐδέποτε τῷ κατʼ ἀρετὴν σπουδαίῳ συμβαίνει. ἄρα δὲ τῶν πολυτελῶν ἐδεσμάτων ἣ ἡδονὴ συνδιαμένει τῇ αἰσθήσει τῶν ἀεὶ κεχρημένων ἣ δὴ λίαν εὐτελίζεται τῇ χρονίᾳ συνηθείᾳ; ὡς μηδὲν ἔχειν τοὺς τοιούτους πλέον, ὅπερ εἰς τρυφὴν προσαγάγωνται. ἀεὶ γὰρ τὸ σύνηθες εὐκαταφρόνητον. τῷ δὲ πένητι τὸ μὲν εὐτελὲς διὰ τὴν ὑγείαν ἥδιστον, τὸ δὲ πολυτελὲς (εἴ ποτε γένοιτο) ξένον καὶ καινότατον εἰς ἀνειμένην ἀπόλαυσιν· ὥστε κατὰ τοῦτο τοῖς ὀρθοῖς λογισμοῖς ὃ χρώμενος εὔροι ἄν πλέον ἔχοντα τοῦ πλουσίου τὸν πένητα.

anankaiōs kai touto tēs tou theou sophias “diatheisēs. ho te gar penēs diagymnazetai pros karterian, plouton parʼ allǭ blepōn, kai ho plousios dokimazetai tēn gnōmēn tǭ tou ptōcheuontos euteleią. ploutos men gar mē parakeimenēs ptōcheias achrēstos (tina gar eu poiēsei?) kai penia adokimos, mē antikeimenou ploutou. holōs de oute to ploutein makarion oute to penesthai eleeinon, epeidē ge monos ekeinos makarios, hǭ prosestin hē bebaios tēs psychēs katʼ aretēn eupragia (kan te plousios kan penēs hyparchę̄ ho toioutos), hēs heneken pros theou anthrōpos gegenētai, hōs deon para men theou to einai labein, parʼ heautou de to agathon prosgenesthai labein, synergountos theou: bouletai gar theos kai parʼ autou ton anthrōpon echein an to logikon onta pros endoxon parrēsian. hōste ou thaumasomen oude makarioumen andra plousion kakopragounta oude diaporēsomen, hoti ploutei toioutos ōn, pros tēn tou theou pronoian. ti gar hyparchei pleon andri ponērǭ ploutounti? ti de ouk elatton autǭ prosestin? agrypniai men kai kindynoi dia ta chrēmata, lypai de tōn analiskomenōn meizous hēper hēdonai tōn porizomenōn. ou. gar houtō to paron euphrainei, hōs to apon lypei, kai aei ta tēs epithymias synauxetai tǭ ploutǭ, hōs ton logismon adialeiptōs synoikein aschetǭ pathei, to de sōma pollakis synkatatēkesthai tǭ logismǭ. to dē dokoun pleonektēma tou periousian kektēmenou chalepōteron tynchanei ē meionektēma. tryphōn gar kai eunēs apalotēti chrōmenos eis arrōstias estin hote poikilas empiptei, tou penētos tę̄ xērotēti tēs anankaias diaitēs to hygiainon tǭ sōmati porizomenou. kaitoi tis an phaiē hōs ouchi to sōma tōn ektos protimoteron? ei de tois ta anankaia metriois errōmenestera tou sōmatos hexis diamenei, tois de pros ametron tryphēn kechalasmenois synkatagetai kai tou sōmatos ho tonos, pōs ouk eudēlon hōs kata touto kai elatton tēs penias ho ploutos? plēn ei mē tis heuretheiē kai tōn anankaiōn prosdeēs, hoper oudepote tǭ katʼ aretēn spoudaiǭ symbainei. ara de tōn polytelōn edesmatōn hē hēdonē syndiamenei tę̄ aisthēsei tōn aei kechrēmenōn hē dē lian eutelizetai tę̄ chronią synētheią? hōs mēden echein tous toioutous pleon, hoper eis tryphēn prosagagōntai. aei gar to synēthes eukataphronēton. tǭ de penēti to men euteles dia tēn hygeian hēdiston, to de polyteles (ei pote genoito) xenon kai kainotaton eis aneimenēn apolausin; hōste kata touto tois orthois logismois ho chrōmenos euroi an pleon echonta tou plousiou ton penēta.

… since God’s wisdom has arranged this too of necessity. For the poor man is trained to endurance by seeing wealth with another, and the rich man is tested in his disposition by the poor man’s want. Wealth without poverty beside it is useless (for whom will it benefit?), and poverty is untested without wealth set against it. And in general neither being rich is blessed nor being poor pitiable, since that man alone is blessed who has the firm well-being of the soul according to virtue (whether he is rich or poor), for whose sake man was made by God; so that he must receive being from God, and receive the addition of the good from himself, with God working with him. For God wishes man, being rational, to have something from himself as well, for glorious boldness. So we shall not admire or call blessed a rich man who does evil, nor shall we be perplexed about God’s providence because such a man is rich. For what more has a wicked rich man? And what does he not have less of? Sleepless nights and dangers because of his money, griefs at what is spent greater than the pleasures of what is gained. For what is present does not gladden so much as what is absent grieves; and desire always grows with wealth, so that reason lives constantly with an unbridled passion, and the body often wastes away along with reason. So what seems the advantage of the man of property turns out a worse disadvantage. Living in luxury and the softness of his bed, he sometimes falls into various illnesses, while the poor man gains health for his body by the plainness of his necessary diet. And who would say that the body is not to be valued above external things? If, then, the state of the body remains stronger in those who are moderate in necessities, while in those relaxed by unmeasured luxury the vigour of the body too is brought down, how is it not evident that in this respect too wealth is less than poverty? Unless someone should be found to lack even necessities, which never happens to the man earnest for virtue. And does the pleasure of costly dishes last in the senses of those who always use them, or is it not much cheapened by long habit? So that such people have nothing more to bring in for their luxury; for what is customary is always despised. But to the poor man plain food is most pleasant because of his health, and costly food (if it ever comes) is strange and quite new, for relaxed enjoyment; so that in this respect the man who uses right reasoning would find the poor man to have more than the rich.

Notes and citation

Summary: Rich and poor test and train each other; true blessedness is virtue, and in health and pleasure the poor man often has more than the rich.

The section begins mid-sentence, continuing 2.15. Some garbled characters at the end of the OCR (ʼὉὃΝΝ) are ignored.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR debris; OCR kappa/chi): βλέκων → βλέπων; κᾷν τε πλούσιος κᾷἀν πένης → κἄν τε πλούσιος κἂν πένης; μαχαριοῦμεν → μακαριοῦμεν; χαχοπραγοῦντα → κακοπραγοῦντα; συγκατατήχεσθαι → συγκατατήκεσθαι; μειονέχτημα → μειονέκτημα; χαέτοι → καίτοι; συγχατάγεται → συγκατάγεται; πολοταλὲς → πολυτελὲς; ἀπόλαυοινʼ ͵ʼὉὃΝΝ. - → ἀπόλαυσιν·; τὸν πένητας → τὸν πένητα..

Topics: Ethics, Wealth and poverty

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.16 (Lagarde 1859, 34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-16

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-16) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.17Lagarde 1859, 35

νόσος δὲ καὶ ὑγεία παραπλησίως ἀναγκαῖα" ἥ τε γὰρ ὑγεία πρὸς ἀδικίαν τοῦ ἔργου τῆς ἀρετῆς ἥ τε νόσος ἔστιν ὅτε πρὸς ἀνατροπὴν ἁμαρτίας. βοηθεῖται γὰρ πολλάκις ὃ λογισμὸς τοῖς ἔξωθεν χ[ωλ]ύμασιν, ἄλλως τε τῶν ἀρρωστημάτων ἢ πεῖρα τῆς τοῦ ὑγιαίνειν εὐεργεσίας ἀναμιμνήσκει πρὸς εὐλάβειαν. ἦν δʼ ἄν καὶ λίαν εὐκαταφρόνητος, εἰ καθʼ ἑαυτὴν καθʼ ὅλου διέμεινε τῷ μηδὲν ἐνδέχεσθαι παρεμποδίζειν αὐτήν. εἰ δʼ ὁ μὲν ἐπιεικὴς νοσοίη, ὑγιαίνοι δὲ ὁ θρασύς, ὃ μὲν κατέχεται τῷ χ[ωλ]ύματι, βοηθούμενος πρὸς τὸ ἄμεμπτον τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ζωῆς, ὁ δὲ παραδέδοται τῷ πλημμελεῖν ὡς ἀπεγνωσμένος, εἰ δʼ αὖθις ὃ θρασὺς καὶ λίαν ἀσεβὴς [νόσῳ] περιπίπτοι, ὁ δὲ ἐπιεικὴς ὑγιαίνοι, ὁ μὲν οὐχ ἵνα βοηθηθῇ πρὸς αἴσθησιν κολάζεται, ἀλλʼ ἵνα χρησιμεύσῃ τοῖς ὁρῶσι πρὸς ὑπόδειγμα, ὃ δὲ ὡς δίχα δεσμῶν ἡμέρως ἀναστρέφειν δυνάμενος ἄνοσος διαμένει. καὶ ὅλως ἑκάτερα πανταχοῦ χρήσιμα καὶ ἄθλιος ὁ τὴν πρόνοιαν ἐντεῦθεν ἀρνούμενος ἢ διαβάλλων" μόνη γὰρ ὀλέθριος ἐκείνη νόσος ἣ τὴν διάθεσιν τῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς ἀποτροπὴν ἀρετῆς κακοῦσα. οἷς οὖν ὁ λογισμὸς ἀθῶος διαμένοι, εἴτʼ οὖν νοσοίη εἴτʼ οὖν καὶ ὑγιαίνοι τὸ σῶμα, αἰσθήσονται ἑκατέρου τὸ χρήσιμον. εἰ γὰρ μὴ πάντως κολάζοι τὸν κακοπραγοῦντα νόσος, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τοὺς νόμους ἔστιν ὅτε διαφεύγουσι κακοῦργοι, ἄρʼ οὖν οὐχ ἄν εἴη διὰ τοῦτο κώλυμα τῆς κακουργίας ὁ νόμος, ἐπειδὴ μὴ διὰ πάντων πρόεισι τῶν ὑποκειμένων, ἣ τὸ θαῦμα τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ σοφίας ἐντεῦθεν ὡς πανταχόθεν ἀναδείκνυται; εἰ μὲν γὰρ πάντως δῆλον ἦν ὡς οὐδαμῶς ἐνδέχεται διαφεύγειν τῶν νόμων τὴν κόλασιν τὸν ὁτιδήποτε τῶν ἀπη[γο]ρευμένων διαπραττόμενον, κίβδηλον ἄν καὶ λίαν ἀδόκιμον ἦν τὸ ἄπρακτον τῆς ἁμαρτίας" πάντες γὰρ ἄν δέει τῆς “τιμωρίας, οὐχὶ μίσει τῆς κακουργίας, ἀπείχοντο. χρὴ δὲ τὸν σπουδαῖον μισεῖν τὸ ποιῆσαι μᾶλλον ἣ [τὸ] παθεῖν, κἂν μὴ δικαίως συμβαίνοι. ἐντεῦθεν διαφεύγουσι τοὺς νόμους τῶν κακούργων οἱ πλείους, ἐπειδή γε κόλασις οὐχ αὕτη τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων ἐστίν, οἴησις δὲ μόνον τιμωρίας. θάνατος γὰρ ὁ κατὰ φύσιν καὶ δίχα κολάσεως ἄν ἐπέλθοι, ὥστε ἄλλη μὲν ἐστὶ τοῖς παρανομοῦσιν ἢ ἄφυκτος τιμωρία. διαφεύγουσι δὲ τὴν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν οἱ πλείους, ἵνα τὸ ἐνδεχόμενον τοῦ λαθεῖν βάσανος γένηται τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου λογισμοῦ, καὶ χαθʼ ὅλου ἐπί τε κλέπτοντος καὶ ψευδομένου καὶ τὰ μείζω τῶν κακῶν δρᾶν ἐπιχειρούντων τὸ ῥηθὲν παρεκτείνεται.

nosos de kai hygeia paraplēsiōs anankaia" hē te gar hygeia pros adikian tou ergou tēs aretēs hē te nosos estin hote pros anatropēn hamartias. boētheitai gar pollakis ho logismos tois exōthen ch[ōl]ymasin, allōs te tōn arrōstēmatōn ē peira tēs tou hygiainein euergesias anamimnēskei pros eulabeian. ēn dʼ an kai lian eukataphronētos, ei kathʼ heautēn kathʼ holou diemeine tǭ mēden endechesthai parempodizein autēn. ei dʼ ho men epieikēs nosoiē, hygiainoi de ho thrasys, ho men katechetai tǭ ch[ōl]ymati, boēthoumenos pros to amempton tēs heautou zōēs, ho de paradedotai tǭ plēmmelein hōs apegnōsmenos, ei dʼ authis ho thrasys kai lian asebēs [nosǭ] peripiptoi, ho de epieikēs hygiainoi, ho men ouch hina boēthēthę̄ pros aisthēsin kolazetai, allʼ hina chrēsimeusę̄ tois horōsi pros hypodeigma, ho de hōs dicha desmōn hēmerōs anastrephein dynamenos anosos diamenei. kai holōs hekatera pantachou chrēsima kai athlios ho tēn pronoian enteuthen arnoumenos ē diaballōn" monē gar olethrios ekeinē nosos hē tēn diathesin tēs psychēs pros apotropēn aretēs kakousa. hois oun ho logismos athōos diamenoi, eitʼ oun nosoiē eitʼ oun kai hygiainoi to sōma, aisthēsontai hekaterou to chrēsimon. ei gar mē pantōs kolazoi ton kakopragounta nosos, epeidē kai tous nomous estin hote diapheugousi kakourgoi, arʼ oun ouch an eiē dia touto kōlyma tēs kakourgias ho nomos, epeidē mē dia pantōn proeisi tōn hypokeimenōn, hē to thauma tēs tou theou sophias enteuthen hōs pantachothen anadeiknytai? ei men gar pantōs dēlon ēn hōs oudamōs endechetai diapheugein tōn nomōn tēn kolasin ton hotidēpote tōn apē[go]reumenōn diaprattomenon, kibdēlon an kai lian adokimon ēn to aprakton tēs hamartias" pantes gar an deei tēs “timōrias, ouchi misei tēs kakourgias, apeichonto. chrē de ton spoudaion misein to poiēsai mallon hē [to] pathein, kan mē dikaiōs symbainoi. enteuthen diapheugousi tous nomous tōn kakourgōn hoi pleious, epeidē ge kolasis ouch hautē tōn hamartanontōn estin, oiēsis de monon timōrias. thanatos gar ho kata physin kai dicha kolaseōs an epelthoi, hōste allē men esti tois paranomousin ē aphyktos timōria. diapheugousi de tēn ephʼ hēmōn hoi pleious, hina to endechomenon tou lathein basanos genētai tou anthrōpinou logismou, kai chathʼ holou epi te kleptontos kai pseudomenou kai ta meizō tōn kakōn dran epicheirountōn to rhēthen parekteinetai.

Sickness and health are likewise necessary. For health serves the work of virtue, and sickness sometimes serves to overturn sin. For reason is often helped by external hindrances, and besides, the experience of illness reminds us of the benefit of health, toward reverence. Health would be quite despised if it remained by itself absolutely, with nothing able to hinder it. If the decent man is sick and the reckless man healthy, the one is held back by the hindrance, helped toward the blamelessness of his own life, while the other is given over to wrongdoing as one given up. And if again the reckless and very impious man falls into sickness while the decent man is healthy, the one is punished not to be helped toward awareness, but to serve as an example to those who see; and the other remains free of sickness as one able to live gently without fetters. And in general both are useful everywhere, and wretched is the man who for this reason denies or slanders providence; for the only deadly sickness is the one that corrupts the disposition of the soul so as to turn it from virtue. Those whose reason stays innocent, then, whether their body is sick or healthy, will perceive the usefulness of each. For if sickness does not always punish the evildoer, since evildoers sometimes escape the laws too, would the law then for that reason not be a hindrance to evildoing, since it does not reach all who are subject to it? Or is not the wonder of God’s wisdom shown from this as from every side? For if it were wholly plain that no one who does anything forbidden could escape the punishment of the laws, the absence of sin would be counterfeit and quite untested; for all would keep from it out of dread of the penalty, not out of hatred of evildoing. But the earnest man must hate doing wrong more than suffering it, even if it befalls him unjustly. That is why most evildoers escape the laws: punishment is not this for sinners, but only the appearance of a penalty. For natural death would come even without punishment, so that the inescapable penalty for lawbreakers is another. But most escape our penalty so that the possibility of escaping notice may become a test of human reasoning; and in general what has been said extends to the one who steals, the one who lies, and those who attempt the greater evils.

Notes and citation

Summary: Sickness and health both serve virtue, and the escape of some criminals from punishment makes virtue a matter of hating evil rather than fearing penalties.

In “χ[ωλ]ύμασιν” and “χ[ωλ]ύματι” (κωλύματα, “hindrances”) the bracketed letters are Lagarde’s; “[νόσῳ]” and “[τὸ]” are also bracketed; all translated. The first clause, “health serves the work of virtue”, is uncertain in the OCR (πρὸς ἀδικίαν, perhaps for πρὸς διακονίαν); translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR breathing; OCR kappa/chi): ἅμαρτίας. βοηθεῖται → ἁμαρτίας. βοηθεῖται; χαθʼ ἑαυτὴν χαθʼ ὅλου → καθʼ ἑαυτὴν καθʼ ὅλου; χαχοῦσα → κακοῦσα; αἱοθήσονται → αἰσθήσονται; χαχοπραγοῦντα νάσος → κακοπραγοῦντα νόσος; ἀδόχιίμον → ἀδόκιμον; κᾷἄν μὴ δικαίως ουμβαίνοι → κἂν μὴ δικαίως συμβαίνοι; ἄφυχτος → ἄφυκτος; χχέπτοντος → κλέπτοντος; παρεχτείναται.. → παρεκτείνεται..

Topics: Ethics, Suffering and affliction

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.17 (Lagarde 1859, 35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-17

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-17) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.18Lagarde 1859, 36

φαίη δʼ ἄν τις ὡς πλέον ἄν ἐβασανίσθη τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἢ πρόθεσις, εἰ μηδεὶς κακοῦργος ἐλεγχόμενος ἐτιμωρεῖτο, γέγονε δὲ τοὐναντίον ἄντικρυς προτροπὴ τοῦ κακοπραγεῖν τὸ μὴ καταλαμβάνεσθαί ποτε πρὸς τῶν νόμων ἐνίους τῶν μετιόντων τὰ κακά· ὅθεν ἑκάτερον ἀναγκαῖον, καὶ τὸ παρεμπίπτειν τὸν κακοῦργον εἰς ἀνατροπῆς ὑπόδειγμα καὶ [τὸ] διαφεύγειν εἰς βάσανον λογισμοῦ. ἐλευθεριάζοντι γὰρ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ πρὸς αἵρεσιν ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας, οὕτω πρὸς θεοῦ γενομένῳ, ἔξωθεν προσυπάρχει καὶ τὸ βοηθεῖσθαι καὶ ἐρείδεσθαι τρόπον τινὰ τὴν διάνοιαν, οἷον διὰ φόβου καὶ ἀφοβίας, προτροπῶν τε καὶ ἀποτροπῶν, νόσου τε καὶ ὑγείας, πενίας τε καὶ πλούτου. καὶ πάντα τὰ ἀντικεῖσθαι ἀλλήλοις δοκοῦντα συμφώνως πρὸς ἕν τείνει, ὡς ἄν τὸν ἀνθρώπινον νοῦν διαγυμνάζοι. μηδὲν ἀποκαθεύδειν, ἐντεῦθεν δὲ κἀκεῖθεν κατακρουόμενον διεγρηγορέναι πρὸς τὸ ἔργον τῆς εὐσεβείας καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς.

phaiē dʼ an tis hōs pleon an ebasanisthē tōn anthrōpōn ē prothesis, ei mēdeis kakourgos elenchomenos etimōreito, gegone de tounantion antikrys protropē tou kakopragein to mē katalambanesthai pote pros tōn nomōn enious tōn metiontōn ta kaka; hothen hekateron anankaion, kai to parempiptein ton kakourgon eis anatropēs hypodeigma kai [to] diapheugein eis basanon logismou. eleutheriazonti gar tǭ anthrōpǭ pros hairesin aretēs kai kakias, houtō pros theou genomenǭ, exōthen prosyparchei kai to boētheisthai kai ereidesthai tropon tina tēn dianoian, hoion dia phobou kai aphobias, protropōn te kai apotropōn, nosou te kai hygeias, penias te kai ploutou. kai panta ta antikeisthai allēlois dokounta symphōnōs pros hen teinei, hōs an ton anthrōpinon noun diagymnazoi. mēden apokatheudein, enteuthen de kakeithen katakrouomenon diegrēgorenai pros to ergon tēs eusebeias kai tēs aretēs.

One might say that men’s purpose would have been tested more if no evildoer were punished when convicted; but on the contrary it has plainly become an encouragement to evildoing that some who pursue evil are never caught by the laws. So both are necessary: that the evildoer should fall into punishment, as an example to turn others back, and that he should escape, as a test of reasoning. For to man, who is free to choose virtue and vice, having been so made by God, there is also from outside help and in a way support for his mind, as through fear and fearlessness, encouragements and discouragements, sickness and health, poverty and wealth. And all the things that seem opposed to one another tend harmoniously to one end, to exercise the human mind, so that it does not fall asleep at all, but, struck from this side and that, stays awake for the work of piety and virtue.

Notes and citation

Summary: Both the punishment and the escape of evildoers serve providence, and all apparent opposites in life work together to keep the mind alert for virtue.

“[τὸ]” is bracketed in Lagarde; translated.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR kappa/chi): καχοπραγεῖν → κακοπραγεῖν; χκαχάὅθεν ἑκάτερον ἀναγκάϊον → κακά· ὅθεν ἑκάτερον ἀναγκαῖον; τοόπον → τρόπον; ἀντιχεῖσθαι → ἀντικεῖσθαι; ἀποχαθεύδειν → ἀποκαθεύδειν; χαταχρουόμενον → κατακρουόμενον.

Topics: Ethics, Providence

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.18 (Lagarde 1859, 36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-18

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-18) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.19Lagarde 1859, 36

εἰ δὲ καὶ κολάζεσθαί τινα συμβαίνοι οὐχ ἀναίτιον μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ θαυμάσιον ἄνδρα, καὶ δίκην ἀρετῆς ἀπαιτεῖσθαι τοῦτον, τί ἄν βλάβος προσαγάγοι τῷ πάσχοντι; διελέγχει μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ποιοῦντας, οὐ βλάπτει δὲ τὸν ὑπομένοντα, κἂν ἕως θανάτου φέρηται τὰ τῆς ἀλόγου τιμωρίας. φθάσας γὰρ ὅ γε τοιοῦτος νεκρότητι τὰ πρὸς τὸν βίον μεμελέτηκεν. ᾧ γὰρ μηδὲν μὲν ἡδὺ τῶν τοῖς πολλοῖς ἣ ἀηδές, πῶς οὐχὶ νεκρὸς τοῦ βίου καὶ πρὸ θανάτου ὅ γε τοιοῦτος καθέστηκεν; εἰς χάριν τήν γε νομιζομένην ἐπιβουλὴν δεχόμενος, ἧ μετὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον προσδοκᾷ μείζοσιν ἀγαθοῖς ἐντεύξεσθαι ὧν ἀπολιπεῖν δοκεῖ, ἐφʼ ἃ πρὸς τῶν ἐχθρῶν ταχέως παραπεμπόμενος ὡς εὐεργέτας τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας ἔχει. καὶ ἄλλως ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀναγκαία τῆς βασάνου ἥ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ συγχώρησις, ὡς ἄν δοκιμωτέρα τυγχάνοι ἣ αἵρεσις τῆς ἀρετῆς, εἰ μηδὲ θάνατον εὐλαβοῖτο.

ei de kai kolazesthai tina symbainoi ouch anaition monon alla kai thaumasion andra, kai dikēn aretēs apaiteisthai touton, ti an blabos prosagagoi tǭ paschonti? dielenchei men gar tous poiountas, ou blaptei de ton hypomenonta, kan heōs thanatou pherētai ta tēs alogou timōrias. phthasas gar ho ge toioutos nekrotēti ta pros ton bion memeletēken. hǭ gar mēden men hēdy tōn tois pollois hē aēdes, pōs ouchi nekros tou biou kai pro thanatou ho ge toioutos kathestēken? eis charin tēn ge nomizomenēn epiboulēn dechomenos, hē meta ton paronta bion prosdoką meizosin agathois enteuxesthai hōn apolipein dokei, ephʼ ha pros tōn echthrōn tacheōs parapempomenos hōs euergetas tous epibouleuontas echei. kai allōs en anthrōpois anankaia tēs basanou hē para tou theou synchōrēsis, hōs an dokimōtera tynchanoi hē hairesis tēs aretēs, ei mēde thanaton eulaboito.

And if it should happen that a man not only innocent but admirable is punished, and the penalty is exacted of him for his virtue, what harm would it bring to the sufferer? It convicts those who do it, but does not harm the one who endures it, even if the irrational punishment goes as far as death. For such a man has already practised, by deadness to it, what concerns this life. For to one to whom nothing that the many find pleasant or unpleasant is either, how has such a man not become dead to life even before death? He receives what is thought a plot as a favour, since after the present life he expects to meet greater goods than those he seems to leave; and being quickly sent on to them by his enemies, he has those who plot against him as benefactors. And besides, God’s permitting of torment among men is necessary, so that the choice of virtue may be more approved, if one does not fear even death.

Notes and citation

Summary: The unjust suffering of the righteous, even to death, does not harm them, since they look to greater goods after this life.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR kappa/chi; OCR punctuation): χολάζεσθαί → κολάζεσθαί; διδλέγχει → διελέγχει; κᾷν ἕως → κἂν ἕως; χαθέστηχεν → καθέστηκεν; γομιζομένην → νομιζομένην; ἀρετῆς. εἰ μηδὲ → ἀρετῆς, εἰ μηδὲ.

Topics: Ethics, Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.19 (Lagarde 1859, 36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-19

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-19) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.20Lagarde 1859, 36

πονηροὺς δὲ καὶ πλεονεκτικοὺς ὅταν ἴδωμεν ἔστιν ὅτε κρατοῦντας καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς πιστευομένους, ἱστέον ὅτι συγχώρησίς ἐστι καὶ τοῦτο τῆς οἰκονομίας τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐπειδὰν γὰρ τὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας πλεονάζῃ τῶν ἀρχομένων, κόλασις ἄν γένοιτο δικαία τῶν ἀρχόντων ἣ ἀδικία, τιμωρουμένων ἃ πράττουσι καὶ κολαζόντων ἃ ποιοῦσινʼ ὡς ἂν γένοιτο μάλιστα δῆλον ὅτι παρανομία ἀτιμώρητος οὐχ ἔνι. ὀρθότης μὲν δικαστοῦ δόξειεν ἄν, ἐπειδή τι μὴ πράττει κακόν, τοὺς ποιοῦντας κολάζειν" εἰ δʼ αὐτὸς ὁ δικάζων τῶν γε τοιούτων ἀπαρχόμενος τοὺς τὰ αὐτὰ μετιόντας κολάζει καὶ μάλιστα δαψιλέστερον, ὡς ἄν πείθοι μηδὲν - αὐτὸς φαῦλον διαπράττεσθαι, ἄντικρυς κρατοῦν καὶ λίαν φοβερὸν ἀναφαίνεται τὸ δίκαιον πρὸς τὸ δίκην ὑπομένειν τοὺς διὰ σκαιότητα τρόπων τοιούτοις ἄρχουσι δικαίως περιπίπτοντας: ἀποφάσεις γὰρ καὶ τοιαῦται σαφεῖς παρὰ θεοῦ κατὰ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων ἐν γραφαῖς ταῖς ἁγίαις γεγένηνται.

ponērous de kai pleonektikous hotan idōmen estin hote kratountas kai tas archas pisteuomenous, histeon hoti synchōrēsis esti kai touto tēs oikonomias tou theou. epeidan gar ta tēs hamartias pleonazę̄ tōn archomenōn, kolasis an genoito dikaia tōn archontōn hē adikia, timōroumenōn ha prattousi kai kolazontōn ha poiousinʼ hōs an genoito malista dēlon hoti paranomia atimōrētos ouch eni. orthotēs men dikastou doxeien an, epeidē ti mē prattei kakon, tous poiountas kolazein" ei dʼ autos ho dikazōn tōn ge toioutōn aparchomenos tous ta auta metiontas kolazei kai malista dapsilesteron, hōs an peithoi mēden - autos phaulon diaprattesthai, antikrys kratoun kai lian phoberon anaphainetai to dikaion pros to dikēn hypomenein tous dia skaiotēta tropōn toioutois archousi dikaiōs peripiptontas: apophaseis gar kai toiautai sapheis para theou kata tōn hamartanontōn en graphais tais hagiais gegenēntai.

And when we sometimes see wicked and grasping men in power and entrusted with office, we must know that this too is a permission of God’s economy. For when sin abounds among those who are ruled, the injustice of the rulers becomes a just punishment, as they punish what the people do and chastise what they do; so that it becomes most plain that lawlessness does not go unpunished. It would seem uprightness in a judge to punish those who do wrong, since he himself does no evil; but if the judge himself, taking the lead in such things, punishes those who pursue the same, and more lavishly, so as to persuade people that he himself does nothing bad, justice plainly appears victorious and very terrible, in that those who for their perversity of ways justly fall under such rulers pay the penalty. For such clear sentences from God against sinners are found in the holy Scriptures.

Hos 13:11 (echo, low confidence) · Isa 3:4 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God permits wicked rulers as a just punishment of sinful peoples, as Scripture declares.

The Scriptures Titus has in mind are not named; compare Hos 13:11 and Isa 3:4 (identification uncertain). Σχαιόἢ τηταὰ is garbled in the OCR (σκαιότητα, “perversity”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR kappa/chi): πλεονεχτικοὺς → πλεονεκτικοὺς; δαφιλέστερον → δαψιλέστερον; σχαιόἢ τηταὰ → σκαιότητα.

Topics: Ethics, Rulers and the state

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.20 (Lagarde 1859, 36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-20

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-20) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.21Lagarde 1859, 37

ὁ μέντοι χαλεπώτατα μανεὶς, ἵνα παρʼ αὐτῷ κρατήσῃ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἀγενήτου κακίας καὶ τῆς κατὰ θεοῦ βλασφημίας, οὐδὲν ἀσυκοφάντητον καταλέλοιπε τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ διοικήσεως. πολλάκις δὲ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ δικαίους ἡμαρτηκότας ὑπὸ ἀσεβεῖς γενομένους, ὥσπερ εὐγενῆ παῖδα πατρὶ μὴ πειθόμενον διὰ ξένου τυπτόμενον, ἵνα μετὰ τῆς ἀλγηδόνος τῶν πληγῶν καὶ ἢ ἀτιμία τοῦ διακονουμένου μεταβάλῃ τὸν πλημμελοῦντα. ἕν γάρ τι καὶ μόνον ἔφαμεν καὶ ἀληθές ἐστιν, ὡς ὃ πρὸς θεοῦ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος ἀπαιτεῖται κατὰ τὸν βίον τὸ συνέσει λογισμοῦ κατορθῶσαι, τὸ. κατὰ μηδὲν ἀδικεῖν τὴν ἀρετήν" ᾧ δή τις προσέχων καὶ μόνῳ, μηδὲν ἕτερόν τι κατὰ τὸν βίον ἔκτ,. τοῦτο τοίνυν εἰ διʼ ὅλου τοῦ περὶ προνοίας λόγου μνημονεύοιτο, οὐδὲν ἄν ὑποπτεύοιτο πρὸς ἀνισότητα καὶ ἀταξίαν τῶν πρὸς θεοῦ διοικουμένων. εἰ μὲν γὰρ εῦροι τις ἄν ὡς ἄλλῳ μὲν ἀνεῖται τῆς εὐσεβοῦς ἀρετῆς ἢ πορεία. ἄλλῳ δὲ ἀποκέκλεισται, ἐνταῦθα πρὸς τὸ νῦν κεφάλαιον τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ ἣ ἀνισότης διαβολὴν ἂν ἔχειν ἔδοξε τῆς διοικήσεως" εἰ δὲ διʼ οὗ καὶ μόνου γένοιτʼ ἄν τις ὡς ἀληθῶς μακάριος, τοῦτο κοινὸν ἐπʼ ἴσης πρὸς ἐξουσίαν τοῖς ἅπασι πρόκειται, ποίαν διαφορὰν εἴποιεν ἄν τις (κἀν ἡ φιλαίτιος) ἣ ἀνισότητα, ὁπότε τῶν ἐκτὸς αἱ πλεονεξίαι αὖθις πρὸς ἰσότητα τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἀνακλῶνται; ὡς οὐκ ἔλαττον μὲν ἢ καὶ μᾶλλον ἡδομένου τοῦ πένητος οἷς προσφέρεται τροφίοις τοῦ πλουσίου. καὶ τὰ περὶ σκέπην δὲ ὁμοίως ἔχει, κᾷἀν ἧττον ὑπάρχῃ τίμια. καὶ τύπος αἰσθήσεως τὰ συνήθως. παρακείμενα, ὡς μηδένα τοῦ πλείονος ἐπαισθάνεσθαι, διὰ τῆς συνηθείας τῆς αἰσθήσεως ἀμαυρουμένης, μηδὲ ἄλλον τοῦ ἐλάττόνος, καὶ τούτου διὰ συνηθείας τὸ ἐνδέον πρὸς τὴν αἴσθησιν μὴ ἄγοντος. αὐτίκα βάρβαροι, γυμνοὶ τό τε πλέον τοῦ σώματος διάγοντες καὶ ἄστρωτοι χαθεύδοντες καὶ λυπροῖς ἐδέσμασι διαιτώμενοι, οὐκ ἠνέσχοντο πώποτε καταλιπεῖν τὴν φίλην δίαιταν ὡς διὰ τῆς συνηθείας τὸ ἐνδέον αὐτῶν μηδὲ χαθορῶντες, μᾶλλον ʼδὰ ταύτην μηδʼ ἀπαλιπεῖν οἷοί τε ὄντες" ἢ θᾶττον μὲν ἂν καὶ τὸ ὑγιαίνειν χαταλίποιεν, θᾶττον δʼ ἄν καὶ τὸ πρὸς κρυμοὺς καὶ - ἡλιακὴν φλόγα καρτερεῖν ἀποκτήσαιντο.. καὶ πρός γε τὸ ζῆν οὐδεὶς οὐδενὸς πλέον ἔχει κατὰ τὸν βίον. κοιναὶ μὲν γὰρ πᾶσιν αἱ φυσικαὶ διαναπαύσεις ἀναχλίσεών τε καὶ ὕπνων, κοιναὶ δὲ.} { τροφαὶ καὶ ἀπολαύσεις, εἴ τις τὸ μὲν διάφορον συνετῶς καρέλ- τὴν δὲ χρῆσιν τῇ αἱοθήσει δοχιμαάτοιχοιναὶ δὲ οὐχ ἔλαττὸν ἀκριβῶς καὶ αἴ λύτα! φυχῶν τε καὶ σωμάτων. καὶ μᾶλλον εὐρεθείη τις ἄν τούτων ὑπερβολὴ παρὰ τοῖς Ξλέον τι κατὰ τὸν βίον ἔχειν δοχοῦτινʼ ὥστε καὶ τούτων κατὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς οὕτως ἐχόντων, ποῦ ἄν εἴη τὸ ἄνισον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ διοικήσεως, ποικιλίαν, οὖχ ἀνισότητα τοῖς καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἀντιθέντος; ἕτερον γὰρ τυγχάνει ποικιλία σοφίας ἐν κόσμῳ διαπρέπουσα καὶ ἕτερον ἀταξία διοικήσεως. εἰ δέ τις εὖρο: ἄν τοὺς μὲν ἀπαθεῖς φύσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τοὺς δὲ ἐμπαθεῖς χαθʼ ἑκάτερον, ψυχήν τε καὶ σῶμα. καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄνευ τροφῆς. [τοὺς δὲ μετὰ τροφῆς.} ἣ τοὺς μὲν ἀνεπιδέκτους κακίας. τοὺς δὲ δεκτικούς, ἔτι πὴν τοὺς μὲν θνητούς, τοὺς δὲ ἀθανάτους, καλῶς ἄν ὃ τοιοῦτος ἀταξίαν τε καὶ ἀνισότητα κατείποι τῆς διοικήσεως, ὡς ἀποκληρώσει τινὶ μᾶλλον ἢ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ τὰ χαθ'ʼ ἡμᾶς διοικοῦντος. εἰ δὲ τρόπος μὲν ὁ αὐτὸς τοῖς πᾶσι γενέσεως, μία δὲ καὶ ἥ αὐτὴ τῆς φύσεως ἢ ἀνατροφή, τῶν δὲ ἀναγκαίων (ὧν ἄνευ συστῆναι ἀδύνατον) κοινὴ τοῖς ἅπασιν ἐπʼ ἴσης ἢ χορηγία, τέλος δὲ τῶν ἁπάντων ὃν καὶ μόνον, τῆς ἰσότητος πρὸς ἄκραν ἀκρίβειαν ἐν ἅπασι φαινομένης, ἢ τυφλὸς παντελῶς ὁ διαβάλλων εἰς ἀταξίαν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν ἣ ἐχθροῖς ὄμμασι χαθορῶν τὰ πράγματα, ἥκιστα πιστεύεται δίκαιος. εἰ γὰρ ἧ διαφορὰ τὴν ἀταξίαν ἔχει, τὸ κόσμιον τῆς ποικιλίας, τεχνίτῃ γε πανσόφῳ λίαν ἁρμόττον, ὁ τοιοῦτος διαβάλλει καὶ προϊὼν κακιζέτω καὶ τὸ ποικίλον τῶν χρωμάτων καὶ τῶν ἐδεσμάτων καὶ πομάτων τὸ διάφορον. ἅπερ ἀναλαμβάνει γε θαυμασίως τὰς αἰσθήσεις τῶν προσφερομένων. ἐντεῦθὲν ἐξῆλθον οἱ λίαν ἀθλιώτατοι πρὸς εἱμαρμένην, τὸ ἄτοπον τῆς ἀνισότητος διὰ ταῖν δυοῖν ἀρχαῖν βεβαιοῦν δοκοῦντες, ἀλλὰ δέδεικται μὲν τοῖς ἔμφροσιν ὡς οὐδεμία τις ἀνισότης ἔνεστιν ἐν τοῖς χαθʼ ἡμᾶς.

ho mentoi chalepōtata maneis, hina parʼ autǭ kratēsę̄ to dogma tēs agenētou kakias kai tēs kata theou blasphēmias, ouden asykophantēton kataleloipe tēs tou theou dioikēseōs. pollakis de estin idein kai dikaious hēmartēkotas hypo asebeis genomenous, hōsper eugenē paida patri mē peithomenon dia xenou typtomenon, hina meta tēs algēdonos tōn plēgōn kai ē atimia tou diakonoumenou metabalę̄ ton plēmmelounta. hen gar ti kai monon ephamen kai alēthes estin, hōs ho pros theou genomenos anthrōpos apaiteitai kata ton bion to synesei logismou katorthōsai, to. kata mēden adikein tēn aretēn" hǭ dē tis prosechōn kai monǭ, mēden heteron ti kata ton bion ekt,. touto toinyn ei diʼ holou tou peri pronoias logou mnēmoneuoito, ouden an hypopteuoito pros anisotēta kai ataxian tōn pros theou dioikoumenōn. ei men gar euroi tis an hōs allǭ men aneitai tēs eusebous aretēs ē poreia. allǭ de apokekleistai, entautha pros to nyn kephalaion tōn agathōn kai hē anisotēs diabolēn an echein edoxe tēs dioikēseōs" ei de diʼ hou kai monou genoitʼ an tis hōs alēthōs makarios, touto koinon epʼ isēs pros exousian tois hapasi prokeitai, poian diaphoran eipoien an tis (kan hē philaitios) hē anisotēta, hopote tōn ektos hai pleonexiai authis pros isotēta tois logismois anaklōntai? hōs ouk elatton men ē kai mallon hēdomenou tou penētos hois prospheretai trophiois tou plousiou. kai ta peri skepēn de homoiōs echei, kąan hētton hyparchę̄ timia. kai typos aisthēseōs ta synēthōs. parakeimena, hōs mēdena tou pleionos epaisthanesthai, dia tēs synētheias tēs aisthēseōs amauroumenēs, mēde allon tou elattonos, kai toutou dia synētheias to endeon pros tēn aisthēsin mē agontos. autika barbaroi, gymnoi to te pleon tou sōmatos diagontes kai astrōtoi chatheudontes kai lyprois edesmasi diaitōmenoi, ouk ēneschonto pōpote katalipein tēn philēn diaitan hōs dia tēs synētheias to endeon autōn mēde chathorōntes, mallon ʼda tautēn mēdʼ apalipein hoioi te ontes" ē thatton men an kai to hygiainein chatalipoien, thatton dʼ an kai to pros krymous kai - hēliakēn phloga karterein apoktēsainto.. kai pros ge to zēn oudeis oudenos pleon echei kata ton bion. koinai men gar pasin hai physikai dianapauseis anachliseōn te kai hypnōn, koinai de.} { trophai kai apolauseis, ei tis to men diaphoron synetōs karel- tēn de chrēsin tę̄ haiothēsei dochimaatoichoinai de ouch elatton akribōs kai ai lyta! phychōn te kai sōmatōn. kai mallon euretheiē tis an toutōn hyperbolē para tois Xleon ti kata ton bion echein dochoutinʼ hōste kai toutōn kata to alēthes houtōs echontōn, pou an eiē to anison tēs tou theou dioikēseōs, poikilian, ouch anisotēta tois kathʼ hēmas antithentos? heteron gar tynchanei poikilia sophias en kosmǭ diaprepousa kai heteron ataxia dioikēseōs. ei de tis euro: an tous men apatheis physei tōn anthrōpōn, tous de empatheis chathʼ hekateron, psychēn te kai sōma. kai tous men aneu trophēs. [tous de meta trophēs.} hē tous men anepidektous kakias. tous de dektikous, eti pēn tous men thnētous, tous de athanatous, kalōs an ho toioutos ataxian te kai anisotēta kateipoi tēs dioikēseōs, hōs apoklērōsei tini mallon ē logǭ tou theou ta chath'ʼ hēmas dioikountos. ei de tropos men ho autos tois pasi geneseōs, mia de kai hē autē tēs physeōs ē anatrophē, tōn de anankaiōn (hōn aneu systēnai adynaton) koinē tois hapasin epʼ isēs ē chorēgia, telos de tōn hapantōn hon kai monon, tēs isotētos pros akran akribeian en hapasi phainomenēs, ē typhlos pantelōs ho diaballōn eis ataxian tou theou tēn pronoian hē echthrois ommasi chathorōn ta pragmata, hēkista pisteuetai dikaios. ei gar hē diaphora tēn ataxian echei, to kosmion tēs poikilias, technitę̄ ge pansophǭ lian harmotton, ho toioutos diaballei kai proïōn kakizetō kai to poikilon tōn chrōmatōn kai tōn edesmatōn kai pomatōn to diaphoron. haper analambanei ge thaumasiōs tas aisthēseis tōn prospheromenōn. enteuthen exēlthon hoi lian athliōtatoi pros heimarmenēn, to atopon tēs anisotētos dia tain dyoin archain bebaioun dokountes, alla dedeiktai men tois emphrosin hōs oudemia tis anisotēs enestin en tois chathʼ hēmas.

But the most grievously mad man, so that his dogma of an unbegotten evil and his blasphemy against God may prevail with him, has left no part of God’s governance unslandered. One can often see righteous men who have sinned coming under the ungodly, like a well-born child who disobeys his father being beaten by a stranger, so that, with the pain of the blows, the disgrace of the one who carries it out may change the offender. For we have said one thing alone, and it is true: that man, made by God, is required in this life to achieve by the understanding of reason the not wronging virtue in anything; and whoever attends to this alone, nothing else in life … If this is remembered throughout the discourse on providence, nothing would be suspected of inequality and disorder in what God governs. For if one should find that the journey of pious virtue is open to one and shut to another, then, as to the present chief of goods, the inequality would seem to have grounds for slandering the governance. But if that by which alone one could truly be blessed lies before all in common, equally within their power, what difference or inequality could anyone speak of (even if he loves to find fault), when the advantages of external things are bent back again to equality by reasoning? For the poor man takes no less, or even more, pleasure in the food he eats than the rich man. And it is the same with shelter, even if it is less costly. And what is habitually at hand shapes perception, so that no one perceives the greater, since perception is dulled by habit, nor another the lesser, since habit does not bring what is lacking to perception. For example, barbarians, who go about naked for the most part, sleep without bedding and live on poor food, have never consented to leave their beloved way of life, since through habit they do not even see what they lack; or rather they could not even leave it, for they would sooner lose their health, and sooner lose their endurance of frost and the blaze of the sun. And as for living, no one has more than anyone else in this life. For the natural rests of lying down and sleep are common to all; common too are food and enjoyments, if one sets aside the difference wisely and tests the use by perception; common no less, exactly, are the pains of souls and bodies; and one might find more excess of these among those who seem to have more in life. Since this is how things truly are, where would the inequality of God’s governance be, when he has set variety, not inequality, in our affairs? For the variety of wisdom that shines out in the world is one thing, and disorder of governance another. If one found some men by nature free of passions, and others subject to passions in both soul and body; some without food and others needing food; or some incapable of evil and others capable; or again some mortal and others immortal, such a man might rightly charge the governance with disorder and inequality, as though God governed our affairs by some allotment rather than by reason. But if the manner of birth is the same for all, and the nurture of nature one and the same, the supply of necessities (without which it is impossible to subsist) common to all alike, and the end of all one and the same, the equality appearing in all things to the utmost exactness, then the one who slanders God’s providence as disorder is either wholly blind or looks at things with hostile eyes and is by no means to be believed just. For if difference means disorder, such a man slanders the order of variety, which so well befits an all-wise craftsman; let him go on to decry also the variety of colours and the difference of foods and drinks, which wonderfully refresh the senses of those who take them. From here the most wretched men set out toward fate, thinking to confirm the absurdity of inequality through the two principles; but it has been shown to sensible people that there is no inequality in our affairs.

Notes and citation

Summary: God’s providence gives all people the same access to virtue, birth, necessities and death; the world shows variety, not inequality.

A clause after “nothing else in life” is broken off in the OCR (ἔκτ,). Part of the passage on common food and pains is badly garbled in the OCR (καρέλ-, δοχιμαάτοιχοιναὶ, αἴ λύτα!) and is translated by sense; “[τοὺς δὲ μετὰ τροφῆς.}” is bracketed in Lagarde and translated. Ἐταξίαν is read as ἀταξίαν (“disorder”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR kappa/chi): εὐγενῇ καῖδα → εὐγενῆ παῖδα; χατορθῶσαι → κατορθῶσαι; ἀναχλῶνται → ἀνακλῶνται; ἀμουρουμένης → ἀμαυρουμένης; ἀποχτήσαιντος → ἀποκτήσαιντο.; ποικελίαν → ποικιλίαν; ἀντιθέντης → ἀντιθέντος; ἐν κύσμῳ → ἐν κόσμῳ; ἀκαθεῖς → ἀπαθεῖς; ἐταξίαν τε καὲ → ἀταξίαν τε καὶ; νᾶλλον → μᾶλλον; ταῖν δυαῖν → ταῖν δυοῖν.

Topics: Heresy, Ethics, Providence

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.21 (Lagarde 1859, 37; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-21

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-21) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.22Lagarde 1859, 38

ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τοὺς πολέμους τῇ κακίᾳ προσνέμουσι, τίνα τρόπον εἱμαρμέναι διάφοροι κατʼ αὐτοὺς πολλῶν ἔστιν ὅτε χιλιάδων ὑφʼ ἕνα καιρόν, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπὸ μίαν ὥραν πιπτουσῶν; ἄρα μία τις εἱμαρμένη συνάπτει τούτους ὑφʼ ἑαυτῇ; καὶ πῶς οὐ πάντη τοῦτό γε ὑπολαμβάνειν γελοιότατον; ὅθεν τὸ μὲν ἄνισον τῆς εἱμαρμένης (τὸ χαλεπὸν τῶν πεπλανημένων νόσημα) χώραν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν οὐχ ἔχει, πόλεμοι δὲ τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἐκ πλεονεξίας λαμβάνουσι, τὴν δὲ ἐνέργειαν πρὸς θεοῦ συγχωρουμένην ἔχουσι. κακὸν μὲν γὰρ τούτων ἢ ἀφορμή (λέγω δὴ τῆς πλεονεξίας ἢ ἐπιθυμία), ὅπερ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ θεοῦ πλημμέλημα τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν δέδεικται, θάνατος δὲ τῆς φύσεως οὐ κακός. γένεσις γὰρ καὶ θάνατος πρὸς θεοῦ φύσει νενομοθέτηται, οὐ τῶν γε τελευτώντων ἀπολλυμένων, ἀλλὰ τῶν γινομένων τοῖς οὖσι προστιθεμένων: ἀγαθοῦ γὰρ οὐχ ἄν εἴη τὸ μόνοις τοῖς οὖσιν ἀνθρώποις τὸ εἶναί τε καὶ γεγονέναι δωρεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μὴ ὄντας προκατασκευάζειν τοῖς οὖσιν, ὡς ἄν οἵ τε γενόμενοι διαδραμόντες αὐτάρκως τοῦ βίου τὸ στάδιον, ἀντὶ ἀναπαύσεως τοῦ δρόμου τὸν θάνατον λάβωσιν (οὐχ εἰς ἀπώλειαν αὐτοὺς ἄγοντα, ἀλλʼ ἑτέρωσε κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἑκάστου μετάγοντα) οἵ τε μὴ ὄντες πάροδον εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι λάβωσιν. οὐκοῦν θάνατος ὁ τῇ φύσει νενομοθετημένος οὐ πονηρός, κἄν ὁπωσοῦν ἐπίοι. οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ διάφορον τῶν περιστάσεων διʼ ὧν ἔπεισιν ἐξεταστέον, ἕνα δὲ τρόπον κοινὸν τοῖς πᾶσιν ὄντα γνωστέον, λέγω δὴ τὸ μὴ δίχα περιστάσεώς τινος καὶ ἀνάγκης ἀναχωρεῖν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ σώματος, ἀλλὰ παραμένειν ἕως ἄν τὸ φυσικὸν αὐτῆς καταγώγιον ἀκαθαίρετον διαμένοι. τούτῳ μέντοι τῷ φυσικῷ καὶ κοινῷ συνυπάρχει τι δέος, ὅπερ εἰς τιμωρίας ὑποψίαν ἀναγκαίως παρείληπται, οὐ μέντοι ἐν τοῖς πᾶσιν, ἀλλʼ οἷς γε ἧ διάνοια πρόχειρος εἰς ἁμαρτίαν, πρὸς ἀνατροπὴν ταύτης, ὃ μὲν γὰρ ἔμφρων κατʼ ἀρετὴν ἄρά γε τοῦ πλημμελεῖν καὶ τοῦ οἴεσθαι μοχθηρὸν εἶναι τὸν θάνατον ἀπήλλακται, ὃ δὲ φιλαμαρτήμων ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς αὐτῆς ἀνοίας ἀφʼ ἧσπερ καὶ πλημμελεῖ, τὸν θάνατον εὐλαβεῖται. ἀναγκαῖον μέντοι τῆς ἀνοίας ἔχει τὸ τοιοῦτον παρακολούθημα, ἵνα τὸ ἀδεὲς δεδιώς, ο[ὖ] προσῆκεν ἀληθῶς δεδιέναι (λέγω δὴ τῆς ἁμαρτίας) διαφύγῃ τὴν. βλάβην. ἐπειδὰν οὖν πλεονάσῃ παρʼ ἔθνεσι τὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἧς γε τυγχάνει ἕν εἶδος τὸ τῆς ἀπληστίας, ἑαυτοῖς παραίτια γίγνεται τῆς κατὰ τὸ φαινόμενον τιμωρίας, ἦτις κατὰ "μὲν τὸ ἀληθὲς ὡς οὐχ ἄν εἴη τιμωρία λέλεκται, φύσει κοινῇ κατὰ πάντων ὡρισμένη. εὐεργετεῖ δὲ τούς τε πίπτοντας ἐν πολέμῳ καὶ τοὺς διασωζομένους, τοῖς μὲν ἁμαρτίας τέλος παρέχουσα, τοῖς δὲ ὑπόδειγμα δέους ἐμποιοῦσα" εὐεργετεῖ δὲ κᾷν δίκαιοι τῷ πλήθει συναπέλθωσινʼ ὡς γὰρ τοῖς ἀδίκοις τέλος τῆς ἀδικίας ὁ θάνατος, οὕτω δὴ καὶ δικαίοις ὡς νικηταῖς τρόπον τινὰ στεφάνων ἀρχή" ὥστε θαυμάσιον διὰ τῆς πανσόφου προνοίας τοῦ θεοῦ συμβαίνειʼ τὸ γὰρ δοκοῦν κολάζειν εὐεργετεῖ καὶ οὐδὲ διʼ ὧν αὐτὸς ἄντικρυς κατασκευάζει ἀνιαρῶν εἶναι δοκούντων, ἀλλὰ διʼ ὧν ἀνθρώποις αὐτομολοῦσι συγχωρεῖ" ὥστε πόλεμος οὐχ ἔργον θεοῦ ἀλλὰ συγχώρησις ἀναγκαία, εἰς μὲν ὑποψίαν τιμωρίας κατὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, κατὰ δὲ τὸ ἀληθὲς εἰς τέλος αὐτῆς, ἔνθα κἄν δίκαιος πέσῃ (δίκαιον δὲ πολεμεῖν ἀπεικός) μειζόνως εὐεργετεῖται. μεῖζον γὰρ τοῦ παυθῆναι κακίας τὸ καρπῶν ἀπολαῦσαι τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς πόνων. ὅπερ εὐσεβέσι μετὰ θάνατον ὑπάρχει.

epeidē de kai tous polemous tę̄ kakią prosnemousi, tina tropon heimarmenai diaphoroi katʼ autous pollōn estin hote chiliadōn hyphʼ hena kairon, mallon de hypo mian hōran piptousōn? ara mia tis heimarmenē synaptei toutous hyphʼ heautę̄? kai pōs ou pantē touto ge hypolambanein geloiotaton? hothen to men anison tēs heimarmenēs (to chalepon tōn peplanēmenōn nosēma) chōran en tois pragmasin ouch echei, polemoi de tēn men archēn ek pleonexias lambanousi, tēn de energeian pros theou synchōroumenēn echousi. kakon men gar toutōn ē aphormē (legō dē tēs pleonexias ē epithymia), hoper anthrōpōn, allʼ ouchi theou plēmmelēma tois emprosthen dedeiktai, thanatos de tēs physeōs ou kakos. genesis gar kai thanatos pros theou physei nenomothetētai, ou tōn ge teleutōntōn apollymenōn, alla tōn ginomenōn tois ousi prostithemenōn: agathou gar ouch an eiē to monois tois ousin anthrōpois to einai te kai gegonenai dōreisthai, alla kai tous mē ontas prokataskeuazein tois ousin, hōs an hoi te genomenoi diadramontes autarkōs tou biou to stadion, anti anapauseōs tou dromou ton thanaton labōsin (ouch eis apōleian autous agonta, allʼ heterōse kata tēn axian hekastou metagonta) hoi te mē ontes parodon eis to genesthai labōsin. oukoun thanatos ho tę̄ physei nenomothetēmenos ou ponēros, kan hopōsoun epioi. oude gar to diaphoron tōn peristaseōn diʼ hōn epeisin exetasteon, hena de tropon koinon tois pasin onta gnōsteon, legō dē to mē dicha peristaseōs tinos kai anankēs anachōrein psychēn apo sōmatos, alla paramenein heōs an to physikon autēs katagōgion akathaireton diamenoi. toutǭ mentoi tǭ physikǭ kai koinǭ synyparchei ti deos, hoper eis timōrias hypopsian anankaiōs pareilēptai, ou mentoi en tois pasin, allʼ hois ge hē dianoia procheiros eis hamartian, pros anatropēn tautēs, ho men gar emphrōn katʼ aretēn ara ge tou plēmmelein kai tou oiesthai mochthēron einai ton thanaton apēllaktai, ho de philamartēmōn apo men tēs autēs anoias aphʼ hēsper kai plēmmelei, ton thanaton eulabeitai. anankaion mentoi tēs anoias echei to toiouton parakolouthēma, hina to adees dediōs, o[y] prosēken alēthōs dedienai (legō dē tēs hamartias) diaphygę̄ tēn. blabēn. epeidan oun pleonasę̄ parʼ ethnesi ta tēs hamartias, hēs ge tynchanei hen eidos to tēs aplēstias, heautois paraitia gignetai tēs kata to phainomenon timōrias, ētis kata "men to alēthes hōs ouch an eiē timōria lelektai, physei koinę̄ kata pantōn hōrismenē. euergetei de tous te piptontas en polemǭ kai tous diasōzomenous, tois men hamartias telos parechousa, tois de hypodeigma deous empoiousa" euergetei de kąn dikaioi tǭ plēthei synapelthōsinʼ hōs gar tois adikois telos tēs adikias ho thanatos, houtō dē kai dikaiois hōs nikētais tropon tina stephanōn archē" hōste thaumasion dia tēs pansophou pronoias tou theou symbaineiʼ to gar dokoun kolazein euergetei kai oude diʼ hōn autos antikrys kataskeuazei aniarōn einai dokountōn, alla diʼ hōn anthrōpois automolousi synchōrei" hōste polemos ouch ergon theou alla synchōrēsis anankaia, eis men hypopsian timōrias kata tēs hamartias, kata de to alēthes eis telos autēs, entha kan dikaios pesę̄ (dikaion de polemein apeikos) meizonōs euergeteitai. meizon gar tou pauthēnai kakias to karpōn apolausai tōn tēs aretēs ponōn. hoper eusebesi meta thanaton hyparchei.

And since they also assign wars to evil: how, by their account, can different fates apply when many thousands sometimes fall at one time, or rather in one hour? Does some single fate bind them together under itself? And how is it not altogether most ridiculous to suppose this? So the inequality of fate (the grievous disease of those who have gone astray) has no place in reality; wars take their beginning from greed, and have their working by God’s permission. Their occasion is evil (I mean the desire of greed), which has been shown above to be a wrong of men, not of God; but death is not an evil of nature. For birth and death have been laid down by God in nature, not so that those who die may perish, but so that those who are born may be added to those who exist. For it would not be the part of a good being to give existence and having come to be only to the men who exist, but also to prepare those who do not yet exist for those who exist; so that those who have come to be, having run the course of life sufficiently, may receive death as rest from their running (not leading them to destruction, but transferring them elsewhere according to the worth of each), and those who do not exist may receive entry into being. Death laid down in nature, then, is not evil, however it may come. Nor must we examine the different circumstances through which it comes, but recognize one manner common to all: that the soul does not depart from the body without some circumstance and necessity, but stays as long as its natural lodging remains undestroyed. With this natural and common thing goes a certain fear, which has necessarily been taken on as a suspicion of punishment; not in all, but in those whose mind is ready for sin, to overturn it. For the man who is wise according to virtue is freed both from wrongdoing and from thinking death wretched; but the lover of sin fears death from the same folly from which he does wrong. Yet such a consequence of folly is necessary, so that by fearing what is not to be feared he may escape the harm of what he truly ought to fear (I mean sin). When, then, sin abounds among nations, of which greed is one kind, they become the cause for themselves of what appears to be punishment, which in truth, as has been said, would not be punishment, since it is fixed by common nature for all. It benefits both those who fall in war and those who are saved: to the one it gives an end of sin, in the other it produces an example for fear. And it benefits even if righteous men perish along with the multitude: for as death is for the unjust the end of injustice, so for the righteous, as victors, it is in a way the beginning of crowns. So something wonderful happens through God’s all-wise providence: what seems to punish does good, and not through painful things that he himself directly brings about, but through things he permits to men who go over to them of their own accord. So war is not the work of God but a necessary permission: in appearance for the suspicion of punishment against sin, but in truth for its end; and there, even if a righteous man falls (though it is unlikely that a righteous man makes war), he is benefited the more. For it is greater than ceasing from evil to enjoy the fruits of the toils of virtue, which is the lot of the pious after death.

Notes and citation

Summary: Wars arise from greed and are permitted by God; death itself is no evil but a natural transition that ends sin for the wicked and begins crowns for the righteous.

“Ο[ὖ]” is bracketed in Lagarde; translated.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR breathing; OCR kappa/chi): ὕφʼ ἕνα καιρόν → ὑφʼ ἕνα καιρόν; ὃ τῇ: φύσει → ὁ τῇ φύσει; ἀχαθαίρετον → ἀκαθαίρετον; ἀναγκαῖογ → ἀναγκαῖον; παραχολούθημα → παρακολούθημα; προγοίας → προνοίας.

Topics: Ethics, Eschatology, War and military service, Death and burial

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.22 (Lagarde 1859, 38; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-22

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-22) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.23Lagarde 1859, 40

οἱ δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα διαμαχόμενοι, πρὶν τὸ χαθʼ ὅλου διελέγξαι κακόν, τὸ μέρος διαβάλλουσιν. εἰ γὰρ ὡς ἀπὸ κακίας ὑφεστηκυίας καὶ ἀρχῆς ἀνάρχου τοὺς πολέμους ἡμῖν κατακομίζουσιν, αὐτόν γε τὸν θάνατον καὶ μόνον κακίσαι προσῆκον ἦν αὐτοῖς. περιττὸν γὰρ τὰς προφάσεις ἐξετάζειν, τοῦ ἀναγκαίως συμβαίνοντος ἀκρίτου μένοντος. πῶς δʼ ἄν τὸν θάνατον κακίσαι δυνηθεῖεν, ἀπολύοντά γε τῆς ὕλης (κατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ ἀπατεῶνος) τὴν ψυχήν; ὥστε κατὰ μὲν τὴν κοινὴν δόξαν ἥκιστά γε θάνατος κακόν. τὸ γὰρ ἀναγκαίως τοῖς πᾶσι συμβαῖνον οὐ κακόν. μάτην αὐτὸν διὰ τοὺς πολέμους διαβάλλουσιν, οὐδὲν πλέον ἐπάγοντα τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ἀποκειμένων. εἰ δέ τις τὴν πρόφασιν αὐτὴν τῶν πολέμων κακίζοι, εἴτʼ οὖν ὀργὴν εἴτʼ ἔχθραν εἴτε καὶ πλεονεξίαν, οὐχ ἄν διαμαρτάνοι τοῦ πρέποντος" ἀνθρώποις μέντοι λογιστέον τοῦτό γε, μοχθηρίᾳ προθέσεως οὕτω διατεθειμένοις. ὅτι δὲ ὁ θάνατος ἥκιστα κακός, δειχθείη μάλιστα ἂν ἐκείνως. εἰ γὰρ μὴ κατὰ πάντων ὥριστο, ὅ τε δίκαιος διὰ παντὸς ἄν ἐπόνει πρὸς ἀρετήν, οὐδὲν πλέον τῶν ἱδρώτων καρπούμενος, ὅ τε ἄδικος ἐν ἡδοναῖς ἄν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἀθάνατος διῆγεν" καὶ ἦν ἄν ἑκάτερον λίαν ἄτοπον. ὃ δὲ θάνατος καὶ τὴν ἄδικον ἡδονὴν τῷ πλημμελοῦντι καταστέλλει καὶ τὸν δίκαιον πόνον τῷ δικαιοπραγοῦντι καταπαύσει. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀναγκαῖον ἀνθρώποις τὸ δύνασθαι ἁμαρτάνειν, αἴτιον ὃν τοῦ δύνασθαι κατορθοῦν, ἢ δὲ ἐξουσία παρὰ θεοῦ δοθεῖσα πρὸς τὴν καλοῦ χἀγαθοῦ κτῆσιν παρὰ τοῖς πλείοσι πρὸς τὸ εὔκολον τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀποκλίνει, ὡς θαυμασιωτέραν εἶναι τὴν ἀρετὴν δυσχερείᾳ συγκεκραμένην, ὠφέλιμός γε ὁ θάνατος ἑκατέροις, δικαίῳ τε καὶ ἀδίκῳ, τῷ μὲν ἀνάπαυλαν τῶν πόνων, τῷ δὲ τέλος τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων παρέχων. ἀγαθοῦ τοίνυν εὑρισκομένου (οὐχὶ μόνον μὴ κακοῦ) τοῦ θανάτου, οὐ κατὰ τὸν μανέντος λόγον, ὡς ἀπολύοντος τῆς μὴ οὔσης ὕλης τὴν ψυχὴν, ἀλλὰ τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον, τοῦ τίνος χάριν ἀρχὴν κακίας ἐπινοήσαιμεν ἂν τοῖς πολέμοις, οὐχὶ δὲ μόνον τὴν ἄδικον πρόθεσιν τῶν χρωμένων διαβαλοῦμεν; τὸ γὰρ ἀποβαῖνον (ὅπερ ἄν τις λογίσαιτο τῇ προνοίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ) δίκαιον οὐχ ἐκ πολέμου μόνον, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον καθʼ ὅλου τῇ φύσει ἀγαθὸν (οὐ μόνον οὐ κακόν) τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἀπεδείχθη, ὥστε τὸν πόλεμον διαβλητέον, οὐ τὸν ἀποβαίνοντα θάνατον, συμφερόντως κείμενον, ἀλλὰ τῶν χρωμένων (καὶ μάλιστα μὴ δικαίως) τὴν πρόθεσιν, ἧς ὅ γε προνοῶν τῶν χαθʼ ἡμᾶς ἀναίτιος.

hoi de pros tauta diamachomenoi, prin to chathʼ holou dielenxai kakon, to meros diaballousin. ei gar hōs apo kakias hyphestēkuias kai archēs anarchou tous polemous hēmin katakomizousin, auton ge ton thanaton kai monon kakisai prosēkon ēn autois. peritton gar tas prophaseis exetazein, tou anankaiōs symbainontos akritou menontos. pōs dʼ an ton thanaton kakisai dynētheien, apolyonta ge tēs hylēs (kata ton logon tou apateōnos) tēn psychēn? hōste kata men tēn koinēn doxan hēkista ge thanatos kakon. to gar anankaiōs tois pasi symbainon ou kakon. matēn auton dia tous polemous diaballousin, ouden pleon epagonta tōn kata physin apokeimenōn. ei de tis tēn prophasin autēn tōn polemōn kakizoi, eitʼ oun orgēn eitʼ echthran eite kai pleonexian, ouch an diamartanoi tou prepontos" anthrōpois mentoi logisteon touto ge, mochthērią protheseōs houtō diatetheimenois. hoti de ho thanatos hēkista kakos, deichtheiē malista an ekeinōs. ei gar mē kata pantōn hōristo, ho te dikaios dia pantos an eponei pros aretēn, ouden pleon tōn hidrōtōn karpoumenos, ho te adikos en hēdonais an tōn hamartēmatōn athanatos diēgen" kai ēn an hekateron lian atopon. ho de thanatos kai tēn adikon hēdonēn tǭ plēmmelounti katastellei kai ton dikaion ponon tǭ dikaiopragounti katapausei. epeidē gar anankaion anthrōpois to dynasthai hamartanein, aition hon tou dynasthai katorthoun, ē de exousia para theou dotheisa pros tēn kalou chagathou ktēsin para tois pleiosi pros to eukolon tēs hamartias apoklinei, hōs thaumasiōteran einai tēn aretēn dyschereią synkekramenēn, ōphelimos ge ho thanatos hekaterois, dikaiǭ te kai adikǭ, tǭ men anapaulan tōn ponōn, tǭ de telos tōn hamartēmatōn parechōn. agathou toinyn heuriskomenou (ouchi monon mē kakou) tou thanatou, ou kata ton manentos logon, hōs apolyontos tēs mē ousēs hylēs tēn psychēn, alla ton eirēmenon tropon, tou tinos charin archēn kakias epinoēsaimen an tois polemois, ouchi de monon tēn adikon prothesin tōn chrōmenōn diabaloumen? to gar apobainon (hoper an tis logisaito tę̄ pronoią tou theou) dikaion ouch ek polemou monon, alla kata panta tropon kathʼ holou tę̄ physei agathon (ou monon ou kakon) tois emprosthen apedeichthē, hōste ton polemon diablēteon, ou ton apobainonta thanaton, sympherontōs keimenon, alla tōn chrōmenōn (kai malista mē dikaiōs) tēn prothesin, hēs ho ge pronoōn tōn chathʼ hēmas anaitios.

Those who fight against these points slander the part before refuting the evil of the whole. For if they bring wars upon us as coming from an existing evil and a beginningless principle, they ought to have decried death itself alone; for it is superfluous to examine the occasions while what necessarily happens remains unjudged. And how could they decry death, which (by the deceiver’s account) frees the soul from matter? So according to the common view death is by no means evil; for what necessarily happens to all is not evil. They slander it in vain because of wars, since it brings nothing more than what is laid up by nature. But if someone decries the occasion of wars itself, whether anger or enmity or greed, he would not miss what is fitting; but this must be reckoned to men, disposed in this way by the wickedness of their purpose. That death is by no means evil may best be shown thus. If it had not been appointed for all, the righteous man would be toiling for virtue for ever, gaining nothing more from his sweat, and the unjust man would live on immortal in the pleasures of his sins; and each would be quite absurd. But death checks the unjust pleasure of the wrongdoer and brings to rest the just toil of the one who does right. For since it is necessary for men to be able to sin, since this is the cause of being able to do right, and since the power given by God for the acquisition of the noble and good turns aside in most people toward the ease of sin, so that virtue, mixed with difficulty, is all the more admirable, death is useful to both, the righteous and the unjust, giving the one rest from toils and the other an end of sins. Since death, then, is found to be good (not only not evil), not according to the madman’s account, as freeing the soul from the matter that does not exist, but in the way we have said, why should we imagine a principle of evil for wars, and not simply blame the unjust purpose of those who wage them? For what results (which one might reckon to God’s providence) has been shown above to be just, not from war alone, but in every way and in general good by nature (not only not evil); so that war is to be blamed, not the death that results, which is laid down for our advantage, but the purpose of those who wage it (especially unjustly), for which he who provides for our affairs is not responsible.

Notes and citation

Summary: Death, appointed for all, is good, ending the toil of the righteous and the sins of the wicked; the blame for war lies with human purpose, not with God.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR kappa/chi; OCR, line-end break): χαταχομίζουσιν → κατακομίζουσιν; χαχίζοι → κακίζοι; ὥριστο, τε δίκαιος → ὥριστο, ὅ τε δίκαιος; ὅ τὸ ἄδικος → ὅ τε ἄδικος; χατορθοῦν → κατορθοῦν; συγχεχραμένην → συγκεκραμένην; εὕὑρισχομένου → εὑρισκομένου; χρω-. μένων → χρωμένων.

Topics: Heresy, Ethics, Eschatology, Death and burial, War and military service

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.23 (Lagarde 1859, 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-23

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-23) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.24Lagarde 1859, 41

αὖθις ἕτερον εἶδος, ὧν ὃ χαλεπώτατα μανεὶς αἰτιᾶται, σεισμῶν καὶ λοιμῶν καὶ λιμῶν ἀφοριῶν τε καὶ ἀκρίδων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων, ὡς ἐξ ἐναντίας ἀρχῆς καὶ τοῦτο γινόμενον. δῆλον δὲ τοῖς ἅπασιν ὡς ἐν μὲν ταῖς λίαν εὐθυμίαις τε καὶ εὐπραγίαις εἰώθασιν ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ πλὴν ὀλίγων πάντες ἄνθρωποι διακαυνοῦσθαι τὴν διάνοιαν καὶ τοῖς πάθεσιν ὑποκατακλίνεσθαι καὶ μνήμην ἀρετῆς τε καὶ πόνων εὐσεβείας οὐδεμίαν ἔχειν. καὶ τοῦτό εἰκότως τρόπον τινὰ συμβαίνει. ἐπειδὰν γὰρ πλησμονὴ σιτίων τε καὶ ποτῶν ἄμετρος διὰ πολλὴν εὐπορίαν ἀνθρώποις ἐγγένηται, γαστρὸς ἐπὶ πλέον πιαινομένης. παχύνεται μὲν ὁ νοῦς, ὑπτιοῦται δὲ ὃ λογισμός, βαρυνομένη δὲ ἡ ψυχὴ τοῖς ἀλογίστοις πάθεσιν ὑποβάλλεται. εἰ δέ τις συμβαίη τῶν κατειλεγμένων συμφορῶν, ἧττον μὲν γαστρὸς φροντίζουσιν ἄνθρωποι, ἧττον δὲ ταῖς ἡδοναῖς δουλεύουσι, σωφροσύνην τε καὶ εὐσέβειαν (ὅση δύναμις) μεταδιώκουσι καὶ βελτιοῦνται τὸν τρόπον, ὡς οἷόν τε, πιεζόμενοι μᾶλλον ἢ εὐθηνούμενοι. ποῖα τοίνυν προσοίσαιμεν τῇ κακίᾳ κατὰ τὸν ἐκείνου λόγον; τὰ τῇ μὲν αἰσθήσει λυπηρά, τῇ δὲ ἐνεργείᾳ λίαν ὠφέλιμα;. ποῖα δὲ τῷ ἀγαθῷ; τὰ ἡδέα μέν, ἔστι δʼ ὅτε βλαβερώτατα; καὶ πῶς οὐ δόξει παιδαγωγὸς εἶναι μᾶλλον πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἢ κακία τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ; πολλάκις γὰρ οὗς μὴ μετέβαλεν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον εὐθηνία, μετεποίησέ τις προσπεσοῦσα λύπη καὶ συμφορά. δέονται γὰρ ἄνθρωποι - καὶ τοιούτων τινῶν ἀναμνήσεων κατὰ καιροὺς πρὸς τὸ διεγείρεσθαι τὸν νοῦν καὶ τῆς πλείονος ῥᾳστώνης ἀπαλλάττεσθαι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ εὐθηνο[υ]μένους ἣν ἰδεῖν αὐτοὺς τῶν γοῦν μεγάλων ἀδικημάτων ἀπεχομένους» μετρία δὲ πλημμελοῦντας, ἦν ἄν τις εὔλογος καταδρομὴ ὡς οὐ κατὰ λόγον καὶ τῶν τοιούτων συμβαινόντων" εἰ δὲ πρὸς τελείαν τοῦ χορηγοῦντος λήθην τὴν διηνεκῇ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἀφθονίαν λαμβάνουσιν, ἀναγκαῖόν ποτε καὶ τὸ διεγείρεσθαι ταῖς συμφοραῖς εἰς μνήμην θεοῦ, ᾧγε προσῆκεν ἀδιάλειπτον τῆς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κηδεμονίας ὁμολογεῖν τὴν χάριν: ὥστε νουθετῶν θεὸς ἀνθρώπους οἰκονομεῖ τὰ τοιαῦτα, οὐχ ὀργῆς τινος πάθει κατεχόμενος, ἀλλὰ κηδεμονίας καὶ τῆς τῶν δεομένων ἐπιστροφῆς μεταποιούμενος" οὐδὲ γὰρ φιλανθρωπίας τῆς ἀνωτάτω καὶ ἀκριβοῦς ἂν εἴη τὸ ὑποκορίζεσθαί γε χρηστότητι τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πάθη καὶ τῷ ἀνεπιπλήκτῳ τὴν αὔξησιν αὐτοῖς ἐπιτρέπειν. τοὐναντίον γὰρ τοῦτο πρὸς ἀπανθρωπίαν ὁρᾷ, εἴγε βουλόμενος τῆς κατὰ τὸ φαινόμενον μὴ ἐξίστασθαι χρηστότητος, ἐπιβούλως συγχωροίη πρὸς ἔκλυσιν κακίας πάντη καταπίπτειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. λέγω δὲ τὰ χρηστὰ παρέχων καὶ τὰ νομιζόμενα λυπηρὰ ἀναγκαίως ἐπάγει. οὐδὲ γὰρ πατὴρ πλημμελοῦντα παῖδα τύπτων ἀπάνθρωπος“ τοὐναντίον μὲν οὖν, εἰ μὴ πρὸς ἐπιστροφὴν ἄγοι τοῦτον, οὐ δόξει φειδὼ πατρικὴν ἐνδείκνυσθαι. οὐδέ τέμνων καὶ καίων ἰατρὸς ἑλκῶν νομάς ἀπάνθρωπος, ἀλλʼ ὅσῳ τοῦ λόγου τῆς τέχνης ʼ μεταποιεῖται, τοσούτῳ φειδόμενος τοῦ κάμνοντος προσάγει τὴν ἀλγηδόνα τῶν αὐστηροτέρων βοηθημάτων ὡς ἀπολουμένου μὲν πρὸς τῶν ἑλκῶν τοῦ κάμνοντος, εἰ μὴ τοῦτον βοηθηθείη τὸν τρόπον, σωθησομένου δέ, τομῆς τε καὶ χαυστῆρος εἰ δέοι προσαγομένων. ὥστε κατὰ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα ἄνθρωποί εἰσιν οἱ τά γε ἀνιαρὰ ποιοῦντες χαθʼ ἑαυτῶν μᾶλλον ἢ ὁ θεός, οἱ τὴν χρείαν καὶ τοὺς καιροὺς προθέσει γε οἰκείᾳ προκατασκευάζοντες διὰ τῶν οἰκείων παθῶν. ὡς γὰρ τοῦ χαυτῆρος οὐχ ὃ ἰατρὸς ποιεῖ τὸν καιρόν τε καὶ τὴν χρείαν; ἀλλὰ τὸ ὑποκείμενον ἕλκος καὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν ἐπείγεται καὶ τὸν καυτῆρα καλεῖ, οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πάθη προκαλεῖται τῶν εἰς θεραπείαν συντεινόντων παρὰ θεοῦ τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, ἥκιστά γε ἀνεχομένου τῶν ἀνθρώπων (ὡς οἰκείου ἔργου) μὴ διὰ παντὸς προνοεῖν. ἐπέτρεψε μὲν γὰρ ἀνθρώποις τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ τῆς καλοκαγαθίας ἐλευθέριον ἔχειν τὴν αἵρεσιν. ὑπερείδει μέντοι τὸ πρὸς τὰ πάθη σαθρὸν ἡμῶν διʼ ὦν ἐναργῶς ἔστιν ὅτε νο[υ]θετεῖ καὶ ἐπιπλήττει, οὔτε διηνεκῶς ἐπάγων τὰ αὐστηρότερα, ἵνα μὴ τῇ ἀνάγκῃ τῆς κατηφείας τὸ ἐλευθέριον ἐκβάλῃ, οὔτε ἄφετον πάντη τὴν ὁρμὴν τῆς ῥᾳστώνης ἡμῖν καταλιμπάνων, ἵνα μὴ τὰς προλήψεις τῶν παθῶν ἀνιάτους ἀφίῃ" ἑκάτερα δὲ ἀρρήτῳ σοφίᾳ πρὸς ἀνθρώπων ὠφέλειαν οἰκονομεῖ, ἑκάστου τὸν δέοντα καιρὸν ἐπιστάμενος.

authis heteron eidos, hōn ho chalepōtata maneis aitiatai, seismōn kai loimōn kai limōn aphoriōn te kai akridōn kai tōn toioutōn, hōs ex enantias archēs kai touto ginomenon. dēlon de tois hapasin hōs en men tais lian euthymiais te kai eupragiais eiōthasin hōs epi to poly plēn oligōn pantes anthrōpoi diakaunousthai tēn dianoian kai tois pathesin hypokataklinesthai kai mnēmēn aretēs te kai ponōn eusebeias oudemian echein. kai touto eikotōs tropon tina symbainei. epeidan gar plēsmonē sitiōn te kai potōn ametros dia pollēn euporian anthrōpois engenētai, gastros epi pleon piainomenēs. pachynetai men ho nous, hyptioutai de ho logismos, barynomenē de hē psychē tois alogistois pathesin hypoballetai. ei de tis symbaiē tōn kateilegmenōn symphorōn, hētton men gastros phrontizousin anthrōpoi, hētton de tais hēdonais douleuousi, sōphrosynēn te kai eusebeian (hosē dynamis) metadiōkousi kai beltiountai ton tropon, hōs hoion te, piezomenoi mallon ē euthēnoumenoi. poia toinyn prosoisaimen tę̄ kakią kata ton ekeinou logon? ta tę̄ men aisthēsei lypēra, tę̄ de energeią lian ōphelima?. poia de tǭ agathǭ? ta hēdea men, esti dʼ hote blaberōtata? kai pōs ou doxei paidagōgos einai mallon pros aretēn ē kakia tou agathou? pollakis gar hous mē metebalen epi to kreitton euthēnia, metepoiēse tis prospesousa lypē kai symphora. deontai gar anthrōpoi - kai toioutōn tinōn anamnēseōn kata kairous pros to diegeiresthai ton noun kai tēs pleionos rhąstōnēs apallattesthai. ei men gar euthēno[y]menous hēn idein autous tōn goun megalōn adikēmatōn apechomenous» metria de plēmmelountas, ēn an tis eulogos katadromē hōs ou kata logon kai tōn toioutōn symbainontōn" ei de pros teleian tou chorēgountos lēthēn tēn diēnekę̄ tōn anankaiōn aphthonian lambanousin, anankaion pote kai to diegeiresthai tais symphorais eis mnēmēn theou, hǭge prosēken adialeipton tēs hyper hēmōn kēdemonias homologein tēn charin: hōste nouthetōn theos anthrōpous oikonomei ta toiauta, ouch orgēs tinos pathei katechomenos, alla kēdemonias kai tēs tōn deomenōn epistrophēs metapoioumenos" oude gar philanthrōpias tēs anōtatō kai akribous an eiē to hypokorizesthai ge chrēstotēti ta anthrōpina pathē kai tǭ anepiplēktǭ tēn auxēsin autois epitrepein. tounantion gar touto pros apanthrōpian horą, eige boulomenos tēs kata to phainomenon mē existasthai chrēstotētos, epiboulōs synchōroiē pros eklysin kakias pantē katapiptein tous anthrōpous. legō de ta chrēsta parechōn kai ta nomizomena lypēra anankaiōs epagei. oude gar patēr plēmmelounta paida typtōn apanthrōpos“ tounantion men oun, ei mē pros epistrophēn agoi touton, ou doxei pheidō patrikēn endeiknysthai. oude temnōn kai kaiōn iatros helkōn nomas apanthrōpos, allʼ hosǭ tou logou tēs technēs ʼ metapoieitai, tosoutǭ pheidomenos tou kamnontos prosagei tēn algēdona tōn austēroterōn boēthēmatōn hōs apoloumenou men pros tōn helkōn tou kamnontos, ei mē touton boēthētheiē ton tropon, sōthēsomenou de, tomēs te kai chaustēros ei deoi prosagomenōn. hōste kata to hypodeigma anthrōpoi eisin hoi ta ge aniara poiountes chathʼ heautōn mallon ē ho theos, hoi tēn chreian kai tous kairous prothesei ge oikeią prokataskeuazontes dia tōn oikeiōn pathōn. hōs gar tou chautēros ouch ho iatros poiei ton kairon te kai tēn chreian? alla to hypokeimenon helkos kai ton iatron epeigetai kai ton kautēra kalei, houtō dē kai ta anthrōpina pathē prokaleitai tōn eis therapeian synteinontōn para theou tēn epimeleian, hēkista ge anechomenou tōn anthrōpōn (hōs oikeiou ergou) mē dia pantos pronoein. epetrepse men gar anthrōpois tēs aretēs kai tēs kalokagathias eleutherion echein tēn hairesin. hypereidei mentoi to pros ta pathē sathron hēmōn diʼ ōn enargōs estin hote no[y]thetei kai epiplēttei, oute diēnekōs epagōn ta austērotera, hina mē tę̄ anankę̄ tēs katēpheias to eleutherion ekbalę̄, oute apheton pantē tēn hormēn tēs rhąstōnēs hēmin katalimpanōn, hina mē tas prolēpseis tōn pathōn aniatous aphię̄" hekatera de arrētǭ sophią pros anthrōpōn ōpheleian oikonomei, hekastou ton deonta kairon epistamenos.

Again, there is another kind of thing that the most grievously mad man blames: earthquakes, plagues, famines, crop failures, locusts and the like, as though this too came from the opposite principle. But it is plain to all that in great cheerfulness and prosperity nearly all men, with few exceptions, are commonly slack in mind, give way to their passions and keep no memory of virtue and of the toils of piety. And this happens, in a way, naturally. For when unmeasured fullness of food and drink comes to men through great abundance, as the belly is fattened, the mind is thickened, reason lies on its back, and the soul, weighed down, is subjected to irrational passions. But if one of the misfortunes listed should happen, men care less for the belly, serve pleasures less, pursue self-control and piety (as far as they can), and improve their ways, as far as possible, when pressed rather than when thriving. Which, then, shall we assign to evil, by his account? The things painful to the senses but very beneficial in their working? And which to the good? The things pleasant, but sometimes most harmful? And how will evil not seem to be a better tutor toward virtue than the good? For often those whom prosperity did not change for the better, some grief or misfortune that befell them has transformed. For men need such reminders at times, to rouse the mind and to be freed from too much ease. If one could see them, when prosperous, keeping at least from great wrongs and erring only moderately, there might be a reasonable attack on such things as happening without reason. But if they take the continual abundance of necessities as occasion for complete forgetfulness of the giver, it is necessary that they sometimes be roused by misfortunes to remember God, to whom we ought to confess unceasing thanks for his care for us. So God arranges such things to admonish men, not seized by any passion of anger, but intent on care and on the conversion of those who need it. For it would not belong to the highest and most exact love for mankind to coax human passions with kindness and let them grow by never rebuking them. On the contrary, that looks toward inhumanity, if, wishing not to depart from apparent kindness, he should treacherously allow men to fall wholly into the dissolution of evil. I say that he who gives good things also brings, of necessity, things thought painful. For a father who beats his erring son is not inhuman; on the contrary, if he did not lead him to conversion, he would not seem to show a father’s care. Nor is a physician who cuts and burns spreading sores inhuman; rather, the more he holds to the reason of his art, the more, sparing the patient, he applies the pain of the harsher remedies, since the patient would perish from his sores if he were not helped in this way, but will be saved if surgery and cautery are applied when needed. So, by this example, it is men who bring painful things upon themselves rather than God, preparing beforehand the need and the occasions by their own purpose, through their own passions. For as it is not the physician who makes the occasion and the need for cautery, but the sore beneath urges the physician on and calls for the cautery, so human passions call forth from God care in what serves their healing, since he by no means allows himself not to provide for men always, as his own work. For he has entrusted to men a free choice of virtue and nobility; yet he props up what is rotten in us toward the passions by the means through which he sometimes plainly admonishes and rebukes, neither bringing the harsher things continually, lest by the necessity of dejection he drive out freedom, nor leaving us wholly unchecked in the impulse to ease, lest he leave the hold of the passions incurable. Both he arranges with ineffable wisdom for men’s benefit, knowing the right time for each.

Notes and citation

Summary: Natural disasters are God’s admonitions, like a father’s discipline or a physician’s surgery, rousing people whom prosperity makes forgetful of God.

In “εὐθηνο[υ]μένους” and “νο[υ]θετεῖ” the bracketed letters are Lagarde’s. Φῦ in “σαθρὸν φῦ ἡμῶν” is a stray OCR mark.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR kappa/chi; OCR stray mark): διαχαυνοῦσθαι → διακαυνοῦσθαι; ὑποχαταχλίνεσθαι → ὑποκατακλίνεσθαι; πόνων ʼ εὐσεβείας → πόνων εὐσεβείας; ἢ φυχὴ → ἡ ψυχὴ; μεταδιώχουσι → μεταδιώκουσι; ὑποχορίζεσθαί → ὑποκορίζεσθαί; ἐπιστρέφειαν → ἐπιστροφὴν; ἐνδείχνυσθαι → ἐνδείκνυσθαι; οἰχδίᾳ προχατασχευάζοντες → οἰκείᾳ προκατασκευάζοντες; χαλοχαγαθίας → καλοκαγαθίας; πκάθη σαθρὸν φῦ → πάθη σαθρὸν.

Topics: Heresy, Providence, Suffering and affliction

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.24 (Lagarde 1859, 41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-24

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-24) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.25Lagarde 1859, 42

αὐτίκα ἴδοις ἄν σεισμὸν ἣ ὄμβρων ἔνδειαν ἣ ἀκρίδων ἐπιφοράν, καὶ ἅμα σχεδὸν ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους πρὸς εὐλάβειαν ἐπικλινομένους καὶ πρὸς ἱκεσίαν τοῦ μεταγαγεῖν τὰ τοιαῦτα δυναμένου. εἰ δὲ τὰ μὲν δοκοῦντα συνήθως ἡδέα καὶ χρηστὰ τὸν ἀνθρώπινον λογισμὸν ὑπτιοῖ, τὰ δὲ ἀνιαρὰ διεγείρει καὶ συστρέφει πρὸς εὐσεβεστέραν κατάστασιν, πῶς οὐχ ἄν τις ἐκεῖνα μὲν ὑπὲρ σωμάτων, ταῦτα δὲ ὑπὲρ ψυχῶν φαίη πρὸς θεοῦ διοικεῖσθαι; ἄρʼ οὖν τὰ διεγείροντα ψυχὰς εἰς εὐσέβειάν τε καὶ ἀρετὴν κλητέον κακά; κἂν γὰρ τῇ αἰσθήσει τῶν ὑποκειμένων ἀνιαρὰ τυγχάνῃ, πρὸς μέντοι σωτηρίαν ἀνθρώπων ἀναγκαίως ἐπάγεται.

autika idois an seismon hē ombrōn endeian hē akridōn epiphoran, kai hama schedon hapantas anthrōpous pros eulabeian epiklinomenous kai pros hikesian tou metagagein ta toiauta dynamenou. ei de ta men dokounta synēthōs hēdea kai chrēsta ton anthrōpinon logismon hyptioi, ta de aniara diegeirei kai systrephei pros eusebesteran katastasin, pōs ouch an tis ekeina men hyper sōmatōn, tauta de hyper psychōn phaiē pros theou dioikeisthai? arʼ oun ta diegeironta psychas eis eusebeian te kai aretēn klēteon kaka? kan gar tę̄ aisthēsei tōn hypokeimenōn aniara tynchanę̄, pros mentoi sōtērian anthrōpōn anankaiōs epagetai.

For example, you may see an earthquake, or a lack of rain, or an onset of locusts, and at the same time almost all men inclining toward reverence and toward supplication of him who can turn such things away. If, then, what usually seems pleasant and good makes human reason lie back, while painful things rouse it and turn it to a more pious state, how could one not say that God governs the former for the sake of bodies and the latter for the sake of souls? Are the things that rouse souls to piety and virtue, then, to be called evils? Even if they are painful to the senses of those who undergo them, they are brought on of necessity for men’s salvation.

Notes and citation

Summary: Calamities turn people to prayer and piety, so they serve souls and are not evils.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR kappa/chi): ἐπιχλινομένους → ἐπικλινομένους; κᾷν γὰρ → κἂν γὰρ.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.25 (Lagarde 1859, 42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-25

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-25) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).

2.26Lagarde 1859, 43

ὁ μέντοι πρὸς ἀλήθειαν [μανεὶς] Μάνης πάντη ἑαυτῷ μαχόμενος ἀγνοεῖ. εἰ γὰρ ἐπιβλαβὴς τῆς ὕλης ἢ αὔξησις, τίς οὐχ ἄν αἴσθοιτο ὡς τοὐναντίον ἢ λέγει συμβαίνει: αὐξηθήσεται μὲν γὰρ αὕτη κατὰ ἀνθρώπων ἀδιαλείπτως εὐθηνουμένων καὶ τρυφαῖς ἐσχολακότων. γαστρὶ καὶ τοῖς μετὰ γαστέρα δουλευόντων — μειωθήσεται δὲ εἰς τὰ μάλιστα διὰ λιμῶν καὶ λοιμῶν καὶ θανάτων, πρό[ο]οδον ταύτῃ μὴ ἐπιτρεπόντων πρὸς ἀδικίαν αὐξήσεως" ὥστε καὶ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτὸν ἀγαθὰ ταῦτα καλεῖν κατὰ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μᾶλλον ἣ κακά. οὕτω δʼ ἄν ἔδοξε βελτίονος ἐφικέσθαι λόγου, εἰ μὴ πάλιν τὰ ἡδέα πρὸς ἄλλας ἐναντίας ἀρχὰς τῷ λόγῳ φέρων αὖθις κακὰ προσηγόρευσεν. ἀγαθὰ γὰρ ἀμφότερα, λόγῳ πρὸς ἀγαθοῦ θεοῦ ἐπαγόμενα. ὁ δὲ χαίρων τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ πρὸς σύστασιν τῆς ὑφεστώσης (ὡς οἴεται) κακίας λυπεῖται πρὸς τὰς ἐνεργεῖς τοῦ θεοῦ νουθετήσεις, διʼ ὧν ἄνθρωποι βελτιούμενοι πολλάκις, ἔνιοι δὲ τελείως πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον μεταβαλλόμενοι, ἀσύστατόν γε αὐτοῦ τὸ δόγμα τῆς πλάνης ἀποφαίνουσι.

ho mentoi pros alētheian [maneis] Manēs pantē heautǭ machomenos agnoei. ei gar epiblabēs tēs hylēs ē auxēsis, tis ouch an aisthoito hōs tounantion ē legei symbainei: auxēthēsetai men gar hautē kata anthrōpōn adialeiptōs euthēnoumenōn kai tryphais escholakotōn. gastri kai tois meta gastera douleuontōn — meiōthēsetai de eis ta malista dia limōn kai loimōn kai thanatōn, pro[o]odon tautę̄ mē epitrepontōn pros adikian auxēseōs" hōste kai eikos ēn auton agatha tauta kalein kata tēn hypothesin tēn heautou mallon hē kaka. houtō dʼ an edoxe beltionos ephikesthai logou, ei mē palin ta hēdea pros allas enantias archas tǭ logǭ pherōn authis kaka prosēgoreusen. agatha gar amphotera, logǭ pros agathou theou epagomena. ho de chairōn tę̄ hamartią pros systasin tēs hyphestōsēs (hōs oietai) kakias lypeitai pros tas energeis tou theou nouthetēseis, diʼ hōn anthrōpoi beltioumenoi pollakis, enioi de teleiōs pros to kreitton metaballomenoi, asystaton ge autou to dogma tēs planēs apophainousi.

But Mani, truly mad, fights against himself in every way without knowing it. For if the growth of matter is harmful, who would not see that the opposite of what he says happens? Matter will grow in men who prosper continually, have leisure for luxury and serve the belly and what comes after the belly; and it will be diminished most through famines, plagues and deaths, which do not allow it to advance toward the injustice of growth. So it would have been likely for him, by his own hypothesis, to call these things good rather than evil. And he would have seemed to reach a better account in this way, if he had not again ascribed pleasant things in his account to other, opposite principles and called them evil in turn. For both are good, being brought on by reason by the good God. But the man who rejoices in sin, to establish the evil he thinks exists, is grieved at God’s effective admonitions, through which men, often improved, and some wholly changed for the better, show the doctrine of his error to be incoherent.

Notes and citation

Summary: By Mani’s own logic calamities that check bodily excess would be good, since they diminish matter; both prosperity and adversity come from the good God.

“[μανεὶς]” (“mad”) is bracketed in Lagarde; translated (a play on Mani’s name). In “πρό[ο]οδον” the bracketed letter is Lagarde’s.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR kappa/chi): εὐθηὃ νουμένων → εὐθηνουμένων; ἐφιχέσθαι → ἐφικέσθαι.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Titus of Bostra, Man. 2.26 (Lagarde 1859, 43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos/2-26

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-titus-bostra-contra-manichaeos-2-26) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Lagarde (Berlin, 1859), from our cleaned Tesseract OCR (OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists; the translation was checked against the Greek while drafting. Refs 69-103 are Lagarde's pages (the rest of the Greek has no chapter numbers).