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1. I KNOW well that to coarse-minded persons, who are greedy in
the pursuit of present things, and are nailed to earth, and enslaved
to physical pleasure, and have no strong hold upon spiritual ideas,
this treatise will be of a strange and paradoxical kind: and they will
laugh immoderately, and condemn me for uttering incredible things from
the very outset of my theme. Nevertheless, I shall not on this
account desist from my promise, but for this very reason shall proceed
with great earnestness to the proof of what I have undertaken. For if
those who take that view of my subject will please not to make a clamour
and disturbance, but wait to the end of my discourse, I am sure that
they will take my side, and condemn themselves, finding that they have
been deceived hitherto, and will make a recantation, and apology, and
crave pardon for the mistaken opinion which they held concerning these
matters, and will express great gratitude to me, as patients do to
physicians, when they have been relieved from the disorders which lay
seige to their body. For do not tell me of the judgment which is
prevailing in your mind at the present time, but wait to hear the
contention of my arguments and then you will be able to record an
impartial verdict without being hindered by ignorance from forming a
true judgment. For even judges in secular causes, if they see the
first orator pouring forth a mighty torrent of words and overwhelming
everything with his speech do not venture to record their decision
without having patiently listened to the other speaker who is opposed to
him; and even if the remarks of the first speaker seem to be just to an
unlimited extent, they reserve an unprejudiced hearing for the second.
In fact the special merit of judges consists in ascertaining with all
possible accuracy what each side has to allege and then bringing forward
their own judgment.
Now in the place of an orator we have the common assumption of mankind
which in the course of ages has taken deep root in the minds of the
multitude, and declaims to the following effect throughout the world.
"All things" it says "have been turned upside down, the human race
is full of much confusion and many are they who every day are being
wronged, insulted, subjected to violence and injury, the weak by the
strong, the poor by the rich: and as it is impossible to number the
waves of the sea, so is it impossible to reckon the multitude of those
who are the victims of intrigue, insult, and suffering; and neither
the correction of law, nor the fear of being brought to trial, nor
anything else can arrest this pestilence and disorder, but the evil is
increasing every day, and the groans, and lamentations, and weeping
of the sufferers are universal; and the judges who are appointed to
reform such evils, themselves intensify the tempest, and inflame the
disorder, and hence many of the more senseless and despicable kind,
seized with a new kind of frenzy, accuse the providence of God, when
they see the forbearing man often violently seized, racked, and
oppressed, and the audacious, impetous, low and low-born man waxing
rich, and invested with authority, and becoming formidable to many,
and inflicting countless troubles upon the more moderate, and this
perpetrated both in town and country, and desert, on sea and land.
This discourse of ours of necessity comes in by way of direct
opposition to what has been alleged, maintaining a contention which is
new, as I said at the beginning, and contrary to opinion, yet useful
and true, and profitable to those who will give heed to it and be
persuaded by it; for what I undertake is to prove (only make no
commotion) that no one of those who are wronged is wronged by another,
but experiences this injury at his own hands.
2. But in order to make my argument plainer, let us first of all
enquire what injustice is, and of what kind of things the material of
it is wont to be composed; also what human virtue is, and what it is
which ruins it; and further what it is which seems to ruin it but
really does not. For instance (for I must complete my argument by
means of examples) each thing is subject to one evil which ruins it;
iron to rust, wool to moth, flocks of sheep to wolves. The virtue of
wine is injured when it ferments and turns sour: of honey when it loses
its natural sweetness, and is reduced to a bitter juice. Ears of corn
are ruined by mildew and droughts and the fruit, and leaves, and
branches of vines by the mischievous host of locusts, other trees by
the caterpillar, and irrational creatures by diseases of various
kinds: and not to lengthen the list by going through all possible
examples, our own flesh is subject to fevers, and palsies, and a
crowd of other maladies. As then each one of these things is liable to
that which ruins its virtue, let us now consider what it is which
injures the human race, and what it is which ruins the virtue of a
human being. Most men think that there are divers things which have
this effect; for I must mention the erroneous opinions on the
subject, and, after confuting them, proceed to exhibit that which
really does ruin our virtue: and to demonstrate clearly that no one
could inflict this injury or bring this ruin upon us unless we betrayed
ourselves. The multitude then having erroneous opinions imagine that
there are many different things which ruin our virtue: some say it is
poverty, others bodily disease, others loss of property, others
calumny, others death and they are perpetually bewailing and lamenting
these things: and whilst they are commiserating the sufferers and
shedding tears they excitedly exclaim to one another "What a calamity
has befallen such and such a man! he has been deprived of all his
fortune at a blow." Of another again one will say: "such and such a
man has been attacked by severe sickness and is despaired of by the
physicians in attendance." Some bewail and lament the inmates of the
prison, some those who have been expelled from their country n and
transported to the land of exile, others those who have been deprived
of their freedom, others those who have been seized and made captives
by enemies, others those who have been drowned, or burnt, or buried
by the fall of a house, but no one mourns those who are living in
wickedness: on the contrary, which is worse than all, they often
congratulate them, a practice which is the cause of all manner of
evils. Come then (only, as I exhorted you at the outset, do not
make a commotion), let me prove that none of the things which have
been mentioned injure the man who lives soberly, nor can ruin his
virtue. For tell me if a man has lost his all either at the hands of
calumniators or of robbers, or has been stripped of his goods by
knavish servants, what harm has the loss done to the virtue of the
man?
But if it seems well let me rather indicate in the first place what is
the virtue of a man, beginning by dealing with the subject in the case
of existences of another kind so as to make it more intelligible and
plain to the majority of readers.
3. What then is the virtue of a horse? is it to have a bridle
studded with gold and girths to match, and a band of silken threads to
fasten the housing, and clothes wrought in divers colours and gold
tissue, and head gear studded with jewels, and locks of hair plaited
with gold cord? or is it to be swift and strong in its legs, and even
in its paces, and to have hoofs suitable to a well bred horse, and
courage fitted for long journies and warfare, and to be able to behave
with calmness in the battle field, and if a rout takes place to save
its rider? Is it not manifest that these are the things which
constitute the virtue of the horse, not the others? Again, what
should you say was the virtue of asses and mules? is it not the power
of carrying burdens with contentment, and accomplishing journies with
ease, and having hoofs like rock? Shall we say that their outside
trappings contribute anything to their own proper virtue? By no
means. And what kind of vine shall we admire? one which abounds in
leaves and branches, or one which is laden with fruit? or I what kind
of virtue do we predicate of an olive? is it to have large boughs, and
great luxuriance of leaves, or to exhibit an abundance of its proper
fruit dispersed over all parts of the tree? Well, let us act in the
same way in the case of human beings also: let us determine what is the
virtue of man, and let us regard that alone as an injury, which is
destructive to it. What then is the virtue of man? not riches that
thou shouldest fear poverty: nor health of body that thou shouldest
dread sickness, nor the opinion of the public, that thou shouldest
view an evil reputation with alarm, nor life simply for its own sake,
that death should be terrible to thee: nor liberty that thou shouldest
avoid servitude: but carefulness in holding true doctrine, and
rectitude in life. Of these things not even the devil himself will be
able to rob a man, if he who possesses them guards them with the
needful carefulness: and that most malicious and ferocious demon is
aware of this. For this cause also he robbed Job of his substance,
not to make him poor, but that he might force him into uttering some
blasphemous speech; and he tortured his body, not to subject him to
infirmity, but to upset the virtue of his soul. But nevertheless when
he had set all his devices in motion, and turned him from a rich man
into a poor one (that calamity which seems to us the most terrible of
all), and had made him childless who was once surrounded by many
children, and had scarified his whole body more cruelly than the
executioners do in the public tribunals (for their nails do not
lacerate the sides of those who fall into their hands so severely as the
gnawing of the worms lacerated his body), and when he had fastened a
bad reputation upon him (for Job's friends who were present with him
said "thou hast not received the chastisement which thy sins
deserve," and directed many words of accusation against him), and
after he had not merely expelled him from city and home and transferred
him to another city, but had actually made the dunghill serve as his
home and city; after all this, he not only did him no damage but
rendered him more glorious by the designs which he formed against him.
And he not only failed to rob him of any of his possessions although he
had robbed him of so many things, but he even increased the wealth of
his virtue. For after these things he enjoyed greater confidence
inasmuch as he had contended in a more severe contest. Now if he who
underwent such sufferings, and this not at the hand of man, but at the
hand of the devil who is more wicked than all men, sustained no
injury, which of those persons who say such and such a man injured and
damaged me will have any defence to make in future? For if the devil
who is full of such great malice, after having set all his instruments
in motion, and discharged all his weapons, and poured out all the
evils incident to man, in a superlative degree upon the family and the
person of that righteous man nevertheless did him no injury, but as I
was saying rather profited him: how shall certain be able to accuse
such and such a man alleging that they have suffered injury at their
hands, not at their own?
4. What then? some one will say, did he not inflict injury on
Adam, and upset him, and cast him out of paradise? No: he did it
not, but the cause was the listlessness of him who was injured, and
his want of temperance and vigilance. For he who applied such powerful
and manifold devices and yet was not able to subdue Job, how could he
by inferior means have mastered Adam, had not Adam betrayed himself
through his own listlessness? What then? Has not he been injured who
has been exposed to slander, and suffered confiscation of his
property, having been deprived of all his goods, and is thrown out of
his patrimony, and struggles with extreme poverty? No! he has not
been injured, but has even profited, if he be sober. For, tell me,
what harm did this do the apostles? Were they not continually
struggling with hunger, and thirst and nakedness? And this was the
very reason why they were so illustrious, and distinguished, and won
for themselves much help from God. Again what harm was done to
Lazarus by his disease, and sores, and poverty and dearth of
protectors? Were they not the reasons why garlands of victory were
more abundantly woven for him? Or what harm was done to Joseph by his
getting evil reported of, both in his own land, and in the land of
strangers? for he was supposed to be both an adulterer and fornicator:
or what harm did servitude do him or expatriation? Is it not specially
on account of these things that we regard him with admiration and
astonishment? And why do I speak of removal into a foreign land, and
poverty, and evil report, and bondage? For what harm did death
itself inflict on Abel, although it was a violent and untimely death,
and perpetrated by a brother's hand? Is not this the reason why his
praise is sounded throughout the whole world? Seest thou how the
discourse has demonstrated even more than it promised? For not only
has it disclosed the fact that no one is injured by anybody, but also
that they who take heed to themselves derive the greater gain (from
such assaults). What is the purpose then it will be said of penalties
and punishments? What is the purpose of hell? What is the purpose of
such great threatenings, if no one is either injured or injures? What
is it thou sayest? Why dost thou confuse the argument? For I did
not say that no one injures, but that no one is injured.
And how is it possible, you will say, for no one to be injured when
many are committing injury? In the way which I indicated just now.
For Joseph's brethren did indeed injure him, yet he himself was not
injured: and Cain laid snares for Abel, yet he himself was riot
ensnared. This is the reason why there are penalties and punishments.
For God does not abolish penalties on account of the virtue of those
who suffer; but he ordains punishments on account of the malice of
those who do wickedly. For although they who are evil entreated become
more illustrious in consequence of the designs formed against them,
this is not due to the intention of those who plan the designs, but to
the courage of those who are the victims of them. Wherefore for the
latter the rewards of philosophy are made ready and prepared, for the
former the penalties of wickedness. Hast thou been deprived of thy
money? Read the word "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and
naked shall I return thither." And add to this the apostolic saying
"for we brought nothing into this world; it is certain we can carry
nothing out." Art thou evil reported of, and have some men loaded
thee with countless abuse? Remember that passage where it is said
"Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you" and "rejoice ye
and leap for joy when they shall cast upon you an evil name." Hast
thou been transported into the land of exile? Consider that thou hast
not here a fatherland, but that if thou wilt be wise thou art bidden to
regard the whole world as a strange country. Or hast thou been given
over to a sore disease? quote the apostolic saying "the more our
outward man decayeth, so much the more is the inward man renewed day by
day." Has any one suffered a violent death? consider the case of
John, his head cut off in prison, carried in a charger, and made the
reward of a harlot's dancing. Consider the recompense which is
derived from these things: for all these sufferings when they are
unjustly inflicted by any one on another, expiate sins, and work
righteousness. So great is the advantage of them in the case of those
who bear them bravely.
5. When then neither loss of money, nor slander, nor railing, nor
banishment, nor diseases, nor tortures, nor that which seems more
formidable than all, namely death, harms those who suffer them, but
rather adds to their profit, whence can you prove to me that any one is
injured when he is not injured at all from any of these things? For I
will endeavour to prove the reverse, showing that they who are most
injured and insulted, and suffer the most incurable evils are the
persons who do these things. For what could be more miserable than the
condition of Cain, who dealt with his brother in this fashion? what
more pitiable than that of Phillip's wife who beheaded John? or the
brethren of Joseph who sold him away, and transported him into the
land of exile? or the devil who tortured Job with such great
calamities? For not only on account of his other iniquities, but at
the same time also for this assault he will pay no trifling penalty.
Dost thou see how here the argument has proved even more than was
proposed, shewing that those who are insulted not only sustain no harm
from these assaults, but that the whole mischief recoils on the head of
those who contrive them? For since neither wealth nor freedom, nor
life in our native land nor the other things which I have mentioned,
but only right actions of the soul, constitute the virtue of man,
naturally when the harm is directed against these things, human virtue
itself is no wise harmed. What then? supposing some one does harm the
moral condition of the soul? Even then if a man suffers damage, the
damage does not come from another but proceeds from within, and from
the man himself. "How so," do you say? When any one having been
beaten by another, or deprived of his goods, or having endured some
other grievous insult, utters a blasphemous speech, he certainly
sustains a damage thereby, and a very great one, nevertheless it does
not proceed from him who has inflicted the insult, but from his own
littleness of soul. For what I said before I will now repeat, no
man if he be infinitely wicked could attack any one more wickedly or
more bitterly than that revengeful demon who is implacably hostile to
us, the devil: but yet this cruel demon had not power to upset or
overthrow him who lived before the law, and before the time of grace,
although he discharged so many and such bitter weapons against him from
all quarters. Such is the force of nobility of soul. And what shall
I say of Paul? Did he not suffer so many distresses that even to
make a list of them is no easy matter? He was put in prison, loaded
with chains, dragged hither and hither, scourged by the Jews,
stoned, lacerated on the back not only by thongs, but also by rods,
he was immersed in the sea, oftentimes beset by robbers, involved in
strife with his own countrymen, continually assailed both by foes and
by acquaintance, subjected to countless intrigues, struggling with
hunger and nakedness, undergoing other frequent and lasting mischances
and afflictions: and why need I mention the greater part of them? he
was dying every day: but yet, although subjected to so many and such
grievous sufferings, he not only uttered no blasphemous word, but
rejoiced over these things and gloried in them: and one time he says
"I rejoice in my sufferings," and then again "not only this but we
also glory in afflictions." If then he rejoiced and gloried when
suffering such great troubles what excuse will you have, and what
defence will you make if you blaspheme when you do not undergo the
smallest fraction of them.
6. But I am injured in other ways, one will say, and even if I do
not blaspheme, yet when I am robbed of my money I am disabled from
giving alms. This is a mere pretext and pretence. For if you grieve
on this account know certainly that poverty is no bar to almsgiving.
For even if you are infinitely poor you are not poorer than the woman
who possessed only a handful of meal, and the one who had only two
mites, each of whom having spent all her substance upon those who were
in need was an object of surpassing admiration: and such great poverty
was no hindrance to such great lovingkindness, but the alms bestowed
from the two mites was so abundant and generous as to eclipse all who
had riches, and in wealth of intention and superabundance of zeal to
surpass those who cast in much coin. Wherefore even in this matter
thou art not injured but rather benefitted, receiving by means of a
small contribution rewards more glorious than they who put down large
sums. But since, if I were to say these things for ever, sensuous
characters which delight to grovel in worldly things, and revel in
present things would not readily endure parting from the fading flowers
(for such are the pleasant things of this life) or letting go its
shadows: but the better sort of men indeed cling to both the one and
the other, while the more pitiable and abject cling more strongly to
the former than to the latter, come let us s strip off the pleasant and
showy masks which hide the base and ugly countenance of these things,
and let us expose the foul deformity of the harlot. For such is the
character of a life of this kind which is devoted to luxury, and wealth
and power: it is foul and ugly and full of much abomination,
disagreeable and burdensome, and charged with bitterness. For this
indeed is the special feature in this life which deprives those who are
captivated by it of every excuse, that although it is the aim of their
longings and endeavours, yet is it filled with much annoyance and
bitterness, and teems with innumerable evils, dangers, bloodshed,
precipices, crags, murders, fears and tremblings, envy and
ill-will, and intrigue, perpetual anxiety and care, and derives no
profit, and produces no fruit from these great evils save punishment
and revenge, and incessant torment. But although this is its
character it seems to be to most men an object of ambition, and eager
contention, which is a sign of the folly of those who are captivated by
it, not of the blessedness of the thing itself. Little children
indeed are eager and excited about toys and cannot take notice of the
things which become full grown men. There is an excuse for them on
account of their immaturity: but these others are debarred from the
right of defence, because, although of full age they are childish in
disposition, and more foolish than children in their manner of life.
Now tell me why is wealth an object of ambition? For it is necessary
to start from this point, because to the majority of those who are
afflicted with this grievous malady it seems to be more precious than
health and life, and public reputation, and good opinion, and
country, and household, and friends, and kindred and everything
else. Moreover the flame has ascended to the very clouds: and this
fierce heat has taken possession of land and sea. Nor is there any one
to quench this fire: but all people are engaged in stirring it up,
both those who have been already caught by it, and those who have not
yet been caught, in order that they may be captured. And you may see
every one, husband and wife, household slave, and freeman, rich and
poor, each according to his ability carrying loads which supply much
fuel to this fire by day and night: loads not of wood or faggots (for
the fire is not of that kind), but loads of souls and bodies, of
unrighteousness and iniquity. For such is the material of which a fire
of this kind is wont to be kindled. For those who have riches place no
limit anywhere to this monstrous passion, even if they compass the
whole world: and the poor press on to get in advance of them, and a
kind of incurable craze, and unrestrainable frenzy and irremediable
disease possesses the souls of all. And this affection has conquered
every other kind and thrust it away expelling it from the soul: neither
friends nor kindred are taken into account: and why do I speak of
friends and kindred? not even wife and children are regarded, and what
can be dearer to man than these? but all things are dashed to the
ground and trampled underfoot, when this savage and inhuman mistress
has laid hold of the souls of all who are taken captive by her. For as
an inhuman mistress, and harsh tyrant, and savage barbarian, and
public and expensive prostitute she debases and exhausts and punishes
with innumerable dangers and torments those who have chosen to be in
bondage to her; and yet although she is terrible and harsh, and fierce
and cruel, and has the face of a barbarian, or rather of a wild
beast, fiercer than a wolf or a lion, she seems to those who have been
taken captive by her gentle and loveable, and sweeter than honey. And
although she forges swords and weapons against them every day, and digs
pitfalls and leads them to precipices and crags and weaves endless
snares of punishment for them, yet is she supposed to make these things
objects of ambition to those who have been made captive, and those who
are desiring to be captured. And just as a sow delights and revels in
wallowing in the ditch and mire, and beetles delight in perpetually
crawling over dung; even so they who are captivated by the love of
money are more miserable than these creatures. For the abomination is
greater in this case, and the mire more offensive: for they who are
addicted to this passion imagine that much pleasure is derived from it:
which does not arise from the nature of the thing, but of the
understanding which is afflicted with such an irrational taste. And
this taste is worse in their case than in that of brutes: for as with
the mire and the dung the cause of pleasure is not in them, but in the
irrational nature of the creatures who plunge into it; even so count it
to be in the case of human beings.
7. And how might we cure those who are thus disposed? It would be
possible if they would open their ears to us, and unfold their heart,
and receive our words. For it is impossible to turn and divert the
irrational animals from their unclean habit; for they are destitute of
reason: but this the gentlest of all tribes, honoured by reason and
speech, I mean human nature, might, if it chose, readily and easily
be released from the mire and the stench, and the dung hill and its
abomination. For wherefore, O man, do riches seem to thee worthy
such diligent pursuit? Is it on account of the pleasure which no doubt
is derived from the table? or on account of the honour and the escort
of those who pay court to thee, because of thy wealth? is it because
thou art able to defend thyself against those who annoy thee, and to be
an object of fear to all? For yon cannot name any other reasons, save
pleasure and flattery, and fear, and the power of taking revenge; for
wealth is not generally wont to make any one wiser, or more
self-controlled, or more gentle, or more intelligent, or kind, or
benevolent, or superior to anger, or gluttony or pleasure: it does
not train any one to be moderate, or teach him how to be humble, nor
introduce and implant any other piece of virtue in the soul. Neither
could you say for which of these things it deserves to be so diligently
sought and desired. For not only is it ignorant how to plant and
cultivate any good thing, but even if it finds a store of them it mars
and stunts and blights them; and some of them it even uproots, and
introduces their opposites, unmeasured licentiousness, unseasonable
wrath, unrighteous anger, pride, arrogance, foolishness. But let
me not speak of these; for they who have been seized by this malady
will not endure to hear about virtue and vice, being entirely abandoned
to pleasure and therefore enslaved to it. Come then let us forego for
the time being the consideration of these points, and let us bring
forward the others which remain, and see whether wealth has any
pleasure, or any honour: for in my eyes the case is quite the
reverse. And first of all, if you please, let us investigate the
meals of rich and poor, and ask the guests which they are who enjoy the
purest and most genuine pleasure; is it they who recline for a full day
on couches, and join breakfast and dinner together, and distend their
stomach, and blunt their senses, and sink the vessel by an overladen
cargo of food, and waterlog the ship, and drench it as in some
shipwreck of the body, and devise fetters, and manacles, and gags,
and bind their whole body with the band of drunkenness and surfeit more
grievous than an iron chain, and enjoy no sound pure sleep undisturbed
by frightful dreams, and are more miserable than madmen and introduce a
kind of self-imposed demon into the soul and display themselves as a
laughing stock to the gaze of their servants, or rather to the kinder
sort amongst them as a tragical spectacle eliciting tears, and cannot
recognize any of those who are present, and are incapable of speaking
or hearing but have to be carried away from their couches to their
bed;--or is it they who are sober and vigilant, and limit their
eating by their need, and sail with a favourable breeze, and find
hunger and thirst the best relish in their food and drink? For nothing
is so conducive to enjoyment and health as to be hungry and thirsty when
one attacks the viands, and to identify satiety with the simple
necessity of food, never overstepping the limits of this, nor imposing
a load upon the body too great for its strength.
8. But if you disbelieve my statement study the physical condition,
and the soul of each class. Are not the bodies vigorous of those who
live thus moderately (for do not tell me of that which rarely happens,
although some may be weak from some other circumstance, but form your
judgment from those instances which are of constant occurrence), I
say are they not vigorous, and their senses clear, fulfilling their
proper function with much ease? whereas the bodies of the others are
flaccid and softer than wax, and beset with a crowd of maladies? For
gout soon fastens upon them, and untimely palsy, and premature old
age, and headache, and flatulence, and feebleness of digestion, and
loss of appetite, and they require constant attendance of physicians,
and perpetual doseing, and daily care. Are these things pleasurable?
tell me. Who of those that know what pleasure really is would say so?
For pleasure is produced when desire leads the way, and fruition
follows: now if there is fruition, but desire is nowhere to be found,
the conditions of pleasure fail and vanish. On this account also
invalids, although the most charming food is set before them, partake
of it with a feeling of disgust and sense of oppression: because there
is no desire which gives a keen relish to the enjoyment of it. For it
is not the nature of the food, or of the drink, but the appetite of
the eaters which is wont to produce the desire, and is capable of
causing pleasure. Therefore also a certain wise man who had an
accurate knowledge of all that concerned pleasure, and understood how
to moralize about these things said "the fall soul mocketh at
honeycombs:" showing that the conditions of pleasure consist not in
the nature of the meal, but in the disposition of the eaters.
Therefore also the prophet recounting the wonders in Egypt and in the
desert mentioned this in connexion with the others "He satisfied them
with honey out of the rock." And yet nowhere does it appear that
honey actually sprang forth for them out of the rock: what then is the
meaning of the expression? Because the people being exhausted by much
toil and long travelling, and distressed by great thirst rushed to the
cool spring, their craving for drink serving as a relish, the writer
wishing to describe the pleasures which they received from those
fountains called the water honey, not meaning that the element was
converted into honey, but that the pleasure received from the water
rivalled the sweetness of honey, inasmuch as those who partook of it
rushed to it in their eagerness to drink.
Since then these things are so and no one can deny it, however stupid
he may be: is it not perfectly plain that pure, undiluted, and lively
pleasure is to be found at the tables of the poor? whereas at the
tables of the rich there is discomfort, and disgust and defilement? as
that wise man has said "even sweet things seem to be a vexation."
9. But riches some one will say procure honour for those who possess
them, and enable them to take vengeance on their enemies with ease.
And is this a reason, pray, why riches seem to you desirable and
worth contending for;--that they nourish the most dangerous passion
in our nature, leading on anger into action, swelling the empty
bubbles of ambition, and stimulating and urging men to arrogance? Why
these are just the very reasons why we ought resolutely to turn our
backs upon riches, because they introduce certain fierce and dangerous
wild beasts into our heart depriving us of the real honour which we
might receive from all, and introducing to deluded men another which is
the opposite of this, only painted over with its colours, and
persuading them to fancy that it is the same, when by nature it is not
so, but only seems to be so to the eye. For as the beauty of
courtesans, made up as it is of dyes and pigments, is destitute of
real beauty, yet makes a foul and ugly face appear fair and beautiful
to those who are deluded by it when it is not so in reality: even so
also riches force flattery to look like honour. For I beg you not to
consider the praises which are openly bestowed through fear and
fawning: for these are only tints and pigments; but unfold the
conscience of each of those who flatter you in this fashion, and inside
it you will see countless accusers declaring against you, and loathing
and detesting you more than your bitterest adversaries and foes. And
if ever a change of circumstances should occur which would remove and
expose this mask which fear has manufactured, just as the sun when it
emits a hotter ray than usual discloses the real countenances of those
women whom I mentioned, then you will see clearly that all through the
former time you were held in the greatest contempt by those who paid
court to you, and you fancied you were enjoying honour from those who
thoroughly hated you, and in their heart poured infinite abuse upon
you, and longed to see you involved in extreme calamities. For there
is nothing like virtue to produce honour,--honour neither forced nor
feigned, nor hidden under a mask of deceit, but real and genuine, and
able to stand the test of hard times.
10. But do you wish to take vengeance on those who have annoyed
you? This, as I was saying just now, is the very reason why wealth
ought specially to be avoided. For it prepares thee to thrust the
sword against thy. self, and renders thee liable to a heavier account
in the future day of reckoning, and makes thy punishment intolerable.
For revenge is so great an evil that it actually revokes the mercy of
God, and cancels the forgiveness of countless sins which has been
already bestowed. For he who received remission of the debt of ten
thousand talents, and after having obtained so great a boon by merely
asking for it then made a demand of one hundred pence from his fellow
servant, a demand, that is, for satisfaction for his transgression
against himself, in his severity towards his fellow servant recorded
his own condemnation; and for this reason and no other he was delivered
to the tormentors, and racked, and required to pay back the ten
thousand talents; and he was not allowed the benefit of any excuse or
defence, but suffered the most extreme penalty, having been commanded
to deposit the whole debt which the lovingkindness of God had formerly
remitted. Is this then the reason, pray, why wealth is so earnestly
pursued by thee, because it so easily conducts thee into sin of this
kind? Nay verily, this is why you ought to abhor it as a foe and an
adversary teeming with countless murders. But poverty, some one will
say, disposes men to be discontented and often also to utter profane
words, and condescend to mean actions. It is not poverty which does
this, but littleness of soul: for Lazarus also was poor, aye! very
poor: and besides poverty he suffered from infirmity, a bitterer trial
than any form of poverty, and one which makes poverty more severely
felt; and in addition to infirmity there was a total absence of
protectors, and difficulty in finding any to supply his wants, which
increased the bitterness of poverty and infirmity. For each of these
things is painful in itself, but when there are none to minister to the
sufferer's wants, the suffering becomes greater, the flame more
painful, the distress more bitter, the tempest fiercer, the billows
stronger, the furnace hotter. And if one examines the case thoroughly
there was yet a fourth trial besides these--the unconcern and luxury
of the rich man who dwelt hard by. And if you would find a fifth
thing, serving as fuel to the flame, you will see quite clearly that
he was beset by it. For not only was that rich man living
luxuriously, but twice, and thrice, or rather indeed several times in
the day he saw the poor man: for he had been laid at his gate, being a
grievous spectacle of pitiable distress, and the bare sight of him was
sufficient to soften even a heart of stone: and yet even this did not
induce that unmerciful man to assist this case of poverty: but he had
his luxurious table spread, and goblets wreathed with flowers, and
pure wine plentifully poured forth, and grand armies of cooks, and
parasites, and flatterers from early dawn, and troops of singers,
cupbearers, and jesters; and he spent all his time in devising every
species of dissipation, and drunkenness, and surfeiting, and in
revelling in dress and feasting and many other things. But although he
saw that poor man every day distressed by grievous hunger and the
bitterest infirmity, and the oppression of his many sores, and by
destitution, and the ills which result from these things, he never
even gave him a thought: yet the parasites and the flatterers were
pampered even beyond their need; but the poor man, and he so very
poor, and encompassed with so many miseries, was not even vouchsafed
the crumbs which fell from that table, although he greatly desired
them: and yet none of these things injured him, he did not give vent
to a bitter word, he did not utter a profane speech; but like a piece
of gold which shines all the more brilliantly when it is purified by
excessive heat, even so he, although oppressed by these sufferings,
was superior to all of them, and to the agitation which in many cases
is produced by them. For if generally speaking poor men, when they
see rich men, are consumed with envy and racked by malicious
ill-will, and deem life not worth living, and this even when they are
well supplied with necessary food, and have persons to minister to
their wants; what would the condition of this poor man have been had he
not been very wise and noble hearted, seeing that he was poor beyond
all other poor men, and not only poor. but also infirm, and without
any one to protect or cheer him, and lay in the midst of the city as if
in a remote desert, and wasted away with bitter hunger, and saw all
good things being poured upon the rich man as out of a fountain, and
had not the benefit of any human consolation, but lay exposed as a
perpetual meal for the tongues of the dogs, for he was so enfeebled and
broken down in body that he could not scare them away? Dost thou
perceive that he who does not injure himself suffers no evil? for I
will again take up the same argument.
11. For what harm was done to this hero by his bodily infirmity? or
by the absence of protectors? or by the coming of the dogs? or the
evil proximity of the rich man? or by the great luxury, haughtiness
and arrogance of the latter? Did it enervate him for the contest on
behalf of virtue? Did it ruin his fortitude? Nowhere was he harmed
at all, but that multitude of sufferings, and the cruelty of the rich
man, rather increased his strength, and became the pledge for him of
infinite crowns of victory, a means of adding to his rewards, an
augmentation of his recompense, and a promise of an increased
requital. For he was crowned not merely on account of his poverty, or
of his hunger or of his sores, or of the dogs licking them: but
because, having such a neighbour as the rich man, and being seen by
him every day, and perpetually overlooked he endured this trial bravely
and with much fortitude, a trial which added no small flame but in fact
a very strong one to the fire of poverty, and infirmity and
loneliness.
And, tell me,what was the case of the blessed Paul? for there is
nothing to prevent my making mention of him again. Did he not
experience innumerable storms of trial? And in what respect was he
injured by them? Was he not crowned with victory all the more in
consequence,--because he suffered hunger, because he was consumed
with cold and nakedness, because he was often tortured with the
scourge, because he was stoned, because he was cast into the sea?
But then some one says he was Paul, and called by Christ. Yet
Judas also was one of the twelve, and he too was called of Christ;
but neither his being of the twelve nor his call profited him, because
he had not a mind disposed to virtue. But Paul although struggling
with hunger, and at a loss to procure necessary food, and daily
undergoing such great sufferings, pursued with great zeal the road
which leads to heaven: whereas Judas although he had been called
before him, and enjoyed the same advantages as he did, and was
initiated in the highest form of Christian life, and partook of the
holy table and that most awful of sacred feasts, and received such
grace as to be able to raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers, and
cast out devils, and often heard discourses concerning poverty, and
spent so long a time in the company of Christ Himself, and was
entrusted with the money of the poor, so that his passion might be
soothed thereby (for he was a thief) even then did not become any
better, although he had been favoured with such great condescension.
For since Christ knew that he was covetous, and destined to perish on
account of his love of money he not only did not demand punishment of
him for this at that time, but with a view to softening down his
passion he was entrusted with the money of the poor, that having some
means of appeasing his greed he might be saved from falling into that
appalling gulf of sin, checking the greater evil beforehand by a lesser
one.
12. Thus in no case will any one be able to injure a man who does
not choose to injure himself: but if a man is not willing to be
temperate, and to aid himself from his own resources no one will ever
be able to profit him. Therefore also that wonderful history of the
Holy Scriptures, as in some lofty, large, and broad picture, has
portrayed the lives of the men of old time, extending the narrative
from Adam to the coming of Christ: and it exhibits to you both those
who are upset, and those who are crowned with victory in the contest,
in order that it may instruct you by means of all examples that no one
will be able to injure one who is not injured by himself, even if all
the world were to kindle a fierce war against him. For it is not
stress of circumstances, nor variation of seasons, nor insults of men
in power, nor intrigues besetting thee like snow storms, nor a crowd
of calamities, nor a promiscuous collection of all the ills to which
mankind is subject, which can disturb even slightly the man who is
brave, and temperate, and watchful; just as on the contrary the
indolent and supine man who is his own betrayer cannot be made better,
even with the aid of innumerable ministrations. This at least was made
manifest to us by the parable of the two men, of whom the one built his
house upon the rock, the other upon the sand: not that we are to think
of sand and rock, or of a building of stone, and a roof, or of
rivers, and rain, and wild winds, beating against the buildings, but
we are to extract virtue and vice as the meaning of these things, and
to perceive from them that no one injures a man who does not injure
himself. Therefore neither the rain although driven furiously along,
nor the streams dashing against it with much vehemence, nor the wild
winds beating against it with a mighty rush, shook the one house in any
degree: but it remained undisturbed, unmoved: that thou mightest
understand that no trial can agitate the man who does not betray
himself. But the house of the other man was easily swept away, not on
account of the force of the trials (for in that case the other would
have experienced the same fate), but on account of his own folly; for
it did not fall because the wind blew upon it, but because it was built
upon the sand, that is to say upon indolence and iniquity. For before
that tempest beat upon it, it was weak and ready to fall. For
buildings of that kind, even if no one puts any pressure on them, fall
to pieces of themselves, the foundation sinking and giving way in every
direction. And just as cobwebs part asunder, although no strain is
put upon them, but adamant remains unshaken even when it is struck:
even so also they who do not injure themselves become stronger, even if
they receive innumerable blows; but they who betray themselves, even
if there is no one to harass them, fall of themselves, and collapse
and perish. For even thus did Judas perish, not only having been
unassailed by any trial of this kind, but having actually enjoyed the
benefit of much assistance.
13. Would you like me to illustrate this argument in the case of
whole nations? What great forethought was bestowed upon the Jewish
nation! was not the whole visible creation arranged with a view to
their service? was not a new and strange method of life introduced
amongst them? For they had not to send down to a market, and so they
had the benefit of things which are sold for money without paying any
price for them: neither did they cleave furrows nor drag a plough, nor
harrow the ground, nor east in seed, nor had they need of rain and
wind, and annual seasons, nor sunshine, nor phases of the moon, nor
climate, nor anything of that kind; they prepared no threshing floor,
they threshed no grain, they used no winnowing fan for separating the
grain from the chaff, they turned no mill-stone, they built no oven,
they brought neither wood nor fire into the house, they needed no
baker's art, they handled no spade, they sharpened no sickle, they
required no other art, I mean of weaving or building or supplying
shoes: but the word of God was everything to them. And they had a
table prepared off hand, free of all toil and labour. For such was
the nature of the manna; it was new and fresh, nowhere costing them
any trouble, nor straining them by labour. And their clothes, and
shoes, and even their physical frame forgot their natural infirmity:
for l the former did not wear out in the course of so long a time nor
did their feet swell although they made such long marches. of
physicians, and medicine, and all other concern about that kind of
art, there was no mention at all amongst them; so completely banished
was infirmity of every kind: for it is said "He brought them out with
silver and gold; and there was not one feeble person among their
tribes." But like men who had quitted this world, and were
transplanted to another and a better one, even so did they eat and
drink, neither did the sun's ray when it waxed hot smite their heads;
for the cloud parted them from the fiery beam, hovering all round
them, and serving like a portable shelter for the whole body of the
people. Neither at night did they need a torch to disperse the
darkness, but they had the pillar of fire, a source of unspeakable
light, supplying two wants, one by its shining. the other by
directing the course of their journey; for it was not only luminous,
but also conducted that countless host along the wilderness with more
certainty than any human guide. And they journeyed not only upon land
but also upon sea as if it had been dry land; and they made an
audacious experiment upon the laws of nature by treading upon that angry
sea, marching through it as if it had been the hard and resisting
surface of a rock; and indeed when they placed their feet upon it the
element became like solid earth, and gently sloping plains and fields;
but when it received their enemies it wrought after the nature of sea;
and to the Israelites indeed it served as a chariot, but to their
enemies it became a grave; conveying the former across with ease, but
drowning the latter with great violence. And the disorderly flood of
water displayed the good order and subordination which marks reasonable
and highly intelligent men, fulfilling the part at one time of a
guardian, at another of an executioner, and exhibiting these opposites
together on one day. What shall one say of the rocks which gave forth
streams of water? what of the clouds of birds which covered the whole
face of the earth by the number of their carcases? what of the wonders
in Egypt? what of the marvels in the wilderness? what of the triumphs
and bloodless victories? for they subdued those who opposed them like
men keeping holiday rather than making war. And they vanquished their
own masters without the use of arms; and overcame those who fought with
them after they left Egypt by means of singing and music; and what
they did was a festival rather than a campaign, a religious ceremony
rather than a battle. For all these wonders took place not merely for
the purpose of supplying their need, but also that the people might
preserve more accurately the doctrine which Moses inculcated of the
knowledge of God; and voices proclaiming the presence of their Master
were uttered on all sides of them. For the sea loudly declared this,
by becoming a road for them to march upon, and then turning into sea
again: and the waters of the Nile uttered this voice when they were
converted into the nature of blood; and the frogs, and the great army
of locusts, and the caterpillar and blight declared the same thing to
all the people; and the wonders in the desert, the manna, the pillar
of fire, the cloud, the quails, and all the other incidents served
them as a book, and writing which could never be effaced, echoing
daily in their memory and resounding in their mind. Nevertheless after
such great and remarkable providence, after all those unspeakable
benefits, after such mighty miracles, after care indescribable, after
continual teaching, after instruction by means of speech, and
admonition by means of deeds, after glorious victories, after
extraordinary triumphs, after abundant supply of food, after the
plentiful production of water, after the ineffable glory with which
they were invested in the eyes of the human race, being ungrateful and
senseless they worshipped a calf, and paid reverence to the head of a
bull, even when the memorials of God's benefits in Egypt were fresh
in their minds, and they were still in actual enjoyment of many more.
14. But the Ninevites, although a barbarous and foreign people who
had never participated in any of these benefits, small or great,
neither words, nor wonders, nor works when they saw a man who had been
saved from shipwreck, who had never associated with them before, but
appeared then for the first time, enter their city and say "yet three
days and Nineveh shall be overthrown," were so converted and reformed
by the mere sound of these words, and putting away their former
wickedness, advanced in the direction of virtue by the path of
repentance, that they caused the sentence of God to be revoked, and
arrested the threatened disturbance of their city, and averted the
heaven-sent wrath, and were delivered from every kind of evil.
"For," we read, "God saw that every man turned from his evil
way, and was converted to the Lord." How turned? I ask.
Although their wickedness was great, their iniquity unspeakable,
their moral sores difficult to heal, which was plainly shown by the
prophet when he said "their wickedness ascended even unto the
heaven:" indicating by the distance of the place the magnitude of
their wickedness; nevertheless such great iniquity which was piled up
to such a height as to reach even to the heaven, all this in the course
of three days in a brief moment of time through the effect of a few
words which they heard from the mouth of one man and he an unknown
shipwrecked stranger they so thoroughly abolished, removed out of
sight, and put away, as to have the happiness of hearing the
declaration "God saw that every one turned from his evil way, and He
repented of the evil which God said He would do them." Seest thou
that he who is temperate and watchful not only suffers no injury at the
hands of man, but even turns back Heaven-sent wrath? whereas he who
betrays himself and harms himself by his own doing, even if he receives
countess benefits, reaps no great advantage. So, at least, the
Jews were not profited by those great miracles, nor on the other hand
were the Ninevites harmed by having no share in them; but inasmuch as
they were inwardly well-disposed, having laid hold of a slight
opportunity they became better, barbarians and foreigners though they
were, ignorant of all divine revelation, and dwelling at a distance
from Palestine.
15. Again, I ask, was the virtue of the "three children"
corrupted by the troubles which beset them? Whilst they were still
young, mere youths, of immature age, did they not undergo that
grievous affliction of captivity? had they not to make a long journey
from home, and when they had arrived in the foreign country were they
not cut off from fatherland and home and temple, and altar and
sacrifices, and offerings, and drink offerings, and even the singing
of psalms? For not only were they debarred from their home, but as a
consequence from many forms of worship also. Were they not given up
into the hands of barbarians, wolves rather than men? and, most
painful calamity of all, when they had been banished into so distant
and barbarous a country, and were suffering such a grievous captivity
were they not without teacher, without prophets, without ruler?
"for," it is written, "there is no ruler, nor prophet, nor
governor, nor place for offering before Thee and finding mercy."
Yea moreover they were cast into the royal palace, as upon some cliff
and crag, and a sea full of rocks and reefs, being compelled to sail
over that angry sea without a pilot or signal man, or crew, or sails;
and they were cooped up in the royal court as in a prison. For
inasmuch as they knew spiritual wisdom, and were superior to worldly
things, and despised all human pride and made the wings of their soul
soar upwards, they counted their sojourn there as an aggravation of
their trouble. For had they been outside the court, and dwelling in a
private house they would have enjoyed more independence: but having
been cast into that prison (for they deemed the splendour of the palace
no better than a prison, no safer than a place of rocks and crags)
they were straightway subjected to cruel embarrassment. For the king
commanded them to be partakers of his own table, a luxurious, unclean
and profane table, a thing which was forbidden them, and seemed more
terrible than death; and they were lonely men hemmed in like lambs
amongst so many wolves. And they were constrained to choose between
being consumed by famine or rather led off to execution, and tasting of
forbidden meats. What then did these youths do, forlorn as they
were, captives, strangers, slaves of those who commanded these
things. They did not consider that this strait or the absolute power
of him who possessed the state sufficed to justify their compliance;
but they employed every device and expedient to enable them to avoid the
sin, although they were abandoned on every side. For they could not
influence men by money: how should they, being captives? nor by
friendship and social intercourse? how should they being strangers?
nor could they get the better of them by any exertion of power: how was
it possible being slaves? nor matter them by force of numbers: how
could they being only three? Therefore they approached the eunuch who
possessed the necessary authority, and persuaded him by their
arguments. For when they saw him fearful and trembling, and in an
agony of alarm concerning his own safety, and the dread of death which
agitated his soul was intolerable: "for I fear" said he "my lord
the king, lest he should see your countenances sadder than the children
which are of your sort and so shall ye endanger my head to the king,"
having released him from this fear they persuaded him to grant them the
favour. And inasmuch as they brought to the work all the strength
which they had, God also henceforth contributed his strength to it.
For it was not God's doing only that they achieved those things for
the sake of which they were to receive a reward, but the beginning and
starting point was from their own purpose, and having manifested that
to be noble and brave, they won for themselves the help of God, and
so accomplished their aim.
16. Dost thou then perceive that if a man does not injure himself,
no one else will be able to harm him? Behold at least youthfulness,
and captivity and destitution, and removal into a foreign land, and
loneliness, and dearth of protectors, and a stern command, and great
fear of death assailing the mind of the eunuch, and poverty, and
feebleness of numbers, and dwelling in the midst of barbarians, and
having enemies for masters, and surrender into the hands of the king
himself, and separation from all their kindred, and removal from
priests and prophets, and from all others who cared for them, and the
cessation of drink offerings and sacrifices, and loss of the temple and
psalmody, and yet none of these things harmed them; but they had more
renown then than when they enjoyed these things in their native land.
And after they had accomplished this task first and had wreathed their
brows with the glorious garland of victory, and had kept the law even
in a foreign land, and trampled under foot the tyrant's command, and
overcome fear of the avenger, and yet received no harm from any
quarter, as if they had been quietly living at home and enjoying the
benefit of all those things which I mentioned, after they had thus
fearlessly accomplished their work they were again summoned to other
contests. And again they were the same men; and they were subjected
to a more severe trial than the former one, and a furnace was kindled,
and they were confronted by the barbarian army in company with the
king: and the whole Persian force was set in motion and everything was
devised which tended to put deceit or confront upon them: divers kinds
of music, and various forms of punishment, and threats, and what they
saw on every side of them was alarming, and the words which they heard
were more alarming than what they saw; nevertheless inasmuch as they
did not betray themselves, but made the most of their own strength,
they never sustained any kind of damage: but even won for themselves
more glorious crowns of victory than before. For Nabuchadonosor bound
them and cast them into the furnace, yet he burnt them not. but rather
benefited them, and rendered them more illustrious. And although they
were deprived of temple (for I will repeat my former remarks) and
altar, and fatherland, and priests and prophets, although they were
in a foreign and barbarous county, in the very midst of the furnace,
surrounded by all that mighty host, the king himself who wrought this
looking on, they set up a glorious trophy, and won a notable victory,
having sung that admirable and extraordinary hymn which from that day to
this has been sung throughout the world and will continue to be sung to
future generations.
Thus then when a man does not injure himself, he cannot possibly be
hurt by another: for I will not cease harping constantly upon this
saying. For if captivity, and bondage, and loneliness and loss of
country and all kindred and death, and burning, and a great army and a
savage tyrant could not do any damage to the innate virtue of the three
children captives, bondmen, strangers though they were in a foreign
land, but the enemy's assault became to them rather the occasion of
greater confidence: what shall be able to harm the temperate man?
There is nothing, even should he have the whole world in arms against
him. But, some one may say, in their case God stood beside them,
and plucked them out of the flame. Certainly He did; and if thou
wilt play thy part to the best of thy power, the help which God
supplies will assuredly follow.
17. Nevertheless the reason why I admire those youths, and
pronounce them blessed, and enviable, is not because they tramped on
the flame, and vanquished the force of the fire: but because they were
bound, and cast into the furnace, and delivered to the fire for the
sake of true doctrine. For this it was which constituted the
completeness of their triumph, and the wreath of victory was placed on
their brows as soon as they were cast into the furnace and before the
issue of events it began to be weaved for them from the moment that they
uttered those words which they spoke with much boldness and freedom of
speech to the king when they were brought into his presence. "We have
no need to answer thee concerning this thing: for our God in Heaven
whom we serve is able to rescue us out of the burning fiery furnace:
and He will deliver us out of thy hands, O King. But if not, be
it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy Gods nor
worship the golden image which thou hast set up." After the utterance
of these words I proclaimed them conquerors; after these words having
grasped the prize of victory, they hastened on to the glorious crown of
martyrdom, following up the confession which they made through their
words with the confession made through their deeds. But if when they
had been cast into it, the fire had respect for their bodies, and
undid their bonds, and suffered them to go down into it without fear,
and forgot its natural force, so that the furnace of fire became as a
fountain of cool water, this marvel was the effect of God's grace and
of the divine wonder-working power. Yet the heroes themselves even
before these things took place, as soon as they set foot in the flames
had erected their trophy, and won their victory, and put on their
crown, and had been proclaimed conquerors both in Heaven and on
earth, and so far as they were concerned nothing was wanting for their
renown. What then wouldst thou have to say to these things? Hast
thou been driven into exile, and expelled from thy county? Behold so
also were they. Hast thou suffered captivity, and become the servant
of barbarian makers. Well! this also thou wilt find befell these
men. But thou hast no one present there to regulate thy state nor to
advise or instruct thee? Well! of attention of this kind these men
were destitute. Or thou hast been bound, burned, put to death? for
thou canst not tell me of anything more painful than these things. Yet
lo! these men having gone through them all, were made more glorious by
each one of them, yea more exceedingly illustrious, and increased the
store of their treasures in Heaven. And the Jews indeed who had both
temple, and altar, and ark and cherubim, and mercy-seat, and veil,
and an infinite multitude of priests, and daily services, and morning
and evening sacrifices, and continually heard the voices of the
prophets, both living and de-pared, sounding in their ears, and
carried about with them the recollection of the wonders which were done
in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and all the rest, and turned the
story of these things over in their hands, and had them inscribed upon
their door posts and enjoyed the benefit at that time of much
supernatural power and every other kind of help were yet no wise
profited, but rather damaged, having set up idols in the temple
itself, and having sacrificed their sons and daughters under trees,
and in almost every part of the country in Palestine having offered
those unlawful and accursed sacrifices, and perpetrated countless other
deeds yet more monstrous. But these men although in the midst of a
barbarous and hostile land, having their occupation in a tyrant's
house, deprived of all that care of which I have been speaking, led
away to execution, and subjected to burning, not only suffered no harm
there from small or great, but became the more illustrious. Knowing
then these things, and collecting instances of the like kind from the
inspired divine Scriptures (for it is possible to find many such
examples in the case of various other persons) we deem that neither a
difficulty arising from seasons or events, nor compulsion and force,
nor the arbitrary authority of potentates furnish a sufficient excuse
for us when we transgress. I will now conclude my discourse by
repeating what I said at the beginning, that if any one be harmed and
injured he certainly suffers this at his own hands, not at the hands of
others even if there be countless multitudes injuring and insulting
him: so that if he does not suffer this at his own hands, not all the
creatures who inhabit the whole earth and sea if they combined to attack
him would be able to hurt one who is vigilant and sober in the Lord.
Let us then, I beseech you, be sober and vigilant at all times, and
let us endure all painful things bravely that we may obtain those
everlasting and pure blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be
glory and power, now and ever throughout all ages. Amen.
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