Слово 4

The first incrimination against Tsar Julian “Hear this, all you nations; take heed, all you who live in the universe” (Ps. 48:2). As if from some elevation, far visible all around, I call on everyone, addressing everyone with a strong and lofty sermon. Listen to peoples, tribes, languages, people of every kind, of every age - everything, as many as there are now, and as many as there will be on earth! And may my preaching continue! Hearken unto me, all the heavenly Powers, all the Angels by whom the destruction of the tormentor was accomplished, has been deposed - not Zion, the king of Ammorite, not Og, the king of Bashan (small rulers who did evil to a small part of the Universe - Israel), - but the "serpent" (Ezek. 29:3), the apostate, the "great mind" (Is. 10:12), the Assyrian, the common enemy and adversary of all, and earth, who made many furies and threats, and “on high” (Ps. 72:8) who spoke and plotted many lies! “Hear the heavens, and listen to the earth” (Is. 1:2)! And now it is fitting for me to proclaim the same thing as the most eloquent of the Prophets, Isaiah! We have one difference: the Prophet calls heaven and earth as witnesses against Israel, who has abandoned God; but I call against the tormentor, and the one who refused, and the one who fell - a fall worthy of wickedness. Listen, if you hear us, and you, soul of the great Constantius! Listen to the Christ-loving souls of the former kings before him! Especially let the soul of Constantius heed, who himself grew with the inheritance of Christ and, gradually strengthening it, grew it into such strength that through this he became more eminent than all the previous kings. But (what a shame!) he fell into the sin of ignorance, very unworthy of his piety; without knowing it, he raised the enemy of Christ to Christians; Of all the deeds of his love for mankind, he rendered one bad service in that he saved and reigned to the detriment of the saved and reigned. Therefore, oh, if only Constantius would be especially pleased with both the destruction of wickedness and the restoration of the former well-being of Christians, and this word! And I will offer the word as a gift to God, the most sacred and purest of all wordless sacrifices, bringing it not in imitation of vile speeches and idle talk, but to the even more vile victims of the apostate, whose abundance and wealth consisted in the power of wickedness and in unwise, I will say, wisdom; since all the power and learning of this age walks in darkness and is far from the light of truth. But if such is this wisdom, in such people it happens, such fruits bear fruit - like grass, it soon dries up, like “green grass” (Ps. 36:2) it soon falls and passes away along with those who gave birth to it, who perish with a noise and attract attention more by their fall than by their wickedness; then to me, who now offers the sacrifice of praise and burns the bloodless gift of speech, who will create such a spectacle that would be equal to gratitude! What language will be as loud as I desire? Whose ear is not inferior in jealousy to a word? Thanksgiving given through the word is not only most characteristic of the Word, which, of all other names, is primarily pleased by this name and our ability to name Him, but it will also serve as a decent retribution when for a crime against the gift of speech he is punished by the word. While the gift of speech is the common property of all verbal creatures, Julian, appropriating it for himself, hated Christians, and although he was considered the most gifted in speech, he judged the gift of speech extremely unreasonably. Firstly, it is unreasonable in that he maliciously, arbitrarily, interpreted the name, as if Hellenic literature belonged to paganism, and not to language. That's why he forbade us to educate ourselves in words, as if our education was the theft of someone else's property. But this meant the same thing as if we were not allowed to use all the arts that were invented by the Greeks, but were to appropriate them to ourselves by the same similarity of name. Then, unreasonably, he hoped that he would hide from us, that it was not us, who greatly despise such literature, that he was depriving of one of the first blessings, but he himself was afraid of convictions of wickedness, suggesting, perhaps, that the power of conviction depends on the beauty of the syllable, and not on the understanding of the truth, and not on evidence, from which it is as impossible to restrain us as it is to prevent us, while we have a tongue, from confessing God. For we, along with everything else, dedicate this, that is, the word, to God, just as we dedicate our bodies when it is necessary to fight physically for the truth. Therefore, having given such a command, although he forbade speaking eloquently, he did not prevent him from speaking the truth. And in this way he exposed his impotence, and did not escape the conviction of wickedness, unless he suffered even more for his mistake. For his very prohibition against us using the gift of speech showed that he did not rely on the correctness of his faith, or on the gift of speech itself. He looked like a man who considers himself the strongest of fighters and demands that everyone proclaim him the strongest, and meanwhile he gave the order that not a single strong fighter should dare to fight or appear in the field. But this is proof of timidity, not courage! Crowns are given to those who fought, and not to those who sat above; those who have exerted all their strength, and not those who have been deprived of the use of most of their strength. If you were really afraid to come together and enter into battle; then by this he acknowledged victory over himself and, without a fight, gave up the upper hand to the one with whom he had been arguing because of this, so as not to enter into a fight. This is what our wise king and legislator did! And as if in order for everyone to experience his torment and proclaim his foolishness, at the very beginning of his reign he first of all used violence against the gift of speech. But it is fitting for us to give thanks to God for the fact that this gift itself received freedom. We must especially honor God with other offerings, sparing nothing - neither money, nor property, which are temporary, and are preserved from violence by God's love for mankind, but also primarily honor God with words - with righteous fruit bearing and common to all who have received mercy. But enough talking about the gift of speech; otherwise, having spread too much, we will exceed the limits of time and give the idea that we are caring about something other than what we have gathered for. And my word is already bursting and flowing towards triumph; it is clothed in joy, like everything visible; it calls everyone to spiritual rejoicing - everyone who constantly remained in fasting, in lamentation and in prayer, and day and night asked for deliverance from the surrounding sorrow and found reliable healing from evils in “hope that does not shame” (Rom. 5: 5), - all who endured great struggles and exploits, who withstood many and heavy blows of this time, who, in the words of the apostle, were “a disgrace to the world and the Angels and to men" (1 Cor. 4:9), who, although weak in body, nevertheless remained invincible in the Spirit, and was able to do everything through "Christ who strengthened him" (Phil. 4:13); all who have put aside everything that serves sin in the world and worldly power; who “received the robbery of his property with joy” (Heb. 10:34); who was unjustly expelled from his own, as they say, possession; who for some time endured separation either from her husband, or from her wife, or from her parents, or from her children, or what other names are of a not so close nature that bind us to people, and who, as a gift of Christ’s blood, offered suffering for Christ, so that now he can rightly say and sing about himself: “he placed a man on our head; we entered fire and water, and you brought us out to freedom” (Ps. 65:12). I also call to triumph the other part of the people who profess the God of all and adhere to sound concepts in this, but do not comprehend the orders of Providence, which often arranges the best out of sorrowful events and graciously calls for correction. Due to poverty of soul and frivolity, they are kindled and inflamed with thoughts, “out of pride they are persecuted by the wicked” (Ps. 9:23), cannot endure “the peace of sinners” (Ps. 72:3), as the Psalm says, they do not wait for the fulfillment of God’s “council” (Ps. 106:13), and do not maintain indifference to the end; however, being slaves of the present and visible alone, they are confirmed in the truth by miracles similar to those that have happened today. I also call on those who are amazed by the hypocrisy and great disgrace of this world, I call on the words of Isaiah: “the women who come from the disgrace, come” (Is. 27:11), having turned away the eye of the soul from the external objects on which it wandered, “stop and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, exalted on earth” (Ps. 45:11), as always, in all the signs and wonders He performed, this is even more obvious in real miracles. Oh, that that cathedral 12, which together with us previously sang a genuine and pure song to God, would also be part of our face, even once worthy to stand on the right side and, as I hope, will soon be worthy again! But I don’t know by what motive, he suddenly changes, separates himself and (which I am especially amazed at) does not begin to join in the general fun, but creates (as perhaps they themselves will allow me to put it) some kind of discordant and discordant face of his own. To say what and whose face this is, although jealousy prompts me, faith stops me. Held by hope, I will not say anything unpleasant; for to this day I spare them as if they were my own members, and I pay more attention to the former love than to the present disgust. In order to act more generously, I can reproach more sensitively later. I exclude only one part, one kind of people from the celebration. Although I myself lament and mourn, although I shed tears when, perhaps, they do not listen to me, although I lament about those who do not feel their own destruction, which makes their wounds worthy of greater regret; however, I excommunicate. Sown not on solid and unshakable, but on dry and barren rock (such are those who approach the word lightly and with little faith), “because the earth was shallow” (Matthew 13:5), soon vegetated and ready to do anything to please their neighbors, they subsequently withered with a weak attempt to tempt the evil one, with a little temptation and the blow of a sultry wind. and died. But even worse than these last, even more worthy of excommunication from the triumph are all those who did not in the least resist either the force of time or those who were dragging us into destructive captivity from the One who ascended to the heights and captured us for salvation. They turned out to be even arbitrarily evil and base, without making the slightest confrontation, being tempted when there was no sorrow and no temptation for them for the sake of the word, and (truly pitiful people!) They sold their own salvation for temporary self-interest, for an unnecessary service or power. Since it has been said who can and cannot make up our face, let us purify, if possible, both bodies and souls, let us all set one voice, unite in one spirit and sing that victorious song that Mariam once began, striking the tympanum, and Israel sang after her, about the drowning of the Egyptians in the Black Sea: “We sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted, both horse and rider cast him into the sea" (Exodus 15:21) - but not into the sea; I change it in a song; and wherever he pleased, and as He Himself determined, “he creates and transforms everything,” as the divinely inspired Amos said in one place of his prophecy, “and turns the shadow of death into a clear morning, and the day into dark night” (Amos 5:8). The one who, as if in a certain circle, disposes and leads the whole world. And everything that concerns us - both unshakable and unshakable, alternately moving forward and turning back, happening at different times and in one way or another - is in the order of Providence, firmly and unshakably; although he follows opposite paths, known to the Word and unknown to us. The Lord deposes “the mighty from their thrones” (Luke 1:52) and “he who was not thought of” is adorned with a “crown” (Sir.11:5); I borrow this too from Divine Scripture. He clothes weak knees with courage and breaks “the muscles of the wicked and unjust” (Ps. 36:17); and I take this from another Scripture, as it comes to my memory, one of the many passages that complete my song and form one thanksgiving. He allows us to see both the exaltation of the wicked above the cedars and his reduction to insignificance; if only we could pass by his wickedness quickly and without stumbling. Who among those who know the works of God will sing as he should and tell it? “Whoever speaks of the power of the Lord will declare all His praises” (Ps. 106:9)? What voice, what gift of speech will be commensurate with this miracle? “Who has broken the weapon and the sword and the battle” (Ps. 75:11)? Who “crushed the heads of serpents in the water”? Who “gave him as food for the people” (Ps. 73:13–14), to whom he handed him over? Who turned the storm into a cool wind? Who said to the sea: “Be still, cease” (Mark 4:39), “here is the end of your arrogant waves” (Job 38:11), and then quickly pacified the rising and boiling waters? Who gave the power to “tread on serpents and scorpions” (Luke 10:19), which no longer secretly watch the heel, as stated in the condemnation, but openly rebel and lift up the head condemned to be trampled? Who created “judgment and righteousness” (Amos 5:7), did it so unexpectedly? Who has not left forever “the rod of the wicked” (can I boldly say “over the lot of the righteous” (Ps. 124:3)? - or put it more modestly?), over the lot of those who know Him? For we were not betrayed as the righteous (few, and moreover, rarely, are given so that they, like courageous ascetics, shame the tempter), but as sinners we were condemned, and then mercifully and paternally pardoned; condemned, so that those who were smitten might become wise, and those who were admonished would turn to him. He convicted us, but not with “fury”; punished, but “not with anger” (Ps. 6:12); He showed His love for mankind to both, both by reminder and by condescension. Who created “vengeance on the nations, punishment on the nations” (Ps. 149:7)? “The Lord is mighty and strong, the Lord is mighty in battle” (Ps. 23:8). I find one place, one verse in some respect consistent with the present celebration. Isaiah proclaimed it before us, and it is very appropriate for the present time, corresponding to the greatness of the good deed. “Sprinkle, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down righteousness” (Is. 45:8); “Rejoice, O earth, and shout, O mountains, for joy” (Isaiah 49:13)! For all creatures and heavenly Powers share our feelings (I add this on my own) even during events similar to the present. The creation subject to corruption, that is, those who are born and die, not only sighs and sympathizes, in anticipation of their end and revelation, so that then it too can receive the desired freedom, just as now, by the power of the Creator, is involuntarily betrayed to the corruptible, but is also glorified and rejoices with one another when the children of God rejoice. So, “the desert will rejoice and blossom like a daffodil” (Is. 35:1) (I can’t help but use Divine sayings, exalting God’s power); Let the Church rejoice, which yesterday and the day before, apparently, was orphaned and widowed! Let everyone rejoice who has hitherto been oppressed by the intolerable and cruel storm of wickedness! “For” the Lord had mercy “on His people, and did not leave His inheritance” (Ps. 93:14); He did “wonderful works, ancient true counsel” (Is. 25:1), advice about showing favor to “those who fear Him” and to “those who trust in His mercy” (Ps. 146:11). “For He has broken in pieces the gates of brass and broken the ropes of iron” (Ps. 106:16). We were humbled for our iniquities; but we are called out and delivered from the “net of those who catch” (Ps. 123:7) by the grace of God who called us and the humble in heart who comforts us. See how I compose a song in which both words and thoughts are divine! I don’t know why I’m proud and adorn myself with someone else’s things, from pleasure I become as if inspired; but I despise everything low and human, when I compare and harmonize one with the other, and bring what is one Spirit into unity. And before they showed us the miracles of God: Enoch, exalted by God; Elijah taken to heaven; Noah, saved and saved by a “little tree” (Wis. 10:4) the world - the seeds of the generations saved from the global flood, so that the earth would again be adorned with more pious inhabitants; Abraham is called; when he no longer promised the age rewarded by a son, in assurance of another promised Seed; he who offers his only begotten is a voluntary sacrifice, and instead of a son he accepts an unexpected sacrifice. The same thing was revealed by the wonderful death of the wicked, drowned in fire and brimstone, and the even more wonderful departure of the pious; The salt pillar is a monument to turning to evil. The same was revealed by Joseph, who was sold, tempted, chaste, made wise by God, freed, appointed ruler and distributor of grain for the higher economy; Moses, honored with theophany, accepting laws, legislating, given as a god to Pharaoh, showing Israel the way to the Promised Land. The same thing was revealed: a certain number of Egyptian plagues and among the Egyptians the salvation of those burdened with labor; the sea, running from the rod and uniting according to the word, giving way to some like dry land, and drowning, in accordance with nature, others; and also everything that accompanied this: a pillar of cloud overshadowing the day; a pillar of fire that illuminates the night; and both are guiding; bread watered by rain in the desert, food sent from heaven - the first in proportion to need, and the second even beyond need; water from a stone, now flowing out, now enjoying itself; Amalek, overcome by prayer and the still inexplicable and mysterious raising of hands; the sun is stopped, the moon is held back, the Jordan is divided, the walls are destroyed by the circumambulation of the priests, also by the sound of trumpets and by the number itself, which has power; the earth and fleece are alternately irrigated and left unmoistened; the power contained in the hair and equal to the strength of an entire army; a few chosen ones, drinking from a handful of water, hopeful of victory and victorious, thanks to hope, a small number of many thousands. Do I need to list all the miracles that were performed by Christ himself, during His saving coming and incarnation, and which after Him and through Him were created by His holy Apostles and servants of the word? How many books and memories are there in which they are captured? What miracles have been performed today? - “Come, listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you” (Ps. 65:16), “so that the coming generation may know” ( Ps. 77:6), so that they will know the succession of generations - the wonders of God’s power! But it is impossible to explain this without depicting the magnitude of the disaster; and this again is impossible until the evil nature of the apostate is exposed, it is not shown what the beginnings were, what the change was, from which he reached such a frenzy, gradually cultivating wickedness in himself, just as the most evil of reptiles and beasts collect their poison. And although we leave a detailed description of his atrocities to books and stories (we do not have time to retell everything that does not have a close connection with the real subject); however, having touched upon a few of many, let us leave for posterity, as it were, some inscription on a monument, containing in words the most important and most famous of his deeds. This is one of his first cases! Saved by the great Constantius, who had recently inherited the state from his father, when new officials began to rule affairs at the Court, and the army, fearing innovations, itself became an innovation, armed itself against the commanders, then, I say, in an incredible and extraordinary way, saved together with his brother 13, he did not give thanks either to God for his salvation, or to the Tsar who saved him, but turned out to be malicious before them, preparing for God in himself an apostate, and a rebel to the Tsar. But first of all, it must be said that the most humane Tsar in one of the royal palaces honored them with royal maintenance and royal servants, preserving them, as the last of their kind, for the royal throne. The Emperor himself, firstly, thought to justify himself in the fact that the unrest that broke out at the beginning of his reign was not carried out with his consent; secondly, he wanted to show his generosity by introducing them to the royal rank; and thirdly, with such an increase he hoped to further consolidate power. But in his reasoning there was more kindness of heart than prudence. They 14 did not have any positions at that time; royal power was still ahead and in one assumption, and age and hope did not lead to secondary ranks. Therefore, they had with them mentors in other sciences (all the original teachings were taught to them by their uncle and the Tsar himself), and even more in our wisdom, not only that which has dogmas as its subject, but also that which edifies piety of morals. To do this, they used the treatment of especially experienced people and were accustomed to the most commendable deeds, showing experiments in virtue. They, of their own accord, entered the clergy, read divine books to the people, not at all considering this a detriment to their glory, but still recognizing piety as the best of all decorations. Also, with valuable monuments in honor of the Martyrs, generous offerings and everything that shows the fear of God in a person, they testified to their wisdom and zeal for Christ. One of them is truly pious, and although hot-tempered by nature, he is sincere in piety. And the other was just biding his time and hiding malice under the guise of modesty. And here's the proof! For I cannot pass over in silence the former miracle, which is very memorable and can serve as a lesson for many wicked people. Both of them, as I said, were zealous for the Martyrs, did not yield to each other in generosity, with a rich hand and without sparing expenses, they built the church 15. But since they worked for different purposes, the end of the work was different. The work of one, I mean the elder brother 16, went successfully and in order, because God willingly accepted the gift, as Abel’s sacrifice, “rightly offered and divided” (Gen. 4:7) and the gift itself was, as it were, some sanctification of the firstborn, and the gift of the other (what other shame is here on earth for the wicked, testifying to the future and foreshadowing something great with insignificant indications) God rejected the gift of the other Martyrs as a sacrifice to Cain. He put forth labor, but the earth rejected what was accomplished by labor. He used even greater efforts, and the earth refused to accept the foundations laid down by a man wavering in piety. The earth seemed to be telling what a shock would be caused to them, and together they honored the Martyrs with the dishonor of the most wicked. Such an event was a kind of prophecy about the arrogance and arrogance revealed over time in this man, about his disrespect for the Martyrs, about his desecration of holy churches - a prophecy that was incomprehensible to others, but which pursued the persecutor in advance and foreshadowed what retribution would be for wickedness. O man “wise to do evil” (Jer. 4:22), but not escaping his own torment! Thanks be to God, who foretells the future, to put an end to wickedness and to show His foreknowledge! What an extraordinary, but truer than extraordinary, miracle! What brotherly love there is in the Martyrs. They did not accept honor from one who would dishonor many Martyrs; they rejected the gifts of a man who would lead many into the feat of suffering, and would even envy them in this feat. Or, more correctly, they did not tolerate being one of the Martyrs in desecration, when the churches of others were built and decorated by the hands of the venerable ones. They did not allow that one who was cunning in evil could boast of the insults inflicted on him, that one hand would both build and destroy the churches of martyrdom, that some of the Martyrs would be honored while others were dishonored, that real dishonor would begin with feigned honoring. They did not want the offender, despite the greatness of the insult, to consider himself wise and able, under a visible appearance, to hide both from people and from God, who is more perspicacious than all, wiser than all and “catches the wise in their wickedness” (1 Cor. 3:19). On the contrary, they let the scolder know; that he is understood, so that the one caught does not become arrogant. The God of the Martyrs, according to orders known to Him alone, according to His ineffable wisdom, according to the laws of world government, according to which he once expected the fulfillment of the iniquities of the Amorites, - and now did not stop, did not suddenly dry up, like an unclean stream, the plotted and hidden malice. But for others it was necessary to make evil hateful, reject honor and show that God, in considering everything offered to Him, is impartial and pure. He said to ungodly Israel: “bear no more vain gifts: incense is abominable to me” (Is. 1:13). He did not tolerate their “new moon” and “Saturdays” and “holidays”; for, as the Self-Satisfied One does not need anything human or unimportant; the less he amuses himself with unworthy offerings; on the contrary, the sacrifice of the wicked, even if it were a calf, is abhorred like a dog, and even if it were incense, it is insulted as blasphemy (Is. 66:3), and “the wages of a harlot” (Deut. 23:18) is swept out of the sanctuary and rejected; appreciates the one sacrifice that clean hands and a high and purified mind offer to the Pure One. So, what is surprising if He, who sees not like a man, looks not at the external, but at the hidden man, looks into the inner source of vices or virtues; What, I say, is surprising if God even now did not accept the honor given cunningly and with a crafty thought? But it really was like that. For those who do not believe, we present eyewitness accounts; many of them are still alive; They retold you about this miracle and will retell it to our descendants. When, with the onset of adulthood, they touched (it would be better never to touch!) philosophical teachings, and acquired strength in the word - for the well-behaved, the shield of virtue, and for the evil-tempered, the sting of sin; Then he 17 could no longer hide the entire illness within himself and think out the insidious plan of wickedness only with himself. The fire hidden in the substance has not yet turned into a light flame, but is revealed by flying sparks and smoke coming from inside. And if you want another similarity, springs flowing with force in underground caves, when they do not find space and a free outlet, in many places on the earth rush to the surface and make noise under it; because the force of aspiration drives them away, and the upper barriers hold them back and thwart them. So he, restrained by circumstances and the lessons of the Emperor, until it was safe to reveal himself as an open wickedness, hid most of his wickedness. And there were cases in which he revealed secret thoughts, especially in front of people more inclined to wickedness than to prudence; in conversations with his brother, even beyond decency, he defended the pagans, of course, under the pretext of practicing the word through disputes; but really it was an exercise in confrontation with the truth. In general, he was glad of everything that distinguishes the wicked heart. And when the philanthropy of the Autocrat proclaims his brother Caesar and makes him the owner of a considerable part of the Universe; then the opportunity opened up for him, with greater freedom and safety, to indulge in the most harmful sciences and mentors. Asia became for him a school of wickedness - all the nonsense about stargazing, about birthdays, about different methods of fortune telling, as well as about the magic inextricably linked with them. One thing was still missing to add power to wickedness. After a while, even then the increased iniquities of many give him over us, and another, perhaps, will say: the well-being of Christians, which has reached the highest degree and therefore required change, is freedom, honor and contentment, from which we have become proud. For, indeed, it is more difficult to preserve acquired goods than to acquire new ones, and it is more convenient to carefully return past prosperity than to preserve the present. “Pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18); beautifully said in Proverbs; and humiliation precedes glory, or, to put it more clearly, pride is followed by humiliation, and after humiliation glorification. “The Lord resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6) and proportioning everything righteously, he repays the opposite for the opposite. The divine David also knew this; therefore, he considers being humble among the blessings; he brings thanks to the One who humbled himself, as having acquired through this vision of God’s justifications; and says: “Before my suffering I was mistaken; but now I keep Your word” (Ps. 119:67). Thus, he places humility in the middle between transgression and correction, since it was produced by transgression and produced correction. For sin gives birth to humility, and humility gives birth to conversion. So we too, when we were kind and modest, were then exalted and gradually grew, so that under the guidance of God we became both glorious and numerous. And when we “got fat,” then we became self-willed; and when they “grew fat” (Deut. 32:16), then they were brought to cramped conditions. The glory and power that we acquired during persecution and tribulation, we lost during times of prosperity, as the continuation of the word will show. There is a limit to the reign and life of Caesar. I will keep silent about what preceded, sparing both those who acted and those who suffered 18; but with all due respect to the piety of both, I do not praise their audacity. If it was not common for them, as people, to sin in anything else, then they will probably not praise either one or the other for this. Is it possible that here, too, what is brought against one can be turned into an edification for another? Then Julian becomes the heir of the kingdom, but not of piety, the heir first after his brother, and after some time after the one who reigned him. And the first is given to him by Constantius voluntarily, and the last involuntarily, forced by the common end for all, struck by a blow disastrous and destructive for the whole world. What have you done, most God-loving and Christ-loving of kings! - To you, as if to someone who is ahead and listening to us, I turn my reproach; although I know that you are much higher than our reproaches, you are in rank with God, inherited heavenly glory, and for this reason you left us in order to exchange a temporary kingdom for an eternal one? Why did you convene such a council, which in prudence and quickness of mind is in many ways superior not only to your contemporary kings, but also to previous kings? You cleared the borders of the kingdom from barbarians and pacified the internal rebels; He acted on some with convictions, on others with weapons, and in both cases he gave orders as if no one was opposing you. Your victories gained by weapons and battles are important; but even more important and famous are those acquired without blood. Embassies and requests came to you from everywhere; some submitted, others were ready to submit. And if there was any hope of submission, it was equivalent to submission itself. The hand of God guided you in every intention and action. Prudence in you was more amazing than power, and power was more amazing than prudence; piety is even more amazing than the glory itself for prudence and power. How did you turn out to be inexperienced and imprudent in this alone? Why is there such rashness in your inhuman love for mankind? What demon gave you such an idea? How is it that the great heritage with which your parent, I mean Christians, adorned himself, the people who shone forth in the whole Universe, the “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:3), nurtured by many efforts and labors, in such a short time, in one instant, with your own hands you handed over to the universal bloodsucker? Perhaps it seems to you, brethren, that I am acting dishonestly and ungratefully when I say this, and do not immediately add broadcasts of truth to the accusatory speech; although I have already sufficiently justified Constantius by the very thing I accused him of, if you have delved into my accusation. Here only the accusation contains an apology; for having mentioned kindness, I also presented justification. Who of those who knew Constantius at all does not know that for the sake of piety, out of love for us, out of desire for every good for us, he was not only ready to despise him 19, or the honor of his entire family, or the increase of royal power, but for our safety, for our salvation, he would even give up the power itself, the whole world and his soul, which is dearest to everyone? No one ever burned for anything with such a fiery love with which he cared about the multiplication of Christians and about elevating them to a high degree of glory and power. Neither the conquest of peoples, nor the improvement of society, nor the title and rank of king of kings, nor everything else by which human happiness is known - nothing pleased him as much as that through him, and he through us, we should be glorified before God and before people, and so that our dominion would forever remain indestructible. For, among other things, reasoning truly royally and above many others, he clearly saw that with the successes of the Christians the power of the Romans increased, that with the coming of Christ an autocracy appeared among them, which had never before achieved perfect unity of command. For this, I think, he especially loved to do good to us. If he insulted several, he insulted not out of contempt, not with the intention of offending, not out of preference for others, but wanting everyone to be one, to maintain the same mind, not to be dissected and not divided by schisms. But, as I noted, simplicity is careless; philanthropy is not without weaknesses; and he who is far from evil least of all suspects evil. Therefore, he did not foresee the future, did not feel pretense (wickedness crept in gradually), and in one Sovereign both kindness towards a pious family and kindness towards the most wicked and godless of people could be combined. And what did this wicked man reproach Christians for, what did he find uncommendable among us, and what did he recognize as extraordinary and irrefutable in pagan teachings? Following what pattern did he make a name for himself with his wickedness, and in a completely new way entered into competition with his ruler? Since he could not surpass him in virtues and perfections, he tried to distinguish himself by the opposite, by transgressing every measure in wickedness and being zealous for the worst. This is our justification for Constantius in the reasoning of Christians and for Christians, it is quite fair for those who have intelligence. But there will be people who, having forgiven us one guilt, will not forgive another. They will accuse him of feeblemindedness for the fact that Constantius entrusted power to a hostile and irreconcilable enemy and that he first made him an enemy, and then powerful, laying the foundation for the enmity by killing his brother and giving him strength by electing him to the kingdom. Therefore, it is necessary to briefly say about this; it is necessary to show that philanthropy was not completely unreasonable and did not go beyond the limits of royal generosity and royal foresight. Even I would be ashamed if we, who received such honor from Constantius and were so confident in his excellent piety, did not tell the truth in his defense, which, as ministers of word and truth, we are obliged to do for people who have not benefited us in the least. It would be especially shameful not to tell the truth about Constantius after his departure from this world, when there is no place for the thought that we are flattering, when our word is free from any evil suspicion. Who did not hope, if nothing else, at least that Constantius would make him more meek with honors? Who did not believe that after a power of attorney, which was given to him even contrary to justice, he would be more truthful? Especially when a truthful and directly royal judgment is pronounced on both of them - one is honored and the other is deposed? For he who honored the second, as no one expected, not even the one who received the honor himself, clearly showed that he also punished the first not without righteous anger. The execution of one was a consequence of the insolence of the punished; and the honor of another was a matter of philanthropy in the one who raised him to honor. But if something else needs to be said: then Constantius could rely not so much on his loyalty as on his own power. According to this, I think, hope, the glorious Alexander granted not only life to the defeated Porus, who stood courageously for his power, but soon also the kingdom of the Indus. With this, and nothing else, he wanted to prove his generosity; and not to surpass someone in generosity, for him - Alexander, was more shameful than to yield in strength of arms; Moreover, it’s time, if he had planned evil, it would have been easy for him to conquer another time. So in Constantius, philanthropy arose from an excess of hope in one’s own strength. But why am I strengthening myself where it is very convenient for the vanquished to gain the upper hand? If the one who trusted acted badly, then how much worse did the one who was trusted act? When one blames the fact that evil character is not provided for, then what should one blame on evil character itself? But vice, indeed, is something that cannot be governed by rules, and a person does not have the means to make the evil good. So Julian, which should have made him feel good in himself and extinguish, if there was any, inflammation of anger, was therefore inflamed with greater hatred; and began to look out for how to take revenge on his benefactor. Plato, Chrysippus, the venerable Peripatetics, the Stoics and the eloquent taught him this. Geometric equality, lessons about justice, and the rule led him to this: it is better to endure than to inflict offense. This was taught to him by noble mentors; associates of the royal power and legislators, whom he recruited for himself at crossroads and in caves 22, in which he did not approve of morals, but marveled at the sweetness of speech, and, perhaps, not that, but only wickedness - a sufficient adviser and mentor - what to do and what not to do. And truly, those who in words build cities that cannot exist in reality are not worthy of any surprise? who almost bow down to the majestic tyrants as if they were God, and in their arrogance place the god above the gods? Some of them teach that there is no God at all; others that God does not provide for earthly things, but that everything here is drawn without purpose and by chance; others say that everything is controlled by stars and fatal constellations, I don’t know by whom and from where they are controlled; others believe that everything strives for pleasure and that pleasure constitutes the end of human life. And virtue for them is just a big name; according to those, there is nothing behind real life, nothing after torture for the deeds of this life, to suppress untruth. Some of their sages did not understand this at all, but were covered with deep, so to speak, mud and impenetrable darkness of error and ignorance; his mind was not so purified that he could look at the light of truth, but, groveling in the earthly and sensual, he was not able to imagine anything higher than demons and reason about the Creator in a manner worthy of Him. And if someone did gain some insight, then, having reason as a guide, and not God, he was carried away by the more probable and by what, as the nearest, most likely attracts the attention of the mob. Is it surprising if someone who came out of such a school, guided by such helmsmen, when they entrusted him with power and honored him with rank, turned out to be only angry against those who entrusted him and honored him? And if it is possible to defend one, accusing the other, then it turned him against the established order and prompted him to seek freedom of arrogance, not so much, I think, grief for his brother, in whom he saw his adversary in faith, but rather the fact that he did not tolerate the strengthening of Christianity and was angry at piety. It is necessary, as they teach, for philosophy and royal power to come together; but not to stop, but to increase social evils. And the first act of his arrogance and arrogance was that he placed a crown on himself, honoring himself with a high title, which, not as an accidental gain, but as a reward for virtue, is given either by time, or by the verdict of the king, or, as happened in former times, by the determination of the Senate. But he does not recognize the lord in the kingdom as the lord of the honors given out. And secondly, having seen that the first insolence leads to the need to support one’s arrogance, what else is he up to? How far does misfortune and insolence extend? What a frenzy! He arms himself against Constantius himself and leads an army from the West under the pretext of justifying himself in accepting the royal crown, because outwardly he was still hiding his arrogance. But in reality he is planning to seize the power into his own hands and surprise the world with ingratitude. And I was not disappointed in my hope. Let those who do not comprehend the unimaginable depth of God’s orders, according to which everything is accomplished, not marvel at this. Let them not marvel at those who leave the rule of the world to the Artist, Who, of course, is wiser than us, and leads His creation to whatever and as He pleases, without any doubt - to perfection and healing, although those being healed are upset! According to such orders, he 23 is not aroused to evil (the Divine, by nature good, is not in the least guilty of evil, and evil deeds belong to the one who arbitrarily chooses evil), but is not restrained in his desire. With speed he passed through his possessions and part of the barbarian borders, capturing the passes, not with the intention of taking possession of them, but to hide himself; is already approaching the royal palace, having dared to undertake such a campaign, as his like-minded people said, by prediction and by the inspiration of demons who predicted the future for him and prepared a change in circumstances. But, according to those who do not hide the truth, he appeared at the time appointed for the secret and hidden in the darkness of the crime; He hastened to the day of death, of which he himself was the culprit, secretly, because there was not foresight here, but ordinary knowledge - simple villainy, and not the beneficence of demons. How insightful demons are in such matters was clearly demonstrated by Persia. And let those who attribute his haste to demons be silent: shall we even call it their work that he was evil! If the death of the king had not preceded the invasion of the tormentor and the secret warfare had not been carried out more strongly than openly, then the villain would have known, perhaps, that he was hastening to his own destruction, and before being admonished by the defeat of the Persians, he would have been punished for his arrogance within the Roman borders, which he maliciously dared to invade. And here's the proof! While he was still on the road and thought that his intentions were unknown, the army of the most powerful king surrounded him and cut off even the opportunity for him to escape. (This turned out to be the case later; for even after receiving the power, it took him a lot of work to defeat this army.) And at this very time, burning with anger at arrogance and impiety, having in the net the most cunning of people, on the way to the scene of action (our sins are truly great!), the Emperor, after many petitions to God and people to forgive his love for mankind, left life, with his campaign proving to Christians his zeal for piety. And here, starting to continue the word, I shed tears mixed with joy. Just as the river and the sea fight and merge with each other, there is a struggle in me - both a merger and an excitement of feelings. Recent events fill me with pleasure, and those that preceded them bring tears from me, tears not only for Christians and the misfortunes that befell them, either brought on by the evil one, or allowed by God, for reasons known to Him, and, perhaps, for our exaltation, which required purification; but also tears for his 24 soul, and for all those carried away with him into the same destruction. Others mourn only their last defeats and local suffering; because they have one present life in mind and do not stretch their thoughts into the future, do not think that there will be calculation and reward for the deeds of earthly life, but they live like dumb people, they only care about today, about the present alone, they measure well-being by the local conveniences alone and call every trouble they encounter misfortune. But for me, their future torment and execution awaiting sinners are more deplorable. I’m not even talking about the greatest punishment, that is, how painful it will be for them to be rejected by God. How can I not shed tears for this unfortunate man? How can one not mourn those who fled to him more than those who were persecuted by him? And shouldn’t I cry more for those who have been led into iniquity than for those who have gone over to the side of evil? Even for the persecuted, to suffer for Christ was not evil at all, but the most blessed thing, not only because of future rewards, but also because of the present glory and freedom that they acquired for themselves through their misfortunes. And for those who suffered here, there is only the beginning of what is prepared and threatens them in the future. It would have been much better for them if they had suffered longer here, but had not been subjected to the tortures there. I say this according to the law, which commands not to rejoice at the fall of the enemy and demands compassion from those who have resisted. But I must address him again. What kind of jealousy is it to surpass everyone in evil? What is this passion for wickedness? What kind of desire for death is this? Why did the disciple of Christ, who was so occupied with the word of truth and himself spoke about soul-saving subjects, and learned from others, become such a Christ-hater? Before he had time to inherit the kingdom, he already boldly reveals his wickedness, as if ashamed of the fact that he was once a Christian, or taking revenge on Christians for bearing the same name with them. And this is the first of his brave exploits, as those who are proud of his mysteries call him (what words am I forced to utter!): he washes away the water of baptism with foul blood, replacing our mysterious accomplishment with his vile and, likening, according to the proverb, a pig wallowing in the mud, he performs a cleansing on his hands in order to cleanse them from the bloodless Sacrifice, through which we become participants with Christ in suffering and Deity; led by the evil advisers of the evil government, begins his Reign with the examination of entrails and sacrifices. But having mentioned the examination of the entrails and about superstition, or, more precisely, its evil faith in such matters, I don’t know whether to describe the miracle divulged by rumors, or not to believe the rumors? I hesitate in thought and wonder what to bow to; because the credible is mixed here with the incredible. It is not incredible that with such a new manifestation of evil and wickedness there was some kind of sign; and signs repeatedly occurred during great upheavals. But for it to be so, as they say, is very surprising for me, and of course for anyone who wishes and considers it fair that the pure should be explained purely. They say that, while making a sacrifice, in the entrails of an animal, he saw a Cross in a crown. In others this aroused horror, confusion and awareness of our strength, and only gave the teacher of wickedness insolence; he interpreted: The cross and the circle mean that Christians are surrounded and locked in from everywhere. This is wonderful to me, and if it is not true, let it be blown away by the wind; if true, then here again Balaam prophesies, Samuel, or his ghost, is summoned by the sorceress; again the demons involuntarily confess Jesus, and the truth is revealed through what is contrary to the truth, so that it will be believed all the more. Or maybe this was done in order to keep him from wickedness: because God, in His love for mankind, can open many and extraordinary paths to salvation. But this is what very many people talk about, and which is not alien to probability: he went into one of the terrible caves inaccessible to the people (oh, if only he had gone to hell the same way, before he had so much time in evil!); he was accompanied by a man who knew such matters, or, better to say, a deceiver worthy of many abysses. Among other types of sorcery, they also use one to confer with underground demons about the future somewhere in the darkness, is it because demons love darkness more, for they themselves are darkness and the perpetrators of darkness, that is, evil; or because they avoid the pious on earth, because from meeting them they become powerless. But when our brave man goes forward; he is overwhelmed by horror, with every step he becomes more frightened; They also talk about extraordinary sounds, about stench, about fiery phenomena, and I don’t know about some ghosts and dreams. Struck by an accident, as inexperienced in such a matter, he resorts to the Cross, this ancient manual, and is marked by it against horrors, calling on the Persecuted One for help. What followed was even worse. The sign worked, the demons were defeated, fears dissipated. What then? Evil comes to life, the apostate again becomes daring, tries to go further: and again the same horrors. He crosses himself again, and the demons subside. The student is at a loss; but with him is a mentor reinterpreting the truth. He says: “They were not afraid of us, but they abhorred us.” And evil took over. As soon as the mentor speaks, the student believes, and the one who convinces him leads him to the abyss of destruction. And it is not surprising: a vicious person is more likely to follow evil than to be held by good. What he then said or did, or how he was deceived and with what he was released, let those who initiate into these sacraments and are themselves initiated know. Only after leaving there, both in his spiritual disposition and in his deeds, one could see the frenzy and the frenzy of his eyes showed who he was serving. If not from the very day on which he decided to commit such wickedness, then now, in the most obvious way, many demons have taken possession of him; otherwise, it would have been in vain for him to descend into darkness and communicate with demons, which they call inspiration, speciously transforming the meaning of words. These were his first deeds! But when the illness intensified and persecution was ready to open, he saw (either as a man wise in evil and successful in wickedness, or on the advice of those who encouraged him to do so) that to wage war with us openly and declare himself the leader of wickedness was not only too daring and reckless, but also completely against the goal. For compulsion would make us more steadfast and ready to oppose violence with zeal for piety; for courageous souls, when they want to force them to do something by force, are usually adamant and like a flame fanned by the wind, which flares up the more it is fanned. He not only found this from his own conclusions, but could also know from previous persecutions, by which Christianity was more glorified than weakened, because persecution strengthens the soul in piety, and in dangers the soul is tempered, like hot iron in water. If you act with the weapon of guile (he reasoned) and give coercion the appearance of persuasion, covering violence with affection, like fishing bait with bait, then in such a struggle there will be both wisdom and strength. In addition, he envied the honor of martyrdom that ascetics are awarded. Therefore, he plans to act by coercion, without showing the appearance of coercion; and to make us suffer and not have the honor that we suffer for Christ. What stupidity! Firstly, he thought to conceal why we are in danger, and to cover up the truth with false reasoning, but did not consider that the more he plots against the honors of martyrdom, the higher and more glorious they will become; secondly, he believed that we indulge in dangers not out of love for the truth, but out of a desire for glory. But let their Empedocles, Aristeas, Empedotimus, Trophonii and many such small people amuse themselves with this. The first of them thought of becoming a god and achieving a blessed fate by rushing into the mouth of a Sicilian mountain; but his beloved shoe, erupted by fire, discovered that Empedocles had not become a god from a man, but only after death turned out to be a vain, unloving man, not even having common sense. And others, due to the same illness and pride, hid in dark caves, but when they were discovered, they not so much gained honor for themselves by hiding from people, but rather dishonored themselves by not remaining in obscurity. But for Christians it is more pleasant to suffer for piety, even remaining unknown to everyone, than for others to be glorified and be wicked. Because we care little about pleasing people; and all our desire is to receive honor from God; the truly wise and God-loving are above even this: they love communication with goodness for the sake of goodness itself, not for the sake of the honors prepared for the grave. For this is already the second degree of a praiseworthy life - to do something out of reward and reward; and the third is to avoid evil for fear of punishment. This is how we reason, and it is not difficult for those who wish to provide many proofs for this. And our adversary, thinking of depriving Christians of their honor as something great (for many judge others by their own passions), first of all initiates persecution against our glory. He does not introduce wickedness as boldly as other persecutors, and wants to deal with us not only not as a king, but not even as a tormentor, who could boast that he forced the Universe to accept his wicked law and suppressed the teaching that prevailed over all teachings. But, like a slave, he timidly plots against piety and adds cunning, ambiguous reasoning to persecution. All power acts by persuasion or coercion; and he left the latter, as less humane, that is, violence, to the people and cities, which in their insolence are especially uncontrollable due to their recklessness and imprudent desire for everything; however, even this he did not give a nationwide command, but rather an unwritten law, revealing his will by not stopping the popular unrest. And the first, as more meek and worthy of a king, that is, conviction, he left to himself. However, he did not completely fulfill this either. Just as it is unusual for a leopard to leave its motley color, for an Ethiopian to leave behind blackness, for fire to leave the power to burn, for the evil one – this murderer from time immemorial – to hate humanity, so he could not leave behind the malice with which he rushed against us. But, as they say about a chameleon, it easily changes its appearance, taking on all colors except white (I’m keeping silent about Proteus, the fabulous Egyptian cunning one); so for Christians he was and was everything except meekness. And his love for humanity was very inhuman, his conviction was violent, his benevolence served as an excuse for cruelty, so that they could see that he rightfully used violence without having time to act with conviction. This is evident from the fact that his convictions lasted a short time; and for the most part, coercion soon followed, so that we would be caught, as in an animal catch, or by nets, or by persecution, so that in one way or another we would certainly fall into his hands. Thus, having thought through and distributed his actions, he uses another trick - the only true one, although too wicked: he begins his evil deed with those close to him and with the people around him, as is the custom of all persecutors. In fact, without having loved ones on your side, you cannot act on strangers; just as it is impossible to lead an army against enemies that rebels against its leader. He changes the courtiers, putting some to secret death in advance, removing others not so much because they were disposed towards the great King (Constance - “ed”), but because they were even more devoted to the King of Kings, and were useless to him in both respects. Meanwhile, by itself or through the commanders, he wins over to his side the army, which he considered especially flexible; because military people are sometimes deceived by honors, sometimes carried away by simplicity, and do not know any other law except the royal will; it would be more correct to say that he attracted only part of the army, not a small part - those whom he found spoiled and sick, who both at that time and before were servile to circumstances; and of this part he actually enslaved some, while others he only hoped to enslave. He did not captivate everyone, because He who punishes us through him did not give him so much power over them, and there are still more than seven thousand men left who did not bow the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18), did not worship the golden image (Dan. 3:18), were not bitten by snakes, because they looked at the hanged serpent and overthrown by the sufferings of Christ. Among the chiefs and the highest, who are especially easy to whitewash with threats or promises, and among the simple warriors, known only by numbers, there were many who repelled his attack, just as a solid wall repels the unsuccessful action of a weapon. However, he did not so much lament what escaped his hands as he became insolent, like a madman, from what he caught. He wanted, and imagined what he expected had already been achieved. Then he rebels against that great banner with the image of the Cross, which, being raised upward, led the army, was revered by the Romans and, indeed, was a relief in labor, one might say, reigned over other banners, some of which are decorated with images of kings and spread out fabrics with various colors and letters; and others, receiving the wind through the terrible mouths of dragons, mounted on the top of spears, swell along curves dotted with woven scales, and present a pleasant and at the same time terrible sight to the eyes. When he arranged everything that was around him according to his thoughts and was already thinking of triumphing over the imminent danger, then he attempted other things. O foolish, wicked and ignorant of great things! You rebel against the numerous wealth, against the universal fruitfulness, carried out at all ends of the Universe by the baseness of the word and the violence of, as you would say, preaching, that sermon that defeated the wise, drove away demons, overcame time, which is something old and at the same time new (just as you imagine one of your gods) - old for a few, new for many, the first in allegory, the last in fulfillment a secret hidden before its time! You are against the great inheritance of Christ, having forgotten who you are, what powers you have and where you come from - against the great and endless inheritance, which, if someone with greater fury than you rebelled against it, would only grow and rise more (for I believe the prophecies and the visible); against the inheritance which He himself, as God, created, and as man inherited, which the law foresaw, grace fulfilled, Christ renewed, which the Prophets erected, the Apostles bound, the Evangelists completed! You are against the sacrifice of Christ with your filth! You are against the blood that cleansed the world, with your blood! You are raising a war against the world! You raise your hand against the hand nailed for you and for you! You are against bile - with your communion with the victim! against the Cross - with your trophy! against death - with destruction! against the uprising from the grave - with your rebellious uprising! You are against the Witness, having rejected even the testimony of the martyrs 25! After Herod - a persecutor! After Judas - a traitor, but, like him, he did not show repentance by strangulation! After Pilate - Christ-killer! After the Jews - a hater of God! You were not ashamed of the sacrifices sacrificed for Christ! I was not afraid of the great ascetics - John, Peter, Paul, James, Stephen, Luke, Andrew, Thekla and others, after and before them, who suffered for the truth! They willingly fought with fire, iron, with beasts and tormentors, they went to real and threatening disasters, as if in other people's bodies or as disembodied. And what is all this for? So as not to change a word of piety. They are glorified with great honors and festivities, they drive away demons, heal illnesses, appear, prophesy; Their very bodies, when they are touched and honored, act as much as their holy souls; even drops of blood and everything that they wear, traces of their suffering, are as valid as their bodies. But you do not honor this, but dishonor it; You marvel at Hercules, who, from misfortunes and women’s insults, throws himself on the fire; you are amazed at how, out of love of strangeness, or to please the gods, Pelops was offered as food, which is why the Pelopids are distinguished by their ivory shoulders; you marvel at the distortion of the Phrygians, who delight in the flute and then are subjected to reproach, or the deserved torture and trials through fire during initiation into the sacrament of Mithras; you marvel at the killing of foreigners among the Tauri, the sacrifice of the king's daughter in Troy, the blood of Menecaeus shed for the Thebans, and finally, the death of the daughters of Skedaz in Leuctra; You praise the Lacedaemonian youths who are cut with swords and sprinkle the altar with blood, pleasing to the pure goddess and the virgin; you praise the cup of poison of Socrates, the shin of Epictetus, the fur of Anaxarchus 26, in whom wisdom was more forced than voluntary; you praise the leap of Cleomrotus of Ambraki - the fruit of the wise teaching about the soul; you praise the Pythagorean competitions about beans and the contempt of death by Theana or, I don’t remember, by someone else, one of those initiated into the secrets and teachings of Pythagoras. But marvel, if not at the past, then at the present exploits of Christians, you, the wisest and most courageous of the dead, who in patience wants to imitate Epaminondas and Scipio, walks along with your army, is content with meager food and praises personal leadership. A noble and wise man does not disparage his enemies; he values ​​the courage of his enemies more highly than the vices and delicacy of those closest to him. Do you see these people who have neither food nor shelter, have almost neither flesh nor blood, and thus approach God, whose feet are not washed, and their bed is the earth, as your Homer says, thinking with such an invention to honor one of the demons? They live below, but above everything below; among people, but above everything human; bound but free; constrained, but uncontrollable; they have nothing in the world, but have everything peaceful; they live a double life, and they despise one, but care about the other; through mortification they are immortal, through renunciation from creation they are united with God; they do not know passionate love, but they burn with divine, dispassionate love; their heritage is the Source of light, and also here are His illuminations, angelic psalmody, all-night standing, the migration to God of the mind anticipated; purity and constant purification, as those who know no measure in ascension and deification; their rocks and heavens, depositions and thrones; nakedness and robe of incorruption; desert and triumph in heaven; trampling on sweets and endless, indescribable pleasure. Their tears drown sin, cleanse the world; their raising of hands extinguishes flames, tames beasts, dulls swords, puts regiments to flight; and (be sure!) He will stop your mouth from your wickedness, although you will be exalted for a while and with your demons you will still act in the disgrace of wickedness. How is it not scary, not worthy of respect for you, overly daring and rushing to death more recklessly than anyone else? And this, of course, is in many ways more respectful than the insatiability of the sage and legislator Solon, which Croesus denounced with Lydian gold, than Socrates’ love for beauty (I’m ashamed to say - for youths, although it is covered with an honest name), than Plato’s delicacy in Sicily, for which the philosopher was sold and was not redeemed by any of his students, not even by any of the Greeks; the gluttony of Xenocrates, the playfulness of Diogenes, who lived in a barrel, with which, preferring a tasty morsel to simple bread, he used to say in the words of the poet: strangers, give room to the gentlemen, and the philosophy of Epicurus, which does not recognize any good above pleasure. Great is your Crates; giving your lands to pasture for sheep, of course, is a wise thing and is similar to the deeds of our wise men; but he proclaims his freedom not so much as a lover of wisdom, but as an ambitious man. Great is the one who, on a ship struggling with the waves, when everyone was thrown into the sea, thanked the fate that brought him to rags (Zeno - “ed.”). Great is Antisthenes, who, when one insolent insulter hit him in the face, writes on his forehead, as on a statue, the name of the one who hit him, perhaps in order to reproach him more sarcastically. You also praise one of those who lived shortly before us for praying all day while standing in the sun: but perhaps he took advantage of the time when the sun is closer to the earth in order to shorten the prayer, ending it at sunset; You also praise the Potidaean worker (Socrates - “ed.”), who stood all night in winter, immersed in contemplation, and in a frenzy did not feel the cold; you praise the curiosity of Homer, who worked on the Arcadian question; the love and tirelessness of Aristotle, who sought the causes of changes in Europe - over which they died; You praise Cleanthes’s well, and Anaxagoras’s belt 27, and Heraclitus’s tears. But how many of these do you have, and how long have they labored? How can one not marvel at our ascetics, of whom there are thousands, tens of thousands, who devote themselves to the same and even more wonderful wisdom, who philosophize their whole lives and, one might say, in the whole Universe, both men and wives, arguing with their husbands in courage, and then only forgetting their nature when it is necessary to approach God with purity and patience? And not only people of humble birth and constant poverty accustomed to work, but even those who were once high and noble with their wealth, family and power decide to suffer unusually for them in imitation of Christ. At least they did not have the gift of speech, because piety is not established in words, and the fruit of wisdom, which is only in the tongue, is not good for long, as one of our poets admitted; however, there is more truth in them; they teach by doing. But he, neglecting all this, and with one thing in mind, to please the demons who repeatedly overthrew him, which he deserved, before other orders on public affairs, rushes against Christians. Only two subjects preoccupied him: the Galileans, as he called us reproachfully, and the Persians, who stubbornly continued the war. But our cause was more important to him, it required great care, so he considered the war with the Persians to be an empty matter and a child’s game. Although he did not make it public, he did not hide it either; His fury even reached such an extent that he never stopped repeating this to everyone. And such a most prudent and best ruler of the state did not realize that during the previous persecutions the confusion and upheaval were insignificant, because our teaching affected only a few; the truth was accepted by a small number of people and was not yet revealed to everyone. But now, when the saving word has spread everywhere, especially among us, 28 has become dominant, to attempt to change and shake Christianity meant the same thing as shaking the Roman Empire, endangering the entire state, and what worse our enemies would not have wished for us was to suffer from ourselves, from this new and wonderful wisdom and reign, under which we prospered and returned to the ancient golden age and to a life undisturbed and calm. Or could the convenience of communications, the reduction of taxes, the choice of leaders, the punishment of theft, and other regulations serving temporary prosperity and momentary splendor, bring great benefit to the state and be worth deafening our ears with the praise of such institutions? But could popular unrest and indignation in cities, separation of families, discord in homes, dissolution of marriages (what should have followed that evil and what actually followed), serve to his glory or to the security of the state? Who would be so inclined to wickedness or so devoid of common sense as to agree to this? In the body, if only one or two members are unhealthy, the others easily endure the disease, and the majority of the members remain healthy; even healthy and sick members can get better. But if most of the members are upset or stricken with illness; then the whole body cannot help but suffer, and the danger for it is obvious. Thus, in subordinate situations, the illnesses of one member of society can sometimes be covered up by the well-being of the whole, but if most of the members are damaged, the danger threatens the whole society. I think that another, even our evil hater, could see this at the present time with such a multiplication of Christians. But in this man, malice has darkened his reason, and therefore he equally extends persecution to both small and great things. Particularly childish, unfounded and unworthy not only of the king, but also of any reasonable person, was his idea that a change in name would be followed by a change in our disposition, or that we would be ashamed of this change, as if we were accused of something vile. And he gives us a new name, he calls us himself, and legitimizes us to be called Galileans instead of Christians. Truly the name borrowed from Christ is glorious and honorable; and he intended to deprive us of this name, either for this reason, or because he was afraid of the power of the name, like demons, and replaced it with another, uncommon and unknown. But we will not change their names; because there are no funnier names to replace the previous ones, such as Phallus and Iphiphallus, Melampigi, Tragopoda and the venerable Pan, one god who came from all the suitors and received his name due to shame. For they need either one to dishonor many, and the most powerful, or one to come from many, and, moreover, the most vile. So, let us not envy them either in deeds or in names. Let them delight in their simplicity and boast in their abominations. If you like, let's give them Vufin; are ready to make a greater gift, giving up Triesper, so majestically born and giving birth, who accomplished the thirteenth labor in one night (I mean the fifty daughters of Thestius) in order to receive the title of god for this. If Christians wanted to invent such things, they could find many more shameful and at the same time more decent names for him from Julian’s own affairs. For what would prevent us, giving equal for equal, the king of Rome, or, as he, deceived by demons, dreamed of himself, the king of the Universe, from calling Idolian, Pisaeus, Adoneus and Kausitaurus, as some of our wits have already called him, since this is a very easy matter. What would prevent us from applying to it and making up other names for it, such as actual history represents? But the Savior Himself and the Lord of all, the Creator and Ruler of the world, the Son and Word of the Great Father, the Reconciler, the Bishop and co-throne of the Father, for us, who dishonored His image, were brought down to dust and did not understand the great mystery of combination 29, not only descended to the image of a slave, but also ascended to the cross and shared my sin with Himself in order to put it to death when they called Him a Samaritan and (even worse) having a demon in Himself, was not ashamed of this and did not reproach the offenders. The One for whom it was easy to punish the wicked through angelic powers and with a single word, with all meekness and condescension, sends away the offenders from Himself, and sheds tears for those who crucified Him. How absurd is it to think that we, called Galileans, will lament this or be ashamed of it, or will therefore cease to be zealous for good and will respect these insults more than soul and body, while we know how to despise them for the sake of truth (Matthew 10:28; Luke 9:24)? On the contrary, what I am talking about is more funny than sad; and we provide such amusement to spectacles, for, of course, we will never surpass those who amuse themselves there to their destruction and amuse others with similar things. But it is very crafty and malicious that, not having the strength to convince us openly and ashamed to force us painfully, but under the lion’s skin hiding the greatest injustice under the lion’s skin, or, if you like, under the guise of Minos (I don’t know how to express this more precisely), he used lenient violence. However, hastening with words, I will leave something else to those who wish to write history, and I think that many, considering it even an act of piety to strike such a destructive person with a word, will take care to compose a tragedy (if that is what it should be called) or a comedy of that time, so that such an important matter, worth not hiding, will be passed on to posterity. Instead of everything, I will tell you one or two of his deeds as an example, I will tell you for those who are overly surprised by him, let them know that they are honoring the praise of such a person for whom it is impossible to even find the blame that he deserved. I don’t know whether all peoples living under the rule of kings, at least the Romans, strictly observe one royal decree: in honor of the kings, their images should be erected publicly. To establish their royal power, crowns, diadems, scarlet, numerous laws, taxes and a multitude of subjects are not enough; in order to inspire more respect for power, they also demand worship, and worship not only of their own person, but also of their sculptured and painted images, so that the respect paid to them is fuller and more perfect. Each emperor usually adds something of his own to such images. One depicts how the most famous cities bring him gifts; another - how victory crowns his head; another - how dignitaries, adorned with the distinctions of power, bow before him; others represent either animals struck by well-aimed blows, or barbarians defeated and thrown to the ground. Kings delight not only in the deeds in which they show their glory, but also in their images. What is he up to? What intrigues does he create for the most steadfast Christians? Like those who mix poison into food, he mixes wickedness with the usual royal honors and combines the worship of idols with Roman institutions. Therefore, in his images, along with other ordinary marks, having written demons, he offers such images to the people and cities, and especially to the leaders of the regions, so that evil would be inevitable, so that either the one who gives honor to the emperor would also give it to idols, or the one who evades honoring idols would seem to be an insult to the honor of the emperor, because worship was given collectively. Such deception and snares of wickedness, so cunningly placed, were avoided by a few who were more God-fearing and more discerning than others; but they were punished for their insight under the pretext that they had insulted the honor of the emperor; in reality, they suffered for the true King and for piety. But simple and unreasonable people for the most part were caught, and for them, perhaps, ignorance itself will serve as an excuse, as if they were drawn into wickedness by cunning. One such act is enough to disgrace the king's intention. For I think that the same thing is not proper for a king and a commoner, since their dignity is not the same. In a commoner, we would excuse some cunning act, for for those who cannot act with obvious force, it is excusable to resort to cunning, but for a king it is very shameful to yield to force, and even more shameful and indecent, I think, to cover up one’s deeds and intentions with cunning. His other trick is identical in thought and intention to the first, but in terms of the scope of its action it is much worse and more wicked; because the evil spread to more people. And I will add this to what has been said: the day of distribution of the royal gifts has come, either annually, or then deliberately appointed by the king with evil intent. The army had to gather so that everyone would receive a reward according to their dignity and rank. Here a new phenomenon of baseness has opened, a new spectacle of wickedness! Inhumanity is embellished with some kind of love for humanity, unreason and greed, for the most part inseparable from warriors, are captured by money. Brilliantly triumphant over piety and proud of his tricks, the king presided in all his splendor; like some Melampus or Proteus, he was and showed himself to everyone, easily transforming into new species. What was happening around him, and how worthy of sobs it was for the right-thinking, not only present then, but also now hearing about such a spectacle! Gold was offered, and incense was also offered; There was a fire nearby, and the stewards were nearby. And what a plausible excuse! It seemed that this was the rule of the royal distribution of gifts, sanctified by antiquity and highly valued! What is this? It was necessary to put incense on the fire and receive from the king the price of one’s destruction, a small price for a great deed - for a whole soul, for wickedness against God. Disastrous purchase! Bitter retribution! An entire army was sold with one trick; the conquerors of the Universe fell from a small fire, from a piece of gold, from a little smoking, and most of them did not feel their defeat, which was the most sad thing. Each one approached with the hope of acquiring, but in acquiring, he lost himself; worshiped the hand of the king and did not think that he was worshiping his murderer. And it was no easier for those who understood this, because once carried away by evil, they considered their first unreasonable act an inviolable law for themselves. What thousands of Persians, archers and slingers, what warriors clad in iron and not vulnerable from anywhere, what battering guns would have succeeded in what was done with one hand at one time with vile intent. I will add one story that evokes more pity than the one described earlier. They say that some of those deceived out of ignorance, when, having been deceived, returned home to share a meal with their comrades, and when the time came, according to custom, to cool off with a drink, as if nothing bad had happened to them, having accepted the cooling cup, they began to lift up their eyes to grief and call on the name of Christ with the sign of the cross; then one of the comrades was surprised and said: “What is this? After renunciation, you call on Christ!” Half-dead, they asked: “When did we renounce? What kind of news is this? The comrade explained: “You put incense on the fire, and this means the same as renunciation.” Immediately leaving the feast, as if frantic and mad in their minds, burning with jealousy and anger, they run through the marketplace and shout: “We are Christians, we are Christians in our souls! Let every person hear this, and above all, let God, for whom we live and are ready to die, listen. We did not lie to You, Savior Christ! They did not renounce the blessed confession. If the hand made a mistake, the heart was not involved. We are deceived by the king, but not wounded by the gold. Having put away iniquity, we are ready to be washed in blood.” Then they run to the king, throw gold in front of him and exclaim with all courage: “We did not receive gifts from you, king, but were condemned to death. They were not called for honor, but sentenced to dishonor. Show mercy to your soldiers: hand us over to be slaughtered for Christ. We recognize him alone as king. Repay fire for fire and turn us into ashes for ashes; cut off the hands that we stretched out to evil, the feet with which we walked towards evil. Give the gold to others who will not repent of what they took: Christ alone is enough for us; He replaces everything for us." So they said and at the same time exhorted others to recognize deception, to sober up from intoxication and to justify themselves before Christ with blood. The king was indignant at them, but refrained from killing them openly, so as not to make martyrs of those who were already martyrs, as far as it was in their power; the king condemned them to exile and with such vengeance showed them the greatest benefit, because he removed them from his machinations and intrigues. Although these were his desires, and in many cases he used deceit, however, since he did not have firmness in his heart and followed the suggestions of the evil spirit rather than his own reason, he did not sustain his intention to the end and did not keep his anger secret. They tell about the fire of Etna, which, accumulating below and held by force, until time is hidden at the bottom of the mountain and first makes terrible sounds (either the sighs of a tormented giant or something else), and smoke also spews out from the top of the mountain - a harbinger of disaster; but when it accumulates and becomes uncontrollable, then, thrown out from the bowels of the mountain, it rushes upward, pours over the edges of the vent and in an incredibly terrible stream devastates the land below. The same can be seen in him. For the time being, he controlled himself, adhered to his malicious rule and harmed us with seduction; when the uncontrollable anger exceeded its limit, then he was unable to hide his malicious intent and rebelled with open persecution of our divine and pious host. I will remain silent about his decrees against the holy churches, which were publicly announced and secretly executed - about the plunder of church deposits and money, as much because of the desire for gain as because of wickedness, about the plunder of sacred vessels and their desecration with foul hands, about the clergy and their subordinates, who were dragged and tortured for them - about those covered in blood the pillars that they wrapped and girded with their hands during their scourging, about the archers who, surpassing in ferocity and jealousy the one who gave them the command, ran through villages and cities to conquer us, as if they were Persians, Scythians and other barbarians. I won't talk about all this; but who does not know about the inhumanity of the Alexandrians? They mocked us a lot before and now, taking advantage of the time without measure, as a people by nature rebellious and frantic towards their wicked deeds, as they say, they added that they filled our holy church with double blood, sacrificial blood and human blood, and this was done under the leadership of one of the royal philosophers 30, who through this only made a name for himself. Who does not know the riot of the inhabitants of Iliopolis and the extravagance of the inhabitants of Gaza, to whom he was surprised and saluted for the fact that they well understood how he showed his greatness? - and the fury of the inhabitants of Arethusa, who were previously unknown, but from that time became very famous? For it is not only beneficent deeds that give people a great name, but also evil deeds, when they do not find approval even from the vicious. They say about the inhabitants of Gaza (of their many atrocities, at least one must be told, which could horrify even the atheists) that they were immaculate virgins who led a peaceful life, and who were hardly ever touched by a man’s gaze, were taken out into the street and naked, so that they could first abuse them in this way, then they were cut up and crushed into pieces, and (how can I comprehend Your long-suffering, O Christ, at that time!) alone viciously they tormented with their own teeth, like worthy worshipers of demons, devoured raw liver and after such food they began to eat ordinary food; They sprinkled the other still trembling insides of the virgins with pork feed and released the most ferocious pigs, as if to open such a spectacle to see how flesh and barley would be devoured and tormented - this mixed food, hitherto unprecedented and unheard of. And the culprit of these deeds was worth feeding only his demons with such food; just as he nourished them well with his blood from a wound received near the heart; although pitiful people do not understand this, due to extreme wickedness they are incapable of even reasoning. Who is so far from the countries we inhabit that he does not know and warn the one who remembers with a story about the wonderful Mark and the inhabitants of Arethusa? Under the glorious Constantius, according to the power then given to Christians, he destroyed one demonic dwelling and turned many from pagan error to the path of salvation, with his no less luminous life, as well as the power of words. For this, the inhabitants of Arethusa, especially those who were committed to the veneration of demons, had long been indignant with him. And as soon as the affairs of Christians began to waver, and paganism began to rise, Mark did not escape the dominant force of the time. Although the people retain their indignation for a while, however, like fire hidden in a combustible substance, or like a stream held back by force, if the opportunity presents itself, it usually ignites and destroys barriers. Mark, seeing the movement of the people against him, who know no limits either in plans or in threats, first decides to flee, not so much out of cowardice, but following the commandment, which commands to run from city to city (Matthew 10:23) and evade persecutors; because Christians, with all their courage and readiness for patience, must not only keep in mind their own benefit, but also spare the persecutors, so as, as far as possible, not to increase in any way the danger in which their enemies are. When Mark learned that many were being dragged and persecuted for his sake, and that many were in danger because of the cruelty of the persecutors, he did not want to look indifferently at the misfortunes of others for his own salvation. Therefore, he makes another decision, the best and most wise: he returns and voluntarily exposes himself to the people - to do with him what they want, and firmly opposes difficult circumstances. What horrors didn't happen here? What cruelties have not been invented? Everyone added something of their own to complete the evil; they were not ashamed (not to mention anything else) of their husband’s wisdom; it irritated them even more; because the return of Mark was considered more contempt for himself than for his courage in enduring dangers. There was an old man in the middle of the city - a priest, a voluntary sufferer, and in his years, and even more so in his life, respectable to everyone except his persecutors and tormentors. It was conducted by people of all ages and conditions; there were everyone here without exception, men and wives, young men and old men, people who held city positions and were decorated with honors; everyone tried to outdo each other in impudence against the elder; everyone considered it a matter of piety to inflict as much harm on him as possible and defeat the elderly ascetic who was fighting the whole city. They dragged him through the streets, pushed him into unclean pits, dragged him by his hair; there was not a single part of the body left that was not violated, that was not tormented by the wicked, who worthily endured torment in the sacraments of Mithra 31; the children lifted up the body of the valiant sufferer on iron points and passed it one to another, turning this deplorable spectacle into fun; the old man's shins were squeezed to the bones in a vice, his ears were cut with thin and strong threads, and he himself was lifted into the air in a box. Doused with honey and broth in the middle of the day, wasps and bees stung him, while the sun scorched and baked his flesh with searing heat, preparing the hottest food for them from this blessed (I can’t say unhappy) body. At the same time, they say (and this is worth writing down), the old man, young for exploits (since even in the midst of severe suffering he did not cease to show a bright face and enjoyed the torments themselves), uttered a memorable and glorious saying: “This is a wonderful omen that I see myself on high, and them below, on earth.” So he rose much higher in spirit than those who held him! He was so far from grief that he seemed to be present at the suffering of another, and considered what was happening to him not as a disaster, but as a triumph. And who would not be touched by all this, who had even a little mercy and philanthropy? But this was prevented by circumstances and the fury of the king, who demanded inhumanity from the mob, and from the cities, and from the leaders, although for many who did not know the depth of his evil cunning, this appeared in a different form. This is the torment the courageous old man endured! And for what? Because he did not want to throw one gold coin to the torturers, which proved that he struggled for piety. For while the Arethusians, having put too high a price for the church they destroyed, demanded; So that he either pays all the money in full, or re-builds the church, until then one could still think that he resists them more out of impossibility of fulfilling what is required than out of sincere piety. But when, little by little, urging them with his firmness and each time reducing something from the price, he finally brought them to the point that they asked him for the smallest amount, which was very easy to pay, and after that, with equal intransigence, some tried to take at least something, and thereby prove their victory, and the other did not want to give anything, so as not to remain defeated, although many, not only because of the motivation of piety, but also out of respect for the invincible firmness of the elder, they zealously volunteered to pay more than was required: then it could clearly be seen that he was not sparing money, but was struggling for piety. What did such actions with Mark mean: condescension and meekness, or impudence and inhumanity - let those who are amazed at the philosopher king tell us; I think that no one will find it difficult to give a fair and true answer. It must also be added that Mark was one of those who secretly took away and thereby saved this wicked man, while his entire family was in danger of perishing, perhaps he endured all these torments with dignity, and even deserved great suffering for the one thing that, without knowing it, he preserved such evil for the entire Universe. They say that the then eparch 32 (a pagan by religion, but in morals elevated above the pagans and likened to the best men, glorious in ancient times and now), who could not look indifferently at the torment and patience of this man, boldly said to the king: are we not ashamed, king, that all Christians defeat us, so that we could not defeat even one old man who had endured all the torments? And to overcome him is not a great thing, but to be defeated by him is not an extreme disaster? So, what the lower commanders, out of duty, were ashamed of, the king was proud of! Can there be anything worse than this, not so much for those who suffered as for those who acted? Such are the affairs of the Arethusians! The inhumanity of Echetes and Phalaris 33 is of little importance in comparison with their cruelty, or better - with the cruelty of the one at whose prompting and order this was done; for from the seed comes offspring, and from the wind comes shipwreck. What and how intolerable are his other deeds? Who will give me the skill and language of Herodotus and Thucydides, so that I can convey to future times an image of all the evil of this man and, as it were, inscribe on a pillar for posterity the history of this time? I will keep silent about Orontes and about the dead, whom at night, hiding the atrocities of the king, this river, overflowing with corpses, secretly destroyed. These are the words of the poet 34, which can more decently be attributed to Orontes. I will not talk about those secret, remote parts of his palace, and about those ponds, wells and ditches that were filled with evil treasures, that is, not only the corpses of youths and virgins, dissected during the sacraments to summon souls, for fortune telling and lawless sacrifices, but also the bodies of those who suffered for piety. We will not, if you like, blame him for this, since he himself was ashamed of it and thereby showed at least some moderation. This is evident from the fact that he tried to hide these iniquities as an abomination that should not be discovered. And that he so persecuted and disgraced our Caesareans, these magnanimous and ardent zealots of piety, there may be no need to blame him for this: for he was driven to this vengeance by what seemed to him just, indignation at them for the church of the goddess of happiness, who suffered misfortune during a happy time 35. It is necessary to give in some way to untruth, when it has already taken such power over him! But who doesn't know the next event? When in one region the mob raged against Christians and, having killed many of them, threatened to do even more, the regional commander, wanting to keep a middle ground between the requirements of the laws and the spirit of the times (since he considered himself obligated to serve the spirit of the times and had some respect for the laws), punished many of the pagans. What happened? He was reported; suddenly, with great dishonor, they seized him and presented him to the king, and he was put on trial for punishing the pagans, although he referred to the laws by which he was entrusted to judge; was almost sentenced to death; finally, the king showed him his love for humanity, that is, he condemned him to exile. And at the same time, what an amazing and humane saying they heard! “What is this important matter,” said the just judge who does not persecute Christians (Julian – “ed.”), “if one pagan hand killed ten Galileans?” Isn't this sheer cruelty? Is this not a decree of persecution, more clear and terrible than those issued publicly? In fact, what difference does it make whether to declare persecution of Christians by decree, or to express one’s pleasure to their persecutors and to charge Christians with some justice as a serious crime? The will of the king is an unwritten law, protected by the power of authority and stronger than written decrees that are not supported by authority. No, say the admirers of his deeds, who are inventing a new god for us, meek and humane, he did not publicly order by decrees to persecute Christians and force them to endure whatever the persecutors pleased, and by this they think to prove that he was not a persecutor. But no one has yet called the hydra meek because, according to the fable, instead of one head it has nine, or the Patara chimera because it has three heads, unlike one another, which makes it seem even more terrible; or the infernal Cerberus - meek because he has three heads, similar to one another; or the sea monster Scylla because there are six disgusting heads around her, and although, as they say, the upper half of her showed something beautiful, gentle and not unpleasant to the eye (for Scylla was a maiden who had something akin to us); but below were the heads of dogs, beasts, which had nothing plausible, which destroyed many ships and were just as dangerous as the heads of the opposite Charybdis. And will you really blame the arrows of the archer and the stones of the slinger, and not the archer and the slinger himself? Or will you blame hunting dogs, the poisons of poison-makers, the horns of butting bulls, the claws of wild beasts, while you will leave those who act with them aside and consider them innocent of what they dare to do? Truly, this would be extreme madness, a deed worthy of a real sophist, defending his vices and hiding the truth with the power of his words. However, he cannot hide himself, even if he turned in all directions, even if by his cunning he took on all sorts of forms, and wearing, as they say, the helmet of Hades 36 or holding the ring of Gyges and turning it towards himself with a seal, he could become invisible. On the contrary, the more he tries to flee and hide, the more he finds himself before the court of truth and before the knowledgeable judges of such cases as guilty of such actions and deeds that he himself does not want to defend and call fair. So easily deceit is revealed! So it amazes itself from all sides. But do not think that what he had already done was so low and incompatible with the nobility and dignity of the king, and that what he planned to do was more humane, more worthy of a king. No! It would be good if the deeds he was preparing were not much more inhuman than those mentioned. As when a dragon moves, some folds of its scales have already risen, others are rising, others are ready for the same, and some, although still calm for the time being, cannot help but begin to move; or, if you like, another comparison, as when struck by lightning, some parts already burn, while others first turn black, until the fire, intensifying, engulfs them too; so it is with him - some atrocities have already been committed, while others were destined in his hopes and threats against us, and these destinies were so absurd and unusual that only it could have occurred to him to have such intentions and want to put them into action, although before him there were many persecutors and enemies of Christians. For what neither Diocletian, the first of the most cruel persecutors of Christianity, nor his successor Maximian, who surpassed him in cruelty, nor their worst persecutor Maximin, who followed them and suffered for this, suffered a terrible execution, a vile bodily ulcer 37, the signs of which are depicted, as on pillory posts, on his statues, which still stand today in public places, did not think about. he planned, as accomplices and witnesses of his secret deeds recount, but was restrained by God's love for mankind and the tears of Christians, which were shed abundantly by many as the only defense against the persecutor. His plans were to deprive Christians of all rights and to close for them all meetings, all squares, all public celebrations and even the courts themselves; for, in the opinion, all this should not be used by anyone who does not want to burn incense on the altars standing there and does not pay so dearly for rights so general. O laws, legislators and kings! Just as the Creator, with the same love for mankind, common and generous to all, allows everyone to enjoy the beauty of the sky, the light of the sun, and the freshness of the air, so you grant all free people the same and equal right to enjoy the protection of the laws. And he plotted to take away this right from Christians, so that they, enduring violent oppression and confiscation of property, and any other, important or unimportant, offense prohibited by law, could not receive legal satisfaction in court. Let them drive them out of their native land, let them kill them, let them, if possible, not let them die freely! All this, of course, confirmed those who suffered more in zeal and boldness before God, and those who acted - even more led to lawlessness and dishonor. And what apparently wise reason for this was given by this murderer and apostate, lawbreaker and legislator, or, more precisely, in the words of our Holy Books, this enemy and avenger (Ps. 8:3)? What is prescribed in our law: not to take revenge, not to go to court (Rom. 12:19; 1 Cor. 6:1), not to have any acquisitions at all, not to consider anything as property (Matt. 10:9; Acts 4:32), but to live in another world and despise the present as insignificant (Phil. 3:20; 2 Cor. 4:18), not to repay evil for evil (Rom. 12:17), When someone hits us on the cheek, do not spare it, but offer the other one to the one who struck you, and give away not only your outer clothing, but also your shirt. Perhaps he will add to this the fact that we are commanded to pray for those who offend us, and to wish every good for our persecutors (Matthew 5:39–40, 44). How can someone who was once a reader of the word of God not know exactly, was given the honor of serving the great altar and began to build churches in honor of the Martyrs? But this is what, firstly, I am surprised about him: how he studied the Holy Scripture so carefully, and did not read, or deliberately did not notice, that saying that evil will perish an evil death (Matthew 21:41), evil, that is, everyone who has rejected God, and, what is even worse, who persecutes those who firmly hold the confession of faith and aggravates them with such disasters as he himself is worthy of. If he can prove that as we ought to be perfect (which he prescribes by law) and unswervingly adhere to the rules given to us, it is destined for him, or, according to the will of his gods, recognized as the best - to be the most evil person, and that of the two opposite skills, which are virtue and vice, we are awarded the best part, and he and those like him are cast the worst lot; then let him admit this, and then victory will remain ours, as our enemies and persecutors themselves will testify. If they too appropriate to themselves a little honesty and meekness, at least in words, although not in deeds; If they, despite all the fact that they are too bad and satisfied with their evil gods, have not yet reached such shamelessness as to recognize vice as a lot that actually belonged to them, then let them say how this can be fair and where is it prescribed that, among all the sufferings, we should only endure, and they should not spare us, although we spared them? In fact, look at the past. There were times of both our power and yours, and it passed alternately into one or the other: what misfortunes did you suffer from Christians, similar to those that Christians so often suffer from you? Have we deprived you of any rights? Did they incite a violent mob against anyone? Have any leaders been armed against anyone who would have acted more strictly than what was prescribed to them? Has anyone's life been put in danger? Have they taken away from anyone the power and honors that belonged to excellent men? In a word, have you inflicted on anyone the kind of insults that you so often dared or threatened us with? Without a doubt, you yourself will not say it, you who blame us for our meekness and philanthropy. Moreover, you, the wisest and most intelligent of all, you who force Christians to adhere to the highest virtue, how do you not consider that in our law something else is prescribed as necessary, so that those who do not observe it are exposed to danger, while other requirements are not necessary, but are left to free will, so that those who observe them receive honor and reward, and those who do not observe them do not incur any danger? Of course, if everyone could be the best people and achieve the highest degree of virtue, that would be the most excellent and perfect thing. But since the Divine must be distinguished from the human, and for one there is no good that it does not participate in, and for the other it is great and even if it reaches average degrees, then why do you want to prescribe by law what is not common to everyone, and consider those who do not observe it worthy of condemnation? Just as not everyone who does not deserve punishment is worthy of praise; So not everyone who is not worthy of praise, therefore already deserves punishment. We must demand due perfection, but without going beyond the limits of our inherent wisdom and human strength. But I must again turn my word to the verbal sciences, I cannot help but return to them often, I must try to protect them as much as possible. The apostate has committed many grave injustices, for which he is worthy of hatred; but if in anything, then especially in this, it seems, he violated the laws. May all lovers of literature who engage in it as their own business, people of whom I will not refuse to belong, share with me my indignation. For I left everything else to others who wished it, I left wealth, nobility, glory, power - in a word, everything that circles on the earth and delights people no more than a dream. I only hold on to one thing - the art of words, and I do not blame myself for the labors on land and sea that brought me this wealth. Oh, that I and every friend of mine could wield the power of words! This is the first thing that I loved and love after the first, that is, the Divine, and those hopes that are above everything visible. If everyone is oppressed by his own burden, as Pindar said, then I cannot help but talk about my favorite subject, and I don’t know if anything could be fairer than to give thanks in words to the verbal sciences for the art of speech. So, tell us, most frivolous and insatiable of all, where did you get the idea to prohibit Christians from studying literature? This was not a simple threat, but already a law. Where did this come from and for what reason? What eloquent Hermes (as you might put it) put this into your thoughts? What evil Telkhins 38 and envious demons? If you wish, let’s say the reason for this: it was precisely after so many illegal and evil deeds that you finally had to come to this, and thereby clearly attack yourself, so that where you especially thought to act smartly, there, without noticing it, you disgraced yourself and proved your madness. If not, then explain what this definition of yours means and what reason prompted you to introduce this new regulation concerning the verbal sciences? And if you say something fair, we will not blame you, but will only feel sorry for ourselves. For we have learned both to win with the convictions of reason and to concede a legitimate victory over ourselves. Verbal sciences and Greek education (το ελληνίζειν), he says, are ours; since the honoring of the gods also belongs to us; and your lot is ignorance and rudeness; since all your wisdom consists in one thing: believe. But even among you, I think, the Pythagorean philosophers will not laugh at this, for whom “he said it himself” is the first and highest dogma, more respected than the most golden, or rather leaden verses 39 . For among the followers of Pythagoras, after the first, so much glorified by those initiated into the mysteries of his teaching, the philosophy of silence, aimed at ensuring that students through silence learned to measure all their words, it was accepted as a rule, no matter what subjects of teaching were asked, to give an answer, and then, when they demand proof, not to answer anything other than the following: so thought Pythagoras; and this word, he believed, served as evidence not subject to any verification or research. But this expression: “he said it himself,” doesn’t it express the same thing, albeit in different letters and words, as our “believe,” which you never cease to mock and swear at? For our saying means that it is not permissible not to believe the words of God-bearing men, and the same thing that they are worthy of belief serves as such proof of what they said, which is stronger than any logical argument or refutation. But let's assume for a moment that this answer is irrefutable. How can you prove that verbal science belongs to you? And if they are yours, then why can’t we participate in them, as required by your laws and your nonsense? What kind of Greek education is this, to which the verbal sciences belong, and how can this word be used and understood? I am ready, together with you, a lover of mutual expressions, to analyze its strength and meaning, knowing that often the same word means different concepts, and sometimes different words mean the same thing, and finally, different names mean different objects. You can say that Greek learning refers either to the pagan belief, or to the people and to the first inventors of the power of the Greek language. If this refers to pagan beliefs, then indicate where and for which priests Greek education is prescribed, just as it is prescribed what to sacrifice to which demons? For not everyone is commanded to offer the same thing, and not all - one, equally - and not in the only way, as your hierophants and founders of sacrifices were pleased to determine. For example, among the Lydians it is considered a pious deed to curse Wufin 40 and, by cursing him, thereby render honor to the deity; among the inhabitants of Tauris - to kill strangers, among the Lacedaemonians - to scourge themselves before the altar; among the Phrygians - to castrate oneself to the sweet sounds of pipes and after a tiring dance; for others - to commit sodomy; for others, to commit fornication; and you never know there are other indecencies committed during your sacraments, which I do not consider necessary to talk about separately! But to which of the gods or demons is Greek education dedicated? Yes, even if this were so: however, from this it is not clear that it should belong only to the pagans or that the common property is the exclusive property of any of your gods or demons; likewise, many other things do not cease to be common because you have decided to sacrifice them to the gods. If you do not say this, but call the Greek language your property and therefore deprive us of it as a paternal inheritance that does not belong to us in the least, then, firstly, I do not see what reason there can be for this, or how you can connect this with the veneration of demons. For from the fact that the same people have both a language and a belief that is Greek, it does not follow that the language belongs to the belief and that therefore it would be fair to deprive us of the use of this language. Your logic teachers will also find this conclusion incorrect. For, if two predicates correspond to the same subject, then it does not follow from this that they themselves are one and the same. Otherwise, if we assume that the same person is both a goldsmith and a painter, then the art of painting will have to be considered one with the art of a jeweler, and vice versa, the art of a jeweler will be recognized as one with the art of a painter, which is completely absurd. Then I will ask you, lover of Greek education and literature: will you completely forbid us to speak Greek, even in ordinary, common, commonly used words, or will you not allow us only to use selective and pompous words, which are accessible to only the well-educated? If these are the latter, then what a strange section this is! As if the words: σμεράλεον, κοαβίζειν, μων, δήπεθεν, αττα, αμωσγέπως 41 belong to one adverb, and the others should be thrown into cinemasarg, how did they throw illegitimate children there before 42? If simple, inelegant expressions equally belong to the Greek language, why don’t you deprive us of them, and in general of every Greek word, whatever it may be? This would be the most humane thing possible and quite worthy of your ignorance. But I want to reveal to you a higher and more perfect speculation regarding this subject. It’s not my business to argue whether there are any special words of the gods (I’m not talking about the words μωλυ, ξάνθον, χαλκις 43; I laugh at them), words that are more excellent and more significant than ours and yet are formed through the organs of voice, and through the air reach the ear, whereas it would be more akin for the gods to talk to each other only through thoughts and images. And our reasoning is this: both language and every art or useful institution, whatever you imagine, belong not to the inventors alone, but to everyone who uses them; and how in a skilful musical harmony one string makes one sound, another another, high or low, but all obeys one skilful leader of the choir and makes one beautiful harmony; so here too - the highest Artist and Creator - the Word, although he chose various inventors of various useful institutions and arts, he offered everything to everyone who wanted, in order to unite us with bonds of mutual communication and love for mankind and decorate our lives with meekness. How do you say that Greek education is yours? Didn't the writing belong to the Phoenicians, or, as others think, to the Egyptians, or even to the Jews, who surpass them in wisdom and who believe that God himself inscribed the law on the tablets written by God? Is Attic eloquence yours? And the game of checkers, the science of numbers, the art of counting on fingers, measures, scales, the art of building shelves and fighting - whose is this? Isn't it Euboean? Because Palamis was born in Euboea, who invented many things and, thereby arousing envy, suffered punishment for his wisdom, that is, he was sentenced to death by those who fought against Ilion. So what? If the Egyptians and Phoenicians, if the Jews, from whom we borrow a lot for our education, if, finally, the inhabitants of the island of Euboea, in your opinion, appropriate all this as property, what should we do then? How will we defend ourselves against them, having fallen under our own laws 44? Will we not be deprived of all this, and, like a crow in other people’s feathers, will they be torn off from us, and we will remain naked and ugly? Or are your poems your property? But what if the right to them is challenged by that old woman who, when a young man quickly running towards her pushed her on the shoulder, began to scold him and in the heat of anger, as they say, expressed her scolding in a verse that that young man really liked and was brought to the correct size by him, serving as the beginning of a poem that you respect so much? What can I say about the rest? If you are proud of your weapons, then from whom, bravest warrior, do you have your weapons? Is it not from the Cyclopes, from whom the art of forging originated? If it seems to you important, and even more important than all, the scarlet, which made you both a sage and the establisher of such laws, then should you not give it to the Tyrians, whose shepherd dog, having eaten a snail and staining his lips with its crimson juice, showed the purple dye to the shepherd and handed over to you, the kings, through the Tyrians this magnificent rags, deplorable for the wicked? What more can be said about agriculture and shipbuilding, which the Athenians can deprive us of, talking about Demeter 45, Triptolemus, dragons, Kelei and Icarii and telling you many fables about this, on which your shameless mysteries, truly worthy of the darkness of the night, are based? Do you want me, leaving everything else, to turn to the main subject of your madness, or, better yet, evil? The very thing to be dedicated and initiated into the sacraments and to serve the gods, where did it come to you from? Is it not from the Thracians? The very word θρησκεύειν (serve the gods) can convince you of this. And the sacrifices - were they not from the Chaldeans or from the Cypriots? Doesn't astronomy belong to the Babylonians? Isn't it geometry for the Egyptians? Isn't it magic for the Persians? Fortune telling by dreams - from whom if not from the Telmisians 46? Bird divination from whom, if not from the Phrygians, who, before others, began to notice the flight and movements of birds? But not to be too verbose, where did you get all the private accessories of worship? Isn’t each one from one particular people? And from the combination of all of them together, one sacrament of superstition was formed! So what? After everything goes to the first inventors, shouldn’t it be possible to admit that you will have nothing of your own left except your malice and your apostasy, which is truly new? Indeed, you are the first Christian who decided to rebel against the Lord, just as the Scythians once had slaves against their masters. It is true that it would be very important for you if, according to your definitions and laws, this evil crowd 47 was destroyed so that you could be freed from worries and again see the Roman Empire in ancient prosperity, free from all internal strife, which is much more unbearable and more terrible than war with external enemies, just as it is more terrible to torment your own flesh than someone else’s. But if in these actions of his you see cunning villainy, covered with a guise of meekness and in no way consistent with the royal greatness: then I will present to you experiences of even greater deceit. He saw that our teaching is majestic both in its dogmas and in the evidence given from above; that it is both ancient and new, - ancient according to the prophecies and the thoughts of the Divine shining through in it, new - according to the last Epiphany and the miracles that occurred as a result of it and with it; I saw that this teaching was even more majestic and glorious according to the rules of church improvement handed down and still preserved. So, so that this too does not escape his evil deeds, what is he planning, what is he doing? He imitates Rabshakeh the Assyrian, the military leader of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. Rabshakeh, having transferred the war to the borders of Judea, besieged Jerusalem with great force and a large army and located his camp near the city itself, but when he could neither take the city by force nor wait for defectors who would tell him something about what was happening in the city, he decided to persuade the inhabitants to submit with meek persuasion, offering them in their language. However, the besieged, as is known from history, noticing his intention and fearing that the pleasantness of his speeches would not be caught in the net of slavery, first of all demanded that he speak to them not in Hebrew, but in Assyrian. He planned the same thing. For he was preparing in all cities to establish schools, departments, higher and lower places for sitting, reading and interpretation of pagan teachings related to the formation of morals and the sacraments, also models of prayers alternately pronounced by one or the other, penance for sinners, in accordance with the crime, the order of preparations for initiation, and initiation itself - in a word, everything that obviously belongs to our deanery; In addition to this, he thought to build hotels and shelters, refuges for lovers of chastity, for virgins, and monasteries for those who devoted themselves to meditation; He also wanted to imitate our philanthropy towards those in need, in order to provide them with all kinds of benefits and admonish them with letters of approval, with which we send the poor from one nation to another, which he was especially surprised at in our institutions. This is what this new dogma leader and sophist was up to. But the fact that his enterprise was not completed and put into operation, I don’t know whether to consider this a benefit for us, who were soon freed from him and his plans, or a more benefit for himself, because he had to stop at only dreams. Otherwise, it would be revealed how far from the movements of humans the imitation of monkeys is. They say that monkeys also imitate the movements that a person makes before their eyes in order to deceive them; but this is how they are caught, since their imitation cannot reach our intelligence. According to the testimony of the oracle, the Thessalian horse, the Lacedaemonian woman and the men drinking the water of the Arethuses, that is, the Sicilians, are superior to all those similar to them, but it is much more just that Christian customs and laws are peculiar to Christians alone, so that it is impossible for anyone else who would like to imitate us to adopt them, and this is because they were established not by human considerations, but by the power of God and long-term constancy. Now the best thing to do is to examine, as it were, this marvelous, or better yet, absurd construction, and find out what kind of teaching they might have had and what the purpose of their meetings was, so that, as Plato says about his city built on words, we can see their thoughts in motion. All wisdom is divided into two parts, speculative and active, of which the first is higher, but more difficult to understand, and the other is lower, but more useful. For us, they both contribute to each other. Speculation serves us as a companion to the heavenly, and activity as an ascent to speculation, for it is impossible to achieve wisdom without living wisely. And among them, who do not draw their binding power from Divine inspiration, both of these parts are like roots that are not established in the soil and are carried along the water; and I don’t know which of them is funnier and weaker. Let us look at their bliss and allow ourselves, as happens in many spectacular performances, to have a little fun with the amused tellers of fables and to what has been said: “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15) add this: “talk about empty things with idle talkers.” With tears there is also laughter, as poets have noted 48 . So, let’s imagine a magnificent sight, or, I don’t know, what else they order to call their house. Let the heralds call the listeners, let the people gather, let the first places be taken either by those who are distinguished by gray old age and an excellent lifestyle, or by people famous by family, by fame and by the intricate wisdom of the earth, in which there is more charm than true piety. We will give them this advantage; what will they do after this? Let them write down their own chairmen. Let them be decorated with purple clothes, ribbons and beautiful multi-colored wreaths. Since I have often noticed that they carefully care about a stately appearance, about how to become higher than the common people; as if everything common and ordinary is worthy of contempt, and what shows arrogance and cannot belong to many should inspire confidence. Or will they condescend to us in this and, like us, will think that it is more fitting for them to be superior to others in morals, and not in appearance? Since we care little about appearance and picturesque appearance, but more about the inner world of a person and about drawing the viewer’s attention to what is contemplated by the mind, this is what we teach the people more. So let it be as it is said. What next? Of course, you will present to them the interpreters of the omens, which you call divine, and you will open theological and moral books. Which ones and whose, please tell me! It’s good for them to sing “Hesiod’s Theogony” and talk about the battles and conspiracies described there, about titans and giants, terrible in name and in deeds. Cottus, Briareus, Gyges, Enceladus, represented by you with dragon legs, lightning gods and islands thrown at the giants, arrows and together the coffins of the rebels; disgusting fiends and premature offspring of giants, hydras, chimeras, Cerberus, Gorgons - in a word, a multitude of all kinds of evil - these are the beauties that can be offered to listeners from Hesiod! Now let Orpheus appear with his zither and all-enthralling song; let those great and wonderful words and thoughts in which his theology is expressed sound in honor of Zeus. “Oh, Zeus, the most glorious, the greatest of the gods, hiding under the dung of sheep, horses and mules!” It’s true that he wanted to depict the life-giving and life-giving power of God; and could it be expressed differently? But he is not stingy with other equally lofty speeches. For example: “Having said this, the goddess δοιες ανεσύρατο μυρες” to introduce her favorites into her obscene secrets, which is still depicted today by external body movements. Let Phanes, Erikapeus, and the one who devoured all the other gods, and then cast them out of himself and thus became the father of people and gods, join all this. Let all this be offered to the wonderful listeners of theology, then let them come up with allegories and monstrous interpretations for it, and the teaching, moving away from its subject, will rush into the abyss or rapids of speculation, which has no support. But where do you place Homer, that great tragicomic singer of the gods? In his amazing poems you will find both, that is, both grief and laughter. In fact, is it possible, without great concern, to watch and expect whether, through the mediation of Hera, dressed like a harlot, Oceanus will make peace with Tethys? Otherwise, it will be a disaster for the entire Universe if they spend any more time chastely! I don’t know if you will explain this in such a way that dryness and moisture must be reconciled, so that an excess of one of them does not lead everything into disorder; or you'll come up with something even more ridiculous. Then, what a wonderful copulation between the cloud gatherer and the venerable Hera, when she convinces him with shamelessness in the middle of the day! And the poets in their measured speeches flatter him, spreading dewy lotus and returning saffron and hyacinth from the ground. What is this based on and how can it be explained? How can we understand that one and the same Hera, the sister and wife of the great Zeus, white-bodied and rose-fingered, appears to be hanging in the ether and in the clouds with iron anvils dragging her down, and with golden (of course, out of respect for her) shackles on her hands, so that even for the gods who wanted to intercede for her, their compassion was not safe; then he puts on a belt of love and, having dressed himself magnificently, captivates Zeus so much that all his previous lusts, as he himself admits, were much weaker than the love that was then aroused in him? Or, how terrible is it that because of the Lacedaemonian harlot the gods begin to move, the sky thunders, and because of this the foundations of the earth will be torn apart, the sea will move from its place, the kingdom of hell will open, and that which has remained hidden for so long will appear? Or how menacing is this wave of black eyebrows and the vibration of immortal hair, from which the whole Olympus shook? Then, isn’t it wonderful to see how Ares is wounded, or how this ugly lover of the golden Aphrodite, an imprudent adulterer, is imprisoned in a copper prison and bound by the lame Hephaestus, gathers the gods around him to see his lewdness, and then is released for a little money? All these and many other myths, so cleverly and so variously composed and out of the ordinary, can anyone, no matter how exalted and great he may be among you and even equal to Zeus himself in wisdom, bring into the framework of decency, no matter what conclusions he comes up with, the most transcendental and exceeding the measure of our understanding? And if all this is true, then let them look at it without blushing, let them be proud of it, or let them prove that all this is not shameful. Why do they resort to myths, this cover of shame? The myth is about protecting those who retreat, not those who boldly advance. If this is a lie, then, firstly, let them point out the theologians who are not hiding, and we will talk to them; Then let them say, isn’t it stupid, as something solid, to boast of something that they themselves are ashamed of, as fabulous? Isn’t it strange to display in images and different forms something that could remain unknown to the people (because not everyone learns); and what’s worse, to waste money donated to churches, altars, idols, offerings, and expensive sacrifices with such a waste, and instead of doing works of piety without any waste, serve wickedness with such losses? And if they say that these are empty inventions of poets who, in these two ways, measured speech and fables, wanted to make their creations pleasant and thereby delight the ear, and that, however, there is a hidden, deep meaning, understandable only to a few of the wise; then look how simply and at the same time how fairly I will discuss this. Firstly, why do they praise these insulters of their revered gods and almost reward them with divine honors? For such people, it would be a great gain not to suffer punishment for their wickedness. For if the laws determine the death penalty even for those people who, not even publicly, would even slightly blaspheme one of their gods, then what kind of punishment should be suffered by those who disgraced all the gods in their poems, publicly attributing to them the most shameless deeds, and subjected them to ridicule for a long time? Then the following is worthy of consideration: we also have some frank words; I will not refuse this; but what is their double meaning, and what is its force? In them, the visible does not offend decency, and the hidden is worthy of surprise and is very clear to those introduced into the depths and, like a beautiful and inviolable body, no thin one is clothed with clothing. And it is truly necessary, as it seems to me, that both the external signs of the Divine and the expressions about it should not be indecent and unworthy of what is signified, and should not be such that people would be upset when they hear something like that about themselves; on the contrary, they must be either extremely beautiful, or at least not vile, so that they can both please the wise and not cause harm to the people. But with you, what needs to be understood with the mind is incredible, and what is presented to the eye is harmful. What kind of prudence is this - to lead through the mud to the city or over rocks and pitfalls to the pier? What will come of it? What will be the consequences of such a teaching? You will talk idle talk and use allegory to cover up your disasters or other inventions, but no one will believe you. Rather, they are convinced by what they see. So, you will not bring any benefit to the listener, and you will lead the viewer, who stops at the visible, into destruction. Such is the speculative part of their wisdom! It is so far from their intended goals that it is more likely that everything else can be connected with each other, it is rather possible to unite what is separated by the largest space, than to combine and harmonize their inventions, or to think that both the meaning of the fables and their shell were the work of one and the same teacher. What can we say about the moral part of their philosophy? Where and with what should they begin, and what motives should they use in order to teach virtue to their listeners and, through their exhortations, make them better? A wonderful thing is unanimity, so that cities, nations, families, and all people live in mutual harmony, following the law and order of nature, which divided and united everything and made this totality of various things a single world. But by what examples will they teach like-mindedness? Is it really that they will tell about the battles of the gods, about their civil strife, rebellions and the many troubles that they themselves suffer, and inflict on each other, and each separately, and all together, and with which almost all of their history and all poetry is filled? But by pointing to such examples, you are more likely to turn people from peaceful into abusive, from wise into frantic, than from daring and stupid into peaceful and sane. If even then, since there is no bait to evil, it is difficult to turn people away from vice and transfer them from a bad state to a good one, then who will convince them to be meek and self-controlled, when their gods are guides and patrons of passions, and to be vicious is even a praiseworthy thing, rewarded with altars and sacrifices and enjoying legal freedom (since every vice is under the protection of some god to whom it attributed)? Truly, this is the greatest absurdity when people honor the very thing for which punishment is prescribed in the laws as something divine. You have such an abundance of lies. Secondly, let the teachers of the pagans invite them to reverently respect their parents and honor in them the first guilt of their existence after the Initial Guilt. Let them provide evidence for this and present beliefs from theology. How could Cronus, who emasculated Uranus not be able to give birth to gods, be convinced by this, and would give the waves the opportunity to complete the birth of the goddess from foam? How can Zeus not convince - this sweet stone 49 and the bitter killer of the tyrant, who, imitating his father Cronus, rebelled against him? I am not pointing out other similar incentives to honor parents contained in their books. Thirdly, let the teachers of the pagans try to teach them to despise money, not to try to make a profit out of everything and to be averse to unrighteous acquisitions - this guarantee of disasters. But how then to put Kerdoy 50 in front of them? How to show the bag? How to honor this god's agility in stealing? Where then are the sayings: “Phoebus cannot prophesy without copper” or: “there is nothing more honorable than an obol?” And they have all this in great respect. What else? Wouldn't they want to teach chastity, call for abstinence? Convincing examples are not far away: here is Zeus himself, who took all kinds of forms to seduce women, turned into an eagle out of frantic love for the Phrygian youths, so that the gods could feast as cheerfully as possible, watching how the dishonest favorites of Zeus brought them wine; Here is also Triesper Hercules, who during one night in the house of Thestius accomplished his thirteenth labor, which, I don’t know why, is not included among his other labors. Do we still need examples of curbing passions? Let anger be tamed by Ares, drunkenness by Dionysus, hatred of strangers by Artemis, passion for deceit by their crafty soothsayer (Apollo), immoderate laughter by that god limping in the assembly of gods who pity him, who can barely stand on his thin shins, gluttony by Zeus, running with other demons to a fat feast to the immaculate Ethiopians, and also Vuin, so named because he offended the farmer and ate his ox pulling the plow, just like the other gods, who all run so quickly to the smell of fat and libations! Is this close to our teaching, according to which everyone should measure love for others by love for themselves and wish for their neighbors the same thing that they wish for themselves, according to which they are guilty not only of doing evil, but also of plotting, and the wish is punished, as well as the deed itself, according to which one must take such care of chastity as to restrain one’s eyes, and not only prevent hands from killing, but also to pacify anger itself, according to which - to violate an oath or to swear falsely - so terrible and unbearable that the oath itself is forbidden to us alone? Many of us had no money at all, while others, although they had a lot of it, only to neglect much, loving non-covetousness instead of all wealth. Serving the belly, this unbearable and worthy master of disgust and the source of all evils, is left to us by the mob; It won’t be much if I say that Christian ascetics try to be as if incorporeal, exhausting the mortal with the immortal; for them there is only one law of virtue - not to be defeated even by the smallest, even by what everyone ignores. While others punish according to their laws for committing a deed, we cut off the very origins of sin, stopping it in advance, like some kind of evil and unstoppable stream. What could be better? Or, tell me where and from which people you will find, so that when they are slandered about them, they bless, when they blaspheme, they are comforted (for it is not the accusation that causes harm, but the truth), when they are persecuted, they yield (1 Cor. 4:12-13), when they are taken away from one garment, they give another, when they curse, they pray for those who curse (Matthew 5:40-44), - in a word, to overcome insolence with mercy and, patiently enduring insults, to make those who offend them better? Let them also curb vice with exhortations that seem plausible in appearance; Let us concede this to them, but where can they achieve our virtue and our teaching, when among us even this is already considered evil, if we do not succeed in good, if we do not constantly become new from the old, but remain in one position, like head over heels, which only spin around and do not roll forward, and although they move from the blows of the whip, they are all in one place? We have so many good deeds ahead of us that we must complete one, begin another, ardently desire a third, until we reach the end and God’s grace, for this we received being, and we strive for this religiously, if only we raise our minds to grief and hope for blessings worthy of the greatness of God. According to the explanation of Elijah of Crete, the Holy Theologian here refers to the Nazianzi monks, who were tempted by the fact that his parent, out of simplicity of heart, subscribed to the Arian confession, and as a result of this they separated from communion with the Nazianzi Church and installed presbyters who were ordained by an outside bishop. In the name of St. Martyr Mamant. The Holy Theologian is referring to the killing of Caesar Gall by order of the Emperor for his indignation against the Emperor. Porus is an Indian king. In 326 BC Alexander the Great defeated him at Hydaspes. After the pardon, he became a loyal vassal of Alexander. – A.L. By crossroads and caves, the St. Theologian means places where Julian and his mentors made sacrifices to demons and performed various fortune-telling. Κατα τε Μαρτυρος έδε μαρτυριας ; the word Μάρτυρ has the meaning of witness and martyr. St. Gregory uses this word in the first sense about I. Christ, as in the revelation of John (Rev. 1:5, 3:14); in the latter - about the witnesses of the truth of Christ - the Apostles and Martyrs. Anaxarchus called his body fur when they pounded it in a mortar. This is how Anaxagoras called his work, which collected difficult questions. Those. earthly with heavenly in man. Mithra was worshiped by the Persians, Chaldeans and, subsequently, the Greeks and Romans; During the sacraments performed in the cave of Mithras, his admirers were subjected to twelve cruel tests: they languished with hunger, suffered scourging, passed through fire, and so on. Among Mithra's admirers was Julian. Viceroy of the Praetor. Sozomen calls him Sallust. The names of two torturers, one of whom was in Epirus, the other in Agrigentum. St. Gregory carries out here the words of Homer about Scamander, overflowing with the corpses of those killed by Achilles. Iliad.XXI,220. Julian in Antioch secretly killed many Christians at night, and the waves of Orontes hid the witnesses of truth and the denouncers of wickedness. During the reign of Julian, one of the Christians living in Caesarea burned a church dedicated to Fortuna, for which the king sent many inhabitants of Caesarea into captivity. Covered with the helmet of Hades (or Pluto), as Homer says (Iliad.V,845), he was invisible to others, being before their eyes. Others (namely Plato in Book II of the Republic) tell the same thing about the ring of Gyges, king of Lydia. Maximin died from fetid wounds that affected the lower part of his womb. Telchins - ancient priests, sorcerers and sculptors of idols on the island of Rhodes. The golden verses are the rules of life prescribed to Pythagoras. The priest who offers ox meat to those gathered for the festival of Ceres. Others use the name Wufin to mean Hercules. These words are taken from Homer, and the first of them means terrible; the second is to ring, sound; μων – whether, or; δήπεθεν - so, αττα - some, αμωσγέπως - partly, several. Kinosarges is a pagan temple in Athens, built on the site where illegitimate babies were previously thrown. Homer said that the gods have their own language, and that the river, known to people under the name Scamander, in the language of the gods is called “Xanthos”, the Kaminda bird is called “Chalcis”, the healing plant with black roots and white flowers is called “moth”. Iliad.XX,74; XIV,291; Odyssey.XIV,305. This refers to the Julian Law, which prohibited Christians from studying verbal sciences. According to the stories of mythology, Demeter (Ceres) taught Triptolemus and Keleus agriculture and gave them a chariot, which was carried across the fields by winged dragons. Telmis is an ancient city in Lycia. This is how Julian spoke about Christians. An allusion to Homer's expression about Andromache (Iliad.VI,484). A mockery of the absurd fiction of mythologists who say that Saturn wanted to eat Zeus, but swallowed a stone instead. Kerdoem, i.e. the pagans called Mercury the one who knows how to make money. To show his agility, they depicted him with a bag at his belt and called him Sakellion - the bag-wearer. They attributed to him the art of stealing. The saying: “Phoebus does not prophesy without copper (or without copper money)” belongs to the Delphic oracle. You might be interested in: