Letter 1095: A ruler's authority comes from God and must be exercised in justice.

To the same person [Adamantios]. On the same subject. Why are you astonished that, after the Savior's coming in the flesh, many heresies were brought to birth? The devil, having heard clearly and in express terms that all things will be brought under judgment [cf. Eccl. 12:14] and that he who sowed these heresies will pay the penalty, sowed them precisely so that he might have many who would be punished together with him; and indeed, even before the Savior's coming, the heresies were not few. For among human beings, some supposed that the divine did not even exist; others, that it exists but exercises no providence; and some, that it exercises providence, but only over heavenly things; while others held that it provides not only for the heavenly things but also for the earthly, yet not for all of them, but only for the most eminent, such as kings and rulers. And some declared that all things are borne along by spontaneous chance, others by fate, others at random. And some thought it an act of piety to worship idols; others, to marry their own mothers; and some practiced human sacrifice, others animal sacrifice; some the sacrifice of oxen, others the slaughter of camels; and some practiced cannibalism, others the eating of grass. But if I were to bring everything into the open, perhaps we would be disbelieved, yet we would not be refuted. If, then, the human race was always at variance with itself and did not hold the same opinions (for at various times men eager for innovation, or even given to faction, overturned what was established and laid down as law whatever seemed good to them), why are you astonished if now too, regarding a matter that is divine and beyond reason, they make a pretense of dissenting, driven into a frenzy by love of rule? [There follows in the manuscript a Latin rendering of the closing sentences:] There were contentions and dissensions among human beings, nor was the judgment the same for all (for, according to the variety of the times, men desirous of new things and new customs, or even seditious, overturned what was present, and brought in new laws after their own disposition); why are you astonished if now too, concerning a divine matter and one higher than human reason, men strive after contentions and dissent in their minds, driven by ambition as though by a bacchic frenzy?

Εἰς τὸ αὐτό. Τί θαυμάζεις, εἰ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἔνσαρκον παρουσίαν πολλαὶ αἱρέσεις ἐτέχθησαν, τοῦ διαβόλου, ἄτε δὴ σαφῶς καὶ διαῤῥήδην ἀκούσαντος, ὅτι πάντα κρίσει καθυποληθήσεται (72), καὶ δίκην δώσει, τοῦ ταύτας κατασπείραντος (73), ἵν' ἔχῃ πολλοὺς τοὺς συγκολασθησομένους, ὁπότε καὶ πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ὀλίγαι ἦσαν αἱρέσεις; Τῶν γὰρ ἀνθρώπων οἱ μὲν μηδὲ εἶναι τὸ θεῖον (74) ἐνόμιζον· οἱ δὲ εἶναι μέν, μὴ προνοεῖν δέ· καὶ οἱ μὲν προνοεῖν μέν, τῶν οὐρανίων μόνον· οἱ δ' οὐ μόνον τῶν οὐρανίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐπιγείων, οὐ πάντων δέ, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐξόχων, οἷον βασιλέων καὶ ἀρχόντων. Καὶ οἱ μὲν αὐτοματισμὸν, οἱ δ' εἱμαρμένην, οἱ δ' εἰκῇ φέρεσθαι τὰ πάντα ἀπεφήναντο. Καὶ οἱ μὲν τὰ εἴδωλα προσκυνεῖν εὐσεβὲς ἐνόμιζον· οἱ δὲ τῇ μητρογαμεῖν· καὶ οἱ μὲν τὸ ἀνθρωποθυτεῖν, οἱ δὲ τὸ ζωοθυτεῖν· οἱ μὲν τὸ βουθυτεῖν, οἱ δὲ καμηλοσφαγεῖν· καὶ οἱ μὲν τὸ ἀλληλοφαγεῖν, οἱ δὲ ποηφαγεῖν (75). Ἀλλ' εἰ πάντα εἰς μέσον ἀγάγοιμι, ἴσως ἂν ἀπιστηθησόμεθαι μέν, οὐκ ἐλεγχθησόμεθα δέ. Εἰ τοίνυν ἀεὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸ ἐστασίαζε τὸ γένος (76), καὶ οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐδόξαζε (κατὰ καιροὺς γὰρ ἄνθρωποι νεωτεροποιοὶ (77) ἢ καὶ στασιάζοντες, τὰ καθεστῶτα μὲν ἐκίνουν, ἐνωμοθέτουν δὲ τὰ δοκοῦντα)· τί θαυμάζεις, εἰ καὶ νῦν περὶ πρᾶγμα θεῖον καὶ λόγου κρεῖττον διαφωνεῖν προποιοῦνται ὑπὸ φιλαρχίας ἐκβακχευόμενοι; per inter homines fuerunt contentiones atque dissidia, nec eadem omnibus fuit sententia (nam pro temporum varietate homines novarum rerum et novorum morum cupidi, aut etiam seditiosi, præsentia quidem convellerunt, novas autem pro suo ingenio leges tulerunt), quid miraris, si nunc quoque circa negotium (religionis Christianæ) divinum et ratione humana superius contentiones affectant, et dissident animis homines ab ambitione tanquam furore bacchico agitati?