Letter 1098: True humility is not the absence of accomplishment but the refusal to boast about it.
This is why we are easy to overcome, O excellent friend, and easy to capture: because we arm ourselves against one another, waging war on our own side rather than against the common enemy. What I have said many times, I shall say again now: God does not look so much to his own dignity as to our salvation. Nor does he seek what would make us marvel at his power, but rather what is able to draw us to himself. Therefore the lofty and great things in his words are few and hidden, while the humble and plain things flow abundantly throughout his discourses. For if he had spoken in a manner befitting his own majesty, who could have understood? Who could have received it? But since he wished to save, not to dazzle, he accommodated his speech to human weakness, using ordinary and accessible expressions so that even the most unlettered might grasp the saving doctrine. This is the mark of a physician who prescribes not according to his own learning but according to the patient's capacity, and of a teacher who speaks not to display eloquence but to benefit the hearers.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
δλης οἱ» οδυβάᾶπη, Ορίΐη] νἱγυη), σαρίυ [Δς - ., οἱ βυμλσίυ, ητοἀ ἰῃ πὸὺ5 ἰΠΥΘΘΙ ΔΓΙΒΘΙΙΌΣ, Δ [(οΥ. σ, . δ λοῖ. ΧΥΙ, . ο΄. --- ΟΥ̓ΡΣΕΝΟΥΦΙΩ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΤΗ. Διὰ τοῦτο εὐχείρωτοί ἔσμεν, ὦ βέλτιστε, χαὶ εὐάλωτοι, ὅτι χατ᾿ ἀλλήλων ὁὀπλιζόμεθα (), στρα- ΥΛΕΙΖ ΓΕΟΤΙΟΝΕΒ ΕΤ ΝΟΤΑ. οχ 4υ0 δε 25ογῖῦο ἀ6 ΒΕΓΠΟΠ6 ΡΕημΪ. Ὃ πολλάχις εἶπον, τοῦτο χαὶ νῦν ἐρῶ " ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς οὐχ οὕτω πρὸς τὴν ἀξίαν ὁρᾷ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, ὡς πρὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν ἡμετέραν" οὐδ᾽ ὅπως τι ὅπως δυνάμενον ἡμᾶς ἐπισπάσασθαι " διὰ τοῦτο τὰ μὲν ὑψηλὰ χαὶ μεγάλα ὀλίγα αὑτὰ καὶ ἐγχεχρυμμένα" τὰ δὲ ταπεινὰ χαὶ εὐτελῇ χαὶ πολλὰ περιῤῥεῖ ποἷς αὐτοῦ λόγοις, εἰς. ϑαᾳυθηυν ηἶ τὴ ἰθ᾽ δεν ρίυγα. ϑἷς ΔΙιος Βαβι! , υο Μάφηυνν νούϑηι Ποη βάε: Οὐ γὰρ ἣ πρὸς; τὸ σὸν ἀσθενὲς; συγχατάδασις, ἑλάττωσις ὀφείλει γίνεσθαι τῆς ἀξίας τοῦ δυνατοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν φύσιν νόει θεοπρεπῶς, τὰ δὲ ταπεινό- τερὰ τῶν ῥημάτων δέχον οἰχονομιχῶς. Νες ἀδ ᾿πτν, δε. οὐἴλ ιν ( ποπ . δηςι ΡᾳιΓ65 συγ- χατάξασιν υδηγρᾶμ!, υἱ ατέφον. Ναζίανζ., Βελτίων τοῦ τάχους ἡ μαχροθυμία, χαὶ τῆς αὐθαδείας ἡ σνγχαταῦασις. ἵλιττ, ( ἔς. ἄλλο γὰρ τὸ χελ., ἄλλο τ. μ. χωλ., φυ δι μἱλ6 οοϑϑογίὰ σοιπθδχίοηθπ) δοαυδηιυιι., Οὐ ΠΡ νι αι]. Ῥαγῖβ. εἴ διυρρίοαν ὃχ οοὐ. γδι ς. ὅδ. ἔνιτ. () [πιϑδογῖριϊο ἀδοται οἰ . Ραγίβ. ἢ Βυι Γ ΟΣ ἐγα φθέγξηται, ἀλλὰ Ὁ οοἀ. αι. . Εριτ. () (οἀ. γαιϊς., τῳ. Ὗαγϑ. . . ργὸ διό ἰΐοιη δογίῖι ᾧ, Υ6Γ5. ροβὶ αὐτοῦ ξο Διά. () μεδδὶ δ!'χυϊὰ δά ἱπιεργίιαίεῃν βϑιη δι, ὧἱ Υἱοῦ. ἸΟΓρΓε5. ΕΡΙΤ. () Ροβὶ χατέσχηψεν “. αι. ἀὐάϊϊ, ποτὲ ᾿Αθη- ναΐοις, Βιιθϊαιο ᾿Αθήναζε, . ἱπά6 ὅ, ρτοὸ οὖν ἰορῖε δέ, οἱ ν6γδ. δι μ61).. Θρὶδὶ. ρῖῸ ταῦτα τοῦτο. ῬΟΒΒΙΝ. () Κατ᾽ ἀ..::ήλων ὁπιλιζόμεθα. ϑὶτι ταν ΟἸνγγ- Βοϑιοιμ8 πη αι! πμηι : ε Ὁπλιζόμεθα χατ᾽ ἀλλής λων " χαὶ πῶς οὐχ ἂν εἴημεν χαὶ τῶν θηρίων χεἰ- ρους; διά τοι τοῦτο ἡμεῖς μὲν ἀσθενέστεροι " ὁ δὲ πάντων ἡμῶν πολέμιος ἰσχυρότερος χαθ᾽ ἑχάστην γί- νεται τὴν ἡμέραν. Οὐ γὰρ μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων χατ᾿ ἐχείνου φραττόμεθα, ἀλλὰ μετ᾽ ἐχείνου χατ᾽ ἀλλήλων ἰστά- μεθα, χαὶ αὐτῷ στροτῆγῳ πρὸς τὰς τοιαύτας παρα- τάξεις χεχρήμεθα. Ρογτὸ [0πδϑιιπὶ ἢοα φὩρίια] ("εν δι: Ϊ ΠΟΓΙΜ) ᾿ οὐΐπην (φυσι αι πο) ΠΟ ἀὲ6- «ἰϊουθὶ ἀυγάγοι ") υδ] ἰῖ, ἰϑεἰ08 δαρῆοδι ἰἰοτυ5 ἱπ γα δρίδι. , υδὶ υἱάθ μοίδᾶς. Οομῖογ ερ᾿ ἘΡΙΘΤΟΙΙΑΆΤΝ .. ΓΝ. --- ΕΡΙΟΤ ΧΧΙῚ. τηγῷ τῷ χοινῷ ἐχθρῷ χρώμενοι. Δέον γὰρ μετ᾽ Α σοπιπιεὶ ποδί υἱοη ἱπῃρογϑίογο. Οτπὶ δηΐπι οροτ- ἀλλήλων χατ᾽ ἐχείνου στρατεύειν, κατ᾽ ἀλλήλων μετ᾽ ἐκείνου ὁπλιζόμεθα, στρατηγῷ ἐχείνῳ χρώμενοι (), τῷ ἀμφότερα τὰ μέρη ἀπολέσαι διψῶντι. ᾿Αλλὰ τὸ μὲν αἰτιᾶσθαι ῥάδιον, χαὶ παντὸς εἴη () τὸ δ᾽ εἰπεῖν, ὅπως παυσαίΐίμεθα πρὸς ἀλλήλους πολεμοῦν- τες, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστι συμδούλου. Φημὶ τοίνυν, ὅτι, ἐπειδὴ καὶ πλοῦτον χαὶ δόξαν χαὶ τὰ ἄλλα βιωτιχὰ, τὰ χόρτου δίχην μαραινόμενα, μεγάλα εἶναι νομίζομεν (). Εἰ γὰρ ἐχεῖνα φαῦλα χαὶ εὐτελῆ, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἔστιν, ἡγεῖσθαι ἑαυτοὺς ἐδιδάξαμεν, οὐκ ἂν περὶ αὐτῶν ἀσπόνδους ἔχϑρας καὶ ἀχηρύχτους πολέμους πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἐχηρύξαμεν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰρήνην ἂν χαὶ ἀγάπην ἢἡσπασάμεθα, δι᾽ ἣν ἅπας πόλεμος καὶ μάχη χαὶ διαφορὰ οἴχεται.
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