Letter 141: Just as it is not his cloak and staff that show a man to be a philosopher, but his boldness of speech and his way of...
To Leontios. Why the law commanded those with leprosy or other involuntary diseases to remain outside the sacred precincts. The bad temperament of bodies, and the loathsome diseases, are likely to befall many on account of the intemperance of their parents — though intemperance does not always result from bad temperament. For whether a leper begets a leper and one with a discharge begets one with a discharge, I cannot say precisely; but that a gouty person begets a gouty person, all would agree. The lawgiver, as I believe — for one should not speak dogmatically — punished the intemperance of parents.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ΡΜΑ΄. – ΛΕΟΝΤΙΟ.
Διὰ τι ὁ νόμος τοὺς λεπρῶντας ἢ ἑτέρους νοσή
ματα ἀκούσια νοσοῦντας ἔξω εἶναι τῶν ἱερῶν
περιβόλων προσέταξεν.
Τὴν μὲν δυσκρασίαν τῶν σωμάτων, καὶ τὰ εἰδεχθῆ
νοσήματα ἀπὸ ἀκρασίας τῶν γονέων πολλοῖς (51)
συμβαίνειν εἰκός· οὐ μὴν τὴν ἀκρασίαν πάντως ἀπὸ
δυσκρασίας (εἰ μὲν γὰρ λεπρὸς λεπρὸν τίκτει, καὶ
γονοῤῥύης γονοῤῥύην, ἀκριβῶς οὐκ ἔχω λέγειν· ὅτι
δὲ ποδαλγὸς ποδαλγὸν τίκτει πάντες ἂν συμφήσαιεν)·
τῷ μὲν οὖν νομοθέτῃ, ὡς οἶμαι (οὐ γὰρ χρὴ ἀποφαί-
CXLI. - ΗΛΙΑ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΟ.
Εἰς τὸ · · Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος. »
Τὴν ἄχρονον καὶ ἀἴδιον καὶ ἀμεσίτευτον, καὶ παν-
τὸς λόγου καὶ νοῦ κρείττονα πρόοδον τοῦ Χριστοῦ (55)
ἀπὸ Πατρὸς, γέννησιν καλοῦσιν αἱ Γραφαὶ, οὐχ ἶνα
πάθος ὑπογράψωσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τὸ ὁμοούσιον στήσωσιν.
Ὁμοούσια γὰρ τῷ ὄντι τὰ τικτόμενα τοῖς τίκτου-
σιν (56). Ἵνα δὲ μὴ νεώτερον ἐπινοηθείη, « Ἐν
ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, » φασίν. Εἶτα καὶ τὴν σχέσιν
κηρύττουσι τὴν πρὸς τὸν Πατέρας καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν
πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. » Εἶτα καὶ τὴν ἀξίαν· · Καὶ Θεὸς ἦν
ὁ Λόγος. Ἐκ μὲν τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸ ὁμοούσιον - ἐκ δὲ
τοῦ Λόγου τὸ ἀπαθές· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ εἶναι, τὸ
συναΐδιον· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν εἶναι, τὴν πρὸς
τὸν Πατέρα οἰκειότητα· διὰ δὲ τοῦ Θεὸν εἶναι, τὴν
ἀξίαν αὐτοῦ καταμαθόντες· καὶ ἐξ ἑκάστου ὀνόματος
τὸ ἐφορμοῦν ἀπρεπὲς ἀποπεμψάμενοι· οἷον, ἀπὸ μὲν
τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸ νεώτερον, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Λόγου τὸ ἀνυπό
στατον, Θεὸν ἀΐδιον, ὁμοούσιον, ἀπαθῶς καὶ ἀχρόνως
ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς προελθόντα εἰδείημέν τε καὶ προσκυ-
νήσαιμεν.
ΡΝΗ΄. – ΘΕΟΔΩΡΩ
Μεμνῆσθαι εἰς τοὺς ἀπολωλεκότας ἀπανᾶς εὐπορεῖν.
Related Letters
Whoever thinks there is no art to silence is foolish.
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conpatimur gregis our membro and, that faciendum duximus or to do potuimus, sumus uelociter executi.
Jerome forwards to Theophilus a translation of the latter's paschal letter for 404 A.D. and apologizes for his delay in sending it, on the ground that ill-health and grief for the death of Paula have prevented him from doing literary work. The date of the letter is 404 A.D.
Continuing on the destruction.