Letter 184: I have watched how the communion is administered, and I am troubled.
To Patroclus the Sophist. Faith in God — I do not know how the unbelievers make light of it — whose knowledge is easy, whose possession is secure, and whose end is unconquerable. For faith is not, as its despisers suppose, a blind leap into irrationality, but a firm foundation upon which the entire structure of the virtuous life is built. Those who mock faith as credulity reveal their own ignorance, for they have never examined with honest minds the evidences upon which faith rests, nor have they experienced the transforming power that faith exercises upon those who embrace it. The knowledge of God through faith is called easy not because it requires no effort of the mind, but because it is accessible to all — to the wise and the simple, to the free and the enslaved — unlike the arcane speculations of the philosophers, which are the province of the few. To Harpocras the Sophist. The freedom of speech that learning gives must be exercised with responsibility, for the educated man who uses his eloquence to lead others astray bears a heavier guilt than the ignorant man who sins from lack of knowledge.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ΕἸάοὶ εοπιηιοι αἰϊο. ΕἸάεπ) ἴῃ Ῥοιπὶ ποδοὶο αυοπιοάο ἐοπιδιηηυπὶ [ἢ ἀ . : οὐὐὰβ φυΐϊάθαη ῥγοπα οἱ ἴδοὶ ἢβ οοχηΐο εδί, ἤἥγιηα υργὸ μοββϑβϑίο, ἢπἷ ἀδηΐίᾳυσ ᾿μυἱοίυ οἱ ἱποχρυρβηλ}}} . ΟΙ!. --- ΠΑΒΡΟΟΒΖ ΒΟΡΗΠΒΤΕ. Τὴν εἰς θεὸν πίστιν οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅπως ἐξεντελίζουσιν οἱ ἄπιστοι " ἧς εὐμαρὴς μὲν ἣ γνῶσις, ἀσφαλὴς δὲ ἡ χτῆσις, ἀήττητον δὲ τὸ πέρας. ΡΒ'. --- ΑΡΠΟΚΡᾺ ΣΟΦΙΣΤΗ. Γαμάα (ἐἰπρια ἰἰϑοτίαίεηι, φια ἱπιρτοϑογμηι υἱίΐα ἱπξεοίαί" [μεγαϊ. ἸΓΩΝ: ἐρῖει. , δ, , ε᾽ει πιοποάϊα, Πιοπὶ ορίει. φογμεπίϊα εἰ .) Τ,δυάο δαυΐϊἀαπὶ οἱ Δ πηΐγοῦ ἰσὯπὶ οὐπὰ ργυάεοιια ὃ ςοπὐιποίδη) ἀϊοοηΐ ᾿ἰθογίδι θη), αυδπὶ υΐ γν Βυπὶ ἃς ἀδραπογα ργφ ἰ ᾿ηροηΐο ἐηρτγοῦθάηι, γαιὶ δυ δὲ ἱπιργο ι} δίᾳφυο οἰεπηηαι! δηΐπηΐ ἢ- δίδπη γρργο!θηδίοϑη). ΕὈΥΪΐ δἰδηΐ ἢ πηδῖι] οὐ ΓΒ )} ἃ β[Δ, δἰ ΘΟΠΟΌΡΓΘΗΙ Οπὶ , αυΐ - θεῖ φυζοφυθ ἀθδρυηϊ, ἱπιθρογδηίοβ δυ δουυηὶ ᾿ηζυδβ. Τῃγοη. ΗΠ, . "Αγαμαΐ σου τὴν ἔμφρονα παῤῥησίαν, ἣν οἱ ἀγεν- νεῖς χαὶ δουλοπρεπεῖς καχίζουσιν, ἔλεγχον τῆς σφῶν χαχίας τε καὶ ἀνανδρίας ταύτην εἰχότως εἶναι ἡγούμενοι. Μεθύοντες γὰρ τῷ φόδῳ τῶν κχαχῶς αὐτοῖς δρωμένων, καὶ κατασειόμενοι κατὰ τῶν χαθ- αρῶς νηφόντων, τὰς ἀχρατεῖς ἑαυτῶν ὁπλίζουσι͵͵ γλώττας. ΥΔΠΙΣ ΚΕΟΤΙΟΝΕΒ ΕΤ ΝΟΤΕ. ΔΥΠ) τε οοἸοηάϊ οὔοίυη). ΡῬίυγα (, ΡΙ] πΐὰ ἰν. χν Ναίιν. ἩΠ δι., οὐ ἰῃ (ευτοὶοἰδ Μᾶτο Ιἰ". » ν. , οι . [Ιοταιϊυ Θρούο ]. βεαίιι ἐ{{, φμὶ ρ»γοσι! ποροίϊὶδ, ὕτ γυΐεοα φομ πιοτίαἰΐμιηι, εἰ. ΟΠΟΤΤ. () [πιὸγ διὸ δἱ μὲν τὸ πῃ τὸν τηυϊδηὶ οοάά. γι. οἱ ΑΙι., οἱ γϑγβ. ἰβ ὅ, ἰἰθγυι ργὸ τὸ δεγίβυμι τόν. ῬΟΒΒΙΝ, ΡΓ΄. --- ΟΛΥΜΠΙῺ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΩ. ἘΕΡΙΘΤΟΙΛΛΆΠΜ . Υ. -- ἘΡΙ͂ΘΤ. ΟΥ. ΟἿ. --- ΟΟΥ̓́ΜΡΙΟ ΡΆΈΒΒΥΤΕΒΟ. Βοσαῖ, μι Ῥ»υτὸ ἀδϑρεταία πεφμὶα ποπιπὶδμς θειπι οτεὶ. Υἱάς ἐρίδι. . Εἰ χαὶ τὸ μὲν ἐπιτιμᾷν ῥάδιον, καὶ παντός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπου, τὸ δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν πρεπόντων ὅ τι χρὴ πράττειν ἀποφαίνεσθαι, ἀρίστου συμούλου “ ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε ἐπιτιμᾶσθαι ἀνέχονται οἱ περὶ Ζώσιμον χαὶ Μάρωνα, οὔτε συμθουλεύεσθαι - ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τοσαύτην ἤλασαν μανίαν, ὥστε χαὶ τοὺς ἐπιτιμῶντας λοιδο- ρεῖν, χαὶ τοὺς συμδουλεύοντας χαχηγορεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ δέ τινες οὔτε ἐπιτιμηθέντες, οὔτε σνμθουλευθέντες, θρηνηθέντες δὲ ἀνήνεγχαν, χαὶ τοῦτο τὸ εἶδος τῆς θεραπείας ἤλεγξαν" γελῶσι γὰρ τοὺς τοῦτο ἐχ πολ- λῆς φιλοστοργίας δρῶντας. Τί οὖν χρὴ ποιῆσαι ; Ἐγὼ γάρ σε λοιπὸν ἐρήσομαι, τὸν πράγματα ἡμῖν παρέχοντα, χαὶ ἐνοχλοῦντα ὡς δυναμένοις ἀπελάσαι Β αὐτῶν τὴν μανίαν. Εἴθε μὲν οὖν ἐδυνάμην, χαὶ οὐκ ἂν ἐδεήθην τοῦ συμόουλεύοντος, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ἂν ταχί- στὴν ἐποιησάμην τὴν διόρθωσιν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ χρεῖτ- τὸν πάσης θεραπείας ἐστὶ τὸ πάθος, χαὶ τοῖς ἰατρι- χοῖς φαρμάχοις ἐπιτρίδεται μᾶλλον, τὴν ἀπὸ τῶ" ἁγίων σου εὐχῶν χάρισαι αὐτοῖς βοήθειαν " τάχα πως ἃ χαὶ παθῶν χαὶ πάσης περιγινόμενος χαχίας αὐτοὺς ἰάσεται.
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