Letter 186: I define the wise — and I offer this as my view, not as law — as those adorned with the virtues of the reasoning...
That the wicked prosper and that the gentle and praiseworthy man finds himself in the most extreme difficulties is truly hard to discern and difficult to grasp, and lies beyond the measures of humanity. For it is necessary to defer to divine judgments. And if we wish to think rightly, we must recognize that the ways of God are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ΦϚ΄. – ΘΕΟΔΩΡΩ ΣΟΦΙΣΤΗ
ΡΑΖ'. - ΕΡΜΙΝΟ ΚΟΜΗΤΙ.
Τὸ εὐημερεῖν τὸν πονηρὸν, καὶ τὸ ἐν τοῖς εἰς
ἄκρον χαλεποῖς γίνεσθαι τὸν ἐπιεικῆ καὶ τῶν εἰς
λῆξιν ἡκόντων ἐπαίνων ἔμπλεω, δυστόπαστόν ἐστιν
ἀληθῶς καὶ δυσέφικτον, καὶ τῶν τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος
μέτρων ἐπέκεινά τε καὶ ποῤῥωτάτω. Θείοις γὰρ
κρίματι παραχωρεῖν ἀναγκαῖον. Καὶ εἴπερ βουλό-
μεθα φρονεῖν ὀρθῶς, μόνῳ τῷ ἀκηράτῳ (31) νῷ τῆς
οἰκονομίας τὴν γνῶσιν ἀνάψαντες, πρὸς τὰ ἐν χερσὶ
βαδιούμεθα, ἃ καὶ μόλις πρὸς ἡμῶν εὑρίσκεσθαι
φιλεῖ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οἷει δεῖν κατὰ τὸ ἐνδεχόμενον
ἐπαμῦναι τῷ λόγῳ, ἐπημύναμεν, ὡς γε ἡδυνήθημεν,
ἐν τῷ πρὸς Ἕλληνας ἡμῖν γραφέντι λόγῳ (32), ᾧ
ἐντυχών εἴσῃ τὴν λύσιν τοῦ προβλήματος,
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