Letter 64: Some people prefer Epicurus to Christ — and the reason is obvious, even if they will not admit it.

To Eulampios. On the saying spoken by John to the crowds: \"Already the axe is laid to the root.\" John, seeing the fruitless disposition of the Jews, compared them to barren trees, ready for cutting down and for the fire, warning them that the time for repentance was short and the judgment imminent. For the axe laid at the root signifies not merely pruning of branches — a partial correction — but the complete removal of the tree that refuses to bear fruit. This was a warning specifically directed at those who presumed upon their descent from Abraham, thinking that lineage alone would save them without the fruit of righteous deeds. To Antiochos. Just as in matters where one ought to yield, victory is shameful, so in matters where one ought to conquer, defeat is more shameful still. For victory is not a good thing in all circumstances, but the victory that has a noble and worthy cause is of the highest kind, while that which springs from base motives and unjust aims, though it may wear the outward appearance of triumph, is in truth a deeper form of defeat, since it conquers others only to be conquered itself by wickedness.

ΕΔ'. – ΕΥΛΑΜΠΙΩ. Εἰς τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ Ἰωάννου τοῖς ὄχλοις· « Ἤδη δὲ ἡ ἀξίνη πρὸς τὴν, Τὴν ἄκαρπον Ἰουδαίων θεωρῶν ὁ Ἰωάννης προ αίρεσιν, δένδροις αὐτοὺς ἀκάρποις παρείκασε, πρὸς ``` ΡΔ'. - ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟ. Ὥσπερ ἐν οἷς χρὴ ἡττᾶσθαι τὸ νικᾷν αἰσχρὸν (65), οὕτως ἐν οἷς χρὴ νικᾶν, τὸ ἡττᾶσθαι αἰσχρότερον. Οὐ γὰρ ἐν πᾶσιν ἡ νίκη καλὸν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μὲν τὴν ὑπό- θεσιν ἔχουσα καλὴν καὶ γενναίαν, ἀρίστης ἡ δὲ καὶ αἰσχρὰν καὶ φαύλην, κακίστη. Οἷον (ἶν᾿ ἀπὸ τῶν παρ᾿ Ἕλλησιν ἀδομένων τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ποιήσωμαι) ὁ μὲν πρὸς τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους πόλεμος καὶ νόμιμος εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ ἀναγκαῖος· ὁ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοφύλους, καὶ παράνομος, καὶ οὐδ᾽ ἐγκωμίων ἀπολαύει ὁ τρε- ψάμενος. Τοσούτῳ γὰρ πλέον τῶν ἄλλων αἰσχύνεται, δαῳπερ ἂν πλέον τι τῶν ἄλλων ἐργάσηται. Ἐμφυ- λίου γὰρ πολέμου ἀργαλεώτερον οὐδέν (66). Εἰ τοίνυν ἔνθα σώματος ὁ θάνατος, τοσαύτη ἐστὶν ἡ διαφορά· καίτοι μιᾶς οὔσης τῆς φύσεως· οἱ τοῖς μὲν δαίμοσιν ὑποκατακλινόμενοι, κατὰ δὲ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὁπλιζό- μενοι, ἀνεκτὰ ποιεῖν δόξαιεν; οὐκ ἔγωγε οἶμαι. Καί- τοι ἐνταῦθα, οὐ σώματος θάνατος παρακολουθεί (ἧττον γὰρ, ἦν κακὸν), ἀλλὰ ψυχῆς ὅλεθρος, οὐκ εἰς τὸ μὴ ὂν παραπέμπων τοὺς σκανδαλισθέντας, ἀλλὰ θανάτου παντὸς παρασκευάζων χαλεπώτερον βιῶσαι βίον, καὶ τὰ τῆς συγγενείας δὲ δικαιώματα, καὶ μείζονα, καὶ θειότερα. Διὸ καὶ οὐρανῷ πρέπουσαν πολιτείαν (67), πολιτεύεσθαι προστετάγμεθα. Εἰ δὲ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς στρατευομένων ταναντία πράττοντες ἀλῶμεν, τῶν ὑπὲρ μὲν τῶν πατρίδων ἀναλαμβανόν- των τὰ ὅπλα, κατὰ δὲ τῶν βαρβάρων χωρούντων, ποία ἡμῖν ἔσται σωτηρίας ἐλπίς; ἢ τις πεισθῆναι σωθήσεσθαι τοὺς πράττοντας ἐκεῖνα τὰ εἰς τὴν ἀπώλειαν σαφῶς παραπέμποντα; adversus Barbaros autem proficiscuntur, contraria ΞΔ΄. – ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ Εἰ πολλάκις ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἤκουες ἐπαίνους τοὺς περὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν γινόμενους, ἔδει καὶ ταύτης ὡς χρηστῶν καὶ κατ᾿ εὐθὺ καὶ κατ᾿ ἀλήθειαν ὑπαρχόντων τὴν ἔφεσιν ἔχειν. ΝΘ. – ΘΕΩΝΙ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΩ. Μὴ λίαν ἐκπλήττου, μηδὲ θαύμαζε, εἰ Ζώσιμος ἀπὸ οἰκετικῆς, ὡς φὴς, βίζης ὁρμώμενος φανητιᾷ, καὶ μέτριον οὐδὲν φρονεῖ. Εἴωθε γὰρ ἡ παρ᾿ ἐλπίδα εὐημερία τοὺς ἀνοηταίνοντας πρὸς ὕβριν τρέπειν. ΡΠΑ΄. – ΑΝΔΡΟΝΙΚΩ Τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν μίμησιν ἀσπαστέον.