Letter 76: One must never contract the nature of the Godhead in the Jewish manner, reducing it to the Father alone, nor expand...

Letter to Basileios. To Peter. To Sabeinos. The one who wishes to do what is proper must do what is proper in deed, not merely in word or intention. To Theodosius the Bishop. The boundary of true authority, O most precise testing ground of the science of governing, is that ruler who conducts all things for the benefit of his subjects. For the one who has transformed the order of authority into tyranny and disorder, providing the labors to those under his rule while storing up the pleasures for himself, has betrayed the very purpose of the office entrusted to him. True authority is service, not dominion; it is the bearing of burdens for the sake of others, not the imposition of burdens upon them. The bishop who enriches himself at the expense of his flock is no shepherd but a hireling, and worse than a hireling, for the hireling merely abandons the sheep in time of danger, while the tyrannical bishop actively devours them. Remember therefore that the office you hold was given not for your glory but for the salvation of those committed to your care.

ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΛΒ΄. – ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩ [...]. – ΠΕΤΡΩ ΣΑΒΕΙΝΩ Ὁ βουλόμενος δέοντα τὰ πραττόμενα πράττειν, ΟΔ' – ΘΕΟΔΟΣΙΟ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟ. Ὁ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὅρος (37), ὦ ἀρχικῆς επιστήμης ἀκριβέστατον βασανιστήριον, ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ὁ πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον τῶν ὑπηκόων ἅπαντα πραγματευόμενος. Ὁ γὰρ τὴν τῆς ἀρχῆς εὐκοσμίαν εἰς τυραννίδα καὶ ἀκοσμίαν μετασχηματίσας, καὶ τοὺς μὲν πόνους τοῖς ἀρχομένοις προξενῶν · τὰς δ᾽ ἡδονὰς ἑαυτῷ θηρώμε- νος, οὗτος οὐ τὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς ὅρον, ἀλλὰ τὸν τῆς τυ- ραννίδος διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ὑπογράφει. ΛΧΧVI. – ΑΡΧΟΝΤΙΟ. Τίνος χάριν βιβλίον ἀποστασίου δίδοσθαι ταῖς μισουμέναις γυναιξὶ παρὰ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ὁ νομο- θέτης ἐπέτρεψεν. ΘΕΙΗ (76). Εἰ δὲ χρὴ καὶ δεινότητι χρήσασθαι, καὶ τὸ ἀκριβὲς εἰπεῖν, τάχα καὶ ὑπερακοντίσειεν ἐκεῖνον. Τῷ μὲν γὰρ τὸ βούλεσθαι ἀδικεῖσθαι, μεγίστην φέρει παραμυθίαν. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἡδικήθη, εἴ γε μὴ ἠβουλήθη. Τῷ δὲ μὴ βουληθέντι μὲν, ὑπομείναντι δὲ, καὶ μηδὲν πεποιηκότι δι' ὧν ἠδύνατο ἀμύνασθαι τὸν ἀδικήσαντα, ἄτε ἐσχάτης φιλοσοφίας βάσανον ἐπιδειξαμένῳ, λαμπρότερος πλακείη στέφανος. ΤΔ΄. – ΘΕΟΦΙΛΟ ΥΠΟΔΙΑΚΟΝΗ. Ὅτι μὲν τῇ πείρᾳ τὴν φήμην ὑπερέβη ὁ μακά- ριος Τιμόθεος, καὶ κρείττων ἦν ἀκοῆς εἰς θέαν ερχό- μενος, ἅπαντες οἱ τῆς μειλιχίου ἐκείνης ἀξιωθέντες συνουσίας ἴσασιν. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ηὐχόμην τοσοῦ- τον δυνηθῆναι φράσαι, ὁπόσον καὶ βούλομαι, οὐδεὶς, ὡς οἶμαι, ἀμφιβάλλει. Ἐπειδὴ εὔξασθαι μὲν βάδιον, τυχεῖν δὲ ἀπορώτερον, ἢ ὅσα πρόχειρον εὔξασθαι, . Act. xxvi, 1 seqq. ---CONTINUES--- ΟΖ. – ΕΥΤΟΝΙΟ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΩ. Περὶ ἀρετῆς τοῦ Ἰωσήφ. Ἡ μὲν Αἰγυπτία τοῦ νέου ἤρα· ὁ δὲ νέος τῆς σω- φροσύνης. Διὸ καὶ ἡ μὲν θηρῶσα αὐτὸν, οὐκ ἐπέτυχε τῆς θήρας, καίτοι πάντα τὰ λίνα τῆς θήρας ἀναπε- τάσασα· ὁ δὲ ἐπέτυχε τῆς θήρας, πάντων (44) δικτύων ἐκείνης ὑπερενεχθείς. Τῇ μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἐχθρὸς, τῷ δὲ ὁ νομοθέτης, τῆς σωφροσύνης ἠγωνίζετο (45). ΡΜΓ΄. – ΙΣΙΔΩΡΩ Τοῖς φαύλοις συνόντες ταχέως γενόμεθα φαῦλοι.