Γρηγόριος ο Θεολόγος:
Πότε ο φιλοσοφικός στοχασμός
σε θεολογικά ζητήματα
είναι ακίνδυνος /
Gregory the Theologian:
Philosophizing considerations
on theological matters
that are not dangerous
Βάλλε μοι Πυθαγόρου τὴν σιωπήν, καὶ τοὺς κυάμους τοὺς Ὀρφικούς, καὶ τὴν περὶ τὸ Αὐτὸς ἔφα καινοτέραν ἀλαζονείαν. Βάλλε μοι Πλάτωνος τὰς ἰδέας, καὶ τὰς μετενσωματώσεις καὶ περιόδους τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν, καὶ τὰς ἀναμνήσεις, καὶ τοὺς οὐ καλοὺς διὰ τῶν καλῶν σωμάτων ἐπὶ ψυχὴν ἔρωτας· Ἐπικούρου τὴν ἀθείαν, καὶ τὰς ἀτόμους, καὶ τὴν ἀφιλόσοφον ἡδονήν· Ἀριστοτέλους τὴν μικρολόγον πρόνοιαν, καὶ τὸ ἔντεχνον, καὶ τοὺς θνητοὺς περὶ ψυχῆς λόγους, καὶ τὸ ἀνθρωπικὸν τῶν δογμάτων· τῆς Στοᾶς τὴν ὀφρύν, τῶν Κυνῶν τὸ λίχνον τε καὶ ἀγοραῖον. Βάλλε μοι τὸ κενόν, τὸ πλῆρες τῶν ληρημάτων, ὅσα περὶ θεῶν ἢ θυσιῶν, περὶ εἰδώλων, περὶ δαιμόνων ἀγαθῶν τε καὶ κακοποιῶν, ὅσα περὶ μαντείας, θεαγωγίας, ψυχαγωγίας, ἄστρων δυνάμεως, τερατεύονται. Εἰ δὲ σὺ ταῦτα μὲν ἀπαξιοῖς λόγου, ὡς μικρά τε καὶ πολλάκις ἐληλεγμένα, περὶ δὲ τὰ σὰ στρέφῃ, καὶ ζητεῖς τὸ ἐν τούτοις φιλότιμον· ἐγώ σοι κἀνταῦθα παρέξομαι πλατείας ὁδούς. Φιλοσόφει μοι περὶ κόσμου ἢ κόσμων, περὶ ὕλης, περὶ ψυχῆς, περὶ λογικῶν φύσεων βελτιόνων τε καὶ χειρόνων, περὶ ἀναστάσεως, κρίσεως, ἀνταποδόσεως, Χριστοῦ παθημάτων. Ἐν τούτοις γὰρ καὶ τὸ ἐπιτυγχάνειν οὐκ ἄχρηστον, καὶ τὸ διαμαρτάνειν ἀκίνδυνον. Θεῷ δὲ ἐντευξόμεθα, νῦν μὲν ὀλίγα, μικρὸν δὲ ὕστερον ἴσως τελεώτερον, ἐν αὐτῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν.
Attack the silence of Pythagoras, and the Orphic beans, and the novel brag about “The Master said.” Attack the ideas of Plato, and the transmigrations and courses of our souls, and the reminiscences, and the unlovely loves of the soul for lovely bodies. Attack the atheism of Epicurus, and his atoms, and his unphilosophic pleasure; or Aristotle’s petty Providence, and his artificial system, and his discourses about the mortality of the soul, and the humanitarianism of his doctrine. Attack the superciliousness of the Stoa, or the greed and vulgarity of the Cynic. Attack the “Void and Full” (what nonsense), and all the details about the gods and the sacrifices and the idols and demons, whether beneficent or malignant, and all the tricks that people play with divination, evoking of gods, or of souls, and the power of the stars. And if these things seem to thee unworthy of discussion as petty and already often confuted, and thou wilt keep to thy line, and seek the satisfaction of thy ambition in it; then here too I will provide thee with broad paths. Philosophize about the world or worlds; about matter; about soul; about natures endowed with reason, good or bad; about resurrection, about judgment, about reward, or the Sufferings of Christ. For in these subjects to hit the mark is not useless, and to miss it is not dangerous. But with God we shall have converse, in this life only in a small degree; but a little later, it may be, more perfectly, in the Same, our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.
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