Oration to the Assembly of the Saints 1.1–10.4
Greek text: Heikel, GCS 7 (Greek text: Ivar A. Heikel, Eusebius Werke 1 (GCS 7, 1902), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890).
Chapter 1
1.1Heikel
Κωνσταντῖνος Σεβαστὸς τῷ τῶν ἁγίων συλλόγῳ. Τὸ τηλαυγέστερον ἡμέρας τε καὶ Ἡλίου φέγγος, προοίμιον μὲν ἀναστάσεως, ἁρμογὴ δὲ νέα τῶν πονησάντων ποτὲ σωμάτων, ἕρμα θʼὑποσχέσεως, καὶ ἀτραπὸς ἐπὶ τὴν αἰωνίαν ζωὴν ἄγουσα, ἡ τοῦ παθήματος ἡμέρα πάρεστιν, ὧ προσφιλέστατοι καθηγηταί, φίλοι θʼ οἱ λοιποὶ ξύμπαντες ἄνδρες, μακαριώτερα πολλῷ πλήθει τε τυγχάνει τῶν θρησκευόντων καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ τῆς θρησκείας θεῷ διὰ τῶν ἐντὸς αἰσθήσεων τῆς ἐκάστου διʼ ἐκφωνητηρίων ἀδιαλείπτως ὑμνούντων θεσπίσμασι προσαγορευόμενος.
Kōnstantinos Sebastos tǭ tōn hagiōn syllogǭ. To tēlaugesteron hēmeras te kai Hēliou phengos, prooimion men anastaseōs, harmogē de nea tōn ponēsantōn pote sōmatōn, herma thʼhyposcheseōs, kai atrapos epi tēn aiōnian zōēn agousa, hē tou pathēmatos hēmera parestin, hō prosphilestatoi kathēgētai, philoi thʼ hoi loipoi xympantes andres, makariōtera pollǭ plēthei te tynchanei tōn thrēskeuontōn kai autǭ tǭ tēs thrēskeias theǭ dia tōn entos aisthēseōn tēs ekastou diʼ ekphōnētēriōn adialeiptōs hymnountōn thespismasi prosagoreuomenos.
Constantine Augustus to the assembly of the saints. The day of the passion is here, brighter than the light of day and of the sun, the prelude of the resurrection, a new joining together of bodies that once laboured, the anchor of the promise, and the path that leads to eternal life, O dearest teachers and all you other friends: a day far more blessed, called upon by the multitude of worshippers and by the very God of worship, by those who hymn him unceasingly with inspired words, through the inner senses of each and through spoken utterances.
Heb 6:19 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine opens his Good Friday speech to the assembly of the saints by celebrating the day of the passion as the prelude to the resurrection.
- The speech was delivered on a Good Friday; its date and place (perhaps Antioch, Nicomedia or Constantinople, between 314 and 325 or later) are disputed. The last clause is garbled in the digital text and is translated by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip in breathing; OCR slips; stray capital): ἠμέρας → ἡμέρας; ἀρμογὴ → ἁρμογὴ; πονηςάντων → πονησάντων; ψίλοι Θʼοἱ → φίλοι θʼ οἱ; Τῶν θρησκευόντων → τῶν θρησκευόντων.
Topics: Christology, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 1.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
1.2Heikel
σὺ δʼ, ὦ παμμήτειρα φύσις, τί τοιοῦτον τῷ κόσμῳ συντετέλεκας πώποτε; Ποῖον δʼ ὅλως σὸν δημιούργημα, εἴπερ ὁ τῶν πάντων αἴτιος καὶ τῆς σῆς οὐσίας; οὗτος γάρ σε ἐκόσμησεν, ἐπεὶ κόσμος φύσεως ἡ κατὰ φύσιν ζωή. ἐπικεκράτηκε γὰρ οὐ μετρίως ἄ παρὰ φύσιν τὸν τῶν πάντων θεὸν κατʼἀξίαν σέβειν μηδένα, νομίζεσθαί τε μὴ ἐκ προνοίας ἀλλʼὠς ἔτυχον ἀτάκτως τε καὶ πλημμελῶς τὰ πάντα συνεστάναι
sy dʼ, ō pammēteira physis, ti toiouton tǭ kosmǭ syntetelekas pōpote? Poion dʼ holōs son dēmiourgēma, eiper ho tōn pantōn aitios kai tēs sēs ousias? houtos gar se ekosmēsen, epei kosmos physeōs hē kata physin zōē. epikekratēke gar ou metriōs a para physin ton tōn pantōn theon katʼaxian sebein mēdena, nomizesthai te mē ek pronoias allʼōs etychon ataktōs te kai plēmmelōs ta panta synestanai
But you, nature, mother of all, what such thing have you ever accomplished for the world? What work at all is yours, if he is the cause of all things and of your very being? For he adorned you, since life according to nature is the adornment of nature. For what is contrary to nature has prevailed not a little: that no one worships the God of all as he deserves, and that it is thought that all things have come together not by providence but at random, in disorder and confusion,
Notes and citation
Summary: Nature can claim nothing, since God made it; yet unnatural error prevailed, denying God's worship and providence.
- The sentence continues in 1.3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR garbled words; OCR inserted letter; OCR slips): πώποιτε → πώποτε; δμηιούργημα, Εἴπερ ὁ τῶν πάντων αἴτοις → δημιούργημα, εἴπερ ὁ τῶν πάντων αἴτιος; Οὖτος γάρ σε ἐκόσμησεν, ἐπὲι κόαμος φύσεως ἠ κατὰ → οὗτος γάρ σε ἐκόσμησεν, ἐπεὶ κόσμος φύσεως ἡ κατὰ; ἐτάκτως τε καὶ πλημθείας → ἀτάκτως τε καὶ πλημμελῶς.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 1.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
1.3Heikel
καὶ ταῦτα ἐξαγγελλούσης καθʼ ἕκαστα θείας ἐπιπνοίας διὰ προφητῶν, οἷς, δέον πείθεσθαι, ἀνθίστατο παντοίαις μηχαναῖς ἀδικία δυσσεβής, διαβεβλημένη μὲν πρὸς τὸ τῆς ἀληθείας φῶς, ἀσπαζομένη δὲ τὸ δυσέλεγκτον τοῦ σκότους. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοῦτο χωρὶς βίας καὶ ὠμότητος, ἐξαιρέτως ὅτι τῇ τῶν χυδαίων δήμων ἀπροόπτῳ φορᾷ ἡ τῶν δυναστευόντων γνώμη συνελάμβανε, μᾶλλον δὲ τῆς ἀκαίρου μανίας αὕτη καθηγείτο. διὸ δὴ πολλαῖς γενεαῖς ὁ τοιοῦτος βίος κρατυνθεὶς μεγίστων γέγονε τοῖς τότε κακῶν αἴτιος. 4 ἐπιλαμψάσης δὲ παραυτίκα τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐπιδημίας, δίκη μὲν ἐξ ἀδίκων ἔργων, ἐκ δὲ παντοδαποῦ κλύδωνος γαλήνη συνίστατο, καὶ πάνθʼ ὅσα διὰ προφητῶν προείρητο ἐπληροῦτο. τοιγάρτοι μετάρσιος εἰς τὴν πατρῴαν ἑστίαν ἀρθείς, αἰδοῦς καὶ σωφροσύνης ἀγλαΐσμασι τὴν οἰκουμένην περιστήσας, ἱερόν τινα νεὼν ἀρετῆς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἱδρύσατο, ἀίδιον, ἄφθαρτον, ἐν ᾧ τά τε τῷ ἐξοχωτάτῳ πατρὶ Θεῷ δέοντα τά θʼ ἑαυτῷ καθήκοντα ἐτελεῖτο μετʼεὐσεβείας.
kai tauta exangellousēs kathʼ hekasta theias epipnoias dia prophētōn, hois, deon peithesthai, anthistato pantoiais mēchanais adikia dyssebēs, diabeblēmenē men pros to tēs alētheias phōs, aspazomenē de to dyselenkton tou skotous. allʼ oude touto chōris bias kai ōmotētos, exairetōs hoti tę̄ tōn chydaiōn dēmōn aprooptǭ phorą hē tōn dynasteuontōn gnōmē synelambane, mallon de tēs akairou manias hautē kathēgeito. dio dē pollais geneais ho toioutos bios kratyntheis megistōn gegone tois tote kakōn aitios. 4 epilampsasēs de parautika tēs tou sōtēros epidēmias, dikē men ex adikōn ergōn, ek de pantodapou klydōnos galēnē synistato, kai panthʼ hosa dia prophētōn proeirēto eplērouto. toigartoi metarsios eis tēn patrǭan hestian artheis, aidous kai sōphrosynēs aglaïsmasi tēn oikoumenēn peristēsas, hieron tina neōn aretēs tēn ekklēsian epi tēs gēs hidrysato, aidion, aphtharton, en hǭ ta te tǭ exochōtatǭ patri Theǭ deonta ta thʼ heautǭ kathēkonta eteleito metʼeusebeias.
even though divine inspiration was announcing these things in detail through the prophets; whom, though one ought to obey them, impious injustice opposed with every device, hostile to the light of truth and embracing the obscurity of darkness, which is hard to refute. And this was not without violence and cruelty, especially because the judgment of those in power joined in the unforeseen impulse of the vulgar crowds, or rather led their untimely madness. Therefore such a life, strengthened over many generations, became the cause of the greatest evils for those of that time. [4] But when the coming of the Saviour suddenly shone forth, justice arose out of unjust deeds, and calm out of every kind of storm, and all that had been foretold through the prophets was fulfilled. Then, raised on high to his Father's hearth, having surrounded the world with the ornaments of modesty and self-control, he founded on earth the church, a sacred temple of virtue, everlasting and incorruptible, in which what is owed to God the most exalted Father and what befits himself are performed with piety.
Acts 1:9 (echo, low confidence) · Eph 2:21 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Despite the prophets, impiety and persecution prevailed for generations, until Christ came, fulfilled the prophecies, ascended to the Father, and founded the church.
- The printed numeral 4 marks section 1.4 of another division; here it stands inside 1.3 and is kept as [4]. The phrase 'what befits himself' refers to the honour paid to Christ.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip; OCR slip (σ for δ); OCR slips; stray capital): Θείας ἐπιπνοίας → θείας ἐπιπνοίας; οἶς, δόν πείθεσθαι, ἀνθίστατο παντοίαται Μηχαναῖς ἀδικία δυσσβής → οἷς, δέον πείθεσθαι, ἀνθίστατο παντοίαις μηχαναῖς ἀδικία δυσσεβής; Φῶς → φῶς; δυςέλεγκτον → δυσέλεγκτον; ἐξαιρέετως → ἐξαιρέτως; 4ἐπιλαμφάσης δὲ παραυτγίκα → 4 ἐπιλαμψάσης δὲ παραυτίκα; Ἕργων → ἔργων; κλύσωνος → κλύδωνος; Διὰ προφητῶν → διὰ προφητῶν; ἁστίαν → ἑστίαν; σωφροςύνης ἀγλαἵσμασι → σωφροσύνης ἀγλαΐσμασι; ἐκκληςίαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἰδρύσατο → ἐκκλησίαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἱδρύσατο; ἐτελεῖετο → ἐτελεῖτο.
Topics: Christology, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 1.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
1.4Heikel
τί δὴ μετὰ ταῦτα ἡ ἄφρων τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐμηχανᾶτο πονηρία;
ti dē meta tauta hē aphrōn tōn ethnōn emēchanato ponēria?
What then did the senseless wickedness of the nations contrive after this?
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine asks what the pagans then contrived.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 1.4 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum-1-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
1.5Heikel
ἐπετήδευε τὰς τοῦ Χριστοῦ χάριτας ἐκβάλλουσα καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν πάντων συσταθεῖσαν ἐκκλησίαν πορθοῦσα, ἀνέτρεπε δὲ τὴν οἰκείαν δεισιδαιμονίαν, ὅπως αὖθις στάσεις, πόλεμοι, μάχαι, δυστράπελος βίου παρασκευή, χρημάτων ἔρως, (ὅ καὶ οὐ φυσικῶς ἴδιον πονηρίας, ) ποτὲ μὲν ἐλπίσι κεκαλλωπισμέναις θέλγοι, ποτὲ δὲ φόβῳ καταπλήττοι. ἀλλʼ αὕτη μὲν χαμαὶ κείσθῳ ἡττηθεῖσα ὑπʼ ἀρετῆς, ᾗ θέμις, διαρρηγνυμένη σπαραττομένη τε ὑπὸ μεταμελείας. ἡμῖν νῦν τὰ προσήκοντα τῷ θείῳ λόγῳ ῥητέον.
epetēdeue tas tou Christou charitas ekballousa kai tēn epi sōtērią tōn pantōn systatheisan ekklēsian porthousa, anetrepe de tēn oikeian deisidaimonian, hopōs authis staseis, polemoi, machai, dystrapelos biou paraskeuē, chrēmatōn erōs, (ho kai ou physikōs idion ponērias, ) pote men elpisi kekallōpismenais thelgoi, pote de phobǭ kataplēttoi. allʼ hautē men chamai keisthǭ hēttētheisa hypʼ aretēs, hę̄ themis, diarrēgnymenē sparattomenē te hypo metameleias. hēmin nyn ta prosēkonta tǭ theiǭ logǭ rhēteon.
It set about casting out the graces of Christ and laying waste the church established for the salvation of all, and it overturned its own superstition, so that again factions, wars, battles, a perverse provision for life, love of money (which is not naturally proper to wickedness either) might now charm with adorned hopes, now strike with fear. But let it lie on the ground, defeated by virtue, as is right, torn and rent by remorse. We must now speak of what belongs to the divine Word.
Notes and citation
Summary: Paganism tried to destroy the church and brought back strife and greed, but it now lies defeated; Constantine turns to speak of the Word.
- The parenthesis is obscure in the Greek; translated by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter; OCR garbled word; OCR slips; capitalization slip; split word rejoined; stray capital; letter-shape slip): Τοῦ χριστοῦ → τοῦ Χριστοῦ; Συσταθεῖσαν ἐκκληςίαν → συσταθεῖσαν ἐκκλησίαν; Παρασκενή → παρασκευή; Ποτὲ μὲν ἀλπίσι κακαλλωπισμέναις → ποτὲ μὲν ἐλπίσι κεκαλλωπισμέναις; ἡ ττηθεῖσα → ἡττηθεῖσα; σπαρττομένη → σπαραττομένη; προσστκοντα → προσήκοντα.
Topics: Persecution, Christology
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 1.5 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/1-5
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum-1-5) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
Chapter 2
2.1Heikel
Ἄκουε τοίνυν, ἁγνείας παρθενίας τʼ ἐπήβολε ναύκληρε, ἐκκλησία, ἀώρου τε καὶ ἀδαοῦς ἡλικίας τιθήνη, ᾗ μέλει μὲν ἀληθείας, μέλει δὲ φιλανθρωπίας, ἐξ ἧς ἀενάου πηγῆς ἀποστάζει σωτήριον πόμα. ἀκούοιτε δʼ ἄν καὶ ὑμεῖς εὐφήμως οἱ τὸν θεὸν εἰλικρινῶς σέβοντες (διὸ καὶ μεμέλησθε αὐτῷ), προσέχοντες, τὸν νοῦν μὴ τῇ φράσει μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ τῶν λεγομένων ἀληθείᾳ, μηδʼἐμοὶ τῷ λέγοντι, ἀλλὰ τῇ τῆς καθοσιώσεως εὐσεβείᾳ.
Akoue toinyn, hagneias parthenias tʼ epēbole nauklēre, ekklēsia, aōrou te kai adaous hēlikias tithēnē, hę̄ melei men alētheias, melei de philanthrōpias, ex hēs aenaou pēgēs apostazei sōtērion poma. akouoite dʼ an kai hymeis euphēmōs hoi ton theon eilikrinōs sebontes (dio kai memelēsthe autǭ), prosechontes, ton noun mē tę̄ phrasei mallon ē tę̄ tōn legomenōn alētheią, mēdʼemoi tǭ legonti, alla tę̄ tēs kathosiōseōs eusebeią.
Hear, then, O church, pilot who has attained purity and virginity, nurse of tender and untaught age, who care for truth and care for love of humanity, from whose ever-flowing spring drips the saving drink. And you too, who worship God sincerely (and therefore he cares for you), listen in reverent silence, attending not to the phrasing so much as to the truth of what is said, and not to me the speaker, but to the piety of the dedication.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine addresses the church and the faithful, asking them to heed the truth of his words rather than their style or speaker.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter; OCR letter-shape slip): ἐκκληςία → ἐκκλησία; ἀκούιτε → ἀκούοιτε; προςέχοντες → προσέχοντες.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 2.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
2.2Heikel
τίς γὰρ ἂν εἴη λόγων χάρις, ἀνεξετάστου καταλειπομένης τῆς τοῦ λέγοντος διαθέσεως; τολμῶ δʼοὖν ἴσως μεγάλα, τῆς δὲ τόλμης τὴν πρὸς τὸ θεῖον στοργὴν ἔμφυτον αἰτιῶμαι. αὕτη γὰρ καὶ τὴν αἰδῶ βιάζεται. διὸ μάλιστα τοὺς ἐπιστήμονας τῶν θείων μυστηρίων βοηθοὺς ἐμαυτῷ συνάπτω, ἵνʼἐάν τι πταῖσμα συμβαίνῃ περὶ τοὺς λόγους, συμπαρομαρτοῦντες διορθῶσθε, τὴν μὲν ἄκραν παιδείαν μὴ ἐπιποθοῦντες, τὸ δὲ πιστὸν τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως ἀποδεχόμενοι. 3 ἐπίπνοια δʼἡμῖν μεγίστη τοῦ πατρὸς παιδός τε ἀγαθοεργοῦ παρείη φθεγγομένῳ ταῦτα, ἅπερ ἂν αὐτὴ φράσῃ καὶ διανοίᾳ προσάψῃ. εἰ γάρ τις ἄνευ θεοῦ ῥητορικὴν ἢ ἄλλην τινὰ μετιὼν ἐπιστήμην ἀκριβοῦν τὸ ἔργον ἱκανῶς ὑπείληφεν, ἀτελὴς αὐτὸς τε καὶ τὸ σπουδαζόμενον ἐφωράθη. οὐ μὴν κατοκνητέον οὐδὲ μελλητέον τοῖς εὐτυχήσασι πώποτε τῆς θείας ἐπιπνοίας. διὸ καὶ ἡμεῖς τὸ μῆκος τῆς ἀναβολῆς παραιτησάμενοι πειρώμεθα τοῦ σκοποῦ τὸ τέλειον.
tis gar an eiē logōn charis, anexetastou kataleipomenēs tēs tou legontos diatheseōs? tolmō dʼoun isōs megala, tēs de tolmēs tēn pros to theion storgēn emphyton aitiōmai. hautē gar kai tēn aidō biazetai. dio malista tous epistēmonas tōn theiōn mystēriōn boēthous emautǭ synaptō, hinʼean ti ptaisma symbainę̄ peri tous logous, symparomartountes diorthōsthe, tēn men akran paideian mē epipothountes, to de piston tēs epicheirēseōs apodechomenoi. 3 epipnoia dʼhēmin megistē tou patros paidos te agathoergou pareiē phthengomenǭ tauta, haper an autē phrasę̄ kai dianoią prosapsę̄. ei gar tis aneu theou rhētorikēn ē allēn tina metiōn epistēmēn akriboun to ergon hikanōs hypeilēphen, atelēs autos te kai to spoudazomenon ephōrathē. ou mēn katoknēteon oude mellēteon tois eutychēsasi pōpote tēs theias epipnoias. dio kai hēmeis to mēkos tēs anabolēs paraitēsamenoi peirōmetha tou skopou to teleion.
For what grace would there be in words if the disposition of the speaker were left unexamined? I dare great things, perhaps; but I blame my daring on the love for the divine that is born in me, for it overpowers even shame. Therefore I especially join to myself as helpers those who understand the divine mysteries, so that if any slip occurs in my words, you may follow along and correct it, not longing for perfect learning but accepting the faithfulness of the attempt. [3] May the greatest inspiration of the Father and of the beneficent Son be with me as I utter what it may itself express and attach to my mind. For if anyone, pursuing rhetoric or any other science without God, has supposed that he can perfect the work adequately, both he and his pursuit have been found incomplete. Yet those who have ever been blessed with divine inspiration must not shrink or delay. Therefore we too, declining a long postponement, attempt the fulfilment of our aim.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine asks the learned to correct his errors and prays for the inspiration of the Father and the Son.
- The printed numeral 3 marks a section of another division; kept as [3]. 'Son' renders παιδός.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (θ for φ); joined words separated; numeral joined to word): 3ἐπίπνοια → 3 ἐπίπνοια; ὑπείληθεν → ὑπείληφεν; τὸμῆκος → τὸ μῆκος.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 2.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/2-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
Chapter 3
3.1Heikel
Ἀγαθὸν οὗ πάντα ἐφίεται, ὁ ὑπὲρ τὴν οὐσίαν θεὸς ἂν ἀεί, γένεσιν οὐκ ἔχει, οὐκοῦν οὐδʼἀρχήν· τῶν γὰρ ἐν γενέσει πάντων αὐτὸς ἀρχή. ὁ δὲ ἐξ ἐκείνου ἔχων τὴν ἀναφορὰν εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἑνοῦται πάλιν, ἐκείνῳ τῆς διαστάσεως συγκρίσεώς τε οὐ τοπικῶς ἀλλὰ νοερῶς γινομένης· οὐ γάρ ζημίᾳ τινὶ τῶν πατρῴων σπλάγχνων συνέστη τὸ γεννηθέν, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει τὰ ἐκ σπερμάτων, ἀλλὰ διατάξει προνοίας ἐπιστάτην σωτῆρα τῷ τε αἰσθητῷ κόσμῳ καὶ τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ μηχανωμένης. τοιγάρτοι πᾶσιν, ὅσα περιείληπται ὑπὸ τοῦ κόσμου, ἡ αἰτία τοῦ εἶναι καὶ ζῆν ἐκεῖθεν· ἐκεῖθεν δὲ καὶ ψυχὴ καὶ πᾶσα αἴσθησις καὶ τὰ ὄργανα, διʼ ὧν τὰ σημαινόμενα ὑπὸ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἀποτελεῖται.
Agathon hou panta ephietai, ho hyper tēn ousian theos an aei, genesin ouk echei, oukoun oudʼarchēn; tōn gar en genesei pantōn autos archē. ho de ex ekeinou echōn tēn anaphoran eis ekeinon henoutai palin, ekeinǭ tēs diastaseōs synkriseōs te ou topikōs alla noerōs ginomenēs; ou gar zēmią tini tōn patrǭōn splanchnōn synestē to gennēthen, hōsper amelei ta ek spermatōn, alla diataxei pronoias epistatēn sōtēra tǭ te aisthētǭ kosmǭ kai tois en autǭ mēchanōmenēs. toigartoi pasin, hosa perieilēptai hypo tou kosmou, hē aitia tou einai kai zēn ekeithen; ekeithen de kai psychē kai pasa aisthēsis kai ta organa, diʼ hōn ta sēmainomena hypo tōn aisthēseōn apoteleitai.
The Good, which all things desire, God who is beyond being, has no generation, and therefore no beginning; for he himself is the beginning of all things that come into being. And the one who has his origin from him is united to him again, the separation and the joining with him taking place not locally but intellectually; for the one begotten did not come into existence by any loss of the Father's inward parts, as do things from seeds, but by the ordering of providence, which devised a Saviour as overseer of the perceptible world and of what is in it. Therefore for all things contained by the world the cause of being and living comes from there; from there too come the soul and every sense and the organs through which the things signified by the senses are accomplished.
Notes and citation
Summary: God, the Good beyond being, has no beginning; the Son, begotten from him without loss to the Father, was appointed Saviour over the world, and from him come life, soul and sense.
- 'The Good, which all things desire' recalls Aristotle, Eth. nic. 1.1 (1094a3). Constantine's account of the Son's generation 'by the ordering of providence' is translated as written. The text reads ἂν ἀεί for ὢν ἀεί ('being eternally').
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip in breathing; joined words separated): Ἀγαθὸν οὖ πάντα → Ἀγαθὸν οὗ πάντα; ἀλλὰνοερῶς → ἀλλὰ νοερῶς; πατρᾠων → πατρῴων; διʼὦν → διʼ ὧν.
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle, Eth. nic. 1094a3 (Aristotle (works); echo)
Topics: Trinity, Christology
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 3.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
3.2Heikel
τί οὖν δηλοῖ ὁ λόγος; τῶν ὄντων ἁπάντων ἕνα εἶναι προστάτην, καὶ πάνθʼὑποτετάχθαι τῇ ἐκείνου δεσποτείᾳ μόνου, τά τʼοὐράνια τά τʼἐπίγεια καὶ τὰ φυσικὰ καὶ ὀργανικὰ σώματα. εἰ γὰρ ἡ τούτων ἀναριθμήτων ὄντων κυρία οὐχ ἑνὸς ἀλλὰ πολλῶν οὖσα ἐτύγχανεν, κλῆροι ἂν καὶ στοιχείων διανεμήσεις καὶ σαντα τὴν ἐναρμόνιον τῶν ππων πάντων ὁμόνοιαν διεσάλευε, πολλῶν διαφόρως τὴν λελογχυῖαν ἑκάστῳ μοῖραν διοικονομουμένων,
ti oun dēloi ho logos? tōn ontōn hapantōn hena einai prostatēn, kai panthʼhypotetachthai tę̄ ekeinou despoteią monou, ta tʼourania ta tʼepigeia kai ta physika kai organika sōmata. ei gar hē toutōn anarithmētōn ontōn kyria ouch henos alla pollōn ousa etynchanen, klēroi an kai stoicheiōn dianemēseis kai santa tēn enarmonion tōn ppōn pantōn homonoian diesaleue, pollōn diaphorōs tēn lelonchuian hekastǭ moiran dioikonomoumenōn,
What then does the argument show? That there is one ruler of all things that exist, and that all things are subject to his sole lordship, the heavenly and the earthly, natural and organic bodies. For if the lordship over these, countless as they are, belonged not to one but to many, there would be lots and distributions of the elements, and ... would shake the harmonious concord of all things, as many administered differently the portion allotted to each,
Notes and citation
Summary: There is one ruler of all; rule by many gods would destroy the harmony of the world.
- The digital text is garbled at καὶ σαντα ... τῶν ππων πάντων; marked '...'. The sentence continues in 3.3.
Topics: God
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 3.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
3.3Heikel
τοῦ δὲ ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτά τε καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχειν τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον ἀμεδὲ καὶ λιτανεῖαν πρὸς τίνα πρῶτον ἢ τελευταῖον; τίνα δὲ θεραπεύων ἐξαιρέτως οὐκ ἂν περὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἠσέβησα; ἢ τάχα δʼ ἂν καὶ δεόμενος τῶν βιωτικῶν τινος τῷ μὲν συναραμένῳ χάριν ἔγνων, τῷ δʼ ἀντιπράξαντι ἐμεμψάμην. τίνι δὲ προσευξάμενος τὴν αἰτίαν ἄν τῆς περιστάσεως γνῶναι τῆς τʼἀπαλλαγῆς τυχεῖν ἠξίουν;
tou de aei kata ta auta te kai hōsautōs echein ton sympanta kosmon amede kai litaneian pros tina prōton ē teleutaion? tina de therapeuōn exairetōs ouk an peri tous loipous ēsebēsa? ē tacha dʼ an kai deomenos tōn biōtikōn tinos tǭ men synaramenǭ charin egnōn, tǭ dʼ antipraxanti emempsamēn. tini de proseuxamenos tēn aitian an tēs peristaseōs gnōnai tēs tʼapallagēs tychein ēxioun?
and ... of the whole world remaining always in the same state and manner. And to whom would I first, or last, offer supplication? Whom would I serve especially, without being impious toward the rest? Or perhaps, when I needed something for life, I would thank the one who helped, and blame the one who opposed. To whom would I pray to learn the cause of my trouble and ask to obtain release?
Notes and citation
Summary: With many gods one could not know whom to pray to, whom to thank, or whom to blame.
- The opening is garbled in the digital text (ἀμεδὲ, probably ἀμελουμένου, 'being neglected'); marked '...'. λιτανεῖαν is a slip for λιτανείαν.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 3.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
3.4Heikel
θῶμεν δὴ λογίοις καὶ χρησμοῖς ἡμῖν ἀποκεκρίσθαι, μὴ εἶναι δὲ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἐξουσίας ἄλλῳ τε ταῦτα ἀνήκειν θεῷ· τίς οὖν ἔλεος, ποία δὲ θεοῦ εἰς ἄνθρωπον πρόνοια; εἰ μὴ ἄρα βιαίως ὁ φιλανθρωπότερον πρὸς τὸν μηδεμίαν ἔχοντα σχέσιν διατεθεὶς ἐπεκούρησεν. ὀργὴ δὲ καὶ στάσις καὶ ὄνειδος, ὡς μὴ ἰδιοπραγούντων μηδʼἀρκουμένων τοῖς ἐπιβάλλουσι διὰ πλεονεξίαν, καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ἡ πάντων σύγχυσις ἐπηκολούθησεν ἄν.
thōmen dē logiois kai chrēsmois hēmin apokekristhai, mē einai de tēs heautōn exousias allǭ te tauta anēkein theǭ; tis oun eleos, poia de theou eis anthrōpon pronoia? ei mē ara biaiōs ho philanthrōpoteron pros ton mēdemian echonta schesin diatetheis epekourēsen. orgē de kai stasis kai oneidos, hōs mē idiopragountōn mēdʼarkoumenōn tois epiballousi dia pleonexian, kai to teleutaion hē pantōn synchysis epēkolouthēsen an.
Suppose oracles and responses answered us that this was not in their own power, and belonged to another god: what mercy then, what providence of God toward man? Unless perhaps one more kindly disposed came to the aid by force of one with whom he had no relation. And anger, faction and reproach would follow, since they would not mind their own business nor be content with what fell to them, out of greed; and in the end, the confusion of all things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gods with divided powers could show no providence, and their rivalry would lead to universal confusion.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray capital): Ἡμῖν ἀποκεκρίσθαι → ἡμῖν ἀποκεκρίσθαι.
Topics: Providence
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 3.4 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
3.5Heikel
τί οὖν τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα; δῆλον ὡς ἡ τῶν οὐρανίων στάσις τὰ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὰ ἐπίγεια διελυμήνατο ἄν, ἀφανισθείσης μὲν τῆς τῶν ὡρῶν διατάξεως καιρῶν τε μεταβολῆς καὶ τῆς κατὰ τοὺς καιροὺς τῶν φυομένων καρπῶν τε μεταβολῆς καὶ νισθείσης δʼἡμέρας καὶ τῆς διαδεχομένης αὐτὴν νυκτερινῆς ἀναπαύσεως. καὶ τούτων μὲν ἅλις, πάλιν δʼἐπὶ τὸν ἀνεξέλεγκτον ἐπανήκωμεν λόγον.
ti oun ta meta tauta? dēlon hōs hē tōn ouraniōn stasis ta hypo ton ouranon kai ta epigeia dielymēnato an, aphanistheisēs men tēs tōn hōrōn diataxeōs kairōn te metabolēs kai tēs kata tous kairous tōn phyomenōn karpōn te metabolēs kai nistheisēs dʼhēmeras kai tēs diadechomenēs autēn nykterinēs anapauseōs. kai toutōn men halis, palin dʼepi ton anexelenkton epanēkōmen logon.
What then would follow? Clearly the faction of the heavenly powers would have destroyed what is under heaven and on earth: the order of the seasons and the changes of times would have vanished, and the change of the fruits that grow according to the seasons; and the day would have vanished, and the night's rest that succeeds it. But enough of this; let us return again to the irrefutable argument.
Notes and citation
Summary: Strife among gods would destroy the order of seasons and of day and night.
- The digital text repeats καὶ ... μεταβολῆς and reads νισθείσης (for ἀφανισθείσης); translated by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR garbled letter; OCR slip): τὰ ὑὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν → τὰ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν; ἀνα΄αύσεως → ἀναπαύσεως.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 3.5 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/3-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
Chapter 4
4.1Heikel
Πᾶν τὸ ἀρχὴν ἔχον καὶ τέλος ἔχει· ἡ δὲ κατὰ χρόνον ἀρχὴ γένεσις καλεῖται· τὰ δʼἐκ γενέσεως φθαρτὰ πάντα, μορφὴν δὲ χρόνος ἀμαυροῖ. πῶς οὖν ἂν οἱ ἐκ γενέσεως φθαρτῆς εἶεν ἀθάνατοι; δόξα δὲ τῶν ἀλογίστων δήμων τοιαύτη τις διαπεφοίτηκεν, ὡς παρὰ τοῖς θεοῖς γάμοι παιδοσπορίαι τε ἐνομίσθησαν. εἰ δʼἀθάνατοι οἱ γεννώμενοι, γεννῶνται δὲ ἀεί, πλημμυρεῖν ἀνάγκη τὸ γένος. προσθήκης δʼἐπιγενομένης, τίς ἂν οὐρανός, ποία δὲ γῆ τοσοῦτον σμῆνος ἐπιγιγνόμενον θεῶν ἐχώρησεν; τί δʼἂν εἴποι τις περὶ ἀνδρῶν οὐρανίους ἀδελφοὺς εἰς γάμου κοινωνίαν συναπτόντων μοιχείας τε καὶ ἀκολασίας ἐγκαλούντων; λέγωμεν δὴ τεθαρρηκότως καὶ τὰς τιμὰς αὐτῶν τά τε παρʼἀνθρώπων εἰς αὐτοὺς γέρα ὕβρεσι καὶ ἀσελγείαις μεμῖχθαι.
Pan to archēn echon kai telos echei; hē de kata chronon archē genesis kaleitai; ta dʼek geneseōs phtharta panta, morphēn de chronos amauroi. pōs oun an hoi ek geneseōs phthartēs eien athanatoi? doxa de tōn alogistōn dēmōn toiautē tis diapephoitēken, hōs para tois theois gamoi paidosporiai te enomisthēsan. ei dʼathanatoi hoi gennōmenoi, gennōntai de aei, plēmmyrein anankē to genos. prosthēkēs dʼepigenomenēs, tis an ouranos, poia de gē tosouton smēnos epigignomenon theōn echōrēsen? ti dʼan eipoi tis peri andrōn ouranious adelphous eis gamou koinōnian synaptontōn moicheias te kai akolasias enkalountōn? legōmen dē tetharrēkotōs kai tas timas autōn ta te parʼanthrōpōn eis autous gera hybresi kai aselgeiais memichthai.
Everything that has a beginning also has an end; and a beginning in time is called generation; all things from generation are perishable, and time dims their form. How then could beings from perishable generation be immortal? Yet such an opinion has spread among the unreasoning crowds that marriages and begettings of children are believed to take place among the gods. But if those who are begotten are immortal, and they are always begotten, the race must overflow. And with increase upon increase, what heaven, what earth could hold so great a swarm of gods coming into being? And what could one say of men who join heavenly brothers and sisters in the union of marriage and accuse them of adulteries and licentiousness? Let us say boldly that their honours and the rewards given them by men are mingled with insults and lewdness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gods who are born must perish, and if they kept being born they would overflow heaven; the myths of divine marriages and adulteries dishonour them.
- 'Adulteries' renders μοιχείας. ἀδελφοὺς ('brothers') refers to sibling gods such as Zeus and Hera.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR doubled letter; OCR garbled word): ἀννάγκη → ἀνάγκη; τοσοπυτον → τοσοῦτον.
Topics: Paganism
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 4.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/4-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
4.2Heikel
ἤδη γάρ τις ἐν λόγοις ἐξετασθεὶς ὕμνους ἐμμέτρους ἢ καὶ ἄνευ μέτρου συνθεὶς ἀγαλματοποιός τε μορφήν τινα διανοίᾳ προλαβὼν ἔντεχνον τεκταίνεται παιδιάν, καὶ μεταξὺ οἷα δὴ λήθης ἐμπεσούσης τὸ ἴδιον πλάσμα κολακεύει σέβων ὡς θεὸν ἀθάνατον, ὁμολογῶν ἑαυτὸν πατέρα καὶ δημιουργὸν τοῦ ἀγάλματος θνητὸν εἶναι.
ēdē gar tis en logois exetastheis hymnous emmetrous ē kai aneu metrou syntheis agalmatopoios te morphēn tina dianoią prolabōn entechnon tektainetai paidian, kai metaxy hoia dē lēthēs empesousēs to idion plasma kolakeuei sebōn hōs theon athanaton, homologōn heauton patera kai dēmiourgon tou agalmatos thnēton einai.
For already someone versed in letters, having composed hymns in metre or without metre, or a sculptor, conceiving some form in his mind, fashions an artful plaything; and meanwhile, as if forgetfulness had fallen on him, he flatters his own creation, worshipping it as an immortal god, while admitting that he himself, the father and maker of the statue, is mortal.
Isa 44:9–17 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Poets and sculptors worship as immortal the works they made, though they know themselves mortal.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in accent): οἶα δὴ λήθης → οἷα δὴ λήθης.
Topics: Idolatry
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 4.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/4-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
4.3Heikel
τῶν δʼ ἀφθάρτων ἐκείνων τάφους τε καὶ θήκας ἐπιδεικνύουσιν αὐτοί, κατοιχομένους τε τιμαῖς ἀθανάτοις γεραίρουσιν, ἀγνοοῦντες τὸ ἀληθῶς μακάριον καὶ ἄφθαρτον ἀνενδεὲς ὑπάρχον τῆς παρὰ τῶν φθαρτῶν ἐπιτιμίας. τὸ γάρ τοι νῷ θεατὸν καὶ διανοίᾳ περιληπτὸν οὔτε μορφὴν ἐπιποτύπου. ταῦτα δὲ πάντα γίγνεται πρὸς χάριν τῶν κατοιχομένων· ἄνθρωποι γὰρ ἦσαν, ἡνίκα ἔζων σώματος μέτοχοι ὄντες.
tōn dʼ aphthartōn ekeinōn taphous te kai thēkas epideiknyousin autoi, katoichomenous te timais athanatois gerairousin, agnoountes to alēthōs makarion kai aphtharton anendees hyparchon tēs para tōn phthartōn epitimias. to gar toi nǭ theaton kai dianoią perilēpton oute morphēn epipotypou. tauta de panta gignetai pros charin tōn katoichomenōn; anthrōpoi gar ēsan, hēnika ezōn sōmatos metochoi ontes.
And they themselves show the tombs and burial places of those incorruptible ones, and honour the departed with immortal honours, not knowing that what is truly blessed and incorruptible has no need of honour from perishable beings. For what is seen by the mind and grasped by thought needs no form to shape it. All these things are done in honour of the departed; for they were men, when they lived sharing in a body.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans show the tombs of their 'immortal' gods, proving them to have been mortal men.
- ἐπιποτύπου is garbled (probably ἐπιδεῖται τύπου, 'needs a shape'); translated by sense.
Topics: Paganism
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 4.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/4-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/4-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
Chapter 5
5.1Heikel
Τί δὲ χραίνω τὴν γλῶτταν λόγοις μεμιασμένοις, μέλλων ὑμνεῖν τὸν ὄντως θεόν; βούλομαι δὴ πρότερον ἁγνῷ πόματι ὥσπερ ἁλμυρὸν ἀποκλύσασθαι στόμα· τὸ δʼ ἁγνὸν πόμα χεῖται διὰ πηγῆς ἀενάου τῶν ἀρετῶν τοῦ ὑμνουμένου πρὸς ἡμῶν θεοῦ, ἐμόν τʼ ἴδιον ἔργον τὸν Χριστὸν ὑμνεῖν διὰ βίου καὶ τῆς ὀφειλομένης αὐτῷ πρὸς ἡμῶν ἀντὶ πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων εὐεργεσιῶν εὐχαριστίας.
Ti de chrainō tēn glōttan logois memiasmenois, mellōn hymnein ton ontōs theon? boulomai dē proteron hagnǭ pomati hōsper halmyron apoklysasthai stoma; to dʼ hagnon poma cheitai dia pēgēs aenaou tōn aretōn tou hymnoumenou pros hēmōn theou, emon tʼ idion ergon ton Christon hymnein dia biou kai tēs opheilomenēs autǭ pros hēmōn anti pollōn kai megalōn euergesiōn eucharistias.
But why do I stain my tongue with polluted words, when I am about to hymn the true God? I wish first to rinse my mouth as from brine with a pure drink. The pure drink flows from the ever-flowing spring of the virtues of the God hymned by us; and it is my own task to hymn Christ throughout my life and with the thanksgiving owed him by us for many great benefits.
Notes and citation
Summary: Turning from pagan myths, Constantine resolves to praise Christ, to whom he owes thanks for many benefits.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 5.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/5-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
5.2Heikel
φημὶ δὴ τοῦτον τὰς ἀρχὰς στηρίξαι τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς ὑπόθεσίν τε ἀνθρώπων ἀνευρεῖν λόγῳ νομοθετήσαντα, καὶ παραχρῆμα μὲν εἰς μακάριόν τινα καὶ εὐανθῆ καρπῶν τε διαφόρων βρίθοντα χῶρον ἀποικίσαι τοὺς νεωστὶ τεχθέντας, ἀδαεῖς τʼ αὐτοὺς κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν εἶναι θελῆσαι, τέλος δʼ ἀπονεῖμαι μόνην λογικῷ ζώῳ πρέπουσαν τὴν ἐπὶ γῆς ἕδραν, καὶ τότε ἤδη οἷα δὴ τότε δὴ καὶ τὸ γένος αὔξειν ἐκέλευσεν, ὡς ἂν ποτε τὸ ὅλον ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ ὠκεανοῦ περινοστήσεως διοριζόμενον οἰκοῖτο.
phēmi dē touton tas archas stērixai toude tou pantos hypothesin te anthrōpōn aneurein logǭ nomothetēsanta, kai parachrēma men eis makarion tina kai euanthē karpōn te diaphorōn brithonta chōron apoikisai tous neōsti techthentas, adaeis tʼ autous katʼ archas agathōn kai kakōn einai thelēsai, telos dʼ aponeimai monēn logikǭ zōǭ prepousan tēn epi gēs hedran, kai tote ēdē hoia dē tote dē kai to genos auxein ekeleusen, hōs an pote to holon hypo tēs tou ōkeanou perinostēseōs diorizomenon oikoito.
I say, then, that he established the foundations of this universe, and by his word, legislating, devised the plan of mankind; and at first he settled the newly created in a blessed place, full of flowers and laden with various fruits, and willed that at the beginning they should be ignorant of good and evil; but in the end he assigned them a dwelling on earth, the only one fitting for a rational creature; and then he commanded the race to increase, so that the whole, bounded by the circling of the ocean, might at some time be inhabited.
Gen 2:8–17 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 1:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:23 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ made the world and humankind, placed the first humans in paradise ignorant of good and evil, then gave them the earth and told them to multiply.
- Gen 1:28; 2:8–17; 3:23. The text repeats τότε δή; translated once.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misplaced word break): τὸγ ένος → τὸ γένος.
Topics: Christology, Creation
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 5.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/5-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
5.3Heikel
πληθύνοντος δʼ οὕτω τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένους, τέχναι τε τῷ βίῳ χρησιμεύουσαι ἀνευρίσκοντο, πληθύει τʼ οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων γενεά, ἐφʼ ἑκάστου γένους ἐξαιρέτου τινὸς φυσικῆς δυνάμεως εὑρισκομένης· ἡμέρων ζώων τὸ πρᾶσον καὶ ἐπιπειθὲς ἀνθρώπῳ, ἀγρίων δὲ ῥώμη καὶ ταχυτὴς καὶ τῆς ἐκ τῶν κινδύνων σωτηρίας φυσική τις πρόνοια.
plēthynontos dʼ houtō tou tōn anthrōpōn genous, technai te tǭ biǭ chrēsimeuousai aneuriskonto, plēthyei tʼ ouden hētton kai hē tōn alogōn zōōn genea, ephʼ hekastou genous exairetou tinos physikēs dynameōs heuriskomenēs; hēmerōn zōōn to prason kai epipeithes anthrōpǭ, agriōn de rhōmē kai tachytēs kai tēs ek tōn kindynōn sōtērias physikē tis pronoia.
As the human race thus multiplied, arts useful to life were invented; and no less did the race of irrational animals multiply, an exceptional natural power being found in each kind: in tame animals gentleness and obedience to man; in wild ones strength and speed and a kind of natural foresight for escaping danger.
Notes and citation
Summary: As humanity multiplied, the arts arose, and animals too multiplied, each with its own natural gift.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἀνηυρίσκοντο → ἀνευρίσκοντο.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 5.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/5-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
5.4Heikel
καὶ πάντων μὲν ἡμέρων κηδεμονίαν τινὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπέταξε, πρὸς δὲ τὰ ἄγρια ἅμιλλάν τινα, νομοθετήσας. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὴν τῶν πετεινῶν γενεὰν συνεστήσατο, πολλὴν μὲν ἀριθμῷ φύσει δὲ καὶ ἔθεσι διάφορον, ἐκπρεπῆ μὲν χρωμάτων ποικιλίᾳ μουσικῆς δʼ ἁρμονίας ἐμφύτου μέτοχον, ἄλλα τε πάντα ὅσα κόσμος περιλαβὼν συνέχει διευκρινησάμενος, καὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν εἱμαρμένον τοῦ βίου θεσμὸν ὁρίσας, τὴν τελειοτάτην τῶν ὅλων συμπλήρωσιν κατεκόσμησεν.
kai pantōn men hēmerōn kēdemonian tina tois anthrōpois epetaxe, pros de ta agria hamillan tina, nomothetēsas. meta de tauta tēn tōn peteinōn genean synestēsato, pollēn men arithmǭ physei de kai ethesi diaphoron, ekprepē men chrōmatōn poikilią mousikēs dʼ harmonias emphytou metochon, alla te panta hosa kosmos perilabōn synechei dieukrinēsamenos, kai toutois pasin heimarmenon tou biou thesmon horisas, tēn teleiotatēn tōn holōn symplērōsin katekosmēsen.
And he enjoined on men a kind of care for all the tame animals, and laid down a kind of contest against the wild ones. After this he established the race of birds, many in number and different in nature and habits, conspicuous for variety of colours and sharing an inborn musical harmony; and having distinguished everything else that the world embraces and holds together, and fixed for all these an appointed law of life, he adorned the most perfect completion of the whole.
Gen 1:20–25 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God gave humans care of tame animals and struggle against wild ones, made the birds, and completed creation with a law for each kind.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter): πεπτεινῶν → πετεινῶν.
Topics: Creation
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 5.4 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/5-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/5-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
Chapter 6
6.1Heikel
Οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἄφρονες ὄντες τῆς τῶν πάντων διακοσμήσεως τὴν φύσιν αἰτιῶνται, οἱ δέ τινες αὐτῶν τὴν εἱμαρμένην ἢ τὸ αὐτόματον. τὴν τούτων ἐξουσίαν τῇ εἱμαρμένῃ λογιζόμενοι οὐδὲ συνιᾶσιν, ὅταν τὴν εἱμαρμένην προσαγορεύωσιν, ὄνομα μὲν φθεγγόμενοι, πρᾶξιν δʼ οὐδεμίαν οὐδʼ ὑποκειμένην τινὰ δηλοῦντες οὐσίαν. τίς γὰρ ἂν εἴη αὐτὴ καθʼ ἑαυτὴν ἡ εἱμαρμένη, τῆς φύσεως γεννησάσης τὰ πάντα; ἢ τί ἂν εἶναι ἡ φύσις νομίζοιτο, εἴπερ ὁ τῆς εἱμαρμένης θεσμὸς ἀπαράβατος ὑπάρχει; ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ λέγειν εἱμαρμένον τινὰ θεσμὸν εἶναι δηλοῖ ὅτι θεσμὸς πᾶς ἔργον ἐστὶ τοῦ θεσμοθετήσαντος. ἣ τοίνυν ἡ εἱμαρμένη, εἴπερ ἐστὶ θεσμός, θεοῦ ἂν εὕρημα εἴη· πάντʼ ἄρα ὑποτέτακται τῷ θεῷ, καὶ οὐδὲν ἄμοιρον τῆς ἐκείνου δυνάμεως.
Hoi de pleistoi tōn anthrōpōn aphrones ontes tēs tōn pantōn diakosmēseōs tēn physin aitiōntai, hoi de tines autōn tēn heimarmenēn ē to automaton. tēn toutōn exousian tę̄ heimarmenę̄ logizomenoi oude syniasin, hotan tēn heimarmenēn prosagoreuōsin, onoma men phthengomenoi, praxin dʼ oudemian oudʼ hypokeimenēn tina dēlountes ousian. tis gar an eiē autē kathʼ heautēn hē heimarmenē, tēs physeōs gennēsasēs ta panta? ē ti an einai hē physis nomizoito, eiper ho tēs heimarmenēs thesmos aparabatos hyparchei? alla kai to legein heimarmenon tina thesmon einai dēloi hoti thesmos pas ergon esti tou thesmothetēsantos. hē toinyn hē heimarmenē, eiper esti thesmos, theou an heurēma eiē; pantʼ ara hypotetaktai tǭ theǭ, kai ouden amoiron tēs ekeinou dynameōs.
But most people, being foolish, ascribe the ordering of all things to nature, and some of them to fate or chance. Reckoning the authority over these things to fate, they do not even understand that, when they name fate, they utter a name but show no action and no underlying substance. For what would fate be in itself, if nature produced all things? Or what could nature be thought to be, if the law of fate is inviolable? Indeed, to say that there is a law of fate shows that every law is the work of a lawgiver. So fate, if it is a law, would be God's invention: all things, then, are subject to God, and nothing is without a share in his power.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who ascribe the world to nature, fate or chance contradict themselves; a law of fate implies a lawgiver, God.
Topics: Providence
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
6.2Heikel
καὶ τήν γε εἱμαρμένην θεοῦ εἶναι καὶ νομίζεσθαι προαίρεσιν ἀποδεχόμεθα· ἀλλὰ πῶς ἡ δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἡ σωφροσύνη καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ ἀρεταὶ καθʼ εἱμαρμένην; πόθεν δὲ τὰ ταύταις ὑπεναντία, ἥ τε ἀδικία καὶ ἡ ἀκολασία; ἥ τε γὰρ πονηρία ἐκ φύσεως ἀλλʼ οὐχ εἱμαρμένης, ἥ τε ἀρετὴ ἤθους καὶ τρόπων ἐστὶ κατορθώματα. τὰ δὲ τῆς ἀγαθῆς καὶ ὀρθῆς προαιρέσεως ἤτοι πταίσματα ἢ αὖ πάλιν κατορθώματα, ἄλλοτε ἄλλως ἀποβαίνοντα ἢ κατὰ τύχην ἢ κατὰ εἱμαρμένην, πᾶν τε τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὸ κατʼ ἀξίαν ἀπονεμόμενον ἑκάστῳ πῶς καθʼ εἱμαρμένην;
kai tēn ge heimarmenēn theou einai kai nomizesthai proairesin apodechometha; alla pōs hē dikaiosynē kai hē sōphrosynē kai hai loipai aretai kathʼ heimarmenēn? pothen de ta tautais hypenantia, hē te adikia kai hē akolasia? hē te gar ponēria ek physeōs allʼ ouch heimarmenēs, hē te aretē ēthous kai tropōn esti katorthōmata. ta de tēs agathēs kai orthēs proaireseōs ētoi ptaismata ē au palin katorthōmata, allote allōs apobainonta ē kata tychēn ē kata heimarmenēn, pan te to dikaion kai to katʼ axian aponemomenon hekastǭ pōs kathʼ heimarmenēn?
And we accept that fate is God's will and is so regarded; but how are justice and self-control and the other virtues according to fate? And from where come their opposites, injustice and licentiousness? For wickedness comes from nature, not fate, and virtue is the achievement of character and habits. As for the failures, or again the successes, of a good and upright choice, turning out now one way, now another, by chance or by fate, and all that is just and given to each as deserved: how is this according to fate?
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue and vice, justice and desert cannot be the product of fate.
- 'Wickedness comes from nature' is as printed; the sense may be 'from (perverted) nature' rather than fate.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; OCR transposed letters): σωμφοσύνη → σωφροσύνη; παονηρία → πονηρία.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
6.3Heikel
νόμοι δὲ καὶ προτροπαὶ ψόγοι τιμωρίαι τε καὶ πάνθʼ ὅσα παρακαλεῖ μὲν ἐπὶ ἀρετὴν ἀπάγει δʼ ἀπὸ πονηρίας, πῶς οὐκ ἐκ δικαιοσύνης, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἰδία θεοῦ προνοουμένου, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τύχης ἢ τοῦ αὐτομάτου συστῆναι λέγεται; διὰ γὰρ τὸν ποιὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον καὶ τὸ κατʼ ἀξίαν ἐπαρτᾷ, λοιμῶν ἔσθʼ ὅτε καὶ στάσεων ἀφορίας τε καὶ εὐφορίας ἐπακολουθούντων φανερῶς τε καὶ διαρρήδην μόνον οὐχὶ φωνὴν ἀφιέντων, ὅτι πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα τοῖς ἡμετέροις βίοις ἐφήρμοσται.
nomoi de kai protropai psogoi timōriai te kai panthʼ hosa parakalei men epi aretēn apagei dʼ apo ponērias, pōs ouk ek dikaiosynēs, hētis estin idia theou pronooumenou, allʼ ek tychēs ē tou automatou systēnai legetai? dia gar ton poion tōn anthrōpōn bion kai to katʼ axian epartą, loimōn esthʼ hote kai staseōn aphorias te kai euphorias epakolouthountōn phanerōs te kai diarrēdēn monon ouchi phōnēn aphientōn, hoti panta ta toiauta tois hēmeterois biois ephērmostai.
Laws and exhortations, reproofs and punishments, and all that summons to virtue and draws away from wickedness: how is it said that they come not from justice, which is proper to God's providence, but from chance or the spontaneous? For according to the quality of men's life he also suspends what they deserve over them, plagues and factions, barrenness and fertility at times following, plainly and expressly all but crying aloud that all such things are fitted to our lives.
Notes and citation
Summary: Laws, rewards and punishments, and the calamities and blessings that follow human conduct show God's just providence, not chance.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips): προτροποαὶ ψόφοι → προτροπαὶ ψόγοι.
Topics: Ethics, Providence
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
6.4Heikel
ἡ γάρ τοι οὐσία χαίρει μὲν εὐδικίαις ἀποστρέφεται δὲ πᾶσαν δυσσέβειαν, καὶ τὸ μέτριον φρόνημα δεξιοῦται, μισεῖ δὲ τόλμαν καὶ τὴν ὑπὲρ τὸ ζῶον ἐπηρμένην ἀλαζονείαν· ὧν εἰ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα σαφεῖς καὶ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν κείμεναί εἰσιν αἱ ἀποδείξεις, τηνικαῦτα μέντοι φανερώτερον ἐκλάμπουσιν, ὁσάκις ἄν, συναγείραντες εἰς ἑαυτοὺς καὶ οἱονεὶ συστείλαντες τὸν νοῦν, τὴν αἰτίαν αὐτῶν παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς λογιζώμεθα. διὸ χρῆναί φημι ζῆν μετρίως τε καὶ προσηνῶς, μὴ ὑπὲρ τὴν φύσιν τὸ φρόνημα ἐγείροντας, καὶ ἐννοίας λαμβάνοντας ἀεὶ παρεῖναι ἡμῖν τὸν ἐπόπτην τῶν πρασσομένων θεόν.
hē gar toi ousia chairei men eudikiais apostrephetai de pasan dyssebeian, kai to metrion phronēma dexioutai, misei de tolman kai tēn hyper to zōon epērmenēn alazoneian; hōn ei kai ta malista sapheis kai pro ophthalmōn keimenai eisin hai apodeixeis, tēnikauta mentoi phanerōteron eklampousin, hosakis an, synageirantes eis heautous kai hoionei systeilantes ton noun, tēn aitian autōn parʼ heautois logizōmetha. dio chrēnai phēmi zēn metriōs te kai prosēnōs, mē hyper tēn physin to phronēma egeirontas, kai ennoias lambanontas aei pareinai hēmin ton epoptēn tōn prassomenōn theon.
For that Being delights in justice and turns away from all impiety; it welcomes a modest mind and hates daring and the arrogance that is lifted above the creature. Though the proofs of these things are very clear and lie before our eyes, they shine out more plainly whenever, gathering ourselves together and, as it were, concentrating the mind, we reckon their cause within ourselves. Therefore I say we must live modestly and gently, not raising our minds above our nature, and always keeping in mind that God, the overseer of what is done, is present with us.
1 Pet 5:5 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God loves justice and humility and hates arrogance; we should live modestly, mindful that God sees all.
- 'That Being' renders ἡ οὐσία; the divine being is meant.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.4 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
6.5Heikel
ἔτι δὲ καὶ οὕτω βασανιστέον εἰ τὸ λεγόμενον ἀληθές ἐστιν, ὡς ἡ πάντων πραγμάτων διάταξις ἐκ τύχης καὶ τοῦ αὐτομάτου συνέστη· ἆρʼ οὖν καὶ τὰ οὐράνια καὶ τὰ ἄστρα, γῆ τε καὶ θάλασσα, καὶ πῦρ καὶ ἄνεμοι, ὕδωρ τε καὶ ἀήρ, καὶ ἡ τῶν καιρῶν παραλλαγή, θέρους τε καὶ χειμῶνος ὧραι, ταῦτα πάντα ἀλογίστως καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε συμβεβηκέναι μᾶλλον ἢ δημιουργηθῆναι πείθεσθαι χρή;
eti de kai houtō basanisteon ei to legomenon alēthes estin, hōs hē pantōn pragmatōn diataxis ek tychēs kai tou automatou synestē; arʼ oun kai ta ourania kai ta astra, gē te kai thalassa, kai pyr kai anemoi, hydōr te kai aēr, kai hē tōn kairōn parallagē, therous te kai cheimōnos hōrai, tauta panta alogistōs kai hōs etyche symbebēkenai mallon ē dēmiourgēthēnai peithesthai chrē?
Further, we must test in this way whether what is said is true, that the ordering of all things came about by chance and the spontaneous. Must we then believe that the heavenly bodies and the stars, earth and sea, fire and winds, water and air, and the change of seasons, the seasons of summer and winter, all happened without reason and at random rather than being made?
Notes and citation
Summary: Can the heavens, the elements and the seasons really be the work of chance?
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter): παραγμάτων → πραγμάτων.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.5 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
6.6Heikel
τὸν νοῦν γὰρ οὐκ ἔχοντές φασί τινες τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν τοιούτων διὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν χρείαν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐπινενοηκέναι, ἀφθόνως τῆς φύσεως πάντα χρήματα χορηγούσης. ἔστω περὶ τῶν ἐπιγείων καὶ φθαρτῶν τὴν δόξαν ταύτην λόγου τινὸς μετειληφέναι· ἆρʼ οὖν καὶ τὰ ἀθάνατα καὶ τὰ ἀναλλοίωτα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶν εὑρήματα; τούτων γὰρ καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἁπάντων, ὅσα τῆς ἡμετέρας αἰσθήσεως κεχώρισται, νῷ δὲ μόνῳ καταληπτὰ τυγχάνει ὄντα, οὐκ ἔνυλον ζῶον, ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ νοητὴ καὶ αἰώνιος οὐσία θεοῦ γεννήτριά ἐστιν.
ton noun gar ouk echontes phasi tines ta pleista tōn toioutōn dia tēn heautōn chreian tous anthrōpous epinenoēkenai, aphthonōs tēs physeōs panta chrēmata chorēgousēs. estō peri tōn epigeiōn kai phthartōn tēn doxan tautēn logou tinos meteilēphenai; arʼ oun kai ta athanata kai ta analloiōta tōn anthrōpōn estin heurēmata? toutōn gar kai tōn toioutōn hapantōn, hosa tēs hēmeteras aisthēseōs kechōristai, nǭ de monǭ katalēpta tynchanei onta, ouk enylon zōon, anthrōpos, alla noētē kai aiōnios ousia theou gennētria estin.
For some, lacking sense, say that men devised most such things for their own need, nature supplying all goods ungrudgingly. Let us grant that this opinion has some reason concerning earthly and perishable things; but are the immortal and unchanging things also inventions of men? For of these and of all such things that are separated from our senses and grasped by mind alone, the begetter is not man, a material creature, but the intelligible and eternal being of God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even if humans devised some useful things, they did not make the eternal realities, which come from God.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter): ἑατῶν → ἑαυτῶν.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.6 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
6.7Heikel
ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ὁ λόγος τῆς διατάξεως ἔργον προνοίας· τὸ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκλάμπειν καταυγαζομένην ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου, τὸ τὴν νύκτα διαδέχεσθαι δύνοντος αὐτοῦ καὶ διαδεξαμένην μὴ ἀμαυρὸν ὅλως αὐτὴν καταλείπεσθαι διὰ τὴν τῶν ἄστρων χορείαν. τί δʼ ἂν εἴποι τις περὶ τῆς σελήνης, πληρουμένης μὲν ἐκ τῆς καταντικρὺ πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἀποστάσεως, λεπτυνομένης δὲ διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ σύνεγγυς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁμιλίαν; ταῦτʼ οὐχὶ λόγον ἐνδιάθετον καὶ ἀγχίνοιαν δηλοῖ θεοῦ;
alla mēn kai ho logos tēs diataxeōs ergon pronoias; to tēn hēmeran eklampein kataugazomenēn hypo tou hēliou, to tēn nykta diadechesthai dynontos autou kai diadexamenēn mē amauron holōs autēn kataleipesthai dia tēn tōn astrōn choreian. ti dʼ an eipoi tis peri tēs selēnēs, plēroumenēs men ek tēs katantikry pros ton hēlion apostaseōs, leptynomenēs de dia tēn ek tou synengys pros auton homilian? tautʼ ouchi logon endiatheton kai anchinoian dēloi theou?
Moreover the principle of the ordering is a work of providence: that day shines out, lit by the sun; that night succeeds when it sets, and, having succeeded, is not left wholly dark because of the dance of the stars. And what could one say of the moon, filling out from its distance opposite the sun and waning through its nearness to it? Do these not show the inner reason and the sagacity of God?
Gen 1:14–18 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The order of day and night and the phases of the moon reveal God's providential reason.
Topics: Providence
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.7 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-7
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
6.8Heikel
τὸ τʼ ἐπιτήδειον τῆς ἡλιακῆς φλογὸς τοὺς καρποὺς πεπαινούσης, ἀνέμων τε πνεύματα εὐετηρίαν παρασκευάζοντα, ὄμβρων τε παραψυχή, καὶ ἡ τούτων ἁρμονία ἁπάντων, καθʼ ἣν εὐλόγως τε καὶ εὐτάκτως διοικεῖται τὰ πάντα, τό τʼ ἀίδιον τῆς διατάξεως, εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν ἀποκαθισταμένων τόπον τοῖς δέουσι καὶ νομιζομένοις καιροῖς τῶν πλανητῶν, οὐχὶ φανερὰ τοῦ θεοῦ πρόσταξις, καὶ τῶν ἀστέρων ἐντελὴς διακονία πειθομένη τῷ θείῳ νόμῳ;
to tʼ epitēdeion tēs hēliakēs phlogos tous karpous pepainousēs, anemōn te pneumata euetērian paraskeuazonta, ombrōn te parapsychē, kai hē toutōn harmonia hapantōn, kathʼ hēn eulogōs te kai eutaktōs dioikeitai ta panta, to tʼ aidion tēs diataxeōs, eis ton auton apokathistamenōn topon tois deousi kai nomizomenois kairois tōn planētōn, ouchi phanera tou theou prostaxis, kai tōn asterōn entelēs diakonia peithomenē tǭ theiǭ nomǭ?
And the fitness of the sun's flame that ripens the fruits, the breaths of winds that bring abundance, the refreshment of rains, and the harmony of all these, by which all things are governed reasonably and in good order, and the eternity of the ordering, as the planets return to the same place at the due and appointed times: is not all this a manifest command of God and a perfect service of the stars obeying the divine law?
Notes and citation
Summary: The ripening sun, winds, rains and the regular courses of the planets show obedience to God's law.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in breathing; line-end hyphenation rejoined): καρ- ποὺς → καρποὺς; ἀρμονία → ἁρμονία.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.8 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-8
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
6.9Heikel
ὕψη δʼ ὀρῶν καὶ κοῖλα βάθη χωρίων ὁμαλότης τʼ ἀναπεπταμένων πεδίων ἄνευ θεοῦ προνοίας εἶναι δοκεῖ; ὧν οὐ μόνον ἐπιτερπὴς ἡ θέα ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ χρῆσις ἐπιτερπής. ὕδατος δὲ καὶ γῆς μέτρα καὶ διαστάσεις, ἱκαναὶ πρός τε γεωργίαν καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἀλλοδαπῆς τῶν ἐν χρείᾳ παρακομιδήν, τὴν ἀκριβῆ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἔμμετρον προμήθειαν πῶς οὐ φανερῶς ἀποδεικνύουσιν; ὄρη μὲν γὰρ ὕδωρ ἔχει, διαδεξαμένη δὲ τοῦτο ὁμαλότης καὶ ἀρδευσαμένη τὸ ἱκανὸν πρὸς ἀνάκτησιν τῆς γῆς ἐξωθεῖ τὸ λοιπὸν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, ἡ δʼ αὖ θάλασσα τῷ ὠκεανῷ παραδίδωσι.
hypsē dʼ orōn kai koila bathē chōriōn homalotēs tʼ anapeptamenōn pediōn aneu theou pronoias einai dokei? hōn ou monon epiterpēs hē thea alla kai hē chrēsis epiterpēs. hydatos de kai gēs metra kai diastaseis, hikanai pros te geōrgian kai tēn ek tēs allodapēs tōn en chreią parakomidēn, tēn akribē tou theou kai emmetron promētheian pōs ou phanerōs apodeiknyousin? orē men gar hydōr echei, diadexamenē de touto homalotēs kai ardeusamenē to hikanon pros anaktēsin tēs gēs exōthei to loipon eis tēn thalassan, hē dʼ au thalassa tǭ ōkeanǭ paradidōsi.
Do the heights of mountains, the hollow depths of valleys and the levelness of spreading plains seem to exist without God's providence? Not only is the sight of them delightful, but their use too. And the measures and extents of water and land, sufficient both for farming and for bringing what is needed from abroad: how do they not plainly show God's exact and measured forethought? For the mountains hold water; the plain receives it, waters what is sufficient to refresh the land, and pushes out the rest into the sea; and the sea in turn hands it on to the ocean.
Notes and citation
Summary: Mountains, valleys, plains, and the flow of water from hills to sea show God's measured providence.
Topics: Providence
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.9 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-9
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
6.10Heikel
καὶ ἔτι τολμῶμεν λέγειν ταῦτα πάντα αὐτομάτως καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε γίγνεσθαι; οὐ δηλοῦντες ἐν ποίῳ τινὶ σχήματι καὶ μορφῇ χαρακτηρίζεται τὸ αὐτόματον, ὑπόστασιν οὐδεμίαν ἔχον οὔτε νοερῶς οὔτʼ αἰσθητῶς, μόνον δʼ ὅτι ἦχος ὀνόματος ἀνυποστάτου περὶ τὰ ὦτα βομβεῖ.
kai eti tolmōmen legein tauta panta automatōs kai hōs etyche gignesthai? ou dēlountes en poiǭ tini schēmati kai morphę̄ charaktērizetai to automaton, hypostasin oudemian echon oute noerōs outʼ aisthētōs, monon dʼ hoti ēchos onomatos anypostatou peri ta ōta bombei.
And do we still dare to say that all these things happen spontaneously and at random? We cannot show in what shape and form the spontaneous is characterized, since it has no substance, either intellectual or perceptible, but only the sound of an unsubstantial name buzzing about the ears.
Notes and citation
Summary: 'Chance' is an empty name with no substance.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 6.10 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/6-10
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
Chapter 7
7.1Heikel
Ἔστι γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐπίφθεγμα τὸ αὐτόματον ἀνθρώπων ὡς ἔτυχε καὶ ἀλογίστως φρονούντων καὶ τὸν μὲν λόγον αὐτῶν μὴ καταλαμβανόντων, διὰ δὲ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς καταλήψεως ἀλόγως οἰομένων διατετάχθαι ταῦτα ὧν τὸν λόγον εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἔχουσιν. ἔστι δʼ ὅμως τινά, ὧν ἡ ἀληθὴς κατάληψις τῆς ἀληθείας ἐν βάθει κεῖται, θαυμαστῆς τινος φύσεως τετυχηκότα, ὁποία καὶ ἡ τῶν θερμῶν ὑδάτων φύσις τυγχάνει οὖσα. τὴν μὲν γὰρ αἰτίαν τοῦ τοσούτου πυρὸς οὐδεὶς ἂν ἔχοι προχείρως λέγειν, θαυμαστὸν δʼ ὅτι ψυχρῷ ὕδατι περιστοιχιζόμενον κύκλῳ οὐκ ἔτι ἐξίσταται τῆς ἐμφύτου θερμότητος.
Esti gar hōs alēthōs epiphthegma to automaton anthrōpōn hōs etyche kai alogistōs phronountōn kai ton men logon autōn mē katalambanontōn, dia de tēn astheneian tēs katalēpseōs alogōs oiomenōn diatetachthai tauta hōn ton logon eipein ouk echousin. esti dʼ homōs tina, hōn hē alēthēs katalēpsis tēs alētheias en bathei keitai, thaumastēs tinos physeōs tetychēkota, hopoia kai hē tōn thermōn hydatōn physis tynchanei ousa. tēn men gar aitian tou tosoutou pyros oudeis an echoi procheirōs legein, thaumaston dʼ hoti psychrǭ hydati peristoichizomenon kyklǭ ouk eti existatai tēs emphytou thermotētos.
For 'the spontaneous' is truly the exclamation of people who think at random and without reasoning, who do not grasp the reason of things, and through the weakness of their grasp suppose irrationally that the things whose reason they cannot give were ordered without reason. Yet there are some things whose true grasp lies deep in the truth, possessing a wonderful nature, such as the nature of hot springs. No one could readily give the cause of so great a fire; but it is marvellous that, surrounded on every side by cold water, it does not lose its inborn heat.
Notes and citation
Summary: People call 'chance' what they cannot explain; hot springs, whose heat survives amid cold water, are an example of wonders whose cause lies deep.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 7.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/7-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
7.2Heikel
ταῦτά τοι σπάνιόν, ἵνʼ, ὡς ἐμαυτὸν πείθω, ἡ τῆς προνοίας δύναμις εὐδιάγνωστος παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γενέσθαι δύνηται, δύο φύσεις ἐναντιωτάτας, θερμότητα καὶ ψυχρότητα, ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς καὶ μιᾶς ῥίζης διηθεῖσθαι θεσπίζουσα.
tauta toi spanion, hinʼ, hōs emauton peithō, hē tēs pronoias dynamis eudiagnōstos para tois anthrōpois genesthai dynētai, dyo physeis enantiōtatas, thermotēta kai psychrotēta, ek tēs autēs kai mias rhizēs diētheisthai thespizousa.
These things are rare, so that, as I persuade myself, the power of providence may become easily recognized among men, ordaining that two most opposite natures, heat and cold, filter out from one and the same root.
Notes and citation
Summary: Such rare wonders make providence visible, joining heat and cold from one source.
Topics: Providence
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 7.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/7-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
7.3Heikel
πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ἀναρίθμητα εἰς παραμυθίαν καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις παρὰ τοῦ κρείττονος δεδώρηται, ἐξαιρέτως δʼ ὁ καρπὸς ἐλαίας τε καὶ ἀμπέλου, τὸ μὲν ἀνακτήσεως ψυχῆς καὶ φαιδρότητος ἐπέχον λόγον, τὸ δʼ ἕτερον πρὸς τῇ ἀπολαύσει καὶ θεραπείᾳ τῶν σωμάτων κατάλληλον. θαῦμα δʼ ἐξαίσιον καὶ ἡ ἐνδελεχὴς καὶ ἀδιάλειπτος ποταμῶν φορὰ νύκτωρ τε καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν, σύμβολον ἀενάου καὶ ἀδιαλείπτου βίου· ἰσοδυναμεῖ δὲ καὶ νυκτερινὴ διαδοχή.
polla men oun kai anarithmēta eis paramythian kai apolausin tois anthrōpois para tou kreittonos dedōrētai, exairetōs dʼ ho karpos elaias te kai ampelou, to men anaktēseōs psychēs kai phaidrotētos epechon logon, to dʼ heteron pros tę̄ apolausei kai therapeią tōn sōmatōn katallēlon. thauma dʼ exaision kai hē endelechēs kai adialeiptos potamōn phora nyktōr te kai methʼ hēmeran, symbolon aenaou kai adialeiptou biou; isodynamei de kai nykterinē diadochē.
Many and countless things have been given to men by the higher power for comfort and enjoyment, above all the fruit of the olive and of the vine: the one serving for the refreshment and gladdening of the soul, the other suited, besides enjoyment, to the care of bodies. A wonder too is the continual and unceasing flow of rivers night and day, a symbol of ever-flowing and unceasing life; and the succession of nights has equal force.
Ps 104:15 (103:15 LXX) (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God has given wine and oil for human comfort; the ceaseless flow of rivers is a symbol of unending life.
- Wine gladdens the heart and oil serves the body (compare Ps 104:15). ψυῆς is a slip for ψυχῆς.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter; line-end hyphenation rejoined): δεδώρη- ται → δεδώρηται; ἀνακτήσεως ψυῆς → ἀνακτήσεως ψυχῆς.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 7.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/7-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
Chapter 8
8.1Heikel
Πάντα δὲ ταῦθʼ ἡμῖν εἰρήσθω πρὸς πίστωσιν τοῦ μηδὲν ἀλόγως μηδʼ ἀνοήτως γενέσθαι, τὸν δὲ λόγον καὶ τὴν πρόνοιαν εἶναι θεόν· ὃς καὶ τὴν τῶν μετάλλων εὐχρηστίαν ἐπικουρεῖν ταῖς ἐνδείαις κελεύσας, τὴν χρυσοῦ τε καὶ χαλκοῦ καὶ τῶν ὑπολοίπων φύσιν ἐταμιεύσατο μέτρῳ τῷ προσήκοντι, τὰ μέν, ὧν ἡ χρεία πολλὴ τε καὶ παντοδαπὴ ἤμελλεν ἔσεσθαι, ἀφθόνως κελεύσας χορηγεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τέρψιν κόσμου καὶ ἀφθονίαν μόνην μεγαλοψύχως τε καὶ πεφεισμένως, μεταξὺ φειδωλίας τε καὶ εὐδωρίας.
Panta de tauthʼ hēmin eirēsthō pros pistōsin tou mēden alogōs mēdʼ anoētōs genesthai, ton de logon kai tēn pronoian einai theon; hos kai tēn tōn metallōn euchrēstian epikourein tais endeiais keleusas, tēn chrysou te kai chalkou kai tōn hypoloipōn physin etamieusato metrǭ tǭ prosēkonti, ta men, hōn hē chreia pollē te kai pantodapē ēmellen esesthai, aphthonōs keleusas chorēgeisthai, ta de pros terpsin kosmou kai aphthonian monēn megalopsychōs te kai pepheismenōs, metaxy pheidōlias te kai eudōrias.
Let all this be said by us to confirm that nothing came about irrationally or senselessly, but that God is reason and providence. He, commanding the usefulness of metals to relieve needs, stored up the nature of gold and bronze and the rest in fitting measure: those of which the need would be great and varied he commanded to be supplied abundantly; those for the delight of adornment and mere abundance, generously yet sparingly, between stinginess and liberality.
Notes and citation
Summary: God supplied useful metals abundantly and precious ones sparingly.
Topics: Providence
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 8.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/8-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
8.2Heikel
εἰ γὰρ καὶ τῶν πρὸς κόσμον πεποιημένων ἡ αὐτὴ ἀφθονία συνεχωρεῖτο, διὰ πλεονεξίαν οἱ μεταλλεύοντες τοῦ μὲν εὐχρήστου πρὸς γεωργίαν οἰκοδομήν τε καὶ ναῶν παρασκευήν, οἷον σιδήρου καὶ χαλκοῦ, καταφρονήσαντες τῆς συναθροίσεως αὐτῶν κατημέλουν, τῶν πρὸς τρυφὴν δὲ καὶ ἄρχηστον τε καὶ ἀργύρου εὕρεσιν καὶ μείζονος καμάτου τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων μετάλλων φασὶν εἶναι, ὅπως τῷ σφοδρῷ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τὸ τοῦ καμάτου σφοδρὸν ἀντιτάσσηται.
ei gar kai tōn pros kosmon pepoiēmenōn hē autē aphthonia synechōreito, dia pleonexian hoi metalleuontes tou men euchrēstou pros geōrgian oikodomēn te kai naōn paraskeuēn, hoion sidērou kai chalkou, kataphronēsantes tēs synathroiseōs autōn katēmeloun, tōn pros tryphēn de kai archēston te kai argyrou heuresin kai meizonos kamatou tōn allōn hapantōn metallōn phasin einai, hopōs tǭ sphodrǭ tēs epithymias to tou kamatou sphodron antitassētai.
For if the same abundance had been granted to what is made for adornment, the miners, out of greed, despising what is useful for farming and building and the construction of ships, such as iron and bronze, would neglect to gather it; while the discovery of what serves luxury, gold and silver, they say is a greater labour than all the other metals, so that the intensity of the labour may be set against the intensity of desire.
Notes and citation
Summary: Had gold and silver been plentiful, greed would have neglected useful iron and bronze; so precious metals cost more labour.
- The digital text is garbled (ναῶν for ναυπηγίαν? ἄρχηστον τε καὶ, probably χρυσοῦ τε καὶ, 'gold and'); translated by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; OCR slip; OCR slip in accent): πεποινημένων → πεποιημένων; διὸ πλεονεξίαν → διὰ πλεονεξίαν; οἶον σιδήρου → οἷον σιδήρου.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 8.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/8-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
8.3Heikel
πόσα δʼ ἄλλα τῆς θείας προνοίας ἔργα ἔστι καταριθμήσασθαι ἐπὶ πᾶσιν, οἷς ἀφθόνως ἡμῖν ἐδωρήσατο, τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον πρὸς σωφροσύνην τε καὶ τὰς ἄλλας πάσας ἀρετὰς προτρεπομένης διαρρήδην, ἀπαγούσης δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκαίρου πλεονεξίας. ὧν πάντων ἐξιχνεύειν τὸν λόγον μεῖζον ἔργον ἐστὶν ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον. πῶς γὰρ ἂν τῆς κατὰ ἀκρίβειαν ἀληθείας ἐφίκοιτο ἡ φθαρτοῦ τε καὶ ἀσθενοῦς ζώου διάνοια; πῶς ἂν τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰλικρινῆ τοῦ θεοῦ βούλησιν κατανοήσειεν;
posa dʼ alla tēs theias pronoias erga esti katarithmēsasthai epi pasin, hois aphthonōs hēmin edōrēsato, ton tōn anthrōpōn bion pros sōphrosynēn te kai tas allas pasas aretas protrepomenēs diarrēdēn, apagousēs dʼ apo tēs akairou pleonexias. hōn pantōn exichneuein ton logon meizon ergon estin ē kata anthrōpon. pōs gar an tēs kata akribeian alētheias ephikoito hē phthartou te kai asthenous zōou dianoia? pōs an tēn ex archēs eilikrinē tou theou boulēsin katanoēseien?
How many other works of divine providence could one count, besides all that it has given us ungrudgingly, plainly urging human life to self-control and all the other virtues, and drawing it away from untimely greed! To trace the reason of all these is a task greater than human. For how could the mind of a perishable and weak creature attain to the truth exactly? How could it understand God's pure will from the beginning?
Rom 11:33 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Providence everywhere urges virtue, but its full reason lies beyond human understanding.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter): προτεπομένης → προτρεπομένης.
Topics: Ethics, Providence
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 8.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/8-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
Chapter 9
9.1Heikel
Διὸ χρὴ τοῖς δυνατοῖς ἐγχειρεῖν καὶ τοῖς κατὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν φύσιν. τὸ γάρ τοι πιθανὸν τῶν ἐν τοῖς διαλόγοις γινομένων ζητήσεων ἀπάγει τὸ πλεῖστον ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ὄντων ἀληθείας, ὃ δὴ καὶ πολλοῖς τῶν φιλοσόφων συμβέβηκεν ἀδολεσχοῦσι περὶ τοὺς λόγους καὶ τὴν τῆς φύσεως τῶν ὄντων ἐξέτασιν. ὁσάκις γὰρ ἄν τὸ μέγεθος τῶν πραγμάτων τῆς ἐξετάσεως αὐτῶν ἐπικρατήσῃ, διαστρόφοις τισὶ μεθόδοις τὸ ἀληθὲς ἀποκρύπτονται· συμβαίνει δὴ αὐτοῖς ἐναντία δοξάζειν καὶ μάχεσθαι τοῖς ἀλλήλων δόγμασι, καὶ ταῦτα σοφοῖς εἶναι προσποιουμένοις.
Dio chrē tois dynatois encheirein kai tois kata tēn hēmeteran physin. to gar toi pithanon tōn en tois dialogois ginomenōn zētēseōn apagei to pleiston hēmōn apo tēs tōn ontōn alētheias, ho dē kai pollois tōn philosophōn symbebēken adoleschousi peri tous logous kai tēn tēs physeōs tōn ontōn exetasin. hosakis gar an to megethos tōn pragmatōn tēs exetaseōs autōn epikratēsę̄, diastrophois tisi methodois to alēthes apokryptontai; symbainei dē autois enantia doxazein kai machesthai tois allēlōn dogmasi, kai tauta sophois einai prospoioumenois.
Therefore we must undertake what is possible and in keeping with our nature. For the plausibility of the inquiries carried on in dialogues leads most of us away from the truth of what exists, which has happened to many of the philosophers who babble about words and the investigation of the nature of things. For whenever the greatness of the matters overpowers their examination, they hide the truth by perverse methods; and so they come to hold opposite opinions and to fight one another's doctrines, while pretending to be wise.
Rom 1:22 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers, overreaching in speculation, lose the truth and contradict one another.
- λόφους is a slip for λόγους ('words').
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (φ for γ)): περὶ τοὺς λόφους καὶ → περὶ τοὺς λόγους καὶ.
Topics: Philosophy
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 9.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
9.2Heikel
ὅθεν στάσεις τε δήμων καὶ δυναστευόντων χαλεπαὶ κρίσεις οἰομένων τὸ πατρῷον ἔθος διαφθείρεσθαι· καὶ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων ὄλεθρος πολλάκις ἐπηκολούθησε. Σωκράτης γὰρ ὑπὸ διαλεκτικῆς ἐπαρθεὶς καὶ τοὺς χείρονας λόγους βελτίους ποιῶν, καὶ παίζων παρʼ ἕκαστα περὶ τοὺς ἀντιλογικοὺς λόγους, ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ὁμοφύλων τε καὶ πολιτῶν βασκανίας ἀνῄρηται. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ Πυθαγόρας σωφροσύνην ἀσκεῖν προσποιούμενος ἐξαιρέτως καὶ σιωπὴν καταψευσάμενος ἑάλω· τὰ γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν πάλαι ποτὲ προλεχθέντα, ἐπιδημήσας τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, ὡς ἴδιά γε αὐτῷ ὑπὸ θεοῦ ἀναπετασθέντα τοῖς Ἰταλιώταις προηγόρευεν.
hothen staseis te dēmōn kai dynasteuontōn chalepai kriseis oiomenōn to patrǭon ethos diaphtheiresthai; kai autōn ekeinōn olethros pollakis epēkolouthēse. Sōkratēs gar hypo dialektikēs epartheis kai tous cheironas logous beltious poiōn, kai paizōn parʼ hekasta peri tous antilogikous logous, hypo tēs tōn homophylōn te kai politōn baskanias anę̄rētai. ou mēn alla kai Pythagoras sōphrosynēn askein prospoioumenos exairetōs kai siōpēn katapseusamenos healō; ta gar hypo tōn prophētōn palai pote prolechthenta, epidēmēsas tę̄ Aigyptǭ, hōs idia ge autǭ hypo theou anapetasthenta tois Italiōtais proēgoreuen.
From this came factions of the people and harsh judgments of rulers, who thought the ancestral custom was being corrupted; and often the destruction of those philosophers themselves followed. Socrates, puffed up by dialectic, making the worse arguments the better and playing at every turn with contentious arguments, was killed through the jealousy of his fellow countrymen and citizens. Pythagoras too, pretending to practise self-control above all, was caught lying even about his silence; for what had been declared long ago by the prophets there he, having visited Egypt, proclaimed to the Italians as revealed to him personally by God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophy bred strife: Socrates was executed for his sophistry, and Pythagoras passed off as his own revelation what he had learned from the prophets in Egypt.
- 'Making the worse arguments the better' is the charge against Socrates (Plato, Apol. 18b). 'The prophets' here are probably the Egyptian priestly order so called. λόφους is a slip for λόγους.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; OCR slip (φ for γ); OCR slip in breathing; OCR slips): ὄθεν στάσεις → ὅθεν στάσεις; πατρὼον ἐθος → πατρῷον ἔθος; τοὺς χείρονας λόφους → τοὺς χείρονας λόγους; παρʼ ἔκαστα → παρʼ ἕκαστα; ἴδιαά → ἴδιά.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Apol. 18b (Plato (works); allusion)
Topics: Philosophy
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 9.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
9.3Heikel
αὐτός τε ὁ ὑπὲρ πάντας τοὺς ἄλλους ἠπιώτατος Πλάτων, καὶ τὰς διανοίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρῶτος ἀπὸ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐπὶ τὰ νοητὰ καὶ ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχοντα ἐθίσας ἀνακύψαι ἀναβλέψαι τʼ ἐπὶ τὰ μετάρσια διδάξας, πρῶτον μὲν θεὸν ὑφηγήσατο τὸν ὑπὲρ τὴν οὐσίαν, καλῶς ποιῶν, ὑπέταξε δὲ τούτῳ καὶ δεύτερον, καὶ δύο οὐσίας τῷ ἀριθμῷ διεῖλε, μιᾶς οὔσης τῆς ἀμφοτέρων τελειότητος, τῆς τε οὐσίας τοῦ δευτέρου θεοῦ τὴν ὕπαρξιν ἐχούσης ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ δημιουργὸς καὶ διοικητὴς τῶν ὅλων δηλονότι ὑπεραναβεβηκώς, ὁ δὲ μετʼἐκεῖνον ταῖς ἐκείνου προστάξεσιν ὑπουργήσας τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς τῶν πάντων συστάσεως εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἀναπέμπει.
autos te ho hyper pantas tous allous ēpiōtatos Platōn, kai tas dianoias tōn anthrōpōn prōtos apo tōn aisthēseōn epi ta noēta kai aei hōsautōs echonta ethisas anakypsai anablepsai tʼ epi ta metarsia didaxas, prōton men theon hyphēgēsato ton hyper tēn ousian, kalōs poiōn, hypetaxe de toutǭ kai deuteron, kai dyo ousias tǭ arithmǭ dieile, mias ousēs tēs amphoterōn teleiotētos, tēs te ousias tou deuterou theou tēn hyparxin echousēs ek tou prōtou; autos gar estin ho dēmiourgos kai dioikētēs tōn holōn dēlonoti hyperanabebēkōs, ho de metʼekeinon tais ekeinou prostaxesin hypourgēsas tēn aitian tēs tōn pantōn systaseōs eis ekeinon anapempei.
And Plato himself, gentlest of all others, the first to accustom men's minds to rise from the senses to the intelligible and what is always the same, and who taught them to look up to things on high, first set forth a God beyond being, rightly; and he subordinated to him also a second, and divided two beings by number, though the perfection of both is one, and the being of the second God has its existence from the first. For the first is the creator and governor of the universe, clearly transcending it; and the one after him, serving his commands, refers back to him the cause of the constitution of all things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato rightly taught a God beyond being and a second God who derives his existence from the first and serves his commands in creation.
- Constantine reads Plato (Tim.; Ep. 2.312e; 6.323d) as teaching a first and second God, with one perfection; translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in breathing; missing space): ἀναβλέψαι τʼἐπὶ → ἀναβλέψαι τʼ ἐπὶ; τὴν ὔπαρξιν → τὴν ὕπαρξιν; τῶν ὄλων → τῶν ὅλων.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Ep. 6.323d (Plato (works); allusion)
Topics: Trinity, Philosophy
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 9.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
9.4Heikel
εἷς ἂν οὖν εἴη κατὰ τὸν ἀκριβῆ λόγον ὁ τὴν πάντων ἐπιμέλειαν ποιούμενος προνοούμενός τε αὐτῶν θεός λόγῳ κατακοσμήσας τὰ πάντα· ὁ δὲ λόγος αὐτὸς θεὸς ὤν αὐτὸς τυγχάνει καὶ θεοῦ παῖς· ποῖον γὰρ ἄν τις ἄλλο ὄνομα αὐτῷ περιτιθεὶς παρὰ τὴν προσηγορίαν τοῦ παιδὸς οὐκ ἄν τὰ μέγιστα ἐξαμαρτάνοι; ὁ γάρ τοι τῶν πάντων πατὴρ καὶ τοῦ ἰδίου λόγου δικαίως ἄν πατὴρ νομίζοιτο.
heis an oun eiē kata ton akribē logon ho tēn pantōn epimeleian poioumenos pronooumenos te autōn theos logǭ katakosmēsas ta panta; ho de logos autos theos ōn autos tynchanei kai theou pais; poion gar an tis allo onoma autǭ perititheis para tēn prosēgorian tou paidos ouk an ta megista examartanoi? ho gar toi tōn pantōn patēr kai tou idiou logou dikaiōs an patēr nomizoito.
By the exact account, then, there would be one God who takes care of all things and provides for them, having ordered all things by his Word; and the Word himself, being God, is also the Son of God. For what other name could one give him, besides the title of Son, without committing the gravest error? For the Father of all would rightly be thought also the Father of his own Word.
John 1:1 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: There is one God who orders all by his Word; the Word, himself God, is rightly called the Son of God.
- 'Son' renders παῖς. The digital text repeats the end of νομίζοιτο; translated once.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips in breathing and accent; dittography in the digital text): εἶς ἄν οὖν → εἷς ἂν οὖν; νομίζοιτ. μίζοιτο. → νομίζοιτο..
Topics: Trinity, Christology
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 9.4 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
9.5Heikel
μέχρι μὲν οὖν τούτου Πλάτων σώφρων ἦν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἑξῆς εὑρίσκεται διαμαρτάνων τῆς ἀληθείας, πλῆθός τε θεῶν εἰσάγων καὶ ἑκάστοις ἐπιτιθεὶς μορφάς, ὅπερ καὶ παραίτιον ἐγένετο τῆς μείζονος πλάνης παρὰ τοῖς ἀλογίστοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων, πρὸς τὴν πρόνοιαν τοῦ ὑψίστου θεοῦ μὴ ἀφορώντων, τὰς δʼ εἰκόνας αὐτῶν ἀνθρωπείοις τε καὶ ἑγτέρων ζώων τύποις μεταμορφουμένας σεβόντων. συμβέβηκε δὲ μεγίστην τινὰ μεγάλου τʼ ἐπαίνου ἀξίαν φύσιν τε καῖ παιδείαν τοιοῖσδέ τιδι μεμιγμένην πταίσμασιν ἀκαθάρτως τε καὶ μὴ εἰλιχρινῶς ἔχειν.
mechri men oun toutou Platōn sōphrōn ēn; en de tois hexēs heurisketai diamartanōn tēs alētheias, plēthos te theōn eisagōn kai hekastois epititheis morphas, hoper kai paraition egeneto tēs meizonos planēs para tois alogistois tōn anthrōpōn, pros tēn pronoian tou hypsistou theou mē aphorōntōn, tas dʼ eikonas autōn anthrōpeiois te kai hegterōn zōōn typois metamorphoumenas sebontōn. symbebēke de megistēn tina megalou tʼ epainou axian physin te kai paideian toioisde tidi memigmenēn ptaismasin akathartōs te kai mē eilichrinōs echein.
Up to this point, then, Plato was sound; but in what follows he is found to miss the truth, introducing a multitude of gods and giving each of them forms. This became the cause of greater error among unreasoning men, who did not look to the providence of the highest God, but worshipped their images transformed into the shapes of men and other animals. So it has come about that a nature and learning of the greatest kind, worthy of great praise, mixed with such failings, is not pure and unalloyed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato erred in introducing many gods with forms, which led to idolatry; so even his great wisdom is mixed with error.
- The digital text has several slips (τπων, πρὸς πρὸς, ὑ ψίστου, ἑγτέρων, ψεγάλου, καῖ, τιδι, εἰλιχρινῶς); translated by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (ψ for μ); OCR slip and dittography; line-end hyphenation rejoined; split word rejoined): μείζο- νος → μείζονος; τοῖς ἀλογίστοις τπων ἀνθρώπων, πρὸς πρὸς → τοῖς ἀλογίστοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων, πρὸς; τοῦ ὑ ψίστου → τοῦ ὑψίστου; ψεγάλου → μεγάλου.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 40d-41a (Plato (works); allusion)
Topics: Idolatry
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 9.5 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
9.6Heikel
δοκεῖ δέ μοι ὁ αὐτὸς ἐπιλαμβανόμενος ἑαυτοῦ διορθοῦν τὸ ἁμάρτημα, ἐν οἷς φανερῶς διαβεβαιοῦται τὸν θεὸν ἡμῖν ἐμπνεῦσαι τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λόγον, τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ σαφῶς δηλῶν λογικὴν ψυχὴν ὑπάρχειν, διϊστῶν δὲ τὰ πάντα εἰς δύο εἴδη, νοητόν τε καὶ αἰσθητόν, τὸ μὲν....., τὸ δὲ συγκείμενον ἐκ σώματος ἁρμογῆς καὶ τὸ μὲν νῷ καταληπτόν, τὸ δὲ δόξῃ μετʼ αἰσθήσεως δοξαστόν· ὥστε τὸ μὲν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος μετέχον, ἄτε δὴ ἀσύνθετον καὶ ἄλυτον, αἰώνιόν τε εἶναι καὶ τὴν ἀίδιον ζωὴν λελογχέναι, τὸ δὲ αἰσθητόν, πάντη διαλυόμενον καθʼ ὅν καὶ συνέστη λόγον, ἄμοιρον εἶναι τῆς ἀιδίου ζωῆς.
dokei de moi ho autos epilambanomenos heautou diorthoun to hamartēma, en hois phanerōs diabebaioutai ton theon hēmin empneusai ton heautou logon, to pneuma tou theou saphōs dēlōn logikēn psychēn hyparchein, diïstōn de ta panta eis dyo eidē, noēton te kai aisthēton, to men....., to de synkeimenon ek sōmatos harmogēs kai to men nǭ katalēpton, to de doxę̄ metʼ aisthēseōs doxaston; hōste to men tou hagiou pneumatos metechon, ate dē asyntheton kai alyton, aiōnion te einai kai tēn aidion zōēn lelonchenai, to de aisthēton, pantē dialyomenon kathʼ hon kai synestē logon, amoiron einai tēs aidiou zōēs.
But he himself seems to me to correct his error by taking himself up, where he plainly affirms that God breathed into us his own word, clearly showing the spirit of God to be a rational soul; and he divides all things into two kinds, intelligible and perceptible, the one ..., the other composed of the joining of a body; and the one grasped by mind, the other opined by opinion with sensation. So that the one, sharing in the Holy Spirit, being uncompounded and indissoluble, is eternal and has obtained everlasting life; while the perceptible, being wholly dissolved by the same principle by which it was put together, has no share in everlasting life.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Gen 2:7 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato partly corrects himself by teaching that God breathed his word into us, and by distinguishing the eternal intelligible from the perishable perceptible.
- Compare Plato, Tim. 27d–28a, 41c–d; the inbreathing recalls Gen 2:7. The digital text marks a gap after τὸ μέν ('.....'), translated '...'.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR doubled letter; OCR slip; OCR slips; stray capital): δοχεῖ δέ μοι ὁ αὐτὸς ἐπιλαμβανόμενος ἐαυτοῦ διοροῦν → δοκεῖ δέ μοι ὁ αὐτὸς ἐπιλαμβανόμενος ἑαυτοῦ διορθοῦν; ἐν οἶς ανερῶς → ἐν οἷς φανερῶς; ψθχὴν → ψυχὴν; Ωστε → ὥστε; διαλυόμεενον → διαλυόμενον.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 27d-28a (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 9.6 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
9.7Heikel
θαυμαστῶς δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐξῆς διδάσκει, τοὺς μὲν εὖ βιώσαντας, ψυχὰς δηλαδὴ τῶν ὁσίων τε καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν, μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος ἀναχώρησιν ἐν τοῖς καλλίστοις τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καθιεροῦσθαι. ἀλλὰ καὶ βιωφελῶς· τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἄν πεισθεὶς αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν εὐτυχίαν ταύτην προσδοκήσας, τὸν ἄριστον βίον, δικαιοσύνην καὶ σωφροσύνην, ἀσκήσει, τὴν δὲ κακίαν ἀποστραφήσεται; ἀκολούθως δὲ τούτοις ἐπήνεγκεν τὰς τῶν πονηρῶν ψυχὰς Ἀχέροντός τε καὶ Πυριφλεγέθοντος ῥεύμασι ναυαγίων τρόπον φερομένας πλανᾶσθαι.
thaumastōs de kai en tois exēs didaskei, tous men eu biōsantas, psychas dēladē tōn hosiōn te kai agathōn andrōn, meta tēn apo tou sōmatos anachōrēsin en tois kallistois tou ouranou kathierousthai. alla kai biōphelōs; tis gar ouk an peistheis autǭ kai tēn eutychian tautēn prosdokēsas, ton ariston bion, dikaiosynēn kai sōphrosynēn, askēsei, tēn de kakian apostraphēsetai? akolouthōs de toutois epēnenken tas tōn ponērōn psychas Acherontos te kai Pyriphlegethontos rheumasi nauagiōn tropon pheromenas planasthai.
And in what follows he teaches admirably that those who have lived well, that is, the souls of holy and good men, after their departure from the body, are consecrated in the most beautiful regions of heaven. And usefully for life too: for who, persuaded by him and expecting this happiness, would not practise the best life, justice and self-control, and turn away from vice? And consistently with this he added that the souls of the wicked wander, borne along like shipwrecks by the streams of Acheron and Pyriphlegethon.
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato rightly taught that good souls go to heaven after death and the wicked are swept along the rivers of the underworld.
- Plato, Phaedo 113d–114c.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter; OCR inserted letter; OCR slip; OCR slips): ἀποστραφήσετα; → ἀποστραφήσεται;; τὰς πῶν πονηρῶν ψυκὰς → τὰς τῶν πονηρῶν ψυχὰς; Πυφιφλεγέθοντος → Πυριφλεγέθοντος; πλανᾶςσθαι → πλανᾶσθαι.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaedo 113d-114c (Plato (works); allusion)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 9.7 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/9-7
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
Chapter 10
10.1Heikel
Εἰσὶ μέντοι γέ τινες ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον τὴν διάνοιαν βεβλαμμένοι, ὥστε ὅταν τούτοις αὐτοῖς ἐντυγχάνωσι, μήτʼ ἐπιστρέφεσθαι μήτε δεδοικέναι, καταφρονεῖν δὲ καὶ ἐγγελᾶν ὡς πεπλασμένων τινῶν μύθων ἀκούοντες· καὶ τὸ μὲν ποικίλον τῆς εὐγλωττίας ἐγκωμιάζουσι, τὸ δὲ στερεὸν τοῦ δόγματος ἀποστρέφονται, μύθοις τε πιστεύουσι ποιητικοῖς, καὶ πᾶσαν μὲν Ἑλλάδα πᾶσαν δὲ βάρβαρον ἐώλοις τε καὶ ψευδέσι φήμαις διαβάλλουσιν.
Eisi mentoi ge tines epi tosouton tēn dianoian beblammenoi, hōste hotan toutois autois entynchanōsi, mētʼ epistrephesthai mēte dedoikenai, kataphronein de kai engelan hōs peplasmenōn tinōn mythōn akouontes; kai to men poikilon tēs euglōttias enkōmiazousi, to de stereon tou dogmatos apostrephontai, mythois te pisteuousi poiētikois, kai pasan men Hellada pasan de barbaron eōlois te kai pseudesi phēmais diaballousin.
There are, however, some so injured in mind that, when they meet these very teachings, they neither turn nor fear, but despise and mock them as though hearing invented myths; they praise the varied eloquence, but turn away from the solidity of the doctrine; they believe the myths of the poets, and slander all Greece and all the barbarian world with stale and false reports.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some mock these teachings as myths while believing the poets' fables.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR garbled word; OCR garbled words; OCR slip; OCR slip (δ for σ)): βελαμμένοι → βεβλαμμένοι; ἐντυγχάωνσι → ἐντυγχάνωσι; πιστεύουδι → πιστεύουσι; ψευδέδι φήμαις διαβῶσιν → ψευδέσι φήμαις διαβάλλουσιν.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 10.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/10-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
10.2Heikel
οἱ γάρ τοι ποιηταὶ παῖδας θεοῦ, ἀνθρώπους, μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν φασὶ κρίνειν τὰς ψυχάς, κρίσεις τε καὶ δικαιωτήρια ὑμνοῦντες καὶ τῶν κατοιχομένων ἐπόπτας ἐφιστάντες, οἱ δὲ αὐτοὶ ποιηταὶ μάχας δαιμόνων καὶ πολεμικούς τινας ἐξαγγέλλουσι νόμους, εἱμαρμένας τε αὐτῶν διαφημίζουσι, καὶ τοῦς μέν τινας φύσει πικρούς, τοὺς δὲ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιμελείας ἀλλοτρίους, τοῦς δέ τινας δυσχερεῖς ἀποφαίνονται. εἰσάγουσι δὲ καὶ ὁδυρομένους τὰς τῶν ἰδίων παίδων σφαγάς, ὡς μὴ δυνατὸν αὐτοῖς οὐχ ὄτι γʼ ἀλλοτρίοις ἀλλὰ μηδὲ τοῖς φιλτάτοις ἐπαρκεῖν, ἀνθρωποπαθεῖς τʼ αὐτοῦς εἰσάγουσι, πολέμους καὶ τρώσεις χαράς τε καὶ ὁδυρμοὺς ᾄδοντες.
hoi gar toi poiētai paidas theou, anthrōpous, meta tēn teleutēn phasi krinein tas psychas, kriseis te kai dikaiōtēria hymnountes kai tōn katoichomenōn epoptas ephistantes, hoi de autoi poiētai machas daimonōn kai polemikous tinas exangellousi nomous, heimarmenas te autōn diaphēmizousi, kai tous men tinas physei pikrous, tous de tēs tōn anthrōpōn epimeleias allotrious, tous de tinas dyschereis apophainontai. eisagousi de kai hodyromenous tas tōn idiōn paidōn sphagas, hōs mē dynaton autois ouch oti gʼ allotriois alla mēde tois philtatois eparkein, anthrōpopatheis tʼ autous eisagousi, polemous kai trōseis charas te kai hodyrmous ądontes.
For the poets say that sons of God, men, judge souls after death, singing of judgments and courts and setting overseers over the departed. The same poets tell of battles of demons and of certain laws of war, spread abroad their fates, and declare some of them bitter by nature, others indifferent to the care of men, and others difficult. They also bring them on lamenting the slaughter of their own children, as though unable to help not only strangers but even their dearest ones; and they bring them on as subject to human passions, singing of wars and wounds, joys and lamentations.
Notes and citation
Summary: The poets tell of divine judges of the dead, yet also of gods who fight, grieve, and cannot help even their own children.
- The judges of the dead are Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aeacus, sons of Zeus. The digital text repeats 'wounds, joys'; translated once.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR doubled letter; OCR slip (φ for ψ); OCR slip (χ for κ); OCR slips; dittography in the digital text; stray capital): τὰς φυχάς → τὰς ψυχάς; Οἱ δὲ αὐτοὶ → οἱ δὲ αὐτοὶ; δδαιμόνων → δαιμόνων; 'ἱμαρμένας τε αὐτῶν διαφημίξουσι → εἱμαρμένας τε αὐτῶν διαφημίζουσι; φύσει πιχρούς → φύσει πικρούς; ἐπαρκεεῖν → ἐπαρκεῖν; πολέμους καὶ τρώσεισ χαράς τε καὶ τρώσεις χαράς → πολέμους καὶ τρώσεις χαράς.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 16.431-461 (Homer, Iliad; allusion)
Topics: Eschatology, Paganism
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 10.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/10-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/10-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
10.3Heikel
καὶ εἰσὶν ἀξιόπιστοι λέγοντες. εἰ γὰρ ἐπιπνοίᾳ θείᾳ μετέρχονται τὴν ποιητικήν, πιστεύειν αὐτοῖς καὶ πείθεσθαι προσήκει περὶ ὦν λέγουσιν ἐνθουσιάζοντες· λέγουσι δὲ παθήματα θεῶν τε καὶ δαιμόνων. τὰ ἄρα παθήματα τούτων πάντως ἀληθείας ἐφῆπται. ἀλλʼ ἐρεῖ τις ἐξεῖναι ποιηταῖς ψεύδεσθαι· θέλγειν γὰρ τὰς τῶν ἀκουόντων ψυχὰς ἴδιον εἶναι ποιητικῆς, τὸ δʼ ἀληθὲς εῖναι, ἡνίκα ἄν τὰ λεγόμενα μὴ ἄλλως ἔχῃ ἤ ὡς λέγεται.
kai eisin axiopistoi legontes. ei gar epipnoią theią meterchontai tēn poiētikēn, pisteuein autois kai peithesthai prosēkei peri ōn legousin enthousiazontes; legousi de pathēmata theōn te kai daimonōn. ta ara pathēmata toutōn pantōs alētheias ephēptai. allʼ erei tis exeinai poiētais pseudesthai; thelgein gar tas tōn akouontōn psychas idion einai poiētikēs, to dʼ alēthes einai, hēnika an ta legomena mē allōs echę̄ ē hōs legetai.
And they are worthy of belief when they speak. For if they pursue poetry by divine inspiration, one ought to believe and obey them about what they say in their inspiration; and they speak of the sufferings of gods and demons. Then the sufferings of these certainly lay hold of the truth. But someone will say that poets may lie; for to charm the souls of the hearers is proper to poetry, while truth is when what is said is not otherwise than as it is said.
Notes and citation
Summary: If the poets are inspired, their tales of suffering gods must be true; if poets may lie, as some say, they cannot be trusted.
- The digital text repeats τὰς τὰρ; translated once.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in accent; OCR slips; dittography in the digital text): ἐπιπνοίῳ θείᾳ μετἐρχονται → ἐπιπνοίᾳ θείᾳ μετέρχονται; θέλγειν γὰρ τὰς τὰρ τὰς → θέλγειν γὰρ τὰς; εῑναι ποιητικῆς → εἶναι ποιητικῆς.
Topics: Paganism
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 10.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/10-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/10-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.
10.4Heikel
ἔστω τοῦτʼ ἴδιον ποιήσεως τὸ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἔσθʼ ὅτε ἀφαρπάζειν· ἀλλʼ οἱ τὰ ψευδὴ λέγοντες οὐ μάτην ψεύδονται· ἤ γὰρ κέρδους καὶ ὠφελείας χάριν τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν, ἢ κακήν τινα πρᾶξιν συνειδότες ἐαυτοῖς διὰ τὸν ἐφεστηκότα ἐκ τῶν νόμων κίνδυνον ἐπικαλύπτονται. ἦν γὰρ δυνατόν, οἶμαι, μηδὲν παρὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν περὶ τῆς κρείττονος φύσεως ἱστοροῦντας ψεύδεσθαι μηδὲ δυσσεβεῖν.
estō toutʼ idion poiēseōs to tēn alētheian esthʼ hote apharpazein; allʼ hoi ta pseudē legontes ou matēn pseudontai; ē gar kerdous kai ōpheleias charin touto poiousin, ē kakēn tina praxin syneidotes eautois dia ton ephestēkota ek tōn nomōn kindynon epikalyptontai. ēn gar dynaton, oimai, mēden para tēn alētheian peri tēs kreittonos physeōs historountas pseudesthai mēde dyssebein.
Let it be proper to poetry sometimes to rob the truth; but those who tell falsehoods do not lie in vain: either they do it for gain and profit, or, conscious of some evil deed, they cover it up because of the danger impending from the laws. For it was possible, I think, for those who tell of the higher nature to tell no lie contrary to the truth and commit no impiety.
Notes and citation
Summary: Liars lie for gain or to hide their crimes; the poets could have spoken of the divine without lying.
- The digital text repeats ἀλήθειαν and τῆς; translated once.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (χ for κ); OCR slips; OCR slips and dittography; dittography in the digital text): τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἄλήθειαν → τὴν ἀλήθειαν; ἤ καχήν → ἢ κακήν; ἐπιχαλύπτονται → ἐπικαλύπτονται; πεερὶ τῆς τῆς χρείττονος φύσεως ἱστροῦτντας φεύδεσθαι → περὶ τῆς κρείττονος φύσεως ἱστοροῦντας ψεύδεσθαι.
Cite (SBL): Constantine, Or. sanct. coet. 10.4 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/10-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/constantine-oratio-sanctorum-coetum/10-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890), which condenses some passages; those were checked against the Greek only.