Eusebius of Caesarea · a new plain-English translation from the Greek
1| To compare things that have come into being with things eternal is, in truth, the most complete madness. The eternal have neither beginning nor end, while the others, since they were born and came to be and received the beginning of their existence and life at some point in time, must for that very reason also have an end. And how could things that have come into being be made equal to the one who commanded them to be brought forth? If they were like him, his command that they be brought forth could not properly be regarded as his. No, not even the heavenly bodies could be compared with him, any more than the world of the senses could be compared with the world of the mind, or images with their originals.
2| And how is it not absurd to throw everything into confusion, hiding the dignity of the divine by comparing it with human beings, and even with beasts? And how is it not the mark of madmen, who have turned their backs on a sober and virtuous life, to reach for a power that would rival the power of God? For if we lay any claim at all to divine happiness, we must lead our lives according to God's command. For in this way, having lived by the law God has laid down, we pass our life in deathless and ageless dwellings, superior to all fate.
3| For the only human power that can match the power of God is sincere and guileless worship of God and turning toward him, the contemplation and learning of what pleases the Higher One, and refusing to stoop toward the earth, raising the mind instead, as far as our strength allows, to things upright and lofty. For from this way of life, he says, comes victory in place of many goods. This, then, is the account of the cause of the difference among beings, both in rank and in the varying degrees of their power. Those who think rightly are persuaded by it and give extraordinary thanks; but the ungrateful fools receive the punishment their arrogance deserves.
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