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Translated by Cardinal Newman. Cf. An introduction to Athanasius' treatise Against the Heathen
St Athanasius the Great Resources Online and in Print
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49 Pages
Page 5
5. Evil, then consists essentially in the choice of what is lower in preference to what is higher.
But the audacity of men, having regard not to what is expedient and becoming, but to what is possible for it, began to do the contrary; whence, moving their hands to the contrary, it made them commit murder, and led away their hearing to disobedience, and their other members to adultery instead of to lawful procreation; and the tongue, instead of right speaking, to slander and insult and perjury; the hands again, to stealing and striking fellow-men; and the sense of smell to many sorts of lascivious odours; the feet, to be swift to shed blood, and the belly to drunkenness and insatiable gluttony [110] . 2. All of which things are a vice and sin of the soul: neither is there any cause of them at all, but only the rejection of better things. For just as if a charioteer [111] , having mounted his chariot on the race-course, were to pay no attention to the goal, toward which he should be driving, but, ignoring this, simply were to drive the horse as he could, or in other words as he would, and often drive against those he met, and often down steep places, rushing wherever he impelled himself by the speed of the team, thinking that thus running he has not missed the goal,--for he regards the running only, and does not see that he has passed wide of the goal;--so the soul too, turning from the way toward God, and driving the members of the body beyond what is proper, or rather, driven herself along with them by her own doing, sins and makes mischief for herself, not seeing that she has strayed from the way, and has swerved from the goal of truth, to which the Christ-bearing man, the blessed Paul, was looking when he said, "I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of Christ Jesus [112] :" so that the holy man, making the good his mark, never did what was evil.
[110] Rom. iii. 10 foll.
[111] Cf. Plato Phaedrus 246 C, 248 A, 253 E, 254.
[112] Phil. iii. 14.
Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/athanasius/contra-gentes.asp?pg=5
