Our course, then, will once more lie in what is good, by reason of the fact that the nature of evil is bounded by necessary limits. For just as those skilled in astronomy tell us that the whole universe is full of light, and that darkness is made to cast its shadow by the interposition of the body formed by the earth; and that this darkness is shut off from the rays of the sun, in the shape of a cone, according to the figure of the sphere-shaped body, and behind it; while the sun, exceeding the earth by a size many times as great as its own, enfolding it round about on all sides with its rays, unites at the limit of the cone the concurrent streams of light; so that if (to suppose the case) any one had the power of passing beyond the measure to which the shadow extends, he would certainly find himself in light unbroken by darkness;-even so I think that we ought to understand about ourselves, that on passing the limit of wickedness we shall again have our conversation in light, as the nature of good, when compared with the measure of wickedness, is incalculably superabundant.

Paradise therefore will be restored, that tree will be restored which is in truth the tree of life;-there will be restored the grace of the image, and the dignity of rule. It does not seem to me that our hope is one for those things which are now subjected by God to man for the necessary uses of life, but one for another kingdom, of a description that belongs to unspeakable mysteries.

Οὐκοῦν ἔσται πάλιν ἐν καλοῖς ὁ δρόμος ἡμῖν διὰ τὸ πέρασιν ἀναγκαίοις περιωρίσθαι τῆς κακίας τὴν φύσιν. Καθάπερ γὰρ οἱ δεινοὶ τὰ μετέωρα͵ τοῦ μὲν φωτὸς πάντα λέγουσι τὸν κόσμον εἶναι κατάπλεων͵ τὸ δὲ σκότος τῇ ἀντιφράξει τοῦ κατὰ τὴν γῆν σώματος ἀποσκιαζόμενον γίνεσθαι (ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν κατὰ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ σφαιροειδοῦς σώματος͵ κατὰ νώτου τῆς ἡλιακῆς ἀκτῖνος κωνοειδῶς κατακλείεσθαι͵ τὸν δὲ ἥλιον πολλαπλασίονι τῷ μεγέθει τὴν γῆν ὑπερβάλλοντα͵ πανταχόθεν αὐτὴν ταῖς ἀκτῖσιν ἐν κύκλῳ περιπτυσσόμενον͵ συνάπτειν κατὰ τὸ πέρας τοῦ κώνου τὰς τοῦ φωτὸς συμβολάς͵ ὥστε καθ' ὑπόθεσιν͵ εἰ γένοιτό τινι δύναμις διαβῆναι τὸ μέτρον͵ εἰς ὅσον ἐκτείνεται ἡ σκιά͵ πάντως ἂν ἐν φωτὶ γενέσθαι μὴ διακοπτομένῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ σκότους), οὕτως οἶμαι δεῖν καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν διανοεῖσθαι͵ ὅτι διεξελθόντες τὸν τῆς κακίας ὅρον͵ ἐπειδὰν ἐν τῷ ἄκρῳ γενώμεθα τῆς [204] κατὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν σκιᾶς͵ πάλιν ἐν φωτὶ βιοτεύσομεν͵ ὡς κατὰ τὸ ἀπειροπλάσιον πρὸς τὸ τῆς κακίας μέτρον τῆς τῶν ἀγαθῶν φύσεως περιττευούσης.

Πάλιν οὖν ὁ παράδεισος͵ πάλιν τὸ ξύλον ἐκεῖνο͵ ὁ δὴ καὶ ζωῆς ἐστι ξύλον͵ πάλιν τῆς εἰκόνος ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀξία. Οὔ μοι δοκεῖ τούτων οὐδέν͵ ὅσα νῦν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ βίου χρείαν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑπέζευκται, ἀλλ' ἑτέρας τινὸς βασιλείας ἐστὶν ἡ ἐλπίς͵ ἧς ὁ λόγος ἐν ἀποῤῥήτοις μένει.