Letter 165: Not only the uneducated and the rough-mannered fall into moral error.

To Athanasius. On the saying of the Apostle: "Even if an angel from heaven should preach the gospel to you." [Galatians 1:8] That ardent lover of the word, Paul, I mean, the apostle, casts his vote not only against himself and the other apostles, should they dare to devise some innovation in the preaching, but also against angels; and not against angels simply, but against those from heaven. He did not, as you supposed, choose to insult those angels who have never yet dared, nor do dare, to do this, but rather he was shutting off the road of credibility against the wicked demons, lest at any time, taking a pretext as though they were angels, they should overturn the preaching. For what does he say? "Even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any gospel other than what we preached to you, let him be accursed." [Galatians 1:8] In this way, then, the angels too rejoiced in the security of the preaching, since indeed the one who was sent to Cornelius made known the teacher [Peter], and did not entrust the matter to himself. [cf. Acts 10:5-6]

Εἰς τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου· «Κἂν ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζηται ὑμῖν.» Ὁ διάπυρος τοῦ λόγου ἐραστής, Παῦλος, φημί, ὁ ἀπόστολος, οὐ μόνον καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀποστόλων φέρει τὴν ψῆφον, εἰ τοُلμήσειαν καινοτομίαν τινὰ τῷ κηρύγματι ἐπινοῆσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατ᾽ ἀγγέλων· καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀγγέλων, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ· οὐκ ἐκείνους, ὡς ἐδόμισας, ὑβρίσαι προῃρημένος, τούς μήτε τετολμηκότας πώποτε, μήτε τολμῶντας τοῦτο δρᾶσαι, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀλητηρίοις δαίμοσιν ἀποκλείων τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς ἀξιοπιστίας, μήποτε πρόφασιν λαβόντες ὡς ἀγγελοιανατρέπ- Δώσει τὸ κήρυγμα. Τί γάρ φησι; «Κᾀν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζηται ὑμῖν παρ’ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.» Οὕτω γοῦν καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι ἔχαιρον τῇ ἀσφαλείᾳ τοῦ κηρύγματος, ὅτι καὶ ὁ ἀποσταλεὶς πρὸς Κορνήλιον, ἐμήνυσε τὸν διδάσκαλον, οὐχ ἑαυτῷ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐπέτρεψεν.