Letter 555

To Papiscus Oscorudius. [the second element of the name is uncertain in the manuscript] All those slaves who genuinely serve their masters according to the flesh will receive their wages from God. But all those who are negligent, and who despise their masters, and who behave arrogantly, and who shrink from serving as is fitting — it is plain that, besides receiving no good thing from God, they will also be punished. Perhaps you have not read the Scripture which says, in the person of God, that "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven" [Haggai 2:6] — which the Apostle, interpreting it, has explained: "And this phrase, 'Yet once more,' signifies the removal of the things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, so that the things which cannot be shaken may remain" [Hebrews 12:27]. And the Prophet says: "For indeed the Lord has set the world in order, which shall not be shaken" [Psalm 92:1 / 95:10 LXX]. If, then, these things shall be so, after the unshakable age that is to come do not any longer expect or imagine changes, and turnings, and falls, and superstitions, and enslavements of men, and the like.

Ὅσοι τῶν δούλων γνησίως τοῖς κατὰ σάρκα κυ-ρίοις δουλεύουσι, παρὰ Θεοῦ τὴν μισθοδοσίαν κομιοῦνται. Ὅσοι δὲ ἀμελοῦσι, καὶ καταφρονοῦσι, καὶ ἀλαζονεύονται, καὶ ὀκνοῦσιν ἐξυπηρετήσασθαι προσηκόντως, δῆλον ὅτι, μετὰ τοῦ μηδὲν ἀγαθὸν λά-βειν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τιμωρήσονται. Ἰσως τὴν Γραφὴν οὐκ ἀνέγνως τὴν λέγουσαν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι « Ἔτι ἅπαξ ἐγὼ σείσω οὐ μόνον τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν οὐρανόν » ὅπερ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἑρμηνεύων εἴρηκε « Τὸ δέ, Ἔτι ἅπαξ, δηλοῖ τῶν σαλευομένων μετάθεσιν ὡς πεποιημένων, ἵνα μείνῃ τὰ μὴ σαλευόμενα. » Καὶ ὁ Προφήτης φησί « Καὶ γὰρ κατόρθωσε Κύριος τὴν οἰκουμένην, ἥτις οὐ σαλευθήσεται. Εἰ τοίνυν ταῦθ’ οὕτως ἔσται, μηκέτι μετὰ τὸν ἀσάλευτον αἰῶνα τὸν μέλλοντα, προσδόκα, καὶ φαντάζου μεταβολάς, καὶ τροπάς; καὶ ἀποπτώσεις, καὶ δεισιδαιμονίας, καὶ δουλία; ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια.