Questions to Thalassius (on Holy Scripture)

^A and has possessed the senses as an instrument for understanding the great works of visible things. As for the first, by accepting the glory of the soul in accordance with virtue, and manifesting it to those outside, so that we may have an image of virtue and hold up your life for imitation. As for the second, the senses, by symbolically engraving the reasons of intelligible things upon the forms of visible things, and, through them, lifting up the mind toward the simplicity of intelligible visions—being utterly set free from all the variety and composition found in visible things—so that we may have an unerring path of truth, namely your own knowledge, for the transition toward intelligible things. From there, after the perfect laying aside of the relationship and propensity toward the senses and the flesh, you swim through the infinite sea of the oracles of the Spirit with knowledge, according to the mind, and you search out with the Spirit the things of the Spirit. Having received from Him the manifestation of those mysteries that were hidden—on account of great humility, as it seems—you filled a scroll with many chapters of the Holy Scripture that were ^B perplexing, and sent it, asking also from me, who am devoid of all virtue and knowledge, for the written answer for each chapter according to the anagogical contemplation.

Having received and read this, being struck with wonder in mind, hearing, and soul, I begged you to pardon me for this refusal, saying that the requested matters were difficult of approach, and were to be found near the end of the highest knowledge—knowledge inaccessible to others, let alone to me, who am cast down on the ground, and who have, like the serpent, according to that ancient curse, no other food but the earth of vices and commotions, and who, like a worm, drag myself along in the slime of pleasures and lusts. And having done this many times and for a long time, and having found that you would not accept my entreaty regarding this, fearing lest the bond of love suffer something—that love by which, being knit together, we have one soul while we bear two bodies—and fearing lest the refusal be reasonably considered by you as a pretext for disobedience, I dared, even against my will, to be accused of rashness beyond my strength. For I considered it better ^C to be laughed at by those who wish to do so, than to allow the love—than which nothing among things after God is more precious to those who have a mind, or rather, more dear to God—to suffer any agitation or diminution. For it is love that is able to bring together those who are divided, into one, and to create an untroubled identity of mind in the many, or rather in all. Therefore, first of all, pardon me, venerable Father, for this undertaking, and ask the others to pardon my rashness—

^A and by your prayers make God propitious to me; and entreat Him to inspire me graciously in what must be said (or rather, that He may Himself supply the whole response, attaching it to a right understanding of each question). For from Him is every good gift and every perfect donation, as from the fountain and Parent of all sciences and virtues which shine forth to the holy and righteous according to the measure of each one’s merit. For, relying on you, I have undertaken the task enjoined, believing that, as a reward for my obedient spirit, divine indulgence and favor might be granted to me through you.

As to the individual chapters, set forth in the order and series in which they were written by you, I shall attach a response as briefly and succinctly as capacity and the grace of God—which has granted the power to understand and speak piously—shall allow, so that I may not burden the hearing of those who read with a more prolix discourse; ^B and especially since my speech is directed to you, who are truly taught by spiritual knowledge and are keen spectators of divine things; who have overcome the trouble of vices and passions, and, having left behind every allurement of nature, possess Reason as your guide and most just judge; and who, by an excellence of contemplation, have established your mind in the most hidden bosom of divine silence, where it is permitted to perceive in an unknown way the sole divine sweetness, the magnitude of which only their experience can teach who have deserved to make trial of it; and who therefore stand in need only of a slight indication regarding the matters sought, such as might, as if by a lighted torch, pre-demonstrate the splendor of the all-shining beauty of the mystical visions contained in the divine oracles, and the spiritual greatness belonging to them. If, however, it is right for me to use this language toward you, who have already become the salt of the earth and the light of the world, according to the Dominical saying, by reason of the opulence of your virtues and the abundant outpouring of knowledge—you who, by the gifts of virtue, cleanse the stench of vices in others, and illuminate with the light of knowledge that blindness of soul which is ignorance.

I ask you, most holy ones, and all who will, as is likely, read this writing of mine, not to set what is said by me as the limit of the spiritual explanation of these chapters. For I am far ^D from the understanding of the divine oracles, and for that matter I am in need of the teaching of others; but if you are able, either from yourselves or from others, to conjecture or learn anything, choose that rather, and hold to the more sublime and true understanding—the work and effect of which is a certain persuasion of soul for those who are imbued with the desire for the spiritual intelligence of the questions posed.

For the divine word bears the likeness of water; just as to plants and sprouts of every kind, and to diverse animals (to those, I say, that are watered by it), it shines forth with the splendors of knowledge according to their mode and capacity, and through the cultivation of virtuous action, like fruit, it is displayed

^A to each according to the quality of virtue and knowledge. And becoming manifest to some through others, it is nowhere circumscribed by the straitness of a single mind, nor does it suffer being contained, by reason of its natural infinity.

Since you have commanded me to speak first concerning the passions that afflict us, how many and what sort they are; whence they derive their origin, and to what end they arrive ^B through their proper mediation; and from which faculty of the soul or member of the body each passion arises, secretly informing the understanding mind of itself, and like a dye staining the miserable soul with vicious thoughts of sin, and afflicting the body: [and concerning] the power, name, and efficacy of each; the occasions and pretexts; the deceits which impure demons contrive through them; the invisible onsets and simulations; and how they secretly obtrude some things from others, ^C and through others induce the imprudent into yet others by plausible fraud; their subtleties, smallness, and greatness, and their massive bulk; their remissions and retreats, their contractions, their persistences, and their attendances, whether faster or slower; and, as it were, their reasonings before a tribunal against the soul, and the verdicts that are seemingly rendered according to the mind; the visible defeats or victories; ^D what the disposition is in each; and for what cause many passions are allowed to assail the soul of one man, and this either by themselves or with the cooperation of others; in what manner they bring their own materials with them, without any delay of time, by whose enticements they secretly start that bitter battle against us; so that we are wearied by toil as if in the presence of things that are nowhere to be found, and at times we crave those materials, at times we flee them: the one proceeding from pleasure, the other from pain and vexation.

[And concerning] the mode in which they exist within us, and the complex and various figuration of the images that they elicit in dreams and during sleep; and whether they are confined ^A to some part of the soul or of the body, or reside in the whole soul and in the whole body; and whether, existing within, through the passions of the soul they persuade the soul to draw in exterior things by means of the body, and deceive it, [causing it] to exist wholly in perception alone, abandoning those things that are proper according to nature; or whether, existing outside, by the touch of the body from without, they shape the invisible soul toward material things, attributing to it a composite form, fashioning for it ^B the appearance of the matter that has been received according to the imagination; and whether there is an order in them, and a sequence wickedly devised, by which they first make trial of the soul through these passions, and thus subsequently fight against it through others; and which passions take the lead for others, and which in turn follow those, or accompany them, or whether they disturb the soul promiscuously and out of order, as it happens, through whatever passions they may be; and whether the soul is allowed to suffer such things from them without providence, or according to providence; and what is the reason for the abandonment of the soul by providence in each passion; and what is the manner of the eradication of each of the enumerated passions; and by what works,

^A reasonings, and thoughts the soul is to be set free from these; and by what means it is to cleanse itself from the defilements of conscience; and, by opposing which virtue to which passion, it shall gain the victory—having put to flight the most wicked demon and having simultaneously extinguished utterly with him the very movement of the passion itself; and how, after freedom from the passions, it will be able to survey well its own properties; and by what arguments or ways it will appropriate to itself, through the reason that is according to nature, those habits towards the senses which are devoid of the passions of sensible things, and will form them into virtues, just as by the passions it was formerly formed toward sin; ^B and how it will perform the noble transposition in a becoming manner, using those things by means of which it formerly trespassed for the generation and establishment of virtues; and how, again, having been set free from these habits, it will scientifically contemplate the reasons of things that have come to be through the natural theory in the Spirit, having become released from the sensible symbols in them; and how, further, after these, approaching the intelligible realities, with the intellect having become pure from the thought pertaining to the senses, it will receive simple conceptions and will acquire a simple knowledge of everything, connecting them to one another according to the original reason of wisdom; after which, having passed through all existing things, with the thoughts inherent in them, and having been released from everything, and even from the power of intellection itself, it will experience union with God Himself, which is beyond intellection; according to which, in an ineffable way, receiving from Him the learning of the truth itself, like a seed, it shall no longer be turned toward sin, there being no place left for the devil to lead it away ^C persuasively toward vice and evil, due to the ignorance of that which is good by nature and which adorns all things capable of participating in it.

Since you have sought the reasons, the modes, and the causes of these and similar matters, and have commanded me to set them down in writing, let the discourse concerning these things remain for the time being in suspense. If God grants it, it shall be examined and investigated more laboriously on another, more opportune occasion, provided that I might at all feel in my mind a force of compunction able to venture upon this vast and deep sea; for I am not ashamed to confess that I have not yet fully known the inextricable fallacies and arts of the impure demons, inasmuch as the dust of earthly things, cast before the eyes of the mind, draws a veil of darkness over them and does not allow me to behold clearly the nature and character of created things; nor to separate from the mass of things those things which merely appear—and possess as their only function the deception of the irrational sense. For to investigate ^D and to speak of such things belongs, without a doubt, only to those who are greatly advanced in the cult of contemplation and are sublime in mind, and who through much experience have discerned what is noble and what is not of such a kind; and—what is superior and more valuable than all other things—who have acquired, through the grace and power received from God, the ability to think well and to speak clearly the things that have been conceived.

Yet, lest the discourse concerning these matters be left entirely without consolation in the present subject, having spoken a little concerning the origin of the passions—and as much as ^A suffices to demonstrate to you, who are gnostics, the end from the beginning—I shall proceed to the explanation of the chapters that follow in order.

Definition of Evil

^A when he perceived from the very danger of the thing that pain necessarily succeeds every pleasure, he equipped his whole initiative toward pleasure and his whole flight against pain; regarding the one with every force of struggle, and warring against the other with every zeal. He supposed—a thing that is impossible—that by such a method he could separate these from one another, and that self-love alone should have pleasure conjoined to it, entirely untainted by pain. ^B Being ignorant, on account of the passion, as it seems, that it is never possible for pleasure to exist without pain. For pain is tempered together with pleasure, even if it seems to escape those who possess it on account of the dominance of the pleasure in the passion; since that which dominates is always accustomed to appear, covering the sensation of that which lies adjacent to it.

Thence the great multitudes of passions, and to be numbered, were sown into the life of humans. ^C Thence life has become for us full of much lamentation, honoring the motives of its own destruction, and—on account of ignorance—discovering and cherishing for itself the pretexts for corruption. Thence the one nature was split into countless divided segments; and we, who are sharers of the same nature, consume one another like wild beasts and reptiles. For being lovers of pleasure on account of self-love, and again, for that same cause, striving to flee from pain, we devise the innumerable generations of soul-corrupting passions. For instance, if we seek to satisfy the cravings of self-love through pleasure, we beget gluttony, pride, vainglory, inflation, avarice, greed, tyranny, haughtiness, arrogance, recklessness, madness, conceit, self-importance, disdain, insolence, profanity, buffoonery, profligacy, excess, effrontery, vanity of soul, softness and laziness, injury, mockery, talkativeness, licentiousness of speaking shameful things at the wrong time, and whatever else is of this kind. ^D But if, rather, the manner of self-love is vexed by pain, we beget anger, envy, hatred, enmity, discord, railings, detraction, slander, sorrow, unbelief, despair, reviling of Providence, listlessness, negligence, dejection of soul, languor of soul, pusillanimity, unseasonable mourning, wailing, gloom, lamentation, rivalry, jealousy, provocation, and whatever else belongs to the disposition deprived of the motives for pleasure. And from the mixture of pleasure and pain that occurs for other causes—namely, from wickedness (for so some call the composition of the evil parts out of contraries)—we beget hypocrisy, irony, deceit, pretense, flattery, sycophancy, and whatever other inventions of mixed craftiness exist. For to recount everything now, and to speak with their own forms, and manners, and causes, and times...

the present space does not permit; it will be for the future, God granting strength, that we shall discuss these things in a proper commentary.

Another definition of evil

Evil, therefore, is, as I have said before, ignorance of the good Cause of all things. This, ^A having blinded the human mind, while clearly opening wide the senses, has alienated man completely from divine knowledge, and filled him with an impassioned knowledge of sensible things. Of this, man—partaking immoderately, after the manner of irrational beasts, and finding through experience the participation in sensible things that constitutes his visible corporeal nature—naturally, after having already lost the most beautiful divine brilliance of ^B intelligible beauty, mistook the visible creation for God, deifying it on account of its necessity for the maintenance of his body. And his own body, having a natural affinity with the creation deemed to be God, he loved with every endeavor, through the care and concern for the body alone, serving the creature rather than the Creator. For one cannot serve the creature unless one is solicitous for the body, just as one cannot serve God without purifying the soul through virtues. In that the man performs the soul-corrupting service through the body, and becomes a lover of self, he had incessantly the sensation of pleasure and the experience of pain: eating ^C always of the tree—the tree of disobedience—having through experience the knowledge of good and evil mingled according to the sense. And perhaps one who says that the visible creation is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would not miss the truth; for it has by nature the participation that is productive of pleasure and pain.

Or again: since the creation also possesses spiritual reasons for the things that are seen (14), which nourish the mind, and also a natural power that pleases the sense but perverts the mind, it has been called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; ^D enjoying the knowledge of the good, insofar as it is contemplated spiritually; but insofar as it is taken corporeally, it is the knowledge of the evil. For it becomes a teacher of passions to those who partake of it corporeally, bringing upon them forgetfulness of divine things. Wherefore God perhaps forbade the man to eat of it, deferring for a while its participation, so that first, as was most just, through participation by grace, he might know its proper Cause, and the immortality given by grace through such a participation; and having fortified himself toward impassibility and immutability, as one already divine by deification, he might safely and with assurance, together with God, contemplate the things of God, and take up their

^A knowledge as God—though not as man, possessing the same knowledge of beings with wisdom, as God does, by reason of the transformation of the intellect and the sense toward deification. Thus, then, the tree is here to be understood according to an anagogy capable of fitting all, while the more mystical and superior meaning is reserved for those who are loftier and more perspicacious in spirit, and is honored by us through silence. I have mentioned the tree of transgression here only in passing, wishing to show that ignorance of God was the cause for the creature being deified; of this, the manifest worship is the blind love by which men, more than is fair, bestow themselves upon the body. Around this there revolves a kind of mixed knowledge, with the risk attending pleasure and pain alike, because of which the whole dross of evils has crept into ^B human life. It has done so in various and diverse ways, and so deformingly that no one can pursue them in speech, insofar as whoever shares in human nature is affected toward the visible part of himself (that is, the body) by a vivid and strong love, of such a kind that, in a servile manner, it compels him—both on account of the desire for pleasure and the fear of pain—to devise many forms of passions, just as times and circumstances fall out and the manner of such things permits. It teaches one to strive for what is impossible, and what can never be led to its intended end: namely, to be able to possess pleasure forever for one’s companionship while remaining completely untouched by pain. Since all the nature of bodies is subject to corruption and can easily be dissipated, however many ways one exerts oneself to cherish it, ^C he only makes its power of corruption more potent. Being unwilling and always fearing that which he is affected by in love, and beyond his intellect and without sense, because of that which he pursues with love, he cares for and cherishes what he has, hanging upon things that cannot consist by nature. Consequently, together with things that are easily dissipated, and with an instability equal to that of flux, he changes his floating disposition of soul, one after another, and does not discern his own perdition because of the soul’s total blindness toward the truth; indeed, he does not even consider his own ruin.

The liberation from all these evils, and the brief way to salvation, is the true love of God with knowledge, and the total renunciation of the soul’s love both toward the body and toward this world. By this, ^D casting away both the desire for pleasure and the fear of pain and agitation, we are freed from that basest love of the flesh and are raised up to the knowledge of the Creator. Having attained the good and praiseworthy love of an intelligent soul, separated from the love of bodies, we do not cease to serve God through that love, we who, through Him and by His gift, always seek to be cherished and sustained. For this is the true worship of God and is truly acceptable to God: that we, being diligent in the worship of virtues, should have care for the soul.

He, therefore, who is not led by the desire for bodily pleasure, and who fears no pain at all, has become impassible, and together with these and the self-love that gives birth to them, he has all the

ignorance that is the primary parent of evils; and he has passed over entirely into the affection for the Good, which is by nature stable, permanent, and always in the same state: remaining in It completely unmoved, and beholding the glory of God as in a mirror with unveiled face, he contemplates the divine and inaccessible glory out of the luminous brightness that is in Him.

Therefore, since the straight and easy path of salvation has been shown to us by the Word, let us renounce the pleasure and pain of the present life as much as we are able; and let us teach those who are subject to us to do the same, exhorting them again and again, so that we may be completely delivered, both ourselves and those we lead, ^B from every sense of vice and from the malice of the demons. Let us embrace only the divine love, and no one shall be able to separate us from the love of God: neither tribulation, nor distress, nor famine, nor danger, nor sword, nor all those things which the divine Apostle has enumerated in that place (Rom. VIII, 35); through the knowledge that is according to activity, with love remaining immovable within us, we are granted by Him the eternal and ineffable joy and composure of the soul. Once we have been counted worthy of this, we shall have toward the world that saving ignorance, no longer, as before, with a sober mind absent—viewing the external appearance of sensible things as though it were glory, as if with the unveiled face ^C of the senses, about which it is plain that the passions have their origin—but rather with the unveiled face of the mind, having been freed from every veil of sensible things, we shall behold in the virtues and in spiritual knowledge the glory of God as in a mirror, in accordance with which the union that comes by grace is accustomed to occur. For just as when we were ignorant of God, we made the creature, which was known through sensory pleasure, into God on account of the bodily composure that was derived from it; so, having received the effective knowledge of God—as much as is granted to the mind—on account of the soul’s composure from Him for its being and its well-being, we shall be ignorant of every experience of every sense.

PROLOGUE TO THE SCHOLIA

The natural beauty for those who use speech and reason is speech and reason; the beauty of speech and reason is the accurate understanding of those who use speech and reason; the beauty of this understanding is the habit, conspicuous in virtue and reason, of those who use speech and reason. The beauty of this habit, furthermore, consists in contemplation, through which we recognize the truth; the end of this is wisdom, which is the most clear completion of understanding, being as it were speech that has reached its natural perfection, which is a pure mind, having attained through the union with the Cause a state of relation above understanding, in accordance with which, having enjoyed the manifold movement and relation that is natural for it toward things after the Cause, it...

^A holds fast to it in a way unknown, having come into a state of blessed silence that is beyond all intellection, which neither speech nor thought can ever fully declare; but only experience, by way of participation, among those who have been deemed worthy of enjoyment beyond intellection—of which enjoyment an unmistakable sign, clear to all, is a soul’s complete insensibility and detachment in its disposition toward this present age.

Whence, knowing that nothing for rational beings is more natural, nor for those who apply themselves to study and understanding for the sake of piety is there anything more appropriate for glory and clarity ^B than the Word—I do not mean the word formed by art through an eloquent tongue, which plays cleverly for the pleasure of the ears, which even wicked men can cultivate and profess; but that which nature essentially and without learning, by its very disposition, maintains hidden for the unerring investigation of beings and for the apprehension of truth in discourse—which also the Holy Spirit of God knows well how to gather unto the ways of social life when it has been properly shaped by the virtues, and to fashion it into a divine image of beauty in accordance with the Likeness, lacking nothing in grace of those things that naturally belong to the Deity. For it is an instrument that expertly gathers the whole impression of divine goodness ^C shining intelligibly in existing things; through which, entering into the grand workmanship of beings, it both carries and is carried toward the Cause and Creator of beings—those who have made the whole impulse of the longing naturally inherent in them toward Him, being in no way mastered by those things that are after the Cause. We, cultivating this Word, becoming masters of all the passions and vices, addicted to none of those things that are abhorrent to the laws of nature, and becoming diligent practitioners of all the divine virtues, are fashioned—we who strive for every honesty, purifying and composing the earthly defilement of the soul to spiritual beauty. For where the Word and reason prevail, the power of sense ^D fails and ceases—that power with which the force of sin is intertwined, drawing the soul away through the enticement of pleasure toward the piteous compassion of the flesh that subsists with it; by which, as if undertaking it as a natural work, it adopts the passionate and pleasure-seeking care of the flesh, leads it away from the life according to nature, and is persuaded to become the creator of non-subsistent evil. For evil is the soul's forgetfulness of the goods that are according to nature, which arises from the passionate affection toward the flesh and the world; which the Word, acting as a general, dispels—and by spiritual knowledge, scrutinizing the origin and nature of both the world and the flesh, and driving the soul toward the region of the intelligibles akin to it, against which the law of sin has no power, not having, as it were, a bridge of sense to transmit it to the mind, for this sense has already been dissolved toward the soul in its affection and cast away upon sensible spectacles, whose affection and nature the mind, having passed over, does not perceive at all.

^A This, as I was saying, I knew; and I pondered that it was necessary to provide another kind of help for the present discourse of this treatise: namely, the writing of the scholia placed in the margins. This would itself complete the discourse toward beauty, provide a sweeter feast for those who encounter it in terms of its meanings, and offer security for the entire intellect contained within the treatise. For after publishing it and reading through the whole work, I found some places needing clarity, some needing addition and insight, and others requiring some moderate secondary thought on the text already issued. Thus, I produced this writing of scholia, adjusting the appropriate concept to each place. Therefore, I entreat all who would read, or even transcribe, to read also the writing of the scholia from the outside, and to set it alongside, according to each mark; so that the discourse may be sound in every way, and not mutilated by having anything at all neglected.

SCHOLIA

1. ^A He says that the flesh, through perceived habits, is capable of receiving the disposition of the soul according to virtue, being yoked to the soul itself as an instrument for its manifestation.

2. ^B He speaks of sense as transmitting to the mind the phantasia of visible things, for the understanding of the concepts existing in things, as an instrument of the mind’s passage toward intelligible things.

3. He says it is a property of love that those living according to it should manifest one intent.

4. That the mind, having passed beyond the essence of existing things, becomes non-intellectual, attacking God—who exists above all essence, and knowledge, and intellect.

5. That the Word of God effects a difference of gifts among those receiving him, according to the dispositions of their souls.

6. That the demons weave together against us, in our intellect, invisible wars as if material things were present.

7. ^D He says that because of pleasure we love the vices, but because of pain we shun virtue.

8. That just as the word, mastering the passions, makes the senses an instrument of virtue, so too do the passions, mastering the word, fashion the senses toward sin.

9. Of sensible things, clearly.

10. That the soul, having been united to God after its release from its natural relation to existing things according to a habit, acquires an immovable stability in the good.

* Note Maximus’s entreaty to transcribe his scholia and read them together with the Questions.

41. He calls things the essences of existing beings; but what seem to be such—the fluxions and defluxions, which the definition of quality and quantity adopts—are those things around which the fiction of the senses, the author of sin, consists. ^A

42. Because man, being in the middle between God and matter, did not strive to be moved towards God as the cause and end of his own generation, but [was moved] towards matter, he deservedly, by his proclivity and inclination, became earthly and ignored God, having earth-bound his mind through that inclination toward matter.

43. He called a composite knowledge that which holds the experiment of the operations of sensible senses; such that, according to nature, it has pleasure on account of generation, and pain on account of corruption.

44. The creation of visible things, he says, has spiritual reasons and is compared to the mind, and [has] a natural power to be compared to the senses; the thoughts of which, like a tree in the midst of the heart (which is figuratively understood as Paradise), exist. ^B

45. One is ignorant of the experience of pleasure and pain of the senses, when he submits his mind to God, having become free from bodily attachment.

A Censure of Photius' Work

This divine man and courageous confessor labors to solve these questions. But his speech is long, drawn out in periods, delighting in hyperbata, prevailing in circumlocutions, and not very tenacious regarding the propriety of words. From which, throughout the whole work, both obscurity and difficulty of comprehension proceed. Furthermore, he attends so much to the ruggedness of a turgid diction, touching upon the composition and endings in his speech, ^C that he does not even strive to be pleasant to the ear. Moreover, his translation of words, for the sake of gaining favor and alluring the reader, is by no means floridly composed, but is taken up simply and carelessly. Besides, he almost dulls those who are studious of him, to such a degree do his solutions recede from the letter and known history, or rather, from that very thing which was the question. Only, if it happens to be pleasing to anyone to exercise the mind in anagogical meanings and contemplations (that is, in spiritual and mystical senses), such a person shall nowhere surely find any deeper or more diligently elaborated [reflections] than these. For he not only collects what was said by those before him regarding certain of the questions, ^D but also adds results of his own industry, which—if not greater—are certainly no less elegant and skillful than the former. Everywhere, however, the man’s piety and his pure and sincere love for Christ shine forth.

Since the divine inspiration within you has caused you to bid me write down and send to you what I had noted from those chapters which had been proposed to me as points of doubt, I have placed in the first order those which seemed most necessary to me.

QUESTION 1

Are the passions themselves evil by nature, or does this befall them from their use?

bad? I mean pleasure and pain, desire and fear, and what follows from these.

Answer.

These affections, as well as the others, were not primarily created with humans; otherwise, they would have contributed to the definition of nature. I say, however, having learned it from the great Gregory of Nyssa, that since man had fallen from perfection, these affections were introduced, having sprouted in that part of nature which is further removed from reason; through which, in place of the divine and blessed image, the likeness of irrational animals became immediately visible and manifest in man upon his transgression. For it was fitting that, with the dignity of reason buried and obscured, the human race should be justly punished by those marks of irrationality which it had voluntarily and by its own will brought upon itself—God, by a wise dispensation, managing this so that man, being instructed, might emerge to a sense of rational magnificence.

^B Furthermore, these affections also turn to good for those who are diligent and cultivators of virtue; then, indeed, when they wisely withdraw from earthly things and employ them for the acquisition of heavenly things. For example, they make desire into an appetitive motion of the intelligent mind toward divine things; pleasure into an innocent joy of the desiring power of the mind regarding divine gifts; fear into a diligent care for avoiding the punishment due for future transgressions; and pain into a corrective repentance for present evil. And to speak briefly, after the manner of skilled physicians who remove from the body the harmful corruption of a viper that was neglected: they use these affections to remove present or expected future evil, and to acquire and preserve virtue and knowledge. These affections, therefore, as I said, are good according to the way they are used by those who capture every thought into the obedience of Christ.

^C If, however, anything of these is spoken in Scripture concerning God or the saints: in the case of God, it is on our account, and as is fitting for us, by means of our own affections, it signifies the saving and beneficent movements of providence; but in the case of the saints, it is because we cannot otherwise express their intellectual relationships and dispositions toward God through the medium of the voice, except by using the affections known to nature. ^D

SCHOLIA. 1. How and when these affections become good. 2. That Scripture portrays the varied ways of Providence toward us by means of the affections known to us. 3. That Scripture signifies the specific relationship of the saints toward God by these names.

QUESTION II. Since all the species that fill the world,

during the space of the six days did the Artificer of the world create; what does the Father do after this? For the Lord says: ^A “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” Does He perhaps mean the conservation of the species once produced?

Response. God, having once, as He alone knows, completed the reasons of created things and the universal essences of beings, is working ^B even now; not merely in the sense that He preserves these things in the nature of things, but because He also creates in act the parts that are in them by potentiality, bringing them forth and cherishing them once they have been endowed with existence. To this is added that Providence refines the particular things toward the likeness of the universals, until, by joining the voluntary impulse to the more universal ^C reason of the rational essence—that is, through the movement of the particulars toward the good—it makes them harmonious and moving in unison with one another and with the whole, so that the particular things have no difference from the universals regarding the resolve of the will and the intention of the mind; but one and the same reason is understood in all, not being divided by the modes in which it is predicated of them; and in such a way He shows the grace of deification working in the reality and action of all things. On account of this, God and the Word, having become man, says: “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” The Father indeed does this by His good pleasure; the Son, however, is the one working; and the Holy Spirit, in turn, substantially completes both the Father’s good pleasure in all things and the Son’s own operation; so that ^D the one God in the Trinity may be through all and in all, understood in proportion to each of those counted worthy by grace, and in the whole, just as the soul naturally exists in the whole and in the individual members of the body without diminution.

SCHOLIA. 1. In the matter: that is to say, they exist potentially in the universal essence of beings; the particular things which come into being from the matter are those whose generation, he says, God openly works. 2. He refers to the assimilation of the particular to the universal: the union of all men, through a single movement of their minds, with the reason of nature, which God effects through providence, so that there may be, as it were, one nature of all, and likewise one mind, with all joined to God and to one another through the Spirit. 3. The "perhaps" is for "likewise."

QUESTION III

QUESTION III

^A Scripture has remained silent regarding the name of the man to whom the Savior sent his two disciples to prepare the Passover, and also regarding the city to which they were sent. Hence, at a first glance, I suppose that by the city, this world subject to the senses is signified, and by the man, the entire nature of humanity to which, as disciples of God and the Word, the instructors who prepare his mystical banquet with the human race are sent—namely, the Law of the first covenant and the Law of the new. The former, through the practical philosophy, purifies nature from every defilement, while the latter, through the contemplative initiation, leads the mind upward from bodily things to the kindred spectacles of intelligible realities; and the proof of this is that the disciples sent were Peter and John. For Peter is a symbol of action, and John of contemplation.

Therefore, he who bears the jar of water meets them first in a fitting and suitable manner, signifying by his figure all those who, through the philosophy that studies action, bear upon the shoulders of their virtues—as if in a jar—the grace of the Spirit, which is guarded and purifies them from defilement through faith, by the mortification of the members of the body which are upon the earth. Then, after him, the householder appears who shows them the furnished upper room, instructing them likewise through this, that all those who, through contemplation, have built up the height of their own pure and magnanimous intellect like an upper room, have properly prepared it to receive the great Word, as befits God, with gnostic thoughts and doctrines. The house, moreover, is the habit of piety toward which the soul that is studious of action journeys by practicing virtue; and the mind that is illuminated by the divine light of mystical knowledge justly dominates it, as one who already possesses this by nature, and for this reason, together with the one who is studious of action, it is deemed worthy of the surpassing presence and banquet of the Savior Word.

One man, therefore, has been named, and yet two, since it is written that one bears the jar of water, while the other is called the householder. One, perhaps, as I have said, because of the unity of nature; but two, because this nature is divided among the pious into those who are studious of action and those who are studious of contemplation: whom Scripture, by mixing them through the Spirit, ^D calls and makes one.

But if someone should wish to contemplate what has been said in regards to each individual person, he would not wander from the truth. For the soul of every individual is a city to which, as disciples of the Word and God, the arguments concerning virtue and knowledge are constantly being sent. And he who bears the jar of water is the courageous disposition and mode of conduct that bears, upon the shoulders of continence, the grace of faith granted in baptism, keeping it inviolable. The house, however, is the state and habit of virtues, built up from various and diverse—as it were—stones, and from robust and manly characters and principles.

^A The upper room is the broad and spacious mind and the aptitude for knowledge, adorned with divine spectacles of mystical and ineffable dogmas. The master of the house is the intellect, expanded by the brightness of the house of virtue, and by the height, beauty, and magnitude of knowledge; to which, together with his disciples—that is, the primary and spiritual conceptions regarding nature and time—the Word coming to dwell, imparts himself. For Pascha is truly the passage of the Word to the human mind, by which he bestows fullness upon all those who are worthy through the participation of his own goods, the Word of God arriving mystically.

{SCHOLIUM} ^B In which the hidden God is revealed. For from the things that are, we know their Creator, who truly exists as the reasons of things that have been made. He calls time and nature those things which are contained under time and nature, and under which is everything created, both intelligible and sensible; with which the Word and God arrives to those who are worthy. For he is known from the things that are around him, and he presents himself as a whole, becoming conformed according to the capacity and merit of each one. He calls spiritual notions regarding time and nature the knowing of their reasons, through being made outside of matter and form—that is, of flesh and the world—for the sake of Him who for our sake became these things.

{QUESTION IV} ^C How did the Lord command the disciples not to possess two tunics, when he himself, as the holy evangelist John is the author, possessed five; and it is clear from those who divided them; and what are these garments?

{Response} The Savior did not possess five tunics, but one upon the bare body, or undergarment, and an outer cloak; of which, that which is upon the bare body they call the tunic or under-tunic; the outer cloak, however, they address as the mantle. But mystically, the great evangelist John, through the simple sentence and letter of history, rendered the arcane force of the meaning through the Spirit: so that, certainly, through those things which are narrated as having been done, he might lead our mind to the truth of those things which are understood. ^D That tunic of the Savior, therefore, woven from above throughout, which those who led him to the cross did not divide, although it was granted to them to strip him, is the virtue of the other virtues cohering to one another in an indivisible connection and complex; and it is the fitting and decent covering applied by us to the Word—or the grace woven from above by the Spirit for the new man who is according to him. The outer cloak, however, is the sensible world, falling under the senses, divided into four elements, which those who—in an intelligible manner—crucify the Lord within us divide for themselves like four garments. The demons, therefore, divide the visible...

the constant creature before our eyes, who drive us to gaze upon it with lust, ignorant of the divine reasons within them. Yet even if they take the tunic of the virtues away from us through our inaction in good works, they cannot persuade us that virtue is vice. Let us not, therefore, make the Savior’s five garments an occasion for covetousness, but let us understand what the intention of the Scripture is, and how, while we are sluggish in doing good, the Lord is crucified and stripped ^A through our idleness in good things; and how, through our service to the passions, the demons partition His creation like garments. Let us become vigilant guardians of the good things granted to us by God, and let us gaze upon the creation only for His glory; and let us keep the tunic of the Word of knowledge—I mean the virtues—invincible through our zeal for good works.

If, however, you wish, in addition to what has been said, to think of the tunic woven from above as the world of incorporeal and intelligible substances, and the outer garment, which Scripture divided into four parts like elements, as corporeal nature, you will not stray from the truth. Of these, they have dissolved the body through the destruction of death, having received strength against us through the transgression of the law’s commandment; but the soul, as having its kinship from above, they have not conquered. ^B

QUESTION V

What is the earth cursed in the works of Adam, according to the spiritual and more hidden sense? And what does it mean that he should eat of it in sorrows? And what is it for the earth to bring forth thorns and thistles, and for him to eat grass? And what, finally, is it to eat bread in the sweat of his brow? And yet, no man has ever been seen eating earth or grass; nor do those who eat bread eat it in the sweat of their brow, as the historical meaning implies. ^C

Answer.

The earth cursed in the works of Adam is the flesh of Adam, which is always being rendered, through the works of Adam—I mean the passions of the darkened mind—fruitless and subject to the curse, as if by the works of God, which are the virtues. He eats it with much labor and sorrow, enjoying the small pleasure derived from it. This flesh, in place of this corruptible and fragile pleasure, brings forth for him cares and anxieties, like thorns; and like thistles, great temptations and dangers, which pierce him on every side by means of reason, irrational anger, and desire, so that he can only with difficulty manage to secure and "eat"—that is, attain—its health and well-being, like grass that withers away. And then, after a long repetition of evils and pains, in the sweat of his face—that is, ^D in the toil and labor of the mind according to the senses, and in the distress of a curious investigation of things that fall under the senses—like bread, he has the means for the sustenance of this present life, or

or by some art, or by some other method contrived for life. ^B Or rather, the earth is the heart of Adam, having become subject to the curse because of the transgression, namely, the removal of heavenly blessings. This earth, according to practical philosophy, he eats through many afflictions, having been purified from the curse of conscience and the shame of such works. And again, those thoughts that sprout in it like thorns—regarding the generation of bodies—and like thistles—the strenuous thoughts regarding providence and judgment concerning bodiless beings—he clears away by the Word, and crops spiritual contemplation like grass; and thus, as if in the sweat of his face, with an intellect learned and disciplined by ingenious knowledge for understanding, he feeds on the incorruptible bread of theology, which alone is truly living bread, and which preserves the substance of those who eat it for incorruption. The earth, therefore, which one eats with praiseworthy effort, is the purity of the heart, which the cultivation of action provides; the grass, however, is the knowledge of created things through natural contemplation; and the bread, finally, is the true and most sacred initiation into theology.

SCHOLIUM

QUESTION VI

Answer.

it has truly and properly recognized once for all, it cannot be turned aside to another thing beyond Him, even if that other poses as such. Just as an eye, once it has beheld the sun, will never erroneously take the moon or any other of the stars of the celestial sphere in its place. For as for those whom, by the new birth, the Holy Spirit has entirely occupied and translated from earth to heaven, and by the true knowledge in act has transformed their mind with the blessed rays of God and the Father, so that they might be thought to be a different god, having undergone regarding their habit [what happens] through grace—which God Himself possesses not by undergoing it, but by essence—in their case, the will has clearly become immune to sin, in accordance with the habit of virtue and knowledge, being unable to deny what has been known to them through the very trial of the thing in act. ^B Even though, therefore, we possess the Spirit of adoption, which is as a seed forming those who are born into the likeness of Him who sows, nevertheless, we do not present to Him a purpose pure from inclination and affection toward anything else. And for this reason, even after we have been born of water and the Spirit, we sin by our will. But if we were to prepare our will to receive the power and efficacy of these—I mean the water and the Spirit—spiritually, then the mystical water would surely cleanse the conscience through the practice of action, and the life-giving Spirit would bring about in us an immutable perfection of the good through the experience of knowledge in act. It remains, therefore, for each of us who still has the ability to sin, that we wish to offer ourselves entirely, with a clear intention of mind, to the Spirit.

SCHOLIA

1. ^A A response at once appropriate and very suitable for those who ask whether Adam was created mortal or immortal.

2. ^B An idle faith, he says, possesses the grace of adoption potentially, inasmuch as it is not stirred by the commandments through the zeal of those who possess it.

3. ^C He declares two kinds of birth: one according to essence, so to speak, of the whole man, through which the perfection of adoption is imparted to the soul potentially; the other according to purpose and moral choice, through which the Holy Spirit, taking up a willing purpose and moral choice, transforms it toward deification, uniting it entirely to God. ^D According to the first mode of birth, then, it is possible for those who are born to incline toward sin, if they do not wish to bring into act the power of adoption that is in them, due to their inclination toward the flesh. For the moral choice is what uses; but the power of adoption is like the instrument which remains idle and vacant if the moral choice does not exercise it. According to that mode of birth, therefore, he says it is possible for those who are born to sin; but according to the second, it is impossible, once the mind and moral choice have been deified. Therefore, the Apostle, according to

and of the intention. That the Apostle, therefore, declares that the one who has been born of God, according to this mode of birth, does not commit sin. ^A

QUESTION VII.

Answer. It is the custom of Scripture to change the tenses, and to substitute one for another; and to speak of the future as if it were the past, and the past as if it were the future; and likewise to set forth the present in place of the past ^B or of the future, as is clear to those who are somewhat experienced in it. There are, therefore, some who say that by the dead here, Scripture refers to those who finished their lives before the advent of Christ; for example, those who were in the time of the flood; those who were in the time of the building of the tower; those in Sodom; those in Egypt; and others who, for various reasons and in various ways, received a manifold ^C retribution, and immense punishments and calamities inflicted by divine judgment. These suffered penalties, not so much because of their ignorance of God, as because they injured one another. To these, Scripture says, the great proclamation of salvation was announced, having already been judged in the flesh according to men: that is, since they had already paid the penalties for the crimes they committed against one another during their life in the flesh, in order that they might live according to God in the spirit, that is, receiving in their souls, while constituted among the dead, the knowledge of the true faith, through Him who descended to the underworld ^D to save even those among the dead who believed. But so that we might understand the passage, let us interpret it thus: "For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, having been judged according to men in the flesh, that they might live according to God in the spirit."

Or perhaps, secretly, He calls "dead" those who carry about the mortification of Jesus in their body, to whom the divine Gospel is rightfully and truly given by the things themselves; since the Gospel ordains and teaches the renunciation of carnal life, and the profession of a spiritual one; those, I say, who are always dying according to man—that is, the human life in the flesh throughout this age—but who are living according to God only in the spirit, as the divine Apostle and those like him, who do not live their own life at all, but have Christ alone living within them according to the soul. In this way, those who are dead in this age for the sake of God are judged in the flesh, for they certainly have tribulations, tortures, distresses, and persecutions, and they endure myriad kinds of temptations with joy.

QUESTION VIII.

...[the truth], the form of the principal in the image; or rather, God and the Father is light, in the light—that is to say, in the Son and the Holy Spirit—not being one light, and another, and another; but one and the same light by essence, ^D while shining forth in a trinity according to the mode of existence and subsistence.

QUESTION IX.

Response.

QUESTION X

^A and above understanding shall enjoy graces; yet sometimes he confesses only to know in part, and to prophesy in part; when he explicitly cries out that one must know even as one is known; so that clearly he does not yet know the one who is to be known. And to speak briefly, his saying, "When that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away,"—which the Apostle said—seems to me to be the same as that utterance of the Theologian: "It hath not yet appeared what we shall be."

QUESTION. Since he who fears is not perfect in charity, how is it that those who fear are said to have no lack? For if they hold a lack, it is clear that they are not perfect. How then is he who fears not perfect?

ANSWER. ^B The elegant and beautiful order of the Divine Scriptures, according to the healthy rule of the Spirit, defines the degrees of those who move from the external crowd of vices and passions toward the Divine nature. It calls those who are being introduced, and who stand in the porch, so to speak, of the Divine courts, those who have received the first rudiments of virtue, *those who fear*. But those who have already attained to a slightly more moderate state of reason and habit according to virtue, it is accustomed to name *progressors*. Those who have already through knowledge arrived at the summit of the truths of virtue, it names *perfect*.

Therefore, he who fears the Lord, having turned away entirely from the old conversation, by which he was corrupted by vices, and having through fear surrendered his whole soul and affection to Divine commands, even if he lacks something, because he is led by his obligation toward the gift given to him; although he has not yet attained a firm and steady habit; nor has he been made a partaker of that wisdom of which the Apostle speaks among the *perfect*. Nor does the progressor lack anything of that honor which pertains to his degree, ^C even if he has not yet attained the same degree and eminent Divine knowledge as the perfect.

Again, those who engage in that part of philosophy which concerns action, and who ply it strenuously, because they have not yet freed their soul from the fear and memory of future Divine judgments—and to these are directed the warnings of the blessed David, in which nothing at all is lacking—since they are those who, for the sake of truth, contend against the opposing power; nevertheless, they still lack the perfection of the contemplation of those who have attained the intelligence of the mysteries. But those who are已经 ^D deemed worthy of the contemplative and mystical life, having cleansed their mind of every material fantasy, and possessing the image of Divine beauty in its entirety without lack, these are they who love us.

Therefore, there is no lack for those who fear, according to the blessed David, even if they do not yet have the full and perfect immediate union with the Word.

Question X. Do the passions provide a use for evils? I mean pleasure and pain, desire and fear, and the things that follow them.

Response. These passions, just like the rest, were not originally created with the nature of human beings; for in that case they would have contributed to the definition of nature. I say this, having learned from the great Gregory of Nyssa, that on account of the lapse from perfection, they were introduced and grew into the more irrational part of nature. Through them, instead of the divine and blessed image, the likeness of irrational animals became immediately plain and manifest in man upon the transgression. For it was necessary that, the dignity of the intellect being obscured, humanity should be justly punished by those marks of irrationality which it had drawn upon itself through its own free choice; while God, by his wise dispensation, was leading man to a consciousness of his rational greatness.

Yet these passions become good in the diligent, when they wisely withdraw them from bodily concerns and employ them for the acquisition of heavenly things. For example, they make desire the appetitive movement of the intellect toward the longing for divine things; they make pleasure the harmless joy of the mind’s willing energy concerning divine gifts; they make fear the cautionary care to avoid future punishment for [past] transgressions; and they make sorrow the corrective repentance for a present evil. In brief, as the wise physicians do—removing the harm caused by the poisonous viper from the body for those who have neglected it—they use these passions as tools to destroy present or anticipated evil, and for the acquisition and preservation of virtue and knowledge. Therefore, as I said, these things happen to be good because of their use in those who take every thought captive into the obedience of Christ.

But if any of these are mentioned in Scripture regarding God or the saints: regarding God, it is on our account and in a manner befitting us, since through our own passions He reveals the saving and beneficent movements of His providence; regarding the saints, [it is mentioned] because we could not otherwise express their mental relations and dispositions toward God through vocal and bodily speech without using passions known to nature.

Scholia.

Question II.

^A follow after the Lord God; those on the left are they who have fulfilled natural contemplation in the spirit, joined with a pious consideration of His judgments. For the Book of Proverbs says concerning Wisdom: "In her left hand are riches and glory." Those on the right are they who have received a knowledge of the intelligible realm, pure and immaterial, stripped of the dross of sensory imagination; for "in her right hand," it says, "are length of days." Finally, those who are "before" are they who, through an intense, burning desire of the mind for the divine beauty, have been deemed worthy of a face-to-face enjoyment of it. If, however, there is some other, greater and more sublime interpretation of this matter, it may be understood by you and by those men who, like you, are divine.

SCHOLIUM

QUESTION XI

Response

Scripture calling wisdom a house is nothing unusual; or [it refers to] the contemplation of the natural, innate, and adventitious goods granted to them, belonging to the undefiled Divinity, which they abandoned in their affected tyranny. Eternal bonds are the absolute and perpetual lack of motion and inertia of their will and mind concerning the Good, from which it follows that they are never partakers of divine joy. Or, again, it is the power which, for the sake of our salvation, holds back their fury against us, according to the principles of divine Providence, not allowing the machinations of their wickedness to proceed against us. Darkness, indeed, is the full and complete ignorance of divine grace, with which, being entirely imbued in their will, they are deprived of the blessed and most resplendent communication of the undefiled light, having consumed all the power naturally given to them upon that which is not. ^B What they shall suffer at the fearful day of judgment, the just Judge alone knows, who determines the just reward for each according to his worth, and in proportion to the evil, appropriately distributes the form of the judgment; and with justice He brings forth the sentence that shall last for endless ages, commensurate with His own good decrees.

QUESTION XII

QUESTION XIII

itself prepared, for they are invisible (which those of divine stature have also been accustomed to call good wills), and are understood and perceived through the things that have been made. For all the works of God, when contemplated by us with the proper ^A intelligence according to nature, secretly announce to us the reasons according to which they were made, and at the same time reveal with themselves the divine counsel in every work; for which reason: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaimeth the work of his hands" (Ps. XVIII, 2). Sempiternal, however, is his power and divinity, a providence preserving things, and its force deifying those who are governed by providence.

Or perhaps the invisible things of God are nothing other than His sempiternal power and divinity, of which the excellent things of magnificence that have been created are clear heralds. For just as from the things that exist we believe that He who truly is, is God; so too from the essential distinction according to genus of the things that exist, which is present by essence and truly is and preserves things, we are taught about His wisdom. And again, from the essential motion according to genus of things, which is present by essence and truly exists, and completes things, we learn of His life; taking the rationale—from creatures wisely contemplated—which is of the holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For the Word, as consubstantial, is the sempiternal power of God; and the Holy Spirit Himself, as consubstantial, is the sempiternal divinity. Cursed, therefore, are those who, from the consideration of things, have not together learned the Author of things, and what is proper to Him by nature; namely, His power and divinity. Therefore, creation cries out through the things that have been made in it, and as it were announces to those able to hear with their minds, the Author who is praised in Trinity, namely God the Father, and His power and divinity which is explicable by no words; that is, the only-begotten Word and the Holy Spirit. For these are the invisible things of God, which are understood and perceived from the creation of the world.

SCHOLIUM

QUESTION XIV

Response

worshipped ^A, believing by this same faith in demons; and they served them, offering them through evil works the service due to them. But we, who worship God, let us take care, by the faith which we have in Him, to offer to Him also a pure service, namely, a way of life perfected by virtues.

QUESTION XV.

^B

Response.

^C But in a more specific sense, and according to another conception, He is also in all those who are under the Law, as a lawgiver and as one announcing future mysteries; He implants in them a sense of the transgression of the commandments and a knowledge of the promised perfection according to Christ. Whence we find many among these, too, who have abandoned that ancient worship which lay in shadows, and have eagerly transferred themselves to the new and mystical [covenant].

Besides the aforementioned modes, He is also in all those who have obtained the divine and truly deifying name of Christ through faith—not only as a guardian and provider, stirring up the natural principle [logos] by the dispensations of Providence, and as one pointing out the transgression and observance of the commandments, and announcing the prophecy of Christ; but even as the author of the adoption that is granted ^D by grace through faith. For as the artificer of wisdom, He dwells only in those who have been purified in soul and body through the diligent practice and exercise of the commandments; with them, He converses through simple and immaterial knowledge—conforming their intellect to the untainted concepts of ineffable things, for the sake of obtaining the grace of deification.

Therefore, He is in all things simply, insofar as He is the sustainer and provider of all, and the awakener of natural seeds; but in a specific sense, and in—

in everything that is under the Law, in that it is an index of the transgression of the commandments, and brings light to the promised proclamation of Christ; but in all Christians, beyond what has been said, it exists as the author of adoption. As for the founder of wisdom, it is in none of the things said simply, except in those who are endowed with intelligence and judgment, and have rendered themselves by a life ordered according to divine reasons worthy of his deifying indwelling. For whoever does not perform the divine will, even if he is a believer, has an unwise heart, like a workshop of wicked thoughts; and a body subject to sins, as if constantly bound by the filth of base desires and vices. ^B

QUESTION XVI.

Responsum.

The molten calf, therefore, is the mixing and confusion of the natural powers ^D among themselves: or rather, the base desire...

^A of the soul which is irrational, and which brings about the activity of the passions contrary to nature. It is a calf, because it is a single habit of vice, scattered into many kinds of vice; a calf, because of its endurance, its capacity for labor, its service in husbandry, and its being—so to speak—productive and inventive, as if ruminating upon the evil disposition concerning the passions. It is molten, because the habit and activity of the passions are fashioned according to the kind of evil fantasy previously stored in the mind. As for the words: “These are your gods,” spoken in the plural, it is because evil is by nature volatile, unstable, multiform, and divisive. For if goodness is by nature unifying of things divided and holds them together, evil is clearly the divider and destroyer of things that are united. The earrings are the discourses and reasonings ^B regarding theology, naturally existing in the mind from the understanding of beings. The ornaments around the neck are the correct doctrines concerning beings according to natural contemplation; the bracelets are the performance of virtues through action.

Or again, the earrings are the innate reason, for the ear is the symbol of reason and discourse. The ornament about the neck is the faculty of wrath, for the neck bears the type of pride and tyranny. The bracelets of the hands are desire, which the pleasure-seeking activity signifies. All of these the mind, by binding and igniting them in the fire of the passions according to the assigned explanation for each, produces the irrational and senseless habit of ignorance, the mother of all evils. It grinds it down, however, when the mind, observing the thickness of the ^C vicious affection that is apparent to the senses, divides each of those things of which its composite structure is made back to its own origin, and thus sows it under the water; I mean, the knowledge of the truth, leading those things that have been clarified and separated from the wicked complication and composition among themselves.

To speak by way of example: every passion is wholly structured from the complication of something sensible, and of sensation, and of a natural faculty—say, of wrath, or of desire, or of reason turned away from its natural state. If, therefore, the mind, having contemplated the end—that which consists of the combination of the sensible object, the sensation, and the natural faculty upon it—is able, by discerning each of these, to lead them back to its own natural ^D reason, and to contemplate the sensible object by itself, without the relation of sensation toward it, and the sensation without the affinity of the sensible object toward it, and desire—for example—or any other of the natural faculties, without the passionate disposition toward the sensation and the sensible object (such as a certain passionate motion is accustomed to provide for contemplation), he grinds down the molten calf (that is, the structure of whatever passion happens to be occurring) and sows it under the water of knowledge, completely obliterating even the very base fantasy of the passions, through the restoration of the things that compose them to their own natural state. May it be granted to us also, having ground down the molten calf of the

from the soul, possessing only the unsullied divine image, undefiled by any stain of external things. But that which is said, "And Moses gave it to drink to the children of Israel," signifies the manner of ^A teaching by which vices are destroyed, which is to be derived from teachers to their disciples.

QUESTION XVII

Since God sent Moses into Egypt, what is the reason why the angel of God sought to kill him who was sent by God? And he would have killed him, had not his wife hastened to circumcise the child, and by this work of hers stopped the angel's onset. And if the circumcision of the infant was necessary, why did not God, before he sent him, mildly command him to perform the act? Or why, when it was a default, did not the good angel placidly admonish him who was being sent by God to such a ministry?

Answer

He who, out of fear of God, searches the meaning of those difficult questions which occur in Scripture, and looks to nothing else than the glory of God alone, while he removes the letter as a veil from the spirit, will find all things, according to the word of Wisdom, ^B before him, with no obstacle standing in the way to prevent him from moving without harm toward divine things in his mind. We shall therefore pass over the history now completed bodily in the times of Moses; and we shall consider with the eyes of the mind the power of the history in the spirit, which is always being fulfilled, and by the very fact of its being fulfilled, flourishes all the more.

The wilderness, therefore, from which Moses is sent into Egypt to lead out the children of Israel, is human nature, or this world, or a habit lacking vices and disturbances; through which, and in which, the mind, having been taught the knowledge of things through contemplation, receives from God a hidden and mystical mandate in the secret place of the heart to lead out from Egypt (that is to say, from the flesh and the senses), just like the Israelites, the divine concepts of things; which labor foolishly around the clay of the flesh, that is to say, vices and lusts. Therefore, the mind, having been entrusted with this divine ^C duty, along with the wisdom coupled to it as a spouse, and the noble manner and thought born from it for the establishing of an honest life, proceeds along the path of virtues, which in no way admits of any rest for those walking in it; but rather for those who strive with a continuous and swift course according to the intention of the mind toward the goal of the heavenly calling. For in virtue, rest is the origin of vice, as the mind occupies itself with something of the earthly things adjacent to the path on either side: and it renders the pure and thoroughly circumcised habit and thought of pious instruction into a foreskin and something profane. Therefore, it immediately sees the reason as an angel threatening death through conscience, and testifying to the cause of the death which it threatens, by ceasing to run the path of virtue, ^D whereby the reason and thought acquires for itself a foreskin.

whom wisdom, as a spouse, appeases in the mind, by the reckoning (the discourse of faith)—even as Sephora, who pruned away the earthly cogitation (to ^A the infant, that is) from the reason, and made dry every cogitation of the life of the senses. For it says: "The blood of the circumcision of the child stood still"—that is to say, the passionate life came to an end, along with the fantasy and the movement; for the polluted reason, having been cleansed through the wisdom of faith, after this cleansing there ceases, like an angel, that reason which through the conscience strikes the sinning mind, accusing it of whatever it has allowed itself to think beyond what is proper and required. For the way of the virtues is truly filled with holy angels, by whom, I say, each virtue is brought to pass according to its kind through reasons and habits, and the invisible angels who assist us toward things that are good; and who stir up such reasons and thoughts within us.

^B Benevolently, then, and magnanimously does the discourse of holy Scripture act, always presenting the intellectual meanings before the things that are historically recounted, for those who possess the eyes of the soul healthy and who harbor no slander against either God or His holy angels. For Moses, when being sent by God—according to the spiritual sense of Scripture—did not have a son, that is to say, a reason, possessing a foreskin. For had he, God would surely have commanded him first to circumcise him, and then would have sent him. Nor was the divine angel harsh when he announced death to him whom Moses, through a lapse in the journey of rest, had rendered liable to it on the way of the virtues—a death whose weakness had perhaps been the cause in the course of the virtues. For if you yourselves also ^C attend more diligently to the narrative, you will clearly discover that the angel met him not at the beginning, nor in the middle, nor at the end of the way, but in the lodging-place, and threatened death for the passion that had secretly occurred in the mind; so that, had he not halted from the journey and stayed his travel, he would not have been held blameworthy, to receive the angelic indignation on account of the child's foreskin. Let us, therefore, entreat God, if we are in the way of the commandments, that whenever it happens that we transgress ^D for the sake of that transgression, He may not cease to send, like an angel, the discourse that announces death, admonishing the conscience; so that, having received understanding of the matter, we may learn through our innate prudence to circumcise, as if it were a foreskin, the impurity of the passions that secretly occurs to us in the course of life.

QUESTION XVIII.

Answer. Not simply shall the doers of the law be justified, but they who are of the spiritual law, and who understand it spiritually, and who, according to the inner man, in the spirit perform the law that is spiritual—these, not falling from grace, shall be justified, on account of the Word in...

of the soul through the purification of the [divine] Word. But those who serve according to the outward view of the law in a physical manner, fall entirely away from the divine grace, being ignorant of that perfection of the spiritual law in grace which cleanses the mind from every stain, and [ignorant of] the end, Christ. ^A

QUESTION XIX.

What is the meaning of: "As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law"? And how does the same [Apostle] say again: "When God shall judge the secrets of men according to my Gospel, through Jesus Christ"? If they shall be judged by the law, how [shall they be judged] through Jesus Christ?

Response.

The Word of God, Jesus Christ, as the creator of all things, is also the author of the law of nature. But as the one who governs things by providence, and establishes laws, he is clearly the giver of the written law, and of the law in the Spirit, that is, in grace; for "Christ is the end of the law," clearly of the written [law], which is understood spiritually. Since, therefore, [both] the law of nature, and the written [law], and the law of grace are gathered together into Christ as creator, and who governs by providence and gives the law and exists as propitiation, it is true what the Apostle says, that God will judge the secrets of men according to his Gospel; ^B that is, as it is evangelized or preached: through Jesus Christ, the Word who is his own according to essence, pervading all things; and reproving some, while duly lauding others; and to those in nature, in the law, and in grace, through the only-begotten Word who exists as one according to essence, [and is] inexpressible by any power of speech, distributing according to the measure of [their] merits. For the Word of God is the author of every nature, and of every law, and rite, and order, and is the judge of those things that are in nature, and in the law, and in rite, and in order. For without the Word who proclaims it, there is no law. Whether, therefore, one is judged in the law, he shall be judged as in Christ; or whether without the law, again he shall be judged entirely in him; for of all things that exist, and that are understood, and that are spoken, the Word, as creator, is the beginning, ^C and the middle, and the end.

QUESTION XX.

What is the [meaning of the] fig tree in the Gospel that withered, absurdly, as it seems, with respect to what is apparent? And what is the intemperance of hunger, ^D seeking fruit out of season? And what is the curse upon that which lacks sense?

Response.

The Word of God, who wisely manages all things for the salvation of men, having first schooled human nature through the law which had a more physical worship (for it could not receive the truth naked, stripped of the wrappings of types, because of the ignorance it had contracted regarding the archetypal forms of divine things, and the infirmity of its affection, which abhorred [the truth]), afterwards having become man visibly by himself, having assumed flesh endowed with an intelligent soul...

^A and having directed it towards that immaterial, intellectual worship in the Spirit, as the Word (who had transposed nature) did not wish that, now that the truth was shining upon the world, the shadow, of which the fig tree was a type, should possess authority. For this reason he says: *Returning from Bethany to Jerusalem*, that is to say, after his legal presence which lay hidden in types and shadows, he was again coming into the nature of men by the flesh. For this is how we must understand "Returning": *he saw a fig tree in the way having only leaves*, which was [the form of] the corporeal worship of the Law existing in shadows and types, because it was inconstant and transitory, as if lying in the way—a tradition which was concerned only with those types and ordinances of a passing nature. Seeing this, the Word, because it was puffed up and flourished exceedingly—like a fig tree decked out ^B with the exterior leaves of the corporeal observances of the Law,—and not having found fruit on it, that is, of righteousness, which would nourish the Word, he cursed it; or rather, he commanded that the truth should no longer be oppressed and obscured by the types according to the Law. And this, indeed, was shown to have come to pass by the facts themselves, when that which existed only in the forms of legal beauty was altogether withered away, and the arrogant pride of the Jews who boasted in it was extinguished. For it was not reasonable, nor even opportune, that when the truth of the fruits of righteousness was openly revealed, the mind of those who are passing through the present life as a road should be beguiled by the paint of the leaves, having spurned the magnificent abundance of the lifegiving fruit of the Word. Therefore he says: *It was not the time of figs* ^C: that is to say, the time in which the Law ruled over human nature was not a time of the fruits of righteousness, but a time which represented the future fruits of righteousness in a likeness, and foreshadowed, as it were, the divine and hidden grace which is the savior of all—unto which the ancient people did not attain because they labored under incredulity. For Israel, says the divine Apostle, *pursuing the law of righteousness*, namely that which was placed in shadow and types, *did not arrive at the law of righteousness*, which is, of course, that which is perfected in the Spirit according to Christ.

Or again, since the multitude of the priests, scribes, lawyers, and Pharisees, laboring under the vice of vainglory, ^D through the display of habits supposedly formed in piety, seemed to be practicing righteousness while [actually] nurturing the pride that springs from conceit, the Word says that this conceit of those mentioned is the fig tree, which teems with leaves only. This, he who desires the salvation of all men, and thirsts for their deification, curses and withers away as fruitless: so that, preferring "to be" righteous over "seeming" to be righteous, they might strip off the tunic of the moral display of hypocrisy, and in a genuine manner—as the divine Word wishes—pursue the virtuous life, passing their lives piously; exhibiting to God the disposition of their soul, rather than to men the external appearance of character consisting in a mask.

If there are any among Christians who simulate piety by their outward movements and gestures, lacking the righteousness that is proven by deeds, let us expect the Word, as a friend of man, to be hungry for our salvation, drying up the seed of wickedness in the soul, which is arrogance, and bearing no longer the fruit of corruption, which is man-pleasing. You have, according to my meager ability, the power of the Word; according to the exposition given, it shows the Lord well-hungering, usefully cursing the fig tree, and successfully drying it up, as it was a hindrance to the truth, whether according to the ancient tradition of corporal types under the Law, or according to the arrogance of the Pharisees and our own regarding our habits. ^B

QUESTION XXI

What is meant by, "Despoiling himself of the principalities and powers," and what follows? And how was he even entirely clothed with them, being born without sin? ^C

Responsio.

The divine Word, who is in every way like unto us, sin excepted, immutably clothed himself in our nature, becoming perfect man. He possessed the first Adam within himself, appearing in the manner of generation and birth; just as man, having received existence from God, and having become such by this very same birth of existence, was free from corruption and sin. For corruption and sin were not created along with him. But when, having transgressed the commandment, he sinned, he was condemned to a birth that consists of passion and sin, in the passible state of which, sin resides by the law of nature, ^D since no one is sinless who is subject to nature, ^A and to the law of the birth introduced after sin following the initial birth. Since...

^A therefore sin entered by the transgression, and by reason of sin, the passibility ^B of nature entered human birth, and from the time of that initial transgression the first sin always flourished along with the passibility of birth, there was no hope of freedom, nature being bound indissolubly by a wicked bond according to the inclination of nature. For the more it strove toward its own consistency through the generation and birth of nature, by that much more did it bind itself to the law of sin, having the transgression actively present within its passibility. For in that very passibility, because of the natural condition, it held the increase of sin, and because of the general sin in the passibility, it had all the heavenly Powers, Principalities, and Authorities hiding their own operations within it by means of the affections that are according to nature, acting through the affections that are contrary to nature. By these means, every evil power worked, according to the passibility of nature, toward the corruption of the affections contrary to nature, driving the will through those things which are according to nature.

For the Only-begotten Son and Word of God, becoming a perfect human being out of philanthropy in order to deliver human nature from this wicked predicament, took and possessed from the first constitution of Adam—at his creation and origin—the sinlessness that is apart from incorruption; but from the birth later introduced into nature because of sin, He merely assumed the capacity for passibility apart from sin. ^C Since, therefore, it was in that passibility of Adam, as I have said, that the evil Powers—because of sin—held their operations secretly hidden in the law that condemns nature, they reasonably saw in the Savior God—the descendant of Adam—that He was endowed with flesh and consequently with that natural capacity for passibility. And wrongly thinking Him to be a mere human who had acquired the law of nature out of necessity, and not one who was moved by the will and the judgment of the mind, they attacked Him—expecting that through the passion that exists according to nature, He, too, could be enticed to harbor in His mind a passion contrary to nature, and to perform something akin to those passions.

But He, through that first trial of temptations oriented toward pleasure, allowed them to be mocked by their own deceits, and stripped them away, having cast them out of His nature, remaining inaccessible and untouched by them—clearly winning the victory for us, and not for Himself; for it was for our sake that He became a human being, bestowing as a good Lord the entirety of the achievement upon those for whom He had become human. For He Himself, being God and Master, ^D and free by nature from every passion, had no need of the trial; but He invited the wicked power to our temptations so that He might destroy it by the encounter, that power which expected to capture Him just as it had Adam in the beginning. Thus, therefore, having attacked them in the first trial, He stripped the Principalities and Authorities, drove them far from nature, healed the capacity for passibility oriented toward pleasure, and in Himself blotted out the handwriting of Adam’s consent of the will to the affections of pleasure; by which human beings are inclined to pleasure

^A And thus, while he was silent, he preached by the very reality of things dominion over himself, for he would not cast off the yoke of pleasure even for the fear of death, lest he become subject to it.

Since, therefore, the Lord, having obtained victory through the first trial of pleasure and lust, had mocked the wicked virtues, the principalities, and the powers, He allowed them to attack Him by a second attempt, namely, through the trial of pain and sufferings, so that, having perfectly drained in Himself the harmful poison of their wickedness, He might consume it as fire, utterly abolishing it from nature and stripping it away on the Cross—at which time He underwent death, remaining inviolable by those sufferings. Nay more, having become terrifying against death, He took away from nature the capacity for suffering pain, from which man, having a mind and will fleeing from fear, was constantly held, though unwillingly, under the tyranny of the fear of death, and through love of life, clung to the servitude of pleasure.

The Lord, therefore, stripped off the principalities and powers, first in the desert trial of temptations, healing the affection and lust for pleasure of the whole nature. And He stripped them off again at the time of death, likewise taking away from nature the affection of pain; a thing He provided for us, while attributing it to Himself as if He were guilty, by reason of His supreme clemency; or rather, as if He were bestowing the glory of the achievements upon us, as the authors, out of His own goodness. For because He assumed in a way like us, without sin, a nature capable of suffering, by which every wicked and destructive power—which is inherent in it by disposition—is accustomed to work, when they came at the time of death for the sake of ^B investigating Him, He despoiled them, triumphing on the Cross, and making a display of them in the departure of the soul, since they found nothing at all in His nature that was capable of suffering by nature in the flesh, though they had expected to find something altogether human. Deservedly, by His own power, did He liberate the whole of human nature itself, as if by some first-fruits, through His own holy flesh assumed from our mass, from the malice and vice which had grown upon it because of its passibility; subjecting to that very same passibility the most wicked power which had once reigned over that nature in Him.

It was indeed possible to set forth the doctrine of this question in another, more spiritual and sublime contemplation; but it is not fitting to commit the more secret and abstruse dogmas of the divine to writing; which is not unknown to you. Let it suffice for us to have spoken thus far, such that these things may be able to reach a mind that is more inquisitive. But if God grants that it be permitted to enjoy this in your presence as well, we shall together investigate the mind of the Apostle more laboriously.

SCHOLIA

1. By "origin" He means the first formation of man from God; but by "birth," [He refers to] that which [came] from the condemnation.

later, on account of the transgression: a succession of one from another.

2. It provokes our pleasure and lust, and takes to itself temptation, for he who was true man was free from every nature of pleasure and lust. For in his flesh, indeed, by nature as a man, he was subject to the passions due to his mortal nature; but in his mind and will he was not given over to those passions which adhere to vice, as one who was immune to sin.

3. He calls it a property of nature, that which is prone to sin from infirmity after the transgression; which the Lord did not have, even according to the reason of the flesh, for he was by nature, and even in his flesh, essentially immune to sin.

QUESTION XXII.

Answer. He who, by the impulse of his will alone, brought into existence the whole of creation, both that which is visible and that which is hidden, had, before all ^A ages and before the very creation of things that have come to be, an ineffably super-abundant counsel concerning them—which was that he himself, immutably, should be mingled with the nature of men through a true union in person; and that he should unite the human nature to himself without change; so that he might himself become man, as he alone knows how, and by the union with himself ^B might make man God; wisely dividing and distinguishing the ages: some, in which he would take action to become man; others, in which he would take action to make man God. Those ages, therefore, which were predetermined for the act of his becoming man have reached their end in us, the divine purpose having attained its outcome in the very events of the incarnation. This, the divine Apostle, ^C having scrutinized, perceiving the end of the counsel regarding the purpose of the ages that God should become man, says that the ends of the ages have reached us through the very incarnation of God the Word—not, however, simply those ages that are understood by us, but those which, by the act of the mystery of the embodiment, have reached their end according to the purpose of God.

Since, therefore, the ages predetermined according to the purpose for the act of God becoming man have reached ^D their end in us, God having truly accomplished and fulfilled his own perfect becoming-man, we must now expect other ages to come, during which human beings may possess the mystical and ineffable deification in act: by which God will show the superabundant riches of his kindness toward us, by bestowing perfect deification upon those who are worthy. For if he himself, regarding the operation by which he became man, has reached his end, in every way, save only

^A from sin, having become like us, and having descended into the lower parts of the earth, where the tyranny of sin had thrust man out—surely, regarding the mystical operation of the deification of man, he shall also reach its end, in every way, save only—it is clear—for the identity of essence with himself, having made man like unto himself, and having raised him up above all the heavens; where the magnitude of grace, which exists by nature, calls forth through the infinity of goodness the man who lies below. Which the great Apostle, teaching mystically, says will be shown in the ages to come, the surpassing wealth of God's kindness toward us in us.

^B Let us, therefore, divide the ages by our own reasoning, and let us distinguish them: some belonging to the mystery of the divine incarnation, others to the grace of human deification; and we shall find some which have reached their proper end, and others which have not yet arrived. And, to state it briefly: some of the ages are of God's descent toward men, while others are of the ascent of men toward God. Understanding it in this way, we do not stumble over the obscurity of the divine words, nor do we think that the divine Apostle is contradicting himself.

^C Or rather, because the beginning, middle, and end of all ages—both those which are past, and those which are, and those which are to be—is our Lord Jesus Christ, rightly does he come to us in potentiality through the faith, he who, in the form of the final end to come, shall be—by grace—the end of the ages in the deification of those who are worthy.

^D Or again, because there is one mode of acting and another of suffering/being acted upon; the divine Apostle has mystically and wisely divided the past and future ages according to the mode of acting and being acted upon. Consider the ages of the flesh, in which we now live (for Scripture acknowledges temporal ages also, according to that saying: *And he labored in the age, and shall live until the end*), these are the ages peculiar to acting; but the future ages of the spirit after the present life are the times for undergoing transformation. Here, then, being as those who act, we encounter the end of the ages, with the faculty by which we act and operate receiving its end; but in the ages to come, by undergoing transformation through which we are endowed with divinity, we do not act, but we are acted upon; and that is the reason why we never cease being deified. For the nature will then be superior to passion and affection, and it has no reason by which that infinite deification of those who are to undergo it might be finished by any certain limit. For we act, insofar as we have the rational faculty—the producer of virtues—exercised in act, and the intellectual power, capable of all knowledge, which absolutely traverses the nature of all things that exist and are known, leaving all the ages behind it; but we are acted upon when, having entirely passed beyond the accounts of those things which are from non-being, we come to the...

^A cause, and bring to rest our own powers in those things which are by nature finite, becoming that which is by no means an achievement of the power according to nature; since nature does not possess the capacity to comprehend that which is above nature. For nothing generated is by nature productive of deification, since it is not even capable of comprehending God; for it is the nature of divine grace alone to bestow deification upon beings in proportion to them, and to illuminate nature with the light that is above nature, and to make it transcend its own limits by the superabundance of glory.

Therefore, the ends of the ages have rightly arrived at us ^B, who are all but about to receive, through the grace in Christ, the gift of goods that are beyond the ages and nature; of which the modes of virtues are types and prefigurations, as are the principles (logoi) of those things that can be known by nature — through which God, always willing, becomes man in those who are worthy. Blessed, then, is he who through wisdom has transformed God into man within himself, and has fulfilled the birth of such a mystery, suffering to become God by grace, because there will be no end to this always coming to pass. For He who bestows this upon the worthy, being infinite according to essence, possesses an infinite power ^C—beyond all infinity—of bestowing this, and one that will never cease with those who come to be through it, as is the case with us; but rather, it always holds together within itself those who have received their existence from it, and who are unable to be without it. Hence, He also spoke of the “riches of goodness,” as the divine and all-shining disposition and affection for our transformation toward deification in goodness, which will never have an end.

SCHOLIA

1. The union of the Word with flesh according to hypostasis manifested the secret of the divine counsel; in that, through the union of the flesh, no confusion of essence was introduced; but one person of the Word shone forth (even in the incarnation): so that the flesh might remain flesh according to essence, and be divine according to hypostasis ^D.

2. The ages, he says, some have been manifestations of the incarnation, the ends of which have come upon us; others are pointers to our deification, the riches of the glory of which have not yet been revealed.

3. The incarnation of God is, he says, a sure pledge of the hope for deification for the nature of men; making man God to the same extent that He Himself became man. For He who became man without sin, it is evident that He will deify nature without change into God; and will exalt it through Himself as much as He Himself descended for the sake of man.

4. Another contemplation, through which he shows that Christ is in circumscription inseparably, the beginning and the

and the middle and the end of the ages. ^A For He who comes to us as the end of the ages through the incarnation, possessing by nature the fullness of the Father's goodness, of which He made us participants in Himself by grace, establishing hope as a sure pledge of faith for us.

5. Another contemplation. The mode of acting is the natural faculty for the active practice of virtues; but the mode of suffering is the grace of those things above nature, or the concurrence of those things contrary to nature. For as we do not have by nature the power of that which is transcendent, so neither do we have by nature the power of that which does not exist. We suffer, therefore, that which is above nature by grace, but we do not perform deification; for we do not possess by nature a faculty capable of deification. And again, we suffer that which is contrary to nature, by a judgment according to a concurrence with vice; for we do not possess a natural faculty for the generation of vice. In this present life, therefore, he says, we do and perform the virtues, being inherently equipped by nature with the faculty to perform them; but in the future we shall suffer deification, receiving the facility for suffering this through the gift of grace, ^B when it acquires the grace of divine reward.

6. The virtues, he says, we perform, and after this life we cease; but the deification according to grace, which is granted as a reward for them, we do not cease to suffer. For the passion that is above nature is infinite, because it is also active; but that which is contrary to nature is non-existent, because it is also inert.

7. The reason, he says, presiding over anger and desire, performs the virtues; but the mind, applying itself to the logoi of created things, gathers an unerring knowledge of the things that have been made. When, therefore, the reason, after the rejection of conflicting elements, finds that which is naturally lovable; ^C and the mind, after the passage through the things that are known, attains to Him who is beyond essence and knowledge, the Cause of all things, then by grace there comes the passion of deification, leading the reason away from natural discernment, where there is nothing left to discern, and bringing the mind to rest from natural intellection, where there is nothing that can be known; making him who has attained divine participation God, by the identity of stillness.

8. He says that the modes of virtue, and the logoi of created things, are types of divine goods; possessing the modes of the virtues as a body, and as a soul, the spiritual logoi of knowledge, through which He deifies the worthy, giving a substantial character of virtue, and granting a real existence of unerring knowledge, ^D and bestowing a firm and stable substance of true knowledge.

9. He interpreted "wealth" as goodness, the disposition of God's benevolence toward us.

QUESTION XXIII

Since David held the kingdom of Israel only according to the flesh, and Israel according to the flesh rejected the kingdom of Christ, for which reason also it migrated to the nations; how, according to the voice of the archangel, did it stand that:

"And the Lord God will give unto him the throne of David his father, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever"?

Response. This difficulty clearly appears to have a plain and manifest explanation. For if "not all who are from Israel are Israel," nor because they are the seed of Abraham are all children; but "the children of the promise are considered for seed." And, "If the number of the children of Israel be as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved," it is clear that the faithful people, and those who see God through works of righteousness and the true knowledge according to faith, are Israel—whether it draws its lineage from Israel according to the flesh, or whether it belongs to the portion of the nations. For whoever bears in himself the clear and undefiled character of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not at all alien to the title and grace of the true Israel.

But also the blessed David himself held the kingdom of the faithful among Israel; ^B whence, as soon as Israel extinguished the brightness of faith from itself, it immediately also departed from the kingdom of David. Therefore, [it migrated to] the spiritual throne of David, and the kingdom of rational souls understood by the mind, and the faithful house of Jacob, and the holy and great nation, over which—instead of the bodily and provoking Israel—God, speaking prophetically to Moses, promised that He would establish him (that is, the one who was figuratively understood through him), by the oracle made to him, saying: "Let me alone, that I may blot out this nation utterly, and I will make thee a great and terrible nation, more than this is"; ^C but not the faithless house of Jacob, and the provoking, and the sinful nation, and the evil seed, and the lawless children, and the princes of Sodom, and the people of Gomorrah, and those who have turned aside with an evil turning, and those who have abandoned the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel, and have not known God, neither understood, and have been stricken with a plague of unbelief that is incurable, and admitting no method of rational healing that cures the unbelief of the soul. For, "Woe," He says, "a sinful nation, an evil seed, lawless children! You have forsaken the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel; why will you be stricken any more, adding iniquity? It is not possible to apply a plaster, nor oil, nor bandages." ^D Those who limp upon both legs, and have turned away from the truth, and have been cast out of the divine inheritance, like Cain and Ishmael and Esau and Reuben and Er and Onan and Manasseh and Eliab and Amnon, are the firstborn of the patriarchs and prophets who have been cast out and rejected. For He says: "Israel is my firstborn son"; not also, "only-begotten"; because the future admission of the divine and religious people into adoption was expected; who is created according to God, and is admitted into the adoption, which is by grace, through the ejection

^A and hoped-for as pious, one being fashioned according to God, and being brought into adoption through grace, by the casting out of the firstborn and unbelieving people of Israel. ^B For he rose up against the intelligible Abel out of envy, and killed him, after the manner of Cain; and he mocked the divine way of the intelligible Isaac, according to Ishmael; and he raged against the intelligible Jacob, as Esau; and he poured out the seed of faith and of the righteousness according to it onto the land of error and passions, after the manner of Er and Amnon; and he rejected the Church of God, as they did Tamar; and he made the oblivion of virtues his own, after the manner of Manasseh; and he was troubled out of pride when the intelligible David obtained the kingdom, and on that account he was set at naught after the manner of Eliab, and became the author of a strange lawlessness, after the manner of Amnon. Not these, the alien children, who even limped from their paths; those who breathe rage and murder, who are truly carnal and children of flesh alone, strangers to grace, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame; whose memory of unbelief perished with a sound; but, as I said, the faithful and spiritual Israel, and who sees God through faith; the one gathered out of all the nations according to the election of grace, for a possession, a people, and a holy nation, and a royal priesthood; to whom God promised to give, through the oracle to the Virgin by the angel, to the Savior of all, God, who was to be born of her. Which, through the very outcome of events, received its own confirmation, strength, and faith: when the Lord fulfilled the promises made to the fathers, and blessed and adopted all nations in the intelligible Abraham, and established him in the Spirit, through faith, as the father of all nations; and sat upon the spiritual throne of David, and reigns over the faithful house of Jacob unto the ages, in a kingdom having no end.

SCHOLIA

1. Under Jeroboam, Israel departed from the house of David, having become unbelieving toward God. 2. An enumeration of the firstborn cast out from the age, to whom the Israelite people is likened; and let us grant that what was said about him condescendingly, "My son Israel is my firstborn," means he was rejected as a firstborn, because of the calling of the people adopted after him, from then on through faith. 3. He says that those—the brothers—who were plotted against by the firstborn ^D bear a type of the Lord and of the new people according to faith.

QUESTION XXIV

What is the meaning of that which is written in the Acts concerning Peter: "Having passed through the first and second guard, we came to the iron gate"?

Response

He who, like the holy Peter, is faithful and studious in action...

the mind, held captive by Herod, of that skin-made ^A law (for Herod is interpreted as "skin-made," which is the sense of the flesh), is shut up by two guards and one iron gate, being warred upon both by the activity of the passions and by the consent of the intellect to those passions; having passed through these as if they were guards or prisons by means of the logos of practical philosophy, as if by an angel, it comes to the iron gate that leads to the city: that is, the firm, hard, and not easily overcome necessity of the senses toward sensible things; for the logos of contemplative theory in the Spirit, opening this, ^B henceforth fearlessly sends the mind forward to its own kindred intelligible realities, free from the madness of Herod.

SCHOLIUM

QUESTION XXV

Response

and diverse things flourishing, covered in practical reasoning and character; or rather, the mind itself, which has the density and elegance of such reasonings and modes as its own head ^A, is covered. And we say that Christ is the hypostatic faith, whose head is clearly God, to whom the Word of faith leads, showing to him who is being led the God in whom He exists by nature.

And again, the "man" is the mind ^B that cultivates natural contemplation in the Spirit, having as its head the Word—the Creator of the universe—who is made known through faith from the ornamentation of visible things, whom the mind does not disgrace by cloaking Him, or by putting Him under any of the things seen, or by considering anything else more sublime than Him at all. The "woman" of such a mind is the indwelling sense, through which it makes incursions into the nature of sensible things and gathers the more divine reasons within it, not allowing it, when stripped of rational garments, to become a servant of irrational affection and sin; in such a way that, by adopting the mind as its head through the casting off of the more divine reasons—as if they were coverings—it exchanges that passion of irrationality. And the head of Christ—that is, of the creative Word who is made manifest proportionably to the things that exist through contemplation of created things according to nature via faith—is the ineffable Mind that begets Him according to essence; to whom the Word, through Himself, leads the mind that is being brought forward through the pious contemplation of existing things, supplying to it—in accordance with the knowledge of visible things ^C—the intelligible impressions of divine things.

And again, the "man" is the mind that has entered into the mysteries of mystical theology, having as its head the uncovered Christ; that is, the Word of faith that is known unknowably, or, more properly speaking, known unintelligently, above which nothing of existing things is placed—not sense, not reason, not mind, not intellection, not knowledge, not the known, not the understood, not the named, not the sensible, not the perceiving; the mind that cultivates and practices the praiseworthy, excellent, and—above all things and for all things—divinely deifying negation. The "woman" of such a mind is the intelligence cleansed of all sensible phantasy, having as its head the mind that is compacted by the primordial, original contemplations of the secret and unknown dogmas that surpass every power of understanding. And the head of Christ—that is, of the Word who is mystically denied by way of preeminence—is the Mind that is infinitely and absolutely removed from all things in every way; whom Christ, being the Word of the Mind by nature, makes known to those who are worthy when He is understood. For, He says, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." For in truth, the understanding of the Word is the manifest knowledge of the Mind that begat Him ^D, as He shows within Himself the Mind existing according to essence, to whom He leads the one who is released from the toward-God

^A distinction in quantity, and from the multiplicity of things according to intellection, and gathered into a deiform unity by the identity and simplicity of the movement of knowledge that is steadfast concerning God.

Every practical ^B mind, therefore, that is praying or prophesying—that is, asking for the reasons of the virtues (for so must one understand what is said as "praying"), or manifesting their manners through works (for so must one understand "prophesying")—ought to behold only the naked word of faith, neither understanding nor thinking nor doing anything that, by an inclination of the mind, veils the head, placing something else over it. And every woman, that is to say, the habit directed toward the action of the mind, that is praying or prophesying—whether it is moved secretly according to disposition, or is shaping virtue by exterior habits—without logical discernment, dishonors its own head, approaching the good for the sake of passion, as if lacking the reason that adorns it as a covering. And every mind that practices natural ^C contemplation, that is praying or prophesying, if it has something over its head—that is, if it knowledgeably seeks the reasons of existing things, or is passing these on to others as a teacher—while inclining towards something else in any way whatsoever, without the goal of piety, it dishonors its own head, as if it had placed over it one of the fleeting things of right knowledge according to piety. And every woman—that is, sense-perception, naturally touching and perceiving sensible things—if it does not have over its head the spiritual reasons of the aforementioned things that cover it, it dishonors its own head, approaching the contemplation of visible things for the sake of passion, on account of their natural relationship. And ^D every mind that has become a lover of mystical theology, that is praying or prophesying with a covered head—that is, unknowingly absorbing deeper and more abstruse contemplations, or teaching and instructing others in theology—if it has any form of thought while the Word is being taught or is teaching, which exceeds every thought, it dishonors its own head; because it subjects the One who is simple and surpasses all thought to one of the things that are and are known. Whereas it was fitting that, being naked of every thought and knowledge, it should look with eyes of the mind vacant of all things upon the true God the Word, knowing clearly 15 that in the case of God, negative statements by way of eminence are more true, since they signify divine standing by the utter removal of existing things. And every woman—that is, the discursive faculty of such a mind—that is praying or prophesying with an uncovered head—that is, bereft of the intellectual power which is over it and is thronged with many mystical contemplations—dishonors its own head, casting away the divine and ineffable knowledge which acts as a head covering the mind. Every man, therefore, that is, the practical or natural mind,

^A or the theological, whether praying or prophesying—that is, being taught or teaching—must have his head, which is Christ, uncovered. The practical mind must place nothing before faith and virtue; the natural mind must regard nothing as superior to the primary Reason; and the theological mind must not shape, by means of thoughts derived from existing things, that which is beyond thought and knowledge. And every woman—that is, the habit of the practical man, the sense perception of the natural man, or the wise intelligence of the theological mind—must have her head covered. The practical habit must have the discernment of reason, which is set over things to be done and things not to be done; the sense perception must have the scientific power of reason concerning visible things; and the intelligence must have the entirely undemonstrable knowledge of those things which are beyond thought. For every habit, sense perception, or intelligence ^B that is not covered in the manner prescribed, differs in no way from one that is shorn and bare—that is, one that possesses no reason for virtue, piety, or mystical knowledge and divine love.

Every such woman must therefore, and with good reason, always have over her head the authority of reason—that is, its inspection and care—and this especially on account of the angels, who observe both our manifest and our hidden movements and record every thought and action, to be used for our praise or condemnation on the terrible day of judgment. It is also on account of the rational dictates of conscience, which are themselves understood metaphorically as angels, accusing or excusing us for what we have done, both now and hereafter on the day of judgment. It is also on account of the evil ^C angels, who always observe our habit, our sense perception, and our mental thoughts, so that whenever they see these stripped of the discernment of reason and mind, or of piety and knowledge, they may attack them, producing in them the generation of contrary things: I mean lack of discernment, impiety, and ignorance, by means of which the most wicked demons are accustomed to work malice, error, and denial of God. God, moreover, is called the head of Christ, inasmuch as He is the Mind by nature, the principle and author of the Word.

SCHOLIA.

1. He is a man who cultivates practical philosophy.

2. He called Christ the "head" as the foundation of future blessings. For faith, according to the divine Apostle, is the "substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebr. xi, 1); which He Himself is, in whom are hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Coloss. ii, 5).

3. The substantial faith is that which is active and practical, through which the Word of God is shown ^D as embodied in the commandments for those who study action; by the power of which, the Word leads those who practice it back to the Father, in whom He exists by nature.

^A 4. It is a man, too, who piously exercises his mind in natural contemplation, having as his head the Word of God—who is contemplated by the intellect through faith—as the cause of the generation of things seen.

5. If anyone wishes to see creation rightly (for man has the natural power to see rightly, and to distinguish the better from the worse), he will be guided to the tree of life, which is God, the creator of every tree and plant: In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. But if he abuses this natural power and wishes to see creation wrongly, he will stand far from life, and will eat of the tree which has the power of distinguishing good and evil, having subjected his mind and reason-thought ^B senselessly to sense-perception and unreason. He deems pleasure good for the sake of the body’s constitution, but pain evil for the same reason—along with the body’s labors—and setting creation in the place of God, as if it were the source of bodily pleasure for him.

6. For, he says, the mind is also altogether understood along with the Word who is the generator of beings, to whom the Word has his relation as cause; He has called the Father the head of Christ, as Mind of the Word, the parent by nature.

7. For from the substance and movement and distinction of things that fall under sight, we know the holy, trine-subsistent unity. As in another place in... by which, says the teacher, one is led forth.

8. It is a man, too, who is taught mystical theology.

9. Accept "incomprehensibly" as meaning "by way of excellence." For that which is believed is above comprehension, which is God.

^C 10. He who, through the privation by way of excellence, has grasped the immediate and unknown vision of the Word who is beyond all speech and reason, says that he has the altogether unique Word as his head: above whom, or joined to whom, or following whom there is no other word truly existing by nature; for the one Mind is the parent by nature, at which, as head, he establishes the mind that follows, by means of the Spirit who is of the same nature as itself, who by carrying up the mind, causes it to follow.

11. He says that for the one who practices, the habit is a wife, as being the begetter of the modes of virtue—but for the one engaged in natural contemplation, he says the habit is the sense-perception refined by the reasons of the Spirit, as giving birth to passionless thoughts of beings—while for the one engaged in theology, the habit is ^D the pure intellect, uniquely receptive of the one thrice-shining light.

12. He calls Christ the superessential Word, who became incarnate superessentially, because not even His incarnation did the mind grasp by natural reason. Of this, he says, the head...

he perceives. He says that its head is the Mind, which exists by nature without any originator, and which is co-intellected with the Word by way of cause. For he who has seen the Word by the lights of faith has mystically seen, in the Word, without time, the Mind who is the parent of the Word, existing in Him according to essence. There are some, however, who say that Christ is called, in His human aspect, the head of the universe, that is, of the whole of nature; and it is evident that the divinity of Christ is the head of this human nature. For by naming the parts with the name of the whole, they have expressed a correct understanding and sentiment.

13. The identity—if I may so speak—that is perfected in God, is the simple and indivisible agitation of motion toward that which is by nature one and the same; regarding which there is no grasping by conceptual knowledge, since such things differ in quantity according to essence and in quality according to faculty and power; but rather it is an ineffable enjoyment possessing a perception that transcends conceptual thought.

14. He calls prayer the asking for virtues in the case of the practical person; and prophecy, the true teaching of the reasons present in those virtues. But for one who cultivates natural contemplation, he says that prayer is the seeking of skilled knowledge and science regarding existing things; and prophecy, the derivation of this to others through true teaching. Finally, for one who claims the divine knowledge, he says that prayer is an arcane silence, by which the mind, in the privation of existing things according to excellence, becomes worthy of the union that exceeds every thought and knowledge; and prophecy, the more sacred initiation of others into these things. For prayer brings about the union of the one praying with God; while prophecy induces the one prophesying to share with men, for the sake of God, the goods that have been granted.

15. When we affirm the Divine of existing things, he says, we think of it along with existing things, but as their creative cause. But when we deny it entirely of existing things, we do not think of it as a cause along with things that exist; because, to speak truly, it has no relation to existing things, by which we are naturally accustomed to bring into relation the concept of relationship upon both, of which it is. Therefore, the good theologian makes the ignorance that is by excellence the affirmation of true knowledge, of the God who utterly escapes all thought.

Question XXVI

Since the king of Babylon is understood by allegory to be the devil, what is the meaning of God’s threatening through the prophet Jeremiah to the kings of the nations and to the king of Judah—yokes, bonds, famine, death, sword, and captivity—if they do not serve him; while to those who have served willingly, it shall be that they remain in their own land in quiet; and that He calls him His own servant, saying: "I have given all the land to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant"? What, therefore, is the servitude of the devil,

and what are the beasts, and what the six kinds of threats, and who are the kings of the nations, and who is the king of Judah?

Response.

The devil ^A is both the enemy of God and an avenger: an enemy, when, as if hating Him, he seems somehow to possess a destructive love for us human beings, persuading our power of choice through the modes of voluntary passions and through pleasure to prefer transient things to eternal goods; by which, stealing away the desire of the whole soul, he completely alienates us from divine love, making us voluntary enemies of the Creator. He is an avenger, however, when, having laid bare his hatred toward us, as ones who have already become subject to him through sin, he demands the punishment due to us. For nothing ^B is so pleasing to the devil as a human being undergoing punishment. Having been granted this, he devises successive attacks of involuntary passions, and like a whirlwind he ruthlessly rushes upon those over whom he has received authority by the permission of God; not wishing to fulfill the divine command, but desiring to nurture his own passion of hatred toward us; so that, with the great measure of painful afflictions, the soul, having buckled through weakness, might cut itself off from the power of divine hope; and instead of admonition, making the bringing on of painful events a cause for impiety.

For God, being good, and wishing to eradicate from us completely the seed of wickedness—namely, the pleasure that steals the intellect away from divine love—permits the devil to bring upon us labors and punishments; ^C at the same time wishing both to scrape away, by the pains of the soul, the rust contracted in the mind by the preceding pleasure—which fawned only upon the present and purely sensory things, and possessing no profit for us according to its utility other than punishment—and to make that vengeful power and misanthropy of his a cause of recovery for the sake of virtue for those who have voluntarily slipped away from it.

As, therefore, the devil is called a servant of God because he punishes sinners by permission, ^D though he is a deserter and a most wicked robber, and has a character entirely suited to those who have voluntarily departed from God through pleasure. For it is fitting that those who have gladly accepted his wicked suggestions of voluntary sins be punished by the devil; thus, therefore, the devil is the sower of pleasure through voluntary passions, and the leader of pain through involuntary inflictions.

^A When, therefore, those who inhabit Judea and Jerusalem—that is, those who have obtained the active habit or the contemplative ^B knowledge—pursue these things for the sake of human glory, sketching out the virtues merely by their outward appearance, while speaking the words of wisdom and knowledge without deeds of righteousness, and displaying to others the pride that arises from [such] virtue and knowledge, they are deservedly handed over to the fitting sorrows. By suffering these things, they learn anew the humility that remained unknown to them on account of their vain conceit—a fact which the divine Apostle knew when he delivered the man in Corinth who had committed sin to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. For this reason, the king of Judea and Jerusalem is handed over to the king of the Assyrians—that is, the contemplative and gnostic mind is handed over to the devil for punishment, so that he may justly inflict sorrows and calamities; so that, by suffering, one may learn to philosophize about endurance and the bearing of sorrows, rather than pointlessly taking pride in oneself through arrogance.

Whoever, therefore, out of a conscience concerning the evils 59 he has committed, willingly takes it upon himself to accept the hard labors of violent temptations with the proper thanksgiving, he is not driven out from the habit and grace of virtue and knowledge, as were those of old from Judea and Jerusalem. For he who willingly submits to the yoke of the king of Babylon, and as if paying a debt accepts the afflictions brought upon him—remaining in these, he pays to the king of Babylon the violent labors arising from the suffering nature, which is subject to the passions, and to which he assents in his mind as an ^C obligation for his previous faults; but to God he offers, through true worship—that is, the disposition of a humble mind—the correction of what he has transgressed.

But he who, out of the concession of God—so that he might be corrected—does not accept with a grateful mind the calamity brought upon him through involuntary temptations, and does not cast off the arrogance by which he seems to himself to be just, through repentance; such a one, as if opposing the divine decrees of just judgments—like those who formerly inhabited Judea and who did not willingly consent to bow their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, according to the divine command—is handed over to the king of Babylon into captivity, and to yokes, and bonds, and death, and famine, and the sword, and is completely exiled from his own land—that is, from the habit that seems to be one of virtue and knowledge. Through captivity, he is condemned for his withdrawal from divine things; through the yokes, for his false opinion concerning the virtues; through the bonds, for his complete inactivity and cessation from the work of what is good; through famine, for the deprivation of divine teachings; ^D through death, for his complete blindness and insensibility to what is good; and through the sword, for those passionate and profligate thoughts which are destructive of the memory of divine things.

^A All these things, and more than these, he who is being exiled from the habit of virtue and knowledge as if from his own native land, suffers; because he does not wish, out of pride and vain conceit, to accept with good grace—as the divine Apostle says—the punishments for those things in which he has sinned, in tribulations and necessities and distresses, even though he is free from any debt on this account by reason of righteousness. For the great Apostle knew that the humiliation existing outwardly around the body through labors is a guardian of the divine treasures within the soul. And for this reason, he willingly endured it, both for his own sake and for the sake of those to whom he was set forth as a model of virtue and faith; so that, even if they should suffer as though they were guilty, like the Corinthian who was rebuked, they might have, for their consolation and as a pattern of patience, him who was suffering without being guilty.

I believe the kings of the nations in this passage of Scripture to be those men who preside over the remaining shameful passions, and who are themselves justly subjected to the punishment due for their own debts; and for this reason they are delivered to the king of Babylon as to a punishing power, which rejoices in the torments of nature. The king of Egypt, therefore, is the licentious and unchaste mind; the Moabite is the mind broken by luxury and profane; the Ammonite is the avaricious and iniquitous mind; the Syrian is the superstitious and dialectical mind—more contentious, that is, in words and arguments. For it is written of the Syrian alone that he opposed Solomon (that is, peace and wisdom). The Tyrian is the mind that is a lover of the world and of the flesh; and all the other kings, whom a wise man will discern through their proper signification—from the interpretation of their names, or from the location of the places, or from the general tradition prevailing among them, or from their mutual duties and studies, or from the ways in which their souls are hostile to Israel; for they are not everywhere and always understood in the same way and with the same meaning, but are taken according to the subject matter, the usage, and the power of the prophecy.

^C For Scripture also knows how to take Pharaoh as a type of the devil, when he becomes the slayer of Israel; and again, as a type of the law of nature, when Joseph serves him by divine dispensation, through the prophecy signifying the divine Word, who, apart from sin alone, willingly serves nature and our own affections. Similarly, the king of Tyre is also understood as a figure of the devil, when he attacks Israel through Sisera; and again, as the law of nature, when he is joined in friendship with David and contributes most helpfully to the construction of the divine temple for Solomon. And in many other ways and significations are each of the kings enumerated by Scripture taken, according, indeed, to the power underlying the prophecy.

The beasts which God gives to the king of Babylon are the demons, each according to the predisposition inherently present in him toward this or that temptation. ^D

For neither can the demons themselves, without divine permission, minster in anything to the author of evil, the devil; rather, as God himself knows, with a fitting, humane, and benevolent providence, He permits the devil, through his own ministers, to inflict various punishments for the sins we have committed. And this is clearly shown by the history of Job, which is written to explain that the devil could not have approached Job without divine permission. ^B

Furthermore, even Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon himself, is often taken as a type of the natural law. This is declared by those who wrote to the people in Jerusalem, who were unable to embrace the spiritual law and for this reason were carried away into the land of Babylon—I mean, into the habit of confusion regarding material things—that they should pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son—that is to say, for the natural law, and for the habit of his movement—under whom they then were, so that their days might be as the days of heaven. By these words they exhort them to pray, so that those who had remained in the peace of virtue and the truth of knowledge might ensure that the concepts of the law according to nature, and the habit of its movement, in which they had fallen after abandoning the spiritual law, might be like the divine concepts and thoughts of the spiritual law: calling those concepts and thoughts "days," and the spiritual law "heaven." For this is what they were seeking: that the natural and grievous law, to which they were enslaved, might not be at variance with the spiritual law. ^C

This is in harmony with what was mystically said to him according to the divine threat by the great Daniel, while he was interpreting the dream that was seen: "And they shall drive you from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the wild beasts. And they shall feed you with grass as an ox, and you shall sleep from the dew of the heaven; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will." And regarding what was said: "Leave the shoot of the roots of the tree in the earth, and your kingdom shall remain for you, after you have known the heavenly kingdom." By the "expulsion," he signifies, perhaps, the casting out from paradise into this world on account of transgression, and the alienation from the sustenance of the holy angels—that is, the transition from intelligible visions to a relationship with the law of nature according to sensation. By the "dwelling with the wild beasts," he signifies the abiding, that is, the habitation and association, with the passions and the demons that work them. And the "grass" with which they fed him (the angels, clearly, not the beasts with whom he had his dwelling—for those do not feed, but tear to pieces) is the natural consideration of those things that are visible to the senses, and the laborious action of virtue: which is the grass that, like an angel, they offer to men. ^D

That ^A it is to lodge under the dew of heaven, signifies that by divine providence the power of consisting in these things has been had. For the Word has called providence the dew of heaven, by which in this age, after the things enumerated, man has obtained preservation: this is either the law of nature, not entirely corrupted; or perhaps the knowledge of intelligible things, granted in proportion by the gift of God through things visible to the eyes; by which man, living in this age, is upheld by the hope of things to come.

That, *Seven times shall pass over thee*, signifies the heptadic duration of time of this age, to which the law of nature was subjected when it did not guard its own habit and activity; and after which, having been completed according to the expected resurrection, having shaken off the properties of irrational animals, it will return to itself again, receiving the former brightness of the kingdom: having recognized, through the dispensation in this age, the power of the true kingdom. For that which is added: *Leave the shoot of the roots of the tree in the earth*, denotes that the seed of nature and the powers of goodness have not been entirely ^B abolished by transgression; through which, receiving growth again, it is restored by the resurrection to its former natural magnitude and beauty.

But as for us, it is better that, following the law of the commandments, we should discipline ourselves by voluntary labors to destroy the mindset of the flesh; and not only is it better, but it is also most philosophical and fitting for those who have established the innate reason as the leader and ruler of the passions. But if not this, at least let us do that which must be held in second place: that while we are being chastised against our will, we embrace the counsel of the one chastising us with due thanksgiving, like the yoke of the king of Babylon, accepting the punishment for what we have sinned; and that the intelligible king of Babylon might never transfer our mind away from our own land (that is, from faith and hope and the habit of virtue). In this way, therefore, that we have set forth, the devil is heard as being God’s servant, and the kings of the nations, and the king of Judah, and the beasts of the field are delivered up to him.

SCHOLIA

^C 1. He explains how the devil is both an enemy of God and an avenger. 2. He says that labor cleanses the soul that has been rusted by the filth of pleasure, and takes away entirely its attachment to material things, as it learns the loss of the relationship it previously had with them; for which cause God, by a just judgment, allows the devil to oppress men with torments. 3. He says that the one who suffers for the sake of the grace of God that has been transgressed, if he recognizes the reason for the divine providence that is healing him, he receives his misfortune with thanksgiving.

with thanksgiving to receive it with joy, and thus correct the fault for which he is chastised. But he who is insensible to the medicine applied to him is deservedly cast away from grace and is delivered over to the confusion of his passions, being left to pass into the activity of those things for which he had the inward longing.

4. Peace, according to the greeting of the name; and wisdom, as a divine gift, Solomon had as the fruit of prayer.

5. In this case, he takes Nebuchadnezzar as a type of the natural law, and his son Belshazzar as the habit of that same natural law.

6. From the prayer it is obvious, he says, that it is the natural law and the habit born of it that are signified here by Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, and not the devil. For no one interprets a prayer as being made for the devil. For since the prophetic word did not censure the prayer, it must certainly not be thought that it was offered to God for the devil.

7. That he may be immune to sin and destruction. For "the sinners shall perish" (Ps. 36:20), that is, the authors of sin; and all shall be immune to sin and, therefore, also to corruption. For from the one issue the others: all will acknowledge the true kingdom; some, indeed, by illumination, others by the punishment thereof: yet not all will obtain the same good things, nor will those who are to obtain them enjoy them in like manner.

QUESTION XXVII

Since the Lord after the resurrection openly commanded to teach all nations (Matt. 28:19), how was it necessary for Peter regarding the affair of Cornelius to be taught through a revelation concerning the nations? Or how is it that the apostles who were in Jerusalem, hearing the things relating to Cornelius, disputed with Peter (Acts 10)?

Answer.

Peter, the most holy prince of the apostles, certainly had need of the divine revelation regarding the nations in that affair; for he did not know that there is no distinction between circumcision and uncircumcision as regards the faith; nor, indeed, did he know clearly that the Lord had commanded the nations to be taught without their being imbued with the external cult of the Law, until He revealed the mystery of His secret counsel through a revelation; by persuading him, namely, both by the example of the sheet and by the grace of the Holy Spirit, which was granted to him just as it was to the nations on the merit of faith alone, that there is no distinction in Christ between Jew and Greek (Rom. 10:12); a fact which the apostles who were in Jerusalem, being ignorant of, disputed with him, until they too learned the hidden riches of the divine goodness toward all men. For the introduction of the divine life and the new cult, apart from the legal one, and the teaching of a soul voluntarily releasing itself from the body by the intention of the mind, was the designation of the rise of another, more divine principle, the office of preaching; therefore they required the instruction of the one commanding,

^A regarding each word of instruction, those who are entrusted with this ministry. If, however, I do not seem to be too meddlesome as to what is necessary, every word whatsoever requires divine command, and the mode of the word itself—granted to it for its operation—requires instruction and revelation. For it is absolutely impossible for anyone to discern the mode of someone’s word without the revelation of the one who spoke that word. ^B Knowing this, the most celebrated Peter, having already received from the Lord the word concerning the preaching of the gentiles, did not set out, waiting to be taught by the one who gave the word, the mode of the word.

Perhaps there were also other things besides these, which the great Peter was being taught through the sheet let down from heaven and the various animals within it. Or rather, he was taught concerning the entire human race; or perhaps he himself, like Peter, having attained the divine summit of faith, was clearly learning to extinguish his every sense completely: for as long as he contemplates the things subject to his eyes, he knows that the creature of God corrupts itself, being unable to be pure from corruption and confusion. Therefore, through the sheet and the animals that were in it, the one who was speaking to him was prefiguring the world visible to the eyes—which is understood through the invisible principles—or the invisible world, shining forth through the forms of sensible things, and prepared—as it were—for spiritual consumption. Therefore he says: “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” ^C Whence is he commanded to rise? Whence else but from the state and affection of sense-perception, and from the more lowly opinion occupied with things, or from the presumed justice of the Law? This is so that, with the mind alone released from the imagination of sense, he might be able to behold the principles of sensible things, naked of their shapes, recognize the forms of intelligible things, and learn that nothing of what has been created by God is unclean. ^D For he who has contemplated the visible creation showing itself through these principles from the intelligible world, or who has perceived the forms of intelligible things from the array of visible things—like the sheet appearing from heaven—will believe that nothing of the visible things is unclean; since he sees no opposition appearing in the principles of beings. For corruption is established in sense-perception, and the war of created things against one another; but in the principles, there exists absolutely nothing contrary.

The sheet is, therefore, the world object to the senses, composed of four principles, just as it is itself held together by four elements. The reptiles, the beasts, and the birds are the different principles of created things; toward sense-perception they are unclean, but toward the mind, they are clean and edible, and constructive of the life that is understood. The voice that came for the third time teaches the philosophy of action, of nature, and of theology. For it is necessary, not only once, but also twice, and three times, for one rising up to sacrifice the creature of visible things, and to eat it gnostically, for the one who…

^A For he who has risen from an impassioned disposition toward visible things has sacrificed the movement of visible things, and having accomplished the practical [virtue], has eaten it. But he who has arisen from a false opinion about beings, having sacrificed the visible forms of things but having eaten the invisible logoi, has perfected natural contemplation in the spirit. And he who has arisen from the polytheistic error has sacrificed the very essence of beings but, having eaten the Cause of beings through faith, has been filled with theological power.

Every contemplative mind, therefore, possessing the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, having killed within itself the movement of the visible creation, has perfected virtue. ^B And having cut away from itself the fantasy of sensible forms, it has found the truth situated in the logoi of beings, upon which natural contemplation is founded. And finally, having surpassed the essence of beings, it obtains the illumination of the divine and insuperable Unity, in which consists the mystery of true theology.

Or perhaps the supreme summit of the apostles, the most glorious Peter, was commanded from heaven to rise from the power commensurate with nature to the divine happiness of grace, and with God as his guide, to kill with the sword of the word the base passions and lusts in men, and to make them into noble food, appropriate for the word, and to be distributed for spiritual digestion by the casting off of the former impassioned and beastly life. For they say that blood, which is naturally wont to flow from every slaughtered animal, is the symbol of life. ^C And perhaps the difference of the animals shown signifies the variety of passions in men. For the reptiles designate those who have the whole power of desire clinging to earthly things and crawling on the ground. The beasts [designate] those who furiously rouse all the power of irascibility toward mutual destruction. The birds [designate] those who drive all the power of reason toward the injury of pride, and the sense of haughtiness and injustice arising from it, speaking to the height, and setting their mouth against heaven. These, as a fellow-helper, the great Peter, killing them with the word of the Spirit, has made some, lovers of heavenly goods; others, tame and humane, and devoted to one another; and others, God-fearing and humble-minded. ^D

But let us also examine what Joppa signifies through the proper interpretation of its name, in which the great foundation of the Church, the most holy Peter, beheld this vision. Joppa, which means "scout."

Joppa, a Scout.

It signifies, fittingly, the guardianship and defense of action. For situated at the very shore of the sea, it would surely be tossed by many waves, were the city not established on a height. Wherefore it appears to me to signify him who on the high summit of knowledge builds virtue, like a city; yet, he is not wholly removed from those involuntary temptations—having close by, like the sea, the affection for sensible things which he has not yet completely cast off. On account of this, he has need of "scouting," lest the impure demons, while he is not sufficiently attentive, through those temptations which fatigue involuntarily, should make an impression of passions and vices upon those who strive by their own will. Furthermore, seeing that Joppa pertains to the portion of the tribe of Issachar, and that this name is interpreted as "reward and labor," this forces one to understand more deeply that Joppa is such a state as provides for the guardianship of action, observing the invisible incursions of the spirits of wickedness. Rising from this, the great Apostle was perhaps commanded to transfer his mind to the knowledge of sublime things.

He, therefore, who inhabits the height of "scouting" in the philosophy of action, may be said to be in Joppa. But he who inhabits Zion which is in Jerusalem—that is, the "watchtower" established according to the vision of peace ^B (for this is what Jerusalem is called, if one interprets the name)—has become far removed from every affection of sense, just as, historically, the sea is far distant from the site of Zion. And he observes, as if from a watchtower established on the steep summit of knowledge, the intelligible contemplations of beings, by the intellectual removal of the forms of phenomena that are in existing things. And he receives the manifestations of divine things, as much as is permitted, clear and shaping his sovereign part toward that which is more divine. He, therefore, who inhabits Joppa is a man of action, diligently observing the snares of the adversaries; but he who inhabits Zion is a man of contemplation, who with his mind considers only the beauty of divine things.

If, however, the vessel of the sheet is again drawn up into heaven, let us understand that after the spiritual reasons of sensible things were shown to the great Peter, existing together with those which are perceived by the mind alone, God draws them back again to Himself, ^C teaching that nothing of those things whose reasons remain with Him is utterly unclean. Therefore, the great Apostle, having understood the power of the things which he had seen, learned to call no man unclean, nor to hold that there is any partiality before God, which would induce an unjust division of things. Wherefore, hesitating not at all, he fulfilled the divine command, sacrificing to spiritual life those who voluntarily circumcise their heart by the word of grace, and cast off, like a foreskin, all the uncleanness of unbelief, malice, and ignorance—but they do not cut away from the flesh those things that naturally belong to it, the subsistence of which is not from an impassioned mindset but from divine creation. For nothing ^D is by nature unclean, because it has God as the cause of its existence.

...[and] from divine creation [has its] origin. For nothing which is from nature is unclean, because it has God as the author of its existence. ^A

SCHOLIA. 1. He says this is a transformation of life and an angelic worship, and a voluntary estrangement of the soul from the body; and in the spirit [it is] the birth of divine transposition, the mystery of the New Testament which he proclaims. ^B 2. Another, he says, is the account of the commandment, and another the manner in which the commandment is to be fulfilled. When therefore the great Peter had received the command to preach to the nations, being ignorant [of the manner], he was taught through the sheet the manner of the command: that without circumcision, and the other more corporeal observances of the Law, the calling of the nations ought to come to pass; for Scripture knows a spiritual circumcision: the excision of the lustful affection ^C of the soul toward the body. 3. Every account of a divine commandment requires by all means instruction in how it ought to be performed; which the great Apostle calls sufficiency. 4. He who does not remain with the shapes of visible things for the sake of the senses, but according to the mind seeks out their accounts, just as one who contemplates the forms of intelligible things, or the accounts of sensible creatures, is taught that nothing of the visible things is unclean. For all things by nature were made very good. 5. For he who is not changed by the quality of changing sensible things, cultivates a sincere practice ^D of virtues. He, however, who does not form his mind by their shapes, has gained the true opinion concerning beings. But he who has even surpassed the very substance of beings in the intelligence of his mind, like an excellent theologian, having surpassed this, has unknownly touched the Unity. Therefore, he who thirdly has put to death in himself the creation of visible things, has become worthy of the rank of the perfect. 6. Joppa, he says, is a habit of virtue, keeping safe from the harm which falls into the sense from surrounding things; but Sion is a gnostic habit, considering the reception of the gifts that are understood by the mind alone.

QUESTION XXVIII.

established in wisdom of the mind, and still depending on the origin and substance of the creation of bodies from matter and form, and believing God to be only the Creator of the visible creation, God appeared—not as three, but as two; showing, by the means through which He fashioned Himself, that the mind being led upward had not yet emerged from matter and form. Thus, in every place of Scripture which multifariously depicts God, if you examine the reasons with knowledge, you will find the cause of the great variation in divine images to be the disposition of those being provided for.

Since, therefore, those who were building the tower—having first moved from the region of light, the East, that is, from the one and true knowledge concerning ^B God—came to the land of Shinar, which is translated as "blasphemous teeth," and fell into many opinions about the Godhead, and, by putting together the reason of each opinion like certain bricks, constructed like a tower the polytheistic impiety, rightly does God, who was about to dissipate the confession arising from the evil concord of the deluded men, designate Himself in the plural number—from the disposition and affection of those being provided for, which had been dissipated and scattered into infinite opinions—in order to show that, although He is one, He is not, as they suppose, divided into many in those parts. This is how He is seen to speak also in the case of Adam: "Behold, Adam has become as one of us." Therefore, according to the underlying cause, God is either spoken of in the plural by the utterances of the Scriptures, or is gathered into unity.

But as to with whom God is speaking, it is the custom of Scripture to depict the ^C ineffable and hidden counsels of God in a bodily manner, so that we, through kindred words and sounds, might be able to understand divine things; since God is an unknown mind, an unutterable Word, and an incomprehensible Life, and He neither speaks nor is spoken, being Himself the Word and Himself the Counsel existing in essence. And if we understand the voices of the divine words in this way, we shall not stumble at anything written out of obscurity.

But if someone should say that the plural designation concerning God is not at all placed in Scripture as a term of censure, and brings forward for the confirmation of his own opinion the passage: "And God said, Let us make man after our image and likeness," and says that it is surely not the case that we should understand the Word as introducing the notion of polytheism through this ^D voice—we reply that whenever the Holy Scripture uses plural language concerning God with the pious in a pious sense, it is making a declaration of the all-holy three Hypostases, mystically signifying the mode of existence of the all-holy and unoriginate and consubstantial Trinity. For the all-venerable and adorable and most-praised Trinity of Hypostases is a Monad according to essence. For our God is a Monad in Trinity, and a Trinity in Monad. But whenever He uses plural language concerning God toward the impious, He signifies the detestable...

notions ^A of those who, as I think, refute the idea of the Godhead—namely, that the distinction in the properties is natural and not hypostatic; which clearly introduces the error of polytheism to those who think thus about the Godhead.

But if we do not persuade those who say this, since it is dear to the Spirit, and beloved by those who love the Spirit, not to contend, let us accept the Holy Scripture harmoniously together: presenting the most holy Trinity in unity, at one time as Creator, as in the text: "Let us make man" (for the production of all things is the work of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit); at another time as one accepting those who have lived piously according to its laws, and as one providing for those who have received the genesis of being from it—as when it appears ^B triadic to Abraham, yet speaks as one and singular. At another time, however, it presents itself as an avenger, or judge, of those who have violated the laws of nature, and as a chastiser of those who have wandered from the convenient law of nature; as in the text: "Come, let us go down, and let us confuse their tongues." For the holy and consubstantial Trinity is not only Creator of things that exist, but also the sustaining cause, and the one that distributes to each according to its merit; inasmuch as God exists as one by nature, Creator, providing care, and Judge of the things created by Himself. For it is common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, just as to create, so also to judge, and wisely provide for what has been made.

SCHOLIA

^C 1. To each, he says, God appears according to the opinion concerning God that is subjective to him. To those who have passed beyond material composition through desire, and possessing the faculties of the soul balanced among themselves according to one and the same constant motion toward God, it appears as Monad and Trinity; in order to manifest its own existence and to teach its mode mystically. But to those whose every desire moves only around material affection, and who possess the faculties of the soul unconnected with one another, it appears not as He is, but as they are themselves; showing that they have grasped with both hands our binary, by which the corporeal world is composed of matter and form.

2. He who says that the distinction of properties in God is natural and not hypostatic, he says, is not ^D inspired by God, but is deceived by the error of plural gods, thinking that the Godhead receives number in terms of the properties of essences, and not of hypostases.

QUESTION XXIX

What is the meaning of what is written in the Acts: "Who, through the Spirit, told Paul not to go up to Jerusalem?" Why did he not obey the Spirit, and yet went up?

^A

Response.

all those things, but that the inferior should rather follow the better. For those who then prophesied through the prophetic spirit that was in them, yet not the apostolic, were announcing the mode of the tribulations that were about to befall the holy Paul for the sake of the Word; but he, looking only to the divine goal, accounted all the intermediate things ^A of no value, being eager not [to know] how he might defer the things that were to happen, but how he might become another Christ; by an emulation of Christ, accomplishing all things for which Christ, in His most benevolent kindness, had chosen the life in the flesh according to the dispensation. Therefore, it is a safeguard of good order—of that which arranges and directs all divine things, and preserves each in its own immobility, station, and foundation with inviolable firmness—that which appears to be the stubbornness of the great Apostle, and a clear teaching that the ranks of the Church, which are well defined ^B by the Spirit, should in no way be confounded with one another.

SCHOLIA

1. That which exerts its influence differently in each of those things in which it acts differently, is total, and at the same time indivisible in all things. For the Holy Spirit, it says, shines forth in an unmixed manner in all things and in each individually, indivisibly acting according to one and the same power, because He is also the filler of all existing things; for He is God, and to all existing things He is incomprehensible, being above substance.

2. He says that every disposition to perform a commandment is a gift of the Spirit.

3. He who loves God with all his heart and soul and strength is, he says, greater than he who loves his neighbor. There is no reason, therefore, for ^C one who is more excellent to be constrained by the law of one who is inferior; but rather for the inferior to be subject to the greater. For this reason, the divine Apostle did not permit the apostolic dignity and order to be subjected to the command of the ranks over which he presided, lest the glorious disposition of all things, and especially the order of divine things, be destroyed.

4. By "intermediate things," he means the kinds of temptations which those who prophesied to the holy Paul saw through the Spirit, foreknowing the struggle on behalf of the truth; of these he took absolutely no account, hastening to be united to Christ, according to the realization of good things in their form, after the passage of all things in faith.

QUESTION XXX

What is the meaning of: "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized"? What is the difference ^D between the cup and the baptism?

Response

The baptism of the Lord is a figure of the labors which we take upon ourselves voluntarily and by our own set purpose for the sake of virtue; through these, cleansing away the stains and wrinkles upon our conscience, we [transform] our spontaneous [disposition] towards the things which are subject to our eyes, [as to the promptings of our] choice.

We accept ^A voluntary death. But the chalice is a figure of the involuntary temptations ^B rising against us for the sake of the truth, contrary to our intention, during the course of events; through which, preferring the divine love of the nature even to itself, we willingly undergo the death of nature [which is] to be brought upon us by some adverse event. Therefore, baptism and the chalice are distinguished by this: that baptism makes the will dead to the pleasures of life for the sake of virtue, whereas the chalice persuades those who lead a pious life to prefer truth itself to nature. But he placed the chalice before baptism, for the reason that virtue exists for the sake of truth, and not truth for the sake of virtue. Hence, he who practices virtue for the sake of truth is not wounded by the darts of vainglory; but he who cultivates truth for the sake of virtue has the conceit of vainglory as his companion. ^C

SCHOLIA. 1. The baptism of the Lord, he says, is the complete mortification of our will with regard to the world which is subject to our senses; but the chalice is the negation of this present life of ours for the sake of truth. 2. He says that truth is divine knowledge, and virtue is the struggles of those who are held by desire for it. He, therefore, who endures labors for the sake of virtue—because of knowledge—is not vainglorious, knowing that truth is by nature incomprehensible to labors. For that which is primary is not naturally circumscribed by that which is secondary. But he who cultivates knowledge for the sake of the struggles to be endured on its behalf is entirely vainglorious, as he thinks he has received the crowns before the sweats; not knowing that labors are for the sake of the crowns, and not the crowns for the sake of the ^D labors. For by nature, every method is set down as unpracticed, once that for which it is naturally intended has been accomplished, or has been deemed to be accomplished.

QUESTION XXXI.

ANSWER. God, wisely taking thought for the faculty and capacity of those who are governed by His providence, leading them according to their ability, and according to the nature of those who were disposed by the senses, toward the truth, previously, through the types, secretly mingled Himself with all the types given to the ancient people, working the ascent of those being tutored. God, therefore, dwelt in the temple of the Jews, typically, but not in truth, circumscribing in that dwelling of the temple towards Him the ineffable will of all the tutelage by which the provided things are mystically initiated. For the only most suitable place for the dwelling of God is the pure mind; for the sake of which He permitted the typical temple to be built, wishing—by means of symbols that were extremely gross—to draw away the mind of the Jews, which was much grosser than the things themselves which lacked sense, from earthly things, and [to draw it] toward the...

and by the inconsistent reason of the place, he understood that he himself was in no way fit for the dwelling of God; and hence, for that very reason, he perceived nothing at all of those things that are inherent in him by nature. Because he did not understand this, the Jew ^A, who merely nourished vanity through the pride of piety, was both rightly deprived of the type and wretchedly alienated from the truth.

SCHOLION. He who cultivates only the form of knowledge, which is the bare word, and the image of virtue, which is empty conduct, is himself also a Jew, he says, puffed up by the types of truth.

QUESTION XXXII

Answer. He who does not behold the whole visible bodily worship of the Law according to [the] sense, but examines every one of the visible symbols with the thoughts of the mind, having been taught the God-befitting reason hidden in each, he finds God in the reason; ^B by groping well with the intellectual faculty, as if in a heap of the matter of legal ordinances, if perchance he might find hidden in the flesh of the Law the pearl of the reason, which altogether escapes the sense. In like manner also, he who does not define the nature of the things subject to the eyes by sense alone, but wisely explores through the investigation of the mind the reason existing in every created thing, finds God, learning from the magnificent structure of the things set before him, the cause of the things themselves.

Since, therefore, the proper characteristic of the one groping, or palping, is discernment: he who traverses the legal symbols with spiritual intelligence, and contemplates the visible nature of beings with the ray of knowledge, distinguishing Scripture, and creation, and himself—Scripture, into letter and spirit; creation, into reason and that which is outwardly subject to the eyes; himself, into mind and sense—and having taken the spirit from Scripture, the reason from creation, and the mind from himself, and having bound these together in an indissoluble bond, he finds God, as he has recognized God—as it is standard and as it is possible for man [to do]—existing in mind, and reason, and spirit. He is freed from all those who are conscious of error and are dragged into countless opinions ^C—I mean the letter, and the outward appearance, and the sense, in which there exists the diverse quantity, which is contrary to unity. But if anyone, by tangling together the letter of the Law, the outward appearance of things visible, and his own sense, confuses them, he is a blind man, squinting, suffering from the ignorance of the Author of things.

SCHOLION. He, he says, who has beheld the spirit of Scripture without the types, and the reasons of creation without the figures, according to the mind alone, as it were, at the operation of the sense loosened, has beheld God [He who has seen {Him} exempt from operation, found God; in the spirit of Scripture, as...

having seen [God] as free from operations, he found God: in the spirit of Scripture, as the author of goodness; in the reasons of existing things, as power; and in Himself, as the cause of wisdom. For the principles of things that come from non-existence narrate the power of the Creator; the spirit of Scripture, leading back those who were deceived to deification, announces the goodness of Him who wrote it; and our intellect, indivisibly apprehending the principles of creatures, openly proclaims the wisdom of the Artificer. ^A

QUESTION XXXIII

What is the meaning of: "Amen I say to you, that whoever says to this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea, and does not waver in his heart, but believes that what he says comes to pass, it shall be done for him"? What is meant by "And does not waver"?

Answer. ^B The divine and great Apostle, when defining what faith is, says: "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the proof of things not seen." And if anyone were to define it as a good stored up in the soul, and as the true knowledge possessing the demonstration of those ineffable goods, he would not have strayed from the truth. The Lord, however, when teaching about those ineffable goods—those things which are hoped for and not seen—says: "The kingdom of God is within you." The faith of God is the same thing as the kingdom of God, distinguished from the kingdom only by a subtle concept. For faith is the unformed kingdom of God, while the kingdom is faith formed in a God-like manner. ^C

Therefore, according to this reasoning, faith is not outside us; exercised by divine commandments, it becomes the kingdom of God, known only to those who possess it. And the kingdom of God is faith in action. Moreover, the kingdom of God effects an immediate union with God for those who reign according to its principles.

Faith has been clearly shown to be a power relative to the immediate and perfect union of the one who believes with the God in whom he believes, a union that is above nature. Since, therefore, man, consisting of soul and body, is tossed by two laws (I mean that of the flesh and that of the spirit), and the law of the flesh has its activity according to sense, ^D while that of the spirit has its activity according to the mind; and since the law of the flesh is structured to bind us entirely by sensation, while that of the spirit, acting through the mind, effects an immediate union with God: it follows that he who "does not waver in his heart"—that is, he who in his mind has not separated or divided the immediate union with God that has come about through faith, being (as it were) sinless, or rather, already become a god through the power of the union with Him through faith—such a person will say to this mountain, "Be moved," and it will be moved. By the word "this," he points demonstratively to the mindset and law of the flesh, which is heavy and difficult to move, and, as far as natural power is concerned, entirely immovable and unshakable. For it is so deeply inscribed in the nature of men by...

the power of irrational sense, so that many think man is nothing else but flesh, which possesses sense for the enjoyment of the present life. All things, therefore, are possible to him who believes and does not waver; that is, who is not divided from the union with God which has been wrought in him through faith, by reason of the soul's affection toward the body through sense: those things, specifically, which alienate the mind from the world and the flesh, and bind it to God, having been perfected by right actions. ^A

SCHOLIA. 1. He calls "faith" which is bare a kingdom without form, not having the divine likeness from the virtues. But he calls "kingdom" the faith which, through works, has the divine form of goodness. 2. Faith, he says, is indemonstrable knowledge. If, then, it is indemonstrable knowledge, it follows that faith is a habit superior to nature, through which we are united to God, not by way of demonstration, but unknowingly, according to a union that is beyond intellect. 3. The mind, having obtained an immediate union with God, possesses the power of thinking and of being thought, which by nature is completely at rest. When, therefore, it breaks this by thinking of something of those things which are after God, it is separated, or is severed, having torn the union which exceeds all thought; according to which, as long as the mind is conjoined to God—as being above nature, and through participation having become god—like an immovable mountain, it transfers far from itself the law of nature. ^B 4. From what has gone before, it must be understood: *All things are possible to him who believes*, those things, specifically, which alienate the mind from the world and the flesh. For these are the things which are possible to him who believes, by God. ^C

QUESTION XXXIV. What again is the meaning of: *Therefore I say to you, all things whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and they will be yours*? How can one believe that he will receive all things which he asks, when God alone knows whether what is asked is beneficial or not? And if, out of ignorance, one asks what is not beneficial, how will He provide it? But if He does not provide what is asked out of ignorance in a way that is not beneficial, how can one believe concerning every petition that he is receiving, and that it will be his? ^D

Answer. All the heads of this question have been solved in summary in the foregoing. For it is fitting only for those who have known how one must believe, to know what must be asked, and how, and about what things. For knowledge is not of all, just as faith is not either. But when the Lord says: *Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice*; that is, before all things, the knowledge of the truth, and thus the exercise of fitting conduct; He clearly showed that believers ought to seek concerning divine knowledge alone, and that which adorns it through works, namely, virtue. Since, therefore, many...

things are required by those who believe for the knowledge of God and for virtue—the departure from passions, the endurance of temptations, the principles of virtues, the methods of operations, the alienation of the soul’s disposition from the flesh, the estrangement of the sense from its relationship with sensible things, the mind’s complete withdrawal from all generated things—and, in simple terms, there are countless other things that concern the abstaining from vice and ignorance and the attainment of knowledge and virtue, ^A the Lord rightly said: "All things whatsoever you ask, believing, you shall receive." He said this meaning that the pious ought to seek and ask for, with understanding and faith, only those things that contribute to the knowledge of God and to virtue; for all these things are beneficial, and the Lord certainly gives them to those who ask. Whoever, therefore, seeks everything for the sake of faith alone—that is, the immediate union with God—in order to obtain that union, will certainly receive it. But he who seeks for any other reason, whether for something else or even for the things already mentioned, will not receive; for he does not believe, but like an unbeliever, he builds up his own glory through divine things.

QUESTION XXXV

Since the Word became flesh, and not only flesh, but also blood and bones; and we are commanded to eat the flesh and drink the blood, but not to break the bones, I ask that you teach me what this tripartite division of the Word made man signifies?

Answer

The Word, who by essence is above all and the Creator of all things, being willing to come to those things which are of man, ^B brought along the natural principles of all things, both those perceived by the eyes and those perceived by the mind, together with the incomprehensible conceptual notions of His own divinity. Of these, the principles of the things perceived by the mind are the blood of the Word, and the principles of the sensible things are the visible flesh of the Word. Since, therefore, the Word is the teacher of the spiritual principles, both those which exist in things seen by the eyes and those which exist in things perceived only by the mind, He appropriately and reasonably gives to those who are worthy: as flesh to eat, the knowledge existing in the principles of visible things; and as blood to drink, the knowledge existing in the principles of things perceived by the mind—which Wisdom also long ago mystically prepared through the bowl and the sacrifices, as the author of the Proverbs says. But the bones—that is, the principles concerning the Divinity which are above intellection, and which are equally at an infinite distance from every created nature—He does not give, since the nature of existing things does not possess ^D the capacity to receive them through any power.

And again, the flesh of the Word is true virtue; the blood is unerring knowledge; and the bones are the secret theology (that is, the knowledge concerning God). For in the same way as blood, according to its form, is changed into flesh, so too knowledge is transformed through the culture of action into virtue; and, after the manner of bones, those which are the constitutive elements of blood and flesh, and those of every...

and those which are of thought regarding the Deity, existing in beings, both ^A unknown, and they create, and hold fast to existence, essences; and establish all knowledge, and all virtue. And if someone should say that the reasons concerning judgment and providence are the flesh and the blood, as things that will certainly at some time be devoured and longed for; and should call the ineffable reasons regarding the Deity hidden within them the bones, he has not, I think, strayed from what is reasonable. ^B Perhaps, again, the flesh is the Word, and the perfect return and restoration of nature to itself through virtue and knowledge; but the blood is the grace which is about to preserve this consistently so that it may always enjoy blessedness, the beatification; and the bones, the unknown power and potency itself which holds the nature fast toward the eternity of blessedness through deification. But if someone should speak still more subtly, saying that the flesh is the voluntary mortification through the cultivation of virtues; and the blood, the completion of death which comes through adversity and torments for the sake of truth; and the bones, those primordial reasons regarding the Deity that are unattainable to the human mind; he too has spoken rightly, and has in no way fallen away from the fitting understanding. ^C

SCHOLIA. 1. By "essence," he means the power and operation of each of the beings, in which all things are understood, and by which God is known to us as creator, provider, and judge. Or the duality of beings: of those that are sensible, matter and form; of those that are intelligible, substance and accident; or else virtue and knowledge, by which the super-unknowable is made known to those who are worthy. 2. "Arcane" is theology, the perfect ignorance by way of transcendence, which is as unknown as those things which are known naturally are known. 3. He took "blood" for deification, as it will be the life of those who are deemed worthy of it. For blood is a symbol of life.

QUESTION XXXVI

Response. Those who once offered worship to God through the legal rite were in a shadow, bearing the image of those who are moved toward piety, who could scarcely even understand the manifest precepts of the figurative symbols. Since, therefore, the law was not given to them primarily and principally, but to us, being spiritually consummated through us according to Christ, let us piously consider the reason for the sacrifices of that age. He who is introduced to piety, and is as it were being initiated in its worship, being taught the works of righteousness, performs the action alone with all obedience and faith, just as...

one ^A eats the visible things of the virtues, but commits to God through faith the reasons for the commandments, in which the knowledge of the perfect exists, not being able for the time being to be extended to the limit of that knowledge. For the altar is a symbol of God, upon which we are all spiritually sacrificed, and we entrust the understanding of things beyond our capacity to Him, that we may live. ^B And the base of the altar is a type of faith according to Him; for faith is a foundation, supporting the entire structure of divine works and thoughts, to which everyone who is not yet able, through knowledge, to be soberly intoxicated from the divine crater of wisdom, wisely pouring forth the reasons for the things he does not grasp—that is, entrusted the knowledge of the reasons beyond his capacity to faith. As, therefore, the ancient people, bearing a type of those being introduced to piety, while eating the flesh of the things sacrificed, poured the blood at the base of the altar, not being able, because of their infantile reasoning, to attain to the mystical knowledge of what was being done. But Christ, having appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, sacrificing ^C Himself as an ineffable sacrifice, gives with the flesh also the blood to those who have the senses of the soul exercised by reason of perfection to the discernment of good and evil. For the perfect man, having passed through not only the order of those being introduced, but also the order of those progressing, is not ignorant of the reasons for the things done by him according to the commandment; but having first drunk them in by the Spirit, he eats all the flesh of the virtues through his works, elevating the perception of things done according to sense to knowledge according to the mind. There are also many other reasons concerning these things, especially to you who are most devoted to contemplation; but let these be passed over now because of the multitude.

SCHOLIA

QUESTION XXXVII

Or was it because his body was sanctified that these things were accomplished by his skin? And if it was for this reason, and he also suffered nothing from the viper, by what logic is it that his body did not succumb to the venom of the beast, yet succumbed to the sword? I am investigating the same matter concerning the body of Elisha. ^A And what are the *semicinctia*?

*Response.* Neither on account of the holiness of the holy Paul alone, nor merely on account of the faith of those to whom the gift was directed, did the skin of his body perform healings through the handkerchiefs and *semicinctia*. ^B Rather, it was because divine grace, apportioning itself both to him and to them, was, through their faith, making the holiness of the Apostle become active in them. Thus, on the one hand, divine grace having so willed it, his body remained immune, not being destroyed by the venom of the beast—whether because [grace] changed the destructive quality residing in the venom, or because it endowed the body of the saint with a power to consume and destroy such corruption, or through some other manner of providence which God, who acts and transforms these things, knows. But to the sword, on the other hand, it succumbed again, because grace willed it so. For it was not by nature immortal, even if it performed miracles through grace. ^C If it had been immortal by nature, we would rightly look for the reason why it succumbed to the sword contrary to nature. But if it remained mortal by nature even after attaining holiness, there is no need to seek the reason why the divine Apostle passed through his life in the flesh in this way rather than in that way. For God, who ordained the life of each [person] beneficially before the ages, leads each [person] toward the end of his life that is appropriate for him—whether he be just or unjust. ^D If, therefore, there were one and the same law for both nature and grace, it would be worthy of admiration and astonishment

Question 37

[Regarding the term *semicinctia*]: ^D As for the handkerchiefs, they are placed upon the head; but the *semicinctia* (aprons) they hold in their hands, for the sake of wiping away the moisture of the face: those who are not able to wear *oraria* hold them—such as those who wear senatorial robes—so that [*oraria*, handkerchiefs, *semicinctia*...] [index: entries preserved]

^A by nature *invita* grace—or rather, that which occurs according to grace *invita* nature—does not take place. But if the reason for nature and the reason for grace are indeed distinct and separate, it is clear and manifest that, just as the saints performed miracles through grace, they also suffered as human beings because of nature; for grace did not abolish the capacity of nature to suffer, by no means confounding the principles of nature and grace with one another. Thus will we accept that the grace of God accomplishes everything in the saints according to the dispensation of those who are provided for—both while they live and after they die—using them as its own instruments for the salvation of others, and not that the saints, through nature, act upon others by the grace they possess. And this is indeed the case regarding the body of Elisha.

But since spiritual intelligence finds more solace in the account of the things that took place, by the "skin" of the great Apostle we mean his piety, by which to some it was "a savor from life unto life," but to others "a savor from death unto death." By the *sudaria* (handkerchiefs), we mean the clear discourses of his contemplative knowledge; and by the *semicinctia* (aprons), the noble ways of practical philosophy according to virtue (for they say that *semicinctia* are small hand-cloths). These discourses and ways, breathing forth and exhaling like a fragrance the "skin"—that is, the great piety of the blessed Apostle—brought healing to those who received them, according to the infirmity by which they were weighed down: some, through the discourses of contemplation, like *sudaria*, driving away the disease of ignorance, and others, through the practices of virtuous action, completely banishing the sickness of malice and vice.

^B Likewise, I surmise that the dark winter that occurred represents the weight of involuntary temptations; the island, the firm and unshakable habit of divine hope; the fire, the habit of knowledge; the brushwood, the nature of the things seen—which he handled with his hand, by which I mean the palpable power of the mind according to contemplation, nourishing the habit of knowledge with the signs derived from it, which heals the gloom contracted in the mind by the winter of temptations. And the viper represents the wicked and destructive power hidden secretly in the nature of sensory things, which bit the hand—that is, the palpable operation of the mind regarding contemplation—but did not harm the discerning mind, which immediately, with the light of its own knowledge, as if with a consuming flame, destroyed the one clinging to it from ^C its venom, which those who are ill-disposed make into poison for themselves.

Similarly, I also understand what was done in the case of Elisha; for it is surely intended that whoever is dead in sins should be placed in the monument where the body of the prophet lay (that is, the memory of his prophetic life, which holds the trace of that life in which the body of virtues was well-guarded), and by directing his life well through the imitation of his ways, he may be granted life, being translated from death (the author of which is the corruption of vices) to a life shining with the light of virtue.

SCHOLIA

1. Faith, he says, called upon the power of the Spirit existing in the saints for those who were in need of healing, so that the power hidden through faith might become manifest, and the hidden faith, through which that power was exerted, might become visible to all. For then the true mode of healings is wont to be shown, when the virtue of those offering health in the Spirit conforms in every way to the faith of those to whom it is offered.

2. He says that the state of mind which is pure from the corruption of sin destroys the corruption of those whom it is natural to corrupt. For the incorruption of the will is wont to preserve the corruption of nature incorrupt (according to providence) through the power of the Spirit within it, not allowing contrary qualities to tyrannize over it.

3. Since, he says, the rationale of nature and the rationale of grace are not one and the same, it is not a matter for questioning why some of the saints were at times superior to their lesions and evils, and yet at other times succumbed to them—since we know that the miracle belonged to grace, but the lesion to nature.

4. The Apostle says, "An odor from life to life" for the faithful, by his own example, causing those who are persuaded by the word of grace to be moved from the practice of action to the fragrance of the virtues, as a herald translating them from life after the senses to life in the Spirit; but as "an odor from death to death" for those who, from the death of purity, have driven themselves into the death of unbelief, giving them a sense of the condemnation awaiting them. Or again, "an odor from life to life" for those who advance from action to contemplation; but "an odor from death to death" for those who, through cessation from sin and mortifying the members which are upon the earth, pass over to the praiseworthy mortification of passionate thoughts and senses.

5. "We are the fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to some, an odor of life into life; to others, an odor of death into death"; this is most clearly explained in this place: namely, the odor of life into life for those to whom the Gospel of Christ is not veiled; but the odor of death into death for those to whom it is entirely veiled: "In whom the god of this world," he says, "hath blinded the minds of unbelievers."

fervor or coldness of those who listen. ^B

6. By imitation, he says, one who has the memory of the conversation of the saints, being loosed from the death of the passions, receives the life of the virtues.

QUESTION XXXVIII

Did the Sadducees, by chance, mention the number of the seven ^C brothers who had been husbands to a single woman, or does it hold some deeper meaning? And if it does hold one, who are those men, and who is that woman?

Response.

There are not wanting those who deny that the words which wicked and blameworthy men are found speaking in Scripture should be drawn into allegory. Nevertheless, since it is better to exert oneself and to ask God unceasingly to grant wisdom and power, so that we may understand ^D the whole of Scripture in a spiritual sense, regarding this question too, I, aided by your prayers, determine the following: The Sadducees, according to the principle of moral interpretation (anagoge), are the demons or thoughts that introduce the idea of chance. The woman is human nature; the seven brothers are the laws given to her by God from the age of the world at various times, for instruction and the generation of the fruits of righteousness. Being joined to these as husbands, she did not receive from any of them a child, as one who was barren of the fruit of righteousness.

The first law is that which was given to Adam in paradise; the second, that which was given to him after paradise in the form of a penalty; the third, that which was given to Noah in the ark; the fourth, the law of circumcision given to Abraham; the fifth, that given to the same when Isaac was offered; the sixth, that of Moses; and the seventh, that of the grace of premonition, that is, the oracles of the prophets. For nature, the woman, had not yet been joined through faith by the law to the Gospel, to the Husband who endures throughout all ages.

These things, then, the demons, by suggesting thoughts to the reason within us, are constantly casting before us, attacking the faith with a plausible appearance from the Scriptures and raising doubts: if there is a resurrection of the dead, and another kind of life is to be expected after this one in which we live, according to which law of those given from the age of the world will human nature live? And if we say, "According to one of those mentioned," they incite us, saying: "Therefore, human life will be vain and useless again, not having been freed from its former evils, if human nature is once again to be tossed about by the same things." This is a clear assertion of chance and an expulsion of Providence from existing things. But the Lord and our saving Word silences such demons and thoughts, declaring the incorruption of nature that was later to appear according to the Gospel, and signifying that man shall not hereafter live according to the principles of any of the former laws, being already endued with divinity, and through the Word and God [partaking...]

spirit, from whom, and for whom, it has received and will receive its beginning and its end.

If, however, anyone interprets these seven thousand years (that is, the ages) as the men with whom human nature has dwelt, he will offer a place for this not without reason and appropriate spiritual understanding. For not one of them will have nature as a wife ^A in the future life, because the temporal nature will have received its end, and the eighth man (that is, the immortal and endless age) will have received it.

QUESTION XXXIX.

Response.

In another way, the three days signify the three most general laws: the written, I mean, the natural, and the spiritual—or the law of grace. For every law is prepared in a manner appropriate to itself, so that, with the Sun of justice as the author of light, it may illuminate human nature. ^C For just as it is utterly impossible for the day to dawn without the sun, so, too, without substantial and truly existing Wisdom, there cannot be a law of justice, which possesses in every law its origin, and which fills the eyes of the mind with spiritual light. Understanding this, the blessed David says: "Thy law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths." He calls the written law a lamp, as that which, by a certain artifice, through various compositions of bodily symbols, enigmas, and figures, ^D extends to those who extend the steps of their soul in action against opposing powers a light kindled against the depravity of vices. But he calls the spiritual law of grace a light, as that which simply, without any sensible symbols, reveals the eternal paths; in these, the mind that is more studious of contemplation, making its course, is borne toward the end of invisible blessings, God, with no created thing impeding the movement of the intelligent soul. For the light of the law of grace knows no evening, the most lucid rays of which no knowledge whatsoever limits. Or perhaps the prophet called the feet the whole course of life instituted by religious habits: or the movements of good thoughts in the soul, which, just like a lamp, are directed by the light that is in the letter of the law; and the paths, the modes of virtues corresponding to the natural law, and the reasons of knowledge corresponding to the spiritual law, shining with the presence of the Word of God, and toward itself and

its own cause, through virtue and knowledge, it leads back the nature. Those who have remained steadfast in these three days—that is to say, in the laws—together with the Word of God, and have zealously endured the labors for each, having their desire turned toward salvation, are in no wise sent away fasting, but receive a rich and divine nourishment: for the written law, the perfect liberation from the passions contrary to nature; for the natural law, the undisturbed operation of those things which are according to nature, by which the mutual affection and kinship consists, pushing away all scattered diversity and division of nature; for the spiritual law, the union with God Himself, by which, having gone forth from all created things, they receive the glory that is above nature, through which God alone is known, shining forth within them. You have a fuller account of this in the *Dubia* regarding the discourse of Saint Gregory on the holy Pentecost. ^B

SCHOLIA

^A 1. By "reason" he means anger and desire. For by reason we seek, by desire we long for the good that is sought, and by anger we struggle on its behalf.

2. And he has called the powers of the soul "days," as being receptive of the light of divine commandments, and [he has called] the three more general laws [days] as well, as being illuminative of the recipients—that is, clearly, of the souls. For just as the Scripture of Genesis called the light "day," saying: *And God saw the light, that it was good; and God called the light day* (Gen. I, 4); and again, ^C the air permeated by light, saying: *And there was evening, and there was morning, one day* (ibid. 5); so [he has called] not only the powers of the soul "days," but also the laws that illuminate them. For the interpenetration of these into one another in every way makes the composite "day" of the virtues, not distinguishing, from the divine light of the Word, the powers that have been entirely imbued by it.

3. The Word of God is at once both a lamp and light—a lamp, in that He illuminates the natural reasonings of the faithful, and in that He dissolves the darkness of the life according to sense for those who, through the commandments, are hastening toward the hoped-for life; and a light, in ^D that He punishes, through the burning of judgment, those who, for the sake of bodily pleasure, cling by their own choice to this dark night of the age.

4. He who has not first been raised to himself—he says—through the casting off of the passions contrary to nature, will not be raised to his own Cause—that is, to God—through the acquisition, by grace, of the goods that are above nature. For it is necessary for one who is being truly gathered to God to be separated, in his mind, from all created things.

5. The work of the written law, he says, is the liberation from the passions. The work of the natural law is the equality of rights toward all people, by which all things...

perfection of the spiritual law, an assimilation to God, as far as is possible for man.

QUESTION XL

^AWhat is signified by the fact that six water-jars are enumerated at the wedding in Cana of Galilee?

Response. God, who created human nature, at the same time as He willed it to be, granted to it a faculty capable of doing what is appropriate, and fitted it to its nature. The six water-jars, therefore, are the natural faculty by which we perform the divine commandments; having depleted the knowledge of this [faculty], men, through the vain diligence and care for earthly things, possessed this faculty empty and without water. Consequently, they did not know how they might cleanse the filth of their vices. For he who is devoid of knowledge does not understand at all the mode of virtue by which depravity is to be washed away; until the Creator of nature ^B coming, He who, as I have said, is the efficient power of those things which belong to duty, filled it with natural knowledge, and only then converted it into wine: I mean, that is, the principle of knowledge which exceeds nature, reason, and the law of nature: which they who drink, transcending the nature of all things, fly away into the hidden place of divine intimacy, where truly they receive a joy and exultation excelling all knowledge: that good wine, namely (that is to say, that by which deification is granted), which they drink last of all: the secret reason, or word, of the dispensations of Providence towards the human race.

In the number six, the efficient force of nature is signified; not only for the reason that God created heaven and earth in six days, but because it is also the most perfect of the numbers ^C contained within the decade, being composed of its own parts. But the Scripture says that they take the water-jars, each holding two or three measures; because, of course, the faculty of natural action, according to natural contemplation, as two measures, receives the whole knowledge of created things: both of those corporeal natures which consist of matter and form, and of those intelligible substances which coalesce from substance and accident: that is, [it receives] that power of knowledge which embraces both bodies and souls: but according to the theological instruction and doctrine granted by nature, as three measures, ^D [it receives] the knowledge and illumination regarding the holy Trinity, that is, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Do you, therefore, as those who are spiritual, consider what is being said: in what manner the efficient, general power of nature for higher things is divided into six, and those general modes of virtues; and what also, in a universal sense, is the most general of the remaining virtues, along with the universally efficient faculty of nature for virtues, and which [virtue] is divided into six species, and those general ones; so that, having been fitted to the faculty of nature, it may be grasped, formed into a sixfold species through its own modes. To these things, who are the

^A servants who drew the water; who is the bridegroom; who is the bride; who is the steward; who is the Mother who told the Word plainly, that "They have no wine"? For all these things remain to be examined by the initiate and the guide into the mysteries of divine words and thoughts, if indeed he delights in the manner of anagogical understanding that is according to the mind. However, so that the discourse regarding these things does not leave us altogether speechless at present, failing to offer to those who are well-hungering even a portion of the spiritual feast, I shall speak according to my ability, not promising to uncover the whole meaning contained in what has been said (for my mind is too weak to grasp the spectacles contemplated in these things), but as much as the power of my own faculty of mind is able to contain.

They say, therefore, that the most general of the virtues is love; and they say that the most general power of nature which produces this is the Word (Logos); which, holding fast its own cause ^B and being active, is distinguished into six more general modes, inclusive of the kinds by which the Word of love is accustomed to be distinguished, providing for the hungry and the thirsty, and for strangers and the naked, and for the sick and those in prison, both bodily and spiritually; for the Word of virtue is not defined by bodies alone, nor is the power of nature exerted only regarding the senses.

The most general power of nature, therefore, has become the distinctive factor of the most general virtue, dividing the virtue into as many species as there are its proper six modes; through which nature is united ^C to the oneness of the will, showing the Word of the creation, which is indivisibly and equally in all things, gathering itself together in doing good and suffering; and when the mind has taken hold of this, strengthened by the fitting labors, it prunes away all the excesses and deficiencies of nature, which the self-love of each person's will has devised, and has turned the gentlest nature into a wild beast; and one substance it has cut up—into many and opposite, and it is no worse to say, destructive of one another—parts; and bringing in the steady mean ^D it shows, according to which the laws of the virtues according to nature were inscribed from the beginning by God. And perhaps the Word, in passing, showing this mystery, brings out the six water-jars empty and without water, indicating the inactivity of the most general power of nature regarding the good and the honest.

Thus, then, the most general power according to nature, being divided into six modes of action, forms the most general of the virtues into as many species, encompassing the whole with the whole; through which, having come to be, nature receives its own most general law, an infallible judge of the truth: whom the Word called the steward; who wisely discerned 10 that it was necessary first to drink the good wine—which the Word later mingled through His own presence—and that human nature should be intoxicated; I mean that regarding the

^A higher and more sublime Word concerning God. And thus, later, as with wine, those who were less instructed in the reasons of things created are taught the reasons; for it was indeed most just and most fitting that nature should be taught first the Word through whom it was created, and thus, later, should seek the reasons of the things created through Him.

Those who drew the water are the ministers of the Old and New Testaments: I mean the holy patriarchs, and the lawgivers, and the commanders, the judges and the kings, and the prophets and the evangelists and the apostles, through whom the water of knowledge was drawn and rendered back to nature; which the Word, as He who created nature as a good Being and deified it through His kindness, changed by His grace into the gift of deification. But if someone were to say that the natural scientific and pious rational perceptions are also ministers, drawing the water of knowledge from the very ordering of existing things by the command and order of the Word, I do not think he would have strayed from the truth.

The Bridegroom is clearly the human mind, as one who has taken virtue as his bride by the right of marriage. Honoring their life together, the Word willingly comes when called, binding fast the covenant of their spiritual marriage, and with His own wine, like a vital heat, fostering their desire for spiritual fruitfulness. ^B The mother [(14)] of the Word or Reason is true and undefiled faith. For just as the mother who bore Him according to the flesh, as God, the Word is by nature her Creator, yet He deigned out of kindness to be born of her as a man; so too, in us, the Word produces faith first, and later becomes the Son of the faith that is in us, growing up from it through action as if embodied by the virtues. Through this faith we accomplish all things, receiving from the Word the gifts that tend toward salvation—for without faith, of which the Word and Reason is God by nature and Son by grace, we have no confidence to ^C offer prayers to Him. But would that we might always celebrate such marriages, and that Jesus might arrive at them with His own Mother, so that He may restore our knowledge that has leaked away through the stain of sin, and convert it—drawing the mind from the origin of things toward deification—rendering our natural knowledge, like spiritual water, through the quality of wine, toward immutability, and as it were bracing and strengthening it with sinews. ^D

SCHOLIA

1. By "power" he refers to the motion essentially implanted in nature for the performance of virtues, which by choice through the will of the one who possesses it, manifests itself in use.

2. The Word of God, having become man, filled with knowledge the nature that had been emptied of the knowledge given to it; and having braced it toward immutability, He deified it not by nature but by quality through His own Spirit, so that nothing

is lacking, ^A sealing it; and just as water, having been imbued with the quality and tempering of wine, acquires its strength, so too He truly became man, that He might make us gods by grace.

3. He calls the Word that is ecstatic toward deification "good wine," the nature of which the transgression in Adam did not allow to be drunk. But He Himself, by grace and due to His love for mankind, having emptied Himself as God, later through the incarnation—in a way known only to Himself—made it drinkable. For He Himself is also Providence, as the cohesion of things that exist; and the rationale of Providence, as the method of the healing of those who are provided for; and the Provider, as He who holds all things together by the reasons of their existence.

4. ^B The faculty of the mind is by nature capable of the knowledge of bodily and incorporeal things, he says, but it receives the impressions of the Holy Trinity through grace alone, believing only that He exists, but never presuming to seek what He is by essence.

5. That the faculty of nature as a whole is divided into six modes and activities, and that love as a whole is divided into six species of virtues. For whoever, through pious assistance, relieves those held by hunger, thirst, nakedness, those who are foreigners, those who are infirm, or those in prison—whether bodily or spiritually—he has fulfilled the love consisting of the six virtues toward both God and neighbor, having preserved the desire of the soul imbued with God alone.

6. He calls God the cause of the Word; to seek Him, man has received the faculty of reason.

7. In these [six things] love is divided and consists.

8. He who by virtue becomes equal in his mind toward all, he says, shows that God within him is no respecter of persons; ^C as He who created nature according to one and the same reason for all, so also He legislated one motion of the mind, by which that which seems to be scattered is, by nature, gathered together.

9. He calls "mediocrity" a state that is free from things contrary to nature, but has not yet grasped the things above nature. For he shows the mind to be governed by the laws of nature, having nothing of its own that is contrary to the reason of nature; and for this reason, he recognizes all men as one, as having the law of nature as a book written by God.

10. That we have as a natural criterion the law according to nature, teaching us that ^D before [seeking] the wisdom in all things, it was necessary that our desire be moved toward the initiation into the mysteries of the Maker of all.

11. Faith, the Mother of the Word, according to the anagoge; which, being created first, later gives birth to the Word, who created it, as He becomes embodied in the virtues.

QUESTION XLI.

Response. The Samaritan woman, and she who had married seven brothers according to the Sadducees, and she who had the issue of blood, and she who was bent toward the earth, as well as the daughter of Jairus and the Syrophoenician woman, all signify both the universal nature of mankind and the soul of each individual man. Each one, according to the subjoined disposition of her malady, denotes both the nature and the soul. For example, the woman mentioned by the Sadducees is nature or the soul ^B that has been wedded by the law of marriage to all the divine laws given from the beginning of the aion, yet does not receive the expectation of things to come. Similarly, the woman with the issue of blood is likewise the nature and the soul, having the power granted to it for the production of works of righteousness and for the preparation of reasons, but letting it flow away into the passions toward matter. The Syrophoenician woman is that same nature and the soul of each individual, having the mind as her daughter, which is grievously torn by the necessity of the epileptic disease due to the love of earthly things. Likewise, the daughter of Jairus is that nature and soul formed by the law, being utterly dead through the inactivity of the legal commandments and the lifelessness of the divine precepts. The woman bent toward the earth is the nature or soul which, through the deceit of the devil, has bent the entire power of the mind's action toward earthly things. The Samaritan woman likewise, and for the same reason, signifies nature or the soul of each individual, which, apart from the gift of prophecy, has been wedded ^C as if to husbands to all the laws granted to nature; of which five had passed away. But the sixth, even if it were present, was not a husband to the nature or the soul, since it did not beget from it the righteousness that saves into the fullness.

Nature, therefore, had as her first husband the law given in Paradise; the second, that which was after Paradise; the third, that during the time of the flood in the days of Noah; the fourth, that of circumcision in Abraham; the fifth, that of the offering of Isaac. Having received all these laws, nature had lost them, namely, as being dead in their barrenness of the works of virtue. But the sixth, the law which was given through Moses, she had as though she did not have it; either because it did not provide the righteousness ^D prescribed by it, or because it was to pass over to another law, or husband (namely, the Gospel); as if the law were not given in perpetuity to the nature of mankind, but by a certain dispensation, instructing toward that which was greater and more spiritual. It is in this sense that I believe the Lord said to the Samaritan woman: "And he whom you now have is not your husband." For He knew that nature was about to pass over to the Gospel. Therefore, it was also around the sixth hour, when the soul is most illuminated from every side by the rays of knowledge, that the presence of the Word to her—with the shadows of the law fleeing away—was speaking with her, and that near the well of Jacob; when, of course, together with the Word near

regarding the fountain that is, standing with the Word of the contemplative thoughts of the Scriptures. And let these things also be said thus far concerning this.

SCHOLIUM

QUESTION XLII

Response

^A from the good in his will, there was the restoration of the nature from corruption to incorruption for all men.

Therefore, the Lord, in not knowing my sin (that is, the changing of my will), did not take my sin, nor did he become sin; but by taking upon himself the sin that was for my sake—namely, the corruption of nature brought in through the turning of the will—he became for our sake a man subject to passion by nature. ^B Through the sin that was for my sake, he has taken away "my sin." And just as in Adam, his own specific will, adhering to vice, took away the common glory of the nature's incorruption, since God deemed it not good for man, who had corrupted his will, to possess an immortal nature; so in Christ, his own specific will, adhering to the good, wiped away the common stain of corruption from the whole nature, ^C the nature having been transformed by the resurrection into incorruption, because of the immutability of the will; for God deemed it reasonable that the man who had not turned his will should again receive an immortal nature. By "man," I mean the God-Word who became flesh, on account of which he united to himself in accordance with his hypostasis a flesh endowed with a rational soul. For if the changing of the will in Adam brought in the natural susceptibility to passion, corruption, and mortality, ^D then the immutability of the will in Christ, through the resurrection, naturally and rightly brought back the natural freedom from passion, incorruption, and immortality.

Therefore, the condemnation of Adam’s voluntary sin is the transformation of nature toward passion, corruption, and death. Man did not possess this from God at the beginning, but he himself created and "knew" it, having brought into being the voluntary sin through disobedience; the offspring of which—clearly—is the condemnation through death. But the Lord, having taken upon himself this condemnation of my voluntary sin—I mean the natural susceptibility to passion, and the being subject to hardships, corruption, and death—became sin for my sake, since he voluntarily underwent my condemnation for this reason, while he himself remained immune from any charge of the will, so that he might condemn both the voluntary and the natural sin and condemnation, and thus drive away sin, passion, corruption, and death from the nature. And so there comes to be a common mystery: the dispensation out of philanthropy for me, who fell through disobedience, by the One who, for the sake of my salvation, voluntarily claimed for himself through death my condemnation, and through it granted me the restoration to immortality.

In many ways, I think, it has been shown in summary how the Lord became sin, yet did not "know" sin; and how man, though he did not become sin himself, yet created and "knew" sin—both the voluntary sin, of which

he himself is ^A the author; and the natural sin, which the Lord took upon Himself for his sake, though He was entirely free from the former. It is in no way superior to become and know sin, according to the scope of the Word as rendered, and with the proper distinction, as long as the homonymy regarding "sin" is understood. For the former effects a separation from God, since the will voluntarily repels things divine; but the latter becomes a destroyer of much malice, not permitting the depravity of the will to proceed into act, on account of natural infirmity.

SCHOLIA

1. Read, Nile, and ponder, even if [it be] late.

2. He says that death is a "sin of nature," according to which we pass out of being, even against our will; but that sin of the will is the choice of things contrary to nature, by which we—wishing to be happy—push away [happiness].

3. That the Lord, having become incarnate, existed as a man corruptible by nature, in which way He is said to have "become sin"; but He was incorruptible by nature and by will, inasmuch as He was without sin.

4. The death of the Lord, he says, became the beginning of incorruption for the whole of nature.

5. That even as a man He was by nature sinless.

6. Our sin is the corruption of nature; but our sin [proper] is the mutability of the will. Wherefore man became mortal, undergoing natural death by just judgment, for the abolition of the stain of the sin of the will.

7. He says the first sin is that of the will, which the Lord did not have, even though He truly took on the natural power of suffering, ^B which was the penalty for the will of Adam turned toward the worse. Therefore He is the only one "free among the dead," since He is immune to the sin on account of which death came to exist.

8. Namely, that to do and to know sin [is] according to the will, it is clear.

9. That Adam’s being made by nature subject to suffering [is] as a punishment for the sin of the will; and that the Lord, not knowing sin, became "sin"—having taken by nature, as a man according to the flesh, that capacity for suffering which was induced on account of it.

QUESTION XLIII

If the tree of life is said in Scripture to be wisdom, and the work of wisdom is to discern and know ^C—whereas... [index: entries preserved]

does the tree of the knowledge of good and evil differ from the tree of life?

Response. The teachers of the Church, having the ability to say many things about the question proposed through the grace that is in them, have thought it better to honor the passage by silence, judging it safer, because the mind of the many is unable to reach the depth of what is written, not to venture to say anything deeper. And if some have spoken, they first discerned the capacity of their hearers, and thus having spoken a portion beneficial to those being taught, they left the greatest part unexamined. For this reason, I too was thinking of passing over the passage, had I not feared that I might cause grief to your God-loving soul. Nevertheless, for your sake, I will speak, producing something that can be appropriate for all, and adapted in sense to both little and great.

The tree of life and that which is not so have a great and ineffable difference, from the very fact that the one is called the tree of life, and the other is not of life, but only [a tree] of the knowledge of good and evil. For the tree of life is, in every way, productive of life; while the tree that is not of life is, clearly, productive of death. For that which is not productive of life, by the very fact that it is not named the tree of life, would clearly be productive of death; for nothing else is divided against life by way of opposition.

^B Furthermore, also as wisdom, the tree of life has the greatest difference from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is neither wisdom nor called so. For the property of wisdom is mind and reason, whereas the property of that state which is diametrically opposed to wisdom is irrationality and sense-perception. Since, therefore, man, being constituted of an intelligent soul and a sensible body, came into existence according to nature, let the mind of the soul be, in one sense, the tree of life, in which the substance of wisdom exists; but let the sense-perception of the body, in which the movement of irrationality clearly exists, be the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; not to touch which by way of action, man, having received the divine commandment, did not keep.

^C Moreover, both trees, according to Scripture, are discriminative of certain things—that is to say, the mind and the sense-perception. For instance, the mind has the power of discriminating between intelligible and sensible things, those that are transitory and those that are eternal; or rather, being the discriminative power of the soul, it persuades one to cling to the former and to rise above the latter. But sense-perception has the power of discriminating between bodily pleasure and pain; or rather, being the power of ensouled and sensible bodies, it persuades one to be drawn to the one and to repel the other. If, therefore, man comes to be in that state of mere discrimination of bodies according to pleasure and pain, having transgressed the divine ^D commandment,

command, he eats of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that is, of the irrationality according to sense-perception, having only the discretion ^A that concerns the preservation of bodies, through which, as if it were a good, he clings to pleasure, and as if it were an evil, he shrinks from pain. But if one, by the sole discretion of the mind by which temporal things are altogether distinguished from eternal things, stands firm, he keeps the divine commandment and eats of the tree of life—I mean the wisdom that consists in the mind—having only the discretion ^B that concerns the preservation of the soul, through which, as if it were a good, he clings to the glory of the eternal, and as if it were an evil, he shrinks from the corruption of temporal things.

Great, therefore, is the difference between the two trees, as well as between their natural distinctions and the emphasis naturally attached to each, since the terms "good" and "evil" are pronounced homonymously without differentiation. This can cause much error for those who do not encounter the words of the Spirit wisely and with reflection; but you, who are wise through grace, know that that which is simply called evil is not wholly evil, but is evil in one respect and not evil in another. Likewise, that which is simply called good is not wholly good, but is good in one respect and not good in another; and guard against the harm that arises from the homonymy.

SCHOLIUM

QUESTION XLIV

Answer. I have already said in the chapter on the building of the tower that Scripture describes God as speaking according to the disposition underlying the soul of those who are governed by Providence; through the modes naturally innate to us, it hints at the divine counsel. Therefore, here too, Scripture does not show God speaking simply...

^A *“Behold Adam has become as one of us,”* but rather after the transgression; it adds also the cause of the statement, which you omitted while inquiring, a cause which opens up the whole meaning. For when the discourse said, *“Behold Adam has become as one of us,”* it added, *“to know good and evil; and now, lest he extend his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.”* For because the devil, along with the counsel, had taught him the error of polytheism, saying, *“For on the day that you eat of the tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil,”* for this reason, with irony—or one might say, with a sarcastic and reproachful tone to rebuke the man who had believed the devil—God utters in the plural the voice, *“He has become as one of us,”* corresponding ^B exactly to the sense of deity that had been planted in Adam’s mind through the deception by the serpent.

Lest anyone think that such a form of expression is alien to the composition of Holy Scripture, let him hear Scripture speaking in the person of God to Israel: *“If you walk toward me crookedly, I also will walk toward you crookedly.”* He will understand that there is no difference between irony or derision and this “crookedness.” And again, let him find how the deception was prepared for the wicked Ahab, as the falsehood was presented to him under the guise of truth, bringing upon him justly the punishment for those things which he had committed. For if Scripture had not brought God speaking, *“As one of us,”* with regard to the deception of Adam, how could it have added, *“To know good and evil,”* as if He possessed a composite knowledge, fashioned out of opposites? This is impossible to conceive in God, ^C much less to dare to say, as He is the only One whose essence and power and knowledge are simple, and who possesses only the knowledge of the good; nay, rather, He is truly existing essence, power, and knowledge itself. Nor does any one of the rational essences that are from God and after God possess knowledge of things constituted out of opposites in one simple movement of the mind; for it is the nature of the knowledge of things opposed to one another to produce ignorance of the other. For knowledge of opposites is unmixed, and in every way incapable of existing simultaneously; since the knowledge of one thing implies the ignorance of the other of the opposites, just as an eye cannot perceive what is above and what is below, or what is in either direction at the same time, without a specific turning of itself toward the one, and being altogether withdrawn from the others. ^D Therefore, Scripture shows God as if adopting for Himself the malady of Adam; or rather, it rebukes Adam for the counsel of the serpent, bringing him to a realization of the “blessings” concerning polytheism that had been ingrained in him through the deception. And if this is how it is, the problem is well resolved; but if you yourself find something better, share with me the grace granted to you.

the grace bestowed from God for the understanding of things. And that saying: "Nunc ergo, ne forte extendat manum suam et sumat de ligno vitae, et vivat in aeternum" [Now therefore, lest he extend his hand and take of the tree of life, and live forever], I suppose refers to the separation of things which are unmixed, which Providence performs by [its] reasons, lest evil should persist as immortal by the participation of the good. For the Creator of man wills that, in the same man, there should be knowledge of contraries according to the relationship [of the things]. ^B

SCHOLIA. 1. God speaks to Adam according to the concept of the Divinity which he had learned from the devil. 2. He who loves the lie is delivered to it for destruction, so that by suffering he might know what he voluntarily embraced, and learn by experience that, unawares, he had embraced death instead of life. 3. That God alone possesses the knowledge of the good, as He is both the nature and the knowledge of the good; but He has ignorance of evil, as He has no power of it. For of those things of which He has the power naturally, He possesses knowledge essentially; because evil is understood to happen to rational beings not according to a natural capacity, but as a vice that grows upon them contrary to nature. 4. The knowledge of contraries is understood to inhere in those who are capable of it. 5. He who persuades his conscience that what is worst is naturally good, having extended the practical faculty of the soul like a hand, ^C took blamefully of the tree of life, considering that which is worst to be immortal by nature. Wherefore God, having naturally implanted in man the accusation of evil through conscience, separated him from life, since he had become evil by his own choice; so that, while he commits evil, he might not be able to persuade his own conscience that what is worst is naturally good.

QUESTION XLV

Answer. I think that the more excellent and sublime speculation is signified by the breast, and action by the shoulder—that is, the habit and operation of the intelligent soul, or knowledge and virtue; which is to say that knowledge immediately applies the mind to God Himself, while virtue, through action, removes it from any generation of things. These things the Scripture assigned to the priests, who, having obtained God alone as their inheritance in all things, possess nothing at all that is earthly. Or again, because those who are imbued on all sides with knowledge and virtue by the Spirit, make the souls of others capable through speech and the doctrine of piety and faith.

^A them; and taking away their practical habit and power from earthly pursuits, which are done according to the custom of corruptible nature, they transfer them to the act of incorruptible goods that are superior to nature. Deservedly, therefore, the Word commanded that the breast-piece of the offering—namely, the heart of those who are being offered—and the arm—that is, their action—should be set aside for the priests ^B.

SCHOLIA. 1. The breast-piece bears the figure of theoria; the arm, that of praxis. For theoria consists in the habit of the intellect, while praxis is an operation. In both of these the definition of true priesthood is characterized. 2. He who sanctifies the hearts of others with the pious word for God—to which the breast-piece corresponds—and separates their practical power—to which the arm corresponds—by the execution of the commandments, has become a priest, receiving from those who offer themselves as a victim to God, the breast and the arm.

QUESTION XLVI

Answer. A mirror, to speak definitively and in few words, is a conscience possessing the form of all things done well; through which he who is pure in heart is enabled to see God; or, it is a practical habit, shaping the composition of all the virtues together into one, as it were a divine face. An enigma, however, is knowledge through the complete comprehension of divine logoi possible for nature according to theoria, possessing an impression of things transcendent. And, simply, a mirror ^C is a habit indicative of the archetypal form of the virtues that is to be manifested to the worthy in the future. For the mirror displays to those who practice it the final end of practical philosophy, which is to be. The enigma, however, is an indication of the archetypes of the things understood by knowledge.

Therefore, every justice here, when compared to that of the future, has the character of a mirror, possessing the image of the archetypal realities, but not the realities themselves existing in their own form. And all knowledge of high things here, when compared to the future, is an enigma, possessing a certain thin appearance of truth, but not the truth itself that is to be revealed. For since divine things are sustained by virtue and knowledge, the mirror possesses the appearance of the archetypes of virtue; but the enigma is an emphatic ^D representation of the archetypes according to knowledge. This is the difference the mirror has from the enigma: that the mirror indicates the end of action which is to follow, while the enigma represents the mystery of contemplation obscurely.

SCHOLIUM. 1. That the mirror belongs to that which relates to praxis

is a specimen; the enigma, however, is a designation of the mysteries in the knowledge of things to come.

QUESTION XLVII

What is, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness," and what follows? What is the wilderness, and what here is the way of the Lord, and what is its preparation? What are His paths, and what does it mean to make them straight? What are the valleys, and what is signified by the saying, "Every valley shall be filled"? What are the mountains and the hills, and what is their humiliation? What things are crooked, and how shall they become a straight way? What are the rough places, and how shall they become smooth roads? And finally, what is the meaning of what is added after all this: "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God"?

^B

Answer

The voice of Him who from the beginning cries in the wilderness—I speak of the nature of men, or of this world—of the Word of God, is clearly every holy man. Whether, after the manner of Abel, he rightly offers from a sincere mind the first movements of the soul's contemplation, thickened with virtues; or whether, like Enos, having apprehended future goods by the firm hope of faith, he gained the power of invocation for what he hoped for; or whether, like Enoch, proven by every cultivation of virtue, he completely withdrew his mind from the necessity and knowledge of created things, and freely transferred it to the very Cause who is above all thought; or whether, after the manner of Noah, having contemplated by faith the types of the divine judgment, he constructed for himself, like an ark, a manner of life and ascetic practice everywhere fortified by the fear of God, delivering him from the wrath to come; or whether, as Abraham, with the pure eye of faith having seen the beauty of future goods, he obeyed, and readily went forth from his land, his kindred, and his father's house, having abandoned all affection and desire toward the flesh and sense and sensible things; and, being superior to nature in the time of temptations and struggles, he preferred the Cause of nature, even as the great Abraham preferred God to his dear pledge, Isaac. Or whether, like the same Isaac, on account of the highest tranquility of an imperturbable mind and the greediness of a soul insatiable in its beautiful study of contemplation, he remained unmoved by the truth, although warred against by evil spirits, [maintaining] the habit of virtue and knowledge; or whether, like Jacob, having purified his mind from the density of material things and the confusion surrounding them, he became smooth; and by the imposition of the skins of the kids—I mean by the harshness of the life lived according to God as it regards the flesh—he obtained from God the power against the mind of the flesh; and for fear of the insurrection of the passions, and from desire for a learning higher by experience, he transitioned—I mean descended—to Charran, [which signifies] natural contemplation, from which, having received by practical toils all the spiritual knowledge of the visible world, gathered into various reflections and concepts,

^A he returns to the paternal and proper land—I mean the knowledge of intelligible things—bringing with him ^B as wives and handmaids the stable habits and activities of [the] practical and contemplative [life] that have been born in him, and the children he has begotten from them, whoever these children may be. And simply (that the Word may not be drawn out further than is necessary by recounting the life of each one), every saint, through his own conduct, as one who has possessed the Word crying out his own will to other men, clearly exists as a voice of the Word and a forerunner, in accordance with the proportion of righteousness and faith which has shone forth in him.

Above all others, however, the voice of the Word and the great forerunner is John, who is the announcer and herald of the true presence of God—[a presence] without figures or symbols—and the one who makes Him manifest to those who do not know Him, openly showing Him who takes away the sin of the world, and in accordance with the economy, bringing his own ministry to the completion of the mysteries through baptism. And since, because of the riches of grace, every syllable, even the smallest, can be understood in many ways for the benefit of those who are possessed by a desire for virtue and knowledge, come, let us, to the extent of our ability, consider the proposed matters in another sense as well.

The desert, therefore, as I was saying, is human nature, and this world, and every soul individually, ^C because of the barrenness of good things that has grown up from the ancient transgression. The voice of one crying is the Word, or Reason; it is the awareness of conscience regarding the sins that each person has committed, as it cries out in the secret place of the heart to prepare the way of the Lord. And clear and manifest preparation for the divine way is the change and emendation of characters and thoughts for the better, and the cleansing of previous pollutions. The beautiful and glorious way, which is pursued through virtue, is life itself; in which, as on a way, the Word fulfills the course of salvation in each person, dwelling within through faith, and walking about in the various institutions and teachings of virtue and knowledge. The paths of the Word are the different modes of the virtues, and the varied discipline of a life according to God—that is, the exercises [performed] according to God—which those make straight who do not pursue virtue or the study of the divine Scriptures for the sake of glory, nor from an occasion of greed, nor with the intention of flattering or pleasing others, ^D nor for the sake of ostentatious display; but [who] do, say, think, and understand all things for the sake of God. For the divine Word is not accustomed to linger in paths that are not straight, even if He finds the way prepared in some. For example, what I mean is: someone fasts, and abstains from that regimen of food whereby nourishment is wont to be supplied to lust and vices; and he performs other [acts] contributing to that end, so that he may be able to be freed from them. He has thus prepared the so-called way. But he who, for the sake of vainglory, avarice, or adulation, or to gain the favor of men, or for some other purpose, practices such ways, not that he may be approved by God and [offer] himself to Him,

^A but has labored at the work of preparing the way, yet has not had God walking in his paths. The way of the Lord, therefore, is virtue; the straight path is the upright and guileless manner of virtue.

*Every valley shall be filled*; namely, the valleys of those who have rightly prepared the way of the Lord and made His paths straight. For this does not apply simply to everyone, nor to those who have not prepared the way of the Lord and made His paths straight. Now, the "valley" is the flesh of each person, which has been hollowed out and made rugged by the great flood of passions, and cut off from that spiritual continuity and union with the soul which the law of God, binding them together, had established. But it is also possible to understand the soul as a valley, hollowed out by the great winter storm of wickedness, and having lost through wickedness the beauty of that fair smoothness of the Spirit. Every valley, then—that is, the flesh and soul of those who have prepared the way of the Lord and made His paths straight—shall be filled through the casting off of the passions which, like ravines, cause unevenness in them, and by the introduction of the virtues, regaining thereby their natural surface, smoothed by the Spirit.

*And every mountain and hill shall be brought low.* Mountains and hills, it seems, are accustomed to exist especially in connection with valleys and gaping places. A mountain is every height that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God; a hill is every vice that rises up against virtue. Or, the mountains are those spirits which are the authors of ignorance, while the hills are the instigators of vice and depravity. When every valley—that is, the flesh and soul of those who, as I said, have prepared the way of the Lord, and made His paths straight, through the coming of the Word of God who walks in them by the fulfillment of the commandments—is filled with knowledge and virtue, then all the spirits of "knowledge falsely so-called" and of wickedness are brought low, the Word of God Himself trampling and subjecting them, casting down the wicked power that lifts itself up against human nature, and leveling, as it were, the great and high masses of the mountains and hills, and bringing them to fill the valleys. For in truth, if one were to take everything by the power of the Word, which the demons, having stripped it from nature, used to create ignorance and vice in that nature, in no way whatsoever would the height of ignorance or vice persist, just as neither the mountain nor the hill would be visible to the eyes if there were some means for men to dig them up and fill in the hollow and rugged places. ^C Therefore, the "lowering" of the spiritual and wicked mountains and hills is the restoration of the natural powers of the flesh and of the soul to themselves, by which the religious mind, with the riches of virtue and knowledge...

^A traverses this age with an equal and level path, and rushes headlong toward the ageless and incorruptible world of the intelligible and holy powers. It is not seduced by the voluntary passions of the flesh through the multifaceted, crooked pleasure; nor is it exasperated by pain through involuntary temptations; nor, out of indulgence for the flesh, does it shrink from the way of the commandments as if it were difficult due to the harshness of the labors of virtue.

The crooked things are made straight when the mind, having freed the members of the body from vices and passions—that is, having forbidden the senses and the rest from their pleasure-seeking activity—teaches them to move according to the simple rhythm of nature. Furthermore, the harsh things—that is, the onslaughts of involuntary temptations—will become smooth paths, especially when the mind, rejoicing and glad, finds pleasure in infirmities, afflictions, and necessities; for through involuntary pains it removes the entire dominion of voluntary passions. For whoever burns with a desire for the true life, knowing ^B that every pain, whether voluntary or involuntary, becomes death to pleasure, the mother of death, will receive all the harsh onslaughts of involuntary temptations with gladness; rejoicing through the gift of patience, he makes his afflictions easy and smooth paths, which unerringly transport him toward the prize of the upward calling, while he piously pursues the divine course within them.

Whoever, therefore, has dissolved the winding and complex pleasure, which is multi-formly entangled with all the senses at once, by the practice of continence, has made the crooked things into a straight way; and he who has patiently trodden upon the harsh and difficult onslaught of labors has made the harsh things into smooth paths. Whence, as a reward for virtue and for the labors he endured for its sake—as one who has contended well and lawfully, having defeated pleasure through the desire for virtue, and having trodden upon pain through the love of knowledge, and having fought the divine contests valiantly through both—he shall see the Salvation of God. For ^C it says: "And all flesh shall see the Salvation of God." All flesh, of course, that is faithful, according to that saying: "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh," which is to say, upon that which has believed. For not simply all flesh shall see the Salvation of God—for neither shall the flesh of the ungodly, if that true declaration of Scripture is valid: "Let the ungodly be taken away, that he may not see the glory of the Lord"—but, specifically, every flesh that exists as faithful. Furthermore, by a part, that is, by the flesh, Scripture is accustomed to signify the whole human person; as it cries out: "And all flesh shall see the Salvation of God." Every human person, that is to say, who has heard the voice crying in the desert and, according to the spiritual meaning handed down to us, has prepared the way of the Lord and made His paths straight, and, having overturned the spiritual and most wicked mountains and hills, has filled that valley (that is, the soul) which, by its own cavity and gap resulting from the transgression of the divine commandment, provided an elevation ^D and high brow to those wicked mountains and hills I have mentioned; for that indeed...

results in the abasement of the wicked Powers, while at the same time smoothing out through self-restraint the crooked things of the voluntary passions—that is, the movements of pleasure—and rendering level, through patience, the rough and wretched trials of the involuntary temptations—that is, the modes of pain—and making them into level paths. Such a person shall rightfully behold ^A the Salvation of God, having become pure in heart; in which [purity], through virtues and pious contemplations, he sees God at the end of his struggles, according to the word: *Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God* (Matt. V, 8); for, having received the reward of the labors he endured for the sake of virtue, which is the gift of impassibility, nothing manifests God more to those who are sustained by it.

By such reasoning, it is perhaps permitted to those who seek higher spiritual perceptions to see it in another way as well: as in a desert—that is, in a soul free from passions—the voice of divine wisdom and knowledge, which cries out with silent speech through the virtues; for since the one and same Word becomes all things to all men according to the proportion and capacity of each, entering into each, He becomes as a preceding voice, bestowing grace that prepares each person for His own coming. In some, this occurs as repentance, serving as a forerunner of future righteousness; in others as virtue, as a foundation for expected knowledge; and in others as knowledge, as a figure and sure mark of the habit of contemplation that is to follow. And in short, time will fail the contemplative mind that wisely makes the divine ascents of the Word, and that fits His exceptional and most benevolent reasons and considerations to each person, according to which He becomes ^B all things to all men, so that He may save all because of the abundant riches of His goodness.

SCHOLIA

1. He who cultivates knowledge enriched by the virtues, that is, active knowledge, becomes Abel, upon whom God looks with favor, and upon his gifts.

2. He who has known and truly hoped for the things to come never ceases from the invocation according to action for the sake of the things for which he hoped; and he becomes a new Enos, calling upon God.

3. He who has pleased God through action transfers his mind through contemplation to the region of the intelligible, so that he may not, through some image of the thinking soul, see the death which exists in the passions according to sense, being found entirely subject to none of those who seek to capture him.

4. He who, says [the text], for the sake of the coming wrath, has adopted a regimen marked by hardship, becomes Noah, avoiding the coming destruction of the ungodly through the small straitness and affliction of the flesh. ^{C D}

5. It calls the flesh "earth" and "kinship" and "the senses"; and it calls the "father's house" the sensible world, from which...

patriarch departed, casting off the soul's affection toward them.

6. Only Isaac is recorded as not having departed from the land of promise; unlike his father Abraham and his son Jacob, the former of whom departed from Mesopotamia and entered into Egypt, while the latter was driven into Mesopotamia and subsequently dwelt in Egypt, where he also met his end. ^B

7. He took [the wives] for the habits of virtue and knowledge, but the handmaids for their operations, from which he begets, as it were, children—that is, the reasons existing in nature and time. ^C

8. Just as the flesh becomes a valley, pelted by the onslaughts of the passions, so too, he says, the soul becomes a valley, hollowed out by the flow of wicked thoughts.

9. The casting away of unnatural passions and the addition of natural virtues fills up the soul that has been turned into a valley, and humbles the mind that is being puffed up by evil spirits. ^D

10. He has called "crooked" the unnatural movements of the senses, which are straightened when the mind teaches them to move according to nature toward their own cause—that is to say, God.

11. He has called "rough" the occurrences of involuntary trials, which are transformed into smooth paths through patience in thanksgiving. ^C

12. The mother of death is pleasure, but the death of pleasure is pain—both that which is chosen and that which is brought upon us against our will. ^C

13. The one who loves virtue extinguishes the voluntary furnace of pleasures; but he whose mind is imbued with the knowledge of the truth is not held fast by involuntary pains, due to the ceaseless motion of his desire toward God. ^C

14. Because the soul, having been hollowed out through transgression, gave height to the demons as if they were mountains; this signifies the power they exercise over it. ^D

15. Virtue, when acted out in practice, becomes the voice of knowledge crying out—as in a desert—to the state of the soul that is deprived of passions. For virtue is the forerunner of true wisdom, signaling the truth that is to appear after it by dispensation, though it exists before it in the order of cause.

QUESTION XLVIII

Regarding Uzziah, the second book of Chronicles says: "That he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and was seeking the Lord in the days of Zechariah, who was understanding in the fear of the Lord, and the Lord gave him success. And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, and upon the corner gate, and upon the corner [gate] of the valley, and upon the corners; and he grew strong, and he built towers in the wilderness, and he hewed out many cisterns, because he had much livestock ^D

^A What are the towers, and what is the gate upon the corner? And what is the valley, and what is its corner? And what are the corners again? And what are the towers in the wilderness? And what are the hewn-out cisterns? And what is the livestock? And what are the Shephalah, and the plain, and the vine-dressers, and the mountain, and Carmel? And what is the meaning of the phrase: "because he was diligent in agriculture?"

Response

Come, Word of God, most worthy of praise! Grant us a fitting revelation of your words, and removing the thickness of the veils, show us, O Christ, the beauty of the things that are understood. Take our right hand—I mean, the power of the mind within us—and be our guide on the path of your commandments, ^B and lead us into the place of your wondrous tabernacle, even unto the house of God, in the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of those who keep festival, so that we too, through the confession that is in practice and the exultation that is in contemplation, may be deemed worthy to come to your ineffable place of feasting, and with those who are feasting there spiritually, may we share in the banquet, modulating with the silent voices of the mind the knowledge of things that cannot be uttered in words.

And grant me pardon, Christ, and be merciful, for I am compelled by the command of your worthy servants to dare things beyond my power. Illuminate my unenlightened mind for the contemplation of the things set before us, ^C so that all the more you may be glorified, giving sight to the blind and making the tongue of the stammerers articulate.

I think, therefore, that just as Solomon was to a certain extent a figure of Christ our God, so too was Uzziah, to a certain extent, a figure of the Savior. For if you translate the name Uzziah into our language, it signifies "the strength of God." But the natural strength of God and Father, and his truly existing power, is our Lord Jesus Christ, who became the stone at the head of the corner—I mean, of the Church. A corner joins two walls to one another, being common to both. Thus, the Church of God becomes a union of two peoples—of those from the nations and those from the Jews—having Christ as its bond and ^D connection. He it is who built the towers in Jerusalem (by which I mean the "vision of peace"), those divine and impregnable primary discourses concerning the dogmas of the Deity, that is to say, fortifications. And upon the gate of the corner, the discourses concerning the dogmas of the incarnation. For the gate and door of the Church is again he himself, who says: "I am the door." And the gate has towers, that is, the fortifications of the divine dogmas concerning the incarnation; those who wish to believe rightly must enter the corner—that is, the Church—fortified by these. For he who is armed with the towers of the divine dogmas, as if with the fortifications of truth, fears neither destructive discourses nor demons.

^A And upon the angle of the valley. Valley is the flesh. Its angle is the union of that flesh with the soul, according to that connection which is in the Spirit; upon which the towers—that is to say, the fortifications of the commandments—are built; and the dogmas concerning them, which are for the sake of discernment, whereby the indissoluble union of the flesh with the soul, like an angle, is preserved.

And he built towers upon the angles. By angles, Scripture perhaps refers to the various unions of separated things that were brought about through Christ. For He united mankind, mystically removing by the Spirit the distinction between male and female, and in both establishing the nature of the flesh free from the properties of the passions and the stain of their inborn nature. He also united the earth, removing the distinction between the paradise set before the senses and this world which we inhabit. He also united the earth and the heavens, demonstrating that the nature of sensible things is one and inclined toward itself. He united also the sensible and the intelligible, and showed that the nature of those things which have come into existence is one, joined together by a certain mystical reason. Finally, He united, by a reason and manner exceeding the power of nature, even the created nature with the uncreated; and in each union, or angle, He built ^B towers, connecting and binding together those things which exist by the protection of the divine decrees.

And he built towers in the desert. The desert is the nature of things subject to the eyes, or this world, in which the Word is accustomed to build towers, bestowing pious opinions regarding existing things upon those who seek them—that is, the correct discourses of the dogmas concerning natural contemplation in the Spirit.

And he dug many cisterns, because he had much cattle in Sephila, and in the plain; and vine-dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel, for he was addicted to agriculture. He dug cisterns in the desert, namely in the world and in the nature of men, casting out the soil from the hearts of those who are worthy, and cleansing them from material weight and sentiment, and making them spacious for the reception of the divine rains of wisdom and knowledge, with which He might water the cattle of Christ (those, of course, who on account of the infancy of their souls are still in need of moral doctrine).

And the cattle in Sephila. Sephila, if you translate the name, is called a narrow pelvis; it signifies ^D those who are cleansed through involuntary temptations, and are washed of the stains of soul and body, having assumed purity. They, like water, are in need of being watered by the doctrine concerning endurance and patience.

And in the plain. Those, clearly, who [are in the] breadth

^A of favorable things as they happen to them according to their desire, are happy; or those who run easily in the virtues, and in the way, in the law, are expanded in the tranquility of the commandments—they also require to be watered by the doctrine concerning humility, and the sharing and sympathy for the weaker ones, and the giving of thanks for what has been granted to them. And the vinedressers in the mountains ^B are those who diligently cultivate the divine and ecstatic word of knowledge, which gladdens the heart in the height of contemplation. But the vinedressers in Carmel are those who, by high contemplation, practice the word concerning perfect cleansing and the complete removal of all existing things; for Carmel is interpreted as "knowledge of circumcision," upon which he who cultivates the vine cultivates the mystical word of circumcision, in knowledge circumcising the mind from matter and material things; but not after the manner of the Jews, thinking the shame to be glory. And the word says that these also have need of the divine liquid of wisdom from the cisterns hewn in the desert, so that according to the analogy of faith, each may receive the suitable word from that which is believed, the gift of the teaching of the saving word; through which our Lord Jesus Christ, the good and skilled laborer—being, and always becoming, and having performed all the aforementioned things for the sake of our salvation—magnificently cares for the soul of each one. ^C Thus, then, let the matters set before us be briefly observed by us in one way, pointing towards our Lord Jesus Christ; but in another way, also being observed in the mind of each person, it has great power for the accomplishment of perfection for those who are guarded by the fear and love of the Lord. But before touching upon their contemplation, I am perplexed and wonder how, according to history, Ozias, being king of Judea, could have vinedressers in Carmel, which was not under the dominion of Judea, but was subject to the kingdom of Israel; upon which even the royal city of the kingdom of Israel was almost built. But, as it seems, our mind’s sluggishness toward the investigation of the truth ^D [index: entries preserved]

^A has accidentally intermixed, with the thread of the history, that which in no way exists. Ozias, therefore, is the mind that has gained strength in action and divine contemplation; for "Ozias," as I said, is interpreted as "the strength of God." And it says, "Ozias was seeking the Lord in the days of Zacharias, who had understanding in the fear of the Lord." "Zacharias" is interpreted as "the memory of God." Therefore, as long as the mind has the memory of God living and flourishing within itself, it seeks the Lord through contemplation; and not in any manner whatsoever, but in the fear of the Lord—that is, in the performance of the commandments. For he who seeks the Lord by contemplation without action does not find the Lord, because he did not seek the Lord in the fear of the Lord.

"And the Lord gave him success." For to everyone who performs action with knowledge, the Lord grants success, teaching him the ways of the commandments and revealing the true reasons of created things.

"And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem." He who is well-succeeded in his seeking of the Lord through contemplation, together with the necessary fear—that is, the practice of the commandments—builds towers in Jerusalem; ^B that is, in the simple and tranquil state of the soul, he raises up sublime discourses and reasons concerning the Deity.

"And upon the corner gate." The corner gate (that is, the ecclesiastical faith) is the pious and religious conduct of life, through which the entrance to the inheritance of goods is opened for us. Upon this, as though upon strong and brave towers, ^C the wise mind builds the fortifications of the dogmas concerning the incarnation, as if from certain stones composed of various notions, and the modes of the virtues, for the protection of the work of the commandments.

"And upon the corner of the valley." The valley is the flesh; the corner of this is the union with the soul, which is through the law of the commandments. Upon this, as a tower, it builds the judgment of the spirit of the law, which subjects the flesh to the soul for the sake of discernment.

"And upon the corners." He says there are many corners, upon which the mind most strong according to God is said to have built the towers. A corner is not only the union of particulars with universals according to the same nature of being (to speak by way of example, of individuals with the species to which they belong, and of species with genera, and of genera with substance, the extremes finally being singularly joined and connected with one another; in which the reasons of the universals, shining upon the reasons of the particulars, bring about the various unions of discrete things), ^D but it is also the union of the mind with the senses, of heaven with earth, of sensible things with intelligible things, and of nature with discourse. Upon all these, the mind, more learned in contemplation, having firmly established the true opinions concerning each, wisely builds spiritual towers upon the corners—that is, upon these unions, the dogmas that connect the unions.

^A And he hewed out many cisterns: that is, the various habits of the virtues, capable of receiving the lessons supplied by God for knowledge. *For he had much cattle in the Shephelah and in the plain; and vinedressers in the hill country and in Carmel; for he was a man given to agriculture.* He who lawfully struggles for the truth through the armor of the right and the left, from the various habits pertaining to virtue and knowledge, as if from hewn-out cisterns, waters the movements of the soul around the body—which are the cattle in the Shephelah, that is, those tested by the danger of involuntary temptations—with discourses on patience, ^B watering the soul’s movements; and those in the plain—that is, the movements of the soul that increase along the broad path of virtue through things on the right—he waters with discourses on humility and moderation, so that he neither falls through those on the left nor is puffed up by those on the right.

And vinedressers in the hill country, and in Carmel. The vinedressers in the hill country are those who remain in the height of contemplation, and those devout reasonings that cultivate the ecstatic and ineffable knowledge. And in Carmel, they are the reasonings that cultivate the discourse concerning perfect dispassion and purification through the removal of all things—as if a certain foreskin adhering to the productive power of the soul—and, as it were, knowledgeably circumcise completely all the soul’s relationship with material things. For Carmel is knowledge of circumcision.

He calls Uzziah a man given to agriculture because every mind that has the strength of God for contemplation is also a true husbandman, keeping the seeds of goodness pure from weeds through its own zeal and diligence, as long as it preserves the memory of God holding it together. For it says: *And he was seeking the Lord in the days of Zechariah in the fear of the Lord.* ^D The Word knows that Zechariah, when translated into the Greek tongue, signifies "memory of God." Therefore, let us pray constantly to the Lord that His saving memory may be preserved within us, so that what we have rightly achieved may not destroy the soul—which has been raised to a height and, like Uzziah, has dared more than nature allows—leading it to ruin.

SCHOLIA

α'. He calls the holy tabernacle of God, which is among us, "admirable," as having received its being in him without seed. By "house," he means the intellectual soul...

For the Word, having become man, ^A ineffably united to himself flesh endowed with an intellectual soul, cleansing the like by the like. The "place" is the Word himself, who, according to hypostasis, immutably established the nature within himself. Therefore, let us pass over to this tabernacle, that is, the flesh, sanctifying our own flesh through the cultivation of virtues, by which it is fashioned to become conformed to the body of his glory through the grace of the Spirit; and within the house of God, through unmixed contemplation, with simple and undivided knowledge, let us arrive at the intellectual soul of the Lord itself—so that we, too, according to the Apostle, may have the mind of Christ through the communion of the Spirit, becoming by grace because of him what he himself became by nature according to the economy for our sake.

β'. He has called the cornerstone the link of the angle, that is, of the Church.

γ'. He calls the "gate of the angle" the incarnation, a gate (as it were) of the Church; and by "towers," he means the correct dogmas concerning the incarnation.

δ'. He has called the "gorge of the angle" the union of the flesh with the soul according to nature, and the conjunction of the soul with it, through the Spirit, as to a minister of virtue.

ε'. By "angles" he speaks simply of the diverse unions of beings—that is, the unions of the various more general natures toward one another in one convergence.

ς'. Because every union of the said creatures has a rationale of wisdom, according to which it comes to be; these the Word has called "towers of the angles." For the stronghold and tower of each of the beings is both the rationale of the knowledge concerning it in its essence, and the rationale common to all that connects them to one another into one convergence.

ζ'. He called them "cisterns," the hearts capable of receiving the heavenly gifts of holy knowledge, hewn out by the firm Word of the commandments; and casting off, like calloused swellings, both the affection for the passions and the inclination of nature toward things subject to the senses; and being filled with the knowledge, descending from above, which is both cleansing of passions and life-giving of virtues in the Spirit.

η'. He says "beasts of Sephila" are those being taught moral philosophy through many tribulations, needing teachings that instruct them in patience.

θ'. He says "beasts of the plain" are those who run well in virtues, and remain impassible to the worse, needing words and doctrines concerning thanksgiving.

ι'. By "mountainous region" simply, he speaks of high contemplation of nature in the Spirit, which those cultivate who have become detached from the phantasms of sensible things and have passed through to the rationales by way of the virtues.

ια'. Carmel is the height, according to

circumcision of recognition. Circumcision is, moreover, both the natural removal of emotion regarding generation, and the cessation of the mind's attachment ^A to things according to affection. Manifestly, the vine of this state is the Word of Providence, which bestows a sober ecstasy; those men and reasonings who are moved solely toward the simple and beginningless Unity are they who cultivate it. For he who is moved solely toward this is as one who has cut off from himself, like a foreskin, the affection that causes the origin of things to cover the Creator.

12. Another mode of contemplation of the same subjects. 13. A noble difficulty regarding why the history of events cannot occur as described in this place. 14. He calls practical philosophy the fear of the Lord; for it contains the end from the beginning. For, *The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.* 15. The sublime Word concerning the Godhead is a tower in the soul, fortified by the activity of the commandments. 16. What is the gate of the corner? 17. The logoi of particular things, he says, by advancing toward universal ones, create unions of those things which had been divided. For the more universal logoi embrace ^B the logoi of the more particular ones, to which particular things naturally refer. 18. That there is also a relative logos of these in the Spirit, which gives to them their union with one another. 19. Observe how it is necessary, he says, to understand the word, "invaluisse" (he prevailed). 20. He who has acquired a pious opinion concerning each thing does not fear the demons who deceive men through visible appearances. 21. The vine produces wine; wine, drunkenness; drunkenness, ecstasy. Therefore, the active Word—which is the vine—when cultivated by the virtues, begets knowledge; and knowledge begets the noble ecstasy which causes the mind to depart from the attachment that is according to sense.

QUESTION XLIX

What again does it mean in the same book: *“And Ezechiah saw that Sennacherim was coming, and his face was toward making war against Jerusalem; and he took counsel with his ^C elders and mighty men to stop the waters of the springs which were outside the city; and they assisted him. And he gathered much people, and stopped the waters of the springs, and the river that flowed through the midst of the city”*; what do these things signify in a mystical sense?

Response.

The mind that has armed itself with knowledge, practical philosophy, and every divine discernment against the opposing powers, is Ezechiah; whom, from the name... ^D

^A translating “divine power or strength,” it governs as Jerusalem, that is to say, the mind, which is the vision of peace; a wise contemplation, naturally free from passions and vices. When it sees the opposing power moving against it, it wisely takes counsel with its elders and nobles to obstruct the waters of the springs existing outside the city. The nobles of such a mind are the principle of faith, and that of hope, and that of love, exercising authority like elders over all the divine thoughts and reasonings of the soul; and they wisely advise the mind, simultaneously strengthening it together against the opposing power, and pointing out the ways of its destruction. For without faith, and hope, and love, nothing of evil is entirely destroyed, nor is anything of good at all accomplished. For faith ^B persuades the mind, when under attack, to take refuge in God, providing it with every apparatus of spiritual arms, whereby its confidence is increased. Hope, indeed, stands as his most faithful sponsor for divine aid, promising the destruction of the opposing powers. Love, finally, in the midst of battles, renders him difficult to move—or rather, entirely immovable—by the force of divine affection, fastening its entire natural power to divine longing.

And the names of these nobles, or princes, if one interprets them, harmonize with these realities. For the counselors of Ezechiah at that time were Eliakim, the son of Chelcias, the steward; and Somnas, the scribe; and Joach, the son of Asaph, the keeper of the records.

The Interpretation of the Names

^A For him, and for whose sake, all battles are stirred up among the saints.

Joach, from "commentaries," is the son of Asaph, which, if you interpret the name, is called "brethren of God"; and Asaph, his father, is "congregation." Therefore, love is the offspring of the faculties of the soul, gathered and united by an equal inclination toward divine things: reason, that is, anger, and desire; by whose function, those who have now obtained through grace an equality of honor with God—for "fraternity," as it is called, signifies clearly a gift of equal honor—consigning on the tablets of memory the beauty of divine splendor, have a longing for divine love that can be erased by no forgetfulness, by which, as if on tablets, the immortal glory is marked and impressed upon the ruling part of the soul.

^B Since, therefore, things are in this state, and the word has achieved a conjecture of the truth, albeit slightly, from the interpretation of the names, every mind, in the manner of Hezekiah, girded with divine strength, possesses certain ancients, and leaders, or magistrates and prefects; both the rational faculty, from which the origin of faith, which is wise and supported by knowledge, is born; by which it learns that God is always present in a way that words cannot explain, and through the protection of hope, accustomed to future things as if they were present: and the faculty of desire, in which divine love consists, by whose function it, having of its own accord attached itself to the love of the undefiled deity, holds an indissoluble longing for the beloved. ^C Furthermore, it also possesses the irascible faculty, by which it clings tenaciously to divine peace, restraining the movement of desire by the tenor of divine love. Every mind is endowed with these faculties, with the help of which it both puts vice to flight and acquires and preserves virtue: they have the reason of "ancients," because they are the primary faculties of the soul and complete its essence; and that of "leaders" or "magistrates," because they possess command over the movements that proceed from them, and have power over the effects subject to them by the nod of the moving mind. These are also counselors to it, and assist it, so that it may obstruct the waters of the springs which were outside the city; or, to speak more properly, which are outside the city. For that which is narrated as past in history is always held as present mystically through the consideration of the spiritual sense.

^D He who possesses these faculties healthy, and led astray by no error, gathers a great multitude of people: the pious natural movements, that is, and thoughts arising from them. But the waters outside the city—that is, the soul—which make the river that divides the city through the middle, are the thoughts conveyed and flowing into the soul according to natural contemplation through each sense from the sensible object corresponding to it; from which the word, passing through the soul as a city, is formed into a river of the knowledge of sensible things; as long as the soul has it passing through it, it does not discard the images and phantasms of sensible things; by which, pressing upon it, the evil and destructive power is naturally inclined to wage war against it.

^A For this reason Hezekiah says: “Let not the king of Assyria come and find much water, and prevail,” ^B as if the discerning mind were saying to its own faculties at the time of the rising of the passions: “Let us cease from natural contemplation, and let us approach only to prayer and the mortification of the body which is practiced according to a practical philosophy. Of these, the king’s entry into the temple of God carries the figure of prayer, and the putting on of sackcloth carries the figure of bodily mortification, lest the wicked one, by craftily introducing the forms and shapes of sensible things to the unsuspecting through the perception of sensible objects—by which the passions are naturally formed around the surfaces of visible things—should, through this intermediate perception which serves as a passage to the intelligible, seize upon the rational activity within us, causing it to take a stand and prevail so as to sack the city, that is to say, the soul, and drag it violently into Babylon, I mean, into the confusion of the passions.”

He, therefore, who at the time when vicious passions attack with hostile signals resolutely closes his senses, and completely puts away the thought and memory of sensible things, and in every way constrains the mind’s natural movements from investigating things external—he, like Hezekiah, blocks the waters of the springs that are outside the city, and cuts off the river that divides through the midst of the city, with the help of the faculties I have mentioned. And by the hand of God, he confuses the great multitude and army that had gathered—that is to say, the pious thoughts or reasons of each faculty—and he conquers the evil and tyrannical power that had fiercely attacked him. This happens through a divine command, as if by some avenging angel brought to bear for that purpose to destroy the vices, having slain the hundred and eighty-five thousand; ^C that is to say, the habit productive of evil, which irrationally grows upon the three faculties of the soul through sensible things and the operation of the senses in them, he destroys.

It is necessary, therefore, that a man whose mind is wise enough to know how to exhaust the invisible encounters of the evil demons should neither occupy himself with natural contemplation nor attempt any other thing at the time of their assault than merely to pray, to subdue the body with labors, to cast down the earthly sense with all diligence, and to guard—with the aid of the good reasons implanted by nature—the walls of the city (that is to say, the virtues which exist for the protection of the soul, or the methods that serve to preserve the virtues, I mean constraint and patience). ^D Let no thought whatsoever answer back a word of contradiction to any of the intelligible enemies stationed outside, lest, alluring under the pretense of success and weaving desire through fraud, it separate one from God—who gives the soul to drink of a turbulent overthrow—and through those things that have the appearance of goodness, craftily entice the mind that is seeking what is honest toward things that are worse, as Rabshakeh the commander-in-chief of the king of Assyria spoke in the Jewish tongue.

^A Rabshakeh, if you interpret the name, means "more indulgent by way of pouring out with kisses," or "having great kisses." For the wicked demon, who is accustomed to warring against the mind through things that appear right, speaks in the Jewish tongue, pouring into the soul an obfuscating subversion by means of a supposed—though not true—virtue; he shows it a deceptive and ruinous friendship, in which the wounds of a friend who strikes are better. For it says: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, rather than the kisses of an enemy" (Prov. XXVII, 6). Sennacherib, however, is interpreted as "temptation of drought," or "sharpened teeth"—which is the devil, who in truth, through the thoughts sharpened toward wickedness (for this is what I understand by "sharpened teeth"), dries up the outflow of the divine waters of knowledge within us. ^B According to the activity that he is by nature capable of producing in those who accept him, he has taken a name that is appropriate; he is truly a temptation of drought, both being and being called such, as he renders those who have fallen into his guiles destitute of all vital distribution in the Spirit.

Or perhaps Sennacherib (that is, the devil) is called "temptation of drought" (14) because he is needy and poor, and stripped of any inherent power by which he might assault us; and, apart from the sensible things by whose support he is accustomed to war against the soul, he is unable to harm us in any way. For this reason, he is in need of the tyranny he plots against us—I mean, the springs situated outside the city, that is, the material thoughts by which he is naturally able to inject into the soul the shapes and forms of sensible objects. ^C Through these, the sense, molded by nature due to this relationship, very often becomes a wicked and ruinous instrument for the devil to use against the divine beauty of the soul, betraying the entire power of the Word within us by the allurements of pleasure.

But he who strenuously, through what is called self-control, closes the senses, and by the powers of the soul bars the entry of the forms of sensible objects into the mind, easily scatters the devil’s wicked machinations, turning him back with shame ^D upon the path by which he came. The "path" (15) by which the devil comes is the material things that appear to be for the constitution of the body—leading him back to his own land, I mean confusion, and slaying him together with the wicked thoughts born of him, and transferring them to the setting-aside of rest. For whoever has been enabled to overcome the devil with his own thoughts, through the use of them toward [end of page 453, continues on 454] the better according to contemplation, has slain Sennacherib by the work of his own sons, and has put him to flight into his own land, Armenia; for he has clearly deposited, for the setting-aside of rest, the thoughts that confuse the soul through the senses. For "setting-aside of rest" is what Armenia is interpreted as. And the "setting-aside of rest" is (16) the arrival of the divine virtues, by which the mind, moved by the thoughts that were once led into disgraceful vices of the senses and into passions, is...

slays the devil who produces these for the destruction of the human nature. ^A Excellently, therefore, and most wisely, according to the spiritual sense of Scripture, did Hezekiah act by blocking the waters of the springs which were outside Jerusalem, because of Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians. Now the springs are outside the city—that is, the soul—which are all things that fall under the senses; and the waters of these springs are the notions and concepts of sensible things. The river dividing through the midst of the city is the knowledge gathered from sensible notions by natural contemplation, passing through the midst of the soul as the boundary between the mind and the senses. For the knowledge of sensible things is neither entirely estranged from the intellectual faculty nor is it wholly and exclusively assigned to the operation of the sense alone; but as a medium of the union of the mind with the sense and of the sense with the mind, it accomplishes through itself the conjunction of these with each other ^B—being fashioned according to the species by the shapes of sensible things in terms of the sense, and transforming the types into the rationale of the shapes in terms of the mind. Hence, the knowledge of visible things has been fittingly called the river dividing through the midst of the city, as it is the frontier of the extremities—I mean the mind and the senses. He who blocks this during the time of the harassment of the passions—for the sake of avoiding the injury which the influx of earthly shapes brings upon the mind—and who, with knowledge as his guide, dissolves the invisible entanglements of the wicked demons, slays the hundred and eighty-five thousand; that is to say, the habit productive of vice and depravity: that power, indeed, which through the aid of sensible things clings to the three powers of the soul ^C contrary to what reason counsels, along with the act of the senses in them, that is, the irrational operation of the natural faculties through the function of the senses.

For the number six, whether it has its composition from units, or from tens, or from hundreds, or from some other number, signifies the habit, whether of virtue or of vice, according to the proportion of the multiplication of the composition which brings about this or that disposition—portraying this to those who skillfully and learnedly attend to the numbers with science. And to this number six, the number five, when joined or added or composed with it, indicates the senses—that is, the power, or habit, or operation of sensible things, which is adjacent to, or superposed upon, or composedly coherent with the natural faculties of the soul. To speak by way of example, if the number five, as simple, is joined unit for unit to the six ^D as simple, it shows an aptitude for working in the senses by potentiality alone. But if the number five, being simple from units, is added to the six that is composed of many, it reveals the habit effective in the senses according to virtue. If, however, the number five, being composed of many, is combined with the six that is composed of many, it signifies the realization—that is, the bringing to completion of virtue or of vice—in the senses according to the power, the habit, and the operation. But however the number might chance to be,

^A whether for blame or for praise, let it be accepted according to the spiritual sense of Scripture, or as the passage being examined demands. The number six, composed of decades, makes the number one hundred eighty-five, and signifies the habit—productive of vice—of the natural powers in the senses; for this number is cited in this passage of Holy Scripture in a sense of blame. The mind that leans more upon prayer than upon its own power, ^B and that ascribes to God alone the cause of every achievement and of every victory against the demons, kills this [habit] as if by some angel of the divine word of knowledge.

He, therefore, who at the time of the onset of temptations abstains from natural contemplation, and—having gathered and contracted his mind from all things unto himself and unto God—diligently applies himself to prayer, kills in the senses that habit which is the producer of vice—the one that is unnaturally excited by the natural powers of the soul—and puts the devil to flight with shame, forcing him to cast off the aforementioned habit, ^C in reliance upon which (with his own arrogance and haughtiness added) he had invaded the soul, puffed up by proud reasonings against the truth. The great David, perhaps having known this and having experienced the danger of the matter, and having done it—being more experienced than all in the reckoning of spiritual battles—said: *When the sinner stood against me, I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good things* (Ps. XXXVII, 2). And after him, the divine Jeremiah, forbidding the people to go out of the city, because of the sword of the enemies lurking round about (Jer. VI, 25). ^D If the blessed Abel had kept this, and had not gone out with Cain into the field—that is, into the sea of natural contemplation—before [he had attained] dispassion, the law of the flesh would not have risen up and slain him with guile, having crept in by the right hand according to the contemplation of beings, before the perfect habit. This [law] is Cain, both called and being (Gen. IV, 8 sqq.) the first to acquire the fruit of transgression, according to the power of his naming, the first man Adam—having generated the law of sin, which God did not create for him in paradise. For *Cain* is interpreted as "possession." Likewise, if Dinah, the daughter of the great Jacob, had not gone out with the daughters of the inhabitants of that region—that is, with the sensory perceptions—Sychem, the son of Emmor, would never have risen up and humbled her (Gen. XXXIV, 1). Now *Sychem*, if you interpret the name, is called "back," and *Emmor*, "donkey," that is, the body. The back, therefore—that is, Sychem—of Emmor—that is, of the body—is a posterior law, not an anterior one; that is, it is second, not first. For from the beginning (that is, anteriorly, before there was the transgression of the divine command), this human body—namely, Emmor—did not have the law of sin—namely, Sychem—but later, because of disobedience, the new law of sin was attached to the body, which true reason, looking down upon it, called Sychem because of its later birth—that is, "back," which is that which is posterior. For by nature the back clearly signifies that which is posterior.

Therefore, it is good, before the perfect state is reached, not to engage in natural contemplation, lest, while seeking spiritual reasons from visible creatures, we inadvertently gather passions. For in those who are imperfect, the visible forms of the things we perceive with our eyes prevail more in moving the senses than do the hidden reasons in the forms of created things so that the soul might be enticed. ^A

SCHOLIA.

1. The simple contemplation of beings requires a soul free from passions; this is called Jerusalem, both because of its perfect virtue and its immaterial knowledge. This state comes about not only through the privation of passions but also of sensible phantasies, which the Word has called the waters of external fountains. ^B

2. Faith consoles the mind when it is under attack, strengthening it with the hope of aid; and hope, by bringing before the eyes the help we believe in, beats back the assault of the adversaries. Charity, finally, renders the battle line of the enemies—which, by the desire borne towards God, is completely broken and abolished—dead to the religious mind.

3. The first resurrection within us, he says, of that which had been dead through the ignorance of God, is faith, rightly ordered by the works of the commandments.

4. Things harmonize with their names, he says, for without any expectation—whether of something troublesome or delightful—there would never be any conversion for anyone toward that which is honorable and a duty. ^C

5. Nothing, he says, unites those who have been scattered like charity, creating their single will, held together in harmony; the character and proper mark of which is the goodness of equality of honor.

6. That without the faculty of reason, he says, there is no scientific knowledge; and without knowledge, faith does not consist, from which the noble offspring proceeds: hope, in accordance with which the faithful person becomes accustomed to future things as if they were present. And without the faculty of desire, neither longing nor love, the end of which is charity, consists. For to love something or someone is peculiar to the desiring soul. And without the faculty of irascibility, which strengthens the desiring faculty toward the defense of the union with that which delights, peace cannot be maintained; since true peace is the tranquil and full possession of that which pleases and affects us. ^D

7. Reason, he says, is the beginning of the cognitive thoughts, just as irascibility and desire are the beginnings of the irascible and concupiscible impulses.

8. He interpreted Hezekiah, according to this anagogical sense, as the mind that is a philosopher in practice. And the city, as the soul; and the fountain, as the varied kinds of sensible things; and waters, as their phantasies or notions; and the river, as the knowledge gathered by natural contemplation from sensible notions.

9. One ought not, he says, to presume to touch upon natural contemplation before one has been purified of the passions, on account of the images of sensible

^A things, to which his mind is easily molded, who is not perfectly liberated from the passions and vices.

10. The mind that dwells upon the surface of sensible things by means of sensation, becomes the progenitor of unclean passions, while it does not cross over through contemplation to the kindred intelligible realities.

11. When reason ^B becomes witless, and anger headlong, and desire irrational, then ignorance and tyranny and licentiousness hold sway over the soul; from which a habitual state of vice naturally comes to be active, entangled in the pleasure that is diverse from the senses. For the number of 185 thousand indicates this. For if you combine three times sixty, on account of the perfect movement of each faculty resulting from evils, and further add five on account of the pleasure which essentially affects the sense, you will have filled out this number, which clearly signifies the habit that produces vice. Holding this, the devil tyrannically falls upon the soul; which God, as if through an angel, slays by the word ^C through the wisdom of knowledge, and saves the soul—which is truly Jerusalem—and the mind existing within the soul, making it insuperable by vice.

12. He calls the naturally implanted thoughts the people established by a wall.

13. Here, the Lord is a friend; but His wounds occur as the types of discipline brought to each one for the salvation of the soul, for the punishment of the flesh, that is, the sense of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. But the enemy is the devil; and his kisses ^D are the types of sensible pleasures, by whose allurements he is the author of deceiving the soul, persuading it to separate from the love of the One who created it.

14. Sennacherib, if one interprets the name, is called the temptation of dryness; in one way indeed, because he dries up the hearts of those who attend to him, separating them from the fountain of grace of holy thoughts; but in another way, because he himself is dry since he is a beggar and destitute, and has nothing of his own. And for this reason, treacherously, like some thief, he hides in the surface of sensible things, from where he rises up as if to attack us with a wedge.

15. Everything that is superfluous and beyond the natural need, they call incontinence or luxury; which is the devil's way to the soul, by which he himself returns with shame to his own land, when temperance instructs nature, putting reins upon it. Or again, the way consists of the natural passions themselves: for in the way of use that exceeds the need, they pave the road for the devil to the soul; but in the way of use according to the need, they cause him to return of his own accord to his own land. For his land is the firm habit and confusion of vice, which he always treads, and to which he drags those who have been defeated by the love of material things.

16. He who has transferred his thoughts toward virtue has given them rest, having made them far from that unstable confusion of the passions.

17. The mind, according to its nature, while in mid-course through reason...

^A gathering true knowledge from natural contemplation, which is called a river dividing the soul, because of the intelligence existing in the sense.

18. To the faculty of judgment nature provides a capacity; to this capacity, a habit is added. To the habit, there is always attached an operation and an act, even if it does not continually show itself in a ready manner, due to the frequent scarcity of earthly things.

19. He calls a *conjuction* of a number the expression of numbers within the decade, separated by a "and" or a "link"; for instance, "six and five." He signifies by this—whether Scripture uses it in the sense of evil or of good and honorable things—an aptitude, which is the parent of virtue or of vice by way of potentiality. He calls *addition* of a number that where, through a number multiplied by itself, a mass from the units of a simple number is added, separated by a "and" or a "link"; for instance, "sixty and five," or "one hundred eighty and five," as the present number has it. This signifies not only the realization of the aptitude in the senses, but also the habit of virtue or vice in them. He calls a *composition* of a number the intersection and union of numbers that have been multiplied by themselves ^B and among themselves, separated by a "and" or a "link"; for instance, "sixty and fifty," or "five hundred and six hundred," and such like. This denotes not only that which is a realization according to aptitude in potentiality, and habit, but also the operation and act of virtue or vice which arises from the habit in the senses. Whoever, therefore, knows the power of each number within the decade—namely, that the unit signifies unmixedness; the binary, diversity; the ternary, equality and the intelligible; the quaternary, the sensible; the quinary, one powerful in the force of perception and led into a circle; the senary, one effective and perfect in action; the septenary, circular and unmixed; the octonary, stable and immovable; the novenary, bordering on matter and form (that is, on sensible things and the sense itself); the denary, most complete—he will clearly understand what each number signifies according to the usage of Scripture, whether it be by way of conjunction, or by way of addition, or by way of composition.

20. Cain is the law of the flesh, which Adam, having transgressed the divine commandment, ^C first begets. Abel, however, is the mind or the prudence of the spirit, which the same Adam later brings forth as offspring through repentance. And he kills Cain, when he had previously given himself over to natural spectacles before a perfect habit had been formed; and, having killed him, God says he has satisfied seven vengeances. This is the same one whom He called an evil spirit in the Gospels, and who is accustomed to take with him seven spirits more wicked than himself. ^D Let this perhaps be the blind love of self and of the flesh—that is, the vice of gluttony, to which the vice of fornication is a companion, as are avarice, sadness, anger, acedia, vainglory, and pride. Whoever, therefore, by divine decree has killed gluttony, also kills, together with it, the vices which grow up and adhere to it for its sake, according to that word: "Whoever kills Cain, pays seven vengeances."

21. The law of generation and corruption subsequently attached itself to human nature, by which we beget and are begotten on account of the transgression, not having kept the deifying law of the Spirit according to the first commandment.

QUESTION L

What again is signified in the same book, when it is said: "And Ezechias the king, and Isaias the son of Amos the prophet, prayed for these, and cried to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel, and destroyed all the mighty and strong men and the princes and the commanders in the camp of the king of Assur; and he returned with shame of face to his own land."

Answer.

The word of Holy Scripture, even if it admits of limitation according to the letter, ceasing with the times of the things that are recounted, nevertheless remains in every way uncircumscribed according to the spirit, by means of the contemplations of those things which are understood. And let no one, being troubled at this, withhold their faith, knowing that the God who spoke is by nature uncircumscribed; to whom it is necessary to believe that the word which was spoken by Him is more akin, if only we wish to listen to the counsel and mind of Scripture with a candid heart. For if it is God who spoke, and He is uncircumscribed in essence, it is clear that the word spoken by Him is also uncircumscribed.

^C Therefore, contemplating spiritually the things that happened typically in the times of Ezechias, and which received an end—the outcome of the things then recounted, as witnessed by history—let us admire the wisdom of the Holy Spirit who wrote; how He implanted for each and every human being the appropriate and fitting understanding and spiritual sense of the things that were written, so that whoever wishes to be a disciple of the divine Word, and determines to have nothing in these passing and caducent affairs equal in value to virtue, can become another Ezechias in spirit, and another Isaias; whom nothing prevents from praying, and crying to heaven, and being heard, and receiving from God through an angel the destruction and ruin of those who fight against him ^D intellectually.

Because it is truly necessary that he who skillfully explains divine Scripture according to the wisdom of the soul in Christ, should also diligently apply effort to the interpretation of the names, by which he may immediately and clearly open up the entire meaning of the things written—since he labors to perceive the Scriptures exactly, and not to bring down the height of the Spirit to the body and to the earth in a Jewish manner, nor to define the divine and immortal promises of spiritual goods by the corruption of passing things, as do some of those [followed by Greek text on next page]

^A who call themselves Christians, having forgotten that they are falsely attributing to themselves the name taken from Christ, for they show themselves to be entirely deprived of the power of that name by their very actions, and are plainly walking in a way contrary to Christ, as the discourse will briefly demonstrate.

Indeed, since God became man and came for this end, among other mysteries which no power of speech or reason could attain, so that He might fulfill the law spiritually by evacuating the letter, and might establish and make manifest its life-giving power (I mean the power of the law) by removing that which kills; and since that which kills in the law, according to the divine Apostle, is the letter, just as that which makes it life-giving, according to him, is the spirit—for he says: "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life"—it is clear that they have chosen the part ^B opposed to Christ and are ignorant of the entire mystery of His incarnation. They have not only buried the power of their own mind in the letter, and refuse to be according to the image and likeness of God, but would rather be earth—in accordance with the threat—and return to the earth through their attachment to the letter as if it were earth. They prefer this to being caught up into the clouds—that is, into the high contemplations—to meet the Lord in the air (by which I mean mental illumination), who is the Spirit, so that they might always be with Him through knowledge. Against them, it is right to be indignant, as they suffer an unbearable loss from ignorance, namely the loss of the Truth; and it is right to grieve, because they provide many pretexts to the Jews to confirm their unbelief. But let us leave them as they wish to be, and let us ourselves return to the ^C Scripture, beginning the spiritual inquiry of the proposed chapter from an interpretation of the names.

Hezekiah, therefore, if you interpret the name, is called "power of God"; Ahaz, his father, is "strength"; and Isaiah is interpreted as "exaltation of God," that is, "sublimity of God." Amos, his father, is "people of labor." Now, the power and might of God is that virtue which kills vices and protects pious thoughts and reasonings, which the practice of the commandments produces. In a moral sense, strength is understood as that by which we defeat the most wicked powers opposed to good, with the help of God (or rather, by the sole power of God). And the sublimity of God ^D is the knowledge of the truth, which the labor of the contemplation of created things generates, along with the sweats we expend in the cultivation of virtues, which themselves become parents of labor, through which we [destroy] the power of falsehood that is contrary to the truth.

we utterly abolish it, casting down and destroying every height of the wicked spirits that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. ^A

Prayer, moreover, is a petition for those things which God is accustomed to bestow upon men for their salvation; and very justly so. For if a vow is a promise of those good things which are offered to God by men through a religious pledge, then prayer, according to reasonable logic, will clearly be a petition for those good things which are granted by God to men for their salvation, bringing as a return the disposition of those who have been moved by their previous vow.

A cry, however, is the increase and amplification of those who are studious in the cultivation of virtuous conduct and in the diligence of spiritual contemplation (at the time when the malignant demons rise up), which God, by nature, hears above all else in place of a loud voice, receiving the affection and mind of those who devote themselves to virtue and knowledge. ^B

Heaven is often called God Himself according to Holy Scripture, as the great herald of truth, John the Forerunner, says somewhere: "A man can receive nothing from himself, unless it has been given to him from heaven," ^C meaning, from God; inasmuch as he says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights." According to which meaning, one must understand the place of Scripture in the matter at hand. But Scripture also frequently calls the heavenly Powers "heaven," according to the saying, "Heaven is my throne," ^D inasmuch as He rests in the holy and incorporeal natures. Yet if someone were to say that the human mind, when it is cleansed of all earthly imaginations and magnificently adorned with divine reasons of the intelligible, is heaven, he would not, in my opinion, exceed the bounds of truth. Furthermore, if anyone were to call the loftiness of human knowledge "heaven," he would not deviate from what is fitting. For truly, like heaven, true knowledge of God is fashioned into a seat, which receives God as if enthroned, through the stable habit of a firm and lofty desire for that which is honest and dutiful; just as the pure action of virtues is called a footstool, which receives divine steps within itself, and does not allow itself to be stained by the filth that clings to it as if from earth, arising from the body.

Since, therefore, King Hezekiah bears the figure of virtue according to the interpretation of his proper name—for if you translate it into our tongue, it is called the "strength and power of God," or "dominion," and the power and strength of God against opposing forces is one, namely virtue—and Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, signifies "fortitude," which we explained above regarding action, from which the divine power of virtue is accustomed to arise; Isaiah, moreover, designates the knowledge of sublime things.

^A, for He who is interpreted as God is said to be the height [of heaven], manifesting by Himself the height of the knowledge according to God, which is born from the labor of diverse contemplations concerning things that exist. For Amos is said to signify "labor of the people" [or "people of labor"], as was explained above.

Since, therefore, as has been said, the significance of the names has this power, it is manifest that every philosopher and religious man, fortified by virtue and knowledge, or by action and contemplation, when he sees the wicked power having risen up against him through the passions—even as the King of the Assyrians ^B against Hezekiah—holds one aid for the resolution of evils: God, whom he renders propitious by crying out silently through a greater intensity of virtue and knowledge; and he receives for his alliance—or rather for his salvation—an angel, that is to say, a greater word of wisdom and knowledge, ^C destroying every "potent one," and "warrior," and "prince," and "leader" from the camp of the King of Assyria, and compelling him to return with a shamed countenance to his own land. For the wicked and destructive kingdom of the devil, typified by the kingdom of the Assyrians, having undertaken an expedition against men, strives to overthrow the soul, plundering it through the powers innate to it: first, by inciting desire toward things that are contrary to nature, and becoming its author, so that it might prefer sensible things to intelligible ones; then by exciting anger, that it might take up the fight for the sake of the sensible thing which the desire has chosen; and by teaching the power of reason how to devise modes of sensible pleasures, and ^D by establishing that the sensible things govern these powers—that is, that the earthly law rules over the faculties of the soul.

The Scripture therefore called him "the potent one" who presides over desire—a most wicked demon—and who ignites it toward the base appetites of shameful pleasures; for nothing is more powerful or violent than natural appetite. And it called "the warrior" the demon who presides over the irascible part, and who prepares one to fight incessantly for the sake of pleasure. And "the prince" is the name given to him who, invisibly dwelling upon the aspects and forms of sensible things, fraudulently provokes the soul to desire each individual thing through the work of the several senses. The Word has called him "prince" because every sensible thing that is appropriate is by nature set to rule over a passion. For without some underlying object, and one that moves the powers of the soul toward itself through some intermediate sense, a passion would never consist. And it called "the leader" the demon who abuses that part of the soul in which reason exists, in order that it might be moved to cogitate and skillfully discover all the methods of wickedness. Furthermore, the "face of the devil" is the smoothness of pleasure, by which it is accustomed to hold sway over every soul that yields to it, and [over] him who prefers the soothing allurements of sensible things to the contemplation of spiritual realities which fattens the mind; this face puts to shame...

^A because he has obtained from God by prayer the word of wisdom that strips away every evil power—that is, the word that is perfectly destructive of the evil tyranny that troubles the soul. For, the Scripture says, it "stripped away" [ἐξέτριψε], but it did not "rub" [ἔτρεψεν]. For "rubbing" [τρίψις], in the metaphorical sense of the term, is merely the inactive state of passion-driven activity; but "stripping away" [ἔκτριψις] is the complete annihilation of the very evil movements of the mind.

The region of the king of Assyria—I mean of the evil and primordial daemon—is the hardened and steep habit of vice and ignorance, deprived of all life-giving heat of virtue and of every light of the mind that illuminates by knowledge. ^B To this region the devil alone, after a failed attempt at an assault and finding himself unable to transfer Jerusalem into his own habit, is turned back: Jerusalem, that is, the soul that is beloved of God and most devoid of passion, which possesses within itself—like Hezekiah—the perfect word of action, and—like Isaiah—the illuminated mind of knowledge, propitiating God and, through an angel, annihilating the evil power.

I, for my part, have understood these passages according to the power that is in me. But if anyone is able to interpret these things in a more sublime way, he will bestow a favor both upon himself and upon us, bringing forth more noble and excellent insights—as is proper—into the meaning of the written word. For I said before ^C that the word of divine Scripture remains forever uncircumscribed; it circumscribes all who speak, but it is itself in no way circumscribed by those who speak. Wherefore, even if I have said something according to my ability—and that perhaps rashly—I have not, by speaking, encompassed the entire power of what is written, which exceeds my capacity by infinite parasangs.

SCHOLIA

1. Just as God by essence is not subject to knowledge, so too His Word cannot be encompassed by our knowledge.

2. Those who have tied their mind to the letter alone, in the Jewish manner, expect the promises of the incorruptible goods during this present age, ^D not knowing what the goods of the soul are by nature.

3. He who bears the image of the heavenly [man] strives, he says, to follow the spirit through all [parts] of the holy Scripture; in which, through virtue and knowledge, the soul’s preservation consists. But he who bears the image of the earthly [man] cultivates only the letter, in which the worship of the body according to sense-perception is constituted, giving birth to the passions.

4. Action begets virtue, as Achaz [begets] Hezekiah.

5. Contemplation, he says, begets knowledge, as Amos [begets] Isaiah.

6. He who acts with knowledge is the throne and footstool of God. Throne, because of knowledge; footstool, because of action.

of God. A throne indeed, on account of knowledge; but a footstool, on account of action.

7. The camp of the king of Assur is the gathering of evil thoughts, in which he is powerful who moves the natural appetites toward pleasure: a warrior is he who arouses the force of irascibility so that it may be a protection for pleasures; a prince is he who excites the senses through the sights of visible things; a leader is he who provides the image for affections and vices, and thinks out the materials and modes of their entire operation.

8. It is said that without a perceptible object, a passion does not consist. ^B For if woman were not, there would be no fornication; and if there were no food, there would be no gluttony; and if gold were not, the passion of avarice would not be. Therefore, the perceptible object—or rather, the demon who through it incites the soul to sin—is the leader of every passionate movement of the natural faculties within us.

9. The friction, he says, is the operation; but the rubbing away also obliterates the very thought of evil.

10. For just as the north wind, he says, does not have the sun passing through it, so neither does an evil habit, which the devil inhabits, receive the illumination of knowledge.

QUESTION LI

"And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah. And he was exalted above measure in the eyes of all the nations." What are the gifts, and what the presents? And what is it to be exalted ^C above measure in the eyes of all the nations?

Response

God, the Creator of all nature that falls under our sight, did not allow it to be moved by the sense alone; but into each of the kinds that complete it, He sowed both spiritual reasons of wisdom and modes of orderly discipline; so that not only might the Creator of created things be magnificently celebrated by the voices of those things that speak in silence, being announced by the reasons of the things that exist; but also that man, being instructed by the natural laws and modes of visible things, might easily find the path of instruction leading to Him. For this was proper to the supreme goodness, not only to make the divine and incorporeal substances of ^D intelligible things as images of the ineffable and divine glory, receiving entirely, in proportion to their capacity and reason, the incomprehensible beauty of the unapproachable splendor, which is greater than all thought; but also to mingle into sensible things, which are far removed from the excellence of the intelligible substances, certain obscure traces of His own magnificence, and as it were, final sounds, by which the human mind, carried upon them, might be able to cross surely and without error to God, having surmounted all things that fall into sight, and having left behind it all the things that are intermediate, by the aid of which it accomplished such a journey. And not only this, but also that no one of those who have worshipped the creature rather than the Creator might have an excuse for igno-

ignorance, when hearing the creation proclaiming more clearly than any voice its own Maker. ^A Since, therefore, nature possesses within itself, naturally implanted by the Creator, both the spiritual doctrines of wisdom and the modes of noble conduct regarding visible things, every mind that is crowned with virtue and knowledge naturally obtains, like the great Hezekiah, the kingdom of Jerusalem—that is to say, the habit that sees only peace, or rather, the state that is deprived of every kind of passion. For ^B Jerusalem is interpreted as "vision of peace." Such a mind holds the whole of creation under its sway through the forms that complete it, offering to God, through it, spiritual doctrines as gifts, and to itself, as presents, the ways that exist within creation according to the natural law for the instruction of virtue; thus it receives, through both, the mind—the philosophic mind—that is able to shine most excellently in the cultivation of both, being perfected by reason and life in the duty of action and contemplation.

The Word has distinctly said that gifts are to be brought to the Lord, and presents to the king. For, as those who have devoted their study to these matters say, "gifts" are significantly called those things brought to those who have no need, whereas "presents" are those given to the needy. Hence, the general custom of men has also named "gifts" the things offered to kings, perhaps with an eye to the fact that those who receive them do not appear to be in need.

^C Perhaps someone of those who are magnificent in all things might say, for this very reason, that we ought to show even those things brought to the Lord by the Magi—because of His infinite clemency and humanity in becoming like us—as a sign of a thankful soul, demonstrating that we have received them from Him, and that we return to God what is His in the first fruits of these things. But we offer [presents] to princes, who truly, as men, are in need, and who cannot otherwise maintain their state and dignity except through the offerings of their subjects. However, if the distinct significance of these words—the *dora* and *domata*—is not sufficiently clear through the usage or judgment of grammarians, certainly neither Hesychius nor Suidas recognized anything of the sort. The Hebrew words are distinct, and the Vulgate has rightly distinguished them when it renders it: "Many brought hosts and sacrifices to the Lord, and presents to Hezekiah, king of Judah." [Costly gifts] to God, [presents] to Hezekiah. And indeed, the former word, even if it signifies every kind of offering, is nonetheless said specifically regarding the oblation made to God, and as a certain kind of attribution; in which sense the distinction of Maximus is true, even if he forces a meaning on the Greek word which it does not seem to bear, as neither does the Latin *donum* or *munus*, which we use interchangeably whenever we speak seriously of God or of created things. Certainly, Jerome on Gen. IV says: "The Lord had regard for Abel and his offerings (munera)," where the Hebrew word itself is used, which signifies more peculiarly an oblation made to God. Yet the word *doma* itself is quite frequent among the LXX for divine sacrifices and offerings—Deut. xxiii, 24; Levit. v, 20; Num. xviii, 6; Eccle. xi, 13, and elsewhere passim—as opposed to *doron* in the profane and human sphere: Gen. xxiv, 53; Job xxxi, 7; Dan. xi, 39; 1 Par. xvi, 2, 6, etc. Therefore, this entire weighing of the Greek words, as if their significance tended in one direction or another—whereas their free usage proves them to be entirely synonymous—is perhaps of no account.

^A Indeed, they are called gifts, and in saying this one in no way alters the symbol of truth.

Since, therefore, we offer to the Lord spiritual reasons derived from the things that have been made, we present gifts, inasmuch as He is by nature in need of none of these; for we do not offer the reasons of things to the Lord as though He were in need of other things, but rather so that we ourselves, according to our capacity, may celebrate Him with praises, as is owed to Him from His own creatures. He receives gifts, however, who zealously pursues divine philosophy; for he is in need of both ways toward virtue, and of reasons toward knowledge, by nature.

Or, the gifts must be interpreted in another way. Since, moreover, a gift is that which is bestowed upon those who have first contributed nothing, the gnostic mind receives gifts ^B from the contemplation of beings—reasons which, by itself, without logical demonstration, it offers back to the Lord, containing within them faith; for which no one at all brings anything forward beforehand—naturally, and without any technical methodology of speech, beholding its own Creator, as creation gives notification. For what indeed will anyone be able to bring, that could be compared to faith, so that one might render faith in God as a debt, rather than as a gift? It receives gifts, however, as it imitates in its own ways the natural laws of beings; that is to say, offering the labors of repentance for the creation of these—by which it is natural for the old man first to be stripped off, and thus to go forth to the gathering of the fruits of justice, gathering up the ways toward virtue which exist in beings; ways to which one could never gain access ^C if, like a snake, one had not first, through many labors and sweats, strongly crushed and stripped off the [slough], that is, the old man.

Wherefore, the mind that studies wisdom deservedly receives gifts from God—those reasons which are in things and which preserve faith—since it brings and gives nothing to Him beforehand. For, He says, "Who has given to Him first, and it shall be recompensed to him?"

It receives gifts, however, as it imitates in its own ways the natural laws of things. To speak by way of example, a most wise mind receives the gifts of the natural law of the heaven, preserving within itself the movement of virtue and knowledge that is most stable and always ^D remains in the same state, firmly bearing, like stars, the luminous and most radiant reasons concerning beings.

Imitating the natural law of the sun, which moves from place to place according to the needs of the universe, it receives another gift; namely, that prudence by which, with wise counsel, it appropriately adapts and conforms itself to all things that occur, in no way diminishing the power which illuminates itself with virtue and knowledge, nor bestowing it more sparingly. Again, it also receives from the eagle, so as to direct [its] eyes unto the divine splendor of the immortal light—

without the pupil of its discerning mind being ^A in any way dimmed by the all-shining ray.

It also imitates the deer (15), following the heights of divine speculations, just as it pursues the mountains; and it destroys those passions lurking in the nature of things, like venomous snakes, by the discourse of discernment; and the poison of wickedness that is sometimes taken up and stored in the memory, it quenches with the many and various fountains of knowledge.

It imitates also the keen-sightedness of the gazelle (16) and the caution of the sparrow, jumping over and leaping across the snares of the demons who war against virtue, just like a gazelle; and like a sparrow, it escapes by flying above the traps of the spirits that fight against knowledge.

Some say that the bones of a lion, when struck against one another (17), emit fire. The mind that is studious of wisdom and beloved of God imitates this too, by striking together pious thoughts—like bones—through the investigation of truth, and thus kindling the ^B fire of knowledge.

It becomes prudent as the serpent (18) and simple as the dove, everywhere keeping faith unbroken as its head; and, like the dove, clearly casting aside from itself the bitterness of anger, not knowing how to bear a grudge against those who are eager to harm it or rail against it.

It receives also from the turtledove, as it were a gift (19), the imitation of chastity; making acts of the will [out of] all things that by necessity belong to the natures [of things].

Thus, then, according to the reason and mode of each thing, the most philosophical mind, having gone through the genesis of beings with knowledge, as cognitive, receives the spiritual reasons of beings as gifts offered to God by creation; but as practical (20), imitating the natural laws of beings in its own ways, it receives these contributions, revealing in itself throughout its life ^C the magnificence of the divine wisdom that shines invisibly in existing things.

But if someone should also say this (21): that the Word decreed that gifts should be offered to God so as to demonstrate the infinity of divine goodness—in that, having nothing offered to it beforehand, it receives from us as gifts what are [already] its own contributions, attributing the whole of the offering to us—he has not spoken beyond what is fitting in saying this; he has shown the great and ineffable goodness of God towards us: that he receives as ours what is offered to him from us out of his own, and confesses himself to be under obligation for them as if they were another’s.

And he was exalted, it says, Hezekiah in the eyes of all the nations. He who through action and contemplation has perfected virtue and knowledge to the highest degree, like Hezekiah, is deservedly exalted above all the nations—being by his action above ^D the carnal passions and those that are blamed, I mean ...

^A of those called natural bodies. And simply, to bridge the argument together, having wisely passed through all the underlying types perceptible to the senses, according to the contemplation of the reasons [logoi] within them; and also those who are allegorically called nations in Scripture, because they are foreign in nature to the soul and the mind—those which God did not command us to battle entirely, provided they do not war against the mind. For we have not been commanded to wage war against external things surrounding our senses, but we have been ordered to contend always against the shameful passions that dwell against nature within the very earth of our heart, until we have exterminated them from it; and may we alone possess the land, remaining unshaken by the destruction of the alien passions.

Therefore, it is also noted with significance that, in the place where the gifts of God and the offerings to the king are described, the Scripture does not simply say, "All were bringing gifts to God and offerings to the king," but, "Many"; that is to say, not all the nations, but many nations—signifying from this that there are those called nations, from which nothing is brought to God or to the king. For He rightly says that only the creatures that complete the nature of those things which have come to be bring gifts to God (that is, the more divine reasons [logoi] according to which they were created and exist with God as their author) and offerings to the king: their own natural laws, of course—for the sake of which these things were implanted in them, according to the norm of which the human mind, being composed, establishes the modes that constitute virtue. But indeed, the state of affairs of the nations in us that do not have God as their author—I mean the passions—does not offer gifts to God or to men, because it has not been brought into being from God. For the passions of shame had their origin from us, who transgressed the divine commandment, and not from God: from which no one brings anything to God at all, since they have no logic of wisdom or knowledge whatsoever, inasmuch as they exist as a deceitful growth, the loss of wisdom and knowledge. ^B

On the passage: "And he was exalted in the sight of all the nations"

By this place: "And he was exalted in the sight of all the nations," the Word signifies that he who, by the labored toils of action, has attained to the state where, inhabiting his soul as an undisturbed Jerusalem, he is free from every molestation of sin, and both acts and speaks and hears and thinks only peace—after having received through natural contemplation the nature of visible things, and offering back to the Lord through it the more divine reasons [logoi] within it as gifts, and to the King Himself, as if to a king, the laws existing therein as offerings—is exalted in the eyes of all the nations, becoming superior to all. ^C This means, he has clearly surpassed all things: both the passions of the flesh through action, and natural bodies, and all types falling under the senses, as well as the spiritual reasons [logoi] and modes within them. Thus I have also understood the text, "Many were bringing, but not all"; that is to say, the external nations, or creatures; but not the nations within us, or passions. For all the creatures that complete the world ^D

^A praise and glorify God with unspoken voices; and their hymn becomes our own. "By means of which I take up the praising," says Gregory the Great, who is named for theology.

Therefore, Holy Scripture, as has been shown, having set forth a path open to all who desire to be saved, has not in any way confined its own purpose to the limitations of a single person. ^B For everyone can become a Hezekiah, by imitating Hezekiah in spirit, and can cry out to God through prayer, and be heard; and receive an angel—I mean a word of greater wisdom and knowledge—at the time of the uprising of the wicked demons; and destroy every mighty man, and warrior, and prince, and commander—that is to say, the passionate movements of desire and anger, and the affection clinging to the vice of sensible things, and the reason that, in the manner of a commander, devises the ways and enticements of sin. And in this manner, he may attain peace through liberation from the passions, and have leisure for the contemplation of beings, and receive the binding reasons of knowledge as gifts, and the constructive ways of the virtues as teachings, offered to him by all of creation for the glory of God and his own progress. And after this, he may deservedly become exalted in the eyes of all nations—that is to say, superior to all passions through virtue, and superior to all creatures through knowledge—and may guard through humility the grace of salvation, and not suffer those things that Scripture subsequently narrates as befalling them.

SCHOLIA

1. What are the reasons, and what are the ways of creation.

2. For the sake of these three, God has sown in visible nature spiritual reasons and ways of noble instruction, so that the Creator of creatures might be proclaimed, and ^C so that man, being educated by the laws and ways natural to him, might easily find the path of justice that leads to Him, and so that none of the unbelievers might have ignorance as an excuse for their defense.

3. Between God and men are the sensible and the intelligible things, above which the human mind becomes, moving toward God; not being enslaved to the sensible things by way of action, and not being held at all by the intelligible things by way of contemplation.

4. That creation, he says, becomes an accuser of ungodly men: by means of the reasons existing within it, it proclaims its own Creator; and by means of the natural laws existing within it according to the specific nature of each, it educates man toward virtue. For the reasons are recognized in the holding together of the permanence of each species, while the laws appear in the identity of the natural operation of each species; to which, if we do not apply ourselves according to the intellectual power within us, ^D we are...

^A estranged from the cause of all things, and have wasted away in every kind of unnatural passion.

5. When a person considers the spiritual reasons ^B of visible things, he is taught that there is a Creator of the things that appear; but he leaves the question of what He is as something inaccessible and unsearchable. For creation wisely provides an understanding of the fact that there is a Creator, but not of what the Creator is. Therefore, Scripture has called the reasons of visible things "gifts," as they indicate the sovereignty over all things; but it calls their natural laws "endowments," through which each of the things that exist is known according to its kind, teaching man not to corrupt the natural law with a law that is alien to it.

6. Another explanation regarding the change of the gifts.

7. He says that we have received faith as a gift; it is a knowledge that is established immediately regarding God, which possesses an understanding without demonstration. For it is the substance of things hoped for, since nothing of that kind has yet been grasped by us in knowledge.

8. Faith is brought forward before virtue, he says; and virtue before knowledge; but nothing is brought forward before faith. For faith is the beginning of the good things in man, and nothing exists that can be brought forward by us prior to it.

9. He says that there is nothing equivalent to faith.

10. The believer is, clearly, also a spiritual person.

11. The gnostic mind, he says, receives the reasons of existing things as advocates for faith in God, but not as generative of faith. For the reasons of created things are not the beginning of faith; if they were, the object of faith would be circumscribed. For that which is comprehended by the light of knowledge through the power of demonstration is, by its very nature, capable of being comprehended.

12. The law of heaven is to be moved in a circle in the same manner, from which the gnostic receives a steadfast movement in the good, imitating the unceasing motion of heaven in the constancy of his virtue.

13. The natural law of the sun is to produce the difference of times through its changes; from which the gnostic receives the ability to adapt himself to various circumstances, keeping the splendor of virtue untarnished by reason, and not dimmed by any of the events that happen involuntarily.

14. The natural law of the eagle is to receive the ray of the sun striking against the pupil of the eye; from which the gnostic receives, by his own will, that his mind may be illuminated by divine light at all times.

15. What does the gnostic learn from the natural law of the deer, as he examines the nature of things?

16. What does he take by way of imitation from the gazelle and the bird, so that he might keep his virtue invulnerable, as he cuts for himself the path of knowledge through action?

17. What good is one instructed in if he who philosophizes on divine things transfers the natural consideration of the lion into himself according to reason by his own will? ^A 18. By what reasoning may one who imitates the serpent and the dove become a philosopher? 19. What benefit can we derive from the turtledove? 20. He who transfers the laws of existing things into his own law by way of imitation is virtuous, reasoning about the motion of those deprived of reason; but he who changes his own [law] into the laws of others by way of imitation is vicious, transferring the power of reason into passion and motion lacking reason. 21. Another contemplation concerning the gifts, as a demonstration of divine goodness. ^B 22. He calls natural bodies all those subject to birth and decay. 23. A fine observation, that we must not combat creation, of which God is the Creator, but rather the disorderly and unnatural motions and operations of our essential faculties directed toward it. 24. Practical philosophy, he says, makes the practitioner superior to the passions; but contemplation makes the gnostic superior even to visible things, raising the mind toward the related intelligible things.

QUESTION LII

Responsio. For since God, having bestowed upon Hezekiah many and various benefits at different times, had rescued and delivered him from all necessity and stressful circumstance, he, however, did not offer back to God the whole grace of salvation as it was fitting, but—as human failing encroached—he took some of the power for the successes for himself. ^D Naturally, then, "Hezekiah did not render according to the retribution that God rendered to him." For he did not gratefully counterbalance the magnitude of the divine achievements bestowed upon him with thanksgiving, but his heart was lifted up, not being immune to the disease of pride which usually arises from virtue and knowledge. "And wrath came upon him, and upon Judah and upon Jerusalem." The wrath of God is, in one acceptation, the painful sensation of those who are being disciplined; and this sensation is painful—that is, the bringing in of involuntary sufferings—by means of which God often brings the mind that is becoming puffed up in virtue and knowledge toward...

^A modesty and humility, granting it to become aware of itself and cognizant of its own infirmity. ^B Once it has perceived this, it puts away the vain swelling of the heart. For it says, after the wrath had occurred: "And Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah."

Again, the wrath of the Lord is the withholding of the supply of divine graces—which happens profitably to every mind that is high and lifted up, and which boasts in the good things given to it from God as if they were its own achievements. It is worth pausing and seeing why the wrath did not come upon Hezekiah alone, whose heart had been lifted up, but also upon Judah and Jerusalem. This will most of all persuade those who laboriously sit by the letter of Scripture alone that those who love God ought to devote all their diligence to the spiritual contemplation of what is written, if indeed the word of truth is more precious to them than all things. For if we shall stick only to the letter, we shall often, as is likely, pass an unjust judgment upon the divine judgment, ^C as if it were to punish those who did not sin at all along with the one who did sin; and how will the word be true which says, "The father shall not die for the son, nor the son for the father; each shall die in his own sin," and, "Thou shalt render to each according to his works," as is said to God by David?

"And the heart of Hezekiah was lifted up," it says; and it did not add, "and the heart of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah." How then did He inflict the wrath upon the innocent along with the guilty? I do not have it in me to perceive this according to them. For it says: "And the heart of Hezekiah was lifted up, and wrath came upon him, and upon Judah, and upon Jerusalem," concerning whom the Word does not write that they were lifted up. Therefore, since the solution to the difficulties is impossible for those who take their stand upon the letter and prefer the verbal expression to the meaning, let us come to the spiritual understanding of what is written, and we shall find without toil the truth covered by the letter, shining forth like light ^D to those who are led by the love of truth, illuminating those who are lovers of truth. [alt-version omitted]

^A Every mind, therefore, that is dedicated to knowledge and is philosophical, possesses both Judas and Jerusalem: Judas, understood in a spiritual sense as the mode of confession—that is, the habit of repentance—which, along with the thoughts that sustain it, increases proportionately with the progress of the mind’s ascent; for "Judas" is interpreted as "confession." Jerusalem, however, is understood allegorically as the peaceful habit of a tranquil soul, together with the divine contemplations that complete it. To speak briefly, it possesses Judea as practical philosophy, and Jerusalem as contemplative mystery.

When, therefore, by divine grace, the philosophical mind, through both practical and contemplative philosophy, has driven away every power opposed to virtue and knowledge, and has achieved a perfect victory over the spirits of wickedness, yet does not offer the due thanksgiving to God, the author of the victory—but rather is puffed up in heart, considering itself the cause of the entire achievement—then, as one who has not rendered to God in proportion to what had been rendered to it ^B, it receives not only for itself the wrath of abandonment, but so too do Judas and Jerusalem. That is to say, the habit of action and the habit of contemplation are, by divine permission, immediately attacked by shameful passions, which rise up against the action and pollute the conscience that until then had been pure, and which interweave false concepts with the contemplation of things, perverting the opinion and judgment of knowledge that had until then been right.

For a divine, true rule and most safe law exists ^C in accordance with Providence for all things that exist, permitting us to be disciplined through opposites toward gratitude, [namely for] those who have proven ungrateful in the face of a better outcome of affairs; and [it permits] the experience of opposites to be made a knowledge of the divine power that achieves good things, so that we might not, by being permitted to hold on to conceit—unshaken by Providence in the face of better things—slip into the anti-divine disposition of pride, thinking the acquisition of virtue and knowledge to be of our own nature and not a gift acquired through grace; and that we might not be found using the good for the generation of evil, and through those things by which it was necessary that the divine knowledge should remain more firmly secured and unshakable in us, suffering instead, ^D alas, the disease of ignorance regarding it.

For he who thinks he has attained the end of virtue will no longer seek at all the fountain-head and author of good things, having circumscribed the power of desire to himself alone; and he deprives himself of the goal of salvation, I mean God. But he who is conscious of his own natural poverty regarding good things does not cease running quickly to Him who is able to supply the fulfillment of that need.

It happens, therefore, justly, that the wrath of God—that is, abandonment, or rather the allowance for the demons to disturb him—comes upon the intellectually proud mind: both regarding action, as with Judea, and regarding contemplation, as with Jerusalem.

^A This is a permission, so that he may attain a consciousness of his own natural infirmity, and an acknowledgment of the divine power and grace which covers him and brings everything to a successful conclusion; so that he may be humbled, putting far from himself any height that is foreign and contrary to nature, so that the *other* wrath—the removal of the gifts which have been granted—may not come upon him. This did not come upon Hezekiah, because, immediately after the first wrath—that is, the abandonment—had occurred to him, he was humbled and became conscious of the One who provides good things. For Scripture says after the words, "And wrath came upon him, and upon Judah, and upon Jerusalem," "And the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah"—referring, of course, to the other wrath, that of the removal of the gifts, because the first abandonment had become for him a teacher of pious recognition.

For he who has not been brought to temperance by the first kind of wrath (that is, abandonment) so as to come to humility, clearly receives the other wrath coming upon him, which removes the activity of the gifts from him and leaves him destitute of the power that had hitherto guarded him. "I will take away the hedge thereof," says God, speaking of the ungrateful and wicked Israel, "and it shall be for plunder; and I will pull down the wall thereof, and it shall be for trampling; and I will let go my vineyard, and it shall not be pruned, nor shall it be digged; and there shall come up upon it, as upon uncultivated land, thorns; and I will command the clouds that they rain not upon it." ^B This is also explained by way of allegory as having happened to Saul, the first king of Israel. For he, having received the grace of prophecy along with the kingdom through the anointing, because he did not keep it, received the first wrath—namely, the agitation and operation of the evil spirit; and because he perceived nothing of this, he was reserved for the other wrath, and was utterly destroyed, having been stripped of all piety before his death out of folly. And this is shown by what he suffered: first, being acted upon by the demon, and later, voluntarily deserting to them through the ventriloquist, and, with an equally impious crime, making himself a victim devoted to the demons for the sake of divination.

^C Therefore, since we have taken Hezekiah as a type of the philosophical mind, Judea as action, and Jerusalem as contemplation, whenever we understand that something has happened to the mind in any way, we naturally believe that both its practical and contemplative power—according to the principles by which they are contained—have also suffered along with it. For it is impossible for the subject to be affected without those things which are in the subject being affected as well.

^D The spiritual meaning of Scripture, therefore, agrees well with the text, bringing no slander upon the divine account of the judgments, nor overthrowing any other commandment. For it is not only Hezekiah, according to the spiritual sense of Scripture which we have delivered (the mind, that is, that grows high-minded over its own success), who is exalted, in such a way that Judea and Jerusalem (the act

and contemplation) are not ^A exalted as one. For this cannot occur to them of their own accord, since they are not understood to exist truly and in their own person. Nor does the wrath fall upon Ezechias alone (that is, the mind), but also upon Juda and Jerusalem. For if any filthiness occurs to the mind, then both action and contemplation become utterly defiled, as they are fellow participants in the cause that provokes the wrath.

Let us, then, also attain to the understanding of what is written. For even if these things happened to them typically according to history, yet they were written for our sake for spiritual admonition, to whom those things that are written spiritually are always happening, since the opposing power is perpetually arrayed in battle against us. ^B By this, we may, if possible, transfer all of Scripture to the mind—brightening the mind itself, that is, with divine thoughts, and gladdening the body with the modes of the more divine reasons we have grasped—making it a rational workshop of virtue by the casting off of innate passions.

Whoever, therefore, is religious and studious, as Ezechias was, having girded himself in the manner of a wise man with the power against demons—if some assault of wicked spirits, invisibly joining battle with him in his mind, should occur to him, and if through prayer he receives an angel sent to him from God (I mean a word of wisdom, which is greater), and if he crushes and scatters all the phalanx of the devil, yet does not record God as the author of such victory and salvation, ^C but attributes the whole victory to himself—such a one has not rendered to God according to his return; he has not equaled the multitude of his thanksgiving to the magnitude of the salvation, nor has he measured his own disposition against the benefit of the One who saved him. For the return is the disposition of the one who was saved, measured out through works toward the One who saved him; but he has exalted his own heart, being high-minded over the gifts he received as if he had not received them. Such a one justly receives the wrath occurring upon him, ^D God permitting the devil to join battle with him spiritually, and to disturb the modes of virtue concerning action, and to darken and obscure the clear reasons of knowledge concerning contemplation; so that, having learned his own frailty—which alone makes the victors of vices—he may acknowledge virtue; and, led by repentance, he may humble his sense, having cast off the tumor of boasting, and may render God propitious, and avert the wrath that comes upon the unrepentant—wrath which removes the grace that guards the soul and leaves the ungrateful mind desolate.

The Scripture has perhaps called the "days of King Ezechias" the various illuminations which every pious and God-loving mind receives, applying itself to the contemplation of created things so as to perceive the wisdom manifested in all variety through all things. To the extent that action and contemplation are regulated by these, a lack of virtue and knowledge is not wont to happen to them; since the Sun of justice, by His own rising, makes such days in such a mind.

SCHOLIA

1. What is the wrath of God? ^A 2. How else may the wrath of the Lord be understood? 3. Those who follow only the letter. 4. Those who are exalted by the merit of their action are beset by shameful passions; but the one who is exalted on account of knowledge is allowed by the righteous judgment of God to fall into error in the true contemplation. 5. He calls providence, which preserves created things, a law and a rule existing within them by divine appointment; which, by a righteous judgment, educates through a scarcity of goods those who, in their abundance of goods, have shown themselves ungrateful to the Giver, by bringing them through opposites to a perception of the recognition of the One who bestows good things. For boasting in virtue and knowledge, if left unguided, is wont to beget the disease of pride, which bears a disposition contrary to God. ^B 6. He who has recognized the scarcity of virtue is never wont to cease from his course in it, so that he might not suffer the loss of the beginning and the end of virtue—that is, God—by fixing the movement of his desire within himself; and lest he should mistakenly think he has attained perfection, while he endures a fall from Him who truly is, toward Whom every movement of the earnest man strives. 7. Stupor regarding the loss of virtues is a path prone to impiety. For he who has accustomed himself through the allurements of the pleasures of the flesh to disobey God, will also deny God Himself when the occasion calls, preferring the life of the flesh to God, whose very lusts he has held in higher esteem than the divine will. ^C 8. He calls the mind the "subject," as it is capable of virtue and knowledge; but in the subject, [he places] action and contemplation, which have the nature of accidents with respect to the mind. Wherefore they are affected in every way just as it is, since they have received from it the principles of their own change and movement. 9. That which says a son shall not die for a father. 10. The innate passions of the body, when governed by reason, are free from blame; but when they are moved without reason, they are considered a crime. He says, therefore, that these passions must be cast away, whose movement is indeed natural, but whose use—when not governed by reason—frequently becomes contrary to nature. ^D 11. Wrath is salutary which is a divine permission for the high-minded man to be assaulted by the turmoil of passions from demons: so that by suffering shamefully while boasting of his virtues, he may know who is the Giver of such things; or be stripped of what is foreign to him, which he imagined he possessed as if he had not received it. 12. Who are the days of King Hezekiah, in which wrath is not brought on? 13. He calls action and contemplation, according to the level of anagogical interpretation, Judah and Jerusalem. 14. The Sun of justice is the Lord and God, and the Savior of all, Christ Jesus.

QUESTION LIII

Still concerning Hezekiah, he says: "And they buried him in the ascent of the sepulchres of the sons of David. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem gave him honor and glory in his death" (II Paral. xxxii, 33). What is meant by, "In the ascent of the sepulchres of the sons of David," and what follows?

Responsio. The spiritual David is our Lord Jesus Christ, the stone which the builders—the priests and rulers of the Jews—rejected and cast away, but which became the head of the corner, that is, of the Church (Ps. cxvii, 22; Matth. xxi, 42). For the Church is a corner, according to the manner in which Scripture is accustomed to speak. Just as a corner is the union of two walls, binding them together so that they adhere in an indissoluble bond, so too the holy Church is a union of two peoples, connecting those who are from the Gentiles and those who are from the Jews according to one doctrine of faith, and committing them to one accord, of which the summit, the corner stone, as head of the entire body, is Christ (Coloss. i, 18). For the name of David, if you interpret it, denotes "rejection": for He who is the Word of God and the Son, for my sake, put on the form of a servant (Philipp. ii, 7), and became an object of ^B reproach to men who did not believe in the truth, and a rejection of the people full of sins (Ps. xxi, 7): He is the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep (Joan. x, 11), and who killed the lion and the bear (I Reg. xvii, 36)—that is, He rooted out from the nature of the soul the irascible and the concupiscible, which tear apart the form of the divine image that is in us according to reason. He is the ruddy one, on account of the passion of death, yet with the beauty of eyes, that is, with the glory of the higher reasons of Providence and judgment; for the eyes of the Word are judgment and providence, through which, even while suffering for us, He maintains the oversight of the whole. He is the slayer of the intelligible and proud Goliath—that is, the devil—who possessed a height of five cubits (I Reg. xvii, 49), on account of the ^C passion of the fivefold sense in us. For the devil holds as much height of stature—the height of wickedness—as the power of sensation in us extends itself towards sensible things in a passionate manner. He is the true king of Israel and of him who sees God; even if Saul, that old people instituted by the Law, who labors under incredulity, is mad and pining away with envy. For he cannot bear the loss of temporal glory: he from whom the spear (I Reg. xxv, 12, referring to I Reg. xxvi, 22) and the cruse of water is taken away—my King David—is also justified; that is, he possesses the power of practical virtue and the grace of contemplative knowledge. And these ^D

he offers as things to be used by those who move toward faith in him, for the sake of those out of the Jews who are about to inherit salvation, receiving the preaching of the kingdom.

^B Upon him, again, sitting in the cave [(5)] to relieve the burden of the belly, the skirt of his double mantle is taken away; that is, he removes the height of moral philosophy’s outward grace, or the lofty habit of legal symbols and riddles as it appears to the senses; deeming it unworthy and not sufficiently just that the people of the Jews, sitting as if in a cave (that is, in this age, or in the dark letter of the law—men, understand, who are truly earthly and lovers of the body and of the corruption of fleeting things—who define divine promises of incorruptible things by the abuse of the mystical skirt of legal constitutions, that is, of spiritual beauty), should possess it.

This is the spiritual David, the true shepherd and king, and the destroyer of opposing powers: ^C a shepherd, indeed, for those who still practice philosophy in action and, like grass, are nourished by natural speculation; but a king for those who, by spiritual laws and reasons, have renewed the beauty of the granted image toward its prince, and in their mind stand immediately before the great King of the ages, and contemplate the inaccessible beauty, as one might say, as in a mirror.

His sons, then, are all the saints who have existed from the age, born of him in the Spirit. The sepulchers of these sons are the monuments of their life on earth, instituted by divine reasons. The ascent of the sepulchers is the sublimity of their knowledge and love of God, where all Judah and those who inhabit Jerusalem ^D bury the mind, placing it according to the merit of the mode of blessed dwelling (that is, of the mode of action, and of those things which inhabit true contemplation, the reasons of knowledge), having laudably and properly died to all things; by that reason, indeed, by which it has cast off the operation of the sense toward sensible things, and by which it has ceased from the motion of the intelligent mind toward the intelligible.

Therefore, they bury Hezekiah (whom you interpret as "strength of God," like a mind robust in action and most clear in knowledge) who has died (that is, has ceased from all things in mental intelligence, and is yielding to those things which are above things), all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (that is, virtue by the cult of his action, and true contemplative knowledge); in the ascent of the sepulchers of the sons of David (in the sublimity of the memory of the saints who were from the age); giving him glory and honor: glory, indeed, as to that which, by the knowledge of the intelligent mind, has emerged superior to the reasons existing in things; honor, however, as to that which, being cleansed from all passions and natural modes existing in things, has attained an innocent motion of sense.

But perhaps there may not be lacking one who, in a greater way...

and more lucidly explaining ^A it, might say that the glory is the supreme splendor of the image, and the honor is the entirely exact imitation of the likeness; and that the one is perfected by the true contemplation of spiritual reasons, the other, however, by the diligent and sincere operation of the commandments; both of which the great Ezechias possessed, being buried in the ascent of the sepulchers of the sons of David, as if one, taking it more clearly, were to explain that statement: "And they buried him in the ascent of the sepulchers of the sons of David," by saying: they placed the memorial of Ezechias on the high summit of the memory of the saints who have been from the ages.

^B I ask, however, that we observe that it is not said: "In the sepulchers of David," or "In the ascent of the sepulchers of David." For it surpasses every comparison of things; and not indeed only of men, but even of angels; and completely incomprehensible is the very reason and mode of the Lord’s life in the flesh; not to mention the reason of His infinite deity, which no one can attain. Therefore, it is most desirable to anyone, even to him who is very magnificent and excels, to be buried in the sepulchers of the sons of David, or, what is most illustrious, in the ascent of the sepulchers of the sons of David. For the Scripture does not report that anyone was buried ^C in the sepulchers of David; much less in the ascent of the sepulchers of David. For, as I was saying, the life of our Lord and God and Savior in the flesh exists incomprehensible according to every reason and mode. For it says: "His virtue covered the heavens"; that is, even the justice of the Lord according to man through the flesh covered the supernal powers by the excellence of His superiority in all things according to righteousness. For He was not a bare man, but truly God having become man, so that through Himself and in Himself He might restore the human nature that had grown old by itself, ^D and make it a partaker of the divine nature, having cast off every stain of corruption and immutability by which, having been made like to the beasts, it had sense prevailing over reason. To Him be glory unto the ages.

The fourth volume is completed, with God’s help.

SCHOLIA

1. The devil is six cubits tall, he says, because of the senses. For without these, the thoughtless motion of his wickedness in the soul does not receive progress toward the increase of sin.

2. He says the spear is a symbol of the strength according to virtue; but the lentil of water is an indication of the mystery according to knowledge.

3. He calls this world, and the legal letter, a cave; and Saul the people of the Jews, whose mind, having turned away from the light of the divine intelligible things, sits down in the darkness of the legalities and the shadow of the letter, applying God’s creature and the law to the generating of unclean dregs of corruption. For he who defines immortal promises only by the letter and the appearance of sensible things, makes the corruption like the excrement of food, and from the end of his opinion concerning God, he shows the principle. But he calls the diploid...

... the vestment of legal riddles. Its fringe, however, refers to the excellence of the majesty of spiritual contemplation, which is cut off from those who interpret Holy Scripture merely according to the sense. ^A

4. The Lord is called their shepherd, who by natural speculation are led to the upper fold; and their King is he who is subjected to the law of the Spirit, and who stands before the throne of the grace of God through the simple intuition of the mind in the indivisible knowledge of God.

5. He calls those who are in accordance with the virtue of praxis those who inhabit Judea; but those who are the logoi of knowledge in accordance with contemplation, he calls those who inhabit Jerusalem.

6. He calls the laudable death of the mind the volitional departure from all existing things, after which it is natural for one to receive the divine life in grace, having received, instead of the things that exist, the Cause of all things in a way beyond thought.

7. He calls glory the infinite knowledge, terminated by no reason; and honor, the unrestrained movement of the will according to virtue toward the nature of the mind. ^B

8. Knowledge, in which no forgetfulness falls, having, he says, an infinite movement of the mind beyond thought concerning the divine infinity, images through this infinity the super-infinite glory of truth. But the self-willed imitation of the wise goodness according to Providence brings honor, which is a clear assimilation of the mind with God (so far as is granted) according to the disposition.

9. Hear, O Nile, dragged downward, and be silent.

10. According to the anagogical sense, he says that David is Christ; and his burial is the memory in justice, which is incomparable to any rational nature. For the Word of God, when He put on man, did not measure justice by the natural laws of the flesh; but He worked the justice that was naturally present to Him as God through the flesh, the natural energy not measuring it. ^C

QUESTION LIV

In the first book of Esdras it is written concerning Zorobabel: "And when the youth had gone out, lifting his face to heaven toward Jerusalem, he blessed the King of heaven, saying: From Thee is victory, and from Thee is wisdom, and Thine is the glory, and I am Thy servant. Blessed art Thou, Who hast given me wisdom; and to Thee I confess, O Lord of the fathers." What is the meaning of, "Lifting his face to heaven toward Jerusalem," and the rest? ^D

Answer. Zorobabel, according to the accurate account of the Hebrew language, receives both the rough and the smooth breathing; and the composition of both the rough and the smooth, and the punctuation...

And when pronounced with the rough breathing, this name signifies a sowing of confusion; when with the smooth, an origin of confusion. When it is compounded, it signifies an origin in confusion; when divided, an origin of dispersion; and when punctuated, it is called rest itself. ^A

Zorobabel, therefore, is a philosophical mind; first, being sown according to righteousness ^B through repentance in the confusion of the captivity of the passions and affections. Second, an origin of confusion, making manifest the shame of the confused passions. Third, an origin in confusion, providing illumination through knowledge in the confusion of the operation of the senses toward sensible things, not allowing them to approach sensible things without reason. Fourth, an origin of dispersion, providing an origin of works of righteousness to the powers of the soul that are dispersed around sensible things; by which the action stands joined to reason, not lacking in that contemplative knowledge which leads back the dispersed powers toward intelligible things. And fifth, rest itself, as one who has made total peace, and has joined the practical [part] to the naturally good, and the contemplative [part] to the naturally true. ^C

For every action is naturally predisposed to come to be for the sake of the good; and every contemplation seeks knowledge for the sake of truth alone; when these are accomplished, there will be nothing at all that strikes at the practical power of the soul, nor indeed that renders its contemplative power bitter with alien speculations; for it has passed beyond everything that exists and is understood, and has put on God himself, who alone is good and true and exists above all essence and intellect.

Such a mind, having become [as described] through the diverse advances of the virtues, when it departs after the victory from Darius the king—that is, from the natural law—having shown him the power of love and truth through the comparison of the virtues against the passions, ^D and having legally received a vote, both confirming his own proposition and invalidating that of his opponents, discerning from whence the gift of victory has come to him, lifts up his face to heaven toward Jerusalem, and blesses the King of heaven.

Therefore, the face of such a mind is the disposition of the soul perceived in secret, in which all the characters of the virtues exist; which it lifts up toward heaven—that is, to the height of contemplation—toward Jerusalem; that is, to the habit of utmost tranquility and imperturbability.

Or again, toward heaven toward Jerusalem;

^A for he could not otherwise bless God, unless he had raised the face of his soul's disposition—which is composed, as it were, of the features of many and diverse virtues—toward the height of contemplation and knowledge, that is, toward the harmless and peaceful state of apatheia.

And what does he mean when he raises his face? "From you comes victory": by the name of victory, he designates the end of action directed against vices and passions, and as it were, the prize for divine struggles against sin. "And from you is wisdom": that is, the end attained through contemplation, by way of knowledge, which removes all ignorance from the soul. "And to you is glory": that is, the beauty manifested from these things, which he calls glory and splendor, according to what is permitted, of divine loveliness; for it is formed by the union of victory and wisdom, of action and contemplation, of virtue and knowledge, ^B of goodness and truth. For these, being joined to one another, cause a single glory to shine forth, which is the very glory of God. Wherefore he suitably adds, "And I am your servant," knowing that it is God who, as through instruments, performs within us every action and contemplation, every virtue and knowledge, victory and wisdom, goodness and truth, while we contribute nothing at all except the honest and upright disposition of a willing mind. Endowed with this, the great Zerubbabel, after what has been said, addresses God in these words: "Blessed are you who have given me wisdom; and to you I confess, O Lord of the fathers."

As a grateful and upright servant, he referred everything to God, by whose gift he had received all things; and to Him from whom he had obtained the wisdom he received, he ascribed—as to the Lord of the fathers—the power of the good things granted. He calls God blessed, as possessing infinite wisdom, or rather as being Wisdom itself; having received it from Him, he gives thanks. He calls Him "Lord of the fathers," ^C to signify that whatever the saints have accomplished in a distinguished manner must clearly be reckoned as God’s gifts, since no one possesses anything at all except what has been given as a good from God, the Master, measured in proportion to the gratitude and good will of the recipient, and he possesses only those things which it seemed good to the Giver to grant.

He calls the saints who have been from the beginning of the world "fathers," whose faith he accepted and whose life he emulated, so that he succeeded in being born of them in spirit, becoming a son by will as they were parents by will; which is so much more precious to God than those who are parents and children by nature, according to the flesh, as the soul, by the excellence of its essence, surpasses the flesh.

This Zerubbabel is one of the youths ^D standing before King Darius—I mean the natural law; he circumscribed the entire power of divine goods in men with two words, and having dissipated the boldness of others, he drew to himself the law of nature that dominates, [striving for] liberty.

^A which decrees a remission for the powers of the soul that had long been addicted to the slipperiness of vices and passions and reduced to slavery. For since two most wicked demons presided over the body, which is of a coarser, earthly mass, the stain of vice, lust, and death was signified by the very nature of the number. But the mind, which protects the parts of the soul, being simple according to its essence and existing as one, bears the expression of an indivisible unity, which death is by no means able to touch, so that it is entirely repugnant for it to be cut by any division at all.

One, therefore—that is, the first of the young men—bringing in the lustful and more delicate life of the body, says: "Stronger is wine," ^B calling "wine" the entire compass of lustful pleasures together, and drunkenness, as that which displaces the state of the mind and perverts the use of the natural faculties. "For the fury of dragons," he says, "is their wine, and the fury of asps is incurable," signifying by the zeal of carnal pleasures the wine of dragons, and by the tyrannical and proud contempt of disobedience, calling it the wine of asps. For this beast, as they say, more than all the beasts of the earth, stops its ears against those who charm it, resisting with greater force out of pride and overmastering those who enchant it. ^C

The other, that is, the second, says: "Stronger is the king," calling the king that empty glory which is the source of ignorance, together with all wealth, power, and other outward shows—by which the dispersion of nature comes to pass, as all are ignorant of one another and all are at odds with all; for the sake of this one thing, that each wishes to be more glorious than others, whether in power, or wealth, or luxury, or by other means in which they wish to be glorified, they who are ignorant of the divine and abiding glory and who despise the power that belongs to it. ^D These men, having thus described, so to speak, all the mire from the abyss of unnatural passions through these two problems, sought out King Darius as the judge of their statements—the one, as I said, who holds the law of nature—thinking that he would incline toward their opinions.

But the third, which is the mind presiding over virtue and knowledge, and which wishes the soul to be delivered from the evil slavery of the passions, says: "Stronger are women, and the truth overcometh." By "women" he signifies the deifying virtues, from which comes love, which unites men both to God and to one another, lifting the soul above all things subject to generation and corruption, and even above the intelligible substances themselves, and leading it, as far as is possible for human nature, into a loving union with God Himself, and creating a pure and divine mystical communion. And by "truth" he designates the one and only cause of all beings, and the Beginning and the King, and the Power, and the Glory, from

^A which and through which all things have been made and are being made, and toward which, as to their being, they are sustained both by it and through it; and for the sake of which there is for all those who love God all concern and movement. And to speak briefly, through the women ^B he pointed out the end of the virtues, which is love; this is the inseparable pleasure and undivided union of the desire of those who naturally participate in the Good. Through the truth, however, he signified the end of all knowledges and of all those things which are known, toward which, as toward the beginning and the end of all beings, the movements according to nature are drawn together by a certain general principle; for the truth, as the beginning and cause of beings, naturally overcomes all things and draws to itself the movement of those things which have been produced.

Having discoursed in this way with the law according to nature, the philosophical mind repels all the error of the wicked demons, persuading its own reason and powers of the soul to decree the letters of freedom ^C as regards those things held captive by the slavery of the passions; and to proclaim the releasing and forgiveness of the bonds of the intellectual captivity meant for those who were imprisoned in darkness—I mean by that, the obsession with sensible things—so that, having ascended into Judea—I mean by that, virtue—they might build in Jerusalem—I mean by that, the state of freedom from passion and the unperturbed habit of the soul—the temple of the Lord, which is to say, the knowledge capable of wisdom.

Wisest of all, therefore, is the great Zorobabel, as one who has received wisdom from God; and being instructed by it, he was able—against everything brought forward for deception by the wicked spirits who fight over the members of the body to bring about the destruction of the human race—to hold up, conquer, and overturn the opposing arguments. And by his dual problem, he completely destroyed the dual problem of his adversaries and rescued the soul from the worst slavery of the passions. ^D For since those men, by means of wine, sought to honor the boiling of carnal pleasures, and by means of the king, sought to confirm the victory of worldly glory, he introduced through the women that spiritual pleasure which has no end; and through truth, he demonstrated a stable power and persuaded them to despise present goods and to lay hold of those that are to come.

This, in my opinion, is the understanding that the problems possess; it is beautiful, indeed, and compounded of wisdom, and not unworthy of the Spirit, for which reason it was committed to writing for our admonition. But if anyone is able to discern a higher meaning, according to the power of understanding divine things provided to him, no one should deservedly envy him for that reason; for the grace of the Spirit is so constituted that in those who are partakers of it, nothing is diminished—which is why the disease of envy is mostly kindled—even if one possesses larger, and another smaller, portions of grace. For each person, according to the measure of the faith in which he excels, possesses the operation of the Spirit manifesting itself. Thus, each one is a steward of grace for himself, and never, if he is thinking rightly, would he envy another

^A for being clear through the increase of graces; for that affection and disposition, by which one is rendered capable of divine goods, belong to his own exercise of will.

Let us come also to another mystical consideration of the spiritual sense, which points toward the primary truth of what has been written. The true and new Zerubbabel—the one symbolized by the old—is our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, who was conceived and gestated in the confusion of our nature, and was reckoned and became perfect man by nature, so that he might lead back to himself the nature that had fallen away from the confusion. ^B He was not led away captive with us, nor translated into the confusion of the passions. For "he did no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth," but among us captives, as a captive he was born, and with us, the lawless, he was reckoned, having become, by reason of his philanthropy, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin. In the likeness of sinful flesh, because, being God by nature and existing impassible, he deigned to become by dispensation man, subject to passion by nature. And for sin, because for our sins he was led to death and suffered pains for us; and for our transgressions he was wounded, and was enfeebled for our sins, that we might be healed by his stripe. For "Christ the Lord, the Spirit before our face," he says, "was captured in our corruptions," ^C of whom we said:

In his shadow we shall live among the nations

This is the righteous Orient of our dispersion from sin, of whom the Holy Spirit says through the prophet: "The righteous Orient shall arise for you." And: "Behold a man, Orient is his name, and he shall arise from beneath him." And: "The Sun of righteousness, and healing in his wings." In this passage, that which is stated, "from beneath," designates the secret mystery of the incarnation of the Word, from which the salvation of all has arisen. The wings of the Sun of righteousness would be the two Testaments, by which the Word, flying to us, heals the wound of transgression and bestows perfect soundness of virtue: by the Old Testament, destroying vice; ^D by the New, establishing the substance of virtue.

Or again, the wings are providence and judgment, by which the Word, flying, arrives in ways unknown to those that are; healing those who are willing through the reasons of wisdom, and curing those who are slow to move toward virtue through the ways of discipline; cleansing some from the defilements of the flesh, and wiping away the stains of the soul from others. This is he who leads back the captivity of the true Israel; not from land to land, as that ancient Zerubbabel did, who transferred the people from Babylon to Judea; but from earth to heaven, and from vice to

^A virtue, and from ignorance to the knowledge of the truth; and from corruption to incorruption, and from death to immortality; and, to speak briefly, from the visible and flowing world to the stable and intelligible one, and from a mortal and fleeting life to an immortal and perennial one.

This is the true builder of the rational temple that melted away through sins and was burned by strange fire. We ourselves kindled this fire, not only by compelling the mind to follow the sense of the flesh in a servile manner, but also by shamelessly igniting the matter of the passions through our own deeds and actions.

This is he who, supported by wisdom, brought King Darius to his own opinion—that is, the law of nature. For it is not right in this place to take Darius as a figure of the devil, who would have voluntarily contributed his effort to free the people from captivity, and believed that there is nothing ^B stronger or more conducive to salvation by nature than faith and a good conscience. For faith holds the account of truth; and a good conscience bears the type of divine love (which is allegorically understood through women); in which there is no transgression of divine commandments at all.

This is he who, by an arcane and indivisible union, rebuilt the tabernacle of David that had fallen—I mean the nature corrupted by death through sin.

This is that Zerubbabel who raised up with glory the fallen house of God, regarding whom the Spirit says: "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former" (Hag. 2:9). For the Word entered into a "second" communion with nature, far more wonderful than the first, inasmuch as, having first bestowed what was better, He later voluntarily entered into communion with what was worse, so that He might both bring salvation to the image and endow the flesh with immortality. And, having utterly driven out the word that the serpent had spoken into the ears of nature, He might again render nature as pure as it was from the beginning, so that it would possess a greater excellence by the gift of deification than it had in its first formation. And just as He had created it from the beginning when it was not, so He might restore what had melted away, enduring in immutability so that it would not fall again, and might fulfill the whole counsel of God and the Father over it, bestowing the deity with which He clothed man. ^C For the hands, he says, of Zerubbabel (the spiritual one) have laid the foundation of this house (that is, man), and his hands shall finish it (Zech. 4:9); signifying the former formation and the last reformation in Him, according to a union ineffable in words.

This is Zerubbabel, the redeemer of the captives, having in his hand the tin stone, adorned with the seven eyes of the Lord, through which God looks upon all the earth (Zech. 4:10). And indeed, if you should look at the deed done and the history,

^A it does not appear at all that Zorobabel had in his hand a tin stone possessing seven eyes, which were the eyes of the Lord, looking upon all the earth. Since, therefore, it is utterly impossible for this to stand according to the letter, let us proceed to the deeper understanding of what is written.

Zorobabel is, as I have often said before, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. His stone is faith in him. It is in the hand, because it is by the practice of the commandments that the faith of Christ is made manifest. For faith without works is dead; and likewise, works without faith are dead. The hand is clearly a symbol of action. Therefore, since the Lord carries the stone in his hand, he teaches us to have faith in him, which is adorned with the seven eyes of the Lord; that is to say, with the seven operations of the Holy Spirit. And he will rest, he says, upon him: seven spirits—spirit of wisdom, spirit of understanding, spirit of cognition, ^B spirit of knowledge, spirit of counsel, spirit of strength, spirit of the fear of God (Isa. 11:2).

The spirit of the fear of God (25) is the abstaining from performing evil deeds by one’s actions; the spirit of strength is the eager impulse and movement of the soul toward the energy and practice of the commandments; the spirit of counsel is the habit of discernment, according to which we perform the divine commandments with reason, and distinguish what is better from what is worse; the spirit of knowledge is the unfailing understanding of the modes of action according to virtue, according to which, acting, we in no way fall away from the right judgment of reason; the spirit of cognition is the grasp of the reasons within the commandments, according to which the modes of the virtues are constituted; but the spirit of understanding is… ^C

(a) As for the history: One cannot here be induced to agree with Maximus, as if these things were not truly said of Zorobabel by Zechariah, however piously he may direct the allegory toward Christ, which ought not to reject the letter but rely on it and have it as a foundation. The discourse is concerning the building of the temple to be continued by Zorobabel, and his work to be completed, with God being propitious to him by his providence. Zorobabel, therefore, as he who is building, or overseeing the building, is described as holding in his hand a level or plumb line, which our people call "plumb." Furthermore, there are two kinds of lead, white and black. From both, the plumb of the level is made. The white is called… ^D Whence the LXX translated it [as] a tin stone, or of tin; since it is not truly tin, but lead, as if a heavier [metal] of either kind were used for that purpose, which is also for that reason called a tin stone, as if [it were] the weight of tin, or heavy lead of the color of tin. Nothing, therefore, prevents Zorobabel, while intent upon the work, from being described in this guise—whom nothing forbids, even though he was a prince, not unskilled or ignorant of mathematical disciplines, from having occasionally examined the work of the building with a level, just as the author of the little book *On the Building of Holy Sophia* describes the great Justinian as assiduous in the work, whose empire and majesty were far other than Zorobabel’s. Maximus [thinks] this stone has seven eyes, and [he is] adorned with them by the sacred text, describing what those eyes of the Lord are, by which he looks upon the entire world. But the sacred text is nothing of the sort; rather, with the whole prophecy now set upon the future restoration of the temple by Zorobabel, so that it may be signified that this work is of the peculiar providence of God, the same by which He rules the whole world, it follows absolutely: "The Vulgate: These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth." Nor is it otherwise, even if the Chaldean has, for seven eyes, seven rows of stones. The same meaning is in the same clearly worded [passages], 2 Paralipomenon 16, and others, but in Proverbs 15:3, which signifies the same: "In every place the eyes of the Lord [are], beholding both the good and the evil." And this is the very thing that is said: "Upon that one stone, there are seven eyes." Which stone itself seems to be understood as Zorobabel, whom he says he gave before the face of Jesus the high priest; namely, the secular prince who was his helper and as it were the leader in the state and the Jewish rite to be restored: upon whom those eyes of the peculiar providence of God were intent, by which single providence a work of such great mass could thus proceed from small beginnings, and finally have [its] completion; all of which are said more principally of Christ, who himself is our one Jesus and Zorobabel, priest and king or prince, the one restorer of the true tabernacle.

^A →That is, an inclination of the faculties of the soul, or, to speak more correctly, a transformation: by which there arises a blending of natural powers with the modes and reasons of the commandments. The Spirit of wisdom is the carrying back and union of the spiritual reasons contained in the commandments to the Cause and Author of all; by which, being initiated in an unknown way into the reasons of existing things that are in God as far as is permitted to men, we draw forth from the heart, as if from a springing fountain, the truth existing in all things, and disseminate it in various ways to other men: passing by a certain path and order from those things which, proceeding from God, are furthest [from Him] and nearest to us, to those things which are first and, being furthest from us, are nearest to God.

^B For from the cessation from evil through fear, we proceed to the performance of the virtues through strength; from the action of the virtues, to the discernment of the will; from discernment, to the habit of the virtues, which they call knowledge; from the habit of the virtues, to the knowledge of the reasons that exist within the virtues themselves; and from this, to the habit that transforms us into the known reasons of the virtues—I mean understanding; and from this, to the simple and accurate contemplation of the truth in all things; from which, setting out, we shall render many and various godly arguments concerning the truth, out of a wise consideration of both sensible and intelligible substances.

^C Through these eyes of faith, therefore—that is, illuminations—ascending, we are gathered into the divine unity of wisdom; which has verily come about for our sake, gathering together the division of gifts and graces, by which we are advanced one by one through the virtues; [taking care] to omit nothing of what has been said, with the cooperation of God, lest by neglecting them little by little, we render our faith blind and deprived of its eyes, lacking the illuminations of the Spirit that come through the virtues; and we be justly punished for infinite ages, because we ourselves, as far as it lay within us, have blinded the divine eyes of faith within us.

For whoever, through sloth and inaction in the fulfillment of the commandments, has dug out such eyes of faith in himself, he is altogether reprobate, no longer having God looking upon him within himself. ^D And I think that for this very reason the Scripture calls faith a "stannic" (tin) stone: because it has the power both to punish those who do not adorn it with the commandments, and to procure salvation for those who preserve its conspicuous splendor and ornamentation through the operations of the Spirit. For, as the great Simeon says, speaking of the Lord: *He shall be for the fall and rising of many in Israel*;* for the fall of the unbelieving, but the rising of the believing. For some say that tin is composed of silver and lead. Therefore, lead bears the symbol of instruction, punishment, and chastisement, and of the weight of condemnation; and silver, of splendor and glory and appearance, like

the figure of brightness. But if the matter stands thus, then faith, which is signified by the tin, both instructs, and chastises, and punishes, and condemns those who, by not fulfilling the commandments, have become reprobate in it—insofar as it may perhaps possess, like lead, the weakness of the flesh, which has been strengthened in the Word through the union; and again, it makes bright, and glorifies, and illuminates, and leads to deification those who, by fulfilling the commandments, have been proved worthy in it—insofar as it may perhaps possess, in the place of silver, the divinity of the Word, entirely radiating its own splendors, as far as is granted, upon those who are worthy.

There are also those who have expounded the tin stone as referring to our Lord Jesus Christ, as being composed of two natures, namely, the divine and the human. If, however, anyone wishes to contemplate more spiritually either the faith of Christ or Christ Himself: faith, and Christ Himself, is lead, as instructing the soul, chastising the flesh, punishing vices, and condemning demons; but it is silver, as illuminating the mind with virtues, making it glorious with knowledge, and, by the gift of deification, rendering it a light, a representation of the first light. It is in this sense that the ruin and resurrection which come from Him are to be understood. For He works a ruin of the flesh—that is to say, of the carnal sense and prudence—and of the natural powers and of virtue and of the arguments that establish and preserve knowledge; and [He works] a resurrection. And, to speak in a word, the Word works a ruin of the whole old man according to Adam and the letter of the law in those who are worthy, and a resurrection of the new man according to Him, and of the spirit of the law.

Perhaps it is also for this reason that faith is compared in the Scripture to a tin stone, because for those who darken its virtue or knowledge, it is open for them to become bright again through repentance, by the cultivation of action and contemplation, and to recover the own clear brightness of their life.

SCHOLIA

1. In how many ways the name Zorobabel is rendered by interpreting it into our tongue.

2. The end of virtue, he says, is the good; this, however, is the completion of divine operation, towards which the rational faculty of the soul leads, according to how it is matched by nature, using the faculty of anger and of desire; in which the beauty of likeness has [its place] to shine forth. The end of contemplative philosophy, however, he says, is truth, which is the indivisible and uniform knowledge of all things regarding God, towards which the pure mind strives, having utterly abdicated the judgment of sense; in which knowledge the sincere dignity of the divine image clearly shines.

3. He contemplated women according to virtues, of which charity is the end; but he recalled truth to knowledge, which lacks quantity: for when the law of nature is recognized in its character and form—these being, I say, charity and knowledge—the king of nature rejects, like wine, the pleasure of the passions of the flesh, and like a king, the insane love of glory of all those who are arrogantly [disturbed].

^A 4. The disposition according to virtue, he says, is the face of the contemplative mind, which, as if into heaven, is ever exalted toward the height of true knowledge.

5. Another contemplation regarding the same subject: by which he says that the census in heaven is only for those who, according to their own resolution, offer themselves wholly to be written down by the pen of the Spirit. For the Holy Spirit institutes the census in heaven for those who are willing, and not for those who are not led by their own will.

6. No one, he says, can truly bless God, unless he has purified his body with virtues, and illumined his soul with the light of knowledge.

7. He says that victory is the end of the divine struggles practiced by the active part of the soul; which is the unmixed good. And he declares that wisdom is the end of the mystical contemplations of the cognitive part of the soul; which is simple truth. Toward these, the mind leads the one who has become clear of the phantasms of sense-perception; and reason, having yoked to it the vital power of the soul, shows that the union of these two—namely of victory and wisdom, that is to say, of goodness and truth—is one glory for those to whom it happens, shining forth with the rays of true likeness.

8. What do we contribute toward virtue?

9. For what reason is God addressed as the Master of Fathers?

10. Those who are fathers according to the spirit, he says, by the teaching of those who are willing, become willing fathers; molding them by word and life according to God. And those who are sons according to the spirit, by their own will through learning, become the volitional sons of fathers, becoming volitional by their own choice, molded by them by word and life according to God. For the grace of the Spirit effects a volitional birth of those who beget according to it and those who are begotten; which those who are fathers according to the flesh do not have, for they are reluctant fathers of unwilling sons. For the formation of those who naturally both beget and are begotten is a work of nature, not of the judgment of the mind.

11. The dyad here signifies matter and form: the concurrence of which makes the birth of the body; but its ^D dissolution, by its own force, brings about its end. Therefore, things that consist of matter and form have an end contrary to their natural principle, since corruption is the negation of generation. But these two powers, the power of desire and the irascible power, stand guard over generation and corruption: the one, by its own force, striving to preserve for its being that which has been born and generated; and the other, fighting to repel the dissolution that corruption introduces. The wicked demons become advocates of these powers; some of them, by setting before the law of nature the deviation of the soul from divine things away from the path of desire (of which wine is a symbol), while others, the tyranny of the irascible power over earthly things (of which a kingdom is the image), wish to persuade one to decree a life of passion according to them. But the monad signifies the soul that is simple according to essence, as an image of the supernaturally tri-hypostatic essence.

whose mind (that is, the soul’s) ^A exists as the one patron of the one; by which we believe in God, through truth, and by which we love Him, through charity, showing that it is stronger than all the law of nature, and persuading them to decree the gift of victory. 12. ^B Concerning the fact that by the privation of many things—in accordance with preeminence—truth is naturally destined to appear as one and unique, he says: it covers the cognitive powers of all things capable of knowing or being known, inasmuch as it surpasses that which knows and that which is known by its superessential existence; and by infinite power, bounding the extremes of beings according to beginning and end, it draws every motion of all things equally to itself; providing to some, clearly, the grace to understand that of which they were deprived; and to others, by a sense and taste beyond any power of explanatory words, granting a manifest knowledge of that goodness for which they were possessed by desire, through communion with it itself.

13. Understand the people in Babylon allegorically as the reasonings held fast in the servitude of passions; Darius as the natural law; ^C Zorobabel as the mind capable of knowledge; Judea as virtue; Jerusalem as the habit of mental tranquility or imperturbability; the temple as the knowledge capable of wisdom; and the ascent from Babylon to Judea as the migration from the bodily to the spiritual through repentance.

14. The cause of the distribution of divine goods is the measure of each one’s faith; for as we believe, so also do we have an increase of zeal for acting. Therefore, he who acts, according to the proportion of his action, demonstrates the measure of his faith, receiving the measure of grace according to how he has believed. But he who does not act, according to the proportion of his inaction, demonstrates the measure of his unbelief, receiving therein the privation of grace according to how he has not believed. In vain, therefore, is an envious man consumed by jealousy, since it is clearly within his power, and not another’s, to will to believe and act, and to receive grace as it comes according to the measure of faith.

15. How Zorobabel is a type of the Lord.

16. ^D The type has been well shown to correspond with the truth. For just as Zorobabel was not a captive himself, but was born from the captives who were then oppressed by the yoke of servitude in Babylon, and became their liberator: so too the Lord, being himself immune from sin, was reckoned among us, in our midst, as one of us, having voluntarily clothed Himself in our mortal nature. In this, truly sustaining our natural infirmity, He rescued those delivered from the deadly power and led them back from earth to heaven: He who, indeed, by the power of His incarnation, assumed to Himself the whole nature, without omission, in an ineffable union beyond all desire and beyond all explanatory words, but by the calling of grace, only those who accepted the calling with joy, and through their works honored the grace of the recreation.

17. Flesh is of sin, having its generation from the seed of a man; for it possesses at the same time by nature the power of

sin and corruption, having the beginning and the end of its own generation. But the flesh that is in the likeness of the flesh of sin is flesh that became, without the seed of a man, the flesh of God; possessing corruption by nature, in which it was similar to us; but by power it possessed sinlessness by nature, in which it was dissimilar to us. ^A

18. Since it is said that, regarding the pure and supreme theology, the doctrine of the incarnation is second; for the former is concerned with the essence of the supreme Word; while the latter embraces the highest power and operation of Providence; for this reason it was called the sunrise from on high by the Spirit. For in the doctrine of the divine incarnation, the generation of the ages and of those things that are in the age is contained, and the extension of the life of beings according to grace, which is beyond the ages, to infinity. ^B

19. He who is held by the love of the right and honorable, according to the providence of wisdom, strive willingly that he may attain the grace of deification; but he who is not held is, by a just judgment, drawn away from vice against his will by the methods of correction: the former, as a lover of God, is deified through providence; the latter, through judgment, as a lover of earthly things, is prevented from coming into condemnation.

20. Our fire is reprehensible: the law of the flesh. The light of this fire is the movement of the habits of vices and perturbations according to this reprehensible law; the reprehensible flame is the kindling of the passions through operation. Or, again, fire is reprehensible, namely, vice; the light is reprehensible, namely, the habit of vice; the flame is the operation. We must therefore beware that the mind does not grow warm with that fire, nor be illuminated by this light, nor be consumed by this flame. For that which gladdens the sense as pleasure, is for the mind the deepest darkness. ^C

21. True faith is constitutive of truth, possessing no falsehood; and a good conscience brings forward the power of love, inasmuch as it is devoid of any transgression of the divine command.

22. The resurrection is a recreation of nature, surpassing the formation of nature in Paradise, in a general way by the immutability of all of all; and specifically, by the ineffable deification by grace of the saints. ^D

23. The Scripture perchance called the hands of the intelligible Zorobabel, both the creative power, by which we receive our generation for the sake of well-being; and the restorative power, by which we receive the grace for the sake of everlasting well-being; or the grace within us which itself works the practice of the virtues; and the inseparable infusion of knowledge which follows it according to contemplation.

24. Faith is called a stone, because of its firmness, immutability, and stability, and its being absolutely motionless regarding the truth that is in it; and as in no way yielding to the assaults of falsehood. And because of the hand, because of the power of acting according to operation, and because it contains and embraces all the virtues by way of summary. And because it has eyes, because of...

the power of discernment, and because it embraces the knowledge of all things under time with certain truth; and finally because it exists as the subject of that sevenfold operation of the most holy Spirit, which is unmixed in numerical counts.

^B 25. An explanatory analysis derived from the characteristic property of the spiritual gift. For it is the property of fear to abstain from evils; of fortitude, the performance of good deeds; of counsel, the discernment of opposing things; of science (which the Greeks call ἐπιστήμη), the unadulterated knowledge of those things which are a duty; of knowledge (which they call γνῶσις), the active comprehension of the divine reasons in the virtues; of understanding, the mind’s universally eager inclination toward what is known; of wisdom, the union with God that passes understanding: by which, for those who are worthy, desire is turned into the delights of fruition, and it makes him who perceives it a god, and renders him an interpreter of divine blessedness, by the constant edition and derivation of divine mysteries to those in need, with all pride removed.

^B 26. The Word of Scripture counted as the beginning of wisdom that good which is first for us in operation—which is fear—from which, being moved, we ascend to intelligence, the end of wisdom; having attained which, we become near to God, possessing wisdom alone as the means of union with Him. For it is not possible for one who has not previously shaken off the leaven of ignorance and the dust of wickedness through fear and the remaining intermediate gifts, to lay hold of wisdom. For this reason, the Scriptural order has appointed wisdom as near to God, and fear as near to us, so that we might learn the standard and law of proper order.

^C 27. Wisdom, he says, is a monad, contemplated indivisibly in the various virtues that derive from it; and it is gathered together in a uniform way by the operations of all the virtues combined; and again, it is shown to be a simple monad by the return of the virtues that are from it back to it; when we, for whose sake the progress is made in the generation of each virtue, are gathered up, upwards through each virtue, unto it.

28. He has blind faith, he says, who does not perform the divine commandments according to faith. For if the commandments of the Lord are light, it is clear that he who does not perform the divine commandments is destitute of divine light, and bears the appellation of faith as a naked name, not a true one.

29. The Word, he says, called the operations of the Spirit (that is, the divine breathings) the eyes of the Lord. He who does not open these eyes by the performance of the commandments, does not have God looking upon him. For it is natural for God, as is fitting, to inspect those who dwell on earth with many eyes, if indeed the illumination of our virtue is a ray of divine vision.

^D 30. Tin, he says, having naturally the property of both silver and lead, characterizes faith; for it punishes when not kept—possessing lead, the [original-script column: see facsimile]

bearing a charge for eternity ^A against those who have not kept it; and it glorifies those who do keep it, having a transparent and bright silver, which is the defense for eternity of those who have kept it.

31. No one sinning, he says, can have the weakness of the flesh as an advocate for his sin. For the union with the Word of God has strengthened the whole nature by the dissolution of the curse, leaving us no excuse that we are carried toward passions by a more prone desire; for the deity of the Word, always accompanying the faithful by grace, enervates and extinguishes the law of sin in the flesh.

32. Just as, he says, tin, when it is darkened, becomes bright again; so also the faithful, even if they become darkened by sinning, become bright again by repenting; for which reason perhaps faith has been likened to tin. ^B

QUESTION LV

« And all those from Israel from twelve years old and upward, except for children and women, were forty-three thousand three hundred and sixty. Their menservants and maidservants, seven thousand three hundred and seven. Singers and singing-women, eight hundred and fifty-five. Camels, four hundred and thirty-five. Likewise horses, seven thousand seven hundred and thirty-six. Mules, eight hundred and forty-five; draught animals, five thousand five hundred and twenty-five. » Do, I pray you, a humble banquet for the poor, out of these things which were said, so great and sublime, concerning the return from the sixth captivity by the Holy Spirit through the prophet. What is so great an abjection and importunate narrative, ^C not worthy of the Spirit? Namely, to make mention of camels, horses, mules, and donkeys; and that, too, accurately expressed in numbers.

Response.

To discourse accurately concerning these things is the part only of those who, through great purity of mind, have obtained the grace of the Spirit as fully as it has been granted to men from God; by which, wise walkers in the sea of mystical contemplations, they behold only the reasons of the things that are written, stripped of the typical symbols in which they are designed; having no regard at all ^D for the symbols [note: the Greek word suggests "signs" or "tokens"] by which they are typographically designated; unless perhaps they intentionally wish to typify them bodily for the sake of those who, through immaturity of mind, cannot rise above the senses: so that, having first been exercised in sensible figures, they may yearn to reach the primary reasons without the operation of the senses. But to conjecture about things that are more subtle, because of that power which exists in us by nature, by which we are held with a desire for the knowledge of divine things, is not at all absurd: since a double good emerges from this conjecture for those who worship and revere divine things with sincere minds. For either he who approaches divine things by conjecture attains the truth of the things he contemplates, and joyfully offers the sacrifice of praise—that is, thanksgiving—to the

Him who granted him the understanding of the object of his inquiry; or, finding that the meaning of the written words escapes him, he honors divine things all the more, learning that that which transcends his own power of comprehension is beyond him. ^A I therefore, conjecture-wise, applying myself to these matters laid before me, invoke God to be my helper in what is to be said, finding as I do that the strength of my own mind is in every way weak for the loftiness of the Scriptural enigmas. For if I succeed, the entire achievement belongs to God, who through such comprehension leads me to thanksgiving; but if I do not, even then the benefit of the incomprehensibility comes from God, who, as is fitting, by the certain reasons of His Providence, cuts off the conceit that would arise in me from knowledge, and makes that very incomprehensibility ^B a subject for humility.

Therefore, by conjecture, as has been said, traversing the meaning of what has been written, I begin from this point to examine the text of the proposed Scripture. In the chapter directly preceding this one, it is written concerning Zorobabel: *And when the youth had gone forth, lifting up his face toward heaven against Jerusalem, he blessed the King of heaven.* It is clear that after the presentation of the problems and questions that had been offered to King Darius, he went out—from the presence, clearly, of King Darius. Now Darius, as I have already stated before these words, is the law that ^C governs nature; and when he is understood in this way, he is clearly in accordance with the interpretation of his own name. For the name of Darius signifies generation, or a lineage of generations, or the one whose lineage of generations is being brought forth, as those who understand the precision of such a word say. The name of lineage and genealogy is indeed proper to the law of nature; for in the realm of nature are the genus, and the things that are generated, and in the realm of nature is the genealogy.

Thus, Darius is rightly taken as the law of nature. For the law of nature contains both the genera and species that are brought under nature, and the things that are observed ^D around nature—by which I mean time and place. For with every generated thing, those things without which it could not naturally exist are also observed. Darius, therefore, as I said, is the law of nature; and Zorobabel is the contemplative mind, which went forth as if from Darius, studying the divine oracles, whether we may be empowered to grasp their meaning, or whether they altogether exceed our reach; so that in either case, we may turn to our own utility and not expend our efforts outside the divine purpose, either by giving thanks for the understanding, or by acknowledging our own measure in the face of obscurity.

^A Just as from Darius, from the law of nature he departs; and having overcome the adornment of things ^B visible to the eyes, which are subject to time and place, by the virtue of wisdom he lifts the face of his disposition toward heaven, that is to say, toward the height of the intelligible substances—in opposition to the Jerusalem that is understood in the heavens; I mean that Jerusalem which has its walls depicted upon the hands of the Lord, in which is the habitation of all who rejoice, ^C toward which the true return of the captives is made, those who, according to the divine Apostle, seek after the habitation which is from heaven, and who are able to say with David: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten; let my tongue cleave to my throat if I do not remember thee." Perhaps by the right hand he calls the spiritual activity of divine things and those which possess praise, but by the tongue cleaving to the throat, the activity of the knowledge of the Word that is in us, cleaving to the throat out of ignorance—that is, the passion fixed about the throat—and remaining motionless toward the longing for the ineffable goods, and because of this not being able ^D to taste of the goodness of the Lord.

167 But if Zerubbabel—whether the human mind studying contemplation or the Word, the Creator, who is above us, having come to us in our own likeness and for this reason having become man, that he might draw to himself through his incarnation those who had cast themselves out of dispassion and life into the vices and the death of the flesh—by hastening to Jerusalem transcends the reasons of time and nature, ^B rightfully does he lead forth with him, to the extent that there is capacity in them, those who have become like him, and leads them to the heavenly Jerusalem: the sum of whose virtue and knowledge Scripture has likened, through a variety of symbols, to the proposed kinds of things and numbers. For whoever is pious and tenacious of what is right, as he struggles to return spiritually to the supernal Jerusalem, fulfills the proposed numbers of different kinds, gathering into one the reasons of every kind and number ^C as a fullness of both virtue and knowledge. And the logic of the Scripture text which we have taken as an argument for examination clearly signifies this, having it thus:

"Now all they that were of Israel, from the twelfth year, except the children and women, were forty-three thousand three hundred and sixty." O the accuracy and diligence with which the oracles of the Spirit are written! For in such a way are the numbers marked, that no one ^D of those who are counted as having departed from Babylon (I mean the confusion of the present age) into Jerusalem is signified to be subject to the number twelve; by which surely the Scripture mystically hints that only he who has escaped above sense and time—for the number twelve clearly signifies this, being made up of five for the senses and seven for time—and who has broken off the soul's affection toward these things, departs from their confusion, hastening toward the city above, having without

^A women and children, forty-three thousand and three hundred and sixty.

The children, perhaps, are the inward reflections concerning natural and blameless affections which do not depend upon our own will; the women, however, are the thoughts or the natural appetites and pleasures which, to those who possess them, bring no blame, existing as a natural corollary of natural appetite. For pleasure, whether one wishes it or not, food that is readily available and simple naturally produces, alleviating antecedent want; and drink, driving away the vexation of thirst; and sleep, renewing powers exhausted by long wakefulness; and whatever other natural things belong to us, which are necessary for the preservation of life and useful to those diligent in the acquisition of virtue. These, even if they are not counted along with the men, nevertheless every mind that flees the confusion of sin always leads out, so that it might not remain held by those affections which are subject to our will, possess blame, and exist contrary to nature—affections which have no other origin in us except the movement of the natural affections themselves.

But they are not counted ^B, because it is not their nature to pass over with us into the immortal and everlasting life, being affections that sustain nature for the present life. The four myriads, however, are the quaternion of the generic virtues, with which the mind, having traversed nature and time, returns at last to the blessed end of undisturbedness. For just as the myriad is recognized solely by the element of the monad, and cannot be signified by any other letter at all, as it is the same with it in subject, even if it admits of a distinction solely by subtle thought, as end compared with beginning: for the myriad is the end of the monad, and the monad is the beginning of the myriad—or, to speak more accurately, the monad in motion is the myriad, and the immutable myriad is the monad.

In this way also is every generic virtue. I speak of the divine and ineffable monad, God, as having beginning and end, as starting from Him and ending in Him; being the same as God, differing from the Word only by subtle thought; from whom, and toward whom alone, every attainment of virtue clearly exists.

^D Or perhaps the discourse calls the four myriads the four advancements of those in the decad of the divine commandments, progressing into the length of contemplation and knowledge. For example: the first advancement is simply the execution of the commandments in those who are being introduced, or are beginners, after the flight from vice; this makes full the first decad, which is also the monad. The second advancement is the comprehension of the rest that is performed through each commandment, making the same decad also a centenarium, as it is completed by the operation of each commandment in turn; for the decad performed ten times makes the centenarium. The third advancement is the decupling of this centenarium according to the law of this nature; for the law of nature is also decimal, as it was constituted from ten.

^A parts—namely, three faculties of the soul, five senses, vocal operation, and natural fecundity. For it uses the faculty of reason to seek the Author and the good things that exist around Him; it uses the faculty of desire for the love and longing for those things that are sought; it uses the faculty of spirit for the protection and cherishing of them; and it uses the senses for discernment, which itself is divided into five parts, from which science or skill is born. Universal discernment is divided into these: things grasped and things not grasped; things to be understood and things not to be understood; things to be spoken and things unspeakable; things to be done and things not to be done; things subject to corruption and things not subject to corruption. It uses the vocal faculty for articulation or enunciation, and finally fecundity for growing those things which have been sought, desired, defended, known, and brought forward in speech as good. Thus, the hundred, multiplied by the reasons of the law of nature, becomes a thousand. A fourth advancement is that which, through contemplation and knowledge, according to the division we have provided, is an ascent of the law of nature to the most principal reason of each commandment; according to which the ^B myriad is understood as gathered, which is known by the first element of unity. For he who has simply executed the commandments; and again, from the reason of each operation has taken up the others at the same time; and again has coupled the discernment of the natural law to the sum of these; and has again raised this scientifically to the reason of each commandment, has collected four myriads (that is, forty thousand); by the mystery of unity, into which the myriad is gathered.

Or again, the four so-called general imperturbabilities signify four myriads. For the first imperturbability is complete abstinence from evils in action, seen in those who are being introduced and are beginners. The second is the full and perfect rejection in the mind of thoughts drawing toward consent to evils, which occurs in those who pursue virtue with reason as their guide. The third, likewise, is the full and perfect immobility of desire regarding passions and affections, in those who intellectually contemplate the reasons of visible things through the forms of the objects. The fourth, finally, is a fullness and perfection, a purity from the simple thought of pleasures, consisting in those who, through knowledge and contemplation, have rendered their mind a pure and lucid mirror of God. ^C He, therefore, who has cleansed himself from the act and work of the passions, and has cast off the yoke of the mind's assent to them, and has extinguished the movement of desire within it, and has finally rendered his mind unpolluted by the simple thought of them: he, equipped with four myriads (that is, forty thousand), departs from matter and material things, and hastens to the divine and peaceful abodes of the intelligible realities.

In this way and with this meaning, the four myriads are to be explained to us; but the three thousand signify the perfect, straight, and pious doctrine concerning the holy and consubstantial ^D Trinity, according to which the holy trinity—

^A unitas subsistent in three, is praised and believed by us as one God.

The three-hundredth number, in this place, signifies the rationale of Providence: not only for the reason that the very shape of the letter, a power pervading from above to below and embracing the extremities of both sides, denotes the Providence that ineffably binds all things together, but also because it is honored by the figure of the cross, in which the great, first, and hidden mystery of Providence was accomplished. For the manner of Providence is an ineffable mystery, that great mystery of the incarnation of God, by which ^B type—along with the name of Him who was fixed upon it for our sake—the great patriarch Abraham, perhaps trusting in this, with three hundred and eighteen (that is to say, by the type and name of Jesus), went forth and routed the opposing powers of the kings designated by that symbol. For it is the habit of Scripture, not infrequently, to manifest its own aim through the figures of the elements to those who are purified for this purpose.

If anyone wishes to contemplate the intention of holy Scripture also from the number, ^C he will find Providence signified through it in this way as well. For it belongs to Providence not only to preserve nature, without any loss, in its own rationale of being, but also to show that it possesses, without fail, the acquired rationale of well-being through the gift of grace. Therefore, if one adds one hundred to two hundred, he will complete the three hundred: a number that signifies nature and virtue. For the number two hundred signifies nature, as existing from matter and form: since matter is quaternary because of the four elements; but form is quinary, because of the sense that fashions the material mass into shape. For five times multiplying forty, or four times fifty, makes two hundred. The number one hundred ^D signifies perfect virtue, as having the divine decade of the commandments multiplied tenfold; having attained to which, Abraham became the father of the great Isaac, dead according to nature, but having become a generator of life and joy according to the spirit. Therefore, having added one hundred to the two hundred, you will have completed the number three hundred, which signifies the Providence that sustains nature according to the rationale of well-being.

The number sixty signifies the motive power of the commandments according to nature, perfected by the rationales of the virtues. For if six signifies the motive power of nature, as being perfect and consisting of its own parts—whence it is also written that God made heaven and earth in six days—and the number ten signifies the perfection of virtue through the fulfillment of the commandments, it is clear that sixty signifies the power that is by nature capable of receiving the divine rationales in the commandments.

Therefore, the four myriads along with the three thousand three hundred and sixty signify the perfect rationale of virtue and the venerable mystery of theology;

and the true purpose of Providence; and the practical power of nature infused with virtues, with which he who has separated his mind from the flesh, from sense, and from the world ^A in spirit, departs altogether, having left behind the mixture and confusion that dwells within them—like the Babylon of old—and presses on toward the city above, holding his mind free from every affection and desire for anything whatsoever.

172 *But of these, the menservants and maidservants are seven thousand three hundred and seven.* The Law, where it settles matters concerning menservants and maidservants, says that Hebrew servants and maidservants are to serve for six years, and in the seventh year they are to be released as free; but that foreign servants and maidservants are to serve unto the age—I believe it calls the fiftieth year, the year of remission, the age. Now, the Hebrew servant and Hebrew maidservant ^B are—for those who serve the practitioner of philosophy for six years—the reason and the mental cogitation, which devote their efforts to devising moral propriety and finding ways of virtue. For to everyone who practices action, reason and mental cogitation labor like a manservant and maidservant, studying and fashioning ways of action, and having all their own powers, as if arranged in battle line, devoted to driving away the most wicked spirits that are hostile to action. When, therefore, they have completed the practical philosophy, which the number six signifies—for it is said that the number six signifies the philosophy ^C that is concerned with action—they are released into the spiritual fatherland, reason and mental cogitation, so that they may return to the contemplation of the relations among existing things; this occurs, of course, when they have reached the seventh year—that is to say, the state of dispassion—by which, through much labor of reason and the mental cogitation joined to it, the passions are tamed and the vices recede and depart from the soul.

But the foreign servant and maidservant are anger and desire, which the contemplative mind, through courage and temperance, keeps in subjection at all times under ^D the rule of reason for the service of the virtues, granting them no release into freedom whatsoever until the law of nature is completely swallowed up by the law of the Spirit, just as the miserable death of the flesh is by the infinite life; and until there clearly shines forth the whole image of the eternal kingdom, which has obtained the entire form of the archetype through imitation. Having attained this, the mind that studies contemplation sets free both anger and desire: transforming the latter into the incorruptible pleasure and undefiled attraction of divine love, and transferring the former into spiritual fervor, and continuous delight, and sober madness, through which, as it seems, the great Apostle Paul, having become a great ray of the incorruptible light, heard in the Acts from King Agrippa: *You are mad, Paul.* And again, he himself writing about himself to the Corinthians: *For whether we are mad, it is for God; or whether we are sober, it is for you*; surely meaning a godly, sober madness—or as one might say, an ecstasy.

^A It is clear that he called it an ecstasy, because it draws the sober mind away from things that exist and constitutes it outside of them.

I suspect that the number of these signifies the providence and care that is in accordance with reason, temporal and free from the disturbance of ways and habits; by which the ruling mind, as if towards Hebrew servants and handmaids, who serve through the cultivation of [good] actions, sets the measures for the performance of their duty according to virtue, transferring them to contemplation. And caring for anger and desire as if they were foreign-born servants and handmaids, as a master does for his slaves, it leads them ^B towards an equal freedom at the end. For desire, it makes a yearning that is the fruition of divine things; and for anger, an unceasing vigor for that fruition of yearning—making those who were foreign slaves into true Hebrews by the gift of grace.

Cantors and modulators, eight hundred fifty-five. Cantors are those who proclaim the divine word in the ways of the virtues without contemplation, based on the principles of action. Modulators are those who, with the learned sweetness of contemplation, teach the divine word to others in the ways of the virtues, and sweetly soothe their spiritual ears.

The number of these signifies ^C what degree of the knowledge of eternal things is granted to men: the eight hundred and the fifty; the one indicating the principles [logoi] of knowledge, the other the principles of the virtues. The five, which is added to these, represents knowledge, as we explained a little earlier concerning the number five.

Camels, four hundred thirty-five. The camels that came out together with the sons of Israel in great freedom, being released from bitter captivity, are the varied natural contemplations of visible things. After the manner of a camel, they have, with respect to sense—like the unclean hoofs—the exterior bodies and figures of visible things; ^D but with respect to the mind—like the head—they have the clean and, in spirit, more elevated principles that shine forth in them.

And perhaps the great prophet Isaiah, prophesying and foreshadowing the glory of the Jerusalem that is understood, says concerning these camels: *And the camels of Midian and Ephah shall cover thee* (Isa. LX, 6); that is, the spiritual contemplations of the passions that are according to nature. For Midian is interpreted as a bloody mire, or human and maternal sweats. Ephah, however, is the possession of the back, which is a contemplation of the passions of the flesh lifted on high. For the back of the soul, like a posterior, is the flesh: through these, as if [bringing them to] a holy city, the spiritual [contemplations] of the peaceful and undisturbed mystical vi-

-^Asion of knowledge are covered, as the Word says, just as happens with beasts of burden. The number itself also declares the power that has been attributed, signifying the rational movement concerning nature and time.

And seven thousand seven hundred thirty-six horses. The horse ^B is he who in the course that the studious pursue in life is powerful with the full vigor of anger. For they say that the bile of the horse is [the cause] of the hooves of its feet, which nature has granted to it. Wherefore, also, compared to the rest of the animals that are submissive to the yoke of men, it is considered far more suited for running, and stronger; the great prophet Habakkuk, comparing the holy apostles to these through the Spirit, says: *You have driven your horses into the sea, troubling many waters*. By horses, he calls the holy and blessed apostles, who carry the saving doctrine of truth before nations and kings throughout the whole world; and he figuratively named the world the sea; and he induced the nations [as being] like waters, which are indeed troubled and shaken by the great power of the Word of the Spirit, and, through that saving shaking, are moved from unbelief to faith, and from ignorance to acknowledgement, and from vice to virtue.

Moreover, the number of the horses themselves also signifies this, which for philosophers designates the habit of one acting according to the reasons of virtue. For the number seven thousand seven hundred, which refers to time, signifies a swift movement in the virtues; while thirty-six [signifies] natural action running concurrently with the virtues.

Mules, eight hundred forty-five. The mule, according to the λόγος which takes it as an argument for praise, is a habit ^C completely unfruitful in vice. Therefore, quite appropriately and ingenuously according to the mind of Scripture, he who held rule in Israel was commanded to sit not upon a horse, but upon a mule; the Scripture thereby signifying that it is worthwhile for a mind devoted to contemplation—which rules as if by rightful law over the notions and speculatives of existing things, and thus over its own proper movements—to be endowed with a habit unfruitful in vice; that is, [a habit] which neither conceives nor brings forth vice at all; upon which it is necessary for him to be borne when he is moved toward contemplation, lest perhaps, while he gazes on things spiritually, he might incautiously fall into one of the basest spirits, whose customs are accustomed to corrupt the pure disposition of the heart by the presentation of some sensible object.

Nor are we unaware that the mule is also used in Scripture for blame, as is that saying: *Do not be like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding*. Scripture calls the horse the habit nearly neighing like a female, poured out into lusts and vices; but the mule, [the habit] which neither conceives nor brings forth that which is honest: both of which it intended to be equally forbidden to those whom the desire for salvation has gripped: the one as the parent of vice; ^D the other as possessing the inactivity of virtue. And indeed the mule of Absalom is taken in blame,

^A on which he sat and went forth, seeking the death of him who begat him; the Spirit thereby signifying in these things that one who, wounded by a certain desire for vainglory because of his virtue or knowledge, vainly nourishes his hair, crafted and mixed in the manner of a mule for the deception of those who see, demonstrates a moral conduct. By being suspended upon this, he thinks he can subjugate the father who begat him through the teaching of the Word, wishing, as a proud man, to draw to himself by violence and injury all the glory of virtue and knowledge that, divinely bestowed, belongs to the Father. But such a one, having gone out into the breadth of natural contemplation in the spirit ^B towards the rational battle for the sake of truth, is held fast by his hair—because of his living sense—in the thicket of the oak of material spectacles, the very conceit which binds the mind to death, acting as a servant that hangs him suspended between heaven and earth. For one who labors under vainglory possesses neither knowledge as heaven, which might pull him upwards away from the boasting that drags him down, nor again earth—I mean the base of action in modest humility—which might pull him down from the haughtiness that lifts him up. Him, even though he is dead, the teacher who begat him mourns out of the highest clemency and humanity, as one who loves God, in imitation of God, not wishing the death of the sinner, but that he should return and live.

^C And so that we may consider this passage in another way:

^A to possess the holy tabernacle (namely, mystical theology), and Jerusalem (namely, the peaceful science that contemplates divine things), and Judea (namely, the confession of joy for action).

For when the mind has transferred its own powers to mourning, and to that conscience which acts as a witness of things formerly done, and to the memory of sins committed in kind—for this is the revelation, or manifestation, of them—and, to speak briefly, when it has turned its mind to the time that preceded grace (for this is what it means to go "beyond the Jordan," at which time he was an exile from the grace of virtue and knowledge), and has recognized his own weakness and acquired a humility that is robust and contrary to that empty conceit, ^B through the recognition of his own state, he passes through to himself, who is in noble mourning; he kills the tyrant (conceit), recovers his own glory, takes possession of the land of Judah and the empire of Jerusalem, and ministers to the holy tabernacle of God with an undefiled and blameless worship.

But let us return to the number of the mules belonging to the Jews who were released from captivity, and look into the spiritual reason behind it, as far as we are able. "Mules," he says, "eight hundred forty and five." Now this number signifies the perfect imperturbability of the mind regarding sensible things and sensation, through a habit that is an infecund seed of vice—that is, one that does not beget vice or depravity. For the number eight hundred ^C, by the reason that it is taken as an argument for praise, signifies imperturbability and the highest tranquility, a sign of the age to come; forty signifies sensible things; and five, the senses.

"Beasts of burden: five thousand five hundred twenty and five." A beast of burden is the body, which is under the yoke of the soul, for the task of bearing the loads of hardships and labors for the sake of virtue—that is, the habit of the body according to the standard of virtue. And perhaps the sons of the great Jacob, provided with such asses, were carrying grain from Egypt ^D for the sake of sustenance to the land of promise, like grain from Egypt and like spiritual knowledge enclosed in the purses of the mind through natural speculation, putting it upon their bodies and transferring it to the future life.

Furthermore, the number of these asses, being entirely round, signifies the movement of the corporal habit in virtue regarding action, which maintains itself in the same way, and which immutably follows the reason of knowledge. For those who are skilled in the science of numbers call only the round number immutable, as it holds equality in all things compared to the rest of the movements of beings.

Let these things be said by us in this way, according to the measure of our ability to understand and to speak. But if any one again wishes to relate the various degrees of the Church to these things...

^A there are men who have reached, according to their ability, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and who of their own will and purpose perform virtue out of charity. There are manservants and maidservants who, through fear of the threatened eternal punishments, undergo the burden of practical philosophy. There are chanters, who duly expound the doctrine concerning action and heal the affections of others. There are singers, who demonstrate the beauty of the knowledge of divine words through the gift of contemplation, and who drive away the ignorance of others like darkness. There are camels, who tame the crookedness of the mind with reason toward virtue. There are horses, who run the course of the life according to God well. There are mules, who are of mixed character and who harmlessly demonstrate the philosophic life in common [society]. There are donkeys, or beasts of burden, who have the labor of action and receive reason as a rider through contemplation. For one who gathers these together will assemble the fullness of the holy Church, adorned with the many and various beauties of virtue (50).

The discourse on the spiritual contemplation of the matters in question has, in my opinion, come to an end here. But if some one should be found who is rich in the wealth of ^C gnostic grace and, like the great Samuel, sees the things which are before him intelligibly, he will clearly reveal to us the meaning lying hidden beneath the letter of the written words, causing the high light of truth in all things to flash forth gnostically; persuading those who are able to learn that nothing has been written by the Holy Spirit untimely or in vain, even if we are not able to grasp it—but that all things are [written] mystically, opportunely, and for the sake of human salvation, of which the beginning and the end is wisdom; which at first, by its primary inchoation (51), creates fear, and afterwards, when perfected, constitutes love and desire. Or rather, it is fear at the beginning, becoming so for our sake out of stewardship, so that it may restrain the lover from vice; and afterwards it is nature, found for its own sake at the end, so that it may fill with intelligible laughter those who have exchanged the living together of all things for it.

I believe that such men are written by the Spirit; such manservants and maidservants; such chanters and singers; such camels and such mules and such horses and such donkeys as the Holy Spirit knows how to write, ^D not those which the bodily sense is accustomed to define, but those which a pure mind receives, being traced with the pen of grace.

The fifth volume is completed with God.

SCHOLIA. 1. The fulfilled grace of the Spirit is that which, through power and habit and action, encompasses all the wisdom that reaches those who are perfect in Christ; through which the mind, having passed beyond the types according to the senses, attains the reasons of the deeds and writings, bared of all variety;

^A collecting the divine characters in them, through which it completes the divine and august form regarding itself: according to which the brightness of truth, shining forth in the indivisible knowledge of all things as far as is permitted, is accustomed to glow.

2. Those who are truly spiritual and endowed with knowledge, ^B as they teach the reasons of the mysteries laid down in the Scriptures, use the types according to history as examples for the instruction of the minds of their disciples; thus, in truth, that they may fit the spirit of spiritual sense to the letter of history: so that, clearly, both the figure for the sake of the sense, and the reason for the sake of the mind, may be preserved in the man—who is constituted of soul and body; concerning which the mind and the sense (since they look to one man) exist alike.

3. Praise is a word signifying divine beauty; but laudation is the affection and habit of one who praises—that is, the narration of those words and locutions that signify divine decorum; according to which the habit of knowledge finds itself fashioned, transmuting that which performs the praise into that which has the praise. The sacrifice of this laudation, moreover, is not only the perfect mortification of unnatural affections and lusts, and the interim cessation of natural ones, but also the full drawing of the one who praises unto God.

4. That knowledge which is not bridled by the fear of God according to action ^C produces pride, as the saying goes, persuading one who has become puffed up by it to boast as his own that which he received on credit, turning the symbol of the word into his own praise. But action, increasing with divine love, and not receiving knowledge above the rationale of deeds, renders the cultivator of action humble, drawing his spirit inward by reasons higher than his capacity.

5. He who, through faith and love unto God, has conquered the unnatural movements of the unnatural passions, goes outside even the law according to nature, as it is said; and the reason is transferred to the region of the intelligible, and it brings out the generic nature, along with those things that have been added to it, from alien servitude.

6. Everything that is considered ^D as either being a subject, or of a subject, or in a subject, is compared: from which the definitions of things that can be defined are gathered. For those things which complete the diverse natures of things are accustomed to be taken up into their definitions, so that the signified thing may be declared more accurately, since they consist in the subject and together with the subject; and from them, and in them, the subject has its existence; nor are such things understood as extrinsic and adventitious. But those things which surround nature are those which, on the one hand, are thought of as prior, and on the other, those which are thought of simultaneously; the first, indeed, being that the origin of things is subject entirely to where and when: the other, however, being that together with the first origin and existence of things, the general position and movement of things is also considered simultaneously, which are time and place, in which, according to the outward position, and

movement, nature exists in respect to a beginning (not in respect to the substance itself). For nature is not from these, but exists externally to them, which is the first to exist, and has position. ^A When, therefore, we contemplate the reasons for the being of genera, species, and individuals alone, we include the differences that constitute these together with their essential reasons; but when we trace the series of generations, we necessarily include with the things the "where" and "when"—that is, time and place—considering the beginning and position; without which, nothing that has been generated has come into existence at all. For there is nothing among things that exist that is free from the description that is formed by beginning and position.

^B 7. Jerusalem is also a heavenly habitation, a most tranquil habit of virtue, and knowledge that has no thought of error warring against it.

8. The tongue is, he says, a symbol of the cognitive energy in accordance with the soul; but the throat is an indication of the natural self-love toward the body. Therefore, he who blamably joins these together cannot remember the peaceful habit of virtue and knowledge, being delighted by the confusion caused by the eagerness for bodily passions.

9. Darius, he says, was taken into the law of nature; and the law of nature contains both nature and time, as having authority over the use of all things, both those that are according to nature and those that exist around nature. ^C He, therefore, who as a mind departs from Darius—the law of nature—becomes, in other words, superior to time and nature, being overcome by none of the thoughts that are under nature and time, so that he does not, by carrying around the images of corruptible things, become a temple of idols, having instead of one God many forms of unclean passions worshipped.

10. What mystery does the number twelve contain?

11. He contemplated the "boys" as not being numbered, yet going out with those who possessed them, as those thoughts of passions which are not in our power, the genesis of which, even if it is in us, yet their use ^D has never been established as being in our power. And the "women," as those appetites for what is according to nature that arise from the passions which are not in our power, without blame; which he leads out with himself, driving them toward the life according to God, so that they might not become subject to the slavery of unnatural passions.

12. He assigns the reason why the Word did not count the boys and the women in the census of the men.

13. Just as the end of a moved unit is the myriad, and the beginning of an unmoved myriad is the unit—for the beginning of every end is, according to it, clearly established as immobility; and the end of every beginning is the completion of the movement according to it—so likewise faith, while

being by nature the principle of the virtues, possesses the completion of the good through them; and the natural good, as the end of the virtues that has faith as its principle, is gathered into it in the dispositions of the soul. For faith is a naturally endowed good; and faith that has been set into action is also a good. Now God is faithful and good by nature: the former, as the primary good; the latter, as the ultimate object of desire. These are in every way the same to each other, distinguished from one another in no ^A respect except by conceptual thought, on account of the movement of those things which proceed from Him and terminate in Him. Therefore, the myriad, bearing the form of the ultimate object of desire, encompasses the perfect limit of the movement of those things that are moved toward Him; and the monad, bearing the token of the primary good, brings to those things that are moved from Him a perfect foundation. Therefore, there are four myriads, which is the perfect good shown according to action in proportion to each general virtue.

14. He who, after the flight from vice, has simply mandated for himself the cessation and rest from sin, says, possesses the decade of the commandments; and again, by showing that the perfect practice of each commandment is a recapitulation of the others—since all are viewed in each according to the action of each—he has made the decade into a centad; for the perfect observance of each commandment in action is the completed practice of the rest. And again, he who has attained the perfect knowledge and discernment of these according to nature has made the centad into a chiliad. And finally, he who has approached the naked reasons of these by the mind ^B through contemplation, has made the chiliad into a myriad, being gathered from the division of practice into the singular unity of contemplation. And to say it briefly, he who by the perfect flight from vices has kept the commandments inviolate, and has shown their perfect practice, and has accomplished their fullest natural discernment, and has completed their perfect spiritual contemplation, he has possessed the four myriads (that is, forty thousand), which are fashioned by the perfect reason of each progress; for the perfect gathers together the reasons of both the beginning and the end, which are joined in an inseparable connection.

15. How our natural law is enacted. ^C

16. What is the mode of operation of each natural faculty, for the sake of which we have also received the natural faculties.

17. Of divine things, it is clear that...

18. In how many ways the general discernment according to virtue is divided.

19. He calls that which has begun "evil," for it has its origin, a movement against nature, from us. But the good is not "begun," for the good is by nature prior to every age and time. He calls the good "intelligible," which is the only thing we ought to understand: and he calls the evil "not intelligible," which is the only thing we ought not to understand. He calls the good "utterable," for it is the only thing we ought to speak of: and the evil "not utterable," which is the only thing we ^D ought not to speak of. And he calls that which is coming into being the good;

for it exists by nature as unbegotten, yet by grace, through his love for mankind, he suffers it to come into being from us, for the deification of us who perform it, speak of it, and understand it—which is the only thing that ought to be. ^A And he calls evil that which is corruptible, for the nature of evil is destruction, nowhere having existence. He calls good that which is incorruptible, as it is always being and never ceases to be; and it is the guardian of all in whom it may arise. Thus, we seek this with the faculty of reason; we desire it with the faculty of desire; we keep it unviolated with the faculty of irascibility; we discern it from its opposites through knowledge with the faculty of perception; we make it manifest to those who do not know it by speaking of it with the vocal faculty; and we multiply it with the generative faculty. Or rather, to speak the truth, we ourselves are multiplied according to its principle.

Another mode of contemplation.

20. He calls the first *apatheia* (imperturbability) the motion of the body that is untouched by sin in its operation.

21. He calls the second *apatheia* the perfect casting away of passionate thoughts from the soul, by which the motion of the passions is withered according to the first *apatheia*, not having the passionate thoughts which kindle it toward operation.

22. He calls the third *apatheia* the perfect stillness ^B of desire regarding the passions, on account of which even the second is born, consisting in the purity of thoughts.

23. He calls the fourth *apatheia* the perfect laying aside, in the mind, of sensory phantasies; according to which the third has taken its birth, lacking the phantasies of sensory things, which fashion within it the images of the passions.

24. The thousand is a unit needing no perfection; for it possesses the principle of all the units before it, and of itself most fully. Therefore, even when added to units again, it is not productive of a decade. For the unit receives the composition of the thousand, as those who have accurately understood the power of numbers say. Deservedly, therefore, the triad of thousands signifies the trinitarian principle according to theology, ^C which he who has abandoned the intelligible Babylon possesses, and goes forth with perfect virtue.

25. The letter Tau is a type of the cross, preserving the impression of the cross in its shape. The Iota, as an initial of Jesus, signifies that terrible name. But the Eta, also as an initial, indicates a most steadfast character of virtue. Having mystically transferred these to a number, the patriarch Abraham went out confidently against the opposing powers, as if having three hundred and eighteen servants—that is to say, ^D the principle of theology which describes the whole through the T, and the ineffable mystery of the divine incarnation of the Word.

designated equally by tens, and finally by the perfect mode of a stable habit of virtue, by the number eight. These are the sprouts of the heart, as Scripture calls them, which are divine by the gift of grace, and which the Word has named "home-born."

^B 27. How the number three hundred signifies perfect providence.

28. The number one hundred is the tenfold multiplication of the divine decad of commandments; for it is the perfect comprehension of all of them, each being activated through the others. And the comprehension of the divine commandments, each being activated through the others, is perfect and entire virtue. Perfect virtue is the unerring knowledge of the truth. Therefore, the mind that is unerring and instructed in this knowledge has become "hundred-year-old," like the great Abraham, himself considering even his own body as dead—that is, he sees the life according to sense-perception failing, and brings forth the joy that lives in the Spirit. For this is what the name Isaac signifies. It belongs to providence, therefore, not only to preserve nature according to its own principle, but also to make it divine, by having the disposition perfectly imbued with virtues according to an acquired wisdom; with which, when nature is contemplated, it is in its nature to produce the number three hundred.

29. The number six has the demonstration of the perfection of the existence of beings. But the number ten signifies the constitution of the well-being of beings. Whoever therefore has multiplied the six by ten parts, or the ten by six, makes the number sixty, which signifies the state of the well-being of beings according to activity.

30. Namely, flesh and sense and world.

31. Who, according to the anagogical sense, are the Hebrew manservant and the Hebrew maidservant?

32. When freedom from passion (which the seventh year signifies) has arrived, the logos and the intellect—having received freedom from the service of the virtues exercised in bodily modes—return to the contemplation of their kindred.

33. They say that desire, when it is being exercised, is pleasure, if it is a present good according to its definition. But they call desire, when it is not being exercised, pleasure, if it is a future good according to its definition. And they call anger the movement of madness being pondered, and madness the anger being exercised. Therefore, he who has brought these powers into subjection to the logos finds that desire, for him, becomes pleasure—according to the undefiled union of the soul with the Divine through grace—and that anger becomes an incorruptible fervor, the guardian of the pleasure regarding the Divine; and a sober, controlled madness, which is a state of being completely ecstatic, for the desire-related power of the soul, away from the [other] beings, toward the Divine. Therefore, as long as the world within us lives according to the soul's voluntary relationship with material things, we must not grant freedom to these powers, lest, having been mixed with sensible things as if with their own kind, they war against the soul and take it captive to the passions, just as the Babylonians once did to Jerusalem. For the age, during which the law ordered the foreign-born servants to serve, ^C (the original script column: see facsimile) ^D

^A the Word has indicated the soul’s disposition toward this world, that is, the present life, by demonstrating the intelligible through described historical events.

34. The number seven thousand represents the present and temporal life, adorned by virtue and reason. For since the thousand-fold number, according to the sense assigned to us in the myriads, signifies the natural and written law in its mutual beauty in adorning the life of a pious and religious man, it is evident ^B that by the seven thousand he represents the entire life of the God-loving man guarded by these under time. The three hundred signify the Providence by which those who are governed are provided for, both in what they are by nature and in what they are by grace. The seven signifies the unperturbed state of moral character. Therefore, he who maintains his own life free from the passions, as Providence wills, by means of the natural faculties appropriate to him, and who has seven thousand three hundred and seven menservants and maidservants, goes forth from the confusion of the passions ^C, being immune to the perturbation of vices, and is accompanied by seven thousand three hundred and seven, escaping the confusion of perturbations.

35. He calls it "end," both the unperturbed state of moral character here and the deification that is expected there by grace.

36. He calls them "singers" who have their life according to moral action, crying out the will of God.

37. He says they are "psalmists," not only those who are doers of divine wills, but who also become interpreters to others of the mysteries existing within them.

38. The number eight has both rest and motion: rest when considered ^D by itself—for every even number is motionless, as it has no center—but motion when compared with that which precedes or follows it, for it makes an odd number. For every odd number is by its own nature mobile, as its extremes are equidistant from the middle. Therefore, what the eight does in the numbers under ten, the eighty does in the numbers under a hundred, and likewise the eight hundred in the numbers under a thousand. When considered by itself, therefore, it possesses rest, circumscribing the motion of that which is before it. For the seven, and the seventy, and the seven hundred, are indicative of the temporal property. Since, then, perception has a grasp more of things under time and generation, it remains for the perfected mind to receive the unerring knowledge of eternal and intelligible things, or science; for they define science as the unerring knowledge of the subject. The number fifty, carrying an odd unit after the multiplication of the week by seven into itself, signifies the end of the fashioning of virtues in those who are worthy; for he who has reached the good according to nature, and has found rest in it, is no longer moved regarding the fashioning of virtues; for the unit is the beginning and end of all movement. The number five signifies the science that is upon these; for it contains the reasons of intelligible and rational things, and of sensory and living and existing things, which divine wisdom alone is by nature able to circumscribe, which they define as the unerring science of the truth.

^A 39. He calls the camels of Midian, forasmuch as "Madian" signifies a purging of the belly, true contemplations of things subject to origin and decay. As for the bloody mud, he understands the reasons of Providence which pertain to this transitory and unstable life. But as for human and maternal sweats, he understands the reasons of divine judgment in the present life, which both the reasonings of the mind and the imagination of visible things according to sense gather; from which reasonings, that is, and imagination, the true opinion concerning things is formed, being the existing fruit of the intelligence in the senses. Therefore, he calls those human and maternal sweats the reasonings of the mind brought forth with labor, and the imaginations, the sense which nourishes us after the manner of a mother. The camels of Gesar, that is, of the possession of the back; for the back of the soul is the flesh, as existing for the sake of the soul. If, therefore, we possess the flesh rightly, we shall have it serving the soul for the generation of virtues, and we shall understand only those divine reasons for which it was made; ^B after which, gathering the reasons of visible things as camels of Midian, we shall cover our Jerusalem (that is, the soul), clothing it with divine speculations of things, and making it invisible and insuperable to vices and passions.

40. The number four hundred signifies the nature of the corporeal world, forasmuch as four elements complete it. But the number thirty-five signifies the motion of those who cultivate virtue, according to time and with reason. For if you compose the number seven taken seven times into itself, you will elicit thirty-five. The number seven, therefore, signifies temporal motion; but the five, the knowledge which is with reason. When, therefore, you have joined four hundred and thirty-five, you have revealed the rational knowledge of divine men who live ^C in them according to nature and time.

41. Things that are related to numbers agree with the numbers. The horse is swift in running, having the ever-moving and upward-tending element in its feet. Time is swift in motion, the impetus of which no delay can divide, and the action of those who are numbered by it is sharp and vivid; for the circular motion makes this manifest. For the number six, multiplied by itself, makes itself six times greater. Therefore, the swift, ^D quick, sharp, and vivid habit of virtue in divinely designated men, the doctrine of the Spirit has signified by the symbol of horses and of those numbers which form the sum of them.

42. What is a mule?

43. What is the horse and mule worthy of blame in Scripture?

44. He who gives a preoccupation of knowledge about himself, he says, to those who observe only by the pronunciation of the words which he has stolen, deceiving the ears of the unwise like Absalom, and by his intercourse tyranically defiling as with wives the beautiful and God-beloved speculations and senses of the one who taught him,

^A conforming them to the counsel of Achitophel—which is interpreted as "brother whitewashing"—that is to say, a brother who kisses with deceit, he is shown being punctured by the prick of vainglory, falling beneath the hand of the servants of David in the breadth of the variety of natural speculations, engaging in battle with one whose powers are superior, together with his own temerity. For he is shown neither walking upon the earth, since he possesses no foundation of moral virtue, nor yet having grasped the heaven, as one who has not touched at all upon the truly sublime habit of knowledge. And he dies, having received three darts in his heart: namely, the memory of the wickedness committed against his teacher; the shame over a vainglory and an opinion of knowledge that does not truly exist; and the inevitable expectation of the future judgment for these crimes. For the lover of vainglory, being detected by these stings, dies pierced, whom the evil counselor Achitophel—who, as was just, brings upon himself a death by hanging—precedes in the deed, since he taught children to rise up against their parents and saw his evil counsel dissipated. For he no longer bears to live, who had both removed the veil of his feigned friendship with David, and could not demonstrate the victory of doctrine, while raging with the goad of vainglory and being a false-named "spiritual" teacher.

^B 45. Speculation on the same matters after another manner. 46. Galaad, ^C indeed, because it is interpreted as "transmigration of grief," signifies the labor and affliction of repentance. But because it is "transmigration of testimony," it denotes the conviction of conscience regarding the debt of sins. And because it is "revelation of them," it designates specifically the confession of sins committed. The mind that undertakes this way of life, and sets itself in this state, quickly destroys the empty boasting and its own opinion—which it pursues through some notable work and virtue—which it has itself sustained from union with an alien sense, and returns again to Judea and Jerusalem: that is, to the confession of the divine mercies towards it, and to a perfect imperturbability in the cultivation of virtues; and furthermore, to a peaceful contemplation of things in the Spirit; and besides these, to the divine tabernacle (that is, mystical theology), in which the beauties, hidden entirely from others, are mystically veiled.

47. The number eight, being one of the numbers contained within the decad; and eighty, of those within the hundred; and eight hundred, of those within the thousand; and eight thousand, ^D of those within the myriad—considered in themselves—signify immobility, regarding the relaxation and the tension of the quantity. Therefore, when they are placed in the portion of praise in the Scripture, they signify a perfect immobility towards the passions.

which signify the immobility of the passions and the corruption of vices; for that is the sign of the state of the future age, in which there is no birth of vices, nor any illnesses of the soul. The number forty, moreover, bears the image of the things which are perceived by sense: but the number five, that of the senses, to which the sensible world is subject through natural knowledge. Deservedly, therefore, this present number designates a habit that is unfruitful in the birth of vices, and a perfect abandonment of the affections for divine men in regard to sensible things, due to the relationship or necessity of the senses toward them.

48. What is a beast of burden, when considered in the spiritual sense?

^B 49. It is said that the number five is spherical, and that it returns to itself, in whatever way you might compose it with any other odd number. For to whatever odd number you might add five times as much through composition, you will find the resulting number ending in five. For example: three times five is fifteen; five times five is twenty-five; five times seven is thirty-five; five times nine is forty-five. Thus, therefore, if you proceed to infinity, with any number you might compose five times five, and fifty times fifty, and five hundred times five hundred, and five thousand times five thousand; you will find it returning to itself, according to the number which is gathered; which is a property of circular motion, and of that which is driven in a circle. Deservedly, therefore, those expert in such matters have called the number five round and circular; as it never departs at all from itself, by the reason that it initiates composition with odd numbers. It also signifies general knowledge, which, by constant motion around the universality of things, never departs from itself in the act of knowing, and encompasses all things by the power of the Word.

50. Another highly accurate and well-ordered spiritual understanding, in summary of all that has been said.

51. Wisdom, by delivering the mind from the passions through chastisement, creates fear, and by the knowledge of the virtues, inciting the mind to behold the things to come, it produces love and desire.

52. Wisdom is fear, in that it is a deprivation of what those who do not desire it flee from; it is also love, which becomes a habit of joyful activity for those who love it.

Question LVI

It is written again in the second book of Esdras: "And the enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin heard, and came to know what the voice of the trumpets was; and they knew that they who were from the captivity were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel. And approaching Zorobabel and Jesus and the leaders of the families, they say to them: Let us build together with you; for we likewise hear your Lord, and sacrifice to Him from the days of Asbacaphath the king of the Assyrians, who brought us here. And Zorobabel and Jesus and the leaders of the families of Israel said to them: It is not for us and you to build to the Lord God of Israel." [I Esdr. IV, 1-3]

^A What, then, do these things signify, and especially the envy on account of which they were unwilling that those who worshipped the same God should build together with them?

Responsio. Judas is interpreted as "confession." The rationale of this term is twofold: that which consists in giving thanks for blessings received, and that which pertains to the upbraiding and examination of things done amiss. ^B For "confession" is used both for the enumeration of divine benefits made with thanksgiving by those who have been blessed, and for the declaration of things done amiss by those who are culpable. Both are productive of humility; for he who gives thanks for good things, and he who is examined for his faults, is alike humbled—the one because he judges himself unworthy of the good things given, the other because he begs to receive forgiveness for his transgressions.

Benjamin, if you attend to the precise force of the Hebrew word, signifies "mourning" or "groaning of the mother," or "measure of the mother," or "son of the right hand," or "building of the people." Whoever, therefore, confesses in one of these ways mentioned is of the tribe of Judah; and whoever mourns for the sake of virtue, or who, like a mother, possesses justice, rightly and prosperously defining his own life and reason; or who, because of an abundance of virtue or ^C copious streams of doctrine in the word, is a way to salvation and an edification, belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. For the Word knows such men as these who receive freedom from the captivity of the passions, and who depart from the attachment to sensible things; and, having attained the habit of impassibility, they are able to build a house to the Lord. By "house," I mean the mind built up from various virtues and reasons, both in practice and contemplation, into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The enemies of these men are the four nations that were transferred into the land of Israel by Asbacaphath, the king of Assyria. For he was the first to bring into the land of Israel men from Babylon, and men from Chuth, and men from Hamath, and the Evaites. ^D

^A The Babylonians, then, signify pride, being interpreted as a "confused nature."

The Chuthæans ^B signify vainglory, as they turn the mind away from virtue toward fruitless conceit. For "exstasis" (displacement), when interpreted from these, signifies this name.

The men of Hamath signify the desire to please men. For Hamath is interpreted as the "vision of things apparent," through which the more superficial of observations are distributed to those who falsely labor for virtue on account of men.

The Evaites signify the deceit of hypocrisy. For they are interpreted as "serpentine," in accordance with the first serpent who, through deceit and the mask of friendship, just as with Adam, would alienate those who give ear from the seats of virtue.

Asbacaphath, who settled these in the land of Israel, is interpreted as "a back-captor," that is, one who captures secretly and from ambush. Or again, as "one who captures with bonds." This is clearly the devil, who does everything covertly for the ruin of human nature, and who binds each person with the chains of his own sins. He transplanted pride, and vainglory, and the desire to please men, and hypocrisy into the land of Israel—by which I mean the state of virtue and knowledge—coupling these vices to those who are virtuous and to the learned, so that he might steal away the labors of those who toil in good things, craftily leading the aim of their actions away from the cause to things other than the Creator.

^C And perhaps, knowing that these wicked demons attend the virtuous, the divine Apostle persuaded the Corinthians, writing that he did not come to them in speech of flattery, as a hypocrite (for perhaps they held such thoughts about him), nor under a pretext of greed, as a man-pleaser.

^A For he kept silent about his pride, having manifested the characters of humility: the myriad persecutions, the sufferings of the body, the extreme poverty, and the lack of skill in the spoken word. For even if he was unskilled in speech, he says, yet he was not in knowledge.

Those hearing the voice of the trumpets came to know what the voice was; and they recognized that those from the captivity were building the temple for the Lord God of Israel. These trumpets ^B are the discourses about virtue and knowledge, the voice of which the unclean demons hear. And the voice of these discourses consists of the works of the virtues and the stability of one’s conduct, for those who have returned from wickedness to virtue through repentance, and have risen from ignorance to the knowledge of God.

And they approached Zerubbabel and Joshua and the heads of the clans and said to them, "Let us build with you; for we hear your Lord just as you do, and we sacrifice to Him." Zerubbabel is the practical mind; and Joshua, the contemplative. The heads of the clans are the powers of the soul, from which originate the ways of virtue and the ^C discourses of knowledge. To these, the unclean demons of pride and vainglory, of man-pleasing and hypocrisy, approach, saying, "Let us build with you the temple of the Lord." For none of these wicked demons ever hinders the zeal of the virtuous person; but rather, by deceitfully pruning the deficiencies of his virtues, they suggest intensities to those who are struggling, eagerly working alongside them so that they might draw the entire attention of the one practicing [the virtues] to themselves—the equal balance of moderation being lost—and so that he might unwittingly incline toward another dwelling-place ^D than what he had intended.

Therefore, these rascals say, "Just as you do, we hear your Lord." For they do not hate temperance, nor do they spurn fasting, nor the distribution of money, nor hospitality, nor psalmody, nor the work of reading, nor the higher studies, nor sleeping on the ground, nor vigils, nor all the rest of the things by which a life according to God is distinguished, as long as the intent and the cause of those things that are done is directed toward them. For the practitioner may perhaps detect other demons more quickly and easily escape the harm from them; but who, among the very exalted souls, can detect these—who appear to be assisting the course of virtue and, as it were, desiring to build the temple of the Lord together—without the aid of that living and active word [cit. Heb. IV, 12] that pierces even to the division of soul and spirit? That is, [the one] who can distinguish which of the works or thoughts are psychical—that is, the natural types or movements of virtue—and which happen to be spiritual—that is, those that are above nature, those that characterize God, and those given to nature by grace.

^A of joints and marrow, knowing that discernment which is altogether fitting or unfitting for the spiritual principles of [those who follow] the way of virtue. And discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart, that is, the hidden relations at the root of the aforementioned [matters] and the invisible causes of these within the soul. "For there is no creature that is not manifest" 45 in us, evidently—to those who seem to remain unseen, but [to whom] all things are naked and laid bare; not only things done and thought, but even now things to be done and to be thought by us. For regarding a future action or thought, the text says, "There is no creature that is not manifest"—it does not speak of a creature that has been made and is known to us and to others, much less to God, who foreknows all the infinite ages—past, present, and future—and by nature anticipates the knowledge of the origin of all things, and has not the knowledge of things from the things themselves, but has had it antecedently in Himself. For He alone exists by nature as the knowledge of things, as the cause of things, and again is Himself knowledge, as He who has His own knowledge by nature above any cause; and, being above this, He exists as the infinite beyond all infinity in every respect, according to every principle, so that He is the inaccessible Creator of even this so-called knowledge, and of every other knowledge that can be named or conceived.

^B Who, not having this Word dwelling within the depth of the heart, will be able to escape the hidden snares of the demons' hypocrisy against us, and stand alone without any association, and, like the great Zerubbabel and Joshua and the leaders of the families, build the temple of the Lord? They said explicitly, with a loud voice, to the seductive spirits of pride, vain-glory, sycophancy, and hypocrisy: "It is not for us and you to build a house to the Lord our God; for we alone will build for the Lord of Israel." For he knows that the mixing in of these brings ruin and corruption to the whole building, and the pillaging of the grace of the beauty of divine gifts. For no one who has any of the aforementioned demons as an assistant in the virtue being cultivated can build it for the Lord; for he does not have God as the end of the things being done, looking to whom he would carry out this work. Therefore, it was not out of envy that those who returned from captivity did not admit the Babylonians, the Cuthites, the Hamathites, and the Evites to build the temple of the Lord along with them; but because they had detected the cunning snares of the demons under the guise of love, striving to ensure that the bait of the good did not bring them to the death of sin.

^D Would that we, too, might always say to those in the fashioning

of an invisible, deceptive appearance of spiritual friendship who assault us—spirits of wickedness—when they say: “Let us build the temple together with you for our Lord,” we might say: “It is not for you and us to build a house to the Lord our God; for we alone will build for the Lord of Israel.” We say “alone,” first, because since we have been freed from the spirits who warred against us through the deficiency of virtue—from whom we have departed—we do not wish, by being exalted through your excesses, to fall back into error, and to be struck by a fall so much more grievous than the former one, as the former had an easy hope of return, since the weakness itself invited pardon; whereas the latter will be either impossible or difficult, since we would be hated on account of pride, and we would be doing something "more dextrous" than what is dextrous. And again, we do not say “alone” because we have the holy angels as helpers of what is good; rather, because we have God Himself, who manifests Himself in us through the works of righteousness, and who builds us up as a holy temple for Himself, immune from every vice. ^A

SCHOLIA

1. Confession is said in two ways. 2. Every confession, he says, humbles the soul: one by teaching it that it has been justified by the gift of grace, the other by instructing it, through the sadness of its own mind, that it is held liable for sins. ^B 3. He who mourns for his former sins, and possesses in perfection the faith in God that always gives birth to righteousness, and provides his own life and reason as a pattern of all virtue, has established himself as part of the spiritual tribe of Benjamin—showing his birth in accordance with God to be a work of the will, and not of necessity. For he is a "son of the right hand" who voluntarily undergoes the birth according to the will of God. ^C 4. He calls pride the "Babylonians," as it were a confused state of mind and prudence. For the passion of pride is composed of two ignorances. When two ignorances come together into a union, they produce one confused prudence. For that man alone is proud who is ignorant both of divine assistance and of human weakness. Therefore, pride is a privation of both divine and human knowledge. For by the negation of the truly ultimate things, one false affirmation exists. ^D 5. He calls the "Cuthæans" vain glory. For vainglory is an abandonment of the goal that is according to God, and a transition to another goal that is not divine. For he who labors under the vice of vainglory practices virtue not for the sake of the divine glory, but for his own, and through his own labors he purchases the empty praises of men. 6. He calls "Amath" the vice of men-pleasing. For he who labors in this cares only for customs exposed to the eyes of men, and for the speech of flatterers, so that with the former he may capture their sight, and with the latter their hearing—for those who are pleased or astonished only by what is seen and heard, and who define virtue solely by such perception. Therefore, he calls men-pleasing...

^A a demonstration of habits and words aimed at gaining the esteem of men for the sake of virtue. 7. Evagrius speaks of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is a feigned friendship, or hatred hidden under the guise of friendship; it is enmity exercised through the cultivation of benevolence, or envy imitating the character of love; or a sin-loving disposition that ensnares those who look upon it by assuming the habits belonging to virtue; or a life that possesses the outward decency of virtue as a mask, but not in reality; or a pretext of justice consisting only in opinion; or a mode of moral philosophy concealing within itself the hidden deprivation of the soul’s virtue; or a seduction having the appearance of truth, which those who mimic the serpent by the wickedness of their habits practice.

8. The Cause and Author of all things that exist in the created order is God. Therefore, he who labors unto virtue and knowledge, and who does not extend his self-awareness in proportion to the degree of his progress in grace by acknowledging his own insufficiency, does not escape the stain of pride. But he who cultivates goodness for the sake of his own glory, being transfixed by the nail of vainglory, has ^B preferred himself to God. And he who performs or pursues virtue with an eye toward being seen by men, laboring under the vice of adulation, has held the praise of men in far higher esteem than that of God. But he who, solely for the sake of deception and fraud, artfully dyes his habits with the outward integrity of virtue and covers his wicked disposition of mind with the visible appearance of piety, buys virtue with the deceit of hypocrisy. Thus, the spiritual Asbacphath has turned the intention of each of these away from the cause and Author of all.

9. The words of God, if uttered merely by the mouth, are not heard, because they lack the action of the speaker, which serves in place of a voice. But if you utter the commandments by performing them in deed, then the demons, pining away at such a voice, ^C are destroyed, and men, by the progress of the works of righteousness, build up the divine temple of the heart.

10. He takes Zerubbabel here as a type of the practical mind, as being more warlike; and Jesus as a type of the mind intent on contemplation, as a priest, and one appointed to that office so that he might always offer supplications and vows to God.

11. By the division of soul and spirit, he describes the difference between the virtues of nature, for which we possess the ^D reasons naturally, and those which are of the Spirit, for which we receive grace as a gift; for the reasoning faculty clearly distinguishes between them.

12. The marrow is the divine Word, nourishing the divine thoughts within us as if they were bones, which in turn nourish the body of the virtues. And the joint is the manner of action, according to which the union of the soul’s reasons with the divine reasons is accustomed to take place for the fulfillment of a single virtue.

13. Thoughts and intentions, of which the Word is the judge, he says, are the affections of the soul regarding divine reasons and rationale, and the causes of these affections themselves. For a thought ^A moves the memory, whose property the affection is; while the intention looks towards the end, which characterizes the cause.

14. Knowledge according to essence, he says, is God; but the mind, to which it is natural to fall under knowledge, clearly precedes all knowledge. Therefore, God is also above this, because He exists infinitely above every mind, under which it is natural for knowledge in any way to fall.

15. Those who wage war through the deficiency of virtue are the demons, who teach fornication and drunkenness, avarice and envy, and such things; but those who wage war ^B through excess are those who teach conceit, vainglory, pride, and such things; and through the things that are on the right hand, they secretly and treacherously introduce the things of the left.

16. The definition of virtue is the union of human weakness with the divine power through recognition. Whoever, therefore, defines himself by the weakness of nature has not reached the goal of virtue; because of this, he transgresses, not yet having received the power ^C that strengthens the weakness. But he who arrogantly sets his own weakness in the place of divine power, as if it were strength and power, has passed beyond the goal of virtue; and because of this, he transgresses, not acknowledging that he is doing so, as if he were above that which is subsequent. For he considers his transgression to be virtue. He is therefore more worthy of pardon who limits himself to natural weakness (who rather suffers the loss of virtue through sloth), than he ^D who, instead of divine power, exhibits his own weakness as strength for the doing of what is required, having rather caused the loss through arrogance.

QUESTION LVII.

Response. I recognize that the prayer of the righteous man is fervent in two ways. In the first way, when the one who prays makes an offering of this prayer to God while fulfilling the commandments; and [does so] not merely by bare word and the empty sound of the tongue’s voice, letting the prayer lie idle and unsubstantial, but rather renders it efficacious and living, animated by the modes of the commandments. For the substance of prayer and supplication is clearly the fulfillment [of virtue] practiced through the virtues; through which the righteous man possesses a strong and all-powerful prayer, rendered efficacious by the commandments and exercised by them. In the second way, when the one who is in need of the righteous man’s prayer provides the works of prayer; for certainly, when he amends his former life and his honorable conduct…

...the end of the pleasure of the soul. Or rather, the soul, as the source of the inclinations concerning the senses, ^A fights unceasingly; it is whole, as it keeps the habits that fight against the dispositions opposed to the senses, unharmed in the stability of the identity according to the Word; I speak of practice and contemplation as held together, with neither one separated from the other; but practice reveals the knowledge of contemplation through its ways, and contemplation in no less degree is fortified by the virtue of the Word of practice. Since, therefore, the Word has shown that both sadness and pleasure are twofold—the one consisting in the soul, the other in the sense—come, let us also examine their causes more concisely. The mode of the sadness that is in the soul is twofold: the one arises from one's own transgressions, the other from the transgressions of others. The cause of such sadness is clearly the pleasure of the sense of the one who is saddened, or of those for whose sake he is saddened. For according to an accurate account, there is almost no sin at all among men that does not have as the origin of its own birth an irrational relation of the soul toward the pleasure of the sense. The cause of the pleasure that is in the soul is clearly the sadness that is in the sense of the one who rejoices and exults over his own or others' virtues; for according to an accurate account there is almost no virtue at all among men that does not have as the origin of its own birth a deliberate divorce of the soul from the sense.

^B Now that the soul has acquired a disposition toward the sense for the sake of virtue, the sense will of necessity be in labors; it does not have the power associated with the soul according to its deliberate relation, which invents pleasant things; but on the contrary, it manfully strikes down the insurrection of its own natural pleasures through self-restraint; and toward the bringing on of labors that are against nature and involuntary, it remains entirely relentless through patience; and it does not depart from the God-befitting worth and glory according to virtue on account of an unsubstantial pleasure. And toward the perception of labors, through indulgence of the flesh on account of the painful sense, it does not fall away from the height of the virtues. The cause of the sadness that is according to the sense is the complete preoccupation of the soul with things according to nature. The unnatural activity of the soul clearly causes the pleasure that is according to the sense, as it ^C cannot have any other origin of existence than the soul’s rejection of things according to nature. For the mind and the sense have an operation according to nature that is opposed to one another, because of the extreme difference and otherness of the things subject to them. For the mind has subject to it the intelligible and incorporeal substances, which it is its nature to perceive by essence; whereas the sense has the sensible and corporeal natures, which it also perceives naturally. Since, therefore, it is not possible that the mind towards things related to it, of which it perceives incorporeally...

^A existing as the end of cheerfulness. Or rather, the one belongs to those voluntary movements of the senses, and the other to those passions that happen against one’s will as a consequence.

For sorrow, to speak my mind, is a disposition deprived of pleasures. And the deprivation of pleasures is the bringing on of toils. Toil is clearly a deficiency or a falling away of the natural state; and a deficiency of the natural state is a passion of the faculty which is naturally subject to that state; and a passion of the faculty subject to the natural state is the mode of misuse of the natural operation; and the misuse of the mode of operation is an impulse of the faculty towards that which is not naturally constituted and does not truly exist.

^B Just as the Word, as I have said, knows that sorrow is twofold, so too does it understand that the manner of temptations is twofold: the one according to the will, and the other against the will; and the one the creator of voluntary pleasures, and the other the bringer of involuntary pains. For the temptation according to the will clearly establishes voluntary pleasures according to the inclination, while that which is against the will clearly brings on involuntary pains contrary to the inclination; and the former is the cause of sorrow in the soul, and the latter, of sorrow in the senses.

Hence, I think, our Lord and God, in teaching His own disciples how they ought to pray, urged them to pray against the kind of temptations that consist in the will, saying: "And lead us not into temptation" ^C—meaning those that are pleasurable and voluntary, so that they might not be abandoned and succumb to them—teaching His own disciples to pray that they might not be lead into them. But the great James, called the brother of the Lord, while teaching that the champions of truth should not recoil from the kind of temptations that are involuntary, says: "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials"—meaning those that are involuntary and contrary to the will, and which cause pains. And they clearly show this: the Lord when He adds, "But deliver us from the evil one"; and here, the great James, "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness; and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, ^D lacking in nothing." Perfect is he who fights against voluntary temptations through self-control, and endures in involuntary temptations through patience; and complete is he who performs both action with knowledge, and contemplation not void of action.

For since sorrow and pleasure are divided between soul and sense, he who chooses the pleasure of the soul, yet admits the sorrow of the sense, becomes tested, perfect, and complete. Tested, indeed, due to the trial of the contrary things in the senses; but perfect, as he who, through self-control and patience, with the pleasure and sorrow of the senses, continues in an uninterrupted and constant struggle.

^A For he maintains—whole and unharmed—the states of the soul that are opposed to those warring against the senses, in the stability of that identity which is according to reason: by which I mean action and contemplation, held together and not separated from each other by any divorce, but so arranged that action shines forth as the way to the science of contemplation, and contemplation, no less, is fortified by the virtue of action.

Consequently, since discourse has shown that both sorrow—that is, pain—and pleasure are twofold, and that the one consists in the soul and the other in the senses, let us also examine their causes a little more subtly. The mode of that sorrow which affects the soul is twofold: it arises either from one's own transgressions or from the transgressions of others. ^B Now, the cause of such sorrow is clearly the pleasure and desire of the senses, either of the one who is saddened or of those for whose sake he is saddened; for, according to accurate reasoning, there is hardly any sin at all among men that does not have, as the cause of its origin, the irrational connection of the soul to the sense of pleasure. As for the pleasure of the soul, its cause is clearly the sorrow of the senses that rejoices and takes delight in one's own or others' virtues; for, according to accurate reasoning, there is hardly any virtue at all among men that does not have, as the cause of its origin, the calculated detachment of the soul from the senses.

When the soul has acquired this detachment from the senses for the sake of virtue, the senses must necessarily be in labor—the sense which has no power to invent pleasant things, according to the gnomonic connection of the soul; ^C on the contrary, it manfully repels the insurrection of its own natural pleasures through self-control, and remains entirely unyielding through patience against the introduction of unnatural and involuntary pains, and does not depart from the God-befitting worth and glory of virtue because of some superficial pleasure. And for the perception of pains, it does not fall away from the height of the virtues due to any sparing of the flesh on account of the painful sensation. The cause of sorrow in the senses is the total preoccupation of the soul with things according to nature. The unnatural operation of the soul clearly brings into existence the pleasure of the senses, ^D which can have no other origin or power of existence than that it rejects those things which are according to nature.

For the mind and the senses, because of the extreme difference and diversity of the things subject to them, have a natural operation that is far opposed to each other. For the mind has as its subjects the intelligible and incorporeal substances, which it is naturally constituted to perceive in their essence; but the senses have as their subjects the sensible and corporeal natures, which they themselves also naturally perceive. Since, therefore, it is not possible that the mind, toward its kin—

^A the intelligible, reach through consideration without the sensible which lies between—unless it happens that, joined to the sensible as if by nature, it clings by affection to the exterior of the sensible objects, it makes its own the natural operation of the composite sense, and as if with hands (as it were) it seizes objects of sense. And being involuntarily moved toward these by the inclination of nature, it becomes the sufferer of grief, and a producer of pleasures, by the manifold inventions for the sake of the flesh. But if it were possible for the mind, at the same time as it makes the approach toward things seen, to pass beyond the surface and behold the spiritual reasons of beings, purged of ^B the figures existing in them, it would be the producer of pleasure—the pleasure which is not stolen from it by any of those things perceived by sense; rather, it would constitute pleasure and avoid grief, as being deprived of the natural sensible objects. For where the reason that falls under the sight and presides over the sensible, when it turns toward the objects of contemplation, is altogether lacking in fleshly pleasure, it is truly destitute of the senses, since the flesh, having no sense, is not servant to the pleasures of the senses.

Therefore, as I said, since the mind constitutes grief—or pain, for these are the same to one another—and ^C sense constitutes pleasure, and in turn sense creates pain and labor, and the mind is accustomed to create pleasure: it stands to reason that we, who have our hope of life in God and our Savior Jesus Christ, through the resurrection of the dead, look forward to the incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance preserved in heaven. With the mind we exult with joy inexpressible, and we continually rejoice with the hope of future blessings— ^D and we do not count as grief the pain that comes to the flesh from various trials over and above; for in all virtue, pleasure and pain accompany it—pain as that which is stripped of the more pleasant and softer senses, and pleasure as that which is free from all sensible objects, delighting in spiritual reasons.

It is necessary, therefore, for the mind in the present life (21)—for this is how I understand it, that now it is the flesh that is suffering, on account of the many labors of virtues brought upon it, and the tests—to always rejoice in the spirit and be gladdened through the hope of eternal blessings, even if the flesh is being plagued by the senses; for the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory that is to be revealed to us, as the divine Apostle says.

Thus, therefore, it is for me to say: a human being is able to rejoice in that for which he grieves. For virtue in accordance with the flesh

and in accordance with the soul, as he beholds the beauty of those future things, for the sake of which he has, according to the great David, put to death his flesh day by day, ^A being always renewed in the spirit—since he holds pleasure to be salutary, and sorrow useful. For we say that grief is not the irrational and useless sorrow, nor that which is joined to the many passions and material things, which—when there is an absence of the passions and the material things that he ought not to pursue—makes the soul vanish, as do the impulses for things toward which one should not tend, and the eschewings of those things from which one ought not to withdraw ^B—but rather that sorrow which is calculated and which has been accepted by the divine sages, and which the present word signifies. The pleasure, they say, is that which is at hand, subsisting in the soul when, for the sake of the sense of the rational faculty, it prevails over the sense; and when the course of the soul toward virtue is accomplished without hindrance, bringing as much pain to the sense as it produces pleasure and joy to the soul, which is joined to God through the illumination of its kindred virtue and knowledge.

SCHOLIA

1. He calls it sorrow of the soul. 2. He terms the pain of the sense, sorrow, in this passage. 3. He says the sorrow of the soul is the end of the pleasure of the sense; for it is from this that the sorrow of the soul is constituted. Just as, therefore, ^C the sorrow of the soul is the end of the pleasure of the soul, so the sorrow of the flesh becomes the joy of the soul. 4. Definitions of sorrow or pain, joined one to another in relation to the cause from which it happens, refer to the cause. 5. He speaks of a twofold sorrow: one subsisting in the sense as the deprivation of bodily pleasures; the other, in the mind, as an absence of the goods of the soul. He also refers to twofold temptations: those which are voluntary, and those which happen to us involuntarily. And indeed, the voluntary ones are the parents of the sorrow of the soul, for the soul is tempted by the commission of sin. But those temptations that happen involuntarily—which ^D provide proof of their bodily labors—are the parents of the pleasure of the soul and the pain of the sense.

6. The voluntary temptation, he says, creates the sorrow of the soul, and clearly produces pleasure. The involuntary, however, seeks the pain of the sense, and constitutes the pleasure of the soul and the pain of the flesh.

7. The Lord, indeed, teaches us to pray against voluntary temptations, as they bring on the pleasure of the flesh and the sorrow of the soul; but the great James commands us to rejoice in those temptations that happen to us involuntarily, as they remove the pleasure of the flesh and the sorrow of the soul.

[GREEK COLUMN]

^A ...until it is possible to attain, not having first been emptied as from some vessel of the flesh in the present life, according to the relation of the will toward it, of the law of sin. 21. He calls salutary pleasure that joy which is useful to the soul in accordance with virtue; and he calls useful sorrow that pain of the flesh which is for the sake of virtue. 23. He who is attached to the passions and things to which he ought not to make his impulses. 24. He who does not embrace the occurrences of loss of the passions and things, from which he ought not to make his avoidances. ^B

QUESTION LIX

Of which salvation the prophets inquired and searched, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: *searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.* If those blessed prophets themselves, which were informed by the Holy Spirit, left it to us in writing to search and to inquire—how did they themselves, being informed by the Holy Spirit and writing down what was revealed/to them, inquire and search into what sort of search and inquiry?

*Response.* The faculties for searching and examining the divine matters were placed in human nature substantially by the Creator, at the very moment of its coming into being; but the manifestation of divine matters is carried out by the grace of the Power of the Most Holy Spirit that supervenes. But because from the beginning the wicked one ^C had fastened these powers to the nature of visible things through sin, and there was no one who understood or sought God—since all who partook of nature had the rational and intellectual power circumscribed by the appearance of the sensible things, and possessed no understanding of the things that are beyond the senses—the grace of the Most Holy Spirit naturally restored the power, having torn it away from the material things to which it had been fastened, for those who had not according to their intention and disposition become caught under deception; and having received this power pure through grace, first they sought and searched, and thus ^D inquired and examined; that is, through the same grace of the Spirit. For it is not holy to say that grace alone by itself worked the knowledge of the mysteries in the saints, without the faculties that are by nature capable of knowledge. For otherwise we introduce the holy prophets as not understanding the power of the illuminations given to them by the Most Holy Spirit; and how is the saying true that says, *That the wise man will understand the things from his own mouth*? Neither, indeed, without the grace of the Most Holy Spirit did they attain the true knowledge of existing things by using only the power according to nature; since the supervention of the Spirit would be shown to be redundant to the saints, in no way...

^A 8. Whom does he call perfect? 9. Whom does he call complete? 10. He who has experienced the pleasure and pain of the flesh may be called approved, as one who has made trial of the ease and difficulty of things concerning the flesh. But perfect is he who has overcome the pleasure of the flesh and the pain by the power of the Word. Complete, however, is he who has kept the habits of acting and contemplating immutable by the vigor of divine love. 11. To all sadness of the soul, he says, the pleasure of the flesh precedes. 12. Without the passionate relation of the soul toward sensory perception, he says, there is no sin at all among men. 13. He who subdues the flesh by voluntary labors, he says, gladdens the soul spiritually. 14. The voluntary alienation of the soul from the flesh, he says, is the origin of virtue. 15. He calls the intellectual power of the soul inventive; which, being separated from the relation to sensory perception, leaves the flesh free from the concern of pleasure according to the relation of the will. And it does not endure to console the pain of the flesh, because of the total leisure of the soul regarding divine things in the relation of the will. 16. The putting away of the soul from things according to nature, he says, becomes the start of sensory pain. For when the soul is laboring upon the goods that are naturally its own, there is no power ^B to devise the modes of sensory pleasure. 17. Subject to sense are sensible things, but to the mind, intelligible things. Great, therefore, is the difference between these and those. 18. The mind, he says, as soon as it considers the sense-perception as a power according to nature, becomes entangled in the appearances of sensible things and devises the pleasures of the flesh, not being able to pass through the nature of visible things, being held fast by the passionate relation toward sense-perception. 19. He who transfers the laws of existing things according to imitation toward his own law, is a lover of virtue and cultured, bestowing reason upon the motion of those lacking reason. But he who changes his own law toward the laws of others by imitation is passionate, carrying the power of reason toward irrationality. 20. ^C When reason holds sway in us, he says, of necessity the flesh, having been enslaved to it for the sake of virtue, is tormented. 21. The flesh is of the soul, but the soul is not of the flesh. For the better, he says, is that which is lesser; but not the lesser that which is better. Therefore, since on account of the transgression the law of sin—which is pleasure according to sense-perception—was implanted in the flesh, on account of which the death of the flesh was decreed through sufferings, having been devised for the abolition of the law of sin; he who has discerned that on account of sin death entered in for its own abolition, ever has the soul rejoicing, as it contemplates through various ^D sufferings the law of sin departing from its own flesh, for the reception of the blessed life soon to come in the spirit; which it cannot otherwise attain, unless first from the flesh as a vessel...

...even in some way, once he has not emptied himself as an angel ^A of the flesh in this present life, according to the relation he has to it by the intent of the law of sin.

22. He calls salutary pleasure the joy of the soul which consists of virtue; but useful sadness, the affliction of the flesh assumed for the sake of virtue.

23. He who is eager for passions and things, for which it is not fitting ^B, is incited by them.

24. He who does not embrace those events resulting in a lack of things and passions, from which it is not fitting, shrinks from and flees them.

199 QUESTION LIX

^C *Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,* who prophesied of the grace in you; *searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.* Since the blessed prophets, what they had learned from the Spirit crying out in them, they left behind inscribed for us to inquire and search into; in what manner, as they had heard by the inspiration of the Spirit, and as it was revealed to them, they wrote down, what manner of inquiry and search they were inquiring into and searching.

Response.

The faculties of inquiring and searching are substantially implanted by the Creator, and human nature received them at the very production of the nature of things: but they are manifested by divine grace, when the advent of the Holy Spirit makes it active. For since in the beginning the wicked one had added these powers to the objects of the senses, and had added them to sin, and there was no one who understood or sought God; because they were all sharers of the same nature, and had confined the faculty of the mind and reason to the sphere of the senses, and would not rise in mind above the senses; therefore, the grace of the Holy Spirit restores to them, who had not consulted it but had surrendered to the error of the soul, the power pulled away from the earthly things to which it was clinging; which power, indeed, received by grace, is what they first sought and searched, and then inquired into and searched: for it is by the same Spirit that the grace is received.

For it is wicked to say that grace, ^D of itself, works the knowledge of the mysteries in the saints, without those faculties which nature is capable of. For otherwise we would be introducing as prophets those who did not understand the power of the illumination given to them by the Holy Spirit. But true is the saying which says, "The wise man will understand what is from his own mouth." Nor, indeed, without the grace of the Holy Spirit, did they attain a true knowledge of things by using only the faculty of nature; otherwise, the coming of the Holy Spirit would have been in vain, which existed for the manifestation of the truth.

Question LIX

8. What he calls "perfect." He who has experienced the pain and pleasure of the flesh may be called "approved," as one who has experienced success and failure in carnal affairs. But "perfect" is he who has overcome the pleasure and pain of the flesh by the power of the Word. And "whole" or "integral" is he who has preserved the habits of action and contemplation unchanged by the intensity of his devotion to the divine.

11. That all pain arising in the soul, he says, is preceded by fleshly pleasure.

12. That without the soul's passionate relation to sense-perception, there is absolutely no sin among men.

13. That he who tames the flesh through voluntary labors, he says, rejoices the soul spiritually.

14. That virtue’s genesis, he says, is the soul’s voluntary alienation from the flesh.

15. He calls the soul’s intellectual faculty "inventive," which, when separated from the relation of sense-perception, leaves the flesh devoid of any provision for pleasure according to the relation of the will. Nor does it endure to alleviate the pain of the flesh, because the soul’s total leisure is concerned with divine things.

16. He says that the soul’s setting aside of natural things is the innate beginning of the pain of sense-perception. For when the soul is occupied with natural goods, the power that discovers the modes of pleasure according to sense-perception does not exist.

17. Sensible things are subject to sense-perception, and intelligible things to the mind. Therefore, there is a great difference between intelligible and sensible things.

18. The mind, he says, as soon as it considers sense-perception to be an innate faculty, becoming entangled with the surfaces of sensible things, imagines the pleasures of the flesh, being unable to contemplate the nature of visible things, held hostage by a passionate relation to sense-perception.

19. He who transfers the laws of existing things to his own law by way of imitation is virtuous, rationalizing the movement of those devoid of reason. But he who changes his own law to those of others by way of imitation is passionate, carrying the power of reason toward irrationality.

20. That when reason rules within us, he says, the flesh must necessarily be enslaved to it for the sake of virtue.

21. The flesh belongs to the soul, not the soul to the flesh. For the lesser belongs to the greater, not the greater to the lesser. Therefore, since the law of sin, which is pleasure according to sense-perception, was ingrained in the flesh because of the transgression—for which the death of the flesh was decreed through labors in order to the destruction of the law of sin—he who has discerned that death entered for the sake of sin, even for its own destruction, always has a rejoicing soul through the labors, seeing the law of sin departing from his own flesh, toward the reception of the blessed life that is to be in the Spirit; which he cannot otherwise attain, unless he first [is released] from the flesh...

^A And Zechariah the great prophet, throughout his entire prophecy, in every vision brings in the angel who speaks within him, both revealing the visions and teaching the reasons for the visions, saying: *And the angel who was speaking in me showed me. And I said to the angel who was speaking in me: Lord, what are these?*

Hence it is also clear, that all the saints received revelations from the Spirit, and they sought to have the reasons of those things which were revealed explained; and that the grace of the Spirit does not in any way destroy the power of nature, but rather, having been weakened by the use of unnatural modes, renders it effective again through the use of natural ones, leading it toward the understanding of divine things. For the Holy Spirit seeks and searches out the knowledge of existing things in us; yet He does not seek what is sought for Himself, since He is God and is above all knowledge, but for us who are in need of knowledge. Just as, indeed, the Word becomes flesh; not for Himself, but for us, accomplishing the mystery of the incarnation. For just as the Word did not perform divinely the matters which were of the nature of the flesh without the flesh being endowed with an intelligent soul, so neither does the Holy Spirit work the knowledge of the mysteries in the saints without the natural faculty which seeks and searches out knowledge. Whether therefore the saints were inquiring or seeking out, or searching or examining, they had the grace of the Spirit moving the power of their mind and reason toward the seeking and searching for the salvation of souls; and they perceived nothing spiritual at all without the Spirit, because the human mind is not constituted to apprehend divine and intelligible things without divine light.

For just as it is impossible for an eye to perceive sensible objects without solar light, so neither could the human mind ever receive spiritual contemplation without spiritual light. For the one (light) illuminates the sense by nature for the perception of bodies; the other illuminates the soul for the understanding of things that exceed the power of the senses. ^B The salvation of souls is, properly, the end of faith. And the end of faith is the true revelation of the object of faith. And the true revelation of the object of faith is ^C the ineffable indwelling of the object of faith, according to the measure of faith in each person. The indwelling of the object of faith is established as the return of the faithful to their own principle at the end. And this return to their own principle, at the end of the faithful, is the fulfillment of desire. The fulfillment of desire is the perpetual rest of those who desire, around the desirable object. Perpetual rest around the desirable object, for those who are held by desire, is the perpetual and uninterrupted enjoyment of the desirable object. Perpetual and uninterrupted enjoyment of the desirable object is the perception of divine things that exceed nature. The perception of these divine things that are superior to nature is the likeness of the perceivers with that which is perceived. And the likeness of those who perceive with that which is perceived is the ^D assimilation of the participants to that which is participated in.

^A And the assimilation of the participants, in so far as it is possible, is the deification of those who possess the potential for deification; and deification is, to use a description, the comprehension and end of all times and ages, and of those things which exist in time and age. And it is the comprehension and end of the times and ages, and of all things that are in them, and truly the beginning and the end in those who obtain salvation—an indivisible union. And this indivisible union in those who receive salvation is the excess, for those who are essentially established by beginning and end, of that which is above nature. ^B This excess of those who are circumscribed by beginning and end, 203 which is immediate and infinite, is to those who receive it the operation and power of God, almighty and supra-powerful, that transcends the nature of those who are superior by nature. For this operation and power of God—almighty and infinite—is an immediate and infinite operation, and is a pleasure and joy for those who are acted upon, which is ineffable and beyond the intellect—a pleasure and joy which it is impossible for the intellect or reason or thought of those who are acted upon even to find in the nature of things.

For the nature of these things does not possess reasons superior to its own; just as it does not possess laws superior to its own laws. For I say it is a divine pleasure, which is truly beyond nature—which God by nature is—that is bestowed by grace upon those who are worthy of being united with Him. But the pain which consists in the privation of this, which is inexplicable by words—which God by nature, against the reason of grace, grants to those who are unworthy—is the pain ^C that is determined by the preexisting quality of the disposition of each, as He himself knows, providing the sensation to each as each has been fashioned by himself to receive all that is united to all according to the age of ages; for as each has formed himself to receive it, so he is molded.

But the salvation of souls, as I think, perhaps the greatest of the apostles, Peter, spoke of as the end of faith, ^D the participation in things that are beyond nature. Concerning this salvation, as the Holy Spirit clearly indicates, the prophets searched and inquired, wishing to know what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing to when He testified beforehand of the sufferings and the glories that would follow after these. Therefore, He directs those who desire the salvation of souls, and inquire into the spiritual reasons and ways of this salvation, towards the understanding that the Holy Spirit does not remain inactive in them, nor is He by nature unable to be sought out.

First, He teaches them to seek the voluntary pleasure, or rather, it is the end of joy. Or better yet: the one is the conclusion of sensible gnomical [will-based] passions contrary to the mind, and the other is the conclusion of passions that occur against the will. For sadness, to state my view, is a disposition deprived of pleasures. A deprivation of pleasures is the bringing on of toils. And toil is clearly the deficiency or recession of the natural habit; and the deficiency of a natural habit is a passion of the power naturally subjected to the habit; and a passion of the power naturally subjected to the habit is the mode according to the abuse of natural operation; and the abuse of the mode according to operation is the movement of the power toward that which is not naturally and essentially constituted. Just as the discourse knows sadness to be twofold, as I have said, so also it knows the mode of temptations to be twofold: the one according to the will, the other against the will; and the one the creator of voluntary pleasures, ^D the other the bringer of involuntary pains. For the temptation according to the will clearly establishes the voluntary pleasures according to purpose; but the one against the will clearly sets up the involuntary pains against purpose; and the former is the cause of the soul's sadness, the latter of the sensation's pain. Whence I imagine our Lord and God, teaching His own disciples how one ought to pray, bids them to deprecate the kind of temptations which are according to the will: "And lead us not into temptation," clearly teaching His own disciples to pray that they not be abandoned to experience the voluptuous, gnomical, and voluntary temptations. But the great James, the one called the brother of the Lord, teaching the fighters for the truth not to be distraught by the kind of involuntary temptations, says: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations," plainly those that are involuntary and against the will, and productive of toils. And they clearly show, with the Lord there adding: "But deliver us from the evil one," and here the great James saying: "Knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience; but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing." A man is perfect who fights against voluntary temptations through self-control, and perseveres in involuntary temptations through patience. And a man is entire who accomplishes action with knowledge, and contemplation not void of action. For when sadness and pleasure are divided into soul and sensation, he who transforms the pleasure of the soul, and accepts the pain of the sensation, becomes approved, perfect, and entire. Approved, indeed, through the experience of the opposites according to sensation; but perfect, as having mastered the sensation’s pleasure and pain through self-control and patience.

^A fighting unyieldingly; integer, as one who preserves the states/habits that fight against the sensations that are opposed one to another according to sense, within the stability of the identity according to reason, unharmed; I mean action and contemplation, joined to one another and separated by no divorce of the one from the other, but so arranged that action shines forth as if by the knowledge of contemplation, and contemplation, no less fortified by the virtue of reason, exists as the shield of action.

Consequently, since the discourse has shown that both sorrow and pleasure are twofold, and that one consists according to the soul, and the other according to sense, let us examine more concisely the causes of these. Therefore, the mode of sorrow according to the soul is twofold: one consisting of one’s own faults, the other of the faults of others. The cause, however, of such sorrow is clearly the pleasure of sense of him who is sorrowing ^B, or of those for whose sake he is sorrowing. For according to the accurate discourse, there is almost no sin at all in humans that does not have as the origin of its own birth an irrational relation of the soul toward the pleasure of sense. But for the pleasure according to the soul, the cause is clearly the sorrow of sense of him who rejoices and takes delight in his own or others’ virtues; for according to the accurate discourse, there is almost no virtue at all in humans, that does not have as the origin of its own birth a rational divorce/distinction of the soul from [the pleasure of] sense.

Now, once the soul has acquired the disposition for virtue against sense, of necessity sense will be in labors, not having the power that invents pleasures, which is joined to it by the gnomic relation of the soul; but on the contrary, it manfully repels the insurrection of its own natural pleasures through self-control, and remains entirely unyielding through patience against the imposition of labors that are contrary to nature and involuntary; ^C and it does not withdraw from the God-befitting value and glory according to virtue, on account of the fleeting pleasure. And regarding the reception of labors, through indulgence of the flesh on account of the painful sensation, it does not fall away from the height of the virtues.

The cause of sorrow according to sense is either a complete preoccupation with things according to nature of the soul. The pleasure according to sense is clearly brought into being by the operation of the soul that is contrary to nature, being able to have no other origin of its existence than the casting off by the soul of things according to nature. For mind and sense have an operation according to nature that is opposed to one another, on account of the extreme difference and otherness of the things subject to them. For the one has as its subjects the intelligible and incorporeal substances, which it is its nature ^D to perceive according to their essence; but the other has the sensible and corporeal natures, which it also naturally perceives. Since, therefore, it is not possible to [perceive] the things akin to it...

pass by—that is, to go beyond—the intelligible [realities] to the mind, without the contemplation of the sensible things that are set before us in the middle; and since it is absolutely impossible for this to be produced without the sense that is joined to the mind, and is by nature akin to sensible things; then, if [the mind] strikes against and becomes entangled in the surfaces of visible things, thinking that the sense united to it is its natural operation, it has deservedly fallen away from the intelligible things that are by nature, and with both hands—as the saying goes—is gripped by the bodies of the objects; being moved by them contrary to reason, because of the sense that has prevailed over it, it becomes the generator of sorrow in the soul, which is tortured by frequent scourges of conscience. And it clearly becomes the maker of pleasure according to sense, being fattened by the inventions of ways that provide for the flesh.

But if, cutting through the surface of visible things simultaneously with the striking of sight, it gazes upon the spiritual reasons of the things that exist, being purged of the figures [that are] upon them, it has produced the pleasure of the soul, being mastered by none of those perceived by sense; and it has constituted the sorrow of the sense, being deprived of all sensible things according to nature. For where the word [reason] leads the sense in the contemplation of visible things, the flesh is deprived of all pleasure according to nature—not having the sense free, and released from the bonds of the intellect, for the service of the pleasures that belong to it. Therefore, as I said, since sensory pleasure produces the sorrow or labor of the soul—for both are the same thing—and [since] spiritual pleasure is naturally wont to create the sorrow or labor of the sense; it is fitting that he who through the resurrection of the dead longs for the inheritance [in Christ], which is "incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven," possesses exultation in his soul, and rejoices with joy unspeakable, being continually made glad by the hope of future goods; while according to the flesh and the sense, he has sorrow—that is, the labors that arise in it from various temptations, and the pains that follow them. For with every virtue, pleasure and pain accompany it: the pain of the flesh, which is deprived of the pleasant and softer sense, and the sorrow of the soul, which delights in the pure reasons in the spirit, away from every sensible thing.

It is necessary, therefore, that the mind in the present life—for this is what I understand by "now"—even while grieving in the flesh because of the many labors of the temptations brought upon it for the sake of virtue, should always rejoice and delight in the soul because of the hope of eternal goods, even if it has the sense oppressed. For [as] the divine Apostle says, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us." Thus, to speak in my own way, a human being is able to rejoice in that for which he grieves. For in respect of virtue, according to the flesh...

^A What is that which has been done? It is that which is to be done: as if one were wisely indicating the beginning from the end. For now, after the transgression, the end is no longer shown from the beginning, but the beginning from the end. Nor does anyone seek the reasons for the beginning, but rather he searches out those things which lead those who are in motion toward the end.

But if anyone, because the word "seek" is frequently used in Scripture—as in the passage, "Seek peace and pursue it," ^B or "Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice"—should think this understanding not sufficiently firm, he will have faith in these sayings if only he prudently turns his mind to those very same passages. For Scripture, by saying "Seek peace and pursue it," has admonished that the beginning must be pursued in the end. It also commanded that the kingdom, which is the beginning (or rather, the principate), should be sought through justice as the end of that kingdom. For the kingdom of God is prior to all justice; or rather, to speak more truly and properly, it is justice itself, toward which, as to an end, every motion of the zealous man strives. For justice is the equal distribution according to each person's merits: but the kingdom is a lawful prefecture. Therefore, justice and the kingdom are the same; through this, as through an end, it is easy for those who wish to hasten to the beginning (namely, the kingdom). For justice is the kingdom made effective and active, and the kingdom is justice confirmed by works. For to preside lawfully over things is to distribute to each what is due according to merit. And to distribute to each what is due according to merit is the lawful prefecture of things. Therefore, no clarity of the scriptural sense has the variety of diction disturbed, among those, at least, who wisely understand divine matters.

^C But if anyone should wish to interpret in another way that which is called seeking and scrutinizing, and that which is called inquiring and thoroughly scrutinizing, he will discover that seeking and inquiring pertain to the mind, while scrutinizing and thoroughly scrutinizing pertain to the reason. For the mind seeks naturally, and the reason scrutinizes according to its nature. For seeking (to embrace it in a brief definition, as it were) is the simple motion of the mind toward some object that can be known, when it is accompanied by desire: but scrutiny is the simple discretion of the reason regarding some object that can be known, accompanied by some thought or intention. ^D Thorough inquiry, moreover, is a wise motion of the mind, endowed with knowledge, toward some object that can be known, with a specific desire of this sort: but thorough scrutiny is the act of the reason, regarding some object that can be known, with a certain specific kind of thought or intention and discretion. By transferring these definitions to divine matters, we say that seeking is the primary and simple incitement of the mind toward its own Cause or Author, accompanied by desire; and that scrutiny is the primary and simple discretion of the reason regarding the same Cause or Author, accompanied by a certain thought or intention. And again, that thorough inquiry is the mind's movement toward its own Cause, accompanied by knowledge and a certain fervent desire. But thorough scrutiny is the movement of the reason according to the activity of the virtues regarding its own...

progenitor ^A with a certain prudent thought or intention, that is, discernment.

**QUESTIONS TO THALASSIUS**

8. Whom he calls perfect. 9. Whom he calls whole. 10. He who has experienced the pleasure and pain of the flesh may be called tested, as one who has experienced the ease and difficulty of things pertaining to the flesh. The perfect man is he who has overcome the pleasure and pain of the flesh by the power of the Word. The whole man is he who has kept the habits of action and contemplation unchanged through his intensity regarding the divine. 11. He says that all pain that is formed in the soul is preceded by pleasure. 12. That without the passionate relationship of the soul to the senses, there is absolutely no sin at all in men. 13. That he who tames the flesh with voluntary labors, he says, gladdens the soul spiritually. 14. That the voluntary alienation of the soul from the flesh is the genesis of virtue, he says. 15. He calls the intellectual capacity of the soul the inventive power; which, being separated from the relationship to the senses, leaves the flesh devoid of concern for pleasure according to the relationship of the mind. Nor does it endure to console the pain of the flesh, because the inclination of the mind is occupied with divine matters. 16. The soul’s putting aside of things according to nature, he says, ^B is by nature the origin of pain according to the senses. For when the soul is moved concerning things that are good according to nature, the power that discovers modes of pleasure according to the senses does not exist. 17. Things sensible are subject to the senses; things intelligible, to the mind. There is, therefore, a great difference between things intelligible and sensible. 18. The mind, he says, as soon as it considers the senses to be a power of its own nature, by being entangled in the appearances of sensible things, imagines the pleasures of the flesh, being unable to contemplate the nature of visible things, held fast by the passionate relationship to the senses. 19. He who transfers the laws of existing things by imitation to his own law is virtuous, wisely contemplating the movement of those bereft of reason. But he who changes his own [law] to the laws of others by imitation is passionate; carrying out the power of reason toward irrationality. 20. That when reason prevails in us, he says, the flesh that has been enslaved to it for the sake of ^C virtue must of necessity be tortured. For the lesser belongs to the greater; but the greater does not belong to the lesser. Since, therefore, the law of sin—which is pleasure according to the senses—has been implanted in the flesh on account of the transgression, on account of which, through labors to abolish the law of sin, death was invented for the flesh; he who has discerned that on account of sin, death came in for the sake of its abolition, always has a rejoicing soul, seeing through those labors the law of sin departing from his own flesh, toward the reception of the future beatitude in the Spirit; which it is otherwise impossible to obtain, without first the flesh being emptied, as if from a vessel, of... ^D

^D attained, unless the body be first emptied like a vessel in this present life, according to the relation the mind has to the law of sin.

29. He calls "saving pleasure" the joy of the soul in virtue; and "useful sorrow" the suffering of the flesh for the sake of virtue.

23. He who has become attached to passions and objects directs his impulses toward what he ought not.

24. He who does not embrace the occurrences that cause the deprivation of passions and objects, makes his avoidance of them from where he ought not.

QUESTION LIX

Regarding the salvation which the prophets sought and searched out, who prophesied of the grace that was to come upon you, searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Since the blessed prophets left for us to inquire and search out those things which they heard instructed by the Holy Spirit, how did they themselves, who were instructed by the Holy Spirit and wrote down the things revealed to them, inquire and search out, or what inquiry and search were they making?

Response. The power to inquire into and search out divine things was substantially bestowed upon human nature by the Creator at the very moment it was brought into being; but it is the power of the most Holy Spirit that, by the grace of its advent, brings about the revelation of divine things. Since, however, in the beginning, the wicked one had, through sin, fastened these powers to the nature of visible things, and there was no one who understood or sought after God—for all who partook of nature had their mental and rational faculty bounded by the surface of sensible things and possessed no concept of things beyond sense—it was fitting that the grace of the most Holy Spirit should restore this power, having detached it from the material things to which it was clinging, to those who had not by intention or inward disposition surrendered to error. Having received this power pure through grace, they first sought and searched, and then inquired and examined—through that same grace of the Spirit. For it is not lawful to say that grace, by itself alone, wrought the knowledge of the mysteries in the saints without the faculties that are by nature capable of knowledge. For otherwise we would be presenting the holy prophets as not understanding the power of the illuminations given to them by the Most Holy Spirit; and how would the saying be true, “The wise man shall understand what is from his own mouth”? Nor, again, by seeking through the power of nature alone, without the grace of the Most Holy Spirit, did they attain the true knowledge of existing things; for otherwise the advent of the Spirit would be shown to be redundant to the saints, contributing nothing to them toward the revelation of the truth. And how would the one who says be true,

"Every good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights"? And that which says, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common profit; for to one, he says, is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of ^A knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another, faith in the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healings," and what follows. To which he adds, "But all these the one and same Spirit operates, distributing to each as he wills." He wills, of course, what is profitable to each, for the certain fulfillment of the undefiled desire of those who seek the divine things. For he who seeks divine things without passion will altogether receive what he seeks; but he who asks with some passion, as one who seeks wrongly, will fail to obtain what is sought. For He says, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly." Therefore, neither does the grace of the Holy Spirit operate wisdom in the saints without a mind that receives it, nor knowledge ^B without the power that is capable of the word, nor faith without the certainty of mind and reason regarding things that are future and as yet hidden to all, nor gifts of healings without natural philanthropy, nor any other of the remaining gifts without the habit and power of each that is capable of receiving it; and again, conversely, a man will not gain any of the things enumerated through natural power alone, without the divine power which supplies them. And all the saints clearly declare this, who after the revelations of the divine things seek the reasons for the things that have been revealed. For Abraham, having received the promise of the inheritance of the land that was shown to him, when God said to him, "I am the God who led you out of the land of the Chaldeans, to give you this land ^C to inherit it," did not consider it sufficient to have received that for the seeking of which he had departed from the land of the Chaldeans; but he investigated in order to learn also the manner of the inheritance, saying to God, "Master Lord, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?" Moses also, having received the power of signs and wonders, sought to be taught also the modes and the reasons, according to which the proof of the given signs ought to be established. "And he put in them," says the great David, "the words of his signs, and of his wonders, in the land of Ham." And again, the great David himself says of himself to God, crying out: "Reveal my eyes, and I will consider the wondrous things ^D of your law." And, "Your law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths." And Daniel, that great man of desires, during the divine visions for which he had completed three weeks of days fasting, seeking the reasons, hears an angel speaking to an angel, "Make him understand the vision." But also the great prophet Zechariah, through the whole—

^A For the wise say it is impossible that the account of God should coexist with the experience of God; or the thought of Him with the sense of God. By "account of God," I mean the proportion of the meditative knowledge concerning Him derived from created things; by "sense," the experience through participation of those goods that are above nature; and by "thought," the simple and unified knowledge of Him derived from created things. Perhaps this is known to be the case in every other matter as well; since the experience of this thing causes the account concerning it to cease; and the sense of this thing renders the thought of it idle. By "experience," I mean the knowledge in act itself, which arrives after every account; by "sense," the participation in the thing known, which shines forth after every thought. And the great Apostle, perhaps teaching this mystically, says, "Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away,"—speaking, of course, of that knowledge which consists in account and thought. ^B

This mystery was foreknown before all ages by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. By the Father, through good pleasure; by the Son, in that He Himself is the author; and by the Holy Spirit, in that He likewise contributes the work. For there is one knowledge and cognition of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, because there is also one essence and power. For the Father did not ignore the incarnation of the Son, nor did the Holy Spirit; for the Father, whole in essence, was ^C in the whole Son who was performing the mystery of our salvation through the incarnation—not Himself being incarnate, but taking good pleasure in the Son’s incarnation; and the Holy Spirit existed whole in essence in the whole Son—not being incarnate, but cooperating with the Son in the ineffable incarnation for our sake, and with an energy equal to His own, contributing to that hidden virtue.

Whether, therefore, one speaks of Christ, or of the mystery of Christ, the holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—alone possesses the foreknowledge of it according to essence. And let no one be in doubt as to how Christ, being one of the holy Trinity, is foreknown by It; ^D knowing that Christ was not foreknown as God, but as man; that is, His incarnation according to dispensation for the sake of man. For that which always is, existing from that which always is, above cause and account, can never be foreknown. For foreknowledge is of those things which have a beginning of being through a cause. Christ, therefore, was foreknown, not as what He was by nature for His own sake, but as what He appeared later, having become so according to dispensation for our sake. For it was truly fitting that He who by nature was Creator of the essence of beings should also become the author of the deification by grace of those who had been created and fashioned; so that He who had given existence might also shine forth as the bestower of eternal blessedness. Since, therefore, no thing at all knows itself or another, as to what it is in essence; if—

is the participation in the nature, and the participation is the likeness to what is participated by those who participate, which [likeness] is, according to act, the identity existing via similarity with the participated thing itself. And the identity, possible according to act via similarity, of those who participate with that which is participated, is the deification of those deemed worthy of deification. Deification, furthermore, is—to speak by way of definition—the containment and end of all times and ages, and of all things that are in time and age.

The containment and end of the times and the ages, and of all things that are in them, is the indivisible union of the pure and true Principle with the true End in those who are being saved. And the indivisible union of the true Principle and End in those who are being saved is the passing beyond the natural state of those who are essentially measured by a beginning and an end. The passing beyond the natural state of those who are circumscribed by a beginning and an end is the immediate, infinite, and—to those deemed worthy of this passing beyond the natural state—ever-increasing, omnipotent, and super-powerful operation of God ^B.

This immediate, infinite, and—to an infinite degree—omnipotent and super-powerful operation of God is, according to that ineffable and beyond-reason union, an unspeakable and super-unspeakable pleasure and joy for those who are acted upon. There is no mind or word, or thought or speech in the nature of beings that can possibly discover it. For the nature of things beyond nature does not possess the reasons [for these things], just as it does not possess the laws for things contrary to nature. By "beyond nature," I mean the divine and inconceivable pleasure, which God, who is such by nature, is accustomed to produce by grace when He is united to those who are worthy. By "contrary to nature," I mean the unutterable pain consisting in the privation of this pleasure, which God, who is such by nature, is accustomed to produce against grace when He is united to those who are unworthy ^C. For according to the underlying quality of each person’s disposition, God, being united to all, provides to each individual, in the manner He alone knows, the sense [of His presence], according to how each person has formed himself for the reception of Him who is destined to be united to all.

^D The "salvation of souls," as I think the uppermost of the apostles, Peter, said, being the "end of faith," is the participation in those things that are beyond nature. Concerning this salvation—obviously through the Holy Spirit—"prophets sought and searched, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when it predicted the sufferings destined for Christ and the glories that would follow after these" (I Pet. 1:10-11). Therefore, the Holy Spirit directs to an understanding of this those who search in the Spirit for the salvation of their souls and who investigate the spiritual reasons and ways of this salvation; for it does not allow the power through which they are naturally inclined to seek divine things to remain stagnant and inactive in them. First, it teaches them to seek the [will] concerning sin, or...

^A of the house of God; if it be first at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? What [is meant by], "The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God"? And what [is meant by], "If the righteous scarcely be saved"?

Response. God, who created human nature, did not at its creation endow it with a sense of either pleasure or pain; but He did construct for it a certain power of the mind toward pleasure, by which it might be able to enjoy Him ineffably. But the first man, as soon as he was born, having addicted this power (I mean the natural longing of the mind toward God) to the senses, through the mediation of the senses, in that very first movement, had pleasure flowing innaturally into the sensible realm. To this, God, who cares for our salvation, applied pain by His providence as a kind of avenging power; through which the law of death was wisely rooted in the nature of the body, limiting the desire of the mind which, contrary to nature, was stirred toward sensible things.

From this, because of the pleasure introduced into nature contrary to reason, pain in turn entered from that same reason, bringing about the removal of the pleasure contrary to nature through many tribulations and labors, in which and from which death arises; yet it does not perfectly destroy it, since the grace of divine pleasure is meant to shine forth in the mind. For every labor, having pleasure as the cause of its own generation through prior action, is clearly a debt naturally paid by all who participate in nature. For to pleasure contrary to nature, pain always naturally follows; in all cases where the law of pleasure preceded the generation, so to speak, without a cause. I call the pleasure from the transgression "without a cause," as it clearly did not come into being as the successor to a preceding pain.

^C Therefore, since after the transgression all men had pleasure preceding their own nature’s generation, and there was no one at all who was naturally free from the stain of the passionate generation of pleasure, but all, as a debt, naturally paid the labors and underwent the death that follows them; and there was no way of liberation for those whom unjust pleasure oppressed with tyranny, and who were naturally addicted to righteous labors, and for whom death was the most just accompaniment: it was necessary, for the abolition of that most unjust pleasure and the most just labors induced because of it—by which man was wretchedly torn asunder, suffering, having the beginning of his generation from the corruption of pleasure and lust, and ending the course of life in the decay of death—and for the restoration of the suffering nature, that a labor and a death be devised that were at once unjust and without a cause; without a cause, in that it had in no way possessed a preceding pleasure

^A but—in a manner that for it there could be no successor to a life of passion at all—that as a mean intercepted between unjust pleasure and most just suffering and death, an unjustest suffering and death should destroy utterly the most unjust beginning that sprang from pleasure, and the most just end of nature that followed because of it; and that the race of men might become again free from pleasure and pain, nature receiving back the good fortune it had from the beginning, undefiled by any of the characteristics that are innate to things subject to generation and corruption.

^B For this reason, God, the Word of God, being perfect by nature, becomes a perfect man, consisting of an intelligent soul and a body subject to suffering by nature, in everything resembling us except for sin alone. He in no way had the pleasure from the disobedience as a predecessor to his birth in time from a woman; but he took to himself by his own will, out of philanthropy, the pain that arises because of it, which is the end of nature; in order that, by suffering unjustly, he might destroy the beginning of generation that was tyrannizing over nature out of unjust pleasure—a beginning not having had, for him, the debt that is paid on behalf of it as in the case of other men, and the death of the Lord, but rather [a death] that was hurled against it—and that by death he might make disappear the just end of nature, which had no cause for which it had supervened, and which was being justly punished by him, as the cause of existence, namely unlawful pleasure.

For it behooved—it truly behooved—the Lord, being by nature wise and just and powerful, as wise, not to be ignorant of the mode of healing; as just, not to effect the salvation of man, who through his own will had become liable to sin, by tyrannous force; and as all-powerful, not to fail in the accomplishment of the healing.

^C Perspicuously, therefore, did the Lord display the proof of his wisdom in the mode of the healing, having become man without change or alteration. He showed the equality of his justice in the greatness of his condescension, having voluntarily submitted to the condemnation of nature in that which is capable of suffering; and having made that very thing a weapon for the abolition of sin and of the death that is because of it—that is to say, of pleasure and the pain that is because of it—in which was the power of sin and of death, ^D and the tyranny of sin according to pleasure, and through it the lordship [of death] according to pain. For in the suffering nature, the power of pleasure and of pain clearly exists. For, wishing to escape the painful sensation according to pain, we flee to pleasure, attempting to ease nature, which is being pressed by the torment of pain. And while we hasten, through pleasure, to blunt the motions of pain, we affirm all the more the handwriting [of debt] against ourselves,

^A nor can we possess pleasure [that is] freed from pain and labors.

He clearly manifested the power of His surpassing might, by establishing for nature an immutable origin through those very contraries which He Himself endured. ^B For, by His passion, He bestowed impassibility upon nature; by His labors, relief; and by His death, He bestowed eternal life, restoring it after its return, having renewed the states of nature by His own privations in the flesh; and by His own incarnation, He bestowed upon nature the grace of deification, which exceeds the power of nature.

God, therefore, truly became man and gave to nature another origin of second birth, ending in the pleasure of the future life through a compendium of labor. For just as Adam, our first parent, once he had transgressed the divine commandment, introduced to nature another origin of birth—one consisting of pleasure and lust, yet ending in death through intermediate labor and trial—contrary to how it was at first, and [having] introduced it by a worse counsel and at the persuasion of the serpent, ^C he had devised pleasure not as something succeeding antecedent labor, but rather as that which passes over into labor and trial; and he had all those begotten of him in the flesh after his own manner—because of the unjust origin from pleasure and lust—precipitated by an equal lot with him through labor and trial unto the end [which is] death. So also the Lord, having become man, and having fashioned for nature another origin of second birth from the Holy Spirit, and having accepted the most just death of Adam, which is acquired through labor and trial—which in Him was certainly most unjust, as it did not have the most unjust pleasure of the first parent from disobedience as the origin of its own birth—wrought the destruction of both extremes (I mean the beginning and the end of the human generation according to Adam, as ^D they were not primarily from God). And He rendered all who are spiritually reborn of Him free from the guilt [due] to them, having, to be sure, of Adam no longer the pleasure of birth from Adam, but only the pain, which serves as a remedy against sin, working in them—not as a debt and guilt of sin, but by economy, on account of the state according to nature—the death against sin. And this death, clearly, when it does not have as its mother pleasure (for which it is by nature intended to be a punisher), is manifestly established as the father of eternal life. For just as the life of Adam according to pleasure became the mother of death and corruption, so also the death of the Lord on account of Adam, existing free from the pleasure that is from Adam, becomes the generator of eternal life.

Therefore, because, as I think, the discourse has beautifully distinguished how the birth according to pleasure from Adam, tyrannizing over nature, sent it as food to the death brought about by it; and how, again, the birth in the flesh through the philanthropy of the Lord wrought the destruction of both—I mean the pleasure from Adam and the death which is on account of Adam—thereby vanishing the sin of Adam together with the penalty of Adam. For it was not

^A possible for him to be consigned to destruction by death at the end, he who had in no way touched the beginning from which death subsisted at the end. Since, as I said, the discourse distinguished these from one another, until the time when—for the signs of Adam, both at his beginning and his end, I mean those of his generation and his corruption, were tyrannically lording it over nature—there was no opportunity for judgment to begin, for the sake of the perfect condemnation of sin. But when the Word of God appeared to us through flesh and became perfect man, apart from sin alone, possessing in the flesh by nature, according to the will, only the penalty of Adam; and He condemned sin in the flesh, the Innocent One dying for the unjust; and He turned around the use of death, clearly making death itself the condemnation of sin, and not of nature, then came the time for the judgment to begin, through the reversal of death unto the condemnation of sin.

What do I mean? Sin, having from the beginning seduced Adam into the transgression of the divine commandment, through which it introduced pleasure, and having fastened itself through pleasure into the very root of his nature in him, condemned the whole of nature to death, pushing the nature of those born toward non-existence through death by man. For this was also contrived by the sower of sin, the father of wickedness, the devil, who himself previously had through pride exiled himself from the divine glory; and out of envy toward us and God, had exiled Adam from Paradise, to blot out the works of God and to dissolve those things which exist in the order of nature. For the most filthy head envies not only us, for the sake of that glory which is appointed in God for those who struggle for virtue, but even God Himself, for the sake of that power, laudable in all ways, by which He confers salvation.

^B Consequently, death, which had come in on account of the transgression, was lording it and ruling over nature, having as the basis of its power the pleasure which had begun from the disobedience of the natural generation in its entirety, because of which death itself was condemned against nature. But the Lord, having become man, and not having taken upon Himself the unjust pleasure preceding His birth according to the flesh—on account of which the just condemnation was brought against nature through death—but having willingly accepted death in the passible nature which is His by nature, clearly suffering, He inverted the use of death, so that it might no longer be in Him a condemnation of nature, but openly a condemnation of sin. For it was not possible for death to be in Him, who had not possessed his generation from pleasure, a condemnation of nature, but rather the abolition of the sin of the first parent, on account of which the fear of death was holding the whole of nature in subjection. ^C For if in Adam death was the condemnation of nature, which had pleasure as the beginning of its own generation, then deservedly, in Christ, death—

^A a condemnation, in that nature in Christ received its birth back again, pure from pleasure: so that just as sin, through death, condemned nature to corruption in Adam in accordance with pleasure, and there was a time for nature to be condemned by death on account of sin; just so, in Christ, according to righteousness, nature, through death, should condemn sin, and there should be a time for sin to be condemned by death, on account of the righteousness of nature, which in Christ had completely stripped itself of the birth from pleasure. In accordance with that, the death of condemnation necessarily followed all as a debt. So that the same death, in Adam on account of sin, exists as a condemnation of nature; but in Christ, on account of righteousness, it exists as a condemnation of sin. For he who suffers on account of sin unto the condemnation of nature justly endures death; but he who does not suffer on account of sin, but rather as granting toward nature [a gift] by way of dispensation, for the condemnation of sin, willingly accepts the death brought upon it by sin, for the sake of its destruction.

Therefore, just as on account of Adam, who by disobedience established the law of generation according to pleasure, and brought in for nature the death condemned on his account, all who received existence from Adam according to the law of generation from pleasure necessarily had, even against their will, the death condemned for nature joined to their birth by power; and there was a time for nature to be condemned by sin, as long as the law of generation according to pleasure ruled over nature: so on account of Christ, who completely abolished from nature the law of generation according to pleasure, and of that death condemned on its account accepted the use by [His own] will solely for the condemnation of sin; all who are from Christ, having been reborn by the Spirit through the washing of regeneration according to their will, and having laid aside through grace the former birth of Adam according to pleasure, and having kept the grace of sinlessness in baptism and the power of mystical adoption in the Spirit—intact and undefiled ^C through the law of evangelical commandments—rightly have the use of death being actively employed for the condemnation of sin, having received time to condemn sin in the flesh; generally indeed according to nature, by the gift of grace on account of the great mystery of the incarnation, the very time from the incarnation of the Word; but specifically according to action, by the gift of grace, the time from which each received through baptism the grace of adoption; in accordance with which, being active in the commandments by the resolve of their mind, and having only the birth in the Spirit, they endure through many tribulations and labors the use of death brought upon them for the condemnation of sin.

For he who has been baptized, and has kept the baptism fortified by the commandments, no longer pays death as a debt on account of sin, as if by the guilt of sin; but he accepts its use for the condemnation of sin, that he may be mystically transmitted to the divine and unending life.

^A For if on account of truth and justice, the saints have bravely completed the course of the present life through many sufferings, having liberated in themselves the nature of man from the condemnation of death which is from sin, and having made the weapon of death—which was for the destruction of nature—a tool for the destruction of sin, in accordance with Jesus, the Author of their salvation. For if sin, for the destruction of nature, had death as a weapon in those who act according to Adam; much more, in those who work righteousness through faith in Christ, will nature possess death as a weapon for the destruction of sin.

Therefore, from the time that the mystery of the incarnation came to pass, and He who is God made flesh entirely removed, in those who are born of the Spirit according to Him, the generation of the law of nature that is according to pleasure, the time, as I have said, has come to begin judgment from the house of God; ^B that is to say, that sin should be condemned—sin, which received its beginning of being condemned through sufferings from the faithful and those who have acknowledged the truth, and who have cast off through baptism the generation that is according to pleasure. For these He called the house of God, just as the most divine Apostle Paul bears witness, saying: *But Christ as a Son over His own house; whose house are we.* And Peter himself, the prince of the apostles, substantiates this through the following words, saying: *If it first begins from us*—clearly meaning the judgment—*what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?* As if he were saying: If we, having been deemed worthy by grace through the Spirit to become the house of God, are obliged ^C to show such endurance of sufferings for righteousness unto the condemnation of sin, and, being good, to eagerly undergo even a shameful death like the wicked; what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God? That is to say, what will the end be, or what is the judgment, of those who have not only carefully retained until the end the generation that is according to pleasure, which conquered nature—the generation which is living and active according to soul and body, by will and by nature, and which has taken hold of the origin of Adam—but who have neither received God and the Father who exhorts through the Son made flesh, nor the Mediator and Son Himself who acts as an ambassador for the Father, and who, for the sake of our reconciliation with the Father, surrendered Himself in accordance with the will of the Father unto death for our sake, ^D so that through Himself He might glorify us to such a degree, brightening us with the beauty of His own divinity, to the same extent that He for our sake accepted to be dishonored by our sufferings? For this, I think, is perhaps the Gospel of God: the embassy of God, and an exhortation to men through the Son made flesh, and the reward of reconciliation with the Father, which He generously bestows upon those who obey Him: the unoriginate deification.

^A Therefore, lamenting with the following words, the great apostle says, "And if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" By "righteous" he means, as is fitting, the believer and keeper of the grace given in baptism, who through many sufferings has preserved inviolate the adoption which is through the Spirit. By "salvation" he means the fullness of the grace of deification, granted by God to those who are worthy—a grace which even he who is most steadfast in all divine matters will attain only with difficulty. By "ungodly and sinner," he means the one who is alien to the evangelical grace: "ungodly," because he does not believe in Christ; "sinner," because of the corruption of the passions and the stain of old age living in him. ^B Or perhaps the discourse calls him "ungodly" who is utterly deprived of the knowledge of Christ, and "sinner" the believer who is, in my opinion, a transgressor of the evangelical commandments, which maintain the garment of incorruptibility pure, received through holy baptism. The "station" of these—I mean of the ungodly and the sinner—is in some way understood by those who have attained the mystical knowledge; for the word "where" clearly indicates station, not being devoid of local circumscription. And if the station of the righteous is distinguished against this, the righteous one will by no means be in a "where" according to station, having received through grace a station above "where," which is God Himself, even as the promise goes. For God is not "where," but transcends every "where" absolutely, in whom there shall be for all who are being saved a firm foundation, according to what is written: "Be to me a God defender, and a fortified place to save me." Whoever is not in any way a participant in the power of this "well-being" according to relation, will be like a member of a body that is entirely devoid of the vital operation and virtue of the soul. ^C Again, because God will be the place of all who are saved, uncircumscribed, continuous, and infinite, becoming all things to all according to the proportion of justice—or rather, according to the measure of the sufferings endured here for the sake of justice with knowledge—He bestows Himself upon each, just as the soul manifests itself in the members of the body, acting according to the power underlying each member, ^D and connecting the members through itself so that they exist and live together for the duties of life. Where, then, shall the ungodly and the sinner appear, being deprived of this grace? For he who is not, according to operation, in God, and who does not have the manifestation of that which exceeds all power of the mind in himself... (it could be said, according to the common reason of divine things, that what is unoriginate—as being divine and of the divine order, and a formal participation in God and divine understanding—does not formally include the reason of the created, but does so, as it were, materially; and as it exists in us in the being of an accident, and in a diminished mode, and as it were accidentally, that which truly exists and is substantial is God Himself and the uncreated nature; or, as others prefer, as it speaks of the universal reason of the created). However, this sense of Maximus is deeper, and is more fully explained in the following scholion, because the life of the incomprehensible participation in God is what the infinite nature is as unoriginate, and the very participation in Him (that is, formal and in act, such as it is in the blessed vision). The reason of nature, which he says will be in the balance of judgment—inasmuch as the will is moved toward blessedness or its opposite—is to be understood concerning nature as it was established and as it was rightly created by God, or even restored through Christ and His grace, and not concerning the sick nature, which has grown through vice and is distinguished from grace; of which the magnificent herald Maximus, and by whose office such a famous martyr and confessor, almost the unique champion of truth, carried off trophies throughout the entire East.

^A

being enabled to receive the presence of God according to the state of well-being, where will he appear, having suffered the loss of the divine life that transcends age, place, and time?

If, therefore, in the first sense, affirmatively, the impious and the sinner shall appear somewhere, he will by no means be exempt from a life that is uncircumscribed; [living] a life that escapes all circumscription and is beyond every place. Or if, in the second sense, negatively, "Where shall he appear?"—not having God to contain the life that conducts to well-being, who is to be the place for all those who are worthy. How shall he exist, not having as his place God, whose presence and indwelling in God is the foundation and stability of well-being? And, to speak briefly, if the righteous man is saved with great difficulty, what shall become of, or what shall befall, him who has made no account of piety and virtue during his present life?

SCHOLIA

1. Pleasure and pain, he says, were not created together with the nature of the flesh; but transgression devised the one for the downfall of the faculty of choice, and condemned the other to the dissolution of nature: in order that pleasure might work in the soul the involuntary death of sin, and that pain, through dissolution, might bring about the specific decomposition of the flesh. ^B

2. That by providence, for the chastisement of the pleasure of the faculty of choice, God gave to nature pain against the choice, and death as a result of it.

3. The device of voluntary labors, and the bringing upon oneself of involuntary ones, he says, remove pleasure, which is the movement that brings its activity to a pause; but they do not abolish the power of it, which is inherent in nature like a law for the sake of generation. For the philosophy according to virtue is accustomed to work freedom from passion in the mind, but not in nature; according to which, namely, freedom from passion of the mind, the grace of the divine pleasure which is placed in the mind supervenes. ^C

4. He calls pleasure unjust, [meaning] the law of sin which, from the transgression, has been implanted in nature.

5. He calls the labor and death of the Lord a medium provided for the abolition of the extremes: [the labor and death] of Him who had a birth free from pleasure, and who obtained a death pure from the life of passion for His own divine flesh; in accordance with which, He voluntarily endured birth and death for our sake, in order that, appearing as a mediator, He might take away our birth from pleasure, and the death from a life of passion, and translate us to another life, free from the beginning of time and from an end, which not nature, but grace, creates. ^D

6. That it was altogether impossible, he says, for nature, having been subjected both to pleasure according to choice and to pain against choice, to be recalled again to the life from the beginning, unless the Creator had become man, voluntarily receiving the pain devised for the chastisement of the pleasure of nature according to choice, not having a prior...

origin; by which, in fact, He might absolve nature from the guilt of birth, by assuming a birth which did not have its origin from pleasure and lust. ^A

7. That the Lord’s end is through death. 8. That it is manifest that it belongs to the nature capable of suffering. 9. How we increase the penalty of nature, which is suffering, more than is natural, while we study to soothe it with the medicine of pleasure. 10. He says that the wisdom of God is shown in His truly becoming man by nature; justice, in that He assumed the power of nature to suffer in a way similar to us; power, in that He fashioned eternal life and immutable impassibility for nature through sufferings and death. ^B

11. That the Lord, having taken away from those who are born in Him by grace through the Spirit the pleasure of the law of sin, for the abrogation of carnal birth, permits them to suffer death, which was previously for the condemnation of nature, unto the condemnation of sin.

12. The nature of men, he says, began after the transgression to have the cause of its own generation, namely the conception from seed through pleasure, and as its end, death, which is brought about by pain through the decay of corruption. But the Lord, not having this beginning of fleshly birth, was by nature ^C exempt from the end—that is, from death.

13. That the devil, expecting the nature of created things to eventually fall into non-existence, strove to show man to be a transgressor of the divine command.

14. That the devil, envying God and us, by persuading man that he was envied by God, caused him to transgress the commandment: envying God, so that His all-hymned power might not be made manifest in act as it deifies man; and envying man openly, so that he might not become a partaker of the divine glory in the form of virtue.

15. The general condemnation, he says, of the law of nature that prevailed after the transgression, is the true becoming-man of God; but the specific condemnation of this law is the regeneration of each person according to Christ by choice. ^D

16. He called the unbegotten a manifestation of the Godhead, which is an illumination existing in truth as a species, which has no generation, but an incomprehensible manifestation to those who are worthy.

17. How one must consider "where."

18. He who is not about to receive the pure divine life, in which there is no account of limitation at all, will not be free from pain, seeing that he has a generated life which is perpetually circumscribing—that is, containing—his substance, and not the unbegotten one, which is free from any local position and temporal motion, and devoid of all comprehension (and thus of limitation). For the divine life, as that which exceeds every thought of the mind, although it offers itself to be enjoyed by those who through grace become partakers of it, does not offer itself for comprehension. For it remains

and even in the participation of those who enjoy it, remains incomprehensible, because by nature, as an unbegotten being, it possesses infinity.

^A 19. God, indeed, according to the one and same infinite power of His goodness, will contain all, both angels and men, both good and evil; yet not all will participate in God—who will pass through all things without mixture and exist in Himself absolute—in the same way, but according to the capacity and established reason of each. ^B Those who by their nature have kept their purpose consonant with the reasons of nature throughout, and have made it receptive to those reasons by an effective energy, in accordance with the entire reason of eternal well-being, because of the purpose’s submissiveness to the Divine will, will fully participate in the goodness according to the divine life shining upon them, in the way appropriate to angels or men. But those who have made their purpose dissonant with nature throughout, and have proven it to be ^C one that dissipates the reasons of nature by an energy of scattering, in accordance with the entire reason of well-being, because of the purpose’s antipathy toward the Divine will, will fall entirely away from that goodness, in accordance with the fixation of the purpose upon what is evil—according to which there will be a separation of such people from God, since they do not possess, in the intention of their purpose, the living reason of the good—in accordance with which divine life is of a nature to be made manifest. ^D The balance, therefore, of each person’s purpose in the judgment will be the reason of nature, testing its movement toward evil or toward the good, according to which the participation or non-participation in divine life is of a nature to come about. For God, by His presence, will contain all with respect to being and eternal being; but with respect to eternal well-being, He will contain only the holy angels and men in a particular way, having left the eternal evil as a fruit of the purpose to those who are not such, to be mingled [with them].

QUESTION LXII

What is it that the holy prophet Zechariah says: "And I lifted up my eyes, and I saw: and behold, a flying sickle, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide; and he said to me, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth." And after a few words: "And I will bring it forth, says the Lord Almighty, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, and the timber of it, and the stones of it." What is the sickle, and the measure of its length and width; and why is it flying; and who is the thief and the perjurer; and whose is his house; what is the timber, and who are the stones?

Response

^B The sickle, therefore, is our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word of God; who, in Himself, is simple by nature and always remains the same; but for my sake, through the assumption of flesh endowed with a rational soul, as He Himself knows, He became composite according to person, so that He might neither, through that supreme union with the flesh in person, admit a confusion into one nature, nor, through that supreme natural distinction from the flesh, end up being divided into two sons. By "supreme" I mean, regarding the union in person, a completeness that is utterly indivisible; and regarding the natural distinction, a completeness that is in the same way utterly unconfused and immutable. For the mystery of the divine incarnation does not, because the natures from which it coalesces are different, introduce any distinction of person at all; nor, on the other hand, because of the union in person, does it introduce a confusion of them into one nature: the former, so that the mystery of the Trinity may not receive an addition; the latter, that nothing may exist that is not by nature congenerous and consubstantial with the Deity. ^C For the coming together of the two natures happened into a person, but not into one nature; so that both the unity according to person might be shown to result from the natures running together into one another in the union, and that the difference of those which have come together into the indivisible union might be believed according to their natural property, remaining outside of all change and confusion.

^D For if the coming together of the natures had occurred for the production of one nature, the mystery of our salvation would have been entirely unknown to us; having neither whence nor by what way we could have learned of God's condescension toward us and for our use; whether the flesh had been changed into the nature of the Deity by the divine union, or the Deity had been converted into the substance of the flesh, or finally, whether both had been confused by some kind of mixture to beget another nature different from them, one which would not bear the uninjured definition of the natures from which it exists. For whether the flesh was changed into the nature of the Deity, or the nature of the Deity into flesh, or finally into the generation of another nature apart from these

^A I do not recognize the mystery of the divine incarnation, finding no natural distinction of flesh and Deity in the mystery after the union. But if a natural distinction of flesh and Deity exists in Christ after the union—for Deity and flesh are never the same in essence—then the union of those which have come together is by no means for the generation of one nature, but for one Person; according to which we find no distinction in Christ in any way whatever. For the Word is the same as His own flesh according to the Person. For by that which Christ admits of any distinction, He cannot be one in every way. But as to that by which He admits of no distinction at all, in that way He both exists and is piously affirmed to be one at all times.

Since, therefore, every distinction, in the very way that it is a distinction, always has an underlying quantity of the things distinguished—for without quantity there could never be a distinction, and quantity cannot be declared without number—we rightly take up number for the sole purpose of declaring the distinction of the natures from which Christ consists after the union, signifying that the natures are preserved unchanged after the union, but not dividing the union of those which have run together into one Person by the addition of number. And we declare that we hold this, that when we speak of the Person, we in no way apply number. For in that in which no distinction is understood at all, quantity is not introduced along with it. And with that with which quantity is not introduced, neither does it admit of number, by which quantity is signified. He is, therefore, composite by reason of His Person, according to which He is understood to be one and the same and altogether singular; so that we may both preserve the same and singular Person, and confess the distinction of the natures which have run together into one Person. This is the flying sickle ^B which the admirable Zacharias beheld; for the Word of God has the power of reaping away all vice and ignorance.

"The length of it," he says, "is twenty cubits, and the breadth of it ten." As, therefore, Christ is God and Word ^C, He has been compared by the mode of Providence to be extended to ten cubits—I mean, to the active and divine commandments. For the Word of God is expanded into the decad of the commandments, through which, establishing both the performance of those things which ought to be done and the cessation from those which are not of this kind, He has encompassed the whole movement of the free mind of those who are disposed by Providence. But as the same Being became flesh and perfectly assumed manhood, He is lengthened to twenty cubits on account of the composition of the elements in the senses for the production of the body. For there are five senses, and there are four elements, from the concurrence of which the nature of men consists. And if you compose five upon four, you clearly make the number twenty. And Scripture has termed the mode of the economy ^D the length,

^A on account of its loftiness, and because the mystery of the divine incarnation transcends all nature.

It is called "flying," both because it possesses nothing earthly, and because of its speed and swift motion; and, to express it in a word, it is the abbreviation of the Word, containing the whole salvation of men in the single mind of those who are being saved, existing solely by faith and a good conscience. For nothing is swifter than interior faith, and nothing is easier than to confess with the mouth the grace of what is believed. For the one shows the animated love of the believer toward the Creator; the other, the God-beloved disposition toward one's neighbor. Love, therefore, and genuine disposition—that is, faith and a good conscience—are clearly the work and effect of the interior movement of the soul, which in its origin lacks absolutely any need for exterior matter. "For," it says, "a shortened word will the Lord make upon the earth."

This is the curse which God and Father sent forth upon the face of the whole ^B earth; the true curse of that true one. For because a curse had come into existence through the transgression, the disobedience of Adam, not allowing the commandment to increase unto the bearing of the fruits of justice, by the produce of which the creature might be blessed; therefore, the natural blessing of God and Father came into the curse of Adam, becoming a curse to the curse of sin, in order to abolish the disobedience which had grown up, and the fruits of injustice which it had borne, so that the creature might cease from growing in sin. For as the divine Apostle is witness, for my sake He became a curse and sin, He who looses my curse and takes away the sin of the world.

For two curses were mine: one, which was the fruit of my own volition, that is to say, sin, through which the seed of the virtue of the soul had fallen to the earth; the other, the death of nature, which had justly been adjudged on account of my volition; ^C there, nature was being thrust toward necessity and against its will, where the movement of my volition had been sown according to its resolve. Therefore, God, who established the generation of nature, having voluntarily undergone the curse adjudged against nature—by which I mean death—slaughtered and killed by His own death through the cross the curse of sin that was living in me according to volition; and the curse of my God became a curse and death to my sin, not allowing the transgression to proceed to the bearing of the fruits of injustice; but it became a blessing of the divine justice according to the commandment, and life without end.

This sickle—that is to say, our Lord and God Jesus Christ—consumes the thief and the perjurer, and destroys his house. For the thief and perjurer ^D is in truth the evil devil: a thief, indeed, in that by deceit he stole away the man by craft from Paradise—who was the work and creature of God and a precious possession—and dragged him into this place of wretchedness, the image of the divine majesty, [covering him] with many filthinesses of sins.

seeking to make for himself a private fortune out of alien wealth, wickedly desiring goods that belong to others—not in order to preserve them, but in order to steal and to sacrifice and to destroy (11). But he is a perjurer, as a liar and a deceiver. For having promised to Adam that he would give him the glory of divinity, he cast him down into the dishonor and abuse of irrational animals; and, to speak more powerfully, he has made him more dishonorable than any animal, possessing an excess of beastly abuse in proportion as that which is contrary to nature is more loathsome than that which is according to nature. And having estranged him from immortality, he defiled him with the garment of corruption.

^B The house of this thief and perjurer is the present world of corruption and perpetual confusion, which he—by plundering man—chanced to appropriate to himself; in which he was permitted to plunder, for reasons known to God, who suffered him to plunder for as long as the circular course of time shall endure.

In this world, as in a house, the Word of God, through an ineffable incarnation, having come to stay, and having bound the devil, brought him to naught, and completely consumed the wood and the stones of this world (14), utterly destroying and abolishing the shrines and the altars and the foundations of the idols; by means of which the devil, a god of many forms and strange, the father of error, ^C thought to be worshipped by those who had been led astray, making their senselessness the material for his own glory, as he was himself much more senseless than those being led astray. For what is more senseless than to think that a thing exists by nature when in reality it does not exist? In this house of the thief and perjurer—I mean, of the devil, in this world—the most philanthropic Redeemer of our souls and bodies, having taken up residence in the flesh, overturned the whole [structure] according to the mode of the former error, and again restored the whole according to the reason of true knowledge. And simply to say it: having expelled the thief from possessions that were not his own, He again took possession as Lord through the virtue of his own, having built up in every place under heaven His holy ^D Church magnificently.

Or perhaps the thief is the devil (16), as one who through fraud and guile even until now exerts himself to transfer the desire of each person to himself. And he is a perjurer and a liar, as a deceiver too, who persuades the more light-minded to forsake the goods currently in their hands by the hope of better ones; and through those things that appear pleasant, secretly creates labors for those who obey him. The house of this thief and liar has become the sin-loving disposition of each person’s heart, having, as it were, stones—the hardening and insensibility of the heart toward good things—and wood: those flammable memories of the unclean burning of the passions.

Perhaps the Scripture speaks of wood figuratively (17), meaning desire. For the wood of this—that is, of desire—

^A is recorded as having corrupted the movement of the soul contrary to nature, and as being receptive to every passion, just as woody material is to fire; and it calls "stones" that which is hard and perhaps insensible—that which does not yield to the reason of virtue—namely, the movements of anger. The Word of God, arriving, destroys and puts an end to all these things, along with the house—that is, the disposition—in which they happen to exist. First, through faith, He casts out of it the devil, who once by error had obtained a seat within it; he who seemed strong, He binds with indissoluble chains, and plunders his house, driving from the heart both the habit that inflames the passions and the hardening toward those things that are good and a matter of duty.

Alternatively, peradventure, it calls "stones" the soul's sloth regarding good things, because it is insensible to virtues, and "wood" the readiness and impulse toward things that are evil. The Word, driving all these things out of the hearts of the faithful, does not cease to make peace and to reconcile in one body of virtues those who are far off and those who are near, ^B clearly destroying the middle wall of the partition—I mean sin—and canceling the writing of the debt of wickedness and vice that concerned the mind, and moreover, subjecting the mindset of the flesh to the law of the Spirit. For, as I think, He called "those who are far off" the movements of the soul that perceives through the senses, as they are far off by nature and altogether alien to the law of God; and "those who are near," the intellectual operations and virtues of the soul, as they are not far off from the necessity of the Word. Just as He connects them after the dissolution of the carnal law, joining them together with one another in the Spirit according to the mode of virtue. For He called the law of the body, which is according to nature, "a middle wall," and the relationship—namely, sin—which exists in the law of the flesh with vices and affections, he called "a partition." For the relationship with shameful passions alone becomes a partition of the law of nature—that is, of that part of nature which is subject to passion—dividing the body from the soul and from the reason of the virtues, ^C not permitting the passage to the flesh through the soul as an intermediary in accordance with practice. But the Word, having arrived and having overcome the law of nature—that is, namely, the passible part of nature—abolished the relationship of the unnatural passions within it.

This is my Lord and my God, Christ Jesus, whom the prophet saw in the form of a sickle, twenty cubits in length—for He is comprehensive of all sensory operation which is conversant with sensible things—and ten cubits in breadth; for He who is my God and Savior is the limit and end of every rational movement. For they say that the parts of numbering belong solely by nature to the rational faculty. And the ten is the comprehension and end of all number. Therefore, the reason and Word of God is comprehensive ^D not only of sensible powers, but even of the intellectual operations of God.

^A.

It is called a sickle in the vision, not only as reaping the malice of the rational nature—which he himself has not sown—and gathering the nature which he himself has not scattered, but also as plucking away and putting into the divine storehouses those who are being saved. Furthermore, it is also called this as being readily adapted to the operations of the virtues, and as being grafted onto the practical powers of the soul.

^B But if it seems to anyone that the text of Scripture signifies two persons and as many houses, which the Word or reason destroys, when it says: *And it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name* (Zach. V, 4), let us understand that he has signified, in place of two persons, the two general operations of the devil's deception, which comprise all others—that is to say, the two modes of operations, and he has termed the two houses the two general dispositions of human nature, which are subject to deception and within the ambit of which the rest are contained. For instance, when that wicked one, by the craft of deception, plunders the knowledge of God that is innate to nature, and appropriates this to himself, he is a thief, attempting to transfer the worship of God to himself; clearly leading away the contemplation of the spirit ^C of the soul from the spiritual accounts of created things, and confining the intellectual power solely to the external sight of sensible things. But when, having taken his starting point from natural movements, he uses his skill in deception to drag the practical power of the soul toward unnatural things, and through the enticement of pleasure—by means of things that seem good and honest—firmly attaches its desire to worse things, he swears falsely by the name of the Lord, leading the soul that relies on him toward other things than what it had been promised. And he is indeed a thief, as he steals the knowledge of nature for himself; having as his house that disposition of the soul by which those who err sacrifice to ignorance. He is also a perjurer, as he persuades the practical power of the soul to labor in vain for things that are against nature; having as his house ^D the sin-loving disposition of the mind of those who endure it.

Therefore the devil, as I said, is a thief, perverting the knowledge of nature; and a perjurer, perverting the operation of its practical activity. The house of the thief is the disposition caught up in the unstable and fallacious account of knowledge; and the house of the perjurer is the disposition stained by the filth of shameful passions; which the saving Word of God, entering into out of His love for mankind, makes a habitation of God through the Spirit, introducing the knowledge of truth in place of error and ignorance, and creating virtue and justice in place of malice and wickedness; for which reason He is naturally inclined to display His own presence in those who are worthy of it.

Therefore, in place of the persons, [Scripture signifies] the modes of the diverse wickedness of the one and same wicked devil; and in place of the houses, the dispositions [cont. appears at top of next page]

^A of those who are acted upon by the devilish modes, which the Word has called [affects of souls].

Again, a thief [(25)] is he who, in order to deceive his hearers, pretends to practice the divine discourses, but does not know their power through his works; he who makes a merchandise of glory out of the mere utterance of the tongue, and by the word of his mouth hunts for the praise of being thought just by those who listen to him. And to speak simply, he who has a life inconsistent with his speech, and a disposition of soul contrary to his knowledge, is a thief, as one not rightly manifesting his goodness from external goods; to whom the Word will rightfully say: *But to the sinner God has said: Why do you declare my statutes, and take my covenant into your mouth?*

^B Again, a thief is he who, by his apparent modes and habits [(24)], covers over the unseen wickedness of his soul; by pretenses of modesty, he hides the disposition that is within; and just as that one [robs] the minds of his hearers by the utterance of words of knowledge, so he too, by the mode of his hypocrisy of manners, [robs] the perception of those who see him. To whom it will likewise be said: *Be ashamed, you who are clothed in strange vestments.* And: *The Lord will uncover their habit in that day.* For I seem to myself to hear God saying these things to me daily in the secret workshop of the heart, as one who is held clearly guilty of both evils.

A perjurer, moreover, is he [(25)]—that is, one who swears falsely in the name of the Lord—who, having professed by a named vow that he would institute his life according to the reason of virtue, cultivates pursuits foreign to his profession; and, like me, renders void the covenant of a holier life and of religious duty, being slothful in the performance of the commandments. And to speak briefly, he who has chosen to live according to God, and yet is not completely dead to the present life, is a liar and a perjurer; for he has sworn to God—that is, he has promised the blameless course in the divine contests—but has not fulfilled it, and for that reason is in no way praised. *For it will be praised,* he says, *everyone who swears by Him*; that is, everyone who has promised to God the life according to God, and fulfilling the oaths of his good pledge through the truth of the works of righteousness. Now if he who fulfills his promises and vows has praise—as one who is bound by oath to God and is tenacious of the truth—then clearly he who has become a transgressor of his own covenants, as having sworn by God and lied, must have reproach and be noted with ignominy.

^D The sickle—that is, the Word of God and the Father, seeing that He is essence, knowledge, and virtue—entering into the hearts of these men as into certain houses (that is, the disposition of each one), altogether consumes them, abolishing the previous state of each one’s soul by a change for the better, and bringing each one to the participation of the good in which he is lacking; and it makes him who was a thief of knowledge an unashamed worker of virtue.

^A

He makes the thief of the apparent restraint of morals, a knowledgeable cultivator of the disposition hidden in the soul; and he renders the perjurer a true guardian of his own promises, holy in establishing his faith through the works of the commandments toward his own vows and pledges.

SCHOLIA

1. ^B Behold the mystery; behold the noose of those who posit natures; behold the death of the Italian and of Nilus.

2. We do not say, he says, that there is a difference of hypostases in Christ, because the Trinity has remained the Trinity, and even though God the Word became incarnate, no addition of a person came to the Holy Trinity through the incarnation. But we do speak of a difference of natures, so that we may not, by our word, set forth the flesh as being consubstantial by nature with the Word.

3. He who does not speak of a difference of natures, he says, has no way to prove the confession that the Word became flesh without change, not knowing what is preserved after the union, according to nature, in the one hypostasis of the one God and Christ—namely, that which took on and that which was taken on.

4. How is the Lord a sickle, and what is considered to be his width in cubits?

5. How, again, does he himself, as a sickle, have a length of twenty cubits?

6. Why did the prophet see the sickle flying?

7. Faith in God establishes perfect love through hope; a good conscience establishes love toward one’s neighbor through the keeping of the commandments. For a good conscience does not have a charge against it for a violated commandment; but these things have been arranged only for the heart of those who believe, those who seek true salvation.

8. How is the Lord a curse, and the curse of whom?

(h). Of those who posit natures.

^A 9. That the greed of man, having been incited toward the earth, impelled death upon it even against its will.

10. Who is the thief and the perjurer?

11. Theft is evil, the taking possession of nature through deceit. It is a sacrifice which the devil offers, sacrificing those who are stolen by him; it is the slaughter of the moral choice regarding the divine life, and the complete destruction of memory in relation to it. It is perdition, that ignorance which befalls those being sacrificed through the deprivation of the knowledge of God. For this reason he steals, snatching away the soul and the reason, in order to deprive them of life according to virtue and knowledge.

12. Who is the house of the thief and the perjurer?

13. The reason why the devil is permitted to plunder, one might conjecture, is that the evil of the devil might be known to men through experience, so that being shown, he might be hated all the more; and that to all men, through the trial, the dispositions of one another might be made manifest, so that each might bring forward for himself the advocate naturally born within him, his own conscience. For God does not require to learn through experience, since He possesses essentially the knowledge of all things, even before they come to pass. ^B

14. What are the timbers, and who are the stones?

15. That the destruction of the house, that is to say of the world, has come about through the incarnation, on account of the error.

16. An exposition of the same things according to another contemplation.

17. Another contemplation concerning the same things.

18. He set forth this contemplation as appropriate for those who are driven by passions. For he who suffers from complete immobility toward the good, and is toward the evil, is in all things easily moved. For to be immobile toward both is impossible. ^C

19. The movement toward the senses, when connected with the operation of the mind, produces virtue with knowledge.

20. Why did he call it a sickle?

21. Because the Word is commingled with the practical powers of the soul, just like a sickle in the hand of one reaping, for the destruction of passions and the harvesting of virtues.

22. The thief is the devil, as the author of ignorance; and the perjurer, as the architect of wickedness: having as houses, of the one who is held by ignorance, the seduced mind; but of the one who is wicked and criminal, the soul prone to the lust of sin. ^D

23. A beautiful contemplation, and very appropriate for us, who through vainglory adulterate the glory of virtue and of knowledge.

24. A thief, he says, is also he who feigns the deceptive formation of the virtues of the saints; and by a visible appearance, conceals the wickedness of his own mind that lies hidden.

25. He who feigns knowledge by only the utterance of words, he says, steals the mind of his hearers for his own glory; and he who by his habits...

pretending virtue, he steals for his own glory the vision of those who look at him; and by deceit both, by stealing, lead others into error, the one deceiving the mind of the soul of the hearers, the other the bodily sense of those who look on.

26. What is the perjurer?

QUESTION LXIII

In the same prophet it is written again: "And he said to me, What do you see? And I said, I have seen, and behold a whole golden lampstand, and the lamp upon it, and seven lamps upon it, and seven pouring vessels to the lamps which were upon it; and two olive trees upon it, one on the right of its lamp, and one on the left." What is the lampstand, and why is it golden, and what is the lamp that is upon it? Who are the seven lamps, and who are the seven pouring vessels of the seven lamps? And who are the two olive trees, and why are they on the right and on the left of the lamp?

Answer.

^A The word, prophetically foreshadowing from afar the multi-luminous and pre-eminent magnificence of the holy Church to the prophet, thus adorned this vision for him, teaching, I believe, the power of the new mystery concerning her. The lampstand, therefore, is all of gold, ^B being the blessed Church of God, pure and undefiled, immaculate and genuine, and undiminished, and receptive of the true light. For they say that genuine gold is neither blackened when hidden in the earth or else corrupted, nor is it diminished at all when burned in a furnace; but besides this, by a certain natural energy, it strengthens and renews the optical power of those gazing upon it. Such also is the most glorious Church of God, being by the very reality of things such as she is, according to the most pure nature of gold: genuine, in that she has ^C nothing at all mixed or alien to the mystery of theology according to the faith; pure, as being luminous and famous by the luster of her virtues; undefiled, as being polluted by no filth of the passions; immaculate, as being untouched by all evil spirits; nor tainted by any material circumstances so as to be blackened by any wickedness; undiminished and unimpaired, as not being consumed even in the furnace of persecutions that come at times, and not tormented by the successive uprisings of heresies, being reduced in reason or life—that is, in faith and conduct—by the weight of the temptations she endures; and therefore she is, according to grace, a strengthener for every mind ^D of those who devoutly understand her. For she calls the impious, providing the light of true knowledge, but she preserves those who are lovers of the mysteries concerning her, keeping the pupil of their mind unstained and unclouded

^A Finally, she calls back those who have been tossed by some storm, and through the word of consolation she renews their suffering mind. Thus, indeed, we have understood, in a single application through the things already said, the lampstand seen by the prophet.

On the lamp

The lamp which is placed upon it is the paternal and true Light, which illumines every man coming into the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the assumption of our flesh, was made and named a lamp; that is, the natural Wisdom and Word of the Father, who is preached in the Church of God according to the pious faith, and who is exalted and shines openly among the nations through a life ordered by virtue according to the observance of the commandments, and shines for all who are in the house—that is, in this world—just as God and Word himself says in a certain place: "No one," he says, "lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but upon a lampstand, and it shines for all who are in the house" (Matt. v, 15). He clearly calls himself a lamp, since, being God by nature, he was made man by dispensation; ^B as if he were light according to essence, kept and held fast in the manner of a lamp—in an uncircumscribed way through the mediation of a soul, as fire is held by a wick—in the earthen vessel of the flesh. I think that the great David, understanding this, called the Lord a lamp, when he said: "Thy law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths" (Ps. cxviii, 105). For such is my Savior and God, who dispels the darkness of ignorance and vice; and it is for this reason that Scripture has called him a lamp. For *lychnos* (that is, a lamp) is derived from the fact that it destroys (*lyein*) the *nychos*—for the learned grammarians call darkness *nychos*. He alone, then, as a true lamp, having dispelled the gloom of ignorance and the darkness of wickedness, has become a way of salvation for all, leading through virtue and knowledge to the Father those who wish to walk through the divine commandments, following him as the way of righteousness. He called the holy Church the lampstand, upon which the Word of God, shining through preaching, illuminates all who are in this world, as if they were in a house, and fills the minds of all with divine knowledge.

^D By the bushel, according to the manner of symbolic representation, he meant the synagogue of the Jews, that is, the carnal worship of the Law, on account of the density of the symbol.

^A Since it possesses the light of true knowledge in concepts entirely hidden within the letter, the Word does not wish it to be held under a bushel at all; He wishes it to be placed upon the height, according to the magnitude of the beauty of the Church. For the Word, contained as if by a bushel by the letter of the Law, deprived all of the eternal light, not granting spiritual contemplation to those who are striving to divest themselves of sense-perception—which is deceptive, and solely receptive of delusion and perceptible only to the corruption of the bodies connatural to it—but [He places it] upon the lampstand, I mean the Church, which is the rational worship in spirit, so that it may illuminate all, teaching those who are in the whole world to live and conduct themselves by the Word alone; and to have such great care concerning their bodies, as is necessary to cut off entirely the soul's relationship to them through much diligence; and to provide the soul with no imagination of matter at all, to make this [her] work and study; for when, by the Word, the perception that initially pushed the Word aside and accepted the irrationality of pleasure—like an insidious serpent—has been extinguished, against which death was justly decreed, so that it might cease to provide an entry to the devil into the soul. ^B For sense-perception, although being one by genus, is multiplied into five by its species, through the apprehensive activity of each individual species, persuading the wandering soul to love and desire the fitting sensible object instead of God. Therefore, he who follows the Word wisely, before the forced death that occurs against his will, decrees for himself a voluntary death of the flesh—accomplishing entirely the separation of the mind from sense-perception.

Therefore, he who clings only to the letter of Scripture has only the sense-perception that dominates nature, through which alone the relationship of the soul to the flesh is accustomed to be clearly manifested. For the letter, unless it is understood spiritually, has only the sense-perception that defines its utterance, and does not allow the power of what is written to pass over to the mind. But if the letter has an affinity only toward sense-perception, everyone who receives the letter in the manner of the Jews—historically alone—lives according to the flesh, dying in mind daily by the death of sin because of the living sense-perception, ^C not being able to mortify the deeds of the body by the Spirit, so as to live the blessed life in the Spirit. For, says the divine Apostle, *If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the body, you will live* (Rom. viii, 13). Let us not, therefore, having lit the lamp, that is, the Word that illuminates knowledge, place it under a bushel by means of contemplation and action—lest we be condemned as if we were bounding the indescribable power of wisdom by the letter—but rather upon the lampstand, I mean the holy Church, so that in the height ^D of true contemplation, she may hold up the torch of divine dogmas to all.

^A This holy Church, perhaps, the Law also prefigured when it commanded that a lampstand of solid, beaten gold be made: one part, so that it might contain nothing empty or devoid of the power of the Word; the other, so that, with the superfluities of coarse mass being entirely scraped away, it might show that it possesses nothing earthly. Having beheld this lampstand, the great Zechariah, with some marvelous variation, says concerning the lamp: "And there are seven lamps upon it." I think that the seven lamps here are to be interpreted in a different way than the lamp that the discourse touched upon earlier in the Gospel. For not all persons and things mentioned by the same name necessarily receive one and the same understanding of a spiritual sense; rather, it is necessary—if we truly strive to attain a sure conjecture of the goal of what is written—that we understand each of the things said according to the force of the relevant passage of holy Scripture.

^B I think, therefore, that by the lamps here, the holy Scriptures denote the operations or breathings of the holy Spirit—that is, the gifts of the Spirit which the Word, as the head of the whole body, is disposed to grant to the Church. "For there shall rest upon him," it says, "the Spirit of God, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him." But the head of the Church, according to the understanding of humanity, is Christ. Therefore, He who has the Spirit by nature, as God, has bestowed the operations and breathings of the Spirit upon the Church. For the Word, having become man for me, also accomplishes for me my whole salvation, granting to me in turn through my own things those things which He has as His own, for the sake of whom He also became man; and, as if receiving them for my sake, He produces [them] and brings them to light. And indeed, by His own propense benignity, while granting to me the grace that comes to me, He also ascribes to me His own natural power of virtues; on account of which grace He is said, even now, to receive the Spirit whom He has eternally and super-rationally. For the holy Spirit, just as He is by nature essentially of God and the Father, is in the same way by nature essentially of the Son, as one who proceeds ineffably from the Father essentially ^C through the begotten Son, and bestows His operations and breathings upon the lampstand (that is, the Church) as if they were lamps. For every operation of the Spirit has the power of a lamp dispelling darkness, so that it might drive out and cast far away from the Church the varied and manifold origin of sin. For wisdom indeed removes folly; understanding and prudence strike down the dullness of mind and lack of foresight; counsel destroys the absence of judgment and discernment; fortitude shakes off weakness; knowledge abolishes ignorance; piety puts to flight impiety and the perversity of powers that accompanies it; fear drives out the hardening of contempt. For the light of the Spirit is not only His precepts, ^D but also His operations and breathings.

^A Again, they are lanterns, making the light of salvation shine forth throughout every age through the Church, and they are the degrees that complete its decorum. For example, the teacher who is wise in divine and sublime dogmas and mysteries is a lantern, revealing what was hitherto hidden to the many. Another lantern is he who, with understanding and knowledge, listens to the wisdom spoken among the perfect, and as an intelligent hearer, guards within himself the light of the truth of the things spoken. And he who with counsel discerns the times that are appropriate for affairs, and devises the modes suitable for words, and does not allow them to fall together unsuitably and be confused with one another, this one ^B is also revealed as a lantern, being like an admirable counselor. He who bears the assaults of involuntary temptations with an unshaken mind, like the blessed Job and the brave martyrs, is a strong lantern, himself also guarding the inextinguishable light of salvation, preserved in the manner of courageous endurance, having the Lord as his strength and song. He who knows the machinations of the wicked one, and is not ignorant of the entanglements of the unseen wars, he too, being illuminated by the light of knowledge, is another lantern, appropriately speaking with the great Apostle: "For we are not ignorant of his thoughts." He who practices a life directed piously by the commandments through virtues is another lantern, as a pious man confirming piety ^C through his ways. And he who in expectation of the judgment, having walled off the entrance to his soul against the passions by means of self-control, has become another lantern; through diligence he cleanses away the stains of the passions that have fastened upon him by the fear of God, and by the casting off of unnatural pollutions, he makes his life clear and bright.

Thus, the Holy Spirit works the cleansing for those worthy of the purity of the virtues through fear, piety, and knowledge; but the illumination, the knowledge of the reasons according to which beings exist, He grants to those worthy of light through fortitude, counsel, and understanding; and perfection, through the all-luminous, simple, full, and consummate wisdom, He bestows upon those worthy of deification, leading them ^D directly to the Author of all things in every way possible, as far as it is granted to men, that they may shine forth solely from the divine attributes, by which they may know themselves from God, and from themselves know God, with no intervening medium separating them (for there is nothing between wisdom and God), which would mean that they now attain an immutability liable to no harm, having completely overcome all intermediate things in which there was the danger that an error of knowledge might at some time creep in; and when to that infinite, and infinitely infinite, and infinitely infinite by nature, which is beyond every summit, through speechlessness, ineffable...

silence, and ignorance, by which no one can ever express it in speech, nor attain to it by any thought of the mind, they have passed through grace and the gift thereof. ^A

And seven infusoria [vessels] for the seven lamps that were upon it. Regarding the lamps, as far as I am concerned, the account of their contemplation is rendered in a twofold sense; but the explanation of the infusoria must begin here. They say, then, that the infusorium (which the Latins call an infusorium, or pouring vessel) is a cup-like vessel into which those whose duty it is are accustomed to pour the oil to be cast into the lamps, for the sustaining and maintenance of the light. Therefore, in a spiritual and more sublime sense, the infusoria of the seven lamps of that lampstand which was shown in the vision are the habits and dispositions, capable of various reasons, modes, and characters, for feeding and fostering the seven lamps (that is, the operations of the Spirit) of those who have received the division of gifts in the Church. For just as it is impossible for a lamp to escape being extinguished if the oil fails, so also, without a habit—with suitable reasons, modes, and characters, and with those sentiments and reflections that are honorable and foster one’s duty—the light of the gifts can in no way be kept unextinguished. For every spiritual gift has need of a suitable habit, which, like oil, may continually pour into it the matter and nourishment of the intelligent soul, so that, according to the measure of the habit of the one who receives it, it may persevere, vigorous and established.

The infusoria, therefore, of the seven lamps of the lampstand are the habits appropriate to the divine gifts of the holy Church; from these, as from certain vessels, according to what is said in the Gospel concerning the prudent virgins, ^C those who are wise and watchful guardians of the good things granted pour the oil of exultation into the lamps of the gifts.

And two olive trees upon it; one on the right of its lamp, and one on the left. Beautifully and very fittingly has the discourse arranged and ordered the whole vision looking toward itself. For when it had named the lampstand, ^D and the lamp, and the lamps, and the infusoria, it added also the two olive trees. For in truth it was necessary that, together with the light, the nature that is the parent of the virtue that fosters the light should also be understood, lest for lack of fuel the light of the lampstand should fail and be extinguished. The two olive trees, therefore, of the golden lampstand (that is, of the holy Catholic Church) are the two Testaments; from which, as if from certain olive trees, by pious inquiry and the labor of searching, there flows forth like oil that faculty of the senses and intellects which bountifully nourishes the light of the divine gifts: by which, evidently—in accordance with the measure of the capacity of each—the habit is filled, and preserves the light unextinguished which corresponds to it by a certain ratio; being maintained, as though by oil, by those thoughts which Scripture suggests for our reflection. For just as it is impossible, as far as nature is concerned, to find truly genuine oil without the olive tree, or for it to be held without a vessel capable of containing the oil

and just as the light of the lamp is quenched if it is not nourished by oil; so too, without the holy Scriptures, there is no power of thoughts worthy of God in truth. And without a state ^A of soul capable of receiving these thoughts, such a divine thought could in no way be established. And if the light of the knowledge which is in the gifts is not nourished by divine thoughts, it cannot be kept unquenched by those who possess it.

Therefore, the Word rightly, in leading the vision toward a spiritual and higher meaning, likened the lampstand to the Church; the lamp to God, who was incarnate and who, without any change, clothed his own Person in our nature; the seven lamps to the gifts of the Spirit, that is, to his operations and inspirations, as the great Isaiah clearly demonstrated; the funnels of the lamps to the states capable of receiving the divine thoughts of Scripture, in those who have received the divine gifts; and the two olive trees to the two Testaments, from which the power of divine thoughts is, by nature, wisely and effectively poured forth—by which the light of the divine mysteries is nourished and kept unquenched.

^B “And one,” he says, “on the right of its lamp, and one on the left.” By the right, I believe the prophet means the more spiritual part of the Word; by the left, the more bodily. But if the more bodily part of the Word signifies the left, and the more spiritual part signifies the right, I assume it signifies that the Old Testament is the olive tree on the left, as it accounts more for the philosophy of action; and that the one on the right is the New Testament, as it is the teacher of the new mystery and the generator of the state of contemplation in each of the faithful. For the former provides the modes of virtue, while the latter provides the arguments of knowledge to those who philosophize on divine things. And the former, by snatching the mind away from the mist of visible things, leads it up to what is akin to it, ^C having been made pure of all material fantasy; while the latter cleanses it of material affection, striking off—with the intensity of fortitude like a hammer—the nails that bind the mind to the body in accordance with their relationship. And the Old Testament, indeed, leads the body through the virtues to the soul, preventing the mind from being brought down toward the body; whereas the New Testament leads it up to God, set ablaze by the fire of love. And the former causes the body to be the same as the mind in its movement according to duty; the latter makes the mind the same as God in the state of grace—having such a likeness to God ^D that God is known through it, whereas he who is such by nature is in no way at all known to anyone, as an archetype is known from an image.

Let these things be held in this manner. But if anyone wishes to apply the power of what has been said also to each individual man, he will not at all lack beautiful and pious contemplations. For he will be able to conceive of the lampstand as the soul of each one, which...

^A in its nature is intellectual and rational, incorruptible and immortal, and honored with the most kingly power of free will. He will conceive of it as having upon itself the lamp of faith—that is to say, the Word who became flesh, in whom it firmly believes and whom it truly worships—upon which the lamp of the word of knowledge is ignited and placed, according to the teaching and exhortation of God and the Word Himself. For He says: "No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house" (Matt. v, 15). By "lamp" he perhaps calls the word of knowledge that is in the spirit of action (that is, the law of the spirit); by "bushel," the earthly mindset of the flesh—namely, the passionate law of the body—under which we must take care not to place the law of grace. Instead, we must place it upon the lampstand (that is, the soul, which is truly solid gold), so that it may shine with the flashes of the works of justice and of the wise thoughts of created things, lighting for all who are in the house (which is the Church, or this world) and causing those who behold the good things in which it shines to become imitators of them. Thus, they themselves, through the acts of the virtues and not mere spoken words, glorify the Father who is in heaven—that is to say, God, who in the heights of the mystical contemplations of knowledge brings forth the magnificent splendor visible in the saints through the works of the justice of virtue. "That they may see your good works," He says, "and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (ibid. 16).

Thus, then, in the manner already set forth, he will understand the lampstand and the lamp that were seen to be the prophet’s. He will interpret the seven lamps ^C as signifying the distribution of the various gifts of the Spirit, according to the previously stated explanation: the gifts which, so divided, mystically shine and rest in him who is perfect in virtue and knowledge like Christ. For the Word knows "Christ" to be he who lives according to Christ and who, in the same manners and words as is permissible for a man, shines forth—as one who himself possesses wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, and knowledge and piety and fear, through which, as through spiritual lights, God is said to illuminate the entire land of every heart. "For these," he says, "are the seven eyes of the Lord, which look upon all the earth" (Zachar. iv, 10).

And the seven funnels for the lamps which are above it: the funnels are the habits of action and contemplation of those who are worthy of having divine gifts bestowed upon them; from these, as from certain vessels, they pour forth the power of mystical thoughts like oil, and keep the light of the gifts of the Spirit unquenched.

He will understand the two olive trees, as I said a little above, to be the two Testaments: the Old, indeed, from the left side of the lamp; which, for the part of the soul in which the power of knowledge—or contemplation—resides, generates like oil the virtues.

^A And from the right, the New, which for the part of the soul that is capable of passion, or the practical part—just as oil, eternally begetting the spiritual reasons for knowledge through contemplation—that through both, the mystery of our salvation may be beautifully articulated: the life providing a demonstration of the word, and the word providing glory to the life; and action becoming perfected contemplation, and contemplation becoming action mystagogically led. In short, virtue is the manifestation of knowledge, and knowledge is the power that renders virtue secure. Showing that through both—by which I mean virtue and knowledge—one wisdom is constituted, that we might know ^B that the two Testaments are in harmony with each other in all things, more so, according to grace, toward the completion of one mystery, than soul and body are in their joining together for the birth of one man.

If, however, someone, being ambitious in his understanding of these spiritual contemplation, should take and say that the two olives are the two laws, the natural law and the spiritual law, he would not have gone outside the bounds of truth. For the natural law, as if from the left of the lamp—that is, of the incarnate Word of God—through kindred sense, brings to the word the ways of virtue in things subject to the senses as understandable; but the intellectual, or spiritual law, from the right, through kindred understanding, gathers the reasons for spiritual knowledge in existing things; by which two laws, clearly, as if they were the vessels of the lamp for spiritual gifts, having filled them with practical and contemplative meditations, we keep the light of truth unextinguished.

^C More spiritual, perhaps, this place of Scripture may be understood as the interpretation of providence and judgment through the two olives, the one on the right and the one on the left of the lamp, in the midst of which, as upon a golden lampstand—the holy catholic Church, or even the soul of every holy person—stands the Word, who, as God, contains the universe and reveals the true and most universal reasons of the providence and judgment of the preservation and salvation of all things; according to which, the mystery of our salvation, foreordained before all ages and accomplished in the last times, has been established. Of these, we perceive by faith alone the providence, like an olive to the right of the lamp, in the ineffable manner of the union of the Word with the rationally ensouled flesh in His person; but the judgment, which is situated on the left, we understand in an arcane way in the mystery of the life-giving sufferings which God incarnate endured for our sake. ^D For the one, as good, came to be primarily by will, as He who is by nature the Savior of all; the other, by a secondary reason, He endured voluntarily, as Redeemer. For not in order that He might suffer and offer sacrifice to death did God primarily become man, but that He might save man through sufferings; by which, through the transgression

^A of the divine commandment, he who was from the beginning passionless has made himself man. ^B

The mystery of the incarnation of the Word according to providence holds the right hand, as being an effective principle of the deification of those who are saved, foreordained by grace before the ages, a reason for which no being whatsoever will be able to attain by nature. But the mystery according to the judgment of the life-giving passion of God, who willed to suffer in the flesh, clearly holds the left hand, as being effective for the complete removal of all the perverted properties and movements brought upon nature by disobedience, and likewise productive of the unceasing restoration of all the properties and movements that were primarily according to nature, according to which no reason among beings will be found base. From these two—I mean providence and judgment, or rather incarnation and passion—because of the firmness, purity, and incorruption of masculine virtue and immutability in action, and because of the transparency and radiance of mystical contemplation and knowledge, there has come forth, as if from the midst of two bronze mountains after the manner of chariots, the holy quartet of the Gospels, which have traversed and circumambulated ^C the earth, and have healed the wound of the transgression of Adam, and have caused the Spirit of God to rest through faith and the good conduct of life according to it in the land of the North.

Concerning the Periodeutai

(k) "Having traversed the earth." As if by traversing they have been medicated; they did not wander in just any manner. That this is the mind of Maximus, the following remarks show, as if the wound that had arisen in them from the passions of lawlessness were cured by every kind of remedy. Maximus attends to the force of the Greek word, which is used by physicians for a kind of round of remedies, as is that in Dioscorides in the Preface, or as others say, that the whole method of treatment and remedies is brought to a close. So also Hesychius on the word, or what can refer both to diseases and to their remedies. Hence also in ecclesiastical usage, they are called circumambulators [Periodeutai or visitors], whose duty it was to traverse all the churches of the region and to inquire about their state. Balsamon on the Synod of Laodicea, canon 57: The Periodeutai are those who today are put forward by the bishops as exarchs. For these traverse and observe the faults of souls and restore the faithful. ^D They are called Periodeutai because of going around and restoring the faithful, not having their own proper seat.

One must note that the name itself is indeed just a designation; but I fear that it is not sufficient for the office, according to the mind of that canon. Since, indeed, it says that some bishops had already been ordained in those same places by the bishop of the city, to whom the visitors [Periodeutai] were ordained to be set over, they do not seem to be bishops ordained without a cathedra or a people. And it cites the example of Ischyras from Athanasius; likewise, canon 56 of the Council of Carthage under Aurelius, where in the words of the canon itself: "I do not doubt that it pleases your charity that he who is in a diocese, with the permission of the bishop who held the primary see, should retain only the church in which he had been ordained." Therefore, just as those bishops or chorepiscopi had a people and a cathedra in it, so also those who thus seem to be set over one village or town, so that they also extended their care to the neighbors, were just like the present-day vicars of deans or archpriests, whose duty it was to visit the entrusted parishes and keep the faithful in them in order, under the bishop of the city, and so that everything would be done at his will; which the canon also arranges concerning those bishops. Gennadius in his Encyclical places the periodeutes after the bishop and chorepiscopus, and before the presbyter, if he himself were a presbyter. But with that precedence of neighbors of which I was speaking: they seem to me to be nothing other than what the Laodicean Fathers called chorepiscopi, who lacked episcopal ordination; and shone only by the jurisdiction committed to them, when others, even chorepiscopi at those times, were true bishops, yet subjected to the bishop of the city; and as his vice-regents among the rustic people and the places assigned to them by the bishop of the city: so that only the episcopal dignity was consulted, with ordination taken away from them, but not the discipline entirely changed, which is itself necessary for the rustic people, and because the bishop of the city, while he holds the city as a citadel and is resident in it, cannot easily or more frequently or as if continuously indulge his presence.

^A that is, among the nations in whom the darkness of ignorance prevailed, and where the gloom tyrannized over the nature of sin.

Or again, that power, equal in number to the four general virtues in the holy Gospels, which, having taken firm hold of the heart of the faithful like the earth, and having traveled about the wound of dishonor produced in them by the passions, and having brought into repose the Spirit of God through the practical exercise of the commandments, has shown the law of the Spirit apparent in the north, that is, in the flesh, through the works of righteousness.

Or again, let the two olive trees be understood as contemplation and action; of these, the providence concerning the incarnation allows the Word to appear for the sake of contemplation, while the judgment regarding the passion ^B allows the mode for the sake of action to be operative; as the one regarding the soul is on the right of the Word, while the one regarding the body exists on the left; and the former summons the mind to kinship with God, while the latter sanctifies the senses with the Spirit, and removes from it the forms of the passions. ^C

Or again, let faith and a good conscience be understood as the two olive trees, of which the Word stands in the middle; through faith, He is rightly worshipped by the faithful; and through a good conscience, by means of mutual pleasing, He is piously served.

Or again, the Word has compared the two peoples—I mean those from the nations and those from the Jews—to two olive trees; whom He has also called "sons of oil," ^D as if interpreting the olive trees, because of their birth in the Spirit and the grace of adoption by which we are granted deification; in the midst of whom stands the incarnate God, as upon a lampstand, the one and only Catholic Church, reconciling them to Himself and to one another, and making them generators of light through virtue and knowledge.

Perhaps the Word has also mystically and more abstruse-ly hinted at the soul and the body through the two olive trees: the one, in that it flourishes with the reasons of true knowledge like an olive tree, and the other, in that it stands dense with the actions of the virtues.

If, however, the text of Scripture also figuratively indicates the two worlds through the two olive trees, the sense would also be rightly held in this way; of which the Word, as God, stands in the middle, mystically delineating the intelligible world in the sensible one through types, and teaching that which is sensible to be understood by reasons in the one that is intelligible.

If, however, the vision of the olive trees shown has also signified the present life and the future one, the mode of spiritual meaning would also rightly be congruent in this way; for the Word stands in the middle of them, leading away from the one through the practice of virtue, and leading to the other through knowledge. Which, perhaps understanding, the admirable Habakkuk says: "In the middle..."

of the two living beings you shall be known" ^A — by "two living beings" he means, just as the great Zechariah meant by the bronze mountains and the olive trees, the two worlds or ages; or their respective lives; or the soul and the body; or practice and contemplation; or the habit and the operation of the good; or the Law and the Prophets; or the whole Old and New Testament; or the two peoples, those from the nations and those from the Jews; or the two laws, the natural and the spiritual; or faith and a good conscience. In the middle of these stands the Word, praised and glorified through all things, drawing all things to one concord of the good and the honorable, as the God of all; and for this reason He made all things, so that for all He might become the indissoluble bond of the identity of the good, in unity with one another. ^B

And the Word called the lampstand in the vision, perhaps, the Church and the soul, for the reason that they possess the light of grace as something added by nature and capable of being provided. For only of God is goodness proper by nature; from whom, by a kind of commerce, all things that are by nature capable of light and goodness are illuminated and made good.

And these things, as far as this goes, the discourse has gone through, so that the rationale and measure of moderation might be kept: but do you yourself, investigating more deeply and considering the better things, I pray, holy Father, illuminate my dim-sighted soul with the ever-shining rays of your mind. ^C

SCHOLIA. 1. What is the lampstand? 2. How is the Church pure gold? 3. How is it pure? 4. How is it undefiled? 5. How is it unstained? 6. How is it undiminished? 7. What is the lamp of the lampstand? 8. "Not every man coming into this world," he says, "is altogether illuminated by the Word." For many remain unilluminated and without sharing in the light of knowledge; but it is clear that every man who by his own will comes into the true world, that of virtues—for everyone who by the true birth of free choice comes into this world of virtues is indeed illuminated by the Word—obtains an immovable habit of virtue and an unerring knowledge of true understanding. ^D 9. How also is the incarnate God the Word a lamp? 10. Who is the bushel under which the lamp is not hidden? 11. He considered the woman as sense, and the serpent as pleasure; for both are diametrically opposed to the Word.

^A 12. Perception, when it has made the mind its subject, teaches polytheism, as by every sense it treats the object of sense, through servitude to the passions, as if it were God. 13. What lamps does the Word speak of? 14. Beheld the magnitude of grace: behold the boundless ocean of theology. 15. Of what things are the gifts of the Spirit the completion? 16. What are the lamps in another sense of contemplation? 17. Fear, piety, and knowledge produce practical philosophy. Fortitude, counsel, and understanding produce natural contemplation in the Spirit; while divine wisdom alone bestows mystical theology. ^B 18. He calls "media" [or, instruments] the essence of things perceptible and things intelligible, through which the human mind is naturally led up to God as the cause of all things. 19. What are they, according to the anagogical sense, the snuffers for the lamps? 20. What are the two olive trees? 21. A definitive and concise recapitulation of those things which have been expounded in the spiritual sense. 22. What is the right, and what is the left? 23. The Old Testament, he says, existing as a symbol of action and virtue, ensures that the body may concur with the mind in the manner of its motion; but the New, being the producer of contemplation and knowledge, gladdens the mind that mystically adheres to it with divine gifts. 24. Another specific mode of contemplation, referring to each soul both the lampstand and the things pertaining to the lampstand. 25. What is the lamp? 26. Their God, he says, is called and becomes Father by grace for those alone who have obtained clear, volitional generation in the Spirit; according to which, as though they were the face of the soul, having the appearance of the God who begat them shining forth in their virtues throughout their life, they cause those who see them to praise God through the change in their ways, providing their own life as an exceptional exemplar of virtue for others to imitate. For God is not essentially meant to be praised by mere words, but by works of justice, which cry out the divine magnificence far more than speech and voices. 27. What must one understand the seven lamps to be? 28. What are the snuffers? 29. What are the two olive trees? 30. The Old Testament, he says, provides for those who cultivate knowledge the modes of the virtues; but the New bestows upon him who is engaged in action the true reasons of knowledge. 31. That the practical he calls the pathetic part of the soul. 32. He who has embodied knowledge in action, saying…

that it is animated by knowledge, has found the precise mode of true deification. But he who possesses one of these separated from the other has either rendered knowledge a hollow phantom or has made action an inanimate image. For knowledge without action differs nothing from an empty phantom, as it lacks the action that substantiates it; and action without reason is exactly the same as an inanimate image, because it does not possess the knowledge that gives it life.

33. Just as soul and body make a human being through union, so action and contemplation, by their mutual concurrence, complete one spiritual and learned wisdom; and they work out in the Old and New Testament a single mystery. ^B 34. The natural law is on the left because of the senses; it brings to the Word the modes of the virtues and makes knowledge operative. The spiritual law, however, is like a right hand because of the mind; it mingles with the sense perception the spiritual reasons existing in things, and makes action permeated with reason. 35. Providence, he says, is shown in the Word becoming united to flesh in hypostasis; but judgment is seen in his condescending to suffer in the flesh for our sake: by both of these—namely, union and passion—the salvation of the universe is fashioned. 36. The incarnation, he says, occurred for the salvation of nature; but the passions, for the redemption of those held by death on account of sin. 37. The mystery of the incarnation, he says, drives away the attributes of human nature that are contrary to nature, and restores those that are according to nature. 38. Providence and judgment, incarnation and passion or death, he understands as the bronze mountains from which the quaternity of the Gospels emerges. ^C 39. By the land of the North he understands the nations, which once existed in the region of darkness as in the error of ignorance; but now they have come to exist in the region of light, through the knowledge of the truth, by the grace of the holy quaternity of the Gospels, as if by indestructible elements, being refashioned through faith according to the inner and intellectual man for eternal life. 40. Another contemplation of the four chariots. 41. Another contemplation of the olive trees. 42. He who is contemplative, he says, has the reason of the incarnation shining forth through providence; but he who is engaged in action shows the manner of the sufferings of the Word, made effective through judgment. ^D 43. Another contemplation on the olive trees. 44. Another contemplation on the same. 45. Another contemplation concerning the same. 46. Another contemplation concerning the two olive trees. 47. He who understands the visible world contemplates the intelligible [world]; for he impresses the intelligible things upon sense perception by imagining them, and according to the mind he shapes the reasons seen; and he transfers the constitution of the intelligible world in many forms to the sense perception, but [transfers] the composition of the sensible world in a complex way to the mind; and

in the intelligible world that which is sensible, by transferring sense to the mind through logoi; and in the sensible world [he reflects] the intelligible, by skillfully reflecting the mind into sense through types. ^A

48. Another contemplation regarding the same things.

QUESTION LXIV

What is the intended meaning of the passage in the prophet Jonah concerning Nineveh, which says: "In which dwell more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who have not known their right hand nor their left hand," ^B since from the letter alone I find nothing that satisfies me? For he did not say "children," so that I might consider it to be about infants, but "men." Yet what man, if he is of sound mind, does not know his right hand or his left? But—come now, explain who these men are, and what the right hand is, and what the left, according to the principle of anagogy.

Answer.

None of the things inscribed in the Scriptures—whether persons, or places, or ^C times, or other things, whether animate or inanimate, sensible or intelligible—always signifies its history and contemplation in the same way. Therefore, he who wishes to cultivate the knowledge of the holy Scriptures without error must understand each of the things enumerated differently, according to the diversity of the events or words reported, and must properly assign to them the contemplation that is appropriate for the place or the time. For the name of each of the things signified in Scripture is manifold, according to the power of the Hebrew tongue; ^D which we clearly find also in this case.

For the name Jonah, according to the different pronunciations, is interpreted as: "God's rest," and "God's gift," "God's healing," and "God's grace," and "God's labor," and "a dove," and "a flight from beauty," and "their weariness." He comes also to Joppa, and to the sea, and was in the whale, and in Nineveh, and under the gourd. And Joppa, if you interpret the name, is called "the watchtower of joy," and "a marvelous beauty," and "a mighty joy." Therefore, the prophet Jonah bears the type both of Adam, and of the common nature, and of Christ, and of the prophetic grace, and of the ungrateful [man], and of the people of the Jews, who are always worn out by every good thing and envy divine gifts. For example, he bears the type of Adam and of the common nature when he flees from Joppa to the sea, and for this reason, according to the power of his name, he is called "a flight from beauty." And Joppa indicates that which is typified in it, the para-

-^Adisum, it denotes the thing designated in it; which certainly stands as a mirror of joy, and is so called; and likewise a powerful joy, and a wonderful species or beauty, on account of the riches of incorruption in it; whatever, in the end, that paradise might have been which was planted by the hand of God. "For the Lord God," He says, "had planted a paradise in Eden, and had placed there the man whom He had fashioned" Gen. II, 8: and what the trees in it were, whether those which are visible to the eyes, or those which can be understood only by the mind; and what that "tree of life" was which was in the midst of the paradise: concerning all of which, when Adam had received a commandment to eat, he perhaps did not even touch or taste them: "For of every tree," He says, "that is in the paradise, you shall eat" Ibid. 16.

^B Again, Joppa signifies virtue and science; and wisdom, which is joined to them in association. Virtue, indeed, when, according to the reason of the name, it is called a wonderful species or beauty. Science, however, when they expound it as a mirror of joy. And wisdom, when it signifies powerful joy; by which a man who is made perfect, receives a joy which cannot be expressed by any power of words, truly that powerful joy (of such a kind, namely, as to guard the divinely instituted life of man sound and secure); inasmuch as, Scripture being the witness: "Wisdom is a tree of life to all who embrace it; and to those who rely upon it, as upon the Lord, it is secure" Prov. III, 18. For we see the human race always fleeing from Joppa (that is to say, from the habit of virtue and science, and from the grace of wisdom that is supported by them), just as Adam fled from paradise through disobedience; because the mind of men ^C diligently inclines toward evil things, and is of its own accord drawn into the sea (the salt sea of sin, that is); just as the first parent of the race, Adam, having made shipwreck of paradise, was cast down into this world, and diligently cultivates the unstable and salt error and confusion of earthly things, both bearing it and being borne by it; the gain of which, thus far, for those who embrace it and are devoted to it, is only that they are sunk into the deep and swallowed up by the whale, and that "water is poured about them even to the soul" Jon. II, 6; and that they are "encompassed by the lowest abyss," and "the head goes down into the clefts of the mountains," and they "descend into the earth, whose bars are eternal" — as it is evident that it is the bottom of the lowest abyss: a land truly dark and ^D gloomy; a land horrible with everlasting darkness; in which "there is no light, nor to see the life of mortals," as that great man, who struggled with great contests for the sake of the truth, Job that is, has spoken Job X, 21.

Therefore, the prophet designates Adam (that is, the common human race and nature), mystically figuring these things in individuals; nature, I say, as having slipped from Joppa (from divine goods), and having been swept into this misery of the age as into a sea, and having been sunk into the unstable and boisterous ocean of the affection for earthly things; and having been swallowed by the spiritual whale and the insatiable beast, the devil; and also

^A having received the water, diffused from all sides of the temptations in wickedness, even to the soul—having been, that is to say, surrounded by the temptations of life; and as having been circled by the lowest abyss—that is, the mind having been completely bound by utter ignorance, and the intellect having been inundated by the heavy weight of wickedness; and having plunged the head into the ^B clefts of the mountains—that is, [having plunged] the first principle concerning the unity of the faith, as the head of the whole body of the virtues, into certain dark clefts of the mountains, [where it is] locked up by the reasonings of the wicked powers, and divided into many opinions and fantasies. For the Word has termed the clefts of the mountains the thoughts of error of the spirits of wickedness, who lie in the depth of the lowest abyss of ignorance; and having descended to the earth, whose bars are eternal [fasteners]—that is, having been brought down to the state bereft of all divine perception, and of the vital movement of the virtues; which possesses absolutely no perception of goodness, nor any movement of longing for God in its thought; upon which has risen ^C as an abyss, the darkness of ignorance and the incurable depth of wickedness; and the mountains of error—by which I mean the spiritual [powers] of wickedness—have taken root: into whose clefts, having previously crept, human nature has later become a base, by reason of its most evil habit, so as to exist as a vessel and seat of their error and wickedness. This nature, possessing as it were eternal bars—the habitual inclinations toward material things—does not permit the intellect, once freed from the darkness of ignorance, to see the light of true knowledge. This state, as I said a little before, the great Job, hinting at it, has called a dark and gloomy land, the land of eternal darkness. Dark, indeed, because it is devoid of all true knowledge and contemplation; gloomy, however, because it is bereft of ^D all virtue and action. In which, he says, there is no brightness—that is, of knowledge and truth—nor does it see the life of mortals, that is, clearly, the manner of life befitting reasoning men.

In these matters it happens, perhaps, that when the prophet depicts in himself the passions of humanity, into which he has pitiably fashioned himself, he attributes to himself those things that pertain to the common nature; and it is fittingly applied to him, as he typifies Adam—the meaning of the name being interpreted as "flight from beauty." But when, through the flesh, he prefigures God, who for our sake, in a manner like to ours, became soulful without sin alone, and preproclaims the mystery of the economy and of the sufferings related to it, he signifies His descent from the heavens into this world by the crossing from Joppe into the sea. But he signifies the mystery of the death and the burial and the resurrection by being swallowed by the whale, and after three days and three nights being cast up unharmed. And for this reason, appropriately, according to the power of the name, [Jonas] is "rest," and "the healing of God," and "the grace of God" to them; perhaps also, "the pain of God" because of all

in his freely assumed death and torments, is beautifully termed. For the prophet mystically designated as Christ Jesus, the true God, the true rest of those who labor in pains, and the healing of those who are crushed, and the grace of the forgiveness of sins, through the things that were written to have happened in him. For our very Lord and God, having become man and having come to dwell in the sea of this life of ours, as if from heaven—Joppa being interpreted as a lookout of joy—into the sea of this world, according to what is written, "Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame;" and having descended of his own accord into the heart of the earth, where the wicked one held us confined, swallowed up by the ruin of death, and having drawn us forth through his resurrection, leading up our entire nature that had been held captive into heaven, he is in truth our rest, and healing, and grace. Rest, indeed, as he dissolves the law of bondage in the flesh for the sake of our temporary life; healing, as he cures the crushing of death and corruption through the gift of his resurrection; and grace, as he dispenses the adoption in the Spirit through faith, and the grace of divinization according to the merit of each. For it was necessary, it was truly necessary for the Light and the power of God and the Father to come into that land in which darkness and eternal bars existed; so that, having dissolved the darkness of ignorance, as one who is spiritual light, and having broken the bars of wickedness, as the subsistent power of God, he might liberate the nature that was terribly secured there by the wicked one, bestowing upon it the inextinguishable light of true knowledge ^B and the unassailable power of virtues.

When, however, the prophet mystically figures himself as the prophetic grace ^C passing over, like some Joppa—that is, from the worship of the Law, hitherto held glorious and renowned—for the proclamation of the Gospel to the nations, and abandoning the Jewish people, who were suffering from infidelity and incredulity, bereft of the joy of that grace; and as it converts the Church of the nations, like Nineveh, to God through many tribulations, dangers, and circumstances, and toils, and persecutions, and deaths—the prophet leaves Joppa; meaning that, departing from the legal worship, he signifies the prophetic grace, which also came into the sea of violent events and into the peril of struggles, toils, and dangers therein; and although swallowed by the whale (that is, by death), it was by no means utterly corrupted. For nothing in creation was able to hinder the course of the grace proclaimed to the nations in accordance with the Gospel; neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor danger, nor sword; on the contrary, through these very things, grace received power and strength, having overcome the host of all adversaries; and in the midst of suffering, it conquered those who perceived it even more, and converted the wandering nature ^D to the living and true God, just as Jonah did to Nineveh. And even if it seemed, through the harassment of persecutions, to cover...

^A And although that most wicked one intended to cover grace by the violence of the persecutions, as the whale did the prophet, yet he was unable to hold it until the end, being unable to alter the strength of the power that acts through grace; whence, after the experience of his opposition, he actually made the grace shine more brilliantly in its disciples—to such a degree that, by his own attacks, he destroyed his own power. He saw that the grace was not only entirely unconquerable by him, but that it even turned the natural weakness of the saints who proclaimed it to the nations into strength that overthrew his own power, and entirely destroyed every height that exalted itself against the knowledge of God; ^B and that, while it seemed to succumb physically to his wicked acts, it was strengthened all the more spiritually. Paul, having learned this from his own experience of suffering, as one becoming a minister of the prophetic grace in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter—he, the great trumpet of the truth—said: "We have," he says, "this treasure in earthen vessels." By treasure he means the word of grace; by earthen vessel, this mortal and suffering body; or one might understand the perceived lack of rhetorical skill in his proclamation of the word, which nonetheless overcame the whole world's wisdom; or that it grasped, as far as is possible, the wisdom of God, which is entirely incomprehensible to the world, and by the true knowledge of its light filled the whole world. "That the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us: in everything, troubled, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, not abandoned; cast down, but not perishing. ^C Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus might also be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus might be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you." For those who stood as heralds of the word of grace, by voluntarily and blamelessly enduring death in their sufferings, were working the life that is in the Spirit through the knowledge of truth for the nations; just as Jonah, who mystically prefigured this grace in himself, suffered such great perils in order to turn the Ninevites back to God from their error. And on account of this, according to the power inherent in the name, he is well interpreted as both "Gift of God" and "Labor of God." ^D For the grace of prophecy destined for the nations is indeed a gift of God, truly a lovely and philanthropic present; and it is a divine labor, worthy of praise. A gift, inasmuch as it bestows the light of true knowledge and provides the incorruptibility of life to those who receive it; but a labor of God, inasmuch as it persuades those who are its ministers to pride themselves in the toils endured for the sake of truth.

^A And, by teaching them to expand themselves more in sufferings than in comforts, it makes those who are excessively anxious about the existence of life in the flesh, to [see its] weakness in enduring things according to nature, by the strength that transcends it, which is according to the Spirit.

For the word of grace, passing through many temptations to the human race—that is, the Church of the Gentiles—just as Jonah passing through many tribulations to the great city of Nineveh, persuaded the law of nature that reigned [there] to rise from its throne, ^B [stripping it] of its former habit regarding evil, which was according to sense, and to take off its robe; that is, to lay aside the pride acquired from the adornment of worldly glory, and to put on sackcloth—that is, mourning and the difficult and rugged mortification, and to adopt a way of life suited for a life according to God, and to sit upon ashes. Ashes are the poverty of spirit, upon which everyone who is instructed to live piously sits, and has the scourge of conscience flogging him for the things in which he has transgressed.

And the preached word of grace does not only persuade the king to believe in God, but also the men—that is to say, those who complete the human race—persuading them with certainty to confess that God is the Maker and Judge of all, and preparing them to preach [their] faith, ^C that is, the perfect turning away from former wicked pursuits; and to put on sackcloth from the least of them to the greatest—that is, to embrace with alacrity and vigor the mortifying discipline of the passions. And I consider that "lesser" and "greater" are mentioned here in a more hidden and profound sense, to signify those whom the word detected as being subject to lesser or greater wickedness.

*And the men of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloths from the least of them even to the greatest of them. And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he took his robe from off him, and he covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And it was proclaimed and said in Nineveh by the king and by his great men, saying, Let men and jumenta and oxen and sheep taste nothing, and let them not feed, and let them not drink water.*

The king—of nature, I say—is the law of nature. Its princes are the faculties: reason, ^D anger, and desire. The "men" of this city (that is, of nature) are, in one sense and understanding, those who offend against the word and reason, and labor under a false knowledge concerning God and divine things; while the "jumenta" (beasts of burden) are those who sin through desire, and carry the burden of lust through corporeal affections and vices. "Oxen," likewise, are those who expend the entire movement of their anger to obtain earthly goods; for they say that the blood of an ox, when drunk, brings immediate death to him who has drained it; now gore and blood is clearly a sign of anger. Finally, they say that the "sheep" and the cattle (such, that is, as are not free from harm) are those who, with a demented mind, for the sake of fulfilling their lust,

^A treat the contemplation of visible things as if it were grass. We surmise that all these things are set down in this passage of Scripture in a blameworthy sense, until the Word, taking them up, transforms them toward the better. Whence the Word adds to these, saying: *Let them not taste, nor feed; and let them not drink water*; ^B by this dissolving, we say, the primary causes of the passions previously set down for each one—concupiscences and vices—once these have been removed, it introduces the signification of a change toward the better for those who were once entangled in evil pursuits. It then adds: *And men and cattle were covered in sackcloth, and they cried out to the Lord God earnestly; and each one turned from his evil way, and from the iniquity that was in their hands*. By "men," as I said, we shall understand those who, through the erroneous judgment of their reason, were held fast by the passions of the soul; by "cattle," those who, through the abuse of anger and desire in accordance with pleasure, were attached to bodily passions—all of them clothing themselves, as if in sackcloth, with the mortification of the members that are upon the earth, and with the casting away of all earthly law and mindset; and "crying out earnestly," that is, with a loud voice—that is, with the boldness of truth against iniquity—confessing the release from their former sins, and departing as if from a certain way of life or from the ^C course of their habitual and iniquitous actions, which they were accustomed to perform as if with their own hands.

Thus, therefore, Nineveh, understood as the common nature, or the Church of the nations, shows in herself Jonah always preaching—that is, the Word of prophetic grace—and daily converting to God those who have lapsed into error. But if we refer the spiritual understanding of Nineveh to individuals, we shall say that the soul of each one of us is that great city to which the Word of God is sent when it is defiled by iniquity, preaching repentance unto life. We understand its king to be the mind; its princes, the innate faculties; its men, the passion-filled thoughts; its cattle, the movements of desire surrounding the body; its oxen, the avaricious movements of anger toward material things; and its sheep, the movements of the senses without intellect, through which we perceive what moves the senses. And the king (that is, the mind), as if rising from a throne of ^D former ignorance, and putting off, as it were, a robe—the false opinion concerning created things—and clothing itself, as if in sackcloth, in repentance for the things it wrongly thought, and sitting in ashes, in the state of the poverty of the spirit; and commanding the men, the cattle, the oxen, and the sheep to fast from the food of wickedness and the drink of ignorance—that is, to abstain from evil deeds and from that speculation of the senses which is led astray—and to clothe themselves in sackcloth (in such a state, that is, by which unnatural passions are extinguished and the virtues and knowledges that are according to natural reasons are acquired), and to cry out to

God earnestly; to confess, clearly, with intensity, the things of the past, and to appease with humility Him who is able to grant forgiveness for past acts, and to ask for a steadfast power of will to act toward better things, and for a guard ^A against the evil way, so as to restrain the former error and the habit that is an inventor of vices, and to cast off the powers of the soul that are addicted to action.

In this great city, moreover, that is to say, the common nature of men, and the Church which is from the Gentiles; or even the soul of each one, which through the word of virtue and knowledge (that is, of faith and a good conscience) procures its salvation, there are more than twelve myriads of men (one hundred and twenty thousand) who do not know their right hand or their left hand. I suspect that the Scripture speaks here of "twelve myriads" in a higher and more recondite sense, regarding the reasons of time and nature; that is, the knowledge which takes hold of visible nature together with those things without which it cannot effectively exist. For the number twelve is composed and completed from five and seven; and since nature is quinary because of the senses, and time runs its course by the septenary, it is clear that the number twelve signifies nature and time. But it says "more than twelve myriads" of men significantly, so that we might know that this number is circumscribed, yet exceeded indefinitely by the many, ^B who by their own addition make a sum greater than the number twelve.

Therefore, the most splendid and most praiseworthy Church of God (which indeed possesses the reasons of virtue and science, superior to the reasons of time and nature, and which migrates to the magnificence of eternal and spiritual things) has more than twelve myriads of men (that is, one hundred and twenty thousand) who do not know their right hand and their left hand. For he who, through ^C the lawful virtue in which he is confident, has consigned to oblivion fleshly affections and vices, as if they were things of the left, and through unimpeded knowledge is not captured by the disease of vainglorious pride and haughtiness for his meritorious achievements—which are as the right—has become a man who does not know his own right hand (for he does not yearn for passing glory), nor his left, as he is not incited by the passions of the flesh. The Word, therefore, as it seems, has called "the right" that vainglory which takes its rise from meritorious deeds and virtues; but "the left," the licentiousness which is bred from base affections, luxury, and a reckless life. Every soul, however, that grows bright with the contemplations of spiritual things, possesses these men who do not know their right hand and their left. For every soul, having contracted the power of its intellect from the contemplation ^D of nature and time, has these natural thoughts as men who have surpassed the number twelve, inasmuch as they are no longer toiling over the reasons that are under nature and time; but instead, [it possesses] those that dwell upon the divine mysteries.

For the rational knowledge of virtues—that is, the true knowledge of the Cause of the virtues according to action ^A—is such that it makes a man entirely oblivious to the excess and defect which, lying on either side, flank the mean of the virtues as a right hand and a left. For if nothing at all is born of reason that is irrational, he who has been brought to the reason of the virtues will by no means recognize the position of irrational things. For it is not possible to perceive both opposites according to oneself at the same time, nor to know one while the other is shown along with it.

For if in faith there is no principle of unbelief ^B, nor does light by nature exist as the cause of darkness, nor is it possible for the devil to be joined with Christ, it is manifest that nothing irrational fundamentally coexists with reason. And if the irrational cannot absolutely coexist with reason, then he who has been brought to the reason of the virtues, as I said, will not know the position of the irrational—knowing the virtue only as it is, and not as it is thought to be. And for this reason, he knows neither the right hand through excess, nor the left through defect; for in both of these the irrational is clearly contemplated. For if the ^C principle is the boundary and measure of existing things, then that which is beyond the principle and beyond the measure, or again, being moved above the principle and above the measure, is equal to irrationality, and therefore irrational. For both [movements] in those who are thus moved bring about a fall from that which truly is. The one makes them perform the movement of the course ambiguously and indefinitely, not having God as the goal, because of the intemperance of the mind—conceiving for themselves a goal that is "more right" than the right. The other, being contrary to the goal, persuades them to perform the movement of the course toward sense-perception alone, because of the weakness of the mind, thinking the end that they envisage for themselves to be that which is circumscribed by sense-perception.

He who is attached only to the reason of virtue, and has circumscribed every movement of his own power of mind toward it ^D, is ignorant of these things as he does not suffer them, and for this reason is unable to think anything above the reason or contrary to the reason. But if someone ambitiously wishes to stretch his mind toward a higher understanding, he will certainly conceive the "right hand" as the reasons of incorporeal things, and the "left hand" as the reasons of corporeal things. These, the mind that has been stretched without attachment toward the Author of all things, will be entirely ignorant of, seeing no reason at all in God, who exists according to every reason of cause, superior to every reason; toward whom the mind, gathering and compressing itself away from all things, knows no reason of those things from which it has departed, but only contemplates in an ineffable way, by grace alone, that Reason toward which it has come.

^A God is known to spare such persons and those like them, and for the sake of such, He spares the whole world, and truly men who do not distinguish between their own right hand and their left. For in Scripture, almost everything is taken in both a praiseworthy and a blameworthy sense. Even though the envious one, who is the enemy of all human kindness and who labors against the salvation of men, and who for this reason dares to contend against God’s own goodness, the ungrateful, thankless, and misanthropic people of the Jews is rent asunder and rejects the Life of life, making the salvation of the nations in Christ a cause for mourning. Because of their ignorance, they considered the gourd to be of much greater worth, and mourned when they saw it withered by the worm (33).

^B For I said before that the great Jonah also typologically prefigured in himself the madness of the Jews—not that such an affection, like that of the Jews, happened to him (God forbid!), but because he was occupied in himself with refuting their impiety, for which reason he fell from his former glory, as if from a certain Joppa. Therefore, the Holy Spirit mystically gave him such an appellation, which, according to its varying interpretation, could demonstrate the disposition of all those whose figure he prefigured. When, therefore, he typologically refutes the madness of the Jews in himself (34), grieving at the salvation of the nations, confused by the paradoxical nature of their calling, and—rejecting it and blasphemously preferring death over life against the divine will because of the withered gourd—it is called their labor in the very interpretation of his name. The Scripture, rebuking this, says: "God saw their works" (speaking, of course, of the Ninevites), "that they turned from their evil ways; and God repented of the evil that He said He would do to them, and He did not do it. And Jonah was greatly grieved and said: 'Now, O Lord, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.' And again: 'And the Lord God commanded a worm at dawn on the morrow, and it struck the gourd, and it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun rose, that the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, and he was faint, and he renounced his life, and said: It is better for me to die than to live.'"

^D Nineveh, therefore, is the Church of the nations, which received the word of grace, turned away from the former error of idols, and for this reason was saved and deemed worthy of the glory of the heavens. The tabernacle which Jonah built for himself after going out of the city represents the Jerusalem below and the man-made temple in it. The gourd, which exists only in the letter, prefigured the temporal shadow of the corporal law, having nothing whatever that is firm and lasting, or capable of gladdening the mind. The worm is our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, just as He says of Himself in the prophet David: "I am a worm, and no man," who indeed, on account of the assumed—without any

seed a body, has truly become and is called a worm. For just as a worm does not originate from copulation, nor has any mixture preceding its generation, so too, no [human] intercourse accompanied the Lord’s birth according to the flesh. Furthermore, this was applied like a hook for the deception of the devil, in order that the spiritual dragon, as if insatiable, by being eager for the flesh on account of its fragile nature, might be transfixed by the hook of the divinity; and through the holy flesh of the Word taken from us, he might vomit up the whole of human nature which he had already swallowed. In this way, just as he had previously swallowed man by enticing him with the hope of divinity, so too, having been enticed by the bait of humanity, he might later vomit up him who had been deceived by the expectation of divinity, having himself been deceived by the expectation of humanity. And thus the surpassing power of the divine might clearly shine forth, with the strength of the one who had conquered being overcome through the nature ^B that had been conquered; and God might be shown to have conquered the devil more significantly by employing the veil of the flesh, than the devil did man by promising him the nature of divinity. This worm struck the gourd and caused it to wither; that is to say, he abolished the legal worship as a shadow, and in it caused the pride and boasting of the Jews to wither.

*And it came to pass on the morrow, as soon as the sun rose.* By the morrow is meant that after the passing of the enigmatic legal types, and after the set time of the bodily worship according to the Law, the grace of the new mystery dawned, creating another day of sublime knowledge and divine virtue, which bestows divinity upon those who cling to it. For after this worm and this sun had struck the gourd—for the same one is both worm and sun of justice—it arose. The one, because he was born according to the flesh without seed, and his conception surpasses all the power of the reasoning mind; ^C the other, because for my sake, through the mystery of death and burial, he went down into the hidden parts of the earth, and as one who is by nature the eternal light of himself, he rose from the dead by his resurrection. *God commanded a burning spirit of heat; and the sun struck upon the head of Jonah.* For after the rising of the sun of justice, that is, after the Lord's resurrection and ascension into heaven, the burning heat of trials came upon the Jews who remained impenitent, and struck them upon their heads in a just judgment, having turned their pain upon their own heads, as it is written, just as they themselves had previously prayed for themselves when they said: *His blood be upon us, and upon our children.* For clearly, after the Savior’s resurrection and ascension into heaven, a spirit of burning heat—that is, the vengeance brought by the incursion of the Gentiles—attacked them in such a way that it scorched them most bitterly; and my sun of justice, ^D striking the entire nation as if it were a head (meaning their glory and power), cast it down; upon whom, because they had closed the eyes of their mind, they did not recognize the light of truth that had shone upon them.

^A Or again, the spirit of the burning wind is aroused against those who are disobedient to the word of grace, the Jews, 57 restraining the rain of knowledge, and the dew of prophecy, and drying up the natural fountain of pious thoughts of the heart; a desertion, justly brought upon them, as they have filled their hands with innocent blood, and have betrayed the truth to a lie; and have denied the Word of God, who for the salvation of the human race came among us immutably in a form like our own; and for this reason have been handed over to the autonomy of error; in which, in whatever way one might look, it is impossible to find a disposition assimilated to piety and the fear of God, but only a dry and moistureless mind, imbued with every wicked passion; which arrogance knows how to characterize—an accursed passion, existing and consisting of the combination of two evils: pride and vain glory; of which pride 38 denies the author of virtue and of nature; while vain glory renders nature itself and virtue adulterated. For nothing is done by the proud man according to God, and nothing proceeds from the vain person according to nature. The mixing of these constitutes arrogance; having toward God contempt, by which it is naturally prone to blasphemously disparage providence; and toward nature, possessing alienation, by which it handles all things of nature contrary to nature, ^B by a way of perversion, corrupting the decorum of nature. And to speak briefly, the Jewish people, having been permitted, because of their unbelief in Christ, to be seized and bound in mind by the typhonic spirit, has hated equally both God and men; God, indeed, holding Him inferior to carnal pleasure, and for this reason rejecting the worship in spirit; and men, considering those who do not derive their lineage from Jacob in the flesh to be altogether alien to the Creator; and for this reason, making the slaughter of us a study of divine pleasing; having ignored, as it seems, the foolish one, through his lack of understanding, that the body and kinship of lineage are of so much less avail for the appropriation of God and for the closeness of the race, than the soul, which bears the same character of faith as the others, and the same identity of disposition toward the good regarding all; by which, 59 the law of the flesh is entirely extinguished; and only the Word of God through the Spirit shines forth magnificently, uniting all in mind toward the knowledge of one God, and one love and unanimity toward one another; by which no one is separated from anyone else at all spiritually, even if long parasangs of distance of places divide others from others. ^C Therefore, the spirit of burning is the tumor of an elated mind and ^D the spirit of burning is pride, a hater of

^A God and mankind; for it dries up the hearts of the unfaithful, withering the pious thoughts concerning the Godhead and the upright arguments concerning nature, after the likeness of the burning heat. They say that this wind is produced by the mixing of the east and south winds, and because of this it dries up the moisture scattered over the earth. They say it is also called Euroclydon and Typhonic: the former, as it stirs up confusion from all sides, of land and sea; the latter, as it is productive of a parched darkness, which is what pride is also inclined to do. For it brings great confusion to the soul, and fills the understanding with the darkness of ignorance. God stirred up this burning heat after the intoxication against Christ; that is, He allowed it to come upon the Jews—who possessed a disposition suited to it—so that their choice regarding God and men might become clearly manifest to all. Whence, being oppressed by the gloom of ignorance, they cast themselves ^B against their will into the portion averse to God, having nothing at all remaining, except to be troubled and distressed, both at the salvation and glory of the Gentiles according to faith, and at the destruction of their own carnal [observances] regarding the same, saying: "Now, O Lord, take our souls from us, for it is better for us to die than to live," because of the withered gourd; I mean, the worship under the shadows of the law that has been abolished, which came into being and passed away under the night, so that it was bounded only by the enigmas and types of symbols, and possessed no intelligible illumination capable of enlightening the soul's understanding.

But let us, spiritually, through faith and the righteousness that accompanies it, embrace the spiritual Nineveh; I mean the Church from the Gentiles, which is truly established as a great city unto God, as it is written; and let us hasten to become citizens of this city, which is great unto God, having been saved through the three days of repentance appointed for its conversion, and through the change for the better. For the Word says pointedly that the city is great unto God, when it asserts: "Now Nineveh was a city great unto God." Where, in the Scripture, does the Jew—if he cares at all for the truth ^C concerning the earthly city of Jerusalem—find this saying written word for word? For I myself, having read the entire Holy Scripture many times, have nowhere found it written: "And Jerusalem was a city great unto God." Who, indeed, ^D

that a man, trusting in the power of speech and the wealth of his thoughts, could measure the magnitude of that city which is and is called "great to God"? To me, this is utterly impossible; yet I believe that any man of understanding, at least slightly sensible of the divine majesty, does not fail to know that the divine judgments are likewise applied to God.

How then is it a city "great to God," being the primary city of the Assyrians, where the confusion of error existed, where the kingdom of idol-mania was established, and which was lying far distant from the so-called holy land, promised to the carnal Israel, unless we say that God, having foreseen ^A the magnitude of the faith of the Church from the Gentiles, which is not to be circumscribed by any definition, accepted the future as if it were present, and occupied what was until then alien? He established that which was once most vile on account of its godlessness as something divine and most precious through the Word, and, possessing a future not to be defined by any argument, He spoke explicitly through the prophet: "And Nineveh was a city great to God," unto whom the word of prophetic grace was sent, which proclaimed the blessed destruction, saying: "Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."

Having reached this point in the fixed duration of the days, I think I shall pass over other things—as many as can be said by those who reflect upon the word—and I shall instead narrowly observe, with precise annotation, what, if said, might perhaps be found not to stray outside the bounds of truth. ^B Inasmuch as I hear the prophet preaching definitively, "Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown," I await the sentence against Nineveh as immutable; or rather, to speak more correctly and appropriately, I await the visitation for the sake of Nineveh and for her favor. For I understand that after the three days, during which the prophet, acting typically in the belly of the sea-monster, prefigured in himself the three-day burial and resurrection of the Lord, the Word awaited another three days, in which the light of truth was to be shown, and the true outcome of the mysteries that were predicted, and the destruction of the city was to take place—because it was no longer to prefigure in the future the truth of the Savior's burial ^C and resurrection.

Note on the Text

(o) The subtle exposition of Maximus is not about the days of Jonah himself, which had preceded as a figure, but about the days of Christ, in whose three days profane Nineveh was to be destroyed and the holy one to be restored; although where the Greek has "three days," the Hebrew, Syriac, and the rest have "forty," and Theodoret thinks the LXX did not render it otherwise; but those who are the first...

^A to demonstrate the truth not by symbols, but by the things themselves in action, and for whom that three-day duration of Jonah in the whale was a prefiguring sign. For if every symbol is a figure of an expected truth, and Jonah according to the symbol spent three days in the belly of the whale, it is clear that as a symbol, it was intended to show, in a manner involving real action and by all means a novel way, the truth and the mystery; and that the Lord spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, according to the voice of the Lord himself, who says: "Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." * For the statement "three days" indicates by concealment that another three days have passed, for otherwise the word "yet" would not have been placed there; that is to say, there will be three days again, and Nineveh will be destroyed. Therefore the symbol did not destroy Nineveh according to the divine decree, but the truth, concerning which it was said, "Yet three days"—as if he were saying, "Yet three days, according to the symbol shown to me, of the resurrection; and Nineveh will be destroyed."

But someone perhaps questioning might say: How does God speak the truth in giving a decree of destruction, and then not destroy? To which we say, that He speaks truth by destroying it, and at the same time by saving it: by one, He does so through the putting away of error; by the other, He accomplishes it through the reception of true knowledge. Or rather, by killing error through faith, which is made alive again, and by procuring salvation through the death of error. For Nineveh (ρ) is interpreted as "squalid blackening" and "very smooth beauty." Therefore, consistent with the power of the interpretation, the Lord, after the three-day burial and resurrection, destroyed the squalid blackening of error that had attached itself to nature from the transgression; and He renewed the very smooth beauty of nature that comes from obedience to faith, again showing the beauty in nature to be, at the resurrection, ^B most smooth, and not at all roughened by any material thing. This can also be applied to the common nature, and to the holy Church, and to the soul of each individual, ^C if it has put away, through faith and a good conscience, the more mystical burial and greater ^D resurrection.

The hand of Maximus writes what is missing here; from copies examined thoroughly.

(ρ) For Nineveh... Here also are brought forward etymologies of Nineveh, somewhat more removed. It seems evidently to be said from Ninus, a dwelling, as it were "the city of Nin." Whence also Ptolemy in his description of Assyria calls this city Ninus. But is in Hebrew "son," to wit, of Bel. Thus, here and there, cities are named from those who founded them, or in whose honor they were founded, in ancient and modern usage: nor is it necessary to hunt for great mysteries in these etymologies, since the plain narrative and prophecy itself can suffice with rich meaning for pious contemplation. is also "pleasing," which is one of Maximus' etymologies and is itself sufficiently genuine; nor perhaps are other etymologies lacking that are very close to the truth, and not to be entirely rejected, regarding which I await the judgment of others, and from that, light.

^A Having set aside the image of the old and earthly Adam, he has put on the image of the heavenly. It is therefore clearly shown that the prophet possesses a manifold contemplation regarding it, according to the power of the name; for the understanding of his Scripture aptly corresponds to the places [in the text]. For, being interpreted as "flight of beauty," ^B it signifies Adam and the common nature; but as "rest" and "healing of God" and "labor of God," it refers to our Lord and God, according to the power of exposition already surrendered. But as it designates grace, through the riches of the Spirit in it, it is called a dove, and a "gift of God," and a "labor of God" on account of the many struggles of those who became ministers of this true calling. Moreover, indicating the maniacal fury of the Jews against the truth, it is interpreted as their "intense labor," which is envy over the goods of others, begetting sorrow for those who possess them; this evil became ingrained by nature in the Jews, who have prepared their mind to hate God and men; and for this reason, with all impudence, they seek through blood and slaughter the destruction and ruin of the one nature.

But since the discourse, in its swift course, has passed over the contemplation regarding the journey of three days, for it says: *Now Nineveh was a great city unto God, as it were a journey of three days*; if it pleases, let us perform with a few words what was omitted.

I think, therefore, that the journey of three days should be understood as the different ways of life which are instituted according to the reasons of piety; that is, the mode of discipline appropriate to each general law. By general laws I mean here the natural, the written, and that of grace. For each of these has a peculiar kind of discipline and a convenient course, since those who are instructed by their reasons also obtain a different affection and sense in their mind. For one law generates in each person serving under it a different propensity of will and affect. ^C For instance, the natural law, when it has the sense that grows vigorous by reason and prescribing to it, incites—without any doctrine, and of its own accord—all to embrace one another as if they were kin and joined by the necessity of the same genus; it is nature itself that is the teacher for them to render aid to whoever is in need; and [it teaches] that all should wish for all what each person deems pleasant and agreeable for himself to be rendered by others. And in order to teach this, the Lord says: *Whatever you wish that men should do to you, you also do likewise to them.* For in those in whom nature is ruled by reason, this is so established that there is one affection of the mind. And those who have one affection of the mind, it is manifest that their manner of morals and course of life is also one. But those whose manner of morals and course of life is the same, there is also for them one bond of judgment ^D of their disposition toward one another, leading all with one judgment toward the one account of nature, in which...

is the bond of order; compelling all into the one reason of nature by a single will and intent, in which there is no division of nature—that which currently prevails solely due to the stain of perverted private love. ^A The written law, through fear of punishments, restrains the unruly impulses of those who are still subject to greater ignorance, teaching them to look only to the distribution of equity, according to which the power of justice, being confirmed by time, transitions into nature; for it causes fear, a disposition gradually mastered by a judgment concerning the good, to be changed over time into a habit, which by the forgetting of previous things, cleanses [the soul] and brings forth a fellow-feeling for one another, in which the fullness of the law is by nature accustomed to exist, as all are fitted to each other through *agape*. For the fullness of the law is established as the mutual cohesion in *agape* of all who have partaken of nature, bringing the reason of nature, crowned by the longing that is according to *agape*, and, by the addition of that longing, brightening the law of nature. For the law of nature is a natural reason that has taken sense under its control. The written law, or rather the fulfillment of the written law, is a natural reason that has taken on the spiritual reason as a helper for the cohesion with those who are related. Therefore it says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Rom. xiii, 10); but it does not say, "You shall possess your neighbor as yourself." For the former signifies the cohesion of those related only in their being; but the latter signifies the providence that concerns their well-being.

^B The law of grace, however, directly teaches those who are being led by it to imitate God, who, to such an extent—if it is permitted to say so—loved us who were enemies because of sin, that He even deigned to come into our essence immutably, He who is above every essence and nature superessentially, and to become man, and to desire to be named one of mankind; and He did not refuse to make our condemnation His own; and He deigned to deify us by grace as much as He Himself, for the sake of the dispensation, became man by nature; so that we might not only learn to hold fast to one another naturally, and to love one another spiritually as ourselves, but also to care for one another divinely even more than for ourselves; and to give this proof of our love for one another, that we should be ready to undergo voluntary death for one another out of virtue. For there is no greater love than this, He says, that one should lay down his soul for his friends (John xv, 13).

Therefore, to sum up, the law of nature is a natural reason that has taken sense under its control for the removal of unreasonableness—for it is by unreasonableness [note: i.e., of course, the unreason] that the division of those naturally joined together exists. The written law is a natural reason that, after the removal of unreasonableness according to sense, has taken on a spiritual longing as a cohesive force for the kinship with those who are related. The law of grace, however, is a reason established above nature,

^A transforming nature into divinization without change, and showing forth in the nature of men, as in an image, the archetype which is beyond essence and nature; and providing the persistence of being well forever, and the blessed continuity of existence.

If the account of the three laws has this manner, then the great city of God—that is, the Church, or the soul of each individual—is rightly a journey of three days, as it is receptive and capable of the justice that is of nature, of law, and of spirit. For the whole ornament of the Church is contained in these three laws, being encompassed by the breadth of virtue, the length of knowledge, and the depth of the mystical theology according to wisdom. But let us be careful, lest we withdraw from the city in our disposition, as did the people of the Jews, cherishing the body as a tent ^B and cultivating the temporary pleasure of the body like a gourd; lest the worm of conscience, striking us, wither the disposition that has been deceived by pleasure; and lest, through the retribution that comes upon us like a scorching wind because of involuntary temptations for the things we have lived incorrectly, we despair of life and be carried away by indignation against the divine judgment.

For every one of us who has been overcome by the error of earthly things and who delights in the pleasures of the body, receives the word of God like a worm, which for the time being strikes the conscience; and like the root ^C of a gourd, it consumes the relation we have toward pleasure. And in this way, through the perfect rising of the light that illumines the utterances of the Spirit, it withers the operation of sin; and with the spirit of scorching heat—which is the memory of eternal punishments—it strikes, like a head, that which in the assaults of the passions is the beginning of the wickedness of vice; so that we may learn the reasons of providence and judgment, preferring the eternal things to the temporal ones, the absence of which is wont to cause grief to the race of men. For if ^D the text of Scripture introduced a man grieving on account of the tent and the gourd—I mean for the flesh and the pleasure of the flesh—but God being concerned for Nineveh, it is clearly evident that that which is pleasing to God is, by far, superior and more precious than all those things that are held in value and deemed worthy of love by men, whatever they may be; much more so than those things which do not even exist, but are thought to exist only by an assumption and an erring judgment, while there is no ground for their existence at all, but rather a thought that deceives the mind; that is, one which provides a hollow figure and form to non-being, but does not provide true subsistence to the passion.

SCHOLIA

^A 4. To what Joppa corresponds when considered spiritually. 5. In another sense, a contemplation pertinent to the particulars of Joppa. 6. Turbulent storm. 7. He calls the first word concerning the Unity the "Head," as it is the beginning of all virtue; but [he calls] the "clefts of the mountains," the thoughts and counsels of the spirits of wickedness, by the blowing and incursion of which our mind was swallowed up through the transgression. ^B 8. He calls "earth" the lowest [state], that habit which in no way perceives divine knowledge, or possesses any movement of life according to virtue, as it lacks it. 9. He calls "abyss" the ignorance overlying the habit of vice, upon which, just as upon earth, the floods of vice and depravity ascend as if from a deep gulf. 10. He called the fixed habit of vice "earth"; but "eternal bars," the lustful affections of earthly things, which form a most evil habit. 11. He calls "light" true knowledge; and [the] "life of mortals," the conduct becoming to rational beings, of which he who possesses the evil habit is deprived. 12. Here he has taken the "sea" as the image of this world, into which the Lord came in the flesh. 13. He calls the Lord "rest," as the release from labors concerning virtue; and "medicine of God," as one who heals the wound of death; and "grace of God," as one who is redemption; and "labor of God," as one who undertook our sicknesses and affections. ^C 14. How is our Lord and God grace? See, Nile, and be not moved, [for] it is written: "Full of grace and truth." (John I, 14). 15. How does Jonah signify the prophetic grace? 16. That, he says, the patience of the saints consumes the wicked power attacking them. 17. That the saints, suffering in the body and voluntarily undergoing death for the sake of piety of the flesh, brought to work a life in the spirit, which is through faith, for the nations. 18. That it is a proof of divine power by excellence, which is the weakness in the nature of the saints, by which the Lord showed that the proud devil should fall from [his] victory. ^D 19. He says the "king" is the natural law; the "throne," the habit [that is] passionate according to sensation; the "robe," the covering of vain glory; the "sackcloth," the mourning of repentance; and the "ashes," the modesty of thought, that is, humility. 20. He calls "men" those concerned with the word; "beasts," those concerned with desire; "cattle," those concerned with anger; and "sheep," those who stumble in the contemplation of visible things. 21. That Nineveh signifies the soul of each one.

^A 22. These are things without which time and place [do not] exist, without which nothing among created things exists.

23. The Church, and the soul of each individual, possessing the reasons concerning virtue and knowledge, as things that transcend time and nature, has more than twelve myriads (that is, one hundred and twenty thousand); for the reason of virtue does not know the sin of the flesh, as it is on the left; and the reason of knowledge does not know the vice of the soul, as it is on the right.

24. God is the author of virtues; and the knowledge of Him according to activity is the change [wrought] in the spirit, according to the habit, of one who has truly recognized God in truth.

25. The reason according to nature, he says, is naturally apt to lead the one who applies himself to action upward through the middle of the virtues to the intellect; and the intellect leads the one who desires knowledge toward wisdom through contemplation; but the irrational passion persuades the one who neglects the commandments to be dragged down to sensation; the end of which is for the intellect to be nailed fast to pleasure.

26. He calls "unbelief" the denial of the commandments; "faith," the assent to them; "darkness," the ignorance of the good; and "light," the recognition of it. He has called Christ the essence and subsistence of these [virtues]; and the devil, the worst habit of its kind, which is the progenitor of all evils.

27. He calls "virtue" the most dispassionate and stable habit regarding the good; to which nothing on either side stands, as it bears the character of God, to whom nothing is contrary. ^C

28. If reason has defined, as is its nature, the generation of each of existing things; no existing thing naturally transcends or falls below itself. Therefore, the limit of existing things is the recognition of the Cause according to desire; but the measure is the imitation of the Cause, [as far as is] possible for existing things according to activity.

29. To be carried toward that which is beyond the limit and the measure of those things that are moved, he says, makes the course useless, [such things] not arriving at God, in whom the motion of all [desire] according to desire rests, receiving as its immovable end the enjoyment of God.

30. That which is above the rule and the measure; and that which is beyond the rule and the measure, clearly. ^D

31. By reason, clearly.

32. That the intellect which has run back toward God by ecstasy also releases the reasons of bodiless things and the reasons of bodily things. For it is not natural for anything after God to be contemplated together with God.

33. How Jonah can be taken typically with regard to the Jewish people.

34. How Jonah, when interpreted, typically reproves the Jewish people beforehand.

35. That the Lord conquered the tyrant's power by setting forth the weakness of the flesh, which the devil [thought he could overcome]...

by promising him the dignity of divinity. ^A

36. The Lord is a worm because of his seedless flesh; and he is the sun, both on account of the setting of the burial, by which the Word went under the earth as a man, and because he exists as light and God by nature and essence.

37. That the blast of the scorching wind signifies not only temptations, but also the abandonment of God, through which the provision of divine gifts is taken away from the Jews.

38. He says that it is a property of pride to deny that God is the generator of virtue and nature; and of vainglory, to divide nature against itself. From these, arrogance is naturally produced, being a composite habit of vice, which involves the voluntary denial of God and ignorance of the equality of status according to nature. ^B

39. Affinity through the Spirit according to the soul dissolves the affectation of the will from the flesh; and binds it to God, having it fixed there by desire.

40. He calls the legal symbols "night"—those things under which the law operates—in which it is impossible to find the illumination of the soul unless one has understood them spiritually.

41. That because of the great mystery of the divine dispensation, which can be measured by no logic, the Church of the Gentiles was called a great city to God.

42. He says that truth precedes the types according to essence; but according to manifestation, the types precede the truth in time. Therefore, since Jonah, having taken to himself the truth in a typical manner, prefigured it by remaining in the belly of the sea monster for three days and three nights, he says: "Three days yet," ^C signifying the three days of the Lord's burial and resurrection, after which the error and ignorance of the nations will be destroyed.

43. Clearly, of faith.

44. A brief exposition of the interpretation of the name Jonah, according to the force assigned to him regarding each of the persons and manners expressed.

45. Clearly the Law.

46. He says that it is the work of the natural law to produce a harmony of judgment from all towards all.

47. Demonstrative canons of the characteristic quality of natural law.

48. The written law, he says, by preventing injustice through fear, accustoms one to justice; and in time, habit produces a love for justice—from which a fixed disposition towards the good arises, bringing about forgetfulness of previous wickedness. ^D

49. Definitions demonstrative of the operation of each of the aforementioned laws.

50. That to hold one’s neighbor as oneself is a matter only of concern for the life of being, which is what the natural law constitutes. But to love one’s neighbor as oneself, and to provide for the neighbor’s well-being according to virtue, is what the written

[735] writes that the law commands it. But to love one’s neighbor more than oneself is most peculiar to the law of grace. ^A

51. Brief demonstrative definitions of the quality of the three days, which performs good things.

52. The way of the three days, he says, is the completion of justice for him who keeps the three laws.

53. Another more subtle contemplation concerning the tabernacle, and the gourd, and the worm, and the burning heat, and concerning the sun, insofar as it pertains to them.

54. He who is hindered from the occasions of bodily pleasure, says he, learns the reasons of Providence, which, as it were, inhibits the material fuel of the passions. But he who receives the scourges for the pain of the body is taught the reasons of judgment, since it cleanses him from prior defilements by involuntary labors. ^B

QUESTION LXV

In the second book of Kings it is written: “There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said: Upon Saul, and upon his house is the injustice, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” And David called the Gibeonites, and said to them: What shall I do for you, and wherewith shall I make atonement, and that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord? And they said to the king: The man who consumed us, and planned to destroy us, let us destroy him, so that he may not remain within any boundary of Israel. Give us seven men from his sons, and we will hang them up to the Lord in the hill of Saul. And the king took the two sons of Respha, daughter of Aia, the concubine of Saul; and the five sons of Merob, daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Esdriel; and he gave them into the hand of the Gibeonites. And they hung them up to the sun on the mountain before the Lord. And those seven fell together; and they were put to death in the days of the harvest, in the beginning of the barley harvest. And Rhespha, daughter of Aia, took sackcloth, and spread it for herself upon the rock, until water dropped upon them from the heavens. And they did everything that the king commanded. And God heard the land after this (II Reg. xxi, 1-14). ^C

Why is it that after the death of Saul, David was punished by a famine occupying the land, until he had handed over seven men of Saul’s seed to the Gibeonites to be put to death? What is the power of these words, and in what spiritual sense shall we consider them? ^D

^A

Question LXV

The precise knowledge of the oracles of the Spirit is by nature revealed only to those who are worthy of the Spirit—to those, that is, who, through diligent care for the virtues, have cleansed their mind from the soot of the passions, and have become like a clear and transparent mirror, receiving the knowledge of divine things instantly, upon the very first impulse, as though a face were being imprinted upon them. But for those of us whose life, in my view, is stained with the defilement of the passions, it is difficult to confirm the knowledge of divine things ^B even from probable conjectures—let alone to claim the audacity to understand or to express it with precision. And I know clearly that you yourself, reverend father, know divine things more by experiencing them, and you have acquired the science of them through real taste, whereas I, though I know how to speak of them, am unable to express anything regarding divine things from personal experience. Yet, even that which is within my power is not to be rejected, especially for you who have commanded it, and who have imposed upon me this labor concerning things that exceed my power of speech.

Saul, therefore, in this passage of Scripture, is the law according to the power of the commandment of the flesh of the carnal Jews—that is, the corporal mode or reason ^C dominating those who are led by the mere letter of the law; or, it is the carnal mode or reasoning that rules those who are led only by the letter of the law. For "Saul" is interpreted as "Asked-for Hades" in one sense. For the people of the Jews, having preferred the pleasure-loving life to the life and kingdom that is conducted by the Spirit of God according to virtue, asked for Hades—that is, ignorance—to rule over them instead of knowledge. For everyone who has fallen away from the divine love becomes subject to the dominion of the carnal law through pleasure; such a person is unable—or even unwilling—to keep any divine commandment.

But in another sense, Saul is interpreted as "Lent" or "a Loan." For the written law was not given to those who received it as a possession of wealth, but for the training of the promised blessing. Therefore, God, having given the kingdom to Saul, did not promise in the covenant with him that the kingdom would be eternal. For anything that is a loan does not become a possession ^D of wealth for the one who receives it, but an occasion for toil and labor—and for the collecting of other wealth. And Saul’s concubine, Rispah, is interpreted as "course of the mouth." Now the "course of the mouth" is the learning of the law consisting solely in the utterance of words—which is illegitimate, for…

and from which it generates nothing pious or god-loving ^A. For he who exercises himself only in the corporal learning of the Law, according to the utterance of the mouth, does not have a lawful union with the Word, that is, with the learning of the Law. Hence, his offspring are ignoble and cast-aside. For from Rhespha, through an unlawful bed, are born to him Ermonthi and Memphibosthe, which is to say "their anathema" and "the shame of their mouth." For Ermonthi, in one sense, is interpreted as "anathema," and Memphibosthe as "the shame of their mouth." Now their anathema is the corruption of the energy of the passions, exercised through the mouth by way of sin. But Memphibosthe is the movement of the intellect toward evil, contrary to nature; that is, it is the intellectual thought of base things devised by the mind—the shame of the intellect, being both so in reality and so named.

^B Or again, their anathema is the place of the judgment currently prevailing over nature: that is, this world, which has become a region of death and corruption because of sin; into which the first man fell from Paradise after the transgression of the divine commandment. This world, he who does not pass over in his mind to the divine beauty within the spirit of the legal letter is naturally disposed to generate—through a pleasure-loving relationship of the will, that is, through worldly striving—out of learning consisting only in the utterance of the Law in words. And the "shame of their mouth" is the meditation of the thoughts that is fond of the world and fond of the body. For in whatever way the world is naturally disposed to be generated from the corporal fashioning apparent in the letter of the Law, according to one's volitional relationship—that is, the disposition that loves the world—so also is the meditation of thoughts that is fond of the world and fond of the body naturally generated along with it.

^C Or again, their anathema is the earthy, unlovely, and unformed movement of the passions; the "shame of the mouth," however, is the movement of the intellect that imparts form to the passions and fashions the beauty of pleasure for the perception of the senses. For without the faculty of the mind that devises such things, a passion is in no way led to assume a form. Therefore, he who defines the power of the divine promise only by the letter of the Law holds the learning of the Law as a concubine and not as a lawful wife. Whence, of necessity, such learning—not by itself, but because of him who receives it corporally, that is, who has union with it—generates anathema and shame. For he who expects that God commanded sacrifices and feasts, Sabbaths and new moons, in the Law for the sake of corporal pleasure and rest or relaxation; he ^D signifies...

^A and will in every way be subject to the liability of the operation of the passions, and to the shame of the impurity of the disgraceful thoughts concerning them; and he will be under the corruptible world, and the carnal study of thoughts; and under both the matter of the passions and the form, being able to prize nothing other than the things that perish. And perhaps this is the reason why he poorly begets Merob, who bore five sons to Esdriel. Merob, if you interpret the name, is called the abundance of the throat, which is gluttony. For this alone, having received license from the Jewish commandment, begets the ways of the abuse of the senses for Esdriel, that is, for the contemplative part of the soul. For Esdriel is interpreted as 'divine power,' or 'strong helper,' or 'mighty vision,' which is the mind created in the image of God; which, however, by a false estimation, joins to itself in marriage gluttony, as if it were the offspring of the commandment of the Law of the flesh, that is, of the letter. ^B For the mind, being persuaded that the indulgence of the flesh is a prescription of the divine commandment according to the Law of the letter, admits no other [indulgence] than this for companionship; deeming it divine, and the offspring of the Law that rules it, and establishes through it the modes of the abuse of the senses. For since the contemplative part of the soul embraces as divine, because of the commandment, the food according to the Law of the letter for companionship, it passes over to the use of the senses against nature, allowing no operation according to nature to appear.

He, therefore, who practices the learning of the Law corporally, as if having a concubine and not a lawful wife, ^C obtains the knowledge of divine things; and begets from her the anathema of the operation of the passions, and the shame of the uncleanness of the thoughts concerning them; and from Merob, that is, the daughter of Saul—gluttony—receiving as offspring the modes of the abuse of the senses, he is accustomed to kill the reasons and thoughts that exist in the nature of beings, that is, those according to nature, like Gabaonites. For Gabaonites are interpreted as 'mountaineers' or 'the sublime.' And these clearly signify the reasons that are more lofty according to natural contemplation, or the thoughts within us according to nature; which Saul is accustomed to kill, and if anyone now exists as another Saul in his disposition, due to the error ^D of being in the letter of the Law alone, he does not hesitate to send away and adulterate those things that are according to nature. For whoever attends his mind to the corporal worship of the Law is in no way...

able to receive the natural reason or thought; because it is not in the nature of symbols to be the same as nature. But if symbols are not the same as nature, he who is addicted to the symbols of the Law as if they were primary forms and exemplars can never clearly see the generation of existing things according to nature; and for this reason he unreasonably rejects the reasons that are in accordance with nature—not understanding ^A that those who have been saved by Jesus must be preserved, for whose sake also he joined that formidable battle against the five kings rising up against them: in which even heaven itself fought for Jesus against the enemies of the Gibeonites with a hail of stones, and [Jesus] established them to be wood-gatherers and water-carriers for the divine tabernacle ^B (the holy Church, of which the tabernacle was once a figure), the incarnate Word. For he, he is the Jesus who destroys the lustful modes and thoughts rising up against them according to sensation. For the Word of God, Jesus, always takes to himself the reasons of natural contemplation, and keeps them safe, entrusting to them this task: that they should bring wood and water into his divine tabernacle of mysteries; for these provide the material and opportunity suitable for the nourishment of divine illumination, for washing away the filth of the passions, and for the living infusion of the Spirit. For without natural speculation, in no way and by no means is it in the nature of the power of the mysteries to be kept entire and preserved.

But if the Gibeonites also signify that part of the nations which, by the same path as it approached Jesus, the distributor of divine promises, has attained salvation, and has been taught to gather wood and water—that is, to carry on the shoulders of the virtues the mystical and saving reason concerning the cross and the divine regeneration through water, and regarding the divine ark, through pious faith, like wood: on the one hand, the mortification of the members which are upon the earth ^C through the practice of action; and on the other, through contemplation, like water, to provide the irrigating fluids of spiritual knowledge—there would be nothing absurd in this, nor anything to be thought abhorrent to piety.

Whether, therefore, the Gibeonites prefigure the reasons of natural speculation, or the portion of the nations saved through faith, they have as an enemy, and as an antagonist of the saved, him who chooses to order his life in the Jewish manner by the letter of the Law alone. For he who considers his belly his god, and glories in what is a shame and a reproach as if it were a glorious adornment, and is pleased with himself, knows how to endure only the passions of ignominy (that is, the base and shameful affections) as if they were divine things; and for this reason he cherishes only temporal things—that is, matter and form ^D and the fivefold operation of the senses according to abuse. Thus, some are as the children of Respha the concubine, others as the offspring of Merob, the daughter of the despised one. For sense, mixed and intertwined with matter and form, according to its own...

^A rationale, is not naturally co-produced with passion at its generation; just as the rationale of nature is not naturally brought forth together with passion at its generation.

Therefore, he who clings only to the letter of the Scripture, after the manner of Saul, both rejects the natural rationales and does not receive the calling of the nations that was mystically foretold, gaping after naught but the pleasure of the flesh, according to the law, as he thinks. This disposition of the flesh, according to the law, therefore prevailing over those who live only by sense, the famine of the divine knowledge in the Spirit does not manifest itself. For famine, in truth, is the deficiency of the good things known by experience itself, and the destitution and complete scarcity of the spiritual foods that sustain the soul. For how shall one consider famine or a loss, if he is ^B deprived of things he has never known at all? Whence, while Saul is alive, famine does not occur; because it is not possible, while the letter of the law is alive and the mind of the Jews is dominated by material things, to discern the lack of spiritual knowledge. But when the radiance of the evangelical grace has shone forth, and the most celebrated David—who is the law according to the Spirit—receives the kingdom of spiritual things in the mind, after the death of Saul, that is, after the end of the letter (for David is interpreted as "despised" and "strong in vision": the former is said according to the Jews, when the letter oppresses the spirit; the latter is named after the Christian manner, when the spirit overcomes the letter), then the famine of the knowledge in the Spirit is discerned: commonly indeed in the faithful people, and particularly in the soul of each individual, when he prefers the ^C outwardly appearing projection of the letter to the mystical contemplation in the Spirit; and, so to speak, deems the soul of Scripture more ignoble than the body. For the people of the faithful and those who have known the truth truly suffer famine, as does the soul of each individual when it is released from the spiritual contemplation in grace, and becomes enslaved to the local [confinement] in the letter, not nourishing the intellect with the greatness of the meanings, but filling the sense with passionate fantasy by means of the bodily representations of the scriptural symbols. Hence there is specifically a famine of divine knowledge, [lasting] three years, year succeeding year. For everyone who does not apply himself to the spiritual contemplation of the divine Scripture has cast away with it both the natural law, according to the Jews, and has remained ignorant of the law in grace, by virtue of which it is given to those led by it to ^D attain deification.

Therefore, the famine of the three years signifies the lack of knowledge in each of the three laws—I mean the natural, the written, and that of grace—which occurs proportionately in each for those who do not concern themselves with the lifting up of these laws through contemplation. For one can by no means concern himself with the knowledge of the Scriptures if he pushes away the natural rationales of existing things according to contemplation, but clings only to material symbols and devises no spiritual higher-meaning for them. For as long as only the historical account of the Scriptures holds sway

the power and dominion of transient and temporal things does not depart from the mind; but the children and descendants of the deceased Saul, seven in number, still live; ^A that is to say, the corporal and temporal worship of the Law, from which—for the reason I have already given—a lustful disposition is wont to be generated in those who live for pleasure, having as it does a foment for error in the manifest ordinance of the symbols. For this cause, I believe, there was no famine in the days of Saul; that is, the penury of spiritual knowledge did not manifest itself in the time of the legal worship according to the flesh, but in the time of the grace of the Gospel, during which, if we do not accept the whole Scripture in a spiritual sense, now that the dominion of the letter has passed away, we are utterly consumed by a famine, being unable to obtain the mystical worship in the spirit that is proper and due to Christians. ^B But when, having taken on the sense according to David, we seek the face of the Lord, we clearly learn that we have lost the grace of knowledge because we did not receive the natural principles by which we might make a step toward mystical contemplation in the spirit, but instead still embrace the corporal thoughts of the letter of the Law.

And David sought, he says, the face of the Lord. And the Lord said: Upon the house of Saul is injustice, because he slew the Gabaonites. David is every mind that is perspicacious in Christ, which ever seeks the face of the Lord. The face of the Lord ^C is the true contemplation and knowledge of divine things by the gift of virtue, and he who seeks this is taught the cause of his own indigent penury, and is commanded to deliver to death the two sons of Saul taken from the concubine Rhespha, and the five sons of his daughter Merob. Saul is, as I have said, the "desired hell," or "desirable ignorance." For clearly, desired ignorance is the letter of the Law, namely the dominion of the corporal legal worship, which is that which is corporal in the Law; or it is the mind which embraces and cultivates only the matter of the letter by the senses. Rhespha, according to the etymology of her name, is the "course of the mouth"; ^D that is to say, the very doctrine of the Law, in so far as it is proffered by mere speech. For he who is alien to the spiritual contemplation of the Law has truly a course of the mouth, but not of the mind. Furthermore, the sons of Rhespha are Ermonthi and Memphibosthe. Ermonthi is their "anathema," which is the corruption brought about by the sin of the body through the activity of the passions; or it is the place—that is, the world—in which the penalty of the transgression has been imposed; or it is the lustful disposition of the soul toward the world; or perhaps it is the earthly, deformed, and unformed movement of the vices. Memphibosthe is their "shame of the body," which is the unnatural movement of the mind concerning lust and vice; it is undoubtedly the thought that aids lustful affections and vices, or perhaps the meditation of reasons that loves the world and the body. Or again, it is the movement of the mind which bestows form upon the affections, and fashions the lustful beauty as measured by the senses. For these sons, born of the doctrine that consists only in the utterance of speech

^A or of mere rote learning, include both the written Law and the mind that clings only to the letter of the Law. Merob, as her name signifies (being indeed the daughter of Saul), is the abundance of the throat: which signifies the vice of gluttony. For the Law according to the letter, by describing in symbols those who worship according to it, and the mind that, because of a carnal life, confines the Law to types, know only how to give birth to the enjoyment of the body and the disposition that finds pleasure in material things. The five sons of Merob, the daughter of Saul, are the five modes of the five senses, which are perversely passionate; these are always accustomed to be born to Esdriel ^B—that is, to the contemplative part—in the case of a soul that cares for the body alone, according to the Law, through a disposition of luxury.

These two sons of Saul (namely, matter and form) and the five grandsons of Saul (that is, the five modes of the senses that are concerned with matter and form through abuse—I mean the passionate and unnatural engagement of the senses with sensible things, that is, with things subject to time and flux)—these the admirable David, after the death of Saul (that is, after the passing away of the worship of the Law according to the letter and the passing away of ignorance), delivers to be put to death according to the divine oracle ^C to the Gibeonites (that is, to those who, through natural contemplation, are higher in their reasons and thoughts—the spiritual Law, or the mind, which is to abolish and kill the most universal relationship of things subject to time with sense and body in the symbols), according to the height of the hill of Saul—I mean, the Law of spiritual contemplation. For if someone does not first naturally perceive the dissimilarity between divine and intelligible things that is in the symbols and, leaving the sense entirely outside the divine inner sanctuaries, desire to arrive in mind alone at the beauty of the intelligible, it is impossible for him to be released from the bodily variety of the types. Because of this, as long as he proceeds while cherishing the letter, he is not rightfully comforted for the famine of knowledge that he endures, since he has condemned himself like the serpent, the seducer, to eat the earth of the Scripture ^D (that is, the body), and not to feed [alt-version omitted] according to Christ with the intelligence and sense (that is, the spirit and soul of the Scripture, namely the heavenly and angelic bread—I mean the spiritual contemplation and knowledge of the Scriptures in Christ), which God abundantly bestows upon those who love Him, according to what is written: "He gave them the bread of heaven; man ate the bread of angels" (Ps. LXXVII, 24).

It is therefore worth the effort so that we may abolish the interpretation of Scripture addicted to the body of the senses, and the mind that is the parent of vices and perturbations and of the passionate disposition toward temporal and flowing things (that is, the vicious operation of the senses toward sensible things), as if they were the children and grandchildren of Saul, upon the mountain (that is, the height of the divine utterances) through natural contemplation, if indeed we desire to be filled with divine grace. For if, in

^A accordance with the divine oracle, there is injustice upon Saul and his house, because he killed the Gibeonites, it is clear that it is an injustice to violate the truth—both the Law, when understood only according to the letter, and the people of the Jews, and anyone who is an imitator of them in their way of thinking (for the Word knows this to be the house of Saul, describing the power of the Law by the letter alone, not receiving, for the manifestation of the knowledge mystically hidden within the letter, natural contemplation, which exists as a middle ground between types and truth; leading away those who are moved by the former, but leading back to the latter). Rather, as if entirely denying and rejecting it, he shuts it out from the initiation into divine things.

This, therefore, is what it is necessary to slay by natural contemplation—as if upon a mountain, at the height of knowledge—those who are concerned with divine visions, considering the bodily and temporal interpretation of the Law to be subject to time and fleeting. ^B For he says: "And David called the Gibeonites, and said to them: What shall I do for you, and with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord? And they said to the king: The man who consumed us, and persecuted us, and plotted to destroy us, we will blot him out, so that he may not remain in all the borders of Israel. Give us seven men from his sons, and we will make atonement for them to the Lord on the hill of Saul." And the king took the two sons of Rhespha, daughter of Aia, the concubine of Saul, Ermonthi and Memphibosthe, and the five sons of Merobes, daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Esdrihel. And he gave them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they made atonement for them on the mountain before the Lord. And there the seven fell together; and they were put to death in the days of harvest, in the beginning of the barley harvest. Where, according to the history, do we find that the Gibeonites blotted out Saul, so that he did not remain in all the borders of Israel, ^C when Maribaal, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was kept safe by King David and his mercy, along with many other of Saul’s kin, as is recorded in the book of Chronicles? And in what way, having seized the seven men born of him and his lineage, did they say, "We will blot out him, so that he may not remain in all the borders"?

But, as it appears, the irrational element has been intermingled with the literal historical account so that we might seek the truth of the meaning of what is written. Therefore, he who by means of natural contemplation—as if by the works of the Gibeonites—blots out the bodily sense of the Scripture (that is, Saul) entirely from every border of Israel, kills the affection that is born from the written law toward the unstable and flowing matter, and toward the soul—that affection which is pleasure-loving and body-loving. He slays, as the children and descendants of ^A Saul, the low-minded understanding of the law through the means of natural contemplation, as if on a mountain (the high peak of knowledge), and makes it manifest in the sight of the Lord—by confession, that is—the prior interpretation of the law that was directed toward the body.

For this can be understood by those who love learning as "being exposed" before the Lord; for they have brought into the light, through knowledge, that way of thinking about the law that was led astray by the letter. For anyone who has slain the bodily understanding of the law has clearly slain and blotted out the letter of the law, so that it might not stand in every border of Israel, that is to say, in every discourse of spiritual contemplation. For if "Israel" is interpreted as "a mind seeing God," ^B it is clear that the bodily sense of the law cannot exist in any way in spiritual contemplation for those who prefer the Spirit to the letter; since, according to what is written, God is Spirit, and those who adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth, and not in the letter. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Therefore, it is necessary that what is by nature apt to kill should itself be killed by the life-giving Spirit. For it is absolutely impossible for the bodily sense of the law and the divine sense—that is, the letter and the Spirit—to exist and flourish together ^C at the same time in the same act, because that which by its nature provides life is not apt to agree with that which is able to take it away.

^A If we take this passage according to historical belief, we find that Scripture does not stand on truth. For where did the Gibeonites exterminate Saul from every border of Israel, when many of Saul’s kin later existed among the people? But if we understand it in a spiritual sense, we clearly find that through the help of natural speculation, at the high peak of knowledge, the written law—that is, the corporal rite of worship in symbols—altogether ceases. For where will carnal circumcision still stand when the Law is understood spiritually? Where will the Sabbaths and the beginnings of the months exist? Where will the solemnities of the feasts of the whole people exist? Where will the tradition of the offerings, and the rest and quiet of the land, and the remaining institution of the Law according to corporal worship exist? For we know, we who apply our mind by the very guidance of nature, that perfection does not lie in taking away the integrity which God bestowed upon nature. For nature does not produce perfection when mutilated by art, losing through some subtle invention that which belongs to it by the rationale of creation; lest, to provide strength for justice, we introduce an art stronger than God, and make our own concocted defect of nature a supplement to the defect of justice that grew out of creation. But from the typical position of that member which is circumcised, we are taught to circumcise, by a spiritual and scientific duty, the lustful affection of the soul; by the amputation of which, the soul is composed so that it might pursue nature instead, correcting the lustful law of an adventitious origin. For spiritual circumcision is the full and absolute amputation of the lustful affection of the mind resulting from an imported genesis. ^B The Sabbath, however, is a perfect settling of passions, and a universal rest and cessation of the movement of the mind toward created things, and a perfect migration toward God; into whom, whoever has arrived through virtue and knowledge, to the measure of his capacity, must take care not to contemplate—like wood—any matter providing fuel for vices in his mind; nor to altogether gather the reasons of nature, so that, in the manner of the Greeks, we might lay down that God enjoys passions and lust, or that He is commensurable with the terms of nature; Him whom perfect silence alone proclaims, and full ignorance according to excellence represents. We say, indeed, that the New Moons are the various illuminations in the course of virtue and knowledge, in which, suddenly contemplating all the ages, we fulfill the acceptable year of the Lord, let it provide a crown of kindness. ^C But the crown of kindness is a pure faith, which, like precious stones and gems, is adorned with high dogmas and with spiritual discourses and thoughts, and binds together the God-loving and religious mind like a head. Or rather, again, the crown of kindness is the Word of God Himself, who, by various modes of providence and judgment—that is, by abstinence from passions and evils which arise from the mind, and by patience regarding those things that affect us from without—surrounds the mind like a head, and by the grace which the Deity imparts, makes the mind itself more beautiful than it was. ^D

^A Regarding the feasts and solemnities, the first is a symbol of practical philosophy, which leads those whom it masters out of the Egypt of sin—as it were—toward virtue. The second is a type of natural contemplation in the spirit, offering to God the pious opinion concerning beings as the first-fruits of the harvest. The third, finally, is the mystery of theology: which comprises, as a whole, the habit of knowledge of all the spiritual reasons in created things, and the complete freedom from sin through the grace of the incarnate Word according to the dispensation, and finally, the perfect and immortal immutability in the good, as it is productive of trumpets, atonement, and the feast of tabernacles.

I have come to this opinion, for the time being and according to one line of thought, based on the honor shown to the days. For it was surely not because God wished to be honored by humans by means of days that He commanded the Sabbath, the new moons, and the feasts to be kept holy. In this way, He would have taught them to serve the creature rather than the Creator—as far as the letter of the commandment is concerned—since they would have considered those days to be venerable by nature and therefore worthy of worship. Instead, He disclosed by a symbol that honor should be paid to Him through the days. ^B For He Himself is the Sabbath, as the relaxation of the soul's labors in the flesh and the cessation of the toils of righteousness; He is the Pascha, as the liberator of those who are held in the bitter slavery of sin. Pentecost, moreover, is the beginning and end of all things, and the Word and reason in which all things hold together by nature. For if Pentecost comes after the week of the week itself, and Pentecost is clearly a quinary decad, it follows plainly that the nature of beings—which is itself constituted as quinary through the senses—will be in God (who is one by nature) after the traversal of nature's time and ages, receiving no end, in whom there is absolutely no distance.

For some say that the monad is the reason (that is, the Word and the account), as providence expanding through the decad of the commandments by way of progression. ^C But when nature is united to the Word through grace, there will no longer be those things without which what is moved by nature does not exist, for the alterative motion—that which variously affects the sense—will have ceased. It is necessary that the finite rest, in which the motion of things moved necessarily occurs by way of alternation from one quality to another, must receive an end through the presence of the infinite rest, in which it is the nature of the motion of things moved to cease. For where there is a limit according to nature, the motion of those things that are in it is necessarily alterative; but where there is no limit according to nature, no alterative motion of those things in it will be perceived at all. Therefore, the world is a limited place and a circumscribed rest; and time is a circumscribed motion, ^D whence also the motion of those things within it is alterative according to life. And when nature has passed through space and time, both in act and in thought—that is to say, those things without which [it is not], namely the...

finite quietude and motion—it finds ^A Providence linked to it with no medium, and it discovers Providence to be by nature simple and stationary, possessing no circumscription at all, and for this reason, entirely lacking in motion. Wherefore, as long as it exists temporally within the world, nature has a motion that varies according to the quality of the senses, because of the world’s finite quietude and the corruption of time that draws it in different directions, and wears it away with decay. But when it is established in God and has obtained Him, through that natural monad in which it was created, it will have the quietude of eternal motion, and the fixed stability of this same motion around the same, one and only thing, to eternity: which the divine utterances are accustomed to call the perennial and firm adherence—as if it were a seat and a dwelling place—around the first Author of those things which were created by Him.

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^C We are not led, by attending to the nature of the Scriptures, to believe that God takes pleasure in the sacrificial victims of irrational animals and the sprinkling of blood, and that He grants the forgiveness of sins to those who offer them as if it were a reward for service, lest we imprudently worship a God who is subject to passions—as if He were moved by passion to desire such things with great intensity. For if we were to see men having an intense passion for such things, we would denounce them as debauched and intemperate. For we know that spiritual sacrifices consist not only in the mortification of the passions, slaughtered by the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and in the draining away of all carnal life as if it were the blood of the soul's intent; but also in the offering of the character refined by philosophy and all natural faculties, consecrated to God, and consumed as a whole burnt offering by the fire of grace in the Spirit for the divine portion. In this way, contemplating every single symbol existing in the Scriptures according to the principles of nature, as if on the mountain at the height of mystical ^D contemplation, we kill, as it were, the seven men from the sons of Saul—that is, the temporary and transient tradition of the law—and we exterminate Saul—that is to say, the earthly sense of the law, which is placed only in the bark and texture of the letter—and we do not allow it to stand on any border of Israel, that is to say, the paths of spiritual contemplation. For this one, truly surviving life, completes, and pursues, and destroys the flesh alone.

^A Since it defines the law by natural reasons and thoughts, honoring as divine the dishonorable passions, which the natural thoughts, having received license from the law of the Spirit, seize and put to death in the beginning of the barley harvest.

Now, the beginning of the barley harvest is the gathering of the virtues, in accordance with practical philosophy, with a certain moderate reason, by which the earthly element of the Scriptures is naturally destined to be slain, and every earthly movement to be entirely destroyed. For as soon as someone pursues the philosophy of the virtues rationally, he likewise transfers the interpretation of the Scriptures to the spirit, serving God in the newness of the spirit in the worship of action through high contemplations, and not in the oldness of the letter, through a lower acceptance of the law that inclines toward the body, according to the sense, becoming, after the manner of the Jews, a shepherd of passions ^B and libidinous desires, and even one who cares for sin. For it is necessary that we, by the help of natural reasons, destroy the carnal understanding of the law that clings to lust, as the word of Scripture instructs, saying: "And the king took the two sons of Rispah the daughter of Aia, the concubine of Saul, Ermonthi and Memphibosthe, and the five sons of Merob the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Esdriel; and he gave them into the hand of the Gabaonites." The hand of the Gabaonites is the activity of the natural reasons in accordance with virtue, by which the sons of Rispah, Ermonthi and Memphibosthe—that is, the activity of the passions generated solely from the utterance of the word of the carnal doctrine of the law, and the unrestrained movement of thoughts—are slain. ^C Furthermore, the five sons of Merob—that is, those five intemperate modes of the five senses born of pleasure according to the unnatural use of activity—which it is natural to slay, as it were, on a mountain, at the summit of spiritual contemplation, in the beginning of the barley harvest, which is in the preliminaries of the activity according to virtue, or of the pious contemplation according to nature, every mind that is high and lifted up toward God [slays] at the same time, putting to death both the activity of the passions and the indecorous movement of the thoughts, ^D and also those modes which are licentious according to the abuse of the activity of the senses.

"And they fell," he says, "all seven at once, and were put to death in the beginning of the barley harvest. And Rispah the daughter of Aia took sackcloth, and spread it for herself upon the rock, until the waters of God distilled upon them from heaven." Rispah, as I said, if you interpret the name, is "course of the mouth," which is the carnal doctrine of the law according to the mere utterance of the word; which, after the death of the passions born from it, and after the turning toward the height of natural contemplation (which has taken place on the mountain) in the heart of each one of those previously possessed by it, spreads penitence like a sackcloth upon the rock (by which I mean the word of faith according to the Lord), the one in the spirit through the

^A memory has before her eyes, as children, the earlier training in the flesh of the law, until God’s waters shall drop from heaven; that is to say, until the divine knowledge of the Scriptures shall have been sent down from the height of spiritual contemplation, which are at once the extinguishers of passions and the renewers of virtues. For it is natural for the teaching of the law, as it approaches Christ—the true and firm rock—through repentance, to receive the divine rain of the spiritual knowledge of the Scriptures, according to the command of king David; that is to say, of the mind that is strong in vision. For he says: *And he did* (or, *they did*) *all that the king had commanded. And God hearkened to the land after that.* Thus, the study of the divine Scriptures, according to the command of David through the King (who is the spiritual law, or the mind that is strong in vision), moving toward the rock—namely Christ—by means of ^B repentance, for which the sackcloth is a symbol, and by means of the practice of virtues, is accustomed to summon the divine rain of knowledge; and it knows how to entreat God to hearken to the land of the heart, to bestow the divine rains of graces, to provide an abundance of fruits in righteousness, to loosen the ignorance of divine things—that which had previously seized it like a famine—and to make the land full of spiritual goods; making the soul heavy with wheat, and wine, and oil: with the wheat, as it is strengthened by the word of practical knowledge; with the wine, as it is gladdened by divine longing and by the renewer of the unitive warmth of the soul toward God; and with the oil, as it is made to shine with the face of virtues, by a way and reason of a most tranquil mind, that is level, smooth, and pellucid, bringing light and free from all earthly motion ^C and clear and illuminating, [and by every] word [making the face] cheerful [with] the virtues.

But let us also, like the great David, destroy Saul from every border of Israel; that is, the earthly and bodily institution of the law; namely, the Jewish mode of worship, and the sense in the letter alone, which is obvious and crasser in the whole context of Scripture, from every mode of theoretical training; and let us pass over to the spiritual deification of the things that are understood. And let us reconcile to ourselves the Gibeonites, that is, the natural reasons, whom Jesus, the true distributor and arbiter of the divine promises, willed to be kept unharmed; because of whose slaughter by the injury of Saul, God withheld the divine rain of knowledge. And let us kill, through these same Gibeonites (namely, physical contemplation), as if they were seven men of the sons of Saul, the passionate, ^D earthly, and temporal understanding of the law, which Rispah—who is interpreted as "course of the mouth" (which is the bodily study of the law)—is accustomed to produce; and Merob, interpreted as "abundance of the throat," that is, the pleasure of the belly. The former producing Mephibosheth and Ermonthi (of whom if you interpret the names, the one is "shame of the mouth," the other "their anathema"—namely, the habit and operation of the vices); the latter brings forth five others to Esdriel, to the contemplative part of the soul—the five passionate...

^A modes of the senses within us; by destroying these through natural contemplation, we appease God, who has been angered, having translated ourselves from the letter to the spirit. Thus we summon the divine rains of knowledge, and we harvest the fruits of righteousness that spring from them in abundance. For the letter of the Law, like a certain Saul, or the earthly understanding that is born of the letter, we—just as we treat the sons and descendants of Saul—bring through the medium of natural contemplation to the height of spiritual mystagogy, and we slay the bodily and temporal meaning of the Law, or, to speak more accurately, the earthly meaning. If, indeed, we too, along with God, have hated Saul and despised him, so that he might not reign over Israel—that is, if we have cast off the manifest mode of Scripture according to the flesh, namely Judaism, so that it might not reign over the rational power within us, bringing it into ^B servitude to the flesh—then it is necessary for Saul (that is, the bodily ordinance of the Law) to be hated and expelled from the kingdom, just as Agag, the king of Amalek, and the fat of the flocks and herds, and the vine and the olive (I mean the incentives of anger and desire, and the stimulants of luxury) were reserved. And they even transport the living Agag itself—that is, the calf, the earthly mindset of the flesh—to the land of promise (the place of divine knowledge and faith, namely the soul), transferring it to the place of divine recognition; I mean the heart. For Agag ^C is interpreted as "calf"—that calf which perhaps the foolish and senseless Israel fashioned as a god in the desert, preferring the pleasure of the belly to divine worship. Moses and Samuel destroy this calf; the one by grinding it and scattering it upon the water, and the other by slaying it with the spiritual sword. This represents the living and active grace of the Holy Spirit (for that is what Moses signifies) and the obedience to God through the commandments (for that is what Samuel is). For Moses is interpreted as "drawing out from the water," and Samuel as "obedience to God," which is true faith and a divine life. ^D

^A Therefore, the grace of holy baptism is naturally suited to abolish the power of sin, that is, the mindset of the flesh; and the obedience to the divine commandments, put into practice, is suited to slay it with the sword of the Spirit (that is, with the word of divine knowledge in the Spirit). It cries out mystically to the passion of sin, just as the great Samuel did to Agag: "As your sword has bereaved women, so shall your mother be bereaved among women." For the passion of gluttony has bereaved many virtues of their children, as if with a sword, by the seduction of pleasure. ^B For through intemperance it kills the seeds of self-control; through covetousness it destroys the equality of justice; through self-love it severs the continuity and bond of humanity which exists by the dictates of nature. And, to speak briefly (38), the passion of gluttony is the destroyer of all the offspring of virtue. And, as I said, only the grace of baptism and the conduct of life instituted in obedience to God’s commandments can abolish this passion. God therefore repents of having anointed as king of Israel the one who fosters and preserves this passion in the letter of the law; He transfers the power of the kingdom and gives it to David (that is, to the evangelical and spiritual law), namely, to the son of Jesse. Jesse is interpreted as "God’s own bringing-to-pass" (e). Therefore, the holy Gospel is a product of this "bringing-to-pass"—that is, of God’s own operation in the flesh—which possesses the kingdom for infinite ages. By its grace and gift, we have indissoluble exultation and joy, like a day that knows no sunset and is immortal. ^C For it says: "This is the day which the Lord has made; let us exult and rejoice in it." It calls the evangelical grace a day, or the mystery of Him who brought this grace into being. In this day, He desires that all of us, according to the divine Apostle, "walk becomingly as in the day," in knowledge and truth. For Christ is the day of eternal light, in whom it is worthwhile for all those who have believed in Him to order their lives properly through the becomingness of the virtues. For He alone is the one made by God (in terms of the flesh, that is). [index: entries preserved]

^A For he is the one who was made without seed by God alone according to the flesh, having innovated the laws of the natural order; and he was prepared before the face of all peoples, and as a light for the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of the people of Israel. For our Lord is truly the light of the Gentiles (60), opening for them, through true knowledge, the eyes of the mind which had been closed by the darkness of ignorance; and having again prepared himself as a good pattern of virtue for the faithful people through divine guidance, having become for them an image and a prototype of the face according to virtue. Upon him we gaze as the author of our salvation, and we accomplish the virtues through practice so far as it is possible for us. But he, the God and the Word, is also the glory of the people of Israel (62), as he illuminates the mind with the divine light of knowledge through mystical contemplation. Or perhaps the Word calls the "peoples" the principles according to nature, and their "face," the blameless glory, the preparation for which—that is, the light of knowledge—the Word himself has become, as the Creator of nature. By "nations," however, he means the passions against nature (64), which he reveals as they lie hidden, bestowing the light of knowledge and utterly casting them out of nature. And the Word becomes the glory of Israel (65), as he cleanses the mind from passions against nature and adorns it with the principles according to nature; and furthermore, as he binds it with the diadem of turning towards the divine. For the glory of Israel is truly comprised of the departure from passions against nature, the attainment of the principles according to nature, and the acquisition of the goods that are above nature. ^B He who receives this spiritual David, even if the envy of Saul burns against him, is not captured or overcome; but on the contrary, because of his great philanthropy, as one who is free from passion, and even while he is hated, he heals with the lyre of the Spirit the enemy who is choked by an evil spirit. He makes him sound of mind, delivering him, as if from an evil demon, from the epilepsy of the evil of the earthly mindset. For whoever, out of envy, hates and wickedly slanders with divisions the one who is stronger in the struggles of the virtues and in the abundance of the word of spiritual knowledge, he is a Saul, choked by an evil spirit, not bearing the fame of the superiority of the better one in virtue and knowledge; and for this reason he is made more insane, because he is unable to do away with his benefactor. ^C Often he also bitterly drives away his most beloved Jonathan—by whom I mean the natural reason within the conscience, which reproves unjust hatred and speaks the truth about the achievements of the one who is hated—just like that ancient and truly vain Saul, ^D to whom Samuel says, as to one who has transgressed divine commandments: "You have acted foolishly, because you have transgressed my commandment which the Lord commanded you." Saul, as I was saying, is either the written law or the people of the Jews who live according to the written law. For both are thus intertangled with each other in a fleshly manner.

Where this state remains, the Spirit of the Lord—which is spiritual contemplation and knowledge—departs, and an evil spirit (that is, the earthly mindset) enters in, choking those who are susceptible to it with the incessant commotions and agitations of things subject to generation and decay, through the instability of their own thoughts. ^A For the law, when understood in a fleshly way based only on the letter, is like one possessed, shaken by countless contradictions and having no harmony within itself. Likewise, the Judaizing mind, passionately desiring the unstable revolution of material things, naturally has its own disposition shifting unstably along with them. But when David, the true musician by nature—our Lord Jesus—charms with the spirit of mystical contemplation both the law and the Jew, he makes the former spiritual instead of fleshly, and transfers the latter from unbelief to faith. Therefore, according to the figure of Saul, both the law and the people of the Jews are at once possessed and sober. The law is possessed, as I said, when it is taken in a fleshly way; and the Jew is possessed when he seeks to worship God in a fleshly way. And again, the law is sober when it is understood spiritually; and the Jew is likewise sober when he is transferred from corporal worship to the spiritual service of God.

^C Furthermore, it must be noted that Saul kills those whom Jesus saves and wishes to keep unharmed. For the spirit of Scripture is accustomed to preserve, whereas the letter is accustomed to kill. Therefore, God repents of having anointed as king over Israel this thing (I mean the written law), which is taken carnally by the Jews, and he gives the power of the kingdom to the Spirit, which is nearest to the letter and better than the letter. "And I will give," he says, "the kingdom to thy neighbor who is better than thee." Just as David was the neighbor of Saul, so too has the Spirit been wisely joined to the letter of the law; for it is its nature to shine forth after the death of the letter. ^D Let us, therefore, also entreat the intelligible David 67 to strike the harp of spiritual contemplation and knowledge for our mind, which is currently possessed by material things, and to drive away the evil spirit of constant involvement with earthly perceptions, so that we may be able to understand the law spiritually, to find the mystical meaning hidden within it, and to gain an abiding possession as provisions for eternal life; so that we may not hold the symbolic law borrowed in the letter, remaining destitute of the knowledge of grace in the Spirit; and that we may not, as if deprived of sight, cultivate only an inquiry into divine things, while being bereft of the truly radiant, immediate vision of the mystical oracles. For both are referred to by the name Saul, if it be translated into our language; for, in addition to what has been said, if you interpret the name, it means "lent" and "inquiry"—things which 68

^A indeed indicate that the written law also exists. On one hand, as a possession not most proper or necessary to our nature, and one that is entirely coincident with its existence; on the other hand, as that which moves us toward true knowledge and primordial wisdom—provided that we do not mistakenly believe the questioning itself to be the apprehension of the archetypal divine truth we seek. Rather, we should understand it as being only through the bodily symbols in the law, as if through some questioning, that we strive toward the apprehension of divine goods, so that we may cease from the anxiety of questioning (in which, perhaps, error often creeps in) ^B and, having arrived at the truth of the things sought, may be transformed into their blessedness, which manifests in us unchangeably through participation and which makes the pattern according to it the hallmark of our existence; in Christ Jesus, our God and Savior, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

SCHOLIA

1. A mind purified in the extreme through the virtues is naturally and deservedly taught the reasons for the virtues, making the knowledge characterized divinely from them its own familiar face. For every mind, in itself, is devoid of image and character, possessing an acquired form—either the knowledge which is grounded in the spirit through the virtues, or the ignorance which happens to it through the stain of the passions.

2. He who has received the divine knowledge of the mind's form through the virtues in the Spirit is said to undergo divine things, because he did not take it by nature through substance, but by grace through this participation. ^C But he who has not received knowledge from grace, even if he says something knowledgeable, does not know the power of what is said by way of experience. For bare learning does not bestow the knowledge that exists in habit and effect.

3. Well did the Scripture say that this place serves to indicate Saul; because it is interpreted in various ways in other places, according to what is aptly elicited for the spiritual contemplation revealed from history.

4. Just as he says, one who unites with a concubine does not possess a legitimate marriage; so too, he who practices the legal discipline corporally does not have a legitimate union with it, bringing forth from it illegitimate dogmas, which perish along with the life of the flesh.

5. He who, he says, expects the Scriptural instruction for the body, is taught by it the sin according to action, and the meditation on sin according to the mind; luxury, and unrestrained intercourse, ^D and murder: and finally all—that is, or rather, use. For thus the law was given as a pedagogue to those who are children, and until we, having already become adults, were compared to the law of the Spirit: whereby there is also questioning, and it is to be held as questioning, excelling in the desire to rise to the goods it indicates, not as if it were the acquisition itself of them. Thus, by a brief remedy, Maximus's letter is restored, and at the end it flows purely, in its entirety, with dense and varied work and without fault.

^A learns to abominate the creature of God from the letter of the Law.

6. Spiritual consideration according to another approach. This world is also called anathema, as it is a place of condemnation; it is destined to beget it through attachment, one who does not pass on in mind to the spirit of the Law.

7. In whatever we are disposed towards, he says, for that also do we possess meditation according to mind.

8. According to another contemplation, that it is anathema, and the non-idolatrous movement of the passions: shame of the mouth, the movement which forms the passion towards the perception of the mind, and providing to the thoughts matter appropriate to the passion.

9. By compression, he set forth the three contemplations of the subject. ^B

10. He who is persuaded that it is a divine ordinance to delight the gullet bodily according to the Law, receives gluttony as a gift of God with joy for companionship; from which he generates the modes that stain the energy of the senses through abuse.

11. A concise recapitulation of those things which came under consideration before, through which he shows that he who interprets the Law bodily, debauches its instruction; and he generates both the habit and the energy of the passions; and as if it were divine, he introduces gluttony into the house, for the generation of the modes staining the senses through abuse; for the destruction of the natural reasons and seeds in beings.

12. He who remains in the symbols of the Law, he says, cannot see according to reason the nature of beings, and cannot acquire the reasons ^C essentially placed in beings by the Creator, because of difference of the symbols from the nature of beings.

13. The reasons of nature carry wood, becoming matter for the knowledge of divine things; but they carry water, making for the washing away of the passions, and the spreading abroad of the vital energy in the Spirit.

14. Another contemplation of the same, explaining through the Gibeonites the calling of the nations.

15. He called matter and form, according to contemplation, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five-fold abuse of the senses, the five sons of Merab; ^D which, having joined to one another—that is, having interwoven the sense with matter and form through the constitution towards the flesh of the Law—he who describes the mind only by the letter, produces, on the one hand, carnal passion; and on the other, destroys the natural reasons.

16. That passion and nature, according to the reason of being, in no way coexist with one another.

17. He who does not believe, he says, that the Scripture is spiritual, does not perceive his own poverty according to knowledge.

18. When, he says, David is taken with respect to the Law, according to the Jews, signifying the letter, it is interpreted as disparagement, because of the tradition of the divine laws towards the flesh; but according to Christians, it signifies the Spirit

for the Spirit, ^A by the spiritual contemplation of knowledge, is interpreted as strong in action.

19. He called the soul of Scripture the Spirit; but the body, the letter.

20. He speaks of the three years, [as] the three laws: the written, the natural, and the law of grace, which are connected one to another. Therefore, he who receives the written law bodily does not nourish the soul with virtues; and he who does not apply his mind to the inner meanings of beings does not feast his intellect upon the varied wisdom of God; and he who does not know the great mystery of the new grace does not rejoice in the hope of the future deification. ^B Thus, the lack of spiritual contemplation according to the written law has following upon it the lack of the varied wisdom of God, which is understood according to the natural law, and which possesses, as a consequence, the total ignorance of the deification to be granted by grace according to the new mystery.

21. He who does not understand the law spiritually, even if he has the law as "dead" because he does not serve it bodily, yet he still cultivates the base meanings of the law—the sons of Saul and his grandchildren; because of this, he is tormented by the famine of knowledge.

22. Just as the face is characteristic of each individual, so also spiritual knowledge emphatically characterizes the divine; he who seeks this is said to seek the face of the Lord.

23. David is interpreted as "strong in vision" and "perspicacious mind."

24. He who is "fleshed" according to the letter of the law ^C through bloody sacrifices possesses a desired ignorance, for he interprets the commandment leading only to the pleasure of the flesh.

25. He says that he who serves the law bodily generates sin entirely as the "act"; and as the "form," he is physically fashioned by the consent of the mind to the seductions of the senses. But he who receives Scripture spiritually [treats] the act as material, and as the form, the consent to sin along with the ways of abusing the senses for the sake of pleasure; these, as sons and grandsons of the legal letter, he kills through natural reasonings at the height of contemplation.

26. That without natural contemplation, ^D no one discerns the manifestation of the legal symbols toward divine things.

27. He understood "to uncover" as meaning to make manifest, at the height of contemplation, the letter of the law as dead, through knowledge in the Spirit.

28. He understood "the border of Israel" as every word and manner of spiritual contemplation, in which the bodily tradition of the law cannot stand at all.

29. The Spirit, he says, exists as one who confers life; but the letter is one who takes life away. Therefore, the letter and the Spirit cannot act according to the same thing; so that neither does the life-giving [principle] coexist with the corrupting [principle]. For divine...

^B creation it is. And it is a work of divine creation and very good, according to the voice that says: God saw all that He had made, and behold, they were very good. But the Law, in commanding that the foreskin be cut off through circumcision as something unclean, introduces God as amending His own work by art; which is an extremely impious thought. Therefore, he who naturally applies himself to the symbols of the Law knows that God does not amend nature through art, but commands that the part of the soul that is subject to the passions, and which obeys reason, be circumcised—the part which that member typologically signifies; which knowledge, by the virtuous action of the mind, is naturally suited to be laid aside. For the priest who circumcises signifies knowledge, which, like an iron blade, has the strength of the Word in action, girt against passion and lust. For the somatic tradition of the Law is abolished, while the letter yields to the Spirit.

31.

Definition of the mystical contemplation concerning circumcision.

32.

Definition of the mystical legislation concerning the Sabbath; wherein he shows mystically what the Sabbath is, and what is its spiritual rationale; namely, that it is a rest from the passions and from the agitation of the mind regarding the nature of existing things.

33.

That God is implied.

34.

What the new moons signify.

35.

Definition of the crown of goodness.

36.

Another definition of the same, more mystical.

37. Here he says that temperance is a work of Providence, as it is a purifier of the [passions of the] soul; and he calls patience the achievement of judgment, as it stands against ^C involuntary temptations.

38. He calls the Passover the first feast.

39. He calls Pentecost the second feast.

40. He calls the third, which was celebrated in the seventh month, the [feast] of Atonement.

41. Observe how the Law destroys those who understand it corporally, persuading them to worship the creature rather than the Creator; and to consider as naturally venerable those things that were created for their sake, while ^D being ignorant of Him for whose sake they themselves exist.

42.

How God is the Sabbath.

43.

How God is also the mystical Passover.

44. The mystery of the feast of Pentecost, wherein he mystically initiated the spiritual power of those things signified, calling God the Pentecost. For just as the monad, remaining stable while...

wrapping the week into itself, brings about Pentecost; and again, becoming a decade through the accessions that occur in it, multiplied by the pentad, brings about the Pentecost—so it is both beginning and end of its own: beginning, as it is before every quantity; and end, as it is above every quantity. Thus too is God, to whom he said the monad corresponds by a typical likeness, the beginning and end of existing things, and the Word by whom all things subsist. He is the beginning, because He is before all substance and motion; He is the end, because He is above all substance and motion; He is the Word, because according to His providence He is the caretaker of all things as the underlying form and bond by which each of the things that exist possesses its stability in the Word of itself. ^B When, therefore, the times and the ages—to which he says the week corresponds—shall reach their end, God Himself will at that time be most uniquely alone, without those things *sine quibus non*—that is to say, without the mediation of places and times—holding together through Himself, by way of a true union, the existence of things within those who are being saved. That is, the generated nature, which he likened to the pentad, will be freed not only from the senses, to which it is naturally prone to be subject, but also from the universal knowledge which stands in the comprehension of those things that are intellectual and rational, sensible and living, and existing in faultless knowledge. Therefore, the nature of existing things will not at any time cease from its station in place and its motion in time, as being superior to those things for which it was made (that is, place and time) by means of the true union with God, for whom it was also made, occurring within those who are saved. For the nature of things, having made God Himself its own quality according to the discourse of Providence—by means of the decade of the commandments (that is, as the mark of the quality of deification by grace)—will be liberated both from circumscription by station in a place and from motion in time; having obtained a station that is ever-moving, the unbounded enjoyment of divine things, and a motion that is stationary, the insatiable desire for them. ^{C D} 45. In the seventh month there are three solemnities: of trumpets, of propitiation, and of the tabernacles; of which the trumpet is a type of the law and the prophets, and of the knowledge proclaimed from them. Propitiation, however, is a symbol of God’s reconciliation with man through the incarnation. For He who willingly underwent the condemnation of him who was guilty of the crime, dissolved the hatred that had formerly been established against him. The feast of tabernacles, moreover, is a prefiguration of the resurrection and of the transformation of all things into an immutable state.

46. He who delights in bare bloody sacrifices, he says, prepares those who sacrifice to be preoccupied with the passions, as if they were passionate; for that which is worshipped loves to rejoice in those things in which what is worshipped also rejoices.

47. The Word knows as sacrifice, he says, the slaughter of the passions and the offering of the natural faculties; of which the ram is a type of reason; and of...

bull, of the irascible; and the goat, ^A of desire.

48. The earthly mind, it is clear, is that of the Scripture; ruling the soul, it casts away the natural reasons, destroying them through the misuse of the natural faculties.

49. As soon as anyone, he says, ceases receiving Scripture according to the senses in relation to the body, he simultaneously runs back to the Spirit according to the mind through the intermediary of nature, performing spiritually those things which the Jew, by performing, renders God angry.

50. What the hand of the Gibeonites is, to which David delivers those born from the lineage of Saul.

51. He says that the expiation is the manifestation which the passions undergo, having been triumphed over by the high reasons of nature according to high contemplation. ^B

52. The teaching regarding the body of the Law, he says, having before its eyes the fleshly meanings of the Law—dead through repentance—and sitting beside the Word according to Christ, receives, like showers, the heavenly illuminations of knowledge.

53. Clearly, by wheat.

54. Clearly, by wine.

55. Clearly, by oil.

56. He said that wheat is the support of the soul, as it is spiritual knowledge; wine, however, is that which gladdens the heart, as it is productive of the loving union with God; and the oil is that which fills the face with cheerfulness, as he expressed it, as being characteristic of the spiritual grace that brightens the mind in accordance with dispassion. ^C

57. Amalek is gluttony; the king of this is the earthly mindset; his herds and flocks are the materials that nourish the passions; the vine is the headlong movement of the intellect; and the olive is the smoothness that inflames desire toward pleasure—all of which he who sits beside the bodily [meaning] of the Law transfers as if into the holy land, [that is, into] the habit of religious worship; in return for which, as a reward, he receives God’s turning away from him.

58. The fool is called the Jewish people as godless; but the senseless one, as an evildoer, which is impious and a sinner.

59. The passion of gluttony, he says, is by nature apt to kill the divine fruits of the virtues; but this [passion] itself, the grace of faith and the obedience to the divine commandments kills, through the Word according to knowledge. ^D

60. How he is light.

61. How the Lord is the preparation before the face of all the peoples.

62. How the Lord is the glory of Israel.

63. According to another contemplation, who are the peoples, and what is the preparation of the people before their face.

64. Who again are the nations, which the Word reveals as he approaches.

65. How is the Word again called the Glory of Israel?

66. At once, he says, one slays the carnal mind in the letter of the law, and receives the Word that reigns in the spirit.

67. He applied David and the Lord, and the Gospel, and the spiritual law; and to knowledge, and to contemplation, and to what is called action, and to the new people; and according to the many modes of contemplation, he adapted ^B them appropriately, according to the reason of the places, to the underlying need.

68. He who possesses the figures, but not the archetypes of the mysteries, and the questioning, but not the knowledge of the illuminations in the spirit, having taken a loan—that which is confessed to those previously mentioned—takes the experience in the symbols of the law according to sensation; he pines in his soul with hunger for the spirit, and, as if squinting, he attends to the questioning of the guide toward the knowledge that is according to truth.

69. An interlocution is that in which, by chance, there is often also error and deception.

70. It is clear that regarding blessedness, it characterizes those who have been deemed worthy of it by participation, and makes them familiar from it.

OF THE SAME

QUERIES, AND RESPONSES, AND QUESTIONS AND SELECTIONS Of various difficult chapters.

INTERROGATION I. What are the virtues of the soul, and what are those of the body?

Response. The virtues of the soul are these: love, humility, ^C meekness, long-suffering, forbearance, forgetfulness of injuries, freedom from anger, freedom from cowardice, freedom from envy, not judging, not seeking vainglory, almsgiving, sobriety, freedom from avarice, sympathy, freedom from vanity, freedom from pride, contrition. But the virtues of the body are these: fasting, sleeping on the ground, vigils, continence, poverty, and not being distracted or wandering.

INTERROGATION II

Resp. One sings with the spirit when he merely brings forth the utterance of what is sung by means of the tongue. But he sings with the mind when, understanding the power of the things being sung, he is gladdened by contemplation.

INTERROGATION III

Resp. Since the prior will of God was that we should not be born of the corruption of nuptial intercourse, but the transgression of the commandment brought in marriage, because Adam acted iniquitously (in that he violated the law given to him by God): hence it is that all who are born of Adam are conceived in sin, being made subject to the condemnation of our first parent. ^B And the words, *And in sins my mother hath conceived me*, signify that Eve, the mother of us all, was the first to conceive sin, as if she were in the heat of pleasure. For this reason we too, falling under the condemnation of our mother, are said to be conceived in sins.

INTERROGATION IV

Resp. I wished, he says, to be delivered from Christ ^D to the devil, so as to be scourged and to endure the punishments on behalf of Israel; [alt-version omitted]

^A which they owed by right because of their disbelief in God, only that they might be saved; in the same way as the Lord also delivered himself up, and became a curse for us.

QUESTION V.

QUESTION VI.

QUESTION VII.

QUESTION VIII. In how many ways are allegories spoken; and what is tropology?

Resp. Allegory is that which is taken from inanimate things; for example, in mountains, hills, trees, and other such things. Tropology, however, is that which is in our own members; for instance, the head, eyes, and other such things. Indeed, "tropology" is said to be derived from the word for "being turned" ^A (trèpesthai), meaning to be converted or changed in one’s morals.

QUESTION IX. What is the meaning of what is said in the Psalm: "Sitting, you spoke against your brother, and against your mother's son you placed a scandal"?

Resp. Whoever speaks ill of the actions and character of one to whom he is joined by the bond of faith, and sits, as it were, obsessively in order to bite him with sharp-tongued reproach, he is rightly said to speak against his brother. But he who, driven by envy, makes accusations against someone adorned with wisdom, and scandalizes everyone by that act, he is the one who places a scandal before ^B his mother's son.

QUESTION X. Since it is written in the holy Diadochus in the hundredth chapter: "Some are to be judged by fire and to be purged in the world to come," I pray that you would explain, by your exposition, the meaning of the Father.

Resp. Those who have attained the perfection of love toward God, and have lifted up the wings of their soul, as the Apostle says, are caught up in the clouds and do not come into judgment. But those who have not attained perfection in all things, but possess both sins and good works, these come to the tribunal of the ^C judgment, and there, through the examination of their good and evil deeds ^D as if tested by fire, if—

the scale of good works be found heavier for them, they are cleansed by a just chastisement. ^A

QUESTION XI. On the various kinds of justice.

*Answer.* Those who are learned in divine things say there is a threefold justice: human, angelic, and divine. And they say that human justice is the equitable distribution of honors and goods among those who are affected by the senses, along with probity; angelic justice is the bounteous imparting of divine knowledge; finally, they define divine justice as the suffering of evil for the sake of those who commit sins. ^B

QUESTION XII. For what reason did the Lord, in rebuking Peter, call him Satan?

*Answer.* Not, as some think, that the Lord called Peter Satan in an insulting manner; but because the Lord’s privations became our habits; for instance, His death became our life, His ignominy became our glory. The apostle Peter, being ignorant of this, when the Lord said that He was about to suffer, supposed, following the normal course of things, that it was impossible for Life to die, or for such glory to be disgraced. Therefore, the Lord, removing this opinion of his, and showing that one ought not to seek the sequence of nature in those things which transcend nature, determined to accomplish these things through their contraries: through death, life; through ignominy, glory. As if, then, attacking this opinion of his that stood in opposition, He says: "Get behind me"; as if to say: "Follow my counsel, and do not anticipate, seeking [only] the sequence of things." They say that the name Satan ^C

***

[The following is the translation of the Latin apparatus corresponding to the markers in the text.]

(i) *In an insulting manner.* Chrysostom recognizes the great force of the rebuke in those words of Matthew, and that the Lord called him Satan because he was performing the work of Satan (that is, the adversary), and that he might seriously deter him and his associates from that intent: for such was the will of the adversary, that Christ should not suffer. The desire of the adversary (namely, Satan and the devil) was that Christ should not suffer. It is the design and purpose of the devil that I should not suffer. The Lord, therefore, ^D rebuking Peter and, by chiding him, recalling him to his duty; nor do I see how there is not something of vehemence in those words, or why it is not permissible to use something of an insulting nature, especially when the method of rebuking and biting at someone is added, so that you might instill in him a sounder understanding. Thus Paul, "O foolish Galatians," etc. (Gal. III, 1). Corderius’s *Catena* has this chapter of Maximus under his name, in the same sense and with almost the same words, though a little shorter; from which Maximus could have derived and expanded it, just as he transferred those *nemitika* chapters of his into his other two hundred chapters.

^A to be interpreted as opposed; which the Lord did not utter abusively, but as if He were saying, "You who are opposed to My purpose."

INTERROGATION XIII

Since Gregory of Nyssa, in his writings, appears to those who do not sufficiently grasp the depth ^B of his lofty theory to imply everywhere [*many places*] a *restitution* (in the sense of a complete restoration), I ask that you tell me what you know about this.

Resp.

The Church acknowledges three types of *restitution* (restoration to an original state). The first is that of each individual according to the standard of virtue, by which he is restored, having fulfilled the standard of virtue proper to him. The second is that of the whole of nature in the resurrection, whereby it is repaired to incorruption and immortality. The third, which Gregory of Nyssa makes particular use of in his discourses, is this: that the powers of the soul, which had succumbed to sin, are restored to that original state in which they were created. For it is necessary that, just as all nature in the resurrection—at which time we hope to receive the incorruption of the flesh—so too the perverted powers of the soul must, through the passage of the ages, cast off the images of vice and wickedness inscribed upon it; and having passed through all the ages, and finding no place to rest, it comes to God, who is without end. And thus, by knowledge, not by participation in the good, it recovers its powers and is restored to its ^C original state, clearly demonstrating that the Creator is not the author of sin.

INTERROGATION XIV

What is the reason that, when there are many graver insults, the Lord in the Gospels declares him who calls his brother a "fool" to be liable to hell, but says that he who says "Raca" is subject to the council?

Resp.

The name "fool" is understood to refer to someone senseless and demented.

^A. And according to Moses, who says, "This is a foolish people, and not wise," whoever calls his brother who is of the same faith as himself an atheist, an idolater, a heretic, or an unbeliever, this man says "fool," and becomes justly liable to hell. But whoever says "Raca"—that is, "you spit-upon" or "you filthy one"—this man slanders the life of his brother, and is rightly subject to a lighter punishment.

QUESTION XV.

Response. Some of the saints say ^B that the soul was infused by the Holy Spirit, as if by male seed, but the flesh was formed from the virgin’s blood.

QUESTION XVI.

Response. Every one of the saints, from before the Lord's coming ^C, who practiced any kind of virtue—even if he did not know the whole mystery of the economy—yet, moved in part by nature, he hoped and expected that He who created the nature would bring the mystery itself to fulfillment. For I know nothing, he says, beyond what has been said, nor do I seek to know more than what has been spoken, other than that what has been begotten has been begotten of the Spirit. "That we should be to the praise of His glory, who have hoped beforehand in Christ." For all look upon us, those who have believed in the Lord, and they praise Christ, who is the cause of such goods [D ].

^A And moving naturally, he hoped and expected that He who created nature would Himself also restore it, once it had been corrupted.

Herodes, if you translate the name, means "skin-like." It is therefore necessary to abhor carnal reasonings.

QUESTION XVII. What does it mean according to the Apostle: "That flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God"?

Answer. Flesh is desire; blood, I judge, is anger. And it is natural, therefore, that he who is not pure from these cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

QUESTION XVIII. What is a *diapsalma*?

Answer. I think that it is a change from one thought to another, or even a change of the mode of teaching to another mode. ^B

QUESTION XIX. What does the history concerning Lamech signify?

Answer. Some of those who are learned in divine things say that in the times of Lamech, because of disorder and anarchy, the powerful oppressed the weak. This Lamech, therefore, meeting a man with his wife, killed him and took his wife. Then, meeting a brother with a sister, he killed him also and took his sister. And Scripture called the one a man, and the other a youth. These things are so according to history; but according to theory, Lamech is taken for the activity of wickedness. For it killed in us the man, I mean the natural law; and the youth, I mean the spiritual law, and took from him ^C his discernment, so that by mingling with it the movement of wickedness—and [as for the rest]—he did not shrink from confessing the murders he had committed. And as for the one who took two wives, and the youth—it is not two, nor is it Cain, as others have mythologized, but one and the same person, a youth.

^A He took from him—that is, from all—the understanding, so that the sower of evil, being mixed with this, should cause sin to be accomplished. Therefore, the seventy-sevenfold vengeance is exacted from this Lamech; he pays penalties for both the consent and the act. ^B Whence also the Lord, when Peter said, "How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" answered him, "Not only up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times." That is, to the one who repents to you, you shall forgive not only the minor sins that occur in consent, but also the acts themselves.

QUESTION XX

Answer

QUESTION XXI

Answer

QUESTION XXII

Answer

QUESTION XXIII

^A neither causes one who is broken by sin to reach the end of discouragement, nor extinguishes his reasoning faculty if it is puffed up by the vainglory of certain virtues, but allows him to retain his fervor until he arrives at the perfection of knowledge. For this, I believe, is what it means to allow the tares to grow together with the good seed: that is, to allow the passion of human-pleasing and vainglory to grow up along with the virtues. Hence the Husbandman of souls commands that these not be rooted out until the virtues have taken hold, lest someone, wishing to tear them out, should also uproot the fervor of virtue.

QUESTION XXIV

Answer

QUESTION XXV

Answer

^A

INTERROGATION XXVI.

What is the blasphemy of the Spirit? And how is it that "Every sin shall be forgiven unto men; but unto those who have blasphemed against it, it shall not be forgiven, neither in this age, nor in the age to come"?

RESP.

The question concerning the blasphemy of the Spirit carries its own solution. For when the Lord was performing various works of healing, the Jews were attributing the operations of the Spirit to the prince of demons. But regarding the addition, "Neither in this age, nor in the age to come," that there is no forgiveness for those who blaspheme, this must be investigated further. Some ^B of those who have attained precision in such matters through the Spirit say that there are four modes by which the forgiveness of sins comes about: two in this age, and two in the age to come. For because the memory is too weak to recall the faults of one's entire life—so that the human being might repent for them here—the Master of nature, being philanthropic, arranged modes of repentance for us even when we ourselves do not repent; and, as has been said, there are two in the age to come. When someone has sinned indiscriminately in this life and has again performed good deeds—either by being moved to pity and compassion for his neighbor, or by another act of humanity—these, when weighed in the balance at the time of judgment in the age to come, if they incline the scale, result in forgiveness. This is one mode. The ^C second is this: when someone is held fast in sins but, hearing the Lord say, "Judge not, that you be not judged," refrains out of reverence from judging anyone, he is not judged in the examination of his own life, as one who has kept the commandment. For He who is most truthful will not be forgetful of His own commandment. The other two modes have their forgiveness here, when someone who is in sins is arranged by providence to be in troubles, in necessities, or in diseases; for he does not know how God cleanses him through such things. And if he gives thanks while being put to the test, he receives a reward for his thanksgiving. But if he is ungrateful, he is cleansed from the sins for which he is being disciplined, ^D yet he is exacted the penalty for his ingratitude. Furthermore, whatever sins one commits against men, as the word has shown,

^A they have many pretexts for forgiveness. For if one sins against a man, while doing well to another man, the very nature against which he sinned offered the apology. But the blasphemy against the Spirit, which is unbelief, since it has no other pretext for forgiveness—namely, that one does not become a believer—naturally, for him who has ended his life in unbelief, neither here nor in the world to come will the sin of unbelief and godlessness be forgiven.

INTERROGATION XXVII.

What does that riddle of the Proverbs mean: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for in doing this, you will heap burning coals upon his head”?

Answer.

We have an enemy against the soul—our body—which always wars against us through the uprising of the passions. If, therefore, ^B the disposition of the flesh, being pressed by the conscience, happens to be hungry—that is, hungers for salvation—or thirsts for divine knowledge, it is necessary to feed it through ascetic labors and to give it drink through the meditation of the divine sayings. For in this way burning coals of fire are heaped upon his head—that is, upon the mind—namely, divine and spiritual thoughts.

INTERROGATION XXVIII.

What is the meaning of what is said in the hundred and first Psalm: “I have become like a pelican of the wilderness”? ^C

Answer.

This pelican is a bird; but the serpent, a very ^D [original-script column: see facsimile]

^A grave enemy, hates its nestlings. What does the parent do? It fixes its nest on a height, walling it off on all sides against the serpent. What then does the evil-contriving serpent do? It scouts from where the wind blows, and from that direction breathes its poison upon the nestlings, and they perish. Then the pelican comes, and sees that its children are dead; and it looks at a cloud, and flies to a height with its wings; it strikes its own sides, and through the cloud it drips [its blood] upon them, and they rise again. Therefore, the pelican is taken for the Lord; its children are Adam and Eve, or our nature; its nest is the paradise; the serpent is the apostate devil. Thus the arch-evil serpent breathed through the disobedience upon our first parents, and they became dead in sin. Our Lord and God, however, because of His love for us, is lifted up upon the precious cross; and being pierced in the side, through the cloud of the Holy Spirit, He bestowed eternal life upon us. ^B

QUESTION XXIX. What is the meaning of the words: “There the sparrows will nest”?

Answer. By the name of sparrows, He signifies either souls or various virtues.

QUESTION XXX. What do the words signify: “The house of the heron is the leader of them”?

Answer. They say the heron is a bird; and it possesses such chastity ^C [the Latin text continues with a scholarly commentary on the identification of the heron: some interpret it as a coot, others as a stork, which nests in high places; the Greek text indicates that there are three kinds of herons, the "pellus," the white, and the one called "asterias." Of these, it is said that the "pellus" mates and copulates with great difficulty, and as they say, it lets out blood from its eyes while doing so; hence, they trace the name back to blood and sweat, or perhaps to its delight in marshy places]. ^D

^A live in continence, so that when it is time to come together for mating, it mourns for forty days; and again after this, for another forty. It builds its nest in trees, where it is not shaded by anything, but has pure air. By this, it signifies chastity. For this precedes all virtues; it is separated also from the things of the senses, not being obscured by any of the things that are transitory. For the number forty contains the perfection of each of the four elements.

INTERROGATION XXXI.

RESPONSE

INTERROGATION XXXII.

RESPONSE

one manner of providence to another is habitually termed in Scripture as repentance on the part of God.

^A QUES. XXXIII. What does it mean: "For three or four impieties of Tyre, I will not turn it back"?

Resp. I suppose that the prophet, by these four impieties, hints at these things: the suggestion, the desire, the habit of the evil, and the operation. Now, with regard to the first and the second, that is, the suggestion and the desire, God exercises forbearance, as if the evil has not yet advanced to perfection. But with regard to the third and fourth impiety, that is, the habit and the operation—or, in other words, consent and action—the Word justly indicates the threat. ^B

QUES. XXXIV. Why is it not possible to say "Father of the Spirit" or "Christ of the Spirit," just as it is said indifferently, "Spirit of God," and "Spirit of Christ," in relation to the Father and the Son?

Resp. Just as the Intellect is the author of the Word, so too is it of the Spirit, but through the medium of the Word. And just as we cannot say that the word is of the voice, so neither can we say that the Son is of the Spirit.

QUES. XXXV. What does that which was said by the Lord signify: "If thy eye, or thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee"? ^C

Resp. It is possible to interpret the parable in the obvious sense, concerning friends, as if they were eyes, and those of one's household, who are as necessary to us as hands; and companions, who minister to us like feet. If these cause scandal and injure the soul, the Word commands us to cut them off. But there is another way to receive the precept, according to the mode of anagogical interpretation. If you possess contemplative knowledge, just as an eye, and it creates vanity, cut it off; regarding whom St. Paul says: "If a sun be risen, the height of speculation..." ^D

however, you also possess a graceful and honest deed, and from this elation creeps upon you, cut it off as well. In the same manner, if you are capable of a ministry, which is signified by the name of the foot, and you become puffed up from this and proud, depart from it. For it is better for you to lack these virtues, which appear as such, than that through elation and pride you should come to complete destruction.

INTERROGATION XXXVI

INTERR. XXXVII

[alt-version omitted] ^D

so that through faith in Him, when in His loving-kindness He had descended into the realms of Hades, all who believed in Him might be released from the debt of impiety and live in spirit according to God, having been judged in the flesh—that is to say, on behalf of those wrongs which had been committed against mankind. ^A

QUESTION XXXVIII

*Answer.* Whoever, following the manner of the blessed David, pastures sheep—that is to say, the rational faculty of the soul—and, like him, slays the lion and the bear (namely, anger and desire); this man, employing the word of doctrine with a certain high contemplation, delights the hearer and calms the passions of wickedness within him. ^B

QUESTION XXXIX

*Answer.* Since the Divine Scripture says Melchizedek is a priest of God, it is fittingly believed that Abraham, holding the rank of a layman, gave tithes to the priest. That he had the means to provide them is evident from the following. For the kings who had campaigned against Sodom possessed the spoils and booty not only of the Sodomites but also of those other regions which they had previously plundered. When Abraham had routed them and taken everything, he returned what belonged to the Sodomites; the rest, however, he kept for himself, ^C from which he provided the tithes to Melchizedek.

QUESTION XL

*Answer.* It is indeed because the priesthood of the Gospel is believed to exist according to the order of Melchizedek, and not according to the order of Aaron—and it is not recorded that Melchizedek had a wife. Necessarily, therefore, the bishops who serve in the priesthood according to his order do not admit a wife. ^D

QUESTION XLI.

[sc]Resp.[sc] All things performed in the Church have a certain excellent reason. Since, however, these are primarily symbols and mysteries of the divine essence, and images; and since it is uncompounded, while every creature is composite, but the holy Trinity alone, as has been said, is simple and devoid of all composition; for this reason, therefore, the Church sets out the loaves and chalices in an odd number, representing within them the Godhead by a figure. ^A

QUESTION XLII.

[sc]Resp.[sc] That the angels knew of the Lord’s future incarnation for the sake of the salvation of men, one must by no means call into doubt. But that which was hidden from them was the incomprehensible conception of the Lord and the manner of it: how He, being wholly in the Father and wholly in all things and filling all things, was wholly in the womb of the Virgin. ^B

QUESTION XLIII.

[sc]Resp.[sc] Garizin, if you interpret the name, is circumcision. But Bal is a besprinkling or a mass. Therefore, in the besprinkling of the annihilated part of the nations, our Lord Jesus Christ fixes an altar. ^C

QUESTION XLIV.

[sc]Resp.[sc] Chavones are interpreted as windows. Cana, if… ^D

you interpret the name, is possession. Galilee is revolution. Doec the Syrian is the proud mind and faculty of reason. Hermon is interpreted as the turning away of wild beasts. They say that the river Jordan takes its origin from there. By these things, he signifies the grace of holy baptism.

^A INTERR. XLV. What is meant by that which is said in the Psalms: "Be still, and know that I am God"?

Resp. Being still is spoken of in six parts, and if we perform all of these, we shall be able to know God. The first stillness is from the act of sin; the second is from the manner of diet, which excites it; the third is from the company and society of those who live incautiously; the fourth is from any occupation that does not conduce to a life lived religiously and piously; the fifth is from substance which becomes an occasion of vice and distracts the mind with many things; the sixth is that we should entirely lack our own will. This is both renunciation and submission, true and according to God.

^B INTERR. XLVI. Of whom is Jephthah and his daughter a figure?

Resp. Jephthah is taken as a figure representing the Lord; his daughter, however, represents his own most immaculate flesh. For just as Jephthah, born of a harlot, was driven out by his own kin—and having gone forth, he fought and conquered his adversaries, having vowed to God that he would offer as a sacrifice whatever first met him coming from his family and house—so also the Lord, from our nature which had played the harlot, having proceeded according to the flesh without any stain of sin, and becoming himself the sower of his own flesh, and being driven out by those who considered themselves Jews, and having conquered the war on our behalf, offered his own flesh to God and the Father. For Jephthah, if you interpret the name, is called "the opening of God."

^C INTERR. XLVII. How are we to understand what is in the Gospel: "Among those born of women there has not arisen a greater than John; but yet the ^D least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he"?

Resp. Whoever humbles himself more than John (for this is what "the least" ^A means), that person is greater than John. Or, to put it another way: because John is believed to have grasped the power of contemplation attainable in this age, the small and final knowledge that will appear in the future state is greater than whatever knowledge is held in the present age. Or, he who is the greatest theologian among men and by far the most advanced in the science of divine things is the least among the angels. Or, finally, he who holds the lowest rank according to the evangelical instruction is greater than the highest as far as pertains to legal justice.

INTERR. XLVIII. What is meant by that saying of the Proverbs: "He who joins hand with hand will not be innocent"?

Resp. He who mixes a wicked action with a virtuous action will not be innocent.

INTERR. XLIX. What is meant by: "Seven times the righteous man shall fall, and shall rise again"?

Resp. We ought to consider "the righteous man" in this passage to be none other than our Lord Jesus Christ, solely and truly righteous. Since, therefore, he is said to both fall and rise ^B in us—as one who, out of most humane compassion, took upon himself all that is ours—human nature fell seven times. First, by the transgression of the first parent, which was the first to occur; second, by the attempted homicide of Cain, who first introduced murder; third, in the age of Noah, during which the Spirit of God did not remain in men because they were flesh; fourth, at the time of the tower that was built; fifth, in the age of Abraham, who alone was pleasing to God; sixth, under Moses, when the impiety of the people of that age became so adult and increased that he himself had to be sent by God as a helper against it; seventh, in the age of the prophets, which with a greater accumulation of impiety surpassed the preceding ^C ages. Since, therefore, as has been said, human nature had fallen seven times, the Lord, moved by ineffable compassion, raised it up, joining that same nature to himself by the union that is according to hypostasis ^D.

INTERR. L. What is meant by the Gospel, saying: "Wash your face, and anoint your head"?

Resp. Our face is our life, which, like a countenance, represents by certain features what kind of people we are according to the inner man. This, therefore, the Scripture commands us to wash,

that is, to cleanse our life from every stain of iniquity. And the head is our mind, which the Word commands us to anoint, that is, to illuminate and gladden it with divine knowledge. ^A

INTERR. LI. What is the meaning of: "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones"?

Resp. I think that by "little ones" he describes those who are simple in spirit and, through their smallness of mind, are unable to discern the judgments of Providence. If anyone should scandalize such as these, it would be more profitable for him to be in the camp of the Gentiles, suffering like an ass in a mill—that is, kept in the motion of this world—and to be thrown into the depth of the sea, that is, into the confusion of this life. ^B This is also confirmed by the Apostle Peter, saying: "It is better not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn backward."

INTERR. LII. Of what is Cain a figure, and of what is Abel?

Resp. Cain is taken to signify the wisdom of the flesh; Abel, however, signifies mourning, that is, repentance.

INTERR. LIII. What is the meaning of: "Do not call a man blessed before his death"?

Resp. ^C Even according to the obvious sense of the common people, because of the uncertain outcome of things and the instability of the human will, no one should be proclaimed blessed until, having overcome every virtue, he has brought his life to a close without doubt. As for a higher understanding, he who has begun through repentance and asceticism to humble and weaken the earthly mind living within him is not yet to be called blessed, until he has been mortified through the labor of intense asceticism and has attained perfection. For such a one is blessed, as one who has died ^D with Christ through the cessation of evil, and is risen again through the height of virtues. This is also what the Psalmist signifies, saying: "Blessed are the undefiled,"—that is, those clearly pure from wickedness—"who walk in the law of the Lord,"—those who journey through good actions.

INTERR. LIV. What is meant by: "If they persecute you from this city, flee into another"?

Resp. The reason and end of building cities is that what is valued and esteemed most highly should be protected in them in safety and secure defense. Therefore, in an allegorical sense, a city is religious exercise and worship composed of various modes and virtues; as for example, temperance from wine, abstinence from food, prolonged vigils, and similar things, which are as it were citadels and defenses. If, therefore, it happens that we are driven from any of these by the violence and plotting of demons—who, of course, introduce into that type of religious observance the arrogance of pride and the smoke of vain glory—it is better to withdraw from that which appears to be a more refined discipline and training, lest we fall into pride, and to flee to another virtue lacking that stain for the time being, until the word of impassibility arrives. Or else, ^B he calls human souls "cities." For the disciples, sent by the Savior to them, being expelled by those who judged themselves unworthy, pass over to the souls of others, namely to those capable and prepared to receive their teaching. And such cities of Israel they shall not have finished, truly coming to them, and partly being received in them, and partly being repelled and driven out, until the Son of Man comes, fulfilling all things by His glorious advent.

INTERR. LV. How also is "mercy in the scales" the author, holy Isaiah? For there is no good thing that lacks the balance of judgment, although it seemed so to those hired into the vineyard.

Resp. If the very mercy of God is weighed, is it therefore even limited by merit? It is better, therefore, to think thus: namely, just as we are endowed with the faculty of seeing, hearing, and smelling, yet we do not receive all the air, or the light, or the voice—otherwise nothing would remain for others to perceive—but each perceives according to the proportion of the faculty with which he is endowed; so too does the mercy of God, according to the reason and quality of the affections of each of the subjects, bestow both remission and grace. To speak by way of example, he who has performed penance perfectly, he also has obtained remission perfectly; and similarly concerning him who loves. ^C

INTERR. LVI. What is meant by what is said in Ezra: "Terrify them in the law of the Lord"?

Resp. That word "terrify" is said for what it would denote as: "strike them with stupor, and overthrow them," not by promising good things, but by threatening fearful ones. For this is servile and according to the disposition of the Jews. ^D

QUESTION LVII

Resp. He calls the hidden, treacherous suggestions and aggressions of the enemy "night," and the manifest and open ones "day." Therefore, he who has acquired the habit of divine knowledge, and is not ignorant of any of the enemy's thoughts, does not fear any of the enemy's hidden suggestions. For fear is nothing other than expected evil. And indeed, he considers the toils which he endures for the sake of confessed temptations to be "rest" and refreshment, since, by the probation consequent upon his struggle against them, he shines with clarity, and ^B expects with certain hope the blessed crown of incorruption that shall come from it.

QUESTION LVIII

Resp. The feast day belongs to those who rejoice; but confession, to those who are being examined. And the one is of sorrow, the other of joy. This, then, is what it means: that in the judgment, what is transitory ^C and imperfect in the good of man is taken away/balanced out—[I refer here to the correction of the text which the antiquarians had corrupted by error: instead of *parodikon* (transitory), read *paradikon* (to be put aside/expelled)—since it is clear that good thoughts are compared with one another, some having an open confession from examination, others being full of goodness and proven, a confession of praise and joy. Maximus therefore accepted *egkateleimma enthymiou* ("the remnant of thought") as a thought persistently dwelling in the soul, and remaining therein as a habit—by the opposition of which "thought" is in some way called *enthymion*, as something volatile and fleeting, for which the mind itself is culpable because it did not cultivate it, but let it be easily snatched away or flown off like seed by the wayside. Very similar to the exposition of Maximus is that of Athanasius: "The remnant of thought is purified thought, according to the choice of grace; which, being clean, that is, a remnant from sin, keeps a feast." Eusebius also says: "Pure thought, which lacks sin, this shall keep a feast, or shall rejoice." For thus Eusebius intends—not that he spoke absurdly, as the Cordubensis rendered it. The purity of thought, however, ^D when it is of the remnants [of sin], keeps a feast.] Or it means that no ambiguity is left concerning it, since that has been revealed by which one shines—the purity on account of which the saint keeps a feast and exults with joy. Therefore, for both interpreters, *egkateleimma enthymiou* means thoughts left over and proven by the judgment, chosen and pure, having nothing uncertain in them, and thus no longer hindering the joy and feast of the soul. But for Maximus, they are the same things remaining firmly and perfectly in the soul; which the whole of the expression in the LXX, *egkateleimma*, and many other things in the paraphrase, have brought forth, which I would prefer not to recount. The Hebrew words seem to differ considerably, for they have *shearith chamoth*, and render it, "The remnant of wraths thou shalt gird," or rather "thou shalt gird and bind," which is to say, "thou shalt impede," as Rabbi D. explains in the Book of Roots; from which the Chaldean Paraphrase is far distant. But in other peoples, "Thou shalt gird on the arms of fury," or as another says, "The remnant of fury, which has remained to thee from the anger with which thou wert angry, thou shalt prepare for scattering the nations." Jerome: "Thou shalt be girded with the remnant of anger." The LXX had *enthymion*—from which permutation of letters this great diversity has arisen; nor perhaps did they take *enthymion* otherwise than from *thymos*, which is "anger," "fury," or "incandescence"—the fervor and heat of anger, as the Hebrew sounds. Certainly there were men more learned in Hebrew than in Greek; and not infrequently they followed other significations of words than those which are held in the authorities left to us. When, therefore, *enthymion* is accepted both for "mind" and for "anger," they were able to look to the other signification in that word *enthymion*. Thus Aristotle, Book 7 of the *Politics*, explains *enthymos* as *thymos*, by which word the Greeks refer to anger itself and the faculty of becoming angry; and you can scarcely understand one having an "impassioned spirit" or "great spirits" without the force of anger being a companion to it, which itself strengthens those spirits. The "remnant of thought" or "anger"—the thought or anger itself—in a plainer sense are one and the same thing, but the former with a diminutive particle, as in

compared to a balanced and perfected thought; the latter is examined, while the former becomes the occasion for a feast and joy.

QUESTION LIX

ANSWER

QUESTION LX

ANSWER

^A Since he has spent seventy years without having concerned himself at all with such apathy, he has met his end; whereas one who has but a single day, having torn away his entire passionate mind from material things and embraced God with his whole soul, has attained perfection. Therefore, in the distribution that takes place at the judgment, the former receives his reward worthily, as one who has brought the purpose of his calling to completion; while the latter receives it according to grace, and solely on account of the labor of ascetic effort which he endured.

QUESTION LXI

For what reason did the Spirit descend ten days after the Lord's ascension?

^B

Response

Some who are learned in divine matters say that because, according to Dionysius the Areopagite, the angelic powers are in nine orders, the Lord, ascending according to his human nature (for according to his divinity he fills all things), allotted one day to each order, from the lowest to the highest. For even they were in need of the Lord's arrival to them. For in him, according to the Apostle, all things were summed up, not only those on earth, but also those in heaven; and after this he appeared to God and Father, and thus the Spirit came. It is possible, however, to contemplate this matter in another way of spiritual insight. For since the Word of God is hidden within His ten commandments, and becomes embodied in us as He inclines toward us through action, and then leads us back up through knowledge, lifting us until we ascend to the commandment that is higher than all others, which says, "The Lord thy God, the Lord is one," when therefore our mind, having been released from all things, or rather having set all things aside, finally attains to God Himself, then it receives the fiery tongues, becoming a god by grace.

QUESTION LXII

What is the meaning of: "Rarely place your foot in the house of your friend, lest, being full of you, he hate you"?

^B

Response

By "friend" here, the text refers to our body, because of our natural union with it and our affection for it. Therefore, the Word advises that we should not be excessively burdened by the care of the body, but should provide for it only as a trace for the soul; and even this should be done rarely, lest, while you make much of its refection and rest, you end up exhibiting in yourself the things of your enemies and those who hate you.

QUESTION LXIII

What is the meaning of the heifer, prescribed by the law for a murder committed through ignorance, which is hamstrung in the valley?

^B

Response

By these things, he signifies the spiritual will of the [66 Ephes. I, 10. 67 Deut. VI, 4. 68 Prov. XXV, 17. 69 Deut. XXI, 4-6.]

^A Scripture, that we must fear not only because of manifest sins, as though we were about to give an account for them, but also for those things we commit in ignorance, always fearing the heifer—that is, our flesh—that we must hamstring it in the valley of self-control and asceticism. For this reason, they left the heifer alive, so that we too might learn not to kill the body, but to hamstring and tame the rising passions. ^B

INTERR. LXIV. What does the paralytic lowered through the roof signify?

^C ...the land of the Gentiles, which has not been cultivated nor sown. *See the heifer led into a harsh and uncultivated valley.* For after the venerable cross, when Christ was found wounded, He departed from the land of the Jews and migrated into the region of the Gentiles, which had never been cultivated, nor had it received seed. And further: *There, through the divine ministers, the heifer must be hamstrung.* For the mystery of Christ is performed among us who are from the Gentiles; and confessing His passion and His resurrection from the dead, we approach the mystical blessings. This, I think, is what it means for the heifer to be hamstrung. For by proclaiming His death, and likewise His resurrection, we perform the venerable mystery. They hamstrung ^D the ox, [...] [index: entries preserved]

^A lowered by four men, and is it possible, according to the historical sense, for the house to be unroofed?

Resp. As far as the truth of the event is concerned, the house was entirely unroofed. For they who have personally visited those regions say that the roofs of the houses are very light, being made of pumice stone, so that whoever wishes to uncover them can do this easily and quickly. According to the allegorical sense, the paralytic is every mind laboring under sins, and not able, through natural contemplation (for this has the function of the door), to see the Word; but having, through faith, unroofed the covering of the thickness of the legal letter, he is lowered by the four [virtues] from the vain height toward the Word who emptied Himself, ^B and by faith and action receives his footing.

INTERR. LXV. What is the reason why the prophet Elisha prayed against the boys who were mocking him, and bears came out and tore to pieces forty-two boys?

Resp. There are those who say that the boys were not Israelites, but from the Gentiles; and that they were not boys in age, but in understanding and prudence. Since, therefore, they heard that the prophet was performing many signs, and they did not believe, but mocked him—yet there were some present who did not share in their wicked opinion—so that these might not be harmed, and so that the blasphemy might not rebound against God, God Himself intervened against them. According to the spiritual sense, every mind is, like Elisha, bald—that is, pure from material thoughts—and when ascending in knowledge, it is greatly mocked by those reasons which are concerned with sensible things, and with matter and form; for forty denotes sensible things, and matter and form being added, make the number forty-two. Therefore, the mind is mocked by such reasonings, so that it may be cast into laziness regarding virtue. The mind kills these, therefore, through prayer and through the bears—that is, through pleasure and desire; for by a reversal, these passions, when turned toward the good, slay the mocking thoughts.

INTERR. LXVI. How ought we to understand the ignorance of the Son regarding the consummation of the age?

Resp. There is a twofold ignorance: the one is blameworthy, the other is blameless; one is in our power, the other is not in our power. And the blameworthy one, which is in our power, is...

that which concerns virtue and piety; the blameless one, however, is not in our power, such ^A as those things which we do not know even if we wish to—for instance, things that happen far away, or things that are to happen. If, then, things far away and not in our power were known to the holy prophets by grace, how much more did the Son of God know all things, and through Him the human [nature], not by nature, but by union with the Word? For just as iron, when it is made red-hot, possesses all the properties of fire—for it gives light and burns—yet it is not fire by nature, but iron; so too the human [nature] of the Lord, insofar as it was united to the Word, knew all things and exhibited these divine-befitting [qualities] in itself; but insofar as the human nature in Him was not united [to the Word], it is said to be ignorant. For as God He knows; but He says He is ignorant as man, if one separates what is seen from what is understood. If, however, with subtle thoughts, or rather with fine mental imaginations, you separate the created from the uncreated, the flesh and soul of the Lord is a servant and ignorant, had it not been united to the Word of God. Nor does the Son know the day or the hour otherwise than as the Father [knows]. But not even the Son knew, if the Father did not; for from the Father was the knowledge given to Him—since "alone" is not added, as it also is not in Matthew.

QUESTION LXVII.

Answer

^A Since it covers the whole body while leaving only the hands bare, it signifies that we ought to be clothed in moral philosophy, having had the acts and operations [of sin] removed; and that this [philosophy] must always be applied both to capacity and to action. For the power of the opposing evil authority, as the blessed Job 72 says, is "under the navel of the belly," and souls, according to the blessed David 73, are filled with the illusions of demons. And illusions are the various operations of fornication. ^B The *analavos* (scapular), since it has the cross both in front and behind, signifies that we ought, according to the Apostle 74, not only to be crucified to the world, but also to have the world crucified to us, so that as we flee the world, no impediment may overtake us, nor may we be held by affection for it or by lust, deceived by a conspicuous appearance; nor, again, may we relax the intensity of our piety because of the temptations that occur involuntarily from the world when it pursues us from behind; but rather, as if devoid of sense and dead, we should stand fast against both voluntary affections and evil involuntary ones. The cowl signifies God’s grace guarding and covering our mind. For whoever has shorn away thoughts of the world receives the helmet of salvation 75. ^C The sandals have this rationale: since they are made of dead skins and are placed under a very small part of the body, they denote that just as the whole body relates to the traces of a sandal, so it is necessary that the soul use the body, and make it as though dead to unnatural passions (which, indeed, cling to it through vice). Finally, the [i]pallium[/i], because it is square—and the world also consists of four elements—indicates that we ought also to put on that kind of contemplation which is provided by natural perception, so that we may not view things subject to the eyes by the lust of senses and affections, but rather, through the reason inherent in them, be led up to their Author. ^D That the left hand is left bare signifies that good actions ought to shine forth in us, according to what the Lord commands, that men may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven 76. That the garments are black implies that we ought to be obscure to the world, as we have our citizenship in heaven 77. But if anyone were to interpret the square *pallium* as referring to the four general virtues, he would not, even in that, wander from the truth.

INTERR. LXVIII.

Resp. The priest proclaims peace to the Church from the height of the cathedra, imitating the Lord of the cathedra, who, at the time he was being assumed, left and gave his peace to his own. But as for the people responding, "And with your spirit,"

^A this signifies: You have granted us peace, Lord, and mutual harmony; but grant us peace, that is, the indivisible union with You, so that, being at peace through Your Spirit—which You placed in us at the beginning of creation—we may be inseparable from Your love.

INTERR. LXIX. If the dead rise again at all, why, he says, are our bodies not raised? And why, when we are baptized, do we believe that they are transmuted into incorruption?

Resp.

INTERR. LXX.

Resp. If you seek a mystical explanation of the Scripture, it is to be understood thus: *Praise the Lord with the sound of the trumpet*; in the memory of the resurrection, which the trumpet proclaims, as it is written: *Praise him in the psalteries and harp*; by our tongue and mouth, which are struck by the Spirit as if by a plectrum. *Praise him in the timbrel and choir*; in flesh and soul, from which, as if in a dance, prayers and vows ascend to God. *Praise him in strings and organ*; in the heart, and in all the inner viscera and nerves, which he has called an organ. *Praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals*; with the lips, through which the modulated songs of psalmody are woven.

INTERR. LXXI. ^B Since, according to certain copies of the Apostle, it is held: "We shall all indeed sleep, but we shall not all be changed"; but according to others: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed"; I ask that you teach me which of the editions should be approved, and what is signified by these words.

Resp. I think that whichever edition one embraces (since the ancient copies contain both), if one receives it piously, he will not err from the Apostle’s intention. According to the first edition, "We shall all indeed sleep, but we shall not all be changed," it is to be understood thus: ^C that it will come to pass that we all sustain the sleep of death, but that not all of us shall obtain the glory and the confidence; a point which the same Apostle sets forth more clearly in another place, saying: "If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked." But according to the other, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed," it is to be explained so that he says that not all will sleep a sleep extended in time, such as would require burial and the dissolution that is the cause of corruption; but those who are found then will taste death only briefly, and for them there is no need of that long period of time ^D

^A for the resurrection that is to come; but all will be changed, that is, they will put on incorruption.

QUESTION LXXII

What does it mean when Luke says in the Acts regarding Paul, that he "was hastening, if it were possible for him, to spend the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem," ^B since he appears to have knelt, which is forbidden by the sacred canons?

Answer

He is not speaking of that Pentecost itself in which the Spirit descended; but since the fifty days are called the days of Pentecost, Paul was hastening to spend the first day after Pascha at Jerusalem; as it is evident from this that he knelt during the fasts.

QUESTION LXXIII

What is the meaning of: "If anyone builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw; the fire will test it. If the work of anyone that he has built remains, he will receive a reward; but if the work of anyone is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire"?

Answer

The foundation is the faith of Christ. ^C Whoever builds upon it, builds gold, that is, the higher theological contemplation; silver, that is, a life radiant with the light of virtue; precious stones, that is, pious thoughts; wood, that is, a proclivity for things subject to the senses; hay, that is, he who fosters irrational affections; straw, that is, he who fosters corruption. And indeed, concerning those who possess good deeds, the day of judgment reveals that their disclosure has taken place in fire, that is, in the Spirit. But in the case of those who sin, their works are burned up, as the discerning ^D [judgment] clarifies things with them all. Indeed, the sacred text itself speaks clearly, saying that Paul celebrated the feast of the Unleavened Bread at Philippi, at the beginning of this journey. And Chrysostom says: "I think he was intent on observing the solemnities in the great cities." And thus, just as he had spent the Pascha and the days of Unleavened Bread at Philippi, so he was anxious to celebrate Pentecost at Jerusalem. Ecumenius himself is not sufficiently accurate when he explains those words of Acts XXI, 5: "And when we had accomplished the days," as referring to the days of Unleavened Bread, since the discourse is about the seven days which Paul spent at Tyre with the disciples, after the days of Unleavened Bread had already been completed at Philippi (Acts XX, 6). And neither, if there were a discussion there about the days of Unleavened Bread, would the passage favor the author, since immediately follows another genuflection of Paul and the faithful: "And kneeling down on the shore, we prayed"; since [the Pentecost time] would have barely elapsed about seven days, and it would not have been the time of the fasts.

^A And the conscience [is burned], and it diminishes sins, and saves the man; but it penalizes the inactivity of virtues in the time that preceded. But even in the life to come, the works of sin will proceed into non-existence, while the nature will receive back its own powers entirely safe through fire and judgment.

INTERR. LXXIV. What is that which David chants, saying: "Give strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid"?

Resp. Because by nature we are servants of God; and as sons of his handmaid, which is Wisdom, he prays that strength first be given to us: that is, the mastery over the passions; and then through this, salvation comes to us.

INTERR. LXXV. Since it is written in the books of Kings that God moved David to number the people; but in the books of Chronicles it is said that the devil did this; how will the divine Scripture be shown to be in agreement with itself?

Resp. Since the Apostle calls the devil the god of this age, this is how that in the books of Kings must be understood. Or also in another way, since without the providence of God ^B or permission, these things do not happen.

(s) "And saves the man." In this difficult question and passage of the Apostle, let us see what the superior Greek theologians say. Their prince, Chrysostom in 1 Cor. hom. 9, where he seriously asserts that Gehenna is perpetual and that the punishments of the damned will never end, lest anyone from these words of Paul and the similarity to punishments taken therefrom might think that he will eventually be liberated and attain salvation, shows that the discourse is about believers who build upon [a foundation] a life (namely, virtues or vices) and who receive according to the nature of it. Those who have shone with right faith and virtue, with that which they have built upon remaining, will bring back praise, their virtue having been manifested. But those who have been soiled by vice—"He shall suffer loss": behold one punishment; "but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire": behold a second. And he explains more fully in the following: What he says, "he shall be saved," is this: "He shall not indeed perish in such a way as his works do, passing into nothingness; but he shall remain in the fire." And he proves this from the usage of common speech, by which we say that things are "kept" in fire which are not consumed by it and are not straightway reduced to ashes. Whatever, then, this is, it is said for the terror to be struck into sinners by divine judgment. And so "as" is used catachrestically for "keeping"; for he says, "but he shall be saved," that is, he shall be kept safe, so as to be burned even by the fire. He is saved, however, that is to say the sinner, meaning he is kept safe while undergoing eternal punishments; he shall suffer the loss of the kingdom of heaven; "but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire," that is, he shall remain safe and entire in the fire, and shall not see death, but his work alone shall be burned and destroyed; he himself, however, shall remain entire for ages, paying the penalty of the fire, and shall not be dissolved. If anyone's work is burned, he will be penalized, yet ^C so as by fire; but he himself shall be saved, that is, the teacher; for he is not the cause of their turning for the worse. That for them he will not pay the penalty; but he himself will also be saved, being tested by fire, if indeed he has a life consistent with his teaching; if he has been penalized in his work, behold one punishment; but he himself shall be saved, so as by fire: behold also a second. But what he says is this: He himself will not perish in the same way as his works, passing into nothingness; but he shall remain in the fire. The word "saved" is used catachrestically for "kept." But he will be saved, that is, he will be kept safe, so as even to be burned by the fire. He is saved, however, the sinner, that is, kept safe, undergoing eternal punishments; he will be penalized, [losing] the kingdom of heaven; but he himself will be saved, as through fire; that is, he is preserved safe. ^D Anyone who has fulfilled all that pertains to him, to the point of persuading, and has not persuaded, as one who has achieved it, would be a man worthy of being admired. So far is he from being worthy of blame.

nothing happens by providence, but rather all things come to pass either by God’s good pleasure, or by economy, or by permission; so that when it is written in the books of Kings that God “incited” [David], it is pious to understand this as meaning that He “permitted” it, while in the books of Chronicles, the devil is mentioned as the one who acted and became the cause. ^A Seventy thousand fall, those who were found with Absalom, those who possessed the passion of pride and arrogance. According to the contemplative interpretation, this signifies that whoever is a David, who—not by deliberate choice, but by seduction—has given birth to a thought of elation, upon repenting, asks God [to help], and the thoughts concerning temporal and passing things die. For the number seventy signifies temporal motion, on account of the sevenfold recurrent cycle of days. Therefore, it is better to pray to be pursued by hostile demons than to be punished with a famine of hearing the word of God.

QUES. LXXVI.

Ans.

QUES. LXXVII.

Ans.

^A by these things, that whoever receives from another the example of evil, this one has laid bare the intestine of the father; but whoever gives birth to sin from himself, he is the father of the mother—that is, of his own sin. Such men, therefore, shall not enter into the house of the Lord, even unto the third and fourth and tenth generation, and even unto eternity. This means: he who, neither through a good habit and action (for this is the third and fourth generation of virtues), nor through the name and faith of the Lord Jesus, nor through the ten commandments of the law, nor through the regeneration of the age that remains, reconciles himself to God and seeks to be close to Him, shall not enter into the house of God; that is, into the heavenly city, where the habitation of all who rejoice is found.

INTERR. LXXVIII. Why is it that, according to the decree of the law, a person who is leprous in part is unclean, whereas one who is entirely leprous is judged clean?

Resp. He who is leprous in some part has a limb contaminated and deadened by leprosy. For because the vital blood flees from it, the place subsides and becomes hollow; and when the hollow of the leprosy was touched by the detection of the priest, it defiled such a one. So too, he who has become leprous in some part of the soul—the soul having become hollow, that is, humbled through the withdrawal of the vital power of virtue—becomes unclean. But he who is entirely leprous possesses the color of the leper, yet has the vital blood dispersed throughout the surface of his entire body. This signifies ^C that one who has reached the extreme limit of wickedness and subsequently performs penance recovers the vital power of virtue; he merely keeps his conscience stained by the prior information of his thinking mind. For he cannot not remember what he has done, nor think of those things as if he had not done them. That, therefore, is the reason why the law declares such a person clean.

INTERR. LXXIX. What is the meaning of the five kinds of victims which were offered according to the rite of the law: the sheep, the ox, the goat, the turtledove, and the dove?

Resp. In one sense, the ram is taken as that which is leading, to signify the power of reason; the bull, to signify the irascible power; the goat, for desire; the turtledove, for chastity; the dove, for holiness. If, however, one must also naturally examine the properties of each animal ^D and adapt for each of them the appropriate spiritual, rational sense, those who have worked on such matters say that the sheep presents three things to the Lord: the fleece, [the wool], the milk, and the lamb. Or the pupil of the eye, of which it may be, as it were, a certain initial work and interpolated, whatever this may be, or increased and interpolated by an alien hand, as generally happens in writings of this kind, where nothing coheres; but they are questions as they occurred to memory, with no certain order or method, gathered from here and there.

^A sheep, the wool, the milk, the lamb. The pupil of its eye revolves with the sun, and every day it voids 365 droppings. Now man is the rational sheep; if he is eager to offer himself as a sacrifice to God, who possesses him, he is obligated to provide, just as wool, his activity formed by good morals; and as milk, his natural contemplation (for this is the nourishment of the mind); and as a lamb, the disciple who has been taught and matured by instruction, whom he strives to present to God in all things similar and perfect to himself. ^B Moreover, such a person has the pupil of his eye revolving with the sun—that is to say, his intellect—revolving with the Sun of justice through his providential governance of all things, bearing our affairs; that is to say, he follows Him. For in afflictions as well as in good times, he gives thanks, trusting in the providence that governs all things well. And such a man casts off every day 365 droppings—that is, he casts off those things that are subject to time and generation, which are perishable and superfluous.

Regarding the ox, they say that it possesses a triangular heart, a kidney with five projections, and that it has three stomachs. By day it has light-colored eyes, but at night they are fiery; and a third of the day and a third of the night, looking toward the east, it breathes as it exhales. Its right nostril smells of musk, and its blood is deadly to all tame animals, except the dog. Therefore, it is fitting that we too, like the ox, taking up the yoke of Christ, should cut open our stony hearts and root out the thorns of the passions, and enlarge the earth of our heart for the reception of the divine Word. To have a heart that is triangular ^C signifies to possess the doctrine concerning the Trinity in a sound manner within the heart; so that, just as the heart naturally distributes life to the body, so too piety toward God should establish and quicken the members of the soul. That the kidney should have five projections signifies that the faculty of desire ought not to be turned toward vices and lusts, but through the five senses should contemplate creation for the sole purpose of being drawn to the desire and love of the Creator. And to possess three stomachs: the stomach first receives the food, and through the digestive power transmits the pure part of it to each of the members, and gives the rest to the belly. So therefore it is fitting for us, advanced through moral, natural, and theological contemplation, and distributing what is suitable to all the members of the soul, to take care also of the inferior part—that is, the body; for the belly is to be understood as this. To look toward the east and breathe a third of the day and a third of the night signifies looking upon the threefold providence of God—the conserving, the converting, and the chastening—and, paying attention with our minds, to give thanks both in the night of temptations and in the day of prosperity; and to have our eyes such that they are fiery at night and light-colored by day—that is, to have the contemplative power which, in the day of virtues, receives the rays of knowledge from the Sun of justice, and in the night ^D of the successive temptations brought upon us for the sake of virtue, receives...

comprehending the reasons for ^A abandonments. But it should also have its right nostril fragrant. The right part of a human being is the soul, seeing that we are twofold, constituted of soul and body. He, therefore, who by the virtues of the soul has drawn to himself the grace of the Holy Spirit, becomes fragrant to others. And the blood of such a person is destructive to tame animals; that is to say, anger, when perverted, has the power of bringing about death for the men who imitate it; but to the demons who bark against us, it yields food.

The goat, for its part, has such a disposition and nature: it easily ascends mountains, walks across broken terrain, and delights in musical melodies. Its right horn, if blown in any place, produces the appearance of an earthquake. It discharges two hundred pellets of excrement every day. ^B It is necessary, therefore, that our soul also should boldly and confidently leap across the crags of temptations and, ascending the prophetic mountains, should grasp the heights of knowledge and take delight in them; and not only take delight, but also, by means of the reed—that is, active discourse—should provide pleasure by teaching those who hear. The right horn signifies that he who has brought the contemplative power of his soul to God through prayer, becoming fragrant to those who hear, shakes off the habit of carnal vices within them. Such a person every day proscribes the error that revolves around things that fall under the senses. For the senses, when entangled with things that fall under the senses... The end is missing.

NOTICE

TO THE EXPOSITION OF PSALM FIFTY-NINE

BY THE SAME

EXPOSITION ON PSALM LIX

To the end; for those who shall be changed; for the inscription of the title, to David; for instruction, when he set on fire ^C

^A Mesopotamia, and Syria Soba: and Joab returned, and smote the valley of Salt twelve thousand.

The inscription of this psalm is: To the end, for those who shall be changed; both on account of the change and alteration of men in the end of the ages, through the coming of Christ, from unbelief unto faith, and from wickedness unto virtue, and from ignorance unto the firm and voluntary knowledge of God; and on account of the universal and natural change that shall afterwards occur at the end of the ages, through Him who is our Saviour and God, for the whole race of men, from death and corruption unto immortal life and incorruption, through the expected resurrection, by means of grace and renewal. ^B And for the inscription of the title to David: that is, to Christ Himself; on account of the destruction of wickedness, having already occurred in accordance with His divine incarnation, in the manner of a pillar, in Him as the Leader and Saviour, and after Him in those who live piously according to Him; and on account of the total destruction of both death and corruption that is yet to take place through Him. For instruction, when he set on fire Mesopotamia and Syria Soba. The psalm is inscribed by the intelligible David—I mean Christ the God—for our instruction, for those of us who are being changed and are yet to be changed, indeed for that laudable and divine change. For He alone existing as the true King of Israel and of him who sees God, as the destroyer of all vice and ignorance, and victor over all time and nature—through which vice is wont to be formed in us—He set on fire Mesopotamia, having associated with us through the flesh; that is, the habit of vice, which is inundated by the unnatural passions of the flesh. And Syria Soba: that is, the disposition enslaved to time, or rather, the disposition deceived ^C by this age. For Soba is interpreted as "seven"; and this clearly indicates the quality of time. For time is hebdomadal. For the devil is accustomed to stir up, together with himself, nature and time against virtue and knowledge, weaving invisible wars, just as Adraazar against David employed the two Syrias. For Adraazar, when translated into the Greek tongue, means "dissolving ^D [strength]"

"—that is, the devil, who by deception dissolved the spiritual strength of our nature at the beginning through the transgression of the divine commandment, and enslaved man to nature and time. For without those things that are subject to nature and time, he is utterly unable to wage war against men.

And Joab returned and struck twelve thousand in the Valley of Salt. For everyone who, as a leader of the army of the spiritual King David—that is, our Lord Jesus—waged war against the opposing powers, strikes twelve thousand in the Valley of Salt. Now the Valley of Salt is the flesh, as it has become a place of shameful passions through disobedience; in this valley, as if in a ravine, every pious and God-loving person, by the weapons of reason and contemplation, strikes nature and time—or rather, the irrational preconception of the soul concerning them—no longer remaining subject to the laws of nature and time because of the height of virtue and knowledge. For the number twelve signifies nature and time, since nature is ^B pentadic because of the five senses, while time is hebdomadic, as is obvious to everyone. If, however, you join five and seven together, you will clearly complete the number twelve.

Moreover, the number of the slain perhaps also indicates that the triad of the faculties of the soul—which, through the deception of error, has been ill-matched with the quaternion of sensible things, in relation to which all sin is naturally produced—is being destroyed. This is the act of the one who serves the spiritual David in struggles for the Truth, and who knowledgeably joins the invisible battles and contends spiritually against the wicked powers. For every faculty of the soul, when moved contrary to nature, is naturally inclined to be entangled with sensible things. Since, therefore, reason, incisiveness, and desire—which are three in number and are the general faculties of the soul—have succumbed to sensible things (which consist of a quaternion), they produce the number twelve. For if you take four multiplied by three, and three multiplied by four, [adding them to the five], you fill this number; he destroys it when he faithfully approaches the Lord and contends nobly against every unseen and hostile spirit. ^C

The inscription and title of this present psalm is, therefore: *For those who will be changed*; to us, that is, for our instruction in the good things that have come to us from the spiritual David; *for the inscription of the title to David himself*, that is, for the proclamation and celebration of the divine and salutary feats he performed on our behalf. For the inscription of a title signifies the proclamation and celebration of feats excellently performed, as those who are well versed in the meaning of such names understand. ^D

VERS. 3. *O God, You have rejected us and destroyed us; You were angry and had mercy on us.*

[Note: Maximus, or the etymologist who preceded him, reads this as *Aram*, which means "languid," and thus it is written in 2 Kings VIII; although in 1 Chronicles XVIII, *Aram* is used in place of the third letter. It could also be *Azar*, meaning "friendly aid." The author of the explanation of proper biblical names reads it with an *i* and an *n*.]

^A God has cast us off, when, by not keeping the commandment at the beginning, we appeared unworthy of the face-to-face converse with Him. He has destroyed us, when He expelled us from the height of the glory in Paradise on account of our wickedness; He was angry, when, as the avenger of wickedness and sin, He subjected us to the penalty of death; He has had mercy on us, when, through His only-begotten Son, God the Word made flesh, who took upon Himself the debt we owed, He redeemed us from death and led us back again into His own glory.

VERS. 4. *You have moved the earth and troubled it; heal its breaches, for it has been shaken.*

He has shaken and troubled our earth, that is to say, our heart, by giving us the sword of the Spirit, ^B which discerns the worse from the better in a cognitive manner, and which rouses the law of the Spirit against the law of the flesh; producing in us a praiseworthy war against the passions, and shaking the continuity of the passions within us, and troubling the conscience regarding the absurd and impure memories of occupied opinion. He heals the breaches of our heart, which it sustained having been shaken and having slipped through disobedience at the beginning from the transgression in Paradise, through regeneration in the Spirit by grace.

VERS. 5-7. *You have shown your people harsh things; you have given us the wine of compunction to drink. You have given a sign to those who fear you, that they may flee from before the bow; that your beloved may be delivered.*

God shows harsh things to those who fear Him through the commandments, according to practical philosophy, by suggesting the ways of the mortification of the body; ^C or on the contrary, by educating us humanely for our benefit through His varied providence and dispensation, as we do not willingly bear the divine yoke of the law of the commandments. He gives us to drink the wine of compunction, that is to say, He bestows the knowledge that follows the purification of the practical life, according to spiritual contemplation; for all spiritual knowledge pierces the heart, bringing it into a full perception of the magnitude of the divine benefits bestowed upon us.

He gives to those who fear Him a sign, to flee from before the bow: the mortification of Jesus, teaching ^D those who fear Him to carry it about in their body, whereby the total inaction of sin is established. For the true sign is the power that, through the cross, mortifies the disposition of the flesh. "To flee from before the bow," that is to say, from the deceptive appearance that is manifest to those who are. For the "face of the bow"—I mean of every demoniacal passion—is the surface of bodies that stimulates the senses, striking the perception like the point of an arrow, and inappropriately inciting the soul toward the passions. Therefore, Scripture warns those who fear the Lord to flee from the face of the bow; but not from the bow itself. For of sin...

^A which happens to be without a face, it will work nothing against those who fear the Lord.

*That the beloved of God may be delivered.* The beloved of God are the thoughts that hold together divine knowledge through contemplation; these are rescued by those modes of virtue that are established through action, from all delusion and from all those recollections of sin that trouble the soul through the anticipation of evil.

339 VERSE 8. *Save with thy right hand, and hear me. God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, and will divide Sichem, and mete out the valley of Tabernacles.*

God saves by His right hand, by giving His only-begotten Son; for the Son is the right hand of the Father, a ransom for the salvation of the world. And He hears, by giving to the righteous man, alongside the remission of sins, also spiritual gifts. For God hears the one who supplicates Him, first by granting through repentance the remission of sins; but He hears, in addition to the remission of sins, by also granting those gifts produced through spiritual grace. And He speaks in His holy place; that is, in His incarnate Word, [He declares] His divine counsel and purpose, which had been hidden from the ages and from the generations, according to His, Christ’s, incarnate dispensation. Through His human ^B manner of life among us, as if crying out clearly and sounding forth more loudly than any voice for the information of the world unto eternal life, He provides the demonstration of good works. And He speaks even in every holy person who keeps His commandments, showing His words as if alive through his works, and displaying them as more vocal than any voice.

The righteous man rejoices when, having been perfected and consummated by the grace of the Only-begotten, he becomes capable of dividing Sichem; namely, that he may, according to the capacity and reason of each, impart from his learned experience the manly modes of the virtues by cultivating action, and hand them down as a lesson to the rest. For Sichem, if you interpret the name, is "breadth of shoulders"; a habit of this kind, which both restrains all perturbations and vices, and exists as the parent and cause of all virtues. For they say that the shoulder bears the symbol of virtue.

And ^C he meters out the valley of Tabernacles; distributing the reasons which are appropriate to each of the things that exist through natural contemplation. For the valley of Tabernacles is this present world, in which, according to the different will and purpose of mind of each person, [there is] a wide-ranging... ^D

^A and transient existence after the manner of tabernacles.

Or, again, the Tabernacles are the valley of this present life, that is, the modes of the virtues, which he wisely and skillfully distributes to those being taught, providing instruction suited to the habits of each, and safeguarding the precious things, the One who knows how to distribute to each person, through noble teaching, the path befitting their salvation.

Or the Tabernacles are the valley, namely the Churches of the nations of believers established throughout the whole world through Christ our Savior God; and this, as I think, is more manifest and illustrious than the others.

Or, again, He measures the valley of the Tabernacles, He who comprehends with knowledge the world of bodies as if it were a valley of Tabernacles. For in many places of Scripture, the body is called a Tabernacle.

*Galaad is mine, and Manasses is mine, and Ephraim is the strength of my head.* ^B

Galaad, according to one interpretation of this name, is "revelation." Manasses, however, if you interpret the name, signifies "oblivion." And revelation and oblivion rightly come to the righteous man—to the one indeed who receives initiation through the contemplation of secret things, and who, due to the joy of spiritual contemplation that succeeds the labors of the virtues, [receives] oblivion of the toils [wrought] for the sake of virtue. And Ephraim is interpreted as "dilatation—which is the unshakable hope, according to faith, in the blessings that are to come; which is the support (or defense) of the head of the righteous man—that is, of faith. For faith is the head ^C of every righteous man, and of every good work. And its strength consists in being secure, namely the unwavering hope of future blessings; by which, as we contemplate things to come as if they were present, we are dilated in tribulations, remaining unshaken in temptations.

*Judas is my king, Moab is the cauldron of my hope.*

Judas is interpreted as "confession." For confession through prayers is the beginning of every good thing among the saints. And Judas may also be understood as [a figure] of the Lord, who is the true King of the spiritual Israel and of the one who sees God; who, when He became man for our sake, confessed to the Father, and said: *I confess to thee, O holy Father.* But Moab is interpreted ^D as "the intestine of the father," and it is understood as our body, through which, in the life of active philosophy, as in a basin—which the "cauldron" clearly denotes—the cleansing of sins is accustomed to take place. For the cauldron is the cleansing of hope—that is,

^A a preparedness for the goods laid up for us in hope.

Moab can again be understood as referring to the Incarnation of the Lord. For the Son of Man became for our sake, and is called, the true cauldron of our hope; that is, the cleansing and purifying agent for the stains and defilements we have contracted from sin.

*Upon Edom I will extend my shoe.* ^B Edom, if you interpret the name, is "red clay" or "clay of an earthy color," and it can be explained as the Lord's flesh; by which He came to men as by a shoe—since otherwise the creature could in no way contain the Creator, who is by nature infinite and incomprehensible.

It can also be understood again as the flesh of each one of us, upon which we extend the shoe: namely, the exercise and continence that defend the soul against the wicked brambles and thorns of the devil. For this is the shoe that must be understood. Without exercise and precise continence, it is impossible for one who is a practitioner of piety and trains toward it to overcome the passions of the flesh.

It may further be understood as the "shoe of the soul," the sense that has been deadened by the cultivation of reason and contemplation; by which the soul, walking among things perceived by the senses, passes through this age harmlessly. Through the medium of sense, as if by a shoe, it gathers the reasons of those things—the image forming the differences of visible things in figure and shape—in order to understand and acknowledge the one, sole, and primary Reason.

*To me the foreigners have been subjected.* ^C For when the Lord came through the flesh to the places that are ours, they were subjected to the power of His strength—not only those whom the spirit of wickedness had destroyed, but all the nations also, having received the proclamation through the calling of the Gospel, bowed their heads to Him. Moreover, they are subjected to every just man, ^D when he puts on, as it were a shoe upon the earth of his flesh, the continence that mortifies the law of sin; not only will he have tamed the unclean passions lurking therein, but he will also have destroyed the most wicked demons who are the authors and instigators of these things.

*Verse 11. Who will lead me into the city of protection?*

The city of protection—in Greek, *periochēs*, which you might call one surrounded by ramparts—is wisdom collected from many divine and mystical contemplations, walled around and protected on all sides, as one of the translators (Symmachus, Theodotion) rendered it, with the fortifications and garrisons of virtues.

Or again, the city of protection is such a state in which a man truly pious and religious becomes impregnable and [Note: the page ends with a fragment of a footnote entry.]

guard of the holy Powers.

Or again, the city of protection is the soul, which is fortified by reason and life, and which abounds with all the graces of the virtues.

Or again, the city of protection is the habit of true and unerring knowledge, which is encompassed, as by a fortification, by all moral, natural, and theological theories; to which everyone who is a cultivator of piety is led—not by any other leader, but only by God, who, because of the magnitude of His immense goodness, draws all men to Himself.

*Aut quis deducet me usque in Idumaeam?*

Idumaea, as the discourse has previously shown, is the whole complex and congeries of things that fall under sense-perception, about which natural contemplation in the spirit is accustomed to be engaged; according to which, from the beauty and magnitude ^B of created things, the Creator Himself is proportionally perceived by him who gathers the knowledge of things in a pious manner.

Or perhaps it is the practical philosophy lived through the flesh, by which our body becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, being beautifully constructed with the ornaments of the commandments; to which the same Lord again leads, who grants to those who love Him the knowledge of visible things, and teaches the mortification of the limbs of this earthly and perishable flesh.

Or, to summarize, the city of protection is the contemplative knowledge of intelligible things. Idumaea, however, is the knowledge of things perceived by the senses; to which He who is the sole wisdom of God and the Father, the only-begotten Son, leads and directs. Wherefore the Prophet, adding further, says:

*Nonne tu, Deus, qui repulisti nos?*

This means: You, O God, who at the beginning didst cast us off because of sin, Thou Thyself, through the bowels of Thy mercy, having taken pity on us, leadest us into the city of protection, and guidest us even unto Idumaea, according to the exposition previously delivered.

*Et non egredieris, Deus, in exercitibus nostris.*

For God will not go out with that man who trusts in himself, and who hopes in his bow, and who ascribes salvation to his own sword ^C. But with those who, in the Lord Himself, shall push the enemies with a horn, and in His name shall despise those who rise up against them, God will rightly go out, to wage the war against the invisible enemies.

*Da nobis auxilium de tribulatione; et vana salus hominis.*

The Prophet prays to God and the Savior in the name of the common nature, that help might be given to us from the tribulation; that is to say, from the tribulation which, because of sin, was spread widely through nature and even unto the gates of ^D Hades as it crushed it. For tribulation, to speak as I think, is the of…

until the gates, it presses upon it. For, as I believe, ^A tribulation is the dire power and dominion of death; but the help is the firm hope of resurrection through grace, looking to which, pious men endure the gloom of death, subjected to no sadness or pain.

Again, tribulation is the labor undertaken for the sake of virtue; but the help, which by God's grace accompanies it, is imperturbability, compared to which all human welfare is vanity and mere nothingness and cessation. For this you may rightly understand as vanity.

Vers. 14. *In God we shall perform power; and he shall bring to nothing those who afflict us.* Those perform power in God who do not attribute the exploits of virtues to themselves, nor ascribe to their own wisdom the comprehension of divine mysteries; ^B in which God himself, being most singular and wholly encompassing, works every virtue and grants knowledge, bringing to nothing and routing the most wicked demons who oppose both virtue and knowledge, and who, through vice and ignorance, attempt to afflict those who fear Him. For He exists as the Savior of all, inasmuch as He is also the Creator of all. To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen.

NOTICE

*On the exposition of the Lord’s Prayer.*

The labor of distinguished Fathers, both Greek and Latin, has long been spent on the elucidation of the Lord’s Prayer; to whom Maximus, with a happy effort, added almost the finishing touch after several centuries by this labor of his, in which he set forth the Dominical senses and mysteries—or, as he calls them, the sacraments—which are fuller and more universal than those of others, by which our salvation is prepared, being seven in number. The author of the *Catena* on Matthew VI, published by Corderius, derived most of these things of Maximus into his own channels.

OF SAINT MAXIMUS

THE MONK AND CONFESSOR

A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER

TO A CERTAIN CHRIST-DEVOTED MAN

I have received my lord, preserved by God, coming to me in his most auspicious letter;

^A one who is always present, nor can ever be absent in spirit, yet, through the abundance of virtue, does not disdain, in a manner closely resembling God, to associate with His own servants, and does not reject the opportunity which God has granted to nature. Wherefore, having marveled at the magnitude of His condescension, I tempered the fear I have for Him with longing; and from both—that is, from fear and longing—I established a single love, consisting of reverence and benevolence, so that neither might fear become hatred, being stripped of longing, nor might longing become contempt, not having the sober fear ^B joined to it. Indeed, let love, being law, be shown to be an ingrained affection, making everything essentially akin its own: through benevolence, subduing hatred, and through reverence, casting contempt far away. Knowing this, I say—this fear, most of all—to be constitutive of divine love, the blessed David says: "The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever and ever" (Ps. XVIII, 10). He knew, clearly, that this is a different fear from that which arises from the dread of punishment for transgressions; for that former fear is cast out, vanishing ^C completely at the presence of love, as the great evangelist John shows in his own words, saying: "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John IV, 18). But this latter fear characterizes the law of true affection; it preserves, in reverence for the saints unto eternity, both toward God and toward one another, the rule and mode of love, completely incorrupt.

Wherefore, as I said, I too, having tempered fear with longing for my Master, have established this law of love to this very day: by reverence, I am restrained from writing, lest contempt might perhaps find a place; but by benevolence, I am impelled to write, lest the total refusal to write might be thought to be hatred. I write, however, as commanded to do so, not all things that I might think of; for "The thoughts of men are timid" (Wisdom IX, 14), according to Scripture, but whatever God wills, and by His grace provides for the birth of what is profitable. "For the counsel of the Lord," says David, "remains forever; the thoughts of his heart unto generation and generation" (Ps. XXXII, 11). By counsel, ^D he perhaps calls that of God the Father, the ineffable emptying of the Only-Begotten Son, which He undertook for the sake of deifying the human race, in which He holds the end of all ages circumscribed; and by the thoughts of His heart, he calls the reasons of providence and judgment, according to which He wisely directs both our present life and the future—as if they were certain diverse generations—wisely assigning to each, in a manner appropriate to it, the fitting mode of operation.

If, then, the deification of our nature is the work of the divine counsel, and the goal of the divine thoughts is the guiding of those things which are sought—

^A to know and to do, and thus duly to write, the power of the Lord’s prayer; and since my Master, in writing to me, his servant, was moved by God to remember this prayer—which is also ^B necessary as a subject for the words I have to say—I beseech the Lord, the Teacher of this prayer, to open my mind to the understanding of the mysteries contained therein, and to grant me a measure of speech appropriate for the clarification of what is understood. For it holds, in a brief summary and teaching, the goal and end that is mystically hidden—or, to speak more accurately, for those whose minds are strong, clearly proclaimed—in all the things that have been said.

For the text of the prayer embraces a petition for all those things of which the Word of God, having emptied Himself ^C through the flesh, has become the author, teaching us to strive to obtain those goods of which God and Father alone is the true provider through the Son, who naturally mediates in the Holy Spirit. For, according to the divine Apostle, the Lord Jesus [*] is the mediator between God and men; [* 1 Tim. ii, 5.] who, indeed, through the intermediate flesh, makes the unknown Father known to men, and brings to the Father men who have been reconciled in Himself through the Spirit. For them, and for whose sake having become man without change, He exists as the author and architect and teacher of many new mysteries—so many that their number and magnitude can never be calculated. Out of these, ^D seven, being more universal than the rest, He has, in His exceeding liberality, clearly bestowed upon men; the power of which the goal of the prayer, as I said, mystically contains: namely, theology, adoption in grace, an equal share of honor with the angels, a participation in eternal life, the restoration of nature to itself so that it no longer inclines toward vice or passion, the destruction of the law of sin, and the abolition of the tyranny of the wicked one who had enslaved us by deception. Let us therefore seek the truth of what has been said.

For the Word of God, by becoming incarnate, teaches theology, showing in Himself the Father and the Holy Spirit. For the whole Father and the whole Holy Spirit were essentially and perfectly in the whole Son, even when He was incarnate, yet they were not themselves incarnate; but it was by the Father’s willing and being well-pleased, and the Holy Spirit’s co-operating, that the Son Himself wrought the incarnation. For the Word remained endowed with mind and life, being circumscribed entirely by no one else essentially, save only by the Father and the Spirit, yet through philanthropy He contracted a union with the flesh according to hypostasis.

^A Adoption indeed He bestows, insofar as He grants that birth which is above nature from above through the Spirit in grace; the custody and preservation of which—God being the guide—is the free will of those who are thus born, honoring the grace granted with a sincere affection of soul, and following the commandments, sedulously adorning the beauty granted by grace; and advancing towards the communion of the Divinity through the emptying of the passions, to the same degree as the Word of God truly existed as man, emptying Himself from His own true and magnificent glory through the dispensation of His will.

^B Furthermore, He has raised men to the same dignity as the angels, not only in the sense that, having made peace through the blood of His cross—both what is in heaven and what is on earth—and having abolished the intermediate spaces between heaven and earth by destroying the opposing powers, He showed one assembly and gathering of earthly and heavenly powers with regard to the distribution of divine gifts; while the human race, with one and the same will together with the higher powers, and as a companion host to them, resounds and sings the glory of God in exultation; but also because, once the business of our salvation in the flesh was fulfilled, having been taken up into heaven with the body He had assumed, He Himself joined heaven to earth, and joined things that are spiritual and understood by the mind with those that fall under the senses; and moreover, He exhibited the single created nature, through the extremities of its own parts, ^C bound and coherent to itself through the cultivation of virtue and the knowledge of its first author. I think He was showing, through those things which He was performing mystically, both the word and the reason that unite things which are separated, and the distinction of things that are united—so that we might learn to be transformed through action, that we may be united not only with the angels according to virtue, but also with God through the removal of those things which are separated, and through action grasp the reason: so that we may be united with all things not only with the angels through virtue, but also wisely with God through the removal of things.

He grants communication of the divine life, offering Himself as food and edible, as He knows how, both Himself and those who have received from Him such intellectual perception, so that by the taste of this food they might truly know and understand by perception that the Lord is good and sweet, who indeed mixes those who eat with divine quality so that they might be imbued with the divinity; ^D that He who is openly the bread of life and of strength might both exist and be called so.

He restores nature to Himself, not only insofar as, having become man, He kept the mind free from passions and sedition against nature—not even when against those who crucified Him was it moved in any way from its natural seat by anger; but rather preferring, for the sake of their salvation, death over life; by which He also manifests the voluntary nature of His passion,

^A confirmed by the most humane affection of Him who suffers and dies; but also that He destroyed enmity, nailing to the cross the handwriting of sin, ^B by which nature had irreconcilable war against itself; and calling those who were afar off and those who were near, those under the law, that is, and those outside the law; and breaking down the middle wall of partition, having clearly interpreted the law of commandments in decrees; ^C He created the two into one new man, making peace and reconciling us through Himself to the Father, and to one another, no longer having a will resisting the reason of nature—but just as they are in nature, so also in will and disposition, they are immutable.

He renders nature pure from the law of sin, not having permitted pleasure to take the lead in that incarnation of His for our sake. For the conception was new and unusual, without seed, and the birth was incorrupt above nature; ^D for the God who was born, fastening the bonds of virginity for the mother, beyond the mode of nature, by His birth; and freeing all nature from the tyranny of the law that had prevailed, in those who are willing, by the mortification of the members which are upon the earth, in those who imitate His own voluntary death. For the mystery of salvation is of those who are willing, not of those to whom force is applied.

Finally, He effects the overthrow of the tyranny of the wicked one, who had gained control of us through deception, by wielding against him the flesh that had been defeated in Adam as a weapon, and conquering; [C(continued)] in order to show that it, which had previously been captured unto death, captures the one who had captured it, and by natural death destroys his life; which indeed for him constitutes poison, in order to vomit out all whom he had swallowed, having grown strong as one holding the power of death; but for the human race it yields life, leading the whole nature like a lump unto the resurrection of life: in whose grace, especially, the Word,

^A seeing that it is a truly strange matter, and unheard of, willingly accepts the death of the flesh. In all these, as I said, the reason for the Lord’s Prayer will be found to have a petition.

For He speaks of the Father, and names the Father, and reveals the Son of this Father again in grace, as one who is praying. He bids them ask for life, unique in will, which is both in heaven and on earth. He commands them to ask for the daily bread. He legislates reconciliation for men, one to another, and by that means, that by forgiving and being forgiven, the nature might bind itself to itself, not being severed by difference of will. He teaches them to pray not to enter into temptation, as into the law of sin; and warns them to be delivered from the evil one. ^B For it was fitting that the Author and Giver of all good things should be their Teacher, as though unto disciples, who by the flesh imitate His discipline, offering the texts of the life-giving prayer, by which He revealed the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge to those who are in Him according to their kind, specifically driving away the lack of debt for those who ask.

For this reason, I think, the Word has called this the prayer, as holding the petition of those things that are given to men by God according to grace. For so our God-inspired Fathers have spoken ^C definitively concerning prayer, saying that prayer is a petition for those things which God is naturally disposed to bestow upon men; just as also a vow, which those who sincerely worship God offer to Him, the Scripture bears witness to, having presented it in its own language in many ways, as: "Vow, and pay unto the Lord our God;" and "Whatever I have vowed, I will pay to thee, my Saviour, O Lord." Regarding the prayer, it has been said: "And Anna prayed unto the Lord," saying, "Lord Adonai, God of Sabaoth, if hearing thou shalt hear thy handmaid, and shalt give me fruit of my womb." And, "Hezekiah, king of Judah, prayed, and Isaiah the son of Amoz ^D the prophet prayed to the Lord." And that which the Lord said to the disciples: "When you pray, say: Our Father who art in heaven." So that the vow may be considered the observance of the commandments, confirmed by the intention and will of the one who has vowed; but prayer, a petition, that he who has observed them may be led back into the good things which have been observed. Or rather, the vow indeed is the prize of virtue, which God most gladly accepts when offered, but prayer—

since it has been demonstrated that it is a petition for the goods of which the incarnate Word is the author—let us designate as our teacher of this prayer the Word himself, and let us approach it confidently, diligently training our understanding of each phrase, as far as contemplation allows, in the way that the Word himself is accustomed to supply appropriately, and granting us the power of the speaker’s intent to grasp it.

*Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come.*

^B Appropriately, the Lord teaches those who pray to begin with theology, and in doing so, He brings to light the existence of the productive Cause of all things, He who is by essence the Cause of all beings. For the words of the prayer contain the declaration of the Father, of the name of the Father, and of the kingdom of the Father; so that from the very beginning, we may learn to worship, invoke, and venerate the Trinity, which is one in unity. For the name of God and Father, subsisting essentially, is the only-begotten Son; and the kingdom of God and Father, subsisting essentially, is the Holy Spirit. For what Matthew here calls "kingdom," another of the evangelists has called "Holy Spirit," saying: *"May thy Holy Spirit come and cleanse us."* For the Father does not have an acquired or artificial name, nor do we understand the kingdom as a dignity that came to Him. For He did not begin to be, so that He might then begin to be Father or King; but since He is always, He is also always Father and King, nor did He begin at all to be, or to be Father or King. But if, since He is always, He is also always Father and King, then it follows that the Son and the Holy Spirit have also co-existed essentially with the Father, being from Him and in Him by nature—beyond cause and reason—not created after Him because of some cause or impulse. For a relation has the power to point out those things of which it is the relation, not allowing them to be understood as posterior one to another.

^C *Our Father.* Entering upon this prayer, therefore, we are instructed to venerate and pay honor to the consubstantial and superessential Trinity as the productive cause and author of our existence. ^D Moreover, we are taught to proclaim the grace of adoption granted to us, we who are accounted worthy to call Him Father by grace, who is the Maker by nature: so that, revering the appellation of Him who has begotten us by grace, we may strive to mark in our life the characters of our parent, hallowing His name in us.

^A

Sanctified be Thy name. We hallow the name of the Father who is in heaven, by the free gift, while we mortify earthly desire and are cleansed from destructive affections and vices; for holiness consists in this, that the desire which is exercised by the senses should be inhibited and extinguished in every movement. And having attained this, we calm the indecorous barkings of anger, since we no longer have the desire itself which rouses it and persuades us to do battle for the sake of our own pleasures, for it has now been mortified by the holiness of reason. For anger, which by nature exists as the avenger of desire, is accustomed to cease from its frenzy as soon as it sees this latter dead. ^B

It is fitting, therefore, that with the rejection of anger and desire, the power of the kingdom of God and the Father should follow in prayer, coming to those who, after casting these aside, are deemed worthy to say: "Thy kingdom come"—that is, the Holy Spirit—those who have already been made into a temple for God through the Spirit by the word and manner of meekness. For, He says, "On whom shall I rest, save on the meek and humble and him who trembles at my words?" ^C From which it is evident that the kingdom of God and the Father belongs to the humble and the meek. For, He says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." But God did not promise that this earth, which by nature occupies a position in the middle of this whole universe, should be the inheritance of those who love Him; if He speaks the truth when He says, "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in the heavens." And, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." And again in another place to another who had served with goodwill, "Enter into the joy of your Lord." And after Him, the divine Apostle: "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord." ^D

Since these things are promised in this way to those who love the Lord, who, having fixed his mind on a single saying of Scripture, would ever say that the heaven, and the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, and the joy of the Lord mystically hidden and waiting, and the perpetual and altogether inseparable dwelling and tabernacling with the Lord of those who will be worthy, are the same as this earth, if he is guided by reason, and seeks to be a healer of the passions through the Word? But now I think it means by earth the firm and altogether immutable steadiness in that which is good.

^A And the condition and power of the meek, as existing always with the Lord and possessing joy that does not fail, and having apprehended the kingdom prepared from of old, and having been counted worthy of the standing and order in heaven; as it were, a certain earth, taking the middle ^B position of the whole of the principle of virtue; according to which the meek man, being in the middle between good report and ill report, persists with a tranquil and imperturbed mind, neither being puffed up nor becoming arrogant when celebrated with praises, nor being saddened or grieved when defamed. For if the intellect is by nature free, having withdrawn desire, it does not perceive the annoyance of these provocations, having stilled itself from the storm concerning them, and having directed the whole power of the soul toward the divine and active-less freedom; which the Lord wished to impart to his own disciples, saying, "Take, my yoke upon you, and learn from me, that I am meek and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls." Calling rest the power of the divine kingdom, because it bestows on those who are worthy a lordship free from all slavery.

If to the humble and the meek the immutable power of the unalloyed kingdom is given, who is so unlovable and altogether listless toward divine goods, as not to be moved to the highest degree by the desire to attain humility and meekness (by which, indeed, the character and form of the divine kingdom, as far as it is granted to man, ^C is fashioned), bearing in himself by the gift of grace, without any variation, the form of Christ, the truly great King by nature, in the spirit? In which, says the divine Apostle, there is neither male nor female; that is to say, there is neither irascibility nor concupiscence—the former tyrannically carries the reason away and casts the intellect outside the limits of the law of nature; the latter, by making things secondary to the one and only desirable and impassible Cause and Nature, renders them more lovable, and because of this, puts the flesh before the spirit, and deems the delights of things subject to the eyes more pleasant than the clarity and splendor of spiritual things. By the enticement and bait of the pleasure of the senses, it drives the intellect away from the divine and kindred perception of intelligible things. But the singular reason, even if it is altogether pure from lust—though it is stripped of bodily love and affection of the soul through an abundance of virtue—plainly shows this: that the spirit exists as the perfect victor of nature, and indicates a truce from moral philosophy for a little while, ^D while it applies itself—through simple and undivided contemplation—to the mind, so that it may come together with the super-essential Reason and Word; even though that [philosophy] is useful by its own nature for the easy cutting and passing through of those things which flow temporally. Having passed through and overcome these, it is surely not fitting that one who has emerged free from sensible and earthly things should be burdened thereafter by moral exercise as if by a mantle.

And the great Elias clearly declares this, showing this mystery figuratively by his act; for he...

^A gave the mantle—I mean the mortification of the flesh, in which the fixed magnificence of moral honesty is established—to Elisha at the moment of his translation, as an aid of the Spirit against every opposing power, and as that by which he might strike the unstable and flowing element, of which the Jordan was a figure; so that the turbulent and slippery affection of earthly things might not, by overwhelming the disciple, prevent his passage to the holy land. But he himself, free and released, departed to God, whom no thing subject to fleeting desire could hold back; simple in desire, not composite in the will of his mind, he journeyed toward Him who is simple by nature, through the general virtues joined to one another and wisely yoked together like fiery horses. For he knew that it was worthwhile for the disciple of Christ to depart from unequal ^B affections, the diversity of which shows them to be foreign; since it is so ordered that the affection of concupiscence indeed elicits a diffusion of blood about the heart, while the force of irascibility, when incited, elicits a boiling and heat of the blood; and he, having arrived as one who already lived and moved and had his being in Christ [Acts xvii, 28], cast away from himself the alien and discordant generation of inequalities; not bearing within himself, like male and female, the contrary—as I said—dispositions of these passions; so that the reason, to which by nature the ray of the divine image is mingled, might not be enslaved to them, becoming altered by their unstable mutations; for this [reason] is clearly the author, so that the soul by the purpose of its will might be transformed into the divine likeness, and might become the great kingdom of ^C the universe (namely, the most luminous dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit) which coexists essentially with God and the Father; receiving in its entirety, if it is permitted to say so, the power and faculty of knowledge of the divine nature, as far as is granted; by which it is brought to pass that the inferior things indeed perish and cease, but the origin of the better things consists, the soul preserving—not otherwise than God, according to the grace of calling—the substances of the granted goods inviolable within itself; by which Christ always willingly is born mystically, assuming flesh through those who are gifted with salvation; and making the soul that gives birth a virgin mother, in which—to state it briefly—no marks or signs consisting in accordance with affection and lust, like male and female, subject to the corruption and generation of nature, remain.

^D Let no one be disturbed by hearing that corruption is placed before generation. For whoever has contemplated with a calm eye of the mind and right reason the nature of things that are born and perish, will clearly find that generation begins from corruption and ends in it; the signs of which—the affections or passions, as I said—Christ does not acknowledge (namely, Christ and the institution and reason of the Christian life), since he is truthful who says: "For in Christ Jesus there is no male and female" [Galat. iii, 28] (those, namely,

^A whose nature denotes affections and passions, which is subject to the destruction of corruption and the rise of generation); but only the deiform reason, imbued with the quality of divine knowledge, and the agitation and motion of a singular soul-will, choosing the one unique virtue.

^B Nor the Greek nor the Jew, by whom the different—or, to speak more truly, the contrary—reasoning concerning the knowledge of God is signified. For the Greek system, foolishly introducing a plurality of principles and dividing the one principle into contrary operations and powers, fabricates a polytheistic worship, both ridiculous by the multitude of those to whom it is applied, and by the diverse rite of adoration. But the Jewish system, while [teaching] one principle, yet [is] narrow and imperfect, and almost inconsistent, as if destitute of reason and life; and it slips into an evil equal to the former—the atheism that follows from contraries—by circumscribing the one principle into one person, and that one existing without Word and Spirit, or at least imbued with reason and spirit as if with a quality; not understanding who God would be, who exists devoid of these, or how God, who is not otherwise than created minds, participates in these as if they were accidents.

Of these, as I was saying, neither is at all in Christ, but only the true discourse of piety and the firm law of mystic theology, which eliminates the division of the deity of the former, and repudiates the contraction of the latter; so that it may not establish a name [of God] disagreeing with itself by a natural multitude (for this is the error of the Greeks), ^C or oneable by the singularity of one person (for that is of the Jewish superstition, as being devoid of Word and Spirit, or imbued with Word and Spirit as if by a quality). But not so does the mind and the Word and the Spirit revere the divine; and it teaches us, who by the call of grace have been adopted through faith into the acknowledgment of the truth, to know one nature and power of deity; that is to say, to contemplate God in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: as the only Source that exists essentially and truly, void of any cause or principle or author; and the Parent and Begetter of the one eternally, essentially, and truly existing Word, who is void of principle; and the Fountain of the one sempiternal Life that exists essentially and truly (namely, the Holy Spirit): the Trinity in the unity, and the unity in the Trinity: not one in another: for the Trinity is not so in the unity as if an accident in a substance, or conversely the unity in the Trinity; as it is devoid of all quality. Nor as one and another: for the unity does not differ from the Trinity by diversity of nature, being one and simple nature. Nor as one before another; for the Trinity is not separated from the unity as if of lesser power and more submissively graded, nor the unity from the Trinity. But neither as some common and universal [notion], which is understood by subtle thought alone to be distinct from the singulars subject to it, ^D is the unity distinct from the Trinity, which is truly a substance existing by itself, and a power truly self-sufficient. Nor as one through another—for the [divine] identity is not mediated by relation, being entirely without relation, as between cause and that which is caused. Nor as one from another—for the Trinity does not come into being by generation from the unity, being unbegotten and self-shining; but it is the same that is truly called and understood as both unity and Trinity; the former, in respect of its essence

the latter, in respect of its mode of existence: the whole same unity, which is not divided in persons; and the whole same Trinity, with nothing from her being confused, as she exists as unity; lest, of course, from division a crowd of gods be introduced, or from confusion the Godhead itself be lost to us: ^A which two absurdities the Christian doctrine clearly avoids. By "Christian," moreover (according to Christ, that is), I mean the new preaching of the truth; in which there is "neither male nor female": by these signs, of course, and the sufferings or affections to which nature, subject to corruption and generation, is liable; ^B "nor Greek and Jew": that is, the contrary opinions concerning the Godhead; "nor circumcision and uncircumcision": the observances, of course, appropriate to each sect; of which one, because of the symbols of the Law, insults the visible creation, and accuses its Maker as the author of evils; the other, however, because of passion and its greater propensity to vices, bestows godhead upon it, and commits an offense against the Creator regarding what was produced by Him; and into equal evil (the insult of God, at any rate) both equally lead. "Not barbarian and Scythian": that is, the discord of the mind and will within the one nature itself, contrary to its own self; by which the law of mutual slaughter, contrary to nature, took root among men. ^C "Nor slave and free": that is, the division of the same nature, brought about against the will; which dishonors and degrades him who is adorned with equal honor by nature, having as an accomplice the law which tyrannically oppresses the dignity of that image in which we were created, the mind and will of those who master us. "But all and in all is Christ," who, through those things which excel the reasons of nature and law, creates the form and image of the eternal kingdom in the spirit; the characters and distinguishing marks of which, as has been proved, are accustomed to be ^D humility of heart and gentleness: the concurrence of which shows the one who is being created according to Christ to be a perfect man. For whoever is humble in mind and modest in sense is also altogether gentle and meek; and conversely, whoever is gentle and meek is also altogether humble in mind and modest in sense. Humble in mind and modest in sense, because he acknowledges that he possesses by loan and favor that which he has come to be; but gentle and meek, as one who does not ignore the use of the powers granted to him by nature, and who indeed dedicates these to the producing of virtues by the obedience of reason, but draws back their operation entirely from sense. And hence it is that, while in mind he is incited by a constant motion toward God; in sense, not even if everything by which

^A the body is wont to be afflicted should happen to coincide, is there anything stirred up within him, nor is the soul shaped by any vestige of sadness, so that the affection and disposition therein, which are full of joy, could be changed. For he does not judge pain, which tortures the senses, to be a deprivation of pleasure. He recognizes only one pleasure: an intimacy of the soul with reason, the deprivation of which is an immortal torment, naturally encompassing all ages within its compass. Therefore, having bid farewell to all things—both of the body and that which pertains to the body—he strives earnestly for the divine intimacy; reputing it to be the one true loss, if, even should he possess the domain of all earthly things, he be frustrated in the hope of the deification which is expected to be granted through grace.

Therefore, let us cleanse ourselves from all pollution of the flesh and spirit, ^B that by extinguishing the desire that lasciviously rages in the passions, we may sanctify the divine name, and that we may curb the wrath that unsuitably and wildly pants after pleasures; so that we may receive the kingdom of God and the Father, which comes through meekness. But let us now join the next text of the prayer to the preceding parts, saying:

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

He who, by the power of reason alone, separated from desire and wrath, mystically offers worship to God, he on earth, in the same manner as the angelic orders in heaven, has fulfilled the divine will; being in all things a fellow-worshipper and messmate of the angels, just as the great Apostle says in a certain place: *Our conversation is in heaven*; ^C among whom there is no desire—which, by the force of pleasures, dissolves the vigor of the mind—nor raging wrath, which barks insolently at relatives and those whom the society of a single nature binds; but there is the most singular reason, which naturally leads those who use reason toward the Primal Reason, which alone God enjoys, and which he demands from us, his servants. And this he signifies when he speaks to great David: *For what is there for me in heaven, and what have I willed of thee upon earth?* But the holy angels offer nothing to God in the heavens except rational worship; and since he demands this very thing from us, he taught us in praying to say: *Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.*

Therefore, let our reason also be moved to seek God, and let the power of desire be carried toward him by longing; finally, let the faculty of wrath be stirred to the struggle by the ardor ^D of his preservation: or, to speak more truly and more properly, let the whole mind be directed toward God, which the irascible ways may strengthen as if by a certain tension, and which a greedy love may ignite with the highest force of desire. For thus, by imitating the angels in heaven, we shall be found worshippers of God in all things; provided that we exhibit the same way of life on earth as the angels, being so prepared that, exactly like them, we are not moved in our soul at all by any of those things which are secondary to God. For, in accordance with the rationale of the prayers, thus ordering our life, we shall receive, as it were, bread—even vital bread—for the nourishment of our souls, and as vital bene...

benefit, ^A seeing that the Word Himself said: "I am the bread which came down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world" (John vi, 33)—a Word who, in proportion to us who are nourished by virtue and wisdom, becomes all things, and is variously embodied, as He alone knows, through each of those who are being saved. Thus, while we yet exist in this present age, according to the power of the saying in the prayer which declares: ^B "Give us this day our daily bread." For by "this day," I think, is meant the present age; or, as one might, interpreting it more clearly, express the station of the prayer: "The bread, which Thou didst prepare from the beginning for the immortality of our nature, grant us this day, so long as we continue in this present life of mortality (n)—that the nourishment of the bread of life and of knowledge may conquer the death of sin; of which, had the first man been a partaker, the transgression of the divine commandment would not have been allowed. For if he had been satisfied with this divine food, he would never have fallen prey to the death of sin."

However, he who prays to receive this daily bread does not altogether receive the whole, just as the bread itself is; rather, he receives it according to the capacity of the one who accepts it. For the bread of life gives Himself to all who ask, as He is a lover of mankind; yet not in the same way to all, but to those who have performed great works, more bountifully; to those who are lesser in these, less abundantly; ^C to each, therefore, as his mental worth is capable of receiving.

The Savior Himself led me to this understanding of the present passage, commanding His disciples explicitly to take absolutely no thought for sensible food, saying: "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after; but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. vi, 25, 26). How then does He teach us to pray for those things which He had previously commanded us not to seek? For it is evident that what He commanded us to ask through prayer, He had not forbidden us to seek by commandment. ^D For it is only through prayer that one may ask for that which we are commanded to seek. Thus, that which we are not permitted to seek by commandment, it is perhaps not lawful to ask for through prayer. But if the Savior commanded us to seek only the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then He has rightly led those who desire divine gifts to ask for this, too, through prayer.

by which He seals the grace of the things naturally sought, uniting the intention of those who ask with the will of Him who provides the grace, making them one through a relative union.

^A But if we are ordered to ask even for the daily bread, by which our present life is nurtured and preserved, through prayer, we must not transgress the boundaries of prayer by greedily looking forward through many cycles of years, forgetting that we are mortals and possessing a life of this sort that passes away like a shadow; rather, let us ask in prayer for the bread that suffices for the day, without anxiety. Let us show ourselves, according to the norm of Christian philosophy, to be those who make life a meditation on death, anticipating nature by our intention, and—before death arrives—severing the soul from bodily cares, so that it might not be fastened to corruptible things, having exchanged the use of longing according to nature for the whole, and having learned the greediness that is depriving of the abundance of divine goods.

Let us flee, therefore, as much as we have the power, from the love of material things, and let us wipe away their attachment from the eyes of the soul like dust. Let us be satisfied with only those things that sustain the present life, and not those by which it is delighted unto luxury; let us beseech God for such things, as we have been taught, so that we may be able to keep the soul free and entirely its own master, not bound by any anxious care for the body to anything visible at all, and so that we might be proved to be eating for the sake of living, and not be reproached for living for the sake of eating. For the former is clearly proper to a rational nature, ^B while the latter is proper to an irrational one. And let us be precise guardians of prayer, proving by our very deeds that we hold fast to the one and only life that is lived in the Spirit, and that we make use of the present life only for the sake of such possession. For this reason, we cherish the use of this life only so far as not to refuse to sustain it with bread alone, and to preserve its natural health so far as it lies in us, in an incorrupt state—not in order that we may live, but in order that we may live for God; making the body a messenger of the soul, disciplined by the reasons of virtue, and making the soul a herald of God, established in the stability of the good. And let us conclude this bread within a single day, not daring, out of shame before Him who delivered the prayer, to extend our petition into a second day. For thus, by having disposed ourselves in accordance with the power of prayer, we would be able to proceed clearly also to the remaining clauses, saying: "And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors."

^C According to the first meaning of the preceding clause ^D [it is understood that] the petition is for the bread by which mortal life is sustained corporally, but only in such a way that it is "daily"—that is, that its care for the long term does not drag us along, but that we are content with what is available each day, as we continually meditate upon death. For the negative [particle] added erroneously completely destroys the sense, as if Maximus were denying that even this bread should be asked for in prayer with such moderation and philosophy: which no sane person would say, let alone a theologian.

^A And so, while dwelling in this present age—of which we have said that "today" is the symbol—he seeks through prayer the incorruptible bread of wisdom, from which the transgression of the first time excluded us; for he knows that the only pleasure consists in the attainment of divine things, the provider of which by nature is God, while the guardian of it according to choice is the purpose ^B of the recipient. He also knows that there is one sole pain, namely the failure to attain these things, the suggestion of which damage comes from the devil, while the author is anyone who, through sloth and weakness of mind, grows weary in pursuing divine things. ^C He keeps and zealously preserves that which he holds as most dear by the affection of his soul, his will being inclined toward none of the things that fall under visual perception, and being so disposed that he is not led away from the straight path by the troublesome things that affect the body. Such a man truly, with a tranquil soul and emotions in no way exasperated, forgives those who sin against him; since not even the good which he strives for—and which is believed to be in its nature inexhaustible—can ever be seized by anyone.

He makes himself, as it were, a model of virtue to God (if it is permitted to say this), urging Him who is beyond all imitation to come to his own imitation, saying: *Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors*; imploring that God be towards him such as he himself has been towards his neighbors. ^D For if, as he has forgiven the debts of those who have sinned against him, he desires also to have his own forgiven by God, it is evident that just as God, without passion, forgives those whom He forgives, just so does he himself, remaining impassible regarding the things that happen to him, forgive those who have transgressed, not allowing the mind to be fashioned by the memory of any past grievances, lest, by dividing nature by his own judgment, he be convicted of being estranged from any man, being human himself. For in this way, since the judgment is united to the principle of nature, the reconciliation of God to nature is brought about, because it is not possible for nature, while at odds with itself according to judgment, to receive the divine and ineffable condescension.

And perhaps this is why God desires us to make reconciliations with one another first, not so that He may learn from us how to be reconciled to sinners and to forgive the payment for many and terrible crimes, but so that He may cleanse us from passions and show the disposition of those who are forgiven to be in harmony with the relationship of grace. ^D For it is clearly evident that, once the judgment is united to the principle of nature, the purpose of those who have achieved this will be in concord with God; since nothing unreasonable can be seen in the principle of nature—which is also the natural and divine law—when it receives the movement of the judgment acting in accordance with itself. But if there is nothing unreasonable in the principle of nature, then reasonably, the judgment, moving according to the principle of nature, will have an operation in all things consistent with God; which is a disposition that is active, having been fashioned by the grace of the Good by nature for the generation of virtue.

^A Thus, therefore, is the one who asks for the bread of knowledge disposed in prayer; and after him, he who seeks only the daily bread because of the force of nature will be disposed in the same way, by forgiving those who are in debt to him, as one knowing that by nature he exists as mortal. And for the rest, each day, because of the uncertainty of what is by nature expected, he forestalls nature by his own will, becoming a voluntary corpse to the world, according to the word that says: "For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we were accounted as sheep for the slaughter." [Psal. XLIII, 22; Rom. VIII, 36.] And for this reason he makes peace with all, so that he may not carry with him any mark of the malice of the present age, while he is crossing over to the ageless life; and that he may receive from the Judge and Savior of all the same recompense for what he has offered here. For the pure disposition toward those who have caused pain has been established as necessary for the benefit of both; for the sake of all things, but not least because of the ^B power of the remaining phrases, which have the following manner: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

For the word indicates in these that if anyone has not perfectly forgiven those from whom he has received some offense, and has not presented to God a heart pure from resentment, shining with the light of reconciliation with his neighbor, he will fall from the grace of those good things which he desires and pursues with his prayers; and by a just judgment he will be handed over to temptation and to the evil one, so that he may learn to be purged of transgressions, cast off and removing from himself that which he blames in others. Now by temptation he calls here the law of sin, from which the first man was free when he was brought ^C into being; and by "the evil one" he means the devil who infused this into the nature of men, and who persuaded man through deceit to transfer the desire of his soul from what was permitted to what was forbidden, and to turn to the transgression of the divine command—the work of which became the loss of the incorruptibility given by grace.

Or again, he calls "temptation" the soul's voluntary consent to the passions of the flesh; and "the evil one," the mode which completes the passionate disposition in action. From neither of these will the just judge release him who has not forgiven debtors their debts, even if he asks for this in prayer by the mere sound of the voice; nay, he allows such a one to be defiled by the law of sin, and leaves the one who is hard ^D of heart and too rigid in justice to be mastered by the evil one; for he has preferred the disgraces of the passions—of which the devil is the sower—over nature, of which God is the creator. And, moreover, he does not prevent him from voluntarily consenting to the passions of the flesh, nor does he redeem him from the mode which completes them by action

^A For assuming that the nature is weaker than the nonexistent passions, by his zeal regarding these, he was ignorant of the principle of his own nature, according to which he ought to have been moved and to have known what is the law of nature, and what is the tyranny of the passions, which arises not naturally, but by choice in the capacity of the will. And he ought to have secured the one [law of nature], which is preserved by natural operations, and to have driven the other [the tyranny of the passions] far away, and by reason to have kept the nature, which is in itself clean and 364 blameless, without hatred and division; and again to have established the will as a fellow-worker with nature, bringing in absolutely nothing that the principle of nature does not afford; and for this reason, to have mediated all things, and to have caused all division of that which is akin according to nature to cease, so that, praying this prayer, he might be heard, and might receive from God a double grace instead of a single one: both the forgiveness of past transgressions, and protection and deliverance regarding those to come; being neither permitted to enter into temptation, nor abandoned to be enslaved to the evil one—by this one name and title, that he readily forgives the debts of his neighbors.

^B Therefore, we also, that I may briefly recapitulate and touch upon the power of what has been said, if indeed we wish to be rescued from the evil one and not to enter into temptation, let us trust in God and let us forgive the debts to our debtors. For, he says, "If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you" (Matt. VI, 14); so that we might not only receive forgiveness of what we have transgressed, but that we might also conquer the law of sin, not being left to enter into its trial; and that we might trample upon its progenitor, the wicked serpent, from whom we pray to be rescued. With Christ, who has overcome the world, leading us as commander and arming us with the laws of the commandments as if with weapons, and with the lawful casting off of the passions, He binds the nature unto Himself by the bonds of love, and He entices our appetite with insatiable desire toward Himself, who is the bread of life, and wisdom and knowledge and righteousness. and, by the fulfillment of the Father’s will, He makes us fellow-worshippers with the angels; ^C by our conduct in life, we manifest in a way worthy of imitation the heavenly perfection, and from thence again He leads us up to the supreme ascent of the divine, toward the Father of lights, and makes us partakers of the divine nature by the participation by grace of the Spirit; by which we are called, and are in truth, children of God, bearing within us—in our entirety, without all circumscription and in an undefiled manner—the very Author of this gift, the Son of the Father by nature; from whom, and through whom, and in whom we have [our] being, and movement, and life, and we have and shall have all things.

^D Looking to this mystery of deification, let the aim of our prayer be this, that we may know,

^A Of these things, namely, what the self-emptying of the Only-Begotten through the flesh has wrought for us; and whence and whither He raised up, by the power of His philanthropic hand, those who had received the lowest position in the universe—into which the weight of sin had cast us down—that we might the more love Him who so wisely prepared this salvation for us; and by the actions which we perform, show the prayer to be fulfilled, and appear proclaiming God as truly Father by grace. But let us not, through the shameful passions, show ourselves to be clearly having as the father of our life the evil one, who ever attempts to rule tyrannically over nature, and let us not unawares exchange life for death. For each of these, God, clearly, and the devil, is accustomed to provide a distribution to those who approach: the one bestowing eternal life upon those who love Him, the other causing death to those who draw near, through the suggestion of voluntary temptations. ^B

For there is a twofold manner of temptations according to Scripture: the one is hedonic (of pleasure), the other is grievous (of pain); the one is voluntary, the other is involuntary. And the one is the generator of sin, into which we are commanded to pray not to enter, according to the teaching of the Lord, who says: "And lead us not into temptation" (Matt. vi, 13); and, "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation" (Matt. xxvi, 41). The other, however, is the punisher of sin, chastising the sin-loving disposition through the involuntary incidence of sufferings. If anyone endures this, and especially is not fixed with the nails of wickedness, he will hear the great James clearly crying out: "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience; and let patience have its perfect work" (James i, 2-4). ^C But the evil one wickedly pursues both kinds of temptations, both the voluntary and the involuntary, and strives eagerly: the first, by sowing and inciting the soul with bodily pleasures, contriving to turn the yearning of the soul away from divine love; the second, he sophistically demands, wishing to destroy nature through pain, so that he may force the soul, having been worn down by the labor of sufferings, to move its thoughts toward calumny against the Creator. ^D

But we, having recognized the designs of the evil one, let us pray against the voluntary temptation, so that we may not turn away the yearning of our soul from divine love; but the involuntary one that comes by the permission and nod of God, let us endure bravely and with a stout heart, that we may be shown to have preferred the Creator of nature to nature itself. May it be that all of us who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be delivered both from the pleasures of the present life, which are introduced by the suggestion of the evil one, and from the future pains, through the participation of this specific sort of the future

^A of the hypostasis of goods, having shone upon us in Him, Christ our Lord, who alone with the Father and the Holy Spirit is glorified by all creation. Amen.

SCHOLIA. 1. In God, counsel and will are the same. 2. For the reason that is naturally existing, he says, is free from praise and blame, and it renders the one who chooses to live by reason alone free from passions; persuading him to separate the desire of the soul from those things which induce corruption and stain. When it is thus separated from earthly things, he who is mild by habit feels neither those who praise nor those who blame, as if affected by either. ^B 3. He speaks of unequal affections, those forming the soul toward themselves, that is, the movements of irrational anger and desire; from which the disciple of Christ must be free, so that he neither slips into pleasures through the dissipation of the blood around the heart, nor is driven mad into rages through the boiling of the blood around the heart. 4. Clearly of arguments, those of the Greek and the Jew; of which, in Christ, there is absolutely none. For the argument of Christ is equally pure from the polyarchy (rule of many) and from the monarchy (monarchy) that is bounded by a single person. 5. For it is not by generation, or procession, or manifestation. 6. How can one forgive debtors their debts? ^C 7. Divine justice applies itself worthily to our souls’ dispositions, becoming such to us as we have made ourselves to one another; and it establishes God toward us as we have previously disposed ourselves toward our fellow sufferers. 8. The reason of nature, he says, also becomes the law of nature, taking the mind into agreement for the operation of the natural faculties.

NOTICE REGARDING THE ASCETIC BOOK

OF OUR HOLY FATHER MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR, ASCETIC DISCOURSE: By way of question and answer.

^A 367 FRATER, SENEX. 1. Brother: The brother questioned the elder, saying: I beseech you, Father, tell me, what was the purpose of the Lord’s becoming man? ^B And the elder, answering, said: I marvel at you, brother, that, hearing the Creed of the faith every day, you ask me about this. Yet I say to you that the purpose of the Lord’s becoming man was our salvation. And the brother said: How do you mean, Father? And the elder replied: Because man, having been created by God from the beginning, and placed in Paradise, transgressing the commandment he had received, fell into corruption and death; and then, though guided and helped by the varied providence of God through every generation, he remained, growing worse, led by the varied passions of the flesh to the abyss of despair of life; for this reason the only-begotten Son of God, the pre-eternal Word from God ^C the Father, that fountain of life and immortality, appeared to us who were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death; being incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the holy Virgin, he showed us a manner of life that is godlike, and having given holy commandments, and promised the kingdom of heaven to those conducting their lives according to them, and having threatened eternal punishment to those who transgress them – and having undergone the saving passion, and having risen from the dead, he generously granted to us ^D the hope of resurrection and eternal life, dissolving by his obedience the guilt of our forefathers' transgression, and destroying by his death the power of death; so that, just as in Adam all are dying, so in him all will be made alive; and having ascended into the heavens, and having sat at the right hand of the Father, he sent the Holy Spirit as a pledge of life, and for the illumination and sanctification of our souls, and for the help of those strug-

struggling for their own salvation to keep his commandments. This was the purpose of the Lord's becoming man, to speak in summary.

^B 2. The brother said: "What commandments, then, O Father, ought I to perform, that I might be saved through them? I wish to hear briefly." The elder answered: "The Lord himself said after the resurrection to the Apostles: 'Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you.' Wherefore it is necessary to keep all that he commanded, for every person baptized in the name of the life-giving and divine Triad. For this reason, the Lord joined the keeping of all the commandments to the right faith, knowing that it is impossible for such a person, having separated one from another, to attain salvation. For this reason also, David, having the right faith, said to God: 'I was directed toward all thy commandments; I hated every wicked way.' For against every wicked way, all the commandments have been given to us by the Lord; and if one is omitted, it introduces into its place the opposite path of wickedness altogether."

3. The brother said: "And who, O Father, is able to perform all the commandments, being so many?" The elder said: "He who imitates the Lord and follows in his footsteps." The brother said: "And who can imitate the Lord? For the Lord was God, even ^C if he became man; but I am a sinful man, enslaved by myriad passions. How, then, can I imitate the Lord?" The elder answered: "Of those who are enslaved to the material things of the world, no one can imitate the Lord. But those who are able to say, 'Behold, we have left all and followed you,' they receive the power both to imitate him and to succeed in all his commandments." The brother says: "What power?" The elder answered: "Hear him saying: 'Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.'"

4. Having received this power ^D and authority, Paul said: "Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ." And again: "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." And again: "Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." And again: "To me the world is crucified, and I to the world."

5. Prophesying regarding this power and aid, David said: "He who dwells in the help of the Most High shall lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven. He shall say to the Lord: 'You are my protector and my refuge, my God, and I will hope in him.'" And with a few things interposed, "Upon

^A the asp and the basilisk you shall tread, and you shall trample upon the lion and the dragon; for he will give his angels charge of you, to keep you in all your ways." But those who are addicted to the flesh in their mind, and are held by the love of earthly things, hear what they hear from him: "He who loves father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me." And after a few words: "And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me." And: "Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple." He, therefore, who thinks to be made his disciple and to be found worthy of him, and also to receive from him power against the spirits of wickedness, must depart from every carnal affection and strip himself of all love of earthly things; and in this way, he begins the struggle against invisible enemies for the sake of his commandments, ^B not otherwise than as the Lord himself provided an example for us, being tempted in the desert by their leader, and when he had given himself to the world, being tempted by those who were driven by their influence.

6. The brother said: "But there are many commandments of the Lord, Father; and who can keep them all in mind so as to struggle for the sake of them all? I, especially, who am of fragile memory and cannot remember many things. I would wish to hear a concise saying, so that by holding it I might, through its help, provide for my own salvation." The elder replied: "Although they are many, my brother, yet they are gathered into a single saying, which is that which is said: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your might and with all your mind; and your neighbor ^C as yourself.' And he who struggles to hold this saying accomplishes all the commandments at once. However, no one can—as has been stated above—unless he has separated himself from the attachment to material things, either truly love God or his neighbor; for to be at once attached to material things and to love God is impossible. And this is what the Lord says: 'No one can serve two masters.' And: 'No one can serve God and mammon.' For as much as our mind clings to the things of the world in affection, it is enslaved to them, and it despises the commandment of God by transgressing it."

7. The brother said: "Of what things are you speaking, Father?" The elder replied: "Foods, money, possessions, glory, kindred or relations, and the like." To whom the brother said: ^D "I beseech you, Father, did not God create these and grant them to men for their use?" The elder replied: "It is clear that God created them and handed them over to men for their use. For all things created by God are good, that by using them well we might please God. But we, who are infirm and earthly in our mind, have preferred earthly things to the commandment of love; and being attached to them, we fight with men, when it would be fitting that, in all these things which fall under our sight,

^A and even in the body itself, we should prize the love of every man more highly; which is indeed the evidence of that charity which is toward God, as the Lord Himself shows in the Gospels: *He that loveth me*, He says, *will keep my commandments*. But what this commandment is, by the keeping of which we have loved Him, hear Him speaking: *This is my commandment, that you love one another*. Do you see that mutual love confirms the love toward God, which is the fullness of every commandment of God? For this reason, therefore, He commands us not to cling to them, but to renounce all things that one possesses, ^B if he desires to be His disciple.

8. Then the brother said: Since you have said, Father, that it is fitting to prize the love of every man more highly than all things which fall under our sight, and even the body itself, how can I love him who hates me and turns away from me? And if he even envies me, and attacks me with reproaches, and constructs deceits, and attempts to plot against me, how can I love him? It seems to me, Father, that this is impossible, since the passion of grief by nature compels us to turn away from him who has caused us pain. And the elder replied: In the case of serpents and beasts, which are led by nature, it is truly impossible not to take vengeance in every way one can upon that which brings harm: ^C but in the case of those who were fashioned according to the image of God, and are led by reason, and have been deemed worthy of the knowledge of God, and have received the law from Him, it is certainly possible not to turn away from those who grieve us, and to love those who hate us. Wherefore the Lord also, saying, *Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you*, and what follows, does not command these things as impossible, but as things that are clearly possible; for otherwise He would not have punished him who transgresses. And the Lord Himself shows this, having demonstrated it to us by His own actions; and all His disciples, having contended even unto death for the sake of love toward their neighbor, and having prayed fervently for those who killed them. ^D But since we are lovers of pleasure and lovers of the world, and prize these things more than the commandment, for this reason we are unable to love those who hate us; but we often even turn away from those who love us, behaving worse than beasts and serpents; and for this reason, since we are unable to follow the footsteps of God, we are not able even to know His goal, that we might receive power.

9. And the brother said: Behold, Father, I have abandoned all things, kindred, substance, luxuries, and the glory of the world, and I possess nothing in life except the body; yet I cannot love the brother who hates me and turns away from me, although I do compel myself by action not to return evil for evil. Tell me, therefore, what I ought to do, that I may be able to love him from the heart, and likewise him who in any way whatsoever causes me distress and plots against me.

^A

The elder answered: It is impossible for anyone to love the one who distresses him, even if he seems to have renounced all the material things of this world, unless he truly knows the aim [scopus] of the Lord. But if, by His gift, he is able to know it, and strives to walk according to His reason, he can love from the heart the one who hates and distresses him, just as the Apostles loved, having known it.

10. Then the brother said: I ask you to tell me, Father, what this aim of the Lord was. And the elder said: If you wish to know the Lord’s aim, listen carefully. Our Lord Jesus Christ, being God by nature, and deeming it worthy to become man out of ultimate compassion and love for mankind, was born of a woman, made under the law, as the divine Apostle says *; so that, being man, by the observance of the commandment ^B He might overthrow the ancient curse and harm of Adam. For the Lord knew that the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments of the law, in the saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself." [* Galat iv, 4. * Matth. xxii, 37. ] From the beginning to the end, He strove to keep these commandments in a human manner. But the devil, who had deceived man from the start and had for that reason obtained the power of death, seeing Him at His baptism proclaimed by the Father, and receiving the kindred Holy Spirit as a man from the heavens, and having come into the wilderness to be tempted by him, turned against Him the entire weight of his warfare, if by any means he might induce Him to prefer the material things of the world to the love of God. ^C Knowing, therefore, that these are the three things in which all human affairs revolve—namely food, wealth, and glory—by which he is always accustomed to cast man down into the abyss of perdition, he attacked Him with this triple wedge in the wilderness. Having emerged victorious over these, the Lord commanded the devil to depart.

11. This, then, is the hallmark of the love for God. Since the tempter could not, by any of his promises, induce Him to transgress that commandment, he strove, through the works of the most wicked Jews, to make Him transgress the commandment of love for one's neighbor, following Him into the public gatherings of men. ^D Therefore, while He was teaching the ways of life and demonstrating by His works the heavenly way of life, and was the herald of the resurrection of the dead, promising eternal life and the kingdom of heaven to those who believe, and seriously threatening eternal punishment to the unbelievers, and performing stupendous and unheard-of divine signs to confirm His words and inviting the crowds to faith—he stirred up the most wicked Pharisees and Scribes to various plots against Him, so that, being unable, as it seemed, to bear these temptations, He might be turned to hatred of those who were weaving them, and in this manner the wicked one might attain his intended end.

^A 12. But the Lord, as God, knowing ^B his thoughts and designs, did not pursue the Pharisees, who were being moved by him, with any hatred (for how could He, who is good by nature, do so?). Rather, through the love He bore them, He took vengeance on the one who was at work. As for those who were being moved—since it was within their power not to be moved, but they willingly, through sloth, endured the one who was moving them—He admonished, reproved, chided, and bewailed them, and never ceased to do them good. When He was reviled, He was long-suffering; when He suffered, He endured; He showed toward them every work of love. But as for the one who was moving them, He took vengeance upon him with the human kindness He showed toward those being moved. O paradoxical warfare! By displaying love instead of hatred, He struck the father of malice with goodness. For this reason, having endured so many evils from them, or (to speak more truly) for their sake, He struggled even unto death as a man for the commandment of love. Having thus carried off the perfect victory over the devil, He wove for Himself the crown of the resurrection on our behalf; and thus the new Adam restored the old. And this is what the divine Apostle says: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus," etc.

13. This, then, was the purpose of the Lord: that He might obey the Father as man for our sake even unto death, keeping the commandment of love, and that He might take vengeance on the devil by suffering at his hands—through the agencies of those he was moving, namely, the Scribes and Pharisees. And thus, by being willingly overcome, He overcame the one who hoped to win, and rescued the world from his dominion. In this way, Christ was crucified out of weakness; by which weakness He put death to death, and brought to nothing him who had the power of death. In this way, too, Paul boasted of being weak in himself, and boasted in his weaknesses, so that the power of Christ might dwell in him.

14. Having mastered the manner of this victory, he wrote to the Ephesians: "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers," etc. He bids them take up the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of hope, the shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit, ^C that they may be able to extinguish all the flaming darts of the wicked one, against whom this war against invisible enemies weighs upon them. Showing by his own conduct the manner of this struggle, he said: "I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." And again: "To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted." And again: ^D "In labor and hardship, in many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, in cold and exposure, apart from other things."

^A And this struggle, against the demons who incite pleasures in the flesh, he fought by putting them to flight through the weakness of his own body; but against those who fight in the midst, and for that reason move those who are more negligent among men against the pious, so that, being tempted by them, they might hate them and violate the commandment of love—again, showing us the manner of victory by his deeds, he said: "Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat; we have become as the offscouring of the world, the dross of all things until now." For the demons prompted them to revile and defame and persecute, so that they might incite in him a hatred of the one who was reviling, defaming, and persecuting him, having as their aim the transgression of the commandment of love. But the Apostle, not unaware of their schemes, blessed those who reviled him, endured the persecutors, and entreated those who defamed him, ^B that they might desist from the demons who were working these things, and might become reconciled to the good God. And he warded off the demons who were working these things in this manner of struggle, always overcoming evil with good, in imitation of the Savior. And thus, he and the rest of the apostles, having detached the whole world from the demons, reconciled it to God, having—by their own suffering and defeat—triumphed over those who hoped to be victors and who believed they would hold sway. If, therefore, you too, brother, hold to this goal, you will be able to love also those who hate you; but if not, otherwise it is impossible.

16. And the brother said: In truth, Father, it is so and not otherwise. And for this reason, the Lord, when He was reviled and buffeted by the Jews, and suffering the other things which He suffered from them, endured, being moved toward them with an affection of compassion, as those who were acting in ignorance and had been led astray. Whence also, on the cross, He said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." ^C But He also triumphed over the most crafty mind and deceit of the devil and his principalities on the cross, having struggled against them even unto death for the commandment of love, as you said, and having granted us victory over them; and having destroyed the power of death, He bestowed His resurrection as a gift of life to the whole world. But pray for me, Father, that I may be able to understand perfectly the goal of the Lord and of His apostles, and may be able to be vigilant and sober in mind when temptations approach, and not be ignorant of the schemes of the devil and his demons.

17. And the elder, answering, said: If you always keep in mind the things said before, you will be able not to be ignorant. But furthermore, if you understand that just as you are tempted, so also your brother is tempted; and you show indulgence to the one being tempted, but resist the one tempting you—who wishes to bring you into the midst of the one being tempted—not yielding to his snare. And this is ^D

as it has been said, if you have soberly and unceasingly the meditation of the aforementioned, you can know the purpose of the Lord and of his apostles; and to love men, even sympathizing with them when they stumble, but to war unceasingly against the wicked demons through love. But if we are slack and negligent and slothful, and we immerse our mind in carnal pleasures, we do not war against the demons, but against ourselves and our brothers; rather, we serve the demons through them, by fighting against men on the demons' behalf.

^B 18. And the brother said: "It is so, Father; for indeed, because of my negligence the demons always find pretexts against me. But I beseech you, Father, tell me how I ought to acquire sobriety." And the elder answered: "Total freedom from worldly care and the diligent, continuous meditation of the Divine Scripture bring the soul into the fear of God; and the fear of God brings sobriety. And then the soul begins to see the demons who are warring against it through thoughts, and to defend itself; concerning whom David said: 'And mine eye hath looked upon mine enemies' (Ps. LIII, 9). Urging the disciples to this struggle, the prince of the apostles, Peter, also said: 'Be sober, be watchful; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour; whom resist stedfast in the faith' (I Petr. V, 8-9). And the Lord says: 'Watch and pray, that ^C ye enter not into temptation' (Matth. XXVI, 41). And the Preacher says: 'If the spirit of the one having power rise up against thee, leave not thy place' (Eccle. X, 4). The place of the mind is virtue, and knowledge, and the fear of God. But the admirable Apostle, striving very soberly and bravely, said: 'For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in readiness to revenge all disobedience' (II Cor. X, 3-6). If, therefore, you also imitate the saints and apply yourself diligently to God, you will be sober."

^D 19. And the brother said: "And what ought one to do, Father, in order to be able to apply himself unceasingly to God?" And the elder answered: "It is impossible for the mind to apply itself perfectly to God unless it has acquired these three virtues: I mean love, and abstinence, and prayer. For love tames anger; and abstinence withers desire; and prayer draws the mind away from all thoughts, to God himself."

^A

20. The brother said: "I beseech you, Father, to teach me how love tames anger." And the elder replied: "Love possesses mercy, and the doing of good to one's neighbor, and longsuffering toward him, and the endurance of what he inflicts, as we have often said. Love, therefore, possessing these things, tames the anger of one who has attained it." And the brother said: "These are no small works; but blessed is he who is able to gain it. As for me, I am truly far from it. Nevertheless, I beseech you, Father, to tell me what longsuffering is."

21. The elder replied: "It is to persevere in the face of hardships, and to endure evil things, and to await the end of the temptation, and not to let out anger as it happens, nor to speak a word in folly, nor to suspect or conceive anything unbecoming a God-fearing man, just as the Scripture says: *Until a time the longsuffering man will hold out, and afterwards joy will blossom for him; until a time he will hide his words, and the lips of many will recount his understanding.*" ^B

22. Furthermore, these are the signs of longsuffering; and not only this, but to consider oneself the cause of the temptation is a property of this virtue. Perhaps it even stands thus: because most of the things that happen to us occur for our instruction, or for the removal of past sins, or for the correction of present negligence, or to block the path to future lapses. ^C He, therefore, who reckons in his mind that it is for one of these reasons that a temptation has seized him, is not indignant when he is struck, especially when he is conscious of his own sins; nor does he blame the one through whom the temptation occurs—for whether it be through this person or through another, it was necessary for him to drink wholly from the cup of divine judgments—but he looks to God, and gives thanks to Him who allowed it, and blames himself, and accepts the discipline ^D eagerly, just as David did with Semei, and as Job did with his wife. The foolish man, however, often asks God to have mercy; yet when the mercy comes, he does not receive it, because it did not come as he wished, but as a physician of souls deemed profitable. And for this reason he is despondent and troubled; and at one time, [alt-version omitted]

^A he burns with rage against men, at another he utters blasphemies against God; and further, he shows his thanklessness, and does not accept even the rod. ^B

23. And the Brother said: Well spoke you, Father; but I pray you to tell me also this: how does abstinence wither concupiscence? And the Elder answered: Because it causes one to abstain from all things that are not for necessary use, but provide pleasure; and it makes one partake of nothing except what is necessary for living; and not to pursue things that are pleasant, but things that are profitable; and to proportion food and drink to the need; and not to allow superfluous humors to gather in the body; and to maintain only the life of the body, and to keep it untroubled for the impulse of intercourse. Thus, therefore, abstinence withers concupiscence; but pleasure, and the surfeit of food and drink, heats the stomach and inflames the appetite for shameful desire, and urges the whole animal toward illicit ^C intercourse. Then the eyes become shameless, the hand unrestrained, the tongue speaks things that tickle the ears, and the ear receives empty things; the mind despises God; the soul, in its inner thought, commits adultery, and incites the body to the lawless act itself.

24. The Brother said: In truth, Father, it is as you say; but I pray to learn also concerning prayer, how it separates the mind from all thoughts. And the Elder answered: Thoughts are thoughts of things; and of things, some are sensible, others intelligible. The mind, therefore, dwelling in these, carries around their thoughts; but the grace of prayer joins the mind to God; and by joining it to God, it separates it from all thoughts. Then the mind, naked, conversing with Him, becomes god-like. Having become such, it asks from Him what is fitting, and its prayer never fails. For this reason, therefore, the Apostle commands us to pray without ceasing, that by continuously joining our mind to God, we may little by little tear ourselves away from the attraction of material things. ^D

25. The Brother said: And how can the mind pray without ceasing? For while chanting, and reading, and meeting others, and serving, we are distracted into many thoughts and perceptions. And the Elder answered: The divine Scripture commands nothing of the impossible; for even the Apostle himself prayed without ceasing? For by the duty of the Psalms and reading, and by mixing in conversation and serving, we distract it into many thoughts and perceptions. The Elder answered: The divine Scripture prescribes nothing of such a kind that cannot be performed. For even he himself

^A the Apostle used to chant, read, and minister, yet he prayed without ceasing. For prayer without ceasing is to have the mind in great reverence and desire, fixed upon God, and to be suspended from His hope, and to trust in Him in all things, both in one’s works and in the things that befall one. Having been disposed in this way, the Apostle said: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress?" and what follows. And after a few words: "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels." And again: "In all things troubled, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. Always carrying about in the body the mortification of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh."

26. ^B In this way, then, the Apostle was disposed; he prayed without ceasing, for in all his works, as has been said, and in the things that befell him, he was suspended from the hope of God. For this reason, all the saints always rejoiced in tribulations and troubles, so that they might attain the habit of divine love. And for this reason the Apostle said: "Most gladly therefore will I boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." And after a few words: "When I am weak, then am I powerful." But woe to us wretched ones, because we have abandoned the life of the holy Fathers; and for this cause we are destitute of every spiritual work.

27. And the brother said: What is the reason, Father, that I have no compunction? The Elder answered: Because the fear of God is not before our eyes. Because we have become a receptacle of all evils, and for that reason ^C we have contemned the terrible judgment of God, as if it were a mere thought or a fabrication of the mind. Otherwise, who would not be pricked in his heart, hearing Moses, from the person of God, saying concerning sinners: "A fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest abyss. It shall consume the earth and her fruits; it shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap evils upon them, and will complete my arrows in them"? And again: "I will sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand shall take hold of judgment; and I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me." And let one listen to Isaiah crying out: "Who shall tell you that fire is kindled? Who shall tell you of the eternal place? ^D Walk in the light of your fire and in the flame which you have kindled." And again: "They shall go forth, and shall see the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be for a spectacle to all flesh." And to Jeremiah saying: "Give glory to the Lord your God, before it grow dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains." And again: "Hear, O foolish and heartless people; they have eyes, and do not see; they have ears, and do not hear. Will you not fear me, saith the Lord? Or from the face"

of me will you not tremble? who have set the sand as a bound to the sea, by a perpetual decree, and it shall not pass it?" ^A And again: "Thy own wickedness shall reprove thee, and thy apostasy shall rebuke thee. Know and see, that it is an evil and bitter thing for thee, that thou hast left me, saith the Lord." "I have planted a fruitful vine, a true one; how art thou turned into bitterness, O strange vine?" And again: "I have not sat with the council of those who play; but I was fearful before the face of thy hand. I sat alone, because I was filled with bitterness." And who, hearing Ezekiel, does not tremble with horror, when he says: "I will pour out my indignation upon thee, and I will fulfill my anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and I will lay upon thee ^B all thy abominations: and my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and then shalt thou know that I am the Lord." And who, hearing Daniel, is not pricked to the heart, as he clearly describes the day of the fearful judgment, in which he says: "I, Daniel, was watching, until thrones were set. And the Ancient of days sat. His garment was white as snow: and the hair of his head as pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire: the wheels thereof a burning fire. A river of fire issued and came forth from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him. The judgment sat, and the books were opened," that is to say, the deeds of each one. And again: "I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, with the clouds of heaven, there came as it were a Son of man, and he reached even to the Ancient of days, and he was offered before him; and to him was given the sovereignty and honor and a kingdom. And all peoples, ^C tribes, and tongues shall serve him; and his power is an everlasting power; and his kingdom, an everlasting kingdom. My spirit was horror-struck, I, Daniel, in my habit, and the visions of my head troubled me."

28. And who, hearing David, is not fearful, when he says: "God hath spoken once, these two things have I heard: that power belongeth to God, and mercy to thee, O Lord; for thou wilt render to every man according to his works." And again, the Ecclesiastes saying: "The end of the discourse, hear all: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is every man: for God will bring every work into judgment ^D with everything that is hidden, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

29. And who, hearing similar things from the Apostle, does not tremble: "For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Who then will not lament our unbelief, and the blindness of our soul; that, hearing all these things, we do not repent, and bitterly weep for such great negligence and sloth of ours? Jeremias, seeing this from afar,

^A said: "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord negligently." For if we had concern for the salvation of our souls, we would tremble at the word of the Lord, and we would hasten to accomplish His commandments, through which we are saved. Yet we, hearing the Lord saying, "Enter through the narrow gate, which leads to life; for wide and spacious is the gate that leads to destruction," have preferred the wide and spacious one. Therefore, we are to hear, when He comes from the heavens to judge the living and the dead: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels."

50. And we hear these things, not because we have done evil, but because we have neglected the good, and have not loved our neighbor. But if we have actually perpetrated evils, how shall we—being so negligently disposed—endure that day? Furthermore, it was said to the ancients by Moses: "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not murder," and what follows. But the Lord, knowing that it does not suffice for a Christian for perfection to keep only these things, said: "Amen I say to you, that unless your justice abounds more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." For this reason, He legislated from above and below for the sanctification of the soul—by which the body is also sanctified—and for sincere love toward all people, through which we can also attain love for Him; and He set Himself and His disciples as a ^B model and norm for us even unto death, as has been said often.

51. What defense, therefore, shall we have on that day, when we are supported by such an example, and yet are so slothful and sluggish? Jeremias, mourning for us who have been gifted with such great grace, yet remain so negligently disposed—or rather, are filled with every malice—said: "Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, and I will weep for this people day and night?" I hear also Moses speaking of us: "And Jacob ate, and was filled; and the beloved kicked. He grew fat, he grew thick, he grew wide, and he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his savior." And Michaeas also, mourning and saying: "Woe is my soul, because the godly has perished from the earth, and there is none who cultivates virtue among men. Everyone presses his neighbor with oppression; they prepare their hands for evil." Likewise also the Psalmist, speaking of us: "Save me, O Lord, for the saint has failed; for truths have been diminished from the children of men," and what follows.

52. The Apostle also, mourning us prophetically, ^C said: "There is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have dealt deceitfully. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Destruction and misery ^D

in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known; there is no fear of God before their eyes. For this reason, foreseeing the future, he writes again to Timothy regarding our present wicked conduct: "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, slanderers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors," and the rest. Therefore, woe to us, for we have reached the extremity of evils. For tell me, who among us is devoid of the evils mentioned above? Has not the prophecy been fulfilled in us? Are we not all gluttons? Are we not all lovers of pleasure? Are we not all lovers of matter and lovers of money? Are we not all irascible? Are we not all wrathful? Are we not all resentful? Are we not all traitors to every virtue? Are we not all revilers? Are we not all mockers? Are we not all headstrong? Are we not all haters of the brethren? Are we not all puffed up? Are we not all arrogant? Are we not all proud? Are we not all vainglorious? Are we not all hypocrites? Are we not all deceitful? Are we not all envious? Are we not all insubordinate? Are we not all slothful? Are we not all unstable? Are we not all lazy? Are we not all negligent of the Savior's commandments? Are we not all filled with every kind of malice? Have we not become a temple of idols instead of a temple of God? Have we not become dwellings for wicked spirits instead of a hall for the Holy Spirit? Do we not call upon God the Father performatively? Have we not become children of hell instead of children of God? Have we not become worse than the Jews, we who now carry about the great name of Christ? And let no one be indignant at hearing the truth, since even those lawless ones said, "We have one Father, God"; but they heard from the Savior, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. 383 You are of your father the devil, and of your father [you want to do the desires]."

33. How then, being ourselves transgressors of His commandments, do we not hear the same things from Him? For even the Apostle called those who are led by the Spirit of God sons of God: "For as many," he says, "as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." How then can we, who are led by death, be called sons of God? For "to be carnally minded is death." But those who are led by the Spirit are manifest from the fruits of the Spirit. Let us therefore look at the fruits of the Spirit: "The fruit of the Spirit," he says, "is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Do we have these in ourselves? Would that we did not have the exact opposites! How then can we be called children of God, and not rather the contrary? For that which is born of something

is like the one who begat it. The Lord signifies this as well, saying: "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." But we have become flesh, desiring against the Spirit, and for this reason we justly hear from Him: "My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh." How then can we be called Christians, having nothing of Christ in ourselves?

^B 34. But perhaps someone will say: "I have faith, and faith in Him is sufficient for me for salvation." But James contradicts him, saying that "even the demons believe, and shudder." And again: "Faith without works is dead in itself," just as works are without faith. But in what way do we believe in Him, or put our faith in Him regarding future things, if we do not even believe Him regarding the temporal things and those which concern this life? For this reason, we are entangled by our affection for earthly things, and living according to the flesh, we war against the Spirit. But those who truly believed in Christ, and having fulfilled the commandments, received Him entirely into the bosom of their minds, said surely this: "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Therefore, because they suffered for Him to procure the salvation of all, as His exact imitators and true observers of His commandments, they said: "When we are reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat"; because they heard Him saying: "Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who spitefully use you," and what follows. And from both words and works, Christ, who was operating in them and by whose inspiration they were moved, was clearly manifested. But we, since we oppose all His commandments and behave contrarily, have for this reason become filled with all uncleanness and wickedness. And for this reason, instead of a temple of God, we have become a house of merchandise; and instead of a house of prayer, a den of thieves; instead of a holy nation, a sinful nation; instead of a people of God, a people full of transgressions; instead of a holy seed, a wicked seed; and instead of children of God, children of lawlessness, because we have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and, enslaved to unclean vices and lusts, serve the most wicked spirits and have provoked the Holy One of Israel.

^D 35. For this reason the great Isaiah, lamenting us and at the same time wishing to bring aid to our downfall, cries out, saying: "Why should you be struck again, adding to your iniquity? Every head is in pain, and every heart in sorrow; from the feet even to the head there is no soundness in it; neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering sore. It is not possible to apply a poultice, nor oil, nor bandages." Then what follows thereupon? "The daughter of Zion shall be left like a booth in a vineyard, and like a

^A cucumber-watchman’s hut in a garden, like a besieged city." The Apostle also, manifesting this desolation of our soul, said: "And just as they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a base mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, malice, wickedness, covetousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; secret slanderers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions, so that their bodies might be dishonored among themselves." And what follows upon these things? "The wrath of God," he says, "is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men," and what follows.

36. The Lord also, signifying this desolation of the soul, said: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ^B you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate." And again, Isaiah, seeing us—that is, monks—who perform only bodily duties but look down upon spiritual ones, and who for this reason are puffed up, said: "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and I do not want the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats. For who has required this from your hands? You shall no longer trample my court. If you bring fine flour, it is in vain; incense is an abomination to me. Your new moons and your sabbaths, and the great day, I cannot endure; your fasts and your days of rest and your feasts, my soul hates. You have become a burden to me; I will no longer endure it. When you stretch out your hands to me, I will hide my eyes from you; and even if you multiply your prayer, I will not hear you." For what reason? "For your hands," he says, "are full of blood"; ^C since he who hates his brother is a murderer. Therefore, whatever discipline or religious exercise is not supported by love becomes estranged from God.

37. Therefore, also rebuking our hypocrisy from afar, He said: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain they worship me," and what follows. Indeed, the very things that our Lord spoke in lamentation over the Pharisees, I hear as directed at us, who now fill the ranks of hypocrites; we who, having been deemed worthy of such great grace, conduct ourselves even worse ^D than they.

[...]. Do we also not bind heavy and unbearable burdens and lay them on the shoulders of men, while we ourselves are unwilling to move them with a finger? Do we also not do all our works to be seen by men? Do we also not love the place of honor at feasts and the seats of honor in the synagogues, and to be called "Rabbi, Rabbi" by men? And those who do not grant these things to us, do we not pursue and harass them even unto death? Do we also not take away the key of knowledge, and shut the kingdom of heaven before men, neither entering ourselves nor allowing those who are entering to go in? Do we also not travel by sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, do we not make him two-fold more a son of hell than ourselves? ^B Are we also not blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel? Do we also not clean the outside of the cup and the dish, while that which is within us is full of rapine and iniquity? Or rather, of incontinence and shameful lust? Do we also not tithe mint, rue, and every herb, and overlook judgment and the love of God? Are we also not like hidden tombs, which appear righteous to men on the outside, but inside are full of hypocrisy and iniquity and all uncleanness? Do we also not build the tombs of the martyrs, and adorn the monuments of the apostles, and are we not similar to those who killed them? Who, then, would not weep for us, being so disposed and laboring under such things? Who would not follow our great captivity with tears? Therefore, the glorious sons of God were reckoned as earthen vessels. Therefore, the gold is dimmed, the finest gold is changed. Therefore, we the Nazirites of Sion, who were more splendid than snow, have become like Ethiopians; those who were whiter than milk have been blackened more than ink. Therefore, our appearance has become darker than soot. We who were nourished on scarlet have embraced ^C dung-heaps; and our iniquity has become greater than the iniquity of Sodom. Therefore, we who were sons of the day and of light have become sons of night and darkness. Therefore, we who were sons of the kingdom have become sons of hell. Therefore, we the sons of the Most High are dying as men, and falling as one of the princes. Therefore, we have been delivered into the hands of lawless enemies—I mean the savage demons—and to a king unjust and most wicked beyond all the earth, namely their prince, because we have sinned and acted iniquitously, transgressing the commandments of the Lord our God, and trampling underfoot the Son of God and considering common the blood of the covenant. But do not deliver us completely for the sake of your name, O Lord, and do not break your covenant; and do not remove your mercy from us ^D for the sake of your compassions, O our Father who art in heaven; and for the sake of the bowels of your only-begotten Son, and for the sake of the mercy of the Holy Spirit. Do not remember our ancient iniquities; but let your mercy quickly anticipate us, for we have become poor indeed.

Help us, O God our Savior. For the sake of the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us, and be propitious to our sins for the sake of your name, O Lord, mindful of our first-fruits which your only-begotten Son took from us out of love for mankind, ^A which for our sake he holds in heaven, so that he might grace us with a sure hope of salvation; and lest, through despair, we become worse, because of his precious blood which he shed for the life of the world; for the sake of his holy Apostles and Martyrs, who for his name shed their own blood; for the sake of the holy Prophets and Fathers and Patriarchs, who struggled to please your holy name. Do not despise our supplication, O Lord, nor abandon us unto the end. For we do not trust in our own righteousness, but in your mercy, through which you sustain our race. We beseech and entreat your goodness that the mystery which your only-begotten Son dispensed for our salvation may not turn into judgment against us; and do not cast us away from your face. Do not loathe our unworthiness; but have mercy on us according to your great mercy, and according to the multitude of your compassions, blot out our sins, ^B so that, approaching blamelessly before your holy glory, we may be deemed worthy of the protection of your only-begotten Son, and may not become like evil servants, unworthy slaves of sin, rejected. Yes, O Master, almighty Lord, hear our supplication, for we know none other apart from you. We call upon your name; for you are the one working all things in all, and from you all seek help. Look down, therefore, from heaven, O Lord, and behold from the habitation of your holy glory. Where is your zeal and your strength? Where is the multitude of your mercy and of your compassions, that you have endured our fall? For you are our Father; for Abraham did not know us, and Israel did not acknowledge us; but you, O Lord, are our Father; deliver us, for from the beginning your holy name is upon us, and [that] of your only-begotten Son, and of your Holy Spirit. ^C Why did you make us wander, O Lord, from your way? Do not discipline us with the rod of your judgments. Why did you harden our hearts so as not to fear you? Did you abandon us to the waywardness of error? Turn back, O Lord, to your servants, for the sake of your holy Church, for the sake of all your saints from ages past, that we may possess a little of the inheritance of your holy mountain. Our adversaries have trampled upon your sanctuary; we have become as from the beginning, when you did not rule over us, nor was your name called upon us.

38. If you open heaven, trembling will seize the mountains from you, and they will melt like wax from the face of the fire; and fire will burn up your ^D adversaries; and your name shall be terrible to your adversaries. When you do [these things] ...

^A, tremors will seize the mountains from you. From of old we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God, besides you. And your works, which you will do for those who wait for mercy; for it shall meet those who do justice, and they will remember your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we have sinned. Or rather, we have sinned, and you were angry. Therefore we went astray, and we all became as unclean; all our righteousness is like a menstruous cloth; and we have fallen away like leaves because of our iniquities, and so a wind will carry us away, and there is no one who calls upon your name, and who remembers to take hold of you. You turned your face away from us, and delivered us up because of our sins. And now, O Lord, you are our Father; but we are clay, and all of us are the work of your hands. Do not be very angry with us; and do not remember our sins in time. And now look, for we are all your people; the city of your sanctuary, Sion, has become a desert; Jerusalem has become as a desert. Our holy house has become a curse, and the glory which our fathers blessed has been burned with fire, and all our glorious things have fallen. And in all these things you endured, O Lord, and you kept silence, and you humbled us exceedingly.

39. These things indeed happened in a figure to your ancient people, ^B but now they have been truly fulfilled in us; and we have become a reproach to our neighbors, the demons, a sneering and a mockery to those round about us. But look down from heaven, and see, and save us for the sake of your holy name; and make known to us the stratagems of our adversaries; and deliver us from their snares, and do not take your help away from us, because we are not sufficient to overcome the opposing forces; but you are powerful to save [us] from all [our] adversaries. Save us, O Lord, from the hardships and perils of this world, according to your goodness, so that having passed through the sea of this life with a pure conscience, standing blameless and uncorrupted before your fearful judgment-seat, we may be deemed worthy of eternal life.

40. After hearing all these things, the Brother, being deeply pricked in his conscience ^C, said with tears to the elder, "As I perceive, Father, there is no hope of salvation left for me. For my iniquities have gone over my head; but I beseech you to tell me what you think should be done." The elder answered and said, "The task of attaining salvation is indeed above human strength; but with God all things are possible, as the Lord himself has spoken. Let us therefore come before his face in confession; let us worship and fall down and weep before the Lord who made us, for he himself is our God; and let us listen to him saying through the voice of Isaiah, that 'When you have turned back and groaned, then you shall be saved.' And again: 'Is my hand not powerful...

enough to save? Or has He hardened his ear so as not to hear? But our sins separate us from God, and because of our sins, He has turned His face away from us, so as not to show mercy.' ^A Therefore He says: 'Wash yourselves, become clean; remove the wicked deeds from your souls before my eyes; cease from your wicked ways; learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, judge for the orphan, and justify the widow. And come, and let us reason together, says the Lord; and if your sins be as crimson, I will make them white as snow; and if they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool.' And, 'If you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good things of the earth.' For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. And again through Joel: 'Turn to me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in lamentation; rend your hearts, and not your garments. For the Lord is merciful and compassionate, and relents over evils.' ^B And to Ezekiel: 'Son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have spoken, saying, "Our transgressions and our iniquities are upon us, and we are pining away in them; and how shall we live?" Say to them, As I live, says the Lord, I do not desire the death of the ungodly, so that he may turn from his way and live. Turn away, turn back from your way; and why will you die, O house of Israel?' The third book of Kings, revealing the abundance of God’s goodness, speaks thus: When Achaab heard, while in the vineyard of Nabuthae, the possession of which he had entered upon after he had been put to death by the work of Jezabel, the words of Elias saying: 'Thus says the Lord God: You have killed, and you have taken possession; and in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Nabuthae, there the dogs shall lick your blood; and the dogs shall eat Jezabel in the outwork of Israel.' ^C And when Achaab heard these words, he tore his garments, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and slept in sackcloth. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, saying: 'Have you seen how Achaab has been brought to shame from before my face? I will not bring evil in his days.' And David says: 'I acknowledged my iniquity, and I did not hide my sin. I said, I will confess my iniquity against myself to the Lord, and you forgave the ungodliness of my heart. For this, every holy one shall pray to you in an opportune time; and in the flood of many waters, they shall not approach him.' Furthermore, the Lord in the Gospel says: 'Repent; for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.' And when Peter asked, 'How many times in the day, if my brother sins against me, shall I forgive him? Up to seven times?' ^D He who is by nature good and incomparable in kindness answers him: 'I do not say to you seven times, but up to seventy times seven.' What can be equal to this goodness? What can compare with this philanthropy?

^A Since, therefore, we have explored the fear of the Lord, and His kindness and philanthropy, from both the Old and the New Testament, let us repent with our whole heart; and why, brothers, should we perish? Let us cleanse our hands, you sinners; let us purify our hearts, you double-minded; let us be distressed, and mourn, and weep for our sins. Let us cease from our wickedness; let us trust in the compassions of the Lord; let us fear His threats, let us keep His commandments; let us love one another with our whole heart. Let us speak, our brothers, even to those who hate us and despise us, so that the name of the Lord may be glorified and be seen in His joy. Let us grant forgiveness to one another, being tempted by one another, as we are all attacked by a common enemy. ^B Let us resist our thoughts, calling upon God for our alliance, and let us put to flight those evil and unclean spirits from us. Let us subject the flesh to the spirit, subduing and mortifying it with every strict discipline: let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit. Let us incite one another to a zeal for love and good works. Let us not envy one another, nor, being envied, become savage; but rather let us sympathize with one another, and let us heal one another through humility. Let us not speak evil of one another, nor mock one another, for we are members of one another. Let us cast off from us negligence and sloth; and let us stand bravely against the spirits of wickedness, struggling; and we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, before the Father; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and let us entreat Him with a pure heart and with our whole soul, and He will forgive us our sins; because the Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth. Therefore He says: "Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High. And call upon Me in the day of your tribulation; and I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me." And Isaiah again says: "Loose every bond of iniquity, dissolve the knots of violent contracts, send away those who are broken into forgiveness, and tear up every unjust document. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house. If you see the naked, clothe him; and do not despise those of your own seed. Then your morning light will burst forth, and your healings will quickly arise. And your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of God will encompass you. ^D What more, then? Then you will cry out, and God will hear you; while you are yet speaking, He will say: 'Behold, I am here.' Then your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkness will be as noonday. And God will be with you always; and you will be filled as your soul desires. You see that by this means we loose every bond of iniquity from our heart, and we dissolve every obligation of violent contracts of rancor, and we study to love our neighbor with our whole soul, having bestowed gifts upon him, being illuminated by the light of knowledge.

and freed from the passions of dishonor, and filled with all virtue, and illuminated by the glory of God, and freed from all ignorance; and praying to Christ, we are heard, and we shall have God with us ^A always, and we shall be filled with the desire according to God.

42. Let us therefore love one another, and be loved by God. Let us be patient with one another, and He will be patient with our sins. Let us not render evil for evil, and we shall not receive back according to our sins. For the forgiveness of our trespasses we find in the forgiveness of our brothers. And the mercy of God is hidden in the almsgiving towards our neighbor. For this reason the Lord said: "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you." And, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your trespasses." And again: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." And, "With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again." Behold, the Lord has granted us a way of salvation, and has given us eternal power to become children of God ^B; and thus our salvation depends hereafter upon our own will.

43. Let us therefore give ourselves to the Lord completely, that we may receive Him completely. Let us become gods for His sake; for this is the reason why He who was by nature God and Lord became man. Let us be obedient to Him, and He Himself will unweariedly avenge our enemies: "If my people had heard me," He says, "if Israel had walked in my ways, I would have quickly humbled their enemies, and I would have laid my hand upon those who afflict them." Let us place all our hope on Him alone. And let us cast all our care upon Him alone, and He will rescue us from every affliction; and He Himself will provide for our whole life. Let us love every man from the soul, yet place our hope in no man; for as long as the Lord preserves us, all our friends also cherish and observe us, and all our enemies are powerless against us. But when the Lord abandons us, then even all our friends abandon us, and all our enemies prevail against us. ^C But he who trusts in himself shall fall with a terrible fall; but he who fears the Lord shall be exalted. For this reason David said: "For I will not trust in my bow, and my sword will not save me. For you have saved us from those who afflict us, and you have put to shame those who hate us."

44. Let us not endure those thoughts which diminish our sins and divine that their forgiveness has already occurred. For the Lord, securing us against them, said: "Beware of false prophets, who will come to you in sheep's clothing, [but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.]" For as long as the ^D

they are ravenous wolves.” For as long as our mind is troubled by sin, we have not yet obtained its remission; for we have not yet produced fruits worthy of repentance. The fruit of repentance is the soul’s impassibility; and impassibility is the eradication of sin. We do not yet possess perfect impassibility, as we are at times troubled by the passions, and at other times not troubled. We have not, therefore, perfectly obtained the remission of our sins. For we were delivered from ancestral sin through holy baptism; but from that which is dared after baptism, we are delivered through repentance.

45. Let us therefore repent sincerely, that we may be freed from the passions ^B and obtain the remission of sins. Let us despise passing things, so that by fighting with men for their sake we do not violate the commandment of love and fall away from the love of God. Let us walk in the Spirit, and we shall not perform the desires of the flesh. Let us watch, let us be sober: let us now shake off the sleep of sloth. Let us emulate the holy combatants of the Savior; let us imitate their struggles, forgetting what lies behind and stretching out to what lies before. Let us imitate their ceaseless course, their fervent zeal, the endurance of self-control, the sanctification of chastity, strong patience, the longsuffering of forbearance, the mercy of compassion, the tranquility of meekness, the fervor of zeal, the sincerity of love, the loftiness of humility, the simplicity of poverty, fortitude, kindness, gentleness. Let us not be laid prostrate by pleasures; let us not be softened by thoughts; let us not defile our conscience. Let us pursue peace with all, and holiness, without ^C which no one will see the Lord. To this end, brothers, let us flee from the world and the ruler of the world. Let us abandon the flesh and the things of the flesh. Let us hasten to run into the heavens, where our citizenship awaits us. Let us imitate the divine Apostle; let us lay hold of the Author of life; let us enjoy the spring of life. Let us dance with the angels; with the archangels let us praise our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs glory and power, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

FROM PHOTIUS

I also read the *Ascetic Book* of the same holy Maximus, written in the form of a dialogue between two, one questioning and the other responding. The treatise is truly useful to all, and especially to those who have set their lives toward the cultivation of virtue and its exercises [alt-version omitted].

^A Indeed, it provides many opportunities for the knowledge and practice of Charity. It offers arguments for everything—both for the knowledge that is to be established and for the action that is to be cultivated.

There was also arranged in the same volume another work, expanded into four hundred chapters, which had been dedicated to a certain Elpidius, a man devoted to a holier life. The author himself inscribes the labor *On Charity*, perhaps because he posits this as the beginning to the text, and elsewhere he often discourses upon it. Yet, it contains a sufficient abundance of problems and theorems by which theology is strengthened, and by which one makes the holy life pure, for those who laboriously pursue them to reap the benefit.

The style of his discourse is luminous and polished, more than that of others, and it produces nothing that one, if he were to examine it, could blame—except for this one thing alone: that sometimes it does not sufficiently prefer the Attic vocabulary to the others.

NOTICE

CONCERNING THE CHAPTERS ON CHARITY OF SAINT MAXIMUS

It has been my pleasure to place these hundred chapters before others that Maximus the Confessor has provided in such great store, because they were the first to be published, and can justly be seen to claim a foremost place among others of almost the same kind and arrangement on account of their subject matter, their clarity, and, finally, their universal utility. Not only for that reason, but more principally because the very title and substance of them is charity—the scope toward which the Lord’s Prayer, as also the *Ascetic Book* (which Maximus himself seems to have written to that same Elpidius to whom he inscribed these four hundred chapters), primarily leads.

The subsequent five hundred and two hundred chapters—because more of them are allegorical and have the same style, and often the same words as the *Questions to Thalassius*—could have been seen as being attached to these. However, I preferred to place whatever is written in this genre—by means of maxims, and smaller and miscellaneous chapters—in a single series after the slightly more complete exegetical or parenetic treatises already ascribed to him, of which I do not know if Maximus published many.

Vincentius Obsopoeus first edited them at Hagenau in the year 1531, in both languages, and in a lengthy preface he displayed his ignorance and his great lack of historical knowledge when he made Maximus the author of these chapters to be Maximus, the Bishop of the Church of Turin, whom Gennadius commemorates among illustrious men; concerning whom he says that mention is also made in St. Jerome among ecclesiastical writers. Who would say these are his, if he were to apply a censor’s rod to Maximus himself with confidence, and carry more weight in his works than the pure Word of God, as if warning with religious fear? Indeed, these are the miracles of a heretical spirit and disposition.

They proceed forth of their own accord; namely, as masters of the world and the sole arbiters of the true understanding of the Scriptures. To these men, everything the unity of the entire past ecclesiastical tradition cherished magnificently in the Fathers and in the theologians is subject. What is difficult to those men, and of which they acknowledge they have attained only thin shadows and representations after immense labors and vigils, is, to these new-fangled theologians, clear and open: provided only that they read it with their eyes, instantly all the arcana of the Scriptures lie open; and they believe that the knowledge of common matters and times is thus closed to others, as Obsopoeus asserts—whom to have refuted is nothing other than to have quoted his own words.

After Obsopoeus, Gesner published these Chapters of Maximus, with his version also revised; which the *Bibliotheca Patrum* of Cologne, volume VII, also presents, prefixed also to both interpreters—a censure, indeed, sharper than the former, but not sharp enough itself, especially for the stupidity of Obsopoeus, nor cautious for the reader, as anyone may easily see from the notes provided. Jacobus Billius touched upon very few things, and seems to have run his eyes over them so lightly that he might amend a few things as if by conjecture, without any better codex: which often hinders him, so that even though he is a learned and upright interpreter, he sometimes falls short of the true sense of the authors when judging others, because a sufficiently sound and corrected text is not available to him.

Along with the published ones, there was available to me, besides several Royal codices, a most emended codex of the illustrious Raphael Dufresne, so that the reader can desire nothing regarding the integrity of the text. The version is composed according to my own methods, and ecclesiastically, as far as was permitted, as in the other works of Maximus.

OF OUR HOLY FATHER ABBA MAXIMUS, CHAPTERS ON CHARITY. PROLOGUE TO ELPIDIUS.

^A Behold, alongside my discourse on the Ascetic Life, I have sent to your Honor, Father Elpidius, this discourse on Charity, consisting of a hundred chapters, a number equal to the four Gospels. It is perhaps not worthy of your expectations, but it is certainly not inferior to the capacity of my own intellect. Yet, let your Holiness know that not even these are the offspring of my own mind; rather, having examined and sifted through the books and discourses of the holy Fathers, and having gathered from them the thoughts pertinent to the subject, I have drawn them together to form these chapters, so that they might be easily surveyed and easily remembered; and thus I sent them to your Holiness, beseeching you to read them with a favorable mind, and to seek only the spiritual benefit contained within them. As for the lack of elegance in the language, do not notice it; and pray for my mediocrity, which is empty of all spiritual grace. I also ask this: do not consider what is written here to be an annoyance. For I have merely fulfilled a command. I say this because there are many today who annoy people with words, but very few who teach by their deeds, or who are themselves taught by them. Rather, apply yourself with diligence to every one of the chapters. For not everything, I suspect, is easily understood by everyone; many things require much discussion for the many, even if they appear to be stated quite simply. ^B Perhaps something useful for the soul may be found, revealed therein. And it will certainly appear by the grace of God to one who reads it with simple thoughts and with the fear of God and with charity. As for the man who does not approach it for the sake of spiritual benefit, this work…

^A will yield nothing useful, but will rather expose the critic, who aims to show himself wiser than the author out of empty conceit, as someone who will never find anything of profit from any source whatsoever.

SAINT MAXIMUS. First Century of Chapters on Charity.

1. Charity is a good disposition of the soul, by which one prefers nothing of existing things to the knowledge of God. It is impossible, however, for one who has an attachment to any of the earthly things to attain the habit of this charity.

2. Charity ^B is born of dispassion; dispassion, of hope in God; hope, of patience and long-suffering; these, of self-mastery; self-mastery, of the fear of God; and fear, of faith in the Lord.

3. He who believes in the Lord fears punishment; he who fears punishment keeps himself from the passions; he who keeps himself from the passions bears adversities patiently; he who bears adversities patiently will have hope in God; hope in God separates the mind from every earthly attachment; and when the mind is separated from these, it will possess charity towards God.

4. He who loves God ^C prefers the knowledge of Him to all things created by Him, and through longing, keeps himself unceasingly occupied with it.

5. If all things that exist have come to be through God and for the sake of God, and God is incomparably better than the things which have come to be through Him, he who abandons God, who is incomparably better, and busies himself with inferior things, shows that he prefers the things created through Him to God Himself.

6. He who has his mind fastened upon charity towards God slights all visible things, and even his own body, as something foreign.

7. If the soul is better than the body ^D and God, who created the world, is incomparably better than the world, then he who prefers the body to the soul, and the world created by God to God Himself, differs in no way from those who worship idols.

8. He who has withdrawn his mind from charity towards God and from the presence of God, and has it bound to any of the sensible things, is one who prefers the body to the soul and the things created by God to God the Creator.

9. If the light of knowledge is the life of the mind, and charity towards God brings this forth, it is well said that there is nothing greater than divine charity.

10. When the mind has departed in its longing for the love of God, it then has no perception whatever of itself or of any other things that exist. For, illumined by the divine and infinite light, it remains unaffected by any sense of things created by God, just as the physical eye, when the sun has risen, is affected with regard to the stars.

11. All virtues indeed contribute to the mind’s effort toward divine love, but pure prayer does this most of all. For by means of it, as if carried by the rowing of wings, the mind is borne up to God and transcends all things.

12. When the mind has been caught up by divine knowledge through charity, and, surpassing created things, has perceived the divine infinitude, then it comes, after the manner of the divine Isaiah, into a sense of its own humility out of sheer astonishment, and with deep emotion speaks the words of the prophet: ^A *Woe is me, for I am struck with compunction! For since I am a man and have unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people that has unclean lips; and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of Sabaoth.*

13. He who loves God cannot but also love every man as himself, even if he feels ill-disposed toward the passions of those who are not yet purified. For when he sees them turn and return to a better way of life, he rejoices with an immense joy that cannot be expressed in words.

14. An impure soul is a passionate one; that is, one filled with the ^B base thoughts of cupidity and hatred.

15. He who sees in his own heart any trace of hatred toward any man whatsoever on account of any offense whatsoever, is entirely estranged from charity toward God; for love of God cannot possibly coexist with hatred or animosity taken up against a man.

16. *If you love me*, says the Lord, *you will keep my commandments.* And this, he says, is my commandment, *that you love one another.* Therefore, he who does not love his neighbor does not keep the commandment. And he who does not keep the commandment cannot love the Lord. ^C

17. Blessed is the man who has been able to love all men equally.

18. Blessed is the man who is not attached in his soul to any corruptible or transitory thing.

19. Blessed is the mind that has surpassed all existing things and delights unceasingly in the divine beauty.

20. He who makes provision for the flesh for the sake of desires, and, because of transitory things, harbors animosity against his neighbor ^D

such ^A a one serves the creature more than the Creator.

21. He who keeps his body free from pleasure and disease uses it as a fellow-servant for the ministry of virtue.

22. He who flees all worldly desires makes himself superior to all worldly sorrow.

23. He who loves God also loves his neighbor absolutely. Such a one cannot hoard wealth, but dispenses it in a God-befitting manner, providing for each of those in need.

24. He who practices almsgiving in imitation of God knows no distinction between evil and good, just and unjust, in the necessities of the body; but he distributes to all equally according to their need, even if he prefers the virtuous to the wicked on account of their good intention.

25. Just as God, being by nature good and impassible, loves all men equally as His works, but glorifies the virtuous because they have also made their knowledge their own by their intention; while He pities the wicked because of His goodness, and in this age corrects them so as to turn them back; so too, he who is good and impassible in his intention loves all men equally. The virtuous man he loves both for his nature and for his good intention, while the wicked man he loves for his nature and pities with compassion as one who is senseless and walking in darkness. ^B

26. Not only through the distribution of money is the disposition of love manifested, but much more through the sharing of the word of God and bodily service.

27. He who has sincerely renounced the things of the world and unfeignedly serves his neighbor through love, is quickly liberated from every passion and becomes a partaker of divine love and knowledge.

28. He who has acquired divine love within himself does not grow weary in following after the Lord his God, according to the divine Jeremiah; but he bears every labor, reproof, and insult ^C nobly, reckoning evil to no one at all.

29. When you are insulted by someone, or treated with contempt, then be on your guard against the reasonings of anger, lest they sever you from love through sorrow, and place you in the territory of hatred.

30. When you suffer because of an insult or dishonor, know that you have been greatly benefited; for through that dishonor, your vainglory has been cast out of you in a way consistent with God's ^D economy.

^A 31. Just as the memory of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not produce the illumination of knowledge in the soul.

32. Just as light draws a healthy eye toward itself, so also the knowledge of God naturally draws the pure mind toward itself through love.

33. A pure mind is that which has been separated from the darkness of ignorance and is illuminated by the divine light.

34. A pure soul is that which has been freed from passions and is constantly gladdened by divine love.

35. Affect (that is, perturbation and vice) is a movement of the soul contrary to nature.

36. Apatheia (dispassion) is a peaceful state of the soul, through which the soul becomes sluggish toward vice. ^B

37. He who has diligently acquired the fruits of love does not turn away from it, even if he suffers ten thousand evils. Let Stephen, the disciple of Christ, and those likeminded with him persuade you; and the Savior himself, who prayed to the Father on behalf of those who delivered him to death, and asked for forgiveness from Him for them, as if they were laboring under ignorance.

38. If it is the character of love to be long-suffering and kind, he who rages with anger and acts maliciously is clearly shown to be a stranger to love; and he who is a stranger to love is a stranger to God, since God is love.

39. Do not say, "We are the temple of the Lord," says the divine Jeremiah. And you, do not say, "Naked and sole faith in our Lord Jesus Christ can grant me salvation." For this cannot happen, unless you also acquire love for Him through works. As for simple faith: "Even the demons believe, and tremble."

40. The work of love is well-doing toward one's neighbor from the heart, and long-suffering, and patience, and the use of things with right reason.

41. He who loves God does not grieve, nor does he grieve against anyone on account of temporal things; but there is only one beneficial grief by which he both affects others and is affected, with which the blessed Paul was both grieved and grieved the Corinthians.

42. He who loves God lives an angelic life on earth, fasting, keeping vigils, singing psalms and praying, and always thinking good things about every human being. ^D

43. If a person struggles to obtain that which he desires, and God is better and more desirable than all good and desirable things beyond all comparison, how much diligence must we exert so that we may attain this One who is by nature good and desirable?

44. Do not defile your flesh with shameful deeds, and do not stain your soul with evil thoughts.

and the peace of God will come upon you, bringing love.

45. Afflict your flesh with fasting and wakefulness, and devote yourself unceasingly to psalmody and prayer; and the sanctification of temperance will come upon you, bringing love.

46. ^B He who has been deemed worthy of divine knowledge and has acquired its illumination through love will never be puffed up by the spirit of vainglory. But he who has not yet been deemed worthy of it is easily tossed about by it. If, therefore, such a person, in all that he does, looks toward God, doing everything for His sake, he will easily, with God’s help, escape it.

47. He who has not yet attained divine knowledge, which is energized through love, thinks highly of the things he does according to God. But he who has been deemed worthy to attain it speaks with that same disposition the words of the patriarch Abraham, which he said when he was deemed worthy of the divine appearance: “I am earth and ashes.”

48. He who fears the Lord always has humility as his companion; and through the thoughts it brings, he comes to divine love and thanksgiving. For he remembers his former way of life in the world, the various transgressions, and the temptations that have befallen him from his youth; and how the Lord delivered him from all these and transferred him from a life of passion to a life in accordance with God. And together with fear, he receives love, always giving thanks with great humility to the benefactor and governor of our lives.

49. Do not defile your mind by harboring thoughts of desire and anger, lest, having fallen away from pure prayer, you be seized by the spirit of despondency (acedia).

50. The mind falls from its boldness toward God the moment it becomes ^C familiar with evil or shameful thoughts.

51. The foolish man, driven by the passions, when he is moved by anger and becomes agitated, foolishly hastens to flee from his brothers; but when he is again warmed by desire, he repents and runs back to meet them. But the wise man does the opposite in both cases: for regarding anger, having cut out the causes of the disturbance, he frees himself from sorrow toward his brothers; and regarding desire, he remains self-controlled against its irrational impulse and association.

52. In the time of temptations, do not abandon your monastery, but bear the waves of thoughts bravely, especially those of sorrow and despondency. For thus, wisely, through tribulations [the Lord] works...

through your being tested, and you will attain a firm hope in God. If, however, you abandon [your post], you will be found unapproved, unmanly, and unstable. ^A

53. If you wish not to fall from the love that is according to God, do not let your brother sleep while grieved against you, nor may you sleep while grieved against him; but, "Go, be reconciled to your brother," and coming, offer to Christ the gift of love with a pure conscience, through fervent prayer.

54. If he who possesses all the gifts of the Spirit but does not possess love benefits nothing, according to the divine Apostle, how much diligence must we show to acquire it?

55. If love does not work evil against a neighbor, how is he who envies his brother, and is grieved at his success, and stains his reputation with taunts, or in some malice creates snares for him, not established as an alien to love and liable to eternal judgment? ^B

56. If love is the fulfillment of the law, how is he who harbors resentment against his brother, and devises tricks against him, and prays for evil to befall him, and rejoices at his fall, not a transgressor and worthy of eternal punishment?

57. If he who speaks against a brother and judges a brother speaks against and judges the law; and the law of Christ is love, how does the slanderer not fall from the love of Christ, and in doing so become the author of eternal punishment for himself? ^C

58. Do not lend your hearing to the tongue of the slanderer, nor your tongue to the hearing of the lover of gossip, willingly speaking or hearing evil against a neighbor, lest you fall from divine love and be found an alien to eternal life.

59. Do not entertain abuse against your Father, nor encourage one who dishonors him, lest the Lord be angry at your works and destroy you from the land of the living. ^D

60. Muzzle the one slandering in your presence, so that you do not become guilty of a double sin along with him: both by accustoming yourself to a destructive passion, and by failing to restrain him from prattling against his neighbor.

^A 61. I, however, say to you, the Lord says: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; pray for those who despitefully use you. Why did He command these things? So that He might free you from hatred, and sadness, and anger, and malice; and that He might deem you worthy of the greatest possession, perfect charity, which it is impossible to have unless one loves all men equally, in imitation of God, who loves all men equally and wills for them to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

62. I, however, say to you: do not resist evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also; and to him who wishes to go to law with you and take your tunic, leave him your cloak as well; and whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Why? So that He might keep you free from anger, and disturbance, and sorrow, and that he might instruct the other through your long-suffering, and draw both under the yoke of charity, as one who is good.

^B 63. Concerning whatever matters we have once been affected, we carry around the impassioned images of these things. He, therefore, who conquers impassioned images, also surely despises the things of which these are the images. For the war against the memories of things left in the mind is so much more difficult than the war against the things themselves, as it is easier to sin in the mind and by thought than by the actual deed and work.

64. Of the passions, some are corporeal, others are psychological. The corporeal ones have their origins from the body; the psychological ones arise from external things. Both, however, are cut off by charity and self-control: charity cuts off the psychological ones, and self-control the corporeal ones.

65. Some of the passions, moreover, belong to the irascible part, others to the concupiscible part of the soul. Both are moved by the senses. And they are moved precisely when the soul is found outside of charity and self-control.

^C 66. The passions of the irascible part of the soul are much harder to overcome than those of the concupiscible part. Hence, a greater remedy against it, the commandment of charity, was given by the Lord.

67. All other passions touch either the irascible part of the soul only, or the concupiscible part, or even the rational part, as do forgetfulness and ignorance; but acedia, laying hold of all the powers of the soul, moves almost all the passions simultaneously with one impulse. Therefore, it is the most burdensome of all other passions. He rightly, then, gave the remedy against it, when the Lord says: In your patience, possess your souls.

68. Do not ever strike any of your brethren ^A, especially without consulting them or without some sufficiently just cause; lest perhaps, if he cannot bear the annoyance, he withdraws himself. And see to it that you yourself never escape the reproach of conscience, which, while you are praying, brings upon you constant sorrow and drives your mind away from divine confidence.

69. Do not endure suspicions, or even men, who bring offenses against you ^B or against others. For those who in any way whatsoever accept offenses from events that happen, whether by will or apart from will, do not know the path of peace—the path that leads those who love it, through love, to the knowledge of God.

70. He has not yet attained perfect love who is variously affected by the different dispositions of men. For example, he loves one person and hates another for this or that reason; or even loves and then hates the same person for the same reasons.

71. Perfect charity

72. He who does not scorn glory and dishonor, riches and poverty, pleasure and sorrow and the pain of the soul, has not yet acquired perfect love. For perfect love not only scorns these, but even scorns this temporary life itself and death.

73. Hear what those who have been counted worthy of perfect love say: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” As it is written: “For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” But in all these things we more than conquer, through him who loved us. “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor ^D depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

^B 74. But regarding love toward one's neighbor, hear again what [the Apostle] says: “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit: that I have great sorrow and continual pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites,” and so on. Likewise also Moses, and the rest of the saints, and all the saints.

75. He who does not despise glory and pleasure, and greed, which is the nourisher of these and through which they consist, cannot cut away the pretexts of anger. And he who does not cut these away cannot attain to perfect love.

76. Humility and affliction of the body free man from all sin: the former cuts away the passions of the soul, the latter those of the body. For it is shown that blessed David performed this, when he prayed to God in these words: “Look upon my humility and my labor, and forgive all my sins.”

77. Through the commandments, the Lord renders those who perform them free from passions; but through divine dogmas, He grants them the illumination of knowledge.

78. All dogmas are either about God, or about visible and invisible things, or about the providence and judgment concerning them.

79. Almsgiving heals the irascible part of the soul; fasting withers desire; prayer purifies the mind and prepares it for the contemplation of things that are. For the Lord gave us the commandments according to the faculties of the soul.

80. “Learn from me,” he says, “for I am meek and lowly in heart,” and so on. Meekness, or gentleness, keeps the faculty of anger undisturbed; but humility frees the mind from the pride of arrogance and empty glory.

81. There are two kinds of fear of God: one is brought forth in us by the threat of punishment—through which self-control, patience, hope in God, and detachment—from which love is born—come to us in order; the other is coupled with love itself, always creating reverence in the soul, that it may not, through the boldness of love, fall into contempt for God.

82. Perfect love casts out the first fear from the soul of one who possesses it, for he no longer fears punishment; but it always keeps the second within itself, as has been said, as something coupled to it. And to the first fear applies the saying: “By the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.” And, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear

of the Lord.” To the second, the saying: “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever and ever.” And, “There is no want to those who fear Him.”

85. ^A *Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness*, and what follows. By “earth,” he designated the discernment of the flesh. By “fornication,” he spoke of the sin that is committed in the act itself; by “uncleanness,” the consent of the mind to it; by “passion,” he named the impassioned thought; by “evil desire,” the bare acceptance of the thought of desire; by “covetousness,” he named the material that generates and increases the passion. Therefore, the divine Apostle commanded that all these, as being members of the discernment of the flesh, should be mortified.

84. ^B First, memory brings a simple thought to the mind; if this lingers, passion is stirred; if this is not removed, it bends the mind toward consent; once this has happened, it proceeds to the sin that is committed in the act and deed itself. Therefore the most wise Apostle, writing to the Gentiles, commands that the effect of sin be removed first; then, by retracing the steps in order, he commands ultimately arriving at the cause. The cause is that which generates and increases the passion, as has been said before—covetousness (whether you call it greed or the appetite for having more). However, I believe that by this word here, gluttony is signified, as existing as the mother and nurse of fornication. For covetousness, ^C and greed thus defined as exceeding the just measure, is evil not only regarding money, but also regarding food. Just as temperance or abstinence and sobriety are good and praiseworthy not only regarding food but also regarding money.

85. Just as a sparrow that has begun to fly while its foot is tied is dragged down to the earth by a string, so too the mind, not yet having obtained freedom from passions and being free from affections, while flying toward the knowledge of heavenly things, is dragged down to the earth by the passions that weigh it down.

86. When the mind has been completely liberated from the passions, it then proceeds ^D irrevocably toward the contemplation of beings, making its journey toward the knowledge of the Holy Trinity.

87. Being pure, the mind, receiving the concepts of things, is moved toward their spiritual contemplation; but when it has become unclean through sloth, it forms bare concepts of the remaining things; yet, while handling human affairs, it repeatedly turns itself into shameful or evil thoughts.

^A 88. When, during the time of prayer, no thoughts of the world disturb the mind, then know that you are not outside the borders of dispassion.

89. When the soul begins to perceive its own health, then it also begins to see the visions in its dreams as bare and free from disturbance.

90. Just as the beauty of visible things attracts the physical eye, so the knowledge of invisible things attracts the pure mind to itself. By invisible, I mean the spirits, that is, those that are incorporeal.

91. It is a great thing not to be affected by things, but it is far greater to remain dispassionate toward their images. For the war that the demons wage against us through conceptualizations ^B is more grievous than the war waged through the things themselves.

92. He who has attained the virtues and, through knowledge, has become so rich that he can look upon things according to their nature, both acts and speaks in all matters according to right reason, without being misled in any way. For it is by whether we use things reasonably or unreasonably that we become either virtuous or wicked.

93. A sign of extreme dispassion is that bare concepts of things always rise up in the heart, both when the body is awake and during sleep.

94. By the practice of the commandments, the mind strips itself of passions; by the spiritual contemplation of visible things, it strips itself of the passionate concepts of things; by the knowledge of invisible things, ^C it strips itself of the contemplation of visible things; and finally, by the knowledge of the Holy Trinity, it [strips itself also of the knowledge of invisible things].

95. Just as the sun, rising and illuminating the world, reveals both itself and the things illuminated by it; so too the Sun of Justice, rising upon the pure mind, reveals both Himself and the essences of all things that have been or will be created by Him.

96. We do not know God from His essence, but from the magnitude of His works and His providence over existing things. For through these, as if through mirrors, we perceive His infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.

97. The pure mind is found either in the bare ^D thoughts and concepts of human affairs, or in the natural contemplation of visible or invisible things, or finally, it dwells in the light of the Holy Trinity.

98. When the mind is engaged in the contemplation of visible things, it either investigates their natural essences, or what is signified by them, or it seeks out their very Cause.

99. When it is engaged in the contemplation of invisible things, it seeks their natural essences, the cause of their creation, and the things that follow from these. And what providence and judgment exist concerning the spirits.

100. When it has entered into God, it [seeks] concerning the essence...

burning with desire, seeks the reasons of His essence ^A, yet he does not find them in that which He is—for the satisfaction of his desire—(for this is impossible, and excluded for every created nature alike); but he finds solace in those things that are around Him—I mean, those concerning His eternity, His infinity, and His indefiniteness; concerning His goodness, His wisdom, and His power, which is creative, providential, and judicial over all beings. And this is the only thing concerning Him that is wholly comprehensible: His infinity, and even this: to know nothing, and to know what is above the mind, as the theologians, Gregory and Dionysius, have somewhere said.

BY THE SAME

Second Century on Love

1. He who truly loves God, this man also prays ^B in every way without distraction; and he who prays in every way without distraction, this man truly loves God. But he does not pray without distraction, whoever has his mind fixed upon any of the earthly things; therefore, he does not love God, whoever has his mind bound to any earthly things.

2. The mind lingering upon a sensible object necessarily has a passion toward it, such as desire, or grief, or anger, or malice; and unless it scorns that object, it cannot be freed from that passion.

3. The passions of the mind, having gained the upper hand, bind it to material things and make it act in them, ^C distancing it from God. But the love of God, once it has prevailed, loosens it from these bonds, persuading us to despise not only those things which we perceive by the senses, but also this passing life of ours.

4. The work of the commandments is to make the thoughts of things simple; but the work of reading and contemplation is to render the mind immaterial and formless. ^D

^A

5. The way of active practice is not enough to free the mind perfectly from the passions, so that it might be able to pray without distraction, unless diverse spiritual contemplations also follow. For practice frees the mind only from incontinence and hatred, while contemplations free it from forgetfulness and ignorance; being set free and delivered from these, one will be able to pray as is required. ^B

6. There are two supreme states of pure prayer: one appropriate for those in the active life, the other for those who study contemplation. The first comes to the soul from the fear of God and good hope; the second is brought forth by love of God and utmost purity. The marks of the first method are: to collect the mind from all worldly thoughts and, as though God is present to it (as He truly is), to pray without distraction and without the agitation of any interfering wandering thoughts. The marks of the second are: to have the mind caught up during the very impulse of prayer by the divine and infinite light, and to have no perception at all of oneself or of any other beings, but only of Him who through love works such illumination within it. Then, even when moved during reflections regarding God, it receives clear and distinct representations of Him. ^C

7. He who loves, also clings firmly to that which he loves; and he scorns all things that hinder him in this, so that he may not be deprived of it. Thus, he who loves God is diligent in pure prayer, and casts out from himself every passion that hinders him in this.

8. He who has cast away self-love, the mother of the passions, easily lays aside the rest as well, with God’s help: for instance, anger, sadness, resentment, and the things that follow. But he who is overcome by the former is, whether he likes it or not, wounded by the latter. Self-love is the passion of attachment to the body. ^D

9. For these five reasons men love one another, whether praiseworthy or blameworthy. For instance: either for the sake of God, as the virtuous man loves all, and as he loves the virtuous man even if he is not yet virtuous himself; or by nature, as parents love children, and vice versa; or because of vainglory, as when the person being praised loves the one who praises him; or because of avarice, as when one loves a rich man for the sake of receiving gifts; or because of love of pleasure, such as one who indulges the belly and what is below the belly. And the first is praiseworthy, the second is intermediate, and the remaining ones are passionate.

10. If you hate some people, and do not even love or hate others, but love some with moderation, and love still others very intensely, then from this inequality

and from the partiality of your disposition, know that you are far from perfect charity, which teaches you to love all men equally.

11. ^A Decline from evil, and do good. That is to say: Fight against your enemies, so that you may diminish the passions; then stay sober, so that they may not increase. And again: Fight, so that you may acquire the virtues; and then stay sober, so that you may preserve them. And this is what it means to work and to keep.

12. ^B Those who tempt us by the permission of God, either inflame the concupiscible part of the soul, or trouble its irascible part, or darken the rational part, or afflict the body with pains, or plunder our worldly goods.

13. ^C Demons tempt us either by themselves, or by arming against us those who do not fear the Lord. By themselves, when we live apart and separated from the company of men, just as they did with the Lord in the desert; but through men, when we live in the company of others, just as they did with the Lord through the Pharisees. But let us, keeping our Exemplar before our eyes, repel them on both counts.

14. When the mind begins to progress in the love of God, then the demon of blasphemy begins to tempt it; and he suggests to it such thoughts as no man, but only the devil, the father and fabricator of them, could ever invent. He does this because he is envious of the one who loves God, so that, brought to despair by having thought such things, the person may no longer dare to fly to God through his accustomed prayer. But the wretched one gains nothing from this for his own purpose; rather, he makes us all the more steadfast. For when we are provoked by the battle, and we ourselves join the battle and struggle back, we are found to be more proven and more genuine in the love of God. May his sword enter into his own heart, and may his bows be broken.

15. ^D The mind, applying itself to visible things, naturally perceives reality through the medium of the senses. And neither is the mind evil, nor is natural perception evil, nor are the objects themselves, nor the sense of perception; for these are the works of God. What, then, is evil? Clearly, it is the passion of the natural thought, which can be avoided in the use of thoughts, if the mind remains vigilant.

16. Passion is a movement of the soul contrary to nature.

or toward irrational love, or toward hatred without judgment, whether for some thing, or because of something falling into the senses. For example, regarding irrational love: of foods, or a woman, or money, or passing glory, or anything else of the sensible world, or because of these. And regarding hatred without judgment: for example, toward any of the things mentioned above, as has been said, or toward someone because of these.

17. ^B Again, vice is a mistaken judgment of thoughts, which is followed by the abuse of things. For example, in the case of a woman, the right judgment of intercourse is the purpose of procreation. He, therefore, who looks toward pleasure has been mistaken in his judgment, having esteemed the evil as good. Such a person, therefore, abuses sexual intercourse. And likewise concerning other things and thoughts.

18. When ^C the demons, having cast your mind out from temperance, surround you with thoughts of fornication, then with tears say to the Master: Surrounded me, they have now encompassed me; deliver me, O my Exultation, from those who surround me; and you shall be saved.

19. Heavy is the demon of fornication, and he attacks violently those who struggle against the passion; and most especially when there is carelessness in diet, and in encounters with women. For, secretly stealing the mind with the smoothness of pleasure, he afterward attacks it through memory while it is at rest, inflaming the body and presenting varied forms to the mind. Therefore, he also calls it to the consent of sin; so if you do not wish it to linger within you, take up fasting, and labor, and vigil, and holy stillness along with fervent prayer.

20. ^D Those who are always seeking our soul, seek it through passionate thoughts, that they may cast it into sin in the mind, or by action. When, therefore, they find the mind not accepting them, they will be ashamed and abashed; but when they find it occupied in spiritual contemplation, then they will turn and be ashamed very quickly.

21. He holds the place of a deacon who anoints the mind for sacred struggles and drives the passionate thoughts away from it; but he holds the place of a presbyter who enlightens it with the knowledge of things that are, and who proscribes the knowledge falsely so-called.

SECOND CENTURY OF CHAPTERS ON CHARITY

and as a bishop (episcopus), the one who perfects with the holy ointment of the knowledge of the adorable and holy Trinity.

22. The demons are weakened when the passions within us are diminished by the keeping of the commandments; but they perish when, through the soul’s impassibility, they are utterly destroyed, no longer finding the things by which they once found a foothold in it and waged war against it. And this might be that which is said: "They shall be weakened, and shall perish from thy countenance."

23. Some men abstain from the passions because of human fear; others because of vainglory; others again for the sake of continence; and others are freed from the passions by the terror of divine judgments.

24. All the words of the Lord contain these four things: the commandments, the dogmas, the threats, and the promises. We endure every hardship of a rigorous life because of these; for example, fasts, vigils, sleeping on the ground, labors and toils in service, insults, dishonors, tortures, deaths, and the like. For, as it is written: "Because of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways."

25. The reward of continence is impassibility; that of faith is knowledge. Impassibility begets discernment, while knowledge begets love for God.

26. When the mind practices the active life, it progresses toward prudence; but when it practices contemplation, it progresses toward knowledge. For it is the task of the former to bring the one who is struggling to the discernment of virtue and vice; the task of the latter, however, to lead the one who participates in it to the reasons for spirits and bodies. A man is deemed worthy of theological grace only when, having overcome all the things previously mentioned through the wings of love, and having become in God, he contemplates the discourse concerning Him through the Spirit, so far as it is possible for a human mind to do so.

27. When you are about to theologize, do not seek the reasons concerning Him—for no human mind can ever investigate them, nor can any other mind of those things that are secondary to God—but observe, as far as it is possible, the things that are around Him: for instance, those concerning eternity, infinity, and immensity, as well as goodness, wisdom, and power, by which He created all things, provides for them, and governs them with judgment. For he is a great theologian among mortals who has discovered the reasons for these, at least to some small extent.

28. That man is powerful who has yoked knowledge to action. For through the former, he mortifies desire and calms anger; through the latter, he gives wings to his mind and departs toward God.

29. When the Lord says: "I and the Father are one," He signifies the sameness of essence. But when He says again: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me,"

^A He manifests the indivisible conjunction of the persons. Therefore, the Tritheites, who separate the Son from the Father, fall into a precipice on both sides. For either, while teaching that the Son is coeternal with the Father, yet separating Him from Him, they are compelled to say that He was not born from Him, and thus end up saying there are three Gods and three principles; or, while stating that He was born from Him, yet separating Him, they are compelled to say that He is not coeternal with the Father, and to subject the Author of the ages to time. For it is necessary that we maintain the one God, and confess the three persons, as is the opinion of the great Gregory, and each one with its own property. For, as he thinks, "they are divided, but indivisibly; and they are connected, but discretely; so that the discretion may be new, and the union also." Otherwise, what is there new and unusual in the fact that the Son is thus united to the Father and separated from Him, just as man is united to man and separated from him, and nothing more? ^B

30. He who is perfect in love, and has arrived at the summit of passionlessness, does not know the distinction between one's own and another's, or of one's own property and another's, or of believer and unbeliever, or of slave and free, or in general of male and female; but having become superior to the tyranny of the passions, and looking to the one nature of men, he views all equally, and is disposed equally toward all. For there is in him neither Greek nor Jew, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free; but Christ is all and in all.

31. From the passions subject to the soul, ^C the demons take the opportunities to stir up in us lascivious thoughts. Then, through these, warring against the mind, they force it to come to the consent of sin. But when it has been overcome, they lead it to the sin that is in the thought. And when this has been accomplished, they finally lead it as a captive into the act. But after this, those who have desolated the soul through the thoughts depart with them. There remains in the mind only the empty idol of sin, concerning which the Lord says: "When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, let him who reads understand"; ^D for the holy place and temple of God is the mind of man, in which the demons, having desolated the soul through lascivious thoughts, have set up the idol of sin. That these things have already occurred historically, no one, I believe, who has read the books written by Josephus, doubts. There are some, however, who say that these same things will occur again at the time of the Antichrist.

32. There are three things that move us toward good: natural seeds, the holy Powers, and the good will. And the natural seeds, as when...

we wish that men should do unto us, ^A and we likewise do unto them; or as when we see someone in distress or necessity, and naturally, by instinct, we take pity on him. The holy Powers, as when we are moved toward a good deed, and we find good cooperation and succeed. And the good will, as when, discerning the good from the evil, we choose that which is good.

33. There are again three things that move us toward evil: the passions, the demons, and the evil will. And the passions, as when we desire a thing contrary to reason; for example, food past the opportune time or beyond necessity, or a woman for a purpose other than the procreation of children, or one who is not a lawful spouse. And again, when we become angry or sad beyond what is fitting; for example, against someone who has insulted or injured us. The demons, as when, during our negligence, they watch for an opportunity and suddenly attack us with great violence, ^B inciting the aforementioned passions and the like. And the evil will, as when, knowing what is honest and dutiful, we choose the evil instead.

34. The rewards for the labors of virtue are dispassion and knowledge. For these become providers of the kingdom of heaven; just as the passions and ignorance become providers of eternal punishment. Therefore, he who seeks these for the sake of human glory, and not for the sake of the good itself, hears from Scripture: Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss.

35. There are many things that are naturally good when done by men, but are not good again for a certain reason; for example, fasting and vigil, prayer and psalmody, almsgiving and hospitality are by nature good works; but when they are done for [the sake of] vainglory, they are no longer good. ^C

36. God seeks the purpose of all things that are done by us, whether we do them for His sake or for another reason.

37. When you hear from Scripture: For thou wilt render to every man according to his works; take care not to understand it in such a way that God rewards as good those things done without a right purpose, even if they seem good and honest; but rather, surely, those things which are done with a right purpose. For the judgment of God does not attend to the things that are done, but to their end and purpose.

38. The demon of pride has a twofold wickedness: for he persuades the monk to ascribe the successes to himself, and not to God, who is both the bestower of good things and a helper in performing the works of virtue; or, ^D if he does not obey [him], he suggests that he should despise those of the brothers who are still less perfect. But he is ignorant that

^A he is being worked upon, in that he allows himself to be persuaded to deny the help of God. For if he despises them as having been unable to accomplish [the works of virtue], he clearly implies that he himself accomplished them by his own power. This is impossible, as the Lord says: "Without me you can do nothing." For our infirmity, when moved toward good things, cannot lead them to an end without the Provider of good things.

39. He who has come to know the infirmity of human nature has received a test of divine power; and such a one, having accomplished some things through it, and hurrying to accomplish others, never despises any man. ^B For he knows that, just as God helped him and freed him from many grave passions and vices, so He is also able to help all when He wills, and especially those who are struggling for His sake; even if, by certain judgments, He does not free everyone without exception from their passions—but at the proper times, as a kind and humane physician, He heals each of those who are striving.

40. Upon the inactivity of the passions, pride supervenes, whether from latent causes or from demons withdrawing craftily.

41. Almost every sin is committed for the sake of pleasure; and its destruction comes about through hard labor and sorrow, through the imposition of the law—brought about by providence. For "if we judged ourselves," he says, "we would not be judged; but when we are judged, ^C by the Lord we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the world."

^B 42. When a temptation comes upon you unexpectedly, do not accuse the one through whom it comes, but seek the reason why it has come, and you will find correction. For whether through him or through another, you had to drink the wormwood of God’s judgments.

43. Insofar as you are perverse, do not refuse to be afflicted in the flesh, so that, humbled by its labors, you may cast out the pride of arrogance.

44. Some temptations bring pleasures, others sorrows, others bodily pains upon men. For according to the cause of the passions inherent in the soul, the physician of souls applies medicine through His judgments.

45. The onsets of temptations are brought upon some for the purging of sins already committed; upon others, for those they are currently committing; and upon others, to prevent those they are about to commit; apart from those trials that happen for the sake of probation, as in the case of Job.

46. The sensible man, considering the healing of divine judgments, bears with a tranquil mind the misfortunes that come upon him through them, reckoning no one else the author of these things than his own sins. But the foolish and senseless man, ignorant of the most wise providence of God, while he sins and is disciplined, refers the cause of his evils either to God ^C or to men.

47. There are some things that restrain the movement of the passions and do not allow them to increase; and there are others that diminish them and lead them to decrease. For example, fasting, labor, and vigils do not allow desire to increase; but solitude, contemplation, prayer, and love for God diminish it and cause it to vanish. Likewise also regarding anger; for example, long-suffering, forgetfulness of injuries, and gentleness hold it steady and do not allow it to increase; but charity, almsgiving, kindness, and sweetness of character and humanity lead it to decrease.

48. Whoever has his mind always toward God, his desire also has grown into divine love; and his anger has been transformed entirely into divine charity. For through the long-continued commerce of divine love, having become wholly luminous, and binding more tightly to himself his own passible part, he converts it into the divine, incessant, ^D as it is said, and never-ending charity, bringing it over entirely from earthly things to the divine.

49. He who is not envious, not angry, and does not remember wrongs against the one who has offended him, does not necessarily already have love for him. For it is possible for one not yet loving...

^A to not reward evil with evil, because such is the commandment; but not yet, in all respects, to reward evil with good. For to do good from the heart to those who hate us belongs only to perfect spiritual charity.

50. He who does not love someone does not necessarily already hate him; and conversely, he who does not hate, does not necessarily already love; but he can be in a middle state toward him, that is, so disposed in his heart as neither to love nor to hate. For five manners of the affection of love, which I have recounted in the ninth chapter of this hundred, are naturally productive of those that are praiseworthy, those that are of the middle state, and those that are blameworthy.

51. When you see your mind ^B gladly absorbed in material things and dwelling on their notions, know that you love these more than God. "Where your treasure is," says the Lord, "there will also be your heart."

52. The mind, being joined to God and remaining with Him through prayer and love, becomes wise, good, powerful, philanthropic, merciful, and patient; and to speak simply, it bears within itself almost all divine attributes. But when it departs from this, and attaches itself to material things, it becomes either bestial, having become a lover of pleasure, or savage, and for this reason, it wages war and strife with men.

53. Scripture calls material things the world; and those who ^C occupy their mind in these are worldly, to whom it also says more sternly: "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. The concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, are not of God, but are of the world," and what follows.

54. A monk is he who has abstracted his mind from material things, and who through continence, love, psalmody, and prayer is assiduous toward God.

55. He is a shepherd of cattle in an intellectual sense who is practical; for moral virtues hold the status of cattle; therefore Jacob said: "Men who are ^D shepherds of cattle are your servants." A shepherd of sheep, however, is one who is contemplative. For thoughts hold the status of sheep, which are pastured by the mind on the mountains of contemplations. Therefore it is also said: "Every shepherd of sheep is an abomination to the Egyptians," that is, to the adverse powers.

56. The bad mind, as the body is moved through the senses toward its own desires and pleasures, follows along and assents to its mental images and impulses; but the virtuous one restrains himself and holds himself back from passionate mental images and impulses, and instead philosophizes, striving to compose such movements of his toward a better fruit.

^A(57) Of the virtues, some are bodily, others are soulful. Bodily ones are, for example, fasting, vigils, sleeping on the ground, service, manual labor so as not to be a burden to anyone or in order to give to others, and so on. Soulful ones are, for example, love, long-suffering, meekness, self-restraint, prayer, and so on. If, then, due to some necessity or bodily circumstance—such as illness or something of that kind—it happens that we are unable to perform the aforementioned bodily virtues, we have forgiveness from the Lord, who also judges the causes. But if we do not perform the soulful ones, we shall have no excuse; for they are not subject to necessity.

^B(58) Love toward God persuades the one who possesses it to despise every passing pleasure and every toil and grief. Let all the saints, who have suffered so much for Christ, be your witnesses.

(59) Watch yourself against the mother of evils, self-love, which is the irrational love of the body. For from this, in a seemingly plausible way, are born the first and most passionate and most general three frenzied thoughts: those of gluttony, I say, and avarice and vainglory, which take their pretexts from the supposedly necessary needs of the body; from these is born the entire catalog of evils. One must therefore, as has been said, watch out necessarily and fight against this with great sobriety. For if this is removed, all the evils that arise from it are necessarily removed as well.

^C(60) The passion of self-love suggests to the monk that he should be merciful to his body and exceed what is proper in his meals, under the pretext of economy and stewardship, so that, by being drawn in little by little, he may fall into the pit of self-indulgence. As for the worldly man, it forthwith persuades him to provide for the flesh in its desires.

(61) They say that the highest state of prayer is for the mind to become outside the flesh and the world, and to be entirely immaterial and without form while praying. Whoever, therefore, keeps this state unharmed is the one who truly prays without ceasing.

^D(62) Just as the body, when dying, withdraws from all the affairs and businesses of life, so too the mind, in the state of sublime prayer, dying, withdraws from all the thoughts of the world. For if it does not…

^A die as to this kind of death, it cannot be with God and live. [65.] Let no one deceive you, monk, that it is possible for you to attain salvation while enslaved to pleasure and vainglory. [64.] Just as the body sins through physical things, and has for its discipline the virtues that pertain to the body, so that it may be chastened: so too the mind, through the incursion of passionate thoughts, has likewise ^B for its discipline the virtues of the soul, by which, beholding things cleanly and impassively, it is composed in sober fruitfulness. [65.] Just as nights succeed days, and winters summers: so to vainglory and pleasure follow sadness and pain, whether in the present life or in the future. [66.] It is not possible for one who has sinned to escape the judgment to come, without voluntary labors undertaken here, or evils brought upon one which one bears patiently. [67.] They say there are five reasons why we are permitted to be attacked by demons. The first, they say, is so that, being attacked and struggling in return, we may acquire the discernment of virtue and vice. The second, so that through war and labor we may keep the virtue we have gained firm and unshakable. The third, ^C so that, progressing in virtue, we may not be high-minded, but learn to be humble. The fourth, so that, having had experience of vice, we may hate it with a perfect hatred. The fifth and final reason, so that, having attained the tranquility of an untroubled soul, we may not forget our own weakness, nor become unmindful of the power of Him who has been our helper. [68.] Just as the mind of a hungry man imagines bread, and of a thirsty man water, so too the mind of a glutton imagines a variety of dishes; the lover of pleasure, the forms of women; the vainglorious, the honors and praises of men; the avaricious, gains; the resentful, the vengeance of the one who offended him; the envious, the misfortune of the one envied; and likewise for the remaining passions. For the mind, burdened by these and dulled by them, assumes passionate thoughts, whether the body is awake or in sleep. [69.] ^D Once concupiscence is increased, the mind in sleep forms those things which create pleasure and desire. When anger is increased, it sees terrifying things. Yet the passions and perturbations are increased as impure demons, taking advantage of our own negligence, seize upon and incite them. But the holy angels diminish them, moving us to perform the works of virtue. [70.] The concupiscible power of the soul, when more frequently irritated, puts a difficult-to-move habit of pleasure into the soul; while anger, being perpetually agitated, renders the mind fearful and cowardly. They are healed and treated—the former by fasts, vigils,

and constant exercise of prayer; the latter, by kindness, benevolence, love, and mercy. ^A

71. Demons wage war either through things or through the passionate thoughts about things. Through things, they war against those who are still involved in affairs; through thoughts, against those who have withdrawn themselves from these things.

72. By as much as it is easier to sin in the mind and in thought than by the act and operation itself, by so much is the war [waged] through thoughts heavier than that [waged] through things and affairs.

73. Things themselves are outside the mind; but the thoughts of these things consist within. It is therefore in its power to use them either well or ill. For the misuse of things follows from the erroneous use of thoughts.

74. By these three things the mind receives passionate thoughts: by sense, by temperament, and by memory. By sense, when things are presented to it for which we feel a passion, they stir it toward passionate thoughts. By temperament, when—whether through a dissolute way of life, or the operation of demons, or some illness—the body’s temperament is altered and changed, it stirs [the mind] again toward passionate thoughts, or even [to speak] against Providence. By memory, when the memory brings back thoughts of the things for which we have some passion, it similarly stirs it toward passionate thoughts. ^B

75. Of the things given to us by God for use, some are in the soul, some in the body, and some are found around the body. For instance, in the soul, its faculties; in the body, the sensory organs and the remaining members; around the body, food, possessions, wealth, and such like. Thus, using these well or ill, or [using well or ill] those things that happen to these, makes us either virtuous or base. ^C

76. Of the things that happen in affairs, some belong to those in the soul, some to those in the body, and some to the things around the body. And of those in the soul, for instance: knowledge and ignorance, forgetfulness and memory, love and hatred, fear and boldness, grief and joy, and such like. Of those in the body, for instance: pleasure and pain, perception and privation, health and sickness, life and death, and suchlike. Of those around the body, for instance: skill and lack of skill, wealth and poverty, glory and ignominy, and the rest. Of these, some are considered by men as good, some as evil, though nothing in them is evil in the proper sense of their own reason. ^D

^A

77. Knowledge is good by nature; likewise also health. But for many, their opposites have been more profitable than these. For to the wicked, knowledge does not result in any good, even though by nature, as has been said, it is good; and likewise neither health, nor wealth, nor joy. For they do not use them properly, so that they might be useful to them; therefore, their opposites are profitable. Thus, it follows that those things are not evil in their own proper definition, even if they seem to be evil.

78. ^B Do not misuse your thoughts, so that you might not of necessity misuse things as well. For if one does not first sin in the mind, one will never sin in deed and in action.

79. The image of the earthly are the general vices; such as, foolishness, cowardice, intemperance, injustice. But the image of the heavenly are the general virtues; such as, prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice. "But just as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly."

80. If you wish to find the way that leads to life, seek it in the Way, and there you will find it, in Him who says: "I am the way, and the life, and the truth." However, seek with great effort, because few are they who find it; and take care lest, being excluded from that small number, you be found among the many.

81. ^C For these five reasons the soul is restrained from sins: either through the fear of men, or through the fear of judgment, or through the hope of future reward, or through the love of God, or finally through the pricking of conscience.

82. There are some who say that evil would not exist in things, if there were not some other power pulling us toward it by a contrary impulse. But this is nothing other than the neglect of the natural operations of the soul's powers. Therefore, those who take care of these things always do what is good, and never what is evil. If you wish, then, you too should cast off negligence, and you will have expelled vice and malice—that is to say, the erroneous use of the mind's thoughts, to which the abuse of things ^D immediately follows as a companion.

83. It is according to the nature of the rational part within us that it be subject to the divine Word, and that it rule over the irrational part within us. Let this order, therefore, be preserved in all things, and neither will evil be in things, nor will anything be found that pulls us toward it.

84. Some of the thoughts are simple, others are composite. And those are simple which are without passion; while those are composite which are passionate, being composed of both passion and a thought. Since matters stand thus, it is possible to see many of the simple ones following the composite ones, when they begin to be moved toward sinning in the mind. For instance, as in the case of gold: a passionate thought concerning gold entered into the memory of someone; and he rushed with

^A a desire to steal, and he consummated the sin in his mind. Along with the memory of the gold, the memories of the purse, the small container, and the vault [(e)], and so forth, followed as well. And the memory of the gold was composite, since it carried the passion; but the memory of the purse, the small container, and the rest, was simple. For the intellect did not have a passion toward them. And it is the same with every thought: regarding vainglory, a woman, and the rest. For it was shown by our discourse that not all the thoughts that follow a passionate thought are themselves passionate. From these things, therefore, we can know which are the passionate thoughts and which are the simple ones. ^B 85. Some say that the demons, by touching the parts of the body during sleep, stir up the passion of lust; then, the passion being stirred, it brings the form of a woman to the mind through the memory. Others say that they appear to the intellect in the form of a woman and, by touching the parts of the body, stir the desire, and thus the fantasies come about. Others, again, say that the passion prevailing in the demon who is drawing near stirs that passion; and thus the soul is kindled toward thoughts, through the memory bringing the forms forward. And regarding other passionate fantasies as well, some say they happen in this way, others in that. But in none of the mentioned ways can the demons stir any passion or perturbation ^C if love and self-control are present to the soul, whether the body is awake or weighed down by that sleep. 86. Some of the commandments of the Law must be kept both bodily and spiritually; others, however, simply spiritually. For example, such things as: *Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal*, and the like, must be kept both bodily and spiritually. And they are to be kept spiritually in a triple way. But to be circumcised, to keep the Sabbath, to sacrifice the lamb, and to eat unleavened bread upon bitter herbs [(d)], and the like, must be kept only spiritually.

CENTURY II OF THE CHAPTERS ON CHARITY

^A 87. There are three more general moral states among monks. The first is to commit no sin in act or deed; the second is not to allow libidinous and affected thoughts to linger in the mind; the third is to behold the very forms of women, and of those who have injured us, with the mind free from all lust and perturbation.

88. He is poor who has renounced all that he possesses, and possesses nothing at all on earth except his body; and having broken even his attachment to that, he has entrusted the disposition and care of his own life to God and to pious men.

89. Of those who have possessions, some possess them without attachment or lust, and therefore they do not grieve when they are deprived of them; just as those who gladly accepted the plundering of their goods. Others, however, possess them with attachment and lust, and therefore, when they are about to be deprived of them, they become very sorrowful, like the rich man in the Gospel: *He went away sorrowful* (Matth. xix, 22). And if they are indeed deprived of them, they grieve unto death. Thus, deprivation tests and examines the state of the passionless and of the passionate man.

^B 90. The demons fight against those who pursue the highest and most pure kind of prayer, that they may not receive raw and simple rational concepts and perceptions of sensible things into the mind; they fight against those who study science and contemplation, that libidinous and affected thoughts may linger in them; and finally, they fight against those who struggle in action, so that they may persuade them to sin in act and deed. In every way, the wicked ones contend and struggle against all, that they may separate men from God.

^C 91. Those who are exercised in piety during this mortal life are tested by this triple temptation. Namely, that either they are given things that are sweet, such as health, beauty, noble and ample offspring,

riches, glory, and the like: either through the introduction of painful things, such as the loss of children, wealth, and glory; or through those things that cause pain to the body, such as illnesses, tortures, and the like. ^A And to the former, the Lord says: *If any man does not renounce all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple.* And to those who are of the second and third order: *In your patience possess your souls.*

92. They say that these four things change the temperament of the body and provide thoughts to the mind, whether they be passionate or dispassionate: namely, angels, demons, the temperament of the air, and the regimen of diet. ^B Indeed, they say that angels change through discourse, demons through touch or contact, the temperament of the air by the various mutations it undergoes, and the regimen of diet by the qualities of foods and drinks and by their abundance or scarcity; beyond those changes which happen to it from memory, and from things seen and heard, so that the mind is first affected by the painful or joyous things that befall it. And from these the soul, being affected, changes the temperament of the body; and the temperament of the body, being changed from those things which were mentioned, in turn provides thoughts to the mind.

93. Death, in the proper sense, is the separation from God; the sting of death is sin ^C which, once Adam had received it, caused him to be banished at once from the tree of life, from paradise, and from God; and from this, of necessity, the death of the body also followed. But life, in the proper sense, is He who said: *I am the life.* ^D Being dead, He brought to life again him who was dead.

94. What account are we writing, or do we write for the sake of our own remembrance, or to provide benefit, or both for some reason: or to inflict harm on some, or for the sake of ostentation, or because we are forced to write.

95. A place of pasture is practical virtue; water of refreshment, the knowledge of things that have come to pass.

96. The shadow of death is human life. Whoever, therefore, is with God, and has God with him, can say clearly this: *For even if I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for you are with me.*

97. A pure mind sees straight things: regular prayer and the power of discourse place what is seen under view; this, a clear ear receives. But he who is wanting in these three condemns the speaker and speaks against him.

98. He is with God who knows the holy Trinity, and His creation, and His providence; and who...

possessing the emotional part of the soul free from affections.

99. They say that the rod signifies the judgment of God; the staff, His providence. It belongs, therefore, to the one who has partaken of the knowledge of these to say: *Thy rod and Thy staff, they have comforted me* (Ps. XXII, 4). ^B

100. When the mind is stripped of affections and is illuminated by the contemplation of beings, then it is able to exist in God and to pray as it ought.

BY THE SAME

One Hundred Chapters on Love, Third Century

1. The reasonable use of thoughts and of things begets temperance, love, and knowledge; but an unreasonable use begets intemperance, hatred, and ignorance. ^B

2. *Thou hast prepared a table before me*, and so forth (Ps. XXII, 5). The table here signifies the practical virtue. For this was prepared by Christ in the face of those who afflict us. The oil, which makes the mind supple, signifies the contemplation of created things. The cup of God, the knowledge of God. His mercy, His Word and God. For He, through His Incarnation, pursues ^C all our days, until He has apprehended all those who are to be saved, just as He did Paul. The house is the kingdom, into which all the saints are to be brought back. And length of days is eternal life.

3. The vices of the powers of the soul befall us through misuse; such as the concupiscible, the irascible, and the rational powers. Now the misuse of the rational power is ignorance and folly; that of the irascible and concupiscible is hatred and intemperance. The use of these, however, is knowledge and prudence, love and temperance. If this is so, then nothing of the things created and brought into being by God is evil. ^D

4. Not foods are evil, but gluttony; not child-bearing, but fornication; not money, but avarice; not glory, but vainglory. If this is so, nothing in existence is evil, except misuse, which happens from the soul’s negligence concerning its natural cultivation.

5. The blessed Dionysius says that the evil in demons is this: unreasonable rage, mindless desire, and rash imagination. But unreason, foolishness, and rashness are, in regard to rational beings, privations of reason, of mind, and of circumspection. And privations are posterior to the faculties. Was there, therefore, a time when there existed in them reason...

^A and mind and circumspect caution? If this is so, then neither are the demons evil by nature; but they have become evil through the misuse of their natural faculties.

6. Some passions produce debauchery; others, hatred; and others, both: namely, both debauchery and hatred.

7. Refined luxuries of food breed lechery; but [avarice and] vainglory [breed] hatred toward one’s neighbor. The mother of these, self-love (φιλαυτία), is the cause of both.

8. Self-love is an impassioned and irrational love ^B toward the body, to which charity and continence are opposed. It is clear that he who has self-love has all the passions.

9. “No one,” says the Apostle, “has hated his own flesh,” but he chastises it, clearly, and subjects it to servitude, providing it with nothing more than food and clothing; and these only to the extent necessary for sustaining life. Thus, then, one loves it without passion; and as a servant of divine things, he nourishes and warms it, providing only those things which satisfy its need.

10. Whatever one loves, one also strives to care for. If, therefore, one loves God, he strives by all means to perform what is pleasing to Him; but if he loves his flesh, he performs what pleases it.

11. To God, indeed, charity and temperance or chastity are pleasing, as are contemplation and prayer; but to the flesh, gluttony and intemperance or lechery, and those things which increase them. For this reason: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” But those who are of Christ have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

12. If the mind inclines toward God, it has the body as a servant, and provides it nothing more than the necessities of life; but if it inclines toward the flesh, it is enslaved to the passions, ^C always making provision for it in [the service of] desires.

13. If you wish to overcome the thoughts, take care of the passions, and you will easily drive them from the mind; for example, in the case of fornication, fast, keep vigil, labor, lead a solitary life. In the case of anger and sadness, despise glory and disgrace and material things. In the case of grudge-bearing, pray for the one who has caused the injury, and you will be delivered.

14. Do not measure yourself by the weaker people, but rather stretch yourself toward the commandment of love. For by measuring yourself against the former, you fall into the precipice of pride; but by stretching toward the latter, you advance toward the height of humility.

15. If altogether [you keep] the commandment of love toward one’s neighbor ^D [note: see how one must overcome the passions. Read the twentieth chapter.]

^A If you keep it, why do you harbor bitterness against him? Is it not clearly because you prefer the temporal things of this life to Him, and by clinging to them, you make war upon your brother?

16. Money has not become so much a target for human desire because of need, as because through it most people satisfy their pleasures.

17. There are three causes for the love of money: love of pleasure, love of vainglory, and lack of faith. But of the two, lack of faith is the more wretched.

18. He who loves pleasure loves money so that he may live in luxury; he who loves vainglory, so that he may be glorified by it; and the faithless man, so that he may hide and hoard it, fearing hunger, or old age, or sickness, or exile. He puts his hope in it more than in God, the Creator and Provider of all creation, down to the last and smallest of living creatures.

19. There are four types of people who acquire money: the three aforementioned, and the prudent steward. This one alone, evidently, acquires it rightly, so that he may never fail to provide for the needs of each.

20. All impassioned thoughts either provoke the appetitive part of the soul, or disturb the irascible part, or darken the rational part. From this it follows that the mind becomes dim concerning spiritual contemplation and the state of prayer. For this reason, the monk, and especially he who practices stillness, must carefully attend to his thoughts, and both know their causes and cut them out. Know this to be so: for example, the impassioned memories of women provoke the appetitive part of the soul; the cause of these is intemperance in food and drink, and frequent and irrational association with women themselves. These are cut off by hunger, thirst, vigil, and withdrawal. Again, the irascible part is disturbed by impassioned memories of those who have caused pain; the causes of these are love of pleasure, vainglory, and love of self. For because of these, the impassioned man is grieved, either as one who has been deprived, or as one who has failed to attain his object. These are cut off by the contempt and disdain of those very things, through love for God.

21. God knows Himself, and He knows the things created by Him. The holy Powers also know God; they also know the things created by God. But the holy Powers do not know God and the things created by Him in the way that God knows Himself and the things created by Him. ^D

^B 23. Things created exist outside the mind, but the mind takes in the contemplation of them within itself. Yet it is not so with God, the eternal, infinite, and immense, who bestows upon existing things both being, and well-being, and everlasting being.

24. The rational and intelligent essence shares in the holy God, both for its being and for its aptitude toward well-being—I mean in His goodness and wisdom—and by His grace toward everlasting being. In this way, therefore, it knows God. But it knows the things created by Him by grasping, as has been said, the artistic wisdom ^C visible in created things, which is mere and unsubstantial, subsisting in the mind.

25. God, out of extreme goodness, made common four divine attributes, which uphold, preserve, and maintain created beings, by bringing into existence the rational and intelligent essence: being, everlasting being, goodness, and wisdom. He granted two of these to the essence, and two to the aptitude of the will—namely, goodness and wisdom—so that what He is by essence, the creature might become by participation. For this reason, it is said to have been made to the image and likeness of God.* And indeed, as to the image, it is in that it is, because He is; and in that it is everlasting, because He is everlasting—though not without beginning, yet without end, and so that no ^D end shall follow that which is. But as to the likeness, it is as one who is good, like Him who is good; and as one who is wise, like Him who is wise—the one by nature, the other by grace and divine gift. And indeed, every nature that uses reason is to the image of God; but only those who are good and wise are to His likeness.

26. Every rational and intelligent essence is divided into two—that is, into the angelic and the human nature. And every angelic nature is again divided into two universal wills and hosts, both holy and profane; that is, into holy Powers and unclean demons. And every human nature is divided into only two universal wills and dispositions: I mean the pious and the impious.

* Gen. 1, 26.

27. God, indeed, as He who possesses existence by Himself, and is goodness itself and wisdom itself—or rather, more truly to say, even something above all these—has absolutely nothing contrary to Him. But created things, inasmuch as they all have their existence by participation and by grace, and those that are rational and intellectual have aptness for goodness and wisdom, do have something contrary: for existence, non-existence; and for the aptness for goodness and wisdom, vice and ignorance. And that these rational and intellectual beings should always exist or not exist is in the power of the One who made them; but their participating or not participating in His goodness and wisdom resides in the will of the rational beings themselves. ^A

28. The Greeks, [p. 1025, note (n) omitted here as per instructions] saying that the substance of beings exists from eternity with God, and that they received from Him only the qualities that clothe it, say that there is nothing contrary to essence and substance; and that all contrariety therefore exists in the qualities alone. We, however, say that the divine substance alone has nothing contrary to it, ^B as it is eternal and infinite, and by this very fact excelling all else, in that it abides forever. But we contend that the contrary to the substance of things is that which is non-being and nothingness; and that it is placed in the power of Him who truly and properly is, that it should always exist or not exist—although He does not repent of His gifts. * Rom. xi, 29. And for this reason it both exists always and will exist, held together by His omnipotent power, even if it has non-being as a ^C contrary, as has been said, in that it was produced from nothingness into being, and has its existing or not existing in His will.

29. Just as evil is a privation of good, and ignorance is a privation of knowledge, so too non-being and nothingness is a privation of being—not of that which is strictly Being, for It has no contrary—but of that which is by participation in what is strictly Being. ^D And the privations of the former follow the disposition of the creatures; but the privation of the latter is placed in the will of the One who created it, who for the sake of His goodness always wills things to exist, and always to receive benefits from Him.

30. Of all created things, some are rational and intellectual, and capable of contraries—such as virtue and vice, and knowledge and ignorance; others are bodies, diverse and constituted of contraries—namely, of earth,

air, fire, and water. Some are entirely incorporeal and devoid of matter, ^A even if some of these are yoked to bodies; while others possess their constitution solely from matter and form.

31. Every body is by nature immovable; it is moved by the soul—by the rational part, by the irrational, or by the non-sentient.

32. Of the faculties of the soul, one is nutritive and augmentative; another is imaginative and impulsive; and a third is logical and intellectual. Plants share only in the first; brute animals possess the second in addition to the first; and human beings possess the third alongside the other two. The first two faculties are shown to be corruptible, but the third is incorruptible and immortal.

33. The holy Powers illuminate one another ^B and the human nature, imparting either their own virtue or the knowledge they possess. By virtue—as by a goodness that imitates God—they benefit both themselves and each other, and those below them, making them godlike; by knowledge, they reveal something higher concerning God (for Scripture says, "Thou, O Lord, art the Most High forever"), or more profoundly concerning bodies, or more accurately concerning incorporeal beings and souls, or more clearly concerning providence, or more openly concerning judgment.

34. The impurity of the mind is, first, to possess false knowledge; second, to be ignorant of any of the universals—I speak in relation to the human mind, for it is the property of an angel ^C to be ignorant of nothing, even down to particulars; third, to harbor impassioned thoughts; and fourth, to consent to sin.

35. The impurity of the soul is not to act according to nature. For from this, impassioned and vicious thoughts are born in the mind. The soul acts according to nature when its passive faculties—I mean incisiveness and desire—remain free from passion and disturbance when confronted by things and by their mental impressions.

36. The impurity of the body is sin committed in act and deed.

37. He who is not affected by worldly things loves solitude; and he who loves none of human affairs loves all ^D men. He possesses knowledge of God and divine things who is not scandalized by anyone, whether by reason of their transgressions or by reason of thoughts born of suspicion.

38. It is a great thing not to be affected by things; but it is far greater than this to remain impassive also toward the mental impressions of those things.

39. Love and self-control keep the mind impassive toward both things and the mental impressions of those things.

40. The mind does not fight against things

nor against the mental impressions of things, but against the passions that are conjoined to the mental impressions. For instance, it does not fight against a woman, nor against the one who has done an injury, nor against the imaginations of them, but against the passions that are conjoined to those imaginations.

^A 41. The entire struggle of the monk against the demons is so that he may separate the passions from the mental impressions. For otherwise, he cannot see things impassively.

42. A thing is one thing, a mental impression is another, and a passion is another. A thing is, for example, a man, a woman, gold, and the rest. A mental impression is the mere memory of one of the aforementioned things. A passion is an irrational affection, or an unbridled impulse toward one of the aforementioned things. The monk’s battle, therefore, is against the passion.

43. A passionate mental impression is a thought composed of a passion and a mental impression. Let us separate the passion from the mental impression, and the bare thought remains. We separate them through spiritual love and self-control, if we so wish.

44. The virtues separate the mind from the passions; spiritual contemplations separate it from bare thoughts; and pure prayer presents it to God.

45. The virtues are for the sake of the knowledge of created things; knowledge is for the sake of the one who knows and perceives; but the knower is for the sake of Him who is known in an unknown way and who is known beyond all knowledge.

^B 46. It was not as if He were in need of anything that the all-full God brought the things that exist into being, but rather so that they, according to their capacity, by participating in His goodness, might enjoy it; and so that He Himself might rejoice in His works, seeing them rejoicing, and being insatiably satiated by the Insatiate One.

47. The world has many who are poor in spirit, but not in the way that is proper. And many who mourn, but because of the loss of wealth or the death of children. And many who are meek, but toward unclean passions. And many who hunger and thirst, but to plunder what belongs to others and to gain through injustice. And many who are merciful, but toward the body and things pertaining to the body. And many who are pure in heart, but for the sake of vainglory. And many who are peacemakers, but by subjecting the soul to the flesh. And many who are persecuted, but as disorderly persons. And many who are reproached, but for ^C shameful sins; yet those alone are blessed.

who for the sake of Christ and by Christian piety both do and suffer these things. For what reason? Because theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and, For they shall see God, etc. Thus, it is not because they do and suffer these things that they are blessed (since even those I mentioned do the exact same), but because it is for the sake of Christ and by Christian piety that they both do and suffer these things.

48. In all that we do, the purpose is examined by God, as has often been said; whether we act for His sake or for the sake of something else. When therefore we intend to do something good, let us not make human favor, but God, our goal; so that, looking always to Him, we may do everything for His sake, lest we sustain the labor and yet lose the reward. ^B

49. Discard from your mind, at the time of prayer, even the pure thoughts of human affairs and the considerations of all things created; lest, by imagining things inferior, you forfeit Him who is incomparably superior to all beings.

50. If we have truly loved God from the heart, by the very power of that love we shall drive away passions and impulses. The love of God consists in preferring Him to the world, and the soul to the flesh; in such a way that, despising secular affairs, we may be constantly occupied with Him through restraint, love, prayer, singing of psalms, and the rest.

51. Whenever, by being long and deeply occupied with God, we have taken care of the passionate part of the soul, we shall no longer strike against the assaults of thoughts; but rather, by discerning and cutting off their causes more skillfully, we shall become more insightful, so that there may be fulfilled in us that which is written: "And mine eye hath looked down upon mine enemies; and mine ear shall hear of the wicked that rise up against me."

52. When you see your mind moving piously and justly in the thoughts of the world, know that your body also remains pure and exempt from sin; but when you see your mind occupied by sins in its thought-processes, and you do not restrain it, know that it will not be long before your body also falls into the same.

53. Just as the body has the world of things, so also does the mind have the world of thoughts; and just as the body commits fornication with the body of a woman, so also does the mind commit fornication with the thought of a woman, by means of the phantasy of its own body. For it sees the form of its own body being mingled with the form of the woman according to the intellect. Likewise, it also takes vengeance in thought upon the form of one who has offended it, through the form of its own body. And it is the same with other sins. For what the body does in act and in the work of the world of things, this the mind also does in its world of notions (or thoughts).

^A It is matter to shudder, to marvel, and to be beside oneself with wonder, that God the Father judges no one, but has handed over all judgment to the Son; ^B and that the Son cries out: Judge not, that you be not judged; condemn not, that you be not condemned (Matt. VII, 1; Luke VI, 37). The Apostle likewise says: Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes (I Cor. IV, 5); and, In whatever judgment you judge another, you condemn yourself (Rom. II, 1). Yet men, having abandoned the care of bewailing their own sins, have snatched the judgment from the Son; and as if they themselves were immune to sin, they judge and condemn others. Heaven indeed on this account has been struck with amazement, and the earth has shuddered (Jer. II, 12); yet they are not led by such stupor to any shame.

^B 55. Whoever curiously inquires into the faults of others, or judges a brother even from light conjecture or suspicion, has not yet laid the foundation of repentance, nor has he searched out and understood that his own sins far exceed many talents of lead in heavy weight; nor has he known whence a man becomes heavy-hearted, who loves vanity and seeks after lies (Ps. IV, 3). Therefore, like one senseless and walking in darkness, neglecting his own sins, he reflects upon the sins of others, whether they be real or something he has maliciously suspected and concocted for himself.

^B 56. Philautia (self-love), as has been often said, is the cause of all passionate thoughts. For from this are born the three most general vices of desire: those of gluttony, avarice, and vainglory. From gluttony is born the vice of fornication; from avarice, unjust rapacity and the lust for having more; and from vainglory, the vice of pride. ^C And the whole host of remaining vices follows each of these three: namely, those of anger, of sadness, of grudge-bearing, of acedia, of envy, of detraction, and the rest. These vices, therefore, bind the mind strongly to material things, and lying upon it like a most heavy stone, they keep it on the earth, whereas by nature it is lighter and more subtle than fire.

^C 57. The beginning of all passions is philautia; the end, however, is pride. Philautia is the irrational love of the body. He who cuts this off, together with it, cuts off all the passions that spring from it.

^D 58. Just as parents of bodies are drawn by affection toward those whom they have begotten, so the mind is naturally attached to its own thoughts. And just as parents are indulgent toward their own offspring, [the mind is likewise attached to these thoughts]. Regarding this, the Author of the Scholia of the Dufrenii codex notes: "These things frighten me, and prevent me from writing"—referring to what was said by Maximus—"and deter me from writing." In this sense, the holy Ambrose used to hand over his books to others to be read and corrected, even though he was such a great man, because it is generally the case that authors are pleased with their own writings and monuments, by that natural affection which parents have for those they have begotten. What Obsonius renders as "they sympathize" is not sufficiently apt.

^A for those who are more impassioned than they, even if the children are in all respects most ridiculous, they appear to all as most moderate and most handsome; so also to the foolish mind, its own words, even if they are more wretched than any others, appear wiser than all others. For the wise man, however, his own words are not so; but when he thinks he is fully persuaded that they are true and good, then most of all he does not trust his own judgment; but he establishes other men, adorned with wisdom, as judges of his own words and thoughts, lest he run or should have run in vain; and through them he receives confirmation.

^B 59. When you have conquered some one of the baser passions—for instance, gluttony, or fornication, or anger, or the rapacious desire of having more—the thought of vainglory immediately flies upon you; and if you conquer this, that of pride succeeds it.

60. All the base passions and affections, while they hold the mind in subjection, drive the thought of vainglory far from it. But when those passions that have been mentioned are conquered, they release and let loose that same [passion of vainglory] upon it.

61. Vainglory, at one time being removed, at another remaining, begets pride; and when removed, it produces a boasting in the mind; but remaining, it inflicts arrogance upon the senses.

62. The hidden labor [of one’s work] removes vainglory; but attributing one's accomplishments to God removes pride.

63. He who has been deemed worthy of the knowledge of God, and has truly tasted of the pleasure that comes from this, he ^C disdains those pleasures born of the concupiscible faculty.

64. He who is led by the desire for earthly things—whether he desires foods, or those things that cater to the belly, or human glory, or money, or anything else that follows upon these—unless the mind finds something better than these to which it may transfer its desire, it will not be persuaded to disdain them completely. Now, the knowledge of God and of divine things is incomparably better than these.

65. Those who disdain pleasures do so either by fear, or by hope, or by knowledge, or even by love for God.

66. Knowledge of divine things without passion ^D does not sufficiently induce the mind to disdain earthly things; rather, it resembles the mere thought of a sensible object.

Therefore, you may find many men who possess great knowledge, yet who wallow like pigs in the mire of carnal passions and lusts. For while they were purged for a short time by diligence and attained to knowledge, having later become negligent, they became like Saul, who, having been deemed worthy of the kingdom, and having administered it unworthily, as the situation required, was cast out of it by a terrible example of wrath.

67. ^B Just as the simple and naked thought of human affairs does not compel the mind to disdain divine things, so too the simple knowledge of divine things does not lead to complete disdain for human things; for the truth, for the time being, exists for us in shadows and imagery. For this reason, there is need for the blessed passion of holy love, which binds the mind to spiritual contemplation and persuades it to prefer the immaterial to the material, and the intelligible and divine to the sensible.

68. He who has cut off the passions and rendered his thoughts simple has not for that reason already turned them toward divine things; rather, it is possible for him to be affected neither by human things nor by divine things. This happens only with those in the practical life who have not yet been deemed worthy of knowledge, and who abstain from passions and vices through fear of punishment or hope of the kingdom.

69. ^C We walk by faith and not by sight; and we have knowledge in mirrors and in enigmas. And for this reason, we have need of much diligence in them, that by the long meditation and attentive consideration of these things, we may obtain a firm and sufficiently tenacious habit of contemplation.

70. If, after having cut off the causes of the passions for a short time, we occupy ourselves with spiritual contemplation, but do not always dwell upon them—having this (meditation) as our very work, and holding it as the head of the matter—then we shall easily turn again to the carnal passions and lusts; having reaped no other benefit from there than a bare and simple knowledge joined with the elation of a self-pleasing mind; the end of which is that, as the knowledge itself gradually becomes clouded, the mind turns completely toward earthly things.

71. ^D A passion of love that is blameworthy occupies the mind with material things; a passion of love that is praiseworthy binds it to divine things. For the mind is accustomed to being expanded in those things in which it dwells, and in those things in which it is expanded, it also turns its desire and love—whether toward divine, proper, and spiritual things, or toward carnal things and their passions and vices.

^A 72. God created this visible and invisible world; and he made the soul and the body, of course. For if this visible world is such and so beautiful, what then must the invisible be? And if that is superior to this, how much does God, who created both, excel them both? If, then, the Creator of all good things is superior to all created things, for what reason—I ask—does the mind, having abandoned that which is superior to all else, bestow its leisure and labor upon the very worst things of all? I mean the passions of the flesh. Or is it plain that, because it has been conversant with flesh from the birth of its beginning and has become accustomed to it, it has not yet perfectly obtained a trial and taste of that which is superior to all and surpasses all? If, then, by long and assiduous exercise in continence from pleasures and in the meditation of divine things, we gradually detach it from such an affection and desire, it will be expanded as it advances little by little in divine things, and will recognize its own dignity; and finally, it will transfer the whole power of its love into God. ^B

73. He who speaks of the sin of a brother without passion does so for two reasons: either to correct him, or to benefit another by admonishing him. But if he speaks outside of these reasons—whether to him or to another, reproaching or disparaging him—he will not escape divine abandonment; but he will certainly fall into the same or some other fault, and will be put to shame being reproved and reproached by others.

74. The motive for those committing the same sin is not one, but varied. For example, it is one thing to sin out of habit, and another to sin out of a certain sudden, unguarded impulse: the latter neither had the intention before the sin, nor is he [content] after the sin; rather, he grieves severely over what has happened. But as for him who acts out of habit, it is quite otherwise; for both before he did not cease to sin in his mind, and after the deed is done, he retains the same affection in his soul. ^C

75. He who cultivates virtues for the sake of vainglory, it is clear that he also cultivates knowledge for the sake of vainglory. Such a person, clearly, does nothing and says nothing for the sake of edification; but in all things he hunts for the glory of those who see or hear him. The passion and desire are revealed when some of those whom I mentioned bring reproach upon his deeds or words, and he is severely grieved at this; not for the reason that they were not edified (for that was not his goal), but because he himself was humbled. ^D

76. The passion of avarice is detected from this: in rejoicing when receiving, and grieving when giving. Such a person cannot be a good steward of worldly goods.

[Note: regarding the divine abandonment mentioned in 73] This is indeed the customary retribution of God, when someone disparages a brother or judges him rashly, concerning which he himself labors either with vainglory or pride, so that he may be chastised, he is allowed to fall into the very same things which he judges or criticizes, which is a divine dereliction, by the withdrawal of His present help and efficacy, in the absence of which one flatters and presumes upon himself in vain, whoever acts, and for whom, in every act of his directed toward God, special help is necessary. By no means will you escape divine retribution. [Note: regarding the steward] As stated above in ch. 19, among those whose concern is money, whether it is being acquired or being guarded, the steward is placed.

^A 77. A person endures when suffering for these reasons: either because of the love of God, or because of the hope of requital, or because of the fear of punishment, or because of fear of men, or because of nature and disposition, or because of pleasure, or for the sake of profit, or because of vainglory, or because necessity compels it.

78. It is one thing to be freed from thoughts and another to be liberated from passions. And often a person is freed from thoughts when those things to which he possesses passions are not present; but the passions lie hidden in the soul, and when those things appear, they are exposed. One must therefore watch the mind when these things are present, and know toward which the passion inclines.

^B 79. That man is a genuine friend who, in time of temptation, bears the afflictions, needs, and calamities that arise from circumstances, along with his neighbor, as if they were his own, without noise and without disturbance.

80. Do not despise the conscience, which always counsels you in the best way. For it suggests to you divine and angelic counsel and will; it frees you from the hidden filth of the heart and grants you boldness before God at the time of your departure.

81. If you wish to become a discerning and moderate person, and not to be a slave to the passion of self-conceit, always seek in the things that exist to see what is hidden from your knowledge. And when you discover that very many and various things escape you, you will marvel at your own ignorance and will humble your mind; and by knowing yourself, you will understand many great and wonderful things. For to think that one knows hinders one from progressing toward knowledge.

^C 82. He who does not resist medicinal remedies desires to be saved precisely. These remedies are pains and sorrows brought on by various occurrences and turmoils. Whoever resists these does not know what is being transacted here, nor does he know what profit he will be able to take away from these things when he departs.

83. Vainglory and love of money are generative of one another. For those who are vainglorious seek to get rich, and those who are rich are vainglorious; but this is as it is with secular people. Since the monk, however, is one who possesses nothing and is poor, he is all the more puffed up with vainglory. If he has money, he hides it, blushing because he possesses something that is inappropriate for his state of life.

84. It is characteristic of a monk's vainglory to be vainglorious regarding virtue and those things that follow from it; but it is characteristic of his pride to be puffed up regarding his accomplishments. ^D

^A Indeed, this is the mark of the vainglory and pride of the worldly man: to be vainglorious and puffed up on account of beauty, wealth, power, and cleverness.

85. The accomplishments of those in the world are the failings and injuries of monks; and conversely, the virtues and adornments of monks are the failings and injuries of those in the world. For example, the accomplishments of those in the world are wealth, glory, power, luxury, physical well-being, a noble and numerous offspring, and such like; if a monk should arrive at these, he is undone. But the accomplishments and virtues of a monk are poverty, lack of reputation, weakness, ^B continence, bodily labor and affliction, and such like; if a worldly person comes to these against his will, he considers it a great downfall and injury; and he is often in danger of resorting to a noose, and indeed some have done so.

86. Foods were created for two reasons: for sustenance and for healing. Therefore, those who partake of them beyond these purposes, as if misusing things given by God for our use, are condemned as pleasure-seekers; for in all things, sin consists in misuse.

87. Humility is constant prayer accompanied by tears and labors. For this, by always calling upon God for help, does not allow one to foolishly trust in his own power ^C and wisdom, nor to be puffed up against others, which are the grievous sicknesses of the vice of pride.

88. It is one thing to fight against a simple thought, so that it does not stir the passion; and it is another thing to fight against one that is passionate and accompanied by emotion, so that it does not induce consent. Neither mode allows thoughts to linger in the mind.

89. Sorrow is yoked to the remembrance of wrongs. When, therefore, the mind looks upon the face of a brother with sorrow as if in a mirror, it is clear that it holds a remembrance of wrongs against him. But the ways of those who remember wrongs lead to death, ^D because every one who remembers wrongs is lawless. Prov. xii, 28; xxi, 24.

90. If, however, you bear a grudge against someone for wrongs, pray for him, and in this way you will restrain the movement of the passion and emotion: namely, by the reason that in praying, you separate the sadness and pain from the memory of the evil which he did to you. But when you become expansive with charity and prone to kindness, you will utterly banish the passion and emotion from your soul. If, however, someone else bears a grudge against you because of a wrong received, be gracious and humble toward him, and associate with him kindly, and you will free him from the passion, and kindly and lovingly use him, and deliver him from the sickness.

91. You will put an end to the sorrow of the envious person by hard work, for he considers that which is envied in you to be a calamity.

^A If it is something good, the cause of which he envies you, do not act otherwise than by concealing it, so that you may curb his malice. But if it is something of such a kind that it benefits many, but serves as a seedbed of grief for him, which part will you disregard? It is necessary, then, that you stand by the advantage of the many and the public, nor yet, as far as lies in your power, neglect him, nor allow yourself to be drawn along by the wickedness of the passion, as one who is not defending yourself against the passion, but against the sufferer; rather, by humility, consider him as excelling yourself, and in every time, place, and affair, yield the mastery to him. You can yourself appease your own envy if, in the things in which he whom you envy rejoices, you likewise rejoice, and in the things in which he grieves, you yourself also grieve together with him, fulfilling that of the Apostle: "Rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep."

^B 92. Our mind stands in the middle of two things, and each of them works its own proper effects: the one, virtue; the other, vice; that is to say, the angel and the demon. For the mind has the authority and the power, whichever it wills, either to follow or to resist.

93. The holy Powers urge us toward those things which are honorable and obligatory; natural seeds and a good will assist us; but the incursions of demons, the passions, and an evil will strengthen vice.

94. The pure mind, at times God Himself enters into it and teaches; at other times the holy Powers suggest what is honorable; at other times, ^C the very nature of things, when more diligently inspected and considered by the soul.

95. It is necessary for the mind that has been deemed worthy of knowledge to keep its concepts of things pure from lust; and its spiritual insights safe; and finally, its state of prayer undisturbed. It cannot, however, always keep these things from the eruptions of the flesh, being clouded by the smoke through the snares of the demons.

96. We do not grieve for all the things for which we become angry. For there are more things that cause sadness and pain than there are things that cause anger. For example: this has been broken; this has been lost; such a person has died. For these and similar things, ^D we only grieve; but for other things, we both grieve and become angry or indignant, having minds not sufficiently composed according to the standard of virtue.

97. The mind is fashioned to be transformed according to each concept of things. While it considers these things spiritually, it is variously transformed according to each spiritual insight. But when it has become in God, it becomes altogether without form and without shape. For by beholding the One, it becomes uniform and altogether radiant.

93. Perfect is he whose faculty of passion is entirely inclined toward God. ^A

99. A perfect mind is one which, through true faith, has super-knowingly known the unknowable in a super-knowable way; and having beheld the entirety of His works, and having received from God the comprehensive knowledge of His Providence and judgment—I mean, so far as it is granted to humans.

100. Time is divided in three ways; and faith is co-extended with the three parts; but hope, with one; and love, with two. And indeed faith and hope [last] only up to a certain period; but love continues in infinite ages, united to Him who is more than infinite, and always growing more than itself. And therefore: *The greatest of these is love.*

BY THE SAME

Fourth Century of Chapters on Love

1. First, the mind wonders, considering the divine infinity and reflecting upon that untraversable and much-desired sea. Second, it is struck with awe at how He brought into existence the being of things from nothing. But just as there is no end to His greatness, so too there is no finding out His wisdom. ^B

2. For how does it not wonder, beholding that immense sea of goodness, exceeding all awe? Or how does it not go out of its mind, reflecting upon how and from whence the rational and intelligent substance has come to be, and the four elements from which bodies are composed, when no matter existed before to allow these to arise and be created? And what is that power which, moved into action, brought these into being? But the children of the Greeks do not admit this, ignorant of the omnipotent goodness and its efficacious power, and its wisdom and knowledge that exceed the mind. ^C

3. Existing from eternity as Creator, God, because He wills, creates by the Word who is consubstantial with Him, and by the Spirit, out of infinite goodness. And do not say: "For what reason did He create now, being always good?" For I say to you that the inscrutable wisdom of the infinite essence does not fall under human knowledge. ^D

4. The Creator of things, having the knowledge of them pre-existing in Him from eternity, when He willed, gave them essence and brought them forth. For it is absurd to doubt in God, who is omnipotent, whether He can give essence to something and produce it, when He wills.

5. For what reason God created, seek; for that is knowledge. But the "how" and "why" recently, do not seek; for it does not fall under your mind. For of divine things, some can be grasped, while others are incomprehensible to humans; for an unbridled contemplation might perhaps cast one over a precipice, as one of the saints has said.

CENTURY IV ON CHARITY

5. There are those who say that the created things co-exist with God from eternity, which is impossible. For how could it be that things which are in every way finite could co-exist from eternity with Him who is in every respect infinite? Or how could those things strictly and properly be called created things, if they were co-eternal with the Creator? Yet this is the doctrine of the Greeks, who maintain that God is not the creator of substances, but only of qualities. We, however, acknowledging the almighty God, say that He is the creator not of qualities, but of substances endowed with qualities. And if this is the case, the created things do not co-exist with God from eternity.

^A 6. There are those who say that the created things co-exist with God from eternity, which is impossible. For how could it be that things which are in every way finite should co-exist from eternity with Him who is in every respect infinite? Or how could those things, if they are co-eternal with the Creator, be truly and properly called created things? But this is indeed the doctrine of the Greeks, who maintain that God is not the creator of substances, but only of qualities. We, however, knowing the almighty God, say that He is the creator not of qualities, but of substances endowed with qualities. And if this is so, the things that are created do not co-exist with God from eternity.

7. In one respect the Divine and divine things are known; in another, they are unknown. They are known, indeed, through the reflections and perceptions concerning Him; but He is unknown as to what He is in Himself.

^B 8. Do not seek for habits and aptitudes in the simple and infinite substance of the holy Trinity, lest you make It composite, just as the created things are—which is absurd and impious to think regarding God.

9. The infinite, almighty, and creative essence of all things alone is simple, uniform, without quality, peaceful, and immutable. But every creature is composite, consisting of substance and accident, and is always in need of divine Providence, inasmuch as it is not free from change.

^C 10. Every intellectual and sentient substance, brought forth into the nature of things by God, has received powers of apprehending beings: the intellectual substance, powers of intellection; the sentient substance, powers of feeling.

11. God alone is participated in and participates in nothing; but the creature both participates and imparts. It participates in existence and well-being; but it imparts only well-being, though the corporeal substance does so in one way, and the incorporeal and spiritual substance in another.

12. The incorporeal substance imparts well-being through both speaking, acting, and contemplation; but the corporeal substance imparts it through contemplation alone.

^A

13. The fact of whether or not a rational and intelligent substance always exists lies in the will of Him who created all things good; but that these things are good or evil according to moral choice, exists in the will of those who are created.

14. Evil is not considered to be in the essence of created things, but in an erroneous and irrational motion.

15. The soul is moved reasonably when its concupiscible part is adorned with self-control, when its irascible part holds fast to love and turns away from hatred, and when the faculty of reason is occupied with God through prayer and spiritual contemplation, growing accustomed to Him.

16. He who, in the time of temptation, is not long-suffering in regard to the painful things that occur, but cuts himself off from the love of his spiritual brothers, has not yet attained perfect love, nor does he possess the depth of the knowledge of divine Providence. ^B

17. The purpose of divine Providence is to unite through right faith and spiritual love those who have been variously divided by wickedness. For this reason the Savior suffered and died: "That he might gather together in one the children of God that were dispersed." Whoever, therefore, does not endure annoyance, nor tolerate painful things, nor maintain patience in those things which involve labor, walks outside of divine love and the goal of Providence.

18. If "love is long-suffering and kind," he who is small-minded and dejected regarding the evils that occur, and because of this acts maliciously toward those who have done him harm, and cuts himself off from the love that he ought to have for them, how does he not fall away from the goal of divine Providence? ^C

19. Pay attention to yourself, and beware, lest the evil that separates you from your brother be found not in the brother, but in you; and hasten to be reconciled with him, so that you may not fall away from the commandment of love.

20. Do not despise the commandment of love, because through it you shall be a son of God; whereas if you violate it, you shall be found a son of hell.

21. The things that separate one from the love of friends are these: to envy or be envied; to cause harm or to suffer it; to insult or to be insulted; and the reasonings that spring from suspicion. ^D Therefore, beware lest you have done something of this kind or have suffered it, and for that reason cut yourself off from the love of a friend.

22. A temptation has happened to you from your brother, and your grief has led you into hatred. Do not be conquered by hatred, but conquer hatred by love. You will conquer in this way: by praying genuinely for him to God, by accepting his defense, or even by healing him yourself through this, and by considering yourself to be the cause of the temptation, bearing it with long-suffering until this cloud has passed.

23. He is long-suffering and has great patience who awaits the end of the temptation and receives the glory of endurance. ^A 24. A man of long-suffering is great in prudence; for he refers all that happens to him to that end, and by expecting it, he bears up under troubles and evils. The end, however, is eternal life, as the divine Apostle feels. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 25. Do not be quick to cast aside spiritual love, because no other way of salvation is left to men. 26. Do not judge as vile and wicked the brother who was yesterday spiritual and virtuous, because of the hatred that has sprung up in you today through the wiles of the evil one; but by means of long-suffering love, consider his past good deeds and cast the hatred of the present day from your soul. ^B 27. Do not speak evil of one whom you praised yesterday as good and extolled as virtuous, today calling him vile and wicked, because you have transformed your love into hatred; indeed, by accusing your brother, you are making an apology for the wicked hatred within you. Rather, persevere in those same praises, even if you are still held by pain, and you will easily return to saving love. 28. Do not adulterate the customary praise of your brother in the gathering of other brethren, because of the hidden pain that still exists in you toward him, by secretly mixing blame into your words; rather, use pure praise in the conversation, and pray sincerely for him as for yourself; and you will very quickly be freed from the deadly stain of hatred. ^C 29. Do not say, "I do not hate the brother," while turning away from his memory. But hear Moses saying: "You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your brother, and not bear sin because of him." 30. If it should happen that a brother, being tempted, persists in speaking evil of you, yet do you not be carried away from the state of love, enduring the same wicked demon who is harassing you in your mind. You will not be carried away from this state if, when reviled, you bless; if, when plotted against, you show goodwill. This is the way of Christian philosophy; and he who does not walk it will not dwell with Christ. ^D 31. Do not consider those to be well-disposed toward you whose words bring you pain and produce hatred for a brother, even if they seem to speak the truth; but turn away from such people as if they were deadly serpents, so that you may both check their evil speaking and rid your own soul of wickedness. 32. Do not goad the brother with ambiguous words...

^A so that by not receiving the like in return from him, you may not drive the disposition of love away from both your hearts. Rather, go with loving confidence and reprove him, so that by resolving the causes of the pain, you may rid both of you of the turmoil and grief.

33. Examine your conscience with all accuracy, lest through your own fault the brother has failed to be reconciled; and do not try to deceive it, for it knows your hidden things and will accuse you at the time of your departure, and will become a stumbling block to you at the time of prayer.

34. Do not remember in the time of peace what was said by the brother in the time of grief, whether he spoke bitter things to your face or spoke against you to another, and you heard of it afterwards; so that you may not, by harboring thoughts of resentment, return ^B to a destructive hatred of your brother.

35. A rational soul cannot nourish hatred toward a human being and be at peace with God, who gave the commandment. For He says, "If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses." But if he does not wish to keep peace, at least keep yourself immune from hatred, praying for him sincerely and not speaking ill of him to anyone.

36. The ineffable peace of the holy angels is firmly secured by this two-fold affection, namely, the love by which they pursue God, and that by which they pursue one another. This is likewise true of all the saints who have been from the beginning of the world. Therefore, it has been beautifully and excellently said by our Savior, that "on these two ^C commandments the whole law and the prophets hang."

37. Do not be self-complacent, and you will not have your brother in hatred; and do not be a lover of self, and you will be a lover of God.

38. If you have purposed to live with spiritual men, renounce your own will at the very threshold. For you will not be able to be at peace in any other way, either with God or with those you live with.

39. He who has been able to acquire perfect love and has ordered his whole life toward it, this man truly confesses Jesus as Lord in the Holy Spirit; and by the contrary, the opposite is clearly true.

40. Indeed, the love toward God always loves to give wings to the mind for divine conversation, ^D while the love toward one’s neighbor always prepares one to think well of him.

^A 41. It is characteristic of one still loving vain glory or addicted to any material things that he should be pained toward men because of temporal matters, or keep a grudge against them, or hold a middle ground toward them, or be a slave to shameful thoughts; but for the God-loving soul, all these things are far alien.

42. When you say or do nothing shameful in your mind, and when you do not hold a grudge against one who has caused you loss or has slandered you, and when in the time of prayer you always keep the mind void of shapes, then know that you have reached the measure of dispassion and perfect love.

43. It is no small struggle to be rid of vainglory. One is released from it through the hidden practice of virtues and more frequent prayer. The sign of release is when one no longer keeps a grudge against the one who slanders or spoke slander.

44. If you wish to be just, assign to each of the parts in you what is according to worth; I mean to the soul and to the body. And to the rational part of the soul, [apply] readings and spiritual contemplations, and prayer; to the irascible part, spiritual love, which is opposed to hatred; to the concupiscent part, temperance and continence; to the body, nourishment and clothing, those things which are the only ones strictly necessary.

^B 45. The mind operates according to its nature when it has the passions subjected to it, and contemplates the reasons of beings, and dwells toward God.

46. Just as health and sickness are considered in relation to the body of an animal, and light and darkness in relation to the eye, so virtue and vice in relation to the soul, and knowledge and ignorance in relation to the mind.

47. In these three things the Christian practices philosophy: in the commandments, in the dogmas, and in the faith. And the commandments separate the mind from the passions; the dogmas introduce him to the knowledge of beings; and the faith [introduces him] into the contemplation of the Holy Trinity.

^C 48. Some of the wrestlers repel only the passionate thoughts, but others prune away the passions themselves. And one repels passionate thoughts, for example, by psalmody, by prayer, or by distraction ^D (or by some other local diversion). But one prunes away the passions by despising those things for the sake of which one possesses them.

49. These are the things for the sake of which we possess the passions, such as a wife, money, gifts, and the rest.

^A And a man can despise a woman when, even after his withdrawal and the silence he has sought for his life, he also macerates the body, as is proper, through continence and a more severe discipline; when he has brought his mind to be content in all things with what is sufficient; and similarly with glory, when he gladly performs the works of virtue in secret, with God alone as his witness—and likewise in other matters. For he who despises these things will never come to hate anyone.

50. He who has renounced things, such as a wife, money, and the rest, has made the outer man a monk, but not yet the inner man. But he who [has renounced] the passionate thoughts concerning these things, [has made] the inner man, which is the mind, a monk. And indeed, one can easily make the outer man ^B a monk, if only he wishes it, but to make the inner man a monk is a difficult task and one for which one must strive with great effort.

51. Who, then, in this generation is entirely freed from passionate thoughts, and has been deemed worthy of pure and immaterial prayer, which is the sign of the inner monk?

52. Many passions and vices lie hidden in our souls, and then they are brought forth when the current circumstances appear and manifest themselves.

53. A man may be able not to be disturbed by the passions in the absence of things, having attained a partial state of unperturbedness [ἀπάθεια]; but if the things appear, the passions immediately distract the mind ^C.

54. Do not imagine that you have attained perfect unperturbedness as long as the thing is absent. But when it appears, and you remain unmoved—both toward the thing and toward the subsequent memory of it—then know that you have entered the bounds of it. Yet do not even then despise it, for just as virtue, dwelling for a long time, extinguishes the passions and vices, so, being neglected, it again awakens them and makes them flourish anew.

55. He who loves Christ ^D necessarily also imitates Him to the best of his ability. For example, Christ did not cease to benefit men; though he was treated with ingratitude and blasphemed, he was long-suffering; and though beaten and handed over to death by them, he endured it, reckoning evil against no one at all. These three things are works of love for one's neighbor, without which he who says that he loves Christ, or promises himself His kingdom, deceives himself. For not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, says the Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. And again, He who loves me will keep my commandments, etc.

56. The whole aim of the Savior's commandments is to free the mind from intemperance and hatred, and to lead it to His own love and that of one's neighbor; from which

^A light of the active, divine knowledge is born.

57. If you are deemed worthy of some part of knowledge by God, do not neglect love and self-control. For these ^B, by cleansing the affective part of the soul, always make ready the way that leads you to knowledge.

58. The way to knowledge is impassibility and humility, without which no one shall see the Lord.

59. Since knowledge puffs up, but love builds up, yoke love to knowledge, and you will be free of pride; you will be a spiritual builder, building up both yourself and all who approach you.

60. Hence it is that love builds up, because it does not envy, nor is it embittered against those who envy; nor does it display what is envied in a boastful way; nor does it reckon itself to have already apprehended; and of what it does not know, it confesses its ignorance without blushing. Thus, in this way, it renders the mind free of pride, and causes it always to make progress in knowledge.

61. It is natural for conceit and envy to accompany knowledge, especially in its beginning. Conceit is only from within, but envy is both from within and from without. ^C From within, it is against those who possess knowledge; from without, it is from those who possess it. Love, therefore, overturns all three: conceit, because it is not puffed up; the inward envy, because it does not act out of jealousy; and the outward envy, because it is long-suffering and kind. It is necessary, therefore, for the one who possesses knowledge to also take up love, that he may keep the mind unscathed in all things.

62. He who is deemed worthy of the gift of knowledge, and yet possesses sadness or resentment toward a man, or hatred, is like one who with thorns and thistles ^D

^A pricks his eyes. Therefore, knowledge necessarily requires love.

63. Do not spend all your leisure on the flesh, but set for it an exercise according to your strength; and turn your whole mind toward interior things. For bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, etc.

64. He who unceasingly applies himself to interior things is sober, patient, kind, and humble. And not only this, but he also contemplates, speaks of God, and prays. And this is what the Apostle says: Walk in the Spirit, and the rest.

65. He who does not know how to follow the spiritual path takes no ^B thought for passionate thoughts, but spends all his leisure on the flesh; and he is gluttonous and acts intemperately, is sorrowful, angry, and resentful; and from this he darkens his mind; he uses his exercise without measure, and disturbs his intellect.

66. The Scripture does not abolish any of the things given to us by God for our use, but it punishes immoderation and corrects what is unreasonable. As, for example, it does not forbid eating, nor begetting children, nor possessing wealth and managing it rightly; but it forbids gluttony, fornication, and the rest. Nor does it ^C forbid the thought of these things (for they were made for this), but the thinking of them with passion.

67. Some of the things performed by us according to God are done by commandment; others, not by commandment, but, one might say, as a voluntary offering. As for example, by commandment: to love God and one’s neighbor; to love one’s enemies; not to commit adultery, nor to murder, nor to envy, and the rest, by the transgression of which we are made liable to condemnation. But not by commandment are: to remain a virgin, to live in celibacy, to be poor, to live as a monk or hermit, and the rest. These ^D have the nature of gifts, so that if there are any commandments which, through infirmity, we have not been able to duly perform, we may, by the help of these gifts, render our most benevolent Lord propitious to us.

68. He who honors celibacy or virginity must necessarily have his loins girded and his lamp burning: the loins, indeed, through self-control; but the lamp, through prayer, contemplation, and spiritual love.

69. Some of the brethren think they are apart from the gifts of the Holy Spirit. For they do not know that, because of their negligence and carelessness in the working of the commandments, he who has sincere faith in Christ has all divine gifts contained, as it were, in a single bundle within himself.

^A For since we are far from the love for Him that acts in accordance with that which shows us the divine treasures within us, because of our sloth, we rightly deem ourselves to be outside the divine gifts.

70. If Christ dwells in our hearts through faith, according to the divine Apostle, and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him, then surely all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in our hearts. They are made manifest to the heart according to the definite measure of each person’s purity, which he has achieved by fulfilling the commandments.

71. This is the treasure hidden in the field of your heart, which you have not yet found because of your sloth. For if you had found it, you would certainly have sold everything and bought this field. But now, having left the field, you attend to the things around it; in which nothing else is found but thorns and thistles. ^B

72. Therefore the Savior says: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. They will see Him then, and the treasures that are in Him, when they have cleansed themselves through love and self-control; and they will see Him the more clearly, as they have increased that purity to a greater degree.

73. Therefore He says again: Sell what you possess, and give alms, and behold, all things shall be clean for you; as if to say that they no longer busy their minds with things concerning the body, but hasten to cleanse from hatred and licentiousness the mind—which the Lord denotes by the term "heart." For these things, by defiling the mind, do not allow it to see Christ, who dwells within it through the grace of the holy baptism. ^C

74. The Scripture calls the virtues 'ways.' But greater than all the virtues stands love. Therefore the Apostle said: I show you a still more excellent way; as it persuades one to despise material things, and to prefer nothing temporal to the eternal.

75. The love toward God resists desire; for it persuades the mind to be self-controlled against pleasures. But the love toward one’s neighbor resists anger; for it causes one to despise glory and riches. And these are the two denarii which the Savior gave to the innkeeper, so that he might take care of you. ^D But do not appear ungrateful by joining yourself to the robbers, lest, having been wounded again, you be found no longer half-dead, but actually dead.

^A

76. Cleanse your mind from anger, and from malice, and from filthy thoughts. And then you will be able to know the indwelling of Christ.

77. Who enlightened you into the faith of the holy and consubstantial and adorable Trinity? Or who made known to you the bodily dispensation of the one of the holy Trinity? Who taught you the doctrines concerning incorporeal beings, or those concerning the origin and consummation of the visible world? Or about the resurrection from the dead and eternal life, or about the glory of the kingdom of heaven, and the fearful judgment? Was it not the grace of Christ that dwells in you? Which is the earnest of the holy Spirit? What is greater than this grace? Or what is more excellent than this wisdom and knowledge? Or what is higher than those things which are promised? But if we are idle and slothful, and do not cleanse ourselves from the passions that hinder us and blind our mind, so that we might see the doctrines concerning these things more clearly than the sun, let us blame ourselves, and not deny the indwelling of grace. ^B

78. God, who promised you eternal goods and gave the earnest of the Spirit in your heart, commanded you to take care of your life, that the inner man, being liberated from the passions, might begin from this moment to enjoy the goods.

79. Having been counted worthy of divine and sublime contemplations, take great care of love and continence, so that, by keeping the part of the soul susceptible to passions undisturbed, you may possess the light of the soul unquenchable. ^C

80. Bridle the irascible part of your soul with love, and subdue its concupiscible part with continence, and make its rational part soar with prayer; and the light of the mind will never be darkened.

81. The things that dissolve love are these: for instance, dishonor, damage, calumny—whether regarding faith, or regarding life and conduct—beatings, wounds, and so forth; and these whether they happen to oneself, or are inflicted upon any of one's kinsmen or friends. Whoever, therefore, dissolves love for the sake of any of these things has not yet known what the goal of Christ's commandments is. ^D

82. Strive as much as you are able to love all men. But if you are not yet able to do this, at least hate no one. And you will not even be able to perform this, unless you despise the things of the world.

83. If someone speaks evil of you, do not hate him, but hate the evil-speaking, and the devil who prompted him to speak evil. But if you hate the one who spoke evil, you have hated a man, and you are guilty of violating the commandment; and what he did by word, you do by deed. But if you keep the commandment, show the fruits of love; and if you are able, help him, so that you may deliver him from the evil.

84. Christ does not want you to have hatred toward…

^A a man, or grief, or anger, or malice in any way at all, or for the sake of any temporal matter whatsoever. And the four Gospels cry this out in every way.

85. Many of us are those who speak, but few are those who do. Yet no one ought to corrupt the word of God because of his own negligence; rather, he should confess his own weakness, but not hide the truth of God, lest we be held guilty, with the transgression of the commandments and the misinterpretation of the word of God.

86. Love and self-control free the soul from the passions; reading and contemplation deliver the mind from ignorance; but the state of prayer ^B sets it before God Himself.

87. When the demons see us despising the things of this world, so that we do not hate men because of them and fall away from love, then they raise up slanders against us, so that, being unable to bear the grief, we might hate those who have slandered us.

88. There is no pain of the soul heavier than slander, whether one is slandered regarding faith, or regarding life and conduct; and no one can despise this, unless he be someone who looks only to God, like Susanna, who alone can deliver one from necessities just as He did for her, and who can satisfy men's minds, just as He did regarding her, and provide comfort to the soul through hope.

89. As much as you pray from the soul on behalf of the one who slandered you, so much does God restore the minds of those who were scandalized. ^C

90. God alone is good by nature; and he who imitates God is alone good by will. For His purpose is to unite the wicked to the One who is good by nature, so that they may become good. For this reason, He blesses those who revile Him; He endures those who persecute Him; He entreats those who blaspheme Him; He prays for those who kill Him. He does everything, so that He may not fall short of the goal of love.

91. The commandments of the Lord teach us to use intermediate things reasonably; and the reasonable use of intermediate things purifies the state of the soul; and a pure state brings forth discernment; and discernment brings forth freedom from passion, from which perfect love is born.

92. He who, because something tempting or rather harsh happens, ^D is unable to overlook the mistake of a friend, or whoever it may be, or whom he happens to think it is, has not yet attained freedom from passion and the tranquility of the soul with its affections calmed.

^A For the passions that dwell in the soul, when they are stirred up, blind the intellect and do not allow it to see the rays of truth, nor to distinguish the better from the worse. Therefore, such a person has not yet acquired perfect love, which casts out the fear of judgment.

93. A faithful friend is a strong shelter; ^B because he reckons the misfortunes of his friend as his own; and he suffers with him, enduring hardships even unto death.

94. Many are friends in times of prosperity; but in times of temptation, you will hardly find one.

95. Every human being is to be loved from the soul; but hope is to be placed in God alone, and He is to be served with all one’s might. For as long as He preserves us, all our friends cherish us, and all our enemies and adversaries can do us no harm. But when He abandons us, then all our friends turn away from us, and all our enemies prevail against us.

96. There are in general four modes of abandonment: the first is by way of dispensation and the counsel of provision, as in the case of Christ, so that through the abandonment that seemed to take place, those who had been abandoned might obtain salvation; the second is for the sake of probation, as in the case of Job and Joseph, so that the one might appear as a pillar of fortitude, ^C and the other as a pillar of chastity; the third is for the sake of spiritual instruction, as in the case of the Apostle, so that through humility of heart he might preserve the surpassing grace; the fourth is by way of turning away, as in the case of the Jews, so that through chastisement they might be humbled and transformed to repentance. Yet all these modes are salutary, and full of divine goodness and mercy.

97. Only those who are precise observers of the commandments, and genuine initiates of the divine judgments, do not abandon friends who are being tested by God’s permission. But those who despise the commandments, and are uninitiated in the divine judgments, when a friend is prospering, they share in his happiness; but when he is placed in temptation and suffers, they abandon him. ^D Nay, sometimes they even go over to the side of his adversaries.

98. The friends of Christ love everyone sincerely; yet they are not loved by everyone. But the friends of the world neither love everyone, nor are they loved by everyone. And indeed, the friends of Christ preserve the continuity of their love to the very end; whereas the friends of the world do so only until they offend one another over the things of this world.

99. A faithful friend is a strong shelter. For he is a good counselor to his friend when he is prospering, and a like-minded helper; and when he is suffering, a most genuine supporter and a most compassionate defender.

^A 100. Many have spoken much about love; but if you seek it only among the disciples of Christ, you will find it; for they alone possessed true Love, the teacher of love, concerning which he said: "If I have prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge, but have not love, I am nothing profited." He, therefore, who has gained love has gained God Himself, because God is love. To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen.

The end of the four hundred chapters on love.

SCHOLIA BY AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR

1. We who are able neither to teach nor to be taught by words or works, attempt to teach by words and discourses, and to become physicians of others while we ourselves are teeming with ulcers. Observe this, however: that not all things are easily grasped and understood by those who wish them to be, even if it seems so. And who would not marvel at ^B those who, with a swollen and proud mind, profess that they will teach these things even to luxury-loving women and infants?

2. The Apostle says: "But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him." Assuredly, He wishes us to be known by loving the Lord. But by being known, he means being taught, just as the great Gregory, who is great in both virtue and theology, says. This, I think, is the sense of this chapter also: imperturbability gives birth to love, and love is productive of the illumination of knowledge.

3. Whom does this thought not sting? I think, most of all, those who die for the sake of mammon; for it is the same as saying, for the sake of what they call the public (as though it were some treasury) and the ruler of the world. ^C

4. God "wishes all men to be saved," and He "died for all," so that all might obtain salvation. He, therefore, who loves God, guards what is willed by God. And guarding it, how will he not love all as himself, and wish all to be saved, since this is the will of God?

5. He calls faith the knowledge of God; and love, the observance of the commandments—which He also calls will, and justifications, and injunctions, and precepts, and light, according to the text: "Because Thy commands are light." And this chapter sets forth practical knowledge.

6. The cause of the virtues is God. And its knowledge in act is the transformation of the spirit according to the habit of one who has truly recognized God. ^D

7. Read chapter seventy-six of the same century, and you will find it completely similar, except that different names are used.

8. If the commandment of love was given as a remedy against anger, then surely self-control has been granted against concupiscence. Read chapter 79.

^A 9. Now we who are servants of these three, how much hatred do we nourish against one another, becoming wholly subject to the passion of insatiability? Read chapter 64.

10. Having stated in chapter 77 that by means of the commandments He makes us immune to passions and vices, he now shows in this chapter the method, namely, through love, fasting, self-control, and prayer.

11. Even someone endowed with spiritual knowledge is drawn back down and weighed down again.

12. We who are overwhelmed by passions and vices—how shall we contemplate? Or how can those things which we have contemplated not exclude us from the knowledge of the Holy Trinity?

13. Do you see the ascents of contemplation?

14. Just as there is no reason for unbelief within faith, so too in the rational principles that are derived from nature, there is nothing that is contrary to reason. The work of the commandments, however, is a principle put into action. ^B Read chapter 84, and you will find rest; you will surely find that the deed is sufficient for you.

15. Natural contemplation of the commandments, and sincere love for one’s neighbor, sets free those who observe them from perverse carnal love and tyranny. The knowledge of created things, however, delivers those who are spiritual and instructed in such things from oblivion and ignorance. By all these things, it is taught that the soul, divided into three parts and faculties, when moved according to reason and nature, performs every virtue; but when moved against reason and nature, it produces every vice and malice. Remember that these are the three original and supreme principles of all depravity and malice: namely, ignorance, that love of bodies or carnal love, and tyranny. The most wicked one planted these within us by misusing the powers of the soul within us.

16. The commandments strip the passionate thoughts of their conceptual images of objects, as he says in chapter 4 of this same century.

17. Those things performed contrary to the will of God—the good, acceptable, and perfect [will] (Rom. xii, 2), which is the affection of soul toward one’s neighbor for the sake of God—are done apart from the right end and goal. That being ill-disposed toward one’s neighbor is contrary to the will of God, the Lord shows in the Gospels when He says, "Inasmuch as you did it, or did not do it" (Matt. xxv, 40), enumerating the kinds of love and hatred. ^D Observe, however, that those who have acted contrary to the right goal—that is, contrary to the commandment of God—having cast off the sense of humanity, and having nothing in their defense, do not even seem to put forward an end and goal. This is because they know that he who acts contrary to the right goal of God, even if he puts forward countless arguments, will never escape hell.

18. The love of God halts concupiscence; but love for one's neighbor calms a soul exasperated by anger.

19. Those who turn visual materials into divine characters

^A abuse the concepts of the figures. For since the character signifies the person, they have supposed that the substance—that is, the material in which the figure is adored—is the figure itself. And hence, abusing the concept and the notion of the thing, they have necessarily abused the thing itself in reality; exactly as if they were to shamelessly think that the naked and mute material of the sacred figures and images should be destroyed by fire.

20. See the difference between sorrow and pain; and that they are appendages: the one of pleasure, the other of vainglory.

21. All these three following chapters strip us of every excuse for clinging to money.

22. By artificial wisdom he does not mean that which is acquired by learning, but that through which God created all things.

23. My mind is impure to the four. And it has something even worse, that it has deemed itself wiser than others.

24. My soul has never acted according to nature; he knows this, to whom nothing is unknown; and it has never ceased from being in the act of sin.

25. Therefore, since we do not do things for Christ, but for some other reason, we cannot set forth the end; for we act outside the purpose of God and according to our own will.

26. If anyone thirsts to take away and seize the things of others (which is not God's will), ^C how does he set forth the end, the purpose of whom is to have mercy on us and to lend?

27. That he who serves self-love is heavy-hearted, loving and seeking vanity and falsehood; which is the fleshly mind—that is, the luxury and good condition of the flesh.

28. From what has been said before, it is clear: of the love of pleasure, the love of glory, and the love of money. But if someone clings fast to these as I do, how he will be deemed worthy of the knowledge of God, I have no way of discerning.

29. For [we are] either as slaves, or as hired workers, or as sons; that is, either as practitioners only, or as ones deemed worthy of knowledge.

30. A thought that is without passion is simple; for that which is with passion and is lustful leads one away from God. Just as also, bare and simple knowledge does not lead one away from human things, but that which suffers love does; which is an alteration in the spirit according to habit.

31. That sons abstain from the passions through knowledge and love; but slaves and hired workers, that is, those who are practical, do so by either fear or hope.

32. And these things restrain those who have chosen to write; clearly showing the harm that comes from the end.

33. I think he was looking at us while writing these things.

gain is the reward of those who think they know: for if they had known, they would have gained this advantage, to make progress in knowledge.

35. When a simple and naked thought lingers, the affection is stirred; so that even when it is joined to a passion and is lustful, consent is given. ^A

36. Know, O Lord, how I am judged today, and for what cause; do not abandon us.

37. He cannot perform these things who trusts in his own reasonings, and thinks that he has already comprehended those things which, even after they have been comprehended, remain incomprehensible by nature.

38. Sadness and hatred are vices of the irrational part of the soul.

39. Observe how we are deceived, doing the opposite and thinking that we are living in a Christian manner; and, what is graver, we already imagine we possess spiritual love. ^B

40. Suppose someone has the passion of avarice: does he need to covet? If he gains the opportunity to covet, he is immediately exposed; and this is known.

41. See where long-suffering and where patience must be used. For although both are spoken of in relation to unavoidable and external trials, yet since the latter are divided into insulting words and blows, those who see them likewise divide these between them.

42. That through self-control and love, good knowledge is produced. ^C

43. And what are some passionate and haughty men babbling about, bragging that they have divine knowledge? It is out of passion and pride.

44. He who thinks that he has already comprehended and that he is ignorant of nothing, it is clear that he does not possess love. But if he does not possess it, how will he progress in knowledge?

45. Having thorns and thistles of wickedness ^D and ignorance, we hope to have virtue and spiritual knowledge.

46. He portrayed love more perfectly here, and revealed the two denarii to be love toward God and love toward one's neighbor.

47. That in the purification of the tripartite power of the soul, the knowledge of Christ is produced.

48. That of necessity those who are attached to worldly things fall away from holy love, and because of such things, they have an implacable hatred toward their fellow men.

49. In both cases the holy monk Cedonius suffered slander; but looking to the God of Susanna, he is strengthened by divine hope.

50. That he who is a slave to passion has his mind blinded, and, carrying about a blinded faculty of judgment, he cannot distinguish the better from the worse.

MONITORIUM

On the two hundred chapters concerning theology and the dispensation of the Word of God in the flesh

That I should prefer these two hundred chapters to the five hundred others published by Pico, and should append them immediately to the four hundred On Charity addressed to Elpidius, was determined by the dignity of the subject matter. For although both are entitled

On Theology and the Incarnate Economy

461

From the works of Photius.

Photius’ Censure.

OF OUR HOLY FATHER MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR, TWO HUNDRED CHAPTERS ON THEOLOGY AND THE INCARNATE DISPENSATION OF THE SON OF GOD

FIRST CENTURY OF CHAPTERS

^A 1. God is one, without beginning, incomprehensible, containing the entire power of being; and he who excludes every reason of time and mode of being is, as it were, inaccessible to all, and known to no created thing by any natural representation.

2. God is not, by his own nature (as it is possible for us to know), a beginning, nor a middle, nor an end; nor is he anything at all of those things which, as subsequent to him, are understood by nature to exist in them. For he is immense and immovable and infinite, being infinitely superior to every substance, power, and operation.

3. Every substance that brings its own definition with it is by nature a beginning, ^B of the motion observed in it according to power. But every natural motion toward an operation, which is understood as being posterior to the substance but prior to the operation, is a middle, as being by nature interposed between the two as a medium. And every operation, defined by nature according to the reason proper to it, is the end of the essential motion that is, in thought, prior to it.

4. God is not substance, in the sense of the substance that is simply or in any way called such, so as to be a beginning; nor is he power or faculty, in the sense of the power or faculty that is simply or in any way called such, so as to be a middle; nor, finally, is he operation or action, in the sense of the operation or action that is simply or in any way called such, so as to be an end and essential limit of that motion which is understood as being prior to it according to power; ^C but he is a substance-making and super-substantial entity; and a power-making and super-powerful foundation; and a habit productive and endless of every operation; and, to speak briefly, he is the maker of every substance and power and operation, of beginning, middle, and end.

CENTURY I OF THE CHAPTERS ON THEOLOGY AND ECONOMY

5. ^A Beginning, middle, and end are properties of those things which are divided by time; nor would one err if he said [they are properties] also of those things which are understood in the aeon and the age. For time, having its motion measured, is circumscribed by numbers; but the aeon, having the category of "when" conceived along with its existence, suffers separation, as having received a beginning of being. If, then, time and the aeon are not without beginning, much more so are the things contained within them. God, enclosing the whole of "properly being" in every way within Himself, is superior even to that very "properly being." If this is so, in no way does anything of the things said to be, anywhere, possess the whole of "properly being." Therefore, nothing whatever is contemplated along with Him, from eternity, as distinct in essence: neither aeon, nor time, nor anything of the things dwelling in them. For "properly being" and "not properly being" do not ever coincide with one another.

6. ^B God is the one and only [being] truly and properly by nature, as one who contains and comprehends in Himself, in every way, the whole power of being, so that He stands out by that very being, truly and properly. If this is so, there is absolutely nothing of the things which are said to be which has being truly and properly. Therefore, nothing at all is understood from eternity, distinct by way of essence, together with Him as a fellow-being; not an aeon or age, nor anything of the things that exist within them. For it never comes to be that "to be truly and properly" and "not to be truly and properly" might correspond or concur.

7. ^C Every beginning and middle and end rejects every habit and relation completely, since they are compared to other things. But God, who infinitely and boundlessly exceeds every habit and relation completely, is deservedly neither a beginning nor a middle nor an end; nor is He at all anything else of those things in which a category—what they call "relative"—can be understood by comparison of equals.

8. ^D All things that exist are said to be "understood," having indemonstrable principles for the knowledge concerning them; but God is said to be not understood, but is believed to exist solely from the things that are understood; for which reason none of the things understood is in any way compared to Him.

9. The knowledges of things that exist have their own reasons, connected naturally toward demonstration, by which they are naturally defined; but God is believed to exist only through the reasons that are in these things. Giving to the pious an acknowledgment and faith [in the fact] that He is properly [God], which is stronger than any demonstration, for faith is true knowledge, having indemonstrable principles, as it is the substance of things existing beyond mind and reason.

10. God is the beginning of things that exist, and the middle and end—

God, as acting, but not suffering; just as all other things which are named by us. For He is the beginning as Creator; and the middle, as Provider; and the end, as the boundary. For, as it says, "Of him, and through him, and to him are all things." ^B

11. There is no soul using reason that is superior by essence to another soul using reason. For God, being good, in creating all souls according to His own image, brings forth each into being as self-moving; and each one, according to its own purpose, chooses either honor or, of its own accord, draws upon itself infamy and disgrace through its works.

12. God is the sun of righteousness, as it is written, radiating the beams of His goodness to all simply. The soul, however, is such that it is naturally inclined to become, by its own judgment, either as wax, if it be a lover of God, or as clay, if it be more addicted to earthly things. Just as, then, clay by its nature is dried by the heat of the sun, whereas wax is naturally softened, so too every soul, if it be more affected by earthly and worldly love, when admonished and rebuked by God, hardens in its will like clay, and—in the manner of Pharaoh—drives itself toward ruin and destruction. But every soul that is a lover of God is softened like wax, and receiving the forms and impressions of divine things, it becomes a dwelling-place of God in the Spirit. ^C

13. The one who has enlightened the mind with divine thoughts, and has accustomed the reason to honor the Creator unceasingly with divine hymns, and has sanctified the sense perception with pure and immaculate images—that person has added the voluntary good of "likeness" to the natural good of "the image."

14. One preserves the soul for God without stain if he forces his intellect to meditate only on God and His virtues; and makes his reason a correct interpreter and teacher of those same virtues; and teaches his sense perception to piously contemplate the visible world and all that is in it, reflecting the magnificence of the reasons within them to the soul. ^D

15. God has delivered us from the harsh oppression of the demons, and has bestowed upon us the very mild yoke of religious piety (that is, the modest sense of the soul, or rather, humility); because, then, all the power of the devil is subdued.

^A And all good is provided to those who have chosen it, preserved uninjured and inviolate.

16. He who believes is seized by fear; but he who is seized by fear is humbled; and he who is humbled becomes mild, having received an inactive disposition toward the unnatural motions of anger and desire. But the mild person keeps the commandments; he who keeps the commandments is purified; he who is purified is illuminated; and he who is illuminated is deemed worthy, in the inner chamber of the mysteries, to lie with the Word, the Bridegroom. ^B

17. Just as a farmer, looking for a suitable piece of land to transplant some wild trees, stumbles upon an unexpected treasure; so too does every ascetic who is humble-minded and guileless, and smooth in soul regarding material roughness, proceed like the most blessed Jacob, when his father asked him about the manner of his knowledge: "What is this that you found so quickly, my son?" He answers, saying: "That which the Lord God delivered before me." For when God delivers to us the wise theorems of His own wisdom—the most ingenious reasons and contemplations—without labor, to us who were not expecting them, we should consider that we have suddenly found a spiritual treasure. For the proven Exercitant is a spiritual farmer, who transplants the speculation of things subject to the eyes, which are perceived by the senses—just as a wild tree—into the soil of spiritual things and those which are understood by the mind, and finding the treasure, that is, the manifestation of the wisdom existing in things which is by grace. ^C

18. Knowledge of divine theorems suddenly falling upon the monk who does not expect it because of his humility, breaks the spirit of one who seeks this with labor and toil for the sake of ostentation, and does not find it; and it generates in the foolish person groundless envy toward his brother, and a meditation on murder, and sorrow for himself, because he lacks the puffing up that comes from praise.

19. Those who seek knowledge with toil, and fail, either fail because of unbelief, or perhaps because they are about to be unskillfully arrogant and contentious against those who possess knowledge, like the people of old against Moses. To whom the law will forcefully say that some, having used force, went up into the mountain, ^D and the Amorite who dwelt in that mountain came out and wounded them. For it is necessary that those who feign virtue for the sake of ostentation not only fail, adulterating piety, but also that they be wounded by their own conscience.

20 ^A He who strives after knowledge for the sake of ostentation, and fails to attain it, should neither envy his neighbor nor grieve in his soul; but rather, as it is commanded, let him prepare himself in the neighborhood of such things—that is to say, by laboring diligently in the body to cultivate virtue, so that he may prepare and dispose his soul for knowledge.

21. Those who set about these things rightly and with piety, and who devise no methods of ostentation, will find the most brilliant contemplations of things meeting them halfway, producing in them a most precise understanding of them. To them the Law says: "Entering, inherit great and beautiful cities, and houses full of all good things, which you did not build; and hewn cisterns, which you did not hew; and vineyards and olive groves, which you did not plant." ^B For he who lives not for himself, but for God, becomes filled with all divine gifts—gifts which, until now, had not appeared due to the onrush of passions and the consequent disturbance and tumult.

22. Just as "sensation" is spoken of in two ways—the one by habit, which is present even when we are asleep, and perceives none of the objects [of sense], and, because it is not directed toward operation, is useless; and sensation in act, through which we perceive things that fall into the senses—so too is knowledge twofold. The one is scientific, merely reading the reasons of things by habit alone, which is of no benefit unless it extends toward the active fulfillment of the commandments. The other is practical, devoted to action in deed, which brings the true understanding of things through experience.

^C 23. The hypocrite, as long as he seems to escape notice, remains quiet and silent. But if he is once caught, he puts forward virulent speeches, thinking that by the reproaches which he casts upon others he will cover his own shame. The Word [of Scripture], having compared him to the "offspring of vipers" * on account of his cunning, as one who is double-tongued, commands him to produce fruits worthy of repentance: that is to say, to transform the hidden disposition of the heart into that external and visible honesty of character.

24. Some say that any animal not judged clean by the law concerning those living in the air, on the land, and in the sea is a "beast," even if it appears tame by nature; and the Word uses the names of these to designate everyone according to their own particular vices.

25. He who feigns friendship to the harm of his neighbors is a wolf, covering the depravity of his own cunning mind with a sheep's skin. ^D When he finds someone of simpler character, or a word that...

might be thought or said according to a Christian disposition and far removed from all duplicity, he immediately seizes it and corrupts it, bespattering with innumerable accusations those into whose conversation or behavior he inveighs, acting indeed as a spy upon the freedom of the brethren which is in Christ Jesus ^A.

26. ^B He who feigns silence for the sake of malice plots deceit against his neighbor; failing in this, he departs, having added pain to his own disease and affection. But he who is silent for the sake of profit increases friendship, and will depart rejoicing, as one who has obtained an illumination by which the darkness is dispelled.

27. He who rashly interrupts the hearing of words in a meeting of brethren is not unaware that he is suffering from the disease of vainglory; caught by this, he throws out numberless paths and side-paths of arguments, wishing to break the sequence of what is being said.

28. The wise man, both teaching and being taught, wishes only to learn and teach those things that are useful. But he who falsely appears wise, whether asking questions or being asked, suggests only those things that are over-curious.

29. He who has shared in good things according to the grace of God is under an obligation to impart them generously to others. For, He says, freely you have received, freely give. For he who hides the gift under the earth accuses the Lord of being hard and austere, denying the cultivation of virtue to spare his flesh. But he who sells the truth to the enemies, being desirous of glory and unable to bear the shame, when he is later caught and convicted, hangs himself as a vainglorious man.

30. To those who are still fearful of the war against the passions, and who dread the incursion of invisible enemies, silence is necessary; that is, they must not handle the way of refutation on behalf of virtue, but rather yield their concern for themselves to God by prayer; to whom it is said in Exodus: The Lord will fight for you, and you will be silent. But those who, having already destroyed their pursuers, seek out the ways of the virtues for grateful instruction, need only have the ear of their mind opened; to whom He says, Hear, O Israel. To him, however, who, on account of his purity, fervently desires divine knowledge, filial confidence is appropriate; to whom it will be said, Why do you cry to Me? Therefore, to him for whom silence has been commanded out of fear, only flight to God is appropriate; to him whom it is commanded to hear, readiness to obey the divine commandments is becoming; but to the gnostic, crying out incessantly through supplication is suitable, as much for the averting of evils as for thanksgiving for the participation in good things.

31. A soul can never be stretched toward the knowledge of God unless God Himself, having used condescension, touches it and lifts it up to Himself. ^B

as much as it is possible for a human mind to be lifted up, and illuminates it with His own divine rays.

^B 32. He who imitates the disciples of the Lord does not refrain, out of fear of the Pharisees, from doing what is necessary on the Sabbath by walking through the grain fields and plucking the ears of corn; but, having attained the tranquility of an imperturbable mind after the labors of action, he gathers the inner meanings of what has happened, being piously nourished by the divine knowledge of existing things.

33. He who according to the Gospel is only a believer moves the mountain of his own wickedness through action, casting away from himself the former disposition he had toward those things which fall under sense perception, due to their unstable instability. But he who is able to be a disciple, receiving the fragments of the gnostic loaves into his hands from the Word, feeds thousands, showing through action the power of the Word as it is multiplied. And he who has also been able to advance to be an apostle heals every disease and every infirmity, casting out demons—that is to say, putting to flight the activity of the passions—healing the sick, leading those who have been deprived of the habit of piety back to it through hope, and binding those who have become soft through sloth with the word of judgment. For he who has been commanded to tread upon serpents and scorpions destroys the beginning and the end of sin.

34. An apostle is thoroughly both a disciple and a believer; but a disciple is not indeed altogether an apostle, yet he is thoroughly a believer. He who is only a believer, however, is neither a disciple nor an apostle. Yet it is possible, by duly appointed methods of life and the cultivation of contemplation, for the third to pass over to the class and dignity of the second, and for the second to that of the first.

35. Whatever things are produced in time according to the nature of time, once they reach maturity and become adult, stop, with natural growth ceasing, and rest from motion. But whatever things are brought about by the knowledge of God through the principles of virtue, when they have already become perfect and adult, are moved again toward a greater increase. For their ends become the beginnings of other things. For he who has brought to rest within himself, through the practice of the virtues, the substance of those things that perish, has begun other, more divine formations; for God never ceases from good things, of which He Himself had no beginning. For just as it is the property of light to illuminate, so it is the property of God to do good. Wherefore, by the Law, He [abolishes] the beginning and end of the [things temporal].

order, the Sabbath is honored by cessation of work and rest; but in the Gospel, which imparts the state and reason of things spiritual and perceived by the mind, it is magnificently brightened and illustrated by the beneficence of good works. And though they may be indignant and bear it ill, of whom it is not yet explored that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; and that the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath. 36. ^A There is, in the Law and in the Prophets, both a Sabbath and Sabbaths, and Sabbaths of Sabbaths; just as there is also circumcision, and the circumcision of circumcision: and harvest, and the harvest of harvest, according to that which is written: "When you reap your harvests." There is, therefore, the first Sabbath, [which is] the goal of that philosophy which consists in the cult of action, in natural speculation, and in divine knowledge. The second, [however], is the dismissal of generation and of the reasons pertaining to generation. The third, finally, is the intake and enjoyment of the reasons [or logoi] more spiritual, which transcend sensation and intellect. And this happens in a threefold manner in each of the things mentioned, so that the spiritual man and one advanced in knowledge may know the reasons according to which Moses, dying outside the holy land, keeps the Sabbath; and Jesus son of Nave, having crossed the Jordan, circumcises; and they who inherit the good land offer to God the harvest of the double harvest [mentioned] by way of superabundance.

37. The Sabbath is the imperturbability and tranquility of a rational soul; that is to say, of one which, by the cult of action and discipline, has utterly cast off the marks and scars of sin. ^C

38. Sabbaths are the liberty of a rational soul; [the liberty] of one, namely, which, through natural contemplation in the spirit, has repelled its very nature-driven operation toward sensation.

39. The Sabbath of Sabbaths is the spiritual cessation and rest of a rational soul; [the rest] of one which has drawn back the mind even from those reasons that are in the things which are more divine, and has bound it entirely to God alone by an erotic ecstasy, and has made it utterly immovable [and attached] to God through mystical theology.

40. ^D Circumcision is the casting off of the lustful affection of the mind, by which generation and becoming consists.

41. The circumcision of circumcision is the total abdication and amputation of even those natural movements of the mind concerning generation and becoming.

42. Harvest is [the state] of a rational soul, [the state of it] according to virtue.

43. There is a harvest, accessible to all, ^A which is the gathering and knowledge of the reasons of beings, joined with understanding, and which follows upon the mystical contemplation of intelligible things—a knowledge of God that comes to pass unknowably in the mind, which he who fittingly honors the Creator from visible and invisible creatures offers up as is worthy.

44. There is also another, more spiritual harvest, which is called the harvest of God himself; and another, more mystical circumcision; and another, more profound Sabbath, in which God, sabbatizing from his own works, gives rest, according to the saying: *The harvest indeed is plentiful; but the laborers are few.* And: *Circumcision of the heart in the spirit.* And: *God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it he ceased from all his works which God had begun to do.*

45. The harvest of God is the fixed and absolute dwelling and establishm^Bent for those who are worthy, taking place in him at the consummation of the ages.

46. Circumcision of the heart in the spirit is the complete removal, through the presence of the Spirit, of the natural operations of sense and mind regarding things perceived by sense or understood by the mind, by which both body and soul are entirely transformed toward that which is more divine.

47. The Sabbath of God is the complete return of created things into him, by which he makes his most divine operation—in a manner arcane and explainable by no words—to cease from their natural operation. For God does perhaps cease and rest from the natural operation in each thing, by which it is natural for each of the beings to be moved, when each of the beings, having arrived at the divine operation in proportion to its capacity, defines ^C its own natural operation toward God.

48. Studious men must inquire what works God began to create, and what, again, he did not begin. For if he ceased from all the works which he began to do, it is clear that he did not cease from those which he did not begin to do. Might it be, then, that the works of God which began to be in time are all things that participate, for instance, the diverse substances or natures and essences of things? For non-being (which they call nothing) has a priority over their being. For there was once a time when the things that participate were not. But the works of God which did not begin to be in time are those things which have the power to be participated in, of which the things that are participate by the gift of God; ^D of this sort are, for example, goodness, and whatever is contained under the category of goodness. And simply all life, and immortality, and simplicity, and immutability, and infinity, and all those things which are essentially contemplated around him—these are also the works of God, and they have not begun in time. For there was never a time before virtue, [nor] before anything else of the things mentioned; even if the things participating in them of themselves, have their beginning of being in time.

^A As every virtue is without beginning, having no time prior to itself, since it has God as its most singular and eternal Begetter.

49. God is infinitely and beyond all measure removed from all things that exist, both those that participate and those that are participated in. For whatever has the account of being predicated of it is a work of God, even if the one began to be in time according to generation, while the other is innate to created things as a kind of natural power, clearly proclaiming God who is in all things.

50. All immortal things and immortality itself, all living things and life itself, all holy things and holiness itself, all virtuous things and virtue itself, all good things and goodness itself, and all existing things and existence itself, are manifestly the works of God. Yet some began to exist in time (for there was a time when they were not), while others did not begin in time. For there was never a time when virtue, goodness, holiness, and immortality were not. And those things which began in time exist and are called by participation in those that did not begin in time, being and being called what they are. For God is the creator of all life and immortality, of holiness and virtue; for He exists above the essence of all things that are conceived or spoken of.

51. The sixth day, according to Scripture, suggests ^C the completion of things that are under nature; the seventh describes the movement of temporal property; the eighth signifies the mode of the state that is above nature and time.

52. He who observes the sixth day only according to the law, fleeing the dominion of the passions that oppress the soul in act, passes fearlessly through the sea into the desert, keeping the Sabbath solely by the cessation of the passions. But he who has crossed the Jordan, and has abandoned even that state which is only at rest from the passions, has come into the inheritance of the virtues.

53. He who observes the sixth day in an evangelical manner, having first killed the initial movements of sin, reaches through the virtues the state of dispassion, which is a desert void of all vice; observing the Sabbath in the mind, even from the bare ^D thought of the passions.

^A At, who has crossed the Jordan, migrates into the region of knowledge; in which the mind, mystically built up by peace, becomes a habitation of God in the spirit.

54. ^B He who has divinely completed the sixth day with the appropriate works and thoughts, and has himself also, together with God, brought his own works to a successful conclusion, has passed by his understanding beyond every substance subject to nature and time, and has migrated to the mystical contemplation of the ages and of those things that are eternal within them, sabbatizing ignorantly in his mind, with an immaterial abandonment and transcendence of all things that exist. But he who has been deemed worthy of the eighth stage has risen from the dead—I mean from all things that are subsequent to God, both sensible and intelligible, and from all concepts and thoughts—and has lived the blessed life of God, of Him who alone is truly and properly called Life and who exists as such, having himself also become god through deification.

55. ^C The sixth day is the complete fulfillment of the practical exercises concerning virtue that are according to nature; the seventh day, however, is the termination and rest of all natural thoughts and of the soul's reasonings concerning the ineffable knowledge of all things; ^D while the eighth day is the transition and passage to deification for those who are worthy. And perhaps the Lord, hinting more abstruse-ly at this seventh and eighth day, called them the day and hour of consummation, as they circumscribe the mysteries and logoi of all things. Neither the heavenly nor the earthly Powers will be able to know these at all before the experience of suffering, except for the blessed Deity Itself, who performs these things.

56. The sixth day signifies the logos of the existence of beings; the seventh day reveals the mode of their well-being and blessedness; the eighth day, finally, discloses the hidden mystery of their ever-well-being and ever-blessedness.

57. Knowing that the sixth day is a symbol of practical activity, which is devoted to action and the discipline of character, let us fulfill in it the entire obligation of the works of virtue, so that it may be said of us also: *And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good* (Gen. 1, 31).

58. He fulfills the obligation of the good work, which merits praise from God, who through the body diligently labors and brings to completion in the soul the ordered adornment of the virtues.

59. He who has fulfilled the Preparation—as we call the preparation of the works of righteousness—has passed on to the rest of the

contemplation; for having embraced in a manner worthy of God the reasons of all things, he rests from the movement of the mind concerning them. ^B

60. He who has become a participant in the seventh-day rest of God, becomes also, because of us, a participant in the eighth [day] operation of deification (that is to say, the mystical resurrection); for he himself leaves the linen cloths lying in the tomb, and the head-cloth—the sudarium—which had been placed upon his head. Those, moreover, who behold these things, if any be [a] Peter or [a] John, will believe that the Lord has risen.

61. The tomb is perhaps the tomb of the Master, or this world, or the heart of each of the faithful. The linen cloths are the reasons/logoi of sensible things along with the ways of virtue; the sudarium is the knowledge of intelligible things, together with the theology that is possible, simple and devoid of any complexity, by means of which the Word was known before, having a comprehension surpassing these for us, who—apart from these—would find Him entirely incomprehensible.

62. Those who bury the Lord honorably, will behold Him rising gloriously; to all others who are not of this sort, He is invisible. For He is no longer exposed to the plots of enemies, having no longer the outward coverings, by which He seemed to want to be captured by those who desired it, and sustained [suffering] for the salvation of all.

63. He who buries the Lord honorably is venerable to all who love God; for he has rightfully carried Him, who was nailed to the wood, away from triumph and reproach, not leaving Him to be a subject of blasphemy for unbelievers, as one exposed to public ignominy, but has freed Him from it. As for those who place seals upon the tomb, and set soldiers as guards, they are hateful for this undertaking; for they slander the Word, even when He has risen, as if He were stolen, bribing [others] with money, just as [they did] the false disciple for his betrayal. (By "the false disciple" I mean the ostentatious way of virtue, and similarly they hire the soldiers for the slander of the risen Savior.) ^C The gnostic knows the significance of these things; he is not ignorant how and in how many ways the Lord is crucified, and buried, and rises again; for he renders as dead the passionate thoughts [logismoi] that sit within the heart at the instigation of demons, and those that divide—like garments—the ways of moral excellence in times of temptation. And he surmounts, like seals, those imprints upon the soul of sins [committed] through prepossession, and crosses over them as if they were brands [stigmata] adhering to the soul.

64. Every lover of money, who feigns virtue for the sake of piety, as soon as he finds a way and method to acquire the material [things] he desires, abjures the conduct by which he was previously thought to be a disciple of the Word.

65. When you see some proud men not bearing to be praised—[those] who are better than themselves—and struggling to make the proclaimed truth unspoken, hindering it with myriad temptations and impious slanders, reflect for me that the Lord is being crucified again by them. ^D

^A And he is to be buried; and he is to be guarded by soldiers and by seals. The Word, overturning these things by their own machinations, rises again: the more He is impugned, the more He shines forth, because He is surely hardened in the things He endures toward impassibility and imperturbability. For He is stronger than all things, as He is the truth and is called such.

66. The mystery of the incarnation of the Word has the power of all the enigmas and figures in Scripture, and the knowledge of created things, both those seen by the eyes and those understood by the mind. And he who has known the mystery of the cross and burial has known the reasons for the things previously mentioned; but he who has been initiated into the secret power of the resurrection has known the purpose for the sake of which God first established all things. ^B

67. All visible things have need of the cross; that is, of a disposition that restrains the affect and habit toward them of those things being acted upon by sense. All intelligible things, however, have need of burial; that is, of a total cessation and quiet of those things being acted upon by the mind. For with the affect or habit, and the natural operation and movement toward any things whatsoever being removed, the Word alone appears by Himself, as if raised from the dead, having all things that are from Him according to circumscription, although no thing at all has any affinity with Him by natural habit. For it is by grace, and not by nature, that the elect attain salvation. ^C

68. Among relative things are also the ages, and the times, and the places; without which, nothing of those things conceived together with them exists. But God is not among relative things; for He has nothing at all conceived together with Him. If, therefore, God Himself is the inheritance and possession of the saints, he who has merited to attain this gift will be above all ages and times and places, having God Himself as his place, according to what is written: "Be to me a God, a protector, and a fortified place, to save me" (Ps. lxx, 5).

69. The end has nothing at all in common with a middle; otherwise, it would not be an end. But a middle is all those things that are behind the end, after the beginning. If, therefore, all the ages and the times and the places, together with all things conceived together with them, are after God, ^D who is the beginning without beginning; and as they exist far behind Him as an infinite end, they do not differ at all from a middle; but God is the end of those who are saved, no notion of a middle will be understood as accompanying these, who have become like the supreme end.

^A The whole world is limited by its own ratios, and is called both place and age, of those dwelling within it; having by nature the modes of contemplation [theorematon] inherent in it, it is able to generate in them a partial understanding of the wisdom of God that is over all things. As long as they use these for understanding, they cannot be without a middle and a partial apprehension. But since that which is in part shall be rendered void when the perfect has appeared, and all mirrors and enigmas shall pass away, with the truth that is face to face arriving, the one who is saved and perfected according to God shall be above all worlds, ages, and places, by which he was hitherto being led like an infant.

69 Pilate is a type of the law according to nature; the multitude of the Jews is a type of the written law. Whoever, therefore, relying on faith, has not risen above these two laws, cannot receive the truth which is above nature and [discursive] reason; but he will entirely crucify the Word, judging the Gospel to be a stumbling-block as a Jew, or foolishness as a Greek.

70 When you see Herod and Pilate ^B becoming friends with each other for the removal of Jesus, then understand the concurrence to the same end: of the demon of fornication and of the demon of vainglory agreeing with each other to put to death the word of virtue and knowledge. For the demon of vainglory, pretending [to offer] spiritual knowledge, sends [the soul] over to the demon of fornication; and the demon of fornication, pretending to [offer] purity by his withdrawal for a time, sends it back to the demon of vainglory. Therefore, the Scripture says, *Herod, having clothed Jesus in a bright robe, sent him back to Pilate.*

71 It is good not to allow the mind to pay attention to the flesh and to the passions. *For they do not gather,* it says, *figs from thorns*—that is, virtue from passions; *nor grapes from a thornbush*—that is, the knowledge that gladdens the soul from the flesh.

72 By the endurance of temptations ^C the ascetic is tested, and by bodily disciplining is cleansed, and by the careful study of high contemplations is perfected, and is deemed worthy of divine consolation. For the Lord, says Moses, *comes from Sinai*—that is, from temptations; *and He appeared*...

^A from Mount Pharan with ten thousand of Kadesh; that is, from the mountain of the faith, with myriads of holy knowledges.

75. Herod holds the place of the disposition of the flesh; Pilate, of sense; Caesar, of the things that fall under sense; the Jews, of the rational faculties of the soul and its thoughts. Since, therefore, the soul, through ignorance, clings to the things that fall under sense, it delivers up the Word to sense unto death, confirming for itself, by its own profession, the empire of corruptible things. For the Jews say: *We have no king but Caesar* ^B.

76. Herod holds the place of the operation of the passions and iniquities; Pilate, of the habit deceived by them; Caesar, of the ruler of this dark world; the Jews, of the soul. Whenever, therefore, the soul, having been subjected to the passions, delivers up virtue enslaved to the habit of malice, it openly renounces the kingdom of God, and passes over to the destructive tyranny of the devil.

77. It does not suffice for the soul unto spiritual rejoicing that the passions be subjected, unless it also acquires virtues through the fulfillment of the commandments. *Do not rejoice,* He says, *because the demons are subjected to you* ^C—that is, the operations of the passions—*but because your names are written in heaven*—by the grace of adoption through the practice of the virtues, inscribed in the place and dwellings of imperturbability and of the most tranquil state.

78. It is entirely necessary for one who excels in knowledge and devotes himself to the study of contemplation, that he should also abound in the virtues through action. *For he who has a purse,* he says—that is, excels in spiritual knowledge—*let him likewise take a scrip*—that is, the abundance of the virtues that ^D copiously and liberally nourish the soul; *but he who does not have a purse and scrip*—that is, knowledge and virtue—*let him sell his garment, and buy a sword*. He says, let him readily deliver his own flesh to the labors of the virtues, and wisely undertake, on behalf of the peace of God, the war against the passions and the demons; that is, let him acquire a habit of this kind, which, in the Word of God, distinguishes what is worse from what is better (namely, vice from virtue).

79. The Lord appears and is manifest when He is thirty years old; for by this numerical principle He secretly teaches those who are more discerning the mysteries concerning Himself. For the number thirty, when understood mystically, introduces the Lord as the Creator and provident Governor of time, of nature, and of those things which are perceived by the mind above visible nature. Of time, indeed, through the seven, for time is heptadic; of nature, through the five, for nature is pentadic, being divided in five ways according to sensation; and of intelligible things, through the eight...

^A (for the origin and source of intelligible things exists as a period superior to time); and of providence, through the ten, both because of the holy decad of the commandments, which leads men toward a well-ordered life, and because the name of the Lord, when He became man, began from that element which is the character of that number. Having therefore joined the five, the seven, the eight, and the ten, you complete the number thirty. He, then, who knows how to follow the Lord as a Guide and Author well, will not be ignorant of the reason why He also appears at thirty years of age, being able to preach the Gospel of the kingdom. For when anyone, in an irreproachable manner, as though it were a visible nature, has established the world of the virtues according to practice, not altering the period of the soul—which, as it were, happens through opposite things—and through contemplation has faultlessly harvested the knowledge ^B of intelligible things, and has been able to providentially instill this same habit in others, then he too, whatever his bodily age may be, exists spiritually at thirty years of age, manifesting in others the power of his own goods.

80. He who is paralyzed by the pleasures of the body is neither active toward virtue nor swift toward knowledge. Whence he does not even possess a man—that is, a prudent reasoning—so that when the water is troubled, he might cast himself into the pool, that is, into the virtue receptive of knowledge, which heals every ailment, unless—perhaps through lethargy—the sick man, delaying, is forestalled by another who prevents him from attaining healing. Hence, he lies in his illness for thirty-eight years. For he who does not look at the visible creation to the glory of God, and does not piously raise his thought toward the intelligible nature, rightfully remains sick for the aforementioned number of years. For the number thirty, taken naturally, signifies the sensible nature; just as, when considered practically, it signifies practical virtue. But the number eight, understood naturally, ^C signifies the intelligible nature of the incorporeal beings; just as, when contemplated gnostically, it signifies the all-wise theology. To these, he who is not moved toward God remains paralyzed, until the Word comes and teaches him the short way of healing, saying: "Arise, take up your bed, and walk"—meaning, to rouse the mind from the self-indulgence that possesses it, and to take up the body on the shoulders of the virtues, and to depart to the house, namely, heaven, being urged onward. For it is good, under ^D the leadership of the Better, to take up the worse on the shoulders of practice, for the sake of virtue, or rather [to have] the Higher...

through [our] softening, be carried by the worse toward the love of pleasure. ^A

81. As long as we have not fully gone beyond the realm of our own substance and nature and [that] of all things after God, by way of the intellect, we have not yet obtained the state of immutability which is bestowed through virtue. But when, through love, we have attained this dignity, then shall we know the power of the divine promise. For it must be believed that those who are worthy and upright are to be found in a firm and immovable station, where the mind, having anticipated [this] through love, has taken root in its own power. For he who has not gone beyond himself and everything that can in any way be thought, and has not stood in the silence that surpasses every thought of the mind, cannot be entirely exempt from change. ^B

82. Every thought or intellection certainly has the appearance of multitude or, at the very least, of duality. For it is a certain relation between two extremes, joining together both the one that thinks and the one that is thought. Neither, by its nature, is able to preserve simplicity. For the one that thinks is a certain subject, having joined to it, as its companion, the power of thinking; and the one that is thought is also some subject, or is in a subject—having joined to it the power of being thought, or the pre-existing substance whose power it is. For nothing at all among existing things is, in itself, a simple substance or intellection, so as to be an indivisible monad. ^C But God, whether we call Him substance, is not such that the power of being thought is naturally joined to Him, lest He be composite; nor, if we call Him intellection, does He have a subject substance naturally receptive of thought; but God is, according to His substance, intellect; and He is all intellect, and ^D

He is understood, lest he be composite; or rather, he does not have a nature as a subject substance that is capable of intellection and receives it, but God himself is intellection by essence; and he is entirely intellection, and entirely ^A intellection by essence, and entirely substance and solely so; and entirely beyond substance, and entirely beyond intellection, because he is also an indivisible, impartible, and simple monad. Therefore, whoever has intellection according to any thought has not yet departed from the dyad; but he who has completely abandoned this has, in some manner, come to be in the monad, having laid aside the power of thinking in a transcendent way.

83. On the difference among creatures and the simplicity of God

83. In the many, there is difference, dissimilarity, and distinction; but in God, who exists truly as one and alone, there is only identity, simplicity ^B, and likeness. It is not safe, therefore, to apply your mind to contemplations concerning God before you have departed from the many. Moses declares this, when he set up the tabernacle of his mind outside the camp, and only then came into conversation with God. For it is not without danger to attempt to speak and declare in that kind of speech which is uttered by the mouth him who exceeds all power of speech; for such speech is dual, and it is something more. But to consider and contemplate him who is, with the soul alone without voice, that is indeed most powerful, because it stands in the indivisible monad and not in the many. For the high priest, who is commanded to enter inside the veil into the Holy of Holies only once a year, ^C teaches that only he who has traversed the courts and the holy places, and has come inside into the Holy of Holies—that is, he who has gone beyond the entire nature of things perceived by the senses and those understood by the mind, and has become pure from every property of origin—it is he who, with a naked and unclothed mind, should approach the visions concerning God.

84. Great Moses, having pitched his own tabernacle outside the camp—that is, having established his judgment and mind outside of visible things—begins to worship God; and having entered into the cloud, the unseen and immaterial place of knowledge, ^D he remains there, performing the most sacred mysteries and being initiated into them.

^A 85. The cloud is the unseen, immaterial, and bodiless state, which possesses the exemplary knowledge of all things; within which he who has entered, like another Moses, considers with his mortal nature the things that are invisible. Through this knowledge, having painted on himself the beauty of the divine virtues, as a painting that clearly and well possesses the likeness of the archetypal beauty, he descends; he puts himself forward as an example to those who possess the desire to imitate virtue, and in this he demonstrates the goodness and abundance of the grace he has received.

86. Those who pursue the philosophy according to God without stain, find the greatest profit from the knowledge that belongs to it; namely, that their mind no longer changes along with things and their shifts, but with constant firmness, they undertake with a ready and eager spirit whatever virtue conforms to reason.

87. We who have been baptized first in Christ in the flesh through the Spirit, wait for the final corruption [having acquired the first incorruption], according to Him in the Spirit; by the increase of good works, clearly, and by that death which is provided by the intention of the soul, while keeping the former unpolluted. He who has attained this fears no loss of the goods that he possesses.

88. To those upon the earth, God, willing to send down from heaven for the sake of mercy the gift of divine virtue, symbolically constructed the sacred tabernacle and all its vessels; which was undoubtedly an express image, figure, and reflection of wisdom.

89. The grace of the New Testament is mystically hidden in the letter of the Old Testament; therefore the Apostle says that the law is spiritual (Rom. vii. 14). The law, therefore, is antiquated and grows old by the letter, being brought to nothing; but by the spirit it is always active and flourishes. For grace is such that it suffers no loss from age at all.

90. The law indeed has a shadow of the Gospel; but the Gospel is an image of the good things to come (Heb. viii. 15). For the one forbids the doing of evil; the other sets forth and presents the actions of good.

91. We say that the whole of Holy Scripture is divided into flesh and spirit, as if it were a certain spiritual man. For he who says of the text of Scripture, that it is [translation continues on next page]

^A flesh, but its understanding and sense, spirit, has not strayed from the truth. But he is clearly wise who, abandoning that which is corrupted and perishes, cleaves entirely to that which is subject to no corruption.

92. The Law is flesh for the man who is spiritual according to Holy Scripture; the prophets are the sense; and the Gospel is the rational soul; which works through the flesh (that is, the Law) and through the sense (that is, the prophets), and manifests its own power by its deeds.

93. The Law had a shadow, but the prophets had an image of the divine and spiritual goods that are contained in the Gospel. But the Gospel itself has shown us the truth itself as present through its letters—that truth which was shadowed by the Law and prefigured by the prophets. ^B

94. He who fulfills the Law by his life and conduct, desists only from the conclusions of evil, sacrificing to God the operation of his irrational passions; and in this way, because of his spiritual infancy, he manages well enough for his salvation.

95. He who is tutored by the prophetic word, besides casting away the operation of his passions, also exposes the consents to them that are formed within his soul, so that, while he seems to abstain from evil in the inferior part—that is, the flesh—he may not unknowingly practice it abundantly in the superior part, which I call the soul. ^C

96. He who genuinely embraces the life of the Gospel has cut off from himself both the beginning and the end of evil, and he pursues every virtue by deed and by word, offering sacrifices of praise and confession, having been released from all the annoyance of the passions in action, and being freed from that battle which is waged against them in the mind; and he possesses only that insatiable pleasure which feeds the soul on the hope of future goods.

97. To those who take greater care in the study of the divine Scriptures, the Word according to the Lord appears in a double form; the one common and more popular and visible to not a few, according to which it is said, "We saw him, and he had no form or beauty" (Isa. LIII, 2); the other, more hidden and attainable by few, namely by those who have already become like the holy apostles Peter and James and John, in whose presence the Lord was transfigured into a glory that surpasses sense, ^D according to which He is beautiful in beauty beyond the sons of men.

rat; qua est speciosus forma prae filiis hominum. ^B Of this twofold form, the former is suitable for those who are being introduced and are beginners; the latter is appropriate for those who have been perfected in knowledge, as far as is possible. And the former is an image of the first coming of the Lord, to which the letter of the Gospel should be referred, which purifies those who are dedicated to action through the endurance of evils and tribulations; the latter is a prefiguration of the second and glorious coming, to which we understand the Spirit refers; ^C for it transforms those who are spiritual and cultivated in the knowledge of divine things toward deification, through the transformation of the Word in them, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord.

98. He who stands unshaken in virtue amidst terrible things has within himself the first coming of the Word, which cleanses him from every stain. But he who, through contemplation, has transferred his mind to a state akin to the angels, possesses the power of the second coming, which provides him with immunity from evils and ensures he cannot be harmed by opposing things.

99. Sensitivity belongs to the practical man who, through toil, accomplishes the virtues; but for the wise and spiritual man, the absence of sensation and the stupor which has drawn the mind ^D from the flesh and the world toward God, is what applies. For the former, while striving through action to release the soul from the natural bonds of the relationship to the flesh, frequently has his spirit grow weary under these labors; but the latter, having torn out the nails of this relationship through the power of contemplation, is now entirely ungraspable, already made pure from that nature by which one is affected, held, or subjected by those who would wish to seize or assault him.

100. The manna given to Israel in the desert is the Word of God, sufficient for every spiritual pleasure for those who eat of it, and tempered to every taste according to the diverse desire of those eating; for it possesses the quality of every spiritual food. For this reason, to those who have been born again from incorruptible seed by the Spirit, it becomes rational, guileless milk; to those who are infirm, it becomes an herb, refreshing the struggling power of the soul which is subject to the passions; and to those who, because of habit, have the senses of the soul exercised for the discernment of good and evil, it offers itself as solid food. The Word of God also has other infinite virtues which no one can grasp in the present age; but whoever has been faithful in little here, once released from this mortal life, will be found worthy to be set over many, or all things, and will receive all or some of those powers of the Word. For the height of all divine gifts given in this present life is but a tiny and moderate thing in comparison with those to come.

SECOND CENTURY OF GNOSTIC CHAPTERS

1. One God, that there is one divinity; a monad, that is...

and an unoriginated, simple, and super-essential nature; impartible and indivisible; the same being monad and Trinity: ^A the whole is monad and the same, and the whole is Trinity and the same. The whole is monad according to essence, and the whole is Trinity according to the hypostases. For the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Godhead, and the Godhead is in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. It is the same whole in the whole Father; and the Father is whole in the same whole. And it is the same whole in the whole Son; and the Son is whole in the same whole. And the same whole is in the whole Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is whole in the same whole. The Father is the whole, and is in the whole Father; and the Father is whole in the whole, and the Father is the whole of the whole. And the Son is the whole of the whole; and the same whole is in the whole Son; and the Son is the whole of the whole, and is in the same whole. And the Holy Spirit is the same whole, and is in the whole Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is the whole of the whole, and the Holy Spirit is in the same whole. For the Godhead is not in the Father by part, nor is the Father God by part; nor is the Godhead in the Son by part, nor is the Son God by part; nor is the Godhead in the Holy Spirit by part, nor is the Holy Spirit God by part. For the Godhead is not divisible; nor is the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit an incomplete God; but the same whole is perfectly and entirely in the perfect Father; and the same whole is ^B perfectly and entirely in the perfect Son; and the same whole is perfectly and entirely in the perfect Holy Spirit. For the Father is whole and perfect in the whole Son and Spirit; and the Son is whole and perfect in the whole Father and Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is whole and perfect in the whole Father and Son. Wherefore God is one, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. For one and the same is the essence, and power, and operation of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; since neither of them exists or is understood without the other.

2. All intellection belongs to those who think and to those things which are thought; but God is neither of those who think nor of those things which are thought; for He is above these. Since, if He were circumscribed, He would be needing the relation to that which is thought as a thinker, or He would be falling naturally under the thinker, being thought because of the relation. It remains, therefore, to assume that God neither thinks nor is thought, but that He is above thinking and being thought. For thinking and being thought belong naturally to those things which are after Him.

3. All intellection, just as in an essence it altogether has its position as a quality, so in like manner it has its motion concerning an essence imbued with quality. ^C For it is impossible that any thing at all that is absolute and simple, existing by itself, should receive it, since it itself is not absolute and simple. But God, being altogether simple in both respects—both as an essence without a subject, and as an intellection having no subject at all—is not among those things which think or are thought, as existing, clearly, above essence and intellection.

4. Just as in the center of the lines extended from it in a straight direction, ^D it is considered to be indivisibly altogether position;

thus he who is deemed worthy to become in God, ^A will know all the reasons of the things that exist which pre-exist in Him, according to a simple and indivisible knowledge.

5. Intellection, being formed by the things that are understood, becomes many intellections, being formed according to the species of each of the things that are understood. But when, having passed beyond the multitude of sensible and intelligible things that form it, it becomes entirely without form, then the Word that is above intellection appropriately adopts it to Himself, causing it to cease from those things which are accustomed to alter it with the forms of the objects of thought; and having undergone this, he himself also ceased from his works, just as God did from His own.

6. ^B He who has attained the perfection here granted to mortals, bears fruit to God: love, joy, peace, long-suffering; and for the future age, incorruption, the eternity of being, and things similar to these. And perhaps the first things are appropriate for him who has completed the practical life; but the second, for him who has departed from created things through true knowledge.

7. Just as sin is the proper work of disobedience, so virtue is the proper work of obedience. And just as transgression of the commandments follows disobedience, and division from Him who gave the commandments, so observance of the commandments follows obedience, and union with Him who gave the commandment. Therefore, he who by obedience has kept the commandment, has both wrought righteousness and has kept an indivisible union through love with Him who gave the commandment. But he who through disobedience has transgressed the commandment, has both wrought sin and has separated himself ^C from the unity with Him who gave the commandment.

8. He who is gathered from the division that grew out of the transgression is first separated from the passions; then from the impassioned thoughts; then from nature and the reasons concerning nature; then from the objects of thought and the knowledge concerning them; and lastly, having escaped the diversity of the reasons concerning Providence, he arrives unknownly at the very reason of the Monad; considering the immutability of his mind in this alone, the mind rejoices with an ineffable joy, as having received the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, and which continuously renders him who is worthy of it safe and secure from every fall. ^D

9. The fear of Gehenna prepares those who are being introduced and are beginners to flee wickedness. But the love and desire for the retribution of good things grants to those who are progressing the readiness to perform the virtues with a lively spirit. But the mystery of charity surpasses all things that have been

^A raising the intellect above to those things which are secondary to God, renders it blind. For the Lord makes only those wise who are blind to all things that have come to be after God, by revealing to them the more divine things.

10. The Word of God, being like a grain of mustard, appears very small before cultivation; but when it has been duly cultivated, it reveals itself to be so great that the magnificent reasons (logoi) of created things, both those perceived by the senses and those understood only by the mind, come to rest upon it like birds ^B. For the reasons of all things are contained by it; yet it itself is not contained by any of the things that exist. Therefore the Lord said that he who has faith as a grain of mustard can by a word move a mountain; that is, to drive away the power of the devil against us and to remove it from its base.

11. The grain of mustard is the Lord, sown according to faith in the Spirit within the hearts of those who receive it. He who diligently cultivates it by means of the virtues, moves the mountain of earthly-mindedness, casting off by his own power the difficult-to-move habit of malice itself; and he makes the reasons of the commandments—or even the divine powers—rest upon himself like the birds of the air.

12. Upon the Lord, as upon a certain foundation of faith, we build up the high peak of good things, let us place gold, silver, and precious stones; that means pure and unadulterated theology, a clear and shining life, and divine thoughts—those pearly notions. But let us not place upon it wood, hay, or straw; that is, neither the worship of idols—which is to say, an ^C animus addicted to and fixed upon sensible things—nor a life devoid of reason, nor impassioned thoughts, which, like stalks of grain, are bereft of the understanding that comes from wisdom.

13. He who desires knowledge should plant the foundations of his soul firmly with the Lord, as God says to Moses: "But you, stand here with me" [*]. It must be noted, however, that there is a difference even among those who stand with the Lord, if we do not read inattentively, as those who love learning should, the passage: "There are some of those standing here who shall not taste of death until they see the kingdom of God come in power" [*]. For the Lord does not always appear with glory to all who stand by him; but to those who are being initiated and are novices, he comes in the form of a servant; yet to those who are able to follow him as he ascends the high mountain of his transfiguration ^D, he appears in the form of God, in which he existed.

[alt-version omitted]

^A before the world was. It is possible, therefore, that the same Lord does not appear in the same way to all who stand in his presence, but rather in one way to some and another way to others, clearly varying the vision according to the measure of faith in each one.

14. When the Word of God becomes manifest and brilliant within us, and his face shines like the sun, then his garments also appear white: that is, the words of the holy Scripture of the Gospels, luminous and clear, having nothing hidden or abstruse. But Moses and Elias also arrive with him: that is, the more spiritual doctrines of the Law and the Prophets.

15. As the Son of Man is to come, as it is written, with his angels in the glory of his Father, so too at every advancement in virtue ^B the Word of God is transformed for those who are worthy, coming with his angels in the glory of the Father. For the more spiritual doctrines in the Law and the Prophets, which Moses and Elias prefigured through themselves by appearing with the Lord at the time of the Lord's transfiguration, preserve the proportion of the glory that is in them, revealing the power that those who are worthy are able to grasp for the time being.

16. He who has been initiated into the doctrine concerning the Monad surely also knows the doctrines concerning Providence and Judgment that accompany it. Thus, like Peter, he rightly judges that it is good to make three tabernacles ^C for those who appeared; that is, the three states of salvation: I mean that of virtue, that of knowledge, and that of theology. For the first requires the fortitude and temperance of action, of which the blessed Elias was the type. The second, the justice of natural contemplation, which the great Moses indicated by himself. The third, finally, is the perfection of true prudence, which the Lord manifested. These were called tabernacles, because there are other abodes, better and more illustrious than these, which will receive those who are worthy in the future.

17. He who is practical is said to sojourn ^D in the flesh, as he cuts off from his soul the attachment to the flesh through the virtues and removes from himself the deception of earthly things. But the one who is contemplative is said to sojourn even within virtue itself, as if in mirrors.

^A And he still views the truth in a riddle. For the self-subsistent forms of good things, such as they are, have not yet been manifested to him through the face-to-face enjoyment. For every saint walks, in an image of good things, toward the future, crying out: "I am a sojourner and a stranger, as were all my fathers."

18. He who applies himself to prayer must never halt in the high ascent that leads to God. For as we must understand ascents as being, according to the progress from strength to strength in the practice of the virtues; and the ascent from glory to glory in the spiritual knowledge of contemplation; and the transition from the letter of the holy and divine Scripture to the Spirit ^B—so also must the one who is in the place of prayer act: he must lift his mind away from human things, and the disposition of his soul toward more divine things, so that the mind may also be able to follow Jesus, the Son of God, who has passed through the heavens, who is everywhere present and who passes through all things for us in a dispensational manner; so that we, too, following Him, may pass through all things that are after Him, and come to be with Him, if indeed we know Him—not according to the littleness of the dispensational condescension, but according to the magnitude of the natural limitlessness.

19. It is good always to have leisure and to seek God, as we have been commanded. For even if, while seeking ^C in this present life, we cannot arrive at the end of the depth of God; yet perhaps, in reaching even a little of His depth, we behold things holier than holy things, and things more spiritual than spiritual things. And this the high priest declares typically, entering from the holy things, which are more holy than the courtyard, into the Holy of Holies, which are holier than the holy things.

20. Every word of God is neither long-winded, nor is it mere proliferation of words; but it is one, consisting of various theorems, each part of which is a part of the word. Therefore, he who speaks for the truth, even if he manages to speak in such a way that nothing is lacking in the query ^D of what is sought, has spoken the one word of God.

21. In Christ, being God and the Word of the Father, the whole fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily according to essence; but in us, the fullness of the Godhead dwells by grace, when we have gathered together in ourselves every virtue and wisdom, lacking nothing, as far as is possible for man, in the true imitation of the Archetype. For it is not absurd, according to the word of participation, that the fullness of the Godhead, which is gathered from various spiritual theorems, should also dwell in us.

22. Just as the word among us, from the mind in accordance with...

^A nature, is a messenger and interpreter of the movements of the mind—which remain hidden—so also the Word of God, having known the Father in essence just as the Word knows the Mind that begat Him, without any of those who are begotten being able to approach Him without Him, reveals Him whom He knows to be the Father, as Word by nature; just as He is also called the Messenger of the Great Counsel.

23. The Great Counsel of God and the Father is the silent and unknown mystery of the Dispensation, which the Only-begotten Son, having fulfilled it through the Incarnation, revealed, having become the Messenger of the Great and eternal Counsel of God and the Father. ^B Now he becomes a messenger of the Great Counsel of God who has known the reason of the mystery, and who rises up through everything ceaselessly in deed and in word, until he reaches Him who for his sake descended to such a degree.

24. Since for our sake the Word of God descended *economically* to the lower parts of the earth, and ascended above all the heavens; He who is by nature in every way immovable; in Himself *economically*—as man—fore-acting the things that are to be; let him consider mystically—he who loves the friendship of knowledge—what kind of end, according to the promise, belongs to those who love the Lord.

25. Indeed, for this reason the Son of God and Father, God the Word, became Son of Man and man, that He might make men gods and sons of God; let us believe that we shall one day be there, where He Himself now is as Head of the whole body, and having become our forerunner to the Father, according to our nature. For God shall stand in the midst of the synagogue of gods (that is, of those being saved), distributing the dignities of the blessedness that is there; having no distance of space from those who are worthy.

26. He who still fulfills the passionate desires of the flesh, as an idolater and a maker of idols, dwells in the land of the Chaldeans. But when, having ^C discerned things for a little while, he receives a perception of the manners of nature that are becoming [to us], having left the land of the Chaldeans, he comes to Charran of Mesopotamia—I mean the state that is intermediate between virtue and vice, that which has become separate from the error according to sense perception. For this is what Charran means. But if he should also surpass the mediocre understanding of the good and honest, which is provided through the senses, he will press on to the excellent land (that is, to the state free from all vice and depravity and ignorance), which... ^D

God shows and promises to give ^A as if it were a reward of virtue to those who love Him.

27. The Word of God was crucified for our sake because of our infirmity, and He was raised by the power of God; it is clear that He always does and suffers this spiritually for our sake, as one who becomes all things to all men, that He might save all. Rightly, therefore, the divine Apostle, among the Corinthians who were infirm, judged that he knew nothing save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. But to the Ephesians, who were perfect, he writes in these words: *God raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus*; saying that he possesses the Word of God ^B according to the measure of each one's capacity. And so He is crucified for those who are still laying the foundations of piety through active practice, nailing to the divine fear their impassioned and vice-hardened actions. But He rises and ascends into heaven for those who have totally put off the old man, who is corrupted according to the desires of error, and have put on the whole new man, who is created through the Spirit according to the image of God, and have escaped to the Father through the grace which is in them—*above all Principality and Power and Virtue and Dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one*. For all things which are secondary to God, things and heads and dignities alike, will be subject to him who will be in God through grace.

28. Just as before His manifest advent in the flesh, the Word of God came spiritually to ^C the patriarchs and prophets, prefiguring the mysteries of His advent, so also now, with that advent completed, He comes not only to those who are still infants, whom He nourishes spiritually and leads unto that maturity of perfection which is according to God; but He also manifests secretly to the perfect, as in an image, the characteristics of His future advent.

29. Just as the words of the Law and the prophets were precursors of the Word in the flesh, and educated souls toward Christ as if exercising the office of a pedagogue, so also He Himself, the glorified Word of God incarnate, has become the precursor of His own spiritual advent, educating souls through His own words and doctrine ^D so that they might receive His manifest divine advent. This advent He always brings about, converting those who are worthy from the flesh to the spirit through the cultivation of virtues; and then truly at the end of the age He will bring it about, making manifest those things which have hitherto been hidden to all.

30. As long as I am imperfect and disobedient, not obeying God through the performance of the commandments, nor becoming perfect in my thoughts with respect to knowledge—to the extent that I am imperfect and disobedient, Christ also is considered imperfect on my account. For I diminish Him and

^A fail to grow with Him according to the Spirit, as one who is a member of Christ's body and part of a whole.

31. "The sun rises and the sun sets," says the Scripture. Therefore, the Word Himself is considered ^B sometimes to be above and sometimes below, according to the worthiness of those who practice virtue and move toward divine knowledge. Blessed, however, is he who keeps the "inaccessible" light within himself, like Joshua the son of Nun, so that the sun of righteousness remains within him free from setting—that is, not circumscribed by any evening of wickedness and ignorance—throughout the whole measure of the day of this present life, so that he may be able to put to flight and banish the evil demons who rise up against him.

32. The Word of God, being exalted in us through ^C action and contemplation, draws all things to Himself; He sanctifies our thoughts and perceptions—which concern both flesh and soul and the nature of existing things—and even the very members of the body and the senses, placing them under His own yoke through virtue and knowledge. Let he who is an observer of divine things, therefore, ascend with diligence, following the Word until he reaches the place where He is. For He draws "to his place," as the Ecclesiastes says, and "He draws to his place" those who follow Him as a great High Priest who leads [them] into the Holy of Holies, where He Himself has entered as a forerunner on our behalf according to our human nature.

33. He who pursues the philosophy ^D of piety and stands in battle array against the invisible powers must pray that both natural discernment (which provides a proportionate light) and the illuminating grace of the Spirit remain and watch over him. For the former, through the cultivation of action, trains the flesh to pursue virtue; while the latter enlightens the mind, so that it may prefer the conviction and intimacy of wisdom to all things, by which [wisdom] it destroys and pulls down the strongholds of wickedness and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Joshua the son of Nun also indicates this by his prayer, that "the sun might stand still over Gibeon"—that is, that the light of the knowledge of God for him should remain without setting upon the mountain of contemplation which is in the mind; and the moon over the valley—that is, that natural discernment, situated in the weakness of the flesh, should remain in it without any lapse from virtue.

^A And indeed the sun is the Word, who illuminates the mind and provides it with the power of contemplation, and delivers it from all ignorance; but the moon is the law according to nature, which persuades the flesh to be lawfully subject to the spirit, in order to receive the yoke of the commandments. The moon is a symbol of nature, because it is changeable; yet in the saints, because of the invariable and constant habit of virtue, it remains unchangeable.

55. The Lord is not to be sought outside of those who seek Him; but it is necessary that those who seek Him should seek Him within themselves through faith in their works. For the word, he says, is near you, in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the word of faith; ^B as if Christ Himself were the Word that is being sought.

56. Let us not, having considered the height of the divine infinity, despair of God’s love for mankind, as if it did not reach down to us on account of that height; nor, having considered the infinite depth of our fall through sin, let us disbelieve that the virtue dead within us can be resurrected. For both are possible for God: both to descend and illuminate our mind through knowledge; and to raise up again the virtue within us, and to exalt us with Himself through works of righteousness. For do not say, he says, in your heart, "Who shall ascend into heaven?" that is, to bring Christ down; or, "Who shall descend into the abyss?" that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. Perhaps, however, according to another interpretation, the abyss is everything that is after God; in which the Word of God, through providence, wholly enters into all things, as if coming as life to dead things. For all things are dead which live in that way of participating in life. But by heaven, understand the natural hiddenness of God, in which He is incomprehensible to all. But if any one should further interpret heaven as being the doctrine of theology, and the abyss as being the mystery of the dispensation, he would not irrationally, as it seems to me, speak or think. For both these things are difficult of access if one attempts to seek them by the force of demonstrations; indeed, they are altogether inaccessible unless faith accompanies the one who searches. ^C

57. In the one who studies action, the Word, thickened by the modes of the virtues, becomes flesh; but in the one who devotes his mind to contemplation, the Word, thinned by spiritual conceptions, becomes as it was in the beginning, God the Word. ^D

58. He makes the Word flesh, who, in accordance with the capacity of the hearers, adapts himself through coarser examples and words, establishing the moral teaching of the Word; and again he makes the Word spirit, who, through sublime contemplations, expounds the mystical theology.

59. He who theologizes affirmatively from propositions makes the Word flesh; for having nothing else from which to know God than from the things that are seen and handled,

^A he yet acts as if he knew Him as the Cause. But he who rightly theologizes negatively, by way of abstraction, makes the Word spirit, as being God in the beginning and with God, knowing well the Unknowable, since none of the things that can be known are He at all.

40. He who has learned to dig within himself, according to the patriarchs, the wells of virtue and knowledge through practice and contemplation, will find Christ within, the Fountain of life, from which Wisdom encourages us to drink, saying: *Drink waters from your vessels, and from the wellsprings of your own wells.* And when we have done this, we shall find His treasures existing within us.

41. They who live brutishly toward sense alone ^B make the Word flesh for themselves, to their own great peril; for they abuse the things created by God so as to gratify their own affects and lusts. Nor do they consider the wisdom that shines in all things, so as to know and glorify God from His works, or to understand whence we have been created, and what we are, and for what purpose, and toward what end we are being carried through the things that are visible to the eyes. But walking through this age in darkness, they grope with both hands only at the ignorance of God.

42. Those who attend only to the literal expressions of holy Scripture, and bind the nobility of the soul to the bodily observance of the law, ^C make of the Word flesh for themselves in a blameworthy manner, thinking that God is pleased by the sacrifices of irrational animals. They are men, in fact, who bestow no small care on cleansing the body outwardly, while they neglect the beauty of the soul, which is punctured by the stains of the passions; for the sake of which all the power of visible things has been produced, and the whole divine Word and law has been promulgated.

43. The holy Gospel testifies that the Lord is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel. ^D Let us therefore consider whether, on the one hand, this is for the fall of those who contemplate the nature visible to the eyes only by the grace of sense, and those who adhere only to the letter of holy Scripture; since, through their senselessness and stupidity, they cannot pass over to the new spirit of grace. But on the other hand, it is for the rising of those who, using spiritual reason, both contemplate and hear the things created by God and His words, and who therefore devote their care—by means of suitable conduct—only to the divine image which resides in the soul.

44. The statement that the Lord is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, if it be understood in a laudatory sense, is to be taken as the fall of the passions and evil thoughts in each of the faithful, and the rising of the virtues and of every pious and religious thought.

45. The one who alone of those in generation and corruption...

^A considers the Lord to be a gardener, is deceived regarding Him in the guise of a gardener, just as Mary Magdalene was. Therefore, the Lord, for the benefit of such a person, avoids being touched by him—since he is not yet capable, in his own estimation and perception, of ascending to the Father—saying: "Do not touch me." For He knows that the one who approaches Him with such a lowly preconception is destined to be harmed and suffer loss.

^A 46. Those who for fear of the Jews sit with doors closed in the upper room—that is, those who, because of the fear of the spirits of wickedness, rest securely in the region of revelations, in the high citadel of divine thoughts and contemplations, having closed their senses like doors ^B—these receive, in an unknown way, the Word of God as He arrives, appearing to them without any operation of the senses. He bestows upon them impassibility through peace, and the distributions of the Holy Spirit through His breathing, and provides authority against the spirits of wickedness, and reveals the symbols of His own mysteries.

47. For those who investigate the word concerning God according to the flesh, the Lord does not ascend to the Father; but for those who seek Him according to the Spirit through lofty contemplations, He does ascend to the Father. Let us not, therefore, keep Him always below—He who for our sake became below out of loving-kindness—but let us ascend up to the Father with Him, having left behind the earth and the things of the earth, so that He may not say to us also what was said to the Jews ^C who remained uncorrected: "I am going where you cannot come." For without the Word, it is impossible to come to the Father of the Word.

48. The land of the Chaldeans is the life governed by passion, in which idols of sin are fashioned and worshipped. Mesopotamia, however, is the way of life that wavers, mixing contrary things. But the land of promise is the state filled with every good. Whoever, therefore, neglects this habit, like the ancient Israel, is dragged back into the slavery of passions, being deprived of the freedom that had been granted.

49. It should be noted that no saint appears to have descended into Babylon of his own free will. For it is not right, ^D nor is it in accordance with logical prudence, for those who love God to prefer worse things over good things. But if some of them were carried off there by force with the people, we understand by these those who, not by their own design but by circumstance, for the sake of the salvation of those in need,

have for a time omitted the higher discourse of knowledge, and follow the teaching concerning faults and passions; according to which even the great Apostle judged it more profitable to be in the flesh—that is, in moral instruction—for the sake of the disciples, while he himself mightily desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ, through the supracelestial and simple contemplation of the mind.

50. Just as the blessed David, by playing the cithara, calmed Saul when he was being choked by an evil spirit, so too every spiritual discourse, seasoned with wise and learned insights and theorems, raises up and restores the mind laboring under a grave malady, freeing it from the evil conscience that chokes it.

51. He who is ruddy with the beauty of the eyes, according to the great David, ^B is he who, along with the brilliance of a life lived according to God, joins the discourse of knowledge that shines forth together; in whom both action and contemplation are established: the former, shining through the ways of the virtues; the latter, illuminated by divine concepts.

52. The kingdom of Saul is an image of the physical worship of the law, which the Lord abolished, because it brought nothing to perfection. For, he says, the law brought nothing to perfection. But the kingdom of the great David is a prefiguration of the evangelical worship; for it perfectly embraces all the wills that exist in the heart of God.

53. Saul is the natural law, which from the beginning was granted by the Lord to have dominion over nature. Since, because of disobedience, he transgressed the commandment by sparing Agag, the king of Amalek—that is, the body—and slipped into vices and passions, he is cast out of the kingdom, so that David might take up the ruling of Israel: that is, the law of the Spirit, which gives birth to the peace that ^C openly builds the temple of contemplation for God.

54. Samuel is interpreted as "obedience to God." Therefore, as long as the Logos performs the priesthood within us through obedience, even if Saul should spare Agag—that is, the carnal mind—the priestly Logos, inflamed with zeal, puts him to death, and confounds the mind inclined toward the lust of sin, striking and wounding it as a transgressor of divine rights. ^D

55. Whenever the mind, puffed up with pride, casts off the Logos of instruction by which it was anointed against the passions and affections,

^A it becomes liable to the same out of sheer ignorance; and, gradually receding from God on account of these things, it succumbs unto the adverse circumstances by which it is involuntarily tested, and approaches the demons, making its belly its god, and from thence seeks relief and consolation from the evils by which it is pressed. And let Saul persuade you of this, who, not consulting Samuel in all things, was of necessity turned to the servitude of idols, and who did not refuse to consult the ventriloquist as if she were some kind of god and oracle.

56. He who prays to receive the daily bread does not receive the whole entirely, as the bread itself is, but according to what the recipient is capable of. For the Bread of Life, in His love for mankind, gives Himself to all who ask, yet not to all in the same manner or by equal distribution; but to those who have performed great works of righteousness, He gives more abundantly, and to those who are less than these, more sparingly, according to what the individual’s worth of mind is able to receive.

57. The Lord sometimes departs, and sometimes is present. He departs, as regards the vision of face to face; He is present, as regards the vision in a mirror and in enigmas. ^B

58. To the one who is practical, the Lord is present through the virtues; but to him who makes no account of virtue, He departs. And again, to the contemplative, He is present through true knowledge of beings; but to him who has strayed to some degree from this, He departs.

59. One departs from the flesh, who has changed from the practical life to the gnostic state; being snatched up, as if in the clouds, by higher thoughts, into the transparent air of mystical contemplation; according to which he shall be able to be with the Lord always. But he departs from the Lord who is not yet able, by a pure mind—with sensory operations at rest—to contemplate the thoughts as far as is permitted to man, and who cannot grasp the word concerning the Lord as simple and without enigmas. ^C

60. The Word of God, not only inasmuch as He has been made flesh is called flesh; but inasmuch as He is God the Word, understood simply as being in the beginning with God and the Father, and having the clear and naked types of the truth concerning all things, He contains no parables or enigmas, nor stories requiring allegory. But when He comes to men who are not able to approach the intelligible things with the mind naked and bare, ^D by conversing from that which is customary to them, through the means of histories and enigmas and parables and dark sayings, He diversifies—

and thus He becomes flesh. For at the first consideration, our mind does not attain to and understand the Word Himself naked, but the incarnate Word, interlaced, that is, with a variety of expressions: being Word indeed by nature, yet seen as flesh, so that the many seem to themselves to see flesh and not the Word, although in reality it is the Word. For the sense and understanding of Scripture is not that which is commonly seen, but something other than what appears. For by each of the written words, the Word becomes flesh. ^B

61. The first rudiments of instruction toward piety are accustomed to being made, as it were, into flesh. For we converse according to the letter, and not according to the spirit, at our first approach to godliness. But advancing little by little toward the spirit, and scraping off and thinning down the denseness of the expressions with more subtle contemplations, we find ourselves in pure Christ, as far as is permitted by human capacity; so that, according to the great Apostle, we may be able to say: "Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him no longer," that is to say, because by simple consideration of the mind we understand the Word without those wrappings with which He is covered, having truly progressed from knowing the Word as flesh to knowing His glory as of the Only-Begotten from the Father. ^C

62. He who has lived the life that is in Christ has surpassed the bounds of both legal and natural justice; a fact which the divine Apostle signified in these words: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision is anything, nor uncircumcision." By the name of circumcision indeed, he declared legal justice; but by uncircumcision, he hinted at the equality characteristic of nature. ^D

63. Some are reborn through water and Spirit; others receive baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire. But these four things—I mean the water, and the spirit, and the fire, and the Holy Spirit—I understand as one and the same Spirit of God. For to some the Holy Spirit is water, as having to wash away the external stains around the body; to others, spirit only, as being effective for the goods of virtue; to others, fire, as having the power to cleanse the stains lurking deep within the soul; and to others, by which they resemble the great Daniel in their ways, the Holy Spirit is as one providing wisdom and knowledge. For from the diverse operation upon the subject, one and the same Spirit receives diverse appellations. ^D

64. The Law, he says, has given the Sabbath: "In order," it says, "that your beast of burden and your servant may rest." Both of these signify the body by means of enigmas. For the beast of burden is the body of the practical mind, forced to bear as a burden, through action, the modes of the virtues. But the servant is the body of one who studies meditation, as one already instructed by contemplations, and logically assigned to the cognitive commands of the mind.

^A And the Sabbath for both is the end of the good things they perform through both action and contemplation, providing a suitable rest for each.

65. He who fulfills virtue with the appropriate knowledge possesses the body as a beast of burden, driving it through reason toward the performance of what is dutiful; and as a servant, he possesses the manner of action regarding virtue, that is, the very manner that virtue naturally assumes—bought as if with money by the powers of reason. ^B But the Sabbath is the passionless and peaceful state of both soul and body according to virtue, that is, an unchangeable disposition.

66. The Word of God to those who still possess the greater part of their care for the bodily forms of virtue becomes straw and hay, nourishing the affective part of their soul for the ministry of the virtues. But to those who have been raised by contemplation to the true understanding of divine things, it is bread, nourishing the intellect of their soul toward deiform perfection. That is why we find the patriarchs, when they are traveling on the way, gathering for themselves both bread and fodder for their beasts. ^C And the Levite in the Book of Judges says to the old man who gave him hospitality in Gabaa: *There is bread for us, and straw for our beasts, and there is no lack of anything for your servants.*

67. The Word of God is also called and is dew, and water, and a fountain, and a river, as it is written; for it is and becomes these things according to the underlying capacity of those who receive it. To some, it is indeed dew, being a quencher of the burning and activity of passions that outwardly beset them around the body. ^D To those, however, who are scorched by the depth of malice within their own soul, it is water—not only in the sense that it has the power to destroy by contrary affection that which opposes, but also because it offers from itself the vital power for living well and blessedly. It is a fountain for those who have the disposition of contemplation bubbling up unceasingly, as a dispenser of wisdom. And it is a river for those who...

pour forth abundant, pious, upright, and saving doctrine like a stream, so as to water abundantly men, beasts, wild animals, and trees and plants alike; so that just as men may be deified, being lifted up by the meanings of what is called high, those who have become like beasts through their passions may, through the precise demonstration of the ways of virtue, be restored to humanity and regain their natural power of reason; those who have become like wild beasts through wicked habits and evil deeds may, through gentle and agreeable exhortation, be tamed and return to the gentleness of nature; and finally, those who like plants have lost the sense of good, being softened by the deep flowing of the Word, may receive sense for the bearing of fruit, and the strength that nourishes them, which is the quality of the Word.

^B 68. The Word of God is called the Way for those who run well and vigorously in the practice of virtue, and who decline neither to the right through vainglory, nor to the left through an inclination toward the passions, but who direct their steps according to God; which King Asa of Judah, not having observed to the end, is said to have suffered in his feet in his old age, as one who had grown weak in the race of a life according to God.

^C 69. The Word of God is called the Door, as one who, for those who have run the whole way of the virtues well, according to the blameless course of action, opens the entry to knowledge; and as light, showing the many-splendored treasures of wisdom. For the same is called way, door, key, and kingdom: way, as a guide; key, as one who opens to those worthy to whom divine things are provided, and through whom it is opened; door, as the one who admits; and kingdom, as one who is possessed and exists in all through participation and communion with himself.

70. The Lord is called Light, Life, Resurrection, and Truth. Light, as the brightness of souls, as the dispeller of the darkness of ignorance, and as one who illuminates the mind toward the understanding of mysteries, and who reveals the mysteries visible only to the pure; Life, as one who provides the appropriate movement to souls who love the Lord in things divine; Resurrection, as one who raises the mind from the dead attachment to material things, pure from the defilement of every kind of corruption and death; and Truth, as one who munificently grants a changeless disposition of goods to those who are worthy.

^D 71. The Word of God and Father is mystically present in each of his commandments; and God the Father is whole and inseparable in his whole Word by nature. Therefore, he who receives a divine commandment and performs it, receives the Word of God who is in it. And he who has received the Word through the commandments, has through him also received the Father who is naturally in him, and—

^A receive it; and he who receives it in such a way, indeed, naturally receives the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. For He says: "Amen, amen, I say to you, he who receives whomsoever I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me." Whoever, therefore, has accepted a commandment and fulfilled it has mystically received the whole Holy Trinity.

72. He does not honor God in himself who merely praises God in words, but he who, for the sake of God, patiently endures the sufferings and labors of virtue. And he is, in turn, glorified by God, receiving the glory that is in God as a prize of virtue, by way of participation in the grace of dispassion. For everyone who glorifies God within himself through the sufferings of the active life endured for the sake of virtue is himself glorified in God through the divine illumination of contemplation. For the Lord says when going to His passion: "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God also will glorify him in himself; and he will glorify him at once." From this, it is clear ^B that divine gifts follow upon the sufferings endured for the sake of virtue.

73. So long as we see the Word of God, through the various riddles of the Holy Scripture, as if He were embodied, we do not yet see Him as incorporeal, simple, singular, and unique, just as we have not yet intellectually beheld the Father in the incorporeal, simple, singular, and unique Son, according to the words: "He who has seen me has seen the Father," and "I am in the Father, and the Father in me." Therefore, we have great need of discernment, so that we may first break through the coverings of the words surrounding the Word, and thus with a naked mind behold the Word himself, existing purely in Himself, who clearly shows the Father within Himself, as far as is granted to mortals. Wherefore, it is necessary that he who seeks God piously should not be held fast by any written word, lest, instead of God, he should mistakenly take what is merely about God—that is to say, instead of the Word, he might embrace the words of the Scripture by a dangerous error, while the Word Himself eludes the mind, and he thinks that he holds the incorporeal Word while ^C he holds only the coverings. He is like that Egyptian woman who did not catch hold of Joseph, but of his garments; and like the ancient men who, dwelling only upon the splendor of visible things, failed to notice that they were serving the creature rather than the Creator.

74. The discourse of the Holy Scripture, to those who in part...

^A divest themselves of the composition of the written words structured in a way related to Him, appearing as if in a voice of thin wind to the more discerning mind; for it renders the mind able only to perceive, through the extreme stripping away of natural operations, the simplicity which in some way indicates the Word, just like the great Elijah, who was deemed worthy of this vision in the cave of Horeb. For Horeb is translated as "a new field," which is the habit of virtues in the new spirit of grace. The cave, however, is the hidden retreat of wisdom in the mind, into which one who has entered will mystically perceive the knowledge that surpasses sense, in which God is said to exist. Therefore, whoever truly seeks God like the great Elijah will not only arrive at Horeb—that is, as one active in the habit of the virtues—but will also penetrate into the cave that is in Horeb; that is, as one contemplative in the hiddenness of wisdom, which has its seat only in the habit of the virtues.

75. When the mind shakes off the many opinions imposed upon it regarding existing things, then the discourse of truth appears clear to it, giving it the instructions of true knowledge and pushing away its previous preoccupations as if they were scales from the eyes of vision, according to the sublime and great Apostle Paul. For they are indeed scales, resting upon the discerning eye of the soul, and preventing access to the pure discourse of truth—both the assumptions regarding only the literal sense of Scripture and the passionate visions of things seen through sense perception. ^{B C}

76. The divine Apostle Paul said that he possessed knowledge of the Word only in part. But the great evangelist John says that he had seen His glory. "We beheld," he says, "His glory, glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." But is it perhaps that the holy Paul said he possessed knowledge of the Word of God only in part? For He is known only in some way from His operations. For knowledge concerning Him according to His essence and hypostasis is inaccessible to all, both angels and men, and is in no way known by anyone. But the holy John, having been fully taught, as far as it is permitted to humans, the mystery of the incarnation of the Word, said that he beheld the glory of the Word as flesh; that is, he beheld the reason and purpose for which God became man, full of grace and truth. For He is not granted grace as the Only-Begotten in the way that He is God by essence and consubstantial with God the Father, but rather in the way that He became man by nature and by economy, consubstantial with us, for our sake, who are in need of grace; and from His fullness we are always receiving the corresponding grace for all our progress. So that the one who ^D

^A kept perfect in himself, undefiled by the God-Word who was incarnate for our sake, shall receive the glory full of grace and truth, of Him who for our sake glorified and sanctified himself according to our own nature in his advent. For, he says, when he appears, we shall be like him.

77. ^B As long as the soul makes the passage from strength to strength, and from glory to glory—that is, from virtue to virtue [to] a greater progress, and from knowledge to knowledge [to] a higher ascent—it has not ceased from residing in exile, according to that which is said: My soul has lived as a settler for a long time. For the distance is great, and the multitude of knowledges that must be passed through by it [is vast], until it shall cross into the place of the wondrous tabernacle, as far as the house of God; in the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of one feasting; always adding voice to voices, the voice of an intelligent mind to the voices of the intelligent progress of divine contemplations, together with the exultation, or joy, in the mind regarding the things contemplated, and the corresponding thanksgiving. For such are the feasts that all those who have received the Spirit of grace celebrate, crying in their hearts: Abba, Father.

78. ^C The place of the wondrous tabernacle is also the impassible and painless habit of the virtues; by which the Word of God, coming to be [within], adorns the soul like a tabernacle with the diverse beauties of the virtues. But the house of God is the knowledge composed of many and diverse contemplations; by which God, dwelling in the soul, fills it from the mixing bowl of wisdom. The voice of exultation is the leaping of the soul at the wealth of the virtues. The voice of confession is the thanksgiving for the glory of the splendor bestowed by wisdom. And the sound is that which emerges from both—I mean from exultation and confession—by a temperate blending, [forming] a continual mystical doxology.

79. ^D He who has bravely wrestled down the passions of the body, and has fought sufficiently against the unclean spirits, and has driven out their thoughts from the region of his own soul, let him pray that a pure heart be given to him, and that a right spirit be renewed in his inward parts; that is, that he be emptied completely of base thoughts, and filled with divine insights by the gift of grace; so that he may become an intelligibly splendid and great world of God, composed of moral, natural, and theological contemplations.

80. He who has rendered the heart pure will know not only the reasons of the things that are subordinate and are secondary to God, but also will perceive Him who is beyond all, having passed beyond the passing of all things; which is the supreme end of good things; in whom becoming, God deigns to inscribe His own letters by the Spirit, just as to [some]

^A Mosaic tablets; in as much as it has surrendered itself through action and contemplation, according to the mystical commandment saying, "Increase."

81. A pure heart is perhaps called that which is entirely devoid of any natural propensity toward any motion whatsoever; within which, as upon a tablet beautifully polished and scraped clean because of [its] extreme simplicity, God becoming present, inscribes His own laws.

82. A pure heart is that which presents the memory, entirely devoid of any images and forms of things, to God; and which is prepared to be marked only by His own forms, through which it is naturally designed to become manifest.

83. The mind of Christ, which the saints receive, according to him who said: "But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. II, 16), does not come about ^B by the deprivation of the intellectual faculty within us; nor does it come as a supplement to our own mind, nor by passing essentially according to substance into our own mind; but rather as one which illuminates the power of our mind with its own quality, and brings it to the same operation with itself. For I say that to have the mind of Christ is to think according to Him, and to think all things through Him.

84. We are called the body of Christ, according to the word: "Now you are the body of Christ and members in particular" (1 Cor. XII, 27); not that, losing our own bodies, we become that one; nor again that that body passes essentially into us, or is divided limb by limb; but rather by the likeness of the Lord’s flesh, we shake off the corruption of sin. For just as Christ was by nature, in flesh and soul—inasmuch as He is understood as man—immune to sin, so also we who believe in Him, and who have clothed ourselves in Him through the Spirit, are able, by the inclination of our will, to be in Him without sin.

85. There are in Scripture both temporal ages ^C and those which comprise the consummation of other ages, according to the word: "But now once at the consummation of the ages" (Hebr. IX, 26), and what follows. And there are again other ages, free from the nature of time, after this present age—which is nature of a temporal sort—which is at the consummation of the ages, according to the word: "That He might show in the ages to come the exceeding riches" (Ephes. II, 7), and what follows. But we find in Scripture also a multitude of ages, both past, and present, and future; also "ages of ages" to be certain ages, and "age of age," and "secular times" (II Tim. I, 9), and generations ^D conjoined to ages. And that we may not now [discuss] what is meant by the temporal ages, what by the eternal times, and thus the eternal…

generations, and what again simply as ages, or as ages of ages, and what absolutely as an age, or the age of an age, draw out the discourse at great length away from our purpose, [deciding] to leave these things to the consideration of the studious, let us return to the goal for the sake of which we have brought these matters forward.

^A 86. We know, by the testimony of Scripture, that there is something above the ages; which [the Scripture] indeed signified to exist, yet it did not at all express by name what it was, according to what is written: "The Lord shall reign for the age and for the age and beyond." [note 1] Therefore, there is something that is above the ages, which is the pure kingdom of God. For neither is it right to say that the kingdom of God has begun, or that it is reached by ages or times. But we believe this to be the inheritance, the dwelling, and the place of those who are being saved, as the true word hands down, as the end of those who through longing are moved toward the ultimate desirable object; in which, when they have arrived, they cease from every kind of movement whatever: so that there is no longer any time for them, nor any age that must be traversed, seeing that after all things they have arrived at God, who is before all the ages, and whose nature no age can reach.

^C 87. As long as anyone leads this present life, even if he be perfect according to the standard of this state, both in action and in contemplation, he possesses both knowledge and prophecy and the earnest of the Holy Spirit [note 2] only in part; but he does not possess the fullness itself; for he is yet to come, after the end of the ages, unto that perfect rest and blessed lot, which will show the truth, which truly exists, face to face to those who are worthy of it: so that they will no longer have a portion of the fullness as if plucked away, but will receive the whole fullness of grace according to participation. For the Apostle says it will come to pass that we all (who shall attain salvation) shall meet in the perfect man, into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ [note 3]; in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden; and when that is made manifest, that which is in part shall pass away. [note 4]

^D 88. There are some who ask how the state of those who are deemed worthy of the perfection that is in the kingdom of God shall be; whether by way of progress and change, or by way of the same fixed and quiet possession; and how also one must think that [the] bodies and souls will be. To this question, one might respond with a not-empty conjecture: that, namely, as in the corporal life there is a twofold reason for nourishment; the one indeed leading to increase, the other truly conferring the preservation of those who are nourished. For as long as we have not yet reached the perfect stature and bulk of the body, we are nourished so that we may increase; but when the body has reached the end of its increase, it is no longer nourished as to increase, but for preservation. So too, in regard to the soul, there is a twofold reason for nourishment. For it is nourished while advancing in the virtues and

^A in the contemplations, until, having passed through all beings, it reaches the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; having reached which, it ceases from all progress, by which it was being carried through intermediate stages and growing; and it is nourished without medium by that type of immortal nourishment which surpasses all understanding, and perhaps for that reason is superior to increase. By this it preserves the deiform perfection granted to it, and unfolds and manifests the infinite delights of that nourishment, by which, receiving the always-the-same-well-being dwelling within it, it becomes God through the participation of Divine grace, both resting itself from all the operations of mind and sense, and causing the natural operations of the body to rest together with itself, having been joined with it according to the analogy of its participation in deification. So that ^B only God may be seen through both the soul and the body, with their natural marks having been overcome and, as it were, suppressed by the superabundance of the glory.

89. There are some among those fond of learning who inquire in what way the distinction of the future heavenly mansions and promises will be—whether it is by local substance, or by the concept of the spiritual quality and quantity proper to each mansion. And to some the former pleases, to others the latter. But he who knows what it means that *The kingdom of God is within you* (Luc. XVII, 21), and what *In my Father's house are many mansions* (Joan. XIV, 2) means, will rather adhere to the second opinion.

90. There are some who inquire in what way the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are distinguished; whether according to substance and subject, or by the thought and reason of the mind. To whom the answer is that they are distinguished indeed, yet not by substance and subject, but by subtle thought and reason. For both are one in substance and subject; but by reason and subtle thought, the kingdom of heaven is the grasp of the true knowledge of beings as they pre-exist according to their own reasons in God from eternity: but the kingdom of God is the participation, through grace, of the goods that naturally inhere in God; and the one is at the end of beings, while the other, as we understand by subtle thought, is beyond the end of beings.

91. The saying, *Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand* (Matth. III, 3), does not, as I think, ^D refer to a contraction of time. *For it will not come with observation; nor will they say, Lo here! Lo there!* (Luc. XVII, 21), but it refers to the approach of those who are worthy of it. *The kingdom of heaven is*—it does not indicate a temporal nearness, as if it were recently impending over the world; but knowing the reason of itself, and having the power of both kingdom and repentance: *Repent*, he says, *for the kingdom of heaven is at hand*.

^A

92. The kingdom of God and of the Father is potentially in all who believe, but it is effectively in those who have altogether cast away all natural affection of soul and body, and have acquired only that of the Spirit, and are able to say: *I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me*.

93. Some say that the kingdom of heaven is the life led by the worthy in heaven; others, that it is the state of those being saved, which is equal to the angels; others, indeed, that it is the very form of divine beauty for those who have borne the image of the Heavenly One. ^B And these three opinions concerning this, as it seems to me, harmonize with the truth. For to all, according to the proportion of righteousness in them, both in quality and quantity, will be given the future reward of grace.

94. So long as a man pursues practical philosophy, he strenuously wages the divine contests: he keeps the Word with him, who has gone forth from the Father through the commandments into the world. But when, having been released from the struggles of practice against the passions and demons, and having been declared a victor over passions and demons, he passes on to the philosophy of knowledge through contemplation, he allows the Word mystically to leave the world again and go to the Father. ^C Therefore the Lord says to the disciples, *that you have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; again I leave the world and go to the Father*: calling "world," perhaps, the laborious exercise of virtues in practice; and "Father," the state of mind higher than the world and free from every material opinion; according to which the Word of God comes to be in us, resting from the battle against the passions and the demons.

95. He who has been able to mortify through practice his members that are upon the earth, and to defeat through the Word of the commandments the world of passions within him, will have no further affliction; having already left the world, and having become in Christ, who has conquered the world of passions and is the grantor of all peace. ^D For he who has not relinquished the affection for material things, will always have affliction, being changed along with those things that are naturally changed in their disposition. But he who has become in Christ will by no means of any kind perceive any material change. Therefore the Lord says: *These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world*. That is to say, In me, the Word of virtue, you will have peace, being delivered from the blindness and turmoil of material passions and things; but in the world, that is, in the affection for material things, you will have tribulation, because of their constant change.

For both have tribulation: both he who is practicing virtue, because of the labor joined to it; and he who loves the world, because of the failure of material things. Yet the one is a saving tribulation, while the other is destructive and fatal. But the Lord is the release for both: for the one, by stilling within Himself, through contemplation and dispassion, the labors of virtue; for the other, by removing through repentance the relative attachment toward things that are subject to corruption.

^B 96. The inscription on the title of the Savior clearly showed that He who was crucified is King and Lord, in the way of practical, natural, and theological philosophy. For the Scripture says that the title was written in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. I understand that the title was written in Latin for one practicing practical philosophy, because the Roman empire, according to the opinion of Daniel, is known to be stronger than all the kingdoms of the earth; and fortitude, if anything, is proper to the philosophy that cultivates action. By the Greek, it signifies natural contemplation, inasmuch as the nation of the Greeks, more than other men, devoted itself to natural philosophy. By the Hebrew, it signifies the theological initiation, as this nation had been openly consecrated to God by its forefathers from ancient times.

^C 97. It is worthwhile that we should not only be slayers of bodily passions, but also destroyers of the passionate thoughts of the soul, according to the manner of that saint who says: *In the morning I destroyed all the sinners of the land, so that I might cut off from the city of the Lord all those who work iniquity*; that is to say, the passions of the body and the thoughts of the soul that act lawlessly.

98. He who has kept the way of the virtues unharmed by inclining to neither side, with pious and correct knowledge, will perceive the coming of God to him through the gift of dispassion and the tranquility of the soul. For it says: *I will sing and will understand in a blameless way; when will you come to me?* For the psalm signifies the diligent action according to the reason of virtue; but understanding is the knowing science that follows upon virtue, through which one perceives the divine coming, he who is watchful and strenuous in the cultivation of the virtues, awaiting his Lord.

^D 99. It is not right for one who is being introduced to piety to be led toward the action of the commandments only by kindness, but he should also be driven to a more frequent struggle through severity by the memory of the divine judgments; so that he may not only refrain from evil through the desire for divine things, but also through fear: *I will sing to you, O Lord, of mercy and judgment*; so that, rejoicing in love toward God, he may also be earnest toward the song, being tempered by fear.

100. He who through the cultivation of virtue and knowledge has harnessed the

body to the soul has become a cithara, a pipe, and a temple of God. A cithara, in that he has excellently preserved the harmony of the virtues; a pipe, in that he receives the breath of the Spirit through divine contemplations; and a temple, in that he has become a dwelling place for the Word on account of the purity of his mind.

SCHOLIA OF AN UNCERTAIN AUTHOR

1. Not as though those who desire manifestation attained it, the argument says, but rather as those who totally fail. And by the words, "Let him do it in one of the neighboring," and what follows, he signifies that true knowledge does not come to anyone unless it be through bodily labors—that is, through self-control and love, by which the purification of the soul is accomplished. For "Blessed," he says, "are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

2. By these things, we are most of all convicted, being sick with the love of money and sacrificing to mammon.

3. These things also are directly against the Iconoclasts. Observe, however, that knowledge here is said to be "in part," but the wisdom of God is whole in the world, just as the Theologian says: "For He was in the world, and the world was made through Him." ^A

4. Furthermore, each of us, through ignorance, is addicted to earthly things, chooses Caesar as his king, and betrays the Word to Pilate—that is, to the senses—to be put to death. And he is subject altogether with Caesar and to Herod, being one who sins by action and has become habituated to evil. He is a Jew who betrays virtue to the habit of vice, denying the kingdom of God and remaining a devoted worshiper of the tyranny of the devil.

5. From ignorance of God comes self-love and gluttony, for which reason we have immediately loved the flesh and the world. And if we do not depart from these through the love of God, which is rendered effective toward one's neighbor through the keeping of the commandments, it is impossible for us otherwise to remain immovable in the good.

6. All the saints are sojourners and pilgrims, as those who see the truth in mirrors and riddles (that is, in obscure representations). But the Iconoclasts, not enduring to see through mirrors, have fallen away from the truth entirely.

7. "God has stood in the assembly of the gods." And observe the power of the angels, and that he who does not believe that the members must be joined to the Head is an unbeliever, and for that reason is already judged. ^B

8. "Who inhabits the land of the Chaldeans? Who inhabits Charrhan of Mesopotamia?" Who is transported to the good land, which God has promised to give to those who love Him?

9. That even formerly, before the advent, and now after the advent, the Word of God dwells in us spiritually, secretly advancing us toward things more divine.

^A 10. We too, as they did, by neglecting divine knowledge, are dragged into the servitude of the passions, or vices. For Israel endured its final captivity, having raged with fury and madness against Christ.

11. That every saint is ruddy, with beautiful eyes; that is, he is rich in active knowledge.

12. And then, and before, and even until today, it happens thus. For the mind would not otherwise desert to the passions of its own accord, unless it wished to do something without the Word.

NOTICE ON MAXIMUS’ FIVE HUNDRED CHAPTERS

Picus, president of the inquisitorial courts in the Parisian senate—a man indeed upright and learned, but, because of his secular service, not as well-versed in theology as these chapters of Maximus require—published them, in which, as in others, Maximus himself shines as a theologian. Nor does the caution he gives the reader please me overmuch, warning him not to withdraw his mind from the reading of the few rather obscure chapters placed at the beginning of the first century, which pertain to the Best and Greatest Trinity. For once these are passed over, those follow which will be most pleasing to you as you read. For Maximus is not more obscure in those things he pursues concerning the Trinity in these chapters, nor less pleasing to readers, than in the rest, provided they are accustomed to discourse on God and theology, and are not complete strangers to them. For he treats everything with marvelous perspicacity and skill, as Photius also notes concerning the four hundred chapters of the work titled *On Charity*. For he did not re-read that; as not everything came into his hands. What the same man notes, that the things pertaining to the *oikonomika* are to be understood as those pertaining to the divine dispensation, because here there is nothing about domestic affairs: that is indeed correct, except that it is superfluous. For who, when he hears *oikonomika* joined to *theologika*, thinks of things of a domestic nature, and not of those which belong to the mystery of Christ and his dispensation in the flesh, which Greek theologians so readily call *oikonomia*? ^B The title of the edition is flawed, and the conjunction is missing before *on virtue and vice*, as if the chapters were at once theological and economic [domestic], and as if they dealt with virtue and vice—which is far from the truth and from his mind. These [chapters] indicate a different matter or subject; just as in the others, some pertain to God, some to Christ, some to the establishment of morals, and thus to virtue and vice: which the particle *kai* [and], restored from manuscript codices, declares most excellently. From these I have also thought it necessary to remove the particle *kai marturos* [and martyr], wherever Picus may have derived it: for thus the title is clearer, and [accords with] the custom of others, although I am not unaware that Maximus is sometimes also called a confessor; yet he is more frequently called *homologetes* [confessor], because he suffered most grievous things for the sake of the faith without undergoing death, and was finally worn out by hardships and ended his life in exile. ^C

CAPITUM QUINQUIES CENTENORUM CENTURIA I

OF OUR HOLY FATHER AND MASTER MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR, DIVERSE THEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMICAL CHAPTERS, AND CONCERNING VIRTUE AND VICE

FIRST CENTURY OF CHAPTERS

1. The supra-archetypal and supersubstantial Good is one: the holy, three-subsistent Unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is the infinite conjunction of three infinities of equal nature, the account of whose being, and how, and what, and what sort it is, is entirely inaccessible to existing things. For it escapes all the intellect of those who understand, as it does not depart from its own natural mystery and (so to speak) inwardness, and it infinitely transcends the knowledge of all knowable things. ^A

2. That which is in essence primarily and truly good is that which has neither beginning, nor end, nor cause of its being, nor even any motion toward a cause in being (a). That which does not have this is not truly nor properly being, since it has a beginning and an end and a cause of its being, and possesses motion toward a cause in the process of being. But that which is not primarily being, even if it is said to be, both exists and is said to be by participation in the will of that which is truly and primarily being. ^B

3. If the Word precedes the creation of existing things, there was not, nor is there, nor will there be any Word superior to the Word. Being a Word, it is not without intellect or devoid of life; rather, it is intellectual and living, as having the Mind that begets it. ^C

(a) *Possessing motion toward a cause*: This refers especially to the cause which is the end toward which one moves, because one exists from it as from an efficient cause. Nor did Picus express it well, that it refers to any cause whatsoever; since it is also said that one refers to a cause because one traces one's origin to it as author in any way, even if one does not move toward it; as in divine matters, the Son is referred to the Father as ^D cause (as is the custom of the Greeks to speak), yet he is not moved toward him, nor does he have motion, as if toward an end, which any of them... and as the Catholics say: that it is not for the sake of an end, but he himself with the Father and the Holy Spirit is the one end of all things, being one goodness, as also one nature: therefore, as Gregory the Theologian and Maximus have said, having no cause or end for his own sake, he who is for our sake is for the sake of a cause, which is that he was made man. Therefore, one must speak more precisely in theology, so that no obscurity, and much less error, may approach from the most refined Maximus in his writings on theology.

^A

the Mind subsisting essentially, the Father; and Life subsisting essentially co-existing, the Holy Spirit.

4. One God, begetter of one Son, Father, and source of one Holy Spirit: a confusion-free unity and undivided Trinity; a Mind without beginning, the sole Progenitor of the only Word who is essentially without beginning solely from the sole; and the source of the only eternal Life, that is to say, of the Holy Spirit.

5. One God, because there is one Godhead. A unity without beginning, and superessential, and indivisible, and inseparable; the same is unity and Trinity, and so forth.

6. If every participation is preconceived by those who participate, and if, clearly, the Cause of beings is far superior to all things in every way, being by nature pre-existent and preconceived before beings—not as essence is to accidents (otherwise the Divine would be proven composite, having the subsistence of beings for the completion of its own existence), but as essence is to those things which are superessential. ^B For if the arts found the forms of the things that come from them, and the universal nature [founds] the species contained under it, much more did God establish the essences of beings from not-being, as He is superessential, and even more, infinitely removed from the position of superessentiality; and He joined the sciences to the arts for the discovery of forms, and gave to nature the working energy of the species, and He Himself having established the very state of being of essences. ^C

7. He who by essence is in no way participated in, yet wishes to be participated in by those capable of participating, by another mode, does not at all depart from His own essential arcana and hidden reason; since the very mode according to which He is participated in (as He wills it) remains perpetually inaccessible to all. Therefore, just as God wills to be participated in, ^D according to which mode He remains inaccessible to all, so too He established beings—the One who is the sole begetter of the Word.

Centuria I

He knows by His own reason, so too did He create those things which participate in Him, by the excellent power of His goodness, and by the reason through which He knows. Therefore, that which was made by the will of the Creator would never be co-eternal with the One who willed it to be as He willed.

8. The Word of God, having been born once according to the flesh (wherein is His propense goodness and humanity), is always being born in spirit for those who wish; and He becomes an infant, fashioning Himself in them through the virtues, and revealing Himself as much as the receiver knows how to contain—not diminishing the expanse of His own magnitude through the stain of envy or jealousy, but as if by measure or mode exploring the faculty of those who desire to see—and always, by the excellence of the mystery, remaining unobservable to all. ^B Therefore, the divine Apostle, wisely considering the power of the mystery, says: "Jesus Christ, yesterday and today; the same also for the ages;" understanding the mystery as always new, and never growing old through any comprehension of the mind.

9. Christ God is born, having become man by the assumption of a soul endowed with intelligence—He who had granted the things that exist to proceed out of nothing. Him the Virgin gave birth to in a way superior to nature, and He did not loosen the seal of her virginity. For just as He, having become man, did not alter His nature, nor change His power, so too He makes her who bore Him both mother and virgin, in the same moment displaying miracle upon miracle, and concealing one in the other. ^C For God, as He exists essentially, is always a mystery; He only draws forth from the hidden retreats of His nature as much as suffices so that, through that very thing by which He is explained, He might become more hidden and occult; and likewise, He presents the mother who bore Him as a virgin, as much as is necessary so that the birth might be the indissoluble bond of virginity.

10. Natures are renewed, and God becomes man; not only does the divine, stable, and immovable Nature move toward that which is subject to motion and unstable, so that it might make it cease from being borne about, nor does He only produce the human flesh—perfected by the Word beyond nature—so that it might cease to be moved and tossed about; ^D but also, a star shines clearly during the day from the East, and leads the Magi to the place where the Word, having assumed flesh, lies; so that He might mystically show the Word, who stands above the Law and the Prophets, leading the nations to the greatest light of knowledge. For truly, the discourse of the Law and the Prophets, like a star, when understood piously, leads those who have been called by the power of grace according to His purpose to the incarnate Word.

11. Because I, wishing [to be as God], had transgressed the divine commandment, and the devil had seduced my nature's solidity and strength, or constancy, by the hope of divinity, and dragged it down toward pleasure...

by which he—the one who had established death—exulted, reveling in the corruption of nature. For this reason, God becomes ^A a perfect human being, changing nothing of the nature except sin, since sin was not of the nature's own census; in order that, by presenting the bait of the flesh, He might entice the insatiable dragon, who was gaping to swallow the flesh, and it might become poison to him, destroying him utterly by the power of the divinity within it; but to the nature of humans, it would be an antidote, recalling it by the power of the divinity within it to the grace it had from the beginning. For just as he, by pouring the venom of his malice into the tree of knowledge, had corrupted the nature that tasted it, so he too, presuming to devour the Lord’s flesh, was destroyed and removed by death through the virtue of the divinity therein.

12. The great mystery of the divine incarnation always remains a mystery; it is clearly abstruse, not only because it is manifested in proportion to the capacity of those who are to be saved by it—in that what is explained of it is surpassed by what is not yet seen—but also because that which has been manifested remains entirely hidden, known by no means as it truly is. And let not what is said seem strange or unheard of to anyone. For since God is superessential and ^B surpasses all superessentiality, when He willingly came to take on essence, He was superessentially given essence. Therefore, also for the sake of humans—as one who loves humanity—having truly become a human being from human essence, He preserves the manner of how He became human as something entirely unmanifest; for He has become human beyond what is human.

13. Let us faithfully contemplate the mystery of the divine incarnation, and let us only praise and proclaim without idle curiosity Him who, by His own willing purpose, was pleased to become human for our sake. For who could be confident in the strength of logical demonstration to be able to recount how the conception of the Word of God takes place; how flesh is brought forth without seed; how the birth exists without any stain of corruption; how the mother perseveres as a virgin even after birth; how He who is greater than all perfection progressed in age and bodily stature; how He who is pure was baptized; how He who feeds others was hungry; how He who becomes weary bestowed strength; how He who suffers provided remedies for healing; how He who dies brought things to life? And, to say the first and the last at once, in what way does God become human; and—what is far more abstruse—in what way is the Word truly in the flesh, hypostatically, while that same person exists essentially ^C as a whole with the Father? How is the same being entirely God by nature, and [yet] has entirely become human by nature, without having altered either nature at all—neither the divine, according to which He exists as God, nor our own, according to which He has become human? Faith alone grasps these mysteries, being the hypostasis of things that exist beyond mind and speech.

^A 14. Adam, having disobeyed, taught that the birth of nature begins from pleasure; the Lord, banishing this from nature, did not accept the conception that comes from seed. The woman, having also transgressed the commandment, demonstrated that the birth of nature begins from pain; the Lord, shaking this off from nature, by being born, did not permit the woman who gave birth to submit to corruption, so that at once He might take away from nature both the voluntary pleasure and the involuntary pain brought in through it — He being the destroyer of those things of which He was not the creator — and might teach us mystically, according to our intention, to initiate another life, one that perhaps begins from pain and labors, but concludes entirely in divine pleasure and boundless joy. For this reason He becomes human, and is born as a human, He who made the human, so that He might save the human; and, healing sufferings with sufferings, ^B by being Himself the suffering of our own sufferings, He might demonstrate that He is, through His own privations according to the flesh, supernaturally renewing our habits according to the spirit in a most excellent way.

15. He who through divine desire has conquered the disposition of the soul toward the body has become uncircumscribed, even if he subsists in a body. For God, who draws the yearning of the one who loves and desires Him, is incomparably higher than all things, and does not allow the one who loves and desires to fasten his yearning to any of the things that are secondary to God. Let us therefore love and desire God with the entire power of our nature, and let us make our intention unconstrained by any bodily things; let us become, by our disposition, above all things that exist, both sensible and intelligible, and let nothing concerning our intention hindered by physical circumscription deprive us of being ^C with God, who is by nature uncircumscribed.

16. The suffering of the saints is a contest between envy and virtue; for the former, it is a struggle so that it might prevail, while for the latter, it is a struggle to remain unconquered, enduring all things. And for the one, it is a struggle to make wickedness prosper through the punishment of those who perform good deeds; for the other, it is a struggle so that it may hold fast to the good, even when they possess the advantage in the midst of calamities. ^D Those who possess the advantage: The condition is far better than that of the wicked. Let us say, "Those who have the advantage even in afflictions," etc. This is indeed the evangelical promise: "A hundredfold now in this time, with persecutions" (Mark 10:30); this is what Maximus speaks of so excellently, that we are punished and affected by evils because we cultivate virtue and are tenacious in our duty. Those who certainly provide this, and maintain patience in these things, or even rejoice, are fully grown in virtue and Christian fortitude, and are truly the most blessed of all. Strength of soul through patience is the injury and maltreatment of the body.

18. Having been deceived at the beginning by the deceit of pleasure, we chose death over the life which truly exists. Let us therefore cheerfully endure the pain of the body—the murderer of that pleasure—so that, having extinguished in ourselves the death that brought about the death caused by it, we may receive back for ourselves the life returned to us, which was bartered for pleasure and bought back with the slight sufferings of the flesh. 19. If, when the flesh is comfortable, the vigor of sin is accustomed to fatten itself, it is clear that when it is afflicted, the vigor of virtue is naturally inclined to flourish. Let us therefore bear the affliction of the flesh with a brave spirit, for it is a cleanser of the defilements that are upon the soul, and a harbinger of the future glory; for the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us. 20. Neither do physicians who heal bodies apply one and the same remedy to all, nor does God, the physician of souls, knowing as He does the ailments, understand only one method of healing that is suitable for all; but by bestowing upon each what is appropriate according to his condition, He works recoveries. Let us therefore give thanks while the healing is applied, even if the process involves torture; for a blessed and prosperous end follows it. 21. Nothing reveals the disposition of the soul so much as the uprisings and desires that surge from an afflicted and suffering flesh; for if the soul yields to them, it will be clear that it loves and honors the flesh more than God, but if it remains unmoved by their assaults, it will show that it values virtue more than the flesh. Through this virtue, the soul will receive God as its indwelling guest, since for the sake of virtue He deigned to suffer and endure hardships together with us, as He cried out formerly to His disciples: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 22. If all the saints have become partakers of discipline, let us also give thanks while we are being disciplined with them, so that we may be accounted worthy to become partakers of their glory. For whom the Lord loves, He disciplines; and He scourges every son whom He receives. 23. Adam, indeed, having approved of pleasure as a rib and having acquiesced to it, cast the human race out of paradise. But the Lord, having been pierced in this part with a lance with suffering, brought the thief into paradise. Therefore, let us love the labor of the flesh, and hate its pleasure and lust; for the former opens the way and restores us to good things, while the latter casts us out and separates us far from good things. 24. If God suffers in the flesh—having become man—who, while suffering, does not rejoice in having God as a companion in his passion?

For truth-speaking is he who says: *If we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him* (Rom. viii, 17).

^A 25. Since we must by all means labor, on account of the pleasure implanted in our nature by our forefather, let us bravely endure temporary pains, dulling for ourselves the goad of pleasure, and freeing ourselves from the eternal punishments of which it is the cause.

26. The end of all good things is love, as ^B towards God, who is the highest of all good things and the cause of every good; it leads, brings, and gathers together those who walk in it, as it is faithful, unfailing, and abiding. For faith is the foundation of those that follow it—I mean hope and love—firmly establishing the truth. Hope is the strength of the final virtues (I mean of love and faith), revealing within itself both the trustworthiness and the desirability of both, and teaching us to make our course toward the object itself through itself. But love is the completion of these, embracing the whole final object of desire, and providing for these a cessation of the movement that is toward it; it introduces, through itself, enjoyment of the object [now] present, instead of believing and hoping that it will be present.

^C 27. The most perfect work of love, and the end of the activity according to it, is that, through a relative exchange of those joined by it, the properties and titles should become beautiful in one another, and should cause man to become God, and God to be called and appear as man, because of the one and unchangeable will and movement of both.

28. If we are altogether according to the image of God, let us become [our own] and God's; or rather, let us be entirely of the One and Whole God, and entirely [of Him], bearing nothing earthly within ourselves, that we may draw near to God and become gods, having received from God the fact of being gods. For thus are divine gifts honored, and the presence of divine peace is welcomed.

^D 29. Great is the good of love, and the first and preeminent of all good things, as it is the good of God and of man, because it joins God and men together.

^A It joins to Himself the one who possesses it, and reveals the Creator of mankind as man, on account of the identity—as far as possible for men—between the one deified and God according to goodness. This, I suppose, is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your soul, and your strength; and your neighbor as yourself."

30. Observe how the devil, having cunningly composed ^B by means of *philautia* (that is to say, blind and carnal love) the objects of pleasure, and by leading man astray, has separated him from God and from others, with warring minds and opinions; having thus perverted rectitude, and divided nature in this way, and having cut it up into many opinions and fantasies.

31. There are three great and primal evils, and the causes—to put it simply—of all vice: ignorance, I say, and *philautia* (improper love of self and carnal love) and tyranny; hanging from one another and through one another being established. For from ignorance regarding God comes *philautia*; and from this, tyranny toward those related by kinship. And no one will deny that the evil one, through the abuse of our own powers—namely, reason, desire, and anger—has stirred up and brought these to pass in us.

32. It is necessary, by reason, instead of ignorance, to be moved toward the sole God through the search for knowledge; by desire, being cleansed of the passion of *philautia*, to be driven by longing toward God alone; and with anger, separated from tyranny, to struggle ^C to attain God alone, and to create the divine and blessed love—which is the offspring of these and the reason for them—which joins the lover of God to God and renders him a god.

33. Since *philautia*, as I have said, is the beginning and mother of vices, all its progeny and the shoots that follow them are accustomed to be plucked out with it; for when this is removed, no kind or trace of malice can subsist at all.

34. We should care for ourselves and for one another as much as Christ, in His own person, first showed us, by deigning to suffer for our sake.

35. All the saints, because of love and its command, resisted sin, having no regard for the present life; and they endured diverse ^D kinds of death, so that they might gather themselves and God from the world, and unite within themselves the fragments of nature. For this is the true and blameless divine wisdom of the faithful, the end of which is goodness and truth; if indeed goodness is manifest kindness and humanity, and truth is piety and religion composed according to the dictates of faith. These are the marks of love, as it joins men to God and to one another, and for this reason it enjoys the firm and constant permanence of good things.

^A 36. The force and proof of perfect love toward God is a genuine and voluntary disposition of good will toward one's neighbor. For he who does not love his brother whom he sees, says the divine John, cannot love God whom he does not see.

37. Charity—which the Word of God calls himself—is the way of truth; and those who walk in it, having been made pure from every stain, he presents to God and the Father.

38. This is the door, through which he who enters penetrates into the Holy of Holies, and becomes worthy to be a beholder of the inaccessible beauty of the holy and royal Trinity.

^B 39. Truly, and beyond all condemnation, it is a fearful thing to destroy of one’s own will the life given to us gratuitously from God by the Holy Spirit, through love for those things which pass away; and those who have made it their study to prefer the truth to self-love know this fear.

40. Let us use peace for its proper purpose, and having set aside the friendship—formed to our detriment—with the world and the prince of this world, let us bring to an end the war stirred up against God through our passions; and by binding unbreakable treaties of peace with him, in the destruction of the body of sin, let us put an end to our enmities with him.

41. It is impossible for us to be reconciled to God while we occupy a position of rebellion against him through our passions, and while we endure to pay tribute through our wickedness to the wicked tyrant and murderer of souls, the devil, without first having waged war against the wicked one. For we continue to be enemies and foes of God, even if we drape ourselves with the name of believers, as long as we choose to serve the passions of shame; and no profit will accrue to us from peace according to the world, if the soul is in a bad state, and in rebellion against its own Creator, and refuses to come under His kingship. ^C For it is sold to countless cruel masters who urge it on toward wickedness, and they deceive and prepare it to choose the road that leads to perdition, rather than the one that provides salvation.

42. For this end has God created us, that we might become partakers of the divine nature, and sharers in His eternity, and might appear to Him as beings like Himself through the deification which is by grace; for the sake of which there is both the constitution and permanence of all things that exist, as well as the production and generation of those things that do not yet exist.

43. If we desire to be called and to be God’s, let us strive not to betray the Word to the passions, after the manner of Judas, or to deny Him, after the manner of Peter. For the denial of the Word is the refusal to do good on account of fear; but betrayal is sin committed through deliberate intent, and an urge toward sin. ^D

^A 44. The end of all trial is joy; of all labor, rest; and of all dishonor, glory. And to speak briefly, the end of all painful things that we endure for the sake of virtue is that we may attain unto God and dwell with Him forever, and that we may enjoy the eternal rest and beatitude that has no end.

45. God, desiring to unite us to one another, both in nature and in will, and truly urging all of humankind toward this goal, has written for us, in His most benign loving-kindness, saving commandments; and for this reason He has ordained that we should show mercy, and that mercy should be shown to those who show mercy.

46. The self-love and craftiness of men, either rejecting or perverting one another and the law, has cut the one nature into many parts; and by introducing the insensibility that now prevails within it, it has armed nature against itself through discord of soul. Whoever, therefore, is able by prudent counsel and sincerity of mind to dissolve this inequality of nature, has had mercy on himself before others; for he has ordered his will according to nature, and has approached God by his will through nature, and has shown in himself what is the mode of that which is according to the image, and how God, in the beginning, fittingly creating our nature similar to Himself and as a manifest image of His own goodness, established it in all things as one with Himself—peaceful, quiet, tranquil, bound to God and to itself by charity; by which (charity) we embrace God with desire, and we ourselves embrace one another with more indulgent piety and mercy.

^B 47. The most loving God for this reason became man, so that He might gather the nature of men toward Himself and bring it to a halt from its evil drifting—drifting toward itself, or rather acting seditiously against itself ^C and riven asunder; and having no stability, on account of the unsteady movement of the mind regarding each thing, nor being balanced by its own proper weights.

48. Nothing is more precious to those who possess a sound mind and senses, or rather more dear to God, than perfect charity; as that which gathers those who are divided into one, and creates one accord in the many or in all, with all discord removed far away. ^D

^A For it is the property of charity to show that the mind of those who seek the things that belong to it is one.

49. If by nature the good is that which unites the divided and holds them together, then clearly the evil is that which divides and corrupts those things which are joined. For by nature, evil is dispersive, unstable, multiform, and divisive.

50. The release from all evils and the short path to salvation is the true love of God according to knowledge, and the total renunciation of the affection of the soul toward the body and this world; by which, having cast off the desire for pleasure and the fear of pain, we are freed from that evil self-love, and raised up to the knowledge of Him who created us; and having received instead a good and intellectual self-love, separated from bodily affection, we do not cease serving God through this good self-love, always seeking the preservation of the soul from God. For this is true worship, and that which is truly pleasing to God: the precise care of the soul through the virtues.

51. ^B He who does not desire bodily pleasure, and does not fear pain at all, has become dispassionate. For together with self-love, which is the mother of these, he has slain all the passions that arise through them and from them, along with that most sovereign of evils, ignorance; and he has become wholly and entirely immovable, bound to the Good which stands, abides, and is by nature always the same, and beholding the glory of God with unveiled face, he gazes upon the divine and inaccessible brightness from the light-like splendor within himself. ^C 2 Cor. III, 18.

52. Let us renounce the pleasure and pain of this present life as much as we are able, and we shall be entirely freed from every defilement of the passions and the devilish malice. For because of pleasure we love the passions, and because of pain we flee from virtue.

53. Since all wickedness is by nature such that it is corrupted by those very ways that constitute it, when a man discovers through experience itself that pain is always the successor to every pleasure, he directs his whole urge toward the pleasure, and his whole flight away from the pain; striving for the former with all his might, and struggling against the latter with all his zeal, ^D thinking that it were possible—which was entirely impossible—to separate them from one another by such a method, and by pleasure alone...

^A being joined to self-love, to possess it entirely free from pain, being ignorant, as it seems, under the influence of passion, that it is never possible for pleasure to exist without pain. For labor associated with pain is mingled with pleasure, even if it appears to escape the notice of those who possess it, on account of the overriding influence of the passion of pleasure; for it is in the nature of that which dominates to always appear manifest, veiling the perception of that which lies alongside it. Therefore, since we claim as our own, because of self-love, both pleasure and—for the same reason—the eager haste to flee from pain, we devise the countless generations of destructive passions.

54. ^B Someone is ignorant of the experience of pleasure and pain of the senses, when he has bound—or rather, has united—his mind to God, who is truly most beloved, desirable, and the object of longing, having become free from bodily attachment.

55. 55. Just as it is impossible for anyone to offer pure worship to God without thoroughly cleansing the soul, so too is it impossible to serve the creature without bestowing diligent care upon the body. For by this, man performed a destructive worship toward the body, and by becoming a lover of himself in relation to it, he had pleasure incessantly and pain in operation, always eating of the tree of disobedience, which possessed for the senses the knowledge of good and evil mingled together by experience. And perhaps one would not miss the truth if he said that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the visible creation; for it is by nature endowed with the power of producing pleasure and pain, just as it is perceived.

56. ^C Where reason does not hold sway, the power according to sense is accustomed to arise, in which the force of sin is somehow mingled, drawing the soul through pleasure toward pity for the flesh that is consubstantial with it in subsistence. By this, as if it were a natural work for it, it undertakes the impassioned and pleasure-seeking care of the flesh, leads it away from the life according to nature, and persuades it to become the creator of this non-existent wickedness.

57. ^D Wickedness is the forgetting, by an intelligent soul, of the goods according to nature, which comes into being from an impassioned attachment toward the flesh and the world. Reason, serving as a commander and ruling by spiritual knowledge, obliterates this by investigating the origin and nature of the world and the flesh, and by driving the soul toward the region akin to it—the realm of intelligible things—toward which the law of sin makes no crossing. It does not have, as it were, a bridge—which is sense—to convey it toward the mind; for sense has already been dissolved in its connection to the soul and been cast away toward sensible spectacles, the connection and nature of which the mind, having passed over them, does not perceive at all.

^A

58. Just as reason, dominating the passions, makes the senses an instrument of virtue, so too the passions, dominating reason, inform the senses for sin. And it is necessary to consider and meditate with a sober mind how the soul will appropriately make its conversion, utilizing the very things through which it used to transgress for the purpose of preparing and sustaining virtues.

59. The Holy Gospel teaches the renunciation of the carnal life and the admission of the spiritual one. By this I mean those who according to the human—that is, the human life in the flesh for the use of this age—are always dying, but are living according to God only in the Spirit, in accordance with the divine Apostle and those akin to him, who no longer have their own life, but have Christ living in them only in their soul. In this way, those who are dead in the flesh for God’s sake in this age are judged, having many afflictions, tortures, and straits, and enduring with joy the myriad kinds of temptations. ^{B C}

60. Every passion, or vice and failing, consists entirely of the complex of some object falling into the sense, and of the sense itself, and of the natural faculty—by this I mean anger, or desire, or reason perverted from its natural state. If, therefore, the mind, having inspected the end of these toward each other according to their composition (namely, the object that moves the sense, the sense itself, and finally the natural faculty within it), is able to distinguish each of these and trace them back to its proper natural principle—and to contemplate the sensible object in itself, without the relation of the sense to it, and the sense without the affinity of the object toward it; and, for example, the desire, or any other of the natural faculties, without the impassioned affection of the mind toward the sense and the sensible object (which a certain movement of the passion and lust is accustomed to provide to the consideration)—it has dissipated and crushed this, like the calf of Israel of old, as well as the stain and substance of any passion, vice, or suffering, and has sown it under the water of knowledge, having completely abolished even the bare phantasy of the passions, through the restoration of the realities that constitute it to their own natural state.

61. A life stained by many offenses of the passions arising from the flesh is a soiled and polluted tunic. ^D For just as from a certain garment everyone’s life and conduct is accustomed to appear, whether he be righteous or iniquitous—the one, having a clean tunic, being a life adorned with virtues; the other, possessing a life stained by wicked works. Or rather, a tunic stained by the filth of the flesh is a habit and a certain disposition formed by the memory of carnal things according to conscience.

^A As indeed from the Spirit, through virtues woven together for one another according to reason, there is woven for the soul a tunic of incorruption, by putting on which it becomes beautiful and glorious; so, too, from the flesh, by passions woven together for one another according to proportion, there arises a certain unclean and stained tunic, which renders the soul manifest from itself, and imposes upon it another form and image besides the divine.

^B Firm faith in the hope of deification is provided to human nature by the fact that God became man; for He makes man god to the same extent that He Himself became man. For He who became man without sin will obviously deify nature without any change into divinity; and He will exalt it for His own sake to the same extent that He humbled Himself for the sake of man. The great Apostle teaches this mystically, saying that in the ages to come the superabundant riches of God’s goodness toward us will be shown (Eph. ii, 7).

^C Reason, ruling over anger and desire, produces virtues; and the intellect, applying itself to these reasons, gathers an unerring knowledge of created things. Therefore, when reason, having cast off opposites, finds what is lovable according to nature, and the intellect, after the passing over of known things, lays hold of the Cause of all things that exists beyond essence and knowledge, then — through grace — the passion of blessed deification supervenes, leading reason away from natural discernment (where there is nothing to be discerned), and inducing in the intellect a cessation from natural intellection and thought (where there is nothing to be known), and by the firmness of this same stillness and state, makes him who is deemed worthy of divine communion a god.

^D Labor cleanses the soul infected with the rust of pleasure and tears away from it entirely the affection for earthly things, once it has learned through the loss resulting from such affection to be of a sounder mind. This is the reason why God in His just judgment allows men to be tormented by the devil.

§. Pleasure and pain, desire and fear, and the things that follow from these, were not originally created along with the nature of men; otherwise they would pertain to the definition of nature. Therefore I say, following the author...

great Gregory of Nyssa (lib. *De opificio hominis*), that because the perfection was lost, these things were introduced, adhering to that part of the soul which is more removed from reason: by which, instead of the blessed and divine image, the clear and manifest likeness of brute animals immediately emerged in man after the transgression. For it was fitting that, the dignity of reason being obscured, the human race should be justly punished by those marks of irrationality which it had embraced; God most wisely arranging that, in this way, man might be brought to a sense of rational excellence.

^B 66. Passions and affections also become good in those who are diligent and virtuous, when we wisely turn them away from bodily things and use them to acquire heavenly things; for instance, when we make desire the motion of a mind longing for divine things; pleasure, the harmless joy of the mind attracted by the gracious gifts of God; fear, the cautious diligence against future punishment for offenses; and sadness, the corrective repentance for a present evil. And to speak briefly, just as wise physicians remove the injury present or impending from the body—a poisonous beast, like the viper—by using these very passions to eradicate present or expected evil, so we use them to acquire and preserve both virtue and knowledge.

^C 67. The law of the Old Testament, through practical philosophy, cleanses nature from every stain. But the law of the New, through the initiation of contemplation and more profound doctrine, mystically raises the mind from bodily things to the related spectacles of intelligible beings.

68. Divine Scripture calls those who are being introduced, and who as it were-linger in the vestibules of the divine hall of the virtues, "fearful"; those who have obtained a ^D moderate habit of the accounts and ways of virtue, it is accustomed to call "those who are progressing"; and those who finally have already reached the vertex of the truth that reveals the virtues, and have advanced to the cultivation of knowledge and contemplation, it calls "perfect" (*1 Cor. II, 6*). He, therefore, who has turned away from the ancient manner of life in which he clung to vices and was tossed about by passions, and has surrendered his whole disposition to the divine precepts out of fear, is lacking in no kind of good that befits those who are being instructed; even if he has not yet acquired a firm habit in the virtues, nor has become a participant in that wisdom which is spoken of among the perfect. Nor does the one who is progressing…

lack any part of those goods ^A which pertain to his degree, even if he has not yet reached that same excellent knowledge of divine things as the perfect. For the perfect, having already mystically attained to contemplative theology, and having made their intellect pure of every material imagination, and bearing in themselves without any deficiency the image and likeness of the divine beauty fully expressed, appear to have embraced divine love in their innermost heart.

69. Fear is twofold; one is pure, the other is not pure. For that fear which is formed by the anxiety of punishment for sins, having sin as the cause of its own generation, is not pure, nor will it last forever, because it is destroyed together with sin through repentance. ^B But that fear which is constant without the grief that is conceived from sins, this fear is pure and will never depart; for it is essentially implanted, as it were, by God in the creature, making manifest to all His natural majesty, which is above every kingdom and power in its transcendent excellence.

70. He who does not fear God as a judge, but reveres Him because of the exceeding excellence of His infinite power, justly suffers no lack, being perfect in charity, loving God with reverence and becoming piety. And he it is who possesses that fear which remains into the age of ages, and to whom there is no lack ^C at all.

71. From beings we know the Creator of beings; and from the diversity of beings, we are taught the subsistent wisdom of the Being; and from the natural movement of beings, we learn the subsistent life of the Being, the life-giving power of beings, the Holy Spirit.

72. The Holy Spirit is absent from none of existing things, and especially from those that are in any way participants of reason. For He is the sustainer of the knowledge of each, because God and the Spirit of God, being endowed with such power, pervade all things through the reasons of Providence, and move the reason ^D that is in each by nature; through this, He brings him who is endowed with any sensibility to a sense of those things which he has committed against the law of nature through sin; and, for him whose will is somewhat more ready to comply, He impels him toward the willing acceptance of right thoughts derived from nature. Wherefore we even find many, among those who are very barbarian and who lead a nomadic life, who have pursued probity of character and have renounced the beastly laws which they had formerly held from their ancestors.

CAPITUM QUINQUIES CENTENORUM CENTURIA I.

^A 73. The Holy Spirit is in all things simply, in that He contains and preserves all things and provides for the universe, and stirs the natural seeds. But in a specific way, He is also in all who are under the Law, inasmuch as He points out the transgression of the commandments and provides light for the recognition of the promised coming of Christ. Beyond these ways, He is in all who are accounted by the Christian name, even as the author of adoption. Yet as the author of wisdom, He is in none of those I have mentioned, except in those who are possessed of prudence and intelligence, and who, through a life ordered by divine morals, have rendered themselves worthy of His deifying inhabitation. For everyone who does not perform the divine will, even if he is a believer, has an unwise heart—as it were a workshop for evil thoughts—and a body bound by sins, as if it were always stained by the defilements of passions.

^B 74. God, who desires the salvation of all men and hungers for their deification, curses their pride and arrogance as one would a barren fig tree; so that, preferring to be righteous rather than merely appearing so, they may cast off the garment of moral display worn in hypocrisy, and, putting on a life of virtue as the divine Word wills, may pass their lives in purity, honoring God with the disposition of their soul rather than displaying to men an outward show of manners.

^C 75. The definition of acting is one thing, and the definition of suffering is another; the definition of acting is the natural power for the operation of virtues; the definition of suffering is the grace of things beyond nature, or the concurrence of those things contrary to nature. For just as we have no natural power for that which is above things, so neither do we have by nature the power for that which does not exist in things. We suffer, therefore, that which transcends nature by grace, but we do not work deification; for we do not possess by nature the power capable of deification. And again, we suffer what is contrary to nature—wickedness—by a disposition according to circumstance; for we have no natural power for the production of wickedness. We act, therefore, in this present life, being by nature such that we have the natural power to perform the virtues; but we suffer deification as a thing of the future, receiving it as it is bestowed by the gift of grace.

^D 76. We act, insofar as we have the natural, rational power that is generative of the virtues, and the noetic faculty capable of all knowledge.

^A We suffer, however, when, having completely passed beyond the concepts of things that have come to be from nothing, we attain in an unknown way to the Cause of things, and bring to a rest, together with things limited by nature, our own faculties; this is indeed an achievement that in no way exists as a work of natural faculty. For nature is not endowed with the power to comprehend what is above nature. For there is nothing in created things that can effect deification, just as there is nothing in them that can comprehend God. For this is proper only to divine grace, to grant deification to things in a certain way; for it illuminates nature with a light exceeding nature, and raises it above its own limits, according to the excellence of its glory.

77. Vitae, when we have performed the virtues, we cease; but we never cease suffering deification by grace, by which we are gifted with divinity. For that experience which is above nature is bounded by no limits, because it is vivid and efficacious; whereas that which is contrary to nature and opposed to it truly has no existence, because it is obscure and weak.

78. ^B The types of divine goods are both the modes of practice and the concepts of things, through which God always becomes man: as body, having the modes of the virtues; and as soul, the concepts of knowledge in the Spirit, by which He makes those who are worthy divine, providing a substantial character of virtue, and granting a real existence to true and certain knowledge.

79. ^C The faithful mind, like holy Peter, held by Herod (read "leathern"; for Herod, if you interpret the name, is called "leathern," which is the mindset of the flesh), is locked under two guards and one iron gate; being attacked both by the operation and act of the vices, and by the consent of the mind to those vices. This double prison or guard, where—through the word of practical philosophy that studies, as if through an angel and with him as guide—he passes, he comes to the iron gate that leads to the city (that is, the firm, hard, and difficult-to-overcome ^D disposition and lust of the senses towards the things subjected to them), which the word of natural contemplation in the Spirit, by opening it of its own accord, fearlessly sends the mind, now liberated from Herod’s madness, toward the kindred intelligible realities.

^A 80. The devil is both an enemy and an avenger of God. He is an enemy when, as if hating Him, he affects a destructive love toward us men, by means of the modes of voluntary passions; persuading our will, through the allurement of pleasure, to prefer temporal things to eternal goods; whereby, stealing away the entire yearning of the soul, he utterly alienates us from divine love, making us voluntary enemies of our Creator. He is an avenger when, having laid bare the hatred he bears toward us, as those who have already become subject to him through sin, he demands our punishment. For nothing is as pleasing to the devil as the torment of a human being. When this has been permitted to him, contriving a succession of various involuntary afflictions, he falls ruthlessly like a tempest upon those over whom he has received authority by God’s permission; not desiring to fulfill the divine command, but wishing to nurture the passion of his own hatred toward us, so that by the great weight of painful calamities, the soul, failing through exhaustion, may cut off its own power of divine hope, and instead of taking it as a discipline, may make the imposition of these painful events a cause for impiety.

^B 81. When those who have attained to practical habit and contemplative knowledge use these for the sake of human glory, sketching out the forms of virtues by an apparent manner of life, and speaking only words of wisdom and knowledge without the works of righteousness, and display to others the pride that follows upon such virtue and knowledge, they are deservedly handed over to fitting labors, so that by suffering they may learn, however late, the humility that they had not known because of their empty conceit.

^C 82. Each of the demons, according to the aptitude naturally underlying it, serves by bringing about this or that temptation. For one is the producer of one vice, and another is clearly more defiled than the other, and each is more suited to this or that type of vice.

^D 83. Without divine permission, not even the demons themselves are able to contribute anything to the devil. For God Himself knows how, in accordance with His proper kindness and good providence, to permit the devil, through his own subordinates, to exact various punishments for the things in which we have sinned; and the history written about Job clearly reveals this, by recording that the devil was not able to approach Job at all, apart from the divine will.

84. Substance-bearing faith is that which is active and practical, by which the Word of God is shown in those who practice, being embodied by the commandments, through which the Word is revealed. Indeed, in those who practice,

^A leads those who practice them up to the Father, in whom He exists by nature.

85. The mystery of the New Testament proclaims the transition of life, the angelic worship, the voluntary separation of the soul from the body, and the birth of divine transformation in the Spirit. The Word is also accustomed to calling this "spiritual circumcision," which is the cutting off of the soul's passionate attachment to the body.

86. Since God is good and kind, and desires to completely root out from us the seed of vice—that is, the pleasure and lust that have estranged the mind from divine love—He permits the devil to bring upon us pains and punishments. By this means, He seeks at one and the same time to cleanse the soul of the virus of the pleasure that preceded, through these pains, and to instill in us a perfect hatred and abhorrence for the things of this age and for those things which flatter only the senses; for their use, besides bringing punishment, yields no greater profit. He does this, finally, so that the devil’s avenging and hate-filled power might itself, by inflicting evils, force and lead back to virtue those who have voluntarily slipped away from it ^B.

87. It is fitting and just that those who have willingly accepted the devil’s wicked suggestions and thus sinned voluntarily should be punished by that same devil. For the devil is the sower of pleasure through voluntary passions, and the inflictor of pain through involuntary sufferings.

88. The contemplative and knowing mind is therefore often delivered to the devil to be punished—the devil who justly brings upon it pains and calamities—so that, while suffering, the person may learn to philosophize about patience and endurance of pains, rather than vainly and proudly boast about things that do not exist.

89. He who suffers for the sake of grace [or for the sake of a divine commandment] ^C that has been transgressed, if he recognizes the reason for this divine providence, accepts the calamity with thanksgiving and joy, and corrects the transgression for which he is being disciplined. But he who does not perceive the sense of this medicine is justly deprived of the grace given to him and is delivered to the confusion of his passions and vices, being left to the very works for which he had a desire in his soul.

90. Whoever, being moved by the awareness of what he has done, voluntarily accepts with the necessary gratitude the painful incursions of involuntary temptations, is not cast out of his virtuous state and grace. Like one who has voluntarily submitted to the yoke of the king of Babylon and pays the penalty for his sin as if it were a debt, he does not refuse the punishments inflicted upon him; but remaining within them, he pays the tribute to the king of Babylon—the violent pains of the suffering nature ^D—and [offers] his contemplation, as it were his soul, which mutually requires it for its own perfection.

^A regarding them in his mind as a debtor to them on account of his previous transgressions, [and offering to them] his consent; but to God, offering through true worship—I mean by way of a humble disposition—the amendment of things neglected.

91. He who does not gratefully receive the hardship brought upon him by God's permission for the sake of amendment, through the involuntary incidence of temptations, and who, thinking himself to be righteous, does not repent or cast aside his pride—as one who resists the divine decrees of righteous judgments—and who does not voluntarily accept the yoke of the king of Babylon according to the divine command, is delivered into captivity; and is given over to collars, and bonds, and famine, and death, and the sword, and is entirely driven out of his own land. ^B For he who is exiled, as it were, from his own land of virtue and knowledge suffers all these things, and more than these, because in his pride and vain conceit he does not wish to pay the debts for which he has transgressed, or to be content in tribulations and necessities and straits, according to the divine Apostle. For the great Apostle knew that the humiliation that is outwardly formed around the body through labors is a protection for the divine treasures within the soul; and for this reason he willingly endured it, both for his own sake and for the sake of those to whom he was set forth as a model of virtue and faith, that even if they suffered as guilty ones, like the Corinthian who was rebuked, they might have as a consolation and a model of patience the one who suffered though innocent.

92. He who does not linger upon the forms of visible things ^C through sense perception, but seeks out their essences in his mind, viewing them as types of intelligible things or as the essences of sensible creatures, is taught that nothing of the things seen is unclean; for all things are by nature very good.

93. He who is not changed by the movement of sensible things practices an unadulterated performance of the virtues. He who does not imprint his mind with their forms has attained the true opinion of beings. And he who has bypassed the very essence of beings with his understanding, like an excellent theologian, after this has approached the unity in an unknown way.

94. Every contemplative mind, having the sword ^D of the Spirit, which is the word of God, having killed within itself the movement of the visible creation, has perfected virtue; and having cut off from itself the fantasy of sensible forms, [has fixed] in the essences of things...

truth, in which natural speculation or contemplation consists. Finally, having surpassed the substance of beings, it is illuminated by the light of the divine and insuperable Unity, in which the mystery of true theology is established. ^B

95. To each according to the opinion he holds concerning God, God reveals Himself. To those who by habit have passed beyond material composition and possess the powers of the soul acting with equal strength among themselves, in one and the same ceaseless movement around God, He appears as both Unity and Trinity, that He may both demonstrate His own existence and mystically teach the mode of the same. But to those whose appetitive power remains moved only toward material composition, and who possess the powers of the soul not bound to one another, He appears not as He is, but as they are, showing that they have grasped with both hands the earthly duality, of which the corporeal world, as if concreted from matter and form, consists.

96. The divine Apostle calls the various operations or inspirations of the one Holy Spirit different gifts, which, clearly, one and the same Spirit works. If, therefore, according to the measure of faith in each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given, in the sharing of that gift, each of the faithful, according to the proportion of his faith and the disposition of soul subject to him, receives the operation of the Spirit measured out, which grants to them the appropriate habit ^C for the execution of this or that commandment.

97. "To one is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another faith," and to another some other of the gifts of the Spirit enumerated by the great Apostle. Thus, one receives through the Spirit the gift of perfect and immediate love toward God, having nothing earthly, according to the measure of faith; another, through the same Spirit, the gift of perfect love toward one's neighbor; another something else, according to the same Spirit, as I was saying; so that each truly has his own gift exercised in action. For every habit of a commandment that is exercised, the Spirit calls a gift.

98. The baptism of the Lord is the complete death of our will toward this world which is an object of the senses; but the cup is the renunciation of our own present life itself for the sake of the truth. ^D

99. The baptism of the Lord is a figure of those voluntary labors undertaken for the sake of virtue, by the help of which we wash away the stains upon our conscience and receive the voluntary death toward the things subject to our eyes; but the cup offers a type of those involuntary temptations that rise up against us for the sake of the truth due to some adverse circumstance contrary to our will; through which we ourselves also [offer] the death of nature which stands around us. For circumstance here is not…

type; by means of these, preferring even this to the divine desire of nature, we voluntarily undergo the death incident to nature.

100. Baptism differs from the cup in this: that baptism, for the sake of virtue, renders the will dead to the pleasures of life; but the cup exists as an author to persuade the pious to prefer even the truth of nature itself. ^A

CENTURY TWO

1. He set the cup before baptism because virtue exists for the sake of the truth, and not truth for the sake of virtue. Therefore, he who practices virtue for the sake of the truth is not wounded by the darts of vainglory; but he who cultivates the truth for the sake of virtue has the pride of vainglory as his companion.

2. He says that truth is divine knowledge; virtue, however, is the struggle on behalf of the truth by those who desire it. Therefore, he who endures labors of virtue for the sake of knowledge does not glory in his vanity, knowing that the truth is by nature impossible to be encompassed by labors. For what is first by nature is not circumscribed by those things which are second. But he who pursues knowledge for the sake of the toils endured for it is entirely held by the malady of vainglory, thinking he has gained the crowns before the sweat; not knowing that labors are for the sake of the crowns, but that crowns are not for the sake of the labors. For every method and every rational procedure of art ceases by its own nature when that for which it existed has been accomplished, or is thought to have been accomplished. ^B

3. He who pursues only the form of knowledge, which is mere word, and the image of virtue, which is mere manner, is himself a Jew, being puffed up with the shadows of truth. ^C

4. He who does not see all the manifest worship of the Law according to sense, but, having examined each of the visible symbols through the excursions of the mind, and having been instructed in the God-intended Word hidden in each, finds God in the Law, skillfully groping through the mental faculty—just as if one were to find, in a heap, the pearl of the Word which completely escapes the senses, hidden in the flesh of the Law. ^D

5. And he who does not define the nature of visible things by sense alone, but wisely [considers]… him according to the mind.

^A In every creature he who searches for the Word finds God, being taught by the manifest magnificence of things themselves, the Cause of the things themselves.

6. Therefore, since there is a wise discernment ^B of what is touched, he who wisely passes through the symbols of the Law, and scientifically contemplates the manifest nature of things, discerning Scripture and creation and himself—Scripture, into letter and spirit; creation, into the word and the surface; and himself, into mind and sense—and having taken from Scripture the spirit, from creation the word, and from himself the mind, and having bound them to one another in an indissoluble bond, he finds God; inasmuch as he has recognized God as He ought to be recognized, and as it is possible, he who exists in Mind and Word and Spirit, having been delivered from all that seduces and drags [one] into myriad opinions—I mean the letter, the surface, and the sense, in which the different quantity exists, which is contrary to unity. But if anyone, tying together the letter of the Law, the surface of things subject to the eyes, and one’s own sense, should mingle them with one another, he is a blind man groping for the way; he suffers, that is to say, from ignorance of the Author of things.

7. The divine and great Apostle, in defining what faith is, says: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." ^C But if anyone should also define it as an innate good, or a true knowledge demonstrating those secret goods, he would not fall short of the truth.

8. Faith is a relative power, or an active disposition, by which an immediate union beyond nature is afforded to the believer with the God who is believed and who is credited.

9. Since, therefore, man, existing of soul and body, is tossed by two laws—I mean of the flesh and of the spirit—and the law of the flesh has its activity in the sense, while the law of the spirit has its activity in the mind; and the law of the flesh is by nature apt to bind one to material things, as it is active in the sense; but the law of the spirit, being active in the mind, makes [its] union with God immediately; therefore, "He who shall not have been discerned in his heart"—that is, not having discerned in his mind, or rather, having discerned ^D the immediate union with God which occurs through faith, as dispassionate, or rather, as one who has already become a god by the union through faith, he will say to this mountain, "Be moved," and it will be moved. And this manner of speaking, as if with the finger, points out the sense and the law of the flesh, that heavy and difficult-to-move [thing].

and, so far as natural power is concerned, utterly motionless and unshakable.

10. So firmly rooted is the power of the irrational in human nature through the senses, that the vast majority of people believe that a human being is nothing but flesh, possessed of sense-fright used for the enjoyment of the present life.

11. "All things," he says, "are possible to him who believes," and does not doubt—that is, who is not divided from the union with God brought about in him through faith in the mind, because of the soul's relationship with the body through the senses—those things which alienate the mind from the world and the flesh, and reconcile it to God, perfected by good works. For this is to be implied in what is said, "All things are possible to him who believes." ^B

12. Faith is an undemonstrable knowledge. If it is an undemonstrable knowledge, then faith is a state beyond nature, through which we are united to God in a way that is unknowable, and not through demonstrations, according to a union that surpasses understanding.

13. Having received an immediate union with God, the mind has the power of thinking and being thought of at total rest. Therefore, whenever it breaks this—by thinking of something among those things which are after God—it is divided, severing the union that is beyond understanding, by which, as long as it is joined to God—having become God by participation, as one beyond nature—it removes from itself the law of nature, like an immovable mountain. ^C

14. He who is being introduced to piety, being instructed in the works of righteousness, performs only the practice, with all obedience and faith, as if eating the visible flesh of the virtues—that is, moral pedagogy; but the inner reasons for the commandments, in which the knowledge of the perfect consists, he yields to God through faith, not being able for the time being to extend himself to the length of that knowledge.

15. The perfect man, having run through not only the order of beginners but also that of those who are progressing, is not ignorant of the reasons for the things done by him according to the commandment; but first drinking them in by the Spirit, he eats the whole body of the virtues ^D through the actions themselves.

16. ^B When the Lord said, *Seek first the kingdom of God, and his justice* (Matt. vi, 33); that is, before everything else the knowledge of the truth, and thus the performance of the modes of conduct that are appropriate; he clearly indicated that those who believe must seek only for divine knowledge, and for that virtue which adorns it through works.

17. ^B Since those things which believers must seek for the sake of the knowledge of God and for virtue are many—such as liberation from affections or vices, endurance of temptations, the reasons for virtues, the modes of operations, the uprooting of the soul’s inclination toward the flesh, the avocating of the sense from its association with sensible things and from the lust for them, the soul’s complete withdrawal from all created things—and simply put, there are countless other things which preserve us from malice and ignorance and which provide knowledge and virtue; the Lord ^C reasonably said, *All things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive* (Matt. xxi, 22). He meant, absolutely all things—but only those things that lead to the knowledge of God and to virtue—must the pious seek and ask for with understanding and faith. For all these things are beneficial, and the Lord certainly grants them to those who ask.

18. ^C Therefore, he who for the sake of faith alone—that is, for union with God—seeks all things that lead to this union, will certainly receive them. But he who seeks for any other cause, whether he seeks other things or even these very things already mentioned, will not receive them. For he is not believing, but, like an unbeliever, is pursuing glory for himself from divine things.

19. ^C He who is immune to the blot of sin, ^D destroys the corruption of those things which are naturally wont to corrupt. For the incorruption of the faculty of choice is by nature adapted to preserve the incorruption of the nature, through the grace of the Spirit in it, by providence, not permitting it to be corrupted by contrary qualities, nor bringing upon it the stain of destruction.

20. ^D Since the reason for nature and the reason for grace are not one and the same, it is not a matter for wonder how the saints were at one time superior to passions and at another time fell more into passions, when we know that the miracle belongs to grace, but the passion belongs to nature.

21. ^D He who, through imitation, keeps the memory of the conversation of the saints, lays aside the death of the passions and receives the life of the virtues.

22. ^D In the way that God, having determined the life of each person before the ages, leads each one to the appropriate end of their life, whether it be just or unjust.

23. ^D The dark winter that befell the blessed Paul, I surmise to be the weight of involuntary temptations; and the island to be the firm and unshaken divine

^A hope; the pyre to be the habit of knowledge; the brushwood, the nature of visible things, which he was handling with his hand—I mean, with the contemplative, tactile power of the mind—nourishing with the thoughts drawn from it the habit of knowledge, which heals the gloom rubbed into the understanding by the winter of temptations. The viper is the evil and lethal power lying hiddenly within the nature of sensible things; it struck the hand—that is, the tactile action of the mind in contemplation—but it did not harm the discerning mind, which, by the light of knowledge, as though in fire, immediately destroyed that lethal power that had attached itself to the practical movement of the mind from the contemplation of sensible things.

24. The Apostle was an odor of life unto life, as he prepared the faithful, by his own example, to be moved through action toward the fragrance of the virtues, or as a herald to translate to the life in the Spirit those who obeyed the word of grace, from the life according to sense. But to those who had passed from the death of ignorance to the death of unbelief, he was an odor of death unto death, giving them a sense of the condemnation awaiting them. Or again, it is an odor from life unto life for those who are led up from action to contemplation; but an odor of death unto death for those who, having mortified ^B the members which are on the earth [(b)] by the cessation from sin, pass on to the praiseworthy mortification of passionate thoughts and phantasies.

25. There are three powers of the soul: reason, irascibility, and concupiscence. By reason we seek; by concupiscence we desire the good that is sought; and by irascibility we contend for it. Those who love God, waiting upon these powers and the divine word of virtue and knowledge—seeking with the first, desiring with the second, and contending with the third—receive incorruptible food, and knowledge of things created, which fattens the mind.

26. Having become man, the Word of God filled the nature that had been emptied of the given knowledge, and filling it again with knowledge, and tempering it toward immutability, He deified it—not by nature, but by quality; sealing it unceasingly with His own Spirit, just as one blends water with the quality of wine to impart tone ^C to it. For this reason He truly becomes man, that He might make us gods by grace.

27. God, who created the nature of men, at the same time He granted it the will to exist, also fitted it with the power of doing what is incumbent; and by power, I mean the movement that is ^D essentially sown...

^A into nature for the purpose of the operation of virtues; and by the exercise of the will, according to the choice of the one who possesses it, it is made manifest in action. 28. We possess a natural criterion, the law according to nature, teaching us that because of the wisdom that is inherent in all things, our appetite ought to have been moved ^B toward the initiation into the mysteries of the Creator of all things.

29. Jacob’s well is Scripture. The water is the knowledge contained in Scripture. The depth is the obscure position of the enigmas of the Scriptures, through which one does not easily find a way. Furthermore, the bucket is the discipline of the divine word had through the letters; which the Lord did not have, being Himself the Word; nor does He deliver to the faithful knowledge that is the result of discipline and exercise, but that which is the eternal wisdom flowing ^C from spiritual grace, which He bestows upon those who are worthy and which never ceases. For the bucket—that is, discipline—taking a very small part of knowledge, leaves behind the whole, which it cannot conceive by any reason. But the knowledge that is by grace possesses in its entirety, and even without exercise, the wisdom attainable by men, flowing forth in various ways according to the requirements of the need.

30. The tree of life, and that which is not so—from this alone, that the one is called the tree of life, whereas the other is not of life, but only the knowledge of good and evil 82—they have a very great and ineffable difference. For the tree of life is altogether productive ^D of life; but that which is not the tree of life is clearly productive of death. For that which is not productive of life, from the fact that it is not called the tree of life, would clearly be productive of death; for nothing else is divided in opposition to life.

31. The tree of life, and as wisdom, has very great difference from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is neither wisdom nor called such. For the characteristic of wisdom is mind and reason; the characteristic of the disposition opposed to wisdom on the contrary is irrationality and sense-perception.

32. Since man has come into existence constituted of an intellectual soul and a sensitive body, let it be maintained in one way that the tree of life is the mind of the soul, in which exists the substance of wisdom; and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the sense-perception of the body, in which is clearly present the movement of irrationality, by which, when...

^A a man has taken the divine command, he did not keep it, because it was forbidden him to touch it by experiencing it.

33. Both trees, according to the Scripture, are means of discernment, namely, the mind and the sense-perception; for example, the mind has the power of discerning things intellectual and sensible, temporal and eternal; or rather, being a discerning power of the soul, it persuades it to lay hold of the one and to transcend the other. Sense-perception has the power of discerning the pleasure and pain of bodies; or rather, being a power of ensouled and sensible bodies, it persuades one to draw pleasure to oneself and to repel pain.

34. If a man comes to possess only the discernment of the sense-perception of bodies, which is concerned with pleasure and pain, having transgressed the divine command, he eats of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; that is, of the irrationality according to sense-perception; for he has only the discernment constitutive of bodies, by which, as if it were a good, he lays hold of pleasure, and as if it were an evil, he abstains from pain. But if he comes to possess ^B fully the intellectual discernment that distinguishes the temporal from the eternal, having kept the divine command, he eats of the tree of life; I mean the wisdom that consists in the mind, having only the discernment constitutive of the soul, by which, as if it were a good, he lays hold of the glory of the eternal; and as if it were an evil, he abstains from the corruption of the temporal.

35. The good for the mind is its passionless disposition toward the Spirit; the evil is its passionate relation toward sense-perception. The good for sense-perception is the movement toward the body that is passionate according to pleasure; the evil is the disposition that arises from the deprivation of this.

36. He who has persuaded his conscience that what is by nature the worst thing is good when it is practiced, this man, having extended his practical faculty like a hand, has received in a blameworthy ^C manner from the tree of life, thinking that what is by nature the worst is immortal. Therefore God, having naturally implanted in man the reproach of evil according to his conscience, separated him from the tree of life, as one who had become evil through his own free choice, so that, while doing evil, he might not be able to persuade his own conscience that the worst thing is by nature good.

37. The vine produces wine; wine, drunkenness; drunkenness, ecstasy. Therefore the active reason, which is the vine, being cultivated by the virtues, gives birth to knowledge; and knowledge gives birth to the good ecstasy, which transports the mind from the relationship of sense-perception.

38. The wicked one is accustomed to maliciously suggest to the thoughts of sensible things the forms and shapes of sensible objects, through which passions are wont to be created ^D around the surfaces of visible things, taking a stand through the intermediate sense-perception that regarding the intelligible things, in order that the mind may not pass over to spiritual things through the intermediate sense-perception.

but rather ^A that the power of that natural activity in us may be inhibited. Hence it also prevails in tearing the soul apart and dragging it down into the confusion of the passions and vices.

39. The Word of God is at once both a lamp and a light; it illuminates the natural reasonings of the faithful and burns those which are contrary to nature. It dispels the darkness of life according to sense-perception for those who, by fulfilling the commandments, hasten toward the life hoped for; and by the burning heat of judgment, it punishes those who, by their own choice, owing to a love of the flesh, adhere to this dark night of life.

40. If one has not first raised himself by casting off the ^B passions that are contrary to nature, so as to ascend to his Author and Cause (God, that is), he will never be raised; for by grace he must acquire those goods which surpass the power of nature. For he who is to be truly gathered into God must, in his mind, be separated from created things.

41. It is the work of the written law to be delivered from passions and vices; of the natural law, to distribute equal portions of honor to all men; and of the spiritual law, to achieve the perfection—as far as is granted to man—of an accurate likeness to God.

42. The power of the mind is by nature capable of knowledge regarding bodies and bodiless things (that is, spirits); but it receives manifestations of the Holy Trinity only by the guidance of grace. It merely believes that He exists, not ^C presuming—as the demonic mind does—to know what He might be per essence and nature. For he who is devoid of such knowledge does not know the way of virtue by which to wash away the filth of vices.

43. He who loves the lie is delivered over to it for his own destruction, so that in suffering that which he willingly embraced, he might learn by experience how, while thinking he was embracing life, he was unwittingly embracing death.

44. God alone possesses the knowledge of the good, as He is by essence both the nature and the knowledge of the good; but of evil, He has ignorance, as He possesses no capacity for it. For whatever things one has the capacity for by nature, of those he possesses the knowledge essentially.

45. That which is in Leviticus, the breastplate, signifies the better... ^D

and sublime contemplation. ^A But the shoulder signifies action—that is, the habit and operation of the deliberative mind, or knowledge and virtue; for knowledge immediately brings the mind to God, while virtue, by which one diligently practices action, removes it from all affection and birth of worldly things. These the Word assigned to the priests, to those who have obtained God alone as their inheritance, and who possess absolutely nothing earthly in their estate.

46. Since those who are thoroughly imbued with knowledge and virtue through the Spirit render the minds of others capable of piety and faith through the word of teaching—and by removing their habit and power of action from the yearnings that attend the corruptible nature, they carry them over to the operation of the incorruptible goods that transcend all nature, to be performed by work—for this reason, the divine Word justly commanded that the breastplate of the lifting-off ^B (that is, the heart of those being brought near) and the shoulder (that is, their very action) be consecrated to the priests as those things which are brought for a sacrifice to God.

47. All righteousness here, when compared to the one to come, holds the place of a mirror, having the image of the archetypal things, but not possessing the things themselves as they exist according to their essence; and all knowledge here of high things, when compared to that of the future, is an enigma, having an impression of the truth, but not possessing the truth itself which is about to appear and truly exist.

48. Since divine matters depend ^C upon virtue and knowledge, the mirror is indicative of the archetypes according to virtue, and the enigma is manifestative of those archetypes according to knowledge.

49. He who has pleased God through action transfers his mind through contemplation to the region of intelligible things, in order that he may not see by any fantasy the death that is situated in the senses and the passions, but rather—since he is being sought by none of those who desire to catch him—he might find nothing at all.

50. He who with the pure eye of faith has seen the beauty of the good things to come, obeys ^D and eagerly departs from his land, and his kindred, and his father's house, having abandoned the relationship and desire toward the flesh, and the senses, and the things that move the senses; and being higher than nature in the time of temptation and struggles, he prefers...

the Cause of nature, as Abraham, the great, preferred God before Isaac. ^A

51. He who pursues virtue or the meditation of divine discourses neither for the sake of glory, nor by pretext of avarice, nor for the grace of flattery and pleasing men and display, but does, says, and thinks all things for the sake of God, he walks in the way of truth in knowledge. For the divine Word is not wont to dwell in paths that are not straight, even if it should find the way prepared in some. ^B

52. Someone fasts and abstains from the gluttonous diet of the passions; he does other things also, as many as can contribute to the deliverance from wickedness; this man has prepared the so-called way. But if, for the sake of vainglory, or avarice, or flattery, or pleasing men, or for any other reason, he cultivates such manners apart from divine pleasure, he has not made straight the paths of God; and while he has endured the labor of preparing the way, he has not obtained God as one walking in his own paths.

53. *Every valley shall be filled*: ^C not simply every one, nor of all; for it is not so of those who have not prepared the way of the Lord, and made straight his paths. When, therefore, the valley—that is to say, the flesh or the soul—of those who, as I said, have prepared the way of the Lord and made straight his paths, through the presence of God the Word walking in them by his commandments, shall be filled both with knowledge and with virtue, all the spirits of falsely-named knowledge and wickedness are humbled, the Word trampling upon them and subjecting them, and destroying that most wicked power which exalts itself against the human race, and digging out the proud mass and high summit of the mountains and hills, and throwing it down to level the valleys. For when the affections, which are contrary to the accounts of nature, are cast away, and the virtues, which are according to its accounts, are added, the soul, depressed like a valley, is filled, and the power of the wicked spirits, elevated like the brow of mountains, is pressed down and humbled. ^D

54. *The rough ways* (that is, the onslaughts of involuntary temptations) *shall be turned into smooth paths*; then most of all, when the mind, rejoicing and glad in infirmities and distresses and necessities, finds pleasure in them, and through involuntary labors removes from itself the entire power of voluntary affections and lusts. For he called the encounters of involuntary temptations "rough," which are changed into smooth paths through patience by way of thanksgiving.

55. He who is held by the desire for true life, knowing that every labor, whether it be self-chosen or involuntary, becomes the death of pleasure—the mother of death—and of pain, all the rough ones [of the involuntary temptations...]

^A he will receive, rejoicing with gladness, through patience, making the ways easy and flat, and [making them] paths that pass him on unerringly toward the prize of the upward calling, as he piously pursues the divine course within them. For indeed, pleasure is the mother of death, but pain is the death of pleasure; and this is true both of that which is chosen by the will and that which arrives against the will.

56. Therefore, everyone who has dissolved by temperance the multi-layered and intricate pleasure—which is intertwined in many ways with all things that fall under the senses—has made the crooked paths straight; and he who has trampled down the difficult and rough onset of labors through patience has made the rough ways smooth. Whence, as a reward for virtue and for the toils endured for its sake, just as one who has competed well and lawfully, and having conquered pleasure by the desire for virtue, and having trampled down pain by the love of knowledge, and having carried through the divine contests bravely by both, he shall see, according as it is written, the salvation of God.

57. He who loves virtue willingly extinguishes the furnace of pleasures; ^B but he who has had his mind tempered by the knowledge of the truth is not checked by involuntary pains in the constant motion of his desire toward God.

58. He who has straightened the crooked paths of voluntary passions—that is, the impulses of pleasure—by means of temperance, and has leveled the rough ways of involuntary temptations—that is, the modes of pain—by means of patience, and has set them into smooth paths, such a man will deservedly see the salvation of God, having become pure in heart; through which state, by means of virtues and pious contemplations, he sees God at the end of his contests, according to the saying: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;" ^C having received in exchange for the labors on behalf of virtue the gift of imperturbability, than which nothing more manifests God to those who are endowed with it.

59. Scripture calls "cisterns" those hearts that are receptive to the heavenly gifts of holy knowledge, which are hewn out by the solid word of the commandments, casting away, like callouses, both the addiction to pleasure in relation to the passions and the inclination of nature toward things subject to the senses, and which are filled with the knowledge that flows from on high—the knowledge that cleanses from the passions, and gives life to, and, as it were, nourishes the virtues in the Spirit.

^A 60. "He digged the cistern in the desert" (that is, in the world and in human nature), digging up the hearts of those who are worthy, cleansing them from earthly weight and disposition, and making them spacious for the reception of the divine rains of wisdom and knowledge, in order that they may water the sheep of Christ—those who, on account of the infancy of their soul, are in need of moral instruction.

61. Scripture calls "mountain" the lofty contemplation in the Spirit of nature, which is cultivated by those who have departed from sensible imaginations and have crossed over to their intelligible principles through the medium of the virtues.

62. As long as the mind has in itself the living memory of God, it seeks the Lord through contemplation; and not simply so, but "in the fear of the Lord"—that is, in the practice of the commandments. For he who seeks the Lord through contemplation without practice does not find Him, because he did not seek the Lord in the fear of the Lord. "And the Lord prospered him." For the Lord prospers everyone who applies himself to action accompanied by knowledge, teaching him the ways of the commandments and revealing the true principles of things.

^B 63. A lofty discourse on the Deity is a tower in the soul, fortified by the observance of the commandments. And this is what is said: "Ozias built towers in Jerusalem." For he who is rightly guided to the search for the Lord through contemplation, with the requisite fear—that is, the practice of the commandments—builds towers in Jerusalem, that is to say, in a simple and tranquil state of soul, raising up lofty discourses about the Deity.

64. The principles of particular things, when they approach the universal, create unions of those things that are divided, because the more universal principles encompass the principles of the more particular things in a unified way, to which the particular things themselves naturally have a relation. But there is also in the Spirit a principle of relationship, according to which even heaven and earth, things perceived by sense and things understood by the mind, nature and principle, are united, one woven into the other.

65. He who has been able to draw away the senses from ^C the passions and has separated the soul from the lust of the senses—an entrance which the devil had constructed for himself into the mind through the medium of the senses—has been able to block it. Therefore, in the desert (that is, in natural speculation), he has built, as it were, firm and safe towers—pious opinions about things. He who takes refuge in these does not fear those who practice their brigandage in this desert (that is, in nature as it is subject to the eyes)—namely, the demons who seduce the mind through the works of the senses and drag it down into the darkness of ignorance. For he who piously thinks and feels about each thing does not fear the demons who seduce people through the things that are seen by the eyes.

66 ^A Anyone who possesses strength for contemplation is a true cultivator, preserving the divine seeds of good things free from weeds through his own diligence and care, for as long as he retains the memory of God, kept safe by that memory. For it says: *And he was seeking the Lord in the days of Zachariah, in the fear of the Lord*. Now the Word knows that "Zachariah," if we translate it into our tongue, means "memory of God." Therefore, let us always pray to the Lord that this saving memory be kept for us, so that this very thing which is accomplished rightly and by virtue may not create ruin for the soul, if it should be lifted up to heights and, like Uzziah, rashly presume things that exceed the capacity of its nature.

67 ^B The unerring contemplation of existing things requires a soul that is free from passions; such a soul is called Jerusalem, both on account of its perfect virtue and its immaterial knowledge that possesses nothing of the earth; a knowledge which, indeed, approaches readily not only when passions and vices are eliminated, but even the thoughts of sensible things.

68 Without faith, hope, and love, nothing of what is evil is wholly destroyed, nor is the integrity of what is good accomplished. For faith, on the one hand, persuades the soul under attack to take refuge in God, becoming for it an encouragement and all the preparation of spiritual ^C armor by which confidence is provided. Hope, on the other hand, stands as the most truthful guarantor of divine help, promising to it the destruction of the opposing powers. And love makes it difficult to move, or rather, completely immovable, from divine affection, even when it is under attack, pinning all its power of desire to the divine longing.

69 Faith comforts the soul under attack, strengthening it with the hope of help; hope, by bringing the trusted help into view, repels the incursion of the adversaries; and love renders the assault of the enemies dead to the one who loves God, the assault being completely dimmed by that desire for God.

70 ^D The son of a truly divine portion—that is, of true knowledge—the first and only born, is the word of the faith concerning the divine resurrection within us, which, with the necessary disposition of mind—that is, discernment—rightly distinguishes the uprisings of both voluntary and involuntary temptations. For the first resurrection within us of God, who was dead to us through ignorance, is faith, rightly administered by the works of the commandments.

71 The turning toward God clearly reveals through itself the most complete word of divine hope, without which it is by nature impossible for anyone to incline toward God in any way; for it is the property of hope to bring into view things that are future as if they were present; and by no means...

^A can anyone be persuaded that God, under whose protection he fights against the opposing power, is absent, or that the necessity of war has been declared against the saints without a cause. For without the expectation of something either difficult or easy, no one would ever be induced to turn himself toward what is honorable and required by duty.

72. Nothing so truly brings together the scattered and unites them, creating in them a single will held fast by the bond of concord, as love, whose badge and mark is the beauty of equal dignity. Therefore, love is the cause why the faculties of the soul (that is to say, reason, anger, and desire) are gathered into one regarding divine things; through which, those who have already achieved by grace that equality of honor with God hold the indelible desire for divine love, which writes and inscribes the immortal beauty in the principal part of the soul (that is, the mind). ^B

73. Every mind harnessed with divine power possesses, as it were, certain elders and leaders: the faculty of reason, from which knowledge-bearing faith is naturally born, by which it is taught that God is always secretly present, and through the gift of hope associates with future things as if they were already at hand; the faculty of desire, by which divine love consists, and by which, having spontaneously attached itself to the longing for the undefiled Godhead, it has obtained an immortal appetite for that which is desired and loved; and furthermore, the faculty of anger, by which it clings tenaciously to divine peace, binding the movement of desire into divine love. Every mind, moreover, has these powers as ready helpers for the abolishing of vice and for the establishing and preserving of virtue. ^C

74. Without the faculty of reason, there is no scientific knowledge; and without knowledge, faith does not subsist, from which hope—that beautiful germ—proceeds, through which the faithful one associates with future things as if they were present. And without the faculty of desire, neither desire nor love consists, of which charity and affection are the end; for to love something is the property of desire. And without the faculty of anger, which strengthens desire in the union of that which delights, peace cannot subsist; since true peace, tranquil and undisturbed, is the full and integral possession of that which is enjoyed. ^D

75. He who has not first been cleansed of passions and vices must not touch upon natural contemplation, because of the images of sensible things which move the sense and can mold the mind toward lust—if one is not yet perfectly freed from the passions. For the mind, occupied in thought with the sight of sensible things in order to soothe the sense, becomes a creator of unclean passions and lusts or vices, while it is not given to it, by contemplation, to cross over to the related intelligible things.

76. He who, in the time of the incursion of the passions

^A rising, and of their hostile battle line, has stoutly closed his senses, and has completely dismissed the thought and memory of the things that stir the senses; and who has suppressed in every way the natural movements of the mind regarding the investigation of things external, has through the divine right hand overcome, vanquished, and confounded the wicked and tyrannical power that had risen up against him.

77. When the reason is mindless, and anger is headlong, and desire is irrational, and ignorance and tyranny and licentiousness take possession of the soul, then the habit of wickedness is prone to become active, entwined with the manifold pleasure of the senses.

78. It is worthwhile that the mind, learned in escaping the invisible clashes, at the time when the most wicked powers beset it, should neither engage in natural contemplation nor perform any other thing, save only to apply itself to prayers and to tame the body with labors, and with all diligence to destroy the earthly sense and understanding, and to guard the walls of the city: I mean the virtues, by which the mind is fortified as with a garrison; or the methods which are the guardians of the virtues (namely, continence and patience), lest in some way he who stirs the soul with turbulent subversion, by seducing through prosperous things, should secretly avert the desire from God; and through those things which have the appearance of the honorable, should little by little draw the mind that is seeking those very things, toward worse ones.

^B 79. He who, by temperate and comprehensive continence and patience, has stoutly closed his senses, and through the powers of the soul has blocked the entrances to the mind for the forms of sensible things, easily dissipates and destroys the wicked machinations of the devil, compelling him to return with shame by the same way he came. But the way by which the devil comes, is the material things that seem to be for the sustainment of the body.

80. The mind which, according to nature, has through the medium of reason united the sense to itself, gathers true knowledge from natural contemplation.

81. ^C The springs are outside the city; that is to say, of the soul; which Ezechias blocks up; [these are] all those things which fall into the sense. The waters of these springs, however, are the concepts and notions conceived in the mind of those same things. But the river dividing through the midst ^D of the city is, according to natural contemplation, [the flow] from the...

knowledge deriving from sensible things, passing through the midst of the soul, as if it were the boundary between mind and sense. For the knowledge of sensible things is neither entirely alienated from the intellectual faculty, nor does it wholly proceed from the operation of sense; but as a medium—by which the mind comes together with sense, and sense with the mind—it creates through itself the conjunction of these with one another. According to sense, it is fashioned in the form of the shapes of sensible things; according to the mind, it transfers the forms of the shapes into reasons [(n)]. Therefore the river parting through the midst of the city is fittingly called the knowledge of visible things, as it exists as the boundary between the two extremes, I mean the mind and sense.

^B 82. He who, at the time of the onset of temptations, abstains from natural contemplation and, having collected his mind from all things into himself and into God, devotes himself to prayer, kills the habit that is the parent of evil, and forces the devil—who suggests the habit I mentioned—to return with shame. Relying on this, [the devil] had come with his arrogance into the soul, puffed up with proud thoughts against the truth. It was perhaps when the great David had known this, and had suffered and experienced it and had acted accordingly—being himself the most expert of all in the ordering of spiritual wars—that he said: *When the sinner stood against me, I was dumb, and I was humbled, and I kept silent from good things* (Ps. CXVII, 2). And following him, the divine Jeremiah commands the people not to depart from the city on account of the sword of the enemies surrounding it on every side (Jer. VI, 25).

83. Therefore also the blessed Abel, if he had been on his guard and had not gone out with Cain into the field—that is, into the expanse of natural contemplation—before [he had attained] dispassion, [Cain] would never have risen up and killed him by treachery; for the law of the flesh (which is and is called Cain) would not have deceived him with pleasing and auspicious things among the objects of contemplation, since he was not yet furnished with a perfect habit.

84. In like manner also Dinah, the daughter of the great Jacob, if she had not gone out with the daughters of the inhabitants—that is, with the sensible fantasies—Sichem the son of Hamor would not have risen up and humbled her (Gen. XXXIV, 1).

^D 85. It is better, so long as we have not attained a perfect habit, not to engage in natural contemplation, lest, while seeking spiritual reasons from visible created things, we inadvertently gather passions. For among the imperfect, the visible figures of things that can be seen have more power to entice the sense than the reasons of created things hidden within them have to attract the soul. Moreover, those who in the manner of the Jews fasten their mind only to the letter, await according to this age the [promises of incorruptible goods, being ignorant of the goods of the soul according to nature...]*

[alt-version omitted]

of the promised immortal goods, awaiting their fulfillment at that time, while remaining ignorant of what the natural goods of the soul are.

^A 86. He who bears the image of the heavenly one, endeavors to follow the Spirit through all of Holy Scripture; in which, with virtue as a companion and knowledge, the preservation and salvation of the soul is placed. But he who bears the image of the earthly one, attends only to the letter; in which, the inclination of the senses toward the body, the parent of vices and lusts, consists.

^B 87. The power of God is established as virtue, which is the destroyer of passions and the guardian of pious thoughts; it is the offspring of action through which we carry out the commandments, by which, with the help of God—or rather, by the power of God alone—we destroy the evil forces that are contrary to the good. The height of God is the knowledge of the truth, which is brought forth by the labor of the contemplation of created things, and by the sweats of performing virtues, which themselves are the parents of that labor. By this knowledge, we completely annihilate the power of the lie that opposes the truth, by casting down and destroying every height of the evil spirits that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. For just as action brings forth virtue, so does contemplation bring forth knowledge.

^C 88. Unforgettable knowledge, having an undefined motion of the mind—that is, a motion beyond intellection—concerning the divine infinity, depicts through that indeterminacy the super-infinite glory of the truth. And the voluntary imitation of the wise goodness of Providence brings honor; it renders the mind’s disposition of likeness to God as clear as is possible for a human being.

89. The tongue is a symbol of the cognitive operation of the soul; but the throat is a testament to the natural self-love toward the body. Therefore, he who has culpably joined these things together cannot remember the peaceful habit of virtue and knowledge, because he takes pleasure in the confusion caused by the eagerness for bodily passions.

90. Natural appetites and pleasures are, for those who possess them, not a source of blame; they are established as a necessary corollary of natural appetite. For nature, whether we wish it or not, makes the common and most readily available food a pleasure, soothing and refreshing our ^D prior state of need; and drink, repelling the agitation of thirst; and sleep, renewing the strength exhausted by keeping vigil; and

^A restorative; or if there are other natural things for us, they are necessary for the nourishing of nature, and for those who are studious, they are extremely useful for the acquisition of virtue. These things proceed with all their heart from the person who flees from the confusion of sin, lest because of them he should remain a slave and thrall to those passions which are within our control, which have harm in them, and which are contrary to nature; and they have no other principle and origin in us than the very movement of natural affections, to which they are not even comparable, so that they might pass over with us into the immortal and long-lived life.

91. The words of God, if spoken merely by utterance alone, are not heard, because they do not have the action of those who speak them. But if they are uttered by the execution of the commandments, then they have both demons wasting away ^B at such a voice, and men, by the progress of the works of righteousness, obediently building up the divine temple of the heart.

92. Just as God by His essence does not fall under knowledge, so neither can His Word be comprehended by our knowledge. For the word of the Holy Scripture, even if it admits of circumscription according to the letter, ceasing with the times of the things related in it, yet with regard to the spirit, in the contemplations of those things which are understood, it remains forever uncircumscribed.

93. It is necessary for one who is interpreting the Holy Scripture in a manner consistent with Christ to the soul, wisely and learnedly, to be diligently occupied with the interpretation of the names themselves, from which he might be able to elucidate the entire meaning of the things written, if he cares for the accurate understanding of the things written; and not, after the manner of the Jews, to drag the height of the spirit down ^C to the body and the earth, and to circumscribe the divine and incorruptible promises of the goods of the mind with the corruption of transitory things.

94. Just as a vow is a promise of good things offered by men to God according to a promise, so prayer, according to the reasonable word, will be clearly the petition for the good things supplied by God for the salvation of men, bearing a reward for those things that were offered with an upright mind. And a cry is the increase and advancement of those who excel in the virtue ^D of the way of life and the gnostic contemplations, at the time of the uprising of the wicked demons—a cry which God, being the nature that hears all things, hears not least of all, counting the disposition of those who are diligent in virtue and knowledge as a great voice.

95. The wicked and destructive kingdom of the devil... [(p)] There is a clear allusion to I Esdras iv, where the attempt of the enemies of the Jews to hinder the building of the temple is described; the demons, whom Maximus interprets tropologically, are the same, wasting away with envy because they hear the spiritual temple of God rising in us, and finally, as he seeks in many places, e.g., Quæst. 56, ad Thal. Therefore, the demons have those [servants] who serve such a voice. Certainly, this is not the office of the demons, even if they themselves pretend to be helpers in building the temple of the Lord in us, just as the enemies of the Jews did, since under the appearance of good and the display of virtue, they draw the unwary into the consent of some evil, or lead them away from the straight path of virtue.

^A ...tyranny, typified by the kingdom of the Assyrians, having kindled war against virtue and knowledge, attempts by means of the soul’s own innate faculties to overthrow it. First, it excites desire to crave things contrary to nature, and persuades it to prefer sensible things over intelligible ones; then it stirs up anger to fight for the sensible object chosen by desire; finally, it teaches the rational faculty to devise ways of obtaining the pleasures that affect the senses.

^A 96. It is proper to supreme goodness not only to have constituted the divine and incorporeal substances of intelligible beings as images of the ineffable and divine glory—those beings which, as far as is permitted, receive in due proportion the whole of the inconceivable beauty of that inaccessible magnificence—but also to have mingled some extreme vestiges of its own majesty even with sensible things, which fall far short of those substances that are understood by the mind. These serve to ferry the human mind, mounting upon them, straight toward God, making it superior to all things that fall under visual perception, as one who has attained the summit of perfect blessedness.

^C 97. Every mind crowned with virtue and knowledge, having obtained, like the great Ezechias, the kingdom of Jerusalem (that is to say, the state that contemplates peace alone, a state devoid of all manner of vices and perturbations, for the name *Jerusalem* is interpreted as "vision of peace"), has all creation subject to itself. Through the forms that fulfill it, it offers to God those spiritual reasons of knowledge that are in (creation) as gifts. To Him it also renders, as offerings, the habits that exist within it according to the natural law for virtue; and through both it receives with honor the man who is able to excel in both—I mean the philosopher mind, perfected in both discourse and life, through action and contemplation.

^D 98. He who by action and contemplation has perfected virtue and knowledge to the highest degree is deservedly exalted; for, having become superior by action to carnal affections and to the vices that cling to them, and superior by contemplation to those things called natural bodies—that is to say, those subject to generation and corruption—and, to speak briefly, to all forms and natures that fall under the senses, having surpassed all the reasons within them by the pre-eminence of his knowledge, such a mind has lifted itself up to things akin to it and divine.

99. He who has attained, through the labors of action, to dwell in dispassion as in Jerusalem, and has been freed from every molestation of sin, and does, speaks, hears, and thinks only peace—after having received through natural contemplation the nature of things subject to the eyes—offers the more divine reasons in it as gifts to the Lord through himself...

offering them as gifts through himself to the Lord; and existing as laws within her, paying tribute to her as to a king, it is exalted before the eyes of all the nations, shining out superior to all things; overcoming by action those things that are carnal passions, and by contemplation, the natural bodies and all forms that fall under the senses, transcending the spiritual reasons and modes within them.

100. Practical philosophy makes the practitioner superior to the passions; but contemplation makes the gnostic superior to visible things, by raising the mind toward the kindred intelligible realities.

THIRD CENTURY OF HEADS

1. ^A He who cultivates knowledge along with action, and performs action along with knowledge, is both the throne and the footstool of God; the throne, because of knowledge; the footstool, because of action. But if anyone were to call the human mind heaven, having been cleansed of every earthly thought and being addicted—nay, rather, uniquely adorned—with the divine reasons of spiritual things, I do not think he would have exceeded the bounds of truth.

2. ^B Every philosopher, clearly, and pious person, fortified by virtue and knowledge—or by action and contemplation—when he sees the wicked power rise up against him through the passions, just as the king of the Assyrians ^C rose up against Hezekiah, has one refuge to be delivered from evils: God, that is, whom he renders propitious by crying out silently with a greater exertion of virtue and knowledge; and he receives as an ally in war, or rather as the author of his salvation, an angel—clearly a word greater than wisdom and knowledge—which crushes and destroys every strong man, and warrior, and leader, and commander in the camp.

3. ^D Every passion is born to be ruled by the sensible object congruent to it. For without some underlying thing, and one that stirs up the powers of the soul toward itself through some intermediate sense, a passion could never consist. For without a sensible object, a passion does not exist. For if there were no woman, there would be no fornication; and

if there were no food, there would be no gluttony; and if there were no gold, there would be no avarice. Therefore, the sensible object is the initiator of every passionate movement of the natural powers within us—or rather, it is the demon who, through it, incites the soul to sin.

4. ^A Friction removes the act, but attrition obliterates even the very thought of vice. For friction is merely the cessation of the passionate deed as it is being performed; but attrition is the complete extinction of the evil movements within the mind.

5. Sensible and intelligible things stand between God and human beings. The human mind, however, rises above them toward God, not being enslaved to sensible things through action, nor in any way held fast in its contemplation by intelligible things.

6. The creation becomes an accuser of ungodly men. Through the reasons within it, it proclaims its own Maker; and through the natural laws pertaining to each individual species within it, it instructs man in virtue. Now, these reasons are recognized in the perennity of the continuity of each species, while the laws appear in the identity of the natural operation of each species. Because we do not apply our intelligent power to these things, we have remained ignorant of the Cause of all beings, and have become consumed by all passions contrary to nature.

7. ^C Scripture commands that we offer gifts to God, so that it may set forth the infinite nature of divine goodness—in that God receives as gifts from us the things which He Himself provided, as if He had brought forth nothing prior, counting the entire contribution as ours, thus showing the great and ineffable goodness of God toward us: He receives His own things as if they were ours, offered to Him by us, and confesses Himself obligated as a debtor for them, as if they belonged to another.

8. ^D Man, perceiving the spiritual reasons of the things that are seen, is taught that there is a Maker of the phenomena; yet he leaves the thought of who He might be as something unreachable and unexamined. For the creation—seen clearly—provides the understanding that there is a Maker, but does not provide the understanding of what kind of Being the Maker is.

9. The wrath of God is the painful sensation felt by those who are being disciplined. This painful sensation is the infliction of involuntary sufferings, through which God often leads to restraint and humility the mind that has become puffed up through virtue and knowledge; He grants it to become a judge of itself and to understand its ownweakness.

When one perceives this, he lays aside the vain conceit of his heart.

10. The wrath of the Lord is the withholding of the provision of divine graces. This happens profitably to every mind that is high and lifted up, and that boasts in the good things given to it from God as if they were its own achievements.

11. Every gnostic and philosophic mind possesses both Judas and Jerusalem: Judas, as the philosophy of action; Jerusalem, as the contemplative discipline of sacred things. When, therefore, by divine grace, the God-loving mind, both through the philosophy of action and through that of contemplation, having beaten back every power opposed to virtue and knowledge, ^B has perfectly bound the power—the power of the spirits of wickedness—and has not rendered the due thanks to God, the Author of the victory, but has puffed up its heart, deeming itself the cause of the whole achievement: then, as one who has not returned to God according to the repayment He rendered to it, it receives not only the wrath of abandonment coming upon itself, but also Judas and Jerusalem—that is, the habit of action and the habit of contemplation—immediately, by the permission of God, are assailed by shameful passions. These passions stir up insurrection against the action, defiling the conscience that hitherto shone with purity, and, intertwined with false reasonings and thoughts alongside the speculation of things, they pervert the hitherto ^C correct opinion of knowledge. For him who is puffed up in action, the consequence is the ignominy and reproach of passions; but the one who is puffed up in knowledge, the just judgment allows to stumble regarding the true contemplation of truth.

12. A divine boundary and law, in truth, exists by Providence within all that is, allowing us to be educated through opposites toward a sense of gratitude—we who, supported by virtues and gifts, had become ungrateful—and to be advanced by the experience of opposites to acknowledge the divine power that bestows goods, lest, in the happy course of virtue and good things, by the permission of Providence, having acquired an inviolable elation and pride of mind, we fall into the God-opposing disposition of vainglory. ^D For we might come to think that the possession of virtue and knowledge is ours by nature, and not acquired by grace; and we might be found using the good for the production of evil, and through those things by which the divine knowledge ought to have been more firmly bound and remained unshaken in us, we might become possessed by the darkness of ignorance of it, which God forbid.

^A 13. We recognize that the divine providence, which sustains all beings, is a law and a definition existing within them. By a just judgment, it instructs through the lack of good things those who had shown themselves ungrateful for the affluence of good things toward their Giver, leading them through the opposite state to a perception of how to discern the Giver of good gifts. For the conceit that arises in the name of virtue, if it remains untutored, is naturally apt to generate the disease of pride, which produces a disposition contrary to God.

14. He who thinks he has attained the end of virtue will by no means seek further the source of good things, having circumscribed the power of desire within himself alone, and, by his own fault, suffering loss—I mean, the loss of God, the goal of his salvation. But he who is conscious of his own natural poverty regarding good things does not cease running headlong toward Him who alone can provide the fulfillment of that need.

15. He who has recognized the infinity of virtue never ceases from the course pertaining to it, so that he might not suffer the loss of the beginning and the end of virtue—I mean, God—by fixing the movement of his desire around himself, and, thinking that he has attained perfection, unwittingly suffer a fall from the One who truly is, toward Whom every movement of the diligent strives.

^B 16. Just wrath rightly comes upon the high-minded mind, that is to say, abandonment, as it has been said: or rather, the permission to be harassed by demons, both in regard to action and in regard to contemplation. This is so that, having perceived his own natural infirmity, he might recognize the divine power and grace that protects him and accomplishes all good things, and might be humbled, casting off entirely and far from himself that pride which is alien to him ^C and contrary to nature, so that another wrath may not come upon him—the removal of the given gifts—having been humbled and having come to a perception of Him who provides good things.

17. He who has not been brought to humility by the first kind of wrath, that is to say, abandonment, having considered it a teacher of good gratitude, receives the other wrath clearly coming upon him, which takes away the activity of his gifts and leaves him stripped of the power that was previously guarding him. For, God says, speaking about the ungrateful Israel, "I will take away ^D its hedge, and it shall be for plundering; and I will tear down its wall, and it shall be for trampling; and I will leave my vineyard, and it shall not be pruned nor dug, and thorns shall come up upon it as upon a wasteland; and I will command the clouds not to rain upon it" (Isa. v, 5, 6).

18. ^A Furthermore, that the path is inclined toward impiety, is [shown by] the lack of sensibility regarding the loss of the virtues. For he who has accustomed himself, on account of the pleasures and lusts of the flesh, to disobey God, will, when occasion is given, even deny God Himself; preferring the life and well-being of the flesh to God, having preferred its pleasures alone to the divine will.

19. Whenever we think that the mind has in any way undergone something, we must believe that its active and contemplative power likewise, according to their natural principles, have entirely suffered with it. For the subject cannot suffer or be affected without those things that are in the subject also being disposed accordingly. I call the mind the "subject," as it is capable of virtue and knowledge; while in the subject are action and contemplation, which have the nature of accidents relative to it. Wherefore they are also entirely affected in the same way as it is, having such a motion of their own as the origin of their change.

20. ^B Any God-loving and virtuous man, following the example of Hezekiah, having girded his strength against the demons with the power of wisdom and knowledge—if an assault of wicked spirits happens against him, who invisibly engage the battle against him in his mind, and if through prayer ^C he obtains from God an angel sent to him (I mean a greater word of wisdom)—and having crushed and scattered the entire phalanx of the devil, does not attribute the cause of such victory and salvation to God, but ascribes the whole victory to himself; such a one has not rendered back to God according to what He rendered, not having equaled the multitude of thanksgiving with the salvation, nor returned his own affection and benevolence for the benefit of the One who provided salvation.

21. Let us enlighten the mind with divine thoughts; and let us adorn the body with the modes of the more divine reasons of those things which have been contemplated, making it a rational workshop of virtue by the casting off of the passions. For the natural passions of the body, if they are governed by reason, are free from all blame; but if they are moved without it, they turn into vice. Therefore, he says that these passions must be cast off, whose inward motion is indeed natural, but whose use is often unnatural, because it is by no means governed by reason.

22. ^D Anyone who has exalted his own heart on account of the gifts he has received, having become proud as if he had not received them, justly receives the wrath that comes upon him, as God allows the devil to wrestle with him mentally; and to unsettle the modes of virtue in action, and to cloud and confuse the lucid reasons of knowledge in contemplation, so that, having learned his own weakness, he may recognize the only power that beats down the passions in us, and being humbled by repentance, having cast off the swelling of empty pride and vain opinion, he may render God propitious, and avert the wrath that comes upon those who do not repent, which is removed

by the grace that guards the soul, leaving the ungrateful mind desolate.

23. ^A Ira salutaris is the divine permission for the high-minded mind to be warred upon by the passions through the agency of demons, so that he who is shamefully afflicted, while boasting of his virtues, may know who it is that bestows these; or that he may be stripped of what is not his own, which he imagined he possessed, as if he had not received it.

24. Blessed in truth is that mind which has died to all things that exist; to objects of sense, by the casting aside of the operation of sensing; and to objects of intellect, by the bringing to rest of the movement of the mind. Note well that he calls this "the death of the mind" which is praised, namely, the volitional death ^B towards all existing things, after which it is natural for it to receive the life that comes by divine grace, having without thought received the Cause of all things in place of the things themselves.

25. Blessed is he who has joined the practical part to the good according to nature, and the contemplative part to the truth according to nature. For every action is naturally performed for the sake of the good, and every contemplation seeks knowledge solely for the sake of the truth. When these have been completed, there will be nothing at all to strike the practical faculty of the soul, nor its contemplative part, with stinging, alien considerations; for it has passed beyond everything that exists and that is conceived, and has slipped into God Himself, who is the ^C only good and true, and who is beyond all essence and intellection.

26. They say that the end of practical virtue is the good. This is a completion of divine operation, toward which the rational part of the soul is led, using anger and desire according to nature; within which it is natural for the beauty of the "likeness" to shine forth. But they say that the end of contemplative philosophy is the truth; which is an indivisible, uniform knowledge of all things concerning God, toward which the pure mind is carried when it has completely extinguished within itself the judgment of sense; in which (that is, in this knowledge) the unadulterated ^D dignity of the divine image is shown.

27. No one can truly bless God, quin ...

^A nor illuminate the soul with knowledges, unless he has first sanctified the body by the virtues. For the disposition according to virtue is the countenance of the contemplative mind, as it is raised up towards heaven to the height of true knowledge.

28. Blessed is he who truly knows that God performs within us—even as in instruments—every action and contemplation, every virtue and knowledge, as well as victory and wisdom, and goodness and truth, we ourselves contributing nothing at all except the will that desires the good. Possessing this, the great Zorobabel, in addition to the things already said, speaks to God saying: "Blessed art Thou, who hast given me wisdom; and to Thee I make confession, O Lord of my fathers. From Thee is victory, and from Thee is wisdom, and to Thee is glory, and I am Thy servant." ^B Like a truly upright and grateful servant, he referred everything back to God who had bestowed all things; and to Him from whom he had received the wisdom, as to the Lord of his fathers, he ascribed the power of the granted goods with open confession—namely, the union of victory and wisdom, as has been said; of virtue also and knowledge, of action and contemplation, and likewise of goodness and truth. For these, conjoined one with another, flash forth one glory and radiance of God.

29. All the achievements and right deeds of the saints were, without doubt, the gifts of God, since no one at all possesses any other good than that which is given. It is, clearly, from God as Lord, measured according to the proportion of the gratitude and goodwill of him who receives it; and each possesses only so much as is pleasing to the Lord who bestows it.

30. The mind that stands at the head of virtue and knowledge, and desires that the soul be freed of the evil slavery of the passions, says: "Women prevail, and truth conquers above all." By "women" he means the deifying virtues, by which charity—which constitutes the union of men with God and mutually with one another—is established. ^C This charity, of a truth, draws the soul out of all things that arise and perish, and out of those spiritual substances superior to them, and entangles and binds it to God Himself by a certain temperance of love, as far as is possible for human nature, and mystically produces an unpolluted and divine communion. By "truth," however, he names the sole and unique cause and author of things, the beginning and kingdom and power and glory, out of which and for whose sake all things were made and are being made, and by which and through which they are held together so as to exist in the nature of things; for which, finally, every diligence and movement in religious and pious men strives.

31. By "women," he ^D indicated the end of the virtues: charity; that is, the goal according to desire.

^A of the nature of the Good, for those who participate in it, is an unfailing pleasure and an indivisible union. By "Truth," he indicated the end of all knowledge, and of the very things being known; toward which, as the beginning and end of all things that exist, the movements according to nature are drawn together by a certain general reason. For truth, as the beginning and cause of things that exist, conquers all things according to nature, and draws to itself the movement of those things which have been created. ^B 32. By the privation by transcendence of the many—in the way in which Truth alone is by nature accustomed to appear—it causes the cognitive faculties of all things capable of thinking or being thought to fade, since it exists above the thinkers and the things thought as an essentiality beyond-being. And by infinite power, bounding the extremities of things that exist according to their beginning and their end, it draws all movement of all things equally to itself. To some it provides a clear knowledge of the grace of which they were deprived; to others, bestowing it in an ineffable sense, it grants a manifest recognition of that goodness for which they held a longing, through participation. ^C 33. The intellect, he says, is the organ of wisdom; reason, the organ of knowledge; and the natural assurance of both of these is the faith which consists in both; and the charism of healings is natural philanthropy. For every divine gift has an apt and congenial [organ] within us, like a power, or a habit, or a disposition—a receptive organ. For instance, he who has made his intellect pure of every phantasy of sensible things receives wisdom; and he who has established reason as the master of the inborn affections—I mean of anger and desire—receives knowledge; and he who has the unshakable assurance in mind and reason concerning divine things attains faith, which can do all things; and he who has accomplished natural philanthropy after the complete eradication of self-love, receives the charism of healings. 34. Each of us, according to the proportion of the faith that is in him, possesses the manifest operation of the Spirit. ^D Consequently, each person is the steward of his own grace; and no one who is sane would ever envy another thriving in the charisms, since the disposition that is receptive to divine goods lies within his own free will. 35. He says that the measure of each one's faith is the cause of the distribution of divine goods. For just as we believe, so also do we have the increase of zeal for acting. Therefore, he who acts demonstrates the measure of his faith in proportion to his action, receiving the measure of grace as he believed; but he who does not act, in proportion to his inaction, demonstrates the measure of his unbelief, receiving the privation of grace as he disbelieved. Therefore, the envious man does wrong by begrudging those who have attained success, since, clearly, it lies in his own power, not another's.

^A 36. He who is a lover of what is good, through the reasons of divine Providence, hastens willingly toward the grace of deification; but he who is without love for these things is, by a just judgment, led back from wickedness against his will by the ways of discipline. Thus, clearly, the one acts as a lover of God and, being religious, is deified through Providence; while the other, through judgment, so that he might not, as a lover of earthly things, fall into condemnation, is not permitted to remain as he is. For God, being good, cares for those who are inclined by their own will through the reasons of wisdom, but He heals those who are moved toward virtue with difficulty through the ways of discipline.

^B 37. True faith is a truth that is cohesive and constructive, having no falsehood in it; a good conscience brings with it the power of love, since it has no transgression of a commandment.

38. And it shall rest, he says, upon him: seven spirits: the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of prudence, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of strength, the spirit of the fear of God. Now the property of these spiritual gifts is: of fear, that we should abstain from evils; of strength, that we should perform good works; of counsel, that we should discern what is contrary; of prudence, that we should know what is our duty truly and sincerely; of knowledge, that we should comprehend in reality the divine reasons that are in the virtues; of understanding, that we should be thoroughly moved in our souls by that which we comprehend through knowledge; and of wisdom, that union with God which is beyond the grasp of the mind, ^C by which, for those who are worthy, desire becomes enjoyment, making the participant a god by participation, and constituting him an interpreter of that divine blessedness, according to the eternal, unceasing pouring forth and outflowing of divine mysteries to those who have need.

39. The spirit of the fear of God is the abstaining from evils in deed; the spirit of strength is the eager impulse and movement toward the performance and execution of the commandments; the spirit of counsel is the habit of discernment, by which we perform the divine commandments with reason, and distinguish the better from the worse; the spirit of prudence is the unwavering knowledge of the ways by which action according to virtue is cultivated, ^D by which, as we act, we never fall from the right judgment of reason; the spirit of knowledge is the comprehension of the commandments and the reasons contained within them, according to which the ways of the virtues have been established; the spirit of understanding is the movement of the soul toward the ways and reasons of the virtues, or, to speak more precisely, the transformation, according to which a mixture of the natural powers...

^A is tempered by the manners and reasons of the commandments. The Spirit of wisdom is the assumption and union with the Cause of the more spiritual reasons in the commandments, according to which, in a way unknown to men, we are simply taught the reasons of things in God as far as is lawful for men; and as if from some spring welling up in the heart, we set forth the truth existing in all things in various ways to other men.

40. From those things which are last from God, but near to us, we ascend by way and order toward the first things, which are indeed far from us but near to God. For from the rest from evils through fear, we come to the performance of the virtues through strength; from the performance of the virtues, to the discernment of the will; from discernment, to the habit of the virtues, that is, prudence; from the habit of the virtues, ^B to the knowledge of the reasons within the virtues themselves; from this, to the habit that turns us toward the known reasons of the virtues—I mean understanding; and from this, to the simple and accurate contemplation of the truth in all things. Setting out from this, we shall render many and various pious reasons concerning the truth, out of the wise contemplation of the essences of beings, both those perceived by the senses and those understood by the mind.

41. The first good in act for us, which is fear, the Word of Scripture has numbered last, as the beginning of wisdom, from the movement of which we ascend to the end of wisdom, which is understanding. Having attained this, being joined closely to God, we have only wisdom as the intermediate link of our union with Him. For it is not possible for anyone to take hold of wisdom who has not first, through fear and the remaining gifts ^C placed in between, utterly shaken off from himself both the rheum of ignorance and the dust of wickedness. For this reason, the order of Scripture has assigned wisdom as near to God, but fear to us, so that we might know the reason and law of an orderly arrangement.

42. Therefore, ascending by these eyes of faith, that is to say, illuminations, we are gathered to the divine unity of Wisdom, gathering the division of gifts that came about for our sake back toward the cause of the gifts, through the particular ascents of the virtues, omitting nothing of what has been said with the cooperation of God, lest, by neglecting them little by little, we render our faith blind and ^D sightless, not having the illuminations of the Spirit through works, and be justly punished in the infinite ages, as those who in us...

as much as lies within our power, have blinded the divine eyes. 43. Whoever, through sloth in not fulfilling the commandments in himself, digs out such eyes, is thoroughly reprobate, no longer having God looking upon him. For if the Word calls the operations and inspirations of the divine Spirit the eyes of the Lord, then he who does not open them by the practice of the commandments does not have God looking upon him. For it is not with other eyes, as may be supposed, that God knows how to look upon those on earth, since the illumination of our virtue is itself a ray of the divine vision. ^B

44. Wisdom is a monad, contemplated indivisibly in the diverse virtues that proceed from it, and conceived uniformly in their operations; and it is again shown to be a simple monad in the restoration of the virtues that proceed from it back to itself; that is, when we, for whose sake it makes its progression in the generation of each virtue, are gathered back to it through the practice of each virtue in an upward ascent.

45. He who does not perform the divine precepts of faith has his faith blind. For if the commandments of God are light, it is clear that he who does not perform the divine commandments is without divine light, and carries around the divine calling only nominally, ^C and not in truth.

46. No one who sins can use the infirmity of the flesh as a pretext for sin. For the union with God the Word has strengthened the whole nature by the dissolution of the curse, ^D taking away from us any excuse for being inclined toward the passions and the desires of the mind. For the divinity of the Word, always accompanying by grace those who believe in Him, extinguishes the law of sin that is in the flesh.

47. He who has conquered the irrational desires, or movements, of the passions contrary to nature through faith in God and love, also goes beyond the law that is according to nature, and is wholly transferred to the region of the intelligible, and leads out with himself that which is of the same nature and genus from alien servitude, along with those things that have been added to him.

48. Knowledge, unless it is bridled by the fear of God in practice, produces pride, since it persuades him who is puffed up by it to set forth what he has borrowed as his own, acting as the author of it, and thus, through the symbol of speech, to seek praise for himself. But action, increasing along with divine love, not assuming an understanding beyond what should be done, makes the one who practices it humble, causing him to shrink into himself by reasonings that surpass his own capacity.

^A 49. A celestial dwelling is a habit of virtue free from affections and tranquil; and knowledge is that which is impugned by no thought of error or knowledge of falsehood.

50. Just as a myriad is the end of an unmoving unit, and the unit is the beginning of an unmoving myriad—for the beginning of every end is, by its own nature, clearly immobility, and the end of every beginning is the completion of the movement according to it—so too faith, existing by nature as the beginning of the virtues, has as its end the completion of the good which is brought about through them. And the good according to nature, as the end of the virtues, having faith as its beginning, is inwardly gathered toward it. For faith is an inward good, and good is faith put into action. God is by nature faithful and good: the former as the primary good, the latter as the ultimate object of desire. Yet these are the same in every way, distinct in no respect except for what is apprehended by subtle thought, by reason of the movement of those things which derive their origin from him and end in him. The myriad, therefore, bearing the form of the supreme object of desire, defines the perfect longing of those that move toward it; and the unit, bearing the symbol of the primary Good, imparts a perfect base and foundation to those that move from him.

^B 51. The first *apatheia* (freedom from passion) is the complete abstinence from evils in action, seen in those who are being introduced. The second is the complete casting out of logismoi (thoughts) by the mind regarding consent to evil, which happens in those who pursue virtue with reason as their guide. The third is a complete immobility of the desire regarding the passions, in those who contemplate intellectually the inner meanings of the visible things seen by the eyes. And the fourth *apatheia* is the complete purification even of bare imagination itself, consisting in those who, through knowledge and contemplation, have made their intelligence a pure and transparent mirror of God. Therefore, whoever has purified himself from the action of the passions, has become free from the mental consent to them, has attained a cessation of the movement of desire toward them, and has kept his mind undefiled even by their bare imagination, possessing these four generic *apatheiai*, departs from matter and material things, and presses on to the intellectual, divine, and peaceful state of the intelligible realm.

^D 52. He calls the first *apatheia* (freedom from passion) an unstained movement of the body according to action toward sin; the second, the complete casting out of passionate *logismoi* by the soul, by which the movement of the passions is withered, according to the first *apatheia*, since it lacks the passionate *logismoi* that kindle it into action; the third, the complete immobility of the desire regarding the passions, from which the second also naturally comes to be, consisting in the purity of the *logismoi*; and he calls the fourth *apatheia* the complete laying aside, according to the mind, of all sensory imaginations, through which the third has received its genesis, having not the

^A images of sensible things forming themselves within it.

53. Whoever is currently a servant of action, for him the reason and the cogitation of the mind labor, while they studiously devise and manufacture the modes of action, and hold all their strength, so to speak, arrayed and set against the spirits of wickedness that are hostile to action. But having completed the practical philosophy which the number six of the years has indicated (for it has been said that the number six signifies practical philosophy), they are released unto the spiritual, clearly returning to the contemplation of the reasons akin to the things that are, both the reason and the cogitation.

54. The foreign servant is anger and desire; these the contemplative mind, through fortitude and temperance, constantly enslaves to the lordship of reason for the service of the virtues, not granting them any release at all unto freedom, until the law of nature shall have been totally swallowed up by the law of the spirit, as death is by the infinite life of the flesh, wretched though it be, and the whole image of the unbegun kingdom shall shine forth clearly, having the entire form of the archetype through imitation. Having attained this, the mind that studies contemplation grants freedom to anger and desire: the latter, converting it into the undefiled pleasure of divine love and pure allurement; the former, transferring it into spiritual fervor and an inflamed, constant agitation of movement and a sober madness.

55. The image of the unbegun kingdom is the immutability of the mind regarding the true knowledge, and the incorruptibility of the sense regarding virtue, with soul and body, by the sole divine law of the spirit, being bound together, by that logic through which the sense passes into the mind by an alteration of the spirit; by which, naturally, they possess the constant, ^B moved and wondrous and living operation of reason that pervades all things; in which there occurs absolutely no dissimilarity to God.

56. They say that pleasure is desire put into action, if the present good looks toward its definition; but that desire is pleasure not yet put into action, if the future good looks toward its definition. Anger is the incitement of fury that we struggle with in the mind; and fury is anger put into the work itself. Whoever, therefore, has subjected these faculties to reason will discover, for desire… ^{C D}

through an immaculate ^A union of the soul with God in grace, it has passed into pleasure; and it will find fury to be an undefiled fervor, a guardian of the pleasure concerning God, and a sober madness, perfectly ^B ecstatic, whereby the soul’s faculty of desire is drawn away from existing things. As long, therefore, as the world lives in us, and there is a voluntary attachment of the soul to material things, we must not grant freedom to these faculties, lest, by mingling with sensible things as if they were of the same nature, they war upon the soul and take it captive, enslaved to the passions, just as the Babylonians did formerly to Jerusalem. For the law, which commanded that the children of strangers be served for an age, signified by the story the soul’s intentional attachment to this world, that is, to the present life, indicating through the things that are recounted those things which are to be understood in a spiritual sense.

57. He calls evil “begun,” for it has its beginning in our motion contrary to nature. But he calls good “not begun,” for good by nature is prior to every age and time. He calls good “intelligible,” which it is worth our while only to understand; but evil “not intelligible,” which it is best for us only not to understand or consider. And he calls good “speakable,” for it alone is worthy to be spoken of. And he says good is something that “comes to be,” for while existing as unborn by nature, through grace and for the sake of philanthropy, it allows itself to be brought into being by us—for our deification who perform and speak it—which is the only thing that ought to come to be; whereas evil is “not to be brought into being,” for it is something that ought only not to come to be. He calls evil “corruptible,” for the nature of evil is a corruption, ^C having no existence or substance whatever; but good is “incorruptible,” as it is always and never ceases to be, and it is a guardian of all in whom it exists. This, then, we seek with the rational faculty; we love and desire it with the desiderative; we keep it inviolable with the irascible; with the sensitive faculty, through knowledge and discernment, we distinguish it as unmixed from its contraries; with the vocal organ, by speaking it, we make it manifest to those who do not know it; and with the generative faculty, we multiply it—or rather, to speak more truly, we are multiplied according to it.

58. ^D It is worthwhile for the contemplative mind, which rules over the thoughts and visions of existing things as well as its own proper movements, to have a habit that is barren of vice—that is, one that neither conceives vice at all nor gives birth to it; for the mind must be carried and moved while engaged in contemplation, lest, while making a spiritual examination of things, it unwittingly fall into and be corrupted by one of the things that naturally destroy it through one of the sensible objects.

59. He who is wounded by the goad of vainglory at all, foolishly nourishing the hair of mental elation like Absalom, ^A and displaying a moral discipline artificially dyed and mixed like a mule to seduce spectators—puffed up and inflated by this, he presumes that he might subdue the father who begat him through the doctrine of the Word; striving, indeed, to transfer to himself tyrannically all the splendor of virtue and knowledge that, by divine gift, belongs to the father. But such a man, having gone out into the breadth of natural contemplation in the spirit, for the sake of the reasoned battle for the truth, is seized—by his very sense at work—by the thick oak of sensible spectacles; his hair, which connects his hollow conceit to death, holds him, suspending him between heaven and earth. For he who labors under the vice of vainglory has no heaven—that is, knowledge—to lift him up from the foolish opinion of himself that drags him down; nor again does he have earth—I mean the practice of humility—to lower him from the bloating elation that lifts him up. ^B Him, the teacher who begat him, with a sense of humanity, as one pious and religious, mourns even though he is dead; in imitation of God, naturally, not wishing the death of the sinner, but that he might turn and live 9.

60. The beginning and end of each person’s salvation is wisdom; which, strictly speaking, creates fear at first, and then, having been perfected, constitutes desire and love. Or rather, wisdom itself exists from the beginning by way of economy for our sake as fear, so that it might restrain the lover from vice and wickedness, and then later is found as love in its own nature at the end, so that it might fill with spiritual laughter those who have held its company to be more precious than all things. ^C

61. Wisdom is both fear—being a privation for those not striving for it—and love, that is, a desire which is found as a habit of the enjoying soul for those who love it. For this wisdom, by the expectation of punishment, delivers us from vices and creates fear; and it produces love, habituating the mind, through the acquisition of virtues, to see what is to come. ^D

62. Every confession humbles the soul: one, which is justified by the grace of God; the other, which teaches the soul that it is guilty through the negligence of its own will.

63. The definition of confession is twofold: one, which is made for the sake of thanksgiving for the good things that have been bestowed; the other, which is spoken for the reproof and examination of evils that have been committed. For confession is called both the commemoration of the benefits with which we have been affected by God, with thanksgiving, and the disclosure of evil deeds by those who are guilty of them; both, however, are productive of humility. For when [a soul]...

^A judges itself unworthy of the benefits received, it becomes humble; and when it is examined for the crimes it has committed, the one seeks to receive forgiveness for his transgressions.

64. ^B The passion of pride consists of two ignorances. When two ignorances come together into a union, the one joining to the other, they produce a single, confused prudence. For only he is proud, who is ignorant of both divine help and human weakness. Pride, therefore, is a deprivation of divine and human knowledge. For by the negation of the true extremes, a single, false affirmation comes into existence.

65. ^C Vainglory is an aberration from the aim that is according to God, and a deviation toward another end than the divine one. For he is a vainglorious person who practices virtue for the sake of his own glory, rather than for divine glory, and who buys with his own labors the insubstantial praises of men, which do not even exist.

66. ^D The man-pleaser cares only for outward habits, and also for the flattering word; so that he may captivate the sight of some, and the hearing of others, among those who find pleasure only in what is seen and heard, and who define virtue by sense-perception alone. We say, therefore, that man-pleasing is the display of habits and words—done as if for virtue—for the sake of men.

67. ^B Hypocrisy is a simulation of friendship; hatred, cloaked in the habit of friendship; enmity, practiced under the guise of goodwill; or envy, wearing the mask of love; or a life that has the appearance of honesty through the veneer of virtue, but not in reality; the simulation of justice, which consists only in appearance; or error, having the form of truth; which those who imitate the serpent in the crookedness of their habits cultivate and pursue.

68. ^C The Cause of all that exists, and of the good things that are in those that exist, is God. He, therefore, who is exalted on account of virtue or knowledge, and does not, in proportion to his progress in virtue by grace, extend his awareness of his own weakness, has not escaped the evil of pride. But he who practices what is good for the sake of his own glory has preferred himself to God, being impaled on the nail of vainglory. And he who does or speaks [(h)] of virtue in order to be seen by men, has placed human approval far above divine approval, being diseased with the passion of man-pleasing. And he who wickedly uses his habits only to deceive, by masking his evil disposition of mind with the visible appearance of piety, buys virtue with the deceit of hypocrisy. Such a person, therefore, has diverted the aim of each of these to objects other than their Author.

69. ^D None of the evil demons...

^A [the one who] is a devotee of virtue, he hinders his alacrity and promptitude: nay, he even craftily cuts away the deficiencies of virtues, and urges him to apply greater efforts, showing an alacrity equal to those who are engaged in the contest; doing this, naturally, in order to draw into himself the entire soul of the one exercising himself in piety, once the equilibrium of mediocrity has been lost; and he, so imprudent, directs his path to a different inn than that which appeared.

70. Demons neither hate temperance nor loathe fasting: they do not abhor the distribution of money, nor hospitality, nor the chanting of psalms, nor the work of reading, nor silence and solitude, nor ^B exceptionally sublime disciplines, nor the hardness of sleeping on the ground, nor vigils, nor all the other things by which a life religiously and piously established is distinguished, as long as the intent of those things which are done is directed toward them.

71. Perhaps the ascetic who is vigilant will more quickly detect the other demons, and easily escape the harm that threatens from them; but who among the highly exalted minds could detect those who seem to be coworkers in the race of virtue, and who wish, as it were, to build the temple for the Lord together with us, without the active and living Word ^C which pervades all things, and reaches even unto the division of soul and spirit [Heb. IV, 12]—that is, which distinguishes what things of the works or thoughts are psychical, that is, natural species of virtue or movements, and which ones happen to be spiritual—that is, surpassing nature and marking God, given to nature by grace—and who furthermore knows entirely the fitting or unfitting junction of the joints and marrows (that is, of the modes of virtue with the spiritual reasons), and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the hearts [Heb. IV, 12] (that is, the obscure affections or habits in those things which have been said, by reason of their depth, and the invisible causes and reasons for them in the soul): to whom no creature is invisible [Heb. IV, 13] (that is, especially in us who seem to be hidden), but all things are naked and open (not only those things which have been done and thought, but also those which are now about to be done and thought by us).

72. By "division of soul and spirit" he means the distinction between those virtues which are from nature, the reasons for which we possess naturally, and those from the Spirit, the grace of which we receive by the gift of God. For the discerning word clearly makes a distinction between these. ^D

73. He calls the "thoughts and intentions," of which the word is a discerner, the affections of the mind regarding divine reasons and cogitations, and the causes of them (that is, of the affections). For a thought moves the memory, whose proper affection is the intent; but the intent looks toward the end, which indeed denotes the cause.

74. If God is knowledge in essence, and the mind—under which it is also natural for that which is compared to it to fall—clearly precedes all knowledge; then God is above this, because

he infinitely exceeds all mind and every manner of being to which knowledge could in any way be compared.

75. Who, not having the divine Word dwelling at the base of his heart, ^A will be able to incline himself away from the invisible snares of the demons’ hypocrisy toward us, to stand most alone by himself, without any mixture, and to build the temple of the Lord, following the great Zerubbabel and Joshua and the leaders of the ancestral houses, saying expressly with a loud voice to the deceitful spirits of pride, vainglory, desire to please men, and hypocrisy: "It is not for us and for you to build a house to the Lord our God; for we alone shall build to the Lord of Israel"? He knows that the mixture of these things causes the ruin and destruction of the whole building, and plunders the grace of the beauty of divine offerings.

76. No one who has any of the aforementioned demons as a companion in his virtue can build it for the Lord; for he does not have God, who is the end of all things that are done, as the one whom he contemplates as he goes through this work, but rather the passion which constitutes itself through this work.

77. Those who fight by the deficiency of virtue are demons ^B who teach fornication and drunkenness, avarice and envy. But those who fight by excess are those who teach conceit, vainglory, and pride, and through the right things they secretly sow the crooked things.

78. Would that it were possible for us also always to say to the spirits of wickedness who invisibly attack us under the guise of spiritual friendship, and who secretly wish to bring about the death of sin through the pretext of good, and who say: "We will build the temple with you for your Lord": "It is not for us and for you to build a house to the Lord our God; for we alone shall build to the Lord of Israel." We are "alone," indeed, because we have been freed from the spirits who used to fight us through the deficiency of virtue, spirits we have escaped, and we do not wish, having been puffed up through you by the "excesses," to be caught again and to fall with a fall that is ^C so much more grievous than the former one, as the former had an easy hope of return, since there was excuse for them due to weakness; but in the latter, there is either no hope for those who are hated because of pride and who presume another thing, more "right," than what is right—or it will be difficult. But again, we are not "alone," because we have the holy angels as our helpers in good things; or rather, we have God himself, who manifests himself to us through the works of righteousness, and who builds us for himself into a holy temple, free from every passion.

79. The definition of virtue is: the union of human weakness ^D with divine power through knowledge. Therefore, he who defines himself by the weakness of nature does not reach the definition of virtue; and therefore he sins,

^A not yet having received the strength that surpasses weakness. But he who, out of arrogance, sets his own weakness against divine power as if it were strength, has surpassed the boundary of virtue; and because of this, he who sins, since he considers that which is behind to be superior—it having come to pass in himself—does not recognize it; for he considers the transgression to be virtue. Therefore, he who has defined himself by natural weakness, having suffered the falling away from virtue rather out of sloth, is more forgivable than he who, as if seeking to perform his duties, sets his own weakness against divine power as strength, having brought about the falling away from virtue rather out of arrogance.

80. Since it has been said, "The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful," ^B I understand this to be powerful in two ways: in one way, when the one who prays, by fulfilling the commandments in deed, brings his prayer before the eyes of God accompanied by works, so that it may not lie idle and unsubstantial, poured forth from the mouth in mere words and the vain sound of a voice, but may remain effective and living, animated by the works through which we fulfill the commandments. For the substance of prayer and supplication is clearly the fulfillment of the commandments through the virtues, by which the righteous man possesses a strong prayer, capable of everything, rendered effective by the commandments. In another way, when he who implores the prayers of a righteous man performs the works of prayer himself, both amending his former life and rendering the prayer of the righteous man strong, ^C reinforced by his own virtuous conduct.

81. The prayer of the righteous man is of no benefit when he who asks for it finds more pleasure in his sins than in the virtues. For even the great Samuel mourned for Saul as he sinned, yet he could not appease God and render Him propitious to him, because the fitting amendment of the delinquent was not provided to him who was praying. Wherefore God also, restraining His servant from useless mourning and commanding him to cease, says to him, "How long do you mourn for Saul, seeing that I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?"

82. Again, Jeremiah also, the most compassionate, praying for the people of the Jews, who had gone mad ^D regarding their error...

was not heard when he prayed, for he had no power in his prayer to turn them from the deception of the godless Jews. ^A Hence God, leading him away from praying in vain, says: "Do not pray for this people, and do not beg that I should have mercy on them, and do not pray, and do not approach me for them anymore, because I will not hear."

83. It is truly a matter of great stupidity, not to say madness, to seek salvation through the prayer of righteous men for one who delights in his disposition in destructive things; and to ask for forgiveness for those who boast in the very things by which they defile themselves through the intention of their actions. It would be appropriate that the one who requests the prayer of a righteous man should not let the supplication of the righteous remain idle and immobile—since he needs that supplication if he truly hates evil things—but rather should make it active and strong, giving it wings through his own virtues, and enabling it to reach the One who can grant forgiveness for the things that have been committed.

84. The prayer of the righteous conveys much power, whether it is effective ^B because of the righteous man who performs it, or because of the righteous man who is requested to offer it. For when it is performed by a righteous man, it gives him confidence before Him who is able to grant the requests of the righteous; but when it is offered by one who asks the righteous man for it, it severs him from his previous wickedness, changing his disposition toward virtue.

85. Since the Apostle said: "In which you rejoice, even if now for a little while, if it is necessary, having been grieved in various trials," ^C how can one who is grieved in trials rejoice in that in which he is grieved?

86. The word of truth knows two kinds of sadness: one consisting in the soul invisibly, and the other manifested in sense-perception. The one encompasses the whole depth of the soul, scourging it with the lash of conscience; the other circumscribes all sense-perception, constraining it by the weight of afflictive things from its natural expansion. The former is the end of sensible pleasure, the latter the end of the soul's joy; or rather, the former is the result of voluntary passions of the senses, while the latter is the result of passions that occur against the will.

87. Sadness ^D is, I would say, a disposition bereft of pleasures; but the privation of pleasures is the infliction of labors. Labor is clearly the deficiency or withdrawal of a natural habit; but the deficiency of a natural habit is a passion—the sickness of that faculty which by nature is subject to the habit. And the passion or sickness of that faculty which is subject to the habit by nature is the mode of the abuse of natural energy. The abuse of the mode of energy is the movement of the faculty toward that which is not suited by nature, and which does not truly exist.

^A 88. He says that sorrow of the soul is the end of pleasure of the senses; for from this arises sorrow of the soul; just as, therefore, pleasure of the soul has as its end sorrow of the flesh; for the delight of the soul is the torment/sorrow of the flesh.

89. He speaks of a twofold sorrow; the one, concerning the sense, consisting in the deprivation of bodily pleasures; the other, concerning the intellect, arising from the deprivation of the goods of the soul. He says that temptations also are twofold; the one voluntary, the other involuntary. And he says that the voluntary ones are the parents of pleasure of the bodily senses, and the begetters of sorrow/pain of the soul; for sin only, when committed, causes sorrow to the soul; but the involuntary ones, which are shown in pains contrary to our will, are the parents of pleasure of the soul, and the begetters of sorrow of the bodily senses.

90. As I was saying, Scripture knows of a twofold sorrow or pain, and it also knows of a twofold mode of temptations; one which consists in the will, and another which consists contrary to it: and the former, the maker of pleasures which are from propense will; the latter, however, bringing in pains and torments contrary to the will. For whatever temptation is from the mind and propense will, it clearly creates spontaneous pleasures for the soul; but that which is not from the mind and its inclination, clearly brings about involuntary ^B labors which fall upon those who are unwilling: and truly, the former is the author of sorrow of the soul; the latter, the author of pain of the senses.

91. That which is a temptation from the will and the inclination of the soul, causes sorrow or pain of the soul, and clearly brings forth pleasure of the senses: but that which is not of the will and the inclination of the soul, causes pleasure of the soul; but it is the author of pain of the flesh.

92. I think that our Lord and God, while teaching his own disciples the way to pray, admonished them to pray against that kind of temptation which is from the will and inclination of the soul, saying: *And lead us not into temptation*; signifying that they should pray to keep far from themselves the danger of those temptations which have to do with lust, and which are from the inclination of the soul and are voluntary: but that the great James, whom they call the brother of the Lord, in order to teach the champions of truth not to fear that kind of temptation which is applied to the unwilling, says: *Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various temptations*; ^C namely, the involuntary ones, and those outside the inclination of the soul, and those which induce labors. And they clearly show that this is the case, when the Lord there adds, *But deliver us from the evil one*; while here, the great James says, *Knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness; and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing*. ^D

^A 93. The Lord teaches us to reject voluntary temptations, as they produce pleasure for the flesh, but pain for the soul; whereas the great James exhorts us to rejoice in involuntary temptations, as they remove the pleasure of the flesh and the pain of the soul.

94. He is perfect who struggles against voluntary temptations through self-control, and endures involuntary ones through patience; and he is complete who performs both action with knowledge and contemplation without idleness.

95. Since both sadness and pleasure are divided between soul and body, he who pursues the soul's pleasure while enduring with patience the sadness of the senses becomes tested, perfect, and complete: tested, because of his experience of things contrary to the senses; perfect, because through self-control and patience he struggles unyieldingly against the pleasure and sadness of the senses; and complete, because he keeps the habits corresponding to the mutually opposing dispositions of the senses in the stability of the identity of the Word, remaining unharmed—I mean action and contemplation, which are linked together, with neither separated from the other; but rather action manifesting the knowledge of contemplation through its ways, and contemplation, no less fortified by the virtue of the Word, through action. ^B

96. He who has experienced the sadness and pleasure of the flesh may be called tested, as one who has experienced success and failure in affairs concerning the flesh. He is perfect, however, who has overcome the pleasure and pain of the flesh by the power of the Word; and he is complete who has kept the habits of action and contemplation unchanged by his constancy in divine love. ^C

97. There is a twofold mode of sadness of the soul: one arises from one's own faults, the other from the faults of others. The cause of such sadness is clearly the pleasure or desire of the senses of the one who is saddened, or of those for whose sake he is saddened. For according to precise reason, there is almost no sin at all among men that does not have as the origin of its own birth an unreasoning attachment of the soul to the senses for the sake of pleasure. The cause of pleasure of the soul is clearly the sadness, according to sense, of one who rejoices and is glad for his own or others' virtues. For according to precise reason, there is almost no virtue among men that does not have as the origin of its own birth a reasoned detachment of the soul from the senses. ^D

98. Without an impassioned attachment of the soul to the senses, there is no sin at all among men; for every sadness that exists in the soul is preceded by the pleasure of the flesh.

99. The true origin of virtue is the soul’s voluntary alienation from the flesh; and it gladdens...

spiritually gladdens, who of his own accord subdues the body with labors.

100. That the sense—if the soul has renounced the affections that are the cause of virtue—should not be engaged in labors is impossible. For it lacks that faculty of the soul which is the clever inventor of things that delight, which is joined to it by the affection of the will and by desire. In another way, however, one who through self-control strenuously suppresses the rebellious force of the natural pleasures of the sense, and in the violent labors brought upon him contrary to nature, remains, through patience, constant and unyielding; and is of such a kind that he does not exceed [the bounds of temperance], being tricked by a vain pleasure away from the divine dignity and clarity of virtue; nor, through indulgence of the flesh on account of the pain of the sense in undergoing labors, does he fall from the loftiness of the virtues. Yet pain is the cause of sorrow to the soul, because it is fully occupied with things according to nature. The unnatural operation of the soul clearly introduces pleasure and desire into the sense; and for this—the confounding of it—there can be no other principle than that the soul casts away from itself those things which exist according to its nature and its own reasons. ^B

THE FOURTH CENTURY

1. It knows the inventive, intelligent faculty of the soul. This, being separated from the necessity and desire of the sense, leaves the flesh free of care for pleasure and delights by the determination of the mind, not even enduring to alleviate the pain of the flesh, because the whole force and affection of the mind is intent upon divine things. ^C

2. Mind and sense have a contrary operation toward one another, on account of the utmost dissimilarity and difference of the things subject to them. For the mind has as subjects intelligible and incorporeal substances, which it is fitted to grasp by an incorporeal and spiritual reason; but the sense, sensible and corporeal natures, which it also by nature is fitted to perceive.

3. Hence arises the pleasure of the sense, when the soul casts away those things which are according to nature. For as long as it toils at the goods according to nature, there is not at hand the faculty which would find the mode of pleasure for the sense.

4. Where reason takes precedence over the sense in the contemplation of visible things, the flesh is deprived of all pleasure according to nature, having no sense left unfettered and released from the bonds of reason to be at the service of the pleasures directed toward it. Whence it is also necessary that, with the reason in us holding sway, the flesh, which is enslaved to it for the obedience of virtue, should be tormented. ^D

^A 5. The mind, as soon as it deems the sensory power to be its own by nature, being entangled with the surfaces of sensible things, devises the pleasures of the flesh; it is unable to transcend the nature of visible things, being held fast by the passionate relation it has to sense.

6. If it is not possible for the mind to pass over to the kindred intelligible realities without the contemplation of the sensible things which are projected between them—and it is utterly impossible for this (the contemplation) to occur apart from the sense which is conjoined to it, and which by nature is kindred to sensible things—then reasonably, if the mind, projecting itself, is checked by the surfaces of visible things, imagining the conjoined sense to be a natural operation, it has fallen away from the intelligible realities which are according to nature; and, as the saying goes, it has laid hold of unnatural bodies with both hands. Acting contrary to reason toward these, because of the sense that has overcome it, it stands as the generator of sorrow within the soul, being scourged by the frequent lashes of conscience; and it becomes the manifest creator of pleasure according to sense, growing fat on the devices of the ways of providing for the flesh. But if, cutting through the surface toward sense at the very moment of the approach of the things seen, it shall behold the spiritual ^B reasons of existing things, purified of the shapes upon them, it has produced pleasure for the soul, since the soul is held fast by none of the sensible things viewed; and it has established sorrow for the sense, which is deprived of all those things which are sensible by nature.

7. Since the pleasure according to sense constitutes the sorrow, or pain (for both are the same), of the soul, and the pleasure according to the soul is naturally disposed to cause sorrow, or pain, to the sense, reasonably, the man who longs for the hope of the life of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, kept in the heavens through the resurrection of the dead as an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and unfading (1 Pet. 1:3), ^C exults in his soul and has joy that is unspeakable, constantly delighting in the hope of future good things. Yet as regards the flesh and sense, he has sorrow—that is, the pains that arise for it from various temptations, and the sufferings that follow from them. For with every virtue, pleasure and pain accompany it: pain of the flesh, which is deprived of the pleasant and softer sensation; and pleasure of the soul, which delights in the reasons of things in the Spirit, pure from everything sensible.

8. It is necessary that the mind during the present life (for this is what I mean by "now"), while grieving in flesh because of the many pains of the temptations brought upon it for the sake of virtue, should always rejoice in the soul and take pleasure because of the hope of eternal ^D goods, even if it has the sense in a state of tribulation. For the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that is to be revealed in us, says the divine Apostle (Rom. 8:18).

9. The flesh belongs to the soul, but the soul does not belong to the flesh; for that which is better, he says, is the beginning, but not that which is worse.

^A Therefore, because the law of sin, which is sensory pleasure, was implanted in the flesh on account of the transgression—on account of which the death of the flesh was condemned through labors—it was devised for the abolition of the law of the flesh. Clearly, he who knows that death supervened on account of sin for the sake of its abolition, always rejoices in his spirit, seeing through various labors the law of sin departing from his own flesh, so that he may receive the blessed life to come in the Spirit. This life one cannot otherwise attain, unless he has first emptied out of the flesh, as it were, out of a vessel, in this present life we lead, the law of sin by which the will is led into affection and concupiscence toward it.

10. ^B He who cultivates virtue, sorrows through the flesh because of the labors and hardships, but rejoices in his soul because of the cultivation of it, as though he already sees the splendor of the future life present. By the grace of this, like the great David, he dies daily by the resolution of his mind to depart from the flesh, and is always renewed by the spiritual birth of the soul; thus he possesses beneficial pleasure and profitable sorrow. For we speak of this sorrow—not the irrational kind of the masses, which torments and vexes the soul with sadness at the loss of passions or material things, in that it directs its impulses contrary to nature toward what one ought not to desire, and creates escapes from what one ought not to flee—but the deliberate one, approved by men adorned with divine wisdom, which signifies present evil. ^C For they say that sorrow or pain is an evil of the present time, subsisting in the soul when sensory pleasure prevails over rational discernment, but subsisting in the senses when the course of virtue is run by the soul without obstacle, subduing the senses with as many labors as it creates pleasure for the soul, which is being led to God through the illumination of virtue and knowledge akin to Him.

11. He calls beneficial pleasure the joy of the soul in virtue, and beneficial sorrow the pain of the flesh for the sake of virtue. Therefore, he who gapes at passions and things he ought not to desire, and who does not embrace those events through which the deprivation of passions and things comes about, recoils by fleeing from what he should not. ^D

12. Neither does divine grace exert illuminations of knowledge when the vessel capable of receiving the illumination in accordance with natural power does not exist; nor again does the capable vessel produce the illumination of knowledge without the grace that bestows it.

13. Nor does the grace of the All-Holy Spirit work wisdom in the saints without the mind that receives it; nor knowledge without the capacity of reason capable of it; nor faith without the certainty of the mind and reason concerning the things to come and all that are still hidden from all; nor the gifts of healings without natural affection; nor finally any other of the remaining charisms

without the habit and capacity of each one capable of them. Nor, on the other hand, can man obtain any of the enumerated things by the powers of nature, unless the divine power provides them. And all the saints clearly demonstrate this, for after divine revelations, they seek the reasons for what has been revealed. 14. He who asks without perturbation receives, and by the cultivation of action is able to exercise the virtues; and he who seeks imperturbably finds the truth in things by the power of natural contemplation. Finally, he who knocks imperturbably at the door of knowledge will, without hindrance, reach the grace hidden in mystical theology. ^B

15. He who seeks divine things imperturbably will certainly receive that which he seeks. But he who seeks with some passion will fail to obtain what he seeks. For Scripture says: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly."

16. The Holy Spirit seeks the knowledge of beings within us, and He searches; but He does not seek the object of 6 search for Himself—since He is God, and exceeds all knowledge—but for us, who are in need of knowledge. Just as, indeed, the Word becomes flesh, not for His own sake, but for ours, fulfilling the mystery through the flesh. For just as the Word, without the flesh enlivened by intellect, did not operate in a manner worthy of God those things that were according to the nature of the flesh, so neither does the Holy Spirit operate in the saints the knowledge of the mysteries without the power that by nature seeks and searches for knowledge.

17. Just as it is impossible for the eye to perceive the things that fall under sense perception without solar light, so the human mind will never receive spiritual contemplation without spiritual light. For the light of the senses naturally illuminates the sense for the perception of bodily things; but the spiritual light illumines the mind for contemplation, so that it may perceive those things which exceed sense. ^C

18. Human nature possesses the powers of seeking and searching for divine things, essentially and from its very first condition and origin, planted in it by the Creator at the very moment of its passing into existence; but the divine revelations are brought about by the grace of the power of the Most Holy Spirit coming upon it. Since, however, at the beginning, through sin, the wicked one fixed these powers on the nature of visible things, and there was no one who understood or sought for God, because all who partook of nature had the intellectual and rational power circumscribed by the surface of sensible things and possessed no concept ^D of things above sense, the grace of the Most Holy Spirit—rightly, for those who did not voluntarily and by disposition yield to the deception—has detached the faculty from the earthly things to which it was fastened, and as it were unfixated it, restoring it to itself; which, by the gift of grace...

having acquired in a pure state, they first sought and searched out, and thus searched and scrutinized, through that selfsame gift of the Spirit.

19. The salvation of souls, correctly speaking, is the end of faith. The end of faith is the true revelation of the object of faith. The true revelation of the object of faith is the ineffable ^A indwelling (perichoresis) of the believed object, according to the proportion of faith in each person. The indwelling of the believed object consists in the return of the believers to their source according to the end. And this return to their own source according to the end for those who have believed is the fulfillment of desire. The fulfillment of desire is the unceasing rest of those who desire around the desirable object. The unceasing rest of those who desire around the desirable object is the perpetual and uninterrupted enjoyment of that desirable object. The ^B perpetual and uninterrupted enjoyment of the desirable object is the participation in those divine things that surpass nature. The participation in and communion with divine things that surpass nature belongs to those who delight in this participation and communion, together with Him whose participation and communion they enjoy, by means of likeness. The likeness of those who delight in this participation and communion to Him whose participation and communion they enjoy is, by the power of likeness, an identity in act, as great as can be afforded (as they term it). Finally, the identity in act via likeness, as far as can be afforded, of those who delight in the participation and communion with Him whose participation and communion they enjoy, is the deification of those who are deemed worthy of deification.

20. Nature has no reasons for things that are above nature, just as neither does it have laws for those that are contrary to nature. I say that which is "above nature" is that divine and inconceivable pleasure, which God is naturally accustomed to bestow, uniting Himself by grace to those who are worthy; but "contrary to nature" is that ineffable pain, constituted by the privation of this, which God is not accustomed to produce naturally, but which ^C He unites Himself to the unworthy according to something other than grace. For according to the underlying quality of each person’s disposition, God, who unites Himself to all, provides to each the perception of Himself in the way He knows, just as each person is fashioned by himself for the reception of Him who is in any case to be united to all at the end of the ages.

^D Thus, therefore, do I understand Maximus. That the manifestation or revelation of the thing believed and of God (which occurs through the gifts of the Spirit assisting faith) is its comprehension and perception within us: so that from this we may have Him dwelling within us, and know Him as present and intimate to us, according to that word of Paul (Eph. iii, 17): "To have Christ dwelling through faith in your hearts." Nor does this forbid one from calling it an arcane union and a kind of intermingling, according to what Hesychius explains. But in these matters we are stammering, even if the Greeks are a little more fortunate with their terms. In other respects, Picus is hardly more fortunate, namely in that which for them is

ἀεικίνητος στάσις

^A

21. The Holy Spirit guides those who seek in spirit the salvation of souls, and investigate the spiritual reasons and methods of this salvation, so that they may grasp them with their minds; nor does He allow the power to remain motionless and inactive within them, by which it is natural for them to seek divine things.

22. First, one seeks by his will to mortify sin, and the will by sin; and thus he searches how and in what manner it is fitting that these should mortify each other. And again, after the perfect mortification of these with each other, he seeks the life of the will that is provided by virtue, and the life of virtue that is provided by the will; and thus he searches how and in what manner it is fitting to engender the life of these in each other. It is, therefore, if one may define it, that *seeking* is the appetite for some desirable object; but *investigating* is the operative method for the appetite to attain the desirable object. ^B

23. He who is to be saved ought, in truth, not only to mortify sin by his will, but also the will itself by sin; and not only to raise up the will by virtue, but also virtue itself by the will; so that, dead to the dead, the whole being divided from the whole, it may not perceive sin, and living to the living, the whole being in union with the whole, the will may perceive virtue. For he who has mortified the will to sin has been made "complanted" to the likeness of the death of Christ; and he who has raised it up to righteousness has been made one with the likeness of His resurrection. ^C

24. Sin and the will, being mortified by each other, have a twofold lack of perception toward each other. And righteousness and the will, having life in each other, have a twofold perception.

25. Christ, existing by nature as God and man, is inherited by us as God beyond nature through the ineffable participation of grace; and for our sake, in the form similar to us as man, claiming and, as it were, appropriating us to Himself, He inherits Himself with us by an inconceivable condescension. The saints, having mystically foreseen this in the Spirit, were taught that it is necessary, for the sake of the glory that will be manifested in Christ in the future on account of virtue, to go before it in the present with sufferings and tribulations for the sake of virtue. ^D

26. The mind, moved merely by desire toward the Cause of beings in a way beyond knowledge, only seeks; but reason, variously traversing the true reasons in existing things, investigates.

27. *Seeking* is the first and simple impulse of the mind toward its own Cause, accompanied by desire; but *investigating* is the first and simple discernment of reason regarding its own Cause, accompanied by a certain intention of judgment. And again, *exquiring* [seeking out] is the mind’s impulse toward its own Cause, according to spiritual knowledge and wisdom, accompanied by a certain burning desire; but *scrutinizing* is, as it...

were, the discernment of the Word ^A regarding the operation of virtues toward their own Author, taking place with a certain prudent and wise intention.

28. The holy and divine prophets, as they sought out and scrutinized regarding the salvation of souls, possessed a kindling and fervent impulse of the mind toward God, accompanied by skill and knowledge, ^B and they were endowed with a prudent and wise discernment in the practice of divine things. Those who emulate them seek the salvation of souls with skill and knowledge, and as they scrutinize with prudence and wisdom, they cultivate the judgment of discernment in divine works.

29. The Word acknowledges a twofold knowledge of divine things: one that is constant by habit and relation, or intentional, which is situated solely in reason and in the senses and thoughts, and which possesses no sensation of the known thing in reality through experience, through which we are ordered and governed in the present life; ^C and another that is truly and properly real, situated solely in the experience of the act, without reason and the concepts and thoughts of the mind, which provides the full sensation of the known object through that intercourse which is by grace. By means of this, in the future rest and felicity, we receive the deification that is operative, surpassing every power of nature, and which is ceaseless. And they say that the former, the one constant by habit or intentional—being, as it were, situated in reason and the senses and thoughts of the mind—has the power to incite desire and longing toward that knowledge which is true by reality of participation and intercourse. But the latter, which truly provides ^D the sensation of what is known through experience, is such that it causes the knowledge situated in reason and the senses and thoughts of the mind to pass away.

30. He says that knowledge is twofold: one situated in the Word and divine thoughts, which does not have the sensation of what is understood according to the present species; the other, which possesses it solely through operation, without the Word and the thoughts of the truth, having the enjoyment according to the species. For since the Word is accustomed, through knowledge, to signify the known, it moves the desire of those who are moved by it toward the enjoyment of what is signified.

31. The wise say it is impossible for the discourse about God to coexist with the experience of God, or for the thought and notion about God to be found together with the sensation of God. By "discourse about God," I mean the analogy of the cognitive contemplation about Him, drawn from things that exist; and [by] sensation, that which is in...

^A virtue of participation, the experience of the good things that are above nature: and by "intellection," the simple and singular knowledge and cognition of Him, which comes from existing things. Perhaps this is also known in the case of everything else; since the experience of this or that thing puts an end to discourse about it, and the sensation of this or that thing produces a cognitive intellection that is at leisure regarding it. By "experience," I mean that knowledge which is according to energy (actuality), which supervenes after all discourse; and by "sensation," the participation itself of the thing known, which shines forth after all intellection. And the great Apostle, perhaps teaching this mystically, says: "Whether there be prophecies, they shall be abolished; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be abolished," 8 speaking clearly of the knowledge that consists in discourse and mental concepts. ^B 32. It was truly fitting that He who is the Creator of the essence of things that exist by nature, should also be the Author of the deification of created things by grace: so that He who had granted them to exist might also clearly appear the bestower of eternal well-being and everlasting happiness. Since, therefore, no thing at all knows either itself or another thing—what it is by essence—it naturally follows that none of the things that are, nor any of those that are to be, possesses by nature foreknowledge, except only the God, who is above all things, and who both knows Himself—what He is by essence—and foreknew the existence of all things made by Him, even before they were made: and who, through grace, is to bestow more liberally upon those things that exist—both upon themselves and upon one another—the knowledge of what they are by essence, and to reveal the reasons of their origin, which pre-existed in Him in a singular manner.

^C 33. The Word (God) who created the nature of human beings, did not create along with it, according to sensation, either pleasure or pain; but He fashioned into it, according to the mind, a certain power toward pleasure, according to which it could enjoy Him in an ineffable manner. And this power—I mean the natural longing of the mind toward God—the first man, as soon as he was created, gave over to sensation; and, at that very first movement, through the medium of sensation, he had pleasure directed toward things that fall under sensation, functioning in a way contrary to nature. And for this, He who takes care of our salvation, by providence, attached as if to it a punishing power: namely, pain. By this means, the law of death was wisely rooted in the nature of the body, limiting the desire of the unwise mind, which was being moved contrary to nature toward sensible objects.

34. Pleasure and pain were not created with the essence of the flesh; but transgression devised the one for the corruption of the free will, and condemned the other to the dissolution of nature; so that the pleasure might work in the soul an involuntary death, which is sin; and that the pain, through the dissolution, might produce the form of the...

^A flesh’s dissolution. For God, in His providence, for the chastisement of the pleasure that is of the will, has given to nature an involuntary pain, and the death that follows upon it.

35. On that account, because pleasure had grown into nature contrary to reason, pain, which is according to reason, entered in through many tribulations—in which, and from which, is the origin of death—cutting off the unnatural pleasure, yet not entirely abolishing or destroying it; for the grace of divine pleasure, which is in the mind, has still need to shine forth and manifest itself.

36. The invention of involuntary labors and the infliction of involuntary things take away pleasure, indeed, by stopping its movement in operation; but they do not destroy the power that is implanted in nature, as it were a law, for its generation. For the philosophy that cultivates virtue produces imperturbability of the mind’s intent, but not an expulsion of every affection from nature; according to which imperturbability of intent, the grace of divine pleasure, which consists in the mind, supervenes.

37. Every labor, as having as the cause of its own generation the pleasure that preceded it in operation, is clearly a debt, paid naturally by reason of cause by all who have partaken of nature. For to pleasure contrary to nature, labor naturally follows as a companion in all those whose origin was preceded by the law of pleasure, which is itself devoid of cause. But I call “cause-less” that pleasure which comes from the transgression, which truly followed no prior pain.

38. It was entirely impossible that nature, which had bowed its neck both to voluntary pleasure and to violent ^C pain, should be recalled and restored to its original life, unless the Creator Himself became man, by His own will accepting for the chastisement of the pleasure of the nature—which is of the will—the pain that was devised, having no generation prior to it; so that He might liberate nature from the birth that came of condemnation, accepting a birth that would not have as its origin any pleasure.

39. Since after the transgression, all humans had pleasure preceding their own generation by nature, and there was no one at all who was by nature free from the passionate generation according to pleasure; but as paying a natural debt, they were all enduring labors, and the death that follows them, and no one at all—

^A the way of freedom was available to those oppressed by the tyranny of unjust pleasure, and naturally enduring the just labors and the most just death ^B resulting from them. Yet it was necessary, for the destruction of the most unjust pleasure and the most just labors stemming from it—by which man, while suffering, was miserably torn apart, having the beginning of birth from the corruption of passion and ending the term of life in the corruption of death—and for the restoration of the

impassible nature

For this reason, God, the Word of God, being perfect by nature, becomes a perfect man, consisting of an intellectual soul and a body by nature passible like us, without sin alone. Having in no way possessed the pleasure from disobedience—which was preceding his birth from a woman in time—but having voluntarily accepted out of philanthropy the pain that exists as the end of nature, so that, suffering unjustly, he might destroy the beginning of birth that tyrannizes nature through unjust pleasure; not having as a debt—to be paid on its behalf, like other men and the Lord—that death, but rather having it brought against him; and so that he might wipe away the just end of nature through death—not having [the nature] for which he entered [into death], and which is justly punished by him, as the cause of the illicit pleasure. ^C

40. It was truly necessary, fittingly necessary, that the Lord, being by nature wise and just and powerful, as wise, should not be ignorant of the mode of treatment; as just, should not effect the salvation of man, who was caught by his own intent under sin, by tyranny; and as all-powerful, should not fail in the fulfillment of the treatment.

41. The wisdom of God is indeed shown in his becoming in truth a man by nature; justice, in that he took upon himself the passible nature by birth similarly to us; ^D and power, in that...

^A he created for nature, through sufferings and death, eternal life and immutable impassibility.

42. The Lord made the logic of his wisdom manifest in the manner of the healing, becoming man without change or the slightest defilement of himself; but he displayed the equality of his justice in the greatness of his condescension, by voluntarily assuming the condemnation of nature in the passible aspect, and making that very thing a weapon for the destruction of sin and the death that comes through it—that is, the pleasure and the pain resulting from it, wherein the power of sin and death resided, as well as the tyranny of sin according to pleasure, and the dominion ^B of death according to the pain caused by it. For in the passible aspect of nature, the power of pleasure and pain clearly exists. Indeed, we strive to comfort ourselves for the penalty of suffering, which is naturally intensified, by means of pleasure. For desiring to escape the painful perception of suffering, we take refuge in pleasure, attempting to comfort nature, which is oppressed by the scourge of pain. But in our haste to blunt the impulses of pain through pleasure, we strengthen all the more against ourselves the bond of debt, being unable to enjoy what is free from pleasure, pain, and labors.

43. He demonstrated the power of his transcendent strength when he established the genesis and substance of nature as immutable ^C through those very opposites he himself suffered. For through passion he granted impassibility to nature, through labors he granted rest, and through death he granted eternal life, restoring it to its pristine felicity; renewing the habits of nature by his own experiences, and, through his own incarnation, bestowing upon nature the grace that transcends nature, that is, deification.

44. God truly became man and gave to nature another beginning of a second birth, starting from labor and ending in the delights of the future life. For just as Adam, our forefather, through the transgression of the divine command, introduced into nature—besides that which was first created—another beginning of birth, consisting of pleasure and ending ^D in death through labor, and—by the counsel of the serpent—devised a pleasure which was not a successor to preceding labor, but rather one that terminated in labor and tribulation; and as he justly drew down with himself all those born of him in the flesh to the end of death through labor, on account of the unjust beginning from pleasure—so also the Lord, having become man and having created for nature, by the Holy Spirit, another beginning of a second birth, and having accepted the most just death of Adam—which was, in him, most unjust, as not possessing that most unjust beginning of its own birth from the forefather’s transgression—remade both extremes, I mean both the beginning and the end of human birth according to Adam, as indeed...

^A prior to their existence from God, he brought about their removal, and rendered all who are mystically reborn from him free from the liability thereof.

45. The Lord, having taken away the pleasure that comes from the law of sin, for the sake of annulling the birth according to the flesh of those who are born in Him by grace through the Spirit, permits them to receive death—which previously was unto condemnation—unto the condemnation of sin. They possess no longer, it is true, the pleasure of birth from Adam, but only the pain that, on account of Adam, is active within them; not as a debt due to the guilt of sin, but by an economy, on account of the natural state, ^B against sin, and working death in order to abolish it; for this, when it lacks the mother that gave it birth—she whose avenger it is wont to be—namely pleasure, openly becomes the father of eternal life. For just as the life of Adam, which was according to pleasure, became the mother of death and corruption, so too the death of the Lord, which exists on account of Adam, being free from the pleasure derived from Adam, becomes the progenitor of eternal life.

46. Human nature, after the transgression, had as the beginning of its own birth conception by pleasure from seed, and birth through flux; and as its end, death through corruption as a result of pain. But the Lord, not having this beginning of birth according to the flesh, was also not subject to the end, that is to say, to death.

47. Sin, having first enticed Adam, persuaded him to come to the transgression of the divine ^C commandment; whereby, having established pleasure, and having fastened itself through pleasure in him to the very root of his nature, it condemned the whole of nature to death, thrusting the nature of those who are born toward destruction through death by means of the man. For this is what had been contrived by the sower of sin, and the father of wickedness, the wicked devil, who had himself emigrated from the divine glory through pride, and through envy—both toward us and toward God—had driven Adam out of paradise, in order to destroy the works of God, and to dissolve what had been constituted for birth.

48. The devil, envying both God and us, persuading man through ^D craft that he was envied by God, caused him to transgress the commandment. He envied God, so that His all-laudable power, deifying man, might not become manifest by act; and he envied man, so that he might not become a partaker of the divine glory according to virtue. For the most wicked one envies us not only the glory that is with God on account of virtue, but he also envies God the all-laudable power that he exerts toward us for our salvation.

49. Just as in Adam the death of nature... [QQ. ad Thalas. q. 61, spiritual.]

had its condemnation, having pleasure as the beginning of its own birth; so in Christ, the death of sin has become a condemnation, nature having again received in Christ a birth pure from pleasure.

^A 50. If we, who have been deemed worthy to become the house of God by the grace of the Spirit, owe such endurance of sufferings for the sake of justice unto the condemnation of sin, and as evildoers–though we are good–owe it to submit ourselves willingly to an ignominious death, what is the end of those who do not believe the Gospel of God? That is, what will be the end—or rather the judgment—of those who not only have kept until the end, through their own diligence, the birth according to pleasure that ruled over Adam, which is living, active, and exercising itself according to soul and body, according to ^B judgment and nature, but have also neither received the God and Father who calls them through the Son incarnate, nor yet the Mediator and Son Himself, who performs the embassy on behalf of the Father, and for the sake of our reconciliation to the Father, of the Father’s own will, delivered Himself up for our sake to death according to His will, so that through Himself He might glorify us to such an extent, brightening us with the beauty of His own divinity, as He Himself endured to be dishonored for us by our own sufferings?

51. Since God will be a place—uncircumscribed, indivisible, and infinite—for all who are saved, becoming all things to all men according to the proportion of justice, or rather according to the measure ^C of the sufferings undergone here for the sake of justice with knowledge, giving Himself to each according to their capacity, just as the soul reveals itself acting according to the power underlying each member of the body, and by its own power holds the members together so that they exist and are vigorous for the duties of life: where will the ungodly and the sinner appear, being deprived of this grace? For if he who is unable to receive the presence of God operating according to well-being, where will he appear, having suffered the fall from the divine life which is beyond age, time, and place?

52. He who is not in possession of God, who holds the life in well-being, and who will be the place for all those who are worthy, how shall he exist, not having God as his place according to the abiding and establishment of well-being in God? And if the righteous man is saved with great difficulty, what will become of, or what will he suffer, who has made no account of piety and virtue as long as life was his companion?

53. God, according to a single ^D infinite-powered will of goodness, will hold everything together, both angels and men, good and evil; but all these will not participate equally in God, who has passed through all things without connection, but according to their own capacity.

54. Those who have kept by nature through all…

^A things their own will in accord with the reasons of nature, and have rendered it capable of receiving the reasons of nature in accordance with every reason of well-being, because of the correspondence of their will with the divine will, will become entirely partakers of the Good, according to the divine life shining forth in them, as occurs in angels or humans. Those, however, who have rendered their will unequal by nature through all things, and have shown it to be destructive of the reasons of nature in accordance with the moving power throughout the whole reason of well-being, because of the antagonism of their will toward the divine will, will fall entirely away from the Good, according to the appropriation of the will to the "ill-being" that appears to them; through which there will be a separation of such persons from God, as they do not have, according to the purpose of their will, the reason of well-being quickened by the energies of the good, in accordance with which the divine life is naturally wont to shine forth. ^B

55. The balance of each one's will at the judgment will be the reason of nature, which convicts the movement of one’s will toward the "ill" or the "well," in accordance with which the participation or non-participation in divine life is wont to occur. For as regards being and always being, God, being present, holds all things together; but as regards "well-being" and always "well-being," he holds only the saints, both angels and humans, in a way peculiar to them, having left the "always ill-being" to be mixed in for those who are not such, as the fruit of their own will, so that it may always be ill for them.

56. The mystery of the divine incarnation does not entail, together with the natural distinctness of those elements from which it is constituted, a distinction in person; on the one hand, so that the mystery of the Trinity may not receive an addition; and on the other, so that nothing may exist that is naturally homologous and consubstantial with the Deity. For the union ^C of the two natures occurred toward a person, but not toward one nature; so that the one that is "in person," formed from the natures that have run together, might be shown in the union, and that the difference of those that have come together for the indivisible union might be believed according to natural property, remaining outside of all change and confusion.

57. We do not speak of a difference of persons in Christ, because the Trinity has remained the Trinity, and the Word having become incarnate, no addition of a person has been added to the holy Trinity through the incarnation; but we do speak of a difference of natures, so that we may not maintain that the flesh is consubstantial with the Word by nature.

58. He who does not speak of a difference of natures does not have ^D ground to prove that the Word became flesh without change; not understanding that which is preserved according to nature in the one of the one Christ and with the reasons of nature, he is in agreement; as regards nature healed and instituted through grace, it must be understood not of that which in us has grown through transgression for sin: but finally of nature as it was founded by God, adorned with the image and likeness, in which the divine characters might shine forth, to which the passion of brutes (the lusts, to wit) has been introduced, which must be cast off by us through the cultivation and exercise of virtue, so that the divine life may be restored in us, which we do not have otherwise than by the grace of Christ.

^A of the Savior’s Person after the union, as well as the receiver and the received.

59. If there exists a distinction according to nature between the flesh and the divinity in Christ after the union—for divinity and flesh are never the same in essence—then the union of those that have come together has by no means occurred for the creation of one nature, but for one person, in accordance with which we find no distinction in Christ in any way whatsoever. For the Word is the same with His own flesh according to person. For in whatever respect Christ might have a distinction, in that he cannot be in every way; but in whatever respect He admits of no distinction at all, in that he is and is rightly called one in every way, always, in His own case.

60. Faith establishes perfection in God through hope; a good conscience makes love toward neighbor shine forth through the keeping of the commandments. For a good conscience has no commandment that it has violated to accuse it, for the reason that it has not been transgressed or made void. Let the soul, however, which burns with a true desire for salvation, accept these things as entrusted to it.

61. Nothing is swifter than believing; nor is anything easier than to confess with the mouth the grace of that which you have believed. For the former manifestation shows the living and animated love of the believer toward the Creator; the latter shows the pious and religious affection toward one’s neighbor. Furthermore, love and a sincere disposition—namely, faith and a good conscience—are clearly the work of the hidden movement of the heart, by no means needing any exterior material for their generation.

^B 62. He who suffers from complete sluggishness regarding that which is good will inevitably be agile regarding vice and evil. For it is impossible to be motionless in both respects. Wherefore Scripture knows how to call the soul’s slothfulness regarding good things—as if it were devoid of the sense of the virtues—"stones"; and the eagerness regarding evil things, "wood." The movement of the sense, however, when joined to the operation of the mind, produces virtue joined with knowledge.

^C 63. I consider that Scripture calls the law of the body the "middle wall," and the "partition" the relationship in the law of the flesh toward the passions, that is to say, toward sin. For the relationship with the shameful passions alone becomes the partition of the law of nature—that is, of the passible portion of nature—severing the body from the soul as if by an interjected wall, and not allowing the reason of the virtues, through the cultivation of action, to pass to the flesh by way of the soul as a medium. But when reason arrives, and the law of nature—^D

^A having been overcome, he abolished the connection of unnatural passions within himself.

64. When through deceit the most wicked one plunders the innate knowledge of God concerning nature, he arrogates it to himself; he is a thief, attempting to transfer the worship and majesty of God to himself. He leads the intellect of the soul away from spiritual contemplation in the created reasons, and circumscribes the intellectual power solely to the external appearance and sight of sensible things. And when, beginning from the natural movements, he sophistically drags the practical power toward what is unnatural, and through what are supposedly goods, with a plausible appearance, fastens the desire of the soul—which has been enticed by the solicitation of pleasure—to baser things, he swears falsely in the name of the Lord, leading the soul that obeys him toward things other than what it had promised. And he is indeed a thief, in that he plunders the knowledge of nature for himself; but he is a perjurer, in that he foolishly ^B persuades the practical part of the soul to labor for what is contrary to nature.

65. Or again, he is a thief who, for the sake of deceiving his hearers, ostensibly cultivates divine discourses, the power of which he has not recognized through his deeds—turning the bare utterance into a trade for glory, and seeking from those who hear him, by the word on his tongue, the praise of being thought righteous. And to speak plainly, whoever has a life dissonant from his speech, and an disposition of the soul opposed to his knowledge, is a thief, not rightly shining forth from the goods of others; to whom the word ^C will rightly say, *But to the sinner God has said: Why do you declare my righteous ordinances, and take up my covenant through your mouth?*

66. Likewise, he is a thief who, by apparent ways and customs, covers the unseen wickedness of his soul, cloaking his inward disposition with a mask of gentleness; and he steals, just as the former one steals the mind of his hearers by the utterance of the words of knowledge, so does he by the manner of his hypocrisy of character [steal] the sense of those who observe him. Concerning whom it will similarly be said, *Be ashamed, you who put on foreign garments;* and, *The Lord will reveal their figure in that day.* For each day ^D in the inner workshop of the heart, I seem to hear God saying these things to me, as one clearly condemned by both names.

67. He is a perjurer—that is, one swearing falsely in the name of the Lord—who promises to God a life according to virtue, yet pursues things foreign to the promise of his own profession, and transgresses the covenant of the confession of a holy life through the idleness of the commandments. And to speak briefly, he who lives—

has determined to live religiously, but is not perfectly dead to this world, is a liar and a perjurer, who indeed has sworn to God (that is, has promised and vowed) an upright course in divine discourses, yet has not fulfilled it; and who therefore is worthy of no praise from this. For it says, *Everyone who swears by him shall be praised* (Ps. LXII, 12), that is, everyone who joins with God in vowing a divine manner of life, and fulfills the oaths of his good profession and vow through the truth of works of righteousness. ^B

68. He who simulates knowledge merely by the utterance of words steals the mind of the hearers for his own glory; and he who simulates virtue by his behavior steals the sight of the observers for his own glory. ^B Both, stealing through deceit, lead astray—the one, the mind of the soul of the hearers; the other, the bodily sense of those who watch. ^C

69. If he who fulfills his own vows has praise, as one swearing by God and speaking the truth, it is clear that he will have reproach and dishonor who becomes a transgressor of his own covenants, as one who has sworn by God and lied. ^C

70. Not every man who comes into this world is entirely illuminated by the Word: for many remain unilluminated and are in no way partakers of that light which is placed in knowledge; but it is clear that every man who by his own will comes into the true world of the virtues [is illuminated]. For everyone who through a voluntary birth truly comes into this world is entirely illuminated by the Word, obtaining an unchangeable habit of virtue and a sure knowledge of true wisdom. ^C

71. Not all persons and all things which are designated by the same word receive one and the same understanding of spiritual meaning; but we must understand single things that are said according to the power of the holy Scripture subject to the place, if we intend to rightly conjecture where those things which are written are aimed. ^D

72. None of the persons, places, times, or other things animate or inanimate, sensible or intelligible, recorded in Scripture, have a history or contemplation that is always understood in the same way, or that is coherent with itself in every respect. Therefore, it is worthwhile that he who pursues the sure truth of the spiritual understanding of Scripture, according to the distinction of those things which are recorded as done or said, should interpret the reported details in various ways, and distribute to them the spiritual sense fittingly according to the place or time. ^D

73. It is necessary to teach all who are in the whole world to live by reason alone and to conduct themselves accordingly, and to have as much care for their bodies as is necessary, so that with much solicitude and diligence—

^A to cut off, and to give no material for fantasy to the soul at all; for once the gaze of the soul has been extinguished by the Word—that gaze which at the beginning had pushed aside the Word and, like a creeping thing, had received the irrationality of pleasure and sensation, against which death was justly decreed—the entrance that the devil provides to the soul may cease.

74. Sensation, while unitary in its genus, is quintupled in its species through the perceptive faculty of each individual sense, inducing the misguided soul to love that which is closely related to the senses rather than God. Therefore, he who wisely follows the Word as his guide votes for the death of the flesh ^B of his own accord before that violent and involuntary death, making a complete separation of his mind from sensation.

75. Taking the mind captive, sensation teaches a multi-deity, through each sense serving the bondage to the passions, worshiping as a god that which is closely related and sensible.

76. He who dwells only on the letter of Scripture has only that sensation which dominates nature—that sensation by which the soul's affection toward the flesh naturally appears. For the letter, if not understood spiritually, has only the sensation that circumscribes its utterance and does not allow the power of what is written to pass over to the mind. ^C Since, therefore, the letter has a relationship solely with sensation, anyone who receives the letter in a Jewish manner, based only on history, lives according to the flesh; by the living and vigorous sensation within him, he dies in his mind the death of sin daily, being unable by the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body so as to live the blessed life in the Spirit. For if you live according to the flesh, says the divine Apostle, you shall die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.

77.

The lamp of the knowledge of God

78. He who bears the assaults of involuntary temptations like the blessed Job and the valiant martyrs with an unshaken mind is a powerful lamp, himself also keeping the light of salvation, preserved in the manner of endurance with manliness, as having the Lord for his strength and song. He who knows the stratagems of the evil one and is not ignorant of the entanglements of invisible wars—this man, too, illuminated by the light of knowledge, is a lamp.

^A speaking appropriately to the great Apostle: For we are not ignorant of his devices.

79. The Holy Spirit grants purification to those worthy of the purity of the virtues, through fear, piety, and knowledge. He grants the illumination of knowledge regarding the reasons of existing things, according to which they exist, through fortitude, counsel, and understanding to those worthy of light. And He grants perfection to those worthy of deification, through the radiant, simple, and total wisdom, leading them up to the Cause of existing things without any intermediary in every way, as far as is possible for a human being—they being recognized by the divine properties of goodness alone, according to which, knowing themselves from God and God from themselves, with nothing intervening or obstructing (for there is no intermediary between wisdom and God), they possess an unchangeable immutability, all the intermediaries being entirely passed over, in which there once existed for them the danger of slipping in their knowledge. He calls "intermediaries" the essence of intelligible and sensible things, through which the human mind is naturally led up to God as the Cause of existing things. ^B

80. Fear, piety, and knowledge produce practical philosophy; fortitude, counsel, and understanding establish natural contemplation in the Spirit; and divine wisdom alone grants mystical theology.

81. Just as a lamp cannot be kept unextinguished without oil, so too it is impossible for the light of the gifts to be kept unextinguished without a disposition—feeding and nourishing the good things by means of appropriate words, ways, customs, thoughts, and reflections. For every spiritual gift requires a corresponding disposition, which incessantly pours into it the intelligible substance like oil, so that it may remain held fast according to the disposition of the one who has received it.

82. Just as it is impossible for true and genuine oil to be found anywhere in nature without the olive, or for it to be kept and contained without a vessel that receives the oil, and it is clearly established in the nature of things that the light of a lamp, not nourished by oil, is extinguished entirely: ^C so, without the divine Scriptures, there truly exists no divine power of intellect; nor, without the disposition that acts like a vessel to contain them, can any divine concept ever consist. And finally, unless the light of knowledge in the gifts is nourished by such divine perceptions and concepts, it will not remain unextinguished for those who are endowed with it.

83. I consider the Old Testament to signify the left, as it cares more for practical philosophy; but that from the right ^D signifies the New Testament, as a teacher of the new mystery and producer of the contemplative disposition in each of the faithful. For the former [produces] the modes of virtue, the

^A truth provides reasons to those who philosophize on divine matters. And the one, snatching the mind away from the fog of visible things, leads it up to that which is akin to it, having become clean of all material imagination; but the other cleanses it of material affection, with the rigor of courage, like a hammer striking out the nails that bind the mind to the body according to that relationship.

84. The Old Testament, considered as the body, elevates ^B the soul through the mediation of the virtues, preventing the mind from being brought down to the body; but the New [Testament] elevates the mind to God, made winged by the fire of charity. And the former causes the body to be the same as the mind according to the position of its movement; but the latter makes the mind the same as God according to the habit of grace, having such likeness to God, that God is known through it—He who from Himself by nature is not at all known to anyone—just as the archetype is known from a certain image.

85. The Old Testament, being a symbol of action and virtue, causes the body to harmonize with the mind according to its movement; but the New, being a producer of contemplation and knowledge, brightens the mind that mystically clings to it with divine thoughts and tokens. And the Old provides the modes of the virtues to the one who is gnostic; but the New grants the reasons of true knowledge to the one who is practical.

86. God is called and becomes ^C Father by grace to those who have, by virtue, only that intentional birth in the Spirit; according to which, as with the face of the soul, having in their life the character of the begetting God made manifest in their virtues, they cause those who behold them to glorify God by the transformation of their way of life, offering their own lives as an excellent exemplar of virtue to them for imitation. For God is not naturally accustomed to be glorified by empty speech, but by works of justice, which proclaim the divine magnificence far more loudly than words.

87. The natural law is on the left, on account of the senses, bringing the modes of the virtues to reason and making knowledge energetic. But the spiritual law is on the right, on account of the mind; and it mixes the spiritual reasons [contained] in things with the senses, and makes action deliberate.

88. He who shows ^D that knowledge is embodied in action, and that action is ensouled by knowledge, has found the exact mode of true theurgy. He who...

^A possesses either of these detached from the other has either rendered knowledge an insubstantial fantasy or made action a soulless idol. For knowledge without action is no different from fantasy, as it lacks the action to give it subsistence; and action without reason is like an idol, as it lacks the knowledge to give it life.

89. The mystery of our salvation makes life the exhibition of discourse and doctrine, and makes discourse the glory of life; it makes action an active contemplation, and contemplation a practical guidance toward mystery. To speak briefly, it shows that virtue is a manifestation of knowledge, and knowledge is a power that maintains virtue; and through both—I mean virtue and knowledge—it shows that one wisdom is established. By this we may know that the two Testaments are in harmony with each other in all things through grace, coming together for the completion of one mystery, just as soul and body come together by composition for the generation of one human being.

90. Just as soul and body produce a human being through composition, so action and contemplation, by coming together, accomplish one wise knowledge; and the Old and New Testament produce one mystery. For by nature only God is the Good, from whom, by participation, all things are illuminated and made good, being by nature capable of light and goodness.

91. He who reads the manifest world with his mind contemplates the intelligible world; for he shapes into the sensible realm those things that are understood, imagining them, and forms in the mind the reasons that have been contemplated. He transfers the structure of the intelligible world to the sensible level in manifold ways, and to the mind he transfers the much more complex composition of the ^C sensible world. He understands the sensible in the intelligible, by translating the sensible into the mind by means of reasons; and in the sensible, he understands the intelligible, by skillfully transforming the mind with the sensible through forms.

92. The prophet called the head of all virtue ^D [a word referring to the first] principle of divine power and operation, which was communicated to few, nor was it lacking in the Old Testament; but it is different in the way we are advanced toward deification, and the faculty for this is granted to all who have been reborn through Christ. This is the operation of the angels, through which they illuminate and perfect those who are lower, which Dionysius calls divine gifts. In the following chapter, Maximus explains clearly how wisdom proceeds from both, in which he establishes the mystery of our salvation, by which we are thus filled with divinity.

^A The prophet called the head of all virtue, as it were, reason and speech, the principle and origin of all virtue; as it is written: "My head went into the clefts of the mountains." By the clefts of the mountains, he means the counsels and reasons of the most wicked spirits, by which our mind has been swallowed up through transgression; and by the lowest earth, a habit that is totally devoid of any sense of divine knowledge, or of life according to virtue, possessing no motion whatsoever. He called the abyss the ignorance incumbent upon the habit of vice, upon which it has stepped just as upon earth, or he called the earth the solid habit of vice; and the eternal bars, the passionate attachments of material things which corroborate the worst habit.

^B 93. The patience of the saints consumes the wicked power that opposes it, as it persuades those who are its ministers to boast in the labors endured for the sake of the truth, and teaches them that they are to be expanded more by tribulations than by those delights in which a carnal life takes the greatest care to indulge itself; and it makes their natural weakness of the flesh in enduring evils an argument for an excellent spiritual virtue and fortitude. For see how the natural weakness of the saints is an argument of supremely divine power, by which the Lord showed the proud devil to be inferior.

94. The word of grace, through many temptations to the human race (namely the Church of the nations), just as Jonas through many afflictions having passed to Ninive, the great city, persuaded the law of nature, which was reigning, to arise from the throne—that is, from the former habit of sensing that follows after evil—and to take off its robe (I mean, to put away the pride of worldly glory in its ways), and to be clothed in sackcloth (that is, in mourning, and in the difficult and harsh discipline of hardship, befitting a life according to God), and to sit in ashes. But ashes represent the poverty of the spirit, on which every person sits who is instructed in the precepts of living piously, and who, falling, possesses the scourge of conscience for the things in which he has sinned, which lashes him.

^C 95. See how he says that the king is the natural law; the throne is the passionate habit of sense; the robe, the projection of vain glory; the sackcloth, the mourning according to repentance; the ashes, humility; the men, those who are occupied with reason; the beasts, those who are occupied with desire; the oxen, those who are occupied with anger; the sheep, those who offend in the contemplation of visible things.

^D 96. He who, because of the lawful virtue, forgets the passions of the flesh as if they were left-handed things, and who, because of faultless knowledge, is not caught by the disease of swelling arrogance on account of his achievements as if they were right-handed things, has become a man who does not know his right hand, as he does not desire glory which is dissolving, nor his left hand, as he is not incited by the passions of the flesh. Therefore, it seems that Scripture called the "right hand" the vain glory on account of the [false] achievements, and the "left hand," the [passion] regarding shameful...

[GREEK COLUMN] ...the passions, intemperance. For the reason of virtue does not know the sin of the flesh as something on the left; nor does the reason of knowledge know the wickedness of the soul as something on the right. 97. Truly the knowledge according to act of the cause of the virtues is naturally productive of total ignorance regarding the excess and deficiency which lie on either side of the mean of virtues, both on the right and on the left. For since nothing that is contrary to reason can by any means exist in the reason, he who has clearly been raised to the reason of the virtues will by no means recognize the mode of those things that are contrary to reason. For it is not possible to observe both opposites at the same time and in the same respect, or to know the one ^B while the other is simultaneously manifest. 98. If in faith there is no reason for unbelief, nor does light by nature exist as the cause of darkness, nor is it in the nature of the devil to be shown together with Christ, clearly neither does that which is contrary to reason coexist at all with reason. If, however, that which is contrary to reason cannot at all be joined to reason, he who has been raised to the reason of the virtues will by no means recognize the position of things contrary to reason, knowing virtue only as it is, and not as it is supposed to be; and for this reason he understands neither the right through excess, nor the left through deficiency. For the contrary to reason is clearly perceived in both cases. 99. By unbelief he means the denial of the commandments; by faith, the assent to them; by darkness, the ignorance of the good; by light, the knowledge of it. He has called Christ the essence and hypostasis of the good; and the devil, the worst disposition which is the generator of all evils. 100. If the definition and measure of existing things is the reason, then it is equal to irrationality, and on this account it is contrary to reason, to act beyond the definition and beyond the measure, or again to be moved above the definition and above the measure. For both of these ^D bring upon those who are moved in this way a falling away from that which strictly exists: the one, by persuading the movement of the course to be uncertain and indefinite, having not God as its goal—due to an intemperance of mind—as a pre-conceived end for them, while they imagine something "more right" than the right; the other, by persuading them—contrary to the goal—to make the movement of the course toward sense alone, due to a faintness of mind, thinking that which is described for them by sense is the pre-conceived end. These things are unknown to him who is not experiencing them, who is bound only to the reason of virtue, and who has defined the movement of all the power of his own mind by it, and for this reason is unable to think anything above the reason or contrary to the reason.

THE FIFTH CENTURY.

1. The reason according to nature, through the means of the virtues...

has diligence for practice, and it brings the mind and intellect readily forward; while the mind, through the cultivation of contemplation, leads the desire for knowledge toward wisdom. But the passion that is contrary to reason is the cause for one who neglects the commandments to fall headlong into the senses; the end of this passion is that the mind becomes fastened and fixed upon pleasure.

2. It calls that virtue a most passionless and stable habit concerning the good, which has nothing on either side, which bears the character of God, to which nothing is contrary. For God is the cause of the virtues; and the knowledge of Him according to activity is the changing of the spirit in habit of one who has truly recognized God.

3. If reason has defined the generation of each thing as it naturally is, no being has naturally either exceeded or fallen short of itself. Therefore, the boundary of beings is the knowledge of the Cause according to desire, and the measure is the imitation of the Cause ^B achievable by beings according to activity. But to be borne beyond the boundary and the measure of those things whose desire is in motion renders the course useless, since they do not arrive at God, in whom the motion of the desire of all things comes to a stand, receiving as its self-subsistent end the enjoyment of God. And to be borne aside from the boundary and measure of those things whose desire is in motion renders the course useless, for [the movers] arrive at the senses instead of God, in which the groundless enjoyment of the passions is voluptuously formed.

4. ^C The mind focused freely upon the Cause and Author of beings will altogether be ignorant, beholding no reason in God, who exists essentially according to every cause, being above every reason: condensed into Him from all things, it knows none of the reasons from which it has departed; it knows only that One to whom it has arrived through grace, beholding and considering Him in an inexplicable way. For the mind that has run forth into God by ecstasy lets go of the reasons of incorporeals (that is, of spirits) and of bodies. For it is not the case that any of those things which are secondary to God can be surveyed together with God.

5. ^D Pride is a truly grievous passion, and it consists of a composition of two evils; I mean boastfulness and vain-glory. Of these, pride denies the Author of virtue and of nature; while vain-glory adulterates both nature and virtue itself. For nothing is done by the proud man according to God, and nothing proceeds from the vain-glorious man according to nature.

6. It is a property of pride to deny God as the creator of virtue and nature; but it is a property of vain-glory to divide nature, for the sake of its diminution and suppression; of which pride (boastfulness and insolence) is wont to be the offspring; being a composite habit of malice, having this, that it spontaneously denies God, and is ignorant of the equal honor of things that are by nature.

^A It has towards God contempt, by which it is apt to blasphemously attack providence; and towards nature, it possesses alienation, by which it treats all things of nature contrary to nature, destroying the beauty of nature by a way of misuse.

8. The spirit of the burning wind ^B signifies not only temptations, but also the forsaking of God, which is the withdrawn administration of divine gifts to the Jews. But the affinity of the soul through the spirit solves the affection of the mind towards the flesh, and binds it to God, having been attached by desire.

9. The natural law, when it has not a sense prevailing over reason, of its own accord and without any teacher, leads all men to embrace those who are related and of the same race; nature herself, of course, teaching that help is to be given to those who are in need, and that all should wish for all men that which each one deems to be agreeable if it were done to himself by others. And teaching this, the Lord says: Whatever you wish that men should do to you, do you also likewise to them.

10. He says that the work of the natural law is to provide a harmonious affection and necessity of all towards all. For in those in whom nature is governed by reason, it is natural that there should be one state of mind. And if the disposition is the same, the manner of behavior and the course of life also are clearly of such a nature as to be one. And if the manner of behavior and the course of life of those whose manners are the same, is one, it is clear that the bond of necessity of their judgment regarding each other is also one and the same, leading all by one judgment towards the one reason of nature; in which there is absolutely none of that division of nature that now prevails through self-love. ^C The written law, holding back the disordered impulses of the more foolish by fear of punishments, teaches and accustoms them to look only to the distribution of equality, according to which the power of justice, strengthened by time, passes into nature; so that gradually and little by little, it makes fear a disposition, quietly and by degrees strengthened by the judgment regarding the good; and indeed, habit, being brought into the forgetting of former things, and bringing forth mutual love unto itself.

11. The written law, he says, by restraining injustice through fear, accustoms [man] to the just; but custom increased by time makes an affection of the mind that is a lover of justice, from which a firm habit towards the good arises, bringing about the forgetting of previous wickedness. ^D

12. The law of grace, however, teaches those who are led by it to imitate God immediately, who loved us—even though we were enemies because of sin—so much more than Himself, if it is right to say so, that even...

^A He deigned to come to our essence and nature without change, He who is above all essence and nature, and to consent superessentially to become man and be called one of mankind, and not to refuse to make our condemnation His own; and He deigned to deify us by grace to the same extent that He Himself became man by dispensation. This is so that we might not only learn to support one another naturally and to love one another spiritually as ourselves, but also to care for others beyond ourselves in a divine manner, and that we might provide this proof of love for one another: namely, that by virtue, one would eagerly choose a voluntary death for the sake of others. For, He says, "There is no greater love than this, that someone should lay down his life for his friend." ^B

13. The law of nature, to state it briefly, is natural reason that has taken sense perception as its subject, for the sake of removing irrationality; by it, the division of those things that are naturally connected is effected. The written law is natural reason which, after the removal of irrationality from sense perception, has also taken on a spiritual desire, which is the cohesive force for the kinship that binds us together. The law of grace is reason that stands above nature, unchangeably transforming nature toward deification, and showing, as in an image and ^C portrait within human nature, in an incomprehensible way, the archetype which is above essence and nature, and providing the endurance of eternal well-being.

14. To have one’s neighbor as oneself is to care only for his life and his existence; this is what the natural law establishes. To love one’s neighbor as oneself, and to provide for the neighbor’s well-being according to virtue, is what the written law commands. But to love one’s neighbor more than oneself is the most peculiar gift of the law of grace.

15. One who is restrained from the opportunities for bodily pleasure learns the ^D reasons of Providence, which holds back the ignitable matter of the passions. But he who receives the lashes of bodily pain is taught the reasons of judgment, by which Providence purifies him with involuntary sufferings from the stains he has incurred.

16. If the Word of Scripture has shown us the prophet grieving over the booth and the gourd—by which I mean the flesh and the pleasure of the flesh—while God, on the contrary, was concerned for Nineveh, it is clear that what is precious and desirable to human beings is, to God, deemed dear and far more excellent and precious than all existing things; and certainly more so than those things which do not exist and which seem to exist only by an erroneous judgment of presumption, for which there is absolutely no reason in terms of existence. They are merely a fancy tricking the mind, providing an empty figure and appearance to non-existent things, but not providing any substance of true existence to the affect or passion.

^A 47. Even the precise knowledge of the oracles of the Spirit is revealed only to those who are worthy of the Spirit; those who, through diligent cultivation of the virtues, have cleansed their mind of the soot of the passions and, like a pure and clear mirror, receive the knowledge of divine things the moment they present themselves, as if a face were impressed upon them and coming upon them. But for those whose life is pricked and contaminated by the stains of the passions, it is scarcely granted to attain by conjecture even a knowledge of divine things from certain probable indications, let alone to presume to understand it precisely and declare it in words.

48. He who has received the form of the mind, which is knowledge from the virtues, in the divine Spirit, is said to undergo divine things, because he has received this not by nature, by reason of his substance, but by grace through participation. But he who has not received the knowledge that is from grace, even if he says something of a gnostic nature, does not know by experience the power of what is being said. For bare learning does not bestow knowledge as a settled habit.

^B 49. The mind, having attained to the summit through the virtues, is naturally taught the reasons of the virtues, making the knowledge divinely characterized by them its own proper face. For every mind stands in itself without form and without character, having an acquired form: either the knowledge subsisting from the virtues in the Spirit, or the ignorance that supervenes from the passions.

50. Everyone who has fallen away from divine love has the law of pleasure as king within his flesh, by means of licentiousness, and is neither able nor willing to keep any divine commandment. For, having preferred the pleasure-loving life to the life and kingdom that is conducted and ruled in the Spirit of God according to virtue, he has drawn upon himself ignorance in place of knowledge.

51. He who does not pass over in his mind to the divine beauty that is within the letter of the Law in the Spirit is accustomed to give birth, from the discipline of the Law, to a pleasure-loving disposition of the mind—that is, to worldly striving and love of the world—upon the bare utterance of the words.

^C 52. Shame of mouth is the pleasure-loving meditation of thoughts, according to the mind, and love of the body. For in it the world is naturally born from the bodily formation appearing in the letter of the Law, according to an act of will; that is, the disposition that loves the world, and the pleasure-loving meditation of thoughts in the mind. For that to which we are relatively disposed, to that we also possess meditation in the mind.

^A 23. Or again, it is the confusion of the mouth, which brings a form to the passions, and by way of pleasure fashions beauty for the senses, that is the movement of the mind. For without the mind's faculty of invention, passion is in no way led to the fashioning of its form. It is either an anathema—that is, the earthy, ugly, and unformed incitement of passions and affections—or it is the confusion of the mouth, which creates the passion into a form for the sense, and by its inventions provides the mind’s agitation, acting as the proper matter for that passion.

24. He who believes that God, for the sake of bodily pleasure and rest, ordained by law the sacrifices, festivals, Sabbaths, and new moons, will be entirely and altogether subject to the guilt of the operation of the passions and the confusion of the foulness of the shameful thoughts held regarding them; and he will be subject to the world that is passing away, and to the pleasure-loving meditation of thoughts; and subject to the matter and form of the passions, being able to hold nothing in esteem except those things which perish.

25. He who is persuaded that to indulge in bodily delights according to the law is a divine command, accepts gluttony as a gift from God for the purpose of a shared life with joy, from which he begets modes of behavior that pollute the operation of the senses through misuse.

^B 26. Since the contemplative faculty of the soul embraces pleasure according to the letter of the law as divine, because of the commandment, for a life of common fellowship, it passes on to the unnatural use of the senses, allowing no natural use of their operation to appear at all. For it begets both the habit and the act of the passions, and invites gluttony in as if it were divine, for the sake of creating modes of behavior that pollute the senses through misuse, to the destruction of the natural reasons and seeds within the things that exist.

^C 27. No one who pays attention only to the bodily worship of the law could possibly receive any natural principle or reflection, because such things are not inherently of the nature of the symbols. For he who remains fixated upon the symbols of the law cannot see the nature of things according to principle, nor can he possess the principles essentially placed by the Creator in the things that exist, due to the difference between the symbols and the nature of things themselves.

^D 28. He who considers his belly as God, and glories in his shame as if it were for his own glory, knows only how to embrace—with zeal for the sake of the passions of ignominy—that which he regards as divine; and for this reason, he cares only for things that are temporal, that is, for matter and form, and the fivefold operation of the senses according to misuse. For the sense, being entangled with matter and form through mixing, produces passion, and is naturally inclined to kill and destroy the principles that accord with nature. For passion and nature, according to the principle of existence, in no way coexist with one another. For it is not in the nature of passion to...

^A appear entirely as a rational principle of nature, just as it is not in the nature of passion to be born together with nature according to generation, nor is it in the nature of nature to have vice, stain, and passion as its origin.

29. He who does not believe that Scripture is spiritual does not feel his own poverty regarding knowledge, but is destroyed by famine. For famine, in truth, is the lack of the good things known by that very experience and taste, and the total deficiency and scarcity of those spiritual foods that sustain the soul. For how can anyone think it a famine or a loss, when he is deprived of things the knowledge of which he never possessed at all?

30. ^B Truly, the people—and the soul of every individual—who have known the truth are starving, when this soul has been let go from the spiritual contemplation in grace and has become subject to the figurative bondage in the letter, not feeding the mind on the greatness of the concepts, but filling the senses ^C with passionate imagination, through the bodily configurations of the Scriptural symbols.

31. Whoever does not admit the spiritual contemplation of holy Scripture, has rejected along with it both the natural law and the written law according to the Jews; and he has remained ignorant of the law in grace, by which deification is given to those who are led by it. Therefore, he who receives the written law corporally does not nourish the soul with virtues; and he who does not direct his mind to the inner principles of beings does not ^D refresh his mind lavishly with the manifold wisdom of God; and he who does not know the great mystery of the new grace does not rejoice in the hope of future deification. Consequently, the lack of contemplation according to the written law has as its companion a poverty, such that the manifold wisdom of God, which is understood through the natural law, is not understood; and this in turn, as is necessary, follows from an ignorance of the deification granted by grace according to the new mystery.

32. Every mind in Christ that is sharp-sighted and strong in vision, always desires and seeks the face of the Lord. For the face of the Lord is established as the true contemplation and knowledge of divine things—according to the degree one is prepared by virtue—and he who seeks this learns the cause of his own deficiency and poverty. For just as the face is the distinguishing mark of each individual, so also spiritual knowledge signally represents the Divine. He who seeks this is said to seek the face of the Lord. But he who is bogged down according to the letter of the law in bloody sacrifices has a desired ignorance, towards...

^A the fleshly pleasure, accepting the commandment only according to sense, and grasping at the mere husk of the letter in a corporeal manner, as is fitting for that sense.

53. He who observes the legal cult corporally generates the act of sin as if it were matter, and as if it were form, he fashions the assent of the mind to the pleasures of the senses that are agreeable to it in a material way. But he who receives Scripture spiritually destroys the act as matter, and the consent to sin as form, together with the ways of abusing the sense for pleasure, through the natural reasonings at the height of contemplation.

^B 54. Matter and form—as these involve the five modes of the five senses (namely, the lustful and unnatural connection of the senses with things perceived by sense, or with those things which are subject to time and perish)—once the corporeal cult of the law according to the letter of the law has been left behind and this ignorance overcome, are handed over by the spiritual law, or the mind, to be destroyed and put to death by the superior reasons and thoughts of natural contemplation; namely, that they might abolish and destroy the most universal connection in the symbols of things subjected to time and to the reason of sense and body, raised up to the sublime axis of the spiritual contemplation of the law.

55. Without natural contemplation, no one discerns the dissonance of legal symbols from divine truths. For unless one first carefully inspects the dissonance between the divine and intelligible [realities] in the symbols by the natural reason, and, having completely excluded the sense from the divine inmost sanctuaries—leaving it outside—strives in the mind to attain their spiritual and intelligible beauty, one cannot be altogether freed from the corporeal variety of the types. ^C Because of this reason, as long as one walks, adhering to the letter and obsessing over it, it happens deservedly that one is not comforted in the destitution by which one suffers from hunger, for one has condemned oneself, in the manner of the seducing serpent, to eat the earth of Scripture (that is, the body); and not, with Christian nobility, to eat the heaven of Scripture (that is, the spirit and the soul, namely the heavenly and angelic bread—I mean, taking as food the spiritual contemplation and knowledge of the Scriptures in Christ, which God ^D generously supplies to those who love Him, according to what is written: "He gave them the bread of heaven, man ate the bread of angels" [Ps. LXXVII, 24, 25]).

56. It is necessary to consider the reception of the body of Scripture according to sense as clearly the parent of passions and of the relative disposition towards transitory and flowing things—that is, as the lustful activity of the senses towards objects of sense—as the children and descendants of Saul, through