Philip the Solitary

Editor’s Notice regarding the Dioptra.

PHILIPPUS SOLITARIUS DIOPTRA THAT IS, THE RULE OR CARPENTER’S LINE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE TO CALLINICUS THE MONK, In dialogue form, namely of the SOUL as disciple, and the FLESH as teacher, explained in four books (1). With the notes of Jakob Gretser.

JAKOB PONTANUS’S PREFACE.

This volume, inscribed *DIOPTRA*, a term for a geometer's instrument with which they measure altitudes from a distance, such as what is called the geometric quadrant and the staff of St. James, we have, I think, quite appropriately called the *Rule*, or *Carpenter's Line*, of the Christian life, in accordance with the subject matter discussed therein. Having found this volume in the Augsburg library, I judged it deserving—all the more so—of being rendered in the Latin tongue, that it might reach those who are studious of virtue and the Christian life. Its author and begetter is Philippus Solitarius, who testifies in the fourth book that he finished it in the year of our Lord 1105, at which time Alexius Comnenus was in the sixteenth year of his reign. The rest may be learned from the prefaces of Psellos, of Phialites the corrector, and of the author himself. I could have greatly wished that this Phialites had shown greater accuracy in that emendation. Philippus breathes piety everywhere, and he burns with the zeal to make us more grateful to God. He made use of political verses, regarding which we discoursed in the preface to the *Orations of Simeon*, translated by us last year and brought to light.

Jakob Gretser’s notes.

(1) What the *Dioptra* is, you have in the Preface. Suidas describes it thus: Διόπτρα· μηχανικὸν τεχνούργημα, δι' οὗ οἱ γεωμέτραι ἀπηκρίβουν τὴν τῶν ἐπάλξεων ἐκ διαστήματος ἀναμέτρησιν. (A mechanical artifice, by which geometers used to verify the measurement of ramparts from a distance). Pisides: Ταῦτα πρὸ πολλοῦ τῇ διόπτρα σου βλέπεις. *Dioptra, a mechanical instrument, by whose aid geometers estimated the dimensions of fortifications from a distance.* Pisides: *You see these things long before with your dioptra.*

It is cited in *Turco-Graecia*, fol. 198, a book inscribed *Dioptra*, consisting of political verses, and containing a dispute between soul and body as to why they do not prepare themselves for dying. Its beginning is reported as this: Πῶς κάθῃ, πῶς ἀμεριμνεῖς, πῶς ἀμελεῖς, ψυχή μου. Ὁ χρόνος σου πεπλήρωται, ἔξελθε τοῦ σαρκίου. Ποῦ τραπεζῶν ἁβρότητες, μαγείρων μαγγανείαι; Ποῦ τῶν αὐτῶν τὰ θέλγητρα, τύμπανα καὶ λύρα; Ποῦ ἡ χαρὰ ἡ πρόσκαιρος τοῦ βίου ἡ ματαία; Ὡς ὄναρ παρελήλυθεν, ὡς καπνὸς διελύθη. *How do you sit, how are you free of care, how are you neglectful, my soul? / Your time is fulfilled, depart from the flesh. / Where are the delicacies of tables, the magic of cooks? / Where are the delights of the same, the drums and the lyre? / Where is the ephemeral joy of the vain life? / Like a dream it has vanished, like smoke it has dissolved.*

But since our *Dioptra* has a far different beginning, we do not rashly suspect that it is different from that which *Turco-Graecia* mentions. The first chapter contains an illustrious passage against ancient and modern sectarians concerning the necessity of works for salvation; the commendation of which, when the heretical author of *Turco-Graecia* found it in his own *Dioptra* as well, he could not restrain himself from smearing this stain upon the margin of his book: Μοναστικαὶ ἀσκήσεις σωματικαὶ καὶ ψυχαὶ (Monastic exercises are corporal and animal); "Ἔργοις μὴ πίστευε (Do not believe in works). Θεοῦ σώζει χάρις εἴη, ἣν πίστις δέχεται (May it be the grace of God that saves, which faith receives). Πίστιν δείκνυσι τὰ ἔργα (Works manifest faith). This appendix these men added, after they had perceived what an immensity of absurdity that phrase about "faith alone," with all works excluded, would drag along with it.

PREFACE OF JACOBUS PONTANUS TO THE DIOPTRA

Because these matters are little known to Latin ears, and because the subtlety of the subject matter and the poverty of the Latin language would not in many places admit of a literal translation, we have determined to interpret them in free and continuous discourse, and not without example. Of the few chapters of the individual books, we have made many more; to each, we have prefixed a lemma, or summary in our own words, somewhat more abundantly and accurately than the writer himself had done, so that everything might be rendered clearer and more plainly perceived, although nonetheless, to understand certain things more promptly, there will be the need to have tasted those graver and more severe sciences. The arrangement will not undeservedly move some to wonder: why, namely, when he was writing these books in dialogue form, he gave the Soul the task of questioning and learning, and allowed the Flesh to respond and teach, and wished the former to be the disciple and the latter the mistress in such holy and spiritual matters—I might even add, such learned ones—when it would seem that the opposite should have been done. For the Flesh is indeed the inferior of the Soul, and its sentient appetite, or, in Augustine’s terms, the irrational soul; while the Soul here is the superior soul, the rational soul, as that same Augustine names it, and what is called "spirit" by Paul. It is added that the Flesh always calls the Soul ^A *kyrian* and *despoinan*, mistress and lady, while the Soul always calls the Flesh *doulen*, *therapainan*, *paidisken*, *prospolon*, *hyperetida*, servant, maid, handmaid, and minister. From this, one will conclude without effort for which of the two the more noble parts would have been appropriate.

To answer in some way, and to defend the writer in some manner, first, it is certain that, since the entire volume is concerned with the soul and body, this *prosopopoiia* (personification) was introduced not unsuitably; and many things could not have been explained better or more conveniently by employing a mistress and disciple, or other persons. Furthermore, things are disputed by the Soul that could not have been aptly and rightly disputed by the Flesh, and conversely, things by the Flesh that could not have been so fittingly disputed by the Soul, even if the latter performed the office of mistress and the former that of disciple. Wherefore we, too, although at the beginning we considered this arrangement absurd, set out to change the persons, but in the progress of the work, having changed our opinion, we left them as we found them. There are other things throughout these books in which one may observe that the *prepon* (propriety) was kept somewhat negligently, and that Philip did not know well enough what it was to write a dialogue. But these sins and similar ones are to be forgiven to an ascetic man who laboured to persuade us of one holiness, and it is often necessary to meditate upon that which is wont frequently to occur to me, who handle books of this type especially, from those grammarians with whom I was imbued as a boy: "In living follow the good, in writing the experts." ^B

I have joined the fifth book, which is of few pages and not distinguished by chapters, with the fourth. The notes in the margin—either by Psellus or by Phialites—bearing the sentences of the Holy Fathers, I have received into the text, yet having made a selection and expressed them in a different typeface. For they seemed to bring not a little light and grace to the work itself. Those political verses, lest I make a monster of it, and for other reasons, I have not added. What is adduced more fully from Damascene in Book II, chapter 12, and in chapters 16 and 17 of the same book, we have decided should be attributed to their interpreters. Now, so that you may know those Fathers of whom I was speaking, I shall append a catalogue. ^C

FATHERS ADDUCED IN THE MARGIN OF THE DIOPTRA

Gregorius Nazianzenus. Gregorius Nyssenus. Joannes Chrysostomus. Athanasius. Cyrillus Alexandrinus. Basilius Magnus. Theophylactus. Damascenus. Theodoretus Cyri episcopus. Theodoretus Heracleæ. Joannes Climacus. Theodorus Studita. Anastasius Sinaita. Isidorus. Ephræm Syrus. Dionysius Areopagita. Maximus. Michael Psellus. Nilus. Isaac. Carbonius(?). Gennadius.

* Which, indeed, was done with little counsel and not without great inconvenience to the studious reader. I have initiated another path, so that the text might be freed from these intrusive briers: I have removed the entire apparatus of scholia and relegated it to the bottom margin of the pages, with asterisk references placed in the text. ED. PATR. ^D

PREFACE OF MICHAEL PSELLUS TO THE DIOPTRA

"Better is a little to the righteous," says Scripture, "than the great riches of the wicked." It is better, therefore, even to stammer while speaking the truth than to express Plato’s abundance and gravity while lying. For speech does not deserve admiration when it flows beyond its limits, but when, moderate in length, it is rich and abundant in sentiments, and in brevity, perspicuity, and neglect of artifice, it has grasped and brought into the public view what must necessarily be handed down, and what shines forth both in doctrine itself and in morals. Comparing and discerning spiritual things, as those who are not ignorant of sacred letters and are proved, they desire a speech of truth that is not polished, not wrapped in artificial figures, not shaped by a lathe and born of craft, and not ornamented with words (in which, often, an exquisite exercise in speaking hides a lie, by which those who read inconsiderately, and do not examine what they have read, are harmfully ensnared), but rather speech that is illuminated and confirmed by evangelical oracles, even if it is pronounced not without barbarisms and solecisms. Wherefore, whoever reads these things faithfully, without envy, without curiosity, and without all simulation and fraud, will find in a few not obscure interrogations, precepts, and responses, which have been clearly sought and explained by the doctors of the Catholic Church in diverse ages, as though they were its lights and stars, concerning certain necessary heads of our faith. These, indeed, the most holy solitary Philippus, with no small study and labor, collected into one body for the edification and utility of those desiring salvation. He thought he should seek out not only those things written by the masters of the Church, but he also added many things discovered and thought out by himself, which are salutary to the souls of orthodox and upright men. Therefore, one must fix the eye of the heart on this scope and end. For speech, when it is transformed by structure, variety, festivity, and elegance, hinders the proposed treatment, while it secretly steals away the understanding of what is read, and, having spread darkness, prevents one from seeing and penetrating the thing itself.

Moreover, to address oneself, and through prosopopoeia (that is, the fiction of a person) to interrogate one’s soul, and again to resolve doubtful or difficult matters for oneself, is solemn and customary, both for those who live and lived under the old law and for those who live under grace. "Bless the Lord, O my soul," says David; and, "Turn, O my soul, into thy rest." And concerning him who was rich in God, the Lord relates that he spoke thus: "I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast many good things." And the Hymnographer, "O soul, the things that are here are temporary." And other things of this kind have often been written by others.

PREFACE OF PHIALITES

Regarding the emendation of the *Dioptra*, which he undertook at the exhortation of the blessed Dionysius, metropolitan of Mitylene, by birth a Peloponnesian, and by surname Euzoites.

That this volume, inscribed *Dioptra*, was composed by Philippus, a most holy man, and that he did this while his parents were persuading and urging him, and that he complied—not, as is already known by itself, moved by his own instinct and will—is not to be asserted here with a multitude of words: Philippus, I say, who in the times of the great emperor Alexius shone like a gleaming light with the clarity of virtue. It is also certain that he abounded, and here also continues to abound, in excellent and salutary commentaries and sentiments: which he partly derived from Holy Scripture and partly drew from himself and digested. However, as regards the elegance of the diction and the charm, concinnity, and rhythm of the elocution, the matter was not well, because that admirable Father, as it appears, deemed these things of very little account: he labored only for the truth and the utility of men, than which nothing is more beautiful, nothing more fruitful, not even the wisdom of Plato, or the eloquence of Demosthenes, or the gravity of Thucydides. For what are all these things, if they are compared with these most choice sentiments? Those who know them are not ignorant of this. But such had been the condition of this book until now, and while the beauty of the *Dioptra* of sentiments was present, the rest did not seem beautiful at all: but it was like gold thrown away uselessly and rashly; or (to declare the matter by another example) like a tree heavy and laden with beautiful fruit indeed, but nowhere adorned with leaves, and therefore unsightly and ungraceful to the view. Moreover, the good pastor of the Lesbians

Dionysius, having come upon the book in such a state as we have described, did not think it should be left uncorrected and unformed, nor did he leave it so; but by our genuine and diligent labor he applied to it the corrections it was owed. For as much as it was rough and discordant throughout the work, like some moldy senility or decay, he polished it away and rendered it as if new and vigorous, having thrust out all barbarism therefrom, and whatever was vicious in the sequence of the discourse; and conversely, he introduced brightness, concinnity, composition, and a certain moderation of the numbers, with the light of clarity everywhere infused. Yet in the things themselves, nothing has been contracted or removed, but all things have been preserved entire to the author’s memory. Anyone who considers and examines this new and recent Dioptra in comparison with that first and ancient one, and who weighs the sense in each part and explores the rest of the power of the discourse, will easily recognize this. It is apparent even to the blind, as Plato says.

PHILIP SOLITARIUS, SINNER, OUTCAST, AND STRANGER, TO CALLINICUS THE MONK, GREETING.

—

Petitions of yours, although I was reluctant, yet for the sake of obedience and the fruit of charity, I have followed; and having fulfilled the duty you imposed upon me, venerable Father and brother Callinicus, I have encompassed all things in political verses and four books, the form of questioning and answering being preserved. The Soul asks, the Flesh replies. The matters, moreover, are of such a kind that they can avail not to titillate your ears, but to exhilarate the soul. Receive these books: and if you find anything therein that is not sufficiently consistent, grant pardon for our ignorance and rusticity: and do not cling to the words themselves: nor consider the unelegant elegance (for truly there is naught in these but what is common, and all things are full of rustic inexperience), but embrace the obedience and proposal of the one offering them. But if any laudable statement should appear, let it be referred to God the author, and let praises and thanks be rendered to Him, as is meet, who renders even the unlearned wise for the benefit of the hearers, [*]virtue being perfected in infirmity. But if, conversely, you should find anything written imperfectly and vainly, forgive human frailty, which, being hindered by a certain greater ignorance, was unable to commit to letters what it wished, nor in the manner it wished. And since the commands of the brethren must be obeyed, I have written these things for you, Father and Brother, with much fear and reverence, and to the best of my meager capacity I have willingly sent things excerpted from the sacred Scriptures that are necessary, useful, and more conducive and more opportune for your holiness. You shall pray to God for me assiduously, O Father first and foremost venerable, so that my sins may be forgiven me: that, having obtained eternal goods, I may be able to enjoy that kingdom.

THE SAME TO THE READER.

I, who am unlearned, discourse to the unlearned with what ability I possess, and for my part I admonish and exhort them, and call to the mind of both secular and monastic men their duty, in a discourse entirely unrefined, as I am; and I am not inclined toward the making of oratory, nor of the art itself, nor am I desirous of famous rhetoricians and masters of science. And hence it is that I do not dread the jeers and the censure of those who are accustomed to mock the lapses of others. But what I am more accustomed to, that I know and speak.

DIOPTRA OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, BOOK I.

—

CAPUT I.

ANIMA. Ancient—yea, most ancient—is the time when we were fashioned by the Creator and Prince of all, one animal called man, from both a world [that is, spiritual and material], a most noble mixture and temperament. I, for my part, having inquired nothing of you until this day, now first address the servant as mistress. Rise, and teach me readily, and forgive my past sloth.

CARO. Could I, when you command, refuse? Even though I am not as learned as you think me to be.

ANIMA. But not even I am imbued with the disciplines of the arts. Speak, therefore, and having put away all fear, answer, and promptly resolve my questions.

CARO. Listen, then, and attend to my words.

I have heard many people ^A say frequently that man, that excellent creature, the most beautiful of all living beings, would never be handed over to punishments by his Creator if only he were washed in the saving font and endowed with faith; but that he who is devoid of both this washing and of faith will justly undergo punishment. I, indeed, condemned those who thought so, just as was fitting for their ignorance. For the illustrious and greatest doctor, Basil, easily refutes those who think this way, and teaches excellently to this effect: when any servant has offended his master, and that offense has utterly excluded mercy, so that according to law the punishment must be inflicted upon him, first of all he is condemned, stripped of glory, despoiled, and ejected from the goods he possessed, and finally consigned to the punishment he has deserved. Furthermore, ecclesiastical law and discipline are maintained; and when any priest ^B has committed a fault, whether he be of an inferior rank or distinguished by an episcopal throne, he is stripped of the symbols of his sacred vestments: and at the same time, as the canon says, he is divested of all dignity, and instead of a pope he becomes an *apopapa* (un-pope), and, subjected to the canons, is punished with the appropriate penalty. But will not the Judge of the whole world judge everyone in this way? When he comes to judgment, he will strip those who are liable for their crimes of the grace of baptism, which they have defiled with the filth of their own wounds, and then, alas! they will be consigned to eternal torments. It would indeed be most alien to reason and most absurd that such a benefit and such a gift should be affected with ignominy and condemned along with the soul. Grace, therefore, is taken away, and they are handed over to torments. Nor did Basil alone leave these things written that I have mentioned, but somewhere also the most eloquent Chrysostom, and with these two, Amphilochius—these three, I say, as ^C stars of the Church, and the greatest and most excellent masters of the Word of God. ANIMA. You mention witnesses not to be despised, and most worthy of faith: "For in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word stand." But if you can produce more, come, produce them; for it is permitted to testify with many. CARO. Therefore hear another witness, to whom you may believe, in whom you may have faith: for they are the words of Scripture. For the mouth of Christ, and his great herald Paul, writing to those who were at Rome, says: "Circumcision truly profits if you keep the law; but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision." For what is the cause, or what the grace of circumcision in Christ? Nor does uncircumcision profit, if grace is absent. The observance of the commandments is useful, as he says: "for not the hearers, but the guardians and doers of the law, if they persevere in it, shall be justified." But you may learn the whole matter from the very mouth of the Word: "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, and does not do the things that I say, will enter the kingdom of heaven: but rather he who fulfills the will of my Father." Let no one deceive you, let no one flatter you, as if faith destitute of works could bring you salvation. Faith without works, I would have you know, is useless: and conversely ^D works without faith are worth nothing. Therefore, if you wish to be saved, and desire that happiness, join faith and works in due order. ANIMA. Explain, therefore, what works you mean: so that when I have understood them, I may hasten to perform them correctly. Come on, speak, teach, recount.

CHAPTER II. What divine commandments, or works, should be considered more excellent.

CARO. They are numerous and very beautiful, and all are fruitful. But as for which are better, and more beautiful than the beautiful, by which one may by a shortcut ascend to the Lord, it is entirely for me to teach and prescribe. There are only six, and no more in number. Look at the catalog, and know what they are. You gave food to me when I was hungry, and drink to me when I was thirsty. You received me when I was a stranger and a guest, and clothed me when I was naked. I was sick, and in prison, and you approached, visited, and ministered to me. To these many other salutary things could be added: but in order that, as more necessary for salvation, more obvious, and more honorable, enumerating only six, he omitted the rest. To these, therefore, he invites and provokes everyone, rich, poor, servants, masters: he permits the use of the rest to those who wish, compelling no one to them in any way. ANIMA. State furthermore those, the necessity of which...

^A I wish to know in detail.

CARO. To keep one’s virginity, to live a monastic life, to keep vigil in divine prayers, to sleep on the ground, to travel much, to emaciate the body with voluntary penances, to be clothed in a single tunic, to build magnificent temples to God, to the Virgin Mother, and to other friends of God. The commandments of Christ do not force us to these things, but "he who is able to receive it, let him receive it." Who could count the series of other things which indeed lead those who wish to be saved? Nevertheless, we are commanded to do all those things that are prescribed in the Holy Scriptures, if we desire God to dwell within us. But those six are most honorable, most praiseworthy, and have been enjoined upon us before others. And He not only prefers and places them before the others, but He also recalls them more frequently elsewhere: "Be merciful," He says, "just as your Father in heaven is merciful." He does not urge us to sing psalms, since the Father does not sing; not to keep vigils; not to embrace the labors and many hardships, nor the life and conflicts of the solitaries: none of these. But He has invited us to mercy alone: because "the Lord is compassionate and very merciful": because He "desires mercy, and not sacrifice": because He is worshipped and propitiated by nothing else except mercy alone: because He desires acts of mercy; and because He is an abyss of mercy. I will speak briefly: mercy is the only work common to man with God, and through mercy alone an individual imitates their Creator and is associated with Him. That this is so is clear from the parable of the ten virgins. Because of the cultivation of virginity, all were beautiful; they loved God, and lived their lives modestly.

And the five were indeed prudent, but the five foolish were given to continence, tears, and mourning: they in no way loved soft leisure and the license of morals; they pursued the narrow way and tribulations, and subdued the flesh with constant labors. Yet the commandment was not equally a care to them; but the prudent ones prudently had oil in their vessels, which the foolish ones lacked. And hence, when the Bridegroom came, they were excluded from the nuptial joys. "I do not know you," cries the most beautiful Bridegroom. "I do not know you, go away. For who will open to you, when you do not bring oil along with your virginity," without which all things, and even the light of virginity itself ^B is extinguished; without which all things are vain and ineffectual: since the Bridegroom loves that above all things? Understand with trembling the words of the Lord, and believe, and lend your faith, and do not in any way doubt what is said. He will utter a harsh word to those who will stand on the left: "Depart far from here into the fire of hell, which was prepared for the devil and his angels." Not because you committed adulteries; not because you were fornicators; not because you committed theft; not because you perpetrated murders and robberies; not because you willingly cursed and used force against others, and poured forth lies, and were self-pleasers, and wine-bibbers and drunkards, and wicked; nor because you were complicit in every kind of iniquity and crime: none of these things did He reprove in them at that time; but because you despised the beggar asking for alms; but because you saw Me struggling with hunger and thirst, sitting in prison, naked, a stranger, and miserably laid upon a bed, and you did not refresh Me with food, you did not comfort Me with drink, you did not visit Me even for a little while, you did not clothe Me, you did not take Me in, you did not minister to Me.

I confirm this very thing, which I say, again from the Gospel. You have heard of that hard and inhumane rich man, how, namely, his tongue (O calamity!) burned in the depths of hell. Not because he had bound himself to various crimes in life; nor because he had hated his neighbor; nor because he had committed many wicked things through drunkenness; nor because he had swelled with pride from revenues coming in from everywhere, opulent, rejoicing, grasping, holding dominion, dressed magnificently in linen and purple; not, I say, because of these things was he thrust into torments; but because he neglected Lazarus, a poor man, in every way, and was not moved by mercy for the afflicted one. This is a marvelous thing, and full of horror. How much can charity do, how much can mercy and compassion!

ANIMA. If more things remain to be said, do not be silent, and add to what you have said for my benefit. Your silence will be an unbearable loss to us.

CHAPTER III.

CARO. We have therefore taught, according to our ability, that those six are the first and greatest of the commandments. Nearly...

what had escaped our memory (alas, what a loss!) is that voice of Paul, truly unheard of and admirable. ^A ANIMA. Do not omit that admirable voice; bring it into the middle and recite it quickly. CARO. Accept the word of Paul: "If I have faith, so that I could remove mountains; if I distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body so that I may burn; if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; if I also speak with the tongues of angels, but have not charity, it will profit me nothing." Charity is the head and scope of the prophets and the law. Charity is the greatest thing: charity is a divine thing. John the Theologian wrote divinely that God is charity, and that he who abides in charity abides in God, and God ^B in him. My word, how great is the power of charity! Again, another thing is said by the Word in the Gospel to the honor of charity: "On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. You shall love," he says, "the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength: and your neighbor (that is, your brother) as yourself." In whom, however, there is charity, in them it is manifest that there is also faith. And again, in whom there is faith, there is also charity. And in whom charity and faith have grown together, in them all other things—whatever is best—are found. But if charity should be absent, all these things withdraw far away. You have heard how much is placed in charity, and how from it as from a fountain, or a root, the whole germ of good works springs forth and flows out. Therefore, cultivate charity, without which salvation is not to be hoped for, as we have demonstrated from the Scripture.

CAPUT IV.

ANIMA. Is there found in this life anyone who properly keeps charity, the most excellent of the commandments, as you say, so that he truly loves God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself? CARO. Indeed many, and they are excellent and worthy of honor. If, however, you desire to know who holds the first place in these, and who loved the Lord above measure and vehemently, and loved his neighbor legitimately as himself—God, I say, plainly with all his soul and with all his mind, as it is written and prescribed in the law—run through Paul's Epistle to the Romans; from there you will perceive the ardor of charity with which he burned toward God and his neighbor. But listen and be astonished; listen and tremble, so great is the power of Paul’s words, so great is the heat of his love! "Who shall ever separate us from the charity of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or danger, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or the sword, or death—nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the charity of God." And this indeed regarding his love toward God. But as for his neighbor, he was thirsting; he desired that all his brothers be saved. For them, he himself was separating himself from the Lord (for anathema signifies ^C division from God)—those who were his kin according to the flesh, if only they could obtain salvation. Who has dared so much in the memory of all the ages? Who has desired to suffer so much for charity? Nobly, I say, to suffer for faith and charity. How he did not let his mind fall, but...

Scholia.

Basilius. For those who are beginning the first curriculum of piety, fear, as the first rudiments, is more useful, according to that: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. IX, 10). But those who, like infants, no longer need milk, but can use the solid dogmas of Scripture, to them the chief of the commandments, namely charity toward God and neighbor, are proposed. No one dares to approach "anathema" for the sake of honor: but from the one who is cut off, and from him who had been made anathema, all remove themselves for the opposite reason. And the separation was one, when this and that were avoided by the multitude. But the mode of separation is not the same, but contrary to the former. For they used to refrain from an "anathema" as from a thing dedicated: but this, as from one alienated from God and cut off from the Church of the orthodox. ^D Chrysostom. Let us learn first what anathema is, and then we shall know what Paul’s anathema is. No one dared to touch a thing dedicated (anathema) with profane hands, nor to approach it closely. Thus he also calls one separated from the Church, and cut off from all, and removed very far away, in the opposite signification: commanding all that they should refrain from him and recoil with much fear. But he says: "I wished to be anathema," that is, exsecrable, with whom there is nothing in common for others, not having a part with Christ, that he might be delivered to the devil, and be scourged, and that he himself should sustain the punishments justly inflicted upon Israel for their incredulity toward God: "Just as Christ delivered himself for us, and was made a curse. For cursed is everyone," he says, "who hangs on a tree (Galat. III, 13)." But the Apostle signifies that he loves those who are his kin for my brothers, because of the charity in Christ. Since no creature could separate him from the charity of Christ, how could the charity of his kin and brothers have separated him?

^A Since he struggled against all things, both earthly and heavenly, so that he might gain Christ? Whom have we seen similar to Paul? Or who will ever breathe a charity of this kind? Behold, I have finished what I had to say concerning charity, both from the writings of others and from those of Paul, how great, indeed, was the charity in him, and how marvelously he loved God.

SOUL. I understand these words and I marvel. Truly, I admire Paul unbelievably for his virtue.

FLESH. Yet Paul was a man by nature, and similar to all others, although he was a citizen of heaven. If, therefore, you desire to attain eternal salvation, propose Paul to yourself as one to be imitated. But if some singular temptation has invaded you, or an unexpected calamity has oppressed you, brought on secretly or openly by pestilential men, do not collapse; bear it with an even mind, and endure what happens, do not waver. Place before your eyes the ancient Fathers, place the martyrs, place the prophets, place the choir of the apostles, place the multitude of the elders. How many tribulations and hardships has each one endured? What various tortures, insults, vexations, inconveniences, tempests of evils, and deaths have they experienced! Imitate their purpose and faith with diligence, and sustain the burden of your evils as you are able, and you shall be saved. Everything that has been applied to you, accept, and in sorrow, and in the change of your humility have patience: for gold is proven in the fire, ^B but men are acceptable in the furnace of humility: take away temptations, there will be no one holy; take away molesations, afflictions, miseries, no one will be saved.

CHAPTER V.

SOUL. Frequently certain temptations have invaded me, which I could not endure because of the weakness of my soul.

FLESH. It is not so; what you say is a cloak and a vain excuse. If you wish to hear the truth, listen to Paul: "Blessed be God," he says, "who will not suffer you to be tempted beyond that which you can endure." For to those who are harassed by temptations, God adds strength. Tribulations happen to men in proportion to their powers, heavier to the robust, lighter to the weak. According to each one's capacity and strength, I say, by the hidden counsel of God, temptations happen to each individual. ^C You have no power, no, I say, you have no power to possess salvation without tribulations. Furthermore, no one leads a life free from all sadness, just as no one sails on the sea without a wave. But as gold is proven in the fire, and becomes more splendid and solid, so also do the flames of temptations purge you, and free you from filth and darkened stains. For no purification is left behind, nor are the rewards of salvation given, unless you admit temptations with a grateful will: to which thing the martyrs, of whom we have spoken, bear the greatest witness. Paul affirms that no one has entered, or will enter, into the kingdom of heaven without temptation and sorrow: "Through many tribulations," he says, "we must enter into the kingdom of God." This one who speaks is faithful, and God is faithful, as he also writes. Temptations, as I have taught, happen for utility. Moreover, they happen in four ways, or with a fourfold end, which we shall show. Either so that past sins may be blotted out; or so that those which now operate in us may be hindered, in those who are of wicked habits and do not wish to return to the path; or so that he who runs happily may not fall, and by temptation curbing the proud in spirit, he may escape a great evil; or so that someone may be tested and proven: in which way many of the just were proven. Remember Abraham and Job, most excellent men. Do not fear the inconvenience of temptation; do not fear the burden of molestations; but if they have risen against you, admit them: if they have invaded, stand your ground. Beware of committing anything pusillanimous; obey Gregory the Theologian teaching usefully: "Receive incoming temptations generously," he says: "reckon the chastisement of the scourge as a healing." ^D Bear afflictions as waves. Choose to fall into the hands of the Lord rather than into the hands of men: for He chastises in mercy, not in anger, and you shall obtain consolation, just as that great Job obtained it. He who suffered everything without exception, as benefits, whatever the demon tempter inflicted upon him. But consider a matter absolutely new and most important. To both, possessions of money, and every kind of faculty, and children, crops, cattle, matter and argument of accusation, and hardships were...

[index: entries preserved]

^A fixed, one on the right, the other on the left.

To whom all other things were equal, [namely] the most wicked deeds, the punishment, the kind of death, the breaking of the legs. These two, therefore, were found equal in their pains; but in the end they were not found to be equal in prudence. For the one went to paradise, the other to the underworld. The one appeared good, the other most wicked. But if you ask how this happened, it happened thus: when they were suspended near the Word, they came to words. One of them spoke divinely; the other poured out curses. And the good one was indeed saved by his divine speech, while the other was condemned with his blasphemies and curses. You see how the insane thief, clearly a partner in all evils, as I was saying, was the partner of the prudent thief (just as the wife was of Job), but not likewise of the rewards. It is worth the effort, therefore, to be attentive to oneself. I beseech you, do not also, O soul, bear the burden of temptations, yet lose the reward that is to follow through sloth, like the wretched thief (for I shall say it often), like the miserable wife of a man endowed with a strong spirit. But if any affliction, or temptation, or trouble should occupy you, do not be agitated in spirit, do not be shaken in your mind: but remain deeply motionless and unshaken until the end, looking towards and seeking the goods of which I have spoken. For if you accommodate your manner of life to a better standard and decline those things that are worse, you too shall obtain the crown, and you shall be glorified with those I have named.

SOUL. The thing seems to me difficult to attain and by no means ready for imitation. Therefore, teach me something else.

CARO. I am not discussing things difficult to attain; why are you so burdened? Nor is there any reason to follow the faint-hearted whom I mentioned. And yet you respond in a morose and hesitant manner. But if anyone rashly casts reproaches at you, vituperates you, mocks you wittily, accuses you, treats you ignominiously, turns up their nose at you, exposes you to mockery or disgrace; if they call you detestable, an abomination, a plague; if they call you effeminate, stupid, morose, prone to hitting, foul, deformed, stingy and sordid; if they call you a beggar, a mushroom, worthless, or a thief, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a prostitute, or an adulteress, or ragged, or even lousy: in a word, if anyone calls you anything of this sort, endure your brother, endure the mockery, guard your mouth, restrain your heart, do not commit anything worthy of accusation, do not speak, do not mutter, do not answer anything at all. For what loss or harm do you incur ^D from the fact that you sound bad? If therefore you are reviled without cause...

^A you will reap the fruit from your tolerance. But if someone calls you a heretic, do not suffer this alone, nor say that you are one; in this instance grow angry: otherwise you have denied Christ, if you endure this injury. In other matters, even if you are treated most injuriously, as I have said above, you have lost nothing on that account, you have suffered no harm. You still have your eyes, as you had them before: you have all your members within and without, and a greater spirit. This humiliation has served you as an aid and an ornament. If you merely endure mocking words, you will gain profit from them, not injury. What need is there for more? You will be an athlete without lashes, a martyr without torments. Examine, weigh, and discuss the matter. If you find that the reviler speaks the truth: if you discover that the mocker is speaking of the reality, do not be angry with him, but with yourself, and condemn yourself, and even give voice to this ^B. If you had not, in some way, wished to hear what you are hearing, you would not have committed the evil; you would not have given yourself over to vice. Enjoy your works and your perverse ways. But if, however, you have for this very reason cultivated a religious life, so that you provide no handle for outsiders to reproach you, so that no one can further castigate you or assail you with insults. When you have gathered yourself together, rejoice in your correction, exult, skip for joy; since beyond praise you will also carry off a great crown and the reward of the struggle.

SOUL. By what argument, pray, would I believe that I am to receive a reward and a crown from this?

FLESH. Because in the Gospel it is pronounced by Christ that those are blessed who are spoken ill of, and those against whom every evil and wicked word is cast on account of the Word: "Rejoice then," he says, "and exult, because you will receive a most ample reward in the heavens" (Matt. v, 12). If you keep these things stored in your mind and your memory, be glad, be confident, and apply patience in every injury, even if the reviler is wicked and detestable.

SOUL. So be it, I will bear it, I will suffer it: what more do you think I must do?

FLESH. Do not look upon him as an enemy, but as a benefactor. Do not feign gentleness with your lips while your heart is angry. Do not condemn the one who speaks ill of you, even though he speaks ill of you. Forgive him his offense, pardon his error: that ^C you may bring back the forgiveness of sins, the best reward. For this is the doctrine of the Word, this is the judgment. "If you forgive men their sins, then also all your sins will be forgiven you." If you forgive, you will be forgiven, for to the merciful, mercy is granted.

Furthermore, the second will not be given if the first has not preceded it. If the terrible Judge, sitting to judge at that time, says to you: "You did not grant pardon, how then will you receive it, though you ask for it? You did not forgive others, how will it be forgiven to you?" You have passed judgment against yourself: "In what judgment you judge, you will be judged" (Rom. ii, 1; Matt. vii, 2). "By what measure you measure, it will be measured to you again." You have heard the warnings, you have learned the precepts. What need have you of more words for the sake of your salvation? None of these things is difficult: none at all is laborious, none intractable: none is hard to endure. But all things are easy, and most easy to one who is willing. If, therefore, you are found approved among the humble, and you perform your office among the more abject, you will happily attain the same share with those who previously endured great things with a calm mind: and you will be numbered among the first and the second, and will share in the same rewards and honors.

SOUL. Tell me, I pray, whence I may understand this: for your assertion is such that it can scarcely be accepted.

CHAPTER VI

FLESH. I see that you do not reject faith in my words, but you doubt, and on that account you require testimony from the Scriptures. Behold, therefore, the firm and excellent testimony: I will give you the Truth herself, the Lord himself, as a most faithful witness of my words, so that at least from this you may believe that I have spoken the truth. Do not look to the intensity of each one's zeal and effort; nor at the judgment by which he equals the later laborers to the first; those who labored from the first hour with those who were sent later, at the eleventh hour, to prune the vineyard; and how one from the first hour murmured, envying the giving of an equal reward to the later ones, and heard: "Friend, I do you no ^D injury; take what is yours" (Matt. xx, 13).

When therefore he says, "The first shall be last," understand the murmurers. And "the last shall be first," take those who do not envy their brothers and who acknowledge grace. He who judges all has judged thus: who else has any reason to doubt?

SOUL. You conclude excellently and necessarily, and you prove most aptly what is being discussed. It suffices for me, even if I should ask more concerning this.

FLESH. I find you sharp in pressing and I perceive much in your questioning. You try me, perhaps so that you may test whether I might speak something doubtful to your interrogations, when it would have been better to draw in the sails. Since, however, you demand more testimonies, I yield and comply with you; do you, if it pleases you, turn your mind to it: for we shall provide a witness who is not obscure, but rather distinguished and excellent, a great and divine Father and illustrious Prophet.

SOUL. Who is he, and whence is he? Tell me immediately.

FLESH. The most holy Father David, from whom Christ according to the flesh derived his lineage. But first, hear the whole affair that took place; we shall say in the end toward what this eventually points. After that excellent man slew Goliath, Saul, standing by his covenants, summoned the vigorous warrior, and addressed him with these words: "Behold, my son-in-law, Merob the elder of my daughters, by far the most beautiful, have her as a wife promised to you." But the marriage bed of David did not please him. It did please the second, namely, Michal, who excelled in prudence. David took her to himself, as she was outstanding in form. The women therefore perform the wedding festivities, lead the dances according to custom, are delighted, and offer congratulations: and they sing most sweetly to David and to Saul songs of this sentiment: "Saul has struck his thousand, and David his ten thousands" (I Reg. xviii, 7). When Saul heard this, he grew envious, he grew angry, and began to rage and be tortured: "To me," he said, "they gave a thousand, and to the son of Jesse ten thousand" (Ibid. 8). From that point, he pondered in himself anxiously about killing his son-in-law. When he whom he envied learned of this, he fled without delay and came to the old man and priest ^B Achimelech, and compelled by necessity, ate the showbread and, having taken the sword, departed thence. Doeg the Syrian, the most powerful of Saul’s shepherds, was present then. He sees David the fugitive, runs to Saul, and reports everything, reveals everything—about Abimelech, about David—of ^C grain, of the sword, and of words he stirs up a man, and inflames him with anger. The enraged King summons Achimelech. He is brought to judgment and to punishment. As he is able, he offers a true and just defense: that he did not receive David as a fugitive, but as the King’s son-in-law. And in truth, he had not known, had been utterly ignorant, of the spirit in which he was; and therefore he sought mercy. This the old man Achimelech uttered, begging for his penalty. Saul is not moved, but condemns the prince himself and all the other priests to death, and seizing all of them, the Deogus slaughters them. Alas, the cruelty! Before all, I say, Achimelech, then all the others, eighty-five of them, all performing the sacred rites, all wearing the ephod in the holy place: at the same time also, whomever he found as inhabitants of that priestly city, sparing no one, he slaughters with the sword.

Furthermore, when David had fled to Achis the King of the region of Geth, an alien—although known to him, and he feared that he might suffer some unexpected thing—he prudently feigned himself to be epileptic, and with a fine end and purpose he deceived his acquaintance. When the toparch did not understand this deception or shrewdness, he expelled him, and blamed his household for being foolish, that they had introduced an insane man to him. Thence, safe, he arrived at the cave of Odollam. There, in a short time, he gathered a small band, others joining themselves to him from here and there; having assumed them, he returned to Achis with a sound mind, and received Siceleg in gift as a dwelling for himself and his friends. Achis was then waging war, whom the youth and guest David aided against his enemies. Three days had passed since David had been away. Meanwhile, the Amalekites had surrounded the city of Siceleg; and because it then lacked defenders, they had occupied it without labor, and had plundered everything, and at the same time had led away captive the women, boys, girls, and virgins, and having killed as many men as were there, had destroyed the town with fire. The calamity of the Sicelegians reached the ears of David; he was perturbed in spirit, as it was fitting for such a hero to be perturbed when he saw that all had been treated in a hostile manner: and moved and ^D inflamed, he ordered Abiathar, who was illustrious in the rank of priesthood and in lineage, to apply the sacred ephod immediately, so that, having learned the outcome, he might proceed against the enemies. He learned it, and pursued them to the torrent of Besor, where, having left the baggage and soldiers to guard them, [...]

Scholia

^A ...had enough (whose horses were unable to follow by reason of weariness), he pursued and overtook them with a select band, slew them in the slaughter, brought back the booty, and returned as victor to the torrent of Besor, where the baggage had remained. When he had come hither, the booty which everyone had brought back was gathered into one place; *oxula* and *laphura*, in a word, the entire booty (they are called *oxula* which are stripped from the slain; *laphura* which are taken from the living). These spoils, therefore, he distributed equally among the pursuers and the guards of the baggage at the torrent of Besor, of whom it was spoken. But when some, driven by envy, took this ill and complained, and were unwilling for those who had remained to be allotted their share of the booty (for it would be enough, they said, if they recovered their wives and children), he did not judge this to be just; but he bestowed an equal share of the spoils upon all, saying that he had not left them as cowards, nor as useless, nor as of little service, but because they were unable to run on account of the weariness of their horses. "For which reason they were left behind," he said, "not that they might remain idle, but that they might guard our vessels which we were leaving behind, which if they had not guarded, we would have lost, and nothing would have remained which we might eat or drink; not clothing, not a covering for warming and shrouding the body; and we would have been deprived of things pertaining to life. And indeed it was right not to defraud these of an equal portion." Let these things be sufficient for you as proof of my words: how, namely, Christ and the gentle David passed judgment between the laborers and the soldiers; and how he divided, and distributed equally, among those who had undertaken more and those who had undertaken less labor. And glory to my Lord, glory to my Christ, a judge who loves mercy and does good to all. Do you believe these things, or do you again seek witnesses, and those greater than every exception, and wish for the proof to be accumulated, as you are accustomed to do when you ask?

^B I suppose that you are astonished at my words as if they were paradoxes: but I will add the explanation, and a brief one at that. Imagine for me two men, endowed with the same will, running to the contest so that they may die for Christ. The one, indeed, of a lofty mind and robust nature; the other, weak in strength and of sickly body: these, having confessed Christ, enter the stadium, both are stripped, and are lashed with scourges. But the robust one, having received a hundred blows in total, fails in life, and renders his spirit to the Creator. The weak one, only fifty paces, is unable to endure longer for the sufferings, and expires. Do not, therefore, consider that the other athlete will be inferior in receiving the reward, because he was not also able to endure a hundred blows. For it is not the robustness of the body, but the manliness of the mind that demonstrates love toward Christ. For had not that other one breathed out his soul sooner, as I said, he too would have endured a hundred blows just like the first. But the virtue of his tabernacle—that is, of his body—did not sustain him thus far. For what other reason could the soul, so prepared for these things, be so ready? For it does not languish, nor shrink back, nor fear to experience the scourges. For the fact that he is beaten, to die immediately or not to die, is not in us, nor placed within our power: but in Him who "upholds all things by the word of his power," and in His wisdom judges, ordains, and does: and who foreknows and predestines all, and knows what is profitable and helpful to each—to the faint-hearted, I say, and to the magnanimous. To one it is profitable to endure many torments, to another few.

SOUL. I do not ask for a third witness, but only an example.

FLESH. Presently, as you ask, I shall bring forward an example. Many have endured many tortures for Christ—some shorter and lighter, others longer and more severe—and yet they have obtained equal and the same rewards.

^C Although, therefore, the one quickly yielded up his soul, he is not on that account to be held as impatient or cowardly. For both, as they were able, offered the strengths they had received from nature, however unequal, to the Lord: not more, not less, than fell to their lot from above. For some of human things are in our power, others are not. If anyone has not rightly used those things which are, he shall render an account. But whatever is in us in such a way that it is not held within our power, if it has not fared well, we do not deserve punishment. For to die is not by our choice; nor to be afflicted by hunger, or thirst; nor the sense of labors and molestations, nor weariness in running; nor that our body...

^D [Jacobus Gretser's notes: [alt-version omitted]]

[Scholia: Isidore. Vessels of different kinds are set before you in one house; you do not, however, use them all without distinction, but you know which is suitable for receiving wine, which for oil, which for vinegar. Thus, indeed, God also knows to which soul mercy is to be granted, to which punishment is to be imposed. Not because He Himself made it such, but because by its own habits and life it has turned out so. Wherefore God says to Jeremiah (1:5): "Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee." Hence also the Apostle Paul: "Whom he foreknew, he also predestined" (Rom. 8:29). He did not say first, "He predestined," but, "He foreknew."]

» ^A large, or small; nor as to color, whether it be dark, or white, or livid; nor as to being thin, lean, or fleshy; nor as to being solid and strong, or infirm. For it is not in our power to have or not have these things; rather, this is granted to our nature from heaven by the Creator. No one accuses us for these, nor do they have cause for complaint, nor do we incur punishment or attain crowns on their account. But that we are wicked, or given to fornication, or lascivious, or drunken, or a catamite, or a liar, or a thief; or on the contrary, sober and upright, a friend of temperance, or meek, a lover of the brethren and of truth, or simple in mind or deceitful in behavior—that all these things lie within us is certain. They are, I say, a matter of human choice and will, and of plan and purpose, and of power. Retain these things, and consider the words: "The Lord searches the hearts and tries the reins." And, "Man looks at the things that appear, but God looks at the heart." And who loves Him from the depths of his being?

CHAPTER VII.

Those who abound in many good works and righteous deeds, and others whose deeds are few and far between, will not stand before the divine will and judgment as unequal.

^B When we offer an oblation to the Creator, one person offers fasting and tears; another offers prayers and standing; another offers abundant mourning; another, vigilance of heart and sincere humility; another, sublime charity, thanksgiving in tribulations, patience in adverse circumstances, mercy toward the poor, feeding the hungry, help for orphans, widows, and the needy, rejoicing with those who rejoice, and weeping with those who weep; another, the renunciation of all things and poverty of spirit, and for Christ's sake, voluntary scourging of the body. Do not think that he who gave more of these is more acceptable and pleasing; beware of thinking this, beware of imagining it in any way. For the Lord does not simply accept what is greater. He does not care for measurements, and modes, and the elegance of qualities, nor for bulk and magnitude, nor for anything of this kind; He chooses and looks only at the purpose and intention of those things which are done, the abundance of the will, and fervor of heart, deep love, desire, and zeal, ^C which in turn He rewards liberally, as is most clearly evident to everyone from the two mites sent by the widow (which we read were indeed accepted over the gifts of the rich). For they dedicated a small part of their vast wealth; she dedicated all she had, with great willingness. And Christ, the Judge, did not pronounce upon the wealth according to the magnitude of the gift, but according to the magnitude of the soul. Do you see how the gift of this widow, though abject and small, was seen as the greatest? For often, certain small things are called most extensive: a fact which you will perceive from the things I am about to say. Once, Cain and Abel offered gifts; but they did not offer them with the same mind and purpose, but Abel with an excellent one, and Cain with a very bad one. But the Lord did not respect the gifts of Cain, although they were excellent and very costly. The former indeed sacrificed of the fruits of the earth, but he did not sacrifice rightly, nor properly. And therefore he even heard words that were not very pleasant: "If you have offered rightly, but not divided rightly, have you not sinned? Why are you so sad? You have sinned, be quiet." It is clear enough what this signifies. But hear also other things from the Scriptures. Noah, having gone forth from the wood by which the world was saved (from the ark), made a sacrifice to the Lord; which He scented as a sweet savor. The Hebrews offered incense, which God nevertheless rejected as vain, abominable, and detestable. Vapor and smoke are here and there. In the former case, He smelled the odor of the smoke with pleasure: in the latter, the incense, consisting of the same nature, being nothing other than the crackling of fire and an odorous substance, was indicated to be rejected.

ANIMA. Tell me how and for what reason these two sacrifices were contrary to each other. Explain the power of it, set it forth, hide nothing.

CARO. That was done with an end pleasing and acceptable to God; for the justice of Noah commended the sacrifice, and it was greatly pleasing, as has been said; conversely, the extreme wickedness, incredulity, and malevolence of the others rendered the nature of the sacrifice abominable. For the Hebrew nation was perverse in mind and will: but in gifts, God looks at the souls of those who offer, from which He makes His judgment. There you have from me what you asked. For I have shown you clearly from Scripture that God is not delighted by oblation and sacrifices of this kind: and that He does not pay attention so much to their nature as to the mind of those who sacrifice and to the intention and will of the same. This ^D I [the commentary] have already... [index: entries preserved]

explained at greater length in our discourse. Furthermore, in our errors and falls, opinion holds otherwise. For ^A things that are trivial and small are not so regarded by perfect men, nor are they estimated as small. And conversely, things which imperfect men consider great, those are judged to be of light moment and very thin by Him who looks through and judges all things with justice. Hear also these other things, full of good hope: "For the first shall be the last, and conversely, the last the first." 38 For when the young man, having been ordered to distribute his wealth to the poor if he wished to come into the heavenly inheritance and become perfect, conceived greater sadness in his mind, the Lord spoke thus to those standing by concerning him: "How difficult it is for the rich to enter into the kingdom of heaven!" 39 To which, although they were most evident, when the disciples objected: "Who then, Master, can be saved?" He immediately gave a true answer in this way: "What things," He says, "are impossible among men, are possible among God," 40 and easy, and most easy: for to the Lord of all, all things are even possible: He who commands both the order and the laws of nature. Believe my words, and doubt no longer. Whether Christ wishes to associate you with the choirs of the saved, or to enroll you among the shining righteous (as we have previously mentioned, and brought forward the example of the workers in the vineyard, and the baggage left behind by David), as a sea of kindness, as an ^C abyss of mercy, is there anyone who would dare to resist even a little? "It is God who justifies, who is he that condemns?" 41 For the Lord is both the Creator of all, and the same is the King of souls and bodies. He does not use curators, He does not use providers, He needs no vicar. For whom does God fear? Glory to my Lord, glory to my Christ, who has mercy on all, and receives all, if only one approaches, if only one has repented, whether he has been an outcast, or an adulterer, or a thief, or a publican.

CHAPTER VIII.

SOUL. You have cast good hopes upon me, and you have delighted me.

Come, listen again as attentively as you can. Small things in matters that are little and vile, great things in those that are excellent, and ^D are numbered among the most eminent. But those which seem to the lazy and negligent to be small and abject, are held by the studious and diligent to be great.

^A FLESH. You do not see the matter, as you are able, you do not see: for I fear to speak of another thing, lest I should seem to reprove you too boldly. Show zeal, apply faith, determination, charity, and hope that is not doubtful; labor a little in this life, and you shall obtain great blessings. Desist, flee further from past sins. You have heard that the kingdom of heaven exists, and that it suffers violence and is taken only by the violent 42. No one enters it, no one is saved, unless he has first struggled with temptations, unless he has first endured hardships and sorrows—especially if he has committed illicit acts. The greedy person does not enter this, nor the unjust, nor the thief, nor the slanderer, nor the drunkard, nor the sodomite, nor one who contaminates his own body with lust, nor the effeminate, nor the pestilent, nor ^B the man who lies with males, nor the malevolent, nor the idolater, whom inevitable death will seize when he is caught, and place in the recesses of the underworld, where there is no confession at all: this is what the great one also writes among those who see (the prophets). Wipe away, wash off the filth of your sins. Announce what you have committed, do not keep it silent any longer; and mourn, and groan, and shed tears, and weep; and as much as you are able, labor in acquiring salvation. The Creator receives you into his fatherly arms. As often as you have fallen, rise; for to fall is human. And Christ came for sinners, not for the righteous: and he calls them, not these, to repentance 43.

You have looked with a sidelong glance, you have made void and transgressed the covenants by which you were inscribed to Christ in the holy washing, and you have served Satan and his angels. Therefore, when the Lord shall sit in judgment, the most wicked dragon, the first apostate, as an envious, insatiable, and cruel being, will say: "This one, Lord, denied me only in words, but in works she was mine, she served me most of all: she obeyed my will, however eagerly and diligently; she is my friend and acquaintance above all others. Nothing in her is yours. What have you to do with her? Her actions are not hidden: I hold the letters by which she bound herself to me. Heaven and earth are witnesses of her crimes. You, just Judge, how by any reason could you act unjustly? Be content with your own: why do you covet what is another's?"

^C Hearing this, the Judge who is to judge, with the virtues standing by, and the ministering angels, archangels, princes of the priests, athletes, and all the religious—as many ranks as are above, and as many as are below—will not wish to bring a just sentence against those who admire the clamor, but will seek a probable reason and an excuse, so that you may win in the judgment. If, therefore, at that time you also have anything rightly done, either of faith (which is the chief thing) or of the best action, as something most opportune and desirable for your defense, bring it forward, and from the bottom of your heart cry out: for from this shall you obtain mercy, and with the sheep you shall be placed on the right, and snatched from the hands of the most wicked impostor. "Not by a powerful hand 44, but in mercy, and judgment." And from this, greater glory shall return to the Judge, and praise to you, if you obtain salvation. While there is time, strive: this is the time for working. While you are in the way, amend yourself, and you shall be saved. Exercise your talent, take care lest it be buried. Store up virtues for yourself, that in the judgment you may be able to drive the wicked one from you, and have reason to be saved. Behold, I have also brought an example to you, and the rest as well, as you wished and deemed, I have explained, by the help of him who alone teaches men knowledge. But if you think anything has been falsely asserted by me, and therefore do not believe it, meet it as much as lies in you, and ask again: I shall respond to your opposition. But if the things said by me seem to you certain and indubitable, I beg you not to delay henceforth, lest you give place to sloth. Bestir yourself to works, and they shall accompany you as you go to the judgment, as a convenient support and provision for your journey. But if you neglect works, what cursed thing may await you, I do not wish to say.

CAPUT IX.

ANIMA. I no longer dispute against your words, to which I assent, and I pass over primarily into your opinion. But do you continue teaching: because of that which you say is "cursed," and which bites the soul, what evil at length is born of sloth? For I desire to know this more clearly. Do not delay in explaining this to me and laying it open: so that no evil may happen to me from sloth, and that I may not perish with you—that I, as one who has not been taught; and you, as one who has not learned.

^D CARO. Since you so desire, turn your ears. We are commanded to pray, to watch, to be sober, since we know not at what hour the thief shall come, and when the house is broken into, he shall depart. He who resolves to watch, must also have watchful eyes [cont.]

42 Matt. xi, 12. 43 Psal. cxxxv, 12. 44 [This reference appears in the margin as **]

he carries about, nor does he sleep as we do, nor does he snore; but he lights a lamp, and, like a prudent man, he keeps oil in his vessel for salvation, which is mercy toward the poor, existing toward them in charity and compassion, as is right; and he is prepared, and keeps his vigils without drowsiness. And this man is called a blessed servant*. But he who procrastinates is unworthy and wretched. This life is spent in action, like a certain marketplace. ^A Since it is a marketplace, therefore, seek your gains. The future life will render to each individual rewards according to their merits. There, they shall enjoy pleasure, as many as watch here; on the contrary, they shall be punished, as many as give themselves over here to sloth and languor. Arise, therefore, watch, remove sloth from yourself. Let us lament as much as we are able; let us draw groans from the deep of our chest. And since we live together, let us urge one another, and sharpen one another for mutual help. For if we are found remiss, and sluggish toward the race, and have wasted day after day in vain, death will rush upon us unexpectedly like a lion, an unforeseen dissolution will follow, and our connection will be broken; this wonderful mixing will perish, and one part of us will be left under the earth, as being created from the earth: the other, as the mind, will return to the nature of minds. And it is to be feared lest we both suffer something like what the Levite once suffered, an intolerable, unlooked-for, and altogether unbearable evil, when he lost his wife to a most shameful death, as is recorded in the book of Judges. ^B

SOUL. I beg you, explain that to me more fully. For my part, I desire to know this history. I know well enough that it will be profitable both to us and to others, whoever shall have the zeal to gather fruit from it; and this discourse will conduce to discipline.

FLESH. The narrative is long and varied, and therefore requires both knowledge and a more eloquent tongue to explain. But, destitute of both, I fear to speak.

SOUL. Although the matter is difficult, you nevertheless owe me obedience in all things. Therefore, put aside delays.

FLESH. I obey, I say, and from this I take my beginning. Once a certain Israelite man, of the Levitical tribe, dwelling on the side of Mount Ephraim, took a wife, a Bethlehemite from Judah, whom he brought back with him to his own region. ^C The woman, some time later, struck with a desire for her parents and her country, returned there and stayed with them for a long time, namely, for one hundred and twenty days. Afterward, the husband, rising with two asses and a boy, departed in haste to fetch back his spouse. The father-in-law received his son-in-law lovingly. With whom he remained for three whole days staying, and rising on the fourth day in the morning, he wished to return home. But the father-in-law begging his son-in-law that they might remain with him that day as well, they hear him, they remain, and they give themselves over to joy with him. At length, on the fifth day, the son-in-law urging the journey, and with no further delay being interposed, and insisting on departure, the father-in-law persuades him not to wish to depart fasting. They dine together again, and the day passes, and as they were lingering beyond what was fitting, the sons are again detained by the father, and they are forced to remain on that day as well. When on the following morning they were preparing to set out on the road, the father-in-law again insists with prayers that they remain. ^D Truly he refused, and having departed at an alien time, he with difficulty reached the town of Jebus. The sun was now urging toward evening and sunset, when the boy gave the advice that they should turn in there. But the Levite did not wish to turn aside there, because it had been decided by him to pass the night in Gibeah, a fortified city of the tribe of Benjamin. They passed by Jebus, therefore, and the sun went down for them near Gibeah, where they betook themselves for the sake of hospitality, the which was the beginning of the greatest evils. Therefore, a certain old man of the tribe of Ephraim, upright in morals, who was then living there as a stranger, meeting him sitting in public, greets him, [and] asks whence he comes. When he had learned this soon, and as he was of a hospitable nature, he had taken pity on him, [and] invites both into his house, and having introduced them, treats them kindly. But certain lustful and wanton natives, having looked upon this host with lascivious eyes, making a conspiracy, like rabid dogs, [began] to strike and push the door of the lodging, seeking the man (a crime!) to suffer womanly things: regarding neither right and duty, nor the sanctity of hospitality, nor of laws. What does the honest old host do in the face of these things? He is stunned immediately, he is beside himself, he falls at the feet of those detestable men, he resists as much as he can, and wishing to provide for his guest, he asks those madmen that they be content with a lesser evil, and, leaving the man, that they abuse his daughter, who was still a virgin, and with her the wife of the guest whom they were seeking. They scarcely agree to this plea, and they mock the woman's chastity in a wondrous manner, and all night long, with force applied, they defile and dishonor her, in turn polluting themselves with nefarious lust: so that when the sun rose, she having been dismissed, and coming to the door of the old man, and either through the magnitude of the calamity or the bitterness of her grief falling to the ground (O, a new thing!), she gave up the ghost on that very spot. Having found her lying before the door, the Levite, thinking she was asleep, when he recognized that she was dead, as she was, he placed the dead woman upon his beast, and carried the most bitter of all burdens home. Afterward, having divided her into twelve parts, he sends one part to each tribe, a message having been added to this effect: Consider for yourselves whether this has been a noble deed, and...

Scholia. *Chrysost. For even a murderer, as long as he is on the road, can change his mind and escape punishment. But when he has submitted to the judgment of the judge, the sword, the executioner, and the abyss threaten him. So plainly, we too, as long as we are in this life, by changing our morals, can escape everlasting punishments. When we have migrated from hence into those other places, we will lament in vain.

^A judge sincerely. But if this deed is against the Creator, and is an execrable crime, then judge against the guilty as is right. Upon learning this, the zeal of the Israelites is kindled, and they prepare their forces: four hundred thousand, all the tribes entirely, except for the Benjaminites, whose number was counted at twenty-five thousand; and seven hundred Gabaonites of the same tribe, and all these were skilled warriors and slingers. Following custom, they all gather in Shiloh and consult God as to which tribe should lead the war and initiate the battle: the answer was that Judah should make the first assault. They engage, and unexpectedly twenty-two thousand of the avengers fall first. Then, weeping, they supplicate the Creator. A second battle is joined, and again eighteen thousand succumb. Once more there is lamentation in Shiloh, once more supplication, and once more an attempt to bend God through victims, the offering of fruits, sacrifices, and acceptable oblations. Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the high priest, performing the sacred rites, poured forth words of this kind: “How art Thou so angry with us? Behold, a second disaster, almost greater than the first, has occurred. For while we were burning to avenge the impious, we were somehow defeated by them again. But come, listen now, and grant us strength.” God yields to their will and grants victory, for “He doeth the will of them that fear Him.” They place ambushes around the city, light many fires, and proceeding in full ranks, they draw the townspeople out to battle for a third time, and engage in the most bitter hand-to-hand combat; all the Benjaminites, twenty-five thousand and one hundred besides, are put to the sword. But of the eleven tribes, forty thousand.

After all of the tribe of Benjamin—to speak briefly—were destroyed in the war together with their wives and children, and only six hundred remained, they fled to the rock of Rimmon and remained there for a full six months. The eleven tribes gathered at Mizpah, and considering the destruction of their own kin a great calamity, they first mourned for the one tribe—namely Benjamin—that had been wiped out from the number of the others. Nevertheless, they were still angry with them and swore an oath, entering into a pact among themselves that no one would suffer to take as sons-in-law any of those wicked men who had fled to Rimmon. But when the solemn festival in Shiloh arrived, to which everyone from all around was to ascend, and by the ancient law of the Jews no one could be absent from that celebration, repentance again overcame those who had previously sworn not to form any marriage alliance with those six hundred. ^B But since the tribe of Gilead had not come together to Mizpah, having been neglectful of the oath given against the Benjaminites, they sent ten thousand men against them in order to slay them all as perjurers, but sparing only the virgins. The slaughter is carried out by order, and the maidens are kept for them, four hundred in number, whom they give in marriage to the Benjaminites after a treaty was made. But because two hundred of those Israelite maidens remained without husbands—the elders, whose concern it was to recover the Benjaminite tribe for the rest, even though they had sworn not to spare that family, adopted another line of thought. They discover a way by which even these might obtain wives. They therefore command them that a solemn anniversary would take place in Shiloh, to which they should hasten, and while lying in wait within the enclosures of the vineyards, they should seize the local virgins who were coming out to lead the dances, taking no more than their own number—that is, two hundred—and lead the seized women home and have them as wives. If their kin, fathers, brothers, relatives, and friends came to accuse this abduction, they would say that they did not know what to do; why did they not give them to those who requested them? They would prove, nonetheless, that the marriage was legitimate out of necessity. For they feared that the poor men, overcome by the stings of nature, might go off to seek wives for themselves elsewhere, from foreigners and the uncircumcised. With these words from the leaders of the people, the matters were managed according to their instructions, and they seized for themselves wives from Shiloh—the third part, I say, of those who had survived the slaughter—and thus the Benjaminite race was restored and grew anew from those six hundred, where, having obtained wives as was said, they set themselves to having children and built many cities and fortresses.

I have set forth the whole event for you, and demonstrated how great an evil it is if one treats what he has in his hands slothfully. For you see that same thrice-unhappy traveler, into how many inconveniences he fell because of sloth: the loss of his wife, an most ignominious death, and the kindling of a destructive fire of war among the tribes. It began with a spark and grew into a conflagration, and the whole family was burned. For they raged against one another, and rushing together, they slaughtered one another. But this crime—oh, unexpected disaster!—the sloth and remissness of one man brought about. For if he had wished to set out on his journey at the third hour, ^C he would have returned home before evening; not yields to the pleas of the father-in-law, and by remaining [there] forever, he suffered such a great evil himself and brought it upon others: first upon himself, then upon the tribes, and most of all upon the Benjaminites.

^D

Scholia.

* Isidore. For those who were bound by heavier sins, and far greater than what had been committed, as the foolish and innocent rose up unanimously for the slaughter of their brethren. But by experience they learned that saying: “Hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye” (Matt. VII, 5). For the eleven tribes, when they had revolted from God and played the whore with idols, were defeated by one tribe, and at the same time the victors themselves perished, utterly destroyed.

** Chrysostom. For the sin of the former becomes a warning to the latter, if we pay attention. Do you not see how mothers, when an older child has fallen, if the one following also slips, they beat him all the harder, adding: “Did you not see the one before you fall? How did you also fall? Did you not see? Have you no...

** Ps. CXLIV, 19.

eyes? And so, the fact that others have fallen before us not only deprives us of pardon if we fall into the same errors, but it even increases our punishment.

Theologian. Sometimes sorrow is to be preferred to pleasure, and a downcast and sad countenance to pomps and spectacles, and praiseworthy tears to dishonorable laughter: *Who is wise, and will understand* (Osee XIV, 10)? For everyone is bound by the chains of their own sins.

Chrysostom. God is kind; therefore He does not at once punish transgressors, awaiting their conversion. But if He spares some entirely here, He inflicts more atrocious punishments upon them in the future.

Isidorus. You are not moved, O man, by the kingdom of heaven; you are not terrified by hell. We do not notice that we are taming an untamed beast, and in human form are struggling with a perverse demon.

CAPUT X.

Wherefore if you listen to me, you will by no means delay, just as the Levite did not, nor will you make use of such procrastination. For if we draw out [our life] from day to day, and always wait in vain for the morrow; since various misfortunes surround our life, suddenly the axe of death will be applied, and it will cut off the tree from the root as if it were fruitless; and it will dissolve our bond before the time, just as it tore the wife from the Levite, and in the slaughter of the tribes laid low so many thousands. Although that was a separation of bodies, it did not have any danger for the spirit or soul. And since the soul cannot die, it will suffer an immortal punishment if it has departed from the body in a state other than it ought. The judgment is full of horror: who can sustain the penalty ^B?

We hasten to the last hours, the end is at the doors, summer is present, the regions are white [for harvest], the sickle is at hand, it is the time of harvest. Our life is most miserable, our morals fruitless. You do not know how vain all things are in human affairs. You do not yet know the good, not even by the very length of time. You are not yet sated, clearly, with the use of transient things. If the end of life is uncertain, it is uncertain for the young, but for the old it is manifest and in no way doubtful. The young hope they will reach old age; the old despair of a longer life: for they are already looking at the earth, and they gaze most upon that which is earthly; whence also *γήρα*, old age, and the earth, and the body, [are] more and more bending toward the earth, the sign of an approaching end in the old. And indeed, they are bent down into the ground from whence they came, which they hasten to enter as if it were a maternal bosom: and the law is set for us, that those who are from the earth should return to the earth [* Gen. III, 19]. Furthermore, whatever grows old and becomes ancient, they say is near to destruction. How is it then, that even as an old man you cling to worse things, nor do you hear that prophet crying out: *Woe to you who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope* [* Isa. V, 18]. Alas!

To whom else does this apply more suitably than to us? But if, while sinning, you perchance think you can escape the divine hands and the dregs of His wrath at the end, and for this reason you are idle and sluggish, who, in the end, given this opinion of yours, are you if not blind? Woe to you, and it is said often, unless you do penance. Beware of despising the divine kindness in any way: by no means neglect the riches of His goodness. For He is long-suffering, and wants you to convert [* Rom. II, 4].

But you do not convert, and you rather irritate Him, and *treasure up for yourself future punishments* [*Ibid.], by which He will punish those rebelled and condemned by that judgment.

Repent, watch as much as you can: a fiery zeal awaits the foolish. It is no wonder that anyone is sick: but [it is a wonder] to hold the disease in little account.

^C *And it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God* [* Hebr. X, 31], who judges the living and the dead incorruptibly, and renders to each a reward worthy of their deeds. For God is fire [* Deut. IV, 24], a fire that burns and illuminates: burning the foolish, but illuminating the prudent. He approaches to bring a just sentence of judgment concerning all: but you slumber, you succumb to negligence, you sleep and fall asleep, and that while the Groom is by no means delaying [* Matth. XXV, 1 seqq.], and He is prepared for the nuptials for those who shall be worthy; you do not have a garment worthy in any way: but you lie entirely full of filth and spots, and you do not seek to be washed and purged from these. Again and more often I say to you, do not despise, do not delay, do not heap up sins. He who judges is near; why do you not fear the judgment?

Chrysostom. It is not to be taken ill that someone is doing badly: but that when he is doing badly, he is not cured. Nor do we lament one affected by ulcers simply, but [those] lying so rashly without the aid of physicians. Moreover, we say that he who is cut and burned tends toward health. I think we should conduct ourselves in the same way regarding the soul. It behooves us to grieve and weep not for those who are tempted, but for those who sin with impunity. For the punishment of the wicked makes the just more attentive to their duty.

... Chrysostom. We indeed confess that we desire the kingdom of God, but we are not concerned about how we may obtain it. But if God sees your inflamed mind and excited will, He Himself will help you to accomplish it. Or have you not heard Him saying: *In the world you shall have pressure, and the world will rejoice, but you shall be saddened* (John XVI, 35)?

^A Since the summer scythe flies to us, the harvest is at hand, and the region is turning white. And how will you appear before the Judge, you who lack fruits, when your evil works will stand naked before you? They will exhibit and demonstrate everything, whatever you have designed clandestinely, whatever you have designed openly, worse than anyone has made since the foundation of the world. A very short time remains for you, as is clear from the appearance of your tabernacle. For you have grown old and are tending toward the goal: *Remember your last things, and you will not sin* (Eccli. VII, 40). I ask you, do not be slothful. Know your Maker, and who joined you to me, mistress, and what is this union between us, and what manner of temperament this is. And who is the Creator, who is the Judge, and who is the distributor of rewards. Who contemplates the kidneys, the thoughts, and the hearts (Jerem. XI, 20), and who can cleanse from the filth of sins? It is time to wash yourself, for to this end time has been granted to you. Do not hide anymore: tell me first your sins, both hidden and open, whether committed by word or deed, by which me, wretched as I am, you daily corrupt with yourself. What if you are snatched away, if you are loosened from this bond before you are converted, and are led away by the prince of robbers as a wretched slave, hindered by the chains of your own crimes? Woe to you, how much you will groan then. Since it has been said: *What God has joined, let not man separate* (Matth. XIX, 6), and let no one dare to do so at all, what will happen to him who has withdrawn the soul from its tabernacle entirely? How will he not be afflicted with punishments, and indeed the most extreme ones? If therefore, as we were saying, a sudden separation should befall us (which I pray may not happen), and an unforeseen end, as happened to the soul of the Levite which was little attentive, how you obtain pardon, depends on you.

ANIMA. How am I alone the cause of these things? And how do you pronounce that the offense proceeds from me? Another is the Lord of all, another is the Creator of all; He bound together, He separates; and He has the dominion of life and death (Hebr. I, 14); and to one indeed He adds, from another He takes away, and what is better He arranges, and what He deems useful He judges, and He governs the lives of men most wisely. ^C How then do you so boldly accuse me, who am innocent, and wrongly reproach me with separation from you?

CARO. You speak in a manner consonant with reason, and very truly. Another measures out the end of life for all; another distributes the end of this light and death. And to some He adds years, from others He cuts them short, as He did to King Hezekiah (Isa. XXXVIII, 1 ff.) and to the wicked Balthasar (Dan. V, 1 ff.). I indeed know very many who suddenly collapsed in the law, and before the law; and again after grace, to whom it happened to sin, nor to have returned to the way, so that they fell into the pit and the depth of perdition; and they neglected a proper and honest life in every way, and loved instead a luxurious and wicked one. And for this, David, trembling, prayed intensely, crying: *Do not recall me in the midst of my days* (Psal. CI, 25). And his son Solomon: *Do not*, he says, *be like the impious and the unjust, nor hard of heart and uncompassionate*. And the wicked perish, moreover by monstrous deaths, and a tempest will come for the ruin of the impious. ^D But if you wish to know the force of these words, consider the matter for me, how they conspire with the words. Look at the men of past ages, who lived in the age of Noah: and again the Sodomites, and those who were absorbed by the earth with Korah, Dathan, and Abiron, one hundred and fifty; and those who perished in the wilderness, so many myriads. Consider here for me the sons of Heli, Phinehas and Ophni, most wicked. To these and very many others, whose names I blush to utter, it happened to die suddenly and in a point of time. You, if you wish, will find altogether more, and in what manner and for what cause they perished. Nevertheless, a certain one thing, which is also Christ's, I will tell you. In Siloam, pestilent and most wicked men, detestable in manners and worthy of these things which we have already signified, were destroyed by an unforeseen end. Thus the Word teaches in the sermons concerning repentance about those who were extinguished by the fall of a tower, eighteen in number, of the Israelite race; and that on account of the sins and offenses to which they were subject, they paid penalties in full. And He adds: *If you do not repent, you will all likewise perish* (Luc. XIII, 3).

Scholia

is thrown, and burns, and perishes. Consistent with these and the consequence ^A thereof, David writes: "If you do not turn, he will whet his sword; he has bent his bow and made it ready, and in it he has prepared instruments of death" (Ps. VII, 13). You see, those who are neither penitent, nor converted, nor pricked in heart, how miserably they perish, and are furthermore damned by a sudden destruction, as we have most clearly demonstrated. But those who diligently, before their departure, have fashioned their life and manners for the better, and have done penance with tears and voluntary punishments, obtain the mercy of the merciful Lord: a fact which appears most especially from many, but above all from the Ninevites, who, having repented in sackcloth and ashes, preserved their lives; and from Manasseh, who was saved through weeping and corrected conduct. Not to mention the publican, the thief, the harlot, the prodigal son—to pass over David and Peter, those great ones, and (lest I appear verbose) to omit many others. Do you require any other demonstration besides, or are you content with what I have said, or are you incredulous, and do you bear this with a certain Hebraic stubbornness?

SOUL. I have complete faith in your words. Far be it from me to deny faith to things so truly spoken. For how could anyone yet hesitate, and refuse to believe? Nay, I have been most vehemently stunned and terrified by these words, and I reckon all my sins and transgressions. I reckon them as I have heard from you, and I embrace your judgment. For you have spoken what is conducive and what benefits the whole.

CHAPTER XI

Furthermore, you urge me, besides other things, to declare my sins to spiritual Fathers, by whom I and you are defiled, and to confess them for [the sake of] absolution. But ^B truly, in the first place, it is exceedingly difficult to recall these things to memory. Then fear, shame, hesitation, and anxiety prevent me from confessing everything in a certain sequence and order, just as they have been committed by me; things which surpass in number the sands of the sea and the drops of dew, and they remain, and disturb my soul. But if by chance I should return to the memory of all things, and have embraced the multitude with my mind, I burn again, and trembling and shame seize me. As I am about to confess the works of my baseness, fear invades me, and horror renders me lifeless. Hence I am intensely distressed for the declaration of the hidden plagues, which I have most wretchedly kept silent: which I have committed by day and by night, which I have committed willingly and deliberately, which by voluntary words, which openly, which secretly, which even in ignorance. Who could have told all these things? Who could have enumerated them species by species?

And a third fear has beset me, lest, when I have told everything, I might speak them to the ruin and scandal of others, and that the judgment might, as it were, begin again from us; and the evil, reverting, might fall back upon my own head. For if someone from the common people, going astray, has sinned, the damage redounds to him alone, since he who has sinned can lie hidden in the crowd. But if someone of a more sublime status, and a priest, has sinned, the evil pertains to everyone in common. Furthermore, I fear, and it is a source of shame for me, to declare openly shameful crimes before a holy man.

FLESH. There is absolutely no reason why you should fear. Although it is a father to whom you confess your sins, yet he himself is man by nature, and similar to you in flesh and in spirit, even if, on the other hand, in the ways of his life [and] in his familiarity with God, as a cultivator of virtue, he differs from you greatly. In humility, in contrition of heart, cast yourself at his feet; cry out from the bottom of your chest, groan, and, as much as you are able, recount all things. Do not be confused, do not be perturbed, do not be shaken. Open what you have kept closed, and do not be silent any longer. ^{C D} [alt-version omitted]

^A Bring them forth from darkness into light, so that from now on you may not walk in the darkness of sins. For although He bore human nature, just as he bears it to whom you recount and entrust your thoughts, yet the Lord is present then in an unobservable manner, and grants pardon and absolution.

Imitate the gentle David, king and prophet: "I have sinned against the Lord," he cries from the depths of his heart. And soon he hears: "And the Lord has taken away your sin," Nathan the divine man prudently serving in this matter. It is written: "Do you tell your iniquities first, that you may be justified." For if you are unwilling to speak, does the Lord not see them? And who, then, is He who sees and foreknows all things? Yet He is the one who, not without temporary shame, wishes you to be freed from future shame. The Lord is faithful: if you only confess your sins, He will remit every debt for you, just as He said: "For what is made manifest is also light." "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed."

While you are still crying out, "Behold, I am here," He says to you, and anticipates you. Christ God draws closer to those who strive to be near Him. The Lord is faithful in His words and in His works. Consider for me another way of the Lord's kindness, by which He opens the door to sinners: for He did not entrust the keys of the kingdom of heaven to another than Simon Peter, who had denied Him.

SOUL. By what judgment, by what reasons was He led to do this, and why did He not entrust them to the beloved and the virgin, why did He not entrust them to His dear brother, James specifically, or to his namesake? To Peter, who had denied Him, He entrusts them.

FLESH. Learn, therefore, the reason for what you ask. And from this, in turn, recognize the inclination of the Word toward mercy, the ineffable clemency, the multitude of compassions which He uses toward those who have fallen, He who is by nature most merciful. For so that He might at some time liberate those who have fallen and those who are about to fall, and might make them more courageous for repentance out of fear, agitation, trembling, and timidity, He entrusted those heavenly keys not to any other ^B of those subservient to Him, but especially to Peter, who had denied Him three times: so that he, if he dared to think that others had subsequently fallen, and had risen most beautifully through repentance, and had washed away their stains with tears, and had violently seized the heavenly kingdom, might be mindful of the Lord’s words to him, and how he himself had immediately fallen, having been sifted like wheat, and by his example, being more prompt toward compassion, might easily and promptly unlock the heavenly door for those who had fallen and were rising again.

SOUL. Glory to my God, glory to my Christ, whose clemency and patience have not yet reached their final end.

FLESH. Since, therefore, you have fully learned the reason why Christ passed over the others in order to entrust the keys to Peter, act manfully, do not lose heart. Propose to yourself the example of Peter, who neglected nothing, nor acted dissolutely, nor procrastinated by delaying, nor, on account of the offense, did he indulge in sloth, nor did he disregard the grief that was needed, because of which he had been cast out from the divine enclosures and from that desirable side of Christ. But having returned most swiftly to health, and recognizing his own evil, as a brave, constant, and faithful soldier of the soul, by initiating the struggle, he conquered his victor: and he struck down him who had risen up against him: for on the same night that he fell, on that same night he rose again.

Do not, therefore, delay, but enter upon the way you have in sight. Walk the way that leads you to the height of repentance. And, if you fall, rise again; if you are sleeping, awake; and change your purpose and will for the better, and obtain pardon, since it rests with you (or rests with whom else?) is the Creator's pardon, who alone has the power to remit sins. For these are committed by you, and in turn are omitted by you. Here they receive remission and absolution: for what confession is there among the dead? Grasp repentance here, and everything will be forgiven you, and then the key-bearer will unlock the door for you.

SOUL. As you preach above and below, and so often, ^C

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Chrysostom: "Who will boast that he has a clean heart: or who will profess that he is free from filth (Prov. xx, 9; Job xiv, 4)?" We all, therefore, have need of mercy: but we are not all worthy of mercy. For although mercy is not lacking, nevertheless it requires one to be worthy, according to that word: "I will have mercy on whom I have had mercy: and I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful (Exod. xxxiii, 19)."

The same: Nothing is more destructive to sin than accusation and condemnation. Let us take care that we do not sin. If we have sinned, let us not by denial and concealment exaggerate the punishment for what we have committed for ourselves.

Chrysostom: "For to cure bodies affected by sickness is not easy for everyone: but to heal a soul that is sick, anyone can do so without great trouble. And for dispelling the ill health of the body, indeed, medicines and money are needed: but the soul recovers at little price, and with no expense. Only the will is sufficient, by which all things are accomplished speedily and with virtue. For confession for those who have sinned becomes the abolition of sins."

Isidore: "In the one who has fallen into sin, it is destructive not to repent, but even more destructive to despair: for while the former arises from sloth, the latter arises from stupor and stupidity. But by how much stupidity is more disastrous than sloth, by so much is despair more harmful than sloth. For that evil is indeed incurable: this one admits of a cure. Since that is of a corrupted judgment: this one of a false reasoning. But sloth and stupidity are two more infestuous evils."

Isidore: "Since you asked by letter, to whom you should turn, where you should go, I answer: to repentance. For that itself will be for you a high and sublime fortress, and with impregnable walls, and in the manner of the highest towers on all sides surrounded."

^A And do not sink; but resist, and provide reasons, however you may be able, so that you do not allow yourself to be cast down into the uttermost darkness. For he who falls, conquered by lesser faults, has his habits corrupted even in greater ones; but he who resists the lighter ones will withstand the heavier ones as well. For if you have vanquished small things, what greater things will beset you?

SOUL. You have taught—and sufficiently—that sins must be confessed to spiritual Fathers, whether committed in thought, word, or deed; which indeed leads vehemently to salvation, and is to be done by all to whom their own salvation is a care. I desire, however, to know where this is written; whether any law, old or new, exists which urges us to expose to spiritual men what we have done by night and by day. For I have heard that it is nowhere found commanded in the scriptures, nor that it is necessary to declare one's thoughts to men, but only to the pure Lord.

FLESH. You seem to me negligent and slothful, and not one who searches the oracles of the Scriptures. For if you were to interrogate your Fathers, as it is written ^B, you would learn the whole matter from them as they declare it, and you would not now appear unskilled and untaught. But if even this escapes you, I will unfold it to you. The Pentateuch—that is, the five books which Moses, that spectator of God, wrote for the Hebrews: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. In Numbers, therefore, he placed this, among other things: "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel: If a man or woman shall commit any of the sins which are wont to happen to men, and through negligence transgress the commandment of the Lord, and do amiss, they shall confess their sin, and shall restore the principal itself, and the fifth part over and above to him against whom they have sinned. But if there be no one ^C who may receive it, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be for the priest." And this, indeed, is in the book of Numbers.

But if you desire more testimonies, read carefully the book of David, of Solomon, and of all the other prophets. For in all of them, something has been inserted on this subject: that it behooves all of both sexes to perform a confession of their transgressions, and to bring others to it as much as they are able. And have you not heard the words of the Word and Lord, who has ordained most clearly concerning this?

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* Chrysostom: It is not the same to cease from sins and to be righteous, but this is one thing, and that is another. For it is not sufficient to depart from wickedness in order to become righteous. For he says, "Turn away from evil, and do good," where to that "Turn away," he immediately subjoins "good," or the fruit of the virtues.

Basil: For those who repent, to withdraw merely from sins does not in the least suffice for salvation; but it is necessary that they also produce fruits worthy of repentance. For he who begins well and exercises himself well is not therefore perfect and blessed; but he who closes his life well, and brings it to an end in a way that pleases God. When we know these things, let us not destroy ourselves at the end.

** Isidore: Therefore, John also required confession ^D before baptism in those who flocked to him. Not that he stood in need of it, but he was eager to effect the salvation of those coming to him in that way. For no one, before he confesses his own sins, can attain salvation: for this indeed truly begets humility.

*** Theodoret: For he commands him who has harmed another in any matter, first to confess the sin; then to restore what was taken away to the same person. But if it should happen that he to whom the injury was inflicted should depart this life before the offender has performed penance, then to restore it to his nearest of kin. But if there be no one, nor any kinsman found, that it be offered to God. But that which is restored for the sin is to go to the use of the priest.

Nor that which the apostles, the heralds of the Word, have exhorted and written; nor that of the teachers and the first Fathers? To speak briefly, all exhort, cry out, and invite all men to acknowledge their thoughts, words, and deeds. For there is no other beginning of repentance, as we have said, than to disclose [the hidden things] to those who are spiritually minded, just as the Lord said to Moses. Behold, I have taught what is termed repentance, and what it is, and whence it is. If therefore you wish, approach, and begin to repent. There is nothing which hinders, nothing which prohibits. But hear, and understand the end of my discourse. It is the Word of Christ who says: «If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.» 74 That saying pertains to you and those like you.

SOUL. You teach all things excellently, and I admit and embrace [them], and henceforth I take you as my companion and helper in the life to be lived, and as a counselor and bedfellow; provided only that you speak what is fitting, so that we both may be purged of filth, and according to our strength run toward the Lord in the things above, and that I may not hereafter resist you like an unbridled colt or a rabid Scylla. For if we both rush into wickedness, I shall be punished with you, and you will be punished together with me. Since it is plain that we are one animal, composed of flesh and spirit, «which are contrary to one another.» 75 Nevertheless, there is one life, and one action entirely, and one judgment, and condemnation, and punishment. But when we have departed from here, action will be taken away, and we shall do neither good nor evil. 76

FLESH. Why do you occupy and drag me whither you wish? And I cannot but obey you as a servant. Come, as you please; I do not refuse.

SOUL. Lead me to better things, and help me.

FLESH. May you become well-pleasing and approved by the Creator; and I shall promptly take up the works with you.

SOUL. Shame and fear of future punishments hold me, from which I desire greatly to be delivered.

FLESH. Do you demonstrate works congruent to [your] words.

SOUL. It is fair to utter one verse first. I wish you to speak in this manner, that you may also begin aptly and conveniently.

FLESH. What manner of speech is fitting for me, the servant, before a mistress most illustrious and most excellent? I fear lest it be ascribed rather to temerity.

SOUL. But I command it; obey, and without delay speak first. For you are the instrument for me, and it behoves you to make words, and to lend me a tongue for speech, without which I am able to utter nothing at all, nor to sing to God as is fitting, nor to celebrate Him with praises.

FLESH. Since you command, I obey; you, however, do you take heed. From virtue as a kind of genus, two things arise: of which one is called [πρᾶξις], or action, and the other [θεωρία], or contemplation, through which one is elevated to the practice of virtue and is advanced to the closest friendship of the Word. Therefore, I will assist you in *praxis*; for *theoria* is yours alone.

SOUL. Begin, therefore, as you are able, from *praxis*, although *theoria* precedes *praxis* in those who are elevated to the exercise of virtue.

FLESH. For no one can come to *theoria* unless he has first come to the end of *praxis*. You must therefore begin and apply yourself primarily to this, and labor in groanings, in lamentations, in sorrows, in bewailings, in floods of tears, in constant prayer, in stable psalmody, in humble prostration, in the maceration of the flesh, in true contrition, in severe fasting, in the reading of the Scriptures, in their meditation and knowledge, in continuous watching, in the work of the hands, in the lifting of hands, in the bending of the knees, in the divine form of the expressing the holy cross. Strike your breast willingly, as the publican struck his. 77 Distribute your means to the poor, as it is written, and all good work that you can, do this.

SOUL. In your prayer you have been honest with me. But if you also wish to delight me with works, then you shall truly be called my helper.

FLESH. You need only to trust, I say, to trust. Be moved toward the Lord by the movement of works, toward Him [looking upwards, and He himself will give].

Scholia. * Isidorus. He who does not obey his own ruler, the choir, sings absurdly and discordantly; and the sick man who does not obey the physician is miserable. But the ruler and the physician are free from blame. For Christ himself warned both the Jews and Judas frequently of their duty: yet he did not persuade them. For whether auditors are persuaded or not ought to be in their own power, on account of the liberty of choice, evidently. The duty of him who teaches is to omit nothing of those things which avail to generate persuasion; the duty of those who hear is to be persuaded. For he who teaches has the speech in his power, but not likewise the persuasion. Shall we therefore accuse Christ because he did not persuade the Jews and Hebrews, and did not save them? By no means. ** Basilius. He says the function of the soul is twofold, the one indeed the vital [function] of the body: the other the contemplator of things, which we also call the reasoning [function]. But the vital virtue of that does not proceed from the will. For just as when the sun is shining it cannot but be illuminated, into whatever it casts its rays: so the soul cannot but invigorate that body, into which it has been implanted. The contemplator, however, receives its power from the will. But wickedness is nothing else but the interclusion and absence of virtue. *** Isaac. Just as when the first men were fashioned, the first was the fashioning of the body, then the breath followed: so works, or bodily actions, must precede the actions of the soul. **** Cognition needs action, and action cognition. Whence the Lord says, «Whoever does and teaches, this man shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven» (Matth. v, 19). For if it had sufficed for perfection to do only without teaching, or to teach only without doing, he would not have joined both, in these words, «Whoever does and teaches.» For the Scripture says: Jesus began to do and to teach (Act. 1, 1). ***** Chrysost[omus]. For not from grace only, but also from the use of faith and virtue is salvation to be obtained. For as it is the property of fire to heat, and of the sun to illuminate; so it is the property of God to do good, and [to do so] much more than we may wish. Where there is also grace, works are not, and where there are works, grace is not. But where there is grace, one ought not to be proud.

Looking upwards, He Himself shall give all things. And take heart, and without procrastination, fall down at the footsteps of your Creator, crying out with tears: "You, Saviour, by your ineffable self-emptying, have restored, you, O Lord, have saved the nature of men from the hands of the enemy and from servitude. Save me again by your grace, for you are the God of salvation. For if you were to save me by works, this would be compensation, not grace, and a manifest retribution. But I have no good work. You alone are good, you alone are merciful by nature, and you only require faith, and you only desire love. If faith alone is redemption, I have faith even for the desperate; save me, for you are God to save. Faith is instead of work for me, accept faith for work. Let faith suffice for you, which I offer to you alone. For if the worst tyrant, Belial, could in any way pull me away from your omnipotent power (oh the audacity! oh the impudence!), he would be puffed up and would glory vehemently. Whether, therefore, I wish it or not, save me; let your mercies quickly overtake me. You are my God from the womb; you are my guardian, you are my Saviour." If you say these things with compunction, if you cry out from the depths, if you pour forth laments and tears and groans from your soul, He will hear you, and will spare, and will save, and will deliver; for the Lord is the deliverer, and the only Saviour of souls. Have good hope, and await the best.

CAPUT XII. The examples of Manasseh and David, who repented and attained salvation.

SOUL. Yet I have surpassed all mortals in sinning; I have exceeded all by sins of every kind; the prodigal son, the leading thief, harlots, and publicans, the Sodomites besides, and the Ninevites. All who lived in the times of Noah, and who have been born from the first Adam until now. And I fear lest the tempter devour me.

FLESH. Do not fear so much, do not fear beyond measure. For immoderate sorrow overturns the mind. And it is to be feared lest you receive harm to your soul from this, and cast yourself headlong into the lowest ruin. But allow yourself to be comforted: for you shall hear words spoken by a certain spiritual man, and which pertain to this of which we are treating: I find, he says, that King Manasseh sinned so greatly, and transgressed the divine laws, that he even set up detestable idols against the glory of God: for which cause the race of the Jews cried out to the Lord in laments, namely, in wailings, and in the supplication of fasts. Yet He did not hear their laments then, but afterwards, and in the contrition of heart, in the humiliation of the soul of the humbled Manasseh, He by no means spurned that contrition. Nay, He even forgave him the sin of idolatry, which was the greatest and worst of all.

FLESH. Do not fear so much, do not fear beyond measure. For if victims had pleased you: "if you had desired sacrifice," David cries to the Lord, "I would have offered it; but you take no pleasure in these, nor do you rejoice in any mode; but a contrite and humbled spirit is pleasing and acceptable to you." The things which follow are most rightly said, and especially among the prudent. Again, David, having been proved guilty elsewhere of two sins (for in the same he had committed both adultery and homicide at once), because he repented prostrate before the Lord, because he cried out falling down: "I have sinned, O Lord," and gave this voice with repentance, he heard in turn, and immediately from the prophet Nathan: "The Lord has also put away your sin." If humility is so powerful for salvation, obey, trust, and apply humility, even as a certain remedy against the viper, which is perceived by the understanding, and which destroys most excellent souls with sins. It is pernicious for you (I will say it again and again) if you grieve too immoderately.

CAPUT XIII. On conceiving hope of divine mercy, from repentance and humility.

"Ask, and it shall be given to you," is the word of the Word. If you knock, it shall be opened, and if you seek, you shall find. Seek, knock, ask, do not grow weary in doing these things, until it is opened and given to you. If an unjust judge heard the widow who was insistent, crying out importunately and accusing, who judges the orb of the earth with just judgment ("for your judgment is just, O Lord"), how shall He not quickly judge, if you urge so much, and have sought diligently?

SOUL. Glory to my Lord, glory to my Christ, who mercifully wills, and judges, and saves.

FLESH. Receive something else, greater and more elegant,

^A that you may draw forth a greater joy altogether, and be confirmed in purity: for which cause you have wished to hear useful words. For when he cast out demons from the demoniac by word and command, they begged the Lord impudently not to be sent into torment, but especially to be ordered to enter into the pigs that were then grazing. And they obtained what they desired, and the business proceeded, and thenceforth in that region, those to whom the pigs belonged were affected by the loss. Did he not then foresee, he who foreknows all things, that the purpose of the demons was to drown the pigs? Nevertheless, he granted them what they wished: they who were called Legion, that is, a huge multitude. But will he not much more, and more benevolently, receive your petition, for which your own utility is proposed (for "there is joy in heaven," as it is written, "over one sinner doing penance"), and will he not extend his paternal arms to embrace you, even while you are still far off? Surely he will receive you more, he will admit you more, who judges the whole world with incorrupt judgment. Otherwise, where and when at last will such justice of the Lord appear, if it does not appear then? And if anyone should hear that the demons were heard, but we were not, he will long for the judge’s equity. And how will you make the guiltless guilty? Therefore, having had mercy again, as he is merciful, he will humanely fulfill the petition as being just. If, however, you are inflexible, and idle, and remiss, and sluggish, and full of sloth, and do not ask, do not seek, do not knock, do not hear, how will the gate of mercies open the gate to you? Or how will you find what you desire? How will you receive what you ask for? You have not washed the feet of the Savior with tears, and how will you hear that most lovely voice, "Your sins are forgiven you"? ^B Or how will you wash away the filth of sins?

I will say in a few words: he does not wish to save you against your will, nor to use his power to this end. For the mystery of our salvation is not accomplished by violence and compulsion. He wills it by the will. Virtue does not know a master. For what is done violently, or by tyrannical will, is not, nor is it properly called, virtue. What is honest by nature is voluntary, and of one's own choice, not of external necessity, as I said, but of fervent and eager affection, by which one forces oneself to keep the commandments. But if only compunction and contrition of heart should assist a most eager will, and tears, and that from a bitter heart, with fervor and humility, it is enough for breaking the bonds and for the remission that you desire to attain. You do not need expense, nor labor, nor anything else whatsoever, whereby some danger or annoyance might arise for you by land, by sea, or through difficult paths. But in your soul, inscribed on the tablets of your heart, you carry that which, if you are willing, may admonish you of better things without any trouble, if only undoubted faith is also present. When you have offered purgation, you also receive the ready remission, as I said. But if you excuse yourself with excuses in certain other matters, and often put forward many and diverse things, in these you will find nothing to put forward, since nothing can be put forward. I have often heard from many prudent men that neither is fasting to be frequented, nor vigils any longer, nor sleeping on the ground. Nothing indeed of these can accomplish as much for salvation as that which is more celebrated: "I was humbled," he says, "and he delivered me." ^C

Just as the publican is saved by the humility of his heart, not because he wore himself out with ascetic labors, nor because he sweated over spiritual occupations: but because he was humbled, with the humility which he obtained, perfect and excellent, through supernal grace.

CHAPTER XIV. Description of humility from its effects.

But what humility may be, I will now briefly declare to you. If you should sense and say that you are the lowest of all: that in sinning you have surpassed everyone, and every nefarious crime, and every kind of wickedness, if any other man has committed them in new ways. If you have ever sinned at all, deem it your own. If you have done anything rightly, ascribe it to the grace of God: if you hate no one, have afflicted no one, have scandalized no one. "Whoever shall scandalize one of these little ones, it is expedient for him that a millstone be hanged about his neck, and he be drowned in the depth of the sea."

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that we are worthy to obtain. Second, because we ask according to the law prescribed by God. Third, because without intermission. Fourth, because we ask nothing pertaining to this life. Fifth, because we seek things that are conducive in praying. Which, unless prayer has these conditions, we shall hear: "You ask, and do not receive, because you ask amiss," and beyond what is fitting.

Chrysostom. Has God given us eyes only for seeing? We see this use also in animals devoid of reason. And, if you investigate diligently, some brute beasts see more sharply than we. But to you, eyes serve not only for sight, but also for repentance. Move the fountain of tears. You have a well; from the depth of the heart, you may draw in proportion to the crime committed.

Basilius. Whatever things are done by necessity, or by some violence, are not reckoned as virtue before God. But that everyone should urge himself of his own accord to keep the commandments ^D is manifest to all. "The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away" (Matt. xi, 12).

Chrysostom. Medicines of the body are foreign and external; but we have medicines of the soul from itself, and from the prerogatives of its own nature.

It must be known that we, with a fervent and inflamed soul, and with burning faith, as that harlot, ought to approach Christ, and beg for the remission of sins.

Climacus. If a puffed-up opinion made some of the angels demons, clearly humility can make angels out of demons: wherefore, let us who have fallen be of good spirit. If the Cherubim were driven from heaven because of pride alone, it must be seen whether it might not be possible to ascend to heaven even without another virtue, and from humility alone. For the sorrow of the heart and mind is sufficient before every bodily labor, since "God is nigh to them that are of a contrite heart, and it is the humble of spirit that shall be saved" (Ps. xxxiii, 19).

If you have mocked no one, troubled no one, judged no one, and remained unmindful of injury. If you have in no way accused anyone through calumny. If you have not detracted from another at all, or held anyone in hatred. If you have duly performed these things, you have acquired humility: you have acquired salvation, undoubtedly without labors, without affliction, without digging, with the will alone being sufficient for these. ^A If you have also exercised your tongue by speaking what is proper, know that you have rightly observed the entire Decalogue. But if anyone has humbled himself, and considered himself a sin-offering, and execrable, and a laughingstock among men—who, therefore, has uttered some word that is useless, or profane, or vain, or boastful? For he will never exalt himself above his fellow tribesmen, he will not despise his brothers and friends, nor will he mock his neighbor in anything: but he will deem himself a most useless servant, and then he will arrive at the happy end expressed in Scripture: "He who humbles himself shall be exalted: conversely, he who has exalted himself shall be humbled."

CHAPTER XV.

Here is the way of salvation for you, which I have demonstrated to be most easy, a way which leads by a shortcut to the primary light. For it contains nothing laborious, nor is it difficult to perceive, nothing steep, nor winding, ^B or like a labyrinth: furthermore, it has no need of things pertaining to the body and to fleeting matters; it has no need of an abundance of riches, nor any expense, but only of humble prayer and the fear of God. Embrace humility, if you desire to be saved, and you, and any other who is wise, and loves and honors a humble mind, so that you may ascend even to the Lord whom you desire; for He draws near to those who draw near to Him in humility.

SOUL. You have most rightly admonished me concerning this also. You have demonstrated and explained what humility is.

FLESH. But come, let us end the discourse here, giving thanks to the Word Himself, the bestower of words. Glory therefore to You, O Trinity, God the Creator of all. A Trinity in hypostases, but a unity in divine ^C nature. One God in an unconfused manner. We reject the opinion of the Gentiles and the Jews, as a many-headed hydra, or a monstrous Typhoeus; we reject the opinion of the Hebrews as well on account of the monarchy. For we honor the monarchy, but in three persons or hypostases unconfusedly, one nature, and an identity of glory; from which may we be delivered from the sins contracted in this life. To whom is due glory, honor, adoration, and power, O Father, and You who sit with Him upon the same throne, O Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto all generations.

DIOPTRA BOOK TWO.

CHAPTER I.

SOUL. I set before you another question. For the things which I wished to know from you in the previous discourse, and yesterday, you have explained to me all of them, as the matter required. Now I would like to know, once nature is dissolved, to what regions the spirit or soul departs from here. If you say, to the underworld, where then is the underworld? Do not be reluctant to explain this to me as best you can.

FLESH. You labor under negligence, as it seems to me. For if you were to attend also to the Scriptures, just as you read them (for daily you chant psalms, and recite hymns), all things would be known and experienced by you within: and you would have no need at all of discourse and external teaching. Now, you are clouded by ignorance as if by darkness, and you ask me, your miserable and wretched handmaid.

SOUL. If I do not learn from you, from whom else should I learn? I hear even the Scripture commanding us to inquire, and stating that it is fruitful for us to ask one another and to compare reasonings.

BODY. What is this work that is your concern? To what do you direct your mind, and for what are you naturally suited? Come, tell me.

SOUL. My certain and stable work is the meditation upon divine things; [to know] whence I existed from the beginning, and for what cause; who my Creator is; and how He fashioned me more excellent than all created things, and placed all things in my hands—birds, reptiles, beasts, the heavens, all the stars, the lands, and the seas. And finally, in what manner He enclosed and joined me to you, who are foul, and from whence I am to fly forth from this tabernacle.

BODY. You narrate well; and I myself desire you to do and say these things, so that you might clearly grasp their reason and nature. ^A If I were to impose labors upon you, and were to make you wretched with cold and nakedness, and were thus to suppress your leaps and wanton motions, through which you kick against the superior and your lord, and were to subject you, O flesh, to the spirit as a handmaid, I would not have one who would run with me, who would help me, or whom I might employ as a companion in pursuing virtue. How, then, could I perform most honorable actions? On the other hand, if I cherish you, if I spare you, if I love you, I find you an adversary and a rabid enemy; you make me filthy, you confuse me, and you drag me down with you. And yet, in turn, I find in you a companion of labor and a helper. I fear your malevolence and rebellion. You are my helper, and in turn my obstructor. Now you oppose me, now you help me. It is truly wondrous how you can be both. I am utterly ignorant of what plan I should adopt in this matter. If, at the command of the Creator, I could be released from you, I would depart from this filthy custody according to my desire, and withdrawing from these lower things, I would ascend to the Lord, to my native soil, and to my own way of life, and having abandoned the earth, I would dwell in the heavens.

SOUL. I have no other scope, no appetite, no desire, than to contemplate and rejoice in these things which I have said. And I rejoice, and I am delighted, and I am devoted to the holy Scripture. But as a pig throws itself into the mud and is contaminated, and wallows in it with pleasure, so you, dull and ruinous to me, do the same. For you are defiled by carnal desires like a very filthy pig, and you defile me utterly; you incline [me] downward, and you render the mind—made in the image of God—turbid, so that it cannot, as it ought, look upon heavenly things. You corrupt the eye that I possess, and hence, suffering a certain mutilation and blindness of the soul, I cannot understand or perceive the thoughts of the heart and turbulent affections.

BODY. Why do you speak this way, mistress, when you hold the command over ^B me? You turn me wherever you wish, like a horseman a horse. You have all my power in your hand: without your nod and will, I can do nothing, not even evil. And yet you speak ill and begin [your speech] toward me in such an angry mood.

SOUL. You do not speak the truth, nor what is the case. For you act similarly to a fierce, intractable horse that rejects its reins; you kick, and being a striker, biting with the bit, and running through steep places, you drag the rider, neigh, strike the ground with your hoof, and if you begin to rage, you shake off the rider—no matter how firm he is or how he holds the reins—and, which is worst, you drive him headlong. In the same way, the matter now stands between us. You have a wooden mouth, and being impatient of the reins, you, O horse, neigh against me, and you can be neither led nor turned easily: but rather you endeavor to lead, snatch, and treat me tyrannically. ^C If, therefore, I were to scourge and punish you, if I were to wear you out with hunger, affliction, and slaughter, and were to suppress your leaps and wanton motions, I have no one who runs with me, who helps me, or whom I might employ as a companion in searching for virtue. How then could I discharge the most honorable actions? It is truly wondrous, how you can be both. I am utterly ignorant of what counsel to take in this affair. If, by the order of the Creator, I could be released from you, I would depart from this filthy custody according to my desire, and departing from these inferior things, I would ascend to the Lord, to my native land, to my [true] way of life, and having left the earth, I would inhabit the heavens. ^D

BODY. You are lifted up on high, and raised above me rather; as if you were lacking in matter and body, as if you were a nature of angel, as if you were adorned and eternal by reason, as if you alone had attained the image and likeness of the Creator. The whole world is not to be compared to your excellence. I am vile, and by nature ignoble, I am given to sins, and [am] of fleshy mud, and a certain execrable and detestable thing, mixed and composed of the four elements, as you think. Tell me, and command, as a mistress, what seems [good]. Yet if you did not have me, whom you denigrate as wicked and consider base, you would be of no account.

SOUL. Do you, most audacious handmaid, answer your mistress in this way? Why do you speak so ignorantly and audaciously?

BODY. If it pleases you to hear why I said what I said, first, once your anger is laid aside, show yourself calm. I, although I have strayed a little from decorum and have somewhat laid aside reverence for your person, will explain the truth to you more broadly, as is proper. Listen to me attentively, and recognize [it]. You cannot bestow praises upon the Creator, nor venerate Him, nor give Him thanks without my instruments, members, and parts. Furthermore, you cannot perform penance for committed sins with humble tears, as Peter did, and the harlot, unless I cooperate with you and help you. When you separate yourself from me, then you will discover that I have spoken the truth.

SOUL. Again you babble, again you contradict, again you answer more impudently, my enemy.

Scholia. * He shows the excellence of the soul. For the whole governance is entrusted to it. ** No covenant intervenes between the body and the soul, nor does it honor it as a queen: but it rises up against it impudently by the law of sin and the law of concupiscence: and when pleasure is employed as a counselor, it throws itself into the earth and works sin. *** Chrysost. Do you wish to know how much our souls are worth? Christ, about to redeem them, gave not the world, not the heaven, not the earth, not the sea, but that precious blood of His. **** Isidore. Neither is the name of liberty to be imposed upon impudence, nor the name of impudence upon liberty.

FLESH. Why indeed should I be silent? Why should I cease to bring into the light that which is obscure and hidden? I know that I have been handed over to you as a handmaid and servant, and linked to you. Yet for this reason I have not been made speechless, nor am I demented. He who fashioned both of us breathed spirit into me, and you were not created before me. It was not some potter who made me, while God made you first. Without me you are despised, forsaken, and nothing. You are unknown; you cannot be observed; you are idle and inert. For who knows you, who has observed you, who even knows you to any degree—whether your nature is beautiful or deformed, whether you are prudent or praiseworthy, or entirely the opposite: whether you are clever or inept and altogether unskilled? SOUL. For what reason do you reproach me with these things, and what is it you want of me? Show me. FLESH. I will lay the truth clearly before you. This whole universe is perceived partly by sense, partly by intellect: things intelligible by the intelligible, things sensible by the sensible. Our nature has been allotted a portion of both. What is subject to the senses is known through the instruments of the senses; the understanding of intelligible things is not born from these themselves, but from the simple operation of the senses. In this way, you are known for what you are. For from the things you do, you become notable. And the Lord of creation is perceived only through these. For who, since humans were born, has seen God? Indeed, His nature is invisible and surpasses every essence; yet by proportion, He is seen from the creatures themselves: “For the invisible things of God,” as that great Paul writes, “are understood through the things that are made,” and from the wisdom and magnitude with which they were produced, the Creator, as it is said, is known. Moreover, as many works as are done daily, like heralds, they proclaim the Lord to all. For from the magnitude and beauty of the creatures, he says, their parent and ruler is perceived. I receive vital motion from you; you, in turn, receive your manifestation from me, through which you operate as through an instrument. For I am your indicator and mark, and I am not an imprudent herald, and I am an uncircumscribed witness of the works and words which you bring forth through my organs. Through them, and with them, you traverse the sphere of the earth. And you are hidden with me, and you lie low under my shadow, as a nature consisting of intelligence and fleeing from view. And all your thought, your inquiry, your resolve does not exit, is not brought forth; it remains with you. No orator, no philosopher, no geometer, no prophet, no magus, nor anyone else knows them until you have taken up from me the mouth—that is, the six chords, as it were, which are the instruments congruent for producing the sound of the voice: the throat, the fauces, the neck, the tongue, the lips, the teeth; and through these you declare your meaning and explain what is doubtful, and make it manifest to all. But you gaze through my eyes and behold what you wish. You speak through my tongue; you hear through my ears; you smell through the sense of smell; you work through my hands, and through me you exercise all the arts and sciences, from the trivial and minute even to the greatest. Without this handmaid you can perform nothing—nothing, whether it looks to the intellect or to the sense. I manifest you; I bring you glory. Do not boast of things that are alien; do not grow insolent over things that are added.

CHAPTER II

^A Furthermore, triple faculty without the mind is useless, however much it may be worth and even if it remains intact for you: namely, reason, anger, and desire, with which you were created and from the beginning proceeded from your fashioner, your creator, and the agent of all things. Furthermore, if the brain is strong in its middle, your three faculties generate the four cardinal virtues, like some kind of four-horse chariot. That which consists of reason [generates] prudence and justice; that in which the heat of anger exists [generates] fortitude; that in which lusts reside [generates] temperance. But if the brain is affected, you have lost everything—not only these four general virtues, but as many as are restrained by their complex, to wit: memory, reasoning, imagination, opinion, and the power of the mind as the ruler of sensation, and my five windows of sensation: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and the sense of touch in the hands. Everything at once perishes: things of the soul and of the body, things secret and manifest. But if the tripartite power—the rational, the irascible, and the concupiscible—is in good health, nevertheless these three have nothing to perform if the brain, which excels all others, is suffering. If my life has ^B now reached a greater old age, and I should survive until my eightieth year or longer, and the limbs have become languid and withered, and the other senses which you freely use [have failed], your mind will not be without its share of damage. Nor [will it be] when I fall into a sharp and quotidian fever. Nor when I consume too much must, like Noah. For as much as the vigor of the body is diminished, so much does the intelligence and knowledge fade. For an inveterate organ and vessel—or indeed the body itself—does not keep its whole original vigor and efficiency; it grows and thrives along with the body, and with it it again grows old and flags. And from a musical instrument that is not good, no sweet sounds are produced. I discern with my eyes, but you with the inward eye of the mind: ^C because, when that is not sound, you have lost everything. You have understood and recognized, mistress, what I wished to say, and [you have understood] in what manner you are not to be deemed worthy of any honor without me?

BODY. You strike me with your words, you press me, and I marvel suddenly at how you question me so unskillfully, as if you were asking naively. Yet I will tell the truth. I know nothing of myself. But since I was born and brought into the light, I have searched and learned, with God’s help, in a moderate way. But when I had learned how the seeker finds the sought, and had turned myself to Him, I found granted to me that which I was seeking. Aristotle and the Coan Hippocrates [(5)] maintain that the seat of the mind or soul is chiefly in the heart; Galen, dissenting, places it in the brain. Gregory of Nyssa judges otherwise, and contradicts the physical doctrines of these men, when he writes thus: "The soul, as an incorporeal thing, cannot be circumscribed, does not cling to places when it moves, nor can it be confined, nor does it remain in the parts of the body and limbs. But, pervading the whole body in its entirety, it acts through its own impulse, as its nature requires, utilizing the healthy parts as instruments." If any of these [parts] is infirm beyond nature, the soul does not operate in the affected part, as we have taught sufficiently and more than enough in the previous discussion. I will make what I say clearer to you by an example. Just as if some blacksmith should do things that are not [part of his trade], and should use many instruments for the work of fashioning iron—but particularly an anvil, a hammer, a pair of tongs, and should do what he does by means of these: for he can craft nothing without them—so consider the soul in my regard: if the heart is not sound, and the brain [not] sound, so that it may handle the instruments, it has no way to lay hold of the operations appropriate to its nature. But that which is more excellent and more distinguished and greater in these things [is that] the soul is living and was created for the breath of life. A thing most to be wondered at, immortal, equal to the angels. Yet you did not receive this once you were produced to exist in yourself, but [it exists] in me and with me, which is a great miracle. I was fashioned, and you were created with me. Not apart, you; apart, me. It is not so, mistress; do not think that: both were created together by the Creator. The body was not fashioned before the soul, nor did the soul subsist or exist before the body. This is most true. For we are both together, and again [we are] separate. You are called contemporary, coeval, and co-eternal; not one precedes the other in time.

^D SOUL. I have understood, I have looked within, and I am amazed. As you have said, as you have spoken, as you have recorded, so it is. But I do not know where you get the knowledge of these things, and from where and from whom you have acquired this understanding. Tell me of your teacher, who he is and where he is from.

[alt-version omitted]

Scholia.

* Isidore. Separation into solitude has produced no small knowledge. For he who is involved in the midst of disturbances, and strives to know celestial things, is ignorant that what is sown among thorns is choked by them; and that he who has no leisure cannot know God.

For neither is the soul created at all without the body, nor does the body exist without the soul: but from animate things comes the animate, and from living things comes the living, so that man, as it is said, is a living composite, animate, mortal, and liable to corruption.

CHAPTER III.

SOUL. This is a dogma which you do not easily understand or affirm. An admirable conjunction, a most novel mixture. Now answer me. If the Creator created us, as you said, entirely and bound together, and mingled both as He alone knows, how is it that you, O putrefaction, depart and flee from me, and are converted into dust and earth, and perish utterly? I, however, even after our disjunction, never die. And indeed, I can live without you, but you cannot exist at all without me. I, I say, live and flourish.

BODY. Listen again to elegant sayings, which I have heard from the wise of old. That which is moved by something else, whatever that might be, does not have life from itself, but rather has it from another, by whom it both exists and is moved. For it exists, and appears, and breathes only so long as it is present with that by which it is agitated, in which it both consists and remains. But when it has been loosed from that by which it was contained, that which was stirred by motion ceases to be, since that which provided the motion is lacking. But you move yourself, and are always being moved. From which it necessarily follows that you are eternal: for that which moves itself, because it is never deserted by itself, never ceases to be moved. And that which is always moved does not cease to live; that which does not cease, nor end, and which lacks an end, is alien to corruption. Such a thing, therefore, reasoning gathers to be immortal. But although I am subject to corruption and mortal, yet I receive vital force from you, and I breathe and am moved. Again, if you were separated from me, I could no longer live. Nor can I breathe if I am torn away from you. But I am torn away because of those things of which I am composed; and without you, I am nothing but a most foul stench.

CHAPTER IV.

SOUL. And how is it that I am joined to so vile and inglorious a piece of flesh; and how was I not prior ^A in glory, but, as one inferior, was formed after the earth? And how is it that I, though immortal, am bound to mortal flesh?

BODY. If you wish to know these things, attend, and you shall learn. All this world was created for the sake of the soul: for it is more excellent than all things, and it was not itself created for the sake of the world. But that which is inferior, the Lord ^B and Creator created first: the greater, as being better, He established later. Since, however, the nature of the soul is without comparison better and more excellent, as the Lord said, the lesser—namely, the world—had to be produced first, as a kind of palace, and then the imperial power of the soul. He created, moreover, a twofold world, superior and inferior. Above, the angels, ministers, spectators of divine glory, minds separated from the concreteness of matter, spirits of a subtle and fiery nature; below, the mortal nature, various creatures, all animals whatsoever, whether terrestrial, winged, or aquatic. And all these were very good, as it is written. The intellectual things were for the sake of heaven, namely, the ministering virtues; the sensible things for the sake of sense, namely, this inferior world. Things invisible and visible, each alone and simple, separately; the former corporeal, the latter incorporeal. Consider the incorporeal for me to be those of the supermundane realm, as many as are of immaterial and intelligible substance; but the corporeal to be the inferior, and those comprehensible by sense. Therefore, they are not above bodies, nor are they beneath, lacking matter. But man, before all others, is produced alone from a dual substance, ^C from the intelligible and the sensible, of the superior and of the inferior, by the formation and inspiration of God from the beginning. For the body is from the inferior things, the soul is from the superior.

The nobler part is of the number of the superior, the worse of the inferior. A most wise animal, mixed from both these, containing the soul in the image of God. And He placed this, a great world in the small, in the midst of the intelligible and sensible, of animate and inanimate things: so that it might abundantly and deservedly enjoy the delights and goods of both worlds, as if they were related to it; divine things indeed through the soul supplied by God, and earthly things through the body, so that from them it might bring forth fruit of faith to the Creator. Furthermore, the administrative virtues, of the orders which are discerned by intelligence, preside over the soul and its tabernacle: ^D just as the great and divine herald Paul confirms: For are they not all, he says, ministering spirits, sent forth to minister...

^A for the sake of those who shall inherit salvation? And listen to the Saviour teaching: "See," He says, "that you do not despise one of these little ones. For their angels always behold the face of My Father,"—whom they attend with trembling.

On account of these things, He first produced this world, and subjected it to you like a palace. The world, however, is composed and joined together from four elements, which God Himself created without any subject matter: from these, I say, He fashioned the world by His Word. The first and highest element is ether, or fire, beneath which is air, and beneath that water: the earth holds the lowest place. The remaining individual and particular things, whatever and of whatever kind they may be, the lesser and the greater, beasts, cattle, plants, the genera of reptiles, the sprouts of shrubs, and the seeds of herbs, and thereupon, as the great and most wise artificer of things above and below commanded, they proceeded from the existing elements. But after He had finished this lower world, He finally created man in the last place, to be its future prince. For it was not fitting for the king to come before the tabernacle and dwelling-place and those things which he might require had been established; rather, it was fitting that the palace be fully prepared, and everything at last which use and convenience might demand, and for him thus to enter it. Indeed, even the herb He created before the cattle. Just as if some distinguished head of a household were to prepare a magnificent feast for his friend and neighbor: and in the beginning, having slaughtered calves and bulls, were to prepare food and drink, and set the table: and only then introduce his friend as a guest, who might satisfy himself with those most magnificent banquets and delights. Therefore, as I have said, so it was done, and the totality having been founded, first the body was fashioned, afterwards the soul, the more excellent part of man, was created. That which serves existed first, that which commands later.

The reasoning or doctrine of the wise and ancient teachers is that whatever is done for the sake of another thing, whatever that other thing may eventually be, is inferior to that for the sake of which it exists: and this the Saviour teaches before others, saying: "Is not the soul," He says, "more than food, and the body more than clothing?" For by no means is the soul formed for the sake of food, nor the body for the sake of clothing: but on the contrary rather, those two are sought for the sake of these. Moreover, the body, as the vehicle of a soul that is to be honored and glorious, was made first. But come, renew your attention. Since He determined to make man twofold or double, ^B consisting of soul and body, the body in the first place is formed from the four primary bodies, from fire, air, earth, and water: likewise from the hot and the cold, the moist and the dry, from blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile, and through these, and from the quaternion of these four, that Fashioner molds the flesh. Afterwards He also breathes in the soul. But He breathes it in from where He wills, and as He better knows, not as if adhering to it from the elements like the rest: but, as I said above, from the order and condition of those things above and of heaven, immortal, uncompounded, simple, and divine, a participant in the heavenly nobility of the angels, and striving towards them with a desire of love, although you are bound to my flesh, dragging you downward. So that when you have wrestled against the princes of darkness, and have attained the inheritance of heavenly glory, ^C and have received from there the reward of your struggles (as one who has chosen the good yourself, and not from God alone), you may appear as an advocate and helper to your handmaid, and may raise me up while I linger here below to those above with you, and, lightened of this burden, may introduce me, your poor and despicable fellow-servant and your *σύντροφον* [companion], to God together, and as a bedfellow, and inseparable comrade, and citizen of those who spend their lives there, however unworthy you may consider me. He made you queen, but me, as a subject, a minister, a servant, subject to another's will, a handmaid. Behold, that which you were seeking is dissolved: namely, how, even though you are prior to me in the nobility of nature, and surpass me in honor and excellence, you are not created prior to me.

CAPUT V.

SOUL. You have already solved this inquiry well enough and more. But since you attribute to me dominion and authority, and to you subjection and the place of a handmaid, discuss and teach this also, besides the other things, from this point on. Which of the protoplasts' transgression of the commandment was greater? And which sinned more, the spirit possessed of intelligence, or the part in which there is no reason? I strongly desire to know this.

BODY. Your question is difficult, mistress, and almost exceeds my knowledge and grasp. ^D Nevertheless, as one moderately skilled in the Scripture, which I possess and have learned from that source, I shall confidently declare to you regarding the proposed matter. You certainly know that the soul, endowed with reason, was from the beginning properly fortified by the Creator with weapons,

and equipped for the purpose of having aid and fighting against the seducer. Understand by "weapons" the power of the irascible and the concupiscible faculties. Nevertheless, it foolishly used these very things against itself, which it had for its own preparation and defense.

For the enemy, veiled in the guise of a wicked serpent and addressing Eve with most deceitful words, led the nobility of the spirit into fraud by claiming that they would attain divinity if they tasted of the forbidden tree; and, at his judgment, reason, not at all consenting to wisdom, slipped away, when it judged that to taste of the tree and to become like God would be useful for it. Likewise, the greatest part of the concupiscible faculty sinned while it equally loved that food and the acquisition of divinity. Pleasure tempted first, then vainglory. The former presented the tree, as if inflamed by a certain breath of deception, as something delightful to the sight and good for eating. The latter presented the idea of possessing divinity as something greater than all things. These two, O mistress, by persuading Eve with falsehoods, led her astray, and through her and by her, Adam also. "From the woman was the beginning of sin, and through her we all die." "Small is every malice to the malice of a woman." "Better is the iniquity of a man than a woman doing good." For from women proceeds iniquity, as a moth from a garment.

Nor did the impostor play this fraudulent comedy only to those affected by reason and desire; but, furthermore, the third faculty—namely, the irascible—also felt the blow. For when Eve, instead of using it against him (for which purpose the Lord had given it), entered into an alliance with him, she was enticed to worse things, and her mind, which is the interior eye, was wounded. And hence, as we have said, in the hope of attaining divinity, she tasted of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, the soul, void of the flesh, bound itself to sin. But come, mistress, attend and see the pride and the ways of vainglory that have destroyed us all; which once, first and foremost, cast down from heaven the prince of the celestial hosts, the angel, and made him who was bright by nature into a dark one; by which he fell, and desires that all should fall, from whom ^A the disease of pride flowed, which produces destruction for all who labor in it, and is worse and more pernicious than all the diseases of the soul. He who serves it has God as his adversary; conversely, he has the enemy of the human race as his partner and friend. "For God," says Scripture, "resists the proud," just as He quickly resisted the seducer.

CHAPTER VI

SOUL. From what is to be gathered from your words, it seems the flesh has suffered an injustice. For if the soul sinned, why did the punishment reach the flesh? For it, as is evident, was condemned to death and rushed into destruction and a life full of hardships. But the soul, previously immortal, retained its immortality even after the fall; and although it deserved to pay the penalties, it paid none.

FLESH. Nay, rather, the entire retribution pertains not to the body, but rather to the soul, even though it may seem, as you say, to have paid no penalties. I will convince you of this by a certain paradigm. If any king, by nature human, should purchase a slave from a cruel tyrant—a slave most calamitous, most woeful, most miserable, with a withered body, naked, consumed by emaciation, naturally diseased, vehemently bilious, petulant, most wicked, blameworthy, shameful, unworthy to be looked upon, covered with leprosy and scabs, full of disgrace—if, I say, he should purchase such a servant, and look upon him with gentle eyes, and show him the utmost care and diligence, and drive away from him whatever has disease, filth, and defilement, and wash him, and clothe him in the most beautiful garment, and deem him worthy of the first rank and place, and make him the chief of his courtiers; but he, despising these things, should be in no way able to receive or sustain such a benefit, and, on the contrary, should rise up with hands and feet against the king, his greatest benefactor and master, and conceive against him some new wickedness—

*Scholia* *Gregory. The intelligent soul does not have as companions of its essence anger and desire, which are proper to the soul that lacks reason. They are parts of it insofar as they are innate to it. Nevertheless, substance and nature, like mind and reason, do not communicate with it; but they are adjuncts and adventitious.* *Very often the part of the soul in which are the desires becomes sick, and then it draws the mind with it, and ensnares it into consent to sin.* *Chrysostom. What then? Is the flesh afflicted with injury, being prone to corruption on account of the soul? By no means. For we say the flesh exists on account of the soul. How, therefore, can that which was made for its sake have received an injury, if it has suffered this for its own amendment and suffers for its own sake? For because it [the soul] had sinned, it [the flesh] became mortal; but if it again serves justice, it is greatly rewarded by that glory. Which you will find to have been done also elsewhere. For when man had sinned, the earth was cursed: "Cursed," he says, "is the earth in your works. It shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you. In sorrow you shall eat from it all the days of your life" (Gen. III, 17, 18). For the curse upon it caused the pleasure and license of man to wither away. You will perceive this also in the flood. For when men had poured themselves into wickedness, brute animals also, although they had sinned in nothing, nevertheless underwent the same punishment as they did (Gen. VI, 1 seqq.). For God always punishes the body when the soul sins. So also He did in the case of Cain (Gen. IV, 1 seqq.). The soul sinned by committing murder, and its body was dissolved, groaning and trembling upon the earth. Similarly also in the case of Uzziah. His heart was lifted up, and soon leprosy appeared on his face (II Paral. XXVI, 19).*

it is decreed, and let man be caught and recognized as most wretched, and let his money, assets, glory, and happiness be taken away, and let him at length be clothed in rags that are oldest, useless, and torn—for laughingstock and mockery—just as he who had impudently raised hands against his kindly master; ^A and let him be condemned to prison, or thrown into a place or an island that is desert and uninhabitable; so that his worn and tattered garment, which had sufficed for a seventh or eighth year, may rot away and fall apart, and thenceforth the most miserable man may wander about naked, until he runs his wretched life, oppressed by so many evils; tell me, mistress, whose is the condemnation, and who pays for the faults? Is it the dull and impudent servant, as one who has raised hands against the king? Is it he who is proscribed, shut up in prison, and has justly suffered evils—he who is endowed with intelligent nature and free will—or is it the money, assets, riches, and glory, which are external to the soul, of which he has been despoiled?

SOUL. Rather the man himself, as you have demonstrated, is condemned and sustains the punishments, although the body is not yet subjected to tortures, nor has it borne any other destructive thing.

BODY. Tell me, and judge, as you judge, do you think that the sentence was justly passed, by which he was proscribed and cast out from his glory?

SOUL. Most justly, most uprightly. For unless that human king had been, he would have exercised vengeance on the members of the body, not merely mulcted it in external things. And so, to that contumacious one, he left the body unharmed.

BODY. You answer well, and you pass judgment as the matter stands. Nevertheless, regarding the soul and the flesh, these things must be known. Since the soul did not wish to remain in those things for which it had been created, nor was it content to be satisfied with the illustrious dignity it had been allotted, and to enjoy the beauty of the world legitimately, as a paternal inheritance, the nature and grace handed down to it; and since it wished to snatch the present as if it were not present, and foolishly strove to derive to itself the honor equal to that of the Lord; [God,] elated by the glory in which it was rich from above, deprived it [of the robe] of flesh, fashioned by God and adorned from the beginning, whose subtlety was incredible, whose beauty was admirable, so that it might not fall again. For He likened the original beauty of the protoplasts to the light of the stars and the moon, a spectacle ineffable, singular, incomparable, without garment, without artifice, not needing coverings, totally equaling the sun in glory and beauty. For thus, although they were naked, they ^B nonetheless shone with clear light, and the splendors of grace radiated. And they are clothed with this flesh for the cause I have said. But they are subsequently clothed by the Artificer of the universe with a fluid and corruptible nature, like leaves. Not that He had exchanged the dust or its nature, but because He had taken away the former subtlety. And they were cast out from Eden and those delights, so that they might be deprived of the tree of life; which God would take care of, not, however (far be it), that He envied them, but that He might restrain the impulse of sinning and erring. But death is not death, even though it is a certain punishment: it is a benign remedy, by which we pass into what is expedient for us; and it is a punishment full of humanity, so that even evil might not be immortal at last, but that, having died, we might be justified from sin. Therefore, the most wretched flesh serves the soul for twenty years, or more, or even a hundred; although who produces life for so long? For however long those bonds endure, at length they are broken, and the body is resolved into those things from which it was formed at the beginning; the earthly man returns at last to earth. But when the body perishes, you are completely bared and stripped, clearly, of that through which you appear, and which you yourself contain, nor are you in any way contained by it. ^C Therefore, having been released, you set out upward to the Creator. Nevertheless, if you have also kept the mind—as it is right that which was created in the image of God should be—not depraved, free from vices. You will set out, I say, understanding to those who understand (with angels as guides), with whom the association of kinship and nature and country intercedes for you; to the bright, the coruscating, and to other lights. Pure to the pure, you are filled in the virtue given by God, and with the joy of those things which you find in the heavens. But if, on the contrary, it should be in some way dark and murky in [its] works, it is led away by dark and murky angels. And because it is darkness, it shares darkness with them (being implicated in unpraiseworthy motions) with their commanders and caretakers. For to the nature of souls correspond their actions, and each one is altogether such as its actions appear. If they are works of light, they are illuminated by nature; but if of darkness, they become participants of darkness. For the soul, having been infused into the body from the beginning, adheres like glue, and is in some way entirely coalesced with it, and through the mirror of the body ^D it is diminished and looks, the flesh darkening and covering the incorporeal nature; from which, when it has been separated, it will perceive more clearly.

This paradigm or example which I have brought, [is the] end.

Scholia

* Gregory. For the soul is not in the body as in a vessel, or in any skin: but on the contrary, rather the body is in the soul, which is not contained by it, but rather contains it itself.

** For the soul does not fly off to that life by itself, which it cannot do: but is led by holy angels.

Chrysost. For the present life is a kind of journey, having need of supernal guidance. For if, when we are about to go into some city, it is necessary for us to have someone to show us the way, how much more when we are about to go into heaven, do we need supernal help, which both shows the way and confirms us, and leads us by the hand. For there are many straying paths. But that we are led therein is the gift of God: but that we may be worthy of God and held by His hand, let it be of our endeavor. For if you are unclean, His hand will not hold you.

*** Facie ad faciem (I Cor. XIII, 12). Not that God has a face; but [it means] more clearly, that is, and more manifestly.

^A has it. But if you think it does not fit perfectly, nor respond to the thing proposed from every side, consider any paradigm you wish, and learn that it always touches the thing lightly, or grazes it, not touching it fully, nor being entirely equal: for in this way would it be the same. But that which is the same can never be called a [παράδειγμα] [paradigm].

CAPUT VII. What "according to the image and likeness" signifies; and that we are more truly human according to the soul. Concerning the incredible speed of souls.

SOUL. And what then do you judge man to be? I must have it explained to me. Is it only the body which is corrupted, or is it the soul (in which the command resides) that preserves that, ^B "according to the image and likeness," as it is written, without any change? For Moses handed down in writing that man was created in the image of God, he whom God first fashioned from the beginning. In what way, however, is the body called man without the soul? And conversely, how is the soul alone called man, without the body with which it subsists? For that spectator of God wrote in Genesis that God fashioned man from the dust of the earth. How, therefore, did He designate the body so clearly as man? For He later breathed the "breath of life" into his face, clearly after the first formation, and he was subsequently made a "living soul." To which of these, then, does "according to the image and likeness" pertain? I would like you to teach me: to the soul, or to the servant and fellow-servant, the body?

FLESH. I will teach you, and I will take a firm testimony from the writings of Paul, from which you may recognize the matter. ^C "Although," he says, "our outer man is decaying, yet the one who is within is being renewed day by day." Therefore, he called both of these "man," the internal and the external: each separately, since each has soul and body. Nevertheless, man can properly be called "man" according to the soul. Do not look to the external things for me, those that strike the eyes, nor consider the formation of the body with your own [reasoning]. For the flesh must be conceived as a kind of garment and covering. That which is "according to the image," to speak briefly, is the soul. But understand that this is according to grace, not according to nature. For do not imagine, mistress, that this body which is corrupted is called "man," even though ^D you hear the Scripture saying: "Let us make man in our image and likeness"; but understand that the soul is rather called man there; not, I say, the one we see, but the one who lies within: a nature that avoids the gaze, is devoid of destruction, and is more excellent. Furthermore, you will perceive this very thing more aptly from here. For I myself am "man" according to the soul. For my body is called [mine]: for the body is the soul's body. For it does not say "I" about a hand, or a foot, or any other member: but that word, "I," is clearly of the soul. All the rest that belong to the body—feet, hands, members, and its parts—are called so by those who know that it was made from the beginning as a kind of instrument or vehicle, as we have shown. Therefore, from this also, the soul is to be thought of as "man" rather than the body. Furthermore, reason, as queen, held command over the perturbations, just as man holds command over the creatures of the whole world. Insofar as he presides as prince and lord, man is, and is called, the image of God.

It is certain that the most excellent and most primary thing in the soul is the mind, to which a capacity, swiftest and incomparable, has been given. It dwells, indeed, in the soul, and in a point of time it traverses the whole world, and without fatigue runs through the climates of the North and South, of the East and West: it pervades the sea, the continents, the islands, and reaches the celestial and super-celestial things. It does not do so by its essence—do not think that, nor say it—but by the power of its thoughts and by imagination alone. Only the Godhead is present to all and everywhere, substantially and naturally, as nature above nature, as the only supersubstantial, as the only inexplicable. Therefore, "according to the image" clearly signifies [this] primacy. But just as no one is superior or equal to the Lord (for all things indeed yield to the Creator of all), so on earth there is nothing superior and greater than man. For He is the Lord and Creator of all at once: but you, through His grace, He makes prince of all that is on earth. We preside over all beasts, over all swimming creatures, and earthly things—to speak universally, we command reptiles, birds, fishes, beasts, and as many living creatures as God created devoid of reason. Now, therefore, you have known whose and what kind of thing that "according to the image" is. Again, that "according to...

the likeness is situated within us, and belongs to our will, and counsel, and conduct. For we are truly assimilated to the Lord, even by reason, if we put on conduct flowing from virtue, as is fitting. For He implanted in us the power by which we could live according to God, if only we were willing, and the power to do things good, and saving, and divine, through which each one, according to his capacity, becomes like unto God—namely, in truth, in mercy, and in judgment. So that if we have striven to lead an upright life, and have proven ourselves to be beholden to virtue, we might receive wages not as something owed, not as a gift, not rashly, but provided only for our works; from which one, according to human capacity, acquires the likeness of the Creator: just as it teaches men ^B to become perfect, imitating the heavenly and in every way perfect Father, who causes His sun to rise alike upon the just and the unjust, and rains upon all indiscriminately. If, therefore, you too have loved a life pleasing to God, and have been a lover of your brethren and eager for mercy, being meek and humane, you have expressed the Creator in a certain likeness. Nevertheless, you have the gift "according to the image" from God, and the faculty of reason, and the sovereignty of rule, and (which is the fourth item) authority, than which there is nothing greater; but that "according to the likeness" comes from the works of virtue. For if this too were a gift, like the aforementioned, where would be the grace that is rendered to you? How would you be crowned? And how would the supernal kingdom be opened to you? Therefore, it is good to be saved, and to acquire the crown from one’s own labors, as a debt, not as a gift: which is the behavior of sluggish, or rather, faint-hearted and ungenerous servants.

CHAPTER VIII. That the body of Adam was created neither subject to destruction, nor foreign to it.

SOUL. You have discussed these things most eloquently and have demonstrated them sufficiently. But come now, resolve this for me, since I desire it: was the body of the first-formed man merely mortal, or was it, on the contrary, created immortal from the beginning?

BODY. It was neither mortal and corruptible, nor, on the other hand, immortal, but a mean between the mortal and immortal nature, and most especially between these two. So that if he were to choose the better part, and observe the prescription of the law, he would obtain eternity through work. But if he were to yield to the passions of fleeting things, he would bear a body that is corruptible and mortal. For if the Creator had created man altogether immortal, He would not have condemned him to death: for who would condemn an immortal thing to mortality? But if He had created him devoid of death for all time, he would not have required corporeal, corruptible, and earthly nourishment, nor in any way would he have had to repent of a transgression: as happened in the case of the first angel himself. For although he was lifted up and rose against the Creator, He nevertheless allowed him to remain immortal, as before, and those spirits remain immortal, even though they are participants of the darkness.

CHAPTER IX. Into what regions souls migrate from this light.

SOUL. We have extended this dogmatic dispute to a great length. Not because we were in doubt or caviling, but because it was necessary in the first place that we should learn, not just that we should inquire. Since, however, this too has reached the desired end, it is an opportune time...

to pass on to other things which I have proposed from the beginning, lest they fall into oblivion. In all these questions, however, I ask that you forgive me.

SOUL. Speak what you seek: for I do not remember.

BODY. The thing that I was inquiring about was in what places and in what regions the spirits of the just and of sinners are to be settled after their departure from this light, until the coming of Christ.

SOUL. If you wish to know how that which you ask stands, turn your mind to what I shall say, and you will perceive the truth. The Scriptures teach that there is a most exalted place in which the souls of the just rest. This place, however, is called by various names: namely, the region of the living, the land of the meek, a tabernacle made by God, the highest city, the most fragrant torrent, the sound of the festival of those who celebrate. And these indeed are established by the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians and Philippians. But the lower dwelling-place, temporary and servile, is this tabernacle, upon the dissolution of which we have another house in the heavens, whose builder is the Lord, whose architect is God. ^A Released therefore from our bodies, we firmly believe that we are to be led to the Lord, with whom it is better to be. Wherefore He also utters that lovable voice: "I desire to be dissolved and to be released from here, so that I may live with Christ, with whom I desire to be." And King Solomon, as one who sees (foresighted of the future, as the prophets who were called seers), writes thus: "The souls of the just are in the hand of the almighty God, and the torment of death shall not touch them." John of Damascus, also, a man most wise, truly the grace itself that his name denotes: "You hold the souls," he says in the hymns of the martyrs, "in the heavenly city, in which, dwelling, you live with the Lord, for whose sake you also fell." And I will produce for you many other witnesses, and greater ones among the saints who concur with my words; Gregory, Basil, the highest masters; Gregory of Nyssa, Andrew of Crete, and that golden and divine Mouth: all simultaneously confirming with one accord and unanimous consent that the souls of all the saints are in heaven. For it is necessary that the supernal world be filled in every way (as that great and watchful mind Gregory writes) from which Satan fell, as lightning from heaven with his angels, according to the Lord’s testimony. After that place meanwhile has been emptied and then filled, the consummation of the age and the judgment awaits. Let witnesses come forward and be free from oblivion.

BODY. But what of the exception of Paul, who, after He rose, names Christ head and prince of all, the firstborn of the dead, and the firstborn among many brethren, and the second Adam? He who was even before the first, and as a forerunner for us, has preceded us to the Father, and has sat at the right hand on His glorious throne, as the head of all at once, so that the body of the Head might gradually be gathered to Him, and aptly fitted and joined together. For there is no body if the head be absent, nor, conversely, is there a head if the body be absent. Yet only the souls of the good are now lifted up, by themselves, as they are able, loosed from every bond, going to the head and Lord of all: but after the resurrection, they shall indeed be lifted up even with their bodies themselves.

O, what glory! What honor! O, what a mystery! How many gifts, how many benefits, in which we have shared with the Creator from the beginning, and which we obtain from the Creator even to the end and unto eternity! Believe, and have faith in those who say these things, as they are true in feeling and teaching about the souls of the good. But if you also wish to know where the souls of sinners are found, and to where they go, I will speak of this too. They go into the lowest parts of the earth and the place of darkness, into a gloomy death. Attend, and lament that condition. David in his psalms gives thanks, who brought his soul out from the abyss, as the Almighty, and, as the Merciful, did not allow it to suffer tyranny any longer. Indeed, Job also laments the places of the abyss, calling them ^C a land of darkness and gloom, where eternal horror dwells: where no one sees, nor can he be seen. It is, in fact, a dark place, and a gloomy valley, full of tears and of sorrows, and most profound. When the Word of God had descended thither, He led forth the souls, as many as were even there worshipping Him and were being held by the violence of the tyrant, and He erected the trophy of victory.

CAPUT X.

But hear what is to come, and tremble, and shudder at that other and final coming ^D and at the common resurrection of all. From there every single soul shall come forth with the body, with which it...

lived, and from there once again, alas! it shall return to hell. This the words of the great David teach, for he affirms that sinners shall return to hell; for he says: "They shall return whence they went out." There they shall suffer atrocities and more than atrocities; they shall grieve, groan, weep bitterly, and shall wail and lament; yet in vain and to no purpose. For they shall accomplish nothing, mourning in empty fashion. "Spare me then, Lord: so spare me, I beseech thee." You will see again that which you fled from but little, and you will approach your old tabernacle—alas, what a horrible thing! And you will want to flee to the angels, but you will be repelled by them. And you will look upon the abominable and deformed dwelling, and full of impurity, and spots, and stigmata, and looking upon it, formidable, you will turn and flee. But with the angels threatening and terrifying and violently driving you with scourges to it, although unwilling, you will re-enter your body. And these things are of this sort. But the bodies of the just ^A appear like pearls, like carbuncle, like lamps, like the most splendid sun in the beauty of glory. But if this doctrine seems ambiguous to you, I shall proceed with very probable arguments. SOUL. By whose arguments? And whence do you have them? BODY. Whence? From the most holy and very many, of whom the first is Ezekiel, the second Isaiah, the third the illustrious David, and with him all who were distinguished before Christ and after Him. But Christ more fully gives you faith in this question, Who established the greatest trophy against death: namely, by those things which He said in the Gospel. But great Paul, writing to the Corinthians about the resurrection, testifies that the flesh is consumed as inglorious, as infirm, as animal, having fallen into the earth. For it is buried in the sepulcher, and it rots, and is dissolved, and corrupted: but it rises again incorrupt in spirit and glory, immortal, living forever, full of graces. He immediately adds an example of this kind. Just as a grain indeed falls naked into the earth: afterwards, having rotted, it does not germinate naked, but with a tunic, and at the same time it brings forth a stalk, ears, joints, leaves, and a multitude composed of grains beautiful to the sight. Similarly, think for me of the resurrection from this same ^B man, even from our first parent, down to the end, and look and admire the most high providence. Suddenly then every creature shall be changed. For then no one shall be small, nor great, nor black, nor white, nor slender, nor of thick body, nor red, nor yellow, nor of black hair; no one shall be bent, no one lame, nor having an ugly affect; no one shall be deformed, nor lacking a hand or foot, or limping, no one hunchbacked, no one blind, no one stuttering, no one wise, no one foolish, no one old, no one a child, no one a slave, no one free, no one a barbarian, nor a Scythian. For no one shall rise again just as he dies: but such as man was first created, and such as he was before, eating from the forbidden tree, he transgressed the commandment. For this body will not then have thickness, but the character will be the same, yet the habit will be different. Not generation (for the natural parts of men and women will not serve for mixing, for copulation, and for the lusts of bodies), but there will be another state, which the Creator alone knows, not only as has been shown, for the reason of incorruption: but also far from every care, and anxiety, and worldly pursuits and strivings. After the resurrection marriages shall cease; carnal love shall end; there will be no venereal conjunction of bodies. For they will not marry, as Christ says, nor will they feel the impulses of adultery or fornication; there will be no war, no irruptions and struggles, but the nature of men will be like the nature of the angels ^C; which the Lord also clearly teaches. And Paul writes that those who are left, not having yet undergone death, are to be changed when, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the Judge shall be present. Then all will rise again, even changed: for all shall be of the same age. But they will rise again naked, exposed. "Naked" and "exposed" ^D is said, as if you were to say, face-up and exposed to the eyes of all, concerning those devoid of reason and concerning sacrifices. For anciently a law was given by Moses such that the skins of victims being sacrificed in this way were to be drawn off, so that it might be permitted to examine the limbs on all sides, lest anywhere something damaged or maimed might be present: since at that time even the whole matter will be laid bare. But that, "the dead shall rise again incorrupt."

Scholia

and has this meaning: it will not be that some consumption of substance is carnal. For death only dissolves mortality, and brings the end of nature’s ability to perish, and removes the possibility of dying, but it does not remove nature itself. Although the body vanishes, it remains nonetheless, and on that day it rises full of glory.

Verily, however, this is not to be understood concerning all men. The resurrection, indeed, is common to all. But as far as relates to glory and the communion of glory, it will without doubt not be for those who passed their life in Christ. For "they that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment," as it is written. 15

CHAPTER XI.

ANIMA. Your discourse has no shadow of doubt, and pleases me exceedingly in all respects. I indeed believe these things, and have faith, except for this one point alone. For I hear the Scripture clearly saying, when He had descended ^A with the Word to the dead, that He had asserted the liberty of all from that dominion. You, however, taught a little before that the souls of sinners are detained in Tartarus, and remain nonetheless as they were before. For if He simply liberated everyone from the tyrant, by what logic do you on the contrary affirm that souls are held there, and endure what those endure who are paying their penalties? To me, indeed, you seem to speak things little consistent with the Sacred Scriptures, and suspected of falsehood.

CARO. Direct your mind, lady; I will resolve this question for you. For I tell you things that are true, and in agreement with Scripture. An example will confirm the matter. Let us suppose someone to be a criminal and a fugitive, an ungrateful domestic slave of his Lord and King, who keeps himself in a most fortified place, difficult to storm; in which place he builds a city, and fortifies it with dense and lofty towers. In the middle of this city he digs ^B a very deep pit, which reaches even to the very ends and limits of the earth, the breadth of which corresponds to its depth, a dark and gloomy pit, a pit of the shadow of death: and...

[alt-version omitted]

^{C D}

*Scholia.* ...and if any spot were found, or any darkening upon any part of the body, that sacrifice was not to be offered to God.

Those three terms differ: φθορά (phthora), διαφθορά (diaphthora), καταφθορά (kataphthora). For φθορά is destruction, the separation of the soul from the body, and the rest of the body and cessation from all motion, which the immaculate body of Christ also endured. Διαφθορά is corruption, it is putrefaction, and the very feeding of worms, which the most immaculate body of Christ did not know. Καταφθορά is ruin, it is consummate and perfect perdition, or destruction. In which sense that saying was uttered: "This people perished because of sin."

^A ceres, narrow, very dark, and most suited for torment. Consider, in addition, this further malice: after the unhappy tyrant had gathered poisonous beasts—lions, dragons, leopards hideous to behold, asps, toads, serpents, and lethal scorpions—he kept them together in a dark pit to inflict pain and punishment upon all whom he had subjugated and imprisoned there. Neither in this pit nor in this city is any light of sun or moon seen; they are palpable darknesses, those well-known Egyptian darknesses. Beside the city, let there be a military or public road, which all nations of men pass through, and some are friends of the king, others adversaries and enemies, all of whom are captured here and there by the seducer, and cannot run elsewhere for the sake of salvation. The rule of this tyrant lasted for a very long time; ^B he gradually brought everyone under his power; for him, violence stands in place of law; he rises up tyrannically, seizes, strikes with undeserved blows, presses, and afflicts the distinguished and the abject alike—all of them, both good and bad, bound in iron fetters in the pit, in which place no one is exempt from such indignity. The King, no longer enduring this tyranny, but looking down with kindness and pitying the people, sent His most beloved and only Son for the liberation and aid of the human race. And when He had arrived, and had joined battle with the seducer, and had cast him down, and bound him, and rendered him powerless with valid force, and had gained the victory over the enemies, as one powerful in battle, He thoroughly ravaged the city, tore down its towers, and simultaneously destroyed, slew, and crushed whatever of the enemies there was, and seized and plundered all their vessels. And penetrating to the lowest part of that place, breaking all the bolts, chains, and gates, He completely liberated all who were bound in those prisons, led them into the light, and displayed them to be seen by many. But notice what followed in terms of decree and judgment. He takes the friends of the Father, distinguished from the others and deemed worthy of the greatest glory and honor, and brings them to the King and Father, that they may be participants in the kingdom with the Lord; as for those who were not friends but enemies, He left them below until the final days, until the general judgment should shine forth, and a just sentence be pronounced concerning all. Otherwise, even you, Lady, clearly judge unjustly if you think that those impious enemies of the Mighty One should enjoy equal pleasure with His friends, or obtain the same rewards as they. I do not suppose you think that. And I deem it a very great mercy to them that they have obtained the same universal liberty, being delivered together from the custody of him who equally exercised his cruelty upon all, freed from the chains, released, and delivered from the beastly and cruel executioners; ^D and what is more extensive and beautiful, that they were able to pass—they could not, since there was no jailer, nor any harsh guard. If, therefore, you hear that souls still remain in hell, know that they do not endure torments as before, nor are they held by iron chains, as they have been delivered from the tyranny. And this task is the greatest and most comprehensive of all. To these things, say if anything comes to your mind.

SOUL. I understand toward what this paradigm points. By just judgment, all receive what is due—friends the greatest things, enemies lesser things. Nevertheless, all owe thanks in proportion.

FLESH. In what way, then, have you understood the problem, or rather, for what end do you suppose this paradigm was brought forward? I am very eager to know what your sense of this is.

SOUL. I think the interpretation is much like this: The tyrant is the same as before, Lucifer. The city he built, I conjecture to be hell. The deepest pit and the darkness of the prison are hell, and death, and the empire of both. The royal or public road is, without doubt, the course of this life. The snares near this public road are death, as it seems, which snatches everyone and sends them down to the belly of hell. Reptiles and the worst kinds of poisonous creatures must be interpreted as that intolerable torture; the King and Lord and Son of the King is the Creator of all and Christ, the Savior of men. The friends are the just; on the contrary, the enemies are the impious sinners—for whom else should I say they are? But as for the place whither He led the Father's friends, one might not ineptly call it the heavenly kingdom.

^C FLESH. You have understood and explained it most dexterously and beautifully. Thanks be to Christ, who inspired this in you. Nevertheless, know that the paradigm does not fit him whose paradigm it is in every respect. For it would no longer be a paradigm, but in every way the same. Prophesying of Christ, the patriarch Jacob says: "He rested and slept as a lion" (Gen. XLIX, 9). Elsewhere, He is called a bear by Scripture (Amos V, 19). They are clearly difficult and symbolic, yet no one will dare to attribute the properties of beasts directly to the Word and Lord. What is useful and pertains to the matter should be borrowed from the beasts; what is blasphemous and rancid should be left behind. The lion serves this comparison in so far as it is the king of animals and terrifying. The bear, however, as something naturally just and seeking vengeance. Such is the paradigm: it is not similar and fitting in all respects. But the things that remain for me to say, I will say later. Now, what I shall add for your benefit is from St. Damascene. For he teaches and clearly demonstrates that in those living in Christ this reasoning is much more true. He teaches, indeed, through iambics, whether Christ simply saved everyone in the underworld, or those who had believed there, which is to be accepted (a).

CAPUT XII. Concerning those whom Christ delivered from the underworld.

And finally, the healing of the woman with the issue of blood and the woman bent double, along with very many other things. These, I say, the divine power of the Word in no wise permitted to perish and to lack the fruit of the best actions. For the portion of time granted to them, as we have said, does not vanish into obscurity; but everything, preserved for those who have completed their life's course honestly, is returned to them afterward in fuller measure. On the contrary, those who lived basely and wickedly, and did nothing at all that was conjoined with virtue, nor had any seed or fruit; but rather went completely astray in life, in speech, and in faith, and because no divine rain was shed upon them from heaven, they brought forth no sprout (for they had made no sowing, as I have already said), nor, ^B being utterly barren, did they ripen when the sun of glory shone: these, in truth, Christ did not profit in any way, nor, in my opinion, did He raise them with Himself, as they were utterly unworthy of salvation. Indeed, I do not believe that they even believed in Him. For that first dragon who fell from pride into darkness, whom they worshiped in the early age, blinded their minds and the spiritual eyes of their heart, so that, as it is written, seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. But all the rest, who received the seed, brought forth a sprout when the rain descended, and obtained maturity when the sun arose.

^C And some, indeed, understand by those who believed beforehand, the Fathers, and prophets, and judges, and kings, and princes, and certain others of the Hebrew people, who can easily be enumerated, and are known and manifest to all. But we shall argue against those who think thus, after this manner: It is not to be thought of as a favor, nor is this to be accounted as something new and strange, namely, that salvation was brought by Christ to those who believed; for since He alone is the Judge who excels in equity, and he who has placed faith in His words shall not perish, it was necessary that all such obtain salvation and be released from the bonds of hell by the descent of God and Lord. And this happened through His own providence. But, in my opinion, all those who, although they had excelled in the purity of their life, and had performed every best action, and had lived strictly, temperately, and chastely, yet had not perceived a pure and divine faith, as they had been neither educated nor cultivated by any discipline or by the guidance of any teacher, received salvation solely by His kindness and mercy. For He, the Moderator and Lord of all, drew them, enclosed in divine nets, to the heights, and when He had cast upon them the splendor of divine rays and shown them the light of truth, He so inclined their minds that they believed in Him. For that merciful nature did not endure that so many labors should be endured by them in vain and for naught. For they had led a life most difficult and troublesome, and narrow beyond what can be told. For they had mastered the perturbations of the soul, and had spurned pleasures, and had practiced poverty and continence to the very end, and had worn themselves out with vigils: and to sum it up in few words, they had fulfilled everything for the sake of virtue—not piously, indeed, but nevertheless—and they had rendered worship and veneration most excellently (as it seemed to them) to the supreme Providence, though not without the taint of error. Moreover, there were even some who apprehended the faith of the divine omnipotent Trinity, albeit thinly and very obscurely, yet they apprehended it. Others preached the incarnation of the Word, and His adorable torments, and His return to life. Others announced His birth from the Virgin, and even His name. "Maria," it says, "is the name of the maiden." Others, again, prophesied all those extraordinary miracles wrought by Christ, which exceed the power of nature, that is to say, the raising of the dead, the healing of the blind, the mute, the lepers, the deaf, the fever-stricken, the dropsical, and those laboring with the shrinking of the hands, the paralytics, and those vexed by the intemperance of demons; the walking upon the sea, and the blessing of the loaves and fishes, and again the changing of water into wine, [and the healing of the] ^D woman with the issue...

CAPUT XIII. By what means every soul shall recognize its own body after it exists from the dead.

SOUL. You have explained the matter most excellently and have handed it down to me. I embrace this divine testimony and am content with it. But I have another thing to ask, and that, in my opinion, is difficult. May you be willing to solve this also according to your power. For when the immortal soul has deserted the mortal body, in what way will that which is eternal be able to find and recognize that which is now corrupted and destroyed? And one body was left mutilated, another deaf, another hard of hearing, another mute, another despoiled of virility, another lean, another scarcely clinging to its bones, another fat, full, fleshy, heavy, useless, pot-bellied, sheer rot and decay. Another youthful, beardless. Another languishing with age. Another deprived of the use of feet and hands. Another infant, newly born, still crying in the cradle. Another consumed by old age and furrowed with wrinkles. Another with black hair, another silvery, or most white. Yet you assert that in the general resurrection it will be raised and changed, and will be such as was formed from the beginning by the first parent, lacking the former state and the marks with which it was previously endowed.

BODY. Hear a wondrous and unheard-of thing. Do not seek there the property and appearance of nature; but believe and imagine that everything will be above nature. For in this life such differences and marks, here these affections, and the miseries of the affections which I have enumerated in the bodies, are perceived; but in the future [sæ... A ANIM...]

sæ^Aculo nothing of these things shall be perceived, but as the Lord knows, and by a judgment which He alone knows, in an ineffable manner signs shall be given to the spirits, by which everyone shall recognize his own body: just as ewes recognize their own lambs in the folds, and in turn the lambs recognize the udders of their mothers. For they do not know them by a mark, or by any visible indication; but by a certain smell, and by that alone, they recognize each other, so that each one runs from afar to its own. I have frequently seen a thousand ewes returning from the grass and pastures to the folds, and even if a mother were seeking her lamb from further away, others—the offspring of others—would approach. But she would absolutely refuse the udders and the nourishment of milk, and would not admit them, because of the strange smell; but her own, which she recognized by its inward smell, she would not exclude. Thus, in that time recognition of all bodies will also occur, through an indication that shall be given divinely, when at the sound of the celestial trumpet they shall come forth revived from the sepulchers. That sign I myself indeed do not know; it is known to the Creator alone. For it does not fall under the senses, nor is it corporal: but it can be perceived only by the intellect.

CHAPTER XIV

are those which are then bitter and intolerable, when anyone recognizes those who are strangers, and is known by them. For whoever is punished or condemned does not blush before those to whom he is unknown, but before those to whom he is known. For why should anyone be suffused with shame before one who does not know him? But if he is known, it is necessary that he be suffused with shame. And this, indeed, is of such a kind, and is so called, and all—except those whom I have excepted—will mutually recognize one another. But what do you feel about these proofs? Do you believe, or do you not believe? as it seems to me.

CAPUT XV.

ANIMA. I do not at all deny belief to these things; for how could I, when you have discoursed and taught these things so truly and deservedly? Rather, I have thanks for you regarding my completed question, since I have learned from the mouth of Christ that a word becomes credible if it has been confirmed by two or three witnesses. But there remains, moreover, another ^B question, the knowledge of which I desire greatly. For I imagine (as you yourself taught above) that the heaven, and the earth, and finally every creature, will be reduced to a more excellent nature at the consummation of the age: just as the bodies of those returned to life will also attain a change of nature for the better. But tell me, I beseech you, how will the matter stand regarding me and my own affairs? Shall I, even then, be such as I am now? Namely, according to the triple faculty, and the other things that are handed down concerning me, and in these shall I be seen to be utterly immutable, and shall I live thus tripartite for all ages, with each part—that is, reason, anger, and desire—exercising the function defined for it? For if in the future age I hold such a state, again subject to perturbations, and contaminated, and vicious, while this triple force drags me toward illicit things, the soul surely will not at all reside in a state of purity and innocence. But if, perhaps, I lose two of these three, how will my perfection consist if those are lost? For to whom something is clearly lacking, it is not perfect and ^C absolute. And if I am divided in two, how shall I have an immutable and untruncated fullness? Again, by what pact shall that which is by nature indivisible and inseparable be cut and separated? How shall it be separated and, being separated, remain? For if, as you said, everything that the Creator and Preserver produced was made for the sake of the soul, and yet this world will migrate by the decree and nod of the Creator and Lord into a more noble state, and will receive a more elegant form than that in which it now prides itself, and will obtain a more splendid and divine habit, it follows from this that an injury is being inflicted upon me. What do you say to these things: If I shall persevere in being such as I am today, and not be promoted to greater dignity and glory, just like all other things, and even you, and the whole species of the universe, decorated and illustrated by a certain novelty, and holding things in a different order and a more excellent mode, that is, which will endure for all the space of the ages: if the Creator has changed and honored the flesh, my companion and partner, as He determined and as is fitting, but has left me, the mistress, without adornment, what shall we say? The lowest will be mixed with the highest, the highest with the lowest entirely. For the inferior substance being changed, it is not right by any reason that I, who am of the order of the superior, should be neglected: but since I am honorable and illustrious, and by nature admirable, equity demands that I attain a change equal to my dignity, which might leave back behind itself this present condition of mine with excellent preeminence. For if He is also going to change inanimate nature, and whatever ministers and serves among men, is it not fitting to adorn me—the one participant of mind and counsel, and made to the image of God—and is it not fitting to ennoble me even more than the world? Now teach me what it is consistent to expect.

CARO. You lead me into a certain deep sea of thoughts and senses. For what you seek is laborious and copious, nor can its outcome be easily found, nor is it that anyone might follow and understand it with small effort. I hesitate, I fear; you speak of obscurities and enigmas. Ask one more learned, and forgive me as one less learned.

ANIMA. I do not wish to hear another and learn from another. For what is present to you, why should I go seeking it elsewhere?

Notes of Jacob Gretser.

^A

What other person, not yet familiar to me, shall I interrogate? You, my intimate companion and, as it were, my fellow traveler, answer me. If you refuse, know that I will no longer support you; I shall not let you take either food or drink with me.

FLESH. Yet the dog does not eat the leash, as you know. But since you urge me, I must speak according to my strength. I have affirmed to you before, and I affirm it again, that the Architect of this universe constructed for your sake this twofold world—the upper and the lower, the perceptible and the imperceptible—and that which is mixed and compacted in the midst of both. When He changes and renews it, He will renew it also for your sake and for the sake of your splendor and glory: my own reformation and restoration is your honor, since the glory of the body redounds to that which was made in the image of God; just as, conversely, if I am despised and disgraced, that also reflects upon you. God is sufficient unto Himself; He needs none of these things: not the light of the sun and moon, not the celestial spheres, not the spoils of the earth, not the four elements. The divine Radiance is subject to no want at all: for who would be in need of anything? (Yet He has already bestowed all things upon you, and will continue to bestow them in the future.) If, therefore, He confers certain greater ornaments upon these things which were produced for your sake, those too shall be conferred for your sake and because of you.

However, if these two faculties—in which desires and the ardors of wrath exist, through which you were born and matured—are taken away from you, those vicious affections which arise from them to your detriment will certainly be removed ^B from your nature at the same time. (If, however, it is right to call them such, since from them very often the best and indeed very many things flow. For if the mind, as it ought, presides over and commands all things, the use of these affections is in accordance with reason; but if, on the other hand, the use of these same things is averted from reason, then one ought to call them a vice.) Truly, if you lack them, you simultaneously lack bile, wrath, irascibility, and the memory of injuries, fear, and timidity; nor is there any audacity in you, no emulation that loves contention, no pleasure devoid of reason that foully stirs the soul: but just as they entered together, so they depart together. Arrogance and ostentation will cease if wrath is absent. There will be no faith, no hope, if there is no desire. Memory will vanish. For what would be its use? And these are the five, so to speak, sprouts of reason.

You will, therefore, be free from wrath and desire, or concupiscence. For when you have reached the very end and limit of those things toward which appetite is directed, you will have need of none of these; they will recede far away. For indeed, by putting off the old man completely, you put off everything he possesses along with him, and you recur again to a life free from all pain. Charity alone will be with you forever, the proper companion among all things we possess, and an inseparable one. Yet know that you did not have both of these from the beginning—I mean the power of desiring and the power of being angry—for they were devoid of reason; but they were later implanted within you ^C and added, as weapons to repel and overcome the adversary, lest he, seeing you naked, should wound you or strike you with fiery and sharp darts. But when the battle is finished, and the enemies are cast down, and the most tranquil peace is achieved, and the pressing, the struggle, and the fight are completed, and the enemies are despoiled of their strength and boldness and have been cast far away into the fire of Gehenna, what will those things profit you, like weapons, for the future, when you see and laugh at the now-extinct adversary?

Moreover, there was present with you, along with your mind, reason—pure, most chaste, shining with sincerity, the faculty of contemplating, judging, and the divinity of His idea; the simplicity with which it was created, which is according to the image of God. Such a divine breath, through which you subsist, you had from the beginning, and such you will receive, and hence you will appear most noble, most beautiful, and above all the orders of the heavenly ones. It will be new to hear and terrible to see how you ascend from glory to a more sublime glory. Yet one must know that this *κατ' εἰκόνα* (according to the image of God) must be similar to the archetype, and one must contend by imitation toward it, looking toward it: and to desire to become similar to that divine mind, which is contained only by mind and intelligence. It brings no bulk, nor breadth, nor depth: no interval, no dimension, no measure; it is entirely free from all these things. That which is *κατ' εἰκόνα* in the soul is something else, which we understand by comparison to the most ancient and greatest archetype of all, and which, according to the propriety of its own nature, is such at once and for all. That is first and uncreated; this is created. That is by nature devoid of a beginning, the prince of all things, and a full cause; but this, on the contrary, has entirely had a beginning, since indeed it is a created thing (for it can no longer be called an image if it always exists), being most similar to the first model without mutation. This, therefore, is clearly a created nature and a formed thing. But what the nature and reason of formed things is, is plain enough. But if what is said is true, as it clearly is, what greater glory or what other honor, more excellent than the divine, do you desire for yourself? You have understood these things disputed by me, as I judge. I desire to know whether you believe them, approve of them, and admit them without doubt, or whether you deem them to be of no account, false, and openly ridiculous, and mere trifles (which, for my part, I do not think). Tell me what at last you think, and how you feel about these things.

ANIMA. I do not count these things as nothing—far be it, God forbid—but I am delighted by your words, most truly ^D beloved.

Scholia. * Gregory. We speak of memory regarding those things that pertain to God and the divine. For that which is comprehended by the eyes does not need memory. Similarly, faith and hope will not be present then: charity alone neither ceases now, nor will it cease in the future, but will increase further. ** Gregory. The soul was created simple and uniform from the beginning, I say, of the protoplast, along with its own mind and reason, which was that divine breath. Then, in this way, wrath and desire, consisting in an irrational nature, were conjoined to it.

^A I accept, I agree, I admire, and I am satisfied, as far as it is reasonable. If I were to deny the faith, I would be rightly blamed. Neither is there an orthodox man, nor does he have any part with the Word and the Lord, who opposes these things, nor is he worthy of His marriage and bridal chamber; but he is to be judged an infidel, a blasphemer, worse than the Sadducees. But I, by the grace of Christ, after hearing you, give my assent to the faith, and I do not oppose that these things are as you teach. In no way do I contradict; believe me, and so persuade yourself. I beseech you only this, that you provide a confirmation for these words as well. If I accept that as the answer to my question, I shall consider myself satisfied in all things; and this, above all else, I will preserve in my heart, immovable, unshaken, and fixed with deep roots. Only take care that you do not in any way change the words themselves; but as they are, so relate them and recite them word for word.

CHAPTER XVI. A passage of St. Gregory of Nyssa concerning the tripartite soul, from his dialogue on the soul and the resurrection, held with his sister Macrina.

INTERROGATION. They say that the soul is an intellectual nature, and that it generates within the instrumental body a vital power for the efficiency and action of the senses. For our soul is efficacious and active not only in that movement of our mind by which we perceive and contemplate the sciences, through its own nature which consists in mind and intelligence, providing such things, nor does it govern only the sensory vessels and instruments for natural efficiency and operation; but ^B a great movement of desire and likewise a great movement of anger is also perceived in its nature. And since both of these are generally present in us, we see that it proceeds equally into many and various actions and efficiencies of evils. For it is possible to see many things of which the power of desire is the author and leader; again, many things are born from the cause that excites anger, and none of these is a body. But that which is incorporeal is entirely intellectual and consists only of mind. Furthermore, the definition has declared that the soul is a certain intellectual thing, consisting only of mind and comprehensible. Therefore, so that one of two absurdities may arise and emerge as a consequence of this argument—either that wrath and desire are different souls within us, and instead of one, a multitude of souls is detected and perceived; or that even the agitating power of the mind and the power of understanding in us is not to be thought of as the soul. For that intellectual thing, which consists only of mind and is comprehensible, and which is equally adapted to all [faculties], will either show that all these are souls, or it will equally remove and exclude each one of them from this property of the soul.

RESPONSE. This question, she says (his sister Macrina), which you have now asked, is one that many others have queried; you have consequently inquired what we ought at length to think these are, the *epithumetikon*, that is, the power of desiring, and the ^A *thumoeides*, that is, the power that provokes anger, and whether they are innate in the nature of the soul and as it were co-essential and consubstantial, and have existed from the beginning with it, and from the very start, immediately with its creation and constitution, or whether they are something else and were added to us later. For it is equally evident to all that these things are observed in the soul. But what one ought to think about them, reason has not yet fully and perfectly grasped, so that it might have a firm opinion about them; but the common people are even now in doubt about them, due to vague, false, and diverse opinions. We, however, having left behind eternal philosophy, let us call upon divine Scripture as a witness, which establishes that we should think nothing in the soul to be excellent and significant that is not also proper to the divine nature. For whoever has said that the soul is a likeness of God has declared that whatever is alien to God is outside the definition of the soul. Therefore, since nothing of this kind is seen in the divine nature, one would rightly judge that these things are not even innate in the soul, nor are they as it were co-essential. ^B What then is it that we are saying? That this rational animal, man, is capable of intelligence and science, is proved by the testimony even of those who are strangers to the reason of our faith and religion; for the definition would not have described and designated our nature in this way, if it had indeed seen that anger, desire, and all things of this kind were united with ours and were as it were co-essential and consubstantial. For no one has ever provided a definition of a subject by putting the common in place of the proper in any other matter whatsoever. Since, therefore, the power of desiring and the power of being angry are observed equally in a nature devoid of reason as well as in a nature that is rational, no one can with any reason or rightly designate that which is proper through a common mark. But as for that which is superfluous and to be rejected for the designation of nature, how can it, as a part of nature, have the strength to overturn a definition? For every definition of a substance looks to the property of the subject. Whatever, however, is outside the nature of the specialty and property is looked down upon and despised as if it were alien to the definition. ^D Yet it is certain that the power and efficacy both of being angry and of desiring are common to every nature, as much rational as irrational. But whatever is common is not the same as that which is peculiar. It necessarily follows, therefore, from these things, that we should not think that these are in those, by which human nature is primarily designated. But just as if someone, having observed the power of sensing, nourishing, and growing in us, does not for that reason dissolve the demonstrated definition of the soul (for, because this is in the soul, it is not the case that that other is not), in the same way, if anyone considers the motions of our nature regarding anger and desire...

^A, he may not—even if he has given a less than sufficient definition of the nature—rightly oppose the definition. It is clear, therefore, that these things which are considered extrinsically in objects are the affections and perturbations of nature, and not nature itself. For nature is what it is; but anger, in the opinion of many, is thought to be a boiling of the blood which is around the heart; to others, however, it is the appetite to avenge oneself on him by whom one has been provoked and previously injured. But as we think, anger is an appetite to harm him who has stirred up and provoked one to wrath. None of these, however, agrees with the definition of the soul. Likewise, if we define desire by itself, we shall say it is the appetite for that which is missing: either the longing to enjoy pleasure, or grief on account of the fact that we do not possess that which is dear to the heart and agreeable and acceptable to the mind, or some affection toward that which is sweet and pleasant, which it is not permitted to enjoy. For these and such like things indeed demonstrate desire, but they do not pertain to the definition of the soul. Moreover, other things also which are seen regarding the soul, and which seem to be placed in opposition to one another—such as timidity and boldness, pain and pleasure, fear and contempt, and whatever else of this kind there is, each of which seems to be related to the faculty of anger and desire, yet designates its own nature by a peculiar definition—whatever such things are regarding the soul, they are not the soul: but are like certain warts growing out of the cogitative part ^B of the soul; which parts, while they indeed belong to it because they are born with it, are nonetheless not thought to be that which the soul is by its own nature and essence. For we say that the speculative and judicial power of the soul, and its power of inspecting things, is its own proper and natural power, and that by these it preserves the image of that grace by which it is like unto God. Since it is gathered by reasoning and conjecture that the divine Numen also (whatever eventually it is by its own nature) is occupied with these things: namely, both in inspecting all things and in discerning the good from the evil. But whatever things are placed on the boundary of the soul have a propensity and inclination toward one or the other of the contraries according to their nature; the certain use of which leads to an outcome either toward that which is good or that which is contrary to the good: just as anger or fear, and if there is anything dead that is in the soul, is of this kind, without which human nature cannot be considered; we judge that it has been added to it extrinsically, because in the principal and original beauty no such mark is seen. These things are not altogether attributed to human nature from some cause of evil (for otherwise the cause of evils could be assigned to the Creator ^D, if the necessary causes of sins had been gathered into nature at the same time from Him), but such movements of the soul exist as instruments of either virtue or vice through a certain use of the will and choice. Just as iron, while it is being forged according to the intention [792 / A] of the workman, is fashioned into the form that its will has designated: whether into a sword, or an instrument of some rustic work, it engenders obedience through fear, fortitude through anger, and caution and security through timidity; and likewise, through the impulse of desire, it conciliates for us a divine and at the same time immortal pleasure. But if reason loses the reins, and like a charioteer who is entangled, is dragged backward by the chariot and is swept away by it, wherever the motion of the beasts of burden, void of reason, carries him, then the appetites are converted into perturbation (which indeed it is possible to see even in brute animals, since reason does not naturally preside over the motion that is in them), but when their motion inclines toward the good, they become a subject for praise, as was the desire in Daniel, and the longing and zeal in Phinehas, and the grief in one who mourns well. But if they incline toward the worse, then these are both called and are affections and perturbations. The power of speculating and judging is peculiar to that part of the soul which is like unto God, since we also grasp the divine Numen through these. If, therefore, the soul is pure from all vice, it will be altogether in the good and the honest. But the good and the honest is by its own nature a divine numen, with which the soul, through purity, will have a conjunction, since it is coherent with and coalescing with its own. If, therefore, this happens, there will no longer be need for the motion of desire, which might precede us and be a guide to that which is good and honest. For he who lives in darkness and has longed for the light: he, if he reaches the light and begins to enjoy it, will cease to desire and long. For the faculty and power of possessing and enjoying makes desire vain and useless: but for us, because it is needy of the good, nature is always borne along and contends toward that which is missing, and the desire for that which is deficient is the very affection of our nature for desiring—which either strays, on account of a distorted judgment, from that which is truly good and honest; or even attains and reaches that by which it is good to be possessed. But that nature which surpasses every good thought, and which towers over every power, as one which is in need of none of those things which are understood regarding the good and the honest, since it is itself the fullness of goods, and does not dwell in the good as if it were a participant of some good and honest thing, but is itself the very nature of the good and the honest (whatever, in any case, the mind posits to be good and honest), neither admits fear of losing into itself (for hope is applied only to that which is not present: "For what," says the blessed Apostle, "does a man hope for that which he has?" ^C), nor does it have need of the efficacy of reminiscing and remembering for the knowledge of things. For that which is seen does not have need of remembrance. Since, therefore, the divine nature is above every good, and the good is altogether a friend to the good, therefore when it gazes upon itself, it both wants what it has, and has what it wants, admitting nothing external into itself.

^A For it is nothing other than vice alone, which (even if it is absurd to say, and alien to common opinion) has its being in that which is not. For there is no other generation of vice than the privation of that which is. But that which properly is, is the nature of the good. That which, therefore, is not in the existent, is altogether in that which is not. Since, therefore, the soul also, with all the various motions of nature set aside, has become similar to God, and having overcome desire, is in Him, towards whom it was once longingly raised and incited, it no longer gives a place to linger in itself, neither to hope nor to memory. For it possesses that which was hoped for; but by the occupation of enjoying goods, it removes memory from the mind, and lets it go; and thus it imitates the life that is above and exalted, being fashioned by the properties of the divine nature, so that nothing else is left to it, save the affection of love, which naturally adheres to that which is good and honorable. For this is love, namely a habit implanted in the soul for that which is pleasing and dear to the heart. When, therefore, the soul, having been made simple, and uniform, and plainly similar to God, has attained that truly simple good, which is devoid of matter and guile, and which alone is truly worthy of love and is lovable, when it adheres to the same, then it is at once mingled and attempered with it, forming itself through the movement and action of love toward that which is always both comprehended and found, and becoming through the likeness of the good that which of the nature of that which is participated in and perceived is. But when there is no desire in it (because there is no defect of any good in it), it will follow that the soul, when it has escaped into Him, where there is lack of nothing, should also cast out from itself the motion and affection of desiring. ^C But for such a doctrine and sentiment, the divine Apostle is also our authority. For when he had denounced beforehand the abolition and a certain quiet and sedation and end of all things, the causes of which are currently vigorous within us, even in those things which are good, he did not find an end for love and charity alone: "For prophecies shall be abolished," he says, "and knowledge shall be destroyed; but charity and love never fail." Which is the same as if he had said: It is always the same. Furthermore, when he said that faith and hope along with charity and love remain, he again prefers it and sets it before them, and not without reason. For hope is in the meantime agitated, while it is not permitted to enjoy and possess those things which are hoped for. And likewise, faith is a support and firmament of the uncertainty of those things which are hoped for. For he defined it in this way, when he said, "And faith is the substance of things hoped for." But when that which is hoped for has come, while all other things are at rest, the efficacy of charity and love remains; since it finds nothing that might receive it and take its place. Wherefore ^D also the principle of all actions which are perfected with virtue holds the preeminence. If, therefore, the soul eventually arrives at this end, it has certainly embraced the fullness of all other things. For since the life which we pass in the present is required of us in a diverse and manifold way, there are indeed many things of which we are in need and of which we are participants, such as time, such as air, such as place, such as food and drink, such as garments, such as the sun, and lamps, and many other things necessary for the use of life. But the beatitude which is looked for is in need of none of these things; rather, the divine nature will be all things to us, in the place of all, dispensing itself conveniently and aptly for every use and necessity of that life. And this is plain and manifest from the divine oracles, that God exists as both place for those who are worthy, and house, and clothing, and food, and drink, and light, and riches, and kingdom, and whatever can be either conceived by the mind or named, which might confer upon us and lead us to the good life.

FLESH. I have also fulfilled this command of yours, mistress, and I have brought the most approved proof, and indeed in the words in which the scripture exists, as you wished. And I have been very fatigued, and I have labored, and I have sought everywhere, and I have scrutinized, and in searching I have unrolled not a few books, so that I might be able to confirm what I was saying with firm arguments and testimonies. As, therefore, I found them set down by the author himself, so I have proposed them to you, most illustriously indeed agreeing with these things which are being discussed; nor has anything been changed in the elocution. Now set forth your judgment and opinion upon these, whether you think they attain the scope of the discourse.

SOUL. They harmonize, they agree, and they consent, and they make for me a firm and solid faith in the dogma, and they are inscribed on the tablets of the heart with indelible marks, after I have received the distinguished proof, just as I was asking: to which not even any contentious person will gainsay. He, therefore, who sought to learn the tripartite reason of the soul, a matter difficult to discover and to explain, as you said, was an industrious and wise man, as it appears. But I think there is nothing more that needs to be asked and known by me in this entangled and difficult matter. If, therefore, you have anything more, bring it forth without delay into the midst for my fruit, utility, and gain. But if you hold back like one sluggish and idle, and hide it, may the vengeance for my frustration and loss fall upon your head.

FLESH. What he asked about the soul, and learned, are very many things to be admired and useful. Nevertheless, add one thing, and that also useful, which I shall recite to the letter, as it is. You, if you are held by the desire of knowing, attend to me, regarding who and what kind we shall be at the resurrection on the final day, when the Lord shall have come, and taken His seat to judge.

CHAPTER XVII.

A more extensive dissertation on the resurrection from the same Macrinean dialogues of Gregory of Nyssa, as our author calls them. An exhortation to unfurl the sacred books, and an act of thanksgiving to the All-Holy Trinity.

That the resurrection will one day take place, and that man will stand before an incorruptible judgment, most of those listening will assent, both on account of the demonstrations of the Scriptures and on account of things that have already been examined and threshed out. But it would remain to consider whether, just as it is that which now exists, so too that which is hoped for will be. And if it were so, I would say that the hope of the resurrection is to be shunned. For if human bodies, when they cease to live, turn out to be of such a nature that they are restored to life as they were, then surely some perpetual calamity is hoped for by men through the resurrection. For what more miserable spectacle would there be than when, in extreme old age, bodies bowed and contracted have been reduced to baseness and deformity, their flesh having been consumed by time, while wrinkled and dry skin adheres to their bones? For since the sinews—as they are no longer imbued with their natural moisture and caused to grow plump—are shriveled, and the body thus contracted, an infirm and miserable object to behold exists, with the head inclined to the knees, and the hands on either side invalid for their natural use, etc.

CARO. You have heard the question, and in turn the response of that truly divine and wise Father, by whom the resurrection is excellently established. Come, say what you think, and whether they satisfy you.

ANIMA. I will say what is true, and what I believe. I have heard many discussing this argument, I have read the writings of many, I have unfolded very many orations: yet I have never found anything like it: the genius of that man is worthy of admiration, his discourse most ornate. Nevertheless, teach me who they are, and of what sort, who have written these things down so wisely and aptly.

CARO. I will not tell you who they are: seek and you shall know. For I, too, searched, and with difficulty and labor found them. You, also, if you seek, will find; if you knock, it shall be opened to you, and when you have, you will know to a nicety the author of this ^B disputation, yes, and his lineage, and his name, and his life. Once you have known, you will be confirmed with the fruit of your own mind. For it is not fitting to be sluggish and slothful in noble knowledge, but to be studious of labor and learning, and especially (as I desire) to study the Scriptures. For the precept is useful: "Search the Scriptures" (John v, 39).

ANIMA. As for me, already wearied, do not burden me with things for which I wish to render thanksgiving to God. I know only to venerate the Trinity, the Father, the coeternal Son, and the divine Spirit; I glorify three hypostases, three persons; but altogether one essence, one power, and one nature, individual, unconfused, and incomprehensible, the inspector of all things, the procreator of the universe, the lover of all that is good, the very goodness, the cause of all good things, which created, governs, and sustains all things, whom I proclaim, adore, worship, and glorify.

DIOPTRA BOOK THREE.

CAPUT I.

ANIMA. In the second disputation above, ^C you affirmed that the soul, without its tabernacle, that is, the body, does nothing—neither mediocre, nor great; in sum, nothing proper, nor common, nor intermediate. Have the mind and the soul the same status, then, and can the mind also do nothing apart from the body?

CARO. The mind, without the aid of the body, very often does many things, some of which are bound up with virtue, some with vice. The body by itself, unless it is aided by the mind, can do nothing at all, no matter how small the moment.

ANIMA. I cannot see how that can truly be, and whence it comes.

CARO. Give me your attention, and you shall see. Of our faults and transgressions, which we commit by night and day, some are contained in words, some in actions, some in thoughts (which are internal discourses). Receive again the division of these three kinds. As to those that are sinned by deed and word, in these the mind renders itself an ally to the flesh. As to those of thought, the contagions of those pertain to one and only the soul.

ANIMA. Concerning the soul, furthermore, what do you say? If from this ^D

^A domicile it departs, without instrument and members, is it able to perform any function at all? Or is it able, when separated and alone, to do anything?

CARO. The soul, once loosed from the bonds of the flesh and gone forth to its Lord, dances without end with the angels and modulates divine praises, with voices not brought forth externally but conceived only within, until the day of judgment shall arrive. The soul, I say, that spends this life innocently, attains this blessedness. But one that contaminates itself with the filth of vices and is liable to render an account has a different condition; it remembers both the places and the persons in which, and with whom, it is urged by the conscience of some nefariously committed act. It considers all things, it carries with itself the species of all things, and it can in no way imbibe oblivion of them: but it retains an indelible memory of its deeds, and thence is afflicted, and tortured, and sustains a punishment that no one could explain in words, which is the doctrine of more and more illustrious holy Fathers. If therefore it is tormented because of its thoughts, as it is handed down in the sacred Letters, it certainly has memory, and in some way, and from some source, it suffers. If the former distance themselves from the truth, the latter does so as well. Conversely, if truth resides in the first, it resides likewise in the second.

ANIMA. Why then does David write otherwise? "In that day," he says, "all their thoughts will perish" ^B, namely, when the spirit is separated from the flesh.

CARO. He does not say that [i]psychical[/i] thoughts, that is, those proper to the soul, are to perish, but the cares and anxieties of this life, or those which this life is accustomed to produce: concerning external matters, domestic ones, relatives, children, and other things which are engaged in human affairs in such great measure: concerning planting, agriculture, building, clothing. Of these things, when the soul has receded from this tabernacle, it will have absolutely no recollection. But what it has done while ensnared in the allurements of sin, vice, and pleasure, of these it remains entirely, and then only, mindful. Know that it is of these thoughts that David speaks.

ANIMA. I assent. Now, I would like you to explain to me something else, also not unlike the former and equally taken from the Psalms: "Man, like grass are his days, as the flower of the field, so shall he flourish. For the spirit ^C shall pass through in it, and it shall not subsist, and it shall not know its place any longer." What is the sentiment subject to this, speak and teach me.

CARO. It is certain that the outer man, and his ephemeral and decaying glory, are compared by David to grass. "As the flower of the grass," he says, "the glory and beauty of those things which endure for a short time." And each and every man flourishes like a flower, and easily deflowers and withers, and again dries up in the heat of the sun, and flows away and falls, and returns again to the earth. He called the body grass, but the soul spirit. If the soul is in the flesh, or body, the body is agitated by movement, and by that motion it executes those things which are agreeable to its nature. If that soul flies away from thence, the body is nothing, just as if it had never lived, nor had flourished in this life: nor can it be said whose it was, nor to be called this one's or that one's. We differ nothing from flowers, nothing from leaves, nothing from grass. In the spring time leaves are green, in autumn they fall and perish. This, both others and Chrysostom affirm.

ANIMA. What is this I hear from you concerning the soul? That when the good and just one is exempt from the body, it does not remember the evils and those things which it did with vice: but praises the Lord among the angels. But that ^D which has departed from here involved in sins, it remembers both its evils, and the places, and the persons, and remembers its wicked deeds. But if both the just and the wicked soul are intelligent substances, and both are endowed with the same riches of nature, it ought to be that in both alike the same memory is found. Now, as you indeed affirm, the wicked soul alone remembers its crimes. Yet it followed that the good one should also be touched by the memory of evils.

CARO. See how I shall resolve your doubt. Pure and joined to pure angels, as we have shown above, and contemplating those good and splendid things, that light, the elegance of that pleasure, and the divinity, those sweetest songs of those celebrating the feast, it exults, delights, and triumphs with joy. Pleasure is born from pleasure, and all are divine; and it forgets all those which are troublesome. But of souls in this life, to whom...

^A it implores the grace of God, it rightfully usurps memory. But being contaminated by sins, it at once leaves the body, at once is led away cursed to hell, and is snatched away with horror. There it finds retribution, torture, and punishment, an unexpected calamity and immense pain, and it wastes away with tears and groans. It thinks, considers, and ponders within itself who it is that has fallen into such great misery and into those shadows, and immediately the deeds from its past occur to it, and it remembers, and is conscious, and by that very conscience it is tormented.

ANIMA. Whence should I know this? Who is the author?

CARO. The great Dionysius from the Areopagus, so renowned, having been taught by the great Paul, who was snatched up to the third heaven—as he himself writes—and having heard secret words there and been instructed in new doctrine, and for this reason also called the bird soaring heavenward, he revealed to others what he learned there. He handed down that there are nine orders of that celestial and princely host, which are commonly called angels: but they differ among themselves in rank and status, and all are distributed into three orders. The first triad is called Cherubim, Seraphim, and Thrones. And these sing the venerable hymn: “Blessed is the glory of the Lord Almighty from His holy place.” The middle [triad] comprises Dominations, Virtues, and Powers, ^B who are accustomed to sing the *Trisagion*. The last comprises Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, whose hymn is the triple Alleluia, which they sing divinely and without end with voices that are not vocal. These two prophets, the divine Ezekiel and the great Isaiah, testify to this.

I will offer an example for the sake of illustrating the matter. If any evildoer and murderer were caught, still dripping with blood and soiled with gore, and having hands and feet rushing toward evil, who is to be hanged on the cursed tree, he knows for what cause so great a punishment is inflicted upon him, and how he is condemned to a most miserable death. Hence he is convicted of other murders as well; hence he is again wounded by the darts of his conscience, which reminds him of all his crimes: thus you should understand that the soul also, when addicted to punishments, has [such an awareness].

CHAPTER II

ANIMA. Furthermore, discuss the minds. Scripture indeed teaches that they are free from bodies, and are constant in intelligence, and are ministers and a flame of fire, and are devoid of tongues, mouths, and lips. By what reason, therefore, do they not cease to praise the Lord?

CARO. Minds, or those celestial spirits, were created simple in nature, as we are taught by Holy Scripture, and they do not cease to worship God with hymns: not as if calling upon Him with some organ or bodily instrument: but emitting a certain other sound, they modulate to Him a *Trisagion* canticle without pause. Having been allotted a most subtle nature, as minds, they wonderfully love song and sweet-sounding voices, and hence they sing to the Lord in a certain way with internal voices, so that a sweetest melody reaches Him from there. But consider that the sound of this melody has nothing in common with the body, which needs no ears, nor mouth, nor tongue: but without spoken and formed discourse, they communicate among themselves with will and reason, and they sing that triple “Holy” to the almighty Trinity, saying: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in all ages from His most holy place.” By these three words the angelic hymn is contained.

^A [The Latin column here notes Dionysius as the author]. CARO. ...The middle [triad] comprises Dominations, Virtues, and Powers, who are accustomed to sing the *Trisagion*. The last comprises Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, whose hymn is the triple Alleluia, which they sing divinely and without end with voices that are not vocal.

CHAPTER III

ANIMA. I am struck with amazement ^C at these things, I am struck with amazement at those which you discussed in the previous meeting, in which, in chapter 15, while arguing about the second coming of Christ, you asserted that the throngs of saints would go before the angels themselves in glory. This argument of yours does not yet become credible to me. Therefore, grant me this service and remove this scruple.

CARO. I will say nothing unexpected, nor from my own brain, lest you deem my speech for naught and reject it. I will bring forth proof sought from the sacred Scriptures, and from it I will resolve every difficulty. For from the ancient Fathers, one person asks another somewhere, who is dedicated to the same life and wisdom, with these words: “Tell me, venerable Father, and instruct me with a prompt and willing mind, what are those good things donated to us by Christ, 'into which the angels desire to look,'” as the prince of the apostles, Peter, says. He replied in this manner: “I think that the angels desire that God the Word, their creator, might dwell in their nature, just as He does in our flesh, according to His substance. They desire again ^D that their nature also might be worshipped and glorified by us, in...

[Scholia: The soul of the sinner remembers the type of sin itself, and the place, and the person with whom it sinned, after its departure from life: and if, while sinning, we wound our heart, and cannot hide it from our own conscience, how much less shall we be able to hide anything from God while sinning? It should be known that our Church also has nine orders, in imitation of the celestial virtues: patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, readers, monks, and the sacred body of the laity. Somewhere so too are the grades of ecclesiastical dignities enumerated among the Greeks: patriarch, metropolitan, archbishop, bishop, hieromonk, presbyter or papas, monk, deacon, subdeacon, anagnostes. The monks also had their *hegoumenoi*, or superiors, or archimandrites.]

on the Cherubic throne and sitting in the bosom of the Father, whom our nature in Christ is adored by them, and by every visible and invisible creature. They desire to have the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and to sit upon twelve thrones judging with Christ, just as in the day of judgment the fishermen are to judge with Him. They desire to enjoy such great liberty before Christ, as he possessed who reclined upon His breast. I shall tell you what is greater than all these. Christ affirms that, when He comes in the day of judgment, the powers of heaven will be shaken for fear of Him; but He will make the righteous recline, and passing by, will serve them. These and similar gifts have been given to us by Christ, into which even the angels desire to look, that is, to enter.

Then the other ^C again asks: Why in the end did Christ glorify and love our nature more than the angels? The one questioned meets the query. Hear Paul, who will teach you about the manner of the incarnation of Christ and His great kindness toward us. He says: "The mystery which God predestined before the ages for our glory" is His advent and kindness toward us men. God therefore favors and embraces the human race more than any creature, and that for two reasons: first, because it is the fashioned work of His own hands, a creature preformed for His economy, which comes under view and does not come, mortal and immortal, just as Christ is; secondly, because he is akin to us, of the same substance, of the same genus and form, having been born a man, that is. And consequently, He is naturally devoted to, and loves, His kinsmen and the partners of His own genus and substance. This let the superior of the monastery at Mount Sinai, who is also called by the surname Sinaita, tell you, if you admit him as a witness (and he is worthy to be admitted).

ANIMUS. I accept, receive, and approve this witness: he deserves faith above all, and carries weight by his authority. But if you were to add a second, I shall be grateful to you for that by grace, for I hear that one should believe two or three rather than one.

^A "The queen stood at thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety" (that is to say, in a golden and fringed garment). Do you wish also to see the footwear of this queen? Hear Paul, the usher of the bride: "Having shod your feet in the preparation of the gospel of peace." Is it pleasing to behold the belt, that it is girt about with truth? "Girt about your loins in truth." Do you wish also to gaze upon her beauty? "Not having spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing." "Thou art all fair, my love, and there is no spot in thee." Do you wish to behold the feet? "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach peace!" And although He has thus adorned her, He has not yet come in such a way as to show and exhibit His glory to her, lest by the immensity of His beauty He should strike her and move her from her senses; ^B but He comes covered with a garment, just as a bride is covered. He does not summon her upward, but He Himself descends to her, in this also observing the laws of the bridegroom by which he is commanded to meet the bride; just as Paul also says: "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cling to his wife. This is a great mystery: but I speak in Christ and in the Church." When therefore He had come into her lodging, and had found her covered with wrinkles, squalid, naked, stained with blood, He washed, anointed, and clothed her in a garment to which no equal can be found, having become He Himself her garment, and thus, having betrothed her to Himself, He carried her up into heaven and placed her on high: "Above all principalities, and powers, and virtues, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the time to come." You have seen the measure of the honor; you have seen the majesty of the dignity. She who was borne by the feet, she who was dragged along the ground, He has lifted to such a height that even the angels attend upon her. That captive woman, that alienated woman, that harlot, that impure woman—you have seen to what a height she has ascended. For since our head is above, and resides there, we, His body, are partakers of the same glory, if only we stand. Do you see how the one who is the bride is also the daughter, and the one who is daughter is also the bride? Which indeed is not the case in human bodies, where one thing is this and another is that. In God, however, both are found. For He Himself regenerated her, having been drenched by water through baptism; He Himself betrothed her to Himself; He willed to become for her father, and bridegroom, and Lord; nay rather, this very fact that He became Lord to her is a token of many cares and kindnesses toward her, to choose as His own special property a slave of demons, a mockery of the deceiver. But He made her not only His servant, but also His daughter and His bride. Truly and aptly let us exclaim: "Who shall declare the powers of the Lord, and show forth all his praises?" And again: "What shall we render to the Lord for all things which he has rendered to us? For what can be compared with such honor?

CARO. Not one alone, that which you ask, but a third also, if you require, and more I shall add: namely Paul, David, Chrysostom. These three, proven by divine testimony, and the three mouths of the Word, clearly teach that human nature is the bride and queen standing ^D at the right hand of the mystical bridegroom, and Lord. The sayings and deliberate judgments of each of these must be recited word for word, and from the beginning. Paul therefore speaks thus concerning this bride: "I have betrothed you to one man, to present a chaste virgin to Christ." And John the Baptist, who is also the Precursor of the Savior: "He who has the bride," he says, "is the bridegroom." But a mortal bridegroom, some time after the nuptials, relaxes much from the heat of love; our bridegroom, however, always intends and increases His love. David also makes mention in these words:

^A in the royal palace, and promised that she would be adorned with glory and splendor: For where the bride of my Son is, he says, there I judge it just and becoming for her entire race to be also. After the inhabitants of the city beheld the bride, the senate and the council, the magistrates, and the assemblies of the exterior and interior orders, were struck with stupor, and were in doubt, and were all seized with a certain fear, seeing a matter so great, and foreign to their own nature: namely, that their own daughters—linked to that nature by society and domestic ties—were repudiated. For He did not take the race of those who were domestic, nor from them, but from whence He had taken [her] for Himself, from thence, however much it might be of a foreign race, He wished to bring a bride. As often, therefore, as they are about to offer divine praises and honor to the King and to His Son, whom we have also mentioned, they worship with religion and trembling, whether they will or no, not without fear and stupor, beholding the glory and majesty [that is] above the thoughts of all, which was formerly condemned.

SOUL. I have heard the paradigm. Now do you interpret the same for me.

FLESH. That great King is the Lord omnipotent, and the King of glory; the city is that celestial city, of which God is the maker. Its natives are the orders of the minds [τῶν νόων]; their daughters, the angelic multitudes. The beloved Son is the Word and my Christ. The kinds of creatures are the common nature of men: but the bride whom He leads, it is plain, is the mortal nature, which He assumed from the Virgin Mary, with whom He at length returned to ^B the Father. The kinsmen and relatives of the bride are those who have taken their name from Christ. The rest of the paradigm, I think, is known to you, as well as the testimonies of the Scriptures 40 which, as I was able, I have produced to build up faith in my discourse. If you do not yet grasp any of these things, I fear that you do not possess a sound and untroubled mind. But let me be, I beseech you; do not offer me annoyance: I cannot speak further to ears that have grown deaf. That the nature of mortals, from the time of the transgression, was despicable and fleeting, yet [is now] hypostatically joined and attached to the nature of the divinity, which surpasses all things—this is what I said, that the people of the saints have been glorified above all the angels.

CAPUT V.

The conjunction of human nature with the divine is declared by a certain comparison, with an exaggeration of so great a benefit.

^C Another and brief paradigm I shall propose to you. Gold and lead differ by nature, and are distanced from each other as much as possible. If, therefore, some goldsmith, using various methods and artifice, should have changed lead into pure gold [(12)], and thus should have shown himself clever in wit ^D and work, [this is] a new and admirable thing.

Notes of Jacob Gretser.

^A I have never heard anyone call a lover of angels a "philangel," although the angel is a noble substance, most excellent among creatures, familiar and kin to the Deity, and perceived only by the mind. Even these things of Scripture point to the glory of men, plainly calling us all sons of God: "I have begotten," it says, "and exalted." And again: "Israel is my firstborn son." It has never called an angel God, nor son, nor offspring. It only calls them a flame of fire and ministering spirits. With such things, and so many testimonies, I have brought forth a foundation and solid demonstration of the proposed matter, and this dogma is now sufficiently confirmed to faith. But he who scorns these confirmations, and does not yet receive them, is not a believer, and is foolish.

CHAPTER VI

SOUL. I have carefully understood your discourse, and I am astonished at the ocean of divine mercy. For I see into what glory man has been lifted, and how far he surpasses the princes of the celestial host. Since, however, you have successfully completed the second colloquy regarding the tripartite soul, or the triple force and power of the soul, and have demonstrated how the soul will conduct itself after the resurrection, namely, how reason alone is to remain in it ^B (13), and in this third part you have explained what I asked concerning the saints, how they will be greater than the angels: from here, then, pursue for me how heaven, earth, and other things are to be changed; and in what way all things, having been reduced to another, better habit, will become new, as it is written. For you have indicated the manner of the change that is about to take place. Now, explain the reasoning of this more clearly: whether all creatures, having been changed, will again possess their own adornment without any other mutation, which David enumerated ^C point by point, exhorting every work of God, every nature, to praise the Lord, and which the trio of children in the fire of the saved introduces: the heaven, and the two luminaries, the sun and the moon?

(13) He says that only reason will remain in the soul after the resurrection. This is not said as if the sensitive powers in the soul, when united to the glorious body, will not exist, but because all of them, with their acts which they will exercise, will be perfectly subjected to reason; and therefore all rebellion between the sensitive appetite and reason will cease: as if reason alone were in the soul, because it alone will rule, nor will any faculty set itself against its empire, as it is now accustomed to do.

Scholia

Chrysostom: Although perhaps we have been made sons of God, yet that is uncertain until the last breath. If we have finished our life with good hope, then this gift is immovable, unshaken, and a stable grace; ^D when, namely, our body has been freed from death and from innumerable miseries. For this is what is, and is called, redemption.

"For to which of the angels did He say, You are my Son?" And again, "For He does not take hold of angels, but He takes hold of the seed of Abraham." (Hebr. 2, 16.) For He did not take the nature of an angel, but of man. We are indeed sons of man by nature, but by honor and grace we are sons of God: but if we have preserved His image, set in virtue, pure and incorrupt within us, then at last we shall obtain this gift.

^A Flesh. I shall even here deliver to you the sincere doctrine, and that you may not reject my words as incredible, I shall produce holy and virtuous witnesses, and you shall soon receive an indisputable proof. Apply your mind to what you shall hear from me, repeated word for word from them, and you will understand what you seek. Vain wise men and searchers into hidden mysteries doubt another matter, and pose it to us as a question. They seek to know what kind this universe—now dissolved, that is, lacking for all living beings—shall be that we believe will exist; what that new heaven and what that new earth are, as the leader of this science says; and whether the saints are to dwell in the Paradise of pleasure planted in the East, in which Adam the first-formed was placed. And whether sinners are to experience punishment in that new earth. But the more sublime knowledge of these things resides with Him who made all things from nothing, and who is afterwards to change them in ways and by reasons that no tongue can express. Yet we answer them in this way: whatever has been made from the beginning was made entirely for some cause; that cause was man. Since, therefore, all men, after the resolution of the universe, are gathered into one for judgment, so that each may bear his worthy reward, according to the holy oracle—for it says: "And these shall go away into eternal life, but those into fire" (Matt. xxv, 46) "exterior and eternal"—was there any other intervening cause except man himself, for whose sake the other creation is again to be made by the Creator, new, visible, and presented to the senses? For if all creation, from the beginning, was commanded to exist out of what was not, for man's sake, if God is again to bring about a new heaven and a new earth, it must be that he does so for some cause; and this is man, as we have said. Furthermore, as to others (so that we may consider these things differently) being caught up in the air to meet Christ, and thus always being with the Lord, as Paul says: "For this," ^B he says, "we say to you, in the word of the Lord, that we who live, who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air" (I Thess. iv, 16), while others are left to the punishments of hell—what is the utility of these new creatures? I say [it is to the praise of] the Lord and our God, existing outside the universe, and above all things in the glory of His ineffable blessedness; but as for men, since they are so situated that some go to bright and others to dark and shadowy abodes, as we have previously demonstrated, to what purpose [would be] that excellence and novelty of creation, and [the view] expected by some, of a sensible heaven and likewise a sensible and desirable earth, when there will be no one who might reign and enjoy them (14)? But these are the figments of infants, and hardly of men, and of those disturbed in the health of their minds, of those with corrupted judgment, and of those ill-disposed in reason. What then? He says, for what cause will the heavens be dissolved by heat, and the elements melt with burning (II Pet. iii, 10; Isa. li, 6), whereas we expect new heavens and a new earth, according to His promise? Where, therefore, He promised us these things, let us inquire. When counting the steps of piety for us, in nine ascensions, He added a tenth step, He also recounted the new heaven among them. For He says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. v, 3). Then: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land" (Matt. v, 4), and, to be brief, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in the heavens" (Matt. v, 12). In which heavens, finally, did He promise that our reward would be great? In those, as the oracle of Peter ^C remembers, in which justice dwells. Who then is justice? God. If, therefore, the Sun of justice dwells in those new heavens (as Scripture teaches), and God is outside everything, and the dissolved creation remains in itself, similarly and always existing, and never ceasing to be, then in those [heavens] the creature will dwell in another way, surely more divinely than in the inaccessible light, in which God dwells, being clothed with light as with a garment (Ps. civ, 2), and makes His saints divine. Then, according to Scripture, the creature having been changed and altered, it will receive incorruption as we do, and will not perish any more, having been changed and indeed liberated from servitude: "For the creature itself also shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God" (Rom. viii, 21). But if the liberty of the elect of God is divine and most splendid glory: "For they shall be," he says, "as the angels of God" (Matt. xxii, 30), the liberty of the creature will surely be similar. Yet the lot of the saints will not be in it again, inasmuch as [having] themselves with Christ...

^A ...and in whom no circumscription settles, will not be separated from them; but where He is, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, there likewise all who have had Christ living and speaking within them will be, through the Spirit, just as God the Word Himself said to the Father: "Father, those whom You have given me, I will that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory, which You have given me. For the glory which You have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, as we are one. Nor do I pray for these alone, but also for those who shall believe in me through their word." If, O man, the pleasure of paradise is clearer to you instead, I pity your unhappiness.

Take the first and solid testimony; receive also the second and the third, as you desire. For the great and most wise Chrysostom, that very festivity, wisely expounding those things which Paul wrote to the Romans, teaches thus. But the very words are to be recited, as they stand.

CHAPTER VII.

The passage of the blessed Paul to the Romans: "For the expectation of the creature waits for the revelation of the sons of God," and what follows, is explained after a fashion by Saint John Chrysostom. The state of the blessed body is not perfectly known in this life.

Everything, however, is a certain personification, and it declares the greatness of the goods, and shows that we ought to strive the more for this, that we may attain that glory and incorruption: since even the creature desires it. For beware of thinking that the inanimate and feelingless creature truly expects and senses these things; but [i]apokaradokia[/i] signifies a vehement expectation.

But what follows, "Waits for the revelation of the sons of God": that is, the end, when it shall appear who are the sons of God, and who are the sons of the devil. "For the creature was made subject to vanity," that is, to corruption. For it was condemned to this on account of our sins. "Not willingly." This is also an argument for Christ’s power, that He subjects what is unwilling. "But on account of Him who subjected it in hope, because the creature itself also will be delivered from the servitude of corruption." Thus, he says, it too expects liberation. Therefore it was made subject in hope. Then he interprets this very thing, how it is in hope, "Because the creature itself also will be delivered," he says, "into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God." Understand, on account of the liberty of glory, this is, on account of us there will also be an incorruptible creature. For just as on account of us it has been corrupted, so conversely on account of us it will be incorruptible. Because it will be delivered into liberty from corruption, changing corruption into incorruption. "For we know that every creature groans and labors in birth together until now." If the creature groans together, wishing to put off corruption, how much more ought we to wish for this?

It has this meaning, which he says: the creature was made capable of perishing, God so willing and commanding. But He willed it for our sake. For since it was going to nourish man, who was to perish, it was fitting that it too should be of this kind. For neither were bodies subject to corruption to be sustained by a creature that was a stranger to corruption. Nevertheless, it will not remain such, he says: but the creature itself also will be delivered from the servitude of the enemy, that is, from corruption. Then signifying when this will be, and through whom, he added, "Into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God." For when we shall have risen, he says, and have put on bodies never again to die, then also the heavens, and the earth, and the body of every creature will be incorruptible and immortal. And these, indeed, that golden-tongued John.

Hear furthermore another interpreter of this passage. For the expectation of the creature means this: It itself, the creature, he says, vehemently expects our future glory. Why? Because the created thing was made corruptible, it passed into corruption, when we also were made from incorruptible things corruptible. Therefore the creature, he says, desires man to be restored into his own incorruption, which will be in the resurrection, and that it itself may regain its own. For when man, on account of whom the creature began to be corrupted, has returned to incorruption, it too shall be recalled to its own incorruption.

^D And these persecutions and solutions on account of the creature, which were introduced by that illustrious explainer of the Scriptures, Chrysostom, you have heard: namely, what new heaven, what new earth, and how even these at last have attained incorruption. Doubt nothing, therefore, nor cavil: but...

Scholia

* "And all shall grow old like a garment, and as a vesture You shall change them, and they shall be changed." (Ps. ci, 27.) For all things falling under the eyes shall grow old, imitating the age of garments. But You shall change them yourself, and shall renew them, and shall make them incorruptible in the resurrection. For just as our bodies shall cease to be dissolved, and shall be restored again to immortality, so also the celestial bodies shall be renewed, fashioned again into a better lot, they too delivered from the servitude of corruption.

"Chrysost.: 'It is a most avid expectation.' But in order that the speech might become more significant, he introduces this whole universe speaking; which thing even the prophets do, setting forth rivers clapping with hands, then hills leaping, then mountains skipping: not that we should think these to be animate, nor that we should attribute any thought to them: but that from this we might understand the greatness of the goods, as things that reach even to those lacking sense. But they very often do this same thing in sad matters as well, introducing even the vine lamenting, and the wine, and the mountains, and the coffered ceilings of the temple wailing; so that even from this, in turn, we might consider the gravity of the evils. These things, therefore, the Apostle having imitated, in this place he fashions the person of the creature, and says that it sighs and travails: not that he himself heard any sigh emitted by the earth and heaven; but that he might declare the immensity of future goods, and the desire which it has, that it might be liberated from present evils.

^A When you hear that the creature will be incorruptible, and that it contains a covering—namely, my flesh—believe, imagine, and know, and say that absolutely nothing of these things which are contained in the complexity of the creature, and which are now subject to corruption, will possess seeds of destruction even then. For in that future life, and in the joys to come, there will be no use for creatures, since the figure of this world will pass away, nor will anything at all such as now exists be left behind. For while the creature will cast off corruption and old age, it will at the same time cast off ancient vice and defect; nor will it be in need of those whom we have enumerated, whether David, or the three children, or you, by whom it might be stirred to praise God, who alone will be all in all, and will distribute sufficiently and exceptionally for each one’s use and merit, according to the measure of virtue and a life well-lived, for his every perfection and fullness. The Scripture is witness, and it is a witness that cannot be contradicted, that God is also place, and food, and drink, and light, and dwelling, and clothing, and riches, and a kingdom without succession, and will be all things to all, and whatever finally is, and is named God, is sufficient for that eternal life.

^B Anima: Since, therefore, you have shown by necessary proofs that neither those four first elements of all bodies—namely, water, earth, air, and ether or fire—in which and through which the whole machine of the world subsists, nor things visible, sensible, or living, vegetable, and what are called creatures, and plants, inanimate and insensible things, will remain. For from these four, all things have been fashioned. ^C If, therefore, along with other things these too shall pass away, by which, as principles, as has been said, all things are contained, whence shall I find a body for the resurrection? How also will it be free of corruption, as you taught above? In what way will it be divine, and restored by God, as has been shown? How will a simple something, splendid in nature and appearance, and in consideration, most splendid in nature, and before all things alien to corruption, immortal, and devoid of old age, exist, if a certain quality, quantity, and magnitude have manifested in it? Respond to these things.

Caro: Beyond these things, do not argue more greedily, nor curiously scrutinize from me the deep things of the Spirit. For you cannot perceive these things clearly by such commentaries while you still carry about the body, which are not grasped through the bodily hearing of these words, nor by earthen matter, nor by any one of the senses of the body. As long as you possess the covering, that is to say, my flesh, and have not attained that inexplicable brightness, it is absolutely impossible that you should know how these things are. This is clear from these words of Paul: "We see now (while we are in this life) through a glass, in a dark manner; but then face to face," when indeed we shall return to life from the dead with a more subtle nature. Do not be troublesome or burdensome to me now; but if you wish to know anything of the profound and difficult, question the masters, and learn from them if you may; do not urge me, who am unlearned, so that this disputation may reach a desired end.

CHAPTER VIII

Anima: By God, and by the very things said by you, I implore you, do not be silent. Speak also of the final times of the world, and how, and when the consummation of all things shall come to be; and whence, and when that infamous Antichrist is to emerge. For fear pricks me, and I desire and long to know of it, lest by chance an impostor should find me ignorant and seduce me.

Caro: Whence and how he is to come, I will tell you. But the time of the consummation, as it is absolutely uncertain, I cannot say; for the Master did not communicate anything about this matter to the apostles, and often cellared it when they asked. He only told them this, that no one knew that day or hour: neither man, nor angel, but the Father alone. What, therefore, God has hidden, how could I utter?

Furthermore, many have disputed many things collected from others regarding this. For some, reflecting that God created the whole world in the Word in six days, and by His Spirit produced things above and below, and afterwards rested on the seventh day from His works, have thought that upon the completion of the number of the sixth millennium of years, the end and consummation of this life would be. For, as David sings: "A thousand years before your eyes are as yesterday, which is passed." ^D Therefore, upon the completion of the sixth millennium of years, it is necessary that the time of the whole world be filled and absolved. But these have not aimed sufficiently at the mark, as I indeed judge. To others, it came into mind to think that this age, as they say, is the seventh for the human race, and that the sixth millennium, and...

the seventh must pass over: then the end, and the judgment to come, according to Solomon 67, given that we should provide seven portions, and also eight for both lives. This seventh time or age is for works: the eighth, which is expected, is for rewards. The opinion of these people outweighs that of all others. Others bring forward written authority from the Apocalypse of John the Theologian 68. For he narrates that the Lord, the pure Lamb, will be worshipped for a thousand years, but that Satan, the apostate, the most wicked beast, having been bound, will afterward be released, so that some of the Hebrews and others may be led astray. Again, after the cross and the Passion of the Savior, and the descent into hell, the beast will be bound, and the most beautiful Lamb will again be in veneration. And from this, reasoning, they gather the thousand years. But neither do these speak probably in all respects. For learned men accept the millenary for an indefinite number and time. For I think that from Christ to the present time, one thousand one hundred and five years have elapsed, as I accurately discovered by calculating the reason. But if you count from His most bitter death and burial, you will complete one thousand and seventy-two, and from this, you will find the time more exactly. For from the time the sun, the greatest light, was fashioned until the descent from heaven of the Word and Savior, five millennia of years have passed, and five centuries besides, as the ratio is calculated. Then the Word, descending to our misery, was made flesh. From that time to the present indiction, six hundred and five, according to which the twelfth of the moon, and the twenty-fifth of the sun, is necessarily encompassed [*].

And so, from the Passion of the Lord, gather that all the years that have passed are one thousand and seventy-two, and those full years. The best Alexius currently acts in his sixteenth year in the empire. These things, therefore, have been said about the consummation of the age, not exquisitely, but from certain signs, concerning which no more should be discussed: but one must be silent, since the truth cannot be plainly told from those things which some of these investigators have said. Furthermore, as we said before, how could I exactly know the consummation of the whole world, which no one has yet been able to find by investigating? But if anyone concludes something here by necessary argument, the most wise Gregory, the great Theologian, concludes it while he says: The Lord commands, and no one contradicts, that the upper world be restored and filled: it will be filled, however, when all are saved, whoever, according to virtue, pass their life to God, whose lot is the kingdom of heaven, which shall never be taken from them. They fill the void of that order from which the first apostate fell, and he dragged with him the throngs of those falling at the same time, and those who deserted their limits and station under him [**]. When, therefore, this place has received its fullness, expect also the fullness of the present age and life. From what source, however, the Antichrist shall come, and how he shall come, I will subsequently endeavor to explain to you according to my ability. Attend your mind to me.

CAPUT IX. Concerning the forerunners of the second coming of Christ. Concerning the heralds, the amazing works, and the rise of the Antichrist.

For the first coming of the Word and Lord, the lamp, the herald, the Precursor, was John. For the second coming of the same, Elias the Thesbite will run before, whose surname is Zelotes, from the zeal in which he excelled Phinees above; that which the prophet Malachias foretells 69, and with him, and after him, the theological mouth, in his Apocalypse 70, hands down that this Elias will go before the second coming of the Lord, and with him one of the primordial Fathers, namely the admirable Enoch, these two covered in sackcloth, to testify openly to all people that the Antichrist will come to the seduction and destruction of mortals. These will precede the coming of the Word by one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Daniel clearly predicts the same 71, in other words, speaking of the weeks of years, and of those being shortened. Hence, the glory of the customary sacrifice having been taken away, that wonderful Elias and the patriarch Enoch will generally perform the office of forerunners to all men. They will prophesy for three years and a half that the seducer is at hand: and after these things the ruinous Antichrist will arrive, and, powerful in his affairs, he will vomit forth crimes, and will subject Christ's servants to torments. He will have false prophets as forerunners, who will preach and promulgate that tyrant, the impostor, and the corrupter of the world. But arriving in such a way, he will commend himself with various portents and prodigies, so that many of the elect, if it were possible, might be led into error 72. But the seducer, encountering those who are unmoved and stable, will labor in vain. He will find the root from which he springs, a bitter root, a pestilent root (as an instrument worthy and fitting for such a destroyer). He will be thought to be born of a virgin, but she will be an impure harlot, whence the wicked one shall be born from a wicked woman: and he will seem to imitate the Lord, so he will simulate holiness, and fraudulently, and according to the imagination

of just being righteous, quiet, a friend of true glory, an enemy of false [glory], a lover of the poor and of the brethren, merciful, pious, feigning kindness, ostentatiously displaying gravity. He will prefer the Hebrews and the Jewish race to all others, and will show himself to be without greed, detached from the acquisition of wealth. He will make himself pleasant and charming, and will flee moroseness. He will seem to cultivate and love peace, though he is the greatest disturber of all things. He will appear as a sheep, while being clearly a wolf, and in short, he is nothing but a fiction, a mockery, and a device, until such time as he attracts all to himself and subdues them. But the worst race of wicked Hebrews, yielding to irrational impulses and running with a clamor—Ammon, and Moab, and Edom, and such children of idolaters—will fall down and adore him as king and friend, of whom (as of those most acceptable to him before all others) he will be king, and he will feignedly, and only in appearance, display a providence for the place, as if he were to rebuild the temple for them. ^B The seducer, therefore, and prestidigitator and impostor, having seized power, will surely send forth demons to proclaim and commend him throughout the world. "A great king," they will say, "has arisen in Jerusalem; he is humane, a lover of the poor; all of you, come to him." Once he has obtained all power, the "abomination of desolation," predicted by Daniel, will follow: concerning which also Paul [speaks], [saying that he will sit] in the temple of God. And when he shall begin to lay aside the entire mask and bit by bit reveal the hypocrisy hidden within, he will first of all slaughter Enoch and Elias as a monstrous butcher; then, casting off his deceit and assuming fury and wrath, cruel, inexorable, arrogant, pestilential, impudent, furious, bold, having not a hair of a good man, a guesthouse of all iniquity, [he will fill the world] with terrors, specters, and impostures, showing himself as some great one, as a tyrant, as an invader, as an artificer of empty visions, of lies, and of miraculous mutations. ^C Nay, he will even change his figures and colors, altogether like Proteus, becoming one thing from another. Flying on high like an angel (or rather like a demon), and fashioning terrors and wonders for the sake of deception, he will appear to the inconsiderate minds as if he could move mountains. He will appoint overseers, commissioners, and civil officials; he will establish market-regulators (that is, those set over the marketplace of salable goods), tavern-keepers, and bread-sellers, so that when someone is in need of things necessary for life, and of food and drink, he may receive the seal or character of the seducer on his forehead and on his right hand, so that by all means the form of the cross—which is for salvation—may not be marked. For since he is not unaware how much of the desire for life...

CHAPTER X.

SOUL. From what tribe, furthermore, or from what race, and from what country, is that faked and execrable deceiver about to come forth? Tell me also, if any prophet or one of the Fathers has predicted anything about him.

FLESH. I will tell you an ancient prophecy, as you wish. When the patriarch Jacob was about to die, and was blessing his twelve sons, he openly prophesied in the Spirit concerning the race of Antichrist. That oracle pertains most especially to the son Dan, and it is in every respect most appropriate to the character of that wicked one. For Dan was born of Bala, the handmaid of Rachel. "Dan," he says, "shall judge his people." For that is indeed one tribe of the twelve. But just as Christ, having bloomed from the family of David, saved man as Creator and Lord, so from Dan a deadly serpent, an exitial and pernicious Antichrist, will rise up like a cerastes. For this is what we read written: "Let Dan be a serpent in the way, a cerastes in the path, biting the heels of the horse, that its rider may fall backward. I will wait for your salvation, O Lord." ^D He compares him to a dragon, by nature deceitful and crafty, who uses many frauds on all sides, and brings death to those traveling the journey of this life. Even as a horrible serpent, lying in wait in the way, kills those walking along it with clandestine bites. But the horse, I think, he called the body, falling from which [they die]. Moreover, that it has fallen and lies supine, the very bearing and form of a corpse, as I judge, shows it. Now understand the reasoning and the seduction as belonging to the seducer: for the explanation of the "heels" insinuates the corrupter. He will indeed insidiously harm some, and others he will lead into the harshest of all things and into most laborious toils. Therefore, he demonstrates the fall from the fact that he said "the horse," by whose most grievous bite, and through which he is quickly corrupted, follows the destruction and consumption of death for those from whom the heavenly reward and crown is hoped for. For the fruit of hope among the prudent is salvation itself, which they desire. Therefore, he will be born from a lustful woman, incarnate indeed in opinion, but not in actual reality (15), most mendacious, most thievish, deceitful, crafty, in appearance...

Notes of Jacob G. et al.

Scholia.

For since it [the Antichrist] is not ignorant of how great power this divine armor possesses, how impregnable and invincible it is in all things, and how its mere manifest figure weakens the demons, it will devise the plan of completely stripping the very foreheads of the Christian people of it. Then the sea, struck, will flee; the earth will dry up; no moisture will fall from above, neither dew nor rain; green grass and the leaves of trees will die; all will flee, one to one region and another to another. Europeans will betake themselves to the East, from thence they will run to the West, and from Libya they will run to the North. The whole orb will be reduced to straits; the nations will be seized with fear. Famine, pestilence, earthquakes, quakings, tremors in the cities, in the towns, on the continent and in the sea, and confusion, and tribulation, and affliction in the world will be felt. All will hunger at once, both rich and poor. They will thirst, they will be naked; they will be tormented by destitution, and will suffer every other injury and bitterness. Also, harmful beasts will be sent upon men for the multiplication, intensification, and increase of the calamity. Without and within, on every side, there will be trembling, and groaning, and weeping, and lamentation throughout the human race. Father and mother will lament over their children, children will wail over their parents, mothers over infants still at the breast, kinsmen over kinsmen, friends over friends. Falling upon each other, they will miserably expire. There will be great tribulation, and such a tribulation as has never been since the world was founded and established out of nothing by the God of all things. Those most beautiful and greatest luminaries and heavenly torches will shed no light, nor will the other stars shine. Brother will deliver brother to death, and children their parents, and these in turn their children; nature and blood will be completely confounded, and darkness, and daily deaths, and slaughters will be mingled. No one will then bring aid; there will be no one to bury; trees and brute animals will perish at the same time. The living will call dead those who died long ago, and will rot together with the stench of the dying, who, lying randomly at the crossroads, will greatly infect the air with their foul smell. At the beginning of the day they will cry out with groaning: "When will evening come? Perhaps it will deliver us from this pain." Again, when night arrives, they will wish for the day, so that they might flee thence to some other region. No relief will be found at all; there will be no shelter or protection in any place. The love of money and the desire for riches will vanish; gold, pearls, and precious stones will be cast away; purple, fine linen, and silver will be despised by all; the imperial scarlet, hyacinth, and other sumptuous things will be neglected. To speak in few words, whatever is precious in earthly things will be despised as useless, as profane, as ignominious. No one will rejoice in coins, nor will any be found who desires wealth; but they will all be accounted as dust, openly. Therefore, those who have submitted their heads to the opposing reason of Belial, and have received the character of that atheist, will murmur, running together against him. "Alas, what have we done?" they will say. "We are dying of hunger; we cannot live longer; we are failing utterly. Take away, if you can, the dragons of men." That destroyer, being powerless and having nothing good to do (since he has learned to do nothing good), will bring forward with audacity a cruel defense of himself. No rain falls; the soil is not irrigated by showers; the squalid earth does not supply food. "What then can I do? Why are you troublesome to me in vain? Whence shall I provide food? Whence shall I relieve your want?" Then the continent and the sea will lament without a tongue, and other creatures, as it is said. Tremor will occupy all things, even mountains and hills. The sun, and the moon, and the hosts of stars will look with a mournful countenance upon such seduction, by which the human race has attached itself from its Creator to the seducer, and has received his sign; which would that they had never received and borne. The ways of Sion shall mourn, saith the prophet 75, because the seducer has taken away the feasts of the Lord. The people named after Christ will be in great sorrow; for there will be no oblation, no priest, no sacrifice. Incense fails, and the place of burnt offerings, and all psalms and hymns, and every kind of divine worship, with the demon dominating us for two years and a half. For unless by the providence of the Maker, Savior, and Lord those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened 76, as he himself affirmed, my Maker, and Lord, and merciful Lord, who permits no one to be tempted beyond his strength. The times being finished, when Satan and scandals have ceased, suddenly an immense light will shine far and wide. Then that greatest, and most beautiful, and immortal Bridegroom will come to judge the whole world, as he knows, in multitude, and power, and glory, which no mind can conceive. When the trumpet sounds, the graves will be opened, and all the dead will revive, and as many as have died since men were born will be awakened 77. The living will be changed, writes Paul 78. Those who will be caught up to meet Christ, in the clouds, in the air in great number, will be the just. But sinners, like me, and as many as are most wicked, will be left on the earth, lamenting in vain. The tyrant with all his power, condemned and bound, and whoever have held his character, will be brought before the Word. Then the King of all and most powerful Lord will pronounce sentence against them, and all will depart into the hell prepared for them. In those things will then be fulfilled that prophecy.

75 Thren. I, 4, 5. 76 Matth. XXIV, 22. 77 Luc. XXI, 27; Matth. XXIV, 29 seqq. 78 I Cor. XV, 59 seqq.

Scholia Chrysostom: For indeed, as the king approaches and arrives, those who are in honor go to meet him; the condemned, and those who have offended, remain at home. We shall be carried upon the air as if by a vehicle. For Christ also was elevated in the clouds, and we shall be snatched up in the clouds; and, which is the most blessed of all, we shall be with him always.

^A which foretold the coming of the last days, in which the Lord shall bring a holy, great, and strong sword upon the great, venomous dragon, whom He shall clearly destroy with the edge of this sword. By the dragon, understand the Antichrist.

CAPUT XI.

SOUL. What, further, is the utility of the advent of the Antichrist? What profit will it bring, when he arrives, as you say he will? What is his manner of life, and why will God permit him to be born?

CARO. Do not let the novelty of the matter disturb you: for nothing of those things which happen occurs without a reason, and without a convenient reason, but in weight, number, and measure. Paul, furthermore, in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter II, answers what you are asking. For the Antichrist shall rule over those who are destitute of the grace of God, who shall suffer the most terrible things—indeed, things more terrible than the most terrible: namely, the race of the Hebrews, the slayer of Christ. Since they did not receive charity (he understands charity to be God, for He is called charity) for their utility and fruit, unto their salvation, God shall send them the operation of error, as follows hereafter, for the confirmation of the faith. He called the Antichrist the "operation of error." If, therefore, that most audacious beast were not to come at all, they would never have acknowledged their own perversity. Thus, he will come to refute the Hebrews, so that they might not even be able to put forth the excuse and say: "Because we heard Christ calling Himself the Son of God, and the offspring of the living God, by others, we would in no way subject ourselves to Him." To those saying such things, the Antichrist, from those things which he himself will say and feign, shall stop their mouths: for he will say and do nothing according to the truth, but mere lies always, just like the father of lies. And although he is the adversary of God, he will nevertheless not timidly call himself God (O impertinent audacity!), and even by this he will impose silence upon the most ungrateful. For if they did not hear Christ—the Word, God and man—they should have believed Him all the more. For Christ taught in humility, saying that He was sent by the Father, and that He had nothing from Himself without Him and the counsel of the Father. The Antichrist, however, will ^B both say and do the contrary. "Who is another God?" he will say. "I alone am God; besides me there is no other. And who is like me? I created heaven and earth, and all things." Such is the full outpouring of his audacity, and he will speak nonsense. Admonishing the Jews concerning whom, the Lord said: "I, who have come in the name of my Father, and you have not received me; another shall come in his own name, him you will receive."

SOUL. But how, I ask, shall Satan carry a body? And how shall he be contained by flesh? And how, as it appears, will he seem to have a soul and a mind, and other things? And how, according to substance, will he himself also be mortal?

CARO. Do not think, nor feel, nor speak in this way. He will be of the race of Dan, and a Galilean. A tiny virgin, falsely believed [to be a virgin], and a most shameless harlot, shall bring forth that abominable man from an illicit bed. In him the devil shall not obscurely inhabit, and he shall do everything at the will of the devil, and as if initiated into a demon he shall both speak and act: drawn and snatched away in an evil spirit, he shall thus proceed, not knowing what he does. I have explained for what causes the most wicked Antichrist is permitted to come: partly to cut off the excuses of the Hebrews, and partly so that the faithful and the struggles of the faithful may appear, which shall then be undertaken against and in opposition to him, and that others may always be an example to others, and thus they may obtain the rewards of which all are worthy on account of this zeal. For he is not to come for the destruction of all, or without a probable and convenient reason, but for the greatest utility, as we taught above. For even the flesh of serpents is used by the most excellent physicians for medicine, and for the restoration of the strength of men, as are other things deemed useless and harmful: although the Antichrist is by no means a medicine, but rather a destruction. ^{C D}

Chapter XII.

Do not, therefore, investigate the matters of this [being], nor inquire: for you will acquire no profit from such knowledge. But expect death and the end by the hour: for it is necessary for nature to be dissolved. Meditate upon this always: "Remember constantly your last things, and you will never sin," as the Scripture says. I also admire the Greeks, who wisely wrote that philosophy is a meditation on death. For just as bread is necessary before all foods, and is the foundation and stabilization of the heart, so too is the remembrance of death, which is the best of all. For the hungry man...

remember, it is impossible; and for one wishing to be saved, not to be mindful of his end. Death shall be better for you for the sake of salvation; but living is an occasion of sinning, and worse than death. It is not death, nor the very suffering of death, that shall extinguish the soul, but evil customs and a lost life. For although from the beginning you were created immortal, as a participant in intelligence, yet flight from virtue brings death upon you. Therefore, await your migration, and place it before your eyes, and think of it not only daily, but as long as you breathe. Before all things, supplicate and pray to the Lord that in the hour of death He may send to you a faithful angel, who may guard you, who may assist you in the struggle, who may deliver you, who may take care of you, so that you may escape the custody and prison of that prince of darkness, and the powers of darkness, and forms horrific to behold, and the assault of demons, and reach upward to the light ^B of the Lord’s glory, and attain the fullness of desirable things, as you wish; which is in one, and in a unified sovereignty, and shines in all the ages of ages: to the joy ineffable of the heavenly habitation, to the illustrious assembly of the heavenly ministries. Also the Father almighty of those above and those below. O splendor of the Father, Power, and Word, through whom He brought forth everything at all from nothing. O Spirit Comforter, through whom He contains everything, and builds, and perfects, and completes, and carries! Trinity and unity, in nature and persons! O light of threefold substance, Father, Word, Spirit! Inspire in me the grace of your wisdom, and grant eternal joy to all, than which there is nothing better, nothing more excellent. Holy Trinity, to you glory, the one principle and origin of all command. My faith, my adoration, my light and breath, my glorification, support, and salvation, in generations of generations, in ages of ages.

DIOPTRA BOOK FOUR

CHAPTER ONE

Wherefore God created the heavenly and intelligent substances first and all at once: but the lower ones, though likewise endowed with the power of understanding (the souls of men, that is to say), He produces one by one. The affinity and immortality of the soul with blessed minds and with God Himself.

SOUL. Why then does the almighty Lord and creator pre-create those administrative virtues and those legions of minds, which, as they were created, so they remain; but souls, though equally endowed with the benefit of reason, He always produces, creates, and fashions?

BODY. The supreme craftsman produced the angelic powers in the beginning for this reason: so that the human race, admiring them more than it should and thinking them to be without beginning—since they are innumerable and were generated with no birth—might not imagine that there are many gods, and from this, in place of one God, under whom alone is the principality of all things, introduce a confused dominion of many, and altogether a certain people of gods: since they, ^C regarding creatures excessively, and clinging to them, and not progressing further, believed that the world never began to exist, as being without a principle, and wandered in a pestiferous error. Wherefore He also always creates these souls, in which there is reason, at once demonstrating His infinite wisdom and power: at once teaching that all things, both those pertaining to souls and those pertaining to angels, were made by Him, and have one principle, and are subject to one Lord, whether it uses the senses, or consists only in intelligence, or is endowed with reason, or is anything else beyond these. ^D Moreover, that the angels were created is also evident from here, if one considers human nature—insofar as it pertains to the soul—as having been made similar to the nature of the angels in all respects. For indeed, our creation, looking ever upward from one thing to another and referring the mind to the first mind, you will recognize as the one master of souls and angels, who by the Word created the angels first, afterwards made man, and even now makes him. Nothing is superfluous, nor idle, nor vain, that the divine virtue and the sole operative of all things does in any way: nor is there a time when the Lord ceases to act and gives up, or rests at all from His works. Furthermore, He did not create the soul from His own essence, but (as it has been delivered in the divine Scriptures) He honored it with His image, although we are accustomed to compare it with God as a sempiternal, intelligent substance, and one separated from matter.

For it never perishes, always moving itself. But that into which destruction falls is not similar to an immortal nature, but is the exact opposite. Such a soul has already been produced long ago and from the beginning, having in itself a certain substance, intelligence and free will, and life, which it can also give and impart to the body, which it uses as an instrument, and to which it is coupled and implicated. If you contemplate its nature, way, and faculty from external, diverse, and many things, you would deservedly admire it. For whether...

Scholia

Psellus: That which has no origin, that is, in truth, also eternal: yet it is not the case that if something is eternal, it did not take its beginning from something. For soul, mind, and angel are indeed eternal: but they are not lacking in a principle and cause: for they received everything from that first cause in order to exist.

^A If you look at art, or knowledge, or action, or operation, or contemplation, you will gather its immortality from all of these, and you will understand what manner and how great it is; just as we have taught above in the second disputation. For He who from the beginning provided for souls to exist, the same also endowed them with eternity: which gift, since it has turned into their nature, they can never be deprived of. However, how many souls exist in number, and how great is their multitude, is known to no human being; but it is known and seen by the Creator, to whom alone all things are known. Furthermore, what manner of nature they have, and how noble it is—both that of the angels and that of souls—He alone also knows: for who else would know?

CHAPTER II.

SOUL. I seek something else, and it is a difficult thing, which however I want, desire, and long to know clearly. And I have been taught by the Scriptures that souls, as you said, are separated from matter and endowed with reason. Which essence also agrees with the angels, and they are tripartite, as was shown in the second disputation. For they possess anger, desire, and, primarily, reason, which also remains: furthermore, an inner ^B faculty, fivefold: mind, ratiocination, phantasy, [and] discretion, which faculties are also called rational; also memory, which is the greatest. These things have certainly fallen to all souls equally: not so that one has more and another less; nor so that one behaves differently from another in these things, and one is superior in condition to others in the same things, while another has obtained greater purity, and something more excellent, and is better suited for contemplating and carrying out divine matters. Therefore, I ask about these both, whether they are all similar to one another in countenance and vision, or whether they differ in this by varieties. If, however, it is permissible to attribute aspect and form to them.

BODY. These things are said concerning our bodies, and concerning all things that touch the senses, within which there is naturally found a certain countenance, conformation, and species, aspect, and a certain similarity—white, dark, black, small, large, thin, [or] thick. And one body is that of a little child, or an infant recently born, and another is one that is aging. Such, finally, are the bodies in quality and quantity, to say nothing of the remaining accidents. However, after the resurrection from the graves even these, just like the bodies themselves, shall be changed, brought back to one and the same species, and to the same age, as it is written: the glory only is not the same ^C for individuals, but different rewards, or prizes, will be conferred upon them according to measure. In the bodies, no difference at all will be discerned. In souls, however, the nature is and has been similar for the present, ever since the beginning of the human race, as is clear from Holy Scripture, and they are implicitly in the bodies, and are seen as one animal. There is, therefore, no dissimilarity between them according to nature: nor is there one species for one and another for another: but the reason, essence, form, and nature are the same for all—if, however, it is permissible to speak thus concerning spirits. For what bodiless substance would have any thickness, and width and distance, or any depth, or figure, or weight of variety, like a mass? Length also, and magnitude, are inherent in those things which come under the senses. All these things are far removed from souls. That, and that alone, must be clearly known: that everyone will receive a reward and payment appropriate to their works and behavior, just as was clearly explained in the previous discourse. For whoever has been good will obtain immense glory: whoever is evil and dark will be allotted darkness. Everyone, according to their aim and their purpose, just as they have worked, will find either joy and honor, or sorrow and ignominy. For the soul is indeed free, and it does what it wills. But it happens to bodies just as it happens to souls. Truly, however, no one has ever seen the nature of the soul except the Lord, who created it, as He himself knows.

CHAPTER III.

SOUL. If, therefore, as you have taught, souls do not differ from one another according to nature, and have the faculties enumerated equally from the beginning, it ought also to be that men correspond to one another in all other things, in what prudence, in what cognition, in what wisdom, in what knowledge, in what beauty, in what stature. For the soul indeed vivifies, ^D and restores, and sustains, and nourishes, and strengthens, and contains the body; and it brings to it an expression now happy and pleasant, now sad and morose, and changes all these things at will. It gives the greatest and most beautiful thing: the faculty of speaking, and of walking, and of acting; whatever action you may name, and whence, and how, and when, and where, all these things are in the power of the mind, but the mind of the soul is the same as the eyes are to the body. Without these, the body is inert and also dead. I, moreover, have observed an all too great difference. For I have observed...

acute eyesight in some, while others have ^A a dull gaze. And who can sufficiently express such variations? I omit the sense of taste and touch: who could explain the vast variety found in these? Pray, observe for me the manifold difference in these things. For one man, though sharing the same nature, is mute, another most eloquent. One is born with a hoarse and unpleasant voice, another is stammering, another has a tied tongue, another is slow of speech, another has a thin voice. Again, one speaks readily and easily, another is as garrulous as a bell. One is not approved of at all, another is praised by all. And what shall we say of stature? One is short, another tall, another of medium or just proportions. One is stooped, another upright, another humpbacked. One has a fair face, another dark, another average. One is hairy, another curly-haired, another hairless. One is completely beardless, another has a long and thick beard. Some are very infested with lice, some have very few.

I see some who are irascible, bilious, and choleric; others gentle and mild in spirit and character. Some are unwarlike, degenerate, cowardly; others, on the contrary, are noble, brave, and magnanimous. But let us end the enumeration of so many differences and discrepancies. For who could recount them all, when they are innumerable? Let the discourse not extend further than is fitting. Teach me the truth regarding all these things. For when you have shown the souls of men to be equal, yet you admit their efficacy is diverse. For equality in bodies is evident, inasmuch as they are concreted and coagulated from those same four primary bodies and elements, from which all things are utterly made—from warm, cold, dry, and moist substance, to which correspond fire, water, air, and earth. And hence black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm are related to them, and equal things to the equal.

CAPUT IV.

CARO. I will instruct you further in these matters as well. From the beginning, the Creator produced two worlds, and each from a simple substance: the superior, which we perceive by thought; the inferior, which falls under the senses. ^A Whatever things are in this dual world, superior and inferior, I say—these He fashioned from the bodies themselves, those He fashioned incorporeal; understand by the incorporeal the supernal legions, a nature void of matter, not falling under the eyes, and simple. But He made the inferior things bodies, namely, consisting of matter. Neither are the superior things corporeal, nor are the inferior things devoid of matter. Man, however, O wonderful thing, is compounded of both these: of the superior, I say, the intellectual and sovereign nature, and of the slime and dust whence the inferior things arose. A certain animal, inferior indeed in body, but superior in soul. In this world, therefore, which we sense, there are also perfect elements, four, and the primary bodies produced from nothing: fire, air, water, earth. Fire is hot and dry, air is hot and moist, earth is cold and dry, water is cold and moist. Earth generates and nourishes black bile: for it is indeed dry and cold, just as is its mother, the earth. Phlegm is attributed to water: for it is cold and moist, as is that. From air proceeds blood, likewise as it is hot and moist. Fire generates yellow bile, for both are dry and hot. From these four are the bodies of men mingled and tempered, namely, from both biles, yellow and black, from blood, and from phlegm. From the elements come fruits, and the power of nutriments: but the bodies of animals are from four humors. For authority over the four elements, as to certain charioteers or great leaders, was given, which God, the Artificer of all, ^C willed to preside over bodies, and to rule them. The year brings four-part changes of the seasons, namely: spring, summer, autumn, winter. Vernal weather is moist and hot; summer is hot and dry; autumnal is dry and cold; wintry is cold and moist. I shall discourse on the temperament of these qualities. But I will discourse, and quite clearly, in the following. Now let us dispatch the question proposed by you, and with God’s help let us successfully complete the matter. The constitution of bodies is also necessarily consonant with the four vicissitudes of the year. In spring blood increases, because it is moist and hot; yellow bile in summer, since it is dry and hot; black [bile] in autumn, for it is dry and cold; but in winter phlegm, which is cold and moist. With the four seasons of the year, therefore, as I said, the nature of the elements also conspires. If, therefore, any of these that I have named exceeds the measure, when conception occurs after the commixture of human bodies, a like temperament flows into the soul. For if each binary of qualities—heat and cold, moisture and dryness—has been properly blended and co-essentialized, that which is generated will have the best temperament. But if the hotter element has prevailed, it is certain that what is begotten will be beautiful and most strong.

If it is cold, it is colder and sluggish. If it is dry, ^A it is more bitter and somewhat morose. If it is humid, it is devoted to the belly and mobile. We have therefore most clearly demonstrated that the Creator and Lord has shown forth His power through the things made by Him, in accordance with a certain proportion, in heaven and the stars, in the sun and the moon, in those things which enjoy spirit and life, in the waters, and altogether in the rest of the universe. For in all things the Creator is seen in some part. Such also is the soul, this, I say, which is according to the image of God, invisible and as yet seen by no one, which is known from the body in which it dwells, and by exercising its own actions through the instruments of the body. For the soul, to which dominion is attributed, dwelling in the brain, nourishing it as it were fittingly, with its triple faculty—memory, imagination, and thought—aptly moderates the body according to its will, just as that Mind, operating all things, administers the entire creation. The heart is given to reason as a seat; to the liver is joined desire; the spleen is known to serve for laughter; the lungs, as bellows, take in and give back the breath; urine is born from the kidneys; the fervor of anger and heat arises from the blood boiling around the heart; the power of perceiving is implanted in the eyes; the tongue possesses the faculty of speaking. To sum up in a few words, it displays all its actions through the members and parts of the body as through instruments. For according to the composition in which the body has acquired its nature (for I shall repeat this same thing), the power and work of the soul accommodate themselves. For the sake of clarity, I shall bring forward an example. God, having sent down rain from the upper regions, irrigates the whole earth with water of a simple nature; but the water is transformed differently in all the trees and herbs springing from the soil, each of which, once it has received this celestial water—plain and simple by its taste and in itself—alters it, transforms the condensed fluid, and adapts and mixes it into a certain shape, size, and color, whence come a thousand qualities. In the rose, indeed, there is a sweet odor; in the rue, a foul one; in garlic, onions, and the rest, a most sharp one. In the lily, the color is most white; in the violet, it is like purple; in the rose, it is reddish, and scarlet, and white. In others, it is hyacinthine, sky-blue, or variegated. The olive tree produces oil; grapes hang from the vine; in all things, all things are born from water alone, not changing itself, nor putting on another form through itself, nor migrating into another substance when it falls from heaven to earth: but according to the qualities and mutations of those by whom it is received, it too is altered and changed, and turns out convenient and useful for the nature of each; and it nourishes every tree, whether fruit-bearing or sterile, ^D and educates and produces every herb of the field, crop, and grass, whether useful or useless. Nor could anyone say that because water is one thing, the qualities and fruits must also ^B be of one taste and form, and that it is not at all possible for them to be discerned into such a great multitude and variety, so that one might be of pleasant flavor, another bitter, another astringent, another sweet; but that just as water is one, so also this must be brought under one head. If anyone reasons thus, I consider him to be talking nonsense and to be lacking in mind and sense: to think, namely, that the nature of souls is equal. They are implanted in bodies, and while coalescing with them, they nourish, sustain, and cherish them in every way. The quality of temperament, however, of whatever kind it may happen to be from the elements and humors, is immutable, whether one has obtained a hot, cold, dry, or humid nature, and whether any woman smells good or bad, whether she be fair or dark, whether most deformed or most beautiful. For this mixing is not of souls, but of the elements, according to divine providence. If, therefore, the body has had a good tempering from the elements, and the mixture from the blood, phlegm, and both biles has been equal, corresponding to this proportion, and they have agreed in quality and quantity, then no fight or sedition intervenes between the elements, nor do they rise up against each other on account of any excess or intemperance; but they preserve peace, order, and covenants, and are strengthened and flourish, and the body possesses its senses well-firm and healthy; moreover, the brain, from which life clearly hangs, is well; nor is any disease, obstacle, or harm felt: but the body dwells in the greatest tranquility, and at the same time, together with it, the primary viscera: the heart, liver, stomach, and spleen. And then the soul easily tolerates that body, and represents its functions without impediment, most excellently to the others following it. For respiration is strong, and the præcordia are sound, and manners shine forth toward good behavior and elegance: although they proceed from the soul, in the part in which it is common to us with the brutes. But if the body should be diseased in any way, the soul will not be able to restore it. ^C I shall bring forward a paradigm for the sake of clarifying the matter. The sun is beautiful and shines like a bridegroom, like a glorious giant. Its function is twofold: to shine and to heat. There are also diverse things on earth: fields, valleys, crags, hills, forests, villages, all of which it strikes and drenches with its rays. But where the air is serene and pure, it casts the light of its rays upon them without any impediment. But where mists and aerial darkness have diffused themselves, and a denser cloud interposes itself, the sun does not shine purely, nor does it heat, but very thinly and with an opaque light. Yet the sun is not to be blamed then, because not it, but the clouds and the aerial opacity which hinder it, are the cause. Consider the body to be the world; the villages and cities to be the senses and members, and...

Scholia. Isidorus. Intemperance is caused by immoderation. For when the elements go beyond their limits, then diseases and dire deaths occur.

^A Understand the symptoms of the body as a mist; the faculties of the soul as a most brilliant sun; for in these a paradigm of the sun must be accepted. For if any serene health shines forth from bodies, and some external limb or internal part is not in the least harmed by any symptom, then the body is in a most beautiful state. In cases where it is otherwise, there the faculties of the soul are also impaired. And hence it is that men differ so much from one another. One is slow of intelligence, another is sharp and clever. One is well-behaved, another wicked, another proud. One is faithful, another malevolent. Beware of thinking that God is the cause of these, as if he willed best for some and gave them the best things, and showered them with every kindness and grace, while for others he willed the worst and treated them in the opposite way. For how could such things belong to divine judgment and Providence? If they were primarily dependent on that, it would clearly be not just, but unjust. But let this blasphemy be absent even in words. For just as he gave to the sun whatever he gave—speed, magnitude, beauty, splendor—and similarly gave to the earth fertility, to the trees the bearing of fruit, and to grain and other things their own proper function and nature, so too he entrusted to these four elements the authority and empire of the body as a whole, ^B and its growth, change, end, and dissolution, with a judgment and reason that he himself knows well. For there is nothing in all things that has not been previously understood and provided for by the Lord, who is the parent and governor of creatures, and is present from every side to all things, and pervades all things that he has made, and does not cease creating, conserving, administering, and carrying them. If, therefore, he is good and wise, as he is: as he is good, he produces all things so that the good may diffuse itself, and become known and manifest; as he is wise, he shows providence and care for his works. For if he provided for nothing, how would he be wise? He would be neither good nor wise if he did not provide and take counsel for things. Therefore, among all, and above all, it is certain that the Maker of all things looks out for and provides for all that he has created. But the knowledge of future things is not in us, who can scarcely see the things that are before our feet, and have scarcely any memory or judgment of the past. The Creator, however, as God, both foreknows those things, and ^D is a just judge and a righteous arbiter, even if the divine judgments are a great abyss. How, therefore, the human body stands regarding its temperament, and how the supreme Creator has granted dominion to the elements, and which soul-faculty and action is revealed according to the quality and temperament such as the bodies are constituted and joined, as we have said, and how these symptoms come to pass because of this, and on the contrary how bodies are in good health and improve for the better, has been sufficiently shown in our discourse. Nevertheless, I will use a paradigm so that what has been said may receive more light. They say that the earth is cu- [830, A] p-shaped and hollow, and has certain veins, through which it emits from the bottom and secretly the streams of waters, from which fountains irrigate the earth. Through these passages sea water is filtered, and in the strange course it grows sweet, and is changed into the quality and nature of the metals, and of the fountain and well water. But if the earth from which the spring gushes forth is bitter or sweet, the sea water takes on that very quality, if it so happens, namely bitterness or saltiness, or sweetness itself. But if the passage is narrow, while it struggles in the very flow, it heats up more vehemently, and as is natural, it boils. And in these things already said, that novelty is again perceived: how, while the nature of the waters is indeed one, it nevertheless becomes something else in other places, and changes its nature into the quality, the metal, and the state of each one. ^B Bodies are affected in the same way. The nature of souls, however, is not one and then another, but equal in all. But in bodies, by no means is there equality in physical makeup, but one temperament is for one and another for another, as has been shown: since the elements are neither mixed and tempered equally in all, but as each has obtained its own temperament, so it also bends the soul to itself. And so, whether one is accustomed to be gravely angry and is proud, or is mild, or tranquil, or moderate, or a whoremonger, or lascivious, or chaste and upright, or magnanimous by nature, or on the contrary sordid, or a drinker, or a drunkard, or temperate and a water-drinker, or vigilant, or swift-footed, or slow-stepping, or teachable, or unteachable, or rude, the soul is not to be blamed, as our discourse has discussed point by point in all things: but rather the body, and the temperament that fell to it; for which reason bodies are not wont, I say, to be similar to one another, nor to be akin in anything, regarding knowledge or wisdom, ^C regarding habit or nature, regarding appearance or figure, regarding the beauty of form. For since various tempering exists from the elements, it is necessary that bodies both behave variously in these things, and violently draw the soul to themselves. The matter, I think, is sufficiently proven, and there is no need for more. That which is said is very necessary. If one certain character were present in all men, much confusion would follow in the human race, and darkness and night would hold life captive. For by what indications, or by what kind of signs would a stranger be distinguished from a friend and an intimate? By what marks would the most hostile be distinguished from the best? Parents would not recognize children, nor on the contrary would children recognize parents, with such symbols failing. But the wise Architect, and bestower of wisdom, took thought for mutual recognition in his workmanship, while he poured out, as it were, diverse signs for men both from form or lineaments, and no less from the voice. Moreover, it is most worthy to admire the divine Providence in such diversity of faces. Hence the soul will find an occasion for searching out the truth and avoiding error. But if these things are not enough for you

^A I shall give you a faithful witness, inspired by God, named Anastasius, surnamed the Sinaite, who teaches and writes clearly on these matters about which he was asked. But hear his words.

Interrogation. Whence is it that from their very birth and tender years some are found to be by nature mild, others irascible, others injurious, others addicted to obscene pleasure, others haters of women and continent? Again, some are by nature prone to share their own things, others are inhuman, imparting nothing of their own to others. And some are seen to be most ingenious and most happy in invention, others slow and stupid.

Response. It is not God who makes this one chaste, another a satellite of Venus, this one irascible, that one gentle; but there are certain kinds and temperaments of regions, places, elements, and mutations and vicissitudes of the air and seasons. Then also there are natural causes, which accompany the tempering of the elements in the body. By these causes, and mutations, and times and temperaments, if at any hour an infant is conceived, the hot element will prevail, and the one that is generated, being of a hot constitution, will be prone to violence and injury, and will willingly share its own. But if the cold ^B element should abound, the one born, from a colder constitution, will be seen to be more prone to chastity. The same must be said of the other two elements. For according to the dry, they become solitary, morose, sober, and sharp: according to the humid, they become sluggish, unstable, given to gluttony, and unclean. For if we should say that it is at the divine command and will that this one is generated wicked and another upright, we shall not speak correctly, or rather we shall assail God with a curse. Nor is this all, but also the chaste man will not be found worthy of a reward; for God made him chaste. Nor will the libidinous and irascible deserve punishment, having been made such by God, as it were. Therefore, these things emanate from nature, as do prudence, temperance, and the rest, which by the holy Fathers are not called virtues, but natural eminences and excellencies, which the astrologers of the Greeks, foolishly wise, have fabled to happen to men according to the motion and course of the stars. Let the Sinaite be enough for the establishing of faith: or do you desire one even more excellent? ^C

Soul. It is enough, and I accept it, and I am satisfied with it, and I revere him. I have no need of a longer speech, nor of more testimonies, since Athanasius, who is to be equaled by many and preferred to many, says and testifies to these things. Nor will any accuser envy him this honor.

CHAPTER V

In the human voice there is the greatest variety and dissimilarity, which is placed before the eyes by a certain comparison of a lyre, or musical instrument.

Furthermore, come, speak of the nature of the voice, and how it is not given equally to men, but differently to different ones, multiform and various: and for various use, for speaking, for singing, for raising, and for lowering.

FLESH. In this, too, I will do your bidding. If an organ or musical instrument, well suited and made by some most excellent craftsman from very beautiful wood, which cannot rot and has nothing moldy or any other defect, and is glued and compacted, and perfect and absolute on every side, and has equal strings, not rough, like those of Eumolpus, and these tempered with congruent proportion, according to tension and remission, and in equal nerves has momentum, and tractability, and has other [good qualities], then it yields a musical melody, well-rhythmed and one that is purely harmonic through musical art. But if the strings are not equal to it ^D; but one is thin, another slender, another thicker, and another has no order, and similarly it is not tuned or relaxed by reason, and the wood is also half-rotted, the musician, however much he may excel, cannot form an excellent and wholly consonant melody. For if the cithara is lacking, and the wood, and the fit composition of it, and the convenient art, it is utterly impossible for the craftsman to show his skill. For the lyre will not return a good and sweet sound. And although he may prevail through the artful mobility of his fingers, by which he runs through the strings even in a moment, yet he will not produce a most rhythmic melody, because the lyre is not well tuned, as we were saying. I would like you to think the same thing exactly about the voice. Consider this mouth of yours to be an organ, or instrument, and suffer it to be called so. Let the nerves and strings—by which you make the voice, as it were, round and well-turned—be the teeth, lips, fauces, neck, and tongue, from which the melodic sound originates. To these, [add] the chest, the lungs, the muscles. For these serve speech like instruments. In addition, the largest rough artery: in all of which you will see the greatest difference. One has a tongue that is versatile and thin: another a slow and fleshy one. Another carries larger teeth, another smaller. Another is toothed, another toothless. To some they are internal, to others they project outwardly. Another has a broad neck, another a narrow one. Now, who could understand the varied and dissimilar constitution of the epiglottis, fauces, and lips? Nor indeed can you see equality in the mouth itself. Therefore, from the diversity of all these, just as from the plucking and sound of strings, it happens that the voice is also rendered unequal, and one differs greatly from another. Nor do these things truly depend on the soul as on a cause: but on this tabernacle, and its members and parts. I say the mouth is the lyre, I call the strings again the throat, fauces, neck, tongue, teeth, lips; for these are required for producing other things, but also for voice, song, and speech. But the soul, and the mind itself within it, is the craftsman. Moreover, I even see that the nostrils assist the voice, without which no one can pronounce letters. Although we attribute everything to the lyre and the strings, as those which perform the voice and the sound of the voice, yet it is not all in one's power as it is in theirs. For one lyre is made from willow wood, another from fig, another from oak if you wish, and other musical instruments are perhaps made of others, both from astringent and hard materials, and from moldy and lax ones. And how [can] anyone...

from so many and naturally diverse woods, extract a concordant modulation? For even if I make all the strings equal among themselves, their tension and tuning vary the melody and sound. Consider this same reasoning regarding this mouth. It is of another position, and figure, and measure, than the other, and hence the soul, as it ought, cannot express a similar sound through it and adapt it. Nor for this reason are souls to be accused, but rather the mouths and all the organs through which the sound comes. But if we were to subdivide these further, and demonstrate what hindrance there is in them to the sound of the voice and the melodic sound, and teach why this man is lisping and that one stuttering, we would devolve into other natural and artificial demonstrations drawn from the Galenic ^A books, and the discourse would grow to an immense length if we wished to treat everything exactly and in detail. Passing over most things, therefore, I will only say this: the wise man, having found an opportunity, will become wiser 84, and the interrogation of a wise man alone instructs the fool.

CAPUT VI.

Although man is inclined to vices because of his temperament, he can nevertheless correct himself, if he wishes, with God’s help. Certain divine works [are] above the course and order of nature. What should be granted to those desiring the benefits of God.

ANIMA. I have understood well what you have discussed. For whatever mixture bodies have had from the elements, according to that, the soul also is governed and ruled. Therefore, we will concede no other affection and motion given to bodies by the Creator than that which proceeds from their temperament, and that nature, by itself, directs and accommodates its own [movements] to that gathering of elements from which all things are deduced — both prudence and speech, and whether one is by nature very irascible, or stupid, or ineffable, or envious, or libidinous, or most wicked, or shameless like a dog, inclined to lust, foolish, stunned, delirious, savage, hard, or having a somewhat bitter spirit. Again, we will ascribe the contraries of these to ^B nature and the mixture of elements. But shall we assert that the wicked and scrofulous are such from an evil and stupid mind, and shall we accuse neither the judgment of providence nor the mixture of elements in these things we have spoken of? Can those, therefore, who are carried toward worse things change the worse for the better?

CARO. They can indeed, and they do change: but if the mind judges according to reason, by agitating within itself and fervently desiring better things, and finally all things in which nature is engaged at its best. If the mind—and that other source—shall have judged these things, as I said, with divine help assisting from above, the worse will be converted into the better, and most easily. From those things which are more excellent, and divine, and supernal, and which those ^C from demons are, as those who are to be accepted, and these on the contrary are to be rejected, and whatever belongs to the conscience, which is the simple thought of the perfect, believe me, as it is necessary to discern and judge, and to the prudence of those who are capable, in all things, that they may judge most rightly and perceive all things deeply. But those things which surpass admiration must now be told: in which nature and the mixture of elements is ineffective, but the Creator of nature acts by reasons which He alone knows, as being the only Lord and omnipotent, and the cause of all things, and the administrator of all things. For He transcends the order of nature and its limits, being just and kind to whom it has pleased Him; and He alone prevails, and can do all things whatsoever, and changes all things, and restrains turbulent affections, and dissolves every vicious habit, and works miracles, changes natures, and accomplishes all things among all by a word alone, in generations of generations until the consummation of the world. Therefore, I approach the opening and explaining of these miracles, by which nature itself, with its own order and mode, has been overcome and yielded. A woman conceives for as long as she suffers her customary monthly flow of blood. When these cease, she is no longer impregnated with a fetus. Nevertheless, by God’s command, many even gestate and bring forth beyond nature—the aged ^D and the barren, like Sara [who bore] Isaac, and Anna [who bore] the Mother of God, and Elisabeth, mature in age, to whom, by grace, was the name [given], and John the forerunner. One might find not a few others of this kind in every age. I will willingly be silent about the generation of the Word from an inviolate maiden, since it is inexplicable. I will also be silent about the prodigies and abundance of miracles which the Lord of miracles Himself was accustomed to perform in ways and manners known to Him among the mute, and the blind, and other calamitous persons. He also rendered Samson generous and strong. He adorned Joseph with that excellence of form with which He once adorned Adam. He gave to Solomon the pinnacle and breadth of wisdom. He instructed the Greeks in the knowledge of the most beautiful things, so that they might write books as instruments, full of art and wisdom—of grammar, rhetoric, medicine, and other faculties, and of august philosophy, the queen of all. But why do I delay to report more significant and better things to you? He snatched Paul up into the third heaven, o, a thing to be admired! He snatched Philip away from Gaza suddenly and brought him, faster than a word, to Azotus. He carried Habakkuk elevated through the air to Babylon, and afterwards restored him to the reapers on the same day; I pass over Enoch and Elijah the Thesbite, who were taken up from the earth into heaven and remain alive. In these cases, neither nature, nor the mixture of elements, nor any other similar thing had any power: for who would dare to say that? But the Word, who makes all things and changes them, [did it].

Ut inde discamus, et cognoscamus imperium et...

From which we learn and recognize the authority and ^A greatness of His power in all things; lest any one should say to his Maker, "Why do you fashion me thus?" The potter, using clay substance, fashions from it what he pleases, one vessel for honor and another for dishonor. Yet all this is to demonstrate wisdom and art.

I shall speak of what is more wonderful, so that you may be still more astonished. Man is a venerable and most excellent animal, as we have taught; for we have taken our name from Christ, and have been called to the kingdom of heaven. Furthermore, we have received another greater gift. For if he has wiped away the sins committed in soul and body, and has washed off his stains as is fitting, in labors, in religious exercises, in tears, in groans, he becomes again a resting place for divine illuminations. The Spirit teaches all things. If He receives the illiterate, He makes them wise; if shepherds, He renders them prophets, psalmists, and kings; He raises them to the perfection of action and contemplation. But if, as He Himself said, He should inhabit men again, and impart to them His grace and light, they are transformed into a celestial and divine ecstasy, as Climacus—most wise in spiritual and divine things—writes. For if the divine grace of the Spirit should breathe upon anyone, as much grace as He Himself wills, there come to pass in him things stupendous and surpassing opinion, in which the Word, and redemption, and liberation are manifest. For He breathes when, and where, and upon whom He wills; as you have perceived, I think, in the second disputation. Hence all the passions that have rashly occupied a strange place in the heart are exterminated.

The mind, however, elevated by purgation, runs to God. Yet God does not bestow this purity and these benefits upon all equally and in the same way. For He provides grace to each according to the proportion, the measure of purgation, and the fruit or probity of his works, according to more and less, according to part and whole, according to the capacity and cleanliness of the vessel and of the house. So that the matter may be understood more clearly, I shall provide a comparison. For just as a wineskin of water, or a jar of must filled to the very brim, cannot receive anything extraneous except the air—but when you pour out something from that fullness, whether much or little, insofar as it is emptied, to that extent air enters to fill the empty space equitably, in exactly the same dimensions, so that there be no void in things—conceive of these things of which we are speaking in your mind. Interpret men as the wineskin; the water as the flow of perturbations, that is, the affections flowing in human hearts. As much, therefore, as we have drained out of this flow through tears, through mourning, through diligent actions, so much in return shall we receive an influx of grace. But if we have not thoroughly purified ourselves within, grace cannot be derived into us, which is made clear by the arguments brought forward. For what ointment would be entrusted to a putrid receptacle?

Paul, the mouth of the Lord, wrote again that one charisma and gift from God has fallen to one, and another to another. To each, according to his faith and manner of life, the charisma is poured out with measure and reason. To one, the grace of speech; to another, of prophecy; to another, the power of signs; to another, the grace of healings. There is indeed one Spirit, but the graces are not equal, nor are the gifts equal: but some are lesser and others greater. For if the receptacles happen to be unequal, how can the divine gifts be equal and uniform? Therefore, according to the measure of faith, and especially according to utility, the efficiency of the Spirit is also manifested, and He supplies good things, and removes evils, and rests upon them as much as He wills, above the laws of nature and all the temperaments of the elements. For those who are not yet purified by works proceeding from virtue, to these, for the insertion of better things following the drain of the worse, an elementary temperament will not suffice. And these things, as I think, we have declared to you as much as is sufficient. But to us, endowed from the beginning with divine reason, this also was innate and given by nature: that we are masters of those things which occur in action, as ones endowed with free will, and most beautifully adorned with intelligence and the faculty of action. But if we are wicked, this also is of our own will. For it is by will and counsel, not by nature—which God forbid—that vice proceeds; beware lest you think otherwise. Nature is not as a procuress and cause of crimes, but affection and the habit of the will produce them.

Scholia

* Chrysostom: Do not think these things were said because of the arrangement of fabrication, nor because of the necessity of the will, but because of the liberty and difference of the economy, lest he should say of the valiant soldier Paul that he was a vessel of election (Acts IX, 15). And into some He comes and remains; but from others He departs, and into some He is not sent at all. Wherefore we also ought to contribute that which is in us, otherwise we shall not obtain it.

** Basilius: God's benefits are not to be kept silent, but because of them grace should always be given: which weakens cupidity, turns anger into mildness, lifts up the mind as if on wings, whence it departs from these things to God; and one no longer works according to nature, but above it. For whom the Word of God inhabits through purgation, He consummates purity in him, and finally slays death, that is, vicious affections.

*** Isidorus: Although it is grace, yet it does not exist simply, but receives its measure from those who receive it. It flows in as much as it finds the vessel of faith exhibited to itself. For if our office were not first required, it would all fly over. But because He examines the will, He abounds so much that He also provides that the strong soldier Paul should be a vessel of election.

**** Basilius: The Spirit is indeed one, but the charismata are not equal for this reason, because the receptacles of the Spirit are not equal: but according to the proportion of faith, gifts are conferred by God upon each one for his utility, whether more to this one, or fewer to that. Anyone, indeed, according to the proportion of faith appearing in himself receives the operation and efficiency of the Spirit. Wherefore each one is the dispenser of his own grace, when the affection which is required for receiving good things is placed in him: nor does any prudent man ever envy his neighbor on account of that which is notable and spectacular.

^A But it can be taught, for it is by no means innate to nature. This is manifest from those things which we have said and are saying. For habit is not equal or the same in all, but it is one thing in one and another in another: for it falls under the scope of discipline. Those things, however, which are natural and common to all are present equally in all men. Since, therefore, we are free in will and possessed of reason, those things to which we are carried and inclined are our habits, whether they are works of light or of darkness; whether we have dealings with truth or with falsehood, with deceit, or whether we are prudent, foolish, or perverse in our morals. Therefore, if anyone prefers the superior to the inferior, he becomes a child of God by adoption; if he chooses the worst, he becomes a child of the devil. A wealthy witness to these things is Mary of Egypt, who, though she was previously a dwelling place for Satan, at last was made a habitation for God. I have also heard that Pelagia imitated the life of Mary with great glory for herself. Behold, we have taught in every respect the power of grace, how it operates and shines forth. This grace, to those who apply repentance, excises perverse affections and, conversely, inserts the most beautiful ones of divine things into others. Moreover, you hear the words of the Word saying: "A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit" (Matt. vii, 18). But it will produce good fruit if it has been grafted into the good. Paul writes again to the Corinthians: "The animal man perceiveth not the things that are of the Spirit of God" (I Cor. ii, 14). But if he has changed his morals, he will both perceive and love them. For he did not say: "He will not perceive," but rather, "He perceiveth not;" for the latter belongs to the present time, the former to the future. Just as if someone, looking at heated iron, were to affirm, "This is not cold," it will nevertheless, as is its nature, become cold. Consider these things for me, and those of which I have spoken. For grace often appears even in the wicked, and inserts the faculty of prophesying even into them, dispensing it, obviously, as it knows to be profitable. For even Saul among the prophets, and Balaam, and Caiaphas, bear witness even against their wills, as does Nebuchadnezzar, although they were profane men of no value. ^B

CHAPTER VII.

SOUL. I approve the answer; it has been said to me quite to my satisfaction regarding those things which you yourself have proposed for discussion in this place. But to what end, and whence, come the symptoms and affections of the insane? For we shall assign these either to their spirits, or they depend upon providence, or rather from the elements. I certainly hear Scripture saying that without God nothing has been or will be. I would like you to answer me on this, just as you have answered the rest. ^C

FLESH. Perceive, therefore, how this matter stands, and learn the truth which God has supplied to us, and how one man is stupid, another by no means so; one is quite parched, fluid, or dissolute in his limbs. And how one is a drunkard, another by nature sober. This one is born in his right mind, that one out of his. Another is blind from his ancestors, another keen-sighted, another hunched, another humpbacked, another lame. Very many and various things of this kind happen to men. Know, therefore, that the year has a fourfold mutation; spring and summer run together; and likewise autumn and winter. Spring is humid and hot—humid indeed from winter, to which it succeeds directly (for it is the extreme, or end, of winter), and hot from summer, to which it approaches. Weigh the coupling of these, and admire the Creator. From the air blood immediately arises. From the earth, which is dry by nature, comes black bile, or melancholy. From fire comes yellow bile, or cholera, which increases with the summer. Phlegm is the offspring of the humid substance of the waters.

^D Scholia. *Isidore:* For if we are able to learn evil and vices, we are certainly also able to unlearn them when we wish, since they are not natural, but voluntary. For human nature neither receives vices and sins, nor contains them in itself; but admitting them freely, it deprives itself of the good things which it could have enjoyed. *Gregory the Theologian:* Some virtues are natural, others moral, others are those that can be taught. Natural are those which are in us from our temperament or constitution. For example, a soldier, being hot by constitution, conducts himself manfully in battle: but perhaps he is the same one who is libidinous and lascivious. Conversely, one who is cold by constitution is temperate and chaste, yet he is found cowardly and timid in battle. Moral virtues are when some master has accustomed a servant to a life dedicated to temperance and justice, not in such a way that he teaches him a certain doctrine of temperance or justice, but if he has taught him to live in such a simple manner. Natural and moral virtues themselves are not usually present together; for they are distinct from one another. Those which can be taught are found joined with them. There are, furthermore, virtues of necessity, when someone, not of his own accord and will, but compelled by evil, applies himself to the good, like Paul, and the robber, and Manasses. Therefore, some virtues are natural, some are moral, some fall under doctrine, some pertain to circumstances. "Is Saul also among the prophets?" is circulated as a proverb even today, when he threw off his royal robe in anger and danced, clapping his hands, and prophesied the kingdom also for David. Prophecy of Balaam: "A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall spring from Israel." (Num. xxiv, 17.) Caiaphas: "It is expedient that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." (John xviii, 14.) Nebuchadnezzar saw a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which struck the statue he had erected and crushed it. (Dan. ii, 45.) But this stone which he saw was Christ Himself; as Daniel understands and interprets.

^A Likewise, the four ages of man are compared to these: beginning, progress, vigor, and weakness—namely, of boys, youths, men, the aging, and the decrepit—which four stages also correspond to the seasons of the year. But if you please, let us discuss these more clearly. Phlegm arises from water, and has an association with that element; black bile comes from dry earth; yellow bile from fire, since it also itself approaches the nature of fire. By phlegm, understand the winter season, which is humid and cold, and like a sort of old age. Blood represents spring itself: for it is humid and warm, like the good temperament of boys. Yellow bile is compared to summer. Indeed, we experience summer as hot and dry, just as the age of men is robust. Black bile imitates autumn; for it is dry and cold, just as the youthful age.

The spaces of each age, and all the properties and distinctions of any one of them, I consider superfluous to recount. However, it must still be said concerning them, if it seems right. And first of all, and before all, the divine Word, the craftsman of all things, the treasury of knowledge, and the abyss of wisdom must be contemplated. From there, one must come to the causes of miseries, of which I spoke above. Consider for me the creation of the infant, the beginning of this generation. Not as if from a gymnastic struggle, flowing everywhere with sweat; but in the uterus and in the belly, not humid, but a humor. A cauldron, receiving cold water from the beginning, contains it as long as it is cold. But when it has grown hot, and ripples on account of the fire placed beneath ^C it, then witness for me a sort of struggle of two contraries, and an illustrious victory, and from the struggle, a dominion, how the worse gradually yields to the better, though it does so willingly, and emits a sound without a trumpet: namely, the noise of boiling, which stands in for a trumpet to this victory. Let the seed be water; consider the cauldron to be the cavity of the maternal uterus; interpret the copulation and the heat of the bodies as fire. By the example of the cauldron, therefore, we show the stage of the infants. Thence we pass to the virile stage, and in this let us see a new mutation; a mutation concerning which the great David so long ago, which is clearly of the right hand of the Most High: "I remembered," he says, "the works of the Lord." What, therefore, is peculiar to this? What is its temperament? First is a certain heat, then dryness. For it receives its beginning from the age of boys, which has an affinity with spring, which is the limit of winter, whose end is humid, as the beginning is cold. But I shall also clarify these by a certain ^D paradigm. We say that there are four seasons, and just as many elements, and four ages, correspondingly answering to those in a certain communion. But the quaternion is different in the part of the father. For every season—summer, autumn, spring, winter—is entirely a part of the year. Since therefore these parts of the year are as we have said, does it not seem to you that the time of day and the hours of the night are a part of the whole? But consider the night, even of summer, to be winter. For it is entirely humid and cold by its nature, on account of the nocturnal exhalation and the morning dew, the image of which old age bears. When, therefore, the rising sun has brought forth its head, and has begun to illuminate the lower sphere like a bridegroom from his chamber, with incomparable beauty, and has looked out like an infant from the womb of its mother, and has looked down upon the earth with smiling eyes, shedding light-bearing rays through everything, immediately the humid exhalation, with the dew remaining, ceases. Furthermore, heat is admixed with the dew. Is this not clearly the age of youths? After it has come into the middle of the sky, as if into a council chamber, already placed on high, it represents the laborious and hardy man, and ^B like some giant of tall body it does not cease to labor, nor does it stop being carried wonderfully: but it is turned in an indefatigable and continuous course. The dew, indeed, is taken away by the heat. And hence summer, and the manly age, is hinted. Again, when it tends toward the west, leaving behind the heat, and retaining the dryness, and having a share of cold—and that from the night, which, as has been said, is naturally cold—is it not humid, as if some aging man, dry and languid and broken by labor, seen to run headlong downward? Does it not seem to be similar to autumn, and from that is it not noted that the age of old men is withered and cold?

CHAPTER VIII

Since, however, I have completed as if a pentathlon, that is, I have brought forward all the times and temperaments, I will also append the rest, as I promised you. But the scope and purpose is to say: whence from the very womb do such accidents occur to infants; and again, whence, after they have been brought into the light in the progress of time? And to say, with the grace of God, as my strength and words have supplied. And finally, how do the inconveniences of this kind happen, some from the very maternal womb, and others after birth? And which ones remain, which admit of a cure, and indeed quickly? And in what way do some increase with time, while others as it were recede, and vanish altogether in a retrograde manner? And why is it that some are punished, while others are crowned? And how is it that it is profitable for some to fear servitude, and for others to live in liberty? Some are captured, others are in honor and glory, while with others the matter stands differently. Infinite differences are seen in human affairs, and they are variously mixed. In God is the power and the highest wisdom.

Scholia

^A and omnipotent. He was able to create the soul simple and subsistent, just as He made the angels incorporeal. For the same One is the fabricator of souls and angels, and He was able to create them free from all turbulent motion, just as those heavenly minds are. For movements of this kind belong to bodies, not to those lacking body: unless one might call intention such a movement, as happened in the case of the angels recently produced, of whom some retained their order and dignity with which they were created, while others, puffed up with pride, fell from it. For when they had been produced in such a way that they could most easily be moved toward the good, they themselves were incited toward the worst, and raising themselves against God, they conceived something greater than their nature allowed. Therefore, they were not created evil, but appeared evil afterward. Since, therefore, He could create souls as separate minds, simple in nature, adorned with reason, and not subject to any perturbations, He did not create them in such a way, but in another and wondrous manner; and He made man, a creature mixed and composite, surely with a body from the order of inferior and terrestrial things, and a soul from that of superior and celestial things, endowed with mind and counsel, and this according to the image, so that He might display His power and wisdom all the more evidently, through which He can create still another and new creature. For if He had created even this, one might say, man, as simple, He would have appeared only as the creator of angels. For certain of those who think wrongly suppose that one is the author and founder of good things, another of evil things. Nor do they think, being foolish men, that sin is not a substance, neither extrinsic nor intrinsic, but a privation of the better, just as shadows exist from the flight of light, and night emerges after the sunset, and in turn, when Lucifer shines, it itself is repelled and flees. That, therefore, as the origin and knower of all good things, He might root out the germ of wickedness, which the Lord openly called a house, which the winds blowing together with divine gusts, and the torrents flowing around from the fountain bubbling forth from God, rushing in unexpectedly, razed to the ground. But speak, whom the most wicked seducer has fashioned? You senseless, delirious men, most vicious in your morals. Why have you dared to babble such trifles? You assert that every creature looks toward a twofold and contrary end. ^B O thoughtless error, opposing the words of the Lord, who testified that no one can serve two masters! For if at any time no one can serve two concordant masters, who would serve gods opposing in purpose and will? Or he will hold one in hatred, and will love the other; or he will indeed sustain the one, and despise the other. This affirmation is of the Lord, utterly extirpating the impure and fraudulent opinion of the Manichaeans. There is one true God, one inspector, one parent of things, in three hypostases, having no different wills. For there is one will, one power, ^C one empire in the three. We worship one Trinity. We do not preach three gods, but three hypostases: one God, who turns the heaven in a sphere, and founded the earth by His word, and inspired spirit into all beasts and animals, and fashioned some from air, some from water, some from earth, all for generation and destruction, and only thus far. And hence the Lord of animals also appears. For in those things over which anyone rules, he acts according to his authority.

CHAPTER IX. Concerning the providence of God in the creation of the world, and why He did not make man immutable and immortal.

But ponder the wonderfulness of the plans by which the world was made. First, He established heaven and earth, and the things that are contained within their circuit. He created the elements altogether at once, none from matter. He made the angels by thought, so that they might exist. How great is that power! He prepared a throne: for the Lord is of the thrones, not exactly of equal honor, but only to be adored, as honored, as glorious, because of the One sitting and resting upon it, whom all things fear and tremble at. These are the first creatures, which others follow. Truly, they are called elements ^D by reason of the order according to which the universe is composed in an orderly fashion by the nod of the Creator. For what was done without His providence, I ask? For as any merchant, if he were to lead out a merchant ship once constructed and decorated with its other armaments—rudders, rigging, sails, yards, ropes by which the mast is fastened in the prow, oars, anchors—and smeared with pitch and painted with vermilion, and released it into the sea, cutting through the water, while he himself, having left the ship, sits at home, would it not be struck by very many waves and hidden rocks under the water, reefs, whirlpools and Scyllas, and protruding stones, and subjected to winds and monstrous storms, and being impacted, be broken and swallowed into the deep? If, therefore, ships cannot be held and saved without a pilot, do you think that this ship of the whole world can be saved if it lacks a pilot? Look upon the four elements for me as a cargo ship, through which some things are indeed carried and sail, and others will be carried and will sail. Just as, therefore, no one can cross the sea or even some strait without a ship, so no one passes this life without the elements. Thus the Word, the craftsman of the universe, judged, thus He established. Therefore, as a ship deprived of a helmsman is not lacking in danger: so, believe me, a creature deserted by Providence is near to peril. At this point, a more perplexing doubt enters my mind. The Creator, wishing to produce man as He did produce, a single animal from two, why did He not rather produce him simple by nature, so that he might endure forever, and never perish? For from that which is effected [as] the element of fire, not even its light is

^A obscured, or the heat extinguished. So likewise the earth and other creatures remain in their own state. But man is created in such a way that he is by nature perishable, short-lived, unlike himself, and mutable in the slightest moment. Again, I heard others asking: why did God not create man immune from old age, so that he might propagate a life as long as possible, and without an end? Although, however, he is possessed of reason, and in this he differs from and excels all others, he does not on that account extend his years any longer. Among brute animals, the leopard surpasses in speed; the camel is malicious; the bear is greedy; the wolf is rapacious and wild; the horse is irascible; the peacock is proud; the dove is wanton. To some belongs one nature, habit, and affection, to others another. But animals do not return to life from the dead for judgment, for vengeance, and for the bearing of the punishments of sins. ^B But men are subject to sins, and have to undergo punishments and torments both before and after death, if they have not blotted out their crimes through repentance. Yet it would be better for nature if there were no resurrection. Now, however, as many of us as are wicked rise for judgment. But a certain man, who is to be approved above all others, dissolves this doubt, seeing as he does both sides; he who most openly, as if from on high and from the middle of the platform, teaches, cries out, and preaches that this life should be led as a stadium or a quinquertium [five-part contest]. Indeed, those who are eager for virtue seem to be racers. For what is more noble than holiness of morals? Endowed with this, they will be heirs of God and of divine glory. Pleasures, however, are the scourge of the wrestler Satan. But He (God) receives the son who is returning as if from battle, long since extremely strenuous, and rejoices and is glad with these words: "O most dear son, you have come, your race finished. You have legitimately glorified the Father with your members; receive ^C the rewards of the labors for your scope and intention, such as I have prepared for those who love me." But you, did you wish an eternal contest to be established? Who, I ask, could have sustained the contest, even if he were adamant and invulnerable, if he could not be relieved from these bonds of the body, furthermore? And who, being bound, is so unhappy that he would not wish to escape the darkness and the prison? If not, at any rate, he certainly wishes to diminish this misery for himself according to his strength, so that, on account of its scantiness, he might be freed from it without any trouble. But you wish to be defiled and polluted by perturbations, if you do not want the beauty given by God, and that great image, to be [the reward] for the resurrection as a remuneration for labors. And how will men not fall into wickedness daily if they believe that no resurrection and judgment remain? Furthermore, how is it not absurd that one decorated with the gift of reason, and placed above all [others] by the divine breath, should not wish to live a life laid up in hope? I, however, consider death itself not death, but a most happy transition to a life lacking old age, and that what we have borne for a time is the remuneration for them, and a kind of release ^D from the prison, I think. Indeed, the divine body before death was not foreign to destruction, but brought back to life, it became clearly immortal and free from corruption, carrying forward the type and form of the regeneration which will happen for all when the Lord arrives. For carnal generation is full of symptoms, of which there are more kinds than trees in the forest. These things which we have discussed concerning the seasons, the elements, the ages, and the humors, both simple and co-agulated or concrete, are of such a kind. Next, we must deal with the symptoms.

CAPUT X.

Finally, he ascribes the cause of monstrous births and those marked by some foulness to the incontinence of parents. He demonstrates that in these very births there is a utility for the correction of the morals of men. For some things are seen to be implanted and inserted into human nature from the very conception, some after birth. For although these things may rage through the life of men like certain portents, nevertheless they depend on the reasons of divine Providence, which, by a comparison with the worse, declares the better more clearly; so that we may decline the former through fear of danger, but accelerate toward the good through the desire for rewards. For soon after the embrace, if the temperament of the bodies and other circumstances are congruent, and the humor is well-tempered with heat, the children who are born will have [their nature] very well according to both. But if the heat has overcome the humor, prudence will shine in the offspring. On the contrary, if the humor has conquered the heat, the mind will not have much prudence, and the body will be weak in strength, and a trembling of the members will follow. For when nature has not sufficiently accommodated the type and form, the conception itself is changed in temperament and formation, and is carried in the womb as an opprobrium, a prodigy, a disease, [something] dissolved, foul, and of an utterly bad habit, either in all the members or at least in some: for example, squint-eyed, sharp-headed, epileptic, maimed. And such things are certainly accustomed to happen either through excess or through defect. Those who use love-making moderately administer that conjunction opportunely. Those who rush into lust impotently, and enjoy those pleasures of the bodies to be mingled in an untimely manner, for them the abuse is detrimental, and they fall into ignominy, and offer themselves to be mocked by all. Hence, such calamities also come to men even from the mother's womb, and especially to the foolish. Drunkenness also, on account of excessive intemperance, is detrimental, and renders the semen not fecund, but useless and sterile. Hence, the lust of certain ones is to be reproved, who mix those secret marital [acts] too imprudently. But the whole crime resides with the parents, who do not refrain from touching women unclean from their monthly courses, whence afterwards abominable fetuses are poured out.

Scholia. Some say that from such commerce both something shameful and leprosy are generated, on account of an excess, that is. And as if the bodies were healthy, also those that are generated will be healthy. If the bo-

- dies are broken and vicious, the children will imitate them. The Law therefore prescribes that no one should approach a woman while she is in the purification of her uncleanness (Levit. xv, 19). For it happens that a man’s body, mingled with the impure blood of a woman, generates a body that is not at all pure, nor well-tempered, but subject to various affections. The legislator, wishing to prevent these evils beforehand, cast out those born from such a union and excluded them from sacred enclosures and assemblies, so that their parents might not dare to commit such a thing in the future. And although marriages are honorable and the bed is undefiled (Hebr. xiii, 4), yet it is not always to be ascended; but one must abstain for a time, and yield to nature, until it is purified and made suitable for conceiving children.

For what reason did the legislator prohibit lepers and those afflicted with other diseases from sacred enclosures? To restrain the incontinence of parents and to put a bridle on their pleasures, and to circumscribe that joining of bodies within certain limits: seeing that many have intercourse with women when it is not permitted, and from an untimely union beget impure bodies. The Divine Power provides, therefore, that this may not happen. For when parents see that such people are barred from sacred assemblies, and consider that the cause of this matter is their own incontinence, they are tormented by a perpetual pain.

^A In other incontinent people, while they are occupied with themselves, infants also deservedly become drier, their moisture having been dried up by the heat of lust. These are clear signs of the intemperance of fathers. The ape begets an ape, just as the Ethiopian begets an Ethiopian, the bald man the bald, and the diseased the diseased. Fathers bear the blame most of all. And yet, some utility of these things is seen in life. For men are instructed, so that they may not rush headlong into obscene pleasure, nor propagate offspring to the disgrace of the family; they themselves, made more cautious by the faults of others, become such teachers of the best way of life to the rest, and turn themselves from their former folly to a temperate and better life, and are a praiseworthy example. For the Lord, who sustains all things with a nod and a word, looking far ahead to what the result of each thing might be, has allowed these things to happen among men, ^B so that not all might be generated impurely and foully, but so that for some it might be a result of the symptoms, and in some places it might lead to the avoidance of vices by which they would be ensnared. Yet parents are not free from crime, even if their children are preserved from the calamities we have recounted, God having mercy. Other inconveniences are received from the womb onwards. And the law was most excellent among the Lacedaemonians, which commanded that the female sex be exercised in playful contests, so that they might generate robust children. Other things indeed happen usefully after birth. One man was destined to use his sight badly, and he was blinded in his eyes. Another is addicted to servitude, which is beneficial to him. Another is born poor, for whom it is not convenient to have riches; for he would misuse them to his own destruction. Another’s tongue is impeded, who would have served garrulity. Another’s hand withered, which he was about to extend perversely. And to these, those accidents are good. But consider how great is the Lord’s goodness. For having had mercy on His creation in a human way, He has even directed and converted those things to its utility. Indeed, ^C and death is a certain gift of His kindness. But the reasons for abortions, and how some perish within at conception, others after conception, others after formation—these, I say, let us leave to be judged by the divine judgment and the most wise.

CAPUT XI.

How the devil super-sows tares in our souls, and with what weapons he is resisted. Wherefore God does not permit the tares to be rooted up from here.

ANIMA. Satan, moreover, who penetrates into hearts like a thief and, while men are sleeping (as the holy Scripture says), sows impure and worst tares for the fallacy and deception of all? And in what way is the most wicked one repelled by us? But if this is not easy, by what means, however, might someone recognize the impulses of demons and their divine incitements, from which the mind might detect and distinguish between good and evil? So that, consequently, he might remove himself far away, and with all contention avert the darts of Belial, and render to the Lord a most clean lodging, purging himself wholly from interior defilements, so that grace may inhabit his heart, and the Father with the Word might make a mansion with him. And why has God willed to allow demons access to attack the human race?

CARO. That Creator, when He had once fashioned man, as you know, breathed and infused into him a soul and other things, and established him as lord of terrestrial creatures. But the parent of envy, and the first apostate, having looked with wicked eyes at his magnitude, envied him, and bore his such great glory with difficulty, and what he did, he did out of envy toward man. But the Creator and Lord, foreseeing what was to be, as some most excellent doctor who has prepared medicines, inserted into man virtue armed for battle and for the repulsion of the petitions of Satan: lest ^D

*** INTERROGATION. Why, then, do many, before they reach the age at which they can distinguish good from evil, pay penalties, as if more implicated in crimes? ANSWER. Of this matter, there is not one, but many and diverse reasons. Indeed, it may be because of the immoderate lust of parents, or the laziness of their educators, or the inequality of the climate, or many other things, such calamities can happen. Moreover, God knows that many of them will be wicked. For that reason, He coerces them with punishments of this kind, as if with shackles.

*** Anastasius. The devil, therefore, does not know whether Christ is in our hearts or not; but when he sees you becoming angry, or swearing, or speaking foul things, or cursing, or slandering others, or rashly judging others, or pursuing them with hatred, or envying, or inflicting injuries, or becoming proud, or laughing immoderately, or carrying yourself above others, or not praying assiduously, and forgetful of death, then he understands that God, your guardian and keeper, is not in your soul; and so from then on, that wicked one, having entered like a thief, since the divine lamp is not shining in your heart, plunders the gift of your soul. For we, by our own fault, make demons, who are ignorant of our things, [into those who are] knowledgeable [of them].

^A Finding him unprepared and unarmed, he would strike him down and destroy him without any effort. Furthermore, he fortified him with double and most firm weapons. These are greed and the power of anger. Although they reside in that part of the soul which is devoid of judgment—which no one would deny—yet they have been given and granted to reason as a help and a certain strength, for provoking and pursuing the seducer, and for the proper performance of sacred actions, by which the divine majesty is accustomed to be reconciled to men whose morals and pursuits are directed toward holiness. Do you perceive, then, that these two are, as it were, the mothers of virtues and vices? Yet not of all entirely, but of those which are accustomed to be born from them, which our discourse will demonstrate more clearly. Apply your mind, and you will understand the whole matter. The seed of greed is charity, through which we ascend into heaven. But indeed, it is pleasing to dispute more accurately about this. Consider anger and greed to be good wheat, and the seed of wheat, which the Farmer himself and the Planter of good things, the Lord, planted through intrinsic cultivation and manifest grace. The first man, therefore, turned into a stupor, as Scripture teaches. * But understand this stupor to be these three passions: oblivion, ignorance, and numbness.

The enemy, therefore, while the first-formed pair were sleeping, sows tares secretly for the ruin of the wheat. Now the tares are the agitation of the emotions and the depravity of judgment. Hence, because man had submitted himself to pleasures against reason, he who is more excellent began to serve the inferior; than which there is nothing worse; this is the spirit of the prudence of the flesh, and he ate what he ate from the tree: whatever that was, and that was done by the envy of the devil and the simplicity of Eve. Hence he found mortality, and the creature was corrupted at once; at once also were the first four bodies corrupted. For it was neither fitting, nor decent, that with man having fallen, the world should remain incorruptible, of which he was the lord: but rather that it should flow away and slide with its lord, so that the dwelling might correspond with its inhabitant. ^B Hence the beauty of the image was obscured, hence the region of the heart was luxuriant with shrubs, from which the impure germ sprouted. Useless weeds rising up choked the convenient and useful ones. And quickly it devolved to the life of the beast: and those things which were beyond nature.

From there, according to nature they escaped, and they proceed and progress to the very end of this life, both of these [mixed together], the good and the bad, I mean, of the seed and of the envy. But when the time of the harvest has arrived, all things will be gathered. For the enemy, as has been said, oversowed worse things. The farmer allows them to grow together with the wheat, not so that the better seeds might be suffocated, but so that these might also remain at the same time in the fields, that is, in the hearts—for thus he called them tropically—so that from the virtue implanted within (that is the virtue and power of the mind and of judgment, without controversy) the evil germ might wither, and the good might increase and become solidified. If not, then at least while the threshing floor is being purged, by which purging the vicious would be cut off from the upright.

CHAPTER XII. Of the four cardinal virtues and their opposing vices. Also, many things concerning the perturbations of the soul, and by which virtues they are tamed.

The mind, therefore, that partaker of reason, or rather that which is according to the image, like an excellent prince, presides over the others, namely over greed and anger, which I called weapons. From the mind, therefore, prudence and justice flourish, two plain virtues, through which it most rightly judges and discerns all things, both good and not good. For the marrow of judgment is discernment, without which almost every action is empty. The sins of reason, therefore, whose is the sovereignty, are punished by laws, and indeed more heavily: but those of anger and greed [are punished] less, from which the elegance of temperance flows: just as fortitude flows from anger; from these three, four, and these are called the primary general virtues. But to these four, eight vices are opposed, since each one has two adversaries, one of which is placed in excess, the other in defect. Not to wander far, prudence is opposed on one side by simplicity, on the other by cunning or craftiness: justice has more or less on either side: for these are also vices. Likewise, two oppose fortitude, of which one is called audacity, the other timidity. To that which remains, I mean temperance, petulance and fatuity are opposed. ^C But however many other motions are stirred up inside in the middle of the heart, whether wicked or commendable, they are the offspring of thought and reason. For it reasons and judges, although it sometimes falters. ^D

It uses either side and wills and desires the better, if foolishly, or the worse, if more excellently. Nor is anyone praised or blamed for these, which in their nature are neither evil. The will is accustomed to be regarded as virtuous or otherwise, depending on those who use them ^A.

If, therefore, the judgment regarding these veers toward the worse side, then that affection is both evil and is so called. If, on the contrary, the judgment inclines toward the better side, more commendable and better things proceed from it, and vicious things are rooted out most thoroughly, as was explained in the second discourse. For just as iron is fashioned by art for whatever work the craftsman proposes, and according to his will and use is handled and turns into a spear, or a sword, or a blade, or a sickle for the harvest, or a hatchet, or a drill, or a saw, or a chisel, in a similar way the mind turns its thoughts to whatever it wills, which appears most clearly in those who have been illustrious in asceticism and have properly cultivated the solitary life. For they subjugated the flesh, as was fitting, to the spirit, and transferred the movements of the tripartite soul to manners full of virtue and to noble actions. But if you wish me to discourse more piercingly about these, I shall. From reason these vices flow, as I said: vainglory, faint-heartedness, folly, ignorance, indiscretion, blasphemy, the struggle of thoughts, of which, clearly, there are many such medicines. Faith in the Lord, genuine glory, the right treatment of dogmas in the truth of words, meditation on the words of the spirit, vehement prayer, manners pleasing to God and of a grateful will. These belong to cupidity. Yet the first-born of wrath is hatred, the second is an unmerciful mind, envy, malevolence, long-standing anger. These too are curable by contrary medicines, according to the proverb, "Contraries are cured by contraries," if only the help of God is present in all things.

These medicines are: love toward one's brothers, affection, compassion, long-suffering, tolerance, kindness, friendship. And you will clearly find which of these is contrary to which if you watch prudently and apply yourself to them ^B. Further, from cupidity are born gluttony of the belly, lasciviousness, fornication, incontinence of pleasures, pederasty, filth, the affection of vainglory, and burning avarice. But these too are removed by their contraries, which I will enumerate one by one. Fasting, continence, humiliation of the flesh, a life lacking in wealth, and what is most important, the compassion of the poor for God's sake— ^C —and to attain the adoption of the children of God.

But it is not obscure to which of the matters above each of these is opposed. Again, many vices are clearly innate in the heart from cupidity and anger. First of all, gluttony, and eating in secret. The second is the demon of fornication, for from that it is born. The third is avarice, and the service of idols. The fourth is irascibility, from which many evils exist. The fifth, know, is sickness. The sixth is acedia. The seventh is vainglory, which is the worst of all ^D.

Know that sadness arises from both of these, cupidity and anger, according to the same principle, and again that each has its own—and that a maximal—peculiarity. For when anger cannot in turn sadden the one who saddens, it suddenly produces a mournful and dejected countenance. But if one has fallen away entirely from what is desired, from that passion sadness is again engendered. For the one who loves that by which he is frustrated is saddened. Again, these two perturbations in another way—if, clearly, the opposite happens to you—bestow pleasure: namely, if they attain their end; just as sadness, as has been said, if they do not attain it. The opinion of good generates cupidity. If this good is present, the soul is fulfilled with pleasure. Conversely, the opinion of evil throws in fear, the presence of which creates sickness. For which reason some have distributed perturbation into these four genera: into cupidity, pleasure, fear, and sickness. Furthermore, I consider pride and the appetite for empty glory to be worse than both these vices; since they arise from reason. Through which some, though they were like the angels, lost such great beauty. For in angels neither anger nor cupidity is found: which indeed look to the soul that lacks reason. And I see a double origin for these vices, I mean vainglory and pride: for they erupt from reason and cupidity. From these eight enumerated, therefore, every species of sin and every vicious affection pullulates. But there are for these, just as for those, virtues that are adversarial, by which they may be dissolved as ice by heat. For by fasting and by continence the great beasts of gluttony and lust are overcome. But by love and fervent desire toward the Lord and future happiness, and by the horror of torments, and by standing vigil throughout the whole night, and by sharp fasting, the conflagration and spirit of fornication is extinguished. Mercy, compassion, and hospitality, faith (which is the better and chief head of all things to be loved), puts to flight avarice, the fetus of infidelity. Goodness and the gentleness of charity break anger. Yea, even of good things and of mercy.

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^A love, for the sake of the joy of the spirit, sickness in present matters, and the contempt for worldly things. The vice of sloth, however, is overcome by thanksgiving and noble patience, which leads to God, and finally by the works of virtue performed in secret, by prayer, and by humiliation. Moreover, you shall be delivered from the desire of vainglory if you are not foolishly boastful against your neighbor, as the Pharisee was once boastful against the publican, but rather, you shall profess and consider yourself the last of all, and refer all your good deeds to God as one who receives them. For a proud man in a way denies God. If, therefore, you wish to fight against the things recited, and to overthrow and powerfully put them to flight, apply the weapons contrary to them, which we have set forth; for there is no other way to put these to flight. But he who has suppressed three (that is, gluttony, avarice, and vainglory—the first, third, and seventh, namely) will also suppress the other five; through which three the insatiable demon, daring everything, emerged, leaped forth, and tempted the Lord: to whom those who are given are by far the princes of all the vicious and the worst of mortals. I say, he will suppress the audacity and impudence of the rest, as well as philautia (self-love), which is baser than them, of which greed is even the mother, as a certain wise old man, experienced in action, said. Now, philautia is an irrational love of the body. The first three of these eight (gluttony, lust, avarice, anger, sadness, sloth, vainglory, pride) are subject to the world: to those pursuing a quiet life, five wage war. He who has neglected three will not overcome any of the rest. And the vain and very many evil fruits of these eight are the worst offspring, almost as numerous as the stars, over the drops of rain, and the sand of the sea. They beget fetuses, and these beget others, and those again others—the worst tares, and contrary to nature, which the enemy sowed while men slept. And we set the wheat as the seeds of virtues, which by nature are felt in the interior, in the intelligent part of the soul, and in the irascible part, as we have already divided them one by one and in detail, and have said that prudence and justice proceed from reason, temperance from desire, and fortitude from anger—these four proceed, namely, from the sowing of wheat. Turbulent and wicked thoughts openly stir up war within in three ways. For they either move the very appetite of the heart; or they inflame the soul to anger and bile; or finally, they cast shadows upon reason. From which it happens that the darkened inner mind cannot produce long holy prayers, and the intelligent and divine part is dulled to the divine light. ^B The rational part (τὸ λογικόν), moreover, being the very divine mind (θεῖος νοῦς) presiding within over all, even commands these drivers, and holds them together, and acts and carries them wherever it wishes. But reason is intended as the prince of virtues, not the prince of perturbations, but rather the empress; the rational part is the very divine mind itself, which does not remove passions at once and completely; but as a most strong wrestler and noble adversary, it lays low both the mobs of passions and the tumults of the agitations, represses the inflammations of the goads, checks the motions, extinguishes the arrows of fiery loves, and averts the impulses and conflicts of thoughts. It does not, however, show virtue equally in all; but in those in whom there is a healthy and excellent-feeling mind, and divine fear, and a sense of the last things, in these the spirit holds the principate without the troubles of perturbations: as a certain spiritual man, learned by experience, judges. Not all, he says, can walk along the path of virtue: but only those who live more continent lives. But more preeminent and better among the virtues is prudence, which helps greatly in all things through thought and reason. For if reason, like a good charioteer, well controls the parts which are indeed, as I said, of an irrational nature, but are held and follow easily by the bridle of ruling reason, in whatever way it wishes, it will govern well; and this becomes a matter of praise for those striving for a holier life. Things which are according to nature are performed; those which are contrary are fled, as we taught in the preceding. But if the ruling reason does not govern well, because it is lacking in that which it is its duty to judge, it turns all other detriment upon itself. Things go topsy-turvy; for immediately truth is thought to be a lie, and what is sweet is bitter, and bitter is sweet. Light becomes darkness and darkness light; evil seems good, and the best things are to be fled. If anyone makes such false judgments as these, the contagion of vice and sin cannot be absent. And then the weeds grow up with the sprout, and useless stalks spread themselves in spiritual fields, and they suffocate the useful wheat, and the things suitable for food, and things abhorrent to nature ^C. For that the most foul and contrary-to-nature and adulterous seeds should be grasped along with the natural ones and grow, is impossible. The will of the body, the prudence of the flesh, the imposture of pleasures are produced contrary to nature. ^D Which if we have oppressed with holy labors, spiritual things grow. Wheat is according to nature. For sparks of virtue are implanted in us by nature; but the turbulent motions are contrary to nature, as I said.

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CHAPTER XIII. Who is to be called carnal, who animal, and who spiritual. That only that which proceeds from free will deserves praise and reward.

SOUL. But come now, declare to me the difference between persons, who is carnal, who is spiritual, and who, finally, is animal; for I am unable to know.

DIOPTRA. ^A ...[substance] or nature, nor would punishment be proposed for its followers, nor reward for those who cultivate the virtues. If, therefore, anyone, through bad habit and a life spent in wickedness, has converted affections alien to nature into a settled disposition, he should again, through a good habit, constrain that force of vice to return into a force of virtue. For after it has strayed beyond its own boundaries, it must be compelled to return quickly into itself again. And for this reason, that great cultivator commanded that the tares be left to grow with the wheat, so that the Creator, providing for us, might ensure we were not deprived of a most beautiful nature, lest desire be rooted out at the same time as the germ of wickedness. For if, together with those things which are contrary to nature, all those things which are in accordance with nature were to be extracted, human nature would be unable to use them otherwise or well for its own aid. For if charity, which is the most beautiful offspring of desire, were simultaneously cut out from us, what medicine, finally, could we use to advantage? And with this also flowing away, what weapons would one have for one's own defense against the enemies who secretly attack us? For in the place of weapons, men have appetite and anger. But if you were to uproot these from the root, how would the naked spirit go to battle and prepare for the struggle against demons, and for the line of battle against the princes of darkness ^B?

For those who have grown accustomed to living according to the spirit, and not according to the soul alone, or according to this flesh, it is certain that they are stung and stimulated from the non-good for the sake of the good. Truly, those who live in the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. For the animal man does not perceive the things that are of the spirit, as Paul declares from on high; for he is not spirit who lives according to the flesh, whose prudence is death, a great danger, and battle and total distance from divine things; for it is in every way opposed to divine laws. But the prudence of the spirit produces living peace [*]. He who sows the carnal seed will reap from the flesh, and will reap death. But he who sows in the spirit will reap spiritual things, and the harvest of corruption [*].

FLESH. The first of these complies with the body, and serves the body’s pleasures, and passes a life subject only to the senses in transient things, in which also that which is inferior has been subjugated by that which is more excellent. The animal man is loose and lax toward habits that are not truly good, and has a mind not yet illuminated; but he lives for appetite, which seems best, and indulges in impulses, desires, and the blandishments of nature ^C. We call the spiritual man one who loves heavenly things; who with inward eyes looks upon divine things, and loves only everlasting life, tramples upon all voluptuous things, gives himself to holy exercises, and subjects the flesh to the spirit. But if it pleases you, I will explain the matter in another way. Everyone who lives according to nature and the flesh is clearly called animal, as one who has not yet made progress in mind [*].

Those who live within the spirit we call carnal. Those, however, who have adjusted their nature to the spirit are called spiritual, as those who exercise virtue. I will bring forward a third explanation: Flesh and spirit are mutually opposed. In whom the flesh has conquered, he is called carnal. In whom the spirit has won, he is spiritual, and is rightly to be called the fruit of the spirit [*]. But if peace between the two has been useless, that man will be animal, who truly has knowledge, and lives a life implanted and granted to the soul. For he has neither sown in the flesh, so as to reap corruption; nor yet in the spirit, so as to reap eternal life; and hence, as a medium, he is therefore animal [*]. What kind of person the carnal man is, what kind the spiritual, and in what way each bears himself, Paul knows most perfectly. But yet, comparing them with one another, he affirms that each in itself is of very great power against the other. They hold a middle place, to whom not from exercise ^D...

Scholia.

* Isidore. Many mortals commit sins and vices although they have not learned them; but they do not understand good things even when taught: yet they do not cease to love and desire them, heavy with punishments of their own making: but to those gathering crowns, they cannot be brought to carry them out.

Nilus. Through the effort of studiously loving God, may you wish to conquer and break the force of negligence. For habit is changed by habit: provided only that you do not hold out the tyranny of it.

** The roots of desire are charity, and temperance; to these add intemperance and lust. From anger courage shines forth, and furthermore daring, and timidity beyond nature. From the soul which is a participant of reason, [come] prudence and justice; but beyond nature, indeed, folly, avarice, inequality, and injustice. But if those things which are beyond nature were to be uprooted, all those things which are in accordance with nature would be uprooted at the same time.

Basil. What profit is there in having leisure in many things from every perturbation, if the body is corrupted by one [vice]? For Peter, after so many excellent deeds and so many preachings, heard: "If I do not wash you, you will have no part with me" (John XIII, 8).

*** Cyril. The animal man is one who, living according to the flesh, is not yet illuminated in mind by the spirit; but has only the human intelligence innate in him, which the Creator inscribed on the souls of all.

**** Just as the soul becomes carnal when mixed with fleeting things, so the body is rendered spiritual by the incorruption of the soul united to the divine seed.

***** For I know that as there is a certain very good discord, so also there is a certain most harmful concord. For a praiseworthy war is better than a peace that separates one from God.

It happens, moreover, without labors that chastity is innate; and no honor is held, nor are crowns deserved by those who have attained the state of chastity without struggle. For being born eunuchs from the mother’s womb, they feel neither the annoyances of foul love nor the perturbations connected with them. Therefore, they are not to be deemed worthy of glory or grace, since they have not endured labors. For a natural good does not deserve approval and praise. ^B If, however, it is performed from the mind and will, it rightfully receives a crown. For a prerogative and aid which is present to any nature is not the cause of praise in those to whom it is present; but it is rather to be attributed to a divine benefit. No grace is held for fire because it burns and illuminates; but rather for him who built the fire. No grace is given to snow because it cools. The sun shines most brightly—it shines, I say, nor does it choose to shine. Only to desire those things which are most excellent deserves grace. But if you inquire into the manner, although you consist of flesh, you will appear superior to the love of the body, and you will sow in the spirit, having emptied the flesh. Let me and you serve the spirit, by no means the body. Paul speaks of these things, writing to the Romans: "If indeed the Spirit of Christ is in us, let Him be even in us," as He said. But if anyone has not been a participant of these charisms, this person is not of Christ, but rather of the Antichrist: "As therefore we have borne the image of the earthly (and he was made into a living soul, as Scripture says), let us bear the image of the heavenly," if we wish, and indeed more so, for there is a second Adam in whom it is to live in the spirit, and to live in incorruption. "For as many as received Him," He says, "gave He to them to become children of God (by grace)"; gods, not sons, which is far greater and more excellent. What follows, I believe you have understood well.

CHAPTER XIV.

But whence the discourse began, to the same it shall return, calling back words to memory, as we recall to you, summarizing the former things. The Lord, therefore, who founded these two worlds—namely, the superior and the former, the posterior and the inferior, understanding and sense, and all these things—wished here to make one animal, man, which would have a mixture and temperament from both of those already mentioned. And it was made and founded by the will of the Creator, who fashioned man with His own hand and wisdom. Consider the mystery, which surpasses understanding. Bringing together the whole nature of things above and below, and the reasons of every nature frequenting into one, and from all, as a collection, selecting what was more excellent: from the earth, he takes cold and dryness at the same time, and with them black bile. Phlegm, a humor, cold from water. Coeval with air, a binary of humor and heat, and also blood from the same. Heat, and similarly dryness from fire, from which it is certain that yellow bile exists. From plants, the power of nourishing and growing, these two, I say. Sense from those devoid of reason, and a wonderful one at that. From stones and wood not possessing sense, density and coherence in the nerves, in the bones. Reason and mind, a divine thing surely, from the nature of the angels, to whose likeness we approach through these things. But He bestowed the soul from Himself, breathing in the breath of life; a soul moving itself, and never ceasing to be moved; a soul simple, immortal, never aging, having nothing of grossness, nor of corporeal matter; a nature of its own law and will, honored with reason and fashioned most especially to the divine image, yet not from the divine substance—which you must flee from either thinking or saying—but from the omnipotent power by which He created all things. An individual substance, in which there is understanding, and mind altogether, and a word conceived in the mind; for the speech which is on the tongue can be brought forth and uttered abroad to those who hear. Mind, reason, soul—these three are one nature, one essence connatural, having stability, entirely devoid of separation and section and division: nay, rather, it is as the inseparable Father and Word and Spirit, in nature and virtue; for it is *monas trias*, as if you should say Unit-Trinity, an essence uniform, and one dominion.

Scholia.

^A It moves me to wonder and amazement how the soul, although it is akin to the blessed minds (for it is devoid of all corporeal concretion), is nevertheless so implicated in empty things that are perceived by the senses, burns with desire for them, is devoted and affixed to them, and allows itself to be carried away by these lower things. For it was not fitting that something free from matter should have anything in common with those things by which matter is held together; nor that it should pursue things subject to corruption, and thus be corrupted by that which is alien to it and divine; for it is its essence to look back to, and to direct all its desire toward, that from which it draws its origin.

CARO. Since it is a creature, and mutable, it also changes the spirit. For whatever is created and composite is subject to mutation. But immutability is of that nature which alone surpasses all nature. Moreover, He created the soul as a simple, incorporeal substance, and granted it the free use of reason, and to act according to that which it feels drawn and incited. Wherefore, as a thing of its own right and power, it also changes the spirit. It consists, however, as we were saying, of two and three parts, or is bipartite and tripartite. For one part of it is joined with intelligence, the other lacks it, as we have taught above. But as for its substance and nature, it is simple. And hence the division, in which a third part is discovered: besides anger, namely, and desire, reason, the most excellent of the parts, is linked, through the confusion and similarity of substance, with the eternal, insofar as it corresponds to the nature of angels: just as the remaining two parts communicate with the nature of beasts. For like things rejoice in like things, and gather together with them.

That which is of the mind and counsel desires a substance of this kind, and hungers for the immortal nourishment of the angels. That which lacks reason, placed below, craves food that is born of the earth, corruptible, and clearly fleeting. Since, therefore, these parts, although they are at the same time, disagree among themselves, and engage in close combat, and a certain war is kindled, with soul and body struggling and in turn harshly pressing upon each other and seditiously agitating while that part desires things above, and gazes upon them: this latter part most readily desires lower things, and the body, by its own earthly weight, declines to the lowest things, and the spirit is violently and by tyranny dragged downward, and is impelled toward wicked affections, and slips down with it.

The mind, however, like an empress and mistress even of the perturbations, and as we have touched upon above, the divine eye of the soul, both ornament and instrument, on the other hand offers the protection of reason, and intervenes with the whole force of thought, and the moments of this duel ^{B C D}

CAPUT XV.

ANIMA. It moves me to wonder and amazement...

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** Omne animal diligit sibi simile, et homo hominem, si modo omnis humanitatis expers non est. *** Paulus corpus carnem vocare consuevit, non quidem naturam ipsum corporis hac voce intelligens, sed perversam voluntatem. Ut cum dicit, "Vos non estis in carne, sed in spiritu" (Rom. viii, 9). Et item.

^A It looks upon the will, and pronouncing judgment as a fair and wise arbiter, it separates the better thoughts from the worse, and admitting the former, casts the latter out; and acting as an inspector, it passes sentence, whether something is just by nature or contrary to nature. To the mind, ^A, four faculties are annexed: intelligence, acuity of mind, comprehension, and skill. These four, I say, have sprung forth from thence as from a mother, and have sprouted as from a root. And these, again, are the shoots of the tripartite soul. To reason (τοῦ λόγου) belong prudence and justice, as the most wise teacher John of Damascus says. The beautiful offspring of desire is temperance. From the vessels of anger, fortitude breaks forth. Prudence, which is the first and most beautiful, has the peculiar duty of examining and knowing well the depths of the spirit. Justice ^B has the duty of preserving equality and friendship, of judging well, of reasoning well, and of dispensing convenient and useful things. For does not equality pertain to justice? To what else would it pertain? It is proper to temperance to have the splendor of chastity, the joy of the spirit, and all other things that are written about it. The war of noble fortitude is against vices, which, pressing on with the sword, cuts off their attacks and incursions. Therefore, as an example of clarity, we shall append a very brief notion for a more lucid understanding of what we have said. There is a conscience of the soul, or a certain law, which conspires with divine laws and precepts, and is a cooperator and administrator of good works; and that conscience is the law of the spirit. Contrarily, the law of sin, or the law of the flesh, which is a seductress, clings to our limbs by the impression of demons, and like a fire inflaming, and soothing with the sweetness of boiling desires, it opposes the law of conscience with equal weapons, and harasses the one willing to obey the laws of the Lord, and thence, although the spirit may be indignant at the fraudulence of sin, it leads it away as a captive. But as a most inimical thing, it fights with the blandishments of pleasure, and thus makes the man a slave to sin, which is servile. But the divine Paraclete, pitying this disadvantage, provides strength from above to the superior law against the spurious and false law of the flesh. The law of the flesh, however, is desire, the irrational part of the soul.

SOUL. And how, and when does grace assist us?

BODY. When someone has acquired the love and fear of the Lord and is perpetually mindful of the last things, as we warned above. When he has endured adverse things while giving thanks; when he has always prayed, and has assiduously meditated upon the divinely inspired Scriptures with himself.

CHAPTER XVI

SOUL. From the beginning, body and soul lived in extreme tranquility, and naturally agreed with each other, and concord flourished between them with no offense intervening. Whence, therefore, and who fell into such great contentions? And what are the causes of these wars on both sides?

BODY. Since the transgression happened to the human race, since, I say, Adam fell, war is waged between these, and from that time, the covenant having been broken within us, miserably cast out both from God and from Eden, it was born, of which we have discoursed sufficiently in the preceding chapters. There remains, therefore, the devil, of whom it must also be said how he was finally left to men, by the permission of the Creator, by a judgment which He himself knows. And how he has not perished entirely, than whom nothing is more destructive. But come, receive now the cause or reason of this. This life is a stadium and a certain contest and struggle. If the enemy were absent, in what way would we attain praise? If there were no contest, by what reason would any leader dear to the king conduct himself bravely? If contests were absent, how would the prizes of the contests, and honors, and gifts be bestowed upon those who have striven lawfully? If scandals do not come, how will anyone appear firm and constant? If no tribulation assails someone, how will he procure joy? If cold winter does not precede, ^C when will summer shine forth? Therefore, let even the demon grow hot for war against us, so that while we resist the tyrant, having struck the adversary, we may carry off the victory (it is a wondrous thing, since he is incorporeal, that he is overcome by men) and that the victors, as strenuous warriors, may be honored, and may receive the immarcescible crown, and may attain the state and condition which he held before his fall. O abyss of kindness, O riches of mercy, He converts the hatred, the eagerness to destroy, and the petitions of the seducer into the utility and glory of His friends, He who changes all things for the better! And such a thing happens, as if a doctor were to use vipers or other foul and otherwise harmful medicines for the curing of the sick; just as brotherly hatred brought the greatest utility to Joseph, and was the material of a certain singular economy, by which God even permitted the most beautiful youth to be sold, that He might constitute him prince of Egypt. ^D

Scholia. ... rum, "For those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Ibid. 8). For was he himself, who says these things, not clothed in flesh? Therefore he does not say these things are contrary to himself; but he speaks of the struggle of evil and good thoughts. For indeed to will and not to will are within the power of the soul. And for this reason he says, "For these are contrary to one another" (Gal. v, 17). And so that it might not permit the soul to proceed in its depraved desires, as a pedagogue and teacher leading us into a better way, he has spoken these things.

^A Likewise, he does not forbid the president of our struggle, Satan, from attacking us, so that as we stand against our enemies, he may weave for us crowns of glory. The more difficult the struggles, the more illustrious the decorations; the heavier the afflictions, the more splendid the crowns. For the reward is paid out in proportion to the labor; a fact we have already clearly taught before. But consider the ocean of mercy and goodness. He wishes for labors and tribulations to end and be absolved along with this life, which is circumscribed by narrow limits and in which, while those things that afflict us are perpetual, those that refresh the spirit are very few. For he reserves whatever is of this sort for the future age, throughout the expanse of which shall extend a happiness that shall never be closed by any end.

SOUL. I, furthermore, admire this again and again, and vehemently so: how the soul, being similar to divine beings and endowed with the understanding of its enemies, cannot therefore by its nature foresee the assaults of its equals. But the thickness of the flesh is the cause, which hinders it. Therefore, when it has been released from the body, then at last it will foresee.

FLESH. It has been signified in the preceding disputations that there are three faculties in the brain—reminiscence, imagination, ^B and intellection, certainly—through which it remembers, thinks, and sees. But if by chance the power of the brain is injured in any way by the mortal blow of a dart or sword, it loses these three things I have mentioned all at once; for memory is idle, and the whole fancy, as is also idle the thought, prudence, cognition, action, motion, and operation. Shall we therefore say that the soul, when it has departed—expedited from the body—to Christ, the head of the Church, as it is written [Eph. i, 22], will be such as this? It will then be able to remember its known ones, and its relatives, and its friends, and its brothers, and its children, and its parents, and simply to pray to the Lord for them, as we confirmed in the third disputation, and this without having a brain, or a heart, or any other member of the body, in which the mind is believed to reside and rest as in its own seats, nor any instrument of voice, not a tongue, nor finally lips.

SOUL. A scruple arises for me. In what way did you say before that the memory of friends would then not be wiped away by any oblivion, and yet that it could do nothing apart from the body?

FLESH. I will declare this also by a certain brief example. ^C Even a psalmist or a harpist cannot by musical art regulate a melody without an instrument, nor a piper if he has broken pipes. Consider the body to be an organ, or instrument, and the soul itself the artist.

SOUL. Do not linger, and do not delay to solve this doubt.

FLESH. It appears that you are very forgetful and unmindful of those things which I discussed and mentioned in the third disputation. For the mind, however deeply ^D it may be pure, and if it wishes, celebrates God with the intrinsic voices of the heart, and is not prohibited from anywhere, however much the soul is still tied to the body. Exempted from this, it does this even more and more: when it is present to God, with the mirror now removed, it contemplates Him more clearly and more manifestly, and prays for its friends without a voice, as it is always moved and incited by itself. For it is the part of one who is not sleeping, but awake, to celebrate divine praises tirelessly with the angels. The choir of the Holy Fathers teaches that it performs this. Tongue and speech are primarily a need for this life and for men living here, because they cannot hear, or utter, or understand the senses, questions, or opinions of others unless they are brought forth through speech by mouth and tongue and indicated through the medium of the air. Nor can the soul, as long as it dwells in its tabernacle, express its intention without instruments and voice, or do what it wishes, and it is necessary to be acted upon; nor can it be moved by external motion to the works through which it might be known what kind of thing it is. Then, having cast off the bulk of the flesh, when it has arrived at the supramundane world, at the intelligent world—immortal, lacking all matter, and divine—as one free of matter, as one using reason, and as a companion of substance, it does not need any of these things which are corporate: not a brain for memory, not a heart, and viscera. The mind (which, having been born with the soul and being one with it, is divine) obtains a more excellent vision, but of vocal speech there will then be no use.

But the interior speech, which is in affection and in rational motion, such as birth, and notion, and the fortification of reason, or the divine vision of the soul and mind—of this, I say, there will be use. It is not one thing from another, but the same by nature, excited by the splendors from on high and gifted by God, without voice and the speeches that are sensed. But this speech of ours is brought forth through announcement, and in no other way, so that it may be perceived by those standing around. The previous paradigm regarding the harp does not altogether fit with the soul, in that it possesses reason. For the soul is separated from the matter of which the harp consists. Furthermore, the incorporeal and the corporeal are diverse among themselves, and one differs from the other by an immense amount, and each attains its own proper comparison from the same, and to the same, according to nature. For with sense, sense is compared, and with intellection, intellection, as like is compared with like. But do not think that spirits are affected in the same way when they have flown hence as they were affected here. It behaves in a different way, of course. For there they are illuminated by divine splendors, and they are filled with the lights from the Father of lights, according as each is fit to enjoy the light. For just as fire penetrates iron, and although [it is] dense, it nevertheless easily penetrates, and the nature of the iron...

^A ignites, and makes [it] fire: which, though otherwise it be black, reddens and shines obscurely, and [though] cold, warms up and is inflamed and burns; which, because it could be touched, becomes intractable on account of the fire received; so I would have you reason about the soul and its splendor, by which it becomes clear through the contemplation of the Divinity, and is able in an intellectual manner to see, speak, and hear, and feel light, and to exult with joy with the angels, and to enjoy the same contemplation with them, and to be called a companion and cohabitant of the just: yet not according to the sense of the body, but according to the intellect alone. For these things are such by their nature that they only understand and are understood, and they escape all five senses of the body. It uses the mind alone; by it, it sees and foresees with a most acute vision, proper to the angels, and contemplates divine and never-seen beauties. But if what I say seems paradoxical to you, to confirm [your] faith I will apply a paradigm [*].

If by night in your sleep you were to see some young man of excellent stature and most beautiful form, insurmountable by art, inimitable by work, of a species most desirable, far from his own country, conspicuous by external and internal clarities, adorned with an incredible brightness of candor, distinguished by the variety of hair radiating more than gold, flashing everywhere with the flames of surrounding lights; receiving applause and songs from crowds of ministers, and a perpetual and most pleasant ministry. You then also chanced upon a very famous friend whom you had never seen, but sought to find and to see even with [your] eyes, just as you saw [him] in your thoughts. For you had loved the absent one so much from hearsay, as a friend worthy of praise and to be placed in the number [of such]. If it happens to you to see these things in your dreams, can you say how you then approached the place, and how, lying in bed, and remaining, and sleeping, and moved by an internal and immobile motion, you approached those things as you thought, with what feet, with what flesh you finished the whole course suddenly and quickly? With what eyes did you look at [his] face, with what ears did you hear what you think you heard? With what lips, furthermore, did you kiss the friend? With what mouth, with what tongue did you address him? You will truly answer me: I did not see the face with the eyes of the body; for how could I have seen [it] while asleep? But with the pupils of the mind and soul, this is certain. If you answer me these things, you say what becomes a lover of truth, and I will bear witness to you and assent. ^D Conceive something similar regarding spirits and souls: how, when they have migrated from here, [they] assume senses to speak and to live and all the rest. But [they] assume [them] by a certain non-corporeal reason, while the nature that is above nature operates in all and is all things to all [men] in a way that exceeds comprehension. For the divine power does not need a mouth, nor a body, nor a tongue, nor anything else to communicate with spirits and to any soul whatsoever, which it wills. But just as it provides for the governing virtues, so it bestows the same upon these. For [it is] reason with the sensitive and intellect with the intelligent, as it is just to compare like with like. To compare the intellect with the sensitive, on the contrary, is wrong, on account of the distinction of natures, of course: but it is fitting to combine the incorporeal with the incorporeal, and bodies in turn with bodies [**].

What then is the comparison or compatibility of those above and celestial with these lowest and earthly things? Or what communion has the mind with those things that appear, or the body with those things that are not body? But if one were to compare the wholes with the wholes, it will no longer be a paradigm, but rather, if I may say so, identity. Since, therefore, I do not find a comparison among things lacking in matter, I necessarily use material paradigms. Wherefore do not reproach, do not be indignant, for I have already stated the cause of my ignorance before. The mind inwardly what it has conceived, or its thoughts, it brings forth within itself, and always [does so], nor does it suffer; which, indeed, cannot be brought forth outside to others and be known by them. For the tongue cannot bring forth [even] to those who hear the product of its own notions and intelligences. Verily, however, how it cannot [do so], I do not have [words] at all. For the offspring of the mind, although they are explicable by speech, yet sometimes speech cannot express them. For if you could bring [them] forth and bring [them] to light, then also [they] would have some gift of greater knowledge and whatever charisma [they might have] from the God of all [***].

We will bring forward a brief paradigm for this matter. As if someone came to men of a different language, and after as much time as he pleased had been spent among them, he might indeed understand the very voices, but yet be unable to pronounce them with his mouth, nor in any way turn the dialect or the language peculiar to the race into his own language. Such, therefore, is what happens to me. I perceive the sense and mind of the writers most excellently; but what I have perceived, I cannot also bring forth by tongue. But from where we digressed, we must return again, and a greater proof...

Scholia.

^A which the just are to attain, when, as you taught, He shall come to judge in glory, and bodies shall emerge brought back to life, so that they may be affected simultaneously by a greater and more distinguished glory, and perceive joy from joy, and glory from glory, with the end of the age now present when the Lord shall have come to bring all things to an end, as I said. ^B

When, therefore, the Savior, rising from the sepulcher, first drew near to the disciples gathered within and gave peace, as the Prince of Peace, He bestowed upon them the greatest divine gift, the Spirit.

ANIMA. Did they receive the Spirit perfectly and completely, or what exactly?

CARO. Do not think that, nor say that they did not receive the whole; yet they did receive at that time one particular charism, [the power] of loosing and binding the sins of men. But when the appointed day arrived, the disciples received the whole grace of the Spirit. Think the same concerning souls when the judgment arrives and the Judge is seated, as was said in book 11. Now, a paradigm must also be set for this. Many excellent men dwell in a royal palace, and for some time serve the king, looking upon him daily and loving him: yet they do not immediately obtain the rewards of honors, but afterwards, as they deserve, grace is rendered to them, and they are adorned by status, and name, and order, and all the splendor of dignities. The reason for souls is not much different. In heaven, indeed, they dwell perfectly, and standing before the Creator, they contemplate Him and rejoice. But when at length they receive the body too in that general resurrection of all, then they shall also obtain the glory of grace and the fullest rewards for their labors, and crowns. ^C

*From Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria.* Reason-capable and intelligent is the soul; after the departure from this body it both lives and remains, and speaks congruously, and operates likewise, not as an image, but truly and substantially, having confidence toward God, by whose command it is sent into this life for the convenience of many others. For since it is always moving, it is never not acting. God, indeed, is not of the dead, but of the living, for they all live to Him. But if souls do not operate (as it pleases many), they do not even live. For not to operate is of dead and immobile bodies. [He is] God of spirits and of all flesh. God of spirits, namely ^D of souls. Therefore the three children say: "Bless, O spirits and souls of the just, the Lord." That the souls of the just praise and bless is not the work of those who are asleep, nor of the idle. And he who sees the vision of the saints, sees the souls of the saints. And he who sees the vision of the angels, sees the angels. And order shall not be turned into disorder, and what follows (a).

ANIMA. If therefore it is most true, as it is plainly, that the souls of the good are carried up into heaven, in which places the Son of God resides upon a throne at the right hand of God the Father, as it is written, and the ministering virtures stand around with fear, as you already taught in the second book, and they are lifted up so that they may receive the rewards of crowns when the Judge of all shall come to exercise judgment, could anything more pleasant happen in such great glory? And what glory at all more excellent than this could occur: or how could it be glorified before that which is all glory, and surpasses all glory and speech? With whom are all the treasures of divine glory. For that which is full does not need external addition. But to souls there is imparted so much of glory and brightness, having regard for the merits of each, that much also remains over. The same happens to the angels.

CARO. Now a small part of that universal glory, or rather a certain pledge, is conceded, from which, just as you might discern a lion from a claw, you might infer the glory, I say,

CHAPTER XVII.

With Christ crucified and returned to life, now for us believers, after the present terrestrial life and the paradise falling under [the] sense, there is no need, entry into heaven having been opened to all, [we] always exulting with Him, that we also may be where He is. He says, indeed, "that where I am, you also may be." Which, moreover, Damascenus says, in the sepulcher by the body, in the underworld by the soul, as God in paradise with the thief (17).

And what follows, for the confirmation of my opinion, is valid for me. For within all of this he says that Christ is, but by divinity alone, by which He fills all things. Yet, fully subsisting in the mass of our flesh, He ascended into heaven, and opened the way for us again into the same place, so that according to the divine promise, where Christ himself is, we may also be. For He says: "You know where I am going and you know the way, so that where I am, you also may be." For caught up into this, Paul, having entered, heard secret words. Into paradise, which you—according to the affirmation of the knowledge of the divine Scriptures—do not attain. But consider Paul as I do, discoursing about this to the Corinthians: "I know a man in Christ fourteen years ago, because he was caught up into paradise, and heard secret words." [16] Know that the great Basil also attained this paradise, above the heaven of heavens, where the Son of the Father sits. That words are spoken of this, and not of the earthly paradise, Paul himself confirms through the things that follow. For after he said, "I know a man caught up to the third heaven," he adds these things: "And I know such a man, because he was caught up into paradise." Nay, he even signifies that, having penetrated the third heaven, he was caught up further into a great sublimity, in which God himself is. This is the paradise into which Paul was caught up, into which Gregory, and the great Basil together with others entered, into those infinite, and divine, and eternal goods, which the eye, clouded by the mire of evil affections, has not seen, which the ear, hardened by incredulity, has not heard, and which have not ascended into the heart—a heart that is sordid and that has partaken of this earthly portion. I have concluded the whole discourse by debating it; and because He who teaches knowledge gave me knowledge, I proposed questions, and I have completed what was proposed. ^A

CHAPTER XVIII

CHAPTER XIX

Furthermore, Fathers in Christ, brothers and friends, let no one of those who have leafed through this book think that I have written these things for the sake of ostentation, as one greedy for empty glory and wise in his own opinion, and laboring ^C under arrogance, a most vile disease, and having, therefore, produced this book in vain. I did not leap into this of my own accord, but I undertook the task committed to me by a spiritual man, Callinicus by name, living in the mountains of the Moglena. Yielding, therefore, to the exhortations and precepts of the Fathers, I composed this work according to my strength, having almost nothing from my own brain, but rather I have encompassed in this volume those things which I collected and brought together from here and there, with the figure of the speech changed into the likeness of meter, which by the learned is called political, although it is simple, barbaric, and moreover solecistic, as composed by one unlearned and completely unskilled in artificial speech, yet not in knowledge.

Let no one, therefore, laugh at me, nor turn up his nose. For since I had decided that it was best to obey and yield, I submitted myself to the authority of venerable men, knowing completely that disobedience is condemned. Obedience is life, disobedience is death. But if any biting man and reviler wishes to attack me, and to brand me with infamy, that I am haughty, that I am arrogant, and talkative, let him say and do what he pleases. ^D

I, indeed, as I wished, according to the mediocrity of learning that I possess, and above all with God’s help, have completed this work. For He is the provider of wisdom, and the corrector of the foolish, who teaches man prudence and knowledge [17]; who gives virtue of speech in open—

Scholia

^A And it provides the word to those who preach in power, as the book of Psalms teaches in the Spirit, for He himself inspired this, whether abject or great. For unless the gift descended from above, what could the potter do without the potter? For whatever intelligence a man received as a gift from the Creator, that same intelligence will in turn eventually be claimed back by Him. For the mattock, the scythe, the rake, the saw, the adze, the auger, the sword, the spear, and whatever serves human life—each of these was invented for a task, yet none possesses any motion of itself; but one man invented one thing, another another, so that by means of it he might be able to accomplish what he wishes. And he received the power to wish and to be able from God, outside of whom nobody can do anything, nor wish, nor—in short—achieve anything small or great. Just as none of these tools can do anything itself, nor be moved of itself to the task, if the craftsman and the hand of the craftsman, which uses motion for the use of some work, is not there. And in no way can anyone act, or think, or speak without divine aid. For God created, and God bestows life. From Him is received the power, and the breathing, and the will. And how, without the power of the One who sustains all things, and the knowledge, and the One who imparts hands and feet to me, could I myself be able to understand or do anything if the divine power from above were against me? The matter will be made clearer by an example. ^B Blacksmiths, whose work lies in iron, handle the iron and look toward the giver of iron and the Craftsman of all. For iron, once gathered into a mass, can be adapted to various uses. For the blacksmith, or the locksmith, or any mechanic who wishes, buys masses of this kind and uses them for his own work and business. For they craft axes, scythes, chisels, broadswords, daggers, swords, blades, and every kind of weapon, which we all need for the use and convenience of life. But one man, as a skilled craftsman, softens and tames the iron, and practices his craft skillfully, and whatever work is produced, it moves all those who watch it to admiration, for it is elegant, useful, and praiseworthy indeed. But he who is unrefined in the art, or who learned it poorly, is not only unable to craft according to the art and to produce works with industry and as reason demands: but he also wastes the iron to no purpose. Now, think similar things regarding Scripture and the art of Scripture. The Holy Spirit ^C purified the prophets, instructed them, and filled them with grace and knowledge. He taught wisdom even to the illiterate. Thus, having been taught and purified through grace, and strengthened by the Spirit, they edited divine discourses and composed all the books, sixty in number: forty-six of the Old Testament, twenty-seven of the New and Recent Testament: and they disseminated them widely throughout the world, which also went about publishing the grace of God. But afterwards, very many Fathers, instructed in human and divine wisdom, and most learned in sacred matters, leaning on these books as on certain foundations, built upon them along with the martyrs, and adhering to the primitive doctrine in every part, adorned the Church in a wonderful way. For one composed odes; another, hymns which they call *heirmoi*; another, verses; another, pleasant triodia, troparia, prosomoia, canons, anabathmoi, kathismata, kontakia; another, spiritual melodies of the Psalms; others discussed the deep dogmata of the Spirit and the Church; others, arguing about the incarnation of the Word, stopped the mouths of all blasphemers and those who hold perverse opinions; another was most excellent in eloquence; another, a most sharp disputant; another left behind commentaries on the soul and its tabernacle, on the beauty of virtue and the ugliness of vices, for the convenience and utility of those pursuing letters. To whom, therefore, as I was saying, the faculty of speech has been granted, he can also compose books by art: which the same unskilled and barbarian person will perform in a barbaric fashion. But just as a blacksmith handles masses of iron, having the unformed material ready, and on the way for future smithing labors, but he labors in it as he wishes, and with the application of fire, he reduces it to the form which his will dictates (for he will not forge it without fire, even if he excels all other hammerers in art), so believe that you possess divine Scripture fully. The Apostles preach, the prophets foretell. A writer, using their words and passages, if he does not also have the grace of God helping him, will be able to understand and discourse on nothing correctly. Fire provides aid to the smith, divine grace to the writer. Without these aids which are at hand, neither can accomplish the work. For if the one does not add the other, his work will turn out unpleasant, mutilated, and vicious, and it will be of great harm to the incautious and simple. Wherefore I warned, and now again I warn, that I have inserted nothing into this book that is alien to Scripture, but have drawn some things from the Old Testament, others from the New, others from both, and have excerpted other things from the masters and sacred doctors, whatever things indeed I judged to be of profit for the proposed writing. But many and better things also inspired this, whether it be deemed abject or great. ^D For if the gift did not descend from above, what could the creature do without the Creator? For whatever intelligence one received as a gift from the Creator, that same intelligence will in turn eventually be claimed back by Him. Regarding Gregory of Nyssa. Therefore, whoever is about to read this commentary, if he should find anything new in it, let him ascribe it to the grace of God. For if he is industrious in learning, he will recognize something new, and from where this comes, and from what scripture it was taken. But if someone be rude and sluggish, let him never wish to attempt impossible things. We have also opportune borrowed some things on physics from those who are alien to the Christian faith, and from those ancient sages Galen and Hippocrates, where most especially concerning matter...

Scholia. Psellus. For the splendor of the words is like a trumpet sounding in the ears and striking them, and wandering through them, but it does not flow into the soul, nor does it soften the heart. What is the utility of such a thing to minds that love God? The diction of divine wisdom is indeed humble, but the sentiment is sublime and heavenly. The elocution of the outsiders indeed shines, but the sentiment itself crawls along the ground.

^A regarding the elements, the four simple bodies, and the primary bodies, and how from these are generated the types of the four humors—blood, phlegm, and black and yellow bile—from which human bodies are composed; and furthermore concerning the four ages and the same number of seasons of the year, which are spring, autumn, summer, and winter. We also discussed the womb and the constitutions of infants usually formed therein. Moreover, we accurately investigated the physical cause from which those shameful symptoms and bodily sufferings arise, and we expounded on the temperaments of qualities, their proportions, the vicissitudes of characters and times, and what cause precedes each one, all of these things, I say, in the fourth book. But if in some matters I have strayed from decorum, let it be attributed to my ignorance and lack of skill. And I wish for all to be beseeched so that they may forgive me and excuse the sins committed in this writing, attending especially to the goal I have proposed for myself, rather than to those things which might merit laughter, if only they strongly desire the fruit of their own souls.

CHAPTER XX.

Why do you sit thus? Why are you free from every care? Why do you neglect yourself so much, my soul? How have you cast aside all thought of the things you have done foolishly? How have you had no regard for the way of lovable repentance? How do you not hasten as much as you can, so long as you remain in this life, to the spiritual Fathers and divine masters; and beg them, entreat them, and beseech them constantly, and inquire with groans and tears, in what manner you may be able to find the remission of your sins, and in what way you may wash away so many and such great stains? How has the thought of the final hour not entered your mind, and how will you answer the Judge of all? How have you forgotten to keep in mind, with zeal, your final end, and in what way, at last, one must depart from this tabernacle? You have many, and more than many, things which you should observe and examine in yourself. You have polluted, you have contaminated, and you have made your life useless. If, therefore, at the Creator’s command the angels come to lead you out from these perishable things and release you from the body, alas! Woe to you, unhappy soul, if you are then found as you are now: so unconcerned, so given over to vices, so overwhelmed by sins! Grave is the tearing away of the soul, grave then will the tumult be felt; but far more grave will it be to hear those bitter groans when all your brothers, relatives, fathers, and tribesmen standing around your bed will weep, will wail, will mourn, will lament, perceiving that you must depart from here with no hope of return. And you will indeed see all these things, and you will hear the weeping with the eyes of the body, and perhaps with the eyes of the heart. You will not, however, be able to speak with a tongue that has become parched, nor to console the grief of your family and kin: but you will have your gaze fixed only on the angels, and within your mind ^B you will weep, and you will beg them suppliantly with these words: "Give me space for repentance, and to lament and wash away the stains of my sins. Grant me, I beg, even the smallest amount of time, that I may be able to live a life in Christ, and make me one who shows mercy to our miseries, being myself more merciful. And then take me away from these fleeting things, and lead me off." They, indeed sternly, yet justly, will reply: "The time of your life is consumed; go forth, the Judge has decreed, the end has an end. It is necessary for you to pass over: do not delay, do not be sluggish. You have wasted your age in all remissness and sloth. You have squandered your life, you have spent your years in vain. You have not been mindful of your end, nor of your last hour. And now, as you say, you repent of these things, though even this you do barely. Did you not hear the fathers crying out daily, what and how great things would come to pass after death? Did you not see those departing hence daily—the adults, the adolescents, those flourishing in their prime, and in short, everyone? And how have you not changed your mind? How have you not been thoughtful? Let us go, let us depart in haste, no procrastination is given. Follow quickly, proceed to the Creator."

Then you will be violently released from this flesh, and from the members and veins, and from the bonds of all the joints, and you will be led off with the utmost horror. What will your perception be then? What your thought? Not then will the memory of your wife or children come to mind, since they shall have perished, as the Scripture says*, and their thoughts all. Only the judgment will be there—the horrible, the tremendous judgment which will be pronounced against you by the Judge. Where then will your possessions be, where your ^C money and riches, where your kin, where your brothers, where your children and fathers? No patron will appear then, absolutely no liberator at all. There will not be there a variety of foods and drinks: no exquisite spices, no cooks, no luxury of tables, no pleasures, no life that is soft and unrestrained, idle and delicate; no elaborate songs, and no applause of dancing choruses, through all of which we exercise the vanities of this world. All things are mere mockery, and they vanish like a dream, and like dust are suddenly dissipated by a whirlwind. What will your body profit you then? What the love and care for the flesh? Which, even if you have cherished it with singular zeal, it will nonetheless rot and decompose in the tomb, and will be reduced to dust that feels nothing, while the pain will not depart from you. You looked shamelessly, you were captivated by the sweetness of color. Your tongue and mouth were free for insults; the windows of your ears were open to impure hearings. Your hands were stretched out for violence and rapine, and for striking your neighbor without cause. Your feet hastened to wicked works, todishonorable spectacles, to fighting and iniquities. Now, indeed, a need full of tears presses upon you, and your putrefied body teems with worms.

What discourse will express, or what intellect will finally grasp, what calamity you will necessarily undergo when the separation from the body is at hand? Demons, busy with evil, will arrive in a tumult, ^D chirographs and

^A heaps of sins bringing. The angels will humanely examine it by a scale, to which the demons will add your more grievous crimes. If you have sworn falsely, if you have committed theft, if you have plotted calumny, if you have perpetrated acts of fornication and adultery, if you have been an impudent apostate, if you have exalted yourself above your brothers, if you have lied against friends. In short, the entire catalogue of your sins, simply stated—whether knowing or unknowing, whether feeling or not feeling that you committed them—they will carry on their shoulders and bring them all maliciously; and they will hasten, rejoicing in the destruction of men, and they will observe whether the scale of sins leans downward. But the good angels will place your good actions in the other scale, with becoming grace. Namely, if you have been merciful; if you have spared your brothers; if you have refreshed the hungry with food; if you have offered drink to the thirsty; if you have covered the naked with whatever garments you could ^B spare; if you have visited those consigned to prison and the sick; if you have brought strangers and those lacking hospitality into your house; if you have brought aid to the poor and needy; if you have performed any other duty of humanity humanely to anyone. These things will protect you in the final hour. When, therefore, they have brought your actions into the midst—the demons the profane, the angels the good, the light ones the luminous, the dark ones the dark—and have weighted the scales therewith, whichever part shall have outweighed the other, those will be seized with pleasure and joy, as victors, that is, while the vanquished will be saddened most vehemently, as Gregory the Roman testifies in the *Dialogues*, and the great and in every way great and divine Antony, the most reverend of teachers and the glory of the saints.

What speech, what power of expression could declare what relates to the torments of sinners, and what are prepared for their punishments and afflictions? There is weeping without end, there is groaning without limit. They will lament in vain, they will shout to no purpose. "Let the day perish," they will cry out, "in which we entered into life in vain." You, too, will be seized with repentance, and you will cry out bitterly: Woe, woe! My miserable and unhappy soul!

If, therefore, the kind and merciful God then, O soul, sees your humility, the demons will be overcome, they will blush, they will depart, and the victorious angels will receive you most willingly, and rejoicing, as is their custom, will carry you into the ethereal seats. You will also find in the midst the princes of the publicans, tempting, drawing back, demanding bitterly, the avengers of things manifest and occult and of all things. These are the proud mores, hatred, envy. The wretches will demand an accounting, and they will call all things to reckoning, and this until you have arrived at the gates of heaven. After you have escaped the crowd of these adversaries, and have approached your incorruptible Judge and Lord, falling down, you will worship Him legitimately. Then, the divine command approaching, after you have known both pleasure and torment, they will lead you, having been accepted, and you will see what you will see: the most splendid place, the orders of the saints, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sitting in glory—all of them, Fathers, both those before the Law and after the Law, and as many prophets as foretold the Savior, namely His incarnation, His death and sufferings, and whatsoever He endured for the sake of saving His creation. Witnesses of the Word, the hosts of the Fathers, because of the contests of the crowned, the venerable, the just, and the saints. Before all, the Mother of the Word, the Theotokos, that joy ineffable and inexplicable—how great it is can neither be spoken, nor comprehended by human or angelic intellect. After ^C you have passed through all those mansions, you will rejoice, gazing upon the pleasure of the just, and you will desire to be called their companion, and you will entreat the leading angels, who show you everything, and lead you round through places luminous and verdant, and teeming with happiness, and in fear mixed with joy you will say: Allow me, my lords, to remain with these, allow me, I beseech you, and I shall owe grace for grace. But they, according to the command of the Word and Savior, if you are suitable, and pure, and worthy, will make you a fellow and companion ^D of the just; and what I can confirm to you: you will dwell and rejoice with them. And these things, indeed, if you have overcome by the weight of better [deeds]. But if the gravity of your crimes pulls the scale downward, then the princes of darkness, and those envious of the good, will shamelessly snatch you away, and will audaciously drag you off to the underworld. And they will first show you the places of torments, the outer darkness, and worse than all darkness, the restless worm, the pain that is never to be ended, the river of fire, the punishment of Gehenna, the noise and the gnashing of teeth. All things full of wailing, full of torment.

When you have seen the happiness and the torments of punishments, and all that is of light, and what is of darkness, they will finally establish you in the place defined for you by the just Judge, in which you will await the final examination of all, and the common resurrection of all, and the life and the judgment. Then the trumpet will sound most clearly, so that it may be heard by all; the trumpet will sound, and all, as if struck, will rise at once. The earth and the sea will render up whatever they hold, as many men as they have received since the world was founded, whether the lion devoured them, or the leopard, or the whale, or the dragon, or the wolf, or the dog, or any other marine or terrestrial animal. Every man will revive: masters and servants, nobles, the honored, all dynasts and princes, toparchs and phylarchs, monks and the just, commoners and sinners. Who could describe with words what the confusion of all things will be then? What speech, what thought, what tongue, what mind? The sun will not shed light, the moon will not shine, the stars will fall from heaven. The earth and the heaven will be changed for the better. The great-voiced Isaiah, foreseeing the restoration of the creation in the future, prophesies that a new heaven and a new earth, all beauty, such as it was first of all, will be restored, with all filth and every stain cast away and cleansed; and all things that are within the pole and the center of the earth,

^A by the nod and will of the Lord, will be clothed in newness. The royal standard, namely the cross, will afterwards triumph in state, displayed on high, as Matthew writes, while the intellectual orders of Angels, Archangels, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Dominations, Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim conspicuously go before it; and they shall go before Christ as He comes in glory to the place where He has determined to sit to exercise judgment. Thrones therefore having been set, and books prepared, the Judge and Lord of glory shall sit to judge both the quick and the dead justly. Kings shall be brought forward, potentates shall be gathered together. Poor and rich shall stand with trembling, with angels acting as summoners, so that they may render an account of their deeds and receive a reward worthy of their works. The books shall be opened, and all things shall be displayed. ^B There, then, the separation of the human beings standing by shall be brought about, when the sheep, as fruitful, shall be stationed on the right, but the goats, and all those who are fruitless and useless as servants and creatures—as I am—shall be stationed on the left. Furthermore, naked and manifest they shall be placed in the open, lamenting, but in vain, crying out, but to no purpose. The sheep shall hear the blessed voice: "Come, my friends, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world." For me, you have deemed worthy of hospitality, food, and clothing when I was hungry and thirsty, naked, sick, sitting in prison, a stranger, and a guest. These things, indeed, for the sheep. But to the goats, how savage, and harsh, and intolerable in every way shall these things be spoken: "Depart from me, far away, accursed ones, into the outer fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels," and for all who have served unfruitful works, and have walked after their own wills, who have wickedly turned away from God, and as for my words, who have spurned my commandments, and have dissolved all the covenants of baptism; promising all things and yet lying to me. But Satan and those who are full of malice, and those who cling to things of Satan. Go, therefore, into your father. Should it be possible for them to die and rise again, all would expire at so horrible a word, unable to endure so bitter a judgment.

My soul, dark, most wretched, foolish, woe to you because of the damnation, woe because of the judgment. You turn yourself quite often, looking here and there; but you will find no defender and helper because of your works, thoughts, and conscience, which will be present then, and will bear witness against you, and will lead you straight into fire and flame, where there is indescribable torture, immense affliction, intolerable punishment, a plight greater than all patience. The time of punishment has no end. They shall be torn away from friends and intimates, from sons and wives, from most beloved kinsfolk. Bishops shall be separated from co-bishops. Priests and presbyters from those who shared their dignity. And these things, indeed, shall take place on the left side.

And the greenness, Eden. Not, however, the place of Eden in which Adam was formed. But the very paradise itself, into which Paul was caught up, and into this the multitudes of the just shall be received—Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, who first pleased the Lord by their works. The hospitable Abraham, Lot, the rest, Moses, Aaron, the company of the prophets, and more so those who were under grace, and the eyewitnesses of the Word, the apostles, the throngs and legions of the Fathers and martyrs, the Mother of God, Mary—who is called by grace—John the Forerunner. All will recognize each other face to face, and will dwell with the Maker of all. Whatever number, however, shall be of the portion of the goats, besides that Tartarean prison which they shall endure, they shall not even see nor know one another. For where there is darkness, there eyes do not perform their function. How, therefore, could they see and know each other? But the common evil shall be to be enclosed in a prison, to lament on account of the torments, to mourn and groan. For it is not granted to escape to the upper air, nor does any escape from such evils lie open.

Repent, arise: why do you sleep so perpetually? Awake, take up serious thought, set to the business, cast off sloth, rouse yourself and hasten, shake off the sleep, put aside laziness, confess what you have done from the beginning even to the end, beat your breast, weep, raise a cry from the bottom of your heart, distribute alms to the poor, divide, feed them. Send a message to your sins, do good works, always await the end of your life. Death comes upon you like a ravening lion, unexpected, unforeseen, unlooked for, as a thief, and it is to be feared that it may suddenly seize and carry you off. Forgive the debt to your debtors. Pardon your neighbor, as the law of love requires. Prostrate yourself before the Mother of God, pray as much as you can. As Mother, she can do very much, if she wills. Pray also to the martyrs, pray to the saints, that they may plead your cause before the Lord. If death comes while you are doing this, fear not. Death, if the mind is pure, shall be rest, and for him who keeps His words, in truth it is not death, nor does punishment befall him, as the Lord Himself taught the Jews; but it is rather a certain passage to the heavenly life, whose end shall have no limit, and glory shall not fade. Life is Christ, and He Himself is the supplier of life. Lo, I have set everything before you, I have expounded all things, and in addition I have written them down, as I was able, and I have warned you of good and of bad things, so that as far as your salvation is concerned, you may have no pretext to offer as an excuse.

You, however, all in Christ—Fathers and friends—who are to read this little work, weep and wail with me, according to the commandment of the Creator; for love is manifest: to weep with those who weep, and to rejoice, as it is written, with those who rejoice. I also ask, weep with me, and pour out prayers to the Creator for me and my sins. For thence shall come to me, and you shall obtain for me, remission from Him who perfectly forgives the fallen. And provide me with a hand and help. I have provoked the Potter, I have irritated the Creator, in words, in thoughts, in deeds.

and deeds. I have served the passions and have submitted myself to ^A them. I have put on vile clothing for my disgrace alone. I am attached to pleasures, I linger in filth, I possess no repentance, I do not tremble at death, stupor has oppressed me, I am blind in soul, and I do not remember my final hour. I am unprepared. Sloth besets me. I fear being cut off, and in terror I dread the curse, and the threats of fire, and vengeance in hell.

But, O Father of mercies, sole merciful One, who never desirest the death of a sinner, but that he may do penance, live, and be saved 30, and who awaits this in long-suffering, grant me the groaning of the good publican. Grant me the tears of Peter, and of the harlot, to purge and wash away my many defilements, ^B and bestow [them] upon me. For you have said: they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick 31. Therefore, as I am ill in body and soul, visit me, O Lord, I beseech you, and sprinkle me with the dew of your mercy. Truly, you who are alone easily reconciled, and alone merciful, through your mercy deign to show mercy to me. I am that sheep which has wandered far from the divine fold. Seek [me] and save [me]. Whether I desire it, save [me], or whether I do not desire it, so that when I see the magnitude of your benevolence, I may open my mouth to thanksgiving. But what shall one render to the Creator for all that he has rendered to us 32? The great David says: But you are my God, O Lord; shall I glorify you vehemently 33, and praise your holy name with the Prophet? For you have wrought many and miraculous things in me.

Fragment which you might seek in vain in the version of Jac. Pontanus; it was edited by Joan. Bapt. Cotelier in his notes to the *Apostolic Constitutions*, book VIII, chapter 73; but he omitted to say to what place in the *Dioptra* it pertains.

On the manner in which we celebrate the third, ninth, and fortieth days.

It must also be known that the apostles divided the forty days of ancient mourning into three [parts]: into the third day, and the ninth, and the fortieth. For so did the Lord himself after his three-day resurrection show himself to his disciples, when the doors were shut, and he breathed on them, saying: Receive the Holy Spirit. And after eight days, ^B lo, again after the resurrection, within the [span of] eight days, he appeared to them a second time. Thus, the evangelist, saying, *After eight days*, did not count the day of the resurrection with the other days. Wherefore, with that one, nine are numbered. According to this model, therefore, we celebrate the second memorial after the burial, up to the ninth day, of those who have fallen asleep in holiness. And in like manner we also do the fortieth, since on the fortieth day the Lord was taken up. ^C

NOTICE

That which we are publishing under the name of Philip the Solitary, following the authority of Andrea Galland, who had assigned the work under that name in his *Adversaria*, was previously brought forth in Greek and Latin by Combefis in his *Novum Auctarium*, vol. II, page 261. But that learned man, in his notes, restored [it] from a Palatine manuscript code to Demetrius of Cyzicus, and under that same name it is held in the Escorial library, as Possevin testifies in his *Apparatus*, p. 400; by which Cave also is backed up, *Dissert.*, p. 170. Whence Galland drew that this writing pertains to Philip the Solitary is not clear. Compare Fabricius concerning Demetrius, *Biblioth. Gr.* vol. VI, page 388. The author, whoever he may have been, seems to have lived under the Armenian king Paneratune Sympathus, and the Catholicos Isaac of Bazacastrum. For he commemorates these in the last place at the end of his little book, having left the years of [their] reign and archbishopric in silence. — *Biblioth. Galland.*, vol. XIV.

PHILIPPUS SOLITARIUS TRACTATUS ON THE AFFAIRS OF ARMENIA.

^A On the heresy of the Jacobites and the Chatzitzarians.

I. This Jacob, from whom these also are named, was a certain Syrian monk, very ignoble and obscure, surnamed Tzantzalus on account of his extreme insignificance, I suppose. Having therefore embraced the doctrine of Eutyches, he preached it among the Syrians. Now Eutyches was in the times of the reign of Theodosius the Younger, being a monk and archimandrite in Constantinople. And the orthodox and catholic Church indeed believes our Lord Jesus Christ to be one compound person, from two natures, deity and humanity; and that these two natures are preserved unconfused, unchangeable, and without any alteration. For we confess him to be twofold, that is to say, both God and man, endowed with a double nature and will: and that he has double operations, divine and human, not by mere opinion and appearance, but in truth. But this Eutyches, before the union—that is, the incarnation of Christ—said that the two natures which were united were two, namely, deity and humanity; but after the union, he taught impiously that both natures were commingled into one, as if someone were to mix wine with water, so that from this a mixture and confusion and alteration of the two natures resulted. For it is evident that if, according to the opinion of this impious Eutyches, the two natures were blended into one, each would have lost its respective properties, just as wine perishes when it is mixed with water. ^B And finally, according to them, Christ did not work divine things as God, and human things as man; nor was God impassible and man passible, but the divinity suffered equally with the flesh; from which heresy those who teach these things are called Theopaschites by the Fathers.

[H] Furthermore, this profane dogma of Eutyches was confirmed by Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, whom the Council of Chalcedon of six hundred holy Fathers deposed under the Emperor Marcian. The same thing was also taught by the impious Severus, from whom also those called Monothelites—Cyrus of Alexandria, Sergius of Constantinople, and the rest—originated, who established their own heresy, whom the sixth Council of Constantinople anathematized.

^A III. The aforementioned Jacob having thus freely preached the doctrine of Eutyches, a schism later occurred among the Syrians. And some, who had followed the orthodox faith and the synod and the Emperor Marcian, were called Melchites, that is, Royalists or Imperialists; for *Melchi* in the Hebrew and Syriac tongue is called king. Others, however, were called the "Scissi" (the Schismatics) and also Monothelites, who, giving credence to the Syrian monk Jacob, obtained the name of Jacobites, and from him they are so called even until this day. And because they believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, they appear to be orthodox, and indeed, for this reason, they lead astray those who encounter them; but as regards the dispensation of the Incarnate Word, before the union—that is, before the Incarnation—it has been stated that they confess two natures; but after the union, they do not confess two natures but one, and hence they introduce a confusion and commingling of the two natures. They are anathematized as Monophysites and Theopaschites; and they accept only the first three synods—namely, those of Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus—while they reject the one at Chalcedon and those that followed it, and they subject the Fathers of these to the anathema. And, what is more grievous, they even ascribe passion to the Godhead, dogmatizing that even It suffered together with the flesh at the time of the Passion. And this is the beginning of the heresy of the impious Jacobites. ^B IV. Later, they also invented the practice of signing the face with ^C one finger, as if professing a single nature in Christ; and that of not moving the hand from the right to the left, as we do, but on the contrary, from the left to the right; and they mix their own oblation with oil; and they consider the holy communion that we have as nothing, whether they partake of it or not. Nor do they place water in the union of their liturgy. They have the same attitude toward the holy icons; regarding it in the same light whether they venerate them or do not venerate them. But if it ever happens that they do venerate them, they do not kiss the image itself, but by touching it with the finger alone, they kiss the finger instead. And furthermore, they bury the precious cross on Great Friday and keep it hidden until the holy day of the Lord’s Resurrection; then, at first light, they run through the streets and squares, asking whether Christ is here or there; and only then do they reveal it. They also say that they have various editions of liturgies, contrary to ecclesiastical traditions. They eat meat even during the week of Tyrophagy. And they have also received from Peter the Fuller the addition to the Trisagion hymn, saying: "Thou who wast crucified for us, have mercy on us." And this is regarding the Jacobites. ^D V. The Chatzitzarii, however, were so named from the word for cross; they indeed worship and honor the cross. For among them, the crucified one is called *Chatzi*. Sin-

They pierce each of the crosses with a nail, as though they were confessing that the Godhead suffered on the cross. But they worship the cross not as we do—knowing it as a weapon against demons and death—but, as they themselves crazily believe, because the cross appeared more powerful than Christ and destroyed Him. Furthermore, they turn away from all sacred images and are considered, like the Jacobites, Theopaschites. They themselves also openly exclaim in the Trisagion hymn, "Who suffered for us." They do, however, oppose the Jacobites in that they do not dogmatize one nature in Christ our God by confusion, as the others do, but two, just as we do. Yet they introduce another impiety: they wickedly mythologize two persons in the one Christ, according to the Nestorians, as if, at the time of the passion, one person were suffering on the cross while another stood apart, separated, and watched the passion.

VI. The same people, even before the day of Meat-fare, fast for several days, and during the races and on the Sundays of the holy Quadragesima, they eat butter, milk, and eggs. The oblation which they offer, they make unleavened, and into the cup of communion, after the manner of the Jacobites, they pour only wine and do not mix it with water. Likewise, they baptize their crosses for several days. And the younger Chatzitzarii chatter that this was introduced as a ceremony for an irrational reason; but their ancient teachers slander the holy and God-inspired martyr Gregory, bishop of Greater Armenia, alleging that he handed down to them this kind of oblation without leaven and the cup without water because, as they say, the bread which Christ gave to the disciples at the mystic supper was unleavened, and the cup was without water—practices which the Catholic Church, legitimately observing the apostolic and Patristic tradition, does not approve.

Discourse of the Jacobites

VII. They say that every nature exists in a hypostasis, and every hypostasis is understood in a nature, calling an hypostasis that which is with properties. Such an entity has both communion with the essence and the proper attribute of the hypostasis. If, therefore, they say, the nature of the Godhead is one thing, and that of the manhood is another, according to what has been established by the Fathers—for, he says, those whose definitions are different, their natures are also different—then of necessity, according to Nestorius, two hypostases ought to be spoken of. But if we do not speak of two hypostases, neither ought we to speak of two natures.

VIII. But the Church responds that, just as on account of the consubstantiality of the holy Trinity she speaks of one substance, and on account of the different mode of subsistence she speaks of three hypostases or persons; so likewise, on account of the different substance of the Word and the flesh, she speaks of two substances; and because neither subsists separately and by itself, she speaks of one hypostasis and person.

^A IX. In the holy Trinity, we clearly profess three persons, on account of the personal distinction; but in one of the Trinity, we speak of two natures in one person, on account of the natural distinction. Just as, with regard to the holy Trinity, we do not speak of one substance in such a way as to confuse the three persons, nor do we speak of three persons in such a way as to destroy the one substance; so too with regard to the one of the holy Trinity, we speak of one hypostasis, not in such a way as to confuse His two natures, nor do we speak of the two natures in such a way as to divide the one person.

X. He who, on account of the distinction of natures, denies the hypostatic union in Christ, is a Nestorian; and he who does not acknowledge the natural distinction in the hypostatic union is a Eutychianist. But he who preaches both the hypostatic union and the natural distinction in the One of the holy Trinity is a preacher of the royal and blameless faith.

^B Narrative of Saint Gregory up to our own age, concerning those who were his successors in order, that is, in his throne, and concerning those who in turn ruled and reigned in their days, both among the Romans and the Persians, in order to know up to what time they held the orthodox faith, which they received from Saint Gregory and from the holy Council of Nicaea; and in what days they fell into error, and by whom, and how they conducted themselves, and what questions arose concerning the faith, and how they have remained in error until this day.

I. In the time of the most God-beloved Emperor Constantine the Great, the holy Council of Nicaea was held against Arius, in the thirty-fourth year of King Tiridates and the twentieth year of Saint Gregory, from his emergence out of the pit, and in the days of the episcopacy of Saint Rostaces ^C and his father, who also attended the council. Thereafter came Vartanes, Gregory, Josek, Pharnesec, from the region of the Aspracian Astisac. After these, Saint Norseses. Then the kings of the Armenians: Chosroes, Teranasac, Baristirtac, Asak. In his day the Armenians were divided, when also the city of Theodosiopolis was built by the Great Emperor Theodosius, to whom Asak, the king of Great Armenia, was subject. Chosroes was under the dominion of the king of the Persians, Sapor, in the land of the Armenians; him, after four years, the same Sapor cast from his kingdom.

II. In the times of Theodosius the Great, the holy council was held in Constantinople of the 150 holy Fathers against the enemy of the Holy Spirit, Macedonius, and they anathematized him. And in Armenia, Saint Norseses was present in those same times. The confession of faith therefore was one and the same, which they had received from the holy Fathers, in the reign of Bramsapor and his son, Artachetzes, who followed him. And after these, the woman Marspane held supreme power among the Armenians.

III. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Theodosius the Younger, ^D

^A the third synod of the two hundred Fathers was celebrated, who condemned Nestorius. And after this was composed the hymn *Holy God*, etc., by the blessed Proclus, bishop of the city of Constantinople, for the sake of obtaining mercy from the Lord God, to ward off the calamity of the earthquake that had come upon them. And from that time the Catholic Church received the Trisagion hymn, in the manner of the glorification which we have learned from the prophet Isaiah that the Seraphim offer to God.

IV. In the times of the same Theodosius, the blessed Flavian, in the palace of the royal city, deposing the abominable Eutyches, declared anathema upon him. Therefore he went to Dioscorus, asking that he request the emperor to hold another synod at Ephesus, that he might condemn the holy Flavian and acquit Eutyches. But Dioscorus and Eutyches were seized with immense hatred, not otherwise than a raven in the wood, and like a night-owl in the ruins and rubble.

V. Furthermore, as the blessed Leo, Roman pope, learned of these things and the confusion of the Church, he sharply reproved them, asking Theodosius the emperor that a universal synod be held. In the meantime, however, the emperor died, for which reason the plan was set aside. But Marcian, the successor to the empire, brought that council to its end. Moreover, six years after the death of St. Isaac, the synod was held at Sapeban.

VI. The blessed and holy Isaac having thus finished his life, he departed to the Lord in the 110th year of his life; ^B by his command, Joseph assumed his episcopal throne. In his 12th year, under the compulsion of Ezennert to worship fire in Armenia, in the 37th year of Theodosius Caesar, the bishops of Armenia were diminished; and having grown in boldness, they withdrew themselves from the Catholic Church, by the command of the king of the Persians. This, then, was the first of his rash undertakings, and from the power of Sormac he initiated the evil: most especially, for his bishops, it remains irremediable to this day.

VII. From the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ to the 7th year of Constantine, in whose time the Nicene synod was celebrated, there are 315 years; and from the Nicene synod to the synod in Constantinople, in the 5th year of Theodosius the Great, 73 years. ^C And from that synod to the holy synod at Ephesus, which was held in the days of Theodosius the Younger, in the 15th year, there are 40 years. And from that synod to the synod of Ephesus of Dioscorus, in the days of the same emperor, 21 years; and from that one to the holy synod at Chalcedon, which was held in the second year of the reign of Marcian the emperor, 5 years. And from that synod to the reign of Anastasius Caesar, 40 years and more.

VIII. At that time a great disturbance arose for Dioscorus and ^D

the supporters of Eutyches, who maintained one nature. ^A Moreover, the Severians of Antioch and Alexandria were afflicted, as was the holy city, because certain courtiers, suffering from the same disease, had persuaded the emperor to their opinion. Furthermore, they filled the whole land with tumult—namely Mesopotamia and other provinces—in that they compelled men altogether to condemn with anathema the holy and ecumenical synod of Chalcedon and to confess one nature of Christ, of his deity and humanity, according to the doctrine of Eutyches; and that the immortal nature had suffered. And thus, in that hymn of the holy Trinity, the *Trisagion* (“Holy God”), they added the words, "who wast crucified for us," which shortly before those times Peter the Antiochene, surnamed the Fuller, had added, and was for this proscribed by the holy Fathers of that age. Whosoever, however, persevered in the right faith, having spurned the imperial commands, he ^B sentenced to be deported into exile. During that time, Timothy, the bishop, published many tracts of his own against those who confessed two natures in the one Christ, and uttered reproaches against the synod of Chalcedon.

IX. After these things, Julian, bishop of Elicarnassus, and Jacob of Pitnana were divided from one another in the time of Justin the emperor and Cabades, king of the Persians. This Julian said that the Savior had assumed an immortal body from heaven, from whom they were called Julianists, as the Jacobites were from Jacob, and the Severians from Severus. Moreover, because the Julianists did not possess more than three bishops, when Julian died, the two remaining ones deliberated that it was impossible, according to the rule of the holy Fathers, for a bishop to be ordained without three bishops. And so, before they deposited him in the grave, they placed their hands upon him along with the deceased one, ^C ordaining a bishop; whence they were called *Necrochirotoneti*—that is, ordained by the hand of a dead man—and to this day the Julianists count that right hand as an honor to themselves.

X. But the number of bishops of this heresy was again diminished; and because they could not be ordained on account of their heresy, they sought the ordination of the bishops of Armenia. Wherefore they became friends with Nersapo, bishop of Taron, who held the episcopate in the nineteenth year of Cabades and served as bishop for many years, together with his companion, Aptysus the Syrian, from Sarepa, a monastery of the neighboring Sasans, saying that everyone had gone astray after Nestorius and his followers at Chalcedon; ^D and because they had no place where they might be ordained, they had approached their pious ordination, that they might ordain bishops for them. Furthermore, as we said above, they found that they had lost the tradition of the holy Gregory and had been repulsed from the throne of Caesarea, having received a mandate from the king of the Persians that they themselves should perform the ordination for one another. They said, however, that they had received the right of ordination from the holy Gregory and were his disciples in Christ, although they said this falsely.

^A XI. When these matters had become known to Nersapo the bishop, he signaled them to the Catholicos Narses, who was of Astarax and Azatis. They convened a great synod in the city of Tiben, in the twenty-fourth year of the aforementioned Catholicos Narses, the twelfth year of Justin the Emperor, and the twenty-fourth year of Chosroes, king of the Persians—the year in which Nestipost was crowned by martyrdom and the beginning of the Armenian numbering—when they anathematized the holy synod of Chalcedon as Nestorian, according to the discourse of Aptiso. For at that time they interpreted the writings which he had brought, which were mentioned above, composed by Timothy and Philicus the Syrians against the synod of Chalcedon and against those who confess two natures in Christ our God; and they dogmatized a contrary synod, saying: "One nature of God the Word and of the flesh," and that he was crucified and died according to his immortal nature. Hence they added to the canticle "Holy God" the words "who wast crucified," following Peter the Fuller, who was involved in the same error as Sabellius. They decreed under anathema that they should withdraw from communion with Jerusalem, with the younger Romans, and with those who confess two natures after the incarnation of our Lord. Moreover, ordaining Aptiso as bishop, and two others, they sent them into the Mesopotamia of Syria to enter into mutual and perpetual agreement, writing it with their own hands and securing it with seals.

^B XII. After a long time, a certain prince, Bartas, having killed the Persian tyrant Surien and defecting from the Armenians, went fearlessly to Constantinople in the fortieth year of Chosroes and the thirtieth of Justinian, who also built the Holy Sophia; yet he separated himself from his communion, together with his companions. For he said that he had no mandate from his teachers to communicate with them. Therefore, the Emperor ordered that the same Bartas should summon the bishops and teachers of the Armenians.

^C XIII. A great synod took place in Constantinople against certain heretics—which we call the fifth synod—and when they reached an agreement with them, they named the sacred doors of the Holy Sophia after them, and it is called the Gate of the Armenians even to this day. Then they anathematized Origen, Evagrius, Didymus, the Nestorians, the Jacobites, the Julianists, the Gaianites, and altogether all those who were infected with the Nestorian heresy and also that of Eutyches. When they returned to Armenia, some received the union with a prompt and eager mind; others, however, were corrupted and fell away in the days of Boanes, the Catholicos, of whom it is not currently the time to speak in detail. Therefore, they wrote a letter to Apas, the Catholicos of the province of Albania, in these words: "Come and agree with us in the faith, in that you confess the single nature of Christ the God, and that in the canticle 'Holy God' you say 'who wast crucified for us.'" But he refused, saying: "Peter and Gregory, my predecessors, used to speak in that manner."

^A being of my opinion, they said thus regarding the 'Holy God'; I, however, neither add nor subtract anything. Likewise they wrote also to the Iberians. But they, strongly speaking against it, did not accept it, save only those who are 'Ailuroi' [Weasels]—according to the Armenian dialect—Tazer, Tzorapor, and Cartame, which are towns, and some from Artzach. In those days many seditions occurred on account of the long-standing defection of the leaders, both in Romania and in Perside, while in the meantime for twenty years questions of faith were being moved in the days of the Catholicos Bianises and Moses, up to the first year of Chosroes, who attained the kingdom by the hand of the Emperor Maurice, in the great strength of the Romans. Now the general Musicles left the one called the Taronite, of [the house of] Manconi, in Perside. He reigned for thirty-six years and gave all of Armenia to the Emperor Maurice as far as the Tiben, for the reason that he had been appointed king by him, and both he and his armies had received many gifts from him. In the same year he sent Musiles to Maurice; and when he had arrived in Constantinople, on the great feast day of the Precious Cross, Musiles and the soldiers with him removed themselves from communion. When the emperor asked and learned the cause, he [Musiles] himself said that it was because of the Synod of Chalcedon and because we confess two natures. ^B

XIV. The emperor said: "Why then did your predecessor Bartac confess with us, and the Azati with him, and their teachers, having composed it in writing?" Musiles replies: "On account of ignorance or fear. If, therefore, you command, and listen gently, and direct judgment in justice, you will find the truth in my teachers." Therefore he ordered all the bishops and the Catholicos Moses to come to Constantinople with the military forces. But the Catholicos Moses did not apply his mind to what was ordered, saying: "Far be it that I cross the river Azat, or eat what is baked in an oven, or drink hot [water]." ^C In a similar fashion, the bishops of the province of Aspuran, as many as were under the dominion and power of the Persians, were not willing to go. But the bishops of Taron and the bishops who were under the power of the Romans went to Constantinople; and after great searching, they were persuaded to their views, and writing documents with an oath, they confessed the same faith themselves, having written it with their own hands. Having returned to Armenia, they were not received by Moses and the other bishops who were in Perside and Armenia. Moreover, he [Chosroes] made John, from the region of Cocosta of the Pancratians, Catholicos. ^D

XV. They contended much among themselves concerning the two natures in Christ and regarding the Synod of Chalcedon for fourteen years, until the death [of Moses]; in which year King Chosroes received the region of Armenia, when also Abraham was appointed Catholicos; and in the same year he forced the bishops, and the Catholicos John, to pour [water] into the chalice at the Mass.

^A presbyters and abbots to pronounce anathema against the synod at Chalcedon, or to depart from the country. They pronounced the anathema, and the strife of words ceased.

XVI. Three years later, war was brought upon the Phrasians, and the Persians struck the Romans, and the city of Citrie and Theodosiopolis were captured in the 5th year of the Emperor Phocas, and the 20th of Chosroes, as well as many other towns. Among these, the Catholicos Abraham even forced John, who was Catholicos, and who was indeed in Armenia, but in that part which was then under Roman rule, along with the bishops of John's districts, to either pronounce anathema against the synod at Chalcedon or to depart from the regions of Armenia. Not being persuaded to do so, they departed, some to Tais, and others to Romaniæ, who also died in a foreign land. Then came Comitas the Catholicos, under whom great pressures and calamities were brought upon Romaniæ by the hands of the Persians. This Comitas, even more than all his predecessors, moved the contention more contentiously by demanding the anathema of the synod of Chalcedon; he also composed many treatises in his own name [attributed] to Saint Isaac, one of which books is named Amartanac in the Armenian language. Furthermore, he wished for a certain John to be the successor to his throne; but that did not happen for him, but rather for Christopher. And when Christopher was deposed from the throne, John rejoiced; yet not even then did he gain his wish. For Esdras became Catholicos. But John looked upon him with a gloomy eye.

XVII. ^B During his time, the Emperor Heraclius, in the 23rd year of his reign, and in the fourth year after the death of Chosroes, ordered a great synod of all the bishops and doctors of Greater Armenia to be held at Theodosiopolis, having summoned the Catholicos Esdras and all the Azati, to make an investigation and to examine concerning the two natures in Christ our God, and concerning the synod of Chalcedon. Therefore, they searched for a month of days, and the Armenians were persuaded by the Scriptures, and swore in writing with their own hands, that they would no longer contradict [the doctrines] concerning Him.

XVIII. Having returned to Tiben, the same John instigated his fellow monks, and Stephen, bishop of Catartamana, and Mathusala from Sina, and certain others who were not in complete agreement with the synod, so that they would not communicate with Esdras the Catholicos, nor with those who thought as he did. ^D For while he was inciting everyone and striving to turn them back from their decision, having already deceived some of those who had been present at the synod, Stephen, the bishop of Cartaman, came to Esdras the Catholicos. When the aforementioned John heard that he had communicated with him, with the greatest insolence he bore enmity toward Stephen, just as he did toward Mathusala, because he, too, had approached Esdras. Yet the aforementioned John said that the offense and the fall of Esdras was lighter than theirs; for he said, "He, because of the fear of the

^A king, turned aside from the truth; but you, because of vainglory and gifts, have fallen into an incurable collapse." Then Esdras implored the same John, saying, "A third time I have called, both Mathusalas and Stephanus, saying: 'You are teachers and scribes of the world; come, that we may make satisfaction to the emperor.' But now you find fault with us, as though we had consented to them. Those things which we heard from them, we considered to be true; and we confessed two natures of our Lord Jesus Christ—perfect in deity, and perfect in humanity—in one hypostasis, in one person, in an indivisible dispensation. And the Scriptures which we read, both ours and theirs, confirmed the same thing, and we gave credence to their words according to what the holy Scriptures bore witness. And now, not even a year has passed; all the writings of the holy Fathers are with us; search them and learn the truth." And when he showed the testimony of the Scripture, John said: "The Nestorians ^B added all these things to the writings of the holy Fathers, just as in times past Saturninus added many heresies to the holy Scriptures—for example, those words in the Gospel of Luke: *He began to be sorrowful and very heavy. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground* (Marc. xiv, 33; Luc. xxii, 43), and similar things." But these words of John appeared contrary before Esdras and the rest of the assembly of bishops; and they all departed from him, having turned away from such speech.

XIX. But he, ^C because he held to laws contrary to him, persisted in the same contention. And upon the death of Esdras, he thought that he would obtain his see with the help of the grandees. But when Norseses had obtained it, and not he, he was troubled all the more. For he saw him joined in communion with the emperor of the Romans and incited everyone to contradictions, as if he himself, like Esdras, had been deceived. But Norseses, having openly summoned him before a numerous assembly of bishops and masters and the Azati, and having held much inquiry into his contradiction, condemned him to exile. And he was deported by the Catholicos and the prefect of Armenia; and having branded the image of a fox upon his forehead with a red-hot iron, ^D they cast him, together with his remaining associates, into Mount Caucasus. Having returned from there, and not having been received by the idolaters dwelling there, and after the death of the holy Anastasius, he came to his original place and died in old age.

XX. But his disciples, deceived by his error, all departed from the truth, and that heresy was dispersed in that province until the fifth year of Justin Caesar, at which time he summoned Isaac the Catholicos with the bishops to Constantinople, and united them to those who confess the two natures of Christ and of our God, of the deity and of the

^A humanity, in one hypostasis, unconfusedly, indivisibly. For this reason they swore in writing that they would no longer dissent. But when they returned, those who had been left behind in Armenia were annoyed at their arrival, as those who had conceded to the same opinion as the Romans; and subsequently they stirred up tumults and questions with Isaac and those who had gone with him, saying: "Unless you turn back and anathematize them, we do not receive you into our place." But they, loving the glory of men more than the glory of God, first anathematized themselves again, as having communed with the Romans; and they were found incurable in their evils.

XXI. Catholici of Armenia.

^A in his place the blessed Mastintzes, the guardian of his throne. And after the death of Isaac and of Mastintzes, they set upon the priestly throne Citum, who was from the village of Atmezu, and he sat for 17 years. In his days, by order of the king of the Persians, it was commanded that they ordain Catholicos and bishops in Armenia, as continues to the present day.

Then followed: John Martacunes, 6 years. Apuipcenes from the village of Misi, 5 years. Samuel from the village of Artaza, 12 years. Museles from the village of Arperes, 50 years. Isaac from Arcan, 7 years. Christopher from Cubaritze, 6 years. Leontius from Aret, 3 years. Norseses from Asparax, 9 years. In his time, the synod was held in the city of Tiben by Aptiso the Syrian Jacobite. Although they had turned away from the traditions of Saint Gregory and the other Fathers, nevertheless, regarding the faith and the synod at Chalcedon, and concerning the two natures in Christ our God, they had entertained no doubt until 103 years ^B from the synod of Chalcedon, up until the synod of Tiben. Thereafter, they withdrew from the communion of the Romans, and anathematized Jerusalem and the synod of Chalcedon, confessing one nature of Christ, both of divinity and humanity; and to the Trisagion hymn, at the "Holy God," they added the phrase "who was crucified." With oaths and anathemas, and by a written promise signed with their own hands, they agreed among themselves never to depart from that confession in perpetuity. They ordained the Jacobite Eutyches and two other of his associates—of whom one was a Julianite and the other ^C of a different heresy—as bishops, and sent them into Mesopotamia.

After this, Evaneses from Capelene, 17 years. Moses from Elibaret, 30 years. Abraham from Arastune, 23 years. John from Pacrana, 26 years. Cometas of the village of Eltzesaracitze, 8 years. Christopher the Abrahamite, 3 years. Esdras from Nica, 10 years. Norseses from Ischna, 20 years. Anastasius from Cora, 6 years. Israel from the village of Tmesu, 10 years. Isaac from Bazacastrio.

Kings of the Armenians, from Balare to Tusen, and after them the dukes.