2

31 Urge the old to master anger, and the young to master their belly; for the former are fought by the psychical demons, while the latter are mostly fought by the somatic demons.

32 Shut the mouths of slanderers in your hearing; and do not be surprised at being accused by many; for this is the temptation from demons; for the gnostic must be free from hatred and remembrance of wrongs, even of those who are unwilling.

33 He who for the Lord’s sake heals men, perhaps heals himself without knowing it; for the medicine which the gnostic offers, possibly heals his neighbor, but necessarily heals himself.

36 Let the higher teaching concerning judgment be hidden from the worldly and the young, as it easily begets contempt; for they do not know the pain of a rational soul condemned to ignorance.

37 Saint Paul, by buffeting it, brought his body into subjection; therefore, do not neglect your diet in your life and do not insult impassibility by humbling it with a fattened body.

38 Do not be anxious about food or clothing, but remember Abener the Levite who, having received the ark of the Lord, became rich from being poor and glorious from being without honor.

41 Every proposition has as its predicate either genus, or differentia, or species, or property, or accident, or a composite of these; but none of the aforementioned can be applied to the Holy Trinity. Let the ineffable be worshipped in silence.

42 A temptation for the gnostic is a false supposition that arises in the mind about what exists as if it did not exist, and about what does not exist as if it did exist, and about what does exist, but not in the way that it is.

44 We have learned from the just Gregory that there are four virtues of contemplation itself: prudence, courage, temperance and justice; and he said that the work of prudence is to contemplate the intelligible and holy powers without their inner principles; for he taught that these are revealed by wisdom alone; the work of courage is to persevere in true things even when under attack, and not to investigate things that are not; to receive the seeds from the first husbandman and to reject the one who sows over them, he declared to be the property of temperance; again, the work of justice is to assign the inner principles to each according to their worth, reporting some obscurely, signifying others through riddles, and revealing some plainly for the benefit of the more simple.

45 The pillar of truth, Basil the Cappadocian: the knowledge that comes from men, he says, is strengthened by attentive study and practice; but that which is born from the grace of God, by righteousness, freedom from anger, and mercy; and the former, it is possible for even those with passions to receive; but of the latter, only the dispassionate are receptive; who also, at the time of prayer, behold the mind’s own light shining around them.

46 The holy luminary of the Egyptians, Athanasius: Moses, he says, is commanded to place the table in the northern part; let the gnostics know who it is that blows against them, and let them endure every temptation nobly, and with eagerness let them feed those who approach.

47 The angel of the church of Thmuis, Serapion, said that the mind which has drunk spiritual knowledge is completely purified, while love heals the inflamed parts of the irascible faculty; and self-control stops the inflow of evil desires.

48 Always exercise within yourself the reasonings concerning providence and judgment, says the great and gnostic teacher Didymus, and to bear their subject matter in memory

2

31 Γέροντας μὲν θυμοῦ, τοὺς δὲ νέους γαστρὸς κρατεῖν παρακάλει· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ οἱ ψυχικοί, τοὺς δὲ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον οἱ σωματικοὶ διαμάχονται δαίμονες.

32 Ἔμφραττε στόματα τῶν καταλαλούντων ἐν ἀκοαῖς σου· καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὑπὸ πλείστων κατηγορούμενος· οὗτος γὰρ ὁ πειρασμὸς ἐκ δαιμόνων· τὸν γὰρ γνωστικὸν ἐλεύθερον εἶναι δεῖ μίσους καὶ μνησικακίας, καὶ μὴ βουλομένων.

33 Λέληθεν ἴσως ἑαυτὸν θεραπεύων ὁ διὰ τὸν Κύριον τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἰώμενος· ὃ γὰρ προσάγει φάρμακον ὁ γνωστικός, τὸν μὲν πλησίον ἐνδεχομένως, ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἀναγκαίως ἰᾶται.

36 Λανθανέτω τοὺς κοσμικοὺς καὶ τοὺς νέους ὁ περὶ κρίσεως ὑψηλότερος λόγος, γεννῶν ῥᾳδίως τὴν καταφρόνησιν· οὐ γὰρ ἴσασιν ὀδύνην ψυχῆς λογικῆς καταδικασθείσης τὴν ἄγνοιαν.

37 Ὁ ἅγιος Παῦλος ὑποπιάζων ἐδουλαγώγει τὸ σῶμα· μὴ ἀμελήσῃς οὖν τῆς διαίτης ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου καὶ μὴ καθυβρίσῃς τὴν ἀπάθειαν σώματι παχεῖ ταπεινώσας αὐτήν.

38 Μὴ μεριμνήσῃς περὶ βρωμάτων ἢ ἐνδυμάτων, ἀλλὰ μέμνησο τοῦ Ἀβενὴρ τοῦ λευίτου ὃς τὴν κιβωτὸν ὑποδεξάμενος τοῦ Κυρίου, πλούσιος ἐκ πενήτων καὶ ἔνδοξος ἐξ ἀτίμων γέγονε.

41 Πᾶσα πρότασις ἢ γένος ἔχει κατηγορούμενον, ἢ διαφοράν, ἢ εἶδος, ἢ ἴδιον, ἢ συμβεβηκός, ἢ τὸ ἐκ τούτων συγκείμενον· οὐδὲν δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος τῶν εἰρημένων ἔστι λαβεῖν. Σιωπῇ προσκυνείσθω τὸ ἄρρητον.

42 Πειρασμὸς γνωστικοῦ ἐστιν ὑπόληψις ψευδὴς περὶ τὸν νοῦν ἱσταμένη τοῦ ὑπάρχοντος μὲν ὡς μὴ ὑπάρχοντος, τοῦ δὲ μὴ ὑπάρχοντος ὡς ὑπάρχοντος, καὶ τοῦ ὑπάρχοντος μὲν μὴ οὕτως δὲ ὑπάρχοντος ὥσπερ γέγονε.

44 Τέσσαρας ἀρετὰς καὶ τῆς θεωρίας αὐτῆς, παρὰ τοῦ δικαίου Γρηγορίου μεμαθήκαμεν εἶναι, φρόνησιν καὶ ἀνδρείαν, σωφροσύνην καὶ δικαιοσύνην· καὶ φρονήσεως μὲν ἔργον ἔλεγεν εἶναι τὸ θεωρεῖν τὰς νοερὰς καὶ ἁγίας δυνάμεις δίχα τῶν λόγων· τούτους γὰρ ὑπὸ τῆς σοφίας μόνης δηλοῦσθαι παραδέδωκεν· ἀνδρείας δὲ τὸ ἐγκαρτερεῖν τοῖς ἀληθέσι καὶ πολεμούμενον, καὶ μὴ ἐμβατεύειν εἰς τὰ μὴ ὄντα· τὸ δὲ παρὰ τοῦ πρώτου γεωργοῦ δέχεσθαι τὰ σπέρματα καὶ ἀπωθεῖσθαι τὸν ἐπισπορέα, τῆς σωφροσύνης ἴδιον ἀπεκρίνατο εἶναι· δικαιοσύνης δὲ πάλιν, τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν ἑκάστῳ τοὺς λόγους ἀποδιδόναι, τὰ μὲν σκοτεινῶς ἀπαγγέλλουσαν, τὰ δὲ δι' αἰνιγμάτων σημαίνουσαν, τινὰ δὲ καὶ φανεροῦσαν πρὸς ὠφέλειαν τῶν ἁπλουστέρων.

45 Τῆς ἀληθείας ὁ στύλος ὁ καππαδόκης Βασίλειος· τὴν μὲν ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων, φησίν, ἐπισυμβαίνουσαν γνῶσιν, προσεχὴς μελέτη καὶ γυμνασία κρατύνει· τὴν δὲ ἐκ Θεοῦ χάριτος ἐγγινομένην, δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἀοργησία καὶ ἔλεος· καὶ τὴν μὲν προτέραν, δυνατὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐμπαθεῖς ὑποδέξασθαι· τῆς δὲ δευτέρας οἱ ἀπαθεῖς μόνοι εἰσὶ δεκτικοί· οἳ καὶ παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς προσευχῆς τὸ οἰκεῖον φέγγος τοῦ νοῦ περιλάμπον αὐτοὺς θεωροῦσιν.

46 Τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὁ ἅγιος φωστὴρ Ἀθανάσιος· τὴν τράπεζαν, φησί, Μωϋσῆς εἰς τὸ βόρειον μέρος στῆσαι προστάσσεται· γινωσκέτωσαν οἱ γνωστικοὶ τίς ὁ πνέων ἐστὶ κατ' αὐτῶν, καὶ πάντα πειρασμὸν γενναίως ὑπομενέτωσαν, καὶ μετὰ προθυμίας τοὺς προσιόντας τρεφέτωσαν.

47 Ἔλεγεν ὁ τῆς Θμουϊτῶν ἐκκλησίας ἄγγελος Σαραπίων ὅτι ὁ νοῦς μὲν πεπωκὼς πνευματικὴν γνῶσιν τελείως καθαίρεται, ἀγάπη δὲ τὰ φλεγμαίνοντα μόρια τοῦ θυμοῦ θεραπεύει· πονηρὰς δὲ ἐπιθυμίας ἐπιρρεούσας ἵστησιν ἐγκράτεια.

48 Τοὺς περὶ προνοίας καὶ κρίσεως κατὰ σαυτὸν ἀεὶ γύμναζε λόγους, φησὶν ὁ μέγας καὶ γνωστικὸς διδάσκαλος ∆ίδυμος, καὶ τούτων τὰς ὕλας διὰ μνήμης φέρειν