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and to mention these, he who was Lucifer on account of his splendor, but both became and is called darkness on account of his pride, and the apostate powers under him, creators of evil by their flight from the good, and its authors for us.

6. So then, for these reasons the intelligible world was brought into being by Him, at least as I may philosophize about these things, weighing great matters in a small discourse. But since His first creations were good, He conceives a second world, material and visible; and this is the system and compound of heaven and earth and the things between them; praiseworthy for the good nature of each part, but more worthy of praise for the harmony and symphony of the whole, with one part having a good relation to another, and all to the whole, for the completion of a single world; that He might show that He is able not only to call into being a nature kindred to Himself, but also one altogether alien. For kindred to the Godhead are the intellectual natures, and those apprehended by mind alone; but altogether alien are those which are subject to sense; and of these, still more remote are those which are wholly inanimate and motionless.

7. Mind, therefore, and sense, thus distinguished from each other, had stood within their own 36.632 boundaries, and bore in themselves the magnificence of the Creator-Word, silent praisers of His mighty work and ringing heralds. But there was not yet a blending of both, nor any mixture of opposites, a mark of a greater wisdom and of the munificence concerning natures; nor was the whole wealth of His goodness yet known. Wishing then to display this, the Artificer Word creates a single living being from both, I mean from the invisible and visible natures, man; and taking the body from the already pre-existing matter, and having placed in it breath from Himself (which the Word knows to be an intelligent soul and an image of God), He places on the earth a kind of second world, great in smallness, another angel, a mixed worshipper, an overseer of the visible creation, an initiate of the intelligible, king of things on earth, ruled from above, earthly and heavenly, temporary and immortal, visible and intelligible, a mean between greatness and lowliness, the same being spirit and flesh; spirit because of grace, flesh because of pride; the one, that he might remain and glorify the Benefactor; the other, that he might suffer, and by suffering be reminded, and be chastened when priding himself on his greatness; a living being, governed here and transplanted elsewhere, and, the culmination of the mystery, deified by its inclination toward God. For to this the moderate light of truth here brings me, to see and experience a splendor of God worthy of Him Who both bound together, and will dissolve, and will again bind together more sublimely.

8. This being He placed in paradise, whatever this paradise may have been, having honored him with free will, so that the good might belong to him who chose it no less than to Him who had provided the seeds; a cultivator of immortal plants, perhaps of divine thoughts, both the simpler and the more perfect; naked in his simplicity and artless life, and without any covering or defense; for it was fitting that he who was from the beginning should be such. And He gives him a law, as material for his free will. And the law was a commandment, of which plants he might partake, and which he might not touch. This was the tree of knowledge, neither planted evilly from the beginning, nor forbidden out of envy (let not those who fight against God thrust their tongues in here, nor imitate the serpent); but good if partaken of at the proper time (for the plant was contemplation, according to my theory, which it is safe only for those more perfect in state to approach, 36.633 but not good for those still simpler and with more gluttonous desire); just as solid food is not profitable for those who are still tender and in need of milk. But since through the envy of the devil, and the woman's beguilement, which she suffered as being the weaker, and which she brought upon him as being the more persuasive (alas for my weakness! for that of my forefather is mine), he forgot the commandment that had been given, and was defeated by the petty taste; at the same time from the tree of life, and from paradise, and

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ταύτας καὶ λέγειν, ὁ διὰ τὴν λαμπρό τητα Ἑωσφόρος, σκότος διὰ τὴν ἔπαρσιν καὶ γενό μενος καὶ λεγόμενος, αἵ τε ὑπ' αὐτὸν ἀποστατικαὶ δυνάμεις, δημιουργοὶ τῆς κακίας τῇ τοῦ καλοῦ φυγῇ, καὶ ἡμῖν πρόξενοι.

ςʹ. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν ὁ νοητὸς αὐτῷ καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ὑπέστη κόσμος, ὡς ἐμὲ γοῦν περὶ τούτων φιλοσο φῆσαι, μικρῷ λόγῳ τὰ μεγάλα σταθμώμενον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ πρῶτα καλῶς εἶχεν αὐτῷ, δεύτερον ἐννοεῖ κόσμον, ὑλικὸν καὶ ὁρώμενον· καὶ οὗτός ἐστι, τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ γῆς, καὶ τῶν ἐν μέσῳ σύστημά τε καὶ σύγκριμα· ἐπαινετὸν μὲν τῆς καθ' ἕκαστον εὐ φυΐας, ἀξιεπαινετώτερον δὲ τῆς ἐξ ἁπάντων εὐαρ μοστίας καὶ συμφωνίας, ἄλλου πρὸς ἄλλο τι καλῶς ἔχοντος, καὶ πάντων πρὸς ἅπαντα, εἰς ἑνὸς κόσμου συμπλήρωσιν· ἵνα δείξῃ, μὴ μόνον οἰκείαν ἑαυτῷ φύσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντη ξένην ὑποστήσασθαι δυνατὸς ὤν. Οἰκεῖον μὲν γὰρ θεότητος, αἱ νοεραὶ φύσεις, καὶ νῷ μόνῳ ληπταί· ξένον δὲ παντάπασιν, ὅσαι ὑπὸ τὴν αἴσθησιν· καὶ τούτων αὐτῶν ἔτι ποῤῥωτέ ρω, ὅσαι παντελῶς ἄψυχοι καὶ ἀκίνητοι.

Ζʹ. Νοῦς μὲν οὖν ἤδη καὶ αἴσθησις, οὕτως ἀπ' ἀλλήλων διακριθέντα, τῶν ἰδίων ὅρων ἐντὸς 36.632 εἱστήκεισαν, καὶ τὸ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ Λόγου μεγαλεῖον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἔφερον, σιγῶντες ἐπαινέται τῆς μεγα λουργίας, καὶ διαπρύσιοι κήρυκες. Οὔπω δὲ ἦν κρᾶ μα ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων, οὐδέ τις μίξις τῶν ἐναντίων, σο φίας μείζονος γνώρισμα καὶ τῆς περὶ τὰς φύσεις πολυτελείας· οὐδὲ ὁ πᾶς πλοῦτος τῆς ἀγαθότητος γνώριμος. Τοῦτο δὴ βουληθεὶς ὁ τεχνίτης ἐπιδείξασθαι Λόγος, καὶ ζῶον ἓν ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων, ἀοράτου τε λέγω καὶ ὁρατῆς φύσεως, δημιουργεῖ, τὸν ἄνθρωπον· καὶ παρὰ μὲν τῆς ὕλης λαβὼν τὸ σῶμα ἤδη προϋποστάσης, παρ' ἑαυτοῦ δὲ πνοὴν ἐνθεὶς (ὃ δὴ νοερὰν ψυχὴν καὶ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ οἶδεν ὁ λόγος), οἷόν τινα κόσμον ἕτερον, ἐν μικρῷ μέγαν, ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἵστησιν, ἄγγελον ἄλλον, προσκυνητὴν μικτὸν, ἐπόπτην τῆς ὁρατῆς κτίσεως, μύστην τῆς νοουμένης, βασιλέα τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς, βασιλευόμενον ἄνωθεν, ἐπίγειον καὶ οὐράνιον, πρόσκαιρον καὶ ἀθάνατον, ὁρα τὸν καὶ νοούμενον, μέσον μεγέθους καὶ ταπεινότητος, τὸν αὐτὸν πνεῦμα καὶ σάρκα· πνεῦμα διὰ τὴν χάριν, σάρκα διὰ τὴν ἔπαρσιν· τὸ μὲν, ἵνα μέ νῃ, καὶ δοξάζῃ τὸν εὐεργέτην· τὸ δὲ, ἵνα πάσχῃ, καὶ πάσχων ὑπομιμνήσκηται, καὶ παιδεύηται τῷ μεγέθει φιλοτιμούμενος· ζῶον ἐνταῦθα οἰκονομούμενον, καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ μεθιστάμενον, καὶ πέρας τοῦ μυστηρίου, τῇ πρὸς Θεὸν νεύσει θεούμενον. Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ἐμοὶ φέρει τὸ μέτριον ἐνταῦθα φέγγος τῆς ἀληθείας, λαμπρότητα Θεοῦ καὶ ἰδεῖν καὶ παθεῖν ἀξίαν τοῦ καὶ συνδήσαντος, καὶ λύσοντος, καὶ αὖθις συνδήσοντος ὑψηλότερον.

Ηʹ. Τοῦτον ἔθετο μὲν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, ὅστις ποτὲ ἦν ὁ παράδεισος οὗτος, τῷ αὐτεξουσίῳ τιμή σας, ἵν' ᾖ τοῦ ἑλομένου τὸ ἀγαθὸν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ τοῦ παρασχόντος τὰ σπέρματα, φυτῶν ἀθανάτων γεωρ γὸν, θείων ἐννοιῶν ἴσως, τῶν τε ἀπλουστέρων, καὶ τῶν τελεωτέρων, γυμνὸν τῇ ἁπλότητι, καὶ ζωῇ τῇ ἀτέχνῳ, καὶ δίχα παντὸς ἐπικαλύμματος καὶ προ βλήματος· τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἔπρεπεν εἶναι τὸν ἀπ' ἀρ χῆς· καὶ δίδωσι νόμον, ὕλην τῷ αὐτεξουσίῳ. Ὁ δὲ νόμος ἦν ἐντολὴ, ὧν τε μεταληπτέον αὐτῷ φυτῶν, καὶ οὗ μὴ προσαπτέον. Τὸ δὲ ἦν, τὸ ξύλον τῆς γνώ σεως, οὔτε φυτευθὲν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς κακῶς, οὔτε ἀπ αγορευθὲν φθονερῶς (μὴ πεμπέτωσαν ἐκεῖ τὰς γλώσ σας οἱ θεομάχοι, μηδὲ τὸν ὄφιν μιμείσθωσαν)· ἀλλὰ καλὸν μὲν εὐκαίρως μεταλαμβανόμενον (θεωρία γὰρ ἦν τὸ φυτὸν, ὡς ἡ ἐμὴ θεωρία, ἧς μόνοις ἐπι βαίνειν ἀσφαλὲς, τοῖς τὴν ἕξιν τελεωτέροις, 36.633 οὐ καλὸν δὲ τοῖς ἁπλουστέροις ἔτι, καὶ τὴν ἔφεσιν λιχνοτέροις· ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τροφὴ τελεία λυσιτελὴς τοῖς ἁπαλοῖς ἔτι, καὶ δεομένοις γάλακτος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ φθόνῳ διαβόλου, καὶ γυναικὸς ἐπηρείᾳ, ἥν τε ἔπα θεν, ὡς ἁπαλωτέρα, καὶ ἣν προσήγαγεν, ὡς πιθα νωτέρα (φεῦ τῆς ἐμῆς ἀσθενείας! ἐμὴ γὰρ ἡ τοῦ προπάτορος), τῆς μὲν ἐντολῆς ἐπελάθετο τῆς δοθεί σης, καὶ ἡττήθη τῆς μικρᾶς γεύσεως· ὁμοῦ δὲ τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλου, καὶ τοῦ παραδείσου, καὶ