6

The Lord, when He was transfigured on the mountain, as the Apostle says concerning the saints, that "then they shall be as He also is, and they shall be always with the Lord."

Of His visible theophany: Note that he also calls His divine body a visible theophany, so that the saying fits equally against the Nestorians and the Acephali, and those who suppose that the Lord is not now, and will not be, with flesh; and that one is His visible theophany, which is the ensouled flesh, and the other intelligible, which will then be participated by us more perfectly according to the mind. Whence, turning to God, being perfectly illumined from thence, we may become one in a unified manner, having been freed from our composite othernesses, which signifies worldly senses and desires.

In a more divine imitation: He has spoken of a more divine imitation, signifying the more exact and more perfect, as even now the life of the saints is angel-like in the praise of God and contempt for carnal things, even if not completely; wherefore the things of the imitation are also more moderate; but then the perfect in these things will be manifested.

Of the intelligible sights: That from symbols the intelligible things concerning 14S_036 angels we contemplate; for he speaks concerning angels, as is also shown by his calling them godlike. And above he also shows the symbols concerning them in *On the Celestial Hierarchy*, and now he joins also what is concerning God.

Ceasing: He spoke of a cessation of the intellectual energy, signifying the incomprehensibility of the divine nature; for none of its aspects is comprehended by the movement of the mind, nor is intellection borne towards any acknowledged and clear assurance, except for the incomprehensible, which is comprehended by its own inactivity.

Ineffably pre-existed: The word `pre-existed` must be diligently understood; for it clarifies all the works in sequence. From this, then, it will be understood how the Apostle says, "that we were in God before the foundation of the world." One must know, then, that since the production of all things depends on His cause and origin, because all beings are from Him; reasonably, since they were also going to come into being through His unconceived will, they also pre-existed in Him, who knew both that He would produce them and when He would produce them. Therefore, having been foreknown in Him before the ages, they pre-existed; for before the intelligible things were produced, which are the ages, and before all other creation, the things that were to be were known to Him, as it is said: "who knows all things before their beginning"; and again "before I formed you in the womb, I knew you."

Whom it is not possible to conceive: For so also says Gregory the Theologian, translating what was said by the Greeks: "To conceive God is impossible, but to express Him is more impossible."

14S_038 And of all: Having spoken of the terminations of the essential knowledges and powers, he repeated the same argument which he also said a little before: "all the limits of all knowledges"; either, then, by each expression he suggests this, which was also set forth before, that in God all knowledge is inactive and has an end of all movement, because of the incomprehensibility of the divine nature, which is contemplated concerning it eternally and not in time, or rather the limit and termination, that is the end of each essential knowledge. These are the essences and powers, he says, which all at once and not in part, but altogether pre-existed in God, according to the ineffable reason of His foreknowledge, since He knew of each of the things being brought into existence, how it would have of natures and of power, whose essence is super-essential and super-unknown. And it must be known that essence is one thing and power another; for the one is of those things which subsist in themselves, while the other is of those which have their being in another.

6

Κύριος, ὅτε ἐν τῷ ὄρει μετεμορφώθη, καθά φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος περί τῶν ἁγίων, ὅτι «τότε ἔσονται ὡς καί αὐτός ἐστι, καί πάντοτε σύν Κυρίῳ ἔσονται».

Ὁρατῆς αὐτοῦ θεοφανείας: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι καί τό θεῖον αὐτοῦ σῶμα ὁρατήν θεοφάνειάν φησιν, ὡς κατά ταὐτόν ἁρμόττειν τό ρητόν καί κατά Νεστοριανῶν καί Ἀκεφάλων, καί τῶν ὑπολαμβανόντων μή εἶναι καί νῦν καί ἔσεσθαι μετά σαρκός τόν Κύριον· καί ὅτι ἡ μέν τίς ἐστιν ὁρατή αὐτοῦ θεοφάνεια, ὅ ἐστιν ἡ ἐμψυχωμένη σάρξ, ἡ δέ νοητή, ἥτις κατά νοῦν ἔσται ἡμῖν μεθεκτή τότε τελειοτέρως. Ὅθεν ἐπιστραφέντες πρός Θεόν, ἐκεῖθεν τελείως ἐλλαμπόμενοι, ἑνοειδῶς ἕν γενώμεθα, ἐλευθερωθέντες τῶν κατά σύνθεσιν ἑτεροτήτων ἡμῶν, ὅπερ δηλοῖ τάς κοσμικάς αἰσθήσεις καί ἐπιθυμίας.

Ἐν θειοτέρᾳ μιμήσει: Θειοτέραν μίμησιν εἴρηκε τήν ἀκριβεστέραν καί τελεωτέραν σημαίνων, ὡς καί νῦν ἀγγελοπρεπής ὁ τῶν ἁγίων βίος ἐν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ αἰνέσει καί ὑπεροψίᾳ τῶν σᾳρκικῶν, κἄν οὐ παντελεῖ· διό καί τά τῆς μιμήσεως μετριώτερα· τότε δέ τό τέλειον ἐν τούτοις φανήσεται.

Τῶν νοητῶν θεαμάτων: Ὅτι ἐκ τῶν συμβόλων τά περί 14S_036 ἀγγέλων νοητά ἐποπτεύομεν· περί γάρ ἀγγέλων φησίν, ὡς δηλοῖ καί τό λέγειν αὐτούς θεοειδεῖς. Ἄνω δέ καί τά περί αὐτῶν σύμβολα δηλοῖ ἐν τῷ Περί τῆς οὐρανίας ἱεραρχίας, συνάπτει δέ νῦν καί περί Θεοῦ.

Ἀποπαύοντες: Ἀπόπαυσιν τῆς νοερᾶς ἐνεργείας εἶπε, σημαίνων τό τῆς θείας φύσεως ἀκατάληπτον· οὐδέν γάρ τῶν ταύτης τῇ κινήσει τοῦ νοῦ καταλαμβάνεται, ἤ πρός τινα ὁμολογουμένην καί τρανήν πληροφορίαν ἡ νόησις φέρεται, παρά τό ἀκατάληπτον, ὅπερ τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἀνενεργησίᾳ καταλαμβάνεται.

Ὑπεραρρήτως προϋφέστηκε: Τό προϋφέστηκε σπουδαστέον νοῆσαι· τά γάρ ἕργα πάντα διατρανοῖ ἐφεξῆς· ἐκ τούτου τοίνυν νοηθήσεται, πῶς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, «ἐν τῷ Θεῶ εἶναι ἡμᾶς πρό καταβολῆς κόσμου». Ἰστέον οὖν, ὡς τῆς ἁπάντων παραγωγῆς κατά τό αἴτιον καί τήν ἀρχήν αὐτοῦ ἀπηρτημένης, ἐπειδή τά ὄντα πάντα ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν· εἰκότως, ἅτε καί μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι διά τό αὐτοῦ ἀνεπινόητον θέλημα, ἐν αὐτῷ καί προϋφέστηκε, τῷ εἰδότι, καί ὅτι παράξει καί ὁπότε παράξει. Προαιωνίως οὖν ἐν αὐτῷ προεγνωσμένα, προϋφέστηκε· πρίν γάρ τά νοητά παραχθῆναι, ἅτινά εἰσιν αἰῶνες, καί πρό πάσης ἑτέρας κτίσεως ἔγνωστο αὐτῷ τά ἐσόμενα, ὡς εἴρηται· «ὁ εἰδώς πάντα πρίν γενέσεως αὐτῶν»· καί πάλιν «πρό τοῦ με πλᾶσαί σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἔγνωκά σε».

Ὅν οὔτε ἐννοῆσαι δυνατόν: Οὕτω γάρ φησι καί ὁ θεολόγος Γρηγόριος, μεταφράζων τό εἰρημένον τοῖς Ἕλλησι· «Θεόν νοῆσαι μέν ἀδύνατον, φράσαι δέ ἀδυνατώτερον».

14S_038 Καί πασῶν: Εἰπών ἀποπερατώσεις τῶν οὐσιωδῶν γνώσεων καί δυνάμεων, τόν αὐτόν ἐπανελάβετο λόγον, ὅν καί πρό μικροῦ εἶπε· «πάντα τά πέρατα πασῶν τῶν γνώσεων»· ἤ οὖν τοῦτο δι' ἑκατέρας φωνῆς ὑποτίθεται, ὅπερ καί προπαρετέθη, ὅτι ἐν τῷ Θεῷ πᾶσα γνῶσις ἀργεῖ καί τέλος ἔχει πάσης κινήσεως, διά τό τῆς θείας φύσεως ἀκατάληπτον, ὅπερ ἀϊδίως καί οὐκ ἐν χρόνῳ περί αὐτήν θεωρεῖται, ἤ μᾶλλον πέρας καί ἀποπεράτωσις, ἤτοι τό τέλος ἑκάστης οὐσιώδσυς γνώσεως. Αὗταί εἰσιν αἱ οὐσίαι καί δυνάμεις πάσας ἅμα καί οὐκ ἀνά μέρος, ἀλλά ἀθρόως ἐν τῷ Θεῷ προϋφεστάναι, φησί, κατά τόν ἄρρητον τῆς προγνώσεως αὐτοῦ λόγον, εἰδότι ἕκαστον τῶν πρός γένεσιν παραγομένων, ὅπως ἕξει φύσεων καί δυνάμεως, οὗ ἡ οὐσία ὑπερούσιός τε καί ὑπεράγνωστος. Ἰστέον δέ, ὅτι ἕτερον οὐσία καί ἕτερον δύναμις· ἡ μέν γάρ τῶν καθ' ἑαυτά ὑφεστώτων, ἡ δέ, τῶν ἐν ἑτέρῳ τό εἶναι ἐχόντων.