8

to be a need for the present circumstances. I pray, therefore, that the Lord Himself, touching your heart with His ineffable power, may create light in your soul through good thoughts, so that you may have the sources of consolation from within.

7.t TO GREGORY, A COMPANION 7.1 Not even then was I ignorant, when I wrote to your eloquence, that every theological

utterance is less than the thought of the one speaking, and less than the desire of the one seeking, because speech is by nature somehow too weak to minister to the things being thought. If, therefore, our thought is weak, and our tongue is less than it, what should we have expected from what was said, and not to be accused of a poverty of words? Nevertheless, it was not on this account possible to pass over the question in silence. For there is a danger of betrayal in not readily giving answers concerning God to those who love the Lord. That matter, therefore, whether it seems to be sufficient, or whether it needs some more precise addition, requires its own time for correction. But for the present, we ask you what we have already asked, to devote yourself completely to the advocacy of the truth and to the impulses from God that arise in your mind for the establishment of the good, being content with these and seeking nothing more from us, who, being far less than what is supposed, rather harm the argument by our own weakness than add any strength to the truth through our advocacy.

8.t TO THE CAESAREANS, AN APOLOGY CONCERNING THE WITHDRAWAL

8.1 I have often wondered what you feel toward us and from where so much

you have been captivated by our insignificance—small and slight and perhaps possessing nothing lovable—that you exhort us with words, reminding us of friendship and fatherland, as if trying to turn back some exiles to yourselves with paternal affection. And I confess to having become an exile and would not deny it, but you may learn the cause, since you now long to know. First, being struck by the unexpected at that time, just like those who are suddenly astounded by sudden noises, I did not restrain my thoughts, but I went far away as an exile and lodged a considerable time away from you, and then also a certain longing for the divine doctrines and the philosophy concerning them crept into me. For how, I said, could I overcome the wickedness dwelling within us? And who could become a Laban for me, delivering me from Esau and leading me to the highest philosophy? But since, with God, we have to the best of our ability achieved our goal, having found a chosen vessel and a deep well—I mean the mouth of Christ, Gregory—grant us, I beseech you, a little time, a little we ask, not embracing a sojourn in the cities—for it has not escaped our notice that the evil one contrives deceit for men through such things—but judging fellowship with the saints to be most beneficial. For in speaking something about the divine doctrines and in hearing more frequently, we acquire a hard-to-lose disposition for contemplation. And so things concerning us are in this manner. 8.2 But you, O my divine and most beloved of all souls, beware of the shepherds of the Philistines, lest someone secretly stop up your wells and muddy the clear knowledge concerning the faith. For this is always their concern: not to teach the more innocent souls from the divine Scriptures, but to pervert the truth by means of worldly wisdom. For he who introduces "unbegotten" and "begotten" into our faith, and who teaches that the ever-existing one was once non-existent, and that the one who is by nature and always Father becomes a father, and the Spirit the

8

χρείαν εἶναι πρὸς τὰ παρόντα. Εὔχομαι οὖν αὐτὸν τὸν Κύριον, τῇ ἀφάτῳ αὐτοῦ δυνά μει ἐφαψάμενόν σου τῆς καρδίας, ἐμποιῆσαι φῶς τῇ ψυχῇ σου διὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν λογισμῶν, ἵν' οἴκοθεν ἔχῃς τῆς παραμυθίας τὰς ἀφορμάς.

7.τ ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΩ ΕΤΑΙΡΩ 7.1 Οὐδὲ τότε ἠγνόουν ὅτε ἐπέστελλον τῇ λογιότητί σου ὅτι πᾶσα θεολογικὴ

φωνὴ ἐλάττων μέν ἐστι τῆς διανοίας τοῦ λέ γοντος, ἐλάττων δὲ τῆς τοῦ ἐπιζητοῦντος ἐπιθυμίας, διότι ὁ λόγος ἀσθενέστερόν πως πέφυκε διακονεῖσθαι τοῖς νοουμέ νοις. Εἰ οὖν ἀσθενὴς ἡμῶν ἡ διάνοια, ἐλάττων δὲ ταύτης ἡ γλῶσσα, τί ἐχρῆν προσδοκᾶν ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰρημένοις καὶ οὐχὶ πενίαν ἐγκληθήσεσθαι λόγων; Οὐ μὴν τούτου γε ἕνεκεν δυνατὸν ἦν σιωπῇ παρελθεῖν τὸ ζητούμενον. Κίνδυνος γὰρ προδοσίας ἐν τῷ μὴ προχείρως ἀποδιδόναι τὰς περὶ Θεοῦ ἀποκρίσεις τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν Κύριον. Ἐκεῖ να μὲν οὖν, εἴτε ἀρκούντως ἔχειν δοκεῖ, εἴτε καὶ ἀκριβε στέρας τινὸς προσθήκης δεῖται, καιροῦ ἰδίου πρὸς διόρθωσιν χρῄζει. Τὸ δὲ νῦν ἔχον παρακαλοῦμέν σε ὃ καὶ παρεκαλέ σαμεν ἤδη, χρῆσαι σεαυτὸν ὁλοκλήρως τῇ συνηγορίᾳ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ταῖς παρὰ Θεοῦ ἐγγινομέναις τῇ διανοίᾳ σου ὁρμαῖς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ σύστασιν, ταύταις ἀρκούμενον καὶ παρ' ἡμῶν μηδὲν ἐπιζητοῦντα πλέον, οἵ, πολλῷ ἐλάττους ὄντες τῆς ὑπονοίας, βλάπτομεν μᾶλλον τῇ παρ' ἑαυτῶν ἀσθενείᾳ τὸν λόγον ἤ τινα ἰσχὺν διὰ τῆς συνηγορίας τῇ ἀλη θείᾳ προστίθεμεν.

8.τ ΤΟΙΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΕΥΣΙΝ ΑΠΟΛΟΓΙΑ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΠΟΧΩΡΗΣΕΩΣ

8.1 Πολλάκις ἐθαύμασα τί ποτε πρὸς ἡμᾶς πεπόνθατε καὶ πόθεν τοσοῦτον

ἥττησθε τῆς ἡμετέρας βραχύτητος τῆς μικρᾶς καὶ ὀλίγης καὶ οὐδὲν ἴσως ἐχούσης ἐράσμιον, καὶ λόγοις ἡμᾶς προτρέπεσθε φιλίας τε καὶ πατρίδος ὑπομι μνήσκοντες, ὥσπερ φυγάδας τινὰς πατρικοῖς σπλάγχνοις πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς πάλιν ἐπιστρέφειν πειρώμενοι. Ἐγὼ δὲ τὸ μὲν φυγὰς γεγονέναι ὁμολογῶ καὶ οὐκ ἀρνηθείην, τὴν δὲ αἰτίαν μάθοιτ' ἂν ἤδη ποθοῦντες. Μάλιστα μὲν τῷ ἀδοκήτῳ τότε πληγείς, καθάπερ οἱ τοῖς αἰφνιδίοις ψόφοις ἀθρόως κατα πλαγέντες, οὐ κατέσχον τοὺς λογισμούς, ἀλλ' ἐμάκρυνα φυγαδεύων καὶ ηὐλίσθην χρόνον ἱκανὸν ἀφ' ὑμῶν, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ πόθος τις ὑπεισῄει με τῶν θείων δογμάτων καὶ τῆς περὶ ἐκεῖνα φιλοσοφίας. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν δυναίμην, ἔφην ἐγώ, κρατῆσαι τῆς συνοικούσης ἡμῖν κακίας; Τίς δ' ἄν μοι γένοιτο Λάβαν, ἀπαλλάττων με τοῦ Ἡσαῦ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀνωτάτω φιλοσοφίαν παιδαγωγῶν; Ἀλλ' ἐπειδή, σὺν Θεῷ, τοῦ σκοποῦ κατὰ δύναμιν τετυχήκαμεν εὑρόντες σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς καὶ φρέαρ βαθύ, λέγω δὲ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ στόμα Γρηγόριον, ὀλίγον ἡμῖν, παρακαλῶ, ὀλίγον συγχωρήσατε χρόνον, αἰτούμεθα, οὐ τὴν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι διατριβὴν ἀσπα ζόμενοι, οὐδὲ γὰρ λέληθεν ἡμᾶς ὁ πονηρὸς διὰ τῶν τοιούτων τὴν ἀπάτην τοῖς ἀνθρώποις προσμηχανώμενος, ἀλλὰ τὴν συντυχίαν τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἁγίους ἐπωφελῆ μάλιστα κρίνον τες. Ἐν γὰρ τῷ λέγειν τι περὶ τῶν θείων δογμάτων καὶ ἀκούειν πυκνότερον ἕξιν δυσαπόβλητον θεωρημάτων λαμβάνομεν. Καὶ τὰ μὲν καθ' ἡμᾶς τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον. 8.2 Ὑμεῖς δέ, ὦ θεῖαί μοι καὶ προσφιλέσταται πασῶν κεφα λαί, φυλάττεσθε τοὺς τῶν Φυλιστιαίων ποιμένας, μή τις λα θὼν ἐμφράξῃ ὑμῶν τὰ φρέατα καὶ τὸ καθαρὸν τῆς γνώσεως τῆς περὶ τὴν πίστιν ἐπιθολώσῃ. Τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀεί ἐστιν ἐπιμελὲς μὴ ἐκ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν διδάσκειν τὰς ἀκεραιοτέ ρας ψυχάς, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ἔξωθεν σοφίας παρακρούεσθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ὁ γὰρ ἀγέννητον καὶ γεννητὸν ἐπεισάγων ἡμῶν τῇ πίστει καὶ τὸν ἀεὶ ὄντα μὴ ὄντα ποτὲ δογματίζων καὶ τὸν φύσει καὶ ἀεὶ Πατέρα πατέρα γινόμενον καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ