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we will have this world's saving ignorance, no longer without sober reasoning, as before, with the unveiled face of sense perception beholding as glory the appearance of sensible things, around which the passions manifestly have their origin, but rather with the unveiled face of the intellect, freed from every sensible veil, reflecting the glory of God in virtues and spiritual knowledge, according to which union with God by grace is naturally brought about, rousing the mind from all ignorance and falling. For just as, being ignorant of God, we made a god of the creation known enjoyably to sense perception because of the body's constitution from it, so, receiving the knowledge of God that is attainable to the intellect by activity, 14Β_052 on account of the soul's constitution from him for being, and well-being, and ever-being, we will be ignorant of every experience of every sense perception.

SCHOLIA. 1. He says the flesh, through its manifest habits, is receptive of the soul’s virtuous disposition, an instrument yoked to the soul itself for its manifestation. 2. He speaks of sense perception as transmitting to the mind the image of visible things, for the understanding of the principles in created beings, as an instrument for the mind's passage to intelligible things.

3. He says it is a property of love for those living according to it to show one single mind. 4. That the mind, having passed beyond the essence of beings, becomes without thought when it approaches God, who is beyond all being in essence and knowledge and thought. 5. That the Word of God makes the differentiation of gifts in those who receive him according to the dispositions of their souls. 6. That the demons engage in the unseen wars within us in the intellect, as if over present matters.

7. That he says we love the passions because of pleasure; and we flee virtue because of pain. 8. That just as reason, when it masters the passions, makes the senses an instrument of virtue, so also the passions, when they master reason, form the senses for sin.

9. That the soul, after the release from the natural relation to beings, having been united to God by habit, receives an immovable stability regarding the good.

0268 10. He calls "beings" the essences of beings; but things that "seem to be" are the fluxes and effluences according to quality and quantity, around which the deception of the senses is constituted, creating sin.

11. That man, being midway between God and matter, not having moved towards God 14Β_054 as the cause and end of his own generation, but rather towards matter, has reasonably been ignorant of God, having made his mind earthly by his inclination toward matter.

12. He called "composite knowledge" the experience of sensible things according to perception, as having pleasure by nature because of generation, and pain because of corruption.

13. The creation of visible things, he says, has both spiritual principles for the mind, and a natural power for sense perception; the thoughts of which exist like a tree in the midst of the heart, with paradise being understood figuratively.

14. One is ignorant of the experience of sense perception according to pleasure and pain, when one binds the mind to God, having become free from bodily relation.

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κόσμον τοῦτον τὴν σῴζουσαν ἕξομεν ἄγνοιαν, μηκέτι δίχα λογισμοῦ σώφρονος, ὡς τὸ πρότερον, ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τῆς αἰσθήσεως ὡς δόξαν τὴν τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐπιφάνειαν βλέποντες, περὶ ἣν τὰ πάθη προδήλως ἔχει τὴν γένεσιν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ τῆς διανοίας προσώπῳ, παντὸς αἰσθητοῦ καλύμματος ἀπηλλαγμένῳ, τὴν ἐν ἀρεταῖς καὶ γνώσει πνευματικῇ δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατοπτριζόμενοι, καθ᾽ ἣν ἡ κατὰ χάριν πρὸς Θεὸν γίνεσθαι πέφυκεν ἕνωσις, πάσης ἀγνοίας καὶ πτώσεως τὸν νοῦν διεγείρουσα. Ὡς γάρ, ἀγνοήσαντες τὸν Θεόν, τὴν ἀπολαυστικῶς τῇ αἰσθήσει γνωσθεῖσαν κτίσιν διὰ τὴν ἐξ αὐτῆς τοῦ σώματος σύστασιν Θεὸν ἐποιήσαμεν, οὕτω τὴν ἐφικτὴν τῇ νοήσει κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν γνῶσιν τοῦ Θεοῦ λαμβάνοντες, 14Β_052 διὰ τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς πρός τε τὸ εἶναι καὶ εὖ εἶναι καὶ ἀεὶ εἶναι σύστασιν, πᾶσαν πάσης αἰσθήσεως ἀγνοήσομεν πεῖραν.

ΣΧΟΛΙΑ. 1. Τήν σάρκα φησίν διά τῶν φαινομένων ἠθῶν εἶναι δεκτικὸν τῆς κατ᾿

ἀρετήν τῆς ψυχῆς διαθέσεως, ὄργανον πρός ἔμφασιν αὐτῇ τῇ ψυχῇ συνεζευγμένην. 2. Τήν αἴσθησιν λέγει παραπέμπουσαν τῷ νῷ τήν τῶν ὁρατῶν φαντασίαν,

πρός κατανόησιν τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν λόγων, ὡς ὄργανον τῆς τοῦ νοῦ πρός τά νοητά διαβάσεως.

3. Τῆς ἀγάπης ἴδιόν φησι τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτήν ζώντων μίαν ἐνδεῖξαι γνώμην. 4. Ὅτι τῶν ὄντων διαβάς τήν οὐσίαν ὁ νοῦς, ἀνόητος γίνεται Θεῷ

προσβάλλων ὑπέρ πᾶσαν ὄντι κατ' οὐσίαν καί γνῶσιν καί νόησιν. 5. Ὅτι πρός τὰς διαθέσεις τῶν ψυχῶν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ἐν τοῖς δεχομένοις

αὐτόν ποιεῖται τήν τῶν χαρισμάτων διαφοράν. 6. Ὅτι κατά διάνοιαν ὡς ὑπέρ παρουσῶν τῶν ὑλῶν τούς ἀφανεῖς ἐν ἡμῖν

συμπλέκουσι πολέμους οἱ δαίμονες. 7. Ὅτι διά τήν ἡδονήν φησὶν ἀγαπῶμεν τά πάθη· καί διά τήν ὀδύνην τήν

ἀρετήν ἀποφεύγομεν. 8. Ὅτι καθάπερ ὁ λόγος κρατῶν τῶν παθῶν ἀρετῆς ὄργανον ποιεῖται τάς

αἰσθήσεις, οὕτω καί τά πάθη κρατοῦντα τοῦ λόγου, μορφοῦσι τάς αἰσθήσεις πρός ἁμαρτίαν.

9. Ὅτι καθ᾿ ἕξιν μετά τήν ἀπαλλαγήν τῆς πρός τά ὄντα φυσικῆς σχέσεως ἑνωθεῖσα τῷ Θεῷ ἡ ψυχή, τήν περί τό καλόν παγιότητα λαμβάνει ἀμετακίνητον.

0268 10. Ὄντα λέγει τάς τῶν ὄντων οὐσίας· εἶναι δέ δοκοῦντα τάς κατά ποιὸν καί ποσὸν ῥοάς τε καί ἀποῤῥοάς, περί ἅς ἡ τῶν αἰσθήσεων πλάσις συνέστηκε τήν ἁμαρτίαν δημιουργοῦσα.

11. Ὅτι μέσος ὤν Θεοῦ καί ὕλης ὁ ἄνθρωπος, πρός τόν Θεόν 14Β_054 ὡς αἰτίαν καί τέλος τῆς οἰκείας γενέσεως μή κινηθεὶς ἀλλά πρός τήν ὕλην, εἰκότως τόν Θεόν ἠγνόησε, τῇ πρός τήν ὕλην ῥοπῇ τόν νοῦν ἀπογεώσας.

12. Σύνθετον γνῶσιν εἶπεν, τήν κατ᾿ αἴσθησιν πεῖραν τῶν αἰσθητῶν, ὡς κατά φύσιν ἔχουσαν ἡδονήν διά τήν γένεσιν, καί πόνον διά τήν φθοράν.

13. Ἡ κτίσις τῶν ὁρατῶν, φησιν, καί πρός νοῦν ἔχει λόγους πνευματικούς, καί φυσικήν πρός αἴσθησιν δύναμιν· ὧν τά νοήματα καθάπερ ξύλον ἐν μέσῳ τῆς καρδίας, παραδείσου τροπικῶς νοουμένης, ὑπάρχουσι.

14. Ἀγνοεῖ τις τήν καθ᾿ ἡδονήν καί ὀδύνην τῆς αἰσθήσεως πεῖραν, ὅταν τῷ Θεῷ προσδήσει τόν νοῦν, τῆς σωματικῆς γενόμενον ἐλεύθερον σχέσεως.