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but without these things which have been said, which always happen mystically in those who have ascended to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, you attempt to speak rashly even before the practice of what has been commanded by God, we will turn away from you as from one who is mad and senseless and possessed by a demon, since neither was Elijah lifted bodily to heaven without that fiery chariot, nor our Lord and God without the cloud of the Spirit which received Him.

And yet He was able to translate Elijah himself from earth to heaven without the chariot that appeared, just as Enoch, and again the Lord Himself was able to ascend into heaven without a cloud and the accompanying angels, but He does not do this. Why is this? So that He might teach us that our mind also certainly needs something to carry it up to heaven and show it the sights there and reveal the mysteries of God; for just as it is not possible for a bird to fly up on high without wings, so neither is it for a man's mind to ascend (27) to the things from which it fell, unless it has that which leads and carries it up. And otherwise also, so that through these works the Lord might confirm the assumption of His servant and His own, and His ascension into heaven, and might teach us not to be deceived by words alone and to believe every man who says he is spiritual, but first being assured by his life and his deeds, and especially if his words and deeds are in harmony with the teachings of the Lord and the apostles and the holy fathers, and then to accept and hear his words as the words of Christ; but if not, then even if he raises the dead, and even if he displays countless other miracles, to turn away from him and hate him as a demon, and especially when we see him, being admonished, not deigning to change his own mind, but still abiding in his deluded knowledge and thinking that he has his citizenship and conduct in heaven.

For thus having been initiated from the beginning by the apostles of Christ and our divine fathers into the divinely inspired teaching, we turn away from the empty talk of those who have leisure for nothing else than to be curious and meddle in things inaccessible even to angels; and we hold the confession of our faith unharmed and unshaken, which we received from them from the beginning, in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of the one Godhead and unconfused and undivided Trinity, in which we have been baptized, through which we both live and know and understand, under which we both are and shall be for ages of ages, as having from it our being and well-being, from the one who by wisdom brought all things forth from non-being, with which may we also be translated from the things here to the calm harbors of undefiled life, where the dwelling of all who rejoice and the place (28) of those who celebrate in the Spirit is, to whom is due all glory, honor, and worship, now and ever and unto the ages of ages; amen.

THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE THE SECOND (29)

And against those who attempt to theologize without the Spirit. He who from above has received to carry the praise of God in his mouth always,

he who opens his mouth and draws in the spirit of life, is eager to make it wider hour by hour for a more abundant reception of the word of life, which is the bread that comes down from heaven, concerning which it has been said: "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." Therefore he who has been deemed worthy by God to become such a one is able

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δέ χωρίς τῶν εἰρημένων τούτων, τῶν ἀεί μυστικῶς γινομένων ἐν τοῖς εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος ἀναδεδραμηκόσι Χριστοῦ, και πρό τῆς πράξεως τῶν ἐντεταλμένων ὑπό Θεοῦ φθέγξασθαι τολμηρῶς ἐπιχειρήσεις, ὡς μαινόμενον καί ἔκφρονα καί δαιμονῶντά σε ἀποστραφησόμεθα, ἐπειδή οὔτε Ἠλίας ἄνευ τοῦ φλογεροῦ ἅρματος ἐκείνου σωματικῶς πρός οὐρανόν ἤρθη, οὔτε ὁ ∆εσπότης ἡμῶν καί Θεός ἄνευ τῆς ὑπολαβούσης αὐτόν νεφέλης τοῦ Πνεύματος.

Καίτοι καί τόν Ἠλίαν αὐτόν δίχα τοῦ ὀφθέντος ἅρματος, ὥσπερ τόν Ἐνώχ, μεταθεῖναι ἀπό τῆς γῆς εἰς οὐρανόν ἴσχυε καί αὐτός πάλιν ὁ ∆εσπότης ἄνευ νεφέλης καί τῶν συνεπομένων ἀγγέλων εἰς οὐρανούς ἀνελθεῖν ἠδύνατο, ἀλλά τοῦτο οὐ ποιεῖ. Τί τοῦτο; Ἵνα διδάξῃ ἡμᾶς ὅτι καί ὁ νοῦς ἡμῶν δέεταί τινος πάντως τοῦ ἀναφέροντος αὐτόν εἰς τόν οὐρανόν καί τά ἐκεῖσε θεάματα ὑποδεικνύοντος αὐτῷ καί τά μυστήρια τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκαλύπτοντος· ὡς γάρ οὐκ ἐνδέχεται ἄνευ πτερύγων εἰς ὕψος πετασθῆναι πτηνόν, οὕτως οὐδέ νοῦν ἀνθρώπου ἀναβῆναι (27) πρός τά ἐξ ὧν ἐξέπεσεν, εἰ μή τόν προάγοντα καί ἀναφέροντα αὐτόν σχῇ. Ἄλλως δέ καί ἵνα δι᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων πιστώσηται τήν τοῦ δούλου καί τήν ἰδίαν ὁ ∆εσπότης ἀνάληψιν καί εἰς οὐρανούς ἄνοδον καί διδάξῃ ἡμᾶς μή λόγοις μόνοις ἐξαπατᾶσθαι καί πάντα ἄνθρωπον πιστεύειν πνευματικόν ἑαυτόν εἶναι λέγοντα, ἀλλά ἀπό τοῦ βίου καί τῶν πράξεων αὐτοῦ πρότερον βεβαιουμένους, καί μάλιστα ἐάν ταῖς τοῦ Κυρίου καί τῶν ἀποστόλων καί τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων διδασκαλίαις συνᾴδωσιν οἱ λόγοι αὐτοῦ καί αἱ πράξεις, καί τηνικαῦτα προσδέχεσθαι καί ἀκούειν τούς λόγους αὐτοῦ ὡς λόγους Χριστοῦ· εἰ δ᾿ οὖν, ἀλλ᾿ εἰ καί νεκρούς ἀνιστᾷ, κἄν μυρία ἄλλα θαύματα ἐπιδείκνυται, ὡς δαίμονα αὐτόν ἀποστρέφεσθαι καί μισεῖν, καί μάλιστα ὅταν νουθετούμενον μή καταδεχόμενον ὁρῶμεν μεταθεῖναι τό ἴδιον φρόνημα, ἐλλ᾿ ἔτι ἐμμένοντα τῇ πεπλανημένῃ γνώσει αὐτοῦ καί εἰς οὐρανούς οἰόμενον τό πολίτευμα καί τήν διαγωγήν ἔχειν.

Οὕτω γάρ ἄνωθεν ὑπό τῶν ἀποστόλων Χριστοῦ καί τῶν θεσπεσίων πατέρων ἡμῶν τῆς θεοπνεύστου μυσταγωγηθέντες διδασκαλίας, ἀποτρεπόμεθα τάς διακένους τῶν εἰς μηδέν ἕτερον εὐκαιρούντων, ἤ εἰς τό περιεργάζεσθαι καί πολυπραγμονεῖν τά καί ἀγγέλοις ἀνέφικτα, κενοφωνίας· κρατοῦμεν δέ τήν ὁμολογίαν ἡμῶν τῆς πίστεως ἀσινῆ καί ἀκράδαντον, ἥν ἄνωθεν παρ᾿ αὐτῶν παρελάβομεν, τήν ἐν Πατρί καί Υἱῷ καί Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι τῆς μιᾶς θεότητος καί ἀσυγχύτου καί ἀδιαιρέτου Τριάδος, ἐν ᾗ βεβαπτίσμεθα, δι᾿ ἧς καί ζῶμεν κάι γινώσκομεν καί νοοῦμεν, ὑφ᾿ ἥν καί ἐσμεν καί εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων ἐσόμεθα, ὡς ἐξ αὐτῆς ἐσχηκότες τό εἶναι καί τό εὖ εἶναι τῆς τό πᾶν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων παραγαγούσης σοφίᾳ, μεθ᾿ ἧς καί μετασταίημεν τῶν ἐνταῦθα εἰς γαληνούς λιμένας ζωῆς ἀκηράτου, ἔνθα πάντων εὐφραινομένων ἡ κατοικία καί ὁ χῶρος (28) τῶν ἑορταζόντων ἐν Πνεύματι, ᾗ πρέπει πᾶσα δόξα, τιμή καί προσκύνησις, νῦν καί ἀεί καί εἰς τούς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.

ΘΕΟΛΟΓΙΚΟΣ ∆ΕΥΤΕΡΟΣ (29)

Καί κατά τῶν ἐπιχειρούντων θεολογεῖν ἄνευ Πνεύματος. Ὁ ἄνωθεν εἰληφώς τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ αἴνεσιν ἐν τῷ στόματι διά παντός περιφέρειν,

ὁ ἀνοίγων τό στόμα αὐτοῦ καί ἑλκύων πνεῦμα ζωῆς, εὐρυχωρότερον σπουδάζει τοῦτο καθ᾿ ὥραν ποιεῖν εἰς ἀφθονωτέραν ὑποδοχήν τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς, ὅς ἐστιν ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνων, περί οὗ εἴρηται· "Πλάτυνον τό στόμα σου καί πληρώσω αὐτό". Τοίνυν καί ὁ γενέσθαι τοιοῦτος ἀξιωθείς ἀπό τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναται