Chapter IX.—“That Those Grievously Sin Who Despise or Neglect God’s Gracious Calling.”

I could adduce ten thousand Scriptures of which not “one tittle shall pass away,”101    Matt. v. 18. without being fulfilled; for the mouth of the Lord the Holy Spirit hath spoken these things. “Do not any longer,” he says, “my son, despise the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.”102    Prov. iii. 11. O surpassing love for man! Not as a teacher speaking to his pupils, not as a master to his domestics, nor as God to men, but as a father, does the Lord gently admonish his children. Thus Moses confesses that “he was filled with quaking and terror”103    Heb. xii. 21. while he listened to God speaking concerning the Word. And art not thou afraid as thou hearest the voice of the Divine Word? Art not thou distressed? Do you not fear, and hasten to learn of Him,—that is, to salvation,—dreading wrath, loving grace, eagerly striving after the hope set before us, that you may shun the judgment threatened? Come, come, O my young people! For if you become not again as little children, and be born again, as saith the Scripture, you shall not receive the truly existent Father, nor shall you ever enter into the kingdom of heaven. For in what way is a stranger permitted to enter? Well, as I take it, then, when he is enrolled and made a citizen, and receives one to stand to him in the relation of father, then will he be occupied with the Father’s concerns, then shall he be deemed worthy to be made His heir, then will he share the kingdom of the Father with His own dear Son. For this is the first-born Church, composed of many good children; these are “the first-born enrolled in heaven, who hold high festival with so many myriads of angels.” We, too, are first-born sons, who are reared by God, who are the genuine friends of the First-born, who first of all other men attained to the knowledge of God, who first were wrenched away from our sins, first severed from the devil. And now the more benevolent God is, the more impious men are; for He desires us from slaves to become sons, while they scorn to become sons. O the prodigious folly of being ashamed of the Lord! He offers freedom, you flee into bondage; He bestows salvation, you sink down into destruction; He confers everlasting life, you wait for punishment, and prefer the fire which the Lord “has prepared for the devil and his angels.”104    Matt. xxv. 41, 46. Wherefore the blessed apostle says: “I testify in the Lord, that ye walk no longer as the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind; having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart: who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness and concupiscence.”105    Eph. iv. 17–19. After the accusation of such a witness, and his invocation of God, what else remains for the unbelieving than judgment and condemnation? And the Lord, with ceaseless assiduity, exhorts, terrifies, urges, rouses, admonishes; He awakes from the sleep of darkness, and raises up those who have wandered in error. “Awake,” He says, “thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light,”106    Eph. v. 14.—Christ, the Sun of the Resurrection, He “who was born before the morning star,”107    Ps. cx. 3. and with His beams bestows life. Let no one then despise the Word, lest he unwittingly despise himself. For the Scripture somewhere says, “To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers proved Me by trial.”108    Ps. xcv. 8, 9. And what was the trial? If you wish to learn, the Holy Spirit will show you: “And saw my works,” He says, “forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in heart, and have not known My ways. So I sware in my wrath, they shall not enter into My rest.”109    Ps. xcv. 9–11 Look to the threatening! Look to the exhortation! Look to the punishment! Why, then, should we any longer change grace into wrath, and not receive the word with open ears, and entertain God as a guest in pure spirits? For great is the grace of His promise, “if to-day we hear His voice.”110    Ps. xcv. 7. And that to-day is lengthened out day by day, while it is called to-day. And to the end the to-day and the instruction continue; and then the true to-day, the never-ending day of God, extends over eternity. Let us then ever obey the voice of the divine word. For the to-day signifies eternity. And day is the symbol of light; and the light of men is the Word, by whom we behold God. Rightly, then, to those that have believed and obey, grace will superabound; while with those that have been unbelieving, and err in heart, and have not known the Lord’s ways, which John commanded to make straight and to prepare, God is incensed, and those He threatens.

And, indeed, the old Hebrew wanderers in the desert received typically the end of the threatening; for they are said not to have entered into the rest, because of unbelief, till, having followed the successor of Moses, they learned by experience, though late, that they could not be saved otherwise than by believing on Jesus. But the Lord, in His love to man, invites all men to the knowledge of the truth, and for this end sends the Paraclete. What, then, is this knowledge? Godliness; and “godliness,” according to Paul, “is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”111    1 Tim. iv. 8. If eternal salvation were to be sold, for how much, O men, would you propose to purchase it? Were one to estimate the value of the whole of Pactolus, the fabulous river of gold, he would not have reckoned up a price equivalent to salvation.

Do not, however, faint. You may, if you choose, purchase salvation, though of inestimable value, with your own resources, love and living faith, which will be reckoned a suitable price. This recompense God cheerfully accepts; “for we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who believe.”112    1 Tim. iv. 10.

But the rest, round whom the world’s growths have fastened, as the rocks on the sea-shore are covered over with sea-weed, make light of immortality, like the old man of Ithaca, eagerly longing to see, not the truth, not the fatherland in heaven, not the true light, but smoke. But godliness, that makes man as far as can be like God, designates God as our suitable teacher, who alone can worthily assimilate man to God. This teaching the apostle knows as truly divine. “Thou, O Timothy,” he says, “from a child hast known the holy letters, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith that is in Christ Jesus.”113    2 Tim. iii. 15. For truly holy are those letters that sanctify and deify; and the writings or volumes that consist of those holy letters and syllables, the same apostle consequently calls “inspired of God, being profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to every good work.”114    2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. [Here note the testimony of Clement to the universal diffusion and study of the Scriptures.] No one will be so impressed by the exhortations of any of the saints, as he is by the words of the Lord Himself, the lover of man. For this, and nothing but this, is His only work—the salvation of man. Therefore He Himself, urging them on to salvation, cries, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”115    Matt. iv. 17. Those men that draw near through fear, He converts. Thus also the apostle of the Lord, beseeching the Macedonians, becomes the interpreter of the divine voice, when he says, “The Lord is at hand; take care that ye be not apprehended empty.”116    Phil. iv. 5. But are ye so devoid of fear, or rather of faith, as not to believe the Lord Himself, or Paul, who in Christ’s stead thus entreats: “Taste and see that Christ is God?”117    Ps. xxxiv. 8, where Clem. has read Χριστός for χρηστός. Faith will lead you in; experience will teach you; Scripture will train you, for it says, “Come hither, O children; listen to me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Then, as to those who already believe, it briefly adds, “What man is he that desireth life, that loveth to see good days?”118    Ps. xxxiv. 11. It is we, we shall say—we who are the devotees of good, we who eagerly desire good things. Hear, then, ye who are far off, hear ye who are near: the word has not been hidden from any; light is common, it shines “on all men.” No one is a Cimmerian in respect to the word. Let us haste to salvation, to regeneration; let us who are many haste that we may be brought together into one love, according to the union of the essential unity; and let us, by being made good, conformably follow after union, seeking after the good Monad.

The union of many in one, issuing in the production of divine harmony out of a medley of sounds and division, becomes one symphony following one choir-leader and teacher,119    [Here seems to be a running allusion to the privileges of the Christian Church in its unity, and to the “Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” which were so charming a feature of Christian worship. Bunsen, Hippolytus, etc., vol. ii. p. 157.] the Word, reaching and resting in the same truth, and crying Abba, Father. This, the true utterance of His children, God accepts with gracious welcome—the first-fruits He receives from them.

Καὶ μυρίας ἂν ἔχοιμί σοι γραφὰς παραφέρειν, ὧν οὐδὲ "κεραία παρελεύσεται μία", μὴ οὐχὶ ἐπιτελὴς γενομένη· "τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου", τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, "ἐλάλησεν ταῦτα." "Μὴ τοίνυν μηκέτι," φησίν, "υἱέ μου, ὀλιγώρει παιδείας κυρίου, μηδ' ἐκλύου ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐλεγχόμενος." Ὢ τῆς ὑπερβαλλούσης φιλανθρωπίας· οὐδ' ὡς μαθηταῖς ὁ διδάσκαλος οὐδ' ὡς οἰκέταις ὁ κύριος οὐδ' ὡς θεὸς ἀνθρώποις, "πατὴρ δὲ ὣς ἤπιος" νουθετεῖ υἱούς. Εἶτα Μωυσῆς μὲν ὁμολογεῖ "ἔμφοβος εἶναι καὶ ἔντρομος", ἀκούων περὶ τοῦ λόγου, σὺ δὲ τοῦ λόγου ἀκροώμενος τοῦ θείου οὐ δέδιας; Οὐκ ἀγωνιᾷς; Οὐχὶ ἅμα τε εὐλαβῇ καὶ σπεύδεις ἐκμαθεῖν, τουτέστι σπεύδεις εἰς σωτηρίαν, φοβούμενος τὴν ὀργήν, ἀγαπήσας τὴν χάριν, ζηλώσας τὴν ἐλπίδα, ἵνα ἐκκλίνῃς τὴν κρίσιν; Ἥκετε ἥκετε, ὦ νεολαία ἡ ἐμή· "ἢν γὰρ μὴ αὖθις ὡς τὰ παιδία γένησθε καὶ ἀναγεννηθῆτε," ὥς φησιν ἡ γραφή, τὸν ὄντως ὄντα πατέρα οὐ μὴ ἀπολάβητε, "οὐδ' οὐ μὴ εἰσελεύσεσθέ ποτε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν." Πῶς γὰρ εἰσελθεῖν ἐπιτέτραπται τῷ ξένῳ; Ἀλλ' ὅταν, οἶμαι, ἐγγραφῇ καὶ πολιτευθῇ καὶ τὸν πατέρα ἀπολάβῃ, τότε "ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρὸς" γενήσεται, τότε κληρονομῆσαι καταξιωθήσεται, τότε τῆς βασιλείας τῆς πατρῴας κοινω νήσει τῷ γνησίῳ, τῷ "ἠγαπημένῳ". Αὕτη γὰρ ἡ πρωτό τοκος ἐκκλησία ἡ ἐκ πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν συγκειμένη παιδίων· ταῦτ' ἔστι τὰ "πρωτότοκα τὰ ἐναπογεγραμμένα ἐν οὐρα νοῖς" καὶ τοσαύταις "μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων" συμπανηγυρί ζοντα· πρωτότοκοι δὲ παῖδες ἡμεῖς οἱ τρόφιμοι τοῦ θεοῦ, οἱ τοῦ "πρωτοτόκου" γνήσιοι φίλοι, οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων τὸν θεὸν νενοηκότες, οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπεσπασμένοι, οἱ πρῶτοι τοῦ διαβόλου κεχωρισμένοι. Νυνὶ δὲ τοσούτῳ τινές εἰσιν ἀθεώτεροι, ὅσῳ φιλαν θρωπότερος ὁ θεός· ὃ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ δούλων υἱοὺς ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι βούλεται, οἳ δὲ καὶ υἱοὶ γενέσθαι ὑπερηφανήκασιν. Ὢ τῆς ἀπονοίας τῆς πολλῆς· τὸν κύριον ἐπαισχύνεσθε. Ἐλευθερίαν ἐπαγγέλλεται, ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰς δουλείαν ἀποδιδράσκετε. Σωτη ρίαν χαρίζεται, ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰς ἄνθρωπον ὑποφέρεσθε. Ζωὴν δωρεῖται αἰώνιον, ὑμεῖς δὲ τὴν κόλασιν ἀναμένετε, καὶ "τὸ πῦρ" δὲ προσκοπεῖτε, "ὃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ κύριος τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ." ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ μακάριος ἀπόστολος "μαρτύρομαι ἐν κυρίῳ," φησίν, "μηκέτι ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν, καθὼς καὶ τὰ ἔθνη περιπατεῖ ἐν ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς αὐτῶν, ἐσκοτισμένοι τῇ διανοίᾳ ὄντες καὶ ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ θεοῦ, διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τὴν οὖσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς, διὰ τὴν πώρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν· οἵτινες ἑαυτοὺς παρέ δωκαν ἀπηλγηκότες τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ εἰς ἐργασίαν ἀκαθαρσίας πάσης καὶ πλεονεξίας." Τοιούτου μάρτυρος ἐλέγχοντος τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἄνοιαν καὶ θεὸν ἐπιβοωμένου, τί δὴ ἕτερον ὑπολείπεται τοῖς ἀπίστοις ἢ κρίσις καὶ καταδίκη; Οὐ κάμνει δὲ ὁ κύριος παραινῶν, ἐκφοβῶν, προτρέπων, διεγείρων, νουθετῶν· ἀφυπνίζει γέ τοι καὶ τοῦ σκότους αὐτοῦ τοὺς πεπλανημένους διανίστησιν· "ἔγειρε," φησίν, "ὁ καθεύδων καὶ ἀνάστα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ἐπιφαύσει σοι ὁ Χριστὸς κύριος," ὁ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἥλιος, ὁ "πρὸ ἑωσφόρου" γεννώμενος, ὁ ζωὴν χαρισάμενος ἀκτῖσιν ἰδίαις. Μὴ οὖν περιφρονείτω τις τοῦ λόγου, μὴ λάθῃ καταφρονῶν ἑαυτοῦ. Λέγει γάρ που ἡ γραφή· "σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τοῦ καρδίας ὑμῶν ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὗ ἐπείρασαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἐν δοκιμασίᾳ." Ἡ δὲ δοκιμασία τίς ἐστιν εἰ θέλεις μαθεῖν, τὸ ἅγιόν σοι πνεῦμα ἐξηγήσεται· "καὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου," φησί, "τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη· διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ καὶ εἶπον· ἀεὶ πλανῶνται τῇ καρδίᾳ· αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὰς ὁδούς μου, ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου· εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου." Ὁρᾶτε τὴν ἀπειλήν· ὁρᾶτε τὴν προτροπήν· ὁρᾶτε τὴν τιμήν· τί δὴ οὖν ἔτι τὴν χάριν εἰς ὀργὴν μεταλλάσσομεν καὶ οὐχὶ ἀναπεπ ταμέναις ταῖς ἀκοαῖς καταδεχόμενοι τὸν λόγον ἐν ἁγναῖς ξενοδοχοῦμεν ταῖς ψυχαῖς τὸν θεόν; Μεγάλη γὰρ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας αὐτοῦ ἡ χάρις, ἐὰν σήμερον τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσωμεν· τὸ δὲ σήμερον καθ' ἑκάστην [αὐτοῦ] αὔξεται τὴν ἡμέραν, ἔστ' ἂν ἡ σήμερον ὀνομάζηται. Μέχρι δὲ συντελείας καὶ ἡ σήμερον καὶ ἡ μάθησις διαμένει· καὶ τότε ἡ ὄντως σήμερον ἡ ἀνελλιπὴς τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμέρα τοῖς αἰῶσι συνεκτείνεται. Ἀεὶ οὖν τῆς φωνῆς ὑπακούωμεν τοῦ θείου λόγου· ἡ σήμερον γὰρ ἀίδιος· αἰώνων ἐστὶν εἰκών, σύμβολον δὲ τοῦ φωτὸς ἡ ἡμέρα, φῶς δὲ ὁ λόγος ἀνθρώποις, δι' οὗ καταυγαζόμεθα τὸν θεόν. Εἰκότως ἄρα πιστεύσασι μὲν καὶ ὑπακούουσιν ἡ χάρις ὑπερπλεονάσει, ἀπειθήσασι δὲ καὶ πλανωμένοις κατὰ καρδίαν, ὁδούς τε τὰς κυριακὰς μὴ ἐγνωκόσιν, ἃς εὐθείας ποιεῖν καὶ εὐτρεπίζειν παρήγγειλεν Ἰωάννης, τούτοις δὴ προσώχθισεν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἀπειλεῖ· καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἀπειλῆς αἰνιγματωδῶς ἀπειλήφασιν οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν Ἑβραίων πλανῆται· οὐ γὰρ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν λέγονται διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν, πρὶν ἢ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς κατακολουθήσαντας τῷ Μωυσέως διαδόχῳ ὀψέ ποτε ἔργῳ μαθεῖν, οὐκ ἂν ἄλλως σωθῆναι, μὴ οὐχὶ ὡς Ἰησοῦς πεπιστευκότας. Φιλάνθρωπος δὲ ὢν ὁ κύριος πάντας ἀνθρώπους "εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας" παρακαλεῖ, ὁ τὸν παράκλητον ἀποστέλλων. Τίς οὖν ἡ ἐπίγνωσις; Θεοσέβεια· "θεοσέβεια δὲ πρὸς πάντα ὠφέλιμος" κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον, "ἐπαγγελίαν ἔχουσα ζωῆς τῆς νῦν καὶ τῆς μελλούσης." Πόσου, ὁμολογήσατε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, εἰ ἐπιπράσκετο σωτηρία ἀίδιος, ὠνήσασθε ἄν; Οὐδὲ εἰ τὸν Πακτωλόν τις ὅλον, τοῦ χρυσίου τὸ ῥεῦμα τὸ μυθικόν, ἀπομετρήσαι, ἀντάξιον σωτηρίας μισθὸν ἀριθμήσει. Μὴ οὖν ἀποκάμητε· ἔξεστιν ὑμῖν, ἢν ἐθέλητε, ἐξω νήσασθαι τὴν πολυτίμητον σωτηρίαν οἰκείῳ θησαυρῷ, ἀγάπῃ καὶ πίστει, ζωῆς ὅς ἐστιν ἀξιόλογος μισθός. Ταύτην ἡδέως τὴν τιμὴν ὁ θεὸς λαμβάνει. "Ἠλπίκαμεν γὰρ ἐπὶ θεῷ ζῶντι, ὅς ἐστι σωτὴρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, μάλιστα πιστῶν." Οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι περιπεφυκότες τῷ κόσμῳ, οἷα φυκία τινὰ ἐνάλοις πέτραις, ἀθανασίας ὀλιγωροῦσιν, καθάπερ ὁ Ἰθακήσιος γέρων οὐ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τῆς ἐν οὐρανῷ πατρί δος, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τοῦ ὄντως ὄντος ἱμειρόμενοι φωτός, ἀλλὰ τοῦ καπνοῦ. Θεοσέβεια δὲ ἐξομοιοῦσα τῷ θεῷ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν τὸν ἄνθρωπον κατάλληλον ἐπιγράφεται διδάσκαλον θεὸν τὸν καὶ μόνον ἀπεικάσαι κατ' ἀξίαν δυνάμενον ἄνθρωπον θεῷ. Ταύτην ὁ ἀπόστολος τὴν διδασκαλίαν θείαν ὄντως ἐπιστάμενος "σὺ δέ, ὦ Τιμόθεε," φησίν, "ἀπὸ βρέφους ἱερὰ γράμματα οἶδας, τὰ δυνάμενά σε σοφίσαι εἰς σωτηρίαν διὰ πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ." Ἱερὰ γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς τὰ ἱερο ποιοῦντα καὶ θεοποιοῦντα γράμματα, ἐξ ὧν γραμμάτων καὶ συλλαβῶν τῶν ἱερῶν τὰς συγκειμένας γραφάς, τὰ συντάγματα, ὁ αὐτὸς ἀκολούθως ἀπόστολος "θεοπνεύστους" καλεῖ, "ὠφελίμους οὔσας πρὸς διδασκαλίαν, πρὸς ἔλεγχον, πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν, πρὸς παιδείαν τὴν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἵνα ἄρτιος ᾖ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐξηρτημένος." Οὐκ ἄν τις οὕτως ἐκπλαγείη τῶν ἄλλων ἁγίων τὰς προτροπὰς ὡς αὐτὸν τὸν κύριον τὸν φιλάνθρωπον· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀλλ' ἢ τοῦτο ἔργον μόνον ἐστὶν αὐτῷ σῴζεσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Βοᾷ γοῦν ἐπείγων εἰς σωτηρίαν αὐτὸς "ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν·" ἐπιστρέφει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πλησιάζοντας τῷ φόβῳ. Ταύτῃ καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος τοῦ κυρίου παρακαλῶν τοὺς Μακεδόνας ἑρμηνεὺς γίνεται τῆς θείας φωνῆς, "ὁ κύριος ἤγγικεν" λέγων, "εὐλαβεῖσθε μὴ καταληφθῶμεν κενοί." Ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐς τοσοῦτον ἀδεεῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ ἄπιστοι, μήτε αὐτῷ πειθόμενοι τῷ κυρίῳ μήτε τῷ Παύλῳ, καὶ ταῦτα ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ δεομένῳ. "Γεύσασθε καὶ ἴδετε ὅτι χρηστὸς ὁ θεός." Ἡ πίστις εἰσάξει, ἡ πεῖρα διδάξει, ἡ γραφὴ παιδαγωγήσει "δεῦτε, ὦ τέκνα," λέγουσα, "ἀκούσατέ μου, φόβον κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς." Εἶτα ὡς ἤδη πεπιστευκόσι συντόμως ἐπιλέγει "τίς ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ὁ θέλων ζωήν, ἀγαπῶν ἡμέρας ἰδεῖν ἀγα θάς"; Ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν, φήσομεν, οἱ τἀγαθοῦ προσκυνηταί, οἱ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ζηλωταί. Ἀκούσατε οὖν "οἱ μακράν," ἀκούσατε "οἱ ἐγγύς"· οὐκ ἀπεκρύβη τινὰς ὁ λόγος· φῶς ἐστι κοινόν, ἐπιλάμπει πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις· οὐδεὶς Κιμμέριος ἐν λόγῳ· σπεύσωμεν εἰς σωτηρίαν, ἐπὶ τὴν παλιγγενεσίαν· εἰς μίαν ἀγάπην συναχθῆναι οἱ πολλοὶ κατὰ τὴν τῆς μοναδικῆς οὐσίας ἕνωσιν σπεύσωμεν. Ἀγαθοεργούμενοι ἀναλόγως ἑνότητα διώκωμεν, τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἐκζητοῦντες μονάδα. Ἡ δὲ ἐκ πολλῶν ἕνωσις ἐκ πολυφωνίας καὶ διασπορᾶς ἁρμονίαν λαβοῦσα θεϊκὴν μία γίνεται συμφωνία, ἑνὶ χορηγῷ καὶ διδασκάλῳ τῷ λόγῳ ἑπομένη, ἐπ' αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀναπαυομένη, "Ἀββᾶ" λέγουσα "ὁ πατήρ"· ταύτην ὁ θεὸς τὴν φωνὴν τὴν ἀληθινὴν ἀσπάζεται παρὰ τῶν αὑτοῦ παίδων πρώτην καρπούμενος. 32