Moreover <therefore> you will intelligibly understand † the thoughts of descending 19.22.145 things. At the same time, however, see if you might not hear in a more mystical and not a local sense concerning the soul of Jesus the words: "Having ascended above all the "heavens"; for the intelligible ascent of that soul has leaped over all the heavens and, so to speak, has already reached 19.22.146 God himself. However, there is also another world besides the one that is shown and is sensible, which is composed of heaven and earth or heavens and earth, in which are the things not seen; and this whole thing is an invisible world, a world not seen, and an intelligible world, in whose sight and beauty the pure in heart will look, preparing themselves through looking into it for the pursuit, so as to see even him, as God is by nature seen, God. 19.22.147 But you will inquire if, according to some of the meanings, the firstborn of all creation can be a world, and especially in that he is "the manifold wisdom"; for since in him are the principles of everything whatsoever, according to which all things made by God in wisdom have come into being (as the prophet says, "You made all things in wisdom"), he himself would also be a "world," so much more varied and different from the sensible world, by as much as the principle of the whole world, bare of all matter, differs from the material world, which is adorned not from matter but from participation in the Logos and the Wisdom of the adorned things that adorn matter. 19.22.148 And see if the one who says, "I am not of this world," can be the soul of Jesus, living as a citizen in that whole world and encompassing it all and leading to it those who are 19.22.149 being discipled. That world has nothing below, just as this one, for one examining precisely, has nothing above. For how can this world have anything above, whose creation is a casting down? For one must not hear "Before the foundation of the world" in a random way, since the saints deliberately formed the name of "casting down" for such a concept; and yet they could have said "before the creation of the world" and not used the name of 19.22.150 "casting down." Therefore, the whole world and the things in it are in a state of being cast down; but outside the casting down of every world are the genuine disciples of Jesus, whom he chose out of the world, so that they might no longer be of the world, taking up their own cross and following him. 19.23.n I told you, therefore, that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. 19.23.151 When did he say to them, "You will die in your sins," if not when he was saying, "You will seek me, and in your sins "you will die"? And what is the cause of people dying in their sins, if not "not believing that Jesus is the "Christ"? For he himself says, "If you do not believe that I am he, you will 19.23.152 die in your sins." But if the one who does not believe that Jesus is the Christ will die in his own sins, it is clear that the one not dying in his sins has believed in Christ, while the one dying in his own sins, even if he says he believes in Christ, in truth has not believed in him; and if it is called faith, but happens to be without works, such faith is dead, as we have read in 19.23.153 the epistle attributed to James. Who then is the one who believes, if not the one who has experienced from being disposed according to the Word and being united with it that he would not fall, as far as these 19.23.154 sayings are concerned, into the sins that are said to be unto death, and as far as "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of "God" is concerned, that he does not sin in regard to anything at all that happens contrary to the right reason? And you will understand still more what "For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your "sins" means, by reasoning on what the firstborn of all creation is. 19.23.155 For example, the one who believes what justice is would not act unjustly, and <the one> who, because he has contemplated what wisdom is, has believed in wisdom would not say or do anything foolish, since the one who has believed in the Word that was in the beginning with God, in having understood it, nothing

ἐπιπλεῖον <οὖν> νοητῶς † καταβαι 19.22.145 νουσῶν νοήσεις. ἅμα δὲ ὅρα εἰ μὴ μυστικώτερον καὶ οὐ τοπικῶς περὶ τῆς Ἰησοῦ ψυχῆς ἀκούσει τὸ· «Ἀναβὰς ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν «οὐρανῶν»· ἡ γὰρ νοητὴ ἀνάβασις ἐκείνης τῆς ψυχῆς ὑπερπεπήδηκεν καὶ πάντας τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καί, ὡς ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ἤδη ἔφθασεν πρὸς 19.22.146 αὐτὸν τὸν θεόν. πλήν ἐστίν τις καὶ ἕτερος παρὰ τὸν δεικνύμενον καὶ αἰσθητὸν κόσμον τὸν συνεστῶτα ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ἢ οὐρανῶν καὶ γῆς κόσμος, ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα· καὶ ὅλον τοῦτο κόσ μος ἀόρατος, κόσμος οὐ βλεπόμενος, καὶ νοητὸς κόσμος, οὗ τῇ θέᾳ καὶ τῷ κάλλει ἐνόψονται οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, προευτρεπιζόμενοι διὰ τοῦ ἐνορᾶν αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τὸ μετελθεῖν, ὥστ' ἂν καὶ αὐτὸν ὁρᾶν, ὡς ὁρᾶσθαι πέφυκεν ὁ θεός, τὸν θεόν. 19.22.147 Ζητήσεις δὲ εἰ κατά τι τῶν σημαινομένων δύναται ὁ πρωτό τοκος πάσης κτίσεως εἶναι κόσμος, καὶ μάλιστα καθ' ὃ «σοφία» ἐστὶν ἡ πολυποίκιλος· τῷ γὰρ εἶναι παντὸς οὑτινοσοῦν τοὺς λόγους, καθ' οὓς γεγένηται πάντα τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν σοφίᾳ πεποιημένα (ὥς φησιν ὁ προφήτης· «Πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας»), ἐν αὐτῷ, εἴη ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς «κόσμος», τοσούτῳ ποικιλώτερος τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ κόσμου καὶ διαφέρων, ὅσῳ διαφέρει γυμνὸς πάσης ὕλης τοῦ ὅλου κόσμου λόγος τοῦ ἐνύλου κόσμου, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς ὕλης ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ τῆς μετοχῆς τοῦ λόγου καὶ τῆς σοφίας τῶν κοσμούντων τὴν ὕλην κεκοσμημένων. 19.22.148 καὶ ὅρα εἰ δύναται ὁ λέγων· «Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου» ἡ ψυχὴ εἶναι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐμπολιτευομένη τῷ ὅλῳ κόσμῳ ἐκείνῳ καὶ πάντα αὐτὸν ἐμπεριερχομένη καὶ χειραγωγοῦσα ἐπ' αὐτὸν τοὺς 19.22.149 μαθητευομένους. οὐδὲν ἔχει ἐκεῖνος ὁ κόσμος κάτω, ὡς οὐδὲ οὗτος, ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἐξετάζοντι, ἄνω. πῶς γὰρ δύναται ἔχειν τι ὁ κόσμος οὗτος ἄνω, οὗ ἡ κτίσις καταβολή ἐστιν; οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἀκουστέον τοῦ «Πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου», ἐπίτηδες διὰ τοιαύτην ἐπίνοιαν πλασάντων ὄνομα τῶν ἁγίων τὸ τῆς καταβολῆς· καίτοι γε ἐδύναντο λέγειν «πρὸ κτίσεως κόσμου» καὶ μὴ χρήσασθαι τῷ τῆς 19.22.150 «καταβολῆς» ὀνόματι. ὅλος οὖν ὁ κόσμος καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐν κατα βολῇ ἐστιν· ἔξω δὲ καταβολῆς κόσμου παντὸς γίνονται οἱ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γνήσιοι μαθηταί, οὓς ἐξελέξατο ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, ἵνα μηκέτι ὦσιν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου αἴροντες τὸν σταυρὸν ἑαυτῶν καὶ ἀκολουθοῦντες αὐτῷ. 19.23.n Εἶπον οὖν ὑμῖν ὅτι ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρ τίαις ὑμῶν· ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ πιστεύσητε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν. 19.23.151 Πότε εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· «Ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις «ὑμῶν», ἢ ὅτε ἔφασκεν· «Ζητήσετέ με, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν «ἀποθανεῖσθε»; τί δὲ τὸ αἴτιον τοῦ ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις αὐτῶν ἀπο θνήσκειν ἀνθρώπους, ἢ τὸ μὴ «πιστεύειν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ χρι «στός»; αὐτὸς γάρ φησιν· «Ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύσητε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, ἀπο 19.23.152 «θανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν». εἰ δὲ ὁ μὴ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ὁ χριστός ἐστιν ἀποθανεῖται ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἑαυτοῦ, δῆλον ὅτι ὁ μὴ ἀποθνήσκων ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις αὐτοῦ πεπίστευκεν τῷ χριστῷ, ὁ δὲ ἀποθνήσκων ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἑαυτοῦ, κἂν λέγῃ πιστεύειν τῷ χριστῷ, ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἀληθὲς οὐ πεπίστευκεν αὐτῷ· ἐὰν δὲ λέγηται μὲν πίστις, χωρὶς δὲ ἔργων τυγχάνῃ, νεκρά ἐστιν ἡ τοιαύτη, ὡς ἐν 19.23.153 τῇ φερομένῃ Ἰακώβου ἐπιστολῇ ἀνέγνωμεν. τίς οὖν ἄρα ἐστὶν ὁ πιστεύων ἢ ὁ πεπονθὼς ἐκ τοῦ διακεῖσθαι κατὰ τὸν λόγον καὶ συμπεφυκέναι αὐτῷ τὸ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖσθαι ἄν, ὅσον μὲν ἐπὶ τούτοις 19.23.154 τοῖς ῥητοῖς, εἰς τὰ λεγόμενα πρὸς θάνατον εἶναι ἁμαρτήματα, ὅσον δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ «Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ὁ χριστός ἐστιν ἐκ τοῦ «θεοῦ γεγέννηται», οὐχ ἁμαρτάνειν καὶ πρὸς ὅ τι δηποτοῦν τῶν παρὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν γινομένων λόγον; ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον νοήσεις τί ἐστιν «Ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ πιστεύητε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρ «τίαις ὑμῶν», ἅ ἐστιν ὁ πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως ἀναλογιζόμενος. 19.23.155 οἷον ὁ πιστεύων τί ἐστιν ἡ δικαιοσύνη οὐκ ἂν ἀδικήσαι, καὶ <ὁ> διὰ τὸ τεθεωρηκέναι ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ σοφία, πεπιστευκὼς εἰς τὴν σοφίαν οὐκ ἄν τι μωρὸν λέγοι ἢ πράττοι, ἐπεὶ ὁ πιστεύσας τῷ ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν λόγῳ ἐν τῷ κατανενοηκέναι αὐτὸν οὐδὲν