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having denied himself and no longer knowing he has a life of his own; For I no longer live; for Christ lives in me.

But let not what is said trouble you. For I do not say that there is a destruction of free will, but rather a firm and unchangeable placing according to (14∆_074> nature, that is, a concession of the will, so that from where it is given to us to be and to move, we may desire to receive, as the image having come to the archetype, and like a seal, its impression well fitted to the archetype, and having neither the possession nor the ability to be carried elsewhere, or to speak more clearly and truly, not being able to will, since it is seized by the divine energy, or rather having become God by deification, and taking more pleasure in the ecstasy from things that are and are conceived naturally upon it, because of the grace of the Spirit that has conquered it, and showing that only God is active, so that there is one and only energy through all things, of God and of those worthy of God, or rather of God alone, since as a whole He has beneficently interpenetrated all the worthy ones. For every volitional movement of all things according to desire must necessarily cease from being about anything else, when the ultimate object of desire has appeared and is partaken of, and is contained—so to speak—uncontainably, in proportion to the capacity of the participants; toward which every sublime way of life and thought hastens, "and in which every desire comes to rest, and beyond which it is in no way carried; for it has not, and toward which every movement of the virtuous tends, and for those who have reached it, there is a repose from all contemplation," says this blessed teacher. 1077 For there is nothing shown at that time outside of God, or appearing to be weighed against God, that it might entice someone's desire to incline toward it, all things intelligible and sensible having been comprehended by Him in His ineffable manifestation and presence, just as in the daytime the stellar lights are themselves covered, and are not even known by the senses to exist.

And in the case of God, it is even more so, inasmuch as the interval and difference between the uncreated and created things is infinite. For then, learning the existence of beings according to their essence, as to what and how and for what purpose they are, as I think, (14∆_076> we will not be moved desirously towards anything according to knowledge, since our knowledge of each and every thing after God has been brought to a limit, and only the infinite and divine and incomprehensible lies before us for enjoyment in due proportion and is partaken of. And this is the very thing philosophized about by this God-bearing teacher, "that we shall one day know as we are known, when this God-like and divine thing—as he says our mind and reason are—we shall join to its own, and the image shall ascend to the archetype, for which it now has desire." Therefore, concerning the non-existence of the much-talked-of henad, and how the state of future things will be, by way of emphasis, from the meanings and thoughts of Scripture now attainable by us, let these things have been said. But concerning how, being a portion of God, we have flowed away from God, I will now, with God's guidance, make my argument.

For who, knowing by word and wisdom that beings were brought into being out of non-being by God, if he were to prudently bring the contemplative faculty of the soul to the infinite difference and variety of natural beings, and with his examining reason distinguish in thought the principle according to which they were created, a principle that is co-distinguished by the indivisible difference of the things that have come to be, on account of their unconfused particularity in relation to one another and to themselves? And again, the One among the many, existing unconfusedly through the reference of all things to Him for His own sake, the essential and enhypostatic God the Word of God the Father, as the beginning and cause of all things, in whom all things were created that are in the heavens and that are on the earth, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities, 1080 or powers, all things were created from Him and through Him and for Him.

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ἑαυτόν ἀρνησάμενος καί ἰδίαν ἔχειν ἔτι ζωήν μή εἰδώς· Ζῶ γάρ οὐκ ἔτι ἐγώ· ζῇ γάρ ἐν ἐμοί Χριστός.

Μή ταραττέτω δέ ὑμᾶς τό λεγόμενον. Οὐ γάρ ἀναίρεσιν τοῦ αὐτεξουσίου γένεσθαί φημι, ἀλλά θέσιν μᾶλλον τήν κατά (14∆_074> φύσιν παγίαν τε καί ἀμετάθετον, ἤγουν ἐκχώρησιν γνωμικήν, ἵν᾿ ὅθεν ἡμῖν ὑπάρχει τό εἶναι καί τό κινεῖσθαι λαβεῖν ποθήσωμεν, ὡς τῆς εἰκόνος ἐνελθούσης πρός τό ἀρχέτυπον, καί σφραγίδος δίκην ἐκτυπώματι καλῶς ἡρμοσμένης τῷ ἀρχετύπῳ, καί ἄλλοθι φέρεσθαι μήτ᾿ ἐχούσης λοιπόν μήτε δυναμένης, ἤ σαφέστερον εἰπεῖν καί ἀληθέστερον, μήτε βούλεσθαι δυναμένης, ὡς τῆς θείας ἐπειλημμένης ἐνεργείας, μᾶλλον δέ Θεός τῇ θεώσει γεγενημένης, καί πλέον ἡδομένης τῇ ἐκστάσει τῶν φυσικῶς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς καί ὄντων καί νοουμένων, διά τήν ἐκνικήσασαν αὐτήν χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος, καί μόνον ἔχουσαν ἐνεργοῦντα τόν Θεόν δείξασαν, ὥστε εἶναι μίαν καί μόνην διά πάντων ἐνέργειαν, τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τῶν ἀξίων Θεοῦ, μᾶλλον δέ μόνου Θεοῦ, ὡς ὅλον ὅλοις τοῖς ἀξίοις ἀγαθοπρεπῶς περιχωρήσαντος. Ἀνάγκη γάρ πᾶσα τῆς κατ᾿ ἔφεσιν τά πάντα περί τι ἄλλο παύσασθαι ἐξουσιαστικῆς κινήσεως, τοῦ ἐσχάτου φανέντος ὀρεκτοῦ καί μετεχομένου, καί ἀναλόγως τῇ τῶν μετεχόντων δυνάμει ἀχωρήτως, ἵν᾿ οὔτως εἴπω, χωρουμένου· πρός ὅ πᾶσα σπεύδει πολιτεία τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ καί διάνοια, "καί εἰς ὅ πᾶσα ἔφεσις ἵσταται, καί ὑπέρ ὅ οὐδαμῶς φέρεται· οὔτε γάρ ἔχει, καί πρός ὅ τείνει πᾶσα σπουδαίου κίνησις, καί οὗ γενομένοις πάσης θεωρίας ἀνάπαυσις», φησίν ὁ μακάριος οὗτος διδάσκαλος. 1077 Οὔτε γάρ ἔστι τι ἐκτός Θεοῦ τότε δεικνύμενον, ἤ Θεῷ ἀντισηκοῦσθαι δοκοῦν, ἵνα τινός ἔφεσιν πρός αὐτό ῥέψαι δελεάσῃ, πάντων περιληφθέντων αὐτῷ νοητῶν τε καί αἰσθητῶν κατά τήν ἄφραστον αὐτοῦ ἔκφανσιν καί παρουσίαν, ὡς οὐδ᾿ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τά ἀστρῷα φῶτα καί αὐτά καλυπτόμενα, καί οὐδ᾿ ὅτι εἰσίν ὄσον αἰσθήσει γνωριζόμενα.

Ἐπί Θεοῦ δέ καί πλέον, ὅσον ἀκτίστου καί κτιστῶν ἄπειρον τό μέσον ἐστί καί διάφορον. Τότε γάρ καί τήν κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ὕπαρξιν τῶν ὄντων κατά τό τί καί πῶς καί ἐπί τίνι εἶναι, ὡς οἶμαι, (14∆_076> μανθάνοντες πρός τι ἐφετῶς ἔστι κατά γνῶσιν οὐ κινηθησόμεθα, τῆς ἑκάστου καί ἐφ᾿ ἑκάστου τῶν μετά Θεόν γνώσεως ἡμῖν περατωθείσης, καί τῆς ἀπείρου καί θείας καί ἀπεριλήπτου ἀπολαυστικῶς ἡμῖν ἀναλόγως ὑποκειμένης τε μόνης καί μετεχομένης. Καί τοῦτό ἐστι τό πάνυ φιλοσοφούμενον κατά τοῦτον τόν θεοφόρον διδάσκαλον, "ἐπιγνώσεσθαι ἡμᾶς ποτε ὅσον ἐγνώσμεθα, ἐπειδάν τό θεοειδές τοῦτο καί θεῖον φάσκοντος τόν ἡμέτερον νοῦν τε καί λόγον τῷ οἰκείῳ προσμίξωμεν, καί ἡ εἰκών ἀνέλθῃ πρός τό ἀρχέτυπον, οὗ νῦν ἔχει τήν ἔφεσιν». Περί μέν οὖν τοῦ μή εἶναι τήν θρυλουμένην ἑνάδα, καί τοῦ πῶς κατ᾿ ἔμφασιν ἐκ τῶν νῦν ἡμῖν ἐφικτῶν τῆς Γραφῆς νοημάτων τε καί λογισμῶν ἔσται ἡ τῶν μελλόντων κατάστασις, εἰρήσθω ταῦτα. Περί δέ τοῦ πῶς μοῖρα ὄντες Θεοῦ ἀπεῤῥύημεν Θεοῦ ἡγουμένου ἐντεῦθεν τόν λόγον ποιήσομαι.

Τίς γάρ λόγῳ εἰδώς καί σοφίᾳ τά ὄντα ἐκ τοῦ μή ὄντος παρά Θεοῦ εἰς τό εἶναι παρῆχθαι, εἰ τῇ φυσικῶν τῶν ὄντων ἀπείρῳ διαφορᾷ τε καί ποικιλίᾳ ἐμφρόνως τό τῆς ψυχῆς θεωρητικόν προσαγάγοι, καί τῷ ἐξεταστικῷ συνδιακρίνοι λόγῳ κατ᾿ ἐπίνοιαν τόν καθ᾿ ὅν ἐκτίσθησαν λόγον, τῇ τῶν γεγονότων ἀδιαιρέτῳ συνδιακρινόμενον διαφορᾷ, διά τήν αὐτῶν πρός ἄλληλά τε καί ἑαυτά ἀσύγχυτον ἰδιότητα; Καί πάλιν ἕνα τούς πολλούς, τῇ πρός αὐτόν τῶν πάντων ἀναφορᾷ δι᾿ ἑαυτόν ἀσυγχύτως ὑπάρχοντα, ἐνούσιόν τε καί ἐνυπόστατον τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός Θεόν Λόγον, ὡς ἀρχήν καί αἰτίαν τῶν ὅλων, ἐν ᾧ ἐκτίσθη τά πάντα τά ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καί τά ἐπί τῆς γῆς, εἴτε ὀρατά, εἴτε ἀόρατα, εἴτε θρόνοι, εἴτε κυριότητες, εἴτε ἀρχαί, 1080 εἴτε ἐξουσίαι, πάντα ἐξ αὐτοῦ καί δι᾿ αὐτοῦ καί εἰς αὐτόν ἔκτισται.