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§ 8. To the caused: Caused are all things that have been brought into creation, whether in heaven or on earth, and causes are the pre-existent things, that is, the three hypostases of the holy Trinity. It is clear then that there is no similarity between these, that is, between causes and the caused. And he well added 'the possible ones'; for not all of them.

And if one should say to live: That the properties of the caused are preeminently and essentially present in the causes. So we do not rightly say that the divine lives and is illuminated; for this is the cause 14S_078 of our living and being illuminated; therefore, what is in us by grace is essentially present in the divine; for this is what 'by participation' means; for the Apostle says: "by grace you have been saved"; and we are called saved, but he is our Savior. And again: "for from his fullness we have all received."

§ 9. But also that of all theology: That he calls the things concerning the incarnation theology, and that he calls the enfleshment of the Lord Jesus a "God-formation" like us. These things are especially against the Nestorians, who say that he was substantiated in a human way; but see that he says the body of the Lord Jesus was formed from the virginal blood. And note how he says that there are certain most ancient angels, and that one of them is first. And the divine John speaks of elder angels in the Apocalypse; and we have read in Tobit that there are seven first ones, and in Clement in book 5 of the Hypotyposes. But he is accustomed to call the most ancient angels the three highest orders, thrones, seraphim, cherubim, as he often makes clear in the treatise On the Celestial Hierarchy; but he says here that the manner of the incarnation is not attainable even by the first of the angels.

And to the renowned: Glorious. To the guide: his own guide, he alludes to the holy Hierotheus, as he immediately

makes clear; for after Paul he was benefited by him; and he says that perhaps having suffered the divine things, he was thus inspired; but what it is not only to have learned, but also to have suffered, has been said indeed also in the letter to the Hebrews; "for he learned obedience from what he suffered." For the one who has suffered grasps what is taught by experience, 14S_080 like one who is beaten, more than one who has only heard; indeed, without ever having been beaten, who knows what such pain is, and could better represent what the hurt is like; so also the one initiated through revelation will interpret divine things more divinely. And to suffer the divine things is such as this: it is said by the Apostle, "let us be buried with Christ, so that we may also rise with him and reign with him," and the one who crucifies himself and his own flesh, he bears the marks of Christ in his own body; reasonably, therefore, he also reigns with Christ and is entrusted with his divine mysteries, when also the holy Hierotheus is said not only to have learned, but also to have suffered the divine things; and the one initiated into divine things through revelation is beside himself, and is rightly said to suffer this beneficial passion, in order that he may become a lodging-place of God. Alternatively. He said that he suffered the divine things, meaning that he did not receive initiation concerning these things didactically through reason, but that the knowledge of things beyond nature was impressed and, as it were, imprinted on his mind by the divine effulgence, and he called such an initiation into the more divine things "sympathy," that is, a "shared disposition."

§ 10. The cause of all things: These divine sayings show how the Son is also "all things in all," and "head of all" according to the Apostle; and he says that he is the fullness and container of all things, holding together the coherence of created things, that is, the parts to the whole, as being the whole; as the unifier of the whole, therefore, and reasonably a part, since every part is a part of the whole, and neither whole nor part, as being none 14S_082 of them, but also beyond all being; and the parts of the whole cosmos are the things seen according to their kind, air, earth, plants, and the rest; and his divinity is said to be something perfect, as in relation to us who are imperfect, as in Matthew:

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§ 8. Τοῖς αἰτιατοῖς: Αἰτιατά ἐστι πάντα τά παραχθέντα εἰς κτίσιν, εἴτε ἐν οὐρανῷ, εἴτε ἐπί γῆς, αἴτια δέ τά ὑπερόντα, τουτέστιν αἱ τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος. Πρόδηλον οὖν ὅτι οὐδεμία ἐμφέρεια τούτων πρός ἄλληλα, αἰτίων φησί καί αἰτιατῶν. Καλῶς δέ προσέθηκε τό 'ἐνδεχομένας'· οὐ γάρ ἁπάσας.

Καί ζῇν εἴ τις φαίη: Ὅτι περισσῶς καί οὐσιωδῶς προσένεστι τά τῶν αἰτιατῶν τοῖς αἰτίοις. Ὥστε οὐ καλῶς λέγομεν ζῇν καί φωτίζεσθαι τό θεῖον· τοῦτο γάρ τοῦ ζῇν ἡμᾶς καί φωτίζεσθαι 14S_078 αἴτιον· οὐσιωδῶς οὖν προσένεστι τῷ θείῳ, ἅπερ ἡμῖν κατά χάριν· τοῦτο γάρ σημαίνει τό 'κατά μέθεξιν'· λέγει γάρ ὁ Ἀπόστολος· «χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι»· καί ἡμεῖς μέν σεσωσμένοι λεγόμεθα, αὐτός δέ ἡμῶν Σωτήρ ἐστι. Καί πάλιν· «ἀπό γάρ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν».

§ 9. Ἀλλά καί τό πάσης θεολογίας: Ὅτι θεολογίαν καλεῖ τά περί τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως, καί ὅτι καθ' ἡμᾶς θεοπλασίαν φησί τήν τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ σάρκωσιν. Ταῦτα κατά Νεστοριανῶν μάλιστα, τό ἀνδρικῶς αὐτόν οὐσιωθῆναι λέγειν· ὅρα δέ ὅτι ἐκ τῶν παρθενικῶν αἱμάτων φησί τό σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ διαπλασθῆναι. Σημείωσαι δέ, πῶς φησι, πρεσβυτάτους ἀγγέλους εἶναί τινας, καί πρῶτον αὐτῶν τινα εἶναι. Λέγει δέ πρεσβυτέρους ἀγγέλους ὁ θεῖος Ἰωάννης ἐν τῇ Ἀποκαλύψει· καί ἑπτά εἶναι τούς πρώτους ἐν τῷ Τωβίᾳ ἀνέγνωμεν, καί παρά Κλήμεντι βιβλίῳ ε' τῶν Ὑποτυπώσεων. Πρεσβυτάτους δέ ἀγγέλους εἴωθε καλεῖν, τάς ἀνωτάτω τρεῖς τάξεις, θρόνους, σεραφίμ, χερουβίμ, ὡς δηλοῖ ἐν τῷ Περί τῆς οὐρανίας ἱεραρχίας λόγῳ πολλάκις· φησί δέ ἐνταῦθα, μήτε τῷ πρωτίστῳ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐφικτόν εἶναι τόν τρόπον τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως.

Καί τῷ κλεινῷ: Ἐνδόξῳ. Καθηγεμόνι: Καθηγεμόνα οἰκεῖον, τόν ἅγιον Ἱερόθεον αἰνίττεται, ὡς εὐθύς

δηλοῖ· μετά γάρ τόν Παῦλον ἐκ τούτου ὠφελήθη· λέγει δέ ὅτι ἴσως παθών τά θεῖα ἐκεῖνος, οὕτως ἐνεπνεύσθη· τί δέ ἐστιν οὐ μόνον μαθών, ἀλλά καί παθών, εἴρηται μέν οὖν καί ἐν τῇ πρός Ἑβραίους· «ἔμαθε γάρ ἀφ' ὧν ἔπαθε τήν ὑπακοήν». Ὁ γάρ παθών πείρᾳ λαμβάνει τό διδασκόμενον, 14S_080 οἷον ὁ τυπτόμενος, μᾶλλον τοῦ μόνον ἀκούσαντος· οὐ μήν καί τυπτηθέντος ποτέ, τίς ὁ τοιοῦτος πόνος γινώσκει, καί μᾶλλον ἄν παραστήσειεν, ὁποῖόν ἐστι τό ἄλγος· οὕτω καί ὁ δι' ἀποκαλύψεως μυούμενος, θειότερον ἑρμηνεύσει τά θεῖα. Τό δέ παθεῖν τά θεῖα τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· εἴρηται τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ, «συνταφῶμεν τῷ Χριστῷ, ἵνα καί συναναστῶμεν αὐτῷ καί συμβασιλεύσωμεν», ὁ δέ σταυρῶν ἑαυτόν καί τήν ἑαυτοῦ σάρκα, αὐτός τά στίγματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῷ οἰκείῳ σώματι περιφέρει· εἰκότως οὖν καί συμβασιλεύει τῷ Χριστῷ καί τά θεῖα αὐτοῦ θαρρεῖται μυστήρια, ὅταν καί ὁ ἅγιος Ἱερόθεος λέγεται μή μόνον μαθεῖν, ἀλλά καί παθεῖν τά θεῖα· καί ὁ δι' ἀποκαλύψεως τά θεῖα μυούμενος, ἐξίσταται ἑαυτοῦ, καί καλῶς λέγεται παθεῖν τό ἐπωφελές τοῦτο πάθος, ἵνα Θεοῦ γένηται καταγώγιον. Ἄλλως. Παθεῖν αὐτόν ἔφη τά θεῖα, ὡς οὐ διδακτῶς διά λόγου τήν περί τούτων δέξασθαι μύησιν λέγων, ἀλλά τῇ θείᾳ ἐκλάμψει ἐντυπωθῆναι, καί οἷον ἐνσημανθῆναι τῇ διανοίᾳ τήν γνῶσιν τῶν ὑπέρ φύσιν, καί τήν τοιαύτην τῶν θειοτέρων μύησιν συμπάθειαν ἐκάλεσεν, ἤγουν συνδιάθεσιν.

§ 10. Ἡ πάντων αἰτία: Τά θεῖα ταῦτα παρίστησι ρήματα, πῶς καί ὁ Υἱός «τά πάντα ἐν πᾶσι», καί «κεφαλή πάντων» κατά τόν Ἀπόστολον· καί φησιν, ὅτι πάντων ἐστί πλήρωμα καί συνοχεύς, τήν ἀλληλουχίαν τῶν δημιουργημάτων συσφίγγων, τουτέστι τά μέρη τῷ παντί, ὡς τό πᾶν ὤν· ὡς τοῦ παντός οὖν συναγωγεύς, καί μέρος εἰκότως, ἐπειδή καί πᾶν μέρος τοῦ παντός ἐστι μέρος, καί οὔτε πᾶν, οὔτε μέρος, ὡς μηδέν ὤν ἐξ αὐτῶν 14S_082 τῶν, ἀλλά καί ὑπέρ πᾶσαν οὐσίαν· μέρη δέ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου εἰσί τά κατ' εἶδος ὁρώμενα, ἀήρ, γῆ, φυτά, καί τά λοιπά· καί ἔστι μέν οἷά τις τελεία λεγομένη ἡ αὐτοῦ θεότης, ὡς πρός ἡμᾶς τούς ἀτελεῖς, ὡς παρά Ματθαίῳ ·