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and having many torments and hardships, and enduring persecutions and countless kinds of temptations with joy.

8 (8). CONCERNING "GOD IS LIGHT". 8. QUESTION 8. Since again the holy John says God is light, and again after a little

if we walk in the light, as he 14Β_080 is in the light, how is the same one both called light, and to be in the light, as one in another?

Response. God, who is truly light by essence, in those in him through the virtues

is among those who walk, who have truly become light. Just as, therefore, the light by participation, as all the saints through love of God come to be in the light by essence, so the light by essence comes to be light in the light by participation through love for mankind. If, therefore, we are according to virtue and knowledge as in light in God, God himself also, as light, is in light in us. For God, who is light by nature, becomes light in imitation, as an archetype in an image. Or rather, God the Father is light in light, that is, in the Son and the Holy Spirit, not being another and another and another light, but in essence one and the same, according to the mode of existence, triply-radiant.

9 (9). CONCERNING "BROTHERS, NOW WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD, AND NOT YET

HAS IT BEEN REVEALED WHAT WE SHALL BE". 9. QUESTION 9. What does the holy John say again: brothers, now we are children of God, and not yet

has it been revealed what we shall be? If it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, how does the holy Paul say but to us God has revealed it through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God? And how does he philosophize such things about what we shall be?

Response. The holy evangelist John on the one hand, the manner of the future of the

who have become here children of God through the virtues according to 14Β_082 faith deification says he is ignorant, the self-sufficient hypostasis of the future goods according to appearance not yet having been revealed. For here we walk by faith, not by sight. But the holy Paul says he has received through revelation the divine purpose for the future goods, but not that he has known the manner of deification according to the divine purpose. Wherefore, clearly interpreting himself, he says, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call, clearly wishing to know from experience the manner of the actual fulfillment of the divine purpose, known to him here through revelation, of the deifying power for those who are deemed worthy. Therefore the apostles are in harmony, through their seemingly contradictory teaching breathing together with each other, as being moved by one and the same Spirit. For the one confesses ignorance of the manner of the future deification by grace, while the other masterfully introduces the knowledge of the purpose. And that the great apostle holds this opinion, he himself has become a witness to himself through all his divine words, at one time saying that all knowledge and prophecy will be abolished, at another not yet considering himself to have apprehended, at another saying that he sees future things through a mirror and in riddles and that there is a time when he will enjoy the great and beyond-comprehension grace of the hoped-for things face to face, at another confessing that he knows in part and prophesies in part, at another crying out clearly that he must come to know even as he was known, as clearly not yet having known the

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καὶ βασάνους πολλὰς καὶ στενοχωρίας ἔχοντες, καὶ διωγμοὺς καὶ μυρία πειρασμῶν εἴδη μετὰ χαρᾶς ὑπομένοντες.

Η (8). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ "Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΦΩΣ ΕΣΤΙΝ". 8. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Η' Ἐπειδὴ πάλιν λέγει ὁ ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Θεὸς φῶς ἐστι, καὶ πάλιν μετ᾽ ὀλίγα

ἐὰν ἐν τῷ φωτὶ περιπατῶμεν, ὡς αὐτός 14Β_080 ἐστιν ἐν τῷ φωτί, πῶς καὶ φῶς ὁ αὐτὸς λέγεται, καὶ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ εἶναι, ὡς ἄλλος ἐν ἄλλῳ;

Ἀπόκρισις. Ὁ κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ἀληθῶς φῶς ὑπάρχων Θεὸς ἐν τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν

περιπατοῦσίν ἐστιν, ἀληθῶς φῶς γενομένοις. Ὥσπερ οὖν τὸ κατὰ μέθεξιν φῶς, ὡς οἱ ἅγιοι πάντες διὰ φιλοθεΐαν ἐν τῷ κατ᾽ οὐσίαν γίνονται φωτί, οὕτω τὸ κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ἐν τῷ κατὰ μέθεξιν φωτὶ διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν γίνεται φῶς. Ἐὰν οὖν ἐσμεν κατὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν ὡς ἐν φωτὶ τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Θεός, ὡς φῶς, ἐν φωτί ἐστιν ἐν ἡμῖν. Ὁ γὰρ φύσει φῶς ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῷ μιμήσει γίνεται φωτί, ὡς ἐν εἰκόνι ἀρχέτυπον. Ἢ μᾶλλον, φῶς ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ ἐν φωτί, δηλαδὴ τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, οὐκ ἄλλο καὶ ἄλλο καὶ ἄλλο φῶς ὑπάρχων, ἀλλὰ κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτό, κατὰ τὸν τῆς ὑπάρξεως τρόπον τρισσοφαές.

Θ (9). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ "Α∆ΕΛΦΟΙ, ΝΥΝ ΤΕΚΝΑ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΣΜΕΝ ΚΑΙ ΟΥΠΩ

ΕΦΑΝΕΡΩΘΗ ΤΙ ΕΣΟΜΕΘΑ". 9. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Θ' Τί λέγει πάλιν ὁ ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ἀδελφοί, νῦν τέκνα Θεοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ οὔπω

ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα; Εἰ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα, πῶς ὁ ἅγιος Παῦλος λέγει ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπεκάλυψεν ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος· τὸ γὰρ Πνεῦμα πάντα ἐρευνᾷ, καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ; Πῶς δὲ καὶ τοιαῦτα φιλοσοφεῖ περὶ τοῦ τί ἐσόμεθα;

Ἀπόκρισις. Ὁ μὲν ἅγιος εὐαγγελιστὴς Ἰωάννης τὸν τρόπον τῆς μελλούσης τῶν

γενομένων ἐνταῦθα τέκνων τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τῶν κατὰ 14Β_082 τὴν πίστιν ἀρετῶν θεώσεως ἠγνοηκέναι λέγει, μήπω φανερωθείσης τῆς αὐθυπάρκτου κατὰ τὸ εἶδος τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν ὑποστάσεως. ∆ιὰ πίστεως γὰρ ἐνταῦθα περιπατοῦμεν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ διὰ εἴδους. Ὁ δὲ ἅγιος Παῦλος τὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς μέλλουσιν ἀγαθοῖς θεῖον σκοπὸν λέγει δι᾽ ἀποκαλύψεως εἰληφέναι, οὐ μὴν αὐτὸν ἐγνωκέναι τὸν κατὰ τὸν θεῖον σκοπὸν τῆς ἐκθεώσεως τρόπον. ∆ιὸ λέγει σαφῶς ἑαυτὸν ἑρμηνεύων κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω πρὸς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως, γνῶναι δηλονότι θέλων ἐκ τοῦ παθεῖν τὸν τρόπον τῆς κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν ἐκπληρώσεως τοῦ θείου καὶ αὐτῷ δι᾽ ἀποκαλύψεως ἐνταῦθα γνωσθέντος σκοποῦ τῆς ἐκθεωτικῆς τῶν ἀξιουμένων δυνάμεως. Συνᾴδουσιν οὖν οἱ ἀπόστολοι, διὰ τῆς δοκούσης ἐναντιοφανοῦς διδασκαλίας ἀλλήλοις συμπνέοντες, ὡς ὑφ᾽ ἑνὸς καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ κινούμενοι Πνεύματος. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς μελλούσης κατὰ τὴν χάριν θεώσεως ὁμολογεῖ τὴν ἄγνοιαν, ὁ δὲ τοῦ σκοποῦ μεγαλοφυῶς εἰσηγεῖται τὴν εἴδησιν. Ὅτι δὲ ταύτης ἔχεται τῆς γνώμης ὁ μέγας ἀπόστολος, αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ διὰ πάντων τῶν θείων αὐτοῦ λόγων μάρτυς καθέστηκεν, ποτὲ μὲν πᾶσαν καταργηθήσεσθαι φάσκων γνῶσιν καὶ προφητείαν, ποτὲ δὲ οὔπω λογιζόμενος ἑαυτὸν κατειληφέναι, ποτὲ δὲ δι᾽ ἐσόπτρου καὶ αἰνιγμάτων βλέπειν λέγων τὰ μέλλοντα καὶ εἶναι καιρὸν ὅτε τῆς πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον τῶν ἐλπιζομένων μεγάλης καὶ ὑπὲρ νόησιν ἀπολαύειν χάριτος, ποτὲ δὲ ἐκ μέρους γινώσκειν ὁμολογῶν καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύειν, ποτὲ δὲ χρῆν αὐτὸν γνώσεσθαι καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθη διαρρήδην βοῶν, ὡς οὔπω δηλονότι γνοὺς τὸ