19

BOOK OF ETHICS

DISCOURSE I. (49)

Chapters of the discourse. a. A partial natural philosophy concerning the creation of the world and the formation of

Adam. b. Concerning the transgression and the exile of Adam. c. Concerning the incarnation of the Word and in what manner He was incarnate for us. d. How creation will again be renewed and become new heavens

and a new earth according to the divine Apostle. e. What the final splendor of creation will be; in which also concerning angels and concerning

the soul. f. How all the saints are united to Christ and God and become one with Him. g. How the world above must be filled and what it is like and in what

manner it will be filled. h. That unless all who are predestined through generations and generations are born until

the last day and are fulfilled, the world above will not be filled. i. On the saying of the Gospel: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king.”

And what is the mystical marriage of God. j. That all the saints also conceive the Word of God in themselves

in a manner similar to the Theotokos and give birth to Him and He is born in them and they are born of Him; and how they are called His sons and brothers and mothers.

k. On the saying of the Gospel: “And he sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, and they would not come.”

l. (50) That it is not right for any of the uninitiated, before the working of the commandments and progress and perfection in virtue, to investigate the hidden mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; and that at the second coming of the Lord all the saints will know one another.

Now, what needed to be said in defense against those who are opposed to us and their bitter railings, by which everything that comes along is swept away together, even if it be something more precious, is sufficient, and as the Word has prospered the word, so that the swift course of the word and its well-aimed darts might not be from us, but rather from above and from the alliance of the Spirit, by whom what is accomplished is made prosperous for all. But it is necessary now, having ceased from the stance against them, to see and observe and consider what things have been bestowed on us by God, obeying the divine Paul, what is the wealth of His goodness toward us, which He bestowed on us from the beginning of creation, what is our formation and how we transgressed the commandment given from above and fell away from those immortal goods, and what is our present life and what is this world under which and with which all is seen to be in motion, and what things will succeed these for us, the worshippers of the Trinity. I shall begin from this point, making God the beginning of the discourse.

a. A partial natural philosophy concerning the creation of the world and the formation of

Adam. (50) God not only gave paradise, as some might think, to the first-formed

from the very beginning, (51) nor did He create him alone incorruptible, but

19

ΒΙΒΛΟΣ ΤΩΝ ΗΘΙΚΩΝ

ΛΟΓΟΣ Α΄. (49)

Κεφάλαια τοῦ λόγου. α΄. Μερική τις φυσιολογία περί τῆς τοῦ κόσμου κτίσεως καί τῆς πλάσεως τοῦ

Ἀδάμ. β΄. Περί τῆς παραβάσεως καί τῆς ἐξορίας τοῦ Ἀδάμ. γ΄. Περί τῆς τοῦ Λόγου σαρκώσεως καί κατά τίνα τρόπον δι᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐσαρκώθη. δ΄. Πῶς αὖθις ἡ κτίσις μέλλει ἀνακαινισθῆναι καί γενέσθαι καινούς οὐρανούς

καί καινήν γῆν κατά τόν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον. ε΄. Ὁποία ἔσται ἡ ἐσχάτη λαμπρότης τῆς κτίσεως· ἐν ᾧ καί περί ἀγγέλων καί περί

ψυχῆς. στ΄. Πῶς ἑνοῦνται τῷ Χριστῷ καί Θεῷ καί ἕν γίνονται μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι. ζ΄. Πῶς δεῖ πληρωθῆναι τόν ἄνω κόσμον καί ὁποῖός τίς ἐστι καί κατά τίνα

τρόπον πληρωθήσεται. η΄. Ὅτι εἰ μή πάντες οἱ προωρισμένοι κατά γενεάς καί γενεάς τεχθήσονται ἕως

ἐσχάτης ἡμέρας καί πληρωθήσονται, ὁ ἄνω κόσμος οὐ πληρωθήσεται. θ΄. Εἰς τόν ῥητόν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου· "Ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλεῖ".

Καί τίς ἐστιν ὁ γάμος ὁ μυστικός τοῦ Θεοῦ. ι΄. Ὅτι καί πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι τόν Λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς συλλαμβάνουσι τῇ

Θεοτόκῳ παραπλησίως καί γεννῶσιν αὐτόν καί γεννᾶται ἐν αὐτοῖς καί γεννῶνται ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ· καί πῶς υἱοί καί ἀδελφοί καί μητέρες αὐτοῦ χρηματίζουσιν.

ια΄. Εἰς τό ῥητόν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου· "Καί ἀπέστειλε τούς δούλους αὐτοῦ καλέσαι τούς κεκλημένους εἰς τούς γάμους καί οὐκ ἤθελον ἐλθεῖν".

ιβ΄. (50) Ὅτι οὐ χρή πρό τῆς ἐργασίας τῶν ἐντολῶν καί τῆς εἰς ἀρετήν προκοπῆς τε καί τελειώσεως τά κεκρυμμένα μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐρευνᾶν τῶν ἀμυήτων τινά· καί ὅτι ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐλεύσει πάντες ἀλλήλους γνωρίζουσιν οἱ ἅγιοι.

Ἅ μέν οὖν ἀπολογήσασθαι καί εἰπεῖν ἔδει πρός τούς ἀντιδιατιθεμένους ἡμῖν καί τάς πικράς γλωσσαλγίας αὐτῶν αἷς τό προσπεσόν ἅπαν ὁμοῦ κατασύρεται, κἄν εἴ τι τῶν τιμιωτέρων ἐστίν, ἱκανῶς ἔχει καί ὡς ὁ Λόγος τόν λόγον εὐώδωσεν, ἵνα μή ἐξ ἡμῶν ᾗ τά τῆς εὐδρομίας τοῦ λόγου καί τῶν εὐστόχων βολίδων αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ᾿ ἤ ἄνωθεν καί ἀπό τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος συμμαχίας, παρ᾿ οὗ πᾶσιν εὐοδοῦται τό κατορθούμενον. Χρεών δέ ἄρτι τῆς πρός ἐκείνουτς λήξαντας στάσεως ἰδεῖν καί κατασκοπῆσαι καί σκέψασθαι τίνα τά ὑπό Θεοῦ χαρισθέντα ἡμῖν, Παύλῳ τῷ θείῳ πειθομένους, τίς ὁ πλοῦτος τῆς πρός ἡμᾶς αὐτοῦ ἀγαθότητος, ὅν ἡμῖν ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς ἐχαρίσατο κτίσεως, τίς ἡ πλάσις ἡμῶν καί πῶς παρέβημεν τήν δοθεῖσαν ἄνωθεν ἐντολήν καί τῶν ἀθανάτων ἐκείνων ἀγαθῶν ἐξεπέσομεν, τίς δέ ὁ νῦν βίος καί τίς ὁ κόσμος οὗτος ὑφ᾿ ὅν καί μεθ᾿ ὅν τό πᾶν ὁρᾶται κινούμενον, καί τίνα τά μετά ταῦτα διαδεξόμενα τούς προσκυνητάς τῆς Τριάδος ἡμᾶς. Ἄρξομαι δέ ἐντεῦθεν, ἀρχήν τοῦ λόγου ποιούμενος τόν Θεόν.

α΄. Μερική τις φυσιολογία περί τῆς τοῦ κόσμου κτίσεως καί τῆς πλάσεως τοῦ

Ἀδάμ. (50) Ὁ Θεός οὐχί τόν παράδεισον μόνον, ὡς ἄν τινες οἴονται, τοῖς πρωτοπλάστοις

δέδωκεν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀρχῆς, (51) οὔτε ἄφθαρτον μόνον ἐκεῖνον ἐδημιούργησεν, ἀλλά