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and it abounds always in all those ineffable good things of God, living together and rejoicing together with the orders of the heavenly powers, which may we all attain and become rich in the enjoyment of them, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages; amen.

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 way He was incarnate for us. d. How creation is again to 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

way it will be filled. h. That unless all who have been 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 similarly to the

Theotokos and give birth to him and he is born in them and they are born by 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 fitting for any of the uninitiated to investigate the hidden mysteries of the kingdom of heaven before the working of the commandments and progress and perfection in virtue; and that at the second coming of the Lord all the saints will know one another.

What then one must say in defense and speak to those who are opposed to us and their bitter railings with which everything that falls into their path is dragged down together, even if it is something more precious, is sufficient, and as the Word has guided the word, so that the swiftness of the discourse and its well-aimed shots might not be from us, but rather from above and from the alliance of the Spirit, by whom every right action is prospered for all. But it is now necessary, having ceased from the opposition to them, to see and to observe and to 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 has bestowed on us from the beginning of creation, what is our formation and how we transgressed the commandment given from above and fell from those immortal good things, and what is our present life and what is this world, under which and with which the whole is seen to be moving, and what things come after these

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καί περισσεύει ἀεί ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἀπορρήτοις ἐκείνοις ἀγαθοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ, συνδιαιτωμένη καί συνευφραινομένη ταῖς τάξεσι τῶν οὐρανίων δυνάμεων, ὧν γένοιτο καί πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν καί ἐν ἀπολαύσει τούτων πλουσίᾳ γενέσθαι, χάριτι καί φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καί τό κράτος σύν τῷ Πατρί καί τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καί ἀεί καί εἰς τούς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.

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