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God, will it have a clearer knowledge of immortality? for if, even when bound to a body, it lived a life outside the body, much more also after the death of the body will it live, and it will not cease from living, because of the God who so made it through His own Word, our Lord Jesus Christ. For this is why it also considers and thinks on immortal and eternal things, since it is also immortal. And just as, the body being mortal, its senses also contemplate mortal things, so the soul, contemplating and considering immortal things, must itself also be immortal and live forever. For the conceptions and contemplations of immortality never leave it, but remain in it, and become like a kindling-wood in it for the security of its immortality. For this reason, then, it has the conception of the contemplation of God, and it becomes a road for itself, not from without, but from itself taking the knowledge and apprehension of the Word of God.

34 We say then, as was said before, that just as they have denied God and worship soulless things, so also, thinking they do not have a rational soul, they have from that very fact the penalty of their madness in being numbered among the irrational creatures; and for this reason, as soulless ones having their superstition in soulless things, they are worthy of pity and guidance. But if they claim to have a soul, and are proud of being rational, and they are right to do so; why do they dare things contrary to reason as if not having a soul, and do not think what they ought to think, but make themselves out to be better even than what is Divine? For having an immortal soul which is not seen by them, they represent God in things that are seen and mortal. Or why, just as they have departed from God, do they not flee back to Him again? For they are able, just as they turned away from God in their mind and fashioned things that are not into gods, so to ascend with the mind of the soul, and turn back again to God. And they are able to turn back, if they put off the filth of all desire with which they have clothed themselves, and wash themselves so thoroughly, until they put off everything foreign that has accrued to the soul, and show it forth alone as it was made, so that they may thus be able in it to contemplate the Word of the Father, in whose image they were also made from the beginning. For it was made in the image of God and created in His likeness, as the divine Scripture also signifies, speaking in the person of God: Let us make man in our image and in our likeness. Whence also, when it puts off from itself all the filth of sin that has been poured over it, and keeps clean only what is according to the image, then, this having been made to shine forth, it rightly contemplates as in a mirror the Word, the image of the Father, and in Him considers the Father, whose image the Savior also is. Or if the teaching from the soul is not sufficient, on account of the external things that muddy its mind and prevent it from seeing what is better; yet it is possible again even from visible things to apprehend the knowledge of God, since creation, as if in letters, through its order and harmony signifies and proclaims its own Master and Maker. 35 For God, being good and loving to man, and caring for the

35 souls made by him, since He is invisible and incomprehensible by nature, existing beyond all created substance, and for this reason the human race was bound to be at a loss for the knowledge of Him, since they are from things that are not, while He is unbegotten; for this reason God so ordered creation by His own Word, that, since He is invisible by nature, He might at least be able to be known by men from His works. For from his works an artisan is often known even when not seen; and just as they say something of the sort about the sculptor Pheidias, that his creations, from the symmetry and the proportion of the parts to one another, reveal Pheidias to those who see them even when he is not present; so one must understand from the order of the cosmos its Maker and Artificer, God, even if with the eyes of the body

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Θεός, φανερωτέραν ἕξει τὴν τῆς ἀθανασίας γνῶσιν; εἰ γὰρ καὶ συνδεθεῖσα σώματι τὴν ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος ζωὴν ἔζη, πολλῷ πλέον καὶ μετὰ θάνατον τοῦ σώματος ζήσεται, καὶ οὐ παύσεται τοῦ ζῇν διὰ τὸν οὕτως αὐτὴν ποιήσαντα Θεὸν διὰ τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ Λόγου, τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἀθάνατα καὶ αἰώνια λογίζεται καὶ φρονεῖ, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἀθάνατός ἐστι. καὶ ὥσπερ, τοῦ σώματος θνητοῦ τυγχάνοντος, θνητὰ καὶ αἱ τούτου θεωροῦσιν αἰσθήσεις, οὕτως ἀθάνατα θεωροῦσαν καὶ λογιζομένην τὴν ψυχήν, ἀνάγκη καὶ αὐτὴν ἀθάνατον εἶναι καὶ ἀεὶ ζῇν. αἱ γὰρ περὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας ἔννοιαι καὶ θεωρίαι οὐδέποτε αὐτὴν ἀφιᾶσι μένουσαι ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ ὥσπερ ἔκκαυμα ἐν αὐτῇ γινό μεναι πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν τῆς ἀθανασίας. διὰ τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ θεωρίας ἔχει τὴν ἔννοιαν, καὶ αὐτὴ ἑαυτῆς γίνεται ὁδός, οὐκ ἔξωθεν, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἑαυτῆς λαμβάνουσα τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου γνῶσιν καὶ κατάληψιν.

34 Λέγομεν οὖν, καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον, ὥσπερ τὸν Θεὸν ἠρνήσαντο καὶ ἄψυχα θρησκεύουσιν, οὕτω καὶ ψυχὴν οὐκ ἔχειν λογικὴν νομίζοντες, αὐτόθεν ἔχουσι τῆς παραφροσύνης τὴν ἐπι τιμίαν ἐν ἀλόγοις καταριθμούμενοι· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὡς ἄψυχοι ἐν ἀψύχοις ἔχοντες τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν, ἐλέους καὶ χειραγωγίας εἰσὶν ἄξιοι. εἰ δὲ ψυχὴν ἀξιοῦσιν ἔχειν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ λογικῷ μέγα φρονοῦσιν, εἰκότως τοῦτο ποιοῦντες· διὰ τί ὡς μὴ ἔχοντες ψυχὴν παρὰ λόγον τολμῶσι, καὶ οὐχ ἃ δεῖ φρονεῖν φρονοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κρείττονας ἑαυ τοὺς καὶ τοῦ Θείου ποιοῦσι; ψυχὴν γὰρ ἀθάνατον ἔχοντες καὶ μὴ βλεπομένην αὐτοῖς, τὸν Θεὸν ἐν τοῖς βλεπομένοις καὶ θνητοῖς ἀπεικά ζουσιν. ἢ διὰ τί, ὥσπερ ἀπέστησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὕτως οὐ κατα φεύγουσι πάλιν πρὸς αὐτόν; δύνανται γάρ, ὥσπερ ἀπεστράφησαν τῇ διανοίᾳ τὸν Θεὸν καὶ τὰ οὐκ ὄντα ἀνεπλάσαντο εἰς θεούς, οὕτως ἀναβῆναι τῷ νῷ τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ πάλιν ἐπιστρέψαι πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. ἐπιστρέψαι δὲ δύνανται, ἐὰν ὃν ἐνεδύσαντο ῥύπον πάσης ἐπιθυμίας ἀπόθωνται, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἀπονίψωνται, ἕως ἂν ἀπόθωνται πᾶν τὸ συμβεβηκὸς ἀλλότριον τῇ ψυχῇ, καὶ μόνην αὐτὴν ὥσπερ γέγονεν ἀποδείξωσιν, ἵν' οὕτως ἐν αὐτῇ θεωρῆσαι τὸν τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγον, καθ' ὃν καὶ γεγόνασιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, δυνηθῶσι. κατ' εἰκόνα γὰρ Θεοῦ πεποίηται καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν γέγονεν, ὡς καὶ ἡ θεία σημαίνει γραφὴ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγουσα· Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν. ὅθεν καὶ ὅτε πάντα τὸν ἐπιχυθέντα ῥύπον τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀφ' ἑαυτῆς ἀποτίθεται, καὶ μόνον τὸ κατ' εἰκόνα καθαρὸν φυλάττει, εἰκότως, διαλαμπρυνθέντος τούτου, ὡς ἐν κατόπτρῳ θεωρεῖ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ Πατρὸς τὸν Λόγον, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν Πατέρα, οὗ καὶ ἔστιν εἰκὼν ὁ Σωτήρ, λογίζεται. Ἢ εἰ μὴ αὐτάρκης ἐστὶν ἡ παρὰ τῆς ψυχῆς διδασκαλία διὰ τὰ ἐπιθολοῦντα ταύτης ἔξωθεν τὸν νοῦν, καὶ μὴ ὁρᾷν αὐτὴν τὸ κρεῖττον· ἀλλ' ἔστι πάλιν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν φαινομένων τὴν περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ γνῶσιν καταλαβεῖν, τῆς κτίσεως ὥσπερ γράμμασι διὰ τῆς τάξεως καὶ ἁρμονίας τὸν ἑαυτῆς δεσπότην καὶ ποιητὴν σημαινούσης καὶ βοώσης. 35 Ἀγαθὸς γὰρ ὢν καὶ φιλάνθρωπος ὁ Θεός, καὶ κηδόμενος τῶν

35 ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γενομένων ψυχῶν, ἐπειδὴ ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατάληπτός ἐστι τὴν φύσιν, ἐπέκεινα πάσης γενητῆς οὐσίας ὑπάρχων, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἔμελλε τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος ἀτυχεῖν τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ γνώσεως, τῷ τὰ μὲν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων εἶναι, τὸν δὲ ἀγένητον· τούτου ἕνεκεν τὴν κτίσιν οὕτω διεκόσμησε τῷ ἑαυτοῦ Λόγῳ ὁ Θεός, ἵν', ἐπειδὴ τὴν φύσιν ἐστὶν ἀόρατος, κἂν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων γινώσκεσθαι δυνηθῇ τοῖς ἀνθρώ ποις. ἐκ γὰρ τῶν ἔργων πολλάκις ὁ τεχνίτης καὶ μὴ ὁρώμενος γινώσκεται· καὶ οἷόν τι λέγουσι περὶ τοῦ ἀγαλματοποιοῦ Φειδίου, ὡς τὰ τούτου δημιουργήματα ἐκ τῆς συμμετρίας καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα τῶν μερῶν ἀναλογίας ἐμφαίνειν καὶ μὴ παρόντα Φειδίαν τοῖς ὁρῶσιν· οὕτω δεῖ νοεῖν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου τάξεως τὸν τούτου ποιητὴν καὶ δημιουργὸν Θεόν, κἂν τοῖς τοῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμοῖς