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the head, which is Christ, as Paul interprets, would be blessed for its sharp-sightedness, 5.358 having its eyes there where there is no overshadowing of evil. Paul the great and if there were any others as great as him had their eyes in the head, and all who live and move and have their being in Christ. For just as it is not possible for one who is in the light to see darkness, so it is not possible for one who has his eye in Christ to gaze upon anything that is vain. He therefore who has his eyes in the head (and by head we have understood the beginning of all things) has his eyes in every virtue (for Christ is perfect virtue), in truth, in righteousness, in incorruptibility, in every good thing. Therefore, the eyes of the wise man are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. For he who did not place his lamp upon the lampstand, but put the light under the base of the bed, made darkness for himself, becoming a creator of that which has no existence; and that which has no existence is vain. Therefore darkness is equivalent in meaning to vanity. So then, the soul of the fool, having become a lover of the body and carnal, in seeing these things sees nothing; for sharp-sightedness in these matters is truly darkness. Do you see these keen and resourceful men in life, whom we call lawyers, how by ingenuity they make injustice easy for themselves with witnesses, advocates, documents, by courting the judges, so as to both accomplish evil and escape punishment? Who does not admire 5.359 the shrewdness and circumspection of such men? But nevertheless these men are blind, if they were to be examined in relation to that eye which sees things above, which is situated in the head of beings. They are utterly blind who adorn their own heel that is torn by the serpent's teeth; for by the means through which they see things below, they engrave upon themselves the bites of sin. For he who loves injustice hates his own soul, and what is considered blessed among them by men is more pitiable than any misfortune. But again, on the contrary, how many who are filled with the good things on high and are occupied with the contemplation of things that truly are, are considered to be blind and foolish in material matters, as Paul also boasts that he is, calling himself a fool for Christ's sake; for his prudence and wisdom were not concerned with any of the things that are esteemed here. Therefore he says: 'We are fools for Christ,' as if he were to say: 'We are blind to the life below because we see the things above and have our eyes in the head.' For this reason he was homeless and without a table, poor, a wanderer, naked, worn out by hunger and thirst. But consider what such a man on earth was like in the things above. For having been raised up to the third heaven, 5.360 where his head was, there he had his eyes, exulting in the ineffable mysteries of paradise and seeing the unseen things and delighting in those things which are beyond sense and thought. Who would not have thought him pitiable, seeing him a prisoner and tormented with scourges and submerged after a shipwreck, carried about on the sea by the waves with his bonds? But nevertheless, even if such were his circumstances among men, he was not turned away from having his eyes always in the head, saying, 'Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?' Which is equivalent to saying: 'Who will gouge out my eyes from the head and move them to that which is trodden underfoot and earthly?' And he commands us to do the same when he exhorts us to set our minds on things above, which is similar to saying to have our eyes in the head. But if we have learned how the eyes of the wise man are in his head, let us flee the foolishness which becomes darkness to those who walk in this life. For the fool, it says, walks in darkness. And a fool is, as the prophecy says, he who says in his heart that there is no God, who has become corrupt and abominable in his practices. But the sequence of the discourse 5.361 heals, through what is said next, those who are faint-hearted concerning this life

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κεφαλήν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστός, καθὼς διερμηνεύει ὁ Παῦλος, μακαριστὴ ἂν γένοιτο τῆς ὀξυωπίας, 5.358 ἐκεῖ ἔχουσα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, ὅπου οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ τοῦ κακοῦ ἐπισκότησις. Παῦλος ὁ μέγας καὶ εἴ τινες ἄλλοι κατ' ἐκεῖνον μεγάλοι ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς εἶχον καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐν Χριστῷ ζῶντες καὶ κινούμενοι καὶ ὄντες. ὡς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι τὸν ἐν φωτὶ ὄντα σκότος ἰδεῖν, οὕτως οὐκ ἔστι τὸν ἐν Χριστῷ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἔχοντα πρός τι τῶν ματαίων ἐνατενίσαι. ὁ οὖν ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχων (κεφαλὴν δὲ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἀρχὴν ἐνοήσαμεν) ἐν πάσῃ ἀρετῇ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχει (Χριστὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ παντελὴς ἀρετή), ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ, ἐν παντὶ ἀγαθῷ. Τοῦ οὖν σοφοῦ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἐν κεφαλῇ αὐτοῦ, ὁ δὲ ἄφρων ἐν σκότει πορεύεται. ὁ γὰρ μὴ ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λύχνον προτείνας, ἀλλ' ὑποβαλὼν τῇ βάσει τῆς κλίνης τὸ φέγγος ἑαυτῷ σκότος ἐποίησεν, δημιουργὸς τοῦ ἀνυπάρκτου γενόμενος· μάταιον δὲ τὸ ἀνύπαρκτον. ἴσον οὖν ἐστι κατὰ τὸ σημαινόμενον τῷ ματαίῳ τὸ σκότος. τοῦ τοίνυν ἄφρονος ἡ ψυχὴ φιλοσώματός τις καὶ σαρκώδης γεγενημένη ἐν τῷ ταῦτα βλέπειν βλέπει οὐδέν· σκότος γάρ ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ἡ ἐν τούτοις ὀξυωπία. ὁρᾷς τοὺς δριμεῖς τούτους καὶ εὐστρόφους κατὰ τὸν βίον, οὓς δικανικοὺς ὀνομάζομεν, ὅπως ἑαυτοῖς δι' ἐπινοίας τὴν ἀδικίαν ἐξευμαρίζουσι μάρτυσι, συνηγόροις, ἐγγράφοις, τῇ τῶν δικαστῶν θεραπείᾳ, ὥστε καὶ τὸ κακὸν κατεργάσασθαι καὶ ἐκδῦναι τὴν τιμωρίαν; τίς οὐ θαυμάζει 5.359 τὸ ἀγχίνουν τῶν τοιούτων καὶ εὐπερίβλεπτον; ἀλλ' ὅμως τυφλοί εἰσιν οὗτοι, εἰ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἐξετάζοιντο τὸν τὰ ἄνω βλέποντα, τὸν τῇ κεφαλῇ τῶν ὄντων ἐγκείμενον. τυφλοί εἰσιν ἄντικρυς οἱ τὴν πτέρναν ἑαυτῶν καλλωπίζοντες τὴν σπαρασσομένην τοῖς ὀδοῦσι τοῦ ὄφεως· δι' ὧν γὰρ τὰ κάτω βλέπουσι, τὰ δήγματα τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἑαυτοῖς ἐγχαράσ σουσιν. Ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν ἀδικίαν μισεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν, καὶ τὸ μακαριζόμενον αὐτῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις πάσης ἐστὶ δυσπραγίας ἐλεεινότερον. πόσοι δὲ πάλιν ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου τῶν ἐν τῷ ὕψει ἀγαθῶν ἐμφορούμενοι καὶ τῇ θεωρίᾳ τῶν ὄντως ὄντων ἀποσχολάζοντες τυφλοί τινες ἐν τοῖς ὑλικοῖς πράγμασιν εἶναι νομίζονται καὶ ἀνόητοι, οἷος καὶ ὁ Παῦλος εἶναι καυχᾶται, μωρὸν ἑαυτὸν διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι λέγων· ἡ γὰρ φρόνησις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ σοφία πρὸς οὐδὲν τῶν ὧδε σπουδαζομένων ἠσχόλητο. διὸ λέγει· Ἡμεῖς μωροὶ διὰ Χρι στόν, ὡς ἂν εἰ ἔλεγεν· ἡμεῖς τυφλοὶ τῷ κάτω βίῳ διὰ τὸ τὰ ἄνω βλέπειν καὶ ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἡμῶν ἔχειν. τούτου χάριν ἄστεγος ἦν καὶ ἀτράπεζος, πένης, ἀλήτης, γυμνός, λιμῷ καὶ δίψῃ κατατρυχόμενος. ἀλλ' ὁ κάτω τοιοῦτος ἐν τοῖς ἄνω σκόπησον οἷος ἦν. ἕως γὰρ τρίτου οὐρανοῦ 5.360 ὑψωθείς, ὅπου ἡ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ ἦν, ἐκεῖ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔσχεν, τοῖς ἀπορρήτοις τοῦ παραδείσου μυστηρίοις ἐναγαλλό μενος καὶ τὰ ἀθέατα βλέπων καὶ ἐντρυφῶν ἐκείνοις, ὅσα ὑπὲρ αἴσθησίν ἐστι καὶ διάνοιαν. τίς οὐκ ἂν ἐλεεινὸν αὐτὸν ᾠήθη, δεσμώτην βλέπων καὶ πληγαῖς αἰκιζόμενον καὶ βύθιον ἐκ ναυαγίου διὰ πελάγους τοῖς κύμασι μετὰ τῶν δεσμῶν συμπεριφερόμενον; ἀλλ' ὅμως εἰ καὶ τὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις τοιαῦτα, τοῦ μέντοι ἐν κεφαλῇ διὰ παντὸς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχειν οὐκ ἀπετράπη λέγων Τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ; θλῖψις ἢ στενοχωρία ἢ διωγμὸς ἢ λιμὸς ἢ γυμνότης ἢ κίνδυνος ἢ μάχαιρα; ὅπερ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ λέγειν· τίς μου τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐξορύξει καὶ πρὸς τὸ πατούμενόν τε καὶ γήϊνον μεταστήσει; τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν ἐγκελεύεται τὸ ἴσον ποιεῖν ἐν τῷ παραγγέλλειν τὰ ἄνω φρονεῖν, ὅπερ ὅμοιόν ἐστι τῷ λέγειν ἐν κεφαλῇ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχειν. Ἀλλ' εἰ μεμαθήκαμεν, πῶς εἰσι τοῦ σοφοῦ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἐν κεφαλῇ αὐτοῦ, φύγωμεν τὴν ἀφροσύνην, ἥτις σκότος τοῖς ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ πορευομένοις γίνεται. Ὁ γὰρ ἄφρων, φησίν, ἐν σκότει πορεύεται. ἄφρων δέ ἐστι, καθὼς ἡ προφητεία φησίν, ὁ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ λέγων μὴ εἶναι θεόν, ὃς διεφθάρη καὶ ἐβδελύχθη ἐν τοῖς ἐπιτηδεύμασιν. ἡ δὲ ἀκολουθία τοῦ λόγου 5.361 θεραπεύει διὰ τῶν ἐφεξῆς εἰρημένων τοὺς μικροψύχως περὶ τὴν ζωὴν ταύτην