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I am not saying that through these there is one providence and another judgment. For I know one and the same according to its power, but having a diverse and manifold activity with respect to us. And that the mixture of beings, that is, the composition, is a symbol of our will. For when this is mixed with the virtues, and has blended them with itself, it also constitutes the most divinely-fitting intelligible world. And that the position of the character in accordance with the will is a teacher, so as to have a firm opinion about the good for one who ought to govern contention, least of all accepting any alteration whatsoever from contingent things away from the foundation according to reason. And having again connected position with motion, and mixture with difference, they distinguished indivisibly the hypostasis of the universe into substance and difference and motion, and having understood that the cause is contemplated technically in different ways in the effects according to the reason of the mind (14∆_164> they piously apprehended this to be, and to be wise, and to be living. And from this they were taught the divinely perfect and saving doctrine concerning the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, according to which they were mystically enlightened not only in the simple principle of the being of the cause, but were also piously initiated into the mode of its existence. And again, having surveyed the whole of creation according to position alone, they reduced the five aforementioned modes of contemplation to three, having recognized from heaven and earth and what is between them that creation is a teacher of ethical, natural, and theological philosophy according to the principle in itself.

But again, having contemplated creation from difference alone, that is, in things containing and things contained, I mean of heaven and the things within it, they brought the three modes together into two, namely wisdom and philosophy, the one as comprehensive and embracing all the divinely fitting modes spoken of piously in relation to it, and enclosing within itself the mystical and natural principles concerning other things, and the other as cohesive of character and will, of action and contemplation, and of virtue and knowledge, and related by a relational affinity to wisdom as to its cause. And again, having understood creation according to mixture alone, that is, the harmonious composition of the universe, and through all the things ineffably bound to one another for the completion of one world, having conceived only of the creative 1137 principle that binds and tightens the parts to the whole and to each other, they enclosed the two modes of contemplation into one, according to which, having transported their mind to the cause by a simple application through the principles in beings, and having bound themselves to it alone as the unifier and attractor of all things from it, they were no longer distracted by the principles in each of the whole things, by having transcended them, being clearly persuaded from then on, from their precise contemplation of beings, that God alone truly is, and is the cause of the substance of beings and their motion and the distinction of different things, and the indissoluble cohesion of the (14∆_166> mixed things, and the unchangeable foundation of the things that have been set in place, and simply of every substance however conceived, and of motion and difference, and of mixture and position, they wisely transferred, through an inherent likeness, the mystical contemplation concerning the sensible world to the intelligible world being completed in the Spirit through the virtues;

According to which, having brought together the aforementioned modes into one, they impressed upon themselves, as far as possible, the most solitary principle that completely fulfills the substance of the intelligible, volitional world through various forms of virtues, that is, having passed beyond all the principles of beings and the principles of the virtues themselves, or rather, with these, having ascended unknowingly to the supra-essential and supremely good Logos who is beyond them, and to whom they belong and from whom they have their being; and having been united, whole to whole, as far as was possible for the natural power within them, they were so qualified by him, as was fitting, that they were known from him alone, like most transparent mirrors,

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Οὐκ ἄλλην δέ καί ἄλλην πρόνοιαν διά τούτων εἶναι λέγω καί κρίσιν. Μίαν γάρ καί τήν αὐτήν οἶδα κατά τήν δύναμιν, διάφορον δέ ὡς πρός ἡμᾶς καί πολύτροπον τήν ἐνέργειαν ἔχουσαν. Τήν δέ κράσιν τῶν ὄντων ἤτοι σύνθεσιν τῆς ἡμετέρας γνώμης εἶναι σύμβολον. Κραθεῖσα γάρ αὕτη ταῖς ἀρεταῖς, καί ἑαυτῇ ταύτας κεράσασα, τόν κατά διάνοιαν θεοπρεπέστατον καί αὐτήν συνίστησι κόσμον. Τήν δέ θέσιν τοῦ κατά γνώμην ἤθους εἶναι διδάσκαλον, ὡς παγίως ἔχειν περί τό εὖ δόξαν τῷ ῥυθμίζειν ἀντιλόγῳ ὀφείλοντος, ἥκιστα τοῖς συμπίπτουσιν ἐκ τῆς κατά λόγον βάσεως ἀλλοίωσιν τήν οἱανοῦν δεχομένου. Συνάψαντες δέ πάλιν τῇ κινήσει τήν θέσιν, καί τήν κράσιν τῇ διαφορᾷ, εἰς οὐσίαν καί διαφοράν καί κίνησιν τήν τοῦ παντός ἀδιαιρέτως διέκριναν ὑπόστασιν, καί τῷ κατ᾿ ἐπίνοιαν λόγῳ τεχνικῶς ἐνθεωρεῖσθαι τοῖς αἰτιατοῖς διαφόρως τό αἴτιον κατανοήσαντες (14∆_164> καί εἶναι καί σοφόν εἶναι καί ζῶν εἶναι εὐσεβῶς τοῦτο κατέλαβον. Καί τόν περί Πατρός καί Υἱοῦ καί ἁγίου Πνεύματος θεοτελῆ καί σωτήριον ἐντεῦθεν ἐδιδάχθησαν λόγον, καθ᾿ ὅν οὐ τόν τοῦ εἶναι μόνον ἁπλῶς τοῦ αἰτίου λόγον μυστικῶς ἐφωτίσθησαν, ἀλλά καί τόν τῆς ὑπάρξεως τρόπον εὐσεβῶς ἐμυήθησαν. Καί πάλιν κατά μόνην τήν θέσιν πᾶσαν τήν κτίσιν περιαθρήσαντες τούς εἰρημένους πέντε εἰς τρεῖς συνέστειλαν θεωρίας τρόπους, ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καί γῆς καί τῶν ἐν μέσῳ ἠθικῆς καί φυσικῆς καί θεολογικῆς φιλοσοφίας διδάσκαλον τήν κτίσιν εἶναι τῷ καθ᾿ ἑαυτήν λόγω ἐπεγνωκότες.

Πάλιν δέ ἐκ μόνης τῆς διαφορᾶς τήν κτίσιν θεωρήσαντες, τουτέστιν ἐν τῶν περιεχόντων καί περιεχομένων, λέγω δέ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καί τῶν ἐντός εἰς δύο τούς τρεῖς συνήγαγον τρόπους, σοφίαν φημί καί φιλοσοφίαν, τήν μέν ὡς περιεκτικήν καί πάντας θεοπρεπῶς τούς εὐσεβεῖς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς λεγομένους ἐπιδεχομένην τρόπους, καί τούς περί τῶν ἄλλων ἐντός ἐαυτῆς μυστικούς τε καί φυσικούς περικλείουσαν λόγους, τήν δέ ὡς ἤθους καί γνώμης, πράξεώς τε καί θεωρίας, καί ἀρετῆς καί γνώσεως συνεκτικήν, καί οἰκειότητι σχετικῇ πρός τήν σοφίαν ὡς αἰτίαν ἀναφερομένην. Καί πάλιν κατά μόνην τήν κράσιν ἤτοι τήν ἐναρμόνιον τοῦ παντός σύνθεσιν, τήν κτίσιν κατανοήσαντες, καί διά πάντων τῶν ἀλλήλοις ἀῤῥήτως εἰς ἑνός συμπλήρωσιν κόσμου συνδεδεμένων μόνον τόν συνδέοντα καί ἐπισφίγγοντα τῷ ὅλῳ τά μέρη καί ἀλλήλοις δημιουργόν 1137 ἐννοήσαντες λόγον τούς δύο εἰς ἕνα θεωρίας συνέκλεισαν τρόπον, καθ᾿ ὅν ἁπλῇ προσβολῇ διά τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι λόγων πρός τό αἴτιον νοῦν διαπορθεύσαντες, καί μόνῳ αὐτῷ ὡς συναγωγῷ τῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντων καί ἑλκτικῷ προδήσαντες, τοῖς καθ᾿ ἕκαστα τῶν ὅλων τῷ ὑπερβαθῆναι οὐκέτι διαχεόμενοι λόγοις, διά τοῦ πεπεῖσθαι σαφῶς μόνον τόν Θεόν κυρίως εἶναι λοιπόν ἐκ τῆς πρός τά ὄντα ἀκριβοῦς ἐνατενίσεως, καί οὐσίαν τῶν ὄντων καί κίνησιν καί τῶν διαφερόντων εὐκρίνειαν, καί συνοχήν ἀδιάλυτον τῶν (14∆_166> κεκραμμένων, καί ἵδρυσιν ἀμετάθετον τῶν τεθειμένων, καί πάσης ἁπλῶς τῆς ὁπωσοῦν νοουμένης οὐσίας, καί κινήσεως καί διαφορᾶς, κράσεώς τε καί θέσεως αἴτιον, σοφῶς δι᾿ ἐμφεροῦς ὁμοιότητος τήν κατά τόν αἰσθητόν αἰῶνα μυστικήν θεωρίαν ἐπί τόν κατά διάνοιαν ἐν Πνεύματι διά τῶν ἀρετῶν συμπληρούμενον κόσμον μετήνεγκαν·

Καθ᾿ ἥν τούς εἰρημένους τρόπους εἰς ἕνα συναγαγόντες τόν διαφόροις ἀρετῶν εἴδεσι τήν τοῦ κατά διάνοιαν γνωμικοῦ κόσμου οὐσίαν ἐκπληροῦντα δι᾿ ὅλου λόγον μονιότατον ἑαυτοῖς, ὡς ἐφικτόν ἐναπωμόρξαντο, πάντας δηλαδή περάσαντες τούς τῶν ὄντων καί αὐτούς τούς τῶν ἀρετῶν λόγους, μᾶλλον δέ μετά τούτων πρός τόν ὑπέρ τούτους, καί εἰς ὅν οὗτοι καί ἐξ οὗ τό εἶναι τούτοις ἐστίν ὑπερούσιον καί ὑπεράγαθον Λόγον ἀγνώστως ἀναδραμόντες· καί ὅλοι ὅλῳ κατά τό ἐφικτόν τῆς ἐνούσης αὐτοῖς φυσικῆς δυνάμεως ἑνωθέντες τοσοῦτον ἐνδεχομένως ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐποιώθησαν, ὥστε καί ἀπό μόνου γνωρίζεσθαι, οἷον ἔσοπτρα διειδέστατα,