Chapter X.—To What the Philosopher Applies Himself.

These three things, therefore, our philosopher attaches himself to: first, speculation; second, the performance of the precepts; third, the forming of good men;—which, concurring, form the Gnostic. Whichever of these is wanting, the elements of knowledge limp. Whence the Scripture divinely says, “And the Lord spake to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, I am the Lord your God. According to the customs of the land of Egypt, in which ye have dwelt, ye shall not do; and according to the customs of Canaan, into which I bring you, ye shall not do; and in their usages ye shall not walk. Ye shall perform My judgments, and keep My precepts, and walk in them: I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep all My commandments, and do them. He that doeth them shall live in them. I am the Lord your God.”450    The empirics were a class of physicians who held practice to be the one thing essential.    Lev. xviii. 1–5. Whether, then, Egypt and the land of Canaan be the symbol of the world and of deceit, or of sufferings and afflictions; the oracle shows us what must be abstained from, and what, being divine and not worldly, must be observed. And when it is said, “The man that doeth them shall live in them,”451    Prov. xxii. 20, 21. The Septuagint and Hebrew both differ from the reading here.    Gal. iii. 12. it declares both the correction of the Hebrews themselves, and the training and advancement of us who are nigh:452    John. i. 3.    “Them that are far off, and them that are nigh” (Eph. ii. 13). it declares at once their life and ours. For “those who were dead in sins are quickened together with Christ,”453    Eph. ii. 5. by our covenant. For Scripture, by the frequent reiteration of the expression, “I am the Lord your God,” shames in such a way as most powerfully to dissuade, by teaching us to follow God who gave the commandments, and gently admonishes us to seek God and endeavour to know Him as far as possible; which is the highest speculation, that which scans the greatest mysteries, the real knowledge, that which becomes irrefragable by reason. This alone is the knowledge of wisdom, from which rectitude of conduct is never disjoined.

Τριῶν τοίνυν τούτων ἀντέχεται ὁ ἡμεδαπὸς φιλόσοφος, πρῶτον μὲν τῆς θεωρίας, δεύτερον δὲ τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐπιτελέσεως, τρίτον ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν κατασκευῆς· ἃ δὴ συνελθόντα τὸν γνωστικὸν ἐπιτελεῖ. ὅ τι δ' ἂν ἐνδέῃ τούτων, χωλεύει τὰ τῆς γνώσεως. ὅθεν θείως ἡ γραφή φησι· καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων· λάλησον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν· κατὰ [τὰ] ἐπιτηδεύματα γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ἐν ᾗ κατῳκήσατε ἐν αὐτῇ, οὐ ποιήσετε· καὶ κατὰ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα γῆς Χαναάν, εἰς ἣν ἐγὼ εἰσάγω ὑμᾶς ἐκεῖ, οὐ ποιήσετε· καὶ τοῖς νομίμοις αὐτῶν οὐ πορεύσεσθε· τὰ κρίματά μου ποιήσετε καὶ τὰ προστάγματά μου φυλάξεσθε, πορεύεσθαι ἐν αὐτοῖς· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν. καὶ φυλάξεσθε πάντα τὰ προστάγματά μου, καὶ ποιήσετε αὐτά. ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν. εἴτ' οὖν κόσμου καὶ ἀπάτης εἴτε παθῶν καὶ κακιῶν σύμβολον Αἴγυπτος καὶ ἡ Χανανῖτις γῆ, ὧν μὲν ἀφεκτέον, ὁποῖα δὲ ἐπιτηδευτέον ὡς θεῖα καὶ οὐ κοσμικά, ἐπιδείκνυσιν ἡμῖν τὸ λόγιον. ὅταν δὲ εἴπῃ ὁ ποιήσας ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς, τήν τε Ἑβραίων αὐτῶν ἐπανόρθωσιν τήν τε τῶν πέλας, ἡμῶν αὐτῶν, συνάσκησίν τε καὶ προκοπὴν ζωὴν λέγει αὐτῶν τε καὶ ἡμῶν. οἱ γὰρ νεκροὶ τοῖς παραπτώμασι συζωοποιοῦνται Χριστῷ διὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας διαθήκης. πολλάκις δὲ ἐπαναλαμβάνουσα ἡ γραφὴ τὸ ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν δυσωπεῖ μὲν διατρεπτικώτατα, ἕπεσθαι διδάσκουσα τῷ τὰς ἐντολὰς δεδωκότι θεῷ, ὑπομιμνῄσκει δὲ ἠρέμα ζητεῖν τὸν θεὸν καὶ ὡς οἷόν τε γινώσκειν ἐπιχειρεῖν, ἥτις ἂν εἴη θεωρία μεγίστη, ἡ ἐποπτική, ἡ τῷ ὄντι ἐπιστήμη, ἡ ἀμετάπτωτος λόγῳ γινομένη. αὕτη ἂν εἴη μόνη ἡ τῆς σοφίας γνῶσις, ἧς οὐδέποτε χωρίζεται ἡ δικαιοπραγία.