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He says more perfect things: "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and to the one who wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well; and from the one who takes your things, do not demand them back". And further, exceedingly for the fullness of faith, he commands us to pray for and to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us and to pray for those who mistreat us. And He commands us to do many other things by which, clearly, our faith in him is shown first, and then it is right to say that we are faithful; for without these things our faith is dead and we are clearly dead.

Therefore examine yourself carefully, O man, and if you find yourself lacking in none of the things that have been said, but having done all things exceedingly from a fervent heart and purpose, you will certainly understand that you are in the light and have an unashamed hope, not the one from conceit that arises in those who are perishing, the futility and deceitfulness of which no one who possesses it can recognize, but the good and true hope in true and unashamed light. And in this hope, as if upon a cherubic chariot, you might see love riding, who is God; whom if you find and see in this way, you will henceforth not meddle with any of the future and unseen things, but you will also silence others and command them not (98) to meddle with or discuss anything about the things there, as one who has learned by experience itself that all things there are incomprehensible to the mind and reason and are ineffable. But if you have not done those things that first make you known as a faithful person and a Christian, but are faithful among the unfaithful and among the faithful are condemned by your conscience as unfaithful, and you no longer have a perfect hope and full assurance that you will be saved, nor can you also say as Saint Paul does: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me", why do you meddle and ask to learn whether the saints will indeed recognize one another in the kingdom of heaven, when they are in the vision of the God over all and see him? What benefit will this be to you? Tell me.

For I would like to hear and learn from you what the benefit is to you, judged as you are by your conscience, as we have said, since you have no part in the commandments of Christ, if you learn from us about the enjoyments and glories and delights and restorations in his kingdom. Absolutely none at all, certainly, but you will rather cause yourself a greater condemnation, because even after learning these things you were contemptuous and were unwilling to cast off conceit and acquire humility. Alternatively, answer me in peace, as I ask you gently. To a small child who has not even deigned to learn the elements of letters, but asks for the things of grammar and rhetoric to be explained, will any man who is master of his reason ever tolerate it, or even deem his foolishness worthy of a mere word, and will he not rather push him away as a fool and one who thinks childish things and (99) senselessly asks for things beyond his own ability? But if this is just and proper in these things, how much more so in those which are beyond reason and mind and thought? But if someone does not learn the elements of the letters, but hears what the Greeks have written in other words and understands them when spoken in his own dialect, it is no wonder, since their discourse is about perceptible things and their narratives about vain matters are vain.

But the things you ask about are not like that, but of what kind and how? As the prophet David says: "And He bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under His feet". What is this darkness? The very flesh of the Lord, about which John, his great forerunner, later said: "the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie". He came down, therefore, and came clothed in the flesh instead of darkness. And again: "He rode upon a cherubim and flew; He flew upon the wings of the winds. And he made

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τελεώτερά φησιν· "Ἐάν τις σε ῥαπίσῃ εἰς τήν δεξιάν σιαγόνα, στρέψον αὐτῷ καί τήν ἄλλην· καί τῷ θέλοντί σοι κριθῆναι καί τόν χιτῶνά σου λαβεῖν ἄφες αὐτῷ καί τό ἱμάτιον· καί τῷ αἴροντι τά σά μή ἀπαίτει". Καί ἔτι καθ᾿ ὑπερβολήν εἰς ὑπερβολήν πίστεως εὔχεσθαι καί ἀγαπᾶν κελεύει τούς ἐχθρούς καί καλῶς ποιεῖν τοῖς μισοῦσιν ἡμᾶς καί ὑπέρ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ἡμᾶς εὔχεσθαι. Καί ἄλλα πλείονα κελεύει ποιεῖν ἡμᾶς ἐξ ὧν πρότερον δηλονότι δείκνυται ἡ πρός αὐτόν πίστις ἡμῶν, καί τότε τό πιστούς ἡμᾶς εἶναι λέγειν χρεών· χωρίς γάρ τούτων νεκρά ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν καί ἡμεῖς νεκροί δηλονότι.

Ἐρεύνησον τοιγαροῦν σεαυτόν ἀκριβῶς, ὦ οὗτος, καί ἐάν μηδέν τῶν εἰρημένων ἐλλείψαντα σεαυτόν εὑρήσῃς, ἀλλά πάντα μεθ᾿ὑπερβολῆς ἀπό ζεούσης καρδίας καί προθέσεως πράξαντα, πάντως ἔχειν ἐν φωτί κατανοήσεις ἑαυτόν καί ἐλπίδα ἀκαταίσχυντον, οὐχί τήν ἐξ οἰήσεως ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις προσγινομένην, ἧς τό μάταιον καί ἀπατηλόν οὐδείς τῶν κεκτημένων αὐτήν ἐπιγνῶναι δύναται, ἀλλά τήν χρηστήν ἐλπίδα καί ἀληθινήν ἐν ἀληθινῷ καί ἀκαταισχύντῳ φωτί. Ἐν ταύτῃ δέ ὥσπερ ἐπ᾿ ὀχήματι χερουβικῷ κατίδοις τήν ἀγάπην ἐποχουμένην, ἥτις ἐστίν ὁ Θεός· ἥν ἐάν οὕτως εὑρών ἴδῃς, οὐ πολυπραγμονήσεις ἔκτοτε τῶν μελλόντων καί ἀοράτων οὐδέν, ἀλλά καί ἄλλους ἐπιστομίσεις καί παραγγείλῃς μή (98) πολυπραγμονεῖν τι μηδέ συζητεῖν περί τῶν ἐκεῖσε, ὡς αὐτῇ τῇ πείρᾳ μαθών ὅτι νῷ καί λόγῳ ἀκατάληπτα καί ἄφραστα πάντα εἰσί τά ἐκεῖσε. Εἰ δέ τά πιστόν σε τέως καί χριστιανόν ποιοῦντα ἐν πρώτοις γνωρίζεσθαι οὐκ ἔπραξας, ἀλλά μετά τῶν ἀπίστων πιστός καί μετά τῶν πιστῶν κατακεκριμένος ὑπό τοῦ συνειδότος ὡς ἄπιστος εἶ, καί οὐκέτι τελείαν ἔχεις ἐλπίδα καί πληροφορίαν σωθήσεσθαι, οὐδέ ὡς ὁ ἅγιος Παῦλος λέγειν καί σύ δύνασαι· "Τόν ἀγῶνα τόν καλόν ἠγώνισμαι, τόν δρόμον τετέλεκα, τήν πίστιν τετήρηκα· λοιπόν ἀπόκειταί μοι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος, ὅν ἀποδώσει μοι ὁ Κύριος ὁ δίκαιος κριτής", τί πολυπραγμονεῖς καί μαθεῖν ἐρωτᾷς, εἰ ἄρα μέλλουσιν γνωρίζειν οἱ ἅγιοι ἀλλήλους ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, ὅταν ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ τοῦ ἐπί πάντων Θεοῦ γενόμενοι ὁρῶσιν αὐτόν; Τί σοι ἔσται ἐκ τούτου ὄφελος; Εἰπέ μοι.

Ἤθελον γάρ ἀκοῦσαι καί μαθεῖν παρά σοῦ τί σοι τό ὄφελος, ὑπό τοῦ συνειδότος, ὡς ἔφαμεν, κρινομένῳ σοι, ἐπειδή τάς ἐνταλθείσας ὑπό τοῦ Χριστοῦ μερίδα μή ἔχοντι, ἐάν τάς ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ ἀπολαύσεις καί δόξας καί τρυφάς καί ἀποκαταστάσεις μάθῃς διδασκόμενος παρ᾿ ἡμῶν. Οὐδέν οὐδαμῶς πάντως, ἀλλά καί κατάκριμα μεῖζον μᾶλλον σεαυτῷ προξενήσεις, ὅτι καί ταῦτα μαθών κατεφρόνησας καί τήν οἴησιν ἀποβαλέσθαι καί ταπείνωσιν κτήσασθαι οὐκ ἠθέλησας. Ἄλλως δέ καί ἐρωτῶντί μοι πρᾴως, ἐν εἰρήνῃ σύ ἀποκρίθητι. Παιδί μικρῷ μηδέ τά στοιχεῖα καταδεξαμένῳ τῶν γραμμάτων μαθεῖν, τά περί γραμματικῆς καί ῥητορικῆς ζητοῦντι διερμηνεύεσθαι, ἆρα ἀνέξεταί ποτε ἄνθρωπος, λογισμοῦ κύριος ὤν, κἄν λόγου ψιλοῦ ἀξιῶσαι τήν ἀφροσύνην αὐτοῦ, καί οὐχί μᾶλλον ἀπώσεται ὡς ἄφρονα καί παιδικά φρονοῦντα καί (99) ἀναισθήτως αἰτοῦντα τά ὑπέρ τήν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν; Εἰ δέ ἐν τούτοις δίκαιον τοῦτο καί πρέπον ἐστί, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς ὑπέρ λόγον καί νοῦν καί διάνοιαν; Εἰ δέ καί τά στοιχεῖα τῶν γραμμάτων μή μάθῃ τις, ἀκούσει δέ ἅπερ δι᾿ ἑτέρων λέξεων οἱ Ἕλληνες συνεγράψαντο καί νοήσει αὐτά τῇ ἰδίᾳ διαλέκτῳ λεγόμενα, οὐδέν θαυμαστόν, ἐπειδή περί αἰσθητῶν ὁ λόγος αὐτοῖς καί μάταιοι περί ματαίων πραγμάτων αἱ διηγήσεις αὐτῶν.

Τά δέ περί οὗ ἐρωτᾷς οὐ τοιαῦτα, ἀλλ᾿ ὁποῖα καί πῶς; Ὡς ὁ προφήτης λέγει ∆αβίδ· "Καί ἔκλινεν οὐρανούς καί κατέβη καί γνόφος ὑπό τούς πόδας αὐτοῦ". Τίς οὗτος ὁ γνόφος; Ἡ σάρξ αὐτή τοῦ Κυρίου, περί ἧς καί Ἰωάννης ὁ μέγας πρόδρομος αὐτοῦ ὕστερον ἔφη· "Οὗ οὐκ εἰμί ἱκανός κύψας λῦσαι τόν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ". Κατέβη τοίνυν καί ἦλθεν ἀντί γνόφου περικείμενος τήν σάρκα. Καί αὖθις· "Ἐπέβη ἐπί Χερουβίμ καί ἐπετάσθη, ἐπετάσθη ἐπί πτερύγων ἀνέμων. Καί ἔθετο