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David; and he calls it a tent which Paul names light - "for He dwells, he says, in unapproachable light", both indicating the incomprehensible and unstable nature of His(100) divinity, not making the divine something limited, but as if making the argument in this way to those who are overly curious, they say. Do not suppose, O foolish ones, that the ascended Lord and God, having entered into darkness, was hidden; but He is in His own glory, in the divinity that fills all things and is beyond all things, in which He also was before this, but sparing us, so that we might not be utterly destroyed, He set darkness to cover not Him, but us; "For our God, he says, is a consuming fire" not for the righteous, but for sinners.

See then; you have learned, as in passing, the divine and awesome mysteries of our faith from us, or rather from the Holy Spirit through us; you have learned that God both descended to earth and ascended again to heaven and made darkness his hiding place; for it was not necessary before the judgment for him to appear to us with the glory of his Father, but for this to happen at that time which his Father has set by his own authority. If then the hidden mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are so, and it is not given to all to know them according to the Lord's voice, why, having neglected to work his commandments, do you ask about things hidden from all men? For behold, every day you hear the Apostle crying out concerning those very things, "what eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and has not entered into the heart of man," the good things "which God has prepared for those who love him." For before he was taken up and made darkness his hiding place, he gave us his holy commandments, as one might say, having given us tools, and faith in him as a kind of craftsman, so that we are the vessels, faith the craftsman, and the commandments the tools, by which the craftsman, the Word, (101) re-fashions and makes new the workers of his commandments, so that through their work, being purified, we may be enlightened according to our progress by the Spirit with the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

And just as the tools without a craftsman and the craftsman without tools cannot do anything, so neither does faith without the fulfillment of the commandments, nor the fulfillment of the commandments without faith, at all renew and refashion us or make us new from old. But when we acquire both in an unwavering heart and become a useful vessel to the Master for the reception of the intelligible myrrh, then also He who made darkness His hiding place makes us new with the gift of the Holy Spirit and raises us up new instead of old and living as from the dead and cuts through the darkness and transports our mind from here to there and grants it to peer out as from some opening and to see somewhat dimly, as much as is the circle of the sun or moon; from whence it is taught, or rather knows and is initiated, being fully assured that it is not truly possible otherwise to be in partial participation of the ineffable goods of God, unless in humility of heart and unwavering faith of whole-souled purpose they renounce the whole world and the things in the world along with their own wills in all the commandments of God; and not only this, but unless without shame, but rather in exultation of heart and joy, those who believe in Christ pass through the labors and trials for the sake of virtue, and especially those baptized as infants and not perceiving that they have "the free gift of the grace of God."

You then, who have read these things, not in the conceit of falsely named knowledge (102) and the refashioning of vain thoughts, but in fear and trembling examine yourself; and if you wish to learn how you stand in life and condition, question your soul and say to it: "Soul, have you kept all the commandments of God or not?" And having opened the

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∆αβίδ· σκηνήν δέ λέγει ἥν ὁ Παῦλος φῶς ὀνομάζει - "φῶς γάρ, φησίν, οἰκῶν ἀπρόσιτον ", ἀμφότεροι τό ἀκατάληπτον καί ἄστεκτον αὐτοῦ τῆς(100) θεότητος δηλοῦντες, οὐχί δέ περιοριστόν ποιοῦντες τό θεῖον, ἀλλ᾿ οἷον οὕτω πως τόν λόγον ποιούμενοι πρός τούς περιεργότερον ἔχοντάς φασι. Μή ὑπολάβετε, ὦ ἀνόητοι, ὅτι ἐν σκότει ὁ ἀναληφθείς Κύριος καί Θεός εἰσελθών ἐκρύβη· ἀλλά ἐκεῖνος μέν ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ τῇ τό πᾶν καί ὑπέρ τό πᾶν πληρούσῃ θεότητί ἐστιν ἐν ᾗ καί πρό τούτου ἦν, φειδόμενος δέ ἡμῶν, ἵνα μή ἄρδην ἀπολώμεθα, ἔθετο σκότος καλύπτον οὐκ ἐκεῖνον, ἀλλ΄ ἡμᾶς· "Ὁ Θεός γάρ ἡμῶν, φησί, πῦρ καταναλίσκον" οὐχί τούς δικαίους, ἀλλά τούς ἁμαρτωλούς.

Ἴδε οὖν· ἔμαθες ὡς ἐν παραδρομῇ τά τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν θεῖά τε καί φρικτά μυστήρια παρ᾿ ἡμῶν, μᾶλλον δέ παρά τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος δι᾿ ἡμῶν· ἔμαθες ὅτι καί κατῆλθεν ἐπί τῆς γῆς ὁ Θεός καί ἀνῆλθεν αὖθις εἰς οὐρανούς καί ἔθετο σκότος ἀποκρυβήν αὐτοῦ· οὐ γάρ ἔδει πρό τῆς κρίσεως μετά τῆς τοῦ Πατρός αὐτοῦ δόξης φανῆναι ἡμῖν, ἀλλά τότε τοῦτο γενέσθαι ὅτε καί τόν καιρόν ὁ Πατήρ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἔθετο ἐξουσίᾳ. Εἰ οὖν οὕτως ὑπάρχει τά μυστήρια κεκρυμμένα τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν καί οὐ πᾶσι δέδοται γινώσκειν αὐτά κατά τήν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνήν, τί, ἀφείς ἐργάζεσθαι τάς ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ, περί τῶν ἀποκεκρυμμένων πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐπερωτᾷς; Ἰδού γάρ καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ἀκούεις τοῦ Ἀποστόλου βοῶντος περί ἐκείνων αὐτῶν "ἅ ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδε καί οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε καί ἐπί καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη", τά ἀγαθά "ἅ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεός τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν". Πρό γάρ τοῦ ἀναληφθῆναι αὐτόν καί τό σκότος θεῖναι ἀποκρυβήν αὐτοῦ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν τάς ἁγίας αὐτοῦ ἐντολάς, ὡς ἄν εἴποι τις, ἐργαλεῖα ἡμῖν δεδωκώς, τήν δέ πίστιν τήν εἰς αὐτόν ὥσπερ τινά τεχνίτην, ὡς εἶναι ἡμᾶς μέν σκεύη, τήν δέ πίστιν τεχνίτην, τάς δέ ἐντολάς ἐργαλεῖα, δι᾿ ὧν ὁ τεχνίτης Λόγος (101) ἀναστοιχειοῖ καί νεουργεῖ τούς ἐργάτας τῶν αὐτοῦ ἐντολῶν, ὡς ἄν διά τῆς ἐργασίας αὐτῶν καθαιρόμενοι φωτιζώμεθα κατά προκοπήν ὑπό τοῦ Πνεύματος τήν γνῶσιν τῶν μυστηρίων τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν.

Καί καθάπερ τά ἐργαλεῖα δίχα τεχνίτου καί ὁ τεχνίτης δίχα ἐργαλείων ἐνεργεῖν τι οὐ δύναται, οὕτως οὐδέ ἡ πίστις δίχα τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐκπληρώσεως, οὐδέ ἡ ἐκπλήρωσις τῶν ἐντολῶν δίχα πίστεως ἀνανεοῖ καθόλου καί ἀναπλάττει ἡμᾶς ἤ ἀπό παλαιῶν καινούς ἡμᾶς ἀπεργάζεται. Ὁπηνίκα δέ τά ἀμφότερα ἐν ἀδιστάκτῳ καρδίᾳ κτησώμεθα καί εὔχρηστον σκεῦος τῷ ∆εσπότῃ εἰς ὑποδοχήν τοῦ νοητοῦ μύρου γενώμεθα, τηνικαῦτα καί ὁ θείς τό σκότος ἀποκρυβήν αὐτοῦ ἐγκαινίζει ἡμῖν τῇ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος δωρεᾷ καί καινούς ἀντί παλαιῶν καί ζῶντας ὡς ἀπό νεκρῶν ἐξανίστησι καί διατέμνει τό σκότος καί διαβιβάζει ἐκεῖθεν τούτου τόν ἡμέτερον νοῦν καί ὡς ἐξ ὀπῆς τινος παρακύπτειν αὐτόν καί βλέπειν χαρίζεται ἀμυδρῶς πως, ὅσον ἡλίου κύκλον ἤ σελήνης ἐστίν· ἔνθεν τοι καί διδάσκεται, ἤ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν γινώσκει καί μυεῖται, πληροφορούμενος ὅτι ὄντως ἄλλως οὐκ ἔνι ἐν μερικῇ μετοχῇ τῶν ἀπορρήτων γενέσθαι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθῶν, εἰ μή ἐν ταπεινώσει καρδίας καί πίστει ἀδιστάκτῳ ὁλοψύχου προθέσεως πάντα τόν κόσμον οὗτοι καί τά ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ σύν τοῖς θελήμασιν αὐτῶν ἀπαρνήσονται ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἐντολαῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ· καί οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλ᾿ ἐάν μή ἀνεπαισχύντως, μᾶλλον δέ ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει καρδίας καί χαρᾷ, τούς ὑπέρ ἀρετῆς πόνους ὁμοῦ καί πειρασμούς διελεύσονται οἱ πιστεύοντες εἰς Χριστόν καί μάλιστα οἱ νήπιοι βαπτισθέντες καί μή ἐπαισθανόμενοι ἔχειν "τήν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεάν".

Σύ οὖν, ὁ ταῦτα ἀναγνούς, μή ἐν οἰήσει τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως (102) καί ἀναπλάσει λογισμῶν ματαίων, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν φόβῳ καί τρόμῳ σεαυτόν ἀνάκρινον· καί εἰ βούλει μαθεῖν ὅπως ἔχεις βίου καί καταστάσεως, ἐρώτησόν σου τήν ψυχήν καί εἰπέ αὐτῇ· "Ψυχή, ἐφύλαξας τάς ἐντολάς τοῦ Θεοῦ πάσας ἤ οὔ;" Καί ἀνοίξασα τό τοῦ