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servants, and of the one who enlightens to the one who is enlightened. Nevertheless, he has imparted his own names to his servants, and being called light, he called the saints light; "For you," he says, "are the light of the world." And being named the sun of righteousness, he says of his servants: "Then the righteous will shine like the sun." Therefore, in quality, not in quantity, the bodies of the saints will be conformed to the master's body. Behold, we have shown you plainly what you asked of us. But if it seems good to you, let us examine this in another way. {ERAN.} One must, according to the proverb, move every stone, in order to find the truth, and not least when divine doctrines are under consideration. {ORTH.} Tell me then, the mystical symbols offered to the Lord God by the priests, of what are they symbols? {ERAN.} Of the Lord's body and blood. {ORTH.} Of the body which exists, or of that which does not exist? {ERAN.} Of that which exists. {ORTH.} Excellent. For the archetype of the image must exist. For painters too imitate nature, and paint the images of things seen. {ERAN.} True. {ORTH.} If, then, the divine mysteries are antitypes of the real body, then the Lord's body is a body even now, a divine and lordly body, however, not changed into the nature of divinity, but filled with divine glory. {ERAN.} You have opportunely raised the discussion about the divine mysteries; for from this I will show you the change of the Lord's body into another nature. Answer, therefore, my questions. {ORTH.} I will answer. {ERAN.} What do you call the gift that is offered before the priestly invocation? {ORTH.} One must not speak plainly; for it is likely that some of the uninitiated are present. {ERAN.} Let the answer be enigmatic. 152 {ORTH.} Food from such and such seeds. {ERAN.} And what do we call the other symbol? {ORTH.} This too is a common name, signifying a type of drink. {ERAN.} But after the sanctification, what do you call these things? {ORTH.} The body and blood of Christ. {ERAN.} And you believe that you partake of the body and blood of Christ? {ORTH.} So I believe. {ERAN.} Just as, therefore, the symbols of the Lord's body and blood are one thing before the priestly invocation, but after the invocation they are changed and become other things, so the Lord's body after the ascension was changed into the divine substance. {ORTH.} You are caught in the nets you have woven. For not even after the consecration do the mystical symbols depart from their own nature; for they remain in their former substance, and shape, and form, and are visible and tangible, just as they were before; but they are understood to be what they have become, and are believed and adored, as being those things which are believed. Compare, therefore, the image with the archetype, and you will see the likeness. For the type must be like the truth. For that body has its former form, and shape, and outline, and, in a word, the substance of the body; but after the resurrection it has become immortal, and superior to corruption, and has been deemed worthy of the seat at the right hand, and is worshipped by all creation, as being the body of the Lord of nature. {ERAN.} And yet the mystical symbol changes its former name; for it is no longer called what it was formerly called, but is addressed as "body." Therefore, the truth itself should also be called God, and not body. {ORTH.} You seem to me to be ignorant. For it is called not only body, but also bread of life. So the Lord himself also named it, and we ourselves call the body itself a divine body, and life-giving, and of the Master, and of the Lord, teaching that it is not of some common man, but 153 of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God and man, both eternal and recent. "For Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." {ERAN.} You have gone through many arguments concerning this; but I follow the saints who long ago shone in the churches. Show, therefore, those after the union

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δούλους, καὶ τοῦ φωτίζοντος πρὸς τὸ φωτιζόμενον. Μεταδέδωκε δὲ ὅμως τῶν οἰκείων ὀνομάτων τοῖς δούλοις, καὶ φῶς καλούμενος, φῶς τοὺς ἁγίους ἐκάλεσεν· "̔Υμεῖς, γάρ φησιν, ἐστὲ τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου." Καὶ ἥλιος δικαιοσύ νης ὀνομαζόμενος, περὶ τῶν δούλων φησί· "Τότε ἐκλάμψουσιν οἱ δίκαιοι ὡς ὁ ἥλιος." Κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν τοίνυν, οὐ κατὰ τὸ ποσόν, σύμ μορφα ἔσται τῷ δεσποτικῷ σώματι τῶν ἁγίων τὰ σώματα. Ἰδού σοι διαρρήδην ἐδείξαμεν ὅπερ ἡμᾶς ἐζήτησας. Εἰ δέ σοι δοκεῖ, καὶ ἑτέρως τοῦτο σκοπήσωμεν. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Πάντα δεῖ λίθον, κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν, κινεῖν, ὥστε τὸ ἀληθὲς ἐξευρεῖν, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ θείων προκειμένων δογμάτων. {ΟΡΘ.} Εἰπὲ τοίνυν, τὰ μυστικὰ σύμβολα παρὰ τῶν ἱερωμένων τῷ δεσπότῃ θεῷ προσφερόμενα, τίνων ἐστὶ σύμβολα; {ΕΡΑΝ.} Τοῦ δεσποτικοῦ σώματός τε καὶ αἵματος. {ΟΡΘ.} Τοῦ ὄντος σώματος ἢ τοῦ οὐκ ὄντος; {ΕΡΑΝ.} Τοῦ ὄντος. {ΟΡΘ.} Ἄριστα. Χρὴ γὰρ εἶναι τὸ τῆς εἰκόνος ἀρχέτυπον. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ ζωγράφοι τὴν φύσιν μιμοῦνται, καὶ τῶν ὁρωμένων γράφουσι τὰς εἰκόνας. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Ἀληθές. {ΟΡΘ.} Εἰ τοίνυν τοῦ ὄντος σώματος ἀντίτυπά ἐστι τὰ θεῖα μυστή ρια, σῶμα ἄρα ἐστὶ καὶ νῦν τοῦ δεσπότου τὸ σῶμα, θεῖον μέντοι καὶ δεσποτικὸν σῶμα, οὐκ εἰς θεότητος φύσιν μεταβληθέν, ἀλλὰ θείας δόξης ἀναπλησθέν. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Εἰς καιρὸν τὸν περὶ τῶν θείων μυστηρίων ἐκίνησας λόγον· ἐντεῦθέν σοι γὰρ δείξω τοῦ δεσποτικοῦ σώματος τὴν εἰς ἑτέραν φύσιν μεταβολήν. Ἀπόκριναι τοίνυν πρὸς τὰς ἐμὰς ἐρωτήσεις. {ΟΡΘ.} Ἀποκρινοῦμαι. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Τί καλεῖς τὸ προσφερόμενον δῶρον πρὸ τῆς ἱερατικῆς ἐπικλήσεως; {ΟΡΘ.} Οὐ χρὴ σαφῶς εἰπεῖν· εἰκὸς γάρ τινας ἀμυήτους παρεῖναι. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Αἰνιγματώδης ἡ ἀπόκρισις ἔστω. 152 {ΟΡΘ.} Τὴν ἐκ τοιῶνδε σπερμάτων τροφήν. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Τὸ δὲ ἕτερον σύμβολον πῶς ὀνομάζομεν; {ΟΡΘ.} Κοινὸν καὶ τοῦτο ὄνομα, πόματος εἶδος σημαῖνον. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Μετὰ δέ γε τὸν ἁγιασμὸν πῶς ταῦτα προσαγορεύεις; {ΟΡΘ.} Σῶμα καὶ αἷμα Χριστοῦ. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Καὶ πιστεύεις γε σώματος Χριστοῦ μεταλαμβάνειν καὶ αἵματος; {ΟΡΘ.} Οὕτω πιστεύω. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Ὥσπερ τοίνυν τὰ σύμβολα τοῦ δεσποτικοῦ σώματός τε καὶ αἵματος ἄλλα μέν εἰσι πρὸ τῆς ἱερατικῆς ἐπικλήσεως, μετὰ δέ γε τὴν ἐπίκλησιν μεταβάλλεται καὶ ἕτερα γίνεται, οὕτω τὸ δεσποτικὸν σῶμα μετὰ τὴν ἀνάληψιν εἰς τὴν θείαν μετεβλήθη οὐσίαν. {ΟΡΘ.} Ἑάλως αἷς ὕφηνας ἄρκυσιν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ μετὰ τὸν ἁγιασμὸν τὰ μυστικὰ σύμβολα τῆς οἰκείας ἐξίσταται φύσεως· μένει γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς προτέρας οὐσίας, καὶ τοῦ σχήματος καὶ τοῦ εἴδους, καὶ ὁρατά ἐστι, καὶ ἁπτά, οἷα καὶ πρότερον ἦν· νοεῖται δὲ ἅπερ ἐγένετο, καὶ πιστεύ εται καὶ προσκυνεῖται, ὡς ἐκεῖνα ὄντα ἅπερ πιστεύεται. Παράθες τοίνυν τῷ ἀρχετύπῳ τὴν εἰκόνα, καὶ ὄψει τὴν ὁμοιότητα. Χρὴ γὰρ ἐοικέναι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ τὸν τύπον. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο τὸ σῶμα τὸ μὲν πρό τερον εἶδος ἔχει, καὶ σχῆμα καὶ περιγραφήν, καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς, τὴν τοῦ σώματος οὐσίαν· ἀθάνατον δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν γέγονε, καὶ κρεῖτ τον φθορᾶς, καὶ τῆς ἐκ δεξιῶν ἠξιώθη καθέδρας, καὶ παρὰ πάσης προσκυνεῖται τῆς κτίσεως, ἅτε δὴ σῶμα χρηματίζον τοῦ δεσπότου τῆς φύσεως. {ΕΡΑΝ.} Καὶ μὴν τὸ μυστικὸν σύμβολον τὴν προτέραν ἀμείβει προσ ηγορίαν· οὐκέτι γὰρ ὀνομάζεται ὅπερ πρότερον ἐκαλεῖτο, ἀλλὰ σῶμα προσαγορεύεται. Χρὴ τοίνυν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν θεόν, ἀλλὰ μὴ σῶμα καλεῖσθαι. {ΟΡΘ.} Ἀγνοεῖν μοι δοκεῖς. Οὐ γὰρ σῶμα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄρτος ζωῆς ὀνομάζεται. Οὕτως αὐτὸ καὶ ὁ κύριος προσηγόρευσε, καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ σῶμα θεῖον ὀνομάζομεν σῶμα, καὶ ζωοποιὸν καὶ δεσποτικὸν καὶ κυριακόν, διδάσκοντες ὡς οὐ κοινοῦ τινός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπου, ἀλλὰ 153 τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὃς θεός ἐστι καὶ ἄνθρωπος, αἰώνιός τε καὶ πρόσφατος. "Ἰησοῦς γὰρ Χριστὸς χθὲς καὶ σήμερον, ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας." {ΕΡΑΝ.} Πολλοὺς μὲν περὶ τούτου διεξελήλυθας λόγους· ἐγὼ δὲ τοῖς ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις πάλαι διαλάμψασιν ἁγίοις ἀκολουθῶ. ∆εῖξον τοίνυν ἐκείνους μετὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν