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Why is it that when Luke says in the Acts concerning Paul that "he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost," he appears to have knelt, which is forbidden by the canons?

RESPONSE He does not speak of the Pentecost itself on which the Spirit descended, but because

the fifty days are called the day of Pentecost, Paul was hastening to be at Jerusalem on the first day after Pascha, as it is clear that he bent the knee during the fasts.

14Α_208 QUESTION 144 Why does the apostle Paul call himself a Roman and to the

tribune, when speaking, said, "but I was even born so"? RESPONSE Those throughout every country, considering it to be something indeed great to be called Romans,

by giving payments were registered as Romans, and the name ran in the family; since, therefore, the parents of the apostle, being in Tarsus, were also registered to be called Romans, reasonably the apostle, as having been born of them, says, "but I was even born so".

QUESTION 145 From Amos the prophet: "and two or three cities shall be gathered into

one city to drink water and shall not be filled." What do the cities signify? RESPONSE Here "cities" must be understood as souls, because of being composed as if of houses and

being receptive of the virtues; "two cities" are the souls organized through practice and contemplation; and "three" are those that achieve theology through unhesitating faith. Since, therefore, the prophet set this forth in the form of a curse, it signifies that when a famine occurs, not of bread and water, but "a famine of hearing the word of the Lord," even if such souls should reach the measure of the aforementioned virtues, but they become neglectful, they seem to seek knowledge, but because they do not pursue the practice, they fail; and even if they seem to be gathered into one city, that is, to the teacher, they are not filled with knowledge; for not even to him 14Α_210 is the grace of teaching given, of being able to give the needy divine knowledge to drink.

QUESTION 146 From the same: "The city from which a thousand went forth, a hundred shall be left,

and that from which a hundred went forth, ten shall be left." RESPONSE Since every number is contained in four decades, for example, the first from

the unit is the decade, then again this is the unit of the hundred, then the hundred is the unit of the thousand, again the thousand is the unit of the myriad. Since, therefore, the number of virtue is also multiplied by progression and receives addition, I think this is signified by the numbers, that one who has so perfectly kept the ten commandments that each commandment is contained in the others, this one, having multiplied them tenfold, came to the hundred and, like Sarra, received the addition of the "r". But whoever also achieved the knowledge upon these things, by multiplying the hundred tenfold came to the thousand. But since this too was spoken by the prophet in the form of a curse, this signifies that through negligence he who has come to the measure of the thousand according to virtue is lowered and comes to the hundred; likewise also he who from the hundred according to practice comes to only the observance of the commandments according to character, or even performs them in a Jewish manner.

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Τί δήποτε λέγοντος τοῦ Λουκᾶ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν περὶ τοῦ Παύλου ὅτι «ἔσπευδεν, εἰ δυνατὸν ἦν αὐτῷ, ποιῆσαι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα», φαίνεται γονυκλισίαν ποιήσας, ὃ τοῖς κανόσιν ἀπηγόρευται;

ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Οὐ περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς ἐν ᾗ τὸ Πνεῦμα κατῆλθεν λέγει, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ

αἱ πεντήκοντα ἡμέραι ἡμέρα λέγεται τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς, ἔσπευδεν ὁ Παῦλος τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς πασχαλίας πρώτην ἡμέραν ποιῆσαι εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, ὡς δῆλόν ἐστιν ὅτι ἐν ταῖς νηστείαις ἔκλινεν γόνυ.

14Α_208 ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 144 Τί δήποτε ὁ ἀπόστολος Παῦλος Ῥωμαῖον ἑαυτὸν ἀποκαλεῖ καὶ πρὸς τὸν

χιλίαρχον διαλεγόμενος ἔφη ὅτι "ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ γεγέννημαι"; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Οἱ κατὰ πᾶσαν χώραν, ὡς δή τι μέγα τὸ Ῥωμαῖοι καλεῖσθαι νομίζοντες,

παρέχοντες δόσεις ἀπεγράφοντο Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ ἔτρεχεν εἰς τὸ γένος τὸ ὄνομα· ἐπειδὴ οὖν καὶ οἱ γονεῖς τοῦ ἀποστόλου ὄντες ἐν Ταρσῷ ἀπεγράφησαν εἰς τὸ καλεῖσθαι Ῥωμαῖοι, εἰκότως ὁ ἀπόστολος ὡς ἐξ αὐτῶν γεννηθεὶς λέγει ὅτι "ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ γεγέννημαι".

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 145 Ἐκ τοῦ Ἀμὼς τοῦ προφήτου· «καὶ συναθροισθήσονται πόλεις δύο ἢ τρεῖς εἰς

μίαν πόλιν τοῦ πιεῖν ὕδωρ καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῶσιν». Τί δηλοῦσιν αἱ πόλεις; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Πόλεις ἐνταῦθα τὰς ψυχὰς ὑποληπτέον διὰ τὸ ὥσπερ οἰκίαις συγκεῖσθαι καὶ

δεκτικὰς εἶναι τῶν ἀρετῶν· δύο δὲ πόλεις τὰς διὰ πράξεως καὶ θεωρίας πεπολισμένας ψυχάς· τρεῖς δὲ τὰς διὰ τῆς ἀνενδυάστου πίστεως τὴν θεολογίαν κατορθούσας. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ προφήτης ἐν εἴδει κατάρας τοῦτο ἔθηκεν, σημαίνει ὅτι ἡνίκα γένηται λιμός, οὐκ ἄρτου καὶ ὕδατος ἀλλὰ «λιμὸς τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λόγον Κυρίου», κἂν εἰς τὸ μέτρον φθάσωσιν τῶν εἰρημένων ἀρετῶν αἱ τοιαῦται ψυχαί, ἀμελήσωσιν δέ, δοκοῦσιν μὲν ζητεῖν γνῶσιν, ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὴν πρᾶξιν οὐ μετέρχονται, ἀποτυγχάνουσιν· κἂν εἰ συνάγεσθαι δοκοῦσιν εἰς μίαν πόλιν, τουτέστιν εἰς τὸν διδάσκαλον, οὐκ ἐμπιπλῶνται γνώσεως· οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτῷ 14Α_210 δίδοται τῆς διδασκαλίας ἡ χάρις, τοῦ δύνασθαι ποτίσαι τοὺς ἐνδεεῖς τὴν θείαν γνῶσιν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 146 Ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ· «πόλις ἐξ ἧς ἐξεπορεύοντο χίλιοι, ὑπολειφθήσονται ἑκατόν,

καὶ ἐξ ἧς ἐξεπορεύοντο ἑκατόν, ὑπολειφθήσονται δέκα». ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Ἐπειδὴ ὁ πᾶς ἀριθμὸς εἰς τέσσαρας δεκάδας ἐμπεριέχεται οἷον, ἡ πρώτη ἀπὸ

τῆς μονάδος δεκάς, εἶτα πάλιν αὐτὴ τῆς ἑκατοντάδος ἐστὶν μονάς, εἶτα ἑκατοντὰς μονάς ἐστιν τῆς χιλιάδος, πάλιν ἡ χιλιὰς μονάς ἐστιν τῆς μυριάδος ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ ὁ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀριθμὸς κατὰ πρόσβασιν πληθύνεται καὶ τὴν προσθήκην λαμβάνει, τοῦτο οἶμαι δηλοῦσθαι διὰ τῶν ἀριθμῶν, ὅτι τὰς δέκα ἐντολὰς οὕτως κατορθώσας ὥστε ἑκάστην ἐντολὴν ἐμπεριέχεσθαι ταῖς λοιπαῖς, οὗτος δεκαπλασιάσας ταύτας ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν ἑκατοντάδα καὶ κατὰ τὴν Σάρραν τὸ «ρ» προσθήκην ἐδέξατο. Ὅστις δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις γνῶσιν κατώρθωσεν δεκαπλασιάσας τὰ ἑκατὸν ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν χιλιάδα. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τῷ προφήτῃ ἐν εἴδει κατάρας εἴρηται, τοῦτο δηλοῖ ὅτι διὰ τῆς ἀμελείας ὁ εἰς τὸ μέτρον τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν χιλιάδος ἐλθὼν ὑφίεται καὶ εἰς τὴν ἑκατοντάδα ἔρχεται· ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν ἑκατοντάδος εἰς μόνην τὴν κατὰ τὸ ἦθος τῶν ἐντολῶν παρατήρησιν ἔρχεται ἢ καὶ Ἰουδαϊκῶς ταύτας ἐπιτελεῖ.