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then his work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward; but if any man's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

RESPONSE The foundation is the faith of Christ. And one builds upon it as gold

the theological mystagogy, as silver a transparent life, as precious stones pious thoughts, as wood attachment to sensible things, as grass he who is nourished by irrationality, as stubble he who works corruption. And in the case of those who have good works, the day of knowledge reveals that in fire, that is, in the Spirit, the revelation of these things has taken place. But in the case of sinners, their works are burned up, with discernment justifying the conscience and diminishing sins through repentance and saving the person, but causing the loss of the idleness of the virtues from the previous time. But also in the age to come, the works of sin 14Α_226 pass into non-existence, with nature receiving back its own powers unharmed through the fire of judgment.

QUESTION 160 What is it that David sings, saying "give your strength to your servant, and

save the son of your handmaid"? RESPONSE Since we are by nature slaves of God, and of his handmaid,

wisdom, we are sons, he prays first that strength be given to us, that is, dominion over the passions, and then through this, salvation comes to us.

QUESTION 161 Since it is written in Kings that God "incited David"

to number the people, but in Chronicles it says the devil, how then will the divine Scripture be shown to be in harmony with itself?

RESPONSE Since the Apostle calls the devil the god of this age, according to

this, the passage of Kings must be understood. Or also otherwise: since nothing happens without the providence of God, but all things happen either by good pleasure, or by economy, or by permission, it is pious to understand what is written in Kings that God incited as meaning "he permitted," but in Chronicles, the devil as the one who was active and became the cause. And seventy thousand fall, either those 14Α_228 found with Absalom or those having the passion of conceit and arrogance. But according to contemplation, this signifies that every David, who has begotten a thought not by disposition but by a seizure of pride, repents and asks God, and the thoughts concerning temporal and transient things die; for the number seventy signifies temporal movement through the weekly cycle. For because of this, it is better to beg off from being pursued by enemy demons and from a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.

QUESTION 162 What does the paralytic signify who was let down through the roof by four men, and if

it is possible according to the story for the house to have been unroofed? RESPONSE According to the story, the house was certainly unroofed, since those of the places

who have become eyewitnesses of those things say that the roofs of the houses are made of a very light pumice stone, so that one wanting to unroof it can do this easily and quickly. But according to the anagogical method, a paralytic is every mind that is sick with sins and is not able, through natural contemplation—for this is the door—to see

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οὖν τὸ ἔργον μενεῖ ὃ ἐποικοδόμησεν, μισθὸν λήψεται· εἴ τινος δὲ τὸ ἔργον κατακαήσεται, ζημιωθήσεται, αὐτὸς δὲ σωθήσεται, οὕτως δὲ ὡς διὰ πυρός».

ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Θεμέλιός ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πίστις. Ἐποικοδομεῖ δέ τις ἐν αὐτῇ ὡς χρυσὸν

μὲν τὴν θεολογικὴν μυσταγωγίαν, ὡς ἄργυρον δὲ τὸν διαφανῆ βίον, λίθους δὲ τιμίους τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς λογισμούς, ξύλα δὲ τὴν περὶ τὰ αἰσθητὰ προσπάθειαν, χόρτον δὲ ὁ τὴν ἀλογίαν τρεφόμενος, καλάμην δὲ ὁ τὴν φθορὰν ἐργαζόμενος. Καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ἐχόντων τὰς ἀγαθὰς πράξεις ἡ τῆς γνώσεως ἡμέρα δηλοῖ ὅτι ἐν πυρί, τουτέστιν ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι, γέγονεν ἡ τούτων ἀποκάλυψις. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν τὰ ἔργα κατακαίονται, τῆς διαγνώσεως δικαιούσης τὴν συνείδησιν καὶ μειούσης τὰς ἁμαρτίας διὰ τῆς μετανοίας καὶ σῳζούσης τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ζημιούσης δὲ τοῦ προλαβόντος χρόνου τὴν ἀργίαν τῶν ἀρετῶν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι τὰ ἔργα τῆς ἁμαρτίας 14Α_226 εἰς ἀνυπαρξίαν χωροῦσιν, τῆς φύσεως τὰς ἰδίας δυνάμεις σώας ἀπολαμβανούσης διὰ τοῦ πυρὸς τῆς κρίσεως.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 160 Τί ἐστιν ὅπερ ὁ ∆αβὶδ ψάλλει λέγων "δὸς τὸ κράτος σου τῷ παιδί σου, καὶ

σῶσον τὸν υἱὸν τῆς παιδίσκης σου"; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Ἐπειδὴ κατὰ φύσιν δοῦλοί ἐσμεν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῆς δὲ παιδίσκης αὐτοῦ τῆς

σοφίας υἱοί, δοθῆναι ἡμῖν εὔχεται πρῶτον τὸ κράτος, τουτέστιν τὴν κατὰ τῶν παθῶν δυναστείαν, καὶ τότε διὰ τοῦτο ἡ σωτηρία ἡμῖν περιγίνεται.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 161 Ἐπειδὴ ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις γέγραπται ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς «ἐπέσεισεν τὸν ∆αβὶδ»

ἀριθμῆσαι τὸν λαόν, ἐν δὲ ταῖς Παραλειπομέναις τὸν διάβολον λέγει, πῶς οὖν δειχθήσεται ἡ θεία Γραφὴ ἑαυτῇ συμφωνοῦσα;

ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Ἐπειδὴ ὁ Ἀπόστολος Θεὸν τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου λέγει τὸν διάβολον, κατὰ

τοῦτο ἐκλημπτέον τὸ τῶν Βασιλειῶν. Ἢ καὶ ἄλλως· ἐπειδὴ χωρὶς τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ προνοίας οὐδὲν γίνεται, ἀλλ᾽ εἴτε κατὰ εὐδοκίαν, εἴτε κατ᾽ οἰκονομίαν, εἴτε κατὰ συγχώρησιν τὰ πάντα γίνονται, τὸ ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις γεγραμμένον ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἐπέσεισεν ἀντὶ τοῦ "παρεχώρησεν" νοεῖν ἐστιν εὐσεβές, ἐν δὲ ταῖς Παραλειπομέναις τὸν διάβολον τὸν ἐνεργήσαντα καὶ αἴτιον γενόμενον. Ἑβδομήκοντα δὲ χιλιάδες πίπτουσιν ἢ οἱ 14Α_228 εὑρεθέντες μετὰ Ἀβεσαλὼμ ἢ οἱ τὸ πάθος ἔχοντες τῆς οἰήσεως καὶ ὑπερηφανίας. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν θεωρίαν, τοῦτο σημαίνει ὅτι πᾶς ∆αυΐδ, ὁ μὴ κατὰ διάθεσιν ἀλλὰ συναρπαγὴν ἐπάρσεως ἀπογεννήσας λογισμόν, μεταγνοὺς αἰτεῖται τὸν Θεόν, καὶ θνῄσκουσιν οἱ περὶ τὰ χρονικὰ καὶ πρόσκαιρα λογισμοί· ὁ γὰρ ἑβδομηκοστὸς ἀριθμὸς τὴν χρονικὴν κίνησιν σημαίνει διὰ τὸν ἑβδοματικὸν κύκλον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γὰρ παραιτήσασθαι ἄμεινον τοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν δαιμόνων διώκεσθαι καὶ λιμὸν τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λόγον Κυρίου.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 162 Τί σημαίνει ὁ παραλυτικὸς ὁ διὰ τῆς στέγης ὑπὸ τεσσάρων χαλώμενος καὶ εἰ

δυνατὸν κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀποστεγασθῆναι τὸν οἶκον; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Κατὰ μὲν τὴν ἱστορίαν πάντως ἀπεστεγάσθη ὁ οἶκος, ἐπειδὴ οἱ τῶν τόπων

ἐκείνων αὐτόπται γενόμενοί φασιν τὰς στέγας τῶν οἴκων ἀπὸ λίθου κισηρήτου εἶναι ἐλαφροτάτου, ὥστε τὸν ἀποστεγάσαι βουλόμενον εὐκόλως καὶ συντόμως δύνασθαι τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν τῆς ἀναγωγῆς τρόπον, παραλυτικός ἐστιν πᾶς νοῦς ἐν ἁμαρτίαις νοσῶν καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος διὰ τῆς φυσικῆς θεωρίας αὕτη γὰρ ἡ θύρα ἰδεῖν