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mindset and of monks those who had not had experience of the quiet life. The report began to be spread to all that an abominable mindset was being advocated by the hesychasts; for he also attached to them a most vile name, calling them "navel-souled," and having named the heresy which he himself spoke of "navel-soulness"; but naming none of them whom he condemned, and saying that he had encountered the better ones among our people, he thus clearly made all of them liable to the accusations.

Therefore I myself also sought these writings from him. But he made such an effort that these things should not come to the sight of any of our people, that he would not give them even to those who had spoken with us a short time before and had seen us once, without first making them swear an oath to show them to none of those who embraced the quiet life. But wandering thus in darkness and fleeing the light of free speech, they nevertheless did not finally escape my hands. Having therefore myself received them, I went through some things and saw that there was not a single sound word, but everything was falsehood and terrible slander. For he said that he had been taught by those whom he was accusing that all of the divine Scripture was completely useless to all, and that the knowledge of existing things was wicked, and that the (p. 264) essence of God can be contemplated by the senses and that certain other sensible observances and activities and practices lead to this contemplation. And having called all these things "navel-soulness," I know not how, and having refuted them as demonic, as he himself thought, and having established himself as the only safe teacher, from there he went on to speak about noetic prayer and holy light, and he set forth ascents and measures of contemplations and knowledges, and he testified that the greatest part of the perfection in them came to him from secular learning and his diligence in it, it being a gift of God, just like those given to the prophets and apostles.

Thus were his writings, and he was devising and contriving things not a little worse than these, until, learning of our refutations against him, he became so cowardly that he professed in church to lock up these writings and, as causes of scandal, to abandon and completely destroy them. But when because of these words he was released from a just condemnation, and he came across some of our books refuting such things and understood the inescapable nature of the refutations, not bearing the shame, sitting down again, he erases some of his own writings, and changes others, and he completely wipes out the name "navel-soulness," a name that had merely been refuted, deprived of substance and able to be said of no underlying subject, just like the goat-stag and the horse-man and whatever things are of mere imagination. And what he previously declared to be demonic, he now calls natural, I do not know how this is either. Of those of my writings which he encountered, some he omits as if he had not even seen them, not even daring to look at them, and there are some which, having slanderously altered them, he then proceeds against them, and while doing this, he himself laments as if he is being slandered. (p. 266) And he entrusts these things not even to all his friendly companions, but to a very few of his closest associates, one of whom, having come to me, thought it right to convey these things, having discovered the deceit for himself and having besought me to use myself and my words, opposing myself in turn to each of the strongholds of falsehood and rendering the light of truth unobscured by bastard teachings, as far as I might be able. Therefore, judging that I must obey the good request and make myself once again an advocate for the truth according to my ability, I shall begin now also from his discourse On Words, just as before.

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φρόνημα καί μοναχῶν τούς μή πεῖραν ἐσχηκότας ἡσυχίου διαγωγῆς. Ἤρξατο δή διαδίδοσθαι πᾶσιν ὁ λόγος ὡς ἀποτροπαίου φρονήματος ὑπό τῶν ἡσυχαζόντων πρεσβευομένου˙ καί ὄνομα γάρ αὐτοῖς περιέθηκε τῶν φαυλοτάτων, «ὀμφαλοψύχους» προσαγορεύσας, καί τήν ἥν αὐτός ἔλεγεν αἵρεσιν «ὀμφαλοψυχίαν» προσειρηκώς˙ ὀνομαστί δέ μηδένα προβαλλόμενος τῶν παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ κατεγνωσμένων ἐκείνων, τοῖς κρείττοσί τε τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐντετυχηκέναι λέγων, πάντας οὕτω σαφῶς ἐποιεῖτο τοῖς ἐγκλήμασιν ὑπευθύνους.

Ἐζήτουν τοίνυν καί αὐτός παρ᾿ ἐκείνου ταυτί τά γράμματα. ∆ιά τοσαύτης δ᾿ ἐκεῖνος ἐποιεῖτο σπουδῆς μηδενί ταῦτα τῶν καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς εἰς ὄψιν ἐλθεῖν, ὡς καί τοῖς πρό ὀλίγου ὡμιληκόσιν ἡμῖν καί ἅπαξ ποτέ τεθεαμένοις ἡμᾶς οὐ παρεῖχε, μή πρότερον ἐξορκίσας μηδενί δεῖξαι τῶν τήν ἡσυχίαν ἀσπαζομένων. Πλανώμενα δ᾿ οὕτως ἐν σκότει καί τό φῶς φεύγοντα τῆς παρρησίας τάς ἐμάς ὅμως χεῖρας εἰς τέλος οὐ διαπέφευγε. Λαβών οὖν καί αὐτός ἔστιν ἅ διῆλθον καί εἶδον ὡς ἔπος οὐδέν ὑγιές, ἀλλά πάντα ψεῦδος καί συκοφαντίαν δεινήν. Ἔλεγε γάρ ὡς ἐδιδάχθη παρ᾿ ἐκείνων ὧν κατηγόρει, τήν μέν θείαν πᾶσαν Γραφήν ἀνωφελῆ πᾶσι παντάπασιν εἶναι, πονηράν δέ τήν τῶν ὄντων γνῶσιν, τήν τε τοῦ (σελ. 264) τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐσίαν αἰσθητῶς εἶναι θεωρητήν καί πρός ταύτην ἄγειν τήν θεωρίαν ἕτερά τινα αἰσθητά τηρήματά τε καί ἐνεργήματα καί ἐπιτηδεύματα. Ταῦτα δέ ἅπαντα ὀμφαλοψυχίαν οὐκ οἶδ᾿ ὅπως καλέσας καί δαιμονιώδη ἀπελέγξας, ὡς αὐτός ᾤετο, καί καταστήσας ἑαυτόν μόνον ἀσφαλῆ διδάσκαλον, τοὐντεῦθεν περί προσευχῆς νοερᾶς καί φωτός ἱεροῦ διεξῄει, καί ἀναβάσεις καί μέτρα προετίθει θεωρημάτων καί γνώσεων, καί τό πλεῖστον τῆς ἐν αὐταῖς τελειότητος ἐμαρτυρεῖτο οἱ προσγίνεσθαι παρά τῆς ἔξω παιδείας καί τῆς περί ταύτην σπουδῆς, δῶρον οὖσαν Θεοῦ, τῶν προφήταις καί ἀποστόλοις δεδομένων ὁμοίως.

Εἶχε μέν οὕτω τά τῶν συγγραμμάτων αὐτῷ, καί τούτων οὐ μικρῷ χείρω διενοεῖτο καί συνεσκεύαζε, μέχρις οὗ πυθόμενος τάς ἡμετέρας πρός αὐτόν ἀντιρρήσεις ἐπί τοσοῦτον ἀπεδειλίασεν, ὡς τά γράμματα οἱ ταῦτα συγκλεῖσαι σκόπει καί ὡς σκανδάλων αἴτια καταλιπεῖν τε καί ἀφανίσαι παντάπασιν ἐπ᾿ ἐκκλησίας ὁμολογῆσαι. ˙Ως δέ διά τούς λόγους τούτους ἀφείθη καταδίκης δικαίας, ἐνέτυχε δέ καί τισι τῶν ἀντιλεγόντων ἡμετέρων βιβλίων πρός τά τοιαῦτα καί τό ἄφυκτον κατενόησε τῶν ἐλέγχων, τήν αἰσχύνην οὐ φέρων, καθίσας αὖθις, τά μέν ἀπαλείφει τῶν οἰκείων γραμμάτων, τά δέ ἀμείβει, καί τό μέν τῆς ὀμφαλοψυχίας ὄνομα ἐξαλείφει παντάπασιν, ὄνομα μόνον ἐξεληλεγμένον, πράγματος ἐστερημένον καί κατά μηδενός ὑποκειμένου λέγεσθαι δυνάμενον, ὥσπερ ὁ τραγέλαφος καί ἱππάνθρωπος καί ὅσα τῆς ψιλῆς ἐπινοίας ἐστίν. Ἅ δέ δαιμονιώδη πρότερον ἀπεφαίνετο, φυσικά προσαγορεύει νῦν, οὐκ οἶδα καί τοῦτο πῶς. Οἷς δ᾿ ἐνέτυχε τῶν ἐμῶν, τά μέν ὡς μηδ᾿ ἰδών παραλείπει, μηδ᾿ ἀντιβλέψαι πρός ἐκεῖνα τολμῶν, ἔστι δ᾿ ἅ συκοφαντικῶς ἀμείψας, ἔπειτα κατ᾿ ἐκείνων χωρεῖ, καί τοῦθ᾿ οὕτω πράττων, αὐτός ὡς συκοφαντούμενος ἀποδύρεται. (σελ. 266) Πιστεύει δέ ταῦτα οὐδέ τοῖς φίλοις ἑταίροις ἑαυτοῦ πᾶσιν, ἀλλ᾿ ὀλίγοις πάνυ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων, ὧν εἷς ὡς ἐμέ, διακομίσαι ταῦτα δίκαιον ἔγνω, παρ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ τήν ἀπάτην φωράσας κἀμέ ἱκετεύσας ἐμαυτῷ καί τοῖς λόγοις χρήσασθαι, πρός ἕκαστον ἐν μέρει τῶν ὀχυρωμάτων τοῦ ψεύδους ἀντικαθισταμένῳ καί τό τῆς ἀληθείας φέγγος νόθοις διδασκαλίαις ἀνεπισκόπητον, ἐφ᾿ ὅσον ἄρα δυναίμην, κατασκευάζοντι. ∆εῖν οὖν κρίνας ὑπακοῦσαι τῇ καλῇ ἀξιώσει καί συνήγορον ἐμαυτόν αὖθις τῆς ἀληθείας ποιῆσαι πρός δύναμιν, ἄρξομαι καί νῦν ἀπό τοῦ Περί λόγων ἐκείνῳ λόγου, καθάπερ καί πρότερον.