54

as much as swine, which are always accustomed to incline toward the earth, to know the well-ordered position of the stars. But the one who seeks the divine will and has understood this for each of existing things, for what reason it was brought forth by the creator of all things, and who uses them according to this divine will, this is the one who knows the causal principles of existing things, this is the one who has the knowledge of existing things, this is the true philosopher and perfect man, according to the Solomonic verse, "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole man." This one indeed has indisputable wisdom - for his life bears witness to his understanding -, who does not admit of contradiction and has the testimony of his conscience in himself, and in addition to this also the decree from above through the mystical visitation and manifestation of the Spirit.

But the one who has gathered his understanding from external wisdom, if he has partaken of anything true at all, by offering proofs by reason alone against reason, which, as reason, is always wrestling, has become a judge of an uncertain (σελ. 276) wisdom, at times not even agreeing with himself, but rather being proud and ambitious if he could persuade by arguing for opposite sides concerning the same matter; thus he both has and provides an unstable and changeable opinion, rendering useless the discursive and divisible aspect of the soul's understanding, so that such a person would not even be precisely rational, how much less intellectual. What device is there, then, for one who proceeds from such a way of thinking to contemplate the immaterial archetypes of the divine symbols in the church of Christ, as this noble champion of the Greek disciplines explains? But the philosopher who seeks the will of God and does it, having a word in action and a rational deed, demonstrates through the things themselves the unerring nature of the discursiveness of his own thoughts and, being already perfectly rational, is able to be led up from the divisible sacred symbols to the unitive nature of the archetypes, perfecting intellectually in himself the things set before him and being mystically perfected himself through them; who at times also attains the super-perfect vision and ascent through spiritual prayer.

Could anyone still say that the knowledge of existing things which God gave directly to prophets and apostles, this we find through external disciplines? But no, since the best thing in us is the knowledge of existing things, and the philosophical disciplines introduce us to this through themselves, and while sacred Scripture sets forth symbols of this, the philosophical disciplines lead up to the immaterial archetypes, as the philosopher says, these disciplines are the best for us, and are as much superior to divine Scripture as the truth of the archetypes is to symbols; and if they are not superior to it, of necessity they are not inferior either, since knowledge is the best thing in us; for of the things that introduce and lead up to this, what else could possibly accomplish more? There is therefore something that comes to us from the divinely inspired (σελ. 178) Scripture that is incomparably superior to the knowledge of existing things, on account of which the divinely-wrought oracles are incomparably superior to that philosophy, since its disciplines neither introduce nor lead up of themselves to that superior thing of knowledge. But medicine and God, how do they provide the same health, unless one were to say this of a very small fraction of it? For not even that was the philosopher able to comprehend, that the healing and wisdom from God look mostly to the soul, whereas these human discoveries, having brought a small cure to the body alone, are then ineffective, when death has dissolved the subject.

But he, having declared that in this way he holds the truth, says, "there are those who dispute these things with us; for some think that the reading of the oracles is confusion, while others that the philosophical disciplines and all engagement with arguments in no way

54

ὁπόσον οἱ πεφυκότες ἀεί πρός γῆν νεύειν χοῖροι τήν ἀστέρων εὔκοσμον εἰδέναι θέσιν. Ὁ δέ ζητητικός τοῦ θείου θελήματος καί τοῦτ᾿ ἐγνωκώς ἐφ᾿ ἑκάστου τῶν ὄντων, τίνος ἕνεκα παρά τοῦ δημιουργοῦ τῶν ὅλων προήχθη, καί κατά τήν θείαν ταυτηνί βούλησιν αὐτοῖς χρώμενος, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τούς αἰτιώδεις λόγους τῶν ὄντων εἰδώς, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τήν γνῶσιν ἔχων τῶν ὄντων, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθής φιλόσοφος καί τέλειος ἄνθρωπος, κατά τό σολομώντειον ἔπος, «τόν Θεόν φοβοῦ καί τάς ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ φύλασσε, ὅτι τοῦτο πᾶς ἄνθρωπος». Οὗτος δή σοφίαν ἔχει τήν ἀναμφίλεκτον - μαρτυρεῖ γάρ αὐτοῦ τό φρονεῖν ὁ βίος -, ὅς ἀντιλογίαν οὐ παραδέχεται καί αὐτός ἐν ἑαυτῷ τό μαρτύριον ἔχει τῆς συνειδήσεως, πρός δέ τούτῳ καί τήν ἄνωθεν ψῆφον διά τῆς μυστικῆς ἐπιδημίας τε καί ἐμφανείας τοῦ Πνεύματος.

Ὁ δ᾿ ἐκ τῆς ἔξω σοφίας τό φρονεῖν συνειλοχώς, εἴ τινος καί μετέσχηκεν ἀληθοῦς, λόγῳ μόνον τάς πίστεις πρός λόγον, ὡς λόγος, ἀεί παλαίοντι, παρεχόμενος ἀβεβαίου (σελ. 276) σοφίας ἐπιγνώμων καθέστηκεν, ἔστιν ὅτε μηδ᾿ ἑαυτῷ συνάδων, μᾶλλον μέν οὖν μέγα φρονῶν καί φιλοτιμούμενος, εἰ τἀναντίας δύναιτο λέγων πείθειν περί τοῦ αὐτοῦ πράγματος˙ οὕτως ἔχει τε καί παρέχει γνώμην ἄστατόν τε καί εὐμετάβολον, τό μεταβατικόν καί μεριστόν τοῦ φρονοῦντος τῆς ψυχῆς ἀχρειοῦσαν, ὥστ᾿ οὐδ᾿ ἀκριβῶς ἄν εἴη λογικός ὁ τοιοῦτος, πόσῳ γε μᾶλλον οὐ νοερός. Τίς οὖν μηχανή τόν ἐκ τοιαύτης διανοίας ὁρμώμενον τάς ἀΰλους ἀρχετυπίας τῶν ἐν τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκκλησίᾳ θείων ἐποπτεύειν συμβόλων, ὡς ὁ τῶν ἑλληνικῶν μαθημάτων γενναῖος οὗτος ὑπασπιστής ἐξηγεῖται; Ὁ δέ τό τοῦ Θεοῦ θέλημα ζητῶν καί ποιῶν ἐκεῖνο φιλόσοφος, λόγον ἔχων ἔμπρακτον καί πρᾶξιν ἐλλόγιμον, δι᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων τό ἀπλανές τοῦ μεταβατικοῦ τῶν οἰκείων νοήσεων ἀποδείκνυσι καί ὡς λογικός ὤν ἤδη τελέως καί πρός τό ἑνοειδές τῶν ἀρχετύπων ἀπό τῶν μεριστῶν ἱερῶν συμβόλων ἀνάγεσθαι δύναται, τελειῶν δι᾿ ἑαυτοῦ νοητῶς τά προκείμενα καί αὐτός δι᾿ αὐτῶν μυστικῶς τελειούμενος˙ ὅς ἔσθ᾿ ὅτε καί τῆς ὑπερτελοῦς θέας καί ἀναβάσεως διά τῆς πνευματικῆς ἐπιτυγχάνει προσευχῆς.

Ἆρ᾿ ἄν ἔχοι τις ἔτι λέγειν ὡς ἥν ἀμέσως προφήταις καί ἀποστόλοις γνῶσιν τῶν ὄντων Θεός ἔδωκε, ταύτην ἡμεῖς διά τῶν ἔξω μαθημάτων εὑρίσκομεν; Οὐ μήν ἀλλ᾿ ἐπεί τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἄριστον ἡ γνῶσις τῶν ὄντων, εἰσάγει δέ δι᾿ ἑαυτῶν πρός ταύτην τά κατά φιλοσοφίαν μαθήματα, καί ἡ μέν ἱερά Γραφή σύμβολα προτίθεται ταύτης, ἀνάγει δέ πρός τάς ἀΰλους ἀρχετυπίας τά κατά φιλοσοφίαν μαθήματα, ὡς ὁ φιλόσοφος λέγει, ἄριστα μέν ἡμῖν μαθημάτων ταῦτα, τοσοῦτο δέ κρείττω τῆς θείας Γραφῆς, ὁπόσον συμβόλων ἡ τῶν ἀρχετύπων ἀλήθεια˙ εἰ δέ μή κρείττω ταύτης, ἐξ ἀνάγκης οὐδ᾿ ἥττω, τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀρίστου τῆς γνώσεως οὔσης˙ τῶν γάρ εἰσαγόντων εἰς ταύτην καί ἀναγόντων, τί ποτ᾿ ἄρ᾿ ἄλλο μεῖζον δράσειεν ἄν; Ἔστιν ἄρα τι τῶν ἐκ τῆς θεοπνεύστου (σελ. 178) Γραφῆς ἡμῖν προσγινομένων τῆς τῶν ὄντων γνώσεως ἀσυγκρίτως κρεῖττον, δι᾿ ὅ τά θεουργικά λόγια τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἐκείνης ἀσυγκρίτως ὑπάρχει κρείττω, πρός τό τῆς γνώσεως ἐκεῖνο κρεῖττον μήτ᾿ εἰσαγόντων μήτ᾿ ἀναγόντων παρ᾿ ἑαυτῶν τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτήν μαθημάτων. Ἰατρική δέ καί Θεός, πῶς τήν αὐτήν παρέχει ὑγίειαν, εἰ μή τις ἐπί πολλοστημορίου τοῦτ᾿ εἴποι ταύτης; Οὐδέ γάρ ἐκεῖνο συνιδεῖν ἴσχυσεν ὁ φιλόσοφος, ὡς τῆς μέν παρά Θεοῦ ἰατρείας τε καί σοφίας ἐπί τήν ψυχήν βλέπει τό πλέον, τά δ᾿ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων εὑρήματα ταῦτα, τῷ σώματι μόνῳ μικράν ἐπενεγκόντα τήν θεραπείαν, ἀπρακτοῦσιν ἔπειτα, διαλύσαντος τοῦ θανάτου τό ὑποκείμενον.

Ἀλλ᾿ ἐκεῖνος ταύτῃ τἀληθές ἔχειν ἀποφηνάμενος, «εἰσί», φησίν, «οἵ πρός ταῦτα ἀμφισβητοῦσιν ἡμῖν˙ ἔνιοι μέν γάρ τήν τῶν λογίων ἀνάγνωσιν σύγχυσιν οἴονται, οἱ δέ τά κατά φιλοσοφίαν μαθήματα καί πᾶσαν τήν περί λόγους διατριβήν μηδαμῶς