,

2. The blood, according to contemplation, he received as knowledge, as that which nourishes the body of virtues.

37. CONCERNING THE VIPER THAT BIT PAUL. 37. QUESTION 37. It says in the Acts concerning Saint Paul: so that even handkerchiefs and aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them. Was this happening on account of his ministry and the unbelievers, or, his body having been sanctified, were these things accomplished from his skin? And if for this reason he suffered nothing from the viper, for what reason did the body of the saint not succumb to the venom of the beast, but did succumb to the sword? I ask the same thing concerning the body of Elisha. And what are the aprons?

(14Β_234> Response. Neither through the sanctity of Saint Paul alone, nor through the faith of the recipients alone did the skin of his body through the handkerchiefs and the aprons accomplish the healings, but because for both him and them divine grace, having distributed itself, lovingly made the apostle’s sanctity active in them through faith. Thus, again, when grace willed it, his body remained unharmed, not being corrupted by the venom of the beast, whether by changing the destructive quality in the beast’s venom, or by rendering the saint’s body proof against such consuming destruction, or by some other mode of dispensation, which God who does and alters these things knows. But again, it succumbed to the sword, when grace willed it. For he was not immortal by nature, even if he was a wonder-worker through grace. If he had been immortal by nature, we would rightly seek the reason for which he succumbed to the sword contrary to nature; but if by nature he remained mortal even after his sanctification, it is not necessary to seek the reason for which the divine apostle passed through life in the flesh not in one way but in another. For in whatever way God, who before the ages profitably ordained the life of each, wills, he brings each one to the proper end of life, whether just or unjust.

If, then, the principle of nature and of grace were one and the same, what happened according to nature contrary to grace, or according to grace contrary to nature, would be worthy of wonder and astonishment; but if rather the principle of nature and of grace are different, it is clear and plain that, as saints, they worked wonders through grace, but as humans, they suffered through nature, since grace did not abolish the passibility of nature, the principles in nature and grace not at all being confused with one another. Let us thus accept that the grace of God does all things according to the dispensation of those for whom he provides in the saints both living and dead, as in its own instruments (14Β_236> providing for the salvation of others, but that the saints do not do these things for others by nature through grace. This is the case, then, also for the body of Elisha.

But since the intelligible meanings of the histories delight the soul of the God-loving more, we say that the skin of the great apostle is his piety, according to which to some he was an aroma from life to life, but to others an aroma from death to death, and the handkerchiefs are the manifest words of his gnostic contemplation, and the aprons are the venerable ways of practical philosophy according to virtue; for they say that the aprons are hand-coverings. These words and ways, breathing and sending forth as a fragrance the skin, that is, the great piety of the blessed apostle, those who received them received healing of the weakness that afflicted them, some through the words concerning contemplation, as handkerchiefs, driving away the sickness of ignorance,

2. Τό αἷμα κατά θεωρίαν, εἰς τήν γνῶσιν ἔλαβεν, ὡς ὑποτρέφουσαν τό σῶμα τῶν ἀρετῶν.

ΛΖ (37). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ∆ΗΞΑΣΗΣ ΤΟΝ ΠΑΥΛΟΝ ΕΧΙ∆ΝΗΣ. 37. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΛΖ' Λέγει εἰς τὰς Πράξεις περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Παύλου· ὥστε καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας

ἐπιφέρεσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ χρωτὸς αὐτοῦ σουδάρια καὶ σημικίνθια καὶ ἀπαλλάττεσθαι ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν τὰς νόσους. Ἆρα γὰρ διὰ τὴν διακονίαν καὶ τοὺς ἀπίστους τοῦτο ἐγίνετο, ἢ ἁγιασθέντος τοῦ σώματος ταῦτα ἐκ τοῦ χρωτὸς αὐτοῦ ἐπετελεῖτο; Καὶ εἰ κατὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐχίδνης οὐδὲν ἔπαθεν, τίνι τῷ λόγῳ τῷ μὲν ἰῷ τοῦ θηρίου οὐχ ὑπέπεσε τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἁγίου, τῷ δὲ ξίφει ὑπέπεσε; Τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ ζητῶ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος Ἐλισσαίου. Τίνα δὲ τὰ σημικίνθιά εἰσιν;

(14Β_234> Ἀπόκρισις. Οὔτε διὰ μόνην τοῦ ἁγίου Παύλου τὴν ἁγιότητα, οὔτε διὰ μόνην τὴν τῶν

δεχομένων πίστιν ὁ χρὼς τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ διὰ τῶν σουδαρίων καὶ τῶν σημικινθίων ἐπετέλει τὰς ἰάσεις, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτιπερ αὐτῷ τε κἀκείνοις ἡ θεία χάρις, ἑαυτὴν ἐπιμερίσασα, φιλανθρώπως ἐν ἐκείνοις διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐνεργὸν ἐποίει τοῦ ἀποστόλου τὴν ἁγιότητα. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν πάλιν, βουληθείσης τῆς χάριτος, ἀπαθὲς διέμεινεν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα, τῷ ἰῷ τοῦ θηρίου μὴ διαφθειρόμενον, εἴτε τὴν ἐν τῷ ἰῷ τοῦ θηρὸς φθαρτικὴν ποιότητα μεταβαλούσης, εἴτε τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἁγίου τῆς τοιαύτης δαπανητικὸν φθορᾶς ἀπεργασαμένης, εἴτε κατ᾽ ἄλλον τινὰ τρόπον οἰκονομίας, ὃν οἶδεν ὁ ταῦτα ποιῶν καὶ μετασκευάζων Θεός. Τῷ δὲ ξίφει πάλιν ὑπέπεσε, βουληθείσης τῆς χάριτος. Οὐ γὰρ ἦν κατὰ φύσιν ἀθάνατος, κἂν ἦν διὰ τὴν χάριν θαυματουργός. Εἰ μὲν κατὰ φύσιν ὑπῆρχεν ἀθάνατος, καλῶς ἂν ἐζητοῦμεν τὸν καθ᾽ ὃν παρὰ φύσιν ὑπέπεσε τῷ ξίφει λόγον· εἰ δὲ φύσει καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἁγιότητα διέμεινε θνητός, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀναγκαῖον ζητῆσαι τὸν καθ᾽ ὃν οὐ τοιῶσδε ἀλλὰ τοιῶσδε τὴν ἐν σαρκὶ ζωὴν παρῆλθε λόγον ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος. Ὧι γὰρ τρόπῳ βούλεται ὁ τὴν ἑκάστου πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων συμφερόντως διορίσας ζωὴν Θεός, ἕκαστον πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον τῆς ζωῆς ἄγει τέλος, εἴτε δίκαιον εἴτε ἄδικον.

Εἰ μὲν οὖν εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἦν φύσεως καὶ χάριτος λόγος, θαύματος ἦν ἄξιον καὶ καταπλήξεως τὸ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν παρὰ τὴν χάριν, ἢ κατὰ τὴν χάριν παρὰ τὴν φύσιν γινόμενον· εἰ δὲ μᾶλλον ἕτερος καὶ ἕτερος φύσεως καὶ χάριτος λόγος, δῆλόν ἐστι καὶ σαφὲς ὅτι, ὡς μὲν ἅγιοι, ἐθαυματούργουν διὰ τὴν χάριν, ὡς δὲ ἄνθρωποι, ἔπασχον διὰ τὴν φύσιν, ἐπειδὴ μὴ ἀνεῖλε τὸ τῆς φύσεως παθητὸν ἡ χάρις, οὐδαμῶς ἀλλήλοις συμφυρέντων τῶν ἐν φύσει καὶ χάριτι λόγων. Οὕτω δεξώμεθα πάντα ποιεῖν κατ᾽ οἰκονομίαν τῶν προνοουμένων ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριν καὶ ζῶσι καὶ ἀποθανοῦσιν, ὡς ἐν ὀργάνοις οἰκείοις (14Β_236> τῆς τῶν ἄλλων προνοουμένην σωτηρίας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ κατὰ φύσιν ταῦτα διὰ τὴν χάριν ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐνεργοῦντας τοὺς ἁγίους. Τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος Ἐλισσαίου.

Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τῶν ἱστορουμένων τὰ νοούμενα μᾶλλον εὐφραίνει τὴν τῶν φιλοθέων ψυχήν, χρῶτα μέν φαμεν εἶναι τοῦ μεγάλου ἀποστόλου τὴν εὐσέβειαν, καθ᾽ ἣν τοῖς μὲν ἦν ὀσμὴ ἀπὸ ζωῆς εἰς ζωήν, τοῖς δὲ ὀσμὴ ἐκ θανάτου εἰς θάνατον, σουδάρια δὲ τοὺς ἐκφανεῖς τῆς γνωστικῆς αὐτοῦ θεωρίας λόγους, τὰ δὲ σημικίνθια τοὺς σεμνοὺς τῆς κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν πρακτικῆς φιλοσοφίας τρόπους· ἐγχείρια γὰρ εἶναί φασι τὰ σημικίνθια. Οὕστινας λόγους τε καὶ τρόπους πνέοντας καὶ ἐκπέμποντας καθάπερ εὐωδίαν τὰ χρῶτα, τουτέστι τὴν τοῦ μακαρίου ἀποστόλου μεγάλην εὐσέβειαν, οἱ δεχόμενοι τὴν τῆς πιεζούσης αὐτοὺς ἀσθενείας ἐλάμβανον ἴασιν, οἱ μὲν διὰ τῶν περὶ θεωρίας λόγων, ὡς σουδαρίων, τὴν νόσον τῆς ἀγνωσίας διώκοντες,