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having accomplished, and he fell upon the demonic phalanxes, abolishing their dominion over us.

QUESTION 187 From the 71st (71) psalm: “Righteousness will dawn in his days and

abundance of peace, until the moon is taken away”. RESPONSE It is clear to all that concerning the incarnate life of the 14Α_256 Lord the

prophet foretold these things by the Spirit. But the days of the Lord are not those he spent physically on earth but the virtues, which like days giving light cause righteousness to dawn in us. What righteousness, if not the distributive state that does not allow the lesser to rise up against the greater, that is, “the mind of the flesh against the law of the spirit”? “An abundance of peace” comes to be in us when the passions have been calmed and remain without rebellion toward the soul; and “until the moon is taken away” indicates this, that so great a thing comes to the soul from the knowledge of God which makes righteousness dawn in us that even the mere fantasies of our changeable nature—for this is the moon—are completely taken away.

“And he shall have dominion,” it says, “from sea to sea”; here it indicates action by “sea,” beginning from which he has dominion over those subject to his law “unto the sea,” clearly meaning the boundless knowledge, in which its participants swim through the contemplation of beings. Or also, understand baptism as the sea, in which according to the prophet the face of the adversary disappears into the first sea and the parts behind him into the last sea, calling baptism, as has been said, the first sea, and the last the resurrection, in which the hind parts of the enemy are destroyed; for then our nature completely puts off the law of sin instilled through the transgression.

Or also in another way: the face of the devil disappears, that is, evil actions, through the practical life; for this, as has been said, is the first sea; and the hind parts also disappear, that is, the preconceptions of evil and fantasies, through the second sea, that is, of knowledge.

14Α_258 QUESTION 188 The dialogue that took place from the Lord to Nicodemus, in which he says that the

spirit blows where it wills and you hear its voice, of what spirit does he speak? RESPONSE Some think the Lord is speaking of the airy spirit, but to me

it seems more likely that he is speaking about the Holy Spirit. For this blows with authority where it wills, and it wills to be in those who are receptive and pure in mind; for these, being inspired with the divine gifts, do not know from where any given gift was given to them or for what reason, nor to what end the gift of grace arrives, but only hear the voice, that is, the very energy of the gift being shown through the purity of life and in a way giving forth a voice, whether it is a gift of teaching or of healing or even *** *** ***

QUESTION 189 What is blasphemy of the Spirit and how is it that “every sin will be forgiven

men, but for those who blaspheme against it it will not be forgiven, neither in this age nor in the one to come”?

RESPONSE The difficulty concerning the blasphemy of the Spirit has its solution right there; for the

Lord was performing various healings, the Jews [attributed] the energies of the Spirit to

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πραγματευσάμενος, καὶ ἐπέπεσεν ταῖς δαιμονικαῖς φάλαγξιν, καταργήσας αὐτῶν τὴν καθ᾽ ἡμῶν δυναστείαν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 187 Ἐκ τοῦ οα' (71) ψαλμοῦ· «ἀνατελεῖ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύνη καὶ

πλῆθος εἰρήνης, ἕως οὗ ἀνταναιρεθῇ ἡ σελήνη». ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ ∆ῆλον πᾶσίν ἐστιν ὡς περὶ τῆς ἐνσάρκου πολιτείας τοῦ 14Α_256 Κυρίου ὁ

προφήτης τῷ Πνεύματι ταῦτα προεῖπεν. Ἡμέραι δὲ τοῦ Κυρίου εἰσὶν οὐχ ἃς ἐπὶ γῆς σωματικῶς διέτριψεν ἀλλ᾽ αἱ ἀρεταί, αἵτινες ἡμέρας δίκην φωτίζουσαι ἀνατέλλειν ἐν ἡμῖν τὴν δικαιοσύνην ποιοῦσιν. Ποίαν δικαιοσύνην ἢ τὴν ἀπονεμητικὴν ἕξιν τὴν μὴ ἐῶσαν ἐπανίστασθαι τὸ ἧττον τῷ κρείττονι, τουτέστιν «τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ πνεύματος»; «Πλῆθος δὲ εἰρήνης» ἐν ἡμῖν γίνεται ὅτ᾽ ἂν κατευνασθέντα τὰ πάθη ἀστασίαστα πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν διαμένουσιν· τὸ δὲ «ἕως οὗ ἀνταναιρεθῇ ἡ σελήνη» τοῦτο δηλοῖ, ὅτι τοσαύτη γίνεται τῇ ψυχῇ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ γνώσεως τῆς ἀνατελλούσης ἡμῖν τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὥστε καὶ αὐτὰς ψιλὰς τὰς φαντασίας τῆς ἀλλοιωτῆς ἡμῶν φύσεως αὕτη γὰρ ἡ σελήνη τέλεον ἀνταναιρεθῆναι.

«Καὶ κατακυριεύσῃ», φησίν, «ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἕως θαλάσσης»· θάλασσαν ἐνταῦθα τὴν πρᾶξιν δηλοῖ, ἐξ ἧς ἀρχόμενος κυριεύει τῶν ὑποτασσομένων τῷ αὐτοῦ νόμῳ «ἕως θαλάσσης», τῆς ἀπλέτου δηλονότι γνώσεως, ἐν ᾗ ἐννήχονται διὰ τῆς τῶν ὄντων θεωρίας οἱ ταύτης μέτοχοι. Ἢ καὶ θάλασσαν τὸ βάπτισμα νόησον, ἐν ᾧ κατὰ τὸν προφήτην ἀφανίζεται τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ ἀντικειμένου εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν πρώτην καὶ τὰ ὄπισθεν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν ἐσχάτην, πρώτην θάλασσαν, ὡς εἴρηται, λέγων τὸ βάπτισμα, ἐσχάτην δὲ τὴν ἀνάστασιν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ ὀπίσθια τοῦ ἐχθροῦ καταργοῦνται· τότε γὰρ ἡ φύσις ἡμῶν ἀποτίθεται τελείως τὸν διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως ἐντεθέντα νόμον τῆς ἁμαρτίας.

Ἢ καὶ ἄλλως· ἀφανίζεται τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ διαβόλου, τουτέστιν αἱ πονηραὶ πράξεις, διὰ τῆς πρακτικῆς· αὐτὴ γάρ, ὡς εἴρηται, ἡ πρώτη θάλασσα· ἀφανίζεται δὲ καὶ τὰ ὀπίσθια, τουτέστιν αἱ προλήψεις τῶν κακῶν καὶ αἱ φαντασίαι, διὰ τῆς δευτέρας θαλάσσης, τουτέστιν τῆς γνώσεως.

14Α_258 ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 188 Ἡ πρὸς Νικόδημον ἀπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου γενομένη διάλεξις, ἐν ᾗ λέγει ὅτι τὸ

πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ καὶ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκούεις, περὶ ποίου λέγει πνεύματος; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Τινὲς μὲν περὶ τοῦ ἀερίου πνεύματος λέγειν τὸν Κύριον νομίζουσιν, ἐμοὶ δὲ

μᾶλλον φαίνεται ὅτι περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος λέγει. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐξουσιαστικῶς ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ, θέλει δὲ ἐν τοῖς δεκτικοῖς καὶ καθαροῖς τὴν διάνοιαν· οὗτοι γὰρ ἐμπνεόμενοι τὰ θεῖα χαρίσματα, πόθεν μὲν ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς τὸ οἱονοῦν χάρισμα ἢ διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν, οὐ γινώσκουσιν, οὐδὲ εἰς ποῖον τέλος καταντᾷ ἡ τοῦ χαρίσματος δωρεά, μόνον δὲ τὴν φωνὴν ἀκούουσιν, τουτέστιν αὐτὴν τὴν διὰ τῆς τοῦ βίου καθαρότητος τοῦ χαρίσματος ἐνέργειαν διαδεικνυμένην καὶ τρόπον τινὰ φωνὴν ἀφιεῖσαν, εἴτε διδασκαλίας ἐστὶν χάρισμα εἴτε ἰαμάτων εἴτ᾽ ἔτι *** *** ***

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 189 Τί ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος βλασφημία καὶ πῶς «πᾶν ἁμάρτημα ἀφεθήσεται

τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, τοῖς δὲ εἰς αὐτὸ βλασφημοῦσιν οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται, οὔτε ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ οὔτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι»;

ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Ἡ περὶ τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος βλασφημίας ἀπορία αὐτόθεν ἔχει τὴν λύσιν· τοῦ

γὰρ Κυρίου ἰάσεις ποιοῦντος ποικίλας, οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὰς τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐνεργείας τῷ