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having united words; and the mind, purely freed from motion concerning all existing things, and at rest from its own natural energy, having offered to God; by which, having been wholly gathered to God, they were deemed worthy, whole, to be wholly mingled with God through the Spirit, having borne, as far as is possible for men, the whole image of the heavenly one, and having drawn so much of the divine manifestation, if it is right to say this, as they themselves, having been drawn, were placed in God.

5.74 (οδ΄) They say that God and man are examples for one another, and that God becomes man for man's sake through love for mankind to the same extent as man, having been able, has deified himself for God through love; and that man is so much seized by God (15∆_302> in his mind towards the knowable, as man has manifested the by-nature invisible God through the virtues.

5.75 (οε΄) Everyone who has mortified his members that are upon the earth, and has extinguished the whole mind of his flesh, and has shaken off completely the relation to it, through which the love owed by us to God alone is divided, and has denied all the marks of the flesh and the world, for the sake of divine grace; so as to be able to say with the blessed Apostle Paul, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? and so on; such a one has become without father and without mother and without genealogy according to the great Melchizedek, not having any way to be held by flesh and nature, because of the union that has come to be with the Spirit.

5.76 (οστ΄) The end of the present life, I think it is not right to call death, but a release from death, and a separation from corruption, and freedom from slavery, and a cessation of disturbance, and an abolition of wars, and a retreat of darkness, and a rest from toils, and a calming of turmoil, and a covering of shame, and an escape from passions, and, to speak concisely, a circumscription of all evils; which things the saints, having achieved through voluntary mortification, presented themselves as strangers and sojourners in this life. For bravely fighting against the world and the body, and the rebellions arising from them, and having choked the deceit that arises from both in the entanglement of the senses with sensible things, they preserved for themselves the dignity of the soul unenslaved.

5.77 (οζ΄) Nature itself gives no small proof that the knowledge of providence has been sown in us naturally; 1381 whenever, as if untaught, it pushes us toward God through prayers in sudden circumstances, and prepares us to seek salvation from there. (15∆_304> For having been suddenly seized by necessity, without premeditation, before considering anything, we cry out to God; as if providence itself draws us to itself, even without reasonings, and overcomes the speed of the intellectual power within us, and shows beforehand the divine help to be stronger than all things. But nature would not lead us without premeditation to that which has no nature to come into being; and everything that follows anything naturally, as is clear to all, has a strong and invincible power for the demonstration of the truth.

5.78 (οη΄) Since of things that exist, some are good, and some are bad; and these are either present or future; an expected good, is called desire; but a present one, pleasure; and again, an expected evil, fear; but a present one, pain; so that both to be and to be considered, concerning good things, whether things that truly are, or things that are considered so, are pleasure and desire; but concerning bad things, pain and fear. For desire, when it attains its object, produces pleasure; but when it fails, pain.

5.79 (οθ΄) They say that all pain is evil by its own nature. For even if the virtuous man is pained at the evils of others, as being merciful, it is not primarily according to intention, but consequently according to circumstance; But the contemplative man, remains passionless even in these things, having united himself to God, and having alienated himself from all things here.

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λόγους ἑνώσαντες· τόν δέ νοῦν, τῆς περί τά ὄντα πάντα κινήσεως καθαρῶς ἀπολυθέντα, καί αὐτῆς τῆς καθ᾿ αὐτόν φυσικῆς ἐνεργείας ἡρεμοῦντα, τῷ Θεῷ προσκομίσαντες· καθ᾿ ὅν ὁλικῶς πρός Θεόν συναχθέντες, ὅλοι ὅλῳ Θεῷ ἐγκραθῆναι διά τοῦ πνεύματος ἠξιώθησαν, ὅλην τοῦ ἐπουρανίου κατά τό δυνατόν ἀνθρώποις, τήν εἰκόνα φορέσαντες, καί τοσοῦτον ἕλξαντες τῆς θείας ἐμφάσεως, εἰ θέμις τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, ὅσον ἐλχθέντες αὐτοί τῷ Θεῷ ἐνετέθησαν.

5.74 (οδ΄) Ἀλλήλων εἶναί φασι παραδείγματα, τόν Θεόν καί τόν ἄνθρωπον, καί τοσοῦτον τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τόν Θεόν διά φιλανθρωπίαν ἀνθρωπίζεσθαι, ὅσον ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἑαυτόν τῷ Θεῷ δι᾿ ἀγάπης δυνηθείς ἀπεθέωσε· καί τοσοῦτον ὑπό Θεοῦ τόν ἄνθρωπον (15∆_302> κατά νοῦν ἁρπάζεσθαι πρός τό γνωστόν, ὅσον ὀ ἄνθρωπος τόν ἀόρατον φύσει Θεόν διά τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐφανέρωσε.

5.75 (οε΄) Πᾶς ὁ τά μέλη νεκρώσας τά ἐπί γῆς, καί ὅλον ἑαυτοῦ τῆς σαρκός κατασβέσας τό φρόνημα, καί τήν πρός αὐτήν διόλου σχέσιν ἀποσεισάμενος, δι᾿ ἧς ἡ τῷ Θεῷ μόνῳ χρεωστουμένη παρ᾿ ἡμῶν ἀγάπη μερίζεται, καί ἀρνησάμενος πάντα τά τῆς σαρκός καί κόσμου γνωρίσματα, τῆς θείας ἕνεκεν χάριτος· ὥστε καί λέγειν δύνασθαι μετά τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου τοῦ ἀποστόλου, Τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπό τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ; καί τά ἑξῆς· ὁ τοιοῦτος ἀπάτωρ καί ἀμήτωρ καί ἀγενεαλόγητος κατά τόν μέγαν Μελχισεδέκ γέγονεν, οὐκ ἔχων ὅπως ὑπό σαρκός κρατηθῇ καί φύσεως, διά τήν γεγενημένην πρός τό πνεῦμα συνάφειαν.

5.76 (οστ΄) Τό πέρας τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς, οὐ δίκαιον οἶμαι θάνατον ὀνομάζειν, ἀλλά θανάτου ἀπαλλαγήν, καί φθορᾶς χωρισμόν, καί δουλείας ἐλευθερίαν, καί ταραχῆς παῦλαν, καί πολέμων ἀναίρεσιν, καί σκότους ὑποχώρησιν, καί πόνων ἄνεσιν, καί βράσματος ἡρεμίαν, καί αἰσχύνης συγκάλυμμα, καί παθῶν ἀποφυγήν, καί πάντων, ἵνα συνελών εἴπω, τῶν κακῶν περιγραφήν· ἅπερ δι᾿ ἑκουσίου νεκρώσεως οἱ ἅγιοι κατορθώσαντες, ξένους ἐαυτούς τοῦ βίου καί παρεπιδήμους παρέστησαν. Κόσμῳ τε γάρ καί σώματι, καί ταῖς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπαναστάσεσι γενναίως μαχόμενοι, καί τήν ἐξ ἀμφοῖν κατά τήν τῶν αἰσθήσεων πρός τά αἰσθητά συμπλοκήν παραγενομένην ἀπάτην ἀποπνίξαντες, ἀδούλωτον ἑαυτοῖς ἐφύλαξαν τῆς ψυχῆς τό ἀξίωμα.

5.77 (οζ΄) Τεκμήριον οὐ σμικρόν τοῦ φυσικῶς ἡμῖν ἐνεσπάρθαι τήν τῆς προνοίας γνῶσιν, ἡ φύσις αὐτή δίδωσιν· 1381 ὁπηνίκα ἄν ἡμᾶς ἀδιδάκτως ὥσπερ ὠθοῦσα πρός τόν Θεόν διά τῶν εὐχῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐξαίφνης περιστάσεσιν, ἐκεῖθεν ζητεῖν τήν σωτηρίαν (15∆_304> παρασκευάζῃ. Ὑπ᾿ ἀνάγκης γάρ ἄφνω συλληφθέντες, ἀπροαιρέτως πρίν τι σκέψασθαι, τόν Θεόν ἐπιβοώμεθα· ὡς ἄν τῆς προνοίας αὐτῆς πρός ἑαυτήν, καί λογισμῶν χωρίς, ἑλκούσης ἡμᾶς, καί τό τάχος τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν νοερᾶς νικώσης δυνάμεως, καί πάντων ἰσχυροτέραν τήν θείαν προδεικνυούσης βοήθειαν. Οὐκ ἄν δέ ἡμᾶς ἦγεν ἀπροαιρέτως ἡ φύσις, ἐπί τό μή φύσιν ἔχον γίνεσθαι· πᾶν δέ τό ὁτῳοῦν φυσικῶς ἑπόμενον, ὡς πᾶσιν εὔδηλον, ἰσχυράν ἔχει καί ἀκαταμάχητον κατά τήν ἀπόδειξιν τῆς ἀληθείας τήν δύναμιν.

5.78 (οη΄) Ἐπειδή τῶν ὄντων, τά μέν ἔστιν ἀγαθά, τά δέ φαῦλα· ταῦτα δέ, ἤ παρόντα ἐστίν ἤ μέλλοντα· προσδοκώμενον μέν ἀγαθόν, ἐπιθυμίαν καλεῖ· παρόν δέ, ἡδονήν· καί πάλιν, προσδοκώμενον μέν κακόν, φόβον· παρόν δέ, λύπην· ὡς εἶναί τε καί θεωρεῖσθαι, περί μέν τά καλά, εἴτε τά ὄντως ὄντα, εἴτε τά νομιζόμενα, τήν ἡδονήν καί τήν ἐπιθυμίαν· περί δέ τά φαῦλα, τήν λύπην καί τό φόβον. Καί γάρ ἐπιτυγχάνουσα μέν ἡ ἐπιθυμία, ἡδονήν ἐργάζεται· ἀποτυγχάνυσα δέ λύπην.

5.79 (οθ΄) Κακόν εἶναί φασι πᾶσαν λύπην τῇ ἑαυτῆς φύσει. Κἄν γάρ ὁ σπουδαῖος ἐπ᾿ ἀλλοτρίοις λυπῆται κακοῖς, ὡς ἐλεήμων, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ προηγουμένως κατά πρόθεσιν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐφεπομένως κατά περίσταστιν· Ὁ δέ θεωρητικός, κἄν τούτοις ἀπαθής διαμένει, συνάψας ἑαυτόν τῷ Θεῷ, καί τῶν τῆδε πάντων ἀλλοτριώσας.