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the tradition of the most sacred oracles and of the Patristic teachings. And they somehow appear, through such words, to be in harmony with those things recently expounded by my nothingness, and, as it were, sealing the defense made on behalf of Honorius.

When I perceived them making this defense, I greatly marveled at their precision, just as I was also astounded at the cunning of those who dare all things for the one sake of being impious in vain, and who wish, as is their custom both of old and now, with certain thefts and misinterpretations to draw over to themselves, against all probability, those who earnestly contend against them, and to appropriate their mind (15Α_326> which in no way follows them. And so, having learned this, I have of necessity made it known to you, God-honored Father, so that being fortified on all sides, you might be able to repulse the phalanxes of the adversaries, both striking vigorously with reason and utterly conquering by faith, thereby holding up for proclamation the glory of the Only-Begotten, and as a diadem His communion and union according to grace.

But, O most sacred and honored head, make these things known to the one who hierarchically presides over our blameless and orthodox faith, under whose wings all of us, both near and far, will piously take our rest, having his and, through him, the blessed illumination as the sole foundation of the most sacred doctrines, by which we are both guided by the hand and led up to the unshadowed and Paternal light in the Holy Spirit; looking to him as the author of our salvation, after the one who is so by nature and first, and piously directing our paths, hastening toward the life that is not dissolved by corruption, but is constituted by incorruption, of which, just as we partake here in hope by his divinely-inspired prayers and God-wise teachings, so there may we be deemed worthy to commune in experience by his deifying mediation and presentation, according to the sole consummation in the Word and God Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ.

CONCERNING QUALITY, PROPERTY, AND DIFFERENCE, TO THEODORE ... Concerning quality, property, and difference, to Theodore the presbyter at

Mazarium. (15Α_328> 0246 I do not think that for knowledge you need any other of the

all things, you who are most sacred, since you have the Holy Spirit, which, as one and the same thing, already 0248 makes you wise in your mind to proclaim through simple virtue, from which you cause divine things to spring forth for others in a boundless effusion of wisdom, making an outpouring of thoughts through uttered reason, so as to extend this very lovingly even to those who are lowly like me, and bereft of all reason, for the purpose of divine knowledge and learning, even though I know that you use condescension by means of a question, in order to draw us on, and even more to lift up to your proper height of knowledge us who lie somewhere below, and are oppressed by ignorance, so that having purged the sluggishness by this prompting, and the folly of my mind by your inspiration, you might lead it to a gnostic state, and to a vigorous and practical readiness, from which things salvation accrues by grace to those who are being saved, through those like you who have been deemed worthy to save the worthy.

I speak, then, concerning those things about which you, while instructing me, exhorted me to inquire further, I mean, concerning quality, and property, and difference. The meaning of these things among the outsiders happens to be manifold, and it would be a long task to unfold their divisions on these matters and to prolong the account, since these things are not so much a matter of epistolary proportion as (15Α_330> of a writer's occupation. But for the divine Fathers, the explanation of these things has been established as both connected and concise, not being taken with respect to some subject, that is, of essence and nature, but of the things contemplated in the essence, and indeed of the things in the hypostasis.

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τῶν ἱερωτάτων λογίων καί τῶν Πατρικῶν διδαγμάτων παράδοσιν. Καί φαίνονταί πως διά τῆς τοιούτων λόγων συνᾴδοντες τοῖς ἀρτίως ἐξηγηθεῖσι παρά τῆς ἐμῆς οὐδενίας, καί οἷον ἐπισφραγίζοντες τήν ὑπέρ Ὀνωρίου γενομένην συνηγορίαν.

Ταῦτα γοῦν ἀπολογησαμένους διαγνούς, ἐθαύμασα λίαν αὐτῶν τήν ἀκρίβειαν, ὥσπερ οὖν καί κατεπλάγην τήν πανουργίαν, τῶν πάντα τολμώντων ὑπέρ ἑνός τοῦ διακενῆς ἀσεβεῖν, καί θελόντων, ὡς ἔθος αὐτοῖς πάλαι καί νῦν, παρακλοπαῖς τισι καί παρεξηγήσεσι τούς ἐκθύμως κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἀγωνιζομένους, τό γε παρά τό εἰκός, εἰς ἑαυτούς ἐπισπᾶσθαι, καί τόν νοῦν σφετερίζεσθαι (15Α_326> μηδαμῶς συνεπόμενον. Ἀναγκαίως οὖν καί τοῦτο μαθών δεδήλωκά σοι, θεοτίμητε Πάτερ, ὡς ἄν διά πάντων φραξάμενος ἔχοις, ὅπως διακρούσῃ τῶν ἐναντίων τάς φάλαγγας, λόγῳ τε βάλλων εὐτόνως καί πίστει κατά κράτος ὑπερνικῶν, δόξαν τε τήν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἐντεῦθεν εἰς ἀνάῤῥησιν ἔχων, καί διάδημα τήν αὐτοῦ κατά χάριν κοινωνίαν καί ἕνωσιν.

Ἀλλ᾿, ᾧ ἱερωτάτη καί τιμία μοι κεφαλή, ταῦτα γνώρισον τῷ ἱεραρχικῶς προκαθημένῳ τῆς ἀμωμήτου ἡμῶν καί ὀρθοδόξου πίστεως, οὗ πάντες οἵ τε πλησίον, καί οἱ μακράν ὑπό τάς πτέρυγας ὁσίως ἐπαναπαυσόμεθα, μόνην κρηπῖδα δογμάτων ἱεροτέρων τήν αὐτοῦ τε καί δι᾿ αὐτοῦ μακαρίαν ἔχοντες ἔλλαμψιν, δι᾿ ἧς πρός τό ἄσκιον φῶς καί Πατρικόν ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ χειραγωγούμεθά τε καί ἀναγόμεθα· πρός αὐτόν ὡς ἀρχηγόν τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν, μετά τόν φύσει καί πρῶτον, ἀποσκοποῦντες, καί τάς τρίβους εὐσεβῶς κατευθύνοντες, εἰς ζωήν ἐπειγόμενοι τήν οὐ φθορᾷ λυομένην, ἀλλ᾿ ἀφθαρσίᾳ συνισταμένην, ἧς ὥσπερ ἐνταῦθα ταῖς θεολήπτοις αὐτοῦ προσευχαῖς, καί ταῖς θεοσόφοις διδασκαλίαις ἐλπίδι μετέχομεν, οὕτω κἀκεῖ τῇ θεουργῷ μεσιτείᾳ καί προσαγωγῇ πείρᾳ κοινωνῆσαι καταξιωθείημεν, κατά τήν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Λόγῳ καί Θεῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ μόνην καί τελείωσιν.

ΠΕΡΙ ΠΟΙΟΤΗΤΟΣ, Ι∆ΙΟΤΗΤΟΣ, ΚΑΙ ∆ΙΑΦΟΡΑΣ, ΘΕΟ∆ΩΡΩ ... Περί ποιότητος, ἰδιότητος, καί διαφορᾶς, Θεοδώρῳ πρεσβυτέρῳ τῷ ἐν

Μαζαρίῳ. (15Α_328> 0246 Οὐκ οἶμαι πρός γνῶσιν ἑτέρου δεῖσθαί τινος τῶν

ἁπάντων τούς ἱερωτάτους ὑμᾶς, ἕν αὐτό ἤδη 0248 δι᾿ ἀρετῆς ἁπλῆς προσβοᾷν κατά νοῦν σοφίζον, τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον, ἐξ οὗπερ καί ἄλλοις τά θεῖα πηγάζετε κατ᾿ ἀπειρόδωρον τῆς σοφίας χύσιν, τῆς τῶν νοημάτων διά προφορᾶς λόγου ποιούμενοι πρόχυσιν, ὡς καί μέχρι τῶν κατ᾿ ἐμέ ταπεινῶν, καί λόγου παντός ἀμοιρούντων ταύτην φιλανθρώπως ἐκτείνειν εὖ μάλα πρός ἐπιστήμην θείαν καί μάθησιν, εἰ καί συγκαταβάσει χρωμένους οἶδα δι᾿ ἐρωτήσεως, ἐφ᾿ ᾧ τε προβιβάσαι, καί ἔτι μᾶλλον πρός τόν οἰκεῖον δι᾿ ἄκρας ὑφέσεως μετεωρίζειν ὕψος τῆς γνώσεως τούς κάτω που κειμένους ἡμᾶς, καί ἀγνοίᾳ πιεζομένους, ὡς ἄν τήν νωθείαν τῇ ὑποβάσει, τῇ τε πνεύσει τήν ἄνοιαν τῆς ἐμῆς ἐκκαθάραντες διανοίας, εἰς ἕξιν ἀγάγοιτε γνωστικήν, καί προθυμίαν εὔτονόν τε και πρακτικήν, ἐξ ὧν τοῖς σωζομένοις ἡ σωτηρία κατά χάριν προσγίνεται, διά τῶν καθ᾿ ὑμᾶς σώζειν τούς ἀξίους ἠξιωμένων.

Λέγω γοῦν περί ὧν ἐκπαιδεύοντες προσεξετάζειν παρεκελεύσασθε, ποιότητός φημι, καί ἰδιότητος καί διαρορᾶς· πολυσχεδῆ μέν τούτων παρά τοῖς ἔξω τυγχάνειν τήν σημασίαν, καί μακρόν ἄν εἴη τάς ἐν τούτοις ἐκείνων διαιρέσεις ἐξαπλοῦν, λόγον τε διατείνειν, ὡς οὐ μᾶλλον ἐπιστολικῆς ταῦτα συμμετρίας, ἤ (15Α_330> γραφικῆς ἀσχολίας τυγχάνοντες. Τοῖς δέ θείοις Πατράσιν, συνεχής τε καί σύντομος ἡ τούτων καθέστηκε δήλωσις, οὐκ ἐπί τινος ὑποκειμένου λαμβανομένη, τουτέστιν οὐσίας καί φύσεως, ἀλλά τῶν τῇ οὐσίᾳ, καί μέντοι γε τῶν τῇ ὑποστάσει θεωρουμένων.