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The resurrection and glory of Christ is our glory, as has been said, which comes to be and is shown and seen by us through his resurrection in us. For once he has made our things his own, what he does in us, these things he ascribes to himself. The resurrection of the soul is union with life; for just as a dead body, if it does not receive the living soul into itself and is not unmixedly mixed with it, is not said to live nor is it able, so too the soul alone is not able to live by itself, unless it is ineffably and unconfusedly united to God, who is truly eternal life. For before the union in knowledge and sight and perception it is dead, even if it is intelligent and by nature immortal. For there is neither knowledge without sight, nor sight without perception. And what is said is thus: sight and (212) in sight knowledge and perception (and I say this concerning spiritual things, for in bodily things perception also happens without sight). What do I mean? A blind man, striking his foot against a stone, perceives it, but a dead man does not; in spiritual things, however, if the mind does not come to the contemplation of things beyond conception, it does not perceive the mystical energy. Therefore, the one who claims to perceive spiritual things before the contemplation of what is beyond mind and word and conception is like a man blind in his sight, who perceives what he suffers, whether good or evil, but is ignorant of what is in his hands or feet and the causes of life or death that have happened to him; for he in no way perceives the good or evil things that come upon him, being deprived of the power and perception of sight, whence also often, having raised his staff for defense against the enemy, instead of him he sometimes struck his own friend, while the enemy stood before his eyes and laughed at him.
Most people believe in the resurrection of Christ, but very few are they who also see it clearly, and those who have not seen it are not able to worship Jesus Christ as holy and Lord. For it says, "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit," and elsewhere, "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." For the most sacred saying, which we carry on our lips every day, does not say: Having believed in the resurrection of Christ, but what? "Having seen the resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one." How then does the Holy Spirit now urge us to say that we have seen it, (213) which we have not seen: "Having seen the resurrection of Christ," when Christ rose once a thousand years ago and no one saw him rising even then? Does the divine Scripture wish us to lie? Not at all, but rather it exhorts us to speak the truth, that the resurrection of Christ clearly takes place in each one of us who are faithful, and this not simply, but hourly, so to speak, the Master Christ himself rising up within us, shining brightly and flashing forth the lightnings of incorruption and Godhead. For the light-bearing presence of the Spirit indicates, or rather, grants us to see the Risen One himself. This is why we also say: "God is the Lord, and has appeared to us," and signifying his second coming we add and say thus: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." To whom, therefore, Christ appears, having risen, he is certainly shown being seen spiritually by their spiritual eyes. For when he comes to be in us through the Spirit, he raises us from the dead and gives us life and allows us to see him whole and living within us, the immortal and indestructible one; and not only this, but he also grants us to know clearly that he raises us up with himself and glorifies us with himself, as all of divine Scripture testifies.
These, therefore, are the divine mysteries of Christians, this is the hidden power of our faith, which the unbelieving or distrustful or rather, one might say, the half-believing do not see, nor can they ever see it. And the unbelieving, distrustful, and half-believing are these (214): those who do not show their faith through works. For without works
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Ἀνάστασις καί δόξα Χριστοῦ ἡ ἡμετέρα, καθάπερ εἴρηται, δόξα ὑπάρχει, ἡ διά τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν αὐτοῦ ἀναστάσεως γινομένη καί δεικνυμένη καί ὁρωμένη ἡμῖν. Ἅπαξ γάρ οἰκειωσάμενος τά ἡμέτερα, ἅ ποιεῖν ἐν ἡμῖν αὐτός, ταῦτα ἑαυτῷ ἐπιγράφεται. Ἀνάστασις δέ ψυχῆς ἡ ἕνωσίς ἐστι τῆς ζωῆς· ὥσπερ γάρ τό νεκρόν σῶμα, εἰ μή δέξεται ἐν ἑαυτῷ τήν ζῶσαν ψυχήν καί ἀμίκτως ταύτῃ μιγῇ, ζῆν οὐ λέγεται οὐδέ δύναται, οὕτως οὐδέ ψυχή μόνη ζῆν αὐτή καθ᾿ ἑαυτήν δύναται, εἰ μή ἀρρήτως καί ἀσυγχύτως ἑνωθῇ Θεῷ, τῇ ὄντως αἰωνίᾳ ζωῇ. Πρό γάρ τῆς ἐν γνώσει καί ὁράσει καί αἰσθήσει ἑνώσεως νεκρά ἐστιν, εἰ καί νοερά ὑπάρχει καί τῇ φύσει ἀθάνατος. Οὔτε γάρ γνῶσις δίχα ὁράσεως, οὔτε ὅρασις δίχα αἰσθήσεως. Ἔστι δέ τό λεγόμενον οὕτως· ὅρασις καί (212) ἐν τῇ ὁράσει γνῶσις καί αἴσθησις (ἐν τοῖς πνευματικοῖς δέ τοῦτό φημι, ἐν γάρ τοῖς σωματικοῖς καί δίχα ὁράσεως αἴσθησις γίνεται). Οἷόν τι λέγω; Τυφλός εἰς λίθον τόν πόδα κρούων αἰσθάνεται, ὁ δέ νεκρός οὔ· ἐν τοῖς πνευματικοῖς δε εἰ μή εἰς θεωρίαν ἔλθῃ ὁ νοῦς τῶν ὑπέρ ἔννοιαν, τῆς μυστικῆς ἐνεργείας οὐκ αἰσθάνεται. Ὁ οὖν πρό τῆς θεωρίας τῶν ὑπέρ νοῦν καί λόγον καί ἔννοιαν ἐπαισθάνεσθαι λέγων ἐν τοῖς πνευματικοῖς, τῷ τάς ὄψεις πηρῷ ἔοικεν, ὅς ἐν οἷς μέν πάσχει ἀγαθοῖς ἤ κακοῖς ἐπαισθάνεται, ἀγνοεῖ δέ τά ἐν χερσίν ἤ ποσί καί τά παραίτια ζωῆς ἤ θανάτου τούτῳ γενόμενα· τά γάρ ἐπερχόμενα αὐτῷ κακά ἤ ἀγαθά οὐδαμῶς ἐπαισθάνεται τῆς ὀπτικῆς ἐστερημένος δυνάμεως καί αἰσθήσεως, ὅθεν καί πολλάκις τήν ῥάβδον ἐπάρας πρός τήν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ ἄμυναν, ἀντ᾿ ἐκείνου ἔσθ᾿ ὅτε τόν ἑαυτοῦ φίλον μᾶλλον ἐτύπτησε, τοῦ ἐχθροῦ πρό τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ ἱσταμένου καί διαγελῶντος αὐτόν.
Ἀνάστασιν Χριστοῦ οἱ πλείονες μέν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πιστεύουσιν, ὀλίγοι δέ λίαν εἰσίν οἱ καί ταύτην βλέποντες καθαρῶς, οἱ δέ γε μή θεασάμενοι οὐδέ προσκυνεῖν δύνανται, ὡς ἅγιον καί Κύριον, τόν Χριστόν Ἰησοῦν· "Οὐδείς γάρ, φησί, δύναται εἰπεῖν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν, εἰ μή ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ", καί ἀλλαχοῦ· "Πνεῦμα ὁ Θεός, καί τούς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτόν ἐν πνεύματι καί ἀληθείᾳ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν". Οὐδέ γάρ λέγει τό ἱερώτατον λόγιον, ὅ καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ἐπί στόματος περιφέρομεν· Ἀνάστασιν Χριστοῦ πιστεύσαντες, ἀλλά τι; "Ἀνάστασιν Χριστοῦ θεασάμενοι, προσκυνήσωμεν ἅγιον Κύριον Ἰησοῦν, τόν μόνον ἀναμάρτητον". Πῶς οὖν προτρέπεται νῦν ἡμᾶς τό Πνεῦμα λέγειν τό Ἅγιον ὡς αὐτήν ἰδόντες, (213) ἥνπερ οὐκ εἴδομεν· "Ἀνάστασιν Χριστοῦ θεασάμενοι", ἅπαξ πρό χιλίων ἐτῶν ἀναστάντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ καί μηδέ τότε τοῦτον ἀνιστάμενον ἰδόντος τινός; Ἆρα μή ψεύδεσθαι ἡμᾶς βούλεται ἡ θεία Γραφή; Ἄπαγε, ἀλλ᾿ ἀληθεύειν μᾶλλον παρεγγυᾷ, ὡς ἐν ἑνί ἑκάστῳ ἡμῶν τῶν πιστῶν ἐγγινομένης δηλονότι τῆς Χριστοῦ ἀναστάσεως καί τοῦτο οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλά καθ᾿ ὥραν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, αὐτοῦ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ἐξανισταμένου, λαμπροφοροῦντος καί ἀπαστράπτοντος τάς τῆς ἀφθαρσίας καί Θεότητος ἀστραπάς. Ἡ φωτοφόρος γάρ παρουσία τοῦ Πνεύματος ὑποδεικνύει, μᾶλλον δέ αὐτόν ἐκεῖνον τόν ἀναστάντα ὁρᾷν χαρίζεται. ∆ιό καί λέγομεν·"Θεός Κύριος καί ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν", καί τήν δευτέραν αὐτοῦ ὑποσημαίνοντες παρουσίαν ἐπιφέροντες οὕτω λέγομεν· "Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου". Οἷς οὖν ἐπιφανῇ ὁ Χριστός ἐξαναστάς, πάντως πνευματικῶς αὐτοῖς τοῖς πνευματικοῖς ὄμμασι ὁρώμενος δείκνυται. Ὅταν γάρ ἐν ἡμῖν διά τοῦ Πνεύματος γένηται, ἀνιστᾷ ἡμᾶς ἐκ νεκρῶν καί ζωοποιεῖ καί αὐτόν ἐν ἡμῖν ὅλον ὁρᾷν ζῶντα δίδωσι, τόν ἀθάνατον καί ἀνώλεθρον, οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλά καί συνανιστῶντα καί συνδοξάζοντα ἡμᾶς ἑαυτῷ τρανῶς γινώσκειν χαρίζεται, καθώς πᾶσα θεία Γραφή μαρτυρεῖ.
Ταῦτα τοίνυν εἰσί τά τῶν χριστιανῶν θεῖα μυστήρια, αὕτη ἡ ἐγκεκρυμμένη τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν δύναμις, ἥν οἱ ἄπιστοι ἤ δύσπιστοι ἤ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν ἡμίπιστοι οὐχ ὁρῶσιν, οὔτε μήν ἰδεῖν οὐδαμῶς δύνανται. Ἄπιστοι δέ, δύσπιστοι καί ἡμίπιστοι, οὗτοί (214) εἰσιν οἱ μή διά τῶν ἔργων τήν πίστιν ἐπιδεικνύμενοι. Ἔργων γάρ δίχα