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is sometimes also applied to understanding, Paul, writing to the Romans, says: "For his invisible attributes, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood through what has been made". And Moses, asking God, about whom he had the conception that he is invisible, said: "Show me yourself; that I may see you knowingly", and again: "For he appears to those who do not distrust him"; for if what is seen were of a visible nature, it would be possible for it to appear also to the unbelieving, but now it is said: "He appears to those who do not distrust him", their minds having been illuminated by a divine light. But the matter is the reverse with perceptible things; for first we see them, then, when the impression from the sense perception is formed in the mind, we understand them; but intelligible things present themselves to be known, the mind not taking the initiative except only in preparing itself for understanding but following what has appeared. And sometimes the understanding of God comes also from the comprehension of creation, according to "For from the beauty of created things, their originator is perceived by analogy" and as God appeared to Abram. For the name "God" is for the most part joined with creation as in "In the beginning God made the heaven", and: "God said, ‘Let there be light’", while the title of "Lord" was used when the law was given. Thus, then, having beheld God through the all-harmonious order of the universe, he departed from the polytheistic 218 error, which he had learned from his father, and consequently God presents himself for understanding to the holy one after the instruction from hearing, which occurred in "Go out from your country and from your kindred". And one must consider the hearing of the soul to be the obedient assent to the things suggested, and the eye to be the focus after progress and the most certain apprehension of the teachings. For it must be known that it is possible to know the same things in different ways, in a more introductory way, while making progress, and appropriately for one who has progressed from the understanding of God. He also promises to give the land to the seed, that land about which the Savior said: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth", and in the Psalms: "Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land", but it is clear that this is not the one we walk on and sow, - he was its king, - but the heavenly one, which is the most perfect knowledge of God; this land "the righteous shall inherit and dwell upon it forever and ever" but on the perceptible land this will not be. God therefore promises to give this land to the seed of the holy one, and here by seed he means the child. For a difference is often found between seed and child; for if someone has become someone's child, he has also become his seed, but it is not the case that, because one is seed, one also becomes a child; for it happens that it is not formed nor completed nor imaged, as the scripture says. Just as in corporeal things there is seed that does not become a child and a child that is also seed, so it is also in the things concerning the soul and the mind. The Savior, for instance, says to those who said "we have Abraham as our father": "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham"; for from these one becomes a child. These whom he said were not Abraham's children, he says are his seed, stating: "I know that you are Abraham's 219 seed", so that it is clear that not the seed is also a child, but they are seed inasmuch as they have the succession from Abraham and have reaped their upbringing from him, but they did not imitate his action, though it was possible for them, by using their aptitude, to become children as well. Here, therefore, since a promise is given to the seed, we understand the seed as a child. For instance, it is said in the Psalms: "Seed of Abraham, his servants, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones". But that it is sometimes indicated that the seed is not also a child, Paul writes: "*** but not all are children"; for not all who are from Israel are Israel, but that one about whom the Savior said: "Behold, an Israelite in whom

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τάττεταί ποτε καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ νοεῖν, ὁ Παῦλος Ῥωμαίοις γράφων λέγει· "6Τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασιν νοούμενα καθόραται"6. Καὶ Μωσῆς δὲ ἀξιῶν τὸν Θεόν, περὶ οὗ ἔννοιαν εἶχεν, ὅτι ἀόρατός ἐστιν, ἔλεγεν· "6Ἐμφάνισόν μοι σεαυτόν· γνωστὼς ἴδω σε"6, καὶ πάλιν· "6Ἐμφανίζεται γὰρ τοῖς μὴ ἀπιστοῦσιν αὐτῷ"6· εἰ γὰρ φύσεως ὁρατῆς ἐτύγχανεν τὸ ὁρώμενον καὶ τοῖς ἀπίστοις δυνατὸν ἦν φαίνεσθαι, νῦν δ' εἴρηται· "6Ἐμφανίζεται τοῖς μὴ ἀπιστοῦσιν αὐτῷ"6 καταυγασθεῖσιν ὑπὸ θείου φωτὸς τὴν διάνοιαν. Ἀνάπαλιν δὲ ἔχει τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐπὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν· πρῶτο̣ν̣ μὲν γὰρ αὐτὰ ὁρῶμεν, εἶτα, τοῦ ἐκ τῆς αἰσθήσεως τύπου ἐν διανοι´̣ᾳ γινομένου, νοοῦμεν αὐτά· τὰ δὲ νοητὰ ἑαυτὰ εἰς τὸ γινώ- σκεσθαι παρέχει, τοῦ νοῦ οὐ προκαταρχομένου εἰ <μὴ> μόνον κατὰ τὸ εὐτρεπίζειν ἑαυτὸν εἰς κατανόησιν ἀλλ' ἐπα- κολουθοῦντος τῷ ὀφθέντι. Γίνεται δέ ποτε καὶ ἐκ τῆς κατανοήσεως τῆς δημιουργίας ἡ περὶ Θεοῦ νόησις κατὰ τὸ "6Ἐκ γὰρ καλλονῆς τῶν κτισμάτων ἀναλόγως ὁ γενεσιουργὸς αὐτῶν θεωρεῖται"6 καὶ καθὸ ὁ Θεὸς ὤφθη τῷ Ἀβράμ. Τὸ γὰρ "6Θεὸς"6 ὄνομα ὡς ἐπίπαν συνζεύγνυται τῇ δημιουργίᾳ ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ "6Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν"6, καὶ· "6Εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Γενηθήτω φῶς"6, τῆς τοῦ "6κυρίου"6 προσηγορίας τότε λεγομένης ὅτε ὁ νόμος παρείχετο. Οὕτω γοῦν θεασάμενος διὰ τῆς παν- αρμονίου τάξεως τοῦ παντὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀπέστη τῆς πολυθέου 218 πλάνης, ἣν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς μεμαθήκει, καὶ [ἀ]κολούθως εἰς κατανόησ̣ιν ὁ Θεὸς ἑαυτὸν παρέχει τῷ ἁγίῳ μετὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀκοῆς παίδευσιν, ἥτις ἐγίνετο ἐν τῷ "6Ἔξελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου καὶ ἐκ τ̣ῆς συγγενείας σου"6. Ἀκοὴν δὲ ψυχῆς ἡγητέον τὴν πειθήνιον σ̣υγκατάθεσιν τῶν ὑποβαλλομένων, ὀφθαλμὸν τὴν μετὰ τ̣ὴν προκοπὴν ἐπιβολὴν καὶ κατάλημψιν βεβαιοτάτην τῶν π̣αιδευμάτων. Ἰστέον γὰρ ὅτι τὰ αὐτὰ διαφόρως ἔστιν γνῶν̣αι̣, εἰσαγωγικώτερον, προκόπτοντα, οἰκείως δὲ προκόψαντι ε᾿̣κ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ κατανοήσεως. Κατεπαγγέλλεται καὶ τῷ σπέρμ̣ατι τὴν γῆν δώσειν, γῆν ἐκείνην περὶ ἧς εἶπεν ὁ Σωτήρ· "6Μακάρι̣οι οἱ πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν"6, καὶ ἐν Ψαλμ̣οῖς· "6Ὑπόμεινον τὸν Κύριον καὶ φύλαξον τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ὑψώσ̣ε̣ι σε τοῦ κατακληρονομῆσαι γῆν"6, δῆλον δ' ὡς οὐ ταύτην ἣν π̣α̣τοῦμεν καὶ σπείρομεν, - αὐτῆς ἦν βασιλεύς, -ἀλλὰ τὴν οὐράνι̣ον, ἥτις ἐστὶν γνῶσις Θεοῦ τελειοτάτη̣· ταύτην "6δίκαιοι κληρονο̣μήσουσιν καὶ κατασκηνώσουσιν εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος ἐπ' αὐτήν"6 ἐπ̣ὶ δὲ τῆς αἰσθητῆς τοῦτο οὐκ ἔσται. Ταύτην οὖν κατεπαγγε´̣<λλε>ται Θεὸς τῷ σπέρματι δώσειν τοῦ ἁγίου, σπέρμα δὲ ἐνταῦθ̣α̣ τὸ τέκνον λέγει. ∆ιαφορὰ γὰρ πολλάκις σπέρματος κα̣ι`̣ τέκνου εὑρίσκεται· εἰ γὰρ τέκνον τινός τις γέγονεν, τούτῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ σπέρμα γέγονεν, οὐ μήν, ἐπεὶ σπέρμα, γίνεται καὶ τέκνον· συμ- βαίνει γὰρ μὴ μορ<φω>θῆναι μηδ' ἀποτελεσθῆναι ἢ ἐξεικονισθῆναι, ὡς ἡ γραφή φησιν. Ὥσπερ δὲ ἐν τοῖς σωματικοῖς ἐστιν σπέρμα μὴ γινόμενον τέκνον καὶ τέκνον ὂν καὶ σπέρμα, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ ψυχὴν καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν. Ὁ Σωτὴρ γοῦν λέγει τοῖς εἰποῦσιν ὅτι "6πατέρα ἔχομεν τὸν Ἀβραάμ"6· "6Εἰ τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ ἐστε, τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ποιεῖτε"6· ἐκ γὰρ τούτων τις τέκνον γίνεται. Τούτους οὓς εἶπεν μὴ εἶναι τέκνα Ἀβραάμ, σπέρμα αὐτοῦ λέγει εἶναι φάσκων· "6Οἶδα ὅτι σπέρμα 219 Ἀβραάμ ἐστε"6, ὥστε δῆλον ὡς οὐ τὸ σπέρμα καὶ τέκνο[ν], ἀλλὰ σπέρμα μὲν καθὸ τὴν διαδοχὴν ἐκ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἐσχήκασιν καὶ ἀνατροφὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐκαρπώσαντο, οὐκ ἐμιμήσαντο δὲ τούτου τὴν πρᾶξιν, δυνατὸν δὲ ἦν χρησα- μένους τῇ ἐπιτηδειότητι καὶ τέκνα γενέσθαι. Ἐνταῦθα οὖν, ἐπεὶ ἐπαγγελία δίδοται τῷ σπέρματι, τὸ σπέρμα τέκνον ἐκλαμβάνομεν. Ἐν Ψαλμοῖς γοῦν λέγεται· "6Σπέρμα Ἀβραὰμ δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ, υἱοὶ Ἰακὼβ ἐκλεκτοὶ αὐτοῦ"6. Ὅτι δὲ δηλοῦταί ποτε ὡς οὐ τὸ σπέρμα καὶ τέκνον, Παῦλος γράφει· "6*** ἀλλ' οὐ πάντως τέκνα"6· οὐ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος περὶ οὗ ὁ Σωτὴρ εἶπεν· "6Ἴδε ἄνθρωπος Ἰσραηλίτης, ἐν ᾧ