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book; And in her left hand, wealth and glory; and those on the right, those who have received the immaterial knowledge of intelligible things, pure from sensible imagination; for in her right hand, he says, are years of life; and those before, who, through an exceeding erotic fervor of the intellectual desire for the divine beauty, were deemed worthy of face to face enjoyment. And if there is another greater and higher account concerning this, it is to be grasped by you and by the divine men among you.

SCHOLION. 1. He says that fear is twofold, the one pure, the other not pure; because of

men, some are sinners, and others righteous; of whom the righteous, because of the pure and unstained conscience, keep within themselves the first fear toward the Divine, revering it on account of the exceeding preeminence of His infinite power; but the sinners, according to the second fear, expecting from Him punishments for their transgressions. And that the pure fear remains forever and is indelible, according to, The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever and ever; but the not pure, that it is perishable and not lasting, being effaced through repentance. Therefore, the Apostle says that he who fears in love is not perfect, according to the not pure fear; but the Prophet, that there is no want to them that fear the Lord, according to the pure fear.

QUESTION 11.

What is the dominion of the angels who did not keep it, and what is the dwelling they abandoned? and what are the everlasting chains? and what is the gloom under which they are kept? and what will they suffer in the judgment of the great day?

Answer. The precise account of these things, let it be reserved for those alone who are apostolic in mind,

those taught directly by the Word, both the unerring knowledge of beings, and the good and just administration of the clear (wise) providence over beings; as those who have left no impeding partition in their mind between themselves and the Word. But as far as it reaches me below, who have many hindrances to the passage of the Word to me, the dominion of the angels who did not keep it is, perhaps, the principle according to which they were created; or the natural dominion given to them by grace for deification; or again, the order of their station according to the worthiness of grace; and their dwelling is, either heaven, or the wisdom which consists in the possession of goods beyond conception, which they were created to inhabit; for the Word knows to call even wisdom a house; or the guardianship of the pure divinity over the natural and (293) acquired goods given to them, which they abandoned when they became tyrants; and the everlasting chains are their complete and perpetual immobility, according to their will, with respect to the good, by which they in no way and at no time enjoy divine repose; or again, that which, for our salvation, restrains them from their madness against us, from advancing the devices of their wickedness against us; and the gloom is the complete and entire ignorance of divine grace; in which they, being wholly determined by their will, are deprived of the transmission of the blessed and all-radiant of the unblemished light; having expended on non-being all the intellectual power given to them by nature. And what they will suffer on the fearful day of judgment, only the just Judge knows, who appoints to each a just reward according to his worth, and who fittingly distributes the form of punishment equal to the measure of wickedness

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βίβλος· Ἐν δέ τῇ ἀριστερᾷ αὐτῆς, πλοῦτος καί δόξα· τούς ἐκ δεξιῶν δέ, τούς καθαράν αἰσθητῆς φαντασίας δεξαμένους τήν ἄϋλον γνῶσιν τῶν νοητῶν· ἐν γάρ τῇ δεξιᾷ αὐτῆς, φησίν, ἔτη ζωῆς· τούς δέ ἔμπροσθεν τούς δι᾿ ὑπερβάλλουσαν περί τό θεῖον κάλλος ἐρωτικήν τῆς κατά νοοῦν ἐφέσεως ζέσιν, ἀξιωθέντας τῆς πρόσωπον πρός πρόσωπον ἀπολαύσεως. Εἰ δέ καί ἄλλος ἐστί περί τούτου μείζων λόγος καί ὑψηλότερος, ὑμῖν καί τοῖς καθ᾿ ὑμᾶς θείοις ἀνδράσιν ἐστί ληπτός.

ΣΧΟΛΙΟΝ. α ΄. ∆ιττόν εἶναί φησι τόν φόβον, τόν μέν ἁγνόν, τόν δέ οὐχ ἁγνόν· ἐπειδή τῶν

ἀνθρώπων, οἱ μέν εἰσίν ἁμαρτωλοί, οἱ δέ δίκαιοι· ὧν οἱ μέν δίκαιοι, διά τό καθαρόν καί ἄῤῥυπον τῆς συνειδήσεως τόν πρῶτον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς φυλάττουσι πρός τό Θεῖον φόβον, αἰδούμενοι τοῦτον διά τήν ὑπερβάλλουσαν ὑπεροχήν τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀπείρου, δυνάμεως· οἱ δέ ἁμαρτωλοί, κατά τόν δεύτερον φόβον, ἀπεκδεχόμενοι παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τάς ἐπί πλημμελήμασι τιμωρίας. Καί τόν μέν ἁγνόν φόβον διαμένειν ἀεί καί ἀνεξάλειπτον εἶναι, κατά τό, Ὁ φόβος Κυρίου ἁγνός, διαμένων εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος· τόν δέ οὐχ ἁγνόν, ἐξίτηλον εἶναι καί ἀνεπίμονον, διά τῆς μετανοίας ἀφανιζόμενον. Τόν μέν οὖν Ἀπόστολον, μή τέλειον εἶναι φάναι τόν φοβούμενον ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῇ, κατά τόν οὐχ ἁγνόν φόβον· τόν δέ Προφήτην, μή εἶναι, ὑστέρημα τοῖς φοβουμένοις τόν Κύριον, κατά τόν ἁγνόν φόβον.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΙΑ΄.

Τίς ἡ ἀρχή τῶν μή τηρησάντων αὐτήν ἀγγέλων, καί τί τό οἰκητήριον ὅ ἀπέλιπον; καί τίνες οἱ ἀΐδιοι δεσμοί; καί τίς ὁ ζόφος, ὑφ᾿ ὅν τετήρηνται; καί τί ἐν τῇ κρίσει τῆς μεγάλης ἡμέρας πείσονται;

Ἀπόκρισις. Ὁ μέν ἀκριβής περί τούτων λόγος, τοῖς ἀποστολικοῖς τήν διάνοιαν μόνοις ἔστω

τετηρημένος, τοῖς ἀμέσως παρά τοῦ Λόγου διδαχθεῖσι, τήν τε τῶν ὄντων γνῶσιν ἀψευδῆ, καί τῆς ἐπί τοῖς οὖσι σαφῶς (σοφῆς) προνοίας τήν ἀγαθήν καί δικαίαν διεξαγωγήν· οἷα μηδέν ἑαυτῶν καί τοῦ Λόγου κατά νοῦν ἀφεῖσι κωλυτικόν διατείχισμα. Ὅσον δ᾿ οὖν εἰς ἐμέ φθάνει τόν κάτω, καί πολλά ἔχοντα τῆς τοῦ Λόγου πρός μέ κωλύματα διαβάσεως, ἀρχή τῶν μή τηρησάντων αὐτήν ἀγγέλων ἐστίν, ὀ λόγος τυχόν, καθ᾿ ὅν ἐκτίσθησαν· ἤ ἡ δοθεῖσα πρός ἐκθέωσιν αὐτοῖς κατά χάριν φυσική δυναστεία· ἤ πάλιν, ἡ κατά τήν ἀξίαν τῆς χάριτος τάξις τῆς στάσεως· τό δέ οἰκητήριον ἐστιν, ἤ ὁ οὐρανός, ἤ ἡ κατά τήν ἕξιν τῶν ὑπέρ ἔννοιαν ἀγαθῶν σοφία, ἥν οἰκεῖν ἐδημιουργήθησαν· οἶδε γάρ καί σοφίαν οἶκον ὀνομάζειν ὁ λόγος· ἤ ἡ φρουρητική τῶν δοθέντων αὐτοῖς φυσικῶν τε καί (293) ἐπικτήτων ἀγαθῶν ἐπισκοπή τῆς ἀχράντου θεότητος, ἥν ἀπέλιπον τυραννήσαντες· ἀΐδιοι δέ δεσμοί εἰσιν, ἡ κατά γνώμην αὐτῶν παντελής τε καί διηνεκής περί τό καλόν ἀκινησία, καθ᾿ ἥν οὐδαμῶς οὐδέ ποτε θείας ἀνέσεως ἀπολαύουσιν· ἤ πάλιν, ἡ διά τήν ἡμῶν σωτηρίαν τῆς καθ᾿ ἡμῶν μανίας αὐτούς ἐπέχουσα προβῆναι τῆς αὐτῶν πονηρίας τά καθ᾿ ἡμῶν μηχανήματα· ζόφος δέ ἐστιν, ἡ παντελής καί ὁλόκληρος τῆς θείας ἄγνοια χάριτος· καθ᾿ ἥν διόλου γνωμικῶς ποιωθέντες, τῆς μακαρίας καί παμφαοῦς τοῦ ἀκηράτου φωτός ἐστέρηνται διαδόσεως· περί τό μή ὄν, πᾶσαν τήν δοθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς κατά φύσιν νοεράν δύναμιν ἀναλώσαντες. Τί δέ πείσονται κατά τήν φοβεράν ἡμέραν τῆς κρίσεως, μόνος οἶδεν ὁ δίκαιος Κριτής, ὁ κατ᾿ ἀξίαν ἑκάστῳ δικαίαν ἀφορίζων τήν ἀμοιβήν, καί τῷ μέτρῳ τῆς κακίας ἴσον πρεπόντως τό εἶδος διανέμων