90

having been taught together from the contemplation of beings, the cause of beings, and the properties of the cause according to nature, I mean the power, and the divinity. Therefore creation cries out through the works within it, and as it were announces to those able to hear with the mind, its own cause hymned in a triadic manner; I mean God the Father, and his ineffable power and divinity, that is, the only-begotten Word and the Holy Spirit. For these are the invisible things of God which are perceived by the mind from the creation of the world.

SCHOLION. 1. That from beings, he says, we know the cause of beings; and from the difference

of beings we are taught the hypostatic wisdom of the being; and from the natural movement of beings, we learn the hypostatic life of the being, the life-giving power of beings, the Holy Spirit.

QUESTION 14.

What is, "And they revered and served the creature rather than the Creator?" What is reverence, and what is service?

Response. Reverence is the veneration of the Divine with faith; and service, the therapy through works.

therapy. But men, having transferred this reverence, that is, faith, to creation, venerated it rather than the Creator (297) [Fr. they used to venerate], believing in demons; and they served, offering them therapy through wicked works. But we, revering God through faith in him, let us be eager also to offer him a pure service, the way of life perfected through virtues.

QUESTION 15.

What is, "For your incorruptible Spirit is in all things; wherefore those who fall away, you convict little by little." If he speaks concerning the Holy Spirit, how will wisdom not enter into an undiscerning heart, nor dwell in a body that is in debt to sins? But we noted (Fr. I noted) this, because of the simple statement, "In all things."

Response. The Holy Spirit is absent from none of the beings; and especially from those of reason

who have partaken in any way; For it is what holds together the generation of each, because as God and Spirit of God it proceeds through all things by its providential power, and stirs up the natural principle in each, and through it leads the one who perceives to an awareness of things done amiss against the ordinance of nature; the one having a will (Fr. and the will) pliant for the reception of right reasonings from nature. Indeed we find many even of the most barbarian and nomadic men, laying claim to goodness and nobility, and rejecting the beastly laws that have prevailed among them from of old. Thus, therefore, the Holy Spirit is simply in all things.

But in a more specific way and according to another concept, it is in all who are according to the law as legislative, and as foretelling future mysteries, producing in them, on the one hand, a perception of the transgression of the commandments, and on the other, knowledge of the perfection foretold (Reg. and Fr. addressed) according to Christ; whence also from these, many

90

συνδιδαχθέντες ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὄντων θεωρίας, τήν αἰτίαν τῶν ὄντων, καί τά κατά φύσιν τῆς αἰτίας ἴδια, τήν δύναμιν λέγω, καί τήν θειότητα. Βοᾷ τοίνυν ἡ κτίσις διά τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ ποιημάτων, καί οἷον ἀπαγγέλλει τοῖς νοερῶς δυναμένοις ἀκούειν, τήν ἰδίαν αἰτίαν τριαδικῶς ὑμνουμένην· λέγω δέ τόν Θεόν καί Πατέρα, καί τήν ἄφραστον αὐτοῦ δύναμιν καί τήν θειότητα, ἤγουν τόν μονογενῆ Λόγον καί τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον. Ταῦτα γάρ ἐστι τά ἀόρατα τοῦ Θεοῦ τά ἀπό τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ κόσμου νοήσει καθορώμενα.

ΣΧΟΛΙΟΝ. α΄. Ὅτι ἐκ τῶν ὄντων, φησί, τῶν ὄντων γινώσκομεν αἴτιον· καί ἐκ τῆς διαφορᾶς

τῶν ὄντων τήν ἐνυπόστατον τοῦ ὄντος διδασκόμεθα σοφίαν· καί ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὄντων φυσικῶς κινήσεως, τήν ἐνυπόστατον τοῦ ὄντος μανθάνομεν ζωήν, τήν τῶν ὄντων ζωοποιόν δύναμιν, τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Ι∆΄ .

Τί ἐστι, "Καί ἐσεβάσθησαν καί ἐλάτρευσαν τῇ κτίσει παρά τόν Κτίσαντα;" Τί ἐστι σέβας, καί τί ἐστι λατρεία;

Ἀπόκρισις. Σέβας ἐστίν ἡ μετά πίστεως προσκύνησις τοῦ Θείου· λατρεία δέ, ἡ διά τῶν ἔργων

θεραπεία. Τοῦτο δέ τό σέβας, ἤγουν τήν πίστιν, ἐπί τήν κτίσιν μεταβιβάσαντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι, παρά τόν Κτίσαντα (297) προσκύνησαν [Fr. προσεκύνουν], πιστεύοντες δαιμονίοις· καί ἐλάτρευον, τήν διά τῶν πονηρῶν ἔργων αὐτοῖς θεραπείαν προσάγοντες. Ἡμεῖς δέ τόν Θεόν σέβοντες, διά τῆς εἰς αὐτόν Πίστεως, σπουδάσωμεν καί λατρείαν αὐτῷ προσάγειν καθαράν, τήν διά τῶν ἀρετῶν τετελειωμένην πολιτείαν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΙΕ΄ .

Τί ἐστι, "Τό γάρ ἄφθαρτόν σου Πνεῦμα ἐστιν ἐν πᾶσι· διό τούς παραπίπτοντας, κατά μικρόν ἐλέγχεις." Εἰ περί τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος λέγει, πῶς εἰς ἀσύνετον καρδίαν σοφία οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται, οὐδέ κατοικήσει ἐν σώματι κατάχρεῳ ἁμαρτίαις; ἐσημειωσάμεθα (Fr. ἐσημειωσάμην) δέ τοῦτο, διά τό ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, " Ἐν πᾶσιν."

Ἀπόκρισις. Τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον, οὐδενός ἄπεστι τῶν ὄντων· καί μάλιστα τῶν λόγου

καθοτιοῦν μετειληφότων· Συνεκτικόν γάρ ὑπάρχει τῆς ἑκάστου γενέσεως, ὅτι Θεός καί Θεοῦ Πνεῦμα κατά δύναμιν προνοητικήν διά πάντων χωροῦν, καί τόν ἐν ἑκάστῳ κατά φύσιν λόγον ἀνακινοῦν, καί δι᾿ αὐτοῦ πρός συναίσθησιν τῶν πλημμελῶς παρά τόν θεσμόν τῆς φύσεως πεπραγμένων ἄγον τό αἰσθανόμενον· τόν τήν προαίρεσιν (Fr. καί τήν προαίρ.) εὔεικτον ἔχοντα πρός ὑποδοχήν τῶν ἐκ φύσεως ὀρθῶν λογισμῶν. Ἀμέλει τοι πολλούς εὑρίσκομεν καί τῶν ἄγαν βαρβάρων καί νομάδων ἀνθρώπων, καλοκἀγαθίας μεταποιουμένους, καί τούς ἀνέκαθεν κρατήσαντας τούς ἐν αὐτοῖς θηριώδεις ἀθετοῦντας νόμους. Οὔτω μέν οὖν ἐν πᾶσιν ἁπλῶς ἐστι τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον.

Προσδιωρισμένως δέ καί κατ᾿ ἄλλην ἐπίνοιάν ἐστιν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς κατά νόμον ὡς νομοθετικόν, καί προαγορευτικόν μελλόντων μυστηρίων, ἐμποιοῦν αὐτοῖς, αἴσθησιν μέν τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν παραβάσεως, ἐπιστήμην δέ, τῆς προαγορευθείσης (Reg. et Fr. προσαγορ.) κατά Χριστόν τελειότητος· ὅθεν κἀκ τούτων πολλούς