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1.97 (ƒζ΄) To the more diligent students of the divine Scriptures, the Word according to the Lord appears having two forms; the one common and more popular and visible to not a few, according to which it is said, “We saw him, and he had no form nor beauty”; the other more hidden and attainable to a few, to those who have already become like Peter and James and John, the holy apostles, in whose presence the Lord was transfigured to a glory surpassing sense-perception; according to which he is “fair in beauty beyond the sons of men.” 1124 Of these two forms, the first is fitting for beginners; but the second is suited to those perfected in knowledge as far as possible. And the one is an image of the first coming of the Lord, to which must be applied the letter of the Gospel, which purifies the practical through sufferings; but the other is a prefiguration of the second and glorious coming, to which the spirit is understood to apply; which through wisdom transforms the gnostics toward deification; from the transfiguration of the Word within them, beholding the glory of the Lord with unveiled face.

1.98 (ƒη΄) The one who unshakeably perseveres in hardships for the sake of virtue, (14__498> has the first coming of the Word at work in himself, purifying him from every stain; but the one who through contemplation has transferred his intellect to the state of the angels, has the power of the second coming, working in him impassibility and incorruptibility.

1.99 (ƒθ΄) Sensation follows the practical man, who through labor attains the virtues; but insensibility follows the gnostic, who has withdrawn his intellect from the flesh and the world toward God. For the one, struggling through the practical life to release the soul from the natural bonds of its relation to the flesh, has his will continually yielding to the toils; but the other, having pulled out the nails of this relation through contemplation, is not held back by anything at all; having already become pure of that which is by nature subject to suffering and being seized by those who wish to seize it.

1.100 (ρ΄) The manna given to Israel in the desert is the Word of God, adapting to every spiritual delight for those who eat him, and changing to every taste according to the difference of the desire of those eating. For he has the quality of all spiritual food. Therefore, to those born from above from incorruptible seed through the spirit, he becomes pure rational milk; to the weak, he is a vegetable, consoling the passible power of the soul; but to those who through practice have the faculties of the soul trained for the discernment of good and evil, he gives himself as solid food. But the Word of God also has other infinite powers, not contained here; but if someone departs and becomes worthy to be set over many things, or over all things, he will receive all those powers as well, or some of the powers of the Word, because he has been faithful here in a very little. For every summit of the divine gifts given here, in comparison with the things to come, is something very little and moderate.

(14__500> GNOSTIC CHAPTERS, SECOND CENTURY 2.1 (α΄) One God, because one divinity; a Monad without beginning and simple and beyond being;

1125 and without parts and indivisible; the same is Monad and Trinity; the whole is the same Monad, and

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1.97 (ƒζ΄) Τοῖς σπουδαιοτέροις τῶν θείων Γραφῶν ἐπιμεληταῖς, δύο ἔχων ἀναφαίνεται μορφάς ὁ κατά Κύριον Λόγος· τήν μέν κοινήν καί δημωδεστέραν καί οὐκ ὀλίγοις θεατήν, καθ᾿ ἥν λέγεται τό, Εἴδομεν αὐτόν, καί οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδέ κάλλος· τήν δέ κρυφιωτέραν καί ὀλίγοις ἐφικτήν, τοῖς ἤδη κατά Πέτρον καί Ἰάκωβον καί Ἰωάννην, τούς ἁγίους ἀποστόλους γεγονόσιν, ἐφ᾿ ὧν ὁ Κύριος μετεμορφώθη πρός δόξαν νικῶσαν τήν αἴσθησιν· καθ᾿ ἥν ἔστιν ὡραῖος κάλλει παρά τούς υἱούς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. 1124 Τούτων δέ τῶν δύο μορφῶν, ἡ μέν προτέρα, τοῖς εἰσαγομένοις ἁρμόδιος· ἡ δευτέρα δέ, τοῖς κατά τήν γνῶσιν ὡς ἐφικτόν τελειωθεῖσιν ἀνάλογος. Καί ἡ μέν, τῆς πρώτης τοῦ Κυρίου παρουσίας ἐστίν εἰκών, ἐφ᾿ ἧς τό ῥητόν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου θετέον τῆς διά παθημάτων καθαιρούσης τούς πρακτικούς· ἡ δέ, τῆς δευτέρας καί ἐνδόξου παρουσίας ἐστί προδιατύπωσις, ἐφ᾿ ἧς τό πνεῦμα νοεῖται· τῆς διά σοφίας τούς γνωστικούς μεταμορφούσης πρός θέωσιν· ἐκ τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῦ λόγου μεταμορφώσεως, ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τήν δόξαν Κυρίου κατοπτριζομένους.

1.98 (ƒη΄) Ὁ μέν ἀκατασείστως ὑπέρ ἀρετῆς ἐγκαρτερῶν τοῖς δεινοῖς, (14__498> ἐνεργουμένην ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτόν ἔχει τήν πρώτην τοῦ Λόγου παρουσίαν, πάσης αὐτόν κηλίδος καθαίρουσαν· ὁ δέ τόν νοῦν πρός τήν τῶν ἀγγέλων διά θεωρίας μεταβιβάσας κατάστασιν, τῆς δευτέρας ἔχει παρουσίας τήν δύναμιν, ἐνεργοῦσαν αὐτῷ τό ἀπαθές καί ἀνάλωτον.

1.99 (ƒθ΄) Αἴσθησις μέν ἕπεται τῷ πρακτικῷ, διά πόνον κατορθοῦντι τάς ἀρετάς· ἀναισθησία δέ τῷ γνωστικῷ, τόν νοῦν ἀπό τῆς σαρκός καί τοῦ κόσμου συστείλαντι πρός Θεόν. Ὁ μέν γάρ λῦσαι τήν ψυχήν τῶν κατά φύσιν τῆς σχέσεως πρός τήν σάρκα δεσμῶν διά τῆς πρακτικῆς ἀγωνιζόμενος, ἔχει τήν γνώμην τοῖς πόνοις συνεχῶς ἐποκλάζουσαν· ὁ δέ, ταύτης τῆς σχέσεως ἀνασπάσας διά τῆς θεωρίας τούς ἥλους, οὐδενί τό σύνολόν ἐστι καθεκτός· καθαρός ἤδη τοῦ πάσχειν τε καί κρατεῖσθαι πεφυκότος παρά τῶν ἑλεῖν βουλομένων, γενόμενος.

1.100 (ρ΄) Τό μάννα δοθέν τῷ Ἰσραήλ κατά τήν ἔρημον, ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγος ἐστί, πρός πᾶσαν ἡδονήν πνευματικήν ἁρμῶν τοῖς ἐσθίουσιν αὐτόν, καί πρός πᾶσαν γεῦσιν κατά τήν διαφοράν τῆς τῶν ἐσθιόντων ἐπιθυμίας, μετακιρνώμενος. Πάσης γάρ ἔχει πνευματικῆς βρώσεως ποιότητα. ∆ιό τοῖς μέν ἄνωθεν ἐκ σπόρου ἀφθάρτου διά πνεύματος γεννηθεῖσι, λογικόν ἄδολον γίνεται γάλα· τοῖς δέ ἀσθενοῦσι, λάχανον, τήν παθοῦσαν τῆς ψυχῆς παραμυθούμενος δύναμιν· τοῖς δέ διά τήν ἕξιν τά αἰσθητήρια τῆς ψυχῆς γεγυμνασμένα ἔχουσι πρός διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καί κακοῦ, στερεάν ἑαυτόν δίδωσι τροφήν. Ἔχει δέ καί ἄλλας ἀπείρους δυνάμεις ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγος, ἐνταῦθα μή χωρουμένας· ἀναλύσας δέ τις, καί ἄξιος γενόμενος ἐπί πολλῶν, ἤ ἐπί πάντων κατασταθῆναι, λήψεται κἀκείνας ὅλας, ἤ τινας τοῦ λόγου τάς δυνάμεις, διά τό ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ αὐτόν ἐνταῦθα πιστόν γεγονέναι. Πᾶσα γάρ τῶν ἐνταῦθα διδομένων θείων χαρισμάτων ἀκρότης, συγκρίσει τῶν μελλόντων, ἐλάχιστόν τι καί μέτριόν ἐστιν.

(14__500> ΓΝΩΣΤΙΚΑ ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΑ ΕΚΑΤΟΝΤΑΣ Β' 2.1 (α΄) Εἷς Θεός, ὅτι μία θεότης· μονάς ἄναρχος καί ἁπλῆ καί ὑπερούσιος·

1125 καί ἀμερής καί ἀδιαίρετος· ἡ αὐτή μονάς καί Τριάς· ὅλη μονάς ἡ αὐτή, καί