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your sins are forgiven". He has given a renewing power. And the energy, when it came, destroyed the evil. Therefore, blessed are those whose sins are forgiven. Henceforth they hold to the blameless law of God which converts souls. Therefore, forgiveness of sins happens when the divine law according to the Gospel comes; for this is the "spiritual law" by which souls are converted, as I said. And the sins that arise and increase through transgression of the law have a covering. The sins are covered. But it is impossible for those once baptized to receive the washing again. But they are covered through works of repentance. But you say that the sins, having been covered, are preserved under the covering. Does not "love," it says, "cover a multitude of of sins"? For it does not completely obliterate the sins, but in another way; for the one who loves labors at works of love; for surely one who shows love toward his neighbor does not speak ill of him, revile him, wrong him. But when he does this, this person has no love for him. All these things are covered, no longer being active, not that they are rooted, hidden by it, but 159 love, having come, has hidden those things, that is, it has removed them, it has made them external. But if one must also speak minutely, love, having come, stops sin in its activity, while the potentiality henceforth is preserved. If anything is covered, it is the activity; for instance, the repentant thief had sin in its activity; he repented; the Savior gave him forgiveness; the activities by which he robbed were cast away. But the potentialities remain, and they are covered. For one must not heed those who say that evil is a privation. There are some, and a whole heresy of the _0__Σ_τ_ο0_1___∆_ω_ν_α_τ_1ικῶν saying this: "It is impossible for one who has lost virtue to regain it." Just as it is impossible for one who has lost a sense to regain it, and for this reason blindness and deafness are a privation, so also they think concerning virtue. But to us, as many as are simpler, or rather unlearnedly talkative, they say that such a thing is no longer possible; for they say that after these things there is no repentance, it is not possible to regain virtue, but for ages of ages the evil remains and brings appropriate punishment. Therefore, sins are covered in this way which I mentioned; they come into potentiality; for it is a blessed thing to have the potentiality for evil. Opposites are incompatible. He who has virtue in activity has the potentiality for evil, and this is indeed a blessed thing. Therefore, one must not have virtue in potentiality, but in activity. For this reason also from the beginning God, having made man "in his own image and likeness" and "upright," wherefore, just as the good was readily available, he immediately also gave a law prohibitive of sin, so that sin might always remain in potentiality. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, nor is there deceit in his mouth. Paul took this up concerning those of the circumcision and concerning the Gentiles; "This blessing," he says, "is upon the circumcision and upon the uncircumcision." He took it to refer to the law, the good, in that context of the saying, to the good law. Those from the Gentiles are without law; for "though not having the law, they are a law to themselves". But when they were called to the true one, not to the one according to the common notion, they are no longer without law. And the blessing can be for both of the lawless, the Gentiles, or for those having covered sins, the Jews. But they had the law before, so that a distinction is made between the circumcision and the uncircumcision. And this existed before the Gospel when the race of men was divided into two men, into the circumcised and the uncircumcised. But when our Lord was pleased to come, he joined both orders, creating the two into one new man. The new is not Gentile, the new is not from the circumcision, but one new, just as also in the beginning there was one man; for there was no difference between circumcision and uncircumcision then. Therefore, just as the one from circumcision and the Greek into one new

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ἀφέθησάν σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι". δύναμιν δέδωκεν καινοποιοῦσαν. ἡ ἐνέργεια δὲ προσγεν̣ομένη ἔφθειρεν τὴν κακίαν. μακαρίζονται οὖν ἐκεῖνοι ὧν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἀφέθησαν. λοιπὸν ἐπανέχου̣σιν τῷ ἀμώμῳ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ ἐπιστρέφοντι ψυχάς. ἄφεσις οὖν ἁμαρτιῶν γίνεται ὅταν προσέλθῃ θεῖος νόμος ὁ κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ὁ "πνευματικὸς νόμος" ᾧ ψυχαὶ ἐπιστρέφονται, ὡς εἶπον. καὶ αἱ κατὰ παράβασιν νόμου ἐπιγινόμεναι καὶ ἐπιδιδόμεναι ἁμαρτίαι ἔχουσιν ἐπίκρυψιν. αἱ μὲν ἁμαρτίαι ἐπικρύβονται. ἀδύνατον δὲ τοὺς ἅπαξ βαπτισθέντας πάλιν τυχεῖν τοῦ λουτροῦ. ἐπικρύβονται δὲ δι' ἔργων μετανοίας. ἀλλὰ λέγεις ὅτι ἐπικεκρυμμέναι μὲν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑπὸ τὸ κάλυμμα σῴζονται. οὐχὶ "ἀγάπη", φησίν, "καλύπτει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν"; μὴ γὰρ καθάπαξ ἀφανίζει τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ἀλλ' ἑτέρῳ τρόπῳ· ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν ἔργα ἀγάπης ἐκπονεῖ· οὐ γάρ που δεικνύων τις ἀγάπην πρὸς τὸν πλησίον καταλαλεῖ αὐτοῦ, λοιδορεῖ αὐτόν, ἀδικεῖ. ὅταν δὲ τοῦτο ποιῇ, ἔχει οὗτος μὴ ἀγάπην εἰς αὐτόν. ἐπικρύβεται ταῦτα πάντα οὐκέτι ἐνεργούμενα, οὐχ ὅτ̣ι πεπρεμνισμένα εἰσὶν κρυπτόμενα ὑπ' αὐτῆς, ἀλλ' 159 ἡ ἀγάπη ἐπελθοῦσα ἔκρυψεν ἐκεῖνα, τουτέστιν ἀπέστησεν αὐτά, ἔξω αὐτὰ πεποίηκεν. εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ μικρολογήσασθαι, η῾̣ ἀγάπη ἐπελθοῦσα παύ ει τὴν κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτίαν σῳζομένης λοιπὸν τῆς δυνάμεως. εἴ τις ἐπικρύβεται, ἡ ἐνέργεια· οἷον ὁ μετανοήσας λῃστὴς εἶχε κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτίαν· μετάνοιαν ἔσχεν· ὁ σωτὴρ ἄφεσιν αὐτῷ ἔδωκεν· αἱ ἐνέργειαι καθ' ἃς ἐλῄστευεν, ἀπεβλήθησαν. μένουσιν δὲ αἱ δυνάμεις, ἐπικρύβο̣ν̣τ̣αι δέ. οὐ γὰρ προσεκτέον τοῖς λέγουσιν ὅτι στέρησίς ἐστιν ἡ κακία. εἰσίν τινες, καὶ αἵρεσίς γε ὅλη τῶν _0__Σ_τ_ο0_1___∆_ω_ν_α_τ_1ικῶν τοῦτο λέγουσα ὅτι· "ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν τὸν ἀποβαλόντα ἀρετὴν ἀναλαβεῖν". ὡς ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν τὸν αἴσθησιν ἀποβαλόντα ἀναλαβεῖν, καὶ δια`̣ τ̣οῦτο στέρησις ἡ τυφλότης καὶ ἡ κωφότης, οὕτω καὶ περὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς διανοοῦνται. ἡμῖν δέ, ὅσοι ἁπλούςτεροι, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀμαθοφλύαροι, λέγουσιν ὅτι οὐκέτι ἔνι τοιοῦτο· λέγουσιν γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ ἔνι μετὰ ταῦτα μετάνοια, οὐκ ἔνι ἀναλαβεῖν ἀρετήν, ἀλλὰ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων μένει ἡ κακία καὶ φέρει κατάλληλον κόλασιν. ἐπικρύβονται οὖν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι τούτῳ ᾧ εἶπον τρόπῳ· εἰς δύναμιν ἐ´̣ρχονται· μακάριον γάρ ἐστιν τὸ δύναμιν ἔχειν κακίας. ἀσυνύπαρκτά ἐστιν τὰ ἐναντία. ὁ ἔχων κατ' ε᾿̣νέργειαν τὴν ἀρετήν, δύναμιν ἔχει κακίας, καὶ μακάριόν γέ ἐστιν τοῦτο. οὐ δεῖ οὖν δυνάμει ἔχειν τὴν ἀρετήν, ἀλλ' ἐνεργείᾳ. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁ θεὸς ποιήσας τὸν ἄν θρωπον "κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν" τὴν ἑαυτου῀̣ κ̣αὶ "εὐθῆ", διὸ ὥσπερ ἐν προχρείᾳ ἦν τὸ ἀγαθόν, εὐθὺς καὶ νόμον δέδωκεν κωλυτικὸν ἁμαρτίας, ἵν' ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀε̣ὶ ἐν δυνάμει μένῃ. 2 μακάριος ἀνήρ, ᾧ οὐ μὴ λογίσηται κύριος ἁμαρτίαν, οὐδὲ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ δόλος. ἔλαβεν αὐτὸ ὁ Παῦλος περὶ τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν· "ὁ μακαρισμός", λέγει, "οὗτος ἐπὶ τὴν περιτομὴν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκροβυστίαν". ἐπὶ νόμον ἔλαβεν ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ εἰργμῷ τοῦ ῥητοῦ τὸν ἀγαθόν, ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγαθὸν νόμον. ἄνομοί εἰσιν οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν· "νόμον" γὰρ "μὴ ἔχοντες ἑαυτοῖς εἰσιν νόμος". ὡς δὲ προσεκλήθησαν τῷ ἀληθιν̣ῷ, οὐ τῷ κατὰ τὴν κοινὴν ἔννοιαν, οὐκέτι ἄνομοί εἰσιν. δύναται δὲ ὁ μακαρισμὸς ἀμφοτέρων εἶναι τω῀̣ν ἀνόμων, τῶν ἐθνῶν ἢ τῶν ἁμαρτίας ἐχόντων ἐπικρυβομένας, τῶν Ἰουδαίων. ἔσχον δὲ νόμον̣ πρ̣ο´̣τεροι ὥστε διαστολὴ τῆς περιτομῆς πρὸς τὴν ἀκροβυστίαν γίνεται. ὑπῆρχε δὲ τοῦτο πρὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ὅτε τὸ τ̣ῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος εἰς δύο ἀνθρώπους διῄρητο, εἰς περίτομον καὶ ἀκρόβυστον. ὅτε δὲ ἐλθ̣εῖν εὐδόκησεν ὁ κύριος̣ ἡμῶν, ἀμφότερα τὰ τάγματα συνῆψεν τοὺς δύο εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον κτίσας. ὁ καινὸς οὔκ ἐστιν ἐθνικός, ὁ καινὸς οὔκ ἐστιν ἐκ περιτομῆς, ἀλλ' εἷς καινὸς ὥσπερ καὶ γέγονεν ἐν ἀρχῇ εἷς ἄνθρωπος· οὐ γὰρ ἦν διαφορ̣ὰ περιτομῆς καὶ ἀκροβυστίας τότε. ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ ἐκ περιτομῆς καὶ ὁ Ἕλλην εἰς ἕνα καινὸν