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Since everyone who is deemed worthy to know and see God comes to be in the Unapproachable itself, who is this one who is deemed worthy of such a thing, to approach the Unapproachable and see the Invisible? Is it every God-fearing person? But it was for Moses alone and those like him to be in the divine darkness, while theology by negation belongs to every God-fearing person. But now, after the Lord's visitation in the flesh, it belongs to every person, as has been previously shown. Therefore, this light in the proper sense and the divine darkness itself are something else and incomparably superior to theology by negation. Let it be, however, by as much as Moses surpasses the many in the vision of God. But the one who has come to be in this light sees, and does not see. How, seeing, does he not see? Because, he says, he sees beyond vision, so that in a proper sense he knows and sees, but he does not see transcendently, seeing by no activity of intellect or sense, by the very act of not seeing and not knowing, that is, by such a person having transcended all cognitive activity, coming to be in that which is beyond vision and knowledge, clearly seeing and acting in a better way than we do, as one who has become better than a man and is already God by grace and exists united with God and through God sees God.

Those, therefore, who advocate only the contemplation by negation and who hold that there is no activity or vision beyond this, and who say that this is subordinate to universal knowledge, and that there is no contemplation higher than knowledge, seem to think that those who, according to them, attain this most perfect contemplation by negation do not properly see or know, and possess a privation of knowledge and vision. Thus they have unwittingly declared that true unknowing, and this by privation, is better than all knowledge (p. 510) and take pride in being unknowingly in a state of deficiency. Thus those who do not believe in the greatest light also fall away from the light of knowledge. And indeed, if contemplation by negation and the divine darkness are the same thing, and this contemplation properly provides a privation of seeing, according to those who say that there is no further divine vision, then this divine darkness is also properly and by privation darkness and it renders those who are in it mindless and indeed makes such those who declare such things about it, who, before renouncing the Egyptian and falsely named and barren mother, which the fathers rightly say is to be understood as secular education, before clearly knowing that we live between two enemies and siding with the better ones, before through them attacking the evil ones and putting some to flight and killing and burying them, and fleeing from others (that is, as many of the evil passions as have a natural affinity for us, which, when their causes and cooperating factors are present, become more powerful than us at the beginning), before exposing the wicked use of those who unjustly draw the wisdom of God from the wells of creation, namely, the Greek sages, before dwelling with those who live in peace with one another and do not disagree and speak against one another, that is, with those wise in divine things, before, through withdrawal and stillness, taking charge of their own sheep, that is to say, their thoughts, before running up to the mountain, the summit of our soul, before gazing from afar at the new light, before approaching, before hearing and taking the sandals from their feet, as it is not permitted to touch the holy ground when dead things that do not truly exist are mediating, before the right hand is changed by being placed in the bosom, that is, the intellect entering into itself, before, through the all-powerful staff, that is, faith, utterly destroying the tyrant's power (p. 512) and walking through the salty sea of life with dry feet, before making our embittered and hardened nature a spring of supernatural joy through prayer and God-pleasing action, before tasting the food that flows from above and no longer fleeing the adversaries but

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Ἐπεί δ᾿ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ἀπροσίτῳ γίνεται πᾶς ὁ Θεόν γνῶναι καί ἰδεῖν ἀξιούμενος, τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ τοῦ τοιούτου ἀξιούμενος, προσελθεῖν τῷ ἀπροσίτῳ καί ἰδεῖν τόν ἀόρατον; Ἆρα πᾶς θεοσεβής; Ἀλλά Μωσέως μόνου καί τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτόν τό γενέσθαι ἐν τῷ θείῳ γνόφῳ, ἡ δέ δι᾿ ἀποφάσεως θεολογία παντός ἐστι θεοσεβοῦς˙ νῦν δέ μετά τήν δεσποτικήν διά σαρκός ἐπιδημίαν, καί παντός ἀνθρώπου, ὡς προαποδέδεικται. Ἄλλο ἄρα τό κυρίως τοῦτο φῶς καί ὁ θεῖος αὐτός γνόφος καί ἀσυγκρίτως ὑπερέχον τῆς κατά ἀπόφασιν θεολογίας˙ ἔστω δ᾿ ὅμως ὁπόσον ὁ Μωϋσῆς ὑπερέχει κατά τήν θεοπτίαν τῶν πολλῶν. Ἀλλ᾿ ὁ ἐν τῷ φωτί τούτῳ γεγονός ὁρᾷ, καί οὐχ ὁρᾷ. Πῶς ὁρῶν οὐχ ὁρᾷ; Ὅτι, φησίν, ὑπέρ ὅρασιν ὁρᾷ, ὥστε κυρίως μέν γινώσκει καί ὁρᾷ, οὐχ ὁρᾷ δέ ὑπεροχικῶς, μηδεμιᾷ ἐνεργείᾳ νοῦ τε καί αἰσθήσεως ὁρῶν, αὐτῷ τῷ μή ὁρᾶν μηδέ γινώσκειν, τουτέστι τῷ ὑπερβῆναι τόν τοιοῦτον πᾶσαν γνωστικήν ἐνέργειαν, ἐν τῷ ὑπέρ ὅρασιν καί γνῶσιν γινόμενος, δηλονότι κρειττόνως ἤ καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς καί ὁρῶν καί ἐνεργῶν, ὡς κρεῖττον ἤ κατ᾿ ἄνθρωπον γενόμενος καί Θεός ἤδη κατά χάριν ὤν καί Θεῷ ὑπάρχων ἡνωμένος καί διά Θεοῦ Θεόν ὁρῶν.

Οἱ τοίνυν τήν κατά ἀποφασιν μόνην θεωρίαν πρεσβεύοντες καί περαιτέρω ταύτης μηδεμίαν ἐνέργειαν ἤ ὅρασιν δοξάζοντες, καί ταύτην μέν ὑπό τήν καθόλου γνῶσιν εἶναι λέγοντες, τῆς δέ γνώσεως μηδεμίαν ὑψηλοτέραν θεωρίαν, τούς κατ᾿ αὐτούς τῆς κατά ἀπόφασιν τελεωτάτης ταύτης ἐφικνουμένους θεωρίας κυρίως μή ὁρᾶν μηδέ γινώσκειν ἐοίκασιν οἰόμενοι καί στέρησιν ἔχοντας γνώσεώς τε καί ὁράσεως. Οὐκοῦν ἔλαθον ἑαυτούς τήν ὄντως ἀγνωσίαν, ταύτην δέ κατά στέρησιν, κρεῖττον πάσης γνώσεως (σελ. 510) ἀποφαινόμενοι καί σεμνυνόμενοι τῷ κατ᾿ ἔλλειψιν ἀγνώστως ἔχειν. Οὕτως οἱ τῷ μεγίστῳ μή πιστεύοντες φωτί καί τοῦ φωτός τῆς γνώσεως ἐκπίπτουσι. Καί μήν, εἰ ταὐτόν ἥ τε κατά ἀπόφασιν θεωρία καί ὁ θεῖος γνόφος, αὕτη δέ ἡ θεωρία στέρησιν κυρίως παρέχει τοῦ ὁρᾶν, κατά τούς λέγοντας ὡς οὐκ ἔστι περαιτέρω θεία θέα, οὐκοῦν καί ὁ θεῖος γνόφος οὖτος κυρίως ἐστί καί κατά στέρησιν σκότος καί τούς ἐν αὐτῷ γινομένους ἄφρονας ἀποτελεῖ καί ποιεῖ γε τοιούτους ὡς ἀληθῶς τούς περί αὐτοῦ τοιαῦτα ἀποφαινομένους, οἵ πρίν ἀποτάξασθαι τῇ αἰγυπτίᾳ καί ψευδωνύμῳ καί ἀγόνῳ μητρί, ἥν καλῶς λέγουσιν οἱ πατέρες τήν ἔξω νοεῖσθαι παίδευσιν, πρίν καθαρῶς γνῶναι ὠς δύο πολεμίων μεταξύ βιοτεύομεν καί προσθέσθαι τοῖς κρείττοσι, πρίν δι᾿ αὐτῶν ἐπιθέσθαι τοῖς πονηροῖς καί τούς μέν τρέψασθαι καί φονεῦσαι καί κατορύξαι, τούς δέ φυγεῖν (ὅσα δηλονότι τῶν πονηρῶν παθῶν φυσικήν ἔχοντα πρός ἡμᾶς οἰκειότητα, τῶν αἰτίων καί συνεργούντων παρόντων, ἡμῶν τήν ἀρχήν ἐπικρατέστερα γίνεται), πρίν τήν πονηράν χρῆσιν ἐξελέγξαι τῶν ἀδίκως ἀπό τῶν φρεάτων τῆς κτίσεως τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίαν ἀρυομένων, δηλαδή τῶν καθ᾿ Ἕλληνας σοφῶν, πρίν συνοικῆσαι τοῖς εἰρήνην πρός ἀλλήλους ἄγουσι καί μή διαφωνοῦσι καί ἀντιφωνοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις, τοῖς τά θεῖα δηληνότι σοφοῖς, πρίν δι᾿ ἀναχωρήσεως καί ἡσυχίας ἐπιστῆσαι τῶν οἰκείων προβάτων, ταὐτόν δ᾿ εἰπεῖν νοημάτων, πρίν ἀναδραμεῖν εἰς τό ὄρος, τήν ἀκρότητα τῆς καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ψυχῆς, πρίν πόρρωθεν ἐνατενίσαι τῷ καινῷ φωτί, πρίν προσεγγίσαι, πρίν ἀκοῦσαι καί τά ὑποδήματα τῶν ποδῶν ὑπολύσασθαι, ὡς οὐκ ἐξόν ψαύειν τῆς ἁγίας γῆς, τῶν νεκρῶν καί μή ὄντως ὄντων μεσιτευόντων, πρίν ἀλλοιωθῆναι τήν δεξιάν ἐγκόλπιον γενομένην, τουτέστι τόν νοῦν εἰς ἑαυτόν καταδύντα, πρίν διά τῆς πάντα δυναμένης βακτηρίας, δηλαδή τῆς πίστεως, τό τοῦ τυράννου κράτος (σελ. 512) καθελεῖν κατά κράτος καί τήν ἁλμυράν τοῦ βίου θάλασσαν ποσίν ἀβρόχοις ἐμπεριπατῆσαι, πρίν τήν πικρανθεῖσαν καί σκληρυνθεῖσαν φύσιν ἡμῶν πηγήν ὑπερφυοῦς εὐφροσύνης δι᾿ εὐχῆς καί θεαρέστου πράξεως ἀποτελέσαι, πρίν τῆς ἄνωθεν ἐπιρρεούσης γεύσασθαι τροφῆς καί τούς ἀντιπάλους οὐκέτι φεύγειν ἀλλά