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For I am (268) everywhere inseparable and indivisible, possessing unity even in the hypostases. If, then, you are somehow or somewhere in me, you might say you do not know someone. Insofar as I am a man and one who is circumscribed, I exist in circumscription and place, for the one of us became circumscribed when he became mortal; but according to the nature within me, I am entirely invisible, uncircumscribable, without form, intangible, untouchable, motionless, ever-moving, filling all things and being nowhere at all, not in you, not in any other of the angels or prophets of old or those who now draw near, to whom I have not been seen at all, nor am I ever seen".

He, therefore, who mystically sees these things and is initiated into what is beyond angels, what is beyond human comprehension, will such a one be able at all to be with men in his senses or in his thought? For if one deemed worthy ever to converse with and stand before a mortal king forgets all other things and hangs entirely on the king's words, how much more one deemed worthy to see that very maker and master and Lord of all, "whom no man has seen or can see," as far as is possible for a man, and to converse with him and to hear his voice, who is to judge the living and the dead, will he not be beside himself and truly become entirely outside the world and the flesh and long to be with him? But having departed from one so great and of such a kind, who is beyond all that is so great and of such a kind, would he come to the cares of this life and concern himself at all with things that are perishable or passing away and fleeting? I think no one of sound mind would ever consent to come to this.

For the good things in this life admittedly have consequences and have allotted to them sorrow and despondency and pain, but life (269) with God and conversation and the vision of his ineffable goods surpasses all blessedness and is beyond all glory and good repute and joy and repose, as it exceeds all honor and delight and enjoyment of every supposed good of the present life. For by as much as resting on a luxurious and soft bed is superior to lying on a red-hot brazier, by so much does the joy and exultation engendered in the soul from communion and conversation with God surpass all the gladness and enjoyment of this life. For this very reason, one who has often fallen away from better things, either through ignorance or sloth, and has turned to the cares of the world, as soon as he perceives the bitterness and unbearable harm in them, he runs back to the things from which he has departed, blaming himself much that he was drawn down at all and was among the thorns of life and the fire that inflames the souls of men, yet he flees and runs back to his own Master; and if he were not philanthropic, receiving us when we return and not bearing a grudge or being angry, but rather accepting our return to him, "no flesh would be saved" of a holy person, whether of a moderate or any other kind. For this reason, all those who have been perfected in holiness and virtue were saved by grace and not by works of righteousness; and not only these, but also those who are perfected after them, all will be saved in this way.

Since "not by works of the law, lest any man should boast," according to the divine Apostle, salvation comes to us who believe, one ought not to trust at all in works—I mean fasts and vigils or sleeping on the ground and hunger and thirst—not to nail the body with irons, not to afflict it with hairshirts. For these are nothing at all, (270) since many evildoers and the poor themselves, having suffered these things, remained the same, abating none of their wickedness nor becoming better than their depravity. These things do contribute something to some people, and they draw the body toward humility, or rather toward powerlessness and weakness; but this is not the only thing that the one seeks

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ἀχώριστος γάρ εἰμι (268) πάντῃ καί ἄτμητος, τό ἕν κἀν ταῖς ὑποστάσεσιν ἔχουσα. Εἰ οὖν ἐν ἐμοί πως ἤ που πέλεις, μή εἰδέναι φαίης τινά. Καθό μέν ἄνθρωπος καί περιγραπτός εἷς, ὡς ἐν περιγραφῇ πέλω καί τόπῳ, περιγραπτός γάρ γέγονε βροτωθείς καί ὁ εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν· κατά δέ τήν ἐνοῦσάν μοι φύσιν πάμπαν ἀόρατος, ἀπερίγραπτος, ἀσχημάτιστος, ἀναφής, ἀψηλάφητος, ἀκίνητος, ἀεικίνητος, πάντα πληροῦσα καί οὐδαμοῦ τό σύνολον οὖσα, οὐκ ἐν σοί, οὐκ ἐν ἄλλῳ τινί τῶν πάλαι ἤ τῶν νῦν ἐγγιζόντων ἀγγέλων ἤ προφητῶν, οἷς οὐδ᾿ ὡράθην ὅλως, οὐδ᾿ ὁρῶμαί ποτε".

Ὁ γοῦν ταῦτα μυστικῶς ὁρῶν καί μυούμενος τά ὑπέρ ἀγγέλους, τά ὑπέρ τήν ἀνθρωπίνην κατάληψιν, ἆρα μετά ἀνθρώπων εἶναι ὁ τοιοῦτος τῇ αἰσθήσει ἤ τῇ διανοίᾳ ὅλως ἰσχύσει; Εἰ γάρ ὁ βασιλεῖ προσομιλῆσαι θνητῷ καί παρεστάναι ποτέ καταξιωθείς, τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἐπιλανθάνεται καί ὅλος τοῖς τοῦ βασιλέως ἀποκρέμαται ῥήμασι, πόσῳ γε μᾶλλον ὁ αὐτόν ἐκεῖνον τόν ποιητήν καί δεσπότην καί Κύριον τοῦ παντός "ὅν οὐδείς εἶδεν ἀνθρώπων οὐδέ ἰδεῖν δύναται" βλέπειν καταξιωθείς, ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ ἐφικτόν, καί προσομιλῆσαι αὐτῷ καί φωνῆς ἐκείνου ἀκούειν τοῦ μέλλοντος κρῖναι ζῶντας καί νεκρούς, οὐκ ἐκστήσεται ἑαυτοῦ καί ὅλος ἔξω κόσμου καί σαρκός ὄντως γένηται καί μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐπιποθήσει συνέσεσθαι, ἀλλά ἀποστάς τοῦ τοιούτου καί τηλικούτου, τοῦ ὑπέρ πᾶν τοιοῦτον ὄντος καί τηλικοῦτον, ἐπί μερίμνας ἔλθῃ βιωτικάς καί φθειρομένων ὅλως ἤ παρερχομένων καί ῥεόντων πραγμάτων φροντίσειεν; Οὐδαμῶς οἶμαι τῶν εὖ φρονούντων τινά εἰς τοῦτο ὅλως ἐλθεῖν καταδέξασθαι.

Τά μέν γάρ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ καλά συνεπομένων ὁμολογουμένως ἔχουσι καί συγκεκληρωμένην αὐτοῖς τήν λύπην καί τήν ἀθυμίαν καί τήν ὁδύνην, ἡ δέ μετά τοῦ Θεοῦ διαγωγή (269) καί ἡ ὁμιλία καί ἡ θεωρία τῶν ἀπορρήτων αὐτοῦ ἀγαθῶν πᾶσαν ὑπερβαίνει μακαριότητα καί πάσης ὑπέρκειται δόξης καί εὐκληρίας καί χαρᾶς καί ἀνέσεως, ὡς πάσης ὑπεραίρουσα τιμῆς καί τρυφῆς καί ἀπολαύσεως τοῦ νομιζομένου παντός ἀγαθοῦ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς. Καθόσον γάρ ὑπερέχει τό ἐν πολυτελεῖ καί ἁπαλῇ στρωμνῇ ἀναπαύεσθαι ὑπέρ τό ἐν ἐσχάρᾳ πεπυρακτωμένῃ ἀνακεῖσθαι, κατά τοσοῦτον ὑπερφέρει πάσης τοῦ βίου εὐφροσύνης καί ἀπολαύσεως ἡ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ συνουσίας καί ὁμιλίας ἐγγινομένῃ τῇ ψυχῇ χαρά καί ἀγαλλίασις. ∆ιά δή τοῦτο καί ὁ τῶν κρειττόνων πολλάκις καί κατά ἄγνοιαν ἤ ῥαθυμίαν ἀποστάς καί πρός τάς φροντίδας τοῦ κόσμου γενόμενος, ἐφ᾿ ὅσον τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς πικρίας καί ἀφορήτου βλάβης αἴσθηται, δρομαῖος πρός τά ἀφ᾿ ὧν ἐξελήλυθεν ἐπανέρχεται, πολλά ἑαυτόν μεμφόμενος ὅτι συγκατεσπάσθη ὅλως καί μέσον τῶν ἀκανθῶν τοῦ βίου καί τοῦ φλογίζοντος πυρός τάς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχάς ἐγένετο, ὅμως φεύγει καί πρός τόν ἑαυτοῦ ἀνατρέχει ∆εσπότην· καί εἰ μή ἦν φιλάνθρωπος, δεχόμενος ἐπανερχομένους ἡμᾶς καί μή μνησικακῶν ἤ ὀργιζόμενος, ἀλλά καί μᾶλλον τῆς πρός αὐτόν ἐπανόδου ἀποδεχόμενος, "οὐκ ἄν ἐσώθη πᾶσα ψυχή" ἁγίου, εἴτε καί μέσως ἤ ἄλλως ἔχοντος. ∆ιά τοῦτο πάντες οἱ τετελειωμένοι ἐν ἁγιωσύνῃ καί ἀρετῇ δωρεάν καί οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοσύνης ἐσώθησαν· καί οὐχ οὗτοι μόνον, ἀλλά καί οἱ μετά ταῦτα τελειούμενοι, πάντες οὕτω σωθήσονται.

Ἐπεί δέ "οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου, ἵνα μή τις καυχήσεται", κατά τόν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον, ἡ σωτηρία ἡμῖν ἐπιγίνεται τοῖς πιστοῖς, οὐ χρή τοῖς ἔργοις, νηστείαις λέγω καί ἀγρυπνίαις ἤ χαμευνίαις καί λιμῷ καί δίψει, ὅλως θαρρεῖν, οὐ σιδήροις τό σῶμα καθηλοῦν, οὐ τρυχίνοις ἐνδύμασι τοῦτο ταλαιπωρεῖν. Οὐδέν γάρ ὅλως ταῦτά εἰσιν, (270) ἐπειδή πολλοί καί τῶν κακούργων καί τῶν πενομένων αὐτῶν ταῦτα παθόντες οἱ αὐτοί διέμειναν, μηδέν τῆς κακίας ὑφιέντες αὐτῶν μηδέ τῆς πονηρίας βέλτιους γενόμενοι. Συμβάλλονται μέν καί ταῦτά τισι, καί τό σῶμα πρός ταπείνωσιν μᾶλλον δέ πρός ἀδυναμίαν καί ἀσθένειαν ἕλκουσιν· ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον ζητεῖ ὁ