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Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world," because no one could through it recognize the true wisdom, the truly existing God? For if the knowledge of the true wisdom (273) and the knowledge of God were to be given to us, brothers, through letters and learning, what need then was there of faith or of divine baptism or of the participation in the mysteries themselves? None indeed. "For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God," it says, "through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe." And these things are from the herald and bride-leader of Christ's Church.

But I shall fittingly lament and weep over the crushing of my own members, of my own race, of my brothers according to flesh and spirit, because we who have put on Christ through baptism, considering the mysteries of Christ as nothing, think to receive the knowledge of the truth of God through the wisdom of the world, and we suppose this, merely to have read the divinely-inspired writings of the saints, to be the comprehension of orthodoxy, and we think this to be the accurate and certain knowledge of the Holy Trinity; and not only this, but also the more venerable among us foolishly assume that the contemplation which occurs in the worthy only through the Spirit is itself the re-fashioning of thoughts in their own minds. Oh, the foolishness, oh, the hardening of heart! And those wishing to delve unread into the depths of God and hastening to theologize, when they hear concerning God that, just as in three suns there is one blending of light, so also in the Trinity there is an effulgence of one divinity, they immediately fashion in their mind three suns, united in light, that is, in essence, but separated in their hypostases, and foolishly think they see that very divinity and that the holy and consubstantial and undivided Trinity is thus similar to the example. But it is not so, it is not so. For no one is able to understand well (274) and speak about the things concerning the Holy Trinity from the reading of the Scriptures alone, but receiving these things by faith alone, he abides by what is written and investigates nothing further; but to those who are meddlesome and who recklessly dare to be overly curious about divine things, he is altogether unable to speak beyond what is written and what he has been taught.

And that this is true, hear what Christ says: "No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him." Through these and such sayings, therefore, he blocks the shameless and un-gated mouths of those who say and think that through external wisdom and the learning of letters they know the true truth, God himself, and acquire the knowledge of the hidden mysteries in the Spirit of God. For if no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son wills to reveal his depths and mysteries—for "my mystery is for me and for mine"—who then of the wise or orators or learned men on earth, other than those who have purified their mind through extreme philosophy and ascetic practice, and who truly possess the trained senses of the soul, could be able, without the revelation from above through the Lord, to know from human wisdom alone the hidden mysteries of God, which through noetic contemplation, energized by the divine Spirit, are uncovered for those to whom it was given and is always given to know these things through grace from above? The knowledge of these things belongs to those whose mind is illuminated each day by the Holy Spirit because of the purity of their soul, whose eyes have been clearly opened by the rays of the sun of (275) righteousness, whose word of knowledge and word of wisdom are through the Spirit alone, whose understanding and fear of God are preserved through love and peace in goodness and in excellence of character with self-control and faith. The knowledge of divine things is theirs,

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Οὐχί ἐμώρανεν ὁ Θεός τήν σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου τούτου", διά τό μή δύνασθαί τινα δι᾿ αὐτῆς ἐπιγνῶναι τήν ἀληθινήν σοφίαν, τόν ὄντως ὄντα Θεόν; Εἰ γάρ διά γραμμάτων καί μαθημάτων ἡ ἐπίγνωσις τῆς ἀληθοῦ σοφίας (273) καί τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ γνώσεως ἔμελλεν ἡμῖν, ἀδελφοί, δίδοσθαι, τίς ἦν ἄρα χρεία τῆς πίστεως ἤ τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος ἤ τῆς τῶν μυστηρίων αὐτῶν μεταλήψεως; Οὐδεμία μενοῦν. "Ἐπεί δέ διά τῆς σοφίας οὐκ ἔγνω ὁ κόσμος τόν Θεόν, εὐδόκησεν ὁ Θεός, φησί, διά τῆς μωρίας τοῦ κηρύγματος σῶσαι τούς πιστεύοντας". Καί ταῦτα μέν ὁ κῆρυξ καί νυμφαγωγός τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησίας.

Ἐγώ δέ εἰκότως θρηνήσω καί κλαύσομαι ἐπί τῇ συντριβῇ τῶν ἐμῶν μελῶν, τοῦ ἐμοῦ γένους, τῶν κατά σάρκα καί πνεῦμά μου ἀδελφῶν, ὅτι οἱ τόν Χριστόν διά τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἐνδυσάμενοι, τά τοῦ Χριστοῦ μυστήρια εἰς οὐδέν λογιζόμενοι, τήν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀληθείας διά τῆς τοῦ κόσμου σοφίας λαμβάνειν νομίζομεν καί τό μόνον ἀναγνῶναι τάς θεοπνεύστους συγγραφάς τῶν ἁγίων ὀρθοδοξίας εἶναι κατάληψιν τοῦτο οἰόμεθα καί τῆς Ἁγίας Τριάδος ἀκριβῆ καί βεβαίαν εἴδησιν τοῦτο νομίζομεν· οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλά καί τῶν ἄλλων ἡμῶν οἱ σεμνότεροι θεωρίαν τήν διά μόνου τοῦ Πνεύματος γινομένην ἐν τοῖς ἀξίοις, αὐτήν τήν ἐν ταῖς διανοίαις αὐτῶν ἀνάπλασιν τῶν νοημάτων ἀφρόνως εἶναι ὑπολαμβάνουσιν. Ὤ τῆς εὐηθείας, ὤ τῆς πωρώσεως. Οἱ δέ καί ἐμβαθύνειν ἀνάγνως ἐθέλοντες εἰς τά τοῦ Θεοῦ βάθη καί θεολογεῖν ἐπειγόμενοι, ὅταν ἀκούσωσι περί Θεοῦ ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἐν τρισίν ἡλίοις μία φωτός ἐστι σύγκρασις, οὕτω καί ἐν τῇ Τριάδι μιᾶς θεότητος ἔλλαμψις, αὐτίκα τρεῖς ἡλίους ἐν τῷ νοΐ αὐτῶν ἀναπλάττουσι, τῷ μέν φωτί ἡνωμένους, ἤτοι τῇ οὐσίᾳ, ταῖς δέ ὑποστάσεσι διακεχωρισμένους, καί οἴονται ἀφρόνως ἐκείνην αὐτήν ὁρᾶν τήν θεότητα καί οὕτως εἶναι τήν ἁγίαν καί ὁμοούσιον καί ἀδιαίρετον Τριάδα ὁμοίαν τῷ παραδείγματι. Ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο, οὐκ ἔστιν. Οὐδείς γάρ τά περί τῆς Ἁγίας Τριάδος νοῆσαι καλῶς (274) καί εἰπεῖν δύναται ἀπό μόνης τῆς τῶν Γραφῶν ἀναγνώσεως, πίστει δέ μόνῃ ταῦτα δεχόμενος, ἐμμένει μέν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις καί πλέον οὐδέν περιεργάζεται, τοῖς δέ περιέργοις καί πολυπραγμονεῖν τά θεῖα θρασέως κατατολμῶσιν, ἔξω τῶν γεγραμμένων καί ὧν ἐδιδάχθη, εἰπεῖν ὅλως οὐ δύναται.

Ὅτι δέ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀληθές, ἄκουσον τί φησιν ὁ Χριστός· "Οὐδείς ἐπιγινώσκει τόν Υἱόν εἰ μή ὁ Πατήρ, οὐδέ τόν Πατέρα τις ἐπιγινώσκει εἰ μή ὁ Υἱός καί ᾧ ἄν βούληται ὁ Υἱός ἀποκαλύψαι". ∆ιά τούτων οὖν καί τῶν τοιούτων ῥημάτων ἀποφράττει τά ἀναίσχυντα καί ἀπύλωτα στόματα τῶν λεγόντων καί νομιζόντων διά τῆς ἔξωθεν σοφίας καί τῆς τῶν γραμμάτων μαθήσεως ἐπιγινώσκειν τήν ὄντως ἀλήθειαν, αὐτόν τόν Θεόν, καί τήν ἐπίγνωσιν κτᾶσθαι τῶν κεκρυμμένων μυστηρίων ἐν Πνεύματι τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰ γάρ τόν Υἱόν οὐδείς ἐπιγινώσκει εἰ μή ὁ Πατήρ, οὐδέ τόν Πατέρα τις ἐπιγινώσκει εἰ μή ὁ Υἱός καί ᾧ ἄν βούληται ὁ Υἱός ἀποκαλύψαι τά βάθη τούτου καί τά μυστήρια - τό γάρ μυστήριόν μου ἐμοί καί τοῖς ἐμοῖς , τίς ἄρα τῶν ἐπί γῆς ἀνθρώπων σοφῶν ἤ ῥητόρων ἤ μαθηματικῶν ἕτερος, πλήν τῶν κεκαθαρμένων τόν νοῦν ἐξ ἄκρας φιλοσοφίας τε καί ἀσκήσεως, καί γεγυμνασμένα τά τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιφερομένων ἀληθῶς αἰσθητήρια, ἄνευ τῆς ἄνωθεν διά τοῦ Κυρίου ἀποκαλύψεως ἐκ μόνης γνῶναι δυνηθείη τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας τά κεκρυμμένα μυστήρια τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἅ διά νοερᾶς θεωρίας, τῆς ὑπό τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος ἐνεργουμένης, ἀνακαλύπτονται οἷς ἐδόθη καί ἀεί δίδοται εἰδέναι ταῦτα διά τῆς ἄνωθεν χάριτος; Ἐκείνων ἐστίν ἡ τούτων γνῶσις, ὧν ὁ νοῦς καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ὑπό τοῦ Ἁγίου καταλαμπάνεται Πνεύματος διά τήν τῆς ψυχῆς καθαρότητα, ὧν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί ὑπό τῶν ἀκτίνων τοῦ ἡλίου τῆς (275) δικαιοσύνης τρανῶς ἠνεῴχθησαν, ὧν ὁ λόγος τῆς γνώσεως καί ὁ λόγος τῆς σοφίας διά μόνου τοῦ Πνεύματος, ὧν ἡ σύνεσις καί ὁ φόβος τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τῆς ἀγάπης καί τῆς εἰρήνης τετήρηται ἐν τῇ ἀγαθωσύνῃ καί τῇ τῶν τρόπων χρηστότητι ἐγκρατῶς μετά πίστεως. Τούτων ἡ γνῶσις τῶν θείων,