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a son, being barren of the fruit of righteousness. And the first law is that given to Adam in paradise; the second, that given to him after paradise, in the manner of a penalty; the third, that given to Noah at the ark; the fourth, that of circumcision to Abraham; the fifth, that to the same concerning the offering of Isaac; the sixth, that according to Moses; and the seventh, that of the proclamatory grace, that is, of prophetic inspiration. For nature had not yet been joined through faith for cohabitation with the Gospel, with a man remaining for all ages.

The demons, therefore, constantly propose these to our inner reason through their thoughts, plausibly contending against faith from the scriptures, and raising the difficulty that if there is a resurrection of the dead, and we must expect another kind of life after the present one, according to which law, of those given from the beginning of time, will human nature be governed? so that if we should name one of the aforementioned, they might follow up, saying: Therefore human life will again be futile and unprofitable, not delivered from its former evils, if nature is to be mocked again by the same things; which clearly introduces automatism and casts out Providence from existing things. But the Lord and saving Word muzzles such demons and thoughts, revealing the incorruptibility of nature that will later be manifested according to the Gospel, and showing that human nature will be governed according to none of the preceding laws, having already been deified and joined through the Spirit (392) to the Word and God Himself, from Whom, and for Whom, it has received and will receive the beginning and the end of its being.

And if one takes the seven thousand years, that is, ages, to be the men with whom human nature cohabited, the passage will be understood not without reason and the necessary contemplation; of none of whom will nature be the wife in the life to come, as the temporal nature will have come to an end; and an eighth man, the endless age which has no limit, will have received it.

QUESTION 39.

What are the three days, which they wait for the Lord in the desert? Response. The desert is the nature of men, or this world, in which they wait for the word of virtue and knowledge, those who suffer hardship through faith and the hope of future goods; and the three days are, according to one manner of contemplation concerning them, the three powers of the soul, according to which they wait for the divine word of virtue and of knowledge; in one seeking, in another desiring, in another struggling exceedingly, they receive incorruptible food, which fattens the mind, the knowledge of things that have been made.

In another manner, the three days signify the three most general laws: I mean the written, and the natural, and the spiritual, that is, that of grace. For every law properly has the Sun of righteousness as its own creator of light. For just as it is utterly impossible for a day to exist without the sun, so without the essential and subsistent wisdom, a law of righteousness cannot exist, which makes its own rising in each law, and fills the intellectual eyes of souls with intelligible light. Knowing this, the blessed David says: Your law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths; calling the written law a lamp, as technically by the various arrangements of bodily symbols, enigmas, and types, the burning light of the wickedness of the passions

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υἱόν, οἷα τοῦ κατά δικαιοσύνην καρποῦ στειρεύουσα. Καί ἔστι πρῶτος νόμος, ὁ τῷ παραδείσῳ δοθείς τῷ Ἀδάμ· δεύτερος, ὁ τῷ αὐτῷ μετά τόν παράδεισον δεδομένος ἐν ἐπιτιμίου τάξει· τρίτος, ὁ κατά τήν κιβωτόν τῷ Νῶε δοθείς· τέταρτος, ὁ τῆς περιτομῆς τῷ Ἀβραάμ· πέμπτος, ὁ τῷ αὐτῷ περί τῆς προσαγωγῆς τοῦ Ἰσαάκ· ἕκτος, ὁ κατά Μωσέα· καί ἕβδομος, ὁ τῆς προαγορευτικῆς χάριτος, ἤγουν προφητικῆς ἐπιπνοίας. Τῷ γάρ Εὐαγγελίῳ οὔπω ἦν διά τῆς πίστεως ἁρμοσθεῖσα πρός συμβίωσιν ἡ φύσις, ἀνδρί εἰς πάντας τούς αἰῶνας διαμένοντι.

Τούτους οὖν προβάλλονται διαπαντός τῷ ἐν ἡμῖν λόγῳ διά τῶν λογισμῶν οἱ δαίμονες, εὐλογοφανῶς ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων καταγωνιζόμενοι τῆς πίστεως, καί διαποροῦντες ὡς εἴπερ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασίς ἐστι, καί ἕτερόν τι εἶδος ζωῆς, μετά τήν παροῦσαν ἐκδέχεσθαι δεῖ· κατά ποῖον νόμον τῶν ἀπό τοῦ αἰῶνος δοθέντων πολιτεύσηται τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ φύσις; ἵνα καθ᾿ ἕνα τῶν εἰρημένων εἰ φῶμεν, ἐπαγάγωσι φάσκοντες· Οὐκοῦν ματαία καί ἀνωφελής ἔσται πάλιν ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωή, τῶν πρωτέρων μή ἀπηλλαγμένη κακῶν· εἴπερ ἐπί τοῖς αὐτοῖς πάλιν ἡ φύσις ἐρεσχελισθήσεται πράγμασιν· ὅπερ τόν αὐτοματισμόν εἰσάγει σαφῶς, καί τῶν ὄντων ἐκβάλλει τήν Πρόνοιαν. Ἀλλ᾿ ὁ Κύριος καί σωτήριος Λόγος, ἀποφιμοῖ τούς τοιούτους δαίμονάς τε καί λογισμούς, ἡ κατά τό Εὐαγγέλιον ἐσύστερον φανησομένην τῆς φύσεως ἀφθαρσίαν ὑποφαίνων, καί κατ᾿ οὐδένα τῶν προλαβόντων νόμων πολιτευσομένη δεικνύς τήν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν, θεωθεῖσαν ἤδη καί ἁρμοσθεῖσαν διά τοῦ Πνεύματος (392) αὐτῷ τῷ Λόγῳ καί Θεῷ, παρ᾿ οὗ, καί εἰς ὅν τοῦ εἶναι τήν ἀρχήν, καί τό τέλος εἴληφέ τε καί λήψεται.

Εἰ δέ καί τάς ἑπτά χιλιάδας τῶν ἐτῶν, ἤγουν αἰώνας λαμβάνῃ τις εἶναι τούς ἄνδρας, οἷς συνεγένετο τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ φύσις, οὐκ ἄνευ λόγου καί τῆς δεούσης λήψεται θεωρίας τόν τόπον· ὧν οὐδενός τούτων ἔσται γυνή κατά τήν μέλλουσαν ζωήν ἡ φύσις, ὡς τῆς χρονικῆς τέλος λαβούσης φύσεως· καί ὀγδόου ἀνδρός, τοῦ ἀτελευτήτου καί πέρας οὐκ ἔχοντος, αὐτήν παραλαβόντος αἰῶνος.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΛΘ΄ .

Τίνες αἱ τρεῖς ἡμέραι, ἅς προσμένουσι τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ; Ἀπόκρισις. Ἡ ἔρημος ἐστιν ἡ φύσις τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἤ ὁ κόσμος οὗτος, ἐν ᾧ προσμένουσι τῷ

λόγῳ τῆς ἀρετῆς καί τῆς γνώσεως, οἱ διά τῆς πίστεως καί τῆς τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν ἐλπίδος κακοπαθοῦντες· αἱ δέ τρεῖς ἡμέραι εἰσί, καθ᾿ ἕνα τρόπον τῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐταῖς θεωρίας, αἱ τρεῖς δυνάμεις τῆς ψυχῆς, καθ᾿ ἅς προσμένουσι τῷ θείῳ λόγῳ τῆς ἀρετῆς καί τῆς γνώσεως· τῇ μέν ζητοῦντες, τῇ δέ ποθοῦντες, τῇ δέ ὑπεραγωνιζόμενοι, δέχονται τροφήν ἄφθαρτον, καί τόν νοῦν πιαίνουσαν, τήν γνῶσιν τῶν γεγονότων.

Καθ᾿ ἕτερον δέ τρόπον, τούς τρεῖς γενικωτέρους νόμους αἱ τρεῖς ἡμέραι σημαίνουσι· τόν γραπτόν φημι, καί τόν φυσικόν, καί τόν πνευματικόν, ἤτοι τόν τῆς χάριτος. Πᾶς γάρ νόμος οἰκείως ἑαυτῷ φωτός ἔχων δημιουργόν τόν τῆς δικαιοσύνης Ἥλιον. Ὡς γάρ ἡλίου χωρίς ἡμέραν γενέσθαι παντελῶς ἀμήχανον· οὕτω δίχα τῆς οὐσιώδους καί ὑφεστώσης σοφίας, νόμος εἶναι δικαιοσύνης οὐ δύναται, τῆς ἐν ἑκάστῳ νόμῳ τήν οἰκείαν ποιουμένης ἀνατολήν, καί τούς νοερούς τῶν ψυχῶν ὀφθαλμούς νοητοῦ φωτός ἐμπιπλώσης. Ὅπερ εἰδώς ὁ ∆αβίδ ὁ μακάριός φησι· Λύχνος τοῖς ποσί μου ὁ νόμος σου, καί φῶς ταῖς τρίβοις μου· λύχνος τόν γραπτόν καλέσας νόμον, ὡς τεχνικῶς τοῖς τῶν σωματικῶν συμβόλων, αἰνιγμάτων τε καί τύπων διαφόροις συνθήμασι, τό καυστικόν φῶς τῆς τῶν παθῶν μοχθηρίας