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There was a portion for the disciples of Christ in the heavens according to, *Who has made us competent for the portion of the saints in light*, but they have not yet reached it, even if they have their citizenship in heaven, while still walking on earth, knowing in part and prophesying in part and having the pledge of the Spirit, they are in the shadow of their own portion. Wherefore it is also a great thing for one who is in this to be made white as snow, having an unspotted life. 692a Ps 67,16 The savior is properly the mountain of God; for it is said of him, *In the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest*; and again, *You who bring good tidings to Zion, get you up to a high mountain*. The ascent is through progress. The God Logos, therefore, being wisdom and life and sanctification, is a rich mountain, not receiving richness from without but providing it to those who partake of him. This mountain, besides being rich, is also curdled, giving milk to some, but sharing solid food with others, this not being different from the milk; for it, having been solidified, has become the food of the perfect. It will be said of the curdled mountain also thus: the rich mountain, being God, became man, taking flesh from a virgin, for which reason it is called curdled, the human generation being signified by this word, as is clear from Job who says to God, *Remember that you have made me like clay*, and what follows: *Have you not poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese? You have clothed me with skin and flesh*, and what follows. Then, since having become curdled he keeps the divinity unharmed, even after being curdled he is rich, as the word itself shows, saying, *A curdled mountain, a rich mountain*. For before being curdled and after this, it is rich. Then he adds, *Why do you suppose curdled mountains, the mountain which God was pleased*? 693a Ps 67,17 But the argument will better fit those of Valentinus. For since the savior is spoken of in Scripture by many names, they thought a different substance was signified by each, so as to say the Lord is different from Jesus and wisdom is different, and the rest. The mountain in which the Lord dwells is therefore one, according to, *That God was in Christ*, and, *The Father who dwells in me*. He demands, therefore, the reason why they supposed many curdled mountains, but also one curdled mountain, he who was incarnate of the virgin Theotokos, in whom the Lord, dwelling, abides to the end, not passing from one to another as in the case of holy men; but also teachers have arisen from men, both Moses and the prophets and the apostles, but also angels. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and each was rich as being enriched by God, from whom he was also curdled. It is of polytheism, therefore, to think such things are many by nature. 694a Ps 67,18.19aα The chariot of God is not of a single form but ten-thousandfold, there being yoked to it patriarchs, Moses and the prophets, apostles, evangelists, angels, archangels, principalities, thrones, dominions, and in a word, simply those possessed by God and having the Holy Spirit, concerning whom he says in the ode, *Mount upon your horses, and your riding is salvation*. For through them he extended the saving gospel to the inhabited world. For it appears there are many orders of rational beings yoked to the yoke of Christ. For this reason was added, *as one chariot, thousands of rejoicing ones*; for no one among them is fruitless. Just as, therefore, those in whom God rides make up one chariot and vehicle, so also those who have become one mountain, Sinai, have the Lord legislating in themselves. And this is high, on which God, having descended, commands Moses to ascend. For it is impossible for a created being to ascend to a divine height, without God first condescending in him. And Sinai is interpreted as temptation, not as a synonym for trial but for experience, according to which one who is tested through much experience will be lofty, so that he who ascends it is shown to be a lawgiver and a hierophant of God's oracle. 695a Ps 67,19a-ξ The preceding words were spoken by the choir of the saints to him who ascended through the cross to the height and from there

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μερὶς μὲν ην τῶν Χριστοῦ μαθητῶν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς κατὰ τὸ ̔Ικανώσαντι ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τῶν ἁγίων ἐν φωτί, ουπω δὲ εφθασαν ἐπ' αὐτήν, καν ἐν οὐρανοῖς εχωσι τὸ πολίτευμα, ἐπὶ γῆς ετι περιπατοῦντες, ἐκ μέρους γινώσκοντες καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύοντες καὶ ἀρραβῶνα τοῦ πνεύματος εχοντες, ἐν σκιᾷ τῆς ἑαυτῶν μερίδος εἰσίν. διὸ καὶ μέγα τυγχάνει τὸ ἐν ταύτῃ τυγχάνοντα χιονωθῆναι βίον ἀκηλίδωτον εχοντα. 692a Ps 67,16 Κυρίως ορος θεοῦ ὁ σωτὴρ ὑπάρχει· ειρηται γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ Εσται ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐμφανὲς τὸ ορος κυρίου· καὶ πάλιν ̓Επ' ορος ὑψηλὸν ἀνάβηθι ὁ εὐαγγελιζόμενος τῇ Σιών. ἡ δὲ ἀνάβασις διὰ προκοπῆς. ὁ τοίνυν θεὸς λόγος σοφία τε καὶ ζωὴ καὶ ἁγιασμὸς ὑπάρχων πίων ἐστίν, οὐκ εξωθεν δεχόμενος πιότητα ἀλλὰ παρέχων αὐτὴν τοῖς μετέχουσιν αὐτοῦ. τοῦτο τὸ ορος πρὸς τῷ πῖον ειναι καὶ τετυρωμένον ἐστίν, τοὺς μὲν γάλα ποτίζων, τοὺς δὲ στερεᾶς τροφῆς μεταδιδούς, οὐχ ἑτέρας ουσης ταύτης παρὰ τὸ γάλα· αὐτὸ γὰρ παγὲν τελείων γέγονε τροφή. Λελέξεται δ' εἰς τὸ τετυρωμένον καὶ ουτως· τὸ πῖον ορος θεὸς ων ἐνηνθρώπησεν, ἐκ παρθένου ἀναλαβὼν σάρκα δι' ην τετυρωμένον κέκληται, δηλουμένης τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης γενέσεως τῇ λέξει ταύτῃ, ὡς ἐκ τοῦ ̓Ιὼβ φανερὸν λέγοντος πρὸς θεὸν Μνήσθητι οτι πηλόν με επλασας, καὶ ἑξῆς· πότερον οὐχ ωσπερ γάλα με ημελξας, ἐτύρωσας δέ με ισα τυρῷ; σάρκα καὶ δέρμα με ἐνέδυσας, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ειτ' ἐπεὶ τετυρωμένος γεγονὼς ἀβλαβῆ φυλάττει τὴν θεότητα, καὶ μετὰ τὸ τετυρῶσθαι πίων ἐστίν, ὡς αὐτὴ ἡ λέξις παρίστησι λέγουσα Ορος τετυρωμένον, ορος πῖον. πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ τετυρῶσθαι καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο πῖόν ἐστιν. Ειτ' ἐπάγει ̔Ινατί ὑπολαμβάνετε ορη τετυρωμένα, τὸ ορος ο εὐδόκησεν ὁ θεός; 693a Ps 67,17 ̔Αρμόσει δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου μᾶλλον ὁ λόγος. τοῦ γὰρ σωτῆρος πολλαῖς προσηγορίαις ἐν τῇ γραφῇ λεγομένου, καθ' ἑκάστην ἐνόμισαν οὐσίαν δηλοῦσθαι διάφορον, ὡς ετερον λέγειν τὸν κύριον παρὰ τὸν ̓Ιησοῦν καὶ τὴν σοφίαν ἑτέραν καὶ τὰ λοιπά. εν ουν τὸ ορος ἐν ῳ κατοικεῖ ὁ κύριος, κατὰ τὸ ̔Ως οτι ὁ θεὸς ην ἐν Χριστῷ, καὶ τὸ ̔Ο πατὴρ ὁ μένων ἐν ἐμοί. ̓Απαιτεῖ τοίνυν τὴν αἰτίαν καθ' ην ὑπέλαβον πολλὰ ορη ειναι τετυρωμένα, ἀλλὰ καὶ εν ορος τετυρωμένον ὁ σαρκωθεὶς ἐκ τῆς θεοτόκου παρθένου ἐν ῳ κατοικῶν ὁ κύριος εἰς τέλος κατασκηνοῖ, μὴ μεταβαίνων ἐξ ἑτέρου εἰς ετερον ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν· ἀλλὰ καὶ διδάσκαλοι γεγόνασιν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, Μωσῆς τε καὶ οἱ προφῆται καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἀλλὰ καὶ αγγελοι. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ δι' ἀγγέλων λαληθεὶς λόγος ἐγένετο βέβαιος, εκαστος δὲ πίων ην ὡς ἐκ θεοῦ πιαινόμενος παρ' ου καὶ τετύρωτο. πολυθεΐας ουν τὸ τοιαῦτα φύσει νομίσαι πολλά. 694a Ps 67,18.19aα Τὸ αρμα τοῦ θεοῦ οὐ μονοειδὲς ἀλλὰ μυριοπλάσιόν ἐστιν, ὑπεζευγμένων αὐτῷ πατριαρχῶν Μωυσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν ἀποστόλων εὐαγγελιστῶν ἀγγέλων ἀρχαγγέλων ἀρχῶν θρόνων κυριοτήτων καὶ απαξ ἁπλῶς θεοληπτουμένων καὶ ἐχόντων αγιον πνεῦμα περὶ ων ἐν ᾠδῇ φησιν ̓Επίβηθι ἐπὶ τοὺς ιππους σου, καὶ ἡ ἱππασία σου σωτηρία. δι' αὐτῶν γὰρ ἐξέτεινεν εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην τὸ σωτήριον εὐαγγέλιον. ἐμφαίνεται γὰρ πλείονα τάγματα λογικῶν ὑπεζευγμένα τῷ Χριστοῦ ζυγῷ. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ἐπενήνεκται ὡσεὶ εν αρμα εὐθηνούντων χιλιάδες· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐν αὐτοῖς ακαρπος. Ωσπερ ουν αρμα καὶ οχημα εν ἀποτελοῦσιν ἐν οις ἐποχεῖται ὁ θεός, ουτως καὶ ορος εν τὸ Σινᾶ γεγενημένοι κύριον εχουσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς νομοθετοῦντα. ὑψηλὸν δὲ τοῦτο ἐν ῳ ὁ θεὸς καταβὰς προστάττει Μωυσῇ ἀναβῆναι. ἀδύνατον γὰρ εἰς υψος θεῖον ἀναβῆναι γενητόν, μὴ πρότερον θεοῦ συγκαταβάντος ἐν αὐτῷ. ̔Ερμηνεύεται δὲ τὸ Σινᾶ πειρασμός, οὐ συνωνυμῶν περιστάσει ἀλλὰ πείρᾳ καθ' ην πειραζόμενός τις διὰ πολυπειρίας ὑψηλὸς εσται ὡς τὸν ἀναβαίνοντα ἐπ' αὐτὸ νομοθέτην καὶ θεοῦ χρησμῷ ἱεροφάντην ἀναδειχθῆναι. 695a Ps 67,19a-ξ Αἱ προκείμεναι φωναὶ παρὰ τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἁγίων ειρηνται τῷ ἀναβάντι διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ εἰς υψος κἀκεῖθεν