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concerning health of body, not concerning money, not concerning wealth, but immediately concerning doctrines. For what does she say? Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; meaning those around Abraham; for there they say the son was offered up; And how do you say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship? 3. Do you see how she has become more exalted in her thought? For she who was anxious not to be troubled by her thirst, now asks about doctrines. What then does Christ do? He did not resolve the question (for it was not his main concern to simply answer what was said; for it was superfluous), but He leads the woman again to a greater height; and He does not converse with her about these things before she confessed that He is a prophet, so that she might then hear what was said with much assurance. For having been persuaded of this, she could no longer doubt what was about to be said. Let us therefore be ashamed and blush. A woman who has had five husbands, and a Samaritan at that, shows such earnestness about doctrines, and neither the time of day, nor the fact that she came for something else, nor anything else drew her away from inquiry into such matters; but we not only do not inquire about doctrines, but are indifferent about all things whatsoever. For this reason all things are neglected. For who among you, tell me, upon coming into his house, took up a Christian book in his hands, and went over its contents, and searched the Scripture? No one could say this; but we will find draughts and dice among most, 59.187 but books nowhere, or only among a few. And even these are in the same state as those who have none, having bound them up and put them away forever in chests; and all their zeal is about the fineness of the parchments and the beauty of the letters, not about the reading. For they have not acquired them for benefit and profit, but making a show of wealth and ambition, they have been zealous about these things; so great is the excess of vainglory. For I hear of no one taking pride that he knows the contents, but that he has it written in golden letters. And what is the profit? tell me. For the Scriptures were not given for this, that we should have them in books only, but that we should engrave them on our hearts. For this kind of possession is of Jewish ambition, to store up the commandments in letters only; but to us the law was not so given in the beginning, but on fleshly tables of the heart. And I say these things, not forbidding to possess books, but I both advise this and strongly pray for it; but I wish that from them both the letters and the thoughts be carried into our mind, so that it may be purified by receiving the understanding of the letters. For if in a house where a Gospel lies the devil will not dare to approach, much more will a soul carrying about such thoughts never be touched, nor will a demon or the nature of sin tread upon it. Sanctify therefore your soul, sanctify your body, always having these things on your heart and on your tongue. For if foul language defiles and calls forth demons, it is evident that spiritual reading sanctifies and draws down the grace of the Spirit. The letters are divine incantations. Let us therefore chant to ourselves, and prepare from them remedies for the passions in the soul. For if we know what is being read, we shall hear these things with much eagerness. These things I always say, and I will not cease saying them. For how is it not absurd that those sitting in the marketplace can tell the names, families, cities, and skills of charioteers and dancers, and even declare with accuracy the virtues and vices of the horses themselves; but that those who gather here should know none of the things that happen here, 59.188 but should even be ignorant of the number of the books themselves? For if you pursue those things for the sake of pleasure, I will show that there is more of it here. For what is more pleasant, tell me, or more wonderful, to see a man wrestling with a man, or a man boxing with the devil, and a body grappling with an incorporeal power, and

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περὶ σώματος ὑγιείας, οὐ περὶ χρημάτων, οὐ περὶ πλούτου, ἀλλὰ περὶ δογμάτων εὐθέως. Τί γάρ φησιν; Οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ προσεκύνησαν· τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ λέγουσα· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ φασι τὸν υἱὸν ἀνηνέχθαι· Καὶ πῶς ὑμεῖς λέγετε, ὅτι ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐστὶν ὁ τόπος, ὅπου χρὴ προσκυνεῖν; γʹ. Εἶδες πῶς ὑψηλοτέρα τῇ διανοίᾳ γέγονεν; Ἡ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ σκύλλεσθαι διὰ τὸ διψῇν μεριμνῶσα, καὶ ὑπὲρ δογμάτων ἐρωτᾷ λοιπόν. Τί οὖν ὁ Χριστός; Οὐκ ἔλυσε τὸ ζήτημα (οὐ γὰρ τοῦτο ἦν αὐτῷ περισπούδαστον, πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα ἁπλῶς ἀποκρίνεσθαι· παρέλκον γὰρ ἦν), ἀλλὰ ἄγει τὴν γυναῖκα πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον ὕψος· καὶ οὐ πρότερον αὐτῇ περὶ τούτων διαλέγεται, ἕως ὡμολόγησεν ὅτι προφήτης ἐστὶν, ὥστε καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς πληροφορίας ἀκοῦσαι λοιπὸν τῶν λεγομένων. Ἡ γὰρ τοῦτο πεισθεῖσα, οὐκ ἔτι λοιπὸν περὶ τῶν ῥηθησομένων ἀμφιβάλλειν εἶχεν. Αἰσχυνθῶμεν τοίνυν καὶ ἐρυθριάσωμεν λοιπόν. Γυνὴ πέντε ἄνδρας ἐσχηκυῖα, καὶ Σαμαρεῖτις οὖσα, τοσαύτην περὶ δογμάτων ποιεῖται σπουδὴν, καὶ οὐχ ὁ καιρὸς τῆς ἡμέρας, οὐ τὸ ἐφ' ἕτερόν τι παραγενέσθαι, οὐκ ἄλλο οὐδὲν αὐτὴν ἀπήγαγε τῆς περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ζητήσεως· ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ μόνον περὶ δογμάτων οὐ ζητοῦμεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ πάντων ἁπλῶς, καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε διακείμεθα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τὰ πάντα ἠμέληται. Τίς γὰρ ὑμῶν, εἰπέ μοι, ἐν οἰκίᾳ γενόμενος, πυκτίον ἔλαβε χριστιανικὸν μετὰ χεῖρας, καὶ τὰ ἐγκείμενα ἐπῆλθε, καὶ ἠρεύνησε τὴν Γραφήν; Οὐδεὶς ἂν ἔχοι ταῦτα εἰπεῖν· ἀλλὰ πεττοὺς μὲν καὶ κύβους παρὰ τοῖς πλείο 59.187 σιν εὑρήσομεν ὄντας, βιβλία δὲ οὐδαμοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρ' ὀλίγοις. Καὶ οὗτοι δὲ τοῖς οὐκ ἔχουσιν ὁμοίως διάκεινται, δήσαντες αὐτὰ καὶ ἀποθέμενοι διαπαντὸς ἐν κιβωτίοις· καὶ ἡ πᾶσα αὐτοῖς σπουδὴ περὶ τὴν τῶν ὑμένων λεπτότητα, καὶ τὸ τῶν γραμμάτων κάλλος, οὐ περὶ τὴν ἀνάγνωσιν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑπὲρ ὠφελείας καὶ κέρδους τὴν κτῆσιν αὐτῶν πεποίηνται, ἀλλὰ πλούτου καὶ φιλοτιμίας ἐπίδειξιν ποιούμενοι, περὶ ταῦτα ἐσπουδάκασιν· τοσαύτη τῆς κενοδοξίας ἡ ὑπερβολή. Οὐδενὸς γὰρ ἀκούω φιλοτιμουμένου, ὅτι οἶδε τὰ ἐγκείμενα, ἀλλ' ὅτι χρυσοῖς ἔχει γράμμασιν ἐγγεγραμμένον. Καὶ τί τὸ κέρδος; εἰπέ μοι. Οὐ γὰρ διὰ ταῦτα ἐδόθησαν αἱ Γραφαὶ, ἵνα ἐν βιβλίοις αὐτὰς ἔχωμεν μόνον, ἀλλ' ἵνα καὶ ἐν καρδίαις αὐτὰς ἐγκολάψωμεν. Ὡς αὕτη γε ἡ κτῆσις Ἰουδαϊκῆς ἐστι φιλοτιμίας, τὸ ἐν τοῖς γράμμασι κατατίθεσθαι μόνον τὰς ἐντολάς· ἡμῖν δὲ οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὕτως ὁ νόμος ἐδόθη, ἀλλ' ἐν πλαξὶ καρδίας σαρκίναις. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγω, οὐ κωλύων βιβλία κεκτῆσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ παραινῶ τοῦτο καὶ σφόδρα εὔχομαι· βούλομαι δὲ ἐξ ἐκείνων καὶ τὰ γράμματα καὶ τὰ νοήματα εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν περιφέρεσθαι τὴν ἡμετέραν, ἵνα οὕτω καθαίρηται δεχομένη τὴν τῶν γραμμάτων νόησιν. Εἰ γὰρ ἐν οἰκίᾳ, ἔνθα ἂν Εὐαγγέλιον ᾖ κείμενον, οὐ τολμήσει προσελθεῖν ὁ διάβολος, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ψυχῆς νοήματα τοιαῦτα περιφερούσης οὐχ ἅψεταί ποτε, οὐδὲ ἐπιβήσεται δαίμων, ἢ ἁμαρτίας φύσις. Ἁγίασον τοίνυν τὴν ψυχήν σου, ἁγίασόν σου τὸ σῶμα, ἀεὶ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τῆς καρδίας καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γλώσσης ἔχων. Εἰ γὰρ ἡ αἰσχρολογία καταῤῥυποῖ, καὶ δαίμονας καλεῖ, εὔδηλον ὅτι ἡ πνευματικὴ ἀνάγνωσις ἁγιάζει, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπισπᾶται χάριν. Θεῖαί εἰσιν ἐπῳδαὶ τὰ γράμματα. Ἐπᾴδωμεν τοίνυν ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ πάθεσιν τὰ ἀπ' ἐκείνων φάρμακα κατασκευάζωμεν. Ἂν γὰρ εἰδῶμεν τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ ἀναγινωσκόμενα, μετὰ πολλῆς ταῦτα ἀκουσόμεθα τῆς προθυμίας. Ταῦτα ἀεὶ λέγω, καὶ λέγων οὐ παύσομαι. Πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἄτοπον, τοὺς μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς καθημένους, καὶ ἡνιόχων καὶ ὀρχηστῶν καὶ ὀνόματα, καὶ γένη, καὶ πόλεις, καὶ ἐνεργείας λέγειν τρόπους, καὶ αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν ἵππων καὶ ἀρετὴν καὶ κακίαν μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἀπαγγέλλειν· τοὺς δὲ ἐνταῦθα ἀπαντῶντας μηδὲν τῶν ὧδε γινομένων εἰδέναι, 59.188 ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν βίβλων τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἀγνοεῖν; Εἰ γὰρ ἡδονῆς ἕνεκεν ἐκεῖνα διώκεις, πλείονα ταύτην ἐνταῦθα οὖσαν ἐπιδείξω. Τί γὰρ ἥδιον, εἰπέ μοι, τί δὲ θαυμαστότερον, ἄνθρωπον ἀνθρώπῳ παλαίοντα ἰδεῖν, ἢ ἄνθρωπον διαβόλῳ πυκτεύοντα, καὶ σῶμα ἀσωμάτῳ δυνάμει συμπλεκόμενον, καὶ