1

 2

 3

 4

 5

 6

 7

 8

 9

 10

 11

 12

 13

 14

 15

 16

 17

 18

 19

 20

 21

 22

 23

 24

 25

 26

 27

 28

 29

 30

 31

 32

 33

 34

 35

 36

 37

 38

 39

 40

 41

 42

 43

 44

 45

 46

 47

 48

 49

 50

 51

 52

 53

 54

 55

 56

 57

 58

 59

 60

 61

 62

 63

 64

 65

 66

 67

 68

 69

 70

 71

 72

 73

 74

 75

 76

 77

 78

 79

 80

 81

 82

 83

 84

 85

 86

 87

 88

 89

 90

 91

 92

 93

 94

 95

 96

 97

 98

 99

 100

 101

 102

 103

 104

 105

 106

 107

 108

 109

 110

 111

 112

 113

 114

 115

 116

 117

 118

 119

 120

 121

 122

 123

 124

 125

 126

 127

 128

 129

 130

 131

 132

 133

 134

 135

 136

 137

 138

 139

 140

 141

 142

 143

 144

 145

 146

 147

 148

 149

 150

 151

 152

 153

 154

 155

 156

 157

 158

 159

 160

 161

 162

 163

 164

 165

 166

 167

 168

 169

 170

 171

 172

 173

 174

 175

 176

 177

 178

 179

 180

 181

 182

 183

 184

 185

 186

 187

 188

 189

 190

 191

 192

 193

 194

 195

 196

 197

 198

 199

132

not by word alone, but by the work of grace and truth. Let us remain, brothers, in this mirror of truth and let us turn away from the harmful and heretical teaching and suspicion of those who say that the glory of the divinity of the Lord Jesus is not now revealed in us, the faithful, through the gift of the Holy Spirit; for the gift is given in the revelation and the revelation is effected through the gift. Therefore, no one receives the Holy Spirit, without it being revealed and seen intellectually, nor does one see a revelation, unless he is enlightened in the Holy Spirit, nor can one be called perfectly faithful, unless he receives the Spirit of God, as Christ said to the Samaritan woman: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but it will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” “This,” says the evangelist, “he said about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive.” Do you see how those who do not have the Spirit working and speaking in them are unbelievers? For Christ is truthful, because he committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. (307) If, therefore, he says he gives the Spirit to those who believe in him, then certainly those who do not have the Spirit are not faithful from the heart.

But if someone should say that each of us, the faithful, receives and possesses this unknowingly and insensibly, he blasphemes, making a liar of Christ who said, “It will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life,” and again: “He who believes in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” If, then, the spring gushes forth, certainly also the river, coming out and flowing down, is seen by those who look; but if these things, according to those who think so, are worked in us unknowingly, with us perceiving none of them, it is clear that we would not at all receive a perception of eternal life, which follows them and abides in us, nor will we behold the light of the Holy Spirit, but we will remain dead and blind and insensible, just as now, so also then; and so our hope has become vain according to them, and our course for nothing, since we are in death and do not receive a perception of eternal life.

But these things are not so, they are not so, but what I have often said and will say again and will never cease saying. Light is the Father, Light the Son, Light the Holy Spirit, one light, timeless, indivisible, unconfused, eternal, uncreated, without quality, without need, invisible, as outside of all things and above all things that exist and are conceived, which no man was ever able to behold before being purified, nor did he receive it before beholding it. For many have seen it, but have not possessed it, like those deemed worthy to see a great treasure in the royal treasuries and who departed empty-handed. For at the beginning there often comes to those who repent fervently a divine illumination and enlightenment, but it immediately passes away; and if (308) indeed until their death they give themselves over completely and seek it earnestly, presenting themselves as worthy and blameless in all things to the Lord, they receive it again, having returned perfectly; but if they are a little negligent and refuse to cast themselves into greater labors, loving their own souls, they become unworthy of such a gift and do not enter into eternal life, while still being in the body; and if not now, then clearly they will not enter after the departure from the body either. For if he who received the one talent and hid it was condemned, because he did not multiply it, how much more will he who did not even guard what he received, but lost it through negligence, be condemned.

Here therefore, as all God-inspired Scripture says, is the festival, here the contests, and here to the victors are given the betrothal crowns of the prizes, and to the defeated the beginning of shame and punishment becomes manifest and clear. And see the holy Forty Martyrs and all the others who martyred for Christ bearing witness together with this word. The

132

λόγῳ μόνῳ, ἀλλ᾿ἔργῳ χάριτος καί ἀληθείας. Ἐμμείνωμεν, ἀδελφοί, ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ἐσόπτρῳ τῆς ἀληθείας καί ἀποστῶμεν τῆς βλαβερᾶς καί αἱρεσιώδους διδασκαλίας καί ὑπονοίας τῶν λεγόντων μή ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι νῦν ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς πιστοῖς τήν δόξαν τῆς θεότητος τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ διά τῆς τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος δωρεᾶς· ἡ γάρ δωρεά ἐν τῇ ἀποκαλύψει δίδοται καί ἡ ἀποκάλυψις διά τῆς δωρεᾶς ἐνεργεῖται. Οὔτε οὖν Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον λαμβάνει τις, μή ἀποκαλυπτόμενον καί ὁρώμενον νοερῶς, οὔτε ἀποκάλυψιν βλέπει, εἰ μή ἐν Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι φωτισθῇ, οὔτε πιστός τελείως δύναται λέγεσθαι, εἰ μή τό τοῦ Θεοῦ Πνεῦμα λάβῃ, καθώς τῇ Σαμαρείτιδι ἔλεγεν ὁ Χριστός· «Ὁ πίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος οὗ ἐγώ δώσω αὐτῷ, οὐ μή διψήσῃ πώποτε, ἀλλά γενήσεται ἐν αὐτῷ πηγή ὕδατος ἀλλομένου εἰς ζωήν αἰώνιον». «Τοῦτο δέ» ὁ εὐαγγελιστής φησιν «ἔλεγεν περί τοῦ Πνεύματος οὗ ἔμελλον λαμβάνειν οἱ πιστεύοντες εἰς αὐτόν». Ὁρᾷς πῶς οἱ μή τό Πνεῦμα ἐνεργοῦν καί λαλοῦν ἔχοντες ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἄπιστοί εἰσιν; Ἀψευδής γάρ ὁ Χριστός, ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησε καί δόλος οὐχ εὑρέθη ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. (307) Εἰ οὖν ἐκεῖνος λέγει τό Πνεῦμα διδόναι τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς αὐτόν, πάντως οἱ μή ἔχοντες τό Πνεῦμα οὔκ εἰσιν ἐκ καρδίας πιστοί.

Εἰ δέ λέγοι τις ἀγνώστως τοῦτο καί ἀναισθήτως λαβεῖν καί ἔχειν ἕκαστον ἡμῶν τῶν πιστῶν, βλασφημεῖ, ψεύστην ποιῶν τόν εἰπόντα Χριστόν ὅτι «Γενήσεται ἐν αὐτῷ πηγή ὕδατος ἀλλομένου εἰς ζωήν αἰώνιον», καί αὖθις· «Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ, ποταμοί ῥεύσουσιν ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ὕδατος ζῶντος». Εἰ οὖν ἡ πηγή βλύζει, πάντως καί ὁ ποταμός ἐξερχόμενος καί καταρρέων τοῖς βλέπουσι καθορᾶται· εἰ δέ ταῦτα, κατά τούς οὕτω φρονοῦντας, ἀγνώστως ἐν ἡμῖν ἐνεργοῦνται, μηδενός τούτων ἐπαισθανομένων ἡμῶν, εὔδηλον ὅτι οὐδέ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, τῆς συνεπομένης αὐτοῖς καί ἐν ἡμῖν μενούσης, ὅλως αἴσθησιν λάβωμεν, οὐδέ τό τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος φῶς θεασόμεθα, ἀλλά νεκροί καί τυφλοί καί ἀναίσθητοι διαμενοῦμεν, ὥσπερ ἄρτι, καί τότε· καί οὕτω ματαία ἡ ἐλπίς ἡμῶν γέγονε κατ᾿ αὐτούς καί ὁ δρόμος διακενῆς, ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ ὄντων ἡμῶν και τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς μή λαμβανόντων αἴσθησιν.

Ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα, οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλ᾿ ὅπερ πολλάκις εἶπον καί πάλιν ἐρῶ καί οὐδέποτε λέγειν παύσομαι. Φῶς ὁ Πατήρ, φῶς ὁ Υἱός, φῶς τό Πνεῦμα τό Ἅγιον, ἕν φῶς, ἄχρονον, ἄτμητον, ἀσύγχυτον, ἀΐδιον, ἄκτιστον, ἄποσον, ἀνενδεές, ἀόρατον, ὡς ἔξω πάντων καί ὑπέρ πάντα καί ὄν καί νοούμενον, ὅπερ οὐδείς ποτε ἀνθρώπων πρό τοῦ καθαρθῆναι ἠδυνήθην θεάσασθαι, οὔτε πρό τοῦ θεάσασθαι ἔλαβεν. Πολλοί γάρ εἶδον μέν, οὐκ ἐκτήσαντο δέ, ὡς θησαυρόν πολύν ἐν τοῖς βασιλικοῖς ταμιείοις καταξιωθέντες ἰδεῖν καί ἀπελθόντες διακενῆς. Καί γάρ γίνεται μέν κατ᾿ ἀρχάς πολλάκις εἰς τούς μετανοοῦντας θερμῶς ἔλλαμψις θεία καί φωτισμός, εὐθύς δέ παρέρχεται· καί εἰ (308) μέν μέχρι θανάτου αὐτοῦ ἑαυτούς ὅλους ἐκδώσουσι καί ζητήσουσιν ἐμπόνως, ἀξίους σφᾶς αὐτούς καί ἀμέμπτους ἐν πᾶσι τῷ Κυρίῳ παριστῶντες, τελείως πάλιν ἐπανελθοῦσαν ταύτην λαμβάνουσιν· εἰ δέ μικρόν ῥᾳθυμήσουσι καί εἰς μείζονα κόπους ἑαυτούς ἐμβαλεῖν παραιτήσονται, τάς ψυχάς ἀγαπῶντες τάς ἑαυτῶν, ἀνάξιοι τοῦ τοιούτου δώρου γίνονται καί εἰς ζωήν αἰώνιον, ἔτι ὄντες ἐν σώματι, οὐκ εἰσέρχονται· εἰ δέ μή νῦν, οὐδέ μετά τήν τοῦ σώματος ἔξοδον εἰσελεύσονται δηλονότι. Εἰ γάρ ὁ τό ἕν τάλαντον λαβών καί κατακρύψας κατεκρίθη, ὅτι μή ἐπολυπλασίασεν αὐτό, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ μηδέ φυλάξας ὅ ἔλαβεν, ἀλλά διά ῥᾳθυμίας ἀπολέσας, κατακριθήσεται.

Ἐνταῦθα τοιγαροῦν, ὡς πᾶσα Γραφή θεόπνευστος λέγει, ἐστίν ἡ πανήγυρις, ἐνταῦθα τά σκάμματα, καί ἐνταῦθα τοῖς νικῶσι τῶν ἐπάθλων οἱ ἀρραβωνικοί στέφανοι δίδονται, καί τοῖς ἡττηθεῖσι πρόδηλος καί φανερά ἡ ἀπαρχή τῆς αἰσχύνης καί τῆς κολάσεως γίνεται. Καί ὅρα τῷ λόγῳ συμμαρτυροῦντας τούτῳ τούς τε ἁγίους Τεσσαράκοντα Μάρτυρας καί πάντας ἄλλους τούς ὑπέρ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρήσαντας. Οἱ