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they sought out, whether they searched or investigated, the saints, they had the grace of the Spirit moving their intellectual and rational power towards the seeking and searching for the salvation of souls, and without the Spirit they contemplated nothing spiritual at all, because the human mind is not by nature able to apprehend divine and intelligible things without divine light.

For just as it is not possible for the eye to perceive sensible things without the light of the sun, so without spiritual light the human (14Γ_168> mind would never receive spiritual contemplation; for the one naturally illuminates the sense for the perception of bodies, while the other illumines the mind towards contemplation for the understanding of things beyond sense. But the salvation of souls is properly the end of faith; and the end of faith is the true revelation of that which has been believed; and the true revelation of that which has been believed is the ineffable indwelling of the object of belief in proportion to the faith in each person; and the indwelling of the object of belief is the return of those who have believed to the beginning, in accordance with the end; and the return of those who have believed to their own beginning, in accordance with the end, is the fulfillment of desire; and the fulfillment of desire is the ever-moving rest of those who desire, around the object of desire; and ever-moving rest is the continuous and uninterrupted enjoyment of the object of desire; and continuous and uninterrupted enjoyment is participation in the divine things that are beyond nature; and participation in the divine things that are beyond nature is the likeness of the participants to that in which they participate; and the likeness of the participants to that in which they participate is the identity, possible through likeness, of the participants with that which is participated in, according to energy; and the possible identity, according to energy, of the participants with that which is participated in through likeness is the deification of those who are deemed worthy of deification; and deification is, by way of a sketch, the compass and limit of all times and ages and of the things in time and age; and the compass and limit of times and ages and of all things in them is the uninterrupted unity, in those who are being saved, of the pure and proper beginning with the proper and pure end; and the uninterrupted unity of the pure beginning and end in those who are being saved is the passing beyond nature of things measured essentially by a beginning and an end (14Γ_170>; and the passing beyond things circumscribed by beginning and end is the immediate and infinite and unending all-powerful and super-powerful energy of God in those deemed worthy of the passing beyond natural things, which is conceived as superior; and the immediate and infinite and unending all-powerful and super-powerful energy of God is the ineffable and more than ineffable pleasure and joy of those who are being energized, according to the unutterable union beyond understanding, of which it is not possible to find mind or reason at all, or thought or expression in the nature of beings.

For nature does not possess the principles of things beyond nature, just as it does not possess the laws of things contrary to nature; and by 'beyond nature' I mean the divine and inconceivable pleasure, which God by nature is disposed to produce by uniting Himself through grace to the worthy, and by 'contrary to nature' the unspeakable pain constituted by the privation of this, which God is accustomed to produce by uniting Himself by nature, apart from grace, to the unworthy. For according to the underlying quality of each one's disposition, God, uniting Himself to all as He Himself knows, provides to each one a perception according as each one has been fashioned by himself for the reception of Him who will in every way be united to all at the end of the ages.

And by salvation of souls, I think, perhaps Peter, the chief of the apostles, meant, as the end of faith, the participation in things beyond nature; concerning which salvation, that is, through the Holy Spirit, the prophets clearly sought out and investigated, inquiring into what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating, when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. Therefore those seeking in the Spirit the

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ἐξεζήτουν, εἴτε ἠρεύνων ἢ ἐξηρεύνων οἱ ἅγιοι, τὴν χάριν εἶχον τοῦ Πνεύματος κινοῦσαν αὐτῶν τὴν νοερὰν καὶ λογικὴν δύναμιν πρὸς ζήτησιν καὶ ἔρευναν τῆς τῶν ψυχῶν σωτηρίας, καὶ χωρὶς τοῦ Πνεύματος οὐδὲν παντελῶς ἐθεώρουν πνευματικόν, ὅτι μηδὲ πέφυκεν ὁ ἀνθρώπινος νοῦς ἄνευ θείου φωτὸς τῶν θείων καὶ νοητῶν ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι.

Ὡς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι χωρὶς ἡλιακοῦ φωτὸς ὀφθαλμὸν ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι τῶν αἰσθητῶν, οὕτω δίχα πνευματικοῦ φωτὸς νοῦς (14Γ_168> ἀνθρώπινος οὔποτ᾽ ἂν δέξαιτο θεωρίαν πνευματικήν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ φωτίζει κατὰ φύσιν τὴν αἴσθησιν πρὸς τὴν τῶν σωμάτων ἀντίληψιν, τὸ δὲ πρὸς τὴν θεωρίαν τὸν νοῦν καταυγάζει πρὸς κατανόησιν τῶν ὑπὲρ αἴσθησιν. Σωτηρία δὲ τῶν ψυχῶν κυρίως ἐστὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς πίστεως· τέλος δὲ πίστεώς ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ πιστευθέντος ἀληθὴς ἀποκάλυψις· ἀληθὴς δὲ τοῦ πιστευθέντος ἐστὶν ἀποκάλυψις ἡ κατὰ ἀναλογίαν τῆς ἐν ἑκάστῳ πίστεως ἄρρητος τοῦ πεπιστευμένου περιχώρησις· περιχώρησις δὲ τοῦ πεπιστευμένου καθέστηκεν ἡ πρὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν κατὰ τὸ τέλος τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἐπάνοδος· ἡ δὲ πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀρχὴν κατὰ τὸ τέλος τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἐπάνοδός ἐστιν ἡ τῆς ἐφέσεως πλήρωσις· ἐφέσεως δὲ πλήρωσίς ἐστιν ἡ περὶ τὸ ἐφετὸν τῶν ἐφιεμένων ἀεικίνητος στάσις· ἀεικίνητος δὲ στάσις ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ ἐφετοῦ διηνεκής τε καὶ ἀδιάστατος ἀπόλαυσις· ἀπόλαυσις δὲ διηνεκὴς καὶ ἀδιάστατος ἡ τῶν ὑπὲρ φύσιν θείων καθέστηκε μέθεξις· μέθεξις δὲ τῶν ὑπὲρ φύσιν θείων ἐστὶν ἡ πρὸς τὸ μετεχόμενον τῶν μετεχόντων ὁμοίωσις· ἡ δὲ πρὸς τὸ μετεχόμενον τῶν μετεχόντων ὁμοίωσίς ἐστιν ἡ κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν πρὸς αὐτὸ τὸ μετεχόμενον τῶν μετεχόντων δι᾽ ὁμοιότητος ἐνδεχομένη ταυτότης· ἡ δὲ τῶν μετεχόντων ἐνδεχομένη κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν δι᾽ ὁμοιότητος πρὸς τὸ μετεχόμενον ταυτότης ἐστὶν ἡ θέωσις τῶν ἀξιουμένων θεώσεως· ἡ δὲ θέωσίς ἐστι καθ᾽ ὑπογραφῆς λόγον πάντων τῶν χρόνων καὶ τῶν αἰώνων καὶ τῶν ἐν χρόνῳ καὶ αἰῶνι περιοχὴ καὶ πέρας· περιοχὴ δὲ καὶ πέρας τῶν χρόνων καὶ τῶν αἰώνων ἐστὶ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἡ τῆς ἀκραιφνοῦς καὶ κυρίως ἀρχῆς πρὸς τὸ κυρίως τέλος καὶ ἀκραιφνὲς ἐν τοῖς σῳζομένοις ἀδιάστατος ἑνότης· ἀδιάστατος δὲ τῆς ἀκραιφνοῦς ἀρχῆς τε καὶ τέλους ἑνότης ἐν τοῖς σῳζομένοις ἐστὶν ἡ κρείττων τῶν οὐσιωδῶς ἀρχῇ τε καὶ τέλει μεμετρημένων τῶν κατὰ (14Γ_170> φύσιν ἔκβασις· ἔκβασις δὲ τῶν κατ᾽ ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος περιγεγραμμένων ἐστὶν ἡ ἄμεσος καὶ ἄπειρος καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄπειρον ἐν τοῖς ἀξιωθεῖσι τῆς κατὰ τὸ κρεῖττον νοουμένης τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ἐκβάσεως ἐνέργεια τοῦ Θεοῦ πανσθενὴς καὶ ὑπερδύναμος· ἄμεσος δὲ καὶ ἄπειρος καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄπειρον ἐνέργεια τοῦ Θεοῦ πανσθενής ἐστι καὶ ὑπερδύναμος ἡ κατὰ τὴν ἄφθεγκτον καὶ ὑπὲρ νόησιν ἕνωσιν ἄρρητός τε καὶ ὑπεράρρητος ἡδονὴ καὶ χαρὰ τῶν ἐνεργουμένων, ἧς οὐκ ἔστι νοῦν ἢ λόγον παντάπασιν ἢ νόησιν ἢ ῥῆσιν ἐν τῇ φύσει τῶν ὄντων εὑρεῖν.

Οὐκ ἔχει γὰρ ἡ φύσις τῶν ὑπὲρ φύσιν τοὺς λόγους, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τῶν παρὰ φύσιν τοὺς νόμους· ὑπὲρ φύσιν δὲ λέγω τὴν θείαν καὶ ἀνεννόητον ἡδονήν, ἣν ποιεῖν πέφυκεν ὁ Θεὸς φύσει κατὰ τὴν χάριν τοῖς ἀξίοις ἑνούμενος, παρὰ φύσιν δὲ τὴν κατὰ στέρησιν ταύτης συνισταμένην ἀνεκλάλητον ὀδύνην, ἣν ποιεῖν εἴωθεν ὁ Θεός, φύσει παρὰ τὴν χάριν τοῖς ἀναξίοις ἑνούμενος. Κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ὑποκειμένην ἑκάστῳ ποιότητα τῆς διαθέσεως ὁ Θεός, τοῖς πᾶσιν ἑνούμενος ὡς οἶδεν αὐτός, τὴν αἴσθησιν ἑκάστῳ παρέχεται καθώς ἐστιν ἕκαστος ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ διαπεπλασμένος πρὸς ὑποδοχὴν τοῦ πάντως πᾶσιν ἑνωθησομένου κατὰ τὸ πέρας τῶν αἰώνων.

Σωτηρίαν δὲ ψυχῶν, ὡς οἶμαι, τυχὸν ὁ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἀκρότατος ἔφη Πέτρος, ὡς πίστεως τέλος, τῶν ὑπὲρ φύσιν τὴν μέθεξιν· περὶ ἧς σωτηρίας, διὰ Πνεύματος ἁγίου δηλαδή, σαφῶς ἐξεζήτησαν προφῆται καὶ ἐξηρεύνησαν εἰς τίνα ἢ ποῖον καιρὸν ἐδήλου τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς Πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ, προμαρτυρόμενον τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν παθήματα καὶ τὰς μετὰ ταῦτα δόξας. Οὐκοῦν τοὺς ἐκζητοῦντας ἐν Πνεύματι τὴν τῶν