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nourishment. But after the advancement of the table, one also partakes of a cup, of which wisdom drinks a toast, "who has mixed her own wine". It is your cup, if you drink a toast to me, but it is my cup, if you have measured for me what I am able to drink. 8 How you have multiplied your mercy, O God. By the mercy of God people are also saved. But then the mercy of God is multiplied and his abundance appears, when he also saves the cattle. As if you were also speaking about a perfect teacher, that his goodness is known when he instructs wise and perfect hearers; but his goodness is multiplied then, when he also condescends to the foolish, attempting to lead them into a greater state. Indeed, the teacher of Christianity "is a debtor to the wise and to the foolish, to Greeks and to barbarians". He is a debtor not only to the wise, but also to the foolish. And to the wise he "speaks wisdom among the perfect", but to the foolish he does not speak wisdom, but offers those lessons which turn them away from foolishness, so that, no longer being foolish, they may then receive wisdom. Again, to Greeks, to those having a precise Greek mind and able to follow, he speaks as to Greeks. But to those who are barbarians in soul, he says those things which turn them away from the barbarian nation, from such a wilder disposition. 8 But the sons of men will hope in the shelter of your wings. The sons of these men. Therefore, if also according to the previous explanation mortal, rational creatures are called men and the cattle that serve them, the sons of these men have their hope in the shelter of God's wings. These wings are spiritual, raising the mind on high. Thus indeed the saint says: "Who will give me wings like a dove?" We do not say that he prays for the wings of a perceptible creature to be given to him; for this is impossible. But there is neither desire nor prayer for impossible things. "As an eagle longed for its young". Then they were winged, they were able to be taken up "on the back" of God. But what is it for us to be winged in this way? Listen to what the prophet Isaiah says: "Those who wait for God will renew their strength, they will grow wings like eagles, they will run and not be weary". And another prays, saying: "Your youth will be renewed like an eagle's". Therefore when the saint speaks of being winged, his wings must be understood as virtue and understanding and wisdom; for these raise the man aloft, on high. They will be sheltered from the richness of your house; they are sheltered under the wings of God. The wings of God become their shelter. But they are sheltered then, so that they may grow wings, so that they may be hatched, so that they may become as eggs under the wings of God. The wings of God become their shelter. But they are sheltered then, so that they will grow wings; but eggs are the unformed souls which have not yet received the form of Christ. Therefore, when they have come under his wings, then they are formed and become living creatures, allegorically, according to the inner man. He does not say this: "sons of mortal creatures," but of those truly keeping the man who is "in the image and likeness" of God. But "sons of men" can also be said periphrastically instead of "men". 9 They will be inebriated with the richness of your house. 238 Not all drunkenness is censured. "Do not get drunk," he says, "with wine, in which there is dissipation". And according to the obvious meaning, excessive wine-drinking can be called the wine of dissipation; for it harms the mind, sometimes it causes one to fall away. Therefore this drunkenness is censured. And concerning those who hold other opinions and who introduce godless doctrines, offering them as if nourishment and wine, it is said: "These eat the bread of impiety". And those who eat and seek the bread of impiety are those about whom it has been said: "You gave him as food to the peoples of the Ethiopians"; for as those who have accepted the doctrines of piety are nourished by the body of Christ, so the flesh of the dragon, the devil himself, is eaten by those who

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τροφή. μετὰ δὲ τὴν προκοπὴν τῆς τραπέζης μεταλαμβάνει καὶ ποτηρίου, οὗ προπίνει ἡ σοφία "ἡ κεράσασα τὸν ἑαυτῆς οἶνον". σὸν ποτήριόν ἐστιν, εἰ σύ μοι προπίνεις, ἐμὸν δὲ ποτήριον, εἰ μεμέτρηκάς μοι, ὃ δύναμαι πιεῖν. 8 ὡς ἐπλήθυνας τὸ ἔλεός σου, ὁ θεός. ἐλέῳ θεοῦ καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι σῴζονται. τότε δὲ πληθύνεται τὸ ἔλεος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἡ δαψίλεια αὐτοῦ φαίνεται, ὅταν καὶ κτήνη σῴζῃ. ὡς εἰ καὶ περὶ διδασκάλιου τελείου λέγῃς, ὅτι ἡ ἀγαθότης αὐτοῦ γνωρίζεται, ὅταν σοφοὺς καὶ τελείους ἀκροατὰς παιδεύῃ· τότε δὲ πληθύνεται αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀγαθότης, ὅταν καὶ τοῖς ἀνοήτοις συνκαταβαίνῃ, πειρᾶται εἰσάγειν αὐτοὺς εἰς μείζονα κατάστασιν. αὐτίκα γοῦν ὁ διδάσκαλος τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ "σοφοῖς καὶ ἀνοήτοις, Ἕλλησιν καὶ βαρβάροις ὀφειλέτης ἐστίν". οὐ μόνον σοφοῖς ὀφειλέτης ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνοήτοις. καὶ τοῖς μὲν σοφοῖς "λαλεῖ ἐν τοῖς τελείοις σοφίαν", τοῖς δὲ ἀνοήτοις οὐ τὴν σοφίαν λαλεῖ, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνα προτείνει τὰ μαθήματα τὰ ἀφιστῶντα αὐτοὺς ἀνοησίας, ἵνα μηκέτι ἀνόητοι ὄντες δέχωται λοιπὸν τὴν σοφίαν. πάλιν Ἕλλησιν, τοῖς Ἕλληνα νοῦν ἔχουσιν ἠκριβωμένον καὶ δυνάμενον παρακολουθεῖν ὡς Ἕλλησιν λαλεῖ. τοῖς δὲ βαρβάροις οὖσιν κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκεῖνα λέγει τὰ ἀφιστῶντα τοῦ βαρβάρου ἔθνους, τῆς γνώμης τῆς τοιαύτης τῆς ἀγριωτέρας. 8 οἱ δὲ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐν σκέπῃ τῶν πτερύγων σου ἐλπιοῦσιν. οἱ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τούτων υἱοί. ἐὰν μὲν οὖν καὶ κατὰ τὴν προτέραν ἐξήγησιν λέγωνται ἄνθρωποι τὰ θνητὰ λογικὰ ζῷα καὶ κτήνη τὰ αὐτοῖς ὑπηρετοῦντα, τούτων τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ υἱοὶ ἐν σκέπῃ τῶν θεοῦ πτερύγων τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχουσιν. πτέρυγες αὗται νοηταί εἰσιν μ̣ετεωρίζουσαι τὸν νοῦν. οὕτω γοῦν ὁ ἅγιος λέγει· "τίς δώσει μοι πτέρυγας ὡσεὶ περιστερᾶς"; οὐχ οὕτω λέγομεν ὅτι αἰσθητοῦ ζῴου δοθῆναι αὐτῷ πτέρυγας εὔχεται· τοῦτο γὰρ ἀδύνατον. ἀδυνάτων δὲ οὐδὲ ἔρως ἐστὶν οὔτε εὐχή. "ὡς ἀετὸς ἐπὶ τοῖς νεοσσοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐπεπόθησεν". τότε ἐπτερώθησαν, ἠδυνήθησαν "ἐπὶ τῶν μεταφρένων" τοῦ θεοῦ ληφθῆναι. τί δὲ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἐστιν τὸ οὕτω πτερωθῆναι; ἄκουε τί φησιν ὁ προφήτης Ἰσαίας· "οἱ ὑπομένοντες τὸν θεὸν ἀλλάξουσιν ἰσχύν, πτεροποιήσουσιν ὡς ἀετοί, δραμοῦνται καὶ οὐ κοπιάσουσιν". καὶ ἄλλος ἐπεύχεται λέγων· "ἀνακαινισθήσεται ὡς ἀετοῦ ἡ νεότης σου". ὅταν γοῦν ὁ ἅγιος λέγῃ ἐπτερῶσθαι, τὰ πτερὰ τούτου ἀρετὴν καὶ σύνεσιν καὶ σοφίαν ἐκλημπτέον· ταῦτα γὰρ μετάρσιον μετεωρίζει τὸν̣ ἄνθρωπον. σκεπασθήσονται ἀπὸ τῆς πιότητος τοῦ οἴκου σου σκεπάζονται ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας τοῦ θεοῦ. σκέπη αὐτῶν γίνεται τῶν πτερύγων τοῦ θεοῦ. τότε δὲ σκεπάζονται, ἵνα πτεροποιήσωσιν, ἵνα νοσσοποιηθῶσιν, ὡς ᾠὰ γένωνται ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας τοῦ θεοῦ. σκέπη αὐτῶν γίνεται τῶν πτερύγων τοῦ θεοῦ. τότε δὲ σκεπάζονται, ἵνα πτεροποιήσουσιν ᾠὰ δέ εἰσιν αἱ ἄπλαστοι ψυχαὶ αἱ μήπω μόρφωσιν Χριστοῦ λαβοῦσαι. ὅταν οὖν ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτοῦ γεγόνωσιν, τότε μορφοῦνται καὶ ζῷα γίνονται κα̣τὰ ἀλλ̣ηγορίαν κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον. οὐ τοῦτο λέγει· "υἱοὶ τῶν θνητῶν ζῴων", ἀλλὰ τῶν φυλαττόντων ἀληθῶς τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν "κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν" θεοῦ. δύναται δὲ καὶ παραφραστικῶς εἰρῆσθαι "υἱοὶ ἀνθρώπων" ἀντὶ τοῦ "οἱ ἄνθρωποι". 9 μεθυσθήσονται ἀπὸ πιότητος τοῦ οἴκου σου. 238 οὐ πᾶσα μέθη ψέγεται. "μὴ μεθυσθήσεσθε", φησίν, "οἴνῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀσωτία". καὶ κατὰ τὸ πρόχειρον μὲν δύναται τὴν πολυοινίαν εἰρῆσθαι ἀσωτίας οἶνον· βλάπτει γὰρ τὰς φρένας, παραπεσεῖν ἔσθ' ὅτε ποιεῖ. ψέγεται οὖν αὕτη ἡ μέθη. καὶ περὶ τῶν ἑτερογνωμονούντων καὶ δόγματα ἄθεα εἰσαγόντων ὥσπερ τροφὴν καὶ οἶνον αὐτὰ προτεινόντων λέγεται· "οἵδε δὲ σιτοῦνται σῖτα ἀσεβείας". καὶ τὰ σῖτα τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐσθίοντες καὶ ζητοῦντες ἐκεῖνοί εἰσιν περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· "ἔδωκας αὐτὸν βρῶμα λαοῖς τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν"· ὡς γὰρ τρέφονται τῷ σώματι Χριστοῦ οἱ τὰ δόγματα τῆς εὐσεβείας προσηκάμενοι, οὕτως τὰς σάρκας τοῦ δράκοντος, τοῦ διαβόλου αὐτοῦ, ἐσθίουσιν οἱ