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revealing the true and most general principles of the coherence of beings, according to which the mystery of our salvation, preordained before all ages but accomplished in the last times (14Γ_284>, was established; of which we behold Providence(35), like an olive tree on the right of the lampstand, in the ineffable manner of the hypostatic union of the Logos with rationally ensouled flesh through faith alone, but we understand judgment, which is on the left, ineffably in the mystery of the life-giving passions of the incarnate God for us. For the one, as good, occurred principally according to will(36), as He is by nature the Savior of all, while the other He endured consequently through voluntary forbearance, as a lover of mankind, as He is by nature the Redeemer of all. For God did not become man principally in order to suffer, but in order to save man through sufferings, under which man, who was impassible at the beginning, had brought himself on account of the transgression of the divine commandment.

Therefore, the mystery of the incarnation of the Logos according to providence is on the right, as effective of the deification of those who are saved, preordained by grace beyond nature before the ages, which no principle of beings according to nature will ever be able to attain; but the mystery according to the judgment of the life-giving passion of God who willed to suffer in the flesh is clearly on the left(37), as effective, on the one hand, of the complete removal of all the unnatural properties and movements introduced into nature from disobedience, and productive, on the other hand, of the unfailing restoration of all the properties and movements that are principally according to nature, according to which no principle of beings will ever be found counterfeit; from which, I mean from providence and judgment, that is, from incarnation and passion, through the firmness and purity and incorruptibility of the manly virtue and immutability in practice, and through the transparency and brilliance of mystical contemplation and knowledge, as from between two bronze mountains, has come forth, in the manner of horse-drawn chariots(38), the holy tetrad of the (14Γ_286> Gospels, which have traversed and traveled over the whole earth and healed the wound of Adam's transgression and given rest to the Spirit of God through faith and the good conduct of life upon it in the land of the north(39), that is, among the nations, where the gloom of ignorance prevailed and darkness tyrannized nature through sin.

Or again, the power equal in number to the holy Gospels of the four general virtues(40), traversing the entire heart of the faithful, as if it were the earth, and traveling over the wound inflicted on them by the passions of dishonor, and giving rest to the Spirit of God through the practical energy of the commandments in the land of the north, that is, in the flesh, showing the law of the Spirit made manifest through the works of righteousness.

Or again, the two olive trees must be understood as(41) contemplation and practice; of which, for contemplation(42), providence according to the incarnation gives the principle to appear, while for practice, judgment according to the passion gives the mode to be actualized, so that the one according to the soul is on the right of the Logos, while the one according to the body is on the left, and the one calls the mind to kinship with God, while the other sanctifies the senses by the Spirit and removes the impressions of its passions.

Or again, the two olive trees must be understood as faith and a good conscience(43), between which the Logos stands, being rightly worshipped by the faithful according to faith, and being piously served according to a good conscience through pleasing one another.

Or, the discourse has likened the two peoples, I mean the one from the Gentiles and the one from the Jews(44), to two olive trees; whom also sons of fatness, as if interpreting the olive trees because of the in

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ἀληθινοὺς καὶ γενικωτάτους τῆς τῶν ὄντων συνοχῆς ἀποκαλύπτων λόγους, καθ᾽ οὓς τὸ πρὸ πάντων μὲν τῶν αἰώνων προωρισμένον ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτων δὲ τῶν χρόνων ἐπιτελεσθὲν (14Γ_284> τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν μυστήριον συνέστηκεν· ὧν τὴν μὲν πρόνοιαν(35), καθάπερ ἐλαίαν ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ λαμπαδίου τυγχάνουσαν, ἐν τῷ ἀφράστῳ τρόπῳ τῆς τοῦ Λόγου πρὸς τὴν λογικῶς ἐψυχωμένην σάρκα καθ᾽ ὑπόστασιν ἑνώσεως διὰ μόνης καθορῶμεν τῆς πίστεως, τὴν δὲ κρίσιν, ἐξ εὐωνύμων ὑπάρχουσαν, ἐν τῷ μυστηρίῳ τῶν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τοῦ σαρκωθέντος Θεοῦ ζωοποιῶν παθημάτων ἀρρήτως κατανοοῦμεν. Τὸ μὲν γάρ, ὡς ἀγαθός, προηγουμένως κατὰ θέλησιν γέγονεν(36), οἷα δὴ φύσει πάντων ὑπάρχων Σωτήρ, τὸ δὲ καθ᾽ ἑκούσιον ἀνοχὴν ἐφεπομένως ὑπέμεινεν, ὡς φιλάνθρωπος, οἷα δὴ πάντων κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχων Λυτρωτής. Οὐ γὰρ ἵνα πάθῃ προηγουμένως ὁ Θεὸς γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τὸν ἄνθρωπον σώσῃ διὰ παθημάτων, ὑφ᾽ ἃ διὰ τὴν παράβασιν τῆς θείας ἐντολῆς ἑαυτὸν ὁ κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς ἀπαθὴς ὑπάρχων πεποίηκεν ἄνθρωπος.

∆εξιὸν οὖν τὸ κατὰ πρόνοιαν τῆς τοῦ Λόγου σαρκώσεως ὑπάρχει μυστήριον, ὡς ἐνεργητικὸν τῆς ὑπὲρ φύσιν χάριτι πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων προορισθείσης τῶν σῳζομένων θεώσεως, ἧς οὐδεὶς τὸ παράπαν κατὰ φύσιν τῶν ὄντων ἐφικέσθαι δυνήσηται λόγος· εὐώνυμον δὲ τὸ κατὰ τὴν κρίσιν τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ πάθους τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα παθεῖν βουληθέντος Θεοῦ σαφῶς ὑπάρχει μυστήριον(37), ὡς ἐνεργητικὸν μὲν τῆς τῶν ἐπεισαχθέντων ἐκ τῆς παρακοῆς τῇ φύσει παρὰ φύσιν πάντων ἰδιωμάτων τε καὶ κινημάτων παντελοῦς ἀναιρέσεως, ποιητικὸν δὲ τῆς τῶν προηγουμένως κατὰ φύσιν ἁπάντων ἰδιωμάτων τε καὶ κινημάτων ἀνελλιποῦς ἀποκαταστάσεως, καθ᾽ ἣν οὐδεὶς τὸ παράπαν τῶν ὄντων κίβδηλος εὑρεθήσεται λόγος· ἐξ ὧν, προνοίας τέ φημι καὶ κρίσεως, ἤτουν σαρκώσεώς τε καὶ πάθους, διὰ τὸ στερρόν τε καὶ καθαρὸν καὶ ἀδιάφθορον τῆς κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν ἀνδρικῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ ἀτρεψίας, διά τε τὸ διαφανὲς καὶ λαμπρὸν τῆς μυστικῆς θεωρίας καὶ γνώσεως, ὡς ἐκ μέσου δύο χαλκῶν ὀρέων, ἐκβέβηκεν, ἱππείων ἁρμάτων δίκην(38), ἡ ἁγία τετρὰς τῶν (14Γ_286> Εὐαγγελίων, τῶν πᾶσαν διειληφότων καὶ περιοδευσάντων τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν πληγὴν τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἰασαμένων καὶ ἀναπαυσάντων τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως καὶ τῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ κατὰ τὸν βίον καλῆς πολιτείας ἐν γῇ βορρᾶ(39), τουτέστιν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ἐν οἷς ὁ ζόφος ἐκράτει τῆς ἀγνοίας καὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν φύσιν ἐτυράννει τὸ σκότος.

Ἤ πάλιν ἡ τοῖς ἁγίοις Εὐαγγελίοις τῶν τεσσάρων γενικῶν ἀρετῶν ἰσάριθμος δύναμις(40), πᾶσαν διαλαβοῦσα, καθάπερ γῆν, τῶν πιστῶν τὴν καρδίαν καὶ περιοδεύσασα τὴν ἐγγενομένην αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν παθῶν τῆς ἀτιμίας πληγὴν καὶ ἀναπαύσασα τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τῆς πρακτικῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐνεργείας ἐν γῇ βορρᾶ, τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ σαρκί, διὰ τῶν ἔργων τῆς δικαιοσύνης διαφαινόμενον δείξασα τὸν νόμον τοῦ Πνεύματος.

Ἣ πάλιν, τὰς δύο ἐλαίας νοητέον(41) τὴν θεωρίαν καὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν· ὧν τῆς μὲν θεωρίας(42) ἡ κατὰ τὴν σάρκωσιν πρόνοια δίδωσι φαίνεσθαι τὸν λόγον, τῆς δὲ πράξεως ἡ κατὰ τὸ πάθος κρίσις δίδωσιν ἐνεργεῖσθαι τὸν τρόπον, ὡς τῆς μὲν κατὰ ψυχὴν ἐκ δεξιῶν οὔσης τοῦ Λόγου, τῆς δὲ κατὰ σῶμα ἐξ εὐωνύμων ὑπαρχούσης, καὶ τῆς μὲν τὸν νοῦν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ καλούσης συγγένειαν, τῆς δὲ τῷ Πνεύματι τὴν αἴσθησιν ἁγιαζούσης καὶ τῶν παθῶν αὐτῆς τοὺς τύπους ἀφαιρουμένης.

Ἢ πάλιν, πίστιν καὶ ἀγαθὴν συνείδησιν τὰς δύο νοητέον ἐλαίας(43), ὧν ἕστηκε μέσος ὁ Λόγος, κατὰ μὲν τὴν πίστιν ὀρθῶς παρὰ τῶν πιστῶν προσκυνούμενος, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἀγαθὴν συνείδησιν διὰ τῆς εἰς ἀλλήλους εὐαρεστήσεως εὐσεβῶς λατρευόμενος.

Ἢ τοὺς δύο λαούς, τὸν ἐξ ἐθνῶν λέγω καὶ τὸν ἐξ Ἰουδαίων(44), ἐλαίαις δύο παρείκασεν ὁ λόγος· οὓς καὶ πιότητος υἱούς, ὥσπερ ἑρμηνεύων τὰς ἐλαίας διὰ τὴν ἐν