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If you also wish to learn the manner of illumination which comes to those who love the Lord, hear Paul himself saying: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels," that is, in our bodies. "But if there is no such person now," he says, "what then?". Why is there not, tell me? "Because even if someone wishes," he says, "I think he is unable to become such a person now, just as one who does not wish, does not become one either". If, then, you say that even one who wishes is unable, where shall we put "But as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become children of God," and "If you wish, you are gods and all children of the Most High," and "Be holy, for I am holy"? But if you also say that one who does not wish does not become one, see that you have condemned yourself, not wishing nor choosing to become one; for if you wish to become one, you are able.

But if you are not such a person, yet many others are, by God's will, whom you yourself do not know. For if in the time of Elijah God had seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal, (430) how much more so now, when He has richly poured out His Holy Spirit upon us. But if someone does not strip himself of everything and approach naked and seek to receive, the cause is in him who is unwilling, not in God. For just as fire eagerly and, so to speak, naturally takes hold of matter, so also the grace of the All-Holy and adorable Spirit seeks to touch our souls, so that it may shine for those in the world and, through those in whom it shines, direct the steps of the many, so that, walking well, they themselves may draw near to the fire and, one by one or even all together, if possible, be kindled and shine as gods in our midst, that the seed of the God of Jacob may be blessed and multiplied and a godlike man may not cease, shining as a light upon the earth.

I, then, think that this is the truth and this is the will of God for us, whom He Himself formed and honored and glorified of old with the glory of His image; but you, see and test what is said by us. And if we do not think and say the same things as the apostles and the holy and God-bearing fathers, according to what has been said, and if we do not echo the words of the holy Gospels spoken by God; if we do not plainly rekindle in all things through proofs the life-giving energy and gift that is in them but which was badly extinguished by foolish reasonings (as far as it depended on them), and point out the light already shining, establishing and saying everything clearly from the holy Scriptures themselves, (431) then let me be anathema from the Lord God and Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, as one teaching contrary to what the divine apostles taught and evangelized, and you, not only block your ears to hearing, but even stone me to death as impious and godless. But if we are setting right the Lord's and the apostles' doctrines, which have been distorted by some, by collecting again from the divine Scriptures themselves what supports and corrects the mind of those men and of those who are persuaded by them; if we exhort them not to expect the resurrection, incorruption, life, the kingdom of heaven, and eternal goods themselves entirely in hope, but we teach that some things are set forth and revealed, appearing and seen, and are given already from here as pledges to the elect and those who are to be saved, while we have been eager to demonstrate and confirm that other things are set before them after death and the resurrection—should we not rather be acceptable to them and to all, and very beloved, as demonstrating a work of perfect love?

For just as one who finds a hidden treasure and keeps it for himself alone is blamed by all and condemned as avaricious, but one who does not hide it for himself but points it out and reveals it to all and allows each to take as much as he wishes, is surely praiseworthy and acceptable to God and men, so also I, speaking by the grace of God, will be a fool in spiritual matters. For a treasure

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Εἰ δέ καί τόν τῆς ἐλλάμψεως τρόπον βούλῃ μαθεῖν, τόν ἐγγινόμενον τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τόν Κύριον, ἄκουε αὐτοῦ τοῦ Παύλου λέγοντος· "Ἔχομεν δέ τόν θησαυρόν τοῦτον ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν", εἴτ᾿ οὖν σώμασιν. "Εἰ δέ μή ἔστι, φησί, τοιοῦτος τά νῦν, τί;". ∆ιατί οὐκ ἔστιν, εἰπέ; "Ὅτι καί θέλοντά τινα, φησί, μή δύνασθαι οἴομαι γενέσθαι τοιοῦτον τά νῦν, ὡς καί μή θέλοντα, μηδέ γίνεσθαι". Εἰ τοίνυν καί θέλοντα λέγεις μή δύνασθαι, ποῦ θήσομεν τό "Ὅσοι δέ ἔλαβον αὐτόν ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι", καί το "Εἰ θέλετε, θεοί ἐστε καί υἱοί Ὑψίστου πάντες, καί τό "Γίνεσθε ἅγιοι, ὅτι ἐγώ ἅγιός εἰμι"; Εἰ δέ καί μή θέλοντα μηδέ γίνεσθαι, ἴδε ὅτι σύ σεαυτόν κατεδίκασας, μή θέλων μηδέ προαιρούμενος γενέσθαι· εἰ γάρ θέλεις γενέσθαι, δύνασαι.

Εἰ δέ σύ μή τοιοῦτος, ἀλλ᾿ ἕτεροι πλεῖστοι, Θεοῦ βουλομένου, οὕς αὐτός ἀγνοεῖς. Εἰ γάρ ἐπί τοῦ Ἠλιοῦ ἑπτακισχιλίους εἶχεν ὁ Θεός τούς μή κάμψαντας γόνυ τῇ Βαάλ, (430) πολλῷ μᾶλλον νῦν, ὅτε τό Πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τό Ἅγιον πλουσίως ἐξέχεεν ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς. Εἰ δέ μή ἀποδύεταί τις πάντα καί γυμνός προσέρχεται καί ζητεῖ τοῦ λαβεῖν, τοῦ μή βουλομένου τό αἴτιον, οὐ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὥσπερ γάρ τό πῦρ προθύμως τῆς ὕλης, ἵν᾿ εἴπω, καί φυσικῶς ταύτης ἐπιλαμβάνεται, οὕτω και ἡ χάρις τοῦ Παναγίου καί προσκυνητοῦ Πνεύματος τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν ζητεῖ ἅψασθαι, ἵνα καί τοῖς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ λάμψῃ καί κατευθύνῃ δι᾿ ὧν λάμπει τά τῶν πολλῶν δαβήματα, ὡς ἄν καλῶς ὁδεύοντες καί αὐτοί πλησιάσωσι τῷ πυρί καί εἷς καθ᾿ εἷς ἤ καί πάντες, εἰ οἷόν τε, ὁμοῦ, ἀναφθῶσι καί ὡς θεοί λάμψωσιν ἐν μέσῳ ἡμῶν, ἵνα ἐπευλογῆται καί πληθύνηται τό σπέρμα τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰακώβ καί μή ἐκλείψῃ θεοειδής ἄνθρωπος, λάμπων ὡς φῶς ἐπί γῆς.

Ἐγώ μέν οὖν οὕτως οἴομαι τήν ἀλήθειαν ἔχειν καί εἶναι τό βούλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς, οὕς αὐτός ἔπλασε καί ἐτίμησε καί ἐδόξασε πάλαι τῇ δόξῃ τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ· ὑμεῖς δέ ἴδετε καί δοκιμάσατε τά λεγόμενα παρ᾿ ἡμῶν. Καί εἰ μή τά αὐτά τοῖς ἀποστόλοις καί τοῖς ἁγίοις καί θεοφόροις πατράσι φρονοῦμεν καί λέγομεν κατά τά εἰρημένα, καί τά τῶν ἁγίων Εὐαγγελίων ῥηθέντα παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ καί ἡμεῖς δευτεροῦμεν, εἰ μή τήν ἐν αὐτοῖς οὖσαν, κακῶς δέ ἀποσβεσθεῖσαν ὑπό συλλογισμῶν ἀσυνέτων, ὅσον τό ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς, ζωοποιόν ἐνέργειάν τε καί δωρεάν διά ἀποδείξεων ἐν πᾶσι τρανῶς ἀνάπτομεν καί τό φῶς ἤδη λάμπον ὑποδεικνύομεν, ἐξ αὐτῶν δηλονότι τῶν ἁγίων Γραφῶν πάντα καί συνιστῶντες καί λέγοντες, (431) ἔστω μέν ἐμοί ἀνάθεμα ἀπό Κυρίου Θεοῦ καί Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ διά Πνεύματος Ἁγίου, ὡς διδάσκοντι παρ᾿ ὅ οἱ θεῖοι ἀπόστολοι ἐδίδαξαν καί εὐηγγελίσαντο, ὑμεῖς δέ μή μόνον τά ὦτα πρός τήν ἀκρόασιν ἀποφράξητε, ἀλλά κἀμέ λίθοις βαλόντες ὡς ἀσεβῆ καί ἄθεον ἀποκτείνατε. Εἰ δέ τά ∆εσποτικά καί ἀποστολικά δόγματα, διαστρεφόμενα παρά τινων, ἀνορθοῦμεν, ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν θείων πάλιν Γραφῶν τά ὑποστηρίζοντα καί διορθοῦντα τήν ἐκείνων καί τῶν πειθομένων αὐτοῖς διάνοιαν συλλεγόμενοι, τήν ἀνάστασίν τε καί τήν ἄφθαρσίαν καί τήν ζωήν καί τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν καί αὐτά τά αἰώνια ἀγαθά μή ἐν ἐλπίσιν αὐτοῖς ἅπαντα προσδοκᾶν παραινοῦμεν, ἀλλά τά μέν προκείμενα καί ἀποκαλυπτόμενα, φαινόμενά τε καί ὁρώμενα καί ὡς ἀρραβῶνας τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς καί σωθῆναι μέλλουσιν ἀπεντεῦθεν ἤδη διδόμενα ἐκδιδάσκομεν, τά δέ μετά θάνατον καί τήν ἀνάστασιν εἰς αὐτούς προτιθέμενα ἀποδεῖξαι καί βεβαιῶσαι προτεθυμήμεθα, οὐχί μᾶλλον ἀποδεκτοί αὐτοῖς καί πᾶσιν εἶναι ὀφείλομεν καί λίαν ἀγαπητοί, ὡς τῆς τελείας ἀγάπης ἔργον ἐπιδεικνύμενοι;

Ὥσπερ γάρ ὁ κεκρυμμένον εὑρών θησαυρόν καί ἑαυτῷ μόνῳ τηρήσας αὐτόν, ψεκτός παρά πάντων καί ὡς φιλάργυρος κατακρίνεται, ὁ δέ μή ἑαυτῷ κρύπτων, ἀλλά τοῖς πᾶσιν ὑποκεικνύων καί φανερῶν καί ἀφιείς ἕκαστον λαβεῖν ὅσον βούλεται, πάντως ἐπαινετός καί Θεῷ καί ἀνθρώποις ἀποδεκτέος, οὕτω κἀγώ ἐν τοῖς πνευματικοῖς ἔσομαι παραφρονῶν, λαλῶν Θεοῦ χάριτι. Καί γάρ θησαυρόν