178

of my Father will be for ever and ever. Amen.

ΛΓ'.

Concerning theology; and that those who have guarded what is "in the image" trample upon the evil powers of the ruler of darkness, but the others, for whom life is full of passion, are held and ruled over by him. (268)

Light is the Father, light is the Son, light is the Holy Spirit. See what you say, brother, see that you not be led astray! For the three are one light, one, not separated, but united in three persons without confusion. For God is wholly indivisible in nature, and in essence truly beyond all essence; He is not divided by power, nor by form, not by glory, not by appearance, for He is seen wholly as simple light. In these the persons are one, the three hypostases are one; for the three are in the one, or rather, the three are one, the three are one power, the three one glory, the three one nature, indeed, essence and divinity. They are also the one light, which illumines the world, not the world, perish the thought, this visible one - for the visible world has not known Him, nor can it know Him, nor the friends of the world; for he who loves the world is an enemy of God, but the man whom He Himself made in His own image and likeness, we call world, (269) because he is adorned with virtues, rules over earthly things, just as He has authority over all, and this "in the image" reigns over the passions and subjects demons, the creators of evil, tramples upon the dragon, the ancient, the great one, like a worthless sparrow; and how? Listen, child! This ruler who fell, by the deprivation of light, has immediately become darkness and is with all those who fell with him from heaven in the darkness and reigns in it, in the darkness, of all, I say, demons and men held in it. Every soul not seeing the light of life shining both in day and in night is punished by him,

178

τῆς τοῦ Πατρός μου ἔσονται εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων˙ ἀμήν.

ΛΓ'.

Περί θεολογίας˙ καί ὅτι οἱ τό κατ᾿ εἰκόνα φυλάξαντες τάς πονηράς δυνάμεις τοῦ ἄρχοντος τοῦ σκότους καταπατοῦσιν, οἱ δ᾿ ἄλλοι, οἷς ἐμπαθής ὁ βίος, ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ κρατοῦνται καί βασιλεύονται. (268)

Φῶς ὁ Πατήρ, φῶς ὁ Υἱός, φῶς τό Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. Βλέπε τί λέγεις, ἀδελφέ, βλέπε μή παρασφάλῃς! Ἕν γάρ τά τρία φῶς εἰσιν, ἕν, οὐ κεχωρισμένον, ἀλλ᾿ ἡνωμένον ἐν τρισί προσώποις ἀσυγχύτως. Θεός γάρ ἀδιαίρετος ὅλως ἐστί τῇ φύσει, καί τῇ οὐσίᾳ ἀληθῶς ὑπέρ πᾶσαν οὐσίαν˙ οὐ τῇ δυνάμει τέμνεται, οὐ τῇ μορφῇ, οὐ δόξῃ, οὐ τῇ ἰδέᾳ, ὅλος γάρ ἁπλοῦν φῶς καθορᾶται. Ἐν τούτοις ἕν τά πρόσωπα, ἕν αἱ τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις˙ τά τρία γάρ ἐν τῷ ἑνί, ἕν τά τριά δέ μᾶλλον, τά τρία μία δύναμις, τά τρία μία δόξα, τά τρία μία φύσις γε, οὐσία καί θεότης. Αὐτά καί φῶς τό ἕν εἰσιν, ὅ φωτίζει τόν κόσμον, οὐχί τόν κόσμον, ἄπαγε, τόν ὁρώμενον τοῦτον - οὐδέ γάρ ἔγνωκεν αὐτόν, οὐδέ δύναται γνῶναι ὁ κόσμος ὁ ὁρώμενος οὐδ᾿ οἱ τοῦ κόσμου φίλοι˙ ὁ γάρ τόν κόσμον ἀγαπῶν ἐχθρός Θεοῦ τυγχάνει , ἀλλ᾿ ὅν αὐτός πεποίηκεν ἄνθρωπον κατ᾿ εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ καί καθ᾿ ὁμοίωσιν, κόσμον ἡμεῖς καλοῦμεν, (269) ὅτι κοσμεῖται ἀρεταῖς, ἄρχει τῶν ἐπιγείων, καθώς ἐκεῖνος τοῦ παντός ἔχει τήν ἐξουσίαν, καί βασιλεύει τῶν παθῶν τοῦτο τό κατ᾿ εἰκόνα καί ὑποτάσσει δαίμονας δημιουργούς κακίας, καταπατεῖ τόν δράκοντα, τόν ἀρχαῖον, τόν μέγαν, ὥσπερ στρουθίον εὐτελές˙ καί πῶς; Ἄκουσον, τέκνον! Ὁ ἄρχων οὗτος ὁ πεσών τοῦ φωτός τῇ στερήσει ἐν σκότει γέγονεν εὐθύς καί ἔστι μετά πάντων τῶν σύν αὐτῷ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πεσόντων ἐν τῷ σκότει καί βασιλεύει ἐν αὐτῷ, τῷ σκότει, πάντων λέγω, τῶν κρατουμένων ἐν αὐτῷ δαιμόνων καί ἀνθρώπων. Πᾶσα ψυχή μή βλέπουσα φῶς τῆς ζωῆς τό λάμπον ἔν τε ἡμέρᾳ καί νυκτί ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τιμωρεῖται,