188

37. In the same way that a dead body has no sensation whatsoever either towards living things or towards the dead bodies lying with it, so too the one who has come to be outside the world in the Spirit and is with God cannot have sensation towards the world or be affected by its affairs, even if he is subject to the necessities of the body.

38. Before death there is a death, and before the resurrection of bodies there is a resurrection of souls, in deed, in power, in experience, and in truth. For when the mortal mind is made to disappear by the immortal mind and the deadness (432) of life is driven out, the soul, having risen as from the dead, admittedly sees itself, just as those who have risen from sleep see themselves; and it recognizes God who raised it, and contemplating Him and giving thanks to Him, it is carried out of its senses and the whole world, being filled with inexpressible pleasure, and it brings to rest in Him every intellectual movement of its own.

39. Some things are brought by us, and some are given to us from above by God. For inasmuch as we are purified through toils and sacred sweats, we are illumined by the light of compunction; and inasmuch as we are illumined by the light, we are purified by tears, introducing the one from our own resources, and receiving in return the other which is given from above.

40. Many who have brought their own things have not, as is customary, received the things from God; and this is clear from what Cain and Esau have done and suffered. For if one does not offer what is his with right reason and a pious disposition and fervent faith and much humility, God would not look upon him, nor would He accept the offerings; and if not these, neither would He grant in return His own things to the one offering in this way.

41. The world and the people of the world are dead to the saints; wherefore, though they see, they do not see their good works, nor, though they hear, are they at all able to understand their divine words spoken in the Holy Spirit. But neither are the spiritual able to see the evil works of worldly and wicked men or to contain their impassioned words within themselves, but these too, seeing the things in the world, do not see, and hearing the things of the worldly, they are disposed in their senses as if not hearing; and so there is no communion for these with the things of those, nor for those with the things of the spiritual.

42. (433) Just as the division between light and darkness is clear and mixture is impossible; "For what," it says, "communion has light with darkness, or what part has a believer with an unbeliever," so also, among those who have the Holy Spirit, such is the distance from one another and the separation from those who do not have it. For some have their citizenship in heaven, having already become angels from men, while others still sit in the ancestral darkness and the shadow of death, fastened to the earth and the things on earth; and some are illumined by the intelligible and unwaning light, while others are illumined only by the sensible; and some see themselves and their neighbors, while others, seeing both themselves and their neighbors dying every day, are ignorant that they are human and die as humans; and being ignorant, they do not believe in a judgment, nor that there will be a resurrection and a recompense for each person's life.

43. If you have the Holy Spirit, you will surely know from its energies that occur in you what the Apostle says about it; for he says: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom," and: "The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness," and: "Those who are of Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." For as many as were baptized in the Holy Spirit have put on the whole Christ and are sons of light and walk in unwaning light, and seeing the world they do not see, and hearing the things of the world they do not hear. For just as it is written about carnal men that seeing they do not see and (434) hearing about divine things they do not understand, nor are they able to contain the things of the

188

λζ'. Ὅν τρόπον τό νεκρόν σῶμα οὔτε πρός τά ζῶντα οὔτε πρός τά σύν αὐτῷ νεκρά κείμενα σώματα τήν οἱανοῦν αἴσθησιν ἔχει, οὕτως οὐδέ ὁ ἔξω τοῦ κόσμου ἐν Πνεύματι γεγονώς καί σύν Θεῷ ὤν δύναται πρός τόν κόσμον αἴσθησιν ἔχειν ἤ προπάσχειν τοῖς τούτου πράγμασιν, εἰ καί ὑπόκειτα ταῖς ἀνάγκαις τοῦ σώματος.

λη'. Πρό θανάτου θάνατος, καί πρό τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῶν σωμάτων ψυχῶν ἀνάστασις γίνεται, ἔργῳ, δυνάμει, πείρᾳ καί ἀληθείᾳ. Τοῦ γάρ θνητοῦ φρονήματος ὑπό τοῦ ἀθανάτου νοός ἐξαφανιζομένου καί τῆς νεκρότητος (432) τῆς ζωῆς ἐκδιωκομένης, ἡ ψυχή ὡς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστᾶσα ἑαυτήν ὁμολογουμένως ὁρᾷ, καθάπερ οἱ ἐξ ὕπνου ἀνστάντες βλέπουσιν ἑαυτούς˙ καί τόν αὐτήν ἀναστήσαντα ἐπιγινώσκει Θεόν, ὅν κατανοοῦσα καί ᾧ εὐχαριστοῦσα, ἐξίσταται τῶν αἰσθήσεων καί τοῦ κόσμου παντός, ἀφράστου ἡδονῆς πληρουμένη, καί καταπαύει ἐν αὐτῷ πᾶσαν κίνησιν αὐτῆς νοεράν.

λθ'. Τά μέν εἰσφέρεται παρ᾿ ἡμῶν, τά δέ δίδονται ἡμῖν ἄνωθεν ἐκ Θεοῦ. Ὅσῳ γάρ διά πόνων καί ἱδρώτων ἱερῶν καθαιρόμεθα, λαμπρυνόμεθα διά φωτός κατανύξεως˙ καί ὅσῳ τῷ φωτί λαμπρυνόμεθα, τοῖς δάκρυσιν καθαιρόμεθα, τό μέν οἴκοθεν παρεισάγοντες, τό δέ διδόμενον ἀντιλαμβάνοντες ἄνωθεν.

μ'. Πολλοί τά ἑαυτῶν εἰσενεγκόντες τά ἐκ Θεοῦ συνήθως οὐκ ἔλαβον˙ καί δῆλον ἐξ ὧν ὁ Κάϊν καί ὁ Ἡσαῦ πεποιήκασι καί πεπόνθασι. Εἰ γάρ μή ὀρθῷ λογισμῷ καί εὐσεβεῖ διαθέσει καί πίστει θερμῇ καί πολλῇ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ τά παρ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ τις προσενέγκῃ, οὐκ ἄν ἐπιβλέψῃ Θεός ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν, οὐκ ἄν τά προσφερόμενα ἀποδέξηται˙ εἰ δέ μή ταῦτα, οὐδέ τά παρ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ ἀντιπαράσχοι τῷ οὕτω προσφέροντι.

μα'. Νεκρός ὁ κόσμος καί οἱ τοῦ κόσμου πρός τούς ἁγίους εἰσίν˙ ὅθεν οὐδέ βλέποντες βλέπουσι τά καλά αὐτῶν ἔργα, οὐδέ ἀκούοντες ὅλως ἰσχύουσι συνιέναι τούς ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ λεγομένους θείους λόγους αὐτῶν. Ἀλλ᾿ οὐδ᾿ οἱ πνευματικοί τῶν κοσμικῶν καί πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων ἰδεῖν τά πονηρά ἔργα ἤ τούς ἐμπαθεῖς λόγους αὐτῶν χωρῆσαι ἐν ἑαυτοῖς δύνανται, ἀλλά βλέποντες καί οὗτοι τά ἐν κόσμῳ οὐ βλέπουσι καί ἀκούοντες τά τῶν κοσμικῶν ὡς οὐκ ἀκούοντες τῇ αἰσθήσει διάκεινται˙ καί οὕτως οὐδεμία κοινωνία τούτοις πρός τά ἐκείνων ἤ ἐκείνοις πρός τά τῶν πνευματικῶν γίνεται.

μβ'. (433) Καθάπερ φωτός καί σκότους σαφής ἡ διαίρεσις καί ἡ μίξις ἀδύνατος˙ «Ποία γάρ», φησί, «κοινωνία φωτί πρός σκότος ἤ ποία μερίς πιστῷ μ ετά ἀπίστου», οὕτως, καί ἐν τοῖς Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον ἔχουσι, τοσαύτη ἡ ἀπ᾿ ἀλλήλων διάστασις καί ὁ χωρισμός πρός τούς μή ἔχοντάς ἐστιν. Οἱ μέν γάρ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἔχουσι τό πολίτευμα, ἄγγελοι ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἤδη γενόμενοι, οἱ δέ ἐν τῷ προγονικῷ σκότει καί τῇ σκιᾷ τοῦ θανάτου ἔτι κάθηνται προσηλωμένοι τῇ γῇ καί τοῖς ἐν γῇ πράγμασι˙ καί οἱ μέν, τῷ νοητῷ καί ἀνεσπέρῳ φωτί, οἱ δέ μόνῳ τῷ αἰσθητῷ περιλάμπονται˙ καί οἱ μέν ἑαυτούς καί τούς πλησίον ὁρῶσιν, οἱ δέ καί ἑαυτούς καί τούς πλησίον καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ὁρῶντες ἀποθνήσκοντας ἀγνοοῦσιν ὅτι ἄνθρωποί εἰσι καί ὡς ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνήσκουσι˙ καί ἀγνοοῦντες, οὐ πιστεύουσι περί κρίσεως οὐδέ ὅτι ἀνάστασις ἔσται καίἀνταπόδοσις τῶν βεβιωμένων ἑκάστῳ.

μγ'. Εἰ μέν Πνεῦμα Ἅγιόν ἐστί σοι, πάντως ἐκ τῶν ἐν σοί γινομένων αὐτοῦ ἐνεργειῶν γνωρίσεις ἅ λέγει περί αὐτοῦ ὁ Ἀπόστολος˙ φησί γάρ˙ «Ὅπου Πνεῦμα Κυρίου, ἐκεῖ ἐλευθερία» καί ὅτι˙ «Τό μέν σῶμα νεκρόν δι᾿ ἁμαρτίαν, τό δέ πνεῦμα ζωή διά δικαιοσύνην» καί ὅτι˙ «Οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τήν σάρκα ἐσταύρωσαν σύν τοῖς παθήμασι καί ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις». Ὅσοι γάρ ἐβαπτίσθησαν ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ ὅλον τόν Χριστόν ἐνδεδυμένοι εἰσί καί υἱοί εἰσι φωτός καί ἐν φωτί ἀνεσπέρῳ περιπατοῦσι καί βλέποντες τόν κόσμον οὐ βλέπουσι καί ἀκούοντες τά τοῦ κόσμου οὐκ ἀκούουσιν. Ὥσπερ γάρ γέγραπται περί τῶν σαρκικῶν ἀνθρώπων ὅτι βέποντες οὐ βλέπουσι καί (434) ἀκούοντες περί θείων πραγμάτων οὐ σινιῶσιν οὐδέ χωρεῖν δύναται τά τοῦ