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that is, men and the churches. And you can say that the souls firm in virtue are islands, washed all around by the surging waves and storm of the passions, but suffering nothing at all from them. In all the preceding meanings you will take what is said by God: "Be renewed toward me, you islands." For having been renewed, the aforementioned islands, by the teaching of the new covenant, will receive the word concerning the wonder-working powers of God from those who are able to proclaim it sufficiently, as the Spirit says: "They will proclaim his virtues (that is, of God) in the islands." And when all these things have come to pass for the islands, it follows that they rejoice completely. 939 Ps 96,2.3 Cloud and darkness are round about him—not in a bodily sense; for if the things surrounding him were bodies, then he who is surrounded would be a body or at least using a body; but God and his only-begotten Son, insofar as he is God the Word, are incorporeal, or rather, beyond bodies. And now he says that cloud and darkness are around him to represent his incomprehensibility; and perhaps the cloud signifies the drinkable words flowing from him, while the darkness signifies the obscurity of his incomprehensibility. For indeed it has been said before: "And he bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet;" for the hard-to-behold, or rather incomprehensible, nature of his procession to the mind of created beings, according to which he proceeds creatively and providentially, is represented by "Darkness was under his feet." But if it is well to understand these things concerning the Savior according to the incarnation, consider whether the human nature that was assumed in an indivisible union can be called a cloud surrounding him, fulfilling the prophecy that says, "Behold, the Lord sits on a light cloud and will come into Egypt." For he came into the inhabited world allegorically called Egypt, having mounted and, so to speak, royally presiding on a light cloud that in no way had the weight of sin; for "he committed no sin," in order to give drink to the whole world through this cloud. But since the mounting of the Lord onto the aforementioned cloud is very difficult to behold, it is fitting that darkness is also with the cloud around him. Righteousness and judgment are the establishment of his throne; fire will go before him and will burn up his enemies round about. The establishment of the throne of his kingdom is righteousness and judgment, since as king he is a righteous judge. The words in Proverbs are consonant with these, as follows: "For with righteousness is the throne of rule prepared." Therefore, since he is a righteous judge, a fire going before him burns up all his enemies. And the enemies of the word of righteousness are those who act irrationally and unjustly, just as those who hold false opinions and lie are different from the truth; and friendship with the world is said to make one an enemy of God. If, then, one wishes to be a friend of the world, he is constituted an enemy of God, since those who embrace a material and more worldly way of life are shown to be enemies of God. Therefore, the fire that goes before the Lord burns up these enemies, not consuming and destroying their substance (for the hypostasis of their soul is immortal) but making disappear the works of the flesh that have grown up around them and material mindsets; whence the Savior wishes for the fire that he came to cast upon the earth to be kindled, so that all earthly things might be consumed. But one must not think that this fire is of the same kind as that which consumes combustible materials, but rather of a different substance from it, differing greatly from the flame among us. 940 Ps 96,4 The luminous words of his divine teaching, in the manner of lightnings, have shone upon the whole inhabited world, illuminating and enlightening it so that it may have the light of knowledge, but the earth, seeing these lightnings, was shaken and changed, casting off its earthly quality in order to take on the image of the heavenly. And in another way: the earth was shaken when it saw the laws of God, which are like lightnings, so that human laws were changed and

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ανθρωποι ητοι καὶ αἱ ἐκκλησίαι. δύνασαι δὲ καὶ τὰς τῶν βεβαίων κατ' ἀρετὴν ψυχὰς νήσους φάναι ὑπὸ τῆς τρικυμίας καὶ ζάλης τῶν παθῶν περικλυζομένας, πασχούσας δὲ ὑπ' αὐτῶν τὸ σύνολον οὐδέν. εἰς πάσας τὰς διανοίας τὰς προκειμένας λήψῃ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ λεγόμενον ̓Εγκαινίζεσθε πρός με, νῆσοι. ἀνανεωθεῖσαι γὰρ αἱ προκείμεναι νῆσοι παιδεύσει τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης δέξονται τὸν περὶ τῶν παραδοξοποιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμεων λόγον πρὸς τῶν ἱκανῶς ἀπαγγέλλειν αὐτὸν δυναμένων, ῃ φησι τὸ πνεῦμα Τὰς ἀρετὰς αὐτοῦ (τουτέστι τοῦ θεοῦ) ἐν ταῖς νήσοις ἀπαγγελοῦσι. τούτων δ' ἁπάντων ὑπαρξάντων ταῖς νήσοις τελείως εὐφραίνεσθαι αὐτὰς συμβαίνει. 939 Ps 96,2.3 Νεφέλη καὶ γνόφος κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ-οὐ σωματικῶς· εἰ γὰρ τὰ κυκλοῦντα ειη σώματα, καὶ ὁ κυκλούμενος ειη σῶμα η σώματί γε χρώμενος· ἀλλ' ἀσώματος, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπερέκεινα σωμάτων ὁ θεὸς καὶ ὁ μονογενὴς αὐτοῦ υἱὸς καθὸ θεὸς λόγος ἐστί. λέγει δὲ νῦν πρὸς παράστασιν τῆς ἀκαταληψίας αὐτοῦ περὶ αὐτὸν νεφέλη καὶ γνόφος ειναι· καὶ τάχα μὲν ἡ νεφέλη τοὺς ἐξ αὐτοῦ ῥέοντας ποτίμους σημαίνει λόγους, ὁ δὲ γνόφος τὴν ἀσάφειαν τῆς ἀκαταληψίας αὐτοῦ. ειρηται γοῦν καὶ πρότερον Καὶ εκλινεν οὐρανοὺς καὶ κατέβη, καὶ γνόφος ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ· τὸ γὰρ δυσθεώρητον, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀκατάληπτον τῷ νῷ τῶν γενητῶν τῆς πορείας αὐτοῦ καθ' ην πορεύεται δημιουργικῶς καὶ προνοητικῶς παρίσταται διὰ τοῦ Γνόφος ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. Εἰ δὲ περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος κατὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν ἐκλαβεῖν ταῦτα καλῶς εχει, ἐπίστησον εἰ νεφέλη δύναται λέγεσθαι κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ τυγχάνουσα ἡ ἀνθρωπεία φύσις ἡ προσληφθεῖσα καθ' ενωσιν ἀδιαίρετον, πληρῶν τὴν λέγουσαν προφητείαν ̓Ιδοὺ κύριος κάθηται ἐπὶ κούφης νεφέλης καὶ ηξει εἰς Αιγυπτον. ηλθε γὰρ εἰς τὴν ἀλληγορικῶς καλουμένην Αιγυπτον οἰκουμένην ἐπιβὰς καὶ, ιν' ουτως ειπω, βασιλικῶς προκαθήμενος ἐπὶ κούφης νεφέλης οὐδαμῶς βάρος ἁμαρτίας ἐχούσης· ἁμαρτίαν γὰρ οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἐπὶ τῷ ποτίσαι διὰ ταύτης τῆς νεφέλης τὸν πάντα κόσμον. ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ ἡ ἐπίβασις τοῦ κυρίου ἡ εἰς τὴν προειρημένην νεφέλην πολὺ τὸ δυσθεώρητον εχει, εἰκότως καὶ γνόφος αμα τῇ νεφέλῃ τυγχάνει περὶ αὐτόν. ∆ικαιοσύνη καὶ κρίμα κατόρθωσις τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ· πῦρ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ προπορεύσεται καὶ φλογιεῖ κύκλῳ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ. ἡ κατόρθωσις τοῦ θρόνου τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύνη καὶ κρίσις ἐστίν, ἐπείπερ βασιλεύων κριτὴς δίκαιός ἐστι. συνᾴδει τούτοις τὰ ἐν Παροιμίαις ουτως εχοντα· Μετὰ γὰρ δικαιοσύνης ἑτοιμάζεται θρόνος ἀρχῆς. οθεν δικαίου κριτοῦ τυγχάνοντος αὐτοῦ, πῦρ προπορευόμενον αὐτοῦ φλογίζει πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ. ἐχθροὶ δὲ τοῦ λόγου τῆς δικαιοσύνης οἱ ἀλόγως καὶ ἀδίκως πράττοντες ωσπερ ουν διάφοροι τῆς ἀληθείας οἱ ψευδοδοξοῦντες καὶ ψευδόμενοι· καὶ ἡ φιλία δὲ τοῦ κόσμου ἐχθροποιεῖν ειρηται θεῷ. ἐὰν ουν βουληθῇ φίλος ειναι τοῦ κόσμου, ἐχθρὸς τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσταται, τῶν τὴν ενυλον καὶ κοσμικωτέραν διαγωγὴν ἀσπαζομένων ἐχθρῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀποδεικνυμένων. τούτους ουν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς φλογίζει τὸ πῦρ τὸ εμπροσθεν τοῦ κυρίου προπορευόμενον, οὐκ ἀναλίσκον καὶ φθεῖρον αὐτῶν τὴν οὐσίαν (ἀθάνατος γὰρ ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν ὑπόστασις) ἀλλ' ἀφανίζον τὰ περὶ αὐτοὺς παραφυέντα τῆς σαρκὸς εργα καὶ ὑλικὰ φρονήματα· οθεν ὁ σωτὴρ ευχεται ἀναφθῆναι τὸ πῦρ ο βαλεῖν ηλθεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οπως ἀναλωθῇ τὰ γήινα πάντα. οὐχ ἡγητέον δὲ τοῦτο τὸ πῦρ ὁμογενὲς ειναι τῷ τὰς καυστὰς ἀναλίσκοντι υλας ἀλλ' ἑτεροούσιον αὐτοῦ πολλῷ διαφέρον τῆς παρ' ἡμῖν φλογός. 940 Ps 96,4 Οἱ φωτεινοὶ λόγοι τῆς θείας διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ ἀστραπῶν τρόπῳ εφαναν πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ, καταυγάζοντες καὶ φωτίζοντες αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τῷ εχειν φῶς γνώσεως, ἀλλ' ἡ γῆ ταύτας τὰς ἀστραπὰς ἰδοῦσα κλονηθεῖσα μετέβαλεν, ἀποβαλοῦσα τὴν γεώδη ποιότητα ἐπὶ τῷ ἀναλαβεῖν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου. Καὶ ἑτέρως δέ· ἐσαλεύθη ἡ γῆ ἰδοῦσα τοὺς ἀστραπαῖς ἐοικότας τοῦ θεοῦ νόμους ὡς μετατεθῆναι τοὺς ἀνθρωπίνους νόμους καὶ