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no one knows, except the Spirit of God.” And again, “no one knows the Father except the Son, and no one knows the Son except the Father and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

6. Q. And how does Christ say, “do not despise one of these little ones; for their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven”? And again, “blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” but you say that even the angels do not know what and where God is?

A. Just as when the sun shines at midday, we clearly see the light emitted from it, but we are not able in the least to look upon and perceive it itself, yet we truly say that we see it, so also the angels and the saints, seeing the radiant glory of the Spirit, in it see both the Son and the Father; but it is not so with sinners and the impure; for they are like the blind and insensible; for just as the blind do not see the shining light of the physical sun, so indeed they do not see the divine light which always shines, nor do they feel its warmth.

7. Q. (457) What then do those who are purified in mind and heart see? A. Since God is light and the supreme light, nothing else

do those who see him see, except light; and this is clear both from those who saw the face of Christ shine like the sun, and his garments become like the light; and from Paul the apostle, who saw God as light and turned to the knowledge of him, and from countless other saints.

8. Q. How then is he not seen by all, since God is eternal and ever-shining light?

A. Because God so ordained from the beginning: that darkness should have no fellowship in the light, nor the accursed and profane with the Holy and pure. Wherefore both as a great chasm and a wall, our evil thoughts and vain reasonings become like a high wall and separate us from the light of true life; for God is light and is life; therefore, as many as are deprived of this, are dead in soul and are both co-heirs and participants of the eternal fire and darkness.

9. Q. And is it not possible for one who has not reached these measures to attain salvation? A. Since the Lord says, many are the mansions in my Father’s house, it is clear

that there are also many ways of salvation; but all are perfected in the one way of repentance through abstinence from evil, whether you speak of that of almsgiving or that of pilgrimage or the fulfillment of any other good deed, toward the attainment of better things.

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οὐδείς οἶδεν, εἰ μή τό Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ»˙ καί πάλιν˙ «οὐδείς γινώσκει τόν Πατέρα, εἰ μή ὁ Υἱός, καί οὐδείς γινώσκει τόν Υἱόν, εἰ μή ὁ Πατήρ καί ᾧ ἄν βούληται ὁ Υἱός ἀποκαλύψαι».

6. Ἐρώτ. Καί πῶς φησιν ὁ Χριστός, «μή καταφρονήσητε ἑνός τῶν μικρῶν τούτων˙ οἱ γάρ ἄγγελοι αὐτῶν διά παντός βλέπουσι τό πρόσωπον τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς»; Καί πάλιν, «μακάριοι οἱ καθαροί τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοί τόν Θεόν ὄψονται», σύ δέ λέγεις ὅτι καί οἱ ἄγγελοι ἀγνοοῦσιν ὁποῖος καί ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός;

Ἀπάντ. Ὥσπερ τοῦ ἡλίου ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ λάμποντος τό ἐκπεμπόμενον μέν ἐξ αὐτοῦ φῶς τρανῶς καθορῶμεν, αὐτόν δέ ἐκεῖνον κἄν ποσῶς κατιδεῖν καί καταμαθεῖν οὐκ ἰσχύομεν, ὅμως δέ βλέπειν αὐτόν ἐπ᾿ἀληθείας λέγομεν, οὕτω καί οἱ ἄγγελοι καί οἱ ἅγιοι τήν ἀπαστράπτουσαν δόξαν καθορῶντες τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἐν αὐτῇ καί τόν Υἱόν καί τόν Πατέρα ὁρῶσιν˙ οὐχ οὕτως δέ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί καί ἀκάθαρτοι˙ ἐκεῖνοι γάρ τυφλοῖς καί ἀναισθήτοις ἐοίκασιν˙ ὥσπερ γάρ οἱ τυφλοί τό φῶς τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ ἡλίου λάμπον οὐ βλέπουσιν, οὕτω δή καί αὐτοί τό θεῖον φῶς ἀεί φαῖνον οὐ καθορῶσιν, οὔτε μήν ἐπαισθάνονται τῆς θέρμης αὐτοῦ.

7. Ἐρώτ. (457) Τί οὖν βλέπουσιν οἱ κεκαθαρμένοι τόν νοῦν καί τήν καρδίαν; Απάντ. Ἐπειδή ὁ Θεός φῶς ἐστι καί φῶς τό ἀκρότατον, ἕτερον οὐδέν

ὁρῶσιν οἱ αὐτόν βλέποντες, εἰ μή φῶς˙ καί τοῦτο δῆλον ἔκ τε τῶν ἰδόντων λάμψαν τό πρόσωπον τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὡς τόν ἥλιον, τά δέ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ γενόμενα ὡς τό φῶς˙ καί ἐκ Παύλου τοῦ ἀποστόλου, φῶς ἰδόντος τόν Θεόν καί εἰς τήν αὐτοῦ ἐπίγνωσιν ἐπιστρέψαντος, καί ἐκ μυρίων ἑτέρων ἁγίων.

8. Ἐρώτ. Πῶς οὖν οὐ πᾶσιν ὁρᾶται, ἐπεί ἀΐδιον καί ἀειλαμπές φῶς ἐστιν ὁ Θεός;

Ἀπάντ. Ἐπειδή οὕτως ᾠκονόμησεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁ Θεός˙ ἵνα μηδεμίαν ἔχῃ κοινωνίαν τό σκότος ἐν τῷ φωτί μηδέ ἐναγής καί βέβηλος μετά τοῦ Ἁγίου καί καθαροῦ. ∆ιό καί ὡς μέγα χάσμα καί τεῖχος δέ αἱ πονηραί ἐνθυμήσεις καί οἱ μάταιοι ἡμῶν διαλογισμοί οἷα δή τεῖχος ὑψηλόν γίνονται καί διιστῶσιν ἡμᾶς ἀπό τοῦ φωτός τῆς ὄντως ζωῆς˙ ὁ γάρ Θεός φῶς ἐστι καί ζωή ἐστιν˙ ὅσοι τοιγαροῦν ἐστέρηνται τούτου, νεκροί εἰσι τῇ ψυχῇ καί τοῦ αἰωνίου πυρός καί σκότους συγκληρονόμοι τε καί συμμέτοχοι.

9. Ἐρώτ. Καί οὐκ ἔστι σωτηρίας τυχεῖν τόν μή εἰς ταῦτα πεφθακότα τά μέτρα; Ἀπάντ. Τοῦ Κυρίου λέγοντος, πολλαί μοναί παρά τῷ Πατρί μού εἰσιν, εὔδηλον

ὅτι καί πολλαί σωτηρίας ὁδοί˙ πᾶσαι δέ ἐν μιᾷ τῇ τῆς μετανοίας ὁδῷ τελειοῦνται διά τῆς τοῦ κακοῦ ἀποχῆς, εἴτε τήν τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης εἴποις εἴτε τήν τῆς ξενιτείας εἴτε πάσης ἑτέρας τοῦ ἀγαθου πράξεως ἐκπλήρωσιν, πρός τήν τῶν κρειττόνων ἐπιτυχίαν.