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in two Testaments, from which the power of the divine thoughts, being activated, is naturally given forth wisely; through which the light of the divine mysteries is preserved unquenchable, being nourished.

And one, he says, on the right of its bowl, and one on the left. I think the prophet calls the more spiritual part of the word the right; and the more corporeal, the left. But if the more corporeal part of the word denotes the left, and the more spiritual part signifies the right; I take the olive tree on the left to signify the Old Testament, as providing more for practical philosophy; and the one on the right, the New Testament, as a teacher of a new mystery, and productive of the contemplative state in each of the faithful. For the one provides ways of virtue; the other, principles of knowledge, to those who philosophize on divine things. And the one, snatching the mind away from the mist of visible things, leads it up to what is kindred, having become pure of all material fantasy; the other purges it of material passion, with the vigor of fortitude, as with a kind of hammer, driving out the nails that attach the will to the body. And the Old [Testament], considered as body to soul, conveys it across through the midst of the virtues [Fr. leads it up], preventing the mind from being brought down to the body; but the New leads it up to God, being set on fire with the fire of love. And the one makes the body the same as the mind in its positional movement; but the other makes the mind the same as God according to the state of grace; having such a resemblance to God that through it God is known; who of Himself by nature is in no way whatsoever known to anyone, as an archetype from an image.

Let these things be so in this way. But if someone wishes to take the power of what has been said also in relation to each individual person, he will certainly not lack beautiful and pious contemplations. For he will be able to understand the soul of each person as a lampstand; (680) entirely golden, as being by nature intellectual and rational; incorruptible and immortal; and honored with the most royal power of self-determination; having upon itself the bowl of faith, that is, the Word become flesh, believed in by it firmly, and truly worshipped by it; upon which the lamp of the word of knowledge is lit and placed, according to the teaching and exhortation of God the Word Himself. For He says: No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house; by 'lamp' meaning perhaps the principle of knowledge according to practice in the spirit, that is, the law of the spirit; and by 'bushel,' the earthly mindset of the flesh, that is, the impassioned law of the body; under which one must not place the law of grace, but upon the soul, the truly golden lampstand; so that, shining with the flashes of the works of righteousness and of wise thoughts, to all those in the house, that is, the Church, or this world, it makes those who see them imitators of the good; they too glorifying through works of virtue, and not by the mere utterance of words, the Father in heaven, that is, God, who in the heights of the mystical contemplations of knowledge begets the magnificence of the works of righteousness that are seen in the saints according to virtue. That they may see your good works, He says, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Thus, then, he will understand, according to the manner given, the lampstand that was seen and its bowl; and he will take the seven lamps to be the distribution of the different gifts of the Spirit, according to the previously given explanation, which mystically shines upon and rests upon the one who is being perfected according to Christ through virtue and knowledge; since the word knows him who lives according to Christ to be Christ, being manifested by the same ways and words, as is permissible for a human being; just as indeed he himself

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δυσί ∆ιαθήκαις, ἐξ ὧν ἡ τῶν θείων νοημάτων ἐνεργουμένη σοφῶς ἐκδίδοσθαι πέφυκε δύναμις· δι᾿ ἧς τό φῶς τῶν θείων μυστηρίων ἄσβεστον συντηρεῖται τρεφόμενον.

Καί μία, φησίν, ἐκδεξιῶν τοῦ λαμπαδίου αὐτῆς, καί μία ἐξ εὐωνύμων. ∆εξιάν οἶμαι λέγειν τόν προφήτην, τό πνευματικώτερον τοῦ λόγου μέρος· εὐώνυμον δέ, τό σωματικώτερον. Εἰ δέ τό σωματικώτερον τοῦ λόγου μέρος δηλοῖ τό ἀριστερόν· τό δέ πνευματικώτερον μέρος σημαίνει τό δεξιόν· τήν Παλαιάν ∆ιαθήκην τήν ἐξ εὐωνύμων ἐλαίαν ὑπολαμβάνω σημαίνειν, ὡς τῆς πρακτικῆς μᾶλλον προνοουμένην φιλοσοφίας· τήν ἐκ δεξιῶν δέ, τήν Νέαν ∆ιαθήκην, ὡς καινοῦ μυστηρίου διδάσκαλον, καί τῆς ἐν ἑκάστῳ τῶν πιστῶν θεωρητικῆς ἕξεως ποιητικήν. Ἡ μέν γάρ ἀρετῆς τρόπους· ἡ δέ, γνώσεως λόγους παρέχεται, τοῖς τά θεῖα φιλοσοφοῦσι. Καί ἡ μέν, τῆς τῶν ὁρωμένων ὁμίχλης ὑφαρπάζουσα, πρός τό συγγενές ἀνάγει τόν νοῦν, πάσης καθαρόν ὑλικῆς φαντασίας γεγενημένον· ἡ δέ, τῆς ὑλικῆς προσπαθείας αὐτόν ἀποκαθαίρει, τῷ τῆς ἀνδρείας τόνῳ καθάπερ σφύρᾳ τινί, τούς πρός τό σῶμα τῆς γνώμης κατά τήν σχέσιν ἐκκρουόμενον ἥλους. Καί ἡ μέν Παλαιά, σῶμα πρός ψυχήν λογισθέν διά μέσων διαβιβάζει [Fr. ἀναβιβάζει] τῶν ἀρετῶν, κωλύουσα τοῦ πρός σῶμα τόν νοῦν καταβιβάζεσθαι· ἡ δέ Νέα πρός τόν Θεόν ἀναβιβάζει, τῷ πυρί τῆς ἀγάπης πυρούμενον. Καί ἡ μέν, ταυτόν ἐργάζεται τῷ νοΐ τό σῶμα κατά τήν θέσει κίνησιν· ἡ δέ ταυτόν τῷ Θεῷ τόν νοῦν ἀποτελεῖ κατά τήν ἕξιν τῆς χάριτος· τοσαύτην ἔχοντα πρός τόν Θεόν τήν ἐμφέρειαν, ὥστε δι᾿ αὐτοῦ τόν Θεόν γνωρίζεσθαι· τόν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ κατά φύσιν οὐδαμῶς τό παράπαν οὐδενί γινωσκόμενον, ὡς ἔκ τινος εἰκόνος ἀρχέτυπον.

Ταῦτα μέν ὧδε κατά τοῦτον ἐχέτω τόν τρόπον. Εἰ δέ βούλεταί τις καί εἰς τόν καθ᾿ ἕκαστον ἄνθρωπον λαμβάνειν τῶν εἰρημένων δύναμιν, οὐκ ἀπορήσει πάντως καλῶν καί εὐσεβῶν θεωρημάτων. Λυχνίαν γάρ δυνήσεται νοεῖν τήν ἑκάστου ψυχήν· (680) χρυσῆν ὅλην, ὡς κατά φύσιν νοεράν τε καί λογικήν· ἄφθαρτόν τε καί ἀθάνατον· καί τῷ βασιλικωτάτῳ κράτει τῆς αὐτεξουσιότητος τετιμημένην· ἔχουσαν ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτῆς τό λαμπάδιον τῆς πίστεως, ἤγουν τόν σάρκα γενόμενον Λόγον πιστευόμενον αὐτῇ βεβαίως, καί ἀληθῶς ὑπ᾿ αὐτῆς λατρευόμενον· ἐφ᾿ ἥν ὁ λύχνος τοῦ λόγου τῆς γνώσεως ἀναπτόμενος τίθεται, κατά τήν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Λόγου διδαχήν καί παραίνεσιν. Φησίν γάρ· Οὐδείς ἄπτει λύχνον καί τιθέασιν αὐτόν ὑπό τόν μόδιον· ἀλλ᾿ ἐπί τήν λυχνίαν, καί λάμπει πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ· λύχνον λέγων τυχόν, τόν κατά πρᾶξιν ἐν πνεύματι τῆς γνώσεως λόγον· ἤγουν τόν νόμον τοῦ πνεύματος· μόδιον δέ, τό χοϊκόν φρόνημα τῆς σαρκός, ἤγουν τόν ἐμπαθῆ νόμον τοῦ σώματος· ὑφ᾿ ὅν οὐ δεῖ ποιεῖσθαι τόν νόμον τῆς χάριτος· ἀλλ᾿ ἐπί τήν ψυχήν· τήν ὄντως χρυσῆν λυχνίαν· ἵνα λάμπων ταῖς ἀστραπαῖς τῶν ἔργων τῆς δικαιοσύνης καί τῶν σοφῶν νοημάτων, πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, τουτέστιν, Ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἤ τῷδε τῷ κόσμῳ, μιμητάς τοῦ καλοῦ τούς θεωμένους καθίστησι· δοξάζοντας καί αὐτούς διά τῶν ἔργων τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ ψιλῇ προφορᾷ λόγων, τόν ἐν οὐρανοῖς Πατέρα, τουτέστι τόν Θεόν, τόν ἐν τοῖς ὑψώμασι τῶν μυστικῶν θεωρημάτων τῆς γνώσεως, τήν τῶν κατά τήν ἀρετήν φαινομένων ἔργων τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις γεννῶντα μεγαλοπρέπειαν. Ὅπως ἴδωσιν ὑμῶν τά καλά ἔργα, φησί, καί δοξάσωσι τόν Πατέρα ὑμῶν τόν ἐν οὐρανοῖς.

Οὕτω μέν οὖν νοήσει, κατά τόν ἀποδοθέντα τρόπον τήν ὁραθεῖσαν λυχνίαν καί τό λαμπάδιον· τούς ἑπτά δέ λύχνους ἐκδέξεται, τήν τῶν διαφόρων χαρισμάτων τοῦ Πνεύματος εἶναι διαίρεσιν, κατά τήν προαποδοθεῖσαν ἐξήγησιν, ἥν μυστικῶς ἐπιλάμπειν καί ἐπαναπαύεσθαι τῷ κατά Χριστόν δι᾿ ἀρετῆς τελειουμένῳ καί γνώσεως· ἐπειδή Χριστόν οἶδεν ὁ λόγος τόν ζῶντα κατά Χριστόν, καί τοῖς αὐτοῖς τρόποις καί λόγοις, καθώς ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ θεμιτόν, διαφαινόμενον· οἷα δή καί αὐτόν