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For I am separated from all created things; but since I, the creator of all, became a creature, I was like men in flesh only, having taken up a soul and a mind likewise as them. For I did not then make all men gods at the same time, but I indeed became a man; but through faith and the keeping of my commandments, and also through baptism, in divine partaking of my awesome mysteries, I grant life to all. And in saying "life," I meant my Divine Spirit; yet let them know this, as Paul said, (404) those who have my Spirit in their hearts, have it shining and crying out to my Father, and through them it says to me: O Abba, my father! For they have become children of God and, knowing me with boldness, they see and call me father; and it also says to each of those who now truly have it in themselves: O children, do not be afraid! Behold I, as you see, am within you and with you, and I free you once and for all from corruption and from death and show you whose children and friends, behold, I have made you; rejoice in the Lord! This, then, will be a true sign for men, that they have become sons and heirs of God, that having received it they have my Divine Spirit, and from this they are truly called Christians in truth and in deed, not by name alone. These things are faithful and longed for, O my Christ; those whom you clearly foreknew and granted to become conformed to your image in the Divine Spirit, and in every way these things are possible for them as those called by you into unspeakable joy forever. But to all the rest these things seem impossible, who, slandering, disbelieve completely, deceiving themselves, or the foolish think to console themselves with empty hopes, speaking loftily as elegant men with arrogant words, and allegorizing these things to suit their own desires, they utterly despise your awesome commandments. For they do not want to seek you, because they think they have you; but if they should confess that they do not have you, my God, (405) then they proclaim you to all as entirely incomprehensible, and that no one among men is able to behold you, nor is there one who surpasses them in knowledge. For they teach that you are either comprehensible and accessible to all men, or entirely incomprehensible and inaccessible; yet in both cases they err, not understanding divine and human things, being darkened. To them award the light of knowledge, give a hand of divine fear,

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Ἐγώ κτισμάτων πάντων γάρ εἰμί κεχωρισμένος˙ ἐπεί δέ κτίσμα γέγονα, τῶν ἁπάντων ὁ κτίστης, σαρκί καί μόνον ὅμοιος ὑπῆρξα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ψυχήν ἀναλαβόμενος καί νοῦν ὁμοίως τούτοις. Οὐδέ γάρ πάντας ἐν τἀυτῷ τότε θεούς ἀνθρώπους πεποίηκα, ἀλλ᾿ ἄνθρωπος ἐγενόμην ἐγώ μέν˙ τῇ πίστει δέ καί τῶν ἐμῶν ἐντολῶν τῇ τηρήσει, ἀλλά καί τῷ βαπτίσματι, ἐν θείᾳ μεταλήψει τῶν φρικτῶν μυστηρίων μου πᾶσι ζωήν δωροῦμαι. Ζωήν δ᾿ εἰπών ἐδήλωσα τό Πνεῦμα μου τό Θεῖον˙ πλήν τοῦτο γινωσκέτωσαν, καθώς εἶπεν ὁ Παῦλος, (404) οἱ ἔχοντες τό Πνεῦμά μου ἐν ταῖς αὐτῶν καρδίαις, λάμπον καί κράζον ἔχουσι πρός τόν ἐμόν Πατέρα, καί πρός με λέγει δι᾿ αὐτῶν˙ Ὦ ἀββᾶ, ὁ πατήρ μου! Ὡς τέκνα γάρ γεγόνασι Θεοῦ καί παρρησίᾳ γνωρίζοντές με βλέπουσι καί πατέρα καλοῦσι˙ λέγει δέ καί πρός ἕκαστον τῶν αὐτό νῦν ἐχόντων ἐν ἑαυτοῖς παναληθῶς˙ Ὦ τέκνα, μή φοβεῖσθε! Ἰδού ἐγώ, ὡς βλέπετε, ἐντός ὑμῶν ὑπάρχω καί σύνειμι, καί τῆς φθορᾶς ἅπαξ καί τοῦ θανάτου ἐλευθερῶ καί δείκνυμι τίνος τέκνα καί φίλους ὑμᾶς, ἰδού, πεποίηκ˙ χαίρετε ἐν Κυρίῳ! Τοῦτο οὖν ἔσται ἀληθές σημεῖον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὅτι Θεοῦ γεγόνασιν υἱοί καί κληρονόμοι, ὅτι λαβόντες ἔχουσι τό Πνεῦμά μου τό Θεῖον, ἐντεῦθέν τε Χριστιανοί χρηματίζουσιν ὄντως ἀληθείᾳ καί πράγματι, οὐκ ὀνόματι μόνῳ. Ταῦτα πιστά καί ποθεινά τυγχάνουσι, Χριστέ μου˙ οὕσπερ προέγνωκας σαφῶς καί δέδωκας γενέσθαι συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος σου ἐν Πνεύματι τῷ Θείῳ, καί πάντῃ δυνατά ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ὡς κεκλημένοις εἰς τήν χαράν τήν ἄφραστον ὑπό σοῦ εἰς αἰῶνας. Τοῖς δέ λοιποῖς ἀδύνατα πᾶσι δοκοῦσι ταῦτα, οἵ καί διαβάλλοντες ἀπιστοῦσιν εἰς ἅπαν φρεναπατοῦντες ἑαυτούς, ἤ καί παραμυθεῖσθαι οἴονται οἱ παράφρονες ἐπί κεναῖς ἐλπίσιν, ὑψηγοροῦντες ὡς κομψοί τοῖς ἐπηρμένοις λόγοις, καί πρός τά φίλα ἑαυτῶν ἀλληγοροῦντες ταῦτα τῶν φοβερῶν σου ἐντολῶν καταφρονοῦσιν ὅλως. Σέ γάρ ζητεῖν οὐ θέλουσιν, ἔχειν γάρ σε δοκοῦσιν˙ εἰ δέ ὁμολογήσουσι μή ἔχειν σε, Θεέ μου, (405) τότε σε πάντῃ ἄληπτον κηρύσσουσι τοῖς πᾶσι, καί ὡς οὐδείς θεάσασθαι ἰσχύει σε ἀνθρώπων, οὐδέ ὑπάρχει ὁ αὐτῶν ὑπερέχων ἐν γνώσει. Ἤ γάρ τοῖς πᾶσί τε ληπτόν καί προσιτόν ἀνθρώποις, ἤ ἄληπτον, ἀπρόσιτον διδάσκουσί σε πάντῃ˙ ὅμως ἐν ἀμφοτέροις δέ σφάλλονται, μή νοοῦντες τά θεῖα καί ἀνθρώπινα, ἐσκοτισμένοι ὄντες. Οἷς βράβευσον φῶς γνώσεως, δός χεῖρα φόβου θείου,