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And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. He who, according to the first approach of the contemplation of the preceding passage (901), according to

this age, of which we said 'today' is a symbol, seeking through prayer the incorruptible bread of wisdom, from which the transgression initially walled us off, since he indeed acknowledges one pleasure, the attainment of divine things, of which God is by nature the giver, but the recipient's choice is by will the guardian; and knowing one pain, the failure to attain these, of which the devil is the instigator, but the perpetrator is everyone who grows weary of divine things through weakness of judgment [Ven. et Fr. ἀποκναιόμενος]; not guarding that which is precious, cherished by the dispositions of the judgment; having his choice in no way inclined toward any of the visible things, and for this reason not being subject to the painful things that happen to him bodily; this man, truly, dispassionately forgives those who sin against him; because no one can at all take by force the good for which he strives according to desire, which is believed to be by nature indestructible. And he sets himself up as an exemplar of virtue for God, if it is licit to say so, urging the Inimitable One to come to the imitation of himself, saying: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; and as he himself has been to his neighbors, he beseeches God to be. For if, as he has forgiven the debts of those who have sinned against him, he wishes to be forgiven by God, it is clear that just as God dispassionately forgives those whom He forgives, so also he, remaining dispassionate in the face of what happens, forgives those who have transgressed; not allowing the mind to be imprinted by any memory [Fr. μνήμην] of past sorrows, lest he be convicted of dividing nature by his judgment, being alienated from some men, being a man himself. For thus, when the judgment is united to the principle of nature, God's reconciliation to nature is disposed to occur, because it is not otherwise possible for nature, being in rebellion against itself according to its judgment, to receive the divine and ineffable condescension. And perhaps for this reason God wills us first to make reconciliations with one another, not that He may learn from us how to be reconciled to sinners and to forgive the payment of many and fearful crimes, but that He might cleanse us of passions, and show the disposition of those being forgiven to be consonant with the state of grace. But it has become clearly evident that when the judgment is united with the principle of nature, the choice of those who have accomplished this will be without rebellion toward God; since nothing irrational is naturally contemplated in the principle of nature, which is both a natural and a divine law, whenever it receives the movement of the judgment operating according to itself. But if there is nothing irrational in the principle of nature, its activity will be consonant with God in all things; which is [Fr. ἥτις ἔσται] a disposition in act, formed by the grace of the naturally good for the generation of virtue.

(904) In this way, therefore, is the one who asks for the gnostic bread disposed while praying, after whom also that one who seeks only the daily bread because of the necessity of nature will be disposed in the same manner: having forgiven his debtors their debts, as one who has indeed understood that he is by nature mortal, and for the rest, expecting each day, on account of uncertainty, what is naturally destined to be, he anticipates nature according to his judgment; becoming a voluntary dead man to the world, according to the saying of scripture, that For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered; and for this reason pouring himself out as a libation to all, so that he might carry with him no mark of the wickedness of the present age, as he is translated to the ageless life; and might receive from the Judge and Savior of all an equal recompense for those things he has used beforehand here. For to both, the pure [disposition] towards those has become necessary for their own benefit.

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Καί ἄφες ἡμῖν τά ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καί ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν. Ὁ κατά τήν πρώτην τῆς τοῦ προλαβόντος ῥητοῦ (901) θεωρίας ἐπιβολήν, κατά

τόν αἰῶνα τοῦτον, οὗ σύμβολον εἶναι τό σήμερον ἔφαμεν, τόν ἄφθαρτον ἄρτον τῆς σοφίας, οὗ καταρχάς διετείχισεν ἡμᾶς ἡ παράβασις, διά προσευχῆς ἐπιζητῶν, ἅτε δή μίαν ἡδονήν ἐπιστάμενος τήν τῶν θείων ἐπιτυχίαν, ἧς δοτήρ μέν κατά φύσιν ἐστίν ὁ Θεός· φύλαξ δέ κατά θέλησιν ἡ τοῦ λαβόντος προαίρεσις· καί μίαν ὀδύνην εἰδώς, τήν τούτων ἀποτυχίαν, ἧς ὑποβολεύς μέν ἐστιν ὀ διάβολος· αὐτουργός δέ, πᾶς ὁ τῶν θείων δι᾿ ἀτονίαν γνώμης ἀποκαμνόμενος [Ven. et Fr. ἀποκναιόμενος] · μή φυλάττων τό τίμιον γνώμης διαθέσεσι στεργόμενον· πρός οὐδέν ἔχων τῶν ὀρωμένων ῥέπουσαν τό σύνολον τήν προαίρεσιν, καί διά τοῦτο τοῖς σωματικῶς αὐτῷ συμβαίνουσι λυπηροῖς οὐχ ὑπαγόμενος· οὗτος ὡς ἀληθῶς, ἀπαθῶς ἀφίησι τοῖς εἰς αὐτόν ἁμαρτάνωσιν· ὅτι μηδέ τό κατ᾿ ἔφεσιν αὐτῷ σπουδαζόμενον δύναταί τις τό παράπαν χειροῦσθαι καλόν, ἀνάλωτον κατά φύσιν ὑπάρχειν πεπιστευμένον. Καί τῷ Θεῷ καθίστησιν ἑαυτόν ἀρετῆς ἐξεμπλάριον, εἰ τοῦτο θέμις εἰπεῖν, πρός μίμησιν ἑαυτοῦ τόν ἀμίμητον ἐλθεῖν ἐγκελευόμενος, λέγων· Ἄφες ἡμῖν τά ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καί ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν· καί οἷος αὐτός γέγονε τοῖς πέλας, οἷ γενέσθαι παρακαλῶν τόν Θεόν. Εἰ γάρ ὡς αὐτός ἀφῆκε τά ὀφειλήματα τοῖς εἰς αὐτόν ἡμαρτηκόσι, βούλεται καί αὐτῷ ἀφεθῆναι παρά Θεοῦ, δηλονότι ὥσπερ ὁ Θεός ἀπαθῶς ἀφίησιν οἷς ἀφίησιν, οὕτως καί αὐτός ἀπαθής ἐπί τοῖς συμβαίνουσι διαμένων, ἀφίησι τοῖς πλημμελήσασι· μή συγχωρῶν μνήμῃ [Fr. μνήμην] τινί τῶν φθασάντων λυπηρῶν τυποῦσθαι τόν νοῦν, ἵνα μή τέμνων τῇ γνώμῃ τήν φύσιν ἐλέγχηται, πρός τινα τῶν ἀνθρώπων διεστηκώς, ἄνθρωπος ὤν. Οὕτω γάρ ἄν ἑνωθείσης τῆς γνώμης τῷ λόγῳ τῆς φύσεως, ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρός τήν φύσιν καταλλαγή γίνεσθαι πέφυκεν, ὅτι μήτε δυνατόν ἑτέρως κατά τήν γνώμην πρός ἑαυτήν στασιάζουσαν τήν φύσιν, τήν θείαν καί ἀνεκλάλητον ὑποδέξασθαι συγκατάβασιν. Καί τυχόν διά τοῦτο πρότερον ἡμᾶς βούλεται τάς πρός ἀλλήλους ποιεῖσθαι καταλλαγάς ὁ Θεός, οὐχ ἴνα παρ᾿ ἡμῶν μάθῃ καταλλάτεσθαι τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσι, καί τῶν πολλῶν συγχωρεῖν καί φοβερῶν ἐγκλημάτων τήν ἔκτισιν, ἀλλ᾿ ἵνα ἡμᾶς καθάρῃ παθῶν, καί δείξῃ συμβαίνουσαν τῇ σχέσει τῆς χάριτος τήν τῶν συγχωρουμένων διάθεσιν. Σαφῶς δέ καθέστηκε δῆλον ὅτι τῆς γνώμης ἑνωθείσης τῷ λόγῳ τῆς φύσεως, ἀστασίαστος ἔσται πρός τόν Θεόν ἡ τῶν τοῦτο κατωρθωκότων προαίρεσις· εἴπερ οὐδέν πέφυκεν ἐνθεωρεῖσθαι παράλογον τῷ λόγῳ τῆς φύσεως, ὅς καί νόμος ἐστί φυσικός τε καί θεῖος, ὅταν καθ᾿ ἑαυτόν ἐνεργουμένην λάβῃ τῆς γνώμης τήν κίνησιν. Εἰ δέ παράλογον οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς φύσεως, συμβαίνουσαν ἕξει διά πάντων τῷ Θεῷ τήν ἐνέργειαν· ἥτις ἐστι [Fr. ἥτις ἔσται] διάθεσις ἔμπρακτος, τῇ χάριτι τοῦ φύσει καλοῦ πρός ἀρετῆς γένεσιν πεποιωμένη.

(904) Οὕτω μέν οὖν, ὁ τόν γνωστικόν ἄρτον αἰτῶν διάκειται προσευχόμενος, μεθ᾿ ὅν κακεῖνος ὁ μόνον τόν ἐφήμερον ἄρτον ἐπιζητῶν διά τήν βίαν τῆς φύσεως, κατά τόν αὐτόν διατεθήσεται τρόπον· ἀφείς τοῖς ὀφειλέταις τά ὀφειλήματα, οἷα δή γνούς, ὅτι κατά φύσιν ὑπάρχει θνητός, καί λοιπόν καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν διά τήν ἀδηλίαν τό φύσει πεφυκός ἐκδεχόμενος, προλαμβάνει τήν φύσιν κατά τήν γνώμην· αὐθαίρετος νεκρός πρός τόν κόσμον γινόμενος, κατά τό φάσκον λόγιον, ὅτι Ἕνεκεν σοῦ θανατούμεθα ὅλην τήν ἡμέραν· ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς· καί διά τοῦτο σπενδόμενος ἅπασιν, ἵνα μηδέν ἑαυτῷ συνεπικομίζηται γνώρισμα τῆς μοχθηρίας τοῦ νῦν αἰῶνος, πρός τήν ἀγήρω ζωήν μεθιστάμενος· καί λάβῃ παρά τοῦ κριτοῦ καί Σωτῆρος τῶν ὅλων, ὧν ἐνταῦθα προκέχρηκε τήν ἴσην ἀντίδοσιν. Ἀναγκαία γάρ ἀμφοτέροις πρός τήν σφῶν αὐτῶν λυσιτέλειαν καθέστηκεν ἡ καθαρά πρός τούς