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to learn such things in an introductory way with a vision proportionate to them"5. What then is there to say in these matters? First, that it creates a division of our one and complete faith, which admits of no addition or subtraction whatsoever, assigning to himself the formulation through the sacred writings, while carrying off for those who are supposedly simpler and more imperfect the story in image and painting; then he would attach to himself the perfection of grace, but cast upon the others a Jewish childishness, in need of a natural elevation. Therefore, according to him, the holy apostle is proven false when he says: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. But if he speaks the truth, as indeed he has spoken truth, and there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, what is this new division into two unequal parts? to divide the holy nation, the royal priesthood, and for one part to be of the more perfect portion, and the other of the more inferior. Then, since everyone who is of sound mind strives for perfection, he will consider the imperfect to be reprehensible and from this, necessarily, the doctrine of the story is superfluous. And it is especially opposed to Basil the Great, by not identifying as the same the things dogmatized equally by him; for what the word of the story, he says, presents through hearing, this painting shows in silence through imitation. So the noble man rises up against the sacred oracles as well as against the chief father and, thinking to correct another on this very doctrine, he himself is caught uttering vanities. And for this reason we for our part completely reject such babblings, and we remind your grace to adhere to the same rule of orthodoxy, knowing that, as every perfect person, even if enrolled in apostolic dignity, needs the book of the Gospel, so too does he need the painted story according to it, because both are of equal honor and veneration. 500 {1To Hesychios the protonotarios}1 The letter of your all-good honor is indeed beautiful, both as proclaimed from the good treasure of the heart and as adorned with the beauty of love, but it does not dignify us, who are unlearned, with words of praise. For when did I become, as you say, a burning and shining lamp, in which my master rejoiced being enlightened, or a spring flowing most transparently, from which your friendship drew a saving word, and did not our appearance, on the contrary, rather become darker than soot, to speak prophetically, through the uselessness of our life, and our word become weak, lacking the power from deeds for the establishment of the hearer? And I say these things not reviling the prison in Smyrna (may it not be; for it is venerable, the guardian of a venerable confession for me), but blaming myself for not having lived worthily in it. But leaving these things aside, as they are the contracts of love, I will redirect my speech to what is urgent. Your goodness has indicated to us that you have, to put it briefly, two God-given daughters, and that the first you promised before her birth to God through dedication to the monastic life, while the second is in an intermediate state; but now you have changed your mind to make an exchange due to some necessary turn of events, so that the one who was promised is assigned to the world, that is, given to a man who is good in all respects and of the same age as the girl, and the one in the intermediate state, being very young and not of concurring age, is to be dedicated to God, and in this you are hesitating and distressed lest it be contrary to the will of God. You ought, therefore, most honored master, to inquire of others concerning this affair and from them, as being superior in knowledge to our nothingness, to receive the solution, and not have us, separated by so great a distance by the position of the place, take up the matter for a response; nevertheless, since you have decided by the methods in which you have trusted, this matter has been considered with our most God-beloved archbishop and brother as being contrary to what is right and contrary to correct judgment and contrary to the examples from of old. long ago

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ὄψει τῇ αὐτοῖς συμμέτρῳ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν εἰσαγωγῆς τρόπῳ μανθάνειν"5. Τί οὖν ἔστιν ἐν τούτοις εἰπεῖν; πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι διαίρεσιν τῆς μιᾶς καὶ ἐντελοῦς καὶ μηδ' ὁτιοῦν πρόσθεσιν ἢ ὑφαίρεσιν προσιεμένης πίστεως ἡμῶν ἀπεργάζεται, ἑαυτῷ μὲν τὴν διὰ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων ἀπονέμων διατύπωσιν, τοῖς ἁπλουστέροις δὲ δῆθεν καὶ ἀτελεστέροις ὑπάρχουσι τὴν ἐν πλάσει καὶ γραφῇ ἱστορίαν ἀποίσας· ἔπειτα ἑαυτῷ μὲν ἀνάπτοι τὸ τέλειον τῆς χάριτος, τοῖς δὲ τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν ἀπορρίπτοι νηπιότητα, δεομένοις συμφυοῦς ἀναγωγῆς. οὐκοῦν κατ' αὐτὸν διαψεύδεται ὁ ἱερὸς ἀπόστολος, φάσκων· οὐκ ἔνι Ἰουδαῖος οὐδὲ Ἕλλην, οὐκ ἔνι δοῦλος οὐδὲ ἐλεύθερος, οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ· πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς εἷς ἐστε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. εἰ δὲ ἀληθεύει, ὥσπερ οὖν ἠλήθευται, καὶ εἷς Κύριος, μία πίστις, ἓν βάπτισμα, τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη διαίρεσις εἰς δύο τμήματα ἄνισα; τὸ ἔθνος τὸ ἅγιον, τὸ βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα ἀποκρίνεσθαι, καὶ τὸ μὲν εἶναι τῆς ἐντελεστέρας μοίρας, τὸ δὲ τῆς ὑφειμενεστέρας. ἔπειτα, ὅτι ἐπειδὴ πᾶς τις εὖ φρονῶν ἐφίεται τελειότητος, νεμεσητὸν ἡγήσεται τὸ ἀτελὲς κἀντεῦθεν ἐξ ἀναγκαίου παρέλκον ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς ἱστορίας δόγμα. ἐναντιοῦται δὲ ὅτι μάλιστα καὶ τῷ Μεγάλῳ Βασιλείῳ, μὴ ταὐτίζων τὰ ὑπ' ἐκείνου ἐπ' ἴσης δογματιζόμενα· ἃ γὰρ ὁ λόγος, φησί, τῆς ἱστορίας δι' ἀκοῆς παρίστησι, ταῦτα γραφικὴ σιωπῶσα διὰ μιμήσεως δείκνυσιν. Ἀντανίσταται ἄρα ὁ γεννάδας τοῖς ἱεροῖς λογίοις ὥσπερ καὶ τῷ κορυφαίῳ πατρὶ καί, οἰόμενος ἄλλον ἐπ' αὐτῷ δὴ τούτῳ τῷ δόγματι διορθοῦσθαι, αὐτὸς πεφώραται ὀφλισκάνων μάταια. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἡμεῖς μὲν πάντῃ διαγράφομεν τὰ τοιαῦτα βατταρίσματα, ὑπομιμνήσκομεν δὲ καὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἐμμέλειαν τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν κανόνι τῆς ὀρθοδοξίας, εἰδυῖαν ὅτι, ὡς δεῖται πᾶς τέλειος, κἂν ἐν ἀποστολικῷ ἀξιώματι κατείλεκται, τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς δέλτου, οὕτω καὶ τῆς κατ' αὐτὴν γραφικῆς ἱστορίας, ὅτι καὶ τῆς ἴσης τιμῆς τε καὶ προσκυνήσεως ἀμφότερα. 500 {1Ἡσυχίῳ πρωτονοταρίῳ}1 Καλὴ μὲν ἡ ἐπιστολὴ τῆς παγκάλου σου τιμιότητος καὶ ὡς ἀπ' ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ τῆς καρδίας ἐξηγορευθεῖσα καὶ ὡς τῷ κάλλει τῆς ἀγάπης ἐναγλαϊσθεῖσα, οὐ μὴν ὡς ἀπεσέμνυνεν ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀμούσους λόγοις ἐγκωμίοις ἔχει. πότε γὰρ ἐγενόμην, ὡς φῆ, λύχνος καιόμενος καὶ φαίνων, ἐν ᾧ ὁ δεσπότης μου ἠγαλλιάσω φωτιζόμενος, ἢ πηγὴ νάουσα διειδέστατα, ἀφ' ἧς ἠρύσατο ἡ φιλότης σου λόγον σωτήριον, καὶ οὐχὶ τοὐναντίον μᾶλλον ἐσκότασεν ὑπὲρ ἀσβόλην, προφητικῶς εἰπεῖν, τὸ εἶδος ἡμῶν τῇ τοῦ βίου ἀχρηστότητι καὶ ὁ λόγος ἠσθένησεν, οὐκ ἔχων τὴν ἐξ ἔργου δύναμιν εἰς ἐνίδρυσιν τοῦ ἀκούοντος; καὶ ταῦτα λέγω οὐ τὴν ἐν τῇ Σμύρνῃ φυλακὴν κακίζων (μή τι γένοιτο· ἡ μὲν γὰρ σεβαστή, σεβαστῆς ὁμολογίας μοι φρουρός), ἐμαυτὸν δὲ αἰτιώμενος ὡς οὐκ ἀξίως ἐν αὐτῇ πολιτευσάμενος. Ἀλλ' ἀφεὶς ταῦτα, ὡς τῆς ἀγάπης ὄντα συμβόλαια, ἐπὶ τὸ κατεπεῖγον τὸν λόγον μεθαρμόσομαι. ἐσήμανεν ἡμῖν ἡ χρηστότης σου ὡς δύο ἔχειν, συντόμως εἰπεῖν, θεοδωρήτους θυγατέρας, καὶ τὴν μὲν πρώτην πρὸ γεννήσεως καθυποσχέσθαι δι' ἀφιερώσεως τοῦ μοναδικοῦ βίου θεῷ, τὴν δὲ δευτέραν ἐν μεταιχμίῳ φέρεσθαι· νῦν δὲ μεταβεβουλεῦσθαι ἐναλλὰξ ποιήσασθαι κατά τινα ἀναγκαίαν περιπέτειαν, ὥστε τὴν ὑποσχεθεῖσαν ἀπονεῖμαι τῷ κόσμῳ, ἤγουν ἀποδόσθαι ἀνδρὶ καλῷ τε τὰ πάντα καὶ τῇ παιδὶ συνηλικιώτῃ, τὴν δὲ ἐν μεταιχμίῳ, κομιδῇ νέαν οὖσαν καὶ οὐ συντρέχουσαν τῇ ἡλικίᾳ, ἀναθεῖναι θεῷ, κἀν τούτῳ σκάζειν καὶ δυσχεραίνειν μήπως ἐναντιοθελὲς εἴη τῷ θεῷ. ἔδει μὲν οὖν, ὦ δέσποτα τιμιώτατε, ἄλλοις πυνθάνεσθαι περὶ τοῦδε τοῦ δράματος καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν ὡς προφερεστέρων κατὰ γνῶσιν τῆς ἡμῶν οὐθενότητος λαμβάνειν τὴν λύσιν καὶ μὴ τοσούτῳ μήκει διῳκισμένους ἡμᾶς τῇ θέσει τοῦ τόπου ἐπαναλαμβάνειν εἰς ἀπόκρισιν· ὅμως, ἐπειδὴ κέκρικας οἷς πεπίστευκας τρόποις, τοῦτο δὴ μετὰ τοῦ θεοφιλεστάτου ἀρχιεπισκόπου καὶ ἀδελφοῦ ἡμῶν συνέσκεπται ὡς παρὰ τὸ δέον τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ παρὰ τὴν ὀρθὴν κρίσιν καὶ παρὰ τὰ ἐξ αἰῶνος παραδείγματα. πάλαι