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like Charybdis swallowing souls not strengthened by the word of truth? You, therefore, did not name him, but we, even before the declaration of your letter, lamented most especially over one heretical man, or rather one who is truly a blasphemer against God, who was appointed by the state to be a chartoularios there, saying this, that destruction has reached famous Sicily. This calamity was not devised from dogmatic experience—for the little man is inexperienced—but is filled with an impious mind and, to speak more truly, was led to impiety from his father, along with two other kinsmen. But I know that the Trinity would strike them with the inspired mouths of both you and those here who champion the truth. But let neither you nor one such as you be surprised by the heresy that still rages; for the evil has not yet been worn away, nor has the love of God among the faithful been sufficiently tested, and, third, we are not able to enter into the abyss of God's judgments, by which ways He still tolerates His people being tossed by the swell of unbelief, except, as a conclusion of the argument, so that the approved might be made manifest, as Paul, the steward of wisdom, has said. Therefore we both exhort and beseech you not to grow weary in refuting the adversaries, bringing forth the divine teachings from the innermost treasuries of your heart and showing from this very clearly that Christ is not Christ unless he is circumscribed in our form; for if he became flesh, he is by all means circumscribed as flesh, but what is not circumscribed, this is not within humanity but clearly outside both place and time, being called and conceived as God naked in his incomprehensibility and indefinability; and this is firmly compelled by natural consequences into an indisputable proof of the truth, that Christ is circumscribed, and also venerated in his icon, since in it the archetype has been revealed, as the divine revealer Dionysius somewhere says; and elsewhere: each in the other except for the difference of substance. So that he who refuses that Christ be depicted has denied that he became man, and he who does not venerate his icon in no way venerates him at all, even if he thinks he venerates him, since the sacred word says, the unbelieving profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny him. These things I have indicated not as if your honor is ignorant of them, but as one who is of the same mind, and having drawn up, as it were, a drop from an ocean of dogmas, in addition to there being an infinite swarm of patristic [testimonies] along with ancient history from the very starting-line of the proclamation for the establishment of our blameless faith as Christians. 525 {1To Philotheos the founder}1 Your honor considers it a great gain, as you say, receiving our letters and at the same time being remembered by us, and this is a commendation of your God-minded intellect for having used great humility, not of us who are lowly and worthy of no account. Nevertheless, according to your confidence, you will receive the reward from the just judgment of our good God, who repays the faith of each one with heavenly rewards and in a Christ-like manner refers what is done for a neighbor to himself. We indeed rejoice, having become acquainted with so great and so distinguished a man, whose virtue is resounding and whose praise most just and whose way of life is an example to many who wish to live piously in the present generation, as one set forth on a high peak of a mountain of virtues. And true to your name you have shone forth as a 'lover of God' (philotheos), having chosen by your love for God a quiet and peaceful life in observance of the divine commandments and for the attainment of eternal goods. And yet, although being worthy of rule in appearance and most glorious in blood by lineage, the divine longing, extinguishing all these things and showing them as nothing, which is also true, has lifted the eyes of your intellect to the super-luminous splendor of the divine beauty, to look there, to imagine there, to transfer your citizenship there, where there is unspeakable joy, where life is inexhaustible, where the radiance of the blessed and sovereign Trinity is. But may it be so for you, O

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χαρυβδηδὸν καταπίνοντες ψυχὰς μὴ ἐστηριγμένας τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας; αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἐξωνομάτισας, ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ πρὸ τῆς δηλώσεως τῶν γραμμάτων κατεστενάξαμεν ὅτι μάλιστα ἐφ' ἑνὶ ἀνδρὶ αἱρετικῷ, μᾶλλον δὲ βλασφήμῳ τῷ ὄντι εἰς θεόν, λαχόντι ἐν τοῖς αὐτόθι παρὰ τοῦ κράτους χαρτουλαρεύειν, ἐκεῖνο εἰπόντες, ὅτι γε τῆς περιβοήτου Σικελίας ἔφθασεν ὄλεθρος. τόδε τὸ πῆμα οὐκ ἐκ δογματικῆς πείρας τετεχνωμένον· ἄπειρον γὰρ τὸ ἀνδριαντάριον, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀσεβοῦς γνώμης πεπληρωμένον καί, ἵνα τἀληθέστερον ῥηθείη, πατρόθεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἀσεβεῖν ἠγμένον καί γε σὺν δυσὶν ἄλλοις ὁμαίμοσιν. Ἀλλὰ τούτους μὲν ἡ Τριὰς οἶδ' ὅτι ἐπιρραπίσειεν ἐνθέοις στόμασιν ὑμῶν τε καὶ τῶν ἐνταῦθα ὑπερμαχούντων τῆς ἀληθείας. σὲ δὲ καὶ τὸν οἷος σὺ μηδὲν ξενιζέτω ἡ ἔτι λυττῶσα αἵρεσις· οὔπω γὰρ ἐκτέτριπται τὸ κακὸν οὔτε δεδοκίμασται ἱκανῶς τῶν πιστῶν τὸ φιλόθεον καί, τρίτον, οὐχ οἷοί ἐσμεν ἐμβατεύειν εἰς ἄβυσσον κριμάτων θεοῦ, καθ' οὓς τρόπους ἀνέχεται ἀκμὴν κλυδωνίζεσθαι τῷ σάλῳ τῆς ἀπι στίας τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, πλήν, συμπέρασμα τοῦ λόγου, ἵνα οἱ δόκιμοι φανεροὶ γίγνοιντο, ὡς ὁ τῆς σοφίας ταμίας Παῦλος λέλεχεν. διὸ καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν καὶ ἀντιβολοῦμεν μὴ ἐκκακεῖν διακατελέγχειν σε τοὺς ὑπεναντίους, ἐκ τῶν ἀδύτων ταμείων τῆς καρδίας σου προφέρων τὰ θεῖα διδάγματα καὶ ὑποδεικνύων ἐντεῦθεν ἀριδήλως ὅτι Χριστὸς οὐ Χριστός, εἰ μὴ περιγράφοιτο τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς εἰδέᾳ· εἴπερ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐγεγόνει, πάντως καὶ ὡς σὰρξ περιγράφεται, ὃ δὲ μὴ περιγράφοιτο, τοῦτο οὐκ εἴσω ἀνθρωπότητος, ἀλλ' ἔξω δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τόπου καὶ χρόνου, θεὸς γυμνὸς τῇ ἀπεριληψίᾳ τε καὶ ἀοριστίᾳ καὶ λεγόμενος καὶ νοούμενος· καὶ τοῦτο ἀραρότως εἰς ἀναμφίλεκτον ἀπόδειξιν τῆς ἀληθείας φυσικαῖς ἀκολουθίαις ἀναγκαζόμενον, περιγράφεσθαι Χριστόν, κἀν τῇ εἰκόνι προσκυνούμενον, ἐπείπερ ἐν αὐτῇ τὸ ἀρχέτυπον ἐκπέφασται, ὥς πού φησιν ὁ θεοφάντωρ ∆ιονύσιος· καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· ἑκάτερον ἐν ἑκατέρῳ παρὰ τὸ τῆς οὐσίας διάφορον. ὥστε ὁ ἀπαναινόμενος ἐγγράφεσθαι Χριστὸν ἤρνηται ἄνθρωπον γεγονέναι καὶ ὁ μὴ προσκυνῶν αὐτοῦ τὴν εἰκόνα οὔ τί που προσκυνεῖ αὐτὸν τὸ καθόλου, κἂν νομίζῃ προσκυνεῖν, ἐπεί φησιν ὁ ἱερὸς λόγος, οἱ ἄπιστοι ὁμολογοῦσι θεὸν εἰδέναι, τοῖς δὲ ἔργοις ἀρνοῦνται. Ταῦτα οὐχ ὡς ἀγνοούσῃ τῇ τιμιότητί σου ὑπεδήλωσα, ἀλλ' ὡς συνομογνωμονούσῃ καὶ ὥσπερ ῥανίδα ἐκ πελάγους δογμάτων ἀνελκύσας, πρὸς τῷ καὶ ἄπειρον ἑσμὸν εἶναι πατρικῶν μετὰ καὶ τῆς ἀρχαιολόγου ἱστορίας ἀπ' αὐτῆς βαλβῖδος τοῦ κηρύγματος εἰς σύστασιν τῆς ἀμωμήτου ἡμῶν τῶν χριστιανῶν πίστεως. 525 {1Φιλοθέῳ κτήτορι}1 Μέγα κέρδος ἡγεῖταί σου ἡ τιμιότης, ὡς φῆ, δεχομένη ἡμῶν γράμματα ὁμοῦ τε καὶ μνημονευομένη πρὸς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν, τοῦτο δὲ τῆς σῆς θεόφρονος διανοίας ταπεινοφροσύνῃ πολλῇ κεχρημένης ἐγκώμιον, οὐχ ἡμῶν τῶν εὐτελῶν καὶ οὐδενὸς ἀξίων λόγου. ὅμως κατὰ τὴν πεποίθησιν αὐτῆς λήψεται τὸν μισθὸν ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἡμῶν θεοῦ δικαιοκρισίας, ἀμειβομένου τὴν πίστιν ἑκάστου ἀμοιβαῖς οὐρανίαις καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὸν τὸ τοῦ πέλας γιγνόμενον χριστοειδῶς ἀνατιθεμένου. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τῷ ὄντι χαίρομεν, ἀνδρὶ τοσούτῳ καὶ τηλικούτῳ φιλιάζειν γνωρίσαντες, οὗ ἡ ἀρετὴ διαπρύσιος καὶ ὁ ἔπαινος δικαιότατος καὶ τὸ πολίτευμα πολλοῖς ὑπόδειγμα τοῖς ἐθέλουσιν εὐσεβεῖν ἐν τῇ παρούσῃ γενεᾷ, ὡς ἐν περιωπῇ ὄρους ἀρετῶν προκείμενον. καὶ φερωνύμως ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐξέλαμψας φιλόθεος, φίλτρῳ θεοῦ τὸ ἀπράγμονον καὶ ἡσύχιον αἱρησάμενος ἐπιτηρήσει θείων ἐντολῶν καὶ ἐπιτεύξει τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν. καίτοι ὑπάρχων καὶ κατὰ εἰδέαν ἄξιος τυραννίδος καὶ κατὰ γένος ὑπέρλαμπρος τὸ αἷμα, ἀλλ' ὁ θεῖος πόθος, σβέσας ταῦτα πάντα καὶ ὡς οὐδαμινὰ δείξας, ὅπερ καὶ ἄληθες, πρὸς τὴν ὑπέρφωτον τῆς θείας ὡραιότητος ἦρέν σου τοὺς τῆς διανοίας ὀφθαλμοὺς αἴγλην, ἐκεῖ βλέπειν, ἐκεῖ φαντάζεσθαι, ἐκεῖ μετατιθέναι τὸ πολίτευμα, οὗ χαρὰ ἀνεκλάλητος, ἔνθα ζωὴ ἀμήρυτος, ὅπου ἡ ἔλλαμψις τῆς μακαρίας καὶ ἀρχικῆς Τριάδος. ἀλλὰ γένοιτό σοι, ὦ