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Let him who loves the friendship of knowledge consider, rejoicing mystically, what kind of end according to the promise is for those who love the Lord.

25. If for this reason the Son of God and the Father, God the Word, became Son of man and man, so that He might make men gods and sons of God; let us believe that we shall be there, where Christ Himself now is as head of the whole body, and having become for our sake a forerunner to the Father, with respect to what is ours. For in the assembly of gods, of those who are saved, God will be standing in the midst, distributing the dignities of the blessedness from there; having no local distance from the worthy ones.

26. He who still fulfills the passionate desires of the flesh, as an idolater and an idol-maker dwells in the land of the Chaldeans. But when, having discerned matters a little, he receives a perception of the ways proper to nature, having left the land of the Chaldeans, he comes to Haran of Mesopotamia; I mean the borderline state between virtue and vice, which has not yet become pure from error according to the senses. For this is Haran. And if he should also surmount the commensurate understanding of the good which comes through the senses, he will hasten to the good land; that is, to the state free from all vice and ignorance; (1137) which the true God shows and promises to give as a prize of virtue to those who love Him.

27. If the Word of God was crucified for our sake out of weakness, and was raised by the power of God, it is clear that spiritually for our sake He always both does and suffers this; as He becomes all things to all, so that He might save all. Therefore the divine Apostle rightly, to the Corinthians who were weak, decided to know nothing except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. But to the Ephesians, who were perfect, he writes, that, "God raised us up and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus"; affirming that the Word of God becomes these things for each according to the power analogous to him. He is crucified, then, for those being introduced to piety in a practical way, nailing their passionate activities to the divine fear. But He rises and ascends to the heavens for those who have stripped off the whole old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and have put on the whole new man, who is created through the Spirit according to the image of God, and who have come to the Father of the grace within them; Far above all Principality and Authority and Power and Dominion, and every name that is named, whether in this age or in the one to come. For all things after God, both things and names and dignities, will be under him who has come to be in God through grace.

28. Just as before the manifest presence according to the flesh, the Word of God sojourned intelligibly with the patriarchs and prophets, prefiguring the mysteries of His presence; so also after this sojourning, He is present not only among those who are still infants, spiritually nourishing and leading them to the stature of perfection according to God; but also among the perfect, secretly prefiguring for them, as in an image, the features of His future presence.

29. Just as the words of the Law and the Prophets, being forerunners of the presence of the Word according to the flesh, tutored souls unto Christ; so also the glorified Word of God Himself, having become flesh, has become the forerunner of His spiritual presence; tutoring souls through His own words, for the reception of His manifest divine presence; which He is always effecting, transforming the worthy from the flesh to the spirit through the virtues; and which He will also effect at the end of the age, manifestly revealing the things hitherto hidden from all.

30. Insofar as I am imperfect and unsubmissive, not obeying God through the practice of the commandments; nor becoming perfect in my mind according to knowledge; Christ too is considered imperfect and unsubmissive in what pertains to me, on account of me; for I diminish Him and (1140)

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σκοπείτων χαίρων μυστικῶς, ὁ τήν φιλίαν στέργων τῆς γνώσεως, ὁποῖόν ἐστι τό κατ᾿ ἐπαγγελίαν τέλος τῶν ἀγαπώντων τόν Κύριον.

κε΄. Εἰ διά τοῦτο γέγονεν υἱός ἀνθρώπου καί ἄνθρωπος ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός Υἱός Θεός Λόγος, ἵνα ποιήσῃ θεούς καί υἱούς Θεοῦ τούς ἀνθρώπους· ἐκεῖ γενήσεσθαι πιτεύσωμεν, ἔνθα νῦν αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός ὡς κεφαλή τοῦ ὅλου σώματος, καί ὑπέρ ἡμῶν γενόμενος πρόδρομος πρός τόν Πατέρα, τό καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς. Ἐν γάρ συναγωγῇ θεῶν, τῶν σωζομένων, ἔσται Θεός μέσος ἱστάμενος, διανέμων τάς ἀξίας τῆς ἐκεῖθεν μακαριότητος· τοπικήν οὐκ ἔχων ἀπό τῶν ἀξίων διάστασιν.

κστ΄. Ὁ τάς ἐμπαθεῖς τῆς σαρκός ὀρέξεις ἔτι πληρῶν, ὠς εἰδωλολάτρης καί εἰδωλοποιός τήν γῆν οἰκεῖ τῶν Χαλδαίων. Ἐπάν δέ μικρόν τά πράγματα διακρίνας, αἴσθησιν λάβῃ τῶν καθηκόντων τῆς φύσεως τρόπων, τήν γῆν τῶν Χαλδαίων ἀφείς, ἔρχεται εἰς Χαῤῥάν τῆς Μεσοποταμίας· τήν μεταίχμιον ἀρετῆς καί κακίας λέγω κατάστασιν, τήν μήπω τῆς κατ᾿ αἴσθησιν πλάνης καθαράν γενομένην. Τοῦτο γάρ ἡ Χαῤῥάν. Εἰ δέ καί τήν δι᾿ αἰσθήσεως γενομένην σύμμετρον τοῦ καλοῦ σύνεσιν ὑπερκύψῃ, πρός τήν γῆν ἐπείξεται τήν ἀγαθήν· τοῦτ᾿ ἔστιν, εἰς τήν πάσης κακίας καί ἀγνωσίας ἐλευθέραν κατάστασιν· (1137) ἥν ὁ ἀψευδής Θεός δείκνυσι καί ἐπαγγέλλεται δώσειν ὥσπερ ἔπαθλον ἀρετῆς, τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν.

κζ΄. Εἰ ἐσταυρώθη δι᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐξ ἀσθενείας ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, καί ἠγέρθη ἐκ δυνάμεως Θεοῦ, δῆλον ὅτι πνευματικῶς δι᾿ ἡμᾶς ἀεί τοῦτο καί ποιεῖ καί πάσχει· ὡς πᾶσι πάντα γινόμενος, ἵνα σώσῃ τούς πάντας. Οὐκοῦν καλῶς ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος ἐν τοῖς Κορινθίοις ἀσθενοῦσιν, οὐδέν ἔκρινεν εἰδέναι, εἰ μή Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καί τοῦτον ἐσταυρωμένον. Ἐφεσίοις δέ γράφει, τελείοις οὖσι, τό, Συνήγειρε καί συνεκάθισεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεός ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· κατά τήν ἀναλογοῦσαν ἑκάστῳ δύναμιν, τόν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον γίνεσθαι φάσκων. Σταυροῦται τοίνυν τοῖς ἔτι πρός εὐσέβειαν πρακτικῶς εἰσαγομένοις, τάς ἐμπαθεῖς αὐτῶν τῷ θείῳ φόβῶ προσηλῶν ἐνεργείας. Ἀνίσταται δέ καί ἄνεισιν εἰς οὐρανούς, τοῖς ὅλον τόν παλαιόν ἀπεκδυσαμένοις ἄνθρωπον, τόν φθειρόμενον κατά τάς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης· καί ὅλον τόν νέον ἐνδυσαμένοις, τόν διά τοῦ πνεύματος κατ᾿ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ κτιζόμενον, καί πρός τόν Πατέρα τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς χάριτος γενομένοις· Ὑπεράνω πάσης Ἀρχῆς καί Ἐξουσίας καί ∆υνάμεως καί Κυριότητος, καί παντός ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου, εἴτε ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, εἴτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι. Πάντα γάρ τά μετά Θεόν, καί πράγματα καί ὀνόματα καί ἀξιώματα, ὑπό τόν ἐν τῷ Θεῷ διά τῆς χάριτος γενησόμενον ἔσται.

κη΄. Ὥσπερ πρό τῆς ἐμφανοῦς καί κατά σάρκα παρουσίας, νοητῶς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος τοῖς πατριάρχαις καί προφήταις ἐνεδήμει, προτυπῶν τά μυστήρια τῆς αὐτοῦ παρουσίας· οὕτω καί μετά ταύτην τήν ἐνδημίαν, οὐ μόνον ἐν τοῖς ἔτι νηπίοις παραγίνεται, διατρέφων πνευματικῶς καί ἄγων πρός ἡλικίαν τῆς κατά Θεόν τελειότητος· ἀλλά καί ἐν τοῖς τελείοις, προδιαγράφων αὐτοῖς κρυφίως τῆς μελλούσης αὐτοῦ παρουσίας ὡς ἐν εἰκόνι τούς χαρακτῆρας.

κθ΄. Ὥσπερ οἱ τοῦ νόμου καί τῶν προφητῶν λόγοι, πρόδρομοι τυγχάνοντες τῆς κατά σάρκα τοῦ Λόγου παρουσίας, τάς ψυχάς εἰς Χριστόν ἐπαιδαγώγουν· οὕτω καί αὐτός ὁ δεδοξασμένος τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος σαρκωθείς, πρόδρομος τῆς πνευματικῆς αὐτοῦ παρουσίας γεγένηται· παιδαγωγῶν τάς ψυχάς διά τῶν οἰκείων λόγων, πρός ὑποδοχήν τῆς ἐμφανοῦς αὐτοῦ θεϊκῆς παρουσίας· ἥν ἀεί μέν ποιεῖται, μεταβάλλων ἀπό τῆς σαρκός πρός τό πνεῦμα διά τῶν ἀρετῶν τούς ἀξίους· ποιήσει δέ καί ἐπί τέλει τοῦ αἰῶνος, ἐμφανῶς ἀποκαλύπτων τά τέως πᾶσιν ἀπόῤῥητα.

λ΄. Ὅσον ἐγώ εἰμι ἀτελής καί ἀνυπότακτος, μή ὑπακούων τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τῆς ἐργασίας τῶν ἐντολῶν· μήτε γινόμενος κατά τήν γνῶσιν τέλειος ταῖς φρεσίν· ἀτελής καί ἀνυπόκτατος τό κατ᾿ ἐμέ καί Χριστός νομίζεται δι᾿ ἐμέ· μειῶ γάρ αὐτόν καί (1140)