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should cease from what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, he is completely captured by the passions out of ignorance; through which, being partially separated from God, in involuntary circumstances he draws near to the demons, deifying his belly; wishing to find from there consolation from his afflictions. And let Saul persuade you, who, not taking Samuel as a counselor in all things, was of necessity turned to idolatry, and endured to consult the ventriloquist as if she were some God.

56. He who prays to receive the daily bread does not in every case receive the whole as the bread itself is, but as he who receives is able. For the bread of life, as a lover of mankind, gives himself to all who ask, but not in the same way to all; but to those who have done great works of righteousness, more; and to those who have done less than these, less; to each according as his intellectual worth is able to receive.

57. The Lord is sometimes away, and sometimes at home. He is away, according to the vision face to face; He is at home, according to the vision in a mirror and in riddles.

58. To the one engaged in the active life, the Lord is at home through the virtues; but from him who makes no account of virtue, he is away. And again, to the contemplative, he is at home through true knowledge of beings; but from him who has in some way strayed from this, he is away.

59. He who has passed from the active life to the gnostic state is away from the flesh; being caught up as in clouds, by higher thoughts, into the transparent air of mystical contemplation; in which he will be able to be with the Lord always. But he is away from the Lord who is not yet able, with a pure mind, apart from sensible activities, to contemplate thoughts as far as is possible, and who cannot grasp the simple word concerning the Lord without riddles.

60. The Word of God is called flesh not only because he was made flesh; but because God the Word, understood simply in the beginning with God the Father, and having the clear and naked types of truth concerning all things, does not contain parables and riddles; nor histories requiring allegory; but whenever he sojourns among men who are unable with a naked mind to approach naked intelligibles, discoursing from things familiar to them, being composed through the variety of histories and riddles and parables and obscure words (1152), he becomes flesh. For at the first approach, our mind does not approach the naked Word, but the Word made flesh; that is, the variety of words; being Word, indeed, by nature, but flesh in appearance; so that the many seem to see flesh and not the Word, even if in truth he is the Word. For what seems to the many is not the mind of the Scripture, but something other than what seems. For the Word becomes flesh through each of the written sayings.

61. The beginning of men's discipleship in piety is naturally directed toward the flesh. For in our first approach to godliness, we associate with the letter, but not the spirit. But progressing little by little to the spirit, scraping away the thickness of the sayings with more subtle contemplations, we are purely in the pure Christ as far as is possible for men; so as to be able to say according to the Apostle: *Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer*; clearly, because of the mind's simple approach to the Word without the veils upon him; having advanced from knowing the Word as flesh, to his glory as of the Only-Begotten from the Father.

62. He who has lived the life in Christ has surpassed the righteousness both of the law and of nature; which the divine Apostle indicates, saying: *For in Christ Jesus, there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision*. Through circumcision, he declared the legal righteousness; and through uncircumcision, he alluded to the natural equity.

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ποιητέων καί οὐ ποιητέων παύσαιτο, τοῖς πάθεσι πάντως ἐξ ἀγνοίας ἁλίσκεται· δι᾿ ὧν κατά μέρος τοῦ Θεοῦ χωριζόμενος, ἐν ταῖς ἀκουσίοις περιστάσεσι προσχωρεῖ τοῖς δαίμοσι, τήν κοιλίαν θεοποιῶν· ἐκεῖθεν εὑρέσθαι θέλων τῶν πιεζόντων παράκλησιν. Καί πειθέτω σε Σαούλ, ἐν πᾶσι σύμβουλον μή λαμβάνων τόν Σαμουήλ, ἐξ ἀνάγκης πρός εἰδωλολατρίαν μεταστρεφόμενος, καί τήν Ἐγγαστρίμυθον ὡς δή τινα Θεόν ἐπερωτᾷν ἀνεχόμενος.

νστ΄. Ὁ τόν ἄρτον εὐχόμενος λαβεῖν τόν ἐπιούσιον, οὐ πάντως ὅλον δέχεται καθώς αὐτός ὁ ἄρτος ἐστίν· ἀλλά καθώς αὐτός ὁ δεχόμενος δύναται. Πᾶσι μέν γάρ ἑαυτόν δίδωσι τοῖς αἰτοῦσι ὁ τῆς ζωῆς ἄρτος ὡς φιλάνθρωπος, οὐ κατά τό αὐτό δέ πᾶσιν· ἀλλά τοῖς μεν μεγάλα δικαιοσύνης ἔργα πεποιηκόσι, πλείονως τοῖς δέ τούτων ἥττοσιν, ἡττόνως· ἑκάστῳ καθώς ἡ κατά νοῦν ἀξία δέξασθαι δύναται.

νζ΄. Ὁ Κύριος ποτέ μέν ἀποδημεῖ, ποτέ δέ ἐνδημεῖ. Ἀποδημεῖ, κατά τήν πρόσωπον πρός πρόσωπον θεωρίαν· ἐνδημεῖ, κατά τήν ἐν ἐσόπτρῳ καί αἰνίγμασι θεωρίαν.

νη΄. Τῷ μέν πρακτικῷ, ἐνδημεῖ διά τῶν ἀρετῶν ὁ Κύριος· τοῦ δέ μηδένα λόγον ποιουμένου τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἀποδημεῖ. Καί πάλιν, τῷ μέν θεωρητικῷ, διά γνώσεως τῶν ὄντων ἀληθοῦς ἐνδημεῖ· τοῦ δέ ταύτης κατά τι παρασφαλέντος, ἀποδημεῖ.

νθ΄. Ἀποδημεῖ σαρκός, ὁ πρός τήν γνωστικήν ἕξιν μεταβάς ἀπό τῆς πρακτικῆς· ἁρπαζόμενος ὡς ἐν νεφέλαις, τοῖς ὑψηλοτέροις νοήμασιν, εἰς τόν διαφανῆ τῆς μυστικῆς θεωρίας ἀέρα· καθ᾿ ὅν σύν Κυρίῳ εἶναι δυνήσεται πάντοτε. Ἐκδημεῖ δέ ἀπό τοῦ Κυρίου, ὁ μήπω δίχα τῶν κατ᾿ αἴσθησιν ἐνεργειῶν καθαρῷ νοΐ θεωρῆσαι κατά τό ἐφικτόν τά νοήματα δυνάμενος, καί τόν περί τοῦ Κυρίου λόγον ἁπλοῦν χωρίς αἰνιγμάτων μή χωρῶν.

ξ΄. Ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, οὐ μόνον καθότι σεσάρκωται λέγεται σάρξ· ἀλλά καθότι Θεός Λόγος ἁπλῶς νοούμενος ἐν ἀρχῇ πρός τόν Θεόν καί Πατέρα, καί σαφεῖς καί γυμνούς τούς τῆς ἀληθείας περί τῶν ὅλων ἔχων τύπους, οὐ περιέχει παραβολάς καί αἰνίγματα· οὐδέ ἱστορίας δεομένας ἀλληγορίας· ἐπάν δέ ἀνθρώποις ἐπιδημήσῃ μή δυναμένοις γυμνῷ τῷ νοΐ γυμνοῖς προσβάλλειν νοητοῖς· ἀπό τῶν αὐτοῖς συνήθων διαλεγόμενος, διά τῆς τῶν ἱστοριῶν καί αἰνιγμάτων καί παραβολῶν καί σκοτεινῶν λόγων ποικιλίας (1152) συντιθέμενος, γίνεται σάρξ. Κατά γάρ τήν πρώτην προσβολήν, οὐ γυμνῷ προσβάλλει Λόγῳ ὁ ἡμέτερος νοῦς· ἀλλά Λόγῳ σεσαρκωμένῳ· δηλαδή τῇ ποικιλίᾳ τῶν λέξεων· Λόγῳ μέν ὄντι, τῇ φύσει· σαρκί δέ τῇ ὄψει· ὥστε τούς πολλούς, σάρκα καί οὐ Λόγον ὁρᾷν δοκεῖν κἄν εἰ κατά ἀλήθειαν ἐστι Λόγος. Οὐ γάρ ὅπερ δοκεῖ τοῖς πολλοῖς, τοῦτο τῆς Γραφῆς ἐστιν ὁ νοῦς, ἀλλ᾿ ἕτερον παρά τό δοκοῦν. Ὁ γάρ Λόγος, δι᾿ ἑκάστου τῶν ἀναγεγραμμένων ῥημάτων γίνεται σάρξ.

ξα΄. Ἡ ἀπαρχή τῆς πρός εὐσέβειαν μαθητείας τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὡς πρός σάρκα γίνεσθαι πέφυκε. Γράμματι γάρ, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ πνεύματι κατά τήν πρώτην εἰς θεοσέβειαν προσβολήν ὁμιλοῦμεν. Κατά μέρος δέ προσβαίνοντες τῷ πνεύματι κατά τό παχύ τῶν ῥημάτων τοῖς λεπτοτέροις θεωρήμασιν ἀποξέοντες, ἐν καθαρῷ καθαρῶς τῷ Χριστῷ γινόμεθα κατά τό δυνατόν ἀνθρώποις· εἰς τό δύνασθαι λέγειν κατά τόν Ἀπόστολον· Εἰ καί ἐγνώκαμεν κατά σάρκα Χριστόν, ἀλλά νῦν οὐκέτι γινώσκομεν· διά τήν ἁπλῆν δηλονότι πρός τόν Λόγον χωρίς τῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ καλυμμάτων τοῦ νοός προσβολήν· ἀπό τοῦ σάρκα τόν Λόγον γινώσκειν, εἰς τήν, ὡς Μονογενοῦς παρά Πατρός αὐτοῦ δόξαν προκόψαντες.

ξβ΄. Ὁ τήν ἐν Χριστῷ ζήσας ζωήν, τήν τε τοῦ νόμου καί τῆς φύσεως ὑπερέβη δικαιοσύνην· ὅπερ ὁ θεῖος ἐνδεικνύμενος Ἀπόστολος φησιν· Ἐν γάρ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, οὔτε περιτομή ἐστιν, οὔτε ἀκροβυστία. ∆ιά μέν τῆς περιτομῆς, τήν νομικήν δικαιοσύνην δηλώσας· διά δέ τῆς ἀκροβυστίας, τήν φυσικήν ἰσονομίαν αἰνιξάμενος.