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were mystically enlightened in the reason of the cause, but also were piously initiated into the mode of existence. And again, having surveyed all of creation according to position alone, they contracted the aforementioned five modes of contemplation into three, having recognized that creation is a teacher of moral, natural, and theological philosophy, from heaven and earth and the things between, by its own inner reason. But again, having contemplated creation from the perspective of difference alone, that is, in things containing and things contained—I mean, of heaven and the things within it—they brought the three modes together into two, wisdom, I say, and philosophy; the one as comprehensive and receiving all the God-befitting modes of piety spoken of it, and enclosing within itself the mystical and natural principles concerning other things, and the other as cohesive of ethos and judgment, of action and contemplation, and of virtue and knowledge, and being referred by a relative affinity to wisdom as its cause. And again, having understood creation according to mixture alone, that is, the harmonious composition of the universe, and through all things that are ineffably bound to one another for the completion of one cosmos having conceived of only the creative (1137) Word who binds and fastens the parts to the whole and to each other, they enclosed the two modes of contemplation into one, according to which, having crossed over with a simple application of the mind through the principles in beings to the Cause, and having bound themselves to it alone as the gatherer and drawer of all things from itself, no longer being scattered among the principles of each particular of the wholes because they have been transcended, through being clearly persuaded, from the precise contemplation of beings, that God alone truly is, and is the cause of the substance of beings and their motion, and the clear distinction of different things, and the indissoluble coherence of things mixed, and the unchangeable foundation of things posited, and, simply, of every substance in any way conceived, and of motion and difference, and mixture and position, they wisely, through a corresponding similarity, transferred the mystical contemplation belonging to the sensible world to the noetic world which is completed in spirit through the virtues; according to which, having gathered the aforementioned modes into one, they impressed most singularly upon themselves, as far as possible, the logos which completely fulfills the substance of the noetic, volitional world with diverse forms of virtues, that is, having passed beyond all the principles of beings and the principles of the virtues themselves, or rather, with them, having ascended in unknowing to the one beyond them, and to the supersubstantial and supragood Word into whom these are, and from whom their being is; and having been united, whole with the whole, according to the possibility of their inherent natural power, they were so formed by him as far as was possible, so as to be known from him alone, like most transparent mirrors, having the form of the whole Word of God who is seen in them, appearing without omission through his divine attributes, since none of the old characteristics remained by which what is human is naturally signified, all things having yielded to better things, just as lightless air is wholly infused with light.

A Contemplation on Melchizedek. Which, I think, that wondrous and great Melchizedek, having known and experienced, concerning whom

the divine word in Scripture relates great and wondrous things, was deemed worthy to be above time and nature, and to be made like the Son of God, having become such in state, that is, according to grace, as far as possible, as he who is himself the giver of grace is believed to be according to substance. For what "without father and without mother and without genealogy" concerning him

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αἰτίου λόγον μυστικῶς ἐφωτίσθησαν, ἀλλά καί τόν τῆς ὑπάρξεως τρόπον εὐσεβῶς ἐμυήθησαν. Καί πάλιν κατά μόνην τήν θέσιν πᾶσαν τήν κτίσιν περιαθρήσαντες τούς εἰρημένους πέντε εἰς τρεῖς συνέστειλαν θεωρίας τρόπους, ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καί γῆς καί τῶν ἐν μέσῶ ἠθικῆς καί φυσικῆς καί θεολογικῆς φιλοσοφίας διδάσκαλον τήν κτίσιν εἶναι τῷ καθ᾿ ἑαυτήν λόγω ἐπεγνωκότες. Πάλιν δέ ἐκ μόνης τῆς διαφορᾶς τήν κτίσιν θεωρήσαντες, τουτέστιν ἐν τῶν περιεχόντων καί περιεχομένων, λέγω δέ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καί τῶν ἐντός εἰς δύο τούς τρεῖς συνήγαγον τρόπους, σοφίαν φημί καί φιλοσοφίαν, τήν μέν ὡς περιεκτικήν καί πάντας θεοπρεπῶς τούς εὐσεβεῖς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς λεγομένους ἐπιδεχομένην τρόπους, καί τούς περί τῶν ἄλλων ἐντός ἐαυτῆς μυστικούς τε καί φυσικούς περικλείουσαν λόγους, τήν δέ ὡς ἤθους καί γνώμης, πράξεώς τε καί θεωρίας, καί ἀρετῆς καί γνώσεως συνεκτικήν, καί οἰκειότητι σχετικῇ πρός τήν σοφίαν ὡς αἰτίαν ἀναφερομένην. Καί πάλιν κατά μόνην τήν κράσιν ἤτοι τήν ἐναρμόνιον τοῦ παντός σύνθεσιν, τήν κτίσιν κατανοήσαντες, καί διά πάντων τῶν ἀλλήλοις ἀῤῥήτως εἰς ἑνός συμπλήρωσιν κόσμου συνδεδεμένων μόνον τόν συνδέοντα καί ἐπισφίγγοντα τῷ ὅλῳ τά μέρη καί ἀλλήλοις δημιουργόν (1137) ἐννοήσαντες λόγον τούς δύο εἰς ἕνα θεωρίας συνέκλεισαν τρόπον, καθ᾿ ὅν ἁπλῇ προσβολῇ διά τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι λόγων πρός τό αἴτιον νοῦν διαπορθεύσαντες, καί μόνῳ αὐτῷ ὡς συναγωγῷ τῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντων καί ἑλκτικῷ προδήσαντες, τοῖς καθ᾿ ἕκαστα τῶν ὅλων τῷ ὑπερβαθῆναι οὐκέτι διαχεόμενοι λόγοις, διά τοῦ πεπεῖσθαι σαφῶς μόνον τόν Θεόν κυρίως εἶναι λοιπόν ἐκ τῆς πρός τά ὄντα ἀκριβοῦς ἐνατενίσεως, καί οὐσίαν τῶν ὄντων καί κίνησιν καί τῶν διαφερόντων εὐκρίνειαν, καί συνοχήν ἀδιάλυτον τῶν κεκραμμένων, καί ἵδρυσιν ἀμετάθετον τῶν τεθειμένων, καί πάσης ἁπλῶς τῆς ὁπωσοῦν νοουμένης οὐσίας, καί κινήσεως καί διαφορᾶς, κράσεώς τε καί θέσεως αἴτιον, σοφῶς δι᾿ ἐμφεροῦς ὁμοιότητος τήν κατά τόν αἰσθητόν αἰῶνα μυστικήν θεωρίαν ἐπί τόν κατά διάνοιαν ἐν πνεύματι διά τῶν ἀρετῶν συμπληρούμενον κόσμον μετήνεγκαν· καθ᾿ ἥν τούς εἰρημένους τρόπους εἰς ἕνα συναγαγόντες τόν διαφόροις ἀρετῶν εἴδεσι τήν τοῦ κατά διάνοιαν γνωμικοῦ κόσμου οὐσίαν ἐκπληροῦντα δι᾿ ὅλου λόγον μονιότατον ἑαυτοῖς, ὡς ἐφικτόν ἐναπωμόρξαντο, πάντας δηλαδή περάσαντες τούς τῶν ὄντων καί αὐτούς τούς τῶν ἀρετῶν λόγους, μᾶλλον δέ μετά τούτων πρός τόν ὑπέρ τούτους, καί εἰς ὅν οὗτοι καί ἐξ οὗ τό εἶναι τούτοις ἐστίν ὑπερούσιον καί ὑπεράγαθον λόγον ἀγνώστως ἀναδραμόντες· καί ὅλοι ὅλῳ κατά τό ἐφικτόν τῆς ἐνούσης αὐτοῖς φυσικῆς δυνάμεως ἑνωθέντες τοσοῦτον ἐνδεχομένως ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐποιώθησαν, ὥστε καί ἀπό μόνου γνωρίζεσθαι, οἷον ἔσοπτρα διειδέστατα, ὅλου τοῦ ἐνορῶντος Θεοῦ λόγου τό εἶδος ἀπαραλείπτως διά τῶν θείων αὐτοῦ γνωρισμάτων φαινόμενον ἔχοντες, τῷ ἐλλειφθῆναι μηδένα τῶν παλαιῶν χαρακτήρων, οἱς μηνύεσθαι πέφυκε τό ἀνθρώπινον, πάντων εἰξάντων τοῖς ἀμείνοσιν, οἷον ἀήρ ἀφεγγής φωτί δι᾿ ὅλου μετεγκραθείς.

Θεωρία εἰς τόν Μελχισεδέκ. Ὅπερ, οἶμαι, γνούς καί παθών ὁ θαυμαστός ἐκεῖνος καί μέγας Μελχισεδέκ, περί ὅν

τά μεγάλα καί θαυμαστά παρά τῆ Γραφῇ ὁ θεῖος διεξέρχεται λόγος, χρόνου καί φύσεως ὑπεράνω γενέσθαι, καί ὁμοιωθῆναι τῷ Υἱῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατηξιώθη, τοιοῦτος ἕξει δηλαδή κατά τήν χάριν ὡς ἐφικτόν γενόμενος, οἷς αὐτός ὁ δοτήρ τῆς χάριτος κατά τήν οὐσίαν ὑπάρχων πιστεύεται. Τί γάρ Ἀπάτωρ καί ἀμήτωρ καί ἀγενεαλόγητος περί αὐτοῦ