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νστ´. The tree of life is the knowledge of God, of which the pure one, partaking, remains immortal. νζ´. The beginning of the practical life is faith in Christ, and its end is the love of God. νη´. Jesus is the Christ and our Lord and God, who has graciously given to us faith in him for

life. νθ´. From soul, and body, and divinity he appeared to us, so that as God he might ransom both soul and body

from death. ξ´. Let us acquire faith, so that we may come to love, from which is born the illumination

of knowledge. ξα´. To the possession of knowledge these follow in order: fear of God, continence

from pleasures, endurance of labors, hope in God, dispassion, love. ξβ´. From sincere love is born natural knowledge. This is succeeded by the

ultimate object of desire; and this is the grace of theology. ξγ´. The mind that masters the passions masters every fear, believing in God concerning what

he has threatened, and concerning what he has promised. ξδ´. (1465) To whom faith has been given, continence is required, which over time gives birth to

endurance, which is a love-of-labor habit. ξε´. A sign of endurance is the love of labors, in which the mind, being confident, hopes to obtain

the things promised, and to escape the things threatened. ξστ´. Expectation of future good things unites the mind to the things expected;

and dwelling in them it forgets present things. ξζ´.He casts away present things who has tasted the things hoped for; for all his longing he has poured out

on those things. ξη´. God is the one who has promised future good things; he who believes in him desires

future things as if they were present. ξθ´. A sign of the mind dwelling in the good things hoped for is to have complete forgetfulness

of things here, and for it to be broadened in the knowledge of future things. ο´. Good is the truth, which the God of truth teaches, thence assuring the

God-loving soul. οα´. Beyond the ages and before every age, and beyond mind and reason, are the

good things laid up for the heirs of the promise. οβ´.Let us order ourselves by the rules of piety, so that we may not be turned aside into passions

and fall from hope. ογ´. Jesus is the Christ, the one of the Holy Trinity, of whom you are to be

a co-heir. οδ´. He who has been taught the knowledge of beings by God does not disbelieve the scripture concerning the things

which have been foretold. οε´. The Holy Spirit, finding a mind stripped of passions, initiates it

accordingly concerning all the things hoped for. οστ´. In proportion to the purification of the mind, the knowledge of divine things is also

supplied to the soul. οζ´. He who has disciplined the body and dwells in knowledge is further purified

by knowledge itself. οη´. The mind beginning to philosophize about divine things begins from faith, and journeying through them in

the middle, ends again in the highest faith.

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νστ´. Ξύλον ζωῆς γνῶσίς ἐστι Θεοῦ, οὗ μετέχων ὁ καθαρός, ἀθάνατος διαμένει. νζ´. Ἀρχή πρακτικῆς, πίστις Χριστοῦ, τέλος δέ αὐτῆς ἀγάπη Θεοῦ. νη´. Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός καί Κύριος ἡμῶν καί Θεός, ὁ τήν εἰς αὐτόν πίστιν πρός

ζωήν ἡμῖν χαρισάμενος. νθ´. Ἐκ ψυχῆς, καί σώματος, καί θεότητος ἡμῖν ἐπέφανεν, ἵνα καί ψυχήν καί σῶμα

ὡς Θεός ἐκ θανάτου λυτρώσηται. ξ´. Κτησώμεθα πίστιν, ἵνα ἔλθωμεν εἰς ἀγάπης, ἐξ ἧς τίκτεται ὁ τῆς γνώσεως

φωτισμός. ξα´. Τῷ τῆς γνώσεως κτήματι ταῦτα καθεξῆς ἐπακολουθεῖ , φόβος Θεοῦ, ἐγκράτεια

ἡδονῶν, ὑπομονή πόνων, ἐλπίς εἰς Θεόν, ἀπάθεια, ἀγάπη. ξβ´. Ἐξ ἀγάπης εἰλικρινοῦς τίκτεται γνῶσις φυσική. Ταύτην δέ διαδέχεται τό

ἔσχατον ὀρεκτόν· τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ἡ τῆς θεολογίας χάρις. ξγ´. Νοῦς κρατῶν τῶν παθῶν, ἐκ φόβου παντός κρατεῖ, πιστεύων τῷ Θεῷ, περί ὧν

ἠπείλησε, καί περί ὧν ἐπηγγείλατο. ξδ´. (1465) Ὧ ἐδόθη πίστις, ἀπαιτεῖται ἐγκράτει ἥτις χρονίζουσα τίκτει τήν

ὑπομονήν, ἕξιν οὖσαν φιλόπονον. ξε´. Σημεῖον ὑπομονῆς ἡ τῶν πόνων φιλία, εἰς οὕς θαῤῥῶν ὁ νοῦς ἐλπίζει τυχεῖν

τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων, καί ἐκφεύγει τά ἠπειλημένα. ξστ´. Προσδοκία τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, συνάπτει τόν νοῦν τοῖς προσδοκωμένοις·

ἐν αὐτοῖς δέ χρονίζων ἐπιλανθάνεται τῶν παρόντων. ξζ´.Ῥίπτει τά παρόντα ὁ τῶν ἐλπιζομένων γευσάμενος· ὅλον γάρ τόν πόθον ἐν

ἐκείνοις ἐκένωσεν. ξη´. Ὁ Θεός ἐστιν ὁ τά μέλλοντα ἐπαγγειλάμενος ἀγαθά· ᾧ ὁ πιστεύων ὡς παρόντα

ποθεῖ τά μέλλοντα. ξθ´. Σημεῖον τοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἐλπιζομένοις ἀγαθοῖς διατρίβειν τόν νοῦν, τό λήθην μέν

ποιεῖσθαι παντελῆ τῶν ἐνταῦθα, πλατύνεσθαι δέ αὐτόν ἐν τῇ γνώσει τῶν μελλόντων. ο´. Καλή ἡ ἀλήθεια, ἥν ὁ Θεός διδάσκει τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀπεντεῦθεν πληροφορῶν τήν

θεοφιλῆ ψυχήν. οα´. Ὑπεραιώνια εἶναι καί πρό παντός αἰῶνος, καί ὑπέρ νοῦν καί λόγον, τά

ἀποκείμενα ἀγαθά τοῖς κληρονόμοις τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. οβ´.Ῥυθμίσωμεν ἑαυτούς τοῖς κανόσι τῆς εὐσεβείας, ἵνα μή εἰς πάθη παρατραπέντες

ἐκπέσωμεν τῆς ἐλπίδος. ογ´. Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός ὁ εἷς τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος, οὗ καί συγκληρονόμος μέλλεις

ἔσεσθαι. οδ´. Ὁ τήν γνῶσιν τῶν ὄντων παρά Θεοῦ διδαχθείς οὐ δυσπιστεῖ τῇ γραφῇ περί τῶν

προειρημένων. οε´. Νοῦν παθῶν γυμνωθέντα εὑρίσκον τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον, μυσταγωγεῖ αὐτόν

ἀναλόγως περί πάντων τῶν ἐλπιζομένων. οστ´. Τῇ ἀναλογίᾳ τῆς τοῦ νοῦ καθάρσεως καί τήν τῶν θείων γνῶσιν ἡ ψυχή

χορηγεῖται. οζ´. Ὁ τό σῶμα κανονίσας, καί ἐν τῇ γνώσει διατρίβων, ὑπ᾿ αὐτῆς τῆς γνώσεως

ἐπιπλεῖον καθαίρεται. οη´. Νοῦς ἀρχόμενος τά θεῖα φιλοσοφεῖν, ἀπό πίστεως ἄρχεται, καί δι᾿ αὐτῶν ἐν

μέσῳ ὁδεύων, εἰς τήν πίστιν πάλιν καταλήγει τήν ἀνωτάτην.