1

Gnosticus (Greek fragments)

The Gnostic, or To Him Who Has Been Deemed Worthy of Gnosis

1 Practical men will understand practical words, but gnostics will see gnostic things. 2 A practical man is one who has the passionate part of the soul alone free from passion

possessed. 3 A gnostic, however, is one who holds the place of salt for the impure, and of light for the

pure. 4 The knowledge that comes to us from outside, through words to point out

tries the subject matters; but that which is engendered by the grace of God presents the things themselves to the intellect through direct sight, looking at which the mind receives their principles; error is opposed to the first; and to the second, anger and wrath, and the things that follow them.

5 All the virtues prepare the way for the gnostic; but above all, freedom from anger. For he who has touched gnosis and is easily moved to anger is like one who pierces his own eyes with an iron pin.

6 Let the gnostic be on his guard in his condescensions, lest his condescension unwittingly become a habit, and let him always try to practice all the virtues equally, so that they may follow one another in him, because the mind is naturally betrayed by the one that is lacking.

8 It is shameful for a gnostic to go to law, whether wronged or wronging; if wronged, because he did not endure it, if wronging, because he did wrong.

9 Gnosis, when preserved, teaches him who partakes of it how he may be protected and advance to greater things.

13 It is right to discourse with monks and with worldly people about the correct way of life and to clarify in part as many dogmas of natural or theological science as possible, without which no one will see the Lord. 15 Know the principles and laws of times and lives and practices, so that you may easily say what is expedient for each.

21 You will not allegorize the words of blameworthy persons, nor will you seek anything spiritual in them, unless God acted through providence, as in the case of Balaam and Caiaphas, so that the one might prophesy about the birth, and the other about the death of our Savior.

22 The gnostic must not be sullen or unapproachable; for the one is characteristic of a person who is ignorant of the principles of what happens; the other, of a person who does not wish all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

24 Take heed to yourself lest for the sake of gain or of comfort, or for the sake of passing glory, you say any of the secret things and be cast out of the sacred precincts, as one who himself sells the young of the dove in the temple.

27 Do not theologize without reflection, nor ever define the divine; for definitions belong to things that have come into being and are composite.

28 .............................................. ........ that he who is tempted by evil hates evil, and temptation is the offspring of abandonment .............................

29 Let those who are taught always say to you: 'Friend, come up higher'; for it is shameful for you, having ascended, to be brought down again by your hearers.

30 A lover of money is not one who has money, but one who desires it; for they say that the steward is a rational purse.

1

Gnosticus (fragmenta Graeca)

Ο ΓΝΩΣΤΙΚΟΣ Η ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΚΑΤΑΞΙΩΘΕΝΤΑ ΓΝΩΣΕΩΣ

1 Πρακτικοὶ λόγους νοήσουσι πρακτικούς, γνωστικοὶ δὲ ὄψονται γνωστικά. 2 Πρακτικὸς μέν ἐστιν ὁ τὸ παθητικὸν μέρος τῆς ψυχῆς μόνον ἀπαθὲς

κεκτημένος. 3 Γνωστικὸς δὲ ὁ ἁλὸς μὲν λόγον ἐπέχων τοῖς ἀκαθάρτοις, φωτὸς δὲ τοῖς

καθαροῖς. 4 Ἡ μὲν ἔξωθεν ἡμῖν συμβαίνουσα γνῶσις, διὰ τῶν λόγων ὑποδεικνύειν

πειρᾶται τὰς ὕλας· ἡ δὲ ἐκ Θεοῦ χάριτος ἐγγινομένη, αὐτοψεὶ τῇ διανοίᾳ παρίστησι τὰ πράγματα, πρὸς ἃ βλέπων ὁ νοῦς, τοὺς αὐτῶν λόγους προσίεται· ἀντίκειται δὲ τῇ μὲν προτέρᾳ ἡ πλάνη· τῇ δὲ δευτέρᾳ ὀργὴ καὶ θυμός· καὶ τὰ τούτοις παρακολουθοῦντα.

5 Πᾶσαι τῷ γνωστικῷ ὁδοποιοῦσιν αἱ ἀρεταί· ὑπὲρ δὲ πάσας ἡ ἀοργησία. Ὁ γὰρ γνώσεως ἐφαψάμενος καὶ πρὸς ὀργὴν ῥᾳδίως κινούμενος, ὅμοιός ἐστι τῷ σιδηρᾷ περόνῃ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ ὀφθαλμοὺς κατανύττοντι.

6 Ἀσφαλιζέσθω δὲ ἐν ταῖς συγκαταβάσεσιν ὁ γνωστικός, μήποτε λάθῃ αὐτὸν ἕξις γινομένη ἡ συγκατάβασις, καὶ πειράσθω πάσας ἐπίσης ἀεὶ τὰς ἀρετὰς κατορθοῦν, ἵνα ἀντακολουθῶσιν ἀλλήλαις καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ, διὰ τὸ πεφυκέναι τὸν νοῦν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐλαττουμένης προδίδοσθαι.

8 Αἰσχρὸν γνωστικῷ τὸ δικάζεσθαι καὶ ἀδικουμένῳ καὶ ἀδικοῦντι· ἀδικουμένῳ μὲν ὅτι οὐχ ὑπέμεινεν, ἀδικοῦντι δὲ ὅτι ἠδίκησε.

9 Ἡ γνῶσις συντηρουμένη διδάσκει τὸν μετέχοντα αὐτῆς ὅπως ἂν διαφυλαχθῇ καὶ ἐπὶ μείζονα προέλθοι.

13 ∆ίκαιον τοῖς μοναχοῖς καὶ τοῖς κοσμικοῖς περὶ πολιτείας ὀρθῆς διαλέγεσθαι καὶ ὅσα τῆς φυσικῆς ἢ θεολογικῆς δόγματα σαφηνίζειν ἐκ μέρους, ὧν χωρὶς οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὸν Κύριον. 15 Γνώριζε καιρῶν καὶ βίων καὶ ἐπιτηδευμάτων τοὺς λόγους καὶ τοὺς νόμους, ἵνα ἔχῃς ἑκάστῳ τὰ συμφέροντα ῥᾳδίως λέγειν.

21 Τοὺς τῶν ψεκτῶν προσώπων λόγους οὐκ ἀλληγορήσεις, οὐδὲ ζητήσεις τι πνευματικὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς, πλὴν εἰ μὴ δι' οἰκονομίαν ὁ Θεὸς ἐνήργησεν, ὡς ἐν τῷ Βαλαὰμ καὶ Καϊάφᾳ, ἵνα ὁ μὲν περὶ γενέσεως, ὁ δὲ περὶ θανάτου τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν προείπῃ.

22 ∆εῖ δὲ μὴ σκυθρωπὸν εἶναι τὸν γνωστικὸν μηδὲ δυσπρόσιτον· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀγνοοῦντός ἐστι τοὺς λόγους τῶν γινομένων· τὸ δὲ μὴ βουλομένου πάντας ἀνθρώπους σωθῆναι καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν.

24 Πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ μήποτε κέρδους ἕνεκεν ἢ τοῦ εὐπαθεῖν, ἢ δόξης χάριν παρερχομένης, εἴπῃς τι τῶν ἀπορρήτων καὶ βληθῇς ἔξω τῶν ἱερῶν περιβόλων, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ ναῷ τὰ τῆς περιστερᾶς τέκνα πιπράσκων.

27 Μὴ ἀπερισκέπτως θεολογήσῃς, μηδέποτε ὁρίζου τὸ θεῖον· τῶν γὰρ γεγονότων καὶ συνθέτων εἰσὶν οἱ ὅροι.

28 .............................................. ........ ὅτι μισεῖ κακίαν ὁ πειραθεὶς κακίαν, πεῖρα δὲ τῆς ἐγκαταλείψεως ἔγγονος .............................

29 Οἱ διδασκόμενοι λεγέτωσάν σοι ἀεὶ τό· φίλε προσανάβηθι ἄνω· αἰσχρὸν γάρ ἐστιν ἀναβάντα σε πάλιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀκουόντων κατενεχθῆναι.

30 Φιλάργυρός ἐστιν οὐχ ὁ ἔχων χρήματα, ἀλλ' ὁ ἐφιέμενος τούτων· τὸν γὰρ οἰκονόμον εἶναί φασι βαλάντιον λογικόν.