致非洲總督喬治書 第 1 章 第 12/14 段

For he who defines understanding as consisting solely in the bare utterance of the divine words resembles a parrot, which imitates human speech.

For this creature alone among the birds, once taught, feigns human speech, though possessing nothing whatsoever human by nature;

just as also the one who, confining himself to mere bare utterance, imitates the words of those truly possessed of understanding, in order to astonish his hearers, but does not have the habit of knowledge formed by the practice of the virtues, truly is — and is called — some other Pharisee, or a blameworthy priest;

feigning understanding by the mere utterance of words alone;

while falling completely short of that wisdom which truly has its being in works;

and therefore greatly puffed up, and, through the arrogance of a self-conceit that nurtures pride within his mind, setting himself against the word of truth;

not knowing, as it seems, that knowledge of God apart from practice — possessed by those who, because of it, are greatly puffed up through love of vainglory — is manifestly established as the theology of demons;

having Jesus expressly rebuking it — him who is, as it were, the subject of that theologizing — even though such a person, held fast by the passion, does not perceive it.

Nor let us circumscribe the majesty of divine fear by mere outward manners of character alone;

but let us make the composure of our character a herald of the good disposition within the soul, so that we may flee the coming threat of fire;

and let us adorn good understanding with the practice of the commandments, lest, like the vainglorious, we go about carrying dead words, deprived of the life that comes through the practice of the commandments;

but let us make the divine words effective in deed, pursuing peace with all, and love;

cultivating kindness and gentleness, and long-suffering, and forbearance toward all in everything;

bearing with patience and thanksgiving whatever befalls us;

and accepting afflictions unshaken, as divine decrees;

opposing in nothing the purposes of providence, which through these things beneficially guides our life, so that we may attain eternal life together with all the saints, delighting in the good things to come, in the abiding permanence of eternal blessedness, as we hearken to God speaking to us:

and let us rejoice, enjoying those ineffable good things: "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love Him."

21. By the same author, to the most holy bishop of Cydonia.

My God-protected lord, having discerned, through pious inquiry into the mystery of His dispensation concerning us, that God is equal to Himself in height and in depth, and having marveled how the finite, joined together with the infinite around Him — opposite and unmixed things — came to manifestation through one another;

the infinite being ineffably conjoined in boundary with the finite;

and the finite being, in a manner beyond nature, spread out together with the infinite.

But he himself, concerning whom these things are said, being in both respects identical with himself, having yielded nothing whatsoever of himself with regard to the infinite — inasmuch as, according to nature, he is beyond the indefinite, yet according to the economy is both incomprehensible in being and known —

having the height of divine glory beyond conception, and the depth of the economic condescension beyond comprehension, he prudently and pliably subjected himself to God, after the manner of wax to a seal; and having received him imprinted wholly unto the depth, he rendered himself a most conspicuous imitation of the divine blessedness.

For, having wisely transformed himself according to divine ways,

to the lowliness of his nature he tempered, through virtue, the loftiness of his rank;

and conversely, to the loftiness of his rank, through knowledge, he raised up together the lowliness of his nature;

and caused the one to be beheld, paradoxically, in the other.

For, being in both respects identical with himself, having yielded nothing of his dignity in either, he preserved himself unchanged;

showing most clearly the means by which he acquired an unadulterated imitation of God, inasmuch as God, having ordained the priesthood on earth in his own stead, put him forward for this office.

so that, being seen also in bodily form, his mysteries might not cease to appear to those capable of seeing them.

For just as the Lord exhorted men to be reconciled to God the Father — treating them rather as those who had been led astray than as those who had sinned — even as the divinely inspired Paul testifies, saying, "We are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were exhorting through us,"

so that, by the greatness of his benefaction, he might, through shame, bring them to a recognition of their own hardness of heart;

so too my lord and master, through voluntary condescension, having skillfully won me over, wished to seem to learn from me, by letter, the very things which, on account of his rank, he has been set forward to teach — and thereby, even if only belatedly, made me aware of my own ignorance.

I acknowledge, then, my gratitude to my lord;

and I take pride in the manner by which he gently dispelled the cloud of my self-conceit;

and I ask him not to cease guiding his servant with such words and such ways.

XXII. By the same author, to Auxentius.

If, trusting in the Spirit, inasmuch as you possess love indissolubly encompassing you, needing nothing for renewal, you have resolved to neglect writing letters to friends, then I both commend the reasoning and accept it from you;

entrusting to that Spirit the treasure of love, from which and into which it is by nature disposed both to originate and to find its rest.

But if, disregarding the manner befitting friendship, you decline to write out of indolence, I shall not cease doing the contrary;

for I do not know how to feel deference toward friends on account of the greatness of worldly eminence.

But if neither of these two reasons for not writing applies, then receive from us, though absent, and grant readily to those who are absent, as nature has taught, the converse effected through letters;

or rather, as God, having endowed nature with wisdom, has provided as a consolation.

For a word given form in letters goads the memory when it is at rest, and rouses it when it drowses, toward seeing and reproducing the faces of those beloved;

through which longing, like a fire that has been quenched, is once more rekindled from a small spark.

XXIII. By the same author, to Stephen the presbyter.

It is a property of spiritual love not only to benefit those in need who are present, but also to console those who are absent;

and not to permit souls to be divided along with bodies;

nor indeed to permit the power of the reason, whereby the soul bears the image of the Creator, to be circumscribed by place;

but rather, when present, to converse fittingly with the beloved by voice, face to face, or, when absent, to hold converse through letters.

For nature, by the grace of God, wisely devised this manner for the undivided union of those who are, in body, greatly separated from one another by spatial distance.

For thus the word, resounding frequently both in speech and in writing, implants in the soul a memory not easily effaced, enabling one continually to behold those who, through love, are ever present in spirit;

and to embrace them, and to be recalled from every sorrow.

Do not, then, forget me, your child and disciple, honored Fathers, but, being both disciples and teachers of love, nourish with the word of the virtues my famished soul;

and illumine my mind, weighed down by the darkness of ignorance, looking to the reward laid up for you in the heavens for this;

even if this act should, perhaps, for a little while draw you away from a better and more honorable occupation.

For I know that it is not of equal repute to converse with God immediately, and to provide compassionately for those who are lesser.

Yet neither is this estranged from what is accounted fitting by God.

By the same author, to Constantine the sakellarios.

There arrived the precious letter of my God-guarded lord, bringing peace, and appearing to bear him wholly in its very manner.

For in the dignity of the words, the disposition of the soul, together with the gentleness of one's character, is by nature somehow made manifest.

And I rejoiced, as though I had received my lord himself present, and I embraced him in spirit, and, having enfolded him wholly within the compass of my heart, I laid him up there;

and I glorified Christ our God, who wisely implanted in men the law of love;

according to which those who know how to cultivate rightly the seeds of love can never be absent from one another, even though they be separated from one another, in body, by a great spatial distance.

But since the letter, bringing tidings of worldly peace, transformed the soul's grief into joy;

it is necessary that we, as is fitting, become altogether grateful to God who granted it, lest we appear ungrateful for this benefaction, having repaid the benefactor ill.

We shall become altogether grateful if we make right use of this peace, setting aside the friendship toward the world and the ruler of this world that had wrongly existed within us, and, even if only belatedly, bringing to an end the war against God that is constituted through the passions;

and having made indissoluble treaties of peace toward him, let us, in the abolition of the body, cease from enmity toward him.

For it is impossible for us to be made friends with God while, through the passions, we rise up against him, and while we tolerate paying tribute, through wickedness, to the evil tyrant and murderer of souls, the devil — unless we have first been made wholly at war with the evil one.

For until then we remain enemies and foes of God, even if we affix to ourselves the name of the faithful, for as long as we choose to be enslaved to passions of dishonor;

...being so disposed, and rising up against her own Maker, and unwilling to come under his kingdom—

still sold to countless harsh masters, who urgently drive her toward wickedness, and deceitfully prepare her to choose the path that leads to destruction rather than the one that saves.

But when we become sober from the drunkenness of the passions, and rise up against the evil and tyrannical kingdom of the devil, and shake off from ourselves his most bitter yoke;

and perceive how greatly friendship toward him had corrupted us;

then we shall receive the peaceful presence of Christ, the peaceable and meek king, coming invisibly upon us;

and we shall bear to come under his yoke, as he orders and disciplines us by the laws of truth;

and we shall gladly accept to enter into friendship with him, willingly bringing him tributes and dues — namely, the fruits of righteousness brought to completion in us, through the virtues, in accordance with the commandment.

With these, he who alone is without need, rejoicing for the sake of our salvation, may, as one who cannot lie, grant us all that he has promised us —

And these are: "What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered into the heart of man — the things which God has prepared for those who love him."

For unto this he has made us, that we might become partakers of the divine nature, and sharers of his eternity;

and that we might appear like him according to the deification that comes by grace;

for the sake of which exists the entire constitution and continuance of beings, and the production and coming-to-be of beings.

Let us, then, become worthy of peace, my blessed lord, having manfully cut away from ourselves the passions in us that rebel against God.

Let us mortify, as far as possible, the body, through whose vigor the devil's entrance to the soul comes about.

By divine readings let us halt the wandering mind, and lead it back again to God.

By the exertions of self-control and vigilance, let us prudently restrain desire, which by its craving is borne disorderly toward many things.

By prayers and supplications and almsgiving, let us wisely lull to rest the temper that seethes and is troubled.

By the fear of God and the threat of things to come, let us restrain the senses that are moved and act intemperately.

Above all, and before all, let us remember death, and the fearful departure of the soul from the body;

and how, in this air, the principalities and powers and forces of darkness come to meet it;

each one dragging and tearing it toward itself, in proportion to the evil affinity that had come to exist, relative to it, through the mediating passion.

Let us remember the bitter anguish that comes to the soul in Hades according to conscience, at the memory of the evil deeds it committed through the body.

Let us remember the final consummation of the whole world, in which this universe is consumed by the great and boundless fire;

the elements being fearfully shaken by the melting of the burning;

heaven fleeing in urgent haste, rolled up and in fear, from before the face of the fire that purifies the creation beforehand because of the presence of the Pure One;

the sea vanishing, the earth being convulsed even from its very depths, and yielding up undiminished the boundless myriads of human bodies;

let us remember the dreadful hour of defense that will take place before the fearful and dreadful judgment-seat of Christ;

when all the host of the heavens, and all mankind's creation from the foundation of the age, beholds the things belonging to each one, down to a mere thought;

when, on the one hand, because of the brightness of their works, the ineffable light shall receive some;

and the radiance of the holy and blessed Trinity, shining forth more clearly, upon those who are able, through purity of soul, to behold and receive it;

but others, because of the absurdity of their works, the outer darkness shall receive, and the unsleeping worm, and the unquenchable fire of Gehenna;

and, heaviest of all, the shame in the conscience that has no end.

and let us become [our own] and God's — or rather, God's alone and wholly, and wholly [His];

bearing nothing earthly in ourselves, so that we may draw near to God, and become gods, having received the being gods from God;

For thus the divine gifts are honored, and the presence of the divine peace is welcomed with affection.

And so much, then, concerning these things.

May the God of peace, who reconciled us to Himself through the cross, and redeemed us with His own blood from the dominion of darkness, Himself grant His peace, which surpasses all understanding, to my blessed lord, and count him worthy of His heavenly kingdom;

where is the dwelling of all who rejoice, and the chorus of those who keep festival.

25. By the same [author], to Conon, presbyter and abbot.

I believe, as I received and was taught, that God is love;

and that, just as He Himself is one and never ceases to be one, so too He makes those who live according to His love one, and grants them one heart and soul, even though they happen to be many;

so that, possessing as it were one soul, they may know one another's hearts, and not grow weary searching in ignorance about what is unclear, each one conjecturing from himself the disposition of his neighbor toward him.

But even though I am absent in body, through this present letter — I who am ever present in spirit and never separated from you in soul — I greet you, my father and protector according to God, and the guardian of my salvation, and your holy flock, worthy of the kingdom of Christ;

and I entreat you to make supplications to the Lord on my behalf, that I may carry off a living and active faith in Him, not deadened by the passions, but possessing the power of His cross and death, and of His burial and resurrection;

of the cross, according to the cessation of activity of sin;

of death, according to the most complete casting off of wickedness;

of burial, according to the putting away of the soul's fancy concerning things perceived by the senses;

and of resurrection, according to the wealth of the virtues, and the abundance of true knowledge of Him, and the raising up of the mind to the heights away from things that perish, so that I may become of one body and one soul with Him.

And, simply put, according to His promise, like Him in all things, except for identity of nature with Him;

so that, by not deadening through works of dishonor the life given to me by Him through the things aforementioned, I may not justly incur the judgment of those who have killed their own life, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For it is truly fearful, and beyond all condemnation, willingly to deaden the life given to us by God through the gift of the Holy Spirit, by means of love for perishable things.

And this fear is certainly known to those who have practiced preferring the truth to self-love.

Of the same [author], to Thalassius the presbyter, who asked how it is that some of the kings among the nations, on account of divinely-sent wrath pressing upon their subject peoples, used to sacrifice their children, even the firstborn, and the wrath would cease, as has been recorded by many of the ancients.

And God permitted the Greeks to receive oracular responses, by means of the ways they devised for themselves foreknowledge of things to come, and release from things that vexed them;

and He often granted that events should turn out for them according to their hopes, preparing the way for all according to providence, as each was able to receive the acceptance of the great mystery that was to come.

For if the tender affection of rulers toward their subjects, proceeding to actual deeds, rescued the whole subject people from the calamity that pressed upon them—

Indeed, when the kings of Israel and Judah waged war against the Moabites in the time of the holy prophet Elisha, and after a great victory were about to sack the very capital city of that whole kingdom, the king of that land, following, as it seems, the custom of the nations, took his own son and sacrificed him upon the wall before the eyes of the kings;

and by this means he propitiated the kings, and persuaded them to turn away from the wrath that had been prepared against him, and he saved his subjects.

God, then, by permitting the Greeks to carry out the things arising from their own autonomy, wisely turned these to His own use for the acceptance of the great mystery;

but to the Israelite people, by giving the Law, He was throughout prefiguring the mystery that was to come.

Hence, after the mystery of our salvation was manifested and came into actual operation, He abolished both these things among the Gentiles and those among the Jews — as many as He had given before this time, or had permitted to occur, for the prefiguring of what was to come.

For from Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things, whatsoever has come to be or shall come to be, in every time or manner;

That which is recorded by the ancients is, therefore, not a myth;

but it truly took place, and the remedy for the sake of which it occurred followed upon it.

But as for the detailed treatment of what has been written, let us, God willing, examine it together when I am present with you.

Nevertheless, he who has understood how even the flesh of a serpent can, by art, heal the sick, will faithfully accept the method of divine providence.

27. Of the same, to John the cubicularius.

Those who, in a worldly manner, have established love for one another need each other's bodily presence for the preservation of that love, because of forgetfulness, which naturally withers away every longing that is founded on bodies alone;

with which the memory of those thus disposed toward one another is naturally extinguished together.

And it happens, too, that even this very thing which seems capable of preserving the worldly relationship between them — satiety, once it sets in — dissolves it, obliterating the entire prior disposition.

And often, too, the failure of some of the causes that supply it, or even some small pretext that intervenes, brings about a swift turning of a love so constituted into hatred.

But those who, according to God, have been bound to one another indissolubly by the bond of love, both when together with one another and when absent from one another, rather intensify this bond;

having this in themselves on account of God, who is Himself love, and who grants to the worthy the power to be able to love;

and very justly indeed, as I think.

For with things that are by nature in flux, the disposition of those whose relation to one another is founded upon them naturally flows away together with them;

but with things that are stable and always remain the same, the affection of those whose relation to one another is founded upon them is wont to remain wholly unshaken and unmoved;

boundlessly so, to the degree that God, who is the cause of this relationship, is by nature disposed to draw to Himself those who are bound to one another in spirit.

In this manner, then, loving you, O most beloved, I hold you ever inseparably present with me in soul, imprinted deep within my spirit — even though the span of time is long and the distance between our places is great — never ceasing to behold and embrace you with the mind.

Believing that I am loved by you equally, if not even more, I do not shrink from writing unhesitatingly about whatever there is need to write, knowing that through the Spirit one soul has come to be of us both.

and I know that you do not consider yourself insulted upon hearing this, since you reckon the fearful condescension of God toward men to be beyond mind and speech.

— and to make one's neighbor so much one's own that he is no longer reckoned as another, in accordance with the reciprocal disposition of those who have been transformed toward one another.

For [we are commanded] not only to rejoice with those who rejoice, but also to weep with those who weep;

and not simply to love, but to love the neighbor as oneself — so the divine word declares;

not to mention the new commandment, which enjoins even the laying down of our very souls for one another, for love's sake, whenever it is the time to contend;

which the Lord, who gave it, fulfilled in deed, not refusing to lay down His own soul on our behalf;

thereby providing us a pattern of perfect well-pleasing, by which the law of self-love is gently extinguished — the law which, at the beginning, deceitfully led us away, through pleasure, from God and from one another;

and, having taught that instead of one God there should be reckoned many, or none at all, it utterly cast down the power of the reason within us to the level of the flesh, and, having cut the one nature into many portions, it turned bestial, for pleasure's sake, the power of the anger within us against one another.

Become, then, as I have said, all things to him who needs your help, so that you may find God becoming such to you — He who, out of love for mankind, condescends to become all things to all.

28. Of the same, to Cyrisicius the bishop.

Having been allotted, honored Father, in accordance with the grace of the high priesthood given to you, to be on earth an imitator of the divine goodness, you have left unfulfilled none of the ways that characterize it;

but, having them all following one another in due order, you have earnestly adorned the mystery of the high priesthood with the tunic of the virtues woven from above through the Spirit.

which tunic the demons, though crucifying you with a multitude of trials, are never able to tear

Be eager, therefore, to gather together into one the scattered children of God

For this too is a characteristic mark of the divine goodness;

and having become the head of the precious body of the holy Church of God, join the members together with one another through the architecture of the Spirit;

and call with a great voice, having been established as herald of the divine teachings, both those far off and those near;

and bind them to yourself with the indissoluble bond of the love of the Spirit;

if indeed the expectation of the enemies has fled and has been utterly annihilated;

on account of which they had become so estranged from the land that bore them;

so that it may be possible for you also to say, in a manner befitting Christ:

Behold, I and the children whom God has given me

But deem worthy, holy Father, your humble and unworthy servant and suppliant, of your precious letters concerning this matter;

and do not refuse, through your prayers, to commend [me] to God, as you offer a sacrifice of praise

29. By the Same [Author], to the Same [Recipient]

God, seeking [the sheep], descended from heaven, and, longing [for it], put on the sheep;

and thus, having saved the one that had gone astray, placing it upon his shoulders, he compassionately led it back to those of the same fold

But you, all-holy Father and shepherd, having filled with the Holy Spirit alone the reed [pipe] of your teaching, led back to yourself whole the flock of rational sheep, which had departed from its homeland involuntarily, yet runs voluntarily to your voice as the good and skilled shepherd, as one possessing perfect discernment of what is beneficial.

For it did not, having gone astray, cross the vast seas, having disdained the divine pasture;

but for the sake of the saving safety of the divine treasures of the soul which pertain to it

But receive the flock, which has not only remained untrodden by wolves, but has also become a destroyer of wolves, and is enriched with many goods pertaining to the soul;

And bend your bow, and prosper, and reign, for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness;

as teacher of the divine doctrines of piety, and guide of a pure life and dignified conduct, and lawgiver of right discernment for all in everything;

having taken along, especially with the aforesaid sacred flock, also the sanctified lord abba George the presbyter, a sacred man who possesses a life equal to his word;

and being, through both [word and life], a destroyer of the evil power

But since I have been overwhelmed with great grief, unable to bear separation from these, either take me too, and grant me rest under your wings;

or strengthen me, through your prayers, to bear nobly the pain that comes from separation from those most dear [to me]

30. By the Same [Author], to Bishop John

Those who have rationally examined the nature of beings say that the power of fire is attractive of every substance that underlies it;

comparing God symbolically to this [fire], the interpreters of the divine mysteries likewise say that He too is attractive of all who wish to be persuaded by His laws, and who consent to embrace living a holy life;

toward whom [God], as they say the priesthood exists as an image aptly bearing his likeness in an icon, they likewise declare that it too, by the same law of compassion according to grace, is attractive of all who are under the same nature

This [priesthood], then, holy Father, you too, having obtained by lot to bear as God's image upon earth, call to yourself by manners and words of compassion those who long to return to you, and who desire, in accordance with their prayers, to be shepherded by you;

and confirm, through your precious letters, by true promises, your providence toward them, together with God, in all things;

if indeed the foul-smelling expectation of the enemies has utterly come to naught;

on account of which they endured so great a flight, those who considered it safe to follow the law of God, which cries out explicitly:

If they persecute you in this city, flee into another;

having preferred praiseworthy timidity to rashness;

so that, next after God, trusting in your words, they might make their return without fear;

and that they might find, in this fearful sojourn abroad, relief from the labors under which they were oppressed for the sake of virtue and of obeying God, who commands those who are persecuted to flee — [finding] your merciful ordering of all things concerning them

Do not, therefore, holy Father, refuse to receive your suppliant and servant who entreats [you];

and commend [me], through your prayers, to Christ, who alone is precious, and who through himself has richly honored dishonored man;

31. By the Same [Author], to the Same [Recipient]

Just as a ray of light gently draws to itself the healthy eye, which by nature rejoices in light, and imparts to it a share of its own brightness — so too true priesthood, being in all respects a distinguishing mark of the blessed Godhead to those on earth, draws to itself every soul that is, by disposition, God-loving and divine, and imparts to it a share of its own knowledge, peace, and love;

so that, toward the completion of its own operation, having brought forth each power of the soul [to its proper end], it may present to God, deified throughout, those who are initiated into the mysteries by it

For the end of the rational operation of the soul is true knowledge;