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Having immersed your lips in the sparkling mind, inscribed by God, You extol the beauty of the sacred names, and after death, in livingly wise sayings, creating God-voiced hymns. Co-presbyter 395 Timothy – presbyter Dionysius 396 Chapter 1. What is the purpose of the essay and what is the tradition about the divine names 1. And now, O blessed one, after “Theological Essays” 397, let us move on to explaining, as far as possible, the divine names. And let it be our rule to discover the true meaning of what is said about God, “not in the convincing words of human wisdom, 398 but in the manifestation of the spirit-moved power” (cf. 1 Cor. 2:4) of theologians, which inexpressibly and incomprehensibly connects us with the inexpressible and incomprehensible much better than is available to our verbal and mental strength and energy. It is absolutely not proper to dare to say or think anything about the super-essential and hidden divinity 399 beyond what is divinely revealed to us by the sacred Sayings. After all, the ignorance of its super-essentiality 400 that exceeds the word, mind and essence should be dedicated to it 401 by those who strive for the heavenly - as much as the radiance 402 of the divine Words reveals itself, and who, for the sake of the highest lights, clothe their desire for the divine with chastity 403 and piety. For if it is necessary to have at least some faith in the all-wise and truest theology 404, the divine reveals itself 405 and is perceived in accordance with the ability of each of the minds, and the divine goodness in saving justice 406 in a manner befitting the deity separates immensity 407 as inconceivable from the measurable. Just as for the sensible the intangible is elusive and invisible, and for those endowed with form and image it is simple and without image, and for those formed in the form of bodies the insensible and formless formlessness of the incorporeal, so, according to the same word of truth, above essences there is a super-essential uncertainty, and a mystery that exceeds the mind is above minds. And the One that exceeds thought is incomprehensible by any thought; and no word that exceeds the word Good can be expressed; The unit that makes every unit 409 one; Super-essential entity; The mind is inconceivable; The word is ineffable; Wordlessness, Inconceivability and Namelessness, existing in a different way than all that exists; The cause of universal existence, which itself does not exist, because it resides beyond the limit of all essence, is how it itself can truly and in a comprehensible way, perhaps, reveal itself. 2. So, it is not proper, as has been said, to dare to say anything or think about this super-essential and hidden divinity beyond what is divinely explained to us by the sacred Sayings. For any understanding 410 and contemplation of it - as it itself has communicated itself in a befitting Good manner in the Sayings - is inaccessible to all that exists, since it is superessentially transcendental for everything. And you will find that many theologians have praised it not only as invisible and incomprehensible, but also as inaccessible to research and study, because there is no sign that anyone has penetrated into its hidden immensity 411. However, Good is not completely unrelated 412 to anything that exists, but, having erected only in Itself the source of Its super-essential 413 light, It manifests itself in a manner befitting Good with illuminations commensurate with each of the existing ones, and elevates to possible contemplation, communion and assimilation with Him the sacred minds, as far as is permissible, in a befitting sacred manner, rushing towards Him 414, not daring in self-confident relaxation to a higher than necessary theophany and not sliding weakly 415 down to the worse, but standing firmly and steadily rushing towards the light that shines upon them, with sacred piety, chastely and divinely inspired by the commensurate love of the radiances admitted. 3. Obeying these God-principal bonds that govern all the holy orders of super-heavenly beings, honoring the secret of the God-Principal 417 that exceeds the mind 416 and essence, sacred, not daring to explore with mental piety, and the ineffable - with chaste silence, we rush towards the rays shining to us in the sacred Sayings, led by their light to the God-original hymns, super-peacefully enlightened by them, inspired to sacred hymns, to contemplate in proportion to the divine lights they bestow upon us, to glorify the gracious Beginning 418 of all sacred light manifestations as It Expressed Itself in the sacred Sayings. For example, that It is the Cause of everything, the Beginning, the Essence and Life; those falling away from Him calling and restoration 419 ; those who have slipped into what destroys the divine image, renewal and formation anew; those wavering from some unholy shock, a sacred affirmation; safety of survivors; guidance that helps those who ascend to ascend upward to Him; enlightened illumination 420; dedicated to the hierarchy; the adored Godhead; simplified simplicity; united unity; the super-initial super-essential beginning of every beginning; a good giver of the hidden, as far as possible; and simply say, the Life of the living 421 and the Essence of the existing, of all life and essence is the Beginning and Cause by virtue of His introducing existing things into being and supporting it there with goodness. 4. We have been taught this by divine Orations. And you will find that every, one might say, sacred hymn of theologians, explaining 422 and chanting the beneficent speeches of the Godhead, prepares divine names. Thus, we see that in almost every theological work the Godhead is sacredly glorified either as a Monad 423 and a Unit - because of the simplicity and unity of supernatural indivisibility, by which we are united as a unifying force, and our private 424 differences are super-peacefully united, and we are collected into a God-like monad and a God-like unity; or as the Trinity 425 - due to the trinitarian manifestation of super-essential fertility, from which it comes and according to which “every family 426 in heaven and on earth is named” (Eph. 3:15), or as the Cause of all things, since everything was brought into being thanks to Her creating essence of goodness; or as the Wise and Beautiful - as preserving all things 427 without violating its own nature, and as filled with all kinds of divine harmony and sacred beauty; especially as the Lover of Mankind, since It truly and completely 428 joined our nature with one of His hypostases, thereby calling to Himself and exalting human remoteness, from which the one Jesus was ineffably composed, and thereby the Eternal 429 perceived the extension of time, and within our nature there appeared the One who supersubstantially surpassed every order of all nature, preserving the abode of His properties unchanged and unmerged 430. And the rest, as many as there are, divinely influencing 431 lights were given to us explanatory by the secret tradition of our divinely inspired leaders 432 . In this, too, we were instructed, as far as is possible for us now - through the sacred veils 433 of the love of mankind characteristic of the Sayings and the sacred traditions, enveloping the mental with the sensual, the super-essential with the existing, enveloping the formless and without form with forms and species, and the supernatural, imageless simplicity with various private symbols 434 multiplying and depicting. And then, when we become incorruptible 435 and immortal and are honored with the most blessed peace characteristic of Christ and “always, according to the Saying, we will be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17), then we will be filled with visible theophany 436 in the most pure visions, illuminating us with the brightest radiance, as disciples during that most divine Transfiguration, with a dispassionate and immaterial mind, partaking of His mental light bestowal and transcending the mind connection, when in an unknown and blissful way - in the most divine imitation of 437 super-heavenly minds - we will find ourselves accessible to the most luminous rays, for, as the truth of the Sayings says, we will be “equal to the angels and sons of God, being sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36). Nowadays, as far as we can, when speaking about the Divine, we use the symbols available to us, and from them, to the best of our ability, we strive again to the simple and united truth of mental contemplations 438, and after all the understanding of the visions of God that is characteristic of us, we cease 439 mental activity and achieve, as far as possible, the super-essential light, in which all the limits of all minds preexist in the highest degree ineffably 440. which light cannot be conceived 441, nor described, nor in any way considered, since it is beyond everything, super-unknowable and super-essentially contains in itself, before the realization, the boundaries of all 442 realized minds and powers and everything in general, incomprehensible to everything, a force that is above the super-heavenly minds. After all, if all knowledge 443 is connected with existence and has a limit in existence, then what is beyond the limits of essence is also beyond the limits of all knowledge. 5. And if It surpasses every word and every knowledge and remains above any mind and essence, embracing everything that exists, uniting, combining and embracing in advance, while Itself being completely incomprehensible for everything, not perceived either by feeling, or imagination, 444, or judgment, or name, or word, or touch, 445, or knowledge, how can we write an essay “On Divine Names”, when the super-essential Deity turns out to be unnameable and those who are above the names 446 ? But, as we said 447 in “Theological Essays”, about the One, Unknowable, Superessential, Good in Itself, whatever It can be - I mean the trinity, equal in deity 448 and in goodness as a Unity - it is impossible to say or think. But even the angel-like compounds of 449 holy powers, which should be called either phenomena or transmissions of super-unknowable and luminous Goodness, are not subject to speech or knowledge and are known only to angels who have been awarded that which is higher than their angelic knowledge. The god-like 450 minds uniting with such, imitating as much as possible the angels - since after the cessation of 451 all mental activity there is a union of the deified minds with the super-divine light - they sing this in the most appropriate way by negating 452 everything that exists - to such an extent being truly and supernaturally enlightened by the most blissful union with that which is the Cause of all things, which itself is Nothing 453 like everything super-essentially transcendental. The God-originating super-essentiality, whatever the super-existence of super-goodness, should not be sung by anyone who loves the Truth, which exceeds all truth, neither as word or power, nor as mind, or life, or essence, but as every property, movement, life, imagination, opinion, name, word, thought, reflection, essence, state, abiding, unity, limit, infinity, everything to what exists is exceedingly transcendental. Since, being the existence of Goodness, by the very fact of its existence, It is the cause of all things, the good providence 455 of the Godhead should be sung on the basis of everything caused by Him, because everything is in Him and for His sake, and He exists first of all, and everything took place in Him, and His being is the reason for the appearance and stay of everything, and everyone desires Him: the intelligent 456 and the rational - rationally, the lower ones - sensually, and the rest either in in accordance with the movement of living things, or as substances suitably adapted to existence. 6. Knowing this, theologians glorify Him both as the Nameless One and as being consistent with every name. He is nameless, they say, because God said in one symbolic theophany from the category of mysterious visions, reproaching the one who asked, “What is Your name?” , and as if taking him away from any knowledge of God's name: Why do you ask My name? It is wonderful” (Gen. 32:29). And isn’t this “name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9) truly amazing—unnameable, being “above every name that is named, both in this age and in the world to come” (cf. Eph. 1:21)? He has many names because at the same time He is represented as saying: “I am who I am” (Exod. 3:14), “Life” (John 14:6), “Light” (John 8:12), “God” (Gen. 28:13), “Truth” (John 14:6), and at the same time the same gods sing the Cause of everything, borrowing names from everything caused by Her, something like: “Good” (Matt. 19:17), “Beautiful” (Ps. 26:4), “Wise,” “Beloved” (Is. 5:1), “God of gods” (Ps. 49:1), “Lord of lords” (Ps. 136:3), “Holy of Holies,” “Eternal” 457 (Deut. 33:27), “Existing” ( Exodus 3:14), and “The Cause of Ages”, “Giver of Life”, “Wisdom” (Prov. 9:1; 1 Cor. 1:30), “Mind” (1 Cor. 2:16), “Word” (John 1:1), “Knowledged”, “Possessing in advance all the treasures of all knowledge” (cf. Col. 2:3), “Power”, “Sovereign”, “King of kings”, “Ancient of days” (Dan. 7:9), “Ageless” 458 and “Unchangeable”, “Salvation”, “Justice” (cf. Jer. 23:6), “Sanctification” (1 Cor. 1:30), “Deliverance” (ibid.), “Exceeding all in greatness” and existing “In the subtle breath of 459.” They also say that She is in minds, in souls, in bodies, in heaven and on earth, at the same time in Herself, in the world, around the world, above the world, above heaven, above existence; She is called the sun, star, “fire,” “water,” “spirit,” dew, cloud, gem, stone, everything that exists and nothing that exists. 7. Thus, both anonymity 460 and all the names of existence are suitable for the universal, all-exceeding Cause, as for the real Queen of everything, on Whom everything depends and to Whom everything belongs as the Cause, as the Beginning 461, as the Completion. According to the Saying, She is “all in all” 462 and She is rightly glorified as the Foundation of everything, beginning everything, perfecting and preserving everything, the protector of everything and the hearth 463, attracting everything to Herself and making this unification 464 unstoppable and transcendental. For She is the Cause not only of connection, life, or perfection, so that just from one or another of these cares She may be called the Supernal Goodness: She in advance simply and unlimitedly contained everything in Herself with the fulfilling goodness of Her one all-causal providence, and is rightfully praised and called by all beings. 8. Thus, theologians borrow names for Her not only from general or particular providences, or objects of preference, but also from certain divine visions 466 that illuminated initiates or prophets in sacred churches 467 or in other places. They call the Goodness that surpasses every name by the names of one or another cause and power, giving It human, fiery, or amber forms and appearance, chanting Her “eyes” (Ps. 11:4, 90:8), “ears” (James 5:4), “hair” (Dan. 7:9), “face” (Ps. 33:17), “hands” (Job 10:8), “back,” “wings” (Ps. 90:4), ““shoulders” (ibid.), “backside” (Deut. 33:23) and “legs” (ibid. 24:10). They supply Her with “crowns” (Rev. 14:14), “thrones” 468 (Ezek. 1:26), “cups,” “cups” (Ps. 74:9; Proverbs 9:2-3) and other things full of mysterious meaning, which we will talk about, to the best of our ability, in “Symbolic Theology” 469. And now, having collected from the Sayings what is relevant to the present work, and using what has been said as a kind of rule, looking at it, let us move on to the disclosure of the intelligible names of God. And, as required by the hierarchical 470 charter, every time we do theology, we must contemplate with a thought that sees God in the full sense of the word, the visions and contemplation and sacred ears 472 that reveal God 471 are to be exposed to explanations of the sacred names of God, on the holy, holy, according to divine tradition, founding, protecting it from the ridicule and mockery of the uninitiated 473, most importantly, if only there are such people at all, thereby saving them from fighting against God. And you, O good Timothy, must protect yourself from such things, following the most sacred rule not to speak or show anything divine to the uninitiated. May God grant me to divinely sing the good-natured multiplicity of the unnameable and unnameable divinity and may He not take away the “word of Truth” from my lips. Chapter 2. Of united and divided theology, and what are divine union and separation 1. As an integral God-initial 474 being, defining 475 and expressing whatever it is, is glorified by the Sayings of Itself-in-itself-goodness. For is it possible to extract anything else from sacred theology when it says that God himself taught this 476, saying: “Why are you asking Me about good things? No one is good except God alone” (cf. Matt. 19:17). As has been stated and explained by us elsewhere, all the names befitting God are always sung by the Sayings as referring not to any part 477 but to the whole divinity 478 in its entirety, universality and completeness, and all of them are inseparably, absolutely, unconditionally and wholly applicable to the whole integrity of the complete and complete divinity. And if, as we noted in “Theological Essays,” someone begins to assert that this is not said about the entire 479 divinity, he will unreasonably dare to blaspheme and divide the super-united Unit. It is proper, therefore, to say that this applies to all divinity. After all, the noble Word Himself said: “I am good” (cf. Matt. 20:15; John 10:11), and one of the divinely inspired prophets 480 praises the Spirit as “good” (Ps. 143:10). And again, if they say that the words “I am who am” (Exodus 3:14) do not refer to the whole of divinity, but only to one part of it, then how will they perceive the words: “This is who I am, who was and is to come, the Almighty” 481 (Rev. 1:8) and “But you remain” (Ps. 101:27), as well as “the Spirit of truth”, “He who is”, “from outgoing from the Father” 482 (John 15:26)? And if the Life Principle 483 is not integral, as they say, then can the sacred word be true, which says: “As the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to whomever he will” (John 5:21), and that “the Spirit gives life” (John 6:63)? Since all divinity dominates everything, I believe it is impossible to say whether it concerns the God-giving divinity 484 or the Filial divinity, how many times theology says “Lord” about the Father and how many times about the Son. But the Spirit is also Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 3:17). The names "Good", "Wisdom" are applied to all divinity; likewise, the names “Light”, “God-creating”, “Cause” and everything that belongs to the entire Godhead are included by the Sayings in every initial praise of God - both in a compressed form, for example: “All things are from God” (1 Cor. 11:12), and in a lengthy manner 485, for example: “All things were created through Him and in Him” 486 (cf. John 1:3; Rom. 11:36), “All things were formed in Him,” “Thou shalt send Thy Spirit, and they shall be created” (Ps. 103:30). And we can say in one word, as the God-originating Word Himself said: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), and “All that the Father has is Mine,” and “All that is mine is Thine, and what is thine is Mine” (cf. John 16:15). And again, what belongs to the Father and Him 487 he applies as a common property equally 488 to the God-originating Spirit, such as: divine works 489, a shrine that flows 490 and inexhaustible reason and the distribution of splendid gifts. And, I think, none of those who are nourished by uncorrupted thoughts 491 in the divine Sayings will argue with the fact that, according to the divinely perfect Word, everything befitting divinity is inherent in the Godhead in all its fullness. So, having spoken here briefly and in part about this, and in another place having sufficiently shown and established with the help of Sayings what kind of holistic denomination we have to explain, we will apply it to the entire fullness of divinity. 2. If someone says that by doing so we introduce fusion into the divine separation 492, we will not consider such an argument sufficient to convince him of its truth. And if there is someone who is generally opposed to the Sayings, he will turn out to be completely far from our philosophy, and if he does not care about extracting divine wisdom from the Sayings, then why should we try to teach him theological knowledge 493? If he turns his gaze to the truth of the Sayings, then we, using this standard and light for its defense, will, to the best of our ability, steadily march, saying that theology conveys one thing united, and the other separately, and it is not permissible to separate what is united, nor to merge what is divided, but those who follow it must, to the best of their ability, strive towards the divine radiances. And from there, having perceived the divine explanations 494 as a kind of most beautiful measure of truth, we will try to protect the treasure there within ourselves, without adding 495 to it, without subtracting from it and without perverting it, being protected by the conservation of the Sayings and by their conservation gaining the power to protect them. 3. So, the unifying names refer to the entire Divinity, which we have shown more fully with the help of the Sayings in the Theological Essays. These are: “Super-good”, “Super-divine”, “Super-essential”, “Super-living”, “Super-wise”; as well as all expressions of negation implying superiority 496 ; and all the concepts of causality, such as: “Good”, “Beauty”, “Existence”, “Generating Life”, “Wise”; and all other names that the Cause of all good things receives according to its splendid gifts. The signs of separateness are the super-essential names and characteristics of the Father, 497 Son and Spirit: they cannot in any way be rearranged or used as completely general. Separate, in addition, is the perfect and immutable existence of Jesus in our nature 498, as well as all the essential secrets 499 of love for mankind associated with this. 4. However, it seems to me that it is appropriate for us to go back in order to better explain the image of divine unity and difference, so that all our reasoning is understandable, containing nothing ambiguous or imprecise, revealing thoughts as clearly, clearly and harmoniously as possible. For, as we said elsewhere, people initiated into the sacred 500 traditions of our theology call the hidden and inextricable 501 super-abidences of the super-ineffable and super-unknowable constancy divine unity, while divisions 502 mean the magnificent outward appearances of God and its explanations. Following the sacred Sayings, they say that both the mentioned unity and also the division have some kind of their own connections and divisions. Thus, in the divine unity, that is, super-essentiality, the one and common thing for the original Trinity is super-essential existence, super-divine divinity, super-good goodness, identity that exceeds everything, that surpasses any particularity, super-uniform unity 503, silence 504, polyphony, ignorance, omniscience 505, affirmation of everything, negation of everything, that which exceeds every affirmation and negation, presence and residence of the initial hypostases, so to speak, in each other, completely over-united, but not fused by a single part, just like - to use an example from the sensory sphere close to us - how the light of each of the lamps 506 located in one room completely penetrates the light of others and remains special, preserving its differences in relation to others: it unites with it, being different, and is different, uniting. And when there are many lamps in a room, we see that the light of them all merges into one indivisible glow, and I think that no one is able, in the air permeated with the general light, to distinguish the light of one of the lamps from the light of another and to see one of them without seeing the other, since they are all inextricably dissolved in each other. If someone takes one of the lamps out of the house, all of its light will come out, not taking any of the other lights with it and not leaving its others. But there was, as I said, a complete union of each of them with each other, without any mixing or merging of any of their constituent parts, and the light was emitted by material fire in a truly material body, the air. Therefore we say that the super-essential 507 unity surpasses not only the unity in the corporeal environment, but even the unity of souls and minds themselves, which the godlike super-celestial lights 508 possess unmergedly and supra-peacefully with full penetration into each other, thanks to participation, to the extent of their strength, in an all-superior unity. 5. In addition to the fact that in the very unity each of the initial hypostases retains, as I have already said, its own existence, without mixing or merging with others, super-essential theologies also speak of one more difference: everything related to the super-essential birth of God cannot be reversed: the only Source of super-essential divinity is the Father, the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father; and the hymns sacredly reserve special praises for each of the divine hypostases. These are the signs of unity and division, corresponding to the inexpressible unity and separateness 510. If the magnificent exit outside of the most divine super-unified Goodness due to Its increase and overflow is a sign of divine divisibility, then the signs of unity are: the unbridled endowment of goods that occurs through the divine division, the creation of new beings, their life-giving, endowing them with reason and other gifts of all-causing Goodness, according to which - according to the sacraments and those participating 511 - and is sung Uninvolved Participated. And this is inherent in the whole, united and united Divinity - that each of those who partake of It partakes of the whole, and no one partakes of only some part of It. Similarly, all the radii located in the circle are involved in its center, and the prints of the 512 seal have much in common with its original: the original is present in each of the prints in its entirety, and in none of them - only some part of it. The non-participation of the all-causal Divinity exceeds even this, since it is impossible to touch It, nor do any other means exist for the communion of those participating with It. 6. And if someone says that the seal 513 is not visible entirely and equally in all prints, then this is not the reason for the seal (since it is the same in all cases): the difference in the characteristics of the perceptive material creates defects in the prints 514 of the same entire seal. Thus, if the material turns out to be soft, elastic, smooth and receptive, and not unreceptive 515 and hard, not loose, not wrinkled, the result will be a clean, clear and durable print. If any of the listed properties is lacking, this will be the cause of a defect, unclear and unusable print, and many other things that happen when contact is unsuccessful. Separated from the general splendid action of God in our nature are 516 the complete and true perception from us of our essence, accomplished for us 517 by the super-essential Word, and His deeds and suffering - the best, excellent deeds of His human divine action. After all, the Father and the Spirit did not participate in this at all with the Word, unless someone says that it was only thanks to the magnificent and humane unity of will and the common highest inexpressible divine action that He who abides as God and God’s Word, unchangeable, did all this for us. Likewise, we try, when we speak, to both unite the divine and divide, since the divine itself is both united and divided 519. 7. Those magnificent reasons for the types of unity and division that we found in the Sayings, we, as far as possible, set out in “Theological Essays”, talking about each of them: revealing some of them with the true word and explaining, turning the sacred and unclouded mind to the bright visions of the Sayings, and to others as secret 520 - in accordance with the divine tradition that exceeds the capabilities of mental comprehension 521 - having joined in. After all, everything divine that is revealed to us is known only through participation 522. And what it is in its beginning and foundation is above the mind, above all essence and knowledge. So, when we call the super-essential Hiddenness 523 God, Life, Essence, Light or Word, we mean nothing more than the forces emanating from It into our midst, deifying, creating entities, producing life and bestowing wisdom. We come to Her only having abandoned all mental activity, knowing no deification, no life, no essence that would exactly correspond to the transcendental all-surpassing Cause. It is also the case that the source of 524 divinity is the Father, and the Son and the Spirit are products of the God-giving divinity, if we have received the super-essential lights from the sacred Sayings. And how this is so is impossible to say or imagine. 8. All the power of our mental activity gives us the ability to understand only that every idea of ​​the divine Fatherland and Sonship is given to us and to the super-heavenly forces beyond everything, the Fatherland and the Sonship, thanks to Which God-like minds become and are called gods, sons of God and fathers of gods - we are talking, of course, about fatherhood and sonship in the spiritual sense, that is, about an incorporeal phenomenon, immaterial, speculative, but the God-originating Spirit is above all mental immateriality and deification, and the Father and the Son are supremely beyond all divine Fatherland and Sonship. There is no exact similarity between effects 525 and causes: effects perceive images of causes, but the causes themselves are transcendental for effects and exist above them, according to their very original meaning. If we use an example from our life, then pleasures and sorrows are considered to be the reasons that a person enjoys and grieves, but they themselves do not enjoy and do not grieve. And about the heating and burning fire they do not say that it itself burns or warms itself. And if someone says 526 that self-life lives, or that self-light is illuminated, he will say, in my opinion, incorrectly, unless he says it in some other respect, for what characterizes effects is already abundantly contained in causes as inherent in their essence. 9 . The creation of Jesus in our form is brighter than any theology, 527 it is inexpressible in any words, inaccessible to any mind, including the very first of the eldest angels. We mysteriously know that He was incarnated as a man, but we do not know how He was incarnated - contrary to nature, according to a different law - from virgin blood, and how He walked with dry feet with bodily mass and material weight on the unstable water element, as well as other things related to the supernatural physiology of Jesus. Elsewhere we have said enough about this, and our true 528 mentor 529 in his “Principles of Theology” excellently sang the same thing - either gleaned by him from the sacred theologians, or received as a result of a thoughtful study of the Sayings after a long painstaking study of them, or revealed to him by some most divine inspiration, when he not only recognized, but also experienced the divine, and from what he experienced to him, if that is possible to express himself, sympathy reached perfection in his uneducated and mysterious unity and faith. And in order to very briefly present the many and blessed visions of his sovereign thought, I will cite what he says about Jesus in the “Fundamentals of Theology” he compiled. 10. Being the cause of everything 530 and fulfilling everything, the divinity of the Son, preserving the parts in harmony with the whole, being neither a part nor a whole, and being both a whole and a part, everything in itself, both a part and a whole, containing, surpassing and preceding everything, it is perfect among the imperfect as the beginning-perfect, but also imperfect among the perfect as superperfect and pre-perfect; a species that creates species in that which has no form, as a species-beginning; formless among species as superior to species; essence, into all essences, without touching them, penetrating and super-essential, transcendental for every essence; separating all beginnings and ranks 531 and remaining above every beginning and rank; she is the measure 532 of everything that exists, she is eternity, and she is above eternity and before eternity; it is the replenishment of what is insufficient 533 and the overflow of what is fulfilled; it is inexpressible, silent, exceeds the mind, exceeds life, exceeds the essence. It is supernaturally characterized by the supernatural, super-essentially - super-essentially. Since the Divine One, out of love for mankind, descended to nature 534 and truly realized and became a man (may the Glorified One, surpassing mind and word, be merciful to us), possessing, while remaining in that, the supernatural and super-essential, without suffering in the least from the unchangeable 535 and unfused communion with us in the fullness of His inexpressible emptiness, He was the newest of all new things; among what is natural to us, supernatural; among those belonging to the super-essential being, having everything that is ours from us above us in abundance. 11. So that's enough. Let us return to the purpose of our work, revealing, to the best of our ability, the common and 536 united names of the divine division. And in order to clearly differentiate everything in order, let’s say that the divine division represents, as we have already said, the magnificent exits of God’s leadership to the outside. Granted to all that exists and overflowing with the participation of all blessings, It is unitedly divided, multiplied individually 537 and increased many times over, without being separated from unity. Since God is the Super-Essentially Existing One, grants existence to beings and produces all essences, they say that this One Existing One increases many times due to the emergence from Him of many existing things, and It does not diminish in the least and remains one in multitude; connected, protruding outward; and, dividing, - complete, for the reason that He superessentially remains transcendental in relation to all that exists, and to the outward flow that unites everything, and to the inexhaustible outpouring of His undiminished teachings. But being one and imparting unity to every part and to the whole, and to the one and to the many, He superessentially exists equally as the One, representing neither a part of the many nor a many-part whole. And besides, He is not the One, He is not involved in the One, and He does not have the One. Far from this is the One, which is greater than the One; One for all things; indivisible set; unfillable overflow, every single, multiplicity that brings, perfects and contains. Again, because - thanks to the deification that comes from Him and the perception, according to the strength of each, of God's image - a multitude of gods appears, it is presented and said that there is a division and multiple multiplication of the one God, but from this He is no less the Beginning-God and the Super-God, the super-essentially one God, indivisible among the divisible, one with Himself, not mixed with the multitude and not multiplied. Having understood this supernaturally, our common 539 and mentor guide to the divine light-giving, great in the divine, “the light of the world,” inspiredly says in his divine writings the following: “For, although there are so-called 540 gods, either in heaven or on earth, since there are many gods and many lords; But we have one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we are to Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we through Him” (1 Cor. 8:5-6). For unities dominate and prevail over divine divisions, and the united does not suffer when the unifying division is inseparable from the One. We will try to the best of our ability to sing these common and united divisions or beneficent outflows of the entire divinity, guided by the divine names that reveal it in the Sayings - first, as has already been said, realizing that all beneficent divine names applied to the God-originating hypostases should be perceived as relating to the entire God-original wholeness without exception. Chapter 3. What is the power of prayer, about blessed Hierotheos, about reverence and about theological writings 1. First, let us consider, perhaps, the all-perfect explanatory name of all God's processes, calling upon the good 542 and super-good Trinity, which clarifies all His supremely good providences. For first of all, it is appropriate for us to raise ourselves up to Her as the Good Leader through prayers, and as we approach Her, to be enlightened by the all-good gifts that surround Her. She is present in everything, but not everything is present in Her. And when we call upon Her with all-pure prayers, an unclouded mind, and commitment to divine union, then we are present in Her. For She does not dwell in any place in order to be absent from something or to move from one thing to another. But to say that She abides in all things is not enough to express Her all-exceeding and all-embracing infinity. Let us direct ourselves with prayers 544 in order to ascend to the highest heights to the divine and good rays, as if constantly intercepting with our hands a brightly luminous chain hanging from the sky and reaching here 545 and thinking that we are attracting it to ourselves, but in reality it is not it, which is both above and below, pulling down, but raising us to the highest radiances of the many-lighted rays of ourselves. Or, as if being in a ship, grabbing ropes 546 attached to a certain rock and stretched out to us so that we would moor, we would not attract the rock to ourselves, but in fact ourselves and the ship - to the rock. Just as, on the contrary, if someone in a ship pushed a stone lying on the shore, he would not do anything to the motionless stone, but would remove himself from it, and the harder he pushed it, the more he would push himself away from it. That is why it is appropriate to begin every work, and especially theology, with prayer - not in order to attract the omnipresent 547 and nowhere-existing Power to oneself, but in order to entrust it to It and unite oneself with It. 2. It probably deserves justification that, although our glorious 548 teacher Hierotheus compiled the wonderful “Fundamentals of Theology,” we, considering that they were not enough, wrote other theological works, including this one. If he had considered it worthy to consider all theological questions in order and had revealed, by giving small explanations, all the fundamentals of theology, we would not have reached such madness or ignorance as to try either to interpret theological themes even more clearly than he and even more divinely, or to wastelessly say 549 the same thing a second time, talking vainly, and in addition, offending the teacher and friend who, following the divine Paul, taught us with his in words to the fundamentals of theology 550, appropriating for himself his most famous theory and explanation. But since this leader senilely 551 expounded to us truly divine things in general terms, embracing much in one single thing, as if commanding us 552 and our teachers of newly converted souls to reveal and share with our moderate speech short, generalized and capacious words that contain the most intelligent power of this man, and you yourself repeatedly encouraged us to do this, and then sent us this book as excellent, therefore we consider him a teacher of perfect senile thoughts, and the fact that he, surpassing many, wrote in sayings following 553 immediately after those announced by God, and we will convey the divine to the people of our time, to the best of our ability. After all, if “solid food is the food of the perfect” (Heb. 5:14), then what kind of perfection does it require to serve it to others? It is also correct what we said that self-evident 554 contemplation of mental utterances and their generalized presentation require senile 555 strength, and understanding and studying the meaning of the words used for this is the work of those less sanctified and sacred. However, we were also very diligent in never touching on anything that had been discussed with complete clarity by the divine mentor himself, so as not to repeat it when explaining the Sayings explained by him. After our God-inspired saints themselves (when we, as you know, and you yourself, and many of our sacred brothers came together to contemplate the life-giving 556 and God-receiving body, and there were also the brother of God James and Peter, the main and oldest leader of theologians 557, and then after contemplation all the saints decided to sing, as best they could, the infinitely powerful goodness of God's infirmity 558, he, as you know, defeated among theologians all those initiated into the sacraments of the faith, going into a complete frenzy, completely losing his temper, experiencing communion with what was being sung) on the basis of everything that was heard, seen, recognized and not recognized, he was assessed as a divinely inspired and divine hymnologist 559, what can I tell you about the theologically sung there? After all, if my memory serves me right, I have repeatedly become acquainted, hearing from you, with some parts of these inspired chants. Such is your zeal to seek out the divine not in passing. 3. But let’s leave the mentioned secret as something unspeakable to the crowd, something you already know. And when he had to communicate with a crowd of uninitiated people and whoever it was possible to lead to our sacred knowledge, how much he surpassed many sacred teachers in the time spent, and the purity of mind, and the accuracy of evidence, and other sacred words, so that we never dared to look directly at such a great sun. For we were so focused with our feelings and mind on ourselves that we could not comprehend the meaning of the divine 560, nor could we pronounce or pronounce what was said about the knowledge of God. Far inferior to him, we lack knowledge of the theological truth of divine men, for the excess of piety 561 has led us precisely to the complete impossibility of listening and saying anything about divine wisdom other than what we have perceived 562 with our minds; so it is not proper to neglect the knowledge of the divine that we have received. And we were convinced of this not only by the natural aspirations of the mind, which always longingly seek the possible contemplation of the supernatural, but also by the very best order of divine laws, which turns us away from exploring what is above us 563 as undeserved and as unattainable, and everything that is permissible and given to us, commanding 564 to diligently find out and plausibly pass on to others. Submitting to this 565, without refusing or evading the permissible study of the divine, and also not tolerating that those who do not have the strength for the best of our contemplations are left without help, we considered it our duty to write, not daring to introduce anything new, but by more detailed and separate studies of each question, analyzing and clarifying what was generally said by the true Hierotheus 566 (lit. “Holy God” or "Priest of God") Chapter 4. About the names “Good”, “Light”, “Beauty”, “Love”, “Ecstasy”, “Zeal”, that evil does not exist, that it is not from the Existing and not among the Existing. 1. Well, okay 567, let us now move on in our speech to that very title that theologians emphatically distinguish 568 from all others applied to super-divine divinity, calling Goodness, as it seems to me, the Divine Being itself, bearing in mind that for Good to exist - as for Good in essence 569 - means to spread goodness into all things. For just as the sun in our world 570, without reasoning, without choosing, but simply existing, illuminates everything that, by its properties, is capable of receiving its light, so the Good, superior to the sun, a kind of transcendental archetype, located above its obscure imprint, by virtue of its own existence alone imparts, in proportion to all things, the rays of complete Goodness. Thanks to them, all intelligible and intelligible entities, powers and energies arose; thanks to them they exist and have an inexhaustible and undiminished life, free from all corruption, death 572 of matter and birth, above impermanence, fluidity and change that occurs in one way or another. Since they are incorporeal and immaterial, they are perceived by the mind, and since they are minds, they super-peacefully understand and appropriately enlighten 573 the logoi of existence and then forward theirs to the related ones. And they have their abode from Goodness, and their abode comes from the same, and connection, and protection, and the focus of 574 blessings; By desiring it, they have both existence and happiness; as much as possible, becoming like Her, they are plausible and, communicating with those who are lower than them, they, as the divine law teaches, extend to those the gifts they receive from Good. 2. From there - their 575 supermundane ranks; their unity with each other; placing them inside each other; unmerged divisions; their powers elevating those below them to superiority; the care of the elders for those who follow them; each of them guarding their own strength and constantly focusing them around themselves; their identity and extremeness in the pursuit of Good; and so on, which we talked about in the book “On Angelic Properties and Orders” 576. And also - that which relates to the heavenly hierarchy: the purifications 577 appropriate for angels, super-peaceful light-giving and the fulfillment of all angelic perfection come from the all-causing and exuding all Goodness, from Which they were granted both beauty and the ability to manifest hidden goodness in themselves, and to be angels 578 as heralds of divine silence and as if shining lights, explanatoryly emanating from the One who dwells in the reserved sanctuary And under these sacred and holy minds, thanks to super-good Goodness, there also exist souls 579 with their inherent goodness, such as: the ability to be rational, to have existence itself in the form of incorruptible essential life, and, moreover, the opportunity, rushing to the life of angels, with their help, as good mentors, to be raised to the Good Beginning 580 of all good things, and, according to their dignity, to become partakers of those pouring out from there radiances, and to the best of one’s ability to partake of plausible gifts; and other things that we list in the book “On the Soul” 581. And also - if it is necessary to talk about them - those that relate to dumb souls 582, or animals: those who cut through the air, and those who walk on the ground, and those who bury themselves in the ground, and whose destiny is to live in the water or as amphibians 583, and those who live hidden and buried underground, and more simply - everyone who has a sensual soul or life - and they are all animated and brought to life thanks to Good. From Good and plants, everyone has life associated with nutrition and movement. And everything that is soulless and lifeless is an essence thanks to the Good and thanks to Him has been awarded the property of being an essence 584. 3. If Good exists above all things, as it actually is, then It gives form to the formless 585. And in Him alone, immateriality is the excess of essence, lifelessness is the highest life, madness is the highest wisdom, and everything else that in Good is associated with the excessive giving of form to the formless. And, if it is permissible to say so, the non-existent itself strives for the Good, which exceeds all things, 586 striving to somehow itself be in the truly - after taking away everything - super-essential Good. 4. But this is what, by the way, escaped from us, ran away - that Good is the Cause of both the heavenly 587 principles and limits, and this non-increasing, non-decreasing and completely unchanging smooth flow, and the silent, so to speak, movements of the heavenly procession and stellar ranks, and beauty, and lights, and installations, and the diverse through passage of some moving stars; periodic circulation from the same places to the same two luminaries, called great in the Sayings 588, in accordance with which our limited days, and nights, and measured months and years demarcate 589, calculate, determine and connect the circular movement of time and those staying in it. What can be said about the solar glow itself? This is the light emanating from Good, and the image of Goodness. That is why Good is glorified in the names of light, because It manifests itself in him as an original in an image. After all, just as the Goodness of the divinity transcendental for all 590 reaches from the highest and oldest beings to the lowest and, moreover, remains above all, so that neither the highest can achieve Her superiority, nor the lowest can escape from the sphere of what is achievable by It, and also enlightens everything that has power, and creates, and revives, and holds, and perfects, and remains both the measure of existence 591, and century, and number, and order 592, and totality, and cause, and purpose - in exactly the same way, the image manifesting divine goodness, this great all-illuminating ever-bright sun, an insignificant echo 593 of Good, enlightens everything that can be involved in it, and has excess light, spreading the radiance of its rays throughout the visible cosmos in all directions. And if something is not part of him, it is not because of the weakness or limitation of the light he spreads, but because of the inability to accept the light of those who do not strive to be partakers of it. Undoubtedly, bypassing many of them, the rays illuminate those behind them, and there is nothing visible that it, due to the excessive amount of its radiance, does not reach. It also contributes to the birth of 594 sensual bodies, moves them to life, nourishes them, grows, improves, purifies and renews. And light is the measure of 595 and the number of hours, days and all of our time. After all, it was precisely this light 596, although then still formless, according to the words of the divine Moses, that demarcated the first triad of our days (see Gen. 1: 3–13). In the same way, Goodness attracts everything to Itself as the Beginning of the gathering of all those scattered, as the initial 597 and unifying Divinity, to Which everyone strives 598 as the Beginning, Connection and Completion. And, as the Sayings say, it was from Good that everything arose and exists, being derived from the perfect Cause, and it was in Him that everything was created and was preserved and contained, as it were, in an all-encompassing depth, and to Him everything returns as to its own limit for each; where everything strives: the mental and verbal - consciously, the sensory - sensually, what is not involved in the feelings - by the innate instinct of preserving life, and the inanimate and only existing - only by the need to participate in the one realized. According to the same meaning of a clear image, light collects and turns to itself everything that sees, moves, is illuminated, is warmed, everything that is contained under its radiance. That is why it is the sun (ήλιος), because it combines everything 599 (άολλή ποεί) and collects what is scattered. And everything sensible needs it, striving either to see, or to move, or to be illuminated and warmed, and in general to remain in the light. I, however, do not follow the opinion of antiquity 600 that the sun is God and the creator of all this creation, to whom belongs the government of the visible world, but I say that “the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are visible through the consideration of creation, His eternal power and divinity” (cf. Rom. 1:20). 5. But this is said in Symbolic Theology. Now we need to sing and name the speculative light-names of the Good, because the Good is called mental Light, for every super-heavenly mind is filled with mental Light, and at the same time He drives away from everyone into whose souls it penetrates all ignorance and deception, and transmits to all of them the sacred light, and cleanses 601 their mental eyes from the darkness of ignorance surrounding them, revives and opens them with much heaviness darkness adjacent, and gives them to see at first dim rays, and then shows Himself to those who have tasted the light and strives for more and begins to shine with them in abundance “because they loved much” 602 (cf. Luke 7:47), and constantly raises them to Himself according to their ability to look upward. 6. So, mental Light is called the Good that surpasses all light, as it exudes, sows radiance and effervescent outpouring of light; all supramundane 603 minds around the world and in the world, enlightening from its fullness; all their mental powers are renewing; all, embracing, embracing; surpassing everything in its superiority; as the primordial light and super-light, which concentrates, super-has and predominates decisively over every luminous force; everything mental and rational collecting 604 and combining. For just as ignorance is something that separates 605 those who are mistaken, the phenomenon of mental light is something that gathers those who are illuminated, unites, perfects and turns them to the Truly Existent, turning them away from many opinions 606 and different points of view, or, more precisely, ideas 607, gathering them to a single true, pure, uniform knowledge, filling them with a single connecting Light. 7. This Good is glorified by the sacred theologians as the Beautiful 608, and as Beauty, and as Love, and as the Beloved, and other, whatever beautiful names there are, applied to God by the grace-filled maturity that imparts beauty. Beautiful and Beauty should not differ in Their all-gathering Cause. For dividing Them in relation to all things into communion and participating, beautiful we call that which participates in Beauty, and beauty – participation in the Cause of all beauty that makes it beautiful. The super-essential Beautiful is called Beauty because from Him each person’s own charm is imparted to everything that exists; and because It is the Cause of the well-being and grace of everything and, like light, radiates to everyone His teachings of radiant radiance that make them beautiful; and because It attracts everyone to Itself (καλούν), which is why it is called beauty (κάλλος); and because It reduces everything in everything to identity. It is beautiful as all-beautiful and as super-beautiful and eternally existing in the same way and constantly beautiful; “neither arising nor disappearing; not increasing, not decreasing; not in one thing beautiful, but in something else ugly; not at one time it is like this, and at another time it is different; neither beautiful in relation to one, but ugly in relation to another; neither here is one thing, but there is another; neither beautiful to someone, but not beautiful to someone” (Plato, Symposium 211 ff.), but as Itself being one in itself with Itself 609, eternally remaining beautiful; and how abundantly and in advance it has within Himself the charm of all that is beautiful, exuding from Him. For in the simple supernatural nature of all beauty, all charm and all that is beautiful pre-exist as a cause. From this Beautiful 610 it is given to everything that exists to be beautiful in accordance with its own logos; and thanks to the Beautiful there is a combination, love and communication of all; and everything is united by the Beautiful; and the Beautiful is the Beginning of everything as a creative Cause, moving everything as a whole and uniting it with love for its own charm; It is both the Limit of everything 611 and the Beloved as the Cause that brings to perfection, for for the sake of the Beautiful everything appears; and the Pattern, for in agreement with Him everything is demarcated. That is why the Beautiful is identical with the Good, because for every reason everything strives towards the Beautiful and the Good, and there is nothing in existence that is not involved in the Beautiful and the Good. The Word even dares to say that even the non-existent 612 participates in the Beautiful and the Good, for it too is the Beautiful and the Good when it is super-essentially - after the removal of everything - glorified in God. This one Good and Beautiful alone represents the Cause of the entire multitude of beautiful and good things. From Him are all the essential existences of 613 things, unions and divisions, identities and differences, similarities and dissimilarities, the community of opposites, the immiscibility of the united, the providence of the higher, the interconnection of equals, the circulations of the lower, everyone has their own motionless abodes and abodes that protect them, and also all with everyone - with each special - communication, adaptation and undisturbed community; and coherence of the whole; dissolution in general; and the insoluble union of beings; inexhaustible succession of what emerges; all states of rest 614 and movements characteristic of minds, souls, bodies. For the rest and movement of all is that, every rest and every movement that exceeds that which embeds each one in his own logos and moves in accordance with his own movement. 8. They say that the divine minds move in a circle 615 when they are united by the beginningless and endless illuminations of the Beautiful and the Good; in a straight line - when they go out to provide for the lesser, in order to do everything correctly; and in a spiral - when, providing for the lesser, they continue to remain inseparably in the same position relative to the Cause of identity, the Beautiful and the Good, constantly moving around Her in a circle. 9 . The soul is characterized, firstly, by a circular movement: it is given the ability to enter into itself from the outside and unite its mental powers as if in a certain circle, which gives it stability, turns it away from the multitude of what is outside it, and first concentrates it in itself, and then, as it becomes united, unites it with the only united forces and thus leads to the Beautiful and the Good, Which is above all of existence, one, identical, beginningless and infinite. The soul moves along the spiral 617 when it is illuminated in the appropriate way by divine knowledge - not mentally and unifyingly, but verbally and explanatoryly, as if mixed and transitional energies. And in a straight line - when, without entering into itself and not being moved by a unifying rationality (that is, as I said, in a circle), it goes outward to what is around it, and then from the outside, as if from a multitude of various symbols, it is raised to simple and integral contemplation. 10. The cause, connection and purpose of such movements, and the three types of sensory movement 618 occurring anywhere, and even much earlier - the abodes, states of rest and foundations of each of them is the Beautiful and the Good, exceeding all rest and movement 619. Therefore, 620 every state of rest and movement is from Him, in Him, into Him and for His sake. For from Him and thanks to Him come essence and all life, both mind and soul; and insignificance, equality and greatness in every nature; all measures, correspondences of existence and harmony; mergers, wholes and parts; all unity and plurality 621 ; connection of parts, unity of any plurality; perfection of integrity; quality and quantity; size and immensity; connections and separations; every infinity and every limit; all boundaries 622, orders, excesses, elements, species, every essence, every force, every energy, every property, every feeling, every word, every thought, every touch, every knowledge, every unity. And simply speaking, everything that exists, arising from the Beautiful and the Good, being in the Beautiful and the Good, returns to the Beautiful and the Good. And everything that exists and appears exists and appears thanks to the Beautiful and the Good. Everything looks at Him, is moved and maintained by Him. And for His sake, through Him and in Him, there exists every principle that is a model, 623 performing, creating, species, elemental, and in general every beginning, every connection, every limit. I will say, to generalize: everything that exists is from the Beautiful and the Good, and everything that does not exist 624 is super-essential in the Beautiful and the Good; and there is a beginning and a limit to everything - the Superinitial and the Superultimate; for “from Him and through Him, in Him, and into Him are all things” (cf. Rom. 11:36), as the Holy Word says. For everyone, the Beautiful and the Good are desired, longed for and beloved; thanks to Him and for His sake, the worst passionately love the best, 625 equals responsively love those equal in rank, and the best providentially love the worst, and each of them fundamentally loves himself; and everyone, desiring the Beautiful and the Good, does this and desires what they do and what they desire. The Word of Truth will directly say that He Himself, who is the Cause of everything, out of super-dimensional goodness loves everything, creates everything, perfects everything, preserves everything, returns everything, and is Himself the divine good Love for good for the sake of good. For the good-creating 626 Love for existence itself, pre-existing in the Good in abundance, did not allow Itself to remain fruitlessly in Itself and moved Itself to act for the abundant generation of everything 627 . 11. And let no one think that, contrary to the Sayings 628, we honor the name Love. After all, in fact, it seems to me unreasonable and stupid to pay attention to the letter, and not to the meaning of speech. This is not characteristic of people who want to understand the divine, but is characteristic only of those who perceive only sounds, and their meaning does not allow their ears to be perceived from the outside and does not want to know what such and such an expression means and how it can be clarified with the help of other equivalent 629 and more expressive expressions - people partial to meaningless signs and letters, incomprehensible syllables and words that do not reach the mind of their souls, but only sound outside, in space between lips and ears. As if it is impossible to denote the number four as twice two, straight lines as lines without bends, homeland as the fatherland, and anything else differently, when the same thing can be expressed in different words. In truth, it is appropriate to know 630 that we use letters, syllables, speech, signs and words for the sake of feelings. And when our soul is moved by mental energies towards the speculative, then, along with the sensory, feelings become superfluous, as well as mental powers 631, when the soul, thanks to an incomprehensible unity, becomes god-like, rushes towards the rays of unapproachable light by perception without the participation of the eyes. When the mind, using the sensory, tries to rise to speculative contemplation, then for it it is much more valuable that from the sensory that is more easily perceived: clearer words, more clearly visible. Because if the subject of the senses is unclear, they themselves 633 are not able to perfectly represent the sensory to the mind. So that it does not seem, however, that we are saying this, deviating from the divine Sayings, let those who do not like the name Love listen 634 to the following: “love her, and she will preserve you,” “protect her, and she will exalt you; almost her, so that she will embrace you” (Prov. 4:6, 8), and other things that theology sings using the image of love. 12. After all, some of our clergy even consider the name Love more divine than the name Affection 635. After all, the divine Ignatius 636 writes: “My love 637 was crucified” (Romans 7:2). And in the introductions 638 to the Sayings you will find someone speaking about divine Wisdom: “I was in love with Her beauty” (Wis. 8:2). So let us not be afraid of the name Love, and let no frightening word concerning this confuse us. For it seems to me that theologians consider the names Affection and Love to be the same, but apply mainly to the divine the name True Love - because of the absurd prejudice of a certain kind of people. Although not only by us, but also by the Sayings themselves, True Love is glorified in a manner appropriate to the divine, the majority 640, not accepting the uniformity of calling God Love, has slipped to their own partial, meaning the body, separate understanding of love, which is not love at all, but its image, or rather a falling away from True Love. For the majority cannot accommodate the unifying power of the divine one Love. Why does it seem to many that the 641 names attached to divine Wisdom are completely inapplicable in order to elevate them and direct them to the knowledge of True Love and thus stop their indignation against it. People of low intelligence often also think that we are talking about something of ours and obscene in the words spoken by someone that deserve better assessment 642: “Love for you has come upon me, like love for women” (2 Samuel 1:26). And those who correctly hear the divine will see that, when explaining the divine, sacred theologians put the same meaning into the names Affection and Love 643. This is the property of a single-creating force that connects and in a special way mixes 644 in the Beautiful and the Good, which arose for the sake of the Beautiful and the Good, from the Beautiful and the Good for the sake of the Beautiful and the Good, 645 emanating and containing phenomena of the same order in relationship with each other, moving those who are superior to the care of the lesser and affirming those who are lower by turning to those who are higher. 13. Moreover, divine love is directed outward 646: it encourages lovers to belong not to themselves, but to their beloved. The higher ones show this by their concern for those in need, those who are on the same level by their connection with each other, and the lower ones by a more divine appeal to those superior. That is why the great Paul, being possessed by divine Love, having partaken of its outward-striving power, said with divine lips: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). He said this as a truly loving one, going out of himself, as he himself says, to God 647 and living not his own life, but the life of the Beloved as very desirable. For the sake of truth, let us also dare to say 648 that He Himself, who is the Cause of everything thanks to the love of beauty and goodness in everything, due to the excess of loving goodness, finds itself outside of Himself, being attracted to everything that exists by Providence, as if by goodness, attraction and love, and from a state that transcends everything, is brought down by a super-essential, inseparable from Him, leading outward force. That is why people experienced in the divine call Him Jealous 649 - as one who experiences a strong and kind love for things, as one who is prompted by His loving attraction to jealousy, as one who reveals Himself to be a Jealous One, jealous of what He desires, and as zealous in caring for things. In a word, attraction and love belong to the Beautiful and the Good, have a basis in the Beautiful and the Good, and thanks to the Beautiful and the Good they exist and arise. 14. Why do 650 theologians sometimes prefer to call Him Love and Affection, and sometimes the Beloved and Desired 651? Because He is the Cause of one, so to speak, the Producer and Begetter, and He is the other. He is moved by one, 652, by another He moves, that is, as if He brings Himself together with Himself and moves towards Himself. So He is called Desired and Beloved as the Beautiful and Good, Love and Affection - since He is the Power that moves and, moreover, elevates Him to Himself, the only Beautiful and Good One in Himself, representing, as it were, an explanation of Himself through Himself, a good way out of the transcendental 653 unity, a simple, involuntary, impulsive movement of love 654, pre-existing in Good, pouring out of Good into existence and returning again into Good. This is where His endless and beginningless divine Love primarily manifests itself, as a kind of eternal circle, along which, through Good, from Good, in Good and into Good, a steady movement takes place, always occurring, abiding and renewed in the same way. This is what our glorious initiate into the sacraments divinely inspired in his hymns about love, which it is not inappropriate to recall here and include, as if some sacred chapter, in our word about Love. 15. Whether we call Eros 655 divine, or angelic, or mental, or spiritual, or physical, let us imagine Him as a kind of connecting and binding Force, prompting the higher to take care of the lower, equals to communicate with each other, and those who have fallen to the limit to turn to the best who are above. 16. We have named many of His originating types from the one 656 Eros, listing them in order, such as: the knowledge and powers of those who are in the world and supermundane Loves, where, in accordance with the point of view proposed by reason, the ranks and orders of the rational and mental types of Eros are superior, after which the mental - in the proper sense - words and the divine are superior to other truly beautiful types of Eros there. They are appropriately sung among us. Now, having again collected them all into a single folded Eros, let us collect and bring together from many and their common Father, first merging into two of them all the love forces in general, which are commanded and led by the completely transcendental irrepressible Cause 657 of all Eros, to which the Love 658 common to each of the existing ones extends in a corresponding way to each of the existing ones. 17. Summarizing this now, let us say that there is a certain single simple Force that moves Itself from the Good to some mixing with the last of existence, and then from it, passing through everything, in a circle - from Itself, thanks to Itself, by Itself again into Itself, into the Good - always returning in the same way. 18. But someone might say that if the Beautiful and the Good are desired for everyone, desired and loved by everyone (for even the non-existent, as has already been said, desires It 659 and zealously strives to be in It, and It is a visionary for those who do not have a form, and in It the non-existent is super-essentially named and exists), then how come the demonic multitude 660 does not desire the Beautiful and the Good and, being committed to matter, having fallen away from the equal angelic desire for Good, is called the cause of all the evils that it causes to itself and others? Why is the demonic tribe, which comes entirely from Good, not good 661? Or why, having arisen as good from Good, did it change? And what made him bad? And what is evil anyway? And from what beginning did it come? And in which of the existing things is it? And why did Good 662 want it to appear? And how, if you wanted to, could you do it? And if evil comes from another cause, what is the other cause of existence besides Good? Why does evil exist with the existence of Providence, how does it appear in the first place, and why is it not destroyed? And why does anything that exists desire it instead of Good? 19. Approximately this or something like this will be said by the doubting mind. We will consider him worthy to see how this really is, and first of all we will say the following frankly: Evil does not come from Good 663; and if it comes from Good, then it is not evil. For just as it is not in the nature of fire to cool, so it is not in the nature of Good to cause evil. And if everything that exists is from Good (for the nature of Good is to produce and preserve, and that of evil is to destroy and destroy), then nothing that exists comes from evil. And even that will not be evil, which is evil in relation to oneself. And if this is not evil, then evil in general is not evil, but has some share of Good to the extent that it exists at all. And if the being desires the Beautiful and the Good and everything that it does does insofar as it considers it good, and every intention of the existing 664 has a beginning and an end in the Good (for no one does what he does, looking at the nature of evil), then how can there be evil among beings or existing in general, being deprived of such a good desire? And if all that exists 665 is from Good, and Good is beyond the reach of those that exist, then in Good there is what is and is not, and evil is not what is, because otherwise it is not evil at all and not non-existence. For in general there is nothing that does not exist, with the exception of what can be said to be super-essentially existing in Good. So the Good is above and before both the simply existing and the non-existent. But evil is not counted either among the existing or among the non-existent, and much more than the non-existent itself, it is separated from Good as something alien and insubstantial. Where, someone will ask, did evil 666 come from? After all, if there is no evil, then virtue and vice are one and the same, both in general, in relation to another whole, and in comparable particulars, and that which fights with Good will no longer be evil. However, chastity and fornication, justice and injustice are opposites. I am talking not only about the just and the unjust, the chaste and the prodigal, but also about the fact that before the difference between the virtuous and the opposite is manifested externally, much earlier, in the soul itself, vices are decisively opposed to the virtues, passions rebel against the meaning 667, and from here, of necessity, it should be recognized that evil is something opposite to Good. After all, Good is not the opposite of Itself; but, as having one Beginning and as the product of one Cause, It rejoices in communication, unity and friendship. Likewise, the lesser good is not the opposite of the greater, just as lesser heat or cold is not the opposite of the greater. Thus, evil exists among beings, and is being, and it is opposite and resists Good. And although it represents the death of beings 668, this does not deprive evil of existence, on the contrary, it makes it existent and gives rise to beings. Doesn't the death of one often become the birth of another? Thus, it turns out that evil 670 participates in the completion of everything and provides the whole with the ability not to be incomplete. 20. In response to this, the True Word says that evil, being evil 671, does not produce any essence or birth, and only to the best of its ability causes evil and damage to the face of existence. If someone says that it is capable of generating being and that, destroying one, it gives being to another, one should truly answer that it is not to the extent that it destroys one, it gives being to another, but that to the extent that it is destruction and evil, it only destroys and causes evil, while being and essence appear thanks to the Good. So evil turns out to cause destruction in itself, but is capable of generating thanks to Good, and evil as such is neither existing nor capable of creating existing, but thanks to Good it turns out to be both existing, and good existing, and creating good. Moreover, 672 just as the same thing cannot be both good and bad in the same respect, so the destruction and generation of the same thing cannot be the result of the same action of the same force, be it a self-creative or self-destructive force. So evil, in the proper sense of the word, is neither real nor Good, and is incapable of generating existence and creating beings and goods. Good, where It reaches perfection, creates perfect and unalloyed good. And what is involved in Him is less good, with an admixture due to a lack of Good. And evil is neither completely good nor does it do good. But what approaches the Good more or less turns out to be good to the appropriate extent, since the all-perfect Goodness that passes through everything spreads not only to the all-good beings surrounding it, but also reaches those who are extremely distant from it, 674 being with some completely, with others to a lesser extent, with others extremely little - in accordance with the ability of each of the existing beings to be involved in It. And some participate in the Good in perfection, others are more or less deprived of It, others have an even more vague involvement in the Good, and to the fourth It appears in the form of an extremely weak echo 675. For if the Good appeared to everyone not according to his ability, the most divine and the oldest would be in the rank of the lowest. How is it possible for everything to equally participate in the Good, if not everything is equally worthy to fully participate in It? In fact, the “superiority of the greatness” of the power of Good is such that It gives even to those who are to some extent deprived of It the strength to fill the lack of Itself 676 until full communion with It. And if we dare to tell the truth, then – that which fights with Him 677 can exist and fight only by His power. Moreover, I will say briefly: everything that exists, insofar as it exists, is good, arising from Good, and since it is deprived of Good, it does not represent good and does not exist. After all, if we take other properties, such as heat or cold, then what is warmed or cooled exists even when it is deprived of heat or cold; and much of what exists is not involved in either life or mind. God, rising above the essence, exists super-essentially. In a word, as for all other properties, when they disappear or do not appear at all, the existing exists and is capable of becoming, but something that is in all respects 678 devoid of Good has never existed anywhere, no, will not and cannot exist. Thus, the libertine, although he is deprived of the Good because of wordless lust in Him, because he does not exist and does not desire the Existing One 679, nevertheless participates in the Good in this very weak imitation of union and love. And rage participates in Good by the very fact that it is moved and aroused against what seems bad in order to correct it and turn it to what seems good 680. And even the one who strives for the worst life, since he generally strives for a life that seems to him the best, by the very fact that he strives and strives to live, and directs his gaze to a better life, participates in the Good. And if the Good is completely destroyed, there will be no essence, no life, no desire, no movement, and nothing else. So to give birth after death is not the ability of evil, but the appearance of lesser Good, just as illness 681 represents a lack of order, but not its complete absence. For when this happens, then the disease itself does not remain. The disease remains and exists, having at least some order as its basis, giving it the possibility of existence. What is completely unparticipated in the Good does not exist and is not among the existing, but the mixed is counted among the existing thanks to the Good, and therefore remains in the existing and the existing to the extent that it participates in the Good. In general, everything that exists more or less exists to the extent that it participates in the Good, for nothing that is in any way related to Being-in-the-proper sense of the word does not exist and cannot exist. And that which partly exists and partly does not exist, to the extent that it has fallen away from the Eternally Existing, does not exist, but to the extent that it has participated in Being, it exists and is an integral being, and thus its non-existence is retained and preserved. But evil, which has completely fallen away from Good, does not exist in either more or less good people. And that which is partly good and partly not good, fights with a certain good, but not with the Good as a whole. And this is preserved thanks to participation in the Good and the Good realizes 683 even deprivation of itself thanks to its participation in itself as a whole 684 . If Good goes away completely, then there will be absolutely nothing good, nothing mixed, nothing evil in the proper sense of the word. After all, if evil represents imperfect good, then with the complete absence of Good, both imperfect and perfect good will recede. And then evil will only appear and appear when for some it turns out to be evil 685 as for the opposite, and depends on others as on the good. For it is impossible for one and the same person to fight each other with the same thing in everything. Thus, evil does not exist. 21. But even among those who exist there is no evil. After all, if all that exists is from Good, and in all existing It and everything embraces Good, then either there is no evil among the existing, or it is in Good. But it cannot exist in Good, as in the fire of cold, and the One who turns evil itself into good is not capable of perceiving evil. If it can, then how can there be evil in Good? From Him? This is absurd and impossible 686. For “a good tree cannot,” as the Truth of Sayings says, “bear bad fruit” (Matthew 7:18), and vice versa. And if not from Him, it means from other beginnings and causes. And then either evil comes from Good, or Good from evil, or, if this is impossible, Good and evil will turn out to come from different beginnings and causes. But every two is not the beginning 687, and one is not the beginning of every two beginning. However, it is absurd for two complete opposites to originate and exist from one and the same Unit: in this case, that very beginning is not simple and not one, but separate and twofold, opposite to itself and changeable. It is also impossible that existing things come from two 689 principles and that they exist in each other and in everything and are opposed. If this is accepted, then God will turn out to be neither immune from misfortune nor beyond difficulties 690. If there was something that embarrassed Him, then everything would be disorderly and would be in eternal struggle. However, Good conveys love to all beings and is glorified by sacred theologians as Peace in the proper sense of the word and the Giver of Peace. Why is everything good 691 friendly and harmonious and is the product of a single Life, and is united with a single Good, and is meek, and agreeable, and friendly to each other. So evil is not in God, and evil is not divine. But evil is not from God either. For either He is not good, or He creates good and delivers good, and not in such a way that sometimes it is one thing, sometimes another, and not all, for in this case the most divine of all, the Cause, will be subject to changeability and changeability. If being in God is Good 692, then it turns out that God, who changes the good, sometimes is Existent, and sometimes is not. If He has good through communion, then He takes it from another, and sometimes He will have it, and sometimes He will not. So, evil is not from God and not in God - not in general 693 and not at times 694. 22. But the angels 695 are not evil either. After all, if a comely angel proclaims divine Goodness 696, being himself by communion, secondarily, the same as what is essentially, primarily, the Announced, then the angel is the “image” of God 697, a manifestation of the unmanifested light, a “mirror” pure, bright, unsullied, undamaged, “unstained”, perceiving all, so to speak, the beauty of the comely image of God and shining unalloyed within itself, as far as possible, with the goodness of sacred silence. So the angels are not evil either. Or are those who torture the 698 sinners evil? In this sense, those who admonish those who sin are also evil, and those of the priests who remove the uninitiated from the divine sacraments 699. But it’s not that it’s bad that they are punished 700, but that they have become worthy of punishment; and not that the unworthy are removed from churches, but that he is defiled and unsanctified and is unable to receive the most pure mysteries. 23. But demons 701 are not evil by nature. For if they were evil by nature, they would not be of Good, not among those who exist, not from the good who have changed their nature, and would be eternally evil. And are they angry towards themselves or towards others? If in relation to themselves, then they destroy themselves, but if for others, then how and what do they destroy: essence, strength or energy? If the essence, then, first of all, not contrary to nature, because they do not destroy what is incorruptible by nature, but only what is subject to corruption. And this is not for all 702 evil and not complete evil. And nothing that exists perishes 703 in essence and by nature, only the logos of harmony and conformity loses from 704 - the lack of order inherent in nature - the ability to remain the same. Weakness is not omnipotent, for if it were omnipotent, it would put an end to both corruption and that which is subject to it, and such destruction would be the destruction of itself. So this is not evil, but a lack of good 705. That which is completely unrelated to Good is not found among beings. This reasoning also applies to the destruction of strength and energy. Next, how can demons created by God 706 be evil? After all, Good brings into being and reveals good. Although they, someone will say, are called evil, but not because they exist, for they come from Good and received a good essence 707, but because they do not exist, being unable, as the Sayings say 708, “to maintain their dignity” (Jude 1:6). In what way, tell me, have the demons become worse, we say, if not in the fact that they have lost the property 709 and energy associated with divine goods? Otherwise, if demons are evil by nature, then they are eternally evil. But evil is unstable. So if demons remain eternally 710 the same, then they are not evil, because eternal identity 711 is a property of Good. If they are not always evil, then they are evil not by nature, but from a lack of angelic blessings. And they are not completely uninvolved in Good, since they exist, live, think, and in general they have some kind of movement of desire. They say that they are evil 712 because they turned out to be incapable of activities corresponding to their nature. Their evil is apostasy, departure 713 from what is due them, omission, imperfection and powerlessness, weakening, retreat and falling away from the power that creates their perfection. Specifically, what is demonic evil? Senseless rage, insane passion, unbridled fantasy 714 ? But this 715, although characteristic of demons, does not represent either complete evil, or evil for everyone, or evil in itself 716. After all, some animals are not obsessed with this, but deprivation of this means death for the animal and evil. Obsession with this saves and makes it possible for the animal nature endowed with such properties to exist. Thus, the demonic race represents evil not by what it is by nature, 718 but by what it is not. And all the good that was given to the demons did not change, but they fell away from all the good that was given to them. We will never say about the angelic gifts given to them that they 719 have changed, they exist and are unharmed and radiant, although they do not see them, having deprived themselves of the ability to see the Good. So, since demons exist, they exist from Good, and they are good, and they strive for the Beautiful-and-Good, wanting to be, live and comprehend existing things. And because of deprivation, removal and falling away from the benefits due to them, they are called evil. And they are evil to the extent that they do not exist 720. And desiring something that does not exist, they desire evil 721. 24. But let someone say that souls are evil? If it is because they prudently and salutarily coexist with the evil, then this is not evil, but good and from Good, virtuous even in relation to evil. If we say that Souls become embittered 722, then why do they become embittered, if not from the impoverishment of good properties and abilities and because, due to their own weakness, they make mistakes and slip? After all, the air around us darkens, we say, from the decrease and absence of light. And the light itself is always the light that illuminates the darkness. So neither the evil inherent in demons nor the evil inherent in us represents real evil 723 , but is only a deficiency 724 , the absence of the fullness of the goods inherent in us. 25. But there is no evil in dumb animals 725 either. After all, if you take away 726 from them rage, lust and the like, which are called, but which are not simply evil inherent in their nature, then a lion that has lost courage and pride will no longer be a lion, a dog that has become affectionate towards everyone will no longer be a dog, unless the job of dogs is to admit their own and drive away strangers. So, what does not destroy nature is not evil, but the death of nature is weakness and lack of natural properties, energy and strength. And if everything that is born reaches perfection in time, then the imperfect is not completely outside of all nature. 26. But in all 727 nature there is no evil. After all, if all natural logoi 728 come from universal nature 729, then there is nothing that exists in spite of it. For each particular nature, one thing corresponds and the other does not. Different natures have different things that are unnatural, and what is natural for one is unnatural for another. Evil of nature is unnaturalness, denial of nature. So there is no evil nature, but the evil of nature consists in the inability to fulfill one’s nature. 27. But evil is not in the bodies 730 either. For ugliness and disease are damage to the species and a violation of order. It is not a complete evil, but a lesser good. When there is a complete destruction of beauty, appearance and order, the body itself perishes. But the fact that the body is not the cause of the depravity of the soul 731 is clear from the fact that depravity can appear without the body 732, as happened with demons. Evil for minds, souls, and bodies 733 is weakness in the use and avoidance of possessing one’s own goods. 28. But - contrary to widespread belief - evil is not in matter, which, as they say, occurs because it is matter. After all, she too is involved in the order of things, in their beauty and appearance. If, being outside of them, matter were qualityless and formless, how could it cause anything without itself possessing the ability to be affected 734? How else can matter be evil? If it does not exist in any way, then it is neither good nor evil. If it somehow exists, and everything that exists is from Good, then matter must also come from Good; and either Good turns out to be the creator of evil, or evil, as coming from Good, turns out to be good, or evil turns out to be the creator of good, or good, as coming from evil, turns out to be evil, or there are two principles emanating from one dominant third. If, they say, matter is necessary for the completeness of the whole world, then how is matter evil? These are two different things – evil and necessity. Is it possible for the Good One to introduce something from evil for birth? Or maybe evil needs Good? Evil, after all, avoids the nature of Good. Matter, if it were evil, could it give birth to and nourish nature? After all, evil as such 735 is not capable of generating, nourishing, or creating or preserving anything at all. If they say that it does not create evil in souls, but attracts them to it, how can this be true? Many of them look at the Good. However, would this be possible if matter completely attracted them to evil? So, evil in souls does not come from matter, but from disorderly sinful movement. If they say that this is inevitably connected with matter, but impermanent matter is necessary for those who are unable to be based on themselves, then how can evil be necessary or necessary evil? 29. But what we call inferiority does not fight the Good with its own strength. For perfect inferiority is completely powerless; partial has force not as a defect, but as an imperfect defect 737. After all, when the defect is partial, it is not yet evil, but as long as it becomes complete, the nature of evil has already gone. 30. To summarize, we can say that good comes from a single universal Cause 738, while evil comes from many partial impoverishments. God knows evil 739 as good, and for Him the causes 740 of evil are beneficent forces. If evil is eternal 741, creative, powerful, exists and acts, then where does it come from? From Good? Or from Good - from evil? Or are they both due to a different reason? Everything that is in accordance with nature 742 is born for a specific reason. If evil is causeless and indefinite, then it is not in accordance with nature, for in nature there is nothing unnatural, just as there is no expression of artlessness in art. Or is the soul the cause of evil, like fire is heat, and causes evil to everything it approaches? Or is the nature of the soul good, but by its actions when is it such and when is it not? If by nature 743 its very existence is evil, then where does it come from? Is it not from the creative good Cause of all things? If from Her, then can She be evil in her being? After all, all Her creations are good. If - by your actions 744, then this is not immutable. If not so, then where do her virtues and comeliness come from? It remains to be assumed that evil represents the weakness and decline of Good. 31. The cause of good is one. If evil is the opposite of Good 745, then there are many causes of evil. After all, it is not meanings and forces that produce evil, but impotence, weakness and a disproportionate mixture of dissimilar things. Evil is not motionless and not always the same, but unlimited, infinite, capable of being transferred to another, equally infinite. In total, 747 and the beginning and the end is Good, for everything exists in the depth of Good - both that which is good and that which is opposite to it, for we do this too, desiring good: after all, no one, turning his gaze to evil, does what he creates. So evil has no substance, but only its likeness, appearing not for its own sake, but for the sake of Good. 32. Evil must be attributed to a random existence that arises thanks to another, and not from its own beginning. While it appears, it appears to be right, because, for the sake of Good, 748 it appears, but in essence it is not right, 749 because we take non-good for Good. It turns out that you want one thing, but you get something else. Thus, evil is outside the path, outside the goal, outside the nature, outside the cause, outside the beginning, outside the end, outside the limit, outside the desire, outside the substance. Consequently, evil is inferiority 750, lack, weakness, disproportion, sin 751, aimlessness, ugliness, lifelessness, madness, wordlessness, thoughtlessness, groundlessness, groundlessness, uncertainty, sterility, inactivity, futility, disorder, dissimilarity, unlimitedness, darkness, insubstantiality and never anything at all non-existence. How is evil even capable of anything? Mixing with goodness. For that which is completely unrelated to Good does not exist and is not capable of anything. But if the Good is existent, desirable, powerful and active, how can anything resist the Good, being devoid of will, strength, and energy? Not every evil is the same evil for everyone and in all cases 752. Demonic evil is existence outside the plausible mind, evil for the soul is meaninglessness, evil for the body is a contradiction to nature. 33. How does evil even exist with the existence of Providence 753? Evil does not exist as evil; it does not exist and is not among those that exist. And nothing that exists is outside of Providence, and there is no existing evil that is not mixed with Good. And if there is nothing existing that is not involved in Good, evil is a lack of Good, nothing that exists is completely devoid of Good, in everything that exists there is God’s providence, and nothing that exists is outside of Providence. But even those who turn out to be evil 754 Providence favorably uses them for their own or others’ private or general benefit 755 and provides for them in a manner appropriate to each of the existing ones. That is why we do not accept the unfounded opinion of many that Providence must 756 and against our will lead us 757 to virtue, that it is not characteristic of Providence to harm nature. For the saving Providence supports every nature of those who move independently 758 precisely as moving independently - both all together and each individually - to the extent that the nature of those for whom it provides is capable of receiving from the whole and all possible Providence the providential benefits given in proportion to each one. 34. So evil does not exist, and evil is not among those that exist. Evil as such does not exist anywhere. Evil arises not from strength, but from weakness. Even among demons, what they represent comes from Good and represents good. The evil inherent in them is a consequence of their falling away from their own goods, deviation 759 from identity and inability to possess the angelic perfection appropriate to them. They wish well when they wish to be, live and think. And if they do not desire good, they desire something that does not exist. And this is no longer a desire, but an error relative to a true desire. 35. Sayings are called sinners in the mind 760 of those in whom unforgettable knowledge or doing good runs out of weakness; who knows the Will and does not create; heard about Good, but weakened in faith or energy. And for some it is undesirable to understand how to do good, due to a change or impoverishment of desire. And in general, evil, as we have said many times, is exhaustion, weakness and impoverishment of either knowledge 761, or unforgettable knowledge, or faith, or desire, or the energy of Good. But someone will say that weakness deserves forgiveness, not punishment. If it were impossible to be strong, this would be fair. But if being strong depends on the Good, which, according to the Sayings, gives that which corresponds to everyone in general, then delusion, deviation, deliverance and falling away from one’s own benefits derived from the Good are not commendable. But we have said enough about this to the best of our ability in the treatise “On Fair and Divine Judgment” 762. In this sacred work, the truth of the Sayings flogged sophistical unjust and false statements about God as words devoid of meaning. Now we have sufficiently sung Good as something truly amazing, as the Beginning and End of everything, as the totality of beings, as the creation of non-existents, as the Cause of all good, as the non-cause of evil, as Providence and perfect Goodness, surpassing existing and non-existent, turning evil and lack of itself into good, desired by all, beloved by all, towards which everyone has an inclination, and everything else that was shown in the previous true, as I think, word. Chapter 5. About the name “Existence”, and in it about prototypes 1. Now we should move on to the truly existing theological name of the truly Existing being. Let us remember that the purpose of the word is not to explain how the super-essential 763 Essence is super-essential, since it is inexpressible, unknowable, completely inexplicable and surpasses unity itself, but to glorify the essence-creating emergence of the God-initial Beginning of every essence 764 into all that exists. After all, the divine name Good 765, which explains all manifestations of the universal Cause, extends to both existing and non-existent 766 and exceeds both existing and non-existent. And the name Jehovah extends to all things and exceeds all things. And the name Life extends to all living things and exceeds living things 767. And the name Wisdom extends to everything that thinks, is rational and is perceived by the senses and exceeds all this. 2. Thus, the word strives to glorify these divine names that explain 768 Providence. It does not promise to explain the self-super-essential Goodness, Essence, Life and Wisdom of the self-super-essential Divinity, superfounded, as the Sayings say, above all goodness 769, divinity, essence, life and wisdom in the secret spheres 770, but only glorifies the explained beneficial Providence, Goodness par excellence and the Cause of all goods, existence, life, wisdom, and also creating existence, creating life and giving Wisdom the Cause of those who are involved in the essence, life, mind, meaning and feeling 771. It denies that Good is one thing, Existence is another, and Life or Wisdom is a third, that there are many causes and that different things are produced by different divinities, higher and lower, but says that all the good manifestations and divine names we sing belong to the one God and that one explains the existence of the 772 perfect Providence of the one God, and the others are more general or more particular His manifestations. 3. However, someone will say: due to the fact that existence extends wider than life, and life wider than wisdom, 773 are not the living above the living, the sentient - the living, the intelligible - the sentient, and the intelligible - the intelligible, since they exist near God and are closest to Him? After all, it is fitting for those who have received great gifts from God 774 to be the best and to surpass others. If anyone can imagine intelligent beings having neither existence nor life, then the reasoning is correct. If the divine minds are superior to other beings, live above other 775 living beings, understand and know that which exceeds feeling and reason, and more than all other beings strive for the Beautiful-and-Good and are involved in Them, then they are closer to the Good, as they are more involved in It and have received a greater number of great benefits from It - just as meaningful beings are superior to sentient beings with the gift of reason, those others - with feelings, and others with the presence of life. And it seems to me that it is true that those who are more involved in the one infinitely bestowing God are closer to Him than others, and are more divine. 4. Since we have started talking about this, let us sing about Good as truly Existing, in general the creator of all beings (Ex. 3:14). The Being is the super-essential substantial Cause of every possible being, 776, the Creator of being, existence, substance, essence, nature, beginning, and the Measure of ages, and the Reality of times, and the Eternity of beings, and the Time of those that arise, and the Being of everything that only happens, and the Birth of everything that only appears. From Being - eternity, and essence, and existing, and time, and emergence, and emerging, existing in existing and in any way possible and present. And the Existing God exists not in any other way, but simply and indefinitely, containing and pre-existing all being. That is why He is called “King of the ages” (1 Tim. 1:17), because in Him and around Him is everything that relates to being, to existing and to what has come, He Himself was not 777 “778, will not be and did not happen, He did not arise and will not arise, and - moreover, He does not exist 779. But He Himself represents being for those that exist; and not only existing, but the very existence of existing is from the eternally Existing One, for He Himself is the Age of centuries, remaining to the ages. 5. Returning to the argument, let us say that the existence of all beings and ages is from the Pre-Existent; and all eternity and time are from Him; and of all eternity and time and everything that exists, He is the pre-existing Beginning and Cause; and all things participate in Him; and He does not retreat from anything that exists; and He Himself exists before everything, and everything was made up in Him; and in general, if anything exists, it is in the Pre-Existent, and is understood, and preserved; and being is given before His other sacraments; and being itself 780 is older than the being of life itself, the being of wisdom itself, the being of the divine likeness itself; and the rest, to which existing things participate, first of all participates in being; Moreover, everything that exists in itself participates in being in itself; and there is nothing that exists, the essence and age of which would not be existence itself. First of all, therefore, God is rightly praised from the eldest of all His gifts as Jehovah 781 . For, having pre-existence and super-existence, He first created being in general - I mean being in itself - and then, with the help of being itself, created everything that exists. And all the principles of existence participate in being and are the essence, and the essence of the beginning, and first the essence, and then the essence of the beginning. And if you want to call the beginning of the living 782 as living, then it is life itself, similar as similar - self-similarity, united as united - self-unity, ordered as ordered - self-order, and others participating in this or that, or both, or many, - this or that, or both, or many; and you will find that those who self-participate 783 first themselves participate in Being and first exist thanks to Being, and then they become the cause of this or that, being, by reason of participation in Being, both existing and participating. And if they exist due to participation in Being, then even more so do those who participate in them. 6. Self-over-goodness is glorified as offering as the first gift Being itself for the most important, the first of the sacraments. From Her and in Her exist 784 Being itself, and the principles of beings, and everything that exists, and everything in any way held by being 785 , and this happens irresistibly, collectively and unitedly. After all, every number uniquely preexists in one, and only one contains every number 786, and all numbers are united in one, and the further a number moves away from one, the more it divides and multiplies. Likewise, all the lines of one circle passing through the center 787 have one common point, and this point equally 788 unites all these lines with each other and with their common origin, from which they emerge; in this center they are completely united. Having retreated a little from him, they disperse a little, moving away more - more. In short, the closer they are to the center, the more they are connected to it and to each other, and the further from it, the more they are removed from each other. 7. But in the entire universal nature, everything belonging to each individual nature is grouped into an unfused unity, and equally in the soul - the providential powers of the whole body corresponding to the measure of each. There is nothing reprehensible in moving from weak images to the universal Cause, with super-peaceful eyes to see everything in the universal Cause - even what is opposite to each other - uniform and united, for She is the Beginning of existence 790, from which Being itself, and everything that exists in any way: every beginning, every boundary, every life, every immortality, every wisdom, every order, every harmony, every force, every protection, every foundation, every division, every understanding, every word, every feeling, every property, every immobility, every movement, every unification, every fusion, every love, every union, every division, every limit, and so on 791 that, thanks to Being existing, characterizes everything that exists. 8. And from this universal Cause come the intelligible and rational 792 essences of the god-like angels, and the nature of souls and the whole world, and that which is said to exist in any way - either in something else, or in an idea. For the all-holy and most important powers, truly existing and, as it were, established on the threshold of the super-essential Trinity, from Her and in Her have both existence and God-like existence, and after them the lesser ones - to a lesser extent, and the least ones - extremely little, but like angels - in relation to us - super-peacefully. And souls and everything else that exists in the same way have existence and well-being, and exist and prosper, receiving being and well-being from the Pre-Existent: in Him are both existing and well-being, beginning from Him, being preserved in Him, and being completed in Him. He gives eldership to the best beings, whom the Sayings call eternal. The existence of all beings itself never disappears. But Being itself is from the Pre-Existent, and Being belongs to Him 794, and not He to Being; and in Him there is Being, and not He in Genesis 795; and He has Being, and He is not Being. And He Himself is Eternity, and the Beginning, and the Measure of Being, existing before the essence, existence and eternity, and being the essence-creating Beginning, its Middle and End. And therefore, truly, the Pre-Existent One is multiplied many times over by Sayings according to every thought of those who exist 796 and is glorified in justice as He was, is, will be 797, happened, is happening and will happen. For those who chant God-like, this all means that He is super-essential in relation to every thought and is the cause of existing things anywhere. And not that He is something, but He is not something, here He is, but there He is not; He is everything, as the Cause of everything that precedes everything, in Himself all the beginnings, all the endings of all beings, having and pre-existing, and He is above all as first of all the super-essentially Superexistent. Why is everything attributed to Him at the same time 798, but He is none of everything. He is all-forming, all-seeing, formless, ugly, 799, the beginnings, middles and ends of beings existing unattainably and beyond the limits in Himself, sending to all, in accordance with one super-unified reason, unsullied being like light. After all, if our sun 800 is the essence and quality of sensory beings - although there are many of them and they are different, but it is one - shining with a uniform light, it renews, and nourishes, and preserves, and perfects, and divides, and unites, and warms, and makes fruitful, and grows, and changes, and roots, and gives birth, and moves, and animates everything, and each of all in its corresponding image of the same single sun participates, and the one sun in itself equally has the causes of many participants, then it should be recognized that He Who is the Cause of both the sun and everything is much more predominant in the prototypes 801 of all beings in a single super-essential union, since He reveals the essence after departing from the essence. We call prototypes 802 the logoi of beings that pre-exist in God in unity, creating the essence of beings, which theology calls predestination and divine and good wishes, dividing and creating existing things, in accordance with which the Superessential all things that exist both predetermined and realized. 9 . The philosopher Clement considers what are called prototypes to be the most basic among beings, but he does not use the word in its main 803 full and simple meaning. Assuming that this too is said correctly, we should remember what theology says: “I did not show you this so that you would follow it,” but so that, using the knowledge corresponding to this, we ascend as best we can to the universal Cause. For everything that exists, in view of the transcendental unity of everything, should be connected with Her: after all, beginning the outward appearance of the essence-creating 804 being and goodness, and passing through everything, and filling all existence with Herself, and rejoicing in everything that exists, She has everything in Herself 805; with the single advantage of simplicity, having rejected all duality 806, She equally embraces everything with Her super-simple infinity, and personally participates in everything, just as a voice, being one and the same, is perceived by many ears as one 807. 10. Of all things, the Beginning and the End are the Pre-Existent: the Beginning is as the Cause, the End is as the One for whose sake they exist; in a way that surpasses their apparent opposition, He is both the Limit of all 809 and the Infinity of all infinity and limit. All that exists in one, as 810 has often been said, He existed and created, being in everything 811 and everywhere the same; and everything is like the same, penetrating and proceeding from everything, and remaining in Himself; both resting and moving 812, and not resting and not moving; having neither a beginning, nor a middle, nor an end, and being none of the existing things, 813 and being nothing of the existing things. And in general, nothing suits Him from those who exist eternally and from those subject to time, 814, but for time, and for eternity, and for all those who are in eternity and in time, He is beyond, because eternity itself, and existence, and the measure of existence, 815, and what is measured are through Him and from Him. But it would be more timely to talk about this another time. Chapter 6. About the name “Life” 1. And now we should sing the praises of Eternal Life, from Which comes life itself and all life, and from Which the life inherent in everyone spreads into everything that is involved in life. Even the life and immortality of the immortal angels, and the very non-stopness of the angelic eternal movement - from Her and thanks to Her the essence and appeared; thanks to Her, they speak of those who are always living as immortal, but on the other hand, also as non-immortal, because they do not of themselves have the opportunity to be immortal and live forever, but from the life-giving Cause that creates and contains all life 816. And just as we said about Being that He is the age of life in itself, so here again we will say that divine Life in itself enlivens life and makes it substantial; and all life and life-movement proceed from Life, all life and every beginning of all life surpassing. From Her the souls 817 have indestructibility, and all animals and plants have life, which is the most distant echo of life. With Her disappearance 818, according to the Sayings, all life will disappear, and with Her, those who perished from powerlessness, who participate in Her, returning again, become alive again. 2. And the first to receive the gift of being life itself is life, then all of life and separately each thing that is given to be is the ability to live accordingly. Super-heavenly lives are given an immaterial, god-like unchanging immortality and a steady, immutable eternal movement, which, thanks to abundant goodness, extends to the life of demons, for not from another, but from the same Cause, it has the gift of being life and abiding. And people as mixed 819 are given angelic life if possible; from the abundance of philanthropy, she turns us and those who have departed to her and calls us even more divinely to that which is promised to us in its entirety, that is, to rearrange the souls with the bodies associated with them 820 to perfect life and immortality. In ancient times this would have seemed unnatural, but you and I and the Truth consider this to be a divine matter and superior to nature. I mean - superior to the nature we see, not to the omnipotent divine Life, for in relation to It, the Nature of all living things and especially more divine beings, no life is outside of nature or above nature 821. So let polemical words about this Simon's madness 822 be driven far away from the divine community and your sacred soul. For he forgot, as I think, and considers himself wise for this, that a prudent person should not use the obvious evidence of feeling 823 as an ally in the struggle against the implicit Cause of everything. And he must be told: you are speaking against nature, for there is nothing that would be contrary to it. 3. From Her all animals and plants receive life and care, whether intelligible, rational, sentient, or nutritious, vegetative, or any other life you name it, or the beginning of life, or the essence of life - everything from Her, which exceeds all life, lives and is quickened, and in Her as a cause pre-exists in one way. For the super-living and life-giving Life is the cause, the quickener, the multiplier and divider of all life and all life must be glorified, in accordance with the fertility of all living things, as all-possible and general Life - contemplated and glorified - not as something in need of life, but as overflowing with life in itself - living, more life-giving and super-living than any life, exceeding that of a person can sing the inexpressible Life. Chapter 7. About the names “Wisdom”, “Mind”, “Word”, “Truth”, “Faith” 1. Now, if you do not mind, let us sing the good and eternal Life as all-wise and as wisdom in itself, and most importantly, as the basis of all wisdom, above all wisdom 825 and existing consciousness. For God is not only filled with wisdom, “and His understanding is without number” (Ps. 147:5), but He is also above all words, reason and wisdom. Realizing this supernaturally, a truly divine man, our common and mentor sun 826, and said: “The foolish things of God are wiser than men” (1 Cor. 1:25), - not only because every human thought is some kind of deception in comparison with the divine most perfect understandings with their firmness and steadfastness, but also because it is common for theologians 827 to apply negations to God in the opposite sense 828. Thus, the all-luminous light of the Sayings is called “invisible”; They call the Many-sung and Many-named “Ineffable and Nameless”; Absent everywhere and found in everything – “Incomprehensible and Unfindable.” In the same way, they say, even now the divine apostle sings of the supposed “foolishness of God” (cf. 1 Cor. 1:21, 25); what seems strange and absurd in it, he raised to an inexpressible truth that precedes every word. But, as I said elsewhere, by comprehending what is superior to us in our own way, shrouded in 830 feelings innate to us, reducing the divine to what is familiar to us, we are mistaken, trying to comprehend the inexpressible divine Word through what is revealed. It should be known that our mind has the ability 831 to think, thanks to which it sees what is thought, and a unity that surpasses the nature of the mind, thanks to which it touches what is higher than it. In accordance with this, the divine must be comprehended not by our own strength, but by a frenzy full of ourselves from ourselves and by turning to God. It’s better to be God’s than to be your own, for whoever ends up with God will be given the divine. In order to sing such wordless 832, insane and stupid Wisdom in the best possible way, let’s say that She is the cause of all mind and meaning, all wisdom and consciousness, that all will belongs to Her, from Her comes all knowledge and consciousness, and in Her “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden” (Col. 2:3). The super-wise and all-wise Cause, according to what has already been said, is the basis of wisdom itself, and of all wisdom in general and in all its forms. 2. From Her the perceived 833 and comprehending 834 powers of angelic minds receive simple and blissful understandings. Not in particulars, or from particulars 835, or from feelings, or from words deducing, they collect divine knowledge, and do not use anything that has in common with this, but pure from everything material and plural, they mentally, immaterially, uniformly understand the intelligible in the divine. And their mental strength and energy remain 836 clothed in unalloyed and unsullied purity, capable of seeing divine thoughts, with their indivisibility, immateriality and godlike unity, reflecting, as far as possible, thanks to divine Wisdom, the divine super-wise Mind and Word. And souls are endowed with meaningfulness and they tend to move forward and around the 837 truth of beings, but, due to partiality and varied variability, they remain below the united minds, however, thanks to the ability to collect many things together - to the extent that this is characteristic and possible for souls - they are awarded equal angelic understandings. But the feelings themselves, without sinning against the truth, can be called an echo of Wisdom. Also, the demonic mind, to the extent that it is a mind, comes from Her; but insofar as it is meaningless and strives to achieve 838 what it does not know and does not desire, it should with great right be called a falling away from Wisdom. But if divine Wisdom is called the beginning, cause, basis, completion, protection and limit of wisdom itself and all wisdom, all mind and meaning, and every feeling, how is the super-wise God Himself glorified as Mind, Word and Expert? For how can He perceive anything intelligible without mental energy, or how can He know the sensible, being above all sense? And the Sayings say that He knows everything, and nothing escapes divine knowledge. But, as I have often said, the divine must be understood in a manner befitting the divine. After all, in relation to God, madness and insensibility must be interpreted, implying an advantage 839 and not a disadvantage, as well as attributing meaninglessness to the Transcendent of meaning, imperfection to the Superperfect and Properfect, imperceptible and invisible darkness to the inaccessible Light, superior to visible light. So the divine Mind understands everything with knowledge beyond everything, as the Cause of everything, concentrating in Itself the advanced Knowledge of everything, knowing and producing angels before the appearance of angels, and knowing and introducing everything else into the being from within 840, from the very, so to speak, beginning. I think this is what the Sayings mean when they say: “He who knows all things before they were” (Dan. 13:42). After all, when studying existing things, the divine Mind has knowledge not from beings, but from Itself and in Itself: as the Cause He has 841 and precontains the understanding, knowledge and essence of everything, not judging each by appearance, but as knowing and containing the single cause of everything - just as light 842, being the cause of darkness 843, has in itself its knowledge, knowing nothing else darkness as only from light. After all, knowing Itself, divine Wisdom knows everything material, immaterial, dismembered, indivisible, multiple unification, cognizing and producing everything through this one itself. And if for one reason God imparts existence to all beings, then for the same single reason He knows everything as existing from Him and pre-existing in Him, not receiving knowledge about them from existing ones, but Himself giving each of them self-knowledge and knowledge of others. Thus, God does not have 845 a special knowledge in which He knows Himself, but another general knowledge in which He embraces all things. Knowing Itself, the Cause of everything hardly knows what comes from It and of which It is the cause. So God knows things with the same knowledge that He knows Himself, and not as a result of studying things. The sayings say that the angels 846 also know what is happening on earth, not with the help of the senses 847 cognizing this existence, although they, all these things, are perceptible, but according to the power and nature inherent in their god-like mind. 3. In addition to what has been said, we should ask the question 848 how we know God, who is neither mental, nor sensory, nor even existing in general. Perhaps it would be correct to say that we know God not from His nature 849, for it is unknowable and transcends all meaning and intelligence, but from the structure of all things, for this is His work, preserving certain images 850 and likenesses of His divine prototypes; venturing further into the denial of everything, in a way and manner, to the best of our ability, going beyond the limits of everything, we ascend to the Cause of everything that surpasses everything. So God is known both in everything and outside of everything. God 851 is known both by reason and by unreason. And He is characterized by understanding, and meaning, and knowledge, and touch, and feeling, and opinion, and imagination, and name, and everything else, and He is not understood 852, we are not realized, we do not name. And He is not one of the existing things, and is not cognizable in any of the existing ones. And He is “all in all” and nothing in nothing, and from everything He is known by all, and by no one from nothing. And what we say about God is correct, that from all beings whose cause He is, He is glorified accordingly. And there is also the most divine knowledge of God, carried out through ignorance through a unity that transcends the mind, 853 when the mind, having retreated from everything that exists, then leaving itself, uniting with the most luminous rays, from there and there is illuminated by the depth of Wisdom inaccessible to research. Although, as I said, it is appropriate to recognize Her in everything, for She, according to the Sayings 854, is the creator of everything, constantly governing everything, and the cause of indestructible conformity and order, constantly connecting the completion of the first with the beginning of the second, beautifully creating a single symphony and harmony from everything. 4. As the “Word,” God 855 is glorified by the sacred Sayings, not only because He is the giver of the word, and the mind, and wisdom, but also because He in one way comprehends in Himself the causes of everything and spreads into everything, permeating, as the Sayings say (cf. Wis. 7:24), everything to the end, and above all because the divine Word in simplicity surpasses all simplicity and, free from everything, supersubstantially exceeds everything. This Word represents 856 a simple and truly existing truth, in accordance with which, as pure and undeceptive knowledge of existing things, there is divine faith, the constant affirmation of believers, their truth and the truth affirming them in immutable identity. So believers have a simple knowledge of the truth. After all, if knowledge unites 857 the knowers and the knowable, and ignorance is the cause of eternal change and fragmentation 858 of the ignorant in itself, then nothing will drive the one who believes in the Truth according to the sacred Word from the hearth 859 of true faith, in which he is able to maintain a constant, immovable and immutable identity. After all, he who has united with the Truth knows well that he is in his right mind, even if many admonish him as if he is out of his mind. As it should be, it remains hidden from them that, thanks to real faith, he has emerged from deception into the Truth, and he himself truly knows that - contrary to what they say - he is not mad, but is freed from the fickle and changeable state of wandering in all possible varieties of deception by a simple and eternally equally equal Truth. So, after all, the foremost leaders of our divine wisdom die every day for the Truth, testifying in every word and deed, as befits, that the only 860 of its kind Christian knowledge of the Truth is the most simple and divine of all, and moreover, that it is the only truth and the one and simple knowledge of God. Chapter 8. About the names “Strength”, “Justice”, “Salvation”, “Deliverance”; it's about inequality 1. But since theologians sing of divine Truth and super-wise Wisdom both as Power 861 and as Justice, and call Her Salvation and Deliverance, let us also explain these divine names, as far as possible. I don’t think that anyone, nourished by divine words, does not know that the Godhead transcends beyond any real or imaginable power. For theology repeatedly ascribes dominion to Him 862, separating 863 Him even from the super-celestial powers. Why do theologians glorify as Power that which is beyond all power? Or how should we understand the naming of Power in relation to Him? 2. So, we affirm that God is Power, because He has in Himself and surpasses all power; because He is the cause of all power, bringing everything into existence by inexorable 864 and unlimited power; because He is the cause of the very existence of both the force as a whole and each force separately; and because, possessing immeasurable power, He not only gives strength to everything, but is also above all, even strength in itself. He has the superpower to create an infinite number of times an infinite number of forces that are new compared to existing ones, and the infinite forces He endlessly creates cannot ever dull His super-limitless force-creating power. Moreover, His inexpressible, unknowable, unimaginable, all-surpassing power, or excess of power, allows Him to give strength to weakness 865 to support and strengthen its extreme expressions, as can be seen in the example of the senses: super-bright light reaches even dull vision, and loud sounds penetrate, they say, into ears that do not perceive sounds very easily. For that which does not hear at all is no longer hearing, and that which does not see at all is no longer sight. 3. This immeasurably powerful teaching of God extends to all things, and among things there is nothing that is completely devoid of all power, that does not have either mental, or verbal, or related to the senses, or vital, or material power. And being itself, so to speak, has the power 867 to be from the super-essential Power. 4. From Her come the god-like powers of the angelic orders; From Her comes the ability of angels to exist unchanged, and all the constant movements characteristic of their immortal minds, and their very steady and undiminished desire for good. From the infinitely good, the very force that sent them this, they received the strength to be such 868, and to always strive to be, and the very strength to strive to always have strength. 5. Outpourings of inexhaustible Power reach people, animals, plants and all of nature and give the united the power to love each other and communicate, and the divided – the power to exist in each way within its own limits, without merging with the other or mixing; they support ranks and good orders 869 for their own good; keep the immortal lives of angelic units unharmed, and the substance and orders of celestial bodies, luminaries and stars unchanged 870; make it possible to exist for eternity; by forward movements they separate the cycle of time, and by returning to the previous state they connect; give fire 871 the strength not to go out, and the flow of water not to be exhausted; the mass of air is given boundaries; the earth is founded on nothing; its living offspring are preserved uncorrupted; the elements preserve in mutual harmony and unmerged and inseparable interpenetration; the union of soul and body is supported, the nutritional and plant forces of plants are brought into action; control all implementing 872 forces; the indestructibility of everything is ensured; and deification itself 873 bestows, giving strength for this to the initiates. And in general there is nothing in existence that is devoid of omnipotent protection and surrounded by divine Power. For that which has no power at all does not exist, and does not represent anything, and has no place at all 874. 6. However, Elymas the magician 875 says: “If God is omnipotent, why does your theologian claim that He cannot do something?” It is he who reproaches the divine Paul, who said that God cannot “deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). Having recalled this, I am very afraid, seriously thinking about what theological meaning of this is, to be ridiculed for stupidity, as if I were trying to destroy the fragile houses built by children playing on the sand or trying to hit an inaccessible target. After all, renunciation of oneself 876 is a falling away from the truth, but the truth is existing, and falling away from truth is a falling away from existing. If, therefore, truth is existing, and the denial of truth is a falling away from existing, then God cannot fall away from existing, and there is no non-being 877 . As, perhaps, someone will say: He cannot but cannot and does not know due to lack of ignorance. The philosopher who does not understand this is reminiscent of inexperienced athletes, who in their imagination often consider their opponents weak, and, courageously struggling with the shadow of those who are absent and boldly striking the air with vain blows, imagine that they are defeating their opponents, and praise themselves, even without knowing what strength they have. We, imitating, if possible, the theologian, glorify the super-powerful God as omnipotent, as blessed, as the only Master, as the Lord in His eternal dominion, as having fallen in no way from existing things, moreover, surpassing and pre-existent with all things that exist, super-essential in power and having given all things the abundant outpouring from the excess of growing power, the ability to be and the very being that has given. 7. God is also glorified as Justice 878 - as the one who gives dignity to everyone, and decency, and beauty, and decorum, and structure, and all distributions and orders, assigning to everyone in accordance with the truly existing fair limit, and for each and every one of them is the Cause of independence. For divine justice orders and determines everything, preserving everything unalloyed, not mixed with anything else, and bestowing on all existing things what is due to each, in accordance with the dignity belonging to each of the existing ones. And if we say this correctly, then those who reproach 879 divine justice themselves do not understand that they are guilty of obvious injustice, for they declare that mortals should have immortality, imperfect ones should have perfection, free creatures in motion 880 should have external compulsion, changeable ones should have identity, perfection of strength should be given to the weak, that those who exist in time should be eternal, mobile by nature unchangeable, pleasures temporary eternal, and in general the properties of some are ready to be transferred to others. You should know that divine justice is truly true justice because it gives to everyone what is proper to them, in accordance with the dignity of each of those who exist, and preserves the nature of each according to its rank and power. 8. But someone will say 881: there is no justice if righteous people are left without help when they are oppressed by evil people. To this we should answer: if the people whom you called righteous love what the adherents of matter desire on earth, then they have completely fallen away from divine love, and I do not know how they can be called righteous, preferring to the truly beloved and divine what is undeserving of respect and love, unworthy of their praise. If they love truly existing things, then when someone, wanting something, receives what he wants, he should rejoice. Is it not then that people especially approach the angels in virtues 882 when, in the pursuit of the divine, if possible, they move away from addiction to the material 883? They practice this especially courageously when they endure troubles for the Good. So it will be true to say that the characteristic property of divine justice is not to seduce 884 and not to destroy the courage of the best 885 people with material gifts, and if this begins to happen to someone, not to leave people without help, but to establish them in a good and unrelaxed position 886 and reward them according to their dignity for being such. 9 . This divine justice is also glorified as the Salvation of all, because it supports and preserves each individual’s special essence and rank, unmixed with others, being unalloyed the cause of the peculiarities of behavior characteristic of all 887 . If someone sings of Salvation for the fact that it salutarily removes everything from the worst 888, we will fully accept and appreciate this hymnopist of universal salvation for the fact that the first thing in salvation he considers to be the maintenance of everything unchangeable, in agreement with oneself, not rebellious and not inclined to the worse 889; preserving everything invincible, unaffected by attacks, adorned with its own meanings for each; liberation of all from all inequality and invasion of other people's borders; and maintaining the proportions 890 of each without changing or turning into opposites. Not contrary to the thoughts of 891 sacred theology, he will sing of this kind of salvation as redeeming all that exists by saving everyone from falling away from their own goods, insofar as the nature of each of those being saved allows this. That is why theologians call this Deliverance, because It does not allow truly existing things to fall into oblivion, and if something deviates towards error and disorder and suffers some damage in the fullness of its own goods, then It also delivers it from suffering, weakness and deprivation, replenishing what is missing and strengthening what is weak in a fatherly manner 892, elevating it from evil and, moreover, restoring it in goodness, compensating the fallen good, turning its disorder and disorder into order and order, returning it to an undamaged state and freeing it from everything corrupted 893. But this and about Justice, which measures and determines the equality of all and removes any inequality 894 that comes from the decrease in the equality 895 inherent to everyone and everyone, has already been said. If someone means inequality 896, which generally distinguishes everyone from everyone else, then Justice protects such equality, not allowing everything to be confused with everything, preserving everything that exists in accordance with the form in which everyone tends to be. Chapter 9. About the names “Great”, “Small”, “Same”, “Other”, “Similar”, “Dissimilar”, “Peace”, “Movement”, “Equality” 1. Since such names as Great, Small, Same, Other, Similar, Dissimilar, Rest and Motion are attached to the universal Cause, let us, to the best of our ability, consider these images of naming God 897. God is glorified in the Sayings as “Great,” 898 and “in greatness,” and in the “light breath,” which reveals divine smallness; and as “The Same” - when the Sayings say: “You are the same” (Ps. 101:28); and as “Another” - when the same Sayings depict Him as diverse and multiform; and as “Similar” - as the substance of similarities and similarities; and as “Unlike all,” because there is no one like Him. And - as “Standing”, “Immovable”, “Sitting forever” and as “Movable” - as in everything passing; and other similar divine names, God is glorified in the Sayings. 2. God is called great 899 as possessing His special greatness, which is transmitted from Him to all the great, pouring out and extending beyond and above all greatness, embracing every place, surpassing every number, passing every immensity, and because of His abundance of great deeds and the gifts exuded by Him, since, becoming partakers of everyone, they do not diminish at all due to their immeasurable outpouring, remaining the same superabundant, and are not diminished from the participles, but flow even more. This greatness is both limitless 900 and immeasurable and innumerable; this excess corresponds to the absolute and overextending outpouring of immense greatness. 3. They speak of Him as Small and Subtle insofar as He is beyond all volume and dimension and unhinderedly penetrates through everything. Small things are, after all, the cause of everything, for you will not find anything that is not involved in the idea of ​​smallness. In relation to God, the Lesser 901 must be understood as His property of unrestrainedly passing through everything and acting in everything, “and penetrating 902 to the division of soul and spirit, the ligaments and marrow of the bones and the discriminating thoughts and understandings of the heart” (cf. Heb. 4:12), and in general all things. For “there is no creature hidden from Him” (Heb. 4:13). This Small is innumerable, qualityless, elusive, infinite, indefinable, all-encompassing, and itself incomprehensible. 4. The name “The Same” indicates the super-essentially Eternal, immutable, abiding in Itself, and likewise always equal to Itself; simultaneously present in everything equally; firmly and purely established by Itself in Itself within the best limits of super-essential identity; unchangeable, constant, unwavering, unchangeable, unalloyed, immaterial, simplest; having no need for anything, non-growing, – non-decreasing, unborn 903; not as if not yet born, or incompletely, or as if not born in some way or in some capacity, and not as if it had never existed in any way; but as the highest of all unborn 904, absolutely unborn, eternally existing; Being perfect in the proper sense of the word; That which exists is the same in Itself; Uniformly and identically 905 determined by Itself; with the same 906 from Himself to all who are worthy to partake of the shining; combining one with another due to the abundance of identity; having in Itself equally and opposites, being the one and only 907 identity-surpassing Cause of all identity. 5. God is called Other because He is providentially 908 co-present with everything and for the sake of the salvation of all becomes “All in all,” remaining in Himself inseparable from His identity, by one continuous action and abiding and with inexorable power offering Himself for the deification of the converted. One should pay attention to the otherness in relation to God of His different images in multi-faceted phenomena, to some difference between the Manifesting and the manifested. After all, if, in order to describe the soul 909, we borrow images from the body and connect the parts of the body with something that does not have parts 910, then by applying parts to it, we will give them a new meaning, characteristic of the soul; using their names to denote faculties, we will say that the head is the mind, the neck is opinion (as something mediating between speech and dumbness), the chest is anger, the belly is desire, and the legs and feet are nature; it is much more appropriate to purify the otherness of forms and images applied to the One who is beyond everything through sacred explanations of the 911 mystical. And if you want to apply the three-dimensionality of bodies 912 to the untouchable and imageless God, then the “width” of God should be called God’s extra-wide procession for everyone, the “length” is the power extended over everything, and the “depth” is His incomprehensible intimacy and unknowability for all beings. But so that, while explaining foreign images and forms, we do not forget the incorporeal divine names themselves, interspersing them with sensory symbols, we will talk about this in “Symbolic Theology.” And now let us note that we should understand the very fact of divine otherness not as some kind of betrayal of the super-immutable identity, but as His unifying multiplication of Himself in uniform fruitful processes 913. 6. If someone calls God Similar 914 as completely, unshakably and inseparably similar to Himself in everything, we should not consider such a denomination unworthy. Theologians say that, surpassing everything, God as such is not like anything, but He gives God's likeness to those who turn to Him, so that they, to the best of their ability, imitate 915 the Being that is beyond all limit and word. The Divine likeness is characterized by the power to turn everything introduced into existence to the universal Cause. This should be called similar to God and existing “in the divine image 916 and likeness” (cf. Gen. 1:26), for God is not like that, just as man is not like his image: those made in the same way can be similar to each other, 917 and they can be mutually likened to one another and their likeness can be turned in both directions, and both of them can be similar to each other, corresponding to what precedes them the prototype of their similarity; we cannot allow such reciprocity in cause and effect. And the ability to be similar is granted not only to such and such: God is the Cause of the ability to be similar to all those involved in the similarity and is the Substance of the similarity itself 918. And that which is similar in all is similar due to some trace of divine similarity and contributes to their unity. 7. And is there any need to say anything about this? After all, theology itself reveres Him as Incomparable and Incongruous with everything, as Differing from everything, and - what is even more paradoxical - says that there is nothing like Him. However, this does not contradict what has been said about the similarity to Him. One and the same thing is both like God and unlike: like to the extent that it is possible to imitate the Inimitable, but unlike because the effects are inferior to the Cause, limitlessly, immeasurably not reaching It by any measures. 8. What shall we say about the divine “standing” 920 or “sitting”? What else can this mean if not that God abides in Himself; that He is firmly established and super-established in unchangeable identity; that He acts alike concerning the same things in the same manner; that He remains unoriginating from Himself, and because of this immutability, He remains completely motionless, and, moreover, super-essentially. For He is the Cause of all standing and sitting, and He is above all sitting and standing, and in Him everything was made up and, because of the “standing” of its own goods, is unshakably preserved. 9 . But what to think when theologians speak of the Passing and Moving in everything as the Immobile? Shouldn’t this also be perceived in a manner befitting God? After all, His movement must be imagined piously, not as a random change, transformation, 922, or oscillation, or movement in space, in a straight line or in a circle, or both at the same time, 923, or as mental, spiritual or physical, but as a movement by which God brings everything into existence, contains everything, understands everything in every possible way and is present in everything with an irresistible embrace of everything, providential appearances in all things and energies. So let the word and the movements of the motionless God 924 be allowed to sing in a manner befitting God. Movement in a straight line 925 let it mean the immutability and steady flow of energies and the existence of everything coming from Him; spiral movement - firm departure and fruitful standing; movement in a circle - an identity that embraces both the middle and the edges 926, both the encompassing and the encompassed, and the return to Him of those who came from Him. 10. If someone believes that the names of God Same and Justice in the Sayings have the meaning “Equal” 927, then it must be said that God is “Equal” not only as devoid of parts and unchangeable, but also as equally extending to everything and through everything, as a Substance of itself-in-itself-equality, according to which they all equally contain each other 928, each equally, according to his ability, receives the sacrament, all the same, according to merit, alms are distributed, and also because all equality - in the mind 929, in reason, in word, in feeling, in being, in nature and desire - is first of all transcendental and united He contains in Himself, thanks to His creative power that surpasses all equality 930. Chapter 10. About the names “Almighty” and “Ancient Day”, and here about eternity and time 1. It is time to glorify the many-named God in word both as the Almighty and the Ancient of Days 931. The first is said because He is the all-supporting, connecting and uniting Ground, inseparably containing everything within Himself; producing everything from Itself, as from a root, all-powerful; all-powerfully turning everything into Itself, as into the abyss; holding everything on Himself, as on a foundation that supports everything; She protects everything supported by a single all-encompassing embrace and does not allow anything to perish, even something that has fallen away from Her, as if expelled from a universal refuge. The ruler of God is called the Almighty and as the ruler over everything and, without mixing, governing his subjects, and as desired and beloved by all, and as the yoke of the desired and sweet torments of divine, almighty and carefree love for his goodness, imposing on everyone. 2. As the Old One, God is glorified because He exists both as eternity, and as the time of everything, and before days, and before eternity, and before time. However, time, day, hour, and eternity must be attributed to Him in a god-like manner, because He remains unchanged and motionless with every movement, eternally moving, abiding in Himself and being the Cause of eternity, time, and days. That is why in sacred epiphanies with mystical insights God is depicted both as gray-haired and as young 932: an old man means that He is Ancient and existing “from the beginning”; the youth - that He does not grow old; and both show that He passes through everything from beginning to end; or, as our divine celebrant says, both of them reveal divine antiquity: the elder is first in time, and the younger is more original in number, since the unit 933 and the numbers closest to it of the original are far removed from them. 3. It seems to me appropriate to learn from the Sayings also the nature of time and eternity. After all, not everything, even absolutely unborn 934 and truly and completely infinite, they call eternal everywhere, and not everything incorruptible, immortal, unchangeable and abiding permanent, as, for example, saying: “Be lifted up, eternal doors” (Ps. 23:7) and the like. They often apply a similar name to an older one. Sometimes they also call the entire length of our time eternity, since this is characteristic of eternity - to be ancient, unchangeable and measure being as a whole. Time is what is associated with birth, decay, change and stay in one state or another. Why does theology say that, limited here by time, we will partake of eternity 935 when we reach the incorruptible and unchangeable age. The sayings sometimes mean both the temporal age 936 and eternal time, although we mainly know from them 937 that the Existing for the most part and in the proper sense of the word is called and appears eternal, and what is born is temporary. Thus, one should not simply think that what is called eternal is co-eternal with the pre-eternal God, 938 but, steadily following the most revered Sayings, the eternal and the temporal should be understood in accordance with the images known to them. Between the Existing and the begotten is that which partly participates in eternity, and partly in time. God can be sung both as Eternity and as Time - as the Cause of all the time of eternity, and the Old Day, as before time and above the time of the Existing One and changing “times and years”, also before the ages of the Existing One, since He is both before eternity and above eternity, and His Kingdom is “the kingdom of all ages” (Ps. 145:13). Amen. Chapter 11. About the name “World”, about what “Being-in-itself” means, what “Life-in-itself” is, “Power-in-itself” and other things thus expressed 1. Let us, with peaceful hymns, praise the divine first-gathered 939 World. After all, He unites everyone and generates and creates universal unanimity and harmony. That is why everyone desires Him, because He turns their divided multitude into an integral unity 940 and unites those divided by a general, internecine war into a homogeneous community 941. Indeed, it is precisely thanks to their participation in the divine World that the oldest 942 of the unifying forces unite within themselves, with each other and with the one universal Beginning of the world, and unite those below them within themselves, with each other and with the one and perfect Beginning and Cause of the universal World. Inseparably present in everything, as if connecting those separated with some kind of bonds, He gives limits and boundaries to everything, protects everything and does not allow anything, when destroyed, to spill into something formless and indefinite, disordered and unstable, which turns out to be devoid of God, having come out of its unity and, mixed with everything, dissolved in each other. As for the divine World itself - what It is, or Peace, which the sacred Just calls inexpressibility 944 and the Stillness emanating from everything knowable - how It remains Peace and remains Peace, exists in Itself and within Itself, the whole is more-than-unified in Itself, and enters into Itself, and multiplies Itself many times over, and does not leave unity with Itself 945 and passes into everything, remaining inside everything whole 946 for the sake of the immeasurable all-encompassing unity - this is neither allowed nor possible for anyone in existence to say or think. But having applied to Him inexpressibility and unknowability as to the Being above all else, let us consider how possible it is for people and for us, who lag behind many good people, to understand His intelligible and called 947 participles. 2. And first of all, it must be said that He is the Substance of the world itself, the world as a whole and the world in all its manifestations, and that He unites everything with each other in an unmerged unity 948, in which everything, inseparably and indissolubly united, remains, however, intact 949 in its characteristic form, undistorted by a mixture with the opposite 950 and has not lost in the least the connecting correctness and cleanliness. Let us consider some single and simple Nature of peaceful union, uniting everything with Itself and with each other and preserving everything in the unfused embrace of everything, both unmixed 951 and co-dissolved. Thanks to Her, the divine intelligible minds unite 952 with their thoughts and thinkables and then ascend to an unknown union with that which is above the mind. Thanks to Her, souls, having united and reduced their diverse ideas to a single mental purity, move in their proper way and order through the immaterial and partless understanding 953 to the supramental Unity. Thanks to Her, in Her divine harmony, the inextricable weaving of everything together is accomplished and perfect agreement, unanimity 954 and union are achieved without merging the united and inseparably contents. For the integrity of the perfect World reaches all things with the simplest and unalloyed advent of His one-creating power, uniting everything and connecting the edges 955 through the middle with the edges in a single equal pairing of love, granting the enjoyment of It to the most distant limits of everything 956 and all through unity, identification, connection and gathering of kin; and the divine World at the same time remains standing undivided, revealing everything in the One, passing through everything and not protruding from its own identity, for He reaches everything and accordingly conveys Himself to everyone; and pours out an excess of peaceful fruitfulness, and by the excess of unity the All remains in all 957 completely with Himself super-unified. 3. But, someone might ask, does everyone really want peace? Many, after all, rejoice in diversity and differences and do not want to voluntarily remain in peace. And if the speaker of this says that difference and differences are a property of each of the existing 959 and that not a single being among the existing, whatever it may be, will ever want to lose it, we will not object to this, but will show such a desire for the world 960. After all, everyone loves to be in peace and unity with themselves and not to move away from themselves and from what belongs to them and not to fall away. And the perfect World is the Guardian of the unalloyed individuality inherent in everyone, preserving everything with its peace-giving providences, not divided by civil strife and unmixed with Itself and with each other, holding everything in mutual peace and immobility with immovable and unwavering force 961. 4. And if everything that is movable 962 does not want to remain at rest, but to perform its characteristic movement, then this is also the desire of the universal divine Peace, which preserves everyone from themselves as having not fallen away and preserving the individuality 963 and the moving life of all the movable, unchangeable and not fallen away, in a state of peace with themselves and in the very activity that is characteristic of them. 5. If the one who speaks of the difference achieved by falling away from the World 964 asserts that not everyone is adherents of the world, then it is best to answer this that there is nothing that exists that would completely fall away from all unity. For the completely impermanent, infinite, unestablished and imperfect does not exist and does not exist in beings. If he says that these are people who hate the world and the blessings inherent in the world and rejoice in discord, quarrels, outbursts of anger and confusion, then the pitiful semblances of 966 desires for peace hold them back, overwhelmed by manifold passions, and unreasonably wanting to hold them 967, and by replenishing the eternal flow of hope to calm themselves, worried about the lack of pleasures that dominate them. What can we say about Christ’s 968 love for mankind that pours out peace, looking at which we learn to no longer fight 969 with ourselves, nor with each other, nor with the angels, but to the best of our ability to work with them in the divine 970, in accordance with the Providence of Jesus, “all in all” producing and creating from eternity the predetermined ineffable peace, reconciling us with Him in spirit, and through Him and in Him - with the Father. Quite a lot is said about these supernatural gifts in Theological Essays 971, where the sacred breath of the Sayings testifies with us. 6. But since you once asked me in a letter 972 what I call being-in-itself, life-in-itself, wisdom-in-itself, and said that you were perplexed why I sometimes call God life-in-itself, and sometimes the Substance of life-in-itself, I considered it necessary, holy man of God, to resolve this of yours concerning me bewilderment. And first of all, I will repeat what has already been said a thousand times: it is not a contradiction to call God the power itself, or life itself, and the Substance of life itself, or the world or power. In one case, He receives the name of beings, and especially of those who originally exist 973 , as the Cause of all beings, in the second - as super-essentially above all, including the originally existing 974 , Superexistent. What in general, you ask, are we talking about as being-in-itself or about life-in-itself, and what do we consider absolutely and initially existing and originally established by God? This, we say, is not difficult to explain 975 and can be done directly and simply. We do not claim that existence itself is some kind of divine or angelic essence that is the cause of the existence of all things, for the existence of all things and existence itself have one super-essential Beginning, one Essence and one Cause. Nor do we say that life comes from another divinity besides the super-divine Life, which is the cause of everything that lives, and life itself. In short, we do not believe that among existing things there are some primordial creative essences and substances, which some rashly call gods and creators of existing things, 976 which, truly and directly, 977 neither they themselves knew, since they do not exist, nor their fathers. We call being and life-in-itself (and divinity-in-itself) - as something original, divine and being the Cause - the one super-initial and super-essential Beginning and Cause of everything, and as something involved - the providential powers given by the uninvolved God: self-realization 978, self-revitalization, of deification itself, - correspondingly partaking of which, being 979 appears and is called both existing, and living, and deified, and the like. That is why the Good One is called the Creator of the first of them, then of them as a whole, then of them individually 980, then of those who. who participates in them as a whole, then who participates in part. And is it necessary to talk about this when some of our divine sacred teachers call the Ground of both goodness in itself 981 and divinity the One who surpasses both goodness and divinity, saying that goodness and divinity in itself is a beneficent and deifying gift emanating from God; and beauty itself is the outpouring of the ability to be beautiful in the proper sense of the word, creating both beauty as a whole and partial beauty, generally beautiful and partly beautiful; and the other things that are and will be said in this way are intended to reveal the providences and benefits 982 that are involved in beings, in abundant outpouring, occurring and flowing from the unparticipated God 983 so that the Cause of everything remains strictly beyond everything, and the super-essential and supernatural everywhere and always exceeds all essence and nature. Chapter 12. About the names “Holy of Holies”, “King of Kings”, “Lord of Lords”, “God of Gods” 1. Since about this, as much had to be said, to the end, as I think, it has been said, it is fitting for us to glorify the Infinitely Named One both as the “Holy of Holies” (Dan. 9:24) and as the “King of kings” (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 19:16), reigning forever, “for ever and ever,” and as “Lord of lords” (ibid.) and “God of gods” (Ps. 49:1). And first of all, we need to explain what we mean by holiness in itself, what by kingdom, by dominion, by divinity, and what the Sayings want to show by doubling the names 984. 2. For holiness, as far as we can say it, is freedom from all defilement and perfect, unsullied purity in all respects. The kingdom is the distribution of all restrictions, regulations, laws and orders. Dominion is not only overcoming the worst, but also the all-perfect mastery of all good and blessings and their true and reliable provision. Why is “dominance” 985 and related to the words “lord”, “that-that-dominates”, “dominant”. Divinity is an all-seeing Providence, surrounding and containing everything with perfect goodness. She fills and surpasses everything that uses her Providence. 3. These names are to be sung absolutely 986 in reference to the all-transcending Cause, and to them must be added Transcendent Holiness, Dominion, Supreme Realm, and Simplest Divinity. From Her, after all, one day suddenly grew and spread every unalloyed completeness of every impeccable purity, every order of beings and structure. She expels all disharmony, inequality 987 and disproportion, rejoices in decency and correctness, and leads those worthy to partake of Her. She is characterized by complete and perfect possession of everything good, every good providence, observing and supporting those provided for. She presents herself splendidly for the deification of those who turn. 4. Since He who caused everything is filled with everything in one all-exceeding excess, He is glorified as the Holy of Holies 988 and in other ways corresponding to the overflowing Cause and Its transcendental superiority. We can say: to the extent that the holy, divine, lordly or royal surpasses what is not such, but the sacrament in itself - those who participate in it, so much higher than all existing things is the One who surpasses all existing things, the Unparticipant 989 of everything - both those who participate and the sacrament - the Cause of everything. Saints, kings 990, lords and gods of the Speech call the first in the rank corresponding to each of them, through which the second, partaking of God's gifts, multiply what is transmitted to them simple, in accordance with their characteristics 991, the diversity of which the first providentially and God-like add to their own unity. Chapter 13. About the names “Perfect” and “One” 1. Enough about those names. Let us finally turn the speech, if you think it reasonable, to the most significant of the names. After all, theology ascribes everything to the One who caused everything, and everything at once, and glorifies Him as Perfect and as One. He is perfect not only as self-perfect, uniformly limited by Himself 992 and entirely perfect in His integrity, but also as superperfect, because He surpasses everything, limits every immensity, overcomes every limit, not being contained or comprehended by anything, but stretching into everything and above everything with constant impulses of infinite energies. He is also called perfect because He does not increase, but is always perfect and does not decrease; as having everything in Himself and pouring out everything in one and the same unceasing process of superabundant, non-decreasing teaching, with which He makes everything perfect and fills it with His perfection. 2. He is called One because He alone is - by the superiority of the sole unity - all 993 and is, without going beyond the limits of the One, the Cause of everything. For there is nothing in existence that is not part of the One. After all, just as every number 994 participates in one - and it is said “one two”, “one ten”, or “one half”, “one third”, “one tenth” - so everything, and a part of everything, participates in one, and the existence of one means the existence of everything. He who causes everything is not one 995 among many units: He precedes every one and many and determines every one and many. After all, there is no multitude 996 that is in no way involved in the unit, but many 997 in parts are one as a whole; many coming from one subject; many in number or strength are one in appearance; many species are of the same genus; many manifestations have one beginning. And there is nothing among those that exist that in some way would not be involved in the One, in its unity unitedly embracing everything in everything, everything as a whole 998, including opposites. Without the unit 999 there will be no plurality, but a unit without plurality can exist as a unit preceding any plural number. And if we assume 1000 that everything is united with everything, everything will be the whole One. 3. In addition, you should also know that what is united is united, they say, in accordance with the preconceived form of each united 1001, and the Unity is the Foundation of everything. And if we exclude the One 1002, there will be neither a whole, nor a part, nor anything else of existence. For the One contains and embraces everything in one form. That is why theology glorifies the Godhead as a whole 1003 as the Cause of everything, calling Him One. And “one God the Father”, “one Lord Jesus Christ”, “one and the same Spirit” is said because of the highest degree of inseparability of the integral divine unity, in which everything is gathered together and united and is super-essentially present. Why, in justice, everything ascends and is elevated to the Godhead, thanks to Whom, from Whom 1004, Whom, in Whom and in Whom everything exists, is composed, abides, is contained, is replenished and returns. And one cannot find anything in existence that would be what it is, would be perfected and preserved not thanks to the One, as all Divinity is super-essentially called. And it behooves us, turned by the power of divine unity from the many to the One, to sing in a single way the whole and one Divinity - the One, which is the Cause of everything 1005, preceding every one and many, part and whole, border and limitlessness, limit and infinity, all that exists and Being itself limiting, uniformly being the Cause of each and everyone as a whole, and at the same time abiding before everyone and above everyone, above the One Existing One itself, limiting the One Existing One itself 1006, if only the One Existing One is counted 1007 among the existing ones. Number, after all, is involved in the essence, but the Superessential One limits both the One Existing and every number, and Itself is the Beginning, the Cause, the Number and the Order of both the unit, and the number, and of all that exists. Why is the all-exceeding Divinity, glorified as Unity and as Trinity, and is neither a unit 1008 nor a Trinity in our or anyone else's understanding. But we call both Trinity and Unity the Divinity that surpasses every name and is super-essential in relation to beings, in order to truly sing. Not over-unity and godliness 1009. After all, no unit, no trinity, no number, no unity, nor the ability to give birth, nor anything else from existing or to anyone from existing that is understandable, deduces from the all-exceeding, and word, and mind, hiddenness above all, the super-essentially super-existent Super-divinity, and there is no name 1010 for It, no word, because She is in the inaccessible beyond. And we even apply the name Goodness to Her not because it is suitable, but because, wanting to understand something 1011 and say about Her ineffable nature, we first of all dedicate to Her the most honorable of names 1012. And although in this we seem to agree with theologians, we are nevertheless far from the truth in the state of affairs. Why did they give preference to ascent through negations as taking the soul away from what is akin to it, 1013 leading through all divine understandings, in relation to which He who is above every name, every word and knowledge is beyond, and as a result of everything uniting with Him as much as it is possible for us to unite with Him. 4. Having collected together these intelligible names of God, we discovered, as far as possible, that they are far from not only accuracy (indeed, even angels can say this!) 1014, but also from the hymns of both the angels (and the lowest of the angels are higher than our best theologians), and the theologians themselves and their followers, or companions, and even the most modest among us. So, if what has been said is true and we, to the best of our ability, have actually managed to clarify the meaning of the divine names, then this must be attributed to the Cause of all blessings, who first bestows the ability to speak itself, and then the ability to speak well. Even if one of the 1015 names of equal strength turned out to be missing, we should understand it in exactly the same way. If this is incorrect or imperfect and if we have partially or completely deviated from the truth, it is up to your philanthropy to correct what we did not understand against our will, to give an explanation to those who want to learn, to come to the aid of those who do not have enough strength, and to heal those who do not want to be sick, finding one thing from ourselves, another from another, and receiving everything from Good and passing it on to us. Without getting tired, do good to a friendly person. You see that we did not hide any of the sacred initial words that were transmitted to us, but we passed them on unchanged to you and other sacred men 1016 and will still pass them on as far as we are able to speak 1017, and to those to whom it is spoken, to listen, without distorting the tradition in any way, unless we weaken in our ability to understand or express them. But this is how God likes it, so be it, and so it is said. For us, let this be the end of the explanation of the intelligible names of God. Known by God, let us move on to Symbolic Theology 1018. The name “presbyter” is also applicable to a bishop, because a bishop is also a presbyter. This is clear from the Acts of the Holy Apostles, which tells how Paul bid farewell to its churches in Asia (see Acts 20:17–38). Note that even after turning to Christ, the saints in ancient times, without embarrassment, ascribed to their names the titles that they had while still Hellenes. That's why he called himself Areopagite. Just like the divine Justin wrote in the word “To the Hellenes”: “Justin the Philosopher.” Note that my father also took the trouble to write another work - as if some kind of initial introduction and preliminary, in general terms, consideration of the sayings about God scattered in the Scriptures, i.e. a general outline of what he sets out in order in this book. Human wisdom gathers evidence from the testimony of the senses; and the great need for syllogisms forces us to use the methods of geometry. And how can one logically understand - in relation to the incorporeal and, even more so, the super-incorporeal and exceeding all essence - something that cannot be explained otherwise, unless a little, out of the corner of the mind, silently understands with the help of pure piety, what ignorance of God is? God is super-essential as seen above all essence - both intelligent and rational, and even more so sensual. If the word “essence” is derived from the verb “to be”, and the idea of ​​development is associated with being, then it is unfair to talk about essence in relation to God. For God transcends all essence, being nothing of the existing, but being above the existing and the One from whom the existing comes. For the divinity of the one God, hidden for all, is the divine power that rules over the so-called gods - whether angels or holy men - according to which the Creator of those who become gods by communion is divinity in the proper sense of the word, truly existing from itself without cause. For divinity alone, that which is characteristic of it as belonging to its nature is knowable. He said well “radiance” and not “sun”: for just as we cannot look at the sun, except at the radiance surrounding it, so we cannot understand God Himself. In theology, it is not appropriate to boldly dare, but, honoring the divine, one must follow what is due with a chaste thought, pronouncing and making the subject of explanation only what is said about God in Scripture, as he said a little earlier. Pay attention to the fact that he calls the writings of the divine Paul true theology, for he says that according to the strength of each one, illumination is given from God, which the Lord shows by saying to the most perfect disciples as those who more judiciously listen to what is prophesied: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom” (Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10). This is said not only about people, says the great Dionysius, but also about angels, who are usually, following some of the external philosophers, called minds and who are called the ranks of higher minds, because every mind, a reality that exists and understands everything, constantly perceives into it from God the flowing united; That is why in the most sacred Scriptures all cherubim are called many-eyed. Note that angels, in accordance with their measure, are awarded knowledge of God. Not because, he says, God reveals himself to everyone in accordance with his strength, that He is sorry to reveal more, but in order to maintain justice in proportion to the knowledge of God; for this is the property of justice - to measure out to everyone what they deserve. Knowledge about God is immeasurable, but we need measure. After all, if it were revealed to us beyond measure, we would not be able to be saved, just as the bodily eye would not be able to withstand a direct look at the sun. He now calls immensity the very divinity and the illumination of it, according to our strength. Here he emphasizes the incomprehensibility of knowledge about God. After all, if even the simple and formless, which represents some kind of essence, is not perceived by the senses, as, for example, angels and souls are not perceived by corporeal beings, then how much more does God surpass them, Who is not essence, but above essence, not simple, but above simplicity, not mind, but above mind, not one, but above one, and is not limited by any limit, but as the infinite goes beyond the limits of existence! Hearing in Scripture about the form of God, about His appearance and face, understand, elevating this above the bodily, in an image worthy of God; When you hear about unity, do not imagine bringing together certain differences, for we are not talking about such now, but about God, who is neither the beginning of numbers nor complex, but united above consubstantiality itself. Here, after going beyond the limits of everything that exists that can be attributed to God, further following the measure of our language, for it is impossible for us to surpass it, he glorifies God with those names from which he separated Him: and He calls Him Unity, but the only-creating Unity, i.e. Creator of simple beings, such as angels and souls; and by the unthinkable Mind - meaning the Mind that is not understood by anyone. If like is understood by like, then it is fitting for the mind, if it is mind, to be understood. But “who has known the mind of the Lord?” (Rom.11:34; 1Cor.2:16). So He is the Mind that surpasses the mind, and the Name that surpasses every name: “After all, My name,” He says, “I did not tell them” (cf. Ex. 6:3), - which is why He is nameless to everyone. Likewise, He is not “existent”: after all, if He Himself creates existing from non-existent, then He does not belong to existing, but is above existing. When He says: “I am who I am” (Ex. 3:14), we must worthily remember His beginninglessness and infinity, as well as incomprehensibility. For only God Himself knows well what concerns Him, in a way accessible to knowledge, truly understanding how He exists, being unknowable to everyone else in Himself - What He is and how He exists. For “no one knows the Father except the Son, and the Son except the Father” (cf. Matt. 11:27). After all, knowing Your worshiped image, i.e. Son, He knows Himself. The same applies to the Holy Spirit, for no one knows the things of God except the Spirit who proceeds from God. So, understand everything that this blessed man thinks and says about God in relation to the revered Trinity. The limited is natural and voluminous, which is why it is limited. If God is the place of everything, then not physically, but creatively, for He fills heaven, earth, and everything, and abides outside of them. It is clear that limitlessness is thus an endless force. That is, everything is involved in communication with Him and saving providence. Just as he sometimes calls the divine essence, and sometimes superessentiality, as he says “The inconceivable mind,” “The name that exceeds every name,” so he also calls it “Superessential essence.” After all, we should direct our minds to what God has given us to comprehend, and not look for anything beyond our weakness. This is that He is Good, that He is the Creator, that He is a Lover of Mankind, and so on. And don’t even try to understand what the being of God is. Well, he said “weakly”: after all, even if someone dares to do this, he will not achieve the goal, but only by darkening his mental vision, and the light of existence will disappear, like someone who dares to perceive the entire sun with his bodily eyes. That is why the divine mental powers, I mean the cherubim and seraphim, cover their faces, showing that they do not encroach on seeing what is beyond them, what is not given to them. This is what the words “No one has seen God at any time” mean (John 1:18). Therefore, God-wise people say that you can see the glory of God, but not God. Here, of course, we must remember the madness of Arius and Eunomius, who dared to apply our norms to the ineffable and super-essential essence of the Only Begotten. He everywhere calls the Trinity reigning over everything the Godhead, because She is the beginning of the so-called gods, I mean, as we have already said, angels and saints. The mystery surrounding Her unnameable essence is incomprehensible. Therefore, a little lower he says: “in chaste silence,” and higher: “as far as is permissible, in a befitting sacred manner.” We are talking about the sense in which God is the beginning of every manifestation of light, and what kind of manifestations and new formations are meant. This is what Simeon said when he saw Christ: “This one is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel” (cf. Luke 2:34). The fall is the bad in us, the uprising is the good. Gradually, as if moving on to more, he first speaks of those who are enlightened, and then of those who are initiated. To be consecrated means to reach, having succeeded in the good life after baptism, to the point where it is possible to say: “I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). Of course, this refers to the worshiped Trinity, which predominates in such dedication, since She is the creative principle in every dedication. Those who are initiated, thanks to their success, are certainly adored, becoming partakers of the divine nature, and the boss for them is, accordingly, God, being for them, becoming gods, a certain beginning. And after this ascent to simplicity, they achieve the fact that, thanks to the resurrection, they find themselves equal to the angels and no longer have a “spiritual” body, according to the Apostle, for the sake of the soul, i.e. composed and moved, but “spiritual” (1 Cor. 15:44), because due to the abundant outpouring of the All-Holy Spirit on them, they are freed from the complex diversity of thoughts and feelings and are thereby gathered into a unit, being led, as we have already said, into the unity of simplicity. After all, “those who believed,” it is said, “had one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). God in Himself is unthinkable, but since He is the Cause and Beginning of all things, He is the Simplicity of the simple, the Life of the living, the Superessence of the existing, and in general He is the Giver of every good. Explainers are rightly called people who symbolically explain the ineffable in the sacraments. Here he explains what Unity and Monad primarily mean when applied to God, saying that theologians use these words to represent God's indivisibility. For what unfolds in size and magnitude is divided as a body, and what is indivisible and inexpressible in a body is above all incorporeality. And besides, because God created everything according to His desire, having thought, He did not multiply, dividing into many parts, like some kind of mind, but abiding and abiding, it is said, in one, indivisibly and without origin, He created and creates everything that is in the created world; “And to this day God is working,” as they say in the Gospels (cf. John 5:27). God, after all, superextends, immeasurably surpassing all simplicity. In the super-heavenly worlds and in this visible world, the lower is directed towards the higher, and the corporeal is based in the Living One, “For in His hand are all the ends of the earth” (Ps. 95:4), and even the heavens, “for in Him,” it is said, “are all things” (cf. Rom. 11:36). With us mortals, everything is the opposite of what has been said, for the soul is directed toward the spirit, in which the feelings and thoughts are affirmed, which we consider when thinking, and this spirit, according to the Apostle, “knows what is in man” (cf. 1 Cor. 2:11). So the soul is turned to this spirit, but it is also turned to the feelings associated with it, and through them to the body. And in the mind, thoughts are in some way divided and come into a dispersive difference, from the first passing into the second, better, or into bad. He says that, rushing towards God, thanks to this Unit we become something indivisible, when our diverse opposites are united and super-peacefully united - that is, not in the world of feelings, but in the mind, becoming no longer irreconcilable with ourselves, but something uniquely unified, “just as He is one,” as they say in the Gospels (cf. John 17:22). Notice that he speaks of the Trinitarian Trinity and the Father's fertility, expressed in the coming forth beyond thought at the appearance of the Son and the Holy Spirit. And it is well said “like the Trinity,” for it is said not about number, but about glory: “The Lord God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4). By fatherland we mean ranks of the same order, as if united with each other - cherubim, seraphim, principles, powers; and we have spiritual connections, since they are also related, and - this is also shown by Moses - relationships of affinity. All of God's creations are beautiful, they arose and exist absolutely beautiful, since they are in the order inherent in them by nature when they arose. Deviation from what is inherent in nature - be it in angels, or in souls, or in any bodies - destroys beauty, and its distortion creates ugliness. He explains the providence well here - that one of the Trinity suffered. Notice that one of the hypostases was fully communed with us and that he calls our Lord Jesus Christ Himself simple, and then complex, calling human remoteness to Himself. We say correctly that one of the Holy Trinity was on the cross. This is against the Nestorians and Akephalians. Behold, he says that one of the hypostases has become part of us completely, in accordance with what the Apostle says: “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). This is “completely” - and against Apollinaris, for it shows that He perceived the person entirely. I believe that by the length of time the father means the temporary measure of the Lord’s stay in the flesh. For, having become what he was not, He continued to remain unconfused by God the Word Himself. And note that “unconfused” has been preached since apostolic times. The words “divinely influencing lights” refer to the teachings of the saints as the light of knowledge, making gods of those who trust in it. Note that what relates to the sublime and existing above the hearing of many, whether it concerned theology or the providence of the Life-giving God, the divine apostles conveyed secretly, secretly revealing to the perfect; and - that the expression he used “unconfused and unchangeable” comes from the apostles, as well as “the whole man.” That is why the Apostle in his Epistle to the Thessalonians says that it is fitting for them to keep what they were taught “either by word or by letter” (2 Thess. 2:25); and he also writes to Timothy to convey in secret what was said here with explanations (cf. 2 Tim. 2:2). Note that it is appropriate to place the Holy Scripture and the traditions of bishops on the same level, whom he usually calls hierarchs as those in charge of the priests, that is, presbyters, deacons and doorkeepers, as they are called in our hierarchy. For this reason we follow their prophecies about dogmas; the larger of which, he says, is applied to the super-essential for the sake of our thinking and secrecy. – As when in relation to God they say: “Fire” (Deut. 4:24), “old man”, as in Daniel (cf. Dan. 7:9, 13, 22), “man wrestling with Jacob” (cf. Gen. 32:24), and the like; or in relation to angels - when cherubs are depicted as zoomorphic, and others in the form of husbands and young men. Because in a human way, drawing from the names characteristic of man, the Holy Scripture names Him, giving Him “legs,” “hands,” and “faces.” Because at the resurrection, the saints, along with incorruptibility and immortality, will receive the same structure as Christ and will shine brighter than the sun, just as the Lord did when he was transfigured on the mountain - according to what the Apostle said about the saints - that then they will be like Him and will always be with the Lord (cf. 1 Thess. 4:17). Note that he also calls His divine body a visible theophany, so that this saying can be used against the Nestorians, Akefels and those who believe that the Lord does not now and will not have flesh; and - that “His visible theophany”, i.e. His animate flesh is one thing, but something intelligible, perceived by the mind, of which we will then partake more completely, is another. When we turn to God, completely illuminated by Him, we become uniquely one, freeing ourselves from our inherent opposites, i.e. from worldly feelings and desires. He said “the most divine imitation,” meaning more accurate and perfect, because, although now the life of the saints, passing in the praise of God and contempt for the carnal, is angelic, but not completely, hence the moderation of imitation; then perfection will appear in this. Observe that through symbols we contemplate what concerns angels, for he speaks of angels, as indicated by the fact that he calls them godlike. Above, in the treatise “On the Heavenly Hierarchy,” he explains the symbols related to them; and now he adds those related to God. He spoke about the cessation of mental activity, meaning the incomprehensibility of the divine nature, for nothing that relates to it is comprehended by the movement of the mind: if a thought achieves any definite and provable result, then this is beyond the incomprehensible, which the mind comprehends through its own inaction. We must try to understand this “pre-exist”, because he explains everything else in order. And from here it will become clear why the apostle says that we are in God “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). It should be taken into account that since the cause and beginning of universal diversity is connected with Him, for everything that exists came from Him, it is natural - since the future will also be thanks to His inconceivable desire - that everything pre-existed in Him, the Knower, and that He will bring into being, and when He will bring. So what was known pre-existed in Him from before eternity. For before what He imagined, like the ages and every other creature, came to fruition, the future was known by Him, as it is said: “He who knows all things before the being of all things” (Dan. 13:42), and also: “Before I created you in the womb, I knew you” (Jer. 1:5). This is what Gregory the Theologian said, paraphrasing the saying of the Hellenes: “It is impossible to think of God, and it is even more impossible to say about Him.” Speaking of the limits of minds and powers, he returns to what he said a little earlier: “all the limits of all minds.” With each phrase he expresses what he said before - that in God all knowledge is abolished and all movement finds an end, due to the incomprehensibility of the divine nature, because what relates to it is considered eternal, and not existing in time; After all, a limit can also be called a boundary, i.e. the end of all knowledge pertaining to existence. Such are the essences and powers, the knowledge of which - any essences and powers, all of them in general and not in parts, but at once - pre-exists, he says, in God thanks to the ineffable Word of His foreknowledge, which knows about each of those introduced into being, what nature and power it will have; the essence of Which is super-essential and super-unknowable. You should know that essence is one thing, and power is another thing: one belongs to what exists in itself, and the other is from among those having existence in something else. Development of what was said. He said well that if knowledge relates to essence and to existing things, God is not in essence and is not something of existing things, therefore He is beyond the limits of knowledge. Imagination is one thing, and thinking or thought is another, for they come from different abilities and differ in their action. Thinking is action and creativity, and imagination is reception and impression produced by some feeling, or as if by some feeling. After all, the imagination grasps existence in its total form, and the mind comprehends, i.e. grasps what exists in a different way, not in the same way as feeling. We have recently said that the bodily, spiritual and that which relates to the senses are characterized by receptive and figurative perception, but we must attribute critical and restraining perception to the soul and to the mind. While it restrains the soul, it must also limit the imagination. Imagination is divided into three types: the first consists of figurative representations from among those that produce an impact on the senses, the second is a representation composed of retained remnants of such, which does not have any support in real images, which is actually called fantasy, and the third, in which they either enjoy imaginary good or suffer from imaginary bad. None of the listed types of imagination have a place with God, for He generally surpasses and exceeds all thought. Opinion is an idea formed by thinking on the basis of some phenomenon. By “touching,” he means mental comprehension, for when in the process of cognition we turn our minds to the intelligible and immaterial, it seems to us as if we are touching it and feeling with our mind what it is like, like touching the sensory. We cannot even mentally touch God. He says "unnameable" instead of saying "unnameable in some way." For He calls “things that do not exist as if they exist” (Rom. 4:17), as, for example, Cyrus and Josiah for so many years. Reminds me of “Theological Essays” here. When he says “equal in divinity,” he means the All-Holy Trinity. Having said about God that He is inaccessible to our thinking and naming, he then makes up a speech about God from a lower level. After all, if what concerns angels is unknowable to us, then what should we think about God? He says that the angelic creations are in some way sketches of God's goodness. By sketch one should understand an indivisibly divisible movement towards each of the produced ones, i.e. to the introduction of each of the intelligible beings. It is also possible to think that the images of unity with God - since it is fitting for the angels to be one with God - in which they are one with God, are either given to them according to their dignity by the goodness of God, or are perceived from Him at the revelation of His goodness, and thus they are incomprehensible not only to us, but also to the lowest of the angels; and they are known only by the highest of the angels as those awarded the connections in the named way. In his treatise “On the Heavenly Hierarchy,” he also talks about the angelic ranks. He says that the god-like minds, imitating as much as possible the angels, reach the point of union with the holy powers, which he previously called angels. We must understand here our theologians, I mean the prophets and apostles; One should not think that these are angels, first of all, because he said “imitating angels”: an angel does not imitate an angel, it imitates something smaller. Calling theologians minds, he says that, being deified after the cessation of all activity in the world, they achieve, as far as possible, an angelic union with God. In the mental world, after all, every movement, every activity and every rest are fruitful and lead to the one-creating perfection, if only among eternal and incorporeal beings silence, silence and cessation of activity mean action according to nature, i.e. promoting serenity and perfection in the Unit. For it is impossible (for man) to unite with God and in some way become a god, unless he ceases his activities, whether through feeling or through thinking, associated with matter. By the negation of all things, he calls the incomparability of the divine with anything that exists and says that it is not a body, a state, a force, etc., which he consistently points out. The fact that God is Nothing must be understood in the sense that He is not anything that exists. For, being the Cause of existence, He is above existence. For this reason, God is considered to be both everywhere and nowhere. Since He is nowhere, then everything is from Him and in Him, as being nothing from everything; and therefore also in Him, because He is everywhere, and everything else is from Him, since He is nowhere. He fills everything, as He is everywhere, according to the prophet (cf. Ps. 23:1), and He is nowhere, according to another prophet, who says: “And what is the place of My rest?” (Isa.66:1). After all, if He were only everywhere, then He Himself would be everything and in everything spatially; so that He is nowhere as superior to existing things. A property is a stable state; movement is the opposite of rest, carried out in a variety of ways; life is what puts them into action; imagination is figurativeness in thought, and opinion is a confirmed assumption. Understanding differs from thought because it is the fruit of the soul’s ability to think, which is the movement of this ability. Everything like this and everything else connected with it is not the essence, but is seen near the essence; so separate it from that. This refutes the unreasonable opinions of those who dared to assert that God by nature has something creative, like spiders weaving, the author says that by goodness alone God brought everything into being. Why does none of the theologians dare to praise God according to what belongs to Himself, i.e. according to His essence, for it is unknowable, but everyone sings of Him according to His appearances outside, what is providence and causality, i.e. according to what appeared from Him as the Cause, according to God's providence for everything. After all, everything strives for divine providence, thanks to which it exists and is created. But the rational and verbal does it intelligently. After all, what is called rational is that which exists through reason and thinks what is intelligible beyond it. The intelligible is the conceivable, which is food for the rational, thereby thinking. So that which exists as rational because reason thinks, approaches God's providence rationally, being verbal, and strives towards God accordingly. And that which is below the rational and represents the sentient soul - I mean animals and all those who have Psychic bodies, but are dumb, the soul of which consists of elements and material fire and is contained in the spirit inherent in matter, then, driven by mere feeling to hunger and thirst, they naturally strive towards the Giver sensually, as it is said about this: “Everyone trusts in You, for You will give them food in good time” ( Ps.103:27). You will find much of this kind in the book of Job and in David. And the other, vegetative, or only living, has an insensible and soulless movement, like all plants, all herbs, which have only a spirit that animates them and a senseless essence, like all trees, as they say, and the like, which, when drying up, are deprived of the plant spirit that moves them to growth and prosperity. Judging by this, they also strive for divine providence, thanks to which they are created and flourish. That is why in the one hundred and forty-eighth psalm they are called upon to praise the Lord for their creation. For even such a person participates in an indescribable providence, but only in that he lives, albeit in a soulless and insensitive way, in accordance with his fitness, which is the result of the peculiarity of his strength. After all, a property is a permanent quality, in accordance with the characteristics and strength of which it is said what something is. In accordance with this property of plant life, which in its essence and ability participates only in growth and movement, it is said that it soullessly and insensitively strives for the goodness of God. Speaking about the intelligent, he means the angelic nature, and when speaking about the intelligent, he means the human nature, and what is below them is dumb, which is characterized only by feelings, which is why he said “sensually”, i.e. in a sensual way. By the rest we mean plants and everything else that is completely soulless and motionless; about this he said: “in accordance with the movement of the living,” i.e. feeding and growing. This is typical of plants. The soulless has in itself the property of integral existence. He said about this: “as substances suitably adapted to existence.” See how they praise the Supreme of all, openly using what He is the Cause of, what He created. “Eternal” He was called as the Creator of the ages; and truly He is Eternity. After all, since He exists eternally, He is also called Eternity. The eternal is not eternity, but is a participant in eternity. After all, Isaiah says: “Eternal God, who formed the ends of the earth” (Is. 40:28). But God is not secondary in relation to eternity and is not involved in it, but is the Creator of centuries. In accordance with the words: “You are the same and Your years will not fail” (Ps. 101:28). This is said in the book of Kings: the Lord did not come in an earthquake, not in a cloud to speak to Elijah, but “with the voice of a thin breath” the Lord called (cf. 1 Kings 19:12). This shows that God, who is incomprehensible to everything, exists, he says, in the body. After all, everyone participates in breathing, and everyone has it, and no one embraces it; just as the Lord says in the Gospel: “God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). “Anonymity” - due to the fact that He is Everything and is not anything that exists, but everything comes from Him, as He explains Himself. “Beginning” – as giving being, “Completion” – as containing in being. All things - because everything comes from Him. He called Him the hearth of all things, as the true dwelling place of all saints, as the Lord Himself said: “Abide in Me” (John 15:4). After all, we are, as it were, His church, according to what was said: “I will dwell in them and walk in them” (2 Cor. 6:16). He is also our home. It is good that he immediately added “unification”: for having said that He is Everything, and in Him everything is, so that someone, having reduced the mind to addition, would not fall away from the truth, assuming that everything is concentrated in masses in God, or that God appears to everything in the form of the result of addition, he quickly corrected what seemed strange, saying: “unification” - which means that God, being in His unit, or rather above the unit, immeasurably super-extended, without mixing with existence, exists as all in all. But He is also “uncontrollably” present in everything, because He is not restrained or limited by anything physically, existing rather “beyond.” For He is outside of everything, being nowhere, and from Him are all things that exist, and He is in everything. For from Him all things were made. Those. It’s not difficult: He was not formed into anything that exists and was not physically united with anything, except for the time of providence. Notice that he calls God's revelations through symbols visions and tells how they happen. The Hellenes called the sanctuaries they dedicated to the gods churches. Here the saint explains the story of Isaiah, for he believes that there is a hint that he saw that divine appearance of the seraphim in the church. The following discussion concerns the vision of Ezekiel in Babylon and some other visions. He promises to write another work, which he calls “Symbolic Theology.” Note that first of all, it is appropriate for priests to consider the Holy Scriptures. Same as “those who discover God.” He commands to present sacred ears to the saint, that is, to listen to the holy in a pious and dignified manner. Note that the one who, mocking and mocking, listens to the divine Sayings and their interpretations, is judged as a fighter against God. And the apostle writes to Timothy that it is not fitting to speak of such things to those who do not accept the Word as Truth. In this chapter, the Arians and Eunomians, who worship dissimilarity, and the Nestorians and Acephalians are most exposed. “God-originating whole being” he calls the divinity of the Holy and One worshiped Trinity, cognizable in three hypostases. Usually it is for him to call the honest Trinity integral divinity. For by revealing Herself and what “whole divinity” is, She made it clear to the saints, at the same time as defining, i.e. separation of persons, revealing the characteristics of the three hypostases, which are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. After all, they are three - one whole and united Divinity. It is appropriate to know that being in the proper sense is not spoken of in relation to God, for He is also pre-existence, i.e. He is before existence itself. Since every being is from Him, He is named according to what came into existence thanks to Him, so that it is clear that He is above all. Those. cognizing and discovering. Note that he speaks of voice in the human sense in relation to divinity on account of the unity of the persons of the Trinity. He said it perfectly: “not to some part.” After all, the actions and all theological hymns do not relate exclusively to one single person of the divine Trinity, but are common to the entire Trinity, with the exception of the incarnation, for it is characteristic of the Son alone, as he further says. The unique characteristic features of the three hypostases are inherent in each of the hypostases separately and especially, as, for example, the Father, and not anyone else - that He is the Father. The same applies to the Son and the Holy Spirit. Notice that "all divinity" denotes the Trinity. Note that he who says that the names of God are not common, wickedly breaks the unity of the worshiped Trinity. It should be noted that Saint Dionysius quotes the Revelation of Saint John the Evangelist, for this saying is found there. And the fact that Saint Dionysius knew that the divine evangelist was on Patmos, where he saw the revelation, you will learn from his tenth letter, which he sent to the holy evangelist and theologian John himself. Pay attention to how he quotes this saying. Now they don't say that. In other lists: “divine life.” Note that he calls the Father God-bearing divinity, and the Only Begotten divinity Filial. Note that when he says: “Everything is from God,” he collectively designates all divinity, i.e. Holy Trinity. And saying: “All things were created through Him and in Him,” he broadly points to the hypostases. For everyone perceived this in relation to the creative Word. Notice that what belongs to the Holy Trinity is united into a common property. For example: “I in the Spirit of God cast out demons” (cf. Luke 11:20), an example of “holy things”: “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven” (Luke 12:10), “gifts” or graces - the words: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8). It is said in the psalms: “For with You is the fountain of life” (Ps. 35:10), and in Jeremiah: “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water” (Jer. 2:13). So God is called the Source as a kind of Womb, the Beginning and the Cause of everything that has appeared and come into the being. That which some are wont to call universal, genus, all-embracing, all-embracing, which contains within itself something that proceeds separately from it, the divine Scriptures call the emanating Cause. So, due to the creative nature and inexhaustibility of what is created by the Holy Spirit and because the Holy Spirit Himself is the Cause of existence, as stated in the book of Wisdom, it is natural that he theologizes about Him as the emanating Cause. And comprehend the inexhaustibility of creation from the words: “My Father works until now, and I work” (John 5:17), and the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son also eternally works inexhaustibly. It is said: “Thou shalt send Thy Spirit, and they shall be created” (Ps. 103:30). He said perfectly “uncorrupted,” since heretics also read the Scriptures and are nourished in them, but they corrupt themselves. “Godly division” he called, in relation to the Holy Trinity, the knowledge of the non-merging of the hypostases. And note that you should not try to convince those who do not accept the divine Scripture. After all, to theologize about the Holy Trinity as a whole does not mean to introduce a fusion of hypostases. Explaining above the theological knowledge about God, he did not say that this is knowledge. And here he calls knowledge related to theology. Knowledge is a correct idea, clothed in a judgment, or a true thought, not shaken by doubts, and an accurate understanding of the matter to which it relates, and a statement that offers an understanding of the truth, and a correct idea that does not require proper confirmation through comparison. “Explanations” he calls teachings that clarify the sacraments. Please note that when doing theology, one should not move away from Divine Scripture. In the order of negation He is glorified as being beyond thought. He is honored with the help - meaning His superiority - of that which is not seen in Him, such as: “immortal”, “infinite”, “invisible”, “not lacking”, etc. After all, this is also common to the Trinity. “Concepts of causality” are the essence of what flowed from Him into creation as from the Cause of everything beautiful, as it is written: “Because everything with Him is beautiful.” What the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have in common is superessence. As for the differences of the Holy Trinity, such as names, it is ungodly to call the Father Son, or the Son Father; the same applies to the Holy Spirit. Note that only God’s Word is capable of incarnation. He called being “perfect,” contrary to Apollinaris, as consisting of a rational soul and our body. This is indicated by what he said: “in our nature.” This contradicts Eutyches. What is against Nestorius is that he talks about the immutable existence of Jesus as God in our nature and calls the essential mysteries of His being a man - hunger, fatigue, and at the same time walking on water, entering the disciples with locked doors, raising the dead, and suffering itself, and the like. Note that “essential” is said about the incarnation. He said this to reject the idea of ​​an apparent incarnation. Those initiated into the sacraments are called initiates. He calls secret unity the incomprehensible knowledge of what belongs to the divine essence. What the very divine essence of the Holy Trinity is, no one will ever know. By divisions he calls the worshiped hypoxical existences, that is, the ineffable radiance from the Father of the Son and the incomprehensible proceeding from the Father of the Holy Spirit. “Supraunity” means the indivisibility and simplicity of the divine nature, surpassing all unity and simplicity inherent in existence. “Silence” – due to the inability to name the entity; “polyphony” - because she, due to the diversity of good deeds, has polyphony. It must be said what ignorance and omniscience mean when applied to God, and how in ignorance we gain knowledge of Him, for God becomes known through ignorance. Just do not take this ignorance as the result of lack of education, for it is the darkness of the soul, nor as associated with knowledge, for the Unknown is not known, and this type of ignorance is, after all, associated with knowledge. As the Knowable, He is known by that type of ignorance that extends above the multiplying, scattering and reassembling understandings, but which are not a unit. So, having surpassed every thought about God, we become simple, that is, being in ignorance and unreasoning because of being in unity; and truly being in unity, we do not know that we do not know - not as when, knowing something else, we do not know like the uneducated, being able to know what we did not know before, but - not knowing what is piously unknown to all rational creatures. While remaining in this ignorance, we become the image of Being before everyone else. Having abandoned all image and thought, having established ourselves in silence, the best of all speech, we are not able to realize what we do not know. And then, leaving the silence of muteness and descending from silence to sound, realizing our ignorance, we thus stop the search for the Unknowable. At the same time, God is omniscient, because it is possible to understand from the providences He lovingly bestows and from the things He has created, what He is: on the one hand, that He is the Savior, on the other, that He is the Creator. The author spoke of His existence as a statement because the existence of everything comes from Him. And philosophers call the forms given to matter affirmation. And they speak of negation when qualities are separated from species, such as, for example, heaviness from earth, moisture from water. So God, who transforms both, is both the Affirmation and the Negation of everything: the Affirmation of everything is as one who established, created and is preparing to found everything, for in Him everything was made up. The negation of everything, He is the very affirmation of existence and the creation, rebuilding, and remaking and taking away from what is affirmed what is inherent in it by nature. After all, it is recognized that what is born is necessarily destroyed, and He, out of the wealth of goodness, took away corruption from some, as from angels and souls, and from others He transforms corruption into incorruptibility and mortality into immortality, like our bodies in the resurrection. It is clear that He Himself, being such for us, He is above both affirmation and negation, being both the Foundation and the Root of everything - not in the sense of place, but in the sense of cause, and not being a denial of what He Himself has, for He has immortality itself. He has immortality, incomprehensibility, unknowability, and the like, not because he is not the opposite, but because of some property, ineffable and inconceivable for everyone. God is predetermined for everything as separated from existence and cannot be conceived or comprehended by anyone from among creation, as having caught Himself in infinity, for He has no limit. Note also that the divine hypostases dwell in each other, as if in some kind of refuge and sanctuary, about which it is said: “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me” (cf. John 10:38). The Apostle says the same about the Holy Spirit (see 1 John 5:7). The meaning of what the father says is as follows. In his example, he compares the Holy Trinity with certain three lamps or wax candles lit in some church or house: they are different in their hypostases, or rather, separated from each other, for each lamp stands separately, separately from the other, but thanks to the light there is a unification and inseparable communion of their nature and energies. And no one in the house can distinguish them and say which light in the air belongs to one lamp and which to another. Having said this, from the topic of the Trinity he moves on to talk about Providence and the glorious procession of God the Word from the Father, according to His word, which reads: “From My Father I came and to My Father I am going” (cf. John 16:28). He explains this with the words: “If someone takes one of the lamps out of the house, all of its light will come out, not taking any of the lights with him and not leaving his to others.” After all, the Son, having left the Father and settled in the world, did not bring either the Father or the Spirit with Himself in Himself and, having left, did not leave anything of His own to Them, but made an inseparable exodus from the place of His sojourn. Combinations of bodies - both as visible elements and in some other way mixed - differ in strength and qualities: their combination forms something different compared to the nature of simple bodies. In the same way, mental forces have, according to differences in movement, different types. After all, angelic connections also have differences in relation to the divine illuminations, corresponding to their position and commensurate with their ranks. Divinity and that which relates to It, in the Holy Trinity, not torn apart by anything mentioned and not separated from Itself, is naturally glorified as being above such unities. Note that he calls both souls and all minds supercelestial lights and says that all these living entities are united as shown by the example of many lamps in the room, each of which, without merging or mixing, is connected by light with others. But they are God-like and participate in the super-unified God's union according to their qualities. Current connections, that is, connections, are incorporeal, moving through each other without merging. Notice that he calls the Father the super-essential Birth of God and the Source and does not reverse the names. Now he theologizes about the ineffable Trinity, as far as the manifestation of the three hypostases allows, namely, that God the Father, timelessly moved by love, stepped out, making it possible to differentiate the hypostases, without being divided into parts and without becoming impoverished, and continued to remain in His inherent integrity, super-unified and super-simple at His shining into being, when, as if the image of Life and the All-Holy Spirit were worthy the image of worship began to emanate from the Father super-eternally, as the Lord introduces us into the sacraments; by goodness, the Cause and Source of everything multiplied into a three-hypostatic Godhead. Gregory the Theologian says the same thing in the words “Against Eunomius.” Divine division is also possible in another sense - as the emergence of God through the multitude of goodness into the diversity of creation, invisible and visible. Common to the Unit, which is divided into three hypostases, are creative works and good deeds. For in the communion of those who are able to receive communion, the all-royal Trinity remains uncontrollable and unparticipated. Both words mean the same thing, for God participates, remaining uncontained, not being held in some place by the communicant, not communicated in a sensual way, but appearing to everyone at the sacrament and remaining transcendental to everything. This is similar to how if a loud voice is heard, then everyone present perceives it according to their ability - a man, a baby, and dumb animals, but some to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent - in accordance with their ability to hear, and the voice turns out to be perceived, being in itself incommunicable. Divinity is essentially inconceivable and inconceivable. She is involved in the fact that everything comes from Her and is supported in existence by Her. Using an example, he explains how God is not involved. Contrast and solution using the example of printing. Here he refers to raised impressions as impressions. Like stones, wood, and essentially moist material, none of which perceives the imprint of a ring. Notice that the Word became fully and truly human apart from the Holy Trinity. Touching here again on the economy, he says that it relates to God the Word, and the Father and the Holy Spirit did not participate in it, except by Their desire. Note the exact explanation of the economy, namely, that the super-essential God the Word came to fruition without changing, since he remained God, and came to fruition for us out of us entirely, i.e. truly took on a body and a rational soul; and - that God the Word is the One who suffered, meaning - in the flesh; and - that all of His divine activities in the economy are human; and that neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit participated in this, except through good will and will for the incarnation and assistance to the Son of God with divine signs. Note also that most of all this is directed against the Nestorians, acephalians and fantasists. We have already shown why he says that the Word suffered, as well as the meaning of the words “Our hands touched the Word of Life” (1 John 1:1). Those. in our nature, the Trinity theological Word has been holistically and truly embodied. Those. the meaning of the incarnation and incarnation of Christ consisted in “deeds and sufferings - the best deeds of His human divine activity,” unsearchable and excellent, that is, pure and immaculate, in accordance with His human nature. These are the essence: birth, infancy, growth, thirst, suffering, grief, tears, spitting, blood, perforation, death, expiration, voluntary death, silence, immobility, and the like. In this, neither the Father nor the Spirit participated in any way, except, as someone might say, with good will and will. Due to the power contained in the bread and cup. The sacred mind reveals, i.e. explains the meaning of what is said about God when he is completely occupied with the divine, remaining undefiled by anything earthly and generating passions. And he ascends to the divine itself only after the cessation of all mental movement towards existence - this is what the words “exceeding the possibilities of mental comprehension” mean. Those. when the mind is covered from everywhere by God's incomprehensibility, then it comprehends what it seeks. We must understand - names. About participation, he speaks of that which is delivered to us from God Himself. Note that the name “God” does not show the essence or what God is, but a certain good deed towards us; and that we create names for God from the gifts of God in which we are involved. And what God is is inconceivable to everyone. After all, the divine existence is glorified by us at least to some extent in a worthy manner when we, having completely abandoned all activities, including the most active, albeit mental ones, find ourselves engulfed in holy silence and turn to the gifts emanating from there. By will, He brings existence when we stand firmly in the non-discrimination of our mind, which he called a little higher “knowledge in ignorance.” Pay attention to the revered and awe-inspiring names of the spotless Trinity: the source of divinity is the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit are the shoots of the God-bearing divinity, i.e. Father, and “god-plants, flowers and super-essential lights.” Therefore, first of all, he speaks about shoots, because the Scripture speaks of the vision of olive trees by Zechariah, the eleventh of the prophets. Seventy interpreters write: “two branches of an olive tree” (Zech. 4:12), while other translators write: “offsprings” and “shoots.” And “Light” - because it is said: “Father of lights” (James 1:17) and “Light from light” (Creed). And he uses the word “fatherland” as “fatherhood.” And he adds: “sonship,” because the apostle also says: “From whom is the whole family in heaven and on earth named” (Eph. 5:15). To be fathers and to be called sons came from above, since according to nature the son receives existence from the father. The Father of all is the same as the Creator and Teacher. In the same way, incorporeal intelligible beings are the fathers and sons of the gods as teachers and superior among the angels and the righteous, which the apostle shows by saying that among all fathers the true Father rules, as if giving such communion, and among all sons the Son rules, as if He Himself became involved in this, because He Himself says: “I have revealed Your name to men” (John 17:6), i.e. that the Father is called the one whose Son is the One who said this. The consequences are everything that has appeared as a creature, whether in heaven or on earth; the causes are the super-existent, that is, the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity. It is clear that they have no similarity with each other - the causes he talks about and the consequences. Well, he added “perceive”, but not everyone. Note that “previously is contained in abundance in causes as inherent in their essence.” So it is not good if we say that the divine lives and is enlightened, for it is the reason that we live and are enlightened. For that which is inherent in the divine is that which is in us by grace. This is what the words “by communion” mean. The Apostle says: “By grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:8). And it is said about us that we are saved, and He is our Savior, and also: “For out of His fullness we have received everything” (John 1:16). Note that he calls theology what relates to the incarnation, and the creation of God in our form - the incarnation of the Lord Jesus. It is especially against the Nestorians to say that He was realized as a man. Notice that he says that the body of the Lord Jesus was created from virgin blood. And note that, according to him, among the angels there are some elders, and among them someone is first. The divine John also speaks about the oldest angels in the Apocalypse, and we read that there are seven first angels in Tobias and Clement in Book 5 of the Essays. He usually calls the three highest ranks the oldest angels: thrones, seraphim and cherubim, as he repeatedly explains in the word “On the Heavenly Hierarchy.” And he says there that the image of the Lord’s incarnation is inaccessible to the first of the angels. With the words “true mentor,” he hints at Saint Hierotheos, which he immediately discovers. After studying with Paul, he received instructions from him. He says that he “experienced the divine” by receiving such inspiration. And what it means “not only knowing, but also experiencing,” is clarified by the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews: “from what you have experienced, you have learned to obey” (Heb. 5:8). For the one who experiences it perceives the teaching in the test, and like the one who is beaten, he perceives it better than the one who only hears. After all, someone who has never been beaten will know what pain is and will hardly imagine what it is like to suffer. So he who is enlightened by Revelation will more divinely explain the divine. And experiencing the divine means the following. The Apostle said: “Let us be buried together with Christ, so that we may rise and reign together with Him” (cf. Rom. 6:4). He who crucifies himself and his flesh bears the wounds of Christ in his body and in justice and reigns with Christ, and dares to approach the divine sacraments. When it is said of Saint Hierotheus that he “not only learned, but also experienced the divine,” this means that, being enlightened by the divine through Revelation, he came out of himself. And it is beautifully said that he experienced this useful passion in order to become God's container. Another interpretation. He said that he experienced the divine because he received enlightenment not through teaching through the word, but was imprinted with divine radiance and, as it were, marked in thought by knowledge that exceeds nature. The author called such enlightenment by the divine “sympathy”, i.e. generality of the state. He uses these divine expressions, for the Son is all in all and the head of all, according to the apostle (cf. Col. 2:10), and says that He is the Fullness of all and the Unifier, uniting creations in interconnection, i.e. parts with everything, as being everything. As the Collector of everything, He is, of course, also a Part, since every part is a part of the whole, but also not all, and not a part, being none of them, but being above any essence. Parts of the whole world are visible in some form: air, earth, plants, etc. But there is also His divinity, which is called something perfect in comparison with us, imperfect ones. As, according to Matthew: “Be perfect, because I am perfect” (cf. Matthew 5:48). In relation to the perfect angels, she is not perfect, but superperfect. And the beginning, the perfecter, the Son, as the beginning of all perfection, as pre-perfect, is also called a Species among those without form and incorporeal, as the Creator of all species and the Beginning of every species. Compared with such species, He is formless and superior to species, since in relation to Him both species and ideas are secondary. One might say: discriminating and preserving in unity. She is the Measure of existence because everything is fulfilled in Her. It is, perhaps, fair to call it Eternity: after all, if “eternity” is so called because it “eternally exists,” then He eternally exists. It is said: “You are the same, and Your years will not end” (Ps. 101:28), and also: “He who numbers the multitude of stars” (Ps. 146:4) and who measures “the heavens by a span and the earth by a handful” (cf. Is. 40:12). He is called the Creator of ages, because He is the creator of angels, and they are immortal, and also Immortality, Extension, eternal Life, Eternity, but not time, since He is endless and eternally future. It is not because of the “age” that has an end in time that He is called “Eternity,” but because He “eternally exists,” having no end forever. As he said above: “imperfect among the perfect,” so here he says: “fullness of the fulfilled.” “Imperfect” must be understood as “superperfect among the perfect.” Look how he says: “since he descended to nature,” and understand that he is talking about our nature and that it is not good if we understand “nature” as referring to God. That’s why he says: “descended to nature,” i.e. meaning: he achieved that despicable thing that he himself did not have. Note the expressiveness of the words. Notice that He communicated with us unchangeably, unmergedly and dispassionately, and remained in the supernatural, inherent in our nature, in the super-essential, inherent in our essence, and with Him our properties were in a form that exceeded us, such as the birth of the Virgin, sinlessness, the ability to speak and do everything by the power of God, to walk on water, and the like. Note that no one theologizes about the economy against the Nestorians, Akephalians and Phantasists. “Common and united names” are of the Holy Trinity, since She receives names from Her gifts to what comes after Her, which gifts he calls divisions and a kind of multiplication. This is against fantasists. It is said about the One that He multiplies many times over, since from Him, through Him and in Him everything was created, and He is the Head of all things and brought all things into being. Naturally - because of the multitude that comes from Him - they say, they say - because everything came into being thanks to Him - that He is submissive to the Father, as the Apostle says: “Then the Son Himself will be subject” (1 Cor. 15:28). And He remained - in the multitude of everything introduced into existence, in the inexhaustible outpouring of His teachings - One and the Same, being the Measure in everything and not being anything from everything, for He is super-essential and unapproachable for us. He explains it below. He said “to the outward coming that unites everything,” showing that what has arisen is being created, i.e. comes into existence simultaneously with the desire of the Creator, and not little by little and not gradually. The inexhaustibility of outpouring means that in creating things, God does not lose anything from His blessings. It is clear that the common mentor and leader is the Apostle Paul, thanks to him he believed, as we know from “Acts.” And it is worthy of note that Saint Hierotheus was taught by Saint Paul. Although there are “many gods and lords,” there is one true God the Father and one true Lord Jesus. This shows that the Cause of all and the Creator, divinity, by the inseparable and inexhaustible extension of its own name “divinity” and “lordship,” produced the so-called gods and lords, without being fragmented in its divinity into partial divinities, like gold in a multitude of coins. And many gods do not form His divinity, as many species do not form one world. But it is said that God multiplies - from the desire to bring each of the existing things into being - through providential events; multiplying, He remains inseparably One, like the sun, sending out many rays and remaining in unity. It is said that the Sun of Truth is divided every day and is not exhausted. It is also well said that in the divine, unities dominate divisions. And it is not proper, when listening about God with the mind, hearing that He is One, to think that this is from weakness, or that He is simple because He is weak. For nothing that, in relation to God, is said by us in our own way, even in a negative sense, such as: “immortal” and the like, or in the affirmative, such as: “Life”, as well as “The One,” comes into contact with His properties. But “One” should be spoken of as not applicable to anyone; identity is characteristic of Him even in the non-departure from His unity by the other hypostases. For He remains the same, although it seems that He is divided by His will when bringing the rest into being. For the pre-cause and implementer of all division, i.e. the origin of everything into being is the indivisible Unity of God. For sensual beings, on the contrary: it is not unity that is characteristic of them, but initially separately existing elements; meeting and uniting, they develop secondary unities resulting from their union. This is not the case with the divine: with him, the primary unity of its own free will creates secondary divisions. He speaks about unity in relation to the divine, meaning what is observed solely and only in divinity - excluding, therefore, pre-divided properties, such as fatherhood, sonship and the procession of the Spirit from the Father. About divisions - meaning that there are many things that are involved in divine gifts. Thus, what pertains to unity prevails and dominates. After all, it is not from many that what belongs to the one divinity and dominion was gathered together, but from their uniqueness comes that which is considered in such as multiplication. In what sense is not everything present in God; and he himself says, and this follows from the divine saying: “Draw close to me, and I will draw close to you,” says the Lord” (cf. James 4:8). Note that prayer raises us to God, and does not bring Him down to us; note the beauty of the examples. Well, the author compared our prayer to a chain hanging from the sky. Anyone who wants to rise to the heavenly heights holds onto this connection with his hands in a similar way. In what sense God is present everywhere and nowhere, we said above in the interpretation, the beginning of which: “Philosophers express a thesis.” After all, just as someone who, with the help of his hands, rises little by little from the ground, thinks that he is attracting a chain, but in reality he is gradually climbing upward, so he who prays earnestly by gradual action, with the help of deeds, which are called here hands, and by prayer, raises his mind to God; and if we let go of the rope and do not try to climb up, we will fall from a height. In the same sense, it is said about the ship - so that we see behind the ship our mind, tossed in different directions by the winds of life, behind the sea - life, replete with storms, and behind the rock - Christ, holding on to Whom we remain, dragging out our lives, unshakable with Him. The author said “who taught the basics” instead of “who brought benefit.” You should know that after Paul his teacher was Saint Hierotheos. He uses “appropriating” instead of “secretly attributing to himself as his own.” “Oldly” is perhaps used instead of “having experience”, “skillfully”. The author calls “general limits” statutes containing the teaching in an abbreviated form; This is what he means when he speaks of “short and succinct words”; By “words” (literally “bends”) he means statements in a few words. Those. - as far as possible for me, since he himself prompted, explaining, and how many of our teachers explained it this way. This is the meaning of unusually placed words. Note that the writings of Saint Hierotheus should be considered the second Holy Scripture. The author means a non-mediated and clearer understanding. All clergy agree that the opinion of the elderly is more valuable and more instructive. What is called senile, you learn from the words of Isaiah - that not an old man, not an angel, but the Lord Himself “will come and save us” (Is. 35:4), and from the Revelation of St. John, who said that he saw twenty-four elders in heaven around the indescribable throne of God (cf. Rev. 4:5). The author probably calls the body of the Holy Mother of God, then deceased, “God-originating” and then “God-receiving.” Pay attention to the expression “God's brother James”, and to the fact that this divine man was present there along with the apostles Peter and James. He talks about the holy apostles. The author here calls the voluntary descent of the Son into the flesh, apart from sin, “divine infirmity.” After all, without knowing any sin, He, without being deprived of what was inherent in Him, considered it possible, being sinless, to become sin for our sake, so that, having adopted us as His own, He would return us, enslaved by sin, to ancient freedom. For being rich in divinity, having supernaturally acquired our flesh, He begged with poverty, which creates wealth, trying to make us rich in His divinity; being in the form of God and God by nature, He, because of His abounding goodness, put on the form of a servant; being the true Word in person, He became flesh without hesitation (cf. John 1:14). Add to this all His miserable existence in the flesh: the manger, the flight to Egypt, the humble pastime with harlots and tax collectors, the election of the poorest fishermen as disciples, His homelessness, His simplicity and lack of means throughout His life in the flesh, the shameful death on the cross (“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” - (Gal. 3:13), His inclusion villains and robbers, wounds from nails, a side pierced by a spear, slaps, spitting, vinegar, bile, a crown of thorns, mockery and mocking kneeling, the poorest burial and a very cheap coffin. These apparently foolishness and weakness of God turned out, in the sense of the world order, to be incomparably wiser and stronger than human reason and power. convincingly manifested itself in the super-strong and super-wise victory of the Strongest and in indescribable silence it was incomprehensibly expressed to all creation. For although He was crucified in weakness, He nevertheless lives in strength, according to the saying of Paul (cf. 2 Cor. 13:4). In this sense, the author spoke beautifully about “God-born weakness.” After all, having voluntarily come down to us, having endured everything “even to death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8), He takes upon Himself our infirmities, and accepts torment for us, and with His suffering heals us all, and His suffering is called our own, according to the word of Peter: “As Christ suffered for us in the flesh” (1 Pet. 4:1), and also: “If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” ( 1 Cor. 2:8); That’s why they call the Jews murderers of the Lord. Note that the apostles who were then with Hierotheus sang the appropriate psalms and songs, as evidenced by the expressions “sing hymns” and “sing in hymns”; and that the lofty and mystical should be protected from the crowd, without being expressed; preaching to the crowd, teaching it, should be accessible and easily explained. This refers, of course, to the Scriptures and teachings. Because it is pious not to strive for something more divine. Note that the received divine knowledge should not be neglected, on the contrary, it should be passed on to others; and that the mind by nature has a desire for the possible contemplation of the supernatural. Note that we should neither strive too much for what is above us, nor neglect divine knowledge; on the contrary, what is perceived must also be conveyed to others; It is said: “Do not seek that which is higher than you, and do not explore that which is deeper than you; meditate on what is prescribed for you” (cf. Sir.3:21-22). According to the apostle: “Tell the faithful people” (2 Tim. 2:2). Notice why the author undertook to write. Notice that in his own words he explains what Hierotheus said. “Select” should be understood as “prefer”. And the fact that divine Goodness is revealed in everything shows that everything is brought into being from It. Note that the Divinity itself is Good in essence and that everything that exists participates in Good, just as creation shares with the sun. Yes, no one will think that the great Dionysius talks about God entirely on the basis of the example of the sun. It must be understood this way: being nothing other than light, the sun does not have light randomly, like something else, and it is not by the will of the soul to do good that it takes light from within and transmits it to everything. Quite the opposite: not being spiritual and not having the will to do good, for it is unreasonable, it does not take light from anywhere, because it itself is light and shines. This is the only way to understand this in relation to God, namely, that God has goodness not randomly as a certain quality, like we have virtues, but being Himself the essence of goodness, like light is the essence of the sun, and being Goodness Himself, God extends the rays of Goodness to everything in order to benefit those who are enlightened. That is why he gives the example of the sun, because it contains a dark, almost unclear, image of a completely inaccessible original. For if images had truth, they would not be likenesses, but originals. According to the basic meaning of the word, “intelligible” is one thing, and “the intelligible, if only the intelligible, which is the intelligible, is greater than that which thinks, and exists before it, which is the “intelligible.” So, the highest angelic ranks and those closest to God should rightly be called intelligible, and the lower ones - intelligible, because they understand what is superior. But because the intelligible is thinkable, one should not assume that it does not think: after all, it also thinks, since these are minds, vital essences and creatures of the higher mind, and in addition, energies and essences that are hypothesized there. After all, all movement and rest there are hypostatic and are living forces that are above the fluid bodily variability, which is why they are thought of as immaterial. They think of existence as disembodied and supra-mundane minds, enlightened from above with meanings regarding existence, and in a mysterious way mentally transport them as revelations to the angels below. You can also understand “forces and energies” differently: “forces” are what refer to what has not yet manifested itself in creation: by force everything that was to be brought into existence by Him was pre-realized in God. “Energy” - because creativity was brought to action. Note also the expression “fluid changeability,” which I explained because angels are changeable too, is meant by will, and not by essence, as evidenced by the devil with his army falling from heaven, as we have in the book of Job. This is typical of bodies. Notice that the incorporeal and the corporeal are both conceivable and thinkable. “Abode” and “center”, when compared, mean the same thing. Philo the Jew in his essay “On the Fiery Sword and the Cherubim” says this: “The abode of the parts of the world, standing firmly, is directly called the center by the ancients.” The author talks about this near the end of the first chapter, in the sixth paragraph. Pay attention to what concerns the angels: they are immaterial, unmergingly contained in each other and separated, the “first” and “second” there around themselves, but not by some kind of bodily circulation, but supramundane and mental, as it is characteristic of the mind to address itself - starting from itself into reflection and returning to itself, i.e. not scattering when they go out of themselves and not dividing - this is also hinted at by the many-headed wheels of the divine Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 1:15-18), absorbed in divine love, they remain in identity and perfection. By identity we must understand the persistence of their attention to God, and by perfection - the movement of their understanding, together with their essence, in some way towards deification. The unity of intelligible essences with each other must be understood as their godly love for each other, which, being divine and single-creating, collects them, not piling them up in a heap, but lovingly binding them. Existence is mental; although both the mental and the sensory are called homonymously existing, one is united and interconnected, the other is divided and adjacent, as if in a heap. The mental includes the united, such as: animal, light, intelligible world, and the like. Divided and adjacent - for example, an army, a detachment, a clan, a choir. Among the things perceived by the senses, the animal, the tree, the world show unity; division in heap - herd, people, heap, choir. This is a reference to another work of Dionysius, “On Angelic Properties and Orders.” By purifications appropriate to angels, he means purifications like those of Isaiah and Ezekiel, who ate a chapter of the book in a frenzy (Ezek. 3:1-3). An example of the fulfillment of angelic perfection, which he speaks of, is the case of Daniel and the angel who gave him the interpretation, as well as with the shepherd who dedicated Hermas, which we read about there, in “The Shepherd”. And how the angels themselves are purified and consecrated, he speaks in the treatise “On the Heavenly Hierarchy.” Notice why they are called angels and that they too are lights. Note that other souls follow the angels, being below them, and that the angels guide the souls leading the angelic life. We read about this in The Shepherd. Note that the souls of the righteous are raised to the Good Beginning of all good things, i.e. to God, and, finding themselves participating in His radiance, freely present themselves. Link to the essay “On the Soul”. He speaks of souls that are dumb and endowed only with feelings. Note also that the soul is one thing, and life is another. He calls reptiles, such as frogs, crayfish, those who have received their destiny to live as amphibians; hidden by the earth - moles and the like. Note, then, that other souls follow the angels, being lower than them, and that they are immortal because they were created as realized lives, and that the angels guide the souls leading the angelic life, as stated above. We have already said above that a property is a constant quality. So everything inanimate and soulless, skillfully created by the goodness of God, was brought into existence in this way, such as various stones, earth and fossils, which received their qualities in the form of some kind of benefit. And that which serves healing and our benefit does not acquire such a property from the outside, but from God within its essence it also received its characteristic quality. See how denials, when applied to God, are decisively superior to affirmations, such as: formless, insubstantial, lifeless, insane. After all, they contain the idea of ​​​​non-existence and yet - in the sense of superiority - are thought of in relation to God, after taking away everything that exists super-essentially (He is not anything that exists). He further explains this more fully. How does something that does not exist strive for Good? After all, if it itself does not exist, then how can it strive? We believe that by non-existent he means evil. As he shows below, so-called evil itself appears for the sake of Good. He calls the goodness of God the cause of the heavenly principles and limits: after all, out of the abundance of goodness, God created them too. And by celestial principles and limits one should understand the spherical structure of the heavens, located around, so to speak, the point, or center, of the will of God. The shape of a circle, starting from itself, ends in itself. He calls the heavenly essence non-increasing and non-decreasing as perfect and sufficient for what it appeared for. That’s why he calls it unchangeable, because it hasn’t changed since its appearance. And that which does not increase or decrease is absolutely... He called it limits, not boundaries, because the movement of the heavens is spherical and does not actually have a limit, but as if a limit, where and from where, as if from some beginning, it rushes, as if to some limit, for example, to the east. Notice also that the sky moves, he says, silently and imperceptibly. And “the varied through passage of some moving stars” - he’s talking about the planets. Notice also that, in his opinion, only they move. Notice where time calculations come from. “Two luminaries” he speaks of the sun and the moon. He called them “great” after David: he calls his psalms Orations. “Periodic revolution” he calls the movement from the same place to the same place made during the year by the sun passing through the circle of the zodiac. The moon, in a certain number of days from approaching the sun, reaches this complete diminishment. Note that the calculation of time depends on this, as well as on months. Properly restrained. I wrote this above - that God is in everything, and nothing is in everything. And here he says more - that He is also above all essence, which he says below: “that He is the filling of the non-existent.” Look how he says: “neither the higher can achieve Her superiority, nor the lower can escape the sphere of what is attainable by Her,” i.e. the divine has neither beginning nor end, so that the highest heavenly powers do not comprehend Her, not as if this were possible, but She was not comprehended by them, do not think so, but because it is impossible. This is precisely a case of “knowing in ignorance.” For having become supreme and through love of God united with the highest powers, we realize that, together with all the angels, we do not know the divine nature. That is, what His integrity contains, in accordance with the Measure Which it contains. Why do they speak of Him as the Measure of existence. Or - because He knows the beginning and end of everything as the only Creator. Returning to this below, he explains himself. God is called order either because He created everything well-ordered, or because, being contained by the faith of people who come to Him, He neither immerses the weaker with His abundance, nor is it contained in a diminished form due to the descent by more holy people, but accordingly, applied to my vessel, exudes goodness in me. Just as the sun, perceived by the senses, illuminates everything visible, and what is not involved in its light is not part of it due to its own weakness, so it is in relation to God: He sanctifies everyone who wants it. The Divine Dionysius immediately took good care of what seems strange among the statements about the sun. For having said that the soulless sun is a visible image of the goodness of God, calling creation the image of the Creator, this is at first, he immediately added: “an insignificant echo.” He explains this more fully in the next chapter. It should be said about what “insignificant echo” is. So, if someone says something, exclaiming in a loud voice, then those present with normal hearing will hear both the voice and what was said; and whoever stands a little further away will hear the words weaker as they move away; Those who have moved away to a great distance will perceive some insignificant and unclear part of the echo, so that they will hear some meaningless sound, but will not understand the words. This should be considered the relationship of sunlight to true light - as inaccessible by distance. Do not think that the sun is the cause of birth, life, growth or improvement of anything in existence, like no other element, even one of the very necessary ones, such as water. After all, we can live without sun and water, although not in the best way, but still for a sufficient time. But God, knowing that cold is completely sterile, but moderate heat promotes birth, and that plants and seeds need heat, as well as all bodies that have life - either sensual or vegetable, and many things are purified by heat so that they become white - such as clothes and other things; heat also renews withered seeds - for this purpose He made the sun have such a nature that everything that is said about, it created in the name of the Creator, having received the ability to do this not by its own will or power. Saint Dionysius said this superbly, as if explaining himself, below, at the end of the fifth chapter and at the end of the sixth. Think carefully and don't get confused! Therefore he calls the sun the measure and number of hours, because it begins the day; Time creates the cycle of days. He called it measure because it measures our life; He says, “all of our time.” Note that the sun also shone during the three days preceding its creation, being formless; and that on the fourth day the primeval light was transformed into the sun; and what he said, as Basil the Great clearly said in Six Days, about the triad of days. Do not overlook the fact that what was said above was said not about the sun, but about the primordial light formed in the sun. Those. the beginning and reason for the unification and likening of truly existing things. See how he divides all things and is above all things the King, to whom all things strive. First of all he talks about the mental, then about the verbal. What is mental is something that is not involved in bodies, as are all supermundane forces. And human souls are verbal, having a connection with the body, since a person is endowed with feelings. For if only the inner man acts, according to the Apostle, i.e. the soul without all connection with the body, then the person turns out to be mental, but he cannot, perhaps, be called verbal, like any animal consisting of a body and a verbal soul. Mental and verbal, he says, consciously strive for God, as if this passion were inherent in their nature - to know the King of all and to be involved in His goodness; as a result of which the existence of a cognizing and verbal soul is beautifully called aspiration towards Good. Dumb animals are directed towards Good by the most sensual force of life. And the insensitive, such as plants and creatures that are soulless and lifeless, rushes towards the Good naturally - not, however, in order to know It, but in order to abide in It, because only with the help of natural striving is it held by the Good in its own being. Aggregate – collected. Note that the sun is so called because it “couples and gathers what is scattered,” and that he denies that the sun is a god, although, as we said, for those who have gone astray through frivolity, there is much evidence that the opposite is the case. He writes to the “opinion of antiquity” either because they, the divine Dionysius and the divine Timothy, were Hellenes, as is clear from the Acts of the Holy Apostles, or to call the opinion of the Hellenes insane, for they called the sun ancient and original, as stated in the comedy. For it is said: “Come to Him, and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed” (Ps. 33:6). To the one who loves a lot, much is given, and to the one who loves less - in accordance with the measure of love. Because, as he says above, God is Order and our Measure. Supermundane is a mind from the category of some highest holy minds, angelic ranks, above all worlds. Some of them are at peace, i.e. in the service associated with worlds, with the management of their devices; they are sometimes called peace guides. Some of the minds are in the world, among people and angels, who rule over nations and rule cities, under churches and among saints, as the divine John says in the Apocalypse, and under other worldly structures. And the Psalmist says: “The angel of the Lord will fight” (Ps. 33:8). The spiritual mind is supramundane, the spiritual mind is near-mundane, and the carnal mind is within the world. In other words: the one who has mastered theology is above-worldly, the one who has mastered the knowledge of nature is near-worldly, the one who has mastered practical virtue is within the world. Everything that unites, warms, nurtures and changes. For ignorance separates from God, while light gathers and unites, as he said above. From idols and related polytheism. He calls representations figurative thoughts about what is perceived by the senses, or as if perceived. God is called beautiful in the Song of Songs (Song.1:15), just as he is also called Beauty, and David says: “He who blooms with beauty is greater than the sons of men” (Ps.45:3). What is called beautiful is that which is associated with beauty. And notice how the beautiful and beauty are divided among existing things into the communion and the communed. It is not so with God, for He is called Beauty (κάλλος) because He gives charm to everything (καλλονή) and because He attracts everything to Himself (καλεΐ), and Beautiful - as He is eternally Existing and never decreases or increases. God is the one-formed Beautiful, since he is not scattered into properties and types that give rise to beauty, and is not beautiful for some and not for others, but unshakably, without beginning, absolutely, naturally and in the same way, he is eternally the Beautiful himself. And it is said that He has beauty in Himself because He, before all creation, is the Source, the Beginning and the Cause of the beautiful, which is why He possesses the beautiful in abundance. Although there is a lot of beauty, all beauty is from Him and not as beautiful as He is. Whence it follows that He is the causeless Beautiful, and everything is due to reason and participation. After all, God is the uniquely Beautiful, since from Him comes the beautiful after Him, and it possesses the beautiful as if in the form of a quality. The Scripture says: “Behold, everything is very beautiful” (cf. Gen. 1:31), and, according to Zechariah, everything that is beautiful came from there, from the causeless Beautiful (cf. Zech. 9:17). For for the sake of the Beautiful, combinations of elements arose, which he calls combinations; and the ordered connections of existence, called love and communication of all virtuous verbal beings, are maintained; and one way or another, a mindset turned to God, which is manifested by the Church of the Firstborn in heaven and on earth; and herd life among the dumb; and the receptive attraction of soulless creatures to each other. After all, everything is united by the Beautiful, connected by participation to the Cause. God is called the Limit of everything, both as containing everything, and as having embraced everything for safety, and because for His sake everything was brought into being, and does not need anyone else for perfection. Hence He is called both the Beginning of everything - as the Cause, and the Middle - as giving extension in constancy, and the Completion - as limiting existence according to His desire, to which it returns, which is why he calls Him the Highest Goal - as the Beginning and the End, according to John in the Apocalypse (Rev. 1:8), and the Pattern - as having in Himself the predestination of all the future, before it was brought into being, as the apostle said: “Whom He also predestined” (cf. Rom. 8:30) and so on. This is precisely the meaning that Saint Dionysius had in mind when he said “Model”: the prophetic predetermination in Himself of what will happen before its implementation; those. - that the all-encompassing, unique foreknowledge of God limited and divided everything in advance. You will find this in the next, fifth chapter. Pay attention to his words that the Beautiful is identical to the Good. How can a “non-existent” be involved in Good? After all, if it does not exist, then it has no aspiration and is not involved in anything that exists. It should, therefore, be said that this divine man understands “non-existent” in different ways: sometimes he calls the divine itself that way, as not being anything that exists, sometimes matter, and sometimes, for various reasons, he calls evil that way. It can be said, therefore, that matter participates in goodness, as a result of which it acquired form and was freed from its recent formlessness; or - that evil participates in Good, because thinking itself, for the sake of beautiful freedom of choice, wants there to be evil; and that evil wants to exist forever, and everything that strives to exist strives for Good. Two leaves above he says that God exists above being; so that someone can perfectly well say that God exists above existing things, and non-existing things participate in the Good, since they also exist above existing things and are not anything from existing things. Be sure to note how he says that the non-existent turns out to be beautiful and good when it comes to God, for God is called both the Existing and the Non-Existing, as being nothing of the existing and unknowably beyond everything: for there is nothing that knows, according to which God is nothing. It is beautifully said: “essential”: existences in themselves are higher than essences; speaking here about created things, he rightfully added “existence” to “essentials.” “Conjunctions” are said not because something forming a unit was juxtaposed in a heap, but because the Source and Origin of beings was God, and from Him all that exists appeared, shining and coming into being as it descended, just as a sediment appears, standing out. “Identities” are those that elevate and unite with God the powers of intelligible beings, as well as “similarities,” since they both come from Him and lead to Him. “Differences” - because the difference, relegating and dividing, has increased to the degree of visibility with manifestations of God's will reaching the lowest limits. “Dissimilarity” again - since it happens that what exists is in every way different from the created one and unlike it. “Communities of opposites” are mixtures of elements, for all bodies consist of four elements. And the “relationship of equals” is the interconnection of two worlds, the visible and the intelligible, a device in which, as they descend, solid bodies multiplying from the single essence of matter are interconnected as if by a chain. Using this, you will understand the following. An example of the “immiscibility of the united” is the uniqueness of each person in the community of the human race: by the common logos of the essence we are all united, but thanks to the individuality of each we are immiscible. He talks about three types of states of rest and movement, which he lists: minds, souls and bodies. So, we must understand this properly. As for minds, they stand and move, as Isaiah and Ezekiel say about the seraphim and cherubim, since they ascend and descend, as Moses says. For, constantly turning to God and remaining extended to Him, they are sent and descend to those below for the sake of providence for those for whom it is appropriate. This means being in complete peace, close to God, and moving, serving those who benefit. They move, thinking about what is superior, and they stand, being cognized by the weaker, as intelligible, abiding in their own identity, for they are a guard and an abode for themselves, located in themselves and concentrated in themselves, and not scattered in alien piety. After all, everything that is less is directed towards what is superior. The movements of minds and souls are circular and cyclical, as Ezekiel says, since they come out of themselves and return back to themselves without leaving themselves. This is what concerns the incorporeal. Rest and movement in relation to bodies should be understood in such a way that matter remains as the basis, and moves in the changes and transitions of animate and soulless bodies arising from it. Notice how the heavenly minds move: in a circle, in a straight line and in a spiral; and how the spiral movement of the soul is conceived. Divine minds move: either in a circle, or in a straight line, or in a spiral. Since, as we wrote above, the rational is the intelligible, the intelligible is the intelligible, and food for the thinker is the intelligible, naturally, in relation to the soul, he speaks of its (as only the intelligible superior) mental powers. She is not comprehended by anyone, and among all the smart things she is the last. The powers of the soul consist in adaptability to feelings. You see from here how different the soul is from intelligible beings. After all, those who comprehend with their minds and in unity, that is, in continuous pressure, understand the divine illuminations that surpass them, revealing themselves in their own measure, but the soul - verbally and narratively, i.e. dividing into parts, and being taught from the sacrament. For the mind, embarking on reasoning, is, as it were, divided and needs to represent what is understood in a word that explains through many examples what is superior. So, the soul acts in a mixed and changeable way, even when it thinks, for this is characteristic of the soul, and when it is guided from the outside to something higher: after all, it ascends from something alien. Verbal souls move: either in a circle, or in a spiral, or in a straight line. Look, he says that what is perceived by the senses is characterized by three types of movement: circular, spiral and straight. We approach this understanding from what has been said about the soul. It is cyclical when what is perceived by the senses acts on its own in accordance with its abilities and qualities, for example, fire heats, water cools, and so on in a similar way. Spiral - when it acts transitionally, for example, fish and birds are formed from the waters, and the rod of Moses turns into a snake, and the like. In a straight line - when it returns back to its beginnings, for example, when, after the destruction of the existing, the perishing breaks up into its former elements. The movement of what is perceived by the senses can be understood as change and incorruption. Based on the fact that the rest of such means becoming, it is obvious that movement is the opposite. And note that what is changed and subject to decay is directed from Him, through Him and into Him. “Therefore” – it is clear that because of the Good and the Beautiful. How to understand “all unity and plurality”? Imagine the whole world as a great plant, and all its animate parts, such as the base and trunk, and parts of parts like branches, twigs and leaves, living in some way (if you agree with me that each of them is a kind of independent living being, maintaining the unity and order of the whole, accordingly with which the tree itself lives by itself and in its parts; which is what it means to live: for the intelligent - mentally and logically, for the dumb - sensually, and for the soulless and lifeless - vegetative and productive) and living, as I said, on its own, each lives in motion together with the whole - parts with everything together - and you will understand the fusion and cohabitation of everything in one and in multitude, since each lives in an appropriate way and in its own way, as we said. And again, if everything is from the one and only God, then it is rightly called both one - because of connectedness and harmony, and many - because of the diversity of each individually. Boundaries are words that interpret the essence, type and meaning of each thing and explain what it is. The exemplar cause or principle is that in accordance with which the emergent comes into being. And this is either an idea, which is an independent eternal thought of the eternal God, or an eternal pattern, established by nature, in accordance with which what arises arises. After all, ideas and patterns are incorporeal, and the cause, or the beginning, is the highest goal for the sake of which what arises is realized. This is either the cause that is the highest goal and inseparable from completion; or that from which, as existing, arises that which arises, as, for example, matter, from which everything is. God made her too. The creative cause is separated from the accomplishment, like God and everyone from whom the arising arises. Understand how the non-existent is in the Good. Since that which does not exist exists in Him super-essentially, I would not call negative definitions, such as: beginningless, incorruptible, immortal and the like, related to essence; This is not what God is, since He exists before this; It was learned from Him what it is; But we don’t know what God is or how God exists, nor why He is inexpressible and incomprehensible. This is not the beginning of Him, but from Him. He is the Cause and Nothing, since everything exists later than Him, as the Cause of being and non-being. And nothingness itself is absence, for it takes place due to the non-existence of anything existing. And the non-existent exists because of being and super-existence: God, who appears to everyone as the Creator, is Nothing Like the All-Superior One, but rather the Super-Superior and Super-Essential. Read also on the previous sheet what I wrote about the non-existent. I noted a similar thing above, in the first chapter - that the lower ones always strive for the higher ones as being embraced by them and being the object of their providence, while equals responsively love equals in rank, and, simply put, everything loves each other and itself. And God loves everything, striving to make everything good. He wonderfully says that good Love, which pre-exists in the Good, did not remain fruitless, but gave birth to us good love, thanks to which we strive for the Beautiful and the Good. For the divine is active and generative, according to what has been said: “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). Notice here the divine movement: beneficent Love moved the divine to Providence, to compose us, so that what is moved would be active and would not remain fruitless. Based on this, understand the words “When the Unit moved...” and other things said by Gregory the Theologian in the first word “About the Son.” Those. the creature produced; so that in which the love movement is revealed is due to Her. Note that God should not be called by strange names unless they are used in divine Scripture—which is what he now says in connection with the name “Love”; and that one should pay attention not to the words, but to the meaning of the speech; because he explains it divinely. Please note that we are not prohibited from using equivalent words in speech. Note also that “homeland” and “fatherland” mean the same thing. Why do we use syllables and words? Keep reading in mind. He wants to say the following. We use the spoken word, which refers to something perceivable by the senses, when we need words, syllables, letters and writing to explain what is being said. If, thanks to direct energies, the soul itself strives towards the intelligible, then, beyond the limits of the senses, the senses are unnecessary, for the highest is imagined. When it becomes god-like, advancing little by little in prostration, and thanks to unity with the unknowable, gains access to the unapproachable light, then mental energies are superfluous, as well as sensory ones, since the soul conceives the highest of such, finally uniting with God. And when at the same time she imagines something base and tries to take up something sensual, then she needs to look for more precise words and more clearly visible things. Note that the mind is one thing, and the soul is another. He calls speculation mental powers, which are lower than the mind and dispel it. So, when the soul wants to direct its gaze upward, to God, and to the best of its ability to unite with Him, it must turn away its eye, i.e. mind, from the particular and make the leap to the more general. Speculations are, as we said, private. Then becoming entirely mind and turning inward, becoming united and simple, it can perceive the divine rays. Thanks to commendable ignorance - not from uneducated ignorance, but from the understanding that she does not know what is incomprehensible in God - she will cognize, tasting the divine illuminations not with the help of sensory eyes, but without the participation of the eyes - with mental perception. He explains what serves to clarify what is perceived by the senses, and says that these are clearer words and more clearly visible. Note that even then there were people who clung to names. He fills their mouths with quotations from divine Scripture. Note that “liking” means “love” and that the more divine name is Love. And in this some people see a convenient reason to slander this work as not belonging to the divine Dionysius, because, they say, Ignatius lived later than him: how can a person mention those who lived after him? But even this, which seems to them, is fiction. For Saint Paul, who enlightened Dionysius, was younger in years than Saint Peter, after whom Ignatius became bishop of Antioch, when Peter was removed to Rome. And Paul, who enlightened Dionysius, lived for many years, and Dionysius lived after him. And the Evangelist John, to whom Dionysius responds with a letter, was exiled to Patmos under Domitian. Ignatius suffered martyrdom before Domitian. Therefore, he was the predecessor of Dionysius. If Ignatius writes to the Romans: “My love has been crucified,” speaking of Onesimus, who was after Timothy, one must wonder how Dionysius, writing to Timothy, remembers this as if Ignatius had already written it. It is possible that one of the philologists put this next to the text for a better understanding of what was said about divine love by Saint Dionysius, and later, out of ignorance, it was brought inside, which, as we know, happens very often. After all, without this, the text of the word would look like without a gap. Or, rather, this expression was inherent to him, Ignatius, like the nickname “God-Bearer,” because he often said and wrote it. This is supported by the fact that it is not added to whom he writes - that to the Romans, but it is said simply: “After all, the divine Ignatius also writes.” You need to know that he refers to the books of Solomon from the divine Scripture as “introductions”, hence the saying. Please note that words should be used in accordance with what the majority understands. He talks about what love does, and about two types of love, divine and partial, i.e. befitting bodies. This is what David says about Jonathan in the First Book of Samuel. Note that “liking” (άγάπη) and “love” (έρως) mean the same thing and what the action of love is. Those. connecting lovers with each other. As he said above, divine love, pre-existing in Good, gave birth to the love characteristic of us, thanks to which we strive for Good. David also writes about the frenzy (εκστασις) of love: “I said in my frenzy” (Ps. 116:2). Notice how “having gone out of oneself to God” is understood. Notice that God loves everyone. Why is God called Zealous - as one who desires (έραστής) the salvation of all. He calls Him the Giver and Parent of affection and love. For, having them in Himself, He brought them out, that is, into the realm of creation. And therefore it is said: “God is love” (1 John 4:16), and in the Song of Songs He is called love (Song 2:4, 8:6-7), as well as sweetness and desire (Song 5:16), which is love. What is desired and truly beloved is He Himself. They say that, pouring out attracting love from Himself, its Parent Himself also moves. Due to the fact that He Himself is truly His Beloved Desired, He moves what strives for it and gives them the corresponding strength of aspiration. Understand me that the power that leads and drives us to love union in the Spirit is God, i.e. At the same time, He is the Mediator and Connector with Himself, so that He may be loved and desired by His creations. He calls Him the mover, as the mover of everyone, according to each one’s own logos, so that he turns to Him. The word “pandering” among external people means an unclean thing, but here he means hospitable mediation towards unity in God. Pay attention to the divine movement by which He is moved, in which both the pimp and the mover are God. The loving union with God is transcendental and surpasses any union. So, he calls the highest transcendental. He calls Divine Love beginningless and endless, as coming from Good and returning to Good in the shape of a circle, since the circle does not know where it begins and where it ends. After all, aspiration comes from the Good Itself and strives towards It. In Him, Love exists and abides for innate Goodness and for those who are drawn to the Good. Note that the movement of love, which pre-exists in Good, which is simple and self-propelled in Good, originating from Good, returns there again, as beginningless and endless, which reveals our impulse towards the divine. Note also that he says that the eternal circle comes from the Good, is sent down from It to what is perceived by the mind and senses, and returns to It again, without stopping or ceasing. Understand how the great Hierotheus philosophizes about praiseworthy eros in the best possible way, first of all calling eros divine, since the transcendental and causeless First Cause of heavenly eros is God. For if, as stated above, Eros is love, for it is written: “God is love” (1 John 4:8), then it is clear that God is Eros, or Love, that unites everyone. From Him She passes to the angels, which is why he called Her angelic - they especially reveal a divine love for unity, for they have no inconsistency and no reason for strife. Then, after the angelic, he calls mental eros, i.e. the love of God-wise men belonging to the Church, addressing whom Paul says: “Let the same things be said,” and so on (Phil. 2:2), and the Lord: “That ye may be one, even as We are one” (John 17:11). This applies to true Christians, but also to other people who have the law of friendship. He called verbal souls rational, because they come from the divine mind. And he called spiritual the eros of the dumb, friendship based on feelings, i.e. - without the participation of the mind. Because of this love power, birds such as swans, geese, cranes, crows and the like fly in flocks; and deer, bulls and the like walk on the earth in the same way, in herds; and, likewise, tuna and mullet swim together and lead a similar lifestyle to them. And creatures that are not gregarious are also driven to mate with similar ones. He called the physical eros of soulless and insensitive creatures, corresponding to their natural inclination. And they rush to God with their life, i.e. natural movement. And above we said that the rational is the thinking, and the mental is the thinking; and, undoubtedly, the thinkable surpasses the thinker, for which reason the thinkable is food for the thinker. The rational passionately desires the intellectual, being turned towards it and as if raised. And the mental passionately desires the rational, in order to providentially convey to it the corresponding benefit. And it is recognized that their love is higher than the love of sensual beings. They are called mental and reasonable, I think, because they became so from participation in the existing Good. And in the proper sense of the word, mental love is divine, as well as God's. For just as from the good one is good for someone, and the other is simply Good, absolute Good, so from the mental, one is mental for someone, because it is thought, and the other is simply Mental, not as time or space, for they are also comprehended by the mind, since they are not perceived by the senses, but as the Mind of the mental, which is Energy, Living and Life. And what follows after Him is mental is found through research and study related to these problems, or is learned from revelation. He calls irresponsible something that has nothing to do with anything, i.e. natural relationship. Having spoken about general love, he also points to its particular types, saying that God is both universal and partial as the Cause and Distributor of everything, in accordance with the strength of each, as if an outpouring of love. How God can be a whole and a part, abiding unoriginally in Himself, will become clear with the help of the image of a seed. After all, when the seed is ejected into the uterus without rupturing, one embryo is conceived; if the seed is divided, then each part conceives a whole embryo in different chambers of the uterus; and the nose, eyes, etc., and everything in perfect form, are obtained from the seed. After all, something similar should be thought by analogy regarding the all-perfect Mind: for His activity as a whole embraces the parts, and each of the parts is perfect. And justice in the proper sense of the word is one thing, courage in the proper sense of the word is another, and so on. They never mix with each other, but each is different from the other. And they have inseparability not with disorder, taking, if possible, participation in each other. After all, each of the varieties takes part in other forms according to its ability. Thus, God is both the whole and part of love. Since he said that even non-existent things in some way desire the Good and want to be in It, a few pages higher you will find that he says the same thing, although this is explained from Hellenic teachings. Most of all, he fights with the Hellenes and Manichaeans, the leaders of the doctrine of evil. It is necessary to explain more thoroughly what is called “non-existent” and why it is pious and necessary for what exists to have a single Origin. This is what it means to think sensibly - to believe that It is God. If there are different principles, they will certainly turn out to be countless. If the single beginning is God, then, therefore, He is both the truly Existent and the Good Itself. The mind will certainly find the opposite of what has been said: after all, when there is a beginning, there will certainly be an end; and if there is something that exists, something that doesn’t exist will also appear; and if there is good, there will also be evil. But since existing things are essences and species, non-existent things must be formless and essenceless, perceived purely logically. The ancients called this non-existent and devoid of form matter, which they also call the utmost ugliness. Matter is called non-existent not because it is a complete nothing, but because it does not exist. For the truly Existent, as well as the Good Itself, is God. After all, matter was brought forth from non-existence by God, but not, as some people decided, without form and image. So matter is not the beginning of what is perceived by the senses, but rather its filling and a kind of limit and foundation of existence. Therefore, she, unlike verbal beings, is not the image of God and not a reflection of the truly Existent. And the reflection of the truly mental world, perceived by the senses, insofar as it is perceived by the senses, does not exist without matter, but, having some kind, surpasses matter. Matter can never be perceived without the appearance and qualities that are its properties. For has there ever been fire without warmth, or light, or whiteness of color, or water without coolness, or moisture, or dark blue? Or earth and air in the same way? That's why I said that matter is considered logically, as that which is devoid of form, qualities and image, from which the visible and invisible appeared - being that. brought forth by God from non-existence not before it was laid down as a foundation, and then, as the divine Moses teaches, formless matter was ordered. So matter exists in God, because it was brought into being by Him. She is thought of as existing in Him super-essentially, since He, as the Good One, contains everything. You will find this further in different places in the text. He further explores this question, saying that if everything is from Good, then where did evil come from and how did angels become demons? All this is against the Manichaeans. He well and accurately applied the word “beautiful” to the angels. After all, God is Good Himself in essence, and what comes after Him, as becoming better from participation, from the outside, thanks to the desire for Him, is rightly called good, and not really good. Look how he poses, as if exploring, questions, bearing in mind the objections of such enemies as the Manichaeans. They serve, however, to clarify the correct point of view of this divine man. After all, he says: evil came from what beginning? - “and if from another reason,” and everything like that that belongs to his opponents. And then: how did the Good One want to produce it? How does evil exist in the presence of Providence? - showing with the help of this that if evil had an origin at all, then it had it from Good, that only Providence controls everything, and that from this it follows that existence has a single good Origin. In order to explore this, this divine man posed questions, for then he consistently clearly answers them, showing that evil has no hypostasis, that it does not exist in nature, but that it arises as a result of the absence of Good, not existing even as a logically conceivable non-existent. This is hinted at by the words of the thirty-sixth psalm: “I saw the wicked exalting himself like the cedars of Lebanon, and I passed by, and, behold, he was not, and I sought him,” that is, his place, “and did not find him” (Ps. 36:35-36). This shows that evil, although it ascends greatly, does not exist and will not even leave a place behind itself, i.e. trace. Simultaneously with its appearance, it, having no basis, disappears. Don't think he's saying anything to the contrary. Notice how amazingly he weaves a refutation using various conclusions. After all, the one who gets angry or falls into a rage (as an example, talking about this seems appropriate), when someone with whom he is angry does some harm, uses such indignation to turn him to the opposite, that is, to the Good. We said above that if God is said to exist super-essentially, as the beginningless and the Cause of everything, then His opposite is, as the last of the existing and relatively super-essential God, insubstantial, i.e. matter, called non-existent, abiding in God, appeared thanks to His goodness, and although, due to confusion with what is perceived by the senses, is not completely bad, it is not completely good, as he shows, due to instability. For its evil consists precisely in instability; part of the good, since it came from God, remains in God. Evil in the proper sense of the word (I am not talking about depravity, which, as a form and quality, either occurs in verbal beings or does not exist, but about simple evil itself) does not exist either among things that are, in any way desiring good, or among things that do not exist, in other words, among the material, as understood in the Superessential. But even from the non-existent, which is matter, evil is further away than from Good. And from here it naturally follows that evil, in the proper sense of the word, is more insubstantial than matter, as a completely complete nothingness. So simply evil-in-the-own-sense of the word never exists in any way. Evil in matter is due to a lack of good, due to which it is thought of as not being perceived by the senses. without a form. From here you will understand the words of the prophet Obadiah: “And they will be as they were not” (Obd.1:16), spoken, of course, about sinners. Having proposed an antithesis here, he further develops the objection at length, as if from a blessedly bright opposition. After all, if we do not admit that there is something opposite to good, i.e. evil, then virtue will not be considered good, but everything will be indistinguishably mixed, and virtue will not be praised, and its opposite will not deserve reproach, because if there is no law, then there will be no sin. Therefore, he says, objecting, if we do not admit that there is evil opposite to good, then good itself will be opposite to itself in cases where they sin due to a lack of good. But even before virtue acts in a virtuous person, we see that in his soul the vices differ from virtue. After all, when the verbal part of the soul does its work, it does not stumble in anything good. But when the wordless part of the soul takes over, which mixes with matter and the body, then the verbal part encounters an obstacle in its activity. And the wordless part of the Soul deteriorates due to mixing with matter. The verbal part is spoiled not by mixing with matter, but by inclination towards matter, i.e. from the fact that it yields to the dumb, and does not dominate it, like an eye in the dark, unable to see. But this does not prove the appearance of evil-in-the-proper-sense-of-the-word, for what is evil for someone is not evil-in-the-proper-sense-of-the-word. But malice also exists, being a type and case of evil, for it depends on additional circumstances what exactly it will turn out to be. For example, injustice is the depravity of the soul; and, again, the types of injustice depend on the matter of the desire: in one case it is property, and in the other it is honor. And in addition, each part of the soul generates its own type of evil. Cowardice or impudence - the ability to rage, licentiousness and recklessness - the ability to wish. Evils also give rise to their own type of energy: thus, cowardice is, as it were, a lack of the ability to attack, while impudence is an excess of this ability; and licentiousness comes from the ability to covet. So, it is clear that even before action, vices are distinguished in the soul from virtues due to the existence of the dumb and verbal parts of the soul. That which belongs to the dumb manifests another law, which wars with the mind, as the apostle says (cf. Rom. 7:23), and, without being defeated, it takes, as we have shown, the verbal part of the soul captive. Those. against the verbal part of the soul. In other words, if a process of decay is noticed in existing things, or rather, if something of existing things undergoes corruption, then the existence of evil is thereby revealed. This is shown by the words “does not deprive”. The objecting side also includes the fact that, first of all, evil exists and exists in existence. And although evil represents the death of beings, it happens that the death of one leads to the birth of another. So the egg, dying, turns into a bird, and the bean, swelling and hiding in the ground, is transformed into the corresponding embryo, and the bodies of ours and other animals - into worms; and thousands like this; for example, horses give rise to wasps, and bulls produce bees. Solution to the proposed contradictions: if corruption is evil, and corruption corrupts evil, then what happens - evil corrupts itself? For if evil is in matter, then it is clear that it is easily subject to corruption: but it is matter, and it corrupts itself. That is why matter is called immaterial - in comparison with the essence of the super-essential God - as subject to corruption, not eternally existing and ugly - in comparison with the image of God, as Moses called the creative Word. Matter is called non-existent in comparison with the existence of the divine essence. It says “being evil” instead of “because it is evil.” Note that in divine words there is a tradition arising from the unimpeded search for more accurate judgments. For, as you see, having stated one opinion and having examined it, he sets forth another, more accurate one. Unalloyed and complete benefits are born from Good for supramundane mental beings - as incorporeal. Goodness with admixture is seen in rational bodies, i.e. with us, for the dumb part of the soul participates, as has been said, in matter, which has a form thanks to the body, while the verbal part, inclining towards the dumb and sometimes submitting to it, because of this sinks to matter. As for evil-in-the-proper-sense-of-the-word, it should be considered as evil-infinite-in-the-proper-sense-of-the-word, immeasurable-in-the-proper-sense-of-the-word, formless-in-the-proper-sense-of-the-word, essentially directed against oneself, and not against another, for this is a type and case of depravity. Thus, it is appropriate for evil to be something like what we said - like God, the Limit-in-the-own-sense of the word, the Measure-in-the-own-sense of the word, the Form-Creator-in-the-own-sense of the word and the Good-in-the-own-sense of the word in essence. I am not saying now that He is good for another, for this is accidental. How is it possible for evil in essence and for others, in a mixed form, harming completely everything that exists, having existence in Good, being completely not involved in Good in anything, while everything, according to its ability, participates in Good? So evil does not exist in being, but appears when it comes out - in the deprivation of good. By extremely remote we must mean material earthly bodies. For just as the Beginning of everything is God, as we have already said, so the end of everything is this dung-like, rough, earth-like part of matter, which is why it is called the footstool of God. But even though she is the limit, she nevertheless participates in His goodness - as one who carries Him at the limit. After all, Wisdom also says: “This earth-like tabernacle burdens the mind that thinks too much,” as the dumb part of the soul, mixed with the material body and sometimes taking precedence over the verbal part of the soul. Indeed, to the extent that something from among the creation descends to something more coarse and material, it participates less in the degree of deprivation and impoverishment of good, as if in a small and extremely weak echo. Imagine, as we have already said, that someone shouted loudly; those who are nearby and have healthy hearing will fully perceive the scream and make out the words, but those at some distance will hear what is said worse - depending on the distance, and those who are very far away will barely perceive only its extremely unclear echo. Something devoid of beauty, not completely, but partially, causes something that is itself devoid of good to exist thanks to a somewhat complete participation in the Good. Not partial, but complete deprivation of good is evil. Look, as he says, that even that which fights against the power of the Good arose and is preserved thanks to Him. Is it really God who is the cause of evil? No way! For God, as the Beginning and Creator of everything, out of abundance of goodness and thanks to ineffable love, endures sinners - in order to show both His love for mankind and the free will of creation. For it is said: “Love endures all things” (Prov. 10:12; cf. 1 Cor. 13:4), and also: “He who commands His sun to rise on the just and the unjust” (cf. Matt. 5:45). His purpose is to show that mere evil-in-the-proper sense of the word is not an entity; and he says that there is nothing among existence and creation that is completely unrelated to Good. For that which has no part at all in the Good, unless it comes from the Good, does not exist. Another creator - who? After all, nothing can exist without being in some way involved in the property or quality of Good. After all, many things continue to exist even if they are deprived of an innate property or quality, as, for example, iron, heated by fire to the utmost degree, remains as it was after the fire dies out; and water, which is itself called a qualityless element, passing through the earth, acquires qualities from it, and as it flows away, it also loses these qualities, but continues to exist; also, that which is covered with snow and freezes continues to exist after the cold ceases; and those not involved in animal life, for example, trees, stones, stars, or the mind, such as cattle, nevertheless exist. And God, removed from essence, being super-essential, nevertheless exists and pre-exists. But this cannot be said in relation to Good: after all, if something does not participate in the quality of Good in which it must exist, then it cannot exist. “For in Him we live and have our being,” as the apostle says (cf. Acts 17:28). So what? Isn't the libertine deprived of Good in debauchery? And yet it exists? And he does say that in his very debauchery as in the deprivation of the Good, the libertine, in fact, does not exist and does not desire what exists, for what is debauchery-in-the-proper-sense-of-the-word without some kind of debauchery? However, through an error in judgment, believing that he possesses some kind of good, he unites through love with that which is destructive for him, and although love seems perverted, it is still a weak echo of divine Love, and he takes fantasy for good. It is impossible not to know that when the verbal part of the soul falls into the power of the dumb, it encounters difficulties in its activities and therefore ultimately agrees with the dumb, so that it can neither restrain its impulses nor approve its actions. For false opinions are not opinions of the verbal part, and false thoughts do not belong to the thoughts of the verbal part, since they are not thoughts in the proper sense of the word. As a consequence of this, an angry person sometimes acts erroneously, however, not without the participation of Good, believing that he is angry for the sake of correcting the person being punished; and the ugly man also considers pleasure to be a good accomplishment. This is also why those who fight against God are tolerated - because everything as a whole exists because of Good. For that which is not devoid of Good, but becomes partially devoid of Good, gives something the opportunity to participate in the Good entirely. For not partial, but complete deprivation of Good is evil. And not partially, but completely deprived of Good - such has not been, and is not, and will not be, and cannot be. Note that the libertine, although by the very fact that he is debauched, does not exist and does not desire what exists, yet by the very appearance of union and love he participates in a weak echo of the Good. Note that it is also said about the one who abuses rage that, trying to correct what seems bad to him, he is involved in Good. Likewise, he who desires the worst, or worst, life participates in the Good by the very fact that he desires what seems to him the best life. And he who does evil, believing that he is doing good, participates in Good. Disease, of course, is a kind of impoverishment of health and an increase in material bodies that knows neither measure nor rank due to a change in the proportion of substances, when one thing violates their correct ratio, causing illness. Disease is present in the body to the extent that there is a lack of order in it, and the body exists. For if absolute unevenness destroys the body, i.e. order of substances, then with the destruction of the body in which the disease was, the disease itself is destroyed. The same applies to Good: since It is present in us, we have the power to create evil. For when Good departs, it is impossible to find evil in us. The thought of the divine Dionysius is clear from many things: while struggling with the ideas of evil of some Hellenes, he says that there is no real evil. For in general, evil itself does not exist in essence, not to mention the result of the complete deprivation of Good, which has absolutely nothing to do with It. And such a thing cannot be found anywhere, even in the most formless matter, although some of the Hellenes think so. For in general, everything produced by God, even if extremely weak, participates in Good. Following this, in the tenth chapter, he finally reveals this problem. After all, if evil is mixed with good, i.e. will not exist, firstly, due to a certain decrease in Good and, secondly, due to the fact that only the Creator exists entirely, then this Good consists of evil. So that which is a little lacking in Good is not evil, for such can be perfect in terms of conformity with its nature. It happens, after all, that in relation to the Good something is lacking, but in relation to conformity with one’s nature it is completely lacking; and this is good, and in no case bad, although it is involved in impoverishment as far as the First Good is concerned. And that which is not completely unrelated to Good, but for the most part approaches evil, is not complete evil. Just as that which approaches the Good less, has something of the Good and is realized from It, and accomplishes its very decline due to the fact that it is generally involved in the Good. After all, if there were a complete and complete absence of Good, then it is clear that there would be no good at all, no mixed good, no evil in the proper sense of the word. For where there is no Good, there is nothing in nature. How could evil appear without being carried out by someone? After all, if you remove bodies and light, then there will be no shadow. Thus, evil exists not just like that, but as if in the subject. Good, even without a subject, has and preserves nature, and in itself is Good. Evil, apart from the subject protected by Good - after all, everything comes from Him - does not exist, and does not appear, and does not perish. For how, when there is no subject, can something that is completely unrealizable and never exists in any way perish? Those. commits evil. After all, if evil is the deprivation of Good, and Good carries out the deprivation of Itself, then It carries out evil, which is the deprivation of Good. Note that His deprivation also becomes a partial participation in Good. These, as we have already said, are types of evil. After all, what has the character of essence is not evil-in-the-proper sense of the word, which does not exist. And the evil that happens when someone is committed to shameful weakness is not evil in the proper sense of the word, but a type of evil. For perfect evil in itself does not exist, since it participates - albeit in an extremely weak echo - of Good. Look what he says next: after all, if everything is involved in Good and in everything that exists there is Good, then evil, it turns out, either does not exist or exists in Good. For it is not the nature of fire to cool, and if it begins to cool, then it will no longer be fire. Therefore, even if evil appears, a little Good participates. For everything that exists is and remains in Good, and if it has nothing good, it does not exist. The desire to be itself is a participation in the Good, as has been said many times above. Note that in relation to God it is sometimes well said “cannot,” as, for example, the apostle says: “If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). That every two is not the beginning, but Unity is the beginning of every two, note that it is directed against the Manichaeans. Notice this. Of course, he argues with the Manichaeans, who madly teach that the beginning is a pair of opposites. After all, arithmetic raises a set, by dividing numbers, to the limit, putting one as the beginning of every number, and two as the beginning of even numbers. Thus, the beginning in each genus is the simplest. How can two be the beginning of everything? The two is not a simple beginning, but a complex one. After all, the beginning resulting from addition is not simple; and can it be called a beginning? After all, before this complex beginning there must exist a real beginning, a unit, the addition of which units results in a binary. So it is clear from everywhere that the doctrine of two principles is untenable. Note that it is impossible for two opposing, opposing principles to exist. Since everything participates in Good and is raised to Good by being itself, the goodness and beauty of everything are not the First Beauty, Which everything participates in, being born beautiful and in some way becoming like, participating in, Beauty. Apart from the most imperfect, everything is likened to the same Good and Beauty, as if growing in creatures, and appearing in the nature of beautiful beings. Therefore, “everything is very beautiful” (cf. Gen. 1:31). The nature of the beautiful, being distributed among the multitude, and in some way reaching the complex, which is what people usually call beautiful, shows that the beautiful is composed in different ways and is called differently. The beautiful in existence is neither an essence nor a genus, but is a certain randomly obtained similarity, little by little combined. For what is beautiful is not called uniform, but diverse; they resemble each other only as similar, being multi-faceted in the sense that they exist beautiful in themselves, each in accordance with its own species, and therefore, as being likened, they exist in agreement with each other. Note that Goodness is existence in God. Instead - “by communion.” About angels - that there is no evil in them and why they are called angels. He says “divine” in relation to the nature of the angels who remained godlike. Above we said why he speaks of angels as specious, and not good in the proper sense of the word. For these reasons, therefore, angels are not evil. He also explains the etymology of the word “angels” - why they are called that. Notice that he calls angels images of God, and notice how he speaks. He seems to anticipate the objections of some heretics who attribute angels, at God’s command, torturing sinners, and the very torment of evil, and immediately, in a highly philosophical and correct manner, suppresses them, explaining that those priests who remove defiled and uninitiated people from the church for nasty deeds worthy of punishment - that they, too, who punish the defiled, do not belong to evil - in no way case for it is said: “For he does not bear the sword in vain; he is God’s servant, an avenger to punish those who do evil” (Rom. 13:4). Note this solution to the problem, for it resolves many of the questions of the speakers: are executioners and rulers from God? Note that priests should remove the uninitiated from the divine sacraments. Note that it is not bad that one is punished, but that one has become worthy of punishment. [Note that this is about priests and rulers punishing the defiled.] Note that demons are not evil by nature. Note that decay is not and is not always evil for everything, for example, with regard to animals, snakes and harmful plants. Notice that nothing that exists perishes in the being. Note that he calls decay the irregular movement of nature that violates the harmony of order. The same is said in Ezekiel about the devil: “Your art has decayed along with your beauty” (Ezekiel 28:17). By asserting that even demons are not evil by nature, he answers the Hellenes and Manichaeans. Subjecting then to consideration of their objections and answering them, he says: firstly, they (demons) do not decompose essences, for essences, since they are essences, do not pass into non-existence. Further, even if this is so, corruption is not evil for everything and not everything, as is the case with animals, snakes, harmful herbs and the like. It should be considered whether it is the demons who destroy the force or energy; but first we must briefly say what force is and what energy is. It is appropriate to know that the difference between force and energy is the same as the difference between properties and energy, which is inherent. And a property is a constant quality. This will be clear from the following: fire has the power to heat, and the ability to heat is its property or quality. When a body heats up, energy characteristic or corresponding to the quality of fire acts, for this is a manifestation of energy characteristic of fire. After all, force itself has energy, since the force itself possesses the action it performs. After all, strength is assessed by deed. The corruption of force manifests itself in energy, just as the corruption of essence manifests itself in force. And the corruption of energy is the inability, when manifested, to correspond to order, proportionality and harmony. Thus, incorrect manifestation deprives the ability to remain as one was, both strength, energy, and essence. With the complete, and not partial, loss of what is named, the basis of strength and energy is destroyed; and neither strength nor energy, nor essence, nor even corruption itself remains when that which is subject to corruption perishes. The energy of intelligible and understanding minds is activity corresponding to their nature, i.e. aspiration towards God. And the power of the mind is the ability to condescend to understand what is said. Thanks to the wrong movement, they are deprived of the Good. By nature, evil does not exist. Because it does not lead to perfect corruption of corruption. This is addressed to those who say: if demons are created by God, how evil are they, and is the answer to the question of whether demons are evil. He says that they are not good, not because their nature was created that way, for from Good they came to be good, but because they showed weakness in their natural action. Note that demons have a good essence. Notice what he means by angels who did not retain their origin; and he calls their beginning their production into being. And they were produced “for every good work” (cf. 2 Thess. 2:17; 1 Tim. 5:10; Heb. 3:21), just like us. Among them are demons, and they are only corrupted in that they have lost their good properties and ceased to act for good. So they are evil by choice, not by nature. Goodness is characteristic of those who exist in accordance with their nature. So it's a big difference. Pay attention to the words “property” and “energy”: behold, what he called earlier force, here he calls property; We explained this above in a large note. Note that demons are not completely uninvolved in Good. Note that eternal identity is equivalent to Good. Why do they say that demons are evil? He calls departure from what is proper, and imperfection - departure from what is perfect, or deprivation of perfection. What is fantasy, we said in the first chapter. Here is another proof that there is no evil, evil by nature, but there is only a falling away from Good. For what exists in nature always remains the same and is not lost, like the Good itself. Evil is unstable because it corrupts and changes what is encountered, as we said above. So evil is not in nature, as this divine man said in relation to demons. For if demons are not always evil, then they are not evil by nature, for what exists in nature always remains the same. He showed that since demons exist, think, live and have a desire for good, they are evil not by nature, but because of the perversion of the good in which they appeared. Senseless rage in itself, insane passion in itself and unbridled fantasy - considered in itself, this is not an absolute evil and not for everyone, but it happens that the deprivation of this causes harm to the animal possessing it, as he speaks excellently in the seventh chapter of this work. He perfectly represents that obsession with this is reprehensible, since there is both rage with meaning, such as, for example, against sin and against the enemies of God, and rational passion, such as the desire for the best and what is said: “With desire I desired to eat this Passover with you” (Luke 22:15). The same is true of unbridled fantasy, with the help of which we come into contact with the intelligible, doing this with our mind. He refers to simple possession as possession. And what was said above, I mean rage and associated with it, in some animals represents forces that constitute the peculiarity of their being, and therefore such is not evil. "By nature" means "in accordance with the general." Here, here he clearly says that demons come from angels, for they are not deprived of the angelic gifts given to them, i.e., what is good by nature, they do not return, although they do not want to see the light that is in them, constricting their powers that see the Good, as it is said about the Israelites: “They have closed their eyes, and with difficulty hear with their ears, lest they turn, so that I may heal them” (cf. Matthew 13:15). Note that demons are also light-like; moreover, they are light in essence, like other angels. So in the Gospels it is said: “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (Luke 10:18). It is necessary not just to say this, but to seek out what exists by nature. The words “to the extent that they do not exist” should be understood as follows: they did not become evil by perverting the good properties and energies given to them from God: having put them aside, they became evil and do not exist in relation to them, having received existence as their lot. Why, “desiring what does not exist, they desire evil.” it should be explained like this. God is Being beyond being, and truth is Being, since truth is God. Naturally, the opposite of truth is a lie and non-existence, for it is completely outside of God, not being an image of truth, for it has no good from God. But when it convinces someone that it is completely something, it turns out to be a dark and unclear ghost of something existing - a ghost in action, a lie in action, i.e. true and real lies. For which reason what does not exist by action is also not existing, truly not existing. Thus, as in the case of false beings, when in general everything is falsely existing, if the lie is removed, the whole essence of the matter disappears. Thus, he who desires lies, like demons, desires what does not exist even in what exists, i.e. in truth, does not stand, as the Truth Itself says (see John 8:44). So demons, as Jesus says, being “liars and the fathers of lies” (cf. ibid.), do not exist, and desire things that do not exist, and therefore desire evil - lies. Note that to coexist with the evil with prudence and to do good to them is not evil, according to what was said: “I was like a lawless man to the wicked, and I will also gain the wicked” (cf. 1 Cor. 9:21). Above, in the fifth chapter (?), we said that in existence there is not a complete deprivation of the Good, since otherwise there would be a complete decay of corruption itself, but a partial deprivation of the Good. Therefore, the soul therefore does not completely have evil in itself, but it has something and does not have something, and goodness is in its being, but evil has penetrated from the outside. But even in this case, someone will say that hindrance in the activity inherent in it by nature is evil for the soul; let the obstacle come from the outside, but, as if in darkness that does not allow you to see, the soul will do evil. To this it should be answered that from what has been said it follows that the producer of evil is a hindrance, but not evil in the proper sense of the word; for malice is not the first evil, but a type of evil; just as virtue is a kind of helper on the path to the Good, and not the First Good itself. That is evil is not a certain essence, and it cannot be considered in existing essences as an addition to it, such as force and energy. It seems that all the father’s intentions related to this boil down to this explanation of thought. Note that there is no evil in dumb animals, since they are not evil by nature, and there is no evil in what they are possessed by, such as rage, lust and unbridled imagination. Note that such behavior is natural for dumb people, just as it is natural for a lion and snakes to fly into a rage, and for a dog to bark. Since it is natural, it is not evil. By its nature, nature is the divine art manifested in existence, the results of which divine art are plants, animals, fruits, and the transformation of each of the elements into another, and in general the very essence of what is produced into the world, which is the beginning of movement and rest. Like those who sculpt from wax and practice the plastic arts - people who create their works with their hands - they must have something abiding, namely logos and mind; it is the same with nature as a whole - there is something abiding in it, namely a power that does not create with hands, but represents the desires and thoughts of God, manifesting itself as art in the being of what comes into being. Nature does not need one thing to be at rest and the other to move. For there is matter that is moved in being, and what moves it is the immovable Logos, present as a whole, which is the divine art, which we call nature, which is form, but not something of matter and form. What kind of matter does it need, hot or cold? Created matter carries this within itself. It is not fire that must be present; creative logos are present in both animals and plants, in accordance with how nature is the abiding Logos. The logoi of visible forms are the creations of nature, or the motionless Logos residing in it. How can there be evil in universal nature, when natural logoi exist in creations and in none of them do they contradict nature as a whole, which comes from Good? If, therefore, the universal nature comes from Good, and the logoi “present in each of the creations do not contradict the universal nature, then it is clear that evil is not in nature. It's contrary to beauty. So evil does not exist in general. And that which appears to be in conflict in creations—whether in the relationship of elements, in animals, etc.—struggles not with their own nature, but with that of others. The same thing that appears in them, contrary to nature, in violation of order, is, in relation to nature, a consequence of weakness, and this is not evil, but rather a damage to the structure. Everything, he says, is natural logos, i.e. the reasons why creatures came into being and exist exist due to the divine nature, which, as said, he calls universal, since everything was born from it. He called everything created by God whole nature. There is nothing in nature that would be completely opposite to everything. For something in existence, while it turns out to be unnatural, the same thing for another is natural. And that's good. And when there is no correspondence left to any nature, thanks to which something appeared, this is evil. He called this the denial of the natural - for whatever reason, not fulfilling what he came into existence for. He calls the divine nature universal. Just as beauty is the proportionality of members and parts with good skin color, ugliness is their disproportion. Since some of the philosophers say that thanks to the dumb part of the soul, mixed with matter and the body, bending towards them, the soul creates evil, which he spoke about above, in the most beautiful way the divine Dionysius resolves the bewilderment, pointing to other beings - incorporeal and completely not mixed with matter, which even without a body, due to the impoverishment of good, sin. Note that depravity can appear without a body, like with demons. It is appropriate to briefly explain the opinions of those who say that matter does not exist, and why they call it non-existent, so that the syllogisms of the divine Dionysius can be understood. They call matter non-existent for the following reason: they say that the existing, existing in the intelligible spheres, appeared from the First Existing, close to the existing. Since He is above beings, the beings that come from Him were called other beings, which are below beings. For they called the being of which they speak the matter of the intelligible, perceived only by word, which matter they themselves call form and life - as if something subordinate to intelligible essences; They regard the matter of what is perceived by the senses as devoid of everything that belongs to the intelligible, for it is neither form nor life. She appeared, as they say, from existence, which, according to them, was born from the First and Superexistent. So, since it is different from being, they say, it is not a being, but a non-being. They declare that one must use the method of descent and reach the limit, and therefore they call matter something other than being and beauty, so that it is not beauty either. They also say that it is not energy and is devoid of everything that is added to it, such as form and quality, for it does not itself form itself into the form of, for example, the sky, earth, air, water, animals, stars, and does not produce them, but something else gives it such an organization. Not being anything that exists in itself, they speak of form and quality only thanks to the power of being this, i.e. under the influence of effort, acquiring form and quality, without being any energy of this, it is rightly non-existent, in itself not existing as energy; and as deprived of everything, they call it evil. Refuting this, the divine Dionysius says: how can matter, which does not exist at all as energy, cause evil? After all, in order to do something, you need energy. But it cannot be subjected to any influence, existing only on its own, because another gives it the form and quality known to us; so that it cannot be affected by existing on its own. If you call it non-existent, as if it is absolutely nothing, then it is neither evil nor good. If she is something existing, then she is either from God, or from herself, or from another beginning, both herself and God. If matter is necessary as a complement to the order of things, then why is matter evil? After all, the definition of what is necessary is: eternal, true, because useful - such is a beneficial virtue. After all, one thing is evil, and the other is necessity. Refuting the opinions of those who claim that matter is evil, he says: how is it that what is born from the earth - plants and animals - is born and nourished from matter? And such, after all, consists of form and matter. How can evil, in the proper sense of the word, generate and nourish, and not immediately decompose and decompose? This is the property of evil. And contrary, as we said above, to what some say, the matter of the soul does not attract evil through the dumb part of the soul due to the confusion of the body with the dumb part of the soul. Many have mastered this part, such as the saints of God. Since, some of the Hellenes said, the sky and the stars are not subject to corruption because they consist of the purest matter, and that which belongs to corruptible bodies consists, they say, of lower and coarser matter, it is necessary, in the order of descent, representing the limit, to turn out to be just such. Therefore, the lowest is decomposed and unstable, which is incapable of holding on and remaining strong in itself, like the sky and the stars. If this happened out of necessity, then why is matter, which, in our opinion, has necessity, is evil? So matter is in no way evil. Defectiveness is not a certain substance, but appears when the Given is lost at the birth of the corresponding species, as here. After all, when matter partially loses its form, something of good remains in it, thanks to which it loves the form and the world and perceives them as good. Evil in the proper sense of the word does not partake of Good, which is why it does not exist. For complete defectiveness disintegrates the underlying body itself, so that no disease remains; why did he call her powerless; the partial, having something of the Good, they say, has power. A brief definition of evil: it is something that exists not due to nature, but due to a partial lack of good. He calls the universal cause the cause of everything. He said “partial” so as not to say “universal,” for complete lack means non-existence. And so-called evil can be, God knows, as good. He calls evil here such things as wars that cause illness, death and the like. We consider this to be evil, but these are the forces of a beneficent Cause. For for many, what was mentioned here turned out to be a reason for repentance, knowledge of God and piety. And the prophets talk about troubles as means of education. Read the twenty-second chapter. The cause of evil in licentiousness is desire that acts contrary to meaning. But desire itself is a beneficent force, directing the verbal to the true Good, and the dumb to what is necessary for the continuation of their race. This is an argument against the Manichaeans and a refutation of their idea. For perhaps this is not yet a heresy, but the thought of Dionysius was prophylactically instilled to overthrow their deception. Perhaps this is also against some of the ideas of external people. Those. definitions are not inconsistent with natures; the definite follows what is in accordance with nature. For a definition is a word that explains the essence of a matter and clarifies its internal nature, and this Internal nature corresponds to what the object is. After all, everything that corresponds to nature exists for a certain reason, thanks to which reason the arising comes into being. Since evil is causeless, because it did not appear because of something, it therefore is indefinable. There is no definition for it that explains what it is; therefore, it does not correspond to nature. If it is contrary to nature, then it does not have logos in nature, just as something that is outside of art does not belong to art. If the soul is not spoiled by partial losses of Good that occur outside its being, when something alien comes in, does the deprivation of Good affect its being, does evil penetrate its essence, and what does the soul become? After all, she will not be alive, for she will not have life. And life is good. Since the soul exists, it participates in Good, i.e. life: with its being it will possess Good, and not evil, which is why it is called specious. Due to weakness in what is characteristic of it, it will deteriorate in its natural action, becoming weak and immobile in relation to passions. The weakness of the soul in its essence is not similar to the heaviness or thinness of bodies, but represents relaxation in relation to the material and temporary, as a result of which it further makes erroneous movements. He here calls Her creations her creations. And note that the energy of the soul is not immutable, since it either takes place or does not take place. To make it clear, let's briefly say this: the nature of the soul is good, since it comes from Good, and its actions are good. We see good men acting accordingly. Because of the change and impoverishment of good, evil comes. So evil is not in nature and is not inherent in the creature. The one is opposed to the many. So if many things are contrary to the one and good Cause, then evil has many causes. And if, as stated above, the meanings and forces corresponding to nature are creative, then those that produce what is contrary to nature are movements that are erroneous in comparison with those corresponding to nature, occurring from weakness and impotence, as a result of which evil appears. Evil sometimes results from a disproportionate mixture of dissimilar things, when either hot or cold, or dry or wet takes precedence over the other, which is why diseases often arise. How does evil come about, if everything as it was created remains so? After all, all this came from the movement of God's will, stands motionless within its own limits and has its completion in God. The opposite of this, evil-in-the-proper-sense-of-the-word, is unstable and has neither limit nor certainty, and we do not see anything like that in the created world. How can evil have substance? Those. It is not in accordance with the meaning of natural necessity, or any peculiarity inherent in a being, that evil arises - this must be understood. By mixing the dissimilar we must understand, I think, the movement of natural forces towards the inappropriate, which creates disproportion if the meaning does not keep the movements within the boundaries in which they occurred. Note that the beginning and end of all evil is Good, since, in doing everything, we believe that we are doing good, and that evil has no substance, but only its likeness, arising for the sake of Good, and not for its own sake. We said the same thing above - that we do not create evil looking at it, but believing that we are doing good, although the result turns out to be the opposite. He said this in the previous chapter - “for the sake of Good” - since we always believe that we are doing good. For, desiring what is associated with the nature and power of Good, we sometimes, unknowingly, create evil, which seems beautiful to us, but is truly evil. What are we talking about? When we come to the defense of the offended, we sometimes kill the offender who is not worthy of death. Be aware of this and make no mistakes. Surprisingly, he showed the lack of substance of evil, presenting it as the inferiority of what is characteristic of order and nature. Defectiveness is not a substance in the proper sense of the word, as we said earlier, but the absence of what should be by nature. Where does sin come from, i.e. lack and falling away of something appropriate. He also calls aimlessness itself a consequence of inferiority, not to say: a shot misses the target, using the expressions of the shooters. After all, how, hitting the target, i.e. Arrows shoot perfectly at the mark at which they are aiming, which is called the target, and those who shoot past the target make an error relative to what is appropriate. Do not think that we are talking about sin that happens among us, such as adultery, injustice, or something else of this kind. What he is talking about is this. When we miss the good and natural movement, or relative to the order, we are carried towards an unnatural, wordless, complete, devoid of essence non-existence. That’s why he never calls anything that exists evil. Divinely he traced the decline in levels in creation. For the Mind, in accordance with which the divine and completely immaterial minds are realized, is above the soul. And the angel, having shifted from his plausible mind, became a demon. And the soul, since it is intelligent and verbal, when it does not act in accordance with the meaning of that mind that is lower than the intelligible, does not do what is characteristic of it. And bodies that are lower than the intelligible mind, finding themselves in conflict with nature, are not strong in their strength. If Providence is in everything, then nothing is evil by nature. Notice that God makes good use of those who turn out to be and are considered evil to correct us or others or to benefit us or others. This is for those who say that we need to be good even against our will. Notice how he condemns those who say: Why didn’t God make us such that we, even if we wanted to, could not sin? This is nothing more than to say: why didn’t He make us crazy and dumb? For to force us to virtue means not leaving us any independence on our own and not allowing our nature to be rational, i.e. have a rational soul. After all, take away our free will, and we are no longer the image of God, and we are no longer a verbal and rational soul, and our nature will truly become corrupted, ceasing to be what it should be. And the fact that he said “moving independently” instead of “possessing* free will” must be understood in such a way that he called us autocratic, and not just moving ourselves, like animate beings, as opposed to motionless ones, like houses and mountains, or moved by others, like stones and sticks. After all, speaking about virtue, he used the expression “moving on their own,” which, he said, is supported by necessary providence - through the Law, for example, the prophets, and through good deeds, which the Apostle showed when he spoke publicly to the Athenians (see Acts 17: 22-31). He perfectly refuted the idea of ​​those who say that we should be good against our will, forcibly - this would mean the corruption of our essence, because... would deprive us of free will. The same as “having free will,” as the adjacent note explains. Note that the incorporeal and immaterial also deviate, not remaining in complete identity with the Good. For Good is identical with Itself, just as something that stands forever firmly, but turns around is not identical with itself. Look how he explains the words: “Woe to those who sin deliberately” (cf. Is. 5:18–20) and “The servant who knew the will of his master and did not do it will be beaten many times” (cf. Luke 12:47). He is probably talking about knowledge that is increased through Study, which can often be obscured by oblivion, and about which he said above that it appears from hearing. By unforgettable knowledge we must understand that which arises from natural contemplation or as a result of insight - not thanks to study. Please note that there is another work of his - “On Fair and Divine Judgment.” Note also that this chapter, showing that evil is not real, contains twenty-three syllogisms. The ancients called God One, not as the beginning of counting, but because He stands out from everyone and because He has nothing countable after Him, and also because of His incomposition and simplicity. The author is not discussing what the essence of God is, for, speaking in the proper sense of the word, it is impossible to apply the concept of “essence” to God, since He is super-essential. By “The Beginning of Essence” the author means the Beginning and Cause of every essence; divinity itself is above all essence. “Performance” he calls the divine energy that brought out every essence. In what sense is it said that God is good, note: the author says that Good, His divine name, extends to all that exists and non-existent and is above the non-existent, and the One is above the existing and extends above it; and Life is above the living; and Wisdom extends above the intelligent, rational and sensual; since it is clear that Good, i.e. God is the Cause of existence, life, and wisdom. And you will understand existence as the cause of life and wisdom by observing what exists. Good extends to the non-existent, calling it into being. This is also clear from what the father said, that the non-existent itself is Good when it is contemplated in God through superessentiality. The author calls the existing and the non-existent material, as we have repeatedly explained above. And because God is not described by space, the author rightly says, in order to show His indescribability, that He is above existence. It should be noted that when the author talks about angels and people, he calls angels conceivable, and our souls thinking, as we have already shown many times above, explaining the difference between the concepts “conceivable” and “thinking.” And now, speaking first about God, he rightly calls the angels, along with us, thinking, since they, as far as possible, understanding God, are nourished by understanding, turning to divine Wisdom, like human souls; what is perceived by the senses is unreasonable. However, everything animate participates in divine Wisdom also in its natural aspirations, as the divine Basil shows in “The Six Days”; because everything was created by Wisdom, according to what was said: “Thou hast created all things by wisdom” (Ps. 103:24). And Wisdom is the Son, the Existing One. So, the author says that everything has its existence from the Son, who truly exists. “Explanatory” he calls that which explains, or explains. Notice that we say well that God is above all goodness and divinity; divinity in a lower sense is understood as applied to angels and righteous people. Compare: “And he made darkness his covering” (Ps. 17:12) and “I heard you in the secret of the storm” (Ps. 80:8). Since a little earlier the author, speaking about the Cause of existence, called, as it seems, Good a “performance,” then further, so that the inattentive reader would not have grounds for reproaches, he explains: “It does not say that Good is one thing, Existence is another,” as well as “Life or Wisdom is the third”; for the One is the Cause of everything, and not many; and everything was created by one Deity, the holy and blessed Trinity, and not by many creator deities. This author says not out of place, but condemning the Hellenic sages and heretics - followers of Simon, who claim that the creators of the world are gods who created, as their dignity decreased, increasingly weaker creations, right up to the universal foundation, which they call matter. The author says that the divine name “Good” explains the entire Providence, and other names, such as: “Life”, “Wisdom” and “Word” are His private manifestations. After all, everything that exists, by the goodness of God, was created to exist and is good, i.e. very good. However, not everything is involved in life, or the word, or wisdom. That is why the author contrasts such names with the universal. “More general” he calls manifestations observed in a larger number of creatures, for example, life, for it is present in both plants and animals, rational and irrational; and wisdom and the word are more private, since they can only be observed in rational beings. Although this statement is stated in such a way that it is difficult to approach it, I believe that it has roughly the following meaning. Let us suppose that someone says in bewilderment: if the very name “Existence” surpasses “Life”, and “Life” in turn surpasses “Wisdom”, which is required by the very order of the world order, which the author himself explained to us a little earlier, saying: “existence, life, wisdom, as well as the creator of existence and wisdom-giving Cause of those who are involved in the essence, life, mind, meaning and feeling” - then why do we not observe this order in existence? Indeed, in accordance with the ladder you have established, the existing must, more than the living - both perceived by the senses, and the imaginable, and rational, that is, involved in the mind and meaning - approach God; in fact, everything is the other way around: living things, even those living plant life, such as plants and the like, are closer to the Providence of God than the heavens, stars, earth, water and air, but the sentient, i.e. wordless, closer than living. After all, the wordless in life is valued more than plants and herbs, although it only has sensitivity, while plants lack it. And the intelligent is closer to God than the sentient. And among intelligent beings, minds, i.e. super-mundane forces, surpassing our rational ones, due to their immateriality and meaningfulness, are closer to God than we are, although it would be appropriate, on the contrary, for someone who exists and receives great gifts from God to be above other things, such as the heavens, the stars, and the like. This is what is puzzling. The divine Dionysius responds to this by distributing preferences in descending order: mind, reason, feeling - you will find this in one page. The author calls “great gifts” those observed in a larger number of beings, such as existence and life. But we see those involved only in this not among the first and best, but among the lesser, since those who surpass them also have properties of being and life in common with the lesser ones, but also the best, denoted by more specific names; whereas the more common ones do not contain the properties of the best ones, i.e. wisdom, meaning and rationality. And therefore the lesser, having less, share in fewer gifts; others, as those who participate in a greater number of them, are better and closer to God. Note that he calls those who are higher and closer to God more alive than those who are lower than them. So divine minds live a higher life than we do, because they are closer to God. Likewise, we, as rational ones, are called more alive than unreasonable ones; and again, the unreasonable, having sensitivity, are more alive than plants, which do not have feelings, but live only a plant life. Existing, when applied to God, surpasses all being in general and is called superessential, since it is higher than that which remains in becoming. Existence is also essence, for the very name of essence comes from the Verb “to exist.” So, God, who is above being (after all, for some reason being was created for existence), is super-essentially comprehended by the mind. They call Him Eternity because He created the ages. After all, that which was not and will not be, but only is, constantly remains in being, does not pass into the future and does not come to the present from the past, is eternal. After all, not only everything that exists must be present in the whole and the whole, but also nothing that has ever existed cannot be present. After all, nothing that was not there before can be in it. This device can perhaps be called nature; it is also eternity. After all, eternity has its name from “ever existing.” And if someone calls eternity limitless life, which is already all there is, and nothing of it disappears in the past, but also does not remain unchanged, because it would not then be all, then he will be close to the definition of eternity. After all, that which has no deficiency is limitless; and this is fair, since none of it is consumed. Thus, God is called both Eternity and Creator of Ages. So, eternity is not something below, but something shining from what is below itself. After all, the rational and invisible, according to the Apostle (cf. Rom. 1:20), is eternal. What is eternal is not eternity itself, but what is eternally involved in eternity, i.e. unceasing and endless life. Since God is the Creator of that which is involved in eternity, i.e. eternally existing, called by similarity centuries, then it is said that God created centuries - instead of saying that He created rational beings, being their Eternity and Uniter. In the same way, the Timeless is called “Time” - as the Cause of times. After all, what is eternity for the rational is time for the sensual. For the visible is the image of the invisible, the intelligible; and eternity we call a certain motionless and, moreover, integral life, already limitless and completely unshakable, abiding in the One and protruding outward; in the same way, time, which once rested in the Eternal, manifested itself when appearing outside, when it was finally necessary for visible nature to take place. So, the release of God's goodness into the sensory, during its creation, we call time. After all, what is made up of the movement of intervals, divided into shares, hours, days and nights, is not time, but is synonymous with time. Having become accustomed to calling the measure and the measured by the same name, we do the same here. For example, when measuring a floor, wall or something else with elbows, we are talking about elbows. So it is here. And the movements of the stars, according to what was said: “Let them be for signs, seasons and years” (cf. Gen. 1:14), came from God for their delimitation and evidence that is understandable to us. Having arranged this, He remains above the ages and outside of time as their Cause. Note that one cannot say about God in the proper sense of the word “was”, “is” or “will be”, for God is above this. But it is said this way, because, no matter how you think, His existence is super-essential. It’s good that he said “it wasn’t,” because “it was” is a characteristic of time. God is higher than “what was”, i.e. above time. You will ask: what about God the Word is said: “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), - after all, this contains “was”? We have said many times that the Father is the Beginning and Cause of everything; That is why it is said, “In the beginning was the Word,” because the Son abides in the Father. It is well said: “In the beginning was the Word.” It is clear that - and “will be”; but from this it would follow that now He is not, but someday He will be, and it is ungodly and unbecoming to talk about God like that. Let this also be heard, to which in the proper sense of the word is added “arisen” and related to this. Or we need to think differently - that God exists above all thoughts and ideas about being. By saying “beings,” the author testifies that all this was created for existence, and by adding the words “and the very existence of beings,” he indicates their constancy. One should not think that this is said about the One who caused everything: this is said about the creatures that arose from Him in the act of creation - intelligible, rational, sentient and others. As we said earlier, God precedes being, for He is Pre-Existent, and the concept of “being” contains a certain hint of a cause that precedes it. So, God is called the Pre-Existent, and also the Existing, as the Cause of everything, because all being is from Him. After all, if you think about it, being exists thanks to participation in the One who precedes it. But this does not mean that God is divided into being and pre-existence, but that His will, which brought beings into being, is called pre-emergent in God. And since this divine will predetermined the existence of the creature, according to justice, before the other, to which the existing in God participates, it is all the more senior than being, a principle, by which God Himself is meant. After all, first something exists, and then both life and wisdom appear. So the invisible higher minds first became involved in existence, and then in life and wisdom. In the same way, we first had a certain matter from which we consist. The same is true for disembodied minds, only instead of matter we mean the inherent image of each person’s life, the measure of involvement in life, wisdom and likeness. We talked about similarity and identity above as forces that lead to God, thanks to which those close to Him become like Him, and at lower levels those who were previously involved only in being become partakers of them. By the principles of existence we must understand the entities that arose first during creation, called principles not because the existence comes from them as from elements, but because, as has already been said, they were created before what followed them. Thus, for example, among the intelligible creation, the beginning of creation is thrones, and after them others follow. Among what is perceived by the senses, the beginning of creation is heaven and earth, for “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), so that from what is perceived by the senses the first creation is they. And behind the self-made eternal thoughts of the eternal God, such as: elements, principles and immaterial incorporeal matter of that which is involved only in ideas, for example, created incorporeal ranks. For self-life, self-wisdom, self-order, and the rest are patterns in God, to which creatures participate, just as straight lines drawn through a circle participate in the center point. God gave this name to Himself, saying: “I am who I am” (Ex. 3:14); so that it is rightly the first of the names applied to Him, such as Life, Wisdom, and the like. Having said “pre-existence and super-existence,” the author expressed the originlessness and complete unknowability of the existence of God, Who completely created, predetermining with His ineffable knowledge, all existence. Having compared all this, the mind first of all rushes to being in general, and then contemplates its types. The author explained what simple being is, calling it self-existence, and not some kind of being. And so on, speaking about self-life, self-similarity and so on, he explains what life is in Business and just life, and not some kind of life; the same goes for the rest. Here for the first time he defines the concept of being. In some sense, qualities are preceded by self-qualities, which then, when fulfilled, are realized; understand this as if self-corporeal whiteness, connecting with the body, whitens it. In a similar way, understand what is said here: the pre-existent God, i.e. Life enlivens everything that is involved in Him. The author calls something that exists to participate in; this is being itself, or life, or wisdom, or order, etc.; such sacraments are a divine gift; and he called them the principles of existence. This should be understood this way: self-super-goodness, being mind and integral energy turned towards itself, remains energy and not ability, first being unreason, and then becoming mind in action. That is why it is the only pure mind, to which the introduced understanding is alien, which thinks completely independently. After all, if his essence were one thing, and what he thinks were different from it, then he himself, in his essence, would be unthinkable. If he has something, then he has it from himself, and not from another. If he thinks from himself and from himself, then he himself is what he thinks about. So that, being reason, it truly thinks about beings as beings. After all, if, thinking about himself, he thinks about the existing, then he himself is the existing. After all, he can think of them either as existing in another place, or in himself as his own existing. So it is impossible to think about what exists in another place, for is what exists seen in what is perceived by the senses? What is perceived by the senses is not a being as it is subject to change, creation and destruction. So, he thinks about himself and in himself. And since God is the Creator of everything, everything is in His non-existent thinking. But He Himself is the Prototype of all this and thinks about it, without borrowing images from others, being Himself the Prototype of existence. So neither He is in a certain place, nor the things that are in Him are, as it were, in a certain place; but He contains it as He has Himself, abiding in it, and everything remains together and is contained in Him inseparably, and in inseparability is inseparably divided. So, His thoughts are things that exist, and things that exist are images. His thoughts should be understood this way: as soon as He thinks something, it appears or exists. This kind of thinking must be preceded by something conceivable, so that, having thought it, it can be done; but He, thinking about what exists, thinks about Himself and comes into contact with what exists in Him. After all, His very thinking is the birth of existence. For what exists in Him is the image, and this is the idea. And He, being entirely mind, is entirely knowledge. The minds coming from Him and abiding in Him are like scientific theorems. They are in Him collectively and at the same time separated, just as a multitude of knowledge resides collectively in the soul, remaining unmerged and acting outward in turn, as needed. And the soul has within itself all the abilities with which it provides for the body, and yet puts them into action at the right time separately, then giving the body physical strength, which nourishes it, grows it and creates everything necessary for birth; then the ability to feel, communicating it to the veins, arteries, meat, veins, allowing us to perceive the sensory; that is the faculty of judgment, with the help of which it imagines the sensible; that is the ability of image, with the help of which it creates images; that faculty of memory by which one remembers; that is the ability of aspiration, with the help of which it directs and moves a living being in space; then the ability to compare; then the ability to rage; that is the ability to lust. The soul, located in the body, has such abilities in its dumb part. After death, only the mind will remain active, and all these abilities become inactive. He says that everything is from the super-goodness of God, which is the very existence of God Himself, the existence of all things and their existence. He says “one”, i.e. - in accordance with some simple and all-containing irrepressible cause. For the divine, by any word, thought or deed, has no connection or communication with existence, but is completely and superior in everything, and concerns it only, one might say, by what contains it and provides for it. Further examples confirm that everything exists from God as the Cause of its existence, but the Existing One apart from him and abiding in Himself, existing differently from that image. After all, a number made up of many units grows in size, and the unit, as the cause of numbers, equally embraces all numbers. Likewise, the center, being a point, embraces all perpendiculars to the circle. This is an example that confirms what has been said. Note that the author uses geometry to explain things related to God, comparing Him with the center. The author used “equally” here instead of “in general” and “equally”, because it is not different. It is clear that the whole has parts. Thus, he says that the logoi of the inherent powers or abilities naturally observed in each of the types of existence can be seen in nature taken as a whole. Thus, external philosophers have subsumed everything that exists in itself and is observable in another - what we call animate and inanimate - under one category, which they called essence, which name also covers the characteristics of each of the essences, the logoi of which remain unfused: after all, one logos is for the animate, and the other for the soulless, and in the same way for the sensory perceived, that is, for the rational and the irrational, although they are united by the logos of the essence, i.e. simple existence. And the author said “equally in the soul,” meaning that there is one vital force given by the soul to the whole body, acting in different ways in different parts of the body. If the cause is that by which something happens, then naturally everything came into being collectively and uniformly, as we said above, in the Cause of everything - as in the Idea and Model - including, they say, the opposites contemplated in God. How can the opposite be the same? It must be understood this way. The furnished has a measured image, as in space: there are stars, here is a person, and, again, there is fire, here is water. Opposite to each other, when they find themselves together, they destroy each other; in divine thoughts, everything was collective, but not merged, and not in some place. For all this is not bodies and not in bodies, but in eternal thoughts, which are patterns. Why God is the Beginning of everything. After all, the beginning is everything that precedes what happens. God is also the Order of the ordered. Order is the action of making all things similar to each other and the reason for all things communicating with each other, reduced to proportionality. At the same time, God is both all Peace and all Movement of things. They should be understood differently. In the thinkable and the thinking, the nature, the beginning of movement and rest, or tranquility, for these are the same thing, manifests itself in energy. For the movement of divine service and teaching of those below is the vital action of the minds, and tranquility and peace, eternal and unchangeable, reveal their own activity and their fulfillment of the divine. In what is perceived by the senses, nature, being the beginning of movement and rest, or tranquility, manifests movement that brings into being; and peace, or tranquility, is the cessation of existence due to death or its change. It is said that God is this, being super-essentially the Cause. Movement with God is the providential emergence of goodness from Him and through Him, while rest is the possession of eternal identity and unknowable peace that does not come from Himself and unshakable serenity. It should be noted that the author called the intelligent forces eternal as participants in eternity. This is what Scripture says: “For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). The same thing that exists in others is, for example, holiness, immortality, prosperity; such are they among intelligible and rational beings. Upon reflection, it must be said: among intelligible beings and among us, since people are also gods, lords and powerful angels. That which exists thanks to Being exists, he says, contemplated in another, and not in itself. After all, essences (he calls them beings), existing in themselves, are characterized by immortality, wisdom, order, harmony and the like, which are spoken of as existing in another. Similar to this are the properties of bodies perceived by the senses, such as color, shape, size, and the like, which do not exist apart from bodies. The father of the mental divided them: about one we say that it exists, and about the other that it is comprehended by reflection, such as, for example, a thought, a word, a feeling and the like, which we cognize only by thought, as if in a logical way. Otherwise: he says that the intelligible is conceivable and in no way subject to the senses. Note that they are intelligible in relation to us, but in relation to God they are thought to be reasonable. Note that He Himself is the Cause of the existence of everything and pre-existence, being an idea or example of existence, as explained here. Being God itself is not because God exists, but being exists thanks to God and is called such. So being is present in God as an idea, rather than God being in being. He was before existence. Being, however, the Cause of everything, He turns out to be the Creator. And although He, as the Cause of everything, is outside everything, the attributes of everything are attributed to Him, as the Creator of everything. Being belongs to Him as coming from Him; in Him it is preserved by Him; and He does not belong to being, as He is not embraced by being, for the Superessential is above being. It is necessary to understand the causal relationship of one and the other, i.e. - that being has Him as the Cause, and not He - being as the cause preceding Him. The contemplation of beings, which he here calls thought, being many and varied in relation to the application of the mind, reveals the previous thought of the Cause, i.e. Creator. “Multiplies” shows that the same Cause is observed in many ways. Of necessity, he now explains what he had previously said about God, adding that this should be understood as referring to cause. After all, the words “happened,” “is happening,” and “will happen” refer in the proper sense of the word to creations. For some of them once happened, for example, the sky, angels, the sun and the like, to which the words “happens” and “will happen” do not fit. What David said: “You create spirits with Your angels” (Ps. 104:4) should be understood either in the literal sense, since it is said: “My Father works even to this day” (John 5:17), or in accordance with the frequent designation of the future by other times, characteristic of Scripture, and the use of the future instead of the past and vice versa. The most suitable word for this is “happened”. After all, everything that has an opposite happens, is in the process of becoming, and is destroyed, such as night and day, summer and spring, and the like. “What will happen” is only that which has never happened, but is expected, such as, for example, the general transformation and its attendant. God is glorified as the Cause of all this. The author did not say, “This is said in relation to Him,” but correctly, “it is sung.” And the “was” and those associated with it, no matter how you think about it, turns out to correspond to God and no one else, because the “was” is contemplated in Him before any beginning. He has “is” and “will be” as immutable in all respects and immutable in everything, which is why he is called the Superessential. About the same thing. How, having said earlier “was not, is not, did not arise, does not arise, will not arise,” the author says here: “He is justly sung as if He is, was, will be, happened, is happening and will happen.” Does Saint Dionysius really contradict himself? This is impossible. Above, he called Him the Creator of all existence, hypostasis, essence, nature and time. He correctly applied “was” and so on to Him, so that you understand that God did not begin from some time, and not in time, and not after time, but that He is higher than being itself. After all, he said that existence is in Him. Here, having said: “He multiplies many times in accordance with every thought,” - the author rightly applied to Him both “was” and “will be” and the following, - so that, thinking about time and times, you find God in them, and the Supreme of existence, and the Pre-existing, and the Cause and Creator of the very existence, and none of the things that exist, as we have already said, because, not being anything of the things that exist, He abides in everyone. In accordance with the plan of the Causer, he says, everything, it is said, belongs to Him, God, or is thought of with Him. For “attributed” means this among philosophers. He Himself is nothing at all of what He is the Cause of through being and super-existence. That is why negatives explain exactly this, such as: “shapeless”, “ugly” and the like. “All-formed” and “all-formed” make it clear that He is the cause of every image and form. In accordance with this, we must understand what follows. Along with “all-formed” - and “formless”, because He is above incorporeality, above immateriality and is not formed in accordance with anything existing. And along with “all-seeing” - and “ugly”. The author calls Him ugly because beauty came from Him, and He is higher than beauty. This is also evidenced by the words: “And we saw Him, and there was no form or beauty in Him” (cf. Is. 53:2), etc. Below, at the end of the next section, i.e. of the sixth chapter, the author shows that the sun does not do anything on its own, but only from the Cause and Beginning of everything, which is God. Using the example of the sun, he well revealed what is thought about God. For just as the sun, being one, animates, nourishes, grows and changes everything perceived by the senses, making a small thing large, or growing a plant or a tree from a seed, and is present in everything visible, without being anything of it, so God, who is the Cause of the sun itself and everything perceived by the senses, thought and thinking, is not one of the existing things and is present in everything. For everything is part of Him. That is why Scripture calls Him “the Sun of righteousness” (Mal.4:2). Prototypes, which are also called ideas, as we discussed above, define, calling an idea, or prototype, as Dionysius says, the self-sufficient eternal creation of the eternal God. Here the great Dionysius explains the Scripture, calling ideas predestination, meaning the divine Paul, who in the Epistle to the Romans says: “Whom He predestined, them He also called” (Rom. 8:30), and in another place: “Having predestined us according to His will” (cf. Eph. 1:5). He calls prototypes and ideas will and predestination. He also quotes Blessed Clement, the Roman bishop whom the apostle recalls, who said that in existence there are the most primordial patterns on which something depends. You can make what has been said more clear like this. There is a concept that likens everything to scripture. The upper part of the line corresponds to what is thought, and the lower part to what is perceived by the senses. The first part, located above, belongs to the most primordial, which is what is actually thinkable. That which comes from the intelligible belongs to the lower part. Further, even lower down the line - the rest. With the help of this example, he wants to show that not everything has the same price, but it happens that one thing comes from another, as, for example, the lower species - from the universal principles in creation, which universal principles he calls the most basic. He says that Blessed Clement said that among creations there are more generic prototypes, such as ideas, on which something depends, as a result of which the lower species are in a subordinate position in relation to the higher ones, like fire residing in matter in relation to the ethereal. But the great Dionysius does not call them ideas in the proper sense, but the thoughts of God. Although they talk about the participation of prototypes in creation, they should not be objects of worship, as Moses says (Exodus 20:4–6?). The author does not say where Clement said this. Plato presented the doctrine of ideas and prototypes in a vulgar and unworthy of God manner; the father, using this term, expressed the thought piously. He speaks of divine desires as dividing and creating, because, on the one hand, He composes and creates everything only by desire, and on the other hand, because existing things were created in many forms and in different ways. And note that he calls the logoi of beings, or predestination, pre-existing in God in unity, creating the essence, as prototypes. Most likely, Blessed Clement follows some opinion that says that there are some initial causes of the origin of things perceived by the senses, just as there are ideas, i.e. the thoughts of God as the initial causes of activity, or the introduction into existence, of conceivable beings, i.e. disembodied angels. As for the fact that ideas are prototypes, then the thinkable exists in the form of initial and guiding energies; in what is perceived by the senses, the initial, blissful and creative cause is the form associated with matter. This is what this theory says. The species that was used as a species-creating species at the birth of nature is called the initial one. It seems that Blessed Clement spoke exactly this way. But these cannot be called, in the proper sense of the word, prototypes, beginning ideas, or governing causes, for they are not from themselves, but from the thoughts of God, Who alone is worthy of worship. He speaks of Her appearance outside not only as Her contemplation of Herself, but also as Her spilling, movement and creation of existing things. Notice that he says that God rejoices in all things, in accordance with the words of the psalm: “The Lord will rejoice in His works” (Ps. 103:31) and Proverbs: “I was in whom I rejoiced” (Prov. 8:30). And “predestined” is used here instead of “predetermined and pre-elected.” Since some people have declared that ideas and prototypes are intrahypostatic, he now refutes them, the actual Hellenes, saying: if ideas did not exist simply and uniformly, being super-simple thoughts of a super-simple and super-unified God, then God would be complex, consisting of a prototype and Himself, which he called “duality.” And “rejoicing” corresponds to the words of David: “The Lord will rejoice” (Ps. 103:31) and so on. Note that the voice, disembodied and united, is heard equally by many and is not exhausted due to their multitude. So they still participate in God; this means “personally,” but in accordance with faith; and, being divided, He is not exhausted. Above, in the chapter preceding this one, we said quite definitely that He who is the highest Goal is the Cause by which everything came into being. The direct opposite of limit is infinity. God is “the limit of all,” since nothing escapes His providence and power, and at the same time “infinity,” since, according to divine Scripture, “And His understanding is without number” (Ps. 147:5), “And His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:33). As incomprehensible and limitless, God is above this, transcends everything and is the Limit of every limit. In Him, after all, everything has a limit, and He is the Infinity of all infinity. Infinity is also spoken of in relation to matter, which is eternally transforming and passing from one form to another. But it has a limit in God and, being impermanent and indefinite, is brought by God to speciation. So, in justice, God is the limit of such infinity and limitless relative to the limits of existence, since He created matter from non-existence. Scripture says: “For all things are from Him, by Him, and to Him” (Rom. 11:36). The limit is opposed to infinity like negation and affirmation, like the mortal and the immortal. It is well said: “apparent opposition,” for they are opposite to each other not in reality, such as, for example, possession and deprivation, but, as it is said, like negation and affirmation. Being everywhere, He is equally present in each individual and in everything. God is called “resting” because absolutely no change is observed in Him, and “moving” because He contains and preserves existing things, and this is beyond all thought. That’s why the author says: “neither resting nor moving.” It seems that the words “both resting and moving” and “both not resting and not moving” contradict each other: for how can one and the same thing be both at rest and moving, and not at rest and not moving? First of all, one should not judge the divine based on the sensory or by borrowing images from it. So that it does not seem that we are having difficulty finding a way out of the contradiction, let us say that peace is in that which precedes creation, and movement is change, or change. God is the becoming of everything, for He always brings it into being. So God rests and yet moves, because he transforms and changes everything for the better. Thanks to Him, we become the best. That is why the divine Dionysius speaks about Him a little earlier; “all things are the Beginning and the End.” And “both resting and moving” means about Him: “abiding in Himself and acting in everything.” After all, He communicates His integrity to everything that exists, but He Himself is unshakable and unchangeable, according to what was said: “But You are the same” (Ps. 101:28). So, God both appears outside and remains within Himself. “In nothing,” he says, for He is in everything and because He is in everything, He is unstoppable by anything. And he calls supermundane entities “eternally existing” as those that appeared before the temporal nature. Time is calculated from the creation of heaven and earth. As was said above, not eternity itself, but that which is involved in eternity, is rightly called eternal. And “suitable” means “essentially.” Notice that there is something eternal in existence, such as angels; and what is not eternal is not without beginning. In the next chapter, at the very beginning, the author applies the word “eternal” to God. The measures of existence are: for the conceivable - eternity, for the perceived by the senses - time. The conceivable is measured by eternity as a measure, although what is measured is called by the same name as the eternity that measures it. Angels are also called eternities. The same applies to what is perceived by the senses: after all, what is measured by time receives the same name from time, such as: the movement of the stars, the sun, the times of life. All this, measurable by time, is called times. He called the Cause “containing” because it not only created the life of those who are in being, but also contains them in being. After angelic life, next he places the immortality of our souls, which are rational; further, behind the rational souls, he has the life of sentient souls associated with nutrition or growth, or dumb animals and plants, which he called “the most distant echo,” which we have repeatedly explained above. The life of dumb things and plants is not divine, but belongs to material fire and spirit. About such, of course, the most distant lives, as they say, the words of David speak: “You take away their spirit and they disappear, and return to their dust. You will send forth Your spirit and they will be created, and You will renew the face of the earth” (Ps. 103:29-30). The great Dionysius refers these divine sayings only to sentient souls and to plant life. He does not connect this with the life of intelligible beings and ours, for God created such a life as essentially immortal, and He will not take away life from intelligible beings and our souls, because then they will cease to be entities. Of course, David said this not about such things, but about living beings that renew themselves from the earth. And regarding the life of demons who voluntarily fell away, he adds that it also remains indestructible, for God who created them wanted it that way, despite the fact that they fell away from God. “For the gifts of God are irrevocable” (cf. Rom. 11:29), who originally created them immortal. He calls a “distant echo” the weakest involvement in life and, so to speak, the smallest involvement in the vital force. The psalm says about people and the final general resurrection, which the father expounded more clearly a little earlier. And here he cited a saying speaking about everyone who has any kind of life, which shows that they should be considered as having life from God. He used “disappearance” instead of the word “leaving,” just as he used “returning” instead of “participating.” He spoke about the inability of such people to participate in this life because they do not have life from themselves and not by themselves, but receive it from God. For insofar as they have something from themselves, it is seen as not belonging to life, and what they have from God is in some way revived and, as he says, “becomes alive again.” He teaches all the dogmas surprisingly well and correctly. Now conveying the doctrine of the image of the resurrection, he shows that, consisting of an immortal soul and a mortal body, we are mixed. Life, which is the essence of the soul, he says, is less than the life of angelic beings, therefore he calls it “angelic” and not angelic, as not truly angelic, but only similar, and says that we are only partly verbal souls, since in general we consist of soul and body. He says about our bodies that they become immortal in the resurrection, noting that the doctrine of the resurrection seemed incorrect to ancient times, i.e. the insane teaching of the Hellenes, because becoming immortal is contrary to the nature of matter. Antiquity, they say, is characterized by madness. Although the work of resurrection is above nature in relation to real life, the conduct of which is associated with food, excrements and diseases, but for God nothing is contrary to nature and not above nature, since He is the Cause of all life. Note that the divine Word wants our bodies to participate in immortality, according to the apostle: “For this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53). He said this because it is God's nature to give life. He says that there are polemical words of Simon against our dogma, according to which our body will rise and be immortal, as against a thing contrary to nature. Having spoken out against Simon, he was accused of this by Irenaeus, Origen, Hippolytus and Epiphanius the Great. Dionysius divinely refutes Simon’s assertion that the resurrection of the dead is contrary to nature: since nothing can be against God, how can anything be contrary to nature? To make, based on these phenomena perceived by the senses, conclusions about the incomprehensible and implicit Cause of everything for everyone, i.e. about God, this is truly unnatural. How can what we believe and think refute that which is above all feelings and thoughts? One should not, he says, disbelieve because of what is comprehended by the senses: the words about God, Who is the implicit Cause of everything. For it is indeed contrary to nature to say that what is above the senses is refuted by what is accessible to sense perception. Notice how he shares what concerns participation in life. He calls only ours and the sentient soul the principles of life, for they are the principles for bodies that, thanks to them, begin to move in order to live. Intelligible powers and our souls are the essences of life, for they have an essence - like a certain matter, substance and appearance in itself - which is life, i.e. existing thanks to life. Why, as I said, souls animate bodies. God, being the Cause and Co-Executor of our life, as the Container and Separator, who created the diversity of all life - intelligible, rational, feeling, growing - is the Beginning of everything. So, because he said above that the sun gives life and nourishes everything, do not think that it has this from itself, and not from the Beginning and Cause of everything. There are some annoying philosophers who say: when you say that God is above all wisdom and understanding, you make Him unwise and unreasonable. To such people the answer should be: our God is above everything conceivable and existing. And wisdom, and reason, and life, and hypostasis, and existence, and essence are thought of by us, and He is above all this, not as not being involved in such (this is unthinkable, for He who is the cause of what happens, how can He be not involved in what comes from Him?), but because everything came from Him and participates in His integrity. After all, everything involved is older than what came from Him. Therefore, rightly, He is called both “Existence”, and “Age”, and “Time” - as He created both ages and times. The same should be said about Wisdom and Life, because He is also their creator. After all, if we say this differently, then God will turn out to be wise and admonished later, which corresponds to their insolence, but not to us; no! Note that he calls the Apostle Paul his sun and Saint Hierotheus. Notice also how the father understood the apostle’s saying: after all, Chrysostom and the other fathers understood it as referring to the Cross. What has been said - that theologians have a custom of applying negative judgments to God in the opposite sense, we could understand this way: wanting, if possible, to imagine the divine light that it is unapproachable, invisible, so that nothing can feel it, neither immaterial nor sensible - they called it darkness, as, for example: “He has put darkness as His covering” (Ps. 17:12), - about which the divine apostle also said: “He who lives in unapproachable light" (1 Tim. 6:16). After all, that which nothing can approach is similar to invisible darkness due to excess. It also says: “I was amazed at Your mind, it is very strong, I cannot resist it” (Ps. 139:6). Likewise, the incomprehensible and completely inconceivable knowledge of God is likened to ignorance, which surpasses all knowledge inherent in creatures. For ignorance of God among people who are wise in the divine is not ignorance, but knowledge that in silence has comprehended that God is unknowable. So, after all, the incarnation of the Son of God is called desolation, although it is filled, moreover, overflowing with wisdom, power and salvation. Likewise, the victory won by the Cross is called the infirmity of God, because by death the evil invisible forces of the devil were destroyed, and the place of death was taken by the resurrection from the dead and the kingdom of heaven. In the same way, the foolishness of God, which surpasses all wisdom and knowledge of men, is God's vision. You can understand what we are talking about by thinking about some heretics, including the Hellenes, who imagine that they can prove through syllogisms related to the senses that God’s incarnation brought to death is impossible. With such in mind, the most divine Paul exclaimed, dizzy: “O the depth of the riches and wisdom of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies!” (Rom.11:33). For can the path of knowledge, which surpasses all created wisdom, be equal to the words of foolishness not taught by God? For words, or evidence connected with feelings, when they are not preceded by faith, the sacrament cannot be presented. “In the opposite sense” – i.e. giving the word the opposite meaning, for by affirmations affirming negations, God's supremacy is manifested, which he elsewhere called the power of superior negation. And the suffering on the cross and the words that God suffered in the flesh seem strange and impossible - that He actually revealed the truth. [Note how the father understands the apostle’s saying: after all, Chrysostom and the other fathers understood this regarding the Cross.] In other places he writes “rotated”, which means the same as turned, felted. With these words he shows that the divine should not be compared with the human. And above we said that the mind, in order to think, descends from itself, descending to speculation. Speculation is, after all, inferior to the thinker as something that is thought and comprehended and, of course, requires the dispersion and division of the unity of this mind. For the mind is simple and indivisible, but a great variety of speculations are scattered, and these are, as it were, types of mind. Therefore, reasonable, i.e. thinking, less than intelligible, or thinkable. He means that unity of mind - as he speaks about this more clearly below - with the help of which the mind rushes to what is above it, i.e. surrenders to the contemplation of what relates to God by completely renouncing what is perceived by the senses and what is thought, as well as from the movement characteristic of it, in order to thus then receive the ray of divine knowledge. Here he explains most of all why God's madness means the super-wise majesty of God's incomprehensibility: after all, being, he says, surrounded by the sensory, exploring the doctrine of the immaterial and super-essential - about what concerns God, for example - we are deceived if we draw conclusions on the basis of what is perceived by the senses. For example, hearing a sermon about the one worshiped Trinity and listening to the theology, according to which She is trinitarian, indivisible and inseparable, some people also experience dizziness, correlating this with bodies requiring space and space, and say: how is it possible for three hypostases to exist under each other and be inseparable? They do not know how to deceive their senses in order to be wise in the divine, and tens of thousands are examples of this, and the Lord says to them: “If I told you about earthly things, you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” ( John 3:12 ) And the divine Paul says: “The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, because he considers them foolishness” ( 1 Cor. 2:14 ) that God’s, from the point of view of people, madness is, after all, the very spiritual thing that should be pursued. He called Wisdom stupid because no wisdom can understand Her; as well as dumb and insane and because there is neither word nor mind to explain It or comprehend It. Note that among the angels there are intelligible and intelligible powers, and, naturally, among them there are those who are both intelligible and intelligible. Thus, the higher ranks are understood, since they are understood by the lower ones, and comprehenders, since they are higher and strive, as far as possible, to understand the God who exceeds all: fed from above with understandings, they feed those who weakly understand. Our souls are only understanding, for, understanding in a way accessible to their knowledge, as far as possible, that which surpasses them, they have nothing behind them that understands, so that they too can be understood. For behind us are souls dumb and devoid of intelligence. The understandings of divine minds, in contrast to those characteristic of us, in which our mind proceeds from particulars, i.e. from the narrating words perceived and sensed, instead of perceiving many types, uniting the understandings of material things, they allow one to immaterially contemplate the whole. Understand that those who are understood are in relation to us, and those who are understood are in relation to God. We are in particulars thanks to the senses, for hearing is one thing, sight is another, and the rest are the same. And we receive knowledge about things from feelings divided in this way, or in understandings divided into parts from individual acts of cognition or understanding, and sometimes from explanatory words that give a clear and complete explanation of the phenomenon. The angelic understanding nature, as not participating in everything of that kind, is illuminated with knowledge by a single and simple understanding of the truth. He says that the mental power and energy of angels has its source in the supernatural Wisdom of God. From Him, after all, the divine angels have in the sacrament the power of mental activity and thanks to it they comprehend, contemplatively understanding, themselves, beings and ideas, which thoughts he called belonging to God. This mental energy comes to them from without from God as from the cause, and they understand existence much better than souls who know existence on the basis of existence itself and in relation to species; those. they understand existence in a more extensive way, encompassing everything around. For the angels, according to the God-likeness that unites them, understand the multitude of creation unitedly and inseparably, without being scattered among many different beings - meaning those perceived sensually - like verbal souls. To some extent, souls, becoming like angels, are rewarded with this when, having gathered together the understanding of many things, they simultaneously contain everything inseparably divided. The ability to think is given to souls from the outside, while the angels, being God-like, understand among themselves and within themselves. This is about the understandable. And how he thinks about God is said both here and above, in the fifth chapter towards the end. And what we said about souls - about their ability to think like angels, collecting many things together - they will have this in perfection first of all at the resurrection, when, finding themselves again in their bodies, they will perceive perfect knowledge of existence. This will be given in full at the resurrection to the righteous, according to what was said: “And so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17), and also: “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12), i.e. Let's learn to understand existence. How to understand “progressively” was said. So, “progressively and around,” that is, not suddenly, by the application of the mind, the human soul is illuminated by divine knowledge, but, piece by piece, receiving a true understanding of existence, not possessing angelic vision of God, it collects to the One, which is the Cause, the thought of those separately contemplated and is awarded equal angelic understandings. Because of its senselessness, the demonic mind strives to achieve equality with God, but does not know how this can be achieved, not by naturally suffering from ignorance, but by voluntarily choosing the unnatural. Note that Demons have intelligence insofar as they acquired it from Good. Having become meaningless and not wanting to remain what they were, they fell away from Wisdom. That what is said about God in a negative sense and vice versa is understood in the sense of superiority. Yes, no one will succumb to inappropriate thoughts from this and will not begin to say that God, as the Cause, created evil in Himself, and from this it follows that He is the Cause of evil. The Father is not talking about this, for he has already shown that evil does not exist and is not counted among existing ones, but about those existing in essence, i.e. about angels and other creatures, the knowledge of which God has, as he said before, not from studying what they are. He showed this by saying: “Not from existing things, studying existing things,” and: “not judging each by appearance,” but, being the Creator of such, He has knowledge of His deeds, knowing them as soon as possible, as well as that for the sake of which He will bring them into existence. The transformation and impoverishment of such, or failure and impotence, introduce evil by depriving the natural and producing the unnatural. After all, he gave an example of light to this: with its disappearance, darkness comes and is caused by the absence of the nature of light. In a similar way, properties turn out to be older than their absence and are, so to speak, the causes of it. Here the father speaks about those brought into being by God and about the nature of each of them. This, he said, came to pass in God through provision and predestination. Note that knowledge pre-exists and contains essence. The essence of the parable is this: after all, if someone assumes that this visible light is the light of the mind and reason, and then we ask him if he knows darkness, he will say that he knows, and even before darkness appears. And he knows, he will say, not from some experience (for how can light know darkness if light does not become darkness?), but knowingly he sows, since light exists. That’s why he knows that if he hides his light, no one will be able to see anything. Likewise, God as the Cause has in Himself the knowledge of everything, not acquiring it from experience, since in this case God will turn out to be born later than knowledge, or for some time not to know. Note also that darkness is a consequence arising from the disappearance of light, and this is against the Manichaeans. Note that darkness is known from nothing other than light. Look how, he says, God knows what exists - not from the knowledge of everyone, but from His own - just as light knows darkness, having nothing of darkness in itself. The same thing is said many times in the fifth chapter - how God, cognizing, or thinking about Himself, thinks and cognizes existing things through prototypes. There is no duality in the divine, which is completely simple and above all simple. What the angels know about what is happening on earth, not by touching what is perceived by the senses, as we do, but by a higher ability of understanding, is clear from various sayings, such as, for example, from the book of Tobit, where it is said that the divine angel Raphael told the son of Tobiah to take the bile of a surfaced fish, as being able to remove the thorn from the eyes (see Tov. 6:9), formed from sparrow excrement (Tob. 2:10): after all, no one will think that he learned healing from experience. Likewise, in the book of Judges, the angel under Gideon made fire for the sacrifice from a stone (see Judges 6:21), knowing that fire ignites, not like us, thanks to feelings, but thanks to a gift from above. Same with everything else. And just in case someone asks: how can the devil and his angels feel the eternal fire? – and this will be discussed in the appropriate place. The same is in the book of Daniel, in the chapter about Belshazzar: the writer knew the letters without studying (see Dan.5:25). Note that it is not through the senses that the angels have knowledge of the sensible, for they do not use our senses, but the ability and nature of the mind. In addition, he asks the question of how we know God, and correctly says that God’s nature - what it represents - has never been known by anyone in the created world, either through study or through contemplation: by these paths we approach the immaterial. God is known from the structure of creation. After all, if, according to the divine apostle, the beauty of creation, that is, that which is in formation, reveals the Creator, then, of course, by learning how things are structured, we recognize the Creator. For existence, i.e. species and each of the creatures, that is, the angelic ranks and everything perceived by the senses, are images and likenesses of divine ideas, which are prototypes, the eternal thoughts of God, thanks to which and in accordance with which everything was in Him, not being in Him other than what appeared, brought into being. As in the Apocalypse, the most divine John says that one of the oldest angels told him that everything was and appeared, meaning that there were ideas, and everything that appeared were samples and similarities of ideas, or prototypes. After all, those that comprehend with the mind are images of those that are intelligible, and those below them are superior. By taking away all this (after all, God is removed from existence, being nothing of what He created, but inexpressibly surpassing everything) God is recognized as surpassing everything. Observe the necessary means of protecting piety. Here it should be understood that predestination represents divine prototypes, the images of which are the completed creatures. The Apostle called intention a determination, saying in the Epistle to the Ephesians: “According to the eternal determination” (Eph. 3:11). From all creatures, of course, God is known as an artist from a work. Essentially completely separated from everything and therefore remaining unknowable to works, He is known through such ignorance, as well as through scientific study and knowledge of creations. Repeating this, he returns his speech to the same thing. Since the ideas of both animals and everything in nature are present in God as a whole, it is not individually that what is here is the image and likeness of what is there. After all, everything that is here is an image of what is there. Even the soul is the image and likeness of its idea. He makes it clear, carefully analyzing it, how God is known in opposite ways - both affirmations and denials. For although above, in the first chapter, he said that there is nothing that would explain the essence of God - neither understanding, nor touch, nor imagination, nor opinion, nor what he said there and here, which we have explained in the appropriate places, now he says that God - but not His essence - is known by what was denied there, and also that among such there is nothing for His comprehension. As the author of everything, He is known from what comes from Him, but as not being anything from what is from Him, He remains unknowable to anyone. How He is known through ignorance, he speaks here, and it was said above, in the second chapter. Thanks to creations, we understand when we come into contact with science and hold the opinion that God exists. Who, what, or how great God Himself is, we do not understand, we do not name, we do not perceive it with our minds or our senses. It’s similar to saying: “God is in everything” and “He is not in anything at all.” Note that, judging by the above, he perceived the unity of God's transcendental contemplation. This is also in the book of the Wisdom of Solomon - it says that Wisdom is “the artist of everything” (Wisdom 7:21), - and in the book of Proverbs: “I was an artist with Him” (Proverbs 8:30), - and in David: “With wisdom You have created all things” (Ps.103:24). He speaks here about God the Word - why He is called the Word, what this name means, and about one reason why God is called the Word - because He has in Himself the causes of all things. For the logoi of every nature abide in Him as the Cause of every creation. Everything is thanks to Him. For ideas and prototypes are in Him not as something foreign, but being His eternal speculations and everything, i.e. nature, creative logoi. And nature is, after all, a logos that has a cause and origin, since the natures of beings do not exist in vain and without purpose. He calls Him the Word and how he passes through everything without hindrance and even to the ends of everything, as it says in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “For the word of God is living and active” (Heb. 4:12) and so on. That God the Word is in itself and truly existing truth, in justice is simple knowledge of beings. What is knowledge, he immediately adds, while teaching. Explaining what concerns the knowledge of truth, God the Word Himself, Jesus Christ, of whom we are speaking, says that knowledge truly unites those who know with those who are known: “And I know My sheep, and they know Me. As the Father knows Me, so I know the Father” (cf. John 10:14–15). For since knowledge, knowing what a person wanted to know, is united with what is known, without leaving doubts regarding this, without being split due to doubts by differences of opinion, without wavering and without thereby giving rise to ignorance due to the lack of confidence that he has known, then the faithful, united by knowledge with the known Christ, Who is God the Word, and strengthened by faith in Him, having a strong and unshakable characteristic those who knew faith that they knew God and were known by God, retreated from ignorance, about which we said that it divides, splits and shakes with one or another doubts of those who did not know what should be known, and were established in confidence, informed by faith, that they knew and thereby united with the Known. And the one who, being in the darkness of ignorance, according to the Apostle, is deceived by it “tossed and carried away by every wind of human lies” (cf. Eph. 4:14), as if overwhelmed in the depths of the sea (and this is what the Apostle says), believes that those who know are mad, just as Festus said to Paul, who preached divine knowledge: “You are mad, Paul!” (Acts 26:24). The one who has known and is a true Christian, because he has truly known Christ and through Him has acquired the knowledge of God - I mean the only knowledge of the truth (the only knowledge is simple and uncomplicated knowledge) - having retreated from the world, he remains outside of worldly opinions and deceptions and knows himself as a sober person who has gotten rid of the many deceptive unbelief. Why do such people die every day for the truth, not only constantly exposing themselves to dangers for the truth until death, but also constantly ending in ignorance, while living in knowledge and testifying that they are Christians. Here he calls fragmentation the instability and multiple divisibility of consciousness. He called our faith the only one, as simple and having infallible knowledge of what is truly true. Notice why God is called power. Something like this: “The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory” (Ps. 23:10). [And also: “The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our Advocate” (Ps. 45:8).\ Separating, i.e. pushing aside, distinguishing. “Inflexible” (ακλιτον) he said, because he does not descend from his peak. After all, God does not create by “bowing” with power, but by remaining motionless and unbending in relation to power, bringing beings into being. Perhaps one should say “unlocked” (ακλειτον), since she did not lock, so he adds “unlimited”: after all, she is not locked, As if she is powerless in anything; but the power of God is always revealed in the ability to create everything. Speaking about weakness, he means these material earthly bodies, which he calls, as we often said above, extreme reflections, because they are imperfect, in accordance with their structure, capable of being partakers of the power of God. And it is said about our bodies: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). This can also be seen in the example of other living creatures, for example, mosquitoes, midges and the like - what power lies in the stings of such weak and despicable creatures by God who created them! That is why in the book of the divine prophet Joel, God speaks about locusts, weevils and caterpillars: “My great power” (Joel 2:25). This is amazing and most reliable evidence that even they are reached by the immensity of God’s power. But you will find the same thing in soulless creatures, in herbs, plants and metals, seeing their ability to bring either harm or benefit. Most of them are malleable, but some are hard and strong, like adamant. Otherwise, speaking about weakness to which strength is given, he here means the weakest of living beings, who from God have sufficient strength to truly be. Or weakness must be understood in relation to soulless and completely motionless nature, which exercises force, i.e. the ability to fully exist received from God. Impossible i.e. something would have been possible if it had not been created by divine power. He does not only mean strength that gives strength: he also calls strength adaptation to being in a certain way. Teaching refers to the outward movement of the power of providence and the goodness of God for the sake of existing things - so that existing things exist and appear. And he calls the first force the force of being. This includes intelligent incorporeal beings called immortals; the intelligent are rightly followed by the rational, now called animate and verbal, for the word is the mind, thanks to which the soul is called rational, immediately after the angels; the next, smaller power than this is the power of feelings, which is endowed with animate, dumb creatures; further - the life force, or plant force, characteristic of all plants and herbs, with the help of which they prosper in a plant manner; and after all - the power that makes the essence, i.e. the power of soulless substances, such as metals and those closer to the earth, which power, creating and delivering the ability to withstand being, gives them the power of qualities, the property of being hot or cold, or some other, and either to be useful or in some way to be useful. Also the power of attraction, the ability to constantly want and desire, the giver is God. He gives strength to the united for love and for communication, i.e. the seeds of all, or those who mix with each other and enter into a love relationship - gives the ability to the sensual to give birth to its own kind. And when this connection and mixing of those united in love, as we said, the first principles begin to separate and separate, the separated parts become separated, giving birth to animals, plants and the like. And this division, or disunity, receives from God the power to be according to the type of what is born. He said that addition and separation are union and love, and he called the incompatibility of species “separation.” Note that the angelic powers themselves have their aspiration from God. The nature of being strives to be not arbitrary, but necessary and useful for existence. That is why he said “to be such” and about the desire to have strength from the divine and immeasurably strong Essence in order to be in the necessary way. “Good orders” he calls well-existing Establishments and well-ordered good orders of creation, meaning the orders of simple angelic units; he calls the simplest, incorporeal and immaterial of essences units. Notice that he speaks of the star as eternal. Do not think that heavenly beings exist forever, for, according to what is written, they “are ministering spirits” (Heb. 1:14), but understand that we are talking about preserving unchanged the boundaries originally established for them by God. He calls the progressive movement of time its extension and direction into the future, and division – the return, thanks to the change of seasons or hours, again to the same meaning, which is why he called the movement of time a cycle. Or he calls forward motion the movements of the wandering stars, after a certain number of years passing the intervals between the twelve so-called houses; return is a return from a certain point to the same point; Thus, the sun passes through twelve houses in a year, passing from the so-called Aries to the same Aries, or the moon in a month and the other five planets in the same way: after all, times are measured by them. This means ethereal. He talks about the four elements and that the earth is not based on anything. Scripture says: “You founded it on the waters” (cf. Ps. 23:2, 136:6). Apparently, everything soulless and insensitive is also called realized; and it is clear that it is so called from the verb “to exist.” The righteous and angels are deified, according to the words: “I said: you are gods” (Ps. 82:6). “Place” he calls bringing into being; as a result of which: that which is not involved in power does not exist in creation. This reveals the antiquity of this holy man, for he knows what Elymas the magician said, who opposed Saint Paul in Cyprus and who is mentioned in the Acts of the Holy Apostles (Acts 13:8-11). However, there are many like Elymas in Arabia who say to us who affirm that Jesus Christ, God the Word, suffered for us in the flesh, but not in divinity: If you do not agree that He suffered divinity, according to desire, then you make God weak, declaring that it is impossible for divinity to suffer for us, even at will. To such, one should answer that God did not want to suffer, having something to suffer, so that this would happen contrary to nature - so that divinity, impassive by nature, would suffer. See how he explains the apostolic saying: “God cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). As was said, Elymas the magician laughed at the words of the divine Paul that God cannot deny Himself. And what he told Paul - that it is impossible to prove that God cannot do whatever he wants, including denying Himself - is refuted in the most philosophical way by the great Dionysius. He says that God is truth, and truth is existence; and a lie, as having no basis, is not a thing. So if God denies Himself, then the truth, having lied, will become non-existent. But can this happen? Therefore, when applied to God, “cannot” is an expression of indescribable power. A similar meaning will be obtained if we say that God can make Himself not God and depart into oblivion - which, along with impossibility, also contains blasphemy. How can one say: The existent will be the non-existent? This means it cannot, i.e. God is powerless to make Himself non-existent; in other words, it is impossible for Him not to be. So the impossibility for God, namely the impossibility of being God, turns out to be impossible. After all, just as light, insofar as it is light, cannot become darkness, so this is impossible for God due to the immensity of truth. Thus, God does not know how not to know, due to the deprivation of this: such is not given to God. Existing, He does not know at all what ignorance is, how it is possible not to know something. Being deprived of this, He does not know how not to know. Ignorance is, after all, privation, not essence, and it is outside the essence in relation to which privation takes place. This is a lack of what should be. Therefore, God is deprived of the possibility of not knowing and in no way knows how not to know. If we say that God does not know ignorance not because of deprivation, then ignorance will turn out to be a property of His essence. And if ignorance were characteristic of His being, then God would turn out to be darkness, for ignorance is darkness. Also sublimely understand the expressions: “It is impossible for God to lie” and “The Son cannot do anything of Himself without seeing the Father doing something” - equivalent to saying: “It is impossible for the Father to want one thing, and the Son another,” for there is one divine will in the one worshiped Trinity. It is not unknown to us that the Son of God and God, One of the all-sung and all-immaculate Trinity, having become a man, accepted human desires naturally and sinlessly. The negation of a negation creates an affirmation. So by saying that there is no non-existence in God, he affirms His existence. In the same sense, he says: “cannot help but be able,” as well as: “does not know ignorance,” from which it follows that He knows and is able to do everything. It’s good that he added “due to deprivation” here, because expressions such as “cannot” and “does not know” are spoken not with superiority, but in a negative sense. Notice why God is Justice. The limit of justice is Virtue distributed according to the dignity or self-interest of the mental parts; or the mean between self-interest and disadvantage; or the ability to distribute equally; or the ability to strive for common benefit; or the art of giving credit, and not giving credit, and remaining neutral. We are talking about people speaking lies about God, as the Psalmist said (cf. Ps. 62:12). Here he discovers in time the absurdity of their speeches. For they say: “Self-propelled, i.e. autocratic, and masters of our aspirations, why are we born autocratic? And we no longer want to be given the opportunity to sin,” not knowing that they want to be stones moved by others. They also say: “Why, having earthly bodies, do we not remain in identity, that is, are we not immutable and immortal, using the material and temporary?” - which is characteristic of those who do not know the difference in the nature of the sensory and the rational and are seriously ill with nonsense. After all, our material, temporary and changeable body naturally needs something like this, i.e. temporary and material. The soul, created immaterial and immortal, naturally has sovereignty due to its similarity to the Creator. Not understanding the difference between one and the other, those who reproach, seeing such decorum, blaspheme divine providence. This means the words: “and in general the properties of some are ready to be transferred to others.” This refers to people who say: How is God not unjust if He allows scoundrels to harm the righteous? Otherwise. Here he examines the essence of the objection expressed to us by others, for he says: “someone will say” and so on, refuting this in a pious and God-loving manner. For he says: for what reason does God allow, being just, offenders and covetous people to act unjustly towards godly men? (for we see many righteous people who have suffered damage either in property or in business from offenders and covetous people) - and he answers correctly, for he says that it is not appropriate for the pious to have an attachment to earthly and temporary things, since then they are no longer pious. They should prefer the truly lovable divine. Those who strive for possessions are no longer pious. And the question receives an answer, for this is what the divine Paul says: “Why would it be better for you not to remain offended?” (1 Cor. 6:7). Advising not to care about worldly things and again teaching divine love, in which there can be neither injustice nor covetousness, He says: “Who will separate us from the love of God: sorrow or distress?” and so on (Rom.8:35). He calls those subject to passions adherents of matter, attached only to earthly things; and to be unworthy of praise is to appear less praiseworthy. Note that it is possible to speak of virtue in relation to angels, as well as in relation to God, since it is said: “His virtue covered the heavens” (Hab. 3:3), and that injustice in relation to material affairs is a matter of divine providence, prompting us to strive for more divine things. Pay attention: he says that the absence of attachment to material things testifies to great masculinity, or valor, for those who are slaves to worldly and bodily passions are rightly called effeminate; and that divine justice, therefore, not wanting us to be seduced by sweets and perish, encourages us to neglect them, in accordance with what was said: “For the Lord punishes whomever he loves; he beats every son whom he receives” (Prov. 3:11-12; Heb. 12:6). So what? Are those who have wealth not loved by God? You yourself will say that, firstly, it is not wealth in itself that is evil, but addiction to it and its poor use. And then, God knows the weak among us and, wanting to save them, gives them both goodness and the brilliance of life as encouragement, not ignorant of what it is. How does “He who knows all things before he was” do this (Dan.13:42)? - So that we do not have any justification, according to the apostle: “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man” (cf. Rom. 2:1), - and also: “We have a great High Priest, who can sympathize with us in our weaknesses” (cf. Heb. 4:15). To seduce means to deceive through pleasure; it simply says “to delight.” He calls unrelaxed standing unsoftened resistance to stimulation by earthly things and inflexibility towards material things in spite of temptations. He called the peculiarities of behavior the movement of each of the beings, corresponding to its nature. It is impossible for people to do the work of angels, or for water to do the work of fire, and vice versa. Do not think that the “worst” refers to created things, for there is no evil in them; This refers to a sin that occurs at our own discretion as a result of deprivation of good. God saves us from it if we willingly resort to Him. Understand that he is saying this about what is perceived by the senses and exists in the category of creation; God preserves everything in the good structure characteristic of each. After all, all this has remained immutable and remains as it was created. This is indicated by "unchanged". They are not inclined to the worst, either because He created them pre-elected, or because none of this left its structure and was not transferred to the lower ones. After all, heaven and earth have been preserved, as well as what is in them. The expressions “getting rid of the invasion of other people’s borders” and “preserving the properties of each unchanged” are understood to mean that the first principles continue to be opposite to each other, such as hot and cold, wet and dry, and each of them remains in its own integrity and does not turn into the opposite. Fire never becomes water, nor water fire. Although they come together at the behest of the Creator, each of them remains itself, preserving its own characteristics. He calls proportions the coherence and proportionality of each nature. Those. not outside the thought of Scripture. Damaged, causing shame and unsuitability. He is not talking about the removal of inequality in general, but such as exists among beings of the same order, meaning that it is not equal and not the same - each of the creations retains the identity of what corresponds to its nature, which is why he added “from decrease.” Since beings exist undifferentiated and unequal, inequality is not denied. Knowing the two meanings in which inequality is spoken of, he explains both of them and says that God is called Justice because he ensures the equality of everything, and expels inequality from everything. Now he speaks of inequality arising from a decrease in equality, that is, from excess. After all, to give to everyone equally, according to their dignity, means to contain and preserve everything. Having said this, he adds another meaning, in which he talks about inequality. He knows that some people call intelligible incorporeal species, the first of existing principles, I am talking about immortal creatures, units, i.e. simple essences, equality and identity. Beings perceived by the senses, which are divisible and exist in variability, differences and in other respects in different ways, are called inequality and difference. So, he says that if someone thinks about this inequality, the difference in the types of things perceived by the senses, in accordance with which animals, plants and other things arise, then God is the Guardian and Preserver of such inequality, preventing the opposite from merging into one and together, due to confusion, coming to destruction. After all, just as He brought everything into existence, so He protects everything, and everything exists as it originally appeared. Notice that he speaks of the inequality and difference of beings in everything in relation to everything, and that such inequality is protected by the justice of God. Note that there is also natural inequality. Extremely wisely, translating from the Hellenes to the truth, he says “images of the naming of God.” They created certain statues that had neither arms nor legs, which they called herms, and made empty niches in them with doors, like wall caskets. Inside them were placed statues of the gods who were honored, and the herms were locked outside. The Herms seemed simple, but within them was the beauty of their gods. The same should be understood here: the names in Scripture relating to the one existing and true God are unworthy of being spoken of God, such as: “Small”, “Sitting” and so on; but if the names are revealed and explained in a manner worthy of God, it will be found that they contain within them statues and divine images of God's glory. God is called great not in comparison with something else, just as an ox is greater than a sheep or a bean is greater than millet, but because of the incomparable and truly incomprehensible divine greatness. This means “special” – i.e. indicating a feature. Although he explains the names applied to God, it is necessary to clarify them with the evidence of Scripture. God is called “Great” because... it is written: “Great is our Lord and great is His power” (Ps. 146:5), and there are so many other similar things in Scripture. And the fact that He is “Little” is shown in the Third Book of Kings, where the Lord says to Elijah the prophet: “Behold, the sound of a light breath, and there is the Lord” (1 Kings 19:12), whence it is clear that He is embraced by a light breath, and this indicates smallness. That He is “the same”, and from here it is clear from the words: “I am and do not change” (Mal.3:6). That “Another” follows from the fact that He appeared to Ezekiel as a man from the fire and Electra (see Ezek. 1:26) and from another place: “His eyes are like lamps” (cf. Dan. 10:6), and from other things, somehow the image of copper and a furnace in the words of John in the Apocalypse (see Rev. 1:15). “Similar” - because in His image, as Scripture says, He created man (Gen. 5:1). And “unlike” - according to the words of Isaiah: “To whom have you made me like? “says the Lord” (Is. 40:25), for there is nothing like Him. “Standing” and “Immovable” - according to the words of Moses about the rock: “Here I stood before you were here” (cf. Ex. 17:6) and the like. “He who sits” is from Baruch: “You are the one who sits forever, but we are the ones who perish forever” (Bar.3:3), and also: “He who sits on the cherubim” (Ps.99:1). “Moving,” because it is said: “And he ascended upon the cherubim and flew” (Ps. 17:10), and also: “Let us go down and confuse their languages” (Gen. 11:7) and “He bowed down the heavens and came down” (2 Sam. 22:10). That will suffice for now, but as the presentation progresses, the necessary things will be explained. Since God has an all-perfect limit, being super-perfect, He is also super-infinite, as it is said: “And of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33). But He is also above every number. Although it is said that God is one and the One, yet He is above the One. After all, a unit in the proper sense of the word reveals a connection with many numbers arising from it and is considered, as it were, the beginning of a set of numbers. In the same way, God deigned to single out the unit from what arose from it, since the unit is simple, has no parts in itself and is not composite. But God surpasses her too, because... He is above the One, which is why it is said: “And His understanding is without number” (Ps. 146:5). After all, everything that exists, both very large and very small, participates in the possession of small things. After all, nothing in existence has escaped the small, which manifests itself in everything, either because it moves, increasing, from small to large - this is what the father says, or because in the large the small is seen, and not in the small the large, thanks to which it itself is large. This refers to the superpower of God’s penetration into the incorporeal. This meaning is “to penetrate to the separation of soul and spirit.” This shows that even the incorporeal and uniform in the soul can be divided by God. That is why God knows the thoughts conceived by the moving and active mind, with all their incorporeality and inseparability. For what is there between the mind and thinking? God penetrates between them, which is what it says: “You have understood my thoughts from afar” (Ps. 139:3). But also between soul and spirit, i.e. where our feelings are strengthened, with the help of which the soul perceives the sensory and we comprehend what we observe, God freely penetrates. The Hellenic sages call this spirit strength and, as it were, the second, sensual, soul of the soul. This sensory soul exists by passing through the brain, veins, arteries, bones and throughout the body. Notice how many meanings the word “unborn” takes on: or the unborn, which will be born in the future, about which Sarah said: “It has not yet been born to me” (Gen. 18:12); or unfinished, like the tower at Halan; or, like Paul the Apostle, born not from any of the people; or like Justus, one of the twelve; or something that never exists in any way, like what the Hellenes invented: Scylla, Chimera, etc. With God the unborn is special and absolute. About the same thing. Having called God unbegotten, he does not allow the opposite interpretation of the name and says: be careful not to take what is said as if God was born, as if there was someone higher than Him, so that anything could be born from someone who was before Him, as the Creator, or the Good, or the Spirit, or Fire, or something of that kind. But do not consider Him either unborn or existing at all, either in becoming or in any other way. And how “unborn” should be understood, he goes on to say. He does this against the Arians and Eunomians, who blasphemed God regarding the born and the unborn. Since, by asserting that God is above everything unborn, he makes it possible to think that he is thereby saying that, in addition to the Holy Trinity, there is something unborn in creation, let us try to make the meaning of these words clearer. First of all, it is known that, because Philosophers flourished in Ephesus at that time and Ionian philosophy arose there during the bishopric of St. Timothy, the divine Dionysius tried to bring all their incorrect statements to the truth. He knew that some of them taught that everything imaginable is immortal, and everything that thinks is born and unborn: birth, because it arose as from a Cause from God during the emission of radiance, and unborn - because it did not happen in time, but in eternity, that is, in centuries. And above we said that the sensible is characterized by time, and the intelligible is eternity, which is why it is called eternal. So they called that which shone from the emission the unborn. He knew again that others and this visible world were called born and unborn: born, because everything is contained in it and moves from one to many, as happens at the birth of every species of animal, plant and other things; or, conversely, from many to one, when it moves towards death, towards disintegration into elements. And they called the same world unborn, or eternal, because, in their opinion, the world never stops moving towards birth and returning to destruction. The great Dionysius says that when they talk about the unborn - whether he himself says it or the Greeks - this should not be attributed to God, for everything else is called unborn relative to some reason, but God is causeless and absolute. For what reason could there be for a God who is superior to all? He says “uniformly” because the nature of God is completely incomparable; “identically” - because of its immutability and indestructibility; “defined” - “explained” - from the verb “to determine”, or - “withdrawn” and “separated”. It is always seen as the same and identical as the single creative Cause of everything, from which it is granted to creatures to remain in identity, and to the opposite, or different, in agreement with each other. Everything is identical, even what is not identical in nature, is contemplated in God. After all, everything that exists is the same and equally the Cause is God. God is always the same and unchangeable, that is, identical, and He is not limited by anything else, and nothing serves as a limit for Him, but in Him everything has a limit. And God is always the same, as being the Unit, something truly identical and the boundary of Himself, limiting everything from everything. It exists super-exaltedly, uniformly and identically in appearance, which means similarity to a unit, not mixed with anything, simple and identical; this is equivalent to being one and the same, no, “identical in appearance”, for it means the same thing. God conveys identity to His creations, for which reason everything is one and the same, as it arose, and remains in harmony, integrity and mutual inclination, as far as it can be involved in it. In the same way, He preserves and preserves the differences, meaning the creations originating from Him, while maintaining His identity, which does not pass into difference or into opposition, although He maintains opposition in the sensible. The order of presentation here is reversed, so the consequence must be thought through, bearing in mind the sentence “because He is providentially co-present with everything,” etc. See how the soul can be understood using bodily images, and how he thinks of the parts of the soul in bodily images; he portrays it beautifully in words. The soul not only has no parts, but in comparison with the body. He calls abilities parts of it, and when compared, parts of the body sometimes serve as their images. He calls clarification the development or clarification of a thought hidden in the expression; “cleanse” means in every possible way to free the conceptual from the corporeal. When speaking about the three-dimensionality of bodies, he means three dimensions, which he immediately explains. And from here you can well understand what the apostle said: “So that you may comprehend what is the depth and what is the height” (cf. Eph. 3:18) and so on, which some people attributed to the saving cross. Notice what “length” and “depth” and “width” mean in relation to God. The ancients called unity, identity, equality and similarity the cause of universal harmony, providence and salvation; which they also called “The One”. The difference and dissimilarity associated with division, variability and the sensible, as well as with the existing, or intelligible, they called creative providence, in accordance with the explanations of the names of thought, which we discussed in detail above. Others called identity and difference, i.e. “same” and “different”, appearance and deprivation, and others – limit and infinity. “Uniting multiplication” he calls God’s presence in His characteristic simplicity during the creation of various and all kinds of creatures. What he means by “origin” is for the creation of existing things, that is, movement and striving. In relation to us, it is impossible to say “similar”: after all, our body consists of similar and dissimilar parts, as Aristotle shows at the beginning of his work “On the Birth of Animals.” And God, existing, exists completely like Himself, which is why the Divine Scripture speaks of Him as always unchangingly existing, the same and unlike everything else, for example: “Who in the gods is like You, Lord?” (cf. Ps. 85:8) and again: “With whom have you compared Me, says the Lord” (cf. Is. 40:25), and again: “I have multiplied visions and by the hands of the prophets I have become like” (cf. Hos. 12:11), i.e. I have become like Myself, as Irenaeus says in the book “Against Heresies.” The imitation in question here can be understood as an appeal to God of the thinking and rational nature, in accordance with what is said: “Be perfect” (Matthew 5:48) and “be merciful, as is your heavenly Father” (Luke 6:36), which is truly and above all limits and words characteristic of God, and of creatures - to the best of their ability and according to their nature. This imitation can also be represented as participation in what is super-essentially contemplated in God, received at birth by the created, participating in being and other things that I spoke about before. As for the expression “like God in the divine image,” then, without denying the possibility of saying this in relation to a person, he means in the sense of participation, and applies it to another. Here he talks about how the expression “in the image and likeness” should be understood - that we are not talking about the form, but about the turning and aspiration of the mind towards God, the Reason for being and good being; some believed that this was free will, since God is not in essence similar to verbal beings. We are not like our images made of wax or copper, which are different in relation to us and to some extent similar. And “done equally”, i.e. belonging to the same rank and possessing the same essence, such as the cherubim and seraphim and other angelic ranks, are similar to each other, and the species itself, which is each of the intelligible beings, corresponds to the species that precedes them, common to intelligible beings, as if some immaterial matter underlying them, which is life. God does not stand in such a relationship to what has come from Him. For that which is a cause is not like that which it causes. What has been said about the intelligible can also be applied to our intelligent souls. “Made in the same way” he calls those who have the same nature and whose likeness is mutual; for example, Peter is like Paul and, conversely, Paul is like Peter. As for man and his image, the situation is different: the logos of essence is not the same for both; that is why he speaks of a “preliminary image of similarity.” A person can be called dissimilar to his own image in another sense - because the image is similar to a person, and not a person to an image. Likewise, the relationship between the cause and the caused by it cannot be reversed. The ability to turn it the other way around means that even if said in the opposite sense, the statement has meaning, for example, the opposite of the statement “an animal is from the stomach” - “an animal is not from the stomach.” So says Clement at the beginning of the fifth book of the Stromatus; the same here. If the direct statement is: “what is done is equally similar,” then the opposite is: “what is done is equally dissimilar.” It is the custom of the great Dionysius to speak of God in connection with that, the Cause of existence in itself, and life in itself, and the substance of life in itself, and so now he says that He is both the likeness of itself and the substance of the likeness of itself. He does not say this in the sense that God Himself is one life, but for essences another life was created, as if in some way constituted outside of God, of which life participates; but, as he himself explains in the eleventh chapter, God is called life in itself, power in itself, likeness in itself, and the like, appearing thereby as the divine Principle and as the Cause of it. For He is the Source of such for existence. And He is the substance of life itself, of its own likeness, and of such, as the one who delivers such a gift for communion to the very first communion among those who exist. After all, everything participates in this in its own way; first of all the first and highest of intelligible creatures, then the next ones in the order of descent. “Similarity” we above called the unity of the whole, in accordance with which everything remains in the same way and in the same way participates in unanimity, corresponding to participation in that which is the First Cause. “Perhaps” he said about imitation, without meaning “perfectly” or “in general.” "Standing" and "sitting" have the same meaning. “Standing” he does not call straightening from a bent position while sitting, but the steadfastness and immutability of the solid state of God; just like “sitting” means sufficient and incomprehensible peace in the nameless kingdom. Indeed, in Scripture, God is spoken of both as one who rises from a sitting position, for example: “Rise, O Lord, and go before them” (Ps. 16:13), and also as one who moves from standing to a sitting position, for example: “For You sit on Your horses, and Your riding is saving” (Hab. 3:8), and also: “And He mounted the cherubim and flew” ( Ps.17:11), and especially: “You are seated on the throne, judging justly” (Ps.9:5) and “God sits on His holy throne” (Ps.47:9). And this is not bodily, but God-like. In everything, God is called passing and moving, for example, in Jeremiah: “I am a God who draws near, and not a God from afar” (Jer. 23:23), and also: “Above all and through all” (Eph. 4:6), and especially: “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I descend into hell, You are there” (Ps. 139:8) and so on. In the epiphanies: “Bow down your heavens and come down” (Ps. 143:5) - and: “God has ascended with a shout” (Ps. 46:6). Teaching to piously understand what is said about God, he says: when you hear that God moves, do not in any case think that this means movement that is characteristic of thinking creatures, much less those that perceive with the senses. For material moves by moving, and movement is always a change of place, especially when it is incapable of stopping on its own, at will. There is also a movement consisting of change. Change occurs when, while remaining unchanged in the substance perceived by the senses, something undergoes a change, undergoing a harmful effect that causes suffering, or, even in the midst of a harmful one, ceases to be subject to it. Thus, the body recovers and falls ill again; in the same way, copper can be both round and having angles, i.e. turns out to be reshaped into an angular one. And when the whole changes, nothing remains of what is perceived by the senses as its substance, as if blood were produced from all the earth, air from water, or water from all air; or - as when Moses' rod turned into a snake, or water into blood. This is change, birth, and death associated with a change in the original. There is also a movement that changes into something different, and one color into another. In addition, there is movement relative to place - the rearrangement of something from place to place, which movement occurs either in a straight line or in a circle, as the wheel moves, and, according to some, the sky; or mixed from straight and circular, i.e. sinuous movement characteristic of snakes. There is also a mental movement in accordance with which the mind, or divine minds, act in thinking about things. There is also a spiritual movement by which the soul is moved to thoughts and to give movement to feelings. There is another movement, natural, moving what is necessary for growth and nutrition. God does not move in any of these images. The movement of the motionless and always remaining the same is called His desire for existing things to arise, and the penetration of His providence into everything. He talks about the movement of displacement, which he calls spiral movement; and “irresistible” means absolute and all-connected. Denying bodily movements from God, he clarifies how the movement characteristic of Him should be understood in a manner worthy of God, using in each case analogies with sensory perceptible movements in his explanations. How movements in a circle, in a straight line and in a spiral are understood in relation to God, read in the fourth chapter, a few pages after the beginning of the chapter; You will also learn how similar movements are thought of in relation to angels, souls and bodies. The higher always embraces the lower. “The edges” he calls the highest forces closest to God, while the “middle” is those that follow them, surpassing everything perceived by the senses. So, the higher ones embrace the middle ones, and the middle ones embrace what is perceived by the senses. For this reason, Scripture speaks of ranks of angels in heaven. And God embraces everything, just as a circle contains everything within it and returns to itself as the cause. Notice what “Same,” “Justice,” and “Equal” mean when applied to God. The elements also contain each other equally, for equality in their ratio does not allow the balance of the principles of the world to be excessively disturbed in complex formations. After all, if one of the elements turns out to be redundant, the existing one dies. You should know that the mental cannot be perceived by the senses and does not have something rational in it, as do the powers of the soul and feelings. The rational is characterized by simple and irrelevant speculation, like angels. The verbal, thanks to the word and contemplation, receives knowledge of existence, like the human mind. The sensual is amenable to perception by the senses, as, for example, parts of creation, which are divided into essences that have a character and natural ones, that is, into motionless and completely insensitive beings and those that are characterized by some kind of movement. Nature is defined as the beginning of movement and rest. “In desire” means equality of choice. I do not miss, of course, what is said allegorically about the human soul as being rational and verbal. There is equality in nature, given from God, the Creator of everything, and there is equality desired, which those who wish, using freedom of choice, successfully achieve, achieving righteousness and equality in life. And this equality is instituted by God. After all, God simply and indivisibly has all kinds of equality and justice in Himself, as if in ideas and patterns, or, better said, super-has, in His eternal speculations. God appeared to Daniel gray-haired, with a head as white as wool, which is why he was called the “Ancient of Days” (Dan.7:9). Younger than the gray-haired old man, as a husband or youth, he appeared with the angels to Abraham. Having considered this, the great Dionysius resolved it this way: He is the elder. - since everything that exists is from God and after Him, therefore, and younger than Him; the young one is as if in bloom and constant bliss, forever remaining without aging. And if you say both at once, i.e. that He is an old man and a youth at the same time, since, initially extending and passing through everything, He remains eternal to the end, since the end is younger than the beginning, then this too, he says, will make sense. Then he cites the opinion of the divine Hierotheus. I add to this that he speaks of him as his priestly mentor and therefore calls him his teacher. Why is the Lord depicted sometimes as gray-haired, and sometimes as young, As, for example: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8): after all, “today” is more new than “yesterday.” Since arithmetic, having a division in numbers, raises the multitude to the limit, putting the unit at the base of every number, and the binary - even and the next in order of increasing numbers by adding units, and since the multitude, that is, the creation, comes from God, the number belongs to the multitude, therefore, that which the number extends is called younger, for the multitude, that which can be counted, is in an inexpressible way after God and from God is happening. But even this younger number of the creature is the original unit, which, as I said, is the cause of numbers and has some relation to the many things that come from it. So God, as the Cause of such and as having the logos of one, in accordance with the above considerations, is called younger. Some call it the number of the body. Above, in the fifth chapter, we thought at length about eternity and time. Now we need to explain what is being studied. It is not only God, he says, that Scripture calls eternal, as in: “Eternal God, who built the ends of the earth” (Is. 40:28). It speaks of God as absolutely unborn, for He exists without a cause, but also the surrounding essence of Him, which is involved in incorruptibility and unchangeable, it calls eternal, be it angels or the highest heaven, for example: “He has appointed them for ever and ever and ever” (Ps. 149:6), “the invisible is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). It calls unchangeable that which remains as it appeared. And he calls the eternal gates either heaven or the angels standing before them, the guardians of the gates. And he calls the ancient things eternal, for example: “He remembered the eternal years” (Ps. 77:6); and speaks of our time as an age, for example: “Until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), “To deliver us from this present evil age” (Gal.1:4). And, on the contrary, eternity is called time, for example: “I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54). But it will be eternity, not a day, at the resurrection. And again: “For those who do not believe, whose minds the god of this world has blinded” (2 Cor. 4:4). And he calls time eternal, such as: “Eternal days” (Mal. 3:4) and “The Moabite and the Ammonite will not enter the house of the Lord until the tenth tribe forever” (Deut. 23:3), - after all, here he calls the ten tribes an age. Another interpretation. One should not, he says, when Scripture calls something eternal, necessarily think about the divine. This is completely and absolutely, that is, no matter how you think, unborn and eternal, but angels are also designated by this word as having the ability to remain in identity. Note that this father understands eternity in the same way as Gregory the Theologian - as a manifestation of the constant, i.e. eternal, existence. The temporary age is spoken of in the psalms: “And he will labor forever, and live to the end” (Ps. 49:9-10). About eternal time, the apostle says something like: “Before eternal times” (Tit. 1:2) and “From eternal times it was kept silent” (Rom. 14:24), and Moses: “You will have a possession forever” (Lev. 25:46). And note that the future age is imperishable and remains the same forever. Those. from the saints themselves. And note that he calls the intelligible existent, to which he includes eternity; and in connection with what is perceived by the senses, it speaks of birth and indicates that time also belongs to this category. See Chapter 5 for more information on this. In the wisest way, the author confirms the listener in piety, saying that one should not think that what is called eternal is therefore co-eternal with the Eternal God. We have already said above that what is called eternal in the proper sense of the word is not eternity itself, but what is involved in eternity. So, in the full sense of the word, eternal beings should be called intelligible beings who arose immortal, who by the will of God remain infinite, who were created by God but did not exist before. In fact, he confidently directs towards piety the lofty words of the Hellenic philosophers. Thus, he says that the incorporeal forces created by God are existent and eternal, but are not co-eternal with God, as the Hellenes talk idlely, saying: “God is simultaneous with the world, and the world is simultaneous with God.” There are, he says, also these emerging earthly bodies, which are called subject to formation and destruction as existing on the basis of matter and belonging to the number of the grosser ones under the moon. And there is also that which exists in the middle between the eternal and the becoming, i.e. coarser earthly bodies, continuously, being born and dying, arising and disappearing. Those who mediate between them are also bodies, but to some extent they participate in both eternity and time. The sky and all the stars are mediators, for they too are bodies, although subtle in composition and made of the purest matter. As the apostle says: “There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies” (1 Cor. 15:40), and then, explaining, he adds: “There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars” (1 Cor. 15:41). After all, the highest heaven and earth have existed for centuries; for the firmament and the stars were created before the creation of light, which was called days, as Moses says (cf. Gen. 1:4-18), throughout time. However, although they are bodies and temporary, for they are tangible and visible, they will nevertheless be eternal, for they too will be involved in eternity, like our bodies, having been transformed into incorruptible, which the apostle shows when he says that “the form of this world will pass away” (1 Cor. 7:31), but not the world. Why is it said about these intermediate bodies in the psalms: “He has established them for ever and ever; he has made a commandment, and it will not pass away” (Ps. 149:6). So, notice that the stars, the sun, the moon and the sky are bodies that are subtle in their composition, and by the will of God they became immortal, just as our bodies will become after the resurrection. Another interpretation. He called angels and souls mediating between existing and emerging, as in some way participating in eternity, due to incorruptibility and immortality, and time, as existing in becoming in time. That is why he calls them both temporary and eternal. Above, he said that “what is” seems to be eternal, for this is what is said about God, and what is in becoming is temporary. So, when hearing about the eternal and the temporal, one must, he says, not simply understand it, but “in accordance with the images known to them,” i.e. clearly certified. Notice that he called God “the first gatherer.” And by “disconnected multitude” one should understand the sensual. By “whole unity” some meant the simple indivisible Cause of existence, to Which everything returns as composed in It; and others - the harmony of everything, formed from heterogeneous elements; That’s why the author calls “internecine war” the opposition of the qualities of the elements: hot and cold, wet and dry, and others, similarly united to fill a single world. Do not think, like the godless Manichaeans, that matter, rebelling against itself, gave birth to these demons; In nature, the wet is at war with the dry, and the cold with the hot. God unites these opposites for love and universal unity. And by “internecine” we must understand natural. He calls the oldest forces not just the rank of seraphim, but the rank that has seniority in the matter of connection or communication for the divine illuminations of those below. They are the first to perceive the epiphany. “Indivisible” – i.e. not in some part, but all at once. He now denounces and brings to piety the great errors of the Hellenic philosophers. After all, many among them were at enmity with each other, and some said that everything is born thanks to opposition and war through dispute and battle, and others - that everything was created only by love and harmony. Since they did not appreciate God, the author corrects their statements, saying that God is the Creator and Connector of everything, by “internecine war of everything” he means the natural discrepancy between the incorporeal, immaterial, intelligible, on the one hand, and the corporeal, material, perceived by the senses, on the other. After all, these are dissimilar and inconsistent in essence: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Gal. 5:17). And not only this, some said, but moreover, that everything perceived by the senses, i.e. body, is infinite and perishes in infinity, and that the confusion of everything, which they call infinity, turns into difference, division, and parts are separated, and divided into genera, and from this the difference becomes even greater, and not only the discordant and alien is released, but dismemberment and division even of the harmonious arises, and this leads to discord and disunion of the united, so that everything is destroyed and destroyed, except the simple, i.e. elements! And this, which does not allow the whole to unite, they call war, and the great Dionysius, as a friend of truth, says that God stops this natural war (he calls it natural internecine, as well as within one nature - one of the same tribe), giving to everything instead of internecine war peace, harmony and unanimity, containing and pacifying everything in Himself, as the apostle says (cf. Col. 1:20). And He pacifies the heavenly and the earthly, thanks to which He unites the forces established in accordance with each order, serving love, in love for the subordinates and returns everything to Himself, guiding everything and containing everything. Note regarding Just that he calls the divine world “inexpressibility” and “immobility.” This Saint Justus is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, saying that he was also called Josiah (cf. Acts 1:23). Most likely, he wrote something, or Dionysius used unwritten teachings. This confirms the antiquity of Saint Dionysius and the fact that he was in his prime at the same time as the apostles and apostolic men themselves. Notice that these divine men used philosophical terms, calling God's world "ineffability" and "immobility." Here he calls unity the simple and unique, i.e. inseparable. Leaving and moving away, i.e. from His hiddenness. “Intelligible and called participles” he calls everything about which, thanks to what is said about it in Scripture, we are allowed to reflect. Note that he calls this unity, when something comes into union, even being dissimilar and which is what he earlier said about “internecine war.” He says that although the elements enter into mixture and indissoluble association with each other, their qualities do not lose their perfections, for example, heat, humidity, etc., in various types of compounds observed in everything. By “mixture” we must understand here not such a mixture as a mixture of liquids, when the constituent parts are destroyed, but unanimity and reciprocity, keeping both the composed and the constituent parts in harmony; I mean what is thought and felt, i.e. being in the process of becoming, as well as the opposites themselves, being at peace with each other, such as, for example, water and earth, since the earth surrounded by water is not destroyed, and the sky, which is made of water, and the ether, which does not destroy the sky. This is the internecine war that the Creator wisely invented, but not only: even more wisely He brings everything to love and harmony through the simplest elements, according to what was said: “You created summer and spring” (Ps. 73:17). “Unmixed and co-dissolved” he said, in agreement with the previously proposed understanding. We said above that divine minds think of themselves, of those above, and of those below, and at the same time remain within themselves when they act in their own way, united by their own thoughts. And when they think about what is below or above, it seems that they appear outward. And thus, as far as it is possible for thought, they reach the Cause of everything. Thus, the thinking divine minds, becoming similar, unite with the thinkable, for the thinker is united in the process of cognition with the knowable, with the object of thought; the one who does not know is scattered, not understanding what he does not know. Thus, such a thinking mind returns to itself, not dissipating outward, but concentrating within itself, for which reason it returns to itself. The situation is different with holy minds, where there is an intelligible unity of the soul; after all, they are intelligible; the thinking is that which is lower than all the angels. It is only thinking for the reason that we spoke about above, where we examined in more detail what was said about this in the first chapter. Note that in our souls one can also find an immaterial understanding devoid of parts - when they reduce their various reflections to a single mental purity, for then they advance in a certain path and order appropriate to them towards the supramental Unity. “Perfect World” he calls the Perfection of every good, i.e. God. “Edges” he calls the upper and lower forces, and the middle ones, consisting, as we said earlier, of the purest matter, such as the sky and the stars; The other edge is the terrestrial and terrestrial. For the upper edge in relation to the lower edge is the intelligible; in turn, the lower edge in relation to the upper edge is this earthly. And in the middle they touch. Coming from the Cause of everything, they are related as belonging to the same genus. “The farthest distant limits of everything” he calls soulless entities, i.e. those in which no movement, no growth, no feeding, or anything else is observed. Relatedness is fraternal and unity of nature. Unity differs from union: the former shows each person’s own unalloyed nature, while union is a mixture with another, or simply participation. And now the author maintains proper accuracy. For he speaks of relatedness, i.e. related, belonging to the same race, as coming from the same Progenitor, God, in accordance with the expression used by the apostle: “we are His race” (Acts 17:28). He also indicates the reason why everything is related, and says that God makes the intelligible related and one-elemental with the help of unity, i.e. simplicity and non-composition of essences, and immortality, which those who discussed this called identity. Likewise, He brings the sensual to reciprocity, realizing, as it were, some kind of kinship, connecting or mixing different elements and leading such mixtures into formation. An objection to those who say that not everyone desires peace; and what is the difference. Notice what he calls property, and that every phenomenon exists according to its nature, according to how it happened. This is against acephalous people who do not know what a property is. The author examines the problem of the property in detail, clarifying it. Here's an explanation. He says “belonging to them” instead of “his properties.” “Stillness” he calls non-violation of one’s own nature and movement. He beautifully said that everything moves differently and that everyone has their own movement that corresponds to it. After all, the imaginable and the thinking move in different ways, the movement of the sensory is in becoming, or some other movement - from among those that we talked about in more detail in the ninth chapter. Note that everyone’s active life is also a special feature. Against those who say that difference appears due to falling away from the World and hence conclude that not everyone loves the world. Note that there are two types of differences: some are the result of falling away from the World, and others are the characteristics of each of the existing ones. He surprisingly well refutes the opinions of the Hellenes and such heretics as the Valentinians and Manichaeans, who assume that matter is a principle that carries within itself the opposite of the divine. They said that matter is impermanent, mobile, limitless and indefinite - and all this is constant. Here the falsity of this is truly and completely shown. For there is not and has not been anything that, from the moment it appeared and was ordered, would not have received form from God and would have been maintained as it was created, having become the subject of God's providence. Same as “vague ghosts”. After all, they strive for leaking and perishing pleasures, pleasures and contacts and want to strive for such or to be involved in them peacefully, and when this happens not according to their mind, they become confused. What is said here must be understood in such a way that thanks to these “pathetic similarities” even those who love enmity and fickle people are kept in love for the world. After all, being overwhelmed by passions and wanting out of ignorance to hold onto passions as something good, they think that they are striving for peace, experiencing a thirst for fearless enjoyment, indulging in flowing evil passions, and they become confused if they fail to taste imaginary benefits, but in reality indulge in passions. Putting themselves against society for this and exciting themselves, they find themselves in confusion if the passion remains unsatisfied, they believe that they are pacifying themselves by indulging in passions. So you need to understand that everyone strives for peace, i.e. good. Why is the peace between us and the angels Jesus Christ, who stopped hostility, “destroyed the barrier that stood in the middle,” established peace between us and “made both one,” as the divine apostle says in the Epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 2:14). He who has subjugated passion and lust to reason does not fight with himself. He who has the same opinion as everyone else is at peace with everyone. And the one who made his mind receptive to what the angels proclaimed, he found peace with the angels. That is, to perform the same as they do, pious worship and service to the divine. Note that he also has an essay called “Theological Essays.” He talks about this at the beginning of the first chapter. Why does he think of God as life-in-itself, and as the Substance of life-in-itself, and the like. He responds well to what is in the letters, especially the second one. [Note that God receives names from the names of the beings He created, being its Cause.] I think that he calls the supermundane natures “originally existing” as the first and directly involved in divine gifts, life and so on. So from the very essence of existence, i.e. in observable existence, God is called the Substance and Creator of life itself, i.e. the same essence and its image. Based on one name “Life”, it is appropriate for us to think about similar names in the same way. And God is called life itself and names similar to this, since they say that such exists above all nature, above, that is, both angels and every thinking entity. “Primarily existing” he calls intelligible incorporeal creations, i.e. angels. Pay attention to the word “originally” - it means that at first the super-essential exists, i.e. God; After all, there is only one Creator of what is thought and felt. After all, one should not believe those who call the creative powers of God gods, which in fact is not the case, for there is only one Creator - God. Notice that God is the one Creator of everything thought and felt. Note that there are no gods or creators, be they angels or something else, besides God. Notice that this divine man makes no difference between “straightforward” and “truly.” With this, he more clearly answered the question posed earlier, how to understand what is sometimes said that God Himself and what is inherent in Him is life in itself, and sometimes that He is the Composer, i.e. The creator of it. Namely, that He is called as the Cause and super-initial Beginning of such; that which exists participates in such and from such is called living, existing and abiding in God. Revival, fulfillment, along with things, were created by God. We first perceive the thing itself, then the general concept of it, which includes life or existence visible everywhere, and then we comprehend the particular, i.e. an idea of ​​their specific form, for example, angelic or human life and other things into which the memory of those involved themselves intrudes. Further adding “then those who participate in them as a whole,” he shows that not everything participates in everything: for one participates only in existence, another in life, a third in thinking, or also in knowledge, and some in addition to deification. What seems unclear should be explained as follows. Having everything in Himself in the forms of salvation, super-united and uncomposed, God, as the exuding Principle, by the excess of goodness, transfers to each entity emerging from Him in its proper manner participation - as if emitting certain rays, while remaining completely in Himself - to His great advantages, the radiance of which, the inherent benefits of Him, in participation and are called, first of all, self-existence, self-revival, self-deification and similar names - in imitation of the principles, i.e. properties of God Himself, such as: in-itself-divinity, in-itself-goodness and in-itself-life. Secondly, He is also called the Substance of this - because of the essences that arose from Him, thanks to the appearance outside, which are essentially alive and given to the worthy as communion. Thirdly, with these private transfers, something is involved only in revival, something in deification, and something – like the highest conceivable powers – in all of this at once. He calls alternating births separate. Note that the substance of goodness and divinity itself is the One who surpasses both goodness and divinity. Note also that such is not the essence of God. Read about this in the second chapter of the Epistle to Gaius. “Providences and blessings” he calls what he previously called fulfillment, animation, goodness, divinity, beauty and the like. Having previously called God involved, he now says that He is not involved. God is involved through His generous giving; it is not involved because it is the Cause, and has this above all, in a special way; everything participates in this in one way or another. This is similar to what was said above, in the fifth chapter, that Being is both in everything and is not anything from everything: since It contains, animates and preserves, it is said that It is in everything; but it is not anything that exists because it is the Cause of the origin of everything, and a cause cannot be among the effects. So it is here: God is involved because everything that exists is involved in Him and came into being thanks to Him. There is no one who is not involved in Him, there will not be and never was. On the other hand, He is not involved, since nothing that exists is involved in His essence: God is, after all, above existing things by His nature. Doubling names, he says, means adding an additional name to a simple one, for example: “Holy of Holies,” “Lord of Lords,” “God of Gods,” “King of Kings,” and the like. This is said by both Gregory, the Theologian and Nyssa. “Absolutely” does not mean in relation to something, this or that, but according to naked thought, i.e. essentially. This is unity; I'm talking about the qualities of equality and sameness. This is the reason for unanimity, compassion and salvation of all. For the meaning of the unity of everything is that, having the same thing in the same respect, it can rightfully be called one. The unity of that which has parts exists when they are united, as a unanimous participation in the first cause. That is why the Lord prays for the disciples: “That they may be one, even as We are one” (John 17:22), “that they may be perfect into one” (John 17:23). God rejoices in His creations in accordance with the words of the psalm: “The Lord will rejoice in His works” (Ps. 103:31). He amazingly explained why God is glorified as the Holy of Holies and in the like manner, and says that insofar as pure nature differs from the cause of the property and caused by the cause, for this is the being in relation to the non-properly existing, and insofar as that of which one becomes partaker differs from that which is made a partaker, so much does God differ from those who have such in participation. For everything, it is said, comes from God and has something, but God does not come from anyone. Notice that he calls God independent of the law of His nature. Having been granted divine thought, this blessed man teaches, piously and lovingly correcting some people who have fallen into polytheism, and says that the principles established over the subordinates are primarily called saints, kings, lords and gods - according to what the noblest of people are called. When teachers who stand out among us for virtue, having virtue gathered together in their souls, teach this virtue to teach others, so that those taught are different from the majority, then the virtue they teach increases. The same thing, only in some more subtle and divine way, is contemplated among the disembodied ranks: through the mediation of the higher and closer to God angels, the lesser ones become partakers of God's gifts. Thus, from a source overflowing and pouring out liquid, the vessels standing closest are the first to fill, receiving what it pours out, and when they overflow, it then flows into other substituted vessels. And by many different vessels, both small and large, that which filled and overflowed the first vessel, pouring out from the source, is divided. In accordance with this rough example, yes, of course, there is also an abundance of teaching of divine gifts, shared among all by the first of the angelic orders. And the apostle is called “the chosen vessel” (Acts 9:15). That is, they do it to many; and as different as the participants are, so many types of gifts are also. God Himself serves as Limit and Space; and nothing extends beyond God, because He also measures the infinite. And the centuries, which, having no end, are endless. He, infinitely superior in magnitude, infinitely embraces with His majesty all the limitlessness of life of intelligible beings; but their life is not limited, like that of people, but they are created immortal. It is said about God that He abides in the super-eternal within His eternal existence. Many in number, but one in appearance: gold, pieces of silver, coppers. There is only one type: gold, copper or silver. Many powers, like plants, are one in appearance, for they are all grass. And many species, such as horse, ox, man, intelligible beings, are one in kind, because they are living beings. Many manifestations of craft have a common origin. God is the Cause of everything. He perfectly shows what he wants. This divine man also tries to explain his thoughts with the help of numbers. And so he says that there is nothing existing that does not participate in the One, i.e. God, just as every number participates in one. After all, even if you count starting from two, you will start counting from one two, and the same with tens. Moreover, he says that even if you start with small quantities, you will start counting with one second, one third, one tenth, and so on. So there is no number that is not involved in the one, or unit. Remembering the part, that’s why they say “one two” and “one ten” because they are filled from one. The meaning of this is clear: to show that God, who is called one, is not called one like countable things. God is one as simple, indivisible, unrelated to differences in appearance and alien to all changes and random properties. He is also called One because we think of him as a kind of Foundation of what will be. As for the same, different, greater or lesser, as well as even or odd, equal and unequal, observed in the world of numbers, it is unreasonable to apply this to the Beginning, making such things a beginning, for, changeable and transitory, they exist by necessity. The limit of division in the world of numbers is for the most part raised to one; and the beginning in each genus is the simplest. So in existence, either the one is plural, or the many are one. From a certain beginning, an element that is the simplest and unrelated to anything, as from a pattern and an idea, the one in existence comes. Thus, sensory light, even multiple parts, for example, the light of all the stars, when collected together, is a single light. And a being with multiple inherent properties, such as, for example, a peacock, which has gold, blue, and white colors, with a single body underneath them. This is how you need to think about other things. Here, with the help of arithmetic, he confirms his thought. Notice that he says that God, of course, exists down to one, since he is the Beginning of everything. Therefore, He is the Creator, or Inventor, and numbers. It is necessary in each case to add “existent” so that it turns out: what exists in many parts is united by integrity, such as, for example, a body; the rest is also a single subject, or essence, but multiple occurrences, such as, for example, a person. Of the things that come with it, one thing is separable, such as the ability to sit, walk, and the like, and the other is inseparable, such as blue-eyedness, hunchbacked nose, and the like. And again, the single species horse and bull exist in plural numbers, for there are many horses and many bulls. There are also multiple natural forces. There are also many species, such as man, horse, dog, etc., of the same genus, for each of them is an animal. There are also many things in periods, or plans, or deeds, but one beginning. “All” is said to mean species, parts, and differences separately; “whole” is when the parts are collected into a single complete whole, for example, species into a genus, or when hostile and opposite things coexist in peace and quiet, like water, earth, air, fiery stars and the sky, for all this as a whole is called “world”. Since unit seems to have some relation to number, without one there would be no set, for numbers denoting quantity are combinations of units. This is what he said above with the words: “God multiplies,” thinking about Him as if arithmetically. The One has arisen and exists on its own. “Assuming” and “according to assumption” are applied to things that do not actually exist, but are depicted by the word. Here, however, this should not be perceived this way, but in accordance with the author’s thought - to show in the identity of creation the consideration of the whole in the parts and the parts as a whole. If it had not been, he says, the appearance had been conceived, i.e. human nature, then, perhaps, it would not be possible to say, looking at people, that they form a unity. It is clear that unity lies in the very logos of their nature. This is what should have been said, because what is said about a united thing is that it is united with another through a deliberate form. Above, we said that species and many things, as elements and principles, are attributed to something unified, being raised to one genus, to which genus they belong as species. After all, what is united by the species itself is raised to a single genus, just as, for example, horses, bulls and the like are called animals. The Godhead as a whole is the All-Holy and Worshiped Trinity. Because of the ineffable unity of His nature, the One is also called “One.” “Thanks to Which” means “exists”, “from Which” – “composed”, “Which” – “dwells”, “in Which” – “contains”, or is preserved, and “in Which” – “returns”, although the father grouped the words in his own way. And the word “all” must be understood in context. He said beautifully that if you take away the one, there will be neither integrity, nor the slightest part, nor anything at all. He hinted at this earlier, saying that one second, and a third, and a tenth, i.e. parts involved in the unit. Not everything was made up by absolutely every one, but only by that one, thanks to which one God is one and is called One. It is only by this One that existence exists. After all, the very name “one,” when used to deny diversity, means exactly this. The One is, after all, self-initiating and primary in relation to the qualities, and It introduces the thought of the many things that come from it. But this is not necessary for God. As such, the One is completely impassive, inseparable and self-sufficient, for It by its nature cannot be united with another, like a single arithmetic unit. For the truly One itself, preceding every unity, denies all plurality, all addition and division. It is not called either small or moderate. And to put it more boldly, then – neither beautiful nor good, for these are certain qualities like characters and accompanying properties. The real One is thought to be superior to everything. And qualities such as “smallness” and “moderation” are thought of in connection with something else and therefore are not anything simple and fundamental. The One, as was said, being simple and unchangeable, not having the above mentioned, should not be perceived as a genus of being, for the genus is necessarily divided into species; and this, of course, is not a point or a monad, for such is related to what follows. It is the simplest, having no differences, for It has neither any movement nor state, such as rest. And the Truly One, which is the beginning and seed of existence, should not even be considered one. What is necessarily followed by multitude, and being is added to multitude, which is precisely what God does not have. Existence, after all, is essence - from “to exist”. God is both super-essential, and above existing things, and uniquely, and not primarily, and inimitably above existing things. For God is all and above all. So, having reasoned in a surprising way about numbers, the author adds: although the all-exceeding Divinity is sung as Trinity and as Unity, She is neither the Trinity nor the unit, known to us or others as numbers. God is and is called the Mind that exceeds everything. For through what He is not, we come to know what God is. Notice that God is above all things, surpassing everything and Himself being the creator and inventor of number. Note that "numbered" means the manifestation of number; thus, the “one”, being applied to being, i.e. to creatures, has the meaning of number. In order not to directly understand “is neither one nor trinity,” connect “is not” with “understanding.” For this expression is not intended to abolish what is related to such a confession, but to teach what is unexplored. Godliness, he says, is manifested in the name “Trinity”; for in order to represent, capable of being an object of worship, a symbol of ineffable hypostases, a number was invented, as Basil and the divine Gregori say. Not in the proper sense, however, he called the Father the begetter, the Father of the worshiped Son, and the source of the All-Holy Spirit worshiped with Them. So Parenthood, like any other name known to people and the intelligible forces themselves, cannot give a clear idea of ​​​​the mode of existence of that which is hidden from everyone, that relates to God. And how can one call God by any of the existing things, who is not one of all the existing things, but is above all? This divine man says beautifully that “there is no name or word for Her, because She is in the inaccessible beyond” - not in the sense of place - let there not be! - but in the sense of reasoning and reflection, for the word about God is not accessible to any mind or reflection. We must understand well and clearly that there is no name for Him, for everything that exists is designated by means of known names and things. And what name or thing can be applied to God, who is beyond all things that exist and is the Creator and Cause of everything? So even goodness and beauty are not in the proper sense of the word applied to God Himself, says this divine Dionysius, since they are also found in beings. And above, too, you will find that this refers to the characteristics and properties of beings, which God, who surpasses everything, does not have. Note: he says at the right time that theologians, in order to think and say anything at all about God, obsessed with the desire for Him, ascribed to Him the name “Goodness,” whereas in reality God is super-good and super-essential. Goodness, as he says, is “the most honorable of names.” Negations, that is, negative names and words about what does not exist, are not simply used by theologians when applied to God, for they are not understood as they are said, but are seen as super-exalted. After all, no one involved in wisdom will accept the epithets “immortal”, “invisible”, “imperishable”, “needless”, “sinless” more commonly than they should. And this is not said in relation to God. But leaving the explanatory names, the author throws his head back to silent and more divine ideas. Therefore, in a beautiful way, he names the more divine names of God according to their order. For, having withdrawn from all bodily and worldly feelings, the soul made them akin to itself. In this way, purity in the knowledge of God is achieved, as far as is possible for human nature. The apostle hints at this, saying: “And so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17), and also: “Now we see in a mirror, as if guessing, but then we will see face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). Note that the most honorable of the names is “Goodness,” which is why it is first dedicated to God. He calls akin what is co-natural, familiar and inherent in a creature. Note that even for angels what concerns God is incomprehensible, and that the lowest of the angels contemplates more about God than all church theologians, including the apostles. Note that if there are other names of God equal in power in Scripture, they should be understood in the same exact explanatory way. Note that the mystical should not be imparted to everyone indiscriminately, but only to worthy and sacred men, as the divine Paul writes about this to that sacred man Timothy. This is what the father says, humbling himself in a sacred manner, like everything else. Notice that, as in another chapter, he says that "Symbolic Theology" has not yet been transmitted. And if you want to understand the Difference between “Theological Essays” and “Symbolic Theology”. read the third chapter of the treatise “On Mystical Theology.”