Книга четвертая

I. Plan for further presentation (1, 1) Now we should move on to discuss the question of martyrdom and talk about who can be called perfect. Let's touch on everything else that has a connection with the previous one, and in particular, let's consider whether both slave and free can really be inclined to philosophy, regardless of what gender they are, men or women. (2) Then, having completed our previous discussions about faith and the ways of finding it, we will undertake a discussion about symbols in order, after briefly completing a review of ethical questions, to show how the Hellenes can benefit from a knowledge of barbarian philosophy. (3.) Having given due attention to this subject, we will concentrate on those passages of Scripture which refute certain views of some of the Greeks and Jews. Next, we will return again to what we had previously promised to present in previous books of our Stromats, but we were unable to fit it all into one discussion, due to the abundance of various topics covered there. (2, 1) Having set forth, as far as possible, all these subjects, we will begin a discussion of the natural scientific ideas of the Hellenes and Barbarians concerning the first principles, so far as this information has reached our ears, and will end with a criticism of the most important doctrines of the philosophers. (2) Then, having briefly touched on theology, we will move on to the prophetic traditions, thereby confirming the reliability of the Scriptures in which we have believed, and its divine origin. After this, we will be able to destroy heretical teachings step by step, contrasting them with the doctrine of the one God and the Lord Almighty, so openly proclaimed in the law, the prophetic writings and the good Gospel. (3) Many obstacles await us on this path, but we will try in our work to resist all distortions, convincing them of the opposite against their will, by the power of Scripture itself. (3, 1) Having completed all that we plan to cover in our discussion, and which, if the Spirit allows us, it is highly necessary to say (for before we go to the truth, we must touch upon what is preliminary knowledge), we will first turn to the true Gnostic doctrine of nature, thereby receiving initiation into the lesser mysteries before passing on to the great. Thus, after the explanation and presentation of the initial principles, the interpretation of holy things in accordance with the divine mind will not be hindered in any way. (2) The knowledge of nature, or rather the mystical contemplation contained in the true canon of Gnostic tradition, is further clarified by appeal to cosmogony, from which the path leads to theology. (3) That is why we will begin with what the prophets convey to us about creation, expounding them along the way and, as far as is in our power, refuting them. (4) But this whole plan can be accomplished only by the grace of God and to the extent of the abilities that God has given us. Let us now turn to our previous subject, having first finished what remains to be said about ethics. II. About the meaning of the book's title (4, 1) Our notes, as we have already said about this more than once, for not very diligent and inexperienced readers may seem too diverse and, as the title itself indicates, consisting of different pieces woven into one carpet so that the argument constantly slides from one subject to another, often pointing in one direction, but thereby proving something else. (2) “Miners,” says Heraclitus, “search through a lot of earth in search of gold, but find very little.” 621 However, everyone who belongs to the “golden family,” even when digging up something that is alien to him, will find a lot in small things. This way the word can find a reader who is able to understand it. 622 (3) Likewise, our Stromata, in the hands of a person who reads them with understanding, can turn out to be a good aid for memory and a means of helping in the search for truth. (4) However, the reader, in addition, must do the research himself. (5, 1) A reasonable traveler, if he is in doubt about the correct choice of path, only needs to point in the right direction. Then he himself will be able to continue the path and achieve his goal. One day a certain slave asked the Delphic priestess how he could win over his master? The Pythia replied: “If you look, you will find.” (2) And yet, it seems to me, a difficult task is the search for the hidden good, After all, virtue was separated from us by the immortal gods Painful sweat: the road to it is steep, high and long, And it’s a little difficult at the beginning. But if you reach the top The road that was previously difficult will become easy and smooth. 623 (3) “Strait and narrow is the way of the Lord” (Matthew 7:14) and “the kingdom of heaven is only for those who make effort” (Matthew 11:12). That is why the Lord tells us: “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7), if you adhere to the royal path and never deviate from it. (6, 1) Truly, great fruitful power is contained even in the small seed of the teachings contained in this book; according to the word of Scripture, she is “like the grain of the field that nourishes everyone” (Job 5:25). (2) Consequently, if our notes are called Stromatae, then such a name is quite suitable for their content, for they really talk about very diverse objects, like sacrificial offerings, which, according to Sophocles, included aroma and selected grapes, mighty olive oil and wonderful honeycomb, labors of the golden bee. 624 (7, 1) So in our Stromata, like the gardener from the comedy of Timocles 625, “figs, olives, dried wine berries and honey from a fruitful field” grow. (2) It is this fruitfulness of the field that makes the owner say the following: “You correctly mean not a field, but an olive branch hung with sacrificial fruits (είρεσιώνην).” (3) Indeed, it was the custom of the Athenians to sing verses in front of the church with the following content: “He brings an olive branch and a fig tree, and rich bread, and a cup of honey, and oil to anoint the skin.” (4) Like a winnower who separates the grain from the chaff, our reader should also pass the wheat through the sieve more often and clear it of debris. III. About true perfection (8, 1) Most people in their fickleness and foolishness are like changeable weather. (2) Distrust brings much good and credulity brings harm. (3) And Epicharmus says the following: “Do not neglect distrust, for it is the basis of prudence.” 626 (4) However, distrust of the truth leads to death, just as faith in the truth leads to life. Conversely, believing a lie and rejecting the truth is a sure path to death. (5) The same must be said about abstinence and intemperance: the first is a matter of life, and the second of death. To abstain from good deeds is tantamount to villainy, and abstinence from all kinds of unrighteousness is the beginning of salvation. (6) And it seems to me that by honoring the Sabbath abstinence is indirectly commanded, for it is they who are advised to tame the evil inclinations within themselves. Otherwise, how would humans differ from animals? (7) And, on the other hand, in what ways would the Angels of God be wiser than man? “You have made him a little lower than the angels,” as it is said (Ps. 8:6). Indeed, no one attributes this saying of Scripture to the Lord, although he was also clothed with flesh. It is best to classify him as a perfect sage, diminished only a little before the Angels, namely, only by the temporary nature of this earthly life and the clothing of the flesh in which he is clothed. (8) Therefore, by wisdom I mean nothing other than knowledge, for life [in all other respects] is alike. For mortal nature, that is, for man, as well as for all other creatures, together with him exalted by immortality, to live means to contemplate and observe moderation in everything, although some creatures may surpass others in the degree of perfection. (9, 1) It is for this reason that Pythagoras said that only God is wise. 627 But this is exactly what the apostle affirms in the Epistle to the Romans: “To the obedience of the faith made known among all nations to the only wise God through Jesus Christ” (Rom. 16:26–27). Having united with wisdom in love, Pythagoras did not call himself a sage, but only a friend of wisdom. “God talked with Moses,” says Scripture, “as a friend [talks] with a friend” (Ex. 33:11). (2) It is clear, therefore, that truth comes from God, it is generated by Him, but the Gnostic strives for truth and loves it. “Go, you sluggard, to the ant and become the bee’s disciple,” says Solomon (Proverbs 6:6). (3) Learn what? Because each creature has its own special purpose: another for an ox, another for a horse, another for a dog. What is a person's calling? (4) Man, in my understanding, is something like a centaur, revered in Thessaly. It unites the rational and irrational principles, soul and body. The body is occupied with the earth and bends towards it, but the soul strives towards God. (5) Guided by true philosophy, it rushes upward to what is related to it, with all its strength it works to free itself from the lusts of the body, and among other things, from worries and fears, although, as we showed above, patience and fear are necessary for confirmation in virtue. (6) Of course, “by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20), as the detractors of the law also claim, although “before the law sin was in the world” (Rom. 5:13); but “without the law,” we answer them, “sin is dead” (Rom. 7:8). (7) After all, by getting rid of the cause of fear, that is, from sin, we get rid of fear itself, and, in addition, from the very possibility of punishment, since we undermine the foundation on which lust is based. (10:1) “The law is not made for the righteous,” says Scripture. 628 Heraclitus also said well: “The name of Truth would not have been known if it had not been for this.” 629 And according to Socrates, “laws are not made for the virtuous.” 630 (2) However, the detractors of the law did not comprehend the meaning of these words of the apostle: “He who loves his neighbor does no harm to him” (Rom. 13:10) and [the commandments] “do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, and any other that is contained in the word: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Rom. 13:9). (3) This is why our Lord says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.” 631 But since a person who loves his neighbor cannot do anything bad to him, and since the essence of all the commandments is contained in one short word: love your neighbors, it follows that the commandments, which were supposed to awaken fear, give rise to love, not hatred. (11, 1) The law, the source of fear, therefore, cannot produce either confusion or sadness in the soul. “Because,” says the apostle, “the law is holy and truly spiritual” (Rom. 7:12-14). (2) Having studied the nature of the body and the essence of the soul, we can, I think, understand what fate awaits them, and after that no longer consider death an evil. “For while you were slaves to sin,” says the apostle, “you were then free from righteousness. What fruit did you have then? Deeds of which you yourself are now ashamed, for their end is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and become slaves of God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:20–23). (12:1) From here it is clear that the life of a sinful soul, when it is still connected to the body, is death for it, but real life for it will only be the severance of all ties with sin. (2) However, the obstacles and ditches of passions that lie in wait for us are numerous, the chasms of anger and malice that we have to jump over are wide, the tricks of those who are plotting evil against us are cunning. Only by overcoming all this is it possible to achieve knowledge of God “face to face, and not through a glass darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12). (3) Having chosen the painful lot of sad slavery for man, Zeus destroys the best half of him. 632 (4) Scripture calls slaves all those who contribute to sin (Rom. 6:17-20), those who are sold to it (Rom. 7:14), all those who love sensual pleasures and are occupied only with their bodies. From the point of view of Scripture, these unfortunates are more like animals 633, like “hot horses neighing at their neighbor’s wife” (Jer. 5:8), they are more like beasts than people. He who pleases the flesh is a lustful ass 634; the stealer of someone else's property is a predatory wolf (Gen. 49:27); slanderer - snake 635. (5) Therefore, the gradual detachment of the soul from the body, with which the philosopher is occupied throughout his entire life, 636 develops in him a sincere desire for knowledge, so that it is all the more easier and calmer for him to endure natural death, which is simply the resolution of the bonds connecting the soul with the body. “The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world,” says the apostle (Gal. 6:14). “Although he is still alive in the flesh, it is as if he were already living in heaven.” 637 (13:1) Everyone who deserves to be called a Gnostic easily humbles himself if necessary, and even willingly surrenders his body to the power of the one who demands this sacrifice from him. Having cleansed his flesh from all sinful inclinations, he does not address the tempter with abuse, but rather with words of admonition and reproof, showing ...what glory and what a happy life... 638 he left and came here, and remains with mortals. (2) First of all, he testifies to himself that he is sincerely faithful to God; secondly, he testifies against the tempter, proving that he is in vain indignant at the firmness and immutability of his love for God; thirdly, and finally, he testifies before the Lord that His teaching is characterized by a special divine power of persuasiveness, so that even the fear of death cannot force the faithful to apostasy. He confirms the truth of the teaching by his own deeds, revealing to others the omnipotence of God, to whom he strives. (3) Who would not be surprised by the power of love and the feeling of gratitude with which he strives to unite with kindred souls? With what shame, by shedding his precious blood, he covers the unbelievers! (14:1) Restrained from apostasy by the beneficial fear of the commandment, he does not agree to renounce Christ and this testifies to his inherent fear of God. However, he does not sell his faith and does so not in anticipation of the crown prepared for him, but leaves this life out of love alone for God, with joy in his heart, with thanksgiving on his lips, and for the voice that awakened in him, which calls him from this world, and for the one who maliciously encroached on the days of his earthly life. He thanks the latter for providing him with such a convenient opportunity to reveal himself to the world and God as he is. He shows the tormentor the strength of his patience, and God - the sincerity of his love for the One who, even before the rebirth of the martyr, had already seen his devotion and willingness to sacrifice himself. (2) With what courage and joy he strives to unite with Him whom he loves, for Whom he voluntarily sacrifices his body and, in addition, his soul, as his earthly judges think. But he does not lose this latter, but, on the contrary, gains it, hearing from Christ, due to the similarity of their sufferings, the greeting: “Oh, my beloved brother!” - as a poet would put it. (3) We call martyrdom “perfect” because it differs from the ordinary “completion” of human life; we see in him a manifestation of the most perfect love for God. (4) The ancient Hellenes sang and glorified the death of those who fell on the battlefield. But they did not do this at all to incite others to violent death. The reverence paid to those who fell in the war only testified that they left this life without fear of death. They renounced the body before the soul began to experience clouding and fell into a state of deadness and insensibility, as happens with people dying of illness, for the latter part with this life in fear and consumed by the desire to live more. (15:1) It turns out that the soul of those dying of illness, unless they were extremely virtuous, instead of being freed from this mortal prison in purity, departs surrounded by a whole swarm of lusts, which, like lead weights, pull it down. (2) There are, however, among those who perish on the battlefield those who die, tormented by all those passions that they would certainly reveal if they were dying from any illness. (3) Martyrdom, then, consists in confessing God. And if this is so, then every soul that spends its life in accordance with the knowledge of God and fulfills his commandments is already a confessor, in deed and word. Does it matter how to free yourself from the prison of this body? Instead of shedding blood, she testifies to her faith with her whole life and confesses God even in her moments of death. (4) Doesn’t the Lord say in the Gospel: “Whoever leaves father or mother or brothers... (and further to the words) ... for the sake of the Gospel and my name, he will be blessed.” 639 The Lord is not talking about martyrdom in the usual sense of the word here, but about one that stems from revealed knowledge, gnosis, about confessing the Lord with one’s life in love for Him, in accordance with the Gospel canon. (5) This gnosis means knowledge of the name [of Christ] and understanding of His Gospel and indicates not the vain remembrance of the name and work of Christ, but the need for true knowledge put into practice; and such knowledge will truly be confession, which is accompanied not only by the abandonment of earthly kinship, but also by all external goods, passions and lusts. The word “mother,” who has to be left for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, allegorically refers to the homeland and native country. (6) By the word “father,” Scripture means laws and orders, over which the righteous must rise with thanksgiving and generosity in order to become pleasing to God and take a place on the right side of the sanctuary, as the apostles also spoke about 640 . (16, 1) Heraclitus already said: “Both the gods and people honor those who sacrificed themselves to Ares.” 641 And Plato, in the fifth book of the Republic, says this: “Shall we not count everyone who died in the war with glory first among the golden race? Without a doubt this is true." 642 (2) The descendants of the gods were considered the golden race, who after death inhabited the sky and the sphere of the fixed stars and took the greatest part in controlling the destinies of people. (3) Some of the heretics, not having comprehended what the Lord said, have an impious and cowardly attachment to this life and claim that true confession is the knowledge of the one true God (which we also recognize), and therefore wickedly call every Christian who glorified God by his death a suicide. They confirm their opinion with sophistry inspired by cowardice. But we will answer them in the appropriate place, since they differ from us also with regard to the interpretation of the meaning of the first principles. (17:1) There are also another kind of people who have nothing in common with us except the name, who deliberately run towards the executioner and give themselves up to death, doing this out of hatred of the Creator. (2) Regarding these suicides, we proclaim: their death is not martyrdom, although they are executed by the verdict of the authorities. (3) They did not preserve the seal of true martyrdom, since they do not know the true God and their death was in vain. Likewise, the Indian gymnosophists senselessly throw themselves into the flames. (4) These false sages, who wickedly despise the body, should know that bodily harmony has a powerful effect on our spirit and develops the faculties of our soul. (18, 1) That is why Plato, whom heretics most often attract as an authority denying creation, writes in the third book of the Republic that for the sake of harmony between body and soul, one should take special care of the body, 643 with the help of which alone the glorious herald of truth can live and act righteously. Only by maintaining life and health can we achieve gnosis. (2) But he who cannot rise to the highest heights directly, by first engaging in necessary everyday things and only through them achieving what ultimately leads to gnosis, should he not strive for well-being? Only through life do we establish prosperity; and only in this bodily shell, by practicing virtue, do we comprehend immortality. V. On a calm attitude towards external adversity (19, 1) The Stoics are worthy of surprise who claim that bodily ailments have no effect on the soul; Neither illness, they say, predisposes her to vices, nor health – to virtue. The state of the body and the mood of the soul have, therefore, no connection. All this is indifferent to the soul (αδιάφορα)). (2) Indeed, Job, from wealth to poverty, from fame to obscurity, from beauty to ugliness, from health to illness, does not Job show us a brilliant and excellent example of faith and spiritual strength? After all, he overthrows the Tempter, blesses the Creator and endures humiliation just as he endured glory. Here is an amazing example of how a true Gnostic is able to endure all the second as well as the first, among all the vicissitudes of life, remaining faithful to virtue. (3) These examples of the ancient righteous stand before us like images that should inspire us to change our lives, as the apostle explains: “My bonds in Christ became known to the whole praetorium and to everyone else, and most of the brothers in the Lord, encouraged by my bonds, began to preach the word of God with greater boldness, without fear” (Phil. 1:13-14). (4) The apostle had every reason to say this, for martyrdom is a sacred image of conversion, for "whatever was written was written for our instruction, that through patience and through the consolation of the Scriptures we might have hope of consolation" (Rom. 15:4). (20, 1) In reality, however, it happens differently. The soul, struck by some kind of sorrow, wilts and strives with all its might to free itself from the burden that has fallen upon it, considering this the most urgent task. Undoubtedly, at this time she is least concerned about the progress of knowledge; she also forgets about other virtues. (2) This does not mean that the virtue itself, which is inherent in it, suffers any damage, because virtue cannot get sick. However, the person himself, who tends to be both virtuous and experience illness, becomes anxious and depressed by illness. And if the firmness of his soul does not serve him as a true support, if he has not yet cultivated in himself the courage that rises above misfortune, then he loses his calm. Unable to resist the onslaught of trouble, he takes flight. (21, 1) The same should be said about poverty. After all, it deprives the soul of the most necessary things, that is, it diverts it from contemplation and prevents it from maintaining impeccable purity and sinlessness, forcing someone who has not yet devoted himself entirely to God out of love for him to work to feed the body. On the contrary, good health and the possession of all things that are necessary to maintain bodily life develop freedom and independence in the soul, if only it uses earthly goods wisely. (2) “Such,” says the apostle, “will have tribulations in the flesh; but I feel sorry for you, for I want you to be without worries, so that you serve the Lord decorously and unceasingly without distraction.” 644 (22, 1) And yet it is necessary to pay some attention to everyday needs, not for their own sake, but for the benefit of the body. The body should be taken care of because of the soul, with which everything else is connected. (2) Therefore, a true Gnostic should know everything that is necessary. There are many shameful entertainments. It follows from this that pleasure in itself is not yet good, [otherwise good could turn out to be evil, and evil could turn out to be good]. (3) But from the fact that there are pleasures that we seek and others that we avoid, it all the more follows that not every pleasure is good. (4) The same can be said about sorrows. We endure some of them, we avoid others, and in both cases, guided by knowledge. But from here it again follows that true good lies not in pleasure, but in knowledge, for, guided by it, we are able to choose some pleasures and reject others. (23:1) That is why the martyr, because of the joys and Divine favor he expects, endures the sufferings and sorrows of this life. If thirst is considered a painful feeling, and its quenching is pleasure, then the basis of this pleasure will be the previous torment. But evil can never be the cause of good, therefore, neither the painful feeling of thirst, nor the pleasure that comes from quenching it is evil. (2) So thought Simonides (in agreement with Aristotle), who writes: Health is the first good Wealth, acquired rights. 645 (3) Theognis of Megara says: Are you trying to escape poverty, O Kirn? Here's my advice: plunge into the abyss of the sea (4) According to the comic poet Antisthenes, “wealth blinds rather those who seem sharper than others.” 647 The poet says about a man blind from birth: And she gave birth to a blind man. He is not allowed to see the sun, according to Euphorion of Chalcis. (3) It would be a bad school for a man Wealth and excessive comforts, - says Euripides in Alexander. 648 (4) They say that “poverty received wisdom as a friend because of their kinship.” 649 The love of money conquers not only Sparta, but also every other city. “The true wealth of mortals,” says Sophocles, “is not in gold or silver, but in the strength of their virtue.” 650 VI. About the sources of bliss, according to Scripture (25:1) Our Holy Savior counted both poverty and wealth, as well as everything similar to them, among things both spiritual and physical. He said: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” (Matthew 5:10), which clearly showed us that in no case should a person refuse martyrdom. (2) Whether someone would be reduced to poverty for the sake of truth, he thereby testifies that the truth to which he is devoted is good. (26, 1) “Does anyone hunger and thirst for truth” 651 - he proves by this that truth is the highest of goods. (2) Likewise, “if anyone weeps and grieves because of righteousness,” 652 he testifies to the excellence and beauty of the law. (3) Therefore, both those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are equally called blessed by the Lord, approving the purity and sincerity of the unquenchable desire. And since they thirst for truth for its own sake, they are blessed. (4) “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit” 653 or in external goods, as long as it is out of love for truth. It is not poverty in general for its own sake that the Lord blesses, but that poverty that neglects worldly treasures out of love for truth, and that poverty that neglects worldly honors in order to acquire true treasure. (5) Therefore, he calls blessed those who, while maintaining purity of body and soul, maintain purity of morals. Blessed are these souls, noble and glorious, who, due to the constant desire for truth, received the advantage of adoption and with it the power to be “children of God” (John 1:12), “to walk on snakes and scorpions” 654, to dominate both demons and the army of the adversary. (27:1) And, in general, asceticism for the sake of the Lord joyfully distracts the soul from the body, even if for this the soul has to part with it completely. (2) “He who saves his soul will lose it, and he who loses it will find it” (Matthew 10:39), - if only we rest our frailty on the eternity of God. The will of God is that we know him; through this we achieve participation in his eternity. (3) Whoever, at the word of repentance, sees the sinfulness of his soul, destroys it for sin, tearing it out of its embrace for life. But, having destroyed his life by obedience to God, he finds it again, for through faith a new life is kindled in it (Rom. 6:4-8), and for sin it dies. So, finding your soul is tantamount to self-knowledge. (28:1) The Stoics say that the soul’s turning to divine things occurs as a result of a certain turn in it, for it turns from sin to wisdom. (2) According to Plato, the soul, after wandering through a sphere where only the faint flicker of day dominates, ascends to the region of the highest light. 655 And other philosophers admit that it is better for an honest man to leave this life than to abandon his way of thinking and acting, if all the ways of living in accordance with it are so difficult that there is no hope of a more glorious outcome. (4) As for the judge who is trying to force the renunciation of the Beloved, it seems to me that it would be better for him to find out who is truly a friend of God and who is not. (5) Therefore there can be no hesitation in choosing what should rather be obeyed, human threat or love of God. (6) Abstinence from evil deeds is in a sense tantamount to the weakening and extinguishing of vicious inclinations, for renunciation of the course of action which they suggest automatically destroys their influence. This is precisely the meaning of the words: “Sell what you have and give to the poor and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21), that is, fulfill what the Lord commanded. (29, 1) Some associate with the word “possession” everything that is foreign to the soul. But in this case, they are unable to explain how they can “distribute” it to the poor. After all, God distributes everything according to the dignity of each, for his economy is just. (2) So, neglecting the riches that God distributes through your generosity, as it says in this place, follow what I have said, rushing upward along the path of the spirit. Do not limit yourself only to abstaining from evil, but move forward in improving yourself, imitating the Divine benefits. (3) Thus, shaming one who boasted of fulfilling all the commandments of the law, but did not show his love for his neighbor, the Lord, instead of slavish fulfillment of the law, commands love, which, when ascending in true knowledge, rising and dominating over the Sabbath 656, manifests itself in good deeds. (4) One must, I believe, come to the Logos and Savior not under fear of punishment and not in expectation of any reciprocal gift, but for the sake of the superiority of good as such. (30:1) Those who do this will stand to the right of the shrine, but those who hope to acquire incorruptible property by distributing perishable property are called “hiremen” in the parable of the two brothers (Luke 15:17). And doesn’t it follow from the expression “in the likeness and image” 657 that everyone who conforms their life to the life of the Lord is like Him, and those to the left of the shrine only bear the image of God, and are not like the Lord in deeds? (2) From the tree of truth grow various branches. And although there is only one root, it is far from indifferent which one to choose. (3) It is better to say that the quality of choice is predetermined by whether we choose by analogy, following the example of others, or with knowledge of the matter. Living fire is another thing, reflected fire is another. So Israel, according to Scripture, is light “in likeness”; other peoples only bear the “image” of God within themselves. (4) What does the Lord want to say with the parable of Lazarus, where the images of the rich man and the poor man 658 appear before our eyes? What do these words also mean: “No one can serve two masters - God and mammon?” 659 Both here and here the Lord speaks of disorderly love for collecting wealth. (31:1) Don’t you see that people attached to them do not even come to the feast to which they were invited 660? And they did not appear because they were wealthy and wealthy, but because they were too busy with their own affairs and enslaved by their wealth. (2) And in the saying: “Even foxes have holes” 661 - the Lord calls people foxes, whose entire occupation consists only of digging and storing gold; This is the adulterous generation, the true sons of the earth. (3) In the same sense, he said about Herod: “Go, tell this fox: behold, I cast out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will finish” (Luke 13:32). (4) On the contrary, those who are distinguished by the sky from other birds, who are truly pure and are always ready to direct their flight to the knowledge of the heavenly Logos, he calls birds of the air 662. (5) Countless worries are generated not only by wealth, not only by fame and marriage, but also by poverty, if one does not know how to endure it. In the parable of the seed that fell in four different soils, thorns and rocky places mean worries and worries that choke the seed and prevent it from germinating, developing and bearing fruit 663. (32:1) Therefore, it is necessary to learn how to withstand various adversities, so that a life imbued with wise decency and determined by knowledge will be for us a means to achieve eternal life. (2) “I saw,” says the Scripture, “the wicked man exalting himself and being high as the cedars of Lebanon, but he passed by, and behold, he was no more; I looked for him and did not find his place. Maintain integrity and seek righteousness - this is what remains of a person living in the world” (Ps. 37:35-37). (3) Such is a person whose faith is sincere and whose soul is always at peace. (4) “Some people honor [God] with their lips, but in their hearts they are far from the Lord” 664; “They bless with their mouth, but curse with their heart” 665; (5) “they loved Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue; but their heart [was] not open before Him and entrusted to His covenant” (Ps. 77:36-37). (33:1) “Let the lying lips be mute, speaking iniquity against the righteous.” And again: “The Lord will destroy all lying lips and loud tongues - those who said: (2) “We will glorify our tongue, our lips remain with us - what is the Lord to us?” (3) For the sake of the suffering of the poor and the groaning of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord, I will prepare myself for salvation, without hesitation I will speak about it.” 666 For Christ came to the humble, and not to those who rebelled against His flock. (4) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19), says the Lord, wanting to shame partly those who are committed to wealth, and partly those who indulge in vanity and worries; finally, perhaps, those who love their body too much. (5) And indeed, carnal and lustful desires, illnesses, bad thoughts, penetrating into the innermost folds of our heart, undermine and destroy the whole person. (6) Our true treasure is where, through knowledge, we achieve that which is akin to our soul, for righteousness is characterized by that tendency to communicate, as a result of which it abandons the “old life” (Eph. 4:22) and returns to this life what it has acquired; she herself ascends to God, begging him for mercy. (7) These are truly storehouses that “do not decay” 667, common money on the way to eternal life; here is the treasure “that fails not in heaven,” 668 because “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,” 669 says the Lord. (34, 1) These last words also apply to those who wish to beg for the sake of righteousness, for they have heard the commandment that “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it.” 670 (2) The Lord speaks here of nothing else but debauchery, love of women, a passionate desire for fame, power and other similar passions. “You are a fool,” he says, “for this night they will take your soul from you; and who will get what you have prepared?” 671 (3) And further literally according to the commandment: “Therefore, beware of all covetousness, for no one’s life is in the abundance of his possessions.” 672 (4) “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what ransom will a man give for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). (5) “Therefore I say: Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will wear. For the soul is greater than food, and the body than clothing.” 673 (6) And again: “Your Father knows that you need all this. Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and righteousness, for these great things, and these small things,” that which relates to the means of life, “will be added to you.” 674 (35, 1) Isn’t the Lord clearly calling us here to a gnostic life? Doesn’t he convince us by this to remain faithful to the truth both in word and in deed? Christ, the divine Educator of our soul, values ​​the rich man not for his abundant gifts, but for his good intentions. (2) Therefore, Zacchaeus, and according to others - Matthew, the chief of publicans, hearing that the Lord intended to enter his house, said: “Here, I will give half of my property to alms. Lord, if I have offended anyone in any way, I will pay you back fourfold.” Therefore, the Savior said about him: “The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost” (Luke 19:8–10). (3) Another time, when he saw a rich man putting into the treasury a gift corresponding to his wealth, and a widow who had put two mites into it, he said that the widow had put in more than everyone else, because one gave out of abundance, and the other out of poverty (Luke 21:1-4). (36:1) And since everything is directed by the Lord towards the education of our soul, He says: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). (2) Who are these meek? Those who tame the dangerous storms that arise in the soul, such as anger, lust and other passions that accompany them. He does not praise that meekness that arose out of necessity, but that which is based on our own will and good will. (3) Indeed, the Lord has both rewards and “many mansions” (John 14:2), in accordance with the variety of life situations. (4) “Whoever receives a prophet,” says the Lord, “in the name of a prophet, will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever receives the righteous in the name of the righteous will receive the reward of the righteous” (Matthew 10:41); “Whoever accepts one of these little disciples will not lose his reward.” 675 (5) Another time, the Lord designates different degrees of virtue with an unequal number of hours, commensurate with the merits of each and the greatness of the rewards awaiting him. He promised an equal reward to everyone who worked in the vineyard (referring to salvation, which is symbolized here by denarii). The Savior establishes an equal right to remuneration for all workers; and the difference between those called is due to the different number of hours worked (Matthew 20:1). (37:1) Being partners in the ineffable economy and the Divine gift, chosen by their labors, they fully deserve the promised rewards. (2) “Those who are judged to have lived a particularly holy life,” says Plato, “will be liberated and delivered from the imprisonment of earthly prisons, will be exalted into abodes of supreme purity.” (3) He expresses the same thing, but even more clearly, in the following words. “Among these people, those who have been sufficiently purified by philosophy live completely incorporeally in all subsequent times,” being clothed with some in airy bodies, and others in fiery ones. (4) To this he adds: “And they come to even more beautiful dwellings, the beauty of which is not easy to depict, and we do not have time for this.” 676 (5) Therefore, it is rightly said: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” (6) for those who grieve over their past bad life and repent of its sins immediately come to this call. Therefore, we can say that they will be “called,” that is, their consolation will lie in this calling. (7) There are two kinds of repentants: some - and these are the majority - repent out of fear of the punishment they deserve; others - and their number is very small - from a feeling of internal shame, which awakens in their souls by the voice of conscience. You can come to repentance in any of these ways, because there is no place that can hide from Divine mercy. (38:1) The Lord also says: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7). Mercy is not, as some of the philosophers thought, sadness at the news of some misfortune, but rather, as the prophets say, something good. (2) “I want mercy, says the Lord, and not sacrifice.” 677 He calls merciful not only those who are engaged in acts of mercy, but also those who would like to be merciful, but do not have the means for this, that is, predisposed to mercy. (3) In fact, we often want to show someone mercy either through monetary benefits or through physical labor; I would like, for example, to help the poor, care for the sick, visit the unfortunate; but we cannot carry out our pious intentions, because either poverty, or illness, or old age, which is the same illness, interferes with it. Desire motivates us, but some obstacle makes its fulfillment difficult. (4) However, our desire in this case is given the same honor as our action; the former differs from the latter only in that it has a real possibility of being realized. (39, 1) Since there are two paths to the perfection of salvation - works and knowledge, the Lord said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). (2) If you think carefully, then gnosis itself is the purification of the leading part of the soul; and this cleansing, of course, is something good. (3) Among good deeds, some are good in themselves, while others are good because of their participation in what is a good deed. That is why we call good deeds good. Without intermediate things, classified as material, for example, without health, life and other auxiliary means, urgently necessary or only auxiliary, neither a good nor an evil deed can truly be accomplished. (4) The Lord therefore desires that we approach the knowledge of God with a heart pure from carnal desires, with a mind completely occupied with holy thoughts, so that in the leading part of our soul there is nothing alien and hindering the action of His grace. (40, 1) So, when someone gnostically immerses himself in contemplation and enters into pure communion only with God, he reaches a state of supersensible divinity, increasingly identified with God and is no longer occupied with science, does not possess revealed knowledge, gnosis, but himself becomes science and gnosis. (2) So, “blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9), who soften and tame the law, which is at enmity with the predispositions of our mind, 678 as well as the tendency to anger, the lures of lust and all other passions that confuse the mind. He who spends his life among good deeds and in accordance with true reason will be restored to the rights of sonship, which is the most important. (3) Complete peace is considered to be that which, despite all earthly vicissitudes, maintains an unchanging firmness of spirit, confesses that Providence is forever holy, always wondrous, reveals divine and human things as they are, and even in disasters that apparently disrupt the order of nature, reveals the beautiful harmony of creation. (4) Peacemakers also calm those who are overwhelmed by sin and endure its attacks, return them to faith and restore peace in their souls. (41, 1) And yet the focus of all virtues is the Lord, who teaches us the Gnostic disregard for death out of love for God. (2) “Blessed,” he says, “are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for they shall be called sons of God,” 679—or, as some are inclined to read this passage 680: “Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for they shall be perfect,” and also: (3) “Blessed are they who are persecuted for my sake, for they will find a place where they will not be persecuted.” And again: “Blessed are you when people hate you, when they excommunicate you, when they call your name dishonorable because of the Son of Man.” 681 (4) However, we must not disdain our persecutors, remain firm in the midst of suffering, and not harbor hatred towards those who cause us grief. We should not be upset that the test came to us earlier than we expected. Let us be firmly convinced that every trial is a good reason to act as a witness. (42, 1) Consider the liar and traitor who defected to the army of the devil. What kind of evil has he plunged into? (2) He deceives the Lord; moreover, he is deceived in his hope, having lost faith in the Lord. Not believing, he does not fulfill what He commanded. (3) What then? Doesn't he deny himself by denying the Lord? After all, he who denies his master his right to power thereby deprives himself of the opportunity to receive protection from him. He who denies the Savior denies life itself, which “is light” 682. (4) He does not count among His own those people of little faith, unfaithful and deceitful, who hide behind His name on occasion, but at the very least deny their faith. He calls only the faithful servants and friends. (5) Therefore, he who loves himself also loves the Lord and recognizes salvation in order to save his soul. (43, 1) By giving your life for your neighbor out of love for him, you thereby recognize the Savior as your neighbor (for God the Savior turns out to be equal to the one whom He saves). By doing this, you choose death for the sake of life, suffering more for yourself than for Him. Is this not the reason why He is called brother? (2) Suffering out of love for God, man suffers for the sake of his salvation; and on the other hand, accepting death for the sake of salvation, he suffers out of love for the Lord. Being alive in his suffering, he suffers and wants to endure all this in order to live thanks to this suffering. (3) “Why do you say to me: Lord, Lord,” as it is written, “and do not do as I command you?” (Luke 6:46). Those who believe only in words, but are far from God in their hearts, are other people who hope for something else and have deliberately sold themselves to someone else. (4) Those who fulfill the commandments that are prescribed by the Savior “witness” in all their deeds, fulfilling His orders, and constantly turning to the name of the Lord, with their deeds testifying to what is commanded to them, thereby revealing that they are the ones who crucified the flesh, along with all its lusts and passions. (5) “If we live in the spirit, we must walk in the spirit.” “He who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” 683 (44:1) For these unfortunates, witnessing for Christ with one’s blood seems like the most terrible death, for they do not know that these gates of death are the surest and most authentic beginning of life. They cannot appreciate the honor of posthumous glory that covers those who lived holy, nor the threat of punishment for those who spent their lives unrighteously and uncleanly. My words are confirmed not only by Scripture (in any place it speaks about this); They do not even want to listen to their own teachings. (2) Theano, a student of Pythagoras, writes: “Life seems to be a feast for villains who, having had their fill of madness, expire. If the soul were not immortal, death would seem like a happy find! 684 (3) Plato in the Phaedo says the following: “If death were the end of everything, [it would be a happy find for evildoers] ...”, and so on. 685 (45, 1) One should not think, like Telephus in Aeschylus, that “the road to Hades is simple.” 686 There are many paths and many sins that lead there. (2) Aristophanes rightly ridicules all these lost and unfaithful people in the comedy: “Go,” he says, “all of you, people living in disorder, originally like leaves, weak, waxy, crowds of shadows, disappearing, flying away and ephemeral.” 687 (3) According to Epicharmus, this is “a race of people like inflated skins.” 688 (4) The Savior tells us: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41), since “the bodily mind is hostile to God,” as the apostle explains, “for it does not obey the law of God and cannot obey it. Therefore those who live according to the flesh cannot please God.” (5) And further he adds, so that no one like Marcion could decide that creation is evil: “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” (6) Indeed, “if you live according to the flesh, you will die. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in you. After all, by suffering with Him, you will be glorified with Him.” (46:1) “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified.” 689 Don't you see that this is talking about martyrdom for love? (2) If you seek martyrdom for its benefits, listen: “We are saved by hope. Hope, when it sees, is not hope. For if anyone sees, what can he hope for? But when we hope for what we do not see, then we wait with patience” (Rom. 8:24–25). (3) “If you suffer for righteousness’ sake,” says Peter, “you are blessed; but do not be afraid of their fear and do not be embarrassed. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; Be always ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Have a good conscience, so that those who reproach your good life in Christ may be put to shame by the things for which you are slandered as evildoers. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for good deeds than for evil ones.” 690 (47, 1) If someone tries to catch you with villainous sophism, saying: “How is it possible for weak flesh to resist all the energies and spirits of the Powers?”, (2) then you will answer them that, trusting in the Almighty Lord, we fight both against the powers of darkness and against death itself. (3) “Just call and here I am,” an assistant protecting us. (4) “Do not shun the fiery temptation sent to you as an adventure that is strange to you,” says Peter, “but rejoice as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, and at the revelation of His glory you will rejoice and triumph. If they slander you because of the name of Christ, then you are blessed, for the Spirit of God’s glory rests on you.” 691 (5) “As it is written: For your sake we are killed, like sheep given to the slaughter. But we overcome all these things through the power of Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:36–37). (48, 1) Everything you want to know Torture won't break it out. You can stab me with a terrible thorn from head to toe. You can chain me with a heavy chain, - says in the tragedy a certain woman who did not lose her courage under torture. 692 (2) And Antigone, condemning Creon’s decision, bravely says: It was not Zeus who gave me this sentence. 693 (3) God gives us his verdict, and we must trust this verdict. “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame” (Rom. 10:10–11). (4) Simonides rightly writes: Valor lives among the inaccessible mountains And easily reaches clean, transcendental places. It is hidden from the eyes of any mortal. Through hard work and mental anguish to achieve courage you can achieve heights. 694 As a youth, a daring thought, coupled with labors, Will achieve glory. Then they will sparkle Their exploits are in the bright air when the deadline passes. 695 (2) Seizing his thought, Aeschylus said: To workers from God for their labors The reward is glory. 696 (3) “Whoever is more destined by fate will receive a better destiny,” according to Heraclitus. 697 (4) Who is the servant who is not afraid of the end? 698 (5) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. So do not be ashamed to testify for our Lord and for me, His prisoner,” he says in his letter to Timothy. 699 Such must be one who “cleaves to good,” according to the apostle, “turns away from evil,” and has “unfeigned love.” “He who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (7) And if the God of whom we testify is the “God of hope,” then we testify of hope and strive toward it, “full of goodness and full of gnosis.” 700 (50, 1) Indian sages told Alexander the Great: “You can move bodies from place to place, but you cannot force our souls to do what you demand. Fire is considered by people to be the most terrible torture, but we despise it.” 701 (2) So Heraclitus preferred “one thing to everything – glory”, but gave the rest the opportunity to “eat up like cattle.” 702 (3) A lot of manual labor awaits man. He learned how to cover the roofs of houses, White to dig for silver and cultivate the land, Much can still be remembered from what everyone knows. 703 (51:1) For ordinary people, all these works are necessary, but the apostle told us: “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be abolished, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin” (Rom. 6:6). (2) And in another place he speaks clearly, meaning a model for faith understandable to the majority: “I think that God predestined us, the last apostles, to be sentenced to death, as it were, because we have become a disgrace to the whole world, to Angels and to people. (3) Even to this day we suffer hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and beatings, and we wander, and we labor, working with our own hands. They slander us, we bless us, they persecute us, we endure. They blaspheme us, we pray, we are like rubbish for the world.” 704 (52, 1) Similarly, Plato in the Republic says that a righteous person, even if he is tortured on the rack, even if his eyes are burned out, will still be happy. 705 (2) The Gnostic never hopes for the accidents of this life, but, despite all the vicissitudes, he is happy and blessed, as befits a true friend of God. (3) Having experienced disgrace and exile, having suffered confiscation of property and, ultimately, death, he will never lose the state of freedom and in everything will demonstrate his love for God, which “covers all things and endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7), thereby confirming that Divine Providence has ordered everything for good. (53, 1) “I beg you, follow me,” therefore it is said. The first step to salvation is instruction, accompanied by fear, thanks to which we are removed from all evil, followed by hope, by virtue of which we choose the best, and finally, love, as it should be, brings everything to perfection, completing the circle of Gnostic education. 706 (2) From the point of view of the Hellenes - I can’t understand why - the whole course of things is determined by an unreasonable necessity, which one has to obey willy-nilly. (3) Euripides 707 says about this: Listen to my words, wife! That's right That a mortal husband cannot escape hard work. Buries sons, then gives birth to new ones, Then he leaves on his own. Such is the fate of mortals. Everything must endure, which is natural. What fate determines is not terrible for mortals. (54, 1) He who seeks perfection strives for rational gnosis, which stands on three holy pillars, faith, hope, love, “but love is above all” (1 Cor. 13:13). (2) Indeed, “all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable,” and “all things are permissible, but not all things edify,” according to the apostle. And again: “No one should seek only his own benefit, but the benefit of another” (1 Cor. 10:23–24), so as to be able to simultaneously act and teach, build and equip. (3) That “the earth is the Lord’s, and what fills it,” many acknowledge, but they seek relief in the weakness of their consciousness. (4) “I do not mean my own conscience, but another. For why should my freedom be judged by someone else’s conscience? If I receive with thanksgiving, then why blame me for giving thanks? So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, you do everything to the glory of the Lord.” 708 (5) “While we walk in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds and the casting down of imaginations, and of every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.” 709 (55, 1) With this weapon in his hands, the Gnostic says: “Lord! Make sure I have the opportunity to test it. May all horrors disappear and I can overcome any danger out of love for you.” (2) Among human deeds only valor is not external, but receives the reward from himself - reward for labors and sorrows. (3) “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; and above all into love, which is the totality of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body; and be friendly” 710, like the righteous men of antiquity, who, while still in the body, maintained equanimity and calmness of spirit. VIII. That virtue is equally characteristic of men and women, slaves and free (56, 1) Not only the Aesopians, Macedonians and Laconians are famous for their endurance, as Eratosthenes says in his work “On Good and Evil.” 711 Zeno of Elea, even under torture, refused to reveal the secret and endured all the torment without confessing. Finally, he bit off his tongue and spat it at the tyrant, whom some call Nearchus, some call Demulus. (2) The Pythagorean Theodotus and Pralus, the friend of Lacidas, did the same, as Timothy of Pergamon reports in his work “On the Courage of the Philosophers” and Ahaik in his “Ethics”. (3) The Roman citizen Postumus, captured by Peucetion, did not reveal to him a single secret, but stretching out his hand to the fire, he held it in the flame as if touching copper, without changing his face at all. 712 (4) Not to mention Anaxarchus, who exclaimed: “Prush the shell that contains Anaxarchus - you can’t crush Anaxarchus!” - when, by order of the tyrant, they threw him into a mortar and began to pound him with iron pestles. 713 (57, 1) The hope of finding happiness and love of God does not bend before misfortunes, but remains free, even if it happens to be tortured by wild beasts, an all-consuming fire, or experience executions at the hands of a tyrant. Relying only on the mercy of God, she ascends without ever submitting, leaving only her body to be torn to pieces by her tormentors. (2) They say that the barbarian Getae, who have not yet tasted philosophy, every year elect a messenger to the hero Zamolxis (who was a student of Pythagoras). (58, 1) And he who is chosen is sacrificed, as a warning to those who, although practicing philosophy, cannot yet be chosen and have not shown themselves worthy of such a happy fate. 714 (2) The Church is filled with sensible men and women who throughout their lives are concerned about the life-giving death in Christ. (3) After all, everyone who leads a lifestyle similar to ours is a philosopher, even without education, and it does not matter whether he is a barbarian or a Hellenic, a slave, an old man, a youth or a woman. (4) The ability to control oneself is inherent in every person who has made a free choice. We believe that all people are equal in nature and virtue, regardless of origin. (59, 1) A man is no different in nature from a woman, and the same can be said about virtue. (2) If the ability to control one’s feelings, justice and other qualities that come from them are considered to be inherent only in men, which means that only a man can be virtuous, a woman is left with only licentiousness and injustice. But it is impious to say such a thing. (2) A woman is also capable of being prudent and just, and has other virtues as well as a man, slave or free. And this is a natural consequence of the fact that the same nature is capable of exercising the same virtues. (4) We do not claim that a woman is no different by nature from a man. That's why she's a woman. There is some difference between them, due to which a man is different from a woman. (5) The ability to conceive and give birth is a property of a woman because she is a woman, and not because she is a person. If there were no differences between a man and a woman, they would act and feel the same. (60, 1) Due to the fact that their souls are similar, they are inclined to the same virtues, but since their bodies are different, a woman is designed by nature to bear children and take care of the house. (2) “I want you to know,” says the apostle, “that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, [and the head of Christ is God]. For man is not from wife, but woman is from man. However, neither a husband without a wife, nor a wife without a husband, is still from God.” 715 (3) The husband must be prudent and control his feelings, and the wife must maintain prudence and fight against sensual excesses. (4) “I tell you, walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh,” the apostle commands us. “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh.” “They resist (not in the same way as evil opposes good, but as rival fighters),” adds the apostle, “so that you do not do what you would like.” “The works of the flesh are known. They are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, heresies, hatred, murder, drunkenness, riots and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness.” 716 I suppose he calls sinners flesh, and the righteous spirit. (2) Courage, in this case, turns out to be loyalty and endurance, which allows the one who struck one cheek to turn the other, and the one who took the cloak to give back the tunic, curbing his anger. (3) We do not want our women, like the Amazons, to show their courage in war, since even men should be peace-loving. (62, 1) I heard that Sarmatian women are warriors no worse than men, and the Sacayan women are even capable of shooting without turning around, like other warriors of their tribe. (2) Iberian women, as far as I know, do the hard work of a man even on the eve of childbirth, and, having been relieved of their burden, carry the newborn home themselves. (3) In addition, bitches, like males, guard the house, hunt and herd herds: The Cress hound rushes hastily along the trail of a deer. 717 (4) Women are capable of philosophizing, just like men, although men are first in everything, unless, of course, they have become obsessive. (63, 1) Education and virtue are necessary for the entire human race as a condition for achieving happiness. 718 (2) Euripides writes in one place one way, and in another another. Indeed, at one point he says the following: As a rule, the wife is more insignificant than the husband, But those more worthy get it A reasonable wife is submissive to her husband, She who despises order pushes her husband around. 719 (4) ... unspeakable happiness resides there, Where they live unanimously, maintaining order at home (5) The head is the ruling force. Therefore, if “the Lord is the head of a man, and the husband is the head of a woman,” then the man “being the image and glory of God, is the master of the woman.” ( 1 Cor. 11:3, 7 ) (64, 1) The Epistle to the Ephesians says: “Submit yourselves to one another in the fear of God. Wives, submit to your husbands as lords, because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church. And He is the Savior of the body. Just as the Church submits to Christ, so do wives to their husbands in everything. (2) Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church. So husbands should love their wives as they love their bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” 721 (65, 1) The Epistle to the Colossians says: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, be obedient to your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, so that they do not lose heart. (2) Servants, obey your masters in the flesh in everything, not only outwardly serving them as people-pleasers, but in simplicity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord, and not for men, knowing that as a reward from the Lord you will receive an inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. And whoever does wrong will receive according to his unrighteousness, for he has no partiality. (3) Lords, show to your slaves what is due and just, knowing that you also have a Lord in heaven,” “where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.” 722 (66, 1) The image of the heavenly Church is on earth, as we pray: “Thy will be done both in heaven and on earth.” (2) “As God’s chosen ones, clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone. Just as Christ forgave you, so do you. (3) Above all, put on love, which is the sum of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you are called in one thing; and be friendly” (Col. 3:12–15). (4) There is no harm in the same passage of Scripture being repeated often. Perhaps it would make Marcion ashamed if, having changed his mind, [ever] he was converted, realizing that the faithful should be grateful to God the Creator, who called us and preached the Gospel in a human body. (67, 1) From all that has been said, it becomes clear what there is unity of faith and who can be considered perfect. And although some of them still doubt and resist with all their might, deserving punishment from masters and husbands, we still see that both slaves and women can engage in philosophy. (2) A free man, even under pain of death at the hands of a tyrant, before a judge, or under the threat of losing all his property, will never compromise piety. (3) A good wife forced to live with a bad husband, or a son who has a bad father, or a slave serving an evil master, will not turn away from noble virtue. (4) And just as it is noble for a man to die for good and for his own freedom, it is also natural for a woman. For all this is a natural property, not exclusively of male nature, but of goodness itself. (68:1) Therefore, the old man, the young man, and the slave will live faithfully and, if necessary, die, if this death turns out to be the beginning of a new life for him. (2) There are known examples where children, women and slaves, even against the will of their fathers, masters and husbands, achieve perfection. (3) Those who choose to live a righteous life must maintain piety, even if anyone seems to interfere with them. Moreover, they must make every effort and strive with the greatest perseverance before abandoning the best and most important instruction, surrendering to an irresistible force. (4) Beyond all comparison, it is better to follow the almighty force than to choose the darkness of demons. (5) Everything that we do for the sake of other people should be done with due diligence, it should be done out of respect for those for whom we do it and to the extent of the reward expected for it. However, when doing something only for ourselves, we must do it with equal zeal, regardless of whether others will like it or not. (69, 1) If even some indifferent things deserve to be done against the will of others, then it is all the more worthwhile to strive for virtue, paying attention only to what should be done and not looking at the approval or disapproval of others. (2) Epicurus, in a letter to Menoeceus, puts it this way: “Let no one put off the study of philosophy, thinking that he is too young for it, or too tired of old age. Because when it comes to mental health, no one is too young or too old. Anyone who claims that the time has not yet come for philosophy or, on the contrary, that it has already passed, is like someone who believes that it is too early or too late to be happy. (4) Therefore, philosophy is useful to both a young man and an old man: the first so that in old age he remains young with the blessings of a good memory of the past, and the second so that he is both young and experienced, without fear of the future.” 723 IX. Scripture Evidence of Confessors (70, 1) Christ speaks openly about martyrdom in various places of the Scriptures. Our task is to bring these statements together. “I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess it before the angels of God. But whoever denies Me before men will be rejected before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8). (2) “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man will also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). (3) “Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before men, him will I confess before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). (4) “When the synagogues bring you before the principalities and powers, do not worry about how or what to answer or what to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you should say” (Luke 12:11–12). (71, 1) Explaining this statement, Heracleon, one of the most famous representatives of the school of Valentinus, noting that recognition, on the one hand, happens by faith and deed and, on the other hand, only in words, says literally the following: (2) “Recognition in words only happens in the face of the authorities, and it is this,” as he says, “that many consider the only possible; however, they are mistaken, because even a hypocrite can easily utter a confession of this kind. (3) We find that such a word has no universal meaning. Not all those who were saved made such a verbal confession, and among them were people like Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Levi and many others. (4) Verbal recognition is not universal, but only partial. What he mentions in this place is universal and is supported by deeds and actions in accordance with faith. This confession may be accompanied by a partial one in front of the authorities if this is necessary and the situation requires verbal confirmation. Such a person will easily confirm with words what he has already recognized as true in his soul. (72:1) Quite rightly, therefore, he calls those who acknowledge it in the soul “[confessed] in Me,” and of those who deny it, he says, “[confessed] Me.” For the latter, even if they recognized Him in words, nevertheless deny Him, since they do not confirm this recognition in deeds. (2.) Only those who live according to their words and act in accordance with Him have confessed in Him, therefore He also confesses them, since He contains them in Himself and they contain Him in themselves, and, therefore, under no circumstances can they refuse Him. Those who are not in Him deny Him. (3) Therefore He does not say: “Whoever denies Me,” but “whoever denies Me,” for none of those who are in Him will ever deny Him. (4) Likewise, the statement “before men” applies to both the saved and the pagans, but before the former in deeds, and before the latter in words.” 724 (73, 1) This is what Heracleon says here. In some other respects his ideas are also very similar to ours. However, he does not consider the case when those who do not recognize Christ in practice and in their lives have not “confessed Him before men” nevertheless showed that they believe in their souls if they recognized Him in words at the trial and did not renounce Him even under the threat of mortal torment. (2) A mental disposition of this kind, once accepted, especially if it has not changed under any circumstances and even under the threat of death, cuts off all passions generated by bodily desires. (3) Thus, at the climax of his life, a person may experience a sudden conversion and confess Christ by speaking the right words. (4) If the Spirit of the Father testifies through us, how can we be hypocrites, confessing, as some say, only in words? (5) Some are given the opportunity, when the opportunity presents itself, to speak out in defense so that their testimony and confession will benefit everyone. Thanks to it, those belonging to the Church will be justified, those of the pagans who strive for salvation will be surprised and will receive instruction in faith, but for everyone else it will be a glorious lesson. (74:1) Thus, confession is absolutely necessary, since it is in our power, but defense of the faith is not absolutely necessary, since it is not always in our power. However, “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). (2) For what wise man would not choose to rule in God, or at least to serve Him? (3) “Some profess to know God,” says the apostle, “but deny by works, being vile and disobedient and incapable of any good work” (Titus 1:16). In our case, these people admitted that they were no better than those about whom this was said, but in the end they still did one good deed. Therefore, such verbal recognition cleanses them from sin, to their glory. (4) The Shepherd says: “You will escape the power of wild beasts and your heart will become pure and sinless.” 725 But the Lord Himself says: “Satan asked to sift you like wheat, but I prayed” (Luke 22:31). (75, 1) The Lord is the first, by His example, to show how to strive for the purification of people who plotted against Him and did not believe Him, and He is the first to “drink the cup” so that the apostles, following and in imitation of Him, suffering for the Church they founded, would show themselves to be true Gnostics and perfect. (2) Therefore, the Gnostics who follow the apostles must be blameless and, out of love for the Lord, also love their neighbors. Therefore, if they are called, they must not disgrace the Church and “drink the cup.” (3) Those who testify by their actions throughout their lives and at the trial confirm this with words, without hoping for anything and suppressing fear, are undoubtedly better than those who acknowledge salvation only in words. (4) But if anyone achieves love, he will become truly blessed and a true confessor, recognizing the commandments and God through the Lord, whose brother he becomes through love for Him. For this reason, he completely surrenders himself to God, with love and joy throwing off the human being as a temporary shell given to him. X. About those who willfully seek martyrdom (76, 1) Instructing, “if persecuted from one city, flee to another” (Matthew 10:23), He does not advise to avoid martyrdom, as if persecution were in itself an evil, and does not encourage those who flee from death, fearing it, (2) but desires that we should not become the cause or accomplices of deeds that bring evil upon others, be they our people, our persecutors or executioners. He advises us to take care of ourselves. Those who are disobedient turn out to be only daring and hasty fools. (77, 1) If we admit that he who kills a “man of God” sins before God, we must also admit that he who comes to court of his own free will is guilty of his own death. This also applies to those who do not escape persecution, but out of false courage allow themselves to be captured. By allowing this to be done, he becomes an accomplice in the evil committed by the pursuer, but if he goes into provocation deliberately, he turns out to be fully guilty of awakening a wild beast [in the pursuer]. (2) Likewise, if he himself goes into conflict, causing any damage or harm, or causing hatred, then he himself gives rise to persecution. (3) Therefore we are pointed out that we should not cling to the goods of this life; and the commandment “to him who demands your cloak, give him also your shirt” means not only a call to abstain from everything that arouses passionate affection, but also orders us to avoid situations that can arouse the wrath of our persecutors and bring blasphemy to the very name, even if we demand the return of what is due. XI. Justifying the Goodness of God (78, 1) They may ask: “If God cares so much about you, then why are you being persecuted and sent to execution? Did He intend such a fate for you?” No. We do not allow God to wish us all these misfortunes, but He prophetically predicted that this would happen and that we would have to endure persecution, death and imprisonment for His name. (2.) He did not want us to suffer persecution, but he foresaw what would happen and that we would have to suffer, training us in advance and promising us an inheritance in return, although not only we would have to suffer, but also many others. However, these latter are evildoers, as He says, and therefore the punishment that overtakes them is just. (79, 1) Therefore, without wanting it themselves, they unwittingly testify in favor of our righteousness, since we are unjustly punished in the name of justice. The unrighteousness of a judge does not harm Divine Providence. A judge must be the master of his own opinion, and not be like a puppet that moves thanks to strings pulled by an external force. (2) Therefore, he is judged for the decision he made, and we are judged in accordance with the choice we made and our endurance. We are not guilty, but the judge looks at us as criminals, because he knows nothing about us and does not want to know anything, being in captivity of his groundless prejudice, on the basis of which he makes a decision. (3) Therefore, they judge us not because they consider us villains, but believing that by virtue of the very fact that we are Christians, we are guilty of undermining the foundations of life and calling on other people to choose a lifestyle similar to us. (80, 1) “But why doesn’t God help when you are persecuted?” - they ask us. However, what evil is done to us by freeing us through death and allowing us to go to the Lord, giving us the opportunity to change our lives, as if to move from one stage of life to another? If we think carefully, we should be grateful to those who provide us with the means to depart so quickly. [… 726 ] (2) If we act as witnesses, it is out of love; if this were not so, then people could quite reasonably consider us villains. And if they knew the truth, they would block our way, and we would have no way out. (3) However, our faith, being the “light of the world,” successfully competes with unbelief. (4) “If Anytus and Meletus kill me, they will not harm me in the end. For I do not consider it fair that the worse should do any harm to the better.” 727 (5) Each of us can say with confidence that “The Lord is for me, I will not be afraid: what will man do to me?” “The righteous soul is in the hand of the Lord and no misfortune will touch it.” 728 XII. Criticism of Basilides' views (81, 1) Basilides 729 in the twenty-third book of his Exegesis, regarding those who are persecuted for their testimony, speaks at great length in this way: (2) “I say of those who undergo the above-mentioned sufferings that they are undoubtedly awarded such honor [by God himself], since many of their other sins went unnoticed, however, by the goodness of him who led them, they are held accountable for something completely different, so that they do not suffer as those who are punished for recognized crimes, and were not condemned as adulterers or criminals, but because they are Christians. And this gives them the strength to endure everything and not show their suffering in any way. (3) And if among the victims there is a person who has not sinned at all, which rarely happens, he will be among the persecuted, not because some evil force is plotting against him, but like a baby who also suffers, although obviously he has not sinned.” (82, 1) He goes on to say the following: “Just as an infant who has not previously sinned or committed any real sin, but who contains sinfulness [by nature], benefits from being punished and reaping its benefits, so an adult, even if he has not committed a sin, may nevertheless suffer; and he suffers as a baby would suffer, since he also contains sinfulness, but he did not have the opportunity to manifest it, therefore the fact that he did not sin cannot be attributed to him as a merit. He also cannot be considered completely sinless. (2) One who seeks to commit adultery can already be considered an adulterer, even if he did not have such an opportunity, and one who plans to commit murder is already a murderer, even if he is not able to carry out his plan; the situation is exactly the same in the case of the one who has not committed any sin, about which I speak: if I see him suffering, even if he has not committed anything, I call him bad, since he wanted to sin. I am ready to accept this position rather than admit that Providence can be evil.” (83:1) A little further on, he speaks of the Lord as if he were a simple man: “If you leave all these considerations aside and point me to some person, saying: He is probably a sinner, because he suffers, I will answer you, if you are able to follow the train of my thoughts: He did not sin, but, like a baby, he must suffer. However, if you insist further, I will answer you that no matter which person you point to, he is only a man, and only God is righteous. For, as someone said: Who will be born clean from an unclean? None." 730. (2) According to Basilides, it turns out that the soul sinned in a previous life, therefore it suffers here; at the same time, the elect atone for their sins heroically, through martyrdom, and the rest are cleansed each as necessary. How can this view be true if it turns out that it depends on us whether we confess and suffer punishment? After all, Providence also condones those who renounce, according to Basilides. (84, 1) Let us ask him: what to do with a confessor who is captured? Does he testify and suffer due to Providence or not? By renouncing, he will avoid persecution. (2) Trying to avoid answering and denying the need for punishment for such a person, but nevertheless asserting that the punishment of those who renounce also occurs by the power of Providence, he thereby unwittingly testifies against his own words. (3) And what then remains of that glorious reward that awaits in heaven the one who suffers for his testimony? If Providence does not allow the sinner to reap the fruits of sin, then this is a double injustice. For not only does it not save the one who suffers punishment for the sake of righteousness, but it also helps the one who seeks to sin; for as soon as he has conceived this deed, it prevents its completion, thereby giving an unjust indulgence to the sinner. (85:1) How wicked it is to deify the devil and equate the Lord with sinful man! The devil tempts us by knowing who we are, but not knowing whether we will agree to follow him. Therefore, he tries to turn us away from the faith, trying to subjugate us. And this is all that is allowed to him, partly for the sake of our own salvation, so that we benefit from the commandments, partly to confuse the one who strives for deception and invariably breaks off, partly for the instruction of those who belong to the Church and to the shame of the crowd, who are surprised at such endurance. (2) If confession in itself is already a reward for suffering, and therefore the faith and teaching, thanks to which people go to it, also turn out to be the causes of suffering, then is it possible to come up with a more absurd judgment? (3) We will say in another place that the doctrine of souls supposedly migrating from body to body is also an invention of the devil. Here we add the following to the above. Where [in Basilides] is it said about faith as a reward for sins committed before suffering? Where is the love for God that is nourished by those who are executed and suffer for the truth? Where is it said about reward for the confessor and punishment for the apostate? Why correct behavior, mortification of the flesh and abstinence from hostility towards any creature? (86, 1) And if, as Basilides himself says, one part of what is called the will of God is [the commandment] to love everything (and they use the word everything as a term denoting “the fullness of everything”), then the second part is not to desire anything, and the third is not to envy anything, which means that according to the will of God all this will also be a punishment, which is a sin to even think about. (2) For the Lord did not suffer according to the will of the Father, and those who are persecuted are not persecuted according to the will of God. One of two things: either persecution is a good deed that occurs according to the will of God, or those who are condemned and persecuted are innocent. (3) After all, nothing in this world happens without the will of the Lord. It remains to conclude that all this happens with the permission of God (μηι κωλύσαντος του θεοΰ), since only in this way can both Providence and the goodness of God be saved. (87, 1) Avoiding the assumption that he himself contributes to condemnation (for one should not think so), we come to the conviction that he does not hinder those who do all this, but invariably turns the sins of his enemies for good. (2) “I will break down the walls,” he says, “and he will be trampled underfoot” (Isa. 5:5). Providence is a means of education (παιδευτικής τέχνης) for the majority - for their personal sins, and for the Lord and the apostles - for ours. (3) The Divine Apostle, in agreement with this, says: “This is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from fornication; so that everyone knows how to maintain their vessel in holiness and honor, and not in passion and lust, like the pagans who do not know God; so that you do not deal with your brother in any way illegally or selfishly: because the Lord is the Avenger of all this, as we told you before and testified. For God has not called you to uncleanness, but to holiness. So, he who is disobedient is not subject to man, but to God, who also gave us His Holy Spirit.” 731 Therefore, the Lord does not prevent us from suffering for the sake of holiness. (88, 1) And if someone objects to us that the confessor is punished for sins that happened before his incarnation and that he again reaps the fruits of his behavior in this life, and that everything is planned in accordance with the plan, then we ask him whether retribution is also the plan of Providence? (2) If the Divine plan has nothing to do with it, then there is no plan for cleansing from sins, and their hypothesis collapses, but if cleansing is planned by Providence, then punishments also occur by virtue of Providence. (3) However, Providence, although it begins its movement from the Archon, as they assert, is still an innate property of every essence from the moment of its creation by God of the entire Cosmos. (4) If we accept this position, then either we must admit that the punishment is not unjust, which means that those who condemn and persecute confessors are doing the right thing, or these persecutions are carried out by the will of God himself. (5) Labor and fear, as they say, are not something accidental, but like rust on iron, they arise not without its will. XIII. Criticism of Valentin's views (89, 1) However, enough about this. We will return to the subject under discussion later, at an appropriate time. (2) Valentine in one of his sermons literally says the following: “From the beginning you are immortal, children of eternal life. And you wished to distribute death among yourselves in order to absorb it and waste it, so that death would die in you and thanks to you. When you destroy the whole world, (3) you yourself will not perish, but will receive power over everything created and perishing.” 732 (4) This means that he, in agreement with Basilides 733, teaches about a race of people saved by nature, about a certain special race that came into this world from above in order to defeat death, which is the work of the Creator of this cosmos. (5) Therefore, he interprets the words of scripture: “No one can see the face of God and live” (Ex. 33:20) in the sense that God is the cause of death. (6) About this God he utters the following mysterious words: “Just as a portrait is only a likeness of a living person, so the world is secondary in comparison with living Eternity. (90.1) In this case, what is the reason for the image? The greatness of that face, which was the prototype for the artist, so that it could be glorified through his name. 734 After all, although the image is not authentic to the prototype, the Name each time complements what is missing in the cast. The invisible power of God creates together [with the artist], who believes that the creation belongs to him.” 735 (2) This means that [according to Valentinus] the Demiurge, who is called God and Father, is the image of the True God and his herald, while Sophia is an artist whose casts are images for the glory of the Invisible. What comes from marriage (syzygy) forms completeness (Pleroma), the same thing that comes from the One - images. 736 (3) But since everything visible does not belong to him, the soul comes from what occupies a middle position different from it, and arises from the inspiration of another spirit; [and generally speaking,] everything that is breathed into the soul is an image of the spirit. As for the Demiurge himself, who was created “in the image,” his appearance, as they say, was predicted in a sensual way from the book of Genesis, which speaks of the birth of man (Gen. 1:26). (4) They keep the “likeness” for themselves, claiming that in addition to this, another spiritual principle was created, unknown to the Demiurge. (91, 1) We will discuss this issue in more detail when we come to the justification of the unity of God, who gave the Law, the Prophets and the Gospel (since this is very important). Let us return to the immediate topic of our current discussion. (2) If in order to conquer death a special race of people was created, then it is not Christ who dealt with death, unless, of course, one resorts to the assumption that he is of the same nature as them. If he nevertheless defeated death and this did not in any way affect a special race, then death was defeated not by the race of the Demiurge’s rivals, into whose image of the “intermediate spirit” he breathed higher life; after all, their teaching says that all this happened thanks to their Mother. (3) If they claim that they are fighting with Christ against death, as their secret teaching says, then let them themselves try to solve the problem with the divine power of the Creator, placing the creation above Him; after all, it is precisely this that strives to save the spiritual image, which He is unable to save from destruction. (4) Thus the Lord turns out to be higher than God the Creator, since sons are never satisfied with their position in relation to their fathers, especially among the gods. (92, 1) However, we will postpone for now the proof that the Creator of all and the omnipotent Lord is the Father of the Son, and will show in due time that, contrary to the opinion of the heretics, He is the only God proclaimed [in Scripture]. 737 (2.) The apostle speaks thus of suffering torment: “This is from God. Because it has been given to you for the sake of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him. By the same feat that you saw in me and now hear about me. (3) And if there is any consolation in Christ, if there is any joy in love, if there is any fellowship of the spirit, if there is any mercy and compassion, then complete my joy, have the same thoughts, have the same love, be unanimous and like-minded.” (4) “And if I become a sacrifice for the service of faith, I rejoice and rejoice with you,” according to the Epistle to the Philippians, whom he calls “partakers in grace.” 738 Doesn’t he call them one with his soul and “spiritual”? (5) In the same way, speaking of himself and Timothy, he writes: “For I have no one so equal in soul (ίσόψυχον) who would care so sincerely for you. For everyone is pursuing their own gain, and not what is pleasing to Jesus Christ” (Phil. 2:20–21). (93, 1) So it is in vain that all the previously mentioned persons mock us, calling us “spiritual (ψυχικοί)”, as well as Phrygians. We discuss the fact that those who do not accept the new prophecy are called “spiritual” in our notes on prophecy. 739 (2) Thus, a perfect person must show his love, strive to become a friend of God, fulfilling the commandments out of love for him. (3) Love for enemies does not mean love for evil, wickedness, adultery or theft. The thief, the wicked and the libertine, not by virtue of his sin with which he insults the name of man, but by virtue of the very fact that he is a man, is a creation of God. He is sinful in his deeds, not in essence. Therefore, his works are not the creation of God. (94, 1) Sinners are called enemies of God, which means enemies of His commandments, which they violate; while those who observe them become friends, because of their friendliness, others, because of their hostility, become enemies. Both are the result of free choice. (2) For there is neither hostility nor sin without an enemy or sinner. And the commandment not to desire anything does not teach us to abstain from all passions, as if they were alien to us [by nature], as is said by those who believe that the Creator is different from the first God, and therefore creation is hateful and evil. To think like that is godlessness. (3) We affirm that the things of this world are foreign to us, not because they are in any way bad, and not because they do not belong to God and the Lord of all, but because we are not destined to remain among them forever. Therefore, they cannot be considered our property, and constantly change hands. They belong to us, especially if they are made specifically for our benefit, only to the extent that we need them. (4) Satisfying natural desires, all things must be used for their intended purpose, in order to avoid all excesses and addictions. XIV. About the commandment to love your neighbors (95, 1) How great is forgiveness: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you,” and the like. It further says: “Be sons of your Father in heaven,” which means: be like God (Matthew 5:44–45). (2) And it also says: “Make peace with your adversary quickly, while you are still on the road with him” (Matthew 5:25). The adversary here is not the body, as some believe, but the devil and his followers, who walk among us in human form, imitating his deeds in his earthly life. (3) It is not surprising, therefore, that those who profess to be Christians, but in reality find themselves in the midst of the devil's machinations, are subjected to the most severe condemnation. For it is written: “They will deliver you to the judge, and the judge will deliver you to the authorities” of the devil’s kingdom. (96, 1) “For I am sure that neither death” at the hand of the persecutors, “nor life” in this world, “neither the apostate angels, nor the beginnings” (the beginning of Satan is the life he chooses; for such are the principalities and powers of darkness that serve him), “nor the present” which we live in this life, as hope for a soldier and profit for a merchant, (2) “neither height, nor depth, nor any creature” that is in power human, cannot withstand the faith of one who acts in accordance with free choice. “Creation” means action, the result of our labor, and such a creature “cannot separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39). So in one sentence all the main things that distinguish a confessor and a gnostic are expressed. (97, 1) “We all have knowledge,” general knowledge of the public, as well as the knowledge that God is one. He writes this for the faithful, so he adds: “But not everyone has such knowledge,” given to a few. Some say that knowledge “about idols” is not open to everyone, “so that this freedom of yours does not serve as a temptation for the weak. And through your knowledge the weak will perish.” 740 (2) By quoting the statement: “Everything sold at auction must be sold,” and adding in it instead of the words “asking nothing,” “investigating,” they give a strange interpretation. (2) After all, the apostle says: “Everything that is sold in the market, eat without any examination” (1 Cor. 10:25), with the exception of what is indicated in the catholic epistle of all the apostles, written by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles and delivered by Paul himself into the hands of all the faithful. It says there: “To abstain from things sacrificed to idols and blood, from things strangled and fornication, if you observe these things you will do well” (Acts 15:24–29) (4) Everything that the apostle speaks about is another matter: “Or do we not have power to eat and drink? Or do we not have the power to have a sister or wife as a companion, like the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? However, we did not take advantage of this power and endure everything, so as not to put any obstacle to the gospel of Christ ”(1 Cor. 9: 4-12), (5) bearing the burden, if it is necessary for the sake of one good, to give up everything else, and setting an example for those who strive for moderation, so that they do not eat everything that is on the table without distinction, and do not copulate with the first woman who comes to hand. This especially applies to those who are assigned by plan to be a model for the disciples. (98, 1) “Being free from everyone, I made myself a slave to everyone,” as it is said, “in order to win everyone.” “And everyone who strives for victory abstains from everything.” “For the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” 741 (2) “To ease the conscience,” therefore, we abstain from everything that we should abstain from. “But I do not mean my own conscience,” the one who knows, “but another,” so that he does not receive a bad lesson and follow a bad example in what he does not understand, and does not become foolish instead of a prudent person. (3) “For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? If I accept with thanksgiving, then why blame me for what I give thanks for. Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God,” 742 for this is precisely what the rule of faith points you to. XVI. Scripture on Perseverance and Patience (99, 1) “With the heart one believes for righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses for salvation. Scripture says that whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. That is, the word of faith that we preach. For if you proclaim with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” 743 (2) Perfect righteousness in practice and in theory is clearly described here. Therefore, we should bless those who persecute us rather than curse them. (2) “For our praise is the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we know God,” displaying the fruits of love, “not by carnal wisdom, but by the grace of God, living in the world.” 744 (100, 1) This is what the apostle says about revealed knowledge, gnosis. And further in the second letter to the Corinthians he calls the common faith “the fragrance of gnosis.” 745 (2) “For to this day the same veil remains uncovered in the reading of the Old Testament,” 746 not being removed by turning to the Lord. (3) To those who were able to see, He revealed the Resurrection, although their life still glimmers in the womb. Therefore, he calls “spawn of vipers” those libertines who serve their belly and penis, ready to tear off their neighbor’s head for the sake of earthly pleasures. 747 (4) “My children, let us love not in word or tongue, but in deed and in truth,” says John, teaching perfection, “so that we know that we are of the truth” (1 John 3:18–19). (5) And if God is love, then godliness is love. “There is no fear in love, and perfect love casts out fear.” “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” 748 (6) For those who aspire to become a Gnostic, he writes: “Be an example to the faithful in word, in life, in love, in faith, in purity.” 749 Perfect faith differs, I suppose, from ordinary faith. (101, 1) The Divine Apostle defines the rule of Gnostic life by saying the following: “I have learned to be content with what I have. I know how to live both in scarcity and in abundance; I learned everything and in everything, to be satisfied and to suffer hunger, to be both in abundance and in shortage. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:11–13). (2) Arguing with others and trying to shame them, he, without doubt, says the following: “Remember your former days, when you, having been enlightened, endured the great feat of suffering. Either they themselves, amid reproaches and sorrows, served as a spectacle for others, then they took part in others who were in the same state. For you also had compassion for my bonds, and you accepted the theft of your property with joy, knowing that you have in heaven a better and lasting property. (3) Therefore, do not give up your hope, for there is a great reward coming. You need patience so that, having fulfilled the will of God, you will receive what is promised. For a little while, a very little, and the Coming One will come and will not tarry. The righteous will live by faith, but if anyone hesitates, my soul has no favor with him. But we are not of those who waver to destruction, but of faith unto the salvation of the soul” (Heb. 10:32–39). (102, 1) Next he points to a whole swarm of divine examples. For was it not thanks to faith that they all endured “reproaches and beatings, chains and prison? They were stoned, sawn apart, tortured, died by the sword, wandered around in rags made of sheepskin and goat skins, enduring shortcomings, intrigues, and malice. Those whom the whole world was not worthy of wandered through deserts and mountains, through caves and gorges of the earth. (2) And all these, which testified in faith, did not receive what God had promised.” What is not mentioned here is what one might guess, namely, that they were alone. (103:1) He further adds: “Because God (being good) has provided something better for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. Therefore, having around us such a (holy and clear) cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every burden and the sin that hinders us, and eagerly run the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and author of our faith.” 750 (2) And speaking of one salvation for the righteous and for us, speaking clearly and unambiguously about the first, he also mentions Moses, who “counted the reproach of Christ greater wealth to himself than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the rewards. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s wrath, for, as having seen something unseen, he stood firm” (Heb. 11:26–27). (3) Divine Wisdom speaks of the martyrs: “It seemed to the madmen that they were dying, their departure seemed to them a disaster, and their removal from us - suffering. But they were calm. In the eyes of people they suffered punishment, but their hope was in immortality.” (104, 1) And further she adds, teaching that martyrdom is a glorious purification: “Having been taught a little, they will gain much. Because God tested them,” that is, made them suffer in order to test their strength and shame their torturer, “and found them worthy of him,” and therefore deserving of the right to be his children. (2) “He tested them like gold in a furnace, and like a burnt offering he accepted them. And at the time of their coming they will shine and sparkle and will judge people and rule over nations, and the Lord will reign over them forever” (Wis. 3:2-8). XVII. Passages from the Letter to the Corinthians by Clement of Rome (105, 1) The Apostle Clement in his Epistle to the Corinthians, drawing the image of a Gnostic, says: (2) “Will not everyone who has had business with you confirm your perfect and unshakable faith; will not be surprised at your prudent and modest piety; will not glorify your unprecedented hospitality; and will not your perfect and sure gnosis bless you? You act in everything unfeignedly and in accordance with the commandments of God,” and so on. (3) It goes on to say: “Let us look at those who rendered faithful service to his great glory. Let us remember Enoch, who was exalted for his obedience and righteousness; and Noah, who was saved by his faith; and Abraham, who for his faith and hospitality was called the friend of God and became the father of Isaac.” (4) “Because of his hospitality and piety, Lot was saved from Sodom.” “The prostitute Raab was saved for her faith and hospitality.” “They endured everything for the sake of faith and walked around in sheepskins and goatskins, preaching the kingdom of God. The names of these prophets were Elijah, Elisha, Ezekiel and John.” 751 (106:1) Abraham, who for his righteousness was called the friend of God, did not become proud, but said humbly: “I am dust and ashes.” 752 (2) It is also written: “Job was blameless, just, fearing God and shunned evil.” (3) He managed to overcome temptation through the power of patience, confessed God and was recognized by Him. Out of humility he says: “Who will be born clean from an unclean thing? None." 753 (4) And Moses, “a faithful servant in all his house,” turned to Him who spoke from the bush: “Who am I that You send me? My speech is slurred and my tongue is clumsy,” in order to convey the Divine verb in human words. And again: “I am just smoke from the cauldron.” “For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 754 (107:1) Such is also David, about whom the Lord said: “I have found David my servant, and anointed him with My holy oil.” However, he also says the following: (2) “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy, and according to the multitude of your compassions blot out my iniquities. (3) Wash me often from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my iniquities, and my sin is always before me.” (4) Further, meaning not sin before the law, but insufficient zeal for the achievement of true knowledge, he adds: “I have sinned against You, You alone, and have done what is evil in Your sight.” 755 (5) Scripture says somewhere: “The lamp of the Lord is the spirit of man, searching all the depths of the belly” (Prov. 20:27). (6) And the closer a person approaches the Gnostic ideal, through righteousness, the closer the enlightening spirit becomes to him. (7) “Thus the Lord approaches the righteous, and no thought or design escapes Him, the Lord Jesus,” (8) testing our hearts with His almighty will, “whose blood was sacrificed for us. (108, 1) Let us respect those who stand above us, honor old age; to glorify youth and teach the instructions of God.” 756 (2) For blessed is he who studies and fulfills the commandments of God in an appropriate manner. His mind is prudent and capable of seeing the truth. (3) He further says: “Let us instruct our wives to do what is right and to show modesty; let them demonstrate their commitment by gentleness of character and the tenderness of their speech by silence. Let them show their love not only to those whom they like, but equal love to all who fear God. (4) Let our children also know the instruction of Christ; let the meaning of modesty be revealed to them, let them know how great and beautiful the power of the fear of God is, which saves everyone who strives for holiness with a pure heart. (5) For He tests our thoughts and desires, His breath is in us, and He will take it away as soon as He wills.” (109, 1) “All this is confirmed by the faith that is in Christ. “Come, children,” says the Lord, “I will teach you the fear of God. Does a person want to live and loves long life in order to see good? (Ps. 33:12–13). (2) He further reveals the Gnostic meaning of the Hebdomad and Ogdoad: “Keeping your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful words. Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and follow it” (Ps. 33:14–15). (3) With these words he points to revealed knowledge, gnosis, which allows one to evade evil and do good, teaching what is perfect word and deed. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to destroy the memory of them from the earth. (110:1) The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them from all sorrows.” “Many are the tribulations of the wicked, but mercy surrounds him who trusts in the Lord.” 757 “Many blessings,” he adds, “surround him who trusts in the Lord.” 758 (2) And the Epistle to the Corinthians goes on to say: “Thanks to Christ, our foolish and dark minds are turned to light. And the almighty Lord wants us to taste eternal knowledge by the power of this mind.” (3) Explaining what this knowledge is, he adds: “Having made clear to ourselves the essence of all this, we must, looking into the depths of Divine knowledge, act in accordance with the instructions of the almighty Lord, and carry out everything at the appropriate time. (4) Therefore, a wise man sows wisdom not only in words, but also in good deeds. A humble person not only witnesses for himself, but also allows others to witness for him. A person who is physically pure should not be proud of this, knowing that all this was given to him by others. You see, brothers, that the more we are exposed to dangers, the more perfect knowledge we become worthy of.” 759 XVIII. About love and sensual desires (111, 1) “Pious love for mankind strives for the common good,” according to Clement 760, regardless of whether this refers to martyrdom or instruction in deed or word (and the latter is of two types - oral and written). Love is to love God and your neighbors. (2) “And she exalts to unspeakable heights.” 761 (3) “Love covers a multitude of sins.” “Love covers everything and endures everything.” 762 Love connects us with God, everything leads to unity. All those chosen by God are perfected in love. And nothing pleases God more than love. (4) “There is no better interpreter,” as it is said. “Who can be worthy of it, if not the one whom God considers worthy?” 763 (5) The Apostle Paul speaks about the same thing: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, then I am a sounding gossamer, or a sounding cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1-3). Only freely chosen gnostic love gives me the right to testify, he wants to say with these words; (112, 1) if, out of fear or reward, I open my mouth and confess the Lord, then I am just an ordinary person pronouncing the name, but not understanding its meaning. It means that there are people who love only with their lips, but there are people who are willing to give their bodies to be burned. (2) If I give away my property, not in accordance with the said principle of unity in love, but for the sake of the reward which I expect in exchange, either from the one who received the profit, or from the Lord who promised, (3) and even if I are faithful to the Lord to such an extent that I am ready to move a mountain and give up all my desires, but turn out to be unfaithful to the Lord in love, then I am nothing compared with those who testify about the Lord as befits a Gnostic, I am only one of the crowd and no better than them. 764 (4) “All generations from Adam to the present day have passed away. However, all who have achieved perfection in love, by the power of Divine grace, occupy a blessed place, which is revealed to those who contemplate the kingdom of Christ.” (113, 1) Love does not allow sin, but if out of ignorance it falls into it, then imitating David and in the fight against the evil one, it will exclaim: (2) “I will confess to the Lord and will please him more than this young ox with horns and hooves. Let the poor man see this and rejoice.” (3) For he says: “Sacrifice praise to God, and render your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.” “For sacrifice to God is a broken spirit.” (4) “God is love,” as it is said, because He is good. And His love “does not cause any grief to others,” without harming or jealousy, but, in a word, doing good to everyone in accordance with the image of God. (5) “Love is the fulfillment of the law,” through Christ, the presence of the Lord who loves us, loving instruction and education in Christ. 765 (6) By the power of this love, the commandments not to commit adultery and not to seduce one’s neighbor’s wife are fulfilled by themselves, although previously they were fulfilled out of fear. This makes it possible to distinguish between deeds done out of fear and others done through the power of love and nurtured by faith or knowledge. Therefore, the reward for them is different. (114, 1) What is prepared for the Gnostic is that which “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9). For a simple believer, he testifies a hundredfold compared to what he left. And this evidence turns out to be understandable to the common man. (2) Here I am reminded of someone who calls himself a Gnostic. Interpreting the words that everyone who looks at a woman with lust is already committing adultery, he argued that it is not a simple desire that is condemned here, but one that, through this lust, allows the plan to come true. However, it is known that sleep excites both the imagination and the body. (115, 1) The following story is told about the wise judge Bochorides. A certain young man who liked a certain courtesan persuaded her to come to him the next night for a set fee. (2) However, his desire was unexpectedly satisfied by itself: having fallen asleep, he took possession of the girl in his fantasies. When she arrived as agreed, he did not accept her. Having learned what had happened, she demanded the promised payment, claiming that even in this way, she had still satisfied the passion of her lover. Without reaching an agreement, they went to the judge. (3) He ordered the young man to open his wallet and show the courtesan the money so that she could enjoy the sight of it, thus repaying the imaginary embrace with imaginary coins. 766 (116, 1) He whose soul is visited by fantasies sees a dream. However, the one who sees a lustful dream experiences his lust quite realistically, and not as that Gnostic claims, as if seeing a beautiful woman, he only mentally desires to copulate with her. Such a desire is already lust and manifests itself as lust. If someone who sees a beautiful body (as the Logos speaks of it) enjoys its appearance and his flesh responds to what he sees, he is condemned for his admiration, since it is bodily and sinful. (2) On the other hand, he who looks at bodily beauty out of pure love, but enjoys not the physical image, but the spiritual one, I believe, perceives the body as a kind of image, through which he ascends to the author of this creation and to true beauty. Thus he ascends to the holy symbol, the luminous image of righteousness, revealed by the ascension of angels. I mean that pleasant aroma, that quality that distinguishes a soul that has been granted communion with the holy spirit. (117, 1) Glory of this kind illuminated the face of Moses so that the people could not look at him. Therefore, he hid this glory behind a veil, for the sake of those who see only the physical. (2) This is really necessary for those who have access only to worldly things, burdened by their passions. The one who is free from all worldly duties, filled with knowledge and the righteousness of his deeds, is able to comprehend all this and bless a person according to his deeds. (3) “And his life shall not fall away,” like the leaves of a tree fed by “streams of water” (Ps. 1:3). (4) The righteous is like a fruit-bearing tree and different from another, which by its nature 767 can only grow. (5) Knowledgeable people make a distinction between predisposition (δρεξις) and concupiscence (επιθυμία) on the basis that the latter, being unreasonable, is sensual and vicious, while the former, being a rational movement, is necessary by nature. 768 (118, 1) Women are capable of achieving perfection to the same extent as men. (2) After all, not only Moses heard the voice of God: “I told you before, and now I repeat: I see this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. My anger is kindled against them, I will wipe their name from the face of heaven and place you among another wonderful people, much better than this one.” (3) He answered, speaking not only for himself, but for the sake of future salvation: “By no means, Lord. Forgive these people for their sins, or remove my name from the list of the living.” So great was his perfection, for he would rather perish with his people than be saved alone. (4) Likewise, Judith, the most perfect among women, during the siege of the city and on the instructions of the council of elders, went to the enemy’s camp, forgetting about the danger threatening her for the sake of her city and surrendering into the hands of the enemy with faith in God. And she immediately received a reward for her loyalty. Being a woman, she overcame her enemies through faith and took possession of the head of Holofernes. (119:1) Esther, also perfect in faith, saved Israel from the power of a tyrant and the arbitrariness of a satrap. She alone, exhausted by fasting, turned away many armed hands, destroying the plans of the tyrant with the power of her faith. She pacified him, stopped Haman and delivered Israel with her perfect prayer to God. (3) I'm not even talking about Susannah and Moses' sister. After all, the latter was the prophet’s assistant in commanding the troops, being the wisest of all the women of Judah. The first, famous for her perfect righteousness, chose to go to death, condemned by her intemperate lovers, so as not to compromise her piety. (120, 1) The philosopher Dion reports that a certain lady Lysidice, out of excessive modesty, even bathed in clothes, and Philotera, entering the water, gradually raised her tunic as the water covered the naked part. Coming out of the water, she lowered it again. 769 (2) Didn’t Leena Attic bravely endure all the torment? Being in a conspiracy with Harmodion and Aristogheton against Hipparchus, she did not say a word even under severe torture. (3) They also say that the Agrolid women, under the leadership of the poetess Tesilla, put the Spartan army to flight with their very appearance. They also say that she taught them contempt for death. 770 (4) The author of Danaids says this about the daughters of Danaus: And the Danaids then took up arms, Before the beautifully flowing Nile, Lord, (121, 1) Poets sing of the speed of Atlanta, the love of Anticlea for her children, the love of Alcesta for her husband and the courage of Macaria and Jacinthida. (2) But Theano was also very successful in Pythagorean philosophy, but when someone looked at her expressively and said: “What a beautiful hand,” she answered him: “Yes, but not for everyone.” (3) She was distinguished by severity of character, as evidenced by the following apothegma. When she was asked how long after sexual intercourse with her husband a woman can participate in the Thesmophoria, she answered: “After intercourse with her husband - immediately, but with a stranger - never.” (4) Themisto of Lampsacus, daughter of Zoilus, wife of Leontius of Lampsacus, studied Epicurean philosophy, and Miya, daughter of Theano, a follower of Pythagoras, and Arinota, who wrote a historical work on Dionysus, also studied philosophy. (5) The daughters of Diodorus, called Cronus, all became dialecticians, as the dialectician Philo writes about in his work Menexenus, even naming their names: Menexena, Argia, Theognis, Artemesia and Pantaclea. (6) I also remember something about Hipparchia, a student of the Cynics, daughter of a Maronite and wife of Crates. It was for them that the so-called dog wedding was played in Pokil. (122, 1) Arete from Cyrene raised her son Aristippus, for which he received the nickname “taught by his mother.” (2) Lasthenia of Arcadia and Axioteus of Phliasia studied philosophy from Plato. (3) In addition, Aspasia from Miletus, about whom comedians have written so much, studied philosophy from Socrates, and rhetoric from Pericles. (4) I will omit mention here of the others, due to the length of the text, 772 and I will not speak in more detail either about the poetesses Corinna, Telesilla, Miya and Sappho, or about such artists as Irene, daughter of Cratinus and Alexandra, daughter of Nealkes, about whom Didymus writes in The Feasts. (123, 1) The daughter of Cleobulus, a sage and king from Lindos, was not ashamed to wash the feet of her father’s guests. Abraham's wife, blessed Sarah, prepared cakes for the angels with her own hands. Some Jewish princesses tended sheep. But Homer’s Nausicaä washed her clothes herself. (2) A wise woman, therefore, will try to make sure that her husband becomes like-minded to her in what leads to common happiness. But if this turns out to be impossible, then she herself must strive for righteousness in everything, obeying her husband in everything and doing nothing against his will, except in those cases when it comes to righteousness and salvation itself. And if someone tries to prevent his wife or maid from leading such a lifestyle, then such a person with his own hands turns her away from righteousness and prudence and turns his home into a hotbed of injustice and depravity. (124, 1) It is impossible for a man or a woman to become competent in anything without education, its application and practice. Righteousness does not depend on anyone else, but on ourselves. (2) All other things can be suppressed by making war against them, but with regard to ourselves this is impossible, even if we make extraordinary efforts, since this gift is given to us by God and not by anyone else. (3) Therefore, corruption should be considered a vice not of anyone else, but of the person who is guilty of it, and moderation, on the contrary, as a merit of the person who is able to observe it. (125, 1) Euripides describes a righteous wife who loves her husband: 773 The husband speaks well, no matter what he says, This is how a wife should think, even if she is silent. If he decides to say something contrary, Her speech will only bring trouble to her husband. Should be met with compassion Husband's wife, if something bad happens. They must be together in sorrow and in joy. (3) Further, describing her behavior as soft and gentle even in the face of adversity, he adds: When you are sick, I will share the pain, I will take part in your misfortune. ...we must share both joy and sorrow. Isn't this what we call friendship? (126, 1) A marriage entered into in accordance with the word is sanctified if this union is obedient to God and is performed “with a pure heart, with fullness of faith, having cleansed the hearts from an evil conscience, having washed the body with pure water, and steadfastly holding to the confession of hope, for he who promised is faithful.” 774 (2) Happiness in marriage is never measured by the measure of wealth or beauty, but by piety. (3) There has never been beauty, says tragedy 775, In virtue there is only deliverance. That nobility lies only in prudence. (4) And further, as if giving instructions, he says: First of all, a smart woman knows That even in ugliness it seems beautiful The mind judges, not the sight. And so on. (5) It is beautifully said in Scripture that the wife is given to the husband by God as a helper. (127, 1) Therefore, I believe, she should take upon herself the solution of all domestic problems and, with her characteristic common sense and persuasiveness, help her husband endure all troubles. (2) If this turns out to be impossible, she will try, as far as humanly possible, to lead a sinless life. Regardless of whether, at the behest of reason, she should die or live on, she always trusts in God, her helper and comrade-in-arms in her affairs, a true protector and savior now and in the future. She will make him the leader and mentor of her entire life, striving in everything for prudence and righteousness, being faithful to her love for God to the end. (128, 1) The Apostle writes beautifully in his letter to Titus that even older women should “dress decently, not becoming slanderers and drunkards, and teaching good things. To admonish young people to love their husbands and children, to be chaste, clean, tidy at home, kind, submissive to their husbands; Let not the word of God be reviled” (Titus 2:3–5). (2) “Try,” he says, “to have peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. So that there may not be any fornicator or wicked man among you, who, like Esau, gave up his birthright for one meal. So that any root of bitterness that arises does not cause any harm and does not corrupt many.” 776 (129, 1) And then, as if summing up the final line in this matter, he adds: “Let everyone’s marriage be honest and the bed undefiled. But God will judge fornicators and adulterers” (Heb. 13:4). (2) Regarding the fact that in matters relating to perfection there is one task and one goal before both man and woman, Peter in his epistle says this: (3) “In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you have been grieved by various trials, so that the provenness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, (4) whom you have not seen, and whom you have not yet seen. Seeing but believing in him, you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, finally achieving through your faith the salvation of souls.” 777 (5) Paul says that for Christ’s sake he “was in much greater labor, infinitely wounded, and many times at the point of death.” 778 XXI. About the Perfect Gnostic (130, 1) So, I maintain that perfection can be achieved in various ways, depending on the nature of the chosen virtue. One can improve in piety, patience, moderation, hard work, confession or gnosis. (2) But whether it is given to anyone, while he still remains a man, to achieve perfection in each of these virtues, I do not know - unless it is to him who for our sake has assumed human nature. For which man can be considered completely perfect in the eyes of the law? Obviously, one who could boast of not being involved in any evil. But this is the path that leads to the Gospel and to all kinds of virtues. (3) Therefore, the Gnostic perfection for every person living under the law will be faith in the Gospel. Only it elevates the subordinate to perfection. That is why Moses, who lived under the authority of the Old Testament, foretold that these ancient statutes must be obeyed in order to receive Christ, 779 who, according to the apostle, is “the fulness of the law” (Rom. 10:4). (4) A true sage naturally comes to this faith in the Gospel, and not only because the law serves as a stepping stone for him to perceive this new law, but also because he uses the law and understands its meaning exactly as it was explained to the apostles by the Lord himself, the author of both testaments. (5) Leading a correct lifestyle (since it is impossible for a Gnostic to progress slowly in virtue) he testifies to God by his impeccable life and turns out to be a martyr for love. Having chosen this lot, he acquires the highest glory that is possible among people. But despite all these merits, he still cannot become fully perfect as long as he is confined to this body. A truly wise witness for Christ achieves perfection only at the end of his life, for only then does he have the opportunity to demonstrate his faith in the most perfect deed and on the great day of Judgment to see the perfection of his works, as well as their consequences. Supported by the mercy of God, enlightened by divine wisdom, he seals his self-sacrifice with blood and, bleeding with it, gives up the spirit received from God. (131, 1) From now on he is blessed and is rightly considered perfect, “so that the superabundant power is attributed to God and not to us.” 780 We are saved, on the one hand, only by our good will in choice, and on the other hand, by divine mercy. “We are oppressed on every side, but not constrained; we are in desperate circumstances, but we do not despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; We are cast down, but we do not perish.” 781 (2) It is necessary, the apostle continues, that those who strive for perfection should not serve as a temptation to anyone in anything, but that in everything 782 they should prove “worthy of approval not only from people, but also from God” 783 . (3) It should be added: and that they be obedient to people: this is required by prudence in view of the executions and curses that the disobedient incur on themselves. (4) Our glory “is in great patience, in adversity, in need, in difficult circumstances, under blows, in prison, in exile, in labors, in vigils, in fasting, in purity, in knowledge, in generosity, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in the word of truth, in the power of God” 784 so that we may become churches of God, “cleansed from all defilement of the flesh and spirit." 785 (5) “And I,” he continues, “will receive you and will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 786 (6) “Let us therefore perform sanctification,” says the apostle, “in the fear of God.” 787 “For although fear gives rise to sadness, I rejoice,” he says, “not because you were saddened, but because you were saddened to repentance, for you were saddened for God’s sake, so that you did not suffer any harm from us. For Godly sorrow produces unchanging repentance leading to salvation, but worldly sorrow produces death. For the very fact that you were saddened for the sake of God, look what zeal has produced in you, what apologies, what indignation, what fear, what desire, what jealousy, what retribution! By all accounts, you have shown yourself to be clean in this matter.” 788 (132, 1) Such is the preliminary preparation for the Gnostic life. But since God Almighty Himself “gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some shepherds and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-13), then we must strive for this mature age through knowledge and improve ourselves, although still clothed in flesh, so that, with the complete unanimity that arises from here, we can take care of uniting our will with the divine will for the restoration of our truly highest nobility and unity in the “fullness of Christ” - the highest perfection. (2) We now understand why, how and when, according to the divine apostle, a person is perfect and how, in his opinion, perfect people differ from each other. (2) “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the benefit: to one is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another, faith, by the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healings, by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another divers tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. Yet one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he pleases” (1 Cor. 2:7-11). (133:1) Thus the prophet proves perfect in his prophecy, the righteous man in his righteousness, the martyr in his sacrifice for Christ, and others in preaching about him. We do not mean that they were not engaged in ordinary good works, but we mean that they showed themselves best in the very kind of virtue to which they were called by God. For who can assert, without sinning against reason, that a prophet does not act in truth? But don’t the righteous, like Abraham, also have the gift of prophecy? (2) God gives one the ability to fight, another Zeus bestows the art of dancing or playing the cithara, - (3) “But everyone has his own gift from God, some this way, some that way” (1 Cor. 7:7). Only the apostles were filled with all the gifts. (134, 1) If you wish, you can see from their deeds and writings that they had knowledge, and virtue, and the gift of preaching, and integrity, and the gift of prophecy. (2) Let us note that although Paul is closer to us than others in time, for he flourished after the ascension of the Savior, his epistles also have a close connection with those of the Old Testament. He draws his inspiration from them and speaks in their expressions. (3) For the law is interpreted and amplified by faith in Christ and the knowledge of the gospel. (4) That is why it is said to the Jews: “If you do not believe, you will not understand” (Is. 7:9), that is, if you do not believe in the one whose coming was predicted and mysteriously shown in the law, then you will not understand the Old Testament, because the Savior explained it by his incarnation. XXII. A true Gnostic does good only for its own sake (135, 1) The Gnostic is characterized by prudence and foresight. He is not limited to abstaining from evil (for this is only a step to the highest perfection) and is not devoted to good out of fear. (2) For it is written: “Where shall I flee, and where shall I hide from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there. If I go to the edge of the sea, Thy right hand will be there. If I go down into the abyss, your Spirit will be there too” (Ps. 139:7–10). (3) And it is not for the sake of the promised reward that the Gnostic is virtuous, for it is said: “Behold, the Lord God, and His reward is with Him, and His reward is before Him, to render to every one according to his works.” 790 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). (4) Only good deeds rooted in love motivate him to action, good preferred for the sake of beauty and for his own sake. Didn’t God Himself say to the Son: “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for an inheritance” (Ps. 2:8). This is a request truly worthy of a king. She also teaches us to ask the King of the universe to grant salvation to humanity without any merit on his part, so that we all become the Lord’s heritage and his property. (2) It is not the custom of a true Gnostic to strive for the knowledge of God for the sake of any gain or to ask for something to happen, but something, on the contrary, does not happen. He needs no other goal for the contemplative life than contemplation itself. (3) I dare to say that man should strive to know God not out of a desire to be saved, but for the sake of the divine beauty and greatness, holiness and superiority of this knowledge itself. (4) Thinking, as a result of constant exercise, will prevail in him and turns into constant contemplation, the vital essence. (5) And if the Gnostic were offered a choice between the knowledge of God and eternal salvation, and if they were distinguished from each other (although, in reality, they are inseparable from each other), then without a moment’s hesitation the sage would choose the knowledge of God, believing that the possession of faith, which through love ascends to gnosis, is worth pursuing as such. (137, 1) The first beginning of the good activity of a perfect person will be an action performed not for the sake of benefit. Once he has judged that virtue is something beautiful and honorable, the ardent desire of his soul constantly and effectively impels him to goodness for its own sake. You will not see him virtuous today and criminal or indifferent to good tomorrow; his path is precise and immutably established in goodness. He arranges his life in the image and likeness of God, not for the sake of gaining glory or fame and not for the sake of reward from God or from people, as philosophers claim. In everything he strives to become like God in his life. (2) If it happens that he will be repaid with evil for good, then, forgetting the insult, he discards the thought of repaying evil for evil, like any other unworthy thought, remembering that the Lord is good and just to both the evil and the good, “both to the righteous and to the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). (3) The Lord says about such people: “Be like your Father, perfect.” 791 For such a person, the flesh has already died, but he alone is still alive in it (Gal. 2:20), having laid with his tomb the foundation of a church dedicated to the Lord (1 Cor. 3:17), in which his soul, previously enslaved to sin, now ascends to God. (138, 1) You can no longer say about him: “he is abstinent,” for he has achieved such dispassion that he only expects to be clothed in the Divine image. (2) When you do alms, as the Lord says, let no one know about it. 792 And when you fast, anoint yourself, so that God alone knows, and no one else knows. 793 The merciful person himself should not know about his mercy (Matthew 6:3), otherwise he will sometimes be merciful, sometimes not. (3) When alms are distributed to them according to their skill and disposition towards it, they will become closer to goodness by their very nature. (4) This is not necessary for those who instantly soar upward, but it is necessary for those who walk along narrow paths towards their intended goal on earth. When Scripture says that “the Father draws” (John 6:44), then these words encourage us to work so that God will honor us with the strength and action of grace, allowing us to ascend unhindered along the difficult path. (5) If it happens that the chosen one suffers hatred from people, then, knowing their ignorance, he regrets the lack of enlightenment of their minds. (139, 1) It is not without reason that true knowledge, animated by love, teaches the ignorant and instructs in every creature to respect the creation of the Almighty. (2) If the Gnostic has learned to love God, then from then on his virtue does not diminish, either in a dream, or in reality, or from any external reason. For what has become his habit, be it gnosis or, if you like, an internal disposition, cannot cease to be so. (3) After all, the dominant part of the soul, because it never lives by the thoughts of others, always remains unchanged and even in sleep is not subject to the disturbing influence of images of daytime events. (4) That is why the Lord commands us to stay awake (Matthew 24:42), so that our soul will never, even in sleep, be overcome by passions. He wants our thoughts at night to be as ordered as during the day, and that we keep our sleep pure and immaculate. Likeness to God is achieved (as far as we can) by maintaining the mind in a stable state. (5) This is the property of reason, since it is reason: various inclinations in it arise under the influence of material desires. (140, 1) That is why the night is called the comforter (εύφρόνην), because at this time the soul, freed from the power of the senses, finds itself in order to completely surrender to the suggestions of prudence (φρόνησις). (2) Therefore, the mysteries are performed most often at night, for the sake of that concentration that arises in the soul due to its detachment from the body. (3) “Let us therefore not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober, for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk become drunk at night. Let us, being sons of the day, be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation.” 794 (141, 1) What was said about sleep can also be said about death. Both states are characterized by a certain detachment of the soul, only in one case greater, in the other less. (2) And Heraclitus says the same thing: “A person touches the peaceful night within himself when he dies. While alive, having fallen asleep, he touches the dead. While awake, with his eyes closed, he touches the sleeping person.” 795 (3) “Blessed indeed,” according to the words of the apostle, “are those who have seen the Lord, because the hour has already come for you to wake up from sleep. For salvation is closer to us now than when we believed. The night passed and the day approached. Let us therefore put away the works of darkness and put on the weapons of light” (Rom. 13:11–12). (4) The Apostle metaphorically calls the Son the name of day and light, and the commandments, according to another metaphor, the weapon of light. That is why we are commanded to approach the throne for sacrifice and prayer purified and luminous. (142, 1) This outer decoration and purification is a symbol. “Purification is to think holy thoughts.” 796 (2) It was an image of baptism, and from Moses it came to the poets in this form: Having washed and put on clean clothes, Penelope goes to prayer. Telemachus went alone to the sandy seashore, Having washed his hands with salty moisture, he cried out to Athena... 797 (3) The Jews also had the custom of washing themselves immediately after intercourse. It is also well said: Not by bathing, but be pure in mind. 798 (143, 1) Perfect purity is achieved, I believe, by one who is pure in soul, whose deeds are impeccable, whose thoughts are blameless, whose words are clear like the sun, and whose soul remains virgin even in sleep. For a person, probably, sufficient is the purification that is achieved through sincere and firm conversion, when, condemning ourselves for previous actions, we move further, pondering 799 the entire past and freeing the mind from everything that is generated by sensual pleasures and previous sins. (2) If I wanted to explain the origin of the word science (έπιστήμη), then I would draw your attention to its component, στάσις, peace, because science stops our attention, which is still moving from one subject to another, on one thing. (3) Also in the word πίστις, faith, I hear an indication of στάσις, peace, since it is the repose of the soul on what truly exists. (4) After all, we always strive to find out the truth about someone who is eternally righteous in everything, who does not fear the punishments that the law threatens, who does not tremble before the hatred of others or revenge for virtue, who does not yield to the danger into which crime and baseness plunge him. (5) After all, abstaining from untruth due to the above-mentioned motives means only virtue out of fear, and not due to a preference for good over everything else. (6) Epicurus says that he whom he considers a sage “will never commit any injustice for the sake of gain. After all, he cannot be sure that his injustice will remain a secret.” 800 This means that he could commit evil if he knew for sure that it would never be revealed. These are opinions born in darkness. (144, 1) Even if he moves away from unrighteousness for the sake of the rewards appointed by God for good deeds, he will not yet prove himself to be doing good voluntarily. In the first case, righteousness is generated by fear, and in the second, by reward, and this is no longer righteousness, but only a shadow of righteousness. (2) The hope of posthumous reward with good for the good and evil for the evil is familiar not only to experts in barbarian wisdom, but also to the Pythagorean philosophers. After all, they also leave hope for those who are devoted to philosophy. Socrates says in the Phaedo that the souls of virtuous people leave this world with “good hopes.” 801 Condemning the wicked, he says the opposite: “They live with a bad hope.” 802 (3) Apparently Heraclitus, in his discussion about man, says the same thing: “What awaits people after death is what they do not hope for and what they do not imagine.” 803 (145, 1) Inspired by God, the apostle wrote to the Romans: “Tribulation produces patience, patience produces experience, experience produces hope, and hope does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:3-5). Patience lives with hope for the future. Hope is synonymous with the reward for this hope, and it is this that “does not shame” and is not blamed. (2) A person who follows his calling for its own sake strives for gnosis not under the influence of fear and threats and not for the sake of pleasure. He does not find out whether his activity will have beneficial consequences and whether it will give him pleasure, but he gives God the reverence due to him, carried away by love for someone who is truly worthy of it, and following only his duty. (146, 1) Even if God allowed him to do the forbidden with impunity, and he was promised bliss for breaking the law and his deeds, although this is impossible, would remain unknown to God, then even then he would not agree to do something contrary to reason, having once and forever decided that there is a true good and worthy of choice for its own sake, and therefore deserving of love. “You will not be satisfied with bodily food alone,” as they say. 804 (2) The Gnostic knows that “food does not bring us closer to God” (1 Cor. 8:8), not marriage and not celibacy, observed due to the error of reason, but virtue, which has light and wisdom as its initial principle. If this were not so, then the dog, an unreasonable animal, should be ascribed the virtue of moderation, because even it does not touch food if it is afraid of a stick raised over it. (3) But if it were possible to abolish the rewards promised for moderation, to eliminate the fear, threats and danger hanging over our heads, then the true motives of actions would immediately appear. (147, 1) The nature of things themselves, if we consider this Gnostically, does not contradict the statement that everything created for our benefit is good, that marriage and the birth of children are beautiful, if all this is accompanied by prudence and abstinence from passions. However, the best thing is complete liberation from passions for the sake of becoming like God in virtue. (2) As for external things, people prefer to abstain from some, but not from others. However, this abstinence from certain things and aversion to them causes some to slander both the creature and the Creator. At first glance they act piously, but their opinions are wicked in their very foundations. (3) The commandment “thou shalt not covet” does not need to be reinforced by intimidation, which would force one to abstain from what is pleasing to the sensuality, nor to be attracted to it by a reward, which encourages one to curb criminal desires in oneself. (4) Those who are not tempted by the lures of carnal pleasures abstain from them not at all for the sake of the commandment as such, but for the sake of the promise, for the sake of the benefits promised to those who choose obedience and obey God. (148, 1) For truly, even after aversion from sensual things, a turn to the speculative does not necessarily follow. Attention to things that are comprehended only by the mind, of course, distracts the sage from the sensory. Preferring the beautiful, he chooses the good with full consciousness and gnostically. By marveling at creation and glorifying the Creator, he thereby glorifies his likeness to the divine. (2) He thereby says: “Lord, have mercy, I want to be free 805 from desires in order to unite more closely with You. For the structure of this world is beautiful and the laws that govern creation are full of wisdom. Nothing happens here without a reason. It was necessary, O Almighty, that I should live among the works of your hands. But, being among them, I abide in you. May fear be removed from me so that I can draw closer to your greatness. As long as I remain here on earth, I wish to be content with little, trying to imitate the justice of your election, which distinguishes true good from imaginary good.” (149, 1) From the holiest and most mysterious teachings of the apostle we learn what kind of choice is truly pleasing to God. This choice, according to his teaching, is not to renounce certain things, as if they were bad, but to honor other, more sublime goods, incomparable with ordinary things. (2) Here are his actual words: “Therefore he who gives his maiden in marriage does well, but he who does not give it away does better” (1 Cor. 7:38) “for the orderly and unceasing service of the Lord without distraction” (1 Cor. 7:35). (3) We are taught that things that are difficult to acquire are not necessary, while necessary things, by the mercy of the Creator, are themselves given into our hands. (4) Democritus was therefore right when he said that “nature and doctrine are very close.” In a few words he explains why this is so. “Teaching can tune a person [like a musical instrument], and attitude makes him natural.” 806 And in this sense, it makes no difference how this transformation occurs in him, whether naturally, or over time and as a result of upbringing. (5) Both come equally from the Lord; one proceeds from him as the Creator of the world, the other flows from him through re-creation and renewal in the new covenant. (6) One should first of all choose what is best and what is superior to everything else, and this is reason. (7) So, if the choice is under the guidance of reason, then what is truly good will at the same time be the most pleasant, and in itself will give the expected good fruits, which is peace of mind. (8) “He who listens to me,” says Scripture, “will rest in peace with hope and will remain without fear from all evil” (Prov. 1:33). “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). This alone may make him resemble a true Gnostic. “I said, you are gods and sons of the Most High” (Ps. 81:6). (150, 1) And Empedocles agrees with him, and, classifying the souls of the wise men as gods, he writes: Becoming magicians, singers, doctors and the leaders who live under the sun, Finally they grow into gods, the most glorious. 807 (2) Man is formed in accordance with the idea of ​​the spirit inherent in him by nature. It is not created formless and unsettled in the workshop of nature, from where all of humanity mysteriously originates. The method of origin and essence make it similar to the rest of creation, but each person is distinguished by the fact that, according to his innate property, he chooses from among many things what is dear to his soul. (3) This is why we can affirm that Adam was perfect in his constitution, for he lacked nothing that characterizes the idea of ​​man and his external image. He received perfection at the same time as life, and it was justified by his obedience. This allowed him to further improve on his own. The reason lies in his free choice, and especially in the fact that this choice fell on the forbidden. However, God should not be blamed for this. (4) After all, emergence is of two types: one is birth itself, the other is change and development. (151, 1) Masculinity is said to make a man, naturally subject to wavering, fearless and unshakable in essence, if he happens to be involved in it. Anger accompanies patience and endurance, and abstinence and submission overcome passion. God is dispassionate, free from anger and desire. (2) However, he is not without fear, in the sense of the desire to avoid the terrible, and moderation, in the sense of abstaining from desires. Nevertheless, by his nature God cannot experience fear, nor does he have any desires, which is why he does not have to curb them. (3) The words of Pythagoras “man must be one” mysteriously apply to us, for we have one High Priest, one God, unchangeable in essence, and from him flows the eternal flow of all good things. (152, 1) The Savior, by forbidding even a desire, thereby cuts off anger at the root, for anger is nothing more than a desire for revenge. Generally speaking, passion is inherent in every kind of desire, but having reached the state of deification, a person becomes completely dispassionate and united. (2) Just as those who are at anchor, removing the lowered anchor from the sea, themselves move towards it, so the Gnostic, wanting to attract God by the perfection of his way of life, is automatically drawn towards him. 808 He who serves God also serves himself. (3) In the contemplative life, concern for one’s innermost benefit is tantamount to reverence for God, and through his perfect purification such a person contemplates in a holy image the holy God. Thus, a self-controlled person, always remaining reasonable, constantly observing himself and contemplating himself, becomes like God as much as this likeness is possible. XXIV. About the meaning of God's punishments (153, 1) Some things are in our power, in the sense that we are free to choose both them and their opposite, for example, to engage in philosophy or not, to believe or to question something. And since both opposites are in our power, we are free to choose. (2) We have the right to both fulfill and violate the commandments, but praise or punishment in this case is completely justified. And if a sinner is punished for the crimes he has committed, he is punished only for what he did of his own free will. What has been done has sunk into oblivion and cannot be corrected, (3) therefore, the Lord forgives sins committed before accepting faith, but he forgives them not as if they had never been committed, but as if they had never happened at all. (4) “Not all, but only involuntary sins are forgiven,” says Basilides, as if this gift comes from a certain person, and not from God. Scripture answers him: “Did you think, O wicked one, that I would be like you?” (Ps. 49:21). (5) But even in the case when we are punished for involuntary sins, this does not happen in order to make them not have happened, but precisely because they were committed by us. Punishment does not yet give the guilty the strength and means not to sin; it only helps him not to sin in the future and serves as a lesson for others so that they do not make similar mistakes. (154, 1) For three reasons, the All-Good God punishes us here on earth: firstly, so that the one being punished himself becomes better; secondly, so that those who can still be saved will be kept from sins by the example of others; thirdly, to protect from contempt the one who has become a victim of injustice, and to prevent him from inflicting a new insult. (2) There are two ways of correction: one is through teaching, the other is through punishment, which we consider corrective. (3) It should be remembered that only those sins that we commit after baptism are subject to punishment. This means that our previous sins are forgiven, and subsequent ones must be expiated. It is said about the unbelievers: “They are counted as dust, which the wind sweeps up from the face of the earth, and as a drop from a jug.” 809 XXV. What is true perfection? (155, 1) Happy is he who has mastered but strives to see the unceasing progress indestructible nature, having known Such a person is fleeing from evil and untruth. 810 (2) Plato therefore had every reason to assert that he who is occupied with the contemplation of ideas will live among mortals as a god. The mind is the seat of ideas, and the mind is God. 811 (3) In the Sophist, Socrates calls the guest from Elea, a great expert in dialectics, a god, “like those gods who, like wanderers, visit cities.” 812 (4) For when his soul, rising above the sphere of existence and finding itself alone with itself, like the luminary in Theaetetus 813, communicates only with the world of ideas, it reaches a truly angelic state. Thus he will unite with Christ, immersed in contemplation even when he fulfills the will of God, “one is inspired, the rest are like shadows” 814, “they themselves are dead, and bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22). (5) Therefore Jeremiah said: “I will fill it [the city] with the corpses of the children of the earth whom My wrath has slain.” 815 (156, 1) God, being inexpressible (ἀναπόδεικτος), cannot become the subject of scientific knowledge, but the Son is wisdom, science, truth and all the like, and therefore is accessible to scientific knowledge and description. And all the powers of the Spirit, having gathered together in one, become in their entirety one Himself, that is, the Son. At the same time, He cannot be expressed by any one of His powers taken separately. (2) It is not something single and indivisible, and does not consist of parts, but is something unified, including everything (ώς πάντα έν). Therefore He is in everything. It represents a circle of all forces twisted and combined into one. 816 (157, 1) This is the reason why the Logos is called Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8), since only in it the end is at the same time the beginning, and having been completed, it again becomes a new beginning, without undergoing a break anywhere. (2) That is why to believe in the Logos through the medium of himself means to achieve unity with oneself, which is tantamount to an inseparable and indissoluble union with him. Not to believe means to be divided, torn and fall apart. (3) “Therefore thus says the Lord: No son of a foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in the flesh,” that is, unclean in soul and body, “shall enter into my sanctuary, neither of the foreigners [living] among the house of Israel, nor of the Levites” (Ezek. 44:9). The sons of a foreigner are those who, instead of believing, choose to remain unfaithful. (158, 1) Only those who lead a blameless life will be true priests of God. Therefore, of all the tribes that accepted circumcision, only those anointed as high priests, kings and prophets were considered the most holy. (2) Therefore, they were forbidden to even touch the corpses and were not allowed to enter the room where the deceased lay. 817 And this is not because the corpse itself was a source of defilement, but because sin and disobedience, being works of the flesh, live in the body, die with it, and are consequently cursed. (3) Therefore the priest was allowed to enter the room of the dead only if it were his father, mother, son or daughter, since in that case he was related to them by the flesh and seed by which he received this life. (4) Therefore, the priests had to cleanse themselves within seven days - according to the number of days of the creation of the world, on the seventh day they celebrated the rest of God, and on the eighth day they brought a supplicatory sacrifice for their sin, as it is written about this in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 44:27), where it is promised that this supplicatory sacrifice will be accepted. (159:1) Perfect purification, in my opinion, is faith, which leads to the Gospel through the law and the prophets. This purity is achieved by complete obedience to God and the renunciation of all earthly things, until the very moment when the soul joyfully leaves the shell in which it is enclosed. (2) This time means either those seven designated periods, after which complete tranquility sets in, or those seven heavens, which some believe are located one above the other, or the sphere of the fixed stars, which serves as the limit of the intelligible cosmos, called the eighth heaven. In any case, the expression means that the Gnostic must leave the confines of the created and sinful world. (3) That is why sacrifices for the atonement of sins were offered over seven days, since the possibility of sin always remains while we touch the seventh heaven. (160, 1) Righteous Job said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will return.” 818 He did not mean nakedness due to the loss of property (that would have been a pitiful and vain thought), but as a true sage, he left, being uninvolved in evil and vice, without leaving behind the trace that vicious people leave. (2) The same thing is meant by the words “unless you are converted and become like little children” (Matthew 18:3), pure in body and holy in soul, abstaining from all wickedness. He thereby shows that we were created by him from our common mother - water. (3) The successive change of generations means continuation into eternity, however, “the lamp of evildoers must be extinguished.” 819 (161, 1) About the bodily and mental purity, which the Gnostic is involved in, the wise Moses, showing the indestructibility of Rebecca’s soul and body, says this: “The virgin was beautiful and her husband did not know her” 820. (2) The name Rebekah means “the glory of God,” and the glory of God is indestructible. True righteousness is to withdraw from all extraneous things and to be a church dedicated to God. Righteousness is a calm and harmonious life, where the Lord directed it, saying: “Go in peace” (Mark 5:34). (3) Salem signifies "the world," where our Savior is King, for Moses says that Melchizedek is the king of Salem, the high priest of the most high God, 821 who gave bread and wine, the food which typifies the Eucharist. Melchizedek means "righteous king" because his name is a combination of the words "righteousness" and "peace." (162, 1) Basilides believes that Righteousness and her daughter Peace live in the Ogdoad. (2) However, let’s leave physics and move on to ethics, a clearer subject. We will return to it after we are done with our immediate topic. (3) The Savior personally initiated us into the mysteries, just as the tragedy says: Face to face, and taught the sacraments. What kind of sacraments? Tell us, He will answer us: The uninitiated cannot know about them. (4) If anyone asks what they are, he will hear: You can’t find out, but it’s worth knowing them. Those sacraments will cast down the wicked. 822 (5) God is beginningless, but He Himself is the beginning of everything and the creative beginning. Being an essence, He is the beginning of all nature, and being good - ethics. Since He is the mind, He serves as the beginning of reason and understanding. And since He is a mentor, the only Son of the Most High Father, He is the teacher of all people. XXVI. On the relation of the perfect man to the things of this world (163, 1) Those who deny creation and consider the body to be evil act foolishly. They forget that man was created erect in order to contemplate the sky, his senses are designed for knowledge, and the members and various parts of his body are created in a completely proportionate manner and their function is not limited to receiving pleasure. (2.) This receptacle is the seat of the soul, the creation most dear to God, and is glorified by the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies soul and body, which are perfected by the perfection of the Savior. (3) In the Gnostic there coexist three virtues - ethical, physical and logical - thanks to which he deals with Divine things. (4) Wisdom is knowledge of the Divine and human, righteousness is the harmony of the various parts of the soul, and holiness is service to God. (5) If anyone wants to degrade the flesh and creation along with it, remember the words of Isaiah: “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass dries up, the flower fades, only the word of the Lord endures forever,” (164:1) then let him remember the words of Jeremiah, written in the Spirit: “Therefore I will scatter them like dust blown by the desert wind. This is your lot, the honor measured out for you, says the Lord. Because you forgot me and hoped for a lie. Therefore your hem will be lifted up over your face, so that your shame, your adultery and lust will be revealed,” and so on. 823 (2) The apostle calls those who have fallen into sin the flowers of the field, walking on the flesh and bodily. (3) The soul is considered the best part of man, but the body is subordinate to it. However, the soul is not good by nature, and the body is not evil by nature. After all, what is not good is not necessarily evil. (4) There are things that stand between good and evil, and among them some should be preferred, and some should be rejected. (5) A person living among the things of the corporeal world is necessarily created from different, but not opposite parts - from soul and body. (165, 1) Good deeds, as something best, come from the guiding spiritual principle, while voluptuous and sinful ones are attributed to the influence of the lower and sinful. (2) But the soul of the wise and Gnostic, being confined in the body only for a short time, like a stranger who has come to a strange land, uses the body moderately, ready to leave this abode as soon as it hears the call. (3) “A stranger,” she says, “I am in this land and a stranger among you.” 824 Basilides believes on this basis that the chosen ones are wanderers in the world and have extraterrestrial origin. (4) However, this is not true, since all creation was created by one God. Therefore, no one can be alien to him by nature, since nature is one, just as God is one. And yet the chosen one lives here as a stranger, knowing that sooner or later he will have to leave everything he owns. (166, 1) He does not neglect those benefits that the Peripatetics divide into three types 825, and uses them. He also uses his body, but rather like a traveler who has visited a distant country. He enters inns and houses, but cares about the things of this world and the roof over his head as little as a traveler cares. Having left everything - home, property, as well as the use of them - and without having excessive attachment to them, he willingly and joyfully follows the guide who leads him out of this life, never looking back at what he has abandoned, thanking God for his earthly journey and calling, welcoming with love and blessing the home prepared for him in heaven. (2) “For we know that when our earthly house, this hut, is destroyed, we have a building from God in heaven, a house not made with hands, eternal. That is why we sigh, wanting to put on our heavenly dwelling; Let us not, even though we are clothed, find ourselves naked, for we walk by faith and not by sight,” 826 says the apostle. - (3) “We are content and wish better to leave the body and be with the Lord.” 827 These words acquire meaning in comparison. Things that have some similarities are compared. So the bravest is braver than the brave and those who are not at all distinguished by courage. (167, 1) That is why Paul adds: “And therefore we earnestly strive, whether in or out, to be pleasing to him,” 828 that is, to be pleasing to the one God, the Creator and Creator of all things, both in this world and beyond. (2) Excellent, in my opinion, said Epicharmus. Glorious with your valiant disposition, even in death you Evil cannot be tolerated in an eternally living spirit. 829 (3) The lyric poet says this: The souls of the damned are rushing like a whirlwind under the sky In bloody torments, eternal shackles of sin. The righteous house is built above the heavens. In joyful hymns they sing the great Good. 830 (4) So, let no one now say that the soul is sent from heaven to earth to suffer an undeserved bitter fate here. God arranges everything for the better. In fact, a soul that has voluntarily chosen the best life according to God and truth exchanges earthly life for heavenly life. (168, 1) Job, who strived for gnosis and achieved it, had the right to say: “Now I have learned that you can do everything and nothing is impossible for you. Who is it that tells me what I did not know, great and wondrous things that I did not know? I despised myself, considering myself earth and ashes.” 831 The ignorant is attached to sin and is “earth and ashes”; whereas a person who succeeds in gnosis and through it, as far as human weakness allows, becomes like God, walks from that time on in the Spirit and ultimately becomes the chosen one. (3) And that “earth” Scripture calls the foolish and rebellious is shown by the prophet Jeremiah, who says this about Joachim and his brothers: “Earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord: write this man an outcast” (Jer. 22:29-30). (169, 1) But another prophet in turn says: “Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth” (Is. 1:2). The prophet calls the mind “listening,” and the soul of the wise man “heaven,” for his only concern is the contemplation of the heavenly and Divine, which is why he is a [true] Israelite. (2) On the contrary, whoever chooses ignorance and prefers hard-heartedness, he brands him with the name of the earth. The expression “take heed” refers to the organ of hearing, and the sensual refers to those who are occupied with carnal things. (3) It was about them that the prophet Micah said: “Listen to the word of the Lord, you people accustomed to grief.” 832 (4) And Abraham says: “Never, O Lord, who judges the earth...” 833, since he who does not believe the saving word is already condemned. (170, 1) There is also another judgment and sentence of the Lord, and it is set out in the books of Kings 834: “God will hear the righteous,” 835 “But he will not save the wicked, because they do not want to know God.” The Almighty “cannot be the cause of anything improper.” 836 (2) What will heresies answer to these words? Will they really doubt that in Scripture the Almighty God is good and can never be the author of vice and lawlessness? If they did not know God, then the beginning of their delusion was ignorance, for God does not create anything absurd. (3) “This is our God,” says the prophet, “and there is no other Savior besides Him.” 837 “Is it really not true with God?” - asks the apostle 838. (4) From the prophet we also learn what is the will of God and progress in knowledge: “And now, O Israel, what does your God ask of you? Only so that you fear the Lord your God, and walk in all His ways, and love Him, and serve Him alone.” 839 He asks nothing more than that you choose salvation. (171, 1) What do the Pythagoreans want to say when they command to “pray out loud”? Don’t they think that God will not hear those who pray quietly? I believe that they want the prayer to be righteous, which means there is nothing wrong with many people knowing about it. (2) We will talk about prayer at the appropriate time. It is clear that as “walkers by day” 840, we must also have deeds that cry out: (3) “Let your works shine” 841, for here is man and his works, and “here is God and his works.” 842 It is necessary for a true Gnostic to become like God as much as he can. (4) After all, the poets, as far as I remember, called their chosen ones godlike, divine, equal to God, having the wisdom of Zeus, partners in the Divine Council, godlike, using, as I believe, the expression borrowed [from Moses] “in the image and likeness.” 843 (172, 1) Euripides says: Flapping golden wings Wearing the sandals of the Sirens, I will soar into the bottomless ether, (2) I pray that the spirit of Christ will lift me up to my Jerusalem. The Stoics say that it is heaven that is the true city, and not earthly city-states. 845 They are called that, but they do not deserve it. The real city is completely different, and its population is a well-organized society, where people are subject to law, just as the Church is the earthly prototype of the city, and free from tyranny, a product of the Divine will on earth and in heaven alike. (3) Poets describe such a heavenly city. It is believed that the cities of the Hyperboreans and Arimaspians, as well as the Champs Elysees, represent an example of such places of residence of the perfect. 846 The paradigm of Plato's city is also located in the heavens. 847 Heraclites, fr. 10 Mar. (22 DK). Perhaps an allusion to the beginning of the book of Heraclitus (cf. fr. 1). "Golden Family" cf. Plato, Rep. V 468 e; Strom. IV 16, 1; V 98, 2; V 133.6. Hesiod, Opera et dies, V 289–292 (translated by V.V. Veresaev). The previous quote is probably from some tragedy unknown to us. Epicharmus' statement: fr. 250 Kaibel. Wed. Diog. Laert. Proem. 12; Cicero, Tusc. Disp. V 3, 9. Heraclites, fr. 45 Mar. (23 DK). Lev. 19:18; Deut.6: 5; OK. 10:27 ; Matt. 22:37.39. Homer., Odyssea, XVII 322–323. Wed. Plato, Phaedo 67 d; 80 e. Wed. Gal. 2: 20 ; Phil. 3:20. Empedocles, fr. 119 DK; cf. Plutarch., Mor., 607 e. Heraclites, fr. 96 Mar. (24 DK). Simonides, fr. 190 a (cf. Aristoteles, Rhetorica, II 1394 b 13). Euripides, Alex., fr. 54. Euripides, Polyidos, fr. 641. Wed. Euripides, Oedip., fr. 542. Wed. OK. 6:21; Matt. 5:4. Matt. 12: 8.12; Mk. 2: 28; OK. 6:6. Wed. Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13. Matt. 22: 2 sq.; OK. 14:16. Wed. Matt. 8:20 ; OK. 9:58. Matt. 13: 7.22; OK. 8: 7.14. Wed. Ref. 33:19; Rome. 9:15. Wed. Matt. 6:32–33; OK. 12:30–31 . Obviously, this refers to some early Christian “philologists” who edited the text of the New Testament. Theano, H. Thesleff, The Phythagorean Texts, p. 201. έρμαιον – a find that was attributed to the mercy of Hermes. Aeschylus, Telephos, fr. 239; Plato, Phaedo, 108 a. Aristophanes, Aves, 684–686. Epicharm. fr. 246 Kaibel. Rome. 8:7–8, 10, 13, 17–18, 28–30. Unknown location. Wed. TGF Adespota 114. Simonides Lyricus, fr. 58. Pindarus, fr. 227 Schroeder. Aeschylus, fr. 315 Nauck. Heraclites, fr. 97 Mar. (25 DK): μόροι γαιρ μέζονες μέζονας μοίρας λαγχάνουσι. Unknown site, possibly Euripides (fr. inc. 958). Wed. Rome. 12:9, 13:8, 15:13. Wed. Philo, Quod omnis probus liber sit, 14. Wed. Strom. V 59, 5; Heraclites, fr. 95 Mar. (29 DK). Unknown location. TGF Adespota, 115. Wed. Strom. V 108, 3; Plato, Rep. II 361 e. Euripides, Hypsipyle, fr. 757. Until the end of the paragraph there is an almost exact quote from Philo (Quod omnis probus liber sit, 16 ff.). For the well-known story about the feat of Mucius Scaevola (Postum), see: Plutarch., Publicola, 17. Wed. Diogenes Laert. IX 99. Antipater, Anthologia Palatina IX 268 1. Wed. Chrysippus, fr. mor. 254SVF. Euripides, Oedipus, fr. 546, 545. Homerus, Odyssea VI 182–184. Col. 3:18–25, 4:1, 3:11. Wed. Diogenes Laert. X, 122. Heracleon Gnosticus, fr. 50 Volker. Clement mentions Heracleon again in Eclogae Propheticae, 25.1. Hermas, Visiones, IV 2, 5. Perhaps there is a gap in the text. Plato, Apologia 30 c-d. The words of Socrates, which Clement clearly quotes from memory. Wed. Corpus Herm., Poem. 28; Heracleon, fr. 20 Volker. Wed. Strom. VIII 28, 2–3, where Clement himself or his source similarly interprets Aristotle's four causes, saying that the final cause is "the glory of the gymnasiarch being portrayed." Valentinus Gnosticus, fr. 4–5 Volker (French C-D Afonasin, Valentin and his school. St. Petersburg: Aletheia, 2001). This last statement exactly corresponds to Excerpta ex Theodoto, 32. Each of the aeons is married, having a paired aeon called a syzygy, and everything that comes from a syzygy is itself complete, in the same way that a child born from a father and mother receives an independent existence and becomes a full-fledged being. On the contrary, that which stems from the one, namely, its image (such as time - the semblance of eternity), loses its completeness and manifests it only insofar as it participates in its prototype. This plot, without any introduction, continues at the beginning of the fifth book. Phil. 1:28 – 2:2, 2:17, 1:7. Nothing of this kind has survived, but Clement mentions such notes again in Strom. I 158, 1. Wed. Rome. 16:18; Titus 2:12. Clemens Rom., I ad Cor. 1, 2 ff.; 9, 2–4; 10: 1.7; 17.2; 11, 1; 12, 1; 17, 1. Clemens Rom., I ad Cor. 17, 2; Life 18:27. Further, exact quotes from the Epistle are interspersed in Clement’s text with paraphrases. Clemens Rom., I ad Cor. 18, 1–4. 21, 2–4, 6–9 ff. Clemens Rom., I ad Cor. 22, 1–8. Clemens Rom., I ad Cor. 40, 1; 38, 2; 41, 4; 48, 6. Clemens Rom., I ad Cor. 48, 6. Clemens Rom., I ad Cor. 49, 4. 1 Pet. 4:8; 1 Cor. 13:7. Clemens Rom., I ad Cor. 50, 1. Here and further: Clemens Rom., I ad Cor. 49.5 ff. Ps. 49:14–15, 50:19; 1John 4:8, 16; Rome. 13:10. Plutarchus, Demetrius 27. In the manuscript θυσίαν, which is replaced by φύσιν. Stahlin suggests a gap in this place. Chrysipp. Fr. mor. 442SVF; cf. Strom. II 119, 3. Wed. Pausanius, I 23, 2; II 20, 8. Danais, fr. 1 Kinkel. The only surviving quotation from the poem, otherwise unknown except from Clement. Obviously, Clement is rewriting information about famous women from some anthology. Euripides, fr. inc. 909 Nauck. Unknown passage, possibly a continuation of previous passages from Euripides. Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22, 7:37. Homerus, Ilias, XIII 730–731. Wed. Is. 40:10, 62:11; Ps. 61:13; Eccl. 22:12 ; Rome. 22:12. Heraclites, fr. 48 Mar. (26 DK). The passage is unclear and has therefore been subject to various corrections. Man is a light in the night: he flares up in the morning and fades away in the evening. He flares up to life, having died, as if he flares up to wakefulness, having fallen asleep (translated by A.V. Lebedev). Preger, Inscr. Graec. Metr., p. 164, n. 207; Wed. Strom. V 13, 3. Verse of the epigram from Epidaurus. Probably a dwarf or an oracle's saying. Etymological explanation of the word μετανοέω. Epicurus, fr. 582 User. Heraclites, fr. 74 Mar. (27 DK). Probably a fragment of some poetic work. αύταιρ έγωιν έμει λύσομαι. Homer., Ilias, X 378. The same metaphor, only regarding a pier rather than an anchor, is used by Pseudo-Dionysius: Dionysius Areopagita, De div. nom. III 1, 680 pp. Wed. Ps. 1:4; Is. 40:15. Fragment from a tragedy, possibly by Euripides: Euripides, fr. inc. 910. “God is an incorporeal place for incorporeal ideas” (Philo, De Cherubim, 49); Wed. Strom. V 73, 3. Plato, Theaetetus, 173 p. Wed. Plotinus, Enn. V 1, 7. Leo 21:1; Number 6:9–10; Ezek. 44:25. Wed. Philo, Leges Alleg. III 79. Euripides, Bacchae, 470–472.474.476 (translated by I. Annensky). Is. 40:6–8; Jer. 13:24–27. Wed. Life 23:4; Ps. 38:13. “There are three types of benefits: mental, physical and external” (Aristoteles, Ethica Nicom. I 8 1098 b 12); Wed. Strom. II 34, 1. Epicharmus, fr. 265 Kaibel. Pindar., fr. 132 Schroeder. There is no such fragment in the Books of Kings. Chrysipus, fr. mor. 328SVF. Herodotus, IV 13, 32–36; Hemerus, Odyssea IV 563–568. Plato, Rep. IX 592 b; Wed. Origen., Contra Cels. V 43, 47, 8.