CHAPTER I.

The words of Abbot Nesteros on the knowledge of the religious.

THE order of our promise and course demands that there should follow the
instruction of Abbot Nesteros,(2) a man of excellence in all points and of the
greatest knowledge: who when he had seen that we had committed some parts of
Holy Scripture to memory and desired to understand them, addressed us in these
words. There are indeed many different kinds of knowledge in this world, since
there is as art great a variety of them as there is of the arts and sciences.
But, while all are either utterly useless or only useful for the good of this
present life, there is yet none which has not its own system and method for
learning it, by which it can be grasped by those who seek it. If then those
arts are guided by certain special rules for their publication, how much more
does the system and expression of our religion, which tends to the
contemplation of the secrets of invisible mysteries, and seeks no present gain
but the reward of an eternal recompense, depend on a fixed order and scheme.
And the knowledge of this is twofold: first,
praktikh
, i.e., practical, which is brought
about by an improvement of morals and purification from faults: secondly,
qew
,s232>,
s212>
ti? which consists in the contemplation of things Divine and the knowledge of most
sacred thoughts.



CHAPTER II.


On grasping the knowledge of spiritual things.


WHOEVER then would arrive at this theoretical knowledge must first pursue
practical knowledge with all his might and main. For this practical knowledge
can be acquired without theoretical, but theoretical cannot possibly be gained
without practical. For there are certain stages, so distinct, and arranged in
such a way that man's humility may be able to mount on high; and if these
follow each other in turn in the order of which we have spoken, man can attain
to a height to which he could not fly, if the first step were wanting. In vain
then does one strive for the vision of God, who does not shun the stains of
sins: "For the spirit of God hates deception, and dwells not in a body subject
to sins."(8)



CHAPTER III.



How practical perfection depends on a double system.



BUT this practical perfection depends on a double system; for its first
method is to know the nature of all faults and the manner of their cure. Its
second, to discover the order of the virtues, and form our mind by their
perfection so that it may be obedient to them, not as if it were forced and
subject to some fierce sway, but as if it delighted in its natural good, and
throve upon it, and mounted by that steep and narrow way with real pleasure.
For in what way will one, who has neither succeeded in understanding the
nature of his own faults, nor tried to eradicate them, be able to gain an
understanding of virtues, which is the second stage of practical training, or
the mysteries of spiritual and heavenly things, which exist in the higher
stage of theoretical knowledge? For it will necessarily be maintained that he
cannot advance to more lofty heights who has not surmounted the lower ones,
and much less will he be able to grasp those things that are without, who has
not succeeded in understanding what is within his comprehension. But you
should know that we must make an effort with a twofold purpose in our
exertion; both for the expulsion of vice, and for the attainment of virtue.
And this we do not gather from our own conjecture, but are taught by the words
of Him who alone knows the strength and method of His work: "Behold," He says:
"I have set thee this day over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up, and
to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build and to plant."(1) He
points out that for getting rid of noxious things four things are requisite;
viz., to root up, to pull down, to waste, and to destroy: but for the
performance of what is good, and the acquisition of what pertains to
righteousness only to build and to plant. Whence it is perfectly evident that
it is a harder thing to tear up and eradicate the inveterate passions of body
and soul than to introduce and plant spiritual virtues.



CHAPTER IV.

How practical life is distributed among many different professions and interests.



THIS practical life then, which as has been said rests on a double system,
is distributed among many different professions and interests. For some make
it their whole purpose to aim at the secrecy of an anchorite and purity of
heart, as we know that in the past Elijah and Elisha, and in our own day the
blessed Antony and others who followed with the same object, were joined most
closely to God by the silence of solitude. Some have given all their efforts
and interests towards the system of the brethren and the watchful care of the
coenobium; as we remember that recently Abbot John, who presided over a big
monastery in the neighbourhood of the city Thmuis,(2) and some other men of
like merits were eminent with the signs of Apostles. Some are pleased with the
kindly service of the guest house and reception, by which in the past the
patriarch Abraham and Lot pleased the Lord, and recently the blessed
Macarius,(3) a man of singular courtesy and patience who presided over the
guest house at Alexandria in such a way as to be considered inferior to none
of those who aimed at the retirement of the desert. Some choose the care of
the sick, others devote themselves to intercession, which is offered up for
the oppressed and afflicted, or give themselves up to teaching, or give alms
to the poor, and flourish among men of excellence and renown, by reason of
their love and goodness.



CHAPTER V.



On perseverance in the line that has been chosen.



WHEREFORE it is good and profitable for each one to endeavour with all his
might and main to attain perfection in the work that has been begun, according
to the line which he has chosen as the grace which he has received; and while
he praises and admires the virtues of others, not to swerve from his own line
which he has once for all chosen, as he knows that, as the Apostle says, the
body of the Church indeed is one, but the members many, and that it has "gifts
differing according to the grace which is given us, whether prophecy,
according to the proportion of the faith, whether ministry, in ministering, or
he that teacheth, in doctrine, or he that exhorteth in exhortation, he that
giveth, in simplicity, he that ruleth, with carefulness, he that showeth
mercy, with cheerfulness."(4) For no members can claim the offices of other
members, because the eyes cannot perform the duties of the hands, nor the
nostrils of the ears. And so not all are Apostles, not all prophets, not all
doctors, not all have the gifts of healing, not all speak with tongues, not
all interpret.(5)



CHAPTER VI.



How the weak are easily moved.



For those who are not yet settled in the line which they have taken up are
often, when they hear some praised for different interests and virtues, so
excited by the praise of them that they try forthwith to imitate their method:
and in this human weakness is sure to expend its efforts to no purpose. For it
is an impossibility for one and the same man to excel at once in all those
good deeds which I enumerated above. And if anyone is anxious equally to
affect them all, he is quite sure to come to this; viz., that while he pursues
them all, he will not thoroughly



437



succeed in any one, and will lose more than he will gain from this changing
and shifting about. For in many ways men advance towards God, and so each man
should complete that one which he has once fixed upon, never changing the
course of his purpose, so that he may be perfect in whatever line of life his
may be.



CHAPTER VII.



An instance of chastity which teaches us that all men should

not be emulous of all things.



FOR apart from that loss, which we have said that a monk incurs who wants
in light-mindedness to pass from one pursuit to another, there is a risk of
death that is hence incurred,because at times things which are rightly done
by some are wrongly taken by others as an example, and things which turned out
well for some, are found to be injurious to others. For, to give an instance,
it is as if one wished to imitate the good deed of that man, which Abbot John
is wont to bring forward, not for the sake of imitating him but simply out of
admiration for him; for one came to the aforesaid old man in a secular dress
and when he had brought him some of the first fruits of his crops, he found
some one there possessed by a most fierce devil. And this one though he
scorned the adjurations and commands of Abbot John, and vowed that he would
never at his bidding leave the body which he had occupied, yet was terrified
at the coming of this other, and departed with a most humble utterance of his
name. And the old man marvelled not a little at his so evident grace and was
the more astonished at him because he saw that he had on a secular dress; and
so began carefully to ask of him the manner of his life and pursuit. And when
he said that he was living in the world and bound by the ties of marriage, the
blessed John, considering in his mind the greatness of his virtue and grace,
searched out still more carefully what his manner of life might be. He
declared that he was a countryman, and that he sought his food by the daily
toil of his hands, and was not conscious of anything good about him except
that he never went forth to his work in the fields in the morning nor came
home in the evening without having returned thanks in Church for the food of
his daily life, to God Who gave it; and that he had never used any of his
crops without having first offered to God their first fruits and tithes; and
that he had never driven his oxen over the bounds of another's harvest without
having first muzzled them that his neighbour might not sustain the slightest
loss through his carelessness. And when these things did not seem to Abbot
John sufficient to procure such grace as that with which he saw that he was
endowed, and he inquired of him and investigated what it was which could be
connected with the merits of such grace, he was induced by respect for such
anxious inquiries to confess that, when he wanted to be professed as a monk,
he had been compelled by force and his parents' command, twelve years before
to take a wife, who, without any body to that day being aware of it, was kept
by him as a virgin in the place of a sister. And when the old man heard this,
he was so overcome with admiration that he announced publicly in his presence
that it was not without good reason that the devil who had scorned him
himself, could not endure the presence of this man, whose virtue he himself,
not only in the ardour of youth, but even now, would not dare to aim at
without risk of his chastity. And though Abbot John would tell this story with
the utmost admiration, yet he never advised any monk to try this plan as he
knew that many things which are rightly done by some involved others who
imitate them in great danger, and that that cannot be tried by all, which the
Lord bestowed upon a few by a special gift.



CHAPTER VIII.



Of spiritual knowledge.



BUT to return to the explanation of the knowledge from which our discourse
took its rise. Thus, as we said above, practical knowledge is distributed
among many subjects and interests, but theoretical is divided into two parts,
i.e., the historical interpretation and the spiritual sense. Whence also
Solomon when he had summed up the manifold grace of the Church, added: "for
all who are with her are clothed with double garments."(1) But of spiritual
knowledge there are three kinds, tropological, allegorical, anagogical,(2) of
which we read as follows in Proverbs: "But do you describe these things to
yourself in three ways according



438



to the largeness of your heart."(1) And so the history embraces the knowledge
of things past and visible, as it is repeated in this way by the Apostle: "For
it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondwoman, the other by
a free: but he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he who
was of the free was by promise." But to the allegory belongs what follows, for
what actually happened is said to have prefigured the form of some mystery
"For these," says he, "are the two covenants the one from Mount Sinai, which
gendereth into bondage, which is Agar. For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia,
which is compared to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her
children." But the anagogical sense rises from spiritual mysteries even to
still more sublime and sacred secrets of heaven, and is subjoined by the
Apostle in these words: "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the
mother of us. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not, break
forth and cry, thou that travailest not, for many are the children of the
desolate more than of her that hath an husband."(2) The tropological sense is
the moral explanation which has to do with improvement of life and practical
teaching, as if we were to understand by these two covenants practical and
theoretical instruction, or at any rate as if we were to want to take
Jerusalem or Sion as the soul of man, according to this: "Praise the Lord, O
Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion."(3) And so these four previously mentioned
figures coalesce, if we desire, in one subject, so that one and the same
Jerusalem can be taken in four senses: historically as the city of the Jews;
allegorically as Church of Christ, anagogically as the heavenly city of God
"which is the mother of us all," tropologically, as the soul of man, which is
frequently subject to praise or blame from the Lord under this title. Of these
four kinds of interpretation the blessed Apostle speaks as follows: "But now,
brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues what shall I profit you
unless I speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge or by prophecy or
by doctrine?"(4) For "revelation" belongs to allegory whereby what is
concealed under the historical narrative is revealed in its spiritual sense
and interpretation, as for instance if we tried to expound how "all our
fathers were under the cloud and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and
in the sea," and how they "all ate the same spiritual meat and drank the same
spiritual drink from the rock that followed them. But the rock was Christ."(5)
And this explanation where there is a comparison of the figure of the body and
blood of Christ which we receive daily, contains the allegorical sense. But
the knowledge, which is in the same way mentioned by the Apostle, is
tropological, as by it we can by a careful study see of all things that have
to do with practical discernment whether they are useful and good, as in this
case, when we are told to judge of our own selves "whether it is fitting for a
woman to pray to God with her head uncovered."(6) And this system, as has been
said, contains the moral meaning. So "prophecy" which the Apostle puts in the
third place, alludes to the anagogical sense by which the words are applied to
things future and invisible, as here: "But we would not have you ignorant,
brethren, concerning those that sleep: that ye be not sorry as others also who
have no hope. For if we believe that Christ died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say to you by
the word of God, that we which are alive at the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent those that sleep in Christ, for the Lord Himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of
God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first."(7) In which kind of exhortation
the figure of anagoge is brought forward. But "doctrine" unfolds the simple
course of historical exposition, under which is contained no more secret
sense, but what is declared by the very words: as in this passage: "For I
delivered unto you first of all what I also received, how that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose
again on the third day, and that he was seen of Cephas;"(8) and: "God sent His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law;"(9) or this: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord the God is one Lord."(10)



CHAPTER IX.



How from practical knowledge we must proceed to spiritual.



WHEREFORE if you are anxious to attain to the light of spiritual
knowledge, not wrongly for an idle boast but for the sake of being made better
men, you are first inflamed with the longing for that blessedness, of which we
read: "blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,"(11) that you may
also attain to that of which the angel said to Daniel: "But they that are
learned shall shine as the splendor of the firmament: and they that turn many
to righteousness as the stars for ever



439



and ever;" and in another prophet: "Enlighten yourselves with the light of
knowledge while there is time." And so keeping up that diligence in reading,
which I see that you have, endeavour with all eagerness to gain in the first
place a thorough grasp of practical, i.e., ethical knowledge. For without this
that theoretical purity of which we have spoken cannot be obtained, which
those only,-who are perfected not by the words of others who teach them, but
by the excellence of their own actions, can after much expenditure of effort
and toil attain as a reward for it. For as they gain their knowledge not from
meditation on the law but from the fruit of their labour, they sing with the
Psalmist: "From Thy commandments I have understanding;" and having overcome
all their passions, they say with confidence: "I will sing, and I will
understand in the undefiled way."(2) For he who is striving in an undefiled
way in the course of a pure heart, as he sings the Psalm, understands the
words which are chanted. And therefore if you would prepare in your heart a
holy tabernacle of spiritual knowledge, purge yourselves from the stain of all
sins, and rid yourselves of the cares of this world. For it is an
impossibility for the soul which is taken up even to a small extent with
worldly troubles, to gain the gift of knowledge or to become an author of
spiritual interpretation, and diligent in reading holy things. Be careful
therefore in the first place, and especially you, John, as your more youthful
age requires you the rather to be careful about what I am going to say--that
you may enjoin absolute silence on your lips, in order that your zeal for
reading and the efforts of your purpose may not be destroyed by vain pride.
For this is the first practical step towards learning, to receive the
regulations and opinions of all the Elders with an earnest heart, and with
lips that are dumb; and diligently to lay them up in your heart, and endeavour
rather to perform than to teach them. For from teaching, the dangerous
arrogance of vainglory, but from performing, the fruit of spiritual knowledge
will flourish. And so you should never venture to say anything in the
conference of the Elders unless some ignorance that might be injurious, or a
matter which it is important to know leads you to ask a question; as some who
are puffed up with vainglory, pretend that they ask, in order really to show
off the knowledge which they perfectly possess. For it is an impossibility for
one, who takes to the pursuit of reading with the purpose of gaining the
praise of men, to be rewarded with the gift of true knowledge. For one who is
bound by the chain of this passion, is sure to be also in bondage to other
faults, and especially to that of pride: and so if he is baffled by his
enCounter with practical and ethical knowledge, he will certainly not attain
that spiritual knowledge which springs from it. Be then in all things "swift
to hear, but slow to speak,"(3) lest there come upon you that which is noted
by Solomon: "If thou seest a man who is quick to speak, know that there is
more hope of a fool than of him;(4) and do not presume to teach any one in
words what you have not already performed in deed. For our Lord taught us by
His own example that we ought to keep to this order, as of Him it is said:
"what Jesus began to do and to teach."(4) Take care then that you do not rush
into teaching before doing, and so be reckoned among the number of those of
whom the Lord speaks in the gospel to the disciples: "What they say unto
you, that observe and do, but not after their words: for they say and do not.
But they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's
shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their
fingers."(6) For if he who shall "break one of these commands, and shall
teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven,"(7) it follows
that one who has dared to despise many and greater commands and to teach men
so, shall certainly be considered not least in the kingdom of heaven, but
greatest in the punishment of hell. And therefore you must be careful not to
be led on to teach by the example of those who have attained some skill in
discussion and readiness in speech and because they can discourse on what they
please elegantly and fully, are imagined to possess spiritual knowledge, by
those who do not know how to distinguish its real force and character. For it
is one thing to have a ready tongue and elegant language, and quite another to
penetrate into the very heart and marrow of heavenly utterances and to gaze
with pure eye of the soul on profound and hidden mysteries; for this can be
gained by no learning of man's, nor condition of this world, only by purity of
soul, by means of the illumination of the Holy Ghost.



CHAPTER X.



How to embrace the system of true knowledge.



YOU must then, if you want to get at the true knowledge of the Scriptures,
endeavour



440



first to secure steadfast humility of heart, to carry you on by the perfection
of love not to the knowledge which puffeth up, but to that which enlightens.
For it is an impossibility for an impure mind to gain the gift of spiritual
knowledge. And therefore with every possible care avoid this, lest through
your zeal for reading there arise in you not the light of knowledge nor the
lasting glory which is promised through the light that comes from learning but
only the instruments of your destruction from vain arrogance. Next you must by
all means strive to get rid of all anxiety and worldly thoughts, and give
yourself over assiduously or rather continuously, to sacred reading, until
continual meditation fills your heart, and fashions you so to speak after its
own likeness, making of it, in a way, an ark of the testimony,(1) which has
within it two tables of stone, i.e., the constant assurance of the two
testaments;(2) and a golden pot, i.e., a pure and undefiled memory which
preserves by a constant tenacity the manna stored up in it, i.e., the enduring
and heavenly sweetness of the spiritual sense and the bread of angels;
moreover also the rod of Aaron, i.e., the saving standard of Jesus Christ our
true High Priest, that ever buds with the freshness of immortal memory. For
this is the rod which after it had been cut from the root of Jesse, died and
flourished again with a more vigorous life. But all these are guarded by two
Cherubim, i.e., the fulness of historical and spiritual knowledge. For the
Cherubim mean a multitude of knowledge: and these continually protect the
mercy seat of God, i.e., the peace of your heart, and overshadow it from all
the assaults of spiritual wickedness. And so your soul will be carried forward
not only to the ark of the Divine Covenant, but also to the priestly kingdom,
and owing to its unbroken love of purity being as it were engrossed in
spiritual studies, will fulfil the command given to the priests, enjoined as
follows by the giver of the Law: "And he shall not go forth from the
sanctuary, lest he pollute the Sanctuary of God,"(3) i.e., his heart, in which
the Lord promised that he would ever dwell, saying: "I will dwell in them and
will walk among them."(4) Wherefore the whole series of the Holy Scriptures
should be diligently committed to memory and ceaselessly repeated. For this
continual meditation will bring us a twofold fruit: first, that while the
attention of the mind is taken up in reading and preparing the lessons it
cannot possibly be taken captive in any snares of bad thoughts: next that
those things which were conned over and frequently repeated and which while we
were trying to commit them to memory we could not understand as the mind was
at that time taken up, we can afterward see more clearly, when we are free
from the distraction of all acts and visions, and especially when we reflect
on them in silence in our meditation by night. So that when we are at rest,
and as it were plunged in the stupor of sleep, there is revealed to us the
understanding of the most secret meanings, of which in our waking hours we had
not the remotest conception.



CHAPTER XI.



Of the manifold meaning of the Holy Scriptures.



BUT as the renewal of our soul grows by means of this study, Scripture
also will begin to put on a new face, and the beauty of the holier meanings
will somehow grow with our growth. For their form is adapted to the capacity
of man's understanding, and will appear earthly to carnal people, and divine
to spiritual ones, so that those to whom it formerly appeared to be involved
in thick clouds, cannot apprehend its subtleties nor endure its light. But to
make this which we are aiming at somewhat clearer by an instance, it will be
enough to produce a single passage of the law, by which we can prove that all
the heavenly commands as well are applied to men in accordance with the
measure of our state. For it is written in the law: "Thou shalt not commit
adultery."(5) This is rightly observed according to the simple meaning of the
letter, by a man who is still in bondage to foul passions. But by one who has
already forsaken these dirty acts and impure affections, it must be observed
in the spirit, so that he may forsake not only the worship of idols but also
all heathen superstitions and the observance of auguries and omens and all
signs and days and times, or at any rate that he be not entangled in the
conjectures of words and names which destroy the simplicity of our faith. For
by fornication of this kind we read that Jerusalem was defiled, as she
committed adultery "on every high hill and under every green tree,"(6) whom
also the Lord rebuked by the prophet, saying: "Let now the astrologers stand
and save thee, they that gazed at the stars and counted the months, that from
them they might tell the things that shall come to thee,"(7) of which
fornication elsewhere also



441



the Lord says in rebuking them: "The spirit of fornication deceived them, and
they went a whoring from their God."(1) But one who has forsaken both these
kinds of fornication, will have a third kind to avoid, which is contained in
the superstitions of the law and of Judaism; of which the Apostle says: "Ye
observe days and months and times and years;" and again: Touch not, taste not,
handle not."(2) And there is no doubt that this is said of the superstitions
of the law, into which one who has fallen has certainly gone a whoring from
Christ, and is not worthy to hear this from the Apostle: "For I have espoused
you to one husband, to exhibit you as a chaste virgin to Christ."(8) But this
that follows will be directed to him by the words of the same Apostle: "But I
am afraid lest as the serpent by his cunning deceived Eve, so your minds
should be corrupted and fall from the simplicity which is in Christ Jesus."(4)
But if one has escaped the uncleanness even of this fornication there will
still be a fourth, which is committed by adulterous intercourse with heretical
teaching. Of which too the blessed Apostle speaks: "I know that after my
departure grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock, and
of yourselves also shall arise men speaking perverse things so as to lead
astray the disciples after them."(5) But if a man has succeeded in avoiding
even this, let him beware lest he fall by a more subtle sin into the guilt of
fornication. I mean that which consists in wandering thoughts, because every
thought which is not only shameful but even idle, and departing in however
small a degree from God is regarded by the perfect man as the foulest
fornication.



CHAPTER XII.



A question how we can attain to forgetfulness of the cares of

this world.



UPON this I was at first moved by a secret emotion, and then groaned
deeply and said, All these things which you have set forth so fully have
affected me with still greater despair than that which I had previously
endured: as besides those general captivities of the soul whereby I doubt not
that weak people are smitten from without, a special hindrance to salvation is
added by that knowledge of literature which I seem already to have in some
slight measure attained, in which the efforts of my tutor, or my attention to
continual reading have so weakened me that now my mind is filled with those
songs of the poets so that even at the hour of prayer it is thinking about
those trifling fables, and the stories of battles with which from its earliest
infancy it was stored by its childish lessons: and when singing Psalms or
asking forgiveness of sins either some wanton recollection of the poems
intrudes itself or the images of heroes fighting presents itself before the
eyes, and an imagination of such phantoms is always tricking me and does not
suffer my soul to aspire to an insight into things above, so that this cannot
be got rid of by my daily lamentations.



CHAPTER XIII.



Of the method by which we can remove the dross from our

memory.



NESTEROS: From this very fact, from which there springs up for you the
utmost despair of your purification, a speedy and effectual remedy may arise
if only you will transfer to the reading of and meditation upon the writings
of the Spirit, the same diligence and earnestness which you say that you
showed in those secular studies of yours. For your mind is sure to be taken up
with those poems until it is gaining with the same zeal and assiduity other
matters for it to reflect upon, and is in labour with spiritual and divine
things instead of unprofitable earthly ones. But when these are thoroughly and
entirely conceived and it has been nourished upon them, then by degrees the
former thoughts can be expelled and utterly got rid of. For the mind of man
cannot be emptied of all thoughts, and so as long as it is not taken up with
spiritual interests, is sure to be occupied with what it learnt long since.
For as long as it has nothing to recur to and exercise itself upon
unweariedly, it is sure to fall back upon what it learnt in childhood, and
ever to think about what it took in by long use and meditation. In order then
that this spiritual knowledge may be strengthened in you with a lasting
steadfastness, and that you may not enjoy it only for a time like those who
just touch it not by their own exertions but at the recital of another, and if
I may use the expression, perceive its scent in the air; but that it may be
laid up in your heart, and deeply noted in it, and thoroughly seen and
handled, it is well for you to use the utmost care in securing that, even if
perhaps you hear things that you know very well produced in the Conference,
you do not regard them in a scornful and disdainful way because you already
know them, but that you lay them to your heart with the same eagerness,



442



with which the words of salvation which we are longing for ought to be
constantly poured into our ears or should ever proceed from our lips. For
although the narration of holy things be often repeated, yet in a mind that
feels a thirst for true knowledge the satiety will never create disgust, but
as it receives it every day as if it were something new and what it wanted
however often it may have taken it in, it will so much the more eagerly either
hear or speak, and from the repetition of these things will gain confirmation
of the knowledge it already possesses, rather than weariness of any sort from
the frequent Conference. For it is a sure sign of a mind that is cold and
proud, if it receives with disdain and carelessness the medicine of the words
of salvation, although it be offered with the zeal of excessive persistence.
For "a soul that is full jeers at honeycomb: but to a soul that is in want
even little things appear sweet."(1) And so if these things have been
carefully taken in and stored up in the recesses of the soul and stamped with
the seal of silence, afterwards like some sweet scented wine that maketh glad
the heart of man, they will, when mellowed by the antiquity of the thoughts
and by long-standing patience, be brought forth from the jar of your heart
with great fragrance, and like some perennial fountain will flow abundantly
from the veins of experience and irrigating channels of virtue and will pour
forth copious streams as if from some deep well in your heart. For that will
happen in your case, which is spoken in Proverbs to one who has achieved this
in his work: "Drink waters from your own cisterns and from the fount of your
own wells. Let waters from your own fountain flow in abundance for you, but
let your waters pass through into your streets."(2) And according to the
prophet Isaiah: "Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of
water whose waters shall not fail. And the places that have been desolate for
ages shall be built in thee; thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation
and generation; and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, turning
the paths into rest."(8) And that blessedness shall come upon thee which the
same prophet promises: "And the Lord will not cause thy teacher to flee away
from thee any more, and thine eyes shall see thy teacher. And thine ears shall
hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back: This is the way, walk
ye in it, and go not aside either to the right hand or to the left.'(4) And so
it will come to pass that not only every purpose and thought of your heart,
but also all the wanderings and rovings of your imagination will become to you
a holy and unceasing pondering of the Divine law.



CHAPTER XIV.



How an unclean soul can neither give nor receive spiritual

knowledge.



BUT it is, as we have already said, impossible for a novice either to
understand or to teach this. For if one is incapable of receiving it how can
he be fit to pass it on to another? But if he has had the audacity to teach
anything on these matters, most certainly his words will be idle and useless
and only reach the ears of his hearers, without being able to touch their
hearts, uttered as they were in sheer idleness and unfruitful vanity, for they
do not proceed from the treasure of a good conscience, but from the empty
impertinence of boastfulness. For it is impossible for an impure soul (however
earnestly it may devote itself to reading) to obtain spiritual knowledge. For
no one pours any rich ointment or fine honey or any precious liquid into a
dirty and stinking vessel. For a jar that has once been filled with foul
odours spoils the sweetest myrrh more readily than it receives any sweetness
or grace from it, for what is pure is corrupted much more quickly than what is
corrupt is purified. And so the vessel of our bosom unless it has first been
purified from all the foul stains of sin will not be worthy to receive that
blessed ointment of which it is said by the prophet: "Like the ointment upon
the head, which ran down upon the beard of Aaron, which ran down upon the edge
of his garment,"(5) nor will it keep undefiled that spiritual knowledge and
the words of Scripture which are "sweeter than honey and the honeycomb."(8)
"For what share hath righteousness with iniquity? or what agreement hath light
with darkness? or what concord has Christ with Belial?"(7)



CHAPTER XV.



An objection owing to the fact that many impure persons have knowledge while
saints have not.



GERMANUS: This assertion does not seem to us rounded on truth, or based on
solid reasoning. For if it is clear that all who either never receive the
faith of Christ at all or who corrupt it by the wicked sin of heresy, are of
unclean hearts, how is it that many Jews and heretics, and Catholics also who
are entangled



443



in various sins, have acquired perfect knowledge of the Scriptures and boast
of the greatness of their spiritual learning, and on the other hand countless
swarms of saintly men, whose heart has been purified from all stain of sin,
are content with the piety of simple faith and know nothing of the mysteries
of a deeper knowledge? How then will that opinion stand, which attributes
spiritual knowledge solely to purity of heart?



CHAPTER XVI.



The answer to the effect that bad men cannot possess true

knowledge.



NESTEROS: One who does not carefully weigh every word of the opinions
uttered cannot rightly discover the value of the assertion. For we said to
begin with that men of this sort only possess skill in disputation and
ornaments of speech; but cannot penetrate to the very heart of Scripture and
the mysteries of its spiritual meanings. For true knowledge is only acquired
by true worshippers of God; and certainly this people does not possess it to
whom it is said: "Hear, O, foolish people, thou who bast no heart: ye who
having eyes see not, and having ears, hear not." And again: "Because thou
hast rejected knowledge, I also will reject thee from acting as My priest."(1)
For as it is said that in Christ "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
are hid,"(2) how can we hold that he who has scorned to find Christ, or, when
He is found blasphemes Him with impious lips, or at least defiles the Catholic
faith by his impure deeds, has acquired spiritual knowledge? "For the Spirit
of God will avoid deception, and dwelleth not in a body that is subject to
sin."(8) There is then no way of arriving at spiritual knowledge but this
which one of the prophets has finely described: "Sow to yourselves for
righteousness: reap the hope of life. Enlighten yourselves with the light of
knowledge."(4) First then we must sow for righteousness, i.e., by works of
righteousness we must extend practical perfection; next we must reap the hope
of life, i.e., by the expulsion of carnal sins must gather the fruits of
spiritual virtues: and so we shall succeed in enlightening ourselves with the
light of knowledge. And the Psalmist also sees that this system ought to be
followed, when he says: "Blessed are they that are undefiled in the way: who
walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that seek His testimonies."(5)
For he does not say in the first place: "Blessed are they that seek His
testimonies, and afterwards add: Blessed are they that are undefiled in the
way;" but he begins by saying: "Blessed are they that are undefiled in the
way;" and by this clearly shows that no one can properly come to seek God's
testimonies unless he first walks undefiled in the way of Christ by his
practical life. Those therefore whom you mentioned do not possess that
knowledge which the impure cannot attain, but

yeudwnumon

,
i.e., what is falsely so called, of which the blessed Apostle speaks: "O
Timothy, keep that which is committed to thee, avoiding profane novelties of
words, and oppositions of the knowledge that is falsely so called;"(6) which
is in the Greek

tas



antiqeseis




yeudwnumou



gnwsews

. Of those then who seem to
acquire some show of knowledge or of those who while they devote themselves
diligently to reading the sacred volume and to committing the Scriptures to
memory, yet forsake not carnal sins, it is well said in Proverbs: "Like as a
golden ring in a swine's snout so is the beauty of an evil-disposed woman."(7)
For what does it profit a man to gain the ornaments of heavenly eloquence and
the most precious beauty of the Scriptures if by clinging to filthy deeds and
thoughts he destroys it by burying it in the foulest ground, or defiles it by
the dirty wallowing of his own lusts? For the result will be that which is an
ornament to those who rightly use it, is not only unable to adorn them, but
actually becomes dirty by the increased filth and mud. For "from the mouth of
a sinner praise is not comely;"(8) as to him it is said by the prophet:
"Wherefore dost thou declare My righteous acts, and takest My covenant in thy
lips?"(9) of souls like this, who never possess in any lasting fashion the
fear of the Lord of which it is said: "the fear of the Lord is instruction and
wisdom,"(10) and yet try to get at the meaning of Scripture by continual
meditation on them, it is appropriately asked in Proverbs: "What use are
riches to a fool? For a senseless man cannot possess wisdom."(11) But so far
is this true and spiritual knowledge removed from that worldly erudition,
which is defiled by the stains of carnal sins, that we know that it has
sometimes flourished most grandly in some who were without eloquence and
almost illiterate. And this is very clearly shown by the case of the Apostles
and many holy men, who did not spread themselves out with an empty show of
leaves, but were bowed down by the weight of the true fruits of spiritual



444



knowledge: of whom it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: "But when they
saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were ignorant and
unlearned men, they were astonished."(1) And therefore if you are anxious to
attain to that never-failing fragrance, you must first strive with all your
might to obtain from the Lord the purity of chastity. For no one, in whom the
love of carnal passions and especially of fornication still holds sway, can
acquire spiritual knowledge. For "in a good heart wisdom will rest;" and: "He
that feareth the Lord shall find knowledge with righteousness."(2) But that we
must attain to spiritual knowledge in the order of which we have already
spoken, we are taught also by the blessed Apostle. For when he wanted not
merely to draw up a list of all his own virtues, but rather to describe their
order, that he might explain which follows what, and which gives birth to
what, after some others he proceeds as follows: "In watchings, in fastings, in
chastity, in knowledge, in long suffering, in gentleness, in the Holy Ghost,
in love unfeigned."(3) And by this enumeration of virtues he evidently meant
to teach us that we must come from watchings and fastings to chastity, from
chastity to knowledge, from knowledge to long sufering, from long suffering to
gentleness, from gentleness to the Holy Ghost, from the Holy Ghost to the
rewards of love unfeigned. When then by this system and in this order you too
have come to spiritual knowledge, you will certainly have, as we said, not
barren or idle learning but what is vigorous and fruitful; and the seed of the
word of salvation which has been committed by you to the hearts of your
hearers, will be watered by the plentiful showers of the Holy Ghost that will
follow; and, according to this that the prophet promised, "the rain will be
given to your seed, wherever you shall sow in the land, and the bread of the
corn of the land shall be most plentiful and fat."(4)



CHAPTER XVII.



To whom the method of perfection should be laid open.



TAKE care too, when your riper age leads you to teach, lest you be led
astray by the love of vainglory, and teach at random to the most impure
persons these things which you have learnt not so much by reading as by the
effects of experience, and so incur what Solomon, that wisest of men,
denounced: "Attach not a wicked man to the pastures of the just, and be not
led astray by the fulness of the belly," for "delicacies are not good for a
fool, nor is there room for wisdom where sense is wanting: for folly is the
more led on, because a stubborn servant is not improved by words, for even
though he understands, he will not obey." And "Do not say anything in the ears
of an imprudent man, lest haply he mock at thy wise speeches."(5) And "give
not that which is holy to dogs, neither east ye your pearls before swine, lest
haply they trample them under foot and turn again and rend you."(6) It is
right then to hide the mysteries of spiritual meanings from men of this sort,
that you may effectually sing: "Thy words have I hid within my heart: that I
should not sin against Thee."(7) But you will perhaps say: And to whom are the
mysteries of Holy Scripture to be dispensed? Solomon, the wisest of men, shall
teach you: "Give, says he, strong drink to those who are in sorrow, and give
wine to drink, to those who are in pain, that they may forget their poverty,
and remember their pain no more,"(8) i.e., to those who in consequence of the
punishment of their past actions are oppressed with grief and sorrow, supply
richly the joys of spiritual knowledge like "wine that maketh glad the heart
of man,"(9) and restore them with the strong drink of the word of salvation,
lest haply they be plunged in continual sorrow and a despair that brings
death, and so those who are of this sort be "swallowed up in overmuch
sorrow."(10) But of those who remain in coldness and carelessness, and are
smitten by no sorrow of heart we read as follows: "For one who is kindly and
without sorrow, shall be in want."(11) With all possible care therefore avoid
being puffed up with the love of vainglory, and so failing to become a
partaker with him whom the prophet praises, "who hath not given his money upon
usury."(12) For every one who, from love of the praise of men dispenses the
words of God, of which it is said "the words of the Lord are pure words, as
silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth, refined seven times,"(13)
puts out his money upon usury, and will deserve for this not merely no reward,
but rather punishment. For this reason he chose to use up his Lord's money
that he might be the garner from a temporal profit, and not that the Lord, as
it is written, might "when He comes, receive His own with usury."(14)



445



CHAPTER XVIII.



Of the reasons for which spiritual learning is unfruitful.



BUT it is certain that for two reasons the teaching of spiritual things is
ineffectual. For either the teacher is commending what he has no experience
of, and is trying with empty-sounding words to instruct his hearer, or else
the hearer is a bad man and full of faults and cannot receive in his hard
heart the holy and saving doctrine of the spiritual man; and of these it is
said by the prophet: "For the cart of this people is blinded, and their

ears are dull of hearing and their eyes have they closed: lest at any time
they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart and be converted and I should heal them." (1)



CHAPTER XIX.



How often even those who are not worthy can receive the

grace of the saving word.



BUT sometimes in the lavish generosity of God in His Providence, "Who
willeth all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," (8) it
is granted that one who has not shown himself by an irreproachable life to be
worthy of the preaching of the gospel attains the grace of spiritual teaching
for the good of many. But by what means the gifts of healing are granted by
the Lord for the expulsion of devils it follows that we must in a similar
discussion explain, which as we are going to rise for supper we will keep for
the evening, because that is always more effectually grasped by the heart
which is taken in by degrees and without excessive bodily efforts.

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