Discourse 3: On Faith

Come again, O disciple, and hear the tremors of the roots of faith. Come, listen to the voice of your mother, which with her sweet utterances gives you life. Come, suck the living milk of teaching from the breast of the mother who bore you. Come, stand at the spring that waters the generations, for whoever does not drink from it, his thirst does not cease. Come, sit at the table that is full of the provision of life, for whoever does not eat from it, he has no life in his life. Come, incline your ear and hear. Come, open your eyes and see. The wonders that are in faith are revealed. Come, new eyes are opened for you. Come, hidden ears are set for you. For the hearing of hidden things, hidden ears are required for you. And for the vision of spiritual things, eyes of the spirit are needed for you. Come, see yourself as something that you are not, and be renewed before you are renewed. For a new creation is in you, O creator. And his assistance is in your work, faith. To a wondrous and heavenly transformation, faith has brought you, and it was with him when he established you. For in the beginning, when he was creating creatures and establishing works, wisdom was with him, as Solomon said: that the Lord by his wisdom laid the foundations of the earth, and established the heavens by his thought, and by his knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds restrained the waters. And again, wisdom said: when the heavens were established, I was with him, and when he made a circle upon the face of the deeps.

and when the clouds were shaken from above, and when the springs of the depths were shaken. For with God, in his first works, there was wisdom. But in this second creation, faith was with him, in this generative birth. Faith took a helper. Faith in everything accompanies God. And without her, new things day by day do not happen. For it was easy for him to create you from water and spirit without her. And until she is given, the child that from the beginning does not give birth to you, he was able to renew you, and to make you new from the old. And until faith takes from you a possibility, she does not change you nor renew you. Faith is required from the one who stands, and then he takes the mysteries from the water, for without faith, everything is insipid. Faith came, and the glorious mysteries were seen. The baptismal water is she, without faith. The life-giving mysteries of bread and wine are they, without faith. The old man, as he is, is seen, if there is no eye of faith that sees him. The mysteries, the glorious wonders of the spirit, are insipid, if there is no eye of faith that sees them. For the power of faith is not tasted by the sense of the word, but she herself and in herself is tasted. Faith is not completed by the hearing of knowledge, but from within is confirmed by the power of the self. For knowledge is the hearing of faith, which receives alone.

The work of faith is born from thoughts. For the spring that waters faith is a pure intellect and a simple thought that has nothing of this or that; for the thought of faith is single and has nothing that contends with its companion. Faith looks secretly and gazes and is revealed by the power that is hidden in the mysteries. For faith is interior to knowledge. For what knowledge does not see is shown to faith from within. Because knowledge was unable to accomplish the work of faith, knowledge went out and faith entered in its place. For knowledge is outside, toward works, and faith is inside, toward the work. Knowledge investigates the wisdom hidden in creation, and faith investigates the hidden things of the mysteries. Knowledge measures the power of roots and fruits and of the whole constitution given to the body. Faith, however, measures the power hidden in the life-giving mysteries, which are the constitution of the soul. For as long as knowledge is cut off, it remains within material bodies and is seen moving and shining in the world. Faith, however, does not tarry in this creation, nor can the power of works receive it to dwell in them. The sense of taste does not suffice to taste the power of faith, nor does speech suffice to speak its beauties and to delineate and depict its forms. For its power is not tasted by the voice, nor is it known by speech.

nor in the stirring of thoughts, which is directed toward the body. But within the holy of holies of the intellect, hidden and spiritual, there the mysteries of faith are revealed, and the hidden things are disclosed. For the stirring that is in a person, which is glorious above the whole person, is alone able to perceive faith. For the works of faith are seen outwardly, and its words are heard in the ears. But its power is tasted within the soul. For not even if you see the dead rising, or the blind being opened, or demons being expelled, have you then seen the power of faith? For where in the body that stands do you see the power of faith, since it also gives life to the dead from the dead? And where in the health of the bodily eyes have you tasted its power, since it also creates eyes for the spiritual blind? And where in the demons that are expelled do you see its authority, since it also drives out natural thoughts from the soul? For to outsiders, the power of faith is seen through external works. But the person himself tastes it through the power of the soul. For the intellect, faith gives its taste not through anything else. Rather, without the mediation of anything else, it encounters it and makes it taste its power. For within, toward the soul, it is not through signs that come from outside as mediators for the tastes of faith. But faith itself, its substance, begins in the soul and delights it, and enlightens and illuminates its thoughts.

it reveals the soul within the pure sanctuary, and the soul marvels at the new sanctuary that is spread over it. For as long as faith is obscured and darkened, the soul’s vision, from every side, does not show the beauty of its purity. Because the soul cannot even see itself when it divides its vision among other desires. For the natural vision of the soul is hindered when it is divided and looks outside itself. And it is not sufficient to be established in the clarity of the light of faith. For just as faith gives power to the soul, so that it becomes a pure dwelling-place, not where the desires are placed under them, but where it desires to see the mysteries. Behold, the full revelation of the mysteries is placed in your hands, that which in its purity is the hidden bread. And faith looks upon the body of the Only-begotten, not as the eye of the body looks, but as the eye of faith looks. Rather, faith compels the vision of the body, so that it sees what is not visible to it. For it sees the bread and wine and oil and water. But faith compels its vision, so that it sees spiritually what is not visible corporeally. This, then, is instead of bread: the body tastes; and instead of wine: the blood drinks; and instead of water: the baptism of the spirit is seen; and instead of oil: the power of Christ. For faith is the power of God the Father, and the will and authority of God are with it.

and from every place where it desires, it reveals the benefits. Faith brings near the bones of the saints, and instead of the dead, it sees life in them. And it speaks with them as with the living, and it persuades them concerning the face of their needs. For faith reveals the hidden things, that when it is necessary to take from Jacob the bundle of questions, and it persuades him that through your mediation I shall receive this gift, while it does not look upon that which is cut off from life, and is silent from speech, and has ceased from voice, and is null from movement, and the memory of all the motions of nature is lost. For it is not in the order of these that it seeks to have a mediator. For it knows that in its nature, not only in his death, but not even in his life does he suffice for this, that he might be a mediator between the Creator and his creatures. But in that which is above nature, and from the power of Christ it is mingled with the saints, and it is with them even when they are placed in tombs, in that faith looks. And it persuades the dead as if they were living, and it speaks with the silent as if with speakers. For the eye of faith strips away the sight of all visible things, and puts on the hidden vision of all spiritual things. And in everything that is within, apart from the body, it is moved. For the mind stands in one place and is revealed in another. It dwells in the lower world in the body, and abides in its faith in the upper world.

Faith hears about the resurrection of the dead, and about the renewal of corruptible bodies, and just as if they had already risen and been renewed, so it thinks. It has received promises concerning the world of the living, and concerning the kingdom of light, and concerning the regions of glory, and concerning spiritual delights, and concerning the tastes of blessings, and concerning the interpretation of mysteries, and concerning that which is in the likeness of angels, and all these things which it has heard, it considers to be true. For faith is a mediator, it seeks those things which have passed for those things which are future. For those things which were before, and those things which are future which will be after, all of them receive their instruction through faith. As it is said by Paul, that through faith it is understood that worlds were established by the word of God, and from those things which are not seen, those things which are seen come to be. For if faith did not stand by a person, he would be able to deny all those things which are described in the holy scriptures, and to say concerning all of them that they are hidden things, those which truly exist, that they do not even exist. And because they are not seen, he has no close acquaintance with argument. For faith does not even need testimony, that it might be confirmed by it in that which it hears. For demonstrations and testimonies are required for knowledge, and for one who wishes to see and touch and also to feel. For faith is not from wonders.

just as God has no need of powers and wonders to accept a promise concerning those things that are about to happen, because everything is revealed and clear to his knowledge from the beginning, so too faith has no need of wonders. For just as he has no need of that which he himself does, so indeed powers, signs, and wonders, and all things like them, come from faith. And just as it is not fitting that a demand be made for that which it itself does, so that its testimony might be confirmed by hidden things, for in the same way that God has no need of his own works, in that same way faith also has no need of the wonders that are wrought by it. For faith has need of nothing: not of sight, not of touch, not of signs and wonders, not of promises and testimonies, but only of the hearing of the word of God, and of knowing that it is God who speaks, and it accepts immediately and does not dispute. For there is no one who can please God apart from faith, as the teaching of Paul testifies, who began from Abel and came down through all of them, one after another, until the revelation of Christ, and showed that all of them pleased God through faith. And when he set a known limit for all the disciples, he said that without faith no one can please God. And again he said.

of faith they died, these ones, all of them, and they did not receive the crowns of their martyrdom, because God first looked upon the service of their faith, that it was not completed without them. For until the consummation of their service, according to the word of the Apostle, the entire time of their lives, faith was with them. And by it they performed mighty deeds, while they were within the world. And by it they hoped and expected that they would receive the crowns that are to come, and that they would obtain that which was promised to them, that which they went out after his word. For faith is the earth that receives the seed of the word of God. And just as the seed of the farmer is wasted along with his labors if he has no field, so too the word of God is wasted along with spiritual benefits if there is no earth of faith to receive it. And just as the eye is again for the sun, so too the sight of faith receives the spiritual light of the commandments of Christ. And just as the light of the sun, while it is that which reveals everything, is not seen in it except by the eye that receives it, so too the commandment of God, while it is that which accomplishes everything, is not established with us except through faith. For the sun is clear in its own nature, and the word of God is powerful in its own utterance. But just as the light of the sun’s nature is useless to blind eyes and reveals nothing, so too the commandment of God is considered weak within a soul in which there is no faith. For faith is the discerning eye.

who sees everything, and is revealed in it as it is. And because the visible things are small in their visibility, it leaves them and looks to those that are invisible, and to those that are above nature, and above the senses of the body, in which it is revealed and to which it is known. For by faith a name was also given to you, because it gave birth to you from error to the knowledge of God. And on this account, every person who approaches Christ and learns his gospel receives his name from faith and is called a believer. For because faith is the mother and genetrix, it is fitting that from her name those whom she bore are named. And this is the mystery, that to the extent that the greatness of faith reached, just as from the name of God and of his Christ they were named, so also from her. For from the name of God, they are called godly, and from the name of Christ, they are called Christians, and from the name of faith, they are called believers. For this is the name that distinguishes you from all other cults and separates you from all the teachings of error. For there is no person who is called a believer except only one who is born from true faith, and she is his mother and nurturer.

For all teaching is based on the hope of those things that are to come, and is distributed to the hidden things that are not seen, and not to those that are manifest and known to the bodily senses, to which it is taught. Therefore it is fitting that these are called believers. For it is by faith that the hope of all good things stands. And if faith is taken away from the midst, not one of those things that are believed in is believed. For behold, whether the mysteries of the faith, or the good things that are promised to us, it is faith that holds them and preserves them. For all the mysteries of the service of the Church, if without faith they are examined by the eyes of the body, they appear to be base and foolish. And those things of the world appear in their outwardness, which are more powerful and glorious than they. For behold, with us is poverty, and with the world is wealth. With us is foolishness, and with it is glory. With us is humility, and with it is pride. With us is baseness, and with it is magnificence. With us is contempt, and with it is honor. With us is hunger, and with it is satiety. With us are afflictions, and with it are comforts. With us are torments, and with it are pleasures. With us is servitude, and with it is authority. With us is a narrow way, and with it is a broad way. With us is one garment that is worn out by command, and with it are changing desires for garments.

Toward the word that stands still, also from the hope of the day, and toward it are placed the treasures that are hidden for generations and hours, toward that which is seen in all simplicity and tranquility, and toward it is the vision of majesty and honor. All these and those like them show the world that is glorious. And it surpasses in everything from these that are its own. If faith is taken, that which is the true wealth from the midst, as also our teacher Paul testifies concerning this in his word, that if in this life they hope in Christ, they have nothing from all the things of the world. And again in another place he says, that they are fools for Christ, and poor, and deficient, and contemptible. And that they have nothing. And when in this place where they dwell they have nothing, they hold everything in that which is their own, as also his word, that of the apostle, that when they have nothing, they hold everything. And as in the passages, one of these that are their own in this life is not seen, except through the eye of faith, that which alone sees them. For the true wealth is not seen, nor its authority, nor the distinct ranks of its servants, nor its honors and its comforts, nor its kingdom, nor the signs of its comforts, nor the hidden and sealed treasures that are stored up for it, nor the city of its heavenly dwelling, nor the thirst of the land of the living, that which is thirsty and eager to receive into its midst, nor the treasures of its treasuries.

nor the wealth of the heavenly treasuries, nor the freedom that is above all servitude, nor the fullness of all goods, which is destined to be received by the one who is worthy. For all these are hidden in these lives, and to the eyes of the bodily senses they are invisible. But the faithful, through faith alone, have perceived them, and they see everything that is invisible, and they hear voices that are inaudible to the ears of the body, and they touch what is intangible to the hand of the body, and they taste what cannot be tasted by the palate of the mouth. For within, beyond all bodily senses, is placed the sentience of the spiritual goods that are prepared for us. And if we do not have spiritual senses, that which belongs to them—namely, faith—makes us perceive them, as if they did not exist at all. But if you say, "Behold, the mysteries of your Lord are glorious," then see that without faith their glory is not seen. And everything that is taken from the world and is used by you in it, like the completion of the liturgy that is offered to you, if you look at it with the eye of the world, it is from the world. But if you look at it with faith, it is above the world. For the temples of your places of prayer are built from the world, because they are taken and composed from the world in their material. But spiritually they are above the world, for they are types of that Church which is written in the heavens among the firstborn, which is the free Jerusalem, the mother of all.

and all the altars together with the rest of the vessels of the service of the mysteries, and everything by which the mysteries were entrusted to you who perform the sin. As if from the world you have seen. Because of the greatness, however, of those by whom they are served, they exalt and elevate and consider you. As if above nature, because you have seen the likeness of the living powers and spiritual beings that are in heaven: by whom the service of the hidden mysteries of God is performed, and his wills are accomplished. And again also these holy mysteries which are fulfilled from you for the salvation of your life. Their first taking is from the world. For from it indeed are the bread and wine, which ascend upon the spiritual altar. But when the altar receives them, as a womb for the Word, it makes them to be above the world, the living body and blood of God, that which is above the world. Thus also the water with the oil, by which the mystery of baptism is fulfilled, are taken from here from the world. But when the time comes for them and from them the sons of grace are born, the font of water and oil becomes a womb and a power that gives birth to spiritual beings, so that like Christ from the tomb on the third day, life ascends from the font, the dead sinner who descended into it. And instead of the Lord being buried for three days, he is renewed in the three immersions of the three names.

And just as our Lord after his resurrection ascended from the bodily glory to the spiritual glory that was before his crucifixion, so also the human being who is renewed from baptism, as from a tomb, walks in new life according to the teaching of Paul. Sin, however, gives to the dead, as to the rest of the world, an external appearance of their covering and their burial, not distinguished from those of pagans and Jews. But sin, by the hope of faith and by the semblance of the life of the dead, gives to the dead life, not death. And from the side of their faith, they are sent to heaven from it, not to Sheol; but the erring, because the hope of faith is not found in them, are sent from their death to death and destruction. For the great and sublime mysteries of the faithful, if one approaches them with the thought of faith, are approached. For because the small eye of the body is for the sight of the mysteries, another eye of faith was given to you, which is sufficient to be opened in them and to see them as they are, and not as they appear. And as for those that are far from you and distant from you, examine them from near, and they will not be considered distant.

You have understood, O you who wish to be a disciple of Christ, that all his [works] are established through faith, and without faith neither his [works] nor his [words] are accomplished, nor are those [things] that are from him [realized], nor are those [things] that are promised and that have been given to you made visible, as if they did not exist. Therefore, at the beginning of your discipleship, take faith for yourself. And go out after God. For you do not even hear that you should keep his commandments, but first you believe in him. For faith, in your nature, is placed and set in you from the Creator, that you might believe through that faith which he placed in you. Do not, therefore, turn the power of faith and believe through it in those things that do not exist, and instead of those things that are true and enduring forever, believe in something that is neither true nor permanent. For all those things that here stand in a form are transitory and are dissolved, according to the teaching of Scripture. And all those things that are future and promised for the true ones are permanent forever, while they are neither transitory nor destructible. Do not believe, therefore, through that faith which is in you, in something that passes away, and consider it permanent. But rather, make use of that faith according to its order, and believe through it in spiritual things. For behold, even those who used to worship idols and considered stones and wood and all the creatures of nature to be gods, had faith in them.

but instead of its beautiful order, and instead of believing in God, they believed in idols made by hands. And they called them gods of error, though they do not exist. For faith, just as it establishes faith in those who are of our own kind, so if it believes in the opposite things and supposes about them something that does not exist, then it is no longer faith but error. For this reason God placed faith in your nature, that you might believe in him alone, and in the things that he wills you to believe, and not in anything else. For in that likeness which is placed in nature, the knowledge of God is naturally present. As the blessed Paul said, the knowledge of God is manifest in nature, for God revealed himself in nature. In that likeness, faith is also naturally fixed in the thoughts of all. But just as the knowledge of God was fixed in nature, yet they did not worship his nature nor honor his existence, but worshipped his name and honored it in all creatures, because of that nature. So also with faith placed in nature: it believes in everything that is necessary, and wherever the will desires, it directs faith and disturbs the natural movements that are in it, so that it may see. For if the will desires, it believes in God through faith; and if it desires, through faith it establishes idols and demons; and if it desires, it believes in the world of the living.

one who believes in that which endures forever, and to him he is attached and runs, and not one who believes in this world which is dissolved. He believes as in truth, and loves him and runs after him. For the will is the authority of faith, like the rest of all natural movements that are in the body. And it is the governor of everything, whether of external senses or of internal thoughts. For just as it is given to you, eyes to see the beauties of creatures, and ears to hear divine commandments, and hands to be extended for good deeds, and feet to run to the house of beneficial promises, so the will changes them to the contrary, and instead of the good deeds for which the members and senses were made, it serves evil and foul things through them. So also faith, which is placed in nature, by which one believes in God and adheres to his spiritual commandments, the authority of the will turns it, and instead of God, it believes in demons through it. And instead of spiritual things, it adheres to bodily things through it. And instead of those that are not seen, those that are seen, and instead of those that do not pass away, those that pass away and are dissolved. You, then, O disciple, be equipped with faith in its beautiful order, and do not turn it into error. And believe through it in God and in his commandments, and do not believe through it in the world and its affairs. For everything that is seen is temporal. And everything that is not seen is eternal. As also Paul taught.

He believes in God, and hopes that from him you will be given the eternal goods. And the beginning of your path shall be faith. For if you do not believe in those things that are not seen, you cannot abandon those that are seen. And if you do not believe that the promise of Christ is true, and the goods promised from him to all who follow his gospel, you will not abandon what you hold, and run after the blessings that were promised to you. But unless he denies his father and his mother and his brothers and his sisters, and the whole world, and even himself, he cannot become a disciple to me. Hear this voice, O disciple, and depart from the world. And this gospel of promised spiritual blessings, it alone will separate you from the honors and pursuits of the world. For having heard this voice, believe in it and be a disciple to it and to nothing else. For there shall be no other cause for your departure from the world. Otherwise your departure is not successful. For as the first cause is, so also are the rest that follow after it. For because many, for various causes, abandon the honor of the world and approach the discipleship of Christ, and not for that one true cause, for this reason their discipleship is not successful.

but they are like sick limbs in the strong body of the discipleship of Christ, and they are again joined to the healthy limbs by the surgery of the service of the Spirit and by the observance of all the commandments of our Lord. For they were loosening the remainder of the world, and not making the bond of slackness in the place of spiritual things. For the whole of the world’s pride is sick and unstable, but the body of the discipleship of Christ is strong and firm. And whoever cuts off the limbs of his standing from that sick body, and comes to be grafted into this living body, the love of pride alone brings him to the fellowship of the body. And there should be no other cause for his approach. As there are many who, either from compulsion, or from debt, or from the bond of parents, or from the marriage of a wife, along with the rest of the sick causes, from which many are pursued tightly, so that they might become disciples of Christ. And when they come, they come to him in outward form, and in truth to the world. Here, in falsehood alone for the sake of appearance, and there in deed and in thoughts. Here, on account of habit, and there on account of will; here, the completion of the bond leads them, and there, the separation of their freedom holds them. And as in the cases, here is their shadow, and within the world their body.

and they stand in the image and likeness of the Only-begotten, and they are perfected in the true Person, while the cause of stumbling has been made for their Person and also for their brothers. And they eat the bread of Christ with greed, and not with sorrow. And when they have grown weary with him, they labour with others, and they are not zealous. And when he calls them, they listen to others who are opposed to him. And when each one takes and brings to them as if it were his own, they consume his grace, and they scatter his commandments, and they make a stumbling-block in the place of petition, and a vision of lacks in the place of benefits, and a cause of offence within the place of truth. And likeness full of faults among the visions of the faithful. And those who are thus, it would have been better for them, according to the word of Christ, if they had not been born, or if they had been born, they had remained within the sickly place of the conduct of the world, that in which they were, and had not come that with them they might infect others with their sickness. And with that, they are dead to God, and the living members die with them. But you, O disciple of God, flee from such as these. And let faith alone be the cause of your departure from the world. For as you have laid the foundation, so shall the whole edifice of your works rise. For when your works have taken power from your first faith, that which brought you out of the world, all of them are fulfilled and adorned with health in that faith.

and they are established in rectitude, and they run toward the hidden eye of God, and they are fulfilled and perfected in the simplicity of faith. For as faith looks upward, the path of virtues runs eagerly, and the way of labors runs swiftly. For that eye of faith which from the beginning opened and saw from afar the mysteries of Christ, beware lest you obscure it with one of the passions that encounter you when you begin the path of your ascetic discipline, so that from negligence a stumbling block does not befall you and you fall in the way in which you walk. But just as those who begin on the pure path, in that same vision with which they begin, they walk until the end of the path, being careful not to turn their eyes aside in their ascetic discipline and to change the vision of their beginning, so also you, O disciple, who have begun to practice asceticism on the path of heaven, let that vision which from the beginning of your path be preserved with you until the end. For as the eye of your faith is clarified in future things, so the labors of your virtues cry out over you, and your soul is delighted in the afflictions of your beauties. And just as the foot is preserved from stumbling blocks, as the eye is opened to visions, so also is simplicity removed and distanced from the soul, as the vision of faith is strong and is clarified and looks toward heavenly things. For the soul that is separated from the companionship of faith, or that is asleep, is.

or it is dead. For what is it that drives all of its course toward faith? This very thing is dead. And what is it that is bound to the name of faith, and not at all times is its eye open to be examined in spiritual matters? This very thing is asleep, which is stamped in the hour of habit, and when it labors it does not perceive, and when it is justified it does not know, and when it runs it does not feel its own running. And just as one who is asleep does not perceive the things that happen around him, so also one who is bound to the sight of his faith does not perceive the goods that are wrought from it. But like a blind man who is led by another, so also he is led by the bond of custom, or by that which cannot change the forms of the labors that he holds. And he runs in the place where he is, not because it is not fitting for the disciple of Christ that from the canons of the sick the goods of his own should be established, lest when the canons are loosened, or when their limits are changed, his goods also be scattered and dispersed. For he who sets the foundation is not a human being. And because of this, it is not right that the canons of the sick should be held in the order of this foundation. But only by the will of the one who sets the foundation, Christ.

This, then, is the beginning of your departure from the world, or of your commencement in the discipline of the path of heaven: and by faith you have sent forth from yourself the sister of the error of thoughts, that which contends with the desires of the world, and wanders and gives an opinion about something that is not as it is. Beware, therefore, that your faith not be altered, while the word of Paul is ever being remembered, and by it your faith is nurtured and your thoughts are purified from the side of error, as he said: He who approaches God is obligated to believe that He is God. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. End of the Third Discourse on Faith.