De adoratione et cultu in spiritu et ueritate

Cyril Archbishop of Alexandria, On Worship in Spirit and Truth, and That the Law Is a Shadow and Type of the Christly and Evangelical Polity, to Palladius, by Question and Answer Protheoria Having chosen to compose an ethical guide for those who have chosen to live as excellently and as piously as possible, so that they might know well the path to proceed rightly and unerringly to any of the admired things, and be able to achieve the boasts of the Christly polity, I necessarily direct the discourse to the divinely inspired scripture, and, investigating the depths of the commandment through Moses, I have produced the entire body of the treatise in seventeen books. It would be characteristic of your excellent mind, most beloved brother, to preserve the harmonious order of the chapters and the distinct difference of the persons in the dialogue. For since it is necessary to speak precisely and to engage with very subtle thoughts, unfolding the shadow of the law and bringing to clearer knowledge the things spoken as in riddles, the form of the discourse has been composed as by question and answer, and it is relaxed.

The chapters of the treatise 1 On the human being’s deviation into baseness and captivity to sin, and together on the calling and return through repentance and the ascent to the better. 2 That it is impossible to escape death from sin and the greed of the devil, except through sanctification according to Christ. And that justification is not in the law, but in Christ. 3 Again, that it is impossible to escape death from sin and the greed of the devil, except through sanctification according to Christ. And that justification is not in the law, but in Christ. 4 That one who is called to justification by God and redeemed by him must follow him and renounce the softness that leads to baseness, and rather hasten to live lawfully and vigorously. 5 Again, on courage in Christ. 6 That we must cleave to God alone, who is according to nature, and love him with whole soul and heart. 7 On love for brothers.

8 Still concerning love for brothers and against the one who steals a calf or a sheep. 9 Concerning worship in spirit and truth and concerning the holy tabernacle, that it was a type of the church in Christ. 10 Concerning the things in the holy tabernacle. 11 Concerning priesthood, and that the priesthood according to the law was a type of the priesthood in Christ. 12 Concerning priesthood. 13 Still concerning priesthood. 14 That those who wish to attend churches must be clean and washed clean of the stain from sin, and thus present themselves to God. 15 That it is necessary to be clean and washed clean of sin to present oneself to God. And that purification for us is again in Christ. 16 That we must offer spiritual sacrifices and gifts to God. 17 Concerning holy feasts. First discourse Concerning the human being’s deviation into baseness and captivity to sin, and together concerning the calling and return through repentance and the ascent to the better. A. “Where then and whence?” To ask is, I think, superfluous. For you would say, I know well, having delayed nothing, as from home and as we ourselves.

B. True. A. And this tablet in your hands, what is it? B. A gospel book, a composition of Matthew and John. A. Do you think it needs to be conveyed somewhere and to whom? For you would not be practicing it abroad, O Palladius. Rather, the labors in this matter are sweet at home and in leisure. B. You speak well; I have come to meet with you and I bring the sacred tablet. For although I have labored exceedingly, I have nothing more to understand: what does our Lord Jesus Christ mean when he says in Matthew, "Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or one serif will pass away from the law, until everything is accomplished." And in the composition according to John, to the woman from Samaria: "Believe me, woman, that an hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, that salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now it is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such worshippers of him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

A. Then what seems to you steep in these matters? And what is deep and hard to reach? Tell me, since I ask. B. For a sacred word commands us to depart from the more ancient customs and to cease from the righteousness of the law. For Paul said to those who aim for this even after faith: "You have been abolished from Christ, who are justified in the law, you have fallen from grace. For we by spirit from faith await hope of righteousness." And again, although showing us the brilliant and great boasts of the polity according to the law in itself, he says: "What were gains to me, these I have considered loss because of Christ." Indeed, I consider everything to be loss because of the surpassing knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, for whom I have lost everything and consider it rubbish, so that I might gain Christ and be found in him, having not my own righteousness from the law, but the righteousness from God through faith in Christ. And he clearly affirmed that the ancient commandment is not blameless. He says that this one has been usefully brought in for us instead of that one, through Christ and the new one, that is, the evangelical. And he writes thus: "For there is an abrogation of a preceding commandment because of its weakness and uselessness. For the law perfected nothing, but it is an introduction of a better hope, through which we approach God." And again: "For if that first one were blameless, there would be no place sought for a second." For blaming them, he says:

Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will complete a new covenant upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide by my covenant and I neglected them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after these days, says the Lord, giving my laws into their understanding, and I will inscribe them upon their heart. And he especially understands and interprets the name of newness; for in saying "new," he says, he has made the first old; for that which is growing old and aging is near to disappearance. If, then, the law has perfected nothing, but there has been an abrogation of the ancient commandment and an introduction of a second which brings us closer to God, what then does the Savior mean when he says: I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it? And that it is fitting for us to worship God and Father in spirit and truth? For this, I think, indicates that we must cease from customs and worship according to the law.

A. You are going out into a broad sea of questions. For what mind would be sufficient to gaze brightly upon such subtle speculations, so as to show us the new scripture as a sister and neighbor, as it were, to the things long ago divinely spoken through the all-wise Moses, and going through the same matters, and the life in Christ not greatly separated from the legal polity, if the things ordained for the ancients are led to spiritual contemplation? For the law is a type and a shadow and a formation of piety, still in travail, as it were, and having the beauty of truth hidden within itself. Or will you not say that this is how it is, as I have stated? B. Certainly. But what would be the clarification of these things? Or what is the manner of living evangelically, while still seeming to be attached to the ancient commandment and thinking to fulfill the things through Moses? A. The account is not simple, as one might suppose; but virtue is, I think, a thing of many branches and many forms, and the boasts of the life in Christ are embellished for us through very extensive beneficence.

And indeed the divine David, in the forty-fourth psalm, presents to Christ a pure virgin, the Church, in the rank of a queen, and places upon her a golden and richly embroidered robe, speaking thus: "The queen stood at your right hand, clothed in a gold-interwoven garment and embroidered." The gold-interwoven signifies, I think, honor and splendor, while the embroidered well indicates the manifold nature of virtue. For the Church is exceedingly splendid in these things, having a spiritual adornment not seen by the eyes of the flesh, but revealing to the inner mind and heart the hidden Jew, understood in secret, through very many beautifications, displaying him as well-born and exceptional in a refined manner. For as the blessed Paul writes: "For the Jew in the open is not the Jew, nor is the circumcision in the flesh the circumcision, but the hidden Jew and the circumcision of the heart in spirit, not in letter, whose praise comes not from men but from God.

B. Tell me, then: since circumcision in spirit has been introduced, and the sacrifices according to the law have been overturned, and the Jewish way of life has no place among us, does it not seem somehow plausible to say that Christ did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it? Or, if this is not the case, would it not, I think, also prevent us from honoring the king of all, God, with sacrifices of oxen and frankincense, and from offering him turtledoves and pigeons, and from hastening to fulfill any other practice that was customary among the ancients? A. Indeed, my friend, you stray far from what is fitting. For you think that the law has been overturned, as though it had no benefit and its entire indication of anything necessary was utterly useless, and not rather that it has been transformed into a demonstration of truth, even though the blessed Paul writes: "Do we then abolish the law through faith? By no means. But we establish the law. For the law educates and leads well to the mystery concerning Christ." And we say that what was once decreed through Moses for the ancients are the elements of the beginning of the divine oracles. If we were to reject the teacher, who will still convey us to the mystery of Christ? And if we were to refuse to learn the elements of the beginning of the divine oracles, how then or from where would we arrive at the end? For is not Christ, according to the Scriptures, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets?

B. Yes. A. For it is written thus: the fulfillment of the law and the prophets would be, I think, in him, with everyone seeing and every prophetic and legal ordinance turned toward him. Therefore he also said, beseeching the disobedience of the Jews: Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? So if one were to say that he came not to destroy the law at all, but rather to complete it, do not suppose that he intended to effect a complete overturning of what was once ordained, but rather a kind of reshaping and, so to speak, a recasting of what was in types toward the truth. B. You have spoken correctly. A. And indeed something of this sort needed to happen through Christ. Those who practice the art of painting on panels and in drawings do not immediately, when beginning to paint, apply to the paintings a form that is flawless and completely finished; but first, with a single and less beautiful color, they sketch well and, as it were, faintly prefigure the types of whatever they might choose, and then, applying to the sketches the color that is fitting and most suitable for each, they transform the types into a form that is clear and incomparably better than what was at the beginning. Or is it not so?

B. I say so too. A. Those who practice the art of bronze-working, if they wish to fashion a statue, first bring the form into shape in wax, which is without strength, then they melt it with fire and pour on the bronze, and thus bring the work of art to its well-formed beauty and perfection. When the multiplicity of colors is applied to the shadows, and indeed when the bronze melts the wax, it might seem that the first and initial forms are rejected and overturned. But the matter is not so in reality. For the bronze-worker and the painter would say, speaking truly: "We have not destroyed the shadows, we have not sent the types into complete uselessness, but we have rather fulfilled them. For what was seen still in shadows and types, more obscure and less beautiful, has advanced to something better and more manifest." B. You speak well. A. And if one should truly choose to examine the sacred and God-inspired Scripture, he will certainly know that what I say is true. For Moses placed a veil over his own face because the sons of Israel were unable to gaze upon his face due to the glory of his face, as it is written.

B. And what does this signify? A. For the minds of the Jews, being still rather thick, the external aspects of the law were somehow bearable—I mean again those that are only in the letter—but the things hidden within, and, so to speak, the true face of the meanings, were utterly unbearable and unapproachable. Therefore the divine Paul also writes to us: for until the present day the same veil remains over the reading of the Old Testament, not being lifted, because it is abolished in Christ. But even until today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their heart. But let the affairs of the Jews stand here. We, however, all of us, he says, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed from glory to glory into the same image, as by the Lord’s Spirit; and the Lord is the Spirit. For just as those who look into a mirror would behold an image and a type of the true, and not the true itself anywhere there, in the same way, I think, those who desire to see the beauty of the polity in Christ, using the law as a mirror, would achieve what they desire in the best possible way. For by reshaping the same image of things into truth, they will know clearly what is most pleasing and acceptable to God.

B. Then what could be the reason that the new and evangelical oracle was not given to the ancients from the beginning, but rather types and shadows were legislated? A. The precise nature of the economy and how these things stand according to the truer account must be piously referred to the all-knowing God. But reasonings that do not know how to lack good thoughts somehow carry us away, at least to a moderate understanding, or perhaps even to the appearance of knowing the reason for the economy. We say, therefore, that much pedagogy and a kind of infantile nurture was needed for those who had been liberated from Egypt. For they were still thick and exceedingly prone to the most discordant things. And since they were afflicted with a completely ineradicable love of the flesh and were caught in passions hard to escape, it was somehow impossible and not yet ready for them to grasp the ability to leap directly to what is exceedingly noble, so as to take up a way of life that is so splendid and extraordinary, as to walk on the earth but have their citizenship in the heavens, according to what is written. For is not solid food for the perfect, while milk is more suitable for infants?

B. Quite so. A. Therefore, those who were still children required a form of education through types and, so to speak, a more tender upbringing, not the word that darts straight toward perfection and is able to convey them to a mature state. The Israelites were so light-minded and ignorant and prone to any passion whatsoever that, if there had been among them any precise test of character and conduct, I think they would not have been deemed worthy even of a shadow. And Moses demonstrated this. For when God commanded, he himself went up the mountain to receive the law. But they immediately slipped into rebellion. For the wretches dared to say, "These are your gods, O Israel, who led you up from the land of Egypt." So, at such terrible frivolities, Moses was distressed and shattered the tablets on which the law was written, judging them unworthy even of a shadow or types or any education from above, since their mind was so stupefied that they forgot the wondrous things that had been accomplished for them by divine power, and instead again assigned reverence to a calf and recalled the worship of Egypt.

But then the law was sketched for the ancients on stone tablets by the finger of God, as it is written. Those things were a type of what we believe have come to pass in Christ. For the Lord God of all inscribes the knowledge of his own will in us, as it were, using the Son as a reed in spirit. For he called him thus through David, saying, "My tongue is the reed of a swift-writing scribe." For the reed of the Father, that is, the Son, engraved in the hearts of all the knowledge of every good thing, using as it were a finger of God, namely the Spirit of the Father and his own. For he called the Spirit of God a finger, saying at one time, "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God," and at another, "If I cast out demons by the finger of God." And Paul also called us a spiritual epistle, saying, "You are our epistle, inscribed in our hearts, known and read by all men, manifesting that you are an epistle of God ministered by us, inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on the fleshly tablets of the heart.

B. But that the things according to the law were types and shadows, I myself would say, as you well know. Come then, let us apply a subtle and precise mind to the things delivered in type, and let us closely examine the beauty of the truth. For in this way the mystery of worship in spirit would be manifest to none of the things that exist. A. Indeed, my good friend, I shudder and am quite naturally very reluctant to do this. For I think that the things which have received such a lofty and elevated theory are perhaps not attainable by men like us. But I think it is necessary, when examining the depth of the teachings in the law, to say: Who is wise and will understand these things? And who is intelligent and will recognize them? B. The matter is not without difficulty, my friend. But nevertheless, as Christ says, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. A. Let us then proceed to eagerly pursue what leads to benefit. And let us first offer a prayer, saying: Open my eyes, and I will contemplate your wonders from your law. And it seems we must, before all else, speak of the turning of man to baseness, and concerning slavery and captivity under the enemy of all, and how and in what manner these things are exacted from us and in us. And then we must also say in what way one must turn away from evil and shake off the yoke of slavery under him, and leap up again to God who preserves and defends from the beginning. For by this path, as the argument proceeds, I think the rest would also proceed in a fitting manner.

B. You think most correctly. A. For the ability to bear fruit for God and to offer spiritual sacrifices—that is, to show manliness and to be in good repute, while wishing to achieve virtue—would surely not be fitting for those who are not yet freed from the necessity of servitude and passions, but for those whose mind is already somehow awakening to freedom and who are not unpracticed in shaking off the yoke of the devil’s greed. B. I agree, for you think rightly. A. And so let us also say that man was made in the beginning, having his mind still somehow above sin and passions, yet not entirely incapable of the deviation toward whatever he might choose. For it seemed right to the all-excellent craftsman God to attach to him the reins of his own will and to entrust him to act as he pleased by self-determined impulses. For virtue had to be seen as a matter of choice and not as if from necessity, nor as resting unerringly on the laws of nature; for that would be proper to the highest of all substance and preeminence. But since the living being was completed according to the principles of its own nature by the working God, it immediately possessed the likeness to him. For the image of the divine nature was imprinted on it by the inbreathing of the Holy Spirit. For this is the breath of life, since God is life by nature.

B. So then, did the divine Spirit become the soul for man? A. And how is that not utterly absurd to think? For then the soul would be immutable and would have remained entirely unchanged; but as it is, the soul is mutable, and the Spirit is in no way mutable. Or if it suffers change, the reproach would immediately recoil upon the divine nature itself, if the Spirit is that which flows forth from both Father and Son—that is, from the Father through the Son—not silently. It is therefore ignorant to suppose that the Spirit has been transformed into a soul and has passed into human nature. Rather, the thing fashioned was ensouled by an ineffable power, and was immediately adorned with the gift of the Spirit. For it was not otherwise possible for us to possess the divine image. B. You speak well. A. So then, having adorned his handiwork, God granted it a dwelling in paradise. But since it was necessary not to allow one so glorified and crowned with an abundance of goods from above to be easily carried away into arrogance, ignorant of his servitude and of what the measure of servitude is (for excessive breadth toward glory and immoderate freedom lead to the haughty and accursed passion), a law of self-control was given to him as a means of not being ignorant of his master, so that through it he might always be called to remembrance of the one who commanded with authority, and might clearly know that he was yoked to the ordinances of the ruler. But that unholy and god-hated beast would not keep quiet.

B. You would, I think, be speaking of Satan, who was cast down from the heavenly vaults like a bolt of lightning; for he seemed to be sick in such a puerile way, desiring to be God and, raving about things beyond his own nature, he was deluded. A. You judge rightly. For, being the inventor and father of envy and sin, he was unwilling to be inactive concerning the creature on earth, that is, man. Then, having crept in by deceit and trickery, he brought about disobedience, using the woman as an instrument of his villainy. For the pleasures that are with us and in us always incline us toward the ugly, that is, toward sin; and the woman is a type of pleasure, and the mind is often brought down by the blandishments of pleasures to what is undesirable. What therefore is seen to have happened in Adam as in a thicket of events and perceptibly, this one might also see fulfilled in each of us intellectually and hiddenly. For pleasure, arising beforehand, bewitches the mind and gradually brings it down to the point of thinking that the transgression of the divine law is nothing at all. And the disciple of Christ will affirm, saying: Let no one who is tempted say that he is tempted by God. For God is without experience of evils; and he himself tempts no one. But each is tempted by his own desire, being drawn out and enticed. Then desire, having conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when accomplished, produces death.

B. Your account is true. A. Having thus sold off the grace from God and been stripped, as it were, of the goods of the beginning, he was cast out of the paradise of delight, and human nature was immediately reshaped into ugliness, and, having fallen into corruption, was from then on displayed as such. B. Necessarily. For a lack of the gifts from God is, I think, nothing other than a despair of every good. Human nature would fall ill and very easily into a derangement toward any outlandish thing whatsoever, unless the grace of the one who preserves it, enriching it from above with goods from itself, should sustain it toward virtue. A. How well you speak. For I would agree, and very reasonably: the living bread, that is, the Word of God, nourishes toward spiritual strength. For it is written that bread also strengthens a man’s heart. And it frees from slavery and passions and gilds well with the boasts of freedom. But when God has, as it were, drawn back his hand and does not distribute to us the provision in these things, then by some necessity we fall even into unwilling evils and slip away from all virtue, and, as it were, come under another’s yoke, and arrive at such a state of evils and excess that we are near to losing even the understanding that serves us and is co-dwelling with us for any good whatsoever, and to be shown utterly bereft of wisdom according to God, the heart of the sufferer being, as it were, prostituted to Satan and easily brought under his insults and debaucheries.

B. How would you demonstrate this, or will you leave it to float on mere reasonings? A. Not at all. For I would demonstrate, as well as possible, how the events that befell the ancients are skillfully shaped into a type of the intelligible realities. For they would become for us clear and most evident images of things in subtle contemplation, as if in sense-perception and as if in bodily sight. For it is written concerning the forefather Abraham: "And there was a famine on the land, and Abraham went down into Egypt to sojourn there, because the famine prevailed on the land." For he left the land that was dear to him and that had sustained him, and moved to another, which God pointed out. For it says, "Go out from your land and from your kindred, and come to the land that I will show you." Since the famine was pressing and brought a loss that was exceedingly hard to escape, he was compelled to see the land of the Egyptians, and not willingly, and he was forced not to dwell there but rather to sojourn in it. B. What then is this? A. It shapes for us an excellent contemplation of the more obscure things. B. In what way?

A. Rebuking the disobedience of the Jews, God said somewhere: Behold, I bring a famine upon the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. And from east to west they will run about seeking the word of the Lord, and they will not find it. Therefore, my friend, those who happen to be oppressed by such a famine and have fallen away from the supply that sustains virtue and have no nourishment from heaven and from above, is it not absolutely necessary that they somehow make their mind a kind of emigrant and fugitive, pursuing thereafter baser things, and, as if thrust out from their own land of strength in virtue, descend into another condition and will, no longer subject to God, but rather to diabolical scepters? For the father and king of sin, I think, is the one who first brought it into the world, and one might, I think, and very reasonably, accept as his image and type Pharaoh, the ruler of the Egyptians. Among them the darkness of error was very deep, and no mode of vice was entirely uncontrived.

B. And what was it that distressed the blessed Abraham from having come, as it happened, into the land of the Egyptians? A. A very great deal indeed; for he was brought to the brink of every evil. You would readily learn this too from the utterance of the sacred text: It happened when Abraham entered Egypt, that the Egyptians saw his wife, that she was exceedingly beautiful, and the princes of Pharaoh saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and brought her into the house of Pharaoh. Observe, then, that his wife was nearly lost to him, my friend. B. How sharp a matter, and sufficient to cause distress. A. And indeed this very thing will happen to us in a spiritual sense. For those who have slipped away from their own fatherland, so to speak, from their customary and most beloved good order and virtue, and have come to worse things and come under diabolical dominion, the evil and hostile powers in every way and utterly attach themselves and plot terribly; and if they should see someone among those who have come under them as being capable of having a not uncomely understanding, they are eager to attach him to their own master and subject him to his seed-sowings, so that he no longer bears fruit for God, but rather for Satan. For his choice morsels, according to the scripture, are choice.

They bewitch, as it were, the mind that has been caught and has slipped, so that, by not looking much at the freedom from servitude under them, it might not depart; and they sometimes provide pleasures in earthly things and, so to speak, enrich with delights that are nothing, just as, of course, the rulers of the Egyptians, when they were destroying the blessed Abraham through his cohabitant, wished to remove his great distress by, as it were, fawning upon him with honors and offerings of gifts. For it is written that they treated Abraham well because of her—clearly, Sarah—and there came to be for him sheep and calves and donkeys and male and female servants and mules and camels. For, taking advantage of us in the most vital matters and, as it were, depriving us of free offspring and good fruit, Satan, by bringing the noble mind down to his own insults and debaucheries, binds it through greed to the delight in earthly things. And he once carried his madness so far as to make an attempt even on Christ himself. For, having led him up, it says, he showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in an instant of time, and the devil said to him: "I will give you this entire authority and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. So you, if you worship before me, all this will be yours.

B. That is correct. But tell me, if you will, what benefit or relief could come to those who suffer? A. God, my good man, and his grace, which does not allow the weakened mind to remain forever under the devil's feet, but shields and rescues the one who can offer no defense to himself. You may see this, if you wish, also in the case of the forefather Abraham. For when the righteous man had despaired and could do absolutely nothing, God intervened in the middle and freed the woman from the licentiousness of the Egyptians. For the Lord afflicted Pharaoh with great and terrible afflictions, and his household, concerning Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and thus only with difficulty released the woman married to the righteous man from outrage. Therefore God alone could easily rescue the mind that has fallen into the devil's hand and restore it to the order it had in the beginning. B. So then, for lack of higher goods, we are sometimes thrust down and descend to more shameful and abominable things. A. That is what I say.

B. But surely it is entirely fitting for the good-loving God to allow none of us to fall into such things. A. This is indeed most fitting for God and also his will, my good man; for he would be least of all good, and not at all virtue-loving, if he did not have this purpose concerning us. But we ourselves are responsible for suffering, by provoking the master of all to anger; for thus he sends [this] against a weak and cowardly mind. Or do you not hear him crying out through one of the holy prophets: "Behold, I give this people weakness, and fathers and sons will be weak in it; together, neighbor and his neighbor will perish"? And the most wise Paul writes about some: "And just as they did not deem fit to have God in recognition, God delivered them over to a reprobate mind to do what is not proper." And the divine Isaiah makes this clearer, saying as from the person of the sons of Israel, that is, those who have slipped into sins: "Behold, you were angry, and we sinned." B. So then, tell me, if we are negligent of what is proper and are caught in sins, shall we throw the blame onto God and accuse his anger, as if we sinned because of this?

A. We will not blame you, for that would be madness; but in saying that you were angry and we sinned, we mean something like this: if we did not have your goodwill, master, there would be nothing to prevent us from being tyrannized by sin due to the weakness of our nature, and from being entangled in every evil. B. I understand what you say. A. Therefore, stripped of care and indeed of mercy from above, and paying the penalty for excessive weakness and for unbridled inclinations toward baseness, are we not shown to be weak, easily captured, and afflicted with every such thing? Now it is possible for you to see this clearly when you encounter the words of Jeremiah. For the wild multitude of the Jews, although they were very richly indulging and expanding in the benefactions from God, and having overcome all their enemies and advanced perhaps to the very pinnacle of human glory, practiced a harsh and unbroken disobedience. They almost said "be strong" to the commandments through Moses, and deeming the divinely spoken words of little account, they were carried with unhindered momentum toward ruin and destruction. For under an oak and a poplar and a shady tree, according to the prophet's voice, they built altars, and in the most wooded groves they set up precincts for demons, and they deemed it right to honor them with sacrifices of oxen, incense, and all other things as gods and saviors, and what such things did they not blush to say were crafted by them?

They once reached such a pitch of madness that they began to count abominable child-sacrifices among their boasts, and thought that in this way they were kindling the most copious sacrifice for them. And the deeds of impiety among the Israelites did not stop at these; but as if always adding some further increment to their audacities, they let their unbridled departure into every conceivable enormity run riot, and they provoked the lawgiver, though he was gentle, to no moderate anger against themselves. But since they were violently shaking off their servitude to him, he then allowed them to be taken advantage of even by enemies and to be carried off into a necessary bondage, I mean that under the Chaldeans and Babylonians. For the latter came, having abandoned their own homes, to enslave them and to burn the holy and renowned city, and those under siege scarcely thought to ask the prophet Jeremiah where the evil would end for them. And Jeremiah said, it is written, "Thus you shall say to Zedekiah: Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I am turning back the weapons of war, with which you fight against the Chaldeans who have shut you in from outside the wall into the midst of this city. And I will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, with great fury and anger. And I will strike all who dwell in this city, both men and beasts, with a great death, and they shall die.'" Then after other things: "And to this people," it says, "you shall say: Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I have set before your face the way of life and the way of death.'

He who sits in this city will die by the sword and by famine, and he who goes out to join the Chaldeans who have shut you in will live. And his soul will be for plunder, and he will live. Because I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good, it will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. You understand, therefore, that by abandoning God through excessive outrages, we will be, wretches that we are, unable to oppose the strength of our enemies, and with divine wrath pressing upon us and leaping upon us, as it were, we will be slaves instead of free men, and we will live an inglorious and pitiable life. B. You speak well. A. For the law of God leads the delicate and docile person to a blameless way of life, and it becomes like a lamp to each for the demonstration of what is useful and necessary. And overcome by reverence for it, one would live, I think, not without admiration, and would dwell, as it were, in a holy city, established in virtue and fixed in piety. But if someone should choose, as if entering a thicket and a wood, luxuriant and well-wooded, to rush readily into worldly pleasures, to linger in the delights of life, and, as it were, to admit into mind and heart a swarm of idols—that is, pleasure in its many forms—and to offer to demons the fruits of his own eagerness, then indeed, and very reasonably, he would slip away from mercy from above and lie as very ready prey for those who wish to take him.

Of the city, as if it were a holy one, being thrust out from its original good order, he will henceforth dwell, as if under a compulsory yoke, according to what seems good to those in power, and will be far from God, at least in terms of disposition, undergoing a relocation to Babylon, that is, beyond the boundaries of the holy land, where God is known and his name is great. Therefore, those enduring such a harsh toil and falling into the hands of enemies, and not bearing the servile and slavish way of life among them, have cried out: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion." For the human mind, I think, suffers something of this sort. B. What do you mean? A. For it is always somehow indolent and prostrate in its desire for the goods at hand, and it does not greatly yearn for those over which it would have authority. But if a change to the other side should occur, and it should be deprived of the splendid things it had, then only with difficulty does it perceive what it has suffered, which it ought to have warded off with all its might and not allowed to come to experience, forestalling the onset.

B. True. A. It is necessary, then, and wise, and among the most beneficial things, to remove thoroughly beforehand the base elements and the onset of unwilling servitude, and to try to turn away swiftly toward those things which, if we should come to experience them, we would lie in every evil. B. So it is. A. And if the yoke of necessary slavery should be brought upon us by divine wrath, and also the necessity of falling into a reprobate mind, it is not easy to resist. But I would say it is useful at least to remember from what to what we have been turned, and to lament bitterly the neglect and the scarcity of help from above; for grief according to God produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret. But if divine wrath is not hanging over us, and it is within our power to choose and do what seems good, and the inclination both ways—toward the base, I mean, and toward the good—is still somehow free and entirely unconstrained, then we must nobly renounce the weakness that lies in baseness. I think it necessary to reject the love of pleasures that come from enemies and the doing of what is under the hand of enemies, who are said to rule this age, even if the matter should perhaps not lack a certain prosperity—prosperity, I mean, that is honored in the world; for it ends in a shameful and ugly conclusion.

B. How do you mean? A. Shall we speak, taking examples from ancient times? B. By all means. A. When famine was wasting away people throughout virtually the whole earth, it seemed good to the descendants of Jacob to go to the Egyptians; they were young men, about ten in number, and the purpose of the journey was to buy food, and nothing else. But when they arrived at this point and were finally being recognized as brothers by Joseph, who was then distributing grain and ruling over the Egyptians, Pharaoh received word of what had happened. And Pharaoh said, it says, to Joseph: Tell your brothers: do this—fill your vessels and go to the land of Canaan, and taking your father and your possessions, come to me, and I will give you all the good things of Egypt, and you shall eat the marrow of the land. And you, give orders that they take wagons from the land of Egypt for your children and your wives, and taking your father, come, and do not spare your eyes for your belongings; for all the good things of Egypt will be yours. So the ruler of the Egyptians promised them rest and luxury, to fatten them well, and even granted them wagons, smoothing the way, I think, for those hesitating to come down. But they came down with their whole households immediately, having preferred the temporary enjoyment of food, I know not how, over the land and territory given by God; for it was surely far better and more excellent to inhabit that land, even if the matter was not accomplished without slight toil.

When they arrived in Egypt, they perhaps thought they would henceforth escape the hardships at home, and the perception of immediate pleasures was somehow sweet to them. But as time crept on, the noble and free multitude, well-born from above and from their fathers, underwent the inglorious yoke of slavery. Therefore, if approaching disgraceful things with worldly prosperity is to be rejected, my friend, if we have any regard for freedom, while the slavish thing and mindset is abhorrent and detestable. B. You have spoken excellently. A. What then? Do we not also say that there is a benefit, not moderate as it seems to me, in harmony with what we have just said? B. What do you mean? A. Rabshakeh the Babylonian, the general of the Assyrians, once dragged along a multitude of spearmen beyond number and came to besiege, or rather, supposing he would easily and without effort utterly destroy the holy city from its foundations. Then he began to brandish his not unpracticed weapon, his very accustomed blasphemy against God. Saying countless reviling things, he finally addressed those dwelling in the holy city: "Thus says the king of the Assyrians: If you wish to be blessed, come out to me and each of you shall eat his own vine and his own fig trees and drink water from your own cistern, until I come and take you into a land like your land, a land of grain and wine and bread and vineyards." Observe then, that he too promises luxury and delight under vine and fig tree; and he added that you will drink water from your own cistern.

B. But what would these things signify, if one were to be led to spiritual contemplation? A. In a twofold manner, I think, the power of baseness in us is brought to an end. For either by external pleasures or by those innate and within us, being persuaded to revel in them both by themselves and also by others, those who are prone to sin would be caught, having slipped into anything whatsoever of the most discordant things. And this too would demonstrate to us, as is true, the disciple of the Saviour saying somewhere thus, that everything in the world is the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the boastfulness of life. For the desire of the flesh is innate and rooted in us and abiding, and divine Paul also called it the law of sin, dwelling in the members of the flesh. But delights and pleasures are from without and adventitious, those through the eyes. For things from wealth are admired through the eyes, and also good fortunes and those things to which some might cling, as having the sweetest enjoyment, bestowing upon themselves no ignoble judgment. Therefore, vine and fig tree would be, as a type, of external and adventitious delight and luxury, together showing the transient and quickly-fading nature of worldly things, and along with this, the sweet that is accustomed to darken. For every worldly luxury has a sweet immediate participation, but it darkens exceedingly and terribly intoxicates the one who receives it.

The pit is an image of the innate and internal movements within us. For these are not adventitious like those, but spring up within us as if welling up from the flesh itself. The evil powers say that we will have free and ample participation in and broad enjoyment of all these things, both natural and adventitious, if, leaving behind self-control as if it were a holy and unshakable city, we go over to the king of Babylon, who was a type of Satan. But Rhapsakes promised to release and grant them immediate pleasure if they went over to the Babylonians, yet they were not persuaded, thinking rightly. For it necessarily follows that if one chooses worldly things, one must fall into unwilling slavery and be placed in the order of those taken by the spear. B. The argument is true. What would be the resolution of these matters, as you would most gladly explain to one who asks? A. What other resolution could there be than the one opposite to the first and to the beginnings? For by inclining with the inclinations of our own wills toward living basely and thrusting aside the refinement of a blameless life, we have fallen into a base and slavish mind, thinking only of earthly things and wholly devoted to the pleasures of the flesh. By this, then, God allowed us to slip into a reprobate mind.

B. Is it necessary, then, to turn back to virtue? A. Without hesitation, my friend, since we no longer desire life in the world, according to that which is rightly spoken somewhere through the voice of Paul: "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God," but rather thirsting for enrollment in the heavens and having made the upper region, as it were, our fatherland and city, and crying out earnestly to God: "Release me, for I am a sojourner on the earth and a stranger, as all my fathers were." For he who walks on earth and has a brilliant citizenship in the heavens would reasonably appear, from the facts themselves, to be truly a sojourner and a stranger. And indeed, the disciple of the Savior commands us to make this a conspicuous and splendid boast, saying somewhere thus: "Brothers, I exhort you as sojourners and strangers to abstain from fleshly desires, which wage war against the soul." B. Will such a disposition, then—I mean ceasing from fleshly desires—suffice for the attainment of virtue?

A. If these things were added wisely from the other kind of gentleness, clearly the spiritual one. For it is written: "Your commandment is exceedingly broad." Or is there not a twofold pollution in us, of soul and of body? And I would think it is necessary, and quite reasonably, to follow with things equal in power and effect to those accustomed to defile, things that know how to cleanse. B. You have spoken correctly. A. Just as, of course, there is a twofold filth, psychic and bodily, so too a cleansing, psychic and bodily, would reasonably occur. However, that it is not unprofitable for those disposed in this way to consider life in the world as a sojourn, if one should choose to make Abraham an image of the matter, to whom it was said by God: "Depart from your land and from your kindred and from your father's house, and come to the land which I will show you, and I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you and magnify your name, and you will be blessed, and I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you, and all the tribes of the earth will be blessed in you." Do you understand how he commanded him to depart not only from land and house, but also from kindred and indeed from his father's house, and to come to the land which the one calling would himself point out?

B. But what then is this? A. Is it not somehow evident that when God calls to discipleship—clearly the spiritual one—and when the life in the world—I mean again the life in pleasures and fleshly indulgences—wishes to slip away from those whom it would choose to honor, it is utterly senseless to consider anything better than such a thing? For let fatherland and family and the house of one’s father and the possession of earthly goods be counted as nothing. Therefore the Saviour himself also called us to equal courage, saying: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” And he added: “And everyone who has left brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields or houses for the sake of my name will receive manifold and will inherit eternal life.” Or do you not say that such splendid and conspicuous courage, which holds these things as nothing and makes following Christ a matter of great importance, is the work of the extreme strength understood in Christ?

B. Absolutely, since those who were invited to the wedding but refused to come have slipped away from the best hope and the joy in Christ. One of them said, "I have married a wife and cannot come." Another, claiming to have bought a field, preferred the temporary things over the call. A. Well said, Palladius, for you delight us by speaking appropriately and, with great readiness, rising well to grasp the conclusion of the argument warmly. Observe then that those who follow God wholly and in every way, and who have made the things of the flesh and worldly pleasure secondary to their hope in him, will certainly partake abundantly of the blessing from above. For what did he say to Abraham? "And I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you," and the things connected with these. Do you see, then, how great a multitude of spiritual goods he heaped upon him? And how Abraham departs from his native land—is it not worth seeing? For it says, he took Sarah his wife, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all their possessions, as many as they had acquired, and every soul they had acquired in Haran. And they went out to journey to the land of Canaan, and Abraham traversed the land lengthwise as far as the place of Shechem at the tall oak. For he departed from Haran leaving no remnant of himself behind, but with the whole family and household, most eagerly hastening to the land of Canaan, which God had shown. Then he traverses the land lengthwise and comes to the high land.

The one who has resolved to follow the divine ordinances well and to deem the calling from above worthy of the best care, let him depart entirely from life in worldly pleasures, as if with his whole household, leaving no remnant of his own mind in what he once was. For thus he will rightly go forth and traverse the land to which he has been called by God, so that, as the blessed Paul writes, he may be able to comprehend, together with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the mystery of Christ. For then he will rightly ascend to the high land, that is, to a state settled in virtues and having nothing any longer cast down into love of the flesh. And when he has already arrived at this, what again will be the good things, we shall learn from the sacred writings themselves. For it says, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him: To your seed I will give this land. And Abraham built there an altar to the Lord who appeared to him. For while he was lingering in the land of his fathers and had not yet moved to the holy land, only an oracle was given to him that he must move to another land, disregarding the one that bore him. But when he came to the land of Canaan with his whole household and all his equipment and sprang up to the holy land, then the grace of the vision of God was given, and the security of hope in the certainty of the promise, and the ability henceforth to raise an altar.

Therefore, for us as well, according to the same pattern of reasoning, if we remain in the world and in its most abominable pleasures, there will be no grace from God. But for those who are called and yield to the divine laws, and who leap up as if to high ground, God instills in them the desire and eagerness for every good thing, grants them knowledge of his own glory, and promises the steadfastness of hope. And he so strengthens our mind that it is already somehow able to offer spiritual sacrifices and to become an odor of Christ to God the Father, according to what is written, and to present even the body itself as a living sacrifice, the rational and spiritual worship that is acceptable to God. For he gladly welcomes the forms of worship in spirit and considers the matter a spiritual sacrifice. B. Therefore, one must change course for the better, departing from the more shameful things, and most gladly accept the call from above, and love to dwell as much as possible in what is honored by the law and has received the best judgment from God. For we will not free ourselves from the charge of seeking to go backward and to slip back into something that is accustomed to do wrong.

A. Not at all, my friend. For it is exceedingly grievous to choose again to be sick with those things from which one has departed; so that for those who have once been delivered by the power of God from worldly life, it is extremely dangerous even merely to look back at it and, as it were, to go towards a recollection of transgressions, letting the mind go to love for them. And indeed the divine psalmist earnestly prayed, saying: "Turn away my eyes from seeing vanity." For vanity truly is the distraction of this life and the empty delight in transitory things; from which it is fitting to stand apart and depart, and to refuse even the mere contemplation of them, as in thoughts but still with pleasure, one who has truly chosen to walk uprightly would easily learn from this as well. B. From what, then, do you say? The inhabitants of Sodom, being wildly driven to unnatural pleasures and dishonoring the law of union which nature established for the procreation of children, and being sharpened by the seasons of males, and accomplishing what was most extraordinary, provoked to wrath and, as it were, compelled the Creator, though he is philanthropic, to bring judgment upon them. But since the time for them to suffer was at hand, as if forbearance towards them had been exhausted, those who were to fulfill this entered into Sodom. For it is written thus: "And the two angels came to Sodom at evening. And Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. And seeing them, Lot rose up to meet them and prostrated himself with his face to the ground and said:

Behold, sirs, turn aside into the house of your servant and lodge, and wash your feet, and at dawn you will go on your way. And they said, No, but we will lodge in the street. And he pressed them, and they turned aside to him, and entered his house, and he made them a drink and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate before sleeping. For Lot, although he was of the blood of Abraham and had been reared in the laws of uprightness and had not been careless, even in small measure, of piety toward God, dwelt as a sojourner in Sodom. He was among them a newcomer and a stranger both in lineage and in ways. For what communion has light with darkness? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever, according to what is written? Having greatly prevailed over the native evils and walking the path of life customary to him, he adhered to holy pursuits and, honoring the law of hospitality as much as possible, settled at the entrances of the city and kindly received those who came in at them, knowing that this was a godly thing. And when those who were to bring punishment upon those who had run riot without restraint into licentiousness arrived—and it was a pair of angels—he quickly went to meet them and, by his address, gave a clear foretaste of the kindness within him. For he bowed his face to the ground and urged them to come to his house and to revel in the laws of love.

But they said, "No, we will lodge in the street," thereby indicating that they were strangers and homeless, and, I think, goading the one who had chosen to practice hospitality to more intense zeal, and almost wittily hinting that he would not properly abandon them, since they were without a hearth and cast out at the crossroads. Perceiving this, the righteous man pressed them all the more, and did not treat their refusal as a prize, as if from a weak and watery mind. So he brought them into his house, set before them unleavened bread, and prepared drink. But these things were done by the righteous man. The Sodomites, however, sick with a naked and shameful pleasure, unholyly prowled around the righteous man's dwelling, and having fallen into the utmost shamelessness, they demanded that they be permitted to do their usual deeds, and then, having chosen hospitality, they wished to corrupt it with unnatural lust. They wanted to turn Lot away from such savage and abominable attempts, and to paralyze him; and he would perhaps have been caught and suffered the same fate, had not those who saved him been present. For, it says, the men stretched out their hands, drew Lot to themselves into the house, and closed the door of the house. And they struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, from the youngest to the oldest, and they were paralyzed, seeking the door. But the assistance for him was not measured only in these things. It is written again: When dawn came, the angels urged Lot on, saying:

Arise, take your wife and your two daughters, whom you have, and go out, so that you too may not perish together with the lawlessnesses of the city." And they were troubled, and the angels seized hold of his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, in order to spare their master. This is for you a clear and very evident indication that we are not only to be incited by words and to depart from sin through exhortations addressed to the mind, but that we must also come to this point of gentleness on the part of the savior God of all towards us, namely, that he makes his assistance effective, as in the phrase, "You seized my right hand and guided me in your counsel." For since human nature is not very strong nor sufficiently capable of being able to escape evil, God in a way contends together with it for this purpose. And he is seen to bestow a twofold grace: persuading by admonitions and finding assistance and setting something better than the evil that is at hand and tyrannical. And you would see that this also is true: that there are exceedingly few who care for righteousness, and in life there is a great scarcity of good men; for "it is a task to find a faithful man," as it is written. Nevertheless, such a man is choice and has been deemed worthy of care from above not in a perfunctory manner. For even if he is in the world mixed in with others, he suffers no harm from this, but like a lily among thorns he is snatched away, and a righteous man would not perish together with the impious, according to the voices of the saints.

Therefore, we shall understand that by the mercy of God and the assistance of holy angels we will wash away the greed that comes from wickedness, and we will undoubtedly find that we are never ensnared in the judgments of the wicked, by trusting in God, who has clearly cried out through one of the prophets, "I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you: Do not fear, Jacob, O few in number, Israel; I have helped you, says the Lord who ransoms you, Israel." For would not the fact that Lot was suspended from the hand of the angels show that the all-powerful God is a helper to the saints? For these angels are a type of God. Three of them initially approached Abraham at the oak of Mamre, and two visited Sodom. For the Father judges no one, according to the Savior's own saying, but has given all judgment to the Son, with the Holy Spirit naturally co-existing and being present with him. You understand very well. Let us now examine what follows, if you please. I will speak most readily. And it happened, it says, when they led him out and said, "Save your own soul; do not look back nor stand in the entire surrounding region; save yourself to the mountain, lest you be taken along." Now in the phrase "save your own soul," I say that it clearly means: keep yourself pure, and do not share in the sins of others. And be superior to the hindrances of the world; for there is no exchange for the soul. For what will a man gain if he acquires the whole world but loses his own soul?

The necessity of proceeding without turning back perhaps indicates that one should not choose to think the same things again through turnings toward baseness as those who have been brought under the fire of punishment from incontinence; for no one, it is said, who has put his hand to the plow and turned backward is fit in the kingdom of heaven; but one must hold to the path of salvation, not being distracted here and there and letting the mind be light and easily scattered by stale fantasies of worldly desires, but keeping it complete and sleepless and always trained to look straight ahead within oneself. And I will say something greater: for the angel says not only that he must now proceed without turning back, but he usefully added, "Do not stand still in the whole surrounding region. Save yourself to the mountain, lest you be taken along." B. And what would "Do not stand still in the whole surrounding region" mean to indicate? A. I think sluggishness and weakness in the necessity of flying away from evil, which is dangerous and harmful.

B. Explain how. A. The prophetic word said: Woe to those who do the work of the Lord carelessly. Run so that you may overtake, and the divine Paul himself says somewhere. For to be unwilling to act most vigorously and with haste in the flight from baser things, having the mind tenaciously clinging to old ways and as it were sullenly departing from each base thing, and being most reluctantly transferred to what is naturally beneficial, would be nothing other than to remain finally in the region of vice, although one ought to go forth at a run. For it would be among the possible things, before seeing oneself outside evil, to be always hesitating and shrinking back, and to be overtaken by punishment before cleansing the stain, before washing away the pollution from ancient negligence that has become ingrained in the soul, before unloading the accusations and running under the saving yoke, to rest through Christ. Therefore the best exhortation is: Do not stand still in the whole region, that is, do not be caught lingering in any form of baseness, but rather ascend as if to a mountain, to a certain elevated and conspicuous life that has nothing low-lying, but shines in a high and uplifted virtue, free from the most abject mindset, that is, from the earthly and fleshly. For it is written that the strong of the earth were greatly lifted up by God. For the holy mindset is the highest of earthly things. And the young of a vulture fly to the heights, according to what is written, if they have their polity as if on a mountain in heaven and claim the fatherland above. And Paul writes somewhere: Seek the things above, not the things on the earth.

B. So the intelligible mountain is the life in sanctity and the surpassing height of exceptional conduct, with the life mired in impurities, sin-loving, and sunk in earthly things understood somewhere below. A. Well said; for this our argument makes quite clear, and you would marvel still at this as well. B. At what? A. For the blessed angel said that the inspired Lot must leap up to the mountain, running without care and without turning back. But he kept entreating, saying: I beg you, lord, since your servant has found mercy before you, and you have magnified your righteousness, what you do for me concerns the life of my soul; but I will not be able to be saved to the mountain, lest the evils overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near for me to flee there, which is small; there I will be saved. Is it not small, and will my soul live? And having spoken, he says to him: Behold, I have marveled at your face, and at this word, not to destroy the city about which you spoke. Hurry, then, to be saved there, for I will not be able to do anything until you enter there. For this reason he called the name of that city Zoar. The sun rose upon the earth, and Lot entered into Zoar.

B. And what benefit could come to us from these things, I would like to learn, as you well know. A. Do you not understand, although you are very inclined to quick comprehension, that for those who have just fled from baseness and think they must set out on the path of salvation, virtue is not immediately attainable nor the goal reachable from the very first attempts? Nor could one easily be brought up to an exceptional way of life, nor be far from the passions that have, so to speak, grown up with him; but he will be gently outside such things, at least as far as the beginnings of zeal for better things and the starts of undertakings, but not yet very high or far; he would almost migrate to another land, as it were, to a life that is praised, but not yet one that has attained a high and conspicuous glory, such as was the pedagogical guidance of the law, leading to the beginnings of an excellent and good life. For it is written: "The beginning of a good way is to do what is just." Just as for those who are eager for knowledge and desire mystical contemplation, the catechetical discourse would be suitable and most fitting at the beginning; but when they have advanced to a perfect man and to the full measure of the stature of Christ, then the more solid food would be appropriate, that is, the discourse on the highest matters and the entire path of doctrinal inquiry; so also here, I say, that is, in the correction of morals and manners, it would not be possible for some to leap immediately to a blameless state, that is, to a superhuman and transcendent way of life.

It would be fitting, I think, beginning from small and moderate things and almost running ahead as if into a small city neighboring a high mountain, to proceed gradually toward the condition that now obtains, namely, the polity that is subordinate and in lesser things, which lies beneath the exceptional and elevated life. And indeed the righteous Lot would be a type of those who are disposed in this way, deeming it right not to go straight to the mountain, but to lodge in the small city of Segor. For do we not find in the evangelical proclamations such economies often occurring among those who believe? And indeed the blessed Paul writes, saying: "It is good for a man not to touch a woman; but on account of fornications, let each have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. This I say by way of concession, not command. For I wish all men to be as I am myself. But each has his own gift from God, one in this way, another in that." Do you see how he pointed out to us the excessive height of continence as if it were a mountain, saying, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman," but permitted us to lodge in Segor, that is, in the conduct that still lies beneath the perfect state, and, I mean, to be joined only with one's own wife? And the Savior said that the best land would yield fruits, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. And he distributed the talent not in equal measure, but to one five, to another two, to another one; showing, I think, through these things the unequal strength of the dispositions, and distributing to each according to his capacity and intention. For as we said just now, each has his own gift from God, one in this way, another in that.

B. You speak well. A. The blessed angel bids him to take refuge in Zoar. "Behold," he says, "I have marveled at your face and at this word of yours, that I should not destroy the city about which you spoke. Hasten, therefore, to be saved there." Then he says that the sun rose over the earth and Lot entered Zoar. You would marvel, my friend, at what the meaning of these things might be, if you learned it: "I have marveled at your face," he says, "that I should not destroy the city about which you spoke." For a way of life that is not wholly directed toward virtue, and being at all subject to the passions, is truly unwilled by God, and is rejected by him and not far from condemnation. Nevertheless, out of philanthropy, and having measured what is attainable by nature in the early stages, he permits it and commands that they be saved, even while they are still practicing the good and have not yet fully departed from a blameworthy conduct. But even for those who come to these measures and enter into this state, the entry would not occur without divine light and illumination from above. For, it says, the sun rose and Lot entered Zoar.

B. How very appropriately you have spoken. A. The blessed Lot, then, fled into the still small city, as God bade him. But the woman who followed him and fled with him was convicted of weakness even in this. For she looked back, it says, and became a pillar of salt. Observe, then, that a courageous mind and a vigorous spirit, even if it does not perhaps arrive perfectly at what is pleasing to God, having begun to practice virtue, nevertheless departs from the passions and advances little by little toward what is better. But the weak and cowardly person, of whom the woman is a sign, is utterly ruined by changes toward baseness. For I think this is what is signified by becoming a pillar of salt, which would be a symbol of a mind that has become insipid and of an understanding that has chosen to change into foolishness and has already somehow dried up into utter insensibility. For the Savior himself said that salt, once it has become insipid, will no longer be of any use, but will be utterly spoiled, cast out, and trampled underfoot by men. So the woman was turned to stone, and Lot soon added what was lacking. For it is written that Lot went up from Zoar and sat on the mountain, he himself and his two daughters with him. For they were afraid to dwell in Zoar, and they dwelt in the cave, he himself and his two daughters with him.

For the mind advances as if by steps toward that which is now well-suited, and gradually ascends to what it was not sufficiently or adequately capable of at the beginning; it proceeds and rises to the better, commanding itself by wisdom and spiritual courage as by its own daughters, as it were, and leaving behind below the pleasure-loving and cowardly, of which the woman is a type. Then it dwells as if on a mountain and in a cave, the mountain signifying for us the lofty and elevated state for spiritual well-being, and the cave the fixed and steadfast perseverance in virtue. For it is written thus concerning good men: "Walking in righteousness, speaking a straight path, hating lawlessness and injustice, shaking off one's hands from gifts, weighing down the ears so as not to hear a judgment of blood, closing the eyes so as not to see injustice—this man will dwell in a high cave of a strong rock." And there would also be another not implausible interpretation for us regarding this matter. For the rock is Christ, because of the strength and invulnerability of the highest of all substances. And the cave would be understood as the church in Christ, the lodging of the saints, the shelter of the pious, which the righteous inhabit, and indeed all who refuse the penalty through fire.

B. How well our argument proceeds, my friend! I would myself wish to go through the exercise by means of as many other demonstrations as possible. For I would consider it worth everything to know abundantly that which tends to benefit. A. Indeed, Palladius, what you say is reasonable. For this would be the fruit of a mind that is as eager to learn as possible, and our argument will be better than hesitation, since it does not seem to me right to practice an untimely silence in the face of such brilliant and admirable narratives. Therefore, we shall consider without difficulty, by directing the eye of the mind well, both the things concerning the divine Abraham and those accomplished beyond reason in the exodus of the Israelites, when they broke the bonds of Egyptian greed at the appropriate times, that one must completely and entirely separate oneself from disposition toward and communion with base things, as far as possible, and that the ability to rise to virtue could come about in no other way than in this very manner.

B. Explain then in detail, for you would surely delight us richly if you chose to do this. A. We were saying, then, that once, oppressed by an unbearable famine and lack of necessities, the divine Abraham did not willingly make his descent into Egypt, but yielded to necessity. And being a stranger and a sojourner, he was harassed by Pharaoh with griefs and acts of greed. For Pharaoh, inflamed with intemperate pleasures and a desire for shameful deeds, wished to dissolve the marriage that had been established for him. But God did not permit him to accomplish what he intended. For, it says, he afflicted Pharaoh with great afflictions concerning Sarah, the wife of Abraham. Now Pharaoh is an image and type of diabolical intemperance. For his aim, and one of his most earnest endeavors, is to inject the seeds of his own impurity into the understandings of the saints, so that they might choose to bear fruit that is pleasing and agreeable to him. These would, I think, be charges of manifold sin. And so every person would be caught and involuntarily subjected to his acts of greed. For nature is weak and prone to fall, but God does not permit it, in a manner reining in the attacks against the saints and the plots of the evil one. And it happened that the divine Abraham escaped harm in no other way than by leaving Egypt and returning to the original and God-given place, where, upon arriving, he was a diligent cultivator of good pursuits. And it is written thus: "And Abraham went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all his possessions, and Lot with him, into the desert.

Abraham was very wealthy in livestock and silver and gold, and he went from where he had set out into the desert as far as Bethel, as far as the place where his tent had formerly been, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar, where he had made the beginning. And there Abraham invoked the name of the Lord. Do you understand, then, that it is necessary to depart together with those who, from worldly intemperance, run back to another holy life, taking along, as it were, all their possessions? For with his whole household and entire family—and I would add, with all his equipment—the forefather Abraham fled from the land of Egypt. For one must depart completely and, in a manner of speaking, love to move one's whole household into the desert, that is, into an undisturbed and pure state of mind, from which the nature of man originally fell, having turned away from higher goods toward worse things. For this would be symbolically indicated by the descent into a foreign land from a land, as it were, and from a tent that was original and most beloved, in which there was also an altar. For by running back in this way, until we come into the region and place of the original altar—that is, of the ancient, inherent sanctification—we too invoke the God of all, saying that prophetic address: "Lord, we know none other than you. We name your name.

B. You have spoken very elegantly. A. You would see that the matter is no different for us if you carefully examine what happened to the sons of Israel at various times. Since the Egyptians had taken them, when famine pressed them in the beginning, and were yoking them, who were from above and from the root of holy and free men, into an unexpected and unaccustomed servitude for them, they violently forced them with such cruelty, having contrived the following pretext. For, it says, another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people: "Behold, the nation of the sons of Israel is a great multitude and is stronger than we are. Come, let us outwit them, lest they multiply, and if war should happen, these too will join the enemies and, having made war against us, will depart from the land." For, I think, the ruler of the land of the Egyptians was distressed that those who were yoked under an inevitable bond against their will might at least ever choose to look toward freedom. And he set over them, it says, overseers of the works, so that they might oppress them in the works, and they built fortified cities for Pharaoh: Pithom, Rameses, and On, which is Heliopolis. For the fruits of their unbearable greed were continuous hardships in mud and brick-making, cities fortified with walls, and the raising of embankments in the fields, and these were accomplished without pay and with great sweat for those who labored.

For having taken the wretched souls of men under their own hand, the world-rulers of this age wear them out with mud and brick-making and with the things done on and about the earth, and having bound them with an evil and profitless distraction—for such indeed appear the works of the flesh and the things concerning it—they compel them to accept a bitter and utterly miserable life, which in no way will bring benefit to those forced to practice it. For how could the works and passions of the flesh benefit our wretched soul? But it will be laid up as gain, as it were, for the devil and the demons, and will be the wealth and boast of the kingdom of the hostile powers, just as indeed it was no small glory, as he thought, for Pharaoh to have cities built for him by the Israelites, who were compelled to come to this without food and without pay. B. That is so. And indeed the argument is very clear. A. So then, the labor of the Israelites records a typification and, as it were, a clear image of our vain and unholy endeavors on earth, with Satan himself and the evil powers with him pressing upon and leaping upon us, whom divine scripture indicates by the names of taskmasters. And I would call this evil distraction those things full of sweat and toil, filled as it were with mud and filth and foul pleasure.

But even then God took pity on those who were most impiously and savagely abused by the greed of the Egyptians and were serving beyond what was necessary. For he immediately made the most excellent Moses the agent of his gentleness toward them. Or shall we not find God doing this also for us? For when we have slipped into sins, he grants us mercy, and immediately instills his own law in the hearts of all, as if through a mediator, to lead us to a free life. B. I understand what you say. A. Do you wish, then, that we cut short the breadth of the history and speak as plausibly as possible? B. By all means. A. It is written thus: "And after this, Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Send out my people, that they may celebrate a festival for me in the wilderness.' And Pharaoh said, 'Who is he whose voice I should obey so as to send out the sons of Israel? I do not know the Lord, and I will not send out Israel.'" For those around Moses and Aaron insisted that Israel must be released from the land and territory of the Egyptians, since God was calling them to a festival. For a true festival indeed is to cast off the yoke of unwilling servitude and henceforth to be under God and to fulfill what is pleasing to him, with no one opposing or forcing them to choose and love what seems good to him.

Pharaoh speaks very rashly and insolently defies the glory of God, saying that he neither knows who the Lord is nor will he let Israel go. But the inspired Moses does not cease at all, and insists strongly that what is pleasing to God must be accomplished. For when Satan hinders those who have come under him from going to freedom, one must show courage and become superior to every obstacle, I think, and by no means appear cowardly, but press on saying: "The God of the Hebrews has called us. So we will go a three days' journey into the desert, in order to sacrifice to our God, lest death or murder meet us." For this is what the wise Moses immediately cried out to us then. "For not," he says, "in likeness to you, O Egyptians, is a calf our object of reverence, we Hebrews, nor a pig or a goat or an image of a man or a shadow of birds and likenesses of reptiles set up in shrines. But God and Lord has been invoked, who has constructed this whole universe. Great, then, and unaligned with the Egyptians and above all creation is the God of the Hebrews, who calls us into the desert to bring there the sacrifice pleasing to him.

Egypt is called darkness, and I think it is fitting that we who are spiritual should approach spiritually what is in shadow and types. For we must, departing well from everything that tends to darken, and having, as it were, left behind the country lying under the tyrant—I mean Satan—the ease in sins, eagerly hasten to move into a freer and purer life, and walk the path of lawful conduct not subject to demons; for then we will be able to offer the fruits of righteousness to God. And it was affirmed that those from Israel must travel a journey of three days through the wilderness, indicating by this that they are not even near the boundaries of baseness and of life under tyranny. The inspired Moses also contrives something wise and very opportunely says that those called by God must depart from Egypt, lest death or murder, he says, meet us. B. And what is this? For it is not ready for those who wish to understand.

I will speak. It was a custom among the Egyptians, and is still observed to this day by the worshippers of idols, that those entering temples must avoid encountering a dead body. For they say that the utmost pollution is not only if one should choose to touch it, but even if it should happen to fall within mere sight. Therefore, from their own customs, he persuades them to think that it would not be possible for them to sacrifice purely, if, while beginning to do this from some unforeseen circumstance, a corpse or a murder should chance upon them—that is, either one who has died by the law of nature or one who has been forced by the violence of murderers. "For you," he said, "have sacred places and precincts, bars and gates, within which, if you happen to run, it will be possible for you to sacrifice purely, as indeed you think according to yourselves; but we are compelled to sacrifice in the middle of the city, at crossroads and in fields, and to be polluted by the sight of the dead. For there is nothing at all to prevent the sight." And the historical account would have for us its plausibility in the customs of the Egyptians, and what was said by the all-wise Moses would be correctly spoken, even if it were understood spiritually. For we must, as if in a desert, sacrifice and complete a holy feast for God, departing from the Egyptians, and also avoid the sight of death. For with a mind at leisure and standing far from being darkened by worldly things, and freeing the eye from things that bring down to death and corruption, we will sacrifice purely to the God who rules all. Dead works would be the passions of the flesh. Worldly darkness is the turbidity from evil and vain distractions, polluting the pure and transparent ether of the mind.

from which those who wish to worship purely must keep away, and the account of history will persuade us of this. B. And indeed this is not unclear; but now proceed with what follows. A. Now, a certain grievous and bitter longing for their ancient freedom entered the men of Israel, I think; and having already turned toward this, they terribly provoked to anger the one who was binding them with the yokes of slavery. Saying that it was a matter of leisure to dwell on such desires, he ordered them to apply their sweat to the work, since the customary assignment was urgently demanded, while the distribution of straw was unaccustomedly cut off; for he said, "You are idle, you are loafers, therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Now go and work; for the straw will not be given, and you yourselves will provide the brick-making quota." And the scribes of the sons of Israel saw themselves in troubles, saying, "You will not omit the daily due from the brick-making." They met Moses and Aaron coming to meet them as they were going out from Pharaoh, and said to them, "May God look upon you and judge, because you have made our stench abhorrent before Pharaoh and before his servants, to put a sword into his hands to kill us.

Or do you, my friend, claim it is not true that whenever someone chooses to cast off the yoke of the devil's greed and take up again the bright and free boast of worship of God, and to have leisure and know the true master, as is sung in the Psalms—"Have leisure and know that I am God"—the enemy will accuse us of this leisure and will as something unholy, and will rise up together with all the other evil and unclean spirits, fiercely compelling us to cling incessantly to fleshly and earthly impurity and the distractions of the world, each according to his custom, and least of all permitting us to abstain from ingrained baseness, and even making this difficult to attain, so that evil may not be despised and become cloying through being too readily available? For I think this is made clear by the fact that he vigorously demands the production of bricks, but deprives us of the means by which they could easily be made—that is, the straw. We are somehow naturally inclined, especially then, to seek the customary things with the greatest eagerness and strength, and to be inflamed with hotter desires for them, whenever something appears in between that, as if by necessity, carries us away from being able to attain them. And when divine law re-educates the human mind away from baser things, then especially a bitter longing creeps in, calling us back to those same things and almost persuading us to cry out against the lawgiver. And of this again, as if in shadows, the scribes of the sons of Israel, who are worn out by their labors and see no easy path to them, are a proof.

For they were in need of chaff, and they bitterly accused Moses and Aaron, saying that they had become the pretext for the charge brought against them, and that they had endured an attack more grievous than greed for no other reason than that a desire for freedom had entered them, persuaded by their words. B. Do you not think you are saying what is likely and true? A. Absolutely not, Palladius; for as soon as a good desire and a noble reasoning drove us, perhaps, to choose what is pleasing to God, and we have remembered the law that leads to piety, the enemy of all, who is naturally inclined to cause harm, oppresses us all the more severely; but God rescues and saves us. And indeed he said to Moses: "Go, tell the sons of Israel, saying: I am the Lord, and I will lead you out from the dominion of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will ransom you with a high arm and great judgment, and I will take you as a people for myself. And I will be your God, and you will know that I am the Lord your God who led you out of the land of Egypt, from the dominion of the Egyptians.

For Satan turns us away and rouses us from every good desire, and by the nods and means through which he might be able to thrust us aside, the law of God urges us toward good will, showing the helper unbroken, sharpening us with the most abundant hope for courage, nerving us with faith, and assigning us to God as truly savior and deliverer. B. Faith is a most excellent and saving thing, and one must thirst to follow God. A. You spoke rightly. But that faith reaches the good as its end, you will know well when our discourse concludes according to its own purpose. For when those around Moses came again to Pharaoh to converse, to persuade him to release Israel from the Egyptians' bonds and from their ancient servitude, they wished to prevail upon him with signs beyond reason, and they displayed the transformation of a rod into a serpent, and clearly promised through God that they could accomplish things even greater and more surpassing than this most readily. But he ordered them to work equally with his own magicians, all but crying out through this: "We are not ignorant of such works. There are very many among the Egyptians, or those like you; and working wonders is a practice for magicians, among whom you are also numbered.

But when Israel was exceedingly hardened and would not relent, four terrible plagues, each worse than the other, were brought upon them: water was paradoxically turned into blood, and frogs, gnats, and finally the dog-fly were inflicted; and Pharaoh, as if under unbearable compulsion, was already becoming somewhat softer. So he summoned Moses and his companions and said, "Go in and sacrifice to the Lord your God in the land." And Moses said, "It is not possible to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God in their presence, we will be stoned. We will go a three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as you told us." And Pharaoh said, "I send you, and you shall sacrifice to the Lord your God in the desert, but you shall not go far." For when Satan resists and vigorously sets his own malice against our good intentions, God rises up against him, restrains his boldness, and tames him with plagues. Then, at last, he yields, though not willingly; yet he still tries to persuade us to perform worship of God not precisely, but not yet to depart entirely from servitude to him. For he ordered the Jews to sacrifice not outside their own land, but within it. But Moses very wisely said, "It is not possible to do so." For the inventor of sin is always the instigator of evil deeds; but the divine law expels them and forbids doing whatever he proposes.

One must therefore pay attention to those who wish to live rightly, not to whatever the evil one might say in deception, but to what the divine oracle proclaims to us. For it says, "Your law is a lamp for my feet and a light for my paths." B. True. A. Therefore, when the evil one constrains us, that is, wishes to confine us and bring us under his power, we must serve God, who alone is according to nature, and entering into perplexity, let us say as far as possible, "It is not possible to be thus." For no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will cleave to one and despise the other. And it is written again: "Woe to cowardly hearts and slack hands and to the sinner who treads on two paths." For I say that one must make a pure and blameless service to the God who rules all, having departed entirely from that life under him, and thus seek to go nobly to the better; otherwise, it says, "We will sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord, our God." For if we sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians before them, we will be stoned.

And as far as the historical account goes, the excuse is plausible. For here it calls the objects of worship "abominations"; and calves were the object of reverence for the Egyptians. If, it says, we sacrifice these to the God of the Hebrews, we will certainly and utterly provoke the Egyptians to anger, since they would find the matter unbearable. At times the argument is even persuasive. But as far as spiritual contemplation goes, it offers no small benefit. For what the multitude of demons most honors, esteems highly, and deems worthy of every regard—by putting that to death, we offer the most pleasing worship to God. B. How do you mean? A. For are not the passions of the flesh held in honor among them? And not at all for their own sake, but because through them we are destroyed and bound in servitude under them? B. True. A. By putting these to death and, as it were, slaughtering them, we will become a sweet fragrance to God. And Paul writes thus: "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, acceptable to God, your rational worship." One would rightly accomplish this by putting to death the members that are on the earth: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed. Therefore, each of the passions within us is an abomination of the spiritual Egyptians, that is, the most honored object of reverence. For it is customary for divine Scripture to call "abomination" that which is in the category of an idol and, as it were, an object of reverence; this is confirmed by God speaking through the voice of Jeremiah concerning the synagogue of the Jews: "Why has the beloved one done an abomination in my house?" But if someone should wish to say that "abomination of the Egyptians" means something like an object of hatred and rejection, he would not depart from the appropriate meaning.

For what it is always customary to hate and abominate with unclean spirits, these things are offered by us as a fragrance of sweet odor to God and a spiritual sacrifice: faith, meekness, temperance, self-control, mutual love, and the boasts of genuineness toward God. B. And who would be those sacrificing to the Evil One in the land? And who would be understood as those outside the land? A. Those who have not yet departed from the land of the Egyptians and sacrifice to God in it are very many, perhaps even beyond number; but those outside and in the desert are exceedingly few and select. For many are called, it says, but few are chosen. We have all been called to freedom through faith in Christ and have been delivered from diabolical tyranny, Christ bringing us to this, being prefigured long ago well in Moses and Aaron, so that you may understand at the same time Emmanuel as lawgiver, high priest, and apostle in an economic sense. But most of those called still linger in the old evils, not yet having departed in their whole mind from worldly deception, and they worship God in bare and mere faith. These we say are those sacrificing in Egypt, that is, having come a little way outside. For the hard-hearted Pharaoh says, you will not go far, even if you run out of the land of the Egyptians. But those who wish to please God by a complete change to the good, being entirely free from worldly confusion, are carried outside the land of the Egyptians and escape the hand of the tyrant, and as if in the desert, in a leisurely and relaxed life, they sacrifice purely to God.

I would say, moreover, in yet another way that those who, from worshipping the creation instead of the creator, are running toward the truth and have been called to the knowledge of the God who is by nature, must be carried as far as possible from the land of the Egyptians. For those who do not yet completely wipe away the remnants of the ancient deception from their own mind have not yet fully departed. For some observe days and months and seasons and years. These, called through Christ to the dignity of freedom, while still dwelling in the land of the Egyptians, sacrifice to God, preserving a life that would not be entirely unwelcome to Satan. But if someone should completely bid farewell to the ancient customs, he sacrifices in the desert and practices a life worthy of all praise. B. I agree; you think rightly. Let our discourse flow smoothly again. A. So Pharaoh lies and denies his promise, and does not yet release the Israelites. Then he is afflicted with three other plagues and barely agrees to release them, saying, "I have been captured," and then lies again. For he is a liar and does not stand in the truth, according to the saying of the Savior. He sends a most violent hail upon the Egyptians, God threatening and indeed sending it, and also a locust that destroys the fields, if one must take a word from the Greeks to say it. Then, at that time, and only with difficulty, those who were formerly terrible and unbroken supporters of Pharaoh's abomination raise a great outcry against him, saying: "How long will this obstacle be for us? Send the men away, so that they may serve the Lord, their God. Or do you wish to know that Egypt is lost?

And from this point, I am again led to think that perhaps in some respects Satan is better than the powers under his command, in those matters where it would be fitting for him to prevail. For the latter, as it seems, are exceedingly harsh and utterly implacable, and though they come late and with difficulty, they still, at least, attain some moderate perception of divine wrath. But he is superior in a savagery beyond reason and has become hardened to the extreme. For it is written that his heart has become fixed like stone, and it stands like an unyielding anvil. So after very great and abundant outcry against him, he said with difficulty to those around Moses: "Go and worship the Lord your God." But who are those who go, and of what sort? And Moses says: "We will go with our young men and our elders, with our sons and daughters, and with our sheep and cattle; for it is the feast of the Lord our God." And he said to them: "Let it be so; may the Lord be with you, inasmuch as I send you—but not your baggage. See that evil lies before you. Not so; let the men go, and worship God, for this is what you seek.

Understand then, dear friend, that Moses declared it necessary to make an excellent departure; but he does not speak thus. He said that from a part it would be beneficial, and in a manner a hostage-taking, to the returns of those departing, that the remainder should be left behind, even with the baggage itself remaining in Egypt. For let every young man of yours go, he says, and every race in its prime. But the divine Moses strongly insists that it is fitting to depart with nothing overlooked; but together with those in youth and in the decline of age, sons and daughters, and herds of cattle and other livestock. For indeed, it is fitting that those who strive to claim true freedom should love to be delivered from evils in the world and to go on the path of virtues, leaving behind no remnant whatsoever of their own soul and mind, through which they might again be brought under the greed of the evil one. And to this, the divine law calls young men and maidens, elders along with the younger, according to the voice of the psalmist, and every form of age understood in Christ. To these also the inspired John addressed, saying: I wrote to you, children, that you have known the father; I wrote to you, fathers, that you have known the one from the beginning; I wrote to you, young men, that you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have conquered the evil one.

They might also be understood in another way: the young men as a type of courage, the old men of prudence, and the sons and daughters of the childhood understood in Christ; for with courage and prudence and simplicity according to God we depart from sin into sanctification. "Be men," he says, "and let your heart be strengthened." And again: "Become prudent as serpents and guileless as doves." And by saying that sheep and cattle should run away together, he indicates, I think, that it is fitting not to abandon even the bodily and more irrational of our movements to Satan. Indeed, the divine Paul writes: "For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness for lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification." B. Why then does Pharaoh release those in their youth and prime, but take possession of the others? A. What do you say are the things remaining in Egypt? B. There were, I think, women indeed, boys under age, and weak old men, and irrational livestock.

A. Then, my good man, how do you not immediately consider this? B. What do you mean? A. For he considers those who are vigorous and young and in a more robust condition to be burdensome for piety; for he shies away from, I think, and does not willingly endure those who have stood against him, who are both able to oppose him and to defend themselves when wronged, according to the saying, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." But he greatly prefers what is naturally not inclined to be manly, and as a weak and unwarlike kind, he loves the sickly disposition in itself—the feminine and soft, and what is like an enfeebled and cowardly and still boyish thing, and also the thick and more irrational, as in the type of oxen and sheep. B. Well said. A. But again, the hard-minded and unbending Pharaoh tells a false tale. Then, when his whole land is being consumed, so to speak, by the plagues of locusts, he summons Moses, with Aaron joining in, and says: "Go and worship the Lord your God, but leave behind the sheep and the oxen, and let your baggage go with you." And Moses said: "But you will also give us whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, which we will make to the Lord our God; and our cattle will go with us, and we will not leave behind a single hoof; for from them we will take to worship the Lord our God.

B. And what meaning, then, from the words of the all-wise Moses could we apply? Or how could one take the things from Egypt and Pharaoh and ascribe them to God? A. Indeed, my friend, the account is clear. For he who stands opposed and fights against those who wish to be pious, if he cannot entirely have some under his control, at least desires to have this in part. But the law of God teaches that one must make a very sharp departure, not allowing oneself to be under him in any way whatsoever—not a part of the soul, not a part of the mind, not a starting point of bodily motion. Moreover, one must also offer to God the finest and most excellent things of life in the world. For I think this is what is meant by taking from Egypt and sacrificing to God. Or is this not what those do who, through worldly wisdom, contend for our sacred and divine doctrines, hunting for brilliance in expression and sharpness in knowledge, and performing rational service to God? For all wisdom is from the Lord, according to what is written. But we say that it is in a worldly spirit that the poets and prose writers among the Greeks have attained such brilliance in eloquence. And indeed the divine Paul says: we did not receive the spirit of this world, but the spirit from God, so that we might see the things granted to us by God; and we speak these not in the learned words of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the spirit.

That he was truly speaking in shadows, saying that the exceptional things of life in the world would not be rejected by the God who is by nature, Moses immediately shows clearly, yet as in type and shadow. For when God commanded to despoil the Egyptians of their gold and silver vessels, he said it was necessary to make use of them from a tent-mate and neighbor, which indeed is accomplished through women. For the matter is always somehow gossipy and very talkative and skillful at deception. And the gold and silver vessels from the Egyptians would be, I think, as I just said, those things with which it was likely for some people in the world to pride themselves, even if they did not know the true God. And this is, I say, something of the following kind again. For the movements of mind and soul and the aptitude for anything whatsoever, both good and evil, are common to all men. But those who have used the advantages of nature well accomplish a glorious and exceptional life. Those, however, who most foolishly divert them to what is not fitting somehow misrepresent the goods of nature and take the path to the most shameful things. For both courage and prudence are good for those who use them best, but harmful for those who do not have them rightly; for it is possible to be courageous and prudent with praise and applause; and it is also possible to possess these with much reproach. And these things are common and present in all, both in those still wandering and in those who know God.

Therefore, when the former worker of baseness, courage, and the bitterness in understanding are transformed by us into what seems good to God, then even things taken from the Egyptians and from life in the world will become sacred and acceptable to God; for they are reshaped for the service of virtue and for the ministry of sanctification, just as, of course, the gold and silver vessels from Egypt were shown to be useful for the construction and completion of the holy tabernacle. After plundering the Egyptians and the death of the firstborn, the Israelites were barely redeemed, having sacrificed the lamb as a type of Christ; for it was not possible to obtain such a thing otherwise, since every redemption is in Christ and through him every good gift. They are sent out from the Egyptians in the middle of the night, being delivered from both darkness and slavery together. For in intellectual darkness and not in divine light, the slave to sin always tends to be. For everyone who does base things hates the light, according to the saying of the Savior. The unleavened dough is brought out, and they flee without provisions. For the Egyptians, it says, forced the people to hasten to drive them out of the land. For they said that we are all dying. And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadings bound up in their garments on their shoulders. For I think that those who are about to cleave to God and have chosen intimacy with him ought not to carry a remnant of worldly evil, nor to be supplied with alien and unholy foods, clearly meaning intellectual ones.

They love to have unleavened bread, for they desire what henceforth gives life to the world; for such persons would celebrate purely, completing the worship worthy of God, and they remain always under him. B. You have understood, then, that just as one must reach some holy and sacred land, so must those who are lovers of God and good reach the life under Christ and free from tyranny; and they must hasten to sacrifice, not in the land of enemies, that is, not being in a state prone to sin and far from blameless, but rather in zeal for virtue and in a condition of character that has been banished from the tyranny of the devil. A. Do not suppose it to be otherwise than this, my friend; for our argument has been correctly made. Come, if you wish, let us also consider these things through another image. For since, by fleeing to any outlandish place, they dared to abandon the savior God of all, those dwelling in the holy city, I mean Jerusalem, fell under the hand of the Babylonians, who took them captive by the spear and ordered them to serve. For it was necessary to yield to the conquerors, and they did not do so willingly. But they, greatly distressed and lamenting over the unexpected misfortunes, sought at least some small solace for their pain. This was to blunt the sharpness of their inherent grief through hymns to God; for "I remembered God and was glad," said the divine David, declaring hymnody to God a spiritual feast.

But it seemed somehow shameful to those who wished to sing and fulfill the customary rites to let such a sweet sound fall upon the ears of foreigners, and to cast, as it were, into the air the melody most pleasant and clear to them, while the Babylonians sometimes smiled contemptuously and were altogether vexed by songs accompanied by instruments. Therefore they also said: By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion, where according to the laws and customs of the Jews the sacrifice of praise was offered, performed with strings and instruments and enchanting with its melodies those who approached the divine temple. Since they were bound under the alien yoke of slavery, they lament, saying: On the willows in the midst of it we hung our instruments, thereby indicating through this very act the inactivity of our songs. For the willow is a fruitless, or rather a fruit-destroying plant, as has been said by the poet among the Greeks. Thus the instruments of song were consigned to inactivity and fruitlessness; and having cried out the occasion for this ease, they say: How shall we sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil? And when Baruch brought them the words of Jeremiah, all wept, it is said, and fasted and prayed a prayer before the Lord; and they collected silver, as each one’s hand was able, and sent it to Jerusalem to Joakim son of Helkiah, son of Salom the priest, and to the priests and to all the people found with him in Jerusalem. And after other things: And they said.

Behold, we have sent to you silver, and with the silver buy whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin, and frankincense, and make manna, and offer it upon the altar of the Lord our God. For they thought it fitting not to sacrifice themselves, being exiled from the holy land, but acting for the time being no longer under God, but rather yoked to another and fallen under a tyrannical hand, yet they assign the glory of worship to those who still inhabit the holy city and have obtained the sacred ministry, evidently using right reasoning for the consideration of what is fitting and necessary. And the most wise Daniel himself, while devoted to sacred pursuits, yet being also a captive along with the others, cunningly managed the matter of necessity. And in what manner, I shall say: he prayed three times a day. But he had windows in the upper rooms that looked toward Jerusalem and were open. For it is written thus. For he thought that his own prayer would be acceptable to God only with difficulty, if from a foreign and hated land, even if he could not do so in the flesh, at least he might separate himself in thought and with the eyes of his mind look toward the land most beloved to God, and as if entering into the temple itself, offer the petition for whatever he might choose.

B. Well indeed, the entire discourse has been completed for us. End of the first book.