To Autolycus 1.2
Summary: God is seen only by the eyes of a pure soul; sin clouds them, as rust clouds a mirror.
Greek text · Otto 8:4–8
Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν φῇς „Δεῖξόν μοι τὸν θεόν σου“, κἀγώ σοι εἴποιμι ἄν „Δεῖξόν μοι τὸν ἄνθρωπόν σου κἀγώ σοι δείξω τὸν θεόν μου“. Ἐπεὶ δεῖξον βλέποντας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς σου, καὶ τὰ ὦτα τῆς καρδίας σου ἀκούοντα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ βλέποντες τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ σώματος κατανοοῦσι τὴν τοῦ βίου καὶ ἐπίγειον πραγματείαν, ἅμα δοκιμάζοντες τὰ διαφέροντα, ἤτοι φῶς ἢ σκότος, ἢ λευκὸν ἢ μέλαν, ἢ ἀειδὲς ἢ εὔμορφον, ἢ εὔρυθμον καὶ εὔμετρον ἢ ἄρυθμον καὶ ἄμετρον, ἢ ὑπέρμετρον ἢ κόλουρον, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ ὑπʼ ἀκοὴν πίπτοντα, ἢ ὀξύφωνα ἢ βαρύφωνα ἢ ἡδύφωνα, οὕτως ἔχοι ἂν καὶ περὶ τὰ ὦτα τῆς καρδίας καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς δύνασθαι θεὸν θεάσασθαι. Βλέπεται γὰρ θεὸς τοῖς δυναμένοις αὐτὸν ὁρᾶν, ἐπὰν ἔχωσι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀνεῳγμένους τῆς ψυχῆς. Πάντες μὲν γὰρ ἔχουσι τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, ἀλλὰ ἔνιοι ὑποκεχυμένους καὶ μὴ βλέποντας τὸ φῶς τοῦ ἡλίου. Καὶ οὐ παρὰ τὸ μὴ βλέπειν τοὺς τυφλοὺς ἤδη καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν τὸ φῶς τοῦ ἡλίου φαῖνον, ἀλλὰ ἑαυτοὺς αἰτιάσθωσαν οἱ τυφλοὶ καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ὀφθαλμούς. Οὕτως καὶ σύ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ἔχεις ὑποκεχυμένους τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς σου ὑπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων καὶ τῶν πράξεών σου τῶν πονηρῶν. Ὥσπερ ἔσοπτρον ἐστιλβωμένον, οὕτως δεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔχειν καθαρὰν ψυχήν. Ἐπὰν οὖν ᾖ ἰὸς ἐν τῷ ἐσόπτρῳ, οὐ δύναται ὁρᾶσθαι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῷ ἐσόπτρῳ· οὕτως καὶ ὅταν ᾖ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, οὐ δύναται ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄνθρωπος θεωρεῖν τὸν θεόν. Δεῖξον οὖν καὶ σὺ σεαυτόν, εἰ οὐκ εἶ μοιχός, εἰ οὐκ εἶ πόρνος, εἰ οὐκ εἶ κλέπτης, εἰ οὐκ εἶ ἅρπαξ, εἰ οὐκ εἶ ἀποστερητής, εἰ οὐκ εἶ ἀρσενοκοίτης, εἰ οὐκ εἶ ὑβριστής, εἰ οὐκ εἶ λοίδορος, εἰ οὐκ ὀργίλος, εἰ οὐ φθονερός, εἰ οὐκ ἀλαζών, εἰ οὐχ ὑπερόπτης, εἰ οὐ πλήκτης, εἰ οὐ φιλάργυρος, εἰ οὐ γονεῦσιν ἀπειθής, εἰ οὐ τὰ τέκνα σου πωλεῖς. Τοῖς γὰρ ταῦτα πράσσουσιν ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἐμφανίζεται, ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον ἑαυτοὺς καθαρίσωσιν ἀπὸ παντὸς μολυσμοῦ. Καὶ σοὶ οὖν ἅπαντα ἐπισκοτεῖ, καθάπερ ὕλης ἐπιφορὰ ἐπὰν γένηται τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς πρὸς τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι ἀτενίσαι τὸ φῶς τοῦ ἡλίου· οὕτως καὶ σοί, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ἐπισκοτοῦσιν αἱ ἀσέβειαι πρὸς τὸ μὴ δύνασθαί σε ὁρᾶν τὸν θεόν.
English · Claude translation
But if you say, “Show me your God,” I would say to you, “Show me your man, and I will show you my God.” Show me, that is, that the eyes of your soul see and the ears of your heart hear. For just as those who see with the eyes of the body perceive the business of this earthly life and at the same time tell apart what differs, light or darkness, white or black, ugly or beautiful, well proportioned and well measured or ill proportioned and ill measured, oversized or stunted, and likewise what falls on the ear, sounds high or low or sweet: so it is with the ears of the heart and the eyes of the soul, and their power to see God. For God is seen by those who are able to see him, when they have the eyes of their soul opened. All people have eyes, but in some they are clouded over and do not see the light of the sun. Yet it is not because the blind do not see that the light of the sun does not shine; the blind must blame themselves and their own eyes. So you too, O man, have the eyes of your soul clouded over by your sins and your evil deeds. A person must have a pure soul, like a polished mirror. When there is rust on the mirror, a person's face cannot be seen in it; so too when there is sin in a person, such a one cannot behold God. So show me yourself: that you are not an adulterer, not sexually immoral, not a thief, not a robber, not a swindler, not a man who lies with males, not insolent, not a slanderer, not given to anger, not envious, not boastful, not arrogant, not violent, not a lover of money, not disobedient to parents, not one who sells his children. For to those who do these things God does not show himself, unless they first cleanse themselves from all defilement. All these things, then, darken your sight, as when a discharge of matter comes over the eyes so that they cannot look at the light of the sun; so, O man, your impieties darken you so that you cannot see God.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Sexually immoral” renders πόρνος; “a man who lies with males,” ἀρσενοκοίτης (as in 1 Cor 6:9).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (dittography: word printed twice): τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀνεῳγμένους → τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀνεῳγμένους.
Cite this passage
Theophilus, Autol. 1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/1/2/).
Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/1/2/).
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