Chapter 17

Josaphat said to Barlaam: This account too fittingly represents my own case; whence I think these things have been spoken by you concerning me as well. But what is the test by which you seek to know the steadiness of my mind? The old man said: I, for my part, have already tested and known of what prudent and steady mind you are, and of what soul truly most upright. But the outcome of your conduct will confirm these things. For this reason I bend my knees to our God who is glorified in the Trinity, the Creator of all things visible and invisible, who truly is and ever is, who never had a beginning of his glorious existence nor has an end, the fearful and almighty, good and compassionate, that he may enlighten the eyes of your heart, and give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,

so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the wealth of the glory of his inheritance among the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe—that you may no longer be a stranger and a sojourner, but a fellow-citizen of the saints and of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Josaphat, deeply pierced in heart, said: These things I too long to know, and I beg you: make known to me both the wealth of the glory of God and the surpassing greatness of his power. Barlaam said to him: I pray God to teach you these things and to put the knowledge of them into your soul; since to declare his glory and power among men is altogether impossible, even if all the tongues of men now living and of all who have ever lived were to become one. For God, says the evangelist and theologian, no one has ever seen; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. And who of those born of earth could grasp the glory and majesty of the invisible and infinite One,

unless he himself reveal it to whom he will, so far as he wills—just as he revealed it to his prophets and apostles? But we, from their proclamation and from the very nature of things, learn as far as is granted to us. For the Scripture says: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands; and: The invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, being understood by the things he has made, are clearly seen, both his eternal power and divinity. For just as a man, seeing a house splendidly and skillfully built, or a vessel cunningly fitted together, would at once think of the builder or the craftsman and marvel, so I too, having been shaped from things that were not and brought into being—even if I have not been able to behold the One who shaped and provided me—yet from my own well-fitted and most wonderful construction came to a knowledge of his wisdom, not as to what it is, but so far as I am able to conceive: that I was not brought forth of myself, nor did I come into being from myself, but he himself shaped me as he willed, appointing me to take precedence over all creatures, yet making me less than some, and, when I was broken, shaping me anew by a better renewal, and then leading me out from here by his divine command and transferring me to another life unending and eternal—in none of which I am able to resist the strength of his providence,

nor to add anything to myself nor to take away, whether in respect of stature or of the form of my shape, nor to have the power to renew what has grown old in me, nor to set right what has been corrupted. For no one among men has ever been able to accomplish any of these things—neither king, nor wise man, nor rich man, nor ruler, nor any other who pursues human enterprises; for no one, it says, of kings or of those in high places had any other beginning of birth, but there is one entrance for all into life, and an equal exit. From these things, then, that concern myself, I am led by the hand to a knowledge of the Creator's great work; and along with these, considering also the well-fitted construction and the preservation of all creation, that the things themselves are all of themselves subject to turning and change—the intelligible according to choice, both the advance in the good and the falling away from the good, and the perceptible according to generation and corruption, increase and decrease, and change in quality and movement in place—from these too they proclaim with unspeakable voices that they have been made by the uncreated and unturning and unchanging God,

and are held together, and preserved, and ever provided for. For how could opposite natures have come together with one another for the completion of one world, and remained undissolved, unless some almighty power had brought them together and ever preserved them undissolved? For how could anything have remained, unless he himself had willed it? Or how could what was not called by him have been preserved? says the Scripture. For if a ship without a helmsman does not hold together, but is easily sunk, and a small house would not stand without one to care for it, how could the world have held together for so many ages—a work of creation so great, so beautiful and wonderful—without some glorious and great and wonderful governance and all-wise providence? For behold, how long has the heaven endured, and it has not grown dim; the power of the earth has not failed, bearing fruit for so long a time; the springs have not ceased to gush forth since they came to be; the sea, receiving so many rivers, has not exceeded its measure; the courses of the sun and the moon have not been altered; the orderings of day and night have not been changed. From all these the unspeakable power and magnificence of God is made manifest to us,

witnessed by prophets and apostles; yet no one will be able worthily to conceive or to praise his glory. For all things, both the intelligible and whatever falls under perception, the divine Apostle, who had Christ speaking within him, considered and said: We know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, then what is in part will be done away. Therefore also, astounded at the infinite wealth of his wisdom and knowledge, he said outright: O the depth of the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! And if that man, who reached as far as the third heaven and heard unspeakable words, uttered such words, who of those like me could at all look in the face the abysses of so many mysteries, and say anything to the purpose, or be able to conceive worthily of the things spoken, unless the giver of wisdom himself, the corrector of the unwise, should grant it? For in his hand are both we and our words, and all prudence and understanding are with him, and the knowledge of understanding; and he himself has given us the unerring knowledge of the things that are: to know the constitution of the world and the working of the elements, the beginning and end and middle of times, the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons, and that he ordered all things by measure and weight.

For great strength is ever present with him, and who will withstand the might of his arm? For the whole world before him is as a turn of the scales, and as a drop of morning dew that has come down upon the earth. But he has mercy upon all, because he can do all things, and overlooks the sins of men for repentance; for he abhors nothing, nor turns away from those who run to him, the only good and soul-loving Master. Blessed be the name of his glory, the holy and most exalted and most highly praised, unto the ages. Amen.