Letter 207

To the Same Person. Paul [the Apostle], while he was a persecutor of the Church of Christ, was first blinded in his evils and in his unspeakable cruelty, so that he might recover his sight unto God and unto righteousness. Fittingly, then, did the Lord say: "I came into the world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind." [John 9:39] For he hinted that he would blind those eyes that cling fast to wicked deeds and to absurdities, but would open and heal the eyes of the mind [literally, the intelligible eyes], by which is beheld the beauty of the virtues and of the knowledge of God.

Παῦλος διώκτης ὑπάρχων τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλη- σίας ἀπετυφλώθη πρῶτον τοῖς κακοῖς, καὶ τῇ ἀφάτῳ ὠμότητι, ὅπως ἀναβλέψει τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τῇ δικαιο- σύνῃ. Εἰκότως τοίνυν ὁ Κύριος ἔλεγεν· «Ἐγὼ ἦλθον εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἵνα οἱ μὴ βλέποντες βλέπωσι, καὶ οἱ βλέποντες τυφλοὶ γένωνται.» Ἠνίξατο γὰρ τοὺς τοῖς πονηρεύμασιν, καὶ ταῖς ἀτοπίαις προστετηκό- τας ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀποτυφλώσαι, ἀνοῖξαι δὲ, καὶ ἀκέ- σασθαι τοὺς νοητοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, οἷς ἐποπτεύεται τὸ κάλλος τῶν ἀρετῶν καὶ τῆς θεογνωσίας.