Against the Manichaeans 923
Greek text: PG 40 (Greek text: Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 40 (1858), OCR of the Bavarian State Library copy).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 923
923PG 40:923
νύμφη, ὅτι ἡ κεφαλή μου ένεπλήσθη δρόσου, καὶ οἱ βόστρυχοί μου ψεκάδων νυκτός · ἵνα τὴν φιλίαν δείξῃ, καὶ τὴν κηδεμονίαν σημάνῃ· ὅτι καὶ ἀποκλειόμενος ὁ λόγος ἀνέχεται, καὶ ἔξω ὢν φέρει· καὶ οὐκ ἀφίσταται ἕως ἂν τῇ συνεχείᾳ τῆς αἰτήσεως καὶ τῆς κρούσεως ὑπανοίξει ἑαυτὴν ἡ διάνοια, τόπον τῷ κρούοντι παρέχουσα. Περιέρχονται δὲ καὶ οἱ γόητες· καὶ οἱ ψευδοπροφῆται, καὶ οἱ ψευδόχριστοι, πῆ μὲν κρούοντες, πῆ δὲ ὀρύττοντες· καὶ τῷ μὲν κρούσματι ἁπαλωτέρῳ χρώμενοι, καὶ μιμούμενοι τὴν ἀληθῆ κροῦσιν, ὡς τάχα τῇ ὁμοιότητι τῆς κρούσεως ἀπατηθεῖσα ἡ διάνοια, ὡς οἰκείῳ καὶ γνωρίμῳ ὑπανοίγῃ· οὐ παραιτούμενοι δὲ οὐδὲ τὸ τοιχωρυχεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διορύττειν ἐσπουδακότες, ἵνα ἢ ἀπάτῃ ἢ βίᾳ δελεάσωσι τὰς διανοίας ἀμέλει τοὺς μὲν βίᾳ εἶλον, τοὺς δὲ ἀπάτῃ γεγοητεύκασι. Διὰ τοῦτο οἱ σοφοὶ καὶ σεμνοὶ κλειδοφύλακες ὄντες, ἐπιστήμην μετὰ τοῦ γρηγόρου κερασάμενοι· διὰ τὸ ἐγρηγορεῖν οὐδέποτε διορύττονται · διὰ δὲ τὴν ἐπιστήμην, οὐδέποτε ἀπατῶνται· ἐπιστήμη μὲν γὰρ τῇ γοητεία, γρηγόρησις δὲ τόπον τοῖς διορύττουσιν οὐ δίδωσι. Τούτου χάριν οἱ σεμνοὶ καὶ σεμναὶ κλειδοφυλακήσωμεν ἑαυτῶν τὰς διανοίας, ἐπιστήμῃ μὲν τὴν ἀπάτην νικῶντες, τῇ δὲ γρηγορήσει τὸ ἄσυλον ἑαυτοῖς μνηστευόμενοι.
nymphē, hoti hē kephalē mou eneplēsthē drosou, kai hoi bostrychoi mou psekadōn nyktos ; hina tēn philian deixę̄, kai tēn kēdemonian sēmanę̄; hoti kai apokleiomenos ho logos anechetai, kai exō ōn pherei; kai ouk aphistatai heōs an tę̄ synecheią tēs aitēseōs kai tēs krouseōs hypanoixei heautēn hē dianoia, topon tǭ krouonti parechousa. Perierchontai de kai hoi goētes; kai hoi pseudoprophētai, kai hoi pseudochristoi, pē men krouontes, pē de oryttontes; kai tǭ men krousmati hapalōterǭ chrōmenoi, kai mimoumenoi tēn alēthē krousin, hōs tacha tę̄ homoiotēti tēs krouseōs apatētheisa hē dianoia, hōs oikeiǭ kai gnōrimǭ hypanoigę̄; ou paraitoumenoi de oude to toichōrychein, alla kai dioryttein espoudakotes, hina ē apatę̄ ē bią deleasōsi tas dianoias amelei tous men bią eilon, tous de apatę̄ gegoēteukasi. Dia touto hoi sophoi kai semnoi kleidophylakes ontes, epistēmēn meta tou grēgorou kerasamenoi; dia to egrēgorein oudepote dioryttontai ; dia de tēn epistēmēn, oudepote apatōntai; epistēmē men gar tę̄ goēteia, grēgorēsis de topon tois dioryttousin ou didōsi. Toutou charin hoi semnoi kai semnai kleidophylakēsōmen heautōn tas dianoias, epistēmę̄ men tēn apatēn nikōntes, tę̄ de grēgorēsei to asylon heautois mnēsteuomenoi.
my bride, for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night”; to show his friendship and signify his care; that even when shut out, the Word bears it, and being outside endures it, and does not depart until, by the persistence of the request and the knocking, the mind opens itself and gives place to the one who knocks. But sorcerers too go about, and false prophets and false christs, sometimes knocking and sometimes digging through: using a softer knock and imitating the true knocking, so that the mind, perhaps deceived by the likeness of the knock, may open as to one familiar and known; and not refusing even to break through walls, but eager to dig through, so as to entice minds by deceit or by force. Indeed they have taken some by force and bewitched others by deceit. That is why the wise and holy, being keepers of the keys, mixing knowledge with watchfulness, are never dug through because they are watchful, and never deceived because of their knowledge; for knowledge gives no place to sorcery, and watchfulness none to those who dig through. For this reason let us, holy men and holy women, keep the keys of our minds, conquering deceit by knowledge and wooing for ourselves inviolability by watchfulness.
Song 5:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 3:20 (echo, medium confidence) · Matt 24:43 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ knocks patiently at the mind; heretics imitate or break in, so we must guard our minds with knowledge and watchfulness.
- Song 5:2; Matt 24:24; Rev 3:20; Matt 24:43.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Migne margin letter removed): Α νύμφη → νύμφη; κερασάμενοι· Β διὰ → κερασάμενοι· διὰ.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Serapion, Man. 923 (PG 40:923; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/serapion-contra-manichaeos/923). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/serapion-contra-manichaeos/923
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR; corrections logged). No public-domain English translation exists and no FOTC volume covers this work, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.