"I have heard it stated by certain people that we also should pursue secular wisdom, and that if they do not possess this wisdom, it is impossible for them to avoid ignorance and false opinions, even if they have achieved the highest level of impassibility; and that one cannot acquire perfection and sanctity without seeking knowledge from all quarters, above all from Greek culture, which also is a gift of God - just as were those insights granted to the prophets and apostles through revelation. This education confers on the soul the knowledge of created beings, and enriches the faculty of knowledge, which is the greatest of all the powers of the soul. For education not only dispels all other evils from the soul - since every passion has its root and foundation in ignorance - but it also leads men to the knowledge of God, for God is knowable only through the mediation of His creatures.

I was in no way convinced when I heard such views being put forward, for my small experience of monastic life showed me that just the opposite was the case; but I was unable to make a defense against them. 'We not only occupy ourselves with the mysteries of nature' they proudly claimed, 'measuring the celestial cycle, and studying the opposed motions of the stars, their conjunctions, phases and risings, and reckoning the consequences of these things (in all of which matters we take great pride); but in addition, since the inner principles of these phenomena are to be found in the divine and primordial creative Mind, and the images of these principles exist in our soul, we are zealous to understand them, and to cast off every kind of ignorance in their regard by the methods of distinction, syllogistic reasoning and analysis; thus, both in this life and after, we wish to be conformed to the likeness of the Creator'.

I felt myself incapable of responding to these arguments, and so maintained silence towards these men; but now I beg you, Father, to instruct me in what should be said in defense of the truth, so that following the Apostle's injunction I may 'be ready to give an account of the faith that is in us' (1 Peter 3:15).

By examining the nature of sensible things, these people have arrived at a certain concept of God, but not at a conception truly worthy of Him and appropriate to His blessed nature. For their 'disordered heart was darkened' by the machinations of the wicked demons who were instructing them. For if a worthy conception of God could be attained through the use of intellect, how could these people have taken the demons for gods, and how could they have believed the demons when they taught man polytheism? In this way, wrapped up in this mindless and foolish wisdom and unenlightened education, they have calumniated both God and nature. They have deprived God of His sovereignty (at least as far as they are concerned); they have ascribed the Divine Name to demons; and they were so far from finding the knowledge of beings - the object of their desire and zeal - as to claim that inanimate things have a soul and participate in a soul superior to our own. They also allege that things without reason are reasonable, since capable of receiving a human soul; that demons are superior to us and are even our creators (such is their folly), and that we should pay honour to them because they are the cause of our benefits. For this reason they are also called worshippers of demons.

If we, who are instructed in the mysteries of Christ, have sometimes made use of profane sciences, we have done so not as an end in itself, but as a means, as something subordinate to the end; nor have we ever considered that they have the power to lead us to the knowledge of God; nor have we thought of them as a source of strength for the soul, whether in this life or the next. We make use of them, if need be, to refute the erroneous teaching of those who have come from without, just as we sometimes use the testimony of unbelievers to strengthen the faith of believers, but not because we are instructed by the foolishness of the wise of this world.

If they persist in asserting that they have attained the knowledge of God by means of their wisdom, let them read the apostle Paul, who says, 'The world by wisdom knew not God' (1 Corinthians 1:21). How then can philosophy be a gift of God? For if it were a gift of God and a true knowledge of created things, it would lead us to God; it would teach us that He is the cause and creator of all things; it would make us flee from idols and demons. But, as things are, it has produced the opposite effect: not only does it not lead to God, but it has turned men away from the true knowledge of Him, by making them attribute divine names to idols and demons, and by leading them to believe that matter is eternal, that the universe is uncreated, that there are many gods, and that the soul is mortal. For these are the things that the wisdom of the Greeks teaches, as even its own wise men admit.

There is, nevertheless, some benefit to be had even from the profane philosophers - but somewhat as in a mixture of honey and hemlock. So it is most needful that those who wish to separate out the honey from the mixture should beware that they do not take the deadly residue by mistake. And if you were to examine the problem, you would see that all or most of the harmful heresies derive their origin from this source.

It is thus with the 'iconognosts', who pretend that man receives the image of God by knowledge, and that this knowledge conforms the soul to God. For, as was said to Cain, 'If you make your offering correctly, without dividing correctly...' (Genesis 4:7). But to divide well is the property of very few men. Those alone 'divide well', the senses of whole souls are trained to distinguish good and evil.

What need is there to run these dangers without necessity, when it is possible to contemplate the wisdom of God in His creatures not only without peril but with profit? A life which hope in God has liberated from every care naturally impels the soul towards the contemplation of God's creatures. Then it is struck with admiration, deepens its understanding, persists in the glorification of the Creator, and through this sense of wonder is led forward to what is greater. According to St. Isaac, 'It comes upon treasures which cannot be expressed in words'; and using prayer as a key, it penetrates thereby into the mysteries which 'eye has not seen, ear has not heard and which have not entered into the heart of man' (1 Corinthians 2:9), mysteries manifested by the Spirit alone to those who are worthy, as St. Paul teaches.

Do you see the swiftest way, full of profit and without danger, that leads to those supernatural and heavenly treasures?

In the case of the secular wisdom, you must first kill the serpent, in other words, overcome the pride that arises from this philosophy. How difficult that is! 'The arrogance of philosophy has nothing in common with humility', as the saying goes. Having overcome it, then, you must separate and cast away the head and tail, for these things are evil in the highest degree. By the head, I mean manifestly wrong opinions concerning things intelligible, divine and primordial; and by the tail, the fabulous stories concerning created things. As to what lies in between the head and tail, that is, discourses on nature, you must separate out useless ideas by means of the faculties of examination and inspection possessed by the soul, just as pharmacists purify the flesh of serpents with fire and water. Even if you do all this, and make good use of what has been properly set aside, how much trouble and circumspection will be required for the task!

Nonetheless, if you put to good use that part of the profane wisdom which has been well excised, no harm can result, for it will naturally have become an instrument for good. But even so, it cannot in the strict sense be called a gift of God and a spiritual thing, for it pertains to the order of nature and is not sent from on high. This is why Paul, who is so wise in divine matters, calls it 'carnal' (2 Corinthians 1:12); for, says he, 'Consider that among us who have been chosen, there are not many wise according to the flesh' (1 Corinthians 1:26). For who could make better use of this wisdom than those whom Paul calls 'wise from outside' (1 Timothy 3:7)? But having this wisdom in mind, he calls them 'wise according to the flesh', and rightly too.

Just as in legal marriage, the pleasure derived from procreation cannot exactly be called a gift of God, because it is carnal and constitutes a gift of nature and not of grace (even though that nature has been created by God); even so the knowledge that comes from profane education, even if well used, is a gift of nature, and not of grace - a gift which God accords to all without exception through nature, and which one can develop by exercise. This last point - that no one acquires it without effort and exercise - is an evident proof that it is a question of a natural, not a spiritual, gift.

It is our sacred wisdom that should legitimately be called a gift of God and not a natural gift, since even simple fishermen who receive it from on high become, as Gregory the Theologian says, sons of Thunder, whose word has encompassed the very bounds of the universe. By this grace, even publicans are made merchants of souls; and even the burning zeal of persecutors is transformed, making them Pauls instead of Sauls, turning away from the earth to attain 'the third heaven' and 'hear ineffable things'. By this true wisdom we too can become conformed to the image of God and continue to be such after death.

As to natural wisdom, it is said that even Adam possessed it in abundance, more so than all his descendants, although he was the first who failed to safeguard conformity to the image. Profane philosophy existed as an aid to this natural wisdom before the advent of Him who came to recall the soul to its ancient beauty; why then were we not renewed by this philosophy before Christ's coming? Why did we need, not someone to teach us philosophy - an art which passes away with this age, so that it is said to be 'of this age' (1 Corinthians 2:6) - but One 'who takes away the sin of the world', and who grants us a true and eternal wisdom - even though this appears as 'foolishness' (1 Corinthians 1:18) to the ephemeral and corrupt wise men of this world, whereas in reality its absence makes truly foolish those not spiritually attached to it? Do you not clearly see that it is not the study of profane sciences which brings salvation, which purifies the cognitive faculty of the soul, and conforms it to the divine Archetype?

This then, is my conclusion, if man who seeks to be purified by fulfilling the prescriptions of the Law gains no benefit from Christ - even though the Law has been manifestly promulgated by God - then neither will the acquisition of the profane sciences avail. For how much more will Christ be of no benefit to one who turns to the discredited alien philosophy to gain purification for his soul? It is Paul, the mouthpiece of Christ, who tells us this and gives us his testimony."