1.
Some things are so great, so far beyond man — so far past what our mortal nature can reach — that our rational and dying race cannot possibly grasp them. Yet they become possible when God pours out his grace upon men, great grace beyond measure, through Jesus Christ, the servant of his unsurpassable grace toward us, and through the co-working Spirit — all by the will of God.
Take the possession of Wisdom, by whom all things were made — for, as David says, in wisdom God made them all. For human nature as it stands this is impossible; yet out of the impossible it becomes possible, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who became wisdom to us from God — righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
For what man shall know the counsel of God? Or who shall conceive what the Lord wills? Since the reasonings of mortals are timid, and our notions insecure. For a corruptible body weighs down the soul, and the earthy tent burdens a mind crowded with cares. Hardly do we guess at the things on earth — but the things in heaven, who has ever traced them out?
Who would deny that it is impossible for a man to trace out the things in heaven? And yet even this impossible thing becomes possible by God's surpassing grace. For the one who was caught up to the third heaven perhaps did trace out the things in the three heavens — since he had heard unspeakable words, which no man is permitted to utter.
Who could say it is possible for a man to come to know the mind of the Lord? Yet even this God grants through Christ. [Here the chief manuscript has a gap of about three and a half lines, which held a discussion of the words in John 15; the conjectural fillings proposed by editors are not rendered as Origen's text.]
But as no one among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man within him, so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. And if no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God, it is impossible for a man to know the things of God. Consider too how even this becomes possible. We, he says, received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given us by God — things we speak not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit.
Greek (GCS)
Τὰ διὰ τὸ εἶναι μέγιστα καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον τυγχάνειν εἰς ὑπερβολήν τε ὑπεράνω τῆς ἐπικήρου φύσεως ἡμῶν ἀδύνατα τῷ λογικῷ καὶ θνητῷ γένει καταλαβεῖν ἐν πολλῇ δὲ καὶ ἀμετρήτῳ ἐκχεομένῃ ἀπὸ θεοῦ εἰς ἀνθρώπους χάριτι θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ τῆς ἀνυπερβλήτου εἰς ἡμᾶς χάριτος ὑπηρέτου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τοῦ συνεργοῦ πνεύματος βουλήσει θεοῦ δυνατὰ γίνεται. ἀδύνατον γοῦν τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει ὑπάρχον σοφίας κτῆσις, ᾗ τὰ πάντα κατεσκεύασται (πάντα γὰρ κατὰ τὸν Δαυὶδ ὁ θεὸς ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησε), δυνατὸν ἐξ ἀδυνάτου γίνεται διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὃς ἐγενήθη σοφία ἡμῖν ἀπὸ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνη τε καὶ ἁγιασμὸς καὶ ἀπολύτρωσις. τίς γὰρ ἄνθρωπος γνώσεται βουλὴν θεοῦ; ἢ τίς ἐνθυμηθήσεται τί θέλει ὁ κύριος; ἐπεὶ λογισμοὶ θνητῶν δειλοί, καὶ ἐπισφαλεῖς αἱ ἐπίνοιαι ἡμῶν· φθαρτὸν γὰρ σῶμα βαρύνει ψυχήν, καὶ βρίθει τὸ γεῶδες σκῆνος νοῦν πολυφροντίδα. καὶ μόγις εἰκάζομεν τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς, τὰ δὲ ἐν οὐρανοῖς τίς ἐξιχνιάσει; τίς δ᾽ οὐκ ἂν εἴποι ἀδύνατον εἶναι ἀνθρώπῳ ἐξιχνιάσαι τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς; ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως τοῦτο τὸ ἀδύνατον τῇ ὑπερβαλλούσῃ χάριτι τοῦ θεοῦ δυνατὸν γίνεται· ὃ γὰρ ἁρπαγεὶς εἰς τρίτον οὐρανὸν ἐξιχνίασε τάχα τὰ ἐν τοῖς τρισὶν οὐρανοῖς διὰ τὸ ἀκηκοέναι ἄῤῥητα ῥήματα, ἃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ λαλῆσαι. τίς δὲ δύναται εἰπεῖν ὅτι δυνατὸν ἀνθρώπῳ γνωσθῆναι τὸν τοῦ κυρίου νοῦν; ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο ὁ θεὸς διὰ Χριστοῦ χαρίζεται. [LACUNA: in T a gap of ~3.5 lines (~225 letters) follows χαρίζεται; it held a discussion of John 15:14-15. One clause after the gap is illegible in the scan and is not rendered.] ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς οὐδεὶς οἶδεν ἀνθρώπων τὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὕτω καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ. εἰ δὲ μηδεὶς οἶδε τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀδύνατον εἰδέναι ἄνθρωπον τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ κατανόησον, πῶς δυνατὸν γίνεται· ἡμεῖς δέ, φησίν, οὐ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ κόσμου ἐλάβομεν ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵνα εἰδῶμεν τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ χαρισθέντα ἡμῖν, ἃ καὶ λαλοῦμεν οὐκ ἐν διδακτοῖς ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας λόγοις ἀλλ᾽ ἐν διδακτοῖς πνεύματος.