The Way Within

Οὐδ’ ὥσπερ ἐστὶν αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς ὑπεράνω πάντων, οὔτω καὶ ἡ πρὸς τοῦτον ὁδὸς πόῥῥωθεν ἢ ἔξωθεν ἡμῶν ἐστιν· ἀλλ’ έν ἡμῖν ἐστι, καὶ ἀφ’ ἡμῶν εὑρεῖν τὴν ἀρχὴν δυνατὸν. καθὼς καὶ Μωῦσῆς ἐδίδασκε λέγων· Τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως ἐντὸς τῆς καρδίας σοῦ ἐστιν. Ὅπερ καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ σημαίνων καὶ βεβαιῶν ἔλεγεν· Ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν. Ἔνδον γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτοίς ἔχοντες τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, δυνάμεθα ταχέως θεωρῆσαι καὶ νοῆσαι τὸν τοῦ παντὸς βασιλέα, τοῦ Πατρὸς σωτήριον Λόγου. Καὶ μὴ προφασιζέσθωσαν Ἔλληνες οἱ τοίς εἰδώλοις θρησκεύοντες· μηδὲ ἄλλος τις ἁπλῶς ἑαυτὸν ἀπατάτω, ὡς τὴν τοιαύτην ὁδὸν οὐκ ἔχων, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς ἀθεότητος ἑαυτοῦ πρόφασιν εὑρίσκων. Πάντες γάρ εἰς αὐτὴν ἐπιβεβήκαμεν καὶ ἔχομεν, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντες αὐτὴν ὁδεύειν, ἀλλά παροδεύειν ἐκβαίνοντες θέλουσι διὰ τὰς ἔξωθεν αὐτοὺς ἑλκούσας ἡδονὰς τοῦ βίου. Καὶ εἴ τις ἂν ἔροιτο, τίς ἂν εἴη αὔτη· φημὶ δὴ τὴν ἐκάστου ψυχην εἴναι, καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐτῇ νοῦν. Δι’ αὐτοῦ γὰρ μόνου δύναται Θεὸς θεωρείσθαι καὶ νοεῖσθαι. Ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Λόγος κατά Ἑλλήνων

Neither as God Himself is above all, nor is the way to Him distant or outside us; but in us it is and it is possible to find its beginning in ourselves. As Moses taught, saying:  'The word of faith is within your heart.' 1 Which very thing the Saviour declared and established, when He said, 'The kingdom of God is within you.' 2 For having faith and the kingdom of God in ourselves we shall quickly be able to contemplate and perceive the One who is king of all, the salvation of the Word of the Father. And let not the heathen make excuses, those who worship idols, nor let any one else deceive himself, that he has no such way, and that by this discovery he has an excuse for his own godlessness. For everyone has walked upon it, and we all have it, even if we do not all travel by it but rather wander from it, wishing for the pleasures of life beyond it. And if one were to ask, 'what way might this be?' I say that it is the soul of each one of us, and the intelligence which is in the same. For by that alone is God able to be contemplated and perceived. Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, Against the Heathen 1 Deut 30. 14.13 2  Lk 17.21