Chapter VIII.—Desires of the Flesh to Be Subdued.

“But the sole cause of our wanting and being deprived of all these things is ignorance.  For while men do not know how much good there is in knowledge, they do not suffer the evil of ignorance to be removed from them; for they know not how great a difference is involved in the change of one of these things for the other.  Wherefore I counsel every learner willingly to lend his ear to the word of God, and to hear with love of the truth what we say, that his mind, receiving the best seed, may bring forth joyful fruits by good deeds.  For if, while I teach the things which pertain to salvation, any one refuses to receive them, and strives to resist p. 145 them with a mind occupied by evil opinions, he shall have the cause of his perishing, not from us, but from himself.  For it is his duty to examine with just judgment the things which we say, and to understand that we speak the words of truth, that, knowing how things are, and directing his life in good actions, he may be found a partaker of the kingdom of heaven, subjecting to himself the desires of the flesh, and becoming lord of them, that so at length he himself also may become the pleasant possession of the Ruler of all.