When this people was enslaved by the Egyptians under a tyrant Pharaoh, God by means of terrible, marvelous signs and wonders brought the chosen people out of Egypt through Moses and Aaron, holy men and worthy of the gift of prophecy. Through them He worthily punished the Egyptians for their cruelty and led the Israelites (as this people are called in the name of the grandson of Abraham) along the bottom of the Red Sea, cutting the waters so that a wall was formed on the right and left. When Pharaoh and the Egyptians chased after them, the water returned to its place and destroyed all the pursuers. Then, leading His people through the wilderness for 40 years with great signs and wonders, feeding them with heavenly food, God gave them a law written on two stone tablets, which He gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. This law, which forbids idols and all evil deeds, teaches to believe and worship the one true God and to do good works, served as a model, the basis of all subsequent laws. Constantly working miracles among the Israelites, God led them to a beautiful country, which He once promised Abraham to give to his descendants. It would be possible to tell for a long time about all those deeds, great and amazing, glorious and rare, which the Lord did among them. The purpose of all these miracles was to distract the human race from all iniquity and wickedness, and to restore to it its original predestination. But even to this day the power of sin has power over them, and death reigns over people through the intrigues of the devil, condemning everyone to be sent down to hell. When we came to such a miserable situation, the Creator did not turn away from us. He did not allow the creations of His hands to perish completely. By the will of God the Father, the Only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father, consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the true God, eternal and omnipotent, like the Father, descends to His servants and, being perfect God, becomes perfect Man, incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Most Holy Virgin Mary. One of the Archangels was sent to the Most-Pure Virgin to announce the incomprehensible conception and birth, incomprehensible because the Son of God without a father was conceived in the Most-Holy Virgin by the Holy Spirit. Having received from the MostHoly Virgin a Body animated by a rational soul, Christ appeared to us, uniting in Himself two natures – the Divine and the human, and He preserved the Most-Pure Virgin Who gave birth to Him immaculate. And having taken upon Himself all that is human, except sin, He also took upon Himself our infirmities, our infirmities. Since death entered the world through sin, it was necessary that our Redeemer should be sinless and not subject to death for sins. Having lived among people for 30 years, He was baptized in the Jordan River by John, a holy man and standing above all the prophets. During the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, the voice of God the Father was heard from heaven: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17). And the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove. Christ began to work great and amazing miracles: He raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, cast out spirits, healed the dumb and deaf, cleansed lepers, and everywhere restored our nature to its original form, showing us by deed the true path of virtue, removing us from perdition and directing us to eternal life. He then chose 12 disciples, whom He called Apostles, and commissioned them to proclaim to all the heavenly life which He had come to earth to declare. By His deeds the Lord has made us, the miserable inhabitants of the earth, partakers of heaven. But the chief priests and elders of the Jews (He lived in their country) disliked Him, envying His wonderful and divine actions, signs and wonders that they saw. Forgetting all the good done by Christ, they, having treacherously taken possession of Him through one of His disciples, presented Him to the judgment of the pagans; accusing Him of many things, they achieved His condemnation to death on the cross. The Lord voluntarily decided to bear all this, for He came to suffer for us, wishing to free man from suffering. The Lord endured all these sufferings in human flesh, and His Divinity did not suffer, for He consisted of two natures: Divine and human; He took on human nature for our sake, and by it He suffered, but by Divinity He did not suffer and did not die. The body of the sinless Jesus Christ was crucified; but He was not subject to death, because He had not committed sin, and there was no deceit in His mouth (Isaiah 53:9), for through transgression, as I have mentioned, death entered into the world, as the Apostle Peter says, but He died in the flesh for our sake, that He might deliver us from the power of death. Having descended into hell and crushed it, Jesus Christ freed from there the souls imprisoned there from time immemorial. Laid in the tomb, He rose on the third day. Having conquered death, He granted us victory over it. Having made His flesh incorruptible, the Saviour appeared to His disciples, granting them peace, and through them to the entire human race. After 40 days, He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to the earth to judge the living and the dead, and to render to each one according to his deeds. After His glorious ascension to heaven, the Lord sent down the Holy Spirit upon His disciples in the form of tongues of fire, after which they began to speak in foreign tongues. Having received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles were scattered among all nations, preaching the true faith, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, instructing them to fulfill all the commandments of the Savior. The pagans who were in error were enlightened by the Spirit; thanks to preaching, superstition and the worship of idols were destroyed among them. The devil, unable to endure defeat, is still waging war with us, instilling in the foolish and foolish to preserve idolatry, but his power turned out to be weak, and his sword finally fell before the power of Christ. And so, I have given you a brief idea of my Lord God and Saviour, and you will know more fully if you accept His teaching with all your soul and become His servant."

When the king's son heard these words, the light illuminated his soul like lightning. In an abundance of joy, amazed, he rose from his throne and said to Barlaam: "This is that priceless stone, as I guess, the most honorable of men, which you naturally keep secret, without showing it to anyone who will; that stone by which the vigor of the spiritual strength is maintained, because as soon as I heard your words, the grace-filled light penetrated into my heart, and the heavy veil that had long weighed on my soul fell from my soul. Therefore, if my assumption is correct, then tell me this. But if you know anything better than what has been said, do not refuse to tell me even that."

Barlaam answered him: "Yes, my lord and king, this is that great mystery hidden from this world, and at the same time revealed to the human race from the very creation of man. It was discovered in antiquity by many prophets and preachers, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, who preached it in many ways and with a great voice. And all of them, foreseeing the future salvation, wanted to be its witnesses, but did not live to see it. The present generation has been vouchsafed to receive it. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16).

Then Joasaph said: "Whatever you have said, I unconditionally believe and acknowledge God, Whom you preach. Only you must explain to me and teach me without fail: what should I do, and what is the baptism which, as you say, the believer must accept"?

To this Barlaam replied: "The grace-filled gift of baptism is, as it were, the root or firm foundation of the holy and irreproachable Christian faith, which saves man from the innate ability to sin and from the evil that has arisen from human vices. Thus the Saviour commanded us to be reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, and thus to be restored to our original dignity. We are baptized, according to the words of the Lord, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Then the gifts of the Holy Spirit dwell in the soul of the baptized person, enlightening it, making it God-like, and renewing it in the image and likeness of God. Having freed the soul from the evil inherent in it as a result of previous evil deeds, we conclude a covenant with God, another new life, and receive the foundation for this purer life. Thanks to this, we become joint heirs of those who have been reborn for immortality and have attained eternal salvation. And without baptism, no one can hope, even if he be the most pious of the pious. For the Son of God, Who was incarnate for our salvation, said: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). And so, first of all, having believed in your soul, with a sincere desire, proceed immediately to baptism, and under no circumstances postpone it, for postponing it is dangerous, because of the uncertainty of the time of our death."

Then Joasaph said: "Of what hope did you speak, which without baptism cannot be fulfilled? What is this kingdom that you called heavenly? Where did you hear the words of God incarnate? What is this uncertainty of the time of death, the thought of which oppresses my heart and causes me grief and sorrows that destroy my flesh, and even eats away at the strength of my bones? And if we die, will we be completely destroyed, or is there any other life after the cessation of this life? I would like to know all this."

To all these questions Barlaam answered as follows: "That good hope of which I have spoken is the hope of the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom is completely inexpressible in human language. The Holy Scriptures say: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). When we are worthy, having left this coarse flesh, to attain heavenly bliss, then the Lord Himself, Who has made it possible for our hope to be fulfilled, will show us what is the glory of all these blessings, incomprehensible to the mind, and what is that ineffable light and unceasing life with the Angels. If we are worthy of life with God, as far as it is attainable for human nature, then we will know everything from Him, which we do not know now.

I have drawn all this from the divinely inspired books of Holy Scripture, which teach this, and above all I place the kingdom of heaven, where I will be close to the contemplation of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, I will be purified and illumined by an unapproachable light, and I will behold the splendor of Her ineffable glory. It is not surprising that words cannot express that glory, that light, and that goodness, since they would not be great and extraordinary if they were accessible to our minds and expressible in words, accessible to us, the inhabitants of the earth, clothed in this coarse perishable body. Think of it in this way, accept it all with faith that it contains nothing imaginary, and try to attain this immortal kingdom through good works. If you attain it, then you will know everything perfectly.

As for the fact that you asked how we heard the words of the incarnate God, we have learned all about His Divine activity through the Holy Spirit. Gospel. This is the name of that part of the Holy Scriptures. Scripture, which preaches to us about immortality, about eternal life, about the forgiveness of sins and the kingdom of heaven. It was written by the witnesses and ministers of the Word of God, of whom I have spoken above, saying that Christ, our Saviour, chose His disciples and Apostles. They gave us in writing, after the glorious ascension of the Lord into heaven, about His earthly life, His teachings and miracles, as far as it was possible to convey in writing. For the chosen Holy Evangelist said thus at the conclusion of his narrative: "Jesus did many other things, but if I were to write about them in detail, I think the world itself would not contain the books that have been written" (John 21:25).

In the Holy Scriptures. The Gospel contains an account of the Incarnation, teaching, miracles, and works of Christ, written by the Holy Spirit. It tells of the glorious suffering to which the Lord subjected Himself for our sake, of death, of the holy resurrection on the third day after death, and of His ascension into heaven, as well as of His future terrible coming in glory. For the Son of God will come a second time in all His glory, with all the legions of heaven, to judge the human race and to reward each one according to his deeds. God created man from the earth, as I told you before, and breathed into him the breath of life, which is called the soul. The soul is a spiritual and rational being. Since we are condemned to death, we all die. And no one can avoid it. The death of the soul is different from the death of the body. The body, created from the earth, again turns into the earth separately from the soul and, decomposing, is destroyed. The soul, being immortal, goes where the Lord commands, depending on what place it has prepared for itself in cohabitation with the body. Whatever he sows here, he will reap there.

Then, after many years, Christ our God will come in His terrible and inexpressible glory to judge the world, fearing Whom the heavenly powers will be terrified, and all the legions of angels will stand before Him in trembling. Then, by the voice of the Archangel and by the trumpet of God, all the dead will be resurrected and will stand before His terrible throne. Resurrection is again the union of the soul with the body. But the body, destroyed and scattered, will rise unharmed; And don't let it seem incredible to you. It is not impossible that the body, created from the beginning from the earth and changed again into the earth from which it was made, by the command of the Creator, should rise again unharmed. A sufficient proof of the possibility of this will be for you if you imagine how many things God created out of nothing (because God created man from a earth that did not exist before). How did the earth become man? How did the earth that did not exist before appear? What kind of support does it have? How did innumerable kinds of inanimate objects, plants, and other works appear on it? Where does such a variety of creatures come from? It is quite possible for Him who created all things out of nothing, and who is still creating, to restore from the earth the dead and decayed bodies, so that each one may receive according to his works.

This earthly life is a life of deeds, and the future is a life of retribution for deeds. In this resurrection and recompense lies the justice of God. For many righteous people, having suffered many misfortunes here, were subjected to a violent death. Other atheists and lawless people spent their earthly lives in bliss and prosperity. But God, being good and just, appointed the hour of resurrection, in which each soul, united with its body, will receive its due.

The sinner who enjoyed prosperity here will be punished for his sins there; but the righteous man, having received here the recompense for his transgressions, will there become a joint heir of eternal blessings, for the time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good will go forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28,29). And then our Creator will sit on the throne, and books will be opened, in which all our deeds, words, desires and innermost thoughts are recorded.

Then nothing can reject the right judgment: neither skillful defender, nor persuasiveness of speeches, nor false justification, nor riches, nor nobility, nor gifts. But the incorruptible, righteous Judge will justly judge everyone for his deeds, words and thoughts. And then those who have done good will depart into eternal life, into inexpressible light, rejoicing together with the Angels, enjoying unheard-of and unprecedented blessings, contemplating the Holy Spirit. Trinity. But those who have done evil, all the wicked and sinners will go to eternal torment. The punishments will be: a fiery furnace, terrible darkness, constantly gnawing worms, gnashing of teeth and other innumerable punishments. The heaviest punishment is alienation from God, rejection from His presence, deprivation of the sight of His glory, exposing every deed and boundless shame.