Letter 14: True kinship comes through virtue, knowledge of truth, and faith in Christ.

I rejoiced in your brotherhood according to the flesh, and I blessed the Lord. I shall rejoice even more if you run after the kinship that belongs to bodiless beings: virtue and the knowledge of the truth. Without these, spiritual powers are not joined to us. They are joined by a life made visible in good works, by the worship that comes through deeds, and by the knowledge that contemplates the worlds that have been made and the worlds still to come: the former through faith, the latter through purity of heart. That purity is acquired through the virtues carried out in faith in Christ. Without faith it is impossible to please God, as the apostle says. So the first thing to seek is faith in Christ.

Greek retroversion from Syriac transmission (Frankenberg 1912, TAN/TEI CC BY 4.0): εχαρην επι τηι σου αδελφοτητι (συγγενειαι) τηι κατα σαρκα και τον κυριον ευλογησα, μαλλον δ' επιχαρησομαι εαν μετα την των ασωματων τρεχηις αδελφοτητα (συγγενειαν) ητις εστιν αρετη και επιγνωσις αληθειας· οτι χωρις τουτων οι πνευματικοι ημιν ου κολλωνται, αλλα οψει η (?) κατορθωμασι, θρησκειαι εργων και γνωσει θεωριας των κοσμων των τε γεγονοτων και των μελλοντων, των μεν γεγονοτων δια πιστεως, των δε μελλοντων δια καθαροτητος καρδιας της εξ αρετων δια της εν Χ. πιστεως επιτελουμενων επικτητου· οτι ανευ πιστεως ουκ ενδεχεται ευαρεστειν τωι θεωι κατα το ρημα του αποστολου . πρωτον τοινυν πιστις εν Χ. επιζητειται Syriac transmission available in the linked TAN/TEI source. The complete corpus is Syriac-transmitted; Greek survives only fragmentarily, so this display text is a retroversion witness.