Letter 1126: Scripture speaks with precision to those who read carefully.

To Neilos the Deacon. On the words, "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit" [1 Corinthians 2:14]. What the spiritual man is, and the soulish, and the fleshly. Paul calls "spiritual," O wise one, those adorned with a spiritual gift; and not only those who have advanced above nature, but also those who through faith have transcended the sequence of reasonings. One of these was Paul himself, and also those to whom he wrote: "You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you" [Romans 8:9]. But "soulish" [or "natural"] are those concerning whom it is written, "Soulish men, not having the Spirit" [Jude 19], who rather rely upon their reckonings and syllogisms and deliberations, and think to find what is just and what is advantageous from these; such are the wise men among the Greeks. And "fleshly" are those overcome by the passions of the flesh, named from that which holds the greatest power over them; such are all who are accursed and unclean and rage after carnal intercourse. For although the spiritual man has a body and a soul, and the soulish man has a body, and the fleshly man has a soul, yet each is named from that which prevails in him. For just as the body is called "earthy," although it also partakes of the other elements, because for the greatest part it partakes of earth, so too the latter has carried off his name from that which prevails.

Εἰς τό « Ὁ ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος οὐ δέχεται τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος. » Τί πνευματικός, καὶ ψυχικὸς καὶ σαρκικός. Πνευματικοὺς καλεῖ, ὦ σοφέ, ὁ Παῦλος, τοὺς πνευματικῷ κεκοσμημένους χαρίσματι · καὶ οὐ μόνον τῆς φύσεως ἀνωτέρω χωρήσαντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν τῶν λόγων ἀκολουθίαν διὰ τῆς πίστεως ὑπερβεβηκότας (16). Ὧν εἰς ἦν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Παῦλος, κἀκεῖνοι οἷς ἔγραψεν · « Οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκί, ἀλλ’ ἐν πνεύματι, εἴπερ Πνεῦμα θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. » Ψυχικοὺς δὲ, περὶ ὧν γέγραπται • « Ψυχικοὶ πνεῦμα μὴ ἔχοντες » τοὺς τοῖς λογισμοῖς καὶ συλλογισμοῖς καὶ διαλογισμοῖς μᾶλλον ἐπερειδομένους, καὶ τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὸ συμφέρον ἐκ τούτων νομίζοντας εὑρίσκειν • οὒοί εἰσιν οἱ παρ’ Ἕλλησι σοφοί. Σαρκικοὺς δὲ τοὺς τοῖς πάθεσι τῆς σαρκὸς ἡττηθέντας, ἀπὸ τοῦ πλειστοδυναμοῦντος αὐτοὺς καλῶν • οἷοι πάντες οἱ ἐναγεῖς, καὶ ἀκάθαρτοι, καὶ περὶ τὰς συνουσίας λυττῶντες. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ σωματικὸς Πνευματικὸς (17) σῶμα ἔχει καὶ ψυχὴν, καὶ ὁ ψυχικὸς σῶμα ἔχει, καὶ ὁ σαρκικὸς ψυχὴν, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἕκαστος καλεῖται (18). Ὥσπερ γὰρ γήϊνον λέγεται τὸ σῶμα, καίτοι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων στοιχείων μετέχον, τῷ κατὰ τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος τῆς γῆς μετέχειν • οὕτω κἀκεῖνος ἀπὸ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἐξενίκησε τοὔνομα.