I said. “Because,” he answered, “He became manifest361 in the last days of the dispensation: for this reason the gate was made new, that they who are to be saved by it might enter into the kingdom of God. You saw,” he said, “that those stones which came in through the gate were used for the building of the tower, and that those which did not come, were again thrown back to their own place?” “I saw, sir,” I replied. “In like manner,” he continued, “no one shall enter into the kingdom of God unless he receive His holy name. For if you desire to enter into a city, and that city is surrounded by a wall, and has but one gate, can you enter into that city save through the gate which it has?” “Why, how can it be otherwise, sir?” I 48 said. “If, then, you cannot enter into the city except through its gate, so, in like manner, a man cannot otherwise enter into the kingdom of God than by the name of His beloved Son. You saw,” he added, “the multitude who were building the tower?” “I saw them, sir,” I said. “Those,” he said, “are all glorious angels, and by them accordingly is the Lord surrounded. And the gate is the Son of God. This is the one entrance to the Lord. In no other way, then, shall any one enter in to Him except through His Son. You saw,” he continued, “the six men, and the tall and glorious man in the midst of them, who walked round the tower, and rejected the stones from the building?” “I saw him, sir,” I answered. “The glorious man,” he said, “is the Son of God, and those six glorious angels are those who support Him on the right hand and on the left. None of these glorious angels,” he continued, “will enter in unto God apart from Him. Whosoever does not receive His362 name, shall not enter into the kingdom of God.” Chap. XIII. “And the tower,” I asked, “what does it mean?” “This tower,” he replied, “is the Church.” “And these virgins, who are they?” “They are holy spirits, and men cannot otherwise be found in the kingdom of God unless these have put their clothing upon them: for if you re- ceive the name only, and do not receive from them the clothing, they are of no advantage to you. For these virgins are the powers of the Son of God. If you bear His name but possess not His power, it will be in vain that you bear His name. Those stones,” he continued, “which you saw rejected bore His name, but did not put on the clothing of the virgins.” “Of what nature is their clothing, sir?” I asked. “Their very names,” he said, “are their clothing. Every one who bears the name of the Son of God, ought to bear the names also of these; for the Son Himself bears the names363 of these virgins. As many stones,” he continued, “as you saw [come into the building of the tower through the hands364] of these virgins, and remain- ing, have been clothed with their strength. For this reason you see that the tower became of 361 [1 Pet. i. 20.] 362 His. God’s.—Lips. 363 [Ex. xxviii. 12, 29.] 364 Omitted in Lips. The text in Vat. and Pal. The Æth different in form, but in meaning the same. 96 Similitude Ninth. The Great Mysteries in the Building of the Militant…