Quaestiones aliae

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, CERTAIN OTHER QUESTIONS.

Question 1. What is God? Answer. God is an intelligent substance, both invisible and inexplicable. God is an immaterial spirit, a sleepless eye, and an unmoved mind. God is the creative substance of all invisible and visible creatures. Question 2. And why is God called God (Theos)? Answer. He is called God (Theos) from seeing (theorein) all things, as it were a seer (theoros), and God (Theos), that is, a beholder of all things. And again He is called God (Theos) from running (theein) and traversing intellectually and timelessly all things. For God is always present everywhere. Question 3. And how many gods are there? Answer. One God of gods, and Lord of lords, and besides him there is no other. But men are also called gods by grace; as it is said: "I have said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High." 776 Question 4. And if he is one, how do we say that the one God is of three hypostases, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit? For behold, we say three, and not one. But teach us how God is one; and how again we speak of three persons concerning God. This seems marvelous to us, how God is both one, and his persons are three. Answer. Listen with understanding, and you will comprehend the mystery of the Holy Trinity, insofar as the human mind is able to comprehend. As it seems to me at least, this is spoken according to the power of our words. For God is inexplicable, and for this reason we are not able to comprehend his nature; nor is he like one of us, with a single person. For if he had a single person, we would know him, as we know one another. But God is one, and his persons are three. And see now what is said. Just as the sun is one, but the sun has a ray and light, and in the sun there are three persons: disk, ray, and light; and the disk is the seat of the sun, and the ray descends torch-like and strikes the earth; and the light is what illuminates, even into the shadowy places without a ray. And behold, there are three persons: disk, ray, and light. But we do not say three suns, but one sun, nor do we say one person, but three persons. For if you are asked how many suns are in the sky, you will say that there is one sun; but if you are asked how many persons of the sun there are, you will say that there are three: disk, ray, and light; so also understand concerning God. God is one, but the persons of the one God are three: of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And from this know that, just as the sun is three-personed, so also the one God is of three hypostases. For a type of the Father is the solar disk, a type of the Son is the ray, a type of the Holy Spirit is the light of the sun. And say thus: In the sun, there are disk, ray, and light; but we do not say three suns, but one and only one; similarly also in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one God, and not three. And again say thus: In the sun, the disk, and the ray, and the light are inseparable; for they are not separated from one another, for this reason he is called one God, and not three; because the three persons, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, of the one God are not separated from one another. And just as the solar disk begets the ray, and sends forth the light; so also God the Father begets the Son and sends forth also the Holy Spirit. See with understanding: Just as the ray of the sun descends from heaven to the earth, and is neither separated from the solar disk, nor is it absent from heaven, nor from the earth, but is also in the

1

Quaestiones aliae

ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΑΘΑΝΑ ΣΙΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΑΛΕΞΑΝ∆ΡΕΙΑΣ ΕΤΕΡΑΙ ΤΙΝΕΣ ΕΡΩΤΗΣΕΙΣ.

Ἐρώτησις αʹ. Τί ἐστι Θεός; Ἀπόκρισις. Θεός ἐστιν οὐσία νοερὰ, ἀθεώρητός τε καὶ ἀνερμήνευτος. Θεός ἐστι πνεῦμα ἄϋλον, ὀφθαλμὸς ἀκοίμητος, καὶ νοῦς ἀκίνητος. Θεός ἐστιν οὐσία δημιουργικὴ πάντων τῶν ἀοράτων καὶ ὁρω μένων κτισμάτων. Ἐρώτ. βʹ. Καὶ διὰ τί λέγεται Θεὸς, ὁ Θεός; Ἀπόκ. Θεὸς λέγεται ἀπὸ τοῦ θεωρεῖν τὰ πάντα, οἱονεὶ θεωρὸς, καὶ Θεὸς, ἤγουν θεατὴς πάντων. Καὶ πάλιν Θεὸς λέγεται ἀπὸ τοῦ θέειν καὶ τρέχειν νοητῶς ἀχρόνως τὰ πάντα. Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς ἀεὶ πανταχοῦ πάρεστιν. Ἐρώτ. γʹ. Καὶ πόσοι θεοί εἰσιν; Ἀπόκ. Εἷς Θεὸς τῶν θεῶν, καὶ Κύριος τῶν κυριευόντων, καὶ πλὴν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος. Λέγονται δὲ θεοὶ καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι κατὰ χάριν· ὡς τό· «Ἐγὼ εἶπα, Θεοί ἐστε, καὶ υἱοὶ Ὑψίστου πάντες.» 776 Ἐρώτ. δʹ. Καὶ ὡς ἔνι εἷς, πῶς λέγομεν αὐτὸν τὸν ἕνα Θεὸν τρισυπόστατον, Πατέρα, καὶ Υἱὸν, καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα; Ἰδοὺ γὰρ τρεῖς λέγομεν, καὶ οὐχ ἕνα. Ἀλλὰ δίδαξον ἡμῖν πῶς ἐστιν εἷς Θεός· καὶ πῶς πάλιν τρία πρόσωπα περὶ Θεοῦ λέγομεν. Θαυμαστὸν ἡμῖν δοκεῖ τοῦτο, ὅπως καὶ εἷς ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τρία τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτοῦ. Ἀπόκ. Ἄκουε συνετῶς, καὶ νοήσεις τὸ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος μυστήριον, καθὼς δύναται νοῦς ἀνθρώπων νοῆσαι. Ὡς ἐμοὶ πλὴν δοκεῖ, πρὸς τὴν κατὰ δύναμιν ἡμῖν τῶν λέξεων λέγεται τοῦτο. Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς ἀνερ μήνευτός ἐστι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐ δυνάμεθα καταλαβεῖν αὐτοῦ τὴν φύσιν· οὐδὲ ὅμοιος ἡμῶν ἐστι μονοπρόσω πος. Εἰ γὰρ ἦν μονοπρόσωπος, ἐγινώσκομεν ἂν αὐ τὸν, ὡς ἐγινώσκομεν ἀλλήλους ἡμᾶς. Ἀλλ' ἔστιν εἷς μὲν ὁ Θεὸς, τὰ δὲ πρόσωπα αὐτοῦ τρία. Καὶ βλέπε ἀπάρτι τὰ λεγόμενα. Ὥσπερ ἥλιος ἔνι εἷς, ὁ δὲ ἥλιος ἔχει ἀκτῖνα καὶ φῶς, καὶ εἰσὶν ἐν τῷ ἡλίῳ τρία πρόσ ωπα, δίσκος, ἀκτὶς, καὶ φῶς· καὶ δίσκος μὲν καυχίον τοῦ ἡλίου, ἀκτὶς δὲ καταβαινομένη λαμπαδοφανῶς καὶ κρούουσα πρὸς τὴν γῆν· φῶς δὲ τὸ φωτίζον, καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἐπισκιώδεις τόπους χωρὶς ἀκτῖνος. Καὶ ἰδοὺ πρόσωπα μὲν τρία, δίσκος, ἀκτὶς, καὶ φῶς. Οὐ λέγομεν δὲ τρεῖς ἡλίους, ἀλλ' ἕνα ἥλιον, οὐδὲ λέγομεν πρόσωπον ἓν, ἀλλὰ πρόσωπα τρία. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἐρωτηθῇς, ὅτι πόσοι ἥλιοι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, μέλλεις εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἥλιος εἷς ἐστιν· εἰ δ' ἐρωτηθῇς, ὅτι πρόσωπα τοῦ ἡλίου πόσα ἐστὶ, μέλλεις εἰπεῖν, ὅτι τρία, δίσκος, ἀκτὶς, καὶ φῶς· οὕτω νόει καὶ περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Θεὸς μὲν εἷς, πρόσωπα δὲ τοῦ ἑνὸς Θεοῦ τρία, Πατρὸς, Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Καὶ ἐκ τούτου γίνωσκε, ὅτι, ὥσπερ ὁ ἥλιός ἐστι τριπρόσωπος, οὕτω καὶ εἷς Θεὸς τρισυπόστατος. Τύπος γὰρ τοῦ Πατρός ἐστιν ὁ δίσκος ὁ ἡλιακὸς, τύπος τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐστιν ἡ ἀκτὶς, τύ πος τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματός ἐστι τὸ φῶς τοῦ ἡλίου. Καὶ εἰπὲ οὕτως· Ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡλίου δίσκος, ἀκτὶς, καὶ φῶς· οὐ λέγομεν δὲ τρεῖς ἡλίους, ἀλλ' ἕνα καὶ μόνον· ὁμοίως καὶ ἐπὶ Θεοῦ, Πατὴρ, Υἱὸς, καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα εἷς Θεὸς, καὶ οὐ τρεῖς. Καὶ πάλιν εἰπὲ οὕτως· Ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡλίου ἀχώριστος ὁ δίσκος, καὶ ἡ ἀκτὶς, καὶ τὸ φῶς· οὐ γὰρ χωρίζονται ἀπ' ἀλλήλων, διὰ τοῦτο λέ γεται καὶ εἷς Θεὸς, καὶ οὐ τρεῖς· διότι οὐ χωρίζονται τὰ τρία πρόσωπα, τοῦ τε Πατρὸς, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, τοῦ ἑνὸς Θεοῦ ἀπ' ἀλλήλων. Καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ δίσκος ὁ ἡλιακὸς γεννᾷ τὴν ἀκτῖνα, καὶ ἐκπορεύει τὸ φῶς· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ γεννᾷ τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ ἐκπορεύει καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον. Βλέπε συνετῶς· Ὥσπερ ἡ ἀκτὶς τοῦ ἡλίου καταβαίνει ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πρὸς τὴν γῆν, καὶ οὔτε τοῦ ἡλιακοῦ δίσκου χωρίζεται, οὔτε ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ λείπει, οὔτε ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ἀλλ' ἔστι καὶ ἐν τῷ

1