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OF GREGORY PALAMAS

TWO DEMONSTRATIVE TREATISES

CONCERNING THE PROCESSION OF THE

HOLY SPIRIT

FIRST TREATISE. (p. 68)

Prologue Again the terrible and primevally evil serpent, dividing its head against us, whispers things contrary to the truth. Or rather, having had its head crushed by the cross of Christ, but making a head for itself of each of those who in every generation are persuaded by its pernicious counsels and thus, like the hydra, putting forth many heads in place of one, through them it does not cease to speak iniquity on high. Thus Arians, thus Apollinarians, thus Eunomians and Macedonians, thus adapting very many others who clung to its trail, through their tongues it has released its own venom against the holy Church, using their words in place of its own teeth and having entwined these around the principle of piety, as if around some root of a plant that has newly and beautifully blossomed and is laden with the most lovely fruits, it was not, however, strong enough to harm it; for its jaws were again crushed by the very ones who had been bitten, by those who had truly made Christ their head.

This, therefore, the noetic and for this reason more accursed serpent, the first and middle and last evil, the wicked one who ever feeds on crawling and earthly wickedness, the tireless watcher of the heel, that is, of deceit, the most resourceful sophist for every God-hated opinion and impossibly resourceful, in no way having forgotten its proper evil art, through its pliant Latins introduces new doctrines concerning God, (p. 70) which seem to have a small alteration, but are the beginnings of great evils and bring many and terrible things, aberrant and absurd for piety, and clearly showing to all that in matters concerning God, the slightest thing is not small. For if in the case of each of our own affairs, when one absurdity is granted as a starting-point, many absurdities arise, how much more, in the case of the common principle of all things and of the, as it were, indemonstrable principles concerning it, if one unfamiliar thing is impiously granted, will many absurdities arise from this?

To which things the Latin race would have manifestly fallen away, if the greater part of their false doctrine had not been removed by our speaking against the novelty of the dogma. For at times they are so restrained as to say that we are of the same mind, while disagreeing in words, lying against themselves out of perplexity. For since we say that the existence of the Holy Spirit is not also from the hypostasis of the Son, but they say also from the Son, it is impossible for both to be brought together into one concept; for the Only-Begotten is one and the existence of the Spirit is one. The negation, at any rate, is always opposed to the affirmation, and one of them is always false,

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ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΛΑΜΑ

ΛΟΓΟΙ ΑΠΟ∆ΕΙΚΤΙΚΟΙ ∆ΥΟ

ΠΕΡΙ ΕΚΠΟΡΕΥΣΕΩΣ ΤΟΥ

ΑΓΙΟΥ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΟΣ

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ. (σελ. 68)

Πρόλογος Πάλιν ὁ δεινός καί ἀρχέκακος ὄφις, τήν ἑαυτοῦ κεφαλήν καθ᾿ ἡμῶν διαιρών,

ὑποψιθυρίζει τά τῆς ἀληθείας ἀντίθετα. Μᾶλλον δέ τήν μέν κεφαλήν τῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σταυρῷ συντριβείς, τῶν δέ κατά γενεάς πειθομένων ταῖς ἀπολουμέναις ὑποθήκαις αὐτοῦ κεφαλήν ἑαυτοῦ ποιούμενος ἕκαστον καί οὕτω πολλάς ἀντί μιᾶς κατά τήν ὕδραν ἀναδούς κεφαλάς, δι᾿ αὐτῶν ἀδικίαν εἰς τό ὕψος λαλῶν οὐκ ἀνίησιν. Οὕτως Ἀρείους, οὕτως Ἀπολιναρίους, οὕτως Εὐνομίους καί Μακεδονίους, οὕτω πλείστους ἑτέρους προσαρμοσάμενος τῷ αὐτοῦ προσφύντας ὁλκῷ, διά τῆς ἐκείνων γλώττης τόν οἰκεῖον κατά τῆς ἱερᾶς Ἐκκλησίας ἐπαφῆκεν ἰόν, ἀντ᾿ ὀδόντων ἰδίων τοῖς ἐκείνων λόγοις χρησάμενος καί περιπείρας τούτους τῇ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀρχῇ, οἷόν τινι ρίζῃ νεαρῶς καλόν τεθηλότος φυτοῦ καί καρποῖς ὡραιοτάτοις βρίθοντος, οὐ μήν τούτῳ καί λυμήνασθαι ἴσχυσε˙ καί γάρ ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν δηχθέντων αὖθις συνετρίβη τάς μύλας, ὑπό τῶν ὡς ἀληθῶς κεφαλήν ἑαυτῶν ποιησαμένων Χριστόν.

Οὗτος τοίνυν ὁ νοητός καί διά τοῦτο μᾶλλον ἐπάρατος ὄφις, τό πρῶτον καί μέσον καί τελευταῖον κακόν, ὁ πονηρός καί τήν χαμερπῆ καί γηΐνην πονηρίαν ἀεί σιτούμενος, ὁ τῆς πτέρνης, δηλαδή τῆς ἀπάτης, ἐπιτηρητής ἀκάματος, ὁ πρός πᾶσαν θεοστυγῆ δόξαν ποριμώτατος σοφιστής καί ἀμηχάνως εὐμήχανος, μηδαμῶς ἐπιλελησμένος τῆς οἰκίας κακοτεχνίας, διά τῶν αὐτῷ πειθηνίων Λατίνων περί Θεοῦ καινάς εἰσφέρει φωνάς, (σελ. 70) μικράν μέν δοκούσας ἔχειν ὑπαλλαγήν, μεγάλων δέ κακῶν ἀφορμάς καί πολλά καί δεινά φερούσας, τῆς εὐσεβείάς ἔκφυλά τε καί ἄτοπα, καί τοῖς πᾶσι φανερῶς δεικνύσας, ὡς οὐ μικρόν ἐν τοῖς περί Θεοῦ τό παραμικρόν. Εἰ γάρ ἐφ᾿ ἑκάστου τῶν καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ὄντων ἑνός ἀτόπου τήν ἀρχήν δοθέντος πολλά τά ἄτοπα γίνεται, πῶς οὐ μᾶλλον ἐπί τῆς κοινῆς ἁπάντων ἀρχῆς καί τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτήν οἷον ἀναποδείκτων ἀρχῶν ἑνός ἀήθους δοθέντος οὐκ εὐσεβῶς πολλά γενήσεται παρά τοῦτο τά ἀτοπήματα;

Πρός ἅ καί φανερῶς τό Λατίνων γένος ἐκπεπτώκασιν ἄν, εἰ μή παρ᾿ ἡμῶν ἀντιλεγόντων τῇ καινοφωνίᾳ τοῦ δόγματος τῆς κακοδοξίας τό πλεῖστον περιῃρεῖτο. Καί γάρ ἐπί τοσοῦτον ἔστιν ὅτε συστέλλονται ὡς καί διανοίας ἡμῖν εἶναι τῆς αὐτῆς λέγειν, διαφωνοῦντας τοῖς ρήμασι, σφῶν αὐτῶν ὑπ᾿ ἀπορίας καταψευδόμενοι. Ἡμῶν γάρ οὐχί καί ἐκ τῆς ὑποστάσεως τοῦ Υἱοῦ λεγόντων εἶναι τήν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ὕπαρξιν, ἐκείνων δέ καί ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Υἱοῦ, τῶν ἀδυνάτων εἰς μίαν ἀμφοτέρους συνάγεσθαι ἔννοιαν˙ εἷς γάρ ὁ μονογενής καί μία ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος ὕπαρξίς ἐστιν. Ἡ γοῦν ἀπόφασις τῇ καταφάσει ἀεί ἀντίκειται καί ἀεί ψευδής ἡ ἑτέρα,