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most complete and at the same time most concise, so as neither to grieve by deficiency, nor to be unpleasant through excess.

III. God always was, and is, and will be; or rather, He always is. For "was" and "will be" are fragments of our time, and of our flowing nature; but He is the Ever-existing, and this is the name He gives Himself when He gives oracles to Moses on the mount. For He holds within Himself the whole of being, having neither beginning nor end, like a kind of boundless and limitless sea of being, surpassing all conception of time and nature; sketched by the mind alone, and this very dimly and scantily, not from the things in Himself, but from the things around Him, an image of the truth being gathered from various impressions, one after another, fleeing before it is grasped, and escaping before it is conceived; so much illuminating 36.628 our guiding faculty, even when it has been purified, as much as the swiftness of a flash of lightning that does not stay illuminates our sight; in my opinion, in order that by what can be apprehended He might draw us to Himself (for that which is completely incomprehensible is hopeless and unapproachable); but by what cannot be apprehended, He might be wondered at; and being wondered at, be more desired; and being desired, might purify; and purifying, might make godlike; and that when we have become such, He might converse with us as with His own (the word dares something bold); God being united to gods, and being known; and perhaps as much as He already knows those who are known. The Divine, therefore, is infinite and hard to contemplate; and this alone is altogether comprehensible of it, its infinity; even if one should think that because it is of a simple nature, it is either entirely incomprehensible or entirely comprehensible. For what is it that is of a simple nature? Let us inquire. For simplicity is not its nature, just as to be composite is not the only nature of composite beings.

IV. The infinite is contemplated in two ways, in respect to beginning and end (for that which is beyond these, and not within these, is infinite), when the mind looks to the abyss above, having nowhere to stand and rest its imaginings concerning God, it has called the infinite and inaccessible in that sphere, without beginning; but when to the abyss below, and the things that follow, immortal and indestructible; and when it takes in the whole, eternal. For eternity is neither time, nor a part of time; for it cannot be measured. But what time, measured by the course of the sun, is to us, this eternity is to the everlasting, that which is coextensive with the things that are, a sort of temporal movement and interval. Let this be my philosophy concerning God for now. For it is not the time for more than this, since our subject is not theology, but the economy. And when I say God, I mean Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit; the Godhead neither being diffused beyond these, lest we introduce a multitude of gods; nor being limited within these, lest we be condemned for a poverty of Godhead, either Judaizing because of the monarchy, or Hellenizing because of the abundance. For the evil is alike in both, even though it is found in opposites. Thus then the Holy of Holies, which is veiled even from the Seraphim, and is glorified by three Holies, which come together into 36.629 one Lordship and Godhead; which was also a point of philosophy for another before us, most beautifully and loftily.

V. But since it was not sufficient for Goodness to be moved only in the contemplation of itself, but the good had to be poured forth and to travel, so that there might be more beings to receive its benefits (for this was of the highest goodness); first He conceives the angelic and heavenly powers; and the conception was a work, completed by the Word, and perfected by the Spirit; and thus there came into being secondary splendors, ministers of the first splendor, whether intelligent spirits, or a kind of immaterial and incorporeal fire, or some other nature as near as possible to what has been said, so we must suppose them to be. I am inclined to say that they are immovable towards evil, and have only the movement of the good, since they are around God, and are the first to be illuminated by God (for the things here are of a secondary illumination); but it persuades me to suppose them not immovable, but hard to move.

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πληρέστατός τε ἅμα καὶ συντομώτατος, ὡς μήτε τῷ ἐνδεεῖ λυπεῖν, μήτε ἀηδὴς εἶναι διὰ τὸν κόρον.

Γʹ. Θεὸς ἦν μὲν ἀεὶ, καὶ ἔστι, καὶ ἔσται· μᾶλ λον δὲ, ἔστιν ἀεί. Τὸ γὰρ ἦν, καὶ ἔσται, τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς χρόνου τμήματα, καὶ τῆς ῥευστῆς φύσεως· ὁ δὲ ὢν ἀεὶ, καὶ τοῦτο αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ὀνο μάζει, τῷ Μωϋσεῖ χρηματίζων ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους. Ὅλον γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτῷ συλλαβὼν ἔχει τὸ εἶναι, μήτε ἀρξά μενον, μήτε παυσόμενον, οἷόν τι πέλαγος οὐσίας ἄπειρον καὶ ἀόριστον, πᾶσαν ὑπερεκπίπτον ἔννοιαν, καὶ χρόνου, καὶ φύσεως· νῷ μόνῳ σκιαγραφούμε νος, καὶ τούτῳ λίαν ἀμυδρῶς καὶ μετρίως, οὐκ ἐκ τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν, ἄλλης ἐξ ἄλλου φαντασίας συλλεγομένης, εἰς ἕν τι τῆς ἀληθείας ἴνδαλμα, πρὶν κρατηθῆναι φεῦγον, καὶ πρὶν νοηθῆναι διαδιδράσκον· τοσαῦτα περιλάμπον 36.628 ἡμῶν τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν, καὶ ταῦτα κεκαθαρμένον, ὅσα καὶ ὄψιν, ἀστραπῆς τάχος οὐχ ἱσταμένης· ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, ἵνα τῷ ληπτῷ μὲν ἕλκῃ πρὸς ἑαυτὸ (τὸ γὰρ τελέως ἄληπτον, ἀνέλπιστον καὶ ἀνεπιχείρητον)· τῷ δὲ ἀλήπτῳ, θαυμάζηται· θαυμαζόμενον δὲ, πο θῆται πλέον· ποθούμενον δὲ, καθαίρῃ· καθαῖρον δὲ, θεοειδεῖς ἐργάζηται· τοιούτοις δὲ γενομένοις, ὡς οἰκείοις ἤδη προσομιλῇ (τολμᾷ τι νεανικὸν ὁ λόγος)· Θεὸς θεοῖς ἑνούμενός τε καὶ γνωριζόμενος· καὶ τοσοῦ τον ἴσως, ὅσον ἤδη γινώσκει τοὺς γινωσκομένους. Ἄπειρον οὖν τὸ θεῖον καὶ δυσθεώρητον· καὶ τοῦτο πάντη καταληπτὸν αὐτοῦ μόνον, ἡ ἀπειρία· κἄν τις οἴηται τῷ ἁπλῆς εἶναι φύσεως, ἢ ὅλον ἄλη πτον εἶναι, ἢ τελέως ληπτόν. Τί γὰρ ὂν ἁπλῆς ἐστι φύσεως, ἐπιζητήσωμεν. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτο φύσις αὐτῷ, ἡ ἁπλότης· εἴπερ μηδὲ τοῖς συνθέτοις, τὸ εἶναι μόνον συνθέτοις.

∆ʹ. ∆ιχῆ δὲ τοῦ ἀπείρου θεωρουμένου, κατά τε ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος (τὸ γὰρ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα, καὶ μὴ ἐν τού τοις, ἄπειρον), ὅταν μὲν εἰς τὸν ἄνω βυθὸν ὁ νοῦς ἀποβλέψῃ, οὐκ ἔχων ὅποι στῇ καὶ ἀπερείσηται ταῖς περὶ Θεοῦ φαντασίαις, τὸ ἐνταῦθα ἄπειρον καὶ ἀνέκ βατον, ἄναρχον προσηγόρευσεν· ὅταν δὲ εἰς τὸν κά τω, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀνώλεθρον· ὅταν δὲ συνέλῃ τὸ πᾶν, αἰώνιον. Αἰὼν γὰρ, οὔτε χρόνος, οὔτε χρόνου τι μέρος· οὐδὲ γὰρ μετρητόν· ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἡμῖν ὁ χρόνος, ἡλίου φορᾷ μετρούμενος, τοῦτο τοῖς ἀϊδίοις αἰὼν, τὸ συμπαρεκτεινόμενον τοῖς οὖ σιν, οἷόν τι χρονικὸν κίνημα καὶ διάστημα. Ταῦτά μοι περὶ Θεοῦ πεφιλοσοφήσθω τανῦν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα καιρὸς, ὅτι μὴ θεολογία τὸ προκείμενον ἡμῖν, ἀλλ' οἰκονομία. Θεοῦ δὲ ὅταν εἴπω, λέγω Πατρὸς, καὶ Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· οὔτε ὑπὲρ ταῦτα τῆς θεότητος χεομένης, ἵνα μὴ δῆμον θεῶν εἰσαγάγωμεν· οὔτε ἐντὸς τούτων ὁριζο μένης, ἵνα μὴ πενίαν θεότητος κατακριθῶμεν, ἣ διὰ τὴν μοναρχίαν Ἰουδαΐζοντες, ἢ διὰ τὴν ἀφθο νίαν Ἑλληνίζοντες. Τὸ γὰρ κακὸν ἐν ἁμφοτέροις ὅμοιον, κἂν ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις εὑρίσκηται. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, ἂ καὶ τοῖς σεραφὶμ συγκαταλύπτεται, καὶ δοξάζεται τρισὶν ἁγιασμοῖς, εἰς 36.629 μίαν συνιοῦσι κυριότητα καὶ θεότητα· ὅπερ καὶ ἄλλῳ τινὶ τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν πεφιλοσόφηται κάλλι στά τε καὶ ὑψηλότατα.

Εʹ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐκ ἤρκει τῇ ἀγαθότητι τοῦτο, τὸ κινεῖσθαι μόνον τῇ ἑαυτῆς θεωρίᾳ, ἀλλ' ἔδει χεθῆναι τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ὁδεῦσαι, ὡς πλείονα εἶναι τὰ εὐεργε τούμενα (τοῦτο γὰρ τῆς ἄκρας ἦν ἀγαθότητος)· πρῶ τον μὲν ἐννοεῖ τὰς ἀγγελικὰς δυνάμεις καὶ οὐρα νίους· καὶ τὸ ἐννόημα ἔργον ἦν, Λόγῳ συμπληρού μενον, καὶ Πνεύματι τελειούμενον· καὶ οὕτως ὑπ έστησαν λαμπρότητες δεύτεραι, λειτουργοὶ τῆς πρώ της λαμπρότητος, εἴτε νοερὰ πνεύματα, εἴτε πῦρ, οἷον ἄϋλον καὶ ἀσώματον, εἴτε τινὰ φύσιν ἄλλην ὅτι ἐγγυτάτω τῶν εἰρημένων, ταύτας ὑπολη πτέον. Βούλομαι μὲν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἀκινήτους πρὸς τὸ κακὸν, καὶ μόνην ἐχούσας τὴν τοῦ καλοῦ κίνησιν, ἅτε περὶ Θεὸν οὔσας, καὶ τὰ πρῶτα ἐκ Θεοῦ λαμπο μένας (τὰ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα δευτέρας ἐλλάμψεως)· πείθει δέ με, μὴ ἀκινήτους, ἀλλὰ δυσκινήτους, καὶ ὑπολαμβάνειν