On “Not Three Gods.” To Ablabius.

 Ye that are strong with all might in the inner man ought by rights to carry on the struggle against the enemies of the truth, and not to shrink from t

 In truth, the question you propound to us is no small one, nor such that but small harm will follow if it meets with insufficient treatment. For by th

 The argument which you state is something like this:—Peter, James, and John, being in one human nature, are called three men: and there is no absurdit

 What, then, is the reason that when we count one by one those who are exhibited to us in one nature, we ordinarily name them in the plural and speak o

 We say, then, to begin with, that the practice of calling those who are not divided in nature by the very name of their common nature in the plural, a

 Most men think that the word “Godhead” is used in a peculiar degree in respect of nature: and just as the heaven, or the sun, or any other of the cons

 But some one will say that the proof of our argument does not yet regard the question. For even if it were granted that the name of “Godhead” is a com

 As we have to a certain extent shown by our statement that the word “Godhead” is not significant of nature but of operation, perhaps one might reasona

 Since, then, the character of the superintending and beholding power is one, in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as has been said in our previous argumen

 If, then, every good thing and every good name, depending on that power and purpose which is without beginning, is brought to perfection in the power

 It does not seem to me absolutely necessary, with a view to the present proof of our argument, to contend against those who oppose us with the asserti

 But if it pleases our adversaries to say that the significance of the term is not operation, but nature, we shall fall back upon our original argument

 As, then, the golden staters are many, but the gold is one, so too those who are exhibited to us severally in the nature of man, as Peter, James, and

 Indeed, it would be a lengthy task to set out in detail from the Scriptures those constructions which are inexactly expressed, in order to prove the s

 If, however, any one cavils at our argument, on the ground that by not admitting the difference of nature it leads to a mixture and confusion of the P

 But in speaking of “cause,” and “of the cause,” we do not by these words denote nature (for no one would give the same definition of “cause” and of “n

 Thus, since on the one hand the idea of cause differentiates the Persons of the Holy Trinity, declaring that one exists without a Cause, and another i

Ye that are strong with all might in the inner man ought by rights to carry on the struggle against the enemies of the truth, and not to shrink from the task, that we fathers may be gladdened by the noble toil of our sons; for this is the prompting of the law of nature: but as you turn your ranks, and send against us the assaults of those darts which are hurled by the opponents of the truth, and demand that their “hot burning coals”1    Ps. cxx. 3; the phrase is rendered in A.V. by “coals of juniper,” in the Vulg. by “carbonibus desolatoriis.” and their shafts sharpened by knowledge falsely so called should be quenched with the shield of faith by us old men, we accept your command, and make ourselves an example of obedience2    Reading, with Oehler, εὐπειθείας, in order that you may yourself give us the just requital on like commands, Ablabius, noble soldier of Christ, if we should ever summon you to such a contest.

Ὑμᾶς μὲν δίκαιόν ἐστι, τοὺς ἀκμάζοντας ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους τῆς ἀληθείας διαγωνίζεσθαι καὶ μὴ κατοκνεῖν πρὸς τοὺς πόνους, ὅπως ἂν ἡμεῖς οἱ πατέρες τοῖς γενναίοις ἱδρῶσι τῶν τέκνων ἐπευφραινώμεθα: τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ τῆς φύσεως ὑποτίθεται νόμος: ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀναστρέψας τὴν τάξιν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς τρέπεις τὰς προσβολὰς τῶν ἀκίδων, αἷς οἱ ἀντικείμενοι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ βάλλουσι, καὶ κελεύεις τῷ θυρεῷ τῆς πίστεως παρ' ἡμῶν τῶν γερόντων κατασβέννυσθαι τοὺς ἐρημικοὺς ἄνθρακας καὶ ἀποπέμπεσθαι τὰ ἠκονημένα τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως βέλη, δεχόμεθα τὸ ἐπίταγμα, σοὶ τύπος τῆς εὐπειθείας γινόμενοι, ὡς ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἀντιπαρέχοις τὴν ἴσην ἐπὶ τῶν ὁμοίων ἐπιταγμάτων ἀντίδοσιν, εἴ ποτέ σε πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους ἄθλους διαναστήσαιμεν, ὦ γενναῖε τοῦ Χριστοῦ στρατιῶτα Ἀβλάβιε.