6

of these it was, and to these it gives being, and is supported by the very power of its maker. Therefore Paul says: "From whom are all things, and through whom are all things, and to whom are all things;" and again: "For in him we live, and move, and have our being." Take away then from me that which is fixed in a place, when you think about God, and the Word, and the Spirit; take away local separations, and do not suspect that the Father being in one place sends forth the Son from another in begetting Him. For these false, or rather atheistic, reasonings scandalize you concerning the existence of the Son. And with the Son, the Holy Spirit is also denied to you, through all things being pre-occupied by the one Father. Do not seek a greatness of place so great that it will be able to contain the greatness of God; for the immeasurable is not in the measured, but with his span he measures the heaven, as the prophet parabolically explains; and has measured 28.113 the water with his hand, and all the earth with his palm. To whom all things are so very small, as the prophetic parable moderately shows, how could He seem to be co-extended with the small and very least of creation? God has not filled all things by being co-extended with all things; for that is corporeal, as if someone were to say that the air has filled the space between earth and heaven; but as power it holds all things together; for power is incorporeal, invisible, not encircling, not being encircled. And the same is true of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; for through the Son and in the Spirit God both constituted all things, and holding them together, preserves them. It is impious, therefore, both to seek and to think where God is, or what place the Word has obtained, or what dwelling the Spirit has inherited. But if for this reason someone were to say that the Son neither is nor has been begotten, because the place of his substance is inconceivable and undiscoverable, such a one would say that the Father does not exist at all, nor that God exists; since no place of God is found either. "The fool has said in his heart: There is no God." Truly foolish are such men, deceiving themselves with empty imaginations; the words of infants and utterly witless men, wishing for the incorporeal to be grasped by the eye and to be contained in a place. But let us give them some brief images from possible incorporeal things, recalling certain matters which, being in our experience, also appear in creation, if somehow they might be able, ascending through these, to conceive in some way the incorporeal nature of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; and no longer to imagine places for them, nor to devise local divisions of the Trinity. Being incorporeal and spiritual, the law is in the mind of the legal expert; and in the same are the prophets, Gospels, and apostles; and it has been said concerning the legal and prophetic words, "They have Moses and the prophets;" and the Savior says that he who has old and new words in his mind is like a householder who brings forth from his treasure new things and old. And the mind of Moses received all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and that given to him from God. And Daniel, having received all the understanding of the Chaldeans, also contained the varied thoughts of divine wisdom, which God signifies through Ezekiel: "Are you wiser than Daniel? No secret thing was shown to you." And the wisdom of Solomon was innumerable, and the abundance of his heart, 28.116 as the sand which is by the sea. And seeing such a multitude of wisdoms concerning one mind, let them consider that they are not in a place. For how large in size would a man have to become to suffice for the reception of so many things, if each of the theorems occupied separate places? Therefore, when spiritual things here, being many, do not require many places, but revolve around the one and same mind, let us also conceive that the incorporeal beings above us and in themselves, the Father and the Son and the Spirit, do not require places, nor are they divided by places; and let no one dare for this reason to suppose that either the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit is non-existent; because it is not possible to define a place and

6

τούτων ἦν, καὶ τούτοις παρέχει τὸ εἶναι, καὶ αὐτῇ τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ πε ποιηκότος ἐπιστηρίζεται. ∆ιό φησι Παῦλος· «Ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἰς ὃν τὰ πάντα·» καὶ πάλιν· «Ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν, καὶ κι νούμεθα, καὶ ἐσμέν.» Ἄνελε δή μοι τὸν ἐν τόπῳ ἐστηριγμένον, ὅτε διανοῇ περὶ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦ Λόγου, καὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος· ἄνελε τοπικοὺς χωρισμοὺς, καὶ μὴ ἀλλαχοῦ τὸν Πα τέρα ὄντα, ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ τὸν Υἱὸν ἐκπέμπειν ἐκ τοῦ γεννᾷν ὑποπτεύσῃς. Οὗτοι γὰρ οἱ ψευδεῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἄθεοι λογισμοὶ, περὶ τὴν ὕπαρξιν τοῦ Υἱοῦ σε σκανδαλίζουσι. Συνεξήρνηται δέ σοι μετὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, διὰ τοῦ ὑφ' ἑνὸς προ κατέχεσθαι πάντα τοῦ Πατρός. Μὴ ζητεῖτε μέγεθος τόπου τοσοῦτον, ὃς δυνήσεται χωρῆσαι μέγεθος Θεοῦ· οὐ γάρ ἐστι τὸ ἀμέτρητον ἐπὶ τῷ μεμετρημένῳ, ἀλλὰ σπιθαμῇ μὲν αὐτοῦ μετρεῖ τὸν οὐρανὸν, ὡς ὁ προφήτης παραβολικῶς ἑρμηνεύει· μεμέτρηκε δὲ καὶ 28.113 τὸ ὕδωρ τῇ χειρὶ, καὶ τὴν γῆν πᾶσαν δρακί. Ὧ δ' οὕτως ἐλάχιστα πάντα, ὡς ἡ προφητικὴ παρα βολὴ μετρίως ὑποδείκνυσι, πῶς ἂν τῇ μικρᾷ καὶ ἐλα χίστῃ κτίσει συμπαρεκτείνεσθαι δόξειεν; Οὐ συμ παρεκτεινόμενος τοῖς πᾶσι πεπλήρωκε τὰ πάντα ὁ Θεός· σωματικὸν γὰρ τοῦτο, ὥσπερ εἰ τὸν ἀέρα φαίη πεπληρωκέναι τις τὸν μεταξὺ γῆς καὶ οὐρανοῦ· ἀλλ' ὡς δύναμις συνέχει τὰ πάντα· δύναμις γὰρ ἀσώμα τος, ἀόρατος, οὐ κυκλοῦσα, οὐ κυκλουμένη. Τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύ ματος· διὰ γὰρ Υἱοῦ καὶ ἐν Πνεύματι τὰ πάντα ὁ Θεὸς καὶ συνεστήσατο, καὶ συνέχων διαφυλάττει. Ἀσεβὲς τοίνυν καὶ ζητεῖν καὶ ἐννοεῖν τὸ ποῦ πο τέ ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, ἢ ὁ Λόγος τίνα τόπον εἴληχεν, ἢ τὸ Πνεῦμα τίνα οἴκησιν ἐκληρώσατο. Εἰ δὲ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν Υἱὸν οὐκ εἶναί τις οὐδὲ γεγεννῆσθαι λέγοι, ὅτι τόπος αὐτοῦ τῆς οὐσίας ἀνεπινόητος καὶ ἀνεύρητος, ὁ τοιοῦτος οὐδὲ τὸν Πατέρα φαίη εἶναι καθάπαξ, οὐδ' ὑπάρχειν Θεόν· ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τόπος τις εὑρίσκεται Θεοῦ. «Εἶπεν ἄφρων ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ· Οὐκ ἔστι Θεός.» Ἄφρονες ὡς ἀληθῶς οἱ τοιοῦτοι, κεναῖς φαντασίαις ἑαυτοὺς παραλογιζόμενοι· νηπίων καὶ παντάπασιν ἀνοήτων τὰ ῥήματα, ὀφθαλμῷ λαμβάνεσθαι τὸ ἀσώματον καὶ τόπῳ περιλαμβάνεσθαι βουλομένων. ∆ῶμεν δὲ αὐτοῖς βραχείας τινὰς εἰκόνας ἐκ τῶν ἐνδεχομένων ἀσωμάτων, τινῶν ἐπιμνησθέντες πραγμάτων, ἃ δὴ καθ' ἡμᾶς ὄντα, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κτί σεως φαίνεται, εἴ πως δυνηθεῖεν διὰ τούτων ἀναβαίνοντες ἐννοῆσαί πως τὸ ἀσώματον τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· καὶ μηκέτι φαντάζεσθαι τόπους αὐτῶν, μηδὲ τοπικὰς διαιρέσεις τῆς Τριάδος ἐπινοεῖν. Ἀσώματος καὶ πνευματικὸς ὢν ὁ νόμος, ἔστιν ἐν τῇ τοῦ νομομαθοῦς διανοίᾳ· ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ δὲ καὶ οἱ προφῆται, Εὐαγγέλια καὶ ἀπόστολοι· καὶ εἴρηται περὶ τῶν νομικῶν καὶ προφητικῶν λόγων «Ἔχουσι Μωϋσέα καὶ τοὺς προφήτας·» καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ τὸν ἔχοντα παλαιὰ καὶ καινὰ ῥήματα ἐπὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ διανοίας ἐοικέναι φησὶν ἀν θρώπῳ οἰκοδεσπότῃ, ὅστις προφέρει ἐκ τοῦ θησαυροῦ αὐτοῦ καινὰ καὶ παλαιά. Ἐδέχετο δὲ ὁ Μωϋσέως νοῦς σοφίαν τε πᾶσαν Αἰγυπτιακὴν, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοθεῖσαν αὐτῷ. Καὶ ∆ανιὴλ, σύνεσιν πᾶσαν τὴν Χαλδαίων ὑποδεξάμενος, ἐχώρει καὶ τὰ ποικίλα τῆς θείας σοφίας νοήματα, ὅπερ σημαίνει δι' Ἰεζεχιὴλ ὁ Θεός· «Μὴ σὺ σοφώτερος εἶ τοῦ ∆ανιήλ; πᾶν κρύφιον οὐχ ὑπεδείχθη σοι.» Ἀναρίθμητος δὲ ἡ τοῦ Σολο μῶνος φρόνησις, καὶ τὸ χύμα τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ, 28.116 ὡς ἄμμος, ἡ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν. Τὸ δὲ τοσοῦτον πλῆθος τῶν σοφιῶν περὶ μίαν ὁρῶντες διάνοιαν, ἐνθυμείσθωσαν αὐτὰς οὐκ οὔσας ἐν τόπῳ. Πόσος γὰρ ἂν τῷ μεγέθει γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ἐξήρκεσεν εἰς τὴν τοσούτων ὑποδοχὴν, εἰ τόποις μεμερισμένοις τῶν θεωρημάτων ἕκαστα εἶχεν; Ὅταν οὖν τὰ ἐνταῦθα πνευματικὰ μὴ δέηται πλειόνων τόπων πλείονα ὄντα, ἀλλὰ περὶ τὸν ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν στρέφηται νοῦν, ἐννοήσωμεν καὶ τὰ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὰ ὄντα ἀσώματα, τὸν Πατέρα καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα μὴ τόπων δεόμενα, μηδὲ τόποις διαιρούμενα· καὶ μὴ διὰ τοῦτο ἀνύπαρκτον ἢ τὸν Πατέρα τις, ἢ τὸν Υἱὸν, ἢ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὑποτίθεσθαι τολμάτω· ὅτι μηδὲ ἔστι τόπον ἀφορίζειν καὶ