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another (for all things are held by this), and he does not exist, there not being that in which he is. Or what does he do, when another exists in which the world is, but he himself is higher than the creator of the world, and is neither in the world nor about the world? But is there some other place where he who came to be against the One who is might stand? But above him is God and the things of God. And what place will there be for the things beyond the world, since this one has filled it? But does he exercise providence? And indeed he does not exercise providence, if he has not created. But if he neither creates nor exercises providence, nor is there another place in which he is, this one from the beginning is the one and only God, the creator of the world. If, then, we were satisfied with such thoughts, one might think our argument to be human; but since the voices of the prophets confirm our reasonings (and I think that you, being most fond of learning and most knowledgeable, have not been ignorant of the writings of Moses, or of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the other prophets, who, in an ecstasy of their thoughts within them, when the divine Spirit moved them, uttered the things with which they were inspired, the Spirit making use of them as a flute-player might breathe into a flute) —what then do these say? "The Lord is our God; no other shall be reckoned in comparison to him." And again: "I am God, the first and after these things, and besides me there is no God." Likewise: "Before me no other God came into being, and after me there will be none; I am God, and there is none beside me." And concerning his greatness. "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet. What kind of house will you build for me, or what is the place of my rest?" I leave it to you to come to the books themselves to examine their prophecies more accurately, so that with fitting reason you may put away the insolence against us. That we are not atheists, therefore, acknowledging one God, the unbegotten and eternal, invisible and impassible, incomprehensible and uncontained, who is apprehended by mind and reason alone, encompassed by light and beauty and spirit and ineffable power, by whom the universe has been created through his Word and set in order and is held together, has, I think, been sufficiently demonstrated. For we also apprehend a Son of God. And let no one think it ridiculous for God to have a Son. For we have not thought concerning God the Father or concerning the Son as the poets mythologize, showing the gods to be no better than men, but the Son of God is the Word of the Father in idea and in operation; for by him and through him all things came to be, the Father and the Son being one. And the Son being in the Father and the Father in the Son by a unity and power of spirit, the Son of God is the Mind and Word of the Father. If, through an excess of intelligence, you wish to consider

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ἕτερον (πάντα γὰρ ὑπὸ τούτου κατέχεται), καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐκ ὄντος ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν. ἢ τί ποιεῖ, ἑτέρου μὲν ὄντος οὗ ἐστιν ὁ κόσμος, αὐτὸς δὲ ἀνωτέρω ὢν τοῦ ποιητοῦ τοῦ κόσμου, οὐκ ὢν δὲ οὔτε ἐν κόσμῳ οὔτε περὶ κόσμον; ἀλλ' ἔστι τι ἕτερον ἵνα που στῇ ὁ γενόμενος κατὰ τοῦ ὄντος; ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ τίς ἔσται τόπος τὰ ὑπὲρ τὸν κόσμον τούτου πεπληρωκότος; ἀλλὰ προνοεῖ; καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ προνοεῖ, εἰ μὴ πεποίηκεν. εἰ δὲ μὴ ποιεῖ μήτε προνοεῖ μήτε ἐστὶ τόπος ἕτερος, ἐν ᾧ ἐστίν, εἷς οὗτος ἐξ ἀρχῆς καὶ μόνος ὁ ποιητὴς τοῦ κόσμου θεός. Eἰ μὲν οὖν ταῖς τοιαύταις ἐννοίαις ἀπηρκούμεθα, ἀνθρωπικὸν ἄν τις εἶναι τὸν καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐνόμιζεν λόγον· ἐπεὶ δὲ αἱ φωναὶ τῶν προφητῶν πιστοῦσιν ἡμῶν τοὺς λογισμούς (νομίζω <δὲ> καὶ ὑμᾶς φιλομαθεστάτους καὶ ἐπιστημονεστάτους ὄντας οὐκ ἀνοήτους γεγονέναι οὔτε τῶν Μωσέως οὔτε τῶν Ἠσαΐου καὶ Ἱερεμίου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν προφητῶν, οἳ κατ' ἔκστασιν τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς λογισμῶν, κινήσαντος αὐτοὺς τοῦ θείου πνεύματος, ἃ ἐνηργοῦντο ἐξεφώνησαν, συγχρησαμένου τοῦ πνεύματος, ὡς εἰ καὶ αὐλητὴς αὐλὸν ἐμπνεύσαι) -τί οὖν οὗτοι; "κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν· οὐ λογισθήσεται ἕτερος πρὸς αὐτόν." καὶ πάλιν· "ἐγὼ θεὸς πρῶτος καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, καὶ πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἔστι θεός." ὁμοίως· "ἔμπροσθεν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἐγένετο ἄλλος θεὸς καὶ μετ' ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔσται· ἐγὼ ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔστι παρὲξ ἐμοῦ". καὶ περὶ τοῦ μεγέθους. "ὁ οὐρανός μοι θρονός, ἡ δὲ γῆ ὑπο πόδιον τῶν ποδῶν μου. ποῖον οἶκον οἰκοδομήσετέ μοι, ἢ τίς τόπος τῆς καταπαύσεώς μου;" καταλείπω δὲ ὑμῖν ἐπ' αὐτῶν τῶν βιβλίων γενομένοις ἀκριβέστερον τὰς ἐκείνων ἐξετάσαι προφητείας, ὅπως μετὰ τοῦ προσήκοντος λογισμοῦ τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐπήρειαν ἀποσκευάσησθε. Τὸ μὲν οὖν ἄθεοι μὴ εἶναι, ἕνα τὸν ἀγένητον καὶ ἀίδιον καὶ ἀόρατον καὶ ἀπαθῆ καὶ ἀκατάληπτον καὶ ἀχώρητον, νῷ μόνῳ καὶ λόγῳ καταλαμβανόμενον, φωτὶ καὶ κάλλει καὶ πνεύματι καὶ δυνάμει ἀνεκδιηγήτῳ περιεχόμενον, ὑφ' οὗ γεγένηται τὸ πᾶν διὰ <τοῦ παρ'> αὐτοῦ λόγου καὶ διακεκόσμηται καὶ συγκρατεῖται, θεὸν ἄγοντες, ἱκανῶς μοι δέδεικται. νοοῦμεν γὰρ καὶ υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ μή μοι γελοῖόν τις νομίσῃ τὸ υἱὸν εἶναι τῷ θεῷ. οὐ γὰρ ὡς ποιηταὶ μυθοποιοῦσιν οὐδὲν βελτίους τῶν ἀνθρώπων δεικνύντες τοὺς θεούς, ἢ περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἢ περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ πεφρονή καμεν, ἀλλ' ἐστὶν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν ἰδέᾳ καὶ ἐνεργείᾳ· πρὸς αὐτοῦ γὰρ καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ πάντα ἐγένετο, ἑνὸς ὄντος τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ. ὄντος δὲ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐν πατρὶ καὶ πατρὸς ἐν υἱῷ ἑνότητι καὶ δυνάμει πνεύματος, νοῦς καὶ λόγος τοῦ πατρὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. εἰ δὲ δι' ὑπερβολὴν συνέσεως σκοπεῖν ὑμῖν