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XIV. But it is necessary, perhaps, since you desire it, to set forth also the doctrine of faith itself, what it is according to us. For I shall be sanctified by the continual remembrance; and this people will be benefited, rejoicing, if in anything else, in such words; and you will recognize, if we are not envied in vain, by the manifestation of the truth, with some contending, and others anticipating. For just as with waters gushing from the depths, some are hidden completely in the deep, while others bubble up, being confined, and promise an outburst to the ears, but still delay, and others even burst forth; so also of those who philosophize about God, not to mention those utterly ungrateful, some have their piety completely hidden and concealed within themselves; others are near to the birth-pangs, as many as flee from impiety but do not speak openly of piety, whether using some economy concerning the doctrine, or resorting to this through cowardice; but while they are sound in mind, as they say, they do not make the people sound, as if entrusted with the care of themselves and not of others; but others also make public the treasure, not containing the birth-pangs of piety, nor considering it salvation to be saved alone, unless the good should overflow to others also. With these may I be ranked, or whoever with me dares the good daring of confessing piety. 36.476

XV. One and brief program, then, of our doctrine, and as it were a public inscription known to all, is this people, being a genuine worshipper of the Trinity, so that one would sooner be separated from this life, than separate one of the three from the Godhead, being of one mind, of one zeal, in a word, both with one another and with us, and holding fast to the Trinity; but the particulars, that I may go through them briefly, are: without beginning, and a beginning, and that which is with the beginning, one God. Neither is the "without beginning" the nature of the One without beginning, nor is the "unbegotten"; for no nature is that which this is not, but that which this is. The position of what is, not the removal of what is not. Nor is the beginning, by virtue of being a beginning, separated from the One without beginning. For "beginning" is not His nature, just as "without beginning" is not His. For regarding the nature, these things are not nature. And that which is with the One without beginning and the beginning is nothing other than what they are. And the name for the One without beginning is Father; for the beginning, Son; and for that which is with the beginning, Holy Spirit. And the nature of the three is one, God. And the union is the Father, from whom and to whom the subsequent ones are referred; not so as to be confounded, but so as to be connected, with neither time, nor will, nor power separating them. For these things have made us to be many, with each being at variance with himself and with the other. But for those whose nature is simple and whose being is the same, for them the one is also sovereign.

XVI. Let us then bid farewell to the contentious inclinations and counter-balances of doctrine on either side; neither Sabellianizing on the one side against the three, and by a wicked contraction destroying the distinction; nor Arianizing on the three side against the one, and by a wicked division subverting the unity. For the goal is not to exchange one evil for another, but not to miss the good. For these are the games of the evil one, wickedly weighing our affairs. But we ourselves, walking the middle and royal way, in which also the measure of virtues stands, as it seems to those skilled in these matters, believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of one substance and of one glory; in whom also baptism has its perfection 36.477, both in names and in realities (you know, you who have been initiated); 36.477 being a denial of atheism, and a confession of Godhead, and thus we are made perfect; knowing the one, by the essence and by the indivisibility of the worship; and the three, by the hypostases, or persons, as some prefer. For let not those who wrangle about these things behave unseemly, as if our piety lay in names, and not in realities. For what say you who introduce the three hypostases? Do you say this supposing three substances? I know that you will cry out loudly against those who have supposed so. For you hold the doctrine that the substance of the three is one and the same. What then of those who the persons

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Ι∆ʹ. ∆εῖ δὲ ἴσως ποθοῦσιν ὑμῖν καὶ τὸν τῆς πίστεως αὐτῆς ἐπιδείξασθαι λόγον, ἥτις ποτέ ἐστιν ἡ καθ' ἡμᾶς. Ἐγώ τε γὰρ ἁγιασθήσομαι τῷ συνεχεῖ τῆς μνήμης· ὅ τε λαὸς οὗτος ὀνήσεται, χαίρων, εἴπερ ἄλλῳ τινὶ, τοῖς τοιούτοις λόγοις· καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐπιγνώ σεσθε, εἰ μὴ μάτην φθονούμεθα, τῇ φανερώσει τῆς ἀληθείας, τοῖς μὲν ἁμιλλώμενοι, τοὺς δὲ φθάνον τες. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τῶν βρυχίων ὑδάτων, τὰ μὲν ἐν βάθει κρύπτεται παντελῶς, τὰ δὲ παφλάζει στενοχωρούμενα, καὶ τὴν ἔκρηξιν ὑπισχνεῖται μὲν ταῖς ἀκοαῖς, μέλλει δὲ ἔτι, τὰ δὲ καὶ ἀναῤῥήγνυται· οὕτω καὶ τῶν φιλοσοφούντων περὶ Θεοῦ, ἵνα μὴ λέγω τοὺς παντελῶς ἀγνώμονας, οἱ μὲν πάντη κρύ φιον καὶ λανθάνουσαν ἔχουσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὴν εὐσέβειαν· οἱ δὲ τῆς ὠδῖνος ἐγγὺς, ὅσοι τὸ μὲν ἀσεβὲς φεύγουσι, τὸ δὲ εὐσεβὲς οὐ παῤῥησιάζονται, εἴτε οἰ κονομίᾳ τινὶ χρώμενοι περὶ τὸν λόγον, εἴτε δειλίᾳ πρὸς τοῦτο καταφεύγουσιν· ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν διάνοιαν ὑγιαίνουσιν, ὥς φασι, τὸν λαὸν δὲ οὐχ ὑγιάζουσιν, ὥσπερ ἑαυτῶν οὐκ ἄλλων προστασίαν ἐγχειρισθέν τες· οἱ δὲ καὶ δημοσιεύουσι τὸν θησαυρὸν, οὐ στέ γοντες τὴν ὠδῖνα τῆς εὐσεβείας, οὐδὲ τὸ μόνοι σώζε σθαι σωτηρίαν νομίζοντες, εἰ μὴ καὶ ἄλλοις τὸ καλὸν ὑπερβλύσειεν. Μεθ' ὧν ἐγὼ ταττοίμην, ἢ οἵτινες μετ' ἐμοῦ τὴν καλὴν τόλμαν τολμῶντες ὁμολογεῖν τὴν εὐσέβειαν. 36.476

ΙΕʹ. Ἓν μὲν οὖν καὶ σύντομον πρόγραμμα τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς λόγου, καὶ οἷον στηλογραφία τις πᾶσι γνώρι μος, ὁ λαὸς οὗτος, γνήσιος ὢν τῆς Τριάδος προσκυ νητὴς, ὡς θᾶττον ἄν τινα διαζευχθῆναι τῆς ζωῆς ταύ της, ἤ τι τῶν τριῶν ἓν διαζεῦξαι τῆς θεότητος, σύμφρονες, ὁμόζηλοι, ἑνὶ λόγῳ πρός τε ἀλλή λους καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, καὶ τὴν Τριάδα κρατούμενοι· τὰ δὲ καθ' ἕκαστον, ἵν' ἐπέλθω συντόμως, ἄναρχον, καὶ ἀρχὴ, καὶ τὸ μετὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς, εἷς Θεός. Οὔτε τοῦ ἀνάρχου τὸ ἄναρχον φύσις, ἢ τὸ ἀγέννητον· οὐδεμία γὰρ φύσις ὅ τι μὴ τόδε ἐστὶν, ἀλλ' ὅ τι τόδε. Ἡ τοῦ ὄντος θέσις, οὐχὶ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος ἀναίρεσις. Οὔτε ἡ ἀρχὴ, τῷ ἀρχὴ εἶναι, τοῦ ἀνάρχου διείργεται. Οὐ γὰρ φύσις αὐτῷ ἡ ἀρχὴ, ὥσπερ οὐδ' ἐκείνῳ τὸ ἄναρχον. Περὶ γὰρ τὴν φύσιν, οὐ ταῦτα φύσις. Καὶ τὸ μετὰ τοῦ ἀνάρχου, καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς, οὐκ ἄλλο τι, ἢ ὅπερ ἐκεῖνα. Ὄνομα δὲ, τῷ μὲν ἀνάρχῳ, Πα τήρ· τῇ δὲ ἀρχῇ, Υἱός· τῷ δὲ μετὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς, Πνεῦμα ἅγιον. Φύσις δὲ τοῖς τρισὶ μία, Θεός. Ἕνωσις δὲ, ὁ Πατὴρ, ἐξ οὗ, καὶ πρὸς ὃν ἀνάγεται τὰ ἑξῆς· οὐχ ὡς συναλείφεσθαι, ἀλλ' ὡς ἔχεσθαι, μήτε χρόνου διείργοντος, μήτε θελήματος, μήτε δυνάμεως. Ταῦτα γὰρ ἡμᾶς πολλὰ εἶναι πεποίηκεν, αὐτοῦ τε ἑκάστου πρὸς ἑαυτὸ, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἕτερον στασιάζον τος. Οἷς δὲ ἁπλῆ φύσις καὶ τὸ εἶναι ταυτὸν, τούτοις καὶ τὸ ἓν κύριον.

Ιςʹ. Τὰς μὲν οὖν φιλονείκους ἐπὶ θάτερα μετακλίσεις τοῦ λόγου καὶ ἀντισηκώσεις, χαίρειν ἐάσω μεν· οὔτε τῷ ἑνὶ Σαβελλίζοντες κατὰ τῶν τριῶν, καὶ συναιρέσει κακῇ τὴν διαίρεσιν λύοντες· οὔτε τοῖς τρι σὶν Ἀρειανίζοντες κατὰ τοῦ ἑνὸς, καὶ πονηρᾷ διαιρέ σει τὸ ἓν ἀνατρέποντες. Οὐ γὰρ κακοῦ τὸ κακὸν ἀλλάξασθαι τὸ ζητούμενον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ καλοῦ μὴ δια μαρτεῖν. Ὡς ταῦτά γε τοῦ πονηροῦ παίγνια, κακῶς τὰ ἡμέτερα ταλαντεύοντος. Αὐτοὶ δὲ τὴν μέσην βαδίζοντες καὶ βασιλικὴν, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἕστηκεν, ὡς δοκεῖ τοῖς ταῦτα δεινοῖς, πιστεύομεν εἰς Πατέρα, καὶ Υἱὸν, καὶ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ὁμοούσιά τε καὶ ὁμόδοξα· ἐν οἷς καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα τὴν τελείωσιν 36.477 ἔχει, ἔν τε ὀνόμασι καὶ πράγμασιν (οἶδας ὁ μυηθείς)· 36.477 ἄρνησις ὂν ἀθεΐας, καὶ ὁμολογία θεότητος, καὶ οὕτω καταρτιζόμεθα· τὸ μὲν ἓν, τῇ οὐσίᾳ γινώσκοντες, καὶ τῷ ἀμερίστῳ τῆς προσκυνήσεως· τὰ δὲ τρία, ταῖς ὑποστάσεσιν, εἴτουν προσώποις, ὅ τισι φίλον. Μηδὲ γὰρ οἱ περὶ ταῦτα ζυγομαχοῦντες ἀσχημονείτωσαν, ὥσπερ ἐν ὀνόμασι κειμένης ἡμῖν τῆς εὐσεβείας, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν πράγμασι. Τί γάρ φατε οἱ τὰς τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις εἰσφέροντες; μὴ τρεῖς οὐσίας ὑπολαμβά νοντες τοῦτο λέγετε; Μέγα οἶδ', ὅτι βοήσετε κατὰ τῶν οὕτως ὑπειληφότων. Μίαν γὰρ καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν τῶν τριῶν δογματίζετε. Τί δαὶ οἱ τὰ πρόσ