Chapter VI.—Subject Continued. Third proof of the Son’s eternity, viz. from other titles indicative of His coessentiality; as the Creator; One of the Blessed Trinity; as Wisdom; as Word; as Image. If the Son is a perfect Image of the Father, why is He not a Father also? because God, being perfect, is not the origin of a race. Only the Father a Father because the Only Father, only the Son a Son because the Only Son. Men are not really fathers and really sons, but shadows of the True. The Son does not become a Father, because He has received from the Father to be immutable and ever the same.

17. This is of itself a sufficient refutation of the Arian heresy; however, its heterodoxy will appear also from the following:—If God be Maker and Creator, and create His works through the Son, and we cannot regard things which come to be, except as being through the Word, is it not blasphemous, God being Maker, to say, that His Framing Word and His Wisdom once was not? it is the same as saying, that God is not Maker, if He had not His proper Framing Word which is from Him, but that that by which He frames, accrues to Him from without116    de Decr. 25, note 2.    Prov. xviii. 3, LXX., and is alien from Him, and unlike in essence. Next, let them tell us this,—or rather learn from it how irreligious they are in saying, ‘Once He was not,’ and, ‘He was not before His generation;’—for if the Word is not with the Father from everlasting, the Triad is not everlasting; but a Monad was first, and afterwards by addition it became a Triad; and so as time went on, it seems what we know concerning God grew and took shape117    Vid. Orat. iv. §13.    Jer. iii. 3.. And further, if the Son is not proper offspring of the Father’s essence, but of nothing has come to be, then of nothing the Triad consists, and once there was not a Triad, but a Monad; and a Triad once with deficiency, and then complete; deficient, before the Son was originated, complete when He had come to be; and henceforth a thing originated is reckoned with the Creator, and what once was not has divine worship and glory with Him who was ever118    §8, note 8.    Supr. ch. xix.. Nay, what is more serious still, the Triad is discovered to be unlike Itself, consisting of strange and alien natures and essences. And this, in other words, is saying, that the Triad has an originated consistence. What sort of a religion then is this, which is not even like itself, but is in process of completion as time goes on, and is now not thus, and then again thus? For probably it will receive some fresh accession, and so on without limit, since at first and at starting it took its consistence by way of accessions. And so undoubtedly it may decrease on the contrary, for what is added plainly admits of being subtracted.

18. But this is not so: perish the thought; the Triad is not originated; but there is an eternal and one Godhead in a Triad, and there is one Glory of the Holy Triad. And you presume to divide it into different natures; the Father being eternal, yet you say of the Word which is seated by Him, ‘Once He was not;’ and, whereas the Son is seated by the Father, yet you think to place Him far from Him. The Triad is Creator and Framer, and you fear not to degrade It to things which are from nothing; you scruple not to equal servile beings to the nobility of the Triad, and to rank the King, the Lord of Sabaoth with subjects119    De Decr. §31.    Ch. xiii.. Cease this confusion of things unassociable, or rather of things which are not with Him who is. Such statements do not glorify and honour the Lord, but the reverse; for he who dishonours the Son, dishonours also the Father. For if the doctrine of God is now perfect in a Triad, and this is the true and only Religion, and this is the good and the truth, it must have been always so, unless the good and the truth be something that came after, and the doctrine of God is completed by additions. I say, it must have been eternally so; but if not eternally, not so at present either, but at present so, as you suppose it was from the beginning,—I mean, not a Triad now. But such heretics no Christian would bear; it belongs to Greeks, to introduce an originated Triad, and to level It with things originate; for these do admit of deficiencies and additions; but the faith of Christians acknowledges the blessed Triad as unalterable and perfect and ever what It was, neither adding to It what is more, nor imputing to It any loss (for both ideas are irreligious), and therefore it dissociates It from all things generated, and it guards as indivisible and worships the unity of the Godhead Itself; and shuns the Arian blasphemies, and confesses and acknowledges that the Son was ever; for He is eternal, as is the Father, of whom He is the Eternal Word,—to which subject let us now return again.

19. If God be, and be called, the Fountain of wisdom and life—as He says by Jeremiah, ‘They have forsaken Me the Fountain of living waters120    Jer. ii. 13.    Ch. xxi.;’ and again, ‘A glorious high throne from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary; O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the Fountain of living waters121    Ib. xvii. 12, 13.    Ch. xiv.;’ and in the book of Baruch it is written, ‘Thou hast forsaken the Fountain of wisdom122    Bar. iii. 12.    ii. 44, n. 1.,’—this implies that life and wisdom are not foreign to the Essence of the Fountain, but are proper to It, nor were at any time without existence, but were always. Now the Son is all this, who says, ‘I am the Life123    John xiv. 6.    John xiv. 10.,’ and, ‘I Wisdom dwell with prudence124    Prov. viii. 12.    Acts xvii. 28. Vid. supr. ii. 41, note 11. The doctrine of the περιχώρησις, which this objection introduces, is the test of orthodoxy opposed to Arianism. Cf. de Syn. 15, n. 4. This is seen clearly in the case of Eusebius, whose language approaches to Catholic more nearly than Arians in general. After all his strong assertions, the question recurs, is our Lord a distinct being from God, as we are, or not? he answers in the affirmative, vid. supr. p. 75, n. 7, whereas we believe that He is literally and numerically one with the Father, and therefore His Person dwells in the Father’s Person by an ineffable union. And hence the language of Dionysius [of Rome] supr. de Decr. 26. ‘the Holy Ghost must repose and habitate in God,’ ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι. And hence the strong figure of S. Jerome (in which he is followed by S. Cyril, Thesaur. p. 51), ‘Filius locus est Patris, sicut et Pater locus est Filii.’ in Ezek. iii. 12. So Athan. contrasts the creatures who are ἐν μεμερισμένοις τόποις and the Son. Serap. iii. 4. Cf. even in the Macrostich Creed, language of this character, viz. ‘All the Father embosoming the Son, and all the Son hanging and adhering to the Father, and alone resting on the Father’s breast continually.’ De Syn. 26 (7), where vid. note 3..’ Is it not then irreligious to say, ‘Once the Son was not?’ for it is all one with saying, ‘Once the Fountain was dry, destitute of Life and Wisdom.’ But a fountain it would then cease to be; for what begetteth not from itself, is not a fountain125    Supr. §15.    This is not inconsistent with S. Jerome as quoted in the foregoing note. Athan. merely means that such illustrations cannot be taken literally, as if spoken of natural subjects. The Father is the τόπος or locus of the Son, because when we contemplate the Son in His fulness as ὅλος θεός, we merely view the Father as that Person in whom God the Son is; our mind abstracts His Essence which is the Son for the moment from Him, and regards Him merely as Father. Thus in Illud. Omn. 4, supr. p. 89. It is, however, but an operation of the mind, and not a real emptying of Godhead from the Father, if such words may be used. Father and Son are both the same God, though really and eternally distinct from each other; and Each is full of the Other, that is, their Essence is one and the same. This is insisted on by S. Cyril, in Joan. p. 28. And by S. Hilary, Trin. vii. fin. vid. also iii. 23. Cf. the quotation from S. Anselm made by Petavius, de Trin. iv. 16 fin. [Cf. D.C.B. s.v. Metangismonitae.]. What a load of extravagance! for God promises that those who do His will shall be as a fountain which the water fails not, saying by Isaiah the prophet, ‘And the Lord shall satisfy thy soul in drought, and make thy bones fat; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not126    Isa. lviii. 11.    Vid. de Decr. 10, n. 4, 19, n. 3; Or. i. 15, n. 6. On the other hand Eusebius considers the Son, like a creature, ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς πατρικῆς [not οὐσίας, but] μετουσίας, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ πηγῆς, ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν προχεομένης πληρούμενον. Eccl. Theol. i. 2. words which are the more observable, the nearer they approach to the language of Athan. in the text and elsewhere. Vid. infr. by way of contrast, οὐδὲ κατὰ μετουσίαν αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅλον ἴδιον αὐτοῦ γέννημα. 4..’ And yet these, whereas God is called and is a Fountain of wisdom, dare to insult Him as barren and void of His proper Wisdom. But their doctrine is false; truth witnessing that God is the eternal Fountain of His proper Wisdom; and, if the Fountain be eternal, the Wisdom also must needs be eternal. For in It were all things made, as David says in the Psalm, ‘In Wisdom hast Thou made them all127    Ps. civ. 24.    De Decr. 15, n. 9.;’ and Solomon says, ‘The Lord by Wisdom hath formed the earth, by understanding hath He established the heavens128    Prov. iii. 19.    i.e. Son does not live by the gift of life, for He is life, and does but give it, not receive. S. Hilary uses different language with the same meaning, de Trin. ii. 11. Other modes of expression for the same mystery are found infr. 3. also 6 fin. Vid. de Syn. 45, n. 1. and Didymus ἡ πατρικὴ θεότης. p. 82. and S. Basil, ἐξ οὗ ἔχει τὸ εἶναι. contr. Eunom. ii. 12 fin. Just above Athan. says that ‘the Son is the fulness of the Godhead.’ Thus the Father is the Son’s life because the Son is from Him, and the Son the Father’s because the Son is in Him. All these are but different ways of signifying the περιχώρησις.’ And this Wisdom is the Word, and by Him, as John says, ‘all things were made,’ and ‘without Him was made not one thing129    John i. 3. See Westcott’s additional note on the passage.]    συνηγόρου, infr. §60..’ And this Word is Christ; for ‘there is One God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we for Him; and One Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him130    1 Cor. viii. 6.    πάντα γινώσκειν ἐπαγγελλόμενος. Gorgias, according to Cicero de fin. ii. init. was the first who ventured in public to say προβάλλετε, ‘give me a question.’ This was the ἐπάγγελμα of the Sophists; of which Aristotle speaks. Rhet. ii. 24 fin. Vid. Cressol. Theatr. Rhet. iii. 11..’ And if all things are through Him, He Himself is not to be reckoned with that ‘all.’ For he who dares131    Vid. Petav. de Trin. ii. 12, §4.    1 Cor. ii. 4. to call Him, through whom are things, one of that ‘all,’ surely will have like speculations concerning God, from whom are all. But if he shrinks from this as unseemly, and excludes God from that all, it is but consistent that he should also exclude from that all the Only-Begotten Son, as being proper to the Father’s essence. And, if He be not one of the all132    De Decr. §30.    1 Tim. i. 7., it is sin to say concerning Him, ‘He was not,’ and ‘He was not before His generation.’ Such words may be used of the creatures; but as to the Son, He is such as the Father is, of whose essence He is proper Offspring, Word, and Wisdom133    De Decr. §17.    παράνομος. infr. 47, c. Hist. Ar. 71, 75, 79. Ep. Æg. 16, d. Vid. ἄνομος. 2 Thess. ii. 8.. For this is proper to the Son, as regards the Father, and this shews that the Father is proper to the Son; that we may neither say that God was ever without Word134    ἄλογον. Vid. note on de Decr. §§1, 15, where other instances are given from Athan. and Dionysius of Rome; vid. also Orat. iv. 2, 4. Sent. D. 23. Origen, supr. p. 48. Athenag. Leg. 10. Tat. contr. Græc. 5. Theoph. ad. Autol. ii. 10. Hipp. contr. Noet. 10. Nyssen. contr. Eunom. vii. p. 215. viii. pp. 230, 240. Orat, Catech. 1. Naz. Orat. 29. 17 fin. Cyril. Thesaur. xiv. p. 145 (vid. Petav. de Trin. vi. 9). It must not be supposed from these instances that the Fathers meant that our Lord was literally what is called the attribute of reason or wisdom in the Divine Essence, or in other words, that He was God merely viewed as He is wise; which would be a kind of Sabellianism. But, whereas their opponents said that He was but called Word and Wisdom after the attribute (vid. de Syn. 15, note), they said that such titles marked, not only a typical resemblance to the attribute, but so full a correspondence and (as it were) coincidence in nature with it, that whatever relation that attribute had to God, such in kind had the Son;—that the attribute was His symbol, and not His mere archetype; that our Lord was eternal and proper to God, because that attribute was, which was His title, vid. Ep. Æg. 14, that our Lord was that Essential Reason and Wisdom,—not by which the Father is wise, but without which the Father was not wise;—not, that is, in the way of a formal cause, but in fact. Or, whereas the Father Himself is Reason and Wisdom, the Son is the necessary result of that Reason and Wisdom, so that, to say that there was no Word, would imply there was no Divine Reason; just as a radiance implies a light; or, as Petavius remarks, l.c. quoting the words which follow shortly after in the text, the eternity of the Original implies the eternity of the Image; τῆς ὑποστάσεως ὑπαρχούσης, πάντως εὐθὺς εἶναι δεῖ τὸν χαρακτῆρα καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα ταύτης, §20. vid. also infr. §31, de Decr. §13, p. 21, §§20, 23, pp. 35, 40. Theod. H. E. i. 3. p. 737.    ἐν υἱ& 254·, but ἐν τῷ υἱ& 254·. Ep. Æg. 14 fin. vid. Or. ii. 22, note 2., nor that the Son was non-existent. For wherefore a Son, if not from Him? or wherefore Word and Wisdom, if not ever proper to Him?

20. When then was God without that which is proper to Him? or how can a man consider that which is proper, as foreign and alien in essence? for other things, according to the nature of things originate, are without likeness in essence with the Maker; but are external to Him, made by the Word at His grace and will, and thus admit of ceasing to be, if it so pleases Him who made them135    This was but the opposite aspect of the tenet of our Lord’s consubstantiality or eternal generation. For if He came into being at the will of God, by the same will He might cease to be; but if His existence is unconditional and necessary, as God’s attributes might be, then as He had no beginning, so can He have no end; for He is in, and one with, the Father, who has neither beginning nor end. On the question of the ‘will of God’ as it affects the doctrine, vid. Orat. iii. §59, &c.    Ps. lxxxv. 8, LXX.; for such is the nature of things originate136    §29, note.    1 Kings viii. 59, or x. 24?. But as to what is proper to the Father’s essence (for this we have already found to be the Son), what daring is it in irreligion to say that ‘This comes from nothing,’ and that ‘It was not before generation,’ but was adventitious137    De Decr. 22, note 9.    2 Kings v. 8, 15., and can at some time cease to be again? Let a person only dwell upon this thought, and he will discern how the perfection and the plenitude of the Father’s essence is impaired by this heresy; however, he will see its unseemliness still more clearly, if he considers that the Son is the Image and Radiance of the Father, and Expression, and Truth. For if, when Light exists, there be withal its Image, viz. Radiance, and, a Subsistence existing, there be of it the entire Expression, and, a Father existing, there be His Truth (viz. the Son); let them consider what depths of irreligion they fall into, who make time the measure of the Image and Form of the Godhead. For if the Son was not before His generation, Truth was not always in God, which it were a sin to say; for, since the Father was, there was ever in Him the Truth, which is the Son, who says, ‘I am the Truth138    John xiv. 6.    Or. ii. 19, n. 6..’ And the Subsistence existing, of course there was forthwith its Expression and Image; for God’s Image is not delineated from without139    Athan. argues from the very name Image for our Lord’s eternity. An Image, to be really such, must be an expression from the Original, not an external and detached imitation. vid. supr. note 10, infr. §26. Hence S. Basil, ‘He is an Image not made with the hand, or a work of art, but a living Image,’ &c. vid. also contr. Eunom. ii. 16, 17. Epiph. Hær. 76. 3. Hilar. Trin. vii. 41 fin. Origen observes that man, on the contrary, is an example of an external or improper image of God. Periarch. i. 2. §6. It might have been more direct to have argued from the name of Image to our Lord’s consubstantiality rather than eternity, as, e.g. S. Gregory Naz. ‘He is Image as one in essence, ὁμοούσιον,…for this is the nature of an image, to be a copy of the archetype.’ Orat. 30. 20. vid. also de Decr. §§20, 23, but for whatever reason Athan. avoids the word ὁμοούσιον in these Discourses. S. Chrys. on Col. i. 15.    Since the Father and the Son are the numerically One God, it is but expressing this in other words to say that the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, for all They have and all They are is common to Each, excepting Their being Father and Son. A περιχώρησις of Persons is implied in the Unity of Essence. This is the connexion of the two texts so often quoted; ‘the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son,’ because ‘the Son and the Father are one.’ And the cause of this unity and περιχώρησις is the Divine γέννησις. Thus S. Hilary, Trin. ii. 4. vid. Or. ii. 33, n. 1., but God Himself hath begotten it; in which seeing Himself, He has delight, as the Son Himself says, ‘I was His delight140    Prov. viii. 30.    εἴδους. Petavius here prefers the reading ἰδίου; θεότης and τὸ ἱδιον occur together infr. 6. and 56. εἶδος occurs Orat. i. 20, a. de Syn. 52. vid. de Syn. 52, n. 6. infr. 6, 16, Ep. Æg. 17, contr. Sabell. Greg. 8, c. 12, vid. infr. §§6, 16, notes..’ When then did the Father not see Himself in His own Image? or when had He not delight, that a man should dare to say, ‘the Image is out of nothing,’ and ‘The Father had not delight before the Image was originated?’ and how should the Maker and Creator see Himself in a created and originated essence? for such as is the Father, such must be the Image.

21. Proceed we then to consider the attributes of the Father, and we shall come to know whether this Image is really His. The Father is eternal, immortal, powerful, light, King, Sovereign, God, Lord, Creator, and Maker. These attributes must be in the Image, to make it true that he ‘that hath seen’ the Son ‘hath seen the Father141    John xiv. 9.    In accordance with §1, note 10, Thomassin observes that by the mutual coinherence or indwelling of the Three Blessed Persons is meant ‘not a commingling as of material liquids, nor as of soul with body, nor as the union of our Lord’s Godhead and humanity, but it is such that the whole power, life, substance, wisdom, essence, of the Father, should be the very essence, substance, wisdom, life, and power of the Son.’ de Trin. xxviii. 1. S. Cyril adopts Athan.’s language to express this doctrine in Joan. p. 105. de Trin. vi. p. 621, in Joan. p. 168. Vid. infr. ταὐτότης οὐσίας, 21. πατρικὴ θεότης τοῦ υἱοῦ, 26. and 41. and de Syn. 45, n. 1. vid. also Damasc. F. O. i. 8. pp. 139, 140..’ If the Son be not all this, but, as the Arians consider, originate, and not eternal, this is not a true Image of the Father, unless indeed they give up shame, and go on to say, that the title of Image, given to the Son, is not a token of a similar essence142    ὁμοίας οὐσίας. And so §20 init. ὅμοιον κατ᾽ οὐσίαν, and ὅμοιος τῆς οὐσίας, §26. ὅμοιος κατ᾽ οὐσίαν, iii. 26. and ὅμοιος κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ πατρός. Ep. Æg. 17. Also Alex. Ep. Encycl. 2. Considering what he says in the de Syn. §38, &c., in controversy with the semi-Arians a year or two later, this use of their formula, in preference to the ὁμοούσιον (vid. foregoing note), deserves our attention.    John x. 30., but His name143    De Decr. §16.    De Syn. 45, n. 1. only. But this, on the other hand, O ye enemies of Christ, is not an Image, nor is it an Expression. For what is the likeness of what is out of nothing to Him who brought what was nothing into being? or how can that which is not, be like Him that is, being short of Him in once not being, and in its having its place among things originate? However, such the Arians wishing Him to be, devised for themselves arguments such as this;—‘If the Son is the Father’s offspring and Image, and is like in all things144    De Syn. 27 (5) note 1, and infr. §40.    Infr. Orat. iv. 9. to the Father, then it necessarily holds that as He is begotten, so He begets, and He too becomes father of a son. And again, he who is begotten from Him, begets in his turn, and so on without limit; for this is to make the Begotten like Him that begat Him.’ Authors of blasphemy, verily, are these foes of God! who, sooner than confess that the Son is the Father’s Image145    The objection is this, that, if our Lord be the Father’s Image, He ought to resemble Him in being a Father. S. Athanasius answers that God is not as man; with us a son becomes a father because our nature is ῥευστὴ, transitive and without stay, ever shifting and passing on into new forms and relations; but that God is perfect and ever the same, what He is once that He continues to be; God the Father remains Father, and God the Son remains Son. Moreover men become fathers by detachment and transmission, and what is received is handed on in a succession; whereas the Father, by imparting Himself wholly, begets the Son: and a perfect nativity finds its termination in itself. The Son has not a Son, because the Father has not a Father. Thus the Father is the only true Father, and the Son alone true Son; the Father only a Father, the Son only a Son; being really in their Persons what human fathers are but by office, character, accident, and name; vid. De Decr. 11, note 6. And since the Father is unchangeable as Father, in nothing does the Son more fulfil the idea of a perfect Image than in being unchangeable too. Thus S. Cyril also, Thesaur. 10. p. 124. And this perhaps may illustrate a strong and almost startling implication of some of the Greek Fathers, that the First Person in the Holy Trinity, is not God [in virtue of His Fatherhood]. E.g. εἰ δὲ θεὸς ὁ υἱ& 232·ς, οὐκ ἐπεὶ υἱ& 231·ς· ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ πατὴρ, οὐκ ἐπεὶ πατὴρ, θεός· ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεὶ οὐσία τοιάδε, εἷς ἐστὶ πατὴρ καὶ ὁ υἱ& 232·ς θεός. Nyssen. t. i. p. 915. vid. Petav. de Deo i. 9. §13. Should it be asked, ‘What is the Father if not God?’ it is enough to answer, ‘the Father.’ Men differ from each other as being individuals, but the characteristic difference between Father and Son is, not that they are individuals, but that they are Father and Son. In these extreme statements it must be ever borne in mind that we are contemplating divine things according to our notions. not in fact: i.e. speaking of the Almighty Father, as such; there being no real separation between His Person and His Substance. It may be added, that, though theologians differ in their decisions, it would appear that our Lord is not the Image of the Father’s person, but of the Father’s substance; in other words, not of the Father considered as Father, but considered as God. That is, God the Son is like and equal to God the Father, because they are both the same God. De Syn. 49. note 4, also next note.    Infr. 11., conceive material and earthly ideas concerning the Father Himself, ascribing to Him severings and146    Ep. Eus. 7, de Decr. 11, note 8.    ἀνόμοιον; and so ἀνόμοιος κατὰ πάντα. Orat. i. 6. κατ᾽ οὐσίαν. 17. Orat. ii. 43. τῆς οὐσίας. infr. 14. vid. ἀνομοιότης. infr. 8, c. effluences and influences. If then God be as man, let Him become also a parent as man, so that His Son should be father of another, and so in succession one from another, till the series they imagine grows into a multitude of gods. But if God be not as man, as He is not, we must not impute to Him the attributes of man. For brutes and men, after a Creator has begun them, are begotten by succession; and the son, having been begotten of a father who was a son, becomes accordingly in his turn a father to a son, in inheriting from his father that by which he himself has come to be. Hence in such instances there is not, properly speaking, either father or son, nor do the father and the son stay in their respective characters, for the son himself becomes a father, being son of his father, but father of his son. But it is not so in the Godhead; for not as man is God; for the Father is not from a father; therefore doth He not beget one who shall become a father; nor is the Son from effluence of the Father, nor is He begotten from a father that was begotten; therefore neither is He begotten so as to beget. Thus it belongs to the Godhead alone, that the Father is properly147    κυρίως, de Decr. 11, note 6. Elsewhere Athan. says, ‘The Father being one and only is Father of a Son one and only; and in the instance of Godhead only have the names Father and Son stay, and are ever; for of men if any one be called father, yet he has been son of another; and if he be called son, yet is he called father of another; so that in the case of men the names father and son do not properly, κυρίως, hold.’ ad Serap. i. 16. also ibid. iv. 4 fin. and 6. vid. also κυρίως, Greg. Naz. Orat. 29. 5. ἀληθῶς, Orat. 25, 16. ὄντως, Basil. contr. Eunom. i. 5. p. 215.    Cf. in illud. Omn. 4. ‘As the Father is I am (ὁ ὤν) so His Word is I Am and God over all.’ Serap. i. 28, a; ib. ii. 2. father, and the Son properly son, and in Them, and Them only, does it hold that the Father is ever Father and the Son ever Son.

22. Therefore he who asks why the Son is not to beget a son, must inquire why the Father had not a father. But both suppositions are unseemly and full of impiety. For as the Father is ever Father and never could become Son, so the Son is ever Son and never could become Father. For in this rather is He shewn to be the Father’s Expression and Image, remaining what He is and not changing, but thus receiving from the Father to be one and the same. If then the Father change, let the Image change; for so is the Image and Radiance in its relation towards Him who begat It. But if the Father is unalterable, and what He is that He continues, necessarily does the Image also continue what He is, and will not alter. Now He is Son from the Father; therefore He will not become other than is proper to the Father’s essence. Idly then have the foolish ones devised this objection also, wishing to separate the Image from the Father, that they might level the Son with things originated.

Ἔστι μὲν οὖν καὶ τοῦτο μόνον ἱκανὸν ἀνατρέ πειν τὴν Ἀρειανὴν αἵρεσιν· ὅμως δὲ καὶ ἐκ τούτου ἄν τις ἴδοι τὸ ἀλλόδοξον αὐτῆς. Εἰ ποιητὴς καὶ κτί στης ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς, διὰ Υἱοῦ δὲ τὰ ποιήματα κτίζει, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἰδεῖν τὰ γινόμενα ἢ διὰ τοῦ Λό γου γινόμενα· πῶς οὐ βλάσφημον, ποιητοῦ ὄντος τοῦ Θεοῦ, λέγειν τὸν δημιουργικὸν αὐτοῦ Λόγον καὶ τὴν Σοφίαν μὴ εἶναί ποτε; Ἴσον γάρ ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι μηδὲ ποιητής ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, οὐκ ἔχων ἴδιον ἐξ αὑτοῦ δημιουργικὸν Λόγον, ἀλλ' ἔξωθεν ἐπεισαγόμε νός ἐστι καὶ ξένος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀνόμοιος κατ' οὐσίαν τυγχάνων, ἐν ᾧ δημιουργεῖ. Ἔπειτα λεγέτωσαν ἡμῖν, μᾶλλον δὲ κἂν ἐκ τούτου βλεπέτωσαν τὴν δυσσέβειαν ἑαυτῶν ἐκ τοῦ λέγειν, Ἦν ποτε, ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, καὶ, Οὐκ ἦν πρὶν γεννηθῇ. Εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ἀϊδίως σύνεστιν ὁ Λόγος τῷ Πατρὶ, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ Τριὰς ἀΐδιος· ἀλλὰ μονὰς μὲν ἦν πρότερον, ἐκ προσθήκης δὲ γέγο νεν ὕστερον Τριὰς, καὶ προϊόντος τοῦ χρόνου κατ' αὐτοὺς ηὔξησε καὶ συνέστη τῆς θεολογίας ἡ γνῶσις. Πάλιν τε, εἰ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ Υἱὸς ἴδιον τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας γέννημα, ἀλλ' ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γέγονεν, ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων συνίσταται Τριὰς, καὶ ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν Τριὰς, ἀλλὰ μονάς· καὶ ποτὲ μὲν ἐλλειπὴς Τριὰς, ποτὲ δὲ πλήρης· ἐλλειπὴς μὲν πρὶν γένηται ὁ Υἱός; πλήρης δὲ, ὅτε γέγονε· καὶ λοιπὸν καὶ τὸ γενη τὸν τῷ κτίστῃ συναριθμεῖται, καὶ τό ποτε μὴ ὂν τῷ ἀεὶ ὄντι συνθεολογεῖται καὶ συνδοξάζεται· καὶ τό γε μεῖζον, ἀνόμοιος ἑαυτῆς ἡ Τριὰς εὑρίσκεται, ξέναις καὶ ἀλλοτρίαις φύσεσί τε καὶ ταῖς οὐσίαις συν ισταμένη. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν ἢ γε νητὴν τὴν τῆς Τριάδος σύστασιν. Ποταπὴ οὖν αὕτη θεοσέβεια ἡ μηδὲ ἑαυτῇ ὁμοία τυγχάνουσα, ἀλλ' ἐκ προσθήκης χρόνων πληρουμένη, καὶ ποτὲ μὲν μὴ οὕτως, ποτὲ δὲ οὕτως οὖσα; Εἰκὸς γὰρ αὐτὴν καὶ πάλιν λήψεσθαι προσθήκην, καὶ τοῦτο εἰς ἄπει ρον, ὡς ἅπαξ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐκ προσθήκης ἔσχε τὴν σύστασιν. Οὐκ ἀμφίβολον δὲ, ὅτι καὶ δυνα τὸν αὐτὴν μειοῦσθαι. Τὰ γὰρ προστιθέμενα, φανερὸν, ὅτι καὶ ἀφαιρεῖσθαι δύναται. Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ οὕτως· μὴ γένοιτο! Οὐκ ἔστι γενητὴ ἡ Τριάς· ἀλλ' ἀΐδιος καὶ μία θεότης ἐστὶν ἐν Τριάδι, καὶ μία δόξα τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος· καὶ σχίζειν αὐτὴν εἰς διαφόρους φύσεις τολμᾶτε· τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀϊδίου ὄντος, τὸν συγκαθήμενον αὐτῷ Λόγον λέγετε, ὅτι, Ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν· τοῦ δὲ Υἱοῦ συγκαθη μένου τῷ Πατρὶ, ἐνθυμεῖσθε τοῦτον μακρύνειν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, Κτίζουσά ἐστι καὶ δημιουργὸς ἡ Τριάς· καὶ οὐ φοβεῖσθε καταφέροντες αὐτὴν εἰς τὰ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων· οὐκ αἰδεῖσθε τὰ δοῦλα συνεξισάζοντες τῇ εὐγενείᾳ τῆς Τριάδος, καὶ τὸν βασιλέα Κύριον Σαβαὼθ τοῖς ὑπηκόοις συντάττοντες. Παύσασθε συμφύροντες τὰ ἄμικτα, μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ μὴ ὄντα τῷ ὄντι. Οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα λέγοντας ἐνεγκεῖν δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀλλὰ ἀδοξίαν καὶ ἀτιμίαν· ὁ γὰρ ἀτιμάζων τὸν Υἱὸν ἀτιμάζει τὸν Πατέρα. Εἰ γὰρ νῦν ἐν Τριάδι ἡ θεο λογία τελεία ἐστὶ, καὶ αὕτη ἡ ἀληθὴς καὶ μόνη θεοσέβειά ἐστι, καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἡ ἀλή θεια· ἔδει τοῦτο οὕτως ἀεὶ εἶναι, ἵνα μὴ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐπιγένηται, καὶ ἐκ προσθήκης συν ίσταται τὸ τῆς θεολογίας πλήρωμα. Ἔδει οὖν τοῦτο ἀϊδίως εἶναι· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀϊδίως ἦν, ἔδει μηδὲ νῦν οὕτως αὐτὴν εἶναι, ἀλλ' οὕτως εἶναι, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀρ χῆς ὑμεῖς αὐτὴν ὑποτίθεσθε, ἵνα μηδὲ νῦν Τριὰς ᾖ. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν ἀνάσχοιτό τις Χριστιανῶν τῶν τοιούτων αἱρετικῶν· Ἑλλήνων γὰρ ἴδια ταῦτα, ὥστε γενητὴν εἰσάγειν Τριάδα, καὶ τοῖς γενητοῖς αὐτὴν συνεξισάζειν. Τῶν γὰρ γενητῶν ἐστιν ἐλλείψεις καὶ προσθήκας δέχεσθαι· Χριστιανῶν δὲ ἡ πίστις ἄτρεπτον καὶ τελείαν καὶ ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχουσαν τὴν μακαρίαν οἶδε Τριάδα, καὶ οὔτε πλέον τι τῇ Τριάδι προστίθησιν, οὔτε ἐνδεῆ ποτε ταύτην γεγενῆ σθαι λογίζεται· ἑκάτερον γὰρ τούτων δυσσεβές· διὸ καὶ ἀμιγῆ μὲν αὐτὴν γινώσκει τῶν γενητῶν, ἀδιαίρετον δὲ τὴν ἑνότητα τῆς θεότητος αὐτῆς φυλάττουσα προσκυνεῖ· καὶ φεύγει μὲν τὰς τῶν Ἀρειανῶν βλασφημίας, ὁμολογεῖ δὲ καὶ οἶδεν ἀεὶ εἶναι τὸν Υἱόν· ἔστι γὰρ ἀΐδιος ὡς ὁ Πατὴρ, οὗ καὶ ἔστι Λόγος ἀΐδιος· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο πάλιν ἴδωμεν. Εἰ πηγὴ σοφίας καὶ ζωῆς ἐστι καὶ λέγεται ὁ Θεὸς, ὡς διὰ μὲν Ἱερεμίου, Ἐμὲ ἐγκατέλιπον πηγὴνὕδατος ζῶντος· καὶ πάλιν, Θρόνος δόξης ὑψωμέ νος, ἁγίασμα ἡμῶν, ὑπομονὴ Ἰσραὴλ, Κύριε, πάντες οἱ ἐγκαταλιπόντες σε αἰσχυνθήτωσαν· ἀφεστηκότες, ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς γραφήτωσαν· ὅτι ἐγκατέλιπον πηγὴν ζωῆς τὸν Κύριον· ἐν δὲ τῷ Βαροὺχ γέγραπται· Ἐγκατελίπετε τὴν πηγὴν τῆς σο φίας· ἀκόλουθον ἂν εἴη τὴν ζωὴν καὶ τὴν σοφίαν μήτε ξένα τῆς οὐσίας τῆς πηγῆς εἶναι, ἀλλ' ἴδια, μήτε ἀνύπαρκτά ποτε εἶναι, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ εἶναι. Ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Υἱὸς ὁ λέγων, Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωὴ, καὶ, Ἐγὼ ἡ σοφία κατεσκήνωσα βουλήν. Πῶς τοίνυν οὐκ ἀσεβεῖ ὁ λέγων, Ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ὁ Υἱός; Ἴσον γάρ ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, Ἦν ποτε ὅτε ἡ πηγὴ ξηρὰ ἦν χωρὶς τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τῆς σοφίας. Ἡ δὲ τοιαύτη οὐκ ἂν εἴη πηγή· τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ γεννῶν οὐκ ἔστι πηγή. Ὅσης δὲ ἀτοπίας γέμον ἐστὶ τοῦτο! Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Θεὸς τοὺς ποιοῦντας αὐτοῦ τὸ θέλημα ἐπαγγέλ λεται ὡς πηγὴν ἔσεσθαι, ἣν μὴ ἐξέλιπεν ὕδωρ, λέγων διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου· Καὶ ἐμπλησθήσῃ, καθάπερ ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡ ψυχή σου, καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ σου πιανθήσεται, καὶ ἔσται ὡς κῆπος μεθύων, καὶ ὡς πηγὴ, ἣν μὴ ἐξέλιπεν ὕδωρ· οὗτοι δὲ τὸν Θεὸν λεγόμενον καὶ ὄντα πηγὴν τῆς σοφίας, ἄγονον αὐτὸν καὶ λείψαντά ποτε τῆς ἰδίας σοφίας δυσφημεῖν τολμῶ σιν. Ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν παρὰ τούτων ἐστὶ ψεύδη· ἡ δὲ Ἀλήθεια μαρτυρεῖ πηγὴν ἀΐδιον εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν τῆς ἰδίας σοφίας. Ἀϊδίου δὲ τῆς πηγῆς οὔσης, ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ τὴν Σοφίαν ἀΐδιον εἶναι δεῖ. Ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ καὶ τὰ πάντα γέγονεν, ὡς ψάλλει ∆αβίδ· Πάντα ἐν Σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας· καὶ Σολομών φησιν· Ὁ Θεὸς τῇ Σοφίᾳ ἐθεμελίωσε τὴν γῆν, ἡτοίμασε δὲ οὐρανοὺς ἐν φρονήσει. Αὐτή τε ἡ Σοφία ἐστὶν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ, ὡς Ἰωάννης φησὶν, ἐγένετο τὰ πάντα, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν· καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Χρι στός. Εἷς γὰρ Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτὸν, καὶ εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χρι στὸς, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἡμεῖς δι' αὐτοῦ. Εἰ δὲ τὰ πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ, αὐτὸς οὐκ ἂν εἴη συναριθμούμε νος τοῖς πᾶσιν. Ὁ γὰρ τολμῶν τὸν δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα λέγειν ἕνα εἶναι τῶν πάντων, πάντως δή που καὶ περὶ Θεοῦ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, τὸ αὐτὸ λογίσεται. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο ὡς ἄτοπον φεύγει τις, καὶ διίστησιν ὡς ἄλλον ἀπὸ τῶν πάντων τὸν Θεὸν, ἀκόλουθον ἂν εἴη καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ Υἱὸν ἴδιον ὄντα τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας ἄλλον λέγειν εἶναι τῶν πάντων· μὴ ὄντος δὲ αὐτοῦ τῶν πάντων, οὐ θέμις ἐπ' αὐτοῦ λέγειν τὸ, Ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, καὶ, Οὐκ ἦν, πρὶν γεννηθῇ. Αἱ τοιαῦ ται γὰρ φωναὶ κατὰ τῶν ποιημάτων ἁρμόζουσι λέ γεσθαι· αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Υἱὸς τοιοῦτός ἐστιν, οἷός ἐστιν ὁ Πα τὴρ, οὗ καὶ ἔστι τῆς οὐσίας ἴδιον γέννημα, Λόγος, καὶ Σοφία. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἴδιον τοῦ Υἱοῦ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ τοῦτο τὸν Πατέρα τοῦ Υἱοῦ δείκνυσιν ἴδιον, ὥστε μή τε τὸν Θεὸν λέγειν ποτὲ ἄλογον, μήτε τὸν Υἱὸν ἀνύπ αρκτόν ποτε λέγειν. Ἐπεὶ διὰ τί Υἱὸς εἰ μὴ ἐξ αὐτοῦ; ἢ διὰ τί Λόγος καὶ Σοφία εἰ μὴ ἀεὶ καὶ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ; Πότε γοῦν τοῦ ἰδίου χωρὶς ἦν ὁ Θεός; ἢ πῶς τις περὶ τοῦ ἰδίου, ὡς περὶ ξένου καὶ ἀλλοτριοου σίου δύναται λογίσασθαι; Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα οἷά ἐστι τὰ γενητὰ, οὐδὲν ὅμοιον κατ' οὐσίαν ἔχει πρὸς τὸν πεποιηκότα· ἀλλ' ἔξωθεν αὐτοῦ ἐστι, χάριτι καὶ βουλήσει αὐτοῦ τῷ Λόγῳ γενόμενα, ὥστε πάλιν δύνασθαι καὶ παύεσθαί ποτε, εἰ θελήσειεν ὁ ποιήσας· ταύτης γάρ ἐστι φύσεως τὰ γενητά. Τὸ δὲ ἴδιον τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς (ὡμολόγηται γὰρ ἤδη τοῦτο εἶναι ὁ Υἱός)· πῶς οὐ τολμηρὸν καὶ δυσσεβὲς εἰπεῖν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἦν πρὶν γεννηθῇ, ἀλλ' ἐπισυμβέβηκε, καὶ δύναται πάλιν μὴ εἶναί ποτε; Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ μόνον ὁ ἐνθυμούμενος κατανοείτω, πῶς τὸ τέλειον καὶ τὸ πλῆρες τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας ἀφαιρεῖται καὶ γὰρ φανερώτερον ἄν τις ἴδοι πάλιν τὸ ἄτοπον τῆς αἱρέσεως, ἐὰν ἐνθυμη θῇ, ὅτι ὁ Υἱὸς εἰκών ἐστι καὶ ἀπαύγασμα τοῦ Πα τρὸς, καὶ χαρακτὴρ, καὶ ἀλήθεια. Εἰ γὰρ ὑπάρχοντος φωτὸς, ἔστιν εἰκὼν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀπαύγασμα· καὶ οὔσης ὑποστάσεως, ἔστι ταύτης ὁ χαρακτὴρ ὁλόκλη ρος· καὶ ὄντος Πατρὸς, ἔστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια· σκοπεί τωσαν οἱ τὴν εἰκόνα καὶ τὸ εἶδος τῆς θεότητος χρόνῳ μετροῦντες, εἰς πόσον ἀσεβείας βάραθρον πίπτουσιν. Εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ἦν ὁ Υἱὸς, πρὶν γεννηθῇ, οὐκ ἦν ἀεὶ ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἡ ἀλήθεια. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο λέγειν οὐ θέμις· τοῦ γὰρ Πατρὸς ὄντος, ἦν ἀεὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἡ ἀλήθεια, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ Υἱὸς ὁ λέγων· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ Ἀλήθεια· καὶ τῆς ὑποστάσεως ὑπαρχούσης, πάντως εὐθὺς εἶναι δεῖ τὸν χαρακτῆρα καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα ταύτης· οὐ γὰρ ἔξωθέν ἐστι γραφομένη ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰκών· ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς γεννητής ἐστι ταύτης, ἐν ᾗ ἑαυτὸν ὁρῶν προσχαίρει ταύτῃ, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Υἱὸς λέγει· Ἐγὼ ἤμην ᾗ προσέχαιρε. Πότε γοῦν οὐχ ἑώρα ἑαυ τὸν ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ εἰκόνι; ἢ πότε οὐ προσέχαιρεν, ἵνα τολμήσῃ τις εἰπεῖν, Ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐστὶν ἡ εἰκὼν, καὶ, Οὐκ ἦν χαίρων ὁ Πατὴρ, πρὶν γένηται ἡ εἰκών; Πῶς δὲ καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἂν ἴδοι ὁ ποιητὴς καὶ κτίστης ἐν κτιστῇ καὶ γενητῇ οὐσίᾳ; Τοιαύ την γὰρ εἶναι δεῖ τὴν εἰκόνα, οἷός ἐστιν ὁ ταύτης Πατήρ. Φέρε τοίνυν, ἴδωμεν τὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἵνα καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα ἐπιγνῶμεν, εἰ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. Ἀΐδιός ἐστιν ὁ Πατὴρ, ἀθάνατος, δυνατὸς, φῶς, βασιλεὺς, παντοκρά τωρ, Θεὸς, Κύριος, κτίστης, καὶ ποιητής. Ταῦτα εἶναι δεῖ ἐν τῇ εἰκόνι, ἵνα ἀληθῶς ὁ τὸν Υἱὸν ἑωρα κὼς ἴδῃ τὸν Πατέρα. Εἰ δὲ μὴ οὕτως ἐστὶν, ἀλλ' ὡς οἱ Ἀρειανοὶ φρονοῦσιν, γενητός ἐστι, καὶ οὐκ ἀΐδιος ὁ Υἱὸς, οὐκ ἔστιν αὕτη τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀληθὴς εἰκὼν, εἰ μὴ ἄρα λοιπὸν ἀπερυθριάσαντες εἴπωσιν, ὅτι καὶ τὸ εἰκόνα λέγεσθαι τὸν Υἱὸν, οὐχ ὁμοίας οὐσίας ἐστὶ γνώρισμα, ὄνομα δὲ μόνον ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο πάλιν, ὦ Χριστομάχοι, οὐκ ἔστιν εἰκὼν, οὐδὲ χαρα κτήρ. Ποία γὰρ ἐμφέρεια τῶν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων πρὸς τὸν κτίσαντα τὰ οὐκ ὄντα εἰς τὸ εἶναι; ἢ πῶς τῷ ὄντι τὸ οὐκ ὂν ὅμοιον εἶναι δύναται, λειπόμενον τῷ ποτε μὴ εἶναι, καὶ τῷ πρὸς τὰ γενόμενα τὴν σύνταξιν ἔχειν; Τοιοῦτον γὰρ αὐτὸν εἶναι θέλοντες οἱ Ἀρειανοὶ, λογισμοὺς ἑαυτοῖς ἐπενόησαν, λέγοντες· Εἰ γέννημά ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ εἰκὼν, καὶ ὅμοιός ἐστι κατὰ πάντα τοῦ Πατρὸς, ὀφείλει πάντως, ὥσπερ γεγέν νηται, γεννᾷν καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ γίνεσθαι καὶ αὐτὸς πατὴρ υἱοῦ· πάλιν τε ὁ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεννώμενος γεννᾷν καὶ αὐτὸς, καὶ καθεξῆς ἕως εἰς ἄπειρον· τοῦτο γὰρ ὅμοιον δείκνυσι τὸν γεννηθέντα τοῦ γεννήσαν τος. Ἐφευρεταὶ δυσφημιῶν ἀληθῶς οἱ θεομάχοι, οἵτινες, ἵνα μὴ τὸν Υἱὸν εἰκόνα τοῦ Πατρὸς ὁμολογή σωσι, σωματικὰ καὶ γήϊνα περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Πατρὸς φρονοῦσι, τομὰς, καὶ ἀποῤῥοίας καὶ ἐπιῤῥοίας κατ ηγοροῦντες κατ' αὐτοῦ. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ὡς ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, γινέσθω καὶ γεννητὴς, ὡς ἄνθρω πος, ἵνα καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ἑτέρου γίνηται πατὴρ, καὶ οὕτω καθεξῆς ἐξ ἀλλήλων γινέσθωσαν, ἵνα καὶ εἰς πλῆθος θεῶν ἡ διαδοχὴ κατ' αὐτοὺς αὐξάνῃ· εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὁ Θεός· οὐκ ἔστι γάρ· οὐ δεῖ τὰ ἀνθρώ πων ἐπ' αὐτοῦ λογίζεσθαι. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλογα ζῶα καὶ ἄνθρωποι ἐκ δημιουργικῆς ἀρχῆς κατὰ δια δοχῆς ἀλλήλων γεννῶνται καὶ ὁ γεννώμενος, ἐκ γεν νωμένου πατρὸς γεννηθεὶς, εἰκότως καὶ αὐτὸς ἑτέρου γίνεται πατὴρ, ἔχων ἐκ πατρὸς ἐν ἑαυτῷ τοῦτο, ἐξ οὗ καὶ αὐτὸς γέγονε. ∆ιὸ οὐδέ ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις κυρίως πατὴρ καὶ κυρίως υἱὸς, οὐδὲ ἕστηκεν ἐπ' αὐτῶν τὸ πατὴρ καὶ τὸ υἱός· ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς υἱὸς μὲν τοῦ γεννήσαντος, πατὴρ δὲ τοῦ γεννωμένου ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς θεότητος οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτως· οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὁ Θεός· οὔτε γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ἐκ πατρός ἐστι· διὸ οὐδὲ γεννᾷ τὸν γεννησόμενον πατέρα· οὔτε ὁ Υἱὸς ἐξ ἀποῤῥοίας ἐστὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς, οὐδὲ ἐκ γεννηθέντος Πατρὸς γεγέννηται· διὸ οὐδὲ γεγέννηται εἰς τὸ γεννᾷν. Ὅθεν ἐπὶ τῆς θεότητος μόνης ὁ Πατὴρ κυρίως πατήρ ἐστι, καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς κυρίως υἱός ἐστι, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων καὶ μόνων ἕστηκε τὸ Πατὴρ ἀεὶ πα τὴρ εἶναι, καὶ τὸ Υἱὸς ἀεὶ υἱὸς εἶναι. Οὐκοῦν ὁ ζητῶν διὰ τί μὴ γεννητικὸς υἱοῦ ὁ Υἱὸς, ζητείτω διὰ τί μὴ πατέρα ἔσχεν ὁ Πατήρ. Ἀλλὰ ἄτοπά γε ἀμφότερα καὶ πάσης μεστὰ ἀσεβείας. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ ἀεὶ πατὴρ, καὶ οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο υἱὸς, οὕτως ὁ Υἱὸς ἀεὶ υἱός ἐστι, καὶ οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο πατήρ· καὶ ἐν τούτῳ γὰρ μᾶλλον χαρακτὴρ ὢν καὶ εἰκὼν τοῦ Πατρὸς δείκνυται, μένων ὅ ἐστι καὶ οὐκ ἀλλασσόμενος, ἀλλ' ἔχων ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς τὴν ταὐτό τητα. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ὁ Πατὴρ μεταβάλλεται, μεταβαλ λέσθω καὶ ἡ εἰκών· πρὸς γὰρ τὸν γεννήσαντα οὕτω καὶ ἡ εἰκὼν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ἀπαύγασμα ἕστηκεν· εἰ δὲ ἄτρεπτός ἐστιν ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ ὅ ἐστιν οὕτως δια μένει, ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ εἰκὼν ὅ ἐστι διαμένει, καὶ οὐ τραπήσεται. Ἔστι δὲ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς Υἱός· οὐκ ἄρα ἕτερόν τι γενήσεται, ἢ ὅπερ ἐστὶ τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας ἴδιον. Μάτην ἄρα καὶ τοῦτο ἐπενόησαν οἱ ἄφρονες, ἐξάραι θέλοντες ἀπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς τὴν εἰκόνα, ἵνα τοῖς γενητοῖς τὸν Υἱὸν ἐξισάσωσιν.