John Chrysostom, On the Incomprehensible Nature of God

He did not make a pronouncement, but wished to learn, and did not receive pardon; but you, while insisting that you know things unseen and incomprehensible to all, what defense will you have? What punishment will you not draw down upon yourself? But let the discourses concerning the generation await their proper seasons; meanwhile, let us proceed on the way to the former subject, of which we previously left the remains, attempting to pull out the deadly root, the mother of all evils and the source from which these dogmas of theirs sprouted. And what is the root of all evils? Believe me, a shudder takes hold of me as I am about to speak it; for I hesitate to utter with the tongue what they constantly ponder in their mind. What then is the root of these evils? A man dared to say, "I know God as God Himself knows Himself." Does this, then, require refutation, does this require proof? is not the mere utterance of the words enough to show all their impiety? For this is a clear madness, an unpardonable insanity, a newer form of impiety; no one has ever dared to conceive any such thing in mind, nor to bring it forth with the tongue. Consider, you wretched and miserable one, who you are and whom you are scrutinizing; being a man, do you meddle with God? For the bare names are enough to show the excess of the folly: a man, being earth and ashes, flesh and blood, grass and the flower of grass, a shadow and smoke and vanity, and if there is anything weaker and more worthless than these. And do not think that what is said is an accusation against our nature; for I do not say these things, but the prophets philosophize about these things, not dishonoring our race, but checking the pride of the foolish; not disparaging our nature, but humbling the madness of the frenzied. For if, when they had said so many and such things, some nevertheless appeared who surpassed the boastfulness of the devil, if none of these things had been said, to what lengths of madness would they not have kicked out? tell me. They have the medicine applied and still they are inflamed; and to what degree would they not have been puffed up with pride and madness, if those men had not declared so many and such things concerning human nature? Hear, at any rate, what the righteous patriarch says about himself: "But I am earth and ashes." He was conversing with God, and the boldness did not puff him up; this indeed, this persuaded him to be moderate. But these men, not being worthy even of his shadow, think themselves to be greater than the angels themselves, which is proof of the utmost madness. Do you scrutinize God, tell me, the unoriginate, the unchangeable, the incorporeal, the incorruptible, who is present everywhere, and surpasses all things and is above all creation? Hear what the prophets philosophize about Him and be afraid: "Who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble." He only looked and He shook so vast and great an earth. "Who touches the mountains, and they smoke ... who shakes the world under heaven from its foundations, and its pillars are shaken; who rebukes the sea and dries it up; who says to the deep: Be desolate." "The sea saw it and fled; the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams and the hills like lambs of the flock." All creation is shaken, is afraid, trembles; but these alone show contempt, are disdainful, disparage their own salvation; for I would not say the Master of all. Previously, then, we were admonishing them from the powers above, from angels, archangels, the Cherubim, the Seraphim; but now from the inanimate creation, and not even from this are they ashamed. Do you not see this heaven, how beautiful, how great, how it is crowned with the varied chorus of the stars? For how long has it lasted? For it has now stood for five thousand years and more, and the length of time has not brought old age upon it; but just as a young and vigorous body has its season of age flourishing and at its peak, so also heaven has preserved the beauty which it obtained from the beginning and has become no weaker from time. But

Ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἀπεφήνατο, ἀλλὰ μαθεῖν ἠθέλησε, καὶ οὐκ ἔτυχε συγγνώμης· σὺ δὲ καὶ εἰδέναι διϊσχυριζόμενος τὰ πᾶσιν ἀθέατα καὶ ἀκατάληπτα, ποίαν ἕξεις ἀπολογίαν; τίνα δὲ οὐκ ἐπισπάσῃ κατὰ σαυτοῦ τιμωρίαν; Ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν περὶ γεννήσεως λόγοι τοὺς προσήκοντας ἀναμενέτωσαν καιρούς· τέως δὲ ὁδῷ βαδίζωμεν ἐπὶ τὴν προτέραν ὑπόθεσιν, ἧς πρώην τὰ λείψανα κατελίπομεν, τὴν ὀλεθρίαν ἐκσπάσαι ῥίζαν ἐπιχειροῦντες, τὴν πάντων μητέρα τῶν κακῶν καὶ ὅθεν αὐτοῖς τὰ δόγματα ταῦτα ἐβλάστησε. Ποία δὲ ἡ ῥίζα τῶν κακῶν πάντων; Πιστεύσατε, φρίκη με κατέχει μέλλοντα αὐτὴν ἐκλαλεῖν· ὀκνῶ γὰρ διὰ γλώττης ἐκφέρειν ἃ μελετῶσιν ἐπὶ τῆς διανοίας ἐκεῖνοι διαπαντός. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ἡ ῥίζα τούτων τῶν κακῶν; Ἐτόλμησεν ἄνθρωπος εἰπεῖν ὅτι Θεὸν οἶδα ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς ἑαυτὸν οἶδε. Ταῦτα οὖν ἐλέγχου δεῖται, ταῦτα ἀποδείξεως; οὐκ ἀρκεῖ μόνη ἡ προφορὰ τῶν ῥημάτων δεῖξαι πᾶσαν αὐτῶν τὴν ἀσέβειαν; Καὶ γὰρ μανία τίς ἐστι ταῦτα σαφὴς παραπληξία ἀσύγγνωστος, καινότερος ἀσεβείας τρόπος· οὐδεὶς τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν οὐδέποτε οὔτε εἰς νοῦν βαλέσθαι, οὔτε διὰ τῆς γλώττης προενεγκεῖν ἐτόλμησεν. Ἐννόησον, ἄθλιε καὶ ταλαίπωρε, τίς εἶ καὶ τίνα περιεργάζῃ· ἄνθρωπος ὢν Θεὸν πολυπραγμονεῖς; Ἀρκεῖ γὰρ τὰ ὀνόματα ψιλὰ τῆς ἀνοίας δεῖξαι τὴν ὑπερβολήν, ἄνθρωπος γῆ καὶ σποδὸς ὑπάρχων, σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα, χόρτος καὶ ἄνθος χόρτου, σκιὰ καὶ καπνὸς καὶ ματαιότης, καὶ εἴ τι τούτων ἀδρανέστερον καὶ εὐτελέστερον. Καὶ μὴ νομίσητε κατηγορίαν εἶναι τῆς φύσεως τὰ λεγόμενα· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐγὼ ταῦτα λέγω, ἀλλ' οἱ προφῆται ταῦτα φιλοσοφοῦσιν, οὐκ ἀτιμάζοντες ἡμῶν τὸ γένος, ἀλλὰ καταστέλλοντες τῶν ἀνοήτων τὸ φύσημα· οὐκ ἐξευτελίζοντες ἡμῶν τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ ταπεινοῦντες τῶν μαινομένων τὴν ἀπόνοιαν. Εἰ γὰρ τοσαῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτα εἰρηκότων ἐκείνων ὅμως ἐφάνησάν τινες οἱ τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν μεγαληγορίαν νικήσαντες, εἰ μηδὲν τούτων εἴρητο, ποῦ οὐκ ἂν ἐξελάκτισαν ἀπονοίας; εἰπέ μοι. Ἔχουσι τὸ φάρμακον ἐπικείμενον καὶ ἔτι φλεγμαίνουσι· καὶ ποῦ οὐκ ἂν ὄγκου καὶ ἀπονοίας ἐξεφυσήθησαν, εἰ μὴ τοσαῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτα ἀπεφήναντο περὶ τῆς φύσεως τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐκεῖνοι; Ἄκουσον γοῦν τί φησιν ὁ δίκαιος πατριάρχης περὶ ἑαυτοῦ· «Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι γῆ καὶ σποδός.» Θεῷ διελέγετο, καὶ οὐκ ἐπῆρεν αὐτὸν ἡ παρρησία· αὕτη μὲν οὖν, αὕτη μετριάζειν αὐτὸν ἀνέπειθεν. Οὗτοι δὲ οὐδὲ τῆς σκιᾶς ὄντες ἄξιοι τῆς ἐκείνου, τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτῶν μείζους ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι νομίζουσιν, ὅπερ ἐσχάτης ἐστὶ μανίας ἀπόδειξις. Θεόν, εἰπέ μοι, περιεργάζῃ τὸν ἄναρχον, τὸν ἀναλλοίωτον, τὸν ἀσώματον, τὸν ἄφθαρτον, τὸν πανταχοῦ παρόντα, καὶ πάντα ὑπερβαίνοντα καὶ ἀνωτέρω τῆς κτίσεως ἁπάσης ὄντα. Ἄκουσον τί φιλοσοφοῦσιν οἱ προφῆται περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ φοβήθητι· «Ὁ ἐπιβλέπων ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ ποιῶν αὐτὴν τρέμειν.» Εἶδε μόνον καὶ ἐσάλευσε τὴν τοσαύτην καὶ τηλικαύτην γῆν. «Ὁ ἁπτόμενος τῶν ὀρέων, καὶ καπνίζονται ... ὁ σείων τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανὸν ἐκ θεμελίων, καὶ οἱ στῦλοι αὐτῆς σαλεύονται· ὁ ἀπειλῶν τῇ θαλάσσῃ καὶ ξηραίνων αὐτήν· ὁ λέγων τῇ ἀβύσσῳ· Ἐρημωθήσῃ.» «Ἡ θάλασσα εἶδε καὶ ἔφυγεν· ὁ Ἰορδάνης ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω· τὰ ὄρη ἐσκίρτησαν ὡσεὶ κριοὶ καὶ οἱ βουνοὶ ὡς ἀρνία προβάτων.» Πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις σαλεύεται, δέδοικε, τρέμει· μόνοι δὲ οὗτοι καταφρονοῦσιν, ὑπερορῶσιν, ἐξευτελίζουσι τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἴποιμι τὸν ἁπάντων ∆εσπότην. Πρώην μὲν οὖν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἄνω δυνάμεων ἐσωφρονίζομεν, ἀγγέλων, ἀρχαγγέλων, τῶν Χερουβίμ, τῶν Σεραφίμ· νῦν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀναισθήτου κτίσεως, καὶ οὐδὲ ἐντεῦθεν ἐντρέπονται. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς τουτονὶ τὸν οὐρανόν, πῶς καλός, πῶς μέγας, πῶς τῷ ποικίλῳ τῶν ἄστρων ἐστεφάνωται χορῷ; πόσον διήρκεσε χρόνον; Πεντακισχίλια γὰρ καὶ πλείω λοιπὸν ἕστηκεν ἔτη, καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ χρόνου οὐκ ἐπήγαγεν αὐτῷ γῆρας· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ σῶμα νέον καὶ σφριγῶν ἀνθοῦσαν ἔχει καὶ ἐνακμάζουσαν αὐτῷ τῆς ἡλικίας τὴν ὥραν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ οὐρανὸς ὅπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔλαχε κάλλος διετήρησε καὶ οὐδὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου γέγονεν ἀσθενέστερος. Ἀλλὰ