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being referred, not being composed or co-mingled according to the contraction of Sabellius—for they are united, as we have said, not so as to be confounded, but so as to cleave to one another; and they have their indwelling in one another without any co-mingling or confusion—nor being separated or cut in essence according to the division of Arius. For the Godhead is indivisible in things divided, if one must speak concisely, and as it were in three suns cleaving to one another and being without interval, there is one blending and conjunction of light. When, therefore, we look to the Godhead, and the first cause, and the monarchy, and the one and the same, so to speak, motion and will of the Godhead, and the identity of essence and power and energy and lordship, what we imagine is one. But when we look to those things in which the Godhead is, or, to speak more accurately, which the Godhead is, and those things which are timelessly from the first cause, of the same glory and without interval, that is, the hypostases, the things worshipped are three. One Father is the Father and without beginning, that is, without cause; for He is not from anyone. One Son is the Son and not without beginning, that is, not without cause; for He is from the Father. But if you should take beginning with respect to time, He is also without beginning; for the creator of times is not under time. One Holy Spirit is the Spirit, proceeding indeed from the Father, but not in the manner of a Son, but by procession, neither the Father departing from his unbegottenness, because he has begotten, nor the Son from his begottenness, because he is from the unbegotten (for how could he be?), nor the Spirit changing into the Father or into the Son, because he has proceeded and because he is God; for the particularity is unchangeable. Or how could a particularity remain, if it were moved and changed? For if the Father were a Son, he would not be properly a Father; for there is one proper Father. And if the Son were a Father, he would not be properly a Son; for there is one proper Son and one Holy Spirit. It is necessary to know that we do not say the Father is from anyone; but we say He is the Father of the Son. And we do not say the Son is a cause or a Father; but we say He is both from the Father and Son of the Father. And the Holy Spirit we both say is from the Father and call the Spirit of the Father, but we do not say the Spirit is from the Son, but we call Him the Spirit of the Son (“for if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,” says the divine apostle) and we confess that He has been manifested and imparted to us through the Son (for “He breathed on” and said to his disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit”), just as from the sun come both the ray and the radiance (for it is itself the source of both the ray and the radiance), and through the ray the radiance is imparted to us, and it is this that illumines us and is participated in by us. But we say the Son is neither of the Spirit nor indeed from the Spirit.
9 Concerning the things said of God The divine is simple and uncompounded. But that which is from
composed of many and different things is compounded. If, therefore, we were to say that the uncreated and beginningless and incorporeal and immortal and eternal and good and creative and such things are essential differences in God, being composed of so many, he will not be simple, but compounded, which is the utmost impiety. Therefore, one must think that each of the things said of God does not signify what He is in essence, but either declares what He is not, or some relation to one of the things set in contrast, or something that follows upon his nature, or an energy. Now, the most proper of all the names said of God seems to be 'He who is', as He himself, when delivering an oracle to Moses on the mountain, says: 'Say to the sons of Israel: He who is has sent me'. For He holds all being comprehended in himself, like a certain infinite and boundless sea of essence. And second is the name 'God' (theos), which is said either from 'to run' (theein) and to encompass the universe, or from 'to burn' (aithein), which is to consume ('for God is a consuming fire' of all wickedness), or from 'to behold' (theasthai) all things; for He is not hidden from and is the overseer of all. For He “beheld all things before their generation,” having conceived them timelessly, and each thing according to his timeless will-concept, which is predestination and image and pattern, at its predestined, time
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ἀναφερομένων, οὐ συντιθεμένων οὐδὲ συναλειφομένων κατὰ τὴν Σαβελλίου συναίρεσιν-ἑνοῦνται γάρ, ὡς ἔφημεν, οὐχ ὥστε συγχεῖσθαι, ἀλλ' ὥστε ἔχεσθαι ἀλλήλων· καὶ τὴν ἐν ἀλλήλαις περιχώρησιν ἔχουσι δίχα πάσης συναλοιφῆς καὶ συμφύρσεως-οὐδὲ ἐξισταμένων ἢ κατ' οὐσίαν τεμνομένων κατὰ τὴν Ἀρείου διαίρεσιν. Ἀμέριστος γὰρ ἐν μεμερισμένοις, εἰ δεῖ συντόμως εἰπεῖν, ἡ θεότης καὶ οἷον ἐν ἡλίοις τρισὶν ἐχομένοις ἀλλήλων καὶ ἀδιαστάτοις οὖσι μία τοῦ φωτὸς σύγκρασίς τε καὶ συνάφεια. Ὅταν μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὴν θεότητα βλέψωμεν καὶ τὴν πρώτην αἰτίαν καὶ τὴν μοναρχίαν καὶ τὸ ἓν καὶ ταὐτὸν τῆς θεότητος, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, κίνημά τε καὶ βούλημα καὶ τὴν τῆς οὐσίας καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ ἐνεργείας καὶ κυριότητος ταυτότητα, ἓν ἡμῖν τὸ φανταζόμενον. Ὅταν δὲ πρὸς τὰ ἐν οἷς ἡ θεότης ἤ, τό γε ἀκριβέστερον εἰπεῖν, ἃ ἡ θεότης καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῆς πρώτης αἰτίας ἀχρόνως ἐκεῖθεν ὄντα καὶ ὁμοδόξως καὶ ἀδιαστάτως, τουτέστι τὰς ὑποστάσεις τρία τὰ προσκυνούμενα. Εἷς πατὴρ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ἄναρχος, τουτέστιν ἀναίτιος· οὐ γὰρ ἔκ τινος. Εἷς υἱὸς ὁ υἱὸς καὶ οὐκ ἄναρχος, τουτέστιν οὐκ ἀναίτιος· ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς γάρ. Εἰ δὲ τὴν ἀπὸ χρόνου λάβοις ἀρχήν, καὶ ἄναρχος· ποιητὴς γὰρ χρόνων οὐχ ὑπὸ χρόνον. Ἓν πνεῦμα ἅγιον τὸ πνεῦμα, προϊὸν μὲν ἐκ τοῦ πατρός, οὐχ υἱϊκῶς δὲ ἀλλ' ἐκπορευτῶς, οὔτε τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκστάντος τῆς ἀγεννησίας, διότι γεγέννηκεν, οὔτε τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς γεννήσεως, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου (πῶς γάρ;), οὔτε τοῦ πνεύματος ἢ εἰς πατέρα μεταπίπτοντος ἢ εἰς υἱόν, ὅτι ἐκπεπόρευται καὶ ὅτι θεός· ἡ γὰρ ἰδιότης ἀκίνητος. Ἢ πῶς ἂν ἰδιότης μένοι, κινουμένη καὶ μεταπίπτουσα; εἰ γὰρ υἱὸς ὁ πατήρ, οὐ πατὴρ κυρίως· εἷς γὰρ κυρίως πατήρ. Καὶ εἰ πατὴρ ὁ υἱός, οὐ κυρίως υἱός· εἷς γὰρ κυρίως υἱὸς καὶ ἓν πνεῦμα ἅγιον. Χρὴ γινώσκειν, ὅτι τὸν πατέρα οὐ λέγομεν ἔκ τινος· λέγομεν δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦ υἱοῦ πατέρα. Τὸν δὲ υἱὸν οὐ λέγομεν αἴτιον οὐδὲ πατέρα· λέγομεν δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ υἱὸν τοῦ πατρός. Τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς λέγομεν καὶ πνεῦμα πατρὸς ὀνομάζομεν, ἐκ τοῦ υἱοῦ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα οὐ λέγομεν, πνεῦμα δὲ υἱοῦ ὀνομάζομεν («εἴ τις γὰρ πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ οὐκ ἔχει», φησὶν ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος) καὶ δι' υἱοῦ πεφανερῶσθαι καὶ μεταδεδόσθαι ἡμῖν ὁμολογοῦμεν («ἐνεφύσησε» γὰρ καὶ εἶπε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· «Λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον»), ὥσπερ ἐκ τοῦ ἡλίου μὲν ἥ τε ἀκτὶς καὶ ἡ ἔκλαμψις (αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ πηγὴ τῆς τε ἀκτῖνος καὶ τῆς ἐκλάμψεως), διὰ δὲ τῆς ἀκτῖνος ἡ ἔκλαμψις ἡμῖν μεταδίδοται καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ φωτίζουσα ἡμᾶς καὶ μετεχομένη ὑφ' ἡμῶν. Τὸν δὲ υἱὸν οὔτε τοῦ πνεύματος λέγομεν οὔτε μὴν ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος.
9 Περὶ τῶν ἐπὶ θεοῦ λεγομένων Τὸ θεῖον ἁπλοῦν ἐστι καὶ ἀσύνθετον. Τὸ δὲ ἐκ
πολλῶν καὶ διαφόρων συγκείμενον σύνθετόν ἐστιν. Εἰ οὖν τὸ ἄκτιστον καὶ ἄναρχον καὶ ἀσώματον καὶ ἀθάνατον καὶ αἰώνιον καὶ ἀγαθὸν καὶ δημιουργικὸν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα οὐσιώδεις διαφορὰς εἴπομεν ἐπὶ θεοῦ ἐκ τοσούτων συγκείμενον, οὐχ ἁπλοῦν ἔσται, ἀλλὰ σύνθετον, ὅπερ ἐσχάτης ἀσεβείας ἐστίν. Χρὴ τοίνυν ἕκαστον τῶν ἐπὶ θεοῦ λεγομένων οὐ, τί κατ' οὐσίαν ἐστί, σημαίνειν οἴεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἤ, τί οὐκ ἔστι, δηλοῦν ἢ σχέσιν τινὰ πρός τι τῶν ἀντιδιαστελλομένων ἤ τι τῶν παρεπομένων τῇ φύσει ἢ ἐνέργειαν. ∆οκεῖ μὲν οὖν κυριώτερον πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ θεοῦ λεγομένων ὀνομάτων εἶναι ὁ ὤν, καθὼς αὐτὸς χρηματίζων τῷ Μωσεῖ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους φησίν· «Εἶπον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ· Ὁ ὢν ἀπέσταλκέ με». Ὅλον γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτῷσυλλαβὼν ἔχει τὸ εἶναι οἷόν τι πέλαγος οὐσίας ἄπειρον καὶ ἀόριστον. ∆εύτερον δὲ τὸ θεὸς ὄνομα, ὃ λέγεται ἢ ἐκ τοῦ θέειν καὶ περιέπειν τὰ σύμπαντα ἢ ἐκ τοῦ αἴθειν ὅ ἐστι καίειν («ὁ γὰρ θεὸς πῦρ καταναλίσκον» πᾶσαν κακίαν ἐστίν) ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεᾶσθαι τὰ πάντα· ἀλάθητος γάρ ἐστι καὶ πάντων ἐπόπτης. Ἐθεάσατο γὰρ «τὰ πάντα πρὶν γενέσεως αὐτῶν» ἀχρόνως ἐννοήσας καὶ ἕκαστον κατὰ τὴν θελητικὴν αὐτοῦ ἄχρονον ἔννοιαν, ἥτις ἐστὶ προορισμὸς καὶ εἰκὼν καὶ παράδειγμα, ἐν τῷ προορισθέντι, καιρῷ