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unbegottenness to fall among the enumerated things? But since he himself adds, as necessarily connected to the preceding points, the statement, "Therefore if it is neither by conception, nor by privation, nor by any other of the enumerated modes, it would be unbegotten substance;" so let us say, reversing it, that "Therefore since it is considered by conception, and the name is privative, unbegottenness is not the substance of God." For as long as he does not 29.540 refute what has been said, nor gives force to his own propositions, the conclusion will have no place for him. In general, to think that one has discovered the very substance of the God over all, of how much arrogance and puffing up this is! For by their boasting they almost eclipse even him who said: "I will set my throne above the stars;" since they presume not against stars or heaven, but boastfully enter into the very substance of the God of all. For let us examine him, whence he says he has come to a conception of it. Is it from the common notion? But this suggests to us that God exists, not what He is. But from the teaching of the Spirit? What teaching? or where is it found? Did not the great David, to whom God revealed the unseen and hidden things of his wisdom, openly confess the inaccessibility of knowledge, saying: "Your knowledge has been made wonderful to me; it has been made strong; I will not be able to attain to it"? And Isaiah, who came to be in the vision of the glory of God, what did he declare to us about the divine substance? who indeed in the prophecy concerning Christ testifies, saying: "Who shall declare his generation?" And what of Paul, the chosen vessel, who had Christ speaking in him, who was caught up to the third heaven, who heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter, what teaching did he leave us concerning the substance of God? who indeed, when he stooped to examine the particular accounts of the economy, as if becoming dizzy at the impassable nature of the contemplation, cried out that utterance: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out!" But if these things are unattainable for those who have reached the measure of Paul's knowledge, how great is the pride of those who profess to know the substance of God? Whom I would gladly ask concerning the earth on which they stand, and from which they are made, what do they say? what substance of it do they report to us? so that, if perhaps they might discourse to us irrefutably about the things on the ground and lying under their feet, then we might believe them also as they expound on things beyond all conception. What then is the substance of the earth? What is the mode of its apprehension? Let them answer us, whether reason has attained it, or sense-perception? And if they say sense-perception, by which of the senses is it apprehended? By sight? But this is perceptive of colors. But by touch? And this is discerning of hardness and softness, and of hot and cold, and of such things, none of which one would call substance, unless driven to the extreme of madness. And concerning taste and smell what need is there even to 29.541 speak? of which the one has the perception of flavors, and the other of vapors. And hearing is perceptive of sounds and voices, which have no affinity with the earth. It remains, therefore, for them to claim to have found its substance by reason. By what reason? Where is it found in Scripture? Handed down by which of the saints? He who indeed discoursed to us concerning creation, taught us this much, that "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth; and the earth was unseen and unformed;" considering it sufficient to announce the one who made and ordered it; but to inquire curiously what its substance is, he declined, as vain and unprofitable for the hearers. If, therefore, the knowledge of it is confirmed neither by the testimony of sense-perception, nor by the teaching of reason, from where will they still say they have obtained the apprehension of it? For whatever of it is perceptible to the senses, is either color, or bulk, or weight, or lightness, or density, or porosity, or resistance, or softness, or coldness, or

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τῶν ἀπηριθμημένων τὴν ἀγεννησίαν πεσεῖν; Οὐ μὴν ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸς ὡς ἀναγκαίως συνημμένον τοῖς προάγουσιν ἐπιφέρει τὸ, Οὐκοῦν εἰ μήτε κατ' ἐπίνοιαν, μήτε κατὰ στέ ρησιν, μήτε κατὰ ἄλλον τινὰ τῶν ἀπηριθμημένων τρόπον, αὐτὸ ἂν εἴη οὐσία ἀγέννητος· οὕτως ἡμεῖς ἀντιστρέψαντες εἴπωμεν, ὅτι Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ κατ' ἐπίνοιαν θεωρεῖται, καὶ στερητικόν ἐστι τὸ ὄνομα, οὐχὶ οὐσία τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ ἀγέννητον. Ἕως γὰρ οὐκ 29.540 ἐλέγχει τὰ εἰρημένα, οὐδὲ ταῖς προτάσεσιν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἰσχὺν ἀποδίδωσιν, οὐδεμίαν αὐτῷ χώραν ἕξει τὸ συναγόμενον. Ὅλως δὲ, τὸ οἴεσθαι τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεοῦ αὐ τὴν τὴν οὐσίαν ἐξευρηκέναι, πόσης ὑπερηφανίας ἐστὶ καὶ φυσιώσεως! Σχεδὸν γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸν ἀποκρύ πτουσι τῇ μεγαληγορίᾳ τὸν εἰπόντα· Ἐπάνω τῶν ἄστρων θήσομαι τὸν θρόνον μου· οἵ γε οὐχὶ ἀστέ ρων, ἢ οὐρανοῦ κατατολμῶσιν, ἀλλ' αὐτὴν ἐμβα τεύειν τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων τὴν οὐσίαν ἀλαζονεύον ται. Ἐξετάσωμεν γὰρ αὐτὸν, πόθεν αὐτῆς φη σιν ἐν περινοίᾳ γεγενῆσθαι. Ἆρ' ἐκ τῆς κοινῆς ἐννοίας; Ἀλλ' αὕτη τὸ εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν, οὐ τὸ τί εἶναι ἡμῖν ὑποβάλλει. Ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς διδασκαλίας τοῦ Πνεύματος; Ποίας; ἢ τῆς ποῦ κειμένης; Οὐχ ὁ μὲν μέγας ∆αβὶδ, ᾧ τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ τὰ κρύφια τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σοφίας ἐδήλωσεν ὁ Θεὸς, φανερῶς ὁμολογεῖ τῆς γνώσεως τὸ ἀπρόσιτον, λέγων· Ἐθαυμα στώθη ἡ γνῶσίς σου ἐξ ἐμοῦ, ἐκραταιώθη· οὐ μὴ δύνωμαι πρὸς αὐτήν; Ἡσαΐας δὲ, ὁ ἐν θεω ρίᾳ τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ γενόμενος, τί περὶ τῆς θείας οὐσίας ἐδήλωσεν ἡμῖν; ὅς γε ἐν τῇ περὶ Χριστοῦ προφητείᾳ διαμαρτύρεται λέγων· Τὴν γενεὰν αὐ τοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; Τί δὲ τὸ σκεῦος τῆς ἐκλογῆς Παῦλος, ὁ λαλοῦντα ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸν Χριστὸν, ὁ ἕως τρίτου ἁρπαγεὶς οὐρανοῦ, ὁ τὰ ἄῤῥητα ἀκούσας ῥήματα, ἃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ λαλῆσαι, τίνα ἡμῖν περὶ οὐσίας Θεοῦ διδασκαλίαν ἀφῆκεν; ὅς γε ὅτε εἰς τοὺς μερικοὺς τῆς οἰκονομίας διέκυψε λόγους, οἷον ἰλιγγιάσας πρὸς τὸ τῆς θεωρίας ἀδιεζόδευτον, ἐκεί νην ἐξεβόησε τὴν φωνήν· Ὦ βάθος πλούτου καὶ σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως Θεοῦ· ὡς ἀνεξερεύνητα τὰ κρίματα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστοι αἱ ὁδοὶ αὐτοῦ! Εἰ δὲ ταῦτα τοῖς εἰς τὸ τῆς Παύλου γνώσεως μέτρον ἐφθακόσιν ἀνέφικτα, πόσος ὁ τῦφος τῶν ἐπαγγελλο μένων εἰδέναι τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν οὐσίαν; Οὓς ἡδέως ἂν ἐρωτήσαιμι περὶ τῆς γῆς ἐφ' ἧς ἑστᾶσι, καὶ ἀφ' ἧς γεγόνασι, τί ποτε λέγουσι; τίνα αὐτῆς τὴν οὐσίαν ἀπαγγέλλουσιν ἡμῖν; ἵνα, ἐὰν ἄρα περὶ τῶν χαμαὶ καὶ ὑπὸ τοῖς ποσὶ κειμένων ἀναντιῤῥήτως ἡμῖν δια λεχθῶσι, τότε αὐτοῖς καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐπέκεινα πάσης ἐννοίας διατεινομένοις πιστεύσωμεν. Τίς οὖν τῆς γῆς ἡ οὐσία; ποῖος τρόπος τῆς καταλήψεως; Ἀποκρινά σθωσαν ἡμῖν, πότερον λόγος ἐφίκετο ταύτης, ἢ αἴ σθησις; καὶ εἰ μὲν τὴν αἴσθησιν φήσουσι, ποίᾳ τῶν αἰσθήσεών ἐστι καταληπτή; Ὁράσει; Ἀλλὰ χρωμάτων ἐστὶν ἀντιληπτικὴ αὕτη. Ἀλλ' ἁφῇ; Καὶ αὕτη σκληρότητος καὶ ἁπαλότητος, καὶ θερμοῦ καὶ ψυχροῦ, καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἐστὶ διακριτικὴ, ὧν οὐδὲν ἄν τις οὐσίαν εἴποι, μὴ εἰς ἔσχατον παρανοίας ὑπ ενεχθείς. Περὶ γεύσεως δὲ καὶ ὀσφρήσεως τί χρὴ καὶ 29.541 λέγειν; ὧν ἡ μὲν χυμῶν, ἡ δὲ ἑτέρα τῶν ἀτμῶν τὴν ἀντίληψιν ἔχει. Ἀκοὴ δὲ ψόφων ἐστὶ καὶ φωνῶν αἰ σθητικὴ, τῶν οὐδεμίαν ἐχόντων πρὸς τὴν γῆν οἰκειό τητα. Λείπεται οὖν τῷ λόγῳ φάσκειν αὐτοὺς τὴν οὐ σίαν αὐτῆς εὑρηκέναι. Ποίῳ τούτῳ; ποῦ τῆς Γρα φῆς κειμένῳ; ὑπὸ τίνος τῶν ἁγίων παραδοθέντι; Ὁ μέν γε περὶ τῆς κτίσεως ἡμῖν διαλεχθεὶς, τοσοῦτον ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν, ὅτι Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν· ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος· ἐξαρκεῖν ἡγούμενος τὸν ποιή σαντα αὐτὴν καὶ διακοσμήσαντα διαγγεῖλαι· τίς δὲ ἡ οὐσία ταύτης περιεργάζεσθαι, ὡς μάταιον καὶ ἀνωφε λὲς τοῖς ἀκούουσι παρῃτήσατο. Εἰ τοίνυν μήτε τῇ ἐκ τῆς αἰσθήσεως μαρτυρίᾳ, μήτε τῇ ἐκ τοῦ λόγου δι δασκαλίᾳ, ἡ γνῶσις αὐτῆς βεβαιοῦται, πόθεν ἔτι φή σουσι τὴν κατάληψιν αὐτῆς ἐσχηκέναι; Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὅσον αὐτῆς αἰσθητὸν, ἢ χρῶμά ἐστιν, ἢ ὄγκος, ἢ βά ρος, ἢ κουφότης, ἢ πυκνότης, ἢ χαυνότης, ἢ ἀντι τυπία, ἢ ἁπαλότης, ἢ ψυχρότης, ἢ