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in the innermost parts and thus being illuminated to speak the things concerning God, insofar as it is possible and we are illuminated by God.

But for the present, believe me in one God, who also thus desires to speak of God, the one who has not come into being from another (for neither was there anything older before him nor has there been), nor having made himself, as some of the utterly foolish supposed (for it is impossible for what is not to come into being spontaneously), the one who always is and pre-exists and will be eternally one God in three hypostases. For no one would say that the one who has hypostasis and three hypostases is without hypostasis, if he rightly venerates the truth, but being taught the things beyond him from the things related to him, in three consubstantial persons worships the one divinity. For if the image was not confused and darkened by the passions, first of all, having come to know, he understands himself that indeed he has received a living and hypostatic soul from the creator, and this is tripartite, having mind and word as its consequents; and thus from the things related to him he understands the things concerning God with a most wise and most brilliant mind. For he is moved to understand by the Spirit who moves from above that indeed God and Father, who brought the universe into being out of non-being by his own Word and by the power of his Spirit holds it together and sustains it, begets the consubstantial Son timelessly and eternally (32) in no way separated from him, with whom also the divine Spirit proceeds, being consubstantial with the Son, from a consubstantial Father. And thus thinking rightly about God and at the same time confessing, he shows himself to be in the image of the creator, bearing a rational, intelligent, and immortal soul, created with a mind and word that are consubstantial and hypostatic; but if not, he certainly accuses himself of being without mind and without reason. For from where else and from what characteristics, then, will he be in the image of the creator, falling upon the divine properties? But if someone attests these things to himself and rightly ascribes them, but irrationally deprives his own maker and God of the aforementioned things, as far as it is in his power, such a one is no different to me from the pagans; for I hesitate to say, of cattle or reptiles and wild beasts.

I for my part, therefore, believe that, just as the soul did not pre-exist or does not pre-exist the mind, nor the mind the word begotten from it, but at the same time they have their being from God, and the mind begets the word and brings forth through it the will of the soul, so also neither did the Father and God pre-exist either the Son or the Spirit, but as the mind exists in the soul and has the word with itself, in a like manner God the Father exists wholly in the Holy Spirit and has the God Word, begotten, wholly in himself; and just as it is impossible for word or mind to be without a soul, so it is impossible for the Son with the Father to be spoken of without the Holy Spirit. For how could the living God ever exist without life? For the Holy Spirit is life and life-giving. Therefore, confess with me the Father not pre-existing the begetting, the Son not later begotten or made, the Holy Spirit proceeding, but co-eternal and consubstantial with him, with the Son, with the Father; worship the whole Holy Spirit in the whole and only co-unoriginate Father, (33) and the whole Father in the whole and only co-eternal Son and the whole Son in the whole and only Father and in the Spirit, the one tri-hypostatic and co-eternal and consubstantial, undivided and unconfused substance and nature, as one principle of all things and one God the creator of the universe, since also in the whole mind existing in you, so that, being initiated into the things beyond you from the things related to you, you may not forget the image, which you were deemed worthy of by him, the whole word is, and the spirit; the soul is in the two undividedly, unconfusedly. For this is the image and this we have been enriched with from above: to be made like to God the Father and to bear the image of the one who begot and created; for in this way also, revering a human being, we offer him one honor, as having a mind and being ensouled and rational, not dividing or preferring one of these three, but as having the three in himself undividedly and unconfusedly; and not as being three things, but as

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ἐγκάτοις καί οὕτως ἐλλαμπομένους τά περί Θεοῦ φθέγγεσθαι, καθόσον οἷόν τε καί ἀπό Θεοῦ ἐλλαμπόμεθα.

Τό δέ νῦν ἔχον πίστευέ μοι εἰς ἕνα Θεόν, ὁ καί οὕτω θεολογεῖν ἐφιέμενος, τόν μή παρ᾿ ἑτέρου γεγονότα τινός (οὐδέ γάρ ἦν πρό αὐτοῦ τι πρεσβύτερον οὔτε γέγονε), μήτε πεποιηκότα ἑαυτόν, ὥς τινες τῶν λίαν ἀνοήτων ὑπέλαβον (αὐτομάτως γάρ τό μή ὄν γενέσθαι ἀδύνατον), τόν ἀεί ὄντα καί προόντα καί ἀϊδίως ἐσόμενον ἕνα Θεόν ἐν τρισίν ὑποστάσεσιν. Οὐδέ γάρ ἀνυπόστατον τόν ἐνυπόστατον καί τρισυπόστατον φαίη τις ἄν, πρεσβεύων ὀρθῶς τήν ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτόν τά ὑπέρ αὐτόν διδασκόμενος ἐν τρισίν ὁμοουσίοις προσώποις προσκυνεῖ τήν μίαν θεότητα. Εἰ γάρ τό κατ᾿ εἰκόνα τοῖς πάθεσι μή συνέχεέ τε καί συνεζόφωσε, πρῶτον μέν ἐπιγνούς ἐπίσταται ἑαυτόν ὅτι δή ψυχήν ζῶσαν καί ἐνυπόστατον παρά τοῦ κτίσαντος εἴληφεν, αὕτη δέ τριμερής ἐστι, νοῦν καί λόγον τά συνεπόμενα ἔχουσα· καί οὕτως ἐκ τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτόν τά περί Θεοῦ νῷ σοφωτάτῳ καί λαμπροτάτῳ νοεῖ. Κινεῖται γάρ νοεῖν ἀπό τοῦ κινοῦντος ἄνωθεν Πνεύματος ὅτι δή ὁ Θεός καί Πατήρ, ὁ τό πᾷν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων τῷ ἑαυτοῦ Λόγῳ ὑποστησάμενος καί δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος αὐτοῦ συνέχων αὐτό καί διακρατῶν, γεννᾷ τόν ὁμοούσιον ἀχρόνως καί ἀϊδίως Υἱόν (32) μηδαμῶς ἐξ αὐτοῦ χωριζόμενον, μεθ᾿ οὗ καί τό θεῖον Πνεῦμα συνεκπορεύεται, ὁμούσιον ὄν τῷ Υἱῷ, ἐξ ὁμοουσίου Πατρός. Οὕτω δέ καλῶς περί Θεοῦ νοῶν καί ἅμα ὁμολογῶν, κατ᾿ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος ἑαυτόν ἀποδείκνυσι ψυχήν λογικήν τε καί νοεράν καί ἀθάνατον περιφέροντα, νῷ καί λόγῳ τοῖς ὁμοουσίοις καί ἐνυποστάτοις δεδημιουργημένην· εἰ δ᾿ οὖν, ἀλλ᾿ ἄνουν πάντως καί ἄλογον κατηγορεῖ ἑαυτόν. Πόθεν γάρ ἄν ἄλλοθεν καί ἐκ ποίων ἄρα τῶν χαρακτήρων κατ᾿ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος ἔσται, τῶν θείων ἐμπίπτων ἰδιωμάτων; Εἰ δέ ταῦτα μέν τις ἑαυτῷ προσμαρτυρεῖ καί ὀρθῶς ἐπιγράφεται, τόν δέ ποιητήν ἑαυτοῦ καί Θεόν ἀλόγως τῶν εἰρημένων ἀποστερεῖ τό γε ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτόν, οὐδέν μοι τῶν ἐθνικῶν διενήνοχε ὁ τοιοῦτος· ὀκνῶ γάρ εἰπεῖν κτηνῶν ἤ ἑρπετῶν καί θηρίων.

Ἔγωγε οὖν πιστεύω ὅτι, ὥσπερ οὐ προϋπέστη ἤ προϋφίσταται ἡ ψυχή τοῦ νοός ἤ ὁ νοῦς τοῦ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεννωμένου λόγου, ἀλλ᾿ ἅμα μέν ἔχουσι τό εἶναι ὑπό Θεοῦ, ὁ δέ νοῦς τόν λόγον ἀπογεννᾷ καί ἐξάγει δι᾿ αὐτοῦ τήν βούλησιν τῆς ψυχῆς, οὕτως οὐδέ ὁ Πατήρ καί Θεός, ἤ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ἤ τοῦ Πνεύματος προϋπέστη, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ὁ νοῦς ὑπάρχει ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τόν δέ λόγον ἔχει παρ᾿ ἑαυτῷ, τῷ ὁμοίῳ τρόπῳ ὁ Θεός καί Πατήρ ἐν ὅλῳ ὑπάρχει Πνεύματι τῷ Ἁγίῳ καί τόν Θεόν Λόγον γεγεννημένον ἔχει ὅλον ἐν ἑαυτῷ· καί καθάπερ ἀδύνατον δίχα ψυχῆς λόγον ἤ νοῦν εἶναι, οὕτως ἀμήχανον Υἱόν σύν Πατρί ἄνευ Ἁγίου λέγεσθαι Πνεύματος. Πῶς γάρ τόν ζῶντα Θεόν δίχα ζωῆς ὑπάρξαι ποτέ; Ζωή γάρ καί ζωοποιόν τό Πνεῦμα τό Ἅγιον. Τοιγαροῦν ὁμολόγει μοι τόν Πατέρα οὐ προόντα γεννῶντα, τόν Υἱόν οὐχ ὕστερον γεννηθέντα ἤ γεγονότα, τό Πνεῦμα τό Ἅγιον ἐκπορευτόν μέν, συναΐδιον δέ καί ὁμοούσιον αὐτῷ σύν Υἱῷ τῷ Πατρί· προσκύνει ὅλον τό Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ἐν ὅλῳ καί μόνῳ τῷ συνανάρχῳ Πατρί, (33) καί ὅλον τόν Πατέρα ἐν ὅλῳ καί μόνῳ τῷ συναϊδίῳ Υἱῷ καί ὅλον τόν Υἱόν ἐν ὅλῳ καί μόνῳ τῷ Πατρί καί τῷ Πνεύματι, τήν μίαν τρισυπόστατον καί συναΐδιον καί ὁμοούσιον, ἀδιαίρετόν τε καί ἀσύγχυτον οὐσίαν καί φύσιν, ὡς μίαν τῶν ὅλων ἀρχήν καί ἕνα Θεόν τόν δημιουργόν τοῦ παντός, ἐπειδή καί ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ ἐνυπάρχοντί σοι νῷ, ἵν᾿ ἐκ τῶν κατά σέ τά ὑπέρ σέ μυσταγωγούμενος τῆς εἰκόνος μή ἐπιλάθῃ, ἧς πρός αὐτοῦ ἠξιώθης, ὅλος ὁ λόγος ἐστί καί τό πνεῦμα ἐν τοῖς δυσίν ἡ ψυχή ἀδιαιρέτως, ἀσυγχύτως. Τοῦτο γάρ ἡ εἰκών καί τοῦτο πεπλουτήκαμεν ἄνωθεν τό ἀφομοιωθῆναι Θεῷ τῷ Πατρί καί τήν εἰκόνα φέρειν τοῦ γεγεννηκότος καί κτίσαντος· ταύτῃ γάρ καί ἄνθρωπον προσκυνοῦντες μίαν αὐτῷ προσάγομεν τήν τιμήν, ὡς νοῦν ἔχοντι καί ἐμψύχῳ καί λογικῷ, οὐ διαιροῦντες ἤ προτιμῶντες τούτων ἕν τῶν τριῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἀδιαίρετα ἔχοντι τά τρία ἐν ἑαυτῷ καί ἀσύγχυτα· καί οὐχ ὡς τρία ὄντα, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς