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“the Word was”—are their arguments supposedly strong? For it was also written of the creation, he says, the word “was.” For it has “in the beginning God made the heaven and the earth, and the earth was unseen and unformed,” and “there was a man from Arimathea, Sifa.” 15.84 But there is nothing in common between “in the beginning was” and “in the beginning he made,” nor between the creator and the creature. For “was” in the case of the creation is said and believed only concerning flowing time which also comes to an end. 15.85 For the creation “was” after it had come into being out of non-existence. For he first said that he made it, and then he added “was,” so that it might not be thought to be uncaused. 15.86 But in the case of the Word of God, it signifies that which is above beginning. For “in the beginning,” he says, “was” and “God was,” and “in the beginning was” excludes the idea of being from non-existence. 15.87 And they testify thus concerning the Son's being pre-eternal and the maker of the ages: Paul writing to the Hebrews: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” He therefore inherits his own things both as their maker and as true son; but he was appointed heir as one who became man. 15.88 And to the Corinthians in the first epistle: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” that is, it is impossible for a beginning of the Son to be conceived. “For in him and through him” is every beginning. 15.89 And David in the 73rd psalm, singing about the one without beginning: “For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.” And he speaks of Golgotha, calling it the centermost place and as it were the center of the world under heaven; where by his divine foreknowledge before the age the Son worked salvation for us in the incarnation, and in reality, when through goodness he who is impassible suffered as he knows and willed on our behalf and came even “to the heart of the earth,” so to speak, just as Ezekiel also prophesies thus: “This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations.” 15.90 And in the 118th psalm: “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” And the Master himself, speaking of himself, surely shutting out the heretics somewhere, said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, before” the ages came to be, “I am.” 15.91 And concerning his being established as creator of all things, both incorporeal and corporeal, and not a subordinate or a mediator, and at the same time also without beginning, in addition to the testimonies already cited David also sings in the 113th psalm: “Our God is in the heaven: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” He did not say: “whatsoever he was permitted.” 15.92 Who then would deny that he who works willingly of himself and has all things running together at his mere nod without delay belongs to the essence of the self-determining and all-determining Monad? 15.93 And in the 101st psalm: “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end,” which means “you are without beginning and without end.” 15.94 And Paul writes the same things to the Ephesians: “in God, who created all things,” and to the Colossians: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” 15.95 For no one is above or senior to him who essentially images God and is before all things in his divinity, just as no one is subject or junior to him who is after all things. 15.96 And otherwise: if he is before all things, alone from the Alone and alone, he was ineffably begotten before every activity and is essentially the Son of the Father. For he who is before all things and supernaturally rules over every nature must be none of all things, 15.97 nor be considered a creature in comparison with the things brought forth by him

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ἦν ὁ λόγος» τὰ ἐκείνων δῆθεν ἰσχυρά; ἐγράφη καὶ περὶ τῆς κτίσεως, φησίν, τό «ἦν». ἔχει γάρ «ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος», καί «ἦν ἄνθρωπος ἐξ Ἀρμαθὲμ Σιφά». 15.84 Οὐδὲν δὲ κοινὸν τῷ «ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν» καὶ τῷ «ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν», οὐδὲ τῷ κτίστῃ πρὸς τὸ κτίσμα. τὸ γάρ «ἦν» ἐπὶ τῆς κτίσεως περὶ μόνου τοῦ ῥέοντος χρόνου τοῦ καὶ περατουμένου λέγεται καὶ πιστεύεται. 15.85 Ἦν γὰρ ἡ κτίσις μετὰ τὸ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γενέσθαι. εἶπεν γὰρ προλαβὼν ὅτι ἐποίησεν αὐτήν, καὶ τότε ἐπήγαγεν τό «ἦν», ἵνα μὴ αὐτόματος νομισθῇ. 15.86 Ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου τὸ ὑπεράναρχον σημαίνει. «ἐν ἀρχῇ» γάρ, φησίν, «ἦν» καί «θεὸς ἦν», καὶ τό «ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν» τὸ ἐκ μὴ ὄντων ἐξωθεῖ. 15.87 Μαρτυροῦσι δὲ περὶ μὲν τοῦ εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν προαιώνιον καὶ ποιητὴν τῶν αἰώνων ὧδε· Παῦλος ἐπιστέλλων Ἑβραίοις μέν· «πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις ἐπ' ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, ὃν ἔθη κεν κληρονόμον πάντων, δι' οὗ καὶ τοὺς αἰῶνας ἐποίησεν». αὐτὸς οὖν τὰ ἑαυτοῦ κληρονομεῖ καὶ ὡς ποιητὴς αὐτῶν καὶ ὡς ἀληθινὸς υἱός· ἐτέθη δὲ κληρονόμος ὡς ἐνανθρωπήσας. 15.88 Κορινθίοις δὲ ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ ἐπιστολῇ· «θεμέλιον γὰρ οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός», τουτέστιν, ἀρχὴν ἐπινοηθῆναι τοῦ υἱοῦ ἀμήχανον. «ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ» πᾶσα ἀρχή. 15.89 ∆αυῒδ δὲ ἐν ογʹ ψαλμῷ περὶ τοῦ ἀνάρχου ψάλλων· «ὁ δὲ θεὸς βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν προαιώνιος εἰργάσατο σωτηρίαν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς». λέγει δὲ τὸν Γολγοθᾶν, τόπον μεσώτατον καὶ οἱονεὶ κέντρον τῆς ὑπ' οὐρανὸν ὀνομάζων αὐτόν· ἐν ᾧ τῇ μὲν θεϊκῇ αὐτοῦ προγνώσει πρὸ αἰῶνος εἰργάσατο ἡμῖν σωτηρίαν ἐν τῇ ἐνανθρωπήσει ὁ υἱός, τῷ δὲ πράγματι, ὅτε δι' ἀγαθότητα ἔπαθεν ὡς οἶδεν καὶ ἠθέλησεν ὁ ἀπαθὴς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ ἕως «τῆς καρδίας τῆς γῆς», ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἐγένετο, καθὰ καὶ Ἰεζεκιὴλ προφητεύει τοιάδε· «αὐτὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ, εἰς μέσον τῶν ἐθνῶν τέθεικα αὐτήν». 15.90 Καὶ ἐν ριηʹ ψαλμῷ· «εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, κύριε, ὁ λόγος σου διαμένει ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ». καὶ αὐτὸς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ὁ δεσπότης αἱρετικοῖς που πάντως ἀποκλείων εἶπεν· «ἀμήν, ἀμήν, λέγω σοι, πρό» τοῦ τοὺς αἰῶνας γενέσθαι «ἐγώ εἰμι». 15.91 Περὶ δὲ τοῦ καθεστάναι πάντων ἀσωμάτων τε καὶ σωματοειδῶν δημιουργόν, οὐχὶ δὲ ὑπουργὸν ἢ μεσίτην, ἐν ταὐτῷ δὲ καὶ ἄναρχον, πρὸς ταῖς ἤδη παρατεθείσαις μαρτυρίαις καὶ ∆αυῒδ ἐν ριγʹ ψαλμῷ ᾄδει· «ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ πάντα ὅσα ἠθέλησεν ἐποίησεν». οὐκ εἶπεν· «ὅσα ἐπετράπη». 15.92 τίς οὖν καταρνήσαιτ' ἂν τῆς αὐτεξουσίου καὶ παντεξουσίου μονάδος οὐσίας ὑπάρχειν τὸν ἐθελουσίως αὐτουργοῦντα καὶ ἔχοντα ψιλῷ τῷ οἰκείῳ νεύματι πάντα δίχα μελλήσεως συντρέχοντα; 15.93 Καὶ ἐν ραʹ ψαλμῷ· «κατ' ἀρχὰς τὴν γῆν σύ, κύριε, ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σού εἰσιν οἱ οὐρανοί. αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμενεῖς. καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον εἱλίξεις αὐτούς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται. σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν», ἀντὶ τοῦ «ἄναρχος ὑπάρχεις καὶ ἀπέραντος.» 15.94 Καὶ Παῦλος δὲ τὰ ἴσα γράφει πρὸς Ἐφεσίους μέν· «ἐν τῷ θεῷ τῷ τὰ πάντα κτίσαντι», πρὸς δὲ Κολοσσαεῖς· «ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα, τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὁρατὰ καὶ ἀόρατα, εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι· τὰ πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐκτίσθη, καὶ αὐτός ἐστι πρὸ πάντων, καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν». 15.95 τοῦ γὰρ οὐσιωδῶς ἐξεικονίζοντος τὸν θεὸν καὶ τοῦ πρὸ πάντων τῇ θεότητι οὐδεὶς ὑπέρκειται οὐδὲ πρεσβυτερεύει, ὡς τοῦ μετὰ πάντας οὐδεὶς ὑπόκειται οὐδὲ ὑστερεύει. 15.96 Καὶ ἄλλως· εἰ πρὸ πάντων ἐστὶν μόνος ἐκ μόνου καὶ μόνως, πρὸ πάσης ἐνεργείας ἀπορρήτως ἐγεννήθη καὶ οὐσιωδῶς υἱός ἐστι τοῦ πατρός. δεῖ γὰρ τὸν πρὸ πάντων ὄντα καὶ πάσης φύσεως ὑπερφυῶς ἐπιτροπεύοντα μηδὲν εἶναι τῶν πάντων, 15.97 μηδὲ κτίσμα κατὰ σύγκρισιν νοεῖσθαι τῶν παρ' αὐτοῦ παροισθέντων