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After him, the unfailing witness of the truth, let Cyril of Alexandria, who has become a living luminary, come forth to testify with him; for he says in his *On the Holy Trinity*: "the three adorable hypostases are known and believed in the unoriginate Father and in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father, not by begetting as the Son, but proceeding as has been said from the Father alone as from a mouth, but manifested through the Son and having spoken in all the holy prophets and apostles." And again elsewhere: "not as the Son is also from the Father by begetting, so also is the Holy Spirit from the Son by proceeding; away with the blasphemy and polytheism; for with us, the one cause and bond for both persons is the Father."

Is it possible to present a clearer refutation of your impiety? To a man it would not seem so. But the Spirit has also given us this, having made wise John of Damascus: "for the Spirit," he says, "we call of the Son, but from the Son we do not say; but we confess that he has been manifested and imparted to us through the Son."

But leaving for you to string together the others in succession, since they are very many, and almost as many of the fathers who speak no less than if living in their own writings, out of your own words I will judge you; and certainly God will also. For when you yourself say that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and "alone" is not added, do you not then understand the Spirit to be from these alone, nor do you supply the word "alone," even if you do not pronounce it with them? But shall we seek, according to your, so to speak, (p. 118) procession-loving mind, for the Spirit to proceed from some other as well, because of your ignorance concerning "alone"?

Nay rather, so that I may again from the same things prepare for you the remedy for the very real wound and draw you out of impious dogmas and sayings, tell me, O best of men, if someone should ask you concerning the Son, since it is written that, "we have seen his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father," and that "I believe in one Son, begotten of the Father before all ages," and the other things that were enumerated for you above, to which "alone" is not added, would you, adding "from the Father and from the Holy Spirit," say that the Son was begotten, offering as a pretext this very thing, that "alone" is not added? Away with it, you would surely say. And may he who adds this and does not glorify the Word as begotten from the Father alone, fall away from the rebirth from above. For nowhere is the Spirit called begetter, you will rightly say with us, nor does he have anything in common with the Father which is not also common to the Son; nor is the one brought forth from the dyad, nor is it referred back to the dyad; nor the monad having moved to a monad, and again the dyad to another monad, "but the monad having moved in a God-befitting manner to a dyad, has stood still at a triad." And "for us there is one God; not only because there is one divinity, but also because both things from him have their reference to one. And one fontal divinity, the Father and sole cause and sole fount of divinity." Therefore these are also his particular characteristics; for he is alone; the Holy Spirit will therefore have no communion with these things, since also "the things of the super-essential theogony are not interchangeable with one another," the heavenly-minded Dionysius would say again.

But well done on your unvarying agreement in these things with both the God-wise fathers and us who were made wise by them. Nevertheless, you have been caught, as the saying goes, (p. 120) on your own wings and have truly and profitably been struck by the word that fights for the right; for as far as it depended on him, you have not only been struck, but also healed, according to what was said as by God, "I will strike and I will heal."

13

Μετ᾿ αὐτόν τόν ἀψευδῆ τῆς ἀληθείας μάρτυρα, ὁ ζῶν φωστήρ γεγονώς Ἀλεξανδρείας Κύριλλος, συμμαρτυρήσων παρελθέτω˙ φησί γάρ ἐν τῷ Περί τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος˙ «αἱ προσκυνηταί τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις γινώσκονται καί πιστεύονται ἐν Πατρί ἀνάρχῳ καί ἐν Υἱῷ μονογενεῖ καί ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ τῷ ἐκ πορευομένῳ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός, οὐ γεννητῶς καθάπερ ὁ Υἱός, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκπορευομένῳ καθάπερ εἴρηται ἐκ μόνου τοῦ Πατρός ὡς ἀπό στόματος, πεφηνότι δέ διά τοῦ Υἱοῦ καί λαλήσαντι ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις πᾶσι προφήταις τε καί ἀποστόλοις». Καί ἀλλαχοῦ πάλιν˙ «οὐχ ὥσπερ ὁ Υἱός καί τοῦ Πατρός γεννητῶς οὕτω καί τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον ἀπό τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐκπορευτῶς, ἄπαγε τῆς βλασφημίας καί πολυθεΐας˙ εἷς γάρ παρ᾿ ἡμῖν ἀμφοῖν τοῖς προσώποις αἴτιος καί σύνδεσμος, ὁ Πατήρ».

Ἆρ᾿ ἔστι τρανότερον ἔλεγχον τῆς σῆς δυσσεβείας παρελθεῖν; Ἀνθρώπῳ μέν οὐκ ἄν ἔδοξεν. Ἀλλά καί τοῦθ᾿ ἡμῖν τό Πνεῦμα δέδωκε τόν ἐκ ∆αμασκοῦ σοφίσαν Ἰωάννην˙ «τό Πνεῦμα γάρ», φησίν οὗτος, «τοῦ Υἱοῦ μέν λέγομεν, ἐκ δέ τοῦ Υἱοῦ οὐ λέγομεν˙ δι᾿ Υἱοῦ δέ πεφανερῶσθαι καί μεταδιδόσθαι ἡμῖν ὁμολογοῦμεν».

Ἀφείς δέ σοι τούς ἄλλους συνείρειν ἐφεξῆς ὅτι πλείστους ὄντας καί σχεδόν ὅσοι τῶν πατέρων οὐδέν ἧττον ἤ ζῶντες ἐν τοῖς καθ᾿ ἑαυτούς συγγράμμασι λαλοῦσιν, ἐκ τῶν λόγων σου κρινῶ σε˙ πάντως δέ καί ὁ Θεός. Σοῦ γάρ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός καί τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐκπορεύεσθαι τό Πνεῦμα καί τό «μόνων» οὐ προστιθεμένου, ἆρ᾿ οὐδ᾿ ἐκ τούτων μόνων τό Πνεῦμα ἐννοεῖς, οὐδέ συνυπακούεις τό μόνων, κἄν μή συνεκφωνῇς; Ἀλλά ζητήσομεν κατά τήν σήν, ἵν᾿ οὕτως εἴπω, (σελ. 118) φιλοπολυεκπόρευτον διάνοιαν, καί ἐκ ἄλλου του ἐκπορεύεσθαι τό Πνεῦμα διά τήν σήν περί τοῦ μόνου ἄγνοιαν;

Οὐ μήν, ἀλλ᾿ ἵνα πάλιν ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν σοι συσκευάσω τῆς ὡς ἀληθῶς πληγῆς τό ἴαμα καί τῶν δυσσεβῶν ἐκσπάσω καί δογμάτων καί ρημάτων, εἰπέ μοι, ὦ βέλτιστε, εἴ τις ἔροιτό σε περί τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ὡς ἐπειδήπερ γέγραπται ὅτι, «εἴδομεν τήν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρά Πατρός», καί ὅτι «πιστεύω εἰς ἕνα Υἱόν τόν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός πρό αἰώνων γεννηθέντα, καί τ᾿ ἄλλα ὅσα σοι ἀνωτέρω ἀπηρίθμηται, οἷς οὐ πρόσκειται τό «μόνου», ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός καί ἐκ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος προσθείς φαίης ἄν γεγεννῆσθαι τόν Υἱόν, τοῦτ᾿ αὐτό προφασιζόμενος ὅτι μή πρόσκειται τό «μόνου»; Ἄπαγε δήπου, φαίης ἄν. Καί αὐτῆς ἐκπέσοι τῆς ἄνωθεν ἀναγεννήσεως ὁ τοῦτο προστιθείς καί μή ἐκ μόνου δοξάζων γεγεννῆσθαι τοῦ Πατρός τόν Λόγον. Οὐδαμοῦ γάρ γεννήτωρ εἴρηται τό Πνεῦμα σύν ἡμῖν καλῶς ἐρεῖς, οὐδέ κοινόν ἔχει τι Πατρί, ὅ μή ἔστι κοινόν καί τῷ Υἱῷ˙ οὐδ ἐκ τῆς δυάδος προάγεται τό ἕν, οὐδ᾿ εἰς τήν δυάδα ἀναφέρεται˙ οὐδ᾿ ἡ μονάς εἰς μονάδα κινηθεῖσα καί εἰς ἑτέραν αὖθις μονάδα ἡ δυάς, «ἀλλ᾿ ἡ μονάς θεοπρεπῶς εἰς δυάδα κινηθεῖσα, μέχρι τριάδος ἔστη». Καί «εἷς ἡμῖν Θεός˙ οὐ μόνον ὅτι μία θεότης, ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι καί εἰς ἕν ἀμφότερα τά ἐξ αὐτοῦ τήν ἀναφοράν ἔχει. Καί μία πηγαία θεότης, ὁ Πατήρ καί μόνος αἴτιος καί μόνος πηγή θεότητος». Οὐκοῦν καί ταῦτ᾿ ἐστίν αὐτοῦ τά ἰδιάζοντα τῶν γνωρισμάτων˙ μόνος γάρ˙ οὐδεμίαν ἄρα τήν κοινωνίαν ἕξει πρός ταῦτα τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον, ἐπεί καί «τά τῆς ὑπερουσίου θεογονίας οὐκ ἀντιστρέφει πρός ἄλληλα», ∆ιονύσιος αὖθις ἄν εἶπεν ὁ οὐρανόφρων.

Ἀλλ᾿ εὖγέ σοι τῆς ἐν τούτοις πρός τε τούς θεοσόφους τῶν πατέρων καί ἡμᾶς τούς ἐξ ἐκείνων σοφισθέντας ἀπαραλλάκτου συμφωνίας. Ἑάλως δ᾿ ὅμως, τό τοῦ λόγου, (σελ. 120) τοῖς σαυτοῦ πτεροῖς καί λυσιτελῶς ὄντως ἐπατάχθης τῷ τοῦ ὀρθοῦ προπολεμοῦντι λόγῳ˙ τό γάρ εἰς αὐτόν ᾗκον, οὐ μόνον ἐπατάχθης, ἀλλά καί ἰάθης κατά τό εἰρημένον ὡς ὑπό Θεοῦ, «πατάξω καί ἰάσομαι».