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His help in auspicious things from the fact that we also use the right hand for more seemly and honorable things and things requiring the most strength. But "touching" [means] His most accurate diagnosis and exaction of even the very subtle and hidden things, from the fact that among us those who are touched cannot hide anything in themselves. And "feet" and "walking" [mean] His coming and presence for the help of those in need or defense against enemies or some other action, from the fact that among us arrival is accomplished by the use of feet. And "oath" [means] the immutability of His will, from the fact that among us agreements with one another are confirmed by an oath. And "wrath" and "anger" [mean] His enmity and aversion towards evil; for we too become angry when we hate things contrary to our opinion. And "forgetfulness" and "sleep" and "slumber" [mean] the putting off of defense against enemies and the postponement of the usual help towards His own. And, to speak simply, all things spoken of God in a corporeal manner have a certain hidden meaning, teaching us things beyond us from things that are ours, unless something is said concerning the corporeal sojourn of God the Word; for He Himself undertook the whole man for our salvation, a rational soul and a body and the properties of human nature, both the natural and blameless passions.

12 Further concerning the same things: "These things, then, we have been initiated into from the sacred oracles,"

as the divine Dionysius the Areopagite said, "that God is the cause and beginning of all things, the substance of beings, the life of the living, the reason of those that have reason, the intellect of those that have intellect, and of those who fall away from it, He is the recall and resurrection, and of those who are corrupted contrary to nature, He is the renewal and reformation, of those who are moved in some unholy agitation, He is a sacred stability, and of those who stand, He is security, and of those who are being led up to Him, He is the way and uplifting guidance. And I will add that He is also the Father of those made by Him (for God is more properly our Father, who brought us from non-being into being, than our progenitors who received from Him both being and the power to beget), the Shepherd of those who follow and are shepherded by Him, the Illumination of those who are illuminated, the Hierarch of the initiated, the Godhead of the deified, the Peace of the divided, the Simplicity of the simple, and the Unity of the unified, the supra-essential and pre-original principle of every principle and the good communication of the hidden, that is, of His own knowledge, according to what is right and possible for each." Further, more accurately concerning the divine names: The divine, being incomprehensible, will also be altogether nameless. Since we are ignorant of His substance, let us not seek a name for His substance; for names are indicative of things. But God, being good and having brought us from non-being into being for the participation in His goodness and having made us capable of knowledge, just as He did not impart His substance, so too He did not impart knowledge of His substance; for it is impossible for a nature to know completely the nature which is above it. And if knowledge is of beings, how will that which is beyond being be known? Therefore, through unspeakable goodness He was pleased to be named from things that are ours, so that we might not be entirely without share in the knowledge of Him, but might have even a faint conception of Him. Insofar, then, as He is incomprehensible, He is also unnameable; but as He is the cause of all things and contains in Himself beforehand the principles and causes of all beings, He is named from all beings, and from their opposites, such as light and darkness, water and fire, so that we may know that He is not these things in substance; but He is supra-essential, and therefore unnameable, but as He is the cause of all beings, He is named from all that is caused. -Therefore, of the divine names, some are said negatively, indicating that which is beyond substance, such as without substance, without time, without beginning, invisible, not because He is less than anything or deprived of anything (for all things are His and from Him and through Him they came into being and in Him they consist), but because He is beyond all things

13

τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς αἰσίοις αὐτοῦ βοήθειαν ἐκ τοῦ καὶ ἡμᾶς μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῶν εὐσχημοτέρων καὶ τιμιωτέρων καὶ πλείστης ἰσχύος δεομένων τῇ δεξιᾷ κεχρῆσθαι. Ψηλάφησιν δὲ τὴν ἀκριβεστέραν αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν λίαν λεπτῶν τε καὶ κρυπτῶν διάγνωσίν τε καὶ εἴσπραξιν ἐκ τοῦ παρ' ἡμῖν μὴ δύνασθαι τοὺς ψηλαφωμένους ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τι κρύπτειν. Πόδας δὲ καὶ βάδισιν τὴν πρὸς ἐπικουρίαν τῶν δεομένων ἢ ἐχθρῶν ἄμυναν ἢ ἄλλην τινὰ πρᾶξιν ἔλευσίν τε καὶ παρουσίαν ἐκ τοῦ παρ' ἡμῖν διὰ τῆς τῶν ποδῶν χρήσεως ἀποτελεῖσθαι τὴν ἄφιξιν. Ὅρκον δὲ τὸ ἀμετάθετον τῆς βουλῆς αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ παρ' ἡμῖν δι' ὅρκου τὰς πρὸς ἀλλήλους βεβαιοῦσθαι συνθήκας. Ὀργὴν δὲ καὶ θυμὸν τὴν πρὸς τὴν κακίαν ἀπέχθειάν τε καὶ ἀποστροφήν· καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς τὰ ἐναντία τῆς γνώμης μισοῦντες ὀργιζόμεθα. Λήθην δὲ καὶ ὕπνον καὶ νυσταγμὸν τὴν ὑπέρθεσιν τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἀμύνης καὶ τὴν τῆς συνήθους πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους βοηθείας ἀναβολήν. Καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν πάντα τὰ σωματικῶς εἰρημένα ἐπὶ θεοῦ κεκρυμμένην ἔχει τινὰ ἔννοιαν ἐκ τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς τὰ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς ἐκδιδάσκουσαν, εἰ μή τι περὶ τῆς σωματικῆς τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου ἐπιδημίας εἴρηται· αὐτὸς γὰρ πάντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν ἀνεδέξατο, ψυχὴν νοερὰν καὶ σῶμα καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἰδιώματα τά τε φυσικὰ καὶ ἀδιάβλητα πάθη.

12 Ἔτι περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν «Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν μεμυήμεθα λογίων»,

ὡς ὁ θεῖος ἔφη ∆ιονύσιος ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης, «ὅτι ὁ θεὸς πάντων ἐστὶν αἰτία καὶ ἀρχή, τῶν ὄντων οὐσία, τῶν ζώντων ζωή, τῶν λογικῶς ὄντων λόγος, τῶν νοερῶς ὄντων νοῦς, καὶ τῶν μὲν ἀποπιπτόντων αὐτῆς ἀνάκλησίς τε καὶ ἀνάστασις, τῶν δὲ παραφθειρόντων τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ἀνακαινισμὸς καὶ ἀναμόρφωσις, τῶν κινουμένων κατά τινα ἀνίερον σάλον ἵδρυσις ἱερὰ καὶ τῶν ἑστηκότων ἀσφάλεια καὶ τῶν ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἀναγομένων ὁδὸς καὶ ἀνατατικὴ χειραγωγία. Προσθήσω δέ, ὅτι καὶ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πεποιημένων πατήρ (κυριώτερον γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ἐστι πατὴρ ὁ ἐκ μὴ ὄντων εἰς τὸ εἶναι παραγαγὼν ἢ οἱ γεννήσαντες οἱ ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ εἶναι καὶ τὸ γεννᾶν εἰληφότες), τῶν ἑπομένων καὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ποιμαινομένων ποιμήν, τῶν φωτιζομένων ἔλλαμψις, τῶν τελουμένων τελεταρχία, τῶν θεουμένων θεαρχία, τῶν διεστώτων εἰρήνη καὶ τῶν ἁπλουμένων ἁπλότης καὶ τῶν ἑνιζομένων ἑνότης, ἀρχῆς ἁπάσης ὑπερούσιος καὶ ὑπάρχιος ἀρχὴ καὶ τοῦ κρυφίου ἤτοι τῆς αὐτοῦ γνώσεως κατὰ τὸ θεμιτὸν καὶ ἐφικτὸν ἑκάστῳ ἀγαθὴ μετάδοσις». Ἔτι περὶ θείων ὀνομάτων ἀκριβέστερον Τὸ θεῖον ἀκατάληπτον ὂν πάντως καὶ ἀνώνυμον ἔσται. Ἀγνοοῦντες οὖν τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ μὴ ἐκζητήσωμεν ὄνομα· δηλωτικὰ γὰρ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐστὶ τὰ ὀνόματα. Ἀλλ' ἀγαθὸς ὢν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἐπὶ μεθέξει τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ παραγαγὼν ἡμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι καὶ γνωστικοὺς ποιήσας ἡμᾶς ὥσπερ οὐ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ μετέδωκεν, οὕτως οὐδὲ τῆς γνώσεως τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ· ἀδύνατον γὰρ φύσιν τελείως γνῶναι τὴν ὑπερκειμένην φύσιν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τῶν ὄντων αἱ γνώσεις, τὸ ὑπερούσιον πῶς γνωσθήσεται; ∆ι' ἄφατον οὖν ἀγαθότητα ηὐδόκησεν ἐκ τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς ὀνομάζεσθαι, ἵνα μὴ ἀμέτοχοι παντελῶς ὦμεν τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐπιγνώσεως, ἀλλ' ἔχωμεν κἂν ἀμυδρὰν αὐτοῦ ἔννοιαν. Καθὸ μὲν οὖν ἀκατάληπτός ἐστι, καὶ ἀκατονόμαστος· ὡς δὲ πάντων αἴτιος καὶ πάντων τῶν ὄντων τοὺς λόγους καὶ τὰς αἰτίας ἐν ἑαυτῷ προέχων, ἐκ πάντων τῶν ὄντων κατονομάζεται, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων οἷον φωτὸς καὶ σκότους, ὕδατος καὶ πυρός, ἵνα γνῶμεν, ὅτι οὐ ταῦτα κατ' οὐσίαν ἐστίν· ἀλλ' ἔστι μὲν ὑπερούσιος, διὸ καὶ ἀκατονόμαστος, ὡς δὲ πάντων τῶν ὄντων αἴτιος ἐκ πάντων τῶν αἰτιατῶν ὀνομάζεται. -∆ιὸ τῶν θείων ὀνομάτων τὰ μὲν ἀποφατικῶς λέγεται δηλοῦντα τὸ ὑπερούσιον οἷον ἀνούσιος, ἄχρονος, ἄναρχος, ἀόρατος, οὐχ ὅτι τινὸς ἥττων ἐστὶν ἤ τινος ἐστέρηται (αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐστι τὰ πάντα καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ γέγονε καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν), ἀλλ' ὅτι πάντων