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will be carried away to other suppositions; and so he will be found gathering from the Scriptures notions that are not only false, but also conflicting with one another. Therefore, since meddling with the essence is impossible, we must be persuaded by the simple exhortation of the Apostle, who says: For one must first believe that God exists, and that He becomes a rewarder of those who seek Him. For it is not the investigation of what He is, but the confession that He is, that prepares salvation for us. Since, therefore, the essence of God has been shown to be incomprehensible to human nature and utterly ineffable, it remains to discuss what unbegottenness is, and how it is contemplated in the God of all. We find, then, by reasoning, that our concept of the unbegotten does not fall under the inquiry of what He is, but rather, if I may force the expression, under the inquiry of how He is. For our mind, when examining whether the God over all has some cause superior to Himself, and then being unable to conceive of any, called the beginningless state of His life unbegotten. For just as in discourses about men, when we say that, So-and-so came from such-and-such, we are not describing what each one is, but from where he came; so also in matters concerning God, the term unbegotten does not signify the what, but the from nowhere of Him. What I am saying might become clearer in this way. The evangelist Luke, setting forth the genealogy according to the flesh of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, and tracing it back from the last to the first, began from Joseph; and saying that this one was of Heli, and he of Matthan, and so by analysis bringing the narrative back to Adam, then coming to those above, and saying that Seth was from Adam, and Adam was from God, he ended the ascent there; not indicating the essences of those enumerated in the narrative of each one's birth, but setting forth the immediate origins from which each one came. Just as, then, he said that 29.548 Adam was from God, so let us ask ourselves, but from whom is God? Is it not readily apparent in each person's mind, that He is from no one? And that which is from no one is clearly that which is without beginning; and that which is without beginning is that which is unbegotten. As, therefore, in the case of men, "from someone" was not essence, so neither in the case of the God of all is it possible to say that the unbegotten is essence; which is the same as "from no one." But he who says that "without beginning" is essence does something similar to one who, on being asked, what is the essence of Adam, and what is his nature? would answer that he was formed not from the union of a man and a woman, but by the divine hand. But I am not seeking the manner of his subsistence, someone might say, but the very material substrate of the man; which I am far from learning through that answer. And this also happens to us who are taught by the term "unbegotten" the "how" of God rather than His very nature. And in general, if anyone wishes to learn the truth of what we are saying, let him examine himself; whenever he wishes to conceive something about God, whether it proceeds to the meaning of "unbegotten." For I see that, just as when we extend our thought to the ages to come, we call Him endless whose life is defined by no limit; so also, ascending in our thoughts to what is before the ages, and peering as it were into a yawning sea toward the infinity of God's life, being able to grasp no beginning from which He came, but always conceiving the life of God as external to and surpassing what is conceived, we have called this beginningless state of life "unbegotten." For this is the concept of the unbegotten: not to have the beginning of one's being from another. But he, since "unbegotten" is contemplated only in the God of all, has most maliciously of all seized upon it for blasphemy against the Only-Begotten. For what does he say as he proceeds? {EUN.} But being unbegotten according to the preceding proof, he would never admit of generation, so as to impart his own nature to the one begotten, and he would escape all comparison

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πρὸς ἄλλας ὑπολήψεις ἀπενεχθήσεται· καὶ οὕτως οὐ ψευδεῖς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μαχομένας ἀλλήλαις ἐκ τῶν Γραμμάτων εὑρεθή σεται τὰς φαντασίας ἀναλεγόμενος. Ἀφεμένοις οὖν τῆς κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν πολυπραγμοσύνης ὡς ἀνεφ ίκτου, τῇ ἁπλῇ παραινέσει τοῦ Ἀποστόλου πειστέον, λέγοντος· Πιστεῦσαι γὰρ δεῖ πρῶτον, ὅτι ἔστι Θεὸς, καὶ τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσιν αὐτὸν μισθαποδότης γίνεται. Οὐ γὰρ ἡ τοῦ τί ἐστιν ἐξερεύνησις, ἀλλ' ἡ τοῦ ὅτι ἔστιν ὁμολογία τὴν σωτηρίαν ἡμῖν πα ρασκευάζει. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀπερινόητος ἀνθρώπου φύσει καὶ ἄῤῥητος παντελῶς ἡ οὐσία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποδέδεικται, λειπόμενόν ἐστι περὶ τῆς ἀγεννησίας αὐτῆς τί τέ ἐστι, καὶ πῶς ἐπιθεωρεῖται τῷ Θεῷ τῶν ὅλων διεξ ελθεῖν. Εὑρίσκομεν οὖν λογιζόμενοι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῇ τοῦ τί ἐστιν ἀνερευνήσει ἡ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου ἡμῖν ἔν νοια ὑποπίπτει, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον, ἵνα βιασάμενος εἴ πω τὸν λόγον, ἐν τῇ τοῦ ὅπως ἐστίν. Ἐξετάζων γὰρ ἡμῶν ὁ νοῦς, εἰ ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸς ἑαυτοῦ τινα αἰτίαν ὑπερκειμένην ἔχει, εἶτα οὐ δυνάμενος ἐπινοεῖν οὐ δεμίαν, τὸ ἄναρχον αὐτοῦ τῆς ζωῆς ἀγέννητον προσ ηγόρευσεν. Ὡς γὰρ ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων λό γοις, ὅταν λέγωμεν ὅτι, Ὁ δεῖνα ἐκ τοῦδε γέγονεν, οὐ τὸ τί ἐστιν ἑκάστου, ἀλλὰ τὸ ὅθεν γέγονε διηγούμεθα· οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς περὶ Θεοῦ ἡ ἀγέννητος φωνὴ οὐ τὸ τί, ἀλλὰ τὸ μηδαμόθεν αὐτοῦ σημαίνει. Οὕτω δ' ἂν σαφέστερον ὃ λέγω γένοιτο. Ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς Λου κᾶς, τὴν κατὰ σάρκα γενεαλογίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σω τῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκτιθέμενος, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν τελευταίων ἐπὶ τοὺς πρώτους ἀναποδίζων, ἤρ ξατο μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰωσήφ· εἰπὼν δὲ τοῦτον μὲν τοῦ Ἡλεὶ, τὸν δὲ τοῦ Ματθὰν, καὶ οὕτω κατὰ ἀνάλυ σιν πρὸς τὸν Ἀδὰμ τὴν ἐξήγησιν ἐπανάγων, εἶτα ἐλθὼν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνω, καὶ εἰπὼν ὅτι ὁ Σὴθ ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ, ὁ δὲ Ἀδὰμ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐνταῦθα τῆς ἀναβάσεως ἔληξεν· οὐχὶ τὰς οὐσίας τῶν ἀπηρι θμημένων δηλῶν ἐν τῇ διηγήσει τῆς ἑκάστου γενέ σεως, ἀλλὰ τὰς προσεχεῖς ἀρχὰς ἀφ' ἧς ἕκαστος γέ γονεν ἐκτιθέμενος. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐκεῖνος εἶπεν, ὅτι ὁ 29.548 Ἀδὰμ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ· οὕτως ἡμεῖς ἑαυτοὺς ἐρωτήσω μεν, ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ἐκ τίνος; Ἆρα οὐχὶ πρόχειρόν ἐστιν ἐν τῇ ἑκάστῳ διανοίᾳ, ὅτι ἐξ οὐδενός; Τὸ δὲ ἐξ οὐδ ενὸς τὸ ἄναρχόν ἐστι δηλονότι· τὸ δὲ ἄναρχον τὸ ἀγέν νητον. Ὡς οὖν ἐπὶ ἀνθρώπων οὐκ ἦν οὐσία τὸ ἔκ τι νος, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων οὐσίαν ἐστὶν εἰ πεῖν τὸ ἀγέννητον· ὅπερ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ ἐξ οὐδ ενός. Ὁ δὲ τὸ ἄναρχον οὐσίαν εἶναι λέγων παραπλή σιον ποιεῖ, ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις, ἐρωτώμενος, τίς ἡ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ οὐσία, καὶ τίς ἡ φύσις αὐτῷ; ὁ δὲ ἀποκρί νοιτο, μὴ ἐκ συνδυασμοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς θείας χειρὸς διαπλασθῆναι. Ἀλλ' οὐχὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς ὑποστάσεως ἐπιζητῶ, φήσειεν ἄν τις, ἀλλ' αὐτὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ ὑλικὸν ὑποκείμενον· ὃ πολλοῦ δέω μανθάνειν διὰ τῆς ἀποκρίσεως. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν συμβαίνει ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἀγεννήτου φωνῆς τὸ ὅπως τοῦ Θεοῦ μᾶλλον ἢ αὐτὴν τὴν φύσιν διδασκομέ νοις. Ὅλως δὲ εἴ τις βούλοιτο τὴν ἀλήθειαν τῶν παρ' ἡμῶν λεγομένων καταμαθεῖν, ἑαυτὸν ἀνερευ νάτω· ὅταν τι νοῆσαι τῶν περὶ Θεοῦ βουληθῇ, εἰ εἰς τὸ σημαινόμενον τοῦ ἀγεννήτου χωρεῖ. Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ὁρῶ, ὅτι, ὥσπερ τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις αἰῶσι τὴν διάνοιαν ἐπεκτείνοντες, ἀτελεύτητον λέγομεν τὸν οὐδ ενὶ πέρατι τὴν ζωὴν ὁριζόμενον· οὕτω καὶ εἰς τὸ ἄνω τῶν αἰώνων τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἀναβαίνοντες, καὶ οἷον εἴς τι πέλαγος ἀχανὲς ἐπὶ τὸ ἄπειρον τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ζωῆς διακύπτοντες, οὐδεμιᾶς ἀρχῆς ἀφ' ἧς γέγονε λαβέσθαι δυνάμενοι, ἀλλὰ τοῦ νοουμένου ἐξω τέραν ἀεὶ καὶ ὑπερεκπίπτουσαν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ζωὴν ἐννοοῦντες, τοῦτο τὸ ἄναρχον τῆς ζωῆς ἀγέννητον προσειρήκαμεν. Αὕτη γὰρ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου ἡ ἔννοια, τὸ μὴ ἔχειν ἑτέρωθεν τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ εἶναι. Ὁ δὲ, ἐπειδὴ περὶ μόνον τὸν Θεὸν τῶν ὅλων τὸ ἀγέννητον θεωρεῖται, κακουργότατα πάντων εἰς τὴν κατὰ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἥρπασεν αὐτὸ βλασφημίαν. Τί γάρ φησι προϊών; {ΕΥΝ.} Ἀγέννητος δὲ ὢν κατὰ τὴν προλαβοῦσαν ἀπόδειξιν, οὐκ ἄν ποτε πρόσοιτο γέννησιν, ὥστε τῆς ἰδίας μεταδοῦναι τῷ γεννωμένῳ φύσεως, ἐκφύγοι τε ἂν πᾶσαν σύγκρισιν