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of the three conceived or seen in one substance and in one will, so understand for me and piously confess also concerning the holy and consubstantial and undivided Trinity that the Father ineffably begets God the Word, whom in the beginning He had in Himself and has, begotten inseparably and beyond reason, and that the Son is begotten, who is always inseparably with the Father who begets, being co-eternal and in no way separated from Him, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, being of the same nature and united with the consubstantial Father and Son, so as to be worshipped and glorified with them by every breath. Know that their will is one and the same, since it is thus known and revealed to all who are illumined from above and to us the humble in the Holy Spirit by the good pleasure of the Father through the Son. Their superessential substance of the one divinity and kingdom, that I may return to the same things, being sanctified in memory and word - (36) believe it to be of three hypostases and, believing, confess with me clearly and unshrinkingly, that neither are the three hypostases confounded into one, nor are those who are naturally united divided into three; for in each one of these the other two are conceived and seen, in one substance and nature and glory and one will. Believe these to be one God, maker and creator of all things visible and invisible.

For he who believes that God is the maker of all things and that He brought all things into being out of nothing, both things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, having been created by God, remains within his own bounds, knowing the one who made him; and being led up to the Author of being Himself from the beauty of created things, he hymns and glorifies Him as creator of all things and in no way pries into His incomprehensible nature. For he knows himself to be His creature, and all other things, as has been said, but the maker of the universe Himself to be uncreated, without beginning, incomprehensible, unexplainable, unsearchable, ever-existing and pre-existing. For there was never a time when God was not, for He Himself made the ages and He was before every beginning, so that neither is a beginning conceived concerning Him nor is an end found, but He was without beginning, and is the beginning of all things, and will be eternally for infinite and unending ages, the unapproachable, the invisible, the ineffable, the unutterable, the one incomprehensible to all things that have been made by Him, who was unknown to us who were formerly straying after many gods and serving creation and worshipping idols, being still earthly and lowly, who, having had mercy on our ignorance, condescended so much to our weakness, that we might know that God is a perfect Trinity, who ought to be piously worshipped in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. (37) But what He is in substance, or of what kind in form, or where, or how great in size, or how in co-existence or in union, not only has it never been for men to conceive, but not even for the powers above did the incomprehensible nature of the superessential become comprehensible.

And do not attempt to tell me the theologies from the divine Scripture; for those were spoken by the theologians against the blasphemous oppositions of the heretics. But understand this for me, that the divine nature, being unapproachable and evidently incomprehensible, and what is incomprehensible is altogether unutterable; for often we are completely unable to express that very thing which we understand we should say. The one therefore who is invisible and incomprehensible, and this is witnessed by all of inspired Scripture, what man or angel will have the strength to interpret? No one at all; for that which is nothing can never be conceived by human thought and designated by a name. But all divine Scripture presents through all the concepts and words spoken about God that He exists, but not what He is like, only testifying of Him that He always is and that He is the one who is, God who always is, of three hypostases, all-powerful, all-ruling, all-seeing, founder and creator of all things, without need, transcendent, known by us only so much as someone

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τῶν τριῶν νοουμένων ἤ ὁρωμένων ἐν μιᾷ τῇ οὐσίᾳ καί ἐν ἑνί τῷ θελήματι, οὕτω μοι νόει καί εὐσεβῶς ὁμολόγει καί ἐπί τῆς ἁγίας καί ὁμοουσίου καί ἀδιαιρέτου Τριάδος τόν μέν Πατέρα γεννᾶν ἀφράστως τόν Θεόν Λόγον, ὅν ἐν ἀρχῇ ἔσχεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ καί ἔχει γεγεννημένον ἀχωρίστως καί ὑπέρ λόγον, τόν δέ Υἱόν γεννᾶσθαι τόν ἀεί ἀδιαιρέτως πρός τόν γεννῶντα Πατέρα ὄντα συναϊδίως καί μηδαμῶς ἐξ αὐτοῦ χωριζόμενον, τό δέ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός ἐκπορεύεσθαι συμφυές ὄν καί συνηνωμένον τοῖς ὁμοουσίοις Πατρί τε καί Υἱῷ, ὡς συμπροσκυνούμενον καί συνδοξαζόμενον αὐτοῖς παρά πάσης πνοῆς. Τούτων ἕν καί τό αὐτό θέλημα γνώριζε, ἐπειδή οὕτω πᾶσι τοῖς ἐλλαμπομένοις ἄνωθεν καί ἡμῖν τοῖς ταπεινοῖς γνωριζόμενόν τε καί ἀποκαλυπτόμενόν ἐστιν ἐν Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι εὐδοκίᾳ τοῦ Πατρός δι᾿ Υἱοῦ. Τούτων τήν ὑπερούσιον οὐσίαν τῆς μιᾶς θεότητός τε καί βασιλείας ἵνα πάλιν ἐπί τοῖς αὐτοῖς γένωμαι, τῇ μνήμῃ καί τῷ λόγῳ ἁγιαζόμενος - (36) τρισυπόστατον πίστευε καί πιστεύων συνομολόγει μοι τρανῶς καί ἀνυποστόλως, ὡς μήτε εἰς ἕν συγχεομένων τῶν τριῶν ὑποστάσεων, μήτε διαιρουμένων εἰς τρία τῶν φυσικῶς ἡνωμένων· ἐν γάρ ἑνί τούτων ἑκάστῳ τά συναμφότερα νοούμενα καθορῶνται, ἐν μιᾷ τῇ οὐσίᾳ καί φύσει καί δόξῃ καί ἑνί θελήματι. Ταῦτα ἕνα Θεόν πίστευε, πάντων ποιητήν καί δημιουργόν ὁρατῶν τε καί ἀοράτων.

Ὁ γάρ πιστεύων ὅτι ὁ Θεός πάντων ἐστί ποιητής καί ὅτι τά πάντα ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων παρήγαγε, τά τε ἐν οὐρανῷ, τά τε ἐπί τῆς γῆς καί τά ἐν τοῖς καταχθονίοις, ὑπό Θεοῦ κτισθείς, μένει τῶν ἰδίων ὅρων ἐντός, τόν πεποιηκότα γινώσκων· καί πρός αὐτόν τόν γενεσιουργόν ἀπό τῆς καλλονῆς ἀναγόμενος τῶν κτισμάτων, ἀνυμνεῖ καί δοξάζει αὐτόν ὡς δημιουργόν τῶν ἁπάντων καί οὐδαμῶς τήν ἀκατάληπτον αὐτοῦ φύσιν περιεργάζεται. Οἶδε γάρ κτίσμα ἑαυτόν ἐκείνου καί τἆλλα πάντα, ὡς εἴρηται, αὐτόν δέ τόν τοῦ παντός ποιητήν, ἄκτιστον, ἄναρχον, ἀκατάληπτον, ἀνερμήνευτον, ἀνεξιχνίαστον, ἀεί ὄντα καί προόντα. Οὐ γάρ ἦν χρόνος ποτέ, ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ὁ Θεός, τούς γάρ αἰῶνας αὐτός ἐποίησε καί πρό πάσης ἀρχῆς αὐτός ἦν, ὡς μήτε ἀρχήν περί αὐτόν ἐννοεῖσθαι μήτε τέλος εὑρίσκεσθαι ἀλλ᾿ ἦν μέν ἄναρχος, ἔστι δέ τῶν ὅλων ἀρχή καί ἔσται ἀϊδίως εἰς ἀπείρους καί ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας ὁ ἀπρόσιτος, ὁ ἀόρατος, ὁ ἀνεκδιήγητος, ὁ ἄφραστος, ὁ πᾶσιν ἀκατανόητος τοῖς ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ γενομένοις, ὅς καί ἠγνοήθη ἡμῖν περί πολλούς πρότερον θεούς πλανωμένοις καί λατρεύουσι τῇ κτίσει καί προσκυνοῦσιν εἰδώλοις, γηΐνοις οὖσιν ἔτι καί ταπεινοῖς, ὅς καί κατελεήσας ἡμῶν τήν ἄγνοιαν, τοσοῦτον συγκατέβη τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ ἡμῶν, ὅσον ἵνα γνῶμεν ὅτι ἐστί Θεός τελεία Τριάς, ἐν Πατρί καί Υἱῷ καί Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι εὐσεβῶς ὀφείλουσι προσκυνεῖσθαι. (37) Ὁποία δέ ἐστι τῇ οὐσίᾳ, ἤ ποδαπή τῇ ἰδέᾳ, ἤ ποῦ, ἤ πόση τῷ μεγέθει, ἤ πῶς τῇ συνουσίᾳ ἤ τῇ ἑνώσει, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀνθρώποις ἐννοῆσαι γέγονέ ποτε, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ ταῖς ἄνω δυνάμεσι καταληπτόν ἐξεγένετο τό τῆς ὑπερουσίου φύσεως ἀκατάληπτον.

Καί μή μοι τάς ἀπό τῆς θείας Γραφῆς λέγειν ἐπιχειρήσῃς θεολογίας· πρός γάρ τάς βλασφήμους ἐκεῖναι τῶν αἱρετικῶν ἀντιθέσεις πρός τῶν θεολόγων ἐρρέθησαν. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐκεῖνο ἐννόει μοι, ὅτι ἀπρόσιτος οὖσα ἡ θεία φύσις καί ἀκατανόητος δηλονότι, τό δέ ἀκατανόητον πάντῃ καί ἄφραστον· αὐτό γάρ πολλάκις, ὅ κατανοοῦμεν τοῦ εἰπεῖν, ἐκφράσαι ὅλως οὐκ ἐφικνούμεθα. Τόν οὖν ἀόρατον καί ἀκατανόητον καί τοῦτο παρά πάσης μαρτυρούμενον τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς τίς ἀνθρώπων ἤ ἀγγέλων ἑρμηνεῦσαι ἰσχύσει; Οὐδείς οὐδαμῶς· οὐ γάρ δύναταί ποτε τό μηδέν ὄν ὑπό ἀνθρωπίνης ἐννοίας ἐννοηθῆναι καί ἐνσημανθῆναι ὀνόματι. Παρίστησι δέ πᾶσα θεία Γραφή διά πασῶν τῶν περί Θεοῦ λεγομένων ἐννοιῶν καί λέξεων ὅτι ἔστιν, οὐχ οἷος δέ ἐστι, προσμαρτυροῦσα μόνον αὐτῷ τό ἀεί εἶναι καί τό ὁ ὤν, Θεός ὁ ἀεί ὤν, τρισυπόστατος, παντοδύναμος, παντοκράτωρ, παντεπόπτης, κτίστης καί δημιουργός τῶν ἁπάντων, ἀνενδεής, ὑπερφυής, τοσοῦτον παρ᾿ ἡμῶν γινωσκόμενος, ὅσον τις