15. Such, it seems to me, is the meaning of the divine oracles; and it refutes the evil which these irrational men speak against the Spirit. But they, persevering in their antagonism to the truth, as you write, speak again, no longer out of the Scriptures—they find nothing there—but proclaiming out of the abundance of their own heart: ‘If he is not a creature nor one of the angels, but proceeds from the Father, then he is himself also a son, and he and the Word are two brothers. And if he is a brother, how is the Word only begotten? How is it then that they are not equal, but the one is named after the Father, and the other after the Son? How, if he is from the Father, is he not also sa^d to be begotten or called son, but just Holy Spirit? But if the Spirit is of the Son, then the Father is the Spirit's grandfather.’ Thus the wretches make mock, like busy-bodies desiring to ‘search the deep things of God’ which ‘no one knows but the Spirit of God’, against whom they speak evil. We ought therefore to answer them no more, but, in accordance with the Apostle’s precept, after the warning they have had from what has been said already, to shun them as heretics; or else to ask them questions on a level with those they ask, and to demand an answer from them such as they demand from us.u Let them tell us then: whether the Father is from a Father; whether another has been begotten with him, so that they are brothers from the one father; what are the names of these; who is the father and the grandfather of this father; and who are their ancestors. But they will say there are none. How then, let them tell us, is he a Father who is not himself begotten of a father? Or how could he have a Son who was not first begotten a son? I know the interrogation is impious. But when they make mock of such things, it is right to make mock of them, that even from such absurd and impious interrogation they may be able to perceive their own folly. For it is not so. God forbid! Nor is it fitting to ask such questions about the Godhead. For God is not as man, that we should dare to ask human questions about him.

Τῶν μὲν οὖν θείων λογίων τοιοῦτος ὁ νοῦς ἐμοὶ φαίνεται, διελέγχων τὴν τῶν ἀλόγων κατὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος δυσφημίαν· αὐτοὶ δὲ τὴν φιλονεικίαν ἔμμονον ἔχοντες πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ὡς γράφεις, οὐκέτι μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν Γραφῶν (οὐχ εὑρίσκουσι γὰρ), ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας τῆς ἰδίας ἐρευγόμενοι, πάλιν φάσκουσιν· Εἰ μὴ κτίσμα ἐστὶ, μηδὲ τῶν ἀγ γέλων εἷς ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται· οὐκοῦν Υἱός ἐστι καὶ αὐτὸ, καὶ δύο ἀδελφοί εἰσιν αὐτό τε καὶ ὁ Λόγος. Καὶ εἰ ἀδελφός ἐστι, πῶς μονο γενὴς ὁ Λόγος, ἢ πῶς οὐκ ἴσοι, ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν μετὰ τὸν Πατέρα, τὸ δὲ μετὰ τὸν Υἱὸν ὀνομάζεται; Πῶς δὲ, εἰ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός ἐστιν, οὐ λέγεται καὶ αὐτὸ γε γεννῆσθαι, ἢ ὅτι Υἱός ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς Πνεῦμα ἅγιον; Εἰ δὲ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐστι τὸ Πνεῦμα, οὐκοῦν πάππος ἐστὶν ὁ Πατὴρ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Τοιαῦτα παίζουσιν οἱ ἄτιμοι, περιεργαζόμενοι καὶ θέλοντες ἐρευνᾷν τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἃ μηδεὶς οἶδεν, εἰ μὴ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ δυσφημούμενον ὑπ' αὐτῶν. Ἔδει μὲν οὖν μηκέτι τούτοις ἀποκρίνασθαι, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἀποστολικὴν παραγγελίαν, μετὰ τὴν ἐκ τῶν προ ειρημένων νουθεσίαν ὡς αἱρετικοὺς αὐτοὺς παραι τεῖσθαι, ἢ ἄξια ὧν ἐρωτῶσιν ἐρωτᾷν αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀπαιτεῖν παρ' αὐτῶν ἀπόκρισιν, οἵαν αὐτοὶ παρ' ἡμῶν ἀπαιτοῦσιν. Εἰπάτωσαν τοίνυν· εἰ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐκ πατρός ἐστι, καὶ εἰ ἄλλος σὺν αὐτῷ γεγέννηται, καί εἰσιν ἀδελφοὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς, καὶ τί ὄνομα αὐτοῖς, καὶ τίς ὁ καὶ τούτων Πατὴρ καὶ πάππος, κἀκείνων οἱ πρόγονοι; Ἀλλ' οὐκ εἶναι φήσουσι. Πῶς οὖν Πατὴρ, λεγέτωσαν, αὐτὸς μὴ γενόμενος ἐκ Πατρός; Ἢ πῶς ἠδυνήθη Υἱὸν ἔχειν, μὴ πρότερον αὐτὸς Υἱὸς γεννηθείς; Οἶδα, ὅτι ἀσεβὴς ἡ ἐρώτησις· ἀλλὰ τοιαῦτα παίζοντας αὐτοὺς παίζειν δίκαιον, ἵνα κἂν ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀτοπίας καὶ ἀσεβοῦς ἐρωτήσεως αἰσθάνεσθαι τῆς ἰδίας ἀφροσύνης δύνωνται. Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ταῦτα· μὴ γένοιτο! οὐδ' οὕτως ἐρωτᾷν περὶ τῆς θεότητος πρέπει. Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὁ Θεὸς, ἵνα καὶ ἀνθρώπινα περὶ αὐτοῦ τις τολμήσῃ ἐρωτᾷν.