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to him, and a son of lawlessness shall not add to harming him. And I will cut down his enemies from before his face, and I will put to flight those who hate him. And my truth and my mercy are with him, and in my name his horn shall be exalted. And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. And he shall call upon me: You are my Father, my God, and the helper of my salvation. And I will make him firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.” For whether we should grant that this is proclaimed concerning the effulgence co-existing with the paternal glory, and in the last times having blossomed from the root of Jesse, or whether concerning David, the firstborn would not be understood by the usual understanding. For how will he make firstborn either the man already existing—for he says, “I have found David my servant”—or the one having older brothers than himself? But that it is customary for Scripture to declare that those already existing in substance become in some way what they were not, Paul, full of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit, somewhere says thus: “You are no longer a slave, but a son.” For the phrase, “no longer,” signifies for those already existing their state henceforth being something else. And again: “Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers;” that is to say, God who foreknew descendants, and seeing all things past and to come as subsisting and present, with whom all ages are one measure, and nothing is divided, as was said a little before, foresaw and manifestly promised that men would be conformed to the eternally existing only-begotten Son in his form, mo 39.840 from which time this Only-Begotten, having brought himself down for us into the form of a servant, will say by his own gift: “I no longer call you slaves, but friends and brothers,” as it is written. For in the same way we who are created were called sons of God, by grace, not by nature; likewise the Only-Begotten of God, when he mingled the earthly with the heavenly, and a new salvation was brought to pass for us completely, was called our brother and firstborn, not according to his nature from the Father, but according to his incarnation from the Virgin and through the Virgin. It would be opportune, therefore, to say to heretics what has been well said to those outside: “Hate falsehoods, that the truth may become familiar to you.”

CHAP. 5. Their third proposition, the one from the person of the one who established all things

a prophecy spoken by the Lord: “I am the beginning and the end.” For from this they fashion his timeless and supra-intellectual existence into a temporal one with unpersuasive interpretations, and they force their wickedness to be considered a virtue. But as many as are not ignorant of this Only-Begotten, the richly-speaking God, unlike these men, are also in want of the theology of this golden saying. For “the beginning,” on the one hand, indicates that he is the cause, as being without beginning, just as God the Father is of the constitution of all things, For he who is the beginning does not have one pre-existing him, just as the last does not have one after him. For “beginning,” as Aristotle says in the fifth book of the Metaphysics, is said in many ways. For “beginning” is said, for example, of a kingdom, a generalship; it is also said locally, as the starting-line is the beginning of a race; it is also said chronologically, as this day is the beginning of the year; it is also said physically, as the seed is the beginning of the infant; it is also said causally, as the sculptor is the beginning of the statue. Thus therefore we say him to be au 39.841 the beginning, as cause and Creator; and “the end” means that to him, as being uncircumscribed and alone having immortality, the ends of all things are joined together, and after the fulfillment of this universe, he remains forever and infinitely. Therefore the infinite one cannot have a coming into being; and being unable to, he himself is uncreated, although he is begotten from the substance of God the Father by nature; but created things have come to be from him creatively. Following these things

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αὐτῷ, καὶ υἱὸς ἀνομίας οὐ προσθήσει τοῦ κακῶσαι αὐτόν. Καὶ συγκόψω ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς μισοῦντας αὐτὸν τροπώσομαι. Καὶ ἡ ἀλήθειά μου καὶ τὸ ἔλεός μου μετ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου ὑψωθήσεται τὸ κέρας αὐτοῦ. Καὶ θήσομαι ἐν θαλάσσῃ χεῖρα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν ποταμοῖς δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ. Αὐτὸς δὲ ἐπικαλέσεταί με· Πατήρ μου εἶ σὺ, ὁ Θεός μου, καὶ ἀντιλήπτωρ τῆς σωτηρίας μου. Καὶ ἐγὼ πρωτότοκον θήσομαι αὐτὸν ὑψηλὸν παρὰ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τῆς γῆς.» Κἄν τε γὰρ περὶ τοῦ συνυφεστῶτος τῇ πατρικῇ δόξῃ ἀπαυγάσματος, καὶ ἐπ' ἐσχάτων ἐκ ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ ἀνθήσαντος, κἄν τε περὶ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ τοῦτο διαγορεύεσθαι δοίημεν, οὐκ ἂν τῇ τῆς συνηθείας ὑπονοίᾳ ὁ πρωτότοκος νοηθείη. Πῶς γὰρ ἢ τὸν ἤδη ὄντα ἄνθρωπον λέγει γὰρ, ὅτι «Εὗρον ∆αυῒδ τὸν δοῦλόν μου», ἢ τὸν πρεσβυτέρους ἑαυτοῦ ἔχοντα ἀδελφοὺς, πρωτότοκον ποιήσεται; Ὅτι δέ ποτε σύνηθες τῇ Γραφῇ τοὺς ὄντας ἤδη καθ' ὕπαρξιν, γίνεσθαί πως ὃ οὐκ ἦσαν ἐξαγγέλλειν, Παῦλος ὁ Χριστοῦ γέμων καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἔμπλεως οὕτω που φάσκει· «Οὐκ ἔτι εἶ δοῦλος, ἀλλὰ υἱός.» Τὸ γὰρ, «οὐκ ἔτι,» τοῖς ἤδη ὑφεστηκόσιν τὴν ἐπὶ ἄλλο τι τοῦ λοιποῦ κατάστασιν σημαίνει. Καὶ πάλιν· «Οὓς προέγνω καὶ προώρισεν συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πρωτότοκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς·» ἀντὶ τοῦ, ὁ Θεὸς ὁ προγνοὺς ἀπογόνους, καὶ πάντα τὰ παρελθόντα καὶ ἐπιόντα, ὡς ὑφεστῶτα καὶ παρόντα ὁρῶν, παρ' ᾧ ἕν τι μέτρον οἱ αἰῶνες ἅπαντές εἰσι, καὶ οὐδὲν μεμερισμένον, ὡς πρὸ βραχέος ἐλέχθη, προΐδεν καὶ ἐπιφανῶς ὑπέσχετο, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους συμμόρφους ἔσεσθαι τοῦ ὄντος ἀϊδίως ἐν μορφῇ αὐτοῦ μο 39.840 νογενοῦς Υἱοῦ, ἀφ' οὗ ἂν οὗτος ὁ Μονογενὴς, καθεὶς ἑαυτὸν δι' ἡμᾶς εἰς δουλοπρεπῆ μορφὴν, λέξει ἰδίᾳ δωρεᾷ· «Οὐκ ἔτι ὑμᾶς καλῶ δούλους, ἀλλὰ φίλους καὶ ἀδελφοὺς, ὡς γέγραπται. Ὃν τρόπον γὰρ οἱ κτιστοὶ, υἱοὶ ἐκλήθημεν τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ χάριν, οὐ κατὰ φύσιν· ὡσαύτως ὁ Μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτε ἐμίγνυ τὰ ἐπίγεια τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, καὶ σωτηρία ἡμῖν νέα διὰ τέλους ἐγίνετο, ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν καὶ πρωτότοκος ἐκλήθη, οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἐκ Πατρὸς φύσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν ἐκ τῆς Παρθένου καὶ κατὰ τὴν Παρθένον σάρκωσιν αὐτοῦ. Εὔκαιρον τοίνυν ἂν εἴη εἰπεῖν πρὸς αἱρετικοὺς, ὅπερ εἴρηται τοῖς ἔξω καλῶς· «Τὰ ψεύδη μίσει, ἵνα σοι ἡ ἀλήθεια προσεθίζηται.»

ΚΕΦ. Εʹ. Τρίτη αὐτῶν πρότασις, ἡ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ πάντα ὑποστήσαντος

Κυρίου λέγουσα προφητεία· «Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος.» Χρονικὴν γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν τὴν ἄχρονον καὶ ὑπὲρ νοῦν ὕπαρξιν αὐτοῦ ἀπειθάνοις ἐκδοχαῖς ἀναπλάττουσιν, καὶ βιάζονται τὴν κακίαν αὐτῶν ἀρετὴν νομισθῆναι. Ὅσοι δὲ τοῦτον τὸν Μονογενῆ πλουσιολόγον Θεὸν οὐκ ἀγνοοῦσιν, ὡς οὗτοι, ἐπιδεῶς ἔχουσι καὶ τῆς τοῦ χρυσοῦ ῥήματος τούτου θεολογίας. ∆ηλοῖ γὰρ ἡ μὲν ἀρχὴ, τὸ αἴτιον αὐτὸν εἶναι, ὡς ἄναρχον, καθὰ ὁ Θεὸς Πατὴρ τῆς πάντων συστάσεως, Ὁ γὰρ ὢν ἀρχὴ οὐκ ἔχει τὸν προϋπάρχοντα, ὡς ὁ ὕστατος οὐκ ἔχει τὸν ὕστατον. Ἀρχὴ γὰρ, ὥς φησιν Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν πέμπτῳ τῶν Μετὰ τὰ φυσικὰ, λέγεται πολλαχῶς. Λέγεται μὲν γὰρ ἀρχὴ, οἷον βασιλεία, στρατηγία· λέγεται δὲ καὶ τοπικῶς, ὡς ἀρχὴ δρόμου ἡ βαλβίς· λέγεται δὲ καὶ χρονικῶς, ὡς ἀρχὴ ἔτους ἤδε ἡ ἡμέρα· λέγεται δὲ καὶ φυσικῶς, ὡς ἀρχὴ βρέφους τὸ σπέρμα· λέγεται δὲ καὶ κατὰ αἰτίαν, ὡς ἀρχὴ τοῦ ἀνδριάντος ὁ ἀνδριαντοποιός. Οὕτως οὖν λέγομεν αὐ 39.841 τὸν ἀρχὴν, ὡς αἴτιον καὶ ∆ημιουργόν· τὸ δέ γε τέλος τὸ εἰς αὐτὸν, ὡς ἀπερίγραφον καὶ μόνον ἔχοντα ἀθανασίαν, πάντων τὰ πέρατα συνερείδεσθαι, καὶ μετὰ τὴν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς πληρότητα εἰς ἀεὶ καὶ ἀπείρως διαμένειν αὐτόν. Οὐκοῦν ὁ ἄπειρος γένεσιν ἔχειν οὐ δύναται· μὴ δυνάμενος δὲ, αὐτὸς μὲν ἀγένητός ἐστι, καίτοι γεννητὸς ὢν ἐκ τῆς ὑποστάσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς φυσικῶς· τὰ δὲ γενητὰ γεγένηνται ἐξ αὐτοῦ δημιουργικῶς. Τούτοις ἑπομένως