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of demons" does not apply to the one said to be from Cronus, Zeus; for in this is a name for the maker of all things. And Plato himself makes this clear; having no other significant term to address him, he used the common name not as proper to God, but for clarity, because it is not possible to bring God to all, as far as was in his power, adding the predicate "great," in order to distinguish the heavenly from the earthly one, the uncreated from the created, who is younger than heaven and earth, and younger than the Cretans, who stole him away so that he would not be destroyed by his father. But what need is there for us, having moved every argument toward you, either to mention poets or to examine other opinions, when I have this much to say: if even poets and philosophers did not acknowledge that God is one, but concerning these others, some thought of them as demons, others as matter, and others as men who had once lived, would we [also] be reasonably driven out, using as we do a discriminating argument concerning God and matter and concerning their very substance? For just as we say that God and His Son, the Logos, and the Holy Spirit are one in power <but divided in order into> the Father, the Son, the Spirit, because the Son of the Father is Mind, Logos, Wisdom, and the Spirit an effluence, as light from fire, so also have we apprehended that there are other powers which are concerned with matter and exist through it, one of which is hostile to God, not that there is anything contrary to God as Strife is to Love according to Empedocles, or night to day according to appearances (since if anything had opposed God, it would have ceased to exist, its constitution having been dissolved by the power and strength of God), but because to the good of God, which is accidental to Him and co-existent with Him as color is to a body, without which it does not exist (not as being a part, but as a necessary concomitant, united and colored with it as fire is yellow and the aether is blue), the spirit which is concerned with matter is opposed, having been created by God, just as <also> the rest of the angels were created by Him, and entrusted with the administration over matter and the forms of matter. For the constitution of the angels was made by God for the providence of those things arranged by him, so that God might <have> the complete and general providence of all things, while the angels appointed over them have the particular providence. And just as among men who have free will regarding both virtue and vice (since you would neither honor the good nor punish the wicked, if vice and virtue were not in their own power), [and] some are found diligent concerning what is entrusted to them by you, while others are found unfaithful, so it is in like manner with the angels. For the others—they have indeed been made with free will

19

δαιμόνων" οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ Κρόνου λεγομένου ἔχει ∆ιός· ἔστι γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ ὄνομα τῷ ποιητῇ τῶν ὅλων. δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Πλάτων· ἑτέρῳ σημαντικῷ προσειπεῖν αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔχων, τῷ δημώδει ὀνόματι οὐχ ὡς ἰδίῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλ' εἰς σαφήνειαν, ὅτι μὴ δυνατὸν εἰς πάντας φέρειν τὸν θεόν, κατὰ δύναμιν προσεχρήσατο, ἐπικατηγορήσας τὸ "μέγας", ἵνα διαστείλῃ τὸν οὐράνιον ἀπὸ τοῦ χαμᾶθεν, τὸν ἀγένητον ἀπὸ τοῦ γενητοῦ, τοῦ νεωτέρου μὲν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, νεωτέρου δὲ Κρητῶν, οἳ ἐξέκλεψαν αὐτὸν μὴ ἀναιρεθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός. Τί δὲ δεῖ πρὸς ὑμᾶς πάντα λόγον κεκινηκότας ἢ ποιητῶν μνημονεύειν ἢ καὶ ἑτέρας δόξας ἐξετάζειν, τοσοῦτον εἰπεῖν ἔχοντι· εἰ καὶ μὴ ποιηταὶ καὶ φιλόσοφοι ἕνα μὲν εἶναι ἐπεγίνωσκον θεόν, περὶ δὲ τούτων οἱ μὲν ὡς περὶ δαιμόνων, οἱ δὲ ὡς περὶ ὕλης, οἱ δὲ ὡς περὶ ἀνθρώπων γενομένων ἐφρόνουν, ἡμεῖς [τε] ἂν εἰκότως ἐξεν ηλατούμεθα, διαιρετικῷ λόγῳ καὶ περὶ θεοῦ καὶ ὕλης καὶ περὶ τῆς τούτων αὐτῶν οὐσίας κεχρημένοι; ὡς γὰρ θεόν φαμεν καὶ υἱὸν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ἑνούμενα μὲν κατὰ δύναμιν <διαιρούμενα δὲ κατὰ τάξιν εἰς> τὸν πατέρα, τὸν υἱόν, τὸ πνεῦμα, ὅτι νοῦς, λόγος, σοφία ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἀπόρροια ὡς φῶς ἀπὸ πυρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα, οὕτως καὶ ἑτέρας εἶναι δυνάμεις κατειλήμμεθα περὶ τὴν ὕλην ἐχούσας καὶ δι' αὐτῆς, μίαν μὲν τὴν ἀντίθεον, οὐχ ὅτι ἀντιδοξοῦν τί ἐστι τῷ θεῷ ὡς τῇ φιλίᾳ τὸ νεῖκος κατὰ τὸν Ἐμπεδοκλέα καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ νὺξ κατὰ τὰ φαινόμενα (ἐπεὶ κἂν εἰ ἀνθειστήκει τι τῷ θεῷ, ἐπαύσατο τοῦ εἶναι, λυθείσης αὐτοῦ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμει καὶ ἰσχύι τῆς συστάσεως), ἀλλ' ὅτι τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγαθῷ, ὃ κατὰ συμβεβηκός ἐστιν αὐτῷ καὶ συνυπάρχον ὡς χρόα σώματι, οὗ ἄνευ οὐκ ἔστιν (οὐχ ὡς μέρους ὄντος, ἀλλ' ὡς κατ' ἀνάγκην συνόντος παρακολουθήματος, ἡνωμένου καὶ συγκεχρωσ μένου ὡς τῷ πυρὶ ξανθῷ εἶναι καὶ τῷ αἰθέρι κυανῷ), ἐναντίον ἐστὶ τὸ περὶ τὴν ὕλην ἔχον πνεῦμα, γενόμενον μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, καθὸ <καὶ> οἱ λοιποὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγόνασιν ἄγγελοι, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ ὕλῃ καὶ τοῖς τῆς ὕλης εἴδεσι πεπιστευμένον διοίκησιν. τούτων γὰρ ἡ τῶν ἀγγέλων σύστασις τῷ θεῷ ἐπὶ προνοίᾳ γέγονε τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ διακεκοσμημένοις, ἵν' ᾖ τὴν μὲν παντελικὴν καὶ γενικὴν ὁ θεὸς <ἔχων> τῶν ὅλων πρόνοιαν, τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ μέρους οἱ ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ταχθέντες ἄγγελοι. ὡς δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων αὐθαίρετον καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν κακίαν ἐχόντων (ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἂν οὔτ' ἐτιμᾶτε τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς οὔτ' ἐκολάζετε τοὺς πονηρούς, εἰ μὴ ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἦν καὶ ἡ κακία καὶ ἡ ἀρετή) [καὶ] οἱ μὲν σπουδαῖοι περὶ ἃ πιστεύονται ὑφ' ὑμῶν, οἱ δὲ ἄπιστοι εὑρίσκονται, καὶ τὸ κατὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους ἐν ὁμοίῳ καθέστηκεν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι-αὐθαίρετοι δὴ γεγόνασιν