,

and divinity is the providence that holds all beings together and the deifying energy according to it of those for whom it provides.

Or perhaps the invisible things of God are nothing other than His eternal power and divinity, having as their piercing heralds the supernatural magnificences of created things. For just as from existing things we believe that the truly existing God exists, so from the essential difference in kind among beings we are taught His substantial, innate wisdom, which subsists and holds all beings together; and again, from the essential movement in kind of 14Β_096 beings we learn of His substantial, innate life, which subsists and brings beings to completion, receiving from the wise contemplation of creation the doctrine concerning the Holy Trinity, I mean of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; for the Logos is the eternal power of God, being consubstantial, and the consubstantial Holy Spirit is the eternal divinity.

Therefore, those are condemned who have not been taught from the contemplation of beings the cause of beings and the natural properties of the cause, I mean the power and the divinity. Creation, therefore, cries out through the works within it and, as it were, announces to those able to hear with the intellect its own cause hymned in a triadic manner, I mean God the Father, and His ineffable power and divinity, that is, the only-begotten Logos and the Holy Spirit. For these are the invisible things of God that are perceived by the mind from the creation of the world.

SCHOLION 1. That from beings, he says, we know the cause of beings; and from the

difference of beings we are taught the hypostatic wisdom of the Being; and from the natural movement of beings, we learn the hypostatic life of the Being, the life-giving power of beings, the Holy Spirit.

14 (14). CONCERNING "AND THEY REVERED AND SERVED THE CREATURE RATHER THAN

THE CREATOR". 14. QUESTION 14 What does *and they revered and served the creature rather than the creator* mean? What is

reverence and what is worship? Answer. Reverence is the adoration of the divine with faith, while worship 14Β_098 is the

service through works. And men, having transferred this reverence, that is, faith, to creation rather than the creator, adored, believing in demons, and they worshiped, offering to them service through wicked works. But let us, revering God through faith in Him, be zealous also to offer to Him pure worship, the way of life perfected through the virtues.

15 (15). CONCERNING "FOR YOUR INCORRUPTIBLE SPIRIT IS IN ALL THINGS". 15. QUESTION 15 What does *for your incorruptible Spirit is in all things* mean; wherefore those who fall away

you rebuke little by little? If he speaks concerning the Holy Spirit, how will wisdom not enter into a foolish heart nor dwell in a body that is in debt to sins? I have noted this because it says simply *in all things*.

Answer. The Holy Spirit is absent from none of the beings, and especially of those who of reason

have partaken in any way. For it is what holds together the knowledge of each one, that God

ἐστι καὶ θειότης ἡ συνεκτικὴ τῶν ὄντων πρόνοια καὶ ἡ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ἐκθεωτικὴ τῶν προνοουμένων ἐνέργεια.

Ἢ τάχα τὰ ἀόρατα τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσιν οὐκ ἄλλό τι παρὰ τὴν ἀΐδιον αὐτοῦ δύναμιν καὶ θειότητα, ἔχουσας διαπρυσίους κήρυκας τὰς τῶν γεγονότων ὑπερφυεῖς μεγαλοπρεπείας. Ὡς γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ὄντων τὸν κυρίως ὄντα Θεὸν ὅτι ἔστι πιστεύομεν, οὕτως ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὄντων οὐσιώδους κατ᾽ εἶδος διαφορᾶς τὴν κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ἔμφυτον αὐτοῦ σοφίαν ὑφεστῶσαν καὶ τῶν ὄντων συνεκτικὴν διδασκόμεθα· καὶ πάλιν, ἐκ τῆς οὐσιώδους κατ᾽ εἶδος 14Β_096 τῶν ὄντων κινήσεως τὴν κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ἔμφυτον αὐτοῦ ζωὴν ὑφεστῶσαν καὶ τῶν ὄντων συμπληρωτικὴν μανθάνομεν, ἐκ τῆς κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν σοφῆς θεωρίας τὸν περὶ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος, Πατρὸς λέγω καὶ Υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, λόγον λαμβάνοντες· Θεοῦ γὰρ ἀΐδιός ἐστιν, ὡς ὁμοούσιος, δύναμις ὁ Λόγος, καὶ θειότης ἀΐδιος τὸ ὁμοούσιον ἅγιον Πνεῦμα.

Κατάκριτοι τοιγαροῦν οἱ μὴ συνδιδαχθέντες ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὄντων θεωρίας τὴν αἰτίαν τῶν ὄντων καὶ τὰ κατὰ φύσιν τῆς αἰτίας ἴδια, τὴν δύναμιν λέγω καὶ τὴν θειότητα. Βοᾷ τοίνυν ἡ κτίσις διὰ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ ποιημάτων καὶ οἷον ἀπαγγέλλει τοῖς νοερῶς δυναμένοις ἀκούειν τὴν ἰδίαν αἰτίαν τριαδικῶς ὑμνουμένην, λέγω δὲ τὸν Θεὸν καὶ Πατέρα, καὶ τὴν ἄφραστον αὐτοῦ δύναμιν καὶ τὴν θειότητα, ἤγουν τὸν μονογενῆ Λόγον καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. Ταῦτα γάρ εἰσι τὰ ἀόρατα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ κόσμου νοήσει καθορώμενα.

ΣΧΟΛΙΟΝ 1. Ὅτι ἐκ τῶν ὄντων, φησίν, τὸν τῶν ὄντων γινώσκομεν αἴτιον· καί ἐκ τῆς

διαφορᾶς τῶν ὄντων τήν ἐνυπόστατον τοῦ ὄντος διδασκόμεθα σοφίαν· καί ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὄντων φυσικῶς κινήσεως, τήν ἐνυπόστατον τοῦ ὄντος μανθάνομεν ζωήν, τήν τῶν ὄντων ζωοποιόν δύναμιν, τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον.

Ι∆ (14). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ "ΚΑΙ ΕΣΕΒΑΣΘΗΣΑΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΛΑΤΡΕΥΣΑΝ ΤΗ ΚΤΙΣΗ ΠΑΡΑ

ΤΟΝ ΚΤΙΣΑΝΤΑ". 14. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Ι∆' Τί ἐστι καὶ ἐσεβάσθησαν καὶ ἐλάτρευσαν τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα; Τί ἐστι

σέβας καὶ τί ἐστι λατρεία; Ἀπόκρισις. Σέβας ἐστὶν ἡ μετὰ πίστεως προσκύνησις τοῦ θείου, λατρεία 14Β_098 δὲ ἡ

διὰ τῶν ἔργων θεραπεία. Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ σέβας, ἤγουν τὴν πίστιν, ἐπὶ τὴν κτίσιν μεταβιβάσαντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα προσεκύνουν, πιστεύοντες δαιμονίοις, καὶ ἐλάτρευον, τὴν διὰ τῶν πονηρῶν ἔργων αὐτοῖς θεραπείαν προσάγοντες. Ἡμεῖς δέ, τὸν Θεὸν σέβοντες διὰ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πίστεως, σπουδάσωμεν καὶ λατρείαν αὐτῷ προσαγαγεῖν καθαρὰν τὴν διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν τετελειωμένην πολιτείαν.

ΙΕ (15). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ "ΤΟ ΓΑΡ ΑΦΘΑΡΤΟΝ ΣΟΥ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΕΝ ΠΑΣΙΝ". 15. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΙΕ' Τί ἐστι τὸ γὰρ ἄφθαρτόν σου Πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἐν πᾶσι· διὸ τοὺς παραπίπτοντας

κατὰ μικρὸν ἐλέγχεις; Εἰ περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος λέγει, πῶς εἰς ἀσύνετον καρδίαν σοφία οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται οὐδὲ κατοικήσει ἐν σώματι καταχρέῳ ἁμαρτίαις; Ἐσημειωσάμην δὲ τοῦτο διὰ τὸ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν ἐν πᾶσιν.

Ἀπόκρισις. Τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οὐδενὸς ἄπεστι τῶν ὄντων, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν λόγου

καθοτιοῦν μετειληφότων. Συνεκτικὸν γὰρ ὑπάρχει τῆς ἑκάστου γνώσεως, ὅτι Θεὸς