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5 By the same, on the incomprehensible, discourse 5. When someone is about to take up a rather long subject, one requiring many words and to be completed not in one day, or two, or three, but in many more, I think it is necessary for such a one not to impose all the teaching at once or in a single block on the minds of the hearers, but, by cutting the whole into many parts, light and easy to grasp by this fragmentation

to make this burden of speech. For both tongue and ear and each of our senses have measures and rules and established limits, and if anyone ever attempts to transgress these limits, he loses even the power he has. For what is sweeter than light, tell me? What is more pleasant than a sunbeam? But yet this sweet and pleasant thing, when it shines upon us beyond measure, becomes oppressive and burdensome to the eyes. For this reason God also ordained night to follow day, so that taking our weary eyes it might lower the eyelids, put the pupils to sleep, give rest to our tired power of sight, and prepare it to be more fit for the viewing of the coming day. For this reason also wakefulness and sleep, though opposites, from their right measure become equally most pleasant to each other; and calling the light sweet, we likewise call sweet the sleep that leads us away from the light. Thus excess is everywhere heavy and oppressive, and moderation is sweet and useful and pleasant to us. For this very reason we also, now on the fourth or even fifth day since we began the discourse on the incomprehensible, are not yet prepared to complete it even today, but having said things in due measure for your love, we have decided to give your minds rest again. Where, then, did we previously leave off the discourse? For it is necessary to take it up again from there, since the teaching has a certain sequence. We were saying then that the son of thunder said, “No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” Today it is necessary to learn where the only-begotten Son of God himself made this known. “He answered,” it says, “the Jews and said, ‘Not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.’” Here again by seeing he means knowing. And he did not simply say, “No one knows the Father,” and fall silent, lest someone think this was said about men only, but wishing to show that neither angels, nor archangels, nor the powers above, he made this clear by what he added. For having said, “Not that anyone has ever seen the Father,” he added, “except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.” For if he had simply said, “No one,” many of the listeners would perhaps have thought it was said about our nature alone; but now by saying “No one” and adding, “except the Son,” with the addition of the only-begotten he excluded all creation. What then, he says, about the Holy Spirit? Not at all; for it is not part of creation; but “No one” is always placed in contradistinction to creation alone; and neither, if it is said of the Father, is the Son excluded, nor, if of the Son, does it cast out the Spirit. And that I may now make this very point clear from here, that “no one” is said not for the rejection of the Spirit, but in contradistinction to creation concerning this very knowledge, which he says belongs to the Son alone, let us hear what Paul says in his discourse to the Corinthians. What then does he say? “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” Just as, therefore, here the word “no one” does not cast out the Son, so also in the case of Christ the word “no one” being used does not exclude the Holy Spirit. From which it is clear that what has been said is true. For if in saying that “No one

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5 Τοῦ αὐτοῦ περὶ ἀκαταλήπτου λόγος εʹ. Ἐπειδὰν μέλλῃ τις μακροτέρας ὑποθέσεως ἅπτεσθαι καὶ πολλῶν δεομένης λόγων καὶ οὐκ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ καὶ δύο καὶ τρισίν, ἀλλ' ἐν πολλῷ πλείοσι περαιουμένης, ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι νομίζω τῷ τοιούτῳ μὴ πᾶσαν ἀθρόως μηδὲ ὑφ' ἓν ἐπιτιθέναι τῇ τῶν ἀκροατῶν διανοίᾳ τὴν διδασκαλίαν, ἀλλ' εἰς πολλὰ τὸ ὅλον κατατέμνοντα μέρη κοῦφον καὶ εὔληπτον τῷ κατακερματισμῷ

τοῦτο ποιεῖν τὸ τοῦ λόγου φορτίον. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ γλῶττα καὶ ἀκοὴ καὶ ἕκαστον τῶν αἰσθητηρίων ἡμῖν μέτρα καὶ

κανόνας καὶ ὅρους ἔχει κειμένους, κἂν ἐπιχειρήσῃ τούτους ὑπερβῆναι τίς ποτε τοὺς ὅρους καὶ τῆς οὔσης ἐκπίπτει δυνάμεως. Τί γὰρ γλυκύτερον φωτός, εἰπέ μοι; τί δὲ ἥδιον ἀκτῖνος; ἀλλ' ὅμως τὸ γλυκὺ τοῦτο καὶ ἡδύ, ὅταν ὑπὲρ τὸ μέτρον ἡμῶν ὁμιλήσῃ, τοῖς ὄμμασιν ἐπαχθὲς γίνεται καὶ φορτικόν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Θεὸς νύκτα ἐνομοθέτησεν εἶναι μετὰ τὴν ἡμέραν, ἵνα πεπονηκότας παραλαβοῦσα τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καταστείλῃ τὰ βλέφαρα, κοιμήσῃ τὰς κόρας, ἀναπαύσῃ καμοῦσαν ἡμῖν τὴν ὀπτικὴν δύναμιν καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῆς μελλούσης ἡμέρας θεωρίαν ἐπιτηδειοτέραν παρασκευάσῃ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐγρήγορσις καὶ ὕπνος ἐναντία ὄντα ἀλλήλοις, ἀπὸ τῆς συμμετρίας ὁμοίως ἀλλήλοις ἥδιστα γίνεται καὶ γλυκὺ καλοῦντες τὸ φῶς, γλυκὺν ὁμοίως καλοῦμεν καὶ τὸν ὕπνον τὸν ἀπάγοντα ἡμᾶς τοῦ φωτός. Οὕτως ἡ ἀμετρία πανταχοῦ βαρὺ καὶ ἐπαθχές, καὶ τὸ σύμμετρον ἡδὺ καὶ χρήσιμον ἡμῖν καὶ προσηνές. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς τετάρτην ἢ καὶ πέμπτην ἡμέραν ἔχοντες λοιπόν, ἐξ οὗ τὸν περὶ ἀκαταλήπτου κινοῦμεν λόγον, οὐδέπω καὶ τήμερον αὐτὸν ἀπαρτίσαι παρεσκευάσμεθα ἀλλὰ τὰ σύμμετρα πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀγάπην εἰπόντες πάλιν ἀναπαῦσαι τὴν διάνοιαν ὑμῶν ἐγνώκαμεν. Ποῦ τοίνυν πρώην τὸν λόγον κατελίπομεν; ἀνάγκη γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν αὐτὸν ἀνελέσθαι πάλιν, ἐπειδὴ μία τίς ἐστι διδασκαλίας ἀκολουθία. Ἐλέγομεν τότε ὅτι τῆς βροντῆς ὁ υἱὸς εἶπεν ὅτι «Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε· ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱός, ὁ ὢν ἐν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ Πατρός, αὐτὸς ἐξηγήσατο.» Τήμερον ἀναγκαῖον μαθεῖν ποῦ τοῦτο αὐτὸς ἐξηγήσατο ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ. «Ἀπεκρίθη, φησί, τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις καὶ εἶπεν· Οὐχ ὅτι τὸν Πατέρα τις ἑώρακεν εἰ μὴ ὁ ὢν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὗτος ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα.» Ὅρασιν πάλιν ἐνταῦθα τὴν γνῶσιν λέγει. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν ἁπλῶς ὅτι «Οὐδεὶς οἶδε τὸν Πατέρα» καὶ ἐσίγησεν, ἵνα μή τις περὶ ἀνθρώπων τοῦτο λέγεσθαι νομίζῃ μόνον, ἀλλὰ βουλόμενος δεῖξαι ὅτι οὔτε ἄγγελοι, οὔτε ἀρχάγγελοι, οὔτε αἱ ἄνω δυνάμεις, τῇ ἐπαγωγῇ τοῦτο δῆλον ἐποίησεν. Εἰπὼν γάρ· «Οὐχ ὅτι τὸν Πατέρα τις ἑώρακε πώποτε», ἐπήγαγεν· «εἰ μὴ ὁ ὢν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὗτος ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα». Εἰ μὲν γὰρ εἶπεν ἁπλῶς· Οὐδείς, πολλοὶ τῶν ἀκουσάντων ἴσως ἂν περὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐνόμισαν αὐτὸ φύσεως εἰρῆσθαι μόνον· νῦν δὲ εἰπών «Οὐδεὶς» καὶ προσθείς· «εἰ μὴ ὁ Υἱὸς», τῇ προσθήκῃ τοῦ μονογενοῦς ἅπασαν τὴν κτίσιν ἀπέκλεισε. Τί οὖν, φησί, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον; Οὐδαμῶς· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῆς κτίσεως τοῦτο μέρος· τὸ δὲ «Οὐδεὶς», τοῦτο ἀεὶ πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῆς κτίσεως κεῖται μόνης· καὶ οὔτε, ἂν περὶ Πατρὸς λέγηται, τὸν Υἱὸν ἐξωθεῖται, οὔτε, ἂν περὶ Υἱοῦ, τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐκβάλλει. Καὶ ἵνα αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη ποιήσω φανερὸν ὅτι τὸ «οὐδεὶς» οὐ πρὸς ἀθέτησιν τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῆς κτίσεως εἴρηται περὶ αὐτῆς ταύτης τῆς γνώσεως, ἣν μόνου τοῦ Υἱοῦ φησιν εἶναι, ἀκούσωμεν τί διαλεγόμενος Παῦλος Κορινθίοις φησί. Τί οὖν φησί; «Τίς γὰρ οἶδε τὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ; Οὕτω καὶ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐδεὶς οἶδεν, εἰ μὴ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ.» Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐνταῦθα τὸ «οὐδεὶς» λεγόμενον οὐκ ἐκβάλλει τὸν Υἱόν, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ «οὐδεὶς» τεθὲν οὐκ ἐξωθεῖται τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. Ὅθεν δῆλον ὡς ἀληθὲς τὸ εἰρημένον. Εἰ γὰρ λέγων ὅτι «Οὐδεὶς