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abandoning powers; for even these, since he is their maker, having included them in the whole, he holds together and gives life again by his own nod and his own providence; and of this there could be nothing as a resource for disbelief. For just as by his providence bodies grow, and the rational soul is moved and has the power of reasoning and living, and this does not need much proof; for we see what happens; so again the Word of God himself, by a single and simple nod, by his own power moves and holds together both the visible world and the invisible powers, assigning to each its proper activity; so that the divine are moved in a more divine manner, and the visible things as they are also seen. And he himself, over all things, being leader and king and the consistency of all things, works all things for the glory and knowledge of his own Father, as it were teaching and saying through his works that come to be. From the greatness and beauty of created things, their originator is seen by analogy.

45 For just as, when we look up to heaven and see its order and the light of the stars, it is possible to think of the Word who orders these things; so when we conceive of the Word of God, it is necessary to conceive also of his Father, God, from whom proceeding he is rightly called interpreter and messenger of his own Father; and this one might see from our own case. For if, when a word proceeds from men, we think of the mind as its source, and by attending to the word, we see by reasoning the mind which is signified; much more, seeing the power of the Word with a greater conception and incomparable pre-eminence, do we receive the notion also of his good Father, as the Savior himself says: He who has seen me has seen the Father. And all inspired scripture proclaims these things more clearly and in greater measure, from which we also, taking courage, write these things to you, and you, by encountering these, will be able to have faith in what is said. For an argument confirmed by greater things has an irrefutable proof. From the beginning, therefore, the divine Word gave security to the Jewish people concerning the abolition of idols, saying: You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or on the earth beneath. And he signifies the reason for their destruction in another way, saying: The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have a mouth, and will not speak; they have eyes, and will not see; they have ears, and will not hear; they have noses, and will not smell. They have hands, and will not feel; they have feet, and will not walk. And he has not been silent about the teaching concerning creation; but knowing well their beauty, lest any, gazing upon their beauty, should worship them not as works of God but as gods, he secures men beforehand, saying: And do not, looking up with your eyes and seeing the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven, be led astray and worship them, which the Lord your God has assigned to all the nations under heaven. But he assigned them not that they might be gods to them, but that through their activity those from the nations might know the Creator of all things, God, as has been said. For the Jewish people of old had the teaching in greater measure, because they had the knowledge of God not only from the works of creation, but also from the divine scriptures. And in general, drawing men away from the error concerning idols and irrational fantasy, he says: You shall have no other gods besides me. He does not forbid them to have other gods as though others existed, but lest anyone, turning away from the true God, should begin to deify for himself things that are not, such as those named by poets and writers and shown to be non-existent gods. And the very expression shows that they are not gods, through which he says: You shall not have other gods, which is signified in the future tense. And that which is to happen in the future does not exist at the time when these things are said.

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δυνάμεις ἀφείς· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταύτας, οἷα δὴ καὶ αὐτῶν ποιητὴς ὑπάρχων, συμπερι λαβὼν ἐν τοῖς ὅλοις, συνέχει καὶ ζωοποιεῖ πάλιν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ νεύματι καὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ προνοίᾳ· καὶ τούτου οὐκ ἄν τι γένοιτο πρὸς ἀπιστίαν ἐφόδιον. ὡς γὰρ τῇ αὐτοῦ προνοίᾳ καὶ σώματα μὲν αὔξει, ψυχὴ δὲ ἡ λογικὴ κινεῖται καὶ τὸ λογίζεσθαι καὶ τὸ ζῇν ἔχει, καὶ τοῦτο οὐ πολ λῆς ἀποδείξεως δεῖται· ὁρῶμεν γὰρ τὰ γινόμενα· οὕτω δὴ πάλιν αὐτὸς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ἑνὶ καὶ ἁπλῷ νεύματι, τῇ ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμει τόν τε ὁρατὸν κόσμον καὶ τὰς ἀοράτους δυνάμεις κινεῖ καὶ συνέχει, ἑκάστῳ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐνέργειαν ἀποδιδούς· ὥστε τὰς μὲν θείας θειοτέρως κινεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ ὁρατὰ ὥσπερ καὶ ὁρᾶται. αὐτὸς δὲ ἐπὶ πάντων, ἡγεμών τε καὶ βασιλεὺς καὶ σύστασις γινόμενος τῶν πάντων, τὰ πάντα πρὸς δόξαν καὶ γνῶσιν τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ Πατρὸς ἐργάζε ται, μονονουχὶ διὰ τῶν γιγνομένων ἔργων αὐτοῦ διδάσκων καὶ λέγων. Ἐκ μεγέθους καὶ καλλονῆς κτισμάτων ἀναλόγως ὁ γενεσιουργὸς θεωρεῖται.

45 Ὥσπερ γάρ, ἀναβλέψαντας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἰδόντας τὸν κόσμον αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ τῶν ἄστρων φῶς, ἔστιν ἐνθυμεῖσθαι τὸν ταῦτα διακοσμοῦντα Λόγον· οὕτω νοοῦντας Λόγον Θεοῦ, νοεῖν ἐστιν ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸν τούτου Πατέρα Θεόν, ἐξ οὗ προϊὼν εἰκότως τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ Πατρὸς ἑρμηνεὺς καὶ ἄγγελος λέγεται· καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς τις ἂν ἴδοι. εἰ γὰρ δὴ λόγου προϊόντος παρὰ ἀνθρώπων ἐνθυμούμεθα τὴν τούτου πηγὴν εἶναι τὸν νοῦν, καὶ τῷ λόγῳ ἐπιβάλ λοντες, τὸν νοῦν σημαινόμενον ὁρῶμεν τῷ λογισμῷ· πολλῷ πλέον μείζονι φαντασίᾳ καὶ ἀσυγκρίτῳ ὑπεροχῇ τοῦ Λόγου τὴν δύναμιν ὁρῶντες, ἔννοιαν λαμβάνομεν καὶ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτήρ φησιν· Ὁ ἐμὲ ἑωρακὼς ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα. ταῦτα δὲ καὶ πᾶσα θεόπνευστος γραφὴ φανερώτερον καὶ κατὰ μεῖζον κηρύττει, ἀφ' ὧν δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς τεθαρρηκότες ταῦτά σοι γράφομεν, καὶ σύ, ταύταις ἐντυγχάνων, δυνήσῃ τῶν λεγομένων ἔχειν τὴν πίστιν. λόγος γὰρ ἐκ μειζόνων βεβαιούμενος, ἀναντίρρητον ἔχει τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. Ἄνωθεν τοίνυν περὶ τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων ἀναιρέσεως προησφαλίζετο τὸν Ἰουδαίων λαὸν ὁ θεῖος Λόγος λέγων· Οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον, οὐδὲ παντὸς ὁμοίωμα, ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κάτω. τὴν δὲ αἰτίαν τῆς τούτων καθαιρέσεως, ἑτέρως σημαίνει λέγων· Τὰ εἴδωλα τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον, ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων. στόμα ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐ λαλήσουσιν· ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ὄψονται· ὦτα ἔ χουσι, καὶ οὐκ ἀκούσονται· ῥῖνας ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ὀσφραν θήσονται. χεῖρας ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐ ψηλαφήσουσι· πόδας ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐ περιπατήσουσιν. οὐ σεσιώπηκε δὲ τὴν περὶ τῆς κτίσεως διδασκαλίαν· ἀλλὰ καὶ μάλα εἰδὼς αὐτῶν τὸ κάλλος, ἵνα μή τινες, τῷ κάλλει τούτων ἀποβλέψαντες, οὐχ ὡς ἔργα Θεοῦ ἀλλ' ὡς θεοὺς θρησκεύσωσι, προασφαλίζεται τοὺς ἀνθρώπους λέγων· Καὶ μὴ ἀναβλέψας τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην, καὶ πάντα τὸν κόσμον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πλανηθείς, προσκυνήσῃς αὐτοῖς, ἃ ἀπένειμε Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι τοῖς ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. ἀπένειμε δὲ οὐκ εἰς τὸ εἶναι θεοὺς αὐτοῖς αὐτά, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῇ τούτων ἐνεργείᾳ γινώσκωσιν οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τὸν τῶν πάντων δημιουργὸν Θεόν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται. ὁ γὰρ Ἰουδαίων πάλαι λαὸς κατὰ πλεῖον εἶχε τὴν διδασκαλίαν, ὅτι μὴ μόνον ἐκ τῶν τῆς κτίσεως ἔργων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν θείων γραφῶν εἶχον τὴν περὶ Θεοῦ γνῶσιν. καὶ καθόλου δὲ τοὺς ἀνθρώ πους ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα πλάνης καὶ ἀλόγου φαντασίας ἀφέλ κων, φησίν· Οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ. οὐχ ὡς ὄντων δὲ θεῶν ἄλλων κωλύει τούτους αὐτοὺς ἔχειν, ἀλλ' ἵνα μή τις, τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἀποστραφεὶς Θεόν, ἑαυτῷ τὰ μὴ ὄντα θεοποιεῖν ἄρξηται, ὁποῖοί εἰσιν οἱ παρὰ ποιηταῖς καὶ συγγραφεῦσιν ὀνομα σθέντες καὶ δειχθέντες οὐκ ὄντες θεοί. καὶ αὐτὴ δὲ ἡ λέξις τὸ μὴ εἶναι αὐτοὺς θεοὺς δείκνυσι, δι' ἧς φησιν· Οὐκ ἐσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι, ὅπερ ἐπὶ μέλλοντος σημαίνεται. τὸ δὲ ἐπὶ μέλλουσι γινό-μενον οὐκ ἔστι τότε ὅτε ταῦτα λέγεται.