31

ΙΒ'

Theology concerning the one nature in every respect of the tri-hypostatic divinity; and through the humble things he says about himself, shaming the conceit of those who think they are something. (72)

How is it that the things you once made to disappear live again in me and fill me with darkness and affliction, my God? Passions of temper and of anger, from which a vapor arises in me, a mist upon my head, and they cause a crippling to my noetic eyes, for indeed, just as they are covered and are compelled, alas, to close in the gloom, so I am deprived of you, the light, which everyone desires, but few seek out. But also those who have been deemed worthy to partake of your ineffable things and materially to receive in an immaterial sense the fearful mysteries which are inexpressible to all, and to know the invisible glory in visible things and the strange mystery which was performed in the world, are very few indeed, I know well, certainly; who also came to be in clear contemplation of these things from him who is in the beginning before all ages from the Father with the Spirit, the Son, God and Word, a threefold light in the one, and one in the three. For both are one light, Father, Son and Spirit, being undivided in the three persons without confusion, yet united also in themselves according to the divine nature of origin, glory, power, and will likewise. For the three are seen by me as, in one face, (73) two beautiful eyes filled with light; how will eyes see without a face, tell me? And a face without eyes should not be called so at all, for it lacks the greater part, or rather, to speak more truly, the whole; for the sun, if it were deprived of the beauty of its light, would first itself be destroyed, and then all creation, which has been allotted by it to shine and to see. So God in noetic things, if he were deprived of one, whether of the Son or of the Spirit, the Father would no longer be, nor would he even exist living, having cast off the Spirit, from whom is given to all both to live and to be. Let therefore every truly rational nature, as many as are under the sun and as many as are above it, revere the tri-hypostatic nature, in every way inexplicable! For no one of mankind has known of God either the name, or nature, or idea, or form, or hypostasis, so that he might say and write and impart it to others, but just as a shining sun enters the clouds and is not itself seen, nor shines with its light at all, but provides its faint light to those on the earth,

31

ΙΒ'

Περί τοῦ ἑνός κατά πάντα τῆς τρισυποστάτου θεότητος θεολογία˙ καί δι᾿ ὧν τῇ ταπεινώσει χρώμενος λέγει περί ἑαυτοῦ, τῶν δοκούντων εἶναί τι ἐντρέπων τήν οἴησιν. (72)

Πῶς, ἅ ποτε ἠφάνισας, ἐν ἐμοί πάλιν ζῶσι καί σκότους με καί θλίψεως ἐμπιπλῶσι, Θεέ μου; Πάθη θυμοῦ τε κ αί ὀργῆς, ἐξ ὧν ἐγγίνεταί μοι ἀναθυμίασις, ἀχλύς ἐπί τήν κεφαλήν μου, καί πήρωσιν τοῖς νοεροῖς ὄμμασί μου ποιοῦσι, καί γάρ, ὥσπερ καλύπτονται καί καμμύειν τῷ ζόφῳ, οἴμοι, καταναγκάζονται, καί σοῦ ἀποστεροῦμαι, φωτός, οὗ πᾶς ἐφίεται, ὀλίγοι δ᾿ ἐκζητοῦσιν. Ἀλλά καί οἱ ἀξιωθέντες σου μετασχεῖν τῶν ἀρρήτων καί ὑλικῶς μεταλαβεῖν ἐν ἀΰλῳ αἰσθήσει μυστηρίων τῶν φοβερῶν καί τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀφράστων γνῶναί τε τήν ἀόρατον ἐν ὁρωμένοις δόξαν καί τό ξένον μυστήριον, ὅ ἐν κόσμῳ ἐπράχθη, κομιδῇ ὀλιγώτεροί εἰσιν, εὖ οἶδα, πάντως˙ οἵ καί τούτων ἐγένοντο ἐν τρανεῖ θεωρίᾳ παρά τοῦ ὄντος ἐν ἀρχῇ πρό πάντων τῶν αἰώνων ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός σύν Πνεύματι Υἱοῦ, Θεοῦ καί Λόγου, φωτός τρισσοῦ ἐν τῷ ἑνί, ἑνός ἐν τοῖς τρισί δέ. Ἀμφότερα καί γάρ ἕν φῶς, Πατήρ, Υἱός καί Πνεῦμα, ἄτμητον ὅν ἐν τοῖς τρισί προσώποις ἀσυγχύτως, πλήν ἡνωμένοις καί αὐτοῖς κατά τήν θείαν φύσιν ἀρχῆς, δόξης, δυνάμεως, θελήματος ὡσαύτως. Τά τρία γάρ ὁρᾶταί μοι, ὡς ἐν ἑνί προσώπῳ (73) ὡραῖοι δύο ὀφθαλμοί φωτός πεπληρωμένοι˙ προσώπου δίχα ὀφθαλμοί πῶς βλέψουσιν, εἰπέ μοι; Πρόσωπον δ᾿ ἄνευ ὀφθαλμῶν οὐ χρή πάντως καλεῖσθαι, λείπεται γάρ τοῦ πλείονος, ἤ εἰπεῖν μᾶλλον ὅλου˙ ἥλιος γάρ, εἰ στερηθῇ φωτός τῆς εὐπρεπείας, ἀπολεῖται πρῶτος αὐτός, ἔπειτα κτίσις πᾶσα, ἡ ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τό λάμπεσθαι καί τό βλέπειν λαχοῦσα. Οὕτω Θεός τοῖς νοητοῖς ἑνός εἰ στερηθείη, εἴτε Υἱοῦ ἤ Πνεύματος, Πατήρ οὐκέτι ἔσται, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ ζῶν ὑπάρξειεν ἀποβαλών τό Πνεῦμα, ἐξ οὗ τοῖς πᾶσι δίδοται καί τό ζῆν καί τό εἶναι. Σεβέσθω τοίνυν ἅπασα λογική ὄντως φύσις, ὅση ὑπό τόν ἥλιον, ὅση δ᾿ ὑπέρθεν τούτου, φύσιν τήν τρισυπόστατον ἀνερμήνευτον πάντῃ! Θεοῦ γάρ οὔτε ὄνομα, οὐ φύσιν, οὐκ ἰδέαν, οὐ μορφήν, οὐχ ὑπόστασιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τις ἔγνω, ἵνα εἴπῃ καί γράψῃ καί μεταδῷ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἀλλ᾿ ὥσπερ λάμπων ἥλιος τοῖς νέφεσιν εἰσδύνει καί οὐχ ὁρᾶται μέν αὐτός, οὐδ᾿ ὅλως φωτί φαίνει, ἀλλ᾿ ἀμυδρόν τοῖς ἐν τῇ γῇ τό φῶς αὐτοῦ παρέχει,