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to a king being in his temple says to the king: Come out 51.4 from your temple, that I may worship you. So then, let no one say to the Only-Begotten: Leave the body, that I may worship you, but one worships the Only-Begotten with the body, the uncreated with the holy temple, which 51.5 he took when he came. And no one says to the king: Rise from your throne, that I may worship you without the throne, but one worships the king with the throne. And so Christ is also worshipped with the body that was buried and raised. 52.1 But, they say, what then do you say? Did the Father beget the Son willing or not willing? since you say, the Word always was and there is no time before the Word? And yet even the Arians themselves, for the deceit of some, claim that the Son of God was begotten timelessly, but not wishing to call him eternal, but saying, "there was a once when 52.2 he was not." But they think that "once" is not time. But when the word is examined, you convict the ignorant. For "once," lexically speaking, is significant of time. And saying that it does not mean time, they fall into the absurdity of their own opinion in evil belief. For they use the words with irony, having terribly campaigned in their opinion against the Son of God, 52.3 shamelessly holding the opinion that he is entirely alien to the Father's divinity. Did he then beget him willing or not willing? If we say "not willing," we subject the divine to necessity, and if we say "willing," we concede that the will was before the Word; and whether it were an atom and a blink of an eye or the smallest fraction of an hour, the smallest fraction is significant of time before the Word, and again we fall into their argument. And if we say that he begot him not willing, then the divine is led by necessity of nature and not by freedom of will. 52.4 But none of these things apply to God, as you suppose, O vainglorious one. For with God these things are not. Therefore, he begot him neither willing nor not willing, but by an excess of nature. For the divine nature surpasses 52.5 counsel and does not fall under time nor is it led by necessity. For in us nothing is ready, because we once were not, and first we deliberate something, then we do what we do, or without our deliberating there is nothing which has not yet been done by us; but with God all things are perfect and smooth and all things are fulfilled in him, and he begot the eternally existing one neither willing nor not willing, the holy Word and God begotten from him, but in his transcendent and ineffable nature. 53.1 But a very great wonder comes over me, O sons of the faith and of the church, how the contentious have twisted the true things into allegory and, being deceived, take what is said tropologically as true. For they deny his being begotten, which is in him according to nature, saying not as one of the begotten things; but his being created, which is alien to his divinity, even if it has ever been said in allegory, 53.2 that they say is true, but they do away with what is true. For when Isaiah said, "I saw the Lord Sabaoth," and "the Lord appeared to Moses," and "the Lord appeared to Abraham," and "Daniel saw a vision, the ancient of days," and such things, and the Lord appeared to Ezekiel and he said "I saw a form of God," they say these things are not so, as if the prophets 53.3 were lying; supposedly from the saying of the gospel, where the Savior said teaching that "no one has ever seen God." And they say: if then the Only-Begotten said that no one has seen, but the prophets say 53.4 they have seen, it is necessary either for the Only-Begotten or for the prophets to be lying. And according to the argument of those who say so and of the Manichaeans, the things in the prophets will be false. But if the prophets are not lying, but speak the truth, according to the Savior's saying that "He who speaks in the prophets, behold 53.5 I am present," the matter is one of understanding and needs allegory. And

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βασιλέα ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτοῦ ὄντα λέγει τῷ βασιλεῖ· ἔξελθε 51.4 ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ σου, ἵνα σε προσκυνήσω. οὕτω γοῦν οὐδεὶς εἴπῃ τῷ μονογενεῖ· ἄφες τὸ σῶμα, ἵνα σε προσκυνήσω, ἀλλὰ προσκυνεῖ σὺν τῷ σώματι τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν ἄκτιστον σὺν ναῷ τῷ ἁγίῳ, ὃν 51.5 ἔλαβεν ἐλθών. καὶ οὐδεὶς λέγει τῷ βασιλεῖ· ἀνάστα ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου σου, ἵνα σε προσκυνήσω δίχα τοῦ θρόνου, ἀλλὰ προσκυνεῖ τὸν βασιλέα σὺν τῷ θρόνῳ. καὶ γοῦν καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς προσκυνεῖται σὺν τῷ σώματι τῷ ταφέντι καὶ ἐγηγερμένῳ. 52.1 Ἀλλά, φασί, τί οὖν λέγεις; θέλων ἐγέννησεν ὁ πατὴρ τὸν υἱὸν ἢ μὴ θέλων; ἐπειδὴ λέγεις, ἦν ἀεὶ ὁ Λόγος καὶ οὐκ ἔνι χρόνος πρὸ τοῦ Λόγου; καίτοι γε καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν Ἀρειανῶν πρὸς ἀπάτην τινῶν ἀχρόνως τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φασκόντων γεγεννῆσθαι, μὴ βουλομένων δὲ αὐτὸν ἀίδιον λέγειν, ἀλλὰ λεγόντων, ἦν ποτε ὅτε 52.2 οὐκ ἦν· νομίζουσι δὲ τὸ ποτὲ μὴ εἶναι χρόνον. ἀνεταζομένης δὲ τῆς λέξεως ἐλέγχεις τοὺς ἀμαθεῖς. τὸ ποτὲ γὰρ λεξικῶς λεγόμενον χρόνου ἐστὶ σημαντικόν. καὶ λέγοντες αὐτὸ μὴ λέγειν χρόνον εἰς ἀτοπίαν ἐμπίπτουσι τοῦ αὐτῶν φρονήματος ἐν κακοπιστίᾳ. εἰρωνείᾳ γὰρ ταῖς λέξεσι κέχρηνται, τῷ φρονήματι δεινῶς κατὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστρατευμένοι, ἀλλότριον παντάπασι τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς θεότητος 52.3 ἀπηρυθριασμένως δοξάζοντες. θέλων οὖν ἐγέννησεν ἢ μὴ θέλων; ἐὰν εἴπωμεν μὴ θέλων, ἀνάγκῃ περιβάλλομεν τὸ θεῖον, καὶ ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι θέλων, διδόαμεν ὅτι ἦν τὸ θέλημα πρὸ τοῦ Λόγου· κἄν τε ἄτομον καὶ ῥιπὴ ὀφθαλμοῦ ἢ πολλοστημόριον ὥρας εἴη, τὸ πολλοστημόριον χρόνου ἐστὶ σημαντικὸν πρὸ Λόγου καὶ πάλιν παρεμπίπτομεν τῷ λόγῳ αὐτῶν. καὶ ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι οὐ θέλων ἐγέννησεν, ἄρα ἀνάγκῃ φύσεως ἦκται τὸ θεῖον καὶ οὐκ ἐλευθεριότητι θελήματος. 52.4 οὐκ ἔστι δὲ τούτων οὐδὲν εἰς θεόν, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνεις, ὦ κενόδοξε. παρὰ θεῷ γὰρ ταῦτα οὐκ ἔστιν. οὔτε θέλων τοίνυν ἐγέννησεν οὔτε μὴ θέλων, ἀλλ' ὑπερβολῇ φύσεως. ὑπερβαίνει γὰρ ἡ θεία φύσις 52.5 βουλὴν καὶ οὐχ ὑποπίπτει χρόνῳ οὔτε ἀνάγκῃ ἄγεται. ἐν ἡμῖν γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἕτοιμον, ὅτι οὐκ ἦμέν ποτε καὶ πρῶτόν τι βουλευόμεθα, ἔπειτα ποιοῦμεν ὃ πράττομεν, ἢ μὴ βουλευσαμένων ἡμῶν οὐκ ἔστιν ὃ μηδέπω παρ' ἡμῶν πέπρακται· παρὰ δὲ θεῷ πάντα τέλεια καὶ λεῖα καὶ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ πεπλήρωται, καὶ οὔτε θέλων οὔτε μὴ θέλων ἐγέννησε τὸν ἀιδίως ὄντα, γεγεννημένον ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἅγιον Λόγον καὶ θεόν, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ὑπερβολικῇ καὶ ἀφράστῳ αὐτοῦ φύσει. 53.1 Θαῦμα δέ μοι μέγιστον ἐπέρχεται, ὦ υἱοὶ τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἐκκλησίας, πῶς τὰ ἀληθινὰ ἐξέστρεψαν οἱ φιλόνεικοι εἰς ἀλληγορίαν καὶ τὰ τροπικῶς εἰρημένα εἰς τὰ ἀληθινὰ λαμβάνουσι σφαλλόμενοι. τὸ μὲν γὰρ γεγεννῆσθαι, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ φύσιν, ἀρνοῦνται, λέγοντες οὐχ ὡς ἕν τι τῶν γεννημάτων· τὸ δὲ ἐκτίσθαι, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀλλότριον τῆς αὐτοῦ θεότητος, εἴ γε καὶ ἐν ἀλληγορίᾳ ποτὲ εἴρηται, 53.2 ἐκεῖνο ἀληθινὸν λέγουσι, τὸ δὲ ἀληθινὸν ἀφανίζουσιν. ἐν τῷ γὰρ εἰπεῖν Ἠσαΐαν «εἶδον τὸν κύριον σαβαώθ» καί «ὤφθη κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ» καί «ὤφθη κύριος Ἀβραάμ» καί «εἶδεν ὅρασιν ∆ανιήλ, παλαιὸν ἡμερῶν» καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ ὤφθη κύριος Ἰεζεκιὴλ καὶ εἶπεν «εἶδον εἶδος θεοῦ», φασὶ ταῦτα μὴ εἶναι, ὡς τῶν προφητῶν 53.3 καταψευδόμενοι· δῆθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥητοῦ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, οὗ εἶπεν ὁ σωτὴρ διδάσκων ὅτι «θεὸν οὐδεὶς πώποτε ἑώρακε». καί φασιν· εἰ τοίνυν ὁ μονογενὴς εἶπεν, ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν, προφῆται δὲ λέγουσιν 53.4 ἑωρακέναι, ἀνάγκη ψεύδεσθαι ἢ τὸν μονογενῆ ἢ τοὺς προφήτας. καὶ κατὰ τὸν λόγον τῶν οὕτω λεγόντων καὶ τῶν Μανιχαίων ἔσται τὰ ἐν προφήταις ψευδῆ. εἰ δὲ οὐ ψεύδονται οἱ προφῆται, ἀλλ' ἀληθεύουσι, κατὰ τὸν τοῦ σωτῆρος λόγον ὅτι «ὁ λαλῶν ἐν προφήταις, ἰδοὺ 53.5 πάρειμι», νοήσεώς ἐστι τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ ἀλληγορίας χρεία. καὶ