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of necessity, according to the proportion of the participation in higher things, with some partaking more and others less according to the self-determination of their choice, the more and the less is recognized in creation in proportion to the impulse of each. For since the nature that is conceived in creation stands on the border between good things and their opposites, so as to be receptive of either by its own power, inclining to one or the other by its own judgment, as we have learned from scripture, in proportion to its turning away from worse things and its approach to good things, the expression "more and less" has a place in that which excels in virtue. But the uncreated nature is far removed from such a distinction, since it does not possess the good as something acquired, nor does it receive the good into itself by participation in some transcendent good, but it is itself that which is good by nature, and is conceived of as good, and is a source of good, simple and of a single form and uncompounded, and is testified to by those who fight against us. But it has a difference in relation to itself that befits the majesty of its nature, a difference not considered with respect to greater and lesser, as Eunomius thinks; for he who diminishes the concept of the good in any of those believed to be in the Holy Trinity will surely cause something of the opposite disposition to be mixed with that which is deficient in goodness, which it is not pious to imagine either of the Only-begotten or of the Holy Spirit; but, being contemplated in the utmost perfection and in incomprehensible preeminence, it has its difference unconfused and distinct in the properties that exist in each of the hypostases, having what is invariable in the communion according to what is uncreated, but what is incommunicable in the unique properties of each. For the property observed in each of the hypostases clearly and purely distinguishes the one from the other. For example, the Father is confessed to be uncreated and unbegotten; for he is neither begotten nor created. This, then, the being uncreated, is common to him with the Son and the Holy Spirit. But also unbegotten and Father; this is proper and incommunicable, which is not found in any of the others. And the Son, being joined to the Father and the Spirit according to his uncreatedness, has his distinguishing property in being and being named Son and Only-begotten, which belongs neither to the God over all nor to the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, having communion with the Son and the Father in the uncreatedness of nature, is again distinguished from them by his own properties. For his most particular mark and sign is to be none of those things which the account has contemplated as proper to the Father and to the Son. For to be neither unbegottenly nor in an only-begotten way, but to be at all, establishes his unique property in relation to the aforementioned. For being joined to the Father according to its uncreatedness, it is again separated from him by not being Father as he is. And from its connection with the Son according to its uncreatedness and in having the cause of its existence from the God of all, it is again distinct by what is proper to it, in not having subsisted from the Father in an only-begotten way and in being made manifest through the Son himself. And again, since creation came to be through the Only-begotten, lest the Spirit be thought to have some communion with it from being made manifest through the Son, the Spirit is distinguished from creation by being immutable and unchangeable and in no need of goodness from another source. For creation does not have immutability in its nature, as scripture says when recounting the fall of Lucifer, concerning whom the Lord also, revealing the mysteries to his disciples, said: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. But by the same things by which it is distinct from creation, by these same things it has its affinity with the Father and the Son. For the principle of immutability and unchangeability is one and the same for those who by nature are not receptive of the worse. Since these things have been thus stated by us, it would now be time to examine the argument of our opponents. 20It is necessary,20 he says, 20for the substances to be greater and lesser,20 concerning the Son

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ἀνάγκης κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς τῶν ὑψηλῶν μετουσίας τῶν μὲν πλειόνως τῶν δὲ ἐλαττόνως κατὰ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον τῆς προ αιρέσεως μεταλαμβανόντων, τὸ πλέον καὶ τὸ ἧττον ἐν τῇ 1.1.275 κτίσει γνωρίζεται ἀναλόγως τῆς ἑκάστου ὁρμῆς. τῆς γὰρ φύσεως τῆς ἐν τῇ κτίσει νοουμένης ἐν μεθορίῳ τῶν ἀγα θῶν καὶ τῶν ἐναντίων ἑστώσης, ὡς δεκτικὴν ἑκατέρων εἶναι κατ' ἐξουσίαν, τοῖς κατὰ γνώμην προσκλινομένην, καθὼς παρὰ τῆς γραφῆς μεμαθήκαμεν, πρὸς λόγον τῆς τε τῶν χειρόνων ἀποστάσεως καὶ τοῦ προσεγγισμοῦ τῶν καλῶν τὸ πλέον καὶ τὸ ἔλαττον λέγειν ἐν τῷ κατ' ἀρετὴν ὑπερέχοντι 1.1.276 χώραν ἔχει. ἡ δὲ ἄκτιστος φύσις τῆς μὲν τοιαύτης δια φορᾶς πόρρωθεν ἄπεστιν, ἅτε οὐκ ἐπίκτητον ἔχουσα τὸ ἀγαθὸν οὐδὲ κατὰ μετοχὴν ὑπερκειμένου τινὸς καλοῦ τὸ καλὸν ἐν ἑαυτῇ δεχομένη, ἀλλ' αὐτὸ ὅπερ ἐστὶ τῇ φύσει ἀγαθὸν οὖσα καὶ ἀγαθὸν νοουμένη καὶ ἀγαθοῦ πηγὴ ἁπλῆ τε καὶ μονοειδὴς καὶ ἀσύνθετος καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν μαχομένων 1.1.277 ἡμῖν μαρτυρουμένη. διαφορὰν δὲ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἔχει τῷ μεγαλείῳ τῆς φύσεως πρέπουσαν, οὐ πρὸς τὸ μεῖζον καὶ ἔλαττον θεωρουμένην, ὡς ὁ Εὐνόμιος οἴεται· ὁ γὰρ τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἔννοιαν ἐλαττῶν ἔν τινι τῶν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ τριάδι πεπιστευμένων μεμίχθαι τι τῆς ἐναντίας ἕξεως τῷ κατὰ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὑστερουμένῳ πάντως παρασκευάσει, ὅπερ οὔτε ἐπὶ τοῦ μονογενοῦς οὔτε ἐπὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος εὐσεβές ἐστι λογίζεσθαι· ἀλλ' ἐν ἄκρᾳ τῇ τελειότητι καὶ ἐν ἀκαταλήπτῳ τῇ ὑπεροχῇ θεωρουμένη, τοῖς ἐνυπάρχουσιν ἑκάστῃ τῶν ὑποστάσεων ἰδιώμασιν ἀσύγχυτον καὶ διακεκρι μένην τὴν διαφορὰν ἔχει, ἐν μὲν τῇ κατὰ τὸ ἄκτιστον κοι νωνίᾳ τὸ ἀπαράλλακτον ἔχουσα, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἐξαιρέτοις τῶν ἰδιωμάτων ἑκάστου τὸ ἀκοινώνητον. 1.1.278 Ἡ γὰρ ἐπιθεωρουμένη ἑκάστῃ τῶν ὑποστάσεων ἰδιότης τρανῶς καὶ καθαρῶς τὸ ἕτερον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑτέρου διΐστησιν. οἷον ὁ πατὴρ ἄκτιστος εἶναι ὁμολογεῖται καὶ ἀγέννητος· οὔτε γὰρ γεγέννηται οὔτε ἔκτισται· τοῦτο οὖν τὸ ἄκτι στον κοινὸν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸν υἱόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγέννητος καὶ πατήρ· τοῦτο ἴδιόν τε καὶ ἀκοινώνητον, ὅπερ ἐν οὐδενὶ τῶν ὑπολοίπων κατα 1.1.279 λαμβάνεται. ὁ δὲ υἱὸς κατὰ τὸ ἄκτιστον τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ πνεύματι συναπτόμενος ἐν τῷ υἱὸς καὶ μονογενὴς εἶναί τε καὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι τὸ ἰδιάζον ἔχει, ὅπερ οὔτε τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων θεοῦ οὔτε τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου ἐστί. τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐν τῷ ἀκτίστῳ τῆς φύσεως τὴν κοι νωνίαν ἔχον πρὸς υἱὸν καὶ πατέρα τοῖς ἰδίοις πάλιν γνω ρίσμασιν ἀπ' αὐτῶν διακρίνεται. γνώρισμα γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ σημεῖόν ἐστιν ἰδιαίτατον τὸ μηδὲν ἐκείνων εἶναι, ἅπερ 1.1.280 ἰδίως τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ υἱῷ ὁ λόγος ἐνεθεώρησε. τὸ γὰρ μήτε ἀγεννήτως εἶναι μήτε μονογενῶς, εἶναι δὲ ὅλως, τὴν ἐξαίρετον αὐτοῦ ἰδιότητα πρὸς τὰ προειρημένα παρίστησιν. τῷ γὰρ πατρὶ κατὰ τὸ ἄκτιστον συναπτόμενον πάλιν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τῷ μὴ πατὴρ εἶναι καθάπερ ἐκεῖνος διαχωρίζεται. τῆς δὲ πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν κατὰ τὸ ἄκτιστον συναφείας [καὶ ἐν τῷ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ὑπάρξεως ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἔχειν] ἀφίσταται πάλιν τῷ ἰδιάζοντι, ἐν τῷ μήτε μονογενῶς ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑποστῆναι καὶ ἐν τῷ δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ πεφη νέναι. πάλιν δὲ τῆς κτίσεως διὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς ὑποστάσης, ὡς ἂν μὴ κοινότητά τινα πρὸς ταύτην ἔχειν νομισθῇ τὸ πνεῦμα ἐκ τοῦ διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ πεφηνέναι, ἐν τῷ ἀτρέπτῳ καὶ ἀναλλοιώτῳ καὶ ἀπροσδεεῖ τῆς ἑτέρωθεν ἀγαθότητος δια 1.1.281 κρίνεται τὸ πνεῦμα ἀπὸ τῆς κτίσεως. τὸ γὰρ ἄτρεπτον ἡ κτίσις ἐν τῇ φύσει οὐκ ἔχει, καθώς φησιν ἡ γραφὴ τοῦ ἑωσφόρου τὴν πτῶσιν διηγουμένη, περὶ οὗ καὶ ὁ κύριος ἀποκαλύπτων τοῖς μαθηταῖς τὰ μυστήρια ἔλεγεν· Ἐθεώρουν τὸν σατανᾶν ὡς ἀστραπὴν πεσόντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. δι' ὧν δὲ τῆς κτίσεως ἀφίσταται, διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν τούτων πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τε καὶ υἱὸν ἔχει τὴν οἰκειότητα. εἷς γὰρ καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ἀνεπιδέκτων τοῦ χείρονος ὁ τοῦ ἀτρέπτου καὶ ἀναλλοιώτου λόγος. 1.1.282 Τούτων δὲ ἡμῖν οὕτω προειρημένων καιρὸς ἂν εἴη λοιπὸν καὶ τὸν τῶν ἐναντίων κατεξετάσαι λόγον. 20ἀνάγκη20 φησὶ 20μείζους τε καὶ ἐλάττους τὰς οὐσίας εἶναι20 ἐν τῇ περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ