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«They are called gods;» that is, not existing by nature, but by name. For the conclusion is left unsaid, but it must be understood, as if given in part while understanding the whole. For on account of things stated elliptically he will write: «Let the one who reads understand.» He calls the saints gods, then, those who by grace have been deemed worthy of adoption and of this appellation; whose citizenship, according to the same Apostle, is in heaven by virtue of their excellence; concerning whom the unerring God Himself is seen to have said: «I said: You are gods and all sons of the Most High;» and the evangelist: «If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came.» And indeed Scripture alludes to Moses and Aaron, neighbors of the angels, who were glorified not only in a more general way, but also in a more particular way with the name of God. For God said to Moses: «Behold, I make you a god to Pharaoh;» and again to Aaron: «You shall be to him as God;» that is, in providence for him. Or perhaps it is not unlikely in my view that also the faithful and reputable ministering powers of God, the pleasing creations, I mean seraphim and lordships, and powers and authorities, have been honored with this transcendent name, just as we have. For the originator of all things ungrudgingly gives of His own good things to all, even if they are silent, to those who ask Him, and those who do not ask, but are faithful and well-disposed, and know how to be mindful of grace. Let them rather read, then, Jeremiah prophesying about the gods of the Greeks, who are as beggarly as themselves: «The gods, who 39.940 did not make heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth. The Lord made the heavens in wisdom, He Himself the living and true God;» and David singing in the 113th [Psalm]: «The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, and they will not speak; they have eyes, and they will not see; they have ears, and they will not hear; they have noses, and they will not smell; they have hands, and they will not feel; they have feet, and they will not walk; they will not make a sound in their throat. May those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them.»

CHAP. 25. Leaving, then, this chapter now, on to another

let us move on. The exegetes of the heretics, having inclined towards the more shameful things, have their struggle in distorting the truth, and they are always devising disputes that have nothing to do with a right purpose. For they stumble even over the blameless and greater syllables of the great and sinless God who heals what has been corrupted in us through our folly by His own compassion, and who always helps all, and turns away from the conduct of neither the upright nor the fallen, which are as follows: «Glorify me, You, Father, with Yourself;» supposing that He possessed a glory of His own, although He added: «with the glory which I had with You before the world was;» and making it clear through this phrasing that He has an eternal and congenital glory according to His divinity, which was not cast away from Him; for the divine is unchangeable. Therefore, in these very words, the celebrated John said: «And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten;» and the ever-memorable and very experienced Paul: «For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.» And otherwise it is not right to think that God is glorified by His own work; for all things were made through Him, and along with all things, certainly also what they consider glory. And all things have been declared by oracle to be works and servants of the power and wisdom of God. The wisdom and power of God is the Only-begotten, as He is the creator Word. Therefore, in the same evangelist, this well-blended God explained what «Glorify Me» is, saying to the Father: «I have glorified You on the earth: I have finished the work which You have given Me to do;» instead of, My incarnation did nothing outside Your will, but all things 39.941

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«Λεγόμενοι θεοί εἰσιν·» τοῦτ' ἔστιν, οὐ φύσει ὑπάρχοντες, ἀλλ' ὀνόματι. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀποτέλεσμα σεσιώπηται, δεῖ δὲ ἐκδέξασθαι, ὡς δεδομένον ἀπὸ μέρους τὸ ὅλον νοοῦντας. Χάριν γὰρ καὶ τῶν κατ' ἔλλειψιν φρασθέντων γράψει· «Ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω.» Θεοὺς τοίνυν τοὺς ἁγίους λέγει, τοὺς κατὰ χάριν ἀξιωθέντας τῆς υἱοθεσίας καὶ ταύτης τῆς προσηγορίας· ὧν ἐξ ἀρετῆς τὸ πολίτευμα, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν Ἀπόστολον, ἔστιν ἐν οὐρανῷ· περὶ ὧν αὐτὸς ὁ ἀπλανὴς Θεὸς εἰρηκὼς φαίνεται· «Ἐγὼ εἶπα· Θεοί ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ Ὑψίστου πάντες·» καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελιστής· «Εἰ ἐκείνους εἶπε θεοὺς, πρὸς οὓς ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγένετο.» Καὶ μέντοι Μωϋσέα καὶ Ἀαρὼν αἰνίττεται ἡ Γραφὴ, τοὺς ἀγγέλων γείτονας, τοὺς οὐ μόνον γενικώτερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἰδικώτερον κατηγλαϊσμένους τῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὀνόματι. Εἶπεν γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Μωϋσεῖ· «Ἰδοὺ τίθεμαί σε θεὸν τῷ Φαραώ·» καὶ πάλιν τῷ Ἀαρών· «Ἔσῃ αὐτῷ εἰς θεόν·» τουτέστι, τῇ περὶ αὐτὸν προνοίᾳ. Ἢ τάχα οὐκ ἀπεικὸς κατ' ἐμὲ καὶ τὰς πιστὰς καὶ εὐδοκίμους λειτουργικὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεις τὰ εὐχάριστα ποιήματα, σεραφὶμ λέγω καὶ κυριότητας, δυνάμεις τε καὶ ἐξουσίας, τούτῳ, καθὰ καὶ ἡμεῖς, τῷ ὑπερφερεῖ τετιμῆσθαι ὀνόματι. Ἀφθόνως γὰρ ὁ πάντων γενεσιουργὸς τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ αἰτοῦσι, πιστοῖς δὲ καὶ εὐγνώμοσιν οὖσιν, καὶ χάριτος εἰδόσι μεμνῆσθαι, πάντων μεταδίδωσι, κἂν σιγῶσιν, τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγαθῶν. Μᾶλλον οὖν ἐπιλεγέσθωσαν, Ἱερεμίαν μὲν προφητεύοντα περὶ τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι συμπτωχοτάτων αὐτοῖς θεῶν· «Θεοὶ, οἳ 39.940 τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν οὐκ ἐποίησαν, ἀπολέσθωσαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Κύριος ἐποίησε τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἐν συνέσει, αὐτὸς Θεὸς ζῶν καὶ ἀληθινός·» τὸν δὲ ∆αυῒδ ἐν ριγʹ ψάλλοντα· «Τὰ εἴδωλα τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον, ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων. Στόμα ἔχουσιν, καὶ οὐ λαλήσουσιν· ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσιν, καὶ οὐκ ὄψονται· ὦτα ἔχουσιν, καὶ οὐκ ἀκούσονται· ῥῖνας ἔχουσιν, καὶ οὐκ ὀσφρανθήσονται· χεῖρας ἔχουσιν, καὶ οὐ ψηλαφήσουσιν· πόδας ἔχουσιν, καὶ οὐ περιπατήσουσιν· οὐ φωνήσουσιν ἐν τῷ λάρυγγι αὐτῷ. Ὅμοιοι αὐτοῖς γένοιντο οἱ ποιοῦντες αὐτὰ, καὶ πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ' αὐτοῖς.»

ΚΕΦ. ΚΕʹ. Καταλιπόντες οὖν ἤδη καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον τοῦτο, ἐπὶ ἕτερον

μεταβῶμεν. Αἱρετικῶν οἱ ἐξηγηταὶ, νενευκότες πρὸς τὰ αἰσχίω, τὸν ἀγῶνα πρὸς τὸ παραῤῥηγνύναι τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἔχουσιν, καὶ μηδὲν ὀρθῷ σκοπῷ προσηκούσας ἀμφισβητήσεις ἐπινοοῦσιν ἀεί. Προσπταίουσι γὰρ καὶ περὶ τὰς ἀναιτίους καὶ μείζονας συλλαβὰς τοῦ τὰ κακυνθέντα ἡμῶν δι' ἡμετέραν ἀφροσύνην ἰωμένου δι' οἰκείαν εὐσπλαγχνίαν, καὶ ἀρήγοντος πάντοτε πᾶσιν, καὶ μήτε ὀρθῶν, μήτε τῶν ἐπταισμένων τὴν πολιτείαν ἀποστρεφομένου μεγάλου καὶ ἀναμαρτήτου Θεοῦ, τὰς ἐχούσας ὧδε· «∆όξασόν με σὺ, Πάτερ, παρὰ σεαυτῷ·» ὑπολαμβάνοντες ἰδίαν αὐτὸν κεκτῆσθαι δόξαν, καίτοι ἐπαγαγόντος· «Τῇ δόξῃ, ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί·» καὶ ποιήσαντος διὰ τῆς συμφράσεως ταύτης δῆλον, ὅτι ἀΐδιον καὶ σύμφυτον ἔχει δόξαν κατὰ τὸ θεϊκὸν, ἥτις οὐκ ἀπεβλήθη αὐτοῦ· ἀμετάβλητον γὰρ τὸ θεῖον. Ἔφασαν τοιγάρτοι αὐταῖς λέξεσιν, ὁ μὲν ἀοίδιμος Ἰωάννης· «Καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς Μονογενοῦς·» ὁ δὲ ἀείμνηστος καὶ πολύπειρος τούτων Παῦλος· «Εἰ γὰρ ᾔδεσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν.» Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ οὐ θέμις νοεῖν, ὡς τῷ ἰδίῳ ἔργῳ δοξάζεται ὁ Θεὸς πάντα γὰρ δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, σὺν πᾶσιν δὲ πάντως, καὶ ἣν νομίζουσι δόξαν. Καὶ Θεοῦ δὲ δυνάμεως καὶ σοφίας ἔργα καὶ δοῦλα τὰ σύμπαντα κεχρησμῴδηται. Τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφία καὶ δύναμις ὁ Μονογενής ἐστιν, ἅτε δημιουργὸς Λόγος. Ἡρμήνευσε τοιγαροῦν παρὰ τῷ αὐτῷ εὐαγγελιστῇ οὗτος ὁ εὔμικτος Θεὸς, τί ἐστὶν τὸ, «∆όξασόν με,» πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα εἰπών· «Ἐγώ σε ἐδόξασα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· τὸ ἔργον ἐτελείωσα, ὃ δέδωκάς μοι ἵνα ποιήσω·» ἀντὶ τοῦ, Οὐδὲν ἔξωθεν τοῦ θελήμα τός σου ἡ ἐνανθρώπησίς μου ἐποίησεν, ἀλλὰ πάντα 39.941