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dishonoring the creation, as if not having heard, that the God Logos himself, handing over to the disciples the mystery of the knowledge of God, said to those being reborn that life is both completed and comes into being in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by ranking the Spirit with the Father and himself, he separated 1.1.315 it from the suspicion of being part of creation; so that from both a pious and fitting conception concerning it comes to be, with Paul indeed keeping silent about the Spirit’s nature in the mention of creation, but the Lord joining the Holy Spirit with the Father and himself in the mention of the life-giving power. Thus for us the Word, guided by holy scripture, sets above creation both the Only-begotten and the Holy Spirit, but according to the Savior's declaration, suggests they are to be contemplated through faith in the blessed and life-giving and uncreated nature; 1.1.316 so that what is believed to be above creation and of the primary and in all respects perfect nature in no way admits the argument of inferiority, even if the champion of heresy trims away the indefinite, in the conception of the lesser as if mutilating and contracting the perfection of the divine substance by defining the greater and the lesser to be contemplated in them. 1.1.317 What then does he add to the sequence of what has been said, let us consider. After saying: 20of necessity the substances must be thought to be lesser and greater, and some hold the first rank, being ranked in preference according to some difference of greatness and worth, but others in second place, pushed aside on account of the inferiority of their nature and worth20, 1.1.318 he added this: 20to such a great20 he says 20difference it extends, to however great the works extend, since it is not even lawful to speak of the same energy, by which he made the angels or the stars and the heaven or man, but by as much as some works are more ancient and more honorable than other works, by so much also one might say, affirming this, that one energy has ascended above another energy, since indeed the same energies produce the identity of the works, and different works show different energies also20. 1.1.319 These things, then, I for my part suppose that not even the writer himself would be able to say easily what on earth he meant when he wrote them; so has the thought of what has been said been stirred up with the mud of the phrasing, that no one would be able to see through easily to the meaning in the filth of the interpretation. For the phrase 20to such a great difference it extends20, to 20however great the works extend20, one might suspect to be from some Loxias according to the pagan myth, prattled for the deception 1.1.320 of the hearers. But if one must, following what has been previously examined, also guess at what is being constructed by him here, this is what he is indicating, that as great as the variation of the works with respect to each other is, so great also will the difference of the energies with respect to each other be known. Concerning what 20works,20 then, he makes his argument here, it is not possible to discover 1.1.321 from what has been said. For if he is speaking about those things contemplated in creation, I do not know what consistency this has with what precedes. For since the inquiry is about the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, what is the point of discoursing on the nature of, and going through in his argument and describing, earth and water and air and fire and the differences of animals, and saying that 20works are more ancient and more honorable than other works and one energy has ascended above another energy20, 20thinking reasonably20? 1.1.322 But if he calls the Only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit the 20works,20 what again does he mean by the differences of energies, by which these works are produced? And what, in turn, are those energies that ascend above 1.1.323 the energies? For neither has he made clear what on earth he means by the ascent by which, as he himself says, one energy 20ascends20 above another, nor has he discussed anything about the nature of the energies, but up to now his argument has stood on nothing, neither establishing that they subsist substantially nor indicating some unsubstantial motion of will. For throughout the thought of the

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τῆς κτίσεως καθυβρίζοντες, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἀκηκοότες, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς λόγος παραδιδοὺς τοῖς μαθηταῖς τὸ τῆς θεογνωσίας μυστήριον ἐν ὀνόματι πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος τοῖς ἀναγεννωμένοις εἶπε τὴν ζωὴν καὶ συμπληροῦσθαι καὶ παραγίνεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦ συντάξαι τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ἑαυτῷ τῆς περὶ τὴν 1.1.315 κτίσιν ὑπονοίας τὸ πνεῦμα ἐχώρισεν· ὡς ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων εὐσεβῆ καὶ πρέπουσαν γίνεσθαι περὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπόληψιν, Παύλου μὲν ἐν τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς κτίσεως τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος φύσιν ἀποσιγήσαντος, τοῦ δὲ κυρίου ἐν τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς ζωο ποιοῦ δυνάμεως τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ἑαυτῷ συναρμόσαντος. οὕτως ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος διὰ τῆς ἁγίας γραφῆς ὁδηγούμενος ὑπερτίθησι μὲν τῆς κτίσεως τόν τε μονογενῆ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, κατὰ δὲ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἀπό φασιν ἐν τῇ μακαρίᾳ τε καὶ ζωοποιῷ καὶ ἀκτίστῳ φύσει 1.1.316 θεωρεῖν διὰ πίστεως ὑποτίθεται· ὥστε τὸ ἄνω τῆς κτίσεως καὶ τῆς πρωτευούσης καὶ διὰ πάντων τελείας φύσεως εἶναι πιστευόμενον μηδενὶ τρόπῳ τὸν τῆς ἐλαττώσεως παραδέχεσθαι λόγον, κἂν ὁ τῆς αἱρέσεως προστάτης περι κόπτῃ τὸ ἀόριστον, ἐν τῇ τοῦ ἐλάττονος ἐπινοίᾳ οἱονεὶ δια κολοβῶν καὶ συστέλλων τῆς θείας οὐσίας τὴν τελειότητα ἐν τῷ τὸ μεῖζον καὶ τὸ ἔλαττον αὐτοῖς ἐνθεωρεῖν διορί ζεσθαι. 1.1.317 Τί τοίνυν προστίθησι τῇ ἀκολουθίᾳ τῶν εἰρημένων, σκο πήσωμεν. μετὰ τὸ εἰπεῖν· 20ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἐλάττους τε καὶ μείζους τὰς οὐσίας οἴεσθαι δεῖν εἶναι καὶ τὰς μὲν πρώτην ἐπέχειν τάξιν κατά τινα μεγέ θους καὶ ἀξίας διαφορὰν ἐν τῇ προτιμήσει τε ταγμένας, τὰς δὲ ἐν δευτέροις διὰ τὸ ὑποβε βηκὸς τῆς φύσεώς τε καὶ τῆς ἀξίας ἀπεωσμένας20, 1.1.318 ταῦτα ἐπήγαγεν· 20πρὸς τοσαύτην20 φησὶν 20ἐξικνεῖσθαι διαφοράν, πρὸς ὁπόσην ἂν ἐξικνῆται τὰ ἔργα, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ θεμιτὸν τὴν αὐτὴν ἐνέργειαν εἰπεῖν, καθ' ἣν τοὺς ἀγγέλους ἐποίησεν ἢ τοὺς ἀστέρας καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἢ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλ' ὅσῳ τὰ ἔργα τῶν ἔργων πρεσβύτερα καὶ τιμιώτερα, τοσούτῳ καὶ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῆς ἐνεργείας ἀναβεβηκέναι φαίη ἄν τις περὶ τούτου διαβεβαιούμενος, ἅτε δὴ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐνεργειῶν τὴν ταυτότητα τῶν ἔργων ἀποτε λουσῶν καὶ τῶν παρηλλαγμένων ἔργων παρηλλαγ μένας καὶ τὰς ἐνεργείας ἐμφαινόντων20. 1.1.319 Ταῦτα τοίνυν ἐγὼ μὲν ὑπολαμβάνω μηδὲ αὐτὸν τὸν συγγραφέα δύνασθαι ἂν εὐπόρως εἰπεῖν ὅ τι ποτὲ νοήσας συνέγραψεν· οὕτως ἀνατεθόλωται τῇ ἰλύϊ τῆς φράσεως ἡ διάνοια τῶν εἰρημένων, ὡς μηδένα ἂν διϊδεῖν εὐκόλως ἐν τῷ βορβόρῳ τῆς ἑρμηνείας δυνηθῆναι τὸ βούλημα. τὸ γὰρ 20πρὸς τοσαύτην ἐξικνεῖσθαι διαφοράν20, πρὸς 20ὁπόσην ἂν ἐξικνῆται τὰ ἔργα20, Λοξίου τινὸς κατὰ τὸν ἔξωθεν μῦθον ὑπονοήσειεν ἄν τις εἶναι πρὸς ἀπάτην 1.1.320 τῶν ἀκουόντων φληναφουμένου. εἰ δὲ χρὴ τοῖς προεξη τασμένοις ἑπόμενον καὶ τῶν ἐνταῦθα αὐτῷ κατασκευαζο μένων στοχάζεσθαι, τοῦτό ἐστιν ὃ ἐνδείκνυται, ὅτι ὅση τῶν ἔργων ἡ πρὸς ἄλληλά ἐστι παραλλαγή, τοσαύτη καὶ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν ἡ διαφορὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλας ἐπιγνωσθήσεται. περὶ τίνων τοίνυν 20ἔργων20 ἐνταῦθα ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον, οὐκ ἔστιν 1.1.321 ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων εὑρεῖν. εἰ μὲν γὰρ περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ κτίσει λέγει θεωρουμένων, οὐκ οἶδα ποίαν ἀκολουθίαν ἔχει ταῦτα πρὸς τὰ προάγοντα. τῆς γὰρ ζητήσεως περὶ πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος οὔσης, τίνα καιρὸν ἔχει γῆν καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ ἀέρα καὶ πῦρ καὶ τὰς τῶν ζῴων διαφορὰς φυσιολογεῖν καὶ διεξιέναι τῷ λόγῳ καὶ διαγράφειν 20ἔργα ἔργων πρεσβύτερα καὶ τιμιώτερα καὶ ἐνέρ γειαν ἐνεργείας ἀναβεβηκέναι20 λέγειν 20εὐλόγως 1.1.322 διανοούμενον20; εἰ δὲ τὸν μονογενῆ υἱὸν καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα προσαγορεύει τὰ 20ἔργα20, τίνας λέγει πάλιν τὰς τῶν ἐνεργειῶν διαφοράς, δι' ὧν τὰ ἔργα ταῦτα ἀποτελεῖται; τίνες δὲ κἀκεῖναι αὖ αἱ ἐνέργειαι αἱ τὰς ἐνεργείας ἀνα 1.1.323 βαίνουσαι; οὔτε γὰρ τὴν ἀνάβασιν ἣν 20ἀναβαίνει20, καθώς φησιν αὐτός, ἡ ἐνέργεια τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ὅ τι ποτὲ νοεῖ διε σάφησεν, οὔτε τι περὶ τῆς φύσεως τῶν ἐνεργειῶν διελέχθη, ἀλλ' ἐπ' οὐδενὸς μέχρι τοῦ νῦν βέβηκεν ὁ λόγος αὐτῷ, οὔτε τὸ οὐσιωδῶς ὑφεστάναι κατασκευάζων οὔτε θελή ματός τινα κίνησιν ἀνυπόστατον ἐνδεικνύμενος. δι' ὅλου γὰρ ἡ διάνοια τῶν