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let there be no "only-begotten" like another; then there are many only-begotten, and the Son of God is not one. But if the Son is not simply only-begotten, but only-begotten Son, and from the Father only-begotten, the Son is both Son and only-begotten, and not an only-begotten creature. If the Son is Creator by participation and permission of the Father, and not by nature, then nothing of what was created by him would be by nature. For if their Creator is not by nature, how are the created things by nature? If God acts as no other, so also He begets as no other will beget; for God is incomparable in all things to all things. What is made is not from the substance of the maker, but what is begotten is from the same substance of the begetter; therefore, to make and to beget are not the same. If the Son is from God, but not as from a Father, but as from another, and God is the cause of being for us as well; for from him are all things; then he is not Father of the Son in one way and of us in another, but in the same way. And how is this not absurd? If there is nothing like and equal to God except the Son, nothing of the examples will be spoken of without variation; for God is above all. That which is in the form of God is in the substance of God. For the form of God is not one thing and the substance of God another, lest He be composite. Therefore, He who is equal according to form is also equal according to substance. If the one begotten is less than the one who begot, this is not a fault of the one begotten, but a weakness of the one who begot. For either out of envy he did not make him equal, or being unable he did not beget him like. If the Father was before the Son, he must certainly have been father of some other; for without a son one could not be called father. If he who knows the Son according to substance also knows the Father (For if you had known me, he says, you would have known my Father also); then the Son is consubstantial with the Father. For no incorporeal being can be known from a dissimilar substance. If to believe that Christ is the Son of God 29.676 has eternal life, to disbelieve of necessity has death. Of those whose energies are the same, their substance is also one. And the energy of the Father and the Son is one, as in, "Let us make man"; and again: "For whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner"; therefore the substance of the Father and the Son is also one. If the knowledge of the Father and the Son is eternal life, it is necessary that they also be of one substance. For things of different substance are not comprehended by one knowledge, nor can they give life in the same way. If the Son is truly the image of the Father, and every image is an image of either substance, or form, or shape, or appearance, and color, but God is in none of these, but in substance alone; the Son, being the image of the substance, is consubstantial with the Father. If the Father is incomparable in all things to the Son, and in all things also to creation; not in one way toward the Son, and in another toward creation, but in the same way; therefore he is not only unlike the Father, but also like creation. And how is this not absurd? If, when they call the Son a creature, they do not mean as one of the creatures; why, when we call him begotten, do they think of him as one of the begotten things? If God does not beget, lest He undergo an emission; neither does He create, lest He grow weary; but if He creates without passion, much more does He beget without passion. If the radiance of any light is begotten from the light, not at some time, but timelessly and co-eternally with it (for there is no light without radiance); so also the Son, being radiance, will not be at some time, but co-eternally, since God is light, as David says: "In your light we shall see light"; and Daniel: "And the light is with him." If what is begotten is substance according to them, as is also what is unbegotten, and the Son of God is begotten, then the Son of God is also substance. If God begot the Son by will and not by nature, either having willed once, he was without will for the rest, or having willed again, he also begot again. But if His will is not one, but different, He is no longer simple nor the maker of one thing, but as He wills He also makes. If God does not beget, it is either because He is altogether unable, or because He is unwilling. But if He is unable, He is inferior to a generative and perfect nature, besides also being powerless; but if being able, He was unwilling, what He had by nature, He restrained by will. So that even if He has not yet begotten, if He willed He would therefore beget at some time. If there was a "when" the Son was not, that very "when" will be after the begetter, but before the begotten. No longer therefore

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μὴ ὅμοιον ἄλλῳ μονογενές· πολλοὶ ἄρα μονογενεῖς, καὶ οὐχ εἷς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰ δὲ ὁ Υἱὸς οὐχ ἁπλῶς μονο γενὴς, ἀλλὰ Υἱὸς μονογενὴς, καὶ παρὰ Πατρὸς μο νογενὴς, ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ μονογενής ἐστι, καὶ οὐ κτίσμα μονογενές. Εἰ κατὰ μετάδοσιν καὶ συγχώρη σιν τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ οὐ κατὰ φύσιν δημιουργὸς ὁ Υἱὸς, οὐδὲν ἂν εἴη τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ δημιουργηθέντων κατὰ φύσιν. Ὧν γὰρ ὁ δημιουργὸς οὐ κατὰ φύσιν, πῶς τὰ δημιουργηθέντα κατὰ φύσιν; Εἰ ἐνεργεῖ Θεὸς ὡς οὐδεὶς ἕτερος, καὶ γεννῶν ὡς οὐχ ἕτερος γεννή σει· ἀσύγκριτος γὰρ πρὸς πάντα κατὰ πάντα ὁ Θεός. Τὸ ποιούμενον οὐκ ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ ποιοῦν τος, τὸ δὲ γεννώμενον ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσίας τοῦ γεν νῶντος· οὐ ταὐτὸν ἄρα τὸ ποιεῖν καὶ τὸ γεννᾷν. Εἰ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ Υἱὸς, οὐχ ὡς ἐκ Πατρὸς δὲ, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐξ ἑτέρου, αἴτιος δὲ τοῦ εἶναι καὶ ἡμῖν ὁ Θεός· ἐξ αὐτοῦ γὰρ τὰ πάντα· οὐχ ἑτέρως ἄρα τοῦ Υἱοῦ Πατὴρ, ἑτέρως δὲ ἡμῶν, ἀλλ' ὁμοίως. Καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον; Εἰ μηδὲν ὅμοιον καὶ ἴσον Θεῷ πλὴν Υἱοῦ, οὐδὲν ἀπαραλλάκτως τῶν ὑποδειγμάτων εἰρή σεται· ὑπὲρ πᾶν γὰρ ὁ Θεός. Τὸ ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ἐν οὐσίᾳ ἐστὶ Θεοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ ἄλλο μορφὴ, καὶ ἄλλο οὐ σία Θεοῦ, ἵνα μὴ σύνθετος. Ὁ κατὰ μορφὴν οὖν ἴσος, καὶ κατ' οὐσίαν ἐστὶν ἴσος. Εἰ ὁ γεννηθεὶς ἐλάτ των τοῦ γεννήσαντος, οὐκ ἔγκλημα τοῦτο τοῦ γεννη θέντος, ἀσθένεια δὲ τοῦ γεννήσαντος. Ἢ γὰρ φθονήσας οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἴσον, ἢ μὴ δυνηθεὶς οὐκ ἐγέν νησεν ὅμοιον. Εἰ ὁ Πατὴρ πρὸ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἦν, ἑτέρου τινὸς πάντως πατὴρ ἦν· χωρὶς γὰρ υἱοῦ πατὴρ οὐκ ἂν λεχθείη. Εἰ ὁ τὸν Υἱὸν γνοὺς κατ' οὐσίαν ἔγνω καὶ τὸν Πατέρα (Εἰ γὰρ ἐμὲ ᾔδειτε, φησὶ, καὶ τὸν Πα τέρα μου ᾔδειτε ἄν)· ὁμοούσιος ἄρα Υἱὸς τῷ Πατρί. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀσώματον ἐξ ἀνομοίου οὐσίας γνωρίζεσθαι δύναται. Εἰ τὸ πιστεύειν τὸν Χριστὸν Υἱὸν εἶναι Θεοῦ 29.676 ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχει, τὸ ἀπιστεῖν ἐξ ἀνάγκης θάνατον. Ὧν αἱ αὐταὶ ἐνέργειαι, τούτων καὶ ἡ οὐσία μία. Ἐνέργεια δὲ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ μία, ὡς τὸ, Ποιή σωμεν ἄνθρωπον· καὶ πάλιν· Ἃ γὰρ ἂν ὁ Πατὴρ ποιῇ, ταῦτα καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ὁμοίως ποιεῖ· ἄρα καὶ οὐ σία μία Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ. Εἰ ἡ γνῶσις Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ ζωὴ αἰώνιος, ἀνάγκη καὶ μιᾶς οὐσίας εἶναι. Τὰ γὰρ ἑτερούσια οὐ μιᾷ γνώσει καταλαμβάνεται, οὔτε ὁμοίως ζωοποιεῖν δύναται. Εἰ εἰκὼν ὁ Υἱὸς ἀληθῶς τοῦ Πατρὸς, πᾶσα δὲ εἰκὼν ἢ οὐσίας, ἢ μορφῆς, ἢ σχήματος, ἢ εἴδους, καὶ χρώματός ἐστιν εἰκὼν, Θεὸς δὲ ἐν οὐδενὶ τούτων, ἐν δὲ οὐσίᾳ μόνῃ· ὁ Υἱὸς, εἰκὼν ὢν τῆς οὐσίας, ὁμοούσιός ἐστι τῷ Πατρί. Εἰ ἀσύγκριτος ὁ Πατὴρ κατὰ πάντα πρὸς τὸν Υἱὸν, κατὰ πάντα δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὴν κτίσιν· οὐκ ἄλλως πρὸς τὸν Υἱὸν, ἑτέρως δὲ πρὸς τὴν κτίσιν, ἀλλ' ὁμοίως· οὐκοῦν οὐ μόνον ἀνόμοιος τῷ Πατρὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅμοιος τῇ κτίσει. Καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον; Εἰ, κτίσμα λέγοντες τὸν Υἱὸν, οὐχ ὡς ἓν τῶν κτισμάτων λέγουσι· διὰ τί, γέννημα λεγόντων ἡμῶν, ὡς ἓν τῶν γεννημάτων νοοῦσιν; Εἰ οὐ γεννᾷ Θεὸς, ἵνα μὴ ῥεῦσιν ὑπομείνῃ· οὐδὲ κτίζει, ἵνα μὴ κάμῃ· εἰ δὲ κτίζει ἀπαθῶς, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἀπαθῶς γεννᾷ. Εἰ ἀπαύγασμα παντὸς φωτὸς γεννᾶται μὲν ἐκ τοῦ φωτὸς, οὔ ποτε δὲ, ἀλλὰ ἀχρόνως καὶ συναϊδίως ἐκείνῳ (οὐ γάρ ἐστι φῶς χω ρὶς ἀπαυγάσματος)· καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς, ἀπαύγασμα τυγχά νων, οὔ ποτε ἔσται, ἀλλὰ συναϊδίως, φωτὸς ὄντος τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς ∆αβίδ φησιν· Ἐν τῷ φωτί σου ὀψόμεθα φῶς· καὶ ∆ανιήλ· Καὶ τὸ φῶς μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. Εἰ τὸ γέννημα οὐσία ἐστὶ κατ' αὐτοὺς, ὡς καὶ τὸ ἀγέννητον, γέννημα δὲ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οὐσία ἄρα ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰ βουλήσει καὶ οὐ φύσει ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Υἱὸν ἐγέννησεν, ἢ ἅπαξ βουλη θεὶς, ἀβούλητος τὸ λοιπὸν, ἢ καὶ πάλιν βουληθεὶς, καὶ πάλιν ἐγέννησεν. Εἰ δὲ οὐ μία βούλησις αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ διάφορος, οὐκέτι ἁπλοῦς οὐδὲ ἑνὸς ποιητὴς, ἀλλ' ὡς βούλεται καὶ ποιεῖ. Εἰ Θεὸς οὐ γεννᾷ, ἢ διὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι πάντως, ἢ διὰ τὸ μὴ βούλεσθαι. Ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν οὐ δύναται, ἥττων γεννητικῆς καὶ τελείας φύσεως, πρὸς τῷ καὶ ἀδυναμεῖν· εἰ δὲ δυνάμε νος οὐκ ἠβουλήθη, ὃ φύσει ἔσχε, βουλήσει κατέσχεν. Ὥστε εἰ καὶ μήπω ἐγέννησε, βουληθεὶς ἄρα γεννήσει ποτέ. Εἴ ποτε οὐκ ἦν ὁ Υἱὸς, αὐτὸ τὸ ἐκεῖνο, τὸ ποτὲ, ἔσται μὲν μετὰ τὸν γεννήσαντα, πρὸ δὲ τοῦ γεννηθέντος. Οὐκέτι οὖν