50

all things are by the power of the one who made them and are within the bounds of creation is not doubted; but the creative power of beings, defining within itself the nature of the things that have come to be, itself has no container, enclosing within itself every thought that hastens to ascend to the beginning of the divine life and transcending 1.1.368 every idle curiosity and meddlesomeness that strives to reach the limit of the indefinite. For every ascent and extension of the mind beyond the ages will be exalted only so far as to perceive the impassability of what is sought, and it seems that the age and the things within it are a kind of measure and limit of the movement and activity of human reasonings, but the things that lie beyond these remain incomprehensible and inaccessible to reasonings, being pure 1.1.369 of everything that can come under human apprehension. For in those things where there is no form, no place, no magnitude, no measure of time nor anything else of the comprehensible things is conceived, necessarily also the apprehensive power of the mind, seeking to grasp something <of the things> concerning the ages and the creation in them, will settle into what is akin and connatural to itself, slipping away from the incomprehensible nature on every side. 1.1.370 For I think this is known to everyone who has even moderately considered existing things, that the creator of the universe, having first laid down the ages and the place in them as a kind of receptacle for the things that come to be, creates all things in them. For it is not possible for anything that has come to be or is coming to be through creation not to have its existence in every way either in place or in time. 1.1.371 But the nature that is without need and eternal and all-encompassing of beings is neither in place nor in time, but before and beyond these, according to the ineffable account, it is contemplated in itself through faith alone, neither being measured by ages nor running alongside times, but standing on its own and established in itself, not being divided with the past or the future; for there is nothing alongside it, outside of it, by whose passing some things pass away 1.1.372 and others are to come. For these are the properties of things in creation, life being split towards hope and memory according to the division of time; but to that high and blessed power, to which all things are always equally present in the now, both the past and the expected are held and beheld by the power that encompasses all things. 1.1.373 This, then, is the substance, in which all things, as the apostle says, hold together, and in which we who individually partake of being both live and move and have our being, it is higher than every beginning, providing no signs of its own nature, but being known only in its inability to be comprehended. For this is its most proper characteristic, that its nature 1.1.374 is higher than every characteristic concept. Therefore, creation, because it does not have the same account as the uncreated, is by this very fact separated from comparison and fellowship with the one who made it, I mean by the difference according to substance and by the fact that it admits in itself its own account representative of its nature, communicating in nothing 1.1.375 with that from which it has come to be. But the divine nature, being alien to all the signs specifically observed in creation, leaves below itself the divisions of time—I mean the 20older20 and the newer—and the conceptions of place, so that not even 20higher20 can be properly said of it. For everything conceived of the uncreated power is above and is a beginning and holds the status of the most 20sovereign20. 1.1.376 Since, then, it has been shown through what has been said that the only-begotten Son and the Spirit of God <ought> not to be investigated in creation, but are to be believed to be above creation, creation, based on some particular beginning, will perhaps be comprehended through the meddlesomeness of those who strive to seek such things, but what is beyond it would in no way come to be known through these things, as no indicative sign 1.1.377 is found in it before the ages. If, therefore, in the uncreated nature are conceived the wondrous realities and names, the Father and the Son and the

50

τὰ πάντα τῇ τοῦ πεποιηκότος δυνάμει καὶ ἐντὸς εἶναι τῶν τῆς κτίσεως ὅρων οὐκ ἀμφιβάλλεται· ἡ δὲ ποιητικὴ τῶν ὄντων δύναμις τὴν τῶν γεγονότων ἐν ἑαυτῇ περιγράφουσα φύσιν αὐτὴ τὸ περιέχον οὐκ ἔχει, πᾶν νόημα τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς θείας ζωῆς ἀνελθεῖν ἐπειγόμενον ἐντὸς ἑαυτῆς κατα κλείουσα καὶ πάσης περιεργίας καὶ φιλοπραγμοσύνης τῆς πρὸς τὸ πέρας τοῦ ἀορίστου φθάσαι φιλονεικούσης ὑπερ 1.1.368 εκπίπτουσα. ἅπασα γὰρ ἡ μετὰ τοὺς αἰῶνας ἄνοδος καὶ διάστασις τοῦ νοῦ τοσοῦτον ὑψωθήσεται μόνον, ὅσον κατι δεῖν τὸ τοῦ ζητουμένου ἀδιεξίτητον, καὶ ἔοικεν οἷόν τι μέ τρον καὶ ὅρος τῆς τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων λογισμῶν κινήσεως καὶ ἐνεργείας ὁ αἰὼν καὶ τὰ ἐντὸς τούτων εἶναι, τὰ δὲ ὑπερ κείμενα τούτων ἄληπτα καὶ ἀνεπίβατα λογισμοῖς μένει, παντὸς τοῦ δυναμένου ὑπὸ κατάληψιν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐλθεῖν 1.1.369 καθαρεύοντα. ἐν οἷς γὰρ οὐκ εἶδος, οὐ τόπος, οὐ μέγε θος, οὐ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου μέτρον οὐδὲ ἄλλο τι τῶν κατα ληπτῶν ἐπινοεῖται, ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ ἡ καταληπτικὴ τοῦ νοῦ δύναμις, ζητοῦσά τινος περιδράξασθαι <τῶν> περὶ τοὺς αἰῶνας καὶ τὴν ἐν τούτοις κτίσιν, εἰς τὸ συγγενὲς ἑαυτῇ καὶ ὁμόφυλον συνιζήσει, τῆς ἀλήπτου φύσεως πανταχόθεν ἀπολισθαίνουσα. 1.1.370 Παντὶ γὰρ οἶμαι τοῦτο γνώριμον εἶναι τῷ καὶ μετρίως ἐπεσκεμμένῳ τὰ ὄντα, ὅτι τοὺς αἰῶνας καὶ τὸν ἐν τούτοις τόπον οἷόν τι χώρημα δεκτικὸν τῶν γινομένων προκατα βαλλόμενος ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς ἐν τούτοις κτίζει τὰ πάντα. οὐ γὰρ ἐνδέχεταί τι τῶν διὰ κτίσεως γεγονότων ἢ γινομένων μὴ πάντως ἢ ἐν τόπῳ ἢ ἐν χρόνῳ τὸ εἶναι ἔχειν. 1.1.371 ἡ δὲ ἀπροσδεὴς καὶ ἀΐδιος καὶ τῶν ὄντων ἐμπεριεκτικὴ φύσις οὔτ' ἐν τόπῳ ἐστὶν οὔτε ἐν χρόνῳ, ἀλλὰ πρὸ τούτων καὶ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα κατὰ τὸν ἄφραστον λόγον αὐτὴ ἐφ' ἑαυτῆς διὰ μόνης τῆς πίστεως θεωρεῖται, οὔτε αἰῶσι παραμετρου μένη οὔτε χρόνοις συμπαρατρέχουσα, ἀλλ' ἐφ' ἑαυτῆς ἑστῶσα καὶ ἐν ἑαυτῇ καθιδρυμένη, οὔτε τῷ παρῳχηκότι οὔτε τῷ μέλλοντι συνδιαιρουμένη· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔστι τι παρ' αὐτὴν ἔξω αὐτῆς, οὗ παροδεύοντος τὸ μέν τι παρέρχεται 1.1.372 τὸ δὲ μέλλει. ταῦτα γὰρ ἴδια τῶν ἐν τῇ κτίσει τὰ πάθη, πρὸς ἐλπίδα καὶ μνήμην κατὰ τὴν τοῦ χρόνου διαίρεσιν τῆς ζωῆς σχιζομένης· ἐκείνῃ δὲ τῇ ὑψηλῇ καὶ μακαρίᾳ δυνάμει, ᾗ πάντα κατὰ τὸ ἐνεστὸς ἀεὶ πάρεστιν ἐπίσης, καὶ τὸ παρῳχηκὸς καὶ τὸ προσδοκώμενον ὑπὸ τῆς περι εκτικῆς τῶν πάντων δυνάμεως ἐγκρατούμενα καθορᾶται. 1.1.373 Αὕτη τοίνυν ἡ οὐσία ἐστίν, ἐν ᾗ πάντα, καθώς φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος, συνέστηκε, καὶ οἱ καθ' ἕκαστον τοῦ εἶναι μετέχοντες ζῶμέν τε καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν, ἡ ἀνωτέρα μὲν πάσης ἀρχῆς, σημεῖα δὲ τῆς ἰδίας φύσεως οὐ παρε χομένη, ἀλλ' ἐν μόνῳ τῷ μὴ δύνασθαι καταληφθῆναι γι νωσκομένη. τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτῆς ἰδιαίτατον γνώρισμα, τὸ παντὸς χαρακτηριστικοῦ νοήματος ὑψηλοτέραν αὐτῆς εἶναι 1.1.374 τὴν φύσιν. ἡ τοίνυν κτίσις διὰ τὸ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τῷ ἀκτίστῳ λόγον ἔχειν αὐτῷ τούτῳ τῆς πρὸς τὸν πεποιηκότα συγκρίσεώς τε καὶ κοινωνίας χωρίζεται, τῇ κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν λέγω διαφορᾷ καὶ τῷ ἴδιον ἐφ' ἑαυτῇ τὸν παραστα τικὸν τῆς φύσεως ἐπιδέχεσθαι λόγον οὐδὲν ἐπικοινωνοῦντα 1.1.375 τῷ ἐξ οὗ γέγονεν. ἡ δὲ θεία φύσις πάντων τῶν ἰδιαζόντως ἐπιθεωρουμένων τῇ κτίσει σημείων ἀλλοτρίως ἔχουσα κάτω ἑαυτῆς καταλείπει τά τε χρονικὰ τμήματα, τὸ 20πρεσβύ τερον20 λέγω καὶ τὸ νεώτερον καὶ τὰς τοπικὰς ἐπινοίας, ὡς μηδὲ 20ἀνώτερον20 ἐπ' αὐτῆς τι κυρίως λέγεσθαι. πᾶν γὰρ τὸ νοούμενον ἐπὶ τῆς ἀκτίστου δυνάμεως ἄνω ἐστὶ καὶ ἀρχή ἐστι καὶ τὸν τοῦ 20κυριωτάτου20 λόγον ἐπέχει. 1.1.376 Ἐπεὶ οὖν δέδεικται διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων μὴ ἐν τῇ κτίσει τὸν μονογενῆ υἱὸν καὶ τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πνεῦμα <δεῖν> διερευνᾶσθαι, ἀλλ' ἄνω τῆς κτίσεως πιστεύειν εἶναι, ἡ μὲν κτίσις ἐπί τινος ἰδιαζούσης ἀρχῆς διὰ τῆς πολυ πραγμοσύνης τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα ζητεῖν φιλονεικούντων ἴσως καταληφθήσεται, τὸ δὲ ὑπὲρ ταύτην οὐδὲν ἂν διὰ τού των μᾶλλον εἰς γνῶσιν ἔλθοι, οὐδενὸς ἐν αὐτῷ σημείου 1.1.377 δεικτικοῦ πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων εὑρισκομένου. εἰ οὖν ἐν τῇ ἀκτίστῳ φύσει νοεῖται τὰ θαυμαστὰ πράγματά τε καὶ ὀνόματα, ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ τὸ