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perception concerning visible bodies, such as color, shape, size, and the like, which cannot exist apart from bodies. But the father distinguished these from those that are according to conception; and these we say are those grasped by the mind, such as thought, reason, perception, and such things, which we know by conception alone, as it were by recollection, or he even says the intelligible things are 'by conception,' and in no way fall under sense-perception.

§ 8. Intelligible and intellectual: But note that 'intelligible' is understood in relation to us, while 'intellectual ' is in relation to God.

And being: And being in a godlike manner. And all other things: That he is the cause of the being of all things, and before being,

since he is also the idea, that is the paradigm, of being, as is shown from this; for being itself is not God because God is, but because of God, being both is and is spoken of; therefore being is in God as an idea, but God is not in being; for he was before being; however, because he is the cause of all things, he is shown also to be the producer, and he is outside all things, as the cause of all things, and he is addressed by the characteristics of all things, as having brought all things forth.

And being is of him: Of him, since being is from him, and in him, in that it is sustained by him; but he is not of being, nor is he contained in being; for the supra-essential is beyond being.

(14S_236> And he is not in being: In both cases 'the cause' must be supplied, that is, being has him as cause, and not that he has being from a pre-existing cause.

According to every conception of beings: The contemplation of beings, which he here called conception, being quite extensive and varied with every application of the mind, finds the notion of the cause, that is, of the creator, pre-existing; therefore, 'to be multiplied' means that the same cause is contemplated in the many.

And 'is' and 'will be': Those things which he denied before this, he now, speaking of God, necessarily interpreting himself, suggests are to be understood according to the notion of the cause. Therefore, 'was made' and 'is made' and 'will be made' are properly predicated of created things; for some things were made once, such as heaven, angels, the sun, and such things, concerning which 'is made' and 'will be made' have no place, but that which was said by David, “who makes his angels spirits,” must be taken either with respect to their being sustained, as it is said, “My Father is working until now,” or according to the custom of Scripture, which often puts forth the temporal meaning with an interchange, and uses the future for the past, and the reverse. Of these things, therefore, 'was made' is proper; but 'is made' applies also to all things in generation and corruption and whatever exists by successive replacement, such as night, day, summer, and spring, and such things, while 'will be made' applies only to things which have not yet come to be at all, but are expected, such as the transformation of the universe and the things with it. As the cause of all these things, therefore, God is hymned; for he did not say, 'these things are predicated of him,' but “is properly hymned.” But 'was' and the things with it, according to every conception, will fit no other than God, because (14S_238> 'was' is contemplated in him as superior to every beginning. And 'is' and 'will be' as of one who has the unalterable in every way and is in all respects immutable; wherefore he is also called supra-essential. Wherefore also all things are predicated of him at once. According to the notion of the cause, he says all things are said of God, or are understood of him. For 'to be predicated,' according to the philosophers, signifies this. But he himself is none of all the things of which he is the cause, because he is and is beyond being; wherefore the negations also signify this, such as 'formless,' 'without beauty,' and the like; but 'all-shaped' and 'all-formed' signifies that he is the cause of every form and shape. In which way the things that follow must also be understood,

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αἴσθησιν περί τά σώματα ὁρώμενα, οἷον χρῶμα, σχῆμα, πηλικότης, καί τά ὅμοια, ἅπερ σωμάτων ἐκτός συνίστασθαι ἀδύνατον. ∆ιεῖλε δέ αὐτά ὁ πατήρ τῶν κατ' ἐπίνοιαν· ταῦτα δέ εἶναί φαμεν τά τῇ νοήσει καταλαμβανόμενα, οἷον νόημα, λόγον, αἴσθησιν, καί τά τοιαῦτα, ἅτινα τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ μόνῃ οἱονεί τῇ ἐπενθυμήσει γνωρίζομεν, ἤ καί κατ' ἐπίνοιαν λέγει τά νοητά, καί αἰσθήσει ὑποπίπτοντα μηδαμῶς.

§ 8. Αἱ νοηταί καί νοεραί: Σημείωσαι δέ, ὅτι τό 'νοηταί' ὡς πρός ἡμᾶς, τό δέ 'νοεραί ' ὡς πρός τόν Θεόν νοεῖται.

Καί τό εἶναι: Καί τό θεοειδῶς εἶναι. Καί τά ἄλλα πάντα: Ὅτι αὐτός αἴτιος τοῦ εἶναι τά πάντα, καί πρό τοῦ εἶναι,

ἅτε καί ἰδέα, ἤτοι παράδειγμα, ὤν τοῦ εἶναι, ὡς ἐντεῦθεν δηλοῦται· τό γάρ αὐτό εἶναι, οὐκ αὐτό ἐστιν ὁ Θεός, διά τό εἶναι τόν Θεόν, ἀλλά διά τόν Θεόν, καί τό εἶναί ἐστι καί λέγεται· διό ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἐστι τό εἶναι ὡς ἰδέα, οὐ μήν ὁ Θεός ἐν τῷ εἶναί ἐστι· πρό γάρ τοῦ εἶναι ἦν· ὅμως διά τό πάντων αἴτιος εἶναι, καί παραγωγεύς δείκνυται, καί ἔξω πάντων ἐστίν, ὡς αἴτιος πάντων, καί τοῖς τῶν πάντων γνωρίσμασι προσαγορεύεται, ὡς τά πάντα παραγαγών.

Καί αὐτοῦ ἐστι τό εἶναι: Αὐτοῦ μέν, ὡς ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐστι τό εἶναι, ἐν αὐτῷ δέ, τῷ συντηρεῖσθαι παρ' αὐτοῦ· οὐκ αὐτός δέ τοῦ εἶναι, οὐδέ ἐν τῷ εἶναι συνεχόμενος· ὑπέρ γάρ τό εἶναι ὁ ὑπερούσιος.

(14S_236> Καί οὐκ αὐτός ἐν τῷ εἶναι: Προσυπακουστέον ἐν ἀμφοτέροις τό αἴτιον, τουτέστι τό εἶναι αὐτόν ἔχει αἴτιον, καί οὐχί αὐτός ὡς ἐκ προηγουμένης αἰτίας ἔχει τό εἶναι.

Κατά πᾶσαν τῶν ὄντων ἐπίνοιαν: Ἡ τῶν ὄντων θεωρία, ἥν ἐνταῦθα ἐπίνοιαν ἐκάλεσε, πολλή τις οὖσα καί ποικίλη πάσῃ ἐπιβολῇ τοῦ νοῦ, προϋπαντῶσαν εὑρίσκει τοῦ αἰτίου τήν ἔννοιαν, ἤγουν τοῦ δημιουργοῦ· τό οὖν πολλαπλασιάζεσθαι δηλοῖ, τό ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖς τόν αὐτόν αἴτιον θεωρεῖσθαι.

Καί τό ἐστί καί τό ἔσται: Ἅπερ ἐν τῷ πρό αὐτοῦ ἀπέφησε, νῦν ἐπειπών τῷ Θεῷ ἀναγκαίως ἑαυτόν ἑρμηνεύων κατά τήν τοῦ αἰτίου ἔννοιαν ταῦτα νοεῖν ὑποβάλλει. Τό μέν οὖν ἐγένετο καί γίνεται καί γενήσεται ἐπί μέν τῶν κτισμάτων κυρίως κατηγορεῖται· τά μέν γάρ ἅπαξ ἐγένετο, οἷον οὐρανός, ἄγγελοι, ἥλιος καί τά τοιαῦτα, ἐφ' ὧν χώραν οὐκ ἔχει τό γίνεται, γενήσεται, τό δέ παρά τοῦ ∆αυίδ λεχθέν, «ὁ ποιῶν τούς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα», ἤ κατά τό συντηρεῖσθαι ληπτέον, καθά εἴρηται, «ὁ Πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται», ἤ κατά τήν συνήθειαν τῆς Γραφῆς, ἐνηλλαγμένως τήν σημασίαν τήν χρονικήν πολλάκις προαγούσης, καί ἀντί παρῳχηκότος μέλλοντι κεχρημένης, καί τό ἔμπαλιν. Ἐπί τούτων μέν οὖν κυρίως τό ἐγένετο· γίνεται δέ καί τά ἐν γενέσει καί φθορᾷ πάντα καί ὅσα κατά ἀντιπεριχώρησιν, οἷον ἡ νύξ, ἡ ἡμέρα, θέρος, καί ἔαρ, καί τά τοιαῦτα, γενήσεται δέ μόνον, ἅτινα οὔπω γεγόνασιν ὅλως, προσδοκῶνται δέ, οἷον ἡ τοῦ παντός μεταστοιχείωσις καί τά σύν αὐτῆ. Ὡς τούτων οὖν ἁπάντων αἴτιος ὁ Θεός ὑμνεῖται· οὐ γάρ εἶπε, 'ταῦτα ἐπ' αὐτοῦ κατηγορεῖται', ἀλλά «κυρίως ὑμνεῖται». Τό δέ ἦν καί τά σύν αὐτῷ κατά πᾶσαν ἐπίνοιαν οὐκ ἄλλῳ τινί ἤ τῷ Θεῷ ἁρμόσει, διά τό (14S_238> πάσης ἀρχῆς ἀνώτερον ἐπ' αὐτοῦ θεωρεῖσθαι τό ἦν. Τό δέ 'ἔστι' καί τό 'ἔσται' ὡς πάντῃ τό ἀναλλοίωτον καί κατά πάντα ἀμετάβλητον ἔχοντος· διό καί ὑπερούσιος λέγεται. ∆ιό καί πάντα αὐτοῦ καί ἄμα κατηγορεῖται. Κατά τήν τοῦ αἰτίου ἔννοιαν πάντα αὐτοῦ φησι τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγεσθαι, ἤ ἐπ' αὐτοῦ νοεῖσθαι. Τό γάρ κατηγορεῖσθαι κατά φιλοσόφους τοῦτο δηλοῖ. Αὐτός δέ οὐδέν τῶν πάντων ἐστίν, ὧν ἐστιν αἴτιος, διά τό εἶναι καί ὑπερεῖναι· διό καί αἱ ἀποφάσεις τοῦτο δηλοῦσιν, οἷον τό ἄμορφος, τό ἀκαλλής, καί τά ὅμοια· τό δέ πάνσχημος καί πανείδεος τό παντός εἴδους καί σχήματος αἴτιον αὐτόν ὑπάρχειν δηλοῖ. Καθό καί τά ἑξῆς νοητέον,