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is neither corrupted, nor changed as the creatures, it declares. Let them therefore teach what God is, not what he is not. If 'unbegotten' is not a name of essence, but self-essence, and the Son is also essence; the Son is also unbegotten, and every essence is unbegotten. If 'the unbegotten' is the essence of God, and 'the offspring' the essence of the Son; then the creature or thing made is not his essence. For the Son is one and not many essences. One who says 'man,' or 'stone,' or 'wood,' signifies a certain essence; but one who says 'offspring,' does not simply signify an essence; since every offspring would be one essence. But if 'offspring' is not significant of any essence, clearly neither is 'unbegotten'. If God is unbegotten because he was not begotten; so also is he incorruptible because he is not corrupted. Therefore, just as 'the incorruptible' signifies his having no end, so also 'the unbegotten' signifies his having no beginning. But if he is unbegotten but not incorruptible, he will have no beginning, but will not be without end; which is absurd. 'Unbegotten,' therefore, is not an essence, but an indication of not having been begotten. If the Father is unbegotten by nature, the Son is also begotten by nature. But if he is an offspring by nature, he is no longer a creature. Since, therefore, there is an offspring by nature, it is necessary that there also be one who begot; for an offspring 29.685 could not be without one who begot. Let them say, then, who is the one who begot, if the Father did not beget. If God is unbegotten by essence, and the Son begotten by essence, and the Paraclete a creature by essence, then 'Father and Son and Holy Spirit' are only names without essences. Let them therefore baptize into 'unbegotten,' and 'begotten,' and 'creature.' For the realities are stronger than the names, and the things that are are more useful for effect than the things that are said. If the Father is unbegotten, they say, and the Son is begotten, they are not of the same essence. For unbegotten and begotten cannot be of one essence. But we do not say these are of essence, but names signifying the existence of each of them. And nothing prevents one essence from having different names, just as, conversely, creation's different essences have one name. If the Son is of the same essence as the Father, they say, but the Father is unbegotten, and the Son is begotten; then the same essence is unbegotten and begotten. But we do not say the Son is a part of the Father, as if the essence, being divided, is unbegotten and begotten, but whole from whole, begotten from unbegotten, two perfects, and not two parts from some one thing. If the Savior has come in the name of the Father, as he himself says, 'I have come in my Father's name;' then everything the Father is called, the Son must also be called. He will therefore also be called unbegotten, if this too is a name of the Father. But if the name 'unbegotten' is an honor for the Father, and we must likewise honor the Son, according to his own voice that says, 'That all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father,' it is necessary to call the Son unbegotten too, so that the one honor of the Father and the Son may be preserved. If the Son revealed the name of the Father to men, as he himself says, 'I have revealed your name to men,' and 'unbegotten' is the proper name of his essence; let them show where the Savior has called him unbegotten. If God is greater than all, is he greater in essence, or by being the cause of all, while he himself is begotten of none? For if [he is greater] as essence, then all of the essence is greater than all; but if as unbegotten, then essence and unbegotten are not the same thing. If 'the unbegotten' is something, then 'the immortal,' and 'the unending,' and 'the unailing,' and 'the unaging' will also be something. Therefore, by being unbegotten he will surpass 29.688 all things, but in the others he will be the same as angels and spirits and souls. For these too are immortal and unending. But if he surpasses not by what he is not, but by what he is (for not even a man is better than a brute by not being soulless and senseless—for these are also true of the brute—but by being rational); so also God will be greater, not by being unbegotten, but by being the cause of all. If 'the unbegotten' is contrasted with 'the begotten;' but 'the unbegotten' is a simple essence; it will also be contrasted with 'the begotten' by being 'unchangeable' and 'immortal' and 'unfashioned,' and by all things. For if it is contrasted in one respect, but not in the others, it is composite and not simple. If one who has known, that

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μήτε φθείρεται, μήτε τρέ πεται ὡς τὰ κτίσματα, δηλοῖ. ∆ιδασκέτωσαν οὖν τί ὁ Θεός ἐστιν, οὐ τί οὐκ ἔστιν. Εἰ τὸ ἀγέννητος οὐκ ὄνομα οὐσίας, ἀλλ' αὐτοουσία, οὐσία δὲ καὶ ὁ Υἱός· ἀγέννητος καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ πᾶσα δὲ οὐσία ἀγέν νητος. Εἰ τὸ ἀγέννητον οὐσία τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὸ γέν νημα οὐσία τοῦ Υἱοῦ· τὸ κτίσμα οὖν ἢ ποίημα οὐκ οὐσία αὐτοῦ. Μία γὰρ καὶ οὐ πολλαὶ οὐσίαι ὁ Υἱός. Ἄνθρωπόν τις εἰπὼν, ἢ λίθον, ἢ ξύλον, οὐσίαν τινὰ δηλοῖ· γέννημα δὲ εἰπὼν, οὐκ οὐσίαν ἁπλῶς δηλοῖ· ἐπεὶ πᾶν γέννημα οὐσία μία. Εἰ δὲ οὐκ οὐσίας τινὸς τὸ γέννημα σημαντικὸν, οὐδὲ τὸ ἀγέννητος δηλον ότι. Εἰ ἀγέννητός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι μὴ ἐγεννήθη· οὕτω καὶ ἄφθαρτος, ὅτι μὴ φθείρεται. Ὥσπερ οὖν τὸ ἄφθαρτον τὸ ἀτελεύτητον αὐτοῦ δηλοῖ, οὕτω καὶ τὸ ἀγέννητον τὸ ἄναρχον. Εἰ δὲ ἀγέννητος μὲν, οὐκ ἄφθαρτος δὲ, ἔσται μὲν ἄναρχος, οὐκ ἀτελεύτητος δέ· ὅπερ ἄτοπον. Οὐκ οὐσία οὖν τὸ ἀγέννητος, ἀλλὰ δή λωσις τοῦ μὴ γεγεννῆσθαι. Εἰ φύσει ἀγέννητος ὁ Πατὴρ, φύσει γεννητὸς καὶ ὁ Υἱός. Εἰ δὲ φύσει γέν νημα, οὐκέτι κτίσμα. Ὄντος οὖν τοῦ φύσει γεννήμα τος, ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸν γεννήσαντα εἶναι· γέννημα 29.685 γὰρ χωρὶς γεννήσαντος οὐκ ἂν εἴη. Λεγέτωσαν οὖν τὸν γεννήσαντα, εἰ ὁ Πατὴρ οὐκ ἐγέννησεν. Εἰ ὁ Θεὸς ἀγέννητος οὐσίᾳ, καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς γεννητὸς οὐσίᾳ, καὶ ὁ Παράκλητος κτίσμα οὐσίᾳ, τὸ, Πατὴρ καὶ Υἱὸς καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, ὀνόματα μόνον χωρὶς οὐσιῶν. Βαπτι ζέτωσαν οὖν εἰς ἀγέννητον, καὶ γεννητὸν, καὶ κτίσμα. Τὰ γὰρ πράγματα τῶν ὀνομάτων ἰσχυρότερα, καὶ τὰ ὅντα τῶν λεγομένων πρὸς ἐνέργειαν ὠφελιμώτερα. Εἰ ἀγέννητος, φασὶν, ὁ Πατὴρ, γεννητὸς δὲ ὁ Υἱὸς, οὐ τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσίας. Ἀγέννητος γὰρ καὶ γεννητὸς οὐκ ἂν εἴη μιᾶς οὐσίας. Ἀλλ' οὐκ οὐσίας ἡμεῖς ταῦτα λέγομεν, ὀνόματα δὲ δηλοῦντα τὴν ἑκάστου αὐτῶν ὕπαρξιν. Οὐδὲν δὲ κωλύει διαφόρων ὀνομάτων μίαν οὐσίαν εἶναι, ὡς καὶ τὸ ἐναντίον διαφόρων οὐσιῶν τῆς κτίσεως ἓν ὄνομα. Εἰ ὁμοούσιος, φασὶν, ὁ Υἱὸς τῷ Πατρὶ ὁ Πατὴρ δὲ ἀγέννητος, ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς γεννητός· ἡ αὐτὴ ἄρα οὐσία ἀγέννητος καὶ γεννητή. Ἀλλ' οὐ μέρος φαμὲν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Πατρὸς, ὡς διαιρουμένην τὴν οὐσίαν ἀγέν νητον καὶ γεννητὸν εἶναι, ἀλλ' ὅλον ὅλου γεννητὸν ἐξ ἀγεννήτου, τέλεια δύο, καὶ οὐ δύο μέρη ἐξ ἑνός τινος. Εἰ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐλήλυθεν ὁ Σωτὴρ, ὡς αὐτός φησιν, Ἐγὼ ἐλήλυθα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Πατρός μου· πάντα ὅσα ὁ Πατὴρ λέγεται, ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν λέγεσθαι. Λεχθήσεται οὖν καὶ ἀγέν νητος, εἰ καὶ τοῦτο ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρός. Εἰ δὲ τιμὴ τοῦ Πατρός ἐστι τὸ ἀγέννητος ὄνομα, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν τιμᾷν δεῖ, κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ φωνὴν τὴν λέγου σαν· Ἵνα πάντες τιμῶσι τὸν Υἱὸν, καθὼς τιμῶσι τὸν Πατέρα· ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἀγέννητον λέγειν, ἵνα μία τιμὴ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ σώζηται. Εἰ ἐφανέ ρωσεν ὁ Υἱὸς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὡς αὐτός φησιν, Ἐφανέρωσά σου τὸ ὄνομα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, κύριον δὲ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ ὄνομα τὸ ἀγέννητος· δεικνύτωσαν ποῦ ἀγέννητον αὐτὸν ὁ Σω τὴρ εἴρηκεν. Εἰ μείζων πάντων ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς, πότε ρον ἢ οὐσίᾳ μείζων ἐστὶν, ἢ τῷ πάντων αὐτὸν αἴτιον εἶναι, αὐτὸν δὲ μηδενὸς γεγεννῆσθαι; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ᾗ οὐσία, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ οὐσία μείζων πάντων ἐστίν· εἰ δὲ ᾗ ἀγέννητος, οὐ ταὐτὸν ἄρα οὐσία καὶ ἀγέννη τος. Εἰ τὸ ἀγέννητον ἔστι τι, καὶ τὸ ἀθάνατον, καὶ τὸ ἀτελεύτητον, καὶ τὸ ἄνοσον, καὶ τὸ ἀγήρων ἔσται τι. Οὐκοῦν τῷ μὲν ἀγέννητος εἶναι ὑπερ 29.688 έξει πάντων, τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις ταὐτὸν ἔσται ἀγγέλοις καὶ πνεύμασι καὶ ψυχαῖς. Καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα ἀθάνατα καὶ ἀτελεύτητα. Εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀφ' ὧν οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλ' ἀφ' ὧν ἐστιν ὑπερέχει (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἀλόγου βελ τίων τῷ μὴ εἶναι ἄψυχος καὶ ἀναίσθητος· ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ τὸ ἄλογον, ἀλλὰ τῷ εἶναι λογικός)· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς, οὐ τῷ ἀγέννητος, ἀλλὰ τῷ πάντων αἴτιος εἶ ναι, ἔσται μείζων. Εἰ ἀντιδιαστέλλεται ὁ ἀγέννητος τῷ γεννητῷ· ὁ δὲ ἀγέννητος οὐσία ἁπλῆ· καὶ τῷ ἄτρεπτος καὶ ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀσχημάτιστος, καὶ πᾶσιν ἀντιδιασταλήσεται πρὸς τὸν γεννητόν. Εἰ γὰρ τινὶ μὲν ἀντιδιαστέλλεται, τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς οὒ, σύνθε τος καὶ οὐχ ἁπλοῦς. Εἰ ὁ γνοὺς, ὅτι