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On the same. How is it that having said above, 'neither was, nor is, nor became, nor is becoming, nor will be,' he says here, 'concerning him also the "is," and the "will be," and the "became," and the "is becoming," and "will become" are properly praised'? Does Saint Dionysius speak in contradiction to himself? May it not be. For above he said He is the creator of all existence, subsistence, essence, nature, and of time; reasonably therefore he placed concerning Him the 'was' and the others, so that you might understand that God did not begin from time, nor in time, nor after time, but that He is superior even to being itself. For he said, in Him is being; but here, since he said He is multiplied according to every conception, he rightly said, concerning Him also the 'was,' and the 'will be,' and what follows, so that, whatever season or time you may conceive, there you will find God, both above beings and pre-existing things, and the cause and creator of them and of beings, and being none of them, just as we say, that He is none of the things that are, and He is in all things.

And He is none of all things: In relation to 'all-shaped' the (14S_240> 'formless,' because of being beyond incorporeality and beyond immateriality, not formed in relation to any of the beings, and in relation to 'all-beautiful' the 'unbeautiful'. And he says 'unbeautiful,' as beauty also has come from Him, while He Himself is also beyond beauty. And the usages, 'and we saw him, and he had no form, nor beauty,' and what follows.

For if the sun that is among us: Below at the end of the following discourse, that is of the sixth chapter, where the point shows that the sun does nothing from itself, but from the cause and origin of all things, which is God. And he demonstrated well from the sun that which is conceived concerning God; for just as the sun, being one, gives life to and nourishes and increases and alters all sensible things, that is it makes great things from small, or even from a seed the sprout or tree that grows from it, and is in all visible things, being none of them, so also God, being the cause of the sun itself and of all sensible and intelligible and noetic things, is none of the things that are, and is in all things; for all things partake of Him; wherefore also the Scripture names him 'Sun of righteousness'.

Paradigms: The paradigms, which they also call ideas, we have already declared above how they are defined, that he calls the idea, that is the paradigm, a self-subsistent, eternal creation of the eternal God; and here, however, the great Dionysius clarifies the Scripture, calling the ideas 'predestinations,' alluding to the divine Paul, who in the one to the Romans says: 'and whom he predestined, these he also called'; and elsewhere: 'having predestined us in his will'; for he calls the paradigms and the ideas 'will' and 'predestination'. However, he also brings forward the blessed Clement, the bishop of Rome, whom the Apostle mentions, (14S_242> as saying, 'that among existing things there are more archetypal paradigms, such as those of relations'. But what is said will be clearer thus; there is a certain opinion that likens all things to a line, and assigns the upper part of the line to the intelligible things, and the lower to the sensible things. And of these, to the more archetypal, which are the properly intelligible things, the first and higher part, and to those from the intelligible things, the part after that; then thus in descent along the line, the others; for such an opinion wishes to show, that all things are not of the same worth, but some things have come from others, such as the subordinate species, from the universals in creation and from the principles, which universal principles he calls more archetypal. Therefore he says the sacred Clement says, that even in created things there are more general paradigms, that is ideas of relations, instead of the subordinate species which have come to be a model of the superior relations, such as the material fire in relation to the ethereal; but the great Dionysius does not say that these are properly ideas, but the thoughts of God; for even if paradigms are spoken of in creation, they are not to be worshipped, as Moses says. But where Saint Clement said these things, he did not indicate.

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Εἰς τό αὐτό. Πῶς ἀνωτέρω εἰπών, οὔτε ἦν, οὔτε ἐστίν, οὔτε ἐγένετο, οὔτε γίνεται, οὔτε γενήσεται, ἐνταῦθά φησιν, ἐπ' αὐτοῦ καί τό ἐστί, καί τό ἔσται, καί τό ἐγένετο, καί τό γίνεται, καί γενήσεται κυρίως ὑμνεῖται; ἆρα ἐναντίως ἑαυτῷ λέγει ὁ ἅγιος ∆ιονύσιος; Μή γένοιτο. Ἄνω μέν γάρ αὐτόν δημιουργόν εἶπε πάσης ὑπάρξεως, ὑποστάσεως, οὐσίας, φύσεως καί τοῦ χρόνου· εἰκότως οὖν ἐπί αὐτοῦ τό 'ἦν' ἔταξε καί τά ἕτερα, ἵνα νοήσῃς, ὅτι οὔτε ἀπό χρόνου, οὔτε ἐν χρόνῳ, οὔτε μετά χρόνον ἤρξατο ὁ Θεός, ἀλλ' ὅτι καί αὐτοῦ τοῦ εἶναι ἀνώτερός ἐστι. Ἐν αὐτῷ, γάρ εἶπε, τό εἶναι· ἐνταῦθα δέ, ἐπειδή κατά πᾶσαν ἐπίνοιαν εἶπεν αὐτόν πολλαπλασιάζεσθαι, δικαίως εἶπεν, ἐπ' αὐτοῦ καί τό ἦν, καί τό ἔσται, καί τά ἑξῆς, ἵνα, οἷον καιρόν ἤ χρόνον ἐπινοήσῃς, ἐκεῖ τόν Θεόν εὑρήσεις, καί ὑπέρ τά ὄντα καί προόντα, καί αὐτῶν καί τῶν ὄντων αἴτιον καί δημιουργόν, καί οὐδέν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὄντα, ὥσπερ λέγομεν, ὅτι οὐδέν τῶν ὄντων ἐστί, καί ἐν τοῖς πᾶσίν ἐστιν.

Καί οὐδέν ἐστι τῶν πάντων: Πρός τό 'πάνσχημος' τό (14S_240> 'ἄμορφος', διά τό ὑπέρ ἀσωματίαν καί ὑπέρ ἀϋλίαν εἶναι, οὐ μεμορφωμένον πρός τι τῶν ὄντων, πρός δέ τό 'πανείδεος' τό 'ἀκαλλής'. Ἀκαλλῆ δέ λέγει, ὡς καί τοῦ κάλλους ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγονότος, αὐτοῦ δέ καί ὑπέρ κάλλους ὄντος. Αἱ δέ χρήσεις, «καί εἴδομε αὐτόν, καί οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος, οὐδέ κάλλος», καί τά ἑξῆς.

Εἰ γάρ ὁ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἥλιος: Κάτω ἐν τῷ τέλει τοῦ ἑξῆς λόγου, ἤτοι τοῦ ἕκτου κεφαλαίου, ὅπου τό σημεῖον δείκνυσιν, ὅτι οὐδέν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ ποιεῖ ὁ ἥλιος, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς πάντων αἰτίας καί ἀρχῆς, ἥτις ἐστίν ὁ Θεός. Καλῶς δέ ἀπέδειξεν ἐκ τοῦ ἡλίου τό περί Θεοῦ νοούμενον· ὥσπερ γάρ αὐτός εἷς ὤν ὁ ἥλιος, πάντα τά αἰσθητά ζωογονεῖ καί τρέφει καί αὔξει καί ἐναλλάττει, τουτέστιν ἀπό μικρῶν μεγάλα ποιεῖ, ἤ καί ἀπό σπόρου τό ἐξ αὐτοῦ φυόμενον βλαστόν ἤ δένδρον, καί ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρωμένοις ἐστί, μηδέν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὑπάρχων, οὕτω καί ὁ Θεός καί αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἡλίου καί πάντων τῶν αἰσθητῶν καί τῶν νοητῶν καί τῶν νοερῶν ὤν αἴτιος, οὐδέν ἐκ τῶν ὄντων ἐστί, καί ἐν τοῖς πᾶσίν ἐστι· αὐτοῦ γάρ τά πάντα μετέχει· διό καί ἡ Γραφή «δικαιοσύνης Ἥλιον» αὐτόν ὀνομάζει.

Παραδείγματα: Τά παραδείγματα, ἅτινα καί ἰδέας καλοῦσιν, ἤδη μέν καί ἀνωτέρω ἐδηλώσαμεν, ὅπως ὁρίζονται, ὅτι ποίησιν αὐτοτελῆ ἀϊδιον τοῦ ἀϊδίου Θεοῦ τήν ἰδέαν, ἤτοι τό παράδειγμα, φησί· καί ἐνταῦθα μέντοι σαφηνίζει ὁ μέγας ∆ιονύσιος τήν Γραφήν, προορισμούς καλῶν τάς ἰδέας, αἰνιττόμενος τόν θεῖον Παῦλον, ὅς ἐν τῇ πρός Ρωμαίους φησίν· «οὕς δέ προώρισε, τούτους καί ἐκάλεσε»· καί ἑτέρωθι· «προορίσας ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ θελήματι αὑτοῦ»· θέλημα γάρ καί προορισμόν τά παραδείγματα καί τάς ἰδέας λέγει. Παράγει μέντοι καί τόν μακάριον Κλήμεντα, τόν Ρώμης ἐπίσκοπον, οὗ μέμνηται ὁ Ἀπόστολος, (14S_242> εἰπόντα, 'ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν εἶναι παραδείγματα ἀρχηγικώτερα, οἷον τῶν πρός τι'. Σαφέστερον δέ οὕτως ἔσται τό λεγόμενον· ἔστι τις δόξα γραμμῇ ἀπεικάζουσα τά πάντα, καί τῆς γραμμῆς τό μέν ἄνω μέρος τοῖς νοητοῖς ἀποδιδοῦσα, τό δέ κάτω τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς. Καί τούτων, τοῖς μέν ἀρχηγικωτέροις, ἅπερ εἰσί τά ἰδίως νοητά, τό πρῶτον καί ἀνώτερον μέρος, τοῖς δέ ἐκ τῶν νοητῶν, τό μετ' ἐκεῖνο· εἶθ' οὕτω καθ' ὑπόβασιν τῆς γραμμῆς, τά ἄλλα· δεῖξαι γάρ θέλει ἡ τοιαύτη δόξα, μή τῆς ἀξίας τῆς αὐτῆς εἶναι τά πάντα, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀλλήλων ἔνια γενόμενα, οἷον τά ὑφειμένα εἴδη, τῶν καθολικῶν ἐν δημιουργίᾳ καί ἀρχῶν, ἅς καθολικάς ἀρχάς ἀρχηγικώτερά φησι. Τόν οὖν ἱερόν Κλήμεντά φησι λέγειν, εἶναι καί ἐν τοῖς ποιήμασι παραδείγματα γενικώτερα, ἤτοι ἰδέας τῶν πρός τι, ἀντί τοῦ τῶν ὑποβεβηκότων εἰδῶν τῶν πρός τι τῶν ὑπερβεβηκότων ὑπόδειγμα ὑποστάντων, οἷον τό ἔνυλον πῦρ πρός τό αἰθέριον· ἀλλ' οὐ ταῦτα κυρίως ἰδέας φησίν ὁ μέγας ∆ιονύσιος, ἀλλά τάς νοήσεις τοῦ Θεοῦ· κἄν γάρ λέγηται παραδείγματα ἐν κτίσει, ἀλλ' οὐ προσκυτητά, ὥς φησι Μωϋσῆς. Ποῦ δέ ταῦτα εἶπεν ὁ ἅγιος Κλήμης, οὐκ ἐδήλωσε.