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him, so that from what is before him this or that might come to be, such as creator, or good, or spirit, or fire, or some such thing; but neither should you suppose the same to be unbegotten, nor as being completely neither in generation, nor anything else. How then must one understand "unbegotten," he says next. And he does these things against the Arians and Eunomians, who blasphemed God on the basis of "begotten" and "unbegotten."

But as all-unbegotten? Since, as he says, God being beyond everything unbegotten, he causes it to be thought and said by this that there are certain things after the holy Trinity that are unbegotten in creation, come, let us make the meaning clear. And it is clear for now from the beginning that the divine Dionysius, since the philosophers were especially flourishing at that time in Ephesus, where Ionian philosophy also was established, [intended] to transfer all the things said erroneously by them to the truth. He knew, then, that there was a dogma of some of them saying that all intelligible, immortal, and noetic things are both begotten and unbegotten; begotten, as having subsisted from God as cause according to a procession of illumination, but unbegotten, insofar as they came forth not in time, but eternally, that is, in the ages. For we said above that sensible things have time, but intelligible things have the age, whence they are also called eternal. As, then, they said these things were unbegotten and shone forth from a procession, again he knew others who said that this visible world is both begotten and unbegotten; begotten, insofar as the all proceeds into this, or from one to many, which is (14S_314> to the generations of animals and plants according to species, and of the others; or from the many to the one, instead of, when it proceeds to corruption, to the analysis into elements; but again saying the same world is unbegotten, that is, everlasting, insofar as the movements toward generation and the restorations toward corruption, according to them, never cease. The great Dionysius says, therefore, however "unbegotten" may be said, whether as I have said, or as the Greeks [say], do not accept this with respect to God, for other things are said to be unbegotten causally, but God is uncaused and absolute; for what cause is there for God who simply surpasses all things?

Of a single form and of the same form: He said "of a single form" because of the utterly incomparable nature of the divine nature, and "of the same form" because of the unalterable and immutable, while that which is shown is defined, from the verb "to define," or that which is removed and separated.

And the Same: That which is always the same and in the same state is seen only in the productive cause of all things, from which also is given to created things to remain in sameness, and the ordering of contraries, that is, of things having a different state in relation to each other. Therefore everything, even things not in sameness of nature, is contemplated in God in the same way; for God is the cause of all beings in the same way, that is, similarly.

According to the one and unitive: God is that which is always in the same state and unalterably, which is "the Same"; and he himself is not limited by another, nor is there any limit of him, but all things are limited in him; and the same God is always, being as a monad, and that which is truly the same, and the limit of himself, and the limit of all things, set apart from all things, and having ascended above of a single form and of the same form, that is according to being the monad which is of all things unmixed and simple and according to "the Same," instead of according to "being in the same state"; for it makes no (14S_316> difference to say monad or "of a single form," and "the Same" or "of the same form"; for it means the same thing. God also imparts "the Same" to the creations from him, whence all things according to the same things and in the same way, just as they came to be, remain in their co-breathing and salvation and sympathy, as they are able to partake of this. Thus also he has the othernesses, that is, the different processions of his creations from him, preserved and ordered in himself, yet holding to his own sameness, and not being altered into otherness, nor into contrariety, although he also holds together contrary things among sensible things.

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αὐτόν, ἵνα ἐκ τοῦ πρό αὐτοῦ γένηται τόδε, οἷον δημιουργός, ἤ ἀγαθός, ἤ πνεῦμα, ἤ πῦρ, ἤ τι τοιοῦτον· ἀλλά μηδέ ἀγέννητον ὑπολάβῃς τό αὐτόν, μηδέ ὄντα παντελῶς μήτε ἐν γενέσει, μήτε ἕτερόν τι. Πῶς οὖν δεῖ τό ἀγέννητον ἀκούειν, φησίν ἐφεξῆς. Ταῦτα δέ κατά Ἀρειανῶν καί Εὐνομιανῶν ποιεῖ, τῶν ἐκ γεννητοῦ καί ἀγεννήτου τόν Θεόν βλασφημησάντων.

Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ παναγέννητον; Ἐπειδή, ὥς φησιν, ὑπέρ πᾶν ἀγέννητον ὄντα τόν Θεόν, ποιεῖ νομίζεσθαι καί λέγειν αὐτόν ἐκ τούτου εἶναί τινα μετά τήν ἁγίαν Τριάδα ἀγέννητα ἐν τῇ κτίσει, φέρε σαφές ποιήσωμεν τό σημαινόμενον. Καί τέως δῆλός ἐστιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁ Θεῖος ∆ιονύσιος, ἅτε μάλιστα τότε ἐν Ἐφέσῳ ἀκμαζόντων τῶν φιλοσόφων, ἔνθα καί ἡ Ἰωνική φιλοσοφία συνειστήκει, πάντα τά ἐκείνοις ἐσφαλμένως λεγόμενα, ἐπί τήν ἀλήθειαν μεταγαγεῖν. Ἤδει οὖν εἶναι δόγμα τινῶν αὐτῶν λεγόντων τά νοητά πάντα καί ἀθάνατα, καί νοερά γεννητά πάντα καί ἀγέννητα· γεννητά μέν, ὡς ἐξ αἰτίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑποστάντα κατά πρόοδον ἐλλάμψεως, ἀγέννητα δέ, καθ' ὅ μή ἐν χρόνῳ, ἀλλ' αἰωνίως, τουτέστιν ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσι προῆλθον. Καί γάρ ἔφημεν ἄνω τά αἰσθητά τόν χρόνον ἔχειν, τά δέ νοητά τόν αἰῶνα, ὅθεν καί αἰώνια λέγονται. Ὡς οὖν ἐκ προόδου λάμψαντα καί ἀγέννητα αὐτά εἶπον· πάλιν ᾔδει ἑτέρους καί τόνδε τοῦ ὁρατοῦ εἰπόντας κόσμον καί γεννητόν καί ἀγέννητον· καί γεννητόν μέν, καθ' ὅσον εἰς τόνδε τό πᾶν, ἤ ἐξ ἑνός καί πολλά ὁδεύει, ὅπερ ἐστί (14S_314> ἐπί τάς γενέσεις τῶν κατ' εἶδος ζώων καί φυτῶν καί τῶν ἄλλων· ἤ ἐκ τῶν πολλῶν ἐπί τό ἕν, ἀντί τοῦ, ὅταν ἐπί φθοράν ὁδεύῃ, εἰς τήν ἐπί τά στοιχεῖα ἀνάλυσιν· ἀγέννητον δέ αὗθις τόν αὐτόν λέγοντας κόσμον, ἤτοι ἀΐδιον, καθ' ὅσον τῶν κινήσεων τῶν ἐπί γένεσιν, καί τῶν ἀποκαταστάσεων τῶν ἐπί φθοράν, οὐδέποτε κατ' αὐτούς ἐφίσταται. Φησίν οὖν ὁ μέγας ∆ιονύσιος, ὅπως ποτ' ἄν λέγοιτο τό ἀγέννητον, εἴτε ὡς ἔφην, εἴτε ὡς οἱ Ἕλληνες, μή ἐπί τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦτο δέξη, τά μέν ἄλλα αἰτιατῶς λέγεται ἀγέννητα, ὁ Θεός δέ ἀναιτίως καί ἀπολύτως· τίς γάρ αἰτία Θεῷ πάντων ἀπαξαπλῶς ὑπερέχοντι;

Μονοειδῶς καί ταὐτοειδῶς: Μονοειδῶς μέν ἔφη διά τό παντελῶς ἀπαράβλητον τῆς θείας φύσεως, ταὐτοειδῶς δέ διά τό ἀναλλοίωτον καί ἀμετάβλητον, ἀφοριζόμενον δέ τό δεικνύμενον, ἀπό τοῦ ὁρίζειν, ἤ τό ἐξηρημένον καί κεχωρισμένον.

Καί τό ταὐτόν: Τό ἀεί ταὐτόν καί ὡσαύτως ἔχον ἐπί μόνης τῆς τῶν ὅλων ποιητικῆς ὁρᾶται αἰτίας, ἐξ ἧς καί τοῖς κτίσμασι τό ἐν ταυτότητι διαμένειν δεδώρηται, καί ἡ τῶν ἐναντίων, ἤγουν ἑτεροίως ἐχόντων πρός ἄλληλα σύνταξις. Ταὐτῶς οὖν ἅπαν, καί τά μή ἐν ταὐτότητι φύσεως, ἐν τῷ Θεῷ θεωρεῖται· πάντων γάρ τῶν ὄντων ταὐτῶς, ἤγουν ὁμοίως, αἴτιος ὁ Θεός.

Κατά τήν μίαν καί ἑνικήν: Τό ἀεί ὡσαύτως καί ἀναλλοιώτως ἔχειν, ὅπερ ἐστί ταὐτόν, ὁ Θεός ἐστι· καί ὑφ' ἑτέρου μέν αὐτός οὐ περατοῦται, οὐδ' ἐστί τι αὐτοῦ πέρας, εἰς αὐτόν δέ τά πάντα περατοῦται· καί ἔστιν ὁ αὐτός ἀεί Θεός, ὡς μονάς ὤν, καί τό ἀληθῶς ταὐτόν, καί ὅρος ἑαυτοῦ, καί τῶν ἁπάντων ὅρος ἐκ πάντων ἀφωρισμένος, καί ὑπεραναβεβηκώς μονοειδῶς καί ταὐτοειδῶς, τουτέστι κατά τό μονάς εἶναι ἡ πάντων ἀμιγής καί ἁπλῆ καί κατά τό ταὐτόν, ἀντί τοῦ κατά τό ὡσαύτως ἔχειν· οὐδέν (14S_316> γάρ διαφέρει μονάδα εἰπεῖν ἤ μονοειδές, καί ταὐτόν ἤ ταυτοειδές· τό γάρ αὐτό σημαίνει. Μεταδίδωσι καί τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ κτίσμασι τοῦ ταὐτοῦ ὁ Θεός, ὅθεν τά πάντα κατά τά αὐτά καί ὡσαύτως, καθώς καί ἐγένοντο, ἐν τῇ συμπνοίᾳ καί σωτηρίᾳ καί συμπαθείᾳ μένουσιν, ὡς δύνανται τούτου μετέχοντα. Οὕτω καί τάς ἑτερότητας, τουτέστι τάς ἐξ αὐτοῦ τῶν δημιουργημάτων διαφόρους προόδους, ἐν ἑαυτῷ σῳζομένας ἔχει καί συντεταγμένας, ὅμως τῆς ταυτότητος ἑαυτοῦ ἐχόμενος, καί εἰς ἑτερότητα μή ἀλλοιούμενος, μήτε εἰς ἐναντιότητα, καίτοι καί ἐναντία ἐν τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς συνέχων.