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for they define nature as a principle of motion and rest. But voluntary equality as that of choice; I am not unaware, however, that also by an improper use, both intellectual and rational [are used] also of the human soul.

The creative power of all equality: There is an equality given in natures by God, the creator of all, and there is a voluntary equality, which those who pursue what is just and equality of rights in life achieve by willing and by choice. And this equality, therefore, was established by God. At any rate, God pre-contains, or rather contains, properly speaking, all equality of rights and justice in Himself simply and without parts, as in ideas and paradigms in His eternal thoughts.

ON CHAPTER 10

§ 1. As almighty and as ancient: God appeared as grey-haired to Daniel,

having a head white as wool, for which reason He was also named 'Ancient of days'; but younger than the grey-haired old man, when He appeared as a man to Abraham with the angels, and as a youth, which things, contemplating, he explained thus: as an old man, since all things are from God and after Him, and therefore younger than Him; but as young, since He is ever unaging in vigorous and steadfast blessedness. And if you should also say both together, that is, old and young at the same time, as signifying Him from the beginning extending over all things and proceeding through all eternity to the end, which end (14S_332> is younger than the beginning, this too, he says, will have reason; then he also brings forward the opinion of the divine Hierotheus; for about this I am obliged to say that he is a suitable hierophant, since he calls him his own teacher.

§ 2. Both grey-haired and young: How is the Lord sometimes described as grey-haired, and sometimes as young, as in: «Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and for ever»; at any rate, today is younger than yesterday.

Since the monad: Since arithmetic has brought to a limit the multitude which has division among numbers; having posited the monad as the principle of all number, and the dyad of even numbers, and of the succeeding numbers proceeding to magnitude by the juxtaposition of monads, since the multitude, that is, creation, is from God, and number is based on the multitude, what is according to number is reasonably called younger; for the multitude, that which is numbered, was brought forth unspeakably after God and from God, but also more primordial than this younger number of creation is the monad, as I said, or also the cause of numbers, and having a certain relation to the many things from it. Therefore God, as also the cause of these things and holding the position of a monad, is called younger according to the aforesaid theory, from the things that are from Him. But there are those who called bodies number.

§ 3. And absolutely unbegotten: Above, in the fifth chapter, we discussed at length concerning eternity and time, but now the matters under investigation must be clarified; for not only does Scripture, he says, call God eternal, in saying, «the eternal God, who made the ends of the earth»; for it calls God absolutely unbegotten, since He is this also without a cause, but it also calls eternal those things that partake (14S_334> of incorruptibility and are unchangeable in their very substance, whether angels, or a higher heaven, as in: «He has established them for ever and ever», and: «the things which are not seen are eternal». And he says they remained unchangeable as they were created; and it calls 'everlasting gates' either the heavens, or the angels set over them, like gatekeepers; and it also calls ancient things eternal, as in: «I have remembered the eternal years»; and it calls our own time an age, as in: «until the end of the age», and: «that he might deliver us from this present evil age», and conversely, it calls the age time, as in: «I will raise him up at the last day»; for an age,

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γάρ φύσιν ἀρχήν κινήσεως καί ἠρεμίας ὁρίζονται. Θελητήν δέ ἰσότητα τήν προαιρετικήν· οὐκ ἀγνοῶ μέντοι, ὡς καί καταχρηστικῶς καί ἐπί τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ψυχῆς νοερά τε καί λογική.

Πάσης ἰσότητος ποιητικήν δύναμιν: Ἔστιν ἰσότης ἡ ἐν ταῖς φύσεσιν ἐκ Θεοῦ τοῦ πάντων ποιητοῦ διδομένη, καί ἔστιν ἰσότης θελητή, ἥν ἐθέλοντες καί ἐκ προαιρέσεως κατορθοῦσιν, οἵ τό δίκαιον καί τό περί τόν βίον ἰσονομικόν μετίασι. Καί αὕτη οὖν ἡ ἰσότης ἐκ Θεοῦ συνέστη. Πᾶσαν γοῦν ἰσονομίαν καί δικαιοσύνην ὁ Θεός ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἁπλῶς καί ἀμερῶς, ὡς ἐν ἰδέαις καί παραδείγμασιν ἐν ταῖς ἀϊδίοις αὐτοῦ νοήσεσι προέχει, ἤτοι περιέχει κυρίως εἰπεῖν.

ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ι'

§ 1. Ὡς παντοκράτορα καί ὡς παλαιόν: Πολιός μέν ὤφθη ὁ Θεός τῷ ∆ανιήλ,

λευκήν ἔχων τήν κεφαλήν ὡς ἔριον, καθ' ὅ καί 'Παλαιός ἡμερῶν' ὠνομάσθη· νεώτερος δέ τοῦ πολιοῦ γέροντος, ὅταν ὡς ἀνήρ ὤφθη τῷ Ἀβραάμ μετά τῶν ἀγγέλων καί νεανίσκος, ἅ καί θεωρῶν ἀπέλυσεν ὧδε· πρεσβύτην μέν, ὡς πάντων ἐκ Θεοῦ τε ὄντων καί μετ' αὐτόν, διό καί νεωτέρων αὐτοῦ· νέον δέ, ὡς ἀεί ἐν ἀκμαίᾳ καί εὐσταθεῖ μακαριότητι ἀπαλαίωτον ὄντα. Εἰ δέ καί εἴποις τό συναμφότερον, τουτέστιν τό γηραλέον καί νέον ἅμα, ὡς ἀπ' ἀρχῆς αὐτόν δηλοῦν ἐπί πάντα διήκοντα καί προϊόντα ἄχρι τέλους διαιωνίζειν, ὅπερ τέλος (14S_332> τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐστι νεώτερον, ἕξει, φησί, καί τοῦτο λόγον· εἶτα παράγει καί γνώμην Ἱεροθέου τοῦ θείου· περί τούτου γάρ ἐπιβάλλω λέγειν αὐτόν οἰκεῖον ἱεροτελεστήν, ἅτε διδάσκαλον ἑαυτοῦ ἀποκαλοῦντα.

§ 2. Καί πολιός καί νέος: Πῶς ποτέ μέν πολιός, ποτέ δέ νέος ὁ Κύριος γράφεται, ὡς τό· «Ἰησοῦς Χριστός χθές καί σήμερον ὁ αὐτός, καί εἰς τούς αἰῶνας»· τό γοῦν σήμερον τοῦ χθές νεώτερον.

Ἐπείπερ ἡ μονάς: Ἐπειδήπερ ἡ ἀριθμητική τό ἐν ἀριθμοῖς διαίρεσιν ἔχον πλῆθος εἰς πέρας ἀνήγαγε· μονάδα μέν ἀρχήν θεμένη τοῦ παντός ἀριθμοῦ, δυάδα δέ ἀρτίων, καί τῶν ἑξῆς εἰς μέγεθος προϊόντων ἀριθμῶν κατά παράθεσιν μονάδων, ἐπειδή τό πλῆθος, τουτέστιν ἡ κτίσις, ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν, ὁ δέ ἀριθμός ἐπί τῷ πλήθει ἐστίν, εἰκότως τό κατ' ἀριθμόν νεώτερον ὀνομάζεται· τό γάρ πλῆθος, τό καἱ ἀριθμούμενον, μετά τόν Θεόν ἀφάτως καί ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ παρήχθη, ἀλλά καί τοῦ νεωτέρου τούτου ἀριθμοῦ τῆς κτίσεως ἀρχηγικώτερόν ἐστιν ἡ μονάς, ὡς ἔφην, ἤ καί τῶν ἀριθμῶν αἰτία, καί ἔχουσα σχέσιν τινά πρός τά ἐξ αὐτῆς πολλά. Οὐκοῦν ὁ Θεός, ὡς καί τούτων αἴτιος καί μονάδος λόγον ἐπέχων, νεώτερος κατά τήν εἰρημένην θεωρίαν ἐκ τῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ προσαγορεύεται. Εἰσί δέ οἵ τά σώματα ἀριθμόν ὠνόμαζον.

§ 3. Χαί ἀπολύτως ἀγέννητα: Ἄνω μέν ἐν τῷ πέμπτῳ κεφαλαίῳ περί αἰῶνος καί χρόνου πλατέως διελάβομεν, νῦν δέ τά ζητούμενα σαφηνιστέον· οὐ μόνον γάρ ἡ Γραφή, φησίν, αἰώνιον καλεῖ τόν Θεόν, ἐν τῷ λέγειν, «ὁ Θεός ὁ αἰώνιος, ὁ κατασκευάσας τά ἄκρα τῆς γῆς»· τόν γάρ Θεόν λέγει ἀπολύτως ἀγέννητον, ἅτε καί ἀναιτίως ὄντα τοῦτο, ἀλλά καί τά μετέχοντα (14S_334> ἀφθαρσίας καί ἀναλλοίωτα περί αὐτήν τήν οὐσίαν αἰώνια λέγει, εἴτε ἀγγέλους, εἴτε ἀνώτερον οὐρανόν, ὡς τό· «ἔστησεν αὐτά εἰς τόν αἰῶνα, καί εἰς τόν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος», καί τό· «τά μή βλεπόμενα αἰώνια». Ἀναλλοίωτα δέ φησι μείναντα ὡς ἐγένοντο· καί 'πύλας αἰωνίας' καλεῖ εἴτε οὐρανούς, εἴτε τούς ἐφεστηκότας τούτους ἀγγέλους, οἵα πυλωρούς· καί τά ἀρχαῖα δέ αἰώνια καλεῖ, ὡς καί τό· «ἔτη αἰώνια ἐμνήσθην»· καί τόν καθ' ἡμᾶς χρόνον αἰῶνά φησιν, ὡς τό· «ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος», καί τό· «ὅπως ἐξέληται ἡμᾶς ἀπό τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος αἰῶνος πονηροῦ», καί ἀνάπαλιν, τόν αἰῶνα χρόνον λέγει, ὡς τό· «Ἐγώ ἀναστήσω αὐτόν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ»· αἰών γάρ,