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but not a day, the things in the resurrection; and again: "in whom the God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers"; and he also calls time an age, as in: "the days of the age", and: "A Moabite and an Ammonite shall not enter into the house of the Lord until the tenth generation for ever"; for he calls the ten generations an age. Alternatively. It is not necessary, he says, where Scripture says eternal, to understand in every case the Divine (for this is what is in every way and absolutely, that is, according to every conception, unbegotten and everlasting), but also that angels are signified by such a word, as having the quality of remaining in sameness.

To partake of the age: That this father also takes 'age', according to Gregory the Theologian, to mean that which is continuous, that is, the signification of 'always being'.

And a temporal age is thought of: A temporal age is that in the Psalms: "he has labored for the age and will live to the end". And eternal time is what is found in the Apostle, such as: "before eternal times", (14S_336> and, "kept silent in eternal times"; and in Moses: "he shall be your bondsman for the age". But note, that the age to come is incorruptible and always in the same state.

Or even more, we know with them: With the saints themselves, that is. But note that he calls the intelligible things 'beings', with which he also numbers the age, but the sensible things he calls 'becoming', of which he also signifies time to be. You have these things completely in the fifth chapter.

Not simply co-eternal with God: He most wisely secures the hearer for piety, stating that one must not suppose the things called eternal to be, on this account, also co-eternal with the God who is before the ages. And indeed we have already said above that what is properly called eternal is not the age itself, but that which partakes of the age; therefore, one must call the intelligible things proper and beings, as having become immortal, and eternal, as remaining without end by the will of God, since they were also brought forth by God, not having existed before; and speaking most properly, he transfers the venerable doctrines of the Greek philosophers to piety, securely. He says, then, that the incorporeal powers created by God are beings and eternal, but not co-eternal with God, as the Greeks foolishly say, stating, 'At the same time God, at the same time all things'. There are also, he says, these things that come to be, the earthly bodies, which they name both generation and corruption, as being of the substrate of matter, and all the denser things beyond the moon. And there are intermediate beings, that is, between the eternal and the things that have become, that is, between the denser and earthly bodies, which frequently come to be and pass away into generation and corruption, which, being intermediate between these (14S_338> are themselves also bodies, yet they partake both of the age, and of time in some way; and the intermediate things are heaven and all the stars; for these too are bodies, even if more subtle, and the purest part of matter, as the Apostle says, "heavenly bodies and earthly bodies"; then, clarifying which they are, he adds: "one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars". The higher heaven, therefore, and the earth came to be in the ages; for before the created light, which was also called day, they were created, as Moses says; in the temporal intervals, the firmament and the stars, yet even though they are bodies and in time; for they are both tangible and visible, nevertheless they will be eternal, themselves also partaking of the age, just as our bodies are transformed into incorruptibility; as the Apostle also shows, saying that "the form" of this world "is passing away", not the world; which is why it is also said of these intermediate bodies in the psalms: "He has established them for the age, and for the age of the age; He has made a decree, and it shall not pass away". Note, therefore, that the stars and the sun and the moon and the heaven, are indeed more subtle bodies, but they became immortal by the will of God, just as our bodies also become after the resurrection. Alternatively. He called angels and souls intermediate between beings and things that come to be, in one way partaking of the age, on account of being incorruptible and immortal, and in another way of time, on account of being seen in generation;

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ἀλλ' οὐχ ἡμέρα, τά ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει· καί πάλιν· «ἐν οἷς ὁ Θεός τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐτύφλωσε τά νοήματα τῶν ἀπίστων»· καί τόν χρόνον δέ αἰῶνά φησιν, ὡς τό· «αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ αἰῶνος», καί· «Μωαβίτης καί Ἀμανίτης οὐκ εἰσελεύσονται ἐς τόν οἶκον Κυρίου ἕως δεκάτης γενεᾶς εἰς τόν αἰῶνα»· τάς γάρ δέκα γενεάς αἰῶνά φησιν. Ἄλλως. Οὐ χρή, φησίν, ἔνθα ἡ Γραφή αἰώνιον λέγει, πάντως τό Θεῖον νοεῖν (τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τό πάντῃ καί ἀπολύτως, τουτέστι κατά πᾶσαν ἔννοιαν, ἀγέννητον καί ἀΐδιον), ἀλλά καί ἀγγέλους τῇ τοιαύτῃ λέξει σημαίνεσθαι, ὡς τό ἐν ταυτότητι διαμένειν ἔχοντας.

Αἰῶνος μεθέξειν: Ὅτι καί οὗτος ὁ πατήρ αἰῶνα λαμβάνει, κατά τόν Θεολόγον Γρηγόριον, τοῦ διηνεκοῦς, ἤγουν τοῦ ἀεί εἶναι τήν δήλωσιν.

Καί ἔγχρονος αἰών δοξάζεται: Ἔγχρονος αἰών τό ἐν Ψαλμοῖς· «ἐκοπίασεν εἰς τόν αἰῶνα καί ζήσεται εἰς τέλος». Αἰώνιος δέ χρόνος τά παρά τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ, οἷον τό· «πρό χρόνων αἰωνίων», (14S_336> καί, «χρόνοις αἰωνίοις σεσιγημένου»· καί ἐν Μωσεῖ τό· «ἔσται σοι κατόχιμος εἰς τόν αἰῶνα». Σημείωσαι δέ, ὅτι ἄφθαρτος καί ἀεί ὡσαύτως ἔχων ὁ μέλλων αἰών.

Ἤ καί μᾶλλον ἴσμεν αὐτοῖς: Αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἁγίοις δηλονότι. Σημείωσαι δέ, ὅτι τά νοητά, ὄντα καλεῖ, οἷς καί τόν αἰῶνα συναριθμεἷ, τά δέ αἰσθητά, γένεσιν λέγει, ὧν καί τόν χρόνον εἶναι σημαίνει. Ταῦτα τελείως ἔχεις ἐν κεφαλαίῳ πέμπτῳ.

Οὐχ ἁπλῶς συναΐδια Θεῷ: Σοφώτατα κατασφαλίζεται τόν ἀκροατήν εἰς εὐσέβειαν, φάσκων μή χρῆναι ὑπονοεῖν τά λεγόμενα αἰώνια, κατά τοῦτο καί συναΐδια εἶναι Θεῷ τῷ πρό αἰώνων. Καί ἤδη μέν γάρ ἄνω εἰρήκαμεν αἰώνιον λέγεσθαι κυρίως οὐκ αὐτόν τόν αἰῶνα, ἀλλά τό αἰῶνος μετέχον· οὐκοῦν τά νοητά κυρίως καί ὄντα ὡς ἀθάνατα γενόμενα, καί αἰώνια ὡς ἀτελεύτητα βουλήσει Θεοῦ διαμένοντα χρή λέγειν, ἅτε καί παραχθέντα ὑπό Θεοῦ, οὐ πρότερον ὄντα· κυριολεκτῶν δέ μάλιστα, τά τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι φιλοσόφων σεμνά μετάγει ἐπί τήν εὐσέβειαν ἀσφαλῶς. Φησίν οὖν, ὄντα μέν εἶναι καί αἰώνια τάς ἀσωματώδεις δυνάμεις ὑπό Θεοῦ δημιουργηθείσας, οὐ μήν συναϊδίους Θεῷ, ὡς Ἕλληνες ληρῳδοῦσιν, 'Ἅμα Θεός, ἅμα πάντα', λέγοντες. Εἰσί δέ καί τά γινόμενα ταῦτα, φησί, τά πρόσγεια σώματα, ἅ καί γένεσιν καί φθοράν ὀνομάζουσιν, ὡς τῆς ὑποστάθμης ὄντα τῆς ὕλης, καί παχύτερα πάντα τά μετά σελήνην. Εἰσί δέ μέσα ὄντα, ἤτοι αἰωνίων καί γενομένων, ἤτοι παχυτέρων καί προσγείων σωμάτων, τῶν γινομένων τε καί ἀπογινομένων πυκνῶς εἰς γένεσιν καί φθοράν, ἅτινα μέσα τούτων (14S_338> σώματα μέν εἰσι καί αὐτά, πλήν καί αἰῶνος μετέχουσι, καί χρόνου ποσῶς· τά δέ μέσα εἰσίν οὐρανός καί ἀστέρες πάντες· σώματα γάρ καί ταῦτα, εἰ καί λεπτομερέστερα, καί τῆς ὕλης τό εἰλικρινέστατον, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, «σώματα ἐπουράνια καί σώματα ἐπίγεια»· εἶτα σαφηνίζων ποῖά εἰσιν, ἐπάγει· «ἄλλη δόξα ἡλίου, καί ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης, καί ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων», Ὁ μέν οὖν ἀνώτερος οὐρανός ἐν τοῑς αἰῶσι γέγονε καί ἡ γῆ· πρό γάρ τοῦ κτισθέντος φωτός, τοῦ καί ἡμέρας κληθέντος, ἐδημιουργήθησαν, ὥς φησι Μωϋσῆς· ἐν τοῖς χρονικοῖς διαστήμασι, τό στερέωμα καί οἱ ἀστέρες, πλήν κἄν σώματα καί ἔγχρονα· εἰσί γάρ καί ἁπτά καί ὁρατά, ὅμως αἰώνια ἔσονται, μεθέξοντα καί αὐτά τοῦ αἰῶνος, ὡς καί τά σώματα ἡμῶν μετασχηματιζόμενα εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν· ὡς καί ὁ Ἀπόστολος δηλοῖ, «τό σχῆμα», λέγων, «παράγειν τοῦ κόσμου τούτου», οὐ τόν κόσμον· διό καί περί τῶν μέσων τούτων σωμάτων εἴρηται ἐν ψαλμοῖς· «ἔστησεν αὐτά εἰς τόν αἰῶνα, καί εἰς τόν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος· πρόσταγμα ἔθετο, καί οὐ παρελεύσεται». Σημείωσαι οὖν ὅτι οἱ ἀστέρες καί ὁ ἥλιος καί ἡ σελήνη καί ὁ οὐρανός, σώματα μέν εἰσι λεπτομερέστερα, ἀθάνατα δέ Θεοῦ βουλήσει ἐγένοντο, ὡς καἱ τά σώματα ἡμῶν γίνονται μετά τήν ἀνάστασιν. Ἄλλως. Μέσα ὄντων καί γινομένων ἀγγέλους ἔφη καί ψυχάς, πῇ μέν αἰῶνος μετέχοντα, διά τό ἄφθαρτον καί ἀθάνατον, πῇ δέ χρόνου, διά τό ἐν γενέσει ὁρᾶσθαι·