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This then is what we say, that some divine things are knowable and demonstrable, but others are unknowable and indemonstrable.

But you, being least initiated into these things as it seems, say that of divine things there is neither knowledge nor demonstration, but faith alone, and you do not even listen to the great Paul, who says to the unbelieving Greeks that "what is known of God is manifest" and that "although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks," nor the true contemplation of God that comes to the faithful who show their faith by works, which the Lord blesses in the (p. 528) gospels, have you either experienced or believed, you who boast greatly in faith, even though this is the end or prize of faith, or a pledge of the prize, worked through love. For if faith is the only thing for divine matters, then this contemplation is not true. But if it is true, as indeed it is, that other thing is also true, that "no one has ever seen God," that is what we said above, that some divine things can be contemplated, but others cannot.

But you, have you never read and understood that theological saying, "one God, who is over all and through all and in all," being now apprehended in part, and sought for in part, and at some time to be apprehended as He is perhaps; "for he made darkness his hiding place," as the psalmist says, but also "his lightnings lighted up the world," and no one is ignorant of God, even if some, willfully evil, pretend not to know. For He is "a sun of righteousness" shining generously upon all, "both evil and good"; but some, opening their eyelids, are filled with the life-giving ray, while the wicked, closing their eyes, pretend not to know in any way and through their prolonged lack of communion with the light fall into mental blindness, which is wont to happen also with physical sight. Yet He, by the excess of His brilliance, does not permit anyone to look upon Him at all, which is why He is also beyond conception, and yet again by this excess He reaches even to those who see dimly and appears to those who seek and even to the least of rational beings, just as the perceptible sun also acts upon weak eyes, although because of the excess of its brilliance it does not permit the sense to gaze upon it at all.

And yet if it were possible to demonstrate only cataphatically, there would perhaps be some reason for there to be no (p. 530) demonstration of any divine things; but where it is also possible to demonstrate apophatically, what do you say? Shall we not demonstrate that the creator of all is none of the created things? Shall we not demonstrate that the good is the cause of no evil? Furthermore, if none of the created things were beyond demonstration, you would have spoken well in saying that all divine things are beyond demonstration, and you would think something great, as if magnifying God above others; but since many things on earth that are within our reach also appear to be beyond demonstration, how will the divine pre-eminence be made manifest from this? For we know that experience is by nature more certain than demonstration, so that this too is beyond demonstration, although every art and science has its principles from it: art being gathered from things in generation and corruption, and science from things always said to be in the same state.Since, therefore, so many existing things are beyond demonstration, how did you think you were magnifying the Being who is above all beings above others by declaring this too to be beyond demonstration? For what majesty is it for the supercosmic angels to have been shown to have a nature superior to lions and elephants? For we too, who are in the world and so far inferior to those angels, have a nature superior to them; so therefore one could not show the majesty of God by showing Him to be beyond demonstration.

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τοῦτο οὖν ἐστιν, ὅ ἡμεῖς φαμεν, ὅτι τά μέν τῶν θείων γνωστά ἐστι καί ἀποδεικτά, τά δ᾿ ἄγνωστά τε καί ἀναπόδεικτα.

Σύ δ᾿ ἥκιστα μεμυημένος ταῦθ᾿ ὡς ἔοικεν οὐδενός φῄς εἶναι τῶν θείων γνῶσιν οὐδέ ἀπόδειξιν, ἀλλά πίστιν μόνην, καί οὐδέ τοῦ μεγάλου Παύλου ἀκούεις, ὅς τοῖς ἀπίστοις Ἕλλησι λέγει «φανερόν εἶναι τό γνωστόν τοῦ Θεοῦ» καί ὅτι «γνόντες τόν Θεόν, οὐχ ὡς Θεόν ἐδόξασαν ἤ ἐσεβάσθησαν», οὐδέ τήν τοῖς πιστοῖς καί ἔργῳ τήν πίστιν ἐπιδεικνυομένοις ἐγγινομένην ἀληθῆ Θεοῦ θεωρίαν, ἥν ἐν (σελ. 528) εὐαγγελίοις μακαρίζει ὁ Κύριος, ἤ πέπονθας ἤ πεπίστευκας, ὅς τῇ πίστει μεγαλαυχῶν, καίτοι τῆς πίστεως οὖσαν τέλος ἤ βραβεῖον ἤ βραβείου ἀρραβῶνα διά τῆς ἀγάπης ἐνεργούμενον˙ εἰ γάρ πίστις ἐπί τῶν θείων μόνη, οὐδ᾿ ἡ θεωρία αὕτη ἀληθής. Εἰ δ᾿ ἀληθής, ὥσπερ οὖν ἐστιν, ἀληθές δέ κἀκεῖνο, ὅτι «Θεόν οὐδείς ἑώρακε πώποτε», τοῦτ᾿ ἔστιν ὑπέρ ἔφημεν ἡμ εῖς, ὅτι τά μέν τῶν θείων θεωρητά ἐστι, τά δ᾿ οὔ.

Σύ δέ οὐδέ τό θελογικόν ἐκεῖνό ποτ᾿ ἀναγνούς ἐπέγνως, «εἷς Θεός, ὁ ἐπί πάντων καί διά πάντων καί ἐν πᾶσι», τό μέν ἄρτι καταλαμβανόμενος, τό δέ ζητούμενος, ποτέ δέ ὅσον ἐστί τυχόν καταληφθησόμενος˙ «ἔθετο μέν γάρ σκότος ἀποκρυφήν αὐτοῦ», καθά φησιν ὁ ψαλμῳδός, ἀλλά καί «ἔφαναν αἱ ἀστραπαί αὐτοῦ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ», καί οὐδείς ἀνεπιγνώμων ἐστί τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἰ καί τινες ἐθελοκακοῦντες μή εἰδέναι προσποιοῦνται. Καί γάρ «ἥλιός ἐστι δικαιοσύνης» πᾶσι δαψιλῶς ἐπιλάμπων «πονηροῖς τε καί ἀγαθοῖς»˙ ἀλλ᾿ οἱ μέν διαίροντες τά βλέφαρα, τῆς ζωαρχικῆς ἀκτῖνος ἐμφοροῦνται, οἱ δέ πονηροί μύοντες τάς ὄψεις, μηδ᾿ ἀμωσγέπως εἰδέναι προσποιοῦνται καί τῇ ἐπί πλεῖστον ἀνομιλησίᾳ τοῦ φωτός εἰς τήν κατά διάνοιαν πήρωσιν ἐκπίπτουσιν, ὅ κἀπί τῶν σωματικῶν ὄψεων συμβαίνειν πέφυκεν. Ἐκεῖνος μέντοι τῇ περιουσίᾳ τῆς λαμπρότητος οὔτε προσιδεῖν ὅλως συγχωρεῖ τινα, διό καί ὑπέρ ἔννοιάν ἐστι, καί ταύτῃ αὖθις τῇ περιουσίᾳ καί μέχρι τῶν ἀμυδρῶς ὁρώντων φθάνει καί τοῖς ζητοῦσιν ἐπιφαίνεται καί αὐτοῖς τοῖς τῶν λογικῶν ἐσχάτοις, ὥσπερ καί ὁ αἰσθητός ἥλιος κἀπί τάς ἀμβλείας ὄψεις ἐνεργεῖ, καίτοι διά τό ὑπερβάλλον τῆς λαμπρότητος μηδέ προσατενίζειν ὅλως συγχωρῶν τήν αἴσθησιν.

Καί μήν εἰ μέν καταφατικῶς μόνον ἦν ἀποδεικνύειν, εἶχεν ἄν τινα λόγον ἴσως ἐπ᾿ οὐδενός τῶν θείων εἶναι (σελ. 530) ἀπόδειξιν˙ ἐκεῖ δέ καί ἀποφατικῶς ἀποδεικνύειν ἔνι, τί φῄς; Οὐκ ἀποδείξομεν τόν πάντων κτίστην μηδέν εἶναι τῶν κτιστῶν; Οὐκ ἀποδείξομεν τό ἀγαθόν μηδενός αἴτιον κακοῦ; Πρός δέ, εἰ μέν μηδέν ἦν τῶν κτισμάτων ὑπέρ ἀπόδειξιν, καλῶς ἄν εἰπών πάντα τά θεῖα ὑπέρ ἀπόδειξιν, μέγα τι φρονεῖς ὡς ὑπέρ τούς ἄλλους μεγαλύνων τόν Θεόν˙ ἐπεί δέ πολλά καί τῶν ἐπί γῆς ὄντων καί ἡμῖν ἐφικτῶν ὑπέρ ἀπόδειξιν ὄντα φαίνεται, πῶς ἐντεῦθεν ἔκφανσις ἔσται τῆς θείας ὑπεροχῆς; Τῆς γάρ ἀποδείξεως ἴσμεν βεβαιοτέραν φύσει τήν ἐμπειρίαν οὖσαν, ὥστε καί αὕτη ὑπέρ ἀπόδειξιν, καίτοι πᾶσα καί τέχνη καί ἐπιστήμη παρ᾿ αὐτῆς ἔχει τάς ἀρχάς˙ συνηθροισμένη μέν ἀπό τῶν ἐν γενέσει καί φθορᾷ πραγμάτων ἡ τέχνη, ἐπιστήμη δέ παρά τῶν ἀεί λεγομένων ὡσαύτως ἔχειν.Ἐπεί τοίνυν τοσαῦτα τῶν ὄντων ὑπέρ ἀπόδειξιν πῶς γό ὑπέρ ᾶν ὄν μεγαλύνεις ᾠήθης ὑπέρ τούς ἄλλους καί ὑπέρ ἀπόδειξιν ἀποφηνάμενος τοῦτο; Τίς γάρ μεγαλειότης τοῖς ὑπερκοσμίοις ἀγγέλοις ὑπέρ τούς λέοντας δεδεῖχθαι τήν φύσιν καί τούς ἐλέφαντας; Καί ἡμεῖς γάρ τήν φύσιν ὑπέρ αὐτούς οἱ ἐγκόσμιοι καί τοσοῦτον ἀποδέοντες τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐκείνων˙ οὕτω τοίνυν οὐδέ μεγαλειότητα ἄν τις δεῖξαι Θεοῦ τῷ δεῖξαι τοῦτον ὑπέρ ἀπόδειξιν.