Chapter CXXVII.—These passages of Scripture do not apply to the Father, but to the Word.

“These and other such sayings are recorded by the lawgiver and by the prophets; and I suppose that I have stated sufficiently, that wherever501    ὅταυ πον instead of ὅταν μου. God says, ‘God went up from Abraham,’502    Gen. xviii. 22. or, ‘The Lord spake to Moses,’503    Ex. vi. 29. and ‘The Lord came down to behold the tower which the sons of men had built,’504    Gen. xi. 5. or when ‘God shut Noah into the ark,’505    Gen. vii. 16. you must not imagine that the unbegotten God Himself came down or went up from any place. For the ineffable Father and Lord of all neither has come to any place, nor walks, nor sleeps, nor rises up, but remains in His own place, wherever that is, quick to behold and quick to hear, having neither eyes nor ears, but being of indescribable might; and He sees all things, and knows all things, and none of us escapes His observation; and He is not moved or confined to a spot in the whole world, for He existed before the world was made. How, then, could He talk with any one, or be seen by any one, or appear on the smallest portion of the earth, when the people at Sinai were not able to look even on the glory of Him who was sent from Him; and Moses himself could not enter into the tabernacle which he had erected, when it was filled with the glory of God; and the priest could not endure to stand before the temple when Solomon conveyed the ark into the house in Jerusalem which he had built for it? Therefore neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other man, saw the Father and ineffable Lord of all, and also of Christ, but [saw] Him who was according to His will His Son, being God, and the Angel because He ministered to His will; whom also it pleased Him to be born man by the Virgin; who also was fire when He conversed with Moses from the bush. Since, unless we thus comprehend the Scriptures, it must follow that the Father and Lord of all had not been in heaven when what Moses wrote took place: ‘And the Lord rained upon Sodom fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven;’506    Gen. xix. 24. and again, when it is thus said by David: ‘Lift up your gates, ye rulers; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting gates; and the King of glory shall enter;’507    Ps. xxiv. 7. and again, when He says: ‘The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.’508    Ps. cx. 1.

[127] Καὶ τὰ ἄλλα δὲ τοιαῦτά ἐστιν εἰρημένα τῷ νομοθέτῃ καὶ τοῖς προφήταις. καὶ ἱκανῶς εἰρῆσθαί μοι ὑπολαμβάνω ὅτι, ὅταν μου ὁ θεὸς λέγῃ: Ἀνέβη ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ Ἀβραάμ, ἢ Ἐλάλησε κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν, καὶ Κατέβη κύριος τὸν πύργον ἰδεῖν ὃν ᾠκοδόμησαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἢ ὅτε Ἔκλεισεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν κιβωτὸν Νῶε ἔξωθεν, μὴ ἡγεῖσθε αὐτὸν τὸν ἀγέννητον θεὸν καταβεβηκέναι ἢ ἀναβεβηκέναι ποθέν. ὁ γὰρ ἄρρητος πατὴρ καὶ κύριος τῶν πάντων οὔτε ποι ἀφῖκται οὔτε περιπατεῖ οὔτε καθεύδει οὔτε ἀνίσταται, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ χώρᾳ, ὅπου ποτέ, μένει, ὀξὺ ὁρῶν καὶ ὀξὺ ἀκούων, οὐκ ὀφθαλμοῖς οὐδὲ ὠσὶν ἀλλὰ δυνάμει ἀλέκτῳ: καὶ πάντα ἐφορᾷ καὶ πάντα γινώσκει, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν λέληθεν αὐτόν: οὔτε κινούμενος, ὁ τόπῳ τε ἀχώρητος καὶ τῷ κόσμῳ ὅλῳ, ὅς γε ἦν καὶ πρὶν τὸν κόσμον γενέσθαι. πῶς ἂν οὖν οὗτος ἢ λαλήσειε πρός τινα ἢ ὀφθείη τινὶ ἢ ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ μέρει γῆς φανείη, ὁπότε γε οὐδὲ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ παρ' αὐτοῦ πεμφθέντος ἴσχυεν ὁ λαὸς ἰδεῖν ἐν Σινᾶ, οὐδ' αὐτὸς Μωυσῆς ἴσχυσεν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν σκηνήν, ἣν ἐποίησεν, εἰ μὲν ἐπληρώθη τῆς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ δόξης, οὐδὲ μὴν ὁ ἱερεὺς ὑπέμεινε κατενώπιον τοῦ ναοῦ στῆναι, ὅτε τὴν κιβωτὸν Σολομὼν εἰσεκόμισεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τὸν ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ, ὃν αὐτὸς ὁ Σολομὼν ᾠκοδομήκει; οὔτε οὖν Ἀβραὰμ οὔτε Ἰσαὰκ οὔτε Ἰακὼβ οὔτε ἄλλος ἀνθρώπων εἶδε τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἄρρητον κύριον τῶν πάντων ἁπλῶς καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν κατὰ βουλὴν τὴν ἐκείνου καὶ θεὸν ὄντα, υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἄγγελον ἐκ τοῦ ὑπηρετεῖν τῇ γνώμῃ αὐτοῦ: ὃν καὶ ἄνθρωπον γεννηθῆναι διὰ τῆς παρθένου βεβούληται, ὃς καὶ πῦρ ποτε γέγονε τῇ πρὸς Μωυσέα ὁμιλίᾳ τῇ ἀπὸ τῆς βάτου. ἐπεὶ ἐὰν μὴ οὕτω νοήσωμεν τὰς γραφάς, συμβήσεται τὸν πατέρα καὶ κύριον τῶν ὅλων μὴ γεγενῆσθαι τότε ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ὅτε διὰ Μωυσέως λέλεκται: Καὶ κύριος ἔβρεξεν ἐπὶ Σόδομα πῦρ καὶ θεῖον παρὰ κυρίου ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ: καὶ πάλιν διὰ Δαυεὶδ ὅτε λέλεκται οὕτως: Ἄρατε πύλας οἱ ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης: καὶ πάλιν ὅτε φησί: Λέγει κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου: Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου.