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having named the Hebrew theologian, even if he did not think it worthy to make mention of the evangelist John by name, nevertheless he bears witness to his words, writing these very things verbatim:

11.19.1 20. OF AMELIUS CONCERNING THE THEOLOGY OF JOHN THE EVANGELIST AMONG US

«And this, then, was the Word, according to whom the things that are made were made, being ever existent, as also Heraclitus might maintain, and, by Zeus, whom the barbarian maintains is established in the order and dignity of the beginning, to be with God and to be God; through whom all things whatsoever were made; in whom that which was made was by nature living and life and being; and that he descends into bodies, and having put on flesh appears as a man, showing even then the greatness of his nature; and of course, being released again, is deified and is God, such as he was before he was brought down into the body and the flesh and the man.» 11.19.2 These things would be clearly not obscurely, but openly now with unveiled head 11.19.2 translated from the theology of the barbarian. And who was this barbarian to him, if not the evangelist of our Savior, John, a Hebrew 11.19.3 of the Hebrews? who, somewhere at the beginning of his own scripture, theologizes in this way: «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his 11.19.4 glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father.» Concerning the same one, hear also what another theologian of the Hebrews recounts: «Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, whether visible or invisible; and all things 11.19.5 consist through him and all things were created in him.» But also concerning the constitution and essence of the second cause, the wise men of the Greeks have thus agreed with the Hebrews. Let us proceed then to other matters.

11.20.1 21. CONCERNING THE THREE RULING HYPOSTASES

Since the oracles among the Hebrews, after the doctrine of the Father and the Son, count the Holy Spirit in the third rank, and thus set forth the holy and blessed Trinity in this manner, as that the third power, having surpassed all created nature, is the first of the intelligent substances constituted through the Son, and the third from the first cause, see how Plato also hinted at such things through his letter to Dionysius, saying: 11.20.2 «I must speak to you in riddles, so that if the tablet should suffer anything in the folds of sea or land, he who reads may not understand. For it is thus: all things are around the King of all, and all things are for his sake, and he is the cause of all beautiful things; and second around the second things, and third around the third things. The human soul, therefore, longs to learn what sort of things these are, looking to the things akin to itself.» 11.20.3 Those who try to explain Plato refer these things to the first God, and to the second cause, and thirdly to the soul of the world, defining it also to be a third god; but the divine oracles place the holy and blessed Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the rank of a principle, according to what has been delivered. It follows after these things to examine the Good

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ὀνομάσας τὸν Ἑβραῖον θεολόγον, εἰ καὶ μὴ ἐπ' ὀνόματος ἠξίωσε τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ Ἰωάννου μνήμην ποιήσασθαι, ἐπιμαρτυρεῖ δ' οὖν ὅμως ταῖς αὐτοῦ φωναῖς, αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς ῥῆμα γράφων·

11.19.1 κʹ. ΑΜΕΛΙΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΡ' ΗΜΙΝ ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΣΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ

«Καὶ οὗτος ἄρα ἦν ὁ λόγος καθ' ὃν αἰεὶ ὄντα τὰ γινόμενα ἐγίνετο, ὡς ἂν καὶ ὁ Ἡράκλειτος ἀξιώσειε καὶ νὴ ∆ί' ὃν ὁ βάρβαρος ἀξιοῖ ἐν τῇ τῆς ἀρχῆς τάξει τε καὶ ἀξίᾳ καθεστηκότα πρὸς θεὸν εἶναι καὶ θεὸν εἶναι· δι' οὗ πάνθ' ἁπλῶς γεγενῆσθαι· ἐν ᾧ τὸ γενόμενον ζῶν καὶ ζωὴν καὶ ὂν πεφυκέναι· καὶ εἰς τὰ σώματα πίπτειν καὶ σάρκα ἐνδυσάμενον φαντάζεσθαι ἄνθρωπον μετὰ τοῦ καὶ τηνικαῦτα δεικνύειν τῆς φύσεως τὸ μεγαλεῖον· ἀμέλει καὶ ἀναλυθέντα πάλιν ἀποθεοῦσθαι καὶ θεὸν εἶναι, οἷος ἦν πρὸ τοῦ εἰς τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν σάρκα καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον καταχθῆναι.» 11.19.2 Ταῦτ' οὐκέτι ἐπεσκιασμένως, ἀλλ' ἄντικρυς ἤδη γυμνῇ τῇ κεφαλῇ 11.19.2 μεταπεφρασμένα ἐκ τῆς τοῦ βαρβάρου θεολογίας δῆλα ἂν εἴη. ὁ δέ γε βάρβαρος τίς ἦν αὐτῷ εἰ μὴ ὁ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εὐαγγελιστὴς Ἰωάννης, Ἑβραῖος 11.19.3 ὢν ἐξ Ἑβραίων; ὅς που ἀρχόμενος τῆς οἰκείας γραφῆς ὧδέ πη θεολογεῖ· «Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος· οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. πάντα δι' αὐτὸν ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν, ὃ γέγονεν. ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν 11.19.4 δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός.» τοῦ δ' αὐτοῦ πέρι καὶ ἄλλος Ἑβραίων θεολόγος ἐπάκουσον οἷα διέξεισιν· «Ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, εἴτε ὁρατὰ εἴτε ἀόρατα· καὶ πάντα 11.19.5 δι' αὐτοῦ συνέστηκε καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη.» ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς τοῦ δευτέρου αἰτίου συστάσεώς τε καὶ οὐσιώσεως ὧδε τοῖς Ἑλλήνων σοφοῖς πρὸς τὰ Ἑβραίων συμπεφώνηται. μετίωμεν δῆτα καὶ ἐφ' ἕτερα.

11.20.1 καʹ. ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΤΡΙΩΝ ΑΡΧΙΚΩΝ ΥΠΟΣΤΑΣΕΩΝ

Τῶν παρ' Ἑβραίοις λογίων μετὰ τὸν περὶ πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ λόγον ἐν τρίτῃ τάξει τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα καταλεγόντων καὶ τήν γε ἁγίαν καὶ μακαρίαν τριάδα τοῦτον ὑποτιθεμένων τὸν τρόπον, ὡς ἂν τῆς τρίτης δυνάμεως πᾶσαν ὑπερβεβηκυίας γενητὴν φύσιν οὖσάν τε πρώτην μὲν τῶν διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ συστασῶν νοερῶν οὐσιῶν, τρίτην δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου αἰτίου, θέα ὅπως καὶ ὁ Πλάτων τοιαῦτά τινα ᾐνίξατο διὰ τῆς πρὸς ∆ιονύσιον ἐπιστολῆς λέγων· 11.20.2 «Φραστέον δή σοι δι' αἰνιγμῶν, ἵν' ἄν τι ἡ δέλτος ἢ πόντου ἢ γῆς ἐν πτυχαῖς πάθῃ, ὁ ἀναγνοὺς μὴ γνῷ. ὧδε γὰρ ἔχει· περὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα πάντ' ἐστὶ καὶ ἐκείνου ἕνεκα πάντα, καὶ ἐκεῖνο αἴτιον ἁπάντων καλῶν· δεύτερον δὲ περὶ τὰ δεύτερα καὶ τρίτον περὶ τὰ τρίτα. ἡ οὖν ἀνθρωπίνη ψυχὴ περὶ αὐτὰ ὀρέγεται μαθεῖν ποῖα ἄττα ἐστί, βλέπουσα εἰς τὰ αὑτῆς συγγενῆ.» 11.20.3 Ταῦτα οἱ τὸν Πλάτωνα διασαφεῖν πειρώμενοι ἐπὶ τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν ἀνάγουσιν ἐπί τε τὸ δεύτερον αἴτιον καὶ τρίτον τὴν τοῦ κόσμου ψυχήν, θεὸν τρίτον καὶ αὐτὴν εἶναι ὁριζόμενοι· οἱ δέ γε θεῖοι λόγοι τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ μακαρίαν τριάδα, Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ καὶ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ἐν ἀρχῆς λόγῳ τάττουσι κατὰ τὰ ἀποδεδομένα. Ἕπεται τούτοις τὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐξετάσαι