147

is God.” These things, then, he has said in the fiftieth chapter of the First Century, but in the forty-eighth of the same, he says that these things are contemplated essentially concerning God and are themselves the things participated in, in which beings participate, participating in and being temporal works, those works being without beginning, “for never,” he says, “is ‘it was not’ prior to virtue, nor to any other of the aforementioned things,” since they have God as the sole eternal begetter of their being. And lest it should seem to anyone that he speaks of that super-essentiality, which we attain in thought by the abstraction of all things, in the forty-ninth chapter immediately following, he wrote and said that also “God is infinitely infinitely exalted above the things participated in,” that is, above that beginningless—which is to say, uncreated—goodness and holiness and virtue. Therefore, these things are not simply the super-essential essence of God, neither the uncreated goodness nor the eternal glory or life and such things. For God is exalted above these things also (p. 662) as their cause. But we call Him Life and Goodness and such things, naming Him from the manifesting energies and powers of that super-essentiality, since, according to Basil the Great, the confirmation of every essence is its natural energy, which leads the mind up to the nature; and according to the divine Gregory of Nyssa and all the other fathers, “a natural energy is the power revelatory of every essence, of which only non-being is deprived; for that which is, participating in some essence, will certainly also participate in the power that naturally reveals it.” But also, as being whole in each of the divine energies, we name Him from each one, from which it is also shown that He is exalted above them all. For how, when there are many divine energies, could He exist whole in each one, entirely without division, and from each one be seen and called whole on account of the super-natural character of His undivided simplicity, unless He transcended them all?

And indeed, there are some of God’s energies that had a beginning and an end, as all the saints will jointly testify to this also. For even if this one, who seems to know all things precisely, considers everything that has a beginning to be also created, for which reason also, having said that one thing is without beginning, the essence of God, he introduced as its opposite, “but the things besides this are of a created nature,” if indeed he opines that all things that received a beginning are created, yet we know that all the energies of God are uncreated, but not all are without beginning. For although not of the creative power, but of the action according to it, that is, of the energy with respect to created things, there was a beginning and an end, and this Moses showed, saying “God rested from all the works which he had begun to do,” how then would that super-essentiality not be other than its own energies? But will he say that the beginningless energies are the same as it? (p. 664) But there are some of these that had an end, even if not a beginning, as Basil the Great also said concerning the foreknowledge of God. Therefore, the super-essential essence of God is not the same as the beginningless energies either, through which it is also shown not only that it is exalted above every energy whatsoever, but also “infinitely infinitely” so, according to Maximus, the great in things divine.

But the blessed Cyril says, “a divine energy and power is for God to be everywhere and to pass through all things, but to be contained by none.” Therefore, this is not the nature of God, to be everywhere, just as for us it is not our nature only to be somewhere. For how could that which is in no way an essence be our essence? Therefore, in God, essence and energy are not at all the same, even if He is shown whole in each energy on account of the indivisibility of His essence. And John the Golden-mouthed says “an essential energy of God is to be nowhere, not by not existing, but by being beyond place and time and

147

ἐστιν ὁ Θεός». Ταῦτα μέν οὖν ἐν πεντηκοστῷ κεφαλαίῳ τῆς πρώτης Ἑκατοντάδος εἴρηκεν, ἐν δέ τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ ὀγδόῳ τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσιωδῶς περί τόν Θεόν αὐτά φησι θεωρεῖσθαι καί αὐτά εἶναι τά μεθεκτά, ὧν μετέχουσι τά ὄντα μετέχοντα καί ἠργμένα ἔργα χρονικῶς, ἀνάρχων ἔργων ἐκείνων ὄντων, «οὐ γάρ ποτε», φησί, «πρεσβύτερον ἀρετῆς τό "οὐκ ἦν", οὐδέ τινος ἄλλου τῶν εἰρημένων», οἷα τόν Θεόν ἔχοντα τοῦ εἶναι μονώτατον ἀϊδίως γεννήτορα. Καί ἵνα μή τινι δόξῃ τήν ὑπερουσιότητα ἐκείνην λέγειν, ᾗ κατά τήν ἀπόλυσιν πάντων τῇ διανοίᾳ ἐπιβάλλομεν, ἐν τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ ἐνάτῳ ἐφεξῆς εὐθύς γράφων εἶπεν ὅτι καί «τῶν μεθεκτῶν ἀπειράκις ἀπείρως ὁ Θεός ὑπερεξῄρηται», τῆς ἀνάρχου δηλαδή, ταὐτόν δ᾿ εἰπεῖν ἀκτίστου, ἐκείνης ἀγαθότητος καί ἁγιότητος καί ἀρετῆς. Οὔκουν ταῦθ᾿ ἁπλῶς ἡ ὑπερούσιος οὐσία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν οὔθ᾿ ἠ ἄκτιστος ἀγαθότης οὔτε ἠ ἀΐδιος δόξα ἤ ζωή καί τά τοιαῦτα. Καί τούτων γάρ (σελ. 662) ὡς αἴτιος ὁ Θεός ὑπερεξῄρηται. Ζωήν δέ λέγομεν αὐτόν καί ἀγαθότητα καί τά τοιαῦτα, καλοῦντες αὐτόν ἀπό τῶν παραστατικῶν ἐνεργειῶν τε καί δυνάμεων τῆς ὑπερουσιότητος ἐκείνης, ἐπεί, κατά τόν μέγαν Βασίλειον, πίστωσις πάσης οὐσίας ἡ κατά φύσιν καθέστηκε ταύτης ἐνέργεια, τόν νοῦν ἐπί τήν φύσιν ἀνάγουσα˙ κατά δέ τόν Νύσσης θεῖον Γρηγόριον καί τούς ἄλλους πατέρας ἅπαντας, «ἐνέργειά ἐστι φυσική ἡ δηλωτική πάσης οὐσίας δύναμις, ἧς μόνον ἐστέρηται τό μή ὄν˙ τό γάρ ὄν, οὐσίας τινός μετέχον, καί τῆς δηλούσης αὐτήν φυσικῶς μεθέξει πάντως δυνάμεως». Ἀλλά καί ὡς ὅλον ἐν ἑκάστῃ ὄντα τῶν θεοπρεπῶν ἐνεργειῶν, ἀφ᾿ ἑκάστης ὀνομάζομεν αὐτόν, ἀφ᾿ οὗ διαδείκνυται καί τό πασῶν τούτων ὑπερεξῃρῆσθαι. Πῶς γάρ πολλῶν οὐσῶν θεοπρεπῶν ἐνεργειῶν, ὅλος ἐν ἑκάστῃ παντάπασιν ἀμερίστως ἐνυπῆρχεν ἄν καί ἀφ᾿ ἑκάστης ὅλος ἑωρᾶτό τε καί ἐκαλεῖτο διά τό τῆς ἀμεροῦς ἁπλότητος ὑπερφυές εἰ μή τούτων ἁπασῶν ὑπερανέστηκε;

Καί μήν εἰσίν αἵ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐνεργειῶν ἀρχήν καί λῆξιν ἔσχον, ὡς καί τοῦτο πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι συμμαρτυρήσουσιν. Εἰ γάρ καί ὁ πάντα δοκῶν ἀκριβῶς γινώσκειν οὗτος τήν ἀρχήν ἔχον ἅπαν καί κτιστόν ἡγεῖται, διό καί ἕν εἶναι φήσας ἄναρχον, τήν οὐσίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐπήνεγκεν ὡς ἀντιδιῃρημένον, «τά δέ παρά ταύτην γενητῆς ὑπάρχει φύσεως», εἰ γοῦν ἐκεῖνος τά ἀρχήν λαβόντα καί κτιστά ἅπαντα δοξάζειν, ἀλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς πάσας μέν τά τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐνεργείας ἀκτίστους ὑπαρχούσας οἴδαμεν, οὐ πάσας δέ ἀνάρχους. Εἰ γάρ καί μή τῆς δημιουργικῆς δυνάμεως, ἀλλά τῆς κατά ταύτην πράξεως, δηλαδή τῆς κατά τά δεδημιουργημένα ἐνεργείας, γέγονεν ἀρχή καί τέλος, καί τοῦτ᾿ ἔδειξεν ὁ Μωϋσῆς εἰπών «κατέπαυσεν ὁ Θεός ἀπό πάντων τῶν ἔργων, ὧν ἤρξατο ποιῆσαι», πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἄλλο παρά τάς οἰκείας ἐνεργείας ἡ ὑπερουσιότης ἐκείνη εἴη; Ἀλλ᾿ ἐρεῖ τάς ἀνάρχους ἐνεργείας ταὐτόν ἐκείνῃ εἶναι; (σελ. 664) Ἀλλ᾿ εἰσιν αἵ τῶν τούτων τέλος ἔσχον, εἰ καί μή ἀρχήν, ὅ καί περί τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ προγνώσεως ὁ μέγας εἴρηκε Βασίλειος. Οὐκ ἄρα ταὐτόν οὐδέ τοῖς ἀνάρχοις ἐνεργείαις ἡ ὑπερούσιος οὐσία τοῦ Θεοῦ, δι᾿ ὧν καί ὅτι πάσης ἐνεργείας οἱσδηποτοῦν οὐ μόνον ὑπερεξῃρημένη δείκνυται ἐκείνη, ἀλλά καί «ἀπειράκις ἀπείρως» κατά τόν πολύν τά θεῖα Μάξιμον.

Ὁ δέ μακάριος Κύριλλος, «ἐνέργεια» φησί, «θεοπρεπής καί δύναμίς ἐστι τό εἶναι πανταχῇ καί χωρεῖν μέν διά πάντων τόν Θεόν, χωρεῖσθαι δέ ὑπ᾿ οὐδενός». Οὐ τοίνυν τοῦτο φύσις Θεοῦ, τό εἶναι πανταχοῦ, εἴπερ μηδέ ἡμῖν φύσις ἐστί τοῦτο μόνον, τό εἶναί που. Τό γάρ μηδαμῶς οὐσία ὄν, πῶς ἄν ἡμῶν οὐσία εἴη; Οὐκ ἄρα ταὐτόν παντάπασιν ἐπί Θεοῦ οὐσία καί ἐνέργεια, εἰ καί ὅλος ἐν ἑκάστῃ ἐνεργείᾳ δείκνυται διά τό τῆς οὐσίας ἀμερές. Ἰωάννης δέ ὁ Χρυσορρήμων «οὐσιώδη ἐνέργειαν» φησί «Θεοῦ τό μηδαμοῦ εἶναι, οὐ τῷ μή εἶναι, ἀλλά τῷ ὑπερεῖναι τόπου καί χρόνου καί