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the endless will exist, but the imperishable will be subject to an end. But I beg the readers not to turn the condemnation for being ridiculous against 2.1.526 us. For we have necessarily played these games against the jester, so that through similar child's play we might unravel the juvenile complexity of his sophism. But if it should not seem heavy and troublesome to the readers, it would not be inopportune to set forth again the words of Eunomius verbatim. 20If according to the endlessness20, he says, 20of life alone he is imperishable, and according to the unbegunness alone he is unbegotten, then in that respect in which he is not imperishable, he will be perishable, and in that respect in which he is not unbegotten, he will be begotten20. And taking up the same point again he says 20He will be, therefore, according to his unbegunness, at once unbegotten and perishable, and according to his endlessness, at once imperishable and 2.1.527 begotten20. For I pass over the inopportune parenthetical remarks in the midst of the superfluous ones, as contributing nothing further to the construction of the argument. But the meaning of our words, from which this man himself quoted, I think it is easy for anyone to understand that it has no fellowship with the accusation constructed by him against us. For we call the God of all imperishable and unbegotten, says the teacher, using these names according to different conceptions 2.1.528. For by his exceeding, he says, the circumscription of the ages in every interval of temporal extension, whether we consider it from the beginning or what follows, we signify the indefinite and uncircumscribed nature of eternal life in respect to each concept, the one by the name of imperishability, the other by that of unbegottenness. But this man claims we say that 'the unbegun' is substance and 'the endless' is again substance, so that two portions of substances said by us in opposition are being brought together; and thus he constructs the absurdity, positing his own ideas and entangling himself with his own ideas, and pushing the concepts composed by himself into absurdity 2.1.529, he in no way touches upon our own. For the idea that God is imperishable only according to the endlessness of his life is his and not ours. Likewise, that the imperishable is not unbegun is a discovery of the same sagacity that classifies what is not an attribute into the account of substance. For we do not define 2.1.530 any non-attributes as substance. But it is not an attribute of God either for his life to end in corruption or for his being to begin from generation; which is represented through these two names, imperishability and unbegottenness. But he, having chattered his own nonsense against our doctrines, does not understand that he is denouncing himself through the 2.1.531 accusation against us. For he who defines 20unbegottenness20 as substance will consequently fall into the very absurdity which he brings against our doctrines. For since the beginning and the end are understood differently according to interval-based extension, if someone were to grant that the privation of one of these is substance, he would establish his life from a half-part, subsisting only in its unbegunness, but no longer extending through its nature to its endlessness, if indeed 2.1.532 unbegottenness were considered a nature; but if someone were to insist that both are substance, it is altogether necessary according to the argument of Eunomius that has been presented that each of the names, according to its inherent emphasis, has its being also in the definition of substance, existing only to the extent that the meaning of the appellation indicates; and thus the argument of Eunomius will become strong, with the unbegun not having endlessness nor the endless having unbegunness, since according to his argument each of the said terms is also substance, and the two are unmixed in their concepts with respect to each other, and neither does the beginning have the same relation to the end nor do the names that negate these agree with each other in their meanings. 2.1.533 So that he too might recognize his own nonsense, the refutation will come from the things said by him. For in fighting against our words he says that God is both unbegotten according to his endlessness and endless according to his unbegottenness, as if there were one emphasis in each of the names. If

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μὲν ἔσται τὸ ἀτελεύτητον, τελευτητὸν δὲ τὸ ἄφθαρτον. ἀλλὰ παραιτοῦμαι τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας μὴ καθ' 2.1.526 ἡμῶν τρέψαι τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ γελοίῳ κατάγνωσιν. ταῦτα γὰρ ἡμεῖς πρὸς τὸν γελοιαστὴν ὑπ' ἀνάγκης ἐπαίξαμεν, ἵνα διὰ τῆς ὁμοίας παιδιᾶς τὴν μειρακιώδη τοῦ σοφίσματος αὐτοῦ πλοκὴν διαλύσωμεν. ἀλλ' εἰ μὴ βαρύ τε καὶ ὀχληρὸν τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι φαίνοιτο, οὐκ ἄκαιρον ἂν εἴη πάλιν ἐπὶ λέξεως ἐκθέσθαι τοῦ Εὐνομίου τὰ ῥήματα. 20εἰ κατὰ τὸ ἀτε λεύτητον20, φησί, 20τῆς ζωῆς μόνον ἐστὶν ἄφθαρτος καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἄναρχον μόνον ἀγέννητος, καθ' ὃ μή ἐστιν ἄφθαρτος, φθαρτὸς ἔσται, καὶ καθ' ὃ μή ἐστιν ἀγέννητος, γεννητὸς ἔσται20. καὶ ἐπανα λαβὼν τὸ αὐτὸ πάλιν φησὶν 20ἔσται ἄρα κατὰ μὲν τὸ ἄναρχον ἀγέννητος ὁμοῦ καὶ φθαρτός, κατὰ δὲ τὸ ἀτελεύτητον ἄφθαρτος ὁμοῦ καὶ γεν 2.1.527 νητός20. τὰς γὰρ ἀκαίρους ἐν τῷ μέσῳ τῶν περιττῶν παρενθήκας ὡς οὐδὲν πλέον εἰς τὴν τοῦ λόγου κατασκευὴν συντελούσας παρίημι. ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν διάνοιαν τῶν ἡμετέρων λόγων, ἀφ' ὧν αὐτὸς οὗτος παρέθετο, παντὶ ῥᾴδιον οἶμαι κατανοῆσαι ὡς οὐδεμίαν ἔχει κοινωνίαν πρὸς τὴν κατα σκευασθεῖσαν αὐτῷ καθ' ἡμῶν κατηγορίαν. ἄφθαρτον γὰρ καὶ ἀγέννητον τὸν θεὸν τῶν ὅλων λέγομεν, φησὶν ὁ διδά σκαλος, κατὰ διαφόρους ἐπιβολὰς τοῖς ὀνόμασι τούτοις 2.1.528 χρώμενοι. τῷ γὰρ ὑπερεκπίπτειν αὐτόν, φησί, τῆς τῶν αἰώνων περιγραφῆς κατὰ πᾶν διάστημα τῆς χρονικῆς πα ρατάσεως, εἴτε τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἴτε τὸ ἐφεξῆς λογιζοίμεθα, τὸ καθ' ἑκατέραν ἔννοιαν τῆς ἀϊδίου ζωῆς ἀόριστόν τε καὶ ἀπερίγραπτον τὸ μὲν τῷ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας ὀνόματι, τὸ δὲ τῷ τῆς ἀγεννησίας διασημαίνομεν. οὑτοσὶ δέ φησι λέγειν ἡμᾶς ὅτι τὸ ἄναρχον οὐσία ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ ἀτελεύτητον οὐσία πάλιν ἐστίν, ὡς δύο τμήματα οὐσιῶν κατὰ τὸ ἐναντίον λεγόμενα παρ' ἡμῶν συμβάλλεσθαι· καὶ οὕτω κατασκευάζει τὸ ἄτοπον, τὰ ἑαυτοῦ τιθεὶς καὶ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ συμπλεκόμενος, καὶ τὰς παρ' ἑαυτοῦ συντεθείσας διανοίας ἐξωθῶν εἰς τὸ ἄτοπον 2.1.529 κατ' οὐδὲν τῶν ἡμετέρων προσάπτεται. τὸ γὰρ κατὰ τὸ ἀτελεύτητον τῆς ζωῆς μόνον τὸν θεὸν ἄφθαρτον εἶναι τού του ἐστὶ καὶ οὐχ ἡμέτερον. ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ ἄφθαρτον ἄναρχον μὴ εἶναι τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστιν ἀγχινοίας [τὸ] εὕρημα τῆς τὸ μὴ προσὸν εἰς τὸν τῆς οὐσίας λόγον κατατασσούσης. ἡμεῖς γὰρ οὐδὲν τῶν μὴ προσόντων οὐσίαν εἶναι διοριζό 2.1.530 μεθα. οὐ πρόσεστι δὲ τῷ θεῷ οὔτε τὸ εἰς φθορὰν τὴν ζωὴν καταλῆξαι οὔτε τὸ ἀπὸ γεννήσεως τοῦ εἶναι ἄρξασθαι· ὅπερ διὰ τῶν δύο τούτων ὀνομάτων, τῆς τε ἀφθαρσίας καὶ τῆς ἀγεννησίας, παρίσταται. ὁ δὲ τὸν ἴδιον λῆρον τοῖς ἡμετέροις δόγμασιν ἐπιθρυλήσας ἑαυτὸν στηλιτεύων διὰ τῆς 2.1.531 κατηγορίας τῆς καθ' ἡμῶν οὐ συνίησιν. ὁ γὰρ οὐσίαν τὴν 20ἀγεννησίαν20 εἶναι διοριζόμενος εἰς αὐτὴν κατὰ τὸ ἀκό λουθον τὴν ἀτοπίαν ἐκβήσεται ἣν τοῖς ἡμετέροις δόγμασιν ἐπιφέρει. ἄλλο γὰρ τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ ἄλλο τοῦ τέλους κατὰ τὴν διαστηματικὴν παράτασιν νοουμένων, εἰ μὲν τὴν ἑνὸς τούτων στέρησιν οὐσίαν τις εἶναι δοίη, ἐξ ἡμισείας αὐτοῦ τὴν ζωὴν ὑποστήσει μόνῳ τῷ ἀνάρχῳ ὑφεστῶσαν, πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἀτελεύτητον οὐκέτι διὰ τῆς φύσεως ἐπεκτείνουσαν, εἴπερ 2.1.532 φύσις ἡ ἀγεννησία νομίζοιτο· εἰ δὲ ἀμφότερά τις οὐσίαν εἶναι βιάζοιτο, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα κατὰ τὸν ἀποδοθέντα τοῦ Εὐνομίου λόγον ἑκάτερον τῶν ὀνομάτων κατὰ τὴν ἐγκει μένην ἔμφασιν καὶ ἐν τῷ τῆς οὐσίας λόγῳ τὸ εἶναι ἔχειν τοσοῦτον ὑπάρχον μόνον, ὅσον ἡ σημασία τῆς προσηγορίας ἐνδείκνυται· καὶ οὕτως ἰσχυρὸς ὁ τοῦ Εὐνομίου λόγος γενή σεται οὔτε τοῦ ἀνάρχου τὸ ἀτελεύτητον ἔχοντος οὔτε τοῦ ἀτελευτήτου τὸ ἄναρχον, ἐπειδὴ κατὰ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐσία τῶν εἰρημένων ἐστὶν ἑκάτερον καὶ ἀμίκτως τὰ δύο ταῖς ἐννοίαις ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα, καὶ οὔτε ἡ ἀρχὴ πρὸς τὸ τέλος τὸν αὐτὸν ἔχει λόγον οὔτε τὰ ἀναιρετικὰ τούτων ὀνό ματα πρὸς ἄλληλα ταῖς σημασίαις συμφέρεται. 2.1.533 Ὡς δ' ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπιγνοίη τὸν ἴδιον λῆρον, ἐκ τῶν παρ' ἐκείνου ῥηθέντων ἔσται ὁ ἔλεγχος. λέγει γὰρ τοῖς ἡμετέροις μαχόμενος ὅτι ὁ θεὸς καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἀτελεύτητόν ἐστιν ἀγέννητος καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἀγέννητον ἀτελεύτητος, ὡς μιᾶς ἐν ἑκατέροις τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐμφάσεως οὔσης. εἰ