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we do not refuse to say that the Son is an offspring, since, he says, the begotten20 substance and the appellation of Son appropriate20 such a relationship 3.1.121 of names. If, therefore, because the Son is truly an 20offspring20, he confesses that 20such a relationship of names is appropriated20, how is there occasion to apply such a cause of the names both to those things said metaphorically by an improper use and to those for whom the natural relationship, as Eunomius says, appropriates such a title? Therefore, such a thing is true only for those whose nature is on the boundary between virtue and vice, in whose case one often interchanges opposite names, now of light, and again of darkness, becoming a child through inclination toward the good 3.1.122 or toward its opposite. But where the opposite has no place, one would no longer say that the title of Son is applied metaphorically, in the likeness of those who appropriate the title through choice. For one would not arrive at this argument, that just as a man, having put away the works of darkness, becomes a child of light through a seemly life, so also the only-begotten God through a change 3.1.123 from the worse receives in exchange what is more honorable. For a man becomes a son of God through spiritual birth, being joined to Christ; but he who through himself makes man a son of God does not himself need another son to grant him the adoption, but what he is by nature, he is also called. Man changes himself, exchanging the new for the old; but into what 3.1.124 will God be changed, so as to acquire what he does not have? Man, having divested himself, puts on the divine nature; but he who is always the same, what does he put off or what does he put on? Man becomes a son of God by acquiring what he does not have and casting off what he has; but he who has never been in evil has neither anything to acquire nor anything to leave behind. Again, man can in one way be called someone's son truly, when one speaks with a view to nature, and in another way by an improper use, 3.1.125 when the choice of one's life confers the name. But God, being one good in a simple and uncompounded nature, always looks to the same thing and is never changed by the impulses of choice, but always both wills what he is and absolutely is what he wills, so that for both reasons he is named Son of God in a proper and true sense, both because his nature has the good in itself and because his choice is not broken off from what is better, so that this title could not be applied to him by an improper use. Therefore, there is no room for these things, which we have set against ourselves from the person of our adversaries, to be brought forward by our adversaries for the rejection of the relationship according to nature. 3.1.126 But I do not know how, or whether it is because, hating and turning away from the truth, they call him Son, but so that the commonality according to substance might not be witnessed through this title, they separate the word from the meaning inherent in the name and leave the name of Son empty and meaningless for the Only-Begotten, granting to him only the sound of the word. And that I speak these things truly and do not miss the aim of our opponents, it is possible to learn 3.1.127 clearly from the very things by which they attempt to attack the truth. For such are the things which are brought forward by them for the construction of their blasphemy, 20that we have been taught many names of the Only-Begotten from the divine scripture: stone, axe, rock, foundation, bread, vine, door, way, shepherd, spring, wood, resurrection, teacher, light, and many other such things, but it is not pious to speak of any of these things concerning the Lord 3.1.128, understanding them according to their literal meaning. For it would indeed be most absurd to think that the incorporeal and immaterial, simple and formless is shaped by the meanings displayed in some of the names, so that on hearing 'axe' we should think of such-and-such a shape of iron, or 'light' as the light in the air, or 'vine' as that from the planting of branches, or any one of the other things, as custom suggests we understand them; but transferring the significations of these names to what is more fitting for God, we understand something else, even if we so name him, not as being something

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ὄντα τὸν υἱὸν γέννημα λέγειν οὐ παραι τούμεθα, τῆς γεννηθείσης20, φησίν, 20οὐσίας καὶ τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ προσηγορίας τὴν τοιαύτην τῶν 3.1.121 ὀνομάτων σχέσιν οἰκειουμένης20. εἰ οὖν διὰ τὸ ἀληθῶς 20γέννημα20 εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν ὁμολογεῖ 20τὴν τοιαύτην τῶν ὀνομάτων οἰκειοῦσθαι σχέσιν20, πῶς ἔχει καιρὸν ἐφαρμόζειν τὴν τοιαύτην αἰτίαν τῶν ὀνομάτων τοῖς τε κατὰ μεταφορὰν ἐκ καταχρήσεως λεγομένοις καὶ οἷς ἡ φυσικὴ σχέσις, καθώς φησιν ὁ Εὐνόμιος, τὴν τοιαύτην οἰκειοῦται κλῆσιν; οὐκοῦν ἐπὶ μόνων ἀληθὲς τὸ τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν οἷς μεθόριος πρὸς ἀρετήν τε καὶ κακίαν ἡ φύσις, ἐφ' ὧν πολλάκις τὰ ἐναντία τις ἀντιμεταλαμβάνει τῶν ὀνομά των, νῦν μὲν φωτός, πάλιν δὲ σκότους διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸ καλὸν 3.1.122 ἢ πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον προσκλίσεως τέκνον γινόμενος. ὅπου δὲ τὸ ἐναντίον χώραν οὐκ ἔχει, οὐκέτ' ἄν τις τοῦ υἱοῦ τὴν φωνὴν ἐκ μεταφορᾶς ἐπιφημίζεσθαι λέγοι καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῶν διὰ προαιρέσεως οἰκειουμένων τὴν κλῆσιν. οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἰς τοῦτον ἔλθοι τὸν λόγον, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἄνθρωπος ἀποθέμενος τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους διὰ τῆς εὐσχήμονος ζωῆς φωτὸς γί νεται τέκνον, οὕτω καὶ ὁ μονογενὴς θεὸς ἐκ μεταβολῆς 3.1.123 ἐκ τοῦ χείρονος ἀντιλαμβάνει τὸ προτιμότερον. ἄνθρω πος μὲν γάρ τις ὢν υἱὸς θεοῦ γίνεται διὰ τῆς πνευ ματικῆς γεννήσεως Χριστῷ συναπτόμενος· ὁ δὲ τὸν ἄνθρω πον δι' ἑαυτοῦ θεοῦ υἱὸν ποιῶν αὐτὸς ἄλλου υἱοῦ τοῦ χαρι ζομένου αὐτῷ τὴν υἱοθεσίαν οὐκ ἐπιδέεται, ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἐστὶ κατὰ φύσιν καὶ ὀνομάζεται. ἄνθρωπος μὲν αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀμείβει, τοῦ παλαιοῦ τὸν νέον ἀνταλλασσόμενος· θεὸς δὲ 3.1.124 εἰς τί ἀλλαγήσεται, ὥστε ὃ μὴ ἔχει προσκτήσασθαι; ἄν θρωπος μὲν ἑαυτὸν ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὴν θείαν ἐπενδύεται φύσιν· ὁ δὲ ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχων τί ἀποτίθεται ἢ τί περι βάλλεται; ἄνθρωπος μὲν υἱὸς θεοῦ γίνεται προσλαβὼν ἃ οὐκ ἔχει καὶ ἀποβαλὼν ἃ ἔχει· ὁ δὲ μηδέποτε γεγονὼς ἐν κακίᾳ οὔτε ὃ λάβῃ οὔτε ὃ καταλίπῃ ἔχει. πάλιν ὁ ἄν θρωπος δύναται πῆ μὲν ἀληθῶς υἱός τινος λέγεσθαι, ὅταν πρὸς τὴν φύσιν βλέπων τις λέγῃ, πῆ δὲ ἐκ καταχρήσεως, 3.1.125 ὅταν ἡ τοῦ βίου προαίρεσις ἐπιβάλῃ τὸ ὄνομα. ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἓν ὢν ἀγαθὸν ἐν ἁπλῇ τε καὶ ἀσυνθέτῳ τῇ φύσει πάντοτε πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ βλέπει καὶ οὐδέποτε ταῖς τῆς προαιρέσεως ὁρμαῖς μεταβάλλεται, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ καὶ βούλεται ὅπερ ἐστὶν καὶ ἐστὶ πάντως ὃ καὶ βούλεται, ὥστε δι' ἀμφοτέρων υἱὸς θεοῦ κυρίως καὶ ἀληθῶς ὀνομάζεσθαι, τῆς τε φύσεως ἐν ἑαυτῇ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐχούσης τῆς τε προαιρέσεως οὐκ ἀπερ ρωγυίας τοῦ κρείττονος, ὡς μὴ ἂν ἐκ καταχρήσεως αὐτῷ τὴν φωνὴν ταύτην ἐπικληθῆναι. οὐκοῦν οὐδεμίαν ἔχει χώραν, ἅπερ ἐκ προσώπου τῶν ἐναντίων ἑαυτοῖς ἀντεθή καμεν, ταῦτα ἐπὶ παραγραφῇ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν οἰκειότητος παρὰ τῶν ἐναντίων προφέρεσθαι. 3.1.126 Ἀλλ' οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἢ διότι μισοῦντες τε καὶ ἀπο στρεφόμενοι τὴν ἀλήθειαν υἱὸν μὲν αὐτὸν ὀνομάζουσιν, ὡς δ' ἂν μὴ τὸ κατ' οὐσίαν κοινὸν διὰ τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης μαρτυρηθείη, τῆς ἐγκειμένης τῷ ὀνόματι σημασίας τὴν φωνὴν χωρίσαντες κενὸν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ ἀσήμαντον τῷ μονογενεῖ καταλείπουσι, μόνον αὐτῷ τὸν ψόφον τῆς φωνῆς χαριζόμενοι. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα ἀληθῆ λέγω καὶ οὐ παραστοχάζομαι τοῦ σκοποῦ τῶν ὑπεναντίων, φανερῶς ἔστιν 3.1.127 ἐξ αὐτῶν ὧν κατεπιχειροῦσι τῆς ἀληθείας μαθεῖν. τοιαῦτα γάρ ἐστιν ἃ παρ' αὐτῶν ἐπὶ κατασκευῇ τῆς βλασφημίας προφέρεται, 20ὅτι πολλὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς ὀνόματα παρὰ τῆς θείας γραφῆς ἐδιδάχθημεν, λίθον ἀξίνην πέτραν θεμέλιον ἄρτον ἄμπελον θύραν ὁδὸν ποι μένα πηγὴν ξύλον ἀνάστασιν διδάσκαλον φῶς καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα πολλά, ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τούτων κατὰ τὴν πρόχειρον σημασίαν εὐσεβές ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοῦ κυρίου 3.1.128 νοοῦντας λέγειν. ἦ γὰρ ἂν εἴη τῶν ἀτοπωτάτων τὸ ἀσώματόν τε καὶ ἄϋλον ἁπλοῦν τε καὶ ἀσχημάτι στον ταῖς ἐμφαινομέναις τισὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων σημα σίαις διαμορφοῦσθαι νομίζειν, ὥστε ἀξίνην ἀκού σαντας τὸ τοιόνδε σχῆμα τοῦ σιδήρου νοεῖν ἢ φῶς τὸ ἐναέριον ἢ ἄμπελον τὴν ἐκ φυτείας κλημάτων ἤ τι τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον, καθὼς ἡ συνήθεια νοεῖν ὑποτίθεται· ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸ θεοπρεπέστερον τὰς τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτων μετενεγκόντες ἐμφάσεις ἄλλο τι νοοῦμεν, κἂν οὕτω κατονομάζωμεν, οὐχ ὡς ὄντα τι