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unbegotten, with it is certainly taken away both its essence and its incorruptibility, and when these are not present, the divinity also will by all necessity be removed. Therefore, the argument has arrived at a double conclusion of their 2.1.384 blasphemous consequence. For if essence and incorruptibility and unbegottenness are said of God with the same meaning, this new god-maker is clearly shown to know the Son created by him to be corruptible, because he does not know him to be unbegotten, and not only this, but also completely without substance, because he is not able to see him in divinity, in whom unbegottenness and incorruptibility are not contemplated, if indeed he thinks that unbegottenness and 2.1.385 incorruptibility are the same as essence. But since destruction is manifest in these things, let someone advise the wretches to turn in their argument to what is left and not to fight openly against the truth, but to agree that the meaning of each of these names is distinct, which one might better understand through their contrasting distinctions. 2.1.386 For we discover 'the unbegotten' by its contrast with 'the begotten,' and 'the incorruptible' is known by its juxtaposition with 'the corruptible,' and 'essence' is contemplated by its difference from 'the unsubstantial.' For just as that which was not begotten is called 'unbegotten,' and that which does not corrupt, 'incorruptible,' so also that which is not non-existent we name 'essence'; and conversely, just as we do not call 'the begotten' 'unbegotten,' and we do not name 'the corruptible' 'incorruptible,' so also we do not say that 'essence' is non-existent. Therefore, 'essence' is understood in being something, while 'corruptible' or 'incorruptible' in being of a certain quality, and 'begotten' or 'unbegotten' in how it is. Therefore, the principle of being is one thing, and another that which clarifies of itself the 'how' or the 'of what quality'. 2.1.387 And it seems good to me, having passed over the intervening nausea (for thus I think it necessary to name his foolish attacks against the concept), to dwell upon the thought set before us. For all the things that have been vomited forth by the speechwriter for the overthrow of the things contemplated by the teacher concerning the concept, like some phlegmatic humor, are such as to present no danger to those who encounter them, even if one happens to be extremely foolish and easily led astray. 2.1.388 For who is so out of his mind as to think that he is saying something and is contriving with some shrewdness against the 2.1.389 truth, when Eunomius simply applies to the arguments concerning the essence of the God of the universe those things that were set forth by the teacher by way of example concerning the wheat, through which he was suggesting to the hearer, as it were, a certain art and approach to the contemplation of high things? For his assertion that the most fitting cause for God begetting the Son is the absolute authority and the insurmountable power, something which it is possible to say not only concerning the world and the elements in it, but also concerning the reptiles and wild beasts, and for the solemn theologian to set this forth as fitting for the conception of the only-begotten God; or his saying that even before the generation of those who name him God is called 'Unbegotten' or 'Father' or the rest of the names, as if fearing that if the name were passed over in silence by those who did not yet exist, he might not know himself or would fall into forgetfulness of himself by the silence of the name, which is to be ignorant; and the scornful attack on our arguments, how much acrimony and shrewdness it has; by which he constructs the absurdity that the Father, who existed before all ages and times and all sensible and intelligible nature, somehow waits for human beings in order to be named by their concept. 2.1.390 20Not being named20, as that one says, 20neither by the Son nor by the intelligible beings that came to be through him20. For I think no one is so full of dense stupidity as to be ignorant that the only-begotten Son, who is in the Father and sees the Father in himself, does not need a name or a word for the knowledge of the subject, nor is the Holy Spirit, who searches the depths of God, led to the knowledge of that which is sought through nominal address, nor the

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νητον, συναφῄρηται τούτου πάντως ἡ οὐσία τε καὶ τὸ ἄφθαρ τον, ὧν μὴ παρόντων καὶ ἡ θεότης κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀνάγκην ἐξαιρεθήσεται. οὐκοῦν εἰς διπλοῦν πέρας τῆς κατὰ τὸ 2.1.384 βλάσφημον αὐτῶν ἀκολουθίας ὁ λόγος κατήντησεν. εἰ γὰρ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ σημαινόμενον λέγεται ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ οὐσία τε καὶ ἡ ἀφθαρσία καὶ τὸ ἀγέννητον, σαφῶς ἀποδείκνυται ὁ καινὸς οὗτος θεοποιὸς τὸν παρ' αὐτοῦ κτισθέντα υἱὸν φθαρτόν τε γινώσκων διὰ τὸ μὴ γινώσκειν ἀγέννητον, καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ παντελῶς ἀνυπόστατον διὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι αὐτὸν ἐν θεότητι βλέπειν, ᾧ οὐκ ἐνθεωρεῖται τὸ ἀγέννητόν τε καὶ ἄφθαρτον, εἴπερ ταὐτὸν τὸ ἀγέννητόν τε 2.1.385 καὶ ἄφθαρτον τῇ οὐσίᾳ οἴεται. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πρόδηλος ἐν τούτοις ἐστὶν ἡ ἀπώλεια, συμβουλευσάτω τις τοῖς δειλαίοις ἐπὶ τὸ λειπόμενον τραπῆναι τῷ λόγῳ καὶ μὴ ζυγομαχεῖν ἐκ τοῦ προδήλου πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλὰ συντίθεσθαι ἴδιον ἑκάστου τούτων εἶναι τῶν ὀνομάτων τὸ σημαινόμενον, ὅπερ μᾶλλον ἄν τις διὰ τῶν ἀντιδιαστελλομένων νοήσειε. 2.1.386 τό τε γὰρ ἀγέννητον τῇ πρὸς τὸ γεννητὸν ἀντιδιαστολῇ ἐξευρίσκομεν καὶ τὸ ἄφθαρτον τῇ πρὸς τὸ φθαρτὸν παρα θέσει γνωρίζεται καὶ ἡ οὐσία τῇ πρὸς τὸ ἀνυπόστατον παραλλαγῇ θεωρεῖται. ὡς γὰρ ὃ μὴ ἐγεννήθη ἀγέννητον λέγεται καὶ ὃ μὴ φθείρεται ἄφθαρτον, οὕτως καὶ τὸ μὴ ἀνύπαρκτον οὐσίαν κατονομάζομεν, καὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν ὡς τὸ γεννητὸν οὐκ ἀγέννητον λέγομεν καὶ τὸ φθαρτὸν οὐκ ἄφθαρτον ὀνομάζομεν, οὕτω καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν ἀνύπαρκτον εἶναι οὐ λέγομεν. οὐκοῦν οὐσία μὲν ἐν τῷ εἶναί τι κατα νοεῖται, τὸ δὲ φθαρτὸν ἢ τὸ ἄφθαρτον ἐν τῷ ποδαπὸν εἶναι, τὸ δὲ γεννητὸν ἢ ἀγέννητον ἐν τῷ πῶς εἶναι. ἄλλος οὖν ὁ τοῦ εἶναι λόγος καὶ ἕτερος ὁ τὸ πῶς ἢ τὸ ποῖον δι' ἑαυτοῦ σαφηνίζων. 2.1.387 Καί μοι δοκεῖ καλῶς ἔχειν ὑπερβάντι τὴν διὰ μέσου ναυτίαν (οὕτω γὰρ οἶμαι χρῆναι τὰς ἀνοήτους αὐτοῦ κατὰ τῆς ἐπινοίας ἐπιχειρήσεις κατονομάζειν) τῷ προκειμένῳ ἡμῖν ἐμφιλοχωρῆσαι νοήματι. τὰ γὰρ ὅσα πρὸς ἀνατροπὴν τῶν περὶ τῆς ἐπινοίας τῷ διδασκάλῳ τεθεωρημένων ὑπὸ τοῦ λογογράφου καθάπερ τις χυμὸς φλεγματώδης ἐξήμεσται, τοιαῦτά ἐστιν ὡς μηδένα κίνδυνον παρέχειν τοῖς ἐντυγχά νουσι, κἂν σφόδρα τις ἠλίθιος ὢν καὶ εὐπαράγωγος τύχῃ. 2.1.388 τίς γὰρ οὕτως ἔξω διανοίας ἐστὶν ὥστε τὰ ὑποδειγματικῶς περὶ τοῦ σίτου παρὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου τεθέντα, δι' ὧν οἱονεὶ τέχνην τινὰ καὶ ἔφοδον πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὑψηλῶν θεωρίαν τῷ ἀκροατῇ ὑπετίθετο, ταῦτα ψιλῶς τοῦ Εὐνομίου τοῖς περὶ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἐφαρμόζοντος λόγοις οἰηθῆναί τι λέγειν αὐτὸν καὶ μετά τινος ἀγχινοίας κατὰ τῆς ἀλη 2.1.389 θείας τεχνάζεσθαι; τὸ γὰρ φάσκειν αὐτὸν πρεπωδεστάτην αἰτίαν ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ γεννῆσαι τὸν υἱὸν εἶναι τὴν ἀδέσποτον ἐξουσίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνυπέρβλητον δύναμιν, ὅπερ οὐ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου μόνον καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ στοιχείων, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἑρπετῶν καὶ θηρίων ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, καὶ τοῦτο ὡς πρέπον ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ μονογενοῦς θεοῦ ὑπολήψεως τὸν σεμνὸν θεο λόγον ἐκτίθεσθαι, ἢ τὸ λέγειν καὶ πρὸ τῆς τῶν ὀνομαζόν των γενέσεως ἀγέννητον ἢ πατέρα ἢ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ὀνομά των προσαγορεύεσθαι τὸν θεόν, καθάπερ δεδιότα μὴ τοῦ ὀνόματος παρὰ τοῖς μήπω γεγονόσι σιωπηθέντος ἑαυτὸν ἀγνοήσειεν ἢ εἰς λήθην ἑαυτοῦ πέσοι τῇ σιωπῇ τοῦ ὀνό ματος ὅ ἐστιν ἀγνοήσας, ἥ τε χλευαστικὴ τῶν ἡμετέρων λόγων καταδρομή, ὅσον τὸ δριμύ τε καὶ ἀγχίνουν ἔχει· δι' ὧν κατασκευάζει τὸ ἄτοπον, ὅτι ὁ πρὸ πάντων αἰώνων καὶ χρόνων καὶ πάσης αἰσθητῆς τε καὶ νοητῆς φύσεως γεγονὼς πατήρ πως περιμένει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἵνα διὰ τῆς τούτων ὀνομασθῇ ἐπινοίας. 2.1.390 20Οὐκ ὀνομαζόμενος20, ὥς φησιν ἐκεῖνος, 20οὔτε ὑπὸ τοῦ υἱοῦ οὔτε ὑπὸ τῶν δι' ἐκείνου γενομένων νοη τῶν οὐσιῶν20. οὐδένα γὰρ οὕτως οἶμαι κορύζης εἶναι βαθείας μεστὸν ὡς ἀγνοεῖν ὅτι ὁ μονογενὴς υἱὸς ὁ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ ὢν καὶ ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸν πατέρα βλέπων ὀνόματος ἢ ῥήματος πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ὑποκειμένου γνῶσιν οὐκ ἐπιδέεται, οὔτε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τὸ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ βάθη διερευνώ μενον διὰ τῆς ὀνομαστικῆς προσηγορίας πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ζητου μένου γνῶσιν ἐνάγεται, οὔτε ἡ