251

for it is in every way superior to death and unsusceptible to corruption. 2.1.537 Thus far our argument also follows. But let those who have been trained in the wisdom of Prounicus interpret the riddle composed in what has been said; for it seems to me that what has been said was brought forth from that preparation. For what does he say? 20being incorruptible, he is beginninglessly unbegotten without end, spoken of neither in terms of another, nor through another, nor in relation to another20. For he whose hearing is purified and whose thought is discerning knows, even before my words, that besides the clatter of names which he has rattled off in their strange combination, no trace of 2.1.538 scientific thought is found in what has been said. But if some shadow of meaning should be found in the noise of the phrases, what is found will certainly be either impious or ridiculous. For what do you mean when you say this, tell me, that he is 'beginningless without end' and 'endless without beginning'? Do you think that the beginning is the same as the end and that the two words refer to one concept, just as the names Peter and Simon by themselves indicate one subject, and for this reason, just as you consider the beginning to be the same as the end, have you thus joined into a single meaning the two words that negate each of these—I mean, of the end and of the beginning—and having understood from the reverse that 'without beginning' is the same as 'without end', have you made the two words one by confusing them with each other, and does this mixture of names mean this to you in saying he is 'unbegotten without end' and 'endless unbegottenly'? 2.1.539 And how did you not see what is at once impious and ridiculous in these sayings? For if through this new mixture the inversion of the names comes about equally, so that 'unbegotten without end' is unbegotten, and 'endless unbegottenly' is endless, it is absolutely necessary that everything endless not exist otherwise unless it be unbegottenly; and so, my dearest friend, your much-vaunted 20unbegottenness20 which alone according to you characterizes the Father's essence, is found to be made common to everything immortal and to make all things consubstantial with the Father, because it is manifested equally in all those for whom life proceeds to the infinite through immortality, in archangels, angels, human souls, and perhaps even in the apostate 2.1.540 power itself, the devil and the demons. For if the endless and incorruptible is in every way 'unbegottenly' according to your argument, then 'unbegotten' must in every way be considered along with everything that is endless and incorruptible. Those who, before learning what they ought to learn, try to teach, fall into these errors, 2.1.541 publicizing their own ignorance. For if he had any discerning knowledge, he would not have been ignorant of the meaning distinctively inherent in 'without beginning' and 'without end', and that 'without end' is common to all things which are believed to persist in life unto the infinite, while 'without beginning' belongs only 2.1.542 to that which exists without cause. How then is it possible to consider what is common to all to be equivalent to that which is believed by all to belong pre-eminently to God alone, so as, through this, either to make 'unbegotten' common to all things that partake of immortality, or to concede that nothing is immortal, if 'to be without end' belongs only to the unbegotten, and conversely if 'to be unbegottenly' belongs only to the endless? For in this way all endless things would be thought to be unbegotten. 2.1.543 But let these things be passed over, and let his usual abuse, which he has poured upon what has been said, be passed over in silence with them, and let us come to the next part of the reading. But perhaps it seems good to me also to run past most of the subsequent points unexamined. For in all things he is the same, not grappling with our words, but giving himself pretexts for contradiction as if, forsooth, from our side; to go through these things in detail any of those who are careful in judgment would say is pointless, since everyone who reads his treatise with understanding perceives the slander 2.1.544 from the words themselves. 20the dignity of God is older,20 he says, 20than the conception of our teacher20. We do not contradict this either. For the

251

γὰρ θανάτου κρεῖττον καὶ φθορᾶς πάντως ἐστὶν ἀνεπίδεκτον. 2.1.537 Μέχρι τούτου καὶ ὁ ἡμέτερος ἕπεται λόγος. τὸν δὲ συγγεγραμμένον τοῖς εἰρημένοις γρῖφον ἑρμηνευόντων οἱ τῇ Προυνίκου σοφίᾳ ἐγγυμνασθέντες· ἐξ ἐκείνης γὰρ δοκεῖ μοι τῆς παρασκευῆς τὰ εἰρημένα προενηνοχέναι. τί γάρ φησιν; 20ἄφθαρτος ὢν ἀνάρχως ἀγέννητός ἐστιν ἀτε λευτήτως οὔτε καθ' ἕτερον οὔτε δι' ἕτερον οὔτε πρὸς ἕτερον λεγόμενος20. ὁ γὰρ κεκαθαρμένος τὴν ἀκοὴν καὶ διορατικὸς τὴν διάνοιαν οἶδε καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἐμῶν λόγων ὅτι πλὴν τοῦ πατάγου τῶν ὀνομάτων, ἃ τῇ ἀλλοκότῳ αὐτῶν συμπλοκῇ κατεκρότησεν, οὐδὲν ἴχνος ἐπι 2.1.538 στημονικῆς διανοίας ἐν τοῖς εἰρημένοις εὑρίσκεται. εἰ δὲ ἄρα τις καὶ σκιὰ νοήματος τῷ ψόφῳ τῶν ῥημάτων ἐνευ ρεθείη, ἀσεβὲς τὸ εὑρεθὲν ἔσται πάντως ἢ καταγέλαστον. τί γὰρ νοῶν τοῦτο λέγεις, εἰπέ μοι, ὅτι ἄναρχός ἐστιν ἀτελευτήτως καὶ ἀτελεύτητος ἀνάρχως; ἆρα ταὐτὸν οἴει τὴν ἀρχὴν εἶναι τῷ τέλει καὶ καθ' ἑνὸς κεῖσθαι νοήματος τὰς δύο φωνάς, ὡς Πέτρου καὶ Σίμωνος αἱ προσηγορίαι ἕν τι τὸ ὑποκείμενον δι' ἑαυτῶν δηλοῦσι, καὶ τούτου χάριν ὥσπερ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῷ τέλει ταὐτὸν εἶναι νομίζεις, οὕτως συνάψας πρὸς μίαν σημασίαν τὰς δύο φωνὰς τὰς ἑκατέρου τούτων ἀναιρετικάς, τοῦ τέλους λέγω καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἐκ τοῦ ἀντιστρόφου νοήσας τῷ ἀνάρχῳ ταὐτὸν εἶναι τὸ ἀτε λεύτητον μίαν τὰς δύο φωνὰς συγχέας ἐν ἀλλήλαις ἐποίησας, καὶ τοῦτό σοι βούλεται τῶν ὀνομάτων ἡ μίξις ἐν τῷ λέγειν ἀγέννητον εἶναι ἀτελευτήτως καὶ ἀτελεύτητον ἀγεννήτως; 2.1.539 καὶ πῶς οὐκ εἶδες τὸ ἀσεβὲς ἐν τοῖς λεγομένοις ἅμα καὶ καταγέλαστον; εἰ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου γίνεται διὰ τῆς καινῆς ταύτης μίξεως ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀναστροφή, ὡς τὸ ἀγέν νητον ἀτελευτήτως εἶναι ἀγέννητον καὶ τὸ ἀτελεύτητον ἀγεννήτως εἶναι ἀτελεύτητον, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα πᾶν ἀτελεύτητον μὴ ἄλλως εἶναι εἰ μὴ ἀγεννήτως εἴη· καὶ οὕτως εὑρίσκεταί σοι, ὦ φίλτατε, ἡ πολυθρύλητος 20ἀγεννησία20 ἡ μόνη κατὰ σὲ τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν οὐσίαν χαρακτηρίζουσα κοινοποιουμένη πρὸς πᾶν τὸ ἀθάνατον καὶ πάντα ποιοῦσα τῷ πατρὶ ὁμο ούσια, διὰ τὸ πᾶσιν ὁμοίως ἐμφαίνεσθαι, οἷς διὰ τῆς ἀθα νασίας πρόεισιν ἡ ζωὴ πρὸς τὸ ἄπειρον, ἀρχαγγέλοις ἀγγέ λοις ἀνθρωπίναις ψυχαῖς, τάχα δὲ καὶ αὐτῇ τῇ ἀποστατικῇ 2.1.540 δυνάμει, τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς δαίμοσιν. εἰ γὰρ τὸ ἀτελεύ τητόν τε καὶ ἄφθαρτον ἀγεννήτως κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον πάντως ἐστί, παντὶ τῷ ἀτελευτήτῳ τε καὶ ἀφθάρτῳ συν θεωρεῖσθαι πάντως χρὴ τὸ ἀγέννητον. τούτοις περιπί πτουσιν οἱ πρὶν μαθεῖν ἃ προσήκει μαθεῖν, δι' ὧν διδάσκειν 2.1.541 ἐπιχειροῦσι τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀμαθίαν δημοσιεύοντες. εἰ γὰρ εἶχέ τινα διακριτικὴν ἐπιστήμην, οὐκ ἂν ἠγνόησε τὴν ἰδιαζόντως ἐγκειμένην τῷ τε ἀνάρχῳ καὶ τῷ ἀτελευτήτῳ διάνοιαν, καὶ ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἀτελεύτητον κοινὸν πάντων ἐστίν, ὅσα διαρκεῖν πεπίστευται τῇ ζωῇ πρὸς τὸ ἄπειρον, τὸ δὲ ἄναρχον μόνου 2.1.542 ἐστὶ τοῦ ἄνευ αἰτίας ὄντος. πῶς οὖν ἐστι τὸ πάντων κοινὸν ἰσοδύναμον ἐκείνων νομίσαι, ὃ μόνου τοῦ θεοῦ κατ' ἐξαί ρετον εἶναι παρὰ πάντων πεπίστευται, ὥστε διὰ τούτου ἢ κοινοποιῆσαι πρὸς πάντα τὰ τῆς ἀθανασίας μετέχοντα τὸ ἀγέννητον ἢ μηδὲν ἀθάνατον συγχωρεῖν εἶναι, εἴπερ μόνου ἐστὶ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου τὸ ἀτελευτήτως εἶναι, καὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν εἰ τοῦ ἀτελευτήτου μόνου ἐστὶ τὸ ἀγεννήτως εἶναι. οὕτω γὰρ ἂν εἶναι νομισθείη τὰ ἀτελεύτητα πάντα ἀγέννητα. 2.1.543 Ἀλλ' ἐάσθω καὶ ταῦτα καὶ ἡ συνήθης αὐτοῦ λοι δορία, ἣν τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐπήντλησε, μετὰ τούτων σιγάσθω, πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἀκόλουθον ἔλθωμεν τῆς ἀναγνώσεως. τάχα δέ μοι δοκεῖ καλῶς ἔχειν καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν ἐφεξῆς παρα δραμεῖν ἀνεξέταστα. ἐν πᾶσι γὰρ ὁ αὐτός ἐστιν οὐ τοῖς παρ' ἡμῶν συμπλεκόμενος, ἀλλ' ἑαυτῷ διδοὺς ὡς ἐκ τοῦ ἡμετέρου δῆθεν τὰς πρὸς ἀντίρρησιν ἀφορμάς· οἷς τὸ δι' ἀκριβείας ἐπεξιέναι μάταιον ἄν τις εἴποι τῶν κρίνειν ἐπε σκεμμένων, ἑκάστου τῶν μετὰ διανοίας ἐντυγχανόντων αὐτὸν τῷ συγγράμματι ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν λεγομένων τὴν συκοφαντίαν 2.1.544 καταλαμβάνοντος. 20πρεσβυτέραν20 λέγει 20τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἀξίαν τῆς τοῦ ἡμετέρου καθηγητοῦ ἐπι νοίας20. οὐδὲ ἡμεῖς ἀντιλέγομεν. ἡ γὰρ τοῦ