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to extreme infants that the list of these aforementioned names is an enumeration of fathers? For if Seth is the son of Adam, Adam is certainly the father of the one begotten from him. In the same way, tell me, who is the father of the God over all? Tell the one who asks, utter a sound, answer, bring all your logical art to bear on this question. Will you find any argument that escapes the grasp 2.1.622 of your sophism? Who is the father of the unbegotten? Can you say who? Then he is not 20unbegotten20? But, being hard-pressed, you will surely say, what is indeed necessary to say: "1no one"2. What then, dearest friend, has this soft entanglement of sophism not yet been unraveled for you? Have you understood, having entangled yourself in your own snares? What does the great Basil say? That the unbegotten is from no father. For from the fathers previously genealogized, the sequence, in what is unspoken, allows the addition of the father to be jointly confessed. 2.1.623 You made "from no father" into "20nothing20", and again, taking "20nothing into that which in no way is20", you concluded that dissolved syllogism. Therefore these wise things of your technical cleverness will be turned back against you. Who is the father 20of the unbegotten20, I ask? No one, you will say out of all necessity. For the unbegotten certainly has no 2.1.624 father. If, therefore, no one is the father of the 20unbegotten20, and "no one" was changed by you to "20nothing20", and "20nothing20" according to your argument is identical in meaning to "20that which in no way is20", and 20unhindered is that of the equivalents20, as you say, 20the substitution20, then he who says that no one is the father of the unbegotten says that the God over all is 20from that which in no way is20. 2.1.625 20Such20, it seems, 20is20, O Eunomius, 20an evil20 (for I will use your own words) not 20to have honored the appearance of being wise before being so20 (for such a thing is perhaps a small matter for misfortune), but to be ignorant of oneself and not to know how great is the difference between the high-flying Basil 2.1.626 and the land-beast. For if that sharp and divine eye were watching our life, if it were patrolling human life with the wing of wisdom, it would have shown, by swooping down upon you with the rush of its words, to what sort of shell of folly you are fused, against whom you have raised yourself through deceit, hunting for the appearance of being someone among 2.1.627 little old women and eunuchs with insults and revilings against him. But still you must not despair even of his talons. For our part, while judged in comparison to him to be a mere portion of a talon, is, in comparison to you, so great as to be sufficient to tear away the sheath of your deceit and reveal the ugliness hidden in the shell. If for the one who competes according to the rules the limit of the labors in the contests is either for the antagonist, having completely given up on the labors, to willingly yield the victory to the one who has prevailed, or to be thrown by three falls according to the athletic law, through which the victor obtains glory for the crown by the judgment of the umpires through a clear proclamation; since, therefore, Eunomius, having already been thrown twice in the preceding arguments, does not yet concede to the truth the victory over falsehood, but for a third time again is covered in dust against piety through his treatise in the usual wrestling-ground of falsehood, having strengthened himself for the contests on behalf of deceit, necessarily now also through us the argument of truth is raised up against the overthrow of falsehood, having placed its hopes in the Giver of victory and the Arbiter of the contest, and at the same time being strengthened by the evil artifice of the opponent's wrestling-holds. 3.1.2 For we shamelessly confess that we have neither prepared any argument sharpened by rhetoric for the contests, nor do we put forward the cleverness of dialectical acuity for an alliance against our opponents, which often transforms even the truth into a suspicion of falsehood in the minds of the inexperienced. But the one power of the argument in us against falsehood is, first, the true Logos himself, who becomes the strength of our argument, and second, the unsoundness of the opposing arguments,

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ἄγαν νηπίοις ὅτι πατέρων ἐστὶν ἀπαρίθμησις ὁ τῶν μνημονευθέντων τούτων ὀνομάτων κατά λογος; εἰ γὰρ ὁ Σὴθ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ υἱός, πατὴρ τοῦ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγεννημένου πάντως Ἀδάμ. οὕτως εἰπέ μοι καὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων θεοῦ πατὴρ τίς; εἰπὲ τῷ ἐρωτῶντι, ῥῆξον φω νήν, ἀπόκριναι, πᾶσαν τὴν λογικήν σου τέχνην πρὸς τὴν πεῦσιν ταύτην συγκίνησον· ἆρ' εὑρήσεις τινὰ λόγον τὴν 2.1.622 τοῦ σοφίσματός σου λαβὴν διαφεύγοντα; τίς ὁ τοῦ ἀγεν νήτου πατήρ; ἔχεις εἰπεῖν ὅστις; οὐκοῦν οὐκ 20ἀγέν νητος20; ἀλλὰ συνθλιβόμενος ἐρεῖς πάντως, ὃ δὴ καὶ εἰπεῖν ἐστιν ἐπάναγκες ὅτι "1οὐδείς"2. τί οὖν, ὦ φίλ τατε, ἆρά σοι οὔπω λέλυται ἡ μαλθακὴ τοῦ σοφίσματος αὕτη διαπλοκή; ἆρα συνῆκας τοῖς ἰδίοις κόλποις ἐνσι ελίσας; τί φησιν ὁ μέγας Βασίλειος; ὅτι ὁ ἀγέννητος ἐξ οὐδενός ἐστι πατρός. ἐκ γὰρ τῶν προγενεαλογηθέντων πατέρων ἡ ἀκολουθία κατὰ τὸ σιωπώμενον συνομολο 2.1.623 γεῖσθαι δίδωσι τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν προσθήκην. σὺ τὸ ἐξ οὐδενὸς πατρὸς τὸ 20μηδὲν20 ἐποίησας, καὶ πάλιν τὸ 20μη δὲν εἰς τὸ πάντη μὴ ὂν20 μεταλαβὼν τὸν λελυμένον ἐκεῖνον συλλογισμὸν συνεπέρανας. οὐκοῦν τὰ σοφά σου ταῦτα τῆς τεχνικῆς ἀγχινοίας πρὸς σὲ μεταχθήσεται. τίς 20τοῦ ἀγεννήτου20 πατήρ, ἐρωτῶ; οὐδείς, ἐρεῖς κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀνάγκην. ὁ γὰρ ἀγέννητος πατέρα πάντως οὐκ 2.1.624 ἔχει. εἰ τοίνυν οὐδεὶς τοῦ 20ἀγεννήτου20 πατήρ, τὸ δὲ οὐ δεὶς παρὰ σοῦ πρὸς τὸ 20μηδὲν20 μετελήφθη, τὸ δὲ 20μηδὲν20 κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον 20τῷ πάντη μὴ ὄντι20 ταὐτόν ἐστι κατὰ τὴν ἔννοιαν, 20ἀκώλυτος δὲ τῶν ἰσοδυναμούν των20, καθὼς φῄς, 20ἡ μετάληψις20, ὁ εἰπὼν ὅτι οὐδείς ἐστι τοῦ ἀγεννήτου πατὴρ 20ἐκ τοῦ πάντη μὴ ὄντος20 εἶναι λέγει τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων θεόν. 2.1.625 20Τοιοῦτον20, ὡς ἔοικεν, 20ἐστίν20, ὦ Εὐνόμιε, 20κακόν20 (τοῖς σοῖς γὰρ χρήσομαι λόγοις) οὐ 20τὸ δοκεῖν εἶναι σοφὸν πρὸ τοῦ εἶναι τετιμηκέναι20 (μικρὸν γὰρ ἴσως τὸ τοιοῦτον εἰς δυστυχίαν), ἀλλὰ τὸ ἑαυτὸν ἀγνοεῖν καὶ μὴ γινώσκειν, ὅσον ἐστὶ τὸ διάφορον τοῦ ὑψιπετοῦς Βασιλείου 2.1.626 καὶ τοῦ χερσαίου θηρίου. εἰ γὰρ ἐφεώρα τὸν βίον ἡμῶν τὸ ὀξὺ καὶ θεῖον ὄμμα ἐκεῖνο, εἰ περιεπόλει τὴν ἀνθρω πίνην ζωὴν τῷ τῆς σοφίας πτερῷ, ἔδειξεν ἂν καταπτὰς ἐπὶ σὲ τῷ ῥοίζῳ τῶν λόγων, οἵῳ τῷ ὀστράκῳ τῆς ἀνοίας συμ πεφυκὼς πρὸς τίνα δι' ἀπάτης σεαυτὸν ἀντεπήγειρας, ὕβρεσι ταῖς κατ' αὐτοῦ καὶ λοιδορίαις τὸ δοκεῖν τις εἶναι παρὰ 2.1.627 τοῖς γραϊδίοις καὶ τοῖς ἐκτομίαις θηρώμενος. πλὴν ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπελπιστέον σοι καὶ τῶν ὀνύχων ἐκείνου. τὸ γὰρ ἡμέτερον ὡς μὲν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ὄνυχος μοῖρα κρινόμενον πολλοῦ ἂν εἴη, πρὸς δὲ σὲ τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὅσον ἱκανὸν εἶναί σοι περιρρῆξαι τῆς ἀπάτης τὸ ἔλυτρον καὶ δεῖξαι τὴν ἐγκεκρυμμένην τῷ ὀστράκῳ ἀσχημοσύνην. Εἰ τῷ νομίμως ἀθλοῦντι τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσι πόνων ὅρος ἐστὶν ἢ τὸ παντελῶς ἀπειπόντα πρὸς τοὺς πόνους τὸν ἀνταγωνιστὴν ἑκουσίως ἐκστῆναι τῷ κεκρατηκότι τῆς νίκης ἢ τρισὶ πτώμασι κατὰ τὸν ἀθλητικὸν καταβληθῆναι νόμον, δι' ὧν γίνεται τῷ νενικηκότι τῇ κρίσει τῶν βραβευόντων ἡ ἐπὶ τῷ στεφάνῳ δόξα διὰ λαμπροῦ τοῦ κηρύγματος, ἐπεὶ οὖν δὶς ἤδη καταβληθεὶς ἐν τοῖς προλαβοῦσι λόγοις Εὐνό μιος οὔπω συγχωρεῖ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ κατὰ τοῦ ψεύδους ἔχειν τὰ νικητήρια, ἀλλ' ἐκ τρίτου πάλιν κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας διὰ τῆς λογογραφίας κονίζεται ἐν τῇ συνήθει παλαίστρᾳ τοῦ ψεύδους εἰς τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀπάτης ἀγῶνας ἑαυτὸν ἐπιρ ρώσας, ἀναγκαίως καὶ νῦν δι' ἡμῶν ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας λόγος πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ψεύδους ἀνατροπὴν ἀντεγείρεται, τῷ νικοποιῷ τε καὶ ἀγωνοθέτῃ τῆς νίκης ἀναθεὶς τὰς ἐλπίδας καὶ ἅμα τῇ κακοτεχνίᾳ τῶν τοῦ ἐναντίου παλαισμάτων ἐνδυναμού 3.1.2 μενος. ὁμολογοῦμεν γὰρ ἀνεπαισχύντως ἡμεῖς μήτε τινὰ λόγον διὰ ῥητορικῆς τεθηγμένον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας παρε σκευάσθαι μήτε δεινότητα διαλεκτικῆς ἀγχινοίας εἰς συμ μαχίαν κατὰ τῶν ἀντιτεταγμένων προβάλλεσθαι, ἣ καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν πολλάκις εἰς ὑπόνοιαν ψεύδους ἐπὶ τῶν ἀπείρων ἀντιμεθίστησιν. ἀλλὰ μία δύναμις τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν λόγου κατὰ τοῦ ψεύδους ἐστὶ πρῶτον μὲν αὐτὸς ὁ ἀληθινὸς λόγος, ἰσχὺς τοῦ ἡμετέρου λόγου γινόμενος, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀντι τεταγμένων σαθρότης,