276

the title of son and of offspring 3.1.102 would not have an affinity towards that which is of a different kind. But if, according to the logic of opposites, he is called 20offspring20 and, as they confess, the title of son is according to nature, he is certainly the son of the substance of the one who has begotten, not of something else considered outside of nature. But if he is truly from there, he is in no way estranged from that from which he is, as was also shown in other matters, that everything that has subsisted from another by generation is in every way of the same kind as that from which it has come to be. 3.1.103 But if someone should demand some interpretation and outline and explanation of the divine substance, we will not deny that we are ignorant of such wisdom, confessing only this much, that it is not possible for that which is by nature indefinite to be comprehended by any contrivance of words. For prophecy proclaims that the divine greatness has no limit, expressly preaching that of the magnificence of the glory of his holiness there is no 3.1.104 end. But if the things concerning him are limitless, much more is he himself, whatever he is in substance, not comprehended by any limit in any part. If therefore the interpretation through nouns and verbs somehow comprehends the subject by its meaning, but the indefinite cannot be encompassed, no one could reasonably blame our ignorance, since we do not act rashly regarding things that cannot be dared. For with what name shall I comprehend the incomprehensible? Through what utterance shall I declare the ineffa 3.1.105 ble? Since, therefore, the divine is better and higher than the meaning of a name, we have learned to honor in silence the things that are beyond reason and thought. And if one who is proud beyond what he ought to be proud of should trample upon this reverence of speech, making a mockery of our ignorance concerning incomprehensible things, and should recognize the unlikeness in variation of that which is unfigured and undefined and without magnitude and without quantity—I speak of Father and of Son and of Holy Spirit—and should bring this forward as a refutation of our ignorance, which is constantly proposed by the disciples of deceit, the saying You worship what you do not know, if we do not know the substance of the one who is worshipped, 3.1.106 we will not, according to the prophet’s counsel, fear the reproach of fools, nor because of their contempt will we speak rashly against things ineffable, making Paul, a layman in speech, our teacher of the mysteries that are beyond knowledge, who is so far from thinking the divine nature is within the compass of human understanding that he both calls the judgments of God unsearchable and his ways untraceable, and strongly affirms that the things promised to those who love him in return for their good deeds in this life are beyond comprehension, so that it is not possible for it to be grasped by the eye, nor received by the ear, nor 3.1.107 contained by the heart. Having learned these things, therefore, from Paul, we confidently declare that not only are the judgments of God higher than the power of those who attempt to search them out, but also the ways of knowledge remain until now unworn and untrodden. For we think that the apostle, by saying that the ways which lead to the incomprehensible are untraceable, wished to signify this, showing by the word that that knowledge is inaccessible to human reasonings, and that no one has yet set his mind on such a course of reasoning, nor has marked any trace or sign of a comprehending approach to the things that cannot be apprehended. 3.1.108 Having learned these things, therefore, from the apostle's lofty utterance, we reason through what has been said that, if the judgments cannot be searched out and the ways are not traced out and the promise of good things surpasses all conjecture from reasoning, by how much greater a measure, according to that which is ineffable and unapproachable, is the divine itself superior and higher than the things conceived concerning it, of which the God-taught Paul declares there is no knowledge; and for this reason we confirm in ourselves the doctrine that is mocked, confessing that we are inferior in the knowledge of things that transcend knowledge, and we say that we truly worship 3.1.109 what we know. And we know the height of the glory of the one being wor...

276

υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ γεννήματος προσηγορία 3.1.102 οὐκ ἂν πρὸς τὸ ἑτερογενὲς ἔχοι τὴν οἰκειότητα. ἀλλ' εἴπερ κατὰ τὸν λόγον τῶν ὑπεναντίων καὶ 20γέννημα20 λέγεται καὶ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν, ὡς ὁμολογοῦσιν, ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ υἱοῦ κλῆσις, τῆς οὐσίας ἐστὶ πάντως τοῦ γεγεννηκότος υἱός, οὐκ ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν ἔξω θεωρουμένων τῆς φύσεως. εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖθεν ἀληθῶς ἐστιν, οὐκ ἀπεξένωται πάντως τοῦ ὅθεν ἐστίν, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐδείχθη, ὅτι πᾶν τὸ γεννητῶς ἔκ τινος ὑποστὰν ὁμογενές ἐστι πάντως τῷ ἐξ οὗ γέγονεν. 3.1.103 Εἰ δέ τις ἀπαιτοίη τῆς θείας οὐσίας ἑρμηνείαν τινὰ καὶ ὑπογραφὴν καὶ ἐξήγησιν, ἀμαθεῖς εἶναι τῆς τοιαύτης σοφίας οὐκ ἀρνησόμεθα, τοσοῦτον ὁμολογοῦντες μόνον, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι τὸ ἀόριστον κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ἐπινοίᾳ τινὶ ῥημάτων διαληφθῆναι. τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἔχειν ὅρον τὴν θείαν μεγαλω σύνην ἡ προφητεία βοᾷ, διαρρήδην κηρύσσουσα ὅτι τῆς μεγαλοπρεπείας τῆς δόξης τῆς ἁγιωσύνης αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστι 3.1.104 πέρας. εἰ δὲ τὰ περὶ αὐτὸν ἀπεράτωτα, πολὺ μᾶλλον αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος κατ' οὐσίαν ὅ τι ποτὲ καὶ ἐστὶν οὐδενὶ ὅρῳ κατ' οὐδὲν μέρος διαλαμβάνεται. εἰ οὖν ἡ διὰ τῶν ὀνομάτων τε καὶ ῥημάτων ἑρμηνεία διαλαμβάνει πως τῇ σημασίᾳ τὸ ὑποκείμενον, τὸ δὲ ἀόριστον περιληφθῆναι οὐ δύναται, οὐκ ἄν τις εἰκότως τὴν ἀμαθίαν ἡμῶν αἰτιάσαιτο, μὴ θρασυ νομένων κατὰ τῶν ἀτολμήτων. τίνι γὰρ ὀνόματι διαλάβω τὸ ἀπερίληπτον; διὰ ποίας φωνῆς ἐξαγγείλω τὸ ἀνεκφώ 3.1.105 νητον; ἐπεὶ οὖν κρεῖττόν ἐστι καὶ ὑψηλότερον τῆς ὀνομα στικῆς σημασίας τὸ θεῖον, σιωπῇ τιμᾶν τὰ ὑπὲρ λόγον τε καὶ διάνοιαν μεμαθήκαμεν· κἂν ἐπεμβαίνῃ τῇ εὐλαβείᾳ ταύτῃ τοῦ λόγου ὁ ὑπερφρονῶν παρ' ὃ δεῖ φρονεῖν, ἐν γέ λωτι τὴν ἀμαθίαν ἡμῶν τὴν περὶ τῶν ἀκαταλήπτων ποι ούμενος, καὶ τοῦ ἀσχηματίστου καὶ ἀορίστου καὶ ἀμεγέθους καὶ ἀπόσου, πατρός τε λέγω καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου, τὴν κατὰ τὸ ἀνόμοιον ἐπιγινώσκῃ παραλλαγὴν καὶ προφέρῃ τοῦτο πρὸς ἔλεγχον τῆς ἀμαθίας ἡμῶν, ὃ συνεχῶς παρὰ τῶν μαθητῶν τῆς ἀπάτης προτείνεται, τὸ Ὑμεῖς προσκυνεῖτε ὃ οὐκ οἴδατε, εἰ τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ προσκυνουμένου οὐκ οἴδαμεν, 3.1.106 οὐ φοβηθησόμεθα κατὰ τὴν συμβουλὴν τοῦ προφήτου τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν τῶν ἀφρόνων οὐδὲ διὰ τὸν φαυλισμὸν αὐτῶν κατὰ τῶν ἀνεκφωνήτων θρασυστομήσομεν, τὸν ἰδιώτην τῷ λόγῳ Παῦλον διδάσκαλον τῶν ὑπὲρ γνῶσιν μυστηρίων ποι ούμενοι, ὃς τοσοῦτον ἀπέχει τοῦ τὴν θείαν φύσιν ἐντὸς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης περινοίας οἴεσθαι, ὡς καὶ τὰ κρίματα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνεξερεύνητα λέγειν καὶ τὰς ὁδοὺς ἀνεξιχνιάστους καὶ τὰ τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ τῷδε κατορ θωθέντων ἐπηγγελμένα ὑπὲρ κατάληψιν εἶναι διϊσχυρίζεσθαι, ὡς μήτε ὀφθαλμῷ λαβεῖν μήτε ἀκοῇ δέξασθαι μήτε 3.1.107 καρδίᾳ χωρῆσαι δυνατὸν εἶναι. ταῦτα τοίνυν μαθόντες ἀπὸ τοῦ Παύλου θαρροῦντες ἀποφαινόμεθα, ὅτι οὐ μόνον τὰ κρίματα τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς τῶν ἐρευνᾶν ἐπιχειρούντων δυνάμεώς ἐστιν ὑψηλότερα, ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ τῆς γνώσεως ὁδοὶ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν ἀτριβεῖς τε καὶ ἀνεπίβατοι μένουσι. τοῦτο γὰρ ἡγού μεθα τὸν ἀπόστολον σημᾶναι βουλόμενον ἀνεξιχνιάστους εἰπεῖν τὰς ὁδοὺς αἳ πρὸς τὸ ἀκατάληπτον φέρουσι, δει κνύντα διὰ τῆς λέξεως ὅτι ἀνεπίβατός ἐστι λογισμοῖς ἀν θρωπίνοις ἡ γνῶσις ἐκείνη, καὶ οὔπω τις ἐπέστησεν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν τῇ τοιαύτῃ τοῦ λόγου πορείᾳ, οὔτε τι ἴχνος οὔτε σημεῖον καταληπτικῆς ἐφόδου τοῖς ἀλήπτοις ἐνεση μάνατο. 3.1.108 Ταῦτα τοίνυν ἐκ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς μεγαλοφωνίας μα θόντες ἀναλογιζόμεθα διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ὅτι, εἰ τὰ κρίματα ἐξερευνηθῆναι οὐ δύναται καὶ αἱ ὁδοὶ οὐκ ἐξιχνιάζονται καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐπαγγελία πάσης ὑπέρκειται τῆς ἀπὸ στοχασμῶν εἰκασίας, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τῷ μέτρῳ κατὰ τὸ ἄφραστόν τε καὶ ἀπροσπέλαστον ἀνώτερόν ἐστι καὶ ὑψηλό τερον αὐτὸ τὸ θεῖον τῶν περὶ αὐτὸ νοουμένων, ὧν οὐδεμίαν εἶναι γνῶσιν ὁ θεοδίδακτος ἀποφαίνεται Παῦλος· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο βεβαιοῦμεν ἐν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς τὸ καταχλευαζόμενον δόγμα, ὁμολογοῦντες ἐλάττους εἶναι κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν τῶν ὑπερβαινόντων τὴν γνῶσιν, καὶ προσκυνεῖν φαμεν ἀληθῶς 3.1.109 ὅπερ οἴδαμεν. οἴδαμεν δὲ τὸ ὕψος τῆς δόξης τοῦ προσ