298

and glory is denied to the only-begotten God 3.2.125 by the enemies of the truth. And having constructed such things, again in what remains he honors him with empty honors, calling him Lord and Only-begotten; but so that no pious thought might arise in those who hear through these names, he immediately mixes blasphemies with the more significant things. The text is as follows. 20"Since, indeed,"20, he says, 20"neither does the begotten substance leave room for fellowship with another; for he is only-begotten; nor is the energy of him who made 3.2.126 seen as common."20. Oh, the insolence! As if speaking among irrational or senseless people, who have no understanding, he with authority turns his argument around through contradictions, or rather he suffers the same thing as those deprived of their sight, since they too often behave unseemly in the sight of those who see, because they themselves do not see, supposing that they are not seen 3.2.127. For who cannot perceive the contradiction in what has been said? "Because he was begotten," he says, "the substance leaves no room for fellowship with others; for he is only-begotten." And having said this, as if in truth either not seeing himself or not thinking he is seen, he adds things that have no fellowship as corresponding to what was said, applying to the substance of the only-begotten 3.2.128 the energy of the one who has made. For the one begotten to the one who begot and the only-begotten to the Father certainly has reference according to what follows, and he who looks to the truth sees not the energy of one who has made, but the nature of one who has begotten in the correlation of the Son. 3.2.129 But he, as if mentioning plants or seeds or something else among creation, places the energy of the one who made alongside the hypostasis of the only-begotten. For if a stone or wood or some other such thing were set before our contemplation, it would have been consistent to think beforehand of the energy of the one who made; but if it is confessed even by his opponents that the only-begotten God is Son and came to be by begetting, how do the same words fit for him and for the least parts of creation, and what can be truly said about the ant or the gnat, do they think it is pious 3.2.130 to say this also about the Lord? For if one were to observe the nature of the ant in what it is peculiar compared to the other animals, he would not speak outside the truth that the energy of him who made it 3.2.131 is not seen as common with the others. What therefore is said about such things, these things they also declare about the only-begotten; and just as hunters are said to intercept the passage of wild beasts with certain pits, and to hide the plot by covering the mouths of the pits with certain rotten and unsubstantial things, so that the chasm might appear level with the surrounding ground, such a thing the heresy devises against men, covering the pit of impiety with these fair-sounding and pious names as if with some superficial roof, so that the more irrational, thinking their proclamation to be the same as the true faith because of the agreement of the words, having run to the mere name of Son and Only-begotten, might step into the void of the pit, the meaning of the titles not supporting their footing, but carrying them down into the chasm of the denial of Christ. For this reason he mentions a begotten substance leaving no room for fellowship with any, and he names him Only-begotten; these are the coverings of the pit 3.2.132. But whenever someone standing by, before being caught in the chasm, applies the test of reason to the argument like some hand, he sees the ruin of idolatry undermined by the dogma. For approaching him as God and Son of God he finds a creature of God set forth for worship. For this reason they bandy about the name of the Only-begotten everywhere, so that the ruin might become easily acceptable to those who are deceived, as if someone, having mixed poison with bread, should welcome with death those in need of food, who would not have accepted taking the destructive poison nakedly, not having been enticed by what is apparent. Wisely therefore, at least according to 3.2.133 his own mind, he looks to what is being pursued. if

298

καὶ δόξαν τῷ μονογενεῖ θεῷ 3.2.125 παρὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τῆς ἀληθείας ἀποκληροῦται. καὶ τοι αῦτα κατασκευάσας πάλιν ἐν τοῖς ὑπολοίποις ταῖς δια κένοις αὐτὸν ἀποσεμνύνει τιμαῖς, κύριον καὶ μονογενῆ προσειπών· ἀλλ' ὡς ἂν μή τις εὐσεβὴς διάνοια διὰ τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτων τοῖς ἀκηκοόσιν ἐγγένοιτο, εὐθὺς κατα μίγνυσι τοῖς εὐσημοτέροις τὰ βλάσφημα. ἔχει δὲ οὕτως ἡ λέξις. 20ἅτε δή20, φησί, 20μήτε τῆς γεννηθείσης οὐ σίας ἑτέρῳ τινὶ χώραν εἰς κοινωνίαν καταλι πούσης· μονογενὴς γάρ· μήτε τῆς τοῦ ποιή 3.2.126 σαντος ἐνεργείας κοινῆς θεωρουμένης20. ὢ τῆς ὕβρεως· ὡς ἐν ἀλόγοις ἢ ἀνοήτοις δημηγορῶν, οἷς οὐκ ἔστι σύνεσις, κατ' ἐξουσίαν διὰ τῶν ἐναντίων περιάγει τὸν λόγον, μᾶλλον δὲ ταὐτὸν πάσχει τοῖς ἐστερημένοις τῶν ὄψεων, ἐπεὶ κἀκεῖνοι πολλάκις ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς τῶν βλεπόν των ἀσχημονοῦσι, διὰ τὸ μὴ βλέπειν αὐτοὶ τὸ μηδὲ ὁρᾶσθαι 3.2.127 ὑποτιθέμενοι. τίνος γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν συνιδεῖν τὴν ἐν τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐναντιότητα; διὰ τὸ γεννηθῆναι, φησίν, ἡ οὐσία χώραν εἰς κοινωνίαν ἑτέροις οὐ καταλείπει· μονογενὴς γάρ. καὶ τοῦτο εἰπών, ὡς κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ἢ μὴ βλέπων αὐτὸς ἢ μὴ νομίζων ὁρᾶσθαι τὰ μηδεμίαν ἔχοντα κοινωνίαν ὡς συστοιχοῦντα τοῖς εἰρημένοις προστίθησι, τῇ τοῦ μονογε 3.2.128 νοῦς οὐσίᾳ τὴν τοῦ πεποιηκότος ἐνέργειαν ἐφαρμόσας. ὁ γὰρ γεννηθεὶς πρὸς τὸν γεγεννηκότα καὶ ὁ μονογενὴς πρὸς τὸν πατέρα κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον πάντως τὴν ἀναφορὰν ἔχει, καὶ ὁ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν βλέπων οὐ πεποιηκότος ἐνέργειαν, ἀλλὰ γεννήσαντος φύσιν ἐν τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ θεωρεῖ συστοιχίᾳ. 3.2.129 Ὁ δὲ καθάπερ φυτῶν ἢ σπερμάτων ἤ τινος ἄλλου τῶν κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν ἐπιμνησθεὶς τὴν τοῦ ποιήσαντος ἐνέρ γειαν τῇ ὑποστάσει τοῦ μονογενοῦς παρατίθησιν. εἰ μὲν γὰρ λίθος ἢ ξύλον ἢ ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον τῇ θεωρίᾳ προέκειτο, ἀκόλουθον ἦν προεπινοεῖν τὴν τοῦ πεποιηκότος ἐνέργειαν· εἰ δὲ ὁμολογεῖται καὶ παρὰ τῶν ὑπεναντίων ὁ μονογενὴς θεὸς υἱός τε εἶναι καὶ γεννητῶς ὑποστῆναι, πῶς ἁρμό ζουσιν αἱ αὐταὶ φωναὶ τούτῳ καὶ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις τῶν μορίων τῆς κτίσεως, καὶ ὅπερ περὶ τοῦ μύρμηκος ἢ τοῦ κώνωπος ἀληθῶς ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, τοῦτο καὶ περὶ τοῦ κυρίου λέγειν 3.2.130 εὐσεβὲς εἶναι νομίζουσιν; εἰ γάρ τις καταμάθοι τὴν τοῦ μύρμηκος φύσιν οἷς ἰδιάζει πρὸς τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ζῴων, οὐκ ἂν ἔξω τῆς ἀληθείας εἴποι τὴν τοῦ πεποιηκότος αὐτὸν 3.2.131 ἐνέργειαν κοινὴν πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα μὴ θεωρεῖσθαι. ἃ τοίνυν ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων λέγεται, ταῦτα καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μονογενοῦς ἀποφαίνονται· καὶ καθάπερ οἱ θηρεύοντες λέγονται βόθροις τισὶν ὑπολαμβάνειν τῶν θηρίων τὴν πάροδον, κρύπτειν δὲ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν διὰ σαθρῶν τινῶν καὶ ἀνυποστάτων τὰ στόμια τῶν βόθρων ἐπικαλύπτοντες, ὡς ἂν ἰσόπεδον φαίνοιτο τῷ παρακειμένῳ τὸ βάραθρον, τοιοῦτόν τι μηχανᾶται κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ αἵρεσις, τὸν βόθρον τῆς ἀσεβείας διὰ τῶν εὐφήμων τούτων καὶ εὐσεβῶν ὀνομάτων οἷον διά τινος ἐπιπολαίου στέγης ἐπικαλύπτουσα, ὥστε τοὺς ἀλογωτέρους, ταὐτὸν εἶναι τῇ ἀληθινῇ πίστει τὸ τούτων κήρυγμα διὰ τῆς τῶν ῥημάτων ὁμολογίας νομίζοντας, πρὸς ψιλὸν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ μονογενοῦς ἐπιδραμόντας, κενεμβα τῆσαι τῷ βόθρῳ, τῆς τῶν προσηγοριῶν σημασίας οὐχ ὑπε ρειδούσης αὐτῶν τὴν βάσιν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ τῆς ἀρνήσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ βάραθρον καταφερούσης. διὰ τοῦτο γεννηθείσης οὐσίας μέμνηται μηδενὶ χώραν εἰς κοινωνίαν καταλιπούσης καὶ μονογενῆ ὀνομάζει· ταῦτά ἐστι τὰ τοῦ βόθρου καλύμ 3.2.132 ματα. ἐπειδὰν δέ τις παραστάς, πρὶν ὑποληφθῆναι τῷ χά σματι, καθάπερ τινὰ χεῖρα τὴν διὰ τοῦ λόγου πεῖραν ἐπα γάγῃ τῷ λόγῳ, βλέπει τὸν τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας ὄλεθρον ὑπορωρυγμένον τῷ δόγματι. ὡς γὰρ θεῷ καὶ υἱῷ θεοῦ προσερχόμενος κτίσμα θεοῦ εὑρίσκει τῇ λατρεία προκεί μενον. διὰ τοῦτο ἄνω καὶ κάτω τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ μονογενοῦς περιφέρουσιν, ἵν' εὐπαράδεκτος γένηται τοῖς ἀπατωμένοις ὁ ὄλεθρος, ὡς εἴ τις ἄρτῳ τὸ δηλητήριον καταμίξας θανάτῳ τοὺς δεομένους τῆς τροφῆς δεξιώσαιτο, οὐκ ἂν δεξαμένους γυμνὸν προσέσθαι τὸ φθοροποιὸν δηλητήριον, μὴ δελεα σθέντας πρὸς τὸ φαινόμενον. σοφῶς τοίνυν κατά γε τὸν 3.2.133 ἑαυτοῦ νοῦν πρὸς τὸ σπουδαζόμενον βλέπει. εἰ