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having come into being through an energy, [and] calling him first-created instead of only 3.2.157 begotten God and true son? For when these things have prevailed, it is a great ease for their dogmas to be brought to their intended conclusion, since all things are likely led from such a beginning to the logical consequence, that one who was neither begotten nor is a son, but who subsisted through some energy, cannot possibly share in the substance of God. But as long as the voices of the Gospels prevail, through which he is proclaimed Son and only-begotten and from the Father and from God and such things, he will talk nonsense in vain, deceiving himself and those with him through such trifles. 3.2.158 For since the very name of Son proclaims his true relation to the Father, who is so foolish, while John and Paul and the rest of the choir of saints proclaim these genuine and intimate terms, as not to look to them, but to the empty rattles of Eunomius’ sophistries *** the teaching of those who speak mysteries through the Spirit and bear Christ in themselves to think Eunomius more truthful? This Eunomius? From where was he elevated to lead Christians? 3.2.159 But let these things be, and as far as is possible, may our earnestness about the matters at hand smooth our heart that is swelling with zeal for the faith against the blasphemers. For how is it possible not to be moved to anger and enmity when our God and master and life-giver and savior is being insulted by these paltry men? 3.2.160 For if someone were to revile my father in the flesh, or were hostile toward my benefactor, would it be possible to bear the anger against my loved ones without passion? But if the Lord of my soul, who caused it to subsist when it was not, and redeemed it when it was enslaved, who gave it a taste of the present life and prepared the life to come, who calls us to a kingdom and gives us pledges of how we might escape the condemnation of Gehenna—these things I say are small and not yet worthy of the greatness of the common Master—, who is worshipped by all of creation, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, by whom stand the countless myriads of ministers in heaven, to whom everything that is governed here and has a desire for the good is turned, if he is exposed to the reviling of men, for whom it is not enough only to attach themselves to the portion of the apostate, but they consider it a loss not to drag others down with them into the same pit through their writings, so that a guide to destruction might not be lacking for those who come after, does anyone blame the anger at these things? 3.2.161 But let us return to the sequence of the argument. For in what follows he again slanders us as dishonoring the generation of the Son by human likenesses, and he mentions what was written by our father concerning these things, in which he says that since two things are signified by the word 'son', both a subsistence through passion and genuineness with respect to the one who begot, we should not admit the unseemly and carnal element in divine doctrines, but that which contributes to the witness of the glory of the only-begotten, this alone is to be accepted in lofty dogmas. 3.2.162 Who then dishonors the generation of the Son by human conceptions, the one who banishes the passible and human element from the divine generation, but joins the Son impassibly to the one who begot, or the one who reduces him who brought all things into being to the level of the lower creation? But this new wisdom, it seems, considers it to look toward dishonor to make the Son proper to the majesty of the Father, but a great and lofty thing to bring him down to 3.2.163 equality of honor with the creation that is our fellow-slave. O empty accusations! Basil is slandered as dishonoring the Son, the one who honors him as the Father is honored, and Eunomius fights for the honor of the only-begotten, the one who separates him from the good nature of the Father. Paul also had such an accusation once from the Athenians, being accused by them of proclaiming strange deities, when concerning the demons

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ἐνεργείας γενόμενον, [καὶ] πρωτόκτιστον ἀντὶ μονο 3.2.157 γενοῦς θεοῦ καὶ ἀληθινοῦ υἱοῦ προσαγορεύοντας; τούτων γὰρ κεκρατηκότων, εὐκολία πολλὴ πρὸς τὸν σκοπὸν αὐτῶν συμπερανθῆναι τὰ δόγματα, πάντων κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀρχῆς πρὸς τὸ ἀκόλουθον ὁδηγουμένων, ὅτι τὸν μήτε γεννηθέντα μήτε υἱὸν ὄντα, διὰ δέ τινος ἐνεργείας ὑποστάντα κοινωνεῖν τῷ θεῷ τῆς οὐσίας οὐχ οἷόν τε. ἕως δ' ἂν κρατῶσιν αἱ τῶν εὐαγγελίων φωναί, δι' ὧν υἱὸς καὶ μονογενὴς καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα κηρύσσεται, μάτην ληρήσει, ἑαυτόν τε καὶ τοὺς καθ' ἑαυτὸν διὰ τῶν τοιούτων φληνάφων παρακρουόμενος. 3.2.158 τὴν γὰρ ἀληθῆ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα σχέσιν τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ προσηγορίας βοώσης, τίς οὕτως ἠλίθιος, ὡς Ἰωάννου καὶ Παύλου καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἁγίων τὰς γνησίας ταύ τας φωνὰς καὶ τῆς οἰκειότητος ἐνδεικτικὰς κηρυσσόντων μὴ πρὸς ἐκείνους βλέπειν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς διακένοις κροτάλοις τῶν Εὐνομίου σοφισμάτων *** διδασκαλίαν τῶν διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος λαλούντων μυστήρια καὶ Χριστὸν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς φε ρόντων Εὐνόμιον ἀληθέστερον οἴεσθαι; τίνα τοῦτον Εὐνό μιον; τὸν πόθεν εἰς τὸ καθηγεῖσθαι Χριστιανῶν ἐπαρ 3.2.159 θέντα; ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐάσθω, καὶ ὥς ἐστι δυνατὸν ἡ περὶ τὰ προκείμενα σπουδὴ καταλεαινέτω τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῖν ζήλῳ τῆς πίστεως κατὰ τῶν βλασφημούντων ὑπεροι δαίνουσαν. πῶς γὰρ ἔστι μὴ παρακινηθῆναι πρὸς ὀργὴν καὶ ἀπέχθειαν ἐν τῷ τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν καὶ δεσπότην καὶ ζωοποιὸν καὶ σωτῆρα παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρωπίσκων τούτων προ 3.2.160 πηλακίζεσθαι; εἰ γάρ μοι τὸν τῆς σαρκὸς ἐλοιδόρει πα τέρα ἢ πρὸς τὸν εὐεργέτην εἶχε τὸν ἐμὸν δυσμενῶς, ἆρα δυνατὸν ἦν ἀπαθῶς βαστάξαι τὴν κατὰ τῶν ἀγαπωμένων ὀργήν; εἰ δὲ ὁ τῆς ψυχῆς τῆς ἐμῆς κύριος, ὁ μὴ οὖσαν αὐτὴν ὑποστήσας καὶ δουλωθεῖσαν ἐξαγοράσας, ὁ τῆς τε παρούσης γεύσας ζωῆς καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν παρασκευάσας, ὁ πρὸς βασιλείαν καλῶν καὶ ὅπως ἂν φεύγοιμεν τὴν τῆς γεέννης κατάκρισιν παρεγγυῶν-μικρὰ λέγω ταῦτα καὶ οὔπω τῆς τοῦ κοινοῦ δεσπότου μεγαλωσύνης ἐπάξια-, ὁ ὑπὸ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως προσκυνούμενος, ἐπουρανίων, ἐπι γείων, καταχθονίων, ᾧ παρεστήκασιν αἱ ἀναρίθμητοι τῶν κατ' οὐρανὸν λειτουργῶν μυριάδες, πρὸς ὃν ἐπέστραπται πᾶν ὅσον ὧδε διοικεῖται καὶ τοῦ καλοῦ τὴν ἔφεσιν ἔχει, εἰ οὗτος ἔκκειται πρὸς λοιδορίαν ἀνθρώποις, οἷς οὐκ ἀρκεῖ μόνον τὸ ἑαυτοὺς τῇ μερίδι τοῦ ἀποστάτου προσοικειῶσαι, ἀλλὰ ζημίαν ποιοῦνται τὸ μὴ καὶ ἄλλους εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ βά ραθρον μεθ' ἑαυτῶν ἐφελκύσασθαι διὰ τῆς λογογραφίας, ὡς ἂν μὴ λείποι τοῖς ἐπιγινομένοις ἡ πρὸς τὸν ὄλεθρον χειραγωγία, ἆρά τις μέμφεται τὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις ὀργήν; 3.2.161 Ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν ἀκολουθίαν ἐπαναδράμωμεν. δια βάλλει γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς πάλιν ἡμᾶς ὡς ταῖς ἀνθρωπίναις ὁμοιότησιν ἀτιμάζοντας τοῦ υἱοῦ τὴν γέννησιν, καὶ μέμνηταί γε τῶν γεγραμμένων τῷ ἡμετέρῳ πατρὶ περὶ τούτων, ἐν οἷς φησι δύο σημαινομένων ἐκ τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ φωνῆς, τῆς τε διὰ πάθους συστάσεως καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸν γεγεννηκότα γνη σιότητος, τὸ μὲν ἀπρεπὲς καὶ σαρκῶδες ἐν τοῖς θείοις μὴ προσίεσθαι λόγοις, τὸ δὲ ὅσον εἰς μαρτυρίαν τῆς τοῦ μονο γενοῦς δόξης ἐστί, τοῦτο μόνον ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς παραλαμ 3.2.162 βάνεσθαι δόγμασι. τίς οὖν ἀτιμάζει ταῖς ἀνθρωπίναις ὑπολήψεσι τοῦ υἱοῦ τὴν γέννησιν, ὁ ἐξορίζων τῆς θείας γεν νήσεως τὸ παθητὸν καὶ ἀνθρώπινον, ἀπαθῶς δὲ συνάπτων τὸν υἱὸν τῷ γεννήσαντι, ἢ ὁ κοινοποιῶν πρὸς τὴν κάτω κτίσιν τὸν τὰ πάντα παραγαγόντα εἰς γένεσιν; ἀλλὰ τὸ τοιοῦτον, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἡ καινὴ αὕτη σοφία πρὸς ἀτιμίαν οἴεται βλέπειν, τὸ τῇ μεγαλειότητι τοῦ πατρὸς τὸν υἱὸν οἰκειῶσαι, μέγα δὲ καὶ ὑψηλὸν τὸ καταγαγεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς 3.2.163 ὁμοτιμίαν τῆς ἡμῖν ὁμοδούλου κτίσεως. ὢ κενῶν ἐγκλη μάτων· Βασίλειος ὡς ἀτιμάζων τὸν υἱὸν διαβάλλεται, ὁ τιμῶν αὐτὸν καθὼς τιμᾶται ὁ πατήρ, καὶ Εὐνόμιος τῆς τιμῆς τοῦ μονογενοῦς ὑπερμάχεται, ὁ τῆς ἀγαθῆς φύσεως τοῦ πατρὸς ἀφορίζων. τοιαύτην ἔσχε καὶ Παῦλος αἰτίαν παρ' Ἀθηναίοις ποτέ, πρὸς αὐτῶν ἐκείνων κατηγορούμενος ὡς ξένα καταγγέλλων δαιμόνια, ὅτε τὴν περὶ τοὺς δαίμονας