303

he was refuting the error of those mad for idols and was leading them by the hand to the truth, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection. These things the new Stoics and Epicureans now bring against the imitator of Paul, men who have leisure for nothing else, as the history says concerning the Athenians, 3.2.164 than to say or to hear something newer. For what could be found newer than these things: a son of an energy and a father of a creature and a recent god springing up out of non-being and a good altered from a good? These are the ones who, by saying he is not that which is the nature of the one who begot him, pretend to honor him with fitting honors. Does Eunomius reverence the form of such an honor, if one were to say he is not akin to the Father in nature, 3.2.165 but has fellowship with one of the things of a different kind? For if he who makes the Lord of creation common with creation determines that in these things he honors him, let him also be honored by being made common in nature with the irrational or the insensible; but if for him fellowship with the inferior is grievous and insulting, how for him who holds dominion in the sovereignty of his age, as the prophet says, is it an honor to be ranked together with the subordinate and servile nature? But so much for these things. 3.3.1 And concerning the utterance of Peter the apostle, it would be the time to examine more diligently the things said by both Eunomius himself and by our father about this. And if the precise examination should extend the discourse to a great length, the considerate listener will surely forgive, not accusing us of being verbose, but referring the blame back to the one who gave the occasion. And let it be permitted to me to go through a few things beforehand of the examination of the things set before us, these things also perhaps not being discordant with the goal of our earnest endeavors. 3.3.2 The divine word has decreed that nothing of the things that have come to be through creation is an object of worship for men, so that one can learn such a thing from almost the whole of the divinely inspired scripture. Moses, the tablets, the law, the prophets in succession, the gospels, the doctrines of the apostles, all alike forbid looking to the creation. And it would be a long task to set forth in order each of the things that bear on this matter; but if we should set forth a few testimonies of the divinely inspired scripture out of many, the argument will surely have equal credibility, because each of the divine things has equal weight for the manifestation 3.3.3 of truth, even if it be the least. For since the conception of beings is divided in two, into both the creation and into the uncreated nature, if what is now being earnestly promoted by our opponents should prevail, namely to say that the Son of God is a creature, there is every necessity either that the evangelical proclamation be set aside and the Word who was in the beginning, God, not be worshiped, because it is not right to offer worship to the creation, or if the miracles in the gospels should put us to shame, by which we are led to revere and worship him who is revealed in them, to bring the created and the uncreated into equal honor, if indeed according to the doctrine of our opponents the created God is also worshiped, having in nature no pre-eminence over the rest of creation; and if this should prevail, the doctrines of 3.3.4 piety will be transformed into a kind of complete anarchy and democratic autonomy. For when men believe that the nature which is worshiped is not one, but are carried away in their thoughts to different deities, there is nothing that will stop the conception of the divine from proceeding through creation, but that which is considered divine in creation will become an occasion for an equal conception of that which is observed after it, and that for the next, and the error will be carried through all things from this sequence, with the first deceit passing through the things adjacent all the way to the last things. 3.3.5 And that I am not conjecturing something beside the point, I shall present a credible witness for my argument: the error prevailing among the Greeks even until now. For since with an uneducated and small-minded intellect they were disposed with wonder toward the beauties of creation, not with a leader and a guide in their wonder at the phenomena

303

πλάνην τῶν εἰδωλομανούντων διήλεγχε καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀλή θειαν ἐχειραγώγει, καταγγέλλων ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ τὴν ἀνά στασιν. ταῦτα καὶ νῦν οἱ νέοι Στωϊκοὶ καὶ Ἐπικούρειοι τῷ μιμητῇ τοῦ Παύλου προφέρουσιν, οἱ εἰς οὐδὲν ἕτερον εὐκαιροῦντες, καθὼς περὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἡ ἱστορία φησίν, 3.2.164 ἢ εἰς τὸ λέγειν τι καὶ ἀκούειν καινότερον. τί γὰρ ἂν εὑρεθείη τούτων καινότερον· υἱὸς ἐνεργείας καὶ πατὴρ κτίσματος καὶ θεὸς πρόσφατος ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος ἀναφυό μενος καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἀγαθοῦ παρηλλαγμένον; οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ διὰ τοῦ μὴ εἶναι αὐτὸν λέγειν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ γεννή σαντος φύσις, τιμᾶν προσποιούμενοι ταῖς καθηκούσαις τιμαῖς. ἆρ' αἰδεῖται τὸ εἶδος τῆς τοιαύτης τιμῆς ὁ Εὐνόμιος, εἰ μὴ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα λέγοι τις αὐτὸν ᾠκειῶσθαι τῇ φύσει, 3.2.165 ἀλλὰ πρός τι τῶν ἑτερογενῶν τὴν κοινωνίαν ἔχειν; εἰ γὰρ ὁ πρὸς τὴν κτίσιν κοινοποιῶν τὸν τῆς κτίσεως κύριον τιμᾶν ἐν τούτοις αὐτὸν διορίζεται, τιμάσθω καὶ οὗτος πρὸς τὸ ἄλογον ἢ ἀναίσθητον κατὰ τὴν φύσιν κοινοποιούμενος· εἰ δὲ τούτῳ χαλεπὸν καὶ ἐφύβριστον ἡ πρὸς τὸ χεῖρόν ἐστι κοινωνία, πῶς τῷ δεσποτεύοντι ἐν τῇ δυναστείᾳ αὐτοῦ τοῦ αἰῶνος, καθώς φησιν ὁ προφήτης, τιμή ἐστι τὸ τῇ ὑπο χειρίῳ καὶ δουλευούσῃ φύσει συγκατατάττεσθαι; ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν εἰς τοσοῦτον. 3.3.1 Περὶ δὲ τῆς Πέτρου τοῦ ἀποστόλου φωνῆς καιρὸς ἂν εἴη φιλοπονώτερον διεξετάσαι τὰ εἰρημένα αὐτῷ τε τῷ Εὐ νομίῳ καὶ τῷ ἡμετέρῳ πατρὶ περὶ τούτου. εἰ δὲ εἰς πλῆθος ἐκτείνοι τὸν λόγον ἡ ἀκριβὴς θεωρία, συγγνώσεται πάντως ὁ εὐγνώμων ἀκροατής, οὐχ ἡμᾶς ἀδολεσχεῖν αἰτιώμενος, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸν τὴν ἀφορμὴν δεδωκότα τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπαναφέρων. καί μοι συγκεχωρήσθω βραχέα τινὰ προδιεξελθεῖν τῆς τῶν προκειμένων ἐξετάσεως, οὐδὲ ταῦτα τυχὸν τοῦ σκοποῦ τῶν σπουδαζομένων ἀπᾴδοντα. 3.3.2 Οὐδὲν τῶν διὰ κτίσεως γεγονότων σεβάσμιον εἶναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὁ θεῖος ἐνομοθέτησε λόγος, ὡς ἐκ πάσης μικροῦ δεῖν ἔστι τῆς θεοπνεύστου γραφῆς τὸ τοιοῦτο μαθεῖν. ὁ Μωϋσῆς, αἱ πλάκες, ὁ νόμος, οἱ καθεξῆς προφῆται, τὰ εὐ αγγέλια, τῶν ἀποστόλων τὰ δόγματα, πάντες ἐπίσης ἀπαγο ρεύουσι τὸ πρὸς τὴν κτίσιν βλέπειν. καὶ μακρὸν ἂν εἴη τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον ἐφεξῆς παρατίθεσθαι τῶν εἰς τοῦτο φε ρόντων· ἀλλὰ κἂν ὀλίγας τῆς θεοπνεύστου γραφῆς μαρτυ ρίας ἐκ πολλῶν παραθώμεθα, ἐπίσης πάντως ὁ λόγος τὸ ἀξιόπιστον ἔχει, διότι τῶν θείων ἕκαστον εἰς φανέρωσιν 3.3.3 ἀληθείας τὸ ἴσον ἔχει, κἂν ἐλάχιστον ᾖ. διχῇ γὰρ διῃρη μένης τῆς περὶ τῶν ὄντων ὑπολήψεως, εἴς τε τὴν κτίσιν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἄκτιστον φύσιν, ἐὰν ἐπικρατήσῃ τὸ παρὰ τῶν ἐναντίων νῦν σπουδαζόμενον, ὥστε κτιστὸν εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λέγειν, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα ἢ ἀθετεῖσθαι τὸ εὐαγγελικὸν κήρυγμα καὶ μὴ προσκυνεῖσθαι τὸν ἐν ἀρχῇ ὄντα λόγον θεὸν διὰ τὸ μὴ δεῖν προσάγειν τὴν λατρείαν τῇ κτίσει, ἢ εἴπερ δυσωποίη τὰ ἐν εὐαγγελίοις θαύματα, δι' ὧν πρὸς τὸ σέβεσθαι καὶ προσκυνεῖν τὸν ἐν ἐκείνοις δηλούμενον ἐναγόμεθα, εἰς ὁμοτιμίαν ἄγειν τὸ κτιστὸν καὶ τὸ ἄκτιστον, εἴπερ κατὰ τὸ δόγμα τῶν ὑπεναντίων καὶ ὁ κτιστὸς προσ κυνοῖτο θεός, οὐδεμίαν ἐν τῇ φύσει τὴν προτίμησιν ἔχων τῆς ἄλλης κτίσεως· καὶ εἰ τοῦτο κρατήσειεν, εἰς ἀναρχίαν τινὰ πάντη καὶ δημοκρατικὴν αὐτονομίαν τὰ δόγματα τῆς 3.3.4 εὐσεβείας μετενεχθήσεται. ὅταν γὰρ μὴ μίαν εἶναι τὴν προσκυνουμένην φύσιν πιστεύσωσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ἀλλ' εἰς διαφόρους θεότητας ταῖς ἐννοίαις ἀπενεχθῶσιν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὃ στήσει τὴν περὶ τὸ θεῖον ὑπόληψιν προϊοῦσαν διὰ τῆς κτίσεως, ἀλλὰ τὸ νομισθὲν ἐν τῇ κτίσει θεῖον ἀφορμὴ πρὸς τὴν ἴσην ὑπόληψιν τῷ μετ' ἐκεῖνο θεωρουμένῳ γενή σεται κἀκεῖνο τῷ ἐφεξῆς, καὶ διὰ πάντων ἐκ τῆς ἀκολου θίας ταύτης ἡ πλάνη διενεχθήσεται, τῆς πρώτης ἀπάτης διὰ τῶν παρακειμένων μέχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων διεξιούσης. 3.3.5 Καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἔξω τι τοῦ εἰκότος παραστοχάζομαι, ἀξιό πιστον τοῦ λόγου παραστήσομαι μάρτυρα τὴν μέχρι τοῦ νῦν ἐπικρατοῦσαν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι πλάνην. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀπαι δεύτῳ καὶ μικροφυεῖ διανοίᾳ πρὸς τὰ τῆς κτίσεως κάλλη θαυμαστικῶς διετέθησαν, οὐ χειραγωγῷ τε καὶ ὁδηγῷ τῷ θαύματι τῶν φαινομένων