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is said of the Son, so that if the difference in appellations signifies a difference in natures, the commonality 3.5.43 of the names will certainly indicate the commonality of the substance. And if one must agree that the divine substance is revealed through names, it would be fitting to apply these lofty and God-befitting expressions to the nature rather than the designation of 20begotten20 and 20unbegotten,20 because the good and incorruptible, the just and wise and all such things, are fittingly applied only to the nature which surpasses all understanding, whereas 'begotten' shares its name even with the lowly things of the creation below. For we call begotten both a dog and a frog and all things that come into being through generation; but also the name 'unbegotten' is not only said of that which subsists without a cause, but also has a 3.5.44 kinship with that which is non-existent. A skindapsos is called unbegotten, and blityri is unbegotten, the Minotaur is unbegotten, the Cyclops, Scylla, the Chimera, not by being unbegottenly, but by not having been begotten at all. If, therefore, the more divine of the names are common to the Son and the Father, while those which share their name either with the non-existent or with lowly things are different—let these be 'begotten' and 'unbegotten'—Eunomius's strong argument against us itself strengthens the dogma of the truth, testifying that there is no difference in nature because no variation is seen in the names. But if he posits the difference of substance in 'begotten' and 'unbegotten' and thinks that the names are thus disposed in a similar way to the examples mentioned, like fire and water in relation to each other, again the horror of his blasphemy will be revealed even if 3.5.45 we are silent. For fire and water have a nature destructive to each other, and perhaps each, when it comes into the other, is destroyed by the predominance of the greater part. If, therefore, he teaches that the nature of the 20unbegotten20 is thus separated from that of the only-begotten, he certainly grants, as a consequence, that this destructive opposition inheres in the difference of substances, so that their nature is thereby incompatible and has no communion, and the one is consumed by the other, if both should come to be in each other or with each other. 3.5.46 How then is the Son in the Father and is not destroyed, and how does the Father, being in the Son, endure perpetually without being consumed, if indeed the property of fire in relation to water is also preserved in the relation of the begotten to the unbegotten, as Eunomius says? But his argument does not even look to the communion of earth with air; for the one is stable and heavy and resistant and tends downward and is weighty, while the nature of the air comes from the opposites. Likewise white and black are found in the opposition of colors, and the circular is agreed not to be the same as the triangular; for each in the definition of its shape is that which the other is not. 3.5.47 But in the case of God the Father and God the only-begotten Son, I do not find in what respect he sees the opposition. One goodness, wisdom, justice, prudence, power, incorruptibility, all the other things which have a lofty meaning, are said of each in the same way, and in a certain manner the one has its strength in the other; for the Father does all things through the Son, and the only-begotten, being the power of the Father, accomplishes everything in himself. What need, then, do fire and water fulfill for a demonstration of the otherness in substance between the Son and the Father? And what is that strong and 3.5.48 ineffable argument which is demonstrated by these things? But he calls us 20audacious20, who presented the unity of nature and the difference of the hypostases of Peter and Paul, and says that terrible things are dared by us, if we bring our argument to the contemplation of intelligible things with material examples. Well does the corrector of our stumblings, well does he accuse us of audacity, we who interpret the divine through 3.5.49 material things. What then will you say about the elements, you who are so steadfast and circumspect? That the earth is immaterial, the fire intelligible, the water incorporeal, outside of
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τοῦ υἱοῦ λέγεται, ὥστε εἰ τὸ παρηλλαγμένον τῶν προσ ηγοριῶν τὴν διαφορὰν σημαίνει τῶν φύσεων, ἡ κοινότης 3.5.43 τῶν ὀνομάτων τὸ κοινὸν τῆς οὐσίας πάντως ἐνδείξεται. καὶ εἰ χρὴ συνθέσθαι τὴν θείαν οὐσίαν δι' ὀνομάτων μηνύεσθαι, πρέπον ἂν εἴη τὰς ὑψηλὰς ταύτας καὶ θεοπρεπεῖς φωνὰς ἐφαρμόζειν τῇ φύσει μᾶλλον ἢ τὴν τοῦ 20γεννητοῦ20 καὶ 20ἀγεννήτου20 ἐπωνυμίαν, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἀγαθόν τε καὶ ἄφθαρ τον, δίκαιόν τε καὶ σοφὸν καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα μόνῃ προσφυῶς τῇ ὑπερεχούσῃ πάντα νοῦν ἐφαρμόζεται φύσει, τὸ δὲ γεν νητὸν καὶ πρὸς τὰ εὐτελῆ τῆς κάτω κτίσεως τὴν ὁμω νυμίαν ἔχει. γεννητὸν γάρ φαμεν καὶ κύνα καὶ βάτρα χον καὶ πάντα ὅσα διὰ γεννήσεως ἔχει τὴν πάροδον· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἀγέννητον ὄνομα οὐ μόνον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἄνευ αἰτίας ὑφεστῶτος λέγεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀνύπαρκτον ἔχει τὴν 3.5.44 οἰκειότητα. ἀγέννητος λέγεται καὶ ὁ σκινδαψός, ἀγέν νητον καὶ τὸ βλίτυρι, ἀγέννητος ὁ Μινώταυρος, ὁ Κύ κλωψ, ἡ Σκύλλα, ἡ Χίμαιρα, οὐ τῷ ἀγεννήτως εἶναι, ἀλλὰ τῷ μὴ γενέσθαι ὅλως. εἰ οὖν τὰ θειότερα τῶν ὀνο μάτων κοινὰ τῷ υἱῷ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, τὰ δὲ ὅσα ἢ πρὸς τὸ ἀνύπαρκτον ἢ ὡς πρὸς τὰ ταπεινὰ τὴν ὁμωνυμίαν ἔχει, ταῦτα παρήλλακται, τὸ γεννητὸν ἔστω καὶ τὸ ἀγέννητον, ἡ ἰσχυρὰ τοῦ Εὐνομίου καθ' ἡμῶν ἐπιχείρησις αὐτὴ κρα τύνει τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ δόγμα, μηδεμίαν εἶναι κατὰ τὴν φύσιν διαφορὰν μαρτυροῦσα διὰ τὸ μηδὲ τοῖς ὀνόμασί τινα παραλλαγὴν καθορᾶσθαι. εἰ δὲ ἐν τῷ γεννητῷ καὶ ἀγεν νήτῳ τὸ διάφορον τῆς οὐσίας τίθεται καὶ οὕτως οἴεται τὰ ὀνόματα καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὑποδείγμασιν εἰρη μένων διακεῖσθαι ὡς τῷ πυρὶ καὶ τῷ ὕδατι πρὸς ἄλληλα, πάλιν ἐνταῦθα τὸ φρικτὸν τῆς βλασφημίας καὶ σιωπώντων 3.5.45 ἡμῶν φανερωθήσεται. τὸ πῦρ γὰρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ φθαρτικὴν κατ' ἀλλήλων τὴν φύσιν ἔχει καὶ ἴσως ἑκάτερον ἐν τῷ ἑτέρῳ γενόμενον τῇ ἐπικρατήσει τοῦ πλεονάζοντος φθείρεται. εἰ οὖν οὕτω διεστάναι τοῦ 20ἀγεννήτου20 τὴν φύσιν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ μονογενοῦς δογματίζει, πάντως ὅτι καὶ τὴν φθαρτι κὴν ταύτην ἐναντιότητα τῇ παραλλαγῇ τῶν οὐσιῶν ἐνυπάρ χειν κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον δίδωσιν, ὡς ἀσύμβατον αὐτῶν διὰ τούτου καὶ ἀκοινώνητον εἶναι τὴν φύσιν καὶ ἐνδαπανᾶσθαι τῷ ἑτέρῳ τὸ ἕτερον, εἰ ἐν ἀλλήλοις ἀμφότερα ἢ μετ' ἀλ λήλων γένοιντο. 3.5.46 Πῶς οὖν ἐν τῷ πατρὶ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ οὐ φθείρεται, καὶ πῶς ἐν τῷ υἱῷ ὁ πατὴρ ὢν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς ἀντέχει μὴ δαπανώμενος, εἴπερ ἡ τοῦ πυρὸς πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ ἰδιότης καὶ ἐν τῇ τοῦ γεννητοῦ πρὸς τὸ ἀγέννητον διασῴζεται σχέσει, καθώς φησιν ὁ Εὐνόμιος; ἀλλ' οὐδὲ γῆς πρὸς ἀέρα κοι νωνίαν ὁ λόγος βλέπει· ἡ μὲν γὰρ σταθερὰ καὶ ἐμβριθὴς καὶ ἀντίτυπος καὶ κατωφερὴς καὶ βαρεῖα, τῷ δὲ ἀέρι ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων ἡ φύσις. ὁμοίως τὸ λευκὸν καὶ τὸ μέλαν ἐν τῇ ἐναντιότητι τῶν χρωμάτων εὑρίσκεται καὶ τῷ τρι γώνῳ τὸ περιφερὲς μὴ ταὐτὸν εἶναι συντίθεται· ἐκεῖνο γάρ ἐστιν ἑκάτερον ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ σχήματος, ὅπερ οὐκ ἔστι 3.5.47 τὸ ἕτερον. ἐπὶ δὲ θεοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ θεοῦ τοῦ μονο γενοῦς υἱοῦ κατὰ τί βλέπει τὴν ἐναντίωσιν οὐχ εὑρίσκω. ἀγαθότης μία, σοφία δικαιοσύνη φρόνησις δύναμις ἀφθαρσία τὰ ἄλλα πάντα, ὅσα τῆς ὑψηλῆς ἐστι σημασίας, ἐφ' ἑκατέρου ὡσαύτως λέγεται καὶ τρόπον τινὰ ἐν τῷ ἑτέρῳ τὸ ἕτερον τὴν ἰσχὺν ἔχει· ὅ τε γὰρ πατὴρ διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τὰ πάντα ποιεῖ ὅ τε μονογενὴς δύναμις ὢν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸ πᾶν κατεργάζεται. τίνα τοίνυν χρείαν πληροῖ πῦρ τε καὶ ὕδωρ εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς ἐπὶ υἱοῦ τε καὶ πατρὸς κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν ἀλλοτριότητος; καὶ τίς ὁ ἰσχυρὸς ἐκεῖνος καὶ 3.5.48 ἀπόρρητος λόγος ὁ διὰ τούτων ἀποδεικνύμενος; ἀλλὰ 20τολμηροὺς20 ἡμᾶς ὀνομάζει Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου τήν τε τῆς φύσεως ἑνότητα καὶ τὴν τῶν ὑποστάσεων διαφορὰν παραστήσαντας καὶ δεινά φησι παρ' ἡμῶν τολμᾶσθαι, εἰ τοῖς ὑλικοῖς ὑποδείγμασι τῇ τῶν νοητῶν θεωρίᾳ τὸν λόγον προσάγομεν. καλῶς ὁ διορθωτὴς τῶν ἡμετέρων πταισμά των, καλῶς ἐπικαλεῖ τὴν τόλμαν ἡμῖν τοῖς τὸ θεῖον διὰ 3.5.49 τῶν ὑλικῶν ἑρμηνεύουσι. τί οὖν περὶ τῶν στοιχείων ἐρεῖς, ὁ σταθερός τε καὶ περιεσκεμμένος, ἄϋλον τὴν γῆν, νοητὸν τὸ πῦρ, ἀσώματον τὸ ὕδωρ, ἔξω τῆς