331

the air from sensible perception? Is your mind so arranged for its purpose, are you so sharp-sighted from every side, conducting your argument as unassailable to your opponents, as not to see in yourself the charges against those you accuse? Or shall we concede to you, who through matter constructs what is alien in essence, while we, proving the kinship of nature through examples intelligible to us, are to be rejected? 3.5.50 But Peter, he says, and Paul were named by men, and for this reason it has become possible to change their names. And what of existing things has not been named by men? I bring you forward as a witness to my argument. For if you make the change of names a sign that things are named by men, you will by this certainly agree that every name has been given by us to existing things, from the fact that the same names for the subjects 3.5.51 have not prevailed among all. For just as Paul was formerly Saul and Peter was Simon, so also earth and heaven and air and sea and all the parts of creation have not been named in the same way by all, but are called one way by the Hebrews, another way by us, and are named with different appellations by each of the nations. If, therefore, the argument holds for Eunomius, who constructs it, that Peter and Paul were renamed because their names were given to them by men, then our argument, proceeding from similar premises, will certainly also hold, which says that all things have been named by us because the names of all things 3.5.52 have been changed according to the differences of the nations. But if all things are so, then certainly 'begotten' and 'unbegotten' are no different; for these too are among the things that are renamed. For taking the concept that has arisen in us concerning the subject and transforming it into the form of a name, we at different times declare what is conceived with different words, not making the thing, but signifying it through what we name it. For things, according to their nature, remain in themselves, but the mind, grasping existing things, through whatever words may be possible, reveals the concept. And just as the essence of Peter was not changed with the change of his name, so also nothing else that is contemplated is altered in the variation of names. 3.5.53 Wherefore we also say that the term of 20unbegotten20 is applied by us to the true and first Father, the cause of all, and that no harm is done to the meaning of the subject if we should make known the same thing by another term; for it is possible, instead of saying 20unbegotten20, to call him 'first cause' or 'Father of the only-begotten' or 'subsisting from no cause' and many such things that bear upon the same concept; so that even by the arguments with which he accuses us, he confirms our doctrines, that we have not learned a name significant 3.5.54 of the divine nature. But we have been taught that it exists, but as for the power of such an appellation by which the ineffable and undefined nature is encompassed, we either say that it does not exist at all, or that it is altogether unknown to us. Therefore, let him leave aside his usual mythology and show the appellations that are significant of essences, and with the variation of the names, let him also split 3.5.55 the subject. As long as the word of scripture proves true, that Abraham and Moses did not comprehend the knowledge of the name, and that no one has ever seen God, and no man has seen him or can see him, and that the light about him is unapproachable, and of his greatness there is no end—as long as these things are spoken and believed among us, every argument that promises some comprehension and explanation of the undefined nature through the meaning of a name is like one who thinks he can encompass the whole sea in the palm of his own hand. For what the cup of the hand is to the whole sea, this is all the power of words in relation to the ineffable and incomprehensible nature. 3.5.56 And we say these things, not as denying that the Father exists unbegottenly, nor as not agreeing that the only-begotten God is begotten, but both he has been begotten and the other has not been begotten. But what according to nature is he who exists without generation and he who

331

αἰσθητῆς ἀντιλήψεως τὸν ἀέρα; οὕτω συντέτακταί σοι πρὸς τὸν σκοπὸν ἡ διά νοια, οὕτω πανταχόθεν ὀξυωπεῖς, ἄληπτον τοῖς ἀντιτεταγ μένοις διεξάγων τὸν λόγον, ὡς μὴ βλέπειν ἐν σεαυτῷ τὰ κατὰ τῶν κατηγορουμένων ἐγκλήματα; ἢ σοὶ μὲν διὰ τῆς ὕλης τὸ κατ' οὐσίαν ἀλλότριον κατασκευάζοντι συγχωρή σομεν, ἡμεῖς δὲ διὰ τῶν χωρητῶν ἡμῖν ὑποδειγμάτων τὸ οἰκεῖον τῆς φύσεως ἀποδεικνύντες ἀπόβλητοι; 3.5.50 Ἀλλὰ Πέτρος, φησί, καὶ Παῦλος παρὰ ἀνθρώπων κατωνομάσθησαν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ μεταθεῖναι τὰς προσ ηγορίας ἐπ' αὐτῶν δυνατὸν γέγονε. τί δὲ τῶν ὄντων οὐ παρὰ ἀνθρώπων ὠνόμασται; σὲ μάρτυρα τοῦ λόγου προσ άγομαι. εἰ γὰρ τὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων μετάθεσιν σημεῖον ποιῇ τοῦ παρὰ ἀνθρώπων κατωνομάσθαι τὰ πράγματα, συνθήσῃ διὰ τούτου πάντως πᾶν ὄνομα παρ' ἡμῶν τεθεῖσθαι τοῖς οὖσιν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ τὰς αὐτὰς τῶν ὑποκειμένων προσηγορίας 3.5.51 παρὰ πᾶσι κεκρατηκέναι. ὡς γὰρ Παῦλος ὁ πρότερον Σαῦλος καὶ Πέτρος ἐκ Σίμωνος, οὕτω γῆ τε καὶ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἀὴρ καὶ θάλασσα καὶ πάντα τὰ τῆς κτίσεως μέρη οὐχ ὁμοίως παρὰ πᾶσιν ὠνόμασται, ἀλλ' ἑτέρως μὲν παρ' Ἑβραίοις, ἑτέρως δὲ παρ' ἡμῖν καὶ παρ' ἑκάστοις τῶν ἐθνῶν διαφόροις ταῖς προσηγορίαις κατονομάζεται. εἰ οὖν ἰσχύει τῷ Εὐνομίῳ τὸ ἐπιχείρημα Πέτρον καὶ Παῦλον διὰ τοῦτο μετακεκλῆσθαι κατασκευάζοντι διὰ τὸ παρ' ἀνθρώ πων αὐτοῖς τὰς προσηγορίας τεθεῖσθαι, ἰσχύσει πάντως καὶ ὁ ἡμέτερος λόγος ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων ὁρμώμενος ὁ πάντα παρ' ἡμῶν κατωνομάσθαι λέγων διὰ τὸ πάντων τὰς προσ 3.5.52 ηγορίας κατὰ τὰς τῶν ἐθνῶν διαφορὰς ἐνηλλάχθαι. εἰ δὲ τὰ πάντα οὕτως, οὐδὲ τὸ γεννητὸν πάντως καὶ ἀγέννητον ἄλλως· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταῦτα τῶν μετονομαζομένων ἐστί. τὸ γὰρ ἐγγενόμενον ἡμῖν περὶ τὸ ὑποκείμενον νόημα εἰς ὀνό ματος τύπον μεταλαμβάνοντες ἄλλοτε ἄλλοις ῥήμασι τὸ νοηθὲν ἐξαγγέλλομεν, οὐχὶ ποιοῦντες τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἀλλὰ ση μαίνοντες δι' ὧν ὀνομάζομεν. τὰ μὲν γὰρ πράγματα, καθὼς ἂν ἔχῃ φύσεως, ἐφ' ἑαυτῶν μένει, ἡ δὲ διάνοια τῶν ὄντων ἐφαπτομένη δι' ὧν ἂν γένηται δυνατὸν ῥημάτων ἐκ καλύπτει τὸ νόημα. καὶ ὥσπερ οὐ συμμετεβλήθη τῇ μετα βολῇ τοῦ ὀνόματος ἡ οὐσία τοῦ Πέτρου, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἄλλο τι τῶν θεωρουμένων ἐν τῇ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐπαλλαγῇ μετα 3.5.53 βάλλεται. διὸ καὶ τὴν τοῦ 20ἀγεννήτου20 φωνὴν παρ' ἡμῶν ἐπιτεθεῖσθαί φαμεν τῷ ἀληθινῷ καὶ πρώτῳ πατρὶ τῷ τοῦ παντὸς αἰτίῳ καὶ μηδεμίαν ἐν τῇ σημασίᾳ τοῦ ὑποκειμένου γίνεσθαι βλάβην, εἰ ἐξ ἑτέρας φωνῆς τὸ ἴσον γνωρίσαιμεν ἔξεστι γὰρ ἀντὶ τοῦ εἰπεῖν 20ἀγέννητον20 πρῶτον αἴτιον αὐτὸν προσειπεῖν ἢ πατέρα τοῦ μονογενοῦς ἢ ἐκ μηδεμιᾶς αἰτίας ὑφεστηκότα καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα ὅσα πρὸς τὴν αὐτὴν διάνοιαν φέρει· ὥστε καὶ δι' ὧν ἐγκαλεῖ λόγων κρατύνει τὰ ἡμέτερα δόγματα, ὅτι ὄνομα τῆς θείας φύσεως σημαν 3.5.54 τικὸν οὐκ ἐμάθομεν. ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν εἶναι αὐτὴν ἐδιδάχθημεν, δύναμιν δὲ προσηγορίας τοιαύτης, δι' ἧς ἐμπεριλαμβάνεται ἡ ἄφραστός τε καὶ ἀόριστος φύσις, ἢ οὐκ εἶναι καθόλου φαμὲν ἢ πάντως ἡμῖν ἄγνωστον εἶναι. ὥστε παρεὶς τὴν συνήθη μυθολογίαν δεικνύτω τὰς σημαντικὰς τῶν οὐσιῶν προσηγο ρίας καὶ τῷ παρηλλαγμένῳ τῶν ὀνομάτων συνδιασχιζέτω 3.5.55 τὸ ὑποκείμενον. ἕως δ' ἂν ὁ τῆς γραφῆς ἀληθεύῃ λόγος, ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Μωϋσῆς οὐκ ἐχώρησαν τὴν τοῦ ὀνόματος γνῶσιν, καὶ ὅτι θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε, καὶ εἶδεν αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπων οὐδεὶς οὐδὲ ἰδεῖν δύναται, καὶ ὅτι τὸ περὶ αὐτὸν φῶς ἀπρόσιτον καὶ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης αὐτοῦ πέρας οὐκ ἔστιν, ἕως ἂν ταῦτα λαλῆται παρ' ἡμῖν καὶ πιστεύηται, πᾶς λόγος ὁ περίληψίν τινα καὶ ἑρμηνείαν τῆς ἀορίστου φύσεως διὰ τῆς ὀνοματικῆς σημασίας ἐπαγ γελλόμενος ὅμοιός ἐστι τῷ διὰ τῆς ἰδίας παλάμης πᾶσαν ἐμπεριλαμβάνειν οἰομένῳ τὴν θάλασσαν. ὃ γάρ ἐστι χειρὸς κοτύλη πρὸς πέλαγος ὅλον, τοῦτο πᾶσα δύναμις λόγων πρὸς τὴν ἄφραστόν τε καὶ ἀπερίληπτον φύσιν. 3.5.56 Ταῦτα δέ φαμεν οὐχ ὡς ἀρνούμενοι τὸ ἀγεννήτως εἶναι τὸν πατέρα οὐδ' ὡς μὴ συντιθέμενοι τὸ γεννητὸν εἶναι τὸν μονογενῆ θεόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὗτος γεγέννηται κἀκεῖνος οὐ γεγέννηται. τί δὲ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ἐστὶν ὁ δίχα γεννήσεως ὢν καὶ ὁ