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that this is from some beginning becomes a proof that the Son is not always in the Father, who is wisdom and power and light and life and all things that are contemplated in the Father's bosom. 3.7.1 But he proceeds to loftier arguments and, having exalted and puffed himself up with empty inflation, he attempts to say something worthy of the magnificence of God. And what he says is of this sort. 20For being God20, he says, 20the most excellent good of all things and the most powerful of all things and free from all necessity20. Well does the noble man, just like some unballasted ship, automatically bring his argument to anchor in the harbor of truth under the waves of deceit. 20The most excellent of all good things20 is God. 3.7.2 Excellent is the confession. But surely he would not indict the great John of a charge of lawlessness, by whom the only-begotten God is proclaimed in the lofty preaching, who was both with God and was God. Therefore, if that man is a trustworthy preacher of the divinity of the only-begotten, 20and God is the most excellent good20, then the Son has been testified to be the most excellent good by the enemy of his glory. And since such a statement is also fitting for the Father, the superlative emphasis of 'most excellent' admits no diminution or superiority from comparison. And since these things have been received by us from the testimony of our enemies for the proof of the glory of the only-begotten, we must add for the support of the sound argument his subsequent 3.7.3 argument as well. For he says that 20the most excellent good, God, since neither nature hinders, nor cause compels, nor need urges, both begets and creates according to the superiority of his own authority, having his will as a sufficient power for the constitution of things that come into being. If, therefore, everything is good according to his will, he determines not only that what has come into being is good, but also when it is good for it to come into being, since, 3.7.4 it is a mark of weakness to do what one does not will20. Up to this point, the argument of our adversaries, †fastened together† from foul and counterfeit little words, must be adopted by us for the establishment of pious doctrines. For the one who 20according to the superiority of his own authority, having his will as a sufficient power for the constitution of things that come into being20, the one who created all things 20with neither nature hindering nor cause compelling, determines not only that what has come into being is good, but also 3.7.5 when it is good for it to come into being20. But the one who does all things is the only-begotten God, as the gospel proclaims. When he willed, then he also made the creation, then he encompassed with the heavenly body through the circulating substance all the world contained within its shape; when he thought it good for this to happen, then he revealed the dry land, then he enclosed the waters in the hollow places; then shoots, then fruits, then the generation of animals, then the formation of man, when each of these seemed opportune to the wisdom of the 3.7.6 creator. But the one who made all things (for I will repeat the same argument again) is the only-begotten God who made the ages. For since the interval of the ages was laid down before existing things, it is opportune to use this temporal adverb, that 20then20 he willed and 20then20 he made. But since there is no age, nor any concept of interval contemplated concerning the divine nature, which is without quantity and without interval, the meanings of the temporal adverbs 3.7.7 must necessarily be inactive. Therefore, to say that a temporal beginning has been given to the creation according to what pleased the wisdom of the one who made all things is not outside of what is reasonable; but to contemplate the divine nature itself in some extension of interval belongs only to those who have been instructed in the new wisdom. For what a thing was that which, though contained in what has been said, I willingly passed over, hastening to the matter at hand, which I will now take up again and read for a proof of the cleverness of the writer. 3.7.8 20For20 his 20most excellent God before the other20 things, he says, 20as many as are generated, holds his own power20. The statement, in its very wording, has been transferred from Philo the Hebrew by the writer to his own argument, and for whomever it is pleasing, from

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τὸ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τινος εἶναι ταύτην ἀπόδειξις γίνεται μὴ πάντοτε εἶναι ἐν τῷ πατρὶ τὸν υἱόν, ὅς ἐστι σοφία τε καὶ δύναμις καὶ φῶς καὶ ζωὴ καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐν τῷ πατρικῷ θεωρεῖται κόλπῳ. 3.7.1 Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑψηλοτέρους μετέρχεται λόγους καὶ μετεωρίσας ἑαυτὸν καὶ ὀγκώσας ἐν διακένῳ φυσήματι λέγειν ἐπιχειρεῖ τι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ μεγαλοπρεπείας ἐπάξιον. ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστι. 20θεὸς γὰρ ὤν20, φησί, 20τὸ πάντων ἐξοχώτατον ἀγαθὸν καὶ πάντων κράτιστον καὶ πάσης ἀνάγκης ἐλεύθερον20. καλῶς ὁ γεννάδας καθ άπερ τι πλοῖον ἀνερμάτιστον αὐτομάτως ὑπὸ τῶν τῆς ἀπάτης κυμάτων τῷ λιμένι τῆς ἀληθείας ἐγκαθορμίζει τὸν λόγον. 20πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐξοχώτατόν20 ἐστιν ὁ 3.7.2 θεός. ὑπέρευγε τῆς ὁμολογίας. πάντως δὲ τὸν μέγαν Ἰωάννην οὐκ ἂν γράψαιτο παρανόμων γραφήν, παρ' οὗ θεὸς ὁ μονογενὴς ἐν ὑψηλῷ τῷ κηρύγματι διαγγέλλεται ὁ καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὢν καὶ θεὸς ὤν. οὐκοῦν εἰ ἀξιόπιστος τῆς τοῦ μονογενοῦς θεότητος κήρυξ ἐκεῖνος, 20ὁ δὲ θεὸς τὸ ἐξοχώτατόν ἐστιν ἀγαθόν20, ὁ υἱὸς ἄρα τὸ ἐξο χώτατον ἀγαθὸν παρὰ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ με μαρτύρηται. τῆς δὲ τοιαύτης φωνῆς καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἁρμοζούσης, τὸ ὑπερθετικὸν τῆς τοῦ ἐξοχωτάτου ἐμφάσεως οὐδεμίαν ἐκ συγκρίσεως παραδέχεται μείωσιν ἢ ὑπέρθεσιν. τούτων δὲ ἡμῖν παρὰ τῆς τῶν ἐχθρῶν μαρτυρίας πρὸς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς τοῦ μονογενοῦς δόξης παρειλημμένων, προσ θετέον εἰς συμμαχίαν τοῦ ὑγιαίνοντος λόγου καὶ τὸν ἐφε 3.7.3 ξῆς αὐτοῦ λόγον. φησὶ γὰρ ὅτι 20τὸ ἐξοχώτατον ἀγα θόν, ὁ θεός, ἅτε μήτε φύσεως ἐμποδιζούσης μήτε αἰτίας ἀναγκαζούσης μήτε χρείας κατε πειγούσης, γεννᾷ τε καὶ δημιουργεῖ κατὰ τὴν τῆς ἰδίας ἐξουσίας ὑπεροχὴν τὴν βούλησιν ἀρ κοῦσαν ἔχων δύναμιν πρὸς τὴν τῶν γινομένων σύστασιν. εἰ τοίνυν πᾶν καλὸν κατὰ τὴν τού του βούλησιν, οὐ μόνον τὸ γενόμενον ὁρίζει καλόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτε γενέσθαι καλόν, εἴπερ 3.7.4 ἄρα ἀσθενείας τὸ ποιεῖν ὃ μὴ βούλεται20. μέχρι τούτου παραληπτέος ἡμῖν πρὸς σύστασιν τῶν εὐσεβῶν δογμάτων ὁ ἐκ ῥυπαρῶν τε καὶ παρακεκομμένων λεξει δίων † διαπεπορπημένος τῶν ἐναντίων λόγος. ὁ γὰρ 20κατὰ τὴν τῆς ἰδίας ἐξουσίας ὑπεροχὴν τὴν βού λησιν ἀρκοῦσαν ἔχων δύναμιν πρὸς τὴν τῶν γινομένων σύστασιν20, ὁ τὰ πάντα κτίσας 20μήτε φύ σεως ἐμποδιζούσης μήτε αἰτίας ἀναγκαζού σης, οὐ μόνον τὸ γενόμενον ὁρίζει καλόν, ἀλλὰ 3.7.5 καὶ ὅτε γενέσθαι καλόν20. ὁ δὲ πάντα ποιῶν ὁ μονο γενής ἐστι θεός, καθὼς κηρύσσει τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. οὗτος ὅτε ἠθέλησε, τότε καὶ τὴν κτίσιν ἐποίησεν, τότε περιέσχε τῷ οὐρανίῳ σώματι διὰ τῆς κυκλοφορουμένης οὐσίας πάντα τὸν ἐντὸς τοῦ σχήματος ἀπειλημμένον κόσμον· ὅτε καλῶς ἔχειν ᾠήθη τοῦτο γενέσθαι, τότε ἀνέδειξε τὴν ξηράν, τότε τὰ ὕδατα τοῖς κοίλοις ἐγκατέκλεισε χώροις· τότε βλα στήματα, τότε καρποί, τότε ζῴων γένεσις, τότε ἀνθρώπου πλάσις, ὅτε τούτων ἕκαστον εὔκαιρον ἐδόκει τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ 3.7.6 κτίσαντος. ὁ δὲ τὰ πάντα ποιήσας (πάλιν γὰρ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐπαναλήψομαι λόγον) ὁ μονογενής ἐστι θεὸς ὁ τοὺς αἰῶνας ποιήσας. τοῦ γὰρ διαστήματος τῶν αἰώνων προκαταβεβλη μένου τῶν ὄντων, εὔκαιρόν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν τὸ χρονικὸν τοῦτο ἐπίρρημα, ὅτι 20τότε20 ἐβουλήθη καὶ 20τότε20 ἐποίησεν. αἰῶνος δὲ οὐκ ὄντος οὐδέ τινος διαστηματικῆς ἐννοίας περὶ τὴν θείαν φύσιν τὴν ἄποσόν τε καὶ ἀδιάστατον θεωρουμένης, ἀργεῖν ἀνάγκη πάντως τὰς τῶν χρονικῶν ἐπιρρημάτων 3.7.7 ἐμφάσεις. ὥστε τῇ μὲν κτίσει τὴν χρονικὴν ἀρχὴν κατὰ τὸ ἀρέσαν τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ τὰ πάντα πεποιηκότος δεδόσθαι λέγειν οὐκ ἔξω τοῦ εἰκότος ἐστίν· αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν θείαν φύσιν ἐν παρατάσει τινὶ διαστηματικῇ θεωρεῖν μόνων τῶν τὴν νέαν σοφίαν πεπαιδευμένων ἐστίν. οἷον γὰρ κἀκεῖνο τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐγκείμενον ὑπερέβην ἑκών, πρὸς τὸ προκεί μενον σπεύδων, ὃ νῦν εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς ἀγχινοίας τοῦ λογογράφου ἐπαναλαβὼν ἀναγνώσομαι. 3.7.8 20Ὁ20 γὰρ 20ἐξοχώτατος20 αὐτοῦ 20θεὸς πρὸ τῶν ἄλ λων20, φησίν, 20ὅσα γεννητά, τῆς αὑτοῦ κρατεῖ δυ νάμεως20. ὁ μὲν λόγος ἐπ' αὐτῆς τῆς λέξεως ἀπὸ τοῦ Φίλωνος τοῦ Ἑβραίου μετενήνεκται παρὰ τοῦ λογογράφου ἐπὶ τὸν ἴδιον λόγον, καὶ ὅτῳ φίλον, ἐξ