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thinking that through these words the teacher was hinting that the rational beings, scattered in various ways for the genesis of this corporeal world, brought it about that God foresaw it, for the sake of binding them to bodies in punishment for their previous sins. But they were ignorant that they suppose impossible things and conjecture things that are impracticable, as the true account, proceeding with what is likely, will demonstrate. For if the divine is immovable, as fulfilling all things, but everything that has received its being from non-being is also movable, as being borne in every way toward some cause, and nothing that is moved has yet come to a standstill, since the power of its appetitive motion has not yet come to rest in the final object of desire (for nothing else is by nature able to stop that which is borne according to nature than that which is being shown), then nothing that is moved has come to a standstill, as not yet having attained the final object of desire; since that object, not yet having appeared, has not stopped the motion of the things that are borne toward it. But if they command that this once happened by decree, and that the rational beings, having been moved away from their foundation and stability in the final and only object of desire, received their scattering—so that I may not babble in saying it, what is the proof?—they will reasonably presuppose that of necessity the rational beings will have the same transmigrations for the same reasons ad infinitum. For that which they have once been able to disdain through experience, there is no reason to prevent them from being able to do so forever. And what could be more pitiful than for the rational beings to be thus borne along and to have or to hope for no unchangeable foundation of stability in the good? But if they should say that they are able, but not willing, because of the experience they have had of the contrary, even so the good will of necessity be cherished by them not for its own sake, as being good, but because of its contrary, as not being lovable by nature or in its own right. For whatever is not good and lovable for its own sake and attractive of all motion is not properly good. And for this reason it is consequently not able to restrain the desire of those who take pleasure in it; but then those who hold this opinion (1072) would even confess their gratitude to evil, as having been taught their duty through it and having learned again how to have stability in the good, and they would necessarily say that it has a genesis, if they have resolved to be consistent with themselves, and that it is more useful than nature itself, as being, according to them, instructive of what is expedient, and generative of the most honorable possession of all—I mean of love—according to which all things that come to be from God are by nature gathered to God permanently and unswervingly.

And again, the genesis of intelligible and sensible things that have come to be from God is conceived of before their motion. For it is not possible for motion to exist before genesis. For motion belongs to things that have come to be, both intelligible motion to intelligible things, and sensible motion to sensible things. For none of the things that have come to be is completely immovable in its own principle, not even inanimate and sensible things themselves, as it has seemed to the more careful observers of beings. For they said that all things are moved, either in a straight line, or in a circle, or in a spiral. For all motion is contained in the simple and the composite mode. If, therefore, the genesis of things is conceived before their motion, then their motion is observed after their genesis, as being conceptually subsequent to it. And they call this motion a natural power, hastening toward the end proper to it; or a passion, that is, a motion, occurring from one thing to another, having the impassible as its end; or a practical energy, having the self-sufficient as its end. But none of created things is its own end, since it is neither self-caused—for then it would be ungenerated and without beginning and immovable, as having no way to be moved toward anything. For it steps outside the nature of beings, as existing for the sake of nothing, if the definition concerning it is true, even if the one who says it is an outsider. The end is that for the sake of which all things are, while it itself is for the sake of nothing. Nor is it self-sufficient, since it would also be inactive, as being full, and likewise also having its being from nowhere. For the self-sufficient is in a way also uncaused. Nor is it impassible, since it would also be alone and infinite and uncircumscribed. For it is not by nature at all able to suffer, the

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σκεδασθέντα διαφόρως τά λογικά πρός γένεσιν τοῦ σωματικοῦ τούτου κόσμου τόν Θεόν ἰδεῖν παρεσκεύασαν, χάριν τοῦ ἐνδῆσαι αὐτά σώμασιν ἐπί τιμωρίᾳ τῶν προημαρτημένων, διά τούτων αἰνίττεσθαι τῶν λόγων νομίζοντες τόν διδάσκαλον. Ἀλλ᾿ ἠγνόησαν ὡς ἀδύνατα ὑποτίθενται καί τῶν ἀμηχάνων καταστοχάζονται, καθώς προϊών μετά τοῦ εἰκότος ὁ ἀληθής ἀποδείξει λόγος. Εἰ γάρ τό θεῶν (leg. θεῖον) ἀκίνητον, ὡς πάντων πληρωτικόν, πᾶν δέ τό ἐκ μή ὄντων τό εἶναι λαβόν καί κινητόν, ὡς πρός τινα πάντως φερόμενον αἰτίαν, οὔπω δέ οὐδέν κινούμεον ἔστη, ὡς τῆς κατ᾿ ἔφεσιν κινήσεως τήν δύναμιν μήπω τῷ ἐσχάτῳ προσαναπαῦσαν ὀρεκτῷ (οὐδέν γάρ ἱστᾷν ἄλλο τό φερόμενον κατά φύσιν πέφυκεν ἤ ἐκεῖνο δεικνύμενον), οὐδέν ἄρα κινούμενον ἔστη, ὡς τοῦ ἐσχάτου μήπω τυχόν ὀρεκτοῦ· ἐπεί μηδ᾿ ἐκεῖνό πω φανέν τῶν περί αὐτό φερομένων τήν κίνησιν ἔστησεν. Εἰ δέ τοῦτό ποτε γεγενῆσθαι ἐξ ἐπιτάγματος κελεύουσι, καί τῆς ἐν ἐσχάτῳ καί μόνῳ ὀρεκτῷ ἱδρύσεώς τε καί μονῆς παρακινηθέντα τά λογικά τόν σκεδασμόν ἔλαβεν, ἵνα μή λέγων ἐρεσχελῶ, τίς ἡ ἀπόδειξις, τάς αὐτάς ἐπί τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπ᾿ ἄπειρον ἕξειν τά λογικά μετεμπτώσεις ἐξ ἀνάγκης εἰκότως ὑποθήσονται. Οὗτινος γάρ διά τῆς πείρας καταφρονεῖν ἅπαξ δεδύνηνται, καί εἰς ἀεί δυνήσεσθαι οὐδείς ὁ κωλύσων ἔστι λόγος. Τοῦ δέ οὕτω φέρεσθαι τά λογικά καί μηδεμίαν ἔχειν ἤ ἐλπίζειν βάσιν ἀμετάθετον τῆς ἐν τῷ καλῷ παγιότητος, τί ἄλλο γένοιτ' ἄν ἐλεινότερον; Εἰ δέ δύνασθαι μέν φαῖεν, μή βούλεσθαι δέ, διά τήν γενομένην πεῖραν τοῦ ἐναντίου, καί οὕτως οὐ δι᾿ ἑαυτό, ὡς καλόν, ἀλλά διά τό ἐναντίον τό καλόν αὐτοῖς ἔσται ἐξ ἀνάγκης στεργόμενον, ὡς οὐ φύσει ἤ κυρίων ὄν ἐραστόν. Πᾶν γάρ ὅ μή δι᾿ ἑαυτό ἀγαθόν ἐστι καί ἐραστόν καί πάσης ἐλκτικόν κινήσεως οὐ κυρίως καλόν. Καί διά τοῦτο οὐδέ καθεκτικόν εἰκότως τῆς τῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ ἡδομένων ἐφέσεως, ἀλλά καί χάριν λοιπόν ὁμολογήσαιεν ἄν τῷ κακῷ (1072) οἱ τοῦτο περιέποντες τό φρόνημα, ὡς δι᾿ αὐτοῦ τό δέον διδαχθέντες καί τήν ἐν τῷ καλῷ πῆξιν πῶς ἔχειν μεταμαθόντες καί γένεσιν αὐτό ἀναγκαίως εἴποιεν ἄν, εἴπερ ἑαυτοῖς στοιχεῖν διέγνωσαν, καί τῆς φύσεως αὐτῆς χρησιμωτέραν, ὡς τοῦ συμφέροντος κατ᾿ αὐτούς οὖσαν διδακτικήν, καί τοῦ πάντων τιμιωτέρου κτήματος, τῆς ἀγάπης λέγω, γεννητικήν, καθ᾿ ἥν πέφυκε πάντα τά ἐκ Θεοῦ γινόμενα εἰς Θεόν συνάγεσθαι μονίμως τε καί ἀπαρατρέπτως.

Καί πάλιν, τῶν ἐκ Θεοῦ γενομένων νοητῶν τε καί αἰσθητῶν ἡ γένεσις τῆς κινήσεως προεπινοεῖται. Οὐ γάρ οἷόν τε πρό γενέσεως εἶναι κίνησιν. Τῶν γάρ γενομένων ἡ κίνησις, ἥτε νοητῶν, νοητή, ἤ τε αἰσθητῶν, αἰσθητή. Οὐδέν γάρ τῶν γενομένων ἐστί τό παράπαν τῷ καθ᾿ αὑτό λόγῳ ἀκίνητον, οὐδ᾿αὐτῶν τῶν ἀψύχων καί αἰσθητῶν, ὡς τοῖς ἐπιμελεστέροις τῶν ὄντων θεάμοσιν ἔδοξε. Κινεῖσθαι γάρ πάντα ἔφασαν, ἤ κατ᾿ εὐθεῖαν, ἤ κατά κύκλον, ἤ ἐλικοειδῶς. Πᾶσα γάρ κίνησις τῷ ἁπλῷ καί τῷ συνθέτῳ περιέχεται τρόπῳ. Εἰ τοίνυν προεπονοεῖται τῶν ὧν ἐστι κινήσεως ἡ γένεσις, ἐπιθεωρεῖται δή τῆς ὧν ἐστι γενέσεως ἡ κίνησις, ὡς μετ᾿ αὐτήν κατεπίνοιαν οὖσα. Ταύτην δέ τήν κίνησιν δύναμιν καλοῦσιν φυσικήν, πρός τό κατ᾿ αὐτήν τέλος ἐπειγομένην, ἤ πάθος, ἤτοι κίνησιν, ἐξ ἑτέρου πρός ἕτερον γινομένην, τέλος ἔχουσαν τό ἀπαθές, ἤ ἐνέργειαν δραστικήν, τέλος ἔχουσαν τό αὐτοτελές. Οὐδέν δέ τῶν γενητῶν ἑαυτοῦ τέλος ἐστίν, ἐπειδή οὔτε αὐταίτιον, ἐπεί καί ἀγένητον καί ἄναρχον καί ἀκίνητον, ὡς πρός μηδέν πῶς ἔχον κινηθῆναι. Ἐκβαίνει γάρ τῶν ὄντων τήν φύσιν, ὡς οὐδενός ἕνεκεν ὄν, εἴπερ ἀληθής ὁ περί αὐτοῦ ὁρισμός, κἄν ἀλλότριος ᾗ ὁ λέγων. Τέλος ἐστίν οὗ ἕνεκεν τά πάντα, αὐτό δέ οὐδενός ἕνεκεν. Οὐδέ αὐτοτελές, ἐπεί καί ἀνενέργητον, ὡς πλῆρες, καί ὡσαύτως καί μηδαμόθεν τό εἶναι ἔχον. Τό αὐτοτελές γάρ πως καί ἀναίτιον. Οὐδ᾿ ἀπαθές, ἐπεί καί μόνον καί ἄπειρον καί ἐπερίγραφον. Οὐ γάρ πάσχειν πέφυκε καθόλου τό