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to work, so that no one might think of him what is not and fall away from the truth, having come among the human race and nature, born of a woman, and having reclined in a virgin's womb for the time of gestation, He was not conceived from the seed of a man, so that there would be no combination and complexity even in the birth in the flesh, but He uniquely took flesh from a mother and fulfilled in himself his perfect incarnation, not being deficient, but true. And it was not that because he was not from the seed of a man, he had something deficient; for he who has all things possessed all things perfectly, flesh and nerves and veins and all the other things that are, and a soul truly, and not in appearance, and a mind and all the things that are in humanity, without sin, as it is written, "tempted in all things as a man, without sin," so that by being born here in a unique way from a mother according to the flesh, 3.176 perfectly and not deficiently, he might show to those who wish to see the truth and not blind their own mind, that he was also born perfectly from the Father above, timelessly and without beginning, and was born below from a mother alone, immaculately and undefiledly. 26. But so that we might also interpret the phrase "adonai qanani," which is "the Lord nested me." For everything that begets will beget something similar. A man begets a man and God begets God, and the man begets according to the flesh, but God according to the spirit. And of what sort the man who begets is, of such sort also is the one begotten by him. The man who begets, being contained within passions, begets his own son, and the impassible God begot the Son begotten by him impassibly, truly and not in appearance, from himself and not from outside himself, being an impassible spirit and begetting a spirit impassibly, being an impassible God who begot a true God impassibly. For if He himself created all things, and you confess, O Arius, that God has created all things, He himself also begot the Son. But if you say: if he begot, he suffered in begetting, we will also say to you that if he suffered in begetting, he grew weary in creating. But at once all things that He wills, He has all things in himself in perfection, and neither in creating, with regard to the Son, will passion assail him, nor will the divine be thought to be constrained by passion because of the immaculate generation of the Son. For the Father is unchangeable, the Son is unchangeable, the Holy Spirit is unchangeable, one substance, one divinity. But you will surely say to me: Did he beget willingly or unwillingly? And I am not like you, O contentious one, to think such a thing of God. For if he begot unwillingly, he begot involuntarily. And if he begot willingly, then the will was before the Son, and there will be at least a moment of time between them on account of the will. But in God there is no time for will nor will for thought. Therefore, He begot neither willingly nor unwillingly, but in a nature that is beyond will. For the nature of his divinity is one that neither needs will nor does anything without will, but at once has all things from itself and lacks nothing of the things that are. 27. Yet again the same Arius hunts for phrases, always going around everything and curiously seeking out wicked things for himself, not as the divine letter has it, but as he himself is sick concerning inquiries and disputes about words to no useful purpose, but to the destruction of himself and those led astray by him *, and he seizes upon the saying, where the Lord, blessing the disciples, said, "Father, 3.177 grant them to have life in themselves. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." But I have already dealt with all these things in the great discourse Concerning Faith, in which again, according to our own measure and weakness, compelled by the exhorting encouragement of the brethren, we have written Concerning Faith, which discourse we named Ancoratus. For just as our poor mind has been able, through the help of God, gathering from all of scripture the true teachings of God, an anchor

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ἐργάσασθαι, ἵνα μή τις εἰς αὐτὸν λογίσηται ἃ μὴ ἔστι καὶ ἐκπέσῃ τῆς ἀληθείας, ἐνδημήσας τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει καὶ φύσει ἀπὸ γυναικὸς γεννηθεὶς, καὶ ἐν μήτρᾳ παρθένου ἀνακλιθεὶς τὸν τῶν κυοφοριῶν χρόνον, οὐκ ἀπὸ σπέρματος ἀνδρὸς συνελήφθη, ἵνα μὴ συνδυασμὸς καὶ παραπλοκὴ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐνσάρκῳ γεννήσει γένηται, ἀλλ' ἐκ μητρὸς μονοειδῶς ἔλαβε τὴν σάρκα καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐπλήρωσε τελείαν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐνανθρώπησιν, οὐκ ἐλλιπῆ οὖσαν, ἀλλὰ ἀληθινήν. καὶ οὐχ ὅτι ἀπὸ σπέρματος ἀνδρὸς οὐκ ἦν, εἶχέ τι ἐλλιπές· πάντα γὰρ τελείως ἔσχε τὰ πάντα ἔχων, σάρκα καὶ νεῦρα καὶ φλέβας καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα ὅσα ἐστί, ψυχὴν δὲ ἀληθινῶς, καὶ οὐ δοκήσει, νοῦν δὲ καὶ τὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ ἀνθρωπότητι, χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας, ὡς γέγραπται «πεπειραμένος κατὰ πάντα ὡς ἄνθρωπος, χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας,» ἵνα ἐν τῷ μονοειδῶς ἐνταῦθα ἀπὸ μητρὸς κατὰ σάρκα γεγεν3.176 νῆσθαι τελείως καὶ οὐκ ἐλλιπῶς δείξῃ τοῖς βουλομένοις ὁρᾶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ μὴ τυφλώττειν τὸν ἴδιον νοῦν, ὅτι καὶ ἄνω ἐκ πατρὸς τελείως γεγέννηται ἀχρόνως καὶ ἀνάρχως καὶ κάτω ἐκ μητρὸς μόνης γεγέννηται ἀχράντως καὶ ἀμολύντως. 26. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ ἑρμηνεύσωμεν τὴν τοῦ «ἀδωναῒ καννανὶ» λέξιν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ «κύριος ἐνόσσευσέ με». πᾶν γὰρ τὸ γεννῶν ὅμοιόν τι γεννήσει. ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπον γεννᾷ καὶ θεὸς θεόν, καὶ ὁ μὲν ἄνθρωπος γεννᾷ κατὰ σάρκα, θεὸς δὲ κατὰ πνεῦμα. καὶ οἷος ὁ γεννῶν ἄνθρωπος, τοιοῦτος καὶ ὁ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεννώμενος. εἴσω παθῶν περιεχόμενος ὁ γεννήσας ἄνθρωπος γεννᾷ τὸν ἴδιον υἱὸν καὶ ὁ ἀπαθὴς θεὸς τὸν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγεννημένον υἱὸν ἀπαθῶς ἐγέννησεν, ἀληθινῶς καὶ οὐ δοκήσει, ἀπὸ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἔξωθεν ἑαυτοῦ, πνεῦμα ὢν ἀπαθὲς καὶ γεννῶν πνεῦμα ἀπαθῶς, θεὸς ὢν ἀπαθὴς θεὸν ἀληθινὸν γεννήσας ἀπαθῶς. εἰ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἔκτισε τὰ πάντα καὶ ὁμολογεῖς, ὦ Ἄρειε, ὅτι κέκτικεν ὁ θεὸς τὰ πάντα, αὐτὸς καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἐγέννησεν. εἰ δὲ λέγεις· ἐὰν ἐγέννησεν, ἔπαθε γεννήσας, καὶ ἡμεῖς πρὸς σὲ ἐροῦμεν ὅτι εἰ γεννῶν ἔπαθε, κέκμηκε κτίσας. ἀλλ' ἅμα πάντα ἃ βούλεται, πάντα ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἐν τελειότητι, καὶ οὔτε ἐν τῷ κτίζειν εἰς τὸν υἱὸν πάθος ἐνσκήψει οὔτε πάθει συνέχεσθαι τὸ θεῖον διὰ τὴν ἄχραντον τοῦ υἱοῦ γέννησιν νοηθήσεται. ἄτρεπτος γὰρ ὁ πατήρ, ἄτρεπτος ὁ υἱός, ἄτρεπτον τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, μία οὐσία, μία θεότης. Ἀλλὰ πάντως ἐρεῖς μοι· θέλων ἐγέννησεν ἢ μὴ θέλων; καὶ οὐκ εἰμὶ κατὰ σέ, ὦ φιλόνεικε, ἵνα ἕν τι τοιοῦτον εἰς θεὸν διανοηθῶ. εἰ μὲν γὰρ μὴ βουλόμενος ἐγέννησεν, ἄκων ἐγέννησε. καὶ εἰ βουλόμενος ἐγέννησεν, ἄρα ἦν τὸ βούλημα πρὸ τοῦ υἱοῦ, καὶ ἔσται κἂν ῥοπὴ χρόνου μεταξὺ υἱοῦ διὰ τοῦ βουλήματος. ἐν θεῷ δὲ οὐ χρόνος εἰς βουλὴν οὐ βούλησις εἰς διανόησιν. οὔτε οὖν θέλων ἐγέννησεν οὔτε μὴ θέλων, ἀλλὰ ἐν τῇ ὑπὲρ βουλὴν φύσει. φύσις γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐστι θεότητος οὔτε βουλῆς ἐπιδεομένη οὔτε ἄνευ βουλῆς τι πράττουσα, ἀλλ' ἅμα ἐξ αὐτῆς τὰ πάντα ἔχουσα καὶ οὐδὲν λείπουσα τῶν ὄντων. 27. Ἔτι δὲ πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς Ἄρειος θηρᾶται λέξεις, περινοστῶν ἀεὶ τὰ πάντα καὶ περιεργαζόμενος ἑαυτῷ τὰ μοχθηρά, οὐχ ὡς ἔχει τὸ θεῖον γράμμα, ἀλλ' ὡς αὐτὸς νοσῶν περὶ τὰς ζητήσεις καὶ λογομαχίας εἰς οὐδὲν χρήσιμον, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ καταστροφῇ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πεπλανημένων *, ἐπιλαμβάνεταί τε τοῦ ῥητοῦ, οὗ ὁ κύριος εὐλογῶν τοὺς μαθητὰς ἔφη «πάτερ, 3.177 δὸς αὐτοῖς ζωὴν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή, ἵνα γινώσκωσί σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν». ἀλλ' ἤδη μοι πεπραγμάτευται περὶ τούτων πάντων ἐν τῷ μεγάλῳ περὶ πίστεως λόγῳ, ᾧ πάλιν κατὰ τὴν ἡμῶν μετριότητα καὶ ἀσθένειαν ἀναγκασθέντες ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀδελφῶν προτρεπτικῆς παρακλήσεως γεγράφαμεν περὶ πίστεως, ᾧ λόγῳ ἐπεθέμεθα ὄνομα Ἀγκυρωτόν. καὶ γὰρ καθάπερ ὁ ἡμέτερος ἐξίσχυσε πτωχὸς νοῦς διὰ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ βοηθείας ἐκ πάσης γραφῆς συνάγοντες τὰ ἀληθινὰ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ διδασκαλίας, ἄγκυραν