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lest what is begotten be imperfect, and all that happens concerning the bodily father and son, being cautious, he would take away the genuine concept of father and son, such as when one might speak of another as a creature and never call the son a son. For whether one would say he is surpassing in magnitude, as heaven is to a mountain or hill, he will hold him as belonging to the genus of creatures, even if he were conceived of as surpassing in magnitude, or in need as having been made first, or as having ministered to the creation of other things, not even so 3.274 will he place him outside the concept of creatures. For just as it makes no difference for the coal from the altar to be taken with tongs, not with the hand itself, even if through this the blacksmith’s art consists in forging the iron, for both the tongs and the iron forged by means of them will be of the genus of creatures, so he through whom are all things will in no way differ from creatures, if he is not a son, as the natural concept suggests. But having been made, he will be first of the creatures and become an instrument for the maker, through whom the creator works all things. 5. And one could not sophisticate the concept of a father in a proper sense and a son in a proper sense from those who are more commonly called sons, since in this way there will be many sons of God, as when he says, "I have begotten and exalted sons, but they have rejected me," and "Is not one father of you all?" and "As many as received him, to them he gave power to become children of God; who were born not of the will of the flesh," he says, "nor of the will of man, but of God," and in addition to these, concerning inanimate things, as "who has begotten the clods of dew." For through these it will be further established from the common concept that he is not a son, just as these are not, but being a creature, like these, he partakes only of the name of son. But the church has believed that God is not only creator of creatures—for this both Jews and Greeks know—but that he is also father of the only-begotten, possessing not only the creative energy, from which he is conceived as creator, but also a generative energy in a proper and only-begotten way, by which he is conceived by us as father of the only-begotten. For teaching us this, the blessed Paul writes, "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named"; for just as on earth fathers are so named, having sons according to the likeness of their own substances, so also a father in heaven is so named, from whom fathers on earth have been named in substance, having in every way the Son begotten from him according to the likeness of his own substance 3.275. And the concept applied to sons so called improperly and homonymously cannot be fitted to the only-begotten. For just as a box is properly called that which is made of boxwood, but more commonly and improperly, from that, a box is also what is made of lead and bronze and some other material *. Therefore, neither as "who has begotten the clods of dew" * that is, substantially; for here the term of begetting has been applied improperly to the creature; nor as "I have begotten and exalted sons," for here too the name is applied improperly from goodwill and honor; nor as "he gave them power to become children of God"; for this too is taken from virtue and imitation of the creation; not in this way will the only-begotten be conceived, but properly, as only from only, like in substance from the Father, from whom he was also named and conceived a son, having been begotten. 6. But if because of the impossibility of reasonings one should not accept the reasoning, that if the Father is thus conceived, the Father undergoes passion or division or emission, and having pushed aside the faith which establishes the pious concept of the Father and the Son, he should demand reasonings, he must be asked for reasonings, how God is crucified and how "the more foolish thing" of the evangelical preaching, because it is beyond reasoning among those who seem to be wise in the world, "is wiser than men," whom the blessed Paul does not even deem worthy of an account, because by the unreasoning power "he has made foolish the wisdom" of the

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μὴ ἀτελὲς εἴη τὸ γεννώμενον καὶ ὅσα συμβαίνει περὶ τὸν σωματικὸν πατέρα τε καὶ υἱόν, εὐλαβούμενος ἀφέλοιτο τὴν γνησίαν ἐπὶ πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ ἔννοιαν, ὁποῖον ἂν λέγοι ἕτερον ποίημα καὶ οὐδέποτε ἐρεῖ τὸν υἱὸν υἱόν. εἴτε γὰρ μεγέθει ὑπερβάλλοντα λέγοι, ὡς οὐρανὸν ὄρους ἢ βουνοῦ, τοῦ τῶν ποιημάτων γένους αὐτόν, κἂν μεγέθει ὑπερβάλλων νοοῖτο, ὑπάρχοντα ἕξει, εἴτε χρείᾳ ὡς πρῶτον αὐτὸν γεγονότα, εἴτε εἰς τὴν ἄλλων δημιουργίαν ὑπουργήσαντα, οὔτε οὕτως 3.274 αὐτὸν ἔξω ποιήσει τῆς τῶν ποιημάτων ἐννοίας. ὡς γὰρ οὐδὲν διαφέρει τὸ τῇ λαβίδι ἐκ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τὸν ἄνθρακα, μὴ αὐτῇ τῇ χειρὶ λαμβάνεσθαι, εἰ καὶ διὰ ταύτης ἡ χαλκευτικὴ εἴη, τὸ ἐπελαύνειν τὸν σίδηρον ἔσται γὰρ καὶ ἡ λαβὶς καὶ ὁ διὰ ταύτης ἐλαυνόμενος σίδηρος τοῦ γένους τῶν ποιημάτων, οὕτως οὐδὲν διοίσει τῶν ποιημάτων ὁ δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα, εἰ μὴ ἔστιν υἱός, ὡς ἡ φυσικὴ ἔννοια ὑποβάλλει. ποιηθεὶς δὲ πρῶτος ἔσται τῶν ποιημάτων καὶ ὄργανον γινόμενος τῷ ποιητῇ, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ὁ κτίστης ἐργάζεται. 5. Καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις σοφίσαιτο τὴν τοῦ ἰδίως πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ ἰδίως υἱοῦ ἔννοιαν ἐκ τῶν κοινότερον υἱῶν λεγομένων, ἐπεὶ οὕτως πολλοὶ ἔσονται οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ «υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα, αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν», καὶ τὸ «οὐχὶ πατὴρ εἷς πάντων ὑμῶν;» καὶ «ὅσοι ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι· οἳ οὐκ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκός, φησίν, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός, ἀλλ' ἐκ θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν», καὶ πρὸς τούτοις περὶ ἀψύχων ὡς «ὁ τετοκὼς βώλους δρόσου». ἐπὶ γὰρ πλέον διὰ τούτων κατασκευασθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς κοινῆς ἐννοίας τὸ μὴ εἶναι μὲν αὐτὸν υἱόν, ὡς οὐδὲ ταῦτα, ποίημα δὲ ὄντα ὡς ταῦτα κλήσεως υἱοῦ μόνης μετέχειν. ἡ δὲ ἐκκλησία πεπίστευκεν ὅτι θεὸς οὐ μόνον ἐστὶ κτίστης κτισμάτων τοῦτο γὰρ Ἰουδαῖοί τε καὶ Ἕλληνες ἐπίστανται, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ πατήρ ἐστι μονογενοῦς, οὐ μόνον τὴν κτιστικὴν ἔχων ἐνέργειαν, ἀφ' ἧς κτίστης νοεῖται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἰδίως καὶ μονογενῶς γεννητικήν, καθ' ἣν πατὴρ μονογενοῦς ἡμῖν νοεῖται. τοῦτο γὰρ παιδεύων ἡμᾶς ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος γράφει «τούτου γὰρ χάριν κάμπτω τὰ γόνατά μου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ἐξ οὗ πᾶσα πατριὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ὀνομάζεται»· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ γῆς πατέρες ὀνομάζονται, καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῶν οἰκείων οὐσιῶν τοὺς υἱοὺς ἔχοντες, οὕτω καὶ πατὴρ ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὀνομάζεται, ἀφ' οὗ οἱ πατέρες οἱ ἐπὶ γῆς κατ' οὐσίαν ὠνομάσθησαν, καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῆς ἑαυτοῦ οὐσίας 3.275 πάντως τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἔχων γεγεννημένον υἱόν. καὶ οὐ δύναται ἡ ἐπὶ τῶν καταχρηστικῶς καὶ ὁμωνύμως λεγομένων υἱῶν ἔννοια τῷ μονογενεῖ ἁρμόζειν. ὥσπερ γὰρ πυξίον μὲν λέγεται κυρίως τὸ ἐκ πύξου κατεσκευασμένον, κοινότερον δὲ καὶ καταχρηστικῶς ἀπ' ἐκείνου πυξίον καὶ τὸ ἐκ μολίβου καὶ χαλκοῦ καὶ ἄλλης τινὸς ὕλης γεγονός *. οὔτε οὖν ὡς «ὁ τετοκὼς βώλους δρόσου» * τουτέστιν οὐσιωδῶς· καταχρηστικῶς γὰρ ἐνταῦθα ἐπὶ τοῦ ποιήματος τὸ τοῦ τόκου παρείληπται· οὔτε ὡς τὸ «υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα», καὶ ἐνταῦθα γὰρ καταχρηστικῶς ἀπὸ τῆς εὐνοίας καὶ τιμῆς προσωνόμασται· οὔτε ὡς τὸ «ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι»· καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς κατ' ἀρετὴν καὶ μίμησιν τῆς ποιήσεως εἴληπται· οὐχ οὕτως ὁ μονογενὴς νοηθήσεται, ἀλλὰ κυρίως, ὡς μόνος ἐκ μόνου, ὅμοιος κατ' οὐσίαν ἐκ τοῦ πατρός, οὗπερ καὶ ὠνομάσθη καὶ ἐνοήθη υἱός, γεννηθείς. 6. Εἰ δὲ διὰ τὸ ἀδύνατον τῶν λογισμῶν μὴ δέχοιτό τις τὸν λογισμόν, ὡς, εἰ οὕτως νοηθείη πατήρ, πάθος ἢ μερισμὸν ἢ ἀπόρροιαν ὑπομένοντος τοῦ πατρός, καὶ παρωσάμενος τὴν πίστιν, ἣ ὑφίστησι τὴν εὐσεβῆ περὶ πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ ἔννοιαν, λογισμοὺς ἀπαιτοίη, ἀπαιτητέον αὐτὸν λογισμούς, πῶς ὁ θεὸς σταυροῦται καὶ πῶς «τὸ μωρότερον» τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ κηρύγματος διὰ τὸ ἀσυλλόγιστον παρὰ τοῖς δοκοῦσιν εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου σοφοῖς «σοφώτερον ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν», οὓς οὐδὲ λόγου ἀξιοῖ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος, διότι τῷ ἀσυλλογίστῳ τῆς δυνάμεως «ἐμώρανε τὴν σοφίαν» τῶν