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by identity and not passing over into confusion, the sons of men being changed into incorruptibility through the participation of God, but not being united together into consubstantiality, and the one who took the form of a slave, through the "took" indicating what is recent, and through "being in the form of God" not passing over into change. And since these things are so and are thus wisely confessed in perfect knowledge by those taught by God, neither "my God 3.384 and your God" nor "my Father and your Father," will, from the reasonable communication through the homonym, differ from the pure substance nor from the excellence of the proper unity of the Father to the Son and of the Son to the Father and of the Holy Spirit likewise. 35. 18. If the unbegotten substance is greater than generation, having the greater from itself, it is unbegotten self-substance. For it is not by willing that it is greater than generation, but because it is so by nature. Therefore God, being unbegotten substance itself, by no reason allows generation to be conceived of according to itself, pushing every examination and every reasoning to be brought against the begotten. Refutation. Aetius has entangled us in the same vexations, causing us to repeat ourselves, as I said, and often, because of his own repetition about the same things from beginning to end. For never has the faith that saves every believer been established from the syllogistic conjecture of men; since the thoughts of men are indeed precarious and unable to be extended to the infinity of the substance of God. For indeed the whole life-giving mystery of Christ for our salvation is "to Jews a stumbling block, and to Greeks foolishness, but to us who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." How then would one not place Aetius among the Jews on account of the scandal of his syllogisms, and consider him a Greek on account of considering the truth of God foolishness from his own willful philosophy? For even being one and greater than all creation and workmanship, the creator and maker of all things, it is not for this reason, that he is greater than the things made by him, that he does not make and create the things made by him; for neither does he begrudge his own goodness. For he has self-goodness from himself, which is greater than all things. For he is not contained within passions, nor did he bring things into being from non-being on account of envy or malice. For the things made by him, which are subordinate to his incomparable divinity, were not conceived against himself, * the things created by him, but for his glory, in order to show his ungrudging divinity; being self-goodness and self-substance, communicating being to those created by him out of 3.385 non-being, having willed them and that each of the created things should partake of his gift according to the proportion of each subject; to the luminaries he has granted light, to heaven the beauties of its arrangement, and to the earth and the others according to his will he has granted portions of excellence, and to angels the gift of incorruptibility and to other holy powers, and to man the dignity of the image and the gift of life and of knowledge and of a rational gift. And this was his not from will alone, as one might say, with delay or according to repentance or a deliberative reasoning, but according to his self-goodness. For he is by nature self-good, having and making and working all things in a manner befitting him. Therefore, just as by his goodness he acquired no unseemliness in this, but glory and knowledge of abundant praise, having come to the knowledge and perception of those made by him, so also it is a glory not acquired by his divinity. For the divine is never in need of an addition of glory, but is self-glory and self-virtue and self-wonder and self-praise, by the Father begetting, even if he himself is not begotten, and the Son being begotten, so that from a source always

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ταυτότητι καὶ μὴ εἰς σύγχυσιν μεταβαινόντων, υἱῶν μὲν ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς μετοχῆς θεοῦ εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν μεταβαλλομένων, ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς ὁμοουσιότητα συνενουμένων, καὶ τοῦ τὴν μορφὴν δούλου λαβόντος διὰ τοῦ μὲν «λαβόντος» τὸ πρόσφατον δηλοῦντος, διὰ δὲ τοῦ «ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχοντος» εἰς τροπὴν μὴ παρερχομένου. τούτων δὲ οὕτως ὄντων καὶ ἐν τελείᾳ γνώσει οὕτως παρὰ τοῖς θεοδιδάκτοις σοφῶς ὁμολογουμένων, οὔτε τὸ «θεός 3.384 μου καὶ θεὸς ὑμῶν» οὔτε τὸ «πατήρ μου καὶ πατὴρ ὑμῶν», ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ τὸ εὔλογον ἐπικοινωνίας διὰ τοῦ ὁμωνύμου διοίσει τῆς ἀκραιφνοῦς οὐσίας οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπεροχῆς τῆς ἰδίας ἑνότητος πατρὸς πρὸς υἱὸν καὶ υἱοῦ πρὸς πατέρα καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος ὡσαύτως. 35. ˉιˉη. Εἰ ἡ ἀγέννητος οὐσία κρείττων ἐστὶ γενέσεως, οἴκοθεν ἔχουσα τὸ κρεῖττον, αὐτοουσία ἐστὶν ἀγέννητος. οὐ γὰρ βουλόμενος ὅτι βούλεται γενέσεώς ἐστι κρείττων, ἀλλ' ὅτι πέφυκεν. αὐτὸ οὖν ὑπάρχουσα οὐσία ἀγέννητος ὁ θεὸς οὐδενὶ λόγῳ ἐπιτρέπει καθ' ἑαυτῆς γένεσιν ἐπινοῆσαι, ὠθοῦσα φέρεσθαι κατὰ τῶν γεννητῶν πᾶσαν ἐξέτασιν καὶ πάντα λογισμόν. Ἀνατροπή. Τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἡμᾶς σκυλμοῖς περιέβαλεν Ἀέτιος ταυτολογεῖν ἡμᾶς, ὡς ἔφην, καὶ πολλάκις παρασκευάζων διὰ τὴν ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς ἄχρι τέλους αὐτοῦ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ταυτολογίαν. οὐ γάρ ποτε ἡ πίστις ἡ πάντα πιστὸν σῴζουσα ἐκ συλλογιστικῆς ὑπονοίας ἀνθρώπων συνέστηκεν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐπισφαλεῖς εἰσιν αἱ τῶν ἀνθρώπων διάνοιαι καὶ οὐ δυνάμεναι πρὸς τὸ ἄπειρον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ οὐσίας ἐπεκτείνεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ τὸ πᾶν τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ ζωτικὸν μυστήριον «Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον, Ἕλλησι δὲ μωρία, ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς κλητοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τε καὶ Ἕλλησι Χριστὸς θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ θεοῦ σοφία, ὅτι τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ σοφώτερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τοῦ θεοῦ ἰσχυρότερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστί». πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἄν τις τὸν Ἀέτιον ἐν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις μὲν διὰ τὸ σκάνδαλον τῶν αὐτοῦ συλλογισμῶν καταστήσειεν, Ἕλληνα δὲ νομίσειε διὰ τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας ἐθελοσοφίας μωρίαν ἡγεῖσθαι τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλήθειαν; καὶ γὰρ εἷς καὶ κρείττων ὢν πάσης κτίσεως καὶ δημιουργίας ὁ κτίστης καὶ δημιουργὸς τῶν ἁπάντων, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο, ὅτι ἐστὶ κρείττων τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγενημένων, οὐ ποιεῖ καὶ κτίζει τὰ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγονότα· οὐδὲ γὰρ φθονεῖ τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἀγαθότητι. οἴκοθεν γὰρ ἔχει τὸ αὐτοάγαθον, ὅπερ ἐστὶ πάντων κρεῖττον. οὔτε γὰρ εἴσω παθῶν περιέχεται ἢ φθόνου ἢ βασκανίας ἕνεκα τὰ ὄντα ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐτελεσιούργησεν. οὐ γὰρ τὰ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγονότα, ὑποβεβηκότα δὲ τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀσύγκριτον θεότητα, οὐ καθ' ἑαυτοῦ ἐπενοήθη, * τὰ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ κτισθέντα, ἀλλ' εἰς δόξαν αὐτοῦ, πρὸς τὸ δεῖξαι τὴν ἄφθονον αὐτοῦ θεότητα· αὐτοαγαθότης οὖσα καὶ αὐτοουσία, ἐπικοινωνοῦσα τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐξ 3.385 οὐκ ὄντων κτισθεῖσι τὸ εἶναι, αὐτὰ θελήσας καὶ μετέχειν τῆς αὐτοῦ ἕκαστον τῶν κεκτισμένων κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν δωρεᾶς ἑκάστης ὑποθέσεως· φωστῆρσι μὲν τὸ φῶς κεχάρισται, οὐρανῷ δὲ τὰ κάλλη τῆς διακοσμήσεως, γῇ τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις κατὰ τὸ αὐτοῦ βούλημα μέρη ἀρετῆς ἐχαρίσατο, ἀγγέλοις τε τὸ δοῦναι αὐτοῖς ἀφθαρσίαν καὶ ἄλλαις ἁγίαις δυνάμεσιν, ἀνθρώπῳ τε τὸ τῆς εἰκόνος ἀξίωμα καὶ ζωῆς καὶ γνώσεως καὶ λογικοῦ χαρίσματος δῶρον. καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ βουλήματος μόνον ὑπῆρξεν αὐτῷ τοῦτο ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, μελλητικῶς ἢ κατὰ μετάμελον ἢ συμβουλευτικὸν λογισμόν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ αὐτοάγαθον. πέφυκε γὰρ αὐτοάγαθος συμπρεπόντως αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ἔχων καὶ ποιῶν καὶ ἐργαζόμενος. ὥσπερ οὖν τῇ αὐτοῦ ἀγαθότητι οὐκ ἀπρέπειαν ἐν τούτῳ περιεποιήσατο, ἀλλὰ δόξαν καὶ γνῶσιν ἐπαίνου ἀφθονίας, τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγονόσιν εἰς εἴδησιν καὶ αἴσθησιν ἐλθών, οὕτω καὶ δόξα ἐστὶν οὐ προσληπτικὴ τῆς αὐτοῦ θεότητος. οὐ γάρ ποτε ἐνδεῖται τὸ θεῖον προσθήκης δόξης, ἀλλὰ αὐτοδόξα ἐστὶν καὶ αὐτοαρετὴ καὶ αὐτοθαῦμα καὶ αὐτουμνηγορία, τῷ τὸν πατέρα γεννῆσαι, εἰ καὶ αὐτὸς οὐ γεγέννηται, υἱόν τε γεννηθῆναι, ἵνα ἐκ πηγῆς ἀεὶ