574

And yet the Apostle says: For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power, and truth. But thus with this Severus, the best theologian is recognized, as if he happens to be elegantly skilled in the categories of Aristotle, and the other elegant things of the outside philosophers; it is necessary for us in due time to clarify the meanings of each word, of those necessarily employed in the things said against this Severus, according to the mind of the ecclesiastical teachers, according to which they have understood these things; so that those who read the words written below might be able, from the first reading, to understand the force of what is said, and not be hindered by ignorance of the meaning of the words, toward the comprehension of the theorems in them.

574

καίτοιγε τοῦ Ἀποστόλου λέγοντος· Οὐ γάρ ἐν λόγῳ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν δυνάμει, καί ἀληθείᾳ. Οὕτως δέ παρ᾿ αὐτῷ Σευήρῳ κράτιστος θεολόγος γνωρίζεται, ὡσάν τάς κατηγορίας Ἀριστοτέλους, καί τά λοιπά τῶν ἔξω φιλοσόφων κομψά ἠσκημένος τυγχάνῃ· ἀναγκαῖον ἡμᾶς τά σημαινόμενα ἑκάστης λέξεως, τῶν εἰς τά πρός αὐτόν Σευῆρον λεγόμενα χρειωδῶς λαμβανομένων, ἐπί καιροῦ σαφηνίσαι, κατά τόν νοῦν τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν διδασκάλων, καθ᾿ ὅν ταῦτα ἐξειλήφασιν· ἵνα ἔχοιεν οἱ ἐντυγχάνοντες τοῖς ὑπογεγραμμένοις λόγοις, ἐκ πρώτης ἐντεύξεως νοεῖν τῶν λεγομένων τήν δύναμιν, καί μή διά τήν ἄγνοιαν τοῦ σημαινομένου τῶν λέξεων, πρός τήν κατάληψιν τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς θεωρημάτων παραποδίζωνται.