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UNITY FOUND ITS REST IN TRINITY

from the Third Theological Oration (29), on the Son, * §§ 2, 3, 10
translated by C. G. Browne, J. E. Swallow. Greek Fonts / Gregory Theologian Home Page


ELPENOR EDITIONS IN PRINT

The Original Greek New Testament
Page 5

But they say, The Unbegotten and the Begotten are not the same; and if this is so, neither is the Son the same as the Father. It is clear, without saying so, that this line of argument manifestly excludes either the Son or the Father from the Godhead. For if to be Unbegotten is the Essence of God, to be begotten is not that Essence; if the opposite is the case, the Unbegotten is excluded. What argument can contradict this? Choose then whichever blasphemy you prefer, my good inventor of a new theology, if indeed you are anxious at all costs to embrace a blasphemy. In the next place, in what sense do you assert that the Unbegotten and the Begotten are not the same? If you mean that the Uncreated and the created are not the same, I agree with you; for certainly the Unoriginate and the created are not of the same nature. But if you say that He That begat and That which is begotten are not the same, the statement is inaccurate. For it is in fact a necessary truth that they are the same. For the nature of the relation of Father to Child is this, that the offspring is of the same nature with the parent. Ἀλλ΄ οὐ ταὐτόν͵ φησί͵ τὸ ἀγέννητον καὶ τὸ γεννητόν. εἰ δὲ τοῦτο͵ οὐδὲ ὁ Υἱὸς τῷ Πατρὶ ταὐτόν. ὅτι μὲν φανερῶς ὁ λόγος οὗτος ἐκβάλλει τὸν Υἱὸν τῆς θεότητος ἢ τὸν Πατέρα͵ τί χρὴ λέγειν; εἰ γὰρ τὸ ἀγέννητον οὐσία Θεοῦ͵ τὸ γεννητὸν οὐκ οὐσία· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο͵ οὐκ ἐκεῖνο. τίς ἀντερεῖ λόγος; ἑλοῦ τοίνυν τῶν ἀσεβειῶν ὁποτέραν βούλει͵ ὦ κεινὲ θεολόγε͵ εἴπερ ἀσεβεῖν πάντως ἐσπούδακας. ἔπειτα πῶς οὐ ταὐτὸν λέγεις τὸ ἀγέννητον καὶ τὸ γεννητόν; εἰ μὲν τὸ μὴ ἐκτισμένον καὶ ἐκτισμένον͵ κἀγὼ δέχομαι. οὐ γὰρ ταὐτὸν τῇ φύσει τὸ ἄναρχον καὶ τὸ κτιζόμενον. εἰ δὲ τὸ γεγεννηκὸς καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον οὐ ταυτὸν λέγεις͵ οὐκ ὀρθῶς λέγεται. ταὐτὸν γὰρ εἶναι πᾶσα ἀνάγκη. αὕτη γὰρ φύσις γεννήματος͵ ταὐτὸν εἶναι τῷ γεγεννηκότι κατὰ τὴν φύσιν.
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