Against Eunomius 2.17–2.24

Basil of Caesarea · Against Eunomius · ca. 364 · Caesarea · 7 passages

Greek text: PG 29.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

Chapter 2

2.17PG 29:519

Καὶ μηδείς μοι συκοφαντείτω τὸν λόγον, εἴ τι τῶν ὑποδειγμάτων μὴ πάντη συμβαίνοι τοῖς προκειμένοις. Οὐδὲ γὰρ δυνατὸν τὰ μικρὰ καὶ φαῦλα τοῖς θείοις καὶ ἀϊδίοις μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἁρμόζειν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅσον ἐλέγξαι τὴν εἰρωνείαν τῶν οὐ δυναμένων δὴ γέννησιν ἀπαθῆ τῇ διανοίᾳ λαβεῖν. Εἰκὼν δὲ εἴρηται καὶ ἔστιν ὁ Υἱὸς γεννητὴ, καὶ ἀπαύγασμά ἔστι τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ σοφία, καὶ δύναμις, καὶ δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ, οὐχ ὡς ἕξις, οὐδὲ ὡς ἐπιτηδειότης, ἀλλ᾽ οὐσία ζῶσα καὶ ἐνεργὴς, καὶ ἀπαύγασμά ἔστι τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ. Διόπερ καὶ ὅλον ἐν ἑαυτῷ δείκνυσι τὸν Πατέρα, ἐξ ὅλης αὐτοῦ τῆς δόξης ἀπαυγασθείς. Τὴν τοίνυν δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ μὴ ἔχειν ἀπαύγασμα λέγειν, ἢ τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ μὴ συνεῖναί ποτε τῷ Θεῷ, πάσης τῆς …τοπίας. Ἀλλ᾽ εἰ ἦν, φησὶν, οὐ γεγέννηται. ᾿Αποκρινώμεθα τοίνυν ὅτι, Ἐπειδὴ γεγέννηται, ἦν" οὐχ ἀγέννητον ἔχων τὸ εἶναι, ὧν δὲ ἀεὶ καὶ συνὼν τῷ Πατρὶ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ τὴν, αἰτίαν τῆς ὑπάρξεως ἔχει. Πότε οὖν εἰς τὸ εἶναι παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς παρήχθη; Ἀφ᾽ οὗ ἐστιν ὁ Πατήρ; Ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἀϊδίου, φησὶν, ὁ Πατήρ" ἐξ ἀϊδίου τοίνυν καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς, γεννητῶς τῇ ἀγεννησίᾳ τοῦ Πατρὸς συναπτόμενος. Ὅτι δὲ οὗτος οὐχ ἡμέτερος ὁ λόγος, αὐτὰς τὰς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος φωνὰς αὐτοῖς παρεξόμεθα. Ἔκ μὲν … γος· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ὡς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Πατρὸς εἰρημένον τὸ, Ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου γεγέννηκά σε" καὶ συνθέντες ἀμφότερα, εἴπωμεν, ὅτε καὶ ἦν καὶ γεγέννηται. ᾿Αλλὰ τὸ μὲν, Γεγέννηκα, τὴν αἰτίαν ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἔχει τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ εἶναι σημαίνει· τὸ δὲ, Ἦν, τὴν ἄχρονον αὐτοῦ καὶ προαιώνιον ὕπαρξιν. Ὁ δὲ, ἐπαγωνιζόμενος τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἀπάτῃ, εἰς ἄτοπον τὸν λόγον ἀπάγειν οἴεται. ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Εἰ γὰρ, φησὶ, πρὸ τῆς γεννήσεως ἦν ἧς ἑαυτοῦ ὁ Υἱὸς, ἀγέννητος ἦν. ΒΑΣ. ᾿Αλλὰ τὸ πρὸ τῆς γεννήσεως τοῦτο, ὦ μάταιε, ἤτοι ἀνύπαρκτόν ἔστι παντελῶς, καὶ … καὶ τί δεῖ ἀντιλέγειν τοῖς ἀνοήτοις; παραπλήσιον γὰρ τοῦτο, ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ καὶ τῷ τὸν λογισμὸν ἐκ … φέρεται, καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν αἰώνων ἔννοιαν ἐνεχθήσεται. ᾿Αλλ᾽ εἴπερ αἰῶνες πάντες κάτω που τῆς γενέσεως τοῦ Μονογενοῦς νοοῦνται, αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου ὄντες ποιήματα, μάταιος ὁ ἐπιζητῶν τῆς ὑποστάσεως τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὰ πρεσβύτερα. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀλλοιότερον ἐρωτᾷ, ἣ εἰ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐπυνθάνετο, πότερον ὑπῆρχε πρὸ τῆς ἰδίας συστάσεως. ἣ οὐχί. Ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἀνόητον τὸ ἐρώτημα, ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀνάρχου καὶ ἀγεννήτου ζητεῖν τὸ ἀνώτερον " οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα, ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐξ ἀϊδίου τῷ Πατρὶ συνόντος, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔχοντος μέσον ἑαυτοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ γεννήσαντος, χρονικὰς ποιεῖσθαι τοῦ προτέρου τὰς ἐρωτήσεις, τῆς ἴσης ὄντως ἀνοίας. Παραπλήσιον γὰρ ἐρωτᾶν, τί ἔσται μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν τοῦ ἀθανάτου, καὶ ἐπιζητεῖν τί ὑπῆρχε πρὸ τῆς γεννήσεως τοῦ ἀϊδίου. Οἱ δὲ, ἐπειδὴ τὸ ἄναρχον τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀΐδιον ὀνομάζεται, ταὐτὸν τὸ ἀνάρχῳ τὸ ἀΐδιον ἀποφαίνουσι, καὶ ἐπειδὴ μὴ ἀγέννητος ὁ Υἱὸς, οὐδὲ ἀΐδιον εἶναι ὁμολογοῦσι. Πλεῖστον δὲ διαφέρει κατὰ τὴν ἔννοιαν. ᾿Αγέννητον μὲν γὰρ λέγεται τὸ μηδεμίαν ἀρχὴν ἑαυτοῦ, μηδὲ αἰτίαν ἔχον τοῦ εἶναι " ἀΐδιον δὲ τὸ χρόνου παντὸς καὶ αἰῶνος κατὰ τὸ εἶναι πρεσβύτερον. Ὅθεν καὶ ὁ καὶ οὐχ ἀγέννητος, καὶ ἀΐδιος. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ τοὺς αἰῶνας ἀξιοῦσί τινες τῆς τοῦ ἀϊδίου προσηγορίας, ὡς ἐκ τοῦ ἀεὶ εἶναι τῆς κλήσεως ταύτης τετυχηκότας. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς λογιζόμεθα παρανοίας καὶ τῇ κτίσει προσμαρτυρεῖν τὸ ἀΐδιον, καὶ τὸν Δεσπότην τῆς κτίσεως τῆς ὁμολογίας ταύτης ἀποστερεῖν.

Kai mēdeis moi sykophanteitō ton logon, ei ti tōn hypodeigmatōn mē pantē symbainoi tois prokeimenois. Oude gar dynaton ta mikra kai phaula tois theiois kai aïdiois meta akribeias harmozein, all᾽ hoson elenxai tēn eirōneian tōn ou dynamenōn dē gennēsin apathē tę̄ dianoią labein. Eikōn de eirētai kai estin ho Huios gennētē, kai apaugasma esti tēs doxēs tou Theou, kai sophia, kai dynamis, kai dikaiosynē Theou, ouch hōs hexis, oude hōs epitēdeiotēs, all᾽ ousia zōsa kai energēs, kai apaugasma esti tēs doxēs tou Theou. Dioper kai holon en heautǭ deiknysi ton Patera, ex holēs autou tēs doxēs apaugastheis. Tēn toinyn doxan tou Theou mē echein apaugasma legein, ē tēn sophian tou Theou mē syneinai pote tǭ Theǭ, pasēs tēs …topias. All᾽ ei ēn, phēsin, ou gegennētai. ᾿Apokrinōmetha toinyn hoti, Epeidē gegennētai, ēn" ouch agennēton echōn to einai, hōn de aei kai synōn tǭ Patri, ex hou kai tēn, aitian tēs hyparxeōs echei. Pote oun eis to einai para tou Patros parēchthē? Aph᾽ hou estin ho Patēr? All᾽ ex aïdiou, phēsin, ho Patēr" ex aïdiou toinyn kai ho Huios, gennētōs tę̄ agennēsią tou Patros synaptomenos. Hoti de houtos ouch hēmeteros ho logos, autas tas tou hagiou Pneumatos phōnas autois parexometha. Ek men … gos; ek de tou psalmou hōs ek prosōpou tou Patros eirēmenon to, Ek gastros pro heōsphorou gegennēka se" kai synthentes amphotera, eipōmen, hote kai ēn kai gegennētai. ᾿Alla to men, Gegennēka, tēn aitian aph᾽ hēs echei tēn archēn tou einai sēmainei; to de, Ēn, tēn achronon autou kai proaiōnion hyparxin. Ho de, epagōnizomenos tę̄ heautou apatę̄, eis atopon ton logon apagein oietai. EUN. Ei gar, phēsi, pro tēs gennēseōs ēn hēs heautou ho Huios, agennētos ēn. BAS. ᾿Alla to pro tēs gennēseōs touto, ō mataie, ētoi anyparkton esti pantelōs, kai … kai ti dei antilegein tois anoētois? paraplēsion gar touto, hōsper an ei kai tǭ ton logismon ek … pheretai, kai pros tēn tōn aiōnōn ennoian enechthēsetai. ᾿All᾽ eiper aiōnes pantes katō pou tēs geneseōs tou Monogenous noountai, autou ekeinou ontes poiēmata, mataios ho epizētōn tēs hypostaseōs tou Huiou ta presbytera. Ouden gar alloioteron erōtą, hē ei kai peri tou Patros epynthaneto, poteron hypērche pro tēs idias systaseōs. hē ouchi. Hōs gar ekei anoēton to erōtēma, epi tou anarchou kai agennētou zētein to anōteron " houtō kai entautha, epi tou ex aïdiou tǭ Patri synontos, kai ouden echontos meson heautou te kai tou gennēsantos, chronikas poieisthai tou proterou tas erōtēseis, tēs isēs ontōs anoias. Paraplēsion gar erōtan, ti estai meta tēn teleutēn tou athanatou, kai epizētein ti hypērche pro tēs gennēseōs tou aïdiou. Hoi de, epeidē to anarchon tou Patros aïdion onomazetai, tauton to anarchǭ to aïdion apophainousi, kai epeidē mē agennētos ho Huios, oude aïdion einai homologousi. Pleiston de diapherei kata tēn ennoian. ᾿Agennēton men gar legetai to mēdemian archēn heautou, mēde aitian echon tou einai " aïdion de to chronou pantos kai aiōnos kata to einai presbyteron. Hothen kai ho kai ouch agennētos, kai aïdios. Ēdē de kai tous aiōnas axiousi tines tēs tou aïdiou prosēgorias, hōs ek tou aei einai tēs klēseōs tautēs tetychēkotas. Hēmeis de tēs autēs logizometha paranoias kai tę̄ ktisei prosmartyrein to aïdion, kai ton Despotēn tēs ktiseōs tēs homologias tautēs aposterein.

[17] And let no one slander the argument if any of the examples does not fit the matters before us in every respect. For it is not possible to apply small and paltry things with exactness to things divine and eternal, but only so far as to refute the dissembling of those who supposedly cannot grasp an impassible begetting in thought. The Son is called, and is, a begotten image, and the radiance of the glory of God, and the wisdom and power and righteousness of God: not as a state or an aptitude, but as a living and active essence, the radiance of the glory of God. That is why he shows the whole Father in himself, having shone forth from his whole glory. To say, then, that the glory of God has no radiance, or that the wisdom of God was ever not with God, belongs to every absurdity … "But if he was," he says, "he has not been begotten." Let us answer, then: since he has been begotten, he was; not having unbegotten being, but always being and being with the Father, from whom he also has the cause of his existence. When, then, was he brought into being by the Father? From when the Father is. "But the Father is from eternity," he says. From eternity, then, is the Son too, joined by way of begetting to the ingeneracy of the Father. That this argument is not ours, we will present to them the very words of the Holy Spirit. From … the "Word"; and from the psalm, as spoken in the person of the Father, "From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you"; and putting both together, let us say that he both was and has been begotten. But "I have begotten" signifies the cause from which he has the beginning of his being, and "was" his timeless existence before the ages. But he, contending on behalf of his own deceit, thinks he is driving the argument into absurdity:

EUNOMIUS: "For if," he says, "the Son was before his own begetting, he was unbegotten."

BASIL: But this "before the begetting," you vain man, is either wholly nonexistent and … (and what need is there to argue with the senseless? For this is as if with one who … his reason …), or [if his thought] is carried …, it will be carried to the notion of the ages. But if all the ages are conceived somewhere below the begetting of the Only-Begotten, since they are his works, vain is the one who seeks what is older than the hypostasis of the Son. He asks nothing different than if he were inquiring about the Father whether he existed before his own constitution or not. For as there the question is senseless, to seek what is higher than the one who is without beginning and unbegotten, so here too, in the case of the one who is with the Father from eternity and has nothing between himself and the one who begot him, to raise temporal questions about "before" belongs to equal folly. It is like asking what will be after the death of the immortal, or inquiring what existed before the begetting of the eternal. But they, since the beginninglessness of the Father is called eternal, declare "eternal" to be the same as "without beginning," and since the Son is not unbegotten, they do not confess him to be eternal either. But the two differ greatly in concept. "Unbegotten" is said of what has no beginning of itself and no cause of its being; "eternal" of what is older in being than all time and every age. Hence [the Son] is both not unbegotten and eternal. Some even think the ages worthy of the name "eternal," as having obtained this name from always being. But we consider it the same madness to bear witness to eternity for the creation and to deprive the Master of creation of this confession.

Heb 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:15 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil answers Eunomius's claim that a Son who 'was' before his begetting would be unbegotten: the Son is eternally begotten, and 'eternal' and 'unbegotten' are different notions.

Chapter 17 of Book 2. In the scan the words '…absurdity; but if he was' stand displaced among Migne's notes; they are restored to their place by a logged correction. Other lost lines are marked …; Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections. 'Or [if his thought] is carried' supplies the second half of Basil's 'either … or'. The quotation is Eunomius's Apology.
Heb 1:3; 1 Cor 1:24, 30; Col 1:15; John 1:1; Ps 110:3 (LXX 109:3).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); word broken at a line end rejoined; words displaced in the scan (τοπίας; Ἀλλ᾽ εἰ, printed among the notes on this page) restored to their place; a letter lost): μο: συχοφαντείτω → μοι συκοφαντείτω; συμθαίνοι → συμβαίνοι; προχειμένοις. → προκειμένοις.; “οἷς θείοις → τοῖς θείοις; ἀχριδείας → ἀκριβείας; ἁρμόξειν, → ἁρμόζειν,; ὅπον ἐλέγξαι → ὅσον ἐλέγξαι; ἀπαθῇ τῇ → ἀπαθῆ τῇ; λαθεῖν. Εἰχὼν δὲ → λαβεῖν. Εἰκὼν δὲ; εἴςρῆται → εἴρηται; πῆς δόξης → τῆς δόξης; διχαιοτύνη → δικαιοσύνη; ᾿Αποχρινώμεθα → ᾿Αποκρινώμεθα; 'λφ᾽ οὗ ἐστιν → Ἀφ᾽ οὗ ἐστιν; ἀγεννησίχ → ἀγεννησίᾳ; τὰς; ἁγίου → τὰς τοῦ ἁγίου; φωνὰ“ αὐτοῖ“ ταρεξόμεθα. → φωνὰς αὐτοῖς παρεξόμεθα.; Ἔχ μὲν τὸ εἶναι, γα 8 αἱ ἦν δά 5 : ᾿ 6 πὶ ἐδμιίογρ τῷ πρωτοτύπῳ ὑποστήσαντι τὸ εἶναι. πὐχης (οἷν. μείιαα ᾿ϑαμὰ ὑποστήσαντι τὸ εἶναι, τοπίας; ᾿Αλλ᾽ εἰ ς δχ ἰος 651 πο δδι Δγοβθι ρη : 4180 ΡῈΓ ἰπη τα ἰἐγοφυΐη Πος δ᾽ πῈΠ}{π|6} 6 π} ροτγίδοίατη ποθὴ δαὶ οί, ον τοπροτγὶς πιόγαπι. 56 {Ππ ἃ ἐοηνθῃ θη! 5 ροίεδί οἱ βωρίοηιί8, εἰ ροίαηι.2, οἱ ᾿51}| οἱ, ποι πὶ Πιδθΐ-τίαπι θὲΐ ποθὴ ᾿ᾶυθγθ βρίθιιἀογθιῃ, δῖ βρίθει! δι φυοιίδην σοι ιι8 651, ἜΓΔΙ, σαν ἴῃ ρου ἑ τ} 6556. δι] λη 6, τῷ εἶναι, νοὶ δι ΠΠλπ|, τὸ εἶναι, δὶ ποῦ, φιοά ἱρειπι ατο ει ρεπὶ ἐδὶ, δε, σφι ἱπιησο ὑποστήσαντι τὸ εἶναι ἀρχέτυπον. Αἰ νόγίνινην, Τῷ εἶναι ἀρχέτυπον, οὖσαν. οτῖο, [πιηφο, φε μιμήσεως, καὶ ὥσπερ. ΑΙ φιάλην 185. μιμήσεως, ὥσπερ. ([ Άοζ. φυλτυθ Πατρὶ, παρ᾽ οὗ καί. ' Οοὐϑ δυ}10 τροιΐϊο δι ϑἰϑιῖῖ, πηδηιίδφυς πυ}}} δυ ᾽ οείο ἰηεοπιγδάϊΐοδγο Ὁ ποα δηΐπ) ραγίπ δ 681 δί4 6 οὐπὶ 60 πο ἰηφοηίίυ8, [ἃ ΦίοΓηυ5 651. δ πὶ ΨΟΓῸ δαποι δ οἰἰδηη ι σῦν. Νοβ δυίθιν ἰῃ 15 4φυφ οἱ οἰΐπὶ ἃ βϑηοίϊ8, οἱ 5 18 Φ. ᾿. Η͂ Σ ᾿ τ πτης πο μὰ ῳὴ (οἀ. δθ0ὅ οὐ ἴι τῆς γεγέσεως. Ἐδιι τινες τῆς ἀϊδίου. Αἱ πι58. τῆς τοῦ ἀϊδίον. γος" ἐχ δὲ τοῦ → Ἔκ μὲν … γος· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ; ἐχ προσώπου → ἐκ προσώπου; ἑωσφέάρονυ → ἑωσφόρου; γεγένγγηχά → γεγέννηκά; Γεγέγγηκα, → Γεγέννηκα,; σημαένει" → σημαίνει·; ἀπάγέιν οἴεται. → ἀπάγειν οἴεται.; γενγήσεως → γεννήσεως; ποῦτο, ὦ → τοῦτο, ὦ; μάταις, ἤτοι → μάταιε, ἤτοι; ἀνύπαρχτόν → ἀνύπαρκτόν; δ᾽α- Ὁ καὶ τί → … καὶ τί; ἐχ φρεὄντων → ἐκ …; χάτω που → κάτω που; νοοῦντα!, → νοοῦνται,; αὑτοῦ ἐχείνου ὄντες → αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου ὄντες; πρεσδύτερα. → πρεσβύτερα.; ἐπυνθάνετα, → ἐπυνθάνετο,; ἐχεῖ ἀνόητον → ἐκεῖ ἀνόητον; γεννήσαν- Ὁ τος, → γεννήσαντος,; χρονιχὰς → χρονικὰς; Παραπλήσεον → Παραπλήσιον; ἕσται μετὰ → ἔσται μετὰ; ἀθανάτον, → ἀθανάτου,; ὀνομάζεται,. → ὀνομάζεται,; παυτὸν τὸ → ταὐτὸν τὸ; αἴδιον εἶναι → ἀΐδιον εἶναι; χατὰ τὴν → κατὰ τὴν; μτὸξ αἰτίαν → μηδὲ αἰτίαν; χατὰ τὸ εἶναι → κατὰ τὸ εἶναι; πρεσθύτερον. → πρεσβύτερον.; ἐχ τοῦ ἀεὶ → ἐκ τοῦ ἀεὶ; χλήσεως ταύτης → κλήσεως ταύτης; τετυχηχότας. → τετυχηκότας.; παραθ νοία; καὶ → παρανοίας καὶ; χτίσει προσμαρτυρεῖν → κτίσει προσμαρτυρεῖν; χτίσεως τῆς → κτίσεως τῆς; πάσης τῆς ἦν, φησὶν, οὐ γεγέννηται, → πάσης τῆς …τοπίας. Ἀλλ᾽ εἰ ἦν, φησὶν, οὐ γεγέννηται..

Topics: Trinity, Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.17 (PG 29:519; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/2-17/#p-2-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne PG 29 (archive.org OCR; slips, Migne's Latin and notes removed as logged corrections; chapters renumbered to Garnier's divisions) and checked privately against FOTC 122 (Against Eunomius).

2.18PG 29:519

Ὁ δὲ, πρὸς τὸ ἀναίσχυντον ἐκφέρων τὸν λόγον, φησιν· ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ, τοῖς τε ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ πάλαι καὶ νῦν ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν ἀποδειχνυμένοις …τες, μήτε τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Θεοῦ προσιεμένης γέννησιν, μήτε μὴν ἑτέρας τινὸς ὑποκειμένης εἰς Υἱοῦ γέννησιν, μὴ ὄντα φαμὲν τὸν Υἱὸν γεγεννῆσθαι. ΒΑΣ. Τίς οὕτως ἐπ᾽ εὐσεβείᾳ φιλότιμος; τίς ἐπὶ τῷ φιλόχριστος εἶναι τοσοῦτον ἐκαλλωπίσατο, ὅσον οὗτοι τοῖς τῆς ὕβρεως καὶ ἀτιμίας ῥήμασι, καὶ καθαιρετικοῖς τῆς δόξης τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἐπαγάλλονται; Οὐ παύσῃ μὴ ὄντα προσαγορεύων, ὦ ἄθεε, τὸν ὄντως ὄντα, τὴν πηγὴν τῆς ζωῆς, τὸν πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσι τοῦ εἶναι παρεκτικόν; Ὃς οἰκείαν ἑαυτῷ καὶ πρέπουσαν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἀϊδιότητι ἐν τῷ πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον θεράποντα Μωῦσέα χρηματισμῷ προσηγορίαν ἐξεῦρεν, ὄντα ἑαυτὸν ὀνομάσας; ᾿Εγὼ γάρ εἰμι, φησὶν, ὁ ὦν. Καὶ τούτοις οὐδεὶς ἀντερεῖ μὴ οὐχὶ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Κυρίου εἰρῆσθαι " οὔκουν ὅστις γε μὴ τὸ Ἰουδαϊκὸν κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναγνώσει Μωῦσέως κατὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ καρδίας ἐπικείμενον ἔχει. Γέγραπται γὰρ, ὅτι ὥφθη τῷ Μωῦσεϊ ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἐπὶ τοῦ βάτου ἐν πυρὶ φλογός. Ἄγγελον τοίνυν προτάξασα τῆς διηγήσεως ἡ Γραφὴ, Θεοῦ ἐπάγει τὴν φωνήν. Εἶπε γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ Μωϋσεῖ· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ πατρός σου ᾿Αβραάμ" καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγα πάλιν - ᾿Εγώ εἰμι ὁ ὥν. Τίς οὖν ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ ἄγγελος καὶ Θεός; Ἆρα οὐχὶ περὶ οὗ μεμαθήκαμεν, τι καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ μεγάλης βουλῆς Ἄγγελος; Ἐγὼ μὲν οὐχ οἶμαι πλειόνων δεῖν πρὸς τὴν ἀπόδειξιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν φιλοχρίστοις ἐξαρκεῖν καὶ τὴν ὑπόμνησιν, τοῖς δὲ ἀνιάτως ἔχουσι μηδὲν ὄφελος ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν λεγομένων ἔσεσθαι. Εἰ γὰρ … ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ πρότερον ἀπηξίου τὴν τοῦ ἀγγέλου προσηγορίαν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα μόνον εὑρήσομεν τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν καὶ ἄγγελον καὶ Θεὸν ὑπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς ὀνομασθέντα - ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἰακώβ, τὴν ὀπτασίαν ταῖς γυναιξὶ διηγούμενος, φησί " Καὶ εἶπέ μοι ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγα παρὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ὀφθείς σοι ἐν τῷ τόπῳ οὗ ἤλειψάς μοι ἐκεῖ στήλην. Καίτοι ἐκεῖ ἐπὶ τῆς στήλης τῷ Ἰακὼβ εἴρηται" Ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ πατρός σου, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσαάκ. Ὁ τοίνυν ἐνταῦθα ἄγγελος εἰρημένος, οὗτος ἐκεῖ λέγει πεφανερῶσθαι … … Παντὶ οὖν δῆλον, ὅτι ἔνθα καὶ ἄγγελος καὶ Θεὸς ὁ αὐτὸς προσηγόρευται, ὁ Μονογενῆς ἐστι δηλούμενος, ἐμφανίζων ἑαυτὸν κατὰ γενεὰν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, καὶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρὸς τοῖς ἀγίοις ἑαυτοῦ διαγγέλλων. Ὥστε καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Μωϋσέως ὄντα ἑαυτὸν ὀνομάσας, οὐχ ἄλλος τις παρὰ τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον, τὸν ἐν ἀρχῇ ὄντα πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, νοηθείη.

Ho de, pros to anaischynton ekpherōn ton logon, phēsin; EUN. Hēmeis de, tois te hypo tōn hagiōn kai palai kai nyn eph᾽ hēmōn apodeichnymenois …tes, mēte tēs ousias tou Theou prosiemenēs gennēsin, mēte mēn heteras tinos hypokeimenēs eis Huiou gennēsin, mē onta phamen ton Huion gegennēsthai. BAS. Tis houtōs ep᾽ eusebeią philotimos? tis epi tǭ philochristos einai tosouton ekallōpisato, hoson houtoi tois tēs hybreōs kai atimias rhēmasi, kai kathairetikois tēs doxēs tou Monogenous epagallontai? Ou pausę̄ mē onta prosagoreuōn, ō athee, ton ontōs onta, tēn pēgēn tēs zōēs, ton pasi tois ousi tou einai parektikon? Hos oikeian heautǭ kai prepousan tę̄ heautou aïdiotēti en tǭ pros ton idion theraponta Mōysea chrēmatismǭ prosēgorian exeuren, onta heauton onomasas? ᾿Egō gar eimi, phēsin, ho ōn. Kai toutois oudeis anterei mē ouchi ek prosōpou tou Kyriou eirēsthai " oukoun hostis ge mē to Ioudaïkon kalymma epi tę̄ anagnōsei Mōyseōs kata tēs heautou kardias epikeimenon echei. Gegraptai gar, hoti hōphthē tǭ Mōyseï angelos Kyriou epi tou batou en pyri phlogos. Angelon toinyn protaxasa tēs diēgēseōs hē Graphē, Theou epagei tēn phōnēn. Eipe gar, phēsi, tǭ Mōÿsei; Egō eimi ho Theos tou patros sou ᾿Abraam" kai met᾽ oliga palin - ᾿Egō eimi ho hōn. Tis oun ho autos kai angelos kai Theos? Ara ouchi peri hou memathēkamen, ti kaleitai to onoma autou megalēs boulēs Angelos? Egō men ouch oimai pleionōn dein pros tēn apodeixin, alla tois men philochristois exarkein kai tēn hypomnēsin, tois de aniatōs echousi mēden ophelos ek tou plēthous tōn legomenōn esesthai. Ei gar … all᾽ oude proteron apēxiou tēn tou angelou prosēgorian. Ou gar entautha monon heurēsomen ton Kyrion hēmōn kai angelon kai Theon hypo tēs Graphēs onomasthenta - alla kai Iakōb, tēn optasian tais gynaixi diēgoumenos, phēsi " Kai eipe moi ho tou Theou kai met᾽ oliga para tou autou Egō eimi ho Theos ho ophtheis soi en tǭ topǭ hou ēleipsas moi ekei stēlēn. Kaitoi ekei epi tēs stēlēs tǭ Iakōb eirētai" Egō Kyrios ho Theos Abraam tou patros sou, kai ho Theos Isaak. Ho toinyn entautha angelos eirēmenos, houtos ekei legei pephanerōsthai … … Panti oun dēlon, hoti entha kai angelos kai Theos ho autos prosēgoreutai, ho Monogenēs esti dēloumenos, emphanizōn heauton kata genean tois anthrōpois, kai to thelēma tou Patros tois agiois heautou diangellōn. Hōste kai epi tou Mōÿseōs onta heauton onomasas, ouch allos tis para ton Theon Logon, ton en archę̄ onta pros ton Theon, noētheiē.

[18] But he, carrying his argument on to shamelessness, says:

EUNOMIUS: "But we, [following] what has been shown by the saints both of old and now in our own time, since the essence of God does not admit a begetting, and no other essence is available as a substrate for the begetting of the Son, say that the Son was begotten not being."

BASIL: Who was ever so ambitious for piety? Who ever prided himself so much on loving Christ as these men exult in words of insult and dishonor that tear down the glory of the Only-Begotten? Will you not stop, godless man, calling "not being" the one who truly is, the fountain of life, the one who grants being to all that are? He found for himself, in his oracle to his own servant Moses, a name proper to himself and fitting to his own eternity, naming himself "the One who is": "For I am," he says, "the One who is." And no one will deny that these words were spoken in the person of the Lord, no one, at least, who does not have the Jewish veil lying over his heart at the reading of Moses. For it is written that an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the bush in a flame of fire. Having set an angel at the head of the account, Scripture then brings in the voice of God: "He said," it says, "to Moses: I am the God of your father Abraham"; and a little after, again, "I am the One who is." Who, then, is the same one both angel and God? Is it not the one of whom we have learned that his name is called "Angel of great counsel"? I do not think more is needed for the proof: for lovers of Christ even the reminder suffices, and for the incurable nothing will be gained from a multitude of words. For if … he did not disdain the name of angel even before. For not only here shall we find our Lord named by Scripture both angel and God; Jacob too, telling his wives of the vision, says, "And the [angel] of God said to me," and a little after, from the same one, "I am the God who appeared to you in the place where you anointed a pillar for me." Yet there, at the pillar, it was said to Jacob, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac." So the one called angel here is the one who says he appeared there … … It is plain to everyone, then, that wherever the same one is called both angel and God, the Only-Begotten is meant, manifesting himself to human beings in each generation and announcing the will of the Father to his saints. So also in the case of Moses, the one who named himself "the One who is" would be understood to be no other than God the Word, who was in the beginning with God.

Ps 36:9 (35:10 LXX) (echo, medium confidence) · Exod 3:14 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 3:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 9:6 (9:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 31:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 31:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 28:13 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:2 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil answers Eunomius's claim that the Son was begotten 'not being' by showing that the One who named himself 'He who is' at the burning bush was the Son, called in Scripture both angel and God.

Chapter 18 of Book 2; it ends in staged 2.20. Lost lines are marked …; Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections. The quotation is Eunomius's Apology.
Ps 36:9 ('fountain of life'); Exod 3:14; 2 Cor 3:15; Exod 3:2, 3:6; Isa 9:6 (LXX 9:5); Gen 31:11, 31:13; Gen 28:13.
End of chapter 18 of Book 2. Most of this scan page is Migne's notes and Latin, removed by logged corrections.
John 1:2.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): Ὃ δὲ, πρὸς → Ὁ δὲ, πρὸς; ἐχφέρων τὸν → ἐκφέρων τὸν; «φησιν; ΕΥ̓͂Ν. → φησιν· ΕΥ̓͂Ν.; ἀγίων καὶ → ἁγίων καὶ; τες, μήτε → …τες, μήτε; γέννυ.- Α ποι Ὠεὶ φυυϑίδπιϊδ σοπεγδιίομεπι δάπι δι, θαυ σιν, μῆτε μὴν → γέννησιν, μήτε μὴν; ὑποχειμένης → ὑποκειμένης; γεγεννῇσθαι. → γεγεννῆσθαι.; εὐσεθείᾳ → εὐσεβείᾳ; ἐχαλλωπίσατο, → ἐκαλλωπίσατο,; ὕθρεως καὶ → ὕβρεως καὶ; καθαιρετιχοῖς → καθαιρετικοῖς; ἐπαγάλλονκαι; → ἐπαγάλλονται;; παρεχτιχόν; → παρεκτικόν;; οἰχείαν ἑαυτῷ → οἰκείαν ἑαυτῷ; ἐχ προσὠπου → ἐκ προσώπου; οὔχουν ὅστις → οὔκουν ὅστις; Β τὸ Ἰουδαϊχὸν → τὸ Ἰουδαϊκὸν; χάλυμμα ἐπὶ → κάλυμμα ἐπὶ; χαρδίας ἐπιχείμενον → καρδίας ἐπικείμενον; “Αγγελον → Ἄγγελον; Μωῦσεῖ- Ἐγώ → Μωϋσεῖ· Ἐγώ; Θεὲς τοῦ → Θεὸς τοῦ; σον ᾿Αδραάμ" → σου ᾿Αβραάμ"; ἾΑρα οὐχὶ → Ἆρα οὐχὶ; μεμαθήχαμεν, → μεμαθήκαμεν,; χαλεῖται → καλεῖται; Αγγελος; → Ἄγγελος;; ἐχ τοῦ πλήθους → ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους; ἰάδπι οἱ δηῆραὶι8 οἱ θευβ ἢ Νόππα ἰΠ|6, 46 συο ἀϊ εἶ ἀλλ᾽ → … ἀλλ᾽; Ἰαχὼδ, τὴν → Ἰακώβ, τὴν; ταὶς γυναιξὶ → ταῖς γυναιξὶ; (5{)" Ἐγώ → Ἐγώ; ἤμειψάς μοι → ἤλειψάς μοι; ἐκεὶ στήλην. → ἐκεῖ στήλην.; ἔχεῖ ἐπὶ → ἐκεῖ ἐπὶ; ἸἸαχὼδ εἴρηται" → Ἰακὼβ εἴρηται"; ᾿Αθδραὰμ → Ἀβραὰμ; Ισαάκ. Ὁ → Ἰσαάκ. Ὁ; ἐχεῖ λέγει → ἐκεῖ λέγει; 49 Εχοι! τ, 18. ἍΠ| ον. μι, 15. οἱ δηβοὶπὶ οἱ θεῖ ἃ ϑογίριίαγᾶ ποπλἰπδίιπ : δα Εἰ ἀϊαϊε πϑΠι ἀπεῖπε Ὠεὶ “δ, ἘΠῚ ροϑὶ ρας 80 60ἄδπὶ δυάΐπι: Εφο εἰπὶ δι χεὶ ἀρρατιὶ (ἰδὲ ἰη νι δες Αὐγηίανι ραϊτῖε (μὶ, εἰ ὕόμε ]εαας “΄. Ουὶ 9. Απιϊφαΐ ἀπο ΠΡ τὶ γεγενῆσθαι, εἰ ἰἰϊὰ φυοημα Ὦ φίιυγ ἐν φλογὶ πυρός, ἱπ βαπιπια ἱρπὶς. ϑρὰ ἴῃ Υυ!- → …; ΕὐΠ οἱ ἀμο πιβ5, ἐχ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐ Κυρίου, 6 ρέγδοπα ἰδοηιϊπῖ, ἰι εβϑῖ, Υγυϊ, δι ἦτ 16 υγὶ ἑαυτοῦ.. εἰ Ογτῖ!8.. αἱ νίάθγα δι ἴῃ ποι αν} ἂχ διε αυ δ, υἱ 18, δον Ῥοιοσῖ. Βορ. ἱογίϊυ5 ἐπὶ τῆς βάτου.. μει6. οἱ ἐχρίογαι σι, υρσυπχῃα ἰἄδπὶ οἱ δηβοῖηβ οἱ ἃ τῷ Ἰαχώδ. Παντὶ → … Παντὶ; ἀϊὲ τι; δἱ δογοπιίδβ : Εἰ ἐμγανοταηί Ρ6ῈΓ δος φιὶ αἱἰὶ δϑοπιῖπε, εοορίτιιηε ᾿ς φαΐ ποπ εἰπὶ 15. λης ἰ5ι1 δἱ εἰεφὶι θέμε 15. Ναπι, αυοιίαπι θευδ ἐδ8ῖ, φυΐ εδῖ, οἱ δἰ15 σὰ πὶ βου θθγοὶ, 608 6 Γ Ἔχοο δι λη) πομιπαν “εἰ 958 βαείίθειε ἰκ ΟἸιγίφίο 9 ἐδι 15. 515 δίῃ οἱ ηυὶ 48 Ρ98]. υσχιι, 8. δ᾽ Ρ 51: χι, 1. 79 ὅλο. ιν, 19. ΕΔ Ὥστε καὶ ἐπί. Αἱ ἀυο πι58. Ὥστε καὶ ὁ ἐπὶ. ΑἸϊφιδπιο μοϑι οὐἰιϊ, ὅτι οὐχ ἔστι. Υυχ ὅτι. Εάϊεῖ δι γεοθηῖοβ. αι ίίλιη π|35. τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ βλασφημοῦντες. Οοὐτεύ5 Δ φυίοτᾳ8 τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ → καὶ; χατὰ γενεὰν → κατὰ γενεὰν; ἀυθρώποις. → ἀνθρώποις,; Μωῦσέιυς → Μωϋσέως; Δόγον. τὸν → Λόγον, τὸν; νογθείη. → νοηθείη..

Topics: Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.18 (PG 29:519; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/2-17/#p-2-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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2.19PG 29:519

᾿Αλλ᾽ οἱ τὴν ἀδικίαν εἰς τὸ ὕψος λαλοῦντες μὴ ὄντα προσειπεῖν τὸν Υἱὸν οὐχ ἀπώκνησαν. Καὶ Ὁ μὲν ἄφρων ἐν καρδίᾳ αὑτοῦ εἶπεν, Οὐκ ἔστι Θεός" οἱ δὲ οὐ διενοήθησαν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐλάλησαν ἐν πονηρίᾳ, καὶ γραφῇ παραδοῦναι εἰς τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον οὐ παρητήσαντο, μὴ ὄντα τολμήσαντες τὸν Θεὸν ὀνομάσαι. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ γε ὁρῶσιν οὐδὲ τοὺς δαίμονας αὐτοὺς ἀπαρνουμένους τὸ εἶναι Θεὸν, οὗτοι, εἰς τὸν κατόπιν χρόνον ἐπανελθόντες τῷ λόγῳ, ἐκεῖ τὴν ἀσεβῆ ἑαυτῶν ἐπιθυμίαν ἀποπληροῦσι, μὴ εἶναί ποτε τὸν Υἱὸν βλασφημοῦντες, ὡς τῇ μὲν ἑαυτοῦ φύσει μὴ ὄντα, χάριτι δὲ εἰς τὸ εἶναι ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ παραχθέντα. Εἶτα ἣν ὁ Παῦλος περὶ τῶν εἰδώλων ἀφῆκε φωνὴν, εἰπών· Ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς φύσει μὴ οὖσι θεοῖς" καὶ ὁ Ἱερεμίας" Καὶ ὤμνυσαν ἐν τοῖς μὴ οὖσι θεοῖς " καὶ ἣ σοφωτάτη Ἐσθήρ· Μὴ παραδῷς, Κύριε, τὸ σκῆπτρόν σου τοῖς μὴ οὖσι" ταύτην οὗτοι περὶ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Θεοῦ εἰπόντες, πῶς ἂν δικαίως ἔτι τῆς Χριστιανῶν προσηγορίας μεταποιοῖντο; Καὶ γάρ που καὶ ἑτέρωθι ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτος Ἀπόστολος, ὁ ἐν Πνεύματι Θεοῦ λαλῶν, μὴ ὄντα ὀνομάζει τὰ ἔθνη διὰ τὸ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστερῆσθαι, εἰπὼν, ὅτι Τὰ μὴ ὄντα ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ὢν καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ ζωὴ ὁ θεὸς, οἱ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ ὄντι μὴ ἡνωμένοι κατὰ τὴν πίστιν, τῇ δὲ ἀνυπαρξίᾳ τοῦ ψεύδους οἰκειωθέντες διὰ τῆς περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα πλάνης, εἰκότως, οἶμαι, διὰ τὴν στέρησιν τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ζωῆς ἀλλοτρίωσιν, μὴ ὄντες προσηγορεύθησαν. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ τοῖς Ἐφεσίοις ἐπιστέλλων ὡς γνησίως ἠνωμένοις τῷ ὄντι δι᾽ ἐπιγνώσεως, ὄντας αὐτοὺς ἰδιαζόντως ὠνόμασεν, εἰπών" Τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσι, καὶ πιστοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ οἱ πρὸ ἡμῶν παραδεδώκασι, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν τοῖς παλαιοῖς τῶν ἀντιγράφων εὑρήκαμεν. Ὁ δὲ οὐδὲ ἧς οἱ δοῦλοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ προσηγορίας μετέχουσιν, οὐδὲ ταύτης ἀξιῶσαι τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν ἠνέσχετο, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι παραγαγόντα τὴν κτίσιν, μὴ ὄντα προσεῖπε. Πλέον δ᾽ ἄν τις αὐτοῦ τὴν καταφρόνησιν καταμάθοι, ἐξ ὢν προσποιεῖται δῆθεν ἀποσεμνύνειν τὸν Κύριον. ΕΥΝ. Οὐ κοινοποιοῦμεν, φησὶ, τοῦ Μονογενοῦς τὴν οὐσίαν πρὸς τὰ ἐκ μὴ ὄντων γενόμενα, ἐπείπερ οὐχ οὐσία τὸ μὴ ὄν" ἀλλὰ τοσαύτην αὐτῷ νέμομεν τὴν ὑπεροχὴν, ὅσην ἔχειν ἀναγκαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ποιητήν. ΒΑΣ. Διὰ τῶν κατασκευῶν εἰς τοῦτο τὸν λόγον προαγαγὼν, τῷ ῥήματι δῆθεν φιλανθρωπεύεται, καί φησι, μὴ κοινοποιεῖν πρὸς τὰ ἐκ μὴ ὄντων τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς. Καίτοι εἰ ὁ Θεὸς τῶν ὅλων, διὰ τὸ ἀγέννητος εἶναι, ἀναγκαίαν ἔχει τὴν πρὸς τὰ γεννητὰ παραλλαγὴν, τὰ δὲ γεννητὰ σύμπαντα κοινὴν ἔχει τὴν ἐκ μὴ ὄντων ὑπόστασιν, πῶς οὐχὶ ἀναγκαίως ταῦτα κατὰ τὴν φύσιν συνάπτεται; Ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὸ ἀπρόσιτον διέστησι τὰς φύσεις, οὕτως ἐνταῦθα τὸ ὁμότιμον εἰς ταυτὸν ἀλλήλοις συνάγει. Ἐκ μὴ ὄντων δὲ λέγοντες τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ τὰ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ γενόμενα, καὶ κοινοποιοῦντες αὐτῶν κατὰ τοῦτο τὴν φύσιν, οὔ φασιν ὁμοίαν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὰ ἐκ μὴ ὄντων διδόναι τὴν οὐσίαν. Καὶ γὰρ αὖ καὶ τοῦτο, ὡς αὐτὸς Κύριος ὧν, ὅσον βούλεται παρέχειν τῷ Μονογενεῖ τῆς ἀξίας, οὕτω ποιεῖται τοὺς λόγους" Τοσαύτην γὰρ αὐτῷ νέμομεν, φησὶ, τὴν ὑπεροχὴν, ὅσον ὑπερέχειν ἀναγκαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ποιητήν. Οὐχ εἶπε, Κατειλήφαμεν ἣ δοξάζομεν, ὡς ἐπὶ Θεοῦ προσῆκον ἦν" ἀλλὰ, Νέμομεν, ὡς αὐτὸς τοῦ μέτρου τῆς διανομῆς κατάρχων. Πόσην δὲ καὶ δίδωσι τὴν ὑπεροχήν; Ὅσον ὑπερέχειν, φησὶν, ἀναγκαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ποιητήν. Οὔπω τοῦτο τῆς κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν διαφορᾶς τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἔχει. Ἄνθρωποι γὰρ τέχνῃ μὲν ὑπερέχουσι τῶν οἰκείων ἔργων, ὁμοούσιοι δὲ ὅμως αὐτοῖς καθεστῆκασιν" ὡς ὁ κεραμεὺς τῷ πηλῷ, καὶ ὁ ναυπηγὸς τοῖς ξύλοις. Σώματα γὰρ ὁμοίως ἀμφότερα, καὶ αἰσθητὰ ὁμοίως, καὶ γήινα.

᾿All᾽ hoi tēn adikian eis to hypsos lalountes mē onta proseipein ton Huion ouch apōknēsan. Kai Ho men aphrōn en kardią hautou eipen, Ouk esti Theos" hoi de ou dienoēthēsan monon, alla kai elalēsan en ponērią, kai graphę̄ paradounai eis ton epeita chronon ou parētēsanto, mē onta tolmēsantes ton Theon onomasai. Kai epeidē ge horōsin oude tous daimonas autous aparnoumenous to einai Theon, houtoi, eis ton katopin chronon epanelthontes tǭ logǭ, ekei tēn asebē heautōn epithymian apoplērousi, mē einai pote ton Huion blasphēmountes, hōs tę̄ men heautou physei mē onta, chariti de eis to einai hypo tou Theou parachthenta. Eita hēn ho Paulos peri tōn eidōlōn aphēke phōnēn, eipōn; Edouleusate tois physei mē ousi theois" kai ho Hieremias" Kai ōmnysan en tois mē ousi theois " kai hē sophōtatē Esthēr; Mē paradǭs, Kyrie, to skēptron sou tois mē ousi" tautēn houtoi peri tou alēthinou Theou eipontes, pōs an dikaiōs eti tēs Christianōn prosēgorias metapoiointo? Kai gar pou kai heterōthi ho autos houtos Apostolos, ho en Pneumati Theou lalōn, mē onta onomazei ta ethnē dia to tēs gnōseōs tou Theou esterēsthai, eipōn, hoti Ta mē onta exelexato ho Theos. Epei gar ōn kai alētheia kai zōē ho theos, hoi tǭ Theǭ tǭ onti mē hēnōmenoi kata tēn pistin, tę̄ de anyparxią tou pseudous oikeiōthentes dia tēs peri ta eidōla planēs, eikotōs, oimai, dia tēn sterēsin tēs alētheias, kai tēn apo tēs zōēs allotriōsin, mē ontes prosēgoreuthēsan. ᾿Alla kai tois Ephesiois epistellōn hōs gnēsiōs ēnōmenois tǭ onti di᾽ epignōseōs, ontas autous idiazontōs ōnomasen, eipōn" Tois hagiois tois ousi, kai pistois en Christǭ ᾿Iēsou. Houtō gar kai hoi pro hēmōn paradedōkasi, kai hēmeis en tois palaiois tōn antigraphōn heurēkamen. Ho de oude hēs hoi douloi tou Christou prosēgorias metechousin, oude tautēs axiōsai ton Theon hēmōn ēnescheto, alla ton ek tou mē ontos eis to einai paragagonta tēn ktisin, mē onta proseipe. Pleon d᾽ an tis autou tēn kataphronēsin katamathoi, ex ōn prospoieitai dēthen aposemnynein ton Kyrion. EUN. Ou koinopoioumen, phēsi, tou Monogenous tēn ousian pros ta ek mē ontōn genomena, epeiper ouch ousia to mē on" alla tosautēn autǭ nemomen tēn hyperochēn, hosēn echein anankaion tōn idiōn poiēmatōn ton poiētēn. BAS. Dia tōn kataskeuōn eis touto ton logon proagagōn, tǭ rhēmati dēthen philanthrōpeuetai, kai phēsi, mē koinopoiein pros ta ek mē ontōn tēn ousian tou Monogenous. Kaitoi ei ho Theos tōn holōn, dia to agennētos einai, anankaian echei tēn pros ta gennēta parallagēn, ta de gennēta sympanta koinēn echei tēn ek mē ontōn hypostasin, pōs ouchi anankaiōs tauta kata tēn physin synaptetai? Hōs gar ekei to aprositon diestēsi tas physeis, houtōs entautha to homotimon eis tauton allēlois synagei. Ek mē ontōn de legontes ton Huion kai ta hyp᾽ autou genomena, kai koinopoiountes autōn kata touto tēn physin, ou phasin homoian autǭ pros ta ek mē ontōn didonai tēn ousian. Kai gar au kai touto, hōs autos Kyrios hōn, hoson bouletai parechein tǭ Monogenei tēs axias, houtō poieitai tous logous" Tosautēn gar autǭ nemomen, phēsi, tēn hyperochēn, hoson hyperechein anankaion tōn idiōn poiēmatōn ton poiētēn. Ouch eipe, Kateilēphamen hē doxazomen, hōs epi Theou prosēkon ēn" alla, Nemomen, hōs autos tou metrou tēs dianomēs katarchōn. Posēn de kai didōsi tēn hyperochēn? Hoson hyperechein, phēsin, anankaion tōn idiōn poiēmatōn ton poiētēn. Oupō touto tēs kata tēn ousian diaphoras tēn martyrian echei. Anthrōpoi gar technę̄ men hyperechousi tōn oikeiōn ergōn, homoousioi de homōs autois kathestēkasin" hōs ho kerameus tǭ pēlǭ, kai ho naupēgos tois xylois. Sōmata gar homoiōs amphotera, kai aisthēta homoiōs, kai gēina.

[19] But those who speak wickedness against the height did not shrink from calling the Son "not being." "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God"; but these men not only thought it, but spoke in wickedness and did not refuse to hand it down in writing to later times, daring to name God "not being." And since they see that not even the demons deny that God is, they go back in their argument to the time before, and there fulfill their impious desire, blaspheming that the Son once was not, as though by his own nature he were not, but had been brought into being by grace by God. Then the word that Paul uttered about idols, saying, "You served gods that by nature are not," and Jeremiah, "And they swore by those that are not gods," and the most wise Esther, "Do not give over your scepter, Lord, to those who are not": this word these men have spoken of the true God. How could they still rightly lay claim to the name of Christians? For elsewhere too this same Apostle, speaking in the Spirit of God, names the Gentiles "things that are not" because they were deprived of the knowledge of God, saying, "God chose the things that are not." For since God is the One who is, and truth, and life, those who were not united by faith to God who is, but had been made akin to the nonexistence of falsehood through the error of idols, were fittingly, I think, called "not being," because of the privation of truth and estrangement from life. But writing to the Ephesians as to those genuinely united to the One who is through knowledge, he named them in a special way "those who are," saying, "To the saints who are, and faithful in Christ Jesus." For so those before us have handed it down, and we too have found it in the old copies. But he did not bring himself to grant our God even the name that the servants of Christ share, but called "not being" the one who brought creation from not being into being. One may learn his contempt even more from the words by which he pretends to extol the Lord:

EUNOMIUS: "We do not make the essence of the Only-Begotten common," he says, "with the things that came to be from what is not, since what is not is not an essence; but we assign him as much superiority as the maker must have over his own works."

BASIL: Having led his argument to this point by his constructions, he plays the generous man in words, and says that he does not make the essence of the Only-Begotten common with the things from what is not. Yet if the God of the universe, because he is unbegotten, necessarily differs from begotten things, and all begotten things have in common their subsistence from what is not, how are these not necessarily joined in nature? For as there inaccessibility separates the natures, so here equality of honor brings them together into the same. Saying that the Son and the things made by him are from what is not, and making their nature common in this respect, they say that they do not give him an essence like the things from what is not. And again, as though he himself were lord, he frames his words as if granting the Only-Begotten as much dignity as he wishes: "We assign him," he says, "as much superiority as the maker must have over his own works." He did not say, "We have grasped" or "We glorify," as was fitting in speaking of God, but "We assign," as if he himself controlled the measure of the distribution. And how much superiority does he give? "As much," he says, "as the maker must surpass his own works." This does not yet bear witness to a difference in essence. For human beings surpass their own works in art, and yet are of the same essence as them, as the potter with the clay and the shipbuilder with the timbers; for both alike are bodies, alike perceptible, and alike earthy.

Ps 73:8 (72:8 LXX) (echo, medium confidence) · Ps 14:1 (13:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 2:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gal 4:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil denounces calling the Son 'not being,' a phrase Scripture uses of idols, and shows that the 'superiority' Eunomius grants the Son over his works does not imply a difference of essence from creatures.

Chapter 19 of Book 2. Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections. The quotation is Eunomius's Apology.
Ps 73:8; Ps 14:1 (LXX 13:1); Jas 2:19; Gal 4:8; Jer 5:7; 1 Cor 1:28; Eph 1:1 ('to the saints who are': Basil notes the reading of the old copies, which lack 'in Ephesus'). Esther's prayer is in the Greek additions to Esther (Addition C 22).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); word broken at a line end rejoined): προτειπεῖν → προσειπεῖν; ἀπώχνησαν. → ἀπώκνησαν.; Ὃ μὲν ἄφρων → Ὁ μὲν ἄφρων; αὐτδὺς ἀπαρνουμένους → αὐτοὺς ἀπαρνουμένους; Ὁ χατόπιν χρόνον → κατόπιν χρόνον; ἐχεῖ τὴν → ἐκεῖ τὴν; ἀσεδῇ ἑχυτῶν ἐπιθυμίαν → ἀσεβῆ ἑαυτῶν ἐπιθυμίαν; ἀφῆχβ φωνὴν, → ἀφῆκε φωνὴν,; εἰπών: ᾿Εδουκεύσωτε → εἰπών· Ἐδουλεύσατε; ύσει μὴ οὖσι → φύσει μὴ οὖσι; ὥμνγυσαν → ὤμνυσαν; Ἐσθήρ Μὴ → Ἐσθήρ· Μὴ; προσηγορία; → προσηγορίας; "Ἀπόστολος, → Ἀπόστολος,; ἐστερῇσθαι, → ἐστερῆσθαι,; ν Ἐπεὶ γὰρ → Ἐπεὶ γὰρ; ὧν καὶ ἀλήθεια → ὢν καὶ ἀλήθεια; ἡνωμένο: → ἡνωμένοι; χατὰ τὴν πίστιν, → κατὰ τὴν πίστιν,; οἰχειωθέντες → οἰκειωθέντες; εἰδωλα πλάνης, → εἴδωλα πλάνης,; εἰχότως, → εἰκότως,; ὠνόμασὲν, → ὠνόμασεν,; παπὶ ἀῤδίγμογοι ἐπα μα ὁεραπί. [δϑ αν φυὶ ἰερετίι, πιο ΐπηαν πο, νἱἀαγὶ Βαβι αν γθ ΠΟ 8115 ἃι- Ηϊπς σοῖς υἱ δ ρΠ οἶτον ἰμϑογίριλ δἰῖ, τοῖς ἁγίοις «οἷς οὖσι, υἱ οὐ τοῖα δὰ αἰίλ ὑγθθιη., 410 ραδεδώχαδι, → παραδεδώκασι,; ἀντι- Α γράφων → ἀντιγράφων; εὑρήχαμεν. → εὑρήκαμεν.; θεὸν ἡμῶν → Θεὸν ἡμῶν; ἐχ τοῦ μὴ → ἐκ τοῦ μὴ; χτίσιν, μὴ → κτίσιν, μὴ; χαταμάθοι, → καταμάθοι,; ὧν προσποιεῖται → ὢν προσποιεῖται; χοινοποιοῦμεν, → κοινοποιοῦμεν,; ἐχ μὴ ὄντων γενόμενα, → ἐκ μὴ ὄντων γενόμενα,; ἀναγχαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ποιητήν. ΒΑΣ. → ἀναγκαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ποιητήν. ΒΑΣ.; Χιὰ τῶν κατασχευῶν → Διὰ τῶν κατασκευῶν; χοινοποιεῖν → κοινοποιεῖν; ἐχ μὴ ὄντων τὴν → ἐκ μὴ ὄντων τὴν; χοινὴν ἔχει → κοινὴν ἔχει; ἐχ μὴ ὄντων ὑπόστασιν, → ἐκ μὴ ὄντων ὑπόστασιν,; χατὰ τὴν φύσιν → κατὰ τὴν φύσιν; Ὧ; γὰρ ἐχεῖ τὸ ἀπρόσιτον → Ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὸ ἀπρόσιτον; φύσεις,» → φύσεις,; συνἀγει. → συνάγει.; Ἐχ μὴ ὄντων → Ἐκ μὴ ὄντων; χοινοποιοῦντες → κοινοποιοῦντες; φύτιν, οὔ → φύσιν, οὔ; ἐχ μὴ ὄντων διδόναι → ἐκ μὴ ὄντων διδόναι; δυιθῖη οπιηΐα οΟπιπιιηθηι ἢ θο πὶ ΟΣ πἰ ἢ Οχβίβίθηὅσον → ὅσον; ἀναγχαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ( κοιητήν. → ἀναγκαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ποιητήν.; προσῆχον → προσῆκον; αὖ- «ὃς τοῦ μέτρου → αὐτὸς τοῦ μέτρου; χατάρχων. → κατάρχων.; “Ὅσον ὑπερέχειν, → Ὅσον ὑπερέχειν,; ἀναγχαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ποιητήν. Οὔπω → ἀναγκαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ποιητήν. Οὔπω; χατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν → κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν; "Ἄνθρωποι → Ἄνθρωποι; οἱχείων ἔργων, → οἰκείων ἔργων,; χαθεστῆχασιν" → καθεστῆκασιν"; χεραμεὺς → κεραμεὺς.

Extrabiblical texts: Add Esth C 22 (Additions to Esther [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Christology, Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.19 (PG 29:519; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/2-17/#p-2-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Τοσοῦτον δὲ τῷ Υἱῷ πρὸς τὴν κτίσιν τὸ διάφορὸν συγχωρῶν, ἤδη καὶ περὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ἔννοιαν τοῦ … ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ, φησὶ, Μονογενὴς, ἐπειδὴ, μόνος παρὰ μόνου τῇ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου δυνάμει γεννηθεὶς καὶ κτισθεὶς, τελειότατος γέγονεν ὑπουργός. ΒΑΣ. Οὐκ οἶδα πρὸς ὅ τι χρὴ πλέον τῶν εἰρημένων ἀγανακτῆσαι· πότερον διὰ τὴν πανουργίαν, ἣν περὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἐκακούργησε, παρά τε τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων συνήθειαν, καὶ παρὰ τὴν εὐσεβῆ τῶν Γραφῶν παράδοσιν ἐκλαμβάνων αὐτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν (Μονογενὴς γὰρ οὐχ ὁ παρὰ μόνου γενόμενος, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μόνος γεννηθεὶς, ἐν τῇ κοινῇ χρήσει προσαγορεύεται)" ἣ περὶ τῆς τοῦ κτίσματος βλασφημίας, ἣν ἐξεπίτηδες συνῆψε τῷ γεννηθείς " ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι οὐδὲν διαφερόντως παρὰ τὰ κτίσματα τῆς τοῦ γεγεννῆσθαι προσηγορίας μέτεστι τῷ Κυρίῳ" ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ τὸ, Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα, καὶ τὸ, Υἱὸς πρωτότοκός μου Ἰσραήλ· οὕτω καὶ τὸν Κύριον Υἱὸν ὠνομάσθαι, οὐχὶ ἔχοντα τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἴσου τοῖς ἄλλοις τῆς προσηγορίας … …γουσι λέξιν· κἀκεῖθεν, ὥσπερ ἐξ ὁρμητηρίου τινὸς, τῆς πίστεως κατατρέχουσι. Διὰ γὰρ τὸ ἐκ προσώπου τῆς Σοφίας εἰρῆσθαι τὸ, Κύριος ἔκτισέ με, ἐξεῖναι αὐτοῖς κτίσμα λέγειν τὸν Κύριον ὑπειλήφασιν. Ἐγὼ δὲ πολλὰ ἔχων εἰπεῖν περὶ τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης πρῶτον μὲν, ὅτι ἅπαξ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς Γραφαῖς εἴρηται ἔπειθ᾽, ὅτι ἐν βίβλῳ πολὺ τὸ κεκρυμμένον τῆς διανοίας ἐχούσῃ, καὶ διὰ παροιμιῶν τε καὶ παραβολῶν καὶ σκοτεινῶν λόγων καὶ αἰνιγμάτων ὡς τὰ πολλὰ προτγμένῃ, ὥστε μηδὲν ἀναμφισβήτητον μηδὲ τηλαυγὲς ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς εἶναι λαβεῖν " παρίημι λέγειν, ἵνα μὴ μακροτέροις ἐπεισοδίοις τὸν λόγον ἀπομηκύναιμι " ἄλλως τε καὶ ἐν ἰδίῳ τόπῳ τῆς περὶ τῶν κακῶς αὐτοῖς νοηθέντων ἐξετάσεως ἡμῖν ὑπερτεθείσης, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος, Θεοῦ διδόντος, διευθυνθήσεται. Καὶ οἶμαί γε, ὅ τι σὺν Θεῷ δὲ εἰρήσθω, πολλῷ ἀκολουθοτέραν ἔννοιαν τῆς προκειμένης λέξεως, καὶ μηδένα κίνδυνον φέρουσαν ἀναφανήσεσθαι τῇ ἐξετάσει. Τέως γε μὴν μηδὲ ἐκεῖνο ἀπαρασήμαντον χαταλέπωμεν " ὅτι ἄλλοι τῶν ἑρμηνέων, οἱ καιριώτερον τῆς ση… Ἐκτήσατό με ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἔκτισεν, ἐκδεδώκασιν. Ὅπερ μέγιστον αὐτοῖς ἐμπόδιον ἔσται πρὸς τὴν βλασφημίαν τοῦ κτίσματος. Ὁ γὰρ εἰπὼν, ᾿Εκτησάμην ἄνθρωπον διὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐχὶ κτίσας τὸν Κάϊν, ἀλλὰ γεννήσας, ταύτῃ φαίνεται χρησάμενος τῇ φωνῇ. Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπανίωμεν. ΕΥΝ. Διὰ τοῦτο, φησὶ, Μονογενὴς, ἐπειδὴ, παρὰ μόνου γεννηθεὶς καὶ κτισθεὶς, τελειότατος γέγονεν ὑπουργός. ΒΑΣ. Εἰ τοίνυν μὴ παρὰ τὸ μόνος γεγεννῆσθαι, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ παρὰ μόνου Μονογενὴς εἴρηται, ταυτὸν δέ ἐστι κατὰ σὲ τὸ ἐκτίσθαι τῷ γεγεννῆσθαι" τί οὐχὶ καὶ μονόκτιστον αὐτὸν ὀνομάζεις, ᾧ πάντα σὺ ῥᾳδίως καὶ διανοούμενος καὶ ἐκφέρων; Μονογενὴς δὲ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀνθρώπων οὐδεὶς, κατά γε τὸν ἡμέτερον λόγον διὰ τὸ ἐκ συνδυασμοῦ πᾶσιν ὑπάρχειν τὴν γέννησιν. Οὐδὲ ἡ Σάρα μήτηρ μονογενοῦς ἦν παιδὸς, διότι οὐχὶ μόνη αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἐτεκνώσατο. Καὶ ἐάν γε κρατῇ τὰ ὑμέτερα, ἀνάγκη ὅλον τὸν βίον μεταμαθεῖν, μὴ μονώσεως ἀδελφῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐρημίας τῶν συντικτόντων δηλωτικὸν εἶναι τοὔνομα. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἡ κτίσις παρὰ τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον πρὸς τὴν ἀξίαν ἠλάττωται, παρὰ τοσοῦτον τοῦ καὶ αὐτὴ μονογενὴς εἶναι διαμαρτοῦσα, παρ᾽ ὅσον ὁ Υἱὸς τῆς δημιουργίας τῷ Πατρὶ συνεφήψατο " καίτοιγε οὐδὲ τοῦτο παρ᾽ αὐτῶν συγχωρεῖται. Ὑπουργὸν γὰρ τελειότατον αὐτὸν ὀνομάζουσι. Πῶς οὖν οὐχὶ παρὰ μόνου καὶ ἡ κτίσις γέγονε καθ᾽ ὑμᾶς, οἷόν τι ὄργανον ἄψυχον τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον τῷ Πατρὶ προστιθέντας, εἰ μὴ καὶ τὸν ναυπηγὸν ἀφαιρήσεταί τις μόνον πεποιηκέναι τὴν ναῦν, ὅτι δὴ ὀργάνοις πρὸς τὴν κατασκευὴν συνεχρήσατο; Ὥστε μονογενὴς καὶ ἡ κτίσις, καὶ τὰ μέρη ταύτης οὐ μόνον αἱ ἀόρατοι δυνάμεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ αἰσθητὰ σώματα, καὶ τούτων τὰ εὐτελέστατα, σκνῖπες, καὶ ἀκρίδες, καὶ βάτραχοι. Αὐτὸς γὰρ εἶπε, καὶ ἐγενήθησαν. Τίνος γὰρ ἂν καὶ ὑπουργίας δέοιτο ὁ θελήματι μόνῳ δημιουργῶν, ὁμοῦ τῇ βουλήσει συνυφισταμένης τῆς κτίσεως; ᾿Αλλὰ τί; πῶς καὶ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὰ πάντα; Ὅτι τὸ θεῖον βούλημα, οἷον πηγῆς τινος τῆς πρώτης αἰτίας ἀφορμηθέν, διὰ τῆς … Ὁ δὲ τὸν μονογενῆ Υἱὸν ὑπουργὸν …σε, τοῦτο αὐτῷ προστιθεὶς μέγα, ὅτι εὔθετος πρὸς τὴν διακονίαν τῶν ἐπιτασσομένων ἐστίν. Εἰ γὰρ οὐχ ἐν τῷ Θεὸς εἶναι τέλειος τὴν δόξαν κέκτηται, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ ὑπουργὸς ἀκριβὴς, τί διοίσει τῶν λειτουργικῶν πνευμάτων, ἀμέμπτως τὸ ἔργον τῆς διακονίας ἐπιτελούντων; Διὰ ταῦτα τῷ γεννηθεὶς τὸ κτισθεὶς συνῆψεν, ἵνα κἀντεῦθεν μηδεμίαν οὖσαν Υἱοῦ καὶ κτίσματος διαφορὰν ἐπιδείξῃ.

Tosouton de tǭ Huiǭ pros tēn ktisin to diaphoron synchōrōn, ēdē kai peri autēn tēn ennoian tou … EUN. Dia touto gar, phēsi, Monogenēs, epeidē, monos para monou tę̄ tou agennētou dynamei gennētheis kai ktistheis, teleiotatos gegonen hypourgos. BAS. Ouk oida pros ho ti chrē pleon tōn eirēmenōn aganaktēsai; poteron dia tēn panourgian, hēn peri to onoma tou Monogenous ekakourgēse, para te tēn tōn anthrōpōn synētheian, kai para tēn eusebē tōn Graphōn paradosin eklambanōn autou tēn dianoian (Monogenēs gar ouch ho para monou genomenos, all᾽ ho monos gennētheis, en tę̄ koinę̄ chrēsei prosagoreuetai)" hē peri tēs tou ktismatos blasphēmias, hēn exepitēdes synēpse tǭ gennētheis " hina deixę̄, hoti ouden diapherontōs para ta ktismata tēs tou gegennēsthai prosēgorias metesti tǭ Kyriǭ" all᾽ hōsper to, Huious egennēsa kai hypsōsa, kai to, Huios prōtotokos mou Israēl; houtō kai ton Kyrion Huion ōnomasthai, ouchi echonta to onoma to hyper pan onoma, all᾽ ex isou tois allois tēs prosēgorias … …gousi lexin; kakeithen, hōsper ex hormētēriou tinos, tēs pisteōs katatrechousi. Dia gar to ek prosōpou tēs Sophias eirēsthai to, Kyrios ektise me, exeinai autois ktisma legein ton Kyrion hypeilēphasin. Egō de polla echōn eipein peri tēs phōnēs tautēs prōton men, hoti hapax en pasais tais Graphais eirētai epeith᾽, hoti en biblǭ poly to kekrymmenon tēs dianoias echousę̄, kai dia paroimiōn te kai parabolōn kai skoteinōn logōn kai ainigmatōn hōs ta polla protgmenę̄, hōste mēden anamphisbētēton mēde tēlauges ap᾽ autēs einai labein " pariēmi legein, hina mē makroterois epeisodiois ton logon apomēkynaimi " allōs te kai en idiǭ topǭ tēs peri tōn kakōs autois noēthentōn exetaseōs hēmin hypertetheisēs, en hǭ kai touto to meros, Theou didontos, dieuthynthēsetai. Kai oimai ge, ho ti syn Theǭ de eirēsthō, pollǭ akolouthoteran ennoian tēs prokeimenēs lexeōs, kai mēdena kindynon pherousan anaphanēsesthai tę̄ exetasei. Teōs ge mēn mēde ekeino aparasēmanton chatalepōmen " hoti alloi tōn hermēneōn, hoi kairiōteron tēs sē… Ektēsato me anti tou, Ektisen, ekdedōkasin. Hoper megiston autois empodion estai pros tēn blasphēmian tou ktismatos. Ho gar eipōn, ᾿Ektēsamēn anthrōpon dia tou Theou, ouchi ktisas ton Kaïn, alla gennēsas, tautę̄ phainetai chrēsamenos tę̄ phōnę̄. All᾽ epi to ex archēs epaniōmen. EUN. Dia touto, phēsi, Monogenēs, epeidē, para monou gennētheis kai ktistheis, teleiotatos gegonen hypourgos. BAS. Ei toinyn mē para to monos gegennēsthai, alla dia to para monou Monogenēs eirētai, tauton de esti kata se to ektisthai tǭ gegennēsthai" ti ouchi kai monoktiston auton onomazeis, hǭ panta sy rhądiōs kai dianooumenos kai ekpherōn? Monogenēs de, hōs eoiken, anthrōpōn oudeis, kata ge ton hēmeteron logon dia to ek syndyasmou pasin hyparchein tēn gennēsin. Oude hē Sara mētēr monogenous ēn paidos, dioti ouchi monē auton, alla meta tou Abraam eteknōsato. Kai ean ge kratę̄ ta hymetera, anankē holon ton bion metamathein, mē monōseōs adelphōn, all᾽ erēmias tōn syntiktontōn dēlōtikon einai tounoma. Ēdē de kai hē ktisis para tēn aitian tou Theou Logon pros tēn axian ēlattōtai, para tosouton tou kai autē monogenēs einai diamartousa, par᾽ hoson ho Huios tēs dēmiourgias tǭ Patri synephēpsato " kaitoige oude touto par᾽ autōn synchōreitai. Hypourgon gar teleiotaton auton onomazousi. Pōs oun ouchi para monou kai hē ktisis gegone kath᾽ hymas, hoion ti organon apsychon ton Theon Logon tǭ Patri prostithentas, ei mē kai ton naupēgon aphairēsetai tis monon pepoiēkenai tēn naun, hoti dē organois pros tēn kataskeuēn synechrēsato? Hōste monogenēs kai hē ktisis, kai ta merē tautēs ou monon hai aoratoi dynameis, alla kai ta aisthēta sōmata, kai toutōn ta eutelestata, sknipes, kai akrides, kai batrachoi. Autos gar eipe, kai egenēthēsan. Tinos gar an kai hypourgias deoito ho thelēmati monǭ dēmiourgōn, homou tę̄ boulēsei synyphistamenēs tēs ktiseōs? ᾿Alla ti? pōs kai kath᾽ hēmas dia tou Huiou ta panta? Hoti to theion boulēma, hoion pēgēs tinos tēs prōtēs aitias aphormēthen, dia tēs … Ho de ton monogenē Huion hypourgon …se, touto autǭ prostitheis mega, hoti euthetos pros tēn diakonian tōn epitassomenōn estin. Ei gar ouch en tǭ Theos einai teleios tēn doxan kektētai, all᾽ en tǭ hypourgos akribēs, ti dioisei tōn leitourgikōn pneumatōn, amemptōs to ergon tēs diakonias epitelountōn? Dia tauta tǭ gennētheis to ktistheis synēpsen, hina kanteuthen mēdemian ousan Huiou kai ktismatos diaphoran epideixę̄.

[20] Having granted the Son only so much difference from creation, he now does mischief also with the very notion of the …:

EUNOMIUS: "For this reason he is Only-Begotten: because, begotten and created alone by the only one through the power of the unbegotten, he became the most perfect minister."

BASIL: I do not know at which of the things he has said I should be more indignant. Is it at the knavery he has worked on the name "Only-Begotten," taking its sense against both the usage of human beings and the pious tradition of the Scriptures (for in common usage "only-begotten" is said not of one who came to be from only one, but of one who alone was begotten)? Or at the blasphemy of "creature," which he deliberately joined to "begotten," to show that the Lord shares the name "having been begotten" no differently from creatures, but that, as in "I have begotten sons and raised them up" and "Israel is my firstborn son," so the Lord too has been named Son, not having the name that is above every name, but [counted worthy] of the designation equally with the others … the text, and from there, as from a base of operations, they overrun the faith. For because "The Lord created me" was said in the person of Wisdom, they have supposed they may call the Lord a creature. For my part, though I have much to say about this word (first, that it is said only once in all the Scriptures; then, that it is in a book that has much of its sense hidden and proceeds for the most part by proverbs, parables, dark sayings, and riddles, so that nothing undisputed or clear can be taken from it), I pass over saying it, so as not to lengthen the discourse with longer digressions, especially since the examination of what they have understood badly has been deferred by us to its own place, in which this part too, God granting, will be set right. And I think, if this may be said with God's help, that a much more consistent sense of the text before us, and one that brings no danger, will appear in the examination. Meanwhile let us not leave this unremarked: that other translators, who have hit upon the meaning … more aptly, have rendered "acquired me" instead of "created." This will be the greatest obstacle for them to the blasphemy of "creature." For the one who said, "I have acquired a man through God," plainly used this word not of creating Cain but of begetting him.

[21] But let us return to the beginning.

EUNOMIUS: "For this reason," he says, "he is Only-Begotten: because, begotten and created from the only one, he became the most perfect minister."

BASIL: If, then, he is called Only-Begotten not because he alone was begotten but because he is from the only one, and in your view being created is the same as being begotten, why do you not also call him "only-created," you who think and say everything so easily? By our reckoning, then, it seems, no human being is only-begotten, since everyone is born of a pair. Nor was Sarah the mother of an only-begotten child, since she bore him not alone but with Abraham. And if your views prevail, we must relearn the whole of life: the name will indicate not the absence of brothers but the lack of co-parents. And now creation too falls short in dignity of the cause, God the Word, only so far as it misses being itself only-begotten, in so far as the Son had a hand with the Father in the work of creation; and yet not even this is granted by them, for they name him the most perfect minister. How then, on your view, has creation not come to be from the only one, when you add God the Word to the Father as a kind of lifeless instrument? Unless one will deny that the shipbuilder alone made the ship because he used tools to build it. So creation too is only-begotten, and its parts: not only the invisible powers but also perceptible bodies, and the cheapest of them, gnats and locusts and frogs. "For he spoke, and they came to be." What ministry would he need who creates by will alone, creation coming to subsist together with his willing? What then? How, on our view, are all things through the Son? Because the divine will, issuing as from a spring of the first cause, through … But he has [named] the only-begotten Son a minister, adding to him this great thing: that he is well suited to the service of what is commanded. For if he has his glory not in being perfect God but in being an exact minister, how will he differ from the ministering spirits, who accomplish the work of their service blamelessly? That is why he joined "created" to "begotten," so that from this too he might show that there is no difference between the Son and a creature.

Isa 1:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 4:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 8:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 4:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 148:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 1:14 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil rejects Eunomius's redefinition of 'Only-Begotten' as 'begotten and created by the only one,' briefly treats Prov 8:22 ('The Lord created me,' rendered by other translators 'acquired me'), and shows the absurd consequences of calling the Son a mere minister.

Chapters 20 and 21 of Book 2 (marked [20], [21]). Lost lines are marked …; Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections. The quotations are from Eunomius's Apology.
Isa 1:2; Exod 4:22; Phil 2:9; Prov 8:22 (Septuagint ἔκτισε; 'other translators', i.e. the later Greek versions, ἐκτήσατο); Gen 4:1; Ps 148:5 (also Ps 33:9); Heb 1:14; gnats, frogs, locusts: Exod 8-10.

Notes on the original text

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Topics: Christology, Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.20 (PG 29:519; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/2-17/#p-2-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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2.22PG 29:519

Ἄξιον δὲ ἀκοῦσαι καὶ τῆς παραινέσεως. ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Οὐ χρὴ, φησὶ, τῇ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ προσέχοντας προσηγορίᾳ ἀνθρωπικὴν αὐτοῦ τὴν γέννησιν ἐννοεῖν, κἀκ τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις γενέσεων ἀναγομένους, τοῖς τῆς μετουσίας ὀνόμασι καὶ πάθεσιν ὑπάγειν τὸν Θεόν. ΒΑΣ. Ἡ μὲν παραίνεσις, μὴ δεῖν τὴν κατ᾽ οὐσίαν Υἱοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ὁμοιότητα ἐννοεῖν. Τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτῷ βούλεται ἡ τῆς μετουσίας ἀπαγόρευσις, ὡς ἀκοινωνήτου τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ὑπαρχούσης. Διὰ ταῦτα αἱ σεμναὶ ἐκεῖναι τῶν ὀνομάτων διαστολαὶ, ὧν τὸν ὄχλον ἡμεῖς ὑπερέθεμεν· ὡς οὐχὶ ὅσων αἱ ἐκφωνήσεις αἱ αὐταὶ, ταῦτα καὶ τῷ σημαινομένῳ ἤδη ταυτὰ, ἵνα τὸ Πατέρα εἶναι τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸν Θεὸν διὰ τοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς πατέρας ὀνομαζομένους ἀφέληται. Ἐγὼ δὲ, πολλῶν ὄντων, ἃ τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς … …δὲν ἡγοῦμαι κυριώτερον δόγμα τῆς εἰς Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν πίστεως τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν ἐνυπάρχειν. Ἐπεὶ τό γε κτίστην εἶναι καὶ δημιουργὸν τὸν Θεὸν καὶ οἱ καθ᾽ ὁποιανδήποτε ἀπεσχισμένοι συντίθενται. Ὁ δὲ Πατέρα ψευδώνυμον, καὶ Υἱὸν μέχρι προσηγορίας ψιλῆς καταγγέλλων, καὶ οὐδὲν ἡγούμενος διαφέρειν, ἢ Πατέρα ὁμολογεῖν ἣ κτίστην, καὶ ἤτοι Υἱὸν λέγειν ἣ ποίημα, ποῦ τετάξεται παρ᾽ ἡμῶν; ἣ τῆς ποίας εἶναι μερίδος ἀριθμηθήσεται τῆς Ἰουδαίων, ἣ τῆς Ἑλλήνων; Οὐ γὰρ δὴ Χριστιανοῖς ἑαυτὸν εἰσποιήσει, ὁ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς εὐσεβείας, καὶ τὸν οἱονεὶ χαρακτῆρα τῆς λατρείας ἡμῶν ἀρνούμενος. Οὐ γὰρ εἰς δημιουργὸν καὶ ποίημα … …σαμεν· ἀλλ᾽ εἰς Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν διὰ τῆς ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι χάριτος ἐσφραγίσθημεν. Ὥστε ὁ ταύτας τολμῶν ἀθετεῖν τὰς φωνὰς πᾶσαν ὁμοῦ παραγράφει τῶν Εὐαγγελίων τὴν δύναμιν, Πατέρα μὴ γεννήσαντα, καὶ Υἱὸν μὴ γεννηθέντα κηρύσσων. ᾿Αλλὰ ταῦτα λέγω, φησὶ, τὴν τοῦ πάθους ἔννοιαν τὴν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς φωνῆς ἐγγινομένην ἐκκλίνων. Ἐχρῆν δὲ δήπου τόν γε εὐσεβεῖν ἐγνωκότα, τὸ ἀπεμφαῖνον τῆς ἐν τοῖς ῥήμασι τούτοις διανοίας, εἴ τι ἄρα καὶ ἐνυπῆρχε, μὴ πᾶσαν ἀθρόως τὴν φωνὴν ἀθετεῖν, μηδὲ τῇ προφάσει τοῦ ἀπρεποῦς καὶ τὸ ὅσον ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς χρήσιμὸν συνεκβάλλειν· ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν ταπεινῶν καὶ σαρκικῶν νοημάτων ἐν τοῖς περὶ Θεοῦ δόγμασι καθαρεύειν, γέννησιν δὲ τῇ ἁγιωσύνῃ καὶ τῇ ἀπαθείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρέπουσαν ἐννοεῖν" τὸν μὲν τρόπον, καθ᾽ ὃν ἐγέννησεν ὁ Θεὸς, ὡς ἄῤῥητον καὶ ἀπερινόητον ἀφιέντα, πρὸς δὲ τὴν κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ὁμοιότητα ἐκ τῆς τοῦ γεννᾷν προσηγορίας ὁδηγούμενον. Καίτοιγε …ρὸν σκοπουμένῳ, ὅτι οὐ σωματικῶν παθῶν κυρίως καὶ πρώτως ἔννοιαν ἐμποιεῖν ταυτὶ πέφυκε τὰ ὀνόματα, ὁ πατὴρ, λέγω, καὶ ὁ υἱός " ἀλλὰ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὰ μὲν λεγόμενα, τὴν πρὸς ἄλληλα σχέσιν ἐνδείκνυται μόνην. Πατὴρ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἑτέρῳ τοῦ εἶναι κατὰ τὴν ὁμοίαν ἑαυτῷ φύσιν τὴν ἀρχὴν παρασχών" υἱὸς δὲ ὁ ἐξ ἑτέρου γεννητῶς τοῦ εἶναι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐσχηκώς.

Axion de akousai kai tēs paraineseōs. EUN. Ou chrē, phēsi, tę̄ tou Patros kai tou Huiou prosechontas prosēgorią anthrōpikēn autou tēn gennēsin ennoein, kak tōn en anthrōpois geneseōn anagomenous, tois tēs metousias onomasi kai pathesin hypagein ton Theon. BAS. Hē men parainesis, mē dein tēn kat᾽ ousian Huiou kai Patros homoiotēta ennoein. Touto gar autǭ bouletai hē tēs metousias apagoreusis, hōs akoinōnētou tēs tou Patros ousias pros tēn tou Monogenous hyparchousēs. Dia tauta hai semnai ekeinai tōn onomatōn diastolai, hōn ton ochlon hēmeis hyperethemen; hōs ouchi hosōn hai ekphōnēseis hai autai, tauta kai tǭ sēmainomenǭ ēdē tauta, hina to Patera einai tou Huiou ton Theon dia tous epi gēs pateras onomazomenous aphelētai. Egō de, pollōn ontōn, ha ton Christianismon apo tēs Hellēnikēs … …den hēgoumai kyriōteron dogma tēs eis Patera kai Huion pisteōs tǭ Euangeliǭ tēs sōtērias hēmōn enyparchein. Epei to ge ktistēn einai kai dēmiourgon ton Theon kai hoi kath᾽ hopoiandēpote apeschismenoi syntithentai. Ho de Patera pseudōnymon, kai Huion mechri prosēgorias psilēs katangellōn, kai ouden hēgoumenos diapherein, ē Patera homologein hē ktistēn, kai ētoi Huion legein hē poiēma, pou tetaxetai par᾽ hēmōn? hē tēs poias einai meridos arithmēthēsetai tēs Ioudaiōn, hē tēs Hellēnōn? Ou gar dē Christianois heauton eispoiēsei, ho tēn dynamin tēs eusebeias, kai ton hoionei charaktēra tēs latreias hēmōn arnoumenos. Ou gar eis dēmiourgon kai poiēma … …samen; all᾽ eis Patera kai Huion dia tēs en tǭ baptismati charitos esphragisthēmen. Hōste ho tautas tolmōn athetein tas phōnas pasan homou paragraphei tōn Euangeliōn tēn dynamin, Patera mē gennēsanta, kai Huion mē gennēthenta kēryssōn. ᾿Alla tauta legō, phēsi, tēn tou pathous ennoian tēn ek tēs tou Patros phōnēs enginomenēn ekklinōn. Echrēn de dēpou ton ge eusebein egnōkota, to apemphainon tēs en tois rhēmasi toutois dianoias, ei ti ara kai enypērche, mē pasan athroōs tēn phōnēn athetein, mēde tę̄ prophasei tou aprepous kai to hoson ap᾽ autēs chrēsimon synekballein; all᾽ apo men tōn tapeinōn kai sarkikōn noēmatōn en tois peri Theou dogmasi kathareuein, gennēsin de tę̄ hagiōsynę̄ kai tę̄ apatheią tou Theou prepousan ennoein" ton men tropon, kath᾽ hon egennēsen ho Theos, hōs arrhēton kai aperinoēton aphienta, pros de tēn kat᾽ ousian homoiotēta ek tēs tou gennąn prosēgorias hodēgoumenon. Kaitoige …ron skopoumenǭ, hoti ou sōmatikōn pathōn kyriōs kai prōtōs ennoian empoiein tauti pephyke ta onomata, ho patēr, legō, kai ho huios " alla kath᾽ heauta men legomena, tēn pros allēla schesin endeiknytai monēn. Patēr men gar estin ho heterǭ tou einai kata tēn homoian heautǭ physin tēn archēn paraschōn" huios de ho ex heterou gennētōs tou einai tēn archēn eschēkōs.

[22] The exhortation also deserves a hearing:

EUNOMIUS: "One must not," he says, "attending to the designation of Father and Son, conceive his begetting in a human way, and, being led up from generations among human beings, subject God to the names and passions of participation."

BASIL: The exhortation is that one must not conceive a likeness in essence between Son and Father. For this is what his prohibition of participation means: as if the Father's essence had no communion with that of the Only-Begotten. That is the purpose of those solemn distinctions of names, whose crowd we have passed over: that things whose utterances are the same are not therefore the same in meaning, so that he might take away God's being Father of the Son because of those on earth who are called fathers. For my part, among the many things that set Christianity apart from Greek … , I think no doctrine in the Gospel of our salvation is more decisive than faith in Father and Son. For that God is creator and maker even those who have broken away in any way at all agree. But the one who proclaims a falsely named Father, and a Son only in bare name, and thinks it makes no difference whether one confesses Father or creator, or says Son or thing made: where will he be ranked by us? To which party will he be counted, that of the Jews or that of the Greeks? For he will surely not enroll himself among the Christians, he who denies the power of piety and, as it were, the stamp of our worship. For we did not … believe in a maker and a thing made, but were sealed by the grace of baptism into Father and Son. So the one who dares to set aside these words strikes out at once the whole power of the Gospels, proclaiming a Father who did not beget and a Son who was not begotten. "But I say this," he says, "to avoid the notion of passion that arises from the word Father." Yet one who knows how to be pious ought surely, if anything incongruous is present in the sense of these words, not to set aside the word wholesale, nor on the pretext of what is unfitting to throw out with it whatever is useful in it, but in doctrines about God to keep himself clean of lowly and fleshly notions and to conceive a begetting befitting the holiness and impassibility of God: leaving the manner in which God begot as ineffable and incomprehensible, but being guided by the name "begetting" to likeness in essence. And yet it is plain to anyone who examines it that these names, I mean "father" and "son," do not in their proper and primary sense naturally produce a notion of bodily passions; said by themselves, they indicate only their relation to each other. For a father is one who has provided another with the beginning of being in a nature like his own; a son is one who has had the beginning of his being from another by way of begetting.

Eph 3:15 (echo, medium confidence) · 2 Tim 3:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 28:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 1:13 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil answers Eunomius's warning against a 'human' begetting: faith in Father and Son, into whom Christians are baptized, is the heart of the Gospel, and the names indicate a relation, not bodily passion.

Chapter 22 of Book 2. Lost lines are marked …; Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections. The quotation is Eunomius's Apology.
'Fathers on earth' recalls Eph 3:15; 'the power of piety', 2 Tim 3:5; baptism into Father and Son, Matt 28:19; 'sealed', Eph 1:13. The remark on Jews and Greeks is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): !“Αξιον δὲ → Ἄξιον δὲ; ἀχοῦσαι καὶ → ἀκοῦσαι καὶ; ἀνθρωπιχὴν → ἀνθρωπικὴν; αὑτοῦ τὴν → αὐτοῦ τὴν; χἀχ τῶν ἐν → κἀκ τῶν ἐν; γενέ σέων ἀναγομένους, → γενέσεων ἀναγομένους,; χατ᾽ οὐσίαν Υἱοῦ → κατ᾽ οὐσίαν Υἱοῦ; αὑτῷ βούλεται → αὐτῷ βούλεται; ἀχοινωνήτου → ἀκοινωνήτου; ἐχεῖναι τῶν → ἐκεῖναι τῶν; ὑπερέθημεν᾽ → ὑπερέθεμεν·; ἐχφωνήσεις → ἐκφωνήσεις; παπέρας ὀνομαζομένους → πατέρας ὀνομαζομένους; Ἑλληνιχτς → Ἑλληνικῆς …; τηϑι, Βυ} πὶ τυ ΐιγοῦ ἰῃ ποβίγω δαϊυ 5 ΕἸΐυσν πὰ ἀδ ἀρρο !ἴοπ6 με ϊοαϊ, εἰν] αυθ ἀϊκοτὶ, δὲ δυί ΕἸ πὶ δυὶ [Δοιυγϑηὶ ἀΐσαγα, Οὐ ἃ που δ «ΟΠ! οοα ιν ἢ 401 408 ἴῃ 5608 πιπῃθγαυ αν 3 λ- [μἱυνὶ νειεγεδβ, καὶ Υἱοῦ. Εἰ], καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ. οάοχ υὑπυ8 οὐ δά 8 διὰ τοῦτο. ΒΕ] αυΐ δὲν ἡγοῦμαι → …δὲν ἡγοῦμαι; χυριώτερον → κυριώτερον; σιυτηρίας → σωτηρίας; χτίστην εἶναι → κτίστην εἶναι; δγμιουργὸν → δημιουργὸν; χαθ᾽ ὁποιανδήποτε → καθ᾽ ὁποιανδήποτε; χτίστην, → κτίστην,; λέγεῖν ἣ → λέγειν ἣ; ἀριθμηθήτεται → ἀριθμηθήσεται; (θ4); τῆς → τῆς; ἴουδαίων, → Ἰουδαίων,; εἱσποιῆσε:, → εἰσποιήσει,; εὐσεθείας, → εὐσεβείας,; χαραχτῆρα → χαρακτῆρα; ποέημα σαμεν" ἀλλ᾽ → ποίημα … …σαμεν· ἀλλ᾽; 8:}} 1185. ὑπάρχειν. ἰμ ογὰ ᾿ἶδγὶ, προσηγορίας ψιλῆς. ᾿ ΒΩΣ 1155. ἀριθμηθήσεται, οι εἶναι ἀδεϑὶ ἴῃ ᾳυᾶ- Απεψυΐ δεχ Ἰυγὶ οαπὶ δ οπο θη. ἡμῶν γεννήσαντα, → γεννήσαντα,; χηρύσσων. → κηρύσσων.; Α Ραιγίδ νος ᾿Αλλὰ → ᾿Αλλὰ; ἐχ' τῆς τοῦ → ἐκ τῆς τοῦ; ἐχχλίνων. → ἐκκλίνων.; εὐσεδεῖν → εὐσεβεῖν; ἐγνωχότα, → ἐγνωκότα,; πᾶσαν» ἁϑρόως τὴν → πᾶσαν ἀθρόως τὴν; συνεχθάλλειν" → συνεκβάλλειν·; σαρχιχῶν → σαρκικῶν; τοῦ; περὶ → τοῖς περὶ; καα θαρεύειν, γέννησιν → καθαρεύειν, γέννησιν; ἀἁγιωσύνῃ → ἁγιωσύνῃ; ἀποθείᾳ τοῦ → ἀπαθείᾳ τοῦ; πρέπουταν → πρέπουσαν; χατ᾽ οὐσίαν ὁμοιότητα → κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ὁμοιότητα; φαηἰεπίδι) μι 6 Πρό γ : 60 εἰ τοι αυϊάθην 4 γερὸν τχοπουμένῳ, → …ρὸν σκοπουμένῳ,; σωματιχῶν → σωματικῶν; χυρίως Β Ἰετα : θὲ οὔδι ρῈΓ 86 50|8 ἀϊουπιυτ, βου αν Βαυκαὶ πρώτως → κυρίως καὶ πρώτως; πέφυχε τὰ → πέφυκε τὰ; ὀνόμᾶτα, → ὀνόματα,; χαθ᾽ ἑαυτὰ → καθ᾽ ἑαυτὰ; ἐνδείχνυται → ἐνδείκνυται; νἱὸς δὲ ὁ → υἱὸς δὲ ὁ; ἐσχηχώς. → ἐσχηκώς..

Topics: Trinity, Baptism, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.22 (PG 29:519; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/2-17/#p-2-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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2.23PG 29:519

Ὅταν μὲν οὖν ἀκούσωμεν, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος πατὴρ, τότε καὶ τὴν τοῦ πάθους ἔννοιαν προσλαμβάνομεν· ὅταν δὲ, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς Πατὴρ, ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπαθῆ αἰτίαν τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἀνατρέχομεν. Ὁ δὲ, ἐπὶ τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς φύσεως τῇ προσηγορίᾳ ταύτῃ συνεθισθεὶς, τὸ ὑπὲρ τὴν κατάληψιν τῶν ἑαυτοῦ λογισμῶν ὡς ἀδύνατον ἀπαρνεῖται. Οὐ γὰρ, τῷ πάθει τῶν φθαρτῶν προσέχοντα, τῇ ἀπαθείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπιστεῖν προσῆκεν, οὐδὲ, τῇ ῥευστῇ φύσει καὶ μυρίαις ὑποκειμένῃ μεταβολαῖς, τὴν ἄτρεπτον καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον οὐσίαν παρατιθέντα. Μηδ᾽ ὅτι τὰ θνητὰ ζῶα διὰ πάθους γεννᾷ, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἐχρῆν οὕτως οἴεσθαι" ἀλλ᾽ ἐντεῦθεν μᾶλλον ὁδηγεῖσθαι πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν" ὅτι, ἐπειδὴ τὰ φθαρτὰ οὕτως, ὁ ἄφθαρτος ἐναντίως. Καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνό γε ἄν εἴποι, ὡς κυρίως καὶ πρώτως ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τεταγμένων τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτων, καταχρηστικῶς ἡμεῖς ἐπιλέγομεν τῷ Θεῷ. Ὁ γάρ τοι Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, πρὸς τὴν πάντων ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν ἀληθῆ τῶν ὄντων αἰτίαν ἐπανάγων ἡμᾶς, Ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ καλέσητε, φησὶ, πατέρα ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς" εἷς γάρ ἐστι Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος. Πῶς οὖν ὡς σαρκικῶν παθῶν προηγουμένως ἐνδεικτικὰς ταύτας ἡμᾶς ἀξιοῖ τὰς φωνὰς ἀποπέμπεσθαι, ἃς ὁ Κύριος, ὡς τῇ ἀπαθείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρεπούσας, ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς αὐτὸν μετατίθησιν; Εἰ δὲ καὶ … … τῷ ἡμετέρῳ μάχεται. Ὁ γὰρ τετοκὼς βώλους δρόσου, κατὰ τὸν τοῦ Ἰὼβ λόγον, οὐχ ὁμοίως τάς τε βώλους καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἐτεκνώσατο. Ἢ εἰ τοῦτο λέγειν τολμήσουσιν, ὥστε ἐν ἴσῃ τάξει καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν τῆς δρόσου υἱὸν ὀνομάζειν, παντὸς ἡμᾶς τοῦ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀπαλλάξουσι λόγου, εἰς περιφανεστάτην ἀναισχυντίαν τὴν βλασφημίαν προαγαγόντες. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅταν Πατὴρ πάντων ἡμῶν λέγηται ὁ Θεός, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἡμῶν τε καὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἔστι Πατήρ. Εἰ δὲ ὅτι πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, καὶ πρωτότοκος ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, ὁ Κύριος προσηγόρευται, τοῦτο αὐτοὺς παιδοτριβεῖ πρὸς ἀσέβειαν" διδασκέσθωσαν ἐκ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ὅτι καὶ μητέρα ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἀδελφοὺς ὁ Κύριος τοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τῆς ἀρετῆς οἰκειωθέντας προσαγορεύει. Τίς γάρ ἐστι, φησὶ, ἡ μήτηρ μου, καὶ τίνες οἱ ἀδελφοί μου, ἣ οἱ ποιοῦντες τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς; Ὥστε Πατὴρ ἡμῶν ὁ Θεὸς οὐ καταχρηστικῶς οὐδ᾽ ἐκ μεταφορᾶς, ἀλλὰ κυρίως, καὶ πρώτως, καὶ ἀληθινῶς ὀνομάζεται " διὰ τῶν σωματικῶν γονέων εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος παραγαγὼν, καὶ ταῖς κηδεμονίαις … …μένους. Εἰ δὲ ἡμῶν τῶν χάριτι τῆς υἱοθεσίας ἀξιουμένων ἀληθῶς κεκλῆσθαι Πατέρα τὸν Θεὸν λέγομεν, τίς ἀφαιρήσεται λόγος τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν Υἱοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ προελθόντος, μὴ οὐχὶ πρεπόντως αὐτὸν Πατέρα προσαγορεύεσθαι; ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Οὐ χρὴ, φησὶ, διὰ τὴν Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ προσηγορίαν ἀνθρωπικὴν τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου γέννησιν ἐννοεῖν. ΒΑΣ. Φημὶ κἀγώ. Θείαν μέντοι καὶ ἀπαθῆ τί κωλύει πιστεύειν τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς; ᾿Αλλ᾽, οἶμαι, οὐχ ἵνα ἀπαθῶς γεγεννηκότα τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιδείξῃ, χρῆται τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μηδὲ γεννήσαντα ὅλως. Πῶς οὖν ἐν τοῖς ἄνω λόγοις, ὦ βέλτιστε, γέννημα εἶναι τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἀπεφαίνου; Εἰ γὰρ μὴ γεγέννηται, πόθεν αὐτῷ τὸ γέννημα εἶναι κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον προσῆν; ᾿Αλλὰ διὰ μὲν τὴν τοῦ γεννητοῦ πρὸς τὸ ἀγέννητον ἐναντίωσιν γέννημα οὖσαν δεικνύναι τὴν οὐσίαν ἐφιλονείκει " νυνὶ δὲ, πάλιν τὴν τῆς οὐσίας οἰκείωσιν διὰ τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης … ὁρῶν, τὸ γεγεννῆσθαι τοῦ γεννήματος ἀφαιρεῖται Καὶ μὴν εἰ τοῦτο ὡς πάθους δηλωτικὸν παραιτεῖται, τί κωλύει καὶ τὸ δημιουργὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι διὰ τὰς αὐτὰς αἰτίας μὴ παραδέχεσθαι; Διότι πάσαις ταῖς σωματικαῖς ἐνεργείαις ἣ πλείων τις πάντως ἣ ἐλάττων κόπος συνέζευκται, κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς τοῦ ποιοῦντος δυνάμεως καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὰ μεγέθη τῶν ἐνεργουμένων διαφορᾶς. Τήν γε μὴν θείαν καὶ μακαρίαν φύσιν καμάτῳ λέγειν συνέχεσθαι οὐχ ἧττον ἀσεβὲς, ἣ τοῖς αἰσχίστοις αὐτὴν πάθεσιν ὑποβάλλειν. Εἰ δὲ ἀπαθῶς κτίζει, ἀπαθῆ εἶναι δέξασθε καὶ τὴν γέννησιν.

Hotan men oun akousōmen, hoti anthrōpos patēr, tote kai tēn tou pathous ennoian proslambanomen; hotan de, hoti ho Theos Patēr, epi tēn apathē aitian tois logismois anatrechomen. Ho de, epi tēs empathous physeōs tę̄ prosēgorią tautę̄ synethistheis, to hyper tēn katalēpsin tōn heautou logismōn hōs adynaton aparneitai. Ou gar, tǭ pathei tōn phthartōn prosechonta, tę̄ apatheią tou Theou apistein prosēken, oude, tę̄ rheustę̄ physei kai myriais hypokeimenę̄ metabolais, tēn atrepton kai analloiōton ousian paratithenta. Mēd᾽ hoti ta thnēta zōa dia pathous genną, kai ton Theon echrēn houtōs oiesthai" all᾽ enteuthen mallon hodēgeisthai pros tēn alētheian" hoti, epeidē ta phtharta houtōs, ho aphthartos enantiōs. Kai mēn oude ekeino ge an eipoi, hōs kyriōs kai prōtōs epi tōn anthrōpōn tetagmenōn tōn onomatōn toutōn, katachrēstikōs hēmeis epilegomen tǭ Theǭ. Ho gar toi Kyrios hēmōn Iēsous Christos, pros tēn pantōn archēn kai tēn alēthē tōn ontōn aitian epanagōn hēmas, Hymeis de mē kalesēte, phēsi, patera hymōn epi tēs gēs" heis gar esti Patēr hymōn ho ouranios. Pōs oun hōs sarkikōn pathōn proēgoumenōs endeiktikas tautas hēmas axioi tas phōnas apopempesthai, has ho Kyrios, hōs tę̄ apatheią tou Theou prepousas, apo tōn anthrōpōn pros auton metatithēsin? Ei de kai … … tǭ hēmeterǭ machetai. Ho gar tetokōs bōlous drosou, kata ton tou Iōb logon, ouch homoiōs tas te bōlous kai ton Huion eteknōsato. Ē ei touto legein tolmēsousin, hōste en isę̄ taxei kai tēn ousian tēs drosou huion onomazein, pantos hēmas tou pros autous apallaxousi logou, eis periphanestatēn anaischyntian tēn blasphēmian proagagontes. Oude gar hotan Patēr pantōn hēmōn legētai ho Theos, kata ton auton tropon hēmōn te kai tou Monogenous esti Patēr. Ei de hoti prōtotokos pasēs ktiseōs, kai prōtotokos en pollois adelphois, ho Kyrios prosēgoreutai, touto autous paidotribei pros asebeian" didaskesthōsan ek tou Euangeliou, hoti kai mētera heautou kai adelphous ho Kyrios tous ek tōn ergōn tēs aretēs oikeiōthentas prosagoreuei. Tis gar esti, phēsi, hē mētēr mou, kai tines hoi adelphoi mou, hē hoi poiountes to thelēma tou Patros mou tou en ouranois? Hōste Patēr hēmōn ho Theos ou katachrēstikōs oud᾽ ek metaphoras, alla kyriōs, kai prōtōs, kai alēthinōs onomazetai " dia tōn sōmatikōn goneōn eis to einai hēmas ek tou mē ontos paragagōn, kai tais kēdemoniais … …menous. Ei de hēmōn tōn chariti tēs huiothesias axioumenōn alēthōs keklēsthai Patera ton Theon legomen, tis aphairēsetai logos tou kata physin Huiou kai ek tēs ousias autou proelthontos, mē ouchi prepontōs auton Patera prosagoreuesthai? EUN. Ou chrē, phēsi, dia tēn Patros kai Huiou prosēgorian anthrōpikēn tēn tou Kyriou gennēsin ennoein. BAS. Phēmi kagō. Theian mentoi kai apathē ti kōlyei pisteuein tous eusebeis? ᾿All᾽, oimai, ouch hina apathōs gegennēkota ton Theon epideixę̄, chrētai tois logois toutois, all᾽ hina mēde gennēsanta holōs. Pōs oun en tois anō logois, ō beltiste, gennēma einai tēn ousian tou Monogenous apephainou? Ei gar mē gegennētai, pothen autǭ to gennēma einai kata ton son logon prosēn? ᾿Alla dia men tēn tou gennētou pros to agennēton enantiōsin gennēma ousan deiknynai tēn ousian ephiloneikei " nyni de, palin tēn tēs ousias oikeiōsin dia tēs phōnēs tautēs … horōn, to gegennēsthai tou gennēmatos aphaireitai Kai mēn ei touto hōs pathous dēlōtikon paraiteitai, ti kōlyei kai to dēmiourgon auton einai dia tas autas aitias mē paradechesthai? Dioti pasais tais sōmatikais energeiais hē pleiōn tis pantōs hē elattōn kopos synezeuktai, kata tēn analogian tēs tou poiountos dynameōs kai tēs pros ta megethē tōn energoumenōn diaphoras. Tēn ge mēn theian kai makarian physin kamatǭ legein synechesthai ouch hētton asebes, hē tois aischistois autēn pathesin hypoballein. Ei de apathōs ktizei, apathē einai dexasthe kai tēn gennēsin.

[23] So when we hear that a man is a father, we take in with it the notion of passion; but when we hear that God is Father, we run up in our reasonings to the impassible cause. But he, accustomed to this name in the case of the nature subject to passion, denies as impossible what is beyond the grasp of his own reasonings. For it was not right, attending to the passion of corruptible beings, to disbelieve the impassibility of God, nor to set the unchanging and unalterable essence beside the flowing nature that is subject to countless changes. Nor, because mortal animals beget through passion, should one have thought the same of God; rather, one should have been guided from this toward the truth: that since corruptible beings beget in this way, the incorruptible one does so in the opposite way. Nor indeed would he say this: that these names are applied properly and primarily to human beings, and that we apply them to God by a misuse of terms. For our Lord Jesus Christ, leading us up to the beginning of all things and the true cause of beings, says, "Call no one your father on earth; for you have one Father, the heavenly one." How then does he think we should reject these words as indicating fleshly passions in the first place, when the Lord transfers them from human beings to himself as befitting the impassibility of God? And if … … is in conflict with ours. For the one who has brought forth the drops of dew, in the words of Job, did not bring forth the drops and the Son in the same way. Or if they dare to say this, so as to call the substance of the dew "son" in the same rank, they will release us from all argument with them, having carried their blasphemy on to the most manifest shamelessness. For not even when God is called Father of us all is he Father of us and of the Only-Begotten in the same way. And if the fact that the Lord has been called "firstborn of all creation" and "firstborn among many brothers" trains them for impiety, let them learn from the Gospel that the Lord also calls "mother" and "brothers" those made akin to him by the works of virtue: "Who," he says, "is my mother, and who are my brothers, but those who do the will of my Father in heaven?" So God is named our Father not by a misuse of terms nor by metaphor, but properly, primarily, and truly, since he has brought us from not being into being through our bodily parents, and by his care … If, then, we say that God is truly called Father of us, who are counted worthy of the grace of adoption, what argument will take away from the Son by nature, who came forth from his essence, that he fittingly calls him Father?

EUNOMIUS: "One must not," he says, "because of the designation of Father and Son, conceive the Lord's begetting as human."

BASIL: I say so too. But what prevents the pious from believing in one that is divine and impassible? But, I think, he uses these words not to show that God begot impassibly, but that he did not beget at all. How then, my good man, did you declare in your earlier arguments that the essence of the Only-Begotten is offspring? For if he has not been begotten, from where did being offspring belong to him, by your argument? But because of the opposition of begotten to unbegotten he strove to show that the essence is offspring; but now, seeing again that the kinship of essence is … by this word, he takes away from the offspring its having been begotten. Yet if he rejects this as indicating passion, what prevents him, for the same reasons, from not admitting that he is creator either? For with all bodily activities some greater or lesser toil is joined, in proportion to the power of the maker and the difference in the magnitudes of the works. But to say that the divine and blessed nature is held by weariness is no less impious than to subject it to the most shameful passions. If, then, he creates impassibly, accept that the begetting too is impassible.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Matt 23:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 38:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 1:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 12:48 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 12:50 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil argues that the names Father and Son, applied to God, point to the impassible cause, and that Christ himself transfers the name 'Father' from human beings to God.

Chapter 23 of Book 2; it continues in staged 2.25 and 2.26. Migne's Latin is removed by logged corrections; the passage breaks off at the end (marked …).
Matt 23:9.
Continuation of chapter 23 of Book 2. Lost words at the opening and after 'by his care' are marked …; Migne's notes of variant readings are removed by logged corrections. The quotation is Eunomius's Apology.
Job 38:28 (Septuagint); Col 1:15; Rom 8:29; Matt 12:48-50.
End of chapter 23 of Book 2. The opening of this scan page is Migne's notes and Latin, removed by logged corrections; a damaged word is marked ….

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): ἀχούσωμεν, → ἀκούσωμεν,; προσλαμδάνομεν᾽ → προσλαμβάνομεν·; ἀπαθή αἰτίαν → ἀπαθῆ αἰτίαν; χατάληψιν → κατάληψιν; φθαρ- (ας ὈΠΠ6 ραγπαξαι. Νοπ δπὶπὶ ρΓ ϑγᾶϊ ἐυπι, φοξρυριτῶν προσέχοντα, → φθαρτῶν προσέχοντα,; προσῆχεν, → προσῆκεν,; μεταδολαῖς, → μεταβολαῖς,; πκαρατιθέντα. → παρατιθέντα.; Μυδ᾽ ὅτι → Μηδ᾽ ὅτι; Μαὶ μὴν οὐδὲ → Καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ; ἐχεῖνό γε → ἐκεῖνό γε; χυρίως καὶ → κυρίως καὶ; χαταχρηστιχῶς → καταχρηστικῶς; ἡμέϊς ἐπιλέγομεν → ἡμεῖς ἐπιλέγομεν; 'γμεῖς δὲ → Ὑμεῖς δὲ; πατέρω ὑμῶν → πατέρα ὑμῶν; οὐράνισς. → οὐράνιος.; σαρχιχῶν → σαρκικῶν; ἐνδειχτιχὰς → ἐνδεικτικὰς; θεοῦ πρεπούσας, → Θεοῦ πρεπούσας,; αὑτὸν μετατίθησιν; → αὐτὸν μετατίθησιν;; Εἰ δὲ καὶ → Εἰ δὲ καὶ …; Μδι}". χτι, 9. αι Ρατίβ. ἀκούσωμεν, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος. Εὐἴο όη, εἰ 56 Χ Π)38. ἀχούσωμεν ἄνθρωπος. ὅ86ει) νοῦδη) δια! ίην ἰοκαιηι8 ὅταν δὲ, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς Πατήρ. παν ὅτι..... γεννᾷν, ἱυτὶ δηιϊίφυϊ μηδ᾽ ὅτι..... γεννᾷ. (δεν 8 ἀρὰς πῶ ᾿ ἦ Εἀϊιϊ Κύριος ἡμῶν. Υοχ υἱιιια ἴῃ ΕΜ δὲ ἀπ πι88. πρὸς ἑαυτόν. ὑμᾶς ἴυγ. Ουοι! δἱ ποβίγυπ), ᾳυὶ ρὲ φγϑιίδιη ἐμ εὶ ἢ σεγο. τῷ → … τῷ; τετοχὼς βώλους → τετοκὼς βώλους; δρόαου, χατὰ τὸν → δρόσου, κατὰ τὸν; Ἰὼδ λόγον, → Ἰὼβ λόγον,; ἐτεχνώσατο. → ἐτεκνώσατο.; ἀναἰσχυντίαν → ἀναισχυντίαν; βλατῳτ μίαν προαγαγόντες. → βλασφημίαν προαγαγόντες.; Θὺδὲ γὰρ → Οὐδὲ γὰρ; θεὸς, κατὰ → Θεός, κατὰ; αὑτὸν τρόπον → αὐτὸν τρόπον; πρωτότοχος πάσης → πρωτότοκος πάσης; χτίσεως, → κτίσεως,; πρωτότοχος ἐν → πρωτότοκος ἐν; παιδοτριδεῖ → παιδοτριβεῖ; ἀσέδειαν" → ἀσέβειαν"; διδασχέσθωσαν → διδασκέσθωσαν; ἐχ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, → ἐκ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου,; μττέρα (Ἴ8) ἑαυτοῦ → μητέρα ἑαυτοῦ; ἐχ τῶν Β ἔργων τῆς → ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τῆς; οἰχειωθέντας → οἰκειωθέντας; ἐστι. φησὶ, → ἐστι, φησὶ,; τίγες οἱ → τίνες οἱ; φοί μου, → ἀδελφοί μου,; ἀ.1.1' ἣ → ἣ; ἐχ μεταφορᾶς, → ἐκ μεταφορᾶς,; χυρίως, καὶ → κυρίως, καὶ; σωματιχῶν → σωματικῶν; χηδεμονίαις → κηδεμονίαις …; μένους. Εἰ → …μένους. Εἰ; χάριτ: τῆς → χάριτι τῆς; ἔξιουμένων → ἀξιουμένων; χεχλῆσθαι → κεκλῆσθαι; χατὰ φύσιν → κατὰ φύσιν; Υἱοῦ. καὶ → Υἱοῦ καὶ; ἐχ τῆς οὐσίας → ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας; αὑτὸν Πατέρα → αὐτὸν Πατέρα; προσαγορεύεσθαι: → προσαγορεύεσθαι;; Υἷπροσηγορίαν → Υἱοῦ προσηγορίαν; ἀνθρωπιχὴν → ἀνθρωπικὴν; χἀγώ. Θείαν → κἀγώ. Θείαν; χωλύει πιστεύειν → κωλύει πιστεύειν; εὐσεθεῖς; → εὐσεβεῖς;; γεγεννηχότα → γεγεννηκότα; ποῖς λόγοις → τοῖς λόγοις; εἷνα: τὴν → εἶναι τὴν; ἀπεφαίνον; → ἀπεφαίνου;; εἶνα: χατὸ τὸν → εἶναι κατὰ τὸν; γέννημα οὗταν → γέννημα οὖσαν; }0} χχχυ, 48. 5 (ο|085.., 15. 55 Ποπ), ται, 39. 5 ΜΆ. χη, 48, Φ σθη460, οἰπὸ ὁ ΡΓῸ ὦ 5ογίυογε τὶ ἢ] φϑη μοί ἕωοἰΠ πννι ἷ!. [μα ρα Ὠασόδιην, ἐδ θεν ὁᾳ. ἰθγιίι8. καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ὑπεστήσατο : εδιἱ ἴῃ ογὰ ὨΙθτὶ γεσθμοι Εαϊι) μου, ἀλλ᾽ οἱ. Οοάεχ ΟοἹ". ὁπ ὑπὸ Κοβ. μου, ἀλλ᾽ ἣ οἱ. Νδὺ [14 πη] ροδὶ δ: παρ- «ἧς υἱοθεσίας ἠξιωμένων ἀληθῶς χέχληται Πατὴρ ὁ δειχνύναι → δεικνύναι; ἐφιλονείχει → ἐφιλονείκει; Α ἰἰδιη Κ6.ΠΠυΓΑΠῚ 6846 τὴν → τὴν; οἰχείωσιν → οἰκείωσιν; σηἐἀαννομένην → …; γεγεννῆσθα: → γεγεννῆσθαι; (δὅ). Καὶ → Καὶ; δηλωτιχὸν → δηλωτικὸν; χωλύει καὶ → κωλύει καὶ; σωματιχαῖς → σωματικαῖς; χόπος συνέζευχται, → κόπος συνέζευκται,; μαχαρίαν → μακαρίαν; χαμάτῳ λέγειν → καμάτῳ λέγειν; ἀσεδὲς, ἣ → ἀσεβὲς, ἣ; ὑποδάλλειν. → ὑποβάλλειν.; χτίζει, ἀπαθῇ εἶναι → κτίζει, ἀπαθῆ εἶναι.

Topics: Christology, Heresy, Trinity

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.23 (PG 29:519; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/2-17/#p-2-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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2.24PG 29:519

Ὡς μὲν οὖν κυρίως καὶ προσηκόντως Πατὴρ λέγεται ὁ Θεός, καὶ ὡς οὐχὶ πάθους, ἀλλ᾽ οἰκειώσεώς ἔστιν ὄνομα, ἣ τῆς κατὰ χάριν, ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἣ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς, ἱκανῶς εἴρηται " δῶμεν δὲ εἶναι τροπικήν, καὶ ἐκ μεταφορᾶς λέγεσθαι ὥσπερ καὶ ἄλλας μυρίας καὶ τὴν φωνὴν ταύτην. Ὡς τοίνυν, ὀργιζόμενον, καὶ ὑπνοῦντα, καὶ πετόμενον ἀκούοντες τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἄλλων τοιούτων ἀπρεπεῖς κατὰ τὸν πρόχειρον νοῦν τὰς ἐμφάσεις παρεχομένων, οὔτε τὰς φωνὰς τοῦ Πνεύματος διαγράφομεν, οὔτε σωματικῶς τῶν λεγομένων ἀκούομεν " τί δήποτε οὐχὶ καὶ, τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης οὔτω συνεχῶς παραληφθείσης ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος, τὰς θεοπρεπεῖς αὐτῆς ἐννοίας διερευνώμεθα; ἢ μόνην ταύτην τῆς Γραφῆς ἀπαλείψομεν, ἐκ τῆς ἀνθρωπικῆς χρήσεως συκοφαντοῦντες αὑτήν; Οὑτωσὶ δὲ σκοπῶμεν. Δύο σημαινομένων ἐκ τῆς τοῦ γεννᾷν προσηγορίας κατὰ τὴν ὧδε συνήθειαν, πάθους τε τοῦ γεννῶντος καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸ γεννώμενον οἰκειώσεως, ὅταν παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς τῷ Μονογενεῖ λέγηται τὸ, Ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησά σε, καὶ τὸ, Υἱός μου εἶ σὺ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε" πότερον τούτων παρίστασθαι φῶμεν διὰ τοῦ ῥήματος; τὸ ἐμπαθὲς τῶν γεννώντων, ἣ τὴν τῆς φύσεως οἰκειότητα; Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ τοῦτό φημι καὶ οὐδὲ τούτους ἡγοῦμαι ποτε μὴ οὐχὶ εἰς λαμπρὰν μελαγχολίαν παρενεχθέντας ἐναντιώσεσθαι. Ὥστε εἰ μὲν οἰκεία τῷ Θεῷ ἡ φωνὴ, τί ἀτιμάζεις ὡς ἀλλοτρίαν; εἰ δὲ ἐκ τῶν …, φύγε τὸ χεῖρον τῶν δηλουμένων. Ἔξεστι γὰρ δήπου ἐν πολυσήμῳ τῇ λέξει, πρὸς τὴν ὀρθὴν ἔννοιαν ὁδηγηθέντα διὰ τοῦ ῥήματος, τὸ ταπεινὸν καὶ αἰσχρὸν τῆς ἐμφάσεως ὑπερβῆναι. Καὶ μή μοι λέγε· Τίς δὲ ἡ γέννησις; καὶ ποταπή; καὶ πῶς ἂν γένοιτο αὕτη; Οὐ γὰρ, ἐπειδὴ ὁ τρόπος ἄῤῥητος καὶ ἀπερινόητος παντελῶς, ἤδη καὶ τὸ πάγιον τῆς εἰς Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν πίστεως ἐκβαλοῦμεν. Εἰ γὰρ μέλλοιμεν πάντα τῇ καταλήψει μετρεῖν, καὶ τὸ τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἀπερίληπτον μηδὲ εἶναι τὸ παράπαν ὑπολαμβάνειν, …ται μὲν ὁ τῆς πίστεως, οἰχήσεται δὲ ὁ τῆς ἐλπίδος μισθός, Πῶς δ' ἂν εἴημεν ἔτι τῶν μακαρισμῶν ἄξιοι, τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει τῶν ἀοράτων ἀποκειμένων οἱ μόνοις τοῖς κατὰ λογισμὸν ἐναργέσι πειθόμενοι Πόθεν ἐματαιώθη τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἐσκοτίσθη ἡ ἀσύνετος αὐτῶν καρδία; Οὐχ ἐπειδὴ τοῖς ἐκ τῶν λογισμῶν φαινομένοις ἀκολουθοῦντες, τῷ κηρύγματι τοῦ Πνεύματος ἀπειθοῦσι; Τίνας δὲ ὁ ᾿Ησαΐας ὡς ἀπολωλότας ὀδύρεται; Οὐαὶ οἱ σοφοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ … Πολλὰ τοίνυν ὑπερβὰς τῶν ἐν μέσῳ, ὅσα τε περὶ τοῦ μὴ γεγεννῆσθαι τὸν Υἱὸν ἐκ τοῦ προφανοῦς διετείνατο, καὶ ὅσα περὶ τοῦ παραδεχθῆναι αὐτῷ τὸ κτίσμα εἶναι καὶ ποίημα τὸν Μονογενῆ ἐτεχνάσατο, ἐπὶ τὰ καιριώτατα τῆς ἀσεβείας τρέψομαι, τοσοῦτον μόνον τοῖς παρεθεῖσιν ἐπισημηνάμενος, ὅτι ἦν προλαβὼν τῷ ἔργῳ κατεσκεύασε βλασφημίαν, ταύτην βουληθεὶς ἐπισκιάσαι τῷ ῥήματι, καὶ τὸ ἀναιδὲς τοῦ λόγον καταπραῦναι, ἔφη κοινοποιεῖν τὸν Μονογενὴ πρὸς τὴν κτίσιν, ἐπιλαθόμενος αὐτὸς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ δογμάτων, ἃ ἐν τοῖς κατόπιν λόγοις γυμνῇ καὶ ἀπαρακαλύπτῳ τῇ φωνῇ ἐξετίθετο. Ὑφ᾽ ὧν πρὸς … ἐξέπεσε. Γράφει δὲ οὕτως " ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Μηδεὶς δὲ, τὸν Υἱὸν ἀκούων ποίημα, δυσχεραινέτω, ὡς κοινοποιουμένης τῆς οὐσίας ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων κοινωνίας. ΒΑΣ. Πῶς οὖν, ὦ σοφώτατε, εἰ τῇ διαφορᾷ τῶν ὀνομάτων τὸ παρηλλαγμένον τῆς οὐσίας ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἕπεται (μεμνήμεθα γὰρ δήπου ἐν τοῖς ἄνω λόγοις ταῦτα διεξιόντος), οὐχὶ νῦν τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τῶν ὀνομάτων τὸ κοινὸν τῆς οὐσίας ἀκολουθήσει; Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἅπαξ, οὐδὲ ἐκ παρέργου τοῦτον τὸν λόγον παραφθεγξάμενος φαίνεται. Ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν εὐθὺς, ὥσπερ μεταμεληθεὶς ἐφ᾽ οἷς εἴρηκεν, ὅτι ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων κοινωνία οὐ κοινοποιήσει καὶ τὰς οὐσίας, πάλιν ἐπάγει μετὰ μικρὸν, τῶν ἀντιδιατιθεμένων αὐτῷ καθαπτόμενος· ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Ὅτι ἐχρῆν, εἴπερ αὐτοῖς ἣν τῆς ἀληθείας … ὁμολογεῖν καὶ τὰς οὐσίας. ΒΑΣ. Πῶς ἄν τις εὐκολώτερον χρήσαιτο λόγοις; ὅς γε δι᾽ ὀλίγου πρὸς τὰ ἐναντία περιτρεπόμενος, νῦν μέν φησι τὴν διαφορὰν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀναγκαίως τῶν οὐσιῶν τὴν παραλλαγὴν ὑποφαίνειν" νῦν δὲ πάλιν τὴν κοινωνίαν μὴ κοινοποιεῖν τὰς οὐσίας; ᾿Αλλ᾽, οἶμαι, προσόμοιόν τι ποιοῦμεν τοῖς τὸν ἀνδροφόνον ἐκ λοιδορίας, ἣ πληγῆς, ἢ τινος τῶν τοιούτων ἁμαρτημάτων κρίνουσιν, …

Hōs men oun kyriōs kai prosēkontōs Patēr legetai ho Theos, kai hōs ouchi pathous, all᾽ oikeiōseōs estin onoma, hē tēs kata charin, hōs epi tōn anthrōpōn, hē tēs kata physin, hōs epi tou Monogenous, hikanōs eirētai " dōmen de einai tropikēn, kai ek metaphoras legesthai hōsper kai allas myrias kai tēn phōnēn tautēn. Hōs toinyn, orgizomenon, kai hypnounta, kai petomenon akouontes ton Theon, kai allōn toioutōn aprepeis kata ton procheiron noun tas emphaseis parechomenōn, oute tas phōnas tou Pneumatos diagraphomen, oute sōmatikōs tōn legomenōn akouomen " ti dēpote ouchi kai, tēs phōnēs tautēs outō synechōs paralēphtheisēs hypo tou Pneumatos, tas theoprepeis autēs ennoias diereunōmetha? ē monēn tautēn tēs Graphēs apaleipsomen, ek tēs anthrōpikēs chrēseōs sykophantountes hautēn? Houtōsi de skopōmen. Dyo sēmainomenōn ek tēs tou gennąn prosēgorias kata tēn hōde synētheian, pathous te tou gennōntos kai tēs pros to gennōmenon oikeiōseōs, hotan para tou Patros tǭ Monogenei legētai to, Ek gastros pro heōsphorou egennēsa se, kai to, Huios mou ei sy, egō sēmeron gegennēka se" poteron toutōn paristasthai phōmen dia tou rhēmatos? to empathes tōn gennōntōn, hē tēn tēs physeōs oikeiotēta? Egō men gar touto phēmi kai oude toutous hēgoumai pote mē ouchi eis lampran melancholian parenechthentas enantiōsesthai. Hōste ei men oikeia tǭ Theǭ hē phōnē, ti atimazeis hōs allotrian? ei de ek tōn …, phyge to cheiron tōn dēloumenōn. Exesti gar dēpou en polysēmǭ tę̄ lexei, pros tēn orthēn ennoian hodēgēthenta dia tou rhēmatos, to tapeinon kai aischron tēs emphaseōs hyperbēnai. Kai mē moi lege; Tis de hē gennēsis? kai potapē? kai pōs an genoito hautē? Ou gar, epeidē ho tropos arrhētos kai aperinoētos pantelōs, ēdē kai to pagion tēs eis Patera kai Huion pisteōs ekbaloumen. Ei gar melloimen panta tę̄ katalēpsei metrein, kai to tois logismois aperilēpton mēde einai to parapan hypolambanein, …tai men ho tēs pisteōs, oichēsetai de ho tēs elpidos misthos, Pōs d' an eiēmen eti tōn makarismōn axioi, tōn epi tę̄ pistei tōn aoratōn apokeimenōn hoi monois tois kata logismon enargesi peithomenoi Pothen emataiōthē ta ethnē, kai eskotisthē hē asynetos autōn kardia? Ouch epeidē tois ek tōn logismōn phainomenois akolouthountes, tǭ kērygmati tou Pneumatos apeithousi? Tinas de ho ᾿Ēsaïas hōs apolōlotas odyretai? Ouai hoi sophoi en heautois, kai … Polla toinyn hyperbas tōn en mesǭ, hosa te peri tou mē gegennēsthai ton Huion ek tou prophanous dieteinato, kai hosa peri tou paradechthēnai autǭ to ktisma einai kai poiēma ton Monogenē etechnasato, epi ta kairiōtata tēs asebeias trepsomai, tosouton monon tois paretheisin episēmēnamenos, hoti ēn prolabōn tǭ ergǭ kateskeuase blasphēmian, tautēn boulētheis episkiasai tǭ rhēmati, kai to anaides tou logon katapraunai, ephē koinopoiein ton Monogenē pros tēn ktisin, epilathomenos autos tōn heautou dogmatōn, ha en tois katopin logois gymnę̄ kai aparakalyptǭ tę̄ phōnę̄ exetitheto. Hyph᾽ hōn pros … exepese. Graphei de houtōs " EUN. Mēdeis de, ton Huion akouōn poiēma, dyscherainetō, hōs koinopoioumenēs tēs ousias hypo tēs tōn onomatōn koinōnias. BAS. Pōs oun, ō sophōtate, ei tę̄ diaphorą tōn onomatōn to parēllagmenon tēs ousias ex anankēs hepetai (memnēmetha gar dēpou en tois anō logois tauta diexiontos), ouchi nyn tę̄ koinōnią tōn onomatōn to koinon tēs ousias akolouthēsei? Oude gar hapax, oude ek parergou touton ton logon paraphthenxamenos phainetai. Epei kai nyn euthys, hōsper metamelētheis eph᾽ hois eirēken, hoti hē tōn onomatōn koinōnia ou koinopoiēsei kai tas ousias, palin epagei meta mikron, tōn antidiatithemenōn autǭ kathaptomenos; EUN. Hoti echrēn, eiper autois hēn tēs alētheias … homologein kai tas ousias. BAS. Pōs an tis eukolōteron chrēsaito logois? hos ge di᾽ oligou pros ta enantia peritrepomenos, nyn men phēsi tēn diaphoran tōn onomatōn anankaiōs tōn ousiōn tēn parallagēn hypophainein" nyn de palin tēn koinōnian mē koinopoiein tas ousias? ᾿All᾽, oimai, prosomoion ti poioumen tois ton androphonon ek loidorias, hē plēgēs, ē tinos tōn toioutōn hamartēmatōn krinousin, …

[24] That God is called Father properly and fittingly, then, and that this is a name not of passion but of kinship, either by grace, as with human beings, or by nature, as with the Only-Begotten, has been said sufficiently. But let us grant that this word too, like countless others, is figurative and said by metaphor. When we hear that God is angry, and sleeps, and flies, and other such things that present meanings unfitting by the ready sense, we neither strike out the words of the Spirit nor take what is said in a bodily way. Why then, when this word is used so constantly by the Spirit, do we not search out its meanings worthy of God? Or shall we erase this one alone from Scripture, slandering it from human usage? Let us consider it thus. Two things are signified by the name "to beget" in our usage here: the passion of the one begetting and the kinship with the one begotten. When the Father says to the Only-Begotten, "From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you," and, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you," which of these shall we say is presented by the word: the passion of those who beget, or the kinship of nature? For my part, I say the latter, and I do not think that even these men, unless carried off into a manifest frenzy, will oppose it. So, if the word is proper to God, why do you dishonor it as foreign? And if it is [taken] from …, flee the worse of the things it indicates. For surely, with a word of many meanings, one may be guided by the word to the right notion and pass beyond what is lowly and shameful in its suggestion. And do not say to me, "What, then, is the begetting? Of what kind? And how could it take place?" For since the manner is ineffable and wholly incomprehensible, we shall not on that account throw out the firm foundation of our faith in Father and Son. For if we are to measure everything by our comprehension, and suppose that what cannot be grasped by our reasonings does not exist at all, the reward of faith will be gone, and the reward of hope will be gone. How could we still be worthy of the blessings laid up for faith in things unseen, if we trust only what is evident to reasoning? Why did the nations become futile, and their senseless heart darkened? Was it not because, following what appeared from their reasonings, they disobeyed the proclamation of the Spirit? And whom does Isaiah lament as lost? "Woe to those who are wise in themselves, and …"

Passing over much of what lies between, then, all that he contended openly about the Son's not having been begotten, and all that he contrived about the Only-Begotten's admitting to be a creature and a thing made, I will turn to the most critical points of his impiety, noting only this about what has been passed over: that, wishing to overshadow with words the blasphemy he had previously constructed in deed, and to soften the shamelessness of his argument, he said that he [did not] make the Only-Begotten common with creation, forgetting his own doctrines, which he set out in his earlier arguments in bare and undisguised language. By them he has fallen into … Now he writes thus:

EUNOMIUS: "Let no one, hearing that the Son is a thing made, be troubled, as if the essence were made common by the commonness of the names."

BASIL: How then, most wise sir, if difference of essence necessarily follows the difference of names (for we surely remember him going through this in his earlier arguments), will not commonness of essence now follow commonness of names? For he does not appear to have uttered this argument once, or in passing. And now immediately, as if repenting of what he had said, namely that commonness of names will not make the essences common, he again adds a little later, attacking his opponents:

EUNOMIUS: "That, if they had any concern for the truth, they ought … to confess that the essences too [differ]."

BASIL: How could anyone use words more lightly? Turning round to opposites in a short space, he says now that difference of names necessarily indicates difference of essences, and now again that their commonness does not make the essences common. But, I think, we are doing something like those who judge a murderer on charges of abuse, or a blow, or some such offense …

Ps 78:65 (77:65 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 18:10 (17:11 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 11:1 (echo, medium confidence) · Rom 1:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 5:21 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil argues that even if 'Father' were taken figuratively, Scripture's language of begetting points to kinship of nature, not passion; the manner of the begetting is ineffable but must be believed; and Eunomius contradicts himself about names and essences.

Chapter 24 of Book 2. Lost lines are marked …; Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections. In 'he said that he [did not] make the Only-Begotten common with creation' the negative is not in the scan and is supplied from the sense of the following quotation. The quotations are from Eunomius's Apology.
Divine anger, sleep, flight: e.g. Ps 78:65 (LXX 77:65), Ps 18:10 (LXX 17:11); Ps 110:3 (LXX 109:3); Ps 2:7; Heb 11:1 (things unseen); Rom 1:21; Isa 5:21.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): χυρίως καὶ → κυρίως καὶ; προσηχόντως → προσηκόντως; θεὸς, καὶ → Θεός, καὶ; οἰχειώσεώς → οἰκειώσεώς; χατὰ χάριν, → κατὰ χάριν,; χατὰ φύσιν, → κατὰ φύσιν,; ἔχαγῶς εἴρηται → ἱκανῶς εἴρηται; τροπικῆν, → τροπικήν,; ἐχ μεταφορᾶς λέγεσθαι → ἐκ μεταφορᾶς λέγεσθαι; (8θ), ὥσπερ → ὥσπερ; ἀχούοντες → ἀκούοντες; χατὰ τὸν → κατὰ τὸν; ἐυφάσεις → ἐμφάσεις; σωματιχῶς → σωματικῶς; ἀχούομεν → ἀκούομεν; ἐχ τῆς ἀνθρωπιγῆς → ἐκ τῆς ἀνθρωπικῆς; συχοφαντοῦντες → συκοφαντοῦντες; Οὐὑτωσὶ δὲ → Οὑτωσὶ δὲ; σχοπῶμεν. → σκοπῶμεν.; ἐχ τῆς τοῦ → ἐκ τῆς τοῦ; γεννώμενο" → γεννώμενον; οἰχειώσεως, → οἰκειώσεως,; ἑωσξόρου → ἑωσφόρου; ἐγέγνησά → ἐγέννησά; γεγέγγηκά → γεγέννηκά; οἰχειότητα; → οἰκειότητα;; ἡγουμαί ποτε → ἡγοῦμαι ποτε; ἐναντιώπσεσθαι. → ἐναντιώσεσθαι.; οἰχεία τῷ → οἰκεία τῷ; ἐχ τῶν ἀνμενος, → ἐκ τῶν …,; “Ἔξεστει → Ἔξεστι; ιἰοια νἱείυπι ευ5 ηυἱ [ἀοἷϊ, οἱ ργὸ ἀϊδογίηνἑ δ πιὼεἰοι πὶ μος τ γθο ἱπάϊοατὶ αἰ σαν ᾽ σοηθγαι 8 του, δη. θδίαγ σΟη]υπει οῃ θη) ἢ Ερο ἰὸς βίου! 8] 16η8π| Βρδγηβ᾽ βίῃ δυίθιῃ δχ δοιη πὶ 8 δήπου → δήπου; λέξε!, πρὸς → λέξει, πρὸς; ἢ), ὁδηγηθέντα → ὁδηγηθέντα; ὑπερδῆναι. → ὑπερβῆναι.; λένε" Τίς → λέγε· Τίς; 41 βρ], οἷχ, ὅ. δ ἤρα. εἱ,. ράθκ ὑπι5 οἱ οἰ ἐχ μεταφορᾶς εἰρῆσθαι, ἘΘΙ 10} 505 1165. λέγεσθαι, Μος ἰοχκίίαγ ἢ νυ ρα εἰ τοίνυν : 56ι] ργὸ εἰ τοίνυν δοτίρίυπι ἰῇ ἠυϑίγ 8 Θηΐπι φυοηΐαπι οπηληΐμο ἱπε }}}}5 πιο οοὶ ἀΐμι6 Α ἡ → ἡ; γένοινο αὕτη: μαρφιυ5 1 ΤΓη06 νϑης ἴδοι διιηὶ ξθηῖ68, δ( ἰδιο- Πᾳ σι δηῖον, ρεϑι σαι ουΐ ϑρί γι 5 Βι εν ἤθη Οὐ → γένοιτο αὕτη; Οὐ; ἀπερινόττος → ἀπερινόητος; χεὶ Υἱὸν → καὶ Υἱὸν; ἐχδαλοῦμεν, → ἐκβαλοῦμεν.; ἀπερῖίληπτον → ἀπερίληπτον; ὑπολαμδάνειν, → ὑπολαμβάνειν,; ται μὲν ὁ → …ται μὲν ὁ; οἰχήσετα! → οἰχήσεται; ἐλπίδὸς μισθός, → ἐλπίδος μισθός,; μαχαρισμῶν → μακαρισμῶν; ἄξιοι. τῶν → ἄξιοι, τῶν; ἀποχειμένων → ἀποκειμένων; χατὰ λογισμὸν → κατὰ λογισμὸν; ἐσχοτίσθη → ἐσκοτίσθη; χαρδία; Οὐχ → καρδία; Οὐχ; ἐχ τῶν λογισμῶν φαινομένοις → ἐκ τῶν λογισμῶν φαινομένοις; ἀχολουθοῦντες, → ἀκολουθοῦντες,; χηρύγματι → κηρύγματι; Θι ην55. ἤθη ρϑιοὶ ἐχ τῶν λογισμῶν. - Εάϊ οἱ Βος. φυΐηϊης ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, ἐπ “6 ἱρεῖε, Πολλὰ → … Πολλὰ; τοένυν ὑπερδὰς τῶν → τοίνυν ὑπερβὰς τῶν; ἐχ τοῦ προφανοῦς → ἐκ τοῦ προφανοῦς; διετεΐνατο, → διετείνατο,; χτίσμα εἶναι → κτίσμα εἶναι; χαιριώτατα → καιριώτατα; ἀσεδείας → ἀσεβείας; ὅτε ἦν προλαδὼν → ὅτι ἦν προλαβὼν; κατεσχεύασε → κατεσκεύασε; ταύττν βουληθεὶς → ταύτην βουληθεὶς; ἐπισχιάσαι → ἐπισκιάσαι; χαταπραῦναι, → καταπραῦναι,; χοινοποιεῖν τὸν → κοινοποιεῖν τὸν; χτίσιν, ἐπιλαθόμενος → κτίσιν, ἐπιλαθόμενος; χατόπιν λόγοις → κατόπιν λόγοις; ἀπεραχαλύπτῳ → ἀπαρακαλύπτῳ; ἀνἐξέπεσς. → … ἐξέπεσε.; ΥἹὸν ἀχούων ποίημα, → Υἱὸν ἀκούων ποίημα,; χοινοποιουμένης → κοινοποιουμένης; χοινωνίας. → κοινωνίας.; σοφώτατε. → σοφώτατε,; ὀνουάτων → ὀνομάτων; ἀνάγχης ἕπεται → ἀνάγκης ἕπεται; χοινωνίᾳ → κοινωνίᾳ; χοινὸν τῆς → κοινὸν τῆς; ἀχολουθήσει; → ἀκολουθήσει;; ἐχ παρέργου → ἐκ παρέργου; εἴρηχεν, → εἴρηκεν,; χοινωνέχ → κοινωνία; χοινοποιήσει → κοινοποιήσει; μιχρὸν, τῶν → μικρὸν, τῶν; χαθαπτό- → καθαπτόμενος·; Δ] οβίαπάϊι, δὸ. ργοΐιν 6 ποι 118 Δ φυῷ ργθίογ- Ροβι νοςαπὶ λόγοις δ αἰμπὶ ᾿ηνδπέίυγ ἰὴ δι} ιἰἰυηο Ραγίβἰβινδὶ οἱ ἰηνὶ θᾳ. βθειιηάο ἐν «ἢ ἀρχῇ τοῦ μνυΡ, ἰρδιιπὶ ἢυ} 05 ΠΡτῚ ἰμ ἴθι μιἷ. γονυΐβ, ἐν τοῖς ΕΥ̓͂Ν. → ΕΥ̓͂Ν.; Α Ευν, Οροτίεβθα!, ἰηαι, 5] χὰ Ὑμένας ὁμολογεῖν → … ὁμολογεῖν; εὐχολώτερον → εὐκολώτερον; γεν δι᾽ ὀλίγου → γε δι᾽ ὀλίγου; δέν φησι → μέν φησι; ἀναγγαίως → ἀναγκαίως; χοινωνίαν → κοινωνίαν; χοινοποιεῖν τὰς → κοινοποιεῖν τὰς; οἷμαι, προσόμοιόν → οἶμαι, προσόμοιόν; ἐχ λοιδορίας, → ἐκ λοιδορίας,; ἁμαρτημάτῶν → ἁμαρτημάτων; χρίνουσιν, → κρίνουσιν, ….

Topics: Trinity, Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.24 (PG 29:519; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/2-17/#p-2-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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