# Apology - Author: [Eunomius of Cyzicus](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/eunomius/) - Latin title: *Liber apologeticus* - Date: ca. 360 (probable) - Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca, vol. 30 (Paris, 1857-1866), cols. 835-868, from Fabricius (Bibliotheca Graeca 8) and Cave, with the Latin version of Fabricius - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Editions and translations: Richard Paul Vaggione, ed., Eunomius: The Extant Works (Oxford: Clarendon, 1987) (copyrighted; cited only) - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/ - Passages: 28 ## Apology 1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-1 - Source: PG 30 30:837 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius explains that he writes his defense because slanderers and the credulous have spread a false report of his beliefs. ### Greek text Τὸ μὲν συκοφαντεῖν καὶ διαβάλλειν τινὰς ἐξ ἀκολάστου γλώττης καὶ γνώμης ἀγνώμονος, μοχθηρῶν καὶ φιλαπεχθημόνων ἔργον εἰδότες· τὸ δὲ τοὺς ἐκ διαβολῆς εἶναι δόξαντας πονηροὺς πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ πειρᾶσθαι τὸ ψεῦδος τοῖς ἐλέγχοις ἀποτρέπειν, ἀνδρῶν σωφρόνων, καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἰδίας εὐβουλίας τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ἀσφάλειαν περὶ πολλοῦ ποιουμένων· ηὐχόμεθα μὲν λόγῳ τὴν γνῶσιν ἀμφοῖν ἔχοντες, μήτε τῆς προτέρας ποτὲ γενέσθαι μοίρας, καὶ τῆς ὑστέρας τὴν πεῖραν διαφυγεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μὴ κατὰ γνώμην ἐκβῆναι συνέβη τὸ τέλος, ποικίλως καὶ πολυτρόπως διά τε λόγων καὶ πράξεων παρὰ πολλοῖς κατασκευασθείσης ἡμῶν ψευδοῦς δυσφημίας, ἀλγεινῆς μὲν ἡμῖν, βλαβερᾶς δὲ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν, ὑπό τινων πονηρῶν καὶ μηδὲν ὀκνούντων λέγειν ἢ πράττειν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν ἀκεραιοτέρων ταῖς τῶν διαφόρων κατηγορίαις τὴν ἀλήθειαν μετρούντων, οὐ κρίσει τὰς καθ' ἡμῶν διαβολὰς προσιεμένων ἡμῖν τε αὐτοῖς λυσιτελεῖν ᾠήθημεν πρὸς ἀπολογίαν, καὶ τοῖς ἀβασανίστως λεγομένοις, πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν, ἔγγραφον εἰς ὑμᾶς ἐκθέσθαι τῆς ἑαυτῶν δόξης ὡς τὴν ὁμολογίαν, εἴ πως διὰ ταύτης τήν τε προλαβοῦσαν ἀποτρεψαίμεθα βλασφημίαν, καὶ πρὸς τὸ λοιπὸν τοὺς μὲν πονηροὺς ἀτολμοτέρους, τοὺς δὲ λίαν εὐχερεῖς ἀσφαλεστέρους παρασκευάσαιμεν, τοῖς μὲν τὸ ψευδῆ λέγειν ἐπιδεὲς, τοῖς δὲ τὸ πιστεύειν ἀσφαλὲς ὑποδείξαντες, συναποδεικνυμένης τῇ παρ᾿ ἡμῶν ἀληθείᾳ τῆς κατ᾿ ἀμφοῖν κολάσεως. Ἡ γὰρ πρὸς τὸ ψεῦδος κοινωνία κοινὴν ἀμφοτέροις κατεργάζεται τὴν τιμωρίαν. ### English translation (Claude) We know that to slander and accuse people out of an unbridled tongue and an unfeeling mind is the work of the wicked and quarrelsome; but that for those who have been made to seem wicked through slander to try with all eagerness to turn the falsehood aside by refutation is the work of sober men, who, along with their own prudence, care greatly for the safety of the many. Knowing both of these by reason, we prayed that we might never fall into the first class and might escape the experience of the second. But since the outcome has not been as we wished, a false ill report of us having been contrived in many and various ways, by words and deeds, among many people (painful to us, but harmful to those who believe it) by certain wicked men who shrink from saying or doing nothing, and by the more simple-minded, who measure the truth by the accusations of opponents and accept the slanders against us without judgment, we thought it would profit both ourselves, for our defense, and those who believe what is said without examination, for their safety, to set out for you in writing the confession of our own belief, in the hope that by it we might turn aside the blasphemy that has gone before, and for the future make the wicked less bold and the all too credulous more careful, showing the former that speaking falsehood is hazardous and the latter that believing is safe only with care, while the punishment awaiting both is shown along with the truth we present. For partnership in falsehood brings a common punishment on both. ### Translation notes - Eunomius, later bishop of Cyzicus, delivered this Apology probably at the Council of Constantinople (359/360); Basil's Against Eunomius answers it. "Hazardous" renders ἐπιδεές as printed, which gives no clear sense (perhaps ἐπισφαλές); translated by sense. The clause "believing is safe only with care" renders a compressed phrase. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 1 (PG 30 30:837; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/1). ## Apology 2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-2 - Source: PG 30 30:837 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius asks his hearers to judge his words not by numbers, rank, or seniority but by Christ's teaching and love of the truth. ### Greek text Αἰτοῦμεν δὲ πρὸ πάντων ὑμᾶς, τοὺς τε νῦν ἀκουσομένους, καὶ τοὺς εἰς ὕστερον ἐντευξομένους, μὴ τῷ πλήθει διακρίνειν ἐθέλειν τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ ψεῦδος, τῇ πλείονι μοίρᾳ τὸ κρεῖττον συνάπτοντας, μήτε μὴν ἀξιώμασιν ἤ τινων ἀλαζονείᾳ προσέχοντας, ἀμαυροῦσθαι τὴν διάνοιαν· ἢ τῇ τάξει τῶν προλαβόντων τὸ πλεῖον νέμοντας, ἀποφράττειν τὰς ἀκοὰς τοῖς ὑστέροις· τὴν δὲ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίαν παντὸς μὲν ἀνθρώπων ἀριθμοῦ, πάσης δὲ φιλοτιμίας ἢ φιλονεικίας, συνηθείας τε αὖ καὶ συγγενείας, καὶ συλλήβδην εἰπεῖν, πάντων ὅσα τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς κριτηρίοις ἐπισκοπεῖν εἴωθεν προτιμήσαντας, τῇ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν εὐνοίᾳ κρίνειν τὰ λεγόμενα Μεγίστη γὰρ μοῖρα πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας διάγνωσιν ἡ πρὸς αὐτὴν οἰκείωσις. ### English translation (Claude) We ask you above all, both those who will hear now and those who will read later, not to want to distinguish falsehood from truth by numbers, attaching the better to the larger party, nor to let your mind be darkened by attending to rank or to anyone's boasting, nor, giving more weight to the order of those who came first, to stop your ears to those who come later; but, preferring the teaching of our Savior Jesus Christ to every number of men, to all ambition or contentiousness, to custom and kinship as well, and, in a word, to everything that is accustomed to obscure the judgments of the soul, to judge what is said with goodwill toward the truth. For the greatest part in discerning the truth is affinity with it. ### Translation notes - After the last sentence the digital text carries a string of variant readings from the edition's apparatus ("σπουδήν. ἀνδρῶν. …"); removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 2 (PG 30 30:837; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/2). ## Apology 3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-3 - Source: PG 30 30:839 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius says he will set out the truth openly, fearing God's judgment more than any earthly loss. ### Greek text Πρὸς δὴ τούτοις μηδ᾽ ἡμῖν χαλεπαίνειν, εἰ τύφου μὲν ἀμελήσαντες καὶ φόβου, τῆς δὲ παραυτίκα χάριτος καὶ ἀσφαλείας τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν μελλόντων ἄδειαν προτιμήσαντες, καὶ πάσης ἐπιγείου κακοπαθείας θανάτου τε προσκαίρου φοβερωτέραν τὴν κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ὡρισμένην ἀπειλὴν εἶναι κρίναντες, παντὸς ἐπικαλύμματος γυμνὴν ἐκτιθέμεθα τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Οὔτε γὰρ, κατὰ τὸν ᾿Απόστολον εἰπεῖν, ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι δόξαν. Οὐδ᾽ ὁ σύμπας κόσμος πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν καὶ δεσποτείαν, ἰσόῤῥοπον ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ἰδίας ἑκάστου ψυχῆς, πολὺ καθ᾽ ἑκάτερον ἀπόλαυσίν τε καὶ κόλασιν ὑπερβαλλόντων τὰ παρόντα τῶν προσδοκωμένων. ### English translation (Claude) Besides this, do not be angry with us if, disregarding pride and fear, preferring confidence about what is to come to favor and safety in the present, and judging the threat appointed against the ungodly to be more fearful than every earthly hardship and temporal death, we set out the truth naked of every covering. For, to speak with the Apostle, "the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is about to be revealed." Nor is the whole world, for enjoyment and dominion, an equal exchange for each person's own soul, since in both respects, enjoyment and punishment alike, what is expected far exceeds what is present. ### Scripture references - Rom 8:18: quotation, high confidence - Matt 16:26: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Rom 8:18; the exchange for the soul recalls Matt 16:26. The digital text runs on with the body of chapter 4 ("… so that we may not dwell on this longer …" to "… the examination of what is said"); it is moved to chapter 4 by logged corrections. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 3 (PG 30 30:839; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/3). ## Apology 4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-4 - Source: PG 30 30:839 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius turns to his confession of faith and proposes the fathers' tradition as the standard for judging it. ### Greek text ᾿Αλλ' ἵνα γε μὴ τούτοις ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐνδιατρίβοντες, πέρα τοῦ μέτρου μηκύνωμεν τὸν λόγον, ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἤδη τρεψώμεθα τῆς πίστεως τὴν ὁμολογίαν, ἐξ ἧς εὐμαρὴς καὶ ῥᾳδία γένοιτ' ἂν τοῖς βουλομένοις τῆς ἡμετέρας γνώμης κατανόησις. Αναγκαῖον δὲ ἴσως τοὺς περὶ τούτων λόγους ποιουμένους, καὶ δόξης οἰκείας εὐθύνας ὑπέχοντας, μὴ ταῖς τῶν πολλῶν ἀμελῶς ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδιδόναι γνώμαις, τὴν δὲ κρατοῦσαν ἄνωθεν ἐκ τῶν Πατέρων εὐσεβῆ παράδοσιν, ὥσπερ τινὰ γνώμονα καὶ κανόνα προεκτιθεμένους, ἀκριβεῖ τούτῳ συγχωρεῖν χρῆσθαι κριτηρίῳ πρὸς τὴν τῶν λεγομένων ἐπίκοισιν. ### English translation (Claude) But so that we may not dwell on this longer and draw out our speech beyond measure, let us turn now to the confession of faith itself, from which those who wish may easily and readily understand our view. It is perhaps necessary for those who speak about these matters and give account of their own belief not to surrender themselves carelessly to the opinions of the many, but to set out first, as a kind of rule and standard, the pious tradition that has prevailed from of old from the fathers, and to allow it to be used as an exact criterion for judging what is said. ### Translation notes - The scan text of chapter 4 keeps only its first words, followed by apparatus debris; the rest of the chapter stands at the end of chapter 3 in the digital text and is restored here by logged corrections. "Examination" renders ἐπίκοισιν, an OCR slip for ἐπίκρισιν. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 4 (PG 30 30:839; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/4). ## Apology 5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-5 - Source: PG 30 30:839 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius gives the simple creed he holds to be the common faith of Christians. ### Greek text Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν, Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα. Καὶ εἰς ἕνα μονογενῆ Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, Θεὸν Λόγον, τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα. Καὶ εἰς ἓν Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, τὸν Παράκλητον, ἐν ᾧ πάσης χάριτος διανομὴ κατὰ τὴν συμμετρίαν πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον ἑκάστῳ δίδοται τῶν ἁγίων. ### English translation (Claude) We believe in one God, the Father almighty, from whom are all things; and in one only-begotten Son of God, God the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things; and in one Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, in whom the distribution of every grace is given in due measure to each of the saints for the common good. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 8:6: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:7: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 12:11: allusion, medium confidence - John 14:26: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 4:7: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Built on 1 Cor 8:6 and 1 Cor 12:7, 11; the Paraclete: John 14:16, 26. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 5 (PG 30 30:839; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/5). ## Apology 6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-6 - Source: PG 30 30:839 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius says the simple creed does not suffice, since even Sabellius, Marcellus, and Photinus could accept it, and promises a more exact account of his view. ### Greek text Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἀπλουστέρα καὶ κοινὴ πάντων πίστις, ὅσοις τὸ δοκεῖν ἢ τὸ εἶναι Χριστιανοῖς ἐπιμελὲς, ὡς ἐν ἐπιδρομῇ κεφαλαιωδέστερον εἰπεῖν, αὕτη, λειπομένων ἔτι τῶν δευτέρων, ὧν διὰ τὸ τέως ἀναμφισβήτητον παρέλκειν ἡγούμεθα τὴν μνήμην. Ἡμεῖς δ᾽ εἰ μὲν ἑωρῶμεν ἐπάναγκες εἶναι τοῖς ἅπαξ τὰς φωνὰς παραδεξαμένοις, ἀπαράτρεπτον συνδιασώζειν τοῖς ὀνόμασι τὴν ἀληθῆ διάνοιαν, ἢ τοὺς ἡμᾶς ἀσεβείας γραφὴν γραψαμένους μετὰ τὴν ὁμολογίαν ταύτην ἐλευθέρους ἀφιέντας τῶν ἐγκλημάτων, καθαρευούσης αὐτῶν τῆς διανοίας πάσης καθ' ἡμῶν πονηρᾶς ὑπονοίας, τοῦτον ὅρον καὶ πέρας τῶν ἰδίων ἂν ἐποιησάμεθα λόγων, ἀσφαλῆ τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἡμῖν ἐγγυωμένης τῆς ὁμολογίας. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μήτε διὰ κακόνοιαν ἤ τινα γνώμης μοχθηρίαν ἑτέραν, παρατρέπειν καὶ διαφθείρειν τὴν ἔννοιαν ἐπιχειροῦσιν, αὐτάρκης πρὸς πίστωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας (οὐ γὰρ ἂν Σαβέλλιος ὁ Λίβυς, καὶ Μάρκελλος ὁ Γαλάτης, καὶ Φωτεινὸς, ἡ τις ἄλλος τῶν τὴν αὐτὴν τούτοις μανίαν μανέντων, συλλόγων ἱερατικῶν καὶ κοινωνίας μυστηρίων, καὶ περιβόλων ἐκκλησιαστικῶν εἴργοντο), μήθ᾽ ἡμῖν ἱκανὴ πρὸς διάλυσιν τῶν ἐπενεχθέντων ἐγκλημάτων· ἀλλὰ δεῖ τινων ἀκριβεστέρων λόγων πρὸς τὴν τῆς διανοίας ἐξάπλωσιν· πειρασόμεθα, ὡς ἂν οἷοί τε ὦμεν εἰς τοὺμφανὲς ἀνάγειν ἣν αὐτοὶ περὶ τούτων τυγχάνομεν ἔχοντες δόξαν, ἤτοι προτιθέντες τὴν λέξιν, εἶθ᾽ ὕστερον ἐκκαλύπτοντες τὴν ἔννοιαν, ἢ καὶ προκειμέναις ταῖς ἐννοίαις τὰς φωνὰς ἐφαρμόζοντες, οὐ λυμαινομένης τῇ ἀληθείᾳ τῆς κατὰ τὴν τάξιν ταύτην ἐναλλαγῆς, ἀρκούντων δηλαδὴ τῶν αὐτῶν ἡμῖν πρός τε τὴν ἡμετέραν αὐτῶν ἀπολογίαν, καὶ τὸν τῶν ἡμᾶς γραψαμένων ἔλεγχον. ### English translation (Claude) This, then, is the simpler faith common to all who care to seem or to be Christians, stated summarily as in passing; the further points remain, which we think it superfluous to mention for the present because they are undisputed. If we saw that those who have once accepted these words must necessarily keep the true meaning together with the names unaltered, or that those who indicted us for impiety would, after this confession, release us from the charges, their minds being cleansed of all evil suspicion against us, we would have made this the limit and end of our words, since the confession would guarantee us a safe peace. But since it is neither sufficient to establish the truth against those who, through malice or some other evil disposition, attempt to pervert and corrupt its sense (for Sabellius the Libyan, Marcellus the Galatian, Photinus, or any other who has raved with the same madness as they, would not be shut out from priestly assemblies, from the communion of the mysteries, and from the precincts of the church), nor sufficient for us to dissolve the charges brought against us, but some more exact statements are needed to unfold our meaning, we shall try, as far as we are able, to bring into the open the view we ourselves hold about these matters, either setting out the expression first and afterward uncovering its sense, or fitting the words to the ideas already set out; the change in this order does no harm to the truth, since the same things suffice us both for our own defense and for the refutation of those who indicted us. ### Translation notes - The words "undisputed, the further points" from the margin leaked into "this confession" in the digital text; restored by logged corrections. The first part of the "neither … nor" sentence is compressed in the printed text; translated by sense. Sabellius, Marcellus of Ancyra, and Photinus of Sirmium were condemned for denying the distinct existence of the Son. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 6 (PG 30 30:839; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/6). ## Apology 7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-7 - Source: PG 30 30:841 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that the one God came into being neither from himself nor from another, and therefore is unbegotten, indeed is unbegotten substance. ### Greek text Εἷς τοίνυν κατά τε φυσικὴν ἔννοιαν, καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῶν Πατέρων διδασκαλίαν ἡμῖν ὡμολόγηται Θεός· μήτε παρ' ἑαυτοῦ, μήτε παρ' ἑτέρου γενόμενος. Ἑκάτερον γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐπίσης ἀδύνατον· ἐπειδή γε δεῖ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν τὸ τε ποιοῦν τοῦ γινομένου προϋπάρχειν, καὶ τὸ ποιούμενον τοῦ ποιοῦντος εἶναι δεύτερον· μήτε δὲ αὐτὸ ἑαυτοῦ πρότερον ἢ ὕστερον εἶναι δύνασθαι, μήτε ἕτερόν τι πρὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἡ γὰρ ἂν ἐκεῖνο πρὸ τοῦ δευτέρου τὸ τῆς θεότητος ἔσχεν ἀξίωμα. Τὸ γάρ τοι δυνατὸν εἶναι λέγειν ὑφ᾽ ἑτέρου τι γίνεσθαι ἀληθὲς ὂν, ἐπὶ γενητῶν ἂν ἔχοι χώραν, κἀπὶ τῶν ὑπὸ Θεοῦ γενομένων τάττοιτο δικαίως. Οὐκοῦν εἰ μήτε αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ, μήθ᾽ ἕτερόν τι αὐτοῦ προϋπάρχειν δέδεικται, πρὸ δὲ πάντων αὐτός · ἀκολουθεῖ τούτῳ τὸ ἀγέννητον· μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτὸς ἐστιν οὐσία ἀγέννητος. Περιττὸν μὲν ἴσως καὶ παρέλκον δόξει τισὶ τὰ πολλοῖς ὁμολογούμενα κατασκευάζειν ὡς ἀμφίβολα. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλά γε διὰ τοὺς σοφίαν οἰομένους τὴν πρὸς τὰ φανερὰ μάχην, ἢ πρὸς μέμψιν καὶ συκοφαντίαν παρεσκευασμένους, δεῖ τινος ἀκριβεστέρας παρατηρήσεως ἡμῖν. ### English translation (Claude) There is, then, one God, confessed by us both according to natural knowledge and according to the teaching of the fathers, who came into being neither from himself nor from another. Each of these is equally impossible, since in truth the maker must exist before what comes into being, and what is made must be second to the maker; and a thing cannot be before or after itself, nor can anything else be before God. Otherwise that thing, rather than the second, would have the dignity of Godhead. For the possibility of saying, truly, that something comes into being from another has its place among things that have come into being, and would rightly be ranked with what has come into being from God. If, then, it has been shown that neither he himself nor anything else exists before him, but he is before all things, the unbegotten follows from this; or rather, he himself is unbegotten substance. To some it will perhaps seem superfluous and needless to establish as doubtful what is agreed by many. Nevertheless, because of those who think that fighting against what is plain is wisdom, or who are prepared for blame and slander, we need some more exact observation. ### Translation notes - "Unbegotten" renders ἀγέννητος and "substance" οὐσία; Eunomius's thesis is that God's very substance is "unbegotten" (οὐσία ἀγέννητος). Translated as written, without comment on its orthodoxy. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 7 (PG 30 30:841; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/7). ## Apology 8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-8 - Source: PG 30 30:841 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that "unbegotten" is not a mere human conception or a privation but names God's very substance. ### Greek text ᾿Αγέννητον δὲ λέγοντες, οὐκ ὀνόματι μόνον κατ' ἐπίνοιαν ἀνθρωπίνην σεμνύνειν οἰόμεθα δεῖν, ἀποτιννύναι δὲ κατ᾿ ἀλήθειαν τὸ πάντων ἀναγκαιότατον ὄφλημα τῷ Θεῷ τὴν τοῦ εἶναι ὅ ἐστιν ὁμολογίαν. Τὰ γάρ τοι κατ' ἐπίνοιαν λεγόμενα ἐν ὀνόμασι μόνον καὶ προφορᾷ τὸ εἶναι ἔχοντα, ταῖς φωναῖς συνδιαλύεσθαι πέφυκεν. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς καὶ σιωπώντων καὶ λεγόντων, καὶ γενομένων· καὶ πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι τὰ ὄντα, ἦν τε καὶ ἔστιν ἀγέννητος. Ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ κατὰ στέρησιν· εἴ γε τῶν κατὰ φύσιν αἱ στερήσεις εἰσὶ στερήσεις, καὶ τῶν ἕξεων δεύτεραι. Οὔτε δὲ κατὰ φύσιν ἦν τις τῷ Θεῷ γένεσις, οὔτε προτέραν ἔχων ταύτην, εἶτα στερηθεὶς γέγονεν ἀγέννητος. Ἐπεὶ καὶ λίαν ἐστὶν ἀσεβὲς, ὡς λυμαντικὸν τῆς ἀληθοῦς περὶ Θεοῦ ἐννοίας καὶ τῆς τελειότητος αὐτοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ τῆς τῶν ἐφευρόντων διανοίας, τὸ λέγειν ὅλως ἐστερῆσθαί τινος τὸν Θεὸν, δηλονότι τῶν φύσει προσόντων. Οὐ γὰρ ἄν τις εἴποι σωφρονῶν ἐστερῆσθαί τινὰ τινος τῶν μὴ πρότερον ὑπαρχόντων. Εἰ δὲ μήτε κατ' ἐπίνοιαν, μήτε κατὰ στέρησιν, ὡς ὁ ῥηθεὶς ἔδειξε λόγος, μήτε ἐν μέρει τὸ ἀγέννητον · ἀμερὴς γάρ· μήτε ἐν αὐτῷ ὡς ἕτερον· ἁπλοῦς γὰρ καὶ ἀσύνθετος· μήτε παρ᾿ αὐτὸν ἕτερον· εἷς γὰρ καὶ μόνος αὐτός ἐστιν ἀγέννητος· αὐτὸ ἂν εἴη οὐσία ἀγέννητος. ### English translation (Claude) When we say "unbegotten", we do not think we ought to honor God only in name, according to human conception, but to repay to him in truth the most necessary debt of all, the confession that he is what he is. For things said according to conception have their being only in names and utterance, and naturally dissolve along with the sounds. But God, whether men are silent or speak, and both after things came into being and before they came into being, was and is unbegotten. Nor is it said by way of privation, if indeed privations are privations of what belongs by nature, and are secondary to the corresponding states. There was no generation natural to God, nor did he have it first and then, deprived of it, become unbegotten. For it is exceedingly impious, as destructive of the true conception of God and of his perfection, or rather of the mind of those who invent it, to say that God is deprived of anything at all, that is, of what belongs to him by nature. For no one of sound mind would say that someone is deprived of something that did not exist in him before. If, then, as the argument has shown, "unbegotten" is said neither according to conception nor by privation, nor of a part of him (for he is without parts), nor as something else within him (for he is simple and uncompounded), nor as something else beside him (for he alone is one and unbegotten), it would be the unbegotten substance itself. ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle, Cat. 12a (Aristotle (works)): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - "Conception" renders ἐπίνοια, "privation" στέρησις, "states" ἕξεις (the Aristotelian pair of state and privation). The digital text carries apparatus readings after "sounds" ("ἐκτιννύναι δὲ αὐτῷ … μήτε ἕτερον") and marginal words at the end ("… χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως, Σοφία, λόγος ἴδιος, Υἱός"), which belong to the edition, not the text; removed by logged corrections. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 8 (PG 30 30:841; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/8). ## Apology 9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-9 - Source: PG 30 30:843 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that the unbegotten God cannot share his substance with what is begotten, whether by division or by comparison, without destroying his unbegottenness. ### Greek text Αγέννητος δὲ ὧν κατὰ τὴν προλαβοῦσαν ἀπόδειξιν, οὐκ ἄν ποτε πρόσοιτο γέννησιν, ὥστε τῆς ἰδίας μεταδοῦναι τῷ γεννωμένῳ φύσεως ἐκφύγοι τε ἂν πᾶσαν σύγκρισιν καὶ κοινωνίαν τὴν πρὸς τὸ γεννητόν. Εἰ γάρ τις κοινοποιεῖν πρὸς ἕτερον, ή μεταδιδόναι τινὶ τῆς οὐσίας ταύτης ἐθελήσειεν, ἤτοι κατὰ διάστασιν καὶ μερισμὸν, ἢ κατὰ σύγκρισιν τοῦτο κατασκευάσειεν ἄν. Ὁπότερον δ᾽ ἂν λέγηται τούτων, πολλαῖς ἀτοπίαις, βλασφημίαις δὲ μᾶλλον ὁ λόγος ἐνεχθήσεται. Εἴτε γὰρ διαιροῖτο καὶ μερίζοιτο, οὐκ ἔτι ἀγέννητος εἴη, ὁ μὴ πρότερον ἦν, τοῦτο ἐκ τῆς διαιρέσεως γιγνόμενος. ᾿Αλλὰ μὴν οὔτε ἄφθαρτος· τοῦ μερισμοῦ τὸ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας ἀξίωμα λυμαινομένου. Εἴτε τὴν πρὸς ἕτερον δέχοιτο σύγκρισιν, τῆς συγκρίσεως οὐκ ἐξ ἀκοινωνήτων γιγνομένης, κοινοποιηθήσεται τὸ τῆς οὐσίας ἀξίωμα. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, καὶ τοῦνομα, ὥστ᾽ ἐξ ἀνάγκης δεῖν τοὺς τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ βιαζομένους, ἢ τὴν προσηγορίαν ἀκοινώνητον φυλάττειν βουλομένους, ἀκοινώνητον ταύτῃ συνδιασώζειν καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν. Η ταύτης μεταδιδόναι τινὶ πειρωμένους, μεταδιδόναι καὶ τῆς προσηγορίας, ὥσπερ καὶ τῆς οὐσίας. Χωλεύοι γὰρ ἂν αὐτοῖς ἡ φιλοτιμία, λειπομένην παρέχουσα θατέρῳ μέρει τὴν χάριν, μετὰ τοῦ μηδ᾽ ἄξιον ἐργάζεσθαι Λόγου τὴν διαφοράν, ἀκριβολογουμένους περὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν, εἴ γε ὀνόματι μόνῳ ὁ μὲν ὑπερέχοι, ὁ δὲ ἐλαττοῖτο. Εἰ δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς μεταδιδόναι φωνῆς ὁ τῆς ἀκολουθίας ἀναγκάζει λόγος, μεταδιδότωσαν φιλοτιμότερον καὶ τῆς ἰσότητος, οὐχ εὑρισκομένου τινὸς ἐν ὅτῳ θήσονται τὴν ὑπεροχήν. ### English translation (Claude) Being unbegotten, according to the preceding demonstration, he could never admit a begetting such as would share his own nature with the one begotten, and he would escape all comparison and communion with what is begotten. For if anyone should wish to make this substance common with another, or to share it with someone, he would have to bring this about either by separation and division or by comparison. Whichever of these is said, the argument will be carried into many absurdities, or rather blasphemies. For if he were divided and parted, he would no longer be unbegotten, becoming by the division what he was not before. Nor would he be incorruptible, since division destroys the dignity of incorruption. And if he admitted comparison with another, since comparison does not arise from things that have nothing in common, the dignity of the substance will be made common. And if this, then the name too; so that those who are forced by this argument must of necessity either, wishing to keep the title incommunicable, keep the substance incommunicable along with it, or, attempting to share the substance with someone, share the title also, as well as the substance. For otherwise their generosity would limp, offering a grace that falls short in one part, besides producing a difference unworthy of reason, while they quibble about the title, if indeed one were superior and the other inferior in name alone. But if the logic of consequence compels them to share the same word, let them more generously share equality also, since nothing will be found in which they can place the superiority. ### Translation notes - The digital text inserts, in the middle of the word συνδιασώζειν, a separate fragment ascribed to Eunomius ("I know him as well as I know myself … God knows no more about his own substance than we do …"), printed by Migne in a note from the church historians (cf. Socrates, Church History 4.7); it is not part of the Apology and is removed by a logged correction. "Comparison" renders σύγκρισις. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 9 (PG 30 30:843; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/9). ## Apology 10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-10 - Source: PG 30 30:845 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius rejects any priority of the Father over the Son merely by order or time, since neither time nor order touches God's substance, and denies that anything precedes or coexists with the unbegotten. ### Greek text Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτ᾽ ἂν εἴποιεν, ὡς κοινὴ μὲν ἀμφοῖν ἡ οὐσία, τάξει δὲ, καὶ τοῖς ἐκ χρόνου πρεσβείοις, ὁ μὲν ἐστι πρῶτος, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος· ἐπειδή γε δεῖ προεῖναι πάντως τοῖς ὑπερέχουσι τὸ τῆς ὑπεροχῆς αἴτιον, οὐ συνέζευκται δὲ τῇ οὐσίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ χρόνος οὐκ αἰὼν, οὐ τάξις. Η τε γὰρ τάξις δευτέρα τοῦ τάττοντος, οὐδὲν δὲ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑφ᾽ ἑτέρου τέτακται. Ο τε χρόνος ἀστέρων ποιά τίς ἐστι κίνησις. ᾿Αστέρες δὲ οὐ τῆς ἀγεννήτου μόνον οὐσίας, καὶ νοητῶν ἁπάντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πρώτων σωμάτων γεγόνασιν ὕστεροι. Περὶ γὰρ αἰώνων τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν, τῆς Γραφῆς σαφῶς διαγορευούσης, πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων ὑπάρχειν τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ τῶν κοινῶν λογισμῶν ἐπιμαρτυρούντων; Οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἀσεβὲς, ἀλλὰ καὶ κομιδῇ καταγέλαστον, τοὺς ἐν μόνον παραδεξαμένους ἀγέννητον, ἢ προϋπάρχειν τι τούτου φάσκειν, ἢ συνυπάρχειν ἕτερον. Εἴτε γὰρ προϋπάρχοι τι, τοῦτο δικαίως λέγοιτ' ἂν ἀγέννητον, οὐ τὸ δεύτερον· εἴτε συνυπάρχοι, τῇ πρὸς θάτερον κοινωνίᾳ τοῦ συνυπάρχειν ἑκάτερον, ἀφαιρεθήσεται τὸ ἓν μόνον εἶναι καὶ τὸ ἀγέννητον εἶναι, οἷα δὴ μετὰ τῆς οὐσίας ἀποκλήρωσίν τίνα καὶ περιγραφὴν ἀμφοῖν συνεισαγόντων, συνθήκην τε αὖ, καὶ τὸ τῆς συνθήκης αἴτιον. ### English translation (Claude) For they will surely not say that the substance is common to both, but that by order and by seniority in time one is first and the other second; since the cause of superiority must altogether exist before those who are superior, and time is not joined to the substance of God, nor an age, nor order. For order is second to the one who orders, and nothing belonging to God has been ordered by another. And time is a certain kind of motion of the stars; and the stars came into being later not only than the unbegotten substance and all intelligible beings, but even than the first bodies. As for the ages, what need is there even to speak, since Scripture clearly declares that God exists before the ages, and common reasoning bears witness? For it is not only impious but altogether ridiculous for those who have accepted only one unbegotten to say either that something exists before him or that another exists with him. For if something existed before, that would rightly be called unbegotten, not the second; and if something existed with him, then by the communion of coexisting with the other, each would be robbed of being alone one and of being unbegotten, since both would introduce, along with the substance, a certain allotment and circumscription, and composition, and the cause of the composition. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:7: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 55:19 (54:20 LXX): echo, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 38b–39d (Plato (works)): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - "Before the ages": cf. 1 Cor 2:7; Ps 55:19 (LXX 54:20). Time defined as a motion of the stars recalls Plato, Timaeus 38–39. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 10 (PG 30 30:845; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/10). ## Apology 11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-11 - Source: PG 30 30:845 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that likeness in substance would make the Son equal and unbegotten, which the Lord's words "the Father is greater than I" exclude. ### Greek text Ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ ἐνυπάρχειν τι ταύτῃ δυνατὸν, οἷον εἶδός φαμεν, ἢ ὄγκον καὶ πηλικότητα, διὰ τὸ πάντη συνθήκης ἐλεύθερον εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. Εἰ δὲ τούτων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων τι μήτε ἔστι, μήτε ποτέ γένοιτ᾽ ἂν, εὐαγὲς ἐπινοῆσαι συμπεπλεγμένον τῇ οὐσία ποῖος ἔτι συγχωρήσει λόγος πρὸς τὴν ἀγέννητον ὁμοιοῦν τὴν γεννητήν; τῆς κατ' οὐσίαν ὁμοιότητὸς ἢ συγκρίσεως ἢ κοινωνίας μηδεμίαν ὑπεροχὴν ἢ διαφορὰν καταλιπούσης, ἰσότητα δὲ σαφῶς ἐργαζομένης, μετὰ δὲ τῆς ἰσότητος ἀγέννητον ἀποφαινούσης προσεῖναι τὸν ὁμοιούμενον ἢ συγκρινόμενον. Οὐδεὶς δὲ οὕτως ἀνόητος καὶ πρὸς ἀσέβειαν τολμηρὸς, ὥστε ἴσον εἰπεῖν τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου διαῤῥήδην εἰπόντος· ῾Ο Πατήρ ὁ πέμψας με, μείζων μου ἐστίν ἢ συζεύξαι θατέρῳ τῶν ὀνομάτων θάτερον, ἀνθέλκοντος ἑκατέρου πρὸς ἑαυτὸ, καὶ μηδ᾽ ἑτέρου προσιεμένου τὴν πρὸς θάτερον κοινωνίαν. ῎Αν τε γὰρ ἀγέννητος, οὐχ υἱός· ἄν τε υἱὸς, οὐκ ἀγέννητος. Ἀλλὰ ὅτι μὲν εἷς ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων Θεὸς ἀγέννητος καὶ ἀσύγκριτος, πλειόνων ὄντων τῶν παραλελειμμένων, ἀποχρῆναι ἡγοῦμαι τὰ ῥηθέντα πρὸς ἀπόδειξιν. ### English translation (Claude) Nor can anything exist within this substance, such as what we call form, or bulk and magnitude, because God is entirely free of composition. And if none of these or of such things either is or could ever be piously conceived as interwoven with the substance, what reasoning will still allow the begotten substance to be likened to the unbegotten? For likeness, comparison, or communion according to substance leaves no superiority or difference, but clearly produces equality, and with equality shows that the one likened or compared is also unbegotten. But no one is so senseless and so bold toward impiety as to call the Son equal to the Father, when the Lord himself said expressly, "The Father who sent me is greater than I"; or to yoke one of the names to the other, since each pulls toward itself and neither admits communion with the other. For if unbegotten, not Son; and if Son, not unbegotten. But that the God of all things is one, unbegotten and incomparable, I think what has been said is enough to demonstrate, though much more has been left out. ### Scripture references - John 14:28: quotation, high confidence - John 14:24: allusion, medium confidence - John 5:18: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - John 14:28, combined with "the Father who sent me" (John 14:24). Translated as written: the denial that the Son is equal to the Father is Eunomius's Anomoean position. Apparatus readings ("ἓν. οὐ χρόνος, ἤ. τοῦ Θεοῦ. Α") are removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 11 (PG 30 30:845; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/11). ## Apology 12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-12 - Source: PG 30 30:847 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius says the names "Son", "offspring", and "thing made" show the Son's different substance, and that the Son did not exist before he was begotten by the Father's will. ### Greek text Ὅτι δὲ καὶ εἷς Υἱὸς (μονογενὴς γὰρ), ἐνῆν μὲν τὰς τῶν ἁγίων φωνάς παραθεμένους, δι' ὧν υἱὸν καὶ γέννημα καὶ ποίημα καταγγέλλουσι, ταῖς τῶν ὀνομάτων διαφοραῖς καὶ τὴν τῆς οὐσίας παραλλαγὴν ἐμφανίσαντας, ἀπηλλάχθαι φροντίδος καὶ πραγμάτων. Διὰ δὲ τοὺς σωματικὴν τὴν γέννησιν ὑπολαμβάνοντας, καὶ ταῖς ὁμωνυμίαις προσπταίοντας, ἀναγκαῖον ἴσως καὶ περὶ τούτων διὰ βραχέων εἰπεῖν. Γέννημα τοίνυν τὸν Υἱὸν φαμεν κατὰ τὴν τῶν Γραφῶν διδασκαλίαν, οὐχ ἕτερον μέν τι τὴν οὐσίαν νοοῦντες, ἕτερον δὲ τι παρ᾿ αὐτὴν τὸ σημαινόμενον, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὴν εἶναι τὴν ὑπόστασιν ἣν σημαίνει τοὔνομα, ἐπαληθευούσης τῇ οὐσίᾳ τῆς προσηγορίας. Ταύτην δὲ γεγεννῆσθαι μὲν οὐκ οὖσαν πρὸ τῆς ἰδίας συστάσεως, εἶναι δὲ γεννηθεῖσαν πρὸ πάντων, γνώμῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρός. ### English translation (Claude) That there is also one Son (for he is only-begotten), we could have set out the words of the saints by which they proclaim him Son and offspring and thing made, and, having shown by the differences of the names the difference of substance also, been rid of worry and trouble. But because of those who suppose the begetting to be bodily and stumble over words used in more than one sense, it is perhaps necessary to speak briefly about these matters too. We call the Son an offspring, then, according to the teaching of the Scriptures, not understanding the substance to be one thing and what is signified to be something else beside it, but that the very hypostasis is what the name signifies, since the title is true of the substance. And this was begotten, not existing before its own constitution, but it exists, begotten before all things, by the will of the God and Father. ### Scripture references - Prov 8:22: echo, low confidence - Acts 2:36: echo, low confidence - John 1:18: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - "Offspring" renders γέννημα, "thing made" ποίημα; "thing made" alludes to Prov 8:22 and Acts 2:36 as read by the Anomoeans. "Not existing before its own constitution": the Son, Eunomius holds, was begotten not existing. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 12 (PG 30 30:847; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/12). ## Apology 13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-13 - Source: PG 30 30:847 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that to say the Son was begotten while already existing is absurd, since what exists before its begetting is unbegotten. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ τῳ δοκεῖ τολμηρὸν εἶναι τὸ ῥηθὲν, ἐπισκεψάσθω παρ' ἑαυτῷ πότερον ὡς ἀληθὲς ὂν, ἢ ψεῦδος. Εἱ μὲν/γ κατὰ τὴν αὐ βάλλειν τὴν Υἱοῦ γένεσιν πάντων εὐσεβέστατον, οὐκ γὰρ τὸ πρότερον, ἀνυπαίτιος ἡ τόλμα Μεν αὐτοῦ κρίσιν, ἐπείπερ μηδὲν τῶν ἀληθῶν ἐν καιρῷ καὶ μέτρῳ λεγόμενον ὑπαίτιον. Εἰ δὲ ψεῦδος, ἀνάγκη δήπου πᾶσα, τούτων τούναντίον ἀληθὲς ἡγεῖσθαι. Τοῦτο δὲ ἐστὶν, ὄντα γεγεννῆσθαι τὸν Υἱόν. Ὅπερ οὐκ ἀτοπίας μόνον ἢ βλασφημίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσης εὐηθείας ὑπερβολὴν ἂν ἔχοι. Τῷ γὰρ ὄντι τί δεῖ γενέσεως, εἰ μὴ πρὸς ἕτερόν τι μεταῤῥυθμίζοιτο κατὰ τὴν ἐμψύχων τε καὶ ἀψύχων σωμάτων φύσιν, ἅπερ γενέσθαι λέγοιτ' ἂν ἀληθῶς, ὄντα μὲν ἅ ἐστιν, οὐκ ὄντα δὲ ἃ γίνεται; Οὔτε γὰρ τὸ σπέρμα ἄνθρωπος, οὔτε λίθος οἶκος· γίνεται δὲ, τὸ μὲν ἄνθρωπος, τὸ δὲ οἶκος. Εἰ δὲ τούτων ἕκαστον, οἷς καὶ παραὄντα γίνεται (οὐ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο γίνεται ὁ πρότερον ἦν), ποίαν δέξεται ἴασιν ὁ τὸν Υἱὸν ὄντα γεγεννῆσθαι λέγων; Εἰ γὰρ πρὸ τῆς γεννήσεως ἦν, ἀγέννητος ἦν. ### English translation (Claude) If what has been said seems bold to anyone, let him consider within himself whether it is true or false. If the former, the boldness is blameless by his own judgment, since nothing true said in season and in measure is blameworthy. But if false, it is altogether necessary to hold the opposite of this to be true; that is, that the Son was begotten while existing. This would contain the height not only of absurdity or blasphemy but of all foolishness. For what need of generation has what exists, unless it is being changed into something else, after the manner of the nature of animate and inanimate bodies, which may truly be said to come into being, existing as what they are, but not existing as what they become? For neither is the seed a man, nor the stone a house; but the one becomes a man, the other a house. And if each of these, which exist, becomes something it was not (for it does not become what it was before), what cure will he find who says that the Son was begotten while existing? For if he existed before the begetting, he was unbegotten. ### Translation notes - The second sentence is garbled in the scan (two lines interleaved, with the words "… to place the generation of the Son … most pious of all …" mixed in); it is translated by sense and the printed text is left as it stands. "Becomes something it was not" renders the damaged phrase παραὄντα γίνεται by sense. Apparatus readings at the end are removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 13 (PG 30 30:847; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/13). ## Apology 14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-14 - Source: PG 30 30:849 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that a Son begotten while already existing would be a second unbegotten, and that generation by growth or change is absurd. ### Greek text Ἀλλὰ πάλαι γε καλῶς ὡμολόγηται μηδὲν ἕτερον ἀγέννητον εἶναι παρὰ τὸν Θεόν. Η τοίνυν μεταθέσθωσαν τῆς ὁμολογίας, ἕτερον εἰσάγοντες ἀγέννητον· ἢ τούτοις ἐμμένοντες παραιτείσθωσαν λέγειν ὄντα γεγεννῆσθαι τὸν Υἱόν· ἐπεὶ μηδὲ συγχωρεῖ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ γεννήματος ἡ προσηγορία πρὸς τὴν ἀγέννητον. Πᾶσα γὰρ γένοιτο σύγχυσις ὀνομάτων τε καὶ πραγμάτων, μιᾶς μὲν οὐσίας οὔσης τε καὶ λεγομένης ἀγεννήτου, ἐπεισαγομένης δὲ τῷ λόγῳ πάλιν ἑτέρας, εἶτα ταύτης γεννητῆς ὀνομαζομένης, Υιοῦ τε μὴ γεννηθέντος κατ᾿ αὐτοὺς, καὶ Πατρὸς μὴ γεννήσαντος, ὀνόματα, εἴγε μὴ γεννηθεὶς ἦν. Πλὴν εἰ μὴ τις, κατὰ τὸν λόγον, κακὸν κακῷ ἰώμενος, μείζονι τὸ ἔλαττον, αὐξητικὴν ἢ μεταβλητικὴν ἐπινοήσειε γένεσιν, πρὸς ἅπασι τοῖς ἄλλοις μήτ' ἐκεῖνο καλῶς λογισάμενος, ὡς εἴτε αὐξάνοι τι, προσθήκη τινὸς τῶν ἔξωθεν αὐξήσειεν ἄν. Πόθεν οὖν τὸ προστεθὲν, εἰ μὴ καὶ ἕτερον ὑποθοίμεθα; Ἀλλὰ εἰ μὲν τοῦτο, πολλὰ τὰ ὄντα καὶ ἀγέννητα ὄντα εἰς συμπλήρωσιν ἑνὸς ἐπινοεῖν ἀναγκαῖον. Εἰ δ' ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος ἡ αὔξησις, πότερον ἄμεινον ὁμολογεῖν πᾶν μὴ ὂν γεγεννῆσθαι γνώμῃ τοῦ παραγαγόντος, ἢ σύνθετον λέγειν τὴν οὐσίαν ἐξ ὄντος καὶ μὴ ὄντος; Εἴτε μεταβάλοιτο, μηδενὸς ὄντος εἰς ὃ μεταβληθείη, εἰς τὸ μὴ ὂν ἐξ ἀνάγκης μεταβληθήσεται. Καὶ πῶς οὐκ εὔηθες, ἵνα μὴ λέγωμεν ἀσεβὲς, τὸ ὂν εἰς τὸ μὴ ὂν κεχωρηκέναι λέγειν; δέον ἀφεμένους τῆς ἀμέτρου ταύτης εὐηθείας, παρανοίας δὲ μᾶλλον, σωφρόνως παραδέξασθαι τάληθές. ### English translation (Claude) But it has long been rightly agreed that nothing other than God is unbegotten. Either, then, let them retract the confession, introducing another unbegotten; or, abiding by it, let them refuse to say that the Son was begotten while existing; since the title of son and offspring does not even admit of the unbegotten. For there would be total confusion of names and things, if one substance both is and is called unbegotten, and then another is brought into the argument and this is named begotten, while, according to them, the Son was not begotten and the Father did not beget: names, if indeed he existed without being begotten. Unless someone, as the saying goes, curing evil with evil, the lesser with the greater, should devise a generation by growth or by change, failing, besides everything else, to reckon this well: that if something grows, it would grow by the addition of something from outside. Where, then, would what is added come from, unless we suppose another being also? But if so, it is necessary to conceive many beings, and these unbegotten, to make up one. And if the growth is from what does not exist, is it better to confess that all that did not exist was begotten by the will of the one who brought it forth, or to call the substance compounded of what exists and what does not? And if it were changed, since there is nothing into which it could be changed, it will of necessity be changed into what does not exist. And how is it not foolish, not to say impious, to say that what exists has passed into what does not exist? One ought rather to abandon this boundless foolishness, or rather madness, and soberly accept the truth. ### Translation notes - "Curing evil with evil": a proverb (Herodotus 3.53; Sophocles, frag. 77). The clause "names, if indeed he existed without being begotten" is defective in the printed text (stray letters removed); translated by sense: the titles Father and Son would be empty names. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 14 (PG 30 30:849; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/14). ## Apology 15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-15 - Source: PG 30 30:849 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius affirms that the Son was begotten not existing, by the Father's will, yet stands above all creatures as the one through whom all things were made. ### Greek text ᾿Αλλὰ οὗτοι μὲν ταύταις καὶ πολλῷ πλείοσι τούτων ἀτοπίαις ὄντες ὑπόδικοι λελήθασί σφας αὐτοὺς, οὐχ ἡμᾶς τόλμης εὐθύναις δικαίως ὑπάγοντες, ἀλλ᾿ ἑαυτοὺς ἀσεβείας ἐγκλήμασιν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῖς ὑπό τε τῶν ἁγίων πάλαι καὶ νῦν ἀφ᾿ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἀποδεδειγμένοις ἐμμένοντες, μήτε τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Θεοῦ προσιεμένης γέννησιν, ὡς ἀγεννήτου, μήτε διάστασιν ἢ μερισμὸν ὡς ἀφθάρτου, μήτε μὴν ἑτέρας τινὸς ὑποκειμένης εἰς Υἱοῦ γέννησιν, μὴ ὄντα φαμὲν γεγεννῆσθαι τὸν Υἱόν. Οὐ κοινοποιοῦμεν οὐδὲ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς τὴν οὐσίαν πρὸς τὰ ἐκ μὴ ὄντων γενόμενα, ἐπείπερ οὐκ οὐσία τὸ μὴ ὄν. Τῇ δὲ τοῦ ποιήσαντος γνώμῃ τὴν διαφορὰν τοῖς πᾶσιν ὀριζόμενοι, τοσαύτην αὐτῷ νέμομεν ὑπεροχὴν, ὅσην ἔχειν ἀναγκαῖον τῶν ἰδίων ποιημάτων τὸν ποιητήν. Πάντα γὰρ δι᾿ αὐτοῦ γεγεννῆσθαι κατὰ τὸν μακάριον Ἰωάννην ὁμολογοῦμεν, συναπογεννηθείσης ἄνωθεν αὐτῷ τῆς δημιουργικῆς δυνάμεως, ὥστ' εἶναι Θεὸν μονογενῆ πάντων τῶν μετ᾿ αὐτὸν καὶ τῶν δι' αὐτοῦ γενομένων. Μόνος γὰρ τῇ τοῦ ἀγενήτου δυνάμει γεννηθεὶς καὶ κτισθεὶς, καὶ πάλαι. τελειότατος γέγονεν ὑπουργὸς πρὸς πᾶσαν δημιουργίαν καὶ γνώμην τοῦ Πατρός. ### English translation (Claude) But these men, being liable to these absurdities and many more, have deceived themselves, not justly bringing us to account for boldness, but bringing themselves under charges of impiety. We, abiding by what has been demonstrated by the saints of old and now by ourselves, say that the Son was begotten not existing, since the substance of God, being unbegotten, does not admit begetting, nor, being incorruptible, separation or division, nor does any other substance underlie the begetting of the Son. Nor do we make the substance of the Only-begotten common with the things that came into being from what does not exist, since what does not exist is not a substance. But, defining the difference from all things by the will of the one who made him, we assign him as much superiority as the maker must have over his own works. For we confess, with the blessed John, that all things came into being through him, the creative power having been begotten together with him from above, so that he is only-begotten God of all the things after him and of those that came into being through him. For he alone was begotten and created by the power of the unbegotten, and of old he became the most perfect minister for the whole creation and will of the Father. ### Scripture references - John 1:3: quotation, high confidence - John 1:18: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - John 1:3 ("all things came into being through him"); "only-begotten God" (μονογενὴς Θεός): John 1:18. "Begotten and created" is Eunomius's own phrase; translated as written. "Of old" renders πάλαι as printed. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 15 (PG 30 30:849; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/15). ## Apology 16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-16 - Source: PG 30 30:851 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that "Father" and "Son" no more imply bodily begetting than God's being creator implies pre-existing matter, since words used of God and man share sound but not meaning. ### Greek text Εἰ δ᾽ ὅτι Πατήρ καὶ Υἱὸς, διὰ τοῦτο ἀνθρωπίνην καὶ σωματικὴν χρὴ τὴν γέννησιν ἐννοεῖν, κἀκ τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις γεννήσεων ἀναγομένους, τοῖς τῆς μετουσίας ὀνόμασι καὶ πάθεσιν ὑπάγειν τὸν Θεὸν ἐπειδὴ καὶ δημιουργὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὕλην ὑποβάλλειν δεῖ πρὸς γένεσιν τῶν δεδημιουργημένων κατὰ τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν πλάνην. Ὁ γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας οὐσίας γεννῶν ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἂν ὕλης χωρὶς δημιουργήσειεν. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο παραιτοῖντο, μηδὲν τῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων φροντίζοντες προφορᾶς, τὴν δὲ τῷ Θεῷ περιπίπτουσαν ἔννοιαν διασώζοντες ἐπιτρέποιεν ἐξουσίᾳ μόνῃ δημιουργεῖν. πῶς ἂν ἔχοι χώραν τὸ τῆς μετουσίας πάθος ἐπὶ Θεοῦ διὰ τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς προσηγορίαν; Τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσειε τῶν εὖ φρονούντων, ὅτι τῶν ὀνομάτων τὰ μὲν κατὰ τὴν ἐκφώνησιν καὶ προφορὰν τὴν κοινωνίαν ἔχει μόνον, οὐκ ἔτι δὲ κατὰ τὴν σημασίαν Ὡς ὀφθαλμὸς, ἐπί τε ἀνθρώπου καὶ Θεοῦ λεγόμενος· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ σημαίνει τι μέρος, τοῦ δὲ ποτὲ μὲν ἀντίληψιν καὶ φυλακὴν τῶν δικαίων, ποτὲ δὲ τὴν τῶν πραττομένων γνῶσιν. ### English translation (Claude) But if, because the names are Father and Son, we must conceive the begetting as human and bodily, and, reasoning from human begettings, subject God to the names and passions of participation, then, since God is also creator, we must posit matter for the coming into being of what has been created, after the error of the Greeks. For a man who begets from his own substance could not create without matter. But if they refuse this, caring nothing for the utterance of names, but preserving the conception that befits God, and allow that he creates by authority alone, how could the passion of participation have a place in God because of the title Father? For who of those who think rightly would not agree that some names have communion in sound and utterance only, but no longer in meaning? Such is "eye", said both of man and of God: of the one it signifies a part, of the other sometimes the help and protection of the righteous, sometimes the knowledge of what is done. ### Scripture references - Ps 34:15 (33:16 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Heb 4:13: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - "The error of the Greeks": the philosophers' doctrine of eternal matter. God's "eye" over the righteous: Ps 34:15 (LXX 33:16); his knowledge of what is done: cf. Heb 4:13. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 16 (PG 30 30:851; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/16). ## Apology 17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-17 - Source: PG 30 30:851 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that words like "Father" and "Spirit" mean something different of God, so that calling the Son a thing made does not make him like the creatures made through him. ### Greek text Τὰ δὲ πολλὰ, κατὰ τὴν ἐκφώνησιν κεχωρισμένα, τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει σημασίαν, ὡς τὸ ὂν, καὶ μόνος ἀληθινὸς Θεός. Οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ὅταν λέγηται Πατήρ, κοινὴν ἐννοεῖν χρὴ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ἐπ᾿ ἀμφοῖν συνεπινοοῦντας ταύτῃ ῥεῦσιν ἢ πάθος, ἐπείπερ ἡ μὲν ἐστιν ἀπαθὴς, ἡ δὲ μετὰ πάθους. Οὐδὲ ὅταν λέγηται Πνεῦμα, κοινὴν ἔχει πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα πνεύματα τὴν φύσιν. Ἐν πᾶσι δὲ τὸ ἀνάλογον σώζοντας, μήτε τὸν Υἱὸν ἀκούοντας ποίημα δυσχεραίνειν, ὡς κοινοποιουμένης πάντως καὶ τῆς οὐσίας ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων κοινωνίας. Ὁ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἀγεννήτου καὶ ἀποιήτου γέννημα καὶ ποίημα· οὐρανὸς δὲ καὶ ἄγγελοι, καὶ πᾶν ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἄλλο ποίημα, τούτου τοῦ ποιήματός ἐστι ποιήματα, προστάγματι τοῦ Πατρὸς δι' αὐτοῦ γενόμενα. Οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ταῖς Γραφαῖς τὸ ἀψευδεῖν φυλάττοιτο, ποίημα καὶ γέννημα λεγούσαις τὸν Υἱὸν, καὶ τῶν ὑγιαινόντων ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἐκστησόμεθα λογισμῶν, μήτε μέρη τῷ Θεῷ περιάπτοντες, μήτε μὴν πρὸς μὲν γέννησιν τὴν ἰδίαν οὐσίαν, πρὸς δὲ κτίσιν ὕλην ὑποβάλλοντες, ἐξ ὧν ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων διαφορά γίνεσθαι πέφυκεν. ### English translation (Claude) But many names, distinct in sound, have the same meaning, such as "He who is" and "the only true God." So too, when "Father" is said, we must not think the activity common with that of men, conceiving along with it in both cases flux or passion, since the one is impassible and the other involves passion. Nor, when "Spirit" is said, does it have a nature common with the things called spirits. Keeping the analogy in all cases, we should not be offended to hear the Son called a thing made, as though the substance too were altogether made common by the communion of names. For he is the offspring and thing made of the unbegotten and unmade; but heaven and angels and every other thing made are the things made of this thing made, having come into being through him at the command of the Father. For so the truthfulness of the Scriptures would be preserved, which call the Son both a thing made and an offspring, and we would not depart from sound reasoning, neither attaching parts to God nor positing his own substance for begetting and matter for creation, from which the difference of names naturally arises. ### Scripture references - Exod 3:14: allusion, high confidence - John 17:3: allusion, high confidence - John 1:3: allusion, medium confidence - Col 1:16: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "He who is": Exod 3:14 (LXX); "the only true God": John 17:3. "Activity" renders ἐνέργεια. "Thing made" (ποίημα) is Eunomius's term for the Son; translated as written. All things made through the Son: John 1:3; Col 1:16. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 17 (PG 30 30:851; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/17). ## Apology 18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-18 - Source: PG 30 30:851 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that names must follow the realities, and criticizes those who call the Son begotten and made yet teach that he is like the Father in substance. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ μήτε γεννῶν ὁ Θεὸς τῆς οἰκείας τῷ γεννωμένῳ μεταδίδωσι φύσεως κατὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους· ἀγέννητος γάρ· μηδὲ κτίζων, ὕλης ἐπιδεῖταί τινος, ἀπροσδεὴς ὧν καὶ δυνατός· ἀλόγιστος παντάπασιν ἡ τοῦ κτίσματος παραίτησις. Ἐκ δὴ τούτων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων δεικνυμένους (ἐχρῆν) μήτε πάντη τοῖς ὀνόμασι συνεξομοιοῦν πειρᾶσθαι τὰς σημασίας, μήτε μὴν παραλλάττειν παρηλλαγμένων· ταῖς δὲ τῶν ὑποκειμένων ἐννοίαις προσέχοντας, ἀκολούθως ἐφαρμόττειν τὰς προσηγορίας, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ ταῖς φωναῖς πέφυκεν ἀκολουθεῖν τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ φύσις, τοῖς δὲ πράγμασιν ἐφαρμόζεσθαι κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων δύναμις. Καταμέμψαιτο δ᾽ ἄν τις οὐχ ἧττον καὶ τοὺς γέννημα μὲν καὶ ποίημα τὸν Υἱὸν εἶναι πειθομένους, ἀγέννητόν τε καὶ ἄκτιστον τὸν Θεὸν συντιθεμένους, τῇ δὲ τῶν δευτέρων προσθήκῃ, καὶ τῇ κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ὁμοιότητι ταῖς προλαβούσαις ὁμολογίαις ἐναντιουμένους. Οὓς ἐχρῆν, εἰ μέν τις ἦν αὐτοῖς ἀληθείας φροντὶς, παρηλλαγμένων τῶν ὀνομάτων, παρηλλαγμένας ὁμολογεῖν καὶ τὰς οὐσίας. Ἡ γὰρ ἂν οὕτω καὶ μόνως τὴν δικαίαν ἐφύλαττον τάξιν, ἑκατέρᾳ τούτων τὴν προσήκουσαν ἀποδιδόντες ὁμολογίαν. Εἰ δὲ μὴ ταύτης ποιοῦνταί τινα λόγον, τῆς γοῦν ἰδίας ἐπινοίας φυλάξαι τὴν ἀκολουθίαν, καὶ μὴ τῆς αὐτῆς φύσεως παραχωροῦντας, ἀλλοτριοῦν τῆς ἁρμοζούσης ὀνομασίας, ἀποδεδειγμένου διὰ πάντων ἡμῖν τῶν προλαβόντων αὐτῶν εἶναι τῶν οὐσιῶν σημαντικὰς τὰς προσηγορίας. ### English translation (Claude) If, then, God in begetting does not share his own nature with the one begotten, as men do (for he is unbegotten), nor in creating needs any matter, being without need and powerful, the refusal of the word "creature" is altogether unreasonable. From these and similar considerations it ought to have been shown that one should neither try to assimilate the meanings entirely to the names, nor, when the names differ, to make the meanings differ; but, attending to the concepts of the realities themselves, to fit the titles to them accordingly, since the nature of things does not naturally follow words, but the force of names is fitted to the things according to their worth. One might blame no less those who are persuaded that the Son is an offspring and a thing made, and who agree that God is unbegotten and uncreated, but who, by adding the second point, likeness in substance, contradict their earlier confessions. If they had any care for truth, they ought, since the names differ, to confess that the substances differ too. For so, and only so, would they keep the just order, giving to each of these the confession that befits it. And if they take no account of this, they ought at least to keep the consistency of their own conception, and not, while refusing to grant the same nature, estrange it from the naming that suits it; since it has been shown by us through all that has gone before that the titles signify the substances themselves. ### Scripture references - Prov 8:22: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Those criticized are the Homoiousians (Basil of Ancyra and his party), who held the Son to be "like in substance" to the Father. "Creature" renders κτίσμα (Prov 8:22 LXX). The phrase "nor, when the names differ, to make the meanings differ" renders a compressed phrase by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 18 (PG 30 30:851; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/18). ## Apology 19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-19 - Source: PG 30 30:853 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius answers the objection that Father and Son are alike as "light from light": if "light" signifies the substance, the begotten light differs from the unbegotten as much as begotten from unbegotten. ### Greek text Εἴποι δ' ἄν τις ἴσως πρὸς ἀντιλογίαν ἠκονημένος, ὡς εἴπερ δεῖ τοῖς ὀνόμασι προσέχειν, καὶ διὰ τούτων προσάγεσθαι ταῖς τῶν ὑποκειμένων ἐννοίαις, καθὸ μὲν ἀγέννητον καὶ γεννητὸν παρηλλάχθαι φαμὲν, καθὸ δὲ φῶς καὶ φῶς, ζωή τε καὶ ζωή, δύναμις καὶ δύναμις, ἐοικέναι. Πρὸς ὅν φαμεν, οὐ βακτηρίᾳ χρώμενοι πρὸς τὴν ἐρώτησιν ἀντ᾿ ἀποκρίσεως κατὰ τὸν Διογένους ἐπαινέτην· πολὺ γὰρ κυνισμὸς κεχώρισται Χριστιανισμοῦ· τὸν δὲ μακάριον Παῦλον ἐζηλωκότες, ὅς φησι δεῖν ἐν πολλῇ μακροθυμίᾳ παιδεύειν τοὺς ἀντιδιατιθεμένους, ὅτι τὸ μέν ἐστιν ἀγέννητον φῶς, τὸ δὲ γεννητόν. Πότερον ἄλλο τι σημαίνει τὸ φῶς ἐπ᾿ ἀγεννήτου λεγόμενον παρὰ τὸ γεννητὸν, ἢ ταυτὸν ἑκάτερον; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἔτερόν τι καὶ ἕτερον, εὔδηλον, ὅτι καὶ σύνθετον τὸ ἐξ ἑτέρου καὶ ἑτέρου συγκείμενον. Τὸ δὲ σύνθετον οὐκ ἀγέννητον. Εἰ δὲ ταυτὸν, ὅσον παρήλλακται τὸ ἀγέννητον πρὸς τὸ γεννητὸν, τοσοῦτον παρηλλάχθαι δεῖ καὶ τὸ φῶς πρὸς τὸ φῶς, καὶ τὴν ζωὴν πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν, καὶ τὴν δύναμιν πρὸς τὴν δύναμιν. Ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς κανὼν καὶ τρόπος πρὸς τὴν ἁπάντων τῶν τοιούτων διάλυσιν. Εἰ τοίνυν πᾶν ὅπερ λέγεται τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας σημαντικὸν, ἴσον ἐστὶ κατὰ τὴν τῆς σημασίας δύναμιν τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ διὰ τὸ ἀμερὲς καὶ ἀσύνθετον, κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον κἀπὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς αὐτὸν τῷ γεννήματι. Παρηλλάχθαι δὲ ταῦτά φασι καὶ αὐτὸ γεννητὸν πρὸς τὸ ἀγέννητον, Τίς ἔτι συγχωρήσει λόγον τὴν τῆς οὐσίας ὁμοιότητα προσάγειν, ἤ τινι τὴν ὑπεροχὴν κατὰ τὸ μεῖζον ὁρίσασθαι. παντὸς μὲν ὄγκου, παντὸς δὲ χρόνου, καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἐξῃρημένων, ἁπλῆς τε καὶ μόνης οὔσης τε τῆς οὐσίας καὶ νοουμένης; ### English translation (Claude) Someone sharpened for contradiction may perhaps say that, if we must attend to the names and be led by them to the concepts of the realities, then insofar as we call them unbegotten and begotten we say they differ, but insofar as they are light and light, life and life, power and power, they are alike. To him we answer, not using a stick for an answer to the question, like the admirer of Diogenes (for Cynicism is far removed from Christianity), but imitating the blessed Paul, who says that we must instruct opponents with much patience: the one is unbegotten light, the other begotten. Does "light" said of the unbegotten signify something other than what it signifies of the begotten, or the same in each? If one thing and another, it is clear that what is composed of one thing and another is also composite; and the composite is not unbegotten. But if the same, then as much as the unbegotten differs from the begotten, so much must light differ from light, life from life, and power from power. For the same rule and manner serves for resolving all such cases. If, then, everything said as signifying the substance of the Father is equivalent in force of meaning to "unbegotten", because he is without parts and uncompounded, and by the same reasoning in the case of the Only-begotten it is equivalent to "offspring"; and they say that these differ, the begotten itself from the unbegotten; what reasoning will still allow anyone to bring in likeness of substance, or to define the superiority of either one by a "greater", when all bulk and all time and the like have been excluded, and the substance both is and is conceived as simple and alone? ### Scripture references - 2 Tim 2:25: allusion, high confidence - 2 Tim 4:2: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:4: echo, low confidence - John 8:12: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - "Light and light, life and life, power and power": formulas of the creeds of the period ("light from light"). The "admirer of Diogenes" who answered with a stick is a Cynic (anecdote not identified). Paul: 2 Tim 2:25 with 2 Tim 4:2. Apparatus readings after "unbegotten" ("Τῷ. το. Ἐπιπ. …") and a numeral "(33΄)" are removed by logged corrections. The conditional sentence beginning "If, then" is grammatically incomplete in the printed text; translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 19 (PG 30 30:853; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/19). ## Apology 20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-20 - Source: PG 30 30:855 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that both the study of the substances and the study of their works and activities show that the Son is unlike the Father in substance, and the Spirit unlike the Son. ### Greek text Τὴν ἀρχὴν δὲ δοκοῦσί μοι οἱ τὴν ἀδέσποτον καὶ πάσης μὲν αἰτίας κρείττονα, πάντων δὲ νόμων ἐλευθέραν οὐσίαν, τῇ γεννητῇ καὶ νόμοις πατρικοῖς δουλευούσῃ συγκρίναι τολμήσαντες, ἢ μηδὲ ὅλως τὴν τῶν ὅλων φύσιν ἐπεσκέφθαι, ἢ μὴ καθαρᾷ τῇ διανοίᾳ τὰς περὶ τούτων ποιεῖσθαι κρίσεις. Δυεῖν γὰρ ἡμῖν τετμημένων ὁδῶν πρὸς τὴν τῶν ζητουμένων εὕρεσιν, μιᾶς μὲν, καθ᾿ ἣν τὰς οὐσίας αὐτὰς ἐπισκοπούμενοι, καθαρῷ τῷ περὶ αὐτῶν λόγῳ τὴν ἑκάστου ποιούμεθα κρίσιν, θατέρας δὲ τῆς διὰ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν ἐξετάσεως, ἣν ἐκ τῶν δημιουργημάτων καὶ τῶν ἀποτελεσμάτων διακρίνομεν, οὐδετέραν τῶν εἰρημένων εὑρεῖν ἐμφαινομένην τὴν τῆς οὐσίας ὁμοιότητα δυνατόν. Εἴτε γὰρ ἐκ τῶν οὐσιῶν ποιοῖτά τις τῆς ἐπισκέψεως τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἡ μὲν ἀνωτέρω βασιλείας καὶ πάντη γεννήσεως ἀνεπίδεκτος οὖσα, τούτοις τε παιδεύουσα τὴν μετ᾿ ἐννοίας προσιοῦσαν διάνοιαν, ἀπωθεῖν ὡς πορρωτάτω παρακελεύεται νόμῳ φύσεως τὴν πρὸς ἕτερον σύγκρισιν, ἀκόλουθον καὶ προσήκουσαν τῷ τῆς οὐσίας ἀξιώματι παρέχουσαν νοεῖν καὶ τὴν ἐνέργειαν. Εἴτ᾽ ἐκ τῶν δημιουργημάτων σκοπούμενος ἐκ τούτων ἐπὶ τὰς οὐσίας ἀνάγοιτο, τοῦ μὲν ἀγεννήτου τὸν Υἱὸν εὑρίσκων ποίημα, τοῦ δὲ Μονογενοῦς τὸν Παράκλητον, κὰκ τῆς τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ὑπεροχής τὴν τῆς ἐνεργείας διαφορὰν πιστούμενος, ἀναμφισβήτητον λαμβάνει καὶ τῆς κατ᾿ οὐσίαν παραλλαγῆς τὴν ἀπόδειξιν, ἵνα μὴ τρίτον λέγωμεν, ὅτι πάμπολυ διενήνοχεν ὁ δημιουργῶν ἐξουσίᾳ τοῦ νεύματι πατρικῷ ποιοῦντος, καὶ μηδὲν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ ποιεῖν ὁμολογοῦντος, ὅ τε προσκυνούμενος τοῦ προσκυνοῦντος. ### English translation (Claude) From the beginning, it seems to me, those who have dared to compare the substance that is without master, superior to every cause and free of all laws, with the substance that is begotten and serves the Father's laws, have either not considered the nature of the universe at all, or not made their judgments about these things with a pure mind. For two roads have been cut for us toward finding what we seek: one, by which we examine the substances themselves and make our judgment of each by a pure account of them; the other, the examination through the activities, which we distinguish from the works and the effects. By neither of these is it possible to find likeness of substance appearing. For if one makes the substances the starting point of the inquiry, the one, being above kingship and wholly incapable of receiving generation, teaching by these things the mind that approaches it with understanding, bids it, by a law of nature, to thrust comparison with another as far away as possible, and lets it understand the activity also as consistent with and fitting to the dignity of the substance. And if one examines from the works and is led from them up to the substances, finding the Son the thing made of the unbegotten, and the Paraclete of the Only-begotten, and confirming from the superiority of the Only-begotten the difference of activity, he receives an indisputable proof of the difference in substance also; not to mention, as a third point, that the one who creates by authority differs greatly from the one who makes at the Father's nod and confesses that he does nothing of himself, and the one worshiped from the one who worships. ### Scripture references - John 5:19: allusion, high confidence - John 5:30: allusion, medium confidence - John 4:22: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Eunomius makes the Holy Spirit the "thing made" of the Son; translated as written. "Nothing of himself": John 5:19, 30; the Son as worshiper: John 4:22. A stray word ("συγκρίνειν") at the end is apparatus and is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 20 (PG 30 30:855; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/20). ## Apology 21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-21 - Source: PG 30 30:855 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius cites Scripture to show that the Father alone is the one true God, God of the Son, while confessing the Son as God, immortal, wise, and good, caused by the Father. ### Greek text Εἰ μὲν οὖν μηδὲν ἄτοπον ἡγοῦνται τῶν αὐτῶν ἐπίσης ἑκατέρων μεταδιδόναι τούτων, οἷον οὐσίας, ἐνεργείας, ἐξουσίας, ὀνόματος, ἀνελόντες τὰς τῶν ὀνομάτων καὶ πραγμάτων διαφορὰς, δύο σαφῶς ἀγέννητα λεγέτωσαν. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο προφανῶς ἀσεβὲς, μὴ δι' ἐπικαλύμματος ὁμοιότητος ὀνόματι κατασκευαζέτωσαν τὸ πᾶσιν ὁμολογούμενον εἰς ἀσέβειαν. ᾿Αλλ' ἵνα γε μὴ δοκοίημεν κατὰ τὴν ἐπενεχθεῖσαν ἡμῖν καὶ παρὰ πολλοῖς θρυλλουμένην βλασφημίαν ἰδίοις πλάσμασι καὶ λόγοις ἐκβιάζεσθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἐκ τῶν Γραφῶν αὐτῶν ποιησόμεθα τούτων τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. Εἰς ὑπὸ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν καταγγέλλεται Θεός. Οὗτος καὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς εἶναι Θεὸς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ὁμολογεῖται. Πορεύομαι γὰρ, φησὶ, πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν μου καὶ Θεὸν ὑμῶν. Μόνος ἀληθινὸς Θεὸς, μόνος σοφὸς, μόνος ἀγαθὸς, μόνος δυνατὸς, μόνος ἔχων ἀθανασίαν. Θορυβείσθω δὲ μηδεὶς, μηδὲ ταρασσέσθω τὴν διάνοιαν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐπ᾿ ἀναιρέσει τῆς τοῦ Μονογενοῦς θεότητος, ἢ τῆς σοφίας, ἢ τῆς ἀθανασίας, ἢ τῆς ἀγαθότητος χρώμεθα τοῖς εἰρημένοις, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ διακρίσει τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς ὑπεροχῆς. Μονογενῆ μὲν γὰρ ὁμολογοῦμεν Θεὸν καὶ τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν, ἄφθαρτον καὶ ἀθάνατον, σοφὸν, ἀγαθόν. ᾿Αλλ᾿ αὐτῆς γε τῆς συστάσεως, καὶ παντὸς, ὅπερ ἐστὶ, τὸν Πατέρα φαμὲν αἴτιον, οὐκ ἔχοντα τῆς ἰδίας οὐσίας ἢ τῆς ἀγαθότητος αἴτιον ὡς ἀγέννητον, ταύτην ἡμῖν παρεχόντων τὴν ἔννοιαν τῶν προτεθέν ### English translation (Claude) If, then, they think it no absurdity to give both equally the same things, such as substance, activity, authority, name, let them abolish the differences of names and things and plainly say there are two unbegottens. But if this is manifestly impious, let them not, under the cover of the name of likeness, contrive what all agree to be impiety. But so that we may not seem, as the blasphemy brought against us and noised abroad among many has it, to force the truth by our own fictions and arguments, we shall make the demonstration of these things from the Scriptures themselves. One God is proclaimed by the law and the prophets. He is confessed by the Savior himself to be God of the Only-begotten also: "For I am going," he says, "to my God and your God." He is the only true God, the only wise, the only good, the only powerful, the only one who has immortality. Let no one be disturbed or troubled in mind. For we do not use these words to abolish the Godhead of the Only-begotten, or his wisdom, or immortality, or goodness, but to distinguish the Father's superiority. For we confess the Only-begotten as God, and our Lord Jesus, incorruptible and immortal, wise, good. But of his very constitution, and of all that he is, we say that the Father is the cause, while he has no cause of his own substance or goodness, being unbegotten, since the texts set out give us this understanding … ### Scripture references - Deut 6:4: allusion, medium confidence - John 20:17: quotation, high confidence - John 17:3: allusion, high confidence - Rom 16:27: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 1:17: allusion, medium confidence - Mark 10:18: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:15: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:16: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Deut 6:4; John 20:17; John 17:3 ("only true God"); Rom 16:27 and 1 Tim 1:17 ("only wise"); Mark 10:18 ("only good"); 1 Tim 6:15–16 ("only powerful", "only one who has immortality"). The section breaks off mid-word ("τῶν προτεθέν…") in the digital text; the end of the sentence is lost. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 21 (PG 30 30:855; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/21). ## Apology 22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-22 - Source: PG 30 30:857 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius concludes that the Son is like the Father only in his proper sense, not in substance, and that God's activity is not a motion of his substance, as Greek philosophers held, who made the world eternal. ### Greek text Οὔκουν εἰ μόνος μὲν ἀληθινὸς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ σοφὸς, ἐπειδὴ καὶ μόνος ἀγέννητος, μονογενὴς Υἱὸς, ἐπειδὴ μόνος ἀγεννήτου γέννημα, οὐκ ἂν δὲ τι μόνον εἴη, κοινοποιουμένης πρὸς ἕτερον δι᾽ ὁμοιότητα τῆς φύσεως. Χρὴ τοίνυν τὴν κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ὁμοιότητα ἀνελόντες, τὴν δὲ τοῦ Υἱοῦ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα δεξάμενοι κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον λόγον, εἰς ἕνα καὶ μόνον ἀληθῶς ἐνάγειν τὴν τῶν πάντων αἰτίαν τε καὶ ἀρχὴν, ὑποτεταγμένου δηλαδὴ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τῷ Πατρὶ, τὴν δὲ περὶ τούτων ἔννοιαν ἀκριβῶς διακαθαίροντας, καὶ τὸν τῆς ἐνεργείας τρόπον οὐκ ἀνθρώπειον νομίζειν, εὐμαρῆ δὲ καὶ θεῖον· οὗτοι μερισμὸν ἢ κίνησίν τινα τῆς οὐσίας τὴν ἐνέργειαν ἡγουμένους, ἅπερ ἐπινοεῖν ἀναγκαῖον τοὺς ὑπαγομένους τοῖς Ἑλλήνων σοφίσμασιν, ἑνούντων τῇ οὐσίᾳ τὴν ἐνέργειαν, καὶ διὰ τοῦθ᾽ ἅμα μὲν τῷ Θεῷ τὸν κόσμον ἀποφαινομένων, οὐδὲν δὲ μᾶλλον ἐκ τούτου τὴν ἀτοπίαν διαφευγόντων. Ἐχρῆν γὰρ τοι πρὸς τὴν τῆς δημιουργίας παῦλαν ἀπιδόντας, μηδὲν πρὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀνανεύειν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀντιλήξειεν εἰς τέλος μὴ ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς ὁρμώμενον. ### English translation (Claude) So if God is alone true and wise because he is also alone unbegotten, and the Son is only-begotten because he alone is the offspring of the unbegotten, then nothing would be alone if the nature were made common with another through likeness. We must therefore abolish likeness according to substance, and accept the likeness of the Son to the Father according to its proper sense, and truly lead back the cause and principle of all things to one alone, the Son being, of course, subject to the Father; and, purifying our conception of these matters exactly, we must not think the manner of the activity human, but easy and divine; not, like those who think the activity a division or some motion of the substance, which those must suppose who are led by the sophisms of the Greeks, who unite the activity with the substance and therefore declare the world coeval with God, without escaping the absurdity any the more by this. For they ought to have looked to the ceasing of creation and not to lift their eyes up to its beginning. For what did not start from a beginning would not cease in an end. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:28: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "The Son subject to the Father": 1 Cor 15:28. The clause "not, like those who think the activity …" is defective in the printed text (οὗτοι for οὐ τοὺς); translated by sense. The argument from the end of creation: what had no beginning would have no end. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 22 (PG 30 30:857; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/22). ## Apology 23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/1/#p-23 - Source: PG 30 30:857 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues that God's activity, unlike his substance, has a beginning and an end, and that God's will is the activity by which all things come to be. ### Greek text ᾿Αλλ' οὗτοι μὲν μήθ᾽ ὑγιαίνουσιν ὀφθαλμοῖς τὴν τῶν ὄντων κατανενοηκότες διαφορὰν, μήτε δίκαιοι κριταὶ γενόμενοι τῶν πραγμάτων, ἀφιέσθωσαν· διὰ κακόνοιαν ἐπικρυπτούσης αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τῆς δίκης. Ἡμεῖς δὲ κατὰ τὰ μικρῷ πρόσθεν ῥηθέντα τὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων κρίνοντες, οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς οἰόμεθα δεῖν ἐνοῦν τῇ οὐσίᾳ, τὴν μὲν ἄναρχον ἁπλῆν τε καὶ ἀτελεύτητον εἰδότες, τὴν δὲ ἐνέργειαν οὐκ ἄναρχον. Ἡ γὰρ ἂν ἦν καὶ τὸ ἔργον ἄναρχον, οὔτ᾽ ἀτελεύτητον, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ οἷόν τε παυσαμένων τῶν ἔργων ἄπαυστον εἶναι τὴν ἐνέργειαν. Λίαν γὰρ μειρακιῶδες, καὶ φρενὸς νηπίας, ἀγέννητον καὶ ἀτελεύτητον λέγειν τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ταυτὸν τῇ οὐσίᾳ τιθεμένους, μηδενὸς τῶν ἔργων ἀγεννήτως γίγνεσθαι δυναμένου, μήτ᾿ ἀτελευτήτως. Ἐκ γὰρ τούτων συμβαίνοι δυοῖν θάτερον, ἢ τὴν ἐνέργειαν ἄπρακτον εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἢ τὸ ἔργον ἀγέννητον. Εἰ δ᾽ ἑκάτερον τούτων ὁμολογουμένως ἄτοπον, ἀληθὲς τὸ λειπόμενον, ἀρχομένων τε τῶν ἔργων, μὴ ἄναρχον εἶναι τὴν ἐνέργειαν, παυομένων τε, μὴ ἄπαυστον. Οὐ χρὴ τοίνυν πειθομένους γνώμαις ἑτέρων ἀνεξετάστοις ἑνοῦν τῇ οὐσίᾳ τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ἀληθεστάτην δὲ καὶ Θεῷ πρεπωδεστάτην ἐνέργειαν ἡγεῖσθαι τὴν βούλησιν, ἀρκοῦσαν πρός τε τὸ εἶναι καὶ σώζεσθαι τὰ πάντα, μαρτυρούσης καὶ προφητικῆς φωνῆς· Πάντα γὰρ ὅσα ἠθέλησεν, ἐποίησεν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐπιδέεταί τινος πρὸς τὴν ὧν βούλεται σύστασιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἅμα τε βούλεται, καὶ γέγονεν ὅπερ ἠθέλησεν. πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐναποκειμένην ἀγεννήτως τῇ ### English translation (Claude) But let these men be dismissed, who have neither discerned the difference of beings with healthy eyes nor become just judges of the matters, since because of their malice justice hides the truth from them. We, judging the activity from the works, as was said a little before, think it unsafe to unite it with the substance, knowing that the substance is without beginning, simple and without end, but that the activity is not without beginning. For otherwise the work too would be without beginning; nor is the activity without end, since it is not possible, when the works have ceased, for the activity to be unceasing. For it is exceedingly childish and the mark of an infant mind to call the activity unbegotten and without end, making it the same as the substance, when none of the works can come into being unbegottenly or without end. For from this one of two things would follow: either that God's activity is idle, or that the work is unbegotten. And if each of these is admittedly absurd, what remains is true: since the works begin, the activity is not without beginning, and since they cease, it is not unceasing. We must not, then, trusting the unexamined opinions of others, unite the activity with the substance, but hold the will to be the truest activity and the one most befitting God, sufficient both for the existence and the preservation of all things, as the prophetic voice also bears witness: "For all things whatever he willed, he made." For he needs nothing for the constitution of what he wills, but at once he wills, and what he willed has come to be. But toward the activity lying unbegottenly in the … ### Scripture references - Ps 115:3 (113:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 135:6 (134:6 LXX): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Ps 115:3 (LXX 113:11) and Ps 135:6 (LXX 134:6). Apparatus readings ("Ἀντιλήξειεν. ἄν τι λήξειεν. Ἐριτ.") are removed by a logged correction. The section breaks off in the digital text in the middle of a sentence ("… lying unbegottenly in the …"); the rest is lost. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 23 (PG 30 30:857; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/23). ## Apology 24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/24/#p-24 - Source: PG 30 30:859 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius argues from Col 1:15–16 that the Son is the image not of the Father's substance but of his activity and will. ### Greek text Οὐκοῦν εἰ τὴν μὲν βούλησιν ἀπέδειξεν ὁ λόγος ἐνέργειαν, οὐκ οὐσίαν δὲ τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ὑπέστη δὲ βουλήσει τοῦ Πατρὸς ὁ Μονογενὴς, οὐ πρὸς τὴν οὐσίαν, πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ἥτις ἐστὶ καὶ βούλησις· ἀποσώζειν τὴν ὁμοιότητα τὸν Υἱὸν ἀναγκαῖον. Ἐξ ὧν προσαγομένους δεῖ τὸν ἀληθῆ τῆς εἰκόνος διασώζειν λόγον. Αὐτὸς ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ἐξηγήσατο, εἰπών · ῞Ος ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα, τὰ τε ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς, ὁρατὰ καὶ ἀόρατα. Διὰ τοῦτο εἰκών. Πάντα δὲ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ κτισθέντα μετὰ τοῦ πρωτοτόκου οὐ τὴν ἀγέννητον οὐσίαν χαρακτηρίζει. Οὐ γὰρ κατὰ ταῦτα ἡ οὐσία. Τὴν δὲ ἐνέργειαν, δι' ἧς ὁ Υἱὸς, ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα, οὐ πρὸς τὴν οὐσίαν φέροι ἂν ἡ εἰκὼν τὴν ὁμοιότητα, τὸ προγνώσει, καὶ πρὸ τῆς πρωτοτόκου συστάσεως, καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ κτισθέντων. Τίς γὰρ αὐτόν τε τὸν Μονογενῆ γινώσκων, καὶ πάντα τὰ δι᾿ αὐτοῦ γενόμενα καταμαθὼν, οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσειεν αὐτῷ θεωρεῖσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς δύναμιν ; Πρὸς ὅπερ ἀπιδὼν ὁ μακαριώτατος Παῦλος, οὐ, Δι᾿ αὐτοῦ, φησὶν, ἀλλ᾽, Ἐν αὐτῷ, καίτοι προσθεὶς τὸ, Πρωτότοκος, ἵνα τοῖς δι' αὐτοῦ γενομένοις καὶ αὐτὸς συμπαραληφθεὶς, πᾶσι γνωρίζῃ τοῖς ταῦτα συνορᾶν δυναμένοις τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐνέργειαν. Εἰκόνα τοίνυν φαμὲν, οὐχ ὡς ἀγεννήτῳ γέννημα παραβάλλοντες (ἀνάρμοστον γὰρ τοῦτό γε καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀδύνατον), ἀλλ᾿ Υἱὸν μονογενῆ καὶ πρωτότοκον Πατρὶ, τῆς μὲν Υἱοῦ προσηγορίας τὴν οὐσίαν δηλούσης, τῆς δὲ Πατρὸς, τὴν τοῦ γεννήσαντος ἐνέργειαν. Εἰ δὲ τις φιλονείκως τοῖς οἰκείοις ἐμμένων μὴ προσέχοι τοῖς ῥηθεῖσι τὸν νοῦν, ἐκβιάζοιτο δὲ τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς προσηγορίαν οὐσίας εἶναι σημαντικὴν, μεταδιδότω καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ τῆς ὁμοίας φωνῆς, ᾧ προλαβὼν μετέδωκε καὶ τῆς ὁμοίας οὐσίας· μᾶλλον δὲ ἀμφοῖν ἑκατέρῳ. τῷ τε Πατρὶ τῆς Υἱοῦ, καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ τῆς Πατρός· ἡ γὰρ τῆς οὐσίας ὁμοιότης ταῖς αὐταῖς ὀνομάζειν προσηγορίαις ἀναγκάζει τοὺς ταύτην περὶ αὐτῶν ἔχοντας τὴν δόξαν. ### English translation (Claude) So if the argument has shown that the will is activity, and the activity is not substance, and the Only-begotten came to exist by the will of the Father, it is necessary that the Son preserve likeness not to the substance but to the activity, which is also the will. Led on by these points, we must preserve the true account of the image. The blessed Paul himself explained it, saying: "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, because in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible." For this reason he is the image. But all the things created in him, together with the firstborn, do not represent the unbegotten substance; for the substance is not according to these. But the image would bear the likeness of the activity through which the Son exists, in whom are all things, not of the substance, the activity which was in foreknowledge even before the constitution of the firstborn and of the things created in him. For who, knowing the Only-begotten himself and learning all the things that came into being through him, would not confess that the whole power of the Father is beheld in him? Looking to this, the most blessed Paul says not "through him" but "in him", while adding "firstborn", so that he, taken together with the things that came into being through him, might make the Father's activity known to all who are able to perceive these things. We call him image, then, not comparing an offspring to the unbegotten (for this is unfitting and impossible for all), but as only-begotten Son and firstborn of the Father, the title "Son" showing the substance, and the title "Father" the activity of the one who begot. And if anyone, contentiously holding to his own views, does not attend to what has been said, but forces the title "Father" to signify substance, let him give the Son also a share of the like word, to whom he has already given a share of the like substance; or rather let him give each of the two a share in both, to the Father the Son's title and to the Son the Father's; for likeness of substance compels those who hold this opinion about them to name them by the same titles. ### Scripture references - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:16: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:4: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Col 1:15–16. The clause about the activity "in foreknowledge" is compressed in the printed text; translated by sense. Apparatus readings ("Συμβαίνοι. συμβαίνει. EDIT.") are removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 24 (PG 30 30:859; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/24). ## Apology 25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/24/#p-25 - Source: PG 30 30:861 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius teaches that the Holy Spirit is third in nature as well as in order, the first and greatest work of the Only-begotten, without Godhead or creative power but with power to sanctify and teach. ### Greek text ᾿Αρκούντων δὲ ἡμῖν τοσούτων καὶ περὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς, ἀκόλουθον ἂν εἴη καὶ περὶ τοῦ Παρακλήτου λοιπὸν εἰπεῖν, οὐ ταῖς ἀνεξετάστοις τῶν πολλῶν ἀκολουθοῦντας δόξαις, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἁγίων ἐν ἅπασι φυλάσσοντας διδασκαλίαν, παρ᾿ ὧν τρίτον αὐτὸ ἀξιώματι καὶ τάξει μαθόντες, τρίτον εἶναι καὶ τῇ φύσει πεπιστεύκαμεν· οὐκ ἐπαμειβομένων ταῖς φύσεσι τῶν ἀξιωμάτων κατὰ τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐκ πολιτείας μεταβολὴν, οὔτ᾽ ἐνηλλαγμένης τῆς τάξεως κατὰ τὴν δημιουργίαν ἐναντίως ταῖς οὐσίαις, ἀλλ᾽ εὐαρμόστως ἐχούσης πρὸς τὴν φύσιν, ὡς μήτε τὸ πρῶτον τῇ τάξει δεύτερον εἶναι τὴν φύσιν, μήτε μὴν τὸ φύσει πρῶτον δευτέρας ἢ τρίτης λαχεῖν τάξεως. Οὐκοῦν εἴπερ ἥδε τῆς τῶν νοητῶν δημιουργίας ἀρίστη τάξις, τρίτον ὂν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τὴν τάξιν, οὐκ ἂν πρῶτον εἴη τὴν φύσιν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατήρ. Ἧ γὰρ ἂν εὔηθες καὶ περιττὸν τὸν αὐτὸν ποτὲ μὲν πρώτην, ποτὲ δὲ τρίτην ἔχειν χώραν, ἔν τε ἄμφω εἶναι, τὸ τε προσκυνούμενον, καὶ ἐν ᾧ προσκυνεῖται, καθ' ἅ φησιν ὁ Κύριος· Πνεῦμα ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτὸν, ἐν Πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν. Οὐδὲ μὴν ταυτὸν τῷ Μονογενεῖ. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν ὑπηριθμήθη τούτῳ ὡς ἰδίαν ἔχων ὑπόστασιν, ἀρκούσης καὶ πρὸ τούτων τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος φωνῆς, δι' ἧς ἕτερον ἔφη σαφῶς τὸν ἀποσταλησόμενον εἶναι πρὸς ὑπόμνησιν καὶ διδασκαλίαν τῶν ἀποστόλων. Οὐδέτερον μὲν ἀριθμῷ παρὰ τὸν Θεὸν, ἀγέννητον δὲ. Εἷς γὰρ καὶ μόνος ἀγέννητος, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα γέγονεν. Ἢ ἄλλο μὲν παρὰ τὸν Υἱὸν, γέννημα δέ. Εἷς γὰρ καὶ μονογενής, ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν, Δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα, κατὰ τὸν ᾿Απόστολον. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τρίτον καὶ φύσει καὶ τάξει, προστάγματι τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἐνεργείᾳ δὲ τοῦ Υἱοῦ γενόμενον, τρίτη χώρᾳ τιμώμενον, ὡς πρῶτον καὶ μεῖζον πάντων, καὶ μόνον τοιοῦτο τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ποίημα · θεότητος μὲν καὶ δημιουργικῆς δυνάμεως ἀπολειπόμενον, ἁγιαστικῆς δὲ καὶ διδασκαλικῆς πεπληρωμένον. Τοὺς γάρ τοι πεπιστευκότας ἐνέργειαν εἶναί τινα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν Παράκλητον, εἶτα ταῖς οὐσίαις ὑπαριθμοῦντας, ὡς λίαν εὐήθεις καὶ πολὺ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπεσχοινισμένους, νῦν διελέγχειν, μακρᾶς ἂν εἴη σχολῆς. ### English translation (Claude) Since this is enough for us concerning the Only-begotten, it would follow next to speak about the Paraclete, not following the unexamined opinions of the many, but keeping in all things the teaching of the saints, from whom we have learned that he is third in dignity and order, and so have believed him to be third also in nature. For dignities do not change places with natures, as among men rank changes through public life, nor is the order reversed in creation contrary to the substances; it fits the nature, so that what is first in order is not second in nature, nor does what is first by nature receive the second or third order. If, then, this is the best order of the creation of intelligible beings, the Holy Spirit, being third in order, would not be first in nature, which is what the God and Father is. For it would be foolish and superfluous for the same one to hold now the first place, now the third, and to be both the one worshiped and the one in whom he is worshiped, according to what the Lord says: "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth." Nor is he the same as the Only-begotten; for he would not have been numbered after him as having his own hypostasis, since the Savior's word is enough even before these arguments, by which he said plainly that the one who would be sent was another, to remind and teach the apostles. Nor is he another in number beside God, yet unbegotten; for there is one and only unbegotten, from whom all things came into being. Nor is he other than the Son, yet an offspring; for there is one Only-begotten, our Lord, "through whom are all things", according to the Apostle. But he is third both in nature and in order, having come into being by the command of the Father and the activity of the Son, honored in the third place, as the first and greatest of all and the only such thing made by the Only-begotten; falling short of Godhead and creative power, but filled with sanctifying and teaching power. As for those who believe the Paraclete to be some activity of God, and then number him among the substances, to refute them now, as very foolish and far cut off from the truth, would need much leisure. ### Scripture references - John 4:24: quotation, high confidence - John 14:16: allusion, high confidence - John 14:26: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:6: quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:19: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - John 4:24; John 14:16, 26 ("another Paraclete"; "teach you … remind you"); 1 Cor 8:6; numbering of Father, Son, and Spirit: Matt 28:19. Eunomius's denial of the Spirit's Godhead is translated as written. "Nor is he another in number beside God, yet unbegotten" renders Οὐδέτερον μὲν ἀριθμῷ as printed by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 25 (PG 30 30:861; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/25). ## Apology 26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/24/#p-26 - Source: PG 30 30:863 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius sums up: one unbegotten God made the Son, through whom the Spirit was made; the Son is neither "of the same substance" nor "of like substance" with the Father. ### Greek text ᾿Αλλ' ἵνα μὴ τῷ μήκει τῶν λόγων ἀποκνήσωμεν τοὺς ἀκούοντας, πᾶσαν ἐν βραχεῖ τῶν ῥηθέντων περιλαβόντες τὴν δύναμιν, φαμὲν ἕνα καὶ μόνον ἀληθινὸν εἶναι τὸν τῶν πάντων Θεὸν, ἀγέννητον, ἄναρχον, ἀσύγκριτον, πάσης αἰτίας κρείττονα, πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσι τοῦ εἶναι αἴτιον· οὐκ ἐκ κοινωνίας τῆς πρὸς ἕτερον τὴν τῶν ὄντων δημιουργίαν συστησάμενην, οὐ τῇ τάξει τὸ πρῶτον, οὐ συγκρίσει τὸ κρεῖττον κατά πάντων ἀποφερόμενον, ἀλλὰ καθ' ὑπεροχὴν ἀσύγκριτον οὐσίας καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ ἐξουσίας, γεννήσαντα καὶ ποιήσαντα πρὸ πάντων μονογενή Θεὸν τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα γέγονεν, εἰκόνα καὶ σφραγίδα τῆς ἰδίας δυνάμεως καὶ ἐνεργείας, μήτε τῷ γεννήσαντι κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν συγκρινόμενον, μήτε τῷ δι᾿ αὐτοῦ γενομένῳ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι. Τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἐλάττων ἐστὶν, ὡς ποίημα· τοῦ δὲ κρείττων, ὡς ποιητής. Τοῦ μὲν οὖν πεποιῆσθαι μάρτυς ἀξιόπιστος ὁ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου μαρτυρηθεὶς ἐκ Θεοῦ τὴν γνῶσιν ἔχειν Πέτρος, εἰπών· ᾿Ασφαλῶς οὖν γινωσκέτω πᾶς οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι Κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστὸν ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησε· καὶ ὁ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Κυρίου λέγων· Κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ τοῦ δὲ πεποιηκέναι τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὅ τε εἰπὼν, Εἷς Θεὸς, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἶς Κύριος, Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης φήσας· Πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἔν. Ἐξ ὧν ἀκόλουθον ἂν, ἢ ἀγέννητον λέγειν, ὅπερ ἀσεβές· ἢ εἴπερ γέγονε, δι' αὐτοῦ γεγονέναι. Μόνον γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς. ὁμολογοῦμεν γεγεννῆσθαι τὸν Υἱὸν, ὑποτεταγμένον οὐσίᾳ καὶ γνώμῃ· ζῇν τε γὰρ διὰ τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ μηδὲν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ ποιεῖν αὐτὸς ὁμολογεῖ · μήτε μὴν ὁμοούσιον, μηδὲ ὁμοιούσιον, ἐπείπερ τὸ μὲν γένεσιν καὶ μερισμὸν σημαίνει τῆς οὐσίας, τὸ δὲ ἰσότητα. ### English translation (Claude) But so that we may not weary our hearers by the length of our words, gathering in brief the whole force of what has been said, we say that there is one and only true God of all things, unbegotten, without beginning, incomparable, superior to every cause, cause of being to all that exists; who did not establish the creation of beings out of communion with another, who is not carried above all as first in order or as better by comparison, but by an incomparable superiority of substance, power, and authority; who begot and made, before all things, the only-begotten God, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things came into being, the image and seal of his own power and activity; not compared in substance either with the one who begot him or with the Holy Spirit, who came into being through him. For he is less than the one, as a thing made, and greater than the other, as maker. That he was made, a trustworthy witness is Peter, to whom the Lord himself bore witness that he had his knowledge from God, saying, "Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him Lord and Christ"; and he who says in the person of the Lord, "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways." That he made the Holy Spirit, witness is he who said, "One God, from whom are all things, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things," and the blessed John, who declared, "All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being." From these it would follow either to call the Spirit unbegotten, which is impious, or, if he came into being, that he came into being through him. For we confess that the Son alone was begotten by the Father, subject in substance and will; for he himself confesses that he lives because of the Father and does nothing of himself; and he is neither homoousios nor homoiousios, since the one signifies generation and division of the substance, the other equality. ### Scripture references - Matt 16:17: allusion, medium confidence - Acts 2:36: quotation, high confidence - Prov 8:22: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:6: quotation, high confidence - John 1:3: quotation, high confidence - John 6:57: allusion, high confidence - John 5:19: allusion, high confidence - Heb 1:3: echo, low confidence - John 17:3: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Peter's knowledge from God: Matt 16:17. Quotations: Acts 2:36; Prov 8:22 (LXX "created me"); 1 Cor 8:6; John 1:3; John 6:57; John 5:19. "Image and seal" recalls Heb 1:3. A line ("For he is less than the one, as a thing made, and greater than the other, as maker") is displaced by the scan into the first sentence; restored to its place by logged corrections. Homoousios ("of the same substance", Nicaea) and homoiousios ("of like substance") are both rejected; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 26 (PG 30 30:863; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/26). ## Apology 27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/24/#p-27 - Source: PG 30 30:863 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius confesses the Son as obedient minister of the Father, incarnate, crucified, risen, and coming as judge, subject with all things to the Father, and closes by urging his hearers to judge rightly before Christ's judgment seat. ### Greek text Οὔτε δὲ γεννητὸς ὁ Πατὴρ, οὔτε ἀγέννητος ὁ Υἱὸς, ἀλλ᾽ ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀτελευτήτως, τοῦτο καὶ λεγόμενον ἀληθῶς γέννημα, Υἱὸν ὑπήκοον, ὑπουργὸν τελειότατον, πρὸς πᾶσαν δημιουργίαν καὶ γνώμην πατρικὴν ὑπηρετήσαντα, πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὄντων σύστασιν καὶ διαμονήν, πρὸς νομοθεσίαν ἀνθρώπων, πρὸς οἰκονομίαν, καὶ πᾶσαν πρόνοιαν · ὑπηρέτῃ χρώμενον τῷ Παρακλήτῳ πρὸς ἀγιασμὸν, πρὸς διδασκαλίαν, πρὸς βεβαίωσιν τῶν πιστῶν· ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων ἡμερῶν γεννηθέντα ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας Παρθένου, νόμοις ἀνθρωπίνοις πολιτευσάμενον ὁσίως, σταυρωθέντα, ἀποθανόντα, ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν ἡμερῶν, ἀνελθόντα εἰς οὐρανὸν, ἐρχόμενον κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκροὺς κατὰ δικαίαν ἀνταπόδοσιν πίστεώς τε καὶ ἔργων, βασιλεύοντά τε εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, σωζομένης ἐν ἅπασι πάντοτε τῆς ὑπεροχῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ μοναρχίας, ὑποτεταγμένου δηλαδὴ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου τῷ Χριστῷ μετὰ πάντων, αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου διδασκαλίαν, ὅς φησιν· Ὅταν γὰρ ὑποταγῇ αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα, τότε καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Υἱὸς ὑποταγήσεται τῷ ὑποτάξαντι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα, ἵνα ᾗ ὁ Θεὸς τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι. Τούτων δὲ πάντων εὐκρινῶς μὲν καὶ πλατύτερον ἐν ἑτέροις ἡμῖν ἀποδεδειγμένων, ἐν βραχεῖ δὲ νῦν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὡμολογημένων, εὐχόμεθα τούς τε παρόντας ὑμᾶς καὶ πάντας τοὺς τῶν αὐτῶν ἡμῖν μυστηρίων κοινωνοῦντας, μὴ ψόγον ἀνθρώπων δεδοικότας, μήτε σοφίσμασιν ἀπατωμένους, ἢ κολακείαις ὑπαγομένους, κατὰ τὴν ἀληθῆ καὶ δικαίαν κρίσιν ἐπιψηφίσασθαι τοῖς εἰρημένοις, κρατούσης δηλαδὴ παρὰ πᾶσι τῆς βελτίονος μοίρας, τὸν τε λογισμὸν τῶν ἐνοχλούντων προστησαμένους, πάντα θήρατρα καὶ δίκτυα διαφυγεῖν, ἃ τῷ διαβόλῳ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπων μεμηχάνηται, πολλοὺς φυγεῖν, ἢ δελεάζειν μεμελετηκότι, τοὺς μὴ πρὸ τῶν ἡδέων τὸ συμφέρον αἱρουμένους, ἢ τὰ παρόντα τῶν μελλόντων ἀσφαλέστερα λογιζομένους· εἰ δ᾽ ἄρα καὶ παρά τισι νικήσει τὰ χείρω (ἀποστρέψαι δὲ ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ λόγου τὴν πεῖραν), πρὸς μὲν τὸ ψεῦδος τῶν πολλῶν συμπνεόντων, πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἀλήθειαν διισταμένων, τῶν τε ἀρεσκόντων τῷ Θεῷ καὶ κοινῇ συμφερόντων τὴν πρὸς τὸ παρὸν ἀσφάλειαν καὶ δόξαν περὶ πλείονος ποιουμένων· τοὺς γοῦν ἑπομένους, ἀσάλευτον καὶ παγίαν διαφυλάξαι τῷ παραδεδωκότι τὴν πίστιν, περιμένοντας τὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ κριτήριον, οὗ τῦφος μὲν καὶ δόξα καὶ ψεῦδος προῤῥίζως ἠφάνισται, γυμνοὶ δὲ πάσης ἀρχῆς, ἢ θεραπείας ἢ κολακείας οἱ κρινόμενοι, πολυχειρία δὲ καὶ πλοῦτος ἀσθενὴς πρὸς δυσώπησιν, κἂν ᾗ λίαν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις εὐδόκιμος. Ἀνδρῶν γὰρ ἐνδόξων πλῆθος, ἑνὸς πένητος εὐσεβοῦς οὐκ ἀντάξιον εἰς παραίτησιν παρ' ἀληθείᾳ δοκιμαζούσῃ, συναγωνιζομένης μὲν εὐσεβείας κατὰ δικαίαν ἀμοιβὴν τῶν νῦν δι᾿ αὐτὴν καὶ τὸ θανεῖν κέρδος ἡγουμένων, ἀποδιδόντος δὲ τὰ τῶν ἀγώνων ἆθλα τοῦ πάλαι καὶ νῦν ἀθλοθετοῦντος Χριστοῦ, τοῖς μὲν ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας πονήσασι τὴν ἀληθινὴν ἐλευθερίαν καὶ βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν, τοῖς δὲ διὰ κακόνοιαν ταύτην ἀτιμάσασι τιμωρίας ἀπαραιτήτους. Ταῦτ᾽ εἰρήσθω μὲν ἀμφότερα πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐκβαίη δὲ πρὸς τὴν βελτίω μοῖραν τὸ τέλος. ### English translation (Claude) The Father is not begotten, nor is the Son unbegotten; but what he is without end, this he is also truly called: offspring, an obedient Son, a most perfect minister, who served the whole creation and will of the Father, for the constitution and continuance of beings, for the giving of law to men, for the dispensation, and for all providence; using the Paraclete as servant for sanctification, for teaching, for the confirmation of the faithful; born in the last days of the holy Virgin, having lived in holiness under human laws, crucified, dead, risen on the third day, ascended into heaven, coming to judge the living and the dead with a just recompense of faith and works, and reigning to the ages; while in all things and always the superiority and monarchy of God are preserved, the Holy Spirit being subject to Christ together with all things, and the Son himself to the God and Father, according to the teaching of the blessed Paul, who says, "For when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself also will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all." All these things have been demonstrated by us clearly and more broadly elsewhere, and confessed now to you in brief. We pray that you who are present, and all who share the same mysteries with us, neither fearing men's blame, nor deceived by sophisms, nor led on by flattery, may cast your vote on what has been said according to true and just judgment, the better part plainly prevailing with all; and that, setting reason before those who trouble you, you may escape all the snares and nets devised by the devil against men, who has made it his study to make many flee, or to entice those who do not choose the profitable before the pleasant, or who reckon the present safer than what is to come. But if with some the worse should prevail (may God turn aside the trial of the saying!), many conspiring toward falsehood and standing apart from the truth, and holding safety and glory in the present of more account than what pleases God and profits all, we pray that at least those who follow may keep the faith unshaken and firm for the one who handed it down, awaiting the judgment seat of Christ our Savior, where pride and glory and falsehood are destroyed root and all, and those who are judged are stripped of all office, service, or flattery, and a multitude of helpers and wealth are powerless to sway, however highly esteemed among men. For a multitude of glorious men is not worth one pious poor man in pleading before the truth that tests, piety contending on our side with a just reward for those who now count even death gain for its sake, and Christ, who of old and now presides over the contest, giving the prizes of the contests: to those who have labored for the truth, true freedom and the kingdom of heaven; to those who have dishonored it through malice, inexorable punishments. Let both these things be said to you; and may the end turn out to the better part. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:28: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 4:1: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 5:10: allusion, medium confidence - Phil 1:21: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Tim 2:26: echo, low confidence - 1 Cor 15:4: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - 1 Cor 15:28; "judge the living and the dead": 2 Tim 4:1; the judgment seat: 2 Cor 5:10; "death gain": Phil 1:21. Interleaved lines in the scan ("… ἀληθῆ ἐνοις, καὶ δικαίαν …") are restored by logged corrections. "To make many flee" renders πολλοὺς φυγεῖν as printed; uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 27 (PG 30 30:863; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/27). ## Apology 28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eunomius-apologia/24/#p-28 - Source: PG 30 30:867 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A closing creed-like summary: one unbegotten God who by his will made the Son, and through the Son the Holy Spirit and all things. ### Greek text Εἷς ἔστι Θεὸς ἀγέννητος καὶ ἄναρχος, οὔτε πρὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἔχων τινὰ ὄντα· οὐδὲν γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου εἶναι δύναται· οὔτε σὺν αὐτῷ· εἷς γὰρ καὶ μόνος Θεὸς ὁ ἀγέννητος· οὔτ᾽ ἐν αὐτῷ · ἁπλοῦς γὰρ καὶ ἀσύνθετος. Εἷς δὲ ὢν, καὶ μόνος ὢν, καὶ ἀεὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ὢν, πάντῶν ἐστὶ Θεὸς καὶ κτίστης καὶ δημιουργὸς, πρώτως μὲν καὶ ἐξαιρέτως τοῦ Μονογενοῦς, ἰδίως δὲ τῶν δι᾿ αὐτοῦ γενομένων. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ Υἱὸν πρὸ πάντων καὶ πρὸ πάσης κτίσεως μόνον τῇ ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμει καὶ ἐνεργείᾳ ἐγέννησέ τε καὶ ἔκτισε καὶ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ὑποστάσεως μεταδοὺς τῷ γεννηθέντι. ῎Αφθαρτος γὰρ καὶ ἀδιαίρετος καὶ ἀμέριστος ὁ Θεός· ὁ δ᾽ ἄφθάρτος τῆς ἑαυτοῦ οὐσίας οὐ μεταδίδωσιν. Οὔτε καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἄλλον ὑποστησάμενος. Μόνος γὰρ αὐτὸς ἀγέννητος, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἀγέννητον οὐσίαν γεννηθῆναι ἀδύνατον. Οὔτε οὖν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ οὐσίᾳ ἀπεχρήσατο, ἀλλὰ τῇ βουλήσει μόνῃ· οὔτε κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ οὐσίαν, ἀλλ᾽ οἷον έβουλήθη, ἐγέννησε. Καὶ διὰ τούτου πρωτον μὲν πάντων καὶ μείζον τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐποίησεν, ἐξουσίᾳ μὲν ἰδίᾳ καὶ προστάγματι, ἐνεργείᾳ δὲ καὶ δυνάμει τοῦ Υἱοῦ. Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς, ὁρατά τε καὶ ἀόρατα, καὶ σώματά τε καὶ ἀσώματα διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐποίησεν. Εἰς γὰρ Θεὸς, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, κατὰ τὸν ᾿Απόστολον, καὶ εἶς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα. Εἷς οὖν Θεὸς ἀγέννητος, ἄκτιστός, ἀποίητος. Καὶ εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, γέννημα τοῦ ἀγεννήτου, οὐχ ὡς ἓν τῶν γεννημάτων, κτίσμα τοῦ ἀκτίστου, οὐχ ὡς ἓν τῶν κτισμάτων, ποίημα τοῦ ἀποιήτου, οὐχ ὡς ἓν τῶν ποιημάτων· καθὼς εἴρηταί ὑπὸ τῆς ἁγίας Γραφῆς· Κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ, πρὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐθεμελίωσέ με πρὸ δὲ πάντων βουνῶν γεννᾷ με. Καὶ ἓν Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, πρῶτον καὶ μείζον πάντων τῶν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἔργων προστάγματι μὲν τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἐνεργείᾳ δὲ καὶ δυνάμει τοῦ Υἱοῦ γενόμενον. ### English translation (Claude) There is one God, unbegotten and without beginning, having no being before himself (for nothing can be before the unbegotten), nor with him (for the unbegotten is one and only God), nor in him (for he is simple and uncompounded). Being one, and being alone, and being always the same, he is God and creator and maker of all things: first and pre-eminently of the Only-begotten, and properly of those who came into being through him. For the Son alone, before all things and before all creation, he begot and created and made by his own power and activity, sharing nothing of his own hypostasis with the one begotten. For God is incorruptible, indivisible, and without parts; and the incorruptible does not share his own substance. Nor did he constitute another like himself; for he alone is unbegotten, and it is impossible to be begotten according to the unbegotten substance. So he did not make use of his own substance, but of his will alone; nor did he beget according to his own substance, but as he willed. And through him he made the Holy Spirit, first and greatest of all, by his own authority and command, but by the activity and power of the Son. After this he made all the rest, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, bodies and bodiless beings, through the Son. For there is "one God, from whom are all things," according to the Apostle, "and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things." One God, then, unbegotten, uncreated, unmade; and one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, offspring of the unbegotten, not as one of the offspring; creature of the uncreated, not as one of the creatures; thing made of the unmade, not as one of the things made; as it has been said by the Holy Scripture: "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways; before the age he founded me; before all the hills he begets me." And one Holy Spirit, first and greatest of all the works of the Only-begotten, having come into being by the command of the Father, but by the activity and power of the Son. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 8:6: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:16: allusion, high confidence - Prov 8:22: quotation, high confidence - Prov 8:23: quotation, high confidence - Prov 8:25: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - This summary, set after the Apology in Migne, may be a later appendix; it is translated as part of the staged text. 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16; Prov 8:22–25 (LXX). The scan interleaves two columns ("δι' σὖν Θεὸς … δι/οὗ τὰ πάντα. Εἰς"); the lines are restored to their order by logged corrections, and an apparatus note at the end ("Al. ἔργον") is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Eunomius, Apol. 28 (PG 30 30:867; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eunomius-apologia/28).