Against Eunomius 1.20–2.4

Basil of Caesarea · Against Eunomius · ca. 364 · Caesarea · 11 passages

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

Chapter 1

1.20PG 29:535

Διωρισμένου τοίνυν πῶς χρὴ τὸ κοινὸν τῆς οὑσίας ἐκδέχεσθαι, τὰ ἐφεξῆς ἐξετάσωμεν, τίνα συνάφειαν ἔχει πρὸς τὰ προάγοντα. Τάξει δὲ, φησὶ, καὶ τοῖς ἐκ χρόνου πρεσβείοις ὁ μὲν ἔστι πρῶτος, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος. Τίς ἡ ἀνάγκη ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἡ οὐσία κοινή, τάξει τε ὑποβεβλῆσθαι ταῦτα, καὶ χρόνου εἶναι δεύτερα; Οὐ γὰρ δυνατὸν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ εἰκόνι ἀχρόνως ἀπαυγασθείσῃ τὸν Θεὸν τῶν ὅλων μὴ ἐξ ἀϊδίου συνεῖναι, καὶ μὴ χρόνον μόνον, καὶ αἰώνων δὲ πάντων ἐπέκεινα τὴν συνάφειαν ἔχειν. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ἀπαύγασμα εἴρηται, ἵνα τὸ συνημμένον νοήσωμεν, καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως, ἵνα τὸ ὁμοούσιον ἐκμανθάνωμεν. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ τάξις ἡ μὲν φυσική τίς ἔστιν, ἡ δὲ κατ᾽ ἐπιτήδευσιν. Φυσικὴ μὲν, ὡς ἡ τῶν κτισμάτων κατὰ τοὺς δημιουργικοὺς λόγους διαταχθεῖσα καὶ ὡς ἡ τῶν ἀριθμητῶν θέσις, καὶ ὡς ἡ τῶν αἰτίων πρὸς τὰ αἰτιατὰ σχέσις, ἐκείνου προδιωμολογημένου τοῦ καὶ τῆς φύσεως αὐτῆς ποιητὴν εἶναι καὶ δημιουργὸν τὸν Θεόν - ἐπιτετηδευμένη δὲ καὶ τεχνικὴ, ὡς ἡ ἐν τοῖς κατασκευάσμασι, καὶ μαθήμασι, καὶ ἀξιώμασι, καὶ ἀριθμῷ, καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις. Τούτων τοίνυν τὸ πρότερον ἀποκρυψάμενος οὗτος, τοῦ δευτέρου εἴδους τῆς τάξεως ἐπεμνήσθη, καί φησι, μὴ χρῆναι λέγειν ἐπὶ Θεοῦ τάξιν, ἐπείπερ ἡ τάξις δευτέρα ἐστὶ τοῦ τάττοντος. Ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἣ οὐ συνεῖδεν, ἢ ἑκὼν ἀπεκρύψατο, ὅτι ἔστι τι τάξεως εἶδος, οὐκ ἐκ τῆς παρ᾽ ἡμῶν θέσεως συνιστάμενον, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτῇ τῇ κατὰ φύσιν ἀκολουθίᾳ συμβαῖνον, ὡς τῷ πυρὶ πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἔστι τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Ἐν τούτοις γὰρ πρότερον τὸ αἴτιον λέγομεν, δεύτερον δὲ τὸ ἐξ αὖτοῦ οὐ διαστήματι χωρίζοντες ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ τῷ λογισμῷ τοῦ αἰτιατοῦ πρὸς τὸ αἴτιον. Πῶς οὖν εὔλογον ἀρνεῖσθαι τὴν τάξιν, ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἐστι πρότερον καὶ δεύτερον, οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν θέσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν αὐτοῖς ἐνυπαρχούσης ἀκολουθίας; Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν ἀθετεῖ τὴν τάξιν ἐπὶ Θεοῦ λαμβάνεσθαι; Ἡγεῖται, εἰ ἐπιδείξειε μηδαμῶς ἄλλως τὸ πρότερον ἐπὶ Θεοῦ νοεῖσθαι, λειπόμενον ἕξειν, κατ᾽ αὐτὴν τὴν οὐσίαν τὴν ὑπεροχὴν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι. Ἡμεῖς δὲ, κατὰ μὲν τὴν τῶν αἰτίων πρὸς τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν σχέσιν, προτετάχθαι τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸν Πατέρα φαμέν " κατὰ δὲ τὴν τῆς φύσεως διαφορὰν, οὐκέτι, οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ χρόνου ὑπεροχήν" ἣ οὕτω γε καὶ αὐτὸ, τὸ Πατέρα εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν, ἀθετήσομεν, τῆς κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν ἀλλοτριότητος τὴν φυσικὴν συνάφειαν ἀθε…

Diōrismenou toinyn pōs chrē to koinon tēs housias ekdechesthai, ta ephexēs exetasōmen, tina synapheian echei pros ta proagonta. Taxei de, phēsi, kai tois ek chronou presbeiois ho men esti prōtos, ho de deuteros. Tis hē anankē eph᾽ hōn hē ousia koinē, taxei te hypobeblēsthai tauta, kai chronou einai deutera? Ou gar dynaton tę̄ heautou eikoni achronōs apaugastheisę̄ ton Theon tōn holōn mē ex aïdiou syneinai, kai mē chronon monon, kai aiōnōn de pantōn epekeina tēn synapheian echein. Dia touto gar apaugasma eirētai, hina to synēmmenon noēsōmen, kai charaktēr tēs hypostaseōs, hina to homoousion ekmanthanōmen. ᾿Alla kai taxis hē men physikē tis estin, hē de kat᾽ epitēdeusin. Physikē men, hōs hē tōn ktismatōn kata tous dēmiourgikous logous diatachtheisa kai hōs hē tōn arithmētōn thesis, kai hōs hē tōn aitiōn pros ta aitiata schesis, ekeinou prodiōmologēmenou tou kai tēs physeōs autēs poiētēn einai kai dēmiourgon ton Theon - epitetēdeumenē de kai technikē, hōs hē en tois kataskeuasmasi, kai mathēmasi, kai axiōmasi, kai arithmǭ, kai tois toioutois. Toutōn toinyn to proteron apokrypsamenos houtos, tou deuterou eidous tēs taxeōs epemnēsthē, kai phēsi, mē chrēnai legein epi Theou taxin, epeiper hē taxis deutera esti tou tattontos. Ekeino de hē ou syneiden, ē hekōn apekrypsato, hoti esti ti taxeōs eidos, ouk ek tēs par᾽ hēmōn theseōs synistamenon, all᾽ autę̄ tę̄ kata physin akolouthią symbainon, hōs tǭ pyri pros to phōs esti to ex autou. En toutois gar proteron to aition legomen, deuteron de to ex autou ou diastēmati chōrizontes ap᾽ allēlōn tauta, alla tǭ logismǭ tou aitiatou pros to aition. Pōs oun eulogon arneisthai tēn taxin, eph᾽ hōn esti proteron kai deuteron, ou kata tēn hēmeteran thesin, all᾽ ek tēs kata physin autois enyparchousēs akolouthias? Tinos oun heneken athetei tēn taxin epi Theou lambanesthai? Hēgeitai, ei epideixeie mēdamōs allōs to proteron epi Theou noeisthai, leipomenon hexein, kat᾽ autēn tēn ousian tēn hyperochēn epideiknysthai. Hēmeis de, kata men tēn tōn aitiōn pros ta ex autōn schesin, protetachthai tou Huiou ton Patera phamen " kata de tēn tēs physeōs diaphoran, ouketi, oude kata tēn tou chronou hyperochēn" hē houtō ge kai auto, to Patera einai ton Theon, athetēsomen, tēs kata tēn ousian allotriotētos tēn physikēn synapheian athe…

[20] Having defined, then, how the commonness of the essence should be understood, let us examine what follows, and what connection it has with what precedes. "But in order," he says, "and in seniority of time one is first and the other second." What necessity is there that, where the essence is common, these be subject to order and second in time? For it is not possible that the God of the universe should not be with his own image, which shone forth timelessly, from eternity, and should not have his conjunction with it beyond not only time but all the ages. That is why he is called radiance, that we may understand the conjunction, and stamp of the hypostasis, that we may learn that he is of the same essence. Moreover, order is of two kinds: one natural, the other by design. Natural order is like that of created things arranged according to the creative principles, like the position of numbers, and like the relation of causes to effects, it being agreed beforehand that God is the maker and creator of nature itself; designed and technical order is like that in constructions, in studies, in ranks, in number, and the like. Hiding the first of these, this man mentioned the second kind of order, and says that one must not speak of order in God, since order is posterior to the one who orders. But this he either did not notice or willingly concealed: that there is a kind of order not constituted by our positing, but arising from the natural sequence itself, as there is between fire and the light that comes from it. In these we call the cause prior and what comes from it second, not separating them from one another by an interval, but by reasoning about the effect in relation to its cause. How then is it reasonable to deny order where there is a prior and a second, not by our positing but by the sequence naturally present in them? Why, then, does he reject the taking of order in God? He thinks that if he shows that "prior" is conceived in God in no other way, it will remain for him to show the superiority in the essence itself. But we say that the Father is ranked before the Son according to the relation of causes to what comes from them, but not according to a difference of nature, nor according to superiority in time; or else in this way we shall set aside the very fact that God is Father, [doing away with] the natural conjunction by estrangement in essence …

Heb 1:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:15 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil distinguishes natural order, such as that of a cause to what comes from it, from order by design, and grants that the Father is prior to the Son as cause but not in nature or time.

Chapter 20 of Book 1. The passage breaks off at the end in the scan (marked …). Migne's notes are removed by logged corrections.
τὸ ὁμοούσιον is rendered 'that he is of the same essence'. Heb 1:3 (radiance, stamp of the hypostasis); Col 1:15 (image).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): χοινὸν τῆς → κοινὸν τῆς; ἐχδέχεσθαι, → ἐκδέχεσθαι,; τένα συν- ( ἀφειαν ἔχει → τίνα συνάφειαν ἔχει; χαι τοῖς → καὶ τοῖς; ἐχ χρόνου → ἐκ χρόνου; πρεσθείοις → πρεσβείοις; ἀνάγχη ἐφ᾽ → ἀνάγκη ἐφ᾽; χοινὴ. τάξει → κοινή, τάξει; ὑποθεδλῇσθαι → ὑποβεβλῆσθαι; χρόναυ εἶναι → χρόνου εἶναι; εἰχόνι ἀχρόνως → εἰκόνι ἀχρόνως; ἐπέχεινα → ἐπέκεινα; χαραχτὴρ → χαρακτὴρ; ἐχμανθάνωμεν. → ἐκμανθάνωμεν.; Φυσιχὴ μὲν, → Φυσικὴ μὲν,; χτετοῦ εἶναι λόγον, δι] γόγυανν Γαι ϊεΐπιι5., δεδεπάϊ συάτων κατὰ → κτισμάτων κατὰ; δημιουργιχοὺς → δημιουργικοὺς; διαταχθεῖ- → διαταχθεῖσα; Α οἱ σα ι27), καὶ → καὶ; ἐχείνου προ-διωμολογημένον → ἐκείνου προδιωμολογημένου; ἐπιτεττδευμένη → ἐπιτετηδευμένη; τεχνιχὴ, → τεχνικὴ,; χατασχευάσμασι, → κατασκευάσμασι,; ἀποχρυψάμενος → ἀποκρυψάμενος; οὗπος, τοῦ → οὗτος, τοῦ; κάξις δευτέρα → τάξις δευτέρα; ᾿Ἐχεῖνο δὲ → Ἐκεῖνο δὲ; ἑχὼν ἀπεχρύψατο, → ἑκὼν ἀπεκρύψατο,; ἀχολουθίᾳ → ἀκολουθίᾳ; συμδαῖνον, → συμβαῖνον,; φως ἔστι → φῶς ἔστι; πες τὸ αἴτιον. → πρὸς τὸ αἴτιον.; ἐχ τῆς χατὰ φύσιν → ἐκ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν; ἀχολουθίας; → ἀκολουθίας;; ἕνεχεν ἀθετεῖ → ἕνεκεν ἀθετεῖ; τάξων ἐπὶ → τάξιν ἐπὶ; λαμδάνεσθαι; → λαμβάνεσθαι;; ᾿Ἡγεῖται, → Ἡγεῖται,; χατ᾽ αὐτὴν → κατ᾽ αὐτὴν; ἐπιδείχνυσθαι. → ἐπιδείκνυσθαι.; χατὰ μὲν → κατὰ μὲν; “τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν → τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν; χατὰ δὲ τὴν → κατὰ δὲ τὴν; οὐχέτι, οὐδὲ → οὐκέτι, οὐδὲ; χατὰ τὴν τοῦ → κατὰ τὴν τοῦ; χατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν → κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν; φυσιχὴν συνάφειαν ἀθε- → φυσικὴν συνάφειαν ἀθε….

Topics: Trinity, Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 1.20 (PG 29:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-1-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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

1.21PG 29:535

Ἐπεὶ μέντοι ἀφορίσασθαι ἡμῖν τοῦ χρόνου τὴν φύσιν ὁ σοφὸς τὰ πάντα προήχθη, καὶ ἐνταῦθα αὐτοῦ τὸ βέβαιον καὶ περιεσκεμμένον τῆς διανοίας ἴδωμεν. Χρόνον τοίνυν εἶναί φησι ποιάν τινὰ κίνησιν ἀστέρων " ἡλίου δηλονότι καὶ σελήνης καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν, ὅσοις καθ᾽ ἑαυτὰ κινεῖσθαι δύναμίς ἔστι. Τὸ τοίνυν ἀπὸ γενέσεως οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς μέχρι τῆς … δεινὸς τὰ μετέωρα οὗτος ἀποφανεῖται; Σαφῶς γὰρ ὁ τὴν κοσμογονίαν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος ἀναγράψας τῇ τετάρτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τοὺς μεγάλους φωστῆρας καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀστέρας γεγενῆσθαί φησι. Χρόνος οὖν οὐχ ἦν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐν ταῖς κατόπιν ἡμέραις οὐ γὰρ ἐκινοῦντό πω οἱ ἀστέρες. Πῶς γὰρ, οἵ γε μηδ᾽ ἐγεγόνεισαν τὴν ἀρχὴν; Καὶ πάλιν, ὅτε ἐπολέμει τοῖς Γαβαωνίταις ὁ τοῦ Ναυῇ Ἰησοῦς, ἐπειδὴ ἀκίνητος ὁ ἥλιος ἔμεινε τῷ προστάγματι πεδηθεὶς, καὶ ἡ σελήνη κατὰ χώραν εἱστήκει, χρόνος οὐχ ἦν τηνικαῦτα; Τί ἐκεῖνο οὖν τὸ διάστημα τῆς ἡμέρας εἴπωμεν; τίνα προσηγορίαν ἐπινοήσεις; Εἰ γὰρ ἡ τοῦ χρόνον φύσις ἐπιλε… ἡμέρας μέρος προσαγορεύειν τίνα τῆς ἀνοίας ὑπερβολὴν ἀπολείπει; ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἔοικεν ἐκ πολλῆς ἀγχινοίας ἡμέραν μὲν καὶ νύκτα ἐν τῇ ποιᾷ τῶν ἀστέρων κινήσει νομίζειν γίνεσθαι, ταῦτα δὲ εἶναι τοῦ χρόνου μέρη ὅθεν τὸν χρόνον ποιάν τινα κίνησιν ἀστέρων ἀπεφήνατο, οὐδὲ αὐτὸ τοῦτο συνεὶς ὅ τι λέγει. Οὐ γὰρ ποιὰν, ἀλλ᾽ εἴπερ ἄρα, ποσὴν, μᾶλλον ἦν εἰπεῖν οἰκειότερον. ᾿Αλλὰ τίς οὕτω παῖς παντελῶς τὴν διάνοιαν, ὥστε ἀγνοεῖν, ὅτι ἡμέραι μὲν, καὶ ὧραι, καὶ μῆνες, καὶ ἐνιαυτοὶ, μέτρα τοῦ χρόνου εἰσὶν, οὐχὶ μέρη; Χρόνος δέ ἐστι τὸ συμπαρεκτεινόμενον τῇ συστάσει τοῦ κόσμου διάστημα" ᾧ πᾶσα παραμετρεῖται κίνησις, εἴτε ἀστέρων, εἴτε ζώων, εἴτε οὗτινοσοῦν τῶν κινουμένων. καθὸ λέγομεν ταχύτερον ἣ βραδύτερον ἕτερον ἑτέρου · ταχύτερον μὲν τὸ ἐν ἐλάττονι χρόνῳ πλεῖον διάστημα μεταβαῖνον, βραδύτερον δὲ τὸ ἔλαττον ἐν πλείονι χρόνῳ κινούμενον. Ὁ δὲ, ἐπειδὴ ἐν χρόνῳ οἱ ἀστέρες κινοῦνται, χρόνου αὐτοὺς εἶναι δημιουργοὺς ἀποφαίνεται. Οὐκοῦν κατὰ τὸν τοῦ σοφωτάτου λόγον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ κάνθαροι ἐν χρόνῳ κινοῦνται, ὁρισώμεθα τὸν χρόνον εἶναι ποιάν τινα κανθάρων κίνησιν οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτου τὸ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ λεχθὲν διαφέρει, πλὴν τῆς σεμνότητος τῶν ὀνομάτων. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν τοιαῦτα, σκέψασθε δὲ τὰ ἐφεξῆς.

Epei mentoi aphorisasthai hēmin tou chronou tēn physin ho sophos ta panta proēchthē, kai entautha autou to bebaion kai perieskemmenon tēs dianoias idōmen. Chronon toinyn einai phēsi poian tina kinēsin asterōn " hēliou dēlonoti kai selēnēs kai tōn loipōn, hosois kath᾽ heauta kineisthai dynamis esti. To toinyn apo geneseōs ouranou kai gēs mechri tēs … deinos ta meteōra houtos apophaneitai? Saphōs gar ho tēn kosmogonian tę̄ dynamei tou Pneumatos anagrapsas tę̄ tetartę̄ hēmerą tous megalous phōstēras kai tous loipous asteras gegenēsthai phēsi. Chronos oun ouch ēn, hōs eoiken, en tais katopin hēmerais ou gar ekinounto pō hoi asteres. Pōs gar, hoi ge mēd᾽ egegoneisan tēn archēn? Kai palin, hote epolemei tois Gabaōnitais ho tou Nauę̄ Iēsous, epeidē akinētos ho hēlios emeine tǭ prostagmati pedētheis, kai hē selēnē kata chōran heistēkei, chronos ouch ēn tēnikauta? Ti ekeino oun to diastēma tēs hēmeras eipōmen? tina prosēgorian epinoēseis? Ei gar hē tou chronon physis epile… hēmeras meros prosagoreuein tina tēs anoias hyperbolēn apoleipei? ᾿All᾽ eoiken ek pollēs anchinoias hēmeran men kai nykta en tę̄ poią tōn asterōn kinēsei nomizein ginesthai, tauta de einai tou chronou merē hothen ton chronon poian tina kinēsin asterōn apephēnato, oude auto touto syneis ho ti legei. Ou gar poian, all᾽ eiper ara, posēn, mallon ēn eipein oikeioteron. ᾿Alla tis houtō pais pantelōs tēn dianoian, hōste agnoein, hoti hēmerai men, kai hōrai, kai mēnes, kai eniautoi, metra tou chronou eisin, ouchi merē? Chronos de esti to symparekteinomenon tę̄ systasei tou kosmou diastēma" hǭ pasa parametreitai kinēsis, eite asterōn, eite zōōn, eite houtinosoun tōn kinoumenōn. katho legomen tachyteron hē bradyteron heteron heterou ; tachyteron men to en elattoni chronǭ pleion diastēma metabainon, bradyteron de to elatton en pleioni chronǭ kinoumenon. Ho de, epeidē en chronǭ hoi asteres kinountai, chronou autous einai dēmiourgous apophainetai. Oukoun kata ton tou sophōtatou logon, epeidē kai kantharoi en chronǭ kinountai, horisōmetha ton chronon einai poian tina kantharōn kinēsin ouden gar toutou to par᾽ autou lechthen diapherei, plēn tēs semnotētos tōn onomatōn. Kai tauta men toiauta, skepsasthe de ta ephexēs.

[21] Since, however, this man who is wise in everything was led on to define for us the nature of time, let us see here too the firmness and circumspection of his thought. He says that time is a certain motion of the stars, of the sun, clearly, and the moon and the rest that have the power to move by themselves. Then what will this expert in celestial things declare about the [interval] from the genesis of heaven and earth to the …? For the one who wrote down the creation of the world by the power of the Spirit says plainly that the great lights and the other stars came into being on the fourth day. So there was no time, it seems, in the preceding days; for the stars were not yet moving. How could they be, when they had not even come into being at all? And again, when Joshua son of Nun was fighting the Gibeonites, and the sun stood unmoving, held fast by the command, and the moon had stood still in its place, was there no time then? What, then, shall we call that interval of the day? What name will you devise? For if the nature of time fails …, to call a part of a day … what excess of folly does that leave? But it seems that from his great acuteness he thinks that day and night come about in a certain motion of the stars, and that these are parts of time; hence he declared time to be a certain motion of the stars, not understanding even what he is saying. For it would have been more fitting to say not "a certain kind of" motion but, if anything, "a certain amount of" it. But who is so entirely a child in mind as not to know that days and hours and months and years are measures of time, not parts? Time is the interval coextensive with the constitution of the world, by which every motion is measured, whether of stars or of animals or of anything that moves, insofar as we say that one thing is faster or slower than another: faster, what passes over a greater distance in less time; slower, what moves a lesser distance in more time. But he, since the stars move in time, declares them to be makers of time. So, by the reasoning of this wisest of men, since beetles too move in time, let us define time as a certain motion of beetles; for what he said differs not at all from this, except in the solemnity of the words. So much for this; now look at what follows.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 1:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Josh 10:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Josh 10:13 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil refutes Eunomius's definition of time as a motion of the stars, citing the days before the stars were made and the day the sun stood still, and defines time as the interval coextensive with the world.

Chapter 21 of Book 1. Lines lost after 'to the' and after 'fails' are marked …; Migne's Latin and notes of variant readings are removed by logged corrections.
Creation of the lights on the fourth day: Gen 1:14-19; Joshua and the Gibeonites: Josh 10:12-13.
'A certain kind of' and 'a certain amount of' render ποιά and ποσή.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): βέδαιον καὶ → βέβαιον καὶ; περιεσχεμμένον → περιεσκεμμένον; χαθ᾽ ἑαυτὰ → καθ᾽ ἑαυτὰ; χινεῖσθαι → κινεῖσθαι; ας. Ιοριΐ8 τὸ ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ. Αἰϊφυδηῖο μοϑὶ σούδοχ υπ|8 πρότερον καὶ ὕστερον οὐ χατά. Δ, σα ν-» τὶ 8 φυΐαδην, υἱ ἐγδαιυγδγιιὴι, αἱ ὁχ ὀγθϑπαΐ ται! οῦ 4 ἀρργοθπάϊυγ ἴα μου δι ομ 5, ἴῃ ἀ δα ρ! 15, ποη ποβῖγα ςοηβι πη] ογαϊ δι] 06, 564 'ρ88 πόὧι. ϑοἀ φιοπίαπι ας 1116 ἱπ οπληΐθι8 δ ποι! ϑυρογδὶ ἢ δε, 4υ!β πηυ τὰ δδὶ 6}}}8 βοί δγιΐϑ, φηΐῃ) αιοά αἰχὶ!, ἰά 40 δος αἰ} αἰ δγὶ, ποπιΐμα πη Βαϊ οραγάγιπι ἱποιγία Οὐ γὰρ ἐχινοῦν τόπῳ οἱ. Οοαΐεε5 ἄυο ἐχινοῦντό πω. ΑΙ αι δίῃ ἐχινοῦντό πως. Πάρι σοὐΐοα58 ἄυο οἱ μηδέ. ([ Πῶς γὰρ, οἵ γε μηδ᾽ ἐγεγόνεισαν τὴν ἀρ- Βορ. φιυαγίυβ δημιουργοὺς ἀπεφήνατο. Μοχ δεινὸς → … δεινὸς; χοτμογονίαν → κοσμογονίαν; ἄναγράψας → ἀναγράψας; ἔοιχεν, ἐν → ἔοικεν, ἐν; χατόπιν ἠμέραις οὐ → κατόπιν ἡμέραις οὐ; ἐχινοῦντό πω οἱ → ἐκινοῦντό πω οἱ; ἐπολέμει. → ἐπολέμει; Γαθαωνίταις → Γαβαωνίταις; Ἰησοῦς. ἐπειδὴ → Ἰησοῦς, ἐπειδὴ; (481 τῷ προ:τάγματι → τῷ προστάγματι; χατὰ χώραν → κατὰ χώραν; εἰστής χει, χρόνος → εἱστήκει, χρόνος; τηνιχαῦτα; → τηνικαῦτα;; ἐχεῖνο οὖν → ἐκεῖνο οὖν; προστιγορίαν → προσηγορίαν; ἐπιλε- Β ἡμέρας → ἐπιλε… ἡμέρας; ὑπερθολὴν → ὑπερβολὴν; ἔοιχεν ἐχ πολλῆς → ἔοικεν ἐκ πολλῆς; νύχτα ἐν → νύκτα ἐν; χινήσει νομίζειν → κινήσει νομίζειν; χίνησιν ἀστέρων → κίνησιν ἀστέρων; οἰχειότερον. → οἰκειότερον.; ὧρα:, καὶ → ὧραι, καὶ; συμπαρεχτεινόμενον → συμπαρεκτεινόμενον; χόσμου διάστημα" → κόσμου διάστημα"; χίνησις, → κίνησις,; χινουμένων. → κινουμένων.; χαθὸ λέγομεν → καθὸ λέγομεν; ᾿ ταχύτερον → · ταχύτερον; μεταθαΐνον, → μεταβαῖνον,; χινούμενον. → κινούμενον.; χινοῦνται, χρόνου → κινοῦνται, χρόνου; αὑτοὺς εἶναι → αὐτοὺς εἶναι; Οὐχοῦν χατὰ τὸν → Οὐκοῦν κατὰ τὸν; χάνθαροι → κάνθαροι; χινοῦνται, ὁρισώμεθα → κινοῦνται, ὁρισώμεθα; πο! ἂν τινα χανθάρων → ποιάν τινα κανθάρων; χίνητιν οὐδὲν → κίνησιν οὐδὲν; σχέψασθε → σκέψασθε.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 1.21 (PG 29:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-1-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.22PG 29:535

ΕΥ̓͂Ν. ᾿Αλλὰ μὴν φησὶν, οὐδὲ ἐνυπάρχειν τι τῇ οὐσίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνατὸν, οἷον εἶδος, ἢ ὄγκον, ἢ πηλικότητα, διὰ τὸ πάντη συνθήκης ἐλεύθερον εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. Εἰ δὲ τούτων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων τι μήτε ἐστὶ μήτε ποτὲ γένοιτ᾽ ἂν εὐαγὲς ἐπινοῆσαι συμπεπλεγμένον τῇ οὐσίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ποῖος ἔτι συγχωρήσει λόγος πρὸς τὴν ἀγέννητον ὁμοιοῦν τὴν γεννητήν; τῆς κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ὁμοιότητος, ἢ συγκρίσεως, ἢ κοινωνίας, μηδεμίαν ὑπεροχὴν ἣ διαφορὰν καταλιπούσης, ἰσότητα δὲ σαφῶς ἐργαζομένης, μετὰ δὲ τῆς ἰσότητος ἀγέννητον ἀποφαινούσης τὸν ὁμοιούμενον, ἣ συγκρινόμενον. Οὐδεὶς δὲ οὕτως ἀνόητος καὶ πρὸς ἀσέβειαν τολμηρὸς, ὥστε ἴσον εἰπεῖν τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου διαῤῥήδην εἰπόντος Ὁ Πατὴρ ὁ πέμψας με μείζων μου ἐστί" καὶ πάλιν μετ᾽ ὀλίγα. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅτι μὲν οἷς ὁ τῶν πάντων θεὸς ἀγέννητος καὶ ἀσύγκριτος, πλειόνων ὄντων τῶν παραλελειμμένων, ἀποχρῆν ἡγοῦμαι καὶ τὰ ΒΑΣ, Ὅταν τινὸς ἅπτεσθαι μέλλῃ πονηροῦ λόγου, … ἵνα διὰ τῆς ἐν τούτοις εὐγνωμοσύνης μηδὲ περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀπιστῆται. Οὐδὲν, φησὶν, οἷόν τε ἐνυπάρχειν τοῦ Θεοῦ τῇ οὐσίᾳ, οὔτε εἶδος, οὔτε ὄγκον, οὔτε πηλικότητα, διὰ τὸ πάντη συνθήκης ἐλεύθερον εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. Μέχρι τούτων ἐστὶν εὐγνώμων" ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἑξῆς εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐπανῆλθεν, Ὡς γὰρ ἀναγκαίως τοῖς προεκτεθεῖσιν ἑπομένην τὴν βλασφημίαν ἐπισυνάπτει, λέγων" Εἰ δὲ τούτων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων τι μήτε ἐστὶ, μηδέποτ᾽ ἂν γένοιτο εὐαγὲς ἐπινοῆσαι συμπεπλεγμένον τῇ οὐσίᾳ, τίς συγχωρήσει λόγος πρὸς τὴν ἀγέννητον ὁμοιοῦν τὴν γεννητήν; Ποίαν ἀκολουθίαν ἔχει ταῦτα πρὸς ἄλληλα, εἰ ἀσύνθετός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, ἀνεπίδεκτον εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁμοιότητος; Εἰπὲ γάρ" οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ σὺ τὸν Υἱὸν παραπλησίως ἐρεῖς μήτε εἶδος, μήτε ὄγκον, μήτε πηλικότητα ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, καὶ πάντη συνθήκης …

EUN. ᾿Alla mēn phēsin, oude enyparchein ti tę̄ ousią tou Theou dynaton, hoion eidos, ē onkon, ē pēlikotēta, dia to pantē synthēkēs eleutheron einai ton Theon. Ei de toutōn kai tōn toioutōn ti mēte esti mēte pote genoit᾽ an euages epinoēsai sympeplegmenon tę̄ ousią tou Theou, poios eti synchōrēsei logos pros tēn agennēton homoioun tēn gennētēn? tēs kat᾽ ousian homoiotētos, ē synkriseōs, ē koinōnias, mēdemian hyperochēn hē diaphoran katalipousēs, isotēta de saphōs ergazomenēs, meta de tēs isotētos agennēton apophainousēs ton homoioumenon, hē synkrinomenon. Oudeis de houtōs anoētos kai pros asebeian tolmēros, hōste ison eipein tǭ Patri ton Huion, autou tou Kyriou diarrhēdēn eipontos Ho Patēr ho pempsas me meizōn mou esti" kai palin met᾽ oliga. ᾿All᾽ hoti men hois ho tōn pantōn theos agennētos kai asynkritos, pleionōn ontōn tōn paraleleimmenōn, apochrēn hēgoumai kai ta BAS, Hotan tinos haptesthai mellę̄ ponērou logou, … hina dia tēs en toutois eugnōmosynēs mēde peri tōn loipōn apistētai. Ouden, phēsin, hoion te enyparchein tou Theou tę̄ ousią, oute eidos, oute onkon, oute pēlikotēta, dia to pantē synthēkēs eleutheron einai ton Theon. Mechri toutōn estin eugnōmōn" en de tois hexēs eis heauton epanēlthen, Hōs gar anankaiōs tois proektetheisin hepomenēn tēn blasphēmian episynaptei, legōn" Ei de toutōn kai tōn toioutōn ti mēte esti, mēdepot᾽ an genoito euages epinoēsai sympeplegmenon tę̄ ousią, tis synchōrēsei logos pros tēn agennēton homoioun tēn gennētēn? Poian akolouthian echei tauta pros allēla, ei asynthetos estin ho Theos, anepidekton einai ton Huion tēs pros auton homoiotētos? Eipe gar" ouchi de kai sy ton Huion paraplēsiōs ereis mēte eidos, mēte onkon, mēte pēlikotēta echein en heautǭ, kai pantē synthēkēs …

[22] EUNOMIUS: "Moreover," he says, "nothing can exist within the essence of God, such as form or bulk or size, because God is entirely free of composition. And if none of these or the like either is, or could ever piously be conceived as being, interwoven with the essence of God, what argument will still allow us to liken the begotten [essence] to the unbegotten? For likeness or comparison or fellowship in essence, leaving no superiority or difference, clearly produces equality, and together with equality shows that what is likened or compared is unbegotten. But no one is so senseless and so bold in impiety as to call the Son equal to the Father, when the Lord himself says expressly, 'The Father who sent me is greater than I.'" And again, a little later: "But that the God of all is unbegotten and incomparable, I think that what [has been said] is sufficient, though much has been left out."

BASIL: Whenever he is about to take up some wicked argument, … so that by his fair-mindedness in these points he may not be disbelieved about the rest. "Nothing," he says, "can exist within the essence of God, neither form nor bulk nor size, because God is entirely free of composition." Up to this point he is fair-minded; but in what follows he has returned to himself. For he attaches the blasphemy as if it followed necessarily from what he set out first, saying: "And if none of these or the like either is, or could ever piously be conceived as being, interwoven with the essence, what argument will allow us to liken the begotten to the unbegotten?" What logical connection do these things have with each other: that, if God is incomposite, the Son cannot admit likeness to him? For tell me: will you not also say likewise that the Son has neither form nor bulk nor size in himself, and is entirely [free] of composition …

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

John 14:28 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil quotes Eunomius's argument that because God is simple the Son cannot be like him, and asks why the Son, who is equally simple, cannot be like the Father.

Chapter 22 of Book 1. Migne's notes of variant readings at the start are removed by logged corrections; lines are lost after 'some wicked argument' and at the end (marked …). The quotations are from Eunomius's Apology.
John 14:28.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; line lost in the scan; fragment of a word removed; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): (δ4), φησὶν, → φησὶν,; Ὁ ΠῚ8, ᾿Αλλὰ μὴν οἴς,, [16 1,Δ1|π6 το άθης ἴεν οὐδὲ δυνατὸν τὸν Υἱὸν ἐνυπάρχειν τῇ οὐσία, οἷς. Ατ- Εἶπ, 4ὺ} ᾿Πνρ πὶ Εἰιηοπηΐ παραγ οὐ αϊι, 12. δ τη πε ἱηνομίηνιθ, ᾿Αλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ ἐνυπάρχειν τι ταύτῃ οὐσίᾳ δυνατὸν οἷον εἶδος εἰς., δῆς 5ογίρηγαπι κεηυΐ 8815 ἀπο. Εκ συγ μος ποείγυπι ὑιἀἰείυπι ποῖ τι → τι; Α υϊάφυδηι ἰπ Πεΐ δυθβίδηιϊα δχϑίβιδι, νεΐαι [ογπιὰ, πηλεχότητα, → πηλικότητα,; συνθήχης ἐλεύθερον εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. Εἰ → συνθήκης ἐλεύθερον εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. Εἰ; γεέννης τήν; τῆς → γεννητήν; τῆς; χατ᾽ οὐσίαν → κατ᾽ οὐσίαν; συγχρίσεως, → συγκρίσεως,; χοινωνίας, → κοινωνίας,; χαταλιπούσης, → καταλιπούσης,; συγχρινόμενον. → συγκρινόμενον.; ἀσέῤειαν → ἀσέβειαν; πάντῶν θεὸς → πάντων θεὸς; ἀσύγχριτος, → ἀσύγκριτος,; ὄγχον, οὔτε → ὄγκον, οὔτε; πηλιχότητα, → πηλικότητα,; συνθήχης ἐλεύθερον εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. Μέχρι → συνθήκης ἐλεύθερον εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. Μέχρι; προεχτεθεῖσιν → προεκτεθεῖσιν; μῆτε ἐστὶ, → μήτε ἐστὶ,; ἐπινοῇῆσαι᾽ → ἐπινοῆσαι; συγχωρήσειλόγος → συγχωρήσει λόγος; ἀχολουθίαν → ἀκολουθίαν; ἀνεπίδεχτον → ἀνεπίδεκτον; ὄγχον, μήτε → ὄγκον, μήτε; πηλιχότητα ἔχειν → πηλικότητα ἔχειν; καὶ πάντη συνθήχης → καὶ πάντη συνθήκης …; λόγου, τῶν, ἵνα → λόγου, … ἵνα.

Topics: Trinity, Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 1.22 (PG 29:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-1-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.23PG 29:535

᾿Εγὼ μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲ μανέντα σε ἡγοῦμαί ποτε τολμήσειν ἄλλο τι εἰπεῖν τὸν Υἱὸν ἣ ἀσώματον καὶ ἀνείδεον καὶ ἀσχημάτιστον, καὶ πάντα ὅσαπερ ἂν ἐπὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς εἴποις. Πῶς οὖν οὐχ εὐσεβὲς τὸν μὴ ἔχοντα εἶδος τῷ εἶδος μὴ ἔχοντι παραβάλλειν; καὶ τὸν μὴ ἔχοντα πηλικότητα τῷ μὴ ἔχοντι ταύτην; … … καὶ τὸν ἀσύνθετον ὅλως τῷ ἀσυνθέτῳ; … δὲ τὸ ὅμοιον ἐν τῷ εἴδει τίθεται, καὶ τὸ ὅσον ἐν τῷ ὄγκῳ τὴν δὲ πηλικότητα, ὅ τι καὶ οἴεται παρὰ τὸν ὄγκον εἶναι, αὐτὸς ἂν οἰκειότερον ἐξηγή… ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Διὰ τοῦτο οὔτε ἴσος, φησὶν, οὔτε ὅμοιος, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἄποσός ἔστι καὶ ἀνείδεος. ΒΑΣ. Ἐγὼ δὲ κατ᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὴν ὁμοιότητα τίθεμαι. Ἐπειδὴ ὥσπερ ὁ Πατὴρ συνθήκης ἐστὶ πάσης ἐλεύθερος, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ἁπλοῦς παντελῶς, καὶ ἀσύνθετος, καὶ τὸ ὅμοιον, μὴ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ εἴδους ταὐτότητα θεωρεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν τὴν οὐσίαν. Ὅσοις μὲν γὰρ μορφὴ καὶ σχῆμα περίκειται, τούτοις, κατὰ τὴν ταὐτότητα τοῦ εἴδους, ἡ ὁμοιότης " τὴν δὲ ἀνείδεον καὶ ἀσχημάτιστον φύσιν ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ οὐσίᾳ λείπεται ἔχειν τὴν ὁμοιότητα " καὶ τὸ ἴσον μὴ ἐν τῇ τῶν ὄγκων παραμετρήσει, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῇ ταὐτότητι τῆς δυνάμεως. Χριστὸς, φησὶ, Θεοῦ δύναμις, καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία " ὅλης τῆς πατρικῆς δυνάμεως ἐναποκειμένης αὐτῷ δηλονότι. Ὅθεν ὅσαπερ ἄν βλέπῃ τὸν Πατέρα ποιοῦντα, ταῦτα καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ὁμοίως ποιεῖ. ΕΥ̓͂Ν. ᾿Αλλ ἡ κατ᾽ οὐσίαν, φησὶν, ὁμοιότης, ἢ σύγκρισις, ἣ κοινωνία, μηδεμίαν ὑπεροχὴν ἣ διαφορὰν καταλείπουσα, ἰσότητα σαφῶς ἀπεργάζεται. ΒΑΣ. Πῶς οὖν οὐδεμίαν διαφορὰν καταλείπει, οὐδὲ τὴν τοῖς αἰτίοις πρὸς τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐνυπάρχουσαν; Εἶτα ἐπάγει" ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Τίς δὲ οὕτως ἀνόητος, ἣ πρὸς ἀσέβειαν τολμηρὸς, ὥστε ἴσον εἰπεῖν τὸν Υἱὸν τῷ Πατρί; ΒΑΣ. Εἴπωμεν αὐτῷ τὰ τοῦ προφήτου πρὸς ταῦτα" ὅτι, Ὄψις πόρνης ἐγένετό σοι" ἀπηναισχύντησας πρὸς πάντας. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖναι τὰ ἑαυτῶν ὀνείδη τοῖς σεμνῶς βεβιωκόσι προστρίβονται" καὶ οὗτος τοὺς τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς μεγαλύνειν ἐπιθυμοῦντας ἀνοήτους ἀποκαλεῖ καὶ πρὸς ἀσέβειαν τολμηροὺς, ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς χαλεπαίνων, ἐφ᾽ οἷς καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι παρωξύνοντο τηνικαῦτα λέγοντες ὅτι, Ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιεῖ τῷ Θεῷ.

᾿Egō men gar oude manenta se hēgoumai pote tolmēsein allo ti eipein ton Huion hē asōmaton kai aneideon kai aschēmatiston, kai panta hosaper an epi tou Patros eipois. Pōs oun ouch eusebes ton mē echonta eidos tǭ eidos mē echonti paraballein? kai ton mē echonta pēlikotēta tǭ mē echonti tautēn? … … kai ton asyntheton holōs tǭ asynthetǭ? … de to homoion en tǭ eidei tithetai, kai to hoson en tǭ onkǭ tēn de pēlikotēta, ho ti kai oietai para ton onkon einai, autos an oikeioteron exēgē… EUN. Dia touto oute isos, phēsin, oute homoios, epeidē kai aposos esti kai aneideos. BAS. Egō de kat᾽ auto touto tēn homoiotēta tithemai. Epeidē hōsper ho Patēr synthēkēs esti pasēs eleutheros, houtō kai ho Huios haplous pantelōs, kai asynthetos, kai to homoion, mē kata tēn tou eidous tautotēta theōreisthai, alla kat᾽ autēn tēn ousian. Hosois men gar morphē kai schēma perikeitai, toutois, kata tēn tautotēta tou eidous, hē homoiotēs " tēn de aneideon kai aschēmatiston physin en autę̄ tę̄ ousią leipetai echein tēn homoiotēta " kai to ison mē en tę̄ tōn onkōn parametrēsei, all᾽ en tę̄ tautotēti tēs dynameōs. Christos, phēsi, Theou dynamis, kai Theou sophia " holēs tēs patrikēs dynameōs enapokeimenēs autǭ dēlonoti. Hothen hosaper an blepę̄ ton Patera poiounta, tauta kai ho Huios homoiōs poiei. EUN. ᾿All hē kat᾽ ousian, phēsin, homoiotēs, ē synkrisis, hē koinōnia, mēdemian hyperochēn hē diaphoran kataleipousa, isotēta saphōs apergazetai. BAS. Pōs oun oudemian diaphoran kataleipei, oude tēn tois aitiois pros ta ex autōn enyparchousan? Eita epagei" EUN. Tis de houtōs anoētos, hē pros asebeian tolmēros, hōste ison eipein ton Huion tǭ Patri? BAS. Eipōmen autǭ ta tou prophētou pros tauta" hoti, Opsis pornēs egeneto soi" apēnaischyntēsas pros pantas. Kai gar ekeinai ta heautōn oneidē tois semnōs bebiōkosi prostribontai" kai houtos tous tēn doxan tou Monogenous megalynein epithymountas anoētous apokalei kai pros asebeian tolmērous, epi tois autois chalepainōn, eph᾽ hois kai Ioudaioi parōxynonto tēnikauta legontes hoti, Ison heauton poiei tǭ Theǭ.

[23] For my part, I do not think that even in madness you would ever dare to call the Son anything other than incorporeal, formless, shapeless, and all that you would say of the Father. How then is it not pious to compare the one who has no form with the one who has no form, and the one who has no size with the one who has none … … and the wholly incomposite with the incomposite? … [He] places likeness in form, and equality in bulk; as for size, whatever he thinks it is besides bulk, he himself could explain more fittingly …

EUNOMIUS: "For this reason he is neither equal nor like, since he is without quantity and without form."

BASIL: But it is in this very thing that I place the likeness. For just as the Father is free of all composition, so too the Son is entirely simple and incomposite; and likeness is contemplated not according to sameness of form but according to the essence itself. For things that are clothed with shape and figure have likeness according to sameness of form; but the formless and shapeless nature can only have its likeness in the essence itself, and its equality not in measuring bulks against each other but in sameness of power. "Christ," it says, "the power of God and the wisdom of God," the whole power of the Father being, clearly, stored up in him. Hence whatever he sees the Father doing, the Son also does likewise.

EUNOMIUS: "But likeness or comparison or fellowship in essence," he says, "leaving no superiority or difference, clearly produces equality."

BASIL: How then does it leave no difference, not even the one that exists in causes in relation to what comes from them? Then he adds:

EUNOMIUS: "But who is so senseless or so bold in impiety as to call the Son equal to the Father?"

BASIL: Let us say to him in reply the words of the prophet: "You had the face of a harlot; you were shameless toward all." For those women too fasten their own disgrace on those who have lived chastely; and this man calls senseless and bold in impiety those who desire to magnify the glory of the Only-Begotten, angered at the same things that provoked the Jews at that time, when they said, "He makes himself equal to God."

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

1 Cor 1:24 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 3:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:18 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil argues that since the Son, like the Father, is incorporeal and formless, it is pious to compare them.

Chapter 23 of Book 1 begins here and continues in staged 1.36. The end of the passage is lost in the scan (marked …), and Migne's Latin is removed by logged corrections.
Continuation of chapter 23. Lines lost in the scan at the beginning and before 'places likeness' are marked …; Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections.
1 Cor 1:24; John 5:19; Jer 3:3 (Septuagint); John 5:18.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): μανεντα σε → μανέντα σε; πολμήσειν → τολμήσειν; ἀσχημάτιπτον, → ἀσχημάτιστον,; εὐσεθὲς τὸν → εὐσεβὲς τὸν; παραθάλλειν; → παραβάλλειν;; πηλιχότητα → πηλικότητα ; ταύ- [5 δϑδῖ, "6406 υη 4119} [ἀ6Υ]1, ποταπὶ οἱ (Δ! πὶ φυϊάσοι ἷ 9, Ὠ0}Δπὶ ργωϑιητίδμηι δὶ αἰ γι λπὶ Ργαεμ αἰ, αὐ μγορίθγοα, ιοι ἀς 115 98 ἢ, γδοι 6 Ἰηχυΐι, Πογὶ ροιοϑὶ, αἱ ἰὴ θεαὶ βυθδίδηι ὀχ βίαι {υ]- Γ6ΓἼ1, Βογυπὶ οἱ (αἰ πὶ φυϊάφυδπι οὐπν θεἱ κυ ϑίδη- → ταύτην; …; Ερο οψυΐίδηι, ναὶ δἱ ἰῃβαηῖγεβ, ποῇ ρι0 διπο [ΓὉὑθ γι, οὐπὶ αὐΐ [Ογιπδη} ἢ τὴν; καὶ → … καὶ; Ὁ ἢ) Πᾶθει, αυϑηῃι!διοπν ποι ὨΔθοι 7 ἰ16πη, ουπὶ αυΐ 3 οδη. χιν, 28. Ρτὸ ᾿Π|0, τῇ οὐσίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἰ! Φρεγα δἰ μι ρ Ποῖον Ἰορίτατ ταύτῃ : 564 ἰἴὰ πιυϊδίυπι ἃ ᾿ἴο ρυῖο. υἱ Επμ πη} δθη θη 4 πιο ϑ 8 (βᾺ, Εα᾿ὶ δὲ Βορ. ἰἀγιΐι5 Οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὕτως. Αἱ ος. ᾿ Τ09) δίς ΟοἱὉ. δἱ ἀνο ερὶ!. ΠΠπ4, μήτε ὄγχον, ἴῃ Εαϊεϊ ἔχοντα εἶδος μὴ ἔχοντι παραθάλλειν. Αἱ ἴῃ (ογινδ βίδιυΐι δ᾽ πη υ ἀΐπθπη, οἱ ἴμ πιο] 6 Φυδ]!- 1τΔίθ) : 4υδη(ΠΔ1ο Δυ! δὴ) αυΐὰ ρτωίθγ το θ 6886 ἤφυγδπ) δι 1, γα! ἰφυυπὶ δὲ ὧν ἰπ ἰρβᾶ διιυδιδη ἃ με δδὶ 8: π|}ΠΠπυυ πη απ), φυα! δῖ 6 πὶ νογοὸ ποη ἰπ πιο-ἡ τὸν [οἰ Εὐν. Ουΐ8 δυίοιι ἰϊὰ διοἰ 05 6581, υδὶ δὰ ἱπιρίεία- ΄ ͵ Α δὲ → … δὲ; ὄγχῳ τὴν → ὄγκῳ τὴν; πηλιχότητα, → πηλικότητα,; ὄγχον εἶναι, → ὄγκον εἶναι,; οἰχειότερον → οἰκειότερον; ἐξτγή- ΕΥ̓͂Ν. → ἐξηγή… ΕΥ̓͂Ν.; φτσὶν, οὔτε → φησὶν, οὔτε; Ἑγὼ δὲ κατ᾽ → Ἐγὼ δὲ κατ᾽; τέθεμαι. → τίθεμαι.; συνθήχης → συνθήκης; πάτης ἐλεύθερος, → πάσης ἐλεύθερος,; χατὰ τὴν τοῦ → κατὰ τὴν τοῦ; περίχειται, → περίκειται,; χατὰ τὴν ταὐτότητα → κατὰ τὴν ταὐτότητα; ἔσον μὴ Β ἐν τῇ τῶν → ἴσον μὴ ἐν τῇ τῶν; παραμετρέσει, → παραμετρήσει,; «ἧς δυνάμεως. → τῆς δυνάμεως.; πατριχῇς → πατρικῆς; ἐναποχειμένης → ἐναποκειμένης; σύγχρισις, → σύγκρισις,; χοινωνία, → κοινωνία,; χαταλείπει, → καταλείπει,; ᾿ ΕΥ̓͂Ν. → ΕΥ̓͂Ν.; ἀπέδειαν → ἀσέβειαν; οψις πόρνης → Ὄψις πόρνης; ἀπηγαισχύντησας → ἀπηναισχύντησας; ἐχεῖναι τὰ → ἐκεῖναι τὰ; βεδιωχόσι → βεβιωκόσι; προστρίθονται" → προστρίβονται"; ἀποχαλεῖ → ἀποκαλεῖ; ἀσέδειαν → ἀσέβειαν; τηνιχαῦτα → τηνικαῦτα; ἑδαυτὸν “«οιδῖ τῷ → ἑαυτὸν ποιεῖ τῷ.

Topics: Christology, Heresy, Trinity

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 1.23 (PG 29:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-1-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.24PG 29:535

Καίτοι γε (καὶ μηδενὶ παράδοξον τὸ λεγόμενον δόξῃ) μᾶλλόν πως ἐδόκουν ἐκεῖνοι τὸ ἀκόλουθον ἐπιβλέπειν. Ἠγανάκτουν γὰρ, ὅτι Πατέρα ἑαυτοῦ ἔλεγε τὸν Θεόν " τὸ ἐφεξῆς ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτῶν συλλογιζόμενοι, ὅτι διὰ τούτου ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιεῖ τῷ Θεῷ ὡς ἀναγκαίως ἑπομένου τῷ Πατέρα ἔχειν τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ ἴσον ὑπάρχειν αὐτῷ. Ὁ δὲ, τὸ πρῶτον συγχωρῶν δῆθεν, πρὸς τὸ δεύτερον ἀνανεύει, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴν ἡμῖν προβάλλεται εἰπόντος" Ὁ Πατὴρ, ὁ πέμψας με, μείζων μου ἐστί" τοῦ δὲ Ἀποστόλου λέγοντος οὐχ ἀκούει ὅτι, Οὐχ ἀρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ. Καίτοι εἰ κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον ἡ ἀγεννησία οὐσία ἦν, ἐβούλετο δὲ τὴν κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ὑπεροχὴν ἐπιδεῖξαι, εἶπεν ἄν - Ὁ ἀγέννητος μείζων μου ἐστίν. Ὑμέτερος δέ ἐστιν ὁ λόγος, ὅτι ἡ τοῦ Πατρὸς προσηγορία ἐνεργείας ἐστὶ καὶ οὐχ οὐσίας σημαντική. Μείζονα οὖν λέγοντες τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸν Πατέρα, μείζονα τοῦ ἔργου φατὲ τὴν ἐνέργειαν. Πᾶσα δὲ δήπου ἐνέργεια συμβαίνει τῷ μέτρῳ τοῖς ἐξ αὐτῆς γινομένοις - καὶ μεγάλη μὲν τῶν μεγάλων ἔργων ἐστὶ, σμικρὰ δὲ τῶν σμικροτέρων. Τὸ οὖν μείζονα τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸν Πατέρα κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον ὁμολογεῖν οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν, ἣ ἀσύμμετρον τῷ ἔργῳ τίθεσθαι τὴν ἐνέργειαν, καὶ μάτην φάσκειν πρὸς τὸ τῆς ἐνεργείας μέγεθος τὸν Θεὸν κεκινῆσθαι, οὐ δυνηθέντα τῇ ἐνεργείᾳ παρισῶσαι τὸ τέλος Ὥστε τὸ ἕτερον τοῖν δυοῖν ἀναγκαίως διαπεσεῖται" ἢ μὴ δηλοῦν ἐνέργειαν τὸν Πατέρα, ἀλλὰ οὐσίαν, καὶ οὕτως αὐτοῖς ὁ σεσοφισμένος τῆς ὁμοιότητος λόγος διαγεγράψεται, ὅμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν τιθεμένων, τουτέστι, τῇ ἐνεργείᾳ· οἷον γὰρ ἠθέλησεν ὁ Πατὴρ, φησὶ, τοιοῦτον ἐποίησε, καθὸ καὶ εἰκόνα βουλήσεως ὀνομάζουσιν· ἣ τοῦτο φυλάσσοντας, μὴ εἶναι λέγειν μείζονα τὸν Πατέρα. Ἐπειδήπερ πᾶσα ἐνέργεια, μηδενὸς ἀνθισταμένου τῶν ἔξωθεν, σύμμετρός ἐστι τοῖς οἰκείοις ἀποτελέσμασι. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν πρὸς ἔλεγχον τῆς ἐν τοῖς δόγμασιν αὐτῶν ἀσυμφωνίας εἰρήσθω.

Kaitoi ge (kai mēdeni paradoxon to legomenon doxę̄) mallon pōs edokoun ekeinoi to akolouthon epiblepein. Ēganaktoun gar, hoti Patera heautou elege ton Theon " to ephexēs aph᾽ heautōn syllogizomenoi, hoti dia toutou ison heauton poiei tǭ Theǭ hōs anankaiōs hepomenou tǭ Patera echein ton Theon tou ison hyparchein autǭ. Ho de, to prōton synchōrōn dēthen, pros to deuteron ananeuei, kai tēn tou Kyriou phōnēn hēmin proballetai eipontos" Ho Patēr, ho pempsas me, meizōn mou esti" tou de Apostolou legontos ouch akouei hoti, Ouch arpagmon hēgēsato to einai isa theǭ. Kaitoi ei kata ton son logon hē agennēsia ousia ēn, ebouleto de tēn kat᾽ ousian hyperochēn epideixai, eipen an - Ho agennētos meizōn mou estin. Hymeteros de estin ho logos, hoti hē tou Patros prosēgoria energeias esti kai ouch ousias sēmantikē. Meizona oun legontes tou Huiou ton Patera, meizona tou ergou phate tēn energeian. Pasa de dēpou energeia symbainei tǭ metrǭ tois ex autēs ginomenois - kai megalē men tōn megalōn ergōn esti, smikra de tōn smikroterōn. To oun meizona tou Huiou ton Patera kata touton ton logon homologein ouden heteron estin, hē asymmetron tǭ ergǭ tithesthai tēn energeian, kai matēn phaskein pros to tēs energeias megethos ton Theon kekinēsthai, ou dynēthenta tę̄ energeią parisōsai to telos Hōste to heteron toin dyoin anankaiōs diapeseitai" ē mē dēloun energeian ton Patera, alla ousian, kai houtōs autois ho sesophismenos tēs homoiotētos logos diagegrapsetai, homoion tǭ Patri ton Huion tithemenōn, toutesti, tę̄ energeią; hoion gar ēthelēsen ho Patēr, phēsi, toiouton epoiēse, katho kai eikona boulēseōs onomazousin; hē touto phylassontas, mē einai legein meizona ton Patera. Epeidēper pasa energeia, mēdenos anthistamenou tōn exōthen, symmetros esti tois oikeiois apotelesmasi. Tauta men oun pros elenchon tēs en tois dogmasin autōn asymphōnias eirēsthō.

[24] And yet (let no one think what I say strange) those men seemed somehow to see the consequence better. For they were indignant that he called God his own Father, inferring the next step for themselves, that by this he was making himself equal to God, as though being equal to him follows necessarily from having God as Father. But he, supposedly granting the first, balks at the second, and puts forward to us the Lord's words, "The Father who sent me is greater than I"; but he does not hear the Apostle saying, "He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped." Yet if, by your argument, ingeneracy were essence, and he wished to show superiority in essence, he would have said, "The unbegotten is greater than I." But it is your argument that the name "Father" signifies an activity and not an essence. When you call the Father greater than the Son, then, you are saying that the activity is greater than the work. But surely every activity corresponds in measure to what comes from it: it is great in great works and small in smaller ones. So to confess, by this argument, that the Father is greater than the Son is nothing other than to make the activity disproportionate to the work, and to say that God was moved in vain toward the greatness of the activity, since he was unable to make the result equal to the activity. So one of the two must necessarily fall. Either "Father" does not indicate an activity but an essence, and then their sophistical account of likeness will be struck out, since they make the Son like the Father, that is, like his activity (for "such as the Father willed," they say, "such he made," which is why they call him the image of the will); or, keeping this, they must not say that the Father is greater. For every activity, when nothing outside resists it, is proportionate to its own effects. Let this be said, then, to refute the inconsistency in their doctrines.

John 5:18 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil argues that the Jews drew the right inference that calling God Father means equality, and shows that Eunomius's view of 'Father' as an activity contradicts his claim that the Father is greater.

Chapter 24 of Book 1. Migne's notes are removed by logged corrections.
John 5:18; John 14:28; Phil 2:6. Basil's remarks about the Jews refer to John 5:18 and are translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): ἐδόχουν ἐκεῖνοι → ἐδόκουν ἐκεῖνοι; ἀχόλουθον → ἀκόλουθον; ἐπιὀλέπειν. → ἐπιβλέπειν.; Ἠγανάχτουν → Ἠγανάκτουν; ποιεξ τῷ → ποιεῖ τῷ; προδάλλετα! → προβάλλεται; ἀαολυ5 Πρ }18 τοῦ ἴσον, ὕ6η6 : φιο αι ἀνε }Π|5 πε! ὑπάρχειν αὑτῷ ἑποιένου τῷ Πατέρα ἔχειν τὸν Θεόν. δῦ ὁ → ὁ; ᾽Απο- Α πιῖδί!, πιαΐον πια 681}: πδς δι! Ἀροβίοϊιπι, φυΐ ἀἷστόλου λέγοντος → Ἀποστόλου λέγοντος; ἀχούει ὅτι, → ἀκούει ὅτι,; εἰ. κατὰ → εἰ κατὰ; ἐδούλετο → ἐβούλετο; χατ᾽ οὐσίαν → κατ᾽ οὐσίαν; σημαντιχή. → σημαντική.; ΥἹοῦ τὸν → Υἱοῦ τὸν; συμδαίνει → συμβαίνει; σμιχρὰ δὲ → σμικρὰ δὲ; φάσχειν πρὸς → φάσκειν πρὸς; Β τὸν Θεὸν → τὸν Θεὸν; χεχινῆσθαι, → κεκινῆσθαι,; παρισῶσα: → παρισῶσαι; Παπέρα, ἀλλὰ → Πατέρα, ἀλλὰ; ὁμοιότητος; → ὁμοιότητος; ἑνεργείᾳ → ἐνεργείᾳ·; χαθὸ καὶ → καθὸ καὶ; '᾿εἰχόνα → εἰκόνα; ὀνομάζουσιν᾽ → ὀνομάζουσιν·; οἰχείοις → οἰκείοις.

Topics: Trinity, Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 1.24 (PG 29:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-1-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.25PG 29:535

Ἐκεῖνο δὲ τίνι τῶν πάντων ἄδηλον, ὅτι τὸ μεῖζον ἣ κατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰτίας λόγον, ἣ κατὰ τὸν τῆς δυνάμεως πλεονασμὸν, ἣ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀξιώματος ὑπεροχὴν, ἣ κατὰ τὴν τῶν ὄγκων περιουσίαν λέγεται; Κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὸν ὄγκον μὴ … καὶ τὸ εἰκὸς οὕτως ἔχει" ἐπειδήπερ τὸ μεῖζον ἐν τοῖς μεγέθεσι τοσοῦτόν ἔστιν, ὅσον καὶ τὸ ἔλαττον, καὶ ἔτι. Τὰ δὲ ἀπερίληπτα τῷ μεγέθει, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀμεγέθη καὶ ἄποσα παντελῶς, τίς ἂν ἀλλήλοις παραμετρήσειεν; ὧν δὲ ἀμήχανος ἡ παράθεσις, τίνι ἂν τρόπῳ ἐν τούτοις τὸ ὑπερβάλλον ἐπιγνωσθείη; Δυνάμει δὲ λέγειν ἐλλείπειν τὸν Χριστὸν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναμιν κομιδῇ νηπίων καὶ οὐδὲ κατακουόντων τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ Κυρίου, λέγοντος " Ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἔν ἐσμεν" καὶ τὸ ἕν ἀντὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν ἴσου παραλαμβάνοντος, ὡς ἐξ αὐτῶν δείξομεν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τῶν ῥημάτων. Εἰπὼν γὰρ περὶ τῶν πιστευσάντων ὅτι, Οὐ μή τις ἁρπάσῃ ἐκ τῆς χειρός μου" καὶ ὅτι Ὁ Πατὴρ ὃς δέδωκέ μοι, μείζων πάντων ἐστί" καὶ, Οὐδεὶς δύναται ἁρπάσαι ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ Πατρός μου, ἐπήγαγεν: Ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἔν ἐσμεν, σαφῶς τὸ ἓν ἀντὶ τοῦ ἴσου καὶ ταὐτοῦ κατὰ δύναμιν παραλαμβάνων. ᾿Αλλὰ μὴν εἴ γε καὶ ὁ θρόνος ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὥσπερ οὖν ἡμεῖς πεπιστεύκαμεν, ἀξιώματός ἐστιν ὄνομα, ἣ ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀφωρισμένη τῷ Υἱῷ καθέδρα τὶ ποτε ἕτερον, καὶ οὐχὶ τὸ ὁμότιμον τῆς ἀξίας ἀποσημαίνει; ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ ἥξειν ὁ Κύριος ἐπαγγέλλεται ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Πατρός. Λείπεται τοίνυν κατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰτίας λόγον ἐνταῦθα τὸ μεῖζον λέγεσθαι. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἡ ἀρχὴ τῷ Υἱῷ, κατὰ τοῦτο μείζων ὁ Πατὴρ, ὡς αἴτιος καὶ ἀρχή. Διὸ καὶ ὁ Κύριος οὕτως εἶπεν" Ὁ Πατήρ μου μείζων μου ἐστὶ, καθὸ Πατὴρ δηλονότι. Τὸ δὲ, Πατὴρ, τί ἄλλο σημαίνει ἣ οὐχὶ τὸ αἰτία εἶναι καὶ ἀρχὴ τοῦ ἐξ αὑτοῦ γεννηθέντος; Ὅλως δὲ οὐσία οὐσίας, καὶ κατὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν σοφίαν, μείζων καὶ ἐλάττων οὐ λέγεται. Ὥστε καὶ κατὰ τούτους, καὶ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, οὐδενὶ ἂν τρόπῳ τὴν κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ὑπεροχὴν ὁ προκείμενος λόγος τοῦ μείζονος ἐμφαίνοι. Ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ κατ᾽ ὄγκον φαίη ἂν αὐτὸς οὗτος μείζονα τὸν Θεὸν Πατέρα " ὅ γε ἀποφηνάμενος μὴ χρῆναι περὶ τὸν Θεὸν ὑπονοεῖν πηλικότητα. Ὑπόλοιπος οὖν ἐστιν ὁ παρ᾽ ἡμῶν λεχθεὶς τοῦ μείζονος τρόπος, ὁ τῆς ἀρχῆς, λέγω, καὶ τῆς αἰτίας. Ἡ μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὸ μεῖζον ἐπιχείρησις αὐτοῦ τῆς βλασφημίας τοιαύτη.

Ekeino de tini tōn pantōn adēlon, hoti to meizon hē kata ton tēs aitias logon, hē kata ton tēs dynameōs pleonasmon, hē kata tēn tou axiōmatos hyperochēn, hē kata tēn tōn onkōn periousian legetai? Kata men oun ton onkon mē … kai to eikos houtōs echei" epeidēper to meizon en tois megethesi tosouton estin, hoson kai to elatton, kai eti. Ta de aperilēpta tǭ megethei, mallon de amegethē kai aposa pantelōs, tis an allēlois parametrēseien? hōn de amēchanos hē parathesis, tini an tropǭ en toutois to hyperballon epignōstheiē? Dynamei de legein elleipein ton Christon tēn tou Theou dynamin komidę̄ nēpiōn kai oude katakouontōn tēs phōnēs tou Kyriou, legontos " Egō kai ho Patēr en esmen" kai to hen anti tou kata tēn dynamin isou paralambanontos, hōs ex autōn deixomen tou Euangeliou tōn rhēmatōn. Eipōn gar peri tōn pisteusantōn hoti, Ou mē tis harpasę̄ ek tēs cheiros mou" kai hoti Ho Patēr hos dedōke moi, meizōn pantōn esti" kai, Oudeis dynatai harpasai ek tēs cheiros tou Patros mou, epēgagen: Egō kai ho Patēr en esmen, saphōs to hen anti tou isou kai tautou kata dynamin paralambanōn. ᾿Alla mēn ei ge kai ho thronos ho tou Theou, hōsper oun hēmeis pepisteukamen, axiōmatos estin onoma, hē ek dexiōn tou Patros aphōrismenē tǭ Huiǭ kathedra ti pote heteron, kai ouchi to homotimon tēs axias aposēmainei? ᾿Alla kai hēxein ho Kyrios epangelletai en tę̄ doxę̄ tou Patros. Leipetai toinyn kata ton tēs aitias logon entautha to meizon legesthai. Epeidē gar apo tou Patros hē archē tǭ Huiǭ, kata touto meizōn ho Patēr, hōs aitios kai archē. Dio kai ho Kyrios houtōs eipen" Ho Patēr mou meizōn mou esti, katho Patēr dēlonoti. To de, Patēr, ti allo sēmainei hē ouchi to aitia einai kai archē tou ex hautou gennēthentos? Holōs de ousia ousias, kai kata tēn hymeteran sophian, meizōn kai elattōn ou legetai. Hōste kai kata toutous, kai kat᾽ autēn tēn alētheian, oudeni an tropǭ tēn kat᾽ ousian hyperochēn ho prokeimenos logos tou meizonos emphainoi. Alla mēn oude kat᾽ onkon phaiē an autos houtos meizona ton Theon Patera " ho ge apophēnamenos mē chrēnai peri ton Theon hyponoein pēlikotēta. Hypoloipos oun estin ho par᾽ hēmōn lechtheis tou meizonos tropos, ho tēs archēs, legō, kai tēs aitias. Hē men oun kata to meizon epicheirēsis autou tēs blasphēmias toiautē.

[25] To whom of all people is it not plain that "greater" is said either according to the account of cause, or according to an excess of power, or according to superiority of dignity, or according to an abundance of bulk? That it is not according to bulk … and this is reasonable, since "greater" belongs to magnitudes just as much as "less" and "more" do. But things that cannot be encompassed by magnitude, or rather that are without magnitude and wholly without quantity: who could measure them against one another? And where comparison is impossible, by what means could the excelling be recognized in them? To say that Christ, the power of God, falls short in power is the mark of utter infants, who do not even hear the voice of the Lord saying, "I and the Father are one," and taking "one" in the sense of equal in power, as we shall show from the very words of the Gospel. For having said of those who believed, "No one will snatch them out of my hand," and that "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all," and, "No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand," he added, "I and the Father are one," plainly taking "one" in the sense of equal and the same in power. Again, if the throne of God, as we have believed, is a name of dignity, what else does the seat at the Father's right hand assigned to the Son signify but equality of honor in dignity? The Lord also promises to come in the glory of the Father. It remains, then, that here "greater" is said according to the account of cause. For since the Son's origin is from the Father, in this sense the Father is greater, as cause and origin. That is why the Lord said, "My Father is greater than I," clearly inasmuch as he is Father. And what else does "Father" signify but being the cause and origin of the one begotten from him? In general, essence is not said to be greater or less than essence, even by your wisdom. So both according to them and according to the truth itself, the statement before us could in no way indicate a superiority in essence. Nor indeed would he himself say that God the Father is greater in bulk, since he declared that one must not suppose size in God. What remains, then, is the sense of "greater" that we have given: that of origin, I mean, and of cause. Such, then, is his attempt at blasphemy concerning "greater."

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

John 14:28 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (allusion, high confidence) · John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:28 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 110:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 16:27 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil argues that 'the Father is greater' in John 14:28 refers to the Father as cause and origin of the Son, not to a difference in power, dignity, size, or essence.

Chapter 25 of Book 1. A line lost after 'That it is not according to bulk' is marked …; Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections.
John 14:28; 1 Cor 1:24; John 10:28-30; the Son at the right hand: Ps 110:1, Heb 1:3; coming in the glory of the Father: Matt 16:27.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading; word broken at a line end rejoined): Ἐχεῖνο δὲ → Ἐκεῖνο δὲ; τὸ; 425. μεῖζον → τὸ μεῖζον; χατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰτίας λόγον, → κατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰτίας λόγον,; χατὰ τὴν τοῦ → κατὰ τὴν τοῦ; ὄγχοιν περιουσίαν → ὄγκων περιουσίαν; ὄγχον μὴ → ὄγκον μὴ; εἰλῆἀχούει: → …; : 56ιε) ἴῃ ογὰ [Π0νῚ οὶ οὐχ ἀχούεις. διλιίι εὐ ἡγήσατο εἶναι. {ωΠυτἱ νείογοβ ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι. ἐπιασίποπι υοἱμη! ας ἐπὶ ἀρρε απ}; νεῖ εἰ ἰά τοῖῖεἰῖ, φύλπιιπι οἱ πηΐηυϑ οἱ Δηρ ΐυ5. θυ εἰ πὶ π͵ᾶαιυΐϑ ροδδβὶι ἰδ 56 ἀϊπηοι γί 7 φυς δία πὴ ποη φυδυηι πα) ὉΓῸ αυα ὁ ροιΘη 15 δοςσορῖϊ, αἱ δχ καὶ → καὶ; εἰχὸς οὕτως → εἰκὸς οὕτως; ἕτι. Τὰ δὲ → ἔτι. Τὰ δὲ; μᾶχλον δὲ → μᾶλλον δὲ; πὦραμετρήσει:ν; → παραμετρήσειεν;; τέν: ἂν τρόπῳ → τίνι ἂν τρόπῳ; ὑπερθάλλον → ὑπερβάλλον; λυγάμει δὲ → Δυνάμει δὲ; χαταχουόντων → κατακουόντων; παραλαμθάνοντος, → παραλαμβάνοντος,; δεέξομεν → δείξομεν; ὅτί, Οὐ μή → ὅτι, Οὐ μή; Πατὴρ. ὃς → Πατὴρ ὃς; δέξωκχέ μοε, μεί- Β ζων → δέδωκέ μοι, μείζων; ἐχ τῆς χειρὸς → ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς; ἑσμεν, σαφῶς → ἐσμεν, σαφῶς; ὃν ἀντὶ τοῦ → ἓν ἀντὶ τοῦ; ταὐτοῦ χατὰ δύναμιν → ταὐτοῦ κατὰ δύναμιν; παραλαμδάνων. → παραλαμβάνων.; πεπιστεύχαμεν, → πεπιστεύκαμεν,; ἐχ δεξιῶν → ἐκ δεξιῶν; χατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰτίας λόγον ἐνταῦθα → κατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰτίας λόγον ἐνταῦθα; Ἐ πειδς γὰρ → Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ; χαθὸ Πατὴρ → καθὸ Πατὴρ; χατὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν → κατὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν; χατὰ τούτους, → κατὰ τούτους,; χατ᾽ αὐτὴν → κατ᾽ αὐτὴν; προχείμενος → προκείμενος; ἐμφαίνο:. → ἐμφαίνοι.; ὄγχον φαίη → ὄγκον φαίη; πηλιχότητα. → πηλικότητα.; χατὰ τὸ μεῖζον → κατὰ τὸ μεῖζον.

Topics: Trinity, Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 1.25 (PG 29:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-1-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.26PG 29:535

… πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντιωτάτους λόγους περιτρεπόμενος, καθάπερ ἀορασίᾳ τινὶ τοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμοὺς πεπληγμένος, συνιδεῖν τὴν ἐν τοῖς λεχθεῖσι μάχην οὐχ ἐδυνήθη" ἵνα φανῇ τοσοῦτον ξένος ὧν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰρήνης, ἣν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν τοῖς γνησίως καὶ ἀδόλως εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκόσιν ἀφῆκεν, εἰπών" Εἰρήνην ἀφίημι ὑμῖν, εἰρήνην τὴν ἐμὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν" ὥστε οὐχὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ διαμάχεται. Μείζονα γὰρ εἰπὼν τὸν Θεὸν καὶ Πατέρα τοῦ Μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῖς τὸ ἴσον λέγουσι μανίαν ἐπικαλέσας, ὡς αὐτὸς ἀναντιῤῥήτους ἔχων τούτου τὰς ἀποδείξεις, μικρὸν ὑποβὰς σκέψασθε οἷα γράφει. ΕΥ͂Ν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅτι μὲν εἷς ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἀγέννητος καὶ ἀσύγκριτος, πλειόνων ὄντων τῶν παραλελειμμένων, ἀποχρῆν, ἡγοῦμαι, καὶ τὰ ῥηθέντα πρὸς ἀπόδειξιν. ΒΑΣ. Ἐρωτάσθω τοίνυν, εἰ ἀσύγκριτος ὁ Θεὸς, πόθεν αὐτοῦ ἡ ὑπεροχὴ κατελήφθη; Τὸ γὰρ μεῖζον ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὰ ὑπερεχόμενα παραθέσεως θεωρεῖται, Πῶς οὖν ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ μείζων ἐστὶ καὶ ἀπαράθετος; ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἵνα μὲν παρηλλαγμένην τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν οὐσίαν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἐπιδείξῃ, συγκριτικῶς λεγόμενον τὸ μεῖζον εἰς τὴν τῆς οὐσίας διαφορὰν ἐξεδέξατο᾽ ἵνα δὲ πάλιν εἰς τὸ ὁμότιμον τῇ κτίσει τὸν Μονογενῆ καταγάγῃ, ἀσύγκριτον εἶναι τὸν Πατέρα νομοθετεῖ καινήν τινα καὶ ἀσύγκριτον ὄντως τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς βλασφημίας ἐπινοῶν ἐν προσποιήσει δὴ τοῦ ὑψοῦν καὶ ἐξαίρειν τὸν Θεὸν καὶ Πατέρα, τοῦ Μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ καὶ Θεοῦ τὴν δόξαν κατασμικρύνων· τοῦ Κυρίου διαμαρτυρουμένου καὶ λέγοντος" Ὁ μὴ τιμῶν τὸν Υἱόν, οὐ τιμᾷ τὸν Πατέρα" καί" Ὃ ἀθετῶν ἐμὲ οὐχ ἐμὲ ἀθετεῖ" ἀλλὰ τὸν πέμψαντά με. ᾽Αλλ᾽ ὁ ἐχθρὸς τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁ ἐνεργῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγειν καὶ γράφειν αὐτοῖς, εἶδεν ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι, εἰ πρὸς τὴν σύνεσιν αὐτοὺς τῆς τοῦ Μονογενοῦς δόξης ἀποτυφλώσειε, καὶ. τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς γνῶσιν συναφαιρήσεται· ὥστε, εἰ καὶ δοκοῦσιν ὑπερβολάς τινας νέμειν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, μηδὲν αὐτοῖς ὄφελος εἶναι τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀγούσης ὁδοῦ τὴν γνῶσιν ἀφῃρημένοις. Ἐπειδὴ καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι δοξάζειν τὸν Θεὸν οἴονται, καὶ Ἑλλήνων τις ἀκούσεται βουλομένων τι μέγα περὶ Θεοῦ λέγειν" ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οὐκ ἄν τις εἴποι μεγαλύνειν αὐτοὺς τὸν Θεὸν ἄνευ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως, δι’ οὗ ἡ προσαγωγὴ τῆς γνώσεώς ἔστιν.

… pros tous enantiōtatous logous peritrepomenos, kathaper aorasią tini tous tēs psychēs ophthalmous peplēgmenos, synidein tēn en tois lechtheisi machēn ouch edynēthē" hina phanę̄ tosouton xenos hōn tēs tou Theou eirēnēs, hēn ho Kyrios hēmōn tois gnēsiōs kai adolōs eis auton pepisteukosin aphēken, eipōn" Eirēnēn aphiēmi hymin, eirēnēn tēn emēn didōmi hymin" hōste ouchi tois allois monon, alla kai autos heautǭ diamachetai. Meizona gar eipōn ton Theon kai Patera tou Monogenous Huiou, kai tois to ison legousi manian epikalesas, hōs autos anantirrhētous echōn toutou tas apodeixeis, mikron hypobas skepsasthe hoia graphei. EUN. ᾿All᾽ hoti men heis ho tōn holōn Theos agennētos kai asynkritos, pleionōn ontōn tōn paraleleimmenōn, apochrēn, hēgoumai, kai ta rhēthenta pros apodeixin. BAS. Erōtasthō toinyn, ei asynkritos ho Theos, pothen autou hē hyperochē katelēphthē? To gar meizon ek tēs pros ta hyperechomena paratheseōs theōreitai, Pōs oun ho autos kai meizōn esti kai aparathetos? ᾿All᾽ hina men parēllagmenēn tou Theou tēn ousian pros tēn tou Monogenous epideixę̄, synkritikōs legomenon to meizon eis tēn tēs ousias diaphoran exedexato᾽ hina de palin eis to homotimon tę̄ ktisei ton Monogenē katagagę̄, asynkriton einai ton Patera nomothetei kainēn tina kai asynkriton ontōs tēn hodon tēs blasphēmias epinoōn en prospoiēsei dē tou hypsoun kai exairein ton Theon kai Patera, tou Monogenous Huiou kai Theou tēn doxan katasmikrynōn; tou Kyriou diamartyroumenou kai legontos" Ho mē timōn ton Huion, ou timą ton Patera" kai" Ho athetōn eme ouch eme athetei" alla ton pempsanta me. ᾽All᾽ ho echthros tēs alētheias, ho energōn ta toiauta legein kai graphein autois, eiden ekeino, hoti, ei pros tēn synesin autous tēs tou Monogenous doxēs apotyphlōseie, kai. tēn autou tou Theou kai Patros gnōsin synaphairēsetai; hōste, ei kai dokousin hyperbolas tinas nemein tǭ Theǭ kai Patri, mēden autois ophelos einai tēs pros auton agousēs hodou tēn gnōsin aphę̄rēmenois. Epeidē kai Ioudaioi doxazein ton Theon oiontai, kai Hellēnōn tis akousetai boulomenōn ti mega peri Theou legein" all᾽ homōs ouk an tis eipoi megalynein autous ton Theon aneu tēs eis Christon pisteōs, di’ hou hē prosagōgē tēs gnōseōs estin.

[26] … turning around to the most contrary statements, as if the eyes of his soul had been struck with blindness, he was unable to see the conflict in what he had said; so that he might be shown to be so much a stranger to the peace of God, which our Lord left to those who have believed in him genuinely and without guile, saying, "Peace I leave you, my peace I give you," that he is at war not only with others but even with himself. For having called the God and Father of the only-begotten Son greater, and having charged those who say "equal" with madness, as one who himself had incontrovertible proofs of this, a little further down, look at what he writes:

EUNOMIUS: "But that the God of all is one, unbegotten and incomparable, I think that what has been said is sufficient for demonstration, though much has been left out."

BASIL: Let him be asked, then: if God is incomparable, from where was his superiority grasped? For "greater" is contemplated by setting a thing beside what it surpasses. How then is the same one both greater and incapable of being set beside anything? But in order to show the essence of God differing from that of the Only-Begotten, he took "greater," which is said by way of comparison, to mean a difference of essence; and in order again to bring the Only-Begotten down to equal honor with creation, he lays it down that the Father is incomparable, devising a new and truly incomparable road of blasphemy. Pretending, of course, to exalt and lift up the God and Father, he belittles the glory of the only-begotten Son and God, although the Lord testifies and says, "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father," and, "He who rejects me rejects not me but him who sent me." But the enemy of the truth, who works in them to say and write such things, saw this: that if he blinded them to the understanding of the glory of the Only-Begotten, the knowledge of God the Father himself would be taken away with it; so that, even if they seem to assign some superlatives to God the Father, they have no benefit from it, since they have been deprived of the knowledge of the road that leads to him. For the Jews too think that they glorify God, and one will hear some of the Greeks wishing to say something great about God; but still no one would say that they magnify God without faith in Christ, through whom is the access to knowledge.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

John 14:27 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:16 (quotation, medium confidence) · Eph 2:18 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil exposes the contradiction of calling the Father both 'greater' and 'incomparable,' and argues that belittling the Son removes the knowledge of the Father himself.

Chapter 26 of Book 1. Its opening is lost in the scan (marked …); Migne's notes of variant readings are removed by logged corrections.
John 14:27; John 5:23; Luke 10:16 (closest to Basil's wording); 'access' recalls Eph 2:18. The remarks on Jews and Greeks are translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): Ὑδγθυγα πὶ ἰη16Γ 56 ρα ζηΔπὶ ἰπ 6} Πσ6 γα πο ρο- ΕΠ τῆς φωνῆς τῆς Κυρίου, ᾿ἰτὶ γοίαγοβ τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ Κυρίου. ι30) Δα]! ἀπὸ Πρ τὶ θρόνος τοῦ Θεοῦ. [υϊι}6 πῃ εν "Ὥσπεο οὖν ἡμεῖς. ΠΠυ6,, οὖν, ἴῃ χεῖ πρὸς → … πρὸς; χαθάπερ ἀορασίᾳ → καθάπερ ἀορασίᾳ; πεπιστευχόσιν → πεπιστευκόσιν; ἃςἧχεν, εἰπών" → ἀφῆκεν, εἰπών"; ὑμῖν", εἰρήνην → ὑμῖν, εἰρήνην; Επὶ δὲ οβ. βασιιπάνα χατὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν. ἀλλὰ → ἀλλὰ; αὑτὸς ἑαυτῷ → αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ; εἰ- Α Νάᾷπι δὶ θοιπὶ οἱ πὼν τὸν → εἰπὼν τὸν; ἐπιχαλέσας, → ἐπικαλέσας,; ὑποδὰς σχέψασθε → ὑποβὰς σκέψασθε; ἀσύγχριτος, → ἀσύγκριτος,; ἀσύγχριτος ὁ → ἀσύγκριτος ὁ; χατελήφθη; → κατελήφθη;; ἀπαράϑετος; → ἀπαράθετος;; Μονογενοὺς → Μονογενοῦς; συγχριτυ → συγκριτικῶς; δ υΐ; 45] δυρρδίδγθηιϊ δἰ ἱ θα ἀδ γα ἀδιηοῃβέγαυἱ ἰάδιν δἰ π|Δ]0 δῖ δὲ ἱποοπηραγδῃ 8 Ὁ γογαπι οἱ τιχῶς λεγόμενον → λεγόμενον; οὐτίας δια- Β Οϑιθπαδγοί, {Π|υι}, πιαΐα δ, οαιϊ σοπηραγαι να υδυγρμῖαμ φορὰν ἐξεδέξατο᾽ → οὐσίας διαφορὰν ἐξεδέξατο᾽; χτίσει τὸν → κτίσει τὸν; Μονογενῆῇ → Μονογενῆ; χαταγάγῃ, → καταγάγῃ,; ἀσύγχριτον εἶναι → ἀσύγκριτον εἶναι; χαινῆν τινα → καινήν τινα; ἀσύγχριτον ὄντως → ἀσύγκριτον ὄντως; κατασμιχρύνων → κατασμικρύνων·; ἐχεῖνο, ὅτι, → ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι,; συναφαιρήθεὲ → συναφαιρήσεται·; ποπ ποποταὶ Ε απι, Ῥαιτειι ποτ ποποταί 38; Οἱ πιὲ σοπιεπιπὶ!, ποη πιδ σοπίοπιηῖί, δε ἐμπὶ φιιὶ πα σεται" ὥστε, → ὥστε,; δοχοῦσιν → δοκοῦσιν; ὑπερθολάς → ὑπερβολάς; νέ- Ο ηιαϑάμῃ Ὠ60 εἱ Ραιγὶ «ἰἰγθυδγα, πα! ἰδπγθη ἧι. μειν τῷ → νέμειν τῷ; ᾿βλλήνων → Ἑλλήνων; ἀχούσεται → ἀκούσεται.

Topics: Trinity, Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 1.26 (PG 29:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-1-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.27PG 29:535

᾿Ασύγκριτον οὖν τὸν Θεὸν λέγει, ἵνα δείξῃ Υἱὸν ἴσον ὄντα τῇ κτίσει, ἐν τῷ ὁμοίως τῆς δόξης τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀπολείπεσθαι " διότι τὰ ἴσῳ μέτρῳ ὑπερεχόμενα ἴσα ἀλλήλοις ἀναγκαίως ἐστί. Τοσοῦτον δὲ ὑπερέχεται κατὰ τὸν τούτου λόγον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ὁ Μονογενὴς Υἱὸς, ὅσον καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον. Τοιοῦτον γάρ ἐστι τὸ ἀσύγκριτον, ὃ πᾶσιν ὁμοίως ἐστὶν ἀπροσπέλαστον καὶ ἀνέφικτον. Εἰ δὲ ἴσον τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀπολείπεται, ἴσος ἐκείνοις ἐστὶ μεθ᾽ ὧν ἀπολείπεται. Τί οὖν τῆς βλασφημίας ταύτης χεῖρον εἴποιεν ἂν Ἰουδαῖοι; τί δὲ τῶν ἐθνῶν λεγόντων ἐστὶν ἀκούειν; Καὶ οὐκ ἐρυθριῶσιν οἱ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον πρεσβεύειν σχη… συγκρίνεται τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, ὥσπερ οὔτε ἄγγελοι, οὔτε οὐρανὸς, οὔτε ἥλιος, οὔτε γῆ, οὔτε τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ ζώων τε καὶ φυτῶν ἕκαστον, πῶς μὲν τὴν διαφορὰν ἕξει πρὸς τὰ οἰκεῖα κτίσματα; πόθεν δὲ αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸν γεννήσαντα ἡ οἰκειότης; Ἐγὼ, φησὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἔν ἐσμεν. Πάλιν γὰρ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μνημονεύσωμεν. Τοῦτο, εἰπέ μοι, οὐχὶ συγκρίνοντος ἑαυτόν ἔστι τὸ ῥῆμα; Τί λέγω συγχρίνοντος; ἑνοῦντος μὲν οὖν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, καὶ τὸ τῆς φύσεως ἀπαράλλακτον παριστῶντος ἐντεῦθεν. Ὁ δὲ ἀσύγκριτον εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν ἀποφαίνεται. Καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀγαθότης τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καθόσον ἐσμὲν χωρητικοὶ, διὰ τῆς μελέτης καὶ τῆς ἀσκήσεως τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων τῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν τῶν ὅλων ὁμοιώσει προσάγει ἐν οἷς φησι" Γίνεσθε τέλειοι καθὼς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειός ἐστιν" οὗτος δὲ τὸν Μονογενῆ τὴν ἐκ φύσεως αὐτῷ ὑπάρχουσαν πρὸς τὸν γεννήσαντα οἰκειότητα, τὸ εἰς αὐτὸν ἦχον, ἀποστερεῖ. Καίτοι καὶ οὕτως αὐτῷ εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον ὁ λόγος περιτραπήσεται. Εἰ γὰρ ἀσύγκριτος ὁ Πατὴρ, πόθεν λαβὼν τῆς ἀνομοιότητος τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὰς ἀποδείξεις παρέξεται; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ, ἀντιπαρεξετάζων τὰς οὐσίας ἀλλήλαις, εὑρηκέναι φήσει τὸ ἀνόμοιον, πῶς ἀσύγκριτος ὁ τοιοῦτος; εἰ δὲ οὐδὲ συγκρίνεται τὴν ἀρχὴν, πῶς ἐπιγνῶναι … ἢ διάφορον ἠδυνήθη; Οὕτως ἔοικε τὸ κακὸν οὐ τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἐναντιοῦσθαι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸ ἑαυτῷ. … οὗ γένοιτο λυτρῶσαι ἡμᾶς χάριτι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ᾽ οὗ τῷ ἀνάρχῳ Πατρὶ δόξα σὺν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ …

᾿Asynkriton oun ton Theon legei, hina deixę̄ Huion ison onta tę̄ ktisei, en tǭ homoiōs tēs doxēs tou Patros apoleipesthai " dioti ta isǭ metrǭ hyperechomena isa allēlois anankaiōs esti. Tosouton de hyperechetai kata ton toutou logon hypo tou theou kai Patros ho Monogenēs Huios, hoson kai tōn allōn hekaston. Toiouton gar esti to asynkriton, ho pasin homoiōs estin aprospelaston kai anephikton. Ei de ison tois allois tou Patros apoleipetai, isos ekeinois esti meth᾽ hōn apoleipetai. Ti oun tēs blasphēmias tautēs cheiron eipoien an Ioudaioi? ti de tōn ethnōn legontōn estin akouein? Kai ouk erythriōsin hoi ton tou Theou Logon presbeuein schē… synkrinetai tǭ Theǭ kai Patri, hōsper oute angeloi, oute ouranos, oute hēlios, oute gē, oute tōn en autę̄ zōōn te kai phytōn hekaston, pōs men tēn diaphoran hexei pros ta oikeia ktismata? pothen de autǭ pros ton gennēsanta hē oikeiotēs? Egō, phēsi, kai ho Patēr en esmen. Palin gar tou autou mnēmoneusōmen. Touto, eipe moi, ouchi synkrinontos heauton esti to rhēma? Ti legō synchrinontos? henountos men oun, hōs eipein, kai to tēs physeōs aparallakton paristōntos enteuthen. Ho de asynkriton einai ton Theon apophainetai. Kai hē men agathotēs tou Theou kai Sōtēros hēmōn Iēsou Christou tous anthrōpous, kathoson esmen chōrētikoi, dia tēs meletēs kai tēs askēseōs tōn agathōn ergōn tę̄ pros ton Theon tōn holōn homoiōsei prosagei en hois phēsi" Ginesthe teleioi kathōs kai ho Patēr hymōn ho ouranios teleios estin" houtos de ton Monogenē tēn ek physeōs autǭ hyparchousan pros ton gennēsanta oikeiotēta, to eis auton ēchon, aposterei. Kaitoi kai houtōs autǭ eis to enantion ho logos peritrapēsetai. Ei gar asynkritos ho Patēr, pothen labōn tēs anomoiotētos tou Huiou tas apodeixeis parexetai? Ei men gar, antiparexetazōn tas ousias allēlais, heurēkenai phēsei to anomoion, pōs asynkritos ho toioutos? ei de oude synkrinetai tēn archēn, pōs epignōnai … ē diaphoron ēdynēthē? Houtōs eoike to kakon ou tǭ agathǭ enantiousthai monon, alla kai auto heautǭ. … hou genoito lytrōsai hēmas chariti tou Kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou, meth᾽ hou tǭ anarchǭ Patri doxa syn hagiǭ Pneumati nyn kai aei …

[27] He calls God incomparable, then, in order to show the Son to be equal to creation, in that he falls short of the Father's glory in the same way; for things surpassed by an equal measure are necessarily equal to one another. According to his argument, the only-begotten Son is surpassed by the God and Father as much as each of the other things is. For such is incomparability: that which is equally unapproachable and unattainable for all. But if he falls short of the Father equally with the others, he is equal to those with whom he falls short. What worse than this blasphemy could the Jews say? What are we to hear from the heathen? And they do not blush, who, pretending to honor the Word of God … is not compared with God the Father, as neither angels nor heaven nor sun nor earth nor each of the animals and plants upon it is compared, how will he have any difference from his own creatures? And from where will he have his kinship with the one who begot him? "I and the Father," he says, "are one." For let us recall the same words again. Tell me: is this not the saying of one who compares himself? Why do I say "compares"? Rather of one who unites himself, so to speak, and from this presents the exactness of the nature. But he declares God to be incomparable. The goodness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ leads human beings, as far as we are able to receive it, through the practice and exercise of good works to likeness with the God of the universe, when he says, "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect"; but this man, as far as it lies with him, deprives the Only-Begotten of the kinship he has by nature with the one who begot him. Yet even so his argument will turn around to the opposite. For if the Father is incomparable, from where will he get the proofs of the Son's unlikeness that he will offer? If he says that he has found the unlikeness by setting the essences side by side, how is such a one incomparable? And if he is not compared at all, how could he come to know … or a difference? So it seems that evil is opposed not only to the good but even to itself. … from which may it be granted to us to be redeemed by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father without beginning, with the Holy Spirit, now and always …

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:48 (quotation, high confidence) · Titus 2:13 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil concludes Book 1: if the Father is incomparable, the Son would be no different from creatures, contrary to his words 'I and the Father are one,' and Eunomius's argument refutes itself.

Chapter 27, the last of Book 1. Lines are lost after 'pretending to honor the Word of God', after 'could he come to know', and before the closing prayer (marked …). In the scan the words 'or a difference? So it seems that evil is opposed not only to the good' are displaced into the middle of the chapter; they are moved back to their place by logged corrections. The doxology is printed in the scan after Migne's notes; the end of it is lost.
John 10:30; Matt 5:48; 'our God and Savior Jesus Christ': Titus 2:13.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): ᾿Ασύγχριτον → ᾿Ασύγκριτον; χτίσει, ἐν → κτίσει, ἐν; “οὔ Πατρὸς → τοῦ Πατρὸς; Τοσοῦσὸν → Τοσοῦτον; ἕχαστον. → ἕκαστον.; ἀσύγχριτον, → ἀσύγκριτον,; ἀνέφιχτον. → ἀνέφικτον.; ἀχούειν; → ἀκούειν;; πρεσδεύειν → πρεσβεύειν; σχη- 185 Ζοδη. ν, 935. 6 μι. χ, 16. ἀ6 δπιοἰ τ π θη πὶ ΘΟΠΒΘΠυδΔη(Γ, οἰ οἷβ 6}05 νἱῶ, ᾳυῶ δἀ ἰρϑυπὶ ἀποῖ!, δάθιηρία ποιὰ 811. Νδπ οἱ τί! ποιηο. Δ]Ίοτυ πὶ βίη δ. Νὰπι 4υ0ι} Θοιμραγαγὶ ποη ροί6βί, ἰᾳ εἶδ, υἱ τὰ ἀΐοδαν, δὲ πδίυ Γι δἰ υὐΐηθιη ἰπίορογγί πιᾶπ πε ἀορείϊλγδηιβ ἢ Ηΐς ὑϑγὸ ἱποοπιραγδῦ! 6 πὶ απιὶο ΕἸ υπὶ αἰ δϑι πἰ πὶ 6556 ἀσπηοηϑίγαῦϊι ἢ διάφορον ἡδυνήθη; Οὕτως ἔοιχε τὸ χαχὸν οὐ τῷ τῷ. 41 Ζοδη. χ, 80. 5 Μλι). ν, 48. συγχρίνεται τῷ → σχη… συγκρίνεται τῷ; ὦτπερ οὔτε → ὥσπερ οὔτε; ἵἕλιος, οὔτε → ἥλιος, οὔτε; γτ,, οὔτε → γῆ, οὔτε; ἕχαστον- → ἕκαστον,; διαφορὰ" → διαφορὰν; οἰχεῖα χτίσματα; → οἰκεῖα κτίσματα;; οἰχειότης; → οἰκειότης;; γὼ, φησὶ, → Ἐγὼ, φησὶ,; αὑτοῦ μινημονεύσωμεν. → αὐτοῦ μνημονεύσωμεν.; συγχρίνοντος ἑαυτόν → συγκρίνοντος ἑαυτόν; ἀπαράλλαχτον παριστῶντος → ἀπαράλλακτον παριστῶντος; ἀσύγχριτον εἶναι → ἀσύγκριτον εἶναι; Χρ’στοῦ τοὺς → Χριστοῦ τοὺς; χαθόδον ἐσμὲν → καθόσον ἐσμὲν; χωρττιχοὶ, → χωρητικοὶ,; ἀσχήσεω; → ἀσκήσεως; Μονογενῇ → Μονογενῆ; ἐχ φύσεως αὐτῷ ὑπάρχουξταν → ἐκ φύσεως αὐτῷ ὑπάρχουσαν; γεννήσανια → γεννήσαντα; οἰχειότητα, → οἰκειότητα,; ἀπύγχριτος → ἀσύγκριτος; λαδὼν τῆς → λαβὼν τῆς; ἀντ:παρεξετάζων → ἀντιπαρεξετάζων; εὑρηχέναι → εὑρηκέναι; πὸ ἀνόμοιον, → τὸ ἀνόμοιον,; ἀσύγχριτος → ἀσύγκριτος; οὐξὲ συγχρίνεται τὴν → οὐδὲ συγκρίνεται τὴν; ἐπιγνῶνας → ἐπιγνῶναι … ἢ διάφορον ἠδυνήθη; Οὕτως ἔοικε τὸ κακὸν οὐ τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἐναντιοῦσθαι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸ ἑαυτῷ.; τὸ ἀγαθῷ ἐναντιοῦσθαι 'μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸ ἕαυ- ΠΠ|044, τὸ ἀπαράλλαχτον, ποη δἰ πὶ υἀΐ θ εν οἰ σι Π 1], 564 Θαιπ, 488 ΟἸΠἾ5 (5515 οηιπόε ἠοπιΐὶπόδ μεν ἀποῖ( Σ ἴῃ 0 ἃ Ομ θ 810. 1189. τὴν ἐχ φύσεως: αὐτῷ ὑπάρχουσαν... οἰχειότητα. Εὐπίο Ραγίβ. δἱ ἴθ κ. βεοιηθι5 τῆς ἐχ φύσεως αὐτῷ ἐμΐη., ἐπα} 1, ἐα τέρμ σγαπιπιαίϊοος στερέω σοπὶ ἶνο “τεῖ μηρί, φια ρτγίυαιμν αἰἰφαὶς, αἱ στερεῖσθαι χεραλῆς, στερεῖσθαι τῆς πόλεως, σαρίί6 υεὶ τιγῦς δεύ πον ἀπ ἰ μα ἀν γι} νἱν ΔΠοαΐ ἀοειδθιιμ 8, αἰΐαὰ χότα. οἱ δ6χίο βυφηπηίηγ {1}, οὗ γένοιτο → … οὗ γένοιτο; Ἰλοφίο δία ποι {|556. 56] δὰ ἴπι τὸ Υἶγὸ ἀοοι 55}- → ….

Topics: Trinity, Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 1.27 (PG 29:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-1-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Chapter 2

2.1PG 29

Ἐν τοίνυν τοῖς περὶ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων λόγοις ὑποκατασκευάσας ὅσον ἐδύνατο τὰς εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ βλασφημίας, αὐτῷ λοιπὸν ἐπαφῆκε τῷ Μονογενεῖ θεῷ τὴν γλῶσσαν. Τί γάρ φησι; ΕΥ̓͂Ν. Καὶ εἷς Υἱός. Μονογενὴς γὰρ, περὶ οὗ ἐνῆν μὲν τὰς τῶν ἁγίων φωνὰς παραθέμενον, δι᾽ ὧν καὶ γέννημα καὶ ποίημα καταγγέλλουσι, ταῖς τῶν ὀνομάτων διαφοραῖς καὶ τὴν τῆς οὐσίας παραλλαγὴν ἐμφανίσαντας, ἀπηλλάχθαι φροντίδων καὶ πραγμάτων " διὰ δὲ τοὺς σωματικὴν τὴν γέννησιν ὑπο…ας, ἀναγκαῖον ἴσως καὶ περὶ τούτων διὰ βραχέων εἰπεῖν. ΒΑΣ. Ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Εὐνόμιος. ᾿Εγὼ δὲ, εἰ μὲν οὕτω χρὴ διανοεῖσθαι περὶ τοῦ λόγου παντὸς, ὡς πλάσματος οἷα ἐν τοῖς διδασκαλείοις τῆς ματαιότητος εἰς μελέτην τοῦ ἐν τῷ ψεύσματι πιθανοῦ τοῖς μειρακίοις προβάλλεται (ἐπειδὴ καὶ παραπλησίως ἐκείνοις πάντα σκιαμαχίᾳ προσέοικε" πρὸς κατηγόρους τε μάχη μὴ ὑφεστῶτας " καὶ ἀπολογία πρὸς κατηγορίαν οὐ προῤῥηθεῖσαν " καὶ λόγος πρὸς δικαστὰς τοὺς οὐδαμοῦ φαινομένους)" εἰ οὕτω χρὴ καὶ τούτων ἀκούειν, αὐτός τε ἀφίημι τὴν ἐξέτασιν, καὶ παντὶ παραινῶ μηδὲν τῶν εἰρημένων περιεργάζεσθαι " εἰ δὲ μεῖζόν ἔστι τὸ ἐπάγγελμα, καὶ πολλοῖς γέγονεν ὑπόνοια, εἶναί τινα παρ᾽ αὐτῷ τῆς ἀληθείας φροντίδα, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα τῶν εἰρημένων ἕκαστον διευθύνειν εἰς δύναμιν. Τίς ἂν οὖν τρόπος τῆς ἐξετάσεως δικαιότερος γένοιτο, ἣ τοῖς διδάγμασι τοῖς παρὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἡμῖν δεδομένοις τὸν λόγον συγκρίνοντας, ὃ μὲν ἂν ἐκείνοις συμφωνοῦν εὕρωμεν καταδέχεσθαι, τῷ δὲ ἐναντίως ἔχοντι ἀπιστεῖν καὶ ὡς ἐχθρὸν ἀποφεύγειν;

En toinyn tois peri Theou tōn holōn logois hypokataskeuasas hoson edynato tas eis ton Huion tou Theou blasphēmias, autǭ loipon epaphēke tǭ Monogenei theǭ tēn glōssan. Ti gar phēsi? EUN. Kai heis Huios. Monogenēs gar, peri hou enēn men tas tōn hagiōn phōnas parathemenon, di᾽ hōn kai gennēma kai poiēma katangellousi, tais tōn onomatōn diaphorais kai tēn tēs ousias parallagēn emphanisantas, apēllachthai phrontidōn kai pragmatōn " dia de tous sōmatikēn tēn gennēsin hypo…as, anankaion isōs kai peri toutōn dia bracheōn eipein. BAS. Tauta men ho Eunomios. ᾿Egō de, ei men houtō chrē dianoeisthai peri tou logou pantos, hōs plasmatos hoia en tois didaskaleiois tēs mataiotētos eis meletēn tou en tǭ pseusmati pithanou tois meirakiois proballetai (epeidē kai paraplēsiōs ekeinois panta skiamachią proseoike" pros katēgorous te machē mē hyphestōtas " kai apologia pros katēgorian ou prorrhētheisan " kai logos pros dikastas tous oudamou phainomenous)" ei houtō chrē kai toutōn akouein, autos te aphiēmi tēn exetasin, kai panti parainō mēden tōn eirēmenōn periergazesthai " ei de meizon esti to epangelma, kai pollois gegonen hyponoia, einai tina par᾽ autǭ tēs alētheias phrontida, anankē pasa tōn eirēmenōn hekaston dieuthynein eis dynamin. Tis an oun tropos tēs exetaseōs dikaioteros genoito, hē tois didagmasi tois para tou Pneumatos hēmin dedomenois ton logon synkrinontas, ho men an ekeinois symphōnoun heurōmen katadechesthai, tǭ de enantiōs echonti apistein kai hōs echthron apopheugein?

[1] Having thus, in his arguments about the God of the universe, laid the groundwork as far as he could for his blasphemies against the Son of God, he at last let loose his tongue against the only-begotten God himself. For what does he say?

EUNOMIUS: "And one Son; for he is Only-Begotten. About him it would have been possible to be rid of all concern and trouble by citing the words of the saints in which they proclaim him both offspring and thing made, making plain by the differences of the names the difference of essence as well. But because of those who suppose the begetting to be bodily … , it is perhaps necessary to speak briefly about these things too."

BASIL: So says Eunomius. For my part, if one must think about his whole discourse as a fiction, of the kind set before boys in the schools of vanity as practice in making a falsehood plausible (for everything he does is like those exercises, a shadow-boxing: a fight against accusers who do not exist, an apology against an accusation never made, and a speech before judges who appear nowhere): if one must listen to this too in that way, I myself give up the examination and urge everyone not to trouble about anything he has said. But if the claim is something greater, and many have suspected that he has some concern for the truth, it is entirely necessary to set straight each of his statements as far as possible. What way of examining them, then, could be more just than to compare his argument with the teachings given us by the Spirit, accepting whatever we find in agreement with them, and distrusting what is contrary and fleeing it as an enemy?

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil introduces Book 2 by quoting Eunomius's claim that the saints call the Son 'offspring' and 'thing made,' and proposes to test every claim against the teaching of the Spirit in Scripture.

Chapter 1 of Book 2 (On the Son). A few words are lost in Eunomius's sentence (marked …); Migne's notes are removed by logged corrections. The quotation is from Eunomius's Apology.
γέννημα is rendered 'offspring', ποίημα 'thing made'.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): Α 1. ὑποχατασχευάσας → ὑποκατασκευάσας; ἑπαφῆχε τῷ → ἐπαφῆκε τῷ; Μονογενεξ → Μονογενεῖ; ου ἐνῆν μὲν → οὗ ἐνῆν μὲν; χαταγγέλλουσι, → καταγγέλλουσι,; πρα- Ὑμάτων " → πραγμάτων "; διὰ. δὲ τοὺς → διὰ δὲ τοὺς; σωματιχὴν → σωματικὴν; ὑποπας, ἀναγκαῖον → ὑπο…ας, ἀναγκαῖον; πεοὶ τούτων → περὶ τούτων; διδασχαλείοις → διδασκαλείοις; μειρακχίοις → μειρακίοις; προδάλλεται → προβάλλεται; ἐχείνοις πάντα → ἐκείνοις πάντα; σχιαμαχίᾳ → σκιαμαχίᾳ; προσέοιχε" → προσέοικε"; χατηγόρους → κατηγόρους; ἀχούειν, → ἀκούειν,; τῶν. εἰρημένων → τῶν εἰρημένων; ἀνάγχη πᾶσα → ἀνάγκη πᾶσα; ἕχαστον διευθύνειν → ἕκαστον διευθύνειν; συγχρίνοντας, → συγκρίνοντας,; ἐχείνοις συμφωνοῦν → ἐκείνοις συμφωνοῦν; χαταδέχεαθαι, → καταδέχεσθαι,.

Topics: Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.1 (PG 29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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2.2PG 29:518

Πρῶτον τοίνυν ἐκεῖνο δεικνύτω, τίνες τῶν ἁγίων … ἔχει φωνὰς τῶν Γραφῶν εἰς ἀπόδειξιν; Εἰ γὰρ τῇ τὸ … καὶ Χριστὸν ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς, τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὅν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε' πρῶτον μὲν οὐδὲν οἰκεῖον … ποίημα λέγειν τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων; Εἰ γὰρ … ἔπρεπεν αὐτῷ προσηγορία τοιαύτη, οὐχ ἂν ἐσιωπήθη. … Θεοῦ οὐκέτι. Ἐν ἀρχῇ γὰρ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν" καὶ πάλιν" Ἐν τοῖς … γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς … ἢ προσκόμματος, καὶ πέτραν σκανδάλου, καὶ τοιαῦτα ἕτερα ἐν οἷς οὐ πολὺ δοκεῖ τὸ εὔφημον εἶναι τοῖς … ποίημα δὲ οὐδαμοῦ τὸ παράπαν ὠνόμασε. Καίτοι γε … οὗτος παρ᾽ αὐτῶν εἰληφέναι τῶν ἁγίων τὸ ὄνομα … τοῦτό φησιν, ἵνα ταῖς συκοφαντίαις μὴ μόνον τοὺς κατ᾽ αὐτὸν περιβάλῃ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πάλαι γενομένους ἁγίους. Ἄνευ δὲ τοῦ μὴ χρῆναι διὰ τὸ ἐπικίνδυνον τοῖς … παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ μεταπλάττειν᾽ ἔτι οὐδὲ ἡ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου … … ἡμῖν παρίστησι, περὶ ἧς ὁ λόγος ἐν τῷ παρόντι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ περὶ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου, τοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ ὄντος πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τοῦ κενώσαντος ἑαυτὸν ἐν τῇ τοῦ δούλου μορφῇ, καὶ γενομένου σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν, καὶ σταυρωθέντος ἐξ ἀσθενείας, σαφῶς διαλέγεται. Καὶ τοῦτο παντὶ γνώριμον τῷ καὶ μικρὸν ἐπιστήσαντι τῆς ἀποστολικῆς λέξεως τῷ βουλήματι, ὅτι οὐχὶ θεολογίας ἡμῖν παραδίδωσι τρόπον, ἀλλὰ τοὺς τῆς οἰκονομίας λόγους παραδηλοῖ. Κύριον γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ Χριστὸν αὑτὸν ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησε, τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε, τῇ δεικτικῇ φωνῇ μονονουχὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀνθρώπινον αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁρώμενον πᾶσι προδήλως ἐπερειδόμενος. Ὁ δὲ τὴν, ἐποίησεν, φωνὴν εἰς τὴν ἀρχῆθεν γέννησιν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς μεταφέρει. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνο αὐτὸν δυσωπεῖ, ὅτι τὸ, Κύριος, οὐκ οὐσίας ἐστὶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξουσίας ὄνομα. Ὥστε ὁ εἰπὼν, Κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστὸν ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησε, τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἀρχὴν καὶ δεσποτείαν λέγει τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐπιτραπεῖσαν αὐτῷ, οὐ τὴν εἰς τὸ εἶναι πάροδον αὐτοῦ διηγεῖται. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐπιδείξομεν, ὅταν ἐλέγχωμεν αὐτὸν παρὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ Πνεύματος τὰς ἐκ τῆς Γραφῆς μαρτυρίας παρατιθέμενον " νυνὶ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ συνεχῆ τοῦ λόγου προΐωμεν, Τί οὖν αὐτῷ βούλεται τὸ ὄνομα τοῦτο; καὶ τί δήποτε ποίημα προσαγορεύειν τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων … οἴεται ταῖς τῶν ὀνομάτων διαφοραῖς καὶ τῆς …

Prōton toinyn ekeino deiknytō, tines tōn hagiōn … echei phōnas tōn Graphōn eis apodeixin? Ei gar tę̄ to … kai Christon epoiēsen ho Theos, touton ton Iēsoun, hon hymeis estaurōsate' prōton men ouden oikeion … poiēma legein ton poiētēn tōn holōn? Ei gar … eprepen autǭ prosēgoria toiautē, ouch an esiōpēthē. … Theou ouketi. En archę̄ gar epoiēsen ho Theos ton ouranon kai tēn gēn" kai palin" En tois … gar aorata autou apo ktiseōs kosmou tois … ē proskommatos, kai petran skandalou, kai toiauta hetera en hois ou poly dokei to euphēmon einai tois … poiēma de oudamou to parapan ōnomase. Kaitoi ge … houtos par᾽ autōn eilēphenai tōn hagiōn to onoma … touto phēsin, hina tais sykophantiais mē monon tous kat᾽ auton peribalę̄, alla kai tous palai genomenous hagious. Aneu de tou mē chrēnai dia to epikindynon tois … par᾽ heautou metaplattein᾽ eti oude hē tou Apostolou … … hēmin paristēsi, peri hēs ho logos en tǭ paronti. Oude gar peri tēs ousias autēs tou Theou Logou, tou en archę̄ ontos pros ton Theon, alla peri tou kenōsantos heauton en tę̄ tou doulou morphę̄, kai genomenou symmorphon tǭ sōmati tēs tapeinōseōs hēmōn, kai staurōthentos ex astheneias, saphōs dialegetai. Kai touto panti gnōrimon tǭ kai mikron epistēsanti tēs apostolikēs lexeōs tǭ boulēmati, hoti ouchi theologias hēmin paradidōsi tropon, alla tous tēs oikonomias logous paradēloi. Kyrion gar, phēsi, kai Christon hauton ho Theos epoiēse, touton ton Iēsoun hon hymeis estaurōsate, tę̄ deiktikę̄ phōnę̄ mononouchi pros to anthrōpinon autou kai horōmenon pasi prodēlōs epereidomenos. Ho de tēn, epoiēsen, phōnēn eis tēn archēthen gennēsin tou Monogenous metapherei. Kai oude ekeino auton dysōpei, hoti to, Kyrios, ouk ousias estin, all᾽ exousias onoma. Hōste ho eipōn, Kyrion auton kai Christon ho Theos epoiēse, tēn kata pantōn archēn kai despoteian legei tēn para tou Patros epitrapeisan autǭ, ou tēn eis to einai parodon autou diēgeitai. Tauta men oun mikron hysteron epideixomen, hotan elenchōmen auton para to boulēma tou Pneumatos tas ek tēs Graphēs martyrias paratithemenon " nyni de epi ta synechē tou logou proïōmen, Ti oun autǭ bouletai to onoma touto? kai ti dēpote poiēma prosagoreuein ton poiētēn tōn holōn … oietai tais tōn onomatōn diaphorais kai tēs …

[2] First, then, let him show this: which of the saints … has words of Scripture for proof? For if … "and Christ God has made, this Jesus whom you crucified," first of all nothing proper … to call the Maker of all things a thing made? For if … such a designation befitted him, it would not have been passed over in silence … of God no longer. For "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth"; and again, "In …"; "[for] his invisible things from the creation of the world [are seen] by the …"; "… of stumbling and a rock of offense," and other such things in which there seems to be no great reverence … but nowhere at all did [Scripture] name him a thing made. And yet … this man [claims] to have taken the name from the saints themselves … he says this so that with his slanders he may involve not only those of his own time but also the saints of old.

[3] But apart from the fact that, because of the danger, one must not … remodel on one's own …, not even the … of the Apostle … presents to us the subject that our discussion is now about. For he is clearly speaking not about the very essence of God the Word, who was in the beginning with God, but about the one who emptied himself in the form of a servant, was conformed to the body of our humiliation, and was crucified in weakness. And this is known to anyone who pays even a little attention to the intention of the apostolic words: that he is handing down to us not a manner of theology but making known the accounts of the economy. "For God has made him Lord and Christ," he says, "this Jesus whom you crucified," pressing, with the demonstrative word, all but on his humanity, which was plainly visible to all. But this man transfers the word "made" to the original begetting of the Only-Begotten. Nor does it shame him that "Lord" is the name not of an essence but of authority. So the one who said, "God made him Lord and Christ," speaks of the rule and lordship over all that was entrusted to him by the Father; he is not describing his passage into being. We shall show this a little later, when we refute him for citing the testimonies of Scripture against the intention of the Spirit; now let us go on to what follows in his discourse. What, then, does this name mean to him? And why does he call the Maker of all things a thing made? … he thinks that by the differences of the names the … of the essence also …

Acts 2:36 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:20 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 3:21 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 13:4 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil denies that any saint called the Son a 'thing made,' and argues that Acts 2:36 ('God made him Lord and Christ') speaks of the incarnate Christ's authority, not of his coming into being.

Chapters 2 and 3 of Book 2 (marked [2], [3]). This page of the scan is badly damaged: many Greek lines are cut short, and their remains are interleaved with Migne's Latin and with his headings for Book 2. The surviving Greek is kept and translated; lost words are marked …. Migne's book titles ('second discourse of the same, on the Son') and Latin are removed by logged corrections.
Acts 2:36; Gen 1:1; Rom 1:20; 1 Pet 2:8 (Isa 8:14); John 1:1-2; Phil 2:7; Phil 3:21; 2 Cor 13:4.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); scan debris removed (Migne's Latin column, notes, marginal letters or numbers); OCR misreading): ἐχεῖνο δειχνύτω, → ἐκεῖνο δεικνύτω,; Βερῖϊ ρτίιπιιβ οἱ βοχίι8 Τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγος β', ἀνατροπὴ τοῦ ἀθέου δόγματος τοῦ Εὐνομίου. δᾷ. βοσιιθάιι5 Τοῦ αὐτοῦ περὶ Υἱοῦ λόγος δεύτερος, τιἰ τυ άο (δἰαυϊάθεν αἱ [ΠΠ|8 σου ἰηαὶ!, [14 6 Ἢ Αμεφυΐ ἀπο Πυγὶ ἣ τοῖς δόγμασι", οἱ [15 4025 ϑεγίριυγατυιῃ νοοὸ8 Πα θοδὶ δά ἀσπιοηβιγαιῖο- ἔχει → … ἔχει; [εεἰς θέμα, πο Ζόδιπὶ φιοπὶ συὸς οΥμιεὶβαϊειὶϊς 3: καὶ → … καὶ; Ἰησοῖν, Ργνατη φυΐἀδπὶ ἰἀ (6διἰπηοηΐυ πὶ σοπγθηϊεηιίδπὶ ηυ]-ὀ ὅν → Ἰησοῦν, ὅν; οἰχεῖον ἀϊεογοῖ Εἰδιΐαι δὶ δρρε!!διΐο δ᾽ αϑπμοαΐ οἱ ἐοηνδι-, ποίημα → οἰκεῖον … ποίημα; γὰν τοὶ, υἱἱφυ ἠοη [υἱδδοῖ ργιθγπ 588 ἃ ϑρί για δἰθη-ὀ ἔπρεπεν → γὰρ … ἔπρεπεν; ἐσιωπέβη → ἐσιωπήθη.; εαἰμηι εἰ ἰότταηι δ. Εἰ τιιγβὺβ : 1 [ἀοιτὶδ παπαῖ Θεοῦ → … Θεοῦ; οὐχέτι. Ἐν → οὐκέτι. Ἐν; θεὶς τματαπὶ πιεάϊιαδαν "". ἘΠ, Επίπιυετο φιία διπι ἰυϊ- τὸν → Θεὸς τὸν; οὐραγὸν καὶ → οὐρανὸν καὶ; ἘῈ τοῖς ἑπποίεξοιπι, → Ἐν τοῖς …; μεγορέο μιν ᾿᾿,. 516. ϑογίριυγα ἴῃ αϊ- ο γὰρ → γὰρ; παποι ἢ ι8.. ἴῃ αυΐϊθυ8. πο πηυΐατ ν᾽ δίυγ ἰμδ 556 προσχόμματος, → … ἢ προσκόμματος,; σχανδάλου, → σκανδάλου,; τοιαῦτ Ἰλυάΐ5, 15, αὶ ποι ί πη πὶ δἰ ση δ Ομ θ ΠΟῚ 85- τερα ἐν οἷς → τοιαῦτα ἕτερα ἐν οἷς; δοχεῖ τὸ → δοκεῖ τὸ; αἢ Ἰηὶς δὺ ἱρβίϑ βηποιῖβ [06 86 ποιμίηἷδ ἀροορίδβ αἱ, σποίημα δὲ → … ποίημα δὲ; Καΐτοι γε → Καίτοι γε; υἱ ΠΟΙ] 81105 50 τι “4 118}68, 564. βαποίοβ διϊλμ ηα] οὗτος → … οὗτος; οἰ (ἀδγυμ!, οἈ] απ 5 δυΐβ ἱηνοῖναι, → …; συχοφαντίαις → συκοφαντίαις; περιδάλῃ, → περιβάλῃ,; τοὶ γενομένους → γενομένους; ὅ. όγυπι ργαιεγηυδίῃ ποι! ὁ ροτγίουϊαιη πον " ὅ, Ἄνευ → Ἄνευ; ἐγλπβίογιηδγα → …; : μγαιογοᾶ μ6 ἰρβϑὰ αὐ θη) Αροβιο παρ᾽ → παρ᾽; ᾿Αποστύ- → Ἀποστόλου …; Δ Αοῖ. ", ὅθ. 5 ὅδε. 1, 1. Γ᾽ ΡκΆ], οχαι, ὁ. ᾽5 Βοη. τ, 90, τὸ δέ. Εα τάχα γὰρ τοῦτο μὲν... λόγου, τοῦτο δέ, Βα ἐπιτολμᾷν, κατὰ τοῦ. Απιϊφυὶ ιτοὴ 7 Πος ἴρϑο ἰμ ἰυυο οὐ] οἱ ἀθο 158. οὐχ ἁρμόζειν. ἐπιτολμᾶν, καὶ τὰ τοῦ, τεείο. γοῦς ἡμῖν → … ἡμῖν; Α Οὐδὲ γὰρ → Οὐδὲ γὰρ; χενώσαντος → κενώσαντος; συμμόρφου → σύμμορφον; «ᾧ σώματι → τῷ σώματι; μιχρὸν ἐπιστήσαντι → μικρὸν ἐπιστήσαντι; ἀποστολιχῆς → ἀποστολικῆς; ποὺς τῆς → τοὺς τῆς; οἰχονομίας → οἰκονομίας; δειχτιχῇ → δεικτικῇ; ποῦ Μονογενοῦς → τοῦ Μονογενοῦς; ἐχεῖνο αὐτὸν → ἐκεῖνο αὐτὸν; ἔξουσίας → ἐξουσίας; ἑποίησε, → ἐποίησε,; χατὰ πάντων → κατὰ πάντων; ([ εἰς τὸ → εἰς τὸ; μιχρὸν ὕστερον → μικρὸν ὕστερον; ἐπιδείξομὲν, → ἐπιδείξομεν,; ἐχ τῆς Γραφῆς → ἐκ τῆς Γραφῆς; ἜΙ οὖν αὐτῷ → Τί οὖν αὐτῷ; αὸν, οἴεται → … οἴεται; διαφοραῖς καὶ τῆς → διαφοραῖς καὶ τῆς ….

Topics: Christology, Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.2 (PG 29:518; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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2.4PG 29:518

Καίτοι τίς ἂν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ σωφρονῶν πρόσθοιτο, ὅτι ὧν τὰ ὀνόματά ἔστι διάφορα, τούτων παρηλλάχθαι καὶ τὰς οὐσίας ἀνάγκη; Πέτρου γὰρ καὶ Παύλου, καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἀνθρώπων πάντων προσηγορίαι μὲν διάφοροι, οὐσία δὲ πάντων μία. Διόπερ ἐν τοῖς πλείστοις οἱ αὐτοὶ ἀλλήλοις ἐσμεν· τοῖς δὲ ἰδιώμασι μόνοις τοῖς περὶ ἕκαστον θεῳρουμένοις ἕτερος ἑτέρου διενηνόχαμεν. Ὅθεν καὶ αἱ προσηγορίαι οὐχὶ τῶν οὐσιῶν εἰσι σημαντικαὶ, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἰδιοτήτων, αἳ τὸν καθ᾽ ἕνα χαρακτηρίζουσιν. Ὅταν οὖν ἀκούωμεν Πέτρον, οὐ τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ νοοῦμεν ἐκ τοῦ ὀνόματος (οὐσίαν δὲ λέγω νῦν τὸ ὑλικὸν ὑποκείμενον " ὅπερ οὐδαμῶς σημαίνει τοὔνομα), ἀλλὰ τῶν ἰδιωμάτων ἃ περὶ αὐτὸν θεωρεῖται, τὴν ἔννοιαν ἐντυπούμεθα. Εὐθὺς γὰρ ἐκ τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης νοοῦμεν τὸν τοῦ Ἰωνᾶ, τὸν ἐκ τῆς Βηθσαϊδᾶ, τὸν ἀδελφὸν … στολῆς προσκληθέντα, τὸν διὰ πίστεως ὑπεροχὴν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν τὴν οἱκοδομὴν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας δεξάμενον ὧν οὐδέν ἐστιν οὐσία, ὡς ἡ ὑπόστασις νοουμένη. Ὥστε τὸ ὄνομα τὸν χαρακτῆρα μὲν ἡμῖν ἀφορίζει τὸν Πέτρου " αὐτὴν δὲ οὐδαμοῦ παρίστησι τὴν οὐσίαν. Πάλιν ἀκούσαντες Παῦλον, ἑτέρων ἰδιωμάτων συνδρομὴν ἐνοήσαμεν· τὸν Ταρσέα, τὸν Ἑβραῖον, τὸν κατὰ νόμον Φαρισαῖον, τὸν μαθητὴν Γαμαλιὴλ, τὸν κατὰ ζῆλον διώκτην τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸν ἐκ τῆς φοβερᾶς ὀπτασίας εἰς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν ἐναχθέντα, τὸν ἀπόστολον τῶν ἐθνῶν. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα ἐκ μιᾶς φωνῆς τῆς Παῦλος περιορίζεται. Καίτοιγε, εἴπερ ἀληθὲς ἦν, ὅτι ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα διενήνοχεν, ἐναντίως ἔχουσιν αἱ οὐσίαι, … καὶ Παῦλον καὶ Πέτρον καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἀνθρώπους ἅπαντας ἑτερουσίους ἀλλήλοις εἶναι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο οὐδεὶς οὕτως ἀμαθὴς καὶ τῆς κοινῆς φύσεως ἀνεπί… γὰρ, φησὶ. διήρτισαι σὺ, ὡς κἀγώ" οὐδὲν τοῦ λόγου ἣ τὸ ὁμοούσιον πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀποσημαίνοντος· ψευδὴς ὁ τῇ διαφορᾷ τῶν ὀνομάτων τὸ τῆς οὐσίας διάφορον ἕπεσθαι σοφιζόμενος. Οὐ γὰρ τοῖς ὀνόμασιν ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων φύσις ἀκολουθεῖ, ἀλλ᾽ ὕστερα τῶν πραγμάτων εὕρηται τὰ ὀνόματα. Εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἦν ἀληθὲς, ἔδει καὶ ὧν προσηγορίαι εἰσὶν αἱ αὐταί, μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν οὐσίαν εἶναι. Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ οἱ κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν τέλειοι τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ προσηγορίας ἠξίωνται, ὁμοούσιοι ἂν εἶεν τῷ Θεῷ τῶν ὅλων οἱ ἄνθρωποι. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὥσπερ τοῦτο λέγειν μανία σαφής, οὕτω κἀκεῖνος ὁ λόγος τῆς ἴσης ἔχεται παρανοίας, Φανερὸν τοίνυν ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων, ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ οὐχὶ οὐσίαν παρίστησι τὰ ὀνόματα, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἰδιωμάτων ἐστὶ δηλωτικά " ὥστε μηδεμίαν εἶναι χώραν τῷ λόγῳ, ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων παραλλαγῆς τὴν τῶν οὐσιῶν ἐναντίωσιν παρεισάγοντι. Οὕτω δ᾽ ἂν πρὸ πάντων ἑαυτὸν καταβάλοι. Εἰ γὰρ διαφέρει ποίημά τε καὶ γέννημα, διάφοροι καὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς αἱ οὐσίαι, τῇ διαφορᾷ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἑπόμεναι. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο παραφρονούντων, … οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνο καθεστηκότων. Ὁ δὲ καὶ προσποιεῖται μὲν μυρίας ἔχειν τὰς ἀποδείξεις τοῦ παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων ποίημα τὸν Υἱὸν προσειρῆσθαι· ὡς δὲ ἐφ᾽ ἕτερά τινα προηγούμενα σπεύδων, ὑπερτίθεται δῆθεν ἐν τῷ παρόντι τὴν μνήμην. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τεχνικὸν τὸ κακούργημα, ἐν οἷς ἀπορεῖ λόγων, τὴν σιωπὴν προτιμᾷν. Εἰ γὰρ σκιὰν μαρτυρίας εἶχε τῆς … … Πρὸ πάντων, … Μονογενῆ λεγούσης ποίημα, οὐχ ἂν ἐκεκώφωτο … ἡμῶν ἤδη τὰ ὦτα περιθρυλλούμενα. Εἶτά φησι, διὰ τοὺς σωματικὴν τὴν γέννησιν ὑπολαμβάνοντας τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ ταῖς ὁμωνυμίαις προσπταίοντας, ἀναγκαῖον αὐτῷ καὶ περὶ τούτων εἶναι διὰ βραχέων εἰπεῖν. Καίτοι τί ἐκώλυε, ταῖς ἐκ τῶν Γραφῶν μαρτυρίαις τὸν λόγον ἑαυτοῦ πιστωσάμενον, οὕτως ἐπὶ τὴν διόρθωσιν τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων ἐλθεῖν, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ὁμωνυμίας βλάβην παραμυθήσασθαι, εἴ τις ἄρα γέγονέ ποτέ τισιν ἣ γενήσεται; Τίς γὰρ οὕτω παντελῶς σάρκινος τὴν διάνοιαν, καὶ θείων λόγων ἄπειρος, ὥστε, ἀκούων θείας γεννήσεως, πρὸς τὰς σωματικὰς καταφέρεσθαι φαντασίας, ἐν αἷς συμπλοκὴ μὲν ἄῤῥενος πρὸς τὸ θῆλυ, κύησις δὲ ἐν μήτρᾳ, καὶ διάπλασις, καὶ μόρφωσις, καὶ τοῖς καθήκουσι χρόνοις πρόοδος εἰς τὸ ἔξω; Τίς οὕτω κτηνώδης, ὥστε, ἀκούων Θεὸν Λόγον ἐκ Θεοῦ προελθόντα, ἀκούων δὲ σοφίαν ἐκ Θεοῦ γεννηθεῖσαν, πρὸς τὰ σώματος πάθη τοῖς λογισμοῖς καταπίπτειν;

Kaitoi tis an tǭ logǭ toutǭ sōphronōn prosthoito, hoti hōn ta onomata esti diaphora, toutōn parēllachthai kai tas ousias anankē? Petrou gar kai Paulou, kai hapaxaplōs anthrōpōn pantōn prosēgoriai men diaphoroi, ousia de pantōn mia. Dioper en tois pleistois hoi autoi allēlois esmen; tois de idiōmasi monois tois peri hekaston theǭroumenois heteros heterou dienēnochamen. Hothen kai hai prosēgoriai ouchi tōn ousiōn eisi sēmantikai, alla tōn idiotētōn, hai ton kath᾽ hena charaktērizousin. Hotan oun akouōmen Petron, ou tēn ousian autou nooumen ek tou onomatos (ousian de legō nyn to hylikon hypokeimenon " hoper oudamōs sēmainei tounoma), alla tōn idiōmatōn ha peri auton theōreitai, tēn ennoian entypoumetha. Euthys gar ek tēs phōnēs tautēs nooumen ton tou Iōna, ton ek tēs Bēthsaïda, ton adelphon … stolēs prosklēthenta, ton dia pisteōs hyperochēn eph᾽ heauton tēn hoikodomēn tēs Ekklēsias dexamenon hōn ouden estin ousia, hōs hē hypostasis nooumenē. Hōste to onoma ton charaktēra men hēmin aphorizei ton Petrou " autēn de oudamou paristēsi tēn ousian. Palin akousantes Paulon, heterōn idiōmatōn syndromēn enoēsamen; ton Tarsea, ton Hebraion, ton kata nomon Pharisaion, ton mathētēn Gamaliēl, ton kata zēlon diōktēn tōn Ekklēsiōn tou Theou, ton ek tēs phoberas optasias eis tēn epignōsin enachthenta, ton apostolon tōn ethnōn. Tauta gar panta ek mias phōnēs tēs Paulos periorizetai. Kaitoige, eiper alēthes ēn, hoti hōn ta onomata dienēnochen, enantiōs echousin hai ousiai, … kai Paulon kai Petron kai hapaxaplōs anthrōpous hapantas heterousious allēlois einai. Epei de touto oudeis houtōs amathēs kai tēs koinēs physeōs anepi… gar, phēsi. diērtisai sy, hōs kagō" ouden tou logou hē to homoousion pantōn anthrōpōn aposēmainontos; pseudēs ho tę̄ diaphorą tōn onomatōn to tēs ousias diaphoron hepesthai sophizomenos. Ou gar tois onomasin hē tōn pragmatōn physis akolouthei, all᾽ hystera tōn pragmatōn heurētai ta onomata. Ei gar touto ēn alēthes, edei kai hōn prosēgoriai eisin hai autai, mian kai tēn autēn ousian einai. Oukoun epeidē hoi kat᾽ aretēn teleioi tēs tou Theou prosēgorias ēxiōntai, homoousioi an eien tǭ Theǭ tōn holōn hoi anthrōpoi. ᾿All᾽ hōsper touto legein mania saphēs, houtō kakeinos ho logos tēs isēs echetai paranoias, Phaneron toinyn ek tōn eirēmenōn, hoti kai epi Patros kai Huiou ouchi ousian paristēsi ta onomata, alla tōn idiōmatōn esti dēlōtika " hōste mēdemian einai chōran tǭ logǭ, ek tēs tōn onomatōn parallagēs tēn tōn ousiōn enantiōsin pareisagonti. Houtō d᾽ an pro pantōn heauton katabaloi. Ei gar diapherei poiēma te kai gennēma, diaphoroi kai tou Monogenous hai ousiai, tę̄ diaphorą tōn onomatōn hepomenai. Ei de touto paraphronountōn, … oude ekeino kathestēkotōn. Ho de kai prospoieitai men myrias echein tas apodeixeis tou para tōn hagiōn poiēma ton Huion proseirēsthai; hōs de eph᾽ hetera tina proēgoumena speudōn, hypertithetai dēthen en tǭ paronti tēn mnēmēn. Esti de kai touto technikon to kakourgēma, en hois aporei logōn, tēn siōpēn protimąn. Ei gar skian martyrias eiche tēs … … Pro pantōn, … Monogenē legousēs poiēma, ouch an ekekōphōto … hēmōn ēdē ta ōta perithrylloumena. Eita phēsi, dia tous sōmatikēn tēn gennēsin hypolambanontas tou Kyriou, kai tais homōnymiais prosptaiontas, anankaion autǭ kai peri toutōn einai dia bracheōn eipein. Kaitoi ti ekōlye, tais ek tōn Graphōn martyriais ton logon heautou pistōsamenon, houtōs epi tēn diorthōsin tōn asthenesterōn elthein, kai tēn ek tēs homōnymias blabēn paramythēsasthai, ei tis ara gegone pote tisin hē genēsetai? Tis gar houtō pantelōs sarkinos tēn dianoian, kai theiōn logōn apeiros, hōste, akouōn theias gennēseōs, pros tas sōmatikas katapheresthai phantasias, en hais symplokē men arrhenos pros to thēly, kyēsis de en mētrą, kai diaplasis, kai morphōsis, kai tois kathēkousi chronois proodos eis to exō? Tis houtō ktēnōdēs, hōste, akouōn Theon Logon ek Theou proelthonta, akouōn de sophian ek Theou gennētheisan, pros ta sōmatos pathē tois logismois katapiptein?

[4] Yet who in his right mind would agree with this argument, that things whose names differ must also differ in essence? For the designations of Peter and Paul, and in short of all human beings, are different, but the essence of all is one. That is why in most respects we are the same as one another, and differ from one another only by the distinctive features contemplated in each. Hence designations are indicative not of essences but of the particular characteristics that mark out each individual. So when we hear "Peter," we do not understand his essence from the name (by essence I now mean the material substrate, which the name in no way signifies), but we receive the impression of the distinctive features contemplated in him. For at once from this word we think of the son of Jonah, the man from Bethsaida, the brother of … called to the apostolate, the one who because of the preeminence of his faith received upon himself the building of the church: none of these is essence, understood as substance. So the name marks out for us the character of Peter, but in no way presents his essence. Again, when we hear "Paul," we think of a concurrence of other distinctive features: the man of Tarsus, the Hebrew, as to the law a Pharisee, the disciple of Gamaliel, in zeal a persecutor of the churches of God, the one brought to knowledge by the fearful vision, the apostle of the nations. All these are delimited by the one word "Paul." And yet, if it were true that things whose names differ have opposite essences, … Paul and Peter, and in short all human beings, would be of different essence from one another. But since no one is so ignorant and so [inattentive] … to the common nature ("for you were formed," it says, "as I was," the passage signifying nothing other than that all human beings are of the same essence), the one who argues sophistically that difference of essence follows difference of names is a liar. For the nature of things does not follow the names; rather, the names were found after the things. If this were true, things whose designations are the same would have to be of one and the same essence. Then, since those perfect in virtue have been counted worthy of the designation "God," human beings would be of the same essence as the God of the universe. But just as to say this is plain madness, so that argument of his is held by an equal derangement.

[5] It is clear, then, from what has been said, that in the case of the Father and the Son too the names do not present essence but are indicative of distinctive features; so that there is no room for an argument that brings in an opposition of essences from the difference of names. In this way he would refute himself before all. For if "thing made" and "offspring" differ, the essences of the Only-Begotten also will be different, following the difference of the names. But if to say this belongs to the deranged, … neither does that belong to those in their right mind. He pretends to have countless proofs that the Son has been called a thing made by the saints; but, as though hurrying on to some other, more important matters, he supposedly defers any mention of them for now. This too is a crafty piece of mischief: to prefer silence where he is at a loss for arguments. For if he had even a shadow of testimony of the … … before all else … calling the Only-Begotten a thing made, it would not have been passed over in silence; … our ears would by now be ringing with it. Then he says that because of those who suppose the Lord's begetting to be bodily and stumble over homonyms, it is necessary for him to speak briefly about these things too. Yet what prevented him from first confirming his argument by the testimonies of Scripture, and then coming to the correction of the weaker, and to remedying the harm from the homonymy, if it has ever come or will come to anyone? For who is so entirely fleshly in mind and so inexperienced in the divine words that, on hearing of a divine begetting, he is carried down to bodily images, in which there is the union of male with female, conception in the womb, formation, shaping, and at the due times a coming forth into the open? Who is so like a beast that, hearing that God the Word came forth from God, and hearing that wisdom was begotten from God, he falls in his reasonings to the passions of the body?

John 1:42 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:44 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 16:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 22:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 3:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 1:13 (allusion, medium confidence) · Acts 9:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 33:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · John 8:42 (allusion, medium confidence) · Prov 8:25 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Basil argues from the names Peter and Paul that names signify distinctive features, not essences, so a difference of names cannot prove a difference of essence between Father and Son.

Chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5 of Book 2 (marked [4], [5]); chapter 5 continues in staged 2.5. Lost lines are marked …; Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections. 'Essence, understood as substance' renders οὐσία … ὡς ἡ ὑπόστασις νοουμένη (ὑπόστασις here in the sense of the underlying reality).
Peter: John 1:42, 1:44, Matt 16:18; Paul: Acts 22:3, Phil 3:5, Gal 1:13, Acts 9:3-8, Rom 11:13; Job 33:6 (Septuagint); 'gods': Ps 82:6 (LXX 81:6).
Continuation of chapter 5 of Book 2. Lost words at the opening are marked …; Migne's Latin and notes are removed by logged corrections.
God the Word from God: John 1:1, 8:42; wisdom begotten: Prov 8:25.

Notes on the original text

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Topics: Christology, Heresy, Trinity

Cite (SBL): Basil, Eun. 2.4 (PG 29:518; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-contra-eunomium/1-20/#p-2-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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