# Fragments

- Author: [Theognostus of Alexandria](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/theognostus-of-alexandria/)
- Latin title: *Fragmenta*
- Date: ca. 260–300 (approximate)
- Source: M. J. Routh, ed., Reliquiae Sacrae, 2nd ed., vol. 3 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1846), 412

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theognostus-fragmenta/
- Passages: 1

## Fragment 1 (Hypotyposes; quoted by Gregory of Nyssa)

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theognostus-fragmenta/1/#p-1
- Source: Routh 3:412
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Theognostus says that God, before making the world, first gave the Son his existence as the rule or pattern for creating it.

### Greek text

Τὸν θεὸν βουλόμενον τόδε τὸ πᾶν κατασκευάσαι, πρῶτον τὸν υἱὸν οἷόν τινα κανόνα τῆς δημιουργίας προϋποστήσασθαι.

### English translation (Claude)

God, wishing to construct this universe, first caused the Son to subsist beforehand as a kind of rule for the work of creation.

### Scripture references

- John 1:3: echo, low confidence
- Col 1:16: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Quoted by Gregory of Nyssa (Against Eunomius 3) from Theognostus's Hypotyposes; Gregory cites it to show how the line could be read in an Arian sense. Only the quoted sentence is Theognostus's.
- προϋποστήσασθαι, 'caused to subsist beforehand': the Son is given existence before the creation, not made as one of its parts; the word does not by itself say whether the Son had a beginning, which is why later writers disputed the passage.
- κανών, 'rule': a measuring rule or standard; the Son as the pattern by which the world is made (compare John 1:3; Col 1:16).

### Citation (SBL)

Theognostus, Frag. 1 (Routh 3:412; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theognostus-fragmenta/1/#p-1).