[ Aporrhoe ]

 THIS word, though in itself unobjectionable as an expression of the divine [ gennesis ], is generally avoided by the Fathers, as being interpreted by the Arians in a material sense. "The offspring of men are portions of their fathers," says Athanasius, "and men [ aporrheousi ] in begetting, and gain substance in taking food; but God, being without parts, is Father of a Son without partition or passion, for there is neither [ aporrhoe ] in the Immaterial nor [ epirrhoe ], and, being uncompounded by nature, He is Father of One only Son. And He too is the Father's Word, from which may be understood the impassible nature of the Father, in that not even a human word is begotten with passion, much less the Word of God." Decr. § 11.

 S. Cyril, Dial. iv. init. p. 505, speaks of the [ thrulloumene aporrhoe ]; and disclaims it, Thesaur. 6, p. 43. Athanasius disclaims it, Expos. § i. Orat. i. § 21. So does Alexander, ap. Theod. Hist. i. 3, p. 743. On the other hand, Athanasius quotes it in a passage which he adduces from Theognostus, Decr. § 25, and from Dionysius, de Sent. D. § 22, and Origen uses it, Periarchon, i. 2. It is derived from Wisd. vii. 25.

 The passage of Theognostus is as follows:

 "The substance of the Son is not anything gained from without, nor provided out of nothing, but it sprang from the Father's substance, as the radiance of light, as the vapour of water; for neither the radiance, nor the vapour, is the water itself or the sun itself, nor is it alien; but it is an effluence of the Father's substance, which, however, suffers no partition. For as the sun remains the same, and is not impaired by the rays poured forth by it, so neither does the Father's substance suffer change, though it has the Son as an Image of Itself." Decr. § 25. "Vapour" is also used in Wisdom vii., Origen, etc., as referred to supr.

 Hieracas the Manichæan compared the Two Divine Persons to the two lights of one lamp, where the oil is common and the flame double, thus implying a substance distinct from Father and Son of which each partook, or to a flame divided into two by (for instance) the papyrus which was commonly used instead of a wick. vid. Hilar. de Trin. vi. 12.