An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.
An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.
Chapter III.— Proof that there is a God.
Chapter IV.— Concerning the nature of Deity: that it is incomprehensible.
Chapter V.— Proof that God is one and not many.
Chapter VI.— Concerning the Word and the Son of God: a reasoned proof.
Chapter VII.— Concerning the Holy Spirit, a reasoned proof.
Chapter VIII.— Concerning the Holy Trinity.
Chapter IX.— Concerning what is affirmed about God.
Chapter X.— Concerning divine union and separation.
Chapter XI.— Concerning what is affirmed about God as though He had body.
Chapter XII.— Concerning the Same.
Chapter XIII.— Concerning the place of God: and that the Deity alone is uncircumscribed.
Chapter XIV.— The properties of the divine nature.
Chapter II.— Concerning the creation.
Chapter III.— Concerning angels.
Chapter IV.— Concerning the devil and demons.
Chapter V.— Concerning the visible creation.
Chapter VI.— Concerning the Heaven.
Chapter VII.— Concerning light, fire, the luminaries, sun, moon and stars.
Chapter VIII.— Concerning air and winds.
Chapter IX.— Concerning the waters.
Chapter X.— Concerning earth and its products.
Chapter XI.— Concerning Paradise.
Chapter XIII.— Concerning Pleasures.
Chapter XIV.— Concerning Pain.
Chapter XVI.— Concerning Anger.
Chapter XVII.— Concerning Imagination.
Chapter XVIII.— Concerning Sensation.
Chapter XIX.— Concerning Thought.
Chapter XX.— Concerning Memory.
Chapter XXI.— Concerning Conception and Articulation.
Chapter XXII.— Concerning Passion and Energy.
Chapter XXIII.— Concerning Energy.
Chapter XXIV.— Concerning what is Voluntary and what is Involuntary.
Chapter XXV.— Concerning what is in our own power, that is, concerning Free-will .
Chapter XXVI.— Concerning Events .
Chapter XXVII.— Concerning the reason of our endowment with Free-will.
Chapter XXVIII.— Concerning what is not in our hands.
Chapter XXIX.— Concerning Providence.
Chapter XXX.— Concerning Prescience and Predestination.
Chapter IV.— Concerning the manner of the Mutual Communication .
Chapter V.— Concerning the number of the Natures.
Chapter VII.— Concerning the one compound subsistence of God the Word.
Chapter IX.— In reply to the question whether there is Nature that has no Subsistence.
Chapter X.— Concerning the Trisagium (“the Thrice Holy”).
Chapter XIII.— Concerning the properties of the two Natures.
Chapter XIV.— Concerning the volitions and free-will of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter XV.— Concerning the energies in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter XVII.— Concerning the deification of the nature of our Lord’s flesh and of His will.
Chapter XVIII.— Further concerning volitions and free-wills: minds, too, and knowledges and wisdoms.
Chapter XIX.— Concerning the theandric energy.
Chapter XX.— Concerning the natural and innocent passions .
Chapter XXI.— Concerning ignorance and servitude.
Chapter XXII.— Concerning His growth.
Chapter XXIII.— Concerning His Fear.
Chapter XXIV.— Concerning our Lord’s Praying.
Chapter XXV.— Concerning the Appropriation.
Chapter XXVI.— Concerning the Passion of our Lord’s body, and the Impassibility of His divinity.
Chapter XXVIII.— Concerning Corruption and Destruction.
Chapter XXIX.— Concerning the Descent to Hades.
Chapter II.— Concerning the sitting at the right hand of the Father.
Chapter V.— In reply to those who ask if Christ’s subsistence is create or uncreate.
Chapter VI.— Concerning the question, when Christ was called.
Chapter VIII.— How the Only-begotten Son of God is called first-born.
Chapter IX.— Concerning Faith and Baptism.
Chapter XI.— Concerning the Cross and here further concerning Faith.
Chapter XII.— Concerning Worship towards the East.
Chapter XIII.— Concerning the holy and immaculate Mysteries of the Lord.
Chapter XIV.— Concerning our Lord’s genealogy and concerning the holy Mother of God .
Chapter XV.— Concerning the honour due to the Saints and their remains.
Chapter XVI.— Concerning Images .
Chapter XVII.— Concerning Scripture .
Chapter XVIII.— Regarding the things said concerning Christ.
Chapter XIX.— That God is not the cause of evils.
Chapter XX.— That there are not two Kingdoms.
Chapter XXII.— Concerning the law of God and the law of sin.
Chapter XXIII.— Against the Jews on the question of the Sabbath.
Chapter XXIV.— Concerning Virginity.
Chapter XXV.— Concerning the Circumcision.
Chapter XIX.—That God1201 Against Platonists, Gnostics, and Manicheans.is not the cause of evils.
It is to be observed1202 Damasc. Dial. cont. Manich. that it is the custom in the Holy Scripture to speak of God’s permission as His energy, as when the apostle says in the Epistle to the Romans, Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour1203 Rom. ix. 21.? And for this reason, that He Himself makes this or that. For He is Himself alone the Maker of all things; yet it is not He Himself that fashions noble or ignoble things, but the personal choice of each one1204 Basil, Homil. Quod Deus non sit auct. malorum.. And this is manifest from what the same Apostle says in the Second Epistle to Timothy, In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth: and some to honour and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work1205 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21.. And it is evident that the purification must be voluntary: for if a man, he saith, purge himself. And the consequent antistrophe responds, “If a man purge not himself he will be a vessel to dishonour, unmeet for the master’s use and fit only to be broken in pieces.” Wherefore this passage that we have quoted and this, God hath concluded them all in unbelief1206 Rom. xi. 32., and this, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear1207 Is. xxix. 10; Rom. xi. 8., all these must be understood not as though God Himself were energising, but as though God were permitting, both because of free-will and because goodness knows no compulsion.
His permission, therefore, is usually spoken of in the Holy Scripture as His energy and work. Nay, even when He says that God creates evil things, and that there is no evil in a city that the Lord hath not done, he does not mean by these words1208 Amos iii. 6. that the Lord is the cause of evil, but the word ‘evil1209 Text, δισέμφατον. Variant, δυσέμφατον.’ is used in two ways, with two meanings. For sometimes it means what is evil by nature, and this is the opposite of virtue and the will of God: and sometimes it means that which is evil and oppressive to our sensation, that is to say, afflictions and calamities. Now these are seemingly evil because they are painful, but in reality are good. For to those who understand they became ambassadors of conversion and salvation. The Scripture says that of these God is the Author.
It is, moreover, to be observed that of these, too, we are the cause: for involuntary evils are the offspring of voluntary ones1210 Text, τῶν γὰρ ἑκουσίων κακῶν τὰ ἀκούσια, &c. R. 2930 has τῶν ἀκουσίων τὰ ἑκούσια.
This also should be recognised, that it is usual in the Scriptures for some things that ought to be considered as effects to be stated in a causal sense1211 Basil, loc. cit., as, Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight, that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and prevail when Thou judgest1212 Ps. li. 4.. For the sinner did not sin in order that God might prevail, nor again did God require our sin in order that He might by it be revealed as victor1213 νικητής is sometimes absent.. For above comparison He wins the victor’s prize against all, even against those who are sinless, being Maker, incomprehensible, uncreated, and possessing natural and not adventitious glory. But it is because when we sin God is not unjust in His anger against us; and when He pardons the penitent He is shewn victor over our wickedness. But it is not for this that we sin, but because the thing so turns out. It is just as if one were sitting at work and a friend stood near by, and one said, My friend came in order that I might do no work that day. The friend, however, was not present in order that the man should do no work, but such was the result. For being occupied with receiving his friend he did not work. These things, too, are spoken of as effects because affairs so turned out. Moreover, God does not wish that He alone should be just, but that all should, so far as possible, be made like unto Him.
Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι τῶν κακῶν αἴτιος ὁ θεός
Χρὴ εἰδέναι, ὅτι ἔθος τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ τὴν παραχώρησιν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνέργειαν αὐτοῦ καλεῖν, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἐπιστολῇ: «Ἢ οὐκ ἔχει ἐξουσίαν ὁ κεραμεὺς τοῦ πηλοῦ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φυράματος ποιῆσαι, ὃ μὲν εἰς τιμὴν σκεῦος, ὃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν;» Ὅτι μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸς ποιεῖ καὶ ταῦτα κἀκεῖνα: μόνος γὰρ αὐτός ἐστι τῶν ἁπάντων δημιουργός, ἀλλ' οὐκ αὐτὸς τίμια κατασκευάζει ἢ ἄτιμα, ἀλλ' ἡ οἰκεία ἑκάστου προαίρεσις. Καὶ τοῦτο δῆλον, ἐξ ὧν ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπόστολος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Τιμόθεον δευτέρᾳ ἐπιστολῇ φησιν: «Ἐν μεγάλῃ οἰκίᾳ οὐκ ἔστι μόνον σκεύη χρυσᾶ καὶ ἀργυρᾶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ξύλινα καὶ ὀστράκινα, καὶ ἃ μὲν εἰς τιμήν, ἃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν. Ἐὰν οὖν τις ἐκκαθάρῃ ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ τούτων, ἔσται σκεῦος εἰς τιμήν, ἡγιασμένον καὶ εὔχρηστον τῷ δεσπότῃ, εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἡτοιμασμένον». Δῆλον δέ, ὡς ἑκουσίως ἡ κάθαρσις γίνεται: «Ἐὰν γάρ τις», φησίν, «ἐκκαθάρῃ ἑαυτόν», ἡ δὲ ἀκόλουθος ἀντιστροφὴ ἀντιφωνεῖ: Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἐκκαθάρῃ, ἔσται σκεῦος εἰς ἀτιμίαν, ἄχρηστον τῷ δεσπότῃ, συντριβῆς ἄξιον. Τὸ οὖν προκείμενον ῥητὸν καὶ τὸ «συνέκλεισεν ὁ θεὸς πάντας εἰς ἀπείθειαν», καὶ τὸ «ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς πνεῦμα κατανύξεως, ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ μὴ βλέπειν καὶ ὦτα τοῦ μὴ ἀκούειν», ταῦτα πάντα οὐχ ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνεργήσαντος ἐκληπτέον, ἀλλ' ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ παραχωρήσαντος διὰ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον καὶ τὸ ἀβίαστον εἶναι τὸ καλόν.
Τὴν οὖν παραχώρησιν αὐτοῦ ὡς ἐνέργειαν καὶ ποίησιν αὐτοῦ λέγειν σύνηθες τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ. Ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ὅτε φησὶ τὸν θεὸν κτίζειν κακὰ καὶ μὴ εἶναι «ἐν πόλει κακίαν, ἣν ὁ κύριος οὐκ ἐποίησεν», οὐ κακῶν αἴτιον τὸν θεὸν δείκνυσιν, ἀλλ', ἐπειδὴ δισέμφατον τὸ τῆς κακίας ὄνομα, δύο σημαῖνον: ποτὲ μὲν γὰρ τὸ τῇ φύσει κακὸν δηλοῖ, ὅπερ ἐναντίον ἐστὶ τῇ ἀρετῇ καὶ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ θελήσει, ποτὲ δὲ τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν αἴσθησιν κακὸν καὶ ἐπίπονον ἤγουν τὰς θλίψεις καὶ ἐπαγωγάς. Αὗται δὲ τῷ μὲν δοκεῖν κακαί εἰσιν ἀλγειναὶ τυγχάνουσαι, τῇ δὲ ἀληθείᾳ ἀγαθαί: ἐπιστροφῆς γὰρ καὶ σωτηρίας γίνονται τοῖς συνιοῦσι πρόξενοι: ταύτας διὰ θεοῦ γίνεσθαί φησιν ἡ γραφή.
Ἰστέον δέ, ὡς καὶ τούτων ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν αἴτιοι. Τῶν γὰρ ἑκουσίων κακῶν τὰ ἀκούσιά εἰσιν ἔκγονα. _Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἰστέον, ὅτι ἔθος τῇ γραφῇ τινα ἐκβατικῶς ὀφείλοντα λέγεσθαι αἰτιολογικῶς λέγειν ὡς τὸ «σοὶ μόνῳ ἥμαρτον καὶ τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιόν σου ἐποίησα, ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου καὶ νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε». Οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἁμαρτήσας, ἵνα νικήσῃ ὁ θεός, ἥμαρτεν, οὔτε δὲ ὁ θεὸς ἐδεῖτο τῆς ἡμῶν ἁμαρτίας, ἵνα ἐκ ταύτης νικητὴς ἀναφανῇ (φέρει γὰρ ἀσυγκρίτως κατὰ πάντων καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτανόντων τὰ νικητήρια δημιουργὸς ὢν καὶ ἀκατάληπτος καὶ ἄκτιστος καὶ φυσικὴν ἔχων τὴν δόξαν καὶ οὐκ ἐπίκτητον), ἀλλ' ὅτι ἡμῶν ἁμαρτανόντων οὐκ ἄδικός ἐστιν ἐπιφέρων τὴν ὀργὴν καὶ μετανοοῦσι συγχωρῶν νικητὴς τῆς ἡμετέρας κακίας ἀναδείκνυται. Οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ ἡμεῖς ἁμαρτάνομεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι οὕτως ἀποβαίνει τὸ πρᾶγμα, ὥσπερ, ἐὰν κάθηταί τις ἐργαζόμενος, φίλος δέ τις ἐπιστῇ, φησίν, ὅτι, ἵνα μηδὲ σήμερον ἐργάσωμαι, παρεγένετο ὁ φίλος. Ὁ μὲν οὖν φίλος οὐχ, ἵνα μὴ ἐργάσηται, παρεγένετο, οὕτω δὲ ἀπέβη: ἀσχολούμενος γὰρ περὶ τὴν τοῦ φίλου ὑποδοχὴν οὐκ ἐργάζεται. Λέγεται δὲ ταῦτα ἐκβατικά, ὅτι οὕτως ἀποβαίνουσι τὰ πράγματα. Οὐ θέλει δὲ ὁ θεὸς μόνος εἶναι δίκαιος, ἀλλὰ πάντας ὁμοιοῦσθαι αὐτῷ κατὰ δύναμιν.