De Theologia (Orat. 28)

Ἀρκτέον οὖν οὕτω πάλιν. θεὸν νοῆσαι μὲν χαλεπόν· φράσαι δὲ ἀδύνατον, ὥς τις τῶν παρ’ Ἕλλησι θεολόγων ἐφιλοσόφησεν,—οὐκ ἀτέχνως ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, ἵνα καὶ κατειληφέναι δόξη τῷ χαλεπὸν εἰπεῖν, καὶ διαφύγῃ τῷ ἀνεκφράστῳ τὸν ἔλεγχον. ἀλλὰ φράσαι μὲν ἀδύνατον, ὡς ὁ ἐμὸς λόγος, νοῆσαι δὲ ἀδυνατώτερον. τὸ μὲν γὰρ νοηθὲν [*](1 προσβλέπειν] βλέπειν ‘Reg. a’ || 3 Φαραω] του Φ. bdef ǁ 4 κατα τον Παυλον bef ǁ 5 ἐκεῖνον] -νους bef || 6 om ἠξιωμένος ac || 7 καν γαρ] om γὰρ a ǁ om τι e || 8 om ἤμων d || η καὶ] ἢ om καὶ f 4. 14 ἴνα καὶ] ἴνα τὸ b || 15 τὼ χαλεπὸν] τὸ χαλ. bd: τὼ suprascr. c || 16 om μεν c) [*](2. ἀκραιφνεῖ]=ἀκεραίῳ ‘unmitigated,’ ‘untempered.’) [*](3. Φαραὼ θεός] Ex. vii 1.) [*](4. κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον] 2 Cor. xii 2. Φθάσῃς as above.) [*](10. ὑπεραίρει] used intransitively from Aristotle downwards.) [*](ib. κάτω βρίθοντος κρ.] Wisd. ix 15. For κράματος see i 7.) [*](4. To form an adequate con- ception of God is even more impossible than to express it when formed. It is doubtful whether even angels can do it.) [*](12. ἀρκτέον] from ἄρχεσθαι: ‘we must begin ’ The hopes with which he had begun at first ὡς θεὸν καταληψόμενος) have proved fallacious.) [*](13. ὥς τις τῶν παρ᾿ Ἕ. θεολόγων] The reference appears to be to Timaeus 28 Ε τὸν μὲν οὖν ποιητὴν καὶ πατέρα τοῦ παντὸς εὑρεῖν τὸ ἔργον, καὶ εὕροντα εἰς πάντας ἀδύνατον λέγειν. No approval is conveyed by the expression θεολόγων τις. Cp. v 16.) [*](14. οὐκ ἀτέχνως] Plato thus art- fully insinuates, in Gr.'s opinion, that he has himself apprehended what he says is so difficult to appre hend, and at the same time escapes exposure by saying that it is inexpressible τῷ (ἀνεκφρ.).) [*](17. ἀδυνατώτερον] because if only the conception could be formed, expression would be comparatively easy. Cp. Novatian de Trin. § 4 nomen Dei edici non potest, quolacious. niam non potest nee concipi.)

τάχα ἂν λόγος δηλώσειεν, εἰ καὶ μὴ μετρίως, ἁλλ’ ἀμυδρῶς γε, τῷ μὴ πάντη τὰ ὦτα διεφθαρμένῳ καὶ νωθρῷ τὴν διάνοιαν. τὸ δὲ τοσοῦτον πρᾶγμα τῇ διανοίᾳ περιλαβεῖν πάντως ἀδύνατον καὶ ἀμήχανον, μὴ ὅτι τοῖς καταβεβλακευμένοις, καὶ κάτω νεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς λίαν ὑψηλοῖς τε καὶ φιλοθέοις, καὶ ὁμοίως πάσῃ γεννητῇ φύσει, καὶ οἷς ὁ ζόφος οὗτος ἐπιπροσθεῖ καὶ τὸ παχὺ τοῦτο σαρκίον πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀληθοῦς κατανόησιν. οὐκ οἶδα δέ, εἰ μὴ καὶ ταῖς ἀνωτέρω καὶ νοεραῖς φύσεσιν, αἳ διὰ τὸ πλησίον εἶναι θεοῦ, καὶ ὅλῳ τῷ φωτὶ καταλάμπεσθαι, τυχὸν ἂν καὶ τρανοῖντο, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντη, ἀλλ’ ἡμῶν γε τελεώτερόν τε καὶ ἐκτυπώτερον, καὶ ἄλλων ἄλλαι πλεῖον ἢ ἔλαττον, κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς τάξεως.

Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἐνταῦθα κείσθω· τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον, [*](1 τάχα ἀν’] + καὶ e ǁ 4 καταβεβλακευμενοις] κατεβλ. acf ‘duo Colb. Or. 1’ || 6 γεννητὴ] γενητὴ abc || 11 p, τε c) [*](1. εἰ καὶ μὴ μ., ἀλλ’ ἀμ’. γε] μετρίως is here a word of approbation, ‘if not satisfactorily, yet dimly at any rate.’) [*](4. μὴ ὅτι] ‘not to speak ’ cp. § 11. Καταβεβλ. from βλάξ, which is thought to be a collateral form of μαλακός, ‘slack,’ ‘enfeebled,’ ‘enervated.’) [*](6. γεννητῇ] not= γενητὴ ‘created,’ for Gr. goes on to speak of the higher created intelligences as a separate class afterwards; but strictly ‘begotten’ or ‘born,’ i.e. existing under physical conditions, the effect of which is described in the following clause.) [*](7. ἐπιπροσθεῖ] The verb is formed from the adv. ἐπίπροσθεν: ‘to be in front of,’ so ‘get in the way of.’ Wyttenbach collects many instances of its use in his note on Plut. de Recta And. Ratione p. 41 C.) [*](ib. σαρκίον] the diminutive ex- presses depreciation.) [*](8. πρός] ‘in reference to,’ it comes to a matter οf.’) [*](ib. οὐκ οἴδα δέ, εἰ μὴ] of course indicates Gr.’s opinion that it is impossible. This was the general opinion. Cp. Chrys. Horn, de Incomprehensibili iii 1 τὸν ἀνεξιχνίαστον ἀγγέλοις, τὸν ἀνεξερεύνητον ἀρχαγγέλοις, τὸν ἀθέατον τοῖς σεραφίμ, τὸν ἀκατανόητον τοῖς χερουβίμ, τὸν ἀόρατον ἀρχαῖς καἰ ἐξουσίαις λαὶ δυνάμεσι καὶ ἁπλῶς πάση τῇ κτίσει.) [*](10. τυχὸν ἂν καὶ τρανοῖντο] Τρανόω, a favourite word of Gr.'s, usually = ‘to make plain’ (e.g. § 20). as τρανός is sometimes used in the more active sense of ‘clear,’ i.e. of penetrating intelligence (e.g. Wisd. vii 22), it seems best to understand τρανοῖντο here in that way, ‘gifted with insight and intelligence.’) [*](12. ἐκτυπώτερον] ‘ more expressly,’ ’distinctly.’) [*](5. The works of God are beyond our present comprehension, much more Himself; we can only affirm for certain that He exists.) [*](14. κείσθω] ‘be dropped.’ He not wish to pursue the question with regard to the superior intelligences: τὸ δὲ ἠμ’. ‘but as concerning us.’)

οὐχ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ μόνον ὑπερέχει πάντα νοῦν καὶ κατάληψιν, οὐδὲ ὅσα τοῖς δικαίοις ἐστὶν ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις ἀποκείμενα, τὰ μήτε ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρατά, μήτε ὠσὶν ἀκουστά, μήτε διανοίᾳ θεωρητά, κατὰ μικρὸν γοῦν, οὐδὲ ἡ τῆς κτίσεως ἀκριβὴς κατανόησις· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταύτης πείσθητι τὰς σκιὰς ἔχειν μόνον, ὅταν ἀκούσῃς· ὄψομαι τοὺς οὐρανούς, ἔργα τῶν δακτύλων σου, σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας, καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς πάγιον λόγον· ὡς οὐχὶ νῦν ὁρῶν, ὀψόμενος δὲ ἔστιν ὅτε· ἀλλὰ πολὺ πρὸ τούτων ἡ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα, καὶ ἐξ ἧς ταῦτα, φύσις ἄληπτός τε καὶ ἀπερίληπτος· λέγω δέ, οὐχ ὅτι ἔστιν, ἀλλ’ ἥτις ἐστίν. οὐ γὰρ κενὸν τὸ κήρυγμα ἡμῶν, οὐδὲ ματαία ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν, οὐδὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὃ δογματίζομεν· μὴ πάλιν τὴν εὐγνωμοσύνην ἡμῶν ἀθείας λάβῃς ἀρχὴν καὶ συκοφαντίας, καὶ κατεπαρθῇς ὡς ὁμολο- [*](5. 2 ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις ἐστιν d || 8 πάγιον] πανάγιον e || 10 om ταύτα φύσις . . . .λεγω δε d) [*](1. ὑπερέχει π. νοῦν] Phil, iv 7.) [*](3."/> μήτε ὀφθ. ὁρατά κτλ.] 1 Cor. ii 9. Gr. forgets, as most people do, that St Paul adds ἡμῖν γὰρ ἀπεκάλυψεν ὁ θ. διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος.) [*](4. κατὰ μικρὸν γοῦν] Γοῦν corrects, but limits the concession; ‘not contemplated by the mind— well, only to small estent.’) [*](6. τὰς σκιάς] ‘the outlines.’) [*](ib. ὄψομαι κτλ.] Ps. viii 4 (3).) [*](8. τ. ἐν αὐτ’. πάγιον λόγον] πάγιος from the root of πήγνυμι, ‘firm,’ ‘fixed’; ‘the well established order that prevails among them.’ words are a paraphrase of ‘which thou hast ordained.’) [*](ib. ὀψόμενος δὲ ἐστιν ὅτε] Gr. calls attention to the fact that the Ps. uses the future, not the present.) [*](9. ἢ ὑπὲρ τ....φύσις] ὑπερέχει πάντα νοῦν. It is a little odd to say, “note only the peace of God, but God Himself, passeth understanding.’’ We might have expected, ‘If the peace of God passeth understanding, much more God Himself.’’) [*](10. ἄληπτός τε κ.ἀπερίλ.] ‘inapprehensible as it is and incomprehensible.’) [*](11 οὐχ ὅτι ἐστιν, ἁλλ’ ἥτις ἐστίν] may be taken either with ἄληπτος κ. ἀπερίληπτος, or with the main verb ὑπερέχει π. νοῦν. Perh. the latter is the more forcible: ‘Ι do not mean that the fact of its existence passes understanding, but the nature of it.’) [*](ib. οὐ γὰρ κενόν κτλ.] 1 Cor. xv 14, 17. The γὰρ implies that it would be ‘vain’ if we were unable truly to apprehend the fact of God's existence.) [*](13. ὃ δογματίζομεν] ‘nor is that the doctrine which I am laying down.’) [*](ib. εὐγνωμοσύνην] Cp. εὐγνώμονος above, i 5. It resembles ἐπιείκεια, ‘reasonableness.’ Μὴ πάλιν, cp. i 4 μὴ πάλιν ἐπιφυέσθωσαν.) [*](14. κατεπαρθῇς] ‘exalt yourself against me.’ Cp. Cyr. Al. c. Ful. i p. 6.) γούντων τὴν ἄγνοιαν. πλεῖστον γὰρ διαφέρει τοῦ εἶναί τι πεπεῖσθαι τὸ τί ποτέ ἐστι τοῦτο εἰδέναι.

τοῦ μὲν γὰρ εἶναι θεόν, καὶ τὴν πάντων ποιητικήν τε καὶ συνεκτικὴν αἰτίαν, καὶ ὄψις διδάσκαλος, καὶ ὁ φυσικὸς νόμος· ἡ μὲν τοῖς ὁρωμένοις προσβάλλουσα, καὶ πεπηγόσι καλῶς καὶ ὁδεύουσι, καὶ ἀκινήτως, ἵνα οὕτως εἴπω, κινουμένοις καὶ φερομένοις· ὁ δὲ διὰ τῶν ὁρωμένων καὶ τεταγμένων τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τούτων συλλογιζόμενος. πῶς γὰρ ἂν καὶ ὑπέστη τόδε τὸ πᾶν, ἢ συνέστη, μὴ θεοῦ τὰ πάντα καὶ οὐσιώσαντος καὶ συνέχοντος; οὐδὲ γὰρ κιθάραν τις ὁρῶν κάλλιστα ἠσκημένην καὶ τὴν ταύτης εὐαρμοστίαν καὶ εὐταξίαν, ἢ τῆς κιθαρῳδίας αὐτῆς ἀκούων, ἄλλο τι ἢ τὸν τῆς κιθάρας δημιουργὸν καὶ τὸν κιθαρῳδὸν ἐννοήσει, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀναδραμεῖται τῆ διανοίᾳ, κἂν ἀγνοῶν τύχη ταῖς ὄψεσιν. οὕτω καὶ ἡμῖν τὸ ποιητικὸν [*](6. 4 αἰτίαν] οὐσίαν f ǁ 6 ὁδεύουσι] -σα c) [*](6. Of His existence the order of nature assures us. We are forced to think of a Creator when we look upon Creation, as the sight of a lyre makes us think of the lyre-maker. But beyond that, we have no certainty.) [*](4. συνεκτικήν] from συνέχειν, Δ’ maintain in harmony’: cp. Col. i τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν. So Xen. Cyrop. 8 p. 140 οἱ θεοὶ] τὴν τῶν ὅλων τήνδε τάξιν συνέχουσιν ἀτριβῆ. For the construction, τὴν π. π. αἰτίαν is strictly (with θεόν) the subject of εἶναι. The def. art. is used in the same way as in participial sentences like εἰσὶν...οἱ τ. ἀκ. προσκνώμενοι (above, p. 1); where our idiom rather puts ’a’ than ‘the’; ‘that there is a God and a creative cause.’) [*](5. ὁ φυσικὸς νόμος] Gr. does not here mean ‘natural law’ in modern sense, although such an use might readily be paralleled. The explanatory clause below shews that he does not mean ‘the law which we observe in the natural order around us,’ but the natural upon ourselves of the observations which we make. Cp. below ταῖς φυσικαῖς ἀποδείξεσιν.) [*](ib. προσβάλλουσα] ‘lighting upon.’) [*](6. κ. πεπηγόσι] πέπηγα (from πήγνυμι) has the intrans. sense, ‘to be fixed.’ K. πεπ. κ. ὁδ’. κ. κιν. κ. are predicates of τοῖς ὁρ.; ‘seeing them fixed’ ect.) [*](8. συλλογιζόμενος] When we see the order in nature the natural result upon ourselves is to infer the existence of an ἀρχηγός i.e. ‘author.’) [*](10. οὐσιώσαντος] οὐσιόω=‘to give οὐσία,’ ‘bring into being.’) [*](11. κιθάραν...κάιλιστα ἠσκημένην] Cp. Paley's famous argument about the watch. Ἀσκεῖν like ἐξασκεῖν, = exornare; see Horn. Od. i 439: ‘beautifully and elaborately made.’) [*](15. ταῖς ὄψεσιν] contrasted with τῆ διανοίᾳ: ‘he will pass ἀναδ. because higher up, further back, in the order of thought or causation) to him in thought, although he may not be acquainted with him by sight.’ The unusual pl. ταῖς ὄψ. might mean either ‘by his (the player's) looks,’ or ‘by his (the hearer's) sight.’ latter makes the best parallel to διαν.; it is also used in this sense by Herodian 6 (9, 10) ὡς ἐν ὄψεσιν ἢν ’when he came in sight.’)

δῆλον, καὶ τὸ κινοῦν καὶ τηροῦν τὰ πεποιημένα, κἂν μὴ διανοίᾳ περιλαμβάνηται· καὶ λίαν ἀγνώμων ὁ μὴ μέχρι τούτων προιὼν ἑκουσίως καὶ ταῖς φυσικαῖς ἑπόμενος ἀποδείξεσιν. ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τοῦτο εἶναι θεόν, ὅπερ ἐφαντάσθημεν, ἢ ἀνετυπωσάμεθα, ἢ λόγος ὑπέγραψεν. εἰ δέ τις ἐν περινοίᾳ τούτου ποτὲ κἂν ἐπὶ ποσὸν ἐγένετο, τίς ἡ ἀπόδειξις; τίς οὕτως εἰς ἔσχατον σοφίας ἀφίκετο; τίς τοσούτου χαρίσματος ἠξιώθη ποτέ; τίς οὕτω τὸ στόμα τῆς διανοίας [*](6 om ποτε ‘Or. 1’) [*](1. τὸ ποιητ δῆλον] ‘the creating power is plain.’) [*](2. ἀγνώμων] here ‘unreasonable,’ ‘deficient in sense.’) [*](3. κ. ταῖς φ. ἐπ’. ἀποδ.] The καὶ joins ἑπόμενος to ἑκουσίως, not to προίων.) [*](4. ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τοῦτο] a very difficult passage. The usual interpretation makes ἀλλὰ answer to the μὴ in μὴ προιών, ‘who will not go as far as this, but (says) that not even this, which we have imagined, is God.’ But it is harsh to supply the necessary φάσκων or ὁμολογῶν in order to make the clause grammatical; and a comparison with the sentence in § 12 where Gr. resumes his thread after a long digression, seems to shew that we must assign an entirely different meaning to the present sentence,—and which will accord better with grammatical requirements. In ἑ 12 Gr. says that the proposition from which he had started was τὸ μὴ ληπτὸν εἶναι ἀνθρωπίνη διανοίᾳ τὸ θεῖον, μηδὲ ὅλον ὅσον ἐστὶ φαντάζεσθαι. Here, accordingly, we must suppose, that it is Gr. himself, and not the λίαν ἀγνώμων, who denies εἶναι θεὸν ὅπερ ἔφαντ’. It is, he says, very unreasonable not to accept the natural proofs of God's existence, and in following them we are compelled to form certain great outlines of a conception of God (e.g. creative power, rational method, etc.), which we cannot doubt to be correct. But even this is not the same thing as to identify εἶναι ὅπερ) God with what we have imagined, or figured to ourselves, or what our reason has delineated. τοῦτο is the subject of ἐστὶν understood, of which εἶναι θ. κτλ. is the predicate. While we have ἀποδείξεις for the one belief, we have none for the other.) [*](5. ὑπέγραψεν] Cp. I Pet. ii 21 ὑπογραμμόν ‘a sketch.’) [*](6. ἐν περινοίᾳ τ....ἐγένετο] Gr. uses the same expression in Or. xlv § 11: οὐ γὰρ οἶόν τε ἄλλως ἐν περινοίᾳ θεοῦ γενέσθαι σώματος ὑλικοῦ καὶ δεσμίου νοῦ πάχος μὴ βοηθούμενον. The rare word περίνοια appears to denote an embracing in thought, a mental taking in of the subject. Τούτου sc. θεοῦ ‘If ever anyone in any degree has attained to an understanding of Him, what proof is there of the fact?’) [*](8. τὸ στόμα...πνεῦμα] Ps. cxviii (cxix) 131. The ἵνα ὥστε, following as it does upon the οὕτως and the τοσούτου.) ἤνοιξε καὶ εἵλκυσε πνεῦμα, ἵνα τῷ τὰ πάντα ἐρευνῶντι καὶ γινώσκοντι καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ θεοῦ πνεύματι θεὸν καταλάβῃ, καὶ μηκέτι τοῦ πρόσω δέηται, τὸ ἔσχατον ὀρεκτὸν ἔχων ἤδη, καὶ εἰς ὃ πᾶσα σπεύδει καὶ πολιτεία τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ καὶ διάνοια;