De Filio (Orat. 29)
Gregory, of Nazianzus
Gregorius Nazianzenus, The Five Theological Orations, Mason, Cambridge, 1899
Ἀλλ’ οὐ ταὐτόν, φησι, τὸ ἀγέννητον καὶ τὸ γεννητόν. εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, οὐδὲ ὁ υἱὸς τῷ πατρὶ ταὐτόν. ὅτι μὲν φανερῶς ὁ λόγος οὗτος ἐκβάλλει τὸν υἱὸν τῆς θεότητος, ἢ τὸν πατέρα, τί χρὴ λέγειν; εἰ γὰρ τὸ ἀγέννητον οὐσία ΙΟ θεοῦ, τὸ γεννητὸν οὐκ οὐσία· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, οὐκ ἐκεῖνο. τίς ἀντερεῖ λόγος; ἑλοῦ τοίνυν τῶν ἀσεβειῶν ὁποτέραν βούλει, ὦ κενὲ θεολόγε, εἴπερ ἀσεβεῖν πάντως ἐσπούδακας. ἔπειτα πῶς οὐ ταὐτὸν λέγεις τὸ ἀγέννητον καὶ τὸ γεννητόν; εἰ μὲν τὸ μὴ ἐκτισμένον καὶ ἐκτισμένον, κἀγὼ δέχομαι. οὐ γὰρ ταὐτὸν τῆ φύσει τὸ ἄναρχον καὶ τὸ κτιζόμενον. εἰ δὲ τὸ [*](1 σεαυτοῦ] ἑαυτοῦ ’in nonnull.’ || 2 απαιδευτον] + το bdf 10. 7 φασι b || 10 χρὴ] + καὶ cef Ἴ’ 13 κενε] καινὲ c) [*](1. ἀλλ’ ἀπαίδευτον] Ἀλλά = at; as above, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐνδέχεται. ‘Nay, you will answer, it is stupid to enquire about a single individual, whether he is present with himself, or not. Those things apply to other people, not to oneself.’) [*](5. διευθύνεσθαι] ‘to be setting people to rights about the question whether.’) [*](6. περὶ τῶν χρ. διαιρ.] ᾿about things which are divided by an interval of time.’) [*](10. ‘Begotten and Unbegotten are not the same; therefore if the Son is begotten and the Father unbegotten, the Son differs from the Father.’ The statement is false; it is the very meaning of generation to transmit the nature of the parent. The contrast of begotten and unbegottens is only like that of wise and uniwise, which can be predicated of different individuals without involvomg α difference of nature or essence. To erect Unbegottenness into Constituting the very essence of God brings you into difficulties with other attributes, like Immortal, Unchangesable, able, which have ἃς good a right to be considered ἃς constituting that essence.) [*](7. οὐ ταὐτόν] ‘not the same thing’; i.e. a difference of nature itself is involved.) [*](14. πῶς οὐ ταὐτόν] llOt ’ III what sense do you ’ for Gr. is not prepared to admit that it is true in any sense ; but simply challenging the statement altogether: ’ how can you say so? if you had said thai created and uncreated are not tin same, I should agree with you, but the transmission of the ’s nature is of the very essence of generation.’)