Creation And Understanding

Οὐκοῦν ταύτας ἔγνωμεν ἐν τῇ διαιρέσει τῶν ὄντων τὰς διαφοράς, πρῶτον τὸ ὡς πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν κατάληψιν πρῶτον, τὸ αἰσθητὸν λέγω, μετὰ τοῦτο δὲ τὸ διὰ τῆς τῶν αἰσθητῶν χειραγωγίας ὑπὸ τοῦ νοῦ θεωρούμενον, ὃ δὴ νοητὸν εἶναί φαμεν· καὶ τοῦ νοητοῦ πάλιν ἑτέραν διαφορὰν κατελάβομεν εἰς τὸ κτιστὸν καὶ ἄκτιστον διαιρουμένην. καὶ τῆς μὲν ἀκτίστου φύσεως τὴν ἁγίαν τριάδα εἶναι διωρισάμεθα, τῆς δὲ κτιστῆς πάντα ὅσα μετ' ἐκείνην λέγεταί τε καὶ ἔστι καὶ ὀνομάζεται. ἵνα τοίνυν μὴ ἀναπόδεικτος ἡμῶν ὁ διορισμὸς ὑπάρχῃ, ἀλλὰ ταῖς τῆς γραφῆς μαρτυρίαις ἠσφαλισμένος, τοῦτο τοῖς εἰρημένοις προσθήσομεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐκτίσθη ὁ Κύριος, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐξῆλθε, καθὼς αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς λόγος αὐτοπροσώπως ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ μαρτύρεται, κατὰ τὸν ἄρρητον ἐκεῖνον καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητον τῆς γεννήσεως ἤτοι τῆς ἐξόδου τρόπον. Καὶ τίς ἂν εὑρεθείη μάρτυς ἀληθέστερος τῆς τοῦ κυρίου φωνῆς, διὰ παντὸς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου πατέρα καὶ οὐχὶ κτίστην ἑαυτοῦ τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἀποκαλοῦντος πατέρα καὶ οὐχὶ ἔργον θεοῦ ἀλλ' υἱὸν θεοῦ ἑαυτὸν ὀνομάζοντος; ὥσπερ γὰρ τὴν κατὰ σάρκα πρὸς τὸ ἀνθρώπινον κοινωνίαν σημαίνων υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου τὸ φαινόμενον προσηγόρευσε, δεικνὺς τὴν κατὰ φύσιν τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθη συγγένειαν, οὕτω καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν ἀληθῆ καὶ γνησίαν σχέσιν τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τοῦ υἱοῦ διασημαίνει, τὸ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν οἰκεῖον διὰ τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ φωνῆς ἐνδεικνύμενος. κἄν τινες ἐκ τῆς παροιμιώδους ῥήσεως τὰ ἐν παραβολῇ σκοτεινῶς δι' αἰνίγματος εἰρημένα ψιλὰ καὶ ἀνερμήνευτα πρὸς ἀνατροπὴν τῆς ἀληθείας προφέροντες τὴν τοῦ ἐκτίσθαι φωνήν, ἣν ἐκ προσώπου τῆς σοφίας ὁ παροιμιαστὴς ἐποιήσατο, εἰς συνη γορίαν τῆς τοῦ δόγματος αὐτῶν διαστροφῆς προχειρίζωνται, λέγοντες τὸ Κύριος ἔκτισέ με ὁμολογίαν εἶναι τοῦ ἐκτίσθαι τὸν Κύριον, ὡς αὐτοῦ τοῦ μονογενοῦς διὰ τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης τὸ τοιοῦτον οὐκ ἀρνουμένου, ἡμῖν οὐ προσεκτέον τῷ λόγῳ. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦ πάντως δεῖν εἰς τὸν Κύριον ἀναγαγεῖν τὸν λόγον τοῦτον τὰς ἀποδείξεις παρέχονται· οὔτε τοῦ ῥητοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν ἐκ τῆς τῶν Ἑβραίων γραφῆς εἰς τοῦτο τὸ σημαινόμενον φέρουσαν ἐπιδεῖξαι δυνήσονται, τῶν λοιπῶν ἑρμηνέων τὸ Ἐκτήσατο καὶ Κατέστησεν ἀντὶ τοῦ Ἔκτισεν ἐκδεδωκότων, οὔτε δέ, εἰ οὕτως εἶχεν ἡ λέξις ἐν τῇ πρωτοτύπῳ γραφῇ, πρόχειρος ἂν ἦν καὶ σαφὴς ἡ διάνοια, τῆς παροιμιακῆς διδασκαλίας οὐ προδήλως, ἀλλὰ μετ' ἐπικρύψεως τὸν τῶν λεγομένων σκοπὸν ἐνδεικνυμένης διὰ πλαγίας ἐμφάσεως, ὡς ἐκ τῆς περὶ τὸν τόπον τοῦτον συμφράσεως τῶν εἰρημένων πάρεστιν ἐπιγνῶναι τοῦ λόγου τὸ δυσθεώ ρητον, ἐν οἷς φησιν Ἡνίκα ἀφώριζε τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θρόνον ἐπ' ἀνέμων καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα. τίς γὰρ θεοῦ θρόνος, εἴτε ὑλικός τις οὗτος εἴτε νοητός; καὶ τίνες ἄνεμοι, πότερον οἱ συνήθεις οὗτοι καὶ γνώριμοι, οὓς ἐκ τῶν ἀτμῶν τε καὶ τῶν ἀναθυμιάσεων συνίστασθαι λέγουσιν οἱ ταῦτα φυσιολογοῦντες, εἴτε καθ' ἕτερον τρόπον ὑπονοούμενοι, ὃν οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκει ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη συνήθεια, οὕς φησιν ἀντὶ βάσεως τῷ θρόνῳ γίνεσθαι; καὶ τίς καθέδρα τοῦ ἀσωμάτου καὶ ἀπεριγράπτου καὶ ἀσχηματίστου θεοῦ; καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα τίς ἂν ἐκ τῆς συνήθους τῶν ῥημάτων τούτων σημασίας κατανοήσειε; Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Προς Εὐνομιον, Λογος Πρωτος Source: Migne PG 45 341c-344c

We know, then, in the division of all existing things these distinctions. There is first what we grasp first, I speak of the sensible world, and beyond this there is the world which the mind led on by objects of sense can contemplate, which we name the intelligible; and here we grasp again another distinction into the Created and the Uncreated, and as being of an uncreated nature we have defined the Holy Trinity, and in the former category we place all that can after that exist or be thought of. Yet in order that this statement may not be left without a proof, but may be confirmed by Scripture, we will add that our Lord was not created, but came forth from the Father, as God the Word He Himself bearing witness to it in the Gospel, in an ineffable and mysterious manner of birth or of proceeding. And what witness more true could be found than voice of our Lord all through the Gospel, that the Very Father was a father, not a creator, of Himself, and that He was not a work of God but named Himself the Son of God? For just as when He wished to name His connection with humanity according to the flesh, He called that phase of his being Son of Man, indicating thereby His kinship according to the nature of the flesh with her from whom He was born, so also by the title of Son he declares His true and real relationship to the Almighty, by that name of Son showing this natural connection. Even if there are some who, for the contradiction of the truth, do take literally and without any explanation, words used with a hidden meaning in the dark form of parable, and cite the expression 'created,' put into the mouth of Wisdom by the author of the Proverbs , to support their perverted views. They say, in fact, that 'the Lord created me' 1 is an admittance that the Lord is a creature, as if the Only-begotten Himself with that statement could not deny it, but let us not heed such reason. For they do not demonstrate why that passage must refer to our Lord at all, neither will they be able to show that the idea of the word in the Hebrew leads to this and to no other meaning, seeing that the other translators have rendered it by 'possessed' or 'established,' nor, even if this was the idea in the original text, would its real meaning be so plain and overt, for the teaching of the proverbs is not instant, but being concealed it is revealed only indirectly, and thus we may judge the obscurity of this particular passage from its context where it is said, 'When He set His throne upon the winds,' 2 and all the similar expressions. What is God's throne? Is it material or immaterial? What are the winds? Are they the winds which are familiar to us, which the natural philosophers tell us are formed from vapours and exhalations, or are they to be thought of in another way, not familiar to man's understanding, when they are called the bases of His throne? And what is the throne of the immaterial, incomprehensible, and formless Deity? Who could possibly understand all this in a literal sense? Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius, Book 1 1 Prov 8.22 2 Prov 8.27 LXX