To Autolycus 1.4
Summary: The titles of God explained: uncreated, unchangeable, Lord, Father, Creator, Almighty; he made all things out of nothing.
Greek text · Otto 8:12–16
Ἄναρχος δέ ἐστιν, ὅτι ἀγένητός ἐστιν· ἀναλλοίωτος δέ, καθότι ἀθάνατός ἐστιν. Θεὸς δὲ λέγεται διὰ τὸ τεθεικέναι τὰ πάντα ἐπὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἀσφαλείᾳ, καὶ διὰ τὸ θέειν· τὸ δὲ θέειν ἐστὶν τὸ τρέχειν καὶ κινεῖν καὶ ἐνεργεῖν καὶ τρέφειν καὶ προνοεῖν καὶ κυβερνᾶν καὶ ζωοποιεῖν τὰ πάντα. Κύριος δέ ἐστιν διὰ τὸ κυριεύειν αὐτὸν τῶν ὅλων, πατὴρ δὲ διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πρὸ τῶν ὅλων, δημιουργὸς δὲ καὶ ποιητὴς διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν εἶναι κτίστην καὶ ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων, ὕψιστος δὲ διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἀνώτερον τῶν πάντων, παντοκράτωρ δὲ ὅτι αὐτὸς τὰ πάντα κρατεῖ καὶ ἐμπεριέχει. Τὰ γὰρ ὕψη τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ τὰ βάθη τῶν ἀβύσσων καὶ τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν τόπος τῆς καταπαύσεως αὐτοῦ. Οὐρανοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἔργον αὐτοῦ εἰσιν, γῆ ποίημα αὐτοῦ ἐστιν, θάλασσα κτίσμα αὐτοῦ ἐστιν, ἄνθρωπος πλάσμα καὶ εἰκὼν αὐτοῦ ἐστιν, ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη καὶ ἀστέρες στοιχεῖα αὐτοῦ εἰσιν, εἰς σημεῖα καὶ εἰς καιροὺς καὶ εἰς ἡμέρας καὶ εἰς ἐνιαυτοὺς γεγονότα, πρὸς ὑπηρεσίαν καὶ δουλείαν ἀνθρώπων· καὶ τὰ πάντα ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησεν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων εἰς τὸ εἶναι, ἵνα διὰ τῶν ἔργων γινώσκηται καὶ νοηθῇ τὸ μέγεθος αὐτοῦ.
English · Claude translation
He is without beginning because he is uncreated; he is unchangeable because he is immortal. He is called God (θεός) because he has set (τεθεικέναι) all things on his own secure foundation, and because of θέειν; and θέειν means to run, to move, to act, to nourish, to provide, to govern, and to give life to all things. He is Lord because he rules over the universe; Father because he is before all things; Creator and Maker because he is the founder and maker of all things; Most High because he is above all things; Almighty because he himself rules and encompasses all things. For the heights of the heavens and the depths of the abysses and the ends of the world are in his hand, and there is no place of his rest. The heavens are his work, the earth is his creation, the sea is his handiwork, the human being is his formation and his image; sun, moon, and stars are his elements, made for signs and seasons and days and years, for the service and use of human beings. And God made all things out of what did not exist into being, so that through his works his greatness might be known and understood.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The etymologies of θεός from τίθημι (“set”) and θέω (“run”) were traditional in Greek philosophy (cf. Plato, Cratylus 397c–d).
- “Out of what did not exist” (ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων) states creation out of nothing, as in 2 Macc 7:28; see also 2.4 and 2.10.
Cite this passage
Theophilus, Autol. 1.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/1/4/).
Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 1.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/1/4/).
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