To Autolycus 2.4
Summary: The philosophers disagree about God; Plato's uncreated matter would make it equal to God, but God's power is shown in creating out of nothing.
Greek text · Otto 8:52–56
Ἔνιοι μὲν τῆς στοᾶς ἀρνοῦνται καὶ τὸ ἐξ ὅλου θεὸν εἶναι, ἤ, εἰ καὶ ἔστιν, μηδενός φασιν φροντίζειν τὸν θεὸν πλὴν ἑαυτοῦ. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν παντελῶς Ἐπικούρου καὶ Χρυσίππου ἡ ἄνοια ἀπεφήνατο, Ἕτεροι δέ φασιν αὐτοματισμὸν τῶν πάντων εἶναι, καὶ τὸν κόσμον ἀγένητον καὶ φύσιν ἀΐδιον, καὶ τὸ σύνολον πρόνοιαν μὴ εἶναι θεοῦ ἐτόλμησαν ἐξειπεῖν, ἀλλὰ θεὸν εἶναι μόνον φασὶν τὴν ἑκάστου συνείδησιν. Ἄλλοι δʼ αὖ τὸ διʼ ὅλου κεχωρηκὸς πνεῦμα θεὸν δογματίζουσιν. Πλάτων δὲ καὶ οἱ τῆς αἱρέσεως αὐτοῦ θεὸν μὲν ὁμολογοῦσιν ἀγένητον καὶ πατέρα καὶ ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων εἶναι· εἶτα ὑποτίθενται θεὸν καὶ ὕλην ἀγένητον, καὶ ταύτην φασὶν συνηκμακέναι τῷ θεῷ. Εἰ δὲ θεὸς ἀγένητος καὶ ὕλη ἀγένητος, οὐκ ἔτι ὁ θεὸς ποιητὴς τῶν ὅλων· ἐστὶν κατὰ τοὺς Πλατωνικούς, οὐδὲ μὴν μοναρχία θεοῦ δείκνυται, ὅσον τὸ κατʼ αὐτούς. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ θεός, ἀγένητος ὥν, καὶ ἀναλλοίωτός ἐστιν, οὕτως, εἰ καὶ ἡ ὕλη ἀγένητος ἦν, καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος καὶ ἰσόθεος ἦν· τὸ γὰρ γενητὸν τρεπτὸν καὶ ἀλλοιωτόν, τὸ δὲ ἀγένητον ἄτρεπτον καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον, τί δὲ μέγα, εἰ ὁ θεὸς ἐξ ὑποκειμένης ὕλης ἐποίει τὸν κόσμον; Καὶ γὰρ τεχνίτης ἄνθρωπος, ἐπὰν ὕλην λάβῃ ἀπό τινος, ἐξ αὐτῆς ὅσα βούλεται ποιεῖ. Θεοῦ δὲ ἡ δύναμις ἐν τούτῳ φανεροῦται ἵνα ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ποιῇ ὅσα βούλεται, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ ψυχὴν δοῦναι καὶ κίνησιν οὐχ ἑτέρου τινός ἐστιν ἀλλʼ ἢ μόνου θεοῦ. Καὶ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος εἰκόνα μὲν ποιεῖ, λόγον δὲ καὶ πνοὴν ἢ αἴσθησιν οὐ δύναται δοῦναι τῷ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ γινομένῳ. Θεὸς δὲ τούτου πλεῖον τοῦτο κέκτηται, τὸ ποιεῖν λογικόν, ἔμπνουν, αἰσθητικόν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐν τούτοις πᾶσιν δυνατώτερός ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, οὕτως καὶ τὸ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ποιεῖν καὶ πεποιηκέναι τὰ ὄντα, καὶ ὅσα βούλεται καὶ ὡς βούλεται.
English · Claude translation
Some of the Stoics deny altogether that God exists, or say that, if he exists, he cares for no one but himself. These views are wholly the product of the folly of Epicurus and Chrysippus. Others say that all things happen by chance, that the world is uncreated and nature eternal, and have dared to declare that there is no providence of God at all, but that God is only each person's conscience. Others again teach that the spirit that pervades all things is God. Plato and those of his school acknowledge that God is uncreated and the Father and Maker of all things; but then they suppose that matter as well as God is uncreated, and say that it has existed as long as God. But if God is uncreated and matter uncreated, then according to the Platonists God is no longer the Maker of all things, and, as far as their view goes, the sole sovereignty of God is not established. And further, just as God, being uncreated, is also unchangeable, so matter, if it were uncreated, would also be unchangeable and equal to God; for what is created is mutable and changeable, but what is uncreated is immutable and unchangeable. And what great thing would it be if God made the world out of preexisting matter? Even a human craftsman, when he gets material from someone, makes whatever he wants out of it. But the power of God is shown in this, that he makes whatever he wants out of what does not exist; just as giving life and motion belongs to no one but God alone. A man makes an image, but he cannot give reason and breath or sensation to what he has made. God has this power beyond him: to make what is rational, breathing, and capable of sensation. As, then, in all these things God is more powerful than man, so too in making, and having made, the things that exist out of what did not exist, whatever he wills and in whatever way he wills.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Theophilus counts Epicurus among “the Stoics”; the grouping is his own.
- This is one of the clearest early statements of creation out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo), against the Platonic view of eternal matter.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accents: εἷναι for εἶναι, εἶ for εἰ (“if”)): τὸ ἐξ ὅλου θεὸν εἷναι, ἤ, εἶ καὶ ἔστιν → τὸ ἐξ ὅλου θεὸν εἶναι, ἤ, εἰ καὶ ἔστιν.
Cite this passage
Theophilus, Autol. 2.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/4/).
Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 2.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/4/).
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