On Church and Tradition An Eastern Orthodox View

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IV

From eternity God "thinks up" the image of the world, and this free good pleasure of His is an immutable, unchangeable counsel. But this immutability of the accomplished will does not in the least imply its necessity. The immutability of God's will is rooted in His supreme freedom. And therefore it does not bind His freedom in creation, either. It would be very appropriate here to recall the scholastic distinction between potentia absoluta and potentia ordinata.
And in conformity with the design — the good pleasure of God — creation, together with time, is "built up" from out of nothing. Through temporal becoming, creation must advance by its own free ascent according to the standard of the Divine economy respecting it, according to the standard of the pre-temporal image of and predestination for it. The Divine image of the world always remains above and beyond creation by nature. Creation is bound by it unchangeably and inseparably, is bound even in its very resistance to it. Because this "image" or "idea" of creation is simultaneously the will of God [thelitiki ennia, θελητικη εννοια] and the power of God by which creation is made and sustained; and the beneficent counsel of the Creator is not made void by the resistance of creation, but through this resistance turns out to be, for rebels, a Judgment, the force of wrath, a consuming fire. In the Divine image and counsel, each creature — i.e., every created hypostasis in its imperishable and irreproducible form — is contained. Out of eternity God sees and wills, by His good pleasure, each and every being in the completeness of its particular destiny and features, even regarding its future and sin. And if, according to the mystical insight of St. Symeon the New Theologian, in the age to come "Christ will behold all the numberless myriads of Saints, turning His glance away from none, so that to each one of them it will seem that He is looking at him, talking with him, and greeting him," and yet "while remaining unchanged. He will seem different to one and different to another"93 — so likewise out of eternity, God in the counsel of His good pleasure, beholds all the innumerable myriads of created hypostases, wills them, and to each one of them manifests Himself in a different way. And herein consists the "inseparable distribution" of His grace or energy, "myriadfold hypostatic" in the bold phrase of St. Gregory Palamas,94 because this grace or energy is beneficently imparted to thousands upon myriads of thousands of hypostases. Each hypostasis, in its own being and existence, is sealed by a particular ray of the good pleasure of God's love and will. And in this sense, all things are in God — in "image" [en idea ke paradigmati, εν ιδεα και παραδειγματι] but not by nature, the created "all" being infinitely remote from Uncreated Nature. This remoteness is bridged by Divine love, its impenetrability done away by the Incarnation of the Divine Word. Yet this remoteness remains. The image of creation in God transcends created nature and does not coincide with "the image of God" in creation. "Whatever description may be given to the "image of God" in man, it is a characteristic moment of his created nature — it is created. It is a "likeness," a mirroring.95 But above the image the Proto-Image always shines, sometimes with a gladenning, sometimes with a threatening, light. It shines as a call and a norm. There is in creation a supra-natural challenging goal set above its own nature — the challenging goal, founded on freedom, of a free participation in and union with God. This challenge transcends created nature, but only by responding to it is this nature itself revealed in its completeness. This challenging goal is an aim, an aim that can be realized only through the self-determination and efforts of the creature. Therefore the process of created becoming is real in its freedom, and free in its reality, and it is by this becoming that what-was-not reaches fulfilment and is achieved. Because it is guided by the challenging goal. In it is room for creation, construction, for re-construction — not only in the sense of recovering, but also in the sense of generating what is new. The scope of the constructiveness is defined by the contradiction between the nature and the goal. In a certain sense, this goal itself is "natural" and proper to the one who does the constructive acts, so that the attainment of this goal is somehow also the subject's realization of himself. And nevertheless this "I" which is realized and realizable through constructiveness is not the "natural" and empiric "I," inasmuch as any such realization of one's self" is a rupture — a leap from the plane of nature onto the plane of grace, because this realization is the acquisition of the Spirit, is participation in God. Only in this "communion" with God does a man become "himself;" in separation from God and in self-isolation, on the contrary, he falls to a plane lower than himself. But at the same time, he does not realize himself merely out of himself. Because the goal lies beyond nature, it is an invitation to a living and free encounter and union with God. The world is substantially different from God. And therefore God's plan for the world can be realized only by created becoming — because this plan is not a substratum or substantia that comes into being and completes itself, but is the standard and crown of the "other's" becoming. On the other hand, the created process is not therefore a development, or not only a development; its meaning does not consist in the mere unfolding and manifestation of innate "natural" ends, or not only in this. Rather, the ultimate and supreme self-determination of created nature emerges in its zealous impulse to outstrip itself in a kinisis yper physin κινησις υτερ φυσιν, as St. Maximus says.96 And an anointing shower of grace responds to this inclination, crowning the efforts of the creatures.
The limit and goal of creaturely striving and becoming is divinisation [theosis, θεωσις] or deification [theopiisis, θεοποιησις]. But even in this, the immutable, unchangeable gap between natures will remain: any "transubstantiation" of the creature is excluded. It is true that according to a phrase of St. Basil the Great preserved by St. Gregory the Theologian, creation "has been ordered to become God." 97 But this "deification" is only communion with God, participation [metusis, μετουσια] in His life and gifts, and thereby a kind of acquisition of certain similitude to the Divine Reality. Anointed and sealed by the Spirit, men become conformed to the Divine image or prototype of themselves; and through this they become "conformed to God" [symmorphi Theo, συμμορφοι Θεω].98 With the Incarnation of the Word the first fruit of human nature is unalterably grafted into the Divine Life, and hence to all creatures the way to communion with this Life is open, the way of adoption by God. In the phrase of St. Athanasius, the Word "became man in order to deify [theopiisi, θεοποιηση] us in Himself,"99 in order that "the sons of men might become the sons of God." 100 But this "divinization" is acquired because Christ, the Incarnate Word, has made us "receptive to the Spirit," that He has prepared for us both the ascension and resurrection as well as the indwelling and appropriation of the Holy Spirit."101 Through the "flesh-bearing God" we have become "Spirit-bearing men"; we have become sons "by grace," "sons of God in the likeness of the Son of God."102 And thus is recovered what had been lost since the original sin, when "the transgression of the commandment turned man into what he was by nature,"103 over which he had been elevated in his very first adoption or birth from God, coinciding with his initial creation.104 The expression so dear to St. Athanasius and to St. Gregory the Theologian, Theon genesthe (Θεον γενεσθαι),105 finds its complementary explanation in a saying of two other Cappadocian Saints: omiosis pros ton Theon (ομοιωσις προς τον Θεον).106 If Macarius the Egyptian dare speak of the "changing" of Spirit-bearing souls "into the Divine nature," of "participation in the Divine nature,"107 he nevertheless understands this participation as a krasis di olon κρασις δι ολον, i.e., as a certain "mingling" of the two, preserving the properties and entities of each in particular.108 But he also stresses that "the Divine Trinity comes to dwell in that soul which, by the cooperation of Divine Grace, keeps herself pure — He comes to dwell not as He is in Himself, because He is incontainable by any creature — but according to the measure of the capacity and receptivity of man.109 Explicit formulae concerning this were not established all at once, but from the very beginning the impassable gulf between the natures was rigorously marked, and the distinction between the notions kata usian, κατ ουσιαν (or κατα φυσιν) and kata metusian, κατα μετουσιαν was rigorously observed and kept. The concept of "divinization" was crystallized only when the doctrine of God's "energies" had been explicated once and for all. In this regard the teaching of St. Maximus is significant. "The salvation of those who are saved is accomplished by grace and not by nature,"110 and if "in Christ the entire fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily according to essence then in us, on the contrary, there is not the fulness of the Godhead according to grace."111 The longed-for "divinization" which is to come is a likeness by grace (και φανωμεν αυτω ομοιοι κατα την εκ χαριτος θεωσιν).112 And even by becoming partakers of Divine Life, "in the unity of love," "by co-inhering totally and entirely with the whole of God,” (ολος ολω περιχωρησας ολικως τω Θεω) by appropriating all that is Divine, the creature "nevertheless remains outside the essence of God."113 And what is most remarkable in this is the fact that St. Maximus directly identifies the deifying grace with the Divine good pleasure as regards creation, with the creative fiat.114 In its efforts to acquire the Spirit, the human hypostasis becomes a vehicle and vessel of Grace; it is in a manner imbued with it, so that by it God's creative will is accomplished — the will which has summoned that-which-is-not into being in order to receive those that will come into His communion. And the creative good pleasure itself concerning each and every particular is already by itself a descending stream of Grace-but not everyone opens to the Creator and God Who knocks. Human nature must be freely discovered through a responsive movement, by overcoming the self-isolation of its own nature; and by denying the self, as one might say, receive this mysterious, and terrifying, and unspeakable double-naturedness for sake of which the world was made. For it was made to be and to become the Church, the Body of Christ.
The meaning of history consists in this — that the freedom of creation should respond by accepting the pre-temporal counsel of God, that it should respond both in word and in deed. In the promised double-naturedness of the Church the reality of created nature is affirmed at the outset. Creation is the other, another nature willed by God's good pleasure and brought forth from nothing by the Divine freedom for creation's own freedom's sake. It must conform itself freely to that creative standard by which it lives and moves and has its being. Creation is not this standard, and this standard is not creation. In some mysterious way, human freedom becomes a kind of "limitation" on the Divine omnipotence, because it pleased God to save creation not by compulsion, but by freedom alone. Creation is "other," and therefore the process of ascent to God must be accomplished by her own powers — with God's help, to be sure. Through the Church creaturely efforts are crowned and saved. And creation is restored to its fulness and reality. And the Church follows, or, rather, portrays the mystery and miracle of the two natures. As the Body of Christ, the Church is a kind of "plenitude" of Christ — as Theophan the Recluse says — "Just as the tree is the ‘plenitude’ of the seed."115 And the Church is united to Her Head. "Just as we do not ordinarily see iron when it is red-hot, because the iron's qualities are completely concealed by the fire," says Nicholas Cabasilas in his Commentary on the Divine Liturgy, "so, if you could see the Church of Christ in Her true form, as She is united to Christ and participates in His Flesh, then you would see Her as none other than the Lord's Body alone."116 In the Church creation is forever confirmed and established, unto all ages, in union with Christ, in the Holy Spirit.

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Notes and References
1. Maximimus the Confessor in Lib. de div. nomin. schol., in V. 8,. PG iv, 336.
2. This relationship is vividly elucidated by Augustine, De Genesi ad lit. V. 5, PL xxxiv, 325: factae itaque creaturae motibus coeperunt currere tempora: unde ante creaturura frustra tempora requiruntur, quasi possint inveniri ante tempora tempora ... potius ergo tempora a creatura, quam creatura coepit a tempore; utrumque autem ex Deo; cf. de Genesi c. manich. I. 2 PL xxiv, 174, 175; de Civ. Dei, XI, t, PL xli, 321; quis non videat quod tempora non fuissent, nisi creatura fieret, quae aliquid aliqua mutatione mutaret; c. 322: procul dubio non est mundus factus in tempore, sed cum tempore; Confess. XI, 13, PL xxxii, 815-816 et passim. Cf. P. Duhem, Le Système du Monde, II (Paris, 1914), pp. 462 ff.
3. St. Basil the Great in Hexam. h. 1, n. 6, PG xxix, c. 16.
4. St. Gregory of Nyssa Or. cath. m., с. 6, PG xlv, c. 28; cf. St. John Damascene, De fide orth. I, 3, PG xciv, 796: "for things whose being originated with a change [απω τροπης] are definitely subject to change, whether it be by corruption or by voluntary alteration.”
5. Gregory of Nyssa De opif. hom. c. XVI, PG xliv, 184; rf. Or. cath. m., c. 21, PG xlv, c. 57: ["The very transition from nonentity to existence is a change, non-existence being changed by the Divine power in being"] (Srawley's translation). Since the origin of man comes about "through change," he necessarily has a changeable nature.
6. St. John Damascene De fide orth. II, 1, PG xciv, c. 864. Ουδε γαρ μετα την αναστασιν ημεραις και νυξιν ο χρονος αριθμησεται εσται δε μαλλον μια ημερα ανεσπερος. The whole passage is of interest: Λεγεται παλιν αιων, ου χρονος ουδε χρονος τι μερος, ηλιου φορα και δρομω μερουμενον, ηγουν δι ημερων και νυκτων συνισταμενον, αλλα το συμπαρεκτινομενον τοις αιδιοις συνισταμενον, αλλα το συμπαρεκτεινομενον τοις αιδιοις, οιον τι χρονικον κινημα, και διαστημα.
7. St. Gregory of Nazianzos, Or. 29, PG xxxi, 89-81: και ηρκται ου παυτεται.
8. St. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, XII, c. xv, PL XLI, 363-5.
9. The Works of Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, "Discourses and Speeches," vol. III (Moscow, 1877), p. 436, "Address on the Occasion of the Recovery of the Relics of Patriarch Alexey," 1830.
10 St. Augustine, Confessiones, XI, 4, PL xxxii, c. 812.
11. St. Gregory of Nazianzos, Or. 38, In Theoph., n. 7, PG xxxvi, c. 317.
12. St. John Damascene, De fide Orth. I, 13, PG xcvi, c. 583 [Russian, I, 183].
13. St. Augustine, De Genesi ad lit., I, imp. c. 2: non de Dei natura, sed a Deo sit facta de nihile... quapropter creaturam universam neque con-substantialem Deo, neque coaeternam fas est dicere, aut credere. PL xxxiv, c. 221.
14. St. Macarius of Egypt, Hom. XLIX, c. 4, PG xxxiv. c. 816.
15. St. Athanasius, C. arian, Or. 1, n. 20, PG xxvi, c. 53.
16. St. Athanasius, C. arian. Or. 2, п. 2, PG xxvi, c. 152.
17. Ibid., C. arian. Or. I, n. 21, c. 56.
18. Ibid., C. arian. Or. 3, nfl 60ss., c. 448 squ.
19. St. Cyril of Alexandria, Thesaurus, XV, PG LXXV, c. 276: το γεννημα ... εκ της ουσιας του γεννωντος προεισι φυσικως; — το κτισμα) ... εξωθεν εστιν ως αλλοτριον; ass. xviii, с. 313: το μεν ποιειν ενεργειας εστι φυσεως δε το γενναν; φυσις δε και ενεργεια ου ταυτον.
20. St. John Damascene De fide orth. I, 8, PG xciv, c. 812-813; cf. St. Athanasius С. arian. or. 2, n. 2, PG xxvi. He rebukes the Arians for not recognizing that καρογονος εστιν αυτη η Θεια ουσια. The same expression is to be found in St. Cyril's writings.
21. St. Gregory of Nazianzos, Or. 45 in S. Pascha, a. 28, PG xxxvi, 661.
22. Ibid., n. 8, col. 632.
23. St. Augustine, De Genesi ad lit., I, 5, PL xxxiv, c. 250.
24. St. Gregory of Nazianzos, Or. XL in S. Baptism, PG xxxvi, 424.
25. St. John Damascene, C. Manich n. 14, PG xciv, c. 1597.
26. St. Gregory of Nyssa, De anima et resurr., PG XLVI, 93 В.
27. ...Waddingi, IV, Paris, 1891. This whole discourse of Duns Scotus is notable for its great clarity and profundity. Duns Scotus question disputatae de rerum principio, quaestio IV, articulus I, n. 3 and 4, — Opera omnia, editio nova juata editionem.
28. Origen, De princ. III, 5, 3. PG 327, English translation of G. W. Butterworth.
29. V. V. Bolotov, Origen's Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, St. Petersburg, 1879, p. 203.
30. Origen, De princ. I, 2, 10, PG 138-9.
31. Ibid., Nota ex Methodic Ol. apud Phot. Bibl. cod., 235, sub linea, n. (40).
32. St. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, XII, 15, PL XLI, c. 36.
33. St. Methodius, De creatis, apud Phot. Bibl. col. 235, PG cii, c. 1141.
34. St. Gregory of Nazianzos, Or. 45, n. 5, PG xxxvi, c. 629: εννοει; Саrт. 4, theol. IV, De mundo, c. 67-68, PG xxxv II, 421.
35. St. Athanasius, C. arian. Or. 2, п. 2, PG xxvi, c. 152 — δευτερον εστι το δημιουργειν του Θεον, — πολλω προτερον, — το υπερκειμενον της βουλησεως.

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36. Of. V. V. Bolotov, "On the Filioque Question, III: The significance of the sequence of the Hypostases of the Holy Trinity according to the view of the Eastern Fathers," Christian Readings [(Khristianskoe Chtenie) Russian], 1913, Sept., pp. 1046-1059.
37. St. Augustine, De div. quaest. qu. 28, PL XLVI, c. 18: nihil autem majus est voluntatis Dei; non ergo ejus causa quaerenda est.
38. St. Gregory of Nazianzos, Carm. theol. IV — De mundo, v. 67-68, PG xxxvii, 421: κοσμοι τυπους...
39. St. Athanasius, Ad Serap. Ep. III, n. 5, PG xxvi, c. 632.
40. St. John Damascene, De fide orth. I, 2, PG xciv, c. 865; St. Gregory of Nazianzos, Or. 45 in S. Pascha, n. 5, PG xxxvi, c. 629.
41. St. John Damascene, De fide orth., I, 9, PG xciv, c. 837.
42. St. John Damascene De imagin., I, 10, PG xciv, c. 1240-1241.
43. Ibid; c. 1340: "The second aspect of the image is the thought of God on the subject of that which He will create, that is, His pre-eternal counsel, which always remains equal to itself; for the Divinity remains unchangeable and His counsel is without beginning” [δευτερος τροπος εικονος, η εν το Θεω των υπ αυτου επομενων εννοια, τουτεστιν η προαιωνιος αυτου βουλησις, η αει ωσαυτως εχουσα].
44. Dionysius the Areopagite, De divin. nomin. V, n. 8, PG III, c. 824; cf. c. VII, n. 2, c. 868-869.
45. St. Maximus the Confessor, Scholia in liberus de divine nominitus in cap. V 5, — PG iv, c. 31; cfr. n. 7... Cf. n. 7, с. 324А: "In the cause of all things, everything is preconstituted [προυρεστηκεν], as in an idea or prototype;” n. 8, с. 329A-B: οτι ποιησιν αυτοτελη αιδιον του αιδιου Θεου την ιδεαν, ητοι το παραδειγμα φηοι. In contrast to Plato, who separated the ideas or God, Dionysius speaks of "images" and "logoi" in God. Cf. A. Brilliantov, The Influence of Eastern Theology on Western Theology in the Works of Eriugene (St. Petersburg, 1898), pp. 157 ff, 192 ff.
46. St. Augustine, De Genesi: ad l.t., I, V, c. 18, PL xxxiv, c. 334; cf. De Trin., I, IX, с. 6 vel s. n. 9, PL XLII, c. 965: alia notitia rei in ipsa se, alia in ipsa aeterna veritate; cf. ibid., I, VIII, c. 4 vel s. n. 7, c. 951-952. See also De div. qu., 83, qu. 46, n. 2., PL XL, c. 30: ideae igitur latine possumus vel formas vel species dicere . . . Sunt namque ideae principales formae quaedam, vel rationes rerum stabiles atque incommutabiles, quae ipsae formatae non sunt, ac per hoc aeternae ac semper eodem modo sese habentes, quia in divina mente continentur. Et cum ipsae neque oriantur, neque intereant; secundum cas tamen formari dicitur omne quod oriri et interire potest, et omne quod oritur et interit.
47. St. Maximus the Confessor. Lib. de div. nom. shol., vii, 3, PG iv, 352: τα γαρ οντα ... εικονες εισι και ομοιωματα των δειων ιδεων ... εικονες τα της κτισεως αποτελεσματα.
48. St. Maximus the Confessor, Lib. de div. nom. schol., V, 5, PG iv, 317; ων μετεχουσιν.
49. St. Maximus the Confessor. De charit., c. iv, c. 4, PG xc, c. 1148: την εξ αιδιον εν αυτω ο Δημιουργος των οντων προυπαρχουσαν γνωσιν, οτε εβουληθη, ουσιωσε και πρεβαλετο; Lib. de div. nom. schol; IV, 14, PG, iv, 265. One must also take into consideration different aspects of the image as described by St. John Damascene, De imag. II, 19, PG xciv, 1340-1341: The first aspect of the image is natural, φυσικος — the Son. The second image is the pre-eternal counsel — εν τω Θεω. The third aspect is man, who is an image by imitation: — ο κατα μιμησιν υπο Θεου γενομενος —since one who is created cannot have the same nature as He who is not created. In this passage St. John Damascene perceives the likeness of man to God in the fact that the soul of every man consists of three parts; cf. Fragm., PG xcv, 574. By indicating difference of natures in God and in man, the divine nature of the eternal ideas of His counsel is emphasized. The notion of "image" received its final definition only during the Iconoclastic period, especially in the writings of St. Theodore the Studite. He connects the possibility of having icons with the creation of man according to the image of God. "The fact that man is created according to the image and likeness of God indicates that making icons is to some extent a divine occupation" (St. Theod. Stud. Antirrh. Ill, c. 2, 5, PG xciv. St. Theodore follows here the ideas of Areopagitica. In this case it is enough to mention that St. Theodore underscores the indissoluble connection between the "image" and the "proto-image," but makes a sharp distinction between them in essence of nature. Cf. Antirrh. III, c. 3, 10, col. 424: "The one is not separate from the other, except in respect to the distinction of essences” [της ουσιας διαφορον]. Cf. К. Schwartzlose. Der Bilderstreit (Gotha, 1890), pp. 174 ff.; the Rev. N. Grossou, St. Theodore the Stylite, His Times, His Life, His Works (Kiev, 1908), Russian, pp. 198 ff.; 180 ff.; A. P. Dobroklonsky, St. Theodore the Studite, Vol. I (Odessa, 1901 [1914]), Russian.
50. A penetrating and thorough investigation of the problem of ideas is given by a noted Roman Catholic theologian, F. A. Staudenmaier, Die Philosophic des Christentums, Bd. I (the only published), "Die Lehre von der Idee" (Gieszen, 1840), and also in his monumental work Die Christliche Dogmatik, Bd. Ill, Freiburg im Breisgau 1848 (recently reprinted, 1967).
51. Discourses and Speeches of a Member of the Holy Synod, Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, part 11, Moscow, 1844, p. 87: "Address on the Occasion of the Recovery of the Relics of Patriarch Alexey" (Russian).

1. St. John Damascene, De fide orth., I, 4, PG xciv, 800.
   
   
2. Ibid., I, 9, c. 836.
   
   
3. Ibid., I, 4, c. 797.
   
   
4. For a survey of this question see I. V. Popov, The Personality and Teachings of the Blessed Augustine, Vol. I, part 2 (Sergiev Posad, 1916, and Lichnost' i Uchenie Blazhennago Avgustina), pp. 350-370 ff. (Russian).
   

56. In the words of Athenagoras, Legat. c. 10, PG vi, c. 908: εν ιδεα και ενεργεια. Cf. Popov, pp. 339-41; Bolotov, pp. 41 ff.; A Puech, Les apologistes grecs du IIe siècle de notre ère (Paris, 1912). On Origen, see Bolotov, pp. 191 ff. From the formal aspect, the distinction between "essence" and "energies" goes back to Philo and Plotinus. Nevertheless, in their view God receives his own character, even for Himself, only through His inner and necessary self-revelation in the world of ideas, and this "cosmological sphere" in God they named "Word" or "Mind." For a long time the cosmological concepts of Philo and Plotinus retarded the speculative formulation of the Trinitarian mystery. In fact cosmoiogical concepts have no relation to the mystery of God and Trinity. If Cosmological concepts must be discarded, then another problem appears, that of the relationship of God to the world, indeed of a free relationship. The problem is relationship in the conception of the "pre-eternal counsel of God." On Philo see M. D. Muretov, The Philosophy of Philo of Alexandria in its Relation to the Doctrine of St. John the Theologian on the Logos, Vol. I (Moscow, 1885); N. N. Gloubokovsky, St. Paul the Apostle's Preaching of the Glad Tidings in its Origin and Essence, Vol. IΙ (St. Petersburg, 1910), pp. 23-425; V. Ivanitzky, Philo of Alexandria (Kiev, 1911); P. J. Lebreton, Les origines du dogme de la Trinité (Paris, 1924), pp. 166-239, 570-581, 590-598; cf. excurus A, "On the Energies," pp. 503-506. Cf. also F. Dölger, "Sphragis," Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Alterhums, Bd. V, Hf. 3-4 (1911), pp. 65-69.
57. St. Basil the Great, C. Eun., Ι, ΙI, 32, PG xxix, 648; cf, St. Athanasius, De decret., n. II, PG xxv, c. 441: "God is in all by His goodness and power; and He is outside of all in His own nature” [κατα την ιδιαν φυσιν].
58. St. Basil the Great, Ad Amphil., PG xxxii, 869, А-В.
59. St. Basil the Great, C. Eun., I, I, n, 14, PG xxix, 544-5; cf. St. Gregory of Nazianzos, Or. 28, 3, PG xxxvi, 29; Or. 29, col. 88B.
60. St. Gregory Nazianzos, Or. 38, in Theoph., n. 7, PG xxxvi, 317.

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61. St. Gregory of Nyssa, Cant. cant. h. xi, PG xlix, 1013 В; In Phalm. II, 14, PG xliv, 585; cf. V. Nesmelov, The Dogmatic System of St. Gregory of Nyssa (Kazan, 1887), pp. 123 ff.; Popov, pp. 344-49.
62. St. Gregory of Nyssa, Quod non sint tres dii, PG xlv, 121B: "We have come to know that the essence of God has no name and it is inexpressible, and we assert that any name, whether it has come to be known through human nature or whether it was handed to us through the Scriptures, is an interpretation of something to be understood of the nature of God, but that it does not contain in itself the meaning of His nature itself… On the contrary, no matter what name we give to the very essence of God, this predicate shows something that has relation to the essence” [τι των περι αυτην]. Cf. С. Eunom. Л, PG xlv, с. 524-5; De beatitud., Or. 6, PG xliv, 1268: "The entity of God in itself, in its substance, is above any thought that can comprehend it, being inaccessible to ingenious conjectures, and does not even come close to them. But being such by nature, He who is above all nature and who is unseen and indescribable, can be seen and known in other respects. But no knowledge will be a knowledge of the essence;" In Ecclesiasten, h. VII, PG xliv, 732: “and the great men speak of the works [εργα] of God, but not of God.” St. John Chrysostom Incompreh. Dei natura, h. III, 3, PG xlviii, 722: in the vision of Isaiah (vi, 1-2), the angelic hosts contemplated not the "inaccessible essence" but some of the divine "condescension," — "The dogma of the unfathomability of God in His nature and the possibility of knowing Him through His relations towards the world" is presented thoroughly and with penetration in the book of Bishop Sylvester, Essay on Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Vol. I, (Kiev, 1892-3), pp. 245 ff.; Vol. II (Kiev, 1892-3), pp. 4 ff. Cf. the chapter on negative theology in Father Bulgakov's book, The Unwaning Light (Moscow, 1917), pp. 103 ff.
63. St. John Damascene, De fide orth., I, 14, PG xciv, 860.
64. Bishop Sylvester, II, 6.
65. Cf. ibid., II, 131.
66. St. John Chrysostom, In Hebr. h-2, n. 1.
67. St. John Damascene, De fide orth., I, 13, PG xciv, 852.
68. The Eastern patristic distinction between the essence and energies of God has always remained foreign to Western theology. In Eastern theology it is the basis of the distinction between apophatic and cataphatic theology. St. Augustine decisively rejects it. See Popov, pp. 353 ft.; Cf. Brilliantov, pp. 221 ff.

1. Dionysius Areopagite, De div. nom., II, 5, PG iii, 641.
   
   
2. Cf., for example, De coel. hier., II, 3, с. 141.
   
   
3. Ep. I, ad Caium, с. 1065А.
   
   
4. De div, nom; xi, 6, с. 956.
   

73. Dionysius Areopagite, De div. nom., I, 4, PG iii, 589; St. Max. Schol. in V 1; PG iv, 309: προοδον δε την Θειαν ενερεια λεγει, ητις πασαν ουσιαν παρηγαγε; is contrasted here with αυτος ο Θεος.
74. De div. nom., IV, 13, PG iii, 712.
75. De div. nom., V, 8, PG iii, 824; V, 5-6, с. 820; XI, 6, с. 953, ss. Cf. Brilliantov's whole chapter on the Areopagitica, pp. 142-178; Popov, pp. 349-52. The pseudo-epigraphic character of the Areopagtiica and their close relationship with Neo-Platonism does not belittle their theological significance, which was acknowledged and testified to by the authority of the Church Fathers. Certainly there is need for a new historical and theological investigation and appraisal of them.

1. Dionysius Areopagite, De div. nom; IX, PG iii, c. 909.
   
   
2. St. Gregory Palamas, Capit. phys., theol. etc., PG cl, c. 1169.
   

78. Ibid., cap. 75, PG cl, 1173: St. Gregory proceeds from a threefold distinction in God: that of the essence, that of the energy, and that of the Trinity of the Hypostases. The union with God κατ ουσιαν is impossible, for, according to the general opinion of the theologians, in entity, or in His essence. God is "imparticipable" [αμεθεκτον]. The union according to hypostasis [καθ υποστασιν] is unique to the Incarnate Word: cap. 78, 1176: the creatures who have made progress are united to God according to His energy; they partake not of His essence but of His energy [κατ ενεργειαν]: cap. 92, 1168; through the partaking of “God given grace” they are united to God Himself (cap. 93). The radiance of God and the God-given energy, partakers of which become deified, is the grace of God [χαρις] but not the essence of God [φυσις]: cap. 141, 1220; cap. 144, 1221; Theoph. col. 912: 928D: cf- 921, 941. Cf. the Synodikon of the council of 1452 in Bishop Porphyrius [Uspensky]'s book. History of Mt. Athos, III, 2 (St. Petersburg, 1902), supplements, p. 784, and in the Triodion (Venice, 1820), p. 168. This is the thought of St. Maximus: μθεκτος μεν ο Θεος κατα τας μεταδοσεις αυτου, αμεθεκτος δε κατα το μηδεν μετεχειν της ουσιας αυτου, apud Euth. Zyg. Panopl., tit. 3, PG cxxx. 132.
79. Bishop Porphyrios, 783.
80. St. Gregory Palamas, Theoph., PG cl, 94l.
81. Ibid., 940: ει και διενηνοχε της φυσεως, ου διασπαται ταυτης. Cf. Triodion, p. 170; and Porphyrius, 784: "Of those who confess one God Almighty, having three Hypostases, in Whom not only the essence and the hypostases are not created, but the very energy also, and of those who say that the divine energy proceeds from the essence of God and proceeds undividedly, and who through the procession designate its unspeakable difference, and who through the undivided procession show its supernatural unity. .. eternal be the memory." Cf. ibid., p. 169, Porphyrius, 782 — ενωσις Θειας ουσιας και ενεργειας ασυγχυτον ... και διαφορα αδιαστατη. See St. Mark Eugen. Ephes. Cap. Syllog., apud W. Gasz, Die Mystik des N. Cabasilas (Greiszwald, 1849), App. II, c. 15, p. 221: επομενην ... αει και συνδρομον.
82. St. Gregory Palamas, Cap., 127, PG cl, 1209: ουτε γαρ ουσια εστιν ουτε συμβεβηκος; p. 135, 1216: το γαρ μη μονον ουκ απογινομενον, αλλ ουδ ευξησιν η μειωσιν ηντιναουν επιδεχομενον, η εμποιουν, ουκ εσθ οπως αν συναριθμοιτο τοις συμβεβηκοσιν ... αλλ εστι και ως αληθως εστιν, ου των καθ εαυτο υφεστηκοτων εστιν; ... εχει αρα ο Θεος, και ο ουσια, και ο μη ουσια καν ειμη συμβεβηκος καλειτο, την Θειαν δηλονοτι βολην και ενεργειαν; Theoph. p. 298: την δε θεατικην δυναμιν τε και ενεργειαν του παντα πριν γενεσεως ειδοτος και την αυτου εξουσιαν και την προνοιαν; c.f. p. 937, 956.
83. St. Gregory Palamas, Cap. 96, PG cl, 1181: ει ... διαφερει της Θειας ουσιας η Θεια ενεργεια, και το ποιειν, ο της ενεργειας εστι κατ ουδεν διοισει του γενναν και εκπορευειν, α της ματος και του προβληματος; cf. Cap. 97, 98, 100, 102; Cap. 103, 1192: ουδε τω θελειν δημιουργει Θεος, αλλα το περφυκεναι μονον; c. 135, 1216: ει τω βουλεσθαι ποιει ο Θεος, αλλα ουχ απλως τω πεφυκεναι, αλλο αρα το βουλεσθαι, και ετερον το πεφυκεναι. S. Mark of Ephesus, apud Gasz., s. 217: ετι ει ταυτον ουσια και ενεργεια, ταυτη τε και παντως αμα τω ειναι και ενεργειν τον Θεον αναγκη συνιδιος αρα τω Θεω η κτισις εξ αιδιου ενεργουντα κατα τους ελληνας.
84. St. Gregory Palamas, Cap. 125, PG cl, 1209; St. Mark of Ephesus, apud Gasz., c. 14, s. 220; c. 9, 219: с. 22, 225: ει πολυποικιλος μεν η του Θεου σοφια λεγεται τε και εστι πολυποικιλος δε αυτου η ουσια εστιν, ετερον αρα η αυτου ουσια και ετερον η σοφια; c. 10, 209.
85. St. Gregory Palamas, Theoph., PG cl, 929; 936; 941; St. Mark of Ephesus, apud Gasz., c. 21, s. 223.
86. Byzantine theology concerning the powers and energies of God still awaits monographic treatment, much the more so since the greater part of the works of St. Gregory Palamas are still in MSS. For the general characteristics and theological movements of the times, see Bishop Porphyry's book, First Journey into the Athonite Monasteries and Sketes, part II, pp. 358 ff., and by the same author, History of Mt. Athos, part III, section 2, pp. 234 ff.; Archimandrite Modestus, St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica (Kiev, 1860), pp. 58-70, 113-130; Bishop Alexey, Byzantine Church Mystics of the XIV Century (Kazan, 1906), and in the Greek of G. H. Papamichael, St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica (St. Petersburg-Alexandria, 1911); cf. the Review of the book by J. Sokolov in the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, 1913, April-July issues. The Eastern distinction between essence and energy met with severe censure from Roman Catholic thelogy. Petavius speaks of it at great length and most harshly, Petavius, Opus de theologicis, ed. Thomas, Barri-Ducis (1864), tomus I, I, I, c. 12-13, 145-160; III, 5, 273-6.
87. St. Athanasius, C. arian. Or. III, c. 62-63, PG xxvi.
88. St. Maximus the Confessor, Ambigu., PG xci, c. 1261-4.
89. St. Athanasius, C. arian., II, 31, PG xxvi, c. 212: "It was not for our sake that the Word of God received His being; on the contrary, it is for His sake that we received ours; and all things were created... for Him (Col. i.16). It was not because of our infirmity that He, being powerful, received His being from the One God, that through Him as by some instrument we were created for the Father. Far be it. Such is not the teaching of the truth. Had it been pleasing not to create creatures, nevertheless the Word was with God, and in Him was the Father. The creatures could not receive their being without the Word, and that is why they received their being through Him, which is only right. Inasmuch as the Word is, by the nature of His essence, Son of God; inasmuch as the Word is from God and is God, as He Himself has said, even so the creatures could not receive their being but through him."
90. St. Methodius of Olympus, Conviv., VI, I, PG xvii, c. 113.

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91. St. John Damascene, C. Jacobitas, n. 52, PG xciv, 144.
92. Ibid., De fide orth., I, 8, c. 812.
93. St. Symeon, Βιβλος των ηθικων, III—St. Symeon le Nouveau Theologien, Traitιs théologiques et Ethiques "Sources Chrétiennes," No. 122 (Paris, 1966), p. 414: Ενθεν τοι και βλεπομενος παρα παντων και πασας βλεπων αυτος τας αναριθμητους μυριαδας και το εαυτου ομμα εχων αει ατενιζον και αμετακιντων ισταμενον, εκαστος αυτων δοκει βλεπεσθαι παρ αυτου και της εκεινου απολαυειν ομιλιας και κατασπαζεσθαι υπ αυτου ... αλλος αλλο τι δεικνυμενος ειναι και διαρων εαυτον κατ αξιαν εκαστω, καθα τις εστιν αξιος ...
94. St. Gregory Palamas, Theoph., PG cl. 941.
95. Cf. απεικονισμα in St. Gregory of Nyssa, De hom. opif., PG xliv, 137. St. Augustine happily distinguishes and contrasts imago ejusdem substantiae, man. August. Quaest. in heptateuch, I, V, qu. 4, PL xxxiv, c. 749. For the most complete catalogue of the opinions of the Church Fathers on the "image of God" in Russian, see V. S. Serebrenikov, The Doctrine of Locke on the Innate Principles of Knowledge and Activity (St. Petersburgh, 1892), pp. 266-330.
96. St. Maximus the Confessor, Ambigu., PG xci, c. 1093.
97. St. Gregory of Nazianzos, Or. 43, In laudem Basil. Magni, PG xxxvi, c. 560.
98. St. Amphilochius, Or. I In Christi natalem, 4.
99. St. Athanasius, Ad Adelph., 4, PG xxvi, 1077.
100. Ibid., De incarn. et с. аrian., 8, с. 996.
101. Ibid., С. arian., Ι, 46. 47, с. 108-109.
102. Ibid., De incarn. et c. arian., 8, с. 998.
103. Ibid., De incarn; 4, с. PG xxv, 104: εις το κατα φυσιν επεστρεπεν.
104. Ibid; С. arian., II, 58-59, с. 272-3. Cf. N. V. Popov, The Religious Ideal of Sl. Athanasius, Sergiev Posad, 1903.
105. For a summary of citations from St. Gregory see K. Holl, Amphilochius von Ikonium in seinem Verhältniss zu den grossen Kappa-doziern (Tübingen and Leipzig, 1904), p. 166; cf. Also N. Popov, "The Idea of Deification in the Ancient Eastern Church" in the journal Questions in Philosophy and Psychology (1909, II-97), pp. 165-213.
106. Cf. Holl, 124-125, 203 ff.
107. St. Macarius of Egypt, hom. 44, 8, 9, PG xxxiv; αλλαγηναι και μεταβληθηναι ... εις ετεραν καταστασιν, και φυσιν θειαν.
108. Cf. Stoffels, Die mystische Theologie Makarius des Aegyptars (Bonn, 1900), pp. 58-61.
109. St. Macarius of Egypt, De amore, 28, PG xxxiv, 932: ενοικει δε ου καθ ο εστιν.
110. St. Maximus the Confessor, Cap, theol. et. oecon. cent., I, 67, PG xci, 1108: κατα χαριν γαρ, αλλ ου κατα φυσιν εστιν η των σωζωμενων σωτηρια.
111. Ibid., Cent, II, 21, col. 1133.
112. Ibid., Ad Ioannem cubic., ep., XLII, c. 639; cf. Div. cap., I, 42, PG xc, 1193; De charit., c. III, 25, c. 1024: κατα μετουσιαν, ου κατ ουσιαν, κατα χαριν, ου κατα φυσιν, Ambigu., 127a: "being deified by the grace of the Incarnate God;" PG xci, 1088, 1092.
113. St. Maximus the Confessor, Ambigu. 222: The goal of the creature's ascension consists in this—that, having united the created nature with the uncreated by love, in order to show them in their unity and identity — εν και ταυτον δειξειε — after having acquired grace and integrally and wholly compenetrating with the whole of God to become all that is God — παν ει τι περ σετιν ο Θεος — PG xci, 1038; cf. also Anastasius of Sinai Οδηγος, c. 2, PG lxxxix, c. 77: “Deification is an ascension towards the better, but it is not an increase or change in nature — ου μην φυσεως μειωσις, η μεταστασις —neither is it a change of one's own nature.”
114. St. Maximus the Confessor, 43 Ad Ioann. cubic; PG xci, 639; "He has created us for this purpose, that we might become participants of the Divine nature and partakers of eternity's very self, and that we might appear to Him in His likeness, by deification through grace, through which is brought about the coming-into-being [η ουσιωσις] of all that exists, and the bringing-into-being and genesis of what does not exist — και η των μη ορτων παραγωγη και γενεισις.
115. Bishop Theophan (the Recluse), Commentary on the Epistles of Sf. Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians (Moscow, 1882), in Russian, pp. 112-113, to the Ephesians, I, 23.
116. Nicholas Cabasilas, Stae liturgiae expositio, cap., 38, PG cl., c. 452. (Russian version — Writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church concerning the Divine Services of the Orthodox Church [St. Petersburg, 1857], p. 385.

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Illumine our heart, O Master who lovest mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge. Open Thou the eyes of our minds to the understanding of Thy Gospel teachings. Implant also in us a love for Thy blessed commandments. Grant us the grace to overcome all my carnal desires, so that we may enter more completely into a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well pleasing to Thee. For Thou art the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and unto Thee do we ascribe glory, together with Thine all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit; now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen

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In service of Christ
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