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Theophilus to Autolycus

Chapter IV.--Attributes of God.

And He is without beginning, because He is unbegotten; and He is unchangeable, because He is immortal. And he is called God [Theos] on account of His having placed [tetheikenai] all things on security afforded by Himself; and on account of [theein], for theein means running, and moving, and being active, and nourishing, and foreseeing, and governing, and making all things alive. But he is Lord, because He rules over the universe; Father, because he is before all things; Fashioner and Maker, because He is creator and maker of the universe; the Highest, because of His being above all; and Almighty, because He Himself rules and embraces all. For the heights of heaven, and the depths of the abysses, and the ends of the earth, are in His hand, and there is no place of His rest. For the heavens are His work, the earth is His creation, the sea is His handiwork; man is His formation and His image; sun, moon, and stars are His elements, made for signs, and seasons, and days, and years, that they may serve and be slaves to man; and all things God has made out of things that were not ¹ into things that are, in order that through His works His greatness may be known and understood.

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Ad Autolycum

4.

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.