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130 Pages
Page 51
To meet this dilemma, Basil drew a distinction between eternity and the being unoriginate. [357] The Eunomians, from the fact of the unoriginateness of the Father being called eternity, maintained that unoriginateness and eternity are identical. [358] Because the Son is not unbegotten they do not even allow Him to be eternal. But there is a wide distinction to be observed in the meaning of the terms. The word unbegotten is predicated of that which has origin of itself, and no cause of its being: the word eternal is predicated of that which is in being beyond all time and age. [359] Wherefore the Son is both not unbegotten and eternal. [360] Eunomius was ready to give great dignity to the Son as a supreme creature. He did not hold the essence of the Son to be common to that of the things created out of nothing. [361] He would give Him as great a preeminence as the Creator has over His own created works. [362] Basil attributes little importance to this concession, and thinks it only leads to confusion and contradiction. If the God of the universe, being unbegotten, necessarily differs from things begotten, and all things begotten have their common hypostasis of the non-existent, what alternative is there to a natural conjunction of all such things? Just as in the one case the unapproachable effects a distinction between the natures, so in the other equality of condition brings them into mutual contact. They say that the Son and all things that came into being under Him are of the non-existent, and so far they make those natures common, and yet they deny that they give Him a nature of the non-existent. For again, as though Eunomius were Lord himself, and able to give to the Only Begotten what rank and dignity he chooses, he goes on to argue,--We attribute to Him so much supereminence as the Creator must of necessity have over His own creature. He does not say, "We conceive," or "We are of opinion," as would be befitting when treating of God, but he says "We attribute," as though he himself could control the measure of the attribution. And how much supereminence does he give? As much as the Creator must necessarily have over His own creatures. This has not yet reached a statement of difference of substance.
[357] cf. De. Sp. Scto. pp. 27, 30, and notes.
[358] tauton to anarcho to a& 188;dion.
[359] aidion de to chronou pantos kai ai& 242;nos kata to einai presbuteron.
[360] Id. ii. 18.
[361] Eunomius is therefore not to be ranked with the extreme "Exucontians." cf. Soc. H.E. ii. 45.
[362] Id. ii. 19.
Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/basil/life-works.asp?pg=51
