* Hans-Werner Bartsch,
"L'emploi du nom de Dieu dans le Christianisme primitif"
[«Η χρήση του ονόματος του Θεού στην πρώιμη Χριστιανοσύνη»],
in Enrico Castelli (ed.),
L'analyse du langage théologique: le nom de Dieu,
Paris: Aubier, 1969,
p. 188 [185-200].
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| Σρέμσκα Μιτρόβιτσα |
Cum nonnulla putaretur esse de fide disceptatio, diligenter omnia apud Sirmium tractata sunt et discussa, praesentibus Valente, Ursacio, Germinio et caeteris.
Unum constat Deum esse et Patrem omnipotentem, ut sic per universum orbem creditur.
Et unicum Filium ejus Jesum Christum Dominum Salvatorem nostrum, ex ipso ante saecula genitum. Duos autem Deos nec possc nec debere prsedicari, quia ipse Dominus dixit, «Ibo ad Patrem meum et ad Patrem vestrum, ad Deum meum et ad Deum vestrum.» Ideo omnium Deus unus est, sicut Apostolus docuit: «An Judaeorum Deus tantum? nonne et Gentium? Immo et Gentium. Quoniam quidem unus est Deus, qui justificat circumcisionem ex fide, et prseputium per fidem.» Sed et caetera convenerunt nec ullam haberepotuerunt discrepantiam.
Quod vero quosdam aut multos movebat , de substantia, quae Grsece Usia appellatur, id est, (ut expressius intelligatur) homousion, aut quod dicitur homoeusion: nullam omnino fieri oportere mentionem nec quemquam praedicare, ea de causa et ratione, quod nec in divinis Scripturis contineatur: et quod super hominis scientiam sit, nec quisquam possit nativitatem Filii enarrare, de quo scriptum est: «Generationem ejus quis enarrabit?» Scire autem manifestum est solum Patrem quomodo genuerit Filium suum; et Filium quomodo genitus sit a Patre. Nulla ambiguitas est majorem esse Patrem. Nulli potest dubium esse Patrem, honore, dignitate, claritate, majestate et ipso nomine Patris majorem esse Filio, ipso testante, «Qui me misit Pater, major me est.» Et hoc Catholicum esse, nemo ignorat, duas personas esse Patris et Filii. Majorem Patrem, Filium subjectum, cum omnibus his quse ipsi Pater subjecit. Patrem initium non habere, invisibilem esse, immortalem esse, impassibilem esse: Filium autem natum esse ex Patre, Deum ex Deo, lumen ex lumine. Cujus Filii generationem, ut ante dictum est, neminemscire, nisi Patrem suum. Ipsum autem Filium Dei, Dominum et Deum nostrum, sicuti legitur, carnem vel corpus, id est, hominem suscepisse ex utero Virginis Mariae, sicut Angelus praedicavit. Ut autem Scripturse omnes docent, et prsecipue ipse magister Gentium Apostolus, hominem suscepisse de Maria Virgine, per quem compassus est. Illa autem clausula est totius lidei, et illa confirmatio quod Trinitas semper servanda est, sicut legimus in Evangelio: «Ite et baptizate omnes gentes in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti» Integer, perfectus numerus Trinitatis est, Paracletus autem Spiritus per Filium est: qui missus venit juxta promissum, ut Apostolos et omnes credentes instrueret, doceret, sanctificaret.
*
Ἐπειδὴ περὶ πίστεως ἔδοξέ τινα διάσκεψιν γενέσθαι, πάντα ἀσφαλῶς ἐζητήθη καὶ διηρευνήθη ἐν τῷ Σιρμίῳ ἐπὶ παρουσίᾳ Οὐάλεντος καὶ Οὐρσακίου καὶ Γερμινίου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν.
Συνέστηκεν ἕνα θεὸν εἶναι πατέρα παντοκράτορα, καθὼς καὶ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ καταγγέλλεται,
Καὶ ἕνα μονογενῆ υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, ἐξ αὐτοῦ πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων γεννηθέντα. δύο θεοὺς μὴ χρῆναι λέγειν, ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος εἴρηκε· «πορεύομαι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου καὶ πατέρα ὑμῶν καὶ θεόν μου καὶ θεὸν ὑμῶν». διὰ τοῦτο καὶ πάντων θεός ἐστι, καθὼς καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἐδίδαξεν· »ἢ Ἰουδαίων μόνων ὁ θεός, οὐχὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν; ναὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν· ἐπείπερ εἷς ὁ θεός, ὃς δικαιώσει περιτομὴν ἐκ πίστεως καὶ ἀκροβυστίαν διὰ πίστεως». καὶ τὰ μὲν λοιπὰ πάντα συμφωνεῖ καὶ οὐδεμίαν ἔχει ἀμφιβολίαν.
Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολλούς τινας κινεῖ περὶ τῆς λεγομένης Ῥωμαιστὶ μὲν ‘σουβσταντίας’, Ἑλληνιστὶ δὲ λεγομένης ‘οὐσίας’, τουτέστιν ἵνα ἀκριβέστερον γνωσθῇ τὸ ὁμοούσιον ἢ τὸ λεγόμενον ὁμοιοούσιον, οὐ χρή τινα τούτων παντελῶς μνήμην γίνεσθαι οὐδὲ περὶ τούτων ἐξηγεῖσθαι ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ διὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν καὶ διὰ τοῦτον τὸν λογισμόν, ὅτι ἐν ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς οὐ γέγραπται περὶ τούτων, καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀνθρώπων γνῶσιν καὶ τὸν ἀνθρώπων νοῦν ἐστι, καὶ ὅτι οὐδεὶς δύναται τὴν γενεὰν τοῦ υἱοῦ διηγήσασθαι, καθὼς γέγραπται· «τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται»; μόνον γὰρ εἰδέναι τὸν πατέρα φανερόν ἐστι, πῶς τὸν υἱὸν ἐγέννησε, καὶ πάλιν τὸν υἱόν, πῶς αὐτὸς γεγέννηται παρὰ τοῦ πατρός. οὐδενὶ δὲ ἀμφίβολόν ἐστι μείζονα εἶναι τὸν πατέρα. οὐδὲ γὰρ διστάσειεν ἄν τις τὸν πατέρα τιμῇ καὶ ἀξίᾳ καὶ θειότητι καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ ὀνόματι τῷ πατρικῷ μείζονα εἶναι, διαμαρτυρουμένου αὐτοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ· «ὁ ἐμὲ πέμψας πατὴρ μείζων μού ἐστι». καὶ τοῦτο δὲ καθολικὸν εἶναι οὐδεὶς ἀγνοεῖ δύο πρόσωπα εἶναι πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ, καὶ τὸν μὲν πατέρα μείζονα, τὸν δὲ υἱὸν ὑποτεταγμένον τῷ πατρὶ μετὰ πάντων, ὧν αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ ὑπέταξε, τὸν δὲ πατέρα ἀρχὴν μὴ ἔχειν καὶ ἀόρατον εἶναι καὶ ἀθάνατον εἶναι καὶ ἀπαθῆ εἶναι, τὸν δὲ υἱὸν γεγεννῆσθαι ἐκ τοῦ πατρός, θεὸν ἐκ θεοῦ, φῶς ἐκ φωτός, καὶ τούτου τὴν γένεσιν, καθὼς προείρηται, μηδένα γινώσκειν, εἰ μὴ μόνον τὸν πατέρα, αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ κύριον καὶ θεὸν ἡμῶν σάρκα ἤτοι σῶμα, τουτέστιν ἄνθρωπον, ἀνειληφέναι ἀπὸ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος προευηγγελίσατο, καθὼς δὲ πᾶσαι αἱ γραφαὶ διδάσκουσι καὶ μάλιστα αὐτὸς ὁ ἀπόστολος ὁ διδάσκαλος τῶν ἐθνῶν· ἄνθρωπον ἀνέλαβεν ὁ Χριστὸς ἀπὸ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου, δι' οὗ πέπονθε. τὸ δὲ κεφάλαιον πάσης τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἡ βεβαιότης ἐστίν, ἵνα τριὰς ἀεὶ φυλάττηται, καθὼς ἀνέγνωμεν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ· «πορευθέντες βαπτίζετε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος». ἀκέραιος δὲ καὶ τέλειός ἐστιν ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῆς τριάδος. Ὁ δὲ παράκλητος τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον δι' υἱοῦ ἀποσταλὲν ἦλθε κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν, ἵνα τοὺς ἀποστόλους καὶ πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας ἀναδιδάξῃ καὶ ἁγιάσῃ.
* Αθανάσιος / Athanasius,
Επιστολὴ περὶ τῶν γενομένων ἐν τῇ Ἀριμίνῳ τῆς Ἰταλίας καὶ ἐν Σελευκείᾳ τῆς Ἰσαυρίας συνόδων
[De synodis Arimini in Italia et Seleuciae in Isauria].
(Opitz 2.1:256, 257)
Whereas it seemed good that there should be some discussion concerning faith, all points were carefully investigated and discussed at Sirmium in the presence of Valens, and Ursacius, and Germinius, and the rest.
It is held for certain that there is one God, the Father Almighty, as also is preached in all the world.
And His One Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, generated from Him before the ages; and that we may not speak of two Gods, since the Lord Himself has said, 'I go to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God' (John xx. 17). On this account He is God of all, as also the Apostle taught: 'Is He God of the Jews only, is He not also of the Gentiles? yea of the Gentiles also: since there is one God who shall justify the circumcision from faith, and the uncircumcision through faith' (Rom. iii. 29, 30); and every thing else agrees, and has no ambiguity.
But since many persons are disturbed by questions concerning what is called in Latin 'Substantia,' but in Greek 'Usia,' that is, to make it understood more exactly, as to 'Coessential,' or what is called, 'Like-in-Essence,' there ought to be no mention of any of these at all, nor exposition of them in the Church, for this reason and for this consideration, that in divine Scripture nothing is written about them, and that they are above men's knowledge and above men's understanding; and because no one can declare the Son's generation, as it is written, 'Who shall declare His generation' (Is. liii. 8)? for it is plain that the Father only knows how He generated the Son, and again the Son how He has been generated by the Father. And to none can it be a question that the Father is greater for no one can doubt that the Father is greater in honour and dignity and Godhead, and in the very name of Father, the Son Himself testifying, The Father that sent Me is greater than I' (John x. 29, Ib. xiv. 28). And no one is ignorant, that it is Catholic doctrine, that there are two Persons of Father and Son, and that the Father is greater, and the Son subordinated to the Father together with all things which the Father has subordinated to Him, and that the Father has no beginning, and is invisible, and immortal, and impassible; but that the Son has been generated from the Father, God from God, Light from Light, and that His origin, as aforesaid, no one knows, but the Father only. And that the Son Himself and our Lord and God, took flesh, that is, a body, that is, man, from Mary the Virgin, as the Angel preached beforehand; and as all the Scriptures teach, and especially the Apostle himself, the doctor of the Gentiles, Christ took man of Mary the Virgin, through which He has suffered. And the whole faith is summed up, and secured in this, that a Trinity should ever be preserved, as we read in the Gospel, 'Go ye and baptize all the nations in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost' (Matt. xxviii. 19). And entire and perfect is the number of the Trinity; but the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, sent forth through the Son, came according to the promise, that He might teach and sanctify the Apostles and all believers.
(Later Post-Nicene Fathers [LPNF-2] 4:466)
Επειδή φάνηκε καλό να γίνει κάποια συζήτηση σχετικά με την πίστη, όλα τα σημεία ερευνήθηκαν και συζητήθηκαν προσεκτικά στη Σίρμιο παρουσία του Βαλέντου, του Ουρσακίου, του Γερμινίου και των υπολοίπων.
Θεωρείται βέβαιο ότι υπάρχει ένας Θεός, ο Πατέρας, ο Παντοδύναμος, όπως και κηρύσσεται σε όλο τον κόσμο.
Και ο μονογὲνης Γιος του, ο Κύριός μας Ιησούς Χριστός, γεννημένος από Αυτόν προ των αιώνων· και ώστε να μην μιλάμε για δύο θεούς, διότι ο ίδιος ο Κύριος είπε: «Πάω προς τον Πατέρα μου και προς τον Πατέρα σας, και προς τον Θεό μου και τον Θεό σας» (Ιωάννης 20:17). Γι’ αυτό είναι Θεός όλων, όπως δίδαξε κι ο Απόστολος: «Μήπως είναι Θεός μόνο των Ιουδαίων; Δεν είναι και των Εθνικών; Ναι, και των Εθνικών· διότι υπάρχει ένας Θεός που δικαιώνει την περιτομή διά της πίστεως και την ακροβυστία διά της πίστεως» (Ρωμ. 3:29–30)· και όλα τα άλλα συμφωνούν και δεν έχουν ασάφια.
Όμως επειδή πολλοί ταράζονται από ερωτήσεις σχετικά με ό,τι στα λατινικά ονομάζεται «substantia», στα ελληνικά «οὐσία» — δηλαδή, πιο συγκεκριμένα, σχετικά με το «ομοούσιο» ή όπως λέγεται «ομοιούσιο», — δεν πρέπει να γίνεται καθόλου αναφορά σε αυτά ούτε να επιχειρείται εξήγησή τους στην Εκκλησία. Ο λόγος είναι ότι στις Θείες Γραφές δεν γράφεται τίποτε γι’ αυτά και είναι πέρα από την ανθρώπινη γνώση και κατανόηση· και επειδή κανείς δεν μπορεί να δηλώσει τη γέννηση του Γιού, όπως είναι γραμμένο: «Ποιος θα δηλώσει τη γενεά Του;» (Ησ. 53:8). Είναι φανερό ότι μόνο ο Πατέρας γνωρίζει πώς γέννησε τον Γιο, και μόνο ο Γιος πώς γεννήθηκε από τον Πατέρα. Και σε κανέναν δεν μπορεί να υπάρχει αμφιβολία ότι ο Πατέρας είναι ανώτερος· κανείς δεν μπορεί να αμφισβητήσει ότι ο Πατέρας είναι ανώτερος σε τιμή, σε αξιοπρέπεια και σε θεότητα, και στο ίδιο το όνομα «Πατέρας», όπως μαρτυρεί ο ίδιος ο Υιός: «Ο Πατέρας που με έστειλε είναι μεγαλύτερος από μένα» (Ιωάννης, ιδ΄ 28). Και κανείς δεν αγνοεί ότι είναι καθολική διδασκαλία πως υπάρχουν δύο Πρόσωπα, ο Πατήρ και ο Υιός, και ότι ο Πατήρ είναι ανώτερος και ο Γιος υπεταγμένος στον Πατέρα μαζί με όλα όσα ο Πατέρας έχει υποτάξει σε Αυτόν, και ότι ο Πατέρας δεν έχει αρχή, είναι αόρατος, αθάνατος και απαθής· ενώ ο Γιος γεννήθηκε από τον Πατέρα, Θεός εκ Θεού, Φως εκ Φωτός, και την προέλευση Του, όπως προειπώθηκε, τη γνωρίζει μόνον ο Πατέρας. Και ο ίδιος ο Γιος, ο Κύριός μας και Θεός, έλαβε σάρκα, αλλιώς, σώμα — δηλαδή έγινε άνθρωπος — από τη Μαρία την παρθένο, όπως είχε προευαγγελίσει ο άγγελος· και όπως διδάσκουν όλες οι Γραφές, και ιδίως ο ίδιος ο απόστολος, ο δάσκαλος των εθνών, ο Χριστός ήρθε ως άνθρωπος από τη Μαρία την παρθένα, διά του οποίου υπέφερε. Και όλη η πίστη συνοψίζεται και ασφαλίζεται στο ότι πάντοτε πρέπει να διατηρείται η τριάδα, όπως διαβάζουμε στο Ευαγγέλιο: «Πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτούς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος» (Ματθ. κη΄ 19). Ο αριθμός της τριάδας είναι ακέραιος και πλήρης. Αλλά ο Παράκλητος, το άγιο Πνεύμα το οποίο αποστάλθηκε δια του Υιού, ήρθε σύμφωνα με την υπόσχεση, για να διδάξει και να αγιάσει τους Αποστόλους και όλους τους πιστούς.
* Peter Meinhold,
Römer 13: Obrigkeit, Wilderstand, Revolution, Krieg,
Stuttgart: Kreuz-Verlag, 1960,
p./σ. 127.
Here, I. God encourages Moses to go to Pharaoh, and at last silences all his discouragements. 1. He clothes him with great power and authority (Exo 7:1): I have made thee a god to Pharaoh; that is, my representative in this affair, as magistrates are called gods, because they are God's viceregents. He was authorized to speak and act in God's name and stead, and, under the divine direction, was endued with a divine power to do that which is above the ordinary power of nature, and invested with a divine authority to demand obedience from a sovereign prince and punish disobedience. Moses was a god, but he was only a made god, not essentially one by nature; he was no god but by commission. He was a god, but he was a god only to Pharaoh; the living and true God is a God to all the world. It is an instance of God's condescension, and an evidence that his thoughts towards us are thoughts of peace, that when he treats with men he treats by men, whose terror shall not make us afraid. 2. He again nominates him an assistant, his brother Aaron, who was not a man of uncircumcised lips, but a notable spokesman: "He shall be thy prophet," that is, "he shall speak from thee to Pharaoh, as prophets do from God to the children of men. Thou shalt, as a god, inflict and remove the plagues, and Aaron, as a prophet, shall denounce them, and threaten Pharaoh with them." 3. He tells him the worst of it, that Pharaoh would not hearken to him, and yet the work should be done at last, Israel should be delivered and God therein would be glorified, Exo 7:4, Exo 7:5. The Egyptians, who would not know the Lord, should be made to know him. Note, It is, and ought to be, satisfaction enough to God's messengers that, whatever contradiction and opposition may be given them, thus far they shall gain their point, that God will be glorified in the success of their embassy, and all his chosen Israel will be saved, and then they have no reason to say that they have laboured in vain. See here, (1.) How God glorifies himself; he makes people know that he is Jehovah. Israel is made to know it by the performance of his promises to them (Exo 6:3), and the Egyptians are made to know it by the pouring out of his wrath upon them. Thus God's name is exalted both in those that are saved and in those that perish. (2.) What method he takes to do this: he humbles the proud, and exalts the poor, Luk 1:51, Luk 1:52. If God stretch out his hand to sinners in vain, he will at last stretch out his hand upon them; and who can bear the weight of it?
—Matthew Henry’s Commentary
And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
I have made thee a god to Pharaoh — That is, my representative in this affair, as magistrates are called gods, because they are God's vicegerents. He was authorized to speak and act in God's name, and endued with a divine power, to do that which is above the ordinary course of nature.
And Aaron shall be thy prophet — That is, he shall speak from thee to Pharaoh, as prophets do from God to the children of men. Thou shalt as a god inflict and remove the plagues, and Aaron as a prophet shall denounce them.
—John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes
I have made thee a god to Pharaoh; not a god by nature, but made so; he was so by commission and office, clothed with power and authority from God to act under him in all things he should direct; not for ever, as angels are gods, but for a time; not in an ordinary way, as magistrates are gods, but in an extraordinary manner; and not to any other but to Pharaoh, being an ambassador of God to him, and as in his room and stead to, rule over him, though so great a monarch; to command him what he should do, and control him when he did wrong, and punish him for his disobedience, and inflict such plagues upon him, and do such miracles before him, as no mere man of himself, and none but God can do; and even exercise the power of life and death, as in the slaying of the firstborn, that Pharaoh should stand in as much fear of him, as if he was a deity, and apply to him to remove the plagues upon him, as if he was one.
—Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
I have made thee a god—"made," that is, set, appointed; "a god"; that is, he was to act in this business as God's representative, to act and speak in His name and to perform things beyond the ordinary course of nature. The Orientals familiarly say of a man who is eminently great or wise, "he is a god" among men.
—Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
* Source: / Πηγή: christnotes.org
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* Jean François Boissonade & Daniel Albert Wyttenbach,
Vitae Sophistarum Et Fragmenta Historiarum,
Hengst, 1822,
pp./σσ. 277-283.
Πηγή του Κων. Παπαρηγόπουλου
στην Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους, Γ-2:217-220.
Οὗτος ὁ θεὸς ὀνόματος κρείττων, οὗτος ὁ ἀφανής, οὗτος ὁ φανερώτατος· ὁ τῷ νοῒ θεωρητός, οὗτος ὁ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρατός· οὗτος ὁ ἀσώματος, ὁ πολυσώματος, μᾶλλον δὲ παντοσώματος. οὐδέν ἐστιν οὗτος ὃ οὐκ ἔστι· πάντα γὰρ <ἃ> ἔστι καὶ οὗτός ἐστι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὀνόματα ἔχει ἅπαντα, ὅτι ἑνός ἐστι πατρός, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς ὄνομα οὐκ ἔχει, ὅτι πάντων ἐστὶ πατήρ.
[Greek text: A. D. Nock & A. J. Festugière]
This is God, greater than a name. He is unmanifest, yet He is most manifest; He can be perceived by Nous; He can be seen by the eyes. He is bodiless, yet He has many bodies, or rather every body. Nothing is which He is not. For He is all that exists and He has therefore all names, because all names come from one Father, and that is why He Himself has no name, for he is the Father of all.
[transl. Salaman, van Oyen & Wharton]
He is the God beyond all name; He the unmanifest, He the most manifest; He whom the mind [alone] can contemplate, He visible unto the eyes [as well] ; He is the one of no body, the one of many bodies, nay, rather He of every body. Naught is there which He is not. For all are He and He is all. And for this cause hath He all names, in that they are one Father's. And for this cause hath He Himself no name, in that He's Father of [them] all.
[transl. G. R. S. Mead]
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Προτρέπει δ' ἡμᾶς Κέλσος καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄρχειν τῆς πατρίδος, ἐὰν δέῃ καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἕνεκεν σωτηρίας νόμων καὶ εὐσεβείας. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐν ἑκάστῃ πόλει ἄλλο σύστημα πατρίδος κτισθὲν λόγῳ θεοῦ ἐπιστάμενοι τοὺς δυνατοὺς λόγῳ καὶ βίῳ ὑγιεῖ χρωμένους ἄρχειν ἐπὶ τὸ ἄρχειν ἐκκλησιῶν παρακαλοῦμεν, οὐκ ἀποδεχόμενοι μὲν τοὺς φιλάρχους βιαζόμενοι δὲ τοὺς διὰ πολλὴν μετριότητα τὴν κοινὴν φροντίδα τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ μὴ βουλομένους προπετῶς ἀναδέξασθαι· καὶ οἱ καλῶς ἄρχοντες ἡμῶν βιασθέντες ὑπάρχουσι, τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως ἀναγκάζοντος, ὃν πεπείσμεθα εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ λόγον θεόν. Καὶ εἰ ἄρχουσιν καλῶς οἱ ἄρχοντες ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῆς κατὰ θεὸν πατρίδος –λέγω δὲ τῆς ἐκκλησίας– , λεγόμενοι ἢ <βιαζόμενοι>, καὶ ἄρχουσι κατὰ τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ προστεταγμένα, οὐδὲν παρὰ τοῦτο μολύνοντες τῶν θεῶν νόμων.
Celsus exhorts us also to accept public office in our country if it is necessary to do this for the sake of the preservation of the laws and of piety. But we know of the existence in each city of another sort of country, created by the Logos of God. And we call upon those who are competent to take office, who are sound in doctrine and life, to rule over the churches. We do not accept those who love power. But we put pressure on those who on account of their great humility are reluctant hastily to take upon themselves the common responsibility of the church of God. And those who rule us well are those who have had to be forced to take office, being constrained by the great King who, we are convinced, is the Son of God, the divine Logos. Even if it is power over God's country (I mean the Church) which is exercised by those who hold office well in the Church, we say that their rule is in accordance with God's prior authority, and they do not thereby defile the appointed laws.
* Origen, Contra Celsum 8:75 (transl. H. Chadwick) /
Ωριγένης, Κατά Κέλσου 8:75.
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