Θεός

God

Translated by Catharine Roth3 Dec 2001Vetting: high4 revisions

3 notes · 196 words
"Trying to interpret the meaning of 'God and Lord', Philo1 attained the concept of the most royal Trinity. For in saying that God is one he did not aim at the unity in number, but at the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which is more unitary than those things which are in any way divisible, but more abundant than those things which are truly unitary. And thus he laid his life on the line, so to speak, in asserting that the powers of Him Who Is are two. Of these [powers] the one which is creative and energizing, he says, is called God, but the one which is royal and judicial [is called] Lord.2
But the Greeks believe god to be immortal being, rational, perfect, spiritual, in true happiness, unable to admit any evil, exercising providence for the universe and those things which are in the universe. [They do not] however [believe that god] is in human form, but that he is the creator of all and a kind of father of all, and commonly also [they call god] the part of him which permeates everything, which is named with many designations according to its powers.3

Greek original · Adler’s text

Θεός· ὅτι Φίλων τοῦ θεὸς καὶ κύριος τὴν σημασίαν ἑρμηνεῦσαι πειρώμενος τῆς βασιλικωτάτης τριάδος ἔννοιαν ἔσχεν. φάσκων γὰρ ὅτι εἷς ἐστι ὁ θεὸς οὐ πρὸς τὸν ἀριθμὸν κατέδραμε τῆς μονάδος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ μυστήριον τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος, τὸ τῶν μὲν πάντῃ διαιρετῶν ἑνικώτερον, τῶν δὲ ὄντως μοναδικῶν ἀφθονώτερον. καὶ οὕτω κατακράτος εἷλεν αὐτοῦ τὴν ψυχήν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, δύο μὲν εἶναι τὰς τοῦ ὄντος δυνάμεις, ὧν ἡ μὲν ποιητικὴ καὶ ἐνεργητική, φησί, καλεῖται θεός, ἡ δὲ βασιλικὴ καὶ τιμωρητικὴ κύριος. θεὸν δὲ εἶναι δοξάζουσιν Ἕλληνες ζῷον ἀθάνατον, λογικόν, τέλειον, νοερόν, ἐν εὐδαιμονίᾳ, κακοῦ παντὸς ἀνεπίδεκτον, προνοητικὸν κόσμου τε καὶ τῶν ἐν κόσμῳ· μὴ εἶναι μέντοι ἀνθρωπόμορφον· εἶναι δὲ τὸν μὲν δημιουργὸν τῶν ὅλων καὶ ὥσπερ πατέρα πάντων, κοινῶς δὲ καὶ τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ τὸ διῆκον διὰ πάντων, ὃ πολλαῖς προσηγορίαις προσονομάζεται κατὰ τὰς δυνάμεις.

Betacode
*qeo/s: o(/ti *fi/lwn tou= qeo\s kai\ ku/rios th\n shmasi/an e(rmhneu=sai peirw/menos th=s basilikwta/ths tria/dos e)/nnoian e)/sxen. fa/skwn ga\r o(/ti ei(=s e)sti o( qeo\s ou) pro\s to\n a)riqmo\n kate/drame th=s mona/dos, a)lla\ pro\s to\ musth/rion th=s a(gi/as tria/dos, to\ tw=n me\n pa/nth| diairetw=n e(nikw/teron, tw=n de\ o)/ntws monadikw=n a)fqonw/teron. kai\ ou(/tw katakra/tos ei(=len au)tou= th\n yuxh/n, w(s ei)pei=n, du/o me\n ei)=nai ta\s tou=  o)/ntos duna/meis, w(=n h( me\n poihtikh\ kai\ e)nerghtikh/, fhsi/, kalei=tai qeo/s, h( de\ basilikh\ kai\ timwrhtikh\ ku/rios. qeo\n de\ ei)=nai doca/zousin *(/ellhnes zw=|on a)qa/naton, logiko/n, te/leion, noero/n, e)n eu)daimoni/a|, kakou= panto\s a)nepi/dekton, pronohtiko\n ko/smou te kai\ tw=n e)n ko/smw|: mh\ ei)=nai me/ntoi a)nqrwpo/morfon: ei)=nai de\ to\n me\n dhmiourgo\n tw=n o(/lwn kai\ w(/sper pate/ra pa/ntwn, koinw=s de\ kai\ to\ me/ros au)tou= to\ dih=kon dia\ pa/ntwn, o(\ pollai=s proshgori/ais prosonoma/zetai kata\ ta\s duna/meis.

Notes (3)

  1. For this headword see also theta 179, theta 180, theta 181
  2. 1Philo of Alexandria, a.k.a. Philo Judaeus (phi 448). ↩
  3. 2George the Monk, Chronicon 527.8-17. ↩
  4. 3Stoic doctrine from Diogenes Laertius 7.147. ↩

Linked from3 entries

Neighbouring entries

θ176Θεορρημοσύνηνdivine utteranceθ177Θεόρρυτονgod-sourced, flowing from the godsθ178ΘεόςGodθ179ΘεόςGodθ180Θεόςgod
Revision history4 revisions · last 3 Jan 2013
  1. coding — Catharine Roth
  2. more x-refs and keywords; tweaking — David Whitehead
  3. added keyword — Catharine Roth
  4. cosmetics — David Whitehead
  5. Translated — Catharine Roth

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