Refutation of Proclus · §2 · Procopius of Gaza

The one divine procession alone is unoriginate and endless

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Procopius continues his refutation of Proclus, now distinguishing the unique divine procession of the Trinity from all processions of created things.

This, then, is the only procession that is divine by nature, if indeed one should speak of nature at all in the case of things beyond nature and divine. Its beginning is the unoriginate Father, for it is from Him. Its middle is the Son, who shares that unoriginate beginning, for it is through Him. Its end, most super-perfect and endless, is the Holy Spirit, for it is in Him.

This procession is also set apart from the others. It does not make the things that come from it stand outside the origin at all. Rather, it keeps them from ever departing from that origin, because of the sameness of essence, even though they proceed as distinct persons. For this reason they have no need of the return according to desire.

But all the processions of beings besides this one are divided together with the beings themselves. None of these processions is unoriginate, because no being is unoriginate. Rather, all things have come into being from the Father through the Son and have been completed in the Spirit. Not every one of these processions is endless, nor is any of them endless in every respect.

For the eternal things remain after their production from there, and their procession according to essence has indeed been completed. No other things are produced in addition to those that were produced from the beginning.

Greek

Αὕτη δὲ καὶ μόνη θεία φύσει πρόοδος, εἴπερ δεῖ φύσει λέγειν ἐπὶ τῶν ὑπερφυῶν καὶ θείων· καὶ ταύτης ἀρχὴ μὲν ἄναρχος ὁ Πατὴρ, ἐξ αὐτοῦ γάρ· μεσότης δὲ σύναρχος ὁ Υἱὸς, δι' αὐτοῦ γάρ· τέλος δὲ ὑπερτελέστατον καὶ ἀτελεύτητον τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, εἰς αὐτὸ γάρ· ἐξῄρηται δὲ καὶ

τῶν ἄλλων προόδων αὕτη· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐξίστησιν ὅλως τῆς ἀρχῆς τὰ ἐξ αὐτῆς, ἀλλ' ἀνεκ- φοίτητα πάντη ταύτης τηρεῖ, διὰ τὴν τῆς οὐσίας ταυτότητα· εἰ καὶ ὡς ἴδια πρόσωπα πρόεισι· διὸ οὐδὲ τῆς κατ' ἔφεσιν ἐπιστροφῆς δέονται· αἱ δὲ παρὰ ταύτην πᾶσαι τῶν ὄντων πρόοδοι, τοῖς οὖσι συνδιαιροῦνται· καὶ ἄναρχος μὲν τούτων οὐδεμία, ὅτι καὶ τῶν ὄντων ἄναρχον οὐδὲν, ἀλλὰ πάντα γέγονε παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ συντελεσθέντα τῷ Πνεύματι· ἀτελεύτητος δὲ, οὐ πᾶσα· οὔτε μὴν πάντη, ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν ἀϊδίων μετὰ τὴν ἐκεῖθεν παραγωγὴν μενόντων, ἡ μὲν κατ' οὐσίαν καὶ δὴ τετέλεσται· οὔτε γὰρ ἀλλάττα παρὰ τὰ ἐξ ἀρχῆς παραχθέντα ἐπιπαράγονται· οὔτ'

About this text

Procopius of Gaza, answering Proclus, sets the eternal procession of the Son and Spirit from the Father apart from the processions of all created things.

Procopius of Gaza (c. 465/475–c. 528) was a Christian rhetorician and biblical commentator, one of the leading figures of the rhetorical school of Gaza.

The reader will meet these voices alongside Procopius's own argument.

Procopius distinguishes the unoriginate and endless procession of the Son and the Holy Spirit from the Father alone, which constitutes the Trinity, from all other processions, which belong to created things. He also speaks of illumination, return, and a final transformation of all things from corruption to incorruption. The reader should know that the author cites the Gospel of John 5:17, alludes to the six days of creation in Genesis, and refers to 1 Corinthians 15:28, where God will be all in all.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 87 (Greek)

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