CONTRA FATUM

"Ah the wonder of it! Why does the sacred text fear to approach the glory of the divine mystery, so that it has not even expressed any of those effects which are outside his nature? It does not say that God's essence is without limits, judging it rash even to express this in a concept; rather it merely marvels at the vision of the magnificence of His glory." (Eccl., 7, Jaeger, V, 415)

" hvem der end gennemsøger hele åbenbaringen finder deri ingen doktrin om den guddommelige natur, ej heller om noget andet som har substantiel eksistens; [og] således går vi igennem vores liv i uvidenhed om meget, værende uvidende først og fremmest om os selv, som mennesker, og derudover alt andet. For hvem har opnået en forståelse af sin egen sjæl?" (Gregor af Nyssa, C. Eun. II , min overs.)

” "Jeg skaffede mig slaver og tjenestepiger." Hvad siger du? Du dømmer mennesket, en fri (ἐλευθέρα) og selvbestemmende (αὐτεξούσιος) natur, til slaveri, og du lovgiver imod Gud, idet du tilsidesætter hans lov for naturen. For den der skabtes til at være herre over jorden og af skaberen blev forordnet til hersker – denne fører du til slaveriets åg, idet du går imod og bekæmper Guds bud. Du har glemt grænserne for din autoritet, at din magt er begrænset til irrationelle ting. For lad dem herske, siger [Skriften], over himlens fugle, fisk, firbenede og krybende dyr. […] Men du, idet du opdeler [menneskets] natur i slaveri og herredømme, har gjort den til sin egen slave og sin egen herre. For "jeg skaffede mig slaver og tjenestepiger." Sig mig, for hvilken pris? Hvad fandt du blandt det værende, med samme værdi som denne natur? Hvor mange penge vurderede du rationaliteten til? Hvor mange oboler har du opmålt Guds billede til? Hvor mange mønter solgte du den gudsforme

"The doctrine of the Trinity provides nothing, absolutely nothing of practical value, even if one claims to understand it; still less when one is convinced that it far surpasses our understanding." (Kant, Conflict of the Faculties)

"The things which are first and those which are last have been arranged sequentially according to the logic (λόγος) of virtue, and the order is not subject to the material occurence of the events." (On the Inscriptions of the Psalms, p. 193, GNO 151)

"[...]after the grace bestowed we are called His children. And therefore we ought narrowly to scrutinize our Father's characteristics, that by fashioning and framing ourselves to the likeness of our Father, we may appear true children of Him Who calls us to the adoption according to grace." (On the Baptism of Christ, NPNF, pp. 523-524)

"[...]there is certainly need of some manifest proof, by which we may recognize the new-born man, discerning by clear tokens the new from the old. And these I think are to be found in the intentional motions of the soul, whereby it separates itself from its old customary life, and enters on a newer way of conversation, and will clearly teach those acquainted with it that it has become something different from its former self, bearing in it no token by which the old self was recognized. This, if you be persuaded by me, and keep my words as a law, is the mode of transformation. The man that was before Baptism was wanton, covetous, grasping at the goods of others, a reviler, a liar, a slanderer and all the is kindred with these things, and consequent from them. Let him now become orderly, sober, content with his own possesions, and imparting from them to those in poverty, truthful, courteous, affable-in a word, following every laudable course of conduct. For as darkness is dispelled

“This is true perfection: not to avoid a wicked life because like slaves we servilely fear punishment, nor to do good because we hope for rewards, as if cashing in on the virtuous life by some business-like and contractual arrangement. On the contrary, disregarding all those things for which we hope and which have been reserved by promise, we regard falling from God's friendship as the only thing dreadful and we consider becoming God's friend the only thing worthy of honor and desire.” (Gregory, LOM, p. 137)

“Those who draw a circular figure in plane geometry from a centre to the distance of the line of circumference tell us there is no definite beginning to their figure; and that the line is interrupted by no ascertained end any more than by any visible commencement: they say that, as it forms a single whole in itself with equal radii on all sides, it avoids giving any indication of beginning or ending. When, then, we compare the Infinite being to such a figure, circumscribed though it be, let none find fault with this account; for it is not on the circumference, but on the similarity which the figure bears to the Life which in every direction eludes the grasp, that we fix our attention when we affirm that such is our intuition of the Eternal. From the present instant, as from a centre a “point,” we extend thought in all directions, to the immensity of that Life. We find that we are drawn round uninterruptedly and evenly, and that we are always following a circumference where there is not

“We should […] beware of thinking that […] the life of the virtuous is conceived as a duality; on the contrary, when the partition wall of evil that blocks us up has been taken away, the two will become one and coalesce, because both are united to the good.” (Beat., p. 165)

“At horse races the spectators intent on victory shout to their favorites in the contest, even though the horses are eager to run. […] They do this not because their actions themselves contribute anything to the victory; but in this way, by their good will, they eagerly show in voice and deed their concern for the contestants.” (Gregory, Life of Moses, p. 29)

"In spite of innumerable warnings, human logic always tends to arrange its propositions in a series and to leave out of account what is not pro-posed, which is in fact the pre-supposition of all pro-positions. In speaking of God, human logic characteristically ignores both His nature and the fact that, when the reference is to Him, the argument from operation to cause is inapplicable, since He is not a known thing in a series of things." (Barth, Epistle to the Romans, p. 82)

"Things are simple and straightforward and obvious only when they are detached from their context and then treated superficially. The reality to which life bears witness must be disclosed in the deep things of all observable phenomena, in their whole context-and in their KRISIS. Only dialectical human thinking can fulfil its purpose and search out the depth and context and reality of life: only dialectical thought can lead to genuine reflection upon its meaning and make sense of it. For when our thought moves onwards direct and unbroken, when it is comprehensive, it is quite certain that we are not thinking about life;" (Barth, Epistle to the Romans, p. 425)

"The fact that ethics constitutes a problem reminds us that the object about which we are conversing has no objectivity, that is to say, it is not a concrete world existing above or behind our world; it is not a treasury of our spiritual experiences; it is not even some transcendental vastness: for we are not metaphysicians. Our conversation is about men living in the world of nature and of civilization; and, moreover, we ourselves are also men living of necessity from minute to minute a quite concrete life." (Barth, Epistle to the Romans, p. 424)

“Many, however, slide into the very opposite kind of excess, and unconsciously to themselves, in their over-preciseness, laboriously thwart their own design; they let soul fall down the other side from the heights of Divine elevation to the level of dull thoughts and occupations, where their minds are so bent upon regulations which merely affect the body, that they can no longer walk in their heavenly freedom and gaze above; their only inclination is to this tormenting and afflicting of the flesh.” (De Vir., NPNF, p. 367)

"[...]some who devote their mind to the speculative and contemplative philosophy of reality establish a virtue which is unclear to the majority, since they confine the good to their own conscience. But the moral character of life is zealously perfected at the same time by others. These make the rhythmical order of their life known publicly, as if it were a verbal statement, by their decorum concerning the visible world." (On the Inscriptions of the Psalms, GNO 76, p. 130)

"The person who has achieved this height [Moses'] stands as a kind of boundary between the changeable and the unchangeable nature and mediates, as it is appropriate, between the two poles. He offers supplications to God on behalf of those who have been converted from sin, and he transmits the mercy of the supreme power to those who need mercy. We may learn from this that the more one has removed himself from things that are inferior and earthly, the more is he associated with that nature which transcends every mind. He imitates the deity by beneficence, by doing that which is the distinctive characteristic of the divine nature. Now I mean that everything which needs kindness shows kindness, in so far as a need for beneficence exists." (On the Inscriptions of the Psalms, GNO 45, p. 103)

"Det er ganske sandt, hvad Philosophien siger, at Livet maa forstaaes baglænds. Men derover glemmer man den anden Sætning, at det maa leves forlænds. Hvilken Sætning, jo meer den gjennemtænkes, netop ender med, at Livet i Timeligheden aldrig ret bliver forstaaeligt, netop fordi jeg intet Øieblik kan faae fuldelig Ro til at indtage Stillingen: baglænds."  ( SAK, Journalen JJ:167 (1843), SKS 18, 194)

"He, therefore, who was lofty in mind standing, as it were, on some prominent look-out point and straining his vision to see those things which were far removed, saw wherein the difference between evil and virtue lies. The means of judging these matters is on the basis of their ends, not on the basis of what is currently at hand. For by that eye of the soul which is capable of contemplation and discernment he has understood what has been stored up for the good through hope as though it were present[...]" (On the Inscriptions, GNO 41, p. 99)

"Moses was already the kind of person who no longer needed to be led by law, but could himself become the author of a law for others." (On the Inscriptions of the Psalms, p. 101)

"The man who avoid both meanness and prodigality will by this shunning of extremes form the moral habit of liberality ( ἐλευθερίαν) ; for liberality is the thing which is neither inclined to spend at random vast useless sums, nor yet to be closely calculating in necessary expenses." (On Virginity, TLG 7,2,13, NPNF, p. 352)

“[...]the Life of Virginity seems to be an actual representation of the blessedness in the world to come, showing as it does in itself so many signs of the presence of those expected blessings which are reserved for us there.” (De Vir. XIII, p. 360)

“It has been said by wise men that man is a little world in himself and contains all the elements which go to complete the universe. If this view is a true one (and so it seems), we perhaps shall need no other ally than it to establish the truth of our conception of the soul.” (De An. et Res., NPNF, p. 433)

"[...]one cannot observe a good purpose in the abstract; a purpose cannot possibly be revealed unless it has the light of some events upon it." (The Great Catechism, NPNF, p. 491)

"[...]we either convey the idea of goodness by the negation of badness, or vice versa (∆ι' ὧν ἢ τὸ χρηστότερον ἀναλαμβάνομεν νόημα διὰ τῆς τῶν πονηρῶν ἀποφάσεως, ἢ τὸ ἔμπαλιν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ταῖς ὑπονοίαις τρεπόμεθα, τῇ τῶν καλῶν ἀφαιρέσει τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνδειξάμενοι.). Well, then, if one thinks so with regard to the matter now before us, one will not fail to gain a proper conception of it. The question is,- What are we to think of Mind in its very essence? Now granted that the inquirer has had his doubts set at rest as to the existence of the thing in question, owing to the activities which it displays to us, and only wants to know what it is, he will have adequately discovered it by being told that it is not that which our senses perceive, neither a colour, nor a form, nor a hardness, nor a weight, nor a quantity, nor a cubic dimension, nor a point, nor anything else perceptible in matter; supposing, that is, that there does exist a something beyond all these." (De An. PG 4

”Our surest refuge is not to fail to recognize ourselves, not to believe that we are seeing ourselves when we are seeing only something that surrounds us[...]” (In Cant., PG 44,804 tr. quoted from Balthasar, Presence and Thought, p. 121)

"All these sublime concepts [in I Tim. 6,15-16] about the divine would, then, in my opinion, constitute a definition of blessedness. For if someone were asked what beatitude is, he would give a properly pious answer if he followed Paul's statement and said that that nature which transcends everything is first and properly called blessed. Among humans, however, that beatitude, which is the nature of the one participated in, occurs to a certain extent, and is specified, by participation in true being. Likeness to God, therefore, is a definition of human blessedness." (De Inscriptione, tr. Heine, p. 84)

"[...]we can have a True, though not an adequate knowledge of the nature of God. We cannot have an adequate knowledge of God, that is, a knowledge co-extensive in every feature with its subject. Such a knowledge would be that vision of Him face to face, which cannot be ours till the last change is accomplished and everything partial shall have ceased. We can, however, have a true knowledge, that is, a knowledge true in principle, true in its tendency, and true in the goal at which it aims;—true because it goes out from and leads to God. This distinction between a true and an adequate knowledge of God hovered before the minds of our elder theologians when they distinguished between a “theologia viatorum et beatorum.” (Martensen, Christian Dogmatics, p. 82)

"[...]the only principle which really implies its own existence, and which postulates everything else for itself, the only principle which has power over itself, which does not lose itself in the product of its activity, which returns more profoundly into and on itself every time that it goes forth from itself, is Will, personality. God is a Person, that is, He is the self-centralized Absolute, the eternal fundamental being, which knows itself as a centre, as the I am in the midst of its infinite glory (Isaiah xliv. 6.), which is conscious of being the Lord of this glory." (Martensen, Christian Dogmatics, p. 73)

”All the evils, and I choose my words carefully, all the evils of the world stem from our taking ourselves to be the Creator. Some, as warriors, transform the planet through their flashing conquests. Others, as dictators, shape a society. But the image always remains the same: a hand that molds a shapeless hunk of clay. We give glory to the creator of a state, a new order, or an empire, but also to the scientist who takes himself for the Creator – even though he inevitably ends up with the atomic bomb. Every time you take yourself to be a creator (even as an artist!), you become a destroyer, an annihilator. [...] [but] Every human work created in silence, discretion, and humility (in the image of the Creator, who works incognito!) is positive, useful, and life-giving. Every work of power, in which a person takes himself for a creator, becomes a work of emptiness that produces emptiness.” (Ellul, Reason for Being, p. 281)

"The lightning flashes of the divine beauty are absolutely unutterable and ineffable; speech cannot convey them; the ear cannot receive them. The morning star's rays, and the moon's brightness, and the sun's light, all these are unworthy to be mentioned in comparison to that glory, and are found greatly wanting as analogies to the true light. They are more distant from the divine beauty than the depth of night and moonless gloom are from the pure light of noonday. This beauty is not contemplated by fleshly eyes but is grasped by the soul alone and the mind. If at any time it shined upon the saints, it also left behind in them the unbearable pain of yearning.[...]" (Basil of Caesarea, tr. Harrison, On the Human Condition, 2005, pp. 113-114) " Ἄῤῥητοι παντελῶς καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητοι τοῦ θείου κάλλους αἱ ἀστραπαί· οὐ παρίστησι λόγος, οὐ δέχεται ἀκοή. Κἂν ἑωσφόρου αὐγὰς εἴπῃς, κἂν σελήνης λαμπρότητα, κἂν ἡλίου φῶς, πάντα ἄτιμα πρὸς εἰκασίαν τῆς δόξης, καὶ πλέο

"It is no accident, or rather, is foreordained blind inspiration that the Stagirite spoke both worse and better than he meant. For when he says that ‘indeed the inquiry or perplexity concerning what being (on) is, in early times and now and always, is just this: what is substance ( ousia ) (Meta Z 1.5, 1028b).’ he begs the question by his reduction of the problem of Being to that of one kind of substantial being. For the categorial determinations of the meanings of Being that have their focus or reference to a more fundamental kind of being are multiple. For as Tradition has taught us to see, there is another substantive mode of existing which is that of the personal mode of existence. The logos was in our tongue but we could not see. There are hypostases that are a personal mode of existence ( tropos hyparxeos ) that is the referent or fundamental kind of being that has characteristic manners or modes ( tropoi ) of being as modifications of the first-persona

 "Latin philosophy (Christian theology) considers the nature in itself first and proceeds to the agent; Greek philosophy (Christian theology) considers the agent first and passes through it to find the nature. The Latins think of personality as a mode of nature; the Greeks think of nature as the content of the person. The western lack of understanding of what the Greek Fathers had accomplished in the nature of the distinction and relations of priority within it between ousia and hypostases led to a certain re-paganization of Trinitarian thought in which the philosophical essentialism of an unreformed ousiological metaphysics engenders the accent to fall on the divine unity in the west." (Fr. Theodore Regnon, S.J., ??)