In treating, then, of the generation of the Son,
it is an act of impiety Ibid.,
assert. 4. to say that time
comes into play and that the existence of the Son is of later origin
than the Father. For we hold that it is from Him, that is, from
the Father’s nature, that the Son is generated. And unless
we grant that the Son co-existed from the beginning with the Father, by
Whom He was begotten, we introduce change into the Father’s
subsistence, because, not being the Father, He subsequently became the
Father Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 29.. For the
creation, even though it originated later, is nevertheless not derived
from the essence of God, but is brought into existence out of nothing
by His will and power, and change does not touch God’s
nature. For generation means that the begetter produces out of
his essence offspring similar in essence. But creation and making
mean that the creator and maker produces from that which is external,
and not out of his own essence, a creation of an absolutely dissimilar
nature Text, ἀνόμοιον
παντελῶς, variant,
ἀνόμοιον
παντελῶς
κατ᾽
οὐσίαν, cf. also
Cyrill..