The first name then conveys the notion of His
existence and of the nature of His existence: while the second
contains the idea of energy. Further, the terms ‘without
beginning,’ ‘incorruptible,’
‘unbegotten,’ as also ‘uncreate,’
‘incorporeal,’ ‘unseen,’ and so forth, explain
what He is not: that is to say, they tell us that His being had
no beginning, that He is not corruptible, nor created, nor corporeal,
nor visible Dionys., De
div. nom., c. 5.. Again,
goodness and justice and piety and such like names belong to the
nature παρέπονται
τῇ φύσει; follow
the nature, are consequents of the nature, or accompany
it., but do not explain
His actual essence. Finally, Lord and King and names of that
class indicate a relationship with their contrasts: for the name
Lord has reference to those over whom the lord rules, and the name King
to those under kingly authority, and the name Creator to the creatures,
and the name Shepherd to the sheep he tends.