That the Essence–Energy Distinction Introduces No Composition in God

¹ After this we sought from the saints whether, on account of the difference of the divine essence and energy, one might conceive any composition in God; for this too the contradictors maintain. It was demonstrated, then, proclaimed by all the saints, that there is no composition to be thought in God on this account. For the divine Maximus, in the places where he disputes with Pyrrhus, most plainly shows that no composition arises from the energy: “You see,” he says to Pyrrhus, “that from this you are deceived, from being wholly ignorant that compositions are of things existing in a hypostasis, and not of things contemplated in another; and this is the common mind of all, both of the philosophers without and of the God-wise mystagogues of the Church. But if you speak of a composition of the wills, you will be driven to speak of a composition of the other natural things also.” But also Gregory of Nyssa, in the sixth chapter of the supplement to the Hexaemeron, goes through it verbatim thus: “If, then, in man, even though the organs furnished by nature for sensation happen to be diverse, the intellect, acting and moving through all of them, and using each suitably for the matter at hand, is one and the same, not changing the nature along with the differences of the energies—how could anyone, in the case of God, suspect the things of his essence to be manifold by reason of the varied powers?” But this too was demonstrated together: that those who, with the contradictors, do not accept the difference of the divine energy, and in general of all the things contemplated naturally about the nature and essence, make God composite—or rather more so—though the great Basil plainly says: “If we shall refer all the divine names to the essence and lay them there, we shall demonstrate God to be not only composite, but also compounded of dissimilar parts, because one thing and another is signified by each of the names”; and the great Gregory the Theologian writes: “Or is the immortal and the blameless and the unchangeable the essence of God? But if so, there are many essences of God, and not one; or the Divine is composite of these. For these are not without composition, if they are essences”; and further the divine Cyril: “For the unbegotten is not essence, nor the incorruptible, nor the immortal, nor the invisible. For if each of these signifies essence, God is compounded of so many essences, as many as appear naturally to belong to him. For there are many things that belong to him alone, and to none of all others”; and the divine Chrysostom: “The grace of the Spirit Scripture calls now fire, now water, showing that these are not names of essence, but of energy; for the Spirit is not composed of different essences, being invisible and uniform”; and Nyssa, speaking to Eunomius: “Who calls God two-natured but you, who graft every notion of a name onto the essence of the Father, and say that nothing belongs to him from without, but engraft each of the divine names upon the essence of God?”