76 Jerome H. Neyrey to crass anthropomorphisms in Greek piety, some philosophers developed a special god-talk that avoided such excesses and produced a refined way to celebrate the uniqueness and excellence of god. Negative predication about god resulted from this process (e.g., some form of aj-). Epithets prefaced by a negative deny imperfection in god and acclaim him superior to all things of this material world, mortals included. Theophilus provides a particularly excellent example: The appearance of God is ineffable (a[rrhton) and indescribable (ajnevkfraston) and cannot be seen by eyes of flesh. In glory God is incomprehensible (ajcwvrhto"), in greatness unfathomable (ajkatavlhpto"), in height inconceivable (ajperinovhto"), in power incomparable (ajsuvgkrito"), in wisdom unrivaled (ajsumbivbasto"), in goodness inimitable (ajmivmhto"), in kindness unutterable (anekdihghto") (To Autolycus 1.3) (54). j v This statement begins by claiming that God cannot be described or seen; hence God belongs not to our material world, but to a higher one. In terms of virtues which warrant praise and glory, God surpasses all mortal standards. Although tags such as “first”, “only” and “one who has done X the most” are not here, negative predicates attest God’s uniqueness in the universe. To God alone belongs glory, greatness, height, eternity, wisdom, etc. A second example argues more strongly that negative predication is a form of uniqueness. The following is a piece of a synagogal prayer in which God’s uniqueness is first acclaimed (“the only Mighty One”; “there is no God beside you alone, there is no Holy One beside you”), after which follows a cascade of negative predicates declaring how God is “honored and exalted exceedingly”: Glorious and exceedingly exalted, invisible (ajovrato") by nature, inscrutable (ajnexicnivasto") in judgments, whose life is in want of nothing (ajnendehv"), whose continuity is unchangeable (ajtrepto") and unceasing (ajnelliphv"), whose activity is untiring (ajkavmato"), whose majesty is not circumscribed (ajperivgrafo"), whose beauty is everflowing (ajevnao"), whose habitation is inaccessible (ajprovsito"), whose encamping is unmoving (ajmetanavsteuto"), whose knowledge —————— in the Church Fathers and the Gnostic Basilides”, HThR 50 (1957) 145-156; F.M. YOUNG, “The God of the Greeks and the Nature of Religious Language”, Early Church Literature and the Classical Intellectual Tradition (ed. W.R. SCHOEDEL – R.L. WILKEN) (Paris 1979) 45-73; W.R. SCHOEDEL, “Enclosing, Not Enclosed: The Early Christian Doctrine of God”, Early Christian Literature, 75-86. (54) The text of Theophilus is that of M. MARKOVICH, Theophili Antiocheni ad Autolycum (Berlin 1995) 18.