God was in the beginning, and we have received that the beginning was the power of the Logos. For the Lord of all, being himself the foundation of the whole, was alone in respect of the creation not yet come into being; but inasmuch as he was the whole power, the foundation of things seen and unseen, all things were with him. With him, through the power of reason, the Logos himself, who was in him, gave them subsistence. And by the will of his simplicity the Logos springs forth; and the Logos, not having gone forth into the void, becomes the firstborn work of the Father. Him we know as the beginning of the world. He came into being by partition, not by severance; for that which is cut off is separated from the first, but that which is partitioned, having taken on the choice of an economy, has not made deficient that from which it was taken. For just as from one torch many fires are kindled, yet the light of the first torch is not diminished by the kindling of the many torches, so also the Logos, having come forth from the power of the Father, did not make irrational the one who begot him. For indeed I myself speak, and you hear, and surely the one who converses does not become empty of speech through the passing over of the word; but by sending forth my own voice I purpose to set in order the disordered matter in you. And just as the Logos, begotten in the beginning, begot in return our creation, fashioning matter for himself, so I too, regenerated according to the imitation of the Logos and having gained the apprehension of the truth, am reforming the confusion of kindred matter. For matter is not without beginning like God, nor on account of being without beginning is it itself equal in power to God; but it is generated and was not brought into being by any other, but was put forth by the maker of all things alone.