By Water & Blood

On the Son

On the Son.

And just as we have learned to believe in one God, so also in one Son begotten before the ages. And we say neither, according to the fables of Valentinus, that the Only-begotten is one, and the Word another, and Christ yet another, and again Jesus; nor, according to the blasphemy of Arius and Eunomius, do we name our Lord Jesus Christ a creature. For divine Scripture says that he is only-begotten; and if he is created, he is not only-begotten, for he has creation as a sister, and all the parts of creation. But if he is only-begotten, as indeed he is, then he has no fellowship with created things.

And that he is only-begotten, the Only-begotten himself taught, saying: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” And a little later: “The one who believes in him is not judged; but the one who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” And the Evangelist spoke thus: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” For the nature of the flesh did not diminish the dignity of the Godhead; but even while wearing flesh he showed the nobility of the Father. “The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.”

And the Baptist also proclaims: “The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.” And all the apostles name him genuine and true Son of God. And the Father himself, speaking twice from heaven, showed the genuineness of the begetting: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

And why do I speak of the Baptist, and the evangelist, and the other apostles, and the God of all? For not even the devil, the father of falsehood, has dared to name him otherwise; but before the contests, hesitating, he said: “If you are the Son of God”; and after the victory, having learned who he was, he proclaims without ambiguity: “What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come before the time to torment us?” And in Philippi he also addressed him as Most High and God. For “these men,” he said, “are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” And he called the apostles servants of Christ, having learned this from them. For he heard the divine Paul both saying and writing this: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an apostle”; and “Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ.”

But if the teacher of falsehood himself names him both Son and Most High and Son of God, yielding to the lightnings of the truth, then those who dare to call the Son a creature are contending to overcome the Father’s address.

And that the divine men also name him Most High, one may hear Zechariah saying to his own son: “And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.” And the great John went before not the God and Father, but the only-begotten Son. And he himself is witness; for when asked whether he himself was the Christ, he denied this, but said: “I have been sent before that one.” And the divine David also says to him: “Let them know that your name is Lord; you alone are Most High over all the earth.” For if the Son is Lord (“For there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things,” according to the divine Apostle; and “One Lord, one faith”), then the Son is Most High, since he is also Lord.

But concerning these things we have gone through many discourses against Arius and Eunomius in our writings against them. Let us therefore turn to the teaching before us, and show that we have been taught that the same one is both Lord and Only-begotten and God the Word and Savior and Jesus.

And let us bring forward Peter into the midst, the first who confessed these titles in harmony. For when the apostles were first asked by the Savior: “But you, who do you say that I am?” he answered: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And the divine John the evangelist calls the same one both Word before the ages, and only-begotten Son, and creator of all things, and Christ Jesus. For “In the beginning,” he says, “was the Word”; and this indicates eternity; for he who was in the beginning always was, clearly. For he did not say: “In the beginning he came to be,” or “In the beginning he was created,” but “In the beginning he was.” And he also teaches what he was; for he added: “And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then he takes up the prologue again and says: “This one was in the beginning with God.” And by the common name he showed the consubstantiality; and by saying God with God, he indicated the distinction of the persons. This one he often also called only-begotten Son and Jesus Christ.

And the all-wise Paul also speaks thus: “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the adoption.” And again: “But when it pleased him who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace to reveal his Son in me.” And one can find countless such passages, through which they name him both Christ and eternal Son and co-eternal with the Father.

Teaching this, this same teacher first shows him maker of the ages. For “In these last days,” he says, “he has spoken to us in a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also made the ages.”

But since those who are unwilling to think divine things in a manner befitting God do not think it possible for the one from God to be co-eternal with God—for foolishly thinking that the divine nature is subject to the law of human nature, they have supposed the Father older than the Son—the divine Apostle clearly demonstrates through a certain image that the only-begotten Son is both from God and with God. For he called him “radiance of glory.” For the radiance both has its existence from the fire and coexists with the fire; for the radiance is innate with the fire, and the ray with the sun; for from the time there is a sun, from that time there are also rays. But the sun is cause of the rays, and the fire of the radiance; for the sun is not from rays, but rays are begotten from the sun, and the radiance springs from the fire.

Thus the only-begotten Son has been begotten from the Father, yet is with the mind, as the word with the one who begot it, and the radiance with the fire, and the ray with the sun. But each of these does not subsist by itself, but has its hypostasis in that from which it sprang. But God the Word, the radiance of glory, is not some insubstantial activity of the Father, but a living hypostasis, subsisting by itself. For he is not named simply Word, but God the Word; nor only radiance of glory, but also impress of hypostasis.

For since it was not possible to teach divine things clearly by one image, we learn these things somehow through several images. And the radiance of glory teaches the co-eternity; and the impress of the hypostasis both shows the exactness of the likeness and teaches the distinction of the hypostases; and the word indicates the passionlessness of the begetting. For lest when we hear “Son” we fall into human notions and think that the creator of all was begotten similarly to us, he called him Word, teaching thereby that that begetting is free from every passion. For neither does our mind, travailing with the word, need fellowship with the female, or undergo any cutting or flowing; but being perfect, it brings forth the word perfect. Through these things, then, we have been taught both the passionlessness of the begetting and the eternity of the Only-begotten.

And that he is also equal in power to the one who begot him, and like and equal in every way, is easy to learn from the Lord’s teaching. For “My Father,” he says, “is working until now, and I am working.” “As the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also the Son gives life to whom he wills.” “All that the Father has is mine.” “I am in the Father, and the Father in me.” “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.” And in these he clearly showed the unvarying likeness. For when Philip asked that the Father be shown, the Lord showed himself, teaching thereby that he is a living image of the one who begot him, clearly displaying the characters of the one who begot him. For he said to Philip: “Have I been with you so long, and you have not known me, Philip? Do you desire to see the Father while seeing me? Then you have not known me; for if you had known me, you would not have longed to see that one; for in me the Father is beheld.” For this reason he added: “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.” And here he called “sight” the contemplation of faith. For “Have I been with you so long,” he says, “and you have not known me, Philip?” He did not say “You have not seen,” but “You have not known.” For Philip saw what was seen, but did not behold the invisible Godhead. Therefore he was also blamed as not having known the Son accurately, and for this reason having longed to see the Father.

But if we were to use all the proofs against every heresy, we should fill not ten or even twenty books with the accusation; yet against these we already composed twelve discourses previously, and in addition to these we have now also set forth the aim of the rest of the theology and of ethical teaching.