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| Of Things Not Made Through the Logos.
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7. Of Things Not Made Through the Logos.
Let us see, however, why the words are added, “And
without Him was not anything (Gr. even one thing) made.”
Some might think it superfluous to add to the words “All things
were made through Him,” the phrase “Without Him was not
anything made.” For if everything whatsoever was made
through the Logos, then nothing was made without Him. Yet it does
not follow from the proposition that without the Logos nothing was
made, that all things were made through the Logos. It is possible
that though nothing was made without the Logos, all things were made,
not through the Logos only, but some things by Him. We must,
therefore, make ourselves sure in what sense the “all
things” is to be understood, and in what sense the
“nothing.” For, without a clear preliminary
definition of these terms, it might be maintained that, if all things
were made through the Logos, and evil is a part of all things, then the
whole matter of sin, and everything that is wicked, that these also
were made through the Logos. But this we must regard as
false. There is nothing absurd in thinking that creatures were
made through the Logos, and also that men’s brave deeds have been
done through Him, and all the useful acts of those who are now in
bliss; but with the sins and misfortunes of men it is otherwise.
Now some have held that since evil is not based in the constitution of
things—for it did not exist at the beginning and at the end it
will have ceased—that, therefore, the evils of which we spoke are
the Nothing; and as some of the Greeks say that genera and forms, such
as the (general) animal and the man, belong to the category of
Nothings, so it has been supposed that all that is not of God is
Nothing, and has not even obtained through the Word the subsistence it
appears to have. We ask whether it is possible to show from
Scripture in any convincing way that this is so. As for the
meanings of the word “Nothing” and “Not-being,”
they would appear to be synonymous, for Nothing can be spoken of as
Not-being, and the Not-being can be described as Nothing. The
Apostle, however, appears to count the things which are not, not among
those which have no existence whatever, but rather among things which
are evil. To him the Not-being is evil; “God,” he
says,4689
“called the things that are not as
things that are.” And Mardochæus, too, in the Esther
of the Septuagint, calls the enemies of Israel “those that are
not,” saying,4690
“Deliver not
Thy sceptre, O Lord, to those that are not.” We may also
notice how evil men, on account of their wickedness, are said not to
be, from the name ascribed to God in Exodus:4691
“For the Lord said to Moses, I
am, that is My name.” The good God says this with respect
of us also who pray that we may be part of His congregation. The
Saviour praises him, saying,4692
“None is good
but one, God the Father.” The good, then, is the same as He
who is. Over against good is evil or wickedness, and over against
Him who is that which is not, whence it follows that evil and
wickedness are that which is not. This, perhaps, is what has led
some to affirm that the devil is not created by God. In respect
that he is the devil he is not the work of God, but he who is the devil
is a created being, and as there is no other creator but our God, he is
a work of God. It is as if we should say that a murderer is not a
work of God, while we may say that in respect he is a man, God made
him. His being as a man he received from God; we do not assert that he received from God his
being as a murderer. All, then, who have part in Him who is, and
the saints have part in Him, may properly be called Beings; but those
who have given up their part in the Being, by depriving themselves of
Being, have become Not-beings. But we said when entering on this
discussion, that Not-being and Nothing are synonymous, and hence those
who are not beings are Nothing, and all evil is nothing, since it is
Not-being, and thus since they are called Not-being came into existence
without the Logos, not being numbered among the all things which were
made through Him. Thus we have shown, so far as our powers admit,
what are the “all things” which were made through the
Logos, and what came into existence without Him, since at no time is it
Being, and it is, therefore, called “Nothing.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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