8. He was begotten before all
times, before all worlds. “Begotten before.” Before what, He in
Whom is no before? Do not in the least imagine any time before that
Nativity of Christ whereby He was begotten of the Father; of that
Nativity I am speaking by which He is Son of God Almighty, His Only
Son our Lord; of that am I first speaking. Do not imagine in this
Nativity a beginning of time; do not imagine any space of eternity
in which the Father was and the Son was not. Since when the Father
was, since then the Son. And what is that “since,” where is no
beginning? Therefore ever Father without beginning, ever Son
without beginning. And how, thou wilt say, was He begotten, if He
have no beginning? Of eternal, coeternal. At no time was the
Father, and the Son not, and yet Son of Father was begotten. Whence
is any manner of similitude to be had? We are among things of
earth, we are in the visible creature. Let the earth give me a
similitude: it gives none. Let the element of the waters give me
some similitude: it hath not whereof to give. Some animal give me a
similitude: neither can this do it. An animal indeed engenders,
both what engenders and what is engendered: but first is the
father, and then is born the son. Let us find the coeval and
imagine it coeternal. If we shall be able to find a father coeval
with his son, and son coeval with his father, let us believe God
the Father coeval with His Son, and God the Son coeternal with His
Father. On earth we can find some coeval, we cannot find any
coeternal. Let us stretch1774
the coeval and
imagine it
coeternal. Some one, it may be, will put you on the stretch,
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by saying,
“When is it possible for a
father to be found coeval with his
son, or son coeval with his
father? That the
father may
beget he
goes before in age; that the son may be begotten, he comes after in
age: but this
father coeval with son, or son with
father, how can
it be?”
Imagine to yourselves
fire as
father, its shining as son;
see, we have found the coevals. From the instant that the
fire
begins to be, that instant it begets the shining: neither
fire
before shining, nor shining after
fire. And if we ask, which begets
which? the
fire the shining, or the shining the
fire? Immediately
ye conceive by
natural sense, by the innate wit of your minds ye
all
cry out, The
fire the shining, not the shining the
fire. Lo,
here you have a
father beginning; lo, a son at the same time,
neither going before nor coming after. Lo, here then is a
father
beginning, lo, a son at the same time beginning. If I have shown
you a
father beginning, and a son at the same time beginning,
believe the
Father not beginning, and with Him the Son not
beginning either; the one
eternal, the other coeternal. If ye get
on with your learning, ye understand: take pains to get
on. The being
born, ye have; but also the growing, ye ought to
have; because no man begins with being
perfect. As for the Son of
God, indeed, He could be
born perfect, because He was begotten
without time, coeternal with the
Father, long before all things,
not in age, but in
eternity. He then was begotten coeternal, of
which generation the
Prophet said, “His generation who shall
declare?”
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begotten
of the
Father without time, He was
born of the
Virgin in the
fullness of times. This nativity had times going before it. In
opportunity of time, when He would, when He knew, then was He
born:
for He was not
born without His will. None of us is
born because he
will, and none of us
dies when he will: He, when He would, was
born; when He would, He
died: how He would, He was
born of a
Virgin: how He would, He
died; on the
cross. Whatever He would, He
did: because He was in such
wise Man that, unseen,
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He was
God; God assuming, Man assumed;
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One Christ, God and
Man.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
