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| Texts Explained; Thirdly, Hebrews i. 4. Additional texts brought as objections; e.g. Heb. i. 4; vii. 22. Whether the word 'better' implies likeness to the Angels; and 'made' or 'become' implies creation. Necessary to consider the circumstances under which Scripture speaks. Difference between 'better' and 'greater;' texts in proof. 'Made' or 'become' a general word. Contrast in Heb. i. 4, between the Son and the Works in point of nature. The difference of the punishments under the two Covenants shews the difference of the natures of the Son and the Angels. 'Become' relates not to the nature of the Word, but to His manhood and office and relation towards us. Parallel passages in which the term is applied to the Eternal Father.
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Chapter
XIII.—Texts Explained; Thirdly, Hebrews
i. 4. Additional texts brought as objections; e.g. Heb. i. 4; vii. 22. Whether the word
‘better’ implies likeness to the Angels; and
‘made’ or ‘become’ implies creation. Necessary
to consider the circumstances under which Scripture speaks. Difference
between ‘better’ and ‘greater;’ texts in proof.
‘Made’ or ‘become’ a general word. Contrast
in Heb. i. 4, between the Son and the Works
in point of nature. The difference of the punishments under the two
Covenants shews the difference of the natures of the Son and the
Angels. ‘Become’ relates not to the nature of the Word, but
to His manhood and office and relation towards us. Parallel passages in
which the term is applied to the Eternal Father.
53. But it is written,
say they, in the Proverbs, ‘The Lord created me the beginning of
His ways, for His Works2134
;’ and in the
Epistle to the Hebrews the Apostle says, ‘Being made so much
better than the Angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more
excellent Name than they2135
.’ And soon
after, ‘Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ
Jesus, who was faithful to Him that made Him2136
| 2136 Vid.
Orat. ii. §§2–11. | .’ And in the Acts, ‘Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that
same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ2137
.’ These passages they brought forward
at every turn, mistaking their sense, under the idea that they proved
that the Word of God was a creature and work and one of things
originate; and thus they deceive the thoughtless, making the language
of Scripture their pretence, but instead of the true sense sowing upon
it the poison of their own heresy. For had they known, they would not
have been irreligious against ‘the Lord of glory2138
,’ nor have wrested the good words of
Scripture. If then henceforward openly adopting Caiaphas’s way,
they have determined on judaizing, and are ignorant of the text, that
verily God shall dwell upon the earth2139
,
let them not inquire into the Apostolical sayings; for this is not the
manner of Jews. But if, mixing themselves up with the godless
Manichees2140
| 2140 Vid.
the same contrast, de Syn. §33; supr. §8; Orat.
iv. §23. | , they deny that ‘the Word was
made flesh,’ and His Incarnate presence, then let them not bring
forward the Proverbs, for this is out of place with the Manichees. But
if for preferment-sake, and the lucre of avarice which follows2141
, and the desire for good repute, they
venture not on denying the text, ‘The Word was made flesh,’
since so it is written, either let them rightly interpret the words of
Scripture, of the embodied presence of the Saviour, or, if they deny
their sense, let them deny that the Lord became man at all. For it is
unseemly, while confessing that ‘the Word became flesh,’
yet to be ashamed at what is written of Him, and on that account to
corrupt the sense.
54. For it is written, ‘So much better than
the Angels;’ let us then
first examine this. Now it is right and necessary, as in all divine
Scripture, so here, faithfully to expound the time of which the Apostle
wrote, and the person2142
| 2142 De
Decr. 14, note 2. | , and the point;
lest the reader, from ignorance missing either these or any similar
particular, may be wide of the true sense. This understood that
inquiring eunuch, when he thus besought Philip, ‘I pray thee, of
whom doth the Prophet speak this? of himself, or of some other man2143
?’ for he feared lest, expounding the
lesson unsuitably to the person, he should wander from the right sense.
And the disciples, wishing to learn the time of what was foretold,
besought the Lord, ‘Tell us,’ said they, ‘when shall
these things be? and what is the sign of Thy coming2144
?’ And again, hearing from the Saviour
the events of the end, they desired to learn the time of it, that they
might be kept from error themselves, and might be able to teach others;
as, for instance, when they had learned, they set right the
Thessalonians2145
, who were going
wrong. When then one knows properly these points, his understanding of
the faith is right and healthy; but if he mistakes any such points,
forthwith he falls into heresy. Thus Hymenæus and Alexander and
their fellows2146
were beside the
time, when they said that the resurrection had already been; and the
Galatians were after the time, in making much of circumcision now. And
to miss the person was the lot of the Jews, and is still, who think
that of one of themselves is said, ‘Behold, the Virgin shall
conceive, and bear a Son, and they shall call his Name Emmanuel, which
is being interpreted, God with us2147
;’ and
that, ‘A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up to you2148
,’ is spoken of one of the Prophets;
and who, as to the words, ‘He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter2149
,’ instead of learning from
Philip, conjecture them spoken of Isaiah or some other of the former
Prophets2150
| 2150 The
more common evasion on the part of the Jews was to interpret the
prophecy of their own sufferings in captivity. It was an idea of
Grotius that the prophecy received a first fulfilment in Jeremiah. vid.
Justin Tryph. 72 et al., Iren. Hær. iv. 33. Tertull.
in Jud. 9, Cyprian. Testim. in Jud. ii. 13, Euseb.
Dem. iii. 2, &c. [cf. Driver and Neubauer Jewish
commentaries on Is. lii. and Is. liii. and Introduction to English
Translation of these pp. xxxvii. sq.] | .
55. (3.) Such has been the state of mind under
which Christ’s enemies have fallen into their execrable heresy.
For had they known the person, and the subject, and the season of the
Apostle’s words, they would not have expounded of Christ’s
divinity what belongs to His manhood, nor in their folly have committed
so great an act of irreligion. Now this will be readily seen, if one
expounds properly the beginning of this lection. For the Apostle says,
‘God who at sundry times and divers manners spake in times past
unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto
us by His Son2151
;’ then again
shortly after he says, ‘when He had by Himself purged our sins,
He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so
much better than the Angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more
excellent Name than they2152
.’ It appears
then that the Apostle’s words make mention of that time, when God
spoke unto us by His Son, and when a purging of sins took place. Now
when did He speak unto us by His Son, and when did purging of sins take
place? and when did He become man? when, but subsequently to the
Prophets in the last days? Next, proceeding with his account of the
economy in which we were concerned, and speaking of the last times, he
is naturally led to observe that not even in the former times was God
silent with men, but spoke to them by the Prophets. And, whereas the
prophets ministered, and the Law was spoken by Angels, while the Son
too came on earth, and that in order to minister, he was forced to add,
‘Become so much better than the Angels,’ wishing to shew
that, as much as the son excels a servant, so much also the ministry of
the Son is better than the ministry of servants. Contrasting then the
old ministry and the new, the Apostle deals freely with the Jews,
writing and saying, ‘Become so much better than the
Angels.’ This is why throughout he uses no comparison, such as
‘become greater,’ or ‘more honourable,’ lest we
should think of Him and them as one in kind, but ‘better’
is his word, by way of marking the difference of the Son’s nature
from things originated. And of this we have proof from divine
Scripture; David, for instance, saying in the Psalm, ‘One day in
Thy courts is better than a thousand2153
:’ and
Solomon crying out, ‘Receive my instruction and not silver, and
knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies;
and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it2154
.’ Are not wisdom and stones of the
earth different in essence and separate in nature? Are heavenly courts
at all akin to earthly houses? Or is there any similarity between
things eternal and spiritual, and things temporal and mortal? And this
is what Isaiah says, ‘Thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that
keep My sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and take hold
of My Covenant; even unto them will I give in Mine house, and within My walls, a
place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them
an everlasting name that shall not be cut off2155
.’ In like manner there is nought akin
between the Son and the Angels; so that the word ‘better’
is not used to compare but to contrast, because of the difference of
His nature from them. And therefore the Apostle also himself, when he
interprets the word ‘better,’ places its force in nothing
short of the Son’s excellence over things originated, calling the
one Son, the other servants; the one, as a Son with the Father, sitting
on the right; and the others, as servants, standing before Him, and
being sent, and fulfilling offices.
56. Scripture, in speaking thus, implies, O
Arians, not that the Son is originate, but rather other than things
originate, and proper to the Father, being in His bosom. (4.) Nor2156
| 2156 There
is apparently much confusion in the arrangement of the paragraphs that
follow; though the appearance may perhaps arise from Athan.’s
incorporating some passage from a former work into his text, cf. note
on §32. It is easy to suggest alterations, but not anything
satisfactory. The same ideas are scattered about. Thus συγκριτικῶς
occurs in (3) and (5). The Son’s seat on the
right, and Angels in ministry, (3) fin. (10) (11). ‘Become’
interpreted as ‘is originated and is,’ (4) and (11). The
explanation of ‘become,’ (4) (9) (11) (14). The
Word’s ἐπιδημία
is introduced in (7) and (8) παρουσία
being the more common word; ἐπιδημία occurs Orat. ii. §67 init. Serap. i. 9. Vid.
however, §61, notes. If a change must be suggested, it would be to
transfer (4) after (8) and (10) after (3). | does even the expression
‘become,’ which here occurs, shew that the Son is
originate, as ye suppose. If indeed it were simply ‘become’
and no more, a case might stand for the Arians; but, whereas they are
forestalled with the word ‘Son’ throughout the passage,
shewing that He is other than things originate, so again not even the
word ‘become’ occurs absolutely2157
| 2157 ἀπολελυμένως. vid. also Orat. ii. 54. 62. iii. 22. Basil.
contr. Eunom. i. p. 244. Cyril. Thesaur. 25, p.
236. διαλελυμένως. Orat. iv. 1. | ,
but ‘better’ is immediately subjoined. For the writer
thought the expression immaterial, knowing that in the case of one who
was confessedly a genuine Son, to say ‘become’ is the same
with saying that He had been made, and is, ‘better.’ For it
matters not even if we speak of what is generate, as
‘become’ or ‘made;’ but on the contrary, things
originate cannot be called generate, God’s handiwork as they are,
except so far as after their making they partake of the generate Son,
and are therefore said to have been generated also, not at all in their
own nature, but because of their participation of the Son in the
Spirit2158
| 2158 [The
note, referred to above, p. 169, in which Newman defends the treatment
of γενητὸν and γεννητὸν as synonymous, while yet admitting that they are expressly
distinguished by Ath. in the text, is omitted for lack of
space.] | . And this again divine Scripture
recognises; for it says in the case of things originate, ‘All
things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing came to be2159
,’ and, ‘In wisdom hast Thou made
them all2160
;’ but in the case of sons which
are generate, ‘To Job there came to be seven sons and three
daughters2161
,’ and, ‘Abraham was an
hundred years old when there came to be to him Isaac his son2162
;’ and Moses said2163
, ‘If to any one there come to be
sons.’ Therefore since the Son is other than things originate,
alone the proper offspring of the Father’s essence, this plea of
the Arians about the word ‘become’ is worth nothing.
(5.) If moreover, baffled so far, they should
still violently insist that the language is that of comparison, and
that comparison in consequence implies oneness of kind, so that the Son
is of the nature of Angels, they will in the first place incur the
disgrace of rivalling and repeating what Valentinus held, and
Carpocrates, and those other heretics, of whom the former said that the
Angels were one in kind with the Christ, and Carpocrates that Angels
are framers of the world2164
| 2164 These
tenets and similar ones were common to many branches of the Gnostics,
who paid worship to the Angels, or ascribed to them the creation; the
doctrine of their consubstantiality with our Lord arose from their
belief in emanation. S. Athanasius here uses the word ὁμογενής, not ὁμοούσιος which was usual with them (vid. Bull. D. F. N. ii. 1,
§2) as with the Manichees after them, Beausobre, Manich.
iii. 8. | . Perchance it is
under the instruction of these masters that they compare the Word of
God with the Angels.
57. Though surely amid such speculations, they
will be moved by the sacred poet, saying, ‘Who is he among the
gods that shall be like unto the Lord2165
,’ and, ‘Among the gods there is
none like unto Thee, O Lord2166
.’ However,
they must be answered, with the chance of their profiting by it, that
comparison confessedly does belong to subjects one in kind, not to
those which differ. No one, for instance, would compare God with man,
or again man with brutes, nor wood with stone, because their natures
are unlike; but God is beyond comparison, and man is compared to man,
and wood to wood, and stone to stone. Now in such cases we should not
speak of ‘better,’ but of ‘rather’ and
‘more;’ thus Joseph was comely rather than his brethren,
and Rachel than Leah; star2167
is not better than
star, but is the rather excellent in glory; whereas in bringing
together things which differ in kind, then ‘better’ is used
to mark the difference, as has been said in the case of wisdom and
jewels. Had then the Apostle said, ‘by so much has the Son
precedence of the Angels,’ or ‘by so much greater,’
you would have had a plea, as if the Son were compared with the Angels;
but, as it is, in saying that He is ‘better,’ and differs
as far as Son from servants, the Apostle shews that He is other than
the Angels in nature.
(6.) Moreover
by saying that He it is who has ‘laid the foundation of all
things2168
,’ he shews that He is other than
all things originate. But if He be other and different in essence from
their nature, what comparison of His essence can2169
there be, or what likeness to them? though,
even if they have any such thoughts, Paul shall refute them, who speaks
to the very point, ‘For unto which of the Angels said He at any
time, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee? And of the Angels
He saith, Who maketh His Angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of
fire2170
.’
58. Observe here, the word ‘made’
belongs to things originate, and he calls them things made; but to the
Son he speaks not of making, nor of becoming, but of eternity and
kingship, and a Framer’s office, exclaiming, ‘Thy Throne, O
God, is for ever and ever;’ and, ‘Thou, Lord, in the
beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are
the works of Thine hands; they shall perish, but Thou remainest.’
From which words even they, were they but willing, might perceive that
the Framer is other than things framed, the former God, the latter
things originate, made out of nothing. For what has been said,
‘They shall perish,’ is said, not as if the creation were
destined for destruction, but to express the nature of things originate
by the issue to which they tend2171
. For things
which admit of perishing, though through the grace2172
| 2172 De
Decr. 19, note 3. | of their Maker they perish not, yet have
come out of nothing, and themselves witness that they once were not.
And on this account, since their nature is such, it is said of the Son,
‘Thou remainest,’ to shew His eternity; for not having the
capacity of perishing, as things originate have, but having eternal
duration, it is foreign to Him to have it said, ‘He was not
before His generation,’ but proper to Him to be always, and to
endure together with the Father. And though the Apostle had not thus
written in his Epistle to the Hebrews, still his other Epistles, and
the whole of Scripture, would certainly forbid their entertaining such
notions concerning the Word. But since he has here expressly written
it, and, as has been above shewn, the Son is Offspring of the
Father’s essence, and He is Framer, and other things are framed
by Him, and He is the Radiance and Word and Image and Wisdom of the
Father, and things originate stand and serve in their place below the
Triad, therefore the Son is different in kind and different in essence
from things originate, and on the contrary is proper to the
Father’s essence and one in nature with it2173
| 2173 Here
again is a remarkable avoidance of the word ὁμοούσιον. He says that the Son is ἑτερογενὴς
καὶ
ἑτεροούσιος
τῶν γενητῶν,
καὶ τῆς τοῦ
πατρὸς
οὐσίας ἴδιος
καὶ
ὁμοφυής.
vid. §§20, 21, notes. | . And hence it is that the Son too says not,
‘My Father is better than I2174
,’ lest
we should conceive Him to be foreign to His Nature, but
‘greater,’ not indeed in greatness, nor in time, but
because of His generation from the Father Himself2175
| 2175 Athan. otherwise explains this text, Incarn. contr. Arian.
4. if it be his. This text is thus taken by Basil. contr. Eun.
iv. p. 289. Naz. Orat. 30. 7, &c. &c. | , nay, in saying ‘greater’ He
again shows that He is proper to His essence.
59. (7). And the Apostle’s own reason for
saying, ‘so much better than the Angels,’ was not any wish
in the first instance to compare the essence2176
| 2176 §§60. 62. 64. ii. §18. | of
the Word to things originate (for He cannot be compared, rather they
are incommeasurable), but regarding the Word’s visitation in the
flesh, and the Economy which He then sustained, he wished to show that
He was not like those who had gone before Him; so that, as much as He
excelled in nature those who were sent afore by Him, by so much also
the grace which came from and through Him was better than the ministry
through Angels2177
| 2177 He
also applies this text to our Lord’s economy and ministry de
Sent. D. 11. in Apoll. ii. 15. | . For it is the
function of servants, to demand the fruits and no more; but of the Son
and Master to forgive the debts and to transfer the vineyard.
(8.) Certainly what the Apostle proceeds to say
shews the excellence of the Son over things originate; ‘Therefore
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken
by Angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we
neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by
the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him2178
.’ But if the Son were in the number of
things originate, He was not better than they, nor did disobedience
involve increase of punishment because of Him; any more than in the
Ministry of Angels there was not, according to each Angel, greater or
less guilt in the transgressors, but the Law was one, and one was its
vengeance on transgressors. But, whereas the Word is not in the number
of originate things, but is Son of the Father, therefore, as He Himself
is better and His acts better and transcendent, so also the punishment
is worse. Let them contemplate then the grace which is through the Son,
and let them acknowledge the witness which He gives even from His
works, that He is other than things originated, and alone the very Son
in the Father and the Father in Him. And the Law2179
| 2179 Part
of this chapter, as for instance (7) (8) is much more finished in point
of style than the general course of his Orations. It may be indeed only
the natural consequence of his warming with his subject, but this
beautiful passage looks very much like an insertion. Some words of it
are found in Sent. D. 11. written few years sooner [cf.
supr. 33, note 2.] | was spoken by
Angels, and perfected no one2180
, needing the
visitation of the Word, as Paul hath said; but that visitation has
perfected the work of the Father. And then, from Adam unto Moses death
reigned2181
; but the presence of the Word
abolished death2182
. And no longer in
Adam are we all dying2183
; but in Christ we
are all reviving. And then, from Dan to Beersheba was the Law
proclaimed, and in Judæa only was God known; but now, unto all the
earth has gone forth their voice, and all the earth has been filled
with the knowledge of God2184
, and the disciples
have made disciples of all the nations2185
,
and now is fulfilled what is written, ‘They shall be all taught
of God2186
.’ And then what was revealed was
but a type; but now the truth has been manifested. And this again the
Apostle himself describes afterwards more clearly, saying, ‘By so
much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament;’ and again,
‘But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much
also He is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established
upon better promises.’ And, ‘For the Law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did.’ And again he
says, ‘It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in
the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things
themselves with better sacrifices than these2187
.’ Both in the verse before us, then,
and throughout, does he ascribe the word ‘better’ to the
Lord, who is better and other than originated things. For better is the
sacrifice through Him, better the hope in Him; and also the promises
through Him, not merely as great compared with small, but the one
differing from the other in nature, because He who conducts this
economy, is ‘better’ than things originated.
60. (9.) Moreover the words ‘He is become
surety’ denote the pledge in our behalf which He has provided.
For as, being the ‘Word,’ He ‘became flesh2188
’ and ‘become’ we ascribe
to the flesh, for it is originated and created, so do we here the
expression ‘He is become,’ expounding it according to a
second sense, viz. because He has become man. And let these contentious
men know, that they fail in this their perverse purpose; let them know
that Paul does not signify that His essence2189
has become, knowing, as he did, that He is Son and Wisdom and Radiance
and Image of the Father; but here too he refers the word
‘become’ to the ministry of that covenant, in which death
which once ruled is abolished. Since here also the ministry through Him
has become better, in that ‘what the Law could not do in that it
was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh2190
,’ ridding it of the trespass, in
which, being continually held captive, it admitted not the Divine mind.
And having rendered the flesh capable of the Word, He made us walk, no
longer according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, and say
again and again, ‘But we are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit,’ and, ‘For the Son of God came into the world, not
to judge the world, but to redeem all men, and that the world might be
saved through Him2191
.’ Formerly
the world, as guilty, was under judgment from the Law; but now the Word
has taken on Himself the judgment, and having suffered in the body for
all, has bestowed salvation to all2192
| 2192 Vid.
Incarn. passim. Theod. Eranist. iii. pp. 196–198,
&c. &c. It was the tendency of all the heresies concerning the
Person of Christ to explain away or deny the Atonement. The Arians,
after the Platonists, insisted on the pre-existing Priesthood, as if
the incarnation and crucifixion were not of its essence. The
Apollinarians resolved the Incarnation into a manifestation, Theod.
Eran. i. The Nestorians denied the Atonement, Procl. ad
Armen. p. 615. And the Eutychians, Leont. Ep. 28,
5. | . With a view
to this has John exclaimed, ‘The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ2193
.’ Better
is grace than the Law, and truth than the shadow.
61. (10.) ‘Better’ then, as has been
said, could not have been brought to pass by any other than the Son,
who sits on the right hand of the Father. And what does this denote but
the Son’s genuineness, and that the Godhead of the Father is the
same as the Son’s2194
? For in that the
Son reigns in His Father’s kingdom, is seated upon the same
throne as the Father, and is contemplated in the Father’s
Godhead, therefore is the Word God, and whoso beholds the Son, beholds
the Father; and thus there is one God. Sitting then on the right, yet
He does not place His Father on the left2195
| 2195 Cf.
August. de Fid. et Symb. 14. Does this passage of Athan.’s
shew that the Anthropomorphites were stirring in Egypt
already? | ;
but whatever is right2196
and precious in the
Father, that also the Son has, and says, ‘All things that the
Father hath are Mine2197
.’ Wherefore
also the Son, though sitting on the right, also sees the Father on the
right, though it be as become man that He says, ‘I saw the Lord
always before My face, for He is on My right hand, therefore I shall
not fall2198
.’ This shews moreover that the
Son is in the Father and the Father
in the Son; for the Father being on the right, the Son is on the right;
and while the Son sits on the right of the Father, the Father is in the
Son. And the Angels indeed minister ascending and descending; but
concerning the Son he saith, ‘And let all the Angels of God
worship Him2199
.’ And when Angels minister, they
say, ‘I am sent unto thee,’ and, ‘The Lord has
commanded;’ but the Son, though He say in human fashion, ‘I
am sent2200
,’ and comes to finish the work
and to minister, nevertheless says, as being Word and Image, ‘I
am in the Father, and the Father in Me;’ and, ‘He that hath
seen Me, hath seen the Father;’ and, ‘The Father that
abideth in Me, He doeth the works2201
;’ for
what we behold in that Image are the Father’s works.
(11.) What has been already said ought to shame
those persons who are fighting against the very truth; however, if,
because it is written, ‘become better,’ they refuse to
understand ‘become,’ as used of the Son, as ‘has been
and is2202
;’ or again as referring to the
better covenant having come to be2203
| 2203 Of
His human nature, and (10). | , as we have
said, but consider from this expression that the Word is called
originate, let them hear the same again in a concise form, since they
have forgotten what has been said.
62. If the Son be in the number of the Angels,
then let the word ‘become’ apply to Him as to them, and let
Him not differ at all from them in nature; but be they either sons with
Him, or be He an Angel with them; sit they one and all together on the
right hand of the Father, or be the Son standing with them all as a
ministering Spirit, sent forth to minister Himself as they are. But if
on the other hand Paul distinguishes the Son from things originate,
saying, ‘To which of the Angels said He at any time, Thou art My
Son?’ and the one frames heaven and earth, but they are made by
Him; and He sitteth with the Father, but they stand by ministering, who
does not see that he has not used the word ‘become’ of the
essence of the Word, but of the ministration come through Him? For as,
being the ‘Word,’ He ‘became flesh,’ so when
become man, He became by so much better in His ministry, than the
ministry which came by the Angels, as Son excels servants and Framer
things framed. Let them cease therefore to take the word
‘become’ of the substance of the Son, for He is not one of
originated things; and let them acknowledge that it is indicative of
His ministry and the Economy which came to pass.
(12.) But how He became better in His ministry,
being better in nature than things originate, appears from what has
been said before, which, I consider, is sufficient in itself to put
them to shame. But if they carry on the contest, it will be proper upon
their rash daring to close with them, and to oppose to them those
similar expressions which are used concerning the Father Himself. This
may serve to shame them to refrain their tongue from evil, or may teach
them the depth of their folly. Now it is written, ‘Become my
strong rock and house of defence, that Thou mayest save me2204
.’ And again, ‘The Lord became a
defence for the oppressed2205
,’ and the
like which are found in divine Scripture. If then they apply these
passages to the Son, which perhaps is nearest to the truth, then let
them acknowledge that the sacred writers ask Him, as not being
originate, to become to them ‘a strong rock and house of
defence;’ and for the future let them understand
‘become,’ and ‘He made,’ and ‘He
created,’ of His incarnate presence. For then did He become
‘a strong rock and house of defence,’ when He bore our sins
in His own body upon the tree, and said, ‘Come unto Me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest2206
.’
63. But if they refer these passages to the
Father, will they, when it is here also written, ‘Become’
and ‘He became,’ venture so far as to affirm that God is
originate? Yea, they will dare, as they thus argue concerning His Word;
for the course of their argument carries them on to conjecture the same
things concerning the Father, as they devise concerning His Word. But
far be such a notion ever from the thoughts of all the faithful! for
neither is the Son in the number of things originated, nor do the words
of Scripture in question, ‘Become,’ and ‘He
became,’ denote beginning of being, but that succour which was
given to the needy. For God is always, and one and the same; but men
have come to be afterwards through the Word, when the Father Himself
willed it; and God is invisible and inaccessible to originated things,
and especially to men upon earth. When then men in infirmity invoke
Him, when in persecution they ask help, when under injuries they pray,
then the Invisible, being a lover of man, shines forth upon them with
His beneficence, which He exercises through and in His proper Word. And
forthwith the divine manifestation is made to every one according to
his need, and is made to the weak health, and to the persecuted a
‘refuge’ and ‘house of defence;’ and to the
injured He says, ‘While thou speakest I will say, Here I am2207
.’ Whatever defence then comes to each
through the Son, that each says that God has come to be to himself,
since succour comes from God Himself through the Word. Moreover the
usage of men recognises this, and every one will confess its propriety.
Often succour comes from man to man; one has undertaken toil for the
injured, as Abraham for Lot; and another has opened his home to the
persecuted, as Obadiah to the sons of the prophets; and another has
entertained a stranger, as Lot the Angels; and another has supplied the
needy, as Job those who begged of him. And then, should one and the
other of these benefited persons say, ‘Such a one became an
assistance to me,’ and another ‘and to me a refuge,’
and ‘to another a supply,’ yet in so saying would not be
speaking of the original becoming or of the essence of their
benefactors, but of the beneficence coming to themselves from them; so
also when the saints say concerning God, ‘He became’ and
‘become Thou,’ they do not denote any original becoming,
for God is without beginning and unoriginate, but the salvation which
is made to be unto men from Him.
64. This being so understood, it is parallel also
respecting the Son, that whatever, and however often, is said, such as,
‘He became’ and ‘become,’ should ever have the
same sense: so that as, when we hear the words in question,
‘become better than the Angels’ and ‘He
became,’ we should not conceive any original becoming of the
Word, nor in any way fancy from such terms that He is originate; but
should understand Paul’s words of His ministry and Economy when
He became man. For when ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us2208
’ and came to minister and to grant
salvation to all, then He became to us salvation, and became life, and
became propitiation; then His economy in our behalf became much better
than the Angels, and He became the Way and became the Resurrection. And
as the words ‘Become my strong rock’ do not denote that the
essence of God Himself became, but His lovingkindness, as has been
said, so also here the ‘having become better than the
Angels,’ and, ‘He became,’ and, ‘by so much is
Jesus become a better surety,’ do not signify that the essence of
the Word is originate (perish the thought!), but the beneficence which
towards us came to be through His becoming Man; unthankful though the
heretics be, and obstinate in behalf of their irreligion.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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