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| Introduction to Proverbs viii. 22 continued. Absurdity of supposing a Son or Word created in order to the creation of other creatures; as to the creation being unable to bear God's immediate hand, God condescends to the lowest. Moreover, if the Son a creature, He too could not bear God's hand, and an infinite series of media will be necessary. Objected, that, as Moses who led out the Israelites was a man, so our Lord; but Moses was not the Agent in creation:--again, that unity is found in created ministrations, but all such ministrations are defective and dependent:--again, that He learned to create, yet could God's Wisdom need teaching? and why should He learn, if the Father worketh hitherto? If the Son was created to create us, He is for our sake, not we for His.
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Chapter
XVII.—Introduction to Proverbs viii.
22 continued. Absurdity of supposing a Son or Word created
in order to the creation of other creatures; as to the creation being
unable to bear God’s immediate hand, God condescends to the
lowest. Moreover, if the Son a creature, He too could not bear
God’s hand, and an infinite series of media will be necessary.
Objected, that, as Moses who led out the Israelites was a man, so our
Lord; but Moses was not the Agent in creation:—again, that unity
is found in created ministrations, but all such ministrations are
defective and dependent:—again, that He learned to create, yet
could God’s Wisdom need teaching? and why should He learn, if the
Father worketh hitherto? If the Son was created to create us, He is for
our sake, not we for His.
24 (continued). And here it were well to ask them also this question2360
| 2360 These
sections 24–26 are very similar to de Decr. 7, 8, yet not
in wording or order, as is the case with other passages. | , for a still clearer refutation of their
heresy;—Wherefore, when all things are creatures, and all are
brought into consistence from nothing, and the Son Himself, according
to you, is creature and work, and once was not, wherefore has He made
‘all things through Him’ alone, ‘and without Him was
made not one thing2361
?’ or why is
it, when ‘all things’ are spoken of, that no one thinks the
Son is signified in the number, but only things originate; whereas when
Scripture speaks of the Word, it does not understand Him as being in
the number of ‘all,’ but places Him with the Father, as Him
in whom Providence and salvation for ‘all’ are wrought and
effected by the Father, though all things surely might at the same
command have come to be, at which He was brought into being by God
alone? For God is not wearied by commanding2362
,
nor is His strength unequal to the making of all things, that He should
alone create the only Son2363
| 2363 μόνος
μόνον, also
infr. 30. this phrase is synonymous with ‘not as one of
the creatures,’ vid. μόνος ὑπὸ
μόνου, supr.
p. 12. also p. 75. note 6. vid. μόνως, de Syn. 26, fin. note 2, though that term is somewhat otherwise explained
by S. Greg. Naz. μόνως οὐχ ὡς
τὰ σώματα, Orat. 25, 16. Eunomius understood by μονογενής, not μόνος
γεννηθεὶς but παρὰ
μόνου. It should be
observed, however, that this is a sense in which some of the Greek
Fathers understand the term, thus contrasting generation with
procession. vid. Petav. Trin. vii. 11. §3. | , and need His
ministry and aid for the framing of the rest. For He lets nothing stand
over, which He wills to be done; but He willed only2364
, and all things subsisted, and no one
‘hath resisted His will2365
.’ Why then
were not all things brought into being by God alone at that same
command, at which the Son came into being? Or let them tell us, why did
all things through Him come to be, who was Himself but originate? How
void of reason! however, they say concerning Him, that ‘God
willing to create originate nature, when He saw that it could not
endure the untempered hand of the Father, and to be created by Him,
makes and creates first and alone one only, and calls Him Son and Word,
that, through Him as a medium, all things might thereupon be brought to
be2366
| 2366 Vid.
de Decr. §8. supr. p. 2. also Cyril. Thesaur.
pp. 150, 241. de Trin. p. 523. Basil contr. Eunom. ii.
21. vid. also infr. 29. Orat. iv. 11, 12. | .’ This they not only have said, but
they have dared to put it into writing, namely, Eusebius, Arius, and
Asterius who sacrificed2367
.
25. Is not this a full proof of that irreligion,
with which they have drugged
themselves with much madness, till they blush not to be intoxicate
against the truth? For if they shall assign the toil of making all
things as the reason why God made the Son only, the whole creation will
cry out against them as saying unworthy things of God; and Isaiah too
who has said in Scripture, ‘The Everlasting God, the Lord, the
Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary: there
is no searching of His understanding2368
.’ And if
God made the Son alone, as not deigning to make the rest, but committed
them to the Son as an assistant, this on the other hand is unworthy of
God, for in Him there is no pride. Nay the Lord reproves the thought,
when He says, ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?’
and ‘one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father
which is in heaven.’ And again, ‘Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the
fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather
into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them; are ye not much
better than they? Which of you by taking thought, can add one cubit
unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they
spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of
the field which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall
He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith2369
?’ If then it be not unworthy of God to
exercise His Providence, even down to things so small, a hair of the
head, and a sparrow, and the grass of the field, also it was not
unworthy of Him to make them. For what things are the subjects of His
Providence, of those He is Maker through His proper Word. Nay a worse
absurdity lies before the men who thus speak; for they distinguish2370
| 2370 διαίρουσιν, as supr. de Decr. 7. | between the creatures and the framing; and
consider the latter the work of the Father, the creatures the work of
the Son; whereas either all things must be brought to be by the Father
with the Son, or if all that is originate comes to be through the Son,
we must not call Him one of the originated things.
26. Next, their folly may be exposed
thus:—if even the Word be of originated nature, how, whereas this
nature is too feeble to be God’s own handywork, could He alone of
all endure to be made by the unoriginate and unmitigated Essence of
God, as ye say? for it follows either that, if He could endure it, all
could endure it, or, it being endurable by none, it was not endurable
by the Word, for you say that He is one of originate things. And again,
if because originate nature could not endure to be God’s own
handywork, there arose need of a mediator2371
| 2371 Vid.
ib. 8. vid. also a similar argument in Epiphanius Hær. 76.
p. 951. but the arguments of Ath. in these Orations are so generally
adopted by the succeeding Fathers, that it is impossible and needless
to enumerate the instances of agreement. | ,
it must follow, that, the Word being originate and a creature, there is
need of medium in His framing also, since He too is of that originate
nature which endures not to be made of God, but needs a medium. But if
some being as a medium be found for Him, then again a fresh mediator is
needed for that second, and thus tracing back and following out, we
shall invent a vast crowd of accumulating mediators; and thus it will
be impossible that the creation should subsist, as ever wanting a
mediator, and that medium not coming into being without another
mediator; for all of them will be of that originate nature which
endures not to be made of God alone, as ye say. How abundant is that
folly, which obliges them to hold that what has already come into
being, admits not of coming! Or perhaps they opine that they have not
even come to be, as still seeking their mediator; for, on the ground of
their so irreligious and futile notion2372
,
what is would not have subsistence, for want of the medium.
27. But again they allege
this:—‘Behold, through Moses too did He lead the people
from Egypt, and through him He gave the Law, yet he was a man; so that
it is possible for like to be brought into being by like.’ They
should veil their face when they say this, to save their much shame.
For Moses was not sent to frame the world, nor to call into being
things which were not, or to fashion men like himself, but only to be
the minister of words to the people, and to King Pharaoh. And this is a
very different thing, for to minister is of things originate as of
servants, but to frame and to create is of God alone, and of His proper
Word and His Wisdom. Wherefore, in the matter of framing, we shall find
none but God’s Word; for ‘all things are made in
Wisdom,’ and ‘without the Word was made not one
thing.’ But as regards ministrations there are, not one only, but
man out of their whole number, whomever the Lord will send. For there
are many Archangels, many Thrones, and Authorities, and Dominions,
thousands of thousands, and myriads of myriads, standing before Him2373
| 2373 i.
62. and Ambros. de Fid. iii. 106. | , ministering and ready to be sent. And many Prophets,
and twelve Apostles, and Paul. And Moses himself was not alone, but
Aaron with him, and next other seventy were filled with the Holy Ghost.
And Moses was succeeded by Joshua the son of Nun, and he by the Judges,
and they not by one, but by a number of Kings. If then the Son were a
creature and one of things originate, there must have been many such
sons, that God might have many such ministers, just as there is a
multitude of those others. But if this is not to be seen, but while the
creatures are many, the Word is one, any one will collect from this,
that the Son differs from all, and is not on a level with the
creatures, but proper to the Father. Hence there are not many Words,
but one only Word of the one Father, and one Image of the one God2374
. ‘But behold,’ they say,
‘there is one sun only2375
| 2375 Vid.
Euseb. Demon. iv. 5 fin. | , and one
earth.’ Let them maintain, senseless as they are, that there is
one water and one fire, and then they may be told that everything that
is brought to be, is one in its own essence; but for the ministry and
service committed to it, by itself it is not adequate nor sufficient
alone. For God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of
heaven, to give light upon the earth and to divide the day from the
night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and
years.’ And then he says, ‘And God made two great lights,
the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the
night: He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over
the night2376
.’
28. Behold there are many lights, and not the sun
only, nor the moon only, but each is one in essence, and yet the
service of all is one and common; and what each lacks, is supplied by
the other, and the office of lighting is performed by all2377
. Thus the sun has authority to shine
throughout the day and no more; and the moon through the night; and the
stars together with them accomplish the seasons and years, and become
for signs, each according to the need that calls for it. Thus too the
earth is not for all things, but for the fruits only, and to be a
ground to tread on for the living things that inhabit it. And the
firmament is to divide between waters and waters, and to be a place to
set the stars in. So also fire and water, with other things, have been
brought into being to be the constituent parts of bodies; and in short
no one thing is alone, but all things that are made, as if members of
each other, make up as it were one body, namely, the world. If then
they thus conceive of the Son, let all men throw stones2378
at them, considering the Word to be a part
of this universe, and a part insufficient without the rest for the
service committed to Him. But if this be manifestly irreligious, let
them acknowledge that the Word is not in the number of things
originate, but the sole and proper Word of the Father, and their
Framer. ‘But,’ say they, ‘though He is a creature and
of things originate; yet as from a master and artificer has He2379
| 2379 Cyril. in Joan. p. 47, c. | learned to frame, and thus ministered2380
to God who taught Him.’ For thus the
Sophist Asterius, on the strength of having learned to deny the Lord,
has dared to write, not observing the absurdity which follows. For if
framing be a thing to be taught, let them beware lest they say that God
Himself be a Framer not by nature but by science, so as to admit of His
losing the power. Besides, if the Wisdom of God attained to frame by
teaching, how is He still Wisdom, when He needs to learn? and what was
He before He learned? For it was not Wisdom, if it needed teaching; it
was surely but some empty thing, and not essential Wisdom2381
| 2381 οὐσιωδὴς
σοφία. vid.
Orat. iv. 1. | , but from advancement it had the name of
Wisdom, and will be only so long Wisdom as it can keep what it has
learned. For what has accrued not by any nature, but from learning,
admits of being one time unlearned. But to speak thus of the Word of
God, is not the part of Christians but of Greeks.
29. For if the power of framing accrues to anyone
from teaching, these insensate men are ascribing jealousy and
weakness2382
to God;—jealousy, in that He has
not taught many how to frame, so that there may be around Him, as
Archangels and Angels many, so framers many; and weakness, in that He
could not make by Himself, but needed a fellow-worker, or under-worker;
and that, though it has been already shewn that created nature admits
of being made by God alone, since they consider the Son to be of such a
nature and so made. But God is deficient in nothing: perish the
thought! for He has said Himself, ‘I am full2383
.’ Nor did the Word become Framer of
all from teaching; but being the Image and Wisdom of the Father, He
does the things of the Father. Nor hath He made the Son for the making
of things created; for behold, though the Son exists, still2384
| 2384 vid.
p. 315, note 6. Serap. ii. 2. fin. | the Father is seen to work, as the Lord
Himself says, ‘My Father worketh hitherto and I work2385
.’ If however, as you say, the Son came into being
for the purpose of making the things after Him, and yet the Father is
seen to work even after the Son, you must hold even in this light the
making of such a Son to be superfluous. Besides, why, when He would
create us, does He seek for a mediator at all, as if His will did not
suffice to constitute whatever seemed good to Him? Yet the Scriptures
say, ‘He hath done whatsoever pleased Him2386
,’ and ‘Who hath resisted His
will2387
?’ And if His mere will2388
is sufficient for the framing of all things,
you make the office of a mediator superfluous; for your instance of
Moses, and the sun and the moon has been shewn not to hold. And here
again is an argument to silence you. You say that God, willing the
creation of originated nature, and deliberating concerning it, designs
and creates the Son, that through Him He may frame us; now, if so,
consider how great an irreligion2389
| 2389 Notes
on §58, and de Decr. 1. | you have dared
to utter.
30. First, the Son appears rather to have been
for us brought to be, than we for Him; for we were not created for Him,
but He is made for us2390
; so that He owes
thanks to us, not we to Him, as the woman to the man. ‘For the
man,’ says Scripture, ‘was not created for the woman, but
the woman for the man.’ Therefore, as ‘the man is the image
and glory of God, and the woman the glory of the man2391
,’ so we are made God’s image and
to His glory; but the Son is our image, and exists for our glory. And
we were brought into being that we might be; but God’s Word was
made, as you must hold, not that He might be2392
;
but as an instrument2393
| 2393 ὄργανον,
supr. i. 26, n. 5. | for our need, so
that not we from Him, but He is constituted from our need. Are not men
who even conceive such thoughts, more than insensate? For if for us the
Word was made, He has not precedence2394
| 2394 πρῶτος
ἡμῶν, §63,
note. | of us with
God; for He did not take counsel about us having Him within Him, but
having us in Himself, counselled, as they say, concerning His own Word.
But if so, perchance the Father had not even a will for the Son at all;
for not as having a will for Him, did He create Him, but with a will
for us, He formed Him for our sake; for He designed Him after designing
us; so that, according to these irreligious men, henceforth the Son,
who was made as an instrument, is superfluous, now that they are made
for whom He was created. But if the Son alone was made by God alone,
because He could endure it, but we, because we could not, were made by
the Word, why does He not first take counsel about the Word, who could
endure His making, instead of taking counsel about us? or why does He
not make more of Him who was strong, than of us who were weak? or why
making Him first, does He not counsel about Him first? or why
counselling about us first, does He not make us first, His will being
sufficient for the constitution of all things? But He creates Him
first, yet counsels first about us; and He wills us before the
Mediator; and when He wills to create us, and counsels about us, He
calls us creatures; but Him, whom He frames for us, He calls Son and
proper Heir. But we, for whose sake He made Him, ought rather to be
called sons; or certainly He, who is His Son, is rather the object of
His previous thoughts and of His will, for whom He makes all us. Such
the sickness, such the vomit2395
| 2395 ἔμετοι καὶ
ναυτίαὶ ναυτίαι sea-sickness; Epictetus, in a somewhat similar sense, ‘There
is great danger of pouring forth straightway, what one has not
digested.’ Enchirid. 46. | of the
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