Chapter X.
The Arians openly take sides with the heathen in
attacking the words: “He that believeth on Me, believeth
not on Me,” etc. The true meaning of the passage is
unfolded; and to prevent us from believing that the Lord forbade us to
have faith in Him, it is shown how He spoke at one time as God, at
another as Man. After bringing forward examples of various
results of that faith, he shows that certain other passages also must
be taken in the same way.
118. Last of all,
to show that they are not Christians, they deny that we are to believe
on Christ, saying that it is written: “He that believeth on
Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me.”2673
I was awaiting this confession;
why did you delude me with your quibbles? I knew I had to contend
with heathens. Nay, they indeed are converted, but ye are
not. If they believe, that the sacrament [of Baptism] is safe; ye
have received it, and destroyed it, or perchance it has never been
received, but was unreal2674
| 2674 It would seem
that the form of words was sometimes changed by Arians, in which case
there would be of course no valid baptism. |
from the
first.
119. It is written, they say:
“He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that
sent Me.” But see what follows, and see how the Son of God
wishes to be seen; for it continues: “And he that seeth Me,
seeth Him that sent Me,”2675
for the Father
is seen in the Son. Thus, He has explained what He had spoken
earlier, that he who confesses the Father believes on the Son.
For he who knows not the Son, neither knows the Father. For every
one that denies the Son has not the Father, but he that confesses the
Son has both the Father and the Son.2676
120. What, then, is the meaning of
“Believeth not on Me”? That is, not on that which you
can perceive in bodily form, nor merely on the man whom you see.
For He has stated that we are to believe not merely on a man, but that
thou mayest believe that Jesus Christ Himself is both God and
Man. Wherefore, for both reasons He says: “I came not
from Myself;”2677
and
again: “I am the beginning, of which also I speak to
you.”2678
As Man
He came not from Himself; as Son of God He takes not
His beginning from men; but
“I am,” He says, “Myself ‘the beginning of
which also I speak to you.’ Neither are the words which I
speak human, but divine.”
121. Nor is it right to believe that He
denied we were to believe on Him, since He Himself said:
“That whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in
darkness;”2679
and in another
place again: “For this is the will of My Father that sent
Me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have
eternal life;”2680
and
again: “Ye believe in God, believe also in
Me.”2681
122. Let no one, therefore, receive the Son
without the Father, because we read of the Son. The Son hath the
Father, but not in a temporal sense, nor by reason of His passion, nor
owing to His conception, nor by grace. I have read of His
Generation, I have not read of His Conception. And the Father
says: “I have begotten;”2682
He does not say: “I have
created.” And the Son calls not God His Creator in the
eternity of His divine Generation, but Father.
123. He represents Himself also now in the
character of man, now in the majesty of God; now claiming for Himself
oneness of Godhead with the Father, now taking upon Him all the frailty
of human flesh; now saying that He has not His own doctrine, and now
that He seeks not His own will; now pointing out that His testimony is
not true, and now that it is true. For He Himself has said:
“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not
true.”2683
Later
on He says: “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is
true.”2684
124. And how is Thy testimony, Lord Jesus,
not true? Did not he who believed it, though he hung upon the
cross, and paid the penalty for the crime he owned to, cast aside the
deserts of the robber and gain the reward of the innocent?2685
125. Was Paul deceived, who received his
sight, because he believed;2686
which sight
he had lost, before he believed?
126. And did Joshua, the son of Nun, err in
recognizing the leader of the heavenly host?2687
But after he believed, he
forthwith conquered, being found worthy to triumph in the battle of
faith. Again, he did not lead forth his armed ranks into the
fight, nor did he overthrow the ramparts of the enemy’s walls,
with battering rams or other engines of war, but with the sound of the
seven trumpets of the priests. Thus the blare of the trumpet and
the badge of the priest brought a cruel war to an end.
127. A harlot saw this; and she who in the
destruction of the city lost all hope of any means of safety, because
her faith had conquered, bound a scarlet thread in her window, and thus
uplifted a sign of her faith and the banner of the Lord’s
Passion;2688
so that the
semblance of the mystic blood, which should redeem the world, might be
in memory. So, without, the name of Joshua was a sign of victory
to those who fought; within, the semblance of the Lord’s Passion
was a sign of salvation to those in danger. Wherefore, because
Rahab understood the heavenly mystery, the Lord says in the
Psalm: “I will be mindful of Rahab and Babylon that know
Me.”2689
128. How, then, is Thy testimony not true, O
Lord, except it be given in accordance with the frailty of man?
For “every man is a liar.”2690
129. Lastly, to prove that He spoke as man,
He says: “The Father that sent Me, He beareth witness of
Me.”2691
But His
testimony as God is true, as He Himself says: “My record is
true: for I know whence I come, and whither I go, but ye know not
whence I come, and whither I go. Ye judge after the
flesh.”2692
They
judge then not after the Godhead but after the manhood, who think that
Christ had not the power of bearing witness.
130. Therefore, when thou hearest:
“He that believeth, believeth not on Me;” or:
“The Father that sent Me, He gave Me a
commandment;”2693
thou hast now
learnt whither thou oughtest to refer those words. Lastly, He
shows what the commandment is, saying: “I lay down My life,
that I may take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it
down of Myself.”2694
Thou
seest, then, what is said so as to show He had full power to lay down
or to take up His life; as He also said: “I have power to
lay it down, and I have power again to take it up. This
commandment have I received of My Father.”2695
131. Whether, then, a command, or, as some Latin
manuscripts have it, a direction was given, it was certainly not given
to Him as God, but as incarnate man, with reference to the victory He
should gain in undergoing His Passion.
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