{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/204/2040202.htm","path":"chr/ecf/204/2040202.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/204/2040202.htm","text":"Chapter IV.\u2014Proof of the Catholic Sense of the Word Son. Power, Word or Reason, and Wisdom, the names of the Son, imply eternity; as well as the Father\u2019s title of Fountain. The Arians reply, that these do not formally belong to the essence of the Son, but are names given Him; that God has many words, powers, &c. Why there is but one Son and Word, &c. All the titles of the Son coincide in Him.\n15. This then is quite enough to expose the infamy of the Arian heresy; for, as the Lord has granted, out of their own words is irreligion brought home to them 848 . But come now and let us on our part act on the offensive, and call on them for an answer; for now is fair time, when their own ground has failed them, to question them on ours; perhaps it may abash the perverse, and disclose to them whence they have fallen. We have learned from divine Scripture, that the Son of God, as was said above, is the very Word and Wisdom of the Father. For the Apostle says, \u2018Christ the power of God and the Wisdom of God 849 ;\u2019 and John after saying, \u2018And the Word was made flesh,\u2019 at once adds, \u2018And we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth 850 ,\u2019 so that, the Word being the Only-begotten Son, in this Word and in Wisdom heaven and earth and all that is therein were made. And of this Wisdom that God is Fountain we have learned from 851 Baruch, by Israel\u2019s being charged with having forsaken the Fountain of Wisdom. If then they deny Scripture, they are at once aliens to their name, and may fitly be called of all men atheists 852 , and Christ\u2019s enemies, for they have brought upon themselves these names. But if they agree with us that the sayings of Scripture are divinely inspired, let them dare to say openly what they think in secret that God was once wordless and wisdomless 853 ; and p. 160 let them in their madness 854 say, \u2018There was once when He was not,\u2019 and, \u2018before His generation, Christ was not 855 ;\u2019 and again let them declare that the Fountain begat not Wisdom from itself, but acquired it from without, till they have the daring to say, \u2018The Son came of nothing;\u2019 whence it will follow that there is no longer a Fountain, but a sort of pool, as if receiving water from without, and usurping the name of Fountain 856 .\n16. How full of irreligion this is, I consider none can doubt who has ever so little understanding. But since they mutter something about Word and Wisdom being only names of the Son 857 , we must ask then, If these are only names of the Son, He must be something else beside them. And if He is higher than the names, it is not lawful from the lesser to denote the higher; but if He be less than the names, yet He surely must have in Him the principle of this more honourable appellation; and this implies his advance, which is an irreligion equal to anything that has gone before. For He who is in the Father, and in whom also the Father is, who says, \u2018I and the Father are one 858 ,\u2019 whom he that hath seen, hath seen the Father, to say that He has been exalted 859 by anything external, is the extreme of madness. However, when they are beaten hence, and like Eusebius and his fellows, are in these great straits, then they have this remaining plea, which Arius too in ballads, and in his own Thalia 860 , fabled, as a new difficulty: \u2018Many words speaketh God; which then of these are we to call Son and Word, Only-begotten of the Father 861 ?\u2019 Insensate, and anything but Christians 862 ! for first, on using such language about God, they conceive of Him almost as a man, speaking and reversing His first words by His second, just as if one Word from God were not sufficient for the framing of all things at the Father\u2019s will, and for His providential care of all. For His speaking many words would argue a feebleness in them all, each needing the service of the other. But that God should have one Word, which is the true doctrine, both shews the power of God, and the perfection of the Word that is from Him, and the religious understanding of them who thus believe.\n17. O that they would consent to confess the truth from this their own statement! for if they once grant that God produces words, they plainly know Him to be a Father; and acknowledging this, let them consider that, while they are loth to ascribe one Word to God, they are imagining that He is Father of many; and while they are loth to say that there is no Word of God at all, yet they do not confess that He is the Son of God,\u2014which is ignorance of the truth, and inexperience in divine Scripture. For if God is Father of a word at all, wherefore is not He that is begotten a Son? And again, who should be Son of God, but His Word? For there are not many words, or each would be imperfect, but one is the Word, that He only may be perfect, and because, God being one, His Image too must be one, which is the Son. For the Son of God, as may be learnt from the divine oracles themselves, is Himself the Word of God, and the Wisdom, and the Image, and the Hand, and the Power; for God\u2019s offspring is one, and of the generation from the Father these titles are tokens 863 . For if you say the Son, you have declared what is from the Father by nature; and if you think of the Word, you are thinking again of what is p. 161 from Him, and what is inseparable; and, speaking of Wisdom, again you mean just as much, what is not from without, but from Him and in Him; and if you name the Power and the Hand, again you speak of what is proper to essence; and, speaking of the Image, you signify the Son; for what else is like God but the offspring from Him? Doubtless the things, which came to be through the Word, these are \u2018founded in Wisdom\u2019 and what are \u2018founded in Wisdom,\u2019 these are all made by the Hand, and came to be through the Son. And we have proof of this, not from external sources, but from the Scriptures; for God Himself says by Isaiah the Prophet; \u2018My hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens 864 .\u2019 And again, \u2018And I will cover thee in the shadow of My Hand, by which I planted the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth 865 .\u2019 And David being taught this, and knowing that the Lord\u2019s Hand was nothing else than Wisdom, says in the Psalm, \u2018In wisdom hast Thou made them all; the earth is full of Thy creation 866 .\u2019 Solomon also received the same from God, and said, \u2018The Lord by wisdom founded the earth 867 ,\u2019 and John, knowing that the Word was the Hand and the Wisdom, thus preached, \u2018In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God: all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made 868 .\u2019 And the Apostle, seeing that the Hand and the Wisdom and the Word was nothing else than the Son, says, \u2018God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by whom also He made the ages 869 .\u2019 And again, \u2018There is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him 870 .\u2019 And knowing also that the Word, the Wisdom, the Son Himself was the Image of the Father, he says in the Epistle to the Colossians, \u2018Giving thanks to God and the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son; in whom we have redemption, even the remission of sins; who is the Image of the Invisible God, the First-born of every creature; for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and in Him all things consist 871 .\u2019 For as all things are created by the Word, so, because He is the Image, are they also created in Him 872 . And thus anyone who directs his thoughts to the Lord, will avoid stumbling upon the stone of offence, but rather will go forward to the brightness in the light of truth; for this is really the doctrine of truth, though these contentious men burst with spite 873 , neither religious toward God, nor abashed at their confutation.\nThe main argument of the Arians was that our lord was a Son, and therefore was not eternal, but of a substance which had a beginning. [Prolegg. ch. ii. \u00a73 (2) a.] Accordingly Athanasius says, \u2018Having argued with them as to the meaning of their own selected term \u201cSon,\u201d let us go on to others, which on the very face make for us, such as Word, Wisdom, &c.\u2019\n159:849 159:850 159:851 159:852 159:853\n\u1f04\u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2, \u1f04\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03bf\u03c2. Vid. infr., \u00a726. This is a frequent argument in the controversy, viz. that to deprive the Father of His Son or substantial Word (\u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2), is as great a sacrilege as to deny His Reason, \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2, from which the Son receives His name. Thus Orat. i. \u00a714. fin. Athan. says, \u2018imputing to God\u2019s nature an absence of His Word (\u1f00\u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03af\u03b1\u03bd or irrationality), they are most irreligious.\u2019 Vid. \u00a719. fin. 24. Elsewhere, he says, \u2018Is a man not mad himself, who even entertains the thought that God is word-less and wisdom-less? for such illustrations and such images Scripture hath proposed, that, considering the inability of human nature to comprehend concerning God, we might even from these, however poorly and dimly, discern as far as is attainable.\u2019 Orat. ii. 32. vid. also iii. 63. iv. 12. Serap. ii. 2.\n160:854 160:855\nThese were among the original positions of the Arians; for the former, see above, note 1; the latter is one of those specified in the Nicene Anathema.\n160:856\nAnd so \u03c0\u03b7\u03b3\u1f74 \u03be\u03b7\u03c1\u03ac. Serap. ii. 2. Orat. i. \u00a714 fin. also ii. \u00a72, where Athanasius speaks as if those who deny that Almighty God is Father, cannot really believe in Him as a Creator. If the divine substance be not fruitful (\u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03c0\u03bf\u03b3\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2), but barren, as they say, as a light which enlightens not, and a dry fountain, are they not ashamed to maintain that He possesses the creative energy?\u2019 Vid. also \u03c0\u03b7\u03b3\u1f74 \u03b8\u03b5\u03cc\u03c4\u03b7\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2, Pseudo-Dion. Div. Nom. c. 2. \u03c0\u03b7\u03b3\u1f74 \u1f10\u03ba \u03c0\u03b7\u03b3\u1fc6\u03c2, of the Son, Epiphan. Ancor. 19. And Cyril, \u2018If thou take from God His being Father, thou wilt deny the generative power (\u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03c0\u03bf\u03b3\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd) of the divine nature so that It no longer is perfect. This then is a token of its perfection, and the Son who went forth from Him apart from time, is a pledge (\u03c3\u03c6\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03af\u03c2) to the Father that He is perfect.\u2019 Thesaur. p. 37.\n160:857\nArius said, as the Eunomians after him, that the Son was not really, but only called, Word and Wisdom, which were simply attributes of God, and the prototypes of the Son. Vid. Socr. i. 6. Theod. H. E. i. 3, and infr. Orat. ii. 37, 38.\n160:858 160:859 160:860 160:861\nAs the Arians took the title Son in that part of its earthly sense in which it did not apply to our Lord, so they misinterpreted the title Word also; which denoted the Son\u2019s immateriality and indivisible presence in the Father, but did not express His perfection. Vid. Orat. ii. \u00a734\u201336. contr. Gent. 41. ad Ep. \u00c6g. 16. Epiph. H\u00e6r. 65. 3. Nyss. in Eun. xii. p. 349. Origen (in a passage, however, of questionable doctrine), says, \u2018As there are gods many, but to us one God the Father, and many lords, but to us one Lord Jesus Christ, so there are many words, but we pray that in us may exist the Word that was in the beginning, with God, and was God.\u2019 In Joan. tom. ii. 3. \u2018Many things, it is acknowledged, does the Father speak to the Son,\u2019 say the Semiarians at Ancyra, \u2018but the words which God speaks to the Son, are not sons. They are not substances of God, but vocal energies; but the Son, though a Word, is not such, but, being a Son, is a substance.\u2019 Epiph. H\u00e6r. 73. 12. The Semiarians are speaking against Sabellianism, which took the same ground here as Arianism; so did the heresy of the Samosatene, who according to Epiphanius, considered our Lord as the internal Word, or thought. H\u00e6r. 65. The term word in this inferior sense is often in Greek \u1fe5\u1fc6\u03bc\u03b1. Epiph. supr. and Cyril, de Incarn. Unig. init. t. v. i. p. 679.\n160:862\n\u2018If they understood and acknowledged the characteristic idea (\u03c7\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c1\u03b1) of Christianity, they would not have said that the Lord of glory was a creature.\u2019 Ad Serap. ii. 7. In Orat. i. \u00a72, he says, Arians are not Christians because they are Arians, for Christians are called, not from Arius, but from Christ, who is their only Master. Vid. also de Syn. \u00a738. init. Sent. D. fin. Ad Afros. 4. Their cruelty and cooperation with the heathen populace was another reason. Greg. Naz. Orat. 25. 12.\n160:863\nAll the titles of the Son of God are consistent with each other, and variously represent one and the same Person. \u2018Son\u2019 and \u2018Word,\u2019 denote His derivation; \u2018Word\u2019 and \u2018Image,\u2019 His Similitude; \u2018Word\u2019 and \u2018Wisdom,\u2019 His immateriality; \u2018Wisdom\u2019 and \u2018Hand,\u2019 His coexistence. \u2018If He is not Son, neither is He Image\u2019 Orat. ii. \u00a72. \u2018How is there Word and Wisdom, unless He be a proper offspring of His substance? ii. \u00a722. Vid. also Orat. i. \u00a720. 21. and at great length Orat. iv. \u00a720, &c. vid. also Naz. Orat. 30. n. 20. Basil. contr. Eunom. i. 18. Hilar. de Trin. vii. 11. August. in Joan. xlviii. 6. and in Psalm. xliv. (xlv.) 5.\n161:864 161:865 161:866 161:867 161:868 161:869 161:870 161:871 161:872\nVid. a beautiful passage, contr. Gent. 42, &c. Again, of men, de Incarn. 3. 3; also Orat. ii. 78. where he speaks of Wisdom as being infused into the world on its creation, that it might possess \u2018a type and semblance of its Image.\u2019\n161:873\n\u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u1fe4& 191\u00b7\u03b1\u03b3\u1ff6\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd, and so Serap. ii. fin. \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u1fe4& 191\u00b7\u03b7\u03b3\u03bd\u03cd\u03c9\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9. de Syn. 34. \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u1fe4& 191\u00b7\u03b7\u03b3\u03cd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd \u1f11\u03b1\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03c2. Orat. ii. \u00a723. \u03c3\u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03c4\u03c4\u03ad\u03c4\u03c9\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd \u1f11\u03b1\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03c2. Orat. ii. \u00a764. \u03c4\u03c1\u03b9\u03b6\u03ad\u03c4\u03c9 \u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u1f40\u03b4\u03cc\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2. Sent. D. 16.","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Ser. II, Vol. IV: Defence of the Nicene Definition. (De Decretis.): Proof of the Catholic Sense of the Word Son. Power, Word or Reason, and Wisdom, the names of the Son, imply eternity; as well as the Father's title of Fountain. The Arians reply, that these do not formally belong to the essence of the Son, but are names given Him; that God has many words, powers, &c. Why there is but one Son and Word, &c. All the titles of the Son coincide in Him.","type":"page"}