{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/208/2080038.htm","path":"chr/ecf/208/2080038.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/208/2080038.htm","text":"In how many ways \u201cThroughwhom\u201d is used; and in what sense \u201cwith whom\u201d is more suitable. Explanation of how the Son receives a commandment, and how He is sent.\n17. When, then, the apostle \u201cthanks God through Jesus Christ,\u201d 827 and again says that \u201cthrough Him\u201d we have \u201creceived grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations,\u201d 828 or \u201cthrough Him have access unto this grace wherein we stand and rejoice,\u201d 829 he sets forth the boons conferred on us by the Son, at one time making the grace of the good gifts pass through from the Father to us, and at another bringing us to the Father through Himself. For by saying \u201cthrough whom we have received grace and apostleship,\u201d 830 he declares the supply of the good gifts to proceed from that source; and again in saying \u201cthrough whom we have had access,\u201d 831 he sets forth our acceptance and being made \u201cof the household of God\u201d 832 through Christ. Is then the confession of the grace wrought by Him to usward a detraction from His glory? Is it not truer to say that the recital of His benefits is a proper argument for glorifying Him? It is on this account that we have not found Scripture describing the Lord to us by one name, nor even by such terms alone as are indicative of His godhead and majesty. At one time it uses terms descriptive of His nature, for it recognises the \u201cname which is above every name,\u201d 833 the name of Son, 834 and speaks of true Son, 835 and only begotten God, 836 and Power of God, 837 and Wisdom, 838 and Word. 839 Then again, on account of the divers manners 840 wherein grace is given to us, which, because of the riches of His goodness, 841 according to his manifold 842 wisdom, he bestows on them that need, Scripture designates Him by innumerable other titles, calling Him Shepherd, 843 King, 844 Physician, 845 Bridegroom, 846 Way, 847 Door, 848 Fountain, 849 Bread, 850 Axe, 851 and Rock. 852 And these titles do not set forth His nature, but, as I have remarked, the variety of the effectual working which, out of His tender-heartedness to His own creation, according to the peculiar necessity of each, He bestows upon them that need. Them that have fled for refuge to His ruling care, and through patient endurance have mended their wayward ways, 853 He calls \u201csheep,\u201d and confesses Himself to be, to them that hear His voice and refuse to give heed to strange teaching, a \u201cshepherd.\u201d For \u201cmy sheep,\u201d He says, \u201chear my voice.\u201d To them that have now reached a higher stage and stand in need of righteous royalty, 854 He is a King. And in that, through the straight way of His commandments, He leads men to good actions, and again because He safely shuts in all who through faith in Him betake themselves for shelter to the blessing of the higher wisdom, 855 He is a Door.\nSo He says, \u201cBy me if any man enter in, he shall go in and out and shall find pastare.\u201d 856 Again, because to the faithful He is a defence strong, unshaken, and harder to break than any bulwark, He is a Rock. Among these titles, it is when He is styled Door, or Way, that the phrase \u201cthrough Him\u201d is very appropriate and plain. As, however, God and Son, He is glorified with and together with 857 the Father, in that \u201cat, the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to p. 12 the glory of God the Father.\u201d 858 Wherefore we use both terms, expressing by the one His own proper dignity, and by the other His grace to usward.\n18. For \u201cthrough Him\u201d comes every succour to our souls, and it is in accordance with each kind of care that an appropriate title has been devised. So when He presents to Himself the blameless soul, not having spot or wrinkle, 859 like a pure maiden, He is called Bridegroom, but whenever He receives one in sore plight from the devil\u2019s evil strokes, healing it in the heavy infirmity of its sins, He is named Physician. And shall this His care for us degrade to meanness our thoughts of Him? Or, on the contrary, shall it smite us with amazement at once at the mighty power and love to man 860 of the Saviour, in that He both endured to suffer with us 861 in our infirmities, and was able to come down to our weakness? For not heaven and earth and the great seas, not the creatures that live in the water and on dry land, not plants, and stars, and air, and seasons, not the vast variety in the order of the universe, 862 so well sets forth the excellency of His might as that God, being incomprehensible, should have been able, impassibly, through flesh, to have come into close conflict with death, to the end that by His own suffering He might give us the boon of freedom from suffering. 863 The apostle, it is true, says, \u201cIn all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.\u201d 864 But in a phrase of this kind there is no suggestion of any lowly and subordinate ministry, 865 but rather of the succour rendered \u201cin the power of his might.\u201d 866 For He Himself has bound the strong man and spoiled his goods, 867 that is, us men, whom our enemy had abused in every evil activity, and made \u201cvessels meet for the Master\u2019s use\u201d 868 us who have been perfected for every work through the making ready of that part of us which is in our own control. 869 Thus we have had our approach to the Father through Him, being translated from \u201cthe power of darkness to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.\u201d 870 We must not, however, regard the \u0153conomy 871 through the Son as a compulsory and subordinate ministration resulting from the low estate of a slave, but rather the voluntary solicitude working effectually for His own creation in goodness and in pity, according to the will of God the Father. For we shall be consistent with true religion if in all that was and is from time to time perfected by Him, we both bear witness to the perfection of His power, and in no case put it asunder from the Father\u2019s will. For instance, whenever the Lord is called the Way, we are carried on to a higher meaning, and not to that which is derived from the vulgar sense of the word. We understand by Way that advance 872 to perfection which is made stage by stage, and in regular order, through the works of righteousness and \u201cthe illumination of knowledge;\u201d 873 ever longing after what is before, and reaching forth unto those things which remain, 874 until we shall have reached the blessed end, the knowledge of God, which the Lord through Himself bestows on them that have trusted in Him. For our Lord is an essentially good Way, where erring and straying are unknown, to that which is essentially good, to the Father. For \u201cno one,\u201d He says, \u201ccometh to the Father but [\u201cby\u201d A.V.] through me.\u201d 875 Such is our way up to God \u201cthrough the Son.\u201d\n19. It will follow that we should next in order point out the character of the provision of blessings bestowed on us by the p. 13 Father \u201cthrough him.\u201d Inasmuch as all created nature, both this visible world and all that is conceived of in the mind, cannot hold together without the care and providence of God, the Creator Word, the Only begotten God, apportioning His succour according to the measure of the needs of each, distributes mercies various and manifold on account of the many kinds and characters of the recipients of His bounty, but appropriate to the necessities of individual requirements. Those that are confined in the darkness of ignorance He enlightens: for this reason He is true Light. 876 Portioning requital in accordance with the desert of deeds, He judges: for this reason He is righteous Judge. 877 \u201cFor the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son.\u201d 878 Those that have lapsed from the lofty height of life into sin He raises from their fall: for this reason He is Resurrection. 879 Effectually working by the touch of His power and the will of His goodness He does all things. He shepherds; He enlightens; He nourishes; He heals; He guides; He raises up; He calls into being things that were not; He upholds what has been created. Thus the good things that come from God reach us \u201cthrough the Son,\u201d who works in each case with greater speed than speech can utter. For not lightnings, not light\u2019s course in air, is so swift; not eyes\u2019 sharp turn, not the movements of our very thought. Nay, by the divine energy is each one of these in speed further surpassed than is the slowest of all living creatures outdone in motion by birds, or even winds, or the rush of the heavenly bodies: or, not to mention these, by our very thought itself. For what extent of time is needed by Him who \u201cupholds all things by the word of His power,\u201d 880 and works not by bodily agency, nor requires the help of hands to form and fashion, but holds in obedient following and unforced consent the nature of all things that are? So as Judith says, \u201cThou hast thought, and what things thou didst determine were ready at hand.\u201d 881 On the other hand, and lest we should ever be drawn away by the greatness of the works wrought to imagine that the Lord is without beginning, 882 what saith the Self-Existent? 883 \u201cI live through [by, A.V.] the Father,\u201d 884 and the power of God; \u201cThe Son hath power [can, A.V.] to do nothing of himself.\u201d 885 And the self-complete Wisdom? I received \u201ca commandment what I should say and what I should speak.\u201d 886 Through all these words He is guiding us to the knowledge of the Father, and referring our wonder at all that is brought into existence to Him, to the end that \u201cthrough Him\u201d we may know the Father. For the Father is not regarded from the difference of the operations, by the exhibition of a separate and peculiar energy; for whatsoever things He sees the Father doing, \u201cthese also doeth the Son likewise;\u201d 887 but He enjoys our wonder at all that comes to pass out of the glory which comes to Him from the Only Begotten, rejoicing in the Doer Himself as well as in the greatness of the deeds, and exalted by all who acknowledge Him as Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, \u201cthrough whom [by whom, A.V.] are all things, and for whom are all things.\u201d 888 Wherefore, saith the Lord, \u201cAll mine are thine,\u201d 889 as though the sovereignty over created things were conferred on Him, and \u201cThine are mine,\u201d as though the creating Cause came thence to Him. We are not to suppose that He used assistance in His action, or yet was entrusted with the ministry of each individual work by detailed commission, a condition distinctly menial and quite inadequate to the divine dignity. Rather was the Word full of His Father\u2019s excellences; He shines forth from the Father, and does all things according to the likeness of Him that begat Him. For if in essence He is without variation, so also is He without p. 14 variation in power. 890 And of those whose power is equal, the operation also is in all ways equal. And Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 891 And so \u201call things are made through [by, A.V.] him,\u201d 892 and \u201call things were created through [by, A.V.] him and for him,\u201d 893 not in the discharge of any slavish service, but in the fulfilment of the Father\u2019s will as Creator.\n20. When then He says, \u201cI have not spoken of myself,\u201d 894 and again, \u201cAs the Father said unto me, so I speak,\u201d 895 and \u201cThe word which ye hear is not mine, but [the Father\u2019s] which sent me,\u201d 896 and in another place, \u201cAs the Father gave me commandment, even so I do,\u201d 897 it is not because He lacks deliberate purpose or power of initiation, nor yet because He has to wait for the preconcerted key-note, that he employs language of this kind. His object is to make it plain that His own will is connected in indissoluble union with the Father. Do not then let us understand by what is called a \u201ccommandment\u201d a peremptory mandate delivered by organs of speech, and giving orders to the Son, as to a subordinate, concerning what He ought to do. Let us rather, in a sense befitting the Godhead, perceive a transmission of will, like the reflexion of an object in a mirror, passing without note of time from Father to Son. \u201cFor the Father loveth the Son and sheweth him all things,\u201d 898 so that \u201call things that the Father hath\u201d belong to the Son, not gradually accruing to Him little by little, but with Him all together and at once. Among men, the workman who has been thoroughly taught his craft, and, through long training, has sure and established experience in it, is able, in accordance with the scientific methods which now he has in store, to work for the future by himself. And are we to suppose that the wisdom of God, the Maker of all creation, He who is eternally perfect, who is wise, without a teacher, the Power of God, \u201cin whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,\u201d 899 needs piecemeal instruction to mark out the manner and measure of His operations? I presume that in the vanity of your calculations, you mean to open a school; you will make the one take His seat in the teacher\u2019s place, and the other stand by in a scholar\u2019s ignorance, gradually learning wisdom and advancing to perfection, by lessons given Him bit by bit. Hence, if you have sense to abide by what logically follows, you will find the Son being eternally taught, nor yet ever able to reach the end of perfection, inasmuch as the wisdom of the Father is infinite, and the end of the infinite is beyond apprehension. It results that whoever refuses to grant that the Son has all things from the beginning will never grant that He will reach perfection. But I am ashamed at the degraded conception to which, by the course of the argument, I have been brought down. Let us therefore revert to the loftier themes of our discussion.\n21. \u201cHe that hath seen me hath seen the Father; 900 not the express image, nor yet the form, for the divine nature does not admit of combination; but the goodness of the will, which, being concurrent with the essence, is beheld as like and equal, or rather the same, in the Father as in the Son. 901\nWhat then is meant by \u201cbecame subject\u201d? 902 What by \u201cdelivered him up for us all\u201d? 903 It is meant that the Son has it of the Father that He works in goodness on behalf of men. But you must hear too the words, \u201cChrist hath redeemed us from the curse of the law;\u201d 904 and \u201cwhile we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.\u201d 905\nGive careful heed, too, to the words of the Lord, and note how, whenever He instructs us about His Father, He is in the habit of using terms of personal authority, saying, \u201cI will; be thou clean;\u201d 906 and \u201cPeace, be still;\u201d 907 and \u201cBut I say unto you;\u201d 908 and \u201cThou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee;\u201d 909 and all other expressions of the same kind, in order that by these we may recognise our Master and Maker, and by the former may be taught the Father of our Master and Creator. 910 p. 15 Thus on all sides is demonstrated the true doctrine that the fact that the Father creates through the Son neither constitutes the creation of the Father imperfect nor exhibits the active energy of the Son as feeble, but indicates the unity of the will; so the expression \u201cthrough whom\u201d contains a confession of an antecedent Cause, and is not adopted in objection to the efficient Cause.\ncf. Eph. ii. 19.\n11:833 11:834\nTwo mss., those in the B. Museum and at Vienna, read here \u0399\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u1fe6. In Ep. 210. 4, St. Basil writes that the name above every name is \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1f78 \u03c4\u1f78 \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1f78\u03bd \u03a5\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u0398\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6.\n11:835\ncf. Matt. 14:33, Matt. 27:54.\n11:836\nJohn i. 18. cf. note on p. .\n11:837\n1 Cor. i. 24, and possibly Rom. i. 16, if with D. we read gospel of Christ.\n11:838 11:839\ne.g., John i. 1. cf. Ps. cvii. 20; Wis. 9:1, Wis. 18:15, Sir. 43:20.\n11:840\n\u03a4\u1f78 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03cd\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf\u03c0\u03bf\u03bd. cf. Heb. i. 1.\n11:841\n\u03a4\u1f78\u03bd \u03c0\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u1f00\u03b3\u03b1\u03b8\u03cc\u03c4\u03b7\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2. cf. Rom. ii. 4, \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03c0\u03bb\u03bf\u03cd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c4\u03b7\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2.\n11:842 11:843\ne.g., John x. 12.\n11:844\ne.g., Matt. xxi. 5.\n11:845\ne.g., Matt. ix. 12.\n11:846\ne.g., Matt. ix. 15.\n11:847\ne.g., John xiv. 6.\n11:848\ne.g., John x. 9.\n11:849\ncf. Rev. xxi. 6.\n11:850\ne.g., John vi. 21.\n11:851\ncf. Matt. iii. 10.\n11:852\ne.g., 1 Cor. x. 4.\n11:853\nI translate here the reading of the Parisian Codex called by the Benedictine Editors Regius Secundus, \u03c4\u1f78 \u03b5\u1f50\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ac\u03b2\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03c9\u03c1\u03b8\u03c9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2. The harder reading, \u03c4\u1f78 \u03b5\u1f50\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ac\u03b4\u03bf\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd, which may be rendered \u201chave perfected their readiness to distribute,\u201d has the best manuscript authority, but it is barely intelligible; and the Benedictine Editors are quite right in calling attention to the fact that the point in question here is not the readiness of the flock to distribute (cf. 1 Tim. vi. 18), but their patient following of their Master. The Benedictine Editors boldly propose to introduce a word of no authority \u03c4\u1f78 \u1f00\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ac\u03b2\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd, rendering qui per patientiam animam immutabilem pr\u00e6buerunt. The reading adopted above is supported by a passage in Ep. 244, where St. Basil is speaking of the waywardness of Eustathius, and seems to fit in best with the application of the passage to the words of our Lord, \u201chave fled for refuge to his ruling care,\u201d corresponding with \u201cthe sheep follow him, for they know his voice\u201d (St. John x. 4), and \u201chave mended their wayward ways,\u201d with \u201ca stranger will they not follow,\u201d John 10.5. Mr. Johnston, in his valuable note, compares Origen\u2019s teaching on the Names of our Lord.\n11:854\nSo three mss. Others repeat \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03af\u03b1, translated \u201cruling care\u201d above. \u1f14\u03bd\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 is used by Plato for \u201clawful\u201d and \u201claw-abiding.\u201d (Legg. 921 C. and Rep. 424 E.) In 1 Cor. ix. 21, A.V. renders \u201cunder the law.\u201d\n11:855\n\u03a4\u1f78 \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03b3\u03bd\u03ce\u03c3\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2 \u1f00\u03b3\u03b1\u03b8\u03cc\u03bd: possibly \u201cthe good of knowledge of him.\u201d\n11:856 11:857\ncf. note on page 3, on \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ac and \u03c3\u03cc\u03bd.\n12:858\nPhil. 2:10, 11.\n12:859 12:860\n\u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03b1\u03bd\u03b8\u03c1\u03c9\u03c0\u03af\u03b1 occurs twice in the N.T. (Acts 28:2, Titus 3:4) and is in the former passage rendered by A.V. \u201ckindness,\u201d in the latter by \u201clove to man.\u201d The \u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03b1\u03bd\u03b8\u03c1\u03c9\u03c0\u03af\u03b1 of the Maltese barbarians corresponds with the lower classical sense of kindliness and courtesy. The love of God in Christ to man introduces practically a new connotation to the word and its cognates.\n12:861\nOr to sympathize with our infirmities.\n12:862\n\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03ba\u03b9\u03bb\u03b7 \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2. \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 was the technical term of the Pythagorean philosophy for the orderly arrangement of the universe (cf. Arist. Metaph. I. v. 2. \u201c\u1f21 \u1f45\u03bb\u03b7 \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2); Pythagoras being credited with the first application of the word \u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 to the universe. (Plut. 2, 886 c.) So mundus in Latin, whence Augustine\u2019s oxymoron, \u201cO munde immunde!\u201d On the scriptural use of \u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 and \u1f00\u03b9\u03ce\u03bd vide Archbp. Trench\u2019s New Testament Synonyms, p. 204.\n12:863\nIn Hom. on Ps. lxv. Section 5, St. Basil describes the power of God the Word being most distinctly shewn in the \u0153conomy of the incarnation and His descent to the lowliness and the infirmity of the manhood. cf. Ath. on the Incarnation, sect. 54, \u201cHe was made man that we might be made God; and He manifested Himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and He endured the insolence of men that we might inherit immortality. For while He Himself was in no way injured, being impassible and incorruptible and the very Word and God, men who were suffering, and for whose sakes He endured all this, He maintained and preserved in His own impassibility.\u201d\n12:864 12:865\n\u1f51\u03c0\u03b7\u03c1\u03b5\u03c3\u03af\u03b1. Lit. \u201cunder-rowing.\u201d The cognate \u1f51\u03c0\u03b7\u03c1\u03ad\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 is the word used in Acts xxvi. 16, in the words of the Saviour to St. Paul, \u201cto make thee a minister,\u201d and in 1 Cor. iv. 1, \u201cLet a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ.\u201d\n12:866 12:867\ncf. Matt. xii. 29.\n12:868 12:869\nThis passage is difficult to render alike from the variety of readings and the obscurity of each. I have endeavoured to represent the force of the Greek \u1f10\u03ba \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u1f11\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c3\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u1f10\u03c6\u1fbd \u1f21\u03bc\u1fd6\u03bd, understanding by \u201c\u03c4\u1f78 \u1f10\u03c6\u1fbd \u1f21\u03bc\u1fd6\u03bd,\u201d practically, \u201cour free will.\u201d cf. the enumeration of what is \u1f10\u03c6\u1fbd \u1f21\u03bc\u1fd6\u03bd, within our own control, in the Enchiridion of Epicetus, Chap. I. \u201cWithin our own control are impulse, desire, inclination.\u201d On Is. vi. 8, \u201cHere am I; send me,\u201d St. Basil writes, \u201cHe did not add \u2018I will go;\u2019 for the acceptance of the message is within our control (\u1f10\u03c6\u1fbd \u1f21\u03bc\u1fd6\u03bd), but to be made capable of going is of Him that gives the grace, of the enabling God.\u201d The Benedictine translation of the text is \u201cper liberi arbitrii nostri pr\u00e6parationem.\u201d But other readings are (i) \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u1f11\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c3\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6, \u201cthe preparation which is in our own control;\u201d (ii) \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u1f11\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c3\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6, \u201cHis preparation;\u201d and (iii) the Syriac represented by \u201carbitrio suo.\u201d\n12:870 12:871 12:872\n\u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03ba\u03bf\u03c0\u03ae: cf. Luke ii. 52, where it is said that our Lord \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03ad\u03ba\u03bf\u03c0\u03c4\u03b5, i.e., \u201ccontinued to cut His way forward.\u201d\n12:873\n1 Cor. iv. 6, R.V. marg.\n12:874\nThere seems to be here a recollection, though not a quotation, of Phil. iii. 13.\n12:875 13:876 13:877 13:878 13:879 13:880 13:881 13:882\n\u1f04\u03bd\u03b1\u03c1\u03c7\u03bf\u03c2. This word is used in two senses by the Fathers. (i) In the sense of \u1f00\u0390\u03b4\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 or eternal, it is applied (a) to the Trinity in unity. e.g., Qu\u00e6st. Misc. v. 442 (Migne Ath. iv. 783), attributed to Athanasius, \u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd \u1f21 \u03bf\u1f50\u03c3\u03b9\u03b1\u00b7 \u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u1f78\u03bd \u03c4\u03bf \u1f04\u03bd\u03b1\u03c1\u03c7\u03bf\u03bd. (b) To the Son. e.g., Greg. Naz. Orat. xxix. 490, \u1f10\u1f70\u03bd \u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u1f00\u03c0\u1f78 \u03c7\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd \u03bd\u03bf\u1fc7\u03c2 \u1f00\u03c1\u03c7\u1f74\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f04\u03bd\u03b1\u03c1\u03c7\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f41 \u03c5\u1f31& 232\u00b7\u03c2, \u03bf\u1f50\u03ba \u1f04\u03c1\u03c7\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b3\u1f70\u03c1 \u1f00\u03c0\u1f78 \u03c7\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5 \u1f41 \u03c7\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd \u03b4\u03b5\u03c3\u03c0\u03cc\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2. (ii) In the sense of \u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03af\u03c4\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2, \u201ccauseless,\u201d \u201coriginis principio carens,\u201d it is applied to the Father alone, and not to the Son. So Gregory of Nazianzus, in the oration quoted above, \u1f41 \u03c5\u1f31& 232\u00b7\u03c2, \u1f10& 129\u00b7\u03bd \u1f61\u03c2 \u03b1\u1f34\u03c4\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd \u03c4\u1f78\u03bd \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1 \u03bb\u03b1\u03bc\u03b2\u03ac\u03bd\u1fc3\u03c2, \u03bf\u1f50\u03ba \u1f04\u03bd\u03b1\u03c1\u03c7\u03bf\u03c2, \u201cthe Son, if you understand the Father as cause, is not without beginning.\u201d \u1f04\u03c1\u03c7\u03b7 \u03b3\u1f70\u03c1 \u03c5\u1f31\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u1f74\u03c1 \u1f61\u03c2 \u03b1\u1f34\u03c4\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2. \u201cFor the Father, as cause, is Beginning of the Son.\u201d But, though the Son in this sense was not \u1f04\u03bd\u03b1\u03c1\u03c7\u03bf\u03c2, He was said to be begotten \u1f00\u03bd\u03ac\u03c1\u03c7\u03c9\u03c2. So Greg. Naz. (Hom. xxxvii. 590) \u03c4\u1f78 \u1f34\u03b4\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd \u1f44\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u1f00\u03bd\u03ac\u03c1\u03c7\u03c9\u03c2 \u03b3\u03b5\u03bd\u03bd\u03b7\u03b8\u03ad\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2, \u03c5\u1f76& 231\u00b7\u03c2. Cf. the Letter of Alexander of Alexandria to Alexander of Constantinople. Theod. Ecc. Hist. i. 3. \u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u1f04\u03bd\u03b1\u03c1\u03c7\u03bf\u03bd \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1ff7 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u1f70 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u1f78\u03c2 \u03b3\u03ad\u03bd\u03bd\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd \u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03c4\u03af \u03b8\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2. cf. Hooker, Ecc. Pol. v. 54. \u201cBy the gift of eternal generation Christ hath received of the Father one and in number the self-same substance which the Father hath of himself unreceived from any other. For every beginning is a father unto that which cometh of it; and every offspring is a son unto that out of which it groweth. Seeing, therefore, the Father alone is originally that Deity which Christ originally is not (for Christ is God by being of God, light by issuing out of light), it followeth hereupon that whatsoever Christ hath common unto him with his heavenly Father, the same of necessity must be given him, but naturally and eternally given.\u201d So Hillary De Trin. xii. 21. \u201cUbi auctor eternus est, ibi et nativatis \u00e6ternitas est: quia sicut nativitas ab auctore est, ita et ab \u00e6terno auctore \u00e6terna nativitas est.\u201d And Augustine De Trin. v. 15, \u201cNaturam pr\u00e6stat filio sine initio generatio.\u201d\n13:883 13:884 13:885 13:886 13:887 13:888\nHeb. ii. 10. cf. Rom. xi. 36, to which the reading of two manuscripts more distinctly assimilates the citation. The majority of commentators refer Heb. ii. 10, to the Father, but Theodoret understands it of the Son, and the argument of St. Basil necessitates the same application.\n13:889 14:890\n\u1f00\u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03ac\u03ba\u03c4\u03c9\u03c2 \u1f14\u03c7\u03b5\u03b9. cf. Jas. i. 17. \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u1fbd \u1ff7 \u03bf\u1f50\u03ba \u1f14\u03bd\u03b9 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03b1\u03b3\u03ae. The word \u1f00\u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03ac\u03bb\u03bb\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 was at first used by the Catholic bishops at Nic\u00e6a, as implying \u1f41\u03bc\u03bf\u03bf\u03cd\u03c3\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2. Vide Athan. De Decretis, \u00a7 20, in Wace and Schaff\u2019s ed., p. 163.\n14:891 14:892 14:893 14:894 14:895 14:896 14:897 14:898 14:899\nCol. ii. 3, A.V. cf. the amendment of R.V., \u201call the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden,\u201d and Bp. Lightfoot on St. Paul\u2019s use of the gnostic term \u1f00\u03c0\u03cc\u03ba\u03c1\u03c5\u03c6\u03bf\u03c2\n14:900 14:901\nThe argument appears to be not that Christ is not the \u201cexpress image,\u201d or impress of the Father, as He is described in Heb. i. 3, or form, as in Phil. ii. 6, but that this is not the sense in which our Lord\u2019s words in St. John xiv. 9, must be understood to describe \u201cseeing the Father.\u201d \u03a7\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u1f74\u03c1 and \u03bc\u03bf\u03c1\u03c6\u1f74 are equivalent to \u1f21 \u03b8\u03b5\u03af\u03b1 \u03c6\u03cd\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2, and \u03bc\u03bf\u03c1\u03c6\u03ae is used by St. Basil as it is used by St. Paul,\u2014coinciding with, if not following, the usage of the older Greek philosophy,\u2014to mean essential attributes which the Divine Word had before the incarnation (cf. Eustathius in Theod. Dial. II. [Wace and Schaff Ed., p. 203]; \u201cthe express image made man,\u201d\u2014\u1f41 \u03c4\u1ff7 \u03c0\u03bd\u03b5\u03cd\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9 \u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b7\u03b8\u03b5\u1f76\u03c2 \u1f04\u03bd\u03b8\u03c1\u03c9\u03c0\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c7\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1.)\nThe divine nature does not admit of combination, in the sense of confusion (cf. the protests of Theodoret in his Dialogues against the confusion of the Godhead and manhood in the Christ), with the human nature in our Lord, and remains invisible. On the word \u03c7\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1 vide Suicer, and on \u03bc\u03bf\u03c1\u03c6\u03ae Archbp. Trench\u2019s New Testament Synonyms and Bp. Lightfoot on Philippians ii. 6.\n14:902 14:903 14:904 14:905 14:906 14:907 14:908\nMatt. v. 22, etc.\n14:909 14:910\nThere is a difficulty in following the argument in the foregoing quotations. F. Combefis, the French Dominican editor of Basil, would boldly interpose a \u201cnot,\u201d and read \u2018whenever he does not instruct us concerning the Father.\u2019 But there is no ms. authority for this violent remedy. The Benedictine Editors say all is plain if we render \u201cpostquam nos de patre erudivit.\u201d But the Greek will not admit of this.","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Ser. II, Vol. VIII: De Sp...","type":"page"}