This page copyright © 2002 Blackmask Online.
http://www.blackmask.com
PREFACE.
1. ALL who believe and are assured that grace and truth were
obtained through Jesus Christ, and who know Christ to be the truth,
agreeably to His own declaration, "I am the truth," derive the
knowledge which incites men to a good and happy life from no other
source than from the very words and teaching of Christ. And by the
words of Christ we do not mean those only which He spake when He became
man and tabernacled in the flesh; for before that time, Christ, the
Word of God, was in Moses and the prophets. For without the Word of
God, how could they have been able to prophesy of Christ? And were it
not our purpose to confine the present treatise within the limits of
all attainable brevity, it would not be difficult to show, in proof of
this statement, out of the Holy Scriptures, how Moses or the prophets
both spake and performed all they did through being filled with the
Spirit of Christ. And therefore I think it sufficient to quote this one
testimony of Paul from the Epistle to the Hebrews,(2) in which he says:
"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of
the Egyptians."(3) Moreover, that after His ascension into heaven He
spake in His apostles, is shown by Paul in these words: "Or do you seek
a proof of Christ who speaketh in me?"(4)
2. Since many, however, of those who profess to believe in Christ
differ from each other, not only in small and trifling matters, but
also on subjects of the highest importance, as, e.g., regarding God, or
the Lord Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit; and not only regarding
these, but also regarding others which are created existences, viz.,
the powers(5) and the holy virtues;(6) it seems on that account
necessary first of all to fix a definite limit and to lay down an
unmistakable rule regarding each one of these, and then to pass to the
investigation of other points. For as we ceased to seek for truth
(notwithstanding the professions of many among Greeks and Barbarians to
make it known) among all who claimed it for erroneous opinions, after
we had come to believe that Christ was the Son of God, and were
persuaded that we must learn it from Himself; so, seeing there are many
who think they hold the opinions of Christ, and yet some of these think
differently from their predecessors, yet as the teaching of the Church,
transmitted in orderly succession from the apostles, and remaining in
the Churches to the present day, is still preserved, that alone is to
be accepted as truth which differs in no respect from ecclesiastical
and apostolical tradition.
3. Now it ought to be known that the holy apostles, in preaching
the faith of Christ, delivered themselves with the utmost clearness on
certain points which they believed to be necessary to every one, even
to those who seemed somewhat dull in the investigation of divine
knowledge; leaving, however, the grounds of their statements to be
examined into by those who should deserve the excellent gifts of the
Spirit, and who, especially by means of the Holy Spirit Himself, should
obtain the gift of language, of wisdom, and of knowledge: while on
other subjects they merely stated the fact that things were so, keeping
silence as to the manner or origin of their existence; clearly in order
that the more zealous of their successors, who should be lovers of
wisdom, might have a subject of exercise on which to display the fruit
of their talents, — those persons, I mean, who should prepare
themselves to be fit and worthy receivers of wisdom. 4. The particular
points(1) clearly delivered in the teaching of the apostles are as
follow:—
First, That there is one God, who created and arranged all
things, and who, when nothing existed, called all things into
being—God from the first creation and foundation of the world—the
God of all just men, of Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Enoch, Noe, Sere,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets;
and that this God in the last days, as He had announced beforehand by
His prophets, sent our Lord Jesus Christ to call in the first place
Israel to Himself, and in the second place the Gentiles, after the
unfaithfulness of the people of Israel. This just and good God, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself gave the law and the prophets,
and the Gospels, being also the God of the apostles and of the Old and
New Testaments.
Secondly, That Jesus Christ Himself, who came (into the world),
was born of the Father before all creatures; that, after He had been
the servant of the Father in the creation of all things—"For by Him
were all things made"(2)—He in the last times, divesting Himself (of
His glory), became a man, and was incarnate although God, and while
made a man remained the God which He was; that He assumed a body like
to our own, differing in this respect only, that it was born of a
virgin and of the Holy Spirit: that this Jesus Christ was truly born,
and did truly suffer, and did not endure this death common (to man) in
appearance only, but did truly die; that He did truly rise from the
dead; and that after His resurrection He conversed with His disciples,
and was taken up (into heaven).
Then, Thirdly, the apostles related that the Holy Spirit was
associated in honour and dignity with the Father and the Son. But in
His case it is not clearly distinguished whether He is to be regarded
as born or innate,(3) or also as a Son of God or not: for these are
points which have to be inquired into out of sacred Scripture according
to the best of our ability, and which demand careful investigation. And
that this Spirit inspired each one of the saints, whether prophets or
apostles; and that there was not one Spirit in the men of the old
dispensation, and another in those who were inspired at the advent of
Christ, is most clearly taught throughout the Churches. 5. After these
points, also, the apostolic teaching is that the soul, having a
substance(4) and life of its own, shall, after its departure from the
world, be rewarded according to its deserts, being destined to obtain
either an inheritance of eternal life and blessedness, if its actions
shall have procured this for it, or to be delivered up to eternal fire
and punishments, if the guilt of its crimes shall have brought it down
to this: and also, that there is to be a time of resurrection from the
dead, when this body, which now "is sown in corruption, shall rise in
incorruption," and that which "is sown in dishonour will rise in
glory."(5) This also is clearly defined in the teaching of the Church,
that every rational soul is possessed of free-will and volition; that
it has a straggle to maintain with the devil and his angels, and
opposing influences,(6) because they strive to burden it with sins; but
if we live rightly and wisely, we should endeavour to shake ourselves
free of a burden of that kind. From which it follows, also, that we
understand ourselves not to be subject to necessity, so as to be
compelled by all means, even against our will, to do either good or
evil. For if we are our own masters, some influences perhaps may impel
us to sin, and others help us to salvation; we are not forced, however,
by any necessity either to act rightly or wrongly, which those persons
think is the case who say that the courses and movements of the stars
are the cause of human actions, not only of those which take place
beyond the influence of the freedom of the will, but also of those
which are placed within our own power. But with respect to the soul,
whether it is derived from the seed by a process of traducianism, so
that the reason or substance of it may be considered as placed in the
seminal particles of the body themselves, or whether it has any other
beginning; and this beginning, itself, whether it be by birth or not,
or whether bestowed upon the body from without or no, is not
distinguished with sufficient clearness in the teaching of the Church.
6. Regarding the devil and his angels, and the opposing
influences, the teaching of the Church has laid down that these beings
exist indeed; but what they are, or how they exist, it has not
explained with sufficient clearness. This opinion, however, is held by
most, that the devil was an angel, and that, having become an apostate,
he induced as many of the angels as possible to fall away with himself,
and these up to the present time are called his angels.
7. This also is a part of the Church's teaching, that the world
was made and took its beginning at a certain time, and is to be
destroyed on account of its wickedness. But what existed before this
world, or what will exist after it, has not become certainly known to
the many, for there is no clear statement regarding it in the teaching
of the Church.
8. Then, finally, that the Scriptures were written by the Spirit
of God, and have a meaning, not such only as is apparent at first
sight, but also another, which escapes the notice of most. For those
(words) which are written are the forms of certain mysteries,(1) and
the images of divine things. Respecting which there is one opinion
throughout the whole Church, that the whole law is indeed spiritual;
but that the spiritual meaning which the law conveys is not known to
all, but to those only on whom the grace of the Holy Spirit is bestowed
in the word of wisdom and knowledge.
The term aswmaton , i.e., incorporeal, is disused and unknown,
not only in many other writings, but also in our own Scriptures. And if
any one should quote it to us out of the little treatise entitled The
Doctrine of Peter,(2) in which the Saviour seems to say to His
disciples, "I am not an incorporeal demon,"(3) I have to reply, in the
first place, that that work is not included among ecclesiastical books;
for we can show that it was not composed either by Peter or by any
other person inspired by the Spirit of God. But even if the point were
to be conceded, the word aswmaton there does not convey the same
meaning as is intended by Greek and Gentile authors when incorporeal
nature is discussed by philosophers. For in the little treatise
referred to he used the phrase "incorporeal demon" to denote that that
form or outline of demoniacal body, whatever it is, does not resemble
this gross and visible body of ours; but, agreeably to the intention of
the author of the treatise, it must be understood to mean that He had
not such a body as demons have, which is naturally fine,(4) and thin as
if formed of air (and for this reason is either considered or called by
many incorporeal), but that He had a solid and palpable body. Now,
according to human custom, everything which is not of that nature is
called by the simple or ignorant incorporeal; as if one were to say
that the air which we breathe was incorporeal, because it is not a body
of such a nature as can be grasped and held, or can offer resistance to
pressure.
9. We shall inquire, however, whether the thing which Greek
philosophers call aswmaton , or "incorporeal," is found in holy
Scripture under another name. For it is also to be a subject of
investigation how God himself is to be understood,—whether as
corporeal, and formed according to some shape, or of a different nature
from bodies,—a point which is not clearly indicated in our teaching.
And the same inquiries have to be made regarding Christ and the Holy
Spirit, as well as respecting every soul, and everything possessed of
a rational nature.
10. This also is a part of the teaching of the Church, that there
are certain angels of God, and certain good influences, which are His
servants in accomplishing the salvation of men. When these, however,
were created, or of what nature they are, or how they exist, is not
clearly stated. Regarding the sun, moon, and stars, whether they are
living beings or without life, there is no distinct deliverance.(5)
Every one, therefore, must make use of elements and foundations
of this sort, according to the precept, "Enlighten yourselves with the
light of knowledge,"(6) if he would desire to form a connected series
and body of truths agreeably to the reason of all these things, that by
dear and necessary statements he may ascertain the truth regarding each
individual topic, and form, as we have said, one body of doctrine, by
means of illustrations and arguments,—either those which he has
discovered in holy Scripture, or which he has deduced by closely
tracing out the consequences and following a correct method.
2. If, then, they acquiesce in our assertion, which reason itself
has demonstrated, regarding the nature of light, and acknowledge that
God cannot be understood to be a body in the sense that light is,
similar reasoning will hold true of the expression "a consuming fire."
For what will God consume in respect of His being fire? Shall He be
thought to consume material substance, as wood, or hay, or stubble? And
what in this view can be called worthy of the glory of God, if He be a
fire, consuming materials of that kind? But let us reflect that God
does indeed consume and utterly destroy; that He consumes evil
thoughts, wicked actions, and sinful desires, when they find their way
into the minds of believers; and that, inhabiting along with His Son
those souls which are rendered capable of receiving His word and
wisdom, according to His own declaration," I and the Father shall come,
and We shall make our abode with him?"(5) He makes them, after all
their vices and passions have been consumed, a holy temple, worthy of
Himself. Those, moreover, who, on account of the expression "God is a
Spirit," think that He is a body, are to be answered, I think, in the
following manner. It is the custom of sacred Scripture, when it wishes
to designate anything opposed to this gross and solid body, to call it
spirit, as in the expression, "The letter killeth, but the spirit
giveth life,"(6) where there can be no doubt that by "letter" are meant
bodily things, and by "spirit" intellectual things, which we also term
"spiritual." The apostle, moreover, says, "Even unto this day, when
Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart: nevertheless, when it
shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away: and where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."(7) For so long as any one is
not converted to a spiritual understanding, a veil is placed over his
heart, with which veil, i.e., a gross understanding, Scripture itself
is said or thought to be covered: and this is the meaning of the
statement that a veil was placed over the countenance of Moses when he
spoke to the people, i.e., when the law was publicly read aloud. But if
we turn to the Lord, where also is the word of God, and where the Holy
Spirit reveals spiritual knowledge, then the veil is taken away, and
with unveiled face we shall behold the glory of the Lord in the holy
Scriptures.
3. And since many saints participate in the Holy Spirit, He
cannot therefore be understood to be a body, which being divided into
corporeal parts, is partaken of by each one of the saints; but He is
manifestly a sanctifying power, in which all are said to have a share
who have deserved to be sanctified by His grace. And in order that what
we say may be more easily understood, let us take an illustration from
things very dissimilar. There are many persons who take a part in the
science s or art of medicine: are we therefore to suppose that those
who do so take to themselves the particles of some body called
medicine, which is placed before them, and in this way participate in
the same? Or must we not rather understand that all who with quick and
trained minds come to understand the art and discipline itself, may be
said to be par- taken of the art of healing? But these are not to be
deemed altogether parallel instances in a comparison of medicine to the
Holy Spirit, as they have been adduced only to establish that that is
not necessarily to be considered a body, a share in which is possessed
by many individuals. For the Holy Spirit differs widely from the method
or science of medicine, in respect that the Holy Spirit is an
intellectual existence and subsists and exists in a peculiar manner,
whereas medicine is not at all of that nature.
4. But we must pass on to the language of the Gospel itself, in
which it is declared that "God is a Spirit," and where we have to show
how that is to be understood agreeably to what we have stated. For let
us inquire on what occasion these words were spoken by the Saviour,
before whom He uttered them, and what was the subject of investigation.
We find, without any doubt, that He spoke these words to the Samaritan
woman, saying to her, who thought, agreeably to the Samaritan view,
that God ought to be worshipped on Mount Gerizim, that "God is a
Spirit." For the Samaritan woman, believing Him to be a Jew, was
inquiring of Him whether God ought to be worshipped in Jerusalem or on
this mountain; and her words were, "All our fathers worshipped on this
mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where we ought to
worship."(2) To this opinion of the Samaritan woman, therefore, who
imagined that God was less rightly or duly worshipped, according to the
privileges of the different localities, either by the Jews in Jerusalem
or by the Samaritans on Mount Gerizim, the Saviour answered that he who
would follow the Lord must lay aside all preference for particular
places, and thus expressed Himself: "The hour is coming when neither in
Jerusalem nor on this mountain shall the true worshippers worship the
Father. God is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth."(3) And observe how logically He has joined
together the spirit and the truth: He called God a Spirit, that He
might distinguish Him from bodies; and He named Him the truth, to
distinguish Him from a shadow or an image. For they who worshipped in
Jerusalem worshipped God neither in truth nor in spirit, being in
subjection to the shadow or image of heavenly things; and such also was
the case with those who worshipped on Mount Gerizim.
5. Having refuted, then, as well as we could, every notion which
might suggest that we were to think of God as in any degree corporeal,
we go on to say that, according to strict truth, God is
incomprehensible, and incapable of being measured.(4) For whatever be
the knowledge which we are able to obtain of God, either by perception
or reflection, we must of necessity believe that He is by many degrees
far better than what we perceive Him to be. For, as if we were to see
any one unable to bear a spark of light, or the flame of a very small
lamp, and were desirous to acquaint such a one, whose vision could not
admit a greater degree of light than what we have stated, with the
brightness and splendour of the sun, would it not be necessary to tell
him that the splendour of the sun was unspeakably and incalculably
better and more glorious than all this light which he saw? So our
understanding, when shut in by the fetters of flesh and blood, and
rendered, on account of its participation in such material substances,
duller and more obtuse, although, in comparison with our bodily nature,
it is esteemed to be far superior, yet, in its efforts to examine and
behold incorporeal things, scarcely holds the place of a spark or lamp.
But among all intelligent, that is, incorporeal beings, what is so
superior to all others—so unspeakably and incalculably superior—as
God, whose nature cannot be grasped or seen by the power of any human
understanding, even the purest and brightest?
6. But it will not appear absurd if we employ another similitude
to make the matter clearer. Our eyes frequently cannot look upon the
nature of the light itself—that is, upon the substance of the sun; but
when we behold his splendour or his rays pouring in, perhaps, through
windows or some small openings to admit the light, we can reflect how
great is the supply and source of the light of the body. So, in like
manner. the works of Divine Providence and the plan of this whole world
are a sort of rays, as it were, of the nature of God, in comparison
with His real substance and being. As, therefore, our understanding is
unable of itself to behold God Himself as He is, it knows the Father of
the world from the beauty of His works and the comeliness of His
creatures. God, therefore, is not to be thought of as being either a
body or as existing in a body, but as an uncompounded intellectual
nature,(5) admitting within Himself no addition of any kind; so that He
cannot be believed to have within him a greater and a less, but is such
that He is in all parts M onas , and, so to speak, E nas , and is the
mind and source from which all intellectual nature or mind takes its
beginning. But mind, for its movements or operations, needs no physical
space, nor sensible magnitude, nor bodily shape, nor colour, nor any
other of those adjuncts which are the properties of body or matter.
Wherefore that simple and wholly intellectual nature(1) can admit of no
delay or hesitation in its movements or operations, lest the simplicity
of the divine nature should appear to be circumscribed or in some
degree hampered by such adjuncts, and lest that which is the beginning
of all things should be found composite and differing, and that which
ought to be free from all bodily intermixture, in virtue of being the
one sole species of Deity, so to speak, should prove, instead of being
one, to consist of many things. That mind, moreover, does not require
space in order to carry on its movements agreeably to its nature, is
certain from observation of our own mind. For if the mind abide within
its own limits, and sustain no injury from any cause, it will never,
from diversity of situation, be retarded in the discharge of its
functions; nor, on the other hand, does it gain any addition or
increase of mobility from the nature of particular places. And here, if
any one were to object, for example, that among those who are at sea,
and tossed by its waves the mind is considerably less vigorous than it
is wont to be on land, we are to believe that it is in this state, not
from diversity of situation, but from the commotion or disturbance of
the body to which the mind is joined or attached. For it seems to be
contrary to nature, as it were, for a human body to live at sea; and
for that reason it appears, by a sort of inequality of its own, to
enter upon its mental operations in a slovenly and irregular manner,
and to perform the acts of the intellect with a duller sense, in as
great degree as those who on land are prostrated with fever; with
respect to whom it is certain, that if the. mind do not discharge its
functions as well as before, in consequence of the attack of disease,
the blame is to be laid not upon the place, but upon the bodily malady,
by which the body, being disturbed and disordered, renders to the mind
its customary services under by no means the well-known and natural
conditions: for we human beings are animals composed of a union of body
and soul, and in this way (only) was it possible for us to live upon
the earth. But God, who is the beginning of all things, is not to be
regarded as a composite being, lest perchance there should be found to
exist elements prior to the beginning itself, out of which everything
is composed, whatever that be which is called composite. Neither does
the mind require bodily magnitude in order to perform any act or
movement; as when the eye by gazing upon bodies of larger size is
dilated, but is compressed and contracted in order to see smaller
objects. The mind, indeed, requires magnitude of an intellectual kind,
because it grows, not after the fashion of a body, but after that of
intelligence. For the mind is not enlarged, together with the body, by
means of corporal additions, up to the twentieth or thirtieth year of
life; but the intellect is sharpened by exercises of learning, and the
powers implanted within it for intelligent purposes are called forth;
and it is rendered capable of greater intellectual efforts, not being
increased by bodily additions, but carefully polished by learned
exercises. But these it cannot receive immediately from boyhood, or
from birth, because the framework of limbs which the mind employs as
organs for exercising itself is weak and feeble; and it is unable to
bear the weight of its own operations, or to exhibit a capacity for
receiving training.
7. If there are any now who think that the mind itself and the
soul is a body, I wish they Would tell me by way of answer how it
receives reasons and assertions on subjects of such importance- of such
difficulty and such subtlety? Whence does it derive the power of
memory? and whence comes the contemplation of invisible(2) things? How
does the body possess the faculty of understanding incorporeal
existences? How does a bodily nature investigate the processes of the
various arts, and contemplate the reasons of things? How, also, is it
able to perceive and understand divine truths, which are manifestly
incorporeal? Unless, indeed, some should happen to be of opinion, that
as the very bodily shape and form of the ears or eyes contributes
something to hearing and to sight, and as the individual members,
formed by God, have some adaptation, even from the very quality of
their form, to the end for which they were naturally appointed; so also
he may think that the shape of the soul or mind is to be understood as
if created purposely and designedly for perceiving and understanding
individual things, and for being set in motion by vital movements. I do
not perceive, however, who shall be able to describe or state what is
the colour of the mind, in respect of its being mind, and acting as an
intelligent existence. Moreover, in confirmation and explanation of
what we have already advanced regarding the mind or soul—to the effect
that it is better than the whole bodily nature—the following remarks
may be added. There underlies every bodily sense a certain peculiar
sensible substance,(3) on which the bodily sense exerts itself. For
example, colours, form, size, underlie vision; voices and sound, the
sense of hearing; odours, good or bad, that of smell; savours, that of
taste; heat or cold, hardness or softness, roughness or smoothness,
that of touch. Now, of those senses enumerated above, it is manifest to
all that the sense of mind is much the best. How, then, should it not
appear absurd, that under those senses which are inferior, substances
should have been placed on which to exert their powers, but that under
this power, which is far better than any other, i.e., the sense of
mind, nothing at all of the nature of a substance should be placed, but
that a power of an intellectual nature should be an accident, or
consequent upon bodies? Those who assert this, doubtless do so to the
disparagement of that better substance which is within them; nay, by so
doing, they even do wrong to God Himself, when they imagine He may be
understood by means of a bodily nature, so that according to their view
He is a body, and that which may be understood or perceived by means of
a body; and they are unwilling to have it understood that the mind
bears a certain relationship to God, of whom the mind itself is an
intellectual image, and that by means of this it may come to some
knowledge of the nature of divinity, especially if it be purified and
separated from bodily matter.
8. But perhaps these declarations may seem to have less weight
with those who wish to be instructed in divine things out of the holy
Scriptures, and who seek to have it proved to them from that source how
the nature of God surpasses the nature of bodies. See, therefore, if
the apostle does not say the same thing, when, speaking of Christ, he
declares, that" He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of
every creature."(1) Not, as some suppose, that the nature of God is
visible to some and invisible to others: for the apostle does not say
"the image of God invisible" to men or "invisible" to sinners, but with
unvarying constancy pronounces on the nature of God in these words:
"the image of the invisible God." Moreover, John, in his Gospel, when
asserting that "no one hath seen God at any time,"(2) manifestly
declares to all who are capable of understanding, that there is no
nature to which God is visible: not as if, He were a being who was
visible by nature, and merely escaped or baffled the view of a frailer
creature, but because by the nature of His being it is impossible for
Him to be seen. And if you should ask of me what is my opinion
regarding the Only-begotten Himself, whether the nature of God, which
is naturally invisible, be not visible even to Him, let not such a
question appear to you at once to be either absurd or impious, because
we shall give you a logical reason. It is one thing to see, and another
to know: to see and to be seen is a property of bodies; to know and to
be known, an attribute of intellectual being. Whatever, therefore, is a
property of bodies, cannot be predicated either of the Father or of the
Son; but what belongs to the nature of deity is common to the Father
and the Son.(3) Finally, even He Himself, in the Gospel, did not say
that no one has seen the Father, save the Son, nor any one the Son,
save the Father; but His words are: "No one knoweth the Son, save the
Father; nor any one the Father, save the Son."(4) By which it is
clearly shown, that whatever among bodily natures is called seeing and
being seen, is termed, between the Father and the Son, a knowing and
being known, by means of the power of knowledge, not by the frailness
of the sense of sight. Because, then, neither seeing nor being seen can
be properly applied to an incorporeal and invisible nature, neither is
the Father, in the Gospel, said to be seen by the Son, nor the Son by
the Father, but the one is said to be known by the other.
9. Here, if any one lay before us the passage where it is said,
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,"(5) from that
very passage, in my opinion, will our position derive additional
strength; for what else is seeing God in heart, but, according to our
exposition as above, understanding and knowing Him with the mind? For
the names of the organs of sense are frequently applied to the soul, so
that it may be said to see with the eyes of the heart, i.e., to perform
an intellectual act by means of the power of intelligence. So also it
is said to hear with the ears when it perceives the deeper meaning of a
statement. So also we say that it makes use of teeth, when it chews and
eats the bread of life which cometh down from heaven. In like manner,
also, it is said to employ the services of other members, which are
transferred from their bodily appellations, and applied to the powers
of the soul, according to the words of Solomon, "You will find a divine
sense."(6) For he knew that there were within us two kinds of senses:
the one mortal, corruptible, human; the other immortal and
intellectual, which he now termed divine. By this divine sense,
therefore, not of the eyes, but of a pure heart, which is the mind, God
may be seen by those who are worthy. For you will certainly find in all
the Scriptures, both old and new, the term "heart" repeatedly used
instead of "mind," i.e., intellectual power. In this manner, therefore,
although far below the dignity of the subject, have we spoken of the
nature of God, as those who understand it under the limitation of the
human understanding. In the next place, let us see what is meant by the
name of Christ.
1. In the first place, we must note that the nature of that deity
which is in Christ in respect of His being the only-begotten Son of God
is one thing, and that human nature which He assumed in these last
times for the purposes of the dispensation (of grace) is another. And
therefore we have first to ascertain what the only-begotten Son of God
is, seeing He is called by many different names, according to the
circumstances and views of individuals. For He is termed Wisdom,
according to the expression of Solomon: "The Lord created me—the
beginning of His ways, and among His works, before He made any other
thing; He rounded me before the ages. In the beginning, before He
formed the earth, before He brought forth the fountains of waters,
before the mountains were made strong, before all the hills, He brought
me forth.", He is also styled First-born, as the apostle has declared:
"who is the first-born of every creature."(2) The first-born, however,
is not by nature a different person from the Wisdom, but one and the
same. Finally, the Apostle Paul says that "Christ (is) the power of God
and the wisdom of God."(3)
2. Let no one, however, imagine that we mean anything
impersonal(4) when we call Him the wisdom of God; or suppose, for
example, that we understand Him to be, not a living being endowed with
wisdom, but something which makes men wise, giving itself to, and
implanting itself in, the minds of those who are made capable of
receiving His virtues and intelligence. If, then, it is once rightly
understood that the only-begotten Son of God is His wisdom
hypostatically(5) existing, I know not whether our curiosity ought to
advance beyond this, or entertain any suspicion that that upostasis
or substantia contains anything of a bodily nature, since everything
that is corporeal is distinguished either by form, or colour, or
magnitude. And who in his sound senses ever sought for form, or colour,
or size, in wisdom, in respect of its being wisdom? And who that is
capable of entertaining reverential thoughts or feelings regarding God,
can suppose or believe that God the Father ever existed, even for a
moment of time,(6) without having generated this Wisdom? For in that
case he must say either that God was unable to generate Wisdom before
He produced her, so that He afterwards called into being her who
formerly did not exist, or that He possessed the power indeed,
but—what cannot be said of God without impiety—was unwilling to use
it; both of which suppositions, it is patent to all, are alike absurd
and impious: for they amount to this, either that God advanced from a
condition of inability to one of ability, or that, although possessed
of the power, He concealed it, and delayed the generation of Wisdom.
Wherefore we have always held that God is the Father of His
only-begotten Son, who was born indeed of Him, and derives from Him
what He is, but without any beginning, not only such as may be measured
by any divisions of time, but even that which the mind alone can
contemplate within itself, or behold, so to speak, with the naked
powers of the understanding. And therefore we must believe that Wisdom
was generated before any beginning that can be either comprehended or
expressed. And since all the creative power of the coming creation(7)
was included in this very existence of Wisdom (whether of those things
which have an original or of those which have a derived existence),
having been formed beforehand and arranged by the power of
foreknowledge; on account of these very creatures which had been
described, as it were, and prefigured in Wisdom herself, does Wisdom
say, in the words of Solomon, that she was created the beginning of the
ways of God, inasmuch as she contained within herself either the
beginnings, or forms, or species of all creation.
3. Now, in the same way in which we have understood that Wisdom
was the beginning of the ways of God, and is said to be created,
forming beforehand and containing within herself the species and
beginnings of all creatures, must we understand her to be the Word of
God, because of her disclosing to all other beings, i.e., to universal
creation, the nature of the mysteries and secrets which are contained
within the divine wisdom; and on this account she is called the Word,
because she is, as it were, the interpreter of the secrets of the mind.
And therefore that language which is found in the Acts of Paul,(8)
where it is said that "here is the Word a living being," appears to me
to be rightly used. John, however, with more sublimity and propriety,
says in the beginning of his Gospel, when defining God by a special
definition to be the Word, "And God was the Word? and this was in the
beginning with God." Let him, then, who assigns a beginning to the Word
or Wisdom of God, take care that he be not guilty of impiety against
the unbegotten Father Himself, seeing he denies that He had always been
a Father, and had generated the Word, and had possessed wisdom in all
preceding periods, whether they be called times or ages, or anything
else that can be so entitled.
4. This Son, accordingly, is also the truth and life of all
things which exist. And with reason. For how could those things which
were created live, unless they derived their being from life? or how
could those things which are, truly exist, unless they came down from
the truth? or how could rational beings exist, unless the Word or
reason had previously existed? or how could they be wise, unless there
were wisdom? But since it was to come to pass that some also should
fall away from life, and bring death upon themselves by their
declension—for death is nothing else than a departure from life—and
as it was not to follow that those beings which had once been created
by God for the enjoyment of life should utterly perish, it was
necessary that, before death, there should be in existence such a power
as would destroy the coming death, and that there should be a
resurrection, the type of which was in our Lord and Saviour, and that
this resurrection should have its ground in the wisdom and word and
life of God. And then, in the next place, since some of those who were
created were not to be always willing to remain unchangeable and
unalterable in the calm and moderate enjoyment of the blessings which
they possessed, but, in consequence of the good which was in them being
theirs not by nature or essence, but by accident, were to be perverted
and changed, and to fall away from their position, therefore was the
Word and Wisdom of God made the Way. And it was so termed because it
leads to the Father those who walk along it.
Whatever, therefore, we have predicated of the wisdom of God,
will be appropriately applied and understood of the Son of God, in
virtue of His being the Life, and the Word, and the Truth and the
Resurrection: for all these titles are derived from His power and
operations, and in none of them is there the slightest ground for
understanding anything of a corporeal nature which might seem to denote
either size, or form, or colour; for those children of men which appear
among us, or those descendants of other living beings, correspond to
the seed of those by whom they were begotten, or derive from those
mothers, in whose wombs they are formed and nourished, whatever that
is, which they bring into this life, and carry with them when they are
born.(1) But it is monstrous and unlawful to compare God the Father, in
the generation of His only-begotten Son, and in the substance(2) of the
same, to any man or other living thing engaged in such an act; for we
must of necessity hold that there is something exceptional and worthy
of God which does not admit of any comparison at all, not merely in
things, but which cannot even be conceived by thought or discovered by
perception, so that a human mind should be able to apprehend how the
unbegotten God is made the Father of the only-begotten Son. Because His
generation is as eternal and everlasting as the brilliancy which is
produced from the sun. For it is not by receiving the s breath of life
that He is made a Son, by any outward act, but by His own nature.
5. Let us now ascertain how those statements which we have
advanced are supported by the authority of holy Scripture. The Apostle
Paul says, that the only-begotten Son is the "image of the invisible
God," and "the first-born of every creature."(4) And when writing to
the Hebrews, he says of Him that He is "the brightness of His glory,
and the express image of His person."(5) Now, we find in the treatise
called the Wisdom of Solomon the following description of the wisdom of
God: "For she is the breath of the power of God, and the purest
efflux(6) of the glory of the Almighty."(7) Nothing that is polluted
can therefore come upon her. For she is the splendour of the eternal
light, and the stainless mirror of God's working, and the image of His
goodness. Now we say, as before, that Wisdom has her existence nowhere
else save in Him who is the beginning of all things: from whom also is
derived everything that is wise, because He Himself is the only one who
is by nature a Son, and is therefore termed the Only-begotten.
6. Let us now see how we are to understand the expression
"invisible image," that we may in this way perceive how God is rightly
called the Father of His Son; and let us, in the first place, draw our
conclusions from what are customarily called images among men. That is
sometimes called an image which is painted or sculptured on some
material substance, such as wood or stone; and sometimes a child is
called the image of his parent, when the features of the child in no
respect belie their resemblance to the father. I think, therefore, that
that man who was formed after the image and likeness of God may be
fittingly compared to the first illustration. Respecting him, however,
we shall see more precisely, God willing, when we come to expound the
passage in Genesis. But the image of the Son of God, of whom we are now
speaking, may be compared to the second of the above examples, even in
respect of this, that He is the invisible image of the invisible God,
in the same manner as we say, according to the sacred history, that the
image of Adam is his son Seth. The words are, "And Adam begat Seth in
his own likeness, and after his own image."(1) Now this image contains
the unity of nature and substance belonging to Father and Son. For if
the Son do, in like manner, all those things which the Father doth,
then, in virtue of the Son doing all things like the Father, is the
image of the Father formed in the Son, who is born of Him, like an act
of His will proceeding from the mind. And I am therefore of opinion
that the will of the Father ought alone to be sufficient for the
existence of that which He wishes to exist. For in the exercise of His
wilt He employs no other way than that which is made known by the
counsel of His will. And thus also the existence(2) of the Son is
generated by Him. For this point must above all others be maintained by
those who allow nothing to be unbegotten, i.e., unborn, save God the
Father only. And we must be careful not to fall into the absurdities of
those who picture to themselves certain emanations, so as to divide the
divine nature into parts, and who divide God the Father as far as they
can, since even to entertain the remotest suspicion of such a thing
regarding an incorporeal being is not only the height of impiety, but a
mark of the greatest folly, it being most remote from any intelligent
conception that there should be any physical division of any
incorporeal nature. Rather, therefore, as an act of the will proceeds
from the understanding, and neither cuts off any part nor is separated
or divided from it, so after some such fashion is the Father to be
supposed as having begotten the Son, His own image; namely, so that, as
He is Himself invisible by nature, He also begat an image that was
invisible. For the Son is the Word, and therefore we are not to
understand that anything in Him is cognisable by the senses. He is
wisdom, and in wisdom there can be no suspicion of anything corporeal.
He is the true light, which enlightens every man that cometh into this
world; but He has nothing in common with the light of this sun. Our
Saviour, therefore, is the image of the invisible God, inasmuch as
compared with the Father Himself He is the truth: and as compared with
us, to whom He reveals the Father, He is the image by which we come to
the knowledge of the Father, whom no one knows save the Son, and he to
whom the Son is pleased to reveal Him. And the method of revealing Him
is through the understanding. For He by whom the Son Himself is
understood, understands, as a consequence, the Father also, according
to His own words: "He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father also."(3)
7. But since we quoted the language of Paul regarding Christ,
where He says of Him that He is "the brightness of the glory of God,
and the express figure of His person,"(4) let us see what idea we are
to form of this. According to John, "God is light." The only-begotten
Son, therefore, is the glory of this light, proceeding inseparably from
(God) Himself, as brightness does from light, and illuminating the
whole of creation. For, agreeably to what we have already explained as
to the manner in which He is the Way, and conducts to the Father; and
in which He is the Word, interpreting the secrets of wisdom, and the
mysteries of knowledge, making them known to the rational creation; and
is also the Truth, and the Life, and the Resurrection,—in the same way
ought we to understand also the meaning of His being the brightness:
for it is by its splendour that we understand and feel what light
itself is. And this splendour, presenting itself gently and softly to
the frail and weak eyes of mortals, and gradually training, as it were,
and accustoming them to bear the brightness of the light, when it has
put away from them every hindrance and obstruction to vision, according
to the Lord's own precept," Cast forth the beam out of thine eye," s
renders them capable of enduring the splendour of the light, being made
in this respect also a sort of mediator between men and the light.
8. But since He is called by the apostle not only the brightness
of His glory, but also the express figure of His person or
subsistence,(6) it does not seem idle to inquire how there can be said
to be another figure of that person besides the person of God Himself,
whatever be the meaning of person and subsistence. Consider, then,
whether the Son of God, seeing He is His Word and Wisdom, and alone
knows the Father, and reveals Him to whom He will (i.e., to those who
are capable of receiving His word and wisdom), may not, in regard of
this very point of making God to be understood and acknowledged, be
called the figure of His person and subsistence; that is, when that
Wisdom, which desires to make known to others the means by which God is
acknowledged and understood by them, describes Himself first of all, it
may by so doing be called the express figure of the person of God. In
order, however, to arrive at a fuller understanding of the manner in
which the Saviour is the figure of the person or subsistence of God,
let us take an instance, which, although it does not describe the
subject of which we are treating either fully or appropriately, may
nevertheless be seen to be employed for this purpose only, to show that
the Son of God, who was in the form of God, divesting Himself (of His
glory), makes it His object, by this very divesting of Himself, to
demonstrate to us the fulness of His deity. For instance, suppose that
there were a statue of so enormous a size as to fill the whole world,
and which on that account could be seen by no one; and that another
statue were formed altogether resembling it in the shape of the limbs,
and in the features of the countenance, and in form and material, but
without the same immensity of size, so that those who were unable to
behold the one of enormous proportions, should, on seeing the latter,
acknowledge that they had seen the former, because it preserved all the
features of its limbs and countenance, and even the very form and
material, so closely, as to be altogether undistinguishable from it; by
some such similitude, the Son of God, divesting Himself of His equality
with the Father, and showing to us the way to the knowledge of Him, is
made the express image of His person: so that we, who were unable to
look upon the glory of that marvellous light when placed in the
greatness of His Godhead, may, by His being made to us brightness,
obtain the means of beholding the divine light by looking upon the
brightness. This comparison, of course, of statues, as belonging to
material things, is employed for no other purpose than to show that the
Son of God, though placed in the very insignificant form of a human
body, in consequence of the resemblance of His works and power to the
Father, showed that there was in Him an immense and invisible
greatness, inasmuch as He said to His disciples, "He who sees Me, sees
the Father also;" and, "I and the Father are one." And to these belong
also the similar expression, "The Father is in Me, and I in the
Father."
9. Let us see now what is the meaning of the expression which is
found in the Wisdom of Solomon, where it is said of Wisdom that "it is
a kind of breath of the power of God, and the purest efflux of the
glory of the Omnipotent, and the splendour of eternal light, and the
spotless mirror of the working or power of God, and the image of His
goodness."(1) These, then, are the definitions which he gives of God,
pointing out by each one of them certain attributes which belong to the
Wisdom of God, calling wisdom the power, and the glory, and the
everlasting light, and the working, and the goodness of God. He does
not say, however, that wisdom is the breath of the glory of the
Almighty, nor of the everlasting light, nor of the working Of the
Father, nor of His goodness, for it was not appropriate that breath
should be ascribed to any one of these; but, with all propriety, he
says that wisdom is the breath of the power of God. Now, by the power
of God is to be understood that by which He is strong; by which He
appoints, restrains, and governs all things visible and invisible;
which is sufficient for all those things which He rules over in His
providence; among all which He is present, as if one individual. And
although the breath of all this mighty and immeasurable power, and the
vigour itself produced, so to speak, by its own existence, proceed from
the power itself, as the will does from the mind, yet even this will of
God is nevertheless made to become the power of God.:
Another power accordingly is produced, which exists with
properties of its own,—a kind of breath, as Scripture says, of the
primal and unbegotten power of God, deriving from Him its being, and
never at any time non-existent. For if any one were to assert that it
did not formerly exist, but came afterwards into existence, let him
explain the reason why the Father, who gave it being, did not do so
before. And if he shall grant that there was once a beginning, when
that breath proceeded from the power of God, we shall ask him again,
why not even before the beginning, which he has allowed; and in this
way, ever demanding an earlier date, and going upwards with our
interrogations, we shall arrive at this conclusion, that as God was
always possessed of power and will, there never was any reason of
propriety or otherwise, why He may not have always possessed that
blessing which He desired. By which it is shown that that breath of
God's power always existed, having no beginning save God Himself. Nor
was it fitting that there should be any other beginning save God
Himself, from whom it derives its birth. And according to the
expression of the apostle, that Christ "is the power of God," a it
ought to be termed not only the breath of the power of God, but power
out of power.
10. Let us now examine the expression, "Wisdom is the purest
efflux of the glory of the Almighty;" and let us first consider what
the glory of the omnipotent God is, and then we shall also understand
what is its efflux. As no one can be a father without having a son, nor
a master without possessing a servant, so even God cannot be called
omnipotent unless there exist those over whom He may exercise His
power; and therefore, that God may be shown to be almighty, it is
necessary that all things should exist. For if any one would have some
ages or portions of time, or whatever else he likes to call them, to
have passed away, while those things which were afterwards made did not
yet exist, he would undoubtedly show that during those ages or periods
God was not omnipotent, but became so afterwards, viz., from the time
that He began to have persons over whom to exercise power; and in this
way He will appear to have received a certain increase, and to have
risen from a lower to a higher condition; since there can be no doubt
that it is better for Him to be omnipotent than not to be so. And now
how can it appear otherwise than absurd, that when God possessed none
of those things which it was befitting for Him to possess, He should
afterwards, by a kind of progress, come into the possession of them?
But if there never was a time when He was not omnipotent, of necessity
those things by which He receives that title must also exist; and He
must always have had those over whom He exercised power, and which were
governed by Him either as king or prince, of which we shall speak more
fully in the proper place, when we come to discuss the subject of the
creatures. But even now I think it necessary to drop a word, although
cursorily, of warning, since the question before us is, how wisdom is
the purest efflux of the glory of the Almighty, lest any one should
think that the title of Omnipotent was anterior in God to the birth of
Wisdom, through whom He is called Father, seeing that Wisdom, which is
the Son of God, is the purest efflux of the glory of the Almighty. Let
him who is inclined to entertain this suspicion hear the undoubted
declaration of Scripture pronouncing, "In wisdom hast Thou made them
all,"(1) and the teaching of the Gospel, that "by Him were all things
made, and without Him nothing was made;"(2) and let him understand from
this that the title of Omnipotent in God cannot be older than that of
Father; for it is through the Son that the Father is almighty. But from
the expression "glory of the Almighty," of which glory Wisdom is the
efflux, this is to be understood, that Wisdom, through which God is
called omnipotent, has a share in the glory of the Almighty. For
through Wisdom, which is Christ, God has power over all things, not
only by the authority of a ruler, but also by the voluntary obedience
of subjects. And that you may understand that the omnipotence of Father
and Son is one and the same, as God and the Lord are one and the same
with the Father, listen to the manner in which John speaks in the
Apocalypse: "Thus saith the Lord God, which is, and which was, and
which is to come, the Almighty."(3) For who else was "He which is to
come" than Christ? And as no one ought to be offended, seeing God is
the Father, that the Saviour is also God; so also, since the Father is
called omnipotent, no one ought to be offended that the Son of God is
also cared omnipotent. For in this way will that saying be true which
He utters to the Father, "All Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I
am glorified in them."(4) Now, if all things which are the Father's are
also Christ's, certainly among those things which exist is the
omnipotence of the Father; and doubtless the only-begotten Son ought to
be omnipotent, that the Son also may have all things which the Father
possesses. "And I am glorified in them," He declares. For "at the name
of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that
the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father."(5) Therefore He is
the efflux of the glory of God in this respect, that He is
omnipotent—the pure and limpid Wisdom herself—glorified as the efflux
of omnipotence or of glory. And that it may be more clearly nnderstood
what the glory of omnipotence is, we shall add the following. God the
Father is omnipotent, because He has power over all things, i.e., over
heaven and earth, sun, moon, and stars, and all things in them. And He
exercises His power over them by means of His Word, because at the name
of Jesus every knee shall bow, both of things in heaven, and things on
earth, and things under the earth. And if every knee is bent to Jesus,
then, without doubt, it is Jesus to whom all things are subject, and He
it is who exercises power over all things, and through whom all things
are subject to the Father; for through wisdom, i.e., by word and
reason, not by force and necessity, are all things subject. And
therefore His glory consists in this very thing, that He possesses all
things, and this is the purest and most limpid glory of omnipotence,
that by reason and wisdom, not by force and necessity, all things are
subject. Now the purest and most limpid glory of wisdom is a convenient
expression to distinguish it from that glory which cannot be called
pure and sincere. But every nature which is convertible and changeable,
although glorified in the works of righteousness or wisdom, yet by the
fact that righteousness or wisdom are accidental qualifies, and because
that which is accidental may also fall away, its glory cannot be called
sincere and pure. But the Wisdom of God, which is His only-begotten
Son, being in all respects incapable of change or alteration, and every
good quality in Him being essential, and such as cannot be changed and
converted, His glory is therefore declared to be pure and sincere.
11. In the third place, wisdom is called the splendour of eternal
light. The force of this expression we have explained in the preceding
pages, when we introduced the similitude of the sun and the splendour
of its rays, and showed to the best of our power how this should be
understood. To what we then said we shall add only the following
remark. That is properly termed everlasting or eternal which neither
had a beginning of existence, nor can ever cease to be what it is. And
this is the idea conveyed by John when he says that "God is light." Now
His wisdom is the splendour of that light, not only in respect of its
being light, but also of being everlasting light, so that His wisdom is
eternal and everlasting splendour. If this be fully understood, it
clearly shows that the existence of the Son is derived from the Father
but not in time, nor from any other beginning, except, as we have said,
from God Himself.
12. But wisdom is also called the stainless mirror of the
energeia or working of God. We must first understand, then, what the
working of the power of God is. It is a sort of vigour, so to speak, by
which God operates either in creation, or in providence, or in
judgment, or in the disposal and arrangement of individual things, each
in its season. For as the image formed in a mirror unerringly reflects
all the acts and movements of him who gazes on it, so would Wisdom have
herself to be understood when she is called the stainless mirror of the
power and working of the Father: as the Lord Jesus Christ also, who is
the Wisdom of God, declares of Himself when He says, "The works which
the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."(1) And again He
says, that the Son cannot do anything of Himself, save what He sees the
Father do. As therefore the Son in no respect differs from the Father
in the power of His works, and the work of the Son is not a different
thing from that of the Father, but one and the same movement, so to
speak, is in all things, He therefore named Him a stainless mirror,
that by such an expression it might be understood that them is no
dissimilarity whatever between the Son and the Father. How, indeed, can
those things which are said by some to be done after the manner in
which a disciple resembles or imitates his master, or according to the
view that those things are made by the Son in bodily material which
were first formed by the Father in their spiritual essence, agree with
the declarations of Scripture, seeing in the Gospel the Son is said to
do not similar things, but the same things in a similar manner?
13. It remains that we inquire what is the "image of His
goodness;" and here, I think, we must understand the same thing which
we expressed a little ago, in speaking of the image formed by the
mirror. For He is the primal goodness, doubtless, out of which the Son
is born, who, being in all respects the image of the Father, may
certainly also be called with propriety the image of His goodness. For
there is no other second goodness existing in the Son, save that which
is in the Father. And therefore also the Saviour Himself rightly says
in the Gospel, "Them is none good save one only, God the Father,"(2)
that by such an expression it may be understood that the Son is not of
a different goodness, but of that only which exists in the Father, of
whom He is tightly termed the image, because He proceeds from no other
source but from that primal goodness, lest there might appear to be in
the Son a different goodness from that which is in the Father. Nor is
there any dissimilarity or difference of goodness in the Son. And
therefore it is not to be imagined that there is a kind of blasphemy,
as it were, in the words, "There is none good save one only, God the
Father," as if thereby it may be supposed to be denied that either
Christ or the Holy Spirit was good. But, as we have already said, the
primal goodness is to be understood as residing in God the Father, from
whom both the Son is born and the Holy Spirit proceeds, retaining
within them, without any doubt, the nature of that goodness which is in
the source whence they are derived. And if there be any other things
which in Scripture are called good, whether angel, or man, or servant,
or treasure, or a good heart, or a good tree, all these are so termed
catachrestically,(3) having in them an accidental, not an essential
goodness. But it would require both much time and labour to collect
together all the titles of the Son of God, such, e.g., as the true
light, or the door, or the righteousness, or the sanctification, or the
redemption, and countless others; and to show if or what reasons each
one of them is so given. Satisfied, therefore, with what we have
already advanced, we go on with our inquiries into those other matters
which follow.
1. The next point is to investigate as briefly as possible the
subject of the Holy Spirit. All who perceive, in whatever manner, the
existence of Providence, confess that God, who created and disposed all
things, is unbegotten, and rec- ognise Him as the parent of the
universe. Now, that to Him belongs a Son, is a statement not made by us
only; although it may seem a sufficiently marvellous and incredible
assertion to those who have a reputation as philosophers among Greeks
and Barbarians, by some of whom, however, an idea of His existence
seems to have been entertained, in their acknowledging that all things
were created by the word or reason of God. We, however, in conformity
with our belief in that doctrine, which we assuredly hold to be
divinely inspired, believe that it is possible in no other way to
explain and bring within the reach of human knowledge this higher and
diviner reason as the Son of God, than by means of those Scriptures
alone which were inspired by the Holy Spirit, i.e., the Gospels and
Epistles, and the law and the prophets, according to the declaration of
Christ Himself. Of the existence of the Holy Spirit no one indeed could
entertain any suspicion, save those who were familiar with the law and
the prophets, or those who profess a belief in Christ. For although no
one is able to speak with certainty of God the Father, it is
nevertheless possible for some knowledge of Him to be gained by means
of the visible creation and the natural feelings of the human mind; and
it is possible, moreover, for such knowledge to be confined from the
sacred Scriptures. But with respect to the Son of God, although no one
knoweth the Son save the Father, yet it is from sacred Scripture also
that the human mind is taught how to think of the Son; and that not
only from the New, but also from the Old Testament, by means of those
things which, although done by the saints, are figuratively referred to
Christ, and from which both His divine nature, and that human nature
which was assumed by Him, may be discovered.
2. Now, what the Holy Spirit is, we are taught in many passages
of Scripture, as by David in the fifty-first Psalm, when he says, "And
take not Thy Holy Spirit from me;"(1) and by Daniel, where it is Said,
"The Holy Spirit which is in thee."(2) And in the New Testament we have
abundant testimonies, as when the Holy Spirit is described as having
descended upon Christ, and when the Lord breathed upon His apostles
after His resurrection, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit;"(3) and the
saying of the angel to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon thee;"(4)
the declaration by Paul, that no one can call Jesus Lord, save by the
Holy Spirit.(5) In the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit was given
by the imposition of the apostles' hands in baptism.(6) From all which
we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit was of such authority and
dignity, that saving baptism was not complete except by the authority
of the most excellent Trinity of them all, i.e., by the naming of
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and by joining to the unbegotten God the
Father, and to His only-begotten Son, the name also of the Holy Spirit.
Who, then, is not amazed at the exceeding majesty of the Holy Spirit,
when he hears that he who speaks a word against the Son of man may hope
for forgiveness; but that he who is guilty of blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit has not forgiveness, either in the present world or in that
which is to come!(7)
3. That all things were created by God, and that there is no
creature which exists but has derived from Him its being, is
established from many declarations of Scripture; those assertions being
refuted and rejected which are falsely alleged by some respecting the
existence either of a matter co-eternal with God, or of unbegotten
souls, in which they would have it that God implanted not so much the
power of existence, as equality and order. For even in that little
treatise called The Pastor or Angel of Repentance, composed by Hennas,
we have the following: "First of all, believe that there is one God who
created and arranged all things; who, when nothing formerly existed,
caused all things to be; who Himself contains all things, but Himself
is contained by none."(8) And in the book of Enoch also we have similar
descriptions. But up to the present time we have been able to find no
statement in holy .Scripture in which the Holy Spirit could be said to
be made or created? not even in the way in which we have shown above
that the divine wisdom is spoken of by Solomon, or in which those
expressions which we have discussed are to be understood of the life,
or the word, or the other appellations of the Son of God. The Spirit of
God, therefore, which was borne upon the waters, as is written in the
beginning of the creation of the world, is, I am of opinion, no other
than the Holy Spirit, so far as I can understand; as indeed we have
shown in our exposition of the passages themselves, not according to
the historical, but according to the spiritual method of
interpretation.
4. Some indeed of our predecessors have observed, that in the New
Testament, whenever the Spirit is named without that adjunct which
denotes quality, the Holy Spirit is to be understood; as e.g., in the
expression, "Now the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace;"(10)
and, "Seeing ye began in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect in the
flesh?"(1) We are of opinion that this distinction may be observed in
the Old Testament also, as when it is said, "He that giveth His Spirit
to the people who are upon the earth, and Spirit to them who walk
thereon."(2) For, · without doubt, every one who walks upon the earth
(i.e., earthly and corporeal beings) is a partaker also of the Holy
Spirit, receiving it from God. My Hebrew master also used to say that
those two seraphim in Isaiah, which are described as having each six
wings, and calling to one another, and saying, "Holy, holy, holy, is
the Loan God of hosts,"(3) were to be understood of the only-begotten
Son of God and of the Holy Spirit. And we think that that expression
also which occurs in the hymn of Habakkuk, "In the midst either of the
two living things, or of the two lives, Thou wilt be known,"(4) ought
to be understood of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. For all knowledge of
the Father is obtained by revelation of the Son through the Holy
Spirit, so that both of these beings which, according to the prophet,
are called either "living things" or "lives," exist as the ground of
the knowledge of God the Father. For as it is said of the Son, that "no
one knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal
Him,"(5) the same also is said by the apostle of the Holy Spirit, when
He declares, "God hath revealed them to us by His Holy Spirit; for the
Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God;"(6) and again
in the Gospel, when the Saviour, speaking of the divine and profounder
parts of His teaching, which His disciples were not yet able to
receive, thus addresses them: "I have yet many things to say unto you,
but ye cannot bear them now; but when the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
is come, He will teach you all things, and will bring all things to
your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."(7) We must
understand, therefore, that as the Son, who alone knows the Father,
reveals Him to whom He will, so the Holy Spirit, who alone searches the
deep things of God, reveals God to whom He will: "For the Spirit
bloweth where He listeth."(8) We are not, however, to suppose that the
Spirit derives His knowledge through revelation from the Son. For if
the Holy Spirit knows the Father through the Son's revelation, He
passes from a state of ignorance into one of knowledge; but it is alike
impious and foolish to confess the Holy Spirit, and yet to ascribe to
Him ignorance. For even although something else existed before the Holy
Spirit, it was not by progressive advancement that He came to be the
Holy Spirit; as if any one should venture to say, that at the time when
He was not yet the Holy Spirit He was ignorant of the Father, but that
after He had received knowledge He was made the Holy Spirit. For if
this were the case, the Holy Spirit would never be reckoned in the
Unity of the Trinity, i.e., along with the unchangeable Father and His
Son, unless He had always been the Holy Spirit. When we use, indeed,
such terms as "always" or "was," or any other designation of time, they
are not to be taken absolutely, but with due allowance; for while the
significations of these words relate to time, and those subjects of
which we speak are spoken of by a stretch of language as existing in
time, they nevertheless surpass in their real nature all conception of
the finite understanding.
5. Nevertheless it seems proper to inquire what is the reason why
he who is regenerated by God unto salvation has to do both with Father
and Son and Holy Spirit, and does not obtain salvation unless with the
co-operation of the entire Trinity; and why it is impossible to become
partaker of the Father or the Son without the Holy Spirit. And in
discussing these subjects, it will undoubtedly be necessary to describe
the special working of the Holy Spirit, and of the Father and the Son.
I am of opinion, then, that the working of the Father and of the Son
takes place as well in saints as in sinners, in rational beings and in
dumb animals; nay, even in those things which are without life, and in
all things universally which exist; but that the operation of the Holy
Spirit does not take place at all in those things which are without
life, or in those which, although living, are yet dumb; nay, is not
found even in those who are endued indeed with reason, but are engaged
in evil courses, and not at all converted to a better life. In those
persons alone do I think that the operation of the Holy Spirit takes
place, who are already turning to a better life, and walking along the
way which leads to Jesus Christ, i.e., who are engaged in the
performance of good actions, and who abide in God.
6. That the working of the Father and the Son operates both in
saints and in sinners, is manifest from this, that all who are rational
beings are partakers of the word, i.e., of reason, and by this means
bear certain seeds, implanted within them, of wisdom and justice, which
is Christ. Now, in Him who truly exists, and who said by Moses, "I AM
WHO I AM,"(9) all things, whatever they are, participate; which
participation in God the Father is shared both by just men and sinners,
by rational and irrational beings, and by all things universally which
exist. The Apostle Paul also shows truly that all have a share in
Christ, when he says, "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into
heaven? (i.e., to bring Christ down from above;) or who shall descend
into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But
what saith the Scripture? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and
in thy heart."(1) By which he means that Christ is in the heart of all,
in respect of His being the word or reason, by participating in which
they are rational beings. That declaration also in the Gospel, "If I
had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they
have no excuse for their sin,"(2) renders it manifest and patent to all
who have a rational knowledge of how long a time man is without sin,
and from what period he is liable to it, how, by participating in the
word or reason, men are said to have sinned, viz., from the time they
are made capable of understanding and knowledge, when the reason
implanted within has suggested to them the difference between good and
evil; and after they have already begun to know what evil is, they are
made liable to sin, if they commit it. And this is the meaning of the
expression, that "men have no excuse for their sin," viz., that, from
the time the divine word or reason has begun to show them internally
the difference between good and evil, they ought to avoid and guard
against that which is wicked: "For to him who knoweth to do good, and
doeth it not, to him it is sin."(3) Moreover, that all men are not
without communion with God, is taught in the Gospel thus, by the
Saviour's words: "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation;
neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! but the kingdom of God
is within you."(4) But here we must see whether this does not bear the
same meaning with the expression in Genesis: "And He breathed into his
face the breath of life, and man became a living soul."(5) For if this
be understood as applying generally to all men, then all men have a
share in God.
7. But if this is to be understood as spoken of the Spirit of
God, since Adam also is found to have prophesied of some things, it may
be taken not as of general application, but as confined to those who
are saints. Finally, also, at the time of the flood, when all flesh had
corrupter their way before God, it is recorded that God spoke thus, as
of undeserving men and sinners: "My Spirit shall not abide with those
men for ever, because they are flesh."(6) By which, it is clearly shown
that the Spirit of God is taken away from all who are unworthy. In the
Psalms also it is written: "Thou wilt take away their spirit, and they
will die, and return to their earth. Thou wilt send forth Thy Spirit,
and they shall be created, and Thou wilt renew the face of the
earth;"(7) which is manifestly intended of the Holy Spirit, who, after
sinners and unworthy persons have been taken away and destroyed,
creates for Himself a new people, and renews the face of the earth,
when, laying aside, through the grace of the Spirit, the old map with
his deeds, they begin to walk in newness of life. And therefore the
expression is competently applied to the Holy Spirit, because He will
take up His dwelling, not in all men, nor in those who are flesh, but
in those whose land(8) has been renewed. Lastly, for this reason was
the grace and revelation of the Holy Spirit bestowed by the imposition
of the apostles' hands after baptism. Our Saviour also, after the
resurrection, when old things had already passed away, and all things
had become new, Himself a new man, and the first-born from the dead,
His apostles also being renewed by faith in His resurrection, says,
"Receive the Holy Spirit;"(9) This is doubtless what the Lord the
Saviour meant to convey in the Gospel, when He said that new wine
cannot be put into old bottles, but commanded that the bottles should
be made new, i.e., that men should walk in newness of life, that they
might receive the new wine, i.e., the newness of grace of the Holy
Spirit. In this manner, then, is the working of the power of God the
Father and of the Son extended without distinction to every creature;
but a share in the Holy Spirit we find possessed only by the saints.
And therefore it is said, "No man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by
the Holy Ghost."(10) And on one occasion, scarcely even the apostles
themselves are deemed worthy to hear the words, "Ye shall receive the
power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you."(11) For this reason, also, I
think it follows that he who has committed a sin against the Son of man
is deserving of forgiveness; because if he who is a participator of the
word or reason of God cease to live agreeably to reason, he seems to
have fallen into a state of ignorance or folly, and therefore to
deserve forgiveness; whereas he who has been deemed worthy to have a
portion of the Holy Spirit, and who has relapsed, is, by this very act
and work, said to be guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Let
no one indeed suppose that we, from having said that the Holy Spirit is
conferred upon the saints alone, but that the benefits or operations of
the Father and of the Son extend to good and bad, to just and unjust,
by so doing give a preference to the Holy Spirit over the Father and
the Son, or assert that His dignity is greater, which certainly would
be a very illogical conclusion. For it is the peculiarity of His grace
and operations that we have been describing. Moreover, nothing in the
Trinity can be called greater or less, since the fountain of divinity
alone contains all things by His word and reason, and by the Spirit of
His mouth sanctifies all things which are worthy of sanctification, as
it is written in the Psalm: "By the word of the LORD were the heavens
strengthened, and all their power by the Spirit of His mouth."(1) There
is also a special working of God the Father, besides that by which He
bestowed upon all things the gift of natural life. There is also a
special ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ to those upon whom he confers
by nature the gift of reason, by means of which they are enabled to be
rightly what they are. There is also another grace of the Holy Spirit,
which is bestowed upon the deserving, through the ministry of Christ
and the working of the Father, in proportion to the merits of those who
are rendered capable of receiving it. This is most clearly pointed out
by the Apostle Paul, when demonstrating that the power of the Trinity
is one and the same, in the words, "There are diversities of gifts, but
the same Spirit; there are diversities of administrations, but the same
Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God
who worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to
every man to profit: withal."(2) From which it most clearly follows
that there is no difference in the Trinity, but that which is called
the gift of the Spirit is made known through the Son, and operated by
God the Father. "But all these worketh that one and the self-same
Spirit, dividing to every one severally as He will."(3)
8. Having made these declarations regarding the Unity of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, let us return to the
order in which we began the discussion. God the Father bestows upon
all, existence; and participation in Christ, in respect of His being
the word of reason, renders them rational beings. From which it follows
that they are deserving either of praise or blame, because capable of
virtue and vice. On this account, therefore, is the grace of the Holy
Ghost present, that those beings which are not holy in their essence
may be rendered holy by participating in it. Seeing, then, that
firstly, they derive their existence from God the Father; secondly,
their rational nature from the Word; thirdly, their holiness from the
Holy Spirit,—those who have been previously sanctified by the Holy
Spirit are again made capable of receiving Christ, in respect that He
is the righteousness of God; and those who have earned advancement to
this grade by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, will nevertheless
obtain the gift of wisdom according to the power and working of the
Spirit of God. And this I consider is Paul's meaning, when he says that
to "some is given the word of wisdom, to others the word of knowledge,
according to the same Spirit." And while pointing out the individual
distinction of gifts, he refers the whole of them to the source of all
things. in the words, "There are diversities of operations, but one God
who worketh all in all."(4) Whence also the working of the Father,
which confers existence upon all things, is found to be more glorious
and magnificent, while each one, by participation in Christ, as being
wisdom, and knowledge, and sanctification, makes progress, and advances
to higher degrees of perfection; and seeing it is by partaking of the
Holy Spirit that any one is made purer and holier, he obtains, when he
is made worthy, the grace of wisdom and knowledge, in order that, after
all stains of pollution and ignorance are cleansed and taken away, he
may make so great an advance in holiness and purity, that the nature
which he received from God may become such as is worthy of Him who gave
it to be pure and perfect, so that the being which exists may be as
worthy as He who called it into existence. For, in this way, he who is
such as his Creator wished him to be, will receive from God power
always to exist, and to abide for ever. That this may be the case, and
that those whom He has created may be unceasingly and inseparably
present with HIM, WHO IS, it is the business of wisdom to instruct and
train them, and to bring them to perfection by confirmation of His Holy
Spirit and unceasing sanctification, by which alone are they capable of
receiving God. In this way, then, by the renewal of the ceaseless
working of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in us, in its various stages of
progress, shall we be able at some future time perhaps, although with
difficulty, to behold the holy and the blessed life, in which (as it is
only after many struggles that we are able to reach it) we ought so to
continue, that no satiety of that blessedness should ever seize us; but
the more we perceive its blessedness, the more should be increased and
intensified within us the longing for the same, while we ever more
eagerly and freely receive and hold fast the Father, and the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. But if satiety should ever take hold of any one of
those who stand on the highest and perfect summit of attainment, I do
not think that such an one would suddenly be deposed from his position
and fall away, but that he must decline gradually and little by little,
so that it may sometimes happen that if a brief lapsus take place, and
the individual quickly repent and return to himself, he may not utterly
fall away, but may retrace his steps, and return to his former place,
and again make good that which had been lost by his negligence.
CHAP, IV.—ON DEFECTION, OR FALLING AWAY.
1. To exhibit the nature of defection or falling away, on the
part of those who conduct themselves carelessly, it will not appear out
of place to employ a similitude by way of illustration. Suppose, then,
the case of one who had become gradually acquainted with the art or
science, say of geometry or medicine, until he had reached perfection,
having trained himself for a lengthened time in its principles and
practice, so as to attain a complete mastery over the art: to such an
one it could never happen, that, when he lay down to sleep in the
possession of his skill, he should awake in a state of ignorance. It is
not our purpose to adduce or to notice here those accidents which are
occasioned by any injury or weakness, for they do not apply to our
present illustration. According to our point of view, then, so long as
that geometer or physician continues to exercise himself in the study
of his art and in the practice of its principles, the knowledge of his
profession abides with him; but if he withdraw from its practice, and
lay aside his habits of industry, then, by his neglect, at first a few
things will gradually escape him, then by and by more and more, until
in course of time everything will be forgotten, and be completely
effaced from the memory. It is possible, indeed, that when he has first
begun to fall away, and to yield to the corrupting influence of a
negligence which is small as yet, he may, if he be aroused and return
speedily to his senses, repair those losses which up to that time are
only recent, and recover that knowledge which hitherto had been only
slightly obliterated from his mind. Let us apply this now to the case
of those who have devoted themselves to the knowledge and wisdom of
God, whose learning and diligence incomparably surpass all other
training; and let us contemplate, according to the form of the
similitude employed, what is the acquisition of knowledge, or what is
its disappearance, especially when we hear from the apostle what is
said of those who are perfect, that they shall behold face to face the
glory of the Lord in the revelation of His mysteries.
2. But in our desire to show the divine benefits bestowed upon us
by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which Trinity is the fountain of all
holiness, we have fallen, in what we have said, into a digression,
having considered that the subject of the soul, which accidentally came
before us, should be touched on, although cursorily, seeing we were
discussing a cognate topic relating to our rational nature. We shall,
however, with the permission of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy
Spirit, more conveniently consider in the proper place the subject of
all rational beings, which are distinguished into three genera and
species.
1. After the dissertation, which we have briefly conducted to the
best of our ability, regarding the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it
follows that we offer a few remarks upon the subject of rational
natures, and on their species and orders, or on the offices as well of
holy as of malignant powers, and also on those which occupy an
intermediate position between these good and evil powers, and as yet
are placed in a state of struggle and trial. For we find in holy
Scripture numerous names of certain orders and offices, not only of
holy beings, but also of those of an opposite description, which we
shall bring before us, in the first place; and the meaning of which we
shall endeavour, in the second place, to the best of our ability, to
ascertain. There are certain holy angels of God whom Paul terms
"ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be
heirs of salvation."(1) In the writings also of St. Paul himself we
find him designating them, from some unknown source, as thrones, and
dominions, and principalities, and powers; and after this enumeration,
as if knowing that there were still other rational offices(2) and
orders besides those which he had named, he says of the Saviour: "Who
is above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come."(3) From which he shows that there were certain
beings besides those which he had mentioned, which may be named indeed
in this world, but were not now enumerated by him, and perhaps were not
known by any other individual; and that there were others which may not
be named in this world, but will be named in the world to come.
2. Then, in the next place, we must know that every being which
is endowed with reason, and transgresses its statutes and limitations,
is undoubtedly involved in sin by swerving from rectitude and justice.
Every rational creature, therefore, is capable of earning praise and
censure: of praise, if, in conformity to that reason which he
possesses, he advance to better things; of censure, if he fall away
from the plan and course of rectitude, for which reason he is justly
liable to pains and penalties. And this also is to be held as applying
to the devil himself, and those who are with him, and are called his
angels. Now the rifles of these beings have to be explained, that we
may know what they are of whom we have to speak. The name, then, of
Devil, and Satan, and Wicked One, who is also described as Enemy of
God, is mentioned in many passages of Scripture. Moreover, certain
angels of the devil are mentioned, and also a prince of this world,
who, whether the devil himself or some one else, is not yet clearly
manifest. There are also certain princes of this world spoken of as
possessing a kind of wisdom which will come to nought; but whether
these are those princes who are also the principalities with whom we
have to wrestle, or other beings, seems to me a point on which it is
not easy for any one to pronounce. After the principalities, certain
powers also are named with whom we have to wrestle, and carry on a
struggle even against the princes of this world and the rulers of this
darkness. Certain spiritual powers of wickedness also, in heavenly
places, are spoken of by Paul himself. What, moreover, are we to say of
those wicked and unclean spirits mentioned in the Gospel? Then we have
certain heavenly beings called by a similar name, but which are said to
bend the knee, or to be about to bend the knee, at the name of Jesus;
nay, even things on earth and things under the earth, which Paul
enumerates in order. And certainly, in a place where we have been
discussing the subject of rational natures, it is not proper to be
silent regarding ourselves, who are human beings, and are called
rational animals; nay, even this point is not to be idly passed over,
that even of us human beings certain different orders are mentioned in
the words, "The portion of the Lord is His people Jacob; Israel is the
cord of His inheritance."(1) Other nations, moreover, are called a part
of the angels; since "when the Most High divided the nations, and
dispersed the sons of Adam, He fixed the boundaries of the nations
according to the number of the angels of God."(2) And therefore, with
other rational natures, we must also thoroughly examine the reason of
the human soul.
3. After the enumeration, then, of so many and so important names
of orders and offices, underlying which it is certain that there are
personal existences, let us inquire whether God, the creator and
founder of all things, created certain of them holy and happy, so that
they could admit no element at all of an opposite kind, and certain
others so that they were made capable both of virtue and vice; or
whether we are to suppose that He created some so as to be altogether
incapable of virtue, and others again altogether incapable of
wickedness, but with the power of abiding only in a state of happiness,
and others again such as to be capable of either condition.(3) In
order, now, that our first inquiry may begin with the names themselves,
let us consider whether the holy angels, from the period of their first
existence, have always been holy, and axe holy still, and will be holy,
and have never either admitted or had the power to admit any occasion
of sin. Then in the next place, let us consider whether those who are
called holy principalities began from the moment of their creation by
God to exercise power over some who were made subject to them, and
whether these latter were created of such a nature, and formed for the
very purpose of being subject and subordinate. In like manner, also,
whether those which are called powers were created of such a nature and
for the express purpose of exercising power, or whether their arriving
at that power and dignity is a reward and desert of their virtue.
Moreover, also, whether those which are called thrones or seats gained
that stability of happiness at the same time with their coming forth
into being? so as to have that possession from the will of the Creator
alone; or whether those which are called dominions had their dominion
conferred on them, not as a reward for their proficiency, but as the
peculiar privilege of their creation,s so that it is something which is
in a certain degree inseparable from them, and natural. Now, if we
adopt the view that the holy angels, and the holy powers, and the
blessed seats, and the glorious virtues, and the magnificent dominions,
are to be regarded as possessing those powers and dignities and glories
in virtue of their nature,(6) it will doubtless appear to follow that
those beings which have been mentioned as holding offices of an
opposite kind must be regarded in the same manner; so that those
principalities with whom we have to struggle are to be viewed, not as
having received that spirit of opposition and resistance to all good at
a later period, or as failing away from good through the freedom of the
will, but as having had it in themselves as the essence of their being
from the beginning of their existence. In like manner also will it be
the case with the powers and virtues, in none of which was wickedness
subsequent or posterior to their first existence. Those also whom the
apostle termed rulers and princes of the darkness of this world, are
said, with respect to their rule and occupation of darkness, to fall
not from perversity of intention, but from the necessity of their
creation. Logical reasoning will compel us to take the same view with
regard to wicked and malignant spirits and unclean demons. But if to
entertain this view regarding malignant and opposing powers seem to be
absurd, as it is certainly absurd that the cause of their wickedness
should be removed from the purpose Of their own will, and ascribed of
necessity to their Creator, why should we not also be obliged to make a
similar confession regarding the good and holy powers, that, viz., the
good which is in them is not theirs by essential being, which we have
manifestly shown to be the case with Christ and the Holy Spirit alone,
as undoubtedly with the Father also? For it was proved that there was
nothing compound in the nature of the Trinity, so that these qualities
might seem to belong to it as accidental consequences. From which it
follows, that in the case of every creature it is a result of his own
works and movements, that those powers which appear either to hold sway
over others or to exercise power or dominion, have been preferred to
and placed over those whom they are said to govern or exercise power
over, and not in consequence of a peculiar privilege inherent in their
constitutions, but on account of merit.
4. But that we may not appear to build our assertions on subjects
of such importance and difficulty on the ground of inference alone, or
to require the assent of our hearers to what is only conjectural, let
us see whether we can obtain any declarations from holy Scripture, by
the authority of which these positions may be more credibly maintained.
And, firstly, we shall adduce what holy Scripture contains regarding
wicked powers; we shall next continue our investigation with regard to
the others, as the Lord shall be pleased to enlighten us, that in
matters of such difficulty we may ascertain what is nearest to the
truth, or what ought to be our opinions agreeably to the standard of
religion. Now we find in the prophet Ezekiel two prophecies written to
the prince of Tyre, the former of which might appear to any one, before
he heard the second also, to be spoken of some man who was prince of
the Tyrians. In the meantime, therefore, we shall take nothing from
that first prophecy; but as the second is manifestly of such a kind as
cannot be at all understood of a man, but of some superior power which
had fallen away from a higher position, and had been reduced to a lower
and worse condition, we shall from it take an illustration, by which it
may be demonstrated with the utmost clearness, that those opposing and
malignant powers were not formed or created so by nature, but fell from
a better to a worse position, and were converted into wicked beings;
that those blessed powers also were not of such a nature as to be
unable to admit what was opposed to them if they were so inclined and
became negligent, and did not guard most carefully the blessedness of
their condition. For if it is related that he who is called the prince
of Tyre was amongst the saints, and was without stain, and was placed
in the paradise of God, and adoroed also with a crown of comeliness and
beauty, is it to be supposed that such an one could be in any degree
inferior to any of the saints? For he is described as having been
adorned with a crown of comeliness and beauty, and as having walked
stainless in the paradise of God: and how can any one suppose that such
a being was not one of those holy and blessed powers which, as being
placed in a state of happiness, we must believe to be endowed with no
other honour than this? But let us see what we are taught by the words
of the prophecy themselves. "The word of the LORD." says the prophet,
"came to me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation over the prince
of Tyre, and say to him, Thus saith the Lord GOD, Thou, hast been the
seal of a similitude, and a crown of comeliness among the delights of
paradise; thou weft odorned with every good stone or gem, and wert
clothed with sardonyx, and topaz, and emerald, and carbuncle, and
sapphire, and jasper, set in gold and silver, and with agate, amethyst,
and chrysolite, and beryl, and onyx: with gold aim didst thou fill thy
treasures, and thy storehouses within thee. From the day when thou weft
created along with the cherubim, I placed thee in the holy mount of
God. Thou weft in the midst of the fiery stones: thou weft stainless in
thy days, from the day when thou weft created, until iniquities were
found in thee: from the greatness of thy trade, thou didst fill thy
storehouses with iniquity, and didst sin, and weft wounded from the
mount of God. And a cherub drove thee forth from the midst of the
burning stones; and thy heart was elated because of thy comeliness, thy
discipline was corrupted along with thy beauty: on account of the
multitude of thy sins, I cast thee forth to the earth before kings; I
gave thee for a show and a mockery on account of the multitude of thy
sins, and of thine iniquities: because of thy trade thou hast polluted
thy holy places. And I shall bring forth fire from the midst of thee,
and it shall devour thee, and I shall give thee for ashes and cinders
on the earth in the sight of all who see thee: and all who know thee
among the nations shall mourn over thee. Thou hast been made
destruction, and thou shalt exist no longer for ever."(1) Seeing, then,
that such are the words of the prophet, who is there that on hear- ing,
"Thou wert a seal of a similitude, and a crown of comeliness among the
delights of paradise," or that "From the day when thou wert created
with the cherubim, I placed thee in the holy mount of God," can so
enfeeble the meaning as to suppose that this language is used of some
man or saint, not to say the prince off Tyre? Or what fiery stones can
he imagine in the midst of which any man could live? Or who could be
supposed to be stainless from the very day of his creation, and
wickedness being afterwards discovered in him, it be said of him then
that he was cast forth upon the earth? For the meaning of this is, that
He who was not yet on the earth is said to be cast forth upon it: whose
holy places also are said to be polluted. We have shown, then, that
what we have quoted regarding the prince of Tyre from the prophet
Ezekiel refers to an adverse power, and by it it is most clearly proved
that that power was formerly holy and happy; from which state of
happiness it fell from the time that iniquity was found in it, and was
hurled to the earth, and was not such by nature and creation. We are of
opinion, therefore, that these words are spoken of a certain angel who
had received the office of governing the nation of the Tyrians, and to
whom also their souls had been entrusted to be taken care of. But what
Tyre, or what souls of Tyrians, we ought to understand, whether that
Tyre which is situated within the boundaries of the province of
Phoenicia, or some other of which, this one which we know on earth is
the model; and the souls of the Tyrians, whether they are those of the
former or those which belong to that Tyre which is spiritually
understood, does not seem to be a matter requiting examination in this
place; test perhaps we should appear to investigate subjects of so much
mystery and importance in a cursory manner, whereas they demand a
labour and work of their own.
5. Again, we are taught as follows by the prophet Isaiah
regarding another opposing power. The prophet says, "How is Lucifer,
who used to arise in the morning, fallen from heaven! He who assailed
all nations is broken and beaten to the ground. Thou indeed saidst in
thy heart, I shall ascend into heaven; above the stars of heaven shall
I place my throne; I shall sit upon a lofty mountain, above the lofty
mountains which are towards the north; I shall ascend above the clouds;
I shall be like the Most High. Now shalt thou be brought down to the
lower world, and to the foundations of the earth. They who see thee
shall be amazed at thee, and shall say, This is the man who harassed
the whole earth, who moved kings, who made the whole world a desert,
who destroyed cities, and did not unloose those who were in chains. All
the kings of the nations have slept in honour, every one in his own
house; but thou shalt be cast forth on the mountains, accursed with the
many dead who have been pierced through with swords, and have descended
to the lower world. As a garment cloned with blood, and stained, will
not be clean; neither shall thou be clean, because thou hast destroyed
my land and slain my people: thou shall not remain for ever, most
wicked seed. Prepare thy sons for death on account of the sins of thy
father, lest they rise again and inherit the earth, and fill the earth
with wars. And I shall rise against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and
I shall cause their name to perish, and their remains, and their
seed."(1) Most evidently by these words is he shown to have fallen from
heaven, who formerly was Lucifer, and who used to arise in the morning.
For if, as some think, he was a nature of darkness, how is Lucifer said
to have existed before? Or how could he arise in the morning, who had
in himself nothing of the light? Nay, even the Saviour Himself teaches
us, saying of the devil, "Behold, I see Satan fallen from heaven like
lightning."(2) For at one time he was light. Moreover our Lord, who is
the truth, compared the power of His own glorious advent to lightning,
in the words, "For as the lightning shineth from the height of heaven
even to its height again, so will the coming of the Son of man be."(3)
And notwithstanding He compares him to lightning, and says that he fell
from heaven, that He might show by this that he had been at one time in
heaven, and had had a place among the saints, and had enjoyed a share
in that light in which all the saints participate, by which they are
made angels. of light, and by which the apostles are termed by the Lord
the light of the world. In this manner, then, did that being once exist
as light before he went astray, and fell to this place, and had his
glory turned into dust, which is peculiarly the mark of the wicked, as
the prophet also says; whence, too, he was called the prince of this
world, i.e., of an earthly habitation: for he exercised power over
those who were obedient to his wickedness, since "the whole of this
world"— for I term this place of earth, world—"lieth in the wicked
one,"(4) and in this apostate. That he is an apostate, i.e., a
fugitive, even the Lord in the book of Job says, "Thou wilt take with a
hook the apostate dragon," i.e., a fugitive.(5) Now it is certain that
by the dragon is understood the devil himself. If then they are called
opposing powers, and are said to have been once without stain, while
spotless purity exists in the essential being of none save the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, but is an accidental quality in every created
thing; and since that which is accidental may also fall away, and since
those opposite powers once were spotless, and were once among those
which still remain unstained, it is evident from all this that no one
is pure either by essence or nature, and that no one was by nature
polluted. And the consequence of this is, that it lies within ourselves
and in our own actions to possess either happiness or holiness; or by
sloth and negligence to fall from happiness into wickedness and ruin,
to such a degree that, through too great proficiency, so to speak, in
wickedness (if a man be guilty of so great neglect), he may descend
even to that state in which he will be changed into what is called an
"opposing power."
1. An end or consummation would seem to be an indication of the
perfection and completion of things. And this reminds us here, that if
there be any one imbued with a desire of reading and understanding
subjects of such difficulty and importance, he ought to bring to the
effort a perfect and instructed understanding, lest perhaps, if he has
had no experience in questions of this kind, they may appear to him as
vain and superfluous; or if his mind be full of preconceptions and
prejudices on other points, he may judge these to be heretical and
opposed to the faith of the Church, yielding in so doing not so much to
the convictions of reason as to the dogmatism of prejudice. These
subjects, indeed, are treated by us with great solicitude and caution,
in the manner rather of an investigation and discussion, than in that
of fixed and certain decision. For we have pointed out in the preceding
pages those questions which must be set forth in clear dogmatic
propositions, as I think has been done to the best of my ability when
speaking of the Trinity. But on the present occasion our exercise is to
be conducted, as we best may, in the style of a disputation rather than
of strict definition.
The end of the world, then, and the final consummation, will take
place when every one shall be subjected to punishment for his sins; a
time which God alone knows, when He will bestow on each one what he
deserves. We think, indeed, that the goodness of God, through His
Christ, may recall all His creatures to one end, even His enemies being
conquered and subdued. For thus says holy Scripture, "The LORD said to
My Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy
footstool."(1) And if the meaning of the prophet's language here be
less clear, we may ascertain it from the Apostle Paul, who speaks more
openly, thus: "For Christ must reign until He has put all enemies under
His feet."(2) But if even that unreserved declaration of the apostle do
not sufficiently inform us what is meant by "enemies being placed under
His feet," listen to what he says in the following words, "For all
things must be put under Him." What, then, is this "putting under" by
which all things must be made subject to Christ? I am of opinion that
it is this very subjection by which we also wish to be subject to Him,
by which the apostles also were subject, and all the saints who have
been followers of Christ. For the name "subjection," by which we are
subject to Christ, indicates that the salvation which proceeds from Him
belongs to His subjects, agreeably to the declaration of David, "Shall
not my soul be subject unto God? From Him cometh my salvation."(3)
2. Seeing, then, that such is the end, when all enemies will be
subdued to Christ, when death—the last enemy—shall be destroyed, and
when the kingdom shall be delivered up by Christ (to whom all things
are subject) to God the Father; let us, I say, from such an end as
this, contemplate the beginnings of things. For the end is always like
the beginning: and, therefore, as there is one end to all things, so
ought we to understand that there was one beginning; and as there is
one end to many things, so there spring from one beginning many
differences and varieties, which again, through the goodness of God,
and by subjection to Christ, and through the unity of the Holy Spirit,
are recalled to one end, which is like unto the beginning: all those,
viz., who, bending the knee at the name of Jesus, make known by so
doing their subjection to Him: and these are they who are in heaven, on
earth, and under the earth: by which three classes the whole universe
of things is pointed out, those, viz., who from that one beginning were
arranged, each according to the diversity of his conduct, among the
different orders, in accordance with their desert; for there was no
goodness in them by essential being, as in God and His Christ, and in
the Holy Spirit. For in the Trinity alone, which is the author of all
things, does goodness exist in virtue of essential being; while others
possess it as an accidental and perishable quality, and only then enjoy
blessedness, when they participate in holiness and wisdom, and in
divinity itself. But if they neglect and despise such participation,
then is each one, by fault of his own slothfulness, made, one more
rapidly, another more slowly, one in a greater, another in a less
degree, the cause of his own downfall. And since, as we have remarked,
the lapse by which an individual falls away from his position is
characterized by great diversity, according to the movements of the
mind and will, one man falling with greater ease, another with more
difficulty, into a lower condition; in this is to be seen the just
judgment of the providence of God, that it should happen to every one
according to the diversity of his conduct, in proportion to the desert
of his declension and defection. Certain of those, indeed, who remained
in that beginning which we have described as resembling the end which
is to come, obtained, in the ordering and arrangement of the world, the
rank of angels; others that of influences, others of principalities,
others of powers, that they may exercise power over those who need to
have power upon their head. Others, again, received the rank of
thrones, having the office of judging or ruling those who require this;
others dominion, doubtless, over slaves; all of which are conferred by
Divine Providence in just and impartial judgment according to their
merits, and to the progress which they had made in the participation
and imitation of God. But those who have been removed from their primal
state of blessedness have not been removed irrecoverably, but have been
placed under the rule of those holy and blessed orders which we have
described; and by availing themselves of the aid of these, and being
remoulded by salutary principles and discipline, they may recover
themselves, and be restored to their condition of happiness. From all
which I am of opinion, so far as I can see, that this order of the
human race has been appointed in order that in the future world, or in
ages to come, when there shall be the new heavens and new earth, spoken
of by Isaiah, it may be restored to that unity promised by the Lord
Jesus in His prayer to God the Father on behalf of His disciples: "I do
not pray for these alone, but for all who shall believe on Me through
their word: that they all. may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and
I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us;"(1) and again, when He
says: "That they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and Thou in
Me, that they may be made perfect in one."(2) And this is further
confirmed by the language of the Apostle Paul: "Until we all come in
the unity of the faith to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature
of the fulness of Christ."(3) And in keeping with this is the
declaration of the same apostle, when he exhorts us, who even in the
present life are placed in the Church, in which is the form of that
kingdom which is to come, to this same similitude of unity: "That ye
all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but
that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment."(4)
3. It is to be borne in mind, however, that certain beings who
fell away from that one beginning of which we have spoken, have sunk to
such a depth of unworthiness and wickedness as to be deemed altogether
undeserving of that training and instruction by which the human race,
while in the flesh, are trained and instructed with the assistance of
the heavenly powers; and continue, on the contrary, in a state of
enmity and opposition to those who are receiving this instruction and
teaching. And hence it is that the whole of this mortal life is full of
struggles and trials, caused by the opposition and enmity of those who
fell from a better condition without at all looking back, and who are
called the devil and his angels, and the other orders of evil, which
the apostle classed among the opposing powers. But whether any of these
orders who act under the government of the devil, and obey his wicked
commands, will in a future world be converted to righteousness because
of their possessing the faculty of freedom of will, or whether
persistent and inveterate wickedness may be changed by the power of
habit into nature, is a result which you yourself, reader, may approve
of, if neither in these present worlds which are seen and temporal, nor
in those which are unseen and are eternal, that portion is to differ
wholly from the final unity and fitness of things. But in the meantime,
both in those temporal worlds which are seen, as well as in those
eternal worlds which are invisible, all those beings are arranged,
according to a regular plan, in the order and degree of their merits;
so that some of them in the first, others in the second, some even in
the last times, after having undergone heavier and severer punishments,
endured for a lengthened period, and for many ages, so to speak,
improved by this stern method of training, and restored at first by the
instruction of the angels, and subsequently by the powers of a higher
grade, and thus advancing through each stage to a better condition,
reach even to that which is invisible and eternal, having travelled
through, by a kind of training, every single office of the heavenly
powers. From which, I think, this will appear to follow as an
inference, that every rational nature may, in passing from one order to
another, go through each to all, and advance from all to each, while
made the subject of various degrees of proficiency and failure
according to its own actions and endeavours, put forth in the enjoyment
of its power of freedom of will. 4. But since Paul says that certain
things are visible and temporal, and others besides these invisible and
eternal, we proceed to inquire how those things which are seen are
temporal—whether because there will be nothing at all after them in
all those periods of the coming world, in which that dispersion and
separation from the one beginning is undergoing a process of
restoration to one and the same end and likeness; or because, while the
form of those things which are seen passes away, their essential nature
is subject to no corruption. And Paul seems to confirm the latter view,
when he says, "For the fashion of this world passeth away."(1) David
also appears to assert the same in the words, "The heavens shall
perish, but Thou shalt endure; and they all shall wax old as a garment,
and Thou shalt change them like a vesture, and like a vestment they
shall be changed."(2) For if the heavens are to be changed, assuredly
that which is changed does not perish, and if the fashion of the world
passes away, it is by no means an annihilation or destruction of their
material substance that is shown to take place, but a kind of change of
quality and transformation of appearance. Isaiah also, in declaring
prophetically that there will be a new heaven and a new earth,
undoubtedly suggests a similar view. For this renewal of heaven and
earth, and this transmutation of the form of the present world, and
this changing of the heavens will undoubtedly be prepared for those who
are walking along that way which we have pointed out above, and are
tending to that goal of happiness to which, it is said, even enemies
themselves are to be subjected, and in which God is said to be "all and
in all." And if any one imagine that at the end material, i.e., bodily,
nature will be entirely destroyed, he cannot in may respect meet my
view, how beings so numerous and powerful are able to live and to exist
without bodies, since it is an attribute of the divine nature
alone—i.e., of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—to exist without any
material substance, and without partaking in any degree of a bodily
adjunct. Another, perhaps, may say that in the end every bodily
substance will be so pure and refined as to be like the aether, and of
a celestial purity and clearness. How things will be, however, is known
with certainty to God alone, and to those who are His friends through
Christ and the Holy Spirit.(3)
1. The subjects considered in the previous chapter have been
spoken of in general language, the nature of rational beings being
discussed more by way of intelligent inference than strict dogmatic
definition, with the exception of the place where we treated, to the
best of our ability, of the persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We
have now to ascertain what those matters are which it is proper to
treat in the following pages according to our dogmatic belief, i.e., in
agreement with the creed of the Church. All souls and all rational
natures, whether holy or wicked, were formed or created, and all these,
according to their proper nature, are incorporeal; but although
incorporeal, they were nevertheless created, because all things were
made by God through Christ, as John teaches in a general way in his
Gospel, saying, "In 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 nothing made."(4) The
Apostle Paul, moreover, describing created things by species and
numbers and orders, speaks as follows, when showing that all things
were made through Christ: "And in 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 in Him: and He is before all, and He is the
head."(5) He therefore manifestly declares that in Christ and through
Christ were all things made and created, whether things visible, which
are corporeal, or things invisible, which I regard as none other than
incorporeal and spiritual powers. But of those things which he had
termed generally corporeal or incorporeal, he seems to me, in the words
that follow, to enumerate the various kinds, viz., thrones, dominions,
principalities, powers, influences.
These matters now have been previously mentioned by us, as we are
desirous to come in an orderly manner to the investigation of the sun,
and moon, and stab by way of logical inference, and to ascertain
whether they also ought properly to be reckoned among the
principalities on account of their being said to be created in 'A rkas
, i.e., for the government of day and night; or whether they are to be
regarded as having only that government of day and night which they
discharge by performing the office of illuminating them, and are not in
reality chief of that order of principalities.
2. Now, when it is said that all things were made by Him, and
that in Him were all things created, both things in heaven and things
on earth, there can be no doubt that also those things which are in the
firmament, which is called heaven, and in which those luminaries are
said to be placed, are included amongst the number of heavenly things.
And secondly, seeing that the course of the discussion has manifestly
discovered that all things were made or created, and that amongst
created things there is nothing which may not admit of good and evil,
and be capable of either, what are we to think of the following opinion
which certain of our friends entertain regarding sun, moon, and stars,
viz., that they are unchangeable, and incapable of becoming the
opposite of what they are? Not a few have held that view even regarding
the holy angels, and certain heretics also regarding souls, which they
call spiritual natures.
In the first place, then, let us see what reason itself can
discover respecting sun, moon, and stars,—whether the opinion,
entertained by some, of their unchangeableness be correct,—and let the
declarations of holy Scripture, as far as possible, be first adduced.
For Job appears to assert that not only may the stars be subject to
sin, but even that they are actually not clean from the contagion of
it. The following are his words: "The stars also are not clean in Thy
sight."[1] Nor is this to be understood of the splendour of their
physical substance, as if one were to say, for example, of a garment,
that it is not clean; for if such were the meaning, then the accusation
of a want of cleanness in the splendour of their bodily substance would
imply an injurious reflection upon their Creator. For if they are
unable, through their own diligent efforts, either to acquire for
themselves a body of greater brightness, or through their sloth to make
the one they have less pure, how should they incur censure for being
stars that are not clean, if they receive no praise because they are
so?[2]
3. But to arrive at a clearer understanding on these matters, we
ought first to inquire after this point, whether it is allowable to
suppose that they are living and rational beings; then, in the next
place, whether their souls came into existence at the same time with
their bodies, or seem to be anterior to them; and also whether, after
the end of the world, we are to understand that they are to be released
from their bodies; and whether, as we cease to live, so they also will
cease from illuminating the world. Although this inquiry may seem to be
somewhat bold, yet, as we are incited by the desire of ascertaining the
truth as far as possible, there seems no absurdity in attempting an
investigation of the subject agreeably to the grace of the Holy Spirit.
We think, then, that they may be designated as living beings, for
this reason, that they are said to receive commandments from God, which
is ordinarily the case only with rational beings. "I have given a
commandment to all the stars,"[3] says the Lord. What, now, are these
commandments? Those, namely, that each star, in its order and course,
should bestow upon the world the amount of splendour which has been
entrusted to it. For those which are called "planets" move in orbits of
one kind, and those which are termed aplaneis are different. Now it
manifestly follows from this, that neither can the movement of that
body take place without a soul, nor can living things be at any time
without motion. And seeing that the stars move with such order and
regularity, that their movements never appear to be at any time subject
to derangement, would it not be the height of folly to say that so
orderly an observance of method and plan could be carried out or
accomplished by irrational beings? In the writings of Jeremiah, indeed,
the moon is called the queen of heaven.[4] Yet if the stars are living
and rational beings, there will undoubtedly appear among them both an
advance and a falling back. For the language of Job, "the stars are not
dean in His sight," seems to me to convey some such idea.
4. And now we have to ascertain whether those beings which in the
course of the discussion we have discovered to possess life and reason,
were endowed with a soul along with their bodies at the time mentioned
in Scripture, when "God made two great lights, the greater light to
rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars
also,"[5] or whether their spirit was implanted in them, not at the
creation of their bodies, but from without, after they had been already
made. I, for my part, suspect that the spirit was implanted in them
from without; but it will be worth while to prove this from Scripture:
for it will seem an easy matter to make the assertion on conjectural
grounds, while it is more difficult to establish it by the testimony of
Scripture. Now it may be established conjecturally as follows. If the
soul of a man, which is certainly inferior while it remains the soul of
a man, was not formed along with his body, but is proved to have been
implanted strictly from without, much more must this be the case with
those living beings which are called heavenly. For, as regards man, how
could the soul of him, viz., Jacob, who supplanted his brother in the
womb, appear to be formed along with his body? Or how could his soul,
or its images, be formed along with his body, who, while lying in his
mother's womb, was filled with the Holy Ghost? I refer to John leaping
in his mother's womb, and exulting because the voice of the salutation
of Mary had come to the ears of his mother Elisabeth. How could his
soul and its images be formed along with his body, who, before he was
created in the womb, is said to be known to God, and was sanctified by
Him before his birth? Some, perhaps, may think that God fills
individuals with His Holy Spirit, and bestows upon them
sanctification, not on grounds of justice and according to their
deserts; but undeservedly. And how shall we escape that declaration:
"Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid !"[1] or this : "Is
there respect of persons with God?"[2] For such is the defence of those
who maintain that souls come into existence with bodies. So far, then,
as we can form an opinion from a comparison with the condition of man,
I think it follows that we must hold the same to hold good with
heavenly beings, which reason itself and scriptural authority show us
to be the case with men.
5. But let us see whether we can find in holy Scripture any
indications properly applicable to these heavenly existences. The
following is the statement of the Apostle Paul: "The creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected
the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
children of God."[3] To what vanity, pray, was the creature made
subject, or what creature is referred to, or how is it said "not
willingly," or "in hope of what?" And in what way is the creature
itself to be delivered from the bondage of corruption? Elsewhere, also,
the same apostle says: "For the expectation of the creature waiteth for
the manifestation of the sons of God."[4] And again in another passage,
"And not only we, but the creation itself groaneth together, and is in
pain until now."[5] And hence we have to inquire what are the
groanings, and what are the pains. Let us see then, in the first place,
what is the vanity to which the creature is subject. I apprehend that
it is nothing else than the body; for although the body of the stars is
ethereal, it is nevertheless material. Whence also Solomon appears to
characterize the whole of corporeal nature as a kind of burden which
enfeebles the vigour of the soul in the following language: "Vanity of
vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity. I have looked, and seen
all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is
vanity."[6] To this vanity, then, is the creature subject, that
creature especially which, being assuredly the greatest in this world,
holds also a distinguished principality of labour, i.e., the sun, and
moon, and stars, are said to be subject to vanity, because they are
clothed with bodies, and set apart to the office of giving light to the
human race. "And this creature," he remarks, "was subjected to vanity
not willingly." For it did not undertake a voluntary service to vanity,
but because it was the will of Him who made it subject, and because of
the promise of the Subjector to those who were reduced to this
unwilling obedience, that when the ministry of their great work was
performed, they were to be freed from this bondage of corruption and
vanity when the time of the glorious redemption of God's children
should have arrived. And the whole of creation, receiving this hope,
and looking for the fulfilment of this promise now, in the meantime, as
having an affection for those whom it serves, groans along with them,
and patiently suffers with them, hoping for the fulfilment of the
promises. See also whether the following words of Paul can apply to
those who, although not willingly, yet in accordance with the will of
Him who subjected them, and in hope of the promises, were made subject
to vanity, when he says, "For I could wish to be dissolved," or "to
return and be with Christ, which is far better."[7] For I think that
the sun might say in like manner, "I would desire to be dissolved," or
"to return and be with Christ, which is far better." Paul indeed adds,
"Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you;" while
the sun may say, "To abide in this bright and heavenly body is more
necessary, on account of the manifestation of the sons of God." The
same views are to be believed and expressed regarding the moon and
stars.
Let us see now what is the freedom of the creature, or the
termination of its bondage. When Christ shall have delivered up the
kingdom to God even the Father, then also those living things, when
they shall have first been made the kingdom of Christ, shall be
delivered, along with the whole of that kingdom, to the rule of the
Father, that when God shall be all in all, they also, since they are a
part of all things, may have God in themselves, as He is in all things.
I. A similar method must be followed in treating of the angels;
nor are we to suppose that it is the result of accident that a
particular office is assigned to a particular angel: as to Raphael,
e.g., the work of curing and healing to Gabriel, the conduct of wars;
to Michael, the duty of attending to the prayers and supplications of
mortals. For we are not to imagine that they obtained these offices
otherwise than by their own merits, and by the zeal and excellent
qualities which they severally displayed before this world was formed;
so that afterwards in the order of archangels, this or that office was
assigned to each one, while others deserved to be enrolled in the order
of angels, and to act under this or that archangel, or that leader or
head of an order. All of which things were disposed, as I have said,
not indiscriminately and fortuitously, but by a most appropriate and
just decision of God, who arranged them according to deserts, in
accordance with His own approval and judgment: so that to one angel the
Church of the Ephesians was to be entrusted; to another, that of the
Smyrnaeans; one angel was to be Peter's, another Paul's; and so on
through every one of the little ones that are in the Church, for such
and such angels as even daily behold the face of God must be assigned
to each one of them;[1] and there must also be some angel that
encampeth round about them that fear God.[2] All of which things,
assuredly, it is to be believed, are not performed by accident or
chance, or because they (the angels) were so created, lest on that view
the Creator should be accused of partiality; but it is to be believed
that they were conferred by God, the just and impartial Ruler of all
things, agreeably to the merits and good qualities and mental vigour of
each individual spirit.
2. And now let us say something regarding those who maintain the
existence of a diversity of spiritual natures, that we may avoid
falling into the silly and impious fables of such as pretend that there
is a diversity of spiritual natures both among heavenly existences and
human souls, and for that reason allege that they were called into
being by different creators; for while it seems, and is really, absurd
that to one and the same Creator should be ascribed the creation of
different natures of rational beings, they are nevertheless ignorant of
the cause of that diversity. For they say that it seems inconsistent
for one and the same Creator, without any existing ground of merit, to
confer upon some beings the power of dominion, and to subject others
again to authority; to bestow a principality upon some, and to render
others subordinate to rulers. Which opinions indeed, in my judgment,
are completely rejected by following out the reasoning explained above,
and by which it was shown that the cause of the diversity and variety
among these beings is due to their conduct, which has been marked
either with greater earnestness or indifference, according to the
goodness or badness of their nature, and not to any partiality on the
part of the Disposer. But that this may more easily be shown to be the
case with heavenly beings, let us borrow an illustration from what
either has been done or is done among men, in order that from visible
things we may, by way of consequence, behold also things invisible.
Paul and Peter are undoubtedly proved to have been men of a
spiritual nature. When, therefore, Paul is found to have acted contrary
to religion, in having persecuted the Church of God, and Peter to have
committed so grave a sin as, when questioned by the maid-servant, to
have asserted with an oath that he did not know who Christ was, how is
it possible that these-who, according to those persons of whom we
speak, were spiritual beings—should fall into sins of such a nature,
especially as they are frequently in the habit of saying that a good
tree cannot bring forth evil fruits? And if a good tree cannot produce
evil fruit, and as, according to them, Peter and Paul were sprung from
the root of a good tree, how should they be deemed to have brought
forth fruits so wicked? And if they should return the answer which is
generally invented, that it was not Paul who persecuted, but some other
person, I know not whom, who was in Paul; and that it was not Peter who
uttered the denial, but some other individual in him; how should Paul
say, if he had not sinned, that "I am not worthy to be called an
apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God? "[3] Or why did Peter
weep most bitterly, if it were another than he who sinned? From which
all their silly assertions will be proved to be baseless.
3. According to our view, there is no rational creature which is
not capable both of good and evil. But it does not follow, that because
we say there is no nature which may not admit evil, we therefore
maintain that every nature has admitted evil, i.e., has become wicked.
As we may say that the nature of every man admits of his being a
sailor, but it does not follow from that, that every man will become
so; or, again, it is possible for every one to learn grammar or
medicine, but it is not therefore proved that every man is either a
physician or a grammarian; so, if we say that there is no nature which
may not admit evil, it is not necessarily indicated that it has done
so. For, in our view, not even the devil himself was incapable of good;
but although capable of admitting good, he did not therefore also
desire it, or make any effort after virtue. For, as we are taught by
those quotations which we adduced from the prophets, there was once a
time when he was good, when he walked in the paradise of God between
the cherubim. As he, then, possessed the power either of receiving good
or evil, but fell away from a virtuous course, and turned to evil with
all the powers of his mind, so also other creatures, as having a
capacity for either condition, in the exercise of the freedom of their
will, flee from evil, and cleave to good. There is no nature, then,
which may not admit of good or evil, except the nature of God—the
fountain of all good things—and of Christ; for it is wisdom, and
wisdom assuredly cannot admit folly; and it is righteousness, and
righteousness will never certainly admit of unrighteousness; and it is
the Word, or Reason, which certainly cannot be made irrational; nay, it
is also the light, and it is certain that the darkness does not receive
the light. In like manner, also, the nature of the Holy Spirit, being
holy, does not admit of pollution; for it is holy by nature, or
essential being. If there is any other nature which is holy, it
possesses this property of being made holy by the reception or
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, not having it by nature, but as an
accidental quality, for which reason it may be lost, in consequence of
being accidental. So also a man may possess an accidental
righteousness, from which it is possible for him to fall away. Even the
wisdom which a man has is still accidental, although it be within our
own power to become wise, if we devote ourselves to wisdom with the
zeal and effort of our life; and if we always pursue the study of it,
we may always be participators of wisdom: and that result will follow
either in a greater or less degree, according to the desert of our life
or the amount of our zeal. For the goodness of God, as is worthy of
Him, incites and attracts all to that blissful end, where all pain, and
sadness, and sorrow fall away and disappear.
4. I am of opinion, then, so far as appears to me, that the
preceding discussion has sufficiently proved that it is neither from
want of discrimination, nor from any accidental cause, either that the
"principalities" hold their dominion, or the other orders of spirits
have obtained their respective offices; but that they have received the
steps of their rank on account of their merits, although it is not our
privilege to know or inquire what those acts of theirs were, by which
they earned a place in any particular order. It is sufficient only to
know this much, in order to demonstrate the impartiality and
righteousness of God, that, conformably with the declaration of the
Apostle Paul, "there is no acceptance of persons with Him,"[1] who
rather disposes everything according to the deserts and moral progress
of each individual, So, then, the angelic office does not exist except
as a consequence of their desert; nor do "powers" exercise power except
in virtue of their moral progress; nor do those which are called
"seats" i.e., the powers of judging and ruling, administer their powers
unless by merit; nor do "dominions" rule undeservedly, for that great
and distinguished order of rational creatures among celestial
existences is arranged in a glorious variety of offices. And the same
view is to be entertained of those opposing influences which have given
themselves up to such places and offices, that they derive the property
by which they are made "principalities," or "powers," or rulers of the
darkness of the world, or spirits of wickedness, or malignant spirits,
or unclean demons, not from their essential nature, nor from their
being so created, but have obtained these degrees in evil in proportion
to their conduct, and the progress which they made in wickedness. And
that is a second order of rational creatures, who have devoted
themselves to wickedness in so headlong a course, that they are
unwilling rather than unable to recall themselves; the thirst for evil
being already a passion, and imparting to them pleasure. But the third
order of rational creatures is that of those who are judged fit by God
to replenish the human race, i.e., the souls of men, assumed in
consequence of their moral progress into the order of angels; of whom
we see some assumed into the number: those, viz., who have been made
the sons of God, or the children of the resurrection, or who have
abandoned the darkness, and have loved the light, and have been made
children of the light; or those who, proving victorious in every
struggle, and being made men of peace, have been the sons of peace, and
the sons of God; or those who, mortifying their members on the earth,
and, rising above not only their corporeal nature, but even the
uncertain and fragile movements of the soul itself, have united
themselves to the Lord, being made altogether spiritual, that they may
be for ever one spirit with Him, discerning along with Him each
individual thing, until they arrive at a condition of perfect
spirituality, and discern all things by their perfect illumination in
all holiness through the word and wisdom of God, and are themselves
altogether undistinguishable by any one.
We think that those views are by no means to be admitted, which
some are wont unnecessarily to advance and maintain, viz., that souls
descend to such a pitch of abasement that they forget their rational
nature and dignity, and sink into the condition of irrational animals,
either large or small; and in support of these assertions they
generally quote some pretended statements of Scripture, such as, that a
beast, to which a woman has unnaturally prostituted herself, shall be
deemed equally guilty with the woman, and shall be ordered to be
stoned; or that a bull which strikes with its horn,[1] shall be put to
death in the same way; or even the speaking of Balaam's ass, when God
opened its mouth, and the dumb beast of burden, answering with human
voice, reproved the madness of the prophet. All of which assertions we
not only do not receive, but, as being contrary to our belief, we
refute and reject. After the refutation and rejection of such perverse
opinions, we shall show, at the proper time and place, how those
passages which they quote from the sacred Scriptures ought to be
understood.
FRAGMENT FROM THE FIRST BOOK OF THE DE PRINCIPIIS.
Translated by Jerome in his Epistle to Avitus.
"It is an evidence of great negligence and sloth, that each one
should fall down to such (a pitch of degradation), and be so emptied,
as that, in coming to evil, he may be fastened to the gross body of
irrational beasts of burden."
ANOTHER FRAGMENT FROM THE SAME.
Translated in the same Epistle to Avitus.
"At the end and consummation of the world, when souls and
rational creatures shall have been sent forth as from bolts and
barriers? some of them walk slowly on account of their slothful habits,
others fly with rapid flight on account of their diligence. And since
all are possessed of free-will, and may of their own accord admit
either of good or evil, the former will be in a worse condition than
they are at present, while the latter will advance to a better state of
things; because different conduct and varying wills will admit of a
different condition in either direction, i.e., angels may become men or
demons, and again from the latter they may rise to be men or angels."
ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS.