[3329] i.e. Marcellus, cf. §§14, 25, &c.
[3330] Cf. §25.
[3331] 2 Cor. vi. 12, 13.
[3332] Ib. vi. 11.
[3333] Gen. ix. 27, LXX.
[3334] energeia [Prolegg. ch. ii. §3 (2) c.]
[3335] Or. i. 19.
§§15-24. Since the Word is from God, He must be Son. Since the Son is from everlasting, He must be the Word; else either He is superior to the Word, or the Word is the Father. Texts of the New Testament which state the unity of the Son with the Father; therefore the Son is the Word. Three hypotheses refuted--1. That the Man is the Son; 2. That the Word and Man together are the Son; 3. That the Word became Son on His incarnation. Texts of the Old Testament which speak of the Son. If they are merely prophetical, then those concerning the Word may be such also.
15. Such absurdities will be the consequence of saying that the Monad is dilated into a Triad. But since those who say so venture to separate Word and Son, and to say that the Word is one and the Son another, and that first was the Word and then the Son, come let us consider this doctrine also. Now their presumption takes various forms; for some say that the man whom the Saviour assumed is the Son [3336] ; and others both that the man and the Word then became Son, when they were united [3337] . And others say that the Word Himself then became Son when He became man [3338] ; for from being Word, they say, He has become Son, not being Son before, but only Word. Now both are Stoic [3339] doctrines, whether to say that God was dilated or to deny the Son, but especially is it absurd to name the Word, yet deny Him to be Son. For if the Word be not from God, reasonably might they deny Him to be Son; but if He is from God, how see they not that what exists from anything is son of him from whom it is? Next, if God is Father of the Word, why is not the Word Son of His own Father? for one is and is called father, whose is the son; and one is and is called son of another, whose is the father. If then God is not Father of Christ, neither is the Word Son; but if God be Father, then reasonably also the Word is Son. But if afterwards there is Father, and first God, this is an Arian thought [3340] . Next, it is absurd that God should change; for that belongs to bodies; but if they argue that in the instance of creation He became afterwards a Maker, let them know that the change is in the things [3341] which afterwards came to be, and not in God.
16. If then the Son too were a work, well might God begin to be a Father towards Him as others; but if the Son is not a work, then ever was the Father and ever the Son [3342] . But if the Son was ever, He must be the Word; for if the Word be not Son, and this is what a man waxes bold to say, either he holds that Word to be Father or the Son superior to the Word. For the Son being in the bosom of the Father [3343] ,' of necessity either the Word is not before the Son (for nothing is before Him who is in the Father), or if the Word be other than the Son, the Word must be the Father in whom is the Son. But if the Word is not Father but Word, the Word must be external to the Father, since it is the Son who is in the bosom of the Father.' For not both the Word and the Son are in the bosom, but one must be, and He the Son, who is Only-begotten. And it follows for another reason, if the Word is one, and the Son another, that the Son is superior to the Word; for no one knoweth the Father save the Son [3344] ,' not the Word. Either then the Word does not know, or if He knows, it is not true that no one knows.' And the same of He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father,' and I and the Father are One,' for this is uttered by the Son, not the Word, as they would have it, as is plain from the Gospel; for according to John when the Lord said, I and the Father are One,' the Jews took up stones to stone Him. Jesus [3345] answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from My Father, for which of those works do ye stone Me? The Jews answered Him, saying, For a good work we stone Thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods unto whom the Word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not. But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works, that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.' And yet, as far as the surface of the words intimated, He said neither I am God,' nor I am Son of God,' but I and the Father are One.'
17. The Jews then, when they heard One,' thought like Sabellius that He said that He was the Father, but our Saviour shews their sin by this argument: Though I had said "God," you should have remembered what is written, "I said, Ye are gods;"' then to clear up I and the Father are One,' He has explained the Son's oneness with the Father in the words, Because I said, I am the Son of God.' For if He did not say it in words, still He has referred the sense of are One' to the Son. For nothing is one with the Father, but what is from Him. What is that which is from Him but the Son? And therefore He adds, that ye may know that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.' For, when expounding the One,' He said that the union and the inseparability lay, not in This being That, with which It was One, but in His being in the Father and the Father in the Son. For thus He overthrows both Sabellius, in saying, I am' not, "the Father," but, the Son of God;' and Arius, in saying, are One.' If then the Son and the Word are not the same, it is not that the Word is one with the Father, but the Son; nor he that hath seen the Word hath seen the Father,' but he that hath seen' the Son. And from this it follows, either that the Son is greater than the Word, or the Word has nothing beyond the Son. For what can be greater or more perfect than One,' and I in the Father and the Father in Me,' and He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father?' for these utterances also belong to the Son. And hence the same John says, He that hath seen Me, hath seen Him that sent Me,' and, He that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me;' and, I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me, should not abide in darkness. And, if any one hear My words and observe them not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The word which he shall hear, the same shall judge him in the last day, because I go unto the Father [3346] .' The preaching, He says, judges him who has not observed the commandment; for if,' He says, I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they shall have no cloke [3347] ,' He says, having heard My words, through which those who observe them shall reap salvation.
18. Perhaps they will have so little shame as to say, that this utterance belongs not to the Son but to the Word; but from what preceded it appeared plainly that the speaker was the Son. For He who here says, I came not to judge the world but to save [3348] ,' is shewn to be no other than the Only-begotten Son of God, by the same John's saying before [3349] , For God so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the Only-begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil [3350] .' If He who says, For I came not to judge the world, but that I might save it,' is the Same as says, He that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me [3351] ,' and if He who came to save the world and not judge it is the Only-begotten Son of God, it is plain that it is the same Son who says, He that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me.' For He who said, He that believeth on Me,' and, If any one hear My words, I judge him not,' is the Son Himself, of whom Scripture says, He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but He that believeth not is condemned already, because He hath not believed in the Name of the Only-begotten Son of God.' And again: And this is the condemnation' of him who believeth not on the Son, that light hath come into the world,' and they believed not in Him, that is, in the Son; for He must be the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world [3352] .' And as long as He was upon earth according to the Incarnation, He was Light in the world, as He said Himself, While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light;' for I,' says He, am come a light into the world [3353] .'
19. This then being shewn, it follows that the Word is the Son. But if the Son is the Light, which has come into the world, beyond all dispute the world was made by the Son. For in the beginning of the Gospel, the Evangelist, speaking of John the Baptist, says, He was not that Light, but that he might bear witness concerning that Light [3354] .' For Christ Himself was, as we have said before, the True Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. For if He was in the world, and the world was made by Him [3355] ,' of necessity He is the Word of God, concerning whom also the Evangelist witnesses that all things were made by Him. For either they will be compelled to speak of two worlds, that the one may have come into being by the Son and the other by the Word, or, if the world is one and the creation one, it follows that Son and Word are one and the same before all creation, for by Him it came into being. Therefore if as by the Word, so by the Son also all things came to be, it will not be contradictory, but even identical to say, for instance, In the beginning was the Word,' or, In the beginning was the Son.' But if because John did not say, In the beginning was the Son,' they shall maintain that the attributes of the Word do not suit with the Son, it at once follows that the attributes of the Son do not suit with the Word. But it was shewn that to the Son belongs, I and the Father are One,' and that it is He Who is in the bosom of the Father,' and, He that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me [3356] ;' and that the world was brought into being by Him,' is common to the Word and the Son; so that from this the Son is shewn to be before the world; for of necessity the Framer is before the things brought into being. And what is said to Philip must belong, according to them, not to the Word, but to the Son. For, Jesus said,' says Scripture, Have I been so long time with you, and yet thou hast not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not, that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself, but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else, believe Me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son [3357] .' Therefore if the Father be glorified in the Son, the Son must be He who said, I in the Father and the Father in Me;' and He who said, He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father;' for He, the same who thus spoke, shews Himself to be the Son, by adding, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.'