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.
BOOK I.
CHAP. I.—ON GOD.
1. I KNOW that some will attempt to say that, even according to the
declarations of our own Scriptures, God is a body, because in the writings
of Moses they find it said, that "our God is a consuming fire;"(1) and
in the Gospel according to John, that "God is a Spirit, and they who worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."(2) Fire and spirit, according
to them, are to be regarded as nothing else than a body. Now, I should
like to ask these persons what they have to say respecting that passage
where it is declared that God is light; as John writes in his Epistle,
"God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."(3) Truly He is
that light which illuminates the whole understanding of those who are capable
of receiving truth, as is said in the thirty-sixth Psalm, "In Thy light
we shall see light."(4) For what other light of God can be named, "in which
any one sees light," save an influence of God, by which a man, being enlightened,
either thoroughly sees the truth of all things, or comes to know God Himself,
who is called the truth? Such is the meaning of the expression, "In Thy
light we shall see light;" i.e., in Thy word and wisdom which is Thy Son,
in Himself we shall see Thee the Father. Because He is called light, shall
He be supposed to have any resemblance to the light of the sun? Or how
should there be the slightest ground for imagining, that from that corporeal
light any one could derive the cause of knowledge, and come to the understanding
of the truth?
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.
CHAP. II.—ON 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.
CHAP. III.—ON THE HOLY SPIRIT.
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.
CHAP. V.—ON RATIONAL NATURES.
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."
CHAP. VI.—ON THE END OR CONSUMMATION.
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)
CHAP. VII.—ON INCORPOREAL AND CORPOREAL BEINGS.
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.
CHAP. VIII.—ON THE ANGELS.
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.
End of Etext ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS, v1 by ORIGEN
Return to www.BrainFly.Net