It is clear from every quarter that no other name is suitable for the eternity of the Word than that which the most holy disciple and apostle of the Lord, John, stated at the beginning of the Gospel. For since after the assumption of the flesh he is proclaimed Christ and Jesus, and Life and Way and Day and Resurrection and Door and Bread and whatever else he might be called by the divine scriptures, it is not fitting for us on this account to be ignorant of the first name, that he was the Word. For this reason also the most holy evangelist and disciple of the Lord, being exceedingly watchful in the spirit, mindful of the beginning from above and of nothing newer, said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," in order to show that, if there is any new and newer name, this came to him from the new and recent economy according to the flesh. 44 For Sabellius, having himself also slipped from the right faith, knew accurately neither God nor his holy Word. For he who did not know the Word was also ignorant of the Father. For "no one," it says, "knows the Father, except the Son," that is, the Word; for the Word through himself provides the knowledge of the Father. For so also to those of the Jews at that time who thought they knew God, but rejected his Word, through whom alone God is known, he said, "No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." For since it was impossible to know God in any other way, he teaches men to know him through his own Word, so that that one also erred by not accurately knowing the Father and his Word. 45 Let him learn, therefore, that the Word of God has come, not a Word named improperly, as they say, but being a true Word. 46 Not improperly named Word, even if those who teach other doctrines, telling lies, should burst, but being properly and truly the Word. 47 * * * * * while those who teach them seem ashamed to mention the Word, whom all the divine scriptures thus proclaim. For David says concerning him, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm," and again the same one, "He sent forth his word and healed them." And Solomon, "Evil men will seek me, and will not find me. For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord." And Isaiah said, "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." And again Jeremiah says, "The wise men were ashamed, and were dismayed and taken, because they rejected the word of the Lord." And Hosea the prophet said, "They hated him that rebukes in the gates, and they abhorred a holy word." And Micah likewise, he too mentioning the Word, said, "Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." 48 Therefore, before he came down and was born through the virgin, he was only Word. For what else was he who came down "in the last days," as he himself has written, and was born of the virgin, before he took on human flesh? He was nothing other than Word. 49 Rightly, therefore, before the descent he was this, which we have often said, the Word; but after the descent and the assumption of the flesh he has received different appellations, since "the Word became flesh." 50 For what other hidden mystery was there than that which concerns the Word? And this mystery was so hidden "in God" before, that none of the former people clearly knew the things concerning the Word, but that we should now enjoy the riches "of the glory" and of the hidden mystery. 51 But the holy apostle and disciple of the Lord, John, teaching clearly and expressly at the beginning of the Gospel, as something previously unknown among men, calling him the Word of the Almighty, thus said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He signifies the eternity of the Word not using a single testimony. 52 so that by saying "in the beginning was the Word" he might show that the Word is in the Father in potentiality (for God is the beginning of all things that have come into being, "from whom are all things"), and by "and the Word was with God" that the Word is with God in actuality (for "all things were made through him, and without

πανταχόθεν δῆλόν ἐστιν μηδὲν ἕτερον τῇ ἀιδιότητι τοῦ λόγου ἁρμόττειν ὄνομα ἢ τοῦθ' ὅπερ ὁ ἁγιώτατος τοῦ κυρίου μαθητὴς καὶ ἀπόστολος Ἰωάννης ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου εἴρηκεν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ [τὴν] μετὰ τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς ἀνάληψιν Χριστός τε καὶ Ἰησοῦς κηρύττεται, ζωή τε καὶ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡμέρα καὶ ἀνάστασις καὶ θύρα καὶ ἄρτος καὶ εἴ τι ἕτερον ὑπὸ τῶν θείων ὀνομάζοιτο γραφῶν, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ἀγνοεῖν ἡμᾶς προσήκει τὸ πρῶτον ὄνομα, ὅτι λόγος ἦν. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ ἁγιώτατος εὐαγγελιστὴς καὶ μαθητὴς τοῦ κυρίου, σφόδρα ἐγρηγορὼς τῷ πνεύματι, τῆς ἄνωθεν μνημονεύων ἀρχῆς καὶ μηδενὸς νεωτέρου, "ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος" ἔφη "καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος", ἵνα δείξῃ ὅτι, εἴ τι καινὸν καὶ νεώτερον ὄνομα, τοῦτ' ἀπὸ τῆς καινῆς αὐτῷ καὶ νέας ὑπῆρξε κατὰ σάρκα οἰκονομίας. 44 Σαβέλλιος γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς τῆς ὀρθῆς ὀλισθήσας πίστεως οὔτε τὸν θεὸν ἀκριβῶς ἔγνω οὔτε τὸν ἅγιον αὐτοῦ λόγον. ὁ γὰρ μὴ τὸν λόγον γνοὺς ἠγνόησεν καὶ τὸν πατέρα. "οὐδεὶς" γὰρ "οἶδεν" φησὶν "τὸν πατέρα, εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός", τουτέστιν ὁ λόγος· ὁ γὰρ λόγος δι' ἑαυτοῦ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς παρέχει γνῶσιν. οὕτω γὰρ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς οἰομένους τηνικαῦτα τῶν Ἰουδαίων εἰδέναι τὸν θεόν, ἀθετοῦντας δ' αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον, δι' οὗ μόνου γινώσκεται ὁ θεός, ἔλεγεν "οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ ἂν ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ". ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀδύνατον ἦν ἑτέρως γνῶναι τὸν θεόν, διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου λόγου εἰδέναι αὐτὸν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διδάσκει, ὥστε ἐσφάλη μὲν κἀκεῖνος μὴ τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν τούτου λόγον ἀκριβῶς γνούς. 45 καὶ μανθανέτω τοίνυν θεοῦ λόγον ἐληλυθέναι, οὐ λόγον καταχρηστικῶς ὀνομασθέντα, ὡς αὐτοί φασιν, ἀλλ' ἀληθῆ ὄντα λόγον. 46 οὐ καταχρηστικῶς λόγος ὀνομασθείς, κἂν διαρραγῶσιν οἱ ἑτεροδιδασκαλοῦντες ψευδόμενοι, ἀλλὰ κυρίως τε καὶ ἀληθῶς ὑπάρχων λόγος. 47 * * * * * τῶν δὲ διδασκόντων αὐτοὺς ὥσπερ αἰδουμένων μεμνῆσθαι τοῦ λόγου, ὃν οὕτω πᾶσαι αἱ θεῖαι κηρύττουσιν γραφαί. ∆αυὶδ μὲν γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγει "τῷ λόγῳ κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν", αὖθίς τε ὁ αὐτὸς "ἐξαπέστειλεν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτούς". Σολομὼν δὲ "ζητήσουσίν με κακοί, καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσουσιν. ἐμίσησαν γὰρ σοφίαν, τὸν δὲ λόγον κυρίου οὐ προείλοντο". Ἡσαΐας τε "ἐκ γὰρ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεται" ἔφη "νόμος, καὶ λόγος κυρίου ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ". καὶ αὖθις Ἱερεμίας "ᾐσχύνθησαν σοφοὶ" φησὶν "καὶ ἐπτοήθησαν καὶ ἑάλωσαν, ὅτι τὸν λόγον κυρίου ἀπεδοκίμασαν". καὶ Ὡσηὲ δὲ ὁ προφήτης "ἐμίσησαν" ἔφη "ἐν πύλαις ἐλέγχοντα, καὶ λόγον ὅσιον ἐβδελύξαντο". Μιχαίας τε ὁμοίως καὶ αὐτὸς περὶ τοῦ λόγου μνημονεύων "ἐκ Σιὼν" ἔφη "ἐξελεύσεται νόμος, καὶ λόγος κυρίου ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ". 48 οὐκοῦν πρὸ μὲν τοῦ κατελθεῖν καὶ διὰ τῆς παρθένου τεχθῆναι λόγος ἦν μόνον. ἐπεὶ τί ἕτερον ἦν πρὸ τοῦ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀναλαβεῖν σάρκα τὸ κατελθὸν "ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν", ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς γέγραφεν, καὶ γεννηθὲν ἐκ τῆς παρθένου; οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἦν ἢ λόγος. 49 εἰκότως οὖν πρὸ τῆς καθόδου τοῦτο ἦν, ὅπερ πολλάκις ἔφαμεν, λόγος· μετὰ δὲ τὴν κάθοδον καὶ τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς ἀνάληψιν διαφόρων καὶ τῶν ἐπηγοριῶν τετύχηκεν, ἐπειδὴ "ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο". 50 τί γὰρ ἕτερον ἦν ἀποκεκρυμμένον μυστήριον ἢ τὸ κατὰ τὸν λόγον; οὕτως δὲ ἦν ἀποκεκρυμμένον "ἐν τῷ θεῷ" τουτὶ πρότερον τὸ μυστήριον, ὥστε μηδένα τοῦ προτέρου λαοῦ σαφῶς τὰ κατὰ τὸν λόγον εἰδέναι, ἀλλ' ἡμᾶς τοῦ πλούτου "τῆς δόξης" καὶ τοῦ ἀποκεκρυμμένου μυστηρίου ἀπολαύειν νυνί. 51 ὁ δὲ ἱερὸς ἀπόστολός τε καὶ μαθητὴς τοῦ κυρίου Ἰωάννης σαφῶς καὶ διαρρήδην ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου διδάσκων, ὡς ἀγνοούμενον ἐν ἀνθρώποις πρότερον, λόγον αὐτὸν τοῦ παντοκράτορος ὀνομάζων, οὕτως ἔφη "ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος". οὐ μιᾷ μαρτυρίᾳ χρώμενος τὴν ἀιδιότητα τοῦ λόγου σημαίνει. 52 ἵν' ἐν μὲν τῷ φῆσαι "ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος" δείξῃ δυνάμει ἐν τῷ πατρὶ εἶναι τὸν λόγον (ἀρχὴ γὰρ ἁπάντων τῶν γεγονότων ὁ θεὸς "ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα"), ἐν δὲ τῷ "καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν" ἐνεργείᾳ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν εἶναι τὸν λόγον ("πάντα" γὰρ "δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς