Chapter 4.—Of the Son of God as Neither Made by the Father Nor Less Than the Father, and of His Incarnation.

5. Wherefore The Only-Begotten Son of God was neither made by the Father; for, according to the word of an evangelist, “all things were made by Him:”22    John i. 3 nor begotten instantaneously;23    According to the literal meaning of the phrase ex tempore. It may, however, here be used as = under conditions of time, or in time. since God, who is eternally24    Reading sempiterne: for which sempiternus = the eternal wise God, is also given. wise, has with Himself His eternal Wisdom: nor unequal with the Father, that is to say, in anything less than He; for an apostle also speaks in this wise, “Who, although He was constituted in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”25    Phil. ii. 6 By this catholic faith, therefore, those are excluded, on the one hand, who affirm that the Son is the same [Person] as the Father; for [it is clear that] this Word could not possibly be with God, were it not with God the Father, and [it is just as evident that] He who is alone is equal to no one. And, on the other hand, those are equally excluded who affirm that the Son is a creature, although not such an one as the rest of the creatures are. For however great they declare the creature to be, if it is a creature, it has been fashioned and made.26    Condita et facta est For the terms fashion and create27    Condere and creare. mean one and the same thing; although in the usage of the Latin tongue the phrase create is employed at times instead of what would be the strictly accurate word beget. But the Greek language makes a distinction. For we call that creatura (creature) which they call κτίσμα or κτίσις; and when we desire to speak without ambiguity, we use not the word creare (create), but the word condere (fashion, found). Consequently, if the Son is a creature, however great that may be, He has been made. But we believe in Him by whom all things (omnia) were made, not in Him by whom the rest of things (cetera) were made. For here again we cannot take this term all things in any other sense than as meaning whatsoever things have been made.

6. But as “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,”28    John i. 14 the same Wisdom which was begotten of God condescended also to be created among men.29    Adopting in hominibus creavi. One important ms. gives in omnibus = amongst all. There is a reference to this in the word, “The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways.”30    Prov. viii. 22, with creavit me instead of the possessed me of the English version. For the beginning of His ways is the Head of the Church, which is Christ31    Various editions give principium et caput Ecclesiæ est Christus = the beginning of His ways and the Head of the Church is Christ. endued with human nature (homine indutus), by whom it was purposed that there should be given to us a pattern of living, that is, a sure32    For via certa others give via recta = a right way. way by which we might reach God. For by no other path was it possible for us to return but by humility, who fell by pride, according as it was said to our first creation, “Taste, and ye shall be as gods.”33    Gen. iii. 5 Of this humility, therefore, that is to say, of the way by which it was needful for us to return, our Restorer Himself has deemed it meet to exhibit an example in His own person, “who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant;”34    Phil. ii. 6, 7 in order that He might be created Man in the beginning of His ways, the Word by whom all things were made. Wherefore, in so far as He is the Only-begotten, He has no brethren; but in so far as He is the First-begotten, He has deemed it worthy of Him to give the name of brethren to all those who, subsequently to and by means of His pre-eminence,35    Per ejus primatum = by means of His standing as the Firstborn. We follow the Benedictine reading, qui post ejus et per ejus primatum in Dei gratiam renascuntur. But there is another, although less authoritative, version, viz. qui post ejus primitias in Dei gratia nascimur = all of us who, subsequently to His first-fruits, are born in the grace of God. are born again into the grace of God through the adoption of sons, according to the truth commended to us by apostolic teaching.36    Luke viii. 21; Rom. viii. 15–17; Gal. iv. 5; Eph. i. 5; Heb. ii. 11 Thus, then, the Son according to nature (naturalis filius) was born of the very substance of the Father, the only one so born, subsisting as that which the Father is,37    Id existens quod Pater est, etc. Another version is, idem existens quod Pater Deus = subsisting as the same that God the Father is. God of God, Light of Light. We, on the other hand, are not the light by nature, but are enlightened by that Light, so that we may be able to shine in wisdom. For, as one says, “that was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”38    John i. 9 Therefore we add to the faith of things eternal likewise the temporal dispensation39    The term dispensatio occurs very frequently as the equivalent of the Greek οἰκονομία = economy, designating the Incarnation. of our Lord, which He deemed it worthy of Him to bear for us and to minister in behalf of our salvation. For in so far as He is the only-begotten Son of God, it cannot be said of Him that He was and that He shall be, but only that He is; because, on the one hand, that which was, now is not; and, on the other, that which shall be, as yet is not. He, then, is unchangeable, independent of the condition of times and variation. And it is my opinion that this is the very consideration to which was due the circumstance that He introduced to the apprehension of His servant Moses the kind of name [which He then adopted]. For when he asked of Him by whom he should say that he was sent, in the event of the people to whom he was being sent despising him, he received his answer when He spake in this wise: “I Am that I Am.” Thereafter, too, He added this: “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, He that is (Qui est) has sent me unto you.”40    Ex. iii. 14

7. From this, I trust, it is now made patent to spiritual minds that there cannot possibly exist any nature contrary to God. For if He is,—and this is a word which can be spoken with propriety only of God (for that which truly is remains unchangeably; inasmuch as that which is changed has been something which now it is not, and shall be something which as yet it is not),—it follows that God has nothing contrary to Himself. For if the question were put to us, What is contrary to white? we would reply, black; if the question were, What is contrary to hot? we would reply, cold; if the question were, What is contrary to quick? we would reply, slow; and all similar interrogations we would answer in like manner. When, however, it is asked, What is contrary to that which is? the right reply to give is, that which is not.

8. But whereas, in a temporal dispensation, as I have said, with a view to our salvation and restoration, and with the goodness of God acting therein, our changeable nature has been assumed by that unchangeable Wisdom of God, we add the faith in temporal things which have been done with salutary effect on our behalf, believing in that Son of God Who Was Born Through the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary. For by the gift of God, that is, by the Holy Spirit, there was granted to us so great humility on the part of so great a God, that He deemed it worthy of Him to assume the entire nature of man (totum hominem) in the womb of the Virgin, inhabiting the material body so that it sustained no detriment (integrum), and leaving it41    Deserens. With less point, deferens has been suggested = bearing it, or delivering it. without detriment. This temporal dispensation is in many ways craftily assailed by the heretics. But if any one shall have grasped the catholic faith, so as to believe that the entire nature of man was assumed by the Word of God, that is to say, body, soul, and spirit, he has sufficient defense against those parties. For surely, since that assumption was effected in behalf of our salvation, one must be on his guard lest, as he believes that there is something belonging to our nature which sustains no relation to that assumption, this something may fail also to sustain any relation to the salvation.42    Or it may = he should fail to have any relation to the salvation. And seeing that, with the exception of the form of the members, which has been imparted to the varieties of living objects with differences adapted to their different kinds, man is in nothing separated from the cattle but in [the possession of] a rational spirit (rationali spiritu), which is also named mind (mens), how is that faith sound, according to which the belief is maintained, that the Wisdom of God assumed that part of us which we hold in common with the cattle, while He did not assume that which is brightly illumined by the light of wisdom, and which is man’s peculiar gift?

9. Moreover, those parties43    Referring to the Manicheans. also are to be abhorred who deny that our Lord Jesus Christ had in Mary a mother upon earth; while that dispensation has honored both sexes, at once the male and the female, and has made it plain that not only that sex which He assumed pertains to God’s care, but also that sex by which He did assume this other, in that He bore [the nature of] the man (virum gerendo), [and] in that He was born of the woman. Neither is there anything to compel us to a denial of the mother of the Lord, in the circumstance that this word was spoken by Him: “Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.”44    John ii. 4 But He rather admonishesus to understand that, in respect of His being God, there was no mother for Him, the part of whose personal majesty (cujus majestatis personam) He was preparing to show forth in the turning of water into wine. But as regards His being crucified, He was crucified in respect of his being man; and that was the hour which had not come as yet, at the time when this word was spoken, “What have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come;” that is, the hour at which I shall recognize thee. For at that period, when He was crucified as man, He recognized His human mother (hominem matrem), and committed her most humanely (humanissime) to the care of the best beloved disciple.45    John xix. 26, 27 Nor, again, should we be moved by the fact that, when the presence of His mother and His brethren was announced to Him, He replied, “Who is my mother, or who my brethren?” etc.46    Matt. xii. 48 But rather let it teach us, that when parents hinder our ministry wherein we minister the word of God to our brethren, they ought not to be recognized by us. For if, on the ground of His having said, “Who is my mother?” every one should conclude that He had no mother on earth, then each should as matter of course be also compelled to deny that the apostles had fathers on earth; since He gave them an injunction in these terms: “Call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven.”47    Matt. xxiii. 9

10. Neither should the thought of the woman’s womb impair this faith in us, to the effect that there should appear to be any necessity for rejecting such a generation of our Lord for the mere reason that worthless men consider it unworthy (sordidi sordidam putant). For most true are these sayings of an apostle, both that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men,”48    1 Cor. i. 25 and that “to the pure all things are pure.”49    Tit. i. 15 Those,50    In reference to the Manicheans. therefore, who entertain this opinion ought to ponder the fact that the rays of this sun, which indeed they do not praise as a creature of God, but adore as God, are diffused all the world over, through the noisomenesses of sewers and every kind of horrible thing, and that they operate in these according to their nature, and yet never become debased by any defilement thence contracted, albeit that the visible light is by nature in closer conjunction with visible pollutions. How much less, therefore, could the Word of God, who is neither corporeal nor visible, sustain defilement from the female body, wherein He assumed human flesh together with soul and spirit, through the incoming of which the majesty of the Word dwells in a less immediate conjunction with the frailty of a human body!51    The Benedictine text gives, quibus intervenientibus habitat majestas Verbi ab humani corporis fragilitate secretius. Another well-supported version is, ad humani corporis fragilitatem, etc. = more retired in relation to the frailty of the human body. Hence it is manifest that the Word of God could in no way have been defiled by a human body, by which even the human soul is not defiled. For not when it rules the body and quickens it, but only when it lusts after the mortal good things thereof, is the soul defiled by the body. But if these persons were to desire to avoid the defilements of the soul, they would dread rather these falsehoods and profanities.

CAPUT IV.

5. Filius Dei non factus nec minor a Patre. Creare et condere idem. Filius Dei cur factus homo. Contra Manichaeorum haeresim. Totus homo susceptus a Verbo. Nativitas Christi ex femina. Contra Manichaeos. Quamobrem unigenitus Filius Dei, neque factus est a Patre; quia sicut dicit evangelista, Omnia per ipsum facta sunt (Joan. I, 3): neque ex tempore genitus: quoniam sempiterne Deus sapiens, sempiternam secum habet sapientiam suam: neque impar est Patri, id est, in aliquo minor; quia et Apostolus dicit, Qui cum in forma Dei esset constitutus, non rapinam arbitratus est esse aequalis Deo (Philipp. II, 6). Hac igitur fide catholica et illi excluduntur qui eumdem dicunt Filium esse qui Pater est; quia et hoc Verbum apud Deum esse non posset nisi apud Patrem Deum, et nulli est aequalis qui solus est. Excluduntur etiam illi qui creaturam esse dicunt Filium, quamvis non talem, quales sunt caeterae creaturae. Quantamcumque enim creaturam dicant, si creatura est, condita et facta est. Nam idem est condere, quod creare: quanquam in latinae linguae consuetudine dicatur aliquando creare, pro eo quod est gignere; sed graeca discernit. Hoc enim dicimus creaturam, quod illi κτίσμα vel κτίσιν vocant: et cum sine ambiguitate loqui volumus, non dicimus, creare; sed, condere. Ergo si creatura est Filius, quamlibet magna sit, facta est. Nos autem in eum credimus per quem facta sunt omnia, non in eum per quem facta sunt caetera: neque enim hic aliter accipere possumus omnia, nisi quaecumque sunt facta.

6. Sed quoniam Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. I, 14); eadem Sapientia quae de Deo genita est, dignata est etiam in hominibus creari . Quo pertinet illud, Dominus creavit me in principio viarum suarum (Prov. VIII, 22). Viarum enim ejus principium caput est Ecclesiae, quod est Christus 0185 homine indutus, per quem vivendi exemplum nobis daretur, hoc est via certa qua perveniremus ad Deum. Non enim redire potuimus nisi humilitate, qui superbia lapsi sumus, sicut dictum est primae nostrae creaturae, Gustate, et eritis tanquam dii (Gen. III, 5). Hujus igitur humilitatis exemplum, id est, viae qua redeundum fuit, ipse Reparator noster in se ipso demonstrare dignatus est, qui non rapinam arbitratus est esse aequalis Deo, sed semetipsum evacuavit, formam servi accipiens (Philipp. II, 6, 7); ut crearetur homo in principio viarum ejus, Verbum per quod facta sunt omnia. Quapropter secundum id quod unigenitus est, non habet fratres: secundum id autem quod primogenitus est, fratres vocare dignatus est omnes qui post ejus et per ejus primatum in Dei gratiam renascuntur per adoptionem filiorum (Luc. VIII, 21), sicut apostolica disciplina commendat (Hebr. II, 11). Naturalis ergo Filius de ipsa Patris substantia unicus natus est, id existens quod Pater est ; Deus de Deo, Lumen de Lumine: nos autem non lumen naturaliter sumus, sed ab illo Lumine illuminamur, ut sapientia lucere possimus. Erat enim, inquit, Lumen verum, quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum (Joan. I, 9). Addimus itaque fidei rerum aeternarum etiam temporalem dispensationem Domini nostri, quam gerere nobis et ministrare pro nostra salute dignatus est. Nam secundum id quod unigenitus est Dei Filius, non potest dici, Fuit et Erit; sed tantum, Est: quia et quod fuit, jam non est; et quod erit, nondum est. Ille ergo est incommutabilis sine conditione temporum et varietate. Nec aliunde arbitror manare illud quod famulo suo Moysi tale nomen suum insinuavit. Nam cum ab eo quaereret, si se populus ad quem mittebatur contemneret, a quo se diceret esse missum; responsum dicentis accepit, Ego sum qui sum. Deinde subjunxit, Haec dices filiis Israel, Qui est, misit me ad vos (Exod. III, 14).

7. Ex quo jam spiritualibus animis patere confido, nullam naturam Deo esse posse contrariam. Si enim ille est, et de solo Deo proprie dici potest hoc verbum (quod enim vere est, incommutabiliter manet; quoniam quod mutatur, fuit aliquid quod jam non est, et erit quod nondum est), nihil ergo habet Deus contrarium. Si enim quaereretur a nobis quid sit albo contrarium, responderemus nigrum: si quaereretur quid sit calido contrarium, responderemus frigidum: si quaereretur quid sit veloci contrarium , responderemus tardum; et quaecumque similia. Cum autem quaeritur quid sit contrarium ei quod est, recte respondetur quod non est.

8. Sed quoniam per temporalem, ut dixi, dispensationem, 0186 ad nostram salutem et reparationem, operante Dei benignitate, ab illa incommutabili Dei Sapientia natura mutabilis nostra suscepta est, temporalium rerum salubriter pro nobis gestarum adjungimus fidem, credentes in eum Dei Filium qui natus est per Spiritum sanctum ex virgine Maria. Dono enim Dei, hoc est, sancto Spiritu concessa nobis est tanta humilitas tanti Dei, ut totum hominem suscipere dignaretur in utero virginis, maternum corpus integrum inhabitans, integrum deserens . Cui temporali dispensationi multis modis insidiantur haeretici. Sed si quis tenuerit catholicam fidem, ut totum hominem credat a Verbo Dei esse susceptum, id est corpus, animam, spiritum, satis contra illos munitus est. Quippe cum ista susceptio pro salute nostra sit gesta, cavendum est ne cum crediderit aliquid nostrum non pertinere ad istam susceptionem, non pertineat ad salutem. Et cum homo excepta forma membrorum, quae diversis generibus animantium diversa tributa est, non distet a pecore nisi rationali spiritu, quae mens etiam nominatur; quomodo sana est fides qua creditur quod id nostrum susceperit Dei Sapientia quod habemus commune cum pecore, illud autem non susceperit quod illustratur luce sapientiae, et quod hominis proprium est?

9. Detestandi autem etiam illi sunt, qui Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum matrem Mariam in terris habuisse negant, cum illa dispensatio utrumque sexum, et masculinum et femininum honoraverit, et ad curam Dei pertinere monstraverit, non solum quem suscepit, sed illum etiam per quem suscepit, virum gerendo, nascendo de femina. Nec nos ad negandam Christi matrem cogit, quod ab eo dictum est, Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? nondum venit hora mea (Joan. II, 4). Sed admonet potius ut intelligamus secundum Deum non eum habuisse matrem, cujus majestatis personam parabat ostendere aquam in vinum vertendo. Quod autem crucifixus est, secundum hominem crucifixus est; et illa erat hora, quae nondum venerat, quando dictum est, Mihi et tibi quid est? nondum venit hora mea, id est, qua te cognoscam. Tunc enim ut homo crucifixus cognovit hominem matrem, et dilectissimo discipulo humanissime commendavit (Id. XIX, 26, 27). Nec illud nos moveat, quod cum ei nuntiaretur mater ejus, et fratres, respondit, Quae mihi mater, aut qui fratres, etc. (Matth. XII, 48)? Sed potius doceat ministerium nostrum, quo verbum Dei fratribus ministramus, parentes cum impediunt, non eos debere cognosci. Nam si propterea quisque putaverit non eum habuisse matrem in terris, quia dixit, Quae mihi mater? cogatur necesse est et Apostolos negare habuisse patres in terris, quoniam praecepit eis dicens: Nolite vobis patrem dicere in terris; unus est enim Pater vester qui in coelis est (Id. XXXIII, 9).

0187 10. Nec nobis fidem istam minuat cogitatio muliebrium viscerum, ut propterea recusanda videatur talis Domini nostri generatio, quod eam sordidi sordidam putant. Quia et stultum Dei sapientius esse hominibus (I Cor. I, 25), et omnia munda mundis (Tit. I, 15), verissime Apostolus dicit. Debent igitur intueri, qui hoc putant, solis hujus radios, quem certe non tanquam creaturam Dei laudant, sed tanquam Deum adorant , per cloacarum fetores et quaecumque horribilia usquequaque diffundi, et in his operari secundum naturam suam, nec tamen inde aliqua contaminatione sordescere, cum visibilis lux visibilibus sordibus sit natura conjunctior: quanto minus igitur poterat pollui Verbum Dei, non corporeum neque visibile, de femineo corpore, ubi humanam carnem suscepit cum anima et spiritu, quibus intervenientibus habitat majestas Verbi ad humani corporis fragilitate secretius? Unde manifestum est nullo modo potuisse Verbum Dei maculari humano corpore, quo nec ipsa anima humana maculata est. Non enim cum regit corpus atque vivificat, sed cum ejus bona mortalia concupiscit, de corpore anima maculatur. Quod si animae maculas illi vitare vellent, haec mendacia potius et sacrilegia formidarent.