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who dared to say that he is Word and nothing else, having said it in these very words and for this reason he does not name himself son of God, but everywhere calls himself son of man, so that through such a confession he might by adoption prepare man through communion with him to become a son of God. For Marcellus, having said these things, I do not know how with what sort of eyes he was able to look upon or with what sort of lips to speak against so many 1.20.23 testimonies. And the Savior presented himself as light, in agreement with what was previously stated about the light, saying «I am the light of the world», and again «I am the light, and the truth and the life», and again «that the light has come into the world and men 1.20.24 loved darkness rather than light». And if anyone should ask, whence he has come, he who said «He who comes from above is above all» will answer, and «He who comes from heaven testifies to what he has seen and heard»; Who then was «he who comes from heaven»? Surely not the flesh which the Savior assumed? By no means. But he himself, that is, the light and the Word and the God and the only-begotten and the Son, being all these things himself, «what he has seen», therefore, «and what he has heard», he says, 1.20.25 «he testifies». Therefore he both saw and heard before coming to earth. Whom did he see but the Father? Of whom did he hear but of the Father? Thus he taught that he himself was not a significant word, but a truly living and subsistent Son, so as to say «The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life». Let us believe, therefore, that loving «the Son», «the Father 1.20.26 has given all things into his hand». We must carefully attend to the word «all», since it is comprehensive of the existence of all created things, through which one might see the magnitude of the power of the Son of God, considering with how great and what a hand he received from the Father the existence of all 1.20.27 beings. For if indeed the whole heaven and world is great, and even far greater and more excellent than these are the things beyond what is seen, subsisting in incorporeal and incorruptible, intelligent and divine powers, and all things that escape our mind and are hidden from our knowledge, of all these things one hand of the only-begotten Son of God, grasping them, demonstrates the excellence of his infinitely 1.20.28 great power. Which indeed through another 1.20.28 voice the Son himself again presents, saying «All things have been delivered to me by my Father». Then, as if we were at a loss as to who and how great he was who had received so great a deposit, do not seek, he says, nor ask. For it is not in its nature to be known by men, nor even by the greater and more divine powers is there precise comprehension of the Son 1.20.29 of God. Wherefore, having said before «All things have been delivered to me by my Father», he added «and no one knows the Son except the Father». Let every ineffable discourse concerning the Son of God, therefore, be silenced, and let the knowledge of his generation from him be delivered to the Father alone, and let no one proceed further seeking concerning his ineffable nature and substance, but let his own teaching concerning himself alone be confirmed for us by the grace of faith, clearly instructing that all things have been delivered to him by the Father 1.20.30. Therefore God was giving and delivering for betterment and benefit, making the delivery as to a savior and physician and governor of all things; and the Son was receiving and, as a faithful guardian of the deposit, he held the gift, not as an insubstantial and non-subsistent word, but as being truly the only-begotten and beloved Son of the Father. 1.20.31 7. Further to these things, he also named himself the bread of life, saying «I am the bread of life», «I am the living bread which came down from heaven». And how he was living, he made perfectly clear, articulating in the things he says: «As the living Father sent me, and I 1.20.32 live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me». This he also taught in other places, saying «For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself». Was he then both the bread of life and did he exist in heaven the
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τολμήσαντα φάναι λόγον εἶναι αὐτὸν καὶ οὐδὲν ἕτερον, αὐτολεξεί τε εἰρηκότα καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐχ υἱὸν θεοῦ αὑτὸν ὀνομάζει, ἀλλὰ παντα χοῦ υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου ἑαυτὸν λέγει, ἵνα διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης ὁμολογίας θέσει τὸν ἄνθρωπον διὰ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν κοινωνίας υἱὸν θεοῦ γενέσθαι παρασκευάσῃ. ταῦτα γὰρ Μάρκελλος εἰπὼν οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ὁποίοις ὀφθαλμοῖς οἷός τε ἦν ἀντιβλέπειν ἢ ποίοις χείλεσιν ἀντιφθέγγεσθαι ταῖς τοσαύταις 1.20.23 μαρτυρίαις. καὶ φῶς δὲ αὑτὸν εἶναι ὁ σωτὴρ παρίστη συμφώνως τοῖς περὶ τοῦ φωτὸς προαποδοθεῖσιν λέγων «ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου», καὶ πάλιν «ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή», καὶ αὖθις «ὅτι τὸ φῶς ἐλήλυθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἠγάπησαν οἱ 1.20.24 ἄνθρωποι μᾶλλον τὸ σκότος ἢ τὸ φῶς». καὶ εἴγε τις ἔροιτο, πόθεν ἐλήλυθεν, ἀποκρινεῖται ὁ εἰπὼν «ὁ ἄνωθεν ἐρχόμενος ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν» καὶ «ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐρχόμενος ὃ ἑώρακεν καὶ ἤκουσεν μαρτυρεῖ»· τίς δ' ἦν «ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ»; μήτι γε ἡ σὰρξ ἣν ἀνείληφεν ὁ σωτήρ; οὐδαμῶς. ἀλλ' αὐτός, δηλονότι τὸ φῶς καὶ ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ θεὸς καὶ ὁ μονογενὴς καὶ ὁ υἱός, αὐτὸς ὢν ταῦτα πάντα, «ἃ ἑώρακεν» τοίνυν οὗτος «καὶ ἃ ἤκουσεν», φησίν, 1.20.25 «μαρτυρεῖ». οὐκοῦν καὶ ἑώρα καὶ ἤκουσεν πρὶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἐλθεῖν. τίνα δὲ ἑώρα ἢ τὸν πατέρα; τίνος δὲ ἤκουσεν ἢ τοῦ πατρός; οὕτω δὲ ἑαυτὸν οὐ λόγον σημαντικόν, ἀλλ' υἱὸν ἀληθῶς ζῶντα καὶ ὑφεστῶτα ἐδίδασκεν, ὡς λέγειν «ὁ πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ τὸν υἱόν, καὶ πάντα δέδωκεν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ. ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον». πιστεύωμεν τοίνυν, ὅτι «τὸν υἱὸν» ἀγαπῶν «ὁ πατὴρ 1.20.26 πάντα δέδωκεν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ». ἐπιμελῶς δὲ προσεκτέον τῷ «πάντα», τῆς τῶν γενητῶν ἁπάντων ὑπάρξεως περιληπτικῷ ὄντι, δι' οὗ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμεως ἴδοι ἄν τις, ἐννοήσας ὅσῃ καὶ ὁποίᾳ χειρὶ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑποδέδεκτο τὴν τῶν 1.20.27 ὄντων ἁπάντων ὕπαρξιν. εἰ γὰρ δὴ μέγας ὁ σύμπας οὐρανός τε καὶ κόσμος, καὶ τούτων ἔτι μακρῷ κρείττονα καὶ διαφέροντα τυγχάνει τὰ ἐπέκεινα τῶν ὁρωμένων ἐν ἀσωμάτοις καὶ ἀφθάρτοις νοεραῖς τε καὶ θείαις ὑφεστῶτα δυνάμεσιν, πάντα τε ὅσα τὸν ἡμέτερον διαδιδράσκοντα νοῦν τὴν ἡμετέραν γνῶσιν λανθάνει, τούτων ἁπάντων μία τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ χεὶρ περιδραττομένη τῆς ἀπειρο1.20.28 μεγέθους αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπιδείκνυται. ὃ δὴ καὶ δι' ἑτέρας 1.20.28 πάλιν αὐτὸς ὁ υἱὸς παρίστη φωνῆς λέγων «πάντα μοι παρεδόθη ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου». εἶθ', ὡς ἡμῶν ἀπορούντων, τίς ποτ' ἦν καὶ ὁπηλίκος ὁ τὴν τοσαύτην παρακαταθήκην ὑποδεδεγμένος, μὴ ζήτει, φησίν, μηδ' ἐρώτα. οὐ γὰρ ἔχει φύσιν ἀνθρώποις γνωρίζεσθαι, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ταῖς κρείττοσιν καὶ θειοτέραις δυνάμεσιν ἡ ἀκριβὴς τοῦ υἱοῦ 1.20.29 τοῦ θεοῦ κατάληψις. διὸ προφήσας «πάντα μοι παρεδόθη ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου» ἐπήγαγεν «καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατήρ». σεσιγήσθω τοίνυν πᾶς ἀπόρρητος περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, καὶ μόνῳ τῷ πατρὶ παραδεδόσθω ἡ τῆς ἐξ αὐτοῦ γενέσεως αὐτοῦ γνῶσις, μηδὲ περαιτέρω τις ζητῶν χωρείτω φύσεως πέρι καὶ οὐσίας ἀπορρήτου, μόνη δὲ ἡμῖν ἡ αὐτοῦ περὶ αὑτοῦ διδασκαλία τῇ τῆς πίστεως βεβαιούσθω χάριτι, σαφῶς πάντα αὐτῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς 1.20.30 παραδεδόσθαι παιδεύουσα. οὐκοῦν ὁ μὲν θεὸς ἐδίδου καὶ παρεδίδου ἐπὶ βελτιώσει καὶ ὠφελείᾳ, οἷα σωτῆρι καὶ ἰατρῷ καὶ κυβερνήτῃ τῶν ὅλων τὴν παράδοσιν ποιούμενος· ὁ δὲ υἱὸς ἐλάμβανεν καὶ οἷα πιστὸς παραθηκοφύλαξ τὴν δόσιν ὑπεῖχεν, οὐχ ὡς λόγος ἀνούσιος καὶ ἀνυπόστατος, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀληθῶς υἱὸς ὢν μονογενὴς καὶ ἀγαπητὸς τοῦ πατρός. 1.20.31 ζʹ. ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις καὶ ἄρτον ζωῆς αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ὠνόμαζεν λέγων «ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς», «ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς». καὶ ὅπως ὑπῆρχε ζῶν, διεσάφει τρανότατα διαρθρῶν ἐν οἷς φησιν «καθὼς ἀπέστειλέν με ὁ ζῶν πατὴρ κἀγὼ 1.20.32 ζῶ διὰ τὸν πατέρα, καὶ ὁ τρώγων με κἀκεῖνος ζήσει δι' ἐμέ». τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις ἐδίδαξεν εἰπών «ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ζωὴν ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ, οὕτως καὶ τῷ υἱῷ ἔδωκεν ζωὴν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ». ἄρ' οὖν καὶ ἄρτος ἦν ζωῆς καὶ ὑπῆρχεν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ τὰς