Chapter XXIV.—Texts Explained; Eighthly,John xvii. 3. and the Like. Our Lord’s divinity cannot interfere with His Father’s prerogatives, as the One God, which were so earnestly upheld by the Son. ‘One’ is used in contrast to false gods and idols, not to the Son, through whom the Father spoke. Our Lord adds His Name to the Father’s, as included in Him. The Father the First, not as if the Son were not First too, but as Origin.

7. Now that this is the sense of the Prophet is clear and manifest to all; but since the irreligious men, alleging such passages also, dishonour the Lord and reproach us, saying, ‘Behold God is said to be One and Only and First; how say ye that the Son is God? for if He were God, He had not said, “I Alone,” nor “God is One1024    This miserable procedure, of making sacred and mysterious subjects a matter of popular talk and debate, which is a sure mark of heresy, had received a great stimulus about this time by the rise of the Anomœans. Eusebius’s testimony to the profaneness which attended Arianism upon its rise will be given de Syn. 2, note 1. The Thalia is another instance of it. S. Alexander speaks of the interference, even judicial, in its behalf against himself, of disobedient women, δι᾽ ἐντυχίας γυναικαρίων ἀτακτων ἃ ἠπάτησαν, and of the busy and indecent gadding about of the younger, ἐκ τοῦ περιτροχάζειν πᾶσαν ἀγυιὰν ἀσέμνως. ap. Theod. H. E. i. 3. p. 730, also p. 747; also of the men’s buffoon conversation, p. 731. Socrates says that ‘in the Imperial Court, the officers of the bedchamber held disputes with the women, and in the city in every house there was a war of dialectics.’ Hist. ii. 2. This mania raged especially in Constantinople, and S. Gregory Naz. speaks of ‘Jezebels in as thick a crop as hemlock in a field.’ Orat. 35. 3, cf. de Syn. 13, n. 4. He speaks of the heretics as ‘aiming at one thing only, how to make good or refute points of argument,’ making ‘every market-place resound with their words, and spoiling every entertainment with their trifling and offensive talk.’ Orat. 27. 2. The most remarkable testimony of the kind though not concerning Constantinople, is given by S. Gregory Nyssen, and often quoted, ‘Men of yesterday and the day before, mere mechanics, off-hand dogmatists in theology, servants too and slaves that have been flogged, runaways from servile work, are solemn with us and philosophical about things incomprehensible.…With such the whole city is full; its smaller gates, forums, squares, thoroughfares; the clothes-venders, the money-lenders, the victuallers. Ask about pence, and he will discuss the Generate and Ingenerate; inquire the price of bread, he answers, Greater is the Father, and the Son is subject; say that a bath would suit you, and he defines that the Son is out of nothing.’ t. 2. p. 898.    Deut. xxxii. 39; vi. 4, &c.;”’ it is necessary to declare the sense of these phrases in addition, as far as we can, that all may know from this also that the Arians are really contending with God1025    Matt. xii. 34.    θεομάχοι. vid. Acts v. 39.. If there then is rivalry of the Son towards the Father, then be such words uttered against Him; and if according to what is said to David concerning Adonijah and Absalom1026    This objection is found in Alex. Ep. Encycl. 2. ὁ ὢν θεὸς τὸν μὴ ὄντα ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος. Again, ὄντα γεγέννηκε ἢ οὐκ ὄντα. Greg. Orat. 29. 9. who answers it. Pseudo-Basil. contr. Eunom. iv. p. 281. 2. Basil calls the question πολυθρύλλητον, contr. Eunom. ii. 14. It will be seen to be but the Arian formula of ‘He was not before His generation,’ in another shape; being but this, that the very fact of His being begotten or a Son, implies a beginning, that is, a time when He was not: it being by the very force of the words absurd to say that ‘God begat Him that was,’ or to deny that ‘God begat Him that was not.’ For the symbol, οὐκ ἦν πρὶν γεννήθῃ, vid. Excursus B. at the end of this Discourse.    2 Sam. xv. 13; 1 Kings i. 11., so also the Father looks upon the Son, then let Him utter and urge such words against Himself, lest He the Son, calling Himself God, make any to revolt from the Father. But if he who knows the Son, on the contrary, knows the Father, the Son Himself revealing Him to him, and in the Word he shall rather see the Father, as has been said, and if the Son on coming, glorified not Himself but the Father, saying to one who came to Him, ‘Why callest thou Me good? none is good save One, that is, God1027    Rom. i. 23, and §2.    Luke xviii. 19, and vid. Basil. Ep. 236, 1.;’ and to one who asked, what was the great commandment in the Law, answering, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord1028    De Decr. § 11, esp. note 6.    Mark xii. 29.;’ and saying to the multitudes, ‘I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me1029    De Decr. 31, note 5    John vi. 38; xiv. 28.;’ and teaching the disciples, ‘My Father is greater than I,’ and ‘He that honoureth Me, honoureth Him that sent Me1030    Eph. iii. 15.    John v. 23, cf. xiii. 20.;’ if the Son is such towards His own Father, what is the difficulty1031    John i. 1.    §58, note., that one must need take such a view of such passages? and on the other hand, if the Son is the Father’s Word, who is so wild, besides these Christ-opposers, as to think that God has thus spoken, as traducing and denying His own Word? This is not the mind of Christians; perish the thought; for not with reference to the Son is it thus written, but for the denial of those falsely called gods, invented by men.

8. And this account of the meaning of such passages is satisfactory; for since those who are devoted to gods falsely so called, revolt from the True God, therefore God, being good and careful for mankind, recalling the wanderers, says, ‘I am Only God,’ and ‘I Am,’ and ‘Besides Me there is no God,’ and the like; that He may condemn things which are not, and may convert all men to Himself. And as, supposing in the daytime when the sun was shining, a man were rudely to paint a piece of wood, which had not even the appearance of light, and call that image the cause of light, and if the sun with regard to it were to say, ‘I alone am the light of the day, and there is no other light of the day but I,’ he would say this, with regard, not to his own radiance, but to the error arising from the wooden image and the dissimilitude of that vain representation; so it is with ‘I am,’ and ‘I am Only God,’ and ‘There is none other besides Me,’ viz. that He may make men renounce falsely called gods, and that they may recognise Him the true God instead. Indeed when God said this, He said it through His own Word, unless forsooth the modern1032    Heb. i. 3.    οἱ νῦν, cf. Or. ii. 1, note 6, and Hist. Ar. 61, fin. Jews add this too, that He has not said this through His Word; but so hath He spoken, though they rave, these followers of the devil1033    Rom. ix. 5.    διαβολικοί. vid. supr. p. 187, and de Decr. 5, note 2. vid. also Orat. ii. 38, a. 73, a. 74 init. Ep. Æg. 4 and 6. In the passage before us there seems an allusion to false accusation or lying, which is the proper meaning of the word; διαβάλλων occurs shortly before. And so in Apol. ad Const. when he calls Magnentius διάβολος, it is as being a traitor, 7. and soon after he says that his accuser was τὸν διαβόλου πρόπον ἀναλαβών, where the word has no article, and διαβέβλημαι and διεβλήθην have preceded. vid. also Hist. Ar. 52 fin. And so in Sent. D. his speaking of the Arians’ ‘father the devil,’ 3, c. is explained 4, b. by τοὺς πατέρας διαβαλλόντων and τῆς εἰς τὸν ἐπίσκοπον διαβολῆς.. For the Word of the Lord came to the Prophet, and this was what was heard; nor is there a thing which God says or does, but He says and does it in the Word. Not then with reference to Him is this said, O Christ’s enemies, but to things foreign to Him and not from1034    Vid. Basil, contr. Eunom. ii. 17.    παρά, vid. §24 end, and John xv. 26 Him. For according to the aforesaid illustration, if the sun had spoken those words, he would have been setting right the error and have so spoken, not as having his radiance without him, but in the radiance shewing his own light. Therefore not for the denial of the Son, nor with reference to Him, are such passages, but to the overthrow of falsehood. Accordingly God spoke not such words to Adam at the beginning, though His Word was with Him, by whom all things came to be; for there was no need, before idols came in; but when men made insurrection against the truth and named for themselves gods such as they would1035    This cautious and reverent way of speaking is a characteristic of S. Athanasius, ad Serap. i. 1. vid. ii. init. ad Epict. 13 fin. ad Max. init. contr. Apoll. i. init. ‘I must ask another question, bolder, yet with a religious intention; be propitious, O Lord, &c.’ Orat. iii. 63, cf. de Decr. 12, note 8, 15, note 6, de Syn. 51, note 4.    οὓς ἤθελον, infr. §10, n. 1., then it was that need arose of such words, for the denial of gods that were not. Nay I would add, that they were said even in anticipation of the folly of these Christ-opposers1036    De Decr. 25, note 2.    Who worship one whom they themselves call a creature, vid. supr. Or. i. 8, n. 8, ii. 14, n. 7, 21, n. 2, and below, §16 notes., that they might know, that whatsoever god they devise external to the Father’s Essence, he is not True God, nor Image and Son of the Only and First.

9. If then the Father be called the only true God, this is said not to the denial of Him who said, ‘I am the Truth1037    John i. 14.    John xiv. 6.,’ but of those on the other hand who by nature are not true, as the Father and His Word are. And hence the Lord Himself added at once, ‘And Jesus Christ whom Thou didst send1038    ὄργανον, de Decr. 7, n. 6, de Syn. 27, note 11. This was alleged by Arius, Socr. i. 6. and by Eusebius, Eccles. Theol. i. 8. supr. Ep. Eus., and by the Anomœans, supr. de Decr. 7, note 1.    Ib. xvii. 3..’ Now had He been a creature, He would not have added this, and ranked Himself with His Creator (for what fellowship is there between the True and the not true?); but as it is, by adding Himself to the Father, He has shewn that He is of the Father’s nature; and He has given us to know that of the True Father He is True Offspring. And John too, as he had learned1039    μαθὼν ἐδίδαξε, de Decr. 7, n. 8; Or. ii. 1, note 6a., so he teaches this, writing in his Epistle, ‘And we are in the True, even in His Son Jesus Christ; This is the True God and eternal life1040    1 John v. 20..’ And when the Prophet says concerning the creation, ‘That stretcheth forth the heavens alone1041    Isai. xliv. 24.,’ and when God says, ‘I only stretch out the heavens,’ it is made plain to every one, that in the Only is signified also the Word of the Only, in whom ‘all things were made,’ and without whom ‘was made not one thing.’ Therefore, if they were made through the Word, and yet He says, ‘I Only,’ and together with that Only is understood the Son, through whom the heavens were made, so also then, if it be said, ‘One God,’ and ‘I Only,’ and ‘I the First,’ in that One and Only and First is understood the Word coexisting, as in the Light the Radiance. And this can be understood of no other than the Word alone. For all other things subsisted out of nothing through the Son, and are greatly different in nature; but the Son Himself is natural and true Offspring from the Father; and thus the very passage which these insensates have thought fit to adduce, ‘I the First,’ in defence of their heresy, doth rather expose their perverse spirit. For God says, ‘I the First and I the Last;’ if then, as though ranked with the things after Him, He is said to be first of them, so that they come next to Him, then certainly you will have shewn that He Himself precedes the works in time only1042    He says that in ‘I the first’ the question of time does not come in, else creatures would come ‘second’ to the Creator, as if His and their duration admitted of a common measure. ‘First’ then does not imply succession, but is equivalent to ἀρχή; a word which, as ‘Father,’ does not imply that the Son is not from eternity.; which, to go no further, is extreme irreligion; but if it is in order to prove that He is not from any, nor any before Him, but that He is Origin and Cause of all things, and to destroy the Gentile fables, that He has said ‘I the First,’ it is plain also, that when the Son is called First-born, this is done not for the sake of ranking Him with the creation, but to prove the framing and adoption of all things1043    ii. 62, n. 2. through the Son. For as the Father is First, so also is He both First1044    It is no inconsistency to say that the Father is first, and the Son first also, for comparison or number does not enter into mystery. Since Each is ὅλος θεὸς, Each, as contemplated by our finite reason, at the moment of contemplation excludes the Other. Though we ‘say’ Three Persons, Person hardly denotes one abstract ‘idea,’ certainly not as containing under it three individual subjects, but it is a ‘term’ applied to the One God in three ways. It is the doctrine of the Fathers, that, though we use words expressive of a Trinity, yet that God is beyond number, and that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, though eternally distinct from each other, can scarcely be viewed together in common, except as ‘One’ substance, as if they could not be generalized into Three Any whatever; and as if it were, strictly speaking, incorrect to speak of ‘a’ Person, or otherwise than of ‘the’ Person, whether of Father, or of Son, or of Spirit. The question has almost been admitted by S. Austin, whether it is not possible to say that God is ‘One’ Person (Trin. vii. 8), for He is wholly and entirely Father, and at the same time wholly and entirely Son, and wholly and entirely Holy Ghost. Some references to the Fathers shall be given on that subject, infr. 36 fin. vid. also supr. §6, n. 11. Meanwhile the doctrine here stated will account for such expressions as ‘God from God,’ i.e. the One God (who is the Son) from the One God (who is the Father); vid. supr. de Syn. 52, note 8. Again, ἡ οὐσία αὕτη τῆς οὐσίας τῆς πατρικῆς ἐστὶ γέννημα. de Syn. 48, b. Vid. also infr. Orat. iv. 1 and 2., as Image of the First, and because the First is in Him, and also Offspring from the Father, in whom the whole creation is created and adopted into sonship.

καὶ ἔστι μὲν αὐτὸς ὁ νοῦς τοῦ προφήτου φανερὸς καὶ πᾶσι πρόδηλος. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οἱ ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ταῦτα φέροντες δυσφημοῦσι μὲν τὸν Κύριον, ὀνειδίζουσι δὲ ἡμῖν λέγον τες· Ἰδοὺ εἷς, καὶ μόνος, καὶ πρῶτος λέγεται ὁ Θεὸς, πῶς ὑμεῖς λέγετε τὸν Υἱὸν εἶναι Θεόν; Εἰ γὰρ ἦν Θεὸς, οὐκ ἂν ἔλεγεν, Ἐγὼ μόνος, οὐδὲ ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ Θεός· ἀναγκαῖον τὸν νοῦν καὶ τούτων τῶν ῥητῶν, ὡς δυνατόν ἐστιν, εἰπεῖν, ἵνα πάντες γνῶσι καὶ ἐκ τούτων, ὅτι ὄντως εἰσὶν οἱ Ἀρειανοὶ θεομάχοι. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἅμιλλα τῷ Υἱῷ ἐστι πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, τοιαύτας ἀκουέτω φωνάς· καὶ εἰ ὥσπερ ∆αβὶδ ἤκουσε περὶ τοῦ Ἀδωνίου καὶ τοῦ Ἀβεσσαλὼμ, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ βλέπει τὸν Υἱόν· πρὸς ἑαυτὸν λεγέτω καὶ προφερέτω τοιαῦτα ῥήματα, μήποτε ὁ Υἱὸς, λέγων ἑαυτὸν Θεὸν, ἀποστήσῃ τινὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ Πατρός· εἰ δὲ ὁ γινώσκων τὸν Υἱὸν γινώσκει μᾶλλον τὸν Πατέρα, ἀποκαλύπτοντος τοῦτον αὐτῷ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ Λόγῳ ὄψεται μᾶλλον τὸν Πατέρα, καθάπερ εἴρηται· ἐλθὼν δὲ ὁ Υἱὸς, οὐχ ἑαυτὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸν Πατέρα ἐδόξα σε, λέγων μὲν τῷ προσερχομένῳ· Τί με λέγεις ἀγα θόν; Οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς, εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεός· ἀποκρινό μενος δὲ τῷ ἐρωτῶντι, ποία ἐντολὴ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ μείζων, ὅτι, Ἄκουε Ἰσραὴλ, Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, Κύριος εἷς ἐστι· καὶ τοῖς μὲν ὄχλοις λέγων· Ἐγὼ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβέβηκα οὐχ ἵνα ποιήσω τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαν τός με Πατρός· τοὺς δὲ μαθητὰς διδάσκων, ὅτι, Ὁ Πατήρ μου μείζων μού ἐστι· καὶ, Ὁ ἐμὲ τιμῶν τιμᾷ τὸν πέμψαντά με. Καὶ εἰ τοιοῦτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα, ποία ἐναντιότης, ἵνα καὶ τοιαύ την τις ὑπόνοιαν λάβῃ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ῥητῶν; Ἄλλως τε εἰ Λόγος ἐστὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς ὁ Υἱὸς, τίς οὕτως ἐστὶν ἄφρων, πλὴν τῶν χριστομάχων, ὡς νομίζειν ὅτι, τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Λόγον διαβάλλων καὶ ἀναιρῶν, τὰ τοιαῦτα λελάληκεν ὁ Θεός; Οὐκ ἔστιν οὗτος ὁ νοῦς Χριστιανῶν· μὴ γένοιτο! Οὐ γὰρ διὰ τὸν Υἱὸν ταῦτα γέγραπται, ἀλλ' εἰς ἀναίρεσιν τῶν πλασθέντων παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψευδωνύμων θεῶν· καὶ ἡ διάνοια τῶν τοιούτων ῥητῶν ἔχει τὴν αἰτίαν εὔλογον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ προσκείμενοι τοῖς ψευδωνύμοις θεοῖς ἀφίστανται τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Θεοῦ, διὰ τοῦτο ἀγα θὸς ὢν καὶ κηδόμενος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὁ Θεὸς, ἀνακαλούμενος τοὺς πλανηθέντας, φησίν· Ἐγὼ Θεὸς μόνος· καὶ, Ἐγώ εἰμι· καὶ, Πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἔστι Θεός· καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτά ἐστι ῥητά· ἵνα τὰ μὲν μὴ ὄντα διαβάλῃ, ἐπιστρέψῃ δὲ πάντας εἰς ἑαυτόν. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις ἡμέρας οὔσης καὶ ἡλίου φαίνον τος ζωγραφοίη ξύλον ἁπλῶς, οὐδὲ κἂν φαντασίαν ἔχον φωτὸς, καὶ λέγοι τὴν εἰκόνα ταύτην αἰτίαν εἶναι τοῦ φωτός· ὁ δὲ ἥλιος τοῦτο βλέπων εἰ λέγοι· Ἐγὼ μόνος εἰμὶ τὸ φῶς τῆς ἡμέρας, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο φῶς τῆς ἡμέρας πλὴν ἐμοῦ· οὐ πρὸς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἀπαύ γασμα βλέπων ταῦτα λέγει, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν πλάνην διὰ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ξύλου καὶ ἀνομοιότητα τῆς ματαίας φαντασίας· οὕτως ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ, Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ, Ἐγὼ μόνος Θεὸς, καὶ, Οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος πλὴν ἐμοῦ· ἵνα τῶν ψευδωνύμων ἀποστήσῃ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ μάθωσιν αὐτὸν λοιπὸν τὸν ἀληθινὸν Θεόν. Ἀμέλει ταῦτα λέγων ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τοῦ Λόγου ἑαυτοῦ ἔλεγεν· εἰ μὴ ἄρα καὶ τοῦτο προσθῶσιν οἱ νῦν Ἰουδαῖοι, ὅτι μὴ διὰ τοῦ Λόγου ταῦτα λελάληκεν· ἀλλ' οὕτως εἴρηται, κἂν μαίνωνται οἱ διαβολικοί. Ἐγένετο γὰρ Λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς τὸν προφήτην, καὶ ταῦτα ἠκούετο. Εἰ δὲ αὐτοῦ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ ταῦτ' ἐλέγετο· καὶ οὐκ ἔστι τι ὃ λέγει καὶ ποιεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, ὃ μὴ ἐν τῷ Λόγῳ λέγει καὶ ποιεῖ· οὐκ ἄρα δι' αὐτὸν εἴρηται, ὦ θεομά χοι, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰ ἀλλότρια καὶ μὴ ὄντα παρ' αὐτοῦ. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ κατὰ τὴν εἰρημένην εἰκόνα, καὶ ὁ ἥλιος εἰ τὰς φωνὰς ἔλεγεν ἐκείνας, οὐκ ἐκτὸς ἔχων τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἀπαύγασμα, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ ἀπαυγάσματι δεικνὺς ἑαυτοῦ τὸ φῶς ἤλεγχε τὴν πλάνην, καὶ εἶπεν ἂν τοιαῦτα. Οὐκοῦν οὐκ εἰς ἀναίρεσιν τοῦ Υἱοῦ, οὐδὲ δι' αὐτόν ἐστι τὰ τοιαῦτα ῥητὰ, ἀλλ' εἰς ἀθέτησιν τοῦ ψεύδους. Ἐξ ἀρχῆς γοῦν ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ εἶπε τῷ Ἀδὰμ τὰς τοιαύτας φωνὰς, καίτοι ὄντος τοῦ Λόγου σὺν αὐ τῷ, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο· οὐ γὰρ ἦν χρεία, μήπω γενομένων εἰδώλων. Ὅτε δὲ ἀντῆραν ἄνθρωποι κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ὠνόμασαν ἑαυτοῖς οὓς ἤθελον θεοὺς, τότε δὴ καὶ τοιούτων χρεία γέγονε ῥημάτων εἰς ἀναί ρεσιν τῶν μὴ ὄντων θεῶν. Ἐγὼ δ' ἂν εἴποιμι προσθεὶς, ὅτι καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν χριστομάχων ἀφροσύνην προείρηται τὰ τοιαῦτα ῥητὰ, ἵνα γνῶσιν, ὅτι ὃν ἂν ἔξωθεν τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐπινοήσωσι Θεὸν, οὗτος οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθινὸς, οὐδὲ τοῦ μόνου καὶ πρώ του εἰκὼν καὶ υἱός. Ἐὰν τοίνυν καὶ μόνος ἀληθινὸς Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ λέγηται, οὐκ εἰς ἀθέτησιν τοῦ λέγοντος, Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀλήθεια, εἴρηται, ἀλλ' εἰς ἀναίρεσιν πάλιν τῶν μὴ πεφυκότων εἶναι ἀληθινῶν, οἷός ἐστιν ὁ Πα τὴρ καὶ ὁ τούτου Λόγος. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Κύ ριος εὐθὺς συνῆψε, Καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. Εἰ δὲ κτίσμα ἦν, οὐκ ἂν συνῆψε, καὶ συνηρίθμησεν ἑαυτὸν τῷ κτίσαντι αὐτόν. Ποία γὰρ κοινωνία τῷ ἀληθινῷ καὶ τῷ μὴ ἀληθινῷ; Νῦν δὲ, συν άψας ἑαυτὸν τῷ Πατρὶ, ἔδειξεν, ὅτι τῆς φύσεως τοῦ Πατρός ἐστι, καὶ ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν γινώσκειν, ὅτι τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Πατρὸς ἀληθινόν ἐστι γέννημα. Τοῦτο καὶ Ἰωάννης μαθὼν ἐδίδαξε γράφων ἐν τῇ Ἐπιστολῇ· Καί ἐσμεν ἐν τῷ ἀληθινῷ, ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ αὐτοῦ Ἰη σοῦ Χριστῷ. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθινὸς Θεὸς, καὶ ζωὴ αἰώνιος. Καὶ τοῦ μὲν προφήτου περὶ τῆς κτίσεως λέγοντος, Ὁ τανύσας τὸν οὐρανὸν μόνος· τοῦ δὲ Θεοῦ, Ἐγὼ μόνος τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐξέτεινα· παντὶ δῆλον γέγονεν, ὅτι ἐν τῷ μόνῳ καὶ ὁ τοῦ μόνου σημαί νεται Λόγος, ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. Οὐκοῦν εἰ διὰ τοῦ Λόγου γέγονε, φησὶ δὲ, Ἐγὼ μόνος, νοεῖται δὲ σὺν τῷ μόνῳ καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς, δι' οὗ γέγονεν ὁ οὐρανός· οὕτως ἄρα καὶ ἐὰν λέγηται, Εἷς Θεὸς, καὶ, Ἐγὼ μόνος, καὶ, Ἐγὼ πρῶτος, ἐν τῷ ἑνὶ καὶ μόνῳ καὶ πρώτῳ συνὼν νοεῖται ὁ Λόγος, ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ τὸ ἀπαύγασμα. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἂν ἐπὶ ἄλλου νοηθείη, εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ μόνου τοῦ Λόγου. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα πάντα ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος ὑπέστη διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ πολλὴν ἔχει τῇ φύσει τὴν διάστασιν· αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Υἱὸς ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός ἐστι φύσει καὶ ἀληθινὸν γέννημα· διὸ καὶ ὃ προφέρειν ἔδο ξαν οἱ ἀνόητοι ῥητὸν, τὸ, Ἐγὼ πρῶτος, εἰς ἀπολο γίαν τῆς αἱρέσεως αὐτῶν, τοῦτο μᾶλλον ἐλέγχει αὐ τῶν τὴν κακόνοιαν. Φησὶν ὁ Θεός· Ἐγὼ πρῶτος, καὶ ἐγὼ μετὰ ταῦτα. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ὡς συναριθμούμενος τοῖς μετ' αὐτὸν λέγεται τούτων πρῶτος, ἵνα κἀκεῖνα δεύτερα τούτου ᾖ, ἔσται καθ' ὑμᾶς τῶν ποιημά των καὶ αὐτὸς μόνῳ τῷ χρόνῳ προάγων· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μόνον πᾶσαν ἀσέβειαν ὑπερβάλλει. Εἰ δὲ εἰς ἀπόδει ξιν τοῦ μὴ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἔκ τινος, μηδὲ πρὸ αὐτοῦ τινα, ἀλλ' αὐτὸν εἶναι τῶν πάντων ἀρχὴν καὶ αἴτιον, καὶ εἰς ἀναίρεσιν τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι μύθων εἴρηκεν, Ἐγὼ πρῶτος· δῆλον, ὅτι καὶ τὸ λέγεσθαι τὸν Υἱὸν πρωτότοκον, οὐ διὰ τὸ συναριθμεῖσθαι αὐτὸν τῇ κτί σει, λέγεται πρωτότοκος, ἀλλ' εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς τῶν πάντων διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ δημιουργίας καὶ υἱοποιήσεως. Καὶ γὰρ ὥσπερ ὁ Πατὴρ πρῶτός ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ αὐτὸς πρῶτος μέν ἐστιν, ὡς εἰκὼν τοῦ πρώτου, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ὄντος τοῦ πρώτου, γέννημα δὲ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός· καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις κτίζεται καὶ υἱοποιεῖται.