§25. Marcellian illustration from 1 Cor. xii. 4, refuted.

25. Arius then raves in saying that the Son is from nothing, and that once He was not, while Sabellius also raves in saying that the Father is Son, and again, the Son Father1558    §13., in subsistence1559    ὑποστάσει, iii. 65, n. 9. One, in name Two; and he1560    i.e. Marcellus. raves also in using as an example the grace of the Spirit. For he says, ‘As there are “diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit,” so also the Father is the same1561    (1 Cor. xii. 4.) So Marcellus, §13., but is dilated into Son and Spirit.’ Now this is full of absurdity; for if as with the Spirit, so it is with God, the Father will be Word and Holy Spirit, to one becoming Father, to another Son, to another Spirit, accommodating himself to the need of each, and in name indeed Son and Spirit, but in reality Father only; having a beginning in that He becomes a Son, and then ceasing to be called Father, and made man in name, but in truth not even coming among us; and untrue in saying ‘I and the Father,’ but in reality being Himself the Father, and the other absurdities which result in the instance of Sabellius. And the name of the Son and the Spirit will necessarily cease, when the need has been supplied; and what happens will altogether be but make-belief, because it has been displayed, not in truth, but in name. And the Name of Son ceasing, as they hold, then the grace of Baptism will cease too; for it was given in the Son1562    §21.. Nay, what will follow but the annihilation of the creation? for if the Word came forth that we might be created1563    ii. 24, n. 6; iv. 11, n. 4., and when He was come forth, we were, it is plain that when He retires into the Father, as they say, we shall be no longer. For He will be as He was; so also we shall not be, as then we were not; for when He is no more gone forth, there will no more be a creation. This then is absurd.

25 Μαίνεται μὲν οὖν Ἄρειος ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων εἶναι λέγων τὸν υἱόν, καὶ «ἦν ποτε, ὅτε οὐκ ἦν». Μαίνεται δὲ καὶ Σαβέλλιος λέγων τὸν πατέρα εἶναι υἱόν, καὶ ἔμπαλιν τὸν υἱὸν εἶναι πατέρα, ὑποστάσει μὲν ἕν, ὀνόματι δὲ δύο. Μαίνεται δὲ καὶ παραδείγματι χρώμενος τῇ τοῦ πνεύματος χάριτι. Φησὶ γάρ· «ὥσπερ διαιρέσεις χαρισμάτων εἰσίν, τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα», οὕτως καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ὁ αὐτὸς μέν ἐστιν, πλατύνεται δὲ εἰς υἱὸν καὶ πνεῦμα. Ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο μεστὸν ἀτοπίας. Εἰ γὰρ ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ πνεύματος, οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν, ἔσται ὁ πατὴρ λόγος καὶ πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ᾧ μὲν γινόμενος πατήρ, ᾧ δὲ λόγος, ᾧ δὲ πνεῦμα πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἑκάστου ἁρμοζόμενος, καὶ ὀνόματι μὲν υἱὸς καὶ πνεῦμα, τῷ δὲ ὄντι πατὴρ μόνον, ἀρχὴν μὲν ἔχων τὸ γίνεσθαι υἱός, παυόμενος δὲ τοῦ λέγεσθαι πατήρ, καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσας μὲν ὀνόματι, τῇ δὲ ἀληθείᾳ μηδὲ ἐπιδημήσας, καὶ ψευδόμενος μὲν τῷ λέγειν «ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατήρ», τῷ δὲ ὄντι αὐτὸς ὢν πατήρ; καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἄτοπα ἐπὶ Σαβελλίου ἀπαντᾷ. Ἀνάγκη δὲ καὶ παυθήσεσθαι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς χρείας πληρωθείσης· καὶ ἔσται λοι πὸν ἄχρι παιδιᾶς τὰ γινόμενα, ὅτι μὴ ἀληθείᾳ, ἀλλ' ὀνόματι ἐπεδείχθη. Παυομένου δὲ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ υἱοῦ κατ' αὐτοὺς παύσεται καὶ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἡ χάρις· εἰς γὰρ υἱὸν ἐδόθη. Καὶ τί ἀκολουθήσει ἢ ἀφανισμὸς τῆς κτίσεως; Εἰ γάρ, ἵνα ἡμεῖς κτισθῶμεν, προῆλθεν ὁ λόγος, καὶ προελθόντος αὐτοῦ ἐσμεν, δῆλον, ὅτι ἀναχωροῦντος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν πατέρα, ὥς φασιν, οὐκ ἔτι ἐσόμεθα. Οὕτως γὰρ ἔσται, ὥσπερ ἦν· οὕτως οὐκ ἔτ' ἐσόμεθα, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ ἦμεν. Οὐκ ἔτι γὰρ προελθόντος οὐκ ἔτι ἡ κτίσις ἔσται.