Chapter CXXIX.—That is confirmed from other passages of Scripture.

“And now I shall again recite the words which I have spoken in proof of this point. When Scripture says, ‘The Lord rained fire from the Lord out of heaven,’ the prophetic word indicates that there were two in number: One upon the earth, who, it says, descended to behold the cry of Sodom; Another in heaven, who also is Lord of the Lord on earth, as He is Father and God; the cause of His power and of His being Lord and God. Again, when the Scripture records that God said in the beginning, ‘Behold, Adam has become like one of Us,’509    Gen. iii. 22. this phrase, ‘like one of Us,’ is also indicative of number; and the words do not admit of a figurative meaning, as the sophists endeavour to affix on them, who are able neither to tell nor to understand the truth. And it is written in the book of Wisdom: ‘If I should tell you daily events, I would be mindful to enumerate them from the beginning. The Lord created me the beginning of His ways for His works. From everlasting He established me in the beginning, before He formed the earth, and before He made the depths, and before the springs of waters came forth, before the mountains were settled; He begets me before all the hills.’ ”510    Prov. viii. 22 ff. When I repeated these words, I added: “You perceive, my hearers, if you bestow attention, that the Scripture has declared that this Offspring was begotten by the Father before all things created; and that which is begotten is numerically distinct from that which begets, any one will admit.”

[129] Καὶ νῦν δὲ ἔτι καὶ οὓς εἶπον λόγους εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τούτου ἐρῶ. ὅταν λέγῃ: Ἔβρεξε κύριος πῦρ παρὰ κυρίου ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, δύο ὄντας ἀριθμῷ μηνύει ὁ λόγος ὁ προφητικός, τὸν μὲν ἐπὶ γῆς ὄντα, ὅς φησι καταβεβηκέναι ἰδεῖν τὴν κραυγὴν Σοδόμων, τὸν δὲ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχοντα, ὃς καὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς κυρίου κύριός ἐστιν, ὡς πατὴρ καὶ θεός, αἴτιός τε αὐτῷ τοῦ εἶναι καὶ δυνατῷ καὶ κυρίῳ καὶ θεῷ. καὶ πάλιν ὅταν λέγῃ ὁ λόγος εἰρηκέναι τὸν θεὸν ἐν ἀρχῇ: Ἰδοὺ Ἀδὰμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν, τόδε Ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν, καὶ αὐτὸς ἀριθμοῦ δηλωτικόν ἐστιν, ἀλλ' οὐ τροπολογίαν χωροῦσιν οἱ λόγοι, ὡς ἐξηγεῖσθαι ἐπιχειροῦσιν οἱ σοφισταὶ καὶ μηδὲ λέγειν τὴν ἀλήθειαν μηδὲ νοεῖν δυνάμενοι. καὶ ἐν τῇ Σοφίᾳ εἴρηται: Ἐὰν ἀναγγείλω ὑμῖν τὰ καθ' ἡμέραν γινόμενα, μνημονεύσω τὰ ἐξ αἰῶνος ἀριθμῆσαι. Κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ. πρὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐθεμελίωσέ με, ἐν ἀρχῇ, πρὸ τοῦ τὴν γῆν ποιῆσαι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ τὰς ἀβύσσους ποιῆσαι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ προελθεῖν τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων, πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη ἑδρασθῆναι: πρὸ δὲ πάντων βουνῶν γεννᾷ με. καὶ εἰπὼν ταῦτα ἐπήγαγον: Νοεῖτε, ὦ ἀκροαταί, εἴ γε καὶ τὸν νοῦν προσέχετε: καὶ ὅτι γεγεννῆσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦτο τὸ γέννημα πρὸ πάντων ἁπλῶς τῶν κτισμάτων ὁ λόγος ἐδήλου, καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον τοῦ γεννῶντος ἀριθμῷ ἕτερόν ἐστι, πᾶς ὁστισοῦν ὁμολογήσειε.