4. And now, since we accept as common ground the fact that God recognises His Son as God, I ask you: how does the creation of the world disprove our assertion that the Son is true God? There is no doubt that all things are through the Son, for, in the Apostle’s words, All things are through Him, and in Him238    Col. i. 16.. If all things are through Him, and all were made out of nothing, and none otherwise than through Him, in what element of true Godhead is He defective, Who possesses both the nature and the power of God? He had at His disposal the powers of the Divine nature, to bring into being the non-existent and to create at His pleasure. For God saw that they were good239    i.e. His freedom of action is proved by His satisfaction with the result..

4. Filius ex creandi virtute probatur verus Deus.---Creatio igitur mundi, postquam et Dei cognitio suscepta est, filium Dei Deum esse significans, rogo in quo tandem verum esse Deum deneget. Non enim ambigitur, quin per Filium omnia sint. Omnia namque, secundum Apostolum, per ipsum, et in ipso (Coloss. 0132B I, 16). Si omnia per eum, et omnia ex nihilo, et nihil non per eum; quaero in quo ei veritas Dei desit, cui non desit Dei nec natura, nec virtus. Naturae enim suae virtute usus est, ut et essent quae non erant, et fierent quae placerent. Vidit enim Deus quia bona sunt.