Chapter XII.

Further objections to the Godhead of the Son are met by the same answer—to wit, that they may equally be urged against the Father also. The Father, then, being in no way confined by time, place, or anything else created, no such limitation is to be imposed upon the Son, Whose marvellous generation is not only of the Father, but of the Virgin also, and therefore, since in His generation of the Father no distinction of sex, or the like, was involved, neither was it in His generation of the Virgin.

74. The next objection is this: “If the Son has not those properties which all sons have, He is no Son.” May Father, Son, and Holy Spirit pardon me, for I would propound the question in all devoutness. Surely the Father is, and abides for ever: created things, too, are as God hath ordained them. Is there any one, then, amongst these creatures which is not subject to the limitations of place, time, or the fact of having been created, or to some originating cause or creator.152    St. Ambrose here uses causa in the sense of causa efficiens—ἀρχὴ τῆς κινήσεως. Surely, none. What, then? Is there any one of them whereof the Father stands in need? So to say were blasphemy. Cease, then, to apply to the Godhead what is proper only to created existences, or, if you insist upon forcing the comparison, bethink you whither your wickedness leads. God forbid that we should even behold the end thereof.

75. We maintain the answer given by piety. God is Almighty, and therefore God the Father needs none of those things, for in Him there is no changing, nor any place for such help as we need, we whose weakness is supported by means of things of this kind. But He Who is Almighty, plainly He is uncreate, and not confined to any place, and surpasses time. Before God was not anything—nay, even to speak about anything being before God is a grave sin. If, then, you grant that in the nature of God the Father there is nought that implies a being sustained, because He is God, it follows that nothing of this sort can be supposed to exist in the Son of God, nothing that connotes a beginning, or growth, forasmuch as He is “very God of very God.”153    Cf. Nicene Creed.

76. Seeing, then, that we find not the customary order prevailing, be content, Arian, to believe in a miraculous generation of the Son. Be content, I say, and if you believe me not, at least have respect unto the voice of God saying, “To whom have ye esteemed Me to be like?”154    Isa. xlvi. 5. and again: “God is not like a man that He should repent.”155    Num. xxiii. 19. If, indeed, God works mysteriously, seeing that He doth not work any work, or fashion anything, or bring it to completion, by labor of hands, or in any course of days, “for He spake, and they were made; He gave the word and they were created,”156    Ps. cxlviii. 5. Cf. xxxiii. 6, 9. why should we not believe that He Whom we acknowledge as a Creator, mysteriously working, discerning it in His works, also begat His Son in a mysterious manner? Surely it is fitting that He should be regarded as having begotten the Son in a special and mysterious way. Let Him Who hath the grace of majesty unrivalled likewise have the glory of mysterious generation.

77. Not only Christ’s generation of the Father, but His birth also of the Virgin, demands our wonder. You say that the former is like unto the manner wherein we men are conceived. I will show—nay more, I will compel you yourself to confess, that the latter also hath no likeness to the manner of our birth. Tell me how it was that He was born of Mary, with what law did His conception in a Virgin’s womb agree, how there could be any birth without the seed of a man, how a maiden could become great with child, how she became a mother before experience of such intercourse as is between wives and husbands. There was no [visible] cause,—and yet a son was begotten. How, then, came about this birth, under a new law?

78. If, then, the common order of human generation was not found in the case of the Virgin Mary, how can you demand that God the Father should beget in such wise as you were begotten in? Surely the common order is determined by difference of sex; for this is implanted in the nature of our flesh, but where flesh is not, how can you expect to find the infirmity of flesh? No man calls in question one who is better than he is: to believe is enjoined upon you, without permission to question. For it is written, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”157    Gen. xv. 6. Language is vain to set forth, not only the generation of the Son, but even the works of God, for it is written: “All His works are executed in faithfulness;”158    Ps. xxxiii. 4. His works, then, are done in faithfulness, but not His generation? Ay, we call in question that which we see not, we who are bidden to believe rather than enquire of that we see.

CAPUT XII.

Iteratae in Filium objectioni iterum respondetur eam retorqueri etiam in Patrem posse; cum ergo Pater nec loco, nec tempore, aliave ulla creatura indigeat, sic nec eorum indigentiam attribuendam Filio: cujus singularis generatio est non solum e Patre, sed etiam e Virgine; proptereaque cum in hac non sexus aut similia locum habuerint, in illa quoque non habuisse.

0545D 74. Rursus objiciunt: Ergo non est Filius, si non habet quae habent filii. Ignoscat mihi Pater, ignoscat Filius, ignoscat et Spiritus sanctus, quaestionem pro pietate referre cupienti. Est certe Pater, et manet semper: sunt etiam creaturae pro dispositione divina. Est ergo aliquid earum quod non subjectum sit aut locis, aut temporibus, aut creationi, aut 0546A causae alicui vel auctori? Profecto nihil. Quid ergo dicitis? Est horum aliquid quo egeat Pater? Impium est dicere. Ergo aut desinite, quae creaturarum sunt, aptare divinitati: aut si comparare contenditis, considerate quo vestra procedat impietas; quod absit ut vel in sensus nostros aliquando veniat.

75. Nos enim piam responsionem tenemus. Namque omnipotens Deus est, et ideo nullo eorum Pater indiget, qui non habet mutationem sui aliquam, vel profectum quo nos egemus, quorum infirmitas ex hujusmodi rebus profectum accipit. Qui autem omnipotens est, 459 utique non creatus, et sine loco, et supra tempora est. Nihil enim ante Deum, immo hoc ipsum Verbum, ante Deum dicere esse aliquid, 0546B grave. Ergo si ita est, quia nihil horum est in Deo Patre, quae profectum significent; quia Deus est: nihil horum aptari etiam potest Dei Filio, ut vel initium accipiat, vel profectum; quia Deus verus ex Deo vero est.

76. Ergo quia usitatum non reperimus ordinem, acquiesce, Ariane, praecipuam Filii generationem fuisse. Acquiesce, inquam; et si mihi non credis, erubesce vel Dei vocem dicentis: Cui me similem aestimastis (Esai. XLVI, 5)? Et iterum: Quia non sicut homo, ita et Deus (Num. XXIII, 19). Etenim si operatio Dei praecipua est, quia non manibus operatur aliquid, non labore conficit, non diebus absolvit; Ipse enim dixit, et facta sunt, ipse mandavit, et creata sunt (Psal. CXLVIII, 5): cur non credamus praecipuam 0546C generationem esse ejus in Filio, cujus praecipuam creationem in operibus agnoscimus? Dignum certe est ut specialiter et praecipue videatur generasse Filium. Habeat generationis inusitatae gloriam, qui habet potestatis inusitatae gratiam.

77. Non sola admirabilis ex Patre generatio Christi, admirabilis etiam ipsa generatio ejus ex Virgine. Tu illam dicis nostrae similem conceptionis, et ego probo et istam nostrae esse dissimilem, immo te ipsum cogam fateri. Dic quemadmodum sit natus ex Maria, quo usu uterus eum habuerit virginalis, quomodo sine semine viri partus, unde virgo praegnans, quemadmodum puella mater ante fetus, quam copulam ut uxor experta? Causa deerat, et generabatur filius. Unde ergo legis novatae partus?

0546D 78. Si igitur in Virgine usus defuit generationis humanae, quemadmodum in Deo Patre propriae generationis usum requiris? Certe usus in sexu est, quia sexus in carne est: ubi ergo caro non est, quemadmodum carnis infirmitatem exigis? Nemo meliorem discutit: credere tibi jussum est, non discutere permissum est. Scriptum est enim: Credidit 0547A Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam (Gen. XV, 6). Nec solum in generatione Filii sermo deficit, sed etiam in operibus Dei. Scriptum est enim: Omnia opera ejus in fide (Psal. XXXII, 4). Opera ergo in fide, generatio sine fide? Et discutimus quae non videmus, qui jubemur credere magis quam discutere, quae videmus.