Chapter XIV.

The Son is of one substance with the Father.

108. And now, your Majesty, with regard to the question of the substance, why need I tell you that the Son is of one substance with the Father, when we have read that the Son is the image of the Father’s substance, that you may understand that there is nothing wherein, so far as Godhead is regarded, the Son differs from the Father.

109. In virtue of this likeness Christ said: “All things that the Father hath are Mine.”626    S. John xvi. 15. We cannot, then, deny substance to God, for indeed He is not unsubstantial, Who hath given to others the ground of their being, though this be different in God from what it is in the creature. The Son of God, by Whose agency all things endure,627    Latin, “subsistunt” subsist, persist, last through changes. Even the ephemeris thus persists, subsists, or endures, for its few hours of life. could not be unsubstantial.

110. And therefore, the Psalmist saith: “My bones are not hidden, which Thou didst make in secret, and my substance in the underworld.”628    “Non est occultatum os meum quod fecisti in abscondito, et substantia mea in inferioribus terræ.” The Prayer-book version runs: “My bones are not hid from Thee, though I be made secretly, and fashioned beneath in the earth.”—Ps. cxxxix. 14. “My bones were not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, [when] I was curiously wrought [as] in the lower parts of the earth.”—Perowne. For to His power and Godhead, the things that before the foundation of the world were done, though their magnificence was [as yet] invisible, could not be hidden. Here, then, we find mention of “substance.”

111. But it may be objected that the mention of His substance is the consequence of His Incarnation. I have shown that the word “substance” is used more than once, and that not in the sense of inherited possessions, as you would construe it. Now, if it please you, let us grant that, in accordance with the mystic prophecy, the substance of Christ was present in the underworld—for truly He did exert His power in the lower world to set free, in the soul which animated His own body, the souls of the dead, to loose the bands of death, to remit sins.629    1 Pet. iii. 19.

112. And, indeed, what hinders you from understanding, by that substance, His divine substance, seeing that God is everywhere, so that it hath been said to Him: “If I go up into heaven, Thou art there; if I go down into hell, Thou art present.”630    Ps. cxxxix. 7. See R.V. “Hell” is “Sheol,” a word also rendered “grave.” It means the “place of darkness,” the gloomy underworld, where the spirits of the departed were believed to abide. It is the place from which Samuel’s spirit was called up by the witch of Endor.—1 Sam. xxviii.

113. Furthermore, the Psalmist hath in the words following made it plain that we must understand the divine substance to be mentioned when he saith: “Thine eyes did see My being, [as] not the effect of working;”631    Ps. cxxxix. 15. inasmuch as the Son is not made, nor one of God’s works, but the begotten Word of eternal power. He called Him “ἀχατέργαστον,” meaning that the Word neither made nor created, is begotten of the Father without the witnessing presence of any created being. Howbeit, we have abundance of testimony besides this. Let us grant that the substance here spoken of is the bodily substance, provided you also yourself say not that the Son of God is something effected by working, but confess His uncreated Godhead.

114. Now I know that some assert that the mystic incarnate form was uncreated, forasmuch as nothing was done therein through intercourse with a man, because our Lord was the offspring of a virgin. If, then, many have, on the strength of this passage, asserted that neither that which was brought forth of Mary was produced by creative operation, dare you, disciple of Arius, think that the Word of God is something so produced?

115. But is this the only place where we read of “substance”? Hath it not also been said in another passage: “The gates of the cities are broken down, the mountains are fallen, and His substance is revealed”?632    Nahum ii. 6.—The LXX. shows—“πύλαι τῶν πόλεων διηνοίχθησαν, καὶ τὰ βασίλεια διέπεσε. καὶ ἡ ὑπόστασις ἀπεκαλύφθη.” The Vulg.—“Portæ fluviorum apertæ sunt, et templum ad solum dirutum. Et miles captivus adductus est.” R.V.—“The gates of the rivers are opened and the palace is dissolved, and Huzzab is uncovered, and it is decreed; she is uncovered, she is carried away,” etc. What, does the word mean something created here also? Some, I know, are accustomed to say that the substance is substance in money. Then, if you give this meaning to the word, the mountains fell, in order that some one’s possessions of money might be seen.

116. But let us remember what mountains fell, those, namely, of which it hath been said: “If ye shall have faith as a grain of mustard seed ye shall say to this mountain: Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea!”633    S. Matt. xvii. 19. By mountains, then, are meant high things that exalt themselves.634    2 Cor. x. 5.

117. Moreover, in the Greek, the rendering is this: “The palaces are fallen.” What palaces, save the palace of Satan, of whom the Lord said: “How shall His kingdom stand?”635    Regnumis used in Latin to denote a domain as well as in the general sense of “kingdom.” Virg., Ecl. I. 70; S. Matt. xii. 26. We are reading, therefore, of the things which are the devil’s palaces as being very mountains, and therefore in the fall of those palaces from the hearts of the faithful, the truth stands revealed, that Christ, the Son of God, is of the Father’s eternal substance. What, again, are those mountains of bronze, from the midst of which four chariots come forth?636    Zech. vi. 1.

118. We behold that height, lifting up itself against the knowledge of God, cast down by the word of the Lord, when the Son of God said: “Hold thy peace, and come forth, thou foul spirit.”637    S. Mark i. 25. Concerning whom the prophet also said: “Behold, I am come to thee, thou mount of corruption!”638    Jer. li. 25. The “mount of corruption” is Babylon.

119. Those mountains, then, are fallen,639    i.e. those cities and nations and persons who have exalted themselves, lifted themselves up as high mountains, challenging, as it were, the majesty of heaven. Cf. Ps. lxviii. 16, R.V. and it is revealed that in Christ was the substance of God, in the words of those who had seen Him: “Truly Thou art the Son of God,”640    S. Luke iv. 41. for it was in virtue of divine, not human power, that He commanded devils. Jeremiah also saith: “Make mourning upon the mountains, and beat your breasts upon the desert tracks, for they have failed; forasmuch as there are no men, they have not heard the word of substance: from flying fowl to beasts of burden, they trembled, they have failed.”641    Jer. ix. 10. St. Ambrose follows the text of the LXX. with one or two variations in the punctuation. What St. Ambrose renders as “vox substantiæ” (“word of substance” or “voice of substance”) appears in the LXX. as “φωνὴ ὑπάρξεως” (which vox substantiæ represents verbatim), and in Vulg. as “vox possidentis” (“the voice of the possessor”—i.e. landowner); in the A.V. and R.V. as “the voice of the cattle.”—ὐπαρξις and substantia should be taken in the concrete sense (as they clearly represent a concrete term), like our “substance,” or “possessions.” Now in primitive society—like, e.g., that of the nomad Tartars—possessions consist mainly in horses and cattle. Cf. the evolution of the term pecunia=money.

120. Nor has it escaped us, that in another place also, setting forth the frailties of man’s estate, in order to show that He had taken upon Himself the infirmity of the flesh, and the affections of our minds, the Lord said, by the mouth of His prophet: “Remember, O Lord, what My substance is,”642    Ps. lxxxix. 46. because it was the Son of God speaking in the nature of human frailty.643    The text will then be prophetic of the Agony in the Garden and upon the Cross.

121. Of Him the Scripture saith, in the passage cited,644    Ps. lxxxix. 37, 38. in order to discover the mysteries of the Incarnation: “But Thou hast rejected, O Lord, and counted for nought—Thou hast cast out Thy Christ.645    Or, “thine Anointed.” Cf. Ps. xxii. 1; S. Matt. xxvii. 46. Thou hast overthrown the covenant made with Thy Servant, and trampled His holiness in the earth.”646    “Holiness.” E.V.—“crown.” What was it, in regard whereof the Scripture called Him “Servant,” but His flesh?—seeing that “He did not hold equality with God as a prey, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made into the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man.”647    Phil. ii. 6, 7. So, then, in that He took upon Himself My nature, He was a servant, but by virtue of His own power He is the Lord.

122. Furthermore, what meaneth it that thou readest: “Who hath stood in the truth (substantia) of the Lord?” and again: “Now if they had stood in My truth, and had given ear to My words, and had taught My people, I would have turned them from their follies and transgressions”?648    St. Ambrose’s “substantia” is, in the LXX., ὑπόστημα—“standing-ground.” R.V. “council.”—Jer. xxiii. 18–22.

CAPUT XIV.

0611B

Unius substantiae cum Patre Filium esse; hanc autem etiam secundum divinitatem sumi debere in multis Scripturarum testimoniis, tametsi in aliis nonnullis hoc verbum aut de possessionibus aut de incarnatione intelligatur.

108. De substantia autem, Imperator auguste, quid loquar unius Filium cum Patre esse substantiae; cum imaginem Paternae substantiae Filium legerimus (Sap. VII, 26); ut in nullo secundum divinitatem a Patre intelligas discrepare?

109. Juxta hanc imaginem dixit: Omnia quae Pater habet, mea sunt (Joan. XVI, 15). Ergo nec substantiam in Deo possumus denegare; neque enim 0611C insubstantivus est, qui aliis dedit habere substantiam: licet alia sit substantia Dei, alia creaturae. Nec posset insubstantivus Filius Dei esse, per quem cuncta subsistunt.

110. Et ideo ait: Non est occultatum os meum quod fecisti in abscondito, et substantia mea in inferioribus terrae (Psal. CXXXVIII, 15). Virtuti enim et divinitati ea, quae ante constitutionem mundi, vel imperspicabili majestate sunt gesta, abscondita esse non poterant. Legimus ergo substantiam.

111. Sed dices de incarnatione dictam esse substantiam. Interim nomen substantiae lectum probavi, et lectum non pro patrimoniis, ut dicitis. Jam, si placet, accipiamus secundum mysterium in inferioribus Christi fuisse substantiam. Etenim ut defunctorum 0611D animas in sui corporis anima liberaret, vincula mortis solveret, peccata donaret, operatus est in inferno.

517 112. Et tamen quid obstat quominus illam 0612A divinam intelligas esse substantiam, cum Deus ita ubique sit, ut ei dictum sit: Si ascendero in coelum, tu illic es: si descendero ad infernum, ades (Ibid., 8).

113. Denique ad substantiam divinam derivandum esse intellectum sequentibus declaravit dicens: Inoperatum meum viderunt oculi tui (Ibid., 16); eo quod non operis factura sit Filius, sed Verbum genitum potestatis aeternae: ἀκατέργαστον enim dixit, hoc est, inoperatum atque increatum Verbum sine alicujus creaturae testimonio ex Patre natum: et tamen abundamus aliis substantiae testimoniis. Sit ista hoc loco substantia corporalis, dummodo non opus Dei Filium, sed inoperatam ejus divinitatem et ipse fatearis.

114. Scio autem aliquos dicere inoperatum esse 0612B etiam incarnationis mysterium, quod non sit virilis copulae usus operatus; quia partus est Virginis. Si ergo plerique hoc loco nec Mariae partus opus esse dixerunt, tu, Ariane, opus putas esse Dei Verbum?

115. Aut hic tantum substantiam legimus? Nonne et alibi dixit: Portae civitatum effractae sunt, montes ceciderunt, et revelata est substantia (Nahum. II, 6)? Numquid hic quoque creatura signatur? Solent enim aliqui dicere pecuniariam esse substantiam. Ergo si ad hunc sensum refers, ideo occiderunt montes, ut pecuniarium patrimonium cerneretur.

116. Sed meminerimus qui montes ceciderunt, illi utique de quibus dictum est: Si habueritis fidem sicut granum sinapis, dicetis huic monti: Tollere, et jactare in mare (Matth. XVII, 19). Montes ergo sunt 0612C altitudines se extollentes.

117. Denique in Graeco, regna ceciderunt, habetur. Quae regna, nisi satanae, de quo dixit Dominus: Quomodo stabit regnum ipsius (Matth. XII, 26)? Ipsos ergo legimus montes, quae regna sunt diaboli. Ideoque istis cadentibus regnis de corde fidelium, revelatum est paternae Dei Filium Christum esse substantiae. Qui sunt etiam illi ipsi montes aerei, de quorum medio quatuor currus procedunt (Zach. VI, 1)?

118. Advertimus altitudinem illam extollentem se adversus scientiam Dei verbo Domini corruisse; cum diceret Dei Filius: Obmulesce, et exi, immunde spiritus (Marc. I, 25). De quo et propheta dixit: Ecce ego ad te, mons corrupte (Jerem. LI, 25).

119. Isti ergo ceciderunt montes, et revelatum 0612D est quod esset in Christo divina substantia, dicentibus iis, qui viderant: Vere Filius Dei est (Luc. IV, 41); non enim humana, sed divina potestate daemoniis imperabat. Jeremias quoque dicit: Super 0613A montes accipite luctum, et super semitas desertas planctum, quia defecerunt; eo quod non sint homines, non acceperunt vocem substantiae: a volatilibus usque ad jumenta expaverunt et defecerunt (Jerem. IX, 10).

120. Nec praeteriit etiam alibi, cum fragilitates exponeret conditionis humanae, ut susceptam a se 518 infirmitatem carnis, et affectum nostrae mentis ostenderet, dixisse Dominum per Prophetam: Memento, Domine, quae est substantia mea (Psalm. LXXXVIII, 48); quia in natura fragilitatis humanae Dei Filius loquebatur.

121. De quo supra, ut incarnationis mysteria revelaret, ait: Tu vero repulisti, Domine, et pro nihilo habuisti: dispulisti Christum tuum, evertisti testamentum servi tui, profanasti in terra sanctitatem ejus 0613B (Ibid. 39, 40). In quo utique servum dixit, nisi in carne, quia non rapinam arbitratus est esse se aequalem Deo, sed semetipsum exinanivit formam servi accipiens, in similitudinem hominum factus, et specie inventus ut homo (Philip. II, 6, 7)? Mea ergo susceptione servus, sua Dominus potestate.

122. Quid illud quod habes? Quoniam quis stetit in substantia Domini (Jerem. XXIII, 18); et alibi: Et si stetissent in substantia mea, et audissent verba mea, et si docuissent plebem meam; avertissem eos a nequitiis et adinventionibus suis (Ibid., 22).