Orations against the Arians
of teachers, in order that they too may seem to be called Christians in this way and not being ashamed of their own disgraceful name, let them play g
wishing to dance against the Savior, to express his own miserable little sayings of impiety in dissolute and loose melodies? so that, just as Wisdom s
is proper to created things and is one of them. And with these things, having become as it were a successor of the devil’s rashness, he has put in his
saying certain parts of the Gospels, they will deny along with them the law and the prophets. But if in their ignorance they are so tossed by the stor
the Word the Father He is not the true and only Word of the Father Himself, but is called Word and Wisdom by name only, and by grace is called Son an
seeing him who sowed the heresy among them at a loss, and that they may learn, even though late, that being Arians, they are not Christians. You have
a few things 26.37 For I have hoped in the eternal one for your salvation, and joy came to me from the Holy One. And since the Apostle, writing to th
You do not hide yourselves at all, nor even when hiding can you escape notice for again you signify times, saying, «There was a time when He was not,
a partaker? Of the Spirit? And yet the Spirit Itself rather receives from the Son, as He Himself has said, and it is unreasonable to say that this one
being, in whom he creates. Then let them tell us, or rather, even from this let them see their own impiety in saying, There was a time when he was no
to be at some time, but to be always. And these things are the Son who says, I am the life, and, I wisdom dwelt in counsel. How then is he not imp
in which seeing Himself, He rejoices, as the Son Himself says: I was she in whom He rejoiced. When, then, did the Father not see Himself in His own im
wishing the image from the Father, in order that they might make the Son equal to created things. For at any rate, numbering him among these, those ar
of things that are and are not, as we said. But if they are speaking about God and His Word, let them add what is missing to the question, and ask thu
do both supply what is lacking in each other? For by saying such things, you rather show the weakness of the one who fashioned, if He was not strong e
of heretics towards their parents 26.69 refutes their malice. For they recognized what is according to nature, and henceforth were ashamed about the t
for it is of things that are, and it was not before it came to be. But things that were not before they came to be, how could they co-exist with the e
hence to ask about that which exists, but is neither begotten of any, nor has a father for itself they will hear from us that the One so signified, t
created things are signified, so also 'Father' is indicative of the Son and the one who names God maker and creator and unbegotten sees and apprehend
not existing God and a created Son, they consequently collected for themselves such expressions as were fitting for a creature but since, when they a
that some grace and state of virtue has accrued to a certain particular substance, and that this is so called Word, and Son, and Wisdom, in such a way
he partook, as we said or the other alternative, which may it be turned upon their own heads, they must needs say, that he was not before this, but w
He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is abo
with him, and let us enter into the gates of the heavens, which he himself again opened for us, as those who run before say: Lift up the gates, O ye r
to become of God and in the Epistle he writes: By this we know that he abides in you, from his spirit, which he has given to us. And this is also a
that God bestowed upon Him, and the heretics think it to be a defect or a passion of the substance of the Word, it is necessary to say how these thing
John's Gospel: I have sent them into the world, and for their sake I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified in truth. And saying this, He
to the immortal one who has taken on the mortal? or what improvement to the eternal one who has put on the temporal? And what greater reward could the
Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your 26.116 kingdom and announcing his descent to us, he says: T
should attempt it, the deceit of the serpent himself would be weakened, and the Lord being unchangeable and unalterable, the serpent would become weak
and after a little: Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Jesus, who wa
and the occasion of the apostolic saying, the foolish would not have been so impious, taking human things to refer to the Godhead. And it is possible
saying that 'having become' is equivalent to 'having been begotten,' and that He is better, he says. For what is begotten does not differ, whether one
might show from their end the nature of created things. For the things that are able to perish, even if they do not perish because of the grace of the
disciples have discipled all the nations, and now what is written has been fulfilled: They shall all be taught by God. And then, the things shown were
ascending and descending but concerning the Son he says: And let all the angels of God worship him and when angels minister, they say, I was sent to
help to those in need. For God is always and the same but men came to be after these things through the Word, when the Father himself willed it and
Therefore, neither what is written in the Proverbs, The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works, nor what was said by the Apostle
folly, how could the second thing, which is according to will, come to be? But the Word is first, and creation is second. But the Word exists, even if
to deny the natural and genuine generation of the Son from the Father but when they hear the terms and words for 'creature', they are immediately car
not even one. But if He Himself is the Word and the Wisdom, in whom all things are made, then He is not one of the things made, nor at all of the thin
from the history according to the law and Aaron. Thus Aaron was not born a high priest, but a man, and after a time, when God willed, he became a high
unless when He Himself likewise partook of blood and flesh with us? And when did He become a merciful and faithful high priest, if not when He was mad
for the sake of sanctifying the flesh He became man and being Lord, was in the form of a servant for all creation, which came to be and was made by
unto you by mighty works, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as you yourselves know. Therefore, what is said at the end
a house of refuge and a God who is a defender, so also our Lord has become. And he did not then have a beginning of being but we had a beginning of h
of your feet and in the fifteenth: You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. That such sayings, ther
of this. For being the Son of God, He would be like Him and being like Him, He is in every way both Lord and King for He Himself says, 'He who has s
they think they are saying something against the Christian faith, it is necessary to examine the text itself, just as the phrase, Who was faithful to
hymns the truth, and blesses, and trembles but the Word is its Creator, and He Himself says, 'I am the truth.' Therefore the Word is not a creature,
to know, but the sight and the knowledge concerning this surpasses all for God Himself said: 'No one shall see my face and live' and the Son has sai
Nor would these things have been said about him, if he were at all one of the creatures. But now since he is not a creature, but the proper offspring
of these things. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O
it is possible to see, but while the creatures are many, the Word is one who does not perceive from these things also, that the Son is distinct from
Being a created Son, He was able to be made by God alone. But God is in need of nothing may it never be! for He Himself said: I am full. Nor did th
our weakness, he, being powerful, was made by the Father alone, that he might create us through him as through an instrument far from it! It is not s
He sent forth His Word, and healed them. For all these things everywhere expose the Arian heresy, and signify the eternity of the Word, and that He is
to the impassible and unchangeable God, so that by these they might disturb the ears of the more simple, and turn them away from the truth? For who, h
of him, who is the subject of our discourse. He is therefore Creator, and without him was made not one thing, nor is it possible for anything to be ma
For just as one would not say that the divinity mentioned here is Christ, but that it is the Father himself so also I think His eternal power and div
the Word of God, was preached by John: The Word became flesh, and, All things were made through him. Wherefore also concerning our Lord Jesus Christ a
washing? For what fellowship has the creature with the Creator? Or why is that which is made numbered together with the one who made it for the perfec
having a correct one. For this reason, therefore, the Savior also did not simply command to baptize, but first He says, 'Make disciples ' then thus: '
to John in the Gospel, saying: These things I have spoken to you in proverbs, but the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in proverbs, b
the one created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. For neither did David speak of a people being created in substance, 26.24
to the offspring, what is called the beginning of ways because He is the only-begotten Word. For if He is an offspring, how do you call Him a creature
and Wisdom but the things that have come into being, not existing before, were made through the Word himself. Therefore that much-talked-of saying of
to work. But Noah was not created for the sake of the ark, but that he might first exist and become a man for after these things he received the comm
it is clear that, pre-existing, He is later formed, and the formation signifies not the beginning of His being, but the incarnation, in which He also
having learned from him, the Apostle also said: Since therefore the children share in blood and flesh, he himself likewise partook of the same things,
It is proper and characteristic of man to say, “he created,” and, “he made him.” For this reason, then, the cause of, 26.268 “he created,” is also add
And in this again you have dared to be impious toward the Lord, saying that He is a work, or a creature, that is, a begotten thing? For you assert tha
to beget, is significant of the Son, but to make, is indicative of works. For this reason, then, we are not first begotten, but are made for it is wr
And in this he is called and is our firstborn, since, when all men were perishing through the transgression of Adam, His flesh was the first of all to
be considered apart from the children of Jacob. But also concerning the Lord Himself the Apostle has not said, That He might become the firstborn of a
26.285 Since truth, therefore, has shown that the Word is not by nature a creature, it follows then to say, how He is also called the beginning of th
the Father for perfection, these are the things for which he is created, saying in the Proverbs: The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for
He came, then, not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to work out our salvation. Indeed, being able to speak the law from heaven, He saw that i
Son and man would not have been brought to the Father, if the Word who put on the body had not been by nature and truly His Word. And just as we woul
had been made, and Scripture would neither have distinguished him from the works, nor would it have named some things works, and preached the Word and
He was speaking of himself, I saw 26.304 that such a characteristic was not of a creature, but of divinity and of the Father's nature. Therefore the A
the redemption and salvation prepared for us beforehand, rising again, we might remain immortal, when He for our sakes is created the beginning of the
may be renewed, and planning this, he prepares it beforehand, and gives to the one who has worked the preparation for renewal, and the pre-preparation
For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom knew not God? Or how, if there is no wisdom, is a multitude of wise men found in Scripture? An
before all hills he begets me so that in saying “before all creation” (for in these words he indicated all creation) he might show that he was not cr
by saying, He who has seen me has seen the Father, and, I am in the 26.321 Father, and the Father is in me. Therefore your boast has been shown to be
is sanctified but the Son Himself is not a son by participation, but is the proper offspring of the Father. Again, the Son is not in the Father in th
Consequently the Son is in the Father, and the Father is in the Son. For this reason, having previously and fittingly said, 'I and the Father are one,
worships also the king for the image is his form and his shape. Since, therefore, the Son is the image of the Father, it is necessary to understand t
as has been said But when the Son came, He glorified not Himself, but the Father, saying to the one who came to Him: Why do you call me good? No one
having joined Himself to the Father, He showed that He is of the nature of the Father, and gave us to know that He is the true offspring of the true F
Father who is in heaven, and observing the saying, Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us.
his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh, he said: The God who has fed me from my youth until this day the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless t
for He is the radiance of the Father and thus the Father and the Son are one. But one would not say this concerning things that are begotten and crea
form of Godhead, which is also in the Word and one God the Father, being in Himself as being over all and appearing in the Son as pervading through
your former thoughts, we have devised a newer one and say: Thus the Son and the Father are one, and thus the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in t
But the Savior, showing what Herod was like, said: Go tell that fox and to the disciples he commanded: Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst o
Like is by nature united to like since also all flesh is gathered together according to its kind. The Word, therefore, is unlike us, but like the Fat
in me is the salvation of men, I ask that they also may become one, according to the body in me, and according to its perfection that they also may b
mind, and he will teach how we are in God, and God in us and how again we become one in Him, but how far the Son is distant in nature from us and he
the holy and Paraclete Spirit in God departed from him, but he will be in that one to whom the sinner has subjected himself, as it happened in the cas
and to speak more Jewishly according to Caiaphas: Why at all, being a man, did Christ make Himself God? For the Jews then, seeing these things and thi
understanding the sayings which they were alleging, it is possible somehow to learn from the few things said before but that also in what they now ag
they say is a race. Of old, therefore, it happened to each of the saints, and He sanctified those who genuinely received Him but neither, when they w
not any of the created beings, nor any common man, but him who is from God, by nature and true Son, this one who also became man, we call upon him non
his own body. And He Himself remains by nature impassible, as He is, not being harmed by these, but rather making them disappear and destroying them
which He possesses eternally. For that was given, and was delivered, and the like, do not diminish the Godhead of the Son, but rather show Him to
in the Father, and the Father in Me. Therefore this is clear to everyone, that to be ignorant belongs to the flesh, but the Word Himself, as He is Wor
of glory, they crucified. For He had that which He asked for, saying: with the glory that I had with You before the world was. And the authority which
the hour of the day what could one say more foolish than these things, or what madness could one equate to them? Through the Word all things were mad
has been determined, and he himself knows what was determined through him. For there is nothing, which has not both come to be and been determined thr
bridegroom. He knows when and at what hour He is coming, and when He is about to say: Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will s
And yet knowing, he says, not even the Son knows. For what reason then did he say, I do not know, what he himself, as Lord, knows? One who investigate
For in saying this, He wishes us to be always ready For you, He says, do not know but I the Lord know when I am coming, even if the Arians do not ex
was he capable of advancement? For men, being creatures, are able in a way to advance and make progress in virtue Enoch, at least, was thus translate
manifest to all. Wherefore it does not say, The Word advanced, but, Jesus, which name the Lord was called when He became man so that the advance was
they number with creation Him through whom creation came to be. What then is left in which these men differ from the Jews? For just as those men blasp
to marvel at the courage of the Word, but to say that the Word Himself was afraid, on account of whom they also despised death? But from the most stea
they buzz around saying: So be it, you interpret these things thus, and you conquer with your reasonings and your proofs but one must say that the So
the sophist, having composed with his own words, that the offspring and the made thing are the same, and that the Son is one from all existing offspri
the Son is superior to creation, so much also is that which is according to nature superior to the will and it was necessary for them, when they hear
in a psalm: You held my right hand and by Your counsel You have guided me. How then can the Word, being the counsel and will of the Father, Himself c
of the Father's hypostasis would be by an act of will. For of whatever quality and manner that blessed hypostasis is, such and so must be the proper o
saying, If you had a son, before you gave birth? but the fathers, and to say to them: Do you become fathers by taking counsel, or by nature and your w
Orations against the Arians
OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA,
FIRST DISCOURSE AGAINST THE ARIANS. Indeed, all the heresies that have departed from the truth, having devised a madness for themselves, are manifest, and 26.13 their impiety has long ago become quite evident to all. For the fact that the inventors of these things went out from us would make it clear, as the blessed John wrote, that the mind of such men neither was, nor is now, with us. And therefore, as the Savior said, "Those not gathering with us, scatter with the devil," watching those who are asleep, so that, having sown their own poison of perdition, they may have those who perish along with them. But since the one heresy, the last, which has now come forth as a forerunner of the Antichrist, called the Arian, being deceitful and crafty, seeing its elder sisters, the other heresies, openly pilloried, it plays the hypocrite, clothing itself in the words of the Scriptures, like its father the devil, and forces its way again into the paradise of the Church, so that, feigning itself to be Christian, it might deceive some into thinking against Christ by the plausibility of its fallacies; for there is nothing reasonable in it. and it has already led some of the foolish astray, so that they are not only corrupted in their hearing, but also, having received it, have tasted it like Eve, and henceforth in their ignorance consider the bitter to be sweet, and call the abominable heresy good. I have thought it necessary, having been urged by you, to undo the folds of the breastplate of this foul heresy, and to show the foul smell of its folly; so that those who are yet far from it may flee it, and those who have been deceived by it may repent, and with the eyes of their heart opened may understand that, just as darkness is not light, nor falsehood truth, so too the Arian heresy is not good. But also those who call these men Christians are greatly and exceedingly mistaken, as having neither read the Scriptures, nor understanding Christianity at all and the faith within it. For what similarity have they seen between the heresy and the pious faith, that they babble as if those men say nothing evil? This is truly for them to call Caiaphas a Christian, and to still number Judas the betrayer among the apostles, and to say that those who asked for Barabbas instead of the Savior have done nothing wrong; and to recommend Hymenaeus and Ale 26.16 xander as thinking rightly, and that the Apostle lies concerning them. But a Christian would not endure to hear these things, nor would anyone suppose the one who dares to say this to be sound in mind. For in place of Christ, they have Arius, as the Manichees have Manichaeus, and in place of Moses and the other saints, a certain Sotades has been discovered by them, who is laughed at even among the Greeks, and the daughter of Herodias. For he has imitated the broken and effeminate character of the former, Arius himself, writing his Thalias; and he has emulated the dancing of the latter, dancing and playing in his blasphemies against the Savior, so that those who fall into the heresy have their mind perverted and become senseless, and they exchange the name of the Lord of glory for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and instead of Christians are henceforth called Arians, and have this as the mark of their impiety. For let them not make excuses, nor, when reproached, let them lie against things that are not as if they are, in this way also themselves calling Christians by names derived from
1
Orationes contra Arianos
ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΑΛΕΞΑΝ∆ΡΕΙΑΣ,
ΚΑΤΑ ΑΡΕΙΑΝΩΝ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ. Αἱ μὲν αἱρέσεις ὅσαι τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπέστησαν, ἐπινοήσασαι μανίαν ἑαυταῖς φανεραὶ τυγχάνουσι, καὶ
26.13 τούτων ἡ ἀσέβεια πάλαι πᾶσιν ἔκδηλος γέγονε. Τὸ γὰρ ἐξελθεῖν ἀφ' ἡμῶν τοὺς ταῦτα ἐφευρόντας δῆλον ἂν εἴη, ὡς ἔγραψεν
ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης, ὅτι τῶν τοιούτων οὔτε ἦν, οὔτε νῦν ἐστι μεθ' ἡμῶν τὸ φρόνημα. ∆ιὸ καὶ, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Σωτὴρ, Μὴ συνάγοντες
μεθ' ἡμῶν, σκορπίζουσι μετὰ τοῦ διαβόλου, παρατηρούμενοι τοὺς κοιμωμένους, ἵνα, τὸν ἴδιον ἰὸν τῆς ἀπωλείας ἐπισπείραντες,
ἔχωσι τοὺς συναποθνήσκοντας ἑαυτοῖς. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἡ μία τῶν αἱρέ σεων ἡ ἐσχάτη, καὶ νῦν ἐξελθοῦσα πρόδρομος τοῦ Ἀν τιχρίστου,
ἡ Ἀρειανὴ καλουμένη, δόλιος οὖσα καὶ πανοῦργος, βλέπουσα τὰς πρεσβυτέρας ἑαυτῆς ἀδελφὰς ἄλλας αἱρέσεις ἐκ φανεροῦ στηλιτευθείσας,
ὑποκρίνεται περιβαλλομένη τὰς τῶν Γραφῶν λέξεις, ὡς ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῆς ὁ διάβολος, καὶ βιάζεται πάλιν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν παράδεισον
τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ἵνα, πλάσασα ἑαυτὴν ὡς Χριστιανὴν, ἀπατήσῃ τινὰς κατὰ Χριστοῦ φρονεῖν τῇ πιθανότητι τῶν παραλογισμῶν· εὔλογον
γὰρ οὐδὲν παρ' αὐτῇ· καὶ ἐπλάνησέ γε τῶν ἀφρόνων ἤδη τινὰς, ὥστε τούτους μὴ μόνον φθαρῆναι τῇ ἀκοῇ, ἀλλὰ καὶ λαβόντας κατὰ
τὴν Εὔαν γεύσασθαι, καὶ λοιπὸν ἀγνοοῦντας νομίζειν τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ, καὶ τὴν βδελυκτὴν αἵρεσιν λέγειν καλήν· ἀναγκαῖον ἡγησάμην
προτραπεὶς παρ' ὑμῶν διελεῖν τὴν πτύξιν τοῦ θώρακος τῆς μιαρᾶς αἱρέσεως ταύτης, καὶ δεῖξαι τὴν δυσωδίαν τῆς ἀφροσύνης αὐτῆς·
ἵνα οἱ μὲν πόῤῥωθεν ὄντες αὐτῆς ἔτι φύγωσιν αὐτὴν, οἱ δ' ἀπατηθέντες ἀπ' αὐτῆς μεταγνῶσι, καὶ ἠνεῳγμένοις τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τῆς
καρδίας νοήσωσιν, ὅτι, ὥσπερ τὸ σκότος οὐκ ἔστι φῶς, οὐδὲ τὸ ψεῦδος ἀλήθεια, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἡ Ἀρειανὴ αἵρεσίς ἐστι καλή. Ἀλλὰ
καὶ οἱ τούτους καλοῦντες Χριστιανοὺς πολὺ καὶ λίαν πλανῶνται, ὡς μήτε τὰς Γραφὰς ἀνεγνωκό τες, μήτε ὅλως εἰδότες τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν
καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ πίστιν. Τί γὰρ ὅμοιον ἑωρακότες τῆς αἱρέσεως πρὸς τὴν εὐσεβῆ πίστιν φλυαροῦσιν ὡς μηδὲν κακὸν λεγόντων ἐκείνων;
Τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀληθῶς καὶ τὸν Καϊάφαν αὐτοὺς εἰπεῖν Χριστιανὸν, καὶ τὸν προδότην Ἰούδαν ἔτι συναριθμεῖν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, τούς
τε τὸν Βαραβᾶν αἰτησαμένους ἀντὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, λέγειν μη δὲν κακὸν πεποιηκέναι· καὶ Ὑμέναιον δὲ καὶ Ἀλέ 26.16 ξανδρον συνιστάνειν
ὡς καλῶς φρονοῦντας, καὶ ψεύδεσθαι κατ' αὐτῶν τὸν Ἀπόστολον. Ἀλλ' οὔτε ταῦτ' ἂν ἀκοῦσαι Χριστιανὸς ἀνάσχοιτο, οὔτε τὸν τολ
μῶντα λέγειν τοῦτο ὑγιαίνειν ἄν τις τοῦτον ταῖς φρεσὶν ὑπολάβοι. Ἀντὶ γὰρ Χριστοῦ παρ' αὐτοῖς Ἄρειος, ὡς παρὰ Μανιχαίοις Μανιχαῖος,
ἀντὶ δὲ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁγίων Σωτάδης τις ἐξεύρηται παρ' αὐτοῖς ὁ καὶ παρ' Ἕλλησι γελώμενος, καὶ ἡ θυγάτηρ Ἡρωδιάδος.
Τοῦ μὲν γὰρ τὸ κεκλασμένον καὶ θηλυκὸν ἦθος μεμίμηται γράφων Ἄρειος καὶ αὐτὸς Θαλίας· τῆς δὲ τὴν ὄρχησιν ἐζήλωσεν ἐξορ χούμενος
καὶ παίζων ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος δυσφημίαις, ὥστε τοὺς ἐμπίπτοντας εἰς τὴν αἵρε σιν διαστρέφεσθαι μὲν τὸν νοῦν καὶ ἀφρονεῖν,
ἀλλάσσειν δὲ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου τῆς δόξης ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἀντὶ Χριστιανῶν λοι πὸν Ἀρειανοὺς ὀνομάζεσθαι,
τοῦτό τε τῆς ἀσε βείας ἔχειν τὸ γνώρισμα. Μὴ γὰρ προφασιζέσθωσαν, μηδὲ ὀνειδιζόμενοι καταψευδέσθωσαν κατὰ τῶν μὴ ὄντων ὡς
εἰσὶν, οὕτω καλοῦντες καὶ αὐτοὶ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν
1
