On the Trinity 2-1 part 5/9

"Amen I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist." Yet he did not say he was greater as being of some other, superior nature beyond that of men;

for all who laid claim to virtue either equaled him, or fell somewhat short of him;

nor was he greater as being superior in power, or as having come into being at an earlier time;

for he himself remained in life in the world only thirty years;

yet there were those who surpassed him in bodily strength and in length of years.

But it was not for this reason that he called him greater than other men,

but on account of the prophecy which he himself received in the most divinely-inspired degree.

"But he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." And he was speaking of John the Apostle, who was younger in time than John the Forerunner, but greater in the dignity of the apostolic office.

"For God appointed in the Church," as Paul writes, "first apostles, then prophets." And he said "least in the kingdom of heaven" because the names of all the living are inscribed in a book, and, since he came later, his name was fittingly set down afterward.

But some have understood this passage as referring to the Master himself: "least" according to the form of a servant, in which he was suspected of being inferior to the prophets and priests, but "greater" according to the Godhead. So that, even on this reading, the terms "greater" and "sent" produce no diminishment with respect to his being of one substance with the Father.

And as to what was said a little earlier: it seems that he who employs elegant speech, and he who always assigns to himself the foremost place and demands honor, in some way betrays conceit;

and conceit is a species of arrogance.

And nothing has he held in greater dishonor than arrogance;

for God is not more concerned for the greater than — indeed perhaps even more — for the lesser.

For once for all, even if he himself does not say it, "the greater" is innate to him;

and none of right mind disputes this.

"If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true;"

"it is my Father who bears witness of me." But lest this too be reckoned as a diminishment of him, he says elsewhere:

"Even if I bear witness of myself, my witness is true." And in the first discourse it was sufficiently shown, concerning "greater," that it was said neither with reference to essence, nor to power, nor to the glory above.

And the esteemed authors among the Greeks likewise say: "Immortal is God, most exalted of all, dwelling in the ether — imperishable, unshaken, eternal, ever the same."

They did not understand that, even in respect of the highest and incomprehensible hypostases, it is also fitting to say, "The Father has given me commandment, what I should say and what I should speak." And concerning the Holy Spirit:

"He will not speak from himself, but he will take of what is mine, and will declare it to you"; and elsewhere:

"I have not spoken from myself"; and again:

"As the Father has commanded me, so I do"; and again:

"The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me"; and all such sayings as these.

For the Master used such words — he who is the Word of the Father — because he wished to show us the union of nature, and the ineffable harmony of the Holy Trinity, and that its teachings are held in common and are not divided.

For every creature, if it is rational, has a will of its own;

which, as it is written, it must silence, in order to speak the will of God.

Therefore at times it speaks and does what is its own, and at other times what belongs to God;

and in some matters it is of one accord with man, its like;

but in others, it wills otherwise.

For God the Word, being sovereign and Wisdom itself, and moreover also the Holy Spirit of God, proceeding from him, and, according to the Apostle, "searching even the depths of God," and alone knowing the things of God, bestowing the divine gifts by his own authority, does not need to wait to hear and only then to speak or act, as created things do;

creatures which by their very nature not only are ignorant of the will of God, but at times even fail to do it;

as, for example, when Abraham says, in hesitation:

"If perhaps, O Lord, I may speak?" And Moses, excusing himself, says:

"I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue"; and, "I beseech you, O Lord,"

"...to bear the burden of this people;"

"appoint for yourself another." And Aaron and Miriam, moved by their own impulse, grew insolent against Moses, at which time Miriam became leprous, and the Lord was angered in wrath.

But David also, doing his own will and numbering the people, is rebuked.

And Jeremiah too, having spoken against the intent of the long-suffering and unresentful God, saying:

"I am young, and I am not able to prophesy," he hears in reply:

"Do not say, 'I am young.'" And Jonah too, doing his own will and not the will of God, boarded a ship and fled to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord who is present everywhere.

And Paul, writing to the Galatians, says concerning the apostles:

"But when I saw that they were not walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all as follows:"

But in order that the unbelieving may be fully persuaded — if indeed they are to be persuaded at all — it is necessary to prolong the discussion.

Before the coming of the Son of God into the world, there appeared false christs and false prophets — such as Judas the Galilean, as the Acts of the Apostles relates — leading people astray and not teaching the things of God and his law;

concerning whom Ezekiel also prophesies:

"against the prophets who lead my people astray: I did not send them;"

"they spoke of their own accord." Therefore, when the true Christ came, he was suspected of being a deceiver.

For the Gospel records that at the Feast of Tabernacles the crowds were seeking Jesus, saying:

"Where is he?" And there was dissension concerning him:

"he is leading the crowd astray." And again the chief priests say to Pilate:

We know, Lord, that that deceiver said while he was still living:

'After three days I will rise again.' The Savior, then, spoke thus concerning those men:

'All who came before me were thieves and robbers;'

'but the sheep did not listen to them.'

'My sheep hear my voice, and each one knows my voice, and follows me.' But concerning himself, he says:

'I do not speak from myself' — unlike those men, evidently;

And foreseeing also, as God, the things to come — namely, that after his ascension into heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit there would again arise deceivers, such as Simon, such as Montanus, such as Mani — he took precaution beforehand, saying:

'When the Paraclete comes, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will remind you of my words, and will guide you into all truth;'

'he will not speak from himself' — that is to say, do not disbelieve the Holy Spirit, who says and teaches the very same things that I do;

For he is neither of a different will, nor of a different essence;

but those who claim to have the Holy Spirit, and yet do not speak my words and the words of the prophets — do not believe them;

nor indeed should you tolerate Mani, who does not accept the Old Testament, but condemns as inhuman the good Father who speaks together with me and does deeds of loving-kindness—

In addition to this, the Son, being the enhypostatic Word of God, and being in the Father, and having the Father in himself, fittingly does not speak from himself;

but, as has been written above, he speaks the things of God, inasmuch as he is the ineffable God who looks to the will of the Father;

and the Holy Spirit likewise, inasmuch as he is a divine Spirit.

As the Word of the Father declares:

'The Spirit will not speak from himself, but will receive from what is mine' — here is seen the bond of the [one] essence, and of the one will of the Trinity.

Now, since he did not say, 'he does not speak from himself,' but rather, 'he will not speak,' it is shown that this 'he will not speak' was said with reference to a certain occasion and matter. For indeed, as has been said before, when Moses declined [the task], God said to him:

'Choose seventy elders, and I will take from the Spirit that is in you, and put it upon them;' and yet it was not as one in need that he took from the Spirit that was in Moses.

Again, then, at another time, Scripture testifies that the Only-begotten and the Spirit of God act and speak with sovereign authority, as follows:

concerning the Son, as when David says:

'Our God is in heaven and on earth; whatsoever he willed, he has done;' and Isaiah [says]:

he works divine power, and performed wonders, as has been said before.

But concerning the Holy Spirit, as when the Lord teaches:

'The Spirit blows where it wills;' and Paul [says]:

'But all these things the one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each one individually just as he wills.'

That the Only-begotten lays aside his kingdom, and is not an eternal king, but is subjected to God as though he were some sort of counter-god (far be it from us to think so!), and that the Father alone is all in all — this is what they imagine, from what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, as follows:

'When he delivers up the kingdom to God the Father, when he has abolished every rule and every authority and power;'

'for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.'

'The last enemy to be abolished is death;'

'for he has put all things in subjection under his feet.'

'All things are put in subjection' — clearly, apart from him who subjected all things to him;

'and when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself also will be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.' And in this regard also, we ought to direct our mind precisely to the form of a servant;

if indeed one considers that, were he subjected in a divine manner, he would have been subjected from the beginning.

And further, also from the prophecy of Daniel, which reads, word for word, somewhat as follows:

'I beheld in a vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man came, and he reached unto the Ancient of Days;'

'and he was brought near before him, and to him was given dominion, and honor, and kingship;'

'and all peoples, nations, and languages shall serve him;'

'his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away;'

'and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.' For by 'Ancient of Days' he means the Father;

and by 'one like a Son of Man, brought near before him, to whom was given dominion, and honor, and kingship,' he signifies the one conformed to our lowliness.

If, then, they will not grant that the foregoing statements were spoken by the Apostle and the Prophet for this reason, it remains for them to reject the other one.

For according to the apostolic saying, on their view, the Son now reigns, but after the resurrection he lays aside [his kingdom];

but according to the prophecy, the King of kings and Lord of lords does not yet reign now, but begins to reign then, and after this, in turn, is seen to be under God the Father.

And it is found, moreover, that he was subjected to his Virgin Mother and to Joseph for the sake of the [divine] economy — willingly, clearly, and not by necessity, nor forfeiting anything of his royal dignity, but rather, by this condescension, displaying the surpassing greatness of his deity and the gentleness of the Creator's power, and ordering the economy that we should obey our parents;

to whom he himself justly granted [the right] to be honored, as he said according to Luke:

'Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?' And, it says, 'he went down to Nazareth,' and 'was subject to them' — but to the Father and God, not yet.

And yet this was disproved by Paul, writing to the Philippians:

'having become obedient unto death, even death on a cross.' Just as, then, though being equal to God and existing in the form of God, it was not for his own sake, but for our sake, that he became sin and a curse;

so likewise, it is not for his own sake, but for our sake, that it is written that he would deliver up [the kingdom] and be subjected;

since, out of love for mankind, he became, without confusion, what we are, apart from sin, remaining one and the same.

For how could the Maker of all things and the Ruler of all things —

and among 'all things' are numbered also the ages, the first that was prophesied, and those that follow — being also the Almighty, how could he possibly fail to rule and reign, together with the Father and the Spirit, over the ages to come, just as he does now, and forever?

And that his kingdom is without end — for the kingdom of the Trinity is one and undivided — was testified more fully in the first discourse, in the passage where Gabriel is seen to have rightly said:

'there shall be no end;' and David [says]:

'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;'

'a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom;'

'you have loved righteousness and hated iniquity;'

'therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.' Now as for the statement 'that God may be all in all' — although this indeed applies to God without distinction [of persons], nevertheless the same Apostle writes similar things concerning the Son as well; to the Romans, thus:

'from whom, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all;' and writing to the Colossians concerning the age to come, he says:

'where there is neither Greek nor Jew, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all, and in all;' and again, writing concerning the Church, he says:

'which is the body of Christ, who fills all in all;' and elsewhere:

'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever;' and again:

'that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth;'

'and every tongue should confess, Jesus Christ is Lord.' For indeed, if it be true — the saying, 'in him dwells all the fullness of deity,' and 'reconciling the world in him,' and 'in him it was pleased that all the fullness should dwell, and through him to reconcile all things unto himself' — and not unto another —

the heretics have drawn a distinction concerning his deity,

granting him not even the fellowship that a Son has with a Father, nor even, as of friend toward friend, an equality of shared possession.

For Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, displaying the fellowship of friendship toward Ahab, king of Israel, said:

'As you are,' he says, 'so am I also;'

'and as your people, so also my people.'

And just as your horses are, so also are my horses; and to him who was not begotten from himself, he set forth an equal honor in his own kingdom.

Likewise also for the disciples, he says, according to Scripture, all things were common and undivided because of Christ.

More shameless, then, are the words of the heretics than those of the devil.

For that God-hated one had not yet learned the dispensation — which was made known then both to us and to the angels —

for I do not say this yet more boastfully, since it was made known also through us, as we are persuaded by Paul who plainly declares:

'that now to the principalities and powers might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God'; and for this reason, though daring to tempt him, he yielded to the authority of the Savior, saying:

'If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down.' But these men, insofar as it depends on them, undermine the dignity of his divine and ineffable begetting, in a sense pry loose the eternal throne, and, drawing a boundary line, they assert:

'I and the Father are one'; and, 'All things that the Father has are mine.' Yet they disbelieve no less also God the Father, who declares:

'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' Yet they say to him: come down from the royal throne.

On account of which things, terrible pronouncements are made concerning them in a parable found in Luke.

'But as for these my enemies, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.'

Wishing, I suppose, to attach to God the Word himself — rather than to the [incarnate] economy — the things spoken in a human, passible manner, they say that he became flesh without a soul;

as though the great, unchangeable, and undefiled God repented out of anguish, or as though he came to it out of necessity and not willingly and gladly, or even as though he had not been able, from the beginning, had he so wished, to avert the events of the cross;

thus despising the deity that cannot be despised, they also reproach him with what is recorded in Matthew:

'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me'; and, 'Save me from this hour'; and what was said on the cross:

'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'; and, 'My soul is deeply grieved, even to death'; and his weeping over Lazarus;

and his resting as though wearied from a journey;

and his desire for food;

and his sleep in the boat;

Opposed to these, however, and rising up against them again, is the testimony that, according to his deity, he is equal to God;

and that he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant;

and this very thing, his saying 'Father' with confidence; and that he himself gives soul to all ensouled/living beings;

and that he never once spoke as a mere subordinate minister;

'In the name of God,' or 'of my Father,' let one of the wonders that he did occur — as his disciples used to say to those who were hard to heal and to those afflicted with a diseased body:

'In the name of Jesus Christ, arise'; and by this almighty and glorious name they did what all creation together was unable to accomplish;

but he worked mighty deeds by his own authority, forgave sins, saying in a kingly manner:

'Your sins are forgiven you'; he snatched people out of Hades, put demons to flight, and, rebuking the sea, commanded it:

'Be silent, be still'; he rebuked the winds, and they ceased;

having given Peter the keys of heaven, he said:

'Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven;'

'and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven'; to Lazarus he commanded:

'Come forth out of the tomb.' To another he commanded:

'Young man, arise'; to the leper he said:

'Your sins are forgiven you'; to another:

'Rise, take up your bed, and walk'; to the demon:

'You mute and deaf demon,' he says, 'I command you, come out.' And not only do these things stand opposed [to the heretics' claims], but the notion of the insolent ones concerning 'Why have you forsaken me?' has already been refuted beforehand, since the Lord himself, in that same John, had already proclaimed in advance:

'Behold, the hour is coming, and now has come, that you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone;'

'yet I am not alone, because my Father is with me'; and Paul, writing to the Hebrews, testified that the Holy Spirit also was inseparable from him;

'For if,' he says, 'the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify unto the purity of the flesh,'

'how much more shall the blood of Jesus, who through the Holy Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse your hearts from a wicked conscience?' Now he offered himself to God through the Holy Spirit at the very time when he willingly went up onto the cross.

So then, one must not understand it simply as the word seems to signify;

but rather that here too, having condescended in every way, and becoming poor in the form of a servant, and reshaping himself unchangeably by his own word into the common human condition, and preserving the whole sequence of the incarnation, and obscuring nothing of the character of truth, he spoke, in a lowly manner, things fitting for men, just as true wisdom itself would — so that we too, being made like him and, according to the Apostle, becoming entirely conformed to him, might do the things fitting and pleasing to him, and might journey from earthly things to the things of heaven.

But as for what has been said concerning this matter by those outside [the pagan philosophers], there is nothing like hearing those very words themselves.

For thus we shall not only cherish all the more the sublime utterance of our own saints, but shall also marvel more and more at the one wisdom that supplies all things.

For often they utter as much as mortals have strength to hear;

but other thoughts, greater than the myths, are hidden within.

How one ought, with pure eyes, to gaze keenly —

and toward the truth of God receive the blessed gifts, journeying upon another, more divine path than that of myths.

For how could we have been fully assured that, according to what is written, he bore our weaknesses up to the precious cross, so that through this he might provide mankind with a better condition, unless he had first, in the manner he knows, taken them upon himself and shown them forth? And how would it have become clear that he truly became ensouled flesh, and not in mere appearance — the Manicheans supposing that he had a body only in semblance, and the Arians that he became soulless — unless he had said, 'My soul is deeply grieved,' and displayed fear, and partook of food, drink, and sleep? For such things suit neither the deity nor a soulless flesh.

[some] are destructive of the body, yet not those [passions] that arise upon us from a destitution of reasonings useful to us;

while with regard to the soul, it is the cares concerning the passions that take hold.

Wherefore also those outside give precepts concerning reckless folly:

Flee swiftly from earthly passions, flee far away, keeping the most excellent eye of the soul, and its unwavering rays.

so that it may bear the heavy reins pressing upon the body, out of a pure soul and the ethereal splendor of the Father.

So then, examining not least the other scriptural passages as well, which stand far removed from the evil opinions of the heretics, as I have already said, we shall learn that God, who has no part in change or any passion, did not fear — he who, willingly, according to the Apostle writing to the Galatians, 'stripped off the principalities and powers,' and 'gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from the present evil age'; he who rebuked Peter when he took offense, at the time when he foretold that he must be crucified, and die, and rise on the third day;

he who of his own will went up onto the cross, and rejoiced, as a giant, to run his course;

he who by his life-giving death put death to death, and redeemed all from death;

whose self-determining power also raised together with him another multitude long held by death, and granted to the whole of human nature the hope of resurrection;

he who made death on his behalf free of fear for all, and showed suffering to be something desirable, and caused people not to flee a noble end out of fear, but to submit it to the will of God — so that those who faithfully cling to him receive sufferings and death for his sake without grief and without disturbance, crying out with Paul:

'For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' For it stands to reason that a mortal man should die for your sake, even if he is confident in the virtue of his life;

but that the immortal God should cast off immortality and take on cowardice is impossible.

But he also tasted death in the flesh, as he knew and willed, and remained immortal, granting life to all even at that very time.

For otherwise, weakness is even partly attributed to the Father because of the phrase 'if it is possible'; and a cowardice that does not exist is charged against the Son because of the word 'let it pass'; and the loving, self-chosen ascent to the cross is made to appear involuntary, and his mighty and weighty descent into Hades is made to appear undesired; and John too is found to be false when he says:

'He is life'; and, 'Whom he wills, he gives life'; while Paul proclaims:

'He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant'; and, 'He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross' — that is, enduring as far as the cross;

for he did not simply say 'unto death';

'I am the light, I am the life and the resurrection'; and, 'I lay down my life, that I may take it again.'

'No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself.'

'I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again.' For what, then, should we give thanks, as to a guardian holding primary and sole authority, if he suffered for us unwillingly and under some compulsion, as those who are governed by another? Or for what reason do we, each year — indeed each day, or rather each hour — celebrate in fear, with faith, the thrice-longed-for and most provident Passover, partaking of his body and his blood? Those who have been deemed worthy of the most sublime and everlasting mystery know what I mean;

for reverence and thanksgiving are owed to him who, of his own will and without regret, bestowed some good that is his own.

One might say that it was out of pity for those concerning whom he had said, 'Father, forgive them,'

'for they know not what they do,' that he also said, 'Let this cup pass'; from them, he means, so that they might not commit against themselves so great an impiety toward me.

And to understand 'Let this cup pass' in this way too is not outside the truth.

Since he saw the devil shuddering and fleeing whenever the Savior showed himself to be God through his wonders,

but drawing near whenever he uttered things proper to his humanity,

having already dared to tempt him, it withdrew outside of hope, dishonored, and ridiculous;

so also here, thinking once more that he was a mere man and not God — though it knew him to have appeared in the flesh — that it might rush headlong and press him on toward crucifixion, while it itself, wounded without realizing it — the very one scheming to wound the unconquerable God — might turn back and withdraw;

but let us, having lived by the cross of Christ, and having been redeemed by his most provident death, cry out together with Paul writing to the Corinthians:

'O death, where is thy victory? O Hades, where is thy sting?' Thus the Lord's words were not those of anguish, since even concerning God the Father — of whom, as the holy man said, 'all things shudder and tremble before the face of his power' — Isaiah speaks in this way through a certain ineffable contemplation:

'Hear now, O house of David:'

'Is it a small thing for you to weary men? And how do you weary the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:'

'Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb and shall bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,' which, being interpreted, is 'God with us.' But let our discourse return again to the point from which it departed.

Neither, then, does the highest impassibility — who is life, and joy, and peace, and the endurance of all things, who gives bright days to all — weep for any other reason than to reveal, through what is seen, the compassion of his invisible divinity.

For everywhere, whether in words or in deeds, he intermingles his dispositions, so that we, as though from certain tracks, might set out upon the pursuit of divinely inspired understanding, and might discover that the whole of the economy is a property of divine tenderheartedness.

This was also in order to expose the mind of the sisters of Lazarus, as having nothing faithful or firm in it,

for when he asked, 'Where have you laid him?' — though it was fitting to say, 'You know all things, since you are the Son of God, from the very things you foretold beforehand while separated by a great apparent distance' —

'Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep; and if you should command it, he will return from Hades, anticipating in his own person the common resurrection;'

'for all things are altogether easy for you when you will them' —

though it was necessary to say these things, they said the opposite:

'He has been dead four days; he already stinks.' To this we might reply that he wept as a king who submits himself to his own decrees, which say, 'Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep,' and thereby brought to an end our ancient lamentation.

Nor does he grow weary according to his divinity, but according to the sequence proper to his becoming man — he who heals the brokenhearted, and gives rest to those who are weary and burdened, he whose going forth is from the end of heaven, and whose circuit reaches to its farthest end;

for to him in whom there is no diminution or limitation, there is likewise no weariness.

For even if he is at times seen seated upon a colt, yet as God he was hymned by innocent children, crying out:

'Hosanna in the highest!' — which is interpreted:

'Save, O thou who art in the highest'; and by David in the fifty-ninth psalm:

'From the rising of the sun even to its setting, from Zion is the beauty of his comeliness;'

'God shall come manifestly.' Nor does the bread of life crave food against its will — he upon whom all things look, according to the psalmist:

'The eyes of all hope in you, and you give them their food in due season.'

'You open your hand, and fill every living thing with good favor'; and again:

'All things look expectantly to you, to give them their food in due season' — he who from five loaves and two fish fed five thousand, besides women and children, and caused twelve baskets of fragments to remain over;

'Man shall not live by bread alone' — he who has set before all of us a wholly sufficient and unfailing table, namely his own goodness, and who says:

'He who comes to me shall never hunger;'