Против утверждающих, что Сын есть тварь

1) I thought that I had written little, and blamed myself for the fact that, due to great weakness, I could not write as much as it is possible for a person to say in spite of those who teach wickedly about the Holy Spirit. But some of the brethren, as you write, demanded to truncate this too, so that they could have it ready and in a short form with which to justify themselves before those who question our faith and with which to convict the ungodly. Therefore, I did this too, firmly hoping that you, having a good conscience, if there is anything missing in what is written, you will make up for it yourself. The Arians, enclosing themselves and not imagining anything else, since all this was outside them, like the Sadducees, began to interpret the inspired Scripture according to human reasoning. Therefore, hearing that the Son is Wisdom, Radiance and the Word of the Father, they usually object to this: “how is this possible?” As if it is impossible for something to happen that they cannot understand? It remains for them to reason in the same way about everything. How could a creature that once did not exist come into existence? Or how could a reasonable man be formed from the dust of the earth? Or how could the perishable become incorruptible? Or how is the earth founded “on the seas, and on the rivers God has prepared” (Ps. 23:2)? And finally, it remains for them to say to themselves: “Let us drink and drink, we will die in the morning” (1 Cor. 15:32), so that with their corruption the madness of their heresy will also decay. 2) Such wisdom of the Arians is mortal and perishable; the word of truth, which it would be fitting for them to understand, is this: if God is the source, the light and the Father; then it is impermissible to say that the source is dry, the light without radiance, the Father without the Word; otherwise, God will be unwise, unverbal, and unluminous. So, since the Father is eternal, it is necessary for the Son to be eternal. For whatever we understand in the Father, there is no doubt also in the Son, as the Lord himself says: “All that the Father has is Mine” (John 16:15), and everything Mine belongs to the Father. Therefore, the Father is eternal, and the Son is eternal; because “in Him also the worlds were created” (Heb. 1:2). The Father is Sy; of necessity, the Son is “God is blessed above all forever, Amen,” as Paul said (Rom. 9:5). It is not permissible to talk about the Father: it was when He was not. It is also impermissible to say about the Son: it was when He was not. The Father is Almighty; The Almighty is also the Son; for John says: “He is, and he is, and he is to come, the Almighty” (Apoc. 1:8). The Father is Light, and the Son is Radiance and the true Light. The Father is the true God, and the Son is the true God. For this is what John wrote: “That we may be in the truth, in His Son Jesus Christ: This is the true God and the eternal life” (1 John 5:20). And in general, of everything that the Father has, there is nothing that does not belong to the Son. Therefore the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son; for what belongs to the Father is in the Son, and is also known in the Father. This is also clear: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), because there is not another in the Father, but another in the Son, but what is in the Father is also in the Son. And since what you see in the Son, you see in the Father; then what is said is completely understood: “he who has seen Me in the form of the Father” (John 14:9). 3) And because of what has now been proven, whoever says that the Son is a creature is wicked. For he will be forced to name the creation and the source that flows from the creation, that is, that Wisdom, that Word, in Whom is all that is in the Father. Moreover, the rottenness of the Arian heresy can be seen from the following. To whom we are similar, we have identity with them and are of the same essence. So we people, being similar to each other and having identity with each other, are consubstantial with each other; for everyone has the same thing: mortality, corruption, vicissitude, origin from nothing. And the Angels in relation to themselves and all other beings are also one-natural among themselves. Therefore, let these inquisitive ones examine whether there is any similarity between the creature and the Son, or whether they can find in the creatures what is in the Son, why should they dare to call the Word of God the creation. But these, who are bold in everything and err in the matter of piety, will not find anything like this. Not a single creature is the Almighty, and not a single one possesses another, but each belongs to God himself. “The heavens will tell the glory of God” (Ps. 19:2). “The earth is the Lord’s, and its fulfillment” (Ps. 23:1). “See the sea and run away” (Ps. 113:3). All creatures are slaves to Him who created them, do His will, obey His commands. And the Son is Almighty, like the Father. It is written and proven. And also in creatures nothing is immutable by nature. For some of the Angels did not keep their rank (Jude 1:6), and “the stars are not pure before Him” (Job 25:5); and the devil fell from heaven, and Adam transgressed the commandment, and everything is changeable. But the Son is immutable and unchangeable, like the Father. Paul recalled this with the words of the one hundred and first psalm, saying: “In the beginning You, O Lord, founded the earth, and the works of Your hand are the heavens: they will perish, but You remain: and they all promise like a robe, and like a garment they wear, and will be changed: You are the same, and Your years will not fail” (Heb. 1:10-12); and also says: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). 4) And one more thing - everything created did not exist, and it came into being. For “you have made the earth as nothing” (Is. 40:23); and “he who calls things that are not as if they are” (Rom. 4:17). And everything created is a work and a creature; therefore it has a beginning of existence. For “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... and everything that is in them” (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 146:6); and again: “My hand has created all these things” (Is. 66:2). And the Son is He and is God above all, like the Father; and this has also been proven. He is not created, but creates, not created, but creates and does the works of the Father. By Him the worlds were created (Heb. 1:2); “all things were made by Him, and without Him they were nothing” (John 1:3). And as the Apostle taught in the words of the psalm: He “founded the earth in the beginning, and the works of His hands are the heavens” (Ps. 101:26). And yet, not a single creature is God by nature, but every created being, as it came into being, is named as such. One is heaven, the other is earth; some luminaries, some stars, some seas, and abysses, and four-legged animals, and finally man; before these were Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Powers, Principalities, Powers, Dominions, paradise. Every creature remains like this. If some are also called gods, it is not by nature, but by the participation of the Son. For this is what the Son himself said: “If the gods spoke, the word of God came to them” (John 10:35). And therefore, since they are not gods by nature, some of them change and hear: “Az rekh: you are gods, and you are all sons of the Most High: but you die like men” (Ps. 82:6, 7). Such was the one who heard: “You are a man, and not God” (Ezek. 28:2). But the Son is true God, like the Father; because He is in the Father, and the Father in the Son. This is shown to have been written by John; and David sings: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom” (Ps. 44:7); The prophet Isaiah cries out: “Egypt has labored and the purchases of Ethiopia, and the great men of Shebaim will come to You... and they will follow You, bound with hand bonds... and they will worship You... for God is in You... For You are the God of Israel, and we do not know” (Isa. 45:14, 15). Who is this God in whom God abides - who besides the Son, Who says: “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me” (John 14:10)? 5) since this is really so and is confirmed by Scripture, and the Son has no similarity with creatures, but everything that belongs to the Father also belongs to the Son; then will not everyone see from this that the Son is consubstantial with the Father? As if he had a similarity and affinity with any of the creatures, then he would be of the same essence with them; so, since in essence it is alien to created beings, and is the Father’s own Word, and not other with the Father, because everything that belongs to the Father actually belongs to Him; then in all justice He is consubstantial with the Father. Understanding this, the Fathers at the Council of Nicaea confessed the Son to be of one essence and of the Father’s essence. For they were well aware that the created essence could not possibly say about itself: “All that the Father has is my essence” (John 16:15); Having the beginning of being, it does not have this: “I am, and was forever.” Therefore, since the Son has this, and everything said above that belongs to the Father also belongs to the Son; then it is necessary that the essence of the Son should not be created, but consubstantial with the Father. Moreover, the created essence cannot be acceptable to what actually belongs to God (and what actually belongs to Him is that by which God is known, for example: Almighty, who is, immutability, and the rest of the things listed above), otherwise God, according to the teaching of these foolish people, having what creatures can have, will turn out to be of one essence with creatures. 6) And another would thus denounce the wickedness of those who claim that God’s Word is a creature. Our faith is in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, because the Son himself says to the Apostles: “Going... teach all tongues, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). He said this in such a way that from what is known to us, we would form an understanding of what He said to the Apostles. Just as we call fathers not creators, but parents, and everyone will call us not the creatures of the fathers, but their sons by nature and consubstantial with the fathers: so God, if He is the Father, then, without a doubt, the Father of the Son by nature and the Son of the same essence. Abraham did not create, but begat Isaac. But Bezaleel and Eliab did not give birth, but did all the works in the Tabernacle (Ex. 36:1). Neither the shipbuilder nor the carpenter gives birth to what they produce, but each builds either a boat or a house. But Isaac does not create, but gives birth to Jacob, who is of the same essence, and Jacob also begets Judah and his brothers. How crazy would be the one who would argue that a house is of one essence with a carpenter, and a boat is of one essence with a shipbuilder; so it would be fitting to say that every son is of one substance with his father. Therefore, if there is a Father and a Son, then the Son must be a son by nature and in reality; and this, as has been proven by many arguments, means being consubstantial with the Father. And indeed, it is said about creatures: “He spoke, and it was: He commanded, and it was created” (Ps. 149:5); and about the Son: “My heart will vomit out the good Word” (Ps. 44:2). Daniel knew the Son of God, and he also knew the works of God; and he saw the Son watering the cave, and about the works, saying: “Bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord” (Dan. 3:57), he listed each of the creatures, but did not add the Son to them, knowing that the Son is not a work, but that the works were accomplished by Him, while He Himself is hymned and exalted in the Father. Therefore, as through Him God reveals himself to those who lead; so through Him is the blessing, through Him and in Him the song, and the glory, and the power are confessed to the Father; and only such a confession, as the Scriptures testify, is acceptable. Therefore, like many others, this also explains and proves how wicked he is who claims that the Word of God is a creature. 7) But the heretics use as a pretext what is written in Proverbs: “The Lord made Me the beginning of His ways for His works” (Prov. 8:22), and they add to themselves: “here it is said: “created”; therefore, the Son is a creature.” Therefore, it is necessary to prove from this very saying how much they are mistaken, not knowing the purpose of the Divine Scripture. So, if He is the Son, then let not the creature be called. But if he is a creature, then let him not be called Son. And in the previous one it was shown how much difference there is between the creature and the Son. And since mystery is accomplished not in the Creator and in the creature, but in the Father and the Son; then it is necessary for the Lord to be called not a creature, but the Son. “But is it not written that he was created”? say the heretics. - Yes, it is written, and it was necessary to say so. But what is said well, heretics understand poorly. And if they had understood and recognized the distinctive feature of Christianity, they would not have asserted that the Lord of glory is a creature, and would not have stumbled over what was written in a good sense. They are “ignorant, below understanding”; and from this, according to what is written, “they walk in darkness” (Ps. 81:5). However, we need to continue the speech so that their recklessness becomes visible even in this, and we, without ceasing to expose their wickedness, do not lose hope that perhaps they will repent in time. A distinctive feature of faith in Christ is that the Son of God, the real Word of God (for “in the beginning was the Word, and God is the Word” - John 1:1), the real Wisdom and Power of the Father (for “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” - 1 Cor. 1:24), at the end of the ages, became man for the sake of our salvation. For the same John, having said: “In the beginning was the Word,” soon added: “and the Word became flesh” (John 1:14); and this means the same thing as becoming a man. And the Lord said about Himself: “Why are you seeking to kill Me” (John 7:19), “the man who told you the truth” (John 8:40)? And Paul, having learned from the Lord, said: “There is one... God, and one Advocate for God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). Having become man and having completed the dispensation of human affairs, having put our death to flight and rendered inactive, He now sits at the right hand of the Father, who is in the Father, because the Father is in Him, as He always was, and is now. 8) This is the distinctive feature of the faith handed down by the Fathers from the Apostles. The reader of the Scripture must already experience and distinguish for himself when It speaks about the Divinity of the Word, and when about His humanity, so that, understanding one instead of the other, he does not fall into the error that the Arians were subjected to. Therefore, knowing that the Lord is the Word, we know that “all things were by Him, and without Him nothing came into being” (John 1:3), and: “By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established” (Ps. 32:6), and: He sends His Word and heals (Ps. 106:20); and knowing that He is Wisdom, we know that “God is the foundation of the earth with Wisdom” (Prov. 3:19), and “God created all things with Wisdom” is the Father (Ps. 103:24); and knowing that He is God, we believe that He is Christ; for David sings: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity: therefore for the sake of Thy anointing, O God, Thy God is more than Thy partaker of the oil of joy” (Ps. 45:7, 8); and in Isaiah he speaks about himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the sake of my anointing” (Isaiah 61:1); and Peter confessed: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). But knowing also that the Lord became a man, we do not deny what can be said about Him in terms of humanity, for example, that He hungered, thirsted, was choked, cried, slept, and finally accepted death for us on the cross. For all this is written about Him. And also the Scripture did not hide, but spoke, this characteristic of man: “created”; because we humans are created and created. But just as, hearing that the Lord hungered, slept, and was slain, we do not deny His Divinity, so when we hear about Him: “created,” we must remember that He, this God, was created as a man; because to be created is as characteristic of man as everything listed above - to hunger and the like. 9) Another saying of Scripture is also said in a good sense, but is poorly understood by heretics. Namely, the words: “Of the days... or of the hour no one knows, neither the Angels nor the Son” (Mark 13:32), contain a good meaning; the heretics, from what was said: “neither the Son,” conclude: “since He declares Himself ignorant, then He is a creature.” But there is no room for such a conclusion; Let this not happen! Just as when he said: “I created Me,” he said this according to humanity, so when he said: “neither the Son,” and he also spoke this according to humanity. And there was a good reason for putting it that way. since, according to what is written, He became a man, and it is just as common for people not to know as it is to hunger and so on, because people do not know until they hear and learn; then, as having become a man, he shows human ignorance, firstly as proof that he really has a human body, and then for the purpose of having human ignorance in the body, but having redeemed and cleansed it from everything, to present humanity to the Father as perfect and holy. What other excuse will the Arians find? What will they finally come up with to justify their grumbling? It was found out that they do not know the meaning of the words: “The Lord created Me for His work”; It turned out that they did not understand what was said: “No one knows about those days, neither the Angels nor the Son.” For, as when saying: “created”, it means humanity, because he became a man and was created like a man; saying: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), and: “he who has seen Me in the form of the Father... I am in the Father, and the Father in Me” (John 14:9, 10), means eternity and oneness with the Father; so saying: “no one knows, not even the Son,” he speaks again as a man, because it is common for people not to know; saying: “no one knows... the Father... except the Son, nor the Son but the Father” (Matthew 11:27), shows that he knows much more than one created thing. Therefore, the disciples in the Gospel of John said to the Lord: “Now we know that we are all weighed” (John 16:30). And from this it is clear that there is nothing that the Son, the real Word, does not know. By Him “all things were,” and, without a doubt, by Him will also be “that day,” which is included among all created things, although the Arians will be tormented a thousand times in their ignorance. You might be interested in: