Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume IV/Defence of the Nicene Definition/De Decretis/Chapter 6

.&#8212;. Theognostus; Dionysius of Alexandria; Dionysius of Rome; Origen.

25. then is the sense in which they who met at Nic&#230;a made use of these expressions. But next that they did not invent them for themselves (since this is one of their excuses), but spoke what they had received from their predecessors, proceed we to prove this also, to cut off even this excuse from them. Know then, O Arians, foes of Christ, that Theognostus, a learned man, did not decline the phrase &#8216;of the essence,&#8217; for in the second book of his Hypotyposes, he writes thus of the Son:&#8212;

&#8220;The essence of the Son is not one procured from without, nor accruing out of nothing, but it sprang from the Father&#8217;s essence, as the radiance of light, as the vapour of water; for neither the radiance, nor the vapour, is the water itself or the sun itself, nor is it alien; but it is an effluence of the Father&#8217;s essence, which, however, suffers no partition. For as the sun remains the same, and is not impaired by the rays poured forth by it, so neither does the Father&#8217;s essence suffer change, though it has the Son as an Image of Itself .&#8221;

Theognostus then, after previously investigating in the way of an exercise, proceeds to lay down his sentiments in the foregoing words. Next, Dionysius, who was Bishop of Alexandria, upon his writing against Sabellius and expounding at large the Saviour&#8217;s Economy according to the flesh, and thence proving against the Sabellians that not the Father but His Word became flesh, as John has said, was suspected of saying that the Son as a thing made and originated, and not one in essence with the Father; on this he writes to his namesake Dionysius, Bishop of Rome, to allege in his defence that this was a slander upon him. And he assured him that he had not called the Son made, nay, did confess Him to be even one in essence. And his words ran thus:&#8212;

&#8220;And I have written in another letter a refutation of the false charge they bring against me, that I deny that Christ was one in essence with God. For though I say that I have not found this term anywhere in Holy Scripture, yet my remarks which follow, and which they have not noticed, are not inconsistent with that belief. For I instanced human birth as being evidently homogeneous, and I observed that undeniably parents differed from their children only in not being the same individuals, otherwise there could be neither parents nor children. And my letter, as I said before, owing to present circumstances I am unable to produce; or I would have sent you the very words I used, or rather a copy of it all, which, if I have an opportunity, I will do still. But I am sure from recollection that I adduced parallels of things kindred with each other; for instance, that a plant grown from seed or from root, was other than that from which it sprang, yet was altogether one in nature with it : and that a stream flowing from a fountain, gained a new name, for that neither the fountain was called stream, nor the stream fountain, and both existed, and the stream was the water from the fountain&#8221;

26. And that the Word of God is not a work or creature, but an offspring proper to the Father&#8217;s essence and indivisible, as the great Council wrote, here you may see in the words of Dionysius, Bishop of Rome, who, while writing against the Sabellians, thus inveighs against those who dared to say so:&#8212;

&#8220;Next, I may reasonably turn to those who divide and cut to pieces and destroy that most sacred doctrine of the Church of God, the Divine Monarchy, making it as it were three powers and partitive subsistences and god-heads three. I am told that some among you who are catechists and teachers of the Divine Word, take the lead in this tenet, who are diametrically opposed, so to speak, to Sabellius&#8217;s opinions; for he blasphemously says that the Son is the Father, and the Father the Son, but they in some sort preach three Gods, as dividing the sacred Monad into three subsistences foreign to each other and utterly separate. For it must needs be that with the God of the Universe, the Divine Word is united, and the Holy Ghost must repose and habitate in God; thus in one as in a summit, I mean the God of the Universe, must the Divine Triad The word &#964;&#961;&#953;&#8048;&#962;, usually translated Trinity, is first used by Theophilus, ad Autol. ii. 15. Gibbon remarks that the doctrine of &#8216;a numerical rather than a generical unity,&#8217; which has been explicitly put forth by the Latin Church, is favoured by the Latin language; &#964;&#961;&#953;&#8048;&#962; seems to excite the idea of substance, trinitas of qualities.&#8217; ch. 21. note 74. It is certain that the Latin view of the sacred truth, when perverted, becomes Sabellianism; and that the Greek, when perverted, becomes Arianism; and we find Arius arising in the East, Sabellius in the West. It is also certain that the word Trinitas is properly abstract; and expresses &#964;&#961;&#953;&#8048;&#962; or &#8216;a three,&#8217; only in an ecclesiastical sense. But Gibbon does not seem to observe that Unitas is abstract as well as Trinitas; and that we might just as well say in consequence, that the Latins held an abstract unity or a unity of qualities, while the Greeks by &#956;&#959;&#957;&#8048;&#962; taught the doctrine of &#8216;a one&#8217; or a numerical unity. &#8216;Singularitatem hanc dico (says S. Ambrose), quod Gr&#230;ce &#956;&#959;&#957;&#8057;&#964;&#951;&#962; dicitur; singularitas ad personam pertinet, unitas ad naturam.&#8217; de Fid. v. 1. It is important, however, to understand, that &#8216;Trinity&#8217; does not mean the state or condition of being three, as humanity is the condition of being man, but is synonymous with three persons. Humanity does not exist and cannot be addressed, but the Holy Trinity is a three, or a unity which exists in three. Apparently from not considering this, Luther and Calvin objected to the word Trinity, &#8216;It is a common prayer,&#8217; says Calvin: &#8216;Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. It displeases me, and savours throughout of barbarism.&#8217; ''Ep. ad Polon.'' p. 796. be gathered up and brought together. For it is the doctrine of the presumptuous Marcion, to sever and divide the Divine Monarchy into three origins,&#8212;a devil&#8217;s teaching, not that of Christ&#8217;s true disciples and lovers of the Saviour&#8217;s lessons. For they know well that a Triad is preached by divine Scripture, but that neither Old Testament nor New preaches three Gods. Equally must one censure those who hold the Son to be a work, and consider that the Lord has come into being, as one of things which really came to be; whereas the divine oracles witness to a generation suitable to Him and becoming, but not to any fashioning or making. A blasphemy then is it, not ordinary, but even the highest, to say that the Lord is in any sort a handiwork. For if He came to be Son, once He was not; but He was always, if (that is) He be in the Father, as He says Himself, and if the Christ be Word and Wisdom and Power (which, as ye know, divine Scripture says), and these attributes be powers of God. If then the Son came into being, once these attributes were not; consequently there was a time, when God was without them; which is most absurd. And why say more on these points to you, men full of the Spirit and well aware of the absurdities which come to view from saying that the Son is a work? Not attending, as I consider, to this circumstance, the authors of this opinion have entirely missed the truth, in explaining, contrary to the sense of divine and prophetic Scripture in the passage, the words, &#8216;The Lord created me a beginning of His ways unto His works .&#8217; For the sense of &#8216;He created,&#8217; as ye know, is not one, for we must understand &#8216;He created&#8217; in this place, as &#8216;He set over the works made by Him,&#8217; that is, &#8216;made by the Son Himself.&#8217; And &#8216;He created&#8217; here must not be taken for &#8216;made,&#8217; for creating differs from making. &#8216;Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee? hath He not made thee and created thee ?&#8217;says Moses in his great song in Deuteronomy. And one may say to them, O reckless men, is He a work, who is &#8216;the First-born of every creature, who is born from the womb before the morning star ,&#8217; who said, as Wisdom, &#8216;Before all the hills He begets me ?&#8217; And in many passages of the divine oracles is the Son said to have been generated, but nowhere to have come into being; which manifestly convicts those of misconception about the Lord&#8217;s generation, who presume to call His divine and ineffable generation a making. Neither then may we divide into three Godheads the wonderful and divine Monad; nor disparage with the name of &#8216;work&#8217; the dignity and exceeding majesty of the Lord; but we must believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Christ Jesus His Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and hold that to the God of the universe the Word is united This extract discloses to us (in connexion with the passages from Dionysius Alex. here and in the de Sent. D.) a remarkable anticipation of the Arian controversy in the third century. 1. It appears that the very symbol of &#7974;&#957; &#8005;&#964;&#949; &#959;&#8016;&#954; &#7974;&#957;, &#8216;once He was not,&#8217; was asserted or implied; vid. also the following extract from Origen, &#167;27. and Origen Periarchon, iv. 28. where mention is also made of the &#7952;&#958; &#959;&#8016;&#954; &#8004;&#957;&#964;&#969;&#957;, &#8216;out of nothing,&#8217; which was the Arian symbol in opposition to &#8216;of the substance.&#8217; Allusions are made besides, to &#8216;the Father not being always Father,&#8217; ''de Sent. D.'' 15. and &#8216;the Word being brought to be by the true Word, and Wisdom by the true Wisdom;&#8217; ibid. 25. 2. The same special text is used in defence of the heresy, and that not at first sight an obvious one, which is found among the Arians, Prov. viii. 22. 3. The same texts were used by the Catholics, which occur in the Arian controversy. e.g. Deut. xxxii. 6. against Prov. viii. 22. and such as Ps. cx. 3. Prov. viii. 25. and the two John x. 30. and xiv. 10. 4. The same Catholic symbols and statements are found, e.g. &#8216;begotten not made,&#8217; &#8216;one in essence,&#8217; &#8216;Trinity,&#8217; &#7936;&#948;&#953;&#945;&#8055;&#961;&#949;&#964;&#959;&#957;, &#7940;&#957;&#945;&#961;&#967;&#959;&#957;, &#7936;&#949;&#953;&#947;&#949;&#957;&#949;&#962;, &#8216;light from light,&#8217; &amp;c. Much might be said on this circumstance, as forming part of the proof of the very early date of the development and formation of the Catholic theology, which we are at first sight apt to ascribe to the 4th and 5th centuries. [But see Introd. to ''de Sent. Dion.'']. For &#8216;I,&#8217; says He, &#8216;and the Father are one;&#8217; and, &#8216;I in the Father and the Father in Me.&#8217; For thus both the Divine Triad, and the holy preaching of the Monarchy, will be preserved.&#8221;

27. And concerning the everlasting co-existence of the Word with the Father, and that He is not of another essence or subsistence, but proper to the Father&#8217;s, as the Bishops in the Council said, you may hear again from the labour-loving Origen also. For what he has written as if inquiring and by way of exercise, that let no one take as expressive of his own sentiments, but of parties who are contending in investigation, but what he definitely declares, that is the sentiment of the labour-loving man. After his prolusions then (so to speak) against the heretics, straightway he introduces his personal belief, thus:&#8212;

&#8220;If there be an Image of the Invisible God, it is an invisible Image; nay, I will be bold to add, that, as being the likeness of the Father, never was it not. For when was that God, who, according to John, is called Light (for &#8216;God is Light&#8217;), without a radiance of His proper glory, that a man should presume to assert the Son&#8217;s origin of existence, as if before He was not? But when was not that Image of the Father&#8217;s Ineffable and Nameless and Unutterable subsistence, that Expression and Word, and He that knows the Father? for let him understand well who dares to say, &#8216;Once the Son was not,&#8217; that he is saying, &#8216;Once Wisdom was not,&#8217; and &#8216;Word was not,&#8217; and &#8216;Life was not.&#8217;&#8221;

And again elsewhere he says:&#8212;

&#8220;But it is not innocent nor without peril, if because of our weakness of understanding we deprive God, as far as in us lies, of the Only-begotten Word ever co-existing with Him; and the Wisdom in which He rejoiced; else He must be conceived as not always possessed of joy.&#8221;

See, we are proving that this view has been transmitted from father to father; but ye, O modern Jews and disciples of Caiaphas, how many fathers can ye assign to your phrases? Not one of the understanding and wise; for all abhor you, but the devil alone ; none but he is your father in this apostasy, who both in the beginning sowed you with the seed of this irreligion, and now persuades you to slander the Ecumenical Council, for committing to writing, not your doctrines, but that which from the beginning those who were eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word have handed down to us The profession under which the decrees of Councils come to us is that of setting forth in writing what has ever been held orally or implicitly in the Church. Hence the frequent use of such phrases as &#7952;&#947;&#947;&#961;&#945;&#966;&#8182;&#962; &#7952;&#958;&#949;&#964;&#8051;&#952;&#951; with reference to them. Thus Damasus, Theod. H. E. v. 10. speaks of that &#8216;apostolical faith, which was set forth in writing by the Fathers in Nic&#230;a.&#8217; On the other hand, Ephrem of Antioch speaks of the doctrine of our Lord&#8217;s perfect humanity being &#8216;inculcated by our Holy Fathers, but not as yet [i.e. till the Council of Chalcedon] being confirmed by the decree of an ecumenical Council.&#8217; Phot. 229. p. 801. (&#7952;&#947;&#947;&#961;&#945;&#966;&#8182;&#962;, however, sometimes relates to the act of subscribing; Phot. ibid. or to Scripture, Clement. Strom. i. init. p. 321.) Hence Athan. says ad Afros. 1. and 2. that &#8216;the Word of the Lord which was given through the ecumenical Council in Nic&#230;a remaineth for ever;&#8217; and uses against its opposers the texts, &#8216;Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set&#8217; (vid. also Dionysius in Eus. H. E. vii. 7.), and &#8216;He that curseth his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death.&#8217; Prov. xxii. 28. Ex. xxi. 17. vid. also Athan. ad Epict. 1. And the Council of Chalcedon professes to &#8216;drive away the doctrines of error by a common decree, and renew the unswerving faith of the Fathers,&#8217; Act. v. p. 452. [t. iv. 1453 ed. Col.] &#8216;as,&#8217; they proceed, &#8216;from of old the prophets spoke of Christ, and He Himself instructed us, and the creed of the Fathers has delivered to us,&#8217; whereas &#8216;other faith it is not lawful for any to bring forth, or to write, or to draw up, or to hold, or to teach.&#8217; p. 456. [1460 ed. Col.] vid. S. Leo. supr. p. 5. note m. This, however, did not interfere with their adding without undoing. &#8216;For,&#8217; says Vigilius, &#8216;if it were unlawful to receive aught further after the Nicene statutes, on what authority venture we to assert that the Holy Ghost is of one substance with the Father, which it is notorious was there omitted?&#8217; ''contr. Eutych.'' v. init.; he gives other instances, some in point, others not. vid. also Eulogius, ''apud Phot. Cod.'' 23. pp. 829. 853. Yet to add to the confession of the Church is not to add to the faith, since nothing can be added to the faith. Leo, Ep. 124. p. 1237. Nay, Athan. says that the Nicene faith is sufficient to refute every heresy, ad Max. 5. fin. (also Leo. Ep. 54. p. 956. and Naz. Ep. 102. init.) excepting, however, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit; which explains his meaning. The Henoticon of Zeno says the same, but with the intention of dealing a blow at the Council of Chalcedon. Evagr. iii. 14. p. 345. Aetius at Chalcedon says that at Ephesus and Chalcedon the Fathers did not profess to draw up an exposition of faith, and that Cyril and Leo did but interpret the Creed. Conc. t. 2. p. 428. [t. iv. 1430, 1431 ed. Col. See this whole subject very amply treated in Dr. Pusey&#8217;s On the Clause, And the Son, pp. 76 sqq.] Leo even says that the Apostles&#8217; Creed is sufficient against all heresies, and that Eutyches erred on a point &#8216;of which our Lord wished no one of either sex in the Church to be ignorant,&#8217; and he wishes Eutyches to take the plentitude of the Creed &#8216;puro et simplici corde.&#8217; Ep. 31. p. 857, 8. . For the faith which the Council has confessed in writing, that is the faith of the Catholic Church; to assert this, the blessed Fathers so expressed themselves while condemning the Arian heresy; and this is a chief reason why these apply themselves to calumniate the Council. For it is not the terms which trouble them, but that those terms prove them to be heretics, and presumptuous beyond other heresies.